WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.902 Turn to Isaiah. 00:00:00.902 --> 00:00:06.871 If you have a Bible with you, turn to Isaiah, chapter 41. 00:00:06.871 --> 00:00:14.214 If you want to grab the Pew Bible there, if you don't have a Bible today, you can find our passage starting on page 636. 00:00:14.214 --> 00:00:28.942 Isaiah 41, we're continuing to move through this book of Isaiah, and the passage we're going to look at today begins in chapter 41, starting with verse 21. 00:00:28.942 --> 00:00:33.713 And then we'll look down through chapter 42, verse 9. 00:00:33.713 --> 00:00:38.704 And we'll focus especially on those first seven verses of chapter 42. 00:00:38.704 --> 00:00:45.887 Now, it's a little unusual to be in the middle of one chapter or the middle of the next, but keep in mind, there's no chapter divisions. 00:00:45.887 --> 00:00:48.552 When Isaiah first composed this, it was all one book. 00:00:48.552 --> 00:00:56.612 So we're going to take that chunk of the scripture today Isaiah 41, verses 21, through verse 42, 9. 00:00:56.713 --> 00:01:02.347 I'll read this for us Submit your case, says the Lord. 00:01:02.347 --> 00:01:06.495 Present your arguments, says Jacob's king. 00:01:06.495 --> 00:01:09.948 Let them come and tell us what will happen. 00:01:09.948 --> 00:01:15.471 Tell us the past events so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome. 00:01:15.471 --> 00:01:16.625 Or tell us the future. 00:01:16.625 --> 00:01:21.268 Tell us the coming events, then we will know that you are gods. 00:01:21.268 --> 00:01:22.561 Indeed. 00:01:22.561 --> 00:01:26.126 Do something, good or bad, then we will be in awe when we see it. 00:01:26.126 --> 00:01:30.727 Look, you are nothing and your work is worthless. 00:01:30.727 --> 00:01:34.254 Anyone who chooses you is detestable. 00:01:34.254 --> 00:01:40.171 I have stirred up one from the north and he has come one from the east who invokes my name. 00:01:40.171 --> 00:01:45.031 He will march over rulers as if they were mud, like a potter who treads the clay. 00:01:45.031 --> 00:01:53.030 Who told about this from the beginning, so that we may know, and from times past, that we might say he is right? 00:01:53.030 --> 00:01:57.105 No one announced it, no one told it, no one heard your words. 00:01:58.260 --> 00:02:04.588 I was the first to say to Zion look, here they are, and I gave Jerusalem a herald with good news. 00:02:04.588 --> 00:02:07.986 When I look, there is no one. 00:02:07.986 --> 00:02:09.770 There is no counselor among them. 00:02:09.770 --> 00:02:12.223 When I ask them, they have nothing to say. 00:02:12.223 --> 00:02:15.870 Look, all of them are a delusion. 00:02:15.870 --> 00:02:20.182 Their works are non-existent and their images are wind and emptiness. 00:02:21.465 --> 00:02:23.707 Look, this is my servant. 00:02:23.707 --> 00:02:25.591 I strengthen him. 00:02:25.591 --> 00:02:27.973 This is my chosen one. 00:02:27.973 --> 00:02:28.975 I delight in him. 00:02:28.975 --> 00:02:31.585 I have put my spirit on him. 00:02:31.585 --> 00:02:33.288 He will bring justice to the nations. 00:02:33.288 --> 00:02:37.723 He will not cry out or shout or make his voice heard in the streets. 00:02:37.723 --> 00:02:42.122 He will not break a bruised reed and he will not put out a smoldering wick. 00:02:42.122 --> 00:02:44.610 He will faithfully bring justice. 00:02:44.610 --> 00:02:45.655 He will not grow out a smoldering wick. 00:02:45.655 --> 00:02:46.437 He will faithfully bring justice. 00:02:46.437 --> 00:02:48.383 He will not grow weak or be discouraged. 00:02:48.383 --> 00:02:54.103 Until he has established justice on earth, the coasts and islands will wait for his instruction. 00:02:55.667 --> 00:02:57.813 This is what God, the Lord, says. 00:02:57.813 --> 00:03:06.251 Who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it? 00:03:06.251 --> 00:03:08.115 I am the Lord. 00:03:08.115 --> 00:03:12.746 I have called you for a righteous purpose and I will hold you by your hand. 00:03:12.746 --> 00:03:25.405 I will watch over you and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations, in order to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon and those sitting in darkness from the prison house. 00:03:25.405 --> 00:03:27.747 I am the Lord. 00:03:27.747 --> 00:03:33.801 That is my name, and I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols. 00:03:35.123 --> 00:03:37.026 The past events have indeed happened. 00:03:37.026 --> 00:03:40.453 Now I declare new events. 00:03:40.453 --> 00:03:43.403 I announce them to you before they occur. 00:03:43.403 --> 00:03:46.790 Let's pray again, lord. 00:03:46.790 --> 00:03:47.793 We're seeking you today. 00:03:47.793 --> 00:03:54.211 The God who knows our hearts, knows our hearts in ways that we can't even know our hearts. 00:03:54.211 --> 00:04:02.294 Yet all things are open to you, the one that we give account, to Give us listening ears today. 