WEBVTT 00:00:00.120 –> 00:00:02.800 A great sense of anticipation, 00:00:02.800 –> 00:00:05.000 as we begin this new series 00:00:05.000 –> 00:00:09.560 in the later chapters of Isaiah the Prophet, 00:00:09.560 –> 00:00:10.320 under the title, 00:00:10.320 –> 00:00:16.559 Restore My Soul, Nine Heartcries for Revival. 00:00:16.680 –> 00:00:17.879 I founded a helpful thing 00:00:17.879 –> 00:00:19.120 at the beginning of a new series 00:00:19.120 –> 00:00:21.360 just to focus personally 00:00:21.360 –> 00:00:22.480 by asking this question. 00:00:22.480 –> 00:00:23.879 Colin, what is your prayer 00:00:23.879 –> 00:00:25.160 for your own life 00:00:25.160 –> 00:00:26.940 and for the congregation 00:00:26.940 –> 00:00:28.840 as we begin this new nine-week series 00:00:28.940 –> 00:00:30.280 in the fall? 00:00:30.280 –> 00:00:33.540 Here’s the answer that I have to that question. 00:00:33.540 –> 00:00:37.240 I want for all of us 00:00:37.240 –> 00:00:41.020 to have a deeper and fuller experience 00:00:41.020 –> 00:00:43.880 of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ 00:00:43.880 –> 00:00:44.700 in our lives. 00:00:44.700 –> 00:00:46.959 For you to experience 00:00:46.959 –> 00:00:49.840 what Jesus Christ offers in the gospel 00:00:49.840 –> 00:00:52.779 more fully in your life. 00:00:52.779 –> 00:00:54.080 Just last week, 00:00:54.080 –> 00:00:55.119 I was speaking to someone 00:00:55.119 –> 00:00:56.480 in the congregation here 00:00:56.619 –> 00:00:58.520 who teaches students 00:00:58.520 –> 00:01:00.680 preparing for Christian ministry. 00:01:00.680 –> 00:01:01.520 And she was telling me 00:01:01.520 –> 00:01:03.139 that she had been teaching a class 00:01:03.139 –> 00:01:05.239 on the character of God. 00:01:05.239 –> 00:01:07.199 And the students were able to respond 00:01:07.199 –> 00:01:08.940 very easily to her question 00:01:08.940 –> 00:01:10.360 about what God is like, 00:01:10.360 –> 00:01:11.879 quoting Scripture about how God 00:01:11.879 –> 00:01:13.800 is true, and good, and love, 00:01:13.800 –> 00:01:15.879 and righteous, and holy, and wise, 00:01:15.879 –> 00:01:16.720 and so forth. 00:01:16.720 –> 00:01:18.599 And then she asked this question, 00:01:18.599 –> 00:01:20.239 she said, 00:01:20.239 –> 00:01:22.040 how have you experienced 00:01:22.040 –> 00:01:24.639 this character of God in your life? 00:01:24.639 –> 00:01:28.160 And she said, they really struggled. 00:01:29.360 –> 00:01:31.000 And maybe if you’d been in the class 00:01:31.000 –> 00:01:32.180 you might have struggled too. 00:01:32.180 –> 00:01:33.959 How have you seen the wisdom of God 00:01:33.959 –> 00:01:36.260 then in your life? 00:01:36.260 –> 00:01:37.639 How have you experienced 00:01:37.639 –> 00:01:41.139 the love of God in your life? 00:01:41.139 –> 00:01:42.480 The righteousness of God 00:01:42.480 –> 00:01:43.559 in your life? 00:01:44.919 –> 00:01:49.599 Those who have visited London 00:01:49.599 –> 00:01:51.940 will know that the underground, 00:01:51.940 –> 00:01:54.599 the Tube, as it’s called over there, 00:01:54.599 –> 00:01:57.720 is a marvelous system for getting around the great city. 00:01:58.739 –> 00:02:00.400 It was built in Victorian times. 00:02:00.400 –> 00:02:02.660 Many of the stations, the platforms, 00:02:02.660 –> 00:02:05.080 are in a straight line as you would expect them to be. 00:02:05.080 –> 00:02:07.419 But some, because it was built in Victorian times, 00:02:07.419 –> 00:02:08.639 are on a curve. 00:02:08.639 –> 00:02:10.759 And so when the train comes in 00:02:10.759 –> 00:02:13.880 there is a gap between the edge of the platform 00:02:13.880 –> 00:02:14.779 and the edge of the train 00:02:14.779 –> 00:02:17.039 onto which you are about to step. 00:02:17.039 –> 00:02:19.520 And because there’s an obvious hazard with that 00:02:19.520 –> 00:02:20.520 you get this recording 00:02:20.520 –> 00:02:21.720 that nearly drives you crazy 00:02:21.720 –> 00:02:24.360 if you go in one of these stations every day. 00:02:24.360 –> 00:02:25.580 And you can see it with me. 00:02:25.580 –> 00:02:28.720 It says, mind the gap. 00:02:28.720 –> 00:02:30.479 Mind the gap. 00:02:30.479 –> 00:02:31.800 Mind the gap. 00:02:31.800 –> 00:02:32.619 And if you go to London 00:02:32.619 –> 00:02:35.960 you can get a T-shirt that says mind the gap. 00:02:35.960 –> 00:02:40.179 Now, there is a very great gap 00:02:40.179 –> 00:02:43.339 that often exists in the lives of Christian people 00:02:43.339 –> 00:02:46.240 between the faith we profess 00:02:46.240 –> 00:02:49.839 and the life that we experience. 00:02:49.839 –> 00:02:52.039 And maybe you would be able to say today, 00:02:52.039 –> 00:02:53.880 boy, I just would like to tell you 00:02:54.100 –> 00:02:55.800 about all my experience of the love of God 00:02:55.800 –> 00:02:57.320 and the wisdom of God, 00:02:57.320 –> 00:03:00.660 but I think many of us may feel that there’s a gap. 00:03:00.660 –> 00:03:02.679 And my prayer for this series 00:03:02.679 –> 00:03:06.779 is that God will very graciously close that gap 00:03:06.779 –> 00:03:08.779 and that in his mercy and in his grace 00:03:08.779 –> 00:03:13.779 we will experience the gospel more fully in our lives. 00:03:14.240 –> 00:03:17.559 Now, this gap between professed faith 00:03:17.559 –> 00:03:19.960 and the reality of experience 00:03:19.960 –> 00:03:21.759 was a struggle for God’s people 00:03:21.759 –> 00:03:23.360 when Isaiah wrote this book 00:03:23.360 –> 00:03:26.220 about 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. 00:03:26.220 –> 00:03:27.759 So the message of this book 00:03:27.759 –> 00:03:30.240 is right on target for us today. 00:03:30.240 –> 00:03:31.679 Just so you know where we are, 00:03:31.679 –> 00:03:33.300 I have a frame of reference. 00:03:33.300 –> 00:03:36.300 Isaiah’s ministry lasted about 50 years, 00:03:36.300 –> 00:03:39.759 from about 740 to 690 BC, 00:03:39.759 –> 00:03:42.179 and right in the middle of that time, 00:03:42.179 –> 00:03:45.619 722 years before the birth of Jesus, 00:03:45.619 –> 00:03:47.899 came the first of two great disasters 00:03:47.899 –> 00:03:51.139 in the story of God’s Old Testament people. 00:03:51.139 –> 00:03:52.699 The northern kingdom of Samaria 00:03:52.699 –> 00:03:55.880 where 10 of the tribes lived in the Promised Land 00:03:55.880 –> 00:03:58.580 was overrun by the army of Assyria. 00:03:58.580 –> 00:04:02.479 And if you glance at Isaiah chapter 52 and verse four, 00:04:02.479 –> 00:04:03.559 you’ll see that already 00:04:03.559 –> 00:04:08.139 the specter, the looming horizon of Assyria is there. 00:04:08.139 –> 00:04:12.059 Isaiah says lately Assyria has oppressed you. 00:04:12.059 –> 00:04:14.240 And so it was during Isaiah’s ministry 00:04:14.240 –> 00:04:17.420 that this terrible disaster happened. 