Doug McMasters: Let's take our Bible and go to the book of Isaiah, chapter 43.
Doug McMasters: We're studying through this book, an Old Testament book of 66 chapters, and we are working our way well past the midsection In a grand and glorious portion of Scripture.
Doug McMasters: From chapters 40 to 55, they give us an understanding of God's wondrous mercy and grace.
Doug McMasters: Five give us an understanding of God's wondrous mercy and grace.
Doug McMasters: Both of my sons live in London, as many of you know, and yet I get to enjoy almost daily conversations with them in one way or another, not always by video, not always by voice, but sometimes by sending each other little statements across some sort of messaging app.
Doug McMasters: And my son Ben and I often will send one another video reels that have captured our attention or tickled our bones or whatever it might be.
Doug McMasters: And my son Ben sent me recently a little reel an Instagram reel of a collection of short little videos that dog owners had taken of their puppies, and this little montage of videos was showing all of these puppies either running around or sitting in some place or eating, and every one of them falling asleep immediately.
Doug McMasters: It was really cute to watch this puppy just zooming around the living room and all of a sudden just dropping and just out immediately, or others right in the middle of chewing some of their food and falling into their bowl to sleep.
Doug McMasters: The cutest ones were ones where the puppies are sitting there just trying to be as polite and sitting up as nicely as possible and then just reeling over and then just waking up.
Doug McMasters: In a start.
Doug McMasters: Royal said I've done that a time or two, talking to her when Mike and I returned from visiting Chad and Emily, royal and I, late into the night, were just talking about some of our experiences while we were separated from each other, and Royal says I fell asleep mid-sentence.
Doug McMasters: So weariness can really bring us down.
Doug McMasters: It can happen to a puppy, it can happen to a pastor, it happens to all of us.
Doug McMasters: And I had a friend of mine, frank, in Bible college.
Doug McMasters: He was out of the Marines, I was out of the Air Force, we were both in Bible college together.
Doug McMasters: He worked full-time and went to school full-time.
Doug McMasters: I worked full-time and went to school full-time, and we went to church together and we formed just a great bond with each other.
Doug McMasters: Because of Frank's abilities, he wasn't a quick learner or fast study, and so he had to spend a lot of free time every bit of his free time, when he wasn't working or going to church, to try to study and keep up with the workload that was there at college.
Doug McMasters: And so when we would sit together at church, I'd often see him falling asleep, and occasionally I'd just kind of give him a little elbow and he'd wake up.
Doug McMasters: Well, this really really disturbed him, and one day he took a pin and stuck it through the knot of his tie, thinking that if he did fall asleep he'd wake himself up.
Doug McMasters: I said, frank, don't do that, that's not something you need to do.
Doug McMasters: And I said, look, when you fall asleep I'll wake you up.
Doug McMasters: And so I kind of took it on as my job.
Doug McMasters: Every time I saw him sleeping I'd be sure to wake him up.
Doug McMasters: But sometimes compassion overwhelms duty and I would just let him sleep for a few minutes because he needed it.
Doug McMasters: He really was weary and he needed some rest.
Doug McMasters: But, boy, I didn't want him putting that pin back in his tie.
Doug McMasters: Well, the portion of Scripture that we're coming to in Isaiah, chapter 43, speaks of this startling statement that God himself describes himself as weary, and his tiredness is not a weariness of strength like ours, but it's a weariness of a wounded love, the Lord who doesn't sleep, the Lord whose strength never falters, describes himself here like a brokenhearted father who's wearied not by labor, but wearied by the loss of a child's affection by the loss of a child's affection.
Doug McMasters: In the verses here of chapter 43, god doesn't accuse the people of their overt idolatry or their dramatic rebellion.
Doug McMasters: What he speaks to them is the gradual erosion of their love, a spiritual forgetfulness that's numbed their desire for him.
Doug McMasters: They've not forgotten the mechanics of worship, but they've certainly lost the heart of it, and their heart hasn't longed or yearned for him, the one that they were meant to give themselves to and the one in whom they could adore.
Doug McMasters: And they no longer called upon God, not because he was asking too much of them, but because they were disinterested in him.
Doug McMasters: They were weary, not from serving the Lord, they were weary of serving the Lord.
Doug McMasters: And yet this passage doesn't stop with that kind of sorrow and the deserving judgment.
Doug McMasters: It enters us into the most astounding truth, one of the greatest and glorious statements in Scripture that God who is, yes, wearied with abandonment and our sin.
