WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.520 Evening everyone. My name is Tom, if you didn't pick that up at the start. I've been involved 00:00:06.520 --> 00:00:10.779 with St. Columbians for a long time, but I'm now involved with the Esk Valley Church plant, 00:00:10.779 --> 00:00:14.280 and I'm not here so often now, so it's really good to be back and to be part of the fellowship 00:00:14.280 --> 00:00:19.640 again, so good to see you all, even if I've never met you before, it's good to see you. 00:00:19.640 --> 00:00:23.000 And we're going to spend a bit of time, as Corey said, looking at this chapter primarily 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:32.480 in Isaiah chapter 60. Isaiah, or Corey, rather, Corey prayed right at the start of the service 00:00:32.480 --> 00:00:37.280 for something very important. He prayed that God would give us hope. The question I was 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:43.320 going to ask right at the start of the service is this, what hope is there for the nations? 00:00:43.320 --> 00:00:48.280 Now, you see why I'm asking that question in just a minute, but it's a bit of a cliche, 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:52.600 isn't it? I think, to look at the world and to feel a sense of despair sometimes, you 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:57.800 maybe feel that very keenly tonight. There are many ways in which we can look around 00:00:57.800 --> 00:01:05.519 us and feel a sense of trouble closing in on us. Now, you maybe know that really personally 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:11.200 tonight, but like I say, if you look at the headlines, I saw a number this week, and there's 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:18.079 poverty and the threat of war, and so many different issues that are coming down on top 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:22.319 of us, it feels all the time, and so the question goes out time and time again, and maybe in 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:29.239 your social circles and on our news feeds and everywhere, what hope is there? What hope 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:36.839 is there for the nations? What can the world do about itself? So I think a chapter like 00:01:36.839 --> 00:01:42.560 the one we're about to look at gives us the answer, and it gives us the hope that we need 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:50.560 personally and that we need to proclaim to, we hope, a listening world. Trouble all around, 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:54.320 and different people have different answers. It reminded me when I was thinking about this 00:01:54.320 --> 00:02:00.000 of George Orwell, who famously said in one of his novels, hope lies in the proles, or 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.159 the proletariat. In other words, you need an uprising from below, you need the common 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:10.480 people to rise up, stand up for what is good. Now, that's one perspective. Maybe another 00:02:10.480 --> 00:02:15.480 group of people would say, well, hope lies in a place like Davos in Switzerland, where 00:02:15.480 --> 00:02:19.360 we have a gathering this week of the World Economic Forum. Is that where hope lies for 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:25.760 the world? Do you feel like those who gathered last week at Davos have your interests at 00:02:25.760 --> 00:02:30.920 heart? Are they going to help you? What are they going to do for you? And for everything 00:02:30.920 --> 00:02:35.840 that's going on in the world, that makes it such a difficult place. The slogan after 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:40.080 all, I saw a brief excerpt of the Canadian Prime Minister speaking, and this is what 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:46.160 it said on the wall behind him, in big words so everyone could see, committed to improving 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:55.319 the state of the world. So there you go. Hope lies at Davos, perhaps. But what we find is 00:02:55.319 --> 00:03:00.199 we come towards the end of Isaiah, and we get this unfolding of the vision of what Isaiah 00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:09.359 describes in Isaiah chapter 60, is a clear picture of the hope for an expanded Zion, 00:03:09.359 --> 00:03:16.000 the hope that God pronounces to the world, which so amazingly and beautifully speaks 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:20.759 to the nations of the world, and speaks into eternity. So that is what I want to bring 00:03:20.759 --> 00:03:27.800 out tonight. Hope for the world lies in being in this expanded notion of the Zion of God. 