Restore Joy, Part 2

Isaiah 54
Broadcast Featured Image

Today, we unravel the comforting truth that through sorrow, we may very well discover the backdoor to joy—an experience that intertwines with our spiritual growth and our deeper longing to be like Jesus.

Through Isaiah chapters 54 and 55, Pastor Colin reveals that in times of despair, when happiness seems unattainable, there lies a profound opportunity for us to encounter God in a tremendous way. He enlightens us that, often, God uses our sorrow to spark a thirst for joy within our souls, leading us to find fullness and happiness as we align our desires with His. It’s about how when we truly understand our soul’s need for restoration, we can earnestly ask for and receive God’s joy.

We’re reminded of the importance of building community within the church, supporting and finding joy in each other through Jesus Christ. Pastor Colin reassures us that whether you have faced significant life challenges or feel stuck in contentment, everyone has the potential to access this divine joy. He encourages us to come, seek, listen, and turn, as a continous practice to cultivate this joy that transcends our earthly experiences.

WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 –> 00:00:03.360

Look after your soul first.

00:00:03.360 –> 00:00:09.740

….’Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, long to be more like

00:00:09.740 –> 00:00:13.440

Jesus Christ, for they’re the ones who are going to be satisfied.’

00:00:13.440 –> 00:00:21.379

See, when you know that your soul needs restoring, you will ask God to restore your soul, and

00:00:21.379 –> 00:00:28.379

that is why sorrow is often God’s backdoor to joy.

00:00:28.420 –> 00:00:31.020

Welcome to Open The Bible with pastor Colin Smith.

00:00:31.020 –> 00:00:35.619

And, Colin, I love that idea that sorrow can be God’s backdoor to joy.

00:00:35.619 –> 00:00:38.139

It’s a wonderful truth, isn’t it?

00:00:38.139 –> 00:00:39.939

And really does give hope.

00:00:39.939 –> 00:00:45.939

I want to speak in the message today to every person listening who feels, I can never be

00:00:45.939 –> 00:00:47.320

happy again.

00:00:47.320 –> 00:00:53.139

Something has happened in your life, and the sorrow that has come to you is so great, and

00:00:53.139 –> 00:00:57.000

it seems to be with you so long and so deep.

00:00:57.000 –> 00:01:02.580

And you say to yourself, I can never really be happy again.

00:01:02.580 –> 00:01:08.139

And in the book of Isaiah that we’re looking at today, God speaks to people who feel they

00:01:08.139 –> 00:01:15.959

could never be happy again and shows how sorrow could become the back door, the surprising

00:01:15.959 –> 00:01:21.660

backdoor into a new experience of joy, in which you encounter God in a whole new way,

00:01:21.660 –> 00:01:25.800

maybe wonderful for that to happen in the lives of folks who are listening to the program

00:01:25.800 –> 00:01:26.800

today.

00:01:26.839 –> 00:01:32.339

One of the ways God meets us in times of sorrow is when we spend time with Him in His Word

00:01:32.339 –> 00:01:37.980

so we want to do that and I’d like to encourage you to open your Bible with us to Isaiah chapter

00:01:37.980 –> 00:01:42.480

54 and 5 as we continue the message Restore Joy.

00:01:42.480 –> 00:01:43.720

Here’s Colin.

00:01:43.720 –> 00:01:49.000

Folks who have experienced great sorrow in life may hope to enter into an even greater

00:01:49.000 –> 00:01:56.680

joyóthose who have experienced this sorrow are finding joy in God’s people, joy in God’s

00:01:56.680 –> 00:02:02.040

love and joy in God’s city.

00:02:02.040 –> 00:02:07.580

And the fullness of this joy, of course, awaits the day when Lord Jesus Christ will come and

00:02:07.580 –> 00:02:10.220

back in power and in glory.

00:02:10.220 –> 00:02:19.800

But in Jesus Christ, the beginning of that joy is ours already.

00:02:19.800 –> 00:02:24.479

So that when Jesus Christ comes again, you see the little family, nuclear family, thing

00:02:25.440 –> 00:02:27.419

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

00:02:27.419 –> 00:02:35.919

There will be an extension of community so that the love of the one who is lonely will

00:02:35.919 –> 00:02:40.199

be as if this one was my own mother.