Doug McMasters: But he doesn't stop there.
Doug McMasters: He doesn't abandon these sinners and he doesn't abandon us either, as we'll find out.
Doug McMasters: He still speaks to them, he still redeems them, he still restores them, he still promises great things for them.
Doug McMasters: And so, as we go from this passage and we'll begin in chapter 43 and verse 22, just a verse past where we left off last week we're going to see this movement from sorrow to mercy, from estrangement to renewal, this movement from weariness to relentless grace.
Doug McMasters: Let's read it together Chapter 43, verse 22.
Doug McMasters: But, jacob, you've not called on me because, israel, you've become weary of me.
Doug McMasters: You've not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings or honored me with your sacrifices.
Doug McMasters: I have not burdened you with offerings or wearied you with incense.
Doug McMasters: You've not bought me aromatic cane with silver or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices, but you have burdened me with your sins.
Doug McMasters: You've wearied me with your iniquities.
Doug McMasters: I am the one I sweep away your transgressions for my own sake and remember your sins no more.
Doug McMasters: Remind me.
Doug McMasters: Let's argue the case together, recount the facts so that you may be vindicated.
Doug McMasters: Your first father sinned and your mediators have rebelled against me.
Doug McMasters: So I defiled the officers of the sanctuary and set Jacob apart for destruction and Israel for scorn.
Doug McMasters: And now listen, jacob, my servant, israel, whom I've chosen.
Doug McMasters: This is the word of the Lord, your maker, the one who formed you from the womb.
Doug McMasters: He will help you.
Doug McMasters: Do not fear Jacob, my servant Yeshurun, whom I've chosen For.
Doug McMasters: I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground.
Doug McMasters: I will pour my spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring.
Doug McMasters: They will sprout among the grass like populars, by flowing streams.
Doug McMasters: This one will say I am the Lord's.
Doug McMasters: Another will use the name of Jacob, still another will write on his hand the Lord's and take on the name of Israel.
Doug McMasters: This passage invites us to pause, not a pause of analysis, but a pause of reflection.
Doug McMasters: And before we step any deeper into this text, we need to bring ourselves to a question about ourselves, to examine the posture that we've come into this room today.
Doug McMasters: And perhaps you've come spiritually exhausted, like my friend Frank, weary, needing rest, yearning.
Doug McMasters: Maybe your journey with God has brought you to the place where it's not rebellion but routine that has dried you out, a slow drift that's bold your delight.
Doug McMasters: Or maybe you're here with a sincere desire to serve the Lord and yet you see the inconsistencies of your own life, so much so that you wonder if God's mercies could continue because of the fickleness of your heart.
Doug McMasters: Or maybe you're here this morning, you're just exploring spiritually where you're at.
Doug McMasters: It's not a question you've entertained, maybe even ever before, but you're here today and that too is by the grace of God.
Doug McMasters: As we go through this passage, we're going to find out that this heartache of heaven is not the end.
Doug McMasters: It's actually the statement that begins the restoration.
Doug McMasters: This God that we've wearied by our sins is still merciful and yet still invites us to return.
Doug McMasters: So let's step into this passage and let's take a look at the heart of it, where the grief of God is met by the grace of God.
Doug McMasters: Let's look at the first point, verses 22 to 24.
Doug McMasters: And I want to focus all of these three points on God, because that's what this passage certainly does.
Doug McMasters: And the first point is a neglected and yet a nearing God.
Doug McMasters: A neglected yet nearing God and yet a nearing God.
Doug McMasters: A neglected yet nearing God.
Doug McMasters: Isaiah opens up with a painful exposure here of spiritual drift, as I said a moment ago, and it's not one of fiery defiance but quiet indifference.
Doug McMasters: Here God's sorrow is not stated as being provoked by the rebellion, but provoked by being forgotten, and he points to their failure because of the absence of their intimacy.
Doug McMasters: No prayer offered in communion, no sacrifices brought in devotion, no grateful praise, no joy, no pursuit of his presence.
Doug McMasters: And the indictment isn't that they've run after false gods, but they've quit running after him.
Doug McMasters: The rituals might have continued, perhaps, but their hearts have silenced.
Doug McMasters: And in that silence God speaks, because their neglect was not incidental.
Doug McMasters: In fact, it would soon carry weighty consequences, as the end of chapter 43 indicates.
Doug McMasters: Their sin, layered upon layer by generation of generation, is going to bring them to a place of judgment.