00:04:17.559 –> 00:04:21.579 10 tribes displaced, repatriated, 00:04:21.579 –> 00:04:25.299 10 of the 12 tribes moved out of the Promised Land 00:04:25.299 –> 00:04:27.160 and that whole vast area of land 00:04:27.160 –> 00:04:29.940 now subject to a foreign occupying army. 00:04:29.940 –> 00:04:32.100 Now try and imagine this. 00:04:32.100 –> 00:04:33.059 In our terms, 00:04:33.059 –> 00:04:36.480 imagine that five out of every six homes 00:04:36.480 –> 00:04:38.640 in America were destroyed. 00:04:38.640 –> 00:04:41.200 Five out of every six homes destroyed. 00:04:41.200 –> 00:04:43.140 Or that in your extended family, 00:04:43.140 –> 00:04:46.579 five out of every six people had been displaced, 00:04:46.600 –> 00:04:47.899 repatriated, 00:04:47.899 –> 00:04:51.059 and you had no idea where they were now living. 00:04:51.059 –> 00:04:52.899 And here we are gathering on Sunday morning 00:04:52.899 –> 00:04:54.720 against that kind of background. 00:04:55.640 –> 00:04:59.739 Imagine 80% of the country you love 00:04:59.739 –> 00:05:03.859 being occupied by a brutal oppressor, 00:05:03.859 –> 00:05:05.640 the army of Assyria. 00:05:06.739 –> 00:05:08.619 Well, that’s exactly how it was 00:05:08.619 –> 00:05:10.619 during the ministry of Isaiah 00:05:10.619 –> 00:05:12.660 and what God did at that time 00:05:12.660 –> 00:05:15.339 was He sent this man, this prophet, 00:05:15.339 –> 00:05:17.019 with a message about Christ 00:05:17.019 –> 00:05:19.660 and all that Christ would do for these people 00:05:19.660 –> 00:05:21.980 and, indeed, all that He has done 00:05:21.980 –> 00:05:24.119 for them and for us. 00:05:24.119 –> 00:05:26.839 Now, remember as we think about this 00:05:26.839 –> 00:05:29.399 that these people lived 700 years 00:05:29.399 –> 00:05:30.779 before the birth of Jesus. 00:05:30.779 –> 00:05:32.660 They never saw Jesus. 00:05:32.660 –> 00:05:35.779 Just as we lived 2,000 years after the birth of Jesus, 00:05:35.779 –> 00:05:37.959 we’ve never seen Jesus either. 00:05:37.959 –> 00:05:40.079 And so in a real sense they and we 00:05:40.079 –> 00:05:42.579 are in precisely the same position. 00:05:42.579 –> 00:05:45.579 They lived by faith in a savior who was to come 00:05:45.579 –> 00:05:50.079 just as we live by faith in a savior who has come. 00:05:50.079 –> 00:05:54.519 We live by faith in a savior we have not yet seen. 00:05:55.559 –> 00:05:58.100 Now I’ve called this series then Restore My Soul 00:05:58.100 –> 00:05:59.899 with the great prayer and passion 00:05:59.899 –> 00:06:03.500 that God would renew within our hearts 00:06:03.500 –> 00:06:08.500 experience of all that is ours in Jesus Christ. 00:06:08.739 –> 00:06:10.459 And this is one of His great promises. 00:06:10.660 –> 00:06:12.720 Remember David says in Psalm 23, 00:06:12.720 –> 00:06:15.000 this is where the title comes from, 00:06:15.000 –> 00:06:17.260 he says the Lord is my shepherd 00:06:17.260 –> 00:06:19.459 and here’s what that means. 00:06:19.459 –> 00:06:21.440 He makes me lie down in green pastures, 00:06:21.440 –> 00:06:23.380 He leads me beside still waters 00:06:23.380 –> 00:06:27.779 and say it with me, He restores my soul. 00:06:27.779 –> 00:06:30.899 Well that’s what we’re looking for Him to do for us 00:06:30.899 –> 00:06:34.619 and the way that God restores the soul 00:06:34.619 –> 00:06:36.820 is by leading you to Jesus Christ, 00:06:36.820 –> 00:06:38.980 that’s what he did through the ministry of Uzziah 00:06:39.040 –> 00:06:41.579 700 years before Jesus was born 00:06:41.579 –> 00:06:43.380 and that is what he will do for us 00:06:43.380 –> 00:06:46.700 through his Word on these Sunday mornings 00:06:46.700 –> 00:06:48.500 as we gather together. 00:06:48.500 –> 00:06:50.459 Now the subtitle, just a brief comment on that 00:06:50.459 –> 00:06:52.220 before we plunge into the passage, 00:06:52.220 –> 00:06:55.000 nine heart cries for revival, 00:06:55.000 –> 00:06:57.440 boy we’re at a moment in the life of this church 00:06:57.440 –> 00:07:01.260 and many of us at a moment personally in our own lives 00:07:01.260 –> 00:07:03.440 where surely it is a good and a right thing 00:07:03.440 –> 00:07:05.559 for us to cry out to God 00:07:05.559 –> 00:07:08.799 that by His breath, by His life, and by His Spirit 00:07:08.899 –> 00:07:12.540 he would do a new thing in his people 00:07:12.540 –> 00:07:14.600 individually and together 00:07:14.600 –> 00:07:17.220 that he would give to us a new love for him. 00:07:17.220 –> 00:07:19.380 Would you join me in praying for that? 00:07:19.380 –> 00:07:21.579 That he would give for us a new life in him 00:07:21.579 –> 00:07:24.739 and new confidence in him, a new joy in him, 00:07:24.739 –> 00:07:27.980 a new strength that comes to his people from him 00:07:27.980 –> 00:07:31.059 and a new kind of obedience towards him. 00:07:31.059 –> 00:07:34.000 And I cannot think of a better time 00:07:34.000 –> 00:07:36.140 for us as a community of the Lord’s people 00:07:36.160 –> 00:07:40.100 to cry out to him to say Lord, do a new work in our hearts 00:07:40.100 –> 00:07:42.500 individually and together than right now. 00:07:42.500 –> 00:07:45.320 So, restore my soul. 00:07:45.320 –> 00:07:48.160 Nine heart cries for revival. 00:07:48.160 –> 00:07:52.059 I hope you have your Bible open at Isaiah chapter 53. 00:07:52.059 –> 00:07:54.140 One of the best-known passages in the scripture, 00:07:54.140 –> 00:07:57.260 this is where we begin our series 00:07:57.260 –> 00:07:59.440 and I want to summarize the message 00:07:59.440 –> 00:08:03.640 of this great chapter like this. 00:08:03.640 –> 00:08:06.119 Isaiah’s message to us here, 00:08:06.160 –> 00:08:09.720 is that Jesus Christ came to redeem you 00:08:09.720 –> 00:08:14.059 from suffering and from sin forever 00:08:14.880 –> 00:08:19.880 by sacrificing himself as your substitute on the cross. 00:08:19.959 –> 00:08:22.679 Say that one more time, that Jesus Christ came 00:08:23.640 –> 00:08:27.100 to redeem you from suffering and from sin 00:08:27.100 –> 00:08:31.600 by sacrificing himself as your substitute on the cross. 00:08:31.600 –> 00:08:35.000 This is the great message that God brings through Isaiah 00:08:35.000 –> 00:08:40.000 to these people facing such extraordinarily difficult times. 00:08:40.679 –> 00:08:43.200 Now, let’s try and open that up together. 00:08:43.200 –> 00:08:46.619 Christ came to redeem you from suffering. 00:08:46.619 –> 00:08:51.619 Verse four, surely he took up our infirmities 00:08:53.359 –> 00:08:55.599 and he carried our sorrows. 00:08:56.719 –> 00:08:59.440 Now, you might expect that when Isaiah speaks 00:08:59.440 –> 00:09:01.039 about the death of the Lord Jesus 00:09:01.039 –> 00:09:04.219 he would begin with speaking about how Jesus’ death 00:09:04.260 –> 00:09:07.239 deals with our sin and our guilt. 