WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.759 We're going to look back this evening for a little while at Isaiah, particularly chapter 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:09.480 11, but we're going to introduce it by doing a little bit of a whistle-stop tour through 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:13.679 some of the earlier verses. 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:17.359 And if you're reading Isaiah, if you've read Isaiah, if you've looked at Isaiah, it's 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:18.359 a... 00:00:18.359 --> 00:00:23.760 Well, maybe you're different from me, but I find that a hard read. 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:26.240 There's a lot in Isaiah that's really hard to read. 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:31.799 And when we read through it, when you read maybe two or three chapters like the ones 00:00:31.799 --> 00:00:37.640 that we mentioned today from chapter... middle of chapter 9 through to chapter 12, it's really 00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:39.479 difficult for us. 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:44.759 And so far removed from modern life, there seems to be so much judgment, and that's quite 00:00:44.759 --> 00:00:45.759 hard. 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:47.280 And there's also so much detail. 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:50.119 Why does God go into so much detail here? 00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:52.920 And why do we need that? 00:00:52.920 --> 00:00:58.560 Well, I think one of the answers is that it's real life. 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:03.079 One of the important answers is that Isaiah, God is dealing with real nations and real 00:01:03.079 --> 00:01:05.240 countries and real life. 00:01:05.240 --> 00:01:08.640 And you know, in real life, sometimes there's a lot of detail. 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:10.640 It's not all just skimming the surface. 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:13.159 Sometimes there's real detail. 00:01:13.159 --> 00:01:19.480 And so sometimes God is trying to get across something very important because it's real. 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:27.079 And if you are a mum and dad or a mum or dad, and your daughter gets married and she ends 00:01:27.079 --> 00:01:33.800 up in a really toxic relationship, who is a drugs dealer, and you see it as a pain, 00:01:33.800 --> 00:01:35.719 you warn her. 00:01:35.719 --> 00:01:42.000 She makes excuses, she hides the bruises, and she lies about why she needs money for food. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:44.840 One good week in the home and everything seems to be fine. 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:46.320 But you use a pain. 00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:51.359 You can see the sparkle has gone from her eyes, the deadness that's there, the skeletal 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:56.119 frame, the misery of the kids. 00:01:56.119 --> 00:02:01.639 You warn her in detail because you love her. 00:02:01.639 --> 00:02:04.599 You tell her the door's always open for her to come back. 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:07.319 And you never stop that as a parent. 00:02:07.319 --> 00:02:14.919 You'll never stop declaring these details, even with a sense of great helplessness. 00:02:14.919 --> 00:02:21.959 Or maybe sometimes for me as a pastor, dealing with a despairing alcoholic, when I'm picking 00:02:21.959 --> 00:02:27.439 out of the gutter once more, their clothes soaked in their own filth, and you speak to 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:34.519 them in love and you say, look, the next time it'll be your funeral. 00:02:34.519 --> 00:02:35.799 Because that's real life, isn't it? 00:02:35.799 --> 00:02:39.279 And that's what it's like sometimes for us. 00:02:39.279 --> 00:02:43.919 And that's really what's happening here is that God is speaking to real nations and 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:45.639 to real people. 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:50.759 And He does so because He can see the whole picture and He sees what's happening and He 00:02:50.759 --> 00:02:51.759 is warning them. 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:53.879 Now there's... 00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:57.639 These are only illustrations and of course they fall short in so many different ways. 00:02:57.639 --> 00:03:02.839 They're only shadowy illustrations and you'll pick out lots of ways in which they don't... 00:03:02.839 --> 00:03:04.959 they're not parallel. 00:03:04.959 --> 00:03:05.959 So there are... 00:03:05.959 --> 00:03:09.679 They are illustrations but of course there are striking differences to the general theme 00:03:09.679 --> 00:03:13.319 of Isaiah that we come across and we recognize. 00:03:13.319 --> 00:03:16.359 The first is that God is not helpless. 00:03:16.359 --> 00:03:19.400 God is absolutely powerful. 