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:31.599 So we see that in a few different ways. But I want to start by saying that we go first 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:38.120 of all to chapter verse 12. If I was to do a kind of breakdown of the chapter just in 00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:42.080 terms of how it works, how it's structured, some people are interested in this kind of 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:45.360 thing, there's quite a formal structure here, which I'm not going to spend a lot of time 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:51.080 on, but in many ways the heart of the chapter is verse 12. So in verse 12 we read about 00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:58.880 a very serious thing. It says in verse 12, for the nation and kingdom that will not serve 00:03:58.880 --> 00:04:04.880 you shall perish, those nations shall be utterly laid waste. There's a pivotal issue going 00:04:04.880 --> 00:04:11.000 on here, and it's raising the fact that the world's real issue is to see God for who 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:16.160 he is as the judge of all the world, the creator of all the world, the one to whom all the 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:22.879 nations of the world should and will one day bow. But actually if you think about it, 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:28.000 and as you may have noticed when we were reading through the chapter, the chapter is bookended. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:33.480 It has the central pivot of this call, this fundamental need for repentance before the 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:41.720 holy God, but it's bookended at the start and at the end by talk of a redeemer, a wonderful 00:04:41.720 --> 00:04:48.160 redeemer who is the hope, who is personally, centrally the hope that the nations must turn 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:52.759 to. So we're going to see that as we go through the chapter. But we begin, and the first point 00:04:52.759 --> 00:04:58.759 I want to bring out is just this, that the redeemer and his repentant people of Zion, 00:04:58.759 --> 00:05:02.319 that's the first thing, the first kind of stage if you like in thinking about the hope 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:08.959 for the nations. So it's grounded in this fact that the nations in the kingdoms that 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:16.360 don't serve the Lord will perish. Repentance is absolutely vital. Come into a clear-eyed 00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:24.560 understanding of who we are, that we are created beings who stand before an awesome God, is 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:29.360 our starting place that never changes, or has to become our starting place if it's never 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:33.879 been that before. And so there's a need to be humbled before the God. But it also speaks, 00:05:33.879 --> 00:05:38.400 and if I could take you back to where Corey started reading from, the end of chapter 59, 00:05:38.400 --> 00:05:44.840 it speaks about this personal redeemer who comes in verse 20, a redeemer will come to 00:05:44.840 --> 00:05:50.879 Zion, a rescuer, a saviour. These people aren't self-sufficient. They don't have it, in other 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:58.800 words, within themselves to redeem themselves. They need a redeemer. He is the one who is 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:05.520 pronounced, who is spoken about, and who they are to trust in. So Isaiah is full of call. 00:06:05.520 --> 00:06:09.960 I believe you've been looking at the servants' songs over the last few weeks, and there are 00:06:09.960 --> 00:06:16.680 frequently calls to people to repent, to return. That's another kind of concept that is frequently 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:26.040 used. Return to me, says the Lord. I am your sovereign. I am the one over you. Return to 00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:31.600 me. Repent. Even if I was to go back just to pick a different example, different language 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:37.080 at the start of chapter 55, come. Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. He who has 00:06:37.080 --> 00:06:47.160 no money, come, buy, and eat. God calls people to himself because he's the one who fixes 00:06:47.160 --> 00:06:58.920 them, and who heals them, and who satisfies them. So the first thing is to see this redeemer, 00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:03.720 and his people, those who are the repentant people, those who will humble themselves and 00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:08.520 who will come before him. And he's revealed, again, if I can just go back into chapter 00:07:08.520 --> 00:07:13.840 59, specifically as a person, there is this notion that grows throughout the pages of 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:20.679 the Old Testament of the Deliverer, the Messiah, the one who God will send to be the Deliverer. 00:07:20.679 --> 00:07:26.359 And the first thing that we see is that he is the righteous one. Chapter 59, verse 16, 00:07:26.359 --> 00:07:31.959 the Lord saw that there was no man, wondered that there was no one to intercede, then his 00:07:31.959 --> 00:07:41.000 own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him. He is the righteous one. He himself 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:48.040 has what it takes. He's the righteous one. What else? Verse 20, again, we've seen already 00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:55.240 a redeemer will come, a rescuer, one who will save people who are dying from darkness. He 00:07:55.240 --> 00:08:00.680 goes on to speak about deep, thick darkness, and he will bring them into life, and he will 00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:09.639 bring them into light. Now, there's good news. He's the righteous one. He's the redeemer. 