00:02:40.199 –> 00:02:42.240

And I was her son.

00:02:42.240 –> 00:02:48.520

And this experience of love and joy that is shared by all in the presence of God will

00:02:48.520 –> 00:02:50.119

be complete.

00:02:50.119 –> 00:02:52.759

But it is begun even now.

00:02:52.759 –> 00:02:57.699

So that by the redeeming love of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are brought together into

00:02:57.699 –> 00:03:01.539

a community where what really matters is not so much that we’re married, or that

00:03:01.539 –> 00:03:07.220

we’re single, or we’re rich, or were poor, but we come to find joy in one another in

00:03:07.220 –> 00:03:12.539

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

00:03:12.539 –> 00:03:13.820

That’s what the church is all about.

00:03:13.820 –> 00:03:19.199

And we, on that day, we will know God’s love as we have never known it in this life.

00:03:19.199 –> 00:03:21.899

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

00:03:22.779 –> 00:03:28.100

And although we’ve not yet seen the city that lies ahead of us already, we have come

00:03:28.100 –> 00:03:32.979

to know the one who is building this, and He says to us, I will build my church and

00:03:32.979 –> 00:03:38.160

the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

00:03:38.160 –> 00:03:44.580

Now, I want you to remember that you don’t need to wait until you have an experience

00:03:44.580 –> 00:03:48.419

of disaster before you pursue this joy.

00:03:48.479 –> 00:03:54.240

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

00:03:54.240 –> 00:03:57.160

the afflicted city and has lost their home.

00:03:57.160 –> 00:04:04.039

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

00:04:04.039 –> 00:04:08.960

you to face all other sorrows in your life.

00:04:08.960 –> 00:04:13.160

And I hope that you will be saying whatever your circumstances of life right now, whatever

00:04:13.679 –> 00:04:21.920

current experience, how can I cultivate this kind of joy that will be the joy of all God’s

00:04:21.920 –> 00:04:23.100

people for eternity?

00:04:23.100 –> 00:04:24.739

Joy in God’s people.

00:04:24.739 –> 00:04:25.940

Joy in God’s love.

00:04:25.940 –> 00:04:29.519

And joy in God’s city.

00:04:29.519 –> 00:04:34.179

Well, that’s what Isaiah 55 is all about.

00:04:34.179 –> 00:04:38.480

It’s about how you cultivate this joy.

00:04:38.480 –> 00:04:45.440

And I want you to notice that it begins with a deep thirst.

00:04:45.440 –> 00:04:50.760

Come all you who are thirsty, chapter 55, verse 1.

00:04:50.760 –> 00:04:51.760

Come to the waters.

00:04:51.760 –> 00:04:59.480

Come, those of you who have no money, come by and eat.

00:04:59.480 –> 00:05:07.540

The people who find this joy, and in whom it grows, are the folks who have a deep thirst

00:05:07.600 –> 00:05:09.559

within their own lives for it.

00:05:09.559 –> 00:05:14.700

Folks who know their own need of it, and are very well aware that they do not have what

00:05:14.700 –> 00:05:18.220

it takes to get it.

00:05:18.220 –> 00:05:23.399

The real distinction among us in this congregation this morning is not whether we’re married

00:05:23.399 –> 00:05:27.579

single, not whether we’re rich or poor, not whether we have children and grandchildren

00:05:27.579 –> 00:05:29.019

or whatever it is.

00:05:30.019 –> 00:05:38.600

The real distinction is some of us have a great thirst within our souls for this kind

00:05:38.600 –> 00:05:42.480

of joy, and others really don’t.

00:05:42.480 –> 00:05:44.320

We’re just very contented.

00:05:44.320 –> 00:05:45.579

We’re contented with where we are.

00:05:45.579 –> 00:05:46.579

We’re very happy.

00:05:46.579 –> 00:05:48.000

We’re glad to be here in the church.

00:05:48.000 –> 00:05:49.459

Then we go on and we do something else.

00:05:49.459 –> 00:05:56.619

But there isn’t really a thirst, which is why not much ever changes or grows in your

00:05:56.619 –> 00:05:58.980

Christian life.