00:04:02.294 --> 00:04:07.701 Thank you that you give us scriptures that bring us such hope and consolation. 00:04:07.701 --> 00:04:11.132 May we find that here through your word in Jesus' name, amen. 00:04:14.301 --> 00:04:15.286 What do you do when you fail? 00:04:15.286 --> 00:04:20.850 Well, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. 00:04:20.850 --> 00:04:27.031 What happens when that doesn't really work and you seem to keep failing? 00:04:27.031 --> 00:04:31.685 People are often looking for some kind of hope. 00:04:31.685 --> 00:04:40.500 It could be something as silly as when I feel down, I just I go eat a Nathan's hot dog and then I know everything is right in the world again. 00:04:40.500 --> 00:04:47.202 Or it could be something more significant, like you go and talk to a friend about whatever's going on in your life. 00:04:47.202 --> 00:04:58.790 Sometimes people find hope in songs, some kind of combination of the lyrics, the poetry, the melody. 00:04:58.790 --> 00:05:10.980 It lifts their spirits, spirits. 00:05:10.980 --> 00:05:14.326 In our passage today in Isaiah, we come to the first servant song, and it's a song of hope against a backdrop of failure. 00:05:14.326 --> 00:05:16.932 Listen for the song of the servant. 00:05:19.656 --> 00:05:38.463 Isaiah has four particular passages that are often identified as servant songs Isaiah 49, verses 1 to 6, isaiah 50, verses 4 to 11, isaiah 52, 13 to 53, 12, and then included in our passage for today, isaiah 42, 1 to 7. 00:05:38.463 --> 00:05:56.411 Now they're called servant songs because they're poetic, lyrical passages and they all bring out God's servant, this figure that is described in different and complementary ways. 00:05:56.411 --> 00:06:00.040 Who is the servant? 00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:08.214 Well, back in Isaiah 20, the prophet Isaiah himself is called God's servant. 00:06:08.214 --> 00:06:14.192 Sometimes kings like Nebuchadnezzar or Cyrus could be described in some sense as a servant of God. 00:06:14.192 --> 00:06:25.531 If you look back to chapter 41 of Isaiah, verse number 8 from last week, even Israel as a nation is called a servant of God. 00:06:25.531 --> 00:06:39.413 But then, as chapter 42 begins, this is my servant, or some of your translations might even say behold my servant. 00:06:39.413 --> 00:06:50.435 God is pointing us to a servant that is much greater than Isaiah or kings of the world or even nations like Israel. 00:06:52.721 --> 00:06:59.913 Some of you that are a little more familiar and acquainted with your Bibles might recognize those first four verses of chapter 42. 00:06:59.913 --> 00:07:02.468 The verses that I read there in part. 00:07:02.468 --> 00:07:07.130 Those are verses that Matthew quotes in his gospel. 00:07:07.130 --> 00:07:11.170 In Matthew chapter 12, matthew cites those verses. 00:07:11.170 --> 00:07:13.002 I read behold my servant. 00:07:13.002 --> 00:07:14.028 I put my spirit on him. 00:07:14.028 --> 00:07:15.093 He will not cry aloud. 00:07:15.093 --> 00:07:20.187 He quotes those verses and applies them directly to the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:07:21.771 --> 00:07:26.951 So we know where this is going, but don't rush to the end of the song too quickly. 00:07:26.951 --> 00:07:31.367 There's these people that always want to rush to the end of the song. 00:07:31.367 --> 00:07:37.009 You've got that friend Every time Stairway to Heaven comes on, they want to rush to the conclusion. 00:07:37.009 --> 00:07:42.706 Let the song build, but listen for the song of the servant. 00:07:42.706 --> 00:07:49.350 It's a song of great hope but, as I said, it's set against this backdrop of failure. 00:07:51.380 --> 00:07:59.471 Verses 8 and 9 of chapter 41 from last week Israel, my servant Jacob, whom I've chosen. 00:07:59.471 --> 00:08:04.779 Why did God choose Israel to be his special servant? 00:08:04.779 --> 00:08:15.483 One of the reasons, one of the purposes that he announced to them was they could be a light to the nations as they loved God and worshiped him and obeyed him. 00:08:15.483 --> 00:08:22.665 Other nations could look and see wow, I want to be like them, I want to serve and know this God. 00:08:22.665 --> 00:08:25.733 But they failed. 00:08:25.733 --> 00:08:28.800 They actually became more like the other nations. 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:33.192 They turned to idolatry, just like the other nations. 00:08:35.400 --> 00:08:40.013 Now, before we clock our tongues too much at Israel, have any of us done much better? 00:08:40.013 --> 00:08:50.125 I don't mean have you gotten a good grade on a test, or have you ever won a softball championship, or have you ever gotten that job promotion. 00:08:50.125 --> 00:09:05.096 I mean in our moral condition before God, when God tells us things like be holy as I am holy, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you. 00:09:05.096 --> 00:09:08.166 Haven't we all failed? 