Doug McMasters: But let's linger here for a moment, not just, like I said, for analysis, but for reflection.
Doug McMasters: God says you've not called on me.
Doug McMasters: Certainly he's talking about these times of intimate expressions of praise and petition in the presence of God.
Doug McMasters: We call it prayer.
Doug McMasters: Ask yourself when was the last time you prayed, not out of duty but out of delight?
Doug McMasters: You see, israel hadn't stopped believing, they'd stopped communing.
Doug McMasters: And here they were, perhaps even praying mechanically, but not with their heart full.
Doug McMasters: Their voice was a distant echo because there was no intimacy in it.
Doug McMasters: Their sacrifices, too, had vanished.
Doug McMasters: Sacrifices certainly cost something.
Doug McMasters: Sacrifices are that word we use because it is a sacrifice.
Doug McMasters: It cost them time.
Doug McMasters: It cost a sacrifice.
Doug McMasters: It costs them time, it costs them livestock, it costs them grain, it costs them effort to make a sacrifice.
Doug McMasters: Of course, god didn't give this to weigh them down as worshipers, but for them to show their deep affection and appreciation and heart to a God who is forgiving.
Doug McMasters: But they didn't carry it out, or they didn't carry it out with heart, or they kept some back.
Doug McMasters: And again for reflection, we might need to ask ourselves are we simply doing things out of habit or performance, or out of the fueled heart of gratitude and love?
Doug McMasters: Are we doing things because it's convenient or are we willing to step into moments that are costly, that are truly sacrificial?
Doug McMasters: And here the communion fades.
Doug McMasters: He says that they hadn't brought and he uses this interesting phrase aromatic cane with silver, an image of fragrant, joyful worship not offered.
Doug McMasters: Their thanksgiving had shriveled into a transaction and worship had turned into a means by which they could manipulate God.
Doug McMasters: What can God give me, rather than what can I offer him?
Doug McMasters: They were disconnected.
Doug McMasters: We feel disconnected from people all the time, even as much as we think we're connected to them.
Doug McMasters: If I opened up my Facebook profile right now, I'd probably find out I have 1,500 friends.
Doug McMasters: Sounds impressive.
Doug McMasters: How many of them do I spend any time with?
Doug McMasters: Right?
Doug McMasters: I'll go on here, I'll open up Facebook, my feed will bring me, and I'll just kind of go oh, that's interesting, oh, that's nice, oh, oh, oh, and maybe once a week I'll stop and write a comment.
Doug McMasters: We put God on our Facebook feed, the Facebook feed of our life's relationships, and we look down on him and we might even tag him in something that we've done, but when it comes to posts from his, we'll just keep scrolling by, disconnected, not engaged.
Doug McMasters: God doesn't leave us in the dark about what's going on here.
Doug McMasters: It is a heart issue, not a performance issue here.
Doug McMasters: Verse 23, he tells them I've not burdened you with offerings or wearied you with incense.
Doug McMasters: Worship of the Lord wasn't meant to be a burden, and yet the people had re-imaged it that way that it was really something they just needed to perform, something to do.
Doug McMasters: And, of course, if you think that way, worship is going to weary you.
Doug McMasters: If you approach God as if it's something you need to do to bargain with Him, rather than something you do because you belong to Him, worship's going to be a grating activity, and you're going to put up with that grating activity only so long.
Doug McMasters: Before you just give it up, consider Cain, genesis chapter 4.
Doug McMasters: He offered a sacrifice and the sacrifice wasn't accepted.
Doug McMasters: Why?
Doug McMasters: Because it was just a performance.
Doug McMasters: Saul in 1 Samuel 15 partially obeyed.
Doug McMasters: He sacrificed to the Lord, but obedience wasn't in his heart, only in his hands.
Doug McMasters: And the Lord is telling us to take care that we don't go off into the drift of a cold and indifferent heart by allowing ourselves to be disinterested in God himself.
Doug McMasters: Hebrews 12 gives us.
Doug McMasters: It says strengthen your tired hands and your weakened knees, make straight paths for your feet so that what is've heard, so that we will not drift away.
Doug McMasters: What was the result of this?
Doug McMasters: A ruined relationship.
Doug McMasters: God here, longing for this relationship, and yet they've reduced him to something they do simply by ritual.
Doug McMasters: But he's not a distant deity meeting rituals that we perform.
Doug McMasters: He's a near father aching for the hearts of his people, and his statement here about judgment is a relational pain.
Doug McMasters: God does not delight in the death of the wicked, the scriptures say, and so he says.