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:25.959 And He is speaking into a situation with all His sovereignty and with all His power. 00:03:25.959 --> 00:03:29.680 Takes Him, you know, out of our league altogether. 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:33.919 And He's saying to the nations, He's saying to Israel and He's saying to Judah, He's saying, 00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:37.599 look, I know it's all in front of me. 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:41.240 It's all before me, He says, and I know how it pans out. 00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:47.040 More than that, He's saying, you know, He's orchestrating even their failure and their 00:03:47.040 --> 00:03:51.360 rebellion and all the mystery that it has for us. 00:03:51.360 --> 00:04:01.040 It's all in His plan, He's saying, in a total revelation of His sovereign mind-blowing control 00:04:01.040 --> 00:04:04.480 yet without denying their responsibility. 00:04:04.480 --> 00:04:07.200 So it speaks of power, not helplessness. 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:14.519 But it also does speak of judgment because He wants them to see the danger of turning 00:04:14.519 --> 00:04:20.240 their backs on Him, covenantally and also just generally. 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:25.919 He's declaring to them and to us because it's not that different that bad choices bring 00:04:25.919 --> 00:04:29.800 just consequences against us. 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:32.199 And that's an act of mercy, isn't it? 00:04:32.199 --> 00:04:36.879 It's because He loves humanity that He does this and He wants them to recognize. 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:42.680 And us to recognize that going alone, turning our backs on God is always bad news. 00:04:42.680 --> 00:04:46.600 We'll always bring judgment into our lives. 00:04:46.600 --> 00:04:51.639 However tempting that is for us and it is tempting for us all. 00:04:51.639 --> 00:04:56.079 But within that justice that He speaks of, there's also hope. 00:04:56.079 --> 00:05:05.040 He promises and He makes clear that He wants to redeem, that He loves, that He has a purpose 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:13.120 in a plan through even all that's happening to make sure that our remnant are saved and 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:17.680 kept and protected from which Jesus, the Messiah, would come. 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:23.120 The shoot, the root and then the fruit. 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:25.600 We'll get that somewhere into it this evening. 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:26.600 Okay. 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:30.560 So there are shadowy similarities but there's also striking differences. 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:36.519 I just want to quickly speak about Israel's... 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:39.600 Because I think it's important, I know you'll need to work a wee bit, you'll need to stay 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:40.600 with me. 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:46.519 It's not just gentle, simple necessarily stuff but I think it's important and good to just 00:05:46.519 --> 00:05:54.519 grasp what is why it's here and then we'll finish off with looking at Jesus as He's prophesied 00:05:54.519 --> 00:05:55.519 here. 00:05:55.519 --> 00:06:01.240 But if you have your Bibles, chapter 9 from verse 8 of chapter 9, there's a heading and 00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:08.279 it says, judgment on arrogance and oppression and that's judgment on Israel. 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:15.799 And we have the reasons why God is judging them because we have an insight here into 00:06:15.799 --> 00:06:22.319 God's mind and why God brings His just judgment on the people. 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:27.639 And we know it because the section is divided into four and we know it's divided into four 00:06:27.639 --> 00:06:33.680 because there's a refrain, there's a sentence that is repeated four times and it's summarizing 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:37.279 each of the four little blocks that God is speaking about. 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:42.560 So if you look at verse 12, it says, the end of it, for all His anger has not turned away 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:45.319 and His hand is stretched out still. 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:50.399 And then in verse 17, it says the same, for all this His anger has not turned away, His 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:53.159 hand is stretched out still. 00:06:53.159 --> 00:06:56.959 In verse 21, it says, for all this His anger has not turned away and His hand is stretched 00:06:56.959 --> 00:06:57.959 out still. 00:06:57.959 --> 00:07:03.399 And then in chapter 10 and in verse 4 it says, for all this His anger has not turned away 00:07:03.399 --> 00:07:05.079 and His hand is stretched out still. 