WEBVTT

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You don’t need to wait until you have an experience of disaster before you pursue this

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joy.

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This joy is not just for the barren woman, the deserted wife, and the person who is in

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the afflicted city and has lost their home.

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Joy in Jesus Christ will free you to savour all other joys in your life and will strengthen

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you to face all sorrows in your life.

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Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pik, and Colin, it sounds

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as if we’re talking about the joy that’s found in a relationship with Jesus, and the Bible

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makes it clear that that really helps us when we face the realities of life.

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I love this about the Scriptures, some people have the idea that the Bible is some kind

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of council of perfection.

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You know, that it describes an ideal people in an ideal world.

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No, it’s the Word of God into our world in all of its desperate need and pain as we experience

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it.

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And we’re gonna look at a part of the Scripture today where God speaks into some of the greatest

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pains of life.

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He speaks about the woman who longs for a child and cannot have one.

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He speaks about someone who loves in marriage and then is rejected.

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The love is just thrown back in their face and they’re completely rejected.

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He speaks about situations of being broken and devastated.

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And then speaks of how joy could come into these lives.

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Now that’s something remarkable that only come from God Himself.

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But this is the Bible, it’s not speaking to some ideal world.

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It’s speaking to the real world in which we live.

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The world into which Jesus Christ has come.

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So, let’s open the Bible and see what it has to say about it.

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So join us if you can in Isaiah chapter 54, as we begin the message Restore Joy.

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Here’s Colin.

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We’re continuing our series, Restore my soul, nine heart cries, nine prayers for revival.

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Our aim is that you will experience the Gospel more fully in your life and that we would

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narrow the gap between the faith we profess and the life that we experience.

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We began last week by asking God, oh, restore faith.

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Now here’s the second cry today, and it is this cry, Lord, restore joy.

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Restore joy.

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The desire for joy is universal.

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One thing that unites every person here, whatever our circumstance in life, is we all deeply

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want to be happy.

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Blaise Pascal, the great mathematician and Christian philosopher, put it this way.

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He said, all men seek happiness.

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This is without exception.

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Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end.

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The cause of some going to war and of others avoiding it is the same desire in both attended

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by different views.

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The will never takes the least step, but to this object.

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This is the motive of every action of every man, even those who hang themselves.

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And, you see, Blaise Pascal is saying we are driven by this passion for what we most deeply

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believe will make us happy, even a person who takes their life, something you should

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never do but those who do are driven by a sense of pain being so great that I would

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be better off out of it.

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The passion, the drive for happiness is universal and, therefore, it is never more intense than

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when we experience sorrow.

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So as I’ve tried to meditate and pray about the Scripture throughout these last days,

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I’ve just thought about across the congregation and situations that I know of, and there are

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so many more that I don’t, but some of you who are carrying heavy burdens and absorbing

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pressures and enduring big disappointments and experiencing great struggles or living

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with great sorrows.

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And you know that over time that fatigues the body and it drains the soul.

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And when you experience that kind of sorrow, especially over a prolonged period of time,

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you desperately need to know that God is for your joy.

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Your immediate reaction might be to say, now if you want me to believe that God is for

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my joy, you need to give me a jolly good reason when I look at what’s going on in my life.

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Well, the reason was last week.

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You look at the cross.

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You believe that.

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If you come to that place of faith, you will be saying, God is totally for me in Christ.

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The cross demonstrates that.

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And if that is true and if you deeply believe that, you have to draw the conclusion therefore

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that God is for your joy.

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In fact, CS Lewis puts it this way.

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He says God is more for your joy than you are.

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Here’s what Lewis says.

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He says, Our Lord finds our desires for joy, not too strong but too weak.

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We’re like half-hearted creatures fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when

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infinite joy is offered to us.

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We’re like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he

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cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the seaside.

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We are, says Lewis, far too easily pleased.

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Here we are trying to find a way to make our lives happier.

