WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.019 Well folks, great to see you today. Let me invite you to grab your Bibles and to turn to that Old Testament book of Isaiah. 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:14.439 And this is where we're going to be over the next few weeks as we gear up for Easter. 00:00:15.540 --> 00:00:20.879 And I'm aware that some of us will be really familiar with this part of our Bibles. 00:00:22.420 --> 00:00:26.199 And I'm aware some of us will have never ventured here before in our lives. 00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:29.100 Maybe this is the first time you've ever heard from the book of Isaiah. 00:00:29.100 --> 00:00:40.939 But what we're going to see over the next few weeks, I pray, is not only is this a book that contains some quite breathtaking descriptions of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:51.659 But it's a book that explains why you and I in 21st century Scotland on a rainy Sunday morning have bothered to come to church. 00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:54.320 It's that big what's going on in Isaiah. 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:59.539 So with that in your mind, park it in your mind and come with me to this book of Isaiah. 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:02.579 And let's try and get into this book together. 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:06.560 To get us into it, I'm going to put some song lyrics up on the screen. 00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:13.719 And if you were around in the 70s, you'll recognize these song lyrics, I'm sure. 00:01:14.120 --> 00:01:17.000 And you'll probably be humming them throughout the rest of the sermon. 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:19.019 But just keep it quiet if you're going to do that. 00:01:19.019 --> 00:01:26.439 OK, so songs, they have a wonderful way of capturing moments in history. 00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:28.739 I was thinking about it this week. 00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:36.500 I remember the version of Candle in the Wind that Elton John wrote for Diana's funeral back in 1997. 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:37.479 Do you remember that one? 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:40.239 Just captured that moment so wonderfully well. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:50.000 I remember hearing for the first time U2's song Sunday Bloody Sunday that captured the emotions of that dreadful day in Northern Ireland in 1972. 00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:53.179 Songs have a way of capturing moments in history. 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:57.239 And here's another song that captures a moment in history. 00:01:58.619 --> 00:01:59.479 It goes like this. 00:01:59.479 --> 00:02:00.619 By the rivers of Babylon. 00:02:01.939 --> 00:02:03.439 There we sat down. 00:02:04.060 --> 00:02:05.039 Yeah, we wept. 00:02:05.579 --> 00:02:08.060 As we remembered Zion. 00:02:08.060 --> 00:02:12.479 When the wicked carried us away in captivity required from us a song. 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:17.039 Now, how shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? 00:02:18.219 --> 00:02:23.099 Words made famous by Boney M, who sang it in 1970. 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:28.080 But words that are taken from Psalm 137. 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:32.640 And Boney M, if you probably humming that song in your head. 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:33.640 I am even up here. 00:02:33.780 --> 00:02:34.280 It's so annoying. 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:36.920 Boney M made that song sound very upbeat. 00:02:38.060 --> 00:02:39.300 But it's original. 00:02:39.420 --> 00:02:41.120 We have to understand Psalm 137. 00:02:41.259 --> 00:02:41.759 It's original. 00:02:41.939 --> 00:02:45.060 These words are anything other than upbeat. 00:02:46.039 --> 00:02:51.259 Because Psalm 137 is a psalm that's filled with pain. 00:02:51.699 --> 00:02:53.219 And it's filled with tears. 00:02:53.500 --> 00:02:57.140 And it's filled with massive questions about where is God in our lives. 00:02:57.139 --> 00:03:02.799 Because it's a psalm that's written by a generation of God's people living at some point. 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:05.139 We'll just call it after 600 BC. 00:03:06.779 --> 00:03:10.619 And they have been so painfully defeated and carried away from their homeland. 00:03:11.259 --> 00:03:18.039 And they're living some 500 miles away from Israel, from Judah, in this place called Babylon. 00:03:18.039 --> 00:03:24.379 Now Babylon is the cultural and religious capital of the ancient world. 00:03:24.819 --> 00:03:25.979 I was reading about it this week. 00:03:26.079 --> 00:03:33.579 Historians tell us that this place is home to some 1200 temples which are dedicated to pagan gods. 00:03:33.580 --> 00:03:42.560 And the people of Israel, they're being taunted by their enemies as they sit here by the rivers of Babylon. 00:03:42.900 --> 00:03:46.680 They're being taunted and people are saying to them, where is your God now? 00:03:47.720 --> 00:03:48.660 Where has he gone? 00:03:50.020 --> 00:03:51.280 I'll tell you where he is. 00:03:51.660 --> 00:03:54.240 He's absolutely nowhere because we defeated him. 00:03:55.200 --> 00:04:00.460 Because in this day, to defeat a nation, it's also thought that you've defeated their God. 00:04:00.580 --> 00:04:02.800 So these people are being taunted, where is your God? 00:04:03.620 --> 00:04:04.180 Where is he? 00:04:05.800 --> 00:04:06.800 And so they're sitting there. 00:04:06.900 --> 00:04:10.020 They're saying, remember the days when we used to sing the Lord's song in Zion. 00:04:10.140 --> 00:04:11.140 What incredible days. 00:04:11.260 --> 00:04:16.019 What days seem like a million miles away from where we are just now. 00:04:17.019 --> 00:04:20.500 And the question you have to ask as you come to Isaiah is, why has this happened? 00:04:20.500 --> 00:04:21.579 Why has this happened? 00:04:21.579 --> 00:04:28.279 Well, the first big section of this book, chapters 1 to 39, answer that question, why? 00:04:29.659 --> 00:04:31.839 Chapters 1 to 39, answer that question, why? 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:38.339 It's often said that the heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart. 00:04:39.659 --> 00:04:44.199 And that's exactly what's going on for Israel in the background here. 00:04:44.199 --> 00:04:51.319 You see, Isaiah, he's speaking to a generation of God's people who are still living in their homeland. 