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:08.879 So we've got this refrain, it's almost like a song, it's like a chorus and it's reminding 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:14.159 us of four things, four areas where God is bringing judgment on Israel. 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:20.840 And very quickly, these are, firstly, they're living in a make-believe world. 00:07:20.840 --> 00:07:27.560 Chapter 9 and verse 10, they're about to be, in other words, they're about to be conquered 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:29.680 by Assyria. 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:34.040 And although that's happening, they say, the bricks may have fallen but we have built 00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:35.040 with dress stones. 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:38.800 The sycamores have been cut down but we will put cedars in their place. 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:41.280 They're living in a cloud cuckoo land. 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:44.239 They're living in a world that isn't real, living in make-believe. 00:07:44.239 --> 00:07:48.279 They think this judgment of my city is not really going to come and even though the buildings 00:07:48.279 --> 00:07:55.399 are broken down and the trees are chopped down, they'll just plant more trees, make-believe. 00:07:55.399 --> 00:07:58.519 There is bad leadership in the second section. 00:07:58.519 --> 00:08:02.919 The elder and the honored man is the head, verse 15, the prophet who teaches lies is 00:08:02.919 --> 00:08:04.319 in the tale. 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:08.199 For those who guide his people have been leading them astray and those who are guided by them 00:08:08.199 --> 00:08:10.119 are swallowed up. 00:08:10.120 --> 00:08:12.399 Still was guilty of bad leadership. 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:18.680 God exposes that, that they're living in a cloud cuckoo land, that they have bad leadership. 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:24.680 The third section is verse 21 which speaks about Manasseh and Ephraim and devouring one 00:08:24.680 --> 00:08:27.000 another and fighting against Judah. 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:30.920 So all the God's people were fighting against one another. 00:08:30.920 --> 00:08:32.440 So there's disunity. 00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:40.360 And the last thing in the fourth section, chapter 10, from which there's all these refrains, 00:08:40.360 --> 00:08:41.680 is the sin of injustice. 00:08:41.680 --> 00:08:48.360 Woe to those who decree, iniquities decrees and the writers who keep on writing oppression. 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:55.080 So four things that tell us a little bit about the mind of God and why He's bringing judgment. 00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:57.880 They're not living in the real world. 00:08:57.880 --> 00:09:00.080 They're cursed with bad leaders. 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:05.600 They're disunited and they're fighting among themselves and they're not living in a just 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:07.160 way. 00:09:07.160 --> 00:09:10.920 These all apply today. 00:09:10.920 --> 00:09:16.040 These all tell us about the character of God and remind us of what God loves and what God 00:09:16.040 --> 00:09:25.400 hates and how we are to recognize the significance of His truth, of His believers being united 00:09:25.399 --> 00:09:33.120 together, of getting rid of bad leaders, get rid of us for bad, and watch out if you're 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:40.360 a leader because there's a greater responsibility to lead humbly before God and also to seek 00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:41.360 justice. 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:45.679 These are important things that we're reminded of. 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:50.639 And God is judging them and He's judging His own covenant people because they've turned 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:56.039 their backs on Him and they're living in this riotous way by bringing the great nation 00:09:56.039 --> 00:09:57.039 of Syria. 00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:02.080 He's using the Assyrian people to conquer and enslave them. 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:08.120 Chapter 10 verse 5 says, Ah, Syria, the rod of my anger, the staff in their hands is my 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:10.319 fury. 00:10:10.319 --> 00:10:16.559 And so He does send Assyria to enslave the people of Israel. 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:21.399 God chooses to use even His enemies to meet out judgment. 00:10:21.399 --> 00:10:24.639 They are not autonomous. 