00:08:09.639 --> 00:08:15.639 Let me bring it into chapter 60. Let me just read through into verse 2. A rise shine for 00:08:15.639 --> 00:08:20.560 your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you, for behold, darkness shall 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:27.159 cover the earth and thick darkness to peoples. But the Lord will arise upon you, and his 00:08:27.159 --> 00:08:32.679 glory will be seen upon you. So that's speaking here of the Lord. But again, this concept 00:08:32.679 --> 00:08:40.399 familiar to his nation, his people, the Israelites, the glory of the Lord. Good news again. The 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:46.519 Lord is speaking to us again of his glory rising upon us. He's the righteous one. He's 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:57.759 the redeemer. He's the glorious one. Here is news of hope. Now, in many ways, so far, 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:02.960 so in keeping with expectations for God's covenant people, the Lord speaks to them again 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:09.039 in terms which they know it's like music to their ears. He pronounces to them their waywardness 00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:15.919 throughout the prophecy, and he pronounces to them about himself, about his faithfulness, 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:23.399 about his mercy, and he reveals himself as the one to whom they need to return. And so 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:27.319 for if you think about the context, what are people going to be thinking when they're hearing 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:33.240 this prophecy? How do people in Isaiah's day process this kind of stuff? Well, it's 00:09:33.240 --> 00:09:37.520 good news to them, but it's in keeping with how God has revealed himself to them. He's 00:09:37.520 --> 00:09:41.800 going to restore us again. Things are going to be as they were, perhaps, when we were 00:09:41.800 --> 00:09:50.280 gathered together, and together as a nation, not as they were in exile, scattered, beaten 00:09:50.279 --> 00:10:00.679 down, wandering. So the first news of hope is the redeemer and his repentant people 00:10:00.679 --> 00:10:07.199 of Zion. That's fundamental here. But this chapter, if you like, just takes off as we 00:10:07.199 --> 00:10:12.799 go through it, because the second thing that I want to see is the expansion, as I mentioned 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:17.720 at the start, of this concept of Zion, the broadening of the picture, the expansion of 00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:25.560 Zion, the increasing, expanding role of the nations. So it goes on to speak of the nations 00:10:25.560 --> 00:10:32.320 and of the blessing of God to the nations in ways that would perhaps have been unimaginable 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:41.200 to his covenant people at one time. A global gathering of the nations into his family. 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:48.480 Now that is so much bigger. The picture is so much bigger for them to comprehend. Many 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:54.560 of his people, after they return, again thinking contextually, after they return from exile 00:10:54.560 --> 00:10:58.800 and they gather again and they rebuild the temple, there's a sense of disappointment 00:10:58.800 --> 00:11:03.840 amongst some of the people, because they may be expected great things again. And yet in 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:07.920 their time and in their place when they rebuild the temple, they're thinking, well, it's not 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:13.159 quite the same. We're not quite the same as we were. The temple isn't quite the same 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:19.599 as it was. We're not quite as glorious. Things aren't quite the same. And yet the vision 00:11:19.599 --> 00:11:24.399 that is presented in this chapter is so much bigger than the expectations and the vision 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:34.959 that they had. How so? Well, verse 3, he's spoken about how the Lord will arise upon 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:41.560 you and his glory will be seen upon you and nations shall come to your light. Now he's 00:11:41.560 --> 00:11:48.200 already said, arise and shine for your light will come and nations shall come to your light 00:11:48.200 --> 00:11:54.840 and kings to the brightness of your rising. In other words, ordinary people and royalty 00:11:54.840 --> 00:12:03.000 from all the nations will flock to the light that you have. There's an expansion of their 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:08.639 picture, of their framework, if you like. One comment here, I like, Matier who I was reading 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:15.840 says this, the nations don't come as mere porters of Zion's children, but as converts 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:22.679 to the Lord in their own right and as his evangelists, as those who tell of his goodness. 