00:04:52.399 --> 00:05:03.240 And one of the things that the Lord has said through Isaiah was that this exile to Babylon from Judah is coming because of the people's flagrant rebellion and idolatry. 00:05:03.659 --> 00:05:04.459 This is why it's coming. 00:05:06.159 --> 00:05:12.240 Their hypocritical and their token worship of him, their exploitation of the poor and vulnerable who are living in the land. 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:20.060 The fact that they're looking to political alliances with surrounding superpowers to try and secure their future as a nation. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:31.100 The fact that they're having love affairs with the idols of the nations who are round about them, who they are looking to for their security and their satisfaction rather than God. 00:05:31.100 --> 00:05:35.680 And their idolatry is a double whammy, really. 00:05:36.600 --> 00:05:42.040 If you want to think about it like this, idolatry, it always is looking for something else to fill the hole apart from God. 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:51.200 Because by cutting themselves off from God, not only are they cutting themselves off from the source of living and fresh water. 00:05:52.140 --> 00:05:54.320 It's able to give life to their souls. 00:05:54.319 --> 00:06:06.740 But they are now drinking from contaminated water because they are filling their lives with these false promises and hopes of lifeless idols, of these God pretenders of the nations round about them. 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:09.339 It's a double whammy. 00:06:09.339 --> 00:06:18.879 You know, we're trying to sell our flat at the minute and every time we know people are coming round, what we do is we fill it with fresh flowers. 00:06:19.659 --> 00:06:21.779 That's what the estate agent told us to do, so we're doing it. 00:06:22.299 --> 00:06:23.399 Fill it with fresh flowers. 00:06:24.679 --> 00:06:31.159 And those flowers, when we buy them, they look great, they smell great, they make the flat look fresh and vibrant. 00:06:32.099 --> 00:06:38.359 But see, six days later, we even cleared it up this morning, the petals have fallen off. 00:06:39.339 --> 00:06:40.819 And they go in the bin. 00:06:42.419 --> 00:06:44.000 And I was thinking about it this week. 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:45.419 Do you know when those flowers died? 00:06:46.759 --> 00:06:48.779 They didn't die when I put them in the bin. 00:06:49.379 --> 00:06:51.479 They didn't die when we bought them from the shop. 00:06:51.659 --> 00:06:57.719 Those flowers started dying the minute they were cut off from their life source. 00:06:59.579 --> 00:07:05.899 Their only hope is that they get reconnected with the thing that gives them life. 00:07:05.899 --> 00:07:12.319 And that's exactly true of what's going on in the lives of these Israelites. 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:16.719 And that's exactly what's true of us for each of us here today. 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:26.699 As we stand before a holy God, that if we have rejected Jesus Christ, we have cut ourselves off from the source of life. 00:07:27.540 --> 00:07:28.420 And we're dying. 00:07:28.420 --> 00:07:36.500 Without him, without this God, this God of grace, we're just about to see in a minute, we are dying. 00:07:37.379 --> 00:07:40.140 You see, the exile is not some kind of unexpected world event. 00:07:40.259 --> 00:07:50.780 It's the sovereign act of a holy God who's used this nation of Babylon to bring his judgment to pass on his people for their willful rejection of him. 00:07:50.779 --> 00:08:01.359 So the people, they sit there in Babylon and they're singing, lamenting, in the mud of the road mess, hearing the taunts of their enemies. 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:07.219 And they're probably thinking, is this curtains for us as a people? 00:08:07.359 --> 00:08:07.979 Is this it? 00:08:08.859 --> 00:08:09.619 Have we had it? 00:08:10.619 --> 00:08:11.639 What have they got? 00:08:11.899 --> 00:08:12.639 Where do they run? 00:08:13.779 --> 00:08:18.579 Well, what they have got, the only card that they've got, is the grace card. 00:08:18.579 --> 00:08:24.939 What they have, is they have a God of grace who's committed himself to them. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:28.120 And who speaks words of comfort to them. 00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:31.459 And says, stop looking to idols. 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:34.939 Stop looking to things that will not give you life and come back to me. 00:08:35.819 --> 00:08:36.879 Come back to me. 00:08:37.259 --> 00:08:38.120 Return to me. 00:08:38.360 --> 00:08:40.259 That's where chapter 40 breaks in. 00:08:40.659 --> 00:08:43.699 Comfort, comfort my people, says the Lord. 00:08:44.740 --> 00:08:45.539 Comfort them. 00:08:45.539 --> 00:08:50.860 Speak words of truth about what I'm going to do to act, to reverse this situation. 00:08:51.319 --> 00:08:58.500 You see, God in this first half of this book, 1 to 39, he's made some pronouncing judgments about what he's going to do because of the people's sin. 00:08:59.599 --> 00:09:04.500 But he's made some massive promises about what he's going to do for his people. 00:09:04.500 --> 00:09:08.759 Promises that he's going to act to save them from their mess. 00:09:09.580 --> 00:09:12.120 Lead them to the land that he's promised them. 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:15.740 Cleanse them from their sin. 00:09:16.659 --> 00:09:23.919 Rebuild them as a people and give them renewed hearts that beat for him alone, that joyfully obey him and want to worship him. 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:31.379 And get this, through them, his renewed people, God's people, he's going to, through them, bless the nations. 00:09:33.379 --> 00:09:36.860 And they'll also come to worship him and enjoy him forever as their God. 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:38.459 Huge promises. 00:09:39.839 --> 00:09:45.939 And huge promises that God will bring to pass through this figure who's right at the heart of this book, 00:09:45.940 --> 00:09:50.120 who he speaks about and who he calls my servant. 00:09:51.580 --> 00:09:53.160 My servant. 