Doug McMasters: So I have defiled the officers of the sanctuary and set Jacob apart for destruction in Israel, for scorn.
Doug McMasters: Jesus would echo these verses when he would speak to the generation in his day and he would say the people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
Doug McMasters: In one of his most tender laments, overlooking Jerusalem, he said oh Jerusalem, jerusalem, how I would have gathered you as a hen does its chicks, but you will not.
Doug McMasters: But even in the face of this cold, heartless worship, god doesn't withdraw.
Doug McMasters: His heart remains, his nearness persists.
Doug McMasters: And while they're making excuses that God demands too much or he gives too little, he tells us the drift is ours, but the desire to restore is his.
Doug McMasters: And this nearness will culminate in Christ, christ who said come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.
Doug McMasters: You see, the answer to spiritual fatigue is not picking up the duties, it's seeking the heart of God who wants to show mercy and grace.
Doug McMasters: And so let's see how that builds as we continue.
Doug McMasters: We've seen God.
Doug McMasters: Let's see Him a second way as a merciful and mighty judge.
Doug McMasters: A merciful and mighty judge.
Doug McMasters: We've listened to the ache of his voice, a voice not distant but grieving, as a father burdened by forgotten love.
Doug McMasters: But let's see how he interacts with these people, and he leads with mercy.
Doug McMasters: He is a merciful and yet mighty judge, but he leads with mercy.
Doug McMasters: Here, verse 25,.
Doug McMasters: I am the one.
Doug McMasters: I sweep away your transgressions for my own sake, and remember your sins no more, the face of the dullness of their hearts.
Doug McMasters: He reminds them of who he is.
Doug McMasters: And don't be mistaken this merciful God is also a mighty judge.
Doug McMasters: But here he speaks with tenderness.
Doug McMasters: He speaks in the middle of this mess with these wondrous declarations I, I, it is me, I'm the one that forgives you, that blots out your transgressions.
Doug McMasters: Now, their failures were undeniable.
Doug McMasters: Your first father sinned.
Doug McMasters: Verse 27.
Doug McMasters: Your mediators have rebelled against me.
Doug McMasters: They've done nothing but widen the divide between God and themselves.
Doug McMasters: And yet here is the wondrous statement that when God argues with their heart, he speaks first of all about His merciful character, because His forgiveness is not exhausted yet.
Doug McMasters: It stands ready for those who return, and it's not contingent upon their behavior, but their acknowledgement and recognition of their failure, and it flows from his character.
Doug McMasters: But this merciful judge is also a mighty judge.
Doug McMasters: Maybe you're here today thinking that grace is something you deserve and mercy will be proportioned to you according to your performance.
Doug McMasters: This passage will certainly disavow you of that perspective, because forgiveness begins with where who God is, not what we do and where we've been.
Doug McMasters: But still there is, like these people, something within us that just wants to argue for ourselves, something within us that wants to justify ourselves, to say that we're okay.
Doug McMasters: And so he says look, I've given you my appeal, I'm the forgiving father.
Doug McMasters: Now, what do you have to say in light of that, verse 26.
Doug McMasters: Remind me, let's argue the case together.
Doug McMasters: Recount the facts so that you may be vindicated.
Doug McMasters: With piercing irony, god says okay, let's go into the courtroom, let's talk about it there.
Doug McMasters: I'll give you room to speak.
Doug McMasters: State your case, give me your answers.
Doug McMasters: Maybe I have demanded too much, maybe you don't need my forgiveness.
Doug McMasters: What do you have to say?
Doug McMasters: God says you've got the floor, go ahead and speak.
Doug McMasters: But the silence says everything.
Doug McMasters: We have nothing to say.
Doug McMasters: How could we justify ourselves before this judge?
Doug McMasters: The floor has been given to us, we've been prompted to offer arguments and we have literally nothing to say for our defense.
Doug McMasters: I mean, what could we possibly present?
Doug McMasters: God says well, let me just remind you of something your fathers, from the very first, were sinful, and your mediators have only separated you more and more from me.
Doug McMasters: And the verdict is clear I will deliver Jacob apart for destruction and Israel for scorn.
Doug McMasters: This is not an overreaction, this is justice.
Doug McMasters: And we may think God's justice is some outdated, overly harsh statement.
Doug McMasters: I'm reading a biography on Mark Twain at the moment Samuel Clemens, and he said the Old Testament, God is just a fickle ogre.
Doug McMasters: I love the God of the New Testament.