00:12:22.679 --> 00:12:29.000 Come down to verse 6, a multitude of camels shall cover you and young camels of Midian 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:35.960 and Epha, all those from Sheba shall come, they shall bring gold and frankincense. Is 00:12:35.960 --> 00:12:43.120 that ringing bells? From the nations coming bringing gifts and shall bring good news, the 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:48.159 praises of the Lord. There are people coming from the nations of the world bringing good 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:57.000 news and praises to the Lord who is the light. So these rulers and these ordinary people 00:12:57.000 --> 00:13:00.679 will come from the nations, but also as we go through this section, we didn't read all 00:13:00.679 --> 00:13:04.759 of the chapter, but as we go through this section, we see another thing, the nations 00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:12.000 will build and beautify this expanding Zion, this kingdom of God growing and expanding 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:17.519 throughout the nations and throughout time as God builds his people down through the 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:23.120 ages. So what we're seeing here is an unfolding picture of God's big picture of salvation 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:29.000 down through the ages. The nations will build and beautify this new Zion. Verse 10, foreigners 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:38.480 shall build up your walls and their kings shall minister to you. Verse 13, the glory 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:43.919 of Lebanon shall come to you, the Cyprus, the plain and the pine, to beautify the place 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:50.759 of my sanctuary and I will make the place of my feet glorious. Now again, the people 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:56.879 of his day reading this are considering this. When Solomon built his temple, he sent to 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:01.799 the nations of the world to import some of the finest of the materials to beautify the 00:14:01.799 --> 00:14:06.639 temple and to beautify all that they were building. So again, is this just another expression 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:12.000 of how they'll import some of the finest stuff to make the finest temple? Well, no. There's 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:17.000 so much more going on here that speaks in bigger terms and picture language about the 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:22.600 building throughout time and history and the beautifying as God brings people from all 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:30.720 places into his family, into his kingdom, as his kingdom is being built together to the 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:34.480 praise of his glorious name as he says at the end of that verse, and I will make the 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:41.600 place of my feet the resting place where he will be glorious. What a big picture of what 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:50.360 God is doing and will do amongst the nations. And in many ways, you know what this is? This 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:55.920 is the original story of globalization. This is the big global picture and it's the best 00:14:55.920 --> 00:15:04.360 one, isn't it? It's the best picture for the world. There are two examples came to my mind 00:15:04.360 --> 00:15:10.360 this week. As far as I know, there are two examples in advertising history where a soft 00:15:10.360 --> 00:15:20.240 drink is held out as not only tasty, but as the savior of the world. And the first example 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:24.560 I thought of was actually comes at the end of a program that I enjoyed watching it suddenly 00:15:24.560 --> 00:15:30.480 cut to this advert. And it's from 1971 and it's an advert for Coca-Cola. And it's a very 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:37.960 famous advert. And it's an advert that kind of pronounces this global picture of unity 00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:42.160 and harmony as the peoples of the world and all the different races come together and 00:15:42.160 --> 00:15:46.120 celebrate what they have in common. And of course what they have in common is a bottle 00:15:46.120 --> 00:15:52.320 of Coca-Cola branded each in their own language. But here's the lyrics. Very interesting what 00:15:52.320 --> 00:16:00.120 the lyrics say in the song that accompanies this advert. I'd like to buy the world a home 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:07.240 and furnish it with love. Grow apple trees and honeybees and snow white turtle doves. 00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:13.000 I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. I'd like to buy the world a Coke 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:23.399 and keep it company. What the world wants today is the real thing. So there's a 1971 00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:29.080 beginning of the era of globalization, market driven forces, pronouncement of what the world 00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:35.960 needs. There was a sense of optimism or perhaps slightly less optimism at the end of the 60s 00:16:35.960 --> 00:16:39.680 to the 70s, a sense of coming together of all the different nations of the world, of 00:16:39.680 --> 00:16:44.680 pronouncing their need for harmony and of unity exploited by a soft drink company of 00:16:44.680 --> 00:16:53.120 course. But what we get in this beautiful picture is of the nations coming together, 00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:59.480 focused around not just a sense of the worthiness that they have together or of their own attainment 00:16:59.480 --> 00:17:05.680 or of their beautiful characteristics but of the Lord himself as their need and as their 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:11.279 fulfillment. Again, commentator says this, to confine a prophecy like this just to the 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:17.680 return from Babylon of the Israelites is to fail to listen to what Isaiah is saying. 