Good morning. The scripture reading today comes from the book of Isaiah chapter 50, verse 1 to 11.
You can follow along on the screen or your Bible.
Thus says the Lord, where is your mother's certificate of divorce, with which I sent her away?
Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you?
Behold, for your inequities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
Why, when I came, was there no man?
Why, when I called, was there no one to answer?
Is my hand shortened, that is, cannot redeem?
Or have I no power to deliver?
Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea.
I make the rivers a desert.
The fish stink for lack of water and die of thirst.
I cloth the heavens with blackness and make sackcloth their covering.
The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word.
Him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens.
He awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious.
I turned not backward.
I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard.
I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.
But the Lord God helps me.
Therefore, I have not been disgraced.
Therefore, I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
He who predicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together.
Who is my adversary?
Let him come near to me.
Behold, the Lord God helps me.
Who will declare me guilty?
Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment.
The moth will eat them up.
Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant?
Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.
Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
who equip yourselves with burning torches.
Walk by the lights of your fire and by the torches that you have kindled.
This you have from my hand.
You shall lie down in torment.
Amen.
Thank you so much, Soda.
For those of you who don't know, and I was just wondering about that reference at the end,
Soda is Dan's wife.
So in case you're worrying about any kind of flirting going on there, it's perfectly okay.
You can talk with Dan and Soda afterwards.
One of the great things that we want to do as a church
is we want to be able to raise up other people to lead within the church.
We're always wanting to raise up people who can be preaching
because we believe God wants us to be a church which multiplies
and which raises up others in this process.
And so one of the things we're going to be doing now
is we're going to actually have a different kind of sermon.
We're going to tag team a sermon now with both Alan,
who is overseeing the youth at Watermark.
He is going to start us off on our third in the sermon series.
And then we're going to, I'm going to close it afterwards.
So without further ado, I want to just pray
and then welcome Alan to come and bring God's word to us.
So let me pray.
Father, thank you that even as we celebrate Advent
in what is just totally crazy times
where we have no idea what's going to be coming up in the future.
And yet we have an utter certainty in you.
I pray, Lord, as we come and hear your word
that our hearts would not be focused on everything that's around us,
but our hearts would be attentive to your voice.
I pray that we'd hear what you want us to say,
not just to hear, but to go out and live in the light of who you are
and what you've called us to be as a church during this Advent and Christmas season.
Pray for Alan as he brings your word.
Pray that you'd really anoint his lips as well.
And Father, just get all the glory this morning.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
So over to Alan.
Awesome.
Thank you, Chris, for that introduction.
So I am Alan, overseeing the youth here at Watermark Church.
And it's such a joy to be able to minister the word of God today.
Many years back when I was about 17 years old,
okay, a few years back when I was 17 years old,
I was back in India.
My cousin and I, we were taking a walk down this road.
It was very dark in India, so there was no electricity at that moment.
So as we were walking down the street,
we came across these two drunk people,
and they were fighting dead right in the center of the street.
And my cousin, being a teenager, he thought that was great entertainment.
Two drunk people fighting, that's great.
But I, on the other hand, I told him, like,
hey, we should get out of here.
We're going to get in trouble.
But then he insisted.
We said, I told him many times, but he thought, like, no, no, we should watch.
And soon enough, we had these people rushing in into that scene.
And it was actually the police who were coming in.
And since it was so dark,
that they just went around beating anyone they could get their hands on.
They started arresting people, and it was just chaos in that place.
If my cousin had just listened to me,
we would not have been in that darkness and chaos.
So, as we head towards Christmas,
we're actually going through the four servant songs that are found in the book of Isaiah.
And what we find in the book of Isaiah is a very similar situation to that of my cousin and I.
We see, we find a people of Israel that has not really listened,
that have become rebellious and disrespectful.
And in fact, we even find that actually,
while animals were honoring God,
that while animals could honor and worship their creator,
while the people were not really doing it.
So basically, even the human beings were like,
they were just worse than the animals.
And that has actually put them into a place of darkness and chaos.