00:09:08.166 --> 00:09:14.390 Israel's problem is really humanity's problem. 00:09:14.390 --> 00:09:21.909 But listen for the song of the servant, listen for this beautiful hope that God offers to us. 00:09:22.961 --> 00:09:31.701 Now we're going to look especially at this first servant song today, but before I dive into that song, I want to spend just a little more time talking about the composer of the song. 00:09:31.701 --> 00:09:33.566 I don't mean Isaiah. 00:09:33.566 --> 00:09:40.905 He's the human author, yes, but I'm speaking of the God who inspired Isaiah to write these verses. 00:09:40.905 --> 00:09:44.913 God is the one who orchestrates all of history. 00:09:44.913 --> 00:09:48.422 These verses, god is the one who orchestrates all of history. 00:09:48.422 --> 00:09:53.490 And, as the passage that we read opens, in chapter 41, verse 21, the Lord says submit your case. 00:09:53.490 --> 00:09:55.654 Let me hear your arguments. 00:09:55.654 --> 00:10:05.649 This sounds a little more like a courtroom drama than a music studio, but it's important for us to understand the gravity of who this God is. 00:10:06.120 --> 00:10:10.815 And the very first thing God does is issue a future telling challenge. 00:10:10.815 --> 00:10:24.123 You see that in verse 40, in chapter 41, verses 22 and 23, where God there invites these other so-called gods yeah, come in, tell us the past, tell us the future, then we'll know that you're legitimate. 00:10:24.123 --> 00:10:26.205 Tell us the past, tell us the future, then we'll know that you're legitimate. 00:10:26.205 --> 00:10:27.285 But they can't because they're worthless. 00:10:27.285 --> 00:10:31.428 Then, if you look ahead to the last couple of verses. 00:10:31.428 --> 00:10:33.929 I read chapter 42, verses 8 and 9,. 00:10:33.929 --> 00:10:37.972 There God reiterates the unique ability that he has. 00:10:37.972 --> 00:10:38.974 I am the Lord. 00:10:38.974 --> 00:10:39.894 That is my name. 00:10:39.894 --> 00:10:41.096 I won't give my glory to another. 00:10:41.096 --> 00:10:44.158 The past events have indeed happened. 00:10:44.158 --> 00:10:49.245 Now I declare new events, I announce them to you before they occur. 00:10:49.245 --> 00:10:53.234 So God's telling Israel this is who I am. 00:10:53.234 --> 00:10:55.602 I can tell the future. 00:10:55.602 --> 00:10:57.947 That's what makes him God. 00:11:00.171 --> 00:11:03.275 There was a movement called open theism. 00:11:03.275 --> 00:11:04.020 It still exists. 00:11:04.020 --> 00:11:17.731 It was a little more well-known a couple decades ago, but these were people who said we're Christians but we believe God doesn't know the future, or at least there's significant amounts of the future that God doesn't know. 00:11:17.731 --> 00:11:34.501 And in their minds that made God more able to live life alongside of you in a relatable way, like if something bad happens to you, god is just as surprised as you are, but he's going to walk right there beside you. 00:11:34.501 --> 00:11:43.046 Now there's a lot of problems with that viewpoint, but a big one is that it makes God not really God. 00:11:44.347 --> 00:11:47.854 Our passage makes it very clear that that's what it is to be. 00:11:47.854 --> 00:11:51.929 The true God is to know the future exhaustively, perfectly, and God does that. 00:11:51.929 --> 00:11:58.849 And if God doesn't know the future with certainty. 00:11:58.849 --> 00:12:01.854 How can that provide hope? 00:12:01.854 --> 00:12:05.110 Why would we think the future is going to be any different than the present? 00:12:05.110 --> 00:12:14.600 But God knows the future because he's ultimately in control, and you can see that here in our passage. 00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:21.014 Look at chapter 41, verse 25, where God says I've stirred up one from the north and he has come. 00:12:21.014 --> 00:12:36.044 God knew that Israel would be attacked by nations like Assyria or like Babylon, because he was in control and because he's in control, when he offers a song of hope, it's bound to come to pass. 00:12:38.370 --> 00:12:39.592 Listen for the song of the servant. 00:12:39.592 --> 00:12:52.687 When we look at these first verses in Isaiah 42, this first servant song, we see that God's servant carries out God's purposes. 00:12:52.687 --> 00:12:54.952 How does he do that? 00:12:54.952 --> 00:12:57.078 I'm going to give you four ways. 00:12:57.078 --> 00:13:07.702 I'm going to highlight four ways that God's servant carries out God's purposes here in this first servant song carries out God's purposes here in this first servant song. 00:13:07.702 --> 00:13:11.010 If you want to think of these as sort of four lines of music that perfectly harmonize if that's helpful to you. 00:13:11.010 --> 00:13:12.922 If that's not helpful to you, don't worry about it. 00:13:14.004 --> 00:13:18.033 Number one the servant shows the tender heart of God. 00:13:18.033 --> 00:13:20.884 That's in verses one to three of Isaiah 42. 00:13:20.884 --> 00:13:25.511 Number two the servant establishes justice. 