00:09:07.239 –> 00:09:10.900 But have you noticed that that’s not where he begins? 00:09:10.900 –> 00:09:13.940 He starts with our infirmities. 00:09:15.760 –> 00:09:18.380 That would have to include your migraines, 00:09:19.359 –> 00:09:24.099 your arthritis, your depression, 00:09:24.960 –> 00:09:26.640 your cancer. 00:09:27.919 –> 00:09:29.859 He took up our infirmities. 00:09:30.820 –> 00:09:34.280 And he carried our sorrows, Isaiah says. 00:09:34.280 –> 00:09:36.940 That would have to include things like perhaps 00:09:36.940 –> 00:09:39.520 the division in your family, 00:09:39.520 –> 00:09:41.719 the loss of your job, 00:09:41.719 –> 00:09:43.460 the death of your husband, 00:09:44.440 –> 00:09:46.479 the pain of your past. 00:09:48.260 –> 00:09:50.080 What Isaiah is saying to us here 00:09:50.080 –> 00:09:52.059 is you must understand, 00:09:52.059 –> 00:09:54.440 as God’s people were going through great suffering then 00:09:54.440 –> 00:09:57.020 and many of God’s people go through great suffering today, 00:09:57.059 –> 00:10:01.820 you must understand that God has not abandoned you 00:10:01.820 –> 00:10:05.739 to your infirmities or to your sorrows. 00:10:05.739 –> 00:10:08.340 He has not stayed remote in Heaven, 00:10:08.340 –> 00:10:12.099 passively neglecting the pain of your life. 00:10:13.020 –> 00:10:14.020 No, He came, 00:10:15.140 –> 00:10:19.500 and when He came Isaiah says He took up our infirmities 00:10:19.500 –> 00:10:22.799 and He carried our sorrows. 00:10:22.799 –> 00:10:25.859 The Lord Jesus Christ will not allow sorrow 00:10:25.859 –> 00:10:27.619 to be the last word of your life. 00:10:27.619 –> 00:10:31.020 The Lord Jesus Christ will not allow infirmity 00:10:31.020 –> 00:10:33.599 to be the last word of your life. 00:10:33.599 –> 00:10:36.859 He came to redeem you out of all of that 00:10:36.859 –> 00:10:41.020 into an eternal future of unclouded joy 00:10:41.020 –> 00:10:43.460 in His immediate presence. 00:10:44.500 –> 00:10:47.419 And He came to redeem you not only from suffering, 00:10:47.419 –> 00:10:49.739 but also from sin. 00:10:49.739 –> 00:10:52.700 See, suffering and sin are always wrapped up together 00:10:52.700 –> 00:10:54.460 in the Bible. 00:10:54.479 –> 00:10:56.380 They came into the world together, 00:10:56.380 –> 00:10:58.059 they exist in the world together, 00:10:58.059 –> 00:10:59.859 and God will bring them out of the world, 00:10:59.859 –> 00:11:02.539 He will kick them out of the world together. 00:11:03.599 –> 00:11:08.599 Think about this, what kind of Heaven would it be 00:11:08.859 –> 00:11:13.140 if there was no cancer but there was still human trafficking? 00:11:14.460 –> 00:11:17.859 What kind of Heaven would it be if there was no death 00:11:17.859 –> 00:11:19.919 but there was still sexual abuse? 00:11:20.900 –> 00:11:23.119 What kind of Heaven would it be if there were people 00:11:23.119 –> 00:11:25.280 from all over the world redeemed there 00:11:25.280 –> 00:11:27.539 but it was still divided by racism? 00:11:29.799 –> 00:11:34.799 In order to have a world that is free from suffering, 00:11:36.280 –> 00:11:41.280 you have to have human hearts that are set free from sin. 00:11:41.840 –> 00:11:43.799 You want to get rid of human trafficking, 00:11:43.799 –> 00:11:45.580 you want to get rid of sexual abuse, 00:11:45.580 –> 00:11:47.140 you want to get rid of racism. 00:11:47.140 –> 00:11:51.359 You have to get rid of selfishness, lust, 00:11:51.359 –> 00:11:56.359 and pride that are sins hidden in the human heart. 00:11:57.880 –> 00:12:00.880 And so because these two are so mixed up together, 00:12:00.880 –> 00:12:04.280 it makes sense, does it not, that suffering continues, 00:12:04.280 –> 00:12:07.760 all kinds of suffering continue as long as sin remains. 00:12:08.820 –> 00:12:11.000 And redeeming the world from suffering, 00:12:11.000 –> 00:12:13.440 which is what Jesus Christ has come to do, 00:12:13.440 –> 00:12:18.340 must include redeeming the heart from sin. 00:12:18.500 –> 00:12:23.500 And suffering then will end when sin is defeated. 00:12:24.739 –> 00:12:28.479 But Jesus Christ has come into the world for that purpose, 00:12:28.479 –> 00:12:33.479 and Isaiah tells us precisely how he goes about this. 00:12:33.619 –> 00:12:38.500 He has come to redeem us from suffering and from sin 00:12:38.500 –> 00:12:43.500 by sacrificing himself as your substitute. 00:12:43.619 –> 00:12:45.520 Substitute. 00:12:45.520 –> 00:12:48.479 In other words, this is very important to understand. 00:12:48.479 –> 00:12:51.440 When the Lord Jesus was suffering on the cross, 00:12:51.440 –> 00:12:55.820 he was more than a friend suffering with us. 00:12:55.820 –> 00:13:00.280 He was a substitute suffering for us. 00:13:00.280 –> 00:13:01.859 It’s very important. 00:13:01.859 –> 00:13:03.679 And look at how Isaiah describes it 00:13:03.679 –> 00:13:05.700 in this amazing verse five. 00:13:06.619 –> 00:13:08.960 He says he was pierced. 00:13:08.960 –> 00:13:11.619 Now, think about this, Jesus being pierced in his hands 00:13:11.799 –> 00:13:15.200 and in his feet and in his side, 00:13:15.200 –> 00:13:18.780 what was all that about? 00:13:18.780 –> 00:13:23.559 He was pierced for your transgressions. 00:13:25.880 –> 00:13:30.880 He was crushed, think of him under the beam of the cross 00:13:31.659 –> 00:13:34.919 as he carried it, stumbled under it, 00:13:34.919 –> 00:13:37.460 as his body was scourged. 00:13:38.359 –> 00:13:42.799 His frame was crushed, what was that all about? 00:13:42.799 –> 00:13:46.520 It was for your iniquities, 00:13:46.520 –> 00:13:51.520 that is the twistedness of your fallen nature and mine. 00:13:54.119 –> 00:13:58.520 His punishing, that is the punishment poured out 00:13:58.520 –> 00:14:01.059 justly due to the sin he was carrying. 00:14:01.059 –> 00:14:02.359 What was all that about? 00:14:02.359 –> 00:14:06.080 It was so that you might have peace with God. 00:14:07.700 –> 00:14:11.340 And his wounds, think about the lacerated back, 00:14:11.340 –> 00:14:15.619 the thorn crowned head of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:14:15.619 –> 00:14:17.659 These wounds, what were they for? 00:14:19.340 –> 00:14:22.400 They were so that you should be, ultimately, 00:14:22.400 –> 00:14:26.900 finally, fully, joyfully, and completely healed 00:14:26.900 –> 00:14:28.780 in the totality of that word, 00:14:28.780 –> 00:14:31.520 in the joy of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ 00:14:31.520 –> 00:14:33.880 forever and forever. 00:14:33.880 –> 00:14:35.179 And this Lord Jesus Christ, 00:14:35.239 –> 00:14:37.940 He came to redeem you from suffering and for sin, 00:14:37.940 –> 00:14:40.900 and he did this forever, forever. 