WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:01.040 Turn to Isaiah. 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:05.120 Isaiah chapter 51. 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:10.400 If you're using the Pew Bible, you should find that on page 648. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:18.239 And as we have occasion to say, if you don't have a Bible of your own and you'd like one, you're welcome to take the one there in the pew. 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:20.879 Isaiah chapter 51. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:26.480 We've got a fair bit of scripture to cover today. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:40.159 The passage we're going to look at as we continue on this journey through Isaiah is chapter 51, verse 9, down through chapter 52, verse number 12. 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:53.759 I'm not going to read that entire portion to start today, but I am going to read Isaiah 51, verse 9, all the way down through verse 22 of chapter 51. 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:58.960 So Isaiah 51 9 through 22, this is what God's Word says. 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:07.920 Wake up, wake up, arm of the Lord, clothe yourself with strength. 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:11.840 Wake up as in days past, as in generations long ago. 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:16.879 Wasn't it you who hacked Rahab to pieces, who pierced the sea monster? 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:25.040 Wasn't it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the seabed into a road for the redeemed to pass over? 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:31.680 And the ransomed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with singing, crowned with unending joy. 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:36.959 Joy and gladness will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee. 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:42.079 I am the one who comforts you. 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:48.239 Who are you that you should fear humans who die, or a son of man who has given up like grass? 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:54.799 But you have forgotten the Lord, your maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. 00:01:54.799 --> 00:02:02.239 You are in constant dread all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, who has set himself to destroy. 00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:04.159 But where is the fury of the oppressor? 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:06.799 The prisoner is soon to be set free. 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:10.000 He will not die and go to the pit, and his food will not be lacking. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:14.719 For I am the Lord your God who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:16.400 His name is the Lord of armies. 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:29.039 I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, in order to plant the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, You are my people. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:34.639 Stand up, Jerusalem. 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:42.719 You who have drunk the cup of his fury from the Lord's hand, you who have drunk the goblet to the dregs, the cup that causes people to stagger. 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:46.800 There is no one to guide her among all the children she's raised. 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:50.879 There is no one to take hold of her hand among all the offspring she has brought up. 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:53.520 These two things have happened to you. 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:57.599 Devastation and destruction, famine and sword. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:02:59.199 Who will grieve for you? 00:02:59.199 --> 00:03:00.960 How can I comfort you? 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:03.120 Your children have fainted. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:06.240 They lie at the head of every street like an antelope and a net. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:09.360 They are full of the Lord's fury, the rebuke of your God. 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:11.280 So listen to this. 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:14.319 Suffering and drunken one, but not with wine. 00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:16.800 This is what your Lord says. 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:20.879 The Lord, even your God who defends his people. 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:26.719 Look, I have removed from your hand the cup that causes staggering. 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:29.919 That goblet, the cup of my fury. 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:31.759 You will never drink it again. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:34.800 Let's pray again. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:37.280 Lord, how can we come to you enough? 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:40.319 How can we plead with you enough for your aid, for your help? 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:41.599 Lord, save us. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:47.120 Lord, be alert to listen to our cries today because we desperately need you. 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:54.560 In and of ourselves, we don't have light, we don't have strength, we don't have understanding, but in your light, we see light. 00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:55.759 So shine on us today. 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:57.759 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:03:57.759 --> 00:03:58.319 Amen. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:04.319 I went to a Christian college that had a good amount of rules. 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:06.159 That didn't bother me. 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:08.000 You know what did bother me? 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:11.439 People who snooze their alarms. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:19.040 You're in a dorm room, a small dorm room with two other guys, and someone gets the bright idea. 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:20.560 I'm gonna get up at 5 a.m. 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:22.319 tomorrow to steady for the test. 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:23.920 5 a.m. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:24.800 rolls around. 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:30.879 Beep, beep, beep, beep, smack, snore, 5.15 rolls around. 