And so much so that they actually start saying that God has rejected our cause,
that God has disregarded our cause,
that God has forgotten our cause,
and He just abandoned us.
But actually, when we come to today's chapter,
we find that actually God telling them that,
no, no, no, it is actually your sin and your transgressions
that has put you in that situation.
But why don't we just stop there and just think about it.
You see, this is a God who is a father speaking out to His child.
Now, I'm sure many of you are a father who's watching over.
Now, just imagine this is a God who's a father speaking out to His child.
He's telling them, hey, was I too weak to save you?
Is my hand too short that I cannot redeem you?
You see, He's telling them like, look, I want to save you,
but you have put yourself in that situation.
In fact, He's kind of telling them like,
hey, you got to trust me, I can't save you.
And what we have here now is a people who is rebelling against God,
disobedient, they're not listening,
they have unbelief, and because of that,
they are suffering and they're actually exiled from their own place.
Now, does that sound familiar?
Well, it should sound familiar because that is actually our natural state towards God.
You see, our natural state is against God,
that our sin would be against God,
that we would listen to anyone or anything except God,
that we would worship anyone or even anything except God,
that we would give priority to anyone, anything else except God.
But what we find here now is that,
yeah, but your exile and your suffering is not the final act.
And last week, we were just looking at this thing that,
Israel was supposed to be the light for the nation,
to draw all the nation towards God,
but Israel themselves have become so lost,
they have become lost as the other nation.
And here we have God telling them,
I'm going to save you,
that I'm going to redeem you,
but not just you, Israel,
but I'm going to redeem and save the whole world.
And the way God is going to do that is going to do through this agent,
through this mysterious figure that we find in the book of Isaiah called the servant.
Now, from today's passage,
we're going to,
we'll be learning three things about this servant,
the obedience of the servant,
the suffering of the servant,
and finally,
the vindication of the servant.
So let's just dive into today's first point,
the obedience of the servant.
So now what we find here is,
that we have a servant that receives the tongue of those who are taught from God,
that sustains the weary,
who is woken up every morning by God,
so that his ear is opened by God,
to hear as one who are taught.
Now, can you tell me what is the phrase that I used the most in that sentence?
It was by God.
You see, we see that it was God who initiates this relationship with this servant.
It was actually God who starts this relationship that he has with the servant,
and he's the one who begins that.
It was God who began that relationship.
And that seems to be a pattern we find throughout the Bible.
You see, God chose the nation of Israel.
It was God who chose Abraham.
It was God who chose Moses, Joseph, Abel.
And it was God who starts everything.
And let's stop there.
Do you see the beauty in that?
Do you see the beauty when God starts something?
Now, let's just look at it.
You see, we have here a God who is moving,
who is working first for the salvation of his people.
He's starting something to redeem his people.
He's starting something to actually save not just the people of Israel,
but actually to save the whole world.
Now, the question is, what did the people of the whole world deserve to get this?
What did the people of Israel do to deserve this salvation?
Nothing.
And it's so beautiful that we see here that it was God,
even though the people were undeserving,
it was God who initiates the relationship with the servants
to save his people, to save the whole world.
Now, looking at the obedience here,
whenever we talk about obedience,
we always have a person who's receiving instructions,
who's receiving words,
and that person actually doing it.
I mean, that is the essence of obedience, right?
I mean, if you have someone listening and not doing it,
that's actually called disobedience.
So, yeah, that's clear.
So, here we have a servant
who is receiving words from God,
whose ears awaken to hear.
Now, I want us to just think about it.
This servant is listening.
This servant is hearing from God,
and he's actually doing this before he does any work.
You see, before the servant is doing any work,
before the servant is doing anything,
we find him being filled
and being like those who are taught.
He's listening before anything else.
And that is the thing about obedience, right?
You listen first, and then you do it.
But what happens when you do first,
and then you listen?
Does that make sense?
Because many times that's what we do.
That we would go out and do something,
we would do whatever we want,
and then later on we come and try to see
what God would say about that.
And that's what we do.