00:13:25.511 --> 00:13:31.528 In the first four verses Number three the servant fulfills the covenants. 00:13:31.528 --> 00:13:32.711 That's from verse number six. 00:13:32.711 --> 00:13:38.809 And then number four the servant restores what was lost. 00:13:38.809 --> 00:13:44.990 So let's consider first how this servant shows the tender heart of God. 00:13:44.990 --> 00:13:54.251 Verse 2 again he will not cry out or shout or make his voice heard in the streets. 00:13:54.251 --> 00:13:58.370 He will not break a bruised reed. 00:13:58.370 --> 00:14:01.207 He will not put out a smoldering wick. 00:14:01.207 --> 00:14:04.931 He will faithfully bring justice. 00:14:04.931 --> 00:14:09.359 Put out a smoldering wick, he will faithfully bring justice. 00:14:09.359 --> 00:14:14.692 When the text says here that the servant doesn't cry out or lift up his voice, it doesn't mean the servant is shy. 00:14:14.692 --> 00:14:23.726 It means he's not the guy at the beach on the 4th of July blasting music like he owns the whole beach and he doesn't care about anyone else. 00:14:23.726 --> 00:14:27.857 Right Proverbs 9, verse 13,. 00:14:27.857 --> 00:14:29.900 The woman folly is loud. 00:14:29.900 --> 00:14:36.739 The servant of Isaiah 42 is not a fool, he's wise, and part of that wisdom is a tender heart. 00:14:36.739 --> 00:14:42.316 He does listen, he does understand, he does sympathize with his people. 00:14:42.316 --> 00:14:49.325 Verse three gives us two additional images breaking a bruised reed. 00:14:49.325 --> 00:14:52.148 Additional images Breaking a bruised reed, putting out a smoldering wick. 00:14:53.769 --> 00:14:59.975 Maybe when you were younger I did this sometimes. 00:14:59.975 --> 00:15:06.216 But you're in a marshy area and you want to build something, or you want to maybe have a play fight with your brother or some friends and you go to grab a reed and you can't always tell by looking at it. 00:15:06.216 --> 00:15:12.369 Sometimes you grab a reed and it's wet and just flops over in your hands. 00:15:12.369 --> 00:15:13.716 What do you do? 00:15:13.716 --> 00:15:14.418 You discard it. 00:15:14.418 --> 00:15:16.586 That's not going to work for what I need to do here. 00:15:16.586 --> 00:15:23.316 What happens when you've got a candle and the candle's down towards the end and it just doesn't seem to stay lit? 00:15:23.316 --> 00:15:25.577 Well, you just discard it and get a new one that works. 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:35.849 Our Lord doesn't discard people that are bruised, he lifts them up. 00:15:35.849 --> 00:15:44.261 Our lord doesn't clap a cup over a flickering flame. 00:15:44.261 --> 00:15:47.546 He blows on it, he restores it. 00:15:47.546 --> 00:15:51.110 It that's the heart of the servant we find here in this passage. 00:15:51.110 --> 00:16:08.509 And I say that the servant is showing the tender heart of God because in verse 1 of chapter 42, god says that he puts his own spirit on the servant, not a different spirit, his own spirit. 00:16:08.509 --> 00:16:14.576 If you've forgotten Isaiah 30, verse 18, let me remind you of that verse. 00:16:14.576 --> 00:16:17.883 Therefore, the Lord is waiting to show you mercy. 00:16:17.883 --> 00:16:20.995 He's rising up to show you compassion. 00:16:20.995 --> 00:16:27.163 The servant is not the nice guy who's trying to calm God down. 00:16:27.163 --> 00:16:39.365 The servant is the son sent from the father's side, who reveals the very heart of God, same nature, a nature filled with tender mercy. 00:16:39.365 --> 00:16:41.129 God wants to show us who he is. 00:16:41.129 --> 00:16:50.201 How often did Jesus reach out to touch people that were untouchable, to restore people who were wounded? 00:16:50.201 --> 00:16:53.067 Are you sick and sore today? 00:16:53.067 --> 00:16:55.058 Jesus, ready, stands to save you. 00:16:55.058 --> 00:16:57.163 Are you bruised today? 00:16:57.163 --> 00:16:58.788 If you're not today, you will be one day. 00:16:58.788 --> 00:17:01.379 The servant's there for you. 00:17:01.379 --> 00:17:02.783 God is there for you. 00:17:05.796 --> 00:17:15.923 If you're interested in thinking more about this wonderful attribute of the Lord's servant, I could recommend a book called Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund. 00:17:15.923 --> 00:17:19.819 Or there's another older book by a man named Richard Sibbes. 00:17:19.819 --> 00:17:27.867 The language is a little more difficult, but it's a great book of compassion called the Bruised Read, drawn right from the language of our passage here today. 00:17:27.867 --> 00:17:30.684 Listen to a few of the things that Richard Sibbes says. 00:17:30.684 --> 00:17:39.028 None are fitter for comfort than those that think themselves furthest off from that comfort. 00:17:39.028 --> 00:17:46.107 Again, there's more mercy in Christ than sin in us. 00:17:46.107 --> 00:17:54.327 A mother who has a sick and self-willed child will not cast it away for that reason. 