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:29.959 And what I want you to note from that, just that very sort of quick spin through what's 00:10:29.959 --> 00:10:36.319 happening, I want you to note that history reveals that it happened exactly as God declared. 00:10:36.319 --> 00:10:37.319 Okay? 00:10:37.319 --> 00:10:39.439 So just remember that. 00:10:39.439 --> 00:10:45.039 That what happened here is a prophecy from Isaiah and it happened in history just as 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:47.399 he prophesied. 00:10:47.399 --> 00:10:54.879 And then secondly and very briefly, if you notice in chapter 10 from verse 5, there's 00:10:54.879 --> 00:11:00.039 a heading there as well and it says, Judgment on Arrogant Assyria. 00:11:00.039 --> 00:11:06.360 So even though Assyria were used by God to judge covenant people, they themselves were 00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:12.319 under God's judgment because they thought their strength was all up to them and they 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:15.480 became hugely proud and significant. 00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:21.440 So that section right through to verse 19 is about judgment on Assyria for their pride 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:23.640 and it's maybe summarized in verse 12. 00:11:23.640 --> 00:11:24.960 I know I'm making you work tonight. 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:26.440 I know, I know. 00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:27.440 Stick with it. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:31.640 Verse 12, When the Lord had finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he 00:11:31.640 --> 00:11:37.440 will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:38.840 in his eyes. 00:11:38.840 --> 00:11:45.960 So despite their power and despite their conquering might and what they did to the people of Israel 00:11:45.960 --> 00:11:54.879 and in bringing them into captive, bringing them under their conquering power, God also 00:11:54.879 --> 00:12:01.600 judges Assyria for their pride and arrogance for thinking that they were autonomous from 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:02.600 him. 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:10.759 And that could be the same of any superpower today, whether it's militarily or economically, 00:12:10.759 --> 00:12:15.600 powers and nations and leaders that think that they are autonomous. 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:20.480 I think they can invade other nations quite the thing and they will not be held to account 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:25.600 for it and that power and might and economic wealth is all that matters. 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:34.440 Well, just remember and note, as we noted with Israel, note with Assyria, history reveals 00:12:34.440 --> 00:12:37.440 it happened as God declared it would. 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:38.759 They were judged. 00:12:38.759 --> 00:12:45.000 They were taken over by another might and power, the mighty nation of Babylon and the 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:47.240 empire of Babylon. 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:54.240 And we find that repeatedly through Scripture and repeatedly through history. 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:58.519 God's declarations, God's prophecies of what would happen happens. 00:12:58.519 --> 00:13:04.399 Now, does that change the way you read the Bible? 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:09.680 Does it change what you think about God's own judgment of our own hearts and of what 00:13:09.680 --> 00:13:13.720 he says about the future that is still to happen? 00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:19.120 Because if he's trustworthy then and history reveals that, then surely we should have more 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:24.220 trust in him as we recognize the word is declared. 00:13:24.220 --> 00:13:33.320 So he judges Israel, he judges Assyria, but we also see from verse 20 of chapter 10, another 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:37.240 heading, the remnant of Israel will return. 00:13:37.240 --> 00:13:42.480 And there's this recognition that despite his judgment, despite the rebellion of his 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:50.519 own covenant people and turning their backs on his love and on his grace, he's kept some 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:58.480 equally deserving of judgment but who are recipients of his mercy and who are those 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:06.799 who turn back to the living God because he has this people who must be the womb of the 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:13.039 Messiah, who must be the people from whom the Messiah comes and who must point us towards 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:14.039 the Messiah. 00:14:14.039 --> 00:14:21.039 There's nothing that they have done in and of themselves to merit the mercy and grace 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:22.039 of God. 00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:24.839 It's his mercy that's promised and given. 