00:09:54.160 --> 00:09:59.540 And God is saying to a generation of people who will soon find themselves despairing in exile, 00:09:59.540 --> 00:10:00.960 he's saying, don't fear. 00:10:02.100 --> 00:10:03.420 I've not abandoned you. 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:07.900 Don't base your life on how things feel. 00:10:08.180 --> 00:10:10.720 Don't base your life on how things seem. 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:13.700 Don't base your life on your ability to fathom. 00:10:13.700 --> 00:10:18.480 Don't base your life on alliances with outside nations. 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:24.740 Base your life on what I've said is true about you and about me and about the world in which you live. 00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:26.280 Trust me. 00:10:26.340 --> 00:10:27.060 This is what he's saying. 00:10:27.140 --> 00:10:27.759 Trust me. 00:10:29.540 --> 00:10:31.520 And trust particularly that I'm going to send, 00:10:31.720 --> 00:10:34.660 trust that I'm going to send this servant. 00:10:34.980 --> 00:10:37.259 I'm going to send him to save you. 00:10:39.060 --> 00:10:43.040 And so we get these four songs in this book about God's servant. 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:46.279 And these are the songs that we're going to be thinking about over the next few Sundays 00:10:46.279 --> 00:10:53.599 that were fulfilled some 700 years later after these words were spoken in the coming of Jesus Christ. 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:59.220 And so the invitation today, whoever you are, whatever you think about this God, 00:10:59.460 --> 00:11:01.720 whatever's going on in your life right now, 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:05.960 is to come and maybe even for the first time today, 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:09.159 take a fresh look at Jesus. 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:15.860 And come with me then to these spectacular words of Isaiah 42. 00:11:16.980 --> 00:11:19.079 And this is where we first meet this servant. 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:21.799 Into this dark background. 00:11:21.980 --> 00:11:23.759 As the people are sitting there in Babylon, 00:11:23.939 --> 00:11:26.899 they're meant to recall these words that God spoke about his servant. 00:11:27.199 --> 00:11:29.299 And what we see firstly, verses 1 to 4, 00:11:29.439 --> 00:11:31.860 is that this servant has a mission on his mind. 00:11:31.860 --> 00:11:35.560 Here is God's view of his servant. 00:11:36.360 --> 00:11:37.600 If we pick it up at verse 1. 00:11:37.820 --> 00:11:42.139 He wants them and he wants you and he wants me to know how he feels about his servant. 00:11:43.560 --> 00:11:44.340 His man. 00:11:44.980 --> 00:11:46.759 The guy he's got for his mission. 00:11:47.139 --> 00:11:49.220 Get my servant into your bloodstreams. 00:11:49.220 --> 00:11:50.180 This is what he's saying. 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:54.440 You see, God the Father hasn't simply just chosen his servant. 00:11:54.560 --> 00:11:55.940 Do you see the word at verse 1? 00:11:56.940 --> 00:11:58.500 He delights in his servant. 00:12:00.300 --> 00:12:03.480 Now I don't know what you do when you buy a book. 00:12:05.220 --> 00:12:08.780 But what I usually do is I go into Waterstones and I pick up a book 00:12:08.780 --> 00:12:10.020 and I look at the price and I think, 00:12:10.100 --> 00:12:10.980 nope, I'll go with Amazon. 00:12:11.160 --> 00:12:11.780 That's what I do. 00:12:12.680 --> 00:12:13.720 I'm everything wrong. 00:12:13.900 --> 00:12:15.900 Everything that's going wrong with the British High Street today. 00:12:16.100 --> 00:12:18.360 But the first thing I look for when I pick up a book 00:12:18.360 --> 00:12:21.400 is who is recommending this book? 00:12:22.140 --> 00:12:22.960 Do you do that as well? 00:12:23.420 --> 00:12:24.700 Who's recommending this book? 00:12:24.700 --> 00:12:26.580 Who's telling me that I should buy this book? 00:12:26.640 --> 00:12:27.460 Is it worth buying? 00:12:29.860 --> 00:12:31.460 The thing to see here, this servant, 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:36.080 not only could there not be a better recommendation of him to us, 00:12:37.020 --> 00:12:40.660 but this recommendation could not come from a better source. 00:12:41.879 --> 00:12:43.240 God the Father says, 00:12:43.420 --> 00:12:46.840 here is my servant in whom I delight. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:47.460 Do you see it? 00:12:47.500 --> 00:12:49.000 This is my guy, says God. 00:12:49.080 --> 00:12:50.720 This is the one in whom I delight. 00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:52.160 I sing over him. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:56.659 I rejoice knowing everything that I will send him to do and accomplish. 00:12:56.779 --> 00:12:58.000 Everything that he's going to do. 00:12:59.319 --> 00:13:01.819 It's exactly what we see in Jesus' baptism, isn't it? 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:03.939 Comes up. 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:04.519 He's baptized. 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:05.120 John the Baptist. 00:13:05.259 --> 00:13:06.240 He comes up and God says, 00:13:06.379 --> 00:13:09.639 this is my son whom I love. 00:13:09.819 --> 00:13:10.679 This is what he says. 00:13:10.740 --> 00:13:12.639 We saw earlier in the kids talk of the transfiguration. 00:13:12.839 --> 00:13:13.799 This is my son. 00:13:14.759 --> 00:13:16.379 Listen to him. 00:13:16.379 --> 00:13:19.519 How incredible is this? 00:13:19.580 --> 00:13:20.259 God is declaring, 00:13:20.460 --> 00:13:21.259 here is my son. 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:22.679 This is who I'm going to send. 00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:23.379 And with him, 00:13:23.460 --> 00:13:25.299 I am well pleased. 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:31.299 And so the invitation is you and I sit in here all these years later, 00:13:31.299 --> 00:13:36.039 looking at the swelling heart of God filled with love for his servant. 00:13:36.519 --> 00:13:39.580 Surely it's to come and to breathe him in. 00:13:39.580 --> 00:13:44.560 To understand who he is and what he's done and then to lighten him too. 00:13:45.420 --> 00:13:46.740 This is God's servant. 00:13:47.020 --> 00:13:48.340 He is the one to whom, 00:13:48.420 --> 00:13:48.759 do you see, 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:50.900 God will give his spirit. 