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And Lewis says God has a happiness in view for you that is so much greater and so much

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bigger.

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It’s just like a child playing with mud because he’s never imagined what a day at the seaside

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would actually look like.

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Now I want you to turn with me please to Isaiah chapter 54 and to see there that throughout

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this chapter Isaiah finds joy in the most unlikely places.

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And he paints in this chapter three scenes of intense human sorrow.

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Now immediately there will be some of us in this congregation who identify with one or

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perhaps more of these.

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You will say, ah!

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That is exactly speaking to me.

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In the first scene of human sorrow that Isaiah identifies is the barren woman in verse one,

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the woman who has never had any children, sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a

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child.

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Now, for many women, and a number who are in the congregation this morning, this may

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be a source of great pain and of sensitivity.

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It’s worth remembering that in the ancient world, the emotions associated with this were

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really intensified by some very practical considerations.

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See, in the ancient world, family was the key to survival.

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In ancient Israel, one thing you had was land.

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Remember, in the time of Joshua, they divided the land between the 12 tribes so that each

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family had land.

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So you were able to support yourself with the land so long as you had someone to work

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it.

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In fact, a team of people to work your land.

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And how were you going to get a team of people to work your land?

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Over time, the extended family.

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So the key to survival in the long term, and especially into old age, is have lots of children.

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Indeed, lots of children.

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Because some of them won’t live for very long in the ancient world.

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So in the ancient world, the barren woman — think about it — had a very bleak future.

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She would be destitute.

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She would be hungry.

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She would be poor.

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So that’s Isaiah’s first picture of intense sorrow.

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The woman who never had any children.

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Here’s the second, and it’s in verse 6.

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The deserted wife.

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A wife deserted and distressed in spirit.

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A wife who married young only to be rejected.

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Now again there are folks in our congregation who know what this is like.

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You married young….

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Some guy told you that he loved you.

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You felt things for him, and you married, and it seemed that things would work out very

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well.

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But it wasn’t long after you were married before you became aware that he was fast losing

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interest in you.

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And over time all your dreams of joy seemed shattered.

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You were, to use Isaiah’s words, distressed in spirit.

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You lost confidence in yourself.

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You felt humiliated.

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You felt that your life was adrift.

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And there are folks perhaps who are right there in the middle of that even today.

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Then Isaiah pictures a third scene of intense human sorrow and it’s in verse 11.

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And it’s extraordinary that this passage should have been the passage chosen for us today.

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Because in verse 11 He talks about the afflicted city.

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And why is the city afflicted in verse 11?

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Because it is lashed by storms.

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Extraordinary.

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Extraordinary.

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Isaiah chapter 54 and verse 11.

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And we think about that today with — and some of us have water in our homes and I don’t

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want to minimize that, but we think of others whose homes are just devastated.

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You think of the skill of devastation of Katrina and now Ike, and the pain and the energy needed

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just for folks to try and rebuild life after, in cases, a total loss.

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And then if we think more widely about some of the scenes of flooding in India and people

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dragging carts with just a few possessions miles and miles.

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And this is the picture that Isaiah paints for us.

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The city lashed by storms, can you picture that?

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The devastation of ruined homes and torn up buildings.

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I think there’s more here actually in what Isaiah is saying than the storms of violent

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weather.

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One writer translates Isaiah’s words as a tempest driven city, and that’s a helpful

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picture.

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Think of all of us in the congregation who regularly drive into the city to make a living.

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You take the train into the city every day and you live in what might be described as

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you think about the business world, you live in a tempest driven city.

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You work in a cutthroat business environment, and it brings relentless pressure on you,

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and it drains the soul, because the city with all its excitement is a relentlessly demanding

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place for you to spend your working life.

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The choice of these three scenes, I think, is very, very significant, because the natural

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inclination of the human heart is that we are inclined to seek our happiness in three

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places.

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One is children, another is marriage, and a third is money.