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:24.080 He looks for a worldwide regathering. The reality of this is the winning of the nations 00:17:24.080 --> 00:17:33.640 and the gathering of all into the heavenly Zion when the Lord Jesus returns. So we focus 00:17:33.640 --> 00:17:38.880 in on the Redeemer and his repentant people we focus on the expansion of Zion, the role 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:44.520 of the nations and the blessing of the nations as they're called to hear this good news. 00:17:44.520 --> 00:17:52.720 And the third, final thing I want to focus in is this. In this big picture of this wonderful 00:17:52.720 --> 00:18:03.080 kingdom, everything will be better than it was because Jesus is the peace of Zion. Everything 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:10.599 will be better because Jesus is the peace at the center of Zion. Again, just to go through 00:18:10.599 --> 00:18:16.799 the final section of the chapter, there's a sense of unfolding wonder as we go through 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:22.159 these verses. What's it like to be a part of this movement? What's it look like there? 00:18:22.159 --> 00:18:27.599 Is this something I want to be a part of? Is it good there? Are things better? Are they 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:35.639 fixed? Well, in verse 11 we read about the gates. Your gates, you picture a city, a city 00:18:35.639 --> 00:18:39.799 which has been besieged as it were. Literally, they were besieged and they were held off 00:18:39.799 --> 00:18:45.519 captive. But here now we read this. Your gates shall be open continually. Day and night they 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:51.399 shall not be shut. A picture that maybe you think initially of security, which would be 00:18:51.399 --> 00:18:57.519 fair, but it's also a picture of the gates open continually because people are constantly 00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:04.559 coming in. There's a constant stream of people coming into this place. Multitudes coming 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:11.519 into this place. It's a picture also of brilliance. Verse 17, instead of bronze, I'll bring gold. 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:15.319 Instead of iron, I'll bring silver. Instead of wood, bronze. Instead of stones, iron. 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:21.920 I will make your overseer's peace. The brilliance that is spoken of here reflects, in many ways, 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:27.960 the glory of the Lord himself as we'll come on to see. It's a place of brilliance and 00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:37.279 of beauty. It's a place also of specifically security and of peace. In verse 16, at the 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:44.160 end of verse 16, you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior. You shall know it. These 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:54.360 were people who had been so fearful and exiled and broken and guilty, so messed up. And he 00:19:54.360 --> 00:19:59.680 says, you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:06.240 one of Jacob. You shall know this. At the end of verse 17, I will make your overseer's 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:16.279 peace and your taskmaster's righteousness. I will make your overseer's, not exploiter's, 00:20:16.279 --> 00:20:23.720 but peace. So again, this expanding, and I've got time to bring out all the different ways 00:20:23.720 --> 00:20:27.319 in which we see this in this passage. Go home and read it through again and just see the 00:20:27.319 --> 00:20:35.640 way in which it unfolds in goodness and in splendor. Everything will be better, but specifically 00:20:35.640 --> 00:20:41.520 because of the presence of this Redeemer that we mentioned at the start. Again, remember 00:20:41.520 --> 00:20:47.560 I said that this Redeemer, this figure bookends in many ways this chapter. And so here again 00:20:47.560 --> 00:20:53.840 at the end of this, what do we see? Verse 19, the sun shall no more be your light by 00:20:53.840 --> 00:20:59.520 day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light, but the Lord will be your everlasting 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:07.799 light and your God will be your glory. He will be the one who is there, who is your light, 00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:13.039 who is your glory. It goes on in verse 20, the Lord will be your everlasting light and 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:26.000 your days of mourning shall be ended. Now, God has revealed to us the Redeemer, the one 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:31.839 who will make