00:13:53.100 --> 00:13:54.500 To empower him. 00:13:55.220 --> 00:13:56.180 To get the job done. 00:13:57.920 --> 00:14:00.259 Lovely little Trinitarian reference there, 00:14:00.420 --> 00:14:01.620 showing us that the Father, 00:14:01.740 --> 00:14:02.639 the Son and the Spirit, 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:10.259 all three members of the Godhead are joyously in on this divine mission to rescue sinners. 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:14.139 Now what's the mission? 00:14:14.279 --> 00:14:14.379 Well, 00:14:14.419 --> 00:14:17.340 you'll see the word justice there three times in those opening verses. 00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:17.819 Do you see? 00:14:19.819 --> 00:14:20.600 Verse one, 00:14:22.199 --> 00:14:23.220 talking about this servant, 00:14:23.340 --> 00:14:24.740 he will bring forth justice. 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:26.199 Again, 00:14:26.299 --> 00:14:26.840 verse three, 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:28.939 he will bring forth justice. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:29.379 Again, 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:30.000 verse four, 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:32.120 he will establish, 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:33.159 justice. 00:14:35.659 --> 00:14:36.139 Now, 00:14:36.179 --> 00:14:45.620 biblical justice isn't talking about getting rid of poverty or tackling human trafficking and other good things like that, 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:49.120 that we as God's people should be massively concerned about and working for. 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:59.480 Biblical justice is primarily about God restoring things to the way that they were originally created to be. 00:14:59.480 --> 00:15:05.480 The way that this sin has so badly disrupted. 00:15:05.480 --> 00:15:12.620 This way where sin is dealt with, 00:15:13.300 --> 00:15:15.480 where wrongs are righted, 00:15:16.180 --> 00:15:18.320 where tears are white, 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:20.480 and where hurts are healed, 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:30.820 and where creature and creation live in harmony and live to give praise to creator. 00:15:30.820 --> 00:15:33.820 This is biblical justice. 00:15:33.820 --> 00:15:36.100 This is what God's servant is coming to do. 00:15:36.180 --> 00:15:37.720 He's coming to establish this. 00:15:37.879 --> 00:15:40.580 This is the kingdom that he's coming to inaugurate. 00:15:41.640 --> 00:15:42.780 And God loves it. 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:45.260 Do you get his heart here? 00:15:45.340 --> 00:15:46.260 God loves it. 00:15:46.259 --> 00:15:50.279 And equally stunning is that, 00:15:51.139 --> 00:15:55.120 is how this servant will go about his business. 00:15:56.559 --> 00:15:57.080 Now, 00:15:57.120 --> 00:15:57.879 our world is full, 00:15:57.960 --> 00:15:58.179 isn't it, 00:15:58.179 --> 00:16:03.019 of power hungry dictators who demand authority by shouting. 00:16:03.019 --> 00:16:13.559 I was hearing this week that Venezuela's Hugo Chavez once spoke live to the nation on TV for eight hours without breaks. 00:16:15.740 --> 00:16:19.279 Fidel Castro similarly spoke for four and a half hours, 00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:22.100 and I'm told that Gaddafi made it to 95 minutes. 00:16:23.419 --> 00:16:24.600 Shouting at people, 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:26.379 obey me. 00:16:26.379 --> 00:16:30.240 But how different God's servant here? 00:16:31.980 --> 00:16:33.240 He will be gentle. 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:37.679 His life will be marked by meekness. 00:16:38.679 --> 00:16:40.399 That's how he's going to get the job done. 00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:41.860 Not by shouting. 00:16:42.820 --> 00:16:44.939 Do you see the descriptions that Isaiah gives us here, 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:46.580 or God gives us rather through Isaiah? 00:16:46.919 --> 00:16:48.519 A bruised reed he will not break. 00:16:49.779 --> 00:16:51.080 A smoldering wick, 00:16:51.220 --> 00:16:52.580 which is just a flickering candle. 00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:54.860 Tiny little flickering candle. 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:55.980 He will not snuff out. 00:16:55.980 --> 00:16:56.800 In other words, 00:16:56.899 --> 00:16:59.159 this servant lives not to put people down. 00:17:00.779 --> 00:17:01.480 He lifts, 00:17:01.580 --> 00:17:03.180 he lives to lift up the humble. 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:17.839 What wonderful words that speak about the tender compassion and the love and the care that this servant will have for human beings. 00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:23.259 I got the train back from Glasgow on Monday. 00:17:23.259 --> 00:17:27.460 And I got to the station in Glasgow, 00:17:27.460 --> 00:17:28.619 and I remember looking at the screen, 00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:34.339 and it occurred to me that I had eight minutes to wait for my connecting train. 00:17:35.960 --> 00:17:36.539 And inside, 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:37.160 I was livid, 00:17:37.740 --> 00:17:38.019 right? 00:17:38.180 --> 00:17:38.579 Livid. 00:17:39.140 --> 00:17:39.400 I'm thinking, 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:39.879 do they not, 00:17:39.940 --> 00:17:41.920 does Scott Rail not know that I've got things to do? 00:17:42.019 --> 00:17:44.480 Does Scott Rail not know that I've got places to be? 00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:46.279 Has somebody not told them? 00:17:46.279 --> 00:17:48.879 Why is this train not here now? 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:52.160 Why is Bell's Hill train station in Glasgow, 00:17:52.220 --> 00:17:53.099 if you've ever been there, 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:56.660 with its boarded up cafe and its single shelter, 00:17:56.799 --> 00:17:59.240 why is this not running like the London Underground? 00:17:59.240 --> 00:18:05.519 Thank goodness that this servant is impatient like me. 00:18:07.460 --> 00:18:08.460 Where would we be, 00:18:08.599 --> 00:18:08.720 friends, 00:18:08.779 --> 00:18:09.680 if that was the case? 00:18:11.700 --> 00:18:12.140 Particularly, 00:18:12.259 --> 00:18:12.960 if you think about it, 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:14.720 the times in life, 00:18:14.779 --> 00:18:15.339 in our lives, 00:18:15.420 --> 00:18:17.960 when we are like bruised reeds, 00:18:18.819 --> 00:18:21.680 and we are like flickering flames, 00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:22.680 and maybe that's you, 00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:24.240 you're here right now, 00:18:24.259 --> 00:18:25.099 and you're feeling like that. 