00:05:58.980 –> 00:06:04.760

Why you don’t really have a sense of receiving from God.

00:06:04.760 –> 00:06:11.500

Knowing more of this joy in God’s people, joy in His love, joy in His city begins with

00:06:11.500 –> 00:06:16.899

a great thirst in your own soul.

00:06:16.899 –> 00:06:23.579

You won’t ask God to restore your soul until you feel that your soul needs restored.

00:06:23.579 –> 00:06:27.540

God has many different ways of bringing us to that place.

00:06:28.260 –> 00:06:31.000

Remember, Jesus spoke about this in the Beatitudes.

00:06:31.019 –> 00:06:37.660

He said, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

00:06:37.660 –> 00:06:40.380

Remember the word blessed means happy, it means joyful.

00:06:40.380 –> 00:06:44.700

So you want to know more of this joy, here’s where it begins, poor in spirit.

00:06:44.700 –> 00:06:48.500

Blessed are those who mourn said Jesus, for they shall be comforted.

00:06:48.500 –> 00:06:53.160

They’re the ones who are going to discover the real joy.

00:06:53.160 –> 00:06:59.380

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, long to be more like Jesus

00:06:59.380 –> 00:07:03.640

Christ, for they’re the ones who are going to be satisfied.

00:07:03.640 –> 00:07:11.640

See, when you know that your soul needs restoring, you feel that, you will ask God to restore

00:07:11.640 –> 00:07:21.679

your soul and that is why sorrow is often God’s backdoor to joy.

00:07:21.679 –> 00:07:26.059

And that is why, you see, it is the barren woman and the deserted wife and the folks

00:07:26.059 –> 00:07:31.920

in the ruined city who are the first to find it, because others who are very contented

00:07:31.920 –> 00:07:36.959

and just happy and comfortable in their own lives never stopped to seek it.

00:07:36.959 –> 00:07:44.019

Why was it that there were many more prostitutes and tax collectors who came to Jesus and relatively

00:07:44.200 –> 00:07:47.799

few Pharisees who did?

00:07:47.799 –> 00:07:50.000

Thirst.

00:07:50.000 –> 00:07:53.079

Thirst.

00:07:53.079 –> 00:08:03.760

And sorrow can create a thirst for joy that you didn’t have before.

00:08:03.760 –> 00:08:08.700

I think the truth in our lives when they are at their most comfortable is that it is very

00:08:08.700 –> 00:08:15.820

easy and even natural for us to just sail on through without ever really asking the

00:08:15.820 –> 00:08:17.820

question, you know, well what is my marriage for?

00:08:17.820 –> 00:08:18.959

What are my children for?

00:08:18.959 –> 00:08:21.079

What is the city for?

00:08:21.079 –> 00:08:24.399

Here is the greatest question for a young couple.

00:08:24.399 –> 00:08:31.320

Is the end for which God created the world that you and your wife or your husband should

00:08:31.320 –> 00:08:36.940

snuggle up in your condo together for the next 50 years and just be happy?

00:08:37.640 –> 00:08:42.320

Or is there some greater happiness purpose for your marriage that you should be pursuing

00:08:42.320 –> 00:08:45.039

together?

00:08:45.039 –> 00:08:50.219

And is the purpose for which God gave children into the world that they should play soccer

00:08:50.219 –> 00:08:56.840

and ride horses in the suburbs or, however good and happy that is, is there something

00:08:56.840 –> 00:09:04.219

more that our family should be pursuing together that’s greater?

00:09:04.219 –> 00:09:10.539

Is the purpose of this great city in which we live simply that thousands of people should

00:09:10.539 –> 00:09:16.340

make millions of dollars or is there some greater purpose that God has for this city

00:09:16.340 –> 00:09:18.880

in which we want to be engaged?

00:09:18.880 –> 00:09:25.419

See, the default mode of the human heart is to seek our joy in children, in marriage and

00:09:25.419 –> 00:09:29.739

in money, and the Bible has a name for that, it’s called, idolatry.

00:09:30.719 –> 00:09:40.179

That’s what it’s called, and idolatry always fails which is why there are millions of people

00:09:40.179 –> 00:09:46.039

around the world who are quietly disappointed in marriage.