Now, how does that look like?
Let me give an example of that.
Okay.
God, I have invested my finance in this.
I want you to bless it.
God, I'm dating this girl,
and I want you to bless it.
God, I'm making this life decision right now,
and I want you to bless it.
You see, we would actually do the thing first
and actually ask God later
about what he thinks about it.
And actually, Israel was in the same situation
where God was speaking to them,
but they were just not listening.
So this servant,
but what we find here is that
this servant was not just listening,
but he was actually being awakened
morning by morning.
So this listening that the servant was doing
is not just a one-time incident,
not just a one-time thing,
but it's actually a continuous thing
that is happening.
You see, this is not just a once-a-week Sunday preaching
that he's listening to.
This is not just a once-a-week
listening to Word of God
in your community group kind of thing.
It's actually something that's happening
morning by morning, every day.
I mean, I can push it to every moment too.
Because for this servant,
listening to God's Word
is not just a duty that he fulfills once in a while.
It's not just a duty that he wakes up in the morning
and just to listen to God's Word.
Because for this servant,
he actually needs God's Word every morning.
For him, he's utterly dependent on God's Word.
And what I mean by that is
he actually needs God's Word.
So the question is,
do you?
Do I?
Do I live my life as if I need God's Word
every morning, every day?
Or is it something I keep it once a week on a Sunday
or in our CG groups?
Do I need God's Word
morning by morning?
And that's what we see here.
A servant who's listening to God's Word
morning by morning.
And this is happening
before he's going out and doing anything.
So in obedience, we have,
that was the listening part of the servant.
That's the receiving part of the servant.
But this servant is not just listening,
but he's actually obeying.
We see that he's actually given the Word
to sustain the wearing.
Now, that is a powerful thing,
to sustain the wear,
to receive a word to sustain the wear.
I remember in 2019,
in July, in the month of July,
I was sitting in this coffee shop
with my mentor, Martin.
And I remember being broken down at that moment
because my life's one purpose,
my one dream had been just shattered.
And I could not understand why.
And I broke down.
I was crying in that coffee shop
because I was feeling so hopeless,
so discouraged,
and so weary at that moment.
And I remember that Martin,
he spoke words in Christ
that actually sustained me,
that actually encouraged me,
uplifted me as I was discouraged,
as I was broken and weary.
You see, the promise of this servant
is that he comes with the words
to sustain the wear.
Now, imagine Israel who is suffering.
Imagine Israel who is exiled from their home place
and to have a promise
that this servant is bringing the words
that will sustain them
as they are weary and discouraged and suffering.
Now, that's just beautiful.
And that's just powerful.
Now, this servant is not just,
he's just receiving these words
and he's actually speaking this out
from what he heard from God.
Now, if you go up to verse 5,
it actually tells us that
he has not been rebellious,
that he has not turned backward.
So, you see, he has not just listened,
but he has actually gone forward
and actually he's doing
what he has been told to do.
Now, that is obedience, right?
Obedience requires one to do
what he has heard.
And here is a servant that is listening.
Here is a servant that is listening
and then you have his people of Israel
who is not listening at all.
Here is a servant who is not just listening,
but he's also called to speak out the words,
words that sustain the weary,
who is not rebellious,
who has not turned backward.
While we have a people of Israel
that are rebellious,
that are not listening,
that have turned backwards,
that are worshipping anything but God,
who are just disobedient.
And we would actually think
that obedience,
when one person is obedient,
that would actually lead them to blessings,
that would actually lead them
to have blessings in their life,
that would actually lead them
to have a comfortable life.
But that's not really the case here.
You see, the servant's obedience
actually leads him to shame and suffering,
which leads us to the second point today,
the suffering of the servant.
When I was back in India,
in my high school,
I was,
in our high school,
we had this senior wing
and a junior wing
and we were kind of separated
and we were not encouraged
to interact with each other.
So one of this evening,
my cousin brother,
little cousin brother,
he was quite sick,
so I had gone down to
give him some medicine
and just give him,
just take care of him.