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:27.120 You're fragile, 00:18:28.380 --> 00:18:28.900 tearful, 00:18:30.039 --> 00:18:30.700 doubting, 00:18:31.559 --> 00:18:32.079 delicate, 00:18:32.900 --> 00:18:35.160 and at the end of our resources. 00:18:38.299 --> 00:18:41.799 Praise God that Jesus isn't like a baseball umpire, 00:18:42.599 --> 00:18:44.140 who says strike one, 00:18:44.940 --> 00:18:45.579 strike two, 00:18:46.180 --> 00:18:46.819 strike three, 00:18:47.120 --> 00:18:47.960 and you're out of here. 00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:49.120 Remember, 00:18:49.180 --> 00:18:51.279 you used to have an English teacher at school who used to do that. 00:18:51.880 --> 00:18:53.420 One strike was an LTD. 00:18:53.819 --> 00:18:54.880 You know what's got LTDs? 00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:56.440 Lunchtime Detention. 00:18:56.579 --> 00:18:58.299 You needed to go around and pick up litter in the playground. 00:18:58.299 --> 00:19:01.419 Three LTDs meant a detention. 00:19:01.539 --> 00:19:02.139 You were out of there. 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:06.000 Praise God that Jesus isn't like this. 00:19:06.379 --> 00:19:09.700 Praise God that Jesus doesn't stand over me in my lowest moments and shout, 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:10.200 shanks, 00:19:10.200 --> 00:19:11.440 why are you not better? 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:13.840 Why are you not better? 00:19:16.259 --> 00:19:18.180 Because you're seriously going to have to up your act, 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:18.880 up your game, 00:19:18.940 --> 00:19:21.519 if you want to be in my team. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:22.140 No, 00:19:22.220 --> 00:19:22.960 Jesus says, 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:24.500 don't trust in your own resources. 00:19:25.259 --> 00:19:26.660 Don't look to idols, 00:19:26.660 --> 00:19:29.640 but rather he stoops to care and says, 00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:30.519 come to me, 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:33.180 lift your eyes to me, 00:19:34.040 --> 00:19:35.360 and as we were singing earlier, 00:19:35.500 --> 00:19:36.340 find in me, 00:19:36.980 --> 00:19:38.560 you're all in all. 00:19:39.860 --> 00:19:40.620 That's why, 00:19:41.060 --> 00:19:42.320 and you can check this out later, 00:19:42.460 --> 00:19:44.500 Matthew in his gospel at chapter 12, 00:19:44.740 --> 00:19:45.600 if you want to scribble that down, 00:19:45.660 --> 00:19:46.400 check it out later. 00:19:47.540 --> 00:19:49.519 Matthew tells us that Jesus healed many. 00:19:50.200 --> 00:19:51.460 He came to him and he just healed them. 00:19:51.460 --> 00:19:52.360 He had compassion on them. 00:19:52.380 --> 00:19:53.120 He loved them. 00:19:54.740 --> 00:19:56.539 And then Matthew quotes from Isaiah 42, 00:19:56.700 --> 00:19:57.259 these verses, 00:19:58.539 --> 00:19:59.440 as if to say, 00:20:00.460 --> 00:20:03.120 this servant that God said he would send us, 00:20:03.420 --> 00:20:03.799 us, 00:20:03.960 --> 00:20:04.759 a broken people, 00:20:04.900 --> 00:20:05.880 everything that we've done, 00:20:05.960 --> 00:20:06.840 he would send us. 00:20:07.799 --> 00:20:08.440 He's here. 00:20:09.299 --> 00:20:11.620 And he's here in the person of Jesus Christ. 00:20:13.559 --> 00:20:16.940 The words of that great old hymn written by Annie J. Flint. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:19.819 His love has no limits. 00:20:19.819 --> 00:20:22.599 His grace has no measure. 00:20:23.539 --> 00:20:26.379 His power no boundary known unto men. 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:29.220 For out of his infinite riches in Jesus, 00:20:30.399 --> 00:20:35.559 he giveth and giveth and giveth again. 00:20:36.659 --> 00:20:39.240 Israel's only hope is that this God is a God of grace 00:20:39.240 --> 00:20:40.279 and praise him that he is. 00:20:40.339 --> 00:20:41.259 Our only hope, friends, 00:20:41.319 --> 00:20:41.799 you and I, 00:20:41.859 --> 00:20:43.220 is that this God is a God of grace. 00:20:45.439 --> 00:20:48.759 And this servant will go about his business like this. 00:20:50.619 --> 00:20:53.539 And this servant will be resolute in his desire. 00:20:53.700 --> 00:20:55.319 He will be faced like Flint. 00:20:55.379 --> 00:20:56.200 We'll see this next week. 00:20:56.259 --> 00:20:57.139 I gave the game away there. 00:20:58.079 --> 00:21:00.419 He will be resolute in his desire to fulfill 00:21:00.419 --> 00:21:02.700 and to carry out the mission of the Lord. 00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:03.960 You see the descriptions here? 00:21:04.019 --> 00:21:05.720 He will not grow faint. 00:21:06.599 --> 00:21:08.119 He will not grow discouraged. 00:21:08.119 --> 00:21:11.139 In other words, 00:21:11.219 --> 00:21:13.959 this servant will be marked by a steely determination 00:21:13.959 --> 00:21:17.239 that will push him through the pain barrier, 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:21.679 that will see him endure a cost to get this job done. 00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:24.039 What a servant. 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:26.200 What a servant. 00:21:28.320 --> 00:21:29.700 And so at verse 5, 00:21:31.980 --> 00:21:36.060 it's almost as if God moves from talking to us about his servant 00:21:36.060 --> 00:21:38.660 to talking to his servant 00:21:38.660 --> 00:21:41.000 about what God is going to do through him. 00:21:42.320 --> 00:21:43.240 And as he does that, 00:21:43.320 --> 00:21:44.200 verses 5 to 9, 00:21:44.259 --> 00:21:46.759 we see the God who has the nations on his heart. 00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:49.339 But first, 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:51.799 it's almost as if Isaiah reminds us who this God is. 00:21:53.960 --> 00:21:55.500 He's not a defeated deity. 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:58.819 He is the Lord Almighty. 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:01.099 Do you see the description of him from verse 5? 