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Our pride, our joy, our sense of dignity, and worth, and value, and happiness, and security,

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and all of that naturally tend to get wrapped up in the children you raise, the person to

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whom you are married, the possessions that you have.

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Which is why when someone’s child goes off the rails, your son or daughter goes off the

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rails, or your marriage is on the rocks, or your career suddenly hits the skids and is

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in ruins, many people feel that this now is a total loss.

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My life is not worth anything anymore.

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Therefore, you would expect the most unhappy people in the world to be the barren woman,

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the deserted wife, or the people who live in the ruined city.

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What I want us to grasp from Isaiah 54 is that Isaiah sees joy, joy, in these most unlikely

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places.

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Chapter 54, verse 1, the barren woman, what is she doing?

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She is singing.

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She is bursting into song.

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She is shouting for joy.

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The abandoned woman in verse 6, what’s happening to her?

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She has found security.

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She knows she is loved.

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What’s happening with the ruined city in verse 11-12?

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It’s being rebuilt.

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Only, it’s not being rebuilt with bricks and mortar.

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It is being rebuilt with rubies, and sapphires, and precious stones.

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And if you follow this story through, because Isaiah 54 and 55 really are kind of a unit

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and it all comes together, so that’s why we’re looking at them together.

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If you follow it through to chapter 55 in verse 12, you have this marvelous promise

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that is given to the people who have experienced such intense sorrow.

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God says to the barren woman, the deserted wife, and the people of the ruined city, you

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will go out in joy, and you will be led forth in peace.

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And the mountains and the hills will bust into song before you, and all of the trees

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will clap their hands.

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Now you say, how in all the world can that happen?

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How can the people who’ve known the greatest sorrows end up finding this greatest joy?

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And we’ll come back to answer that question in just a moment.

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You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith,

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and the message, Restore Joy.

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It’s part of our series, Restore My Soul.

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And if you tuned in late or if you’ve missed any of the series,

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don’t forget you can always catch up or go back and listen again online at openthebible.org.uk.

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Or you can find us as a podcast, which may be easier for you, you can listen at any time.

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And those podcasts are available on your regular podcast site,

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Just search for Open the Bible UK and subscribe to receive regular updates.

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Back to the message now, we’re in Isaiah chapter 54 and 55,

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as we continue the message, here’s Colin.

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How can the people who’ve known the greatest sorrows,

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end up finding this greatest joy?

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Now let’s answer that question by looking more closely at what happens in this chapter.

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Verse one, the barren woman is singing, why?

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Because she is surrounded by a community of people

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who love her like their own mother

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and she finds joy in them as if they were her own children.

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Sing oh barren woman, you who never bought a child

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burst into song and shout for joy

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you who were never in labor.

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Why?

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Because more are the children of the desolate woman

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than of her who has a husband says the Lord.

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So the joy of this woman

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is that although she has no children of her own

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she finds herself in a community of God’s redeemed people

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who love her as if they were, she were their own mother

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and she has come to love these people

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as if they were her own children.

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So the barren woman has found joy in God’s people.

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That’s Isaiah chapter 54 and verse 1, joy in God’s people.

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The deserted wife, what’s happened in her life?

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Well, she has gone through such emotional trauma

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but now she has become a woman of confidence.

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She has dignity, she is not ashamed

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and she knows that she is loved.

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Verse 4, do not be afraid God says to her.

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You will not suffer shame.

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Do not fear disgrace, you will not be humiliated.

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You will forget the shame of your youth

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and you will remember no more

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the reproach of your widowhood.

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So, this remarkable healing

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is going to take place in this woman’s life

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and now God tells us why in verse 5,

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for, here’s the reason, your maker is your husband, wow.

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The Lord almighty is his name.

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The Holy One of Israel is your redeemer.

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He is called the God of all the Earth.

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So just as the barren woman has found joy in God’s people,

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this deserted wife is finding joy in God’s love.

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Your maker is your husband, 54 in verse 5.

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Let’s look at the ruined city.