And as I was coming back up,
I was met by a teacher
who saw me
and what he did was
he came up to me
and he straight up
slapped me across the face.
So, like,
okay,
hitting was allowed in India,
is allowed in India,
was allowed in India.
Let me make it that clear.
So I was there,
coming back
and I just got slapped
across my face
and I was so angry
and there were people around
and I was so humiliated.
And I tried to tell him that,
hey, I did not do anything wrong,
I was just taking care of my brother
but he would just not listen.
And I was not even allowed
to justify myself
and I was so angry
at this injustice
that I was on the verge
of hitting this teacher back.
And I was just that angry.
And yeah,
I looked like that.
And I was just so angry
and I hated,
I hated
that I did the right thing
but I was met with slaps
and shame
in that time.
I hated that.
It was just so,
angry.
And I'm sure
many of you have
a similar story to that.
And the anger we feel
when we do something right
and get back
what we feel like
we don't deserve
is just
so infuriating.
And we want to react
to that many times
in anger
and violence.
But hey,
coming back to the scriptures,
coming back to the servant,
we have a servant
that is listening,
that is obeying,
he's obedient.
But in verse 6,
when we come down
to verse 6,
what we see is that
he's actually beaten up
and that he has
his beard pulled out,
that he was actually
spitted on
and he was actually
disgraced.
One commentator
actually says,
he suffered the deepest
humiliation
for to pluck out
the hair
of the beard
and to cover
someone's face
with spit
was,
according to
Near Eastern concepts,
the most humiliating
suffering
that could be
inflicted
upon a man.
So you see,
this servant
is not just
going through pain.
This servant
is not just
going through
suffering
and shame.
He's actually
going through
a humiliating
suffering
and humiliating
shame.
It was just
downright
bad.
Now,
in fact,
if you look at,
if you go back
to the verse,
the servant
actually says that
I gave my back
to the beatings.
that he was
actually not,
he was not
actually just
being beaten
because of
obedience.
He was actually,
he was giving
himself to
the beating.
In other words,
he was actually
voluntarily,
obediently,
willingly giving
himself to the
suffering and
humiliation.
Now,
look,
this servant
is not just
another nice
guy.
This servant
is not just
a nice,
obedient guy
who is like
a good guy.
No,
no,
no.
He is a servant
who is actually
following God,
who is really
obeying God.
You see,
while you and
I,
we would react
very differently
to this,
we would react
in a very angry
way,
we would react
with violence,
but this servant
is reacting
in a totally
opposite way.
You see,
he is willingly
giving himself
to that.
He actually
is reacting
in submission
to God's
will
for his life.
And he's
not just that.
This servant
is actually
honoring God
even when
he's humiliated
and beaten
unjustly,
and he's
not actually
angrily
seeking out
revenge.
He's not
planning revenge
behind the back.
He's not like,
I don't care
about the world.
He actually
doesn't give in
and he does not
let the shame
win in his life.
Just moving
ahead to verse 7,
you see that
for the servant,
the shame
actually bounces off.
He says that,
I have not been
disgraced.
It's as if,
like,
have you seen
the movie Superman?
Like,
the people
would shoot
bullets to Superman
and the bullets
would just bounce
off?
It's pretty similar.
The shame
would come to him
but it just
does not,
it just bounces
off.
He's saying,
I have not
been disgraced.
No,
I'm not unworthy.
In fact,
in the future,
I shall not be
put to shame.
So thank you,
Alan,
for just sharing
right at the end
there how this
servant who's just
depending on God,
listening to him,
he's willingly,
obediently following
the call that God
has on his life
and yet he's getting
shame and suffering
instead but he's
fixed his eyes
on the call
that God has for him
and he's obedient
to him,
not hating on
anything else.
How can he do that?
How can he persevere
when he tells us
in verse 7?
He says,
the Lord God
helps me.
The Lord God
helps me.
And he says,
in all of these
things,
verse 7,
verse 9,
the Lord God,
that means the
sovereign God
of the universe,
the personal God
of Israel
is with me,
is helping me.