00:22:01.099 --> 00:22:05.359 This God is the first cause of everything. 00:22:06.679 --> 00:22:08.859 He is the creator of all things. 00:22:08.959 --> 00:22:10.219 He is the giver of life. 00:22:10.500 --> 00:22:11.939 He is the God that spoke. 00:22:13.740 --> 00:22:15.579 And things came into existence. 00:22:16.379 --> 00:22:17.579 Love that bit in Genesis. 00:22:17.719 --> 00:22:18.819 What does it say after God created? 00:22:19.299 --> 00:22:20.559 He made the stars. 00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:23.740 It's as if they were an afterthought to him. 00:22:24.759 --> 00:22:26.379 The seas, the mountains, 00:22:26.579 --> 00:22:28.019 and he made us. 00:22:28.019 --> 00:22:31.940 This God is not only the God who gives life, 00:22:32.039 --> 00:22:33.859 this is the God who sustains life 00:22:33.859 --> 00:22:35.619 by the power of his word. 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:39.019 Now, I don't know how your week has been. 00:22:40.440 --> 00:22:41.420 But for me this week, 00:22:41.460 --> 00:22:42.460 I know there have been times 00:22:42.460 --> 00:22:44.779 when worry has really pressed into my soul. 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:46.680 And fear. 00:22:48.599 --> 00:22:49.099 But do you know what? 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:50.339 See, taking this passage in 00:22:50.339 --> 00:22:52.079 has caused me in those times 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:54.059 just to go outside, 00:22:54.180 --> 00:22:54.779 to go for a run, 00:22:54.879 --> 00:22:55.599 go for a walk, 00:22:56.379 --> 00:22:57.480 and just to look up. 00:22:59.019 --> 00:22:59.799 And to say, 00:22:59.859 --> 00:23:00.639 this is my God, 00:23:01.700 --> 00:23:03.900 the God who created all things. 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:07.139 This God is big enough to handle my worries. 00:23:08.099 --> 00:23:10.339 And he's big enough to handle our nation's worries. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:14.200 Surely the Lord is saying here 00:23:14.200 --> 00:23:15.859 that if you grasp that I'm this big, 00:23:16.500 --> 00:23:17.220 little Judah, 00:23:18.279 --> 00:23:20.240 21st century Brunsford Evangelical Church, 00:23:20.279 --> 00:23:21.639 if you grasp that I'm this big, 00:23:22.299 --> 00:23:23.319 then you can trust 00:23:23.319 --> 00:23:25.059 that I've got the world in my hands. 00:23:25.059 --> 00:23:27.899 You can trust 00:23:27.899 --> 00:23:28.980 that I'm going to do exactly 00:23:28.980 --> 00:23:31.000 what I say I'll do 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:33.299 because I'm not lacking in resources or power. 00:23:35.299 --> 00:23:36.059 You see, this God, 00:23:36.220 --> 00:23:36.659 friends, 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:38.359 isn't in the habit of writing checks 00:23:38.359 --> 00:23:39.379 that he can't cash. 00:23:40.519 --> 00:23:42.079 The promises of this God 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:43.079 aren't like money, 00:23:43.079 --> 00:23:44.159 money off vouchers 00:23:44.159 --> 00:23:45.399 you get for Asda or Tesco 00:23:45.399 --> 00:23:47.119 that are going to one day expire and run out. 00:23:48.099 --> 00:23:49.759 This God says, 00:23:50.039 --> 00:23:50.699 he promises, 00:23:50.979 --> 00:23:51.519 and he delivers. 00:23:52.679 --> 00:23:53.939 You can trust me with the future, 00:23:54.059 --> 00:23:54.819 says this God. 00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:56.419 You can trust that I've got it. 00:23:56.479 --> 00:23:57.659 Do you see verse 9? 00:23:59.079 --> 00:23:59.639 God says, 00:23:59.719 --> 00:24:00.919 I'm telling you what's going to happen 00:24:00.919 --> 00:24:01.959 before it happens 00:24:01.959 --> 00:24:03.299 so that when it happens, 00:24:03.379 --> 00:24:04.579 you'll know that I made it happen. 00:24:05.179 --> 00:24:05.339 Okay, 00:24:05.339 --> 00:24:06.079 there's a lot of happening, 00:24:06.199 --> 00:24:07.019 so let me say it again. 00:24:08.479 --> 00:24:10.059 I'm telling you it's going to happen 00:24:10.059 --> 00:24:11.739 before it happens 00:24:11.739 --> 00:24:13.099 so that when it happens, 00:24:13.239 --> 00:24:14.819 you'll know that I made it happen. 00:24:14.819 --> 00:24:16.879 God, 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:18.679 this God is sovereign over Babylon 00:24:18.679 --> 00:24:21.299 and he's sovereign over, 00:24:21.619 --> 00:24:22.839 if you just want to flick back 00:24:22.839 --> 00:24:24.500 a little bit to the end of chapter 41, 00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:26.119 he's sovereign over Cyrus, 00:24:26.379 --> 00:24:27.339 the Persian king 00:24:27.339 --> 00:24:29.179 who will later conquer Babylon 00:24:29.179 --> 00:24:30.779 and allow these Jewish exiles 00:24:30.779 --> 00:24:31.639 to return home. 00:24:31.899 --> 00:24:33.319 God's got it all sorted. 00:24:34.379 --> 00:24:35.700 As we say to this generation, 00:24:35.899 --> 00:24:37.659 come to me and trust me. 00:24:38.759 --> 00:24:40.179 Now this God has history 00:24:40.179 --> 00:24:41.299 in his fingertips. 00:24:42.439 --> 00:24:43.399 He's got it. 00:24:43.400 --> 00:24:45.320 And no matter what 00:24:45.320 --> 00:24:46.980 the political events of this week 00:24:46.980 --> 00:24:48.800 have caused you and I to think, 00:24:49.380 --> 00:24:51.120 the world's future 00:24:51.120 --> 00:24:52.560 is in this God's control, 00:24:52.860 --> 00:24:53.640 sovereign control. 00:24:54.380 --> 00:24:55.580 And it's a story 00:24:55.580 --> 00:24:57.500 that's going somewhere 00:24:57.500 --> 00:24:58.900 and it's a story 00:24:58.900 --> 00:24:59.800 that he's writing 00:24:59.800 --> 00:25:00.660 for his glory 00:25:00.660 --> 00:25:02.100 and for his purposes. 00:25:04.660 --> 00:25:05.300 But you see, 00:25:05.360 --> 00:25:06.600 God's aim in all of this 00:25:06.600 --> 00:25:07.920 is not simply just 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:08.860 to take a group of people 00:25:08.860 --> 00:25:10.420 back to a small bit of land 00:25:10.420 --> 00:25:11.220 in the Middle East. 00:25:11.220 --> 00:25:13.640 He wants the brightness 00:25:13.640 --> 00:25:14.559 of his glory 00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:15.660 to fan out 00:25:15.660 --> 00:25:16.319 into the nations 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:17.039 of the earth. 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:18.700 Do you see how often 00:25:18.700 --> 00:25:20.339 the nations are referred to here? 00:25:22.500 --> 00:25:23.200 Verse one, 00:25:23.299 --> 00:25:24.740 the servant will bring justice 00:25:24.740 --> 00:25:25.120 to whom? 