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It’s being rebuilt,

00:18:21.239 –> 00:18:24.199

only it’s being rebuilt infinitely better.

00:18:24.199 –> 00:18:27.520

Guys in construction, you have never seen

00:18:27.520 –> 00:18:30.040

anything like this building project.

00:18:30.040 –> 00:18:31.239

Look at it with me.

00:18:31.239 –> 00:18:35.359

Oh, afflicted city, lashed by storms, and not comforted,

00:18:35.359 –> 00:18:40.359

God says, I will build you, with what?

00:18:40.839 –> 00:18:43.439

With stones of turquoise?

00:18:43.439 –> 00:18:45.660

Your foundations with sapphires?

00:18:46.500 –> 00:18:49.640

Your battlements of rubies?

00:18:49.640 –> 00:18:51.420

Your gates of sparkling jewels?

00:18:51.420 –> 00:18:56.160

And all your walls of precious stones?

00:18:56.160 –> 00:18:57.380

Now where in the world could you see

00:18:57.380 –> 00:19:00.380

a city built of that stuff?

00:19:00.380 –> 00:19:04.300

Well John in the New Testament takes up

00:19:04.300 –> 00:19:06.000

these very words from Isaiah

00:19:06.000 –> 00:19:08.619

in Revelation in chapter 21

00:19:08.619 –> 00:19:11.839

and makes it very clear that what Isaiah is describing here

00:19:11.839 –> 00:19:14.020

is the New Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven

00:19:14.300 –> 00:19:16.180

and it will be the everlasting home

00:19:16.180 –> 00:19:20.099

filled with joy for all the people of God.

00:19:20.099 –> 00:19:22.939

And so what Isaiah is speaking about here

00:19:23.800 –> 00:19:27.579

is that there will be joy for those

00:19:27.579 –> 00:19:31.459

who have experienced such devastation in their city,

00:19:31.459 –> 00:19:35.219

in the city whose builder and maker is God,

00:19:35.219 –> 00:19:37.119

to quote the book of Hebrews.

00:19:37.119 –> 00:19:40.560

And they’re finding joy in God’s city.

00:19:41.400 –> 00:19:43.199

Now let’s put these three together

00:19:43.219 –> 00:19:44.800

because they’re giving us the key

00:19:44.800 –> 00:19:48.699

to how folks who have experienced great sorrow in life

00:19:48.699 –> 00:19:51.979

may hope to enter into an even greater joy.

00:19:53.739 –> 00:19:54.579

Those who have experienced this sorrow

00:19:54.579 –> 00:19:57.599

are finding joy in God’s people,

00:19:57.599 –> 00:20:00.099

joy in God’s love,

00:20:00.099 –> 00:20:04.219

and joy in God’s city.

00:20:04.219 –> 00:20:06.619

And the fullness of this joy, of course,

00:20:06.619 –> 00:20:08.439

awaits the day when our Lord Jesus Christ

00:20:08.439 –> 00:20:12.459

will come back in power and in glory.

00:20:12.479 –> 00:20:16.280

But in Jesus Christ the beginning

00:20:16.280 –> 00:20:21.060

of that joy is ours already.

00:20:22.140 –> 00:20:24.199

So that when Jesus Christ comes again,

00:20:24.199 –> 00:20:27.020

you see the little family, nuclear family thing

00:20:27.020 –> 00:20:27.859

won’t be anymore,

00:20:27.859 –> 00:20:29.800

that’s why there’s no more marriage in heaven.

00:20:29.800 –> 00:20:34.180

There will be an extension of community

00:20:34.180 –> 00:20:37.760

so that the love of the one who is lonely

00:20:37.760 –> 00:20:42.319

will be as if this one was my own mother

00:20:42.319 –> 00:20:47.319

and I was her son and this experience of love

00:20:47.599 –> 00:20:50.520

and joy that is shared by all in the presence

00:20:50.520 –> 00:20:52.400

of God will be complete.