00:14:24.839 --> 00:14:26.959 And that's always a reminder to us. 00:14:26.959 --> 00:14:32.639 We don't come to God and to grace on the basis of our own goodness or that we deserve it 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:35.120 and they don't. 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:37.839 Jeremiah 9 reminds us of that. 00:14:37.839 --> 00:14:41.039 This is what the Lord says, let not the wise boast in their wisdom or the strong boast 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:46.120 in their strength, the rich boast in their riches, but let the one boast only about this, 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:50.919 that they have the understanding to know me that I am the Lord who exercises kindness, 00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:55.240 justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight. 00:14:55.240 --> 00:15:02.399 Therefore one contains one, it's written, let no one who boasts only boast in the Lord. 00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:11.399 So that remnant of those who are saved are the ones from whom the Messiah will come. 00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:12.959 That brings us to chapter 11. 00:15:12.959 --> 00:15:17.279 I know it's a whistle-stop tour, I recognise that. 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:21.120 And we're only really scratching the surface. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:26.360 But what we have in chapter 11 is a prophecy of the coming Messiah. 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:30.639 It says, there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse. 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:36.960 So all that's left of Jerusalem, all that's left of Judah is this stump as it were, a 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:40.319 remnant, a few following God's judgment on them. 00:15:40.319 --> 00:15:48.960 But from that stump will come a shoot and a branch from His roots shall bear fruit. 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:54.519 And we know that because it's taken in the New Testament and it's a picture that fits 00:15:54.519 --> 00:16:01.319 throughout the Old Testament of the coming Messiah, a righteous seed, it's spoken of 00:16:01.319 --> 00:16:02.840 back in Isaiah chapter 6. 00:16:02.840 --> 00:16:07.679 It's also spoken of in Galatians 3 where it says, the promises were spoken to Abraham 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:13.399 to his seed, Scripture does not say, and to seeds, meaning many people, but unto your 00:16:13.399 --> 00:16:16.120 seed, meaning one person who is Christ. 00:16:16.120 --> 00:16:21.679 So the seed, the shoot, this root that comes from the stump of Jesse, that is the father 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:30.039 of David, the nation, the great king from whom the greater king, David is to come, is 00:16:30.039 --> 00:16:31.039 Jesus Christ. 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:37.799 And so this section speaks about who Jesus Christ is, and it says that this Christ who 00:16:37.799 --> 00:16:42.479 comes, this shoot who comes from the stump of Jesse, this branch whose roots shall bear 00:16:42.479 --> 00:16:51.120 fruit is the one who holds the sevenfold spirit of God in him, spirit of the Lord, of wisdom, 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:56.159 of understanding, of counsel, of might, of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. 00:16:56.159 --> 00:17:05.440 He'll be perfectly infilled with the spirit of God, the Savior who comes to be our Messiah, 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:06.440 this divine Redeemer. 00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:16.240 And we have the great picture there very quickly of his character, this Jesus, this Messiah 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:23.599 who's coming, who's filled with the spirit of the Lord, who's divine, who has wisdom 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:30.480 and understanding, knowing his Father perfectly, and understanding his Father's ways perfectly, 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:39.559 who has counsel and might, which really, it's kind of the language of military leadership, 00:17:39.559 --> 00:17:45.240 you know, it says in verse 5, that righteousness shall be the belt of his waist and faithfulness, 00:17:45.240 --> 00:17:49.200 the belt of his loins, it's a militaristic picture. 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:58.480 And he has the counsel and might of a spiritual military leader who knows exactly the course 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:04.200 of action to take in order to win the war, the spiritual war that he's coming to wage 00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:10.240 against sin and death and evil and destruction and hell. 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:16.799 He knows that the cross and the resurrection is the only way to go. 