00:14:40.900 –> 00:14:44.619 Now, think about this, because you are an eternal being. 00:14:45.780 –> 00:14:50.299 And if you are in Jesus Christ, think about this, 00:14:50.299 –> 00:14:54.359 the suffering you experience in this world 00:14:54.359 –> 00:14:56.940 is the only suffering you will ever know 00:14:56.940 –> 00:14:58.340 in your entire life. 00:15:00.020 –> 00:15:01.700 Think about your eternity, 00:15:01.799 –> 00:15:06.460 and what part is 7,000, 8,000, 9,000 years of eternity. 00:15:08.400 –> 00:15:11.640 Whatever pain, whatever sorrow, whatever trial, 00:15:11.640 –> 00:15:14.599 whatever difficulty you experience in this life 00:15:14.599 –> 00:15:18.020 is the only taste of suffering you will ever have 00:15:18.020 –> 00:15:21.260 in all eternity if you are in Jesus Christ, 00:15:21.260 –> 00:15:23.820 because he came to redeem you from suffering 00:15:23.820 –> 00:15:26.380 and for sin forever and he did it 00:15:26.380 –> 00:15:30.900 by sacrificing himself as a substitute on the cross. 00:15:31.619 –> 00:15:35.960 Isaiah makes it clear to us that he did this freely 00:15:35.960 –> 00:15:38.159 and he did this gladly, 00:15:38.159 –> 00:15:41.539 counting the joy of your redemption 00:15:41.539 –> 00:15:44.419 greater than the pain of his own suffering. 00:15:45.380 –> 00:15:47.140 You see this in verse 11. 00:15:47.140 –> 00:15:49.940 After the suffering of his soul, 00:15:49.940 –> 00:15:53.299 the Lord Jesus will see the light of life. 00:15:53.299 –> 00:15:56.380 That is a great reference of course to the resurrection 00:15:56.380 –> 00:16:00.799 and the risen Lord Jesus Christ will be satisfied. 00:16:01.640 –> 00:16:05.919 Now remember the Lord Jesus because he is God and man. 00:16:05.919 –> 00:16:09.880 He’s not limited by time in the way that you and I are. 00:16:09.880 –> 00:16:12.900 He already sees the future and knows it, 00:16:12.900 –> 00:16:14.719 which is why he was able to reveal it 00:16:14.719 –> 00:16:17.340 to John in the Book of Revelation. 00:16:18.280 –> 00:16:21.119 The risen Lord Jesus Christ already knows the joy 00:16:21.119 –> 00:16:25.380 of looking out over a vast company of redeemed people 00:16:25.380 –> 00:16:28.799 from every nation and tribe in this world 00:16:28.799 –> 00:16:33.799 and rejoicing over their joy in his presence. 00:16:34.200 –> 00:16:38.200 And think of this, he already knows everyone of us by name. 00:16:38.200 –> 00:16:41.479 He already sees you if you are in Christ 00:16:41.479 –> 00:16:44.979 and rejoices over you as one who is forgiven 00:16:44.979 –> 00:16:47.559 and one who is healed and one whose sorrows 00:16:47.559 –> 00:16:50.080 are brought into his everlasting joy 00:16:50.080 –> 00:16:54.039 and he counts his own joy in you now and forever 00:16:54.880 –> 00:16:59.219 as greater than all the pain of his suffering 00:16:59.219 –> 00:17:01.260 so that when he looks at it all, 00:17:01.260 –> 00:17:04.939 he is well satisfied with what he has done. 00:17:04.939 –> 00:17:08.739 And this risen lord Jesus Christ lives 00:17:08.739 –> 00:17:13.739 to bring you into this everlasting joy. 00:17:13.760 –> 00:17:15.579 Now all this is the message of hope 00:17:15.579 –> 00:17:19.020 that Isaiah brought 700 years before Jesus is born, 00:17:19.020 –> 00:17:20.780 this is what the Savior will do, 00:17:20.780 –> 00:17:25.000 it says to us this is what the Savior has done. 00:17:25.000 –> 00:17:27.239 And if you really take in what he’s saying here 00:17:27.239 –> 00:17:32.239 you will realize that in Jesus Christ 00:17:34.079 –> 00:17:39.079 you are more loved than you ever dared to dream. 00:17:40.800 –> 00:17:41.660 You really are. 00:17:43.040 –> 00:17:45.339 To be loved this much 00:17:46.300 –> 00:17:49.920 that he would have so much joy over redeeming you 00:17:49.920 –> 00:17:52.819 that he would count that infinitely worth 00:17:52.819 –> 00:17:54.939 all the suffering that he endured 00:17:54.939 –> 00:17:56.959 that he would love you that much. 00:17:58.060 –> 00:18:00.140 I tell you, for some of us being loved that much 00:18:00.140 –> 00:18:01.739 is gonna be pretty scary. 00:18:02.959 –> 00:18:05.439 I don’t know, do I wanna be loved that much. 00:18:07.219 –> 00:18:11.979 You are loved in Jesus Christ 00:18:11.979 –> 00:18:16.979 more than you ever dared to dream. 00:18:17.719 –> 00:18:20.420 And this love, the love of the savior 00:18:20.420 –> 00:18:23.760 who offers himself as a sacrifice for your sins, 00:18:23.760 –> 00:18:26.239 substituting himself under the piercing, 00:18:26.239 –> 00:18:29.359 crushing, punishing, and wounding that belonged to us 00:18:29.359 –> 00:18:32.160 so that we might be liberated, redeemed 00:18:32.160 –> 00:18:34.260 into peace and healing 00:18:34.260 –> 00:18:36.719 and brought out of our sorrows and our infirmities 00:18:36.719 –> 00:18:39.260 into eternal joy forever and ever, 00:18:39.260 –> 00:18:44.260 this love, this sacrifice, this Jesus is your salvation, 00:18:47.000 –> 00:18:48.420 and that’s Isaiah’s message. 00:18:49.660 –> 00:18:50.500 But, 00:18:51.819 –> 00:18:54.400 who believes this? 00:18:56.380 –> 00:18:59.800 Now, I want you to notice that that’s how the chapter begins 00:18:59.800 –> 00:19:00.800 with a question, 00:19:01.739 –> 00:19:05.300 and some of us who are very familiar with Isaiah 53 00:19:05.300 –> 00:19:07.579 rejoice in what’s been said in these last moments. 00:19:07.579 –> 00:19:11.060 You could perhaps recite Isaiah 53 by heart. 00:19:11.060 –> 00:19:13.479 Have you ever noticed the headline, 00:19:14.319 –> 00:19:18.459 the headline, the banner over the whole chapter 00:19:18.459 –> 00:19:19.619 is a question, 00:19:20.979 –> 00:19:24.160 who believes this? 00:19:25.380 –> 00:19:27.839 And the most important thing to get about this question 00:19:27.839 –> 00:19:30.079 is that it is a question that Isaiah the prophet 00:19:30.079 –> 00:19:32.300 asks of the people of God. 00:19:32.300 –> 00:19:34.280 The people who bear the Lord’s name. 00:19:35.359 –> 00:19:37.479 Who has believed our message? 00:19:38.439 –> 00:19:42.219 He’s asking, if I can put it this way, the church crowd, 00:19:42.219 –> 00:19:44.239 the folks who profess faith, 00:19:45.380 –> 00:19:47.699 the folks who have come into difficult times, 00:19:47.699 –> 00:19:50.319 and he’s saying, I’m asking this question 00:19:50.319 –> 00:19:53.819 as I open up this doctrine of what the Lord Jesus Christ 00:19:53.819 –> 00:19:56.339 who will come as the Messiah’s savior will do, 00:19:56.339 –> 00:19:58.180 I’m asking, who believes this? 00:19:58.180 –> 00:20:01.260 And then to make it doubly clear, he asks a second question. 