00:20:52.400 –> 00:20:54.000

But it is begun even now

00:20:54.959 –> 00:20:58.880

so that by the redeeming love of the Lord Jesus Christ

00:20:58.880 –> 00:21:00.859

we are brought together into a community

00:21:00.859 –> 00:21:02.599

where what really matters is not so much

00:21:02.599 –> 00:21:04.599

that we’re married, or we’re single,

00:21:04.599 –> 00:21:07.040

or we’re rich, or we’re poor,

00:21:07.040 –> 00:21:10.760

but we come to find joy in one another in Jesus Christ

00:21:10.760 –> 00:21:14.839

and to build one another up in the body of Christ,

00:21:14.839 –> 00:21:16.160

that’s what the church is all about,

00:21:16.160 –> 00:21:19.280

and we, on that day, we will know God’s love

00:21:19.280 –> 00:21:21.520

as we have never known it in this life,

00:21:21.520 –> 00:21:25.160

yet already we taste the joy of the love of God.

00:21:25.160 –> 00:21:27.300

And although we’ve not yet seen the city

00:21:27.300 –> 00:21:30.959

that lies ahead of us, already we have come to know

00:21:30.959 –> 00:21:32.420

the one who is building this,

00:21:32.420 –> 00:21:35.319

and he says to us, I will build my church

00:21:35.319 –> 00:21:39.900

and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

00:21:40.819 –> 00:21:43.359

A helpful message from Pastor Colin there

00:21:43.359 –> 00:21:46.219

about how people who have known great sorrow

00:21:46.219 –> 00:21:49.380

can end up finding great joy.

00:21:49.380 –> 00:21:52.420

Next time we’ll look at how we can cultivate this joy,

00:21:52.420 –> 00:21:54.699

so I hope you’ll join us for that.

00:21:54.699 –> 00:21:56.719

And if you’ve missed any of the broadcast today

00:21:56.719 –> 00:21:58.739

or if you missed any of our messages,

00:21:58.739 –> 00:22:03.319

you can always come online to openthebible.org.uk.

00:22:03.319 –> 00:22:05.859

There you can listen to any of the messages

00:22:05.859 –> 00:22:08.060

which have already gone out on air.

00:22:08.079 –> 00:22:10.359

You can also find us as a podcast.

00:22:10.359 –> 00:22:13.140

There’s a link on our website, openthebible.org.uk,

00:22:14.439 –> 00:22:17.439

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00:22:17.439 –> 00:22:20.020

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00:22:20.020 –> 00:22:23.520

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00:22:23.520 –> 00:22:27.000

Also on our website and available as a podcast

00:22:27.000 –> 00:22:28.640

is Open The Bible Daily,

00:22:28.640 –> 00:22:32.199

and that’s a series of short two to three minute reflections

00:22:32.199 –> 00:22:34.579

based on Pastor Colin Smith’s teaching

00:22:34.579 –> 00:22:37.359

and read in the UK by Sue MacLeish.

00:22:37.359 –> 00:22:39.119

There’s a new one of these reflections

00:22:39.119 –> 00:22:41.180

every day of the month and many people find

00:22:41.180 –> 00:22:43.339

it’s a great way to start the day.

00:22:43.339 –> 00:22:47.239

So you can find that again at openthebible.org.uk

00:22:47.239 –> 00:22:49.560

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00:22:49.560 –> 00:22:53.079

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00:22:53.079 –> 00:22:54.979

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00:22:57.680 –> 00:23:00.099

to receive a fresh one every day.

00:23:01.119 –> 00:23:04.400

Open the Bible is supported entirely by our listeners.

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And if that’s something you’ve been considering doing,

00:23:07.479 –> 00:23:10.479

then this month we have a great offer for you.