00:09:46.039 –> 00:09:50.700

Many have found that their children brought them more grief than joy.

00:09:51.500 –> 00:10:02.059

Millions, millions live in poverty carving out an existence in cities devastated by war

00:10:02.059 –> 00:10:05.659

or by flood.

00:10:05.659 –> 00:10:14.539

But in every generation and in every continent of the world there are thousands who find

00:10:14.539 –> 00:10:19.679

that sorrow is God’s back door to joy.

00:10:19.700 –> 00:10:29.960

Because in your sorrow you become aware of a thirst you never had before.

00:10:29.960 –> 00:10:32.559

There must be something more than this.

00:10:34.559 –> 00:10:37.099

You’re listening to Open The Bible with Pastor Colin Smith.

00:10:37.099 –> 00:10:42.419

Today looking at how sorrow can be God’s back door to receiving joy.

00:10:42.419 –> 00:10:47.599

The message is called Restore Joy, and it’s part of a larger series based on Isaiah Chapter

00:10:47.640 –> 00:10:50.619

54 called Restore My Soul.

00:10:50.619 –> 00:10:54.179

If you’ve missed any of the series or you want to go back and listen again, come to

00:10:54.179 –> 00:10:56.900

our Web site at openthebible.org.uk.

00:10:56.900 –> 00:11:01.840

There you can stream any of the messages which have already gone out on-air.

00:11:01.840 –> 00:11:03.460

Back to the message now.

00:11:03.460 –> 00:11:04.919

Here’s Colin.

00:11:04.919 –> 00:11:13.919

One man who knew about God creating thrist in his own soul through sorrow.

00:11:13.919 –> 00:11:15.780

His name, you know, John Newton.

00:11:15.940 –> 00:11:18.059

You know John Newton’s story.

00:11:18.059 –> 00:11:20.659

He was the master of a slave ship.

00:11:20.659 –> 00:11:26.640

He lived a wretched, wicked life, which was perhaps one reason why he could never quite

00:11:26.640 –> 00:11:30.140

get over God’s grace to save him.

00:11:30.140 –> 00:11:35.539

And he wrote that hymn that most of us know very well, Amazing Grace How Sweet the Sound

00:11:35.539 –> 00:11:37.900

That Saved a Wretch Like Me.

00:11:37.900 –> 00:11:43.099

That’s John Newton’s great song about conversion.

00:11:43.099 –> 00:11:44.940

But he wrote some other hymns.

00:11:45.099 –> 00:11:50.140

And there’s one in particular that I want to read to you that is not at all well known,

00:11:50.140 –> 00:11:52.940

but it is profound and very helpful.

00:11:52.940 –> 00:12:00.099

I have gone back to this many times at key moments in my own life and walk with the Lord.

00:12:00.099 –> 00:12:01.880

I think you’ll find it helpful.

00:12:01.880 –> 00:12:09.419

It talks about the reality of Christian experience as Newton knew it, and I think many of us

00:12:09.419 –> 00:12:10.900

here know it.

00:12:11.859 –> 00:12:13.460

Let me just read these words to you.

00:12:13.460 –> 00:12:15.059

They’ve helped me so much.

00:12:15.059 –> 00:12:16.619

Newton’s … here’s his experience.

00:12:16.619 –> 00:12:26.020

He said, I ask the Lord that I might grow in faith and love and every grace, might more

00:12:26.020 –> 00:12:30.559

of his salvation know and seek more earnestly his face.’

00:12:30.559 –> 00:12:31.559

So here’s Newton.

00:12:31.559 –> 00:12:36.640

He’s a Christian now and he really wants to grow in Christ, and he asks the Lord to do

00:12:36.640 –> 00:12:38.340

it.

00:12:38.400 –> 00:12:45.219

Then he says I hoped that in some favored hour, at once he’d answer my request, and

00:12:45.219 –> 00:12:50.880

by his love’s constraining power subdue my sins and give me rest.

00:12:50.880 –> 00:12:55.739

I’d love God to work in my life like that and you would too.