00:20:02.300 –> 00:20:04.680 Who gets this? 00:20:04.680 –> 00:20:07.959 To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 00:20:08.939 –> 00:20:12.819 Who really gets the life-changing power 00:20:12.819 –> 00:20:16.400 of this redeeming work of Jesus Christ? 00:20:18.380 –> 00:20:20.500 Now, you may say, well, I do. 00:20:21.780 –> 00:20:24.359 I believe everything you’ve just been talking about. 00:20:24.359 –> 00:20:25.959 I believe in the substitutionary atonement 00:20:25.959 –> 00:20:26.979 of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:20:26.979 –> 00:20:27.819 We believe in that. 00:20:27.819 –> 00:20:29.239 It’s in our Statement of Faith. 00:20:31.339 –> 00:20:34.040 Well, let me ask you the question this week, this way. 00:20:35.040 –> 00:20:40.040 Would you say that this week you have lived 00:20:41.339 –> 00:20:46.339 in the conscious enjoyment of the love of Jesus Christ 00:20:47.439 –> 00:20:49.819 who loved you and gave himself for you? 00:20:49.819 –> 00:20:50.959 Would you say that you have lived 00:20:50.959 –> 00:20:53.880 in the conscious enjoyment of that this week? 00:20:56.739 –> 00:20:59.780 Because knowing the doctrine 00:20:59.780 –> 00:21:02.300 of what Jesus did subconsciously 00:21:02.959 –> 00:21:05.319 will not change your life 00:21:06.619 –> 00:21:08.839 and signing off on the doctrine 00:21:08.839 –> 00:21:11.359 of what Jesus did on the Cross in the statement of faith 00:21:11.359 –> 00:21:13.400 will not restore your soul. 00:21:14.760 –> 00:21:16.780 That’s the whole point of what Isaiah is saying here, 00:21:16.780 –> 00:21:19.500 this marvelous revelation of what God has done 00:21:19.500 –> 00:21:20.400 in Jesus Christ. 00:21:20.400 –> 00:21:23.400 The real question for the people of God is who believes it? 00:21:24.719 –> 00:21:25.780 Who gets it? 00:21:26.839 –> 00:21:28.040 Who sees it? 00:21:29.040 –> 00:21:31.040 That’s the question of Isaiah 53. 00:21:33.000 –> 00:21:36.560 Earlier this summer I was given by Mike Bulmore, 00:21:36.560 –> 00:21:38.420 a good friend and known to many of us here, 00:21:38.420 –> 00:21:40.119 wonderful pastor up in Kenosha, 00:21:40.119 –> 00:21:41.939 a book that had really helped him 00:21:41.939 –> 00:21:43.800 and I found it’s really helped me 00:21:43.800 –> 00:21:45.780 by a guy called Milton Vincent 00:21:45.780 –> 00:21:47.359 who’s a pastor in California 00:21:47.359 –> 00:21:48.719 and the title of the book is 00:21:48.719 –> 00:21:53.300 A Gospel Primer for Christians. 00:21:53.300 –> 00:21:55.760 That got me interested straight away. 00:21:55.760 –> 00:21:59.060 Here’s what Vincent’s theme is. 00:21:59.260 –> 00:22:04.260 He says, many Christians make the disastrous mistake 00:22:04.500 –> 00:22:06.020 of thinking that the gospel 00:22:06.020 –> 00:22:08.979 has exhausted its useful purpose 00:22:08.979 –> 00:22:12.079 as soon as you believed in Jesus for salvation. 00:22:15.099 –> 00:22:16.979 Milton says this, he says, 00:22:17.819 –> 00:22:20.560 in truth the gospel is and I’m quoting here, 00:22:20.560 –> 00:22:24.040 so foolish according to my natural wisdom. 00:22:24.040 –> 00:22:26.880 He’s quoting one Corinthians chapter one there. 00:22:26.880 –> 00:22:30.140 It’s so foolish according to my natural wisdom, 00:22:30.140 –> 00:22:34.020 it is so scandalous according to my conscience, 00:22:34.020 –> 00:22:36.859 and so incredible, that means hard to believe 00:22:36.859 –> 00:22:40.260 according to my timid heart that it is for me, 00:22:40.260 –> 00:22:43.380 he says a daily battle to believe the full scope 00:22:43.380 –> 00:22:45.420 of this gospel as I should. 00:22:46.859 –> 00:22:48.660 This is a mature pastor writing. 00:22:49.579 –> 00:22:53.619 And he’s saying, look, my conscience tells me 00:22:53.619 –> 00:22:56.219 that I am so bad in so many ways 00:22:56.219 –> 00:22:58.839 I struggle to really believe that Jesus Christ 00:22:58.839 –> 00:23:00.540 can redeem me and truly love me. 00:23:01.540 –> 00:23:03.780 My timid heart hardly dares to believe 00:23:03.780 –> 00:23:08.780 the vastness of this gospel that Isaiah is laying out here. 00:23:08.859 –> 00:23:13.859 And that struggle is so great, it’s a daily battle 00:23:14.219 –> 00:23:16.719 for me to believe the full scope 00:23:16.719 –> 00:23:19.819 of this gospel as I should. 00:23:19.819 –> 00:23:24.199 And what that means is that as a Christian, 00:23:24.199 –> 00:23:29.199 you and I, we need to reset our soul. 00:23:29.260 –> 00:23:32.780 We need to embrace, believe and live on and rejoice 00:23:32.780 –> 00:23:37.479 in all that Jesus Christ has done for us freshly everyday. 00:23:37.479 –> 00:23:39.719 And Milton Vincent has a way of putting this 00:23:39.719 –> 00:23:40.780 that I think is helpful. 00:23:40.780 –> 00:23:43.439 He says, what you’ve got to do as an ordinary Christian 00:23:43.439 –> 00:23:47.540 is you must preach the gospel to yourself everyday. 00:23:48.420 –> 00:23:50.839 You may never preach to another person. 00:23:50.839 –> 00:23:53.079 You may never preach to a crowd. 00:23:53.079 –> 00:23:54.239 But you must be a preacher 00:23:54.239 –> 00:23:56.640 of the gospel to yourself everyday. 00:23:56.640 –> 00:23:59.680 You must tell yourself who you are in Christ. 00:23:59.680 –> 00:24:02.160 You must tell yourself what Christ has done for you. 00:24:02.160 –> 00:24:04.839 You must tell yourself what it is that lies ahead of you. 00:24:04.839 –> 00:24:07.599 You must remind yourself of this everyday 00:24:07.599 –> 00:24:11.800 because it is a daily battle to believe it as we should. 00:24:11.800 –> 00:24:13.920 It is so vast, it is so great 00:24:13.920 –> 00:24:17.260 that our mind typically defaults 00:24:18.619 –> 00:24:20.060 to not really laying hold of it 00:24:20.060 –> 00:24:22.000 which is why Isaiah says to the people of God, 00:24:22.040 –> 00:24:23.199 now who’s really believing this? 00:24:23.199 –> 00:24:24.560 Who’s really holding on to this? 00:24:24.560 –> 00:24:28.599 Who in this dark time is really living on this? 00:24:28.599 –> 00:24:31.140 Who has believed our message, 00:24:31.140 –> 00:24:33.739 preach the gospel to yourself everyday? 00:24:33.739 –> 00:24:36.300 So how many of us are going to be preachers this week? 00:24:37.160 –> 00:24:38.979 No you’ve not got it yet? 00:24:38.979 –> 00:24:42.959 Every Christian must preach the gospel 00:24:42.959 –> 00:24:46.359 to himself or herself everyday. 00:24:46.359 –> 00:24:48.599 So how many of us are going to be preachers this week? 00:24:48.599 –> 00:24:51.359 Good, okay we’re getting the idea now. 00:24:51.400 –> 00:24:55.500 You really do because I’ll tell you 00:24:55.500 –> 00:24:59.219 Satan preaches bad news to you everyday. 00:24:59.219 –> 00:25:01.199 Bad news about your own condemnation. 00:25:01.199 –> 00:25:03.040 Bad news about your own failure. 