00:17:54.327 --> 00:17:59.663 And shall there be more mercy in the stream than there is in the spring? 00:17:59.663 --> 00:18:06.020 Shall we think there is more mercy in ourselves than in God, who plants the feeling of mercy in us. 00:18:06.020 --> 00:18:18.948 And then one last quote from Sibbes the consciousness of the church's weakness makes her willing to lean on her beloved and to hide herself under his wings. 00:18:18.948 --> 00:18:23.460 The servant shows us the tender heart of God. 00:18:25.323 --> 00:18:28.990 Second, the servant establishes justice. 00:18:28.990 --> 00:18:35.122 You see three different times in the first four verses of chapter 42 that motif. 00:18:35.122 --> 00:18:39.375 So listen for that as I read again this is my servant, I will strengthen him. 00:18:39.375 --> 00:18:40.478 This is my chosen one. 00:18:40.478 --> 00:18:41.219 I delight in him. 00:18:41.219 --> 00:18:43.262 I've put my spirit on him. 00:18:43.262 --> 00:18:46.535 He will bring justice to the nations. 00:18:46.535 --> 00:18:51.020 He will not cry out or shout or make his voice heard in the streets. 00:18:51.020 --> 00:18:51.741 He will not break a. 00:18:51.741 --> 00:18:52.363 There it is again. 00:18:52.363 --> 00:19:04.980 He will not grow weak or be discouraged until he has established justice on the earth. 00:19:04.980 --> 00:19:19.731 Now already we're hitting a potential tension between this second way the servant carries out God's purpose and the first way. 00:19:26.954 --> 00:19:29.641 When we think of people that establish justice, we think of people that get things done. 00:19:29.641 --> 00:19:37.340 When we think of tenderhearted people, we don't always think of people who get things done right. 00:19:37.340 --> 00:19:40.346 Imagine just a hypothetical example. 00:19:40.346 --> 00:19:51.921 Imagine you have a country and a leader who seemed kind, but he seemed a little bit feeble right Now imagine purely hypothetical example. 00:19:51.921 --> 00:19:57.897 Let's imagine you've got a country and they have a leader that seems a little more energetic and effective in some ways. 00:19:57.897 --> 00:20:00.905 But maybe compassion isn't really his strong suit. 00:20:00.905 --> 00:20:09.865 What's impossible with man is possible with God and with human politicians. 00:20:09.865 --> 00:20:17.045 We don't know what's in their heart, we don't know how much of their display is in their heart or what's just for show. 00:20:17.045 --> 00:20:20.876 But God is showing us his heart here. 00:20:20.876 --> 00:20:26.303 He's tenderhearted and yet he's able to accomplish all of his holy will. 00:20:26.303 --> 00:20:27.704 He's able to bring about justice. 00:20:27.704 --> 00:20:39.025 So the servant establishes justice and as he does that, he carries out God's missionary purpose. 00:20:39.025 --> 00:20:43.779 Let me unpack that argument In this particular passage, isaiah 42,. 00:20:44.560 --> 00:20:50.259 I don't think here that Isaiah is emphasizing God's final judgment against his enemies. 00:20:50.259 --> 00:20:51.744 That's true, that's coming. 00:20:51.744 --> 00:20:56.306 Christ returned with a rod of iron to take vengeance on those who don't trust in him. 00:20:56.306 --> 00:21:03.426 But here Isaiah is focused on the servant's redemptive rule, his saving rule. 00:21:03.426 --> 00:21:05.135 Now why do I say that? 00:21:05.135 --> 00:21:06.678 Well, first I'll give you a few reasons. 00:21:06.798 --> 00:21:16.913 First, in Hebrew, the word that's translated here as justice multiple times in this passage, is a word that has a lot of variety in Scripture. 00:21:16.913 --> 00:21:18.916 It's used an awful lot in the Old Testament. 00:21:18.916 --> 00:21:24.586 It sometimes does have the idea of retributive justice. 00:21:24.586 --> 00:21:30.403 In other words, you did something wrong, now punishment's coming, or tribute of justice. 00:21:30.403 --> 00:21:33.449 It has that in scripture, but that's not the only way that it's used. 00:21:33.449 --> 00:21:43.865 It's also used at other times to refer to laws or ordinance, god's plan for what justice would look like as it's lived out. 00:21:45.095 --> 00:21:49.962 Leviticus 18.5 says keep my statutes and my justices. 00:21:49.962 --> 00:21:55.219 To say it kind of literally like that, a person will live if he does them. 00:21:55.219 --> 00:22:04.383 Here in Isaiah 42, the servant's bringing about a right state of affairs where his law is loved and honored. 00:22:04.383 --> 00:22:08.474 And what does the Bible prophesy about the new covenant? 00:22:08.474 --> 00:22:12.011 And what does the Bible prophesy about the new covenant? 00:22:12.011 --> 00:22:14.357 He'll write his law on our hearts. 00:22:14.357 --> 00:22:23.210 Another reason I emphasize this saving rule of the servant is in verse 4, there are parallel clauses. 00:22:27.714 --> 00:22:29.364 Not trying to bore you with fancy words, but I want you to see this. 00:22:29.364 --> 00:22:32.916 This is a section of poetry words, but I want you to see this. 00:22:32.916 --> 00:22:33.719 This is a section of poetry. 