00:12:55.739 –> 00:13:05.000

Then says Newton, instead of this, he made me feel the hidden evils of my heart and let

00:13:05.039 –> 00:13:12.000

the angry powers of hell assault my soul in every part.

00:13:12.000 –> 00:13:17.280

Yet more, with his own hand he seemed intent to aggravate my woe.

00:13:17.280 –> 00:13:19.919

It seemed like God was making it worse.

00:13:19.919 –> 00:13:29.559

He crossed all the fair designs I’d schemed, blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

00:13:29.559 –> 00:13:30.719

You know what the gourd is?

00:13:30.820 –> 00:13:37.479

Remember the story of Jonah, and it was a hot day and a gourd grew up, it’s a big plant

00:13:37.479 –> 00:13:42.940

like a vine, and the gourd grew up and remember, God sent a worm that ate the gourd, and it

00:13:42.940 –> 00:13:48.520

faded away and so when the gourd was gone, Jonah was left exposed to the height of the

00:13:48.520 –> 00:13:49.520

sun.

00:13:49.520 –> 00:13:53.200

Well that’s what Newton’s talking about when he says blasted my gourds, he’s saying

00:13:53.200 –> 00:13:58.200

taking away my comforts, like God took away the comfort from Jonah that was shading him

00:13:58.200 –> 00:13:59.200

from the sun.

00:13:59.280 –> 00:14:06.280

I love that phrase by the way, blasted my gourds, you’ll love that, there’s feeling

00:14:06.280 –> 00:14:11.419

from this in Newton, you know, I’m wanting to grow as a Christian and what’s God doing?

00:14:11.419 –> 00:14:14.179

He’s taken away every comfort in my life.

00:14:14.179 –> 00:14:16.820

Some of you know what that’s like.

00:14:19.159 –> 00:14:25.960

Now you’ll understand where Newton goes next, Lord why is this I trembling cried, are you

00:14:25.960 –> 00:14:28.679

going to pursue this worm to death?

00:14:28.679 –> 00:14:39.099

This is what God said, in this way, the Lord replied that I answer prayer for grace and

00:14:39.099 –> 00:14:41.400

faith.

00:14:41.400 –> 00:14:52.099

These in word trials I employ from self and pride to set you free and break your schemes

00:14:52.099 –> 00:14:59.559

of earthly joy, that you may seek your all in me.

00:14:59.559 –> 00:15:08.239

Now you see, Newton discovered in painful places in his life that sorrow was God’s back

00:15:08.239 –> 00:15:11.640

door to much greater joy.

00:15:11.640 –> 00:15:19.380

He found a thirst within him that you may seek your all in me.

00:15:19.419 –> 00:15:25.159

If you have this thirst within your own soul and you’re wanting to know a greater joy in

00:15:25.159 –> 00:15:30.440

God’s people, a greater joy in God’s love, and a greater joy in God’s city, you will

00:15:30.440 –> 00:15:35.260

be saying in your mind right now, yeah, now how can I get more of this?

00:15:35.260 –> 00:15:36.979

Because I do thirst for it.

00:15:36.979 –> 00:15:41.520

God’s brought me to the place where I long intensely to seek my all in Him.

00:15:41.520 –> 00:15:42.520

I really do.

00:15:42.520 –> 00:15:47.500

I’m no longer sitting back comfortably tasting a sermon.

00:15:47.500 –> 00:15:50.659

I need this joy to be restored within my soul.

00:15:50.659 –> 00:15:52.820

How can I know more of it?

00:15:52.820 –> 00:15:58.719

Well, look at what Isaiah says in the part of the passage that most of us, I think, know

00:15:58.719 –> 00:15:59.719

well.

00:15:59.719 –> 00:16:05.580

There are just four key words, come, listen, seek, and turn.

00:16:05.580 –> 00:16:08.580

I’ll just take them in two pairs just very briefly.

00:16:08.580 –> 00:16:13.700

Let’s put come and seek together because they go naturally together, verse one and verse

00:16:13.700 –> 00:16:15.599

six of chapter 55.

00:16:15.599 –> 00:16:20.099

Here’s how you cultivate the joy that leads to verse 12 going out in joy and being led

00:16:20.099 –> 00:16:21.859

forth with peace.