Doug McMasters: Wait a second.
Doug McMasters: Let's go to Acts, chapter 5.
Doug McMasters: You don't need to turn there.
Doug McMasters: Five.
Doug McMasters: You don't need to turn there.
Doug McMasters: But Ananias and Sapphira, whose subtle sin was deceit of holding back gifts, and they wrapped up their excuse in a thin veil of self-preservation, only to find out that God knew their hearts and understood when they lied and the judgment was immediate.
Doug McMasters: They died in the middle of the worship service, not because God was vindictive, but because he's holy.
Doug McMasters: And this justice confronts us, and God is saying here between the lines do you really want to get what you deserve?
Doug McMasters: Do you really want to try to argue your case as though you could win this?
Doug McMasters: The story doesn't end here, though.
Doug McMasters: You see, this passage of Scripture is a prophecy.
Doug McMasters: It's not just an argument with the present generation of the people here.
Doug McMasters: It is a statement that projects itself forward in God's unfolding plan of redemption, because God's justice continues to stand firm.
Doug McMasters: God in the New Testament has not set aside his justice, as if it was only a thing preserved for those days past.
Doug McMasters: But his mercy has not retreated either.
Doug McMasters: It advances, but it only advances in one place, and that's in Christ.
Doug McMasters: You see, this passage prepares us for a mediator who won't keep separating us from God, but who will actually bring us to God.
Doug McMasters: And we find ourselves enveloped in a Father who receives us as if we'd never sinned, even though generationally we've had sin after sin after sin after sin in all of our forefathers.
Doug McMasters: And the New Testament draws back the veil of eternity and shows us that entering into the courtroom is one more person, that entering into the courtroom is one more person, not just God, the judge, and us, the silent defense, but Jesus.
Doug McMasters: Jesus walks into the courtroom and he intercedes, not with ritual repetitions, but with a once-for-all sacrifice.
Doug McMasters: And he doesn't bring bulls and goats and lambs, he brings himself.
Doug McMasters: Imagine the picture the judge saying you've got the microphone, it's your turn to speak, your defense, what do you have to say?
Doug McMasters: And we stand there with nothing to offer.
Doug McMasters: And then walks in Jesus, the only person on earth who has never sinned, and God doesn't look at him and then look at us and say you see, that that's what I want you to do.
Doug McMasters: And he doesn't point at Jesus and say just take up everything that he's doing and then you'll be okay.
Doug McMasters: The judge is righteous and the sentence there's no argument against it it's deserved.
Doug McMasters: And Jesus arises not to dismiss the charges, saying God, you know, you're a God of love, just, just, just, just look, just just stop the court session now and let them go.
Doug McMasters: That's not what he does.
Doug McMasters: He walks up in front of us and he says to the judge All that righteousness which I have done, put it on them, that sacrifice on the cross in which I gave up my life and received the curse, take it from them and put it on me, because this is where mercy and justice meet.
Doug McMasters: It meets at Christ, who is the advocate and the atonement for us.
Doug McMasters: Our forgiveness is not cheap.
Doug McMasters: It costs Christ everything, but he brings us to God on our behalf.
Doug McMasters: You see, this is God in the courtroom, but the problem starts in the heart, right?
Doug McMasters: So let's find out when God's mercy moves from the courtroom to our hearts and this brings us to the last point of restoring and reigning Lord in the first five verses of chapter 44.
Doug McMasters: If all God did was cancel sin, that would be more than enough.
Doug McMasters: But he does more.
Doug McMasters: He does so much more.
Doug McMasters: His justice confronts us with our hard-heartedness, but his mercy is meant to lift up our broken-heartedness.
Doug McMasters: And he doesn't just stop at forgiveness.
Doug McMasters: This passage that we're about to look at tells about God reshaping us and renewing us, and reigniting within us, and even renaming us.
Doug McMasters: He doesn't just merely erase sin.
Doug McMasters: He forgives us and he forms us as His people, because he's not here simply to stop at rescue.
Doug McMasters: He wants renewal, not just in our activities but in our heart, and so His mercy here is going to describe how he reorients our lives, how he changes our identities and how he ignites a transformation within us that defies our past and defies our present, defies our circumstances.
Doug McMasters: Let's move into it.
Doug McMasters: Notice his faithfulness affirmed in the first verse.
Doug McMasters: And now listen, jacob, my servant, israel, and who?
Doug McMasters: My chosen?
Doug McMasters: Wow, my servant, my chosen.