00:25:03.040 –> 00:25:05.859 Bad news about your own weakness. 00:25:08.280 –> 00:25:10.439 Tell yourself who you are in Christ. 00:25:12.880 –> 00:25:15.040 Oh and by the way, it’s a sideline, 00:25:16.180 –> 00:25:18.420 make sure it’s the gospel 00:25:18.420 –> 00:25:21.040 you preach to yourself everyday 00:25:21.040 –> 00:25:24.459 and not the law because some of us 00:25:24.459 –> 00:25:26.280 are actually in the long term habit 00:25:26.280 –> 00:25:28.619 of preaching the law to ourselves everyday 00:25:28.619 –> 00:25:30.459 and that goes like this. 00:25:30.459 –> 00:25:32.579 Well I really missed the mark again didn’t I? 00:25:32.579 –> 00:25:35.500 I’m really not up to it again am I. 00:25:35.500 –> 00:25:39.239 I’m always like this and you know what happens 00:25:39.239 –> 00:25:42.660 if you preach the law to yourself everyday? 00:25:42.660 –> 00:25:46.300 It’ll suck the life out of your soul. 00:25:46.300 –> 00:25:47.859 The way Paul puts it is this, 00:25:47.859 –> 00:25:52.000 in 2nd Corinthians he says, the letter kills. 00:25:52.000 –> 00:25:53.640 He’s talking about the law. 00:25:53.640 –> 00:25:57.780 It’s the spirit, the gospel that gives life you see. 00:25:58.760 –> 00:26:00.800 So it makes sure it is the gospel 00:26:00.800 –> 00:26:03.260 that you are preaching to yourself everyday 00:26:03.260 –> 00:26:06.680 and not the law because it is in this way 00:26:06.680 –> 00:26:08.760 that your soul will be restored you see. 00:26:08.760 –> 00:26:10.520 This is how Isaiah as a prophet 00:26:10.520 –> 00:26:11.760 is trying to help these people 00:26:11.760 –> 00:26:13.400 who are facing such difficulties 00:26:13.400 –> 00:26:16.699 and such vast questions and struggles in their lives. 00:26:17.640 –> 00:26:19.560 Let’s start here. 00:26:19.560 –> 00:26:22.319 Do you really believe, are you laying hold today 00:26:22.319 –> 00:26:25.079 of what God has done for you in Jesus Christ 00:26:25.079 –> 00:26:27.459 because that will make all the difference in the world. 00:26:27.459 –> 00:26:30.319 Folks talk often about spiritual disciplines, 00:26:30.319 –> 00:26:32.000 reading the Bible in prayer and so forth 00:26:32.000 –> 00:26:34.660 and spiritual disciplines are of great importance. 00:26:34.660 –> 00:26:36.599 I just wanna put this right up 00:26:36.599 –> 00:26:38.819 in the top raft of spiritual disciplines. 00:26:38.819 –> 00:26:42.920 You must preach the gospel to yourself everyday 00:26:42.920 –> 00:26:44.599 and your soul will be strengthened 00:26:44.640 –> 00:26:47.140 and refreshed and renewed and restored 00:26:47.140 –> 00:26:51.479 as you savor all that is yours in Jesus Christ. 00:26:54.079 –> 00:26:57.760 Now I want to spend the remaining time that we have here 00:26:57.760 –> 00:27:02.060 by way of application, I want you to see clearly 00:27:02.060 –> 00:27:05.920 what difference it will make in your life 00:27:05.920 –> 00:27:07.839 if you will do this, this week, 00:27:07.839 –> 00:27:09.800 if you will preach the gospel to yourself 00:27:09.800 –> 00:27:11.939 on Monday and Tuesday, 00:27:11.939 –> 00:27:14.199 right through the week and next week and next month 00:27:14.579 –> 00:27:17.300 and this becomes the habit of your life 00:27:17.300 –> 00:27:20.180 that rather than just staying away as I believe that 00:27:20.180 –> 00:27:23.699 and kind of moving on in a default mode, 00:27:23.699 –> 00:27:26.219 that you really are resetting your mind and your heart 00:27:26.219 –> 00:27:27.540 and laying hold of Jesus Christ. 00:27:27.540 –> 00:27:30.000 I want you to see the difference that it will make 00:27:30.000 –> 00:27:33.020 increasingly over time in your life 00:27:33.020 –> 00:27:34.400 and it is a radical difference 00:27:34.400 –> 00:27:39.400 because the same life looks very different 00:27:41.060 –> 00:27:43.560 when you know that that life, 00:27:43.579 –> 00:27:45.619 whatever the sorrows and whatever the griefs 00:27:45.619 –> 00:27:46.839 and whatever the infirmities 00:27:46.839 –> 00:27:48.819 and whatever the failures and sins, 00:27:50.000 –> 00:27:51.699 when you know that that life is a life 00:27:51.699 –> 00:27:54.300 in the Redeemer’s hands looks very, very different. 00:27:55.319 –> 00:27:57.859 Let me just try and picture that for you 00:27:57.859 –> 00:27:59.359 by way of an illustration. 00:28:00.640 –> 00:28:03.780 Ever since I’ve been here in the church 12 years 00:28:04.800 –> 00:28:07.000 and probably for long before that, 00:28:07.000 –> 00:28:09.040 there have been a series of pictures 00:28:09.339 –> 00:28:13.119 out there in the parlor showing the various places 00:28:13.119 –> 00:28:15.839 where this congregation has worshiped 00:28:15.839 –> 00:28:19.619 over the last 55 or so years. 00:28:19.619 –> 00:28:21.719 And these pencil drawings were framed, 00:28:21.719 –> 00:28:25.319 actually, they were in some fairly unimpressive 00:28:25.319 –> 00:28:29.060 cheap frames which is not really our style. 00:28:29.060 –> 00:28:32.239 And I gotta tell you, I didn’t pay 00:28:32.239 –> 00:28:33.280 an awful lot of attention. 00:28:33.280 –> 00:28:35.359 It used to be pointed out, but you know, 00:28:35.359 –> 00:28:37.280 in the wrong frame a picture dies 00:28:37.280 –> 00:28:38.760 on the wall, doesn’t it. 00:28:38.760 –> 00:28:42.319 And it was just in a little bit of cheap white frame. 00:28:43.199 –> 00:28:48.199 And earlier this year some artistically gifted ladies 00:28:49.079 –> 00:28:50.479 said, you know, it’s time we gave a bit 00:28:50.479 –> 00:28:53.520 of a facelift to the parlor. 00:28:53.520 –> 00:28:54.660 And they did a wonderful job. 00:28:54.660 –> 00:28:56.599 It was repainted and refurbished 00:28:56.599 –> 00:28:58.280 and one of them said to me, 00:28:58.280 –> 00:28:59.819 just as they were talking about that, 00:28:59.819 –> 00:29:01.979 she said, you know what we need to do there, 00:29:01.979 –> 00:29:04.119 we need to put these pictures in new frames. 00:29:04.119 –> 00:29:05.800 They’ll look entirely different. 00:29:05.800 –> 00:29:06.839 And so they did. 00:29:06.859 –> 00:29:08.520 And I’ll probably get into trouble 00:29:08.520 –> 00:29:12.180 for taking stuff off the wall in the parlor 00:29:12.180 –> 00:29:13.599 but I just wanted you to see, 00:29:13.599 –> 00:29:15.599 they put them in these magnificent frames. 00:29:15.599 –> 00:29:17.079 I tell you this picture and the others 00:29:17.079 –> 00:29:19.079 that go with it that you can see out there 00:29:19.079 –> 00:29:21.839 for years they sort of died on the wall. 00:29:21.839 –> 00:29:24.239 In this marvelous frame, 00:29:24.239 –> 00:29:28.479 the same drawing looks entirely different. 00:29:28.479 –> 00:29:30.459 It really does, looks entirely different. 