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:25.799 The nations, 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:26.480 the world. 00:25:27.339 --> 00:25:27.940 Verse six, 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:28.579 he will be what? 00:25:28.620 --> 00:25:29.500 A light to the nations. 00:25:29.640 --> 00:25:30.480 So God's goal 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:31.400 is to draw people 00:25:31.400 --> 00:25:32.339 from around the world 00:25:32.339 --> 00:25:33.140 to himself 00:25:33.140 --> 00:25:36.120 and to say, 00:25:36.540 --> 00:25:37.580 come and be made right 00:25:37.580 --> 00:25:38.720 with me through my servant, 00:25:39.300 --> 00:25:40.060 through his work. 00:25:40.320 --> 00:25:41.180 Come and worship 00:25:41.180 --> 00:25:42.720 and enjoy me forever. 00:25:43.060 --> 00:25:44.100 And God's going to do this 00:25:44.100 --> 00:25:45.100 all through this servant. 00:25:46.140 --> 00:25:46.980 He's going to do it 00:25:46.980 --> 00:25:47.900 all through this servant. 00:25:48.340 --> 00:25:49.300 The one who, 00:25:49.700 --> 00:25:50.440 verse six, 00:25:50.680 --> 00:25:51.980 God will give. 00:25:53.700 --> 00:25:54.500 The coming of Christ, 00:25:54.620 --> 00:25:56.060 such a gracious gift 00:25:56.060 --> 00:25:56.880 from a good God. 00:25:57.000 --> 00:25:57.960 Grace isn't a thing, 00:25:58.060 --> 00:25:58.940 it's a person. 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:00.540 The servant God 00:26:00.540 --> 00:26:01.800 will give to the sin, 00:26:01.799 --> 00:26:02.940 sick world 00:26:02.940 --> 00:26:03.839 full of people 00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:05.299 who spiritually cannot see, 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:08.000 are lost in darkness, 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:09.899 are facing death 00:26:09.899 --> 00:26:10.419 and judgment 00:26:10.419 --> 00:26:11.680 and who cannot 00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:13.500 save themselves. 00:26:14.159 --> 00:26:15.119 God will give 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:16.059 his servant 00:26:16.059 --> 00:26:17.639 to rescue them, 00:26:18.500 --> 00:26:20.879 to be a covenant for them. 00:26:20.919 --> 00:26:21.599 Do you see that word? 00:26:21.659 --> 00:26:22.819 To be a covenant for them. 00:26:24.379 --> 00:26:25.180 In other words, 00:26:25.240 --> 00:26:27.019 this servant will step in 00:26:27.019 --> 00:26:29.740 and will shed his blood 00:26:29.740 --> 00:26:31.480 to permanently 00:26:31.480 --> 00:26:33.740 broker the peace deal 00:26:33.740 --> 00:26:35.960 by which sinful people 00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:37.339 can live in communion 00:26:37.339 --> 00:26:38.740 with this gloriously 00:26:38.740 --> 00:26:40.339 loving and holy 00:26:40.339 --> 00:26:42.019 God permanently. 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:45.120 That's what this servant 00:26:45.120 --> 00:26:46.079 has come to do. 00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:48.660 What a servant. 00:26:51.660 --> 00:26:52.380 As I remember, 00:26:52.460 --> 00:26:53.200 I asked you at the start 00:26:53.200 --> 00:26:54.579 that this was going to tell us 00:26:54.579 --> 00:26:55.220 why we were at church 00:26:55.220 --> 00:26:55.700 this morning. 00:26:57.099 --> 00:26:58.200 The reason that we were 00:26:58.200 --> 00:26:59.099 at church this morning, 00:26:59.099 --> 00:27:01.740 the reason Brunsford Evangelical 00:27:01.740 --> 00:27:02.959 Church even exists 00:27:02.959 --> 00:27:04.639 in Edinburgh 00:27:04.639 --> 00:27:06.719 in 21st century Scotland 00:27:06.719 --> 00:27:08.599 is because God 00:27:08.599 --> 00:27:10.740 is this kind of God. 00:27:11.939 --> 00:27:12.899 That's why you and I 00:27:12.899 --> 00:27:13.480 are here today. 00:27:14.579 --> 00:27:16.139 Because God is this kind of God 00:27:16.139 --> 00:27:17.759 with a heart for the nations 00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:19.879 that beats that they would 00:27:19.879 --> 00:27:20.799 come to know him 00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:21.859 and be made right with him. 00:27:23.459 --> 00:27:24.219 Here's the servant 00:27:24.219 --> 00:27:24.919 with this mission 00:27:24.919 --> 00:27:25.599 on his mind. 00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:28.539 And here's the God 00:27:28.539 --> 00:27:28.939 of the Bible 00:27:28.939 --> 00:27:30.579 who has the nations 00:27:30.579 --> 00:27:31.159 on his heart. 00:27:32.779 --> 00:27:33.699 And so again, 00:27:33.859 --> 00:27:35.199 think back to what we saw 00:27:35.199 --> 00:27:35.599 at the start, 00:27:35.679 --> 00:27:37.240 the darkest of backdrops. 00:27:38.519 --> 00:27:40.119 Here is God's 00:27:40.119 --> 00:27:42.639 glorious salvation plan. 00:27:43.199 --> 00:27:44.399 And here it is 00:27:44.399 --> 00:27:45.379 in marvelous 00:27:45.379 --> 00:27:46.439 technicolor. 00:27:46.440 --> 00:27:50.840 So you can hum it now, 00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:51.180 okay? 00:27:52.779 --> 00:27:54.120 By the rivers of Babylon, 00:27:54.340 --> 00:27:55.620 there we sat down. 00:27:56.900 --> 00:27:57.420 Yes, we, 00:27:57.500 --> 00:27:58.200 it's hard not to say 00:27:58.200 --> 00:27:58.880 yeah, isn't it? 00:27:59.080 --> 00:28:00.279 Yes, we wept 00:28:00.279 --> 00:28:02.259 when we remembered 00:28:02.259 --> 00:28:03.160 Zion. 00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:04.640 This is the song 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:05.360 that God's people 00:28:05.360 --> 00:28:05.920 are singing 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:06.759 by the rivers 00:28:06.759 --> 00:28:07.500 in Babylon 00:28:07.500 --> 00:28:08.880 with tears in their eyes, 00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:09.980 with pain in their hearts, 00:28:10.059 --> 00:28:11.080 with questions in their mind. 00:28:11.140 --> 00:28:12.140 Where is our God? 00:28:13.720 --> 00:28:14.480 But you'll see 00:28:14.480 --> 00:28:15.200 if you scan your eyes 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:16.200 down to verse 10, 00:28:18.779 --> 00:28:19.860 that Isaiah, 00:28:21.019 --> 00:28:22.559 as he responds 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:23.880 to what he's just heard 00:28:23.880 --> 00:28:24.779 God declare, 00:28:25.160 --> 00:28:26.279 what God is going to do 00:28:26.279 --> 00:28:27.360 for his sinful 00:28:27.360 --> 00:28:28.200 and wicked people 00:28:28.200 --> 00:28:29.580 to bring them back 00:28:29.580 --> 00:28:30.100 to him, 00:28:31.360 --> 00:28:31.980 Isaiah sings 00:28:31.980 --> 00:28:33.140 a new song of praise. 