Doug McMasters: This is tenderness.
Doug McMasters: Tenderness of titles not earned, but tenderness of titles offered by grace.
Doug McMasters: This God, who's been wearied by their neglect, is still desiring to call them his own, my chosen, my servant.
Doug McMasters: Not because they're faithful, obviously, but because God is, and though we falter, he's not going to forget and we drift, he's not going to withdraw, because his faithfulness is not anchored in our worthiness.
Doug McMasters: His faithfulness is anchored in his unwavering nature, and so we see not only his faithful expressions but also his renewing power here.
Doug McMasters: What does he say?
Doug McMasters: This is the word of the Lord, your maker, the one who formed you from the womb.
Doug McMasters: He will help you.
Doug McMasters: Do not fear Jacob, my servant Yesharun, whom I've chosen.
Doug McMasters: He promises help and he goes on to talk about water being poured on a thirsty land and streams poured out on a dry ground.
Doug McMasters: He speaks of an image of revival, and it isn't just simply agricultural.
Doug McMasters: This is in the heart.
Doug McMasters: I'll pour out my spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring.
Doug McMasters: They will sprout among the grass like poplars, by flowing streams.
Doug McMasters: What is God saying?
Doug McMasters: He's going to do?
Doug McMasters: He's going to saturate the barren.
Doug McMasters: He's going to supply nourishment to those who have dried up and shriveled away.
Doug McMasters: He's going to take the starved and make them fat and full and satiated.
Doug McMasters: And he anticipates the day of Pentecost in Acts, chapter 2, when the Spirit is poured out upon the believing people of Israel, jews, all the descendants here.
Doug McMasters: Your offspring will sprout among the grass like populars by flowing streams.
Doug McMasters: And Peter, on that day, stands up amid the confusion and the questioning and the accusations and he presents Christ to the people and he says at the very end of his sermon on that day, repent and be baptized, each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, for the promise is for you and for your children.
Doug McMasters: The Holy Spirit, for the promise is for you and for your children, and for as many are as far off, as many as the Lord, our God, will call.
Doug McMasters: And so they accepted that message and there were baptized on that day 3,000 people and, as you read through the book of Acts, numbers added to the church daily.
Doug McMasters: What was happening in Jerusalem and Judea and eventually in Samaria and then into the other parts of the earth?
Doug McMasters: There was water being poured out on a dried land.
Doug McMasters: There was thirst, assuaged.
Doug McMasters: There was starvation, satiated with fullness.
Doug McMasters: There was a spirit poured out upon a dead, dry territory.
Doug McMasters: And he does that still.
Doug McMasters: I live very close to a place where William Wilberforce lived.
Doug McMasters: The building was gone, but there was a plaque there on a rebuilt structure and the plaque about this large talked about William Wilberforce living at that spot and it mentioned about all of his labor in Parliament to try to end the slave trade and to try to bring it to a close.
Doug McMasters: Well, william Wilberforce was raised up in a church with a very dead, dry, distant heart.
Doug McMasters: That left him just going through the motions without any igniting of flame within him, until he found the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in truth.
Doug McMasters: And all of a sudden, this man, who was in the same church he was in before, is finding his heart ignited with a fiery desire to know God and to serve Him with all of his heart.
Doug McMasters: And there he was, this aspiring politician, this man who was positioned in places of influence, and he went over to an old minister and asked him for advice and he said I love my Lord Jesus.
Doug McMasters: What can I do to serve him?
Doug McMasters: Should I go into the ministry?
Doug McMasters: And John Newton said you need to stay where you are and serve him there.
Doug McMasters: And this man gave his life to the very end to ensure that there would be no more shackles in the British Empire on the wrists and ankles of people.
Doug McMasters: This is God's igniting of dry, dead people and notice how transforming it can be.
Doug McMasters: This passage doesn't quit.
Doug McMasters: You think we're done?
Doug McMasters: We're not.
Doug McMasters: It's wonderful.
Doug McMasters: There's a climax here in identity.
Doug McMasters: Let's back up just a bit in verse 2.
Doug McMasters: Do not fear Jacob, my servant Yesharun, whom I've chosen.
Doug McMasters: Well, jacob is a familiar term to us, but do we know what Jacob means here?
Doug McMasters: Jacob's a biblical figure that lived a long time before.
Doug McMasters: Why are these people called Jacob?
Doug McMasters: Well, jacob was known for his cunning and his deceitful ways, especially to his brother, esau, and so his name Jacob was very fitting, because he was a deceiver.