It doesn't look like
he's helping him
because he's getting
beaten but he's
going to go and say,
no, no,
I've got a different
perspective on this
thing.
You see,
I can see
verse 8,
he says,
I'm not going to be
put to shame
because he who
vindicates me
is near,
is on my side,
is with me.
That word,
vindicate,
that's courtroom
language.
That's the language
of someone who
has been wrongfully
accused and then
been acquitted
of their crime.
It's the verdict
of not guilty.
In the right,
you are righteous.
Everyone else
may give the verdict
of guilty,
not worthy,
not respectable,
shamed.
But God says,
verdict of vindicated.
You see,
he says,
who matters most,
whose verdict
matters most,
is not everybody
else's,
is what God
says.
That's where
my vindication
is.
And God has
his stamp of
approval on me.
You know,
this is the same
word in the New
Testament,
which is the word
for justified.
Declared right
in God's sight.
I'm justified
before him.
You know,
it's like a
whistleblower
who has exposed
the abuses
or corruption
in a company
and gets just
run out
and outcast
from the company
for his daring
to speak the truth.
And then,
years later,
everything gets
exposed for what's
happened.
Another person
who is shamed
and humiliated
is now vindicated,
is now seen
as a hero
for not giving in
because they stood
for the truth.
That's what's
going on here.
The servant
right now
is declared
in the wrong
by everybody else.
But he looks
ahead and says,
no,
my vindication
is with God,
with the ultimate
judge.
And in his eyes,
I know that
his judgment
is the one
that's going to
quash every other
judgment.
And so that's
where I'm fixing
my eyes.
And I'm going
to be declared
right.
And I know
even now
that I will
be vindicated.
And he knows
that when you
are vindicated
than those
who've accused
you will,
in his words,
wear out.
They will disappear.
They will walk
away.
They will be
the ones in shame.
And you've got
to think,
how can this guy,
how can this
servant live
with this
perspective of
God's voice
above all others?
Well,
it's because
morning by morning
he's listening
to his voice.
He's utterly
dependent on
his word.
servant.
And so,
we go,
okay,
who is this
servant?
The original
readers would
spend a long
time thinking,
pondering who
this servant
was.
Well,
we know as
Christians,
it is Jesus
Christ.
It is the
true,
obedient,
faithful Israel.
Everything Israel
wasn't,
he was.
He's the one
who listened
to God's voice
and said,
I only do
the will
of my father.
In temptation,
he brought
God's word
and would not
back down
or give in.
He's the one
who,
when he,
he says he knew
his time was
there,
it was up,
that he set
his face
towards Jerusalem,
towards the cross,
and Peter and
none of the other
disciples who tried
to dissuade him
could get in
the way.
He rebuked them
because he had
his face set
on Jerusalem.
He's rejected
by the very
people that he
is seeking
to sustain
with a word
of liberation
and a word
of hope.
And he then
is unjustly tried.
He's brought
with false witnesses
a declaration
of guilt.
He is brought
against him
even though
everyone knew
that it was wrong.
Everyone knew
he was innocent.
He is mocked,
he is beaten,
he is spat on,
he is humiliated.
And yet he doesn't
go,
I don't deserve this.
He doesn't get bitter
but he says,
Father,
forgive.
He doesn't
choose to back down
and get for his
own comfort.
He says,
I lay down
my life
of my own
accord,
not my will
but yours
be done,
Father.
He looks
death and shame
in the eye
and says,
my vindicator
is near.
Into your hands,
Father,
I commit my spirit.
And at that moment
it looked like
death had won.
The religious leaders
thought it was over.
The disciples
thought it was over.
The Romans
thought it was over.
Death seemed
to have had
the final word.
But Jesus'
vindicator was near.
On the third day
he rose again,
triumphant.
It says he was
declared the son
of God with power,
exalted to the right
hand of the Father
and he will come
again to return
as the one
who is now
seated as
the highest judge
of all
before whom
every knee will bow
and every tongue
confess.
Amen.
And this servant
is vindicated
before the eyes
of the watching world.