00:22:33.719 --> 00:22:37.827 Often in poetry one line says something similar to the previous line to help expand it and confirm it in some way. 00:22:37.827 --> 00:22:45.935 So if you look at the second line of verse four, it says that he will establish justice on the earth. 00:22:45.935 --> 00:22:58.946 And then the third line running parallel to that says the coasts and islands wait for his instruction or for his law, depending on what your translation might be. 00:22:58.946 --> 00:23:08.664 So earth in that second line goes with coasts and islands, all people everywhere. 00:23:08.664 --> 00:23:14.701 But then that means that justice goes with instruction or law. 00:23:14.701 --> 00:23:15.786 Do you see that how? 00:23:15.786 --> 00:23:28.941 Instruction and law is another way of talking about what God's justice looks like here in this passage, the people far off need to hear God's instruction, his law. 00:23:28.941 --> 00:23:30.243 That was true in Israel's day. 00:23:30.243 --> 00:23:32.568 It's still true in our day. 00:23:32.568 --> 00:23:42.069 They need to know who God is and what he wants for them to know him and how to honor him and love him and obey him. 00:23:43.915 --> 00:23:54.700 A third reason I'm arguing that justice here is focused more on God's rule of redemption is because it fits the context of the following verses. 00:23:54.700 --> 00:24:03.862 So if you look at verse six, it says the servant is a covenant for the people, not a covenant against the people. 00:24:03.862 --> 00:24:09.779 He's a light to the nations, he's not judgment against the nations. 00:24:09.779 --> 00:24:14.237 And then verse 7 also speaks more of his saving activities. 00:24:14.237 --> 00:24:25.161 Okay, so the servant is establishing justice, he's bringing about a right state of affairs, the well-ordered desires that God wants. 00:24:25.161 --> 00:24:26.923 You might say, okay, mike well and good. 00:24:26.923 --> 00:24:28.865 You might say, okay, mike, well and good. 00:24:28.865 --> 00:24:29.967 The servants? 00:24:29.967 --> 00:24:32.269 Peace on earth, goodwill to men. 00:24:32.269 --> 00:24:42.675 He's bringing in God's rule. 00:24:42.675 --> 00:24:43.656 I don't see it. 00:24:43.656 --> 00:24:44.458 What I see are wars and rumors of wars. 00:24:44.458 --> 00:24:46.661 Keep in mind we haven't seen the end of everything yet. 00:24:46.661 --> 00:24:48.763 God is patient. 00:24:48.763 --> 00:24:53.410 He's slow to establish his work and his rule and his reign. 00:25:01.835 --> 00:25:07.702 And in this age, the age before Jesus Christ returns, where we should see God's laws lived out the best, the best are in our churches, not in our parliaments. 00:25:07.702 --> 00:25:11.428 Now we want politicians to be saved. 00:25:11.428 --> 00:25:15.099 We want movie stars and athletes and social media influencers. 00:25:15.099 --> 00:25:16.182 We want them to get saved. 00:25:16.182 --> 00:25:24.777 We want God's law everywhere, but where we see it especially lived out are the people who have those new hearts and the law written on their hearts. 00:25:24.777 --> 00:25:29.768 So that should be first and foremost in our churches in this present age. 00:25:29.768 --> 00:25:35.940 That should be first and foremost in our churches in this present age. 00:25:35.940 --> 00:25:41.155 And yes, sadly, sometimes even churches can look more like an ornery and bickering world than like this redemptive rule of God. 00:25:41.155 --> 00:26:00.105 But we want to ask if a church is a place more about division and discord than about Christ's tender heart and just laws, we have to ask are we really, then showcasing the glorious rule and reign of Christ, the way that we should be? 00:26:00.105 --> 00:26:02.903 Or you could personalize that question. 00:26:04.396 --> 00:26:16.460 If I'm so consumed with my own personal idea of what I think justice needs to be and there's no aroma of Christ in my life, do I really know him? 00:26:16.460 --> 00:26:18.203 Has he given me that new heart? 00:26:18.203 --> 00:26:20.749 Or am I just saying I'm a Christian? 00:26:20.749 --> 00:26:34.936 And this is where I have to warn you, as Isaiah does often throughout the book if we live simply professing to know Christ but our hearts are really far from him, we don't know him. 00:26:34.936 --> 00:26:39.768 If we live under that hypocrisy, then there's only an expectation of judgment. 00:26:39.768 --> 00:26:48.121 If you're here today and you just don't listen for the song of the servant you just plug your ears to that song then there's judgment coming for you. 00:26:48.121 --> 00:26:50.025 Then there's judgment coming for you. 00:26:50.025 --> 00:27:00.361 But when you come and kneel, there's mercy, because there's more mercy in Christ than there is sin in you. 00:27:00.421 --> 00:27:01.082 God's servant. 00:27:01.082 --> 00:27:03.965 Number one shows the tender heart of God. 00:27:03.965 --> 00:27:05.848 Number two he establishes justice. 