Doug McMasters: He was a supplanter.
Doug McMasters: He tried to grab things that weren't actually his own.
Doug McMasters: He was born holding on to Esau's heel, as if he was going to grab what Esau deserved and make it his own, and he did.
Doug McMasters: That's exactly what he did.
Doug McMasters: But now Jacob, after receiving God's mercy, is now called Yeshurun.
Doug McMasters: What does that mean?
Doug McMasters: Upright one?
Doug McMasters: It means upright one.
Doug McMasters: Why is he called the upright one?
Doug McMasters: It's not based on performance.
Doug McMasters: It's based upon God's forgiving nature, his transforming work and power.
Doug McMasters: This one, who was a deceiver, is now given a new name, and it's not just a cosmetic adjustment.
Doug McMasters: It is a demonstration of what's happened to this person, what's happened to these people who turned to the Lord?
Doug McMasters: Because they're changed from the inside out, and this is why Paul would cry out If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation, a new creation.
Doug McMasters: A new creation Because it is from Him that we are, in Christ Jesus, who has become wisdom from God for us, our righteousness, our sanctification, our redemption, so that it might be written he who boasts, let him boast in the Lord and not in ourselves.
Doug McMasters: It might be written.
Doug McMasters: He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord and not in ourselves.
Doug McMasters: The people are not going to resist this name.
Doug McMasters: They're going to embrace it and they're going to write the Lord's name on their hands and boast not about their activities but their belonging to God.
Doug McMasters: The imagery of this new name and having a name stamped on their hands is given to us in the book of Revelation, and there, in the letters of Revelation, it says To those who conquer, I'll give some of the hidden manna and I'll also give them a white stone, and on that stone a new name is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it and again, the one who conquers I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never go out again.
Doug McMasters: I'll write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven for my God and my new name.
Doug McMasters: Maybe you've never seen yourself that way.
Doug McMasters: Imagine through the work of the gospel we can enter up into the record room of heaven and open up all of the books detailing all of the persons who have ever been born or existed on this earth.
Doug McMasters: And as we go down the aisles of all of these names, from A to Z, and I would go to the M section, mcmaster's, and I would find there, from all the pagan tree-worshiping peoples out of Scotland, a lineage of people who had turned away from the living God, painted blue and screaming Freedom.
Doug McMasters: And I would bring my name down and I would look and it would say Douglas McMasters.
Doug McMasters: Thanks, mom and Dad for such a weird first name, but anyway.
Doug McMasters: And it wouldn't say Doug McM.
Doug McMasters: Dad, for such a weird first name, but anyway.
Doug McMasters: And it wouldn't say Doug McMaster, sinner.
Doug McMasters: It would say Yesharoon, what Upright one.
Doug McMasters: How.
Doug McMasters: Jesus Christ is my sanctification and my redemption, because Jesus' name is where mine was and Jesus' sacrifice is covering my iniquity and His punishment covered it all and your name, if you come to Christ, is the exact same name.
Doug McMasters: We're not defined by what we do.
Doug McMasters: We're not named by what we were.
Doug McMasters: We're not seen by what we perform.
Doug McMasters: We have the name of the living God set upon us, because he's a merciful God who saves those who recognize they can't bring anything to him, who do stop in silence and say I'm guilty, I plead the mercy of the court.
Doug McMasters: And the judge says I have mercy in my son.
Doug McMasters: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.
Doug McMasters: John Newton must have smiled inside his heart when he told William Wilberforce to stay in Parliament and continue the fight for the emancipation of the slaves, because he himself was once one of those ones who put those chains on people.
Doug McMasters: It must have been a delight for him to say do the work, do what you can.
Doug McMasters: But he spoke about himself and he said this once a slave trader and now a preacher of grace.
Doug McMasters: I am not what I ought to be, imperfect and deficient as I am.
Doug McMasters: I am not what I wish to be to abhor evil and cling to what is good.
Doug McMasters: I'm not even what I hope to be, to put off mortality with all its sin and its imperfections.
Doug McMasters: But I am not what I once was a slave to sin and to Satan, and by the grace of God, I am what I am.
Doug McMasters: This is the echo of Yerushalayim, and this is the echo of a heart that's not distant but desirous to love a God who loves us so much.
Doug McMasters: Isaiah's message it started off a confrontation, but it ends with an invitation.
Doug McMasters: It started off speaking about weariness and it ends with renewal and restoration and revival.