And at the end
of the day
he will bring
judgment on all of us
and it's only
his verdict,
it's only his word,
it's only his opinion
that really counts.
And the amazing thing
in the gospel message
is this.
It says that people
who follow
this servant
Jesus,
who trust him,
they actually,
his mission
becomes their mission.
What God says
about him,
God says about them.
What that Jesus
gets,
we get.
We depend
day by day
on God's word.
We're called to
sustain the weary
and the broken
and the hurting
and the struggling
and the marginalized
in Hong Kong
with the gospel word
of hope
and of life.
and we may
experience rejection,
we may experience
shame,
we may experience
all those things
that may increase
in the next few years.
We do not know.
But where does
our confidence
to not back down
come from?
The Apostle Paul,
he read
this passage
and he comments
on it
and applies it
to his life
and those he's
talking to
in the book of Romans
chapter 8.
Here's what he says.
He says,
If God is for us,
who can be against us?
He who did not
spare his own son
but gave him up
for us all,
how will he not
also with him
graciously give us
all things?
Who shall bring
any charge
against God's elect?
And it may look
like a lot of people.
Your mom.
It may look like
your relatives,
your colleagues.
But he says
it's God who justifies,
God who vindicates,
who's going to
condemn you.
You may have voices
in your own head
that condemn you.
You may have other
people's voices
that condemn you.
But he says
the only one
who's really matters
Christ Jesus
is the one
who's died.
More than that,
who was raised
and who is exalted
at the right hand
of God.
Who indeed
is interceding
for us
watermarkers
right now
in December
2020.
Who's going to
separate any of us
in watermark
from the love
of Christ?
Shall COVID-19?
Shall economic
hardship?
Shall family trials?
Shall ill health?
Shall people
mocking you
or outcasting you?
Shall any of these
things?
And Paul says,
no,
in all these things
we are more
than conquerors
through the servant
who loved us
even to the point
of death.
You see,
his resurrection,
his exaltation
means our resurrection,
our exaltation,
his vindication
is our vindication.
And that means
on that final day,
that means actually
right now,
there is a verdict
over us
who believe in Christ
and that is justified
in the right,
righteous before God.
And that also means
on the final day
of judgment.
We don't have to wonder
what the verdict
is going to be.
If we are trusting
in Jesus,
he says,
our vindicator
is near.
We have one
who is in the seating
for us
and we come before
that judge
and we can have
confidence before him
because of Jesus.
Isn't that amazing?
Isn't it amazing?
This is the good news.
The verdict is settled.
And so,
with that,
the light of this,
that those who trust
in the servant
have this,
then the passage
calls us
to respond
to the servant.
It turns the spotlight
onto us
and it goes,
okay,
in the light of this,
how are you responding
to Jesus right now?
How are you responding?
He says,
who among you,
verse 10,
who among you
fears the Lord
and obeys
the voice
of his servant?
You know,
where does your vindication
come from?
Where,
whose voice
really matters
in your life?
Is it your own voice?
Is it the voice
of everybody else
or is it the voice
of the servant,
Jesus?
You see,
this Christmas time,
just like the people
of Israel,
many of us feel
like we're in darkness.
Times are not easy.
COVID,
emotions can be challenging,
relationships can be challenging,
politics can be challenging,
the economy can be challenging,
all these different things
can be challenging.
But he says,
for people
who are in darkness,
we have two choices.
And this is actually
a really powerful image
he gives.
He says,
you can get light
by listening
and trusting
the voice of the servant
or you can
kindle your own fire.
Kindle your own fire,
walk by the light
of your own fire.
And he says,
if you do that,
you're going to get
what you don't want.
You're going to get
something else.
You're going to lie down
in torment.
You see,
what he says is,
you can listen
to the voice
of unfairness.
You know,
there are Christians
around the world
who are being falsely
accused
for being faithful
to Jesus.
There are many of us
who feel
the voice of unfairness
in our lives
when we step up
to love and serve
and lead other people.
And then other people
turn around
and criticize you
or just ungrateful.