00:16:21.859 –> 00:16:26.880

Whatever sorrows you’ve known, you come, all you who are thirsty, you come to the waters,

00:16:26.880 –> 00:16:30.940

you come and buy and eat, you come buy wine and milk without money.

00:16:30.940 –> 00:16:36.179

That’s verse one, you seek the Lord while he may be found.

00:16:36.179 –> 00:16:42.520

And you remember that our Lord Jesus in John chapter 7, verse 37, He quotes this very passage

00:16:42.760 –> 00:16:47.179

from Isaiah, and says, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.

00:16:47.179 –> 00:16:53.200

So this is Jesus speaking, we are to come to him and we are to seek him.

00:16:53.200 –> 00:16:57.979

Now, I just want to emphasize this is something for you to do.

00:16:57.979 –> 00:16:59.440

You want your joy to be restored?

00:16:59.440 –> 00:17:01.400

You want your soul to be restored?

00:17:01.400 –> 00:17:04.400

You must come to him.

00:17:04.400 –> 00:17:08.479

We saw last week that restoring your soul begins with believing, but it doesn’t end

00:17:08.479 –> 00:17:10.699

with believing.

00:17:10.880 –> 00:17:16.199

You must come, and those who do believe will come, if there is a great hunger and thirst

00:17:16.199 –> 00:17:19.239

in your soul.

00:17:19.239 –> 00:17:22.400

Some of us will just listen to a sermon and go home.

00:17:22.400 –> 00:17:29.479

Some of us will listen to nine sermons in this series and be utterly unchanged, but

00:17:29.479 –> 00:17:36.400

others of us will embrace these cries and you will make it your cry to God.

00:17:37.199 –> 00:17:41.239

And you’ll be saying from last week, make me a person who really believes this, and

00:17:41.239 –> 00:17:43.420

not just someone who says, I believe it.

00:17:43.420 –> 00:17:47.400

Now, make me someone, God, who really has joy in your people.

00:17:47.400 –> 00:17:49.979

Do that for me.

00:17:49.979 –> 00:17:53.520

And if you start praying that, this week, you come to Jesus Christ and you seek him

00:17:53.520 –> 00:18:00.020

in this regard, you may want to ask him to forgive you for moaning and complaining and

00:18:00.020 –> 00:18:05.520

fault finding and criticizing your brothers and sisters in Christ.

00:18:05.520 –> 00:18:11.839

You may ask him to forgive you for loving the politics of church more than the people

00:18:11.839 –> 00:18:12.839

of church.

00:18:12.839 –> 00:18:17.439

You may want to ask him to give you eyes, Lord, give me eyes to see where you’re doing

00:18:17.439 –> 00:18:21.819

a redeeming wonderful work in my brothers and sisters, so that I could have a heart

00:18:21.819 –> 00:18:23.479

to rejoice in that.

00:18:23.479 –> 00:18:28.280

And then you want to say, Lord Jesus give me new joy in your love.

00:18:28.280 –> 00:18:31.699

Restore to me the joy of your salvation.

00:18:31.699 –> 00:18:37.319

And Lord give me a clearer grasp of the hope that is mine in Jesus Christ, the city whose

00:18:37.319 –> 00:18:39.300

builder and maker is God.

00:18:39.300 –> 00:18:44.900

I don’t know my future in this city, but I do know my future in that city, and the more

00:18:44.900 –> 00:18:51.719

joy I have in that city, the more joy I will have in this city.

00:18:51.719 –> 00:18:56.619

These are prayers, these hearts’ cries for revival.

00:18:56.619 –> 00:19:07.479

And I want you to imagine the impact and the life change of 2,000 people in this church

00:19:07.479 –> 00:19:12.900

hammering the gates of heaven, because these are passionate prayers, and saying, Lord Jesus

00:19:12.900 –> 00:19:15.400

Christ restore joy.

00:19:15.400 –> 00:19:27.939

There are too many unhappy Christians, and the reason is not circumstances, not when

00:19:27.939 –> 00:19:36.140

you look at Isaiah 54 and discover who it is that has found this joy.

00:19:36.699 –> 00:19:38.819

they can find this joy.

00:19:38.819 –> 00:19:41.339

Why shouldn’t you?