00:29:30.459 –> 00:29:31.479 So thank you for that. 00:29:31.479 –> 00:29:35.040 Now, I want you to think this way 00:29:35.040 –> 00:29:38.839 that the frame in which you see your life, 00:29:38.839 –> 00:29:40.520 whatever your sorrows, whatever your griefs, 00:29:40.520 –> 00:29:42.479 whatever your failures, whatever your experience, 00:29:42.479 –> 00:29:45.140 the frame in which you see your life 00:29:45.140 –> 00:29:47.040 makes all the difference in the world. 00:29:48.180 –> 00:29:51.920 And the default mode of the human heart 00:29:51.920 –> 00:29:56.619 is always to look at life in the frame of unbelief. 00:29:57.520 –> 00:29:59.839 And as long as you look at your life 00:29:59.839 –> 00:30:01.599 through the frame of unbelief, 00:30:01.599 –> 00:30:02.680 here’s how you’ll think 00:30:02.680 –> 00:30:04.880 and you might recognize these patterns of thought. 00:30:04.959 –> 00:30:08.640 Well you know, God seems to be largely absent from my life, 00:30:08.640 –> 00:30:09.920 he doesn’t seem to do anything, 00:30:09.920 –> 00:30:12.140 he seems to be fairly passive 00:30:12.140 –> 00:30:14.040 and if you feel that he’s active at all, 00:30:14.040 –> 00:30:16.479 your temptation is to think that he’s maybe against you, 00:30:16.479 –> 00:30:18.479 catching up with you, getting even with you, 00:30:18.479 –> 00:30:19.900 paying you back. 00:30:20.839 –> 00:30:22.800 As long as you look at your life, 00:30:22.800 –> 00:30:26.180 your experience, in the frame of unbelief, 00:30:26.180 –> 00:30:30.400 you will live in confusion and doubt and fear. 00:30:31.359 –> 00:30:33.160 You will keep finding yourself saying, 00:30:33.199 –> 00:30:34.540 how can there really be a God of love 00:30:34.540 –> 00:30:35.959 when there’s all this trouble in the world 00:30:35.959 –> 00:30:37.800 and all this trouble in the lives of people I love 00:30:37.800 –> 00:30:40.119 and all this trouble for me. 00:30:40.119 –> 00:30:41.979 You may honor God, 00:30:42.979 –> 00:30:44.239 I guess you probably wouldn’t be here 00:30:44.239 –> 00:30:45.739 unless you wanted to do that 00:30:46.680 –> 00:30:48.800 but the bottom line truth is 00:30:48.800 –> 00:30:52.040 that you are honoring God out of fear 00:30:52.040 –> 00:30:54.959 lest if you don’t, something worse may happen to you 00:30:55.959 –> 00:30:58.439 and so long as you feel like that towards him, 00:30:58.439 –> 00:31:01.160 which is the effect of unbelief, 00:31:01.239 –> 00:31:02.280 you will never love him, 00:31:02.280 –> 00:31:03.319 you will never trust him, 00:31:03.319 –> 00:31:05.000 you will never have joy in him, 00:31:05.000 –> 00:31:07.599 you may just honor him out of fear. 00:31:08.959 –> 00:31:11.079 Now Isaiah knew that this was the reality 00:31:11.079 –> 00:31:12.800 for many of God’s people. 00:31:13.719 –> 00:31:15.619 They professed faith 00:31:16.599 –> 00:31:20.839 but they lived at a functional level in unbelief 00:31:20.839 –> 00:31:22.800 which is why he says, 00:31:22.800 –> 00:31:26.880 right at the beginning and the headline of Isaiah chapter 53 00:31:26.880 –> 00:31:29.959 here’s the question, who believes this message? 00:31:30.920 –> 00:31:35.160 To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 00:31:36.260 –> 00:31:39.859 Now suppose that today you were to lay hold 00:31:39.859 –> 00:31:43.280 of Isaiah’s message and really believe it 00:31:43.280 –> 00:31:46.319 and suppose that this week and next week 00:31:46.319 –> 00:31:48.520 you were to preach the gospel to yourself 00:31:48.520 –> 00:31:50.479 so that though it is a daily battle 00:31:50.479 –> 00:31:51.640 to believe it as you should, 00:31:51.640 –> 00:31:53.780 you reset your mind and your heart 00:31:53.780 –> 00:31:56.040 around all that is yours in Jesus Christ 00:31:56.040 –> 00:31:57.160 all that he’s done for you 00:31:57.160 –> 00:31:59.439 and the new person that you are in him. 00:31:59.439 –> 00:32:01.660 Your life would be in a new frame 00:32:01.660 –> 00:32:03.880 and the same picture, the same sorrow, 00:32:03.880 –> 00:32:06.520 the same experience will look entirely different 00:32:06.520 –> 00:32:07.359 I promise you. 00:32:08.560 –> 00:32:13.560 Because faith is the God-centered conviction 00:32:13.640 –> 00:32:16.500 that God is always up to something good. 00:32:16.500 –> 00:32:18.959 The cross-centered conviction 00:32:18.959 –> 00:32:21.680 that God is always up to something good. 00:32:21.680 –> 00:32:24.920 Faith, seeing that Jesus Christ loved me 00:32:24.920 –> 00:32:28.319 and gave himself for me says God is totally for me, 00:32:28.319 –> 00:32:30.760 the cross drives me to that conclusion. 00:32:30.760 –> 00:32:32.859 It trumps everything else. 00:32:32.859 –> 00:32:35.420 I see suffering and pain and death. 00:32:35.420 –> 00:32:38.540 I hear of evil and abuse and injustice. 00:32:38.540 –> 00:32:41.780 I see disasters and pain and loneliness and heartache 00:32:41.780 –> 00:32:45.900 but the Son of God loved me and He gave Himself for me 00:32:45.900 –> 00:32:49.920 and that outweighs everything else. 00:32:49.920 –> 00:32:53.420 My life is a life in the redeemer’s hand. 00:32:53.420 –> 00:32:55.839 This life, with all of its pain and sorrow, 00:32:56.040 –> 00:32:58.719 is one that Jesus Christ has laid hold of 00:32:58.719 –> 00:33:01.579 and is redeeming so that my life will be brought 00:33:01.579 –> 00:33:06.359 into the eternal joy that He already sees and knows. 00:33:06.359 –> 00:33:09.780 The same life looks radically different 00:33:10.660 –> 00:33:15.660 when you know that it is a life in the redeemer’s hands. 00:33:18.479 –> 00:33:20.280 I mean, it comes out in the simplest of ways. 00:33:20.280 –> 00:33:25.119 I had a young Christian chatted to this guy this week. 00:33:25.140 –> 00:33:27.520 He’s only been a Christian a very short time. 00:33:27.520 –> 00:33:29.479 A very, very difficult background. 00:33:29.479 –> 00:33:31.060 This week he lost his job. 00:33:32.020 –> 00:33:32.839 That’s hard. 00:33:33.719 –> 00:33:36.359 He said to me, Colin, I lost my job. 00:33:36.359 –> 00:33:37.560 What am I going to do now? 00:33:37.560 –> 00:33:40.959 And then he said, you know what? 00:33:40.959 –> 00:33:44.060 I think God’s yanking my chain. 00:33:45.880 –> 00:33:46.959 Oh I love that. 00:33:46.959 –> 00:33:50.479 You see his instinct was something’s gone wrong in my life 00:33:50.479 –> 00:33:52.119 but I’ve discovered that God is good 00:33:52.119 –> 00:33:53.420 so whatever God’s doing, 00:33:53.420 –> 00:33:55.319 I know he must be up to something good. 00:33:56.959 –> 00:33:58.160 So when you believe in the cross, 00:33:58.160 –> 00:34:00.199 the darkest moment in human history 00:34:00.199 –> 00:34:01.959 and see what God did there, 00:34:01.959 –> 00:34:03.579 you live on that conviction. 