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:22.319 And he has that knowledge and fear of the Lord, that perfect understanding and relationship 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:25.799 with his Father as his incarnate Son. 00:18:25.799 --> 00:18:29.079 He's all the things we can't be. 00:18:29.079 --> 00:18:31.880 He is all the power that we don't have. 00:18:31.880 --> 00:18:37.680 He's all the wisdom and the grace and the knowledge that enables him to be a Redeemer, 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:40.840 and makes him unique and different from us. 00:18:40.840 --> 00:18:51.519 That is who we see and we recognize here as the Messiah who is Spirit-filled. 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:55.000 It throws us forward to Mark chapter 1. 00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.519 If you remember, we looked at a few weeks ago when his public ministry begins and the 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:05.000 Spirit descends on him and God the Father says, this is my beloved Son in whom I am 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:13.440 well pleased as the Spirit-filled, sevenfold spiritual reflection of the Father. 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:21.400 And also what is spoken of by Jesus himself in Luke chapter 4 where he quotes Isaiah later 00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:28.200 on in 61, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach good news to the poor. 00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:36.319 So this anointed Messiah, this anointed Savior is prophesied and spoken of here, which we 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:40.319 know history reveals it happened. 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:44.480 Is it declared that God declared it would? 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:49.759 We find constantly the importance of matching the prophecies of the Old Testament with the 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:50.759 reality. 00:19:50.759 --> 00:19:55.080 And there's many prophecies in the Old Testament of the coming Messiah and many of them in 00:19:55.079 --> 00:19:59.679 Isaiah itself, the greatest of course being Isaiah 53. 00:19:59.679 --> 00:20:06.240 And it's a hugely significant thing to remember that that hundreds and hundreds of years before 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:11.639 the Christ came, God had it all laid out in front of him. 00:20:11.639 --> 00:20:17.199 And he knew exactly, sovereignly, his purpose and plan for the redemption of his people 00:20:17.199 --> 00:20:21.079 for them and for us. 00:20:21.079 --> 00:20:30.199 And as we celebrate the Lord's Supper shortly, we remember that history reveals that it happened 00:20:30.199 --> 00:20:34.359 exactly that God said it would. 00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:40.319 That we as followers of Jesus are not those who deserve his mercy. 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:46.000 We are unworthy of his mercy, but we are not worthless. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:52.799 We have find our worthiness and our hope and our identity and our belonging in Jesus Christ 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:55.000 and in his beautiful gospel. 00:20:55.000 --> 00:21:02.720 It's good news that Jesus is the one who was anointed to bring that news to the poor. 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:10.640 And as we recognize our poverty, we come to receive the riches of his forgiveness and 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:11.640 his grace. 00:21:11.640 --> 00:21:21.400 And whatever else happens for you this week as a believer, that is an amazing truth. 00:21:21.400 --> 00:21:28.000 It's an amazing reality that we often forget and we often treat lightly and we often take 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:29.000 for granted. 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:35.680 And I hope the Lord's Table is a great place just for a few moments reflect on and remember 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:43.120 this Old Testament prophecy that speaks forward to the coming of the Messiah. 00:21:43.120 --> 00:21:49.920 And I just want to finish because we've only really dipped in it this evening to remind 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:59.759 ourselves of the layers of revelation and how they fit in with life and time and even 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:01.240 the future. 00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:11.759 So we've seen thus far that history has revealed that what God prophesied, it happens as exactly 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:12.759 He declared. 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:20.519 Now, we just finish off with a little section that points forward, even beyond our lives. 