00:19:41.339 –> 00:19:45.140

Come and seek, and then listen and turn.

00:19:45.140 –> 00:19:49.219

Verse 2 and 3, listen, listen to me God says.

00:19:49.219 –> 00:19:51.800

Give ear, come to me, hear me.

00:19:51.800 –> 00:19:56.719

And then, verse 6 and 7, let the wicked forsake his way and turn to the Lord.

00:19:56.719 –> 00:20:01.180

In other words, the people who go out with joy and are led forth with peace.

00:20:01.459 –> 00:20:07.739

They’re the folks who have developed not only the habit of coming to Christ and seeking

00:20:07.739 –> 00:20:13.699

him, but they have developed the pattern of life in which they hear the word and they

00:20:13.699 –> 00:20:17.540

receive it with faith and with repentance.

00:20:17.540 –> 00:20:22.859

And so, what Isaiah speaks about becomes true of them in verse 10 and 11, the purpose for

00:20:22.859 –> 00:20:28.939

which God sent his word into the world is accomplished in their lives.

00:20:28.939 –> 00:20:35.719

The change, the healing, the growth, the joy that comes by the Spirit of God through the

00:20:35.719 –> 00:20:42.280

word of God is cultivated in their lives because they come and seek and because they listen

00:20:42.280 –> 00:20:44.780

and because they turn from what is wrong.

00:20:44.780 –> 00:20:48.699

That’s one reason, by the way, why it’s such a wonderful thing to be in a church where

00:20:48.699 –> 00:20:51.319

we receive the word of God into our lives.

00:20:51.319 –> 00:20:56.020

Get into a life group so that that can happen for you in the week.

00:20:56.020 –> 00:21:02.020

It’s such a pattern that the word of God is keeping coming freshly into your life because

00:21:02.020 –> 00:21:06.459

God says His word will accomplish the purpose for which He sends it.

00:21:06.459 –> 00:21:12.060

You can accomplish your purposes without the word of God, but God’s purposes are always

00:21:12.060 –> 00:21:16.459

accomplished through the word of God, which is why we want to build our lives and our

00:21:16.459 –> 00:21:20.719

ministry around the word of God.

00:21:20.719 –> 00:21:21.780

And do not merely listen.

00:21:21.780 –> 00:21:25.579

It’s a wonderful privilege to hear the word of God, but don’t merely listen.

00:21:25.699 –> 00:21:28.119

James says in the New Testament, do what it says.

00:21:28.119 –> 00:21:30.520

That’s why Isaiah here says, turn.

00:21:30.520 –> 00:21:34.640

Listen and turn, because the person who just hears is like someone who looks in a mirror

00:21:34.640 –> 00:21:37.719

and then just goes away and nothing’s ever different.

00:21:37.719 –> 00:21:42.880

But says James in the New Testament, the one who looks into the word of God and continues

00:21:42.880 –> 00:21:49.000

doing this, not forgetting what he’s heard but doing it, well, this person will be blessed

00:21:49.000 –> 00:21:53.180

— that word again — happy, joyful in all that he does.

00:21:54.140 –> 00:21:55.439

So come and seek.

00:21:55.439 –> 00:22:01.359

This is how the joy in God’s people and in God’s love and in God’s city grows.

00:22:01.359 –> 00:22:03.959

Listen and turn.

00:22:03.959 –> 00:22:08.160

And, you know, this is not so much a decision to be made at the end of a service.

00:22:08.160 –> 00:22:11.300

It’s a way of life to be followed.

00:22:11.300 –> 00:22:16.699

But it is a way of life that can begin for you today.

00:22:16.760 –> 00:22:18.439

I’m feeling that thirst.

00:22:18.439 –> 00:22:20.719

Lord restore faith.

00:22:20.739 –> 00:22:24.219

Lord restore joy.

00:22:25.420 –> 00:22:29.119

You’ve been listening to Open The Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and that was the title

00:22:29.119 –> 00:22:31.819

of our message, Restore Joy.

00:22:31.819 –> 00:22:36.800

It’s part of a series called Restore My Soul, and if you’ve missed any of the series or

00:22:36.800 –> 00:22:41.199

you want to go back and listen again, you can do that by coming online to our website

00:22:41.199 –> 00:22:44.239

openthebible.org.uk.