all this possible if we trust in him. He has shown us his son who gave up 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:37.119 his life. You've been reading the songs over the last few weeks of the suffering servant 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:42.960 and he is the one who has made this possible. He is the one who laid down his life, who 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:50.720 in love became nothing and yet is the ascended and risen and glorified Lord of all the earth, 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:56.640 the one before whom every knee shall bow. And he is the one who at the center of the 00:21:56.640 --> 00:22:03.000 throne rules and will one day be revealed in all of his glory before all of the nations 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:09.200 and every knee will bow. And so of course we ask ourselves the question right now whether 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:16.000 before him we're conscious of his majesty and whether before him our hearts are humble 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:21.880 and thankful and grateful because the New Testament of course reveals to us the reality 00:22:21.880 --> 00:22:28.920 of Jesus, the righteous one, the one who laid down his life. But I want to, as we come towards 00:22:28.920 --> 00:22:32.359 the end of what I want to look at tonight, just read from Revelation chapter 21 because 00:22:32.359 --> 00:22:38.680 you'll see I think when I read how many parallels there are with this beautiful picture in Isaiah 00:22:38.680 --> 00:22:45.920 chapter 60 where we see again this wonderful reflection of God's provision in Jesus Christ, 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:57.039 so I'm going to turn to Revelation chapter 21. Let me read from verse 10. Speaks about 00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:01.759 a new Jerusalem coming down, this new city of God coming down. And then we read, and 00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:05.480 he carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city 00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:10.720 Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:17.440 a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. A picture there of the beauty, the 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:23.200 splendour and the glory of this place. But then I'm going to go down to verse 22. And 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:29.160 I saw no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb. 00:23:29.160 --> 00:23:33.880 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it for the glory of God gives it 00:23:33.880 --> 00:23:42.120 light and its lamp is the Lamb, the Lamb, the one who suffered, the servant, your servant 00:23:42.120 --> 00:23:50.680 who is at the centre of this beautiful place. By its light will the nations walk and the 00:23:50.680 --> 00:23:56.800 kings of the earth will bring their glory into it and its gates will never be shut by day 00:23:56.800 --> 00:24:01.440 and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honour of 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:08.440 the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it. Nothing unclean will ever enter 00:24:08.440 --> 00:24:19.080 it. So this is God's picture that he wants us to see. And what I want to do is just finish 00:24:19.080 --> 00:24:27.360 by saying so what do we do with this? You enter a new week, you maybe are here tonight 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:32.159 and considering God and wondering who he is and whether he is somebody who bears any 00:24:32.159 --> 00:24:35.279 relevance to your life whatsoever. You may be somebody who's been a Christian for a 00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:41.399 long time and you're wondering how to still go on following him and whether he is good 00:24:41.399 --> 00:24:44.959 for you and whether he will be faithful to his promises. So I just want to say two things 00:24:44.959 --> 00:24:49.359 in finishing and the first is this. We ask the question over and over again as we face 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:56.039 trouble in person and as we look out and we see devastation and threat and fear all around 00:24:56.039 --> 00:25:04.039 us and we ask the question what hope is there for the nations. First thing is this, see 00:25:04.039 --> 00:25:10.079 the plan of God for the nations. Behold it, consider it, put it up in big letters before 00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:20.599 you. Be convinced again of God's power and his ability and his desire which has already 00:25:20.599 --> 00:25:29.399 been fulfilled in Jesus to bring this to effect. What a vision for the nations. But remember 00:25:29.399 --> 00:25:34.559 what a vision for those among the nations who will humble themselves and repent before 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:41.759 the Lord. So that's the first thing, see again, be convinced of the big picture, the story 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:47.759 of God for the nations. And the second thing is to this, to you, if you're somebody who 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:54.599 has trusted in the Lord then don't fear. There is much to fear but I want to take you back 00:25:54.599 --> 00:26:02.039 to verse one because in verse one we read these words. He says to his people, arise, 