00:22:20.519 --> 00:22:25.120 So rather than looking back and seeing that it's been fulfilled, we're called to have 00:22:25.120 --> 00:22:31.000 faith and to believe and rejoice that this is still to happen and to take great confidence 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:37.319 in it because of everything that we know in our hearts as believers about Jesus and all 00:22:37.319 --> 00:22:39.680 that His Word declares. 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:46.680 Because what we have here is a prophecy in chapter 11, the verses that we read, and it's 00:22:46.680 --> 00:22:52.640 the first section is a prophecy about Jesus coming, but the second prophecy is pointing 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:58.039 forward to a time that is still to happen. 00:22:58.039 --> 00:23:04.200 So a lot of the commentators talk about this as prophetic foreshortening. 00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:09.039 So you have two prophecies together and they look like they're happening at the same time, 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:14.240 but it's a bit like looking at a mountain from a distance. 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:19.559 And when you get to the mountain and you climb up the first bit, you realise that it's not 00:23:19.559 --> 00:23:20.559 actually the peak. 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:26.599 There's a big trough and you've got to go and climb again to get to the top. 00:23:26.599 --> 00:23:29.639 And that's just, as you look at a mountain, that's sometimes what you see. 00:23:29.639 --> 00:23:33.240 The two peaks look together, but when you actually get to the first peak, there's a 00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:39.279 big valley, Glen, before you can climb the second peak, prophetic foreshortening. 00:23:39.279 --> 00:23:44.519 So sometimes when two prophecies are together in the Bible and we're given to Isaiah in 00:23:44.519 --> 00:23:49.879 that form, it's speaking of two different events and with a timescale between them. 00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:58.360 And this second beautiful little picture speaks of the future from verse 6, the wolf shall 00:23:58.360 --> 00:24:02.880 dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down in the young goat, the calf in the lion, 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:07.320 pictorial language we have here, the fattened calf together, the little child together with 00:24:07.320 --> 00:24:12.720 them, and so on until verse 9, they shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:19.360 for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the water covers the sea. 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:20.359 That's the picture of the future. 00:24:20.359 --> 00:24:22.559 And isn't it good to do it tonight? 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:27.679 Because the Lord's Supper is looking back, but it also is looking forward. 00:24:27.679 --> 00:24:32.959 So we look forward as Christians to what we have yet to enjoy, what has yet to come. 00:24:32.959 --> 00:24:38.839 This is a fantastic glimpse of the future. 00:24:38.839 --> 00:24:44.119 I mean, Isaiah 65 makes it really clear for us because Isaiah 65 repeats this section 00:24:44.119 --> 00:24:49.919 about the animals, and it does so in the context of the new heavens and the new earth. 00:24:49.919 --> 00:24:56.599 And that's exactly what's been spoken about here, is that Jesus comes and He comes to 00:24:56.599 --> 00:25:01.559 call a people to Himself and He comes to take us home. 00:25:01.559 --> 00:25:04.199 This isn't our home. 00:25:04.199 --> 00:25:10.879 Our home is yet to be enjoyed and revealed in the new heavens and the new earth with 00:25:10.879 --> 00:25:12.399 Jesus Christ. 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:20.600 Being with Him in a city, in a place where righteousness dwells. 00:25:20.600 --> 00:25:25.720 And we have yet a picture of that here, a beautiful picture for us. 00:25:25.720 --> 00:25:29.120 And it speaks of important spiritual truths. 00:25:29.120 --> 00:25:36.880 It speaks of the reconciliation of old hostilities, the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:43.880 young goat who in this world, this broken world, this world under God's judgment, attack 00:25:43.880 --> 00:25:46.000 and destroy one another. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:48.440 These old hostilities will be gone. 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:53.560 Now I believe it's real. 00:25:53.560 --> 00:25:54.560 It's also simple. 00:25:54.560 --> 00:25:55.960 It's not just talking about animals. 00:25:55.960 --> 00:26:00.120 But yeah, there will be animals for sure. 00:26:00.120 --> 00:26:04.840 Not redeemed animals, but new creations. 00:26:04.839 --> 00:26:07.839 But the whole nature will be different, won't it? 00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:12.039 There'll be reconciled, the hostilities will have gone. 00:26:12.039 --> 00:26:16.079 There'll be changed natures, at least in the animal kingdom. 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:19.959 They'll eat the same food, and they'll eat the same food together. 