00:27:05.848 --> 00:27:11.281 Number three he fulfills the covenants. 00:27:11.281 --> 00:27:11.925 I'm getting this from verse six. 00:27:11.925 --> 00:27:12.469 I am the Lord. 00:27:12.469 --> 00:27:15.240 I've called you for a righteous purpose. 00:27:15.240 --> 00:27:23.147 I will hold you by your hand, I will watch over you and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations. 00:27:23.147 --> 00:27:28.662 I'll appoint you to be a covenant for the people. 00:27:28.662 --> 00:27:30.746 That's an unusual expression. 00:27:31.507 --> 00:27:41.215 The Bible talks a lot about covenants, but here's God speaking to his servant and saying that he'll appoint his servant to be a covenant. 00:27:41.215 --> 00:27:42.278 What does that mean? 00:27:42.278 --> 00:27:58.387 A covenant is an agreement between two people, like a contract, but covenants are more personal and in scripture, god is usually the one who comes and sets the terms of his covenant with his people. 00:27:58.387 --> 00:28:02.380 But how do you make a servant a covenant? 00:28:02.380 --> 00:28:08.060 If you're going to buy a house and you show up, sign the contract, what are the issues here? 00:28:08.060 --> 00:28:13.115 And the owner says, oh, there's no contract, but here's my son, he's the contract. 00:28:13.115 --> 00:28:15.320 What does that mean? 00:28:15.320 --> 00:28:16.884 I don't know that. 00:28:16.884 --> 00:28:17.746 I was bargaining for this. 00:28:17.746 --> 00:28:18.996 You got to explain that to me. 00:28:18.996 --> 00:28:22.182 Well, in order to understand. 00:28:22.182 --> 00:28:40.640 If we're going to understand this verse and it's so powerful when we can grasp what God is saying here In order to understand what it means for God to appoint his servant to be a covenant, we really have to understand the whole history of God's covenant dealings with his people in the Bible. 00:28:42.763 --> 00:28:46.056 Now don't say, oh boy, I thought we were in points three or four. 00:28:46.056 --> 00:28:51.938 We're doing well, but this refreshing leftover watermelon is going to have to wait a while, more than I thought. 00:28:51.938 --> 00:28:59.526 If we're going to go through the whole, we're not going to do a deep dive into every aspect of God's covenants with his people, but let me just summarize it for you. 00:28:59.526 --> 00:29:05.423 God comes to people and says this is how we're going to relate. 00:29:05.423 --> 00:29:08.679 I'm going to do these things and you're going to do these things. 00:29:10.041 --> 00:29:17.104 And God always holds up his side of the bargain, but humans constantly fail. 00:29:17.104 --> 00:29:21.984 God blesses Adam and Eve, and they sin. 00:29:21.984 --> 00:29:26.345 God blesses Noah he goes and gets drunk. 00:29:26.345 --> 00:29:32.997 God blesses Abraham he says, well, I'll have a son through my servant in order to really help things out. 00:29:32.997 --> 00:29:39.349 God blesses Israel, and they go make a golden calf. 00:29:39.349 --> 00:29:42.115 Do you understand that? 00:29:42.115 --> 00:29:45.442 Covenant failure after covenant failure? 00:29:47.907 --> 00:30:01.857 God is the faithful, divine covenant partner and he's looking for the faithful human covenant partner, but he can't find one, so he provides one. 00:30:01.857 --> 00:30:09.622 The servant is the faithful human covenant partner. 00:30:09.622 --> 00:30:13.780 He has to be truly human to be what God is looking for. 00:30:13.780 --> 00:30:18.516 But if he's merely human, he's just going to fail, like all other humans fail. 00:30:18.516 --> 00:30:25.824 So the servant is human and yet he's also divine. 00:30:25.824 --> 00:30:33.564 The servant is the fulfillment of all of those covenant obligations. 00:30:33.564 --> 00:30:36.096 He's not just a model for us. 00:30:36.096 --> 00:30:37.420 This is very important. 00:30:37.420 --> 00:30:43.615 God is not saying all right, humanity here having some problems, I'm going to send my servant now. 00:30:43.615 --> 00:30:44.499 Watch and learn. 00:30:44.499 --> 00:30:46.773 He'll teach you how to obey. 00:30:46.773 --> 00:30:48.980 He does do that. 00:30:48.980 --> 00:30:55.776 But if you think the gospel is that God will help you to obey him better, you don't understand the gospel. 00:30:55.776 --> 00:31:00.950 Yes, christ will put the law on our hearts. 00:31:00.950 --> 00:31:05.077 We'll slowly and progressively begin to want to know him and obey him more and more. 00:31:05.077 --> 00:31:07.321 That happens, but that's not the good news. 00:31:07.321 --> 00:31:09.853 The good news is Christ has come and done it all. 00:31:09.853 --> 00:31:13.683 That's the first and glorious thing to understand. 00:31:13.683 --> 00:31:20.021 He is a perfectly fulfilled covenant, signed, sealed and delivered to you as a gift. 00:31:31.009 --> 00:31:32.613 Last line of music in this first servant song, the servant restores what was lost. 00:31:32.613 --> 00:31:38.823 Verse 6 says that God will make the servant to be a light for the nations. 