00:23:10.479 –> 00:23:13.060

If you’re able to set up a new donation

00:23:13.060 –> 00:23:14.579

to the work of Open the Bible

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in the amount of five pounds per month or more,

00:23:17.619 –> 00:23:19.020

we’d love to say thank you

00:23:19.020 –> 00:23:22.119

by sending you a copy of C. H. Spurgeon’s book,

00:23:22.119 –> 00:23:24.619

Encouragement for the Depressed.

00:23:24.619 –> 00:23:26.979

Colin, who is this book for?

00:23:26.979 –> 00:23:30.060

Well this book is really for anyone who is discouraged

00:23:30.060 –> 00:23:31.699

or going through a dark time

00:23:31.699 –> 00:23:33.900

and I can’t imagine that there’s any Christian

00:23:34.599 –> 00:23:37.459

who doesn’t experience that at some point in life.

00:23:37.459 –> 00:23:40.119

What’s so striking to me about this book

00:23:40.119 –> 00:23:41.819

is that it’s written by a man

00:23:41.819 –> 00:23:45.500

who was known for his extraordinary faith.

00:23:45.500 –> 00:23:48.300

The Spirit of God rested on the life

00:23:48.300 –> 00:23:50.599

and ministry of C. H. Spurgeon

00:23:50.599 –> 00:23:52.260

and yet he knew what it was

00:23:52.260 –> 00:23:55.060

to go through times of extraordinary darkness

00:23:55.060 –> 00:23:58.780

and even a sense of despair at some points.

00:23:58.780 –> 00:24:03.060

He suffered from smallpox, gout, rheumatism,

00:24:03.060 –> 00:24:04.660

inflammation of the kidneys

00:24:04.660 –> 00:24:06.979

and his wife was bedridden for decades.

00:24:06.979 –> 00:24:09.819

I mean, this man really knew what it was to suffer

00:24:09.819 –> 00:24:12.140

and yet he found in all of this

00:24:12.140 –> 00:24:15.979

that he was forced closer to the Lord Jesus Christ.

00:24:15.979 –> 00:24:17.540

I love what he says, he says

00:24:17.540 –> 00:24:21.939

I’ve learned to kiss the waves

00:24:21.939 –> 00:24:25.739

that throw me up against the rock of ages.

00:24:25.739 –> 00:24:27.040

I love that.

00:24:27.040 –> 00:24:30.319

Kiss the waves that throw me up against the rock of ages.

00:24:30.339 –> 00:24:34.000

Here’s Biblical wisdom from a man of faith

00:24:34.000 –> 00:24:37.839

who knew what it was to really struggle in dark times

00:24:37.839 –> 00:24:39.599

and I have found his writing

00:24:39.599 –> 00:24:43.560

to be wonderfully encouraging, refreshing and uplifting

00:24:43.560 –> 00:24:45.479

and that’s why I’m really grateful

00:24:45.479 –> 00:24:46.719

that we have the opportunity

00:24:46.719 –> 00:24:48.839

of getting this book out this month.

00:24:48.839 –> 00:24:50.119

C.H. Spurgeon’s book,

00:24:50.119 –> 00:24:53.359

Encouragement for the Depressed, is our gift to you

00:24:53.359 –> 00:24:55.800

if you’re able to set up a new donation

00:24:55.800 –> 00:24:58.199

to the work of Open the Bible this month

00:24:58.260 –> 00:25:01.359

in the amount of five pounds per month or more.

00:25:01.359 –> 00:25:03.319

Full details and to give online,

00:25:03.319 –> 00:25:05.239

go to our website openthebible.org.uk.

00:25:08.000 –> 00:25:10.439

For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith,

00:25:10.439 –> 00:25:13.380

I’m David Pick and I hope you’ll join us again next time.

00:25:19.040 –> 00:25:21.000

Many people have the attitude,

00:25:21.000 –> 00:25:23.760

life’s too short to deal with sorrow

00:25:23.760 –> 00:25:25.760

but what good can come out of it?

00:25:25.760 –> 00:25:29.400

Discover the value of sorrow, next time on Open the Bible.