00:28:35.140 --> 00:28:36.740 A song that God's people, 00:28:37.100 --> 00:28:37.960 as they respond 00:28:37.960 --> 00:28:38.500 to the news 00:28:38.500 --> 00:28:39.220 of this servant, 00:28:41.080 --> 00:28:42.100 a song that God's people 00:28:42.100 --> 00:28:43.759 are invited to join in with. 00:28:43.759 --> 00:28:46.200 So just as we finish 00:28:46.200 --> 00:28:47.160 and before I pray, 00:28:47.259 --> 00:28:48.299 I thought it would be great 00:28:48.299 --> 00:28:50.440 as we respond 00:28:50.440 --> 00:28:51.740 to say 00:28:51.740 --> 00:28:53.980 this song of praise together. 00:28:55.259 --> 00:28:56.240 As we've responded 00:28:56.240 --> 00:28:57.240 to what God has said 00:28:57.240 --> 00:28:58.240 through his word this morning. 00:28:58.299 --> 00:28:59.119 This is the song 00:28:59.119 --> 00:28:59.859 that's supposed to be 00:28:59.859 --> 00:29:00.339 on our lips 00:29:00.339 --> 00:29:01.140 as we respond 00:29:01.140 --> 00:29:01.980 and take to heart 00:29:01.980 --> 00:29:03.000 who this servant is. 00:29:03.079 --> 00:29:04.160 So let's say this together. 00:29:05.059 --> 00:29:05.980 If you can get it up 00:29:05.980 --> 00:29:06.500 on the screen. 00:29:08.119 --> 00:29:09.160 Sing to the Lord 00:29:09.160 --> 00:29:10.059 a new song. 00:29:10.759 --> 00:29:11.660 His praise 00:29:11.660 --> 00:29:12.500 from the ends 00:29:12.500 --> 00:29:13.340 of the earth. 00:29:13.840 --> 00:29:15.140 You who go down 00:29:15.140 --> 00:29:15.940 to the sea 00:29:15.940 --> 00:29:17.759 and all that is in it. 00:29:18.460 --> 00:29:19.320 You islands 00:29:19.320 --> 00:29:20.660 and all who live 00:29:20.660 --> 00:29:21.360 in them. 00:29:21.940 --> 00:29:22.860 Let the wilderness 00:29:22.860 --> 00:29:24.240 and its towns 00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:25.620 raise their voices. 00:29:26.580 --> 00:29:27.580 Let the settlements 00:29:27.580 --> 00:29:28.960 where Kedar lives 00:29:28.960 --> 00:29:29.460 rejoice. 00:29:30.519 --> 00:29:31.300 Let the people 00:29:31.300 --> 00:29:32.140 of Selah 00:29:32.140 --> 00:29:33.300 sing for joy. 00:29:33.840 --> 00:29:34.740 Let them shout 00:29:34.740 --> 00:29:35.660 from the mountaintops. 00:29:37.100 --> 00:29:38.380 Let them give glory 00:29:38.380 --> 00:29:39.320 to the Lord 00:29:39.320 --> 00:29:40.280 and proclaim 00:29:40.280 --> 00:29:41.440 his praise 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:42.460 in the islands. 00:29:43.220 --> 00:29:43.900 The Lord 00:29:43.900 --> 00:29:44.960 will march out 00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:46.060 like a champion 00:29:46.060 --> 00:29:47.700 and a warrior 00:29:47.700 --> 00:29:49.100 will tear up 00:29:49.100 --> 00:29:49.740 his zeal. 00:29:50.380 --> 00:29:51.220 With a shout 00:29:51.220 --> 00:29:52.260 he will raise 00:29:52.260 --> 00:29:53.340 the battle cry 00:29:53.340 --> 00:29:54.800 and will triumph 00:29:54.800 --> 00:29:56.620 over his enemies. 00:29:56.740 --> 00:29:57.640 God's going to do this 00:29:57.640 --> 00:29:58.140 through the work 00:29:58.140 --> 00:29:58.820 of his servant. 00:29:59.480 --> 00:30:00.640 700 years later 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:01.200 after this 00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:03.280 Jesus shows up. 00:30:03.760 --> 00:30:04.380 This servant 00:30:04.380 --> 00:30:04.740 friends 00:30:04.740 --> 00:30:05.220 is an offer 00:30:05.220 --> 00:30:06.040 for us this morning 00:30:06.040 --> 00:30:06.760 to come and put 00:30:06.759 --> 00:30:07.220 our faith 00:30:07.220 --> 00:30:07.900 and our trust 00:30:07.900 --> 00:30:08.420 in him. 00:30:08.700 --> 00:30:08.940 And we're going 00:30:08.940 --> 00:30:09.660 to love this series 00:30:09.660 --> 00:30:10.420 as we journey up 00:30:10.420 --> 00:30:10.779 to Easter 00:30:10.779 --> 00:30:12.140 seeing the servant 00:30:12.140 --> 00:30:13.160 proclaimed to us 00:30:13.160 --> 00:30:13.619 through the words 00:30:13.619 --> 00:30:14.140 of Isaiah. 00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:15.640 Let's pray together. 00:30:20.299 --> 00:30:21.220 Father we thank you 00:30:21.220 --> 00:30:22.480 for the incredible grace 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:23.500 that you have shown us 00:30:23.500 --> 00:30:26.200 in giving us 00:30:26.200 --> 00:30:27.539 the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:30:29.559 --> 00:30:30.119 And Lord I pray 00:30:30.119 --> 00:30:32.400 just for a few moments 00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:33.279 now as we respond 00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:33.720 to this 00:30:33.720 --> 00:30:34.319 that your spirit 00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:35.099 would be at work 00:30:35.099 --> 00:30:35.919 in our hearts 00:30:35.919 --> 00:30:37.980 as we savor 00:30:37.980 --> 00:30:39.059 your words 00:30:39.059 --> 00:30:39.599 in our hearts 00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:40.139 this morning. 00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:45.179 And so we ask 00:30:45.179 --> 00:30:46.219 that these words 00:30:46.219 --> 00:30:48.480 that were spoken 00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:49.359 through Isaiah 00:30:49.359 --> 00:30:49.939 about the Lord 00:30:49.939 --> 00:30:50.639 Jesus Christ 00:30:50.639 --> 00:30:51.599 they would last long 00:30:51.599 --> 00:30:52.159 in our hearts 00:30:52.159 --> 00:30:52.939 and in our minds. 00:30:53.639 --> 00:30:54.319 We pray that you 00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:54.919 would help 00:30:54.919 --> 00:30:56.839 not let the evil 00:30:56.839 --> 00:30:57.879 one snatch them away 00:30:57.879 --> 00:30:59.500 but we pray 00:30:59.500 --> 00:31:00.099 that you would help 00:31:00.099 --> 00:31:01.159 us to cherish them 00:31:01.160 --> 00:31:03.220 and to love him 00:31:03.220 --> 00:31:04.740 more than anything 00:31:04.740 --> 00:31:05.920 else in our lives 00:31:05.920 --> 00:31:07.120 this week we ask 00:31:07.120 --> 00:31:07.519 and pray. 00:31:07.880 --> 00:31:08.660 Thank you for our 00:31:08.660 --> 00:31:09.220 time together 00:31:09.220 --> 00:31:10.220 dear Heavenly Father 00:31:10.220 --> 00:31:11.360 and we commit it to you 00:31:11.360 --> 00:31:12.920 in Jesus' precious name. 00:31:13.460 --> 00:31:13.779 Amen.