00:31:38.823 --> 00:31:40.770 Well, that was part of Israel's purpose. 00:31:40.770 --> 00:31:43.734 And now here's a servant coming along and doing it. 00:31:43.734 --> 00:31:45.298 They were blinded by idolatry. 00:31:45.298 --> 00:31:47.661 He's going to open blind eyes. 00:31:47.661 --> 00:31:54.920 God had already told Abraham, the very father of the Israelite people, in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed. 00:31:54.920 --> 00:31:56.143 It's not just Israel. 00:31:56.143 --> 00:31:59.236 It was God's intention to bless all kinds of people. 00:31:59.236 --> 00:32:02.911 This goes back well before Israel, to Adam and Eve in the garden. 00:32:02.911 --> 00:32:06.862 Be fruitful and multiply that his image might be filling all the earth. 00:32:09.310 --> 00:32:11.519 The servants restoring what was lost. 00:32:11.519 --> 00:32:17.181 Verse number seven the servant brings prisoners out of the dungeon. 00:32:17.181 --> 00:32:21.480 The Lord brought Joseph out of the prison house in Egypt. 00:32:21.480 --> 00:32:26.375 The Lord brought his people out of slavery from Egypt and took them in the promised land. 00:32:26.375 --> 00:32:33.457 And our Lord Jesus Christ frees those who were held captive to evil. 00:32:33.837 --> 00:32:34.721 Hebrews, chapter two. 00:32:34.721 --> 00:32:40.297 We're no longer prisoners If we trust in Jesus Christ. 00:32:40.297 --> 00:32:41.240 We've turned from our sins. 00:32:41.240 --> 00:32:43.417 We're sons and daughters of God through faith in him. 00:32:43.417 --> 00:32:44.593 And there's more. 00:32:45.194 --> 00:32:48.182 Throughout Isaiah We've seen these themes of a new creation. 00:32:48.182 --> 00:32:52.401 We'll see them as the prophet continues on in future chapters. 00:32:52.401 --> 00:32:58.851 That begins by turning from sin, because if anyone's in Christ 2 Corinthians 5, he's a new creation. 00:32:58.851 --> 00:33:07.561 But one day all the effects of sin in the world will be gone forever. 00:33:07.561 --> 00:33:19.311 One day will be perfected in every way spiritually, emotionally, even those physical stains and blemishes gone because of the work of the servant. 00:33:19.311 --> 00:33:23.836 The Lord declares it in Isaiah's day. 00:33:23.836 --> 00:33:27.400 The Lord declares it in Isaiah's day and he knows the future and orchestrates all of history. 00:33:27.400 --> 00:33:30.682 So the song is surely going to come to pass. 00:33:30.682 --> 00:33:39.698 What has been lost will be restored, and the end is even greater than the beginning. 00:33:39.698 --> 00:33:40.881 This should be music to our ears. 00:33:40.881 --> 00:33:46.932 Are we listening for the song of the servant? 00:33:46.932 --> 00:33:49.296 The servant shows us the tender heart of God. 00:33:49.296 --> 00:34:04.291 He establishes justice, he fulfills the covenants, he restores what was lost, and we'll see more in future. 00:34:04.291 --> 00:34:06.214 Servant songs in the book of Isaiah. 00:34:06.214 --> 00:34:12.364 These songs don't necessarily come with a John Philip Sousa marching band loudness. 00:34:12.364 --> 00:34:20.704 They come with the Spirit's work in our hearts. 00:34:20.704 --> 00:34:22.010 Listen for the song of the servant. 00:34:25.250 --> 00:34:25.972 There's a story that's told. 00:34:25.972 --> 00:34:27.817 I think it's a work of historical fiction, but it illustrates something. 00:34:27.817 --> 00:34:40.313 In this story it's World War I and there's a man who works for the British army but he's constantly being monitored and watched by German spies and he tries to figure out how can I let the British soldiers know? 00:34:40.313 --> 00:34:44.621 I have information and I'm with them, without the Germans knowing? 00:34:44.621 --> 00:34:49.193 And he comes up with an idea to sing a song. 00:34:49.193 --> 00:34:51.197 Well, how is that going to help? 00:34:51.197 --> 00:34:53.601 He sings a song. 00:34:53.601 --> 00:34:59.619 That's an old Scottish tune that's not known by everyone, but it works. 00:34:59.619 --> 00:35:05.771 And the Germans, the enemies, don't know, but the people that have ears to hear the British. 00:35:05.771 --> 00:35:12.599 They recognize it and that helps him get the information that wins the battle leads to great success for Britain. 00:35:12.599 --> 00:35:16.097 Who knew that a little song could reveal so much? 00:35:18.472 --> 00:35:25.617 The people of Israel are in desperate trouble in Isaiah's day and left to ourselves. 00:35:25.617 --> 00:35:33.137 We're all in much worse trouble, but help has come because the servant has come. 00:35:33.137 --> 00:35:34.179 Christ has come. 00:35:34.179 --> 00:35:36.784 Do we have ears to hear? 00:35:36.784 --> 00:35:38.791 Let's pray that we do. 00:35:41.094 --> 00:35:52.900 Lord God, oh Lord, how we praise you for tuning our ears to sing your praise and the song that might be despised by the world. 00:35:54.210 --> 00:36:38.735