00:26:02.039 --> 00:26:08.000 shine for your light has come. Now that is never more true than to you and I as we look 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:14.319 back to the Redeemer Jesus. Your light has come. The Lord has displayed to you and I 00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:20.599 what he will do, what he has done because of his great love to purchase a people for 00:26:20.599 --> 00:26:28.519 himself from amongst all the nations which includes you and me. Arise and shine for your 00:26:28.519 --> 00:26:36.240 light, your Redeemer, your Saviour. You know him, you behold him, Jesus Christ, the suffering 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:45.079 servant. The second soft drink I referenced Coca-Cola and of course their great rivals, 00:26:45.079 --> 00:26:50.640 Pepsi brought out a rather unfortunate advert a couple of years or so ago and in this advert 00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:54.680 there were lots of young people who were very fresh and exciting and they were demonstrating 00:26:54.680 --> 00:27:01.799 something and they were faced by a line of very doer looking riot police or something 00:27:01.799 --> 00:27:07.599 and from amongst these young exciting demonstrators comes a celebrity, I can't remember which 00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:13.039 one and the point is that she comes out and she approaches these repressive people who 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:17.039 are stopping them expressing themselves and demonstrating and being free and she hands 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:23.079 them a kind of Pepsi. It's supposed to signify in some kind of way the liberation comes through 00:27:23.079 --> 00:27:30.919 being young and free and expressive and having Pepsi. And again the tagline, the lyrics to 00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:38.240 this advert are very instructive. They tell us a lot about what the perception is for 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:43.759 hope amongst the nations. The final tagline for the advert is this, it talks in the song 00:27:43.759 --> 00:27:49.840 that accompanies the advert about our generation, we're going to rise up, we're going to shine. 00:27:49.840 --> 00:27:59.560 And then it says live strong, live loud, live now. Fine. Except what's that telling you 00:27:59.559 --> 00:28:07.639 to do? It's telling you to find your own light inside of yourself which you can project to 00:28:07.639 --> 00:28:15.599 the world and which can in some way bring harmony and peace and healing among the nations. 00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:22.399 And you know what, that is a terrible burden for you to have to bear. I don't have that 00:28:22.399 --> 00:28:28.279 within me and I don't think anyone here does. That we within ourselves have the light, the 00:28:28.279 --> 00:28:35.639 capacity, the ability to heal ourselves let alone bring healing to the nations. And so 00:28:35.639 --> 00:28:43.039 what we're counseled by God's word to do is to behold His light and to see over and over 00:28:43.039 --> 00:28:49.319 again that the provision is not found within ourselves but in His accomplishment in Jesus 00:28:49.319 --> 00:28:57.440 Christ. So a few verses just to leave you with. In John chapter 8, Jesus says, I am 00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:02.559 the light of the world, whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the 00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:10.680 light of life. In Matthew 5 he says, let your light so shine before men that they may see 00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:16.799 your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Now what does that look like? Well 00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:23.519 in 1 Peter then finally we read this, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy 00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:30.039 nation, a people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who 00:29:30.039 --> 00:29:39.160 called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. So know that light, Jesus Christ for 00:29:39.160 --> 00:29:49.440 yourself and being so convinced of his worthiness, hold out that light, proclaim that light to 00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:56.640 a world who so desperately needs him. I'm going to pray and then I'm going to finish 00:29:56.640 --> 00:30:14.519 and sing. Lord your ability is far more than ours. Your everything about you is awesome 00:30:14.519 --> 00:30:20.359 and great but we praise you that you reveal as much as we need to know of your purposes 00:30:20.359 --> 00:30:28.160 for the world. You speak truthfully to us of our condition and of our need and we pray 00:30:28.160 --> 00:30:32.519 that you would give us wisdom and love for those around us so that we can help or seek 00:30:32.519 --> 00:30:37.319 to help those who are in need and be a part of our society to bring good and to bring 00:30:37.319 --> 00:30:47.159 blessing but convince us Lord that you are our soul's satisfaction, you are our great 00:30:47.159 --> 00:30:56.359 rescuer and redeemer and please use us Lord so that more may be brought into your kingdom 00:30:56.359 --> 00:31:06.559 and so that your name might be glorified in our corner of the world. We pray that you 00:31:06.559 --> 00:31:11.119 would be very great in our eyes. In Jesus' name. Amen.