And you feel like,
what's the point?
Why do I bother
to serve them?
Why do I bother
to speak the gospel
to them?
Why do I bother
to love them?
You just want to
give up stuff then,
forget them.
That's the voice
of self.
That's the voice
of kindling
your own light.
But maybe there's
the voice
of self-justifying
which comes to us.
Another kind of way
you can light
your own fire.
You know,
I have relatives
who think that success
is going to all
the most expensive
restaurants,
living in a certain area,
having a certain lifestyle,
having a certain career
position,
a certain amount
of money
in your bank account.
And they'll comment
on all the kind
of gospel-shaped decisions
that me and my wife
have made in our lives.
And they'll go to things like,
when are you going
to get a proper job?
Or,
why are you living there?
Why are you hanging
around those kind of people?
Why can't you be like
so-and-so?
And then they rattle off
all the success
of certain other relatives.
And as you hear those,
a little voice inside of you
goes,
yeah,
maybe we should chase
after those other things too.
You could impress people.
You could prove yourself
as acceptable.
You could justify yourself.
You could light
your own fire.
The voice
of self-justifying
is very powerful.
And many of us,
I think,
listen to that voice
day in,
day out.
Which voice
are you listening to?
You know,
there's another voice
which actually is
the voice of shame
which comes to you
and you make me think
about sharing the gospel
with other people
and you go,
yeah,
but what if I get rejected?
What if I get shamed
by somebody else?
What if I don't know
what to say?
God says,
yeah,
you probably will get shamed.
You probably will get rejected
at some point.
But whose voice
matters to you most?
Is it the verdict
of everybody else
or will you look up
and see the verdict
of the servant?
The one who says,
you in my eyes
are vindicated.
You know,
who are you listening to?
Who are you listening to?
What I need,
what we need
as a community
is people
day by day
encouraging us.
We ourselves
need to be in God's word
morning by morning
remembering
what the voice
of the servant
says to us.
We need to set
our faces
like Flint
to continue
on the mission
that God has called us
to share his word
with others.
And this Christmas time,
this battle
is not just for pastors,
it's for everybody
who follows Jesus.
So that you look
in the mirror
every morning
and you preach
the gospel
of his verdict
over us.
We are righteous,
we are holy,
we are declared
loved in his sight.
Our confidence
and our vindication
is not from what
anyone else says.
There's no condemnation
in Christ.
Jesus has won
the victory
and we are his.
That's what we need
to be reminding
each other
every day.
And if you are not
getting God's word,
if you're not speaking
God's word over you
day in,
day out,
then let me tell you
everybody else's verdict,
even your own verdict
on you,
is going to be
the loudest voice
in your heart
and in your head.
And what that will do,
it will leave you
in shame,
in fear,
in anger.
But the servant
wants to set us free.
Let me close
with just a story
that is very close
to my heart.
Some of you
may not be football fans,
but forgive me
for just indulging
just for a second.
2005,
my team,
Liverpool,
played in one
of the greatest
matches in history
where they played
in the Champions League
final against AC Milan
and at half time
they were being
utterly destroyed.
Three nil down,
they were being
mocked by all the fans
of the AC Milan.
It looked like
complete ruin.
It looked horrific.
The shame
was unbearable.
Second half,
six minutes,
within six minutes
Liverpool scored
three goals.
They went to extra time,
they went to penalties
and Liverpool won.
And you see,
when Liverpool
won the trophy,
it didn't matter
what the half-time result was
or the half-time score was.
You see,
what matters
is the final result.
And you see,
if I had known
and we had known
at half-time
what the final result
was going to be,
then the shame
would have been hard.
It would have been difficult.
But actually,
we could have kept going
with our faces like Flint
because we knew
what the end of the day
was going to be.
As Christians,
that's what the Gospel says.
We know
what the end result is.
We've read this book.
We know that Jesus wins.
And when we're with him,
we win too.
We're more than conquerors.
So let's follow the sermon
with whatever he has
for us this Christmas time.
And let's trust him.