Doug McMasters: It speaks of a spirit poured out, about a new name spoken to us, of a people restored and accepted and chosen.
Doug McMasters: And so I title this message Return to the One who Redeems, the One who Restores, because he comes to us not with reluctance, but he desires our rejoicing.
Doug McMasters: He comes to us not with reluctance, but he desires our rejoicing.
Doug McMasters: He comes to us not expecting more ritual, but to enter into a deep relationship with Him, and he wants us to serve Him, not out of obligation but out of the overflow of a thankful heart.
Doug McMasters: And you might be here this morning, and maybe you've gone to churches your whole life.
Doug McMasters: And you might be here this morning and maybe you've gone to churches your whole life.
Doug McMasters: Maybe you've been in places of worship and you've been dulled and wearied by the repetition and you've walked away from it all because it's all just hollow.
Doug McMasters: Perhaps it really really was.
Doug McMasters: All of it just seemed like one big performance that you were tired of being on the stage for.
Doug McMasters: The prayers were scripted.
Doug McMasters: Sunday duties couldn't overcome your weekday doubts and you left.
Doug McMasters: Isaiah 43 and 44 wasn't written for the perfect.
Doug McMasters: It was written for those who are dried up.
Doug McMasters: And God is not asking you to restart your rituals.
Doug McMasters: He's inviting you to come into a relationship with Him, and what he offers you is not obligation but grace.
Doug McMasters: He's not here trying to get you, to pressure you.
Doug McMasters: He's simply inviting you to rest in him.
Doug McMasters: As Jesus said come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and he said I will give you rest.
Doug McMasters: You find rest in Christ himself.
Doug McMasters: So you've grown tired of ceremonial motions Good.
Doug McMasters: You got tired of empty prayers Good.
Doug McMasters: You're tired of simply showing up at church Good.
Doug McMasters: But don't just walk away Because you're missing someone.
Doug McMasters: You're missing the Lord.
Doug McMasters: Maybe you're here and you're a part of the body of Christ here at New Hyde Park Baptist Church, still showing up, maybe, still serving, but not stirred in your heart any longer, but not stirred in your heart any longer.
Doug McMasters: Beneath the rhythms of your empty faith, there's a Savior who's inviting you back, not to more things to do, but into His presence, to know more about him, to recognize his heart, to hear him.
Doug McMasters: To these desperately disobedient and distant people, his first argumentation with them is it is I, me, who forgives you your sins.
Doug McMasters: He says those things to awaken us, not so that we might double our pace or anything like that, but that we might be reignited in our desires.
Doug McMasters: So let this reflection move into your hearts.
Doug McMasters: Ask yourself what has cooled in my relationship with God, what stopped me from hoping and loving and thanking and appreciating, and sitting in just simple awe, speechless, before the love of God, and come to Him, not afraid, but into the arms of a Father who says I've missed you Because, a father who says I've missed you Because he will set his name over you, yesharun, upright one.
Doug McMasters: Let's pray, father.
Doug McMasters: As we move through this book, we find our hearts left speechless but open in the revelation of your glorious person, full of grace and truth.
Doug McMasters: And today, in prophetic form, we've been brought into your presence to be able to gaze upon your person and to see you high and lifted up, holy, a righteous judge, but also a reconciling father, a redeemer of sinners, one who pleads and not just punishes, and not just punishes.
Doug McMasters: And we thank you that your love was so great that you not only speak these words in prophetic form, you brought them in the very person of Jesus Christ, in which we beheld his glory.
Doug McMasters: The glory is the one and only of the Father, full of grace and truth, for in Christ is all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in Him is the very image of who God is.
Doug McMasters: And you will hear these words Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Doug McMasters: Father, I pray this morning for those who have wearied themselves of vain ritual, who have become distant because there is nothing there, who have stepped away and said it's not worth it.
Doug McMasters: Father, bring them to yourself.
Doug McMasters: We pray to see you for the first time, to understand grace and mercy and forgiveness in Christ.
Doug McMasters: And, father, I pray for my brothers and sisters that are part of this body, or for those who are believers sitting among us, who are longing and looking for something that might reunite their hearts.
Doug McMasters: Pray, lord, that they might be enveloped by your restoring, renewing, refreshing arms, and may this understanding that Isaiah has given us of who you are reignite the passion within their hearts that they had before, that they might recapture, as you told the church at Ephesus, that first love, and not to continue to drift away from it.
Doug McMasters: And, lord, we ask this in Christ's name, amen.