00:26:19.959 --> 00:26:26.879 There'll be herbivore, not carnivore once more, as the calf and the lion and the fattened 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:35.320 calf together, gray, the cow and the bear grays and their young lie down together. 00:26:35.320 --> 00:26:41.600 Different world, different kind of world, a world where also the curse is removed between 00:26:41.600 --> 00:26:48.840 the seed and the snake, where the child can play the whole of the cobra and the weaned 00:26:48.839 --> 00:26:58.279 child can put his hand on the adder's den, where that curse of division between the serpent 00:26:58.279 --> 00:27:03.799 and the child, the most vulnerable of humanity, is gone. 00:27:03.799 --> 00:27:08.679 No more tension, no more destruction, no more tears, no more toil, no more death. 00:27:08.679 --> 00:27:12.319 We have that described variously in different parts of the Bible. 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:22.000 All that our deepest hearts long for, all that we crave and we look for in idolatry or in 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:32.039 wishful filming or whatever it might be, we find in Christ in what lies ahead. 00:27:32.039 --> 00:27:38.319 We taste it now, it's in shadow now, we know peace now, but it's only the best is still 00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:40.439 to come. 00:27:40.440 --> 00:27:46.799 Peace and holiness, no destroying, no destruction, no death, the earth will be full of the knowledge 00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:49.759 of God as the waters cover the sea. 00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:55.680 So that same picture of the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. 00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:58.360 That's our home. 00:27:58.360 --> 00:28:00.519 And that's what we look forward to. 00:28:00.519 --> 00:28:05.480 And that's what we're to call to remember as we participate in the Lord's Supper. 00:28:05.480 --> 00:28:08.480 It's not just a remembrance of the past. 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:12.759 It's until He come because He's yet to come and take you home. 00:28:12.759 --> 00:28:18.160 He's yet to come and call us all to dwell in His new society. 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:26.360 But we are to reflect that now in the kind of unity and the justice and the humble love 00:28:26.360 --> 00:28:32.319 with which we serve Him in this world as those touched by His grace. 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:41.919 And if you're not a Christian, what is your future hope at best beyond this life? 00:28:41.919 --> 00:28:43.919 What is it? 00:28:43.919 --> 00:28:45.319 What can we hold on to? 00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:49.720 What is permanent and secure and real, as real as this? 00:28:49.720 --> 00:28:55.000 Which is already, He's all God is saying, in His mercy, I've already proven it. 00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:56.919 It's the only way. 00:28:56.920 --> 00:29:02.920 Like a loving Father, He said, I had to expose this sin and the rebellion because it's so 00:29:02.920 --> 00:29:08.920 dangerous, but also I became the one who bore it. 00:29:08.920 --> 00:29:13.360 I took it all so that you might be gifted mercy and freedom. 00:29:13.360 --> 00:29:16.880 It's great good news. 00:29:16.880 --> 00:29:23.360 And we find it in sometimes the most difficult and hardest texts that we read in the Old 00:29:23.360 --> 00:29:24.360 Testament. 00:29:24.359 --> 00:29:30.959 So please remember who we are and who we serve and what the invitation and the challenges 00:29:30.959 --> 00:29:33.359 for each of us this evening. 00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:35.359 Let's pray. 00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:41.159 Father, help us, we ask to understand you and know you better through your word. 00:29:41.159 --> 00:29:45.519 We recognize there's many bits of your word that are really difficult to understand. 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:55.400 But we also remember that you're a great, beautiful, glorious, sovereign, merciful, loving God. 00:29:55.400 --> 00:29:59.920 And may we not live our lives in the shadow. 00:29:59.920 --> 00:30:02.240 May we not live our lives running from you. 00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:13.279 They're back turned in pride or in the dreadful deceit of thinking we know better than you. 00:30:13.279 --> 00:30:18.599 Give us that humility as children to know that as a loving Father you have absolutely 00:30:18.599 --> 00:30:20.920 got the best for us. 00:30:20.920 --> 00:30:30.399 That you have a future that is beyond our wildest imagination and yet will satisfy every 00:30:30.399 --> 00:30:36.839 craving of our human being to the infinite degree. 00:30:36.839 --> 00:30:41.720 So Lord, help us to look back with thanksgiving as we celebrate the Lord's Supper and look 00:30:41.720 --> 00:30:43.920 forward with anticipation this evening. 00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:45.920 We ask it in your precious name. 00:30:45.920 --> 00:31:12.920 Amen.