00:22:44.599 –> 00:22:50.000

Find us as a podcast, go to your favorite podcast site, search for Open The Bible UK

00:22:50.000 –> 00:22:52.119

and subscribe to receive regular updates.

00:22:52.119 –> 00:22:59.560

There’s also a link to the podcast on our website and that’s at openthebible.org.uk.

00:22:59.560 –> 00:23:04.439

Open The Bible is supported entirely by our listeners and if that’s something you’ve

00:23:04.439 –> 00:23:09.160

been considering doing, then this month we have a great offer for you.

00:23:09.160 –> 00:23:13.680

If you’re able to set up a new donation to the work of Open The Bible in the amount of

00:23:13.739 –> 00:23:20.359

£5 per month or more, we’d love to say thank you by sending you a copy of C. H. Spurgeon’s

00:23:20.359 –> 00:23:22.979

book, Encouragement for the Depressed.

00:23:22.979 –> 00:23:25.380

Colin, who is this book for?

00:23:25.380 –> 00:23:30.040

Well this book is really for anyone who is discouraged or going through a dark time,

00:23:30.060 –> 00:23:34.599

and I can’t imagine that there’s any Christian who doesn’t experience that at some point

00:23:34.599 –> 00:23:35.599

in life.

00:23:35.599 –> 00:23:41.380

What’s so striking to me about this book is that it’s written by a man who was known

00:23:41.380 –> 00:23:43.599

for his extraordinary faith.

00:23:43.800 –> 00:23:49.619

I mean, the spirit of God rested on the life and ministry of C. H. Spurgeon, and yet, he

00:23:49.640 –> 00:23:56.140

knew what it was to go through times of extraordinary darkness and even a sense of despair at some

00:23:56.140 –> 00:24:03.079

points, you know, he suffered from smallpox, gout, rheumatism, inflammation of the kidneys

00:24:03.079 –> 00:24:04.920

and his wife was bedridden for decades.

00:24:04.920 –> 00:24:10.760

I mean, this man really knew what it was to suffer, and yet he found in all of this, that

00:24:11.020 –> 00:24:14.060

more he was forced closer to the Lord Jesus Christ.

00:24:14.060 –> 00:24:22.760

I love what he says, he says I’ve learned to kiss the waves that throw me up against

00:24:22.760 –> 00:24:24.180

the rock of ages.

00:24:24.180 –> 00:24:25.660

I love that!

00:24:25.660 –> 00:24:29.099

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

00:24:29.099 –> 00:24:34.859

Here’s biblical wisdom from a man of faith who knew what it was to really struggle in

00:24:34.859 –> 00:24:41.060

dark times, and I have found his writing to be wonderfully encouraging, refreshing and

00:24:41.060 –> 00:24:46.140

uplifting and that is why I am really grateful that we have the opportunity of getting this

00:24:46.140 –> 00:24:47.339

book out this month.

00:24:47.339 –> 00:24:52.459

C.H. Spurgeon’s book Encouragement for the Depressed is our gift to you if you are able

00:24:52.459 –> 00:24:58.219

to set up a new donation to the work of Open the Bible this month in the amount of £5

00:24:58.219 –> 00:24:59.939

per month or more.

00:25:00.819 –> 00:25:06.619

and to give online go to our website, www.openthebible.org.uk

00:25:06.619 –> 00:25:10.699

For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith, I am David Pick and I hope you will join us

00:25:10.699 –> 00:25:11.719

again next time.

00:25:17.719 –> 00:25:21.619

God is everywhere but there are only two places

00:25:21.619 –> 00:25:26.359

where He can be found. Find out where they are next time, on Open the Bible

Details

Sermon Series
Date

Monthly Offer

Get your free copy of ‘The Advent of Glory’ by R. C. Sproul when you set up a monthly gift of at least £5, or a one-off gift of at least £50…

Donate

Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Colin Smith is the Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near – So Far. Colin is the Founder and Teaching Pastor for Open the Bible. Follow him on X formerly Twitter.

Linked resources

No linked resources found.

Search

Search

Header Submit Search