00:34:03.579 –> 00:34:05.380 I said to him, hey just remember 00:34:05.380 –> 00:34:07.920 God doesn’t think of you as a dog. 00:34:07.920 –> 00:34:09.459 He thinks of you as a son. 00:34:09.459 –> 00:34:12.080 But your instinct is absolutely right. 00:34:12.080 –> 00:34:13.159 Absolutely right. 00:34:14.919 –> 00:34:16.100 Let me give you one illustration 00:34:16.100 –> 00:34:18.020 and then we’re through from the Bible. 00:34:19.479 –> 00:34:22.520 Think of the story of Joseph in the Old Testament. 00:34:23.639 –> 00:34:27.080 Let’s put it for a moment in the frame of unbelief. 00:34:29.040 –> 00:34:31.199 What’s this man’s story? 00:34:31.199 –> 00:34:34.439 Well he’s born into a dysfunctional family 00:34:35.560 –> 00:34:39.100 where his brothers beat him up, physical abuse, 00:34:40.500 –> 00:34:42.939 and he is sold as human traffic. 00:34:42.939 –> 00:34:43.760 Think about that. 00:34:43.760 –> 00:34:47.639 Think about the impact of that on a young man’s life. 00:34:48.979 –> 00:34:52.040 He sets his heart on integrity incredibly. 00:34:53.780 –> 00:34:58.620 And yet suffers the loss of his job 00:34:58.620 –> 00:35:01.439 and years in prison on account 00:35:01.439 –> 00:35:04.399 of a totally false accusation from a woman 00:35:04.399 –> 00:35:05.879 who had tried to seduce him. 00:35:08.580 –> 00:35:13.280 In prison, he reaches out to a colleague who he helps, 00:35:13.280 –> 00:35:14.739 and when the colleague is released 00:35:14.739 –> 00:35:17.360 and then promoted to a high position in the land, 00:35:17.360 –> 00:35:18.719 what does the colleague do? 00:35:18.719 –> 00:35:20.580 Utterly forgets about Joseph. 00:35:20.899 –> 00:35:23.500 Does nothing to help him. 00:35:26.320 –> 00:35:29.560 Now, you read this story and you look at that life 00:35:29.560 –> 00:35:33.879 and you’re gonna say this man 00:35:33.879 –> 00:35:36.459 is gonna be totally messed up. 00:35:38.600 –> 00:35:40.159 Bitter! 00:35:40.159 –> 00:35:43.860 Dysfunctional in the extreme! 00:35:43.860 –> 00:35:48.860 But you see, the miracle of Joseph’s life 00:35:49.820 –> 00:35:51.439 is that he knew that it was a life 00:35:51.439 –> 00:35:53.219 in the Redeemer’s hands. 00:35:55.360 –> 00:35:58.459 And so he’s not looking at these terrible events 00:35:58.459 –> 00:36:01.500 of his life through the framework of unbelief, 00:36:01.500 –> 00:36:05.699 he’s looking at them through the framework of faith. 00:36:05.699 –> 00:36:07.879 A cross centered conviction 00:36:07.879 –> 00:36:10.860 that God is always up to something good. 00:36:12.620 –> 00:36:15.500 So when his brothers turn up in Egypt 00:36:15.500 –> 00:36:17.739 and after years he’s now beginning to see 00:36:17.820 –> 00:36:21.060 how God’s wonderful Providence has been at work in his life, 00:36:21.060 –> 00:36:24.780 he says to them, you know, you guys meant it for evil, 00:36:26.260 –> 00:36:29.199 but God meant it for good. 00:36:31.219 –> 00:36:33.939 That is the transforming power of the gospel. 00:36:35.939 –> 00:36:38.580 And it’s the same transforming power of the gospel 00:36:38.580 –> 00:36:40.379 that can operate in your life, 00:36:40.379 –> 00:36:43.560 and Isaiah’s inviting us to believe this message, 00:36:44.120 –> 00:36:47.860 to refuse the default mode of unbelief, 00:36:47.860 –> 00:36:49.479 and to engage in that daily struggle 00:36:49.479 –> 00:36:51.479 to believe this awesome gospel 00:36:51.479 –> 00:36:54.080 of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ as we should, 00:36:54.080 –> 00:36:56.040 and therefore to know its redeeming 00:36:56.040 –> 00:37:00.379 and its restoring power in our lives as Joseph did. 00:37:00.379 –> 00:37:03.520 Same life, same experiences, same sorrows, 00:37:03.520 –> 00:37:07.300 looks very, very different when you know 00:37:07.300 –> 00:37:10.719 that your life is in the Redeemer’s hands, 00:37:10.719 –> 00:37:12.760 and your story therefore is the story 00:37:13.020 –> 00:37:15.060 of God’s love and kindness reaching into 00:37:15.060 –> 00:37:18.439 your pain and your sorrow and your sin and your rebellion, 00:37:18.439 –> 00:37:20.800 redeeming your life for His eternal glory 00:37:20.800 –> 00:37:24.219 and your eternal joy. 00:37:24.219 –> 00:37:27.399 So this is where the restoration of your soul begins. 00:37:27.399 –> 00:37:29.360 This is where revival in your heart begins. 00:37:29.360 –> 00:37:32.179 I commend to you preaching to yourself 00:37:32.179 –> 00:37:34.820 the gospel every day, telling yourself 00:37:34.820 –> 00:37:36.739 who you are in Christ, what He has done for you, 00:37:36.739 –> 00:37:39.600 what lies ahead of you, bathing your own soul 00:37:39.620 –> 00:37:42.560 in the healing streams of the amazing love 00:37:42.560 –> 00:37:44.959 of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 00:37:44.959 –> 00:37:47.899 Refuse the unbelief that says God is passive 00:37:47.899 –> 00:37:50.659 and He does not care, or to put it another way, 00:37:50.659 –> 00:37:55.659 as the apostles did, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 00:37:56.979 –> 00:37:58.379 and you will be saved. 00:37:59.239 –> 00:38:01.639 Let’s bow in His presence together, shall we? 00:38:04.979 –> 00:38:07.699 I want to offer in this moment a simple prayer 00:38:07.780 –> 00:38:10.860 in which we ask that God would restore faith 00:38:12.419 –> 00:38:14.719 as a daily battle to believe it as we should. 00:38:17.540 –> 00:38:18.820 Maybe you’ll want to make some or all 00:38:18.820 –> 00:38:20.439 of these words yours right now. 00:38:23.500 –> 00:38:26.459 Heav’nly Father I have professed faith 00:38:26.459 –> 00:38:28.639 but I have lived in unbelief. 00:38:31.459 –> 00:38:35.419 I have doubted, questioned and denied Your love for me. 00:38:38.300 –> 00:38:41.939 I have despaired as if You would abandon me to evil, 00:38:43.260 –> 00:38:45.379 as if suffering were forever, 00:38:46.340 –> 00:38:49.060 and as if Your grace would ultimately fail. 00:38:51.560 –> 00:38:54.520 Thank You, dear Lord, that it is not so. 00:38:57.340 –> 00:39:00.699 Today I turn from unbelief to embrace Your Gospel. 00:39:02.659 –> 00:39:05.100 Today by faith I lay hold of the Son of God 00:39:05.100 –> 00:39:07.620 who loved me and gave Himself for me. 00:39:08.139 –> 00:39:13.139 Today I ask that by Your strength I may live on Him, 00:39:13.840 –> 00:39:18.840 drawing strength and peace, and hope, and life 00:39:20.139 –> 00:39:24.280 from Jesus Christ crucified and risen for me. 00:39:28.320 –> 00:39:32.439 Lord, restore faith in Your Son 00:39:33.840 –> 00:39:36.540 and in the supreme value of His redeeming work 00:39:36.540 –> 00:39:41.540 for us on the cross through Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:39:44.860 –> 00:39:45.699 Amen.