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:33.680 Beep, beep, beep, smack, snore. 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:36.480 By the time 6 30 a.m. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:41.439 hits, I'm ready to take that alarm clock and throw it out the window. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:43.600 Wake up already. 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:52.399 In our passage today, there are repeated calls for Israel to wake up. 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:54.319 And these are very serious calls. 00:04:54.319 --> 00:04:58.319 Chapter 51, verse 17 repeats. 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:08.879 Wake up, wake up, chapter 52, verse 1, which we didn't read, says again, wake up, wake up. 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:13.040 God has many things that Israel needed to hear. 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:16.879 They're suffering under judgment from Assyria. 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:27.199 They're going to be brought under judgment from Babylon, but God had good news to share with them, and their spiritual lethargy put them in danger of missing God's good news. 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:34.720 The Apostle Paul offers a similar instruction to New Testament Christians. 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:45.040 Romans 13, verse 11 says, Besides this, since you know the time, it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep. 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:50.160 Because now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:57.519 Don't let spiritual apathy cause you to sleep and miss God's message. 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:01.759 I've heard this before. 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:03.199 Snooze. 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:07.199 My life is really just too difficult right now. 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:10.879 I just I just need some rest so I can just not focus on the problems in my life. 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:11.680 Snooze. 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:17.439 How long do I have to wait for God to fulfill his promises? 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:18.399 Snooze. 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:23.839 These are all temptations Israel could have been drawn to. 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:27.600 And they're temptations that we can indulge as well. 00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:30.319 But don't sleep on God's message. 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:31.680 Wake up. 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:33.199 That's the message for today. 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:34.000 Wake up. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:37.839 There's an urgency in this passage. 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:40.639 It's like it's like someone's grabbing our arm and shaking us. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:41.920 Wake up, wake up. 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:47.040 And the passage gives us three reasons why we should wake up. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:49.120 Here's the first reason. 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:54.079 We should wake up because God is working. 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:57.199 We should wake up because God is working. 00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:00.399 Look at verse 9 of chapter 51. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:04.240 Our passage begins with a call to wake up. 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:10.000 Although this call is directed to God if you look carefully. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:13.600 Wake up, wake up, verse 9 of 51. 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:18.000 Arm of the Lord, clothe yourself with strength. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:22.720 Wake up as in days past, as in generations long ago. 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:26.079 It almost sounds blasphemous, doesn't it? 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:35.600 Like Isaiah is grabbing God's arm and saying, Lord, are you too tired from your saving activity in the past that you don't see we got a great need right now? 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:36.800 Lord, wake up. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:45.439 We know from Psalm 121, verse 4, God never slumbers or sleeps. 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:48.560 And Isaiah knows that. 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:52.079 He's not trying to impugn the character of God. 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:59.120 But what Isaiah is doing is pleading with God to act on his promises. 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:02.639 God's given promises all throughout the book of Isaiah. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:09.439 We saw even last week, earlier in chapter 51, God says, I'm going to bring the Garden of Eden from your wilderness. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:10.720 I'm going to bring comfort to you. 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:12.560 I'm going to bring justice to the nations. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:17.519 And Isaiah is saying, God, do all that you said you were going to do. 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:19.920 Arise and act on behalf of your people. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:28.000 And then the Lord responds in verse 12, down through verse 16. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:36.240 And God essentially reminds the prophets, Oh, I'm very much awake and at work. 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:39.279 You don't have to fear that. 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:43.279 He's been working in the past, our God. 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:44.240 He works in the present. 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:45.360 He'll work in the future. 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:48.559 And you notice the way verse 12 starts. 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:49.840 I. 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:55.440 What did verse 9 start with? 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:57.360 Awake, awake. 00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:02.000 The double call to rise, and the Lord says, I, I. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:14.240 One commentator points out this doubling comparison and says that the Lord is reiterating to Isaiah, I'm every bit as awake as you may need. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:20.879 So as we think about how God works, we wake up because God is working. 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:21.840 How does he work? 00:09:21.840 --> 00:09:26.639 I'm going to plot five movements of God's work in history from this passage. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:27.759 We'll move through these. 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:30.240 But the first movement is creation. 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:31.759 Look at verse 13. 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:42.399 You have forgotten the Lord, your maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:52.320 If anyone really thought that God had forgotten or that he was sleeping or not working, it's because they don't understand God. 00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:58.480 This is the God who merely spoke and galaxies spun out. 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:02.080 And he still sustains those galaxies. 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:04.080 Why is the earth lasted? 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:08.320 Because God set the earth on its foundations. 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:15.440 Yeah, this side of the fall, there is death in the world, but nothing's outside of God's control. 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:21.440 When the seas rise up and surge and roar, it's because God's the maker of the oceans. 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:32.240 Verse 15 calls us to God's creative work in stirring up the sea, and that brings us to the next movement of God's work. 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:35.200 So he's in creation, he works. 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:38.399 He also was at work in the Exodus. 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:44.879 I know there's a lot of things that take place between creation and the Exodus, but again, we're trying to hit on what is Isaiah highlighting here. 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:47.679 Look at the end of verse 9. 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:52.320 There's a rather strange statement, chapter 51, the end of verse 9. 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:55.360 Wasn't it you speaking of the Lord? 00:10:55.360 --> 00:11:00.320 Wasn't it you who hacked Rahab to pieces? 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:02.960 Who pierced the sea monster? 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:11.279 When we think of Rahab, our minds might go, well, there's the Rahab that was in Jericho. 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:14.080 The Lord didn't hack her to pieces. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:16.480 She had faith and got rescued and brought in to God's. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:17.919 That's a different Rahab. 00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:22.720 Who is this Rahab that God is hacking to pieces? 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:27.120 Well, there was already a big clue earlier in the book of Isaiah. 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:30.000 Isaiah 30, verse 7. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:34.320 Egypt's help is completely worthless. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:40.879 Therefore I call her Egypt, Rahab, who just sits. 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:45.679 So Egypt is compared to Rahab. 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:50.960 Egypt was like a big sea monster that was chasing Israel. 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:55.360 And what happened when God led Israel out and through the waters? 00:11:55.360 --> 00:12:02.320 He caused the same waters that he created to collapse and crush the Egyptian army, Pharaoh, and his hosts. 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:04.399 He hacked that sea monster to pieces. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:10.399 So God's work in creation connects to his work in the Exodus. 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:14.000 There's a spirit in creation hovering over the waters. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:17.200 Here's God in the pillow and the fire with his people. 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:28.399 In the creation account, this serpentine-like creature tries to tempt the people of God, and it seems like he wins, and there's sin and death, and yet God says, I'm going to crush the serpent's head. 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:44.159 Then you come forward to the Exodus, and what's going on during that time, this serpentine-like Pharaoh with his staff is trying to stamp out the people of God, but God comes and crushes that giant serpent, Rahab. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:54.879 So Isaiah picks up a pattern in God's working and creation into the Exodus, and he sees this pattern is going to happen again. 00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:58.559 So that brings us to the third movement of God's work. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:01.120 Return from exile. 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:04.720 Verse 11 of chapter 51. 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:12.639 The ransomed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with singing. 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:15.919 Yes, Assyria's going to have their captives. 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:19.519 Yes, Babylon's going to have their captives. 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:21.039 But Israel's coming back. 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:22.399 They're going to come back with singing. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:25.200 What did Israel do when they came through the Red Sea? 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:26.960 They sang a song of victory and triumph. 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:30.480 What are they going to do when they come back eventually from Babylon? 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:36.559 They're going to be singing the victories and triumphs of the Lord as they march toward the promised land once again. 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:46.320 There's a lot of time between these events, but this pattern of creation and exodus and return from exile. 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:54.159 It's Isaiah's way under inspiration from God of encouraging the people to see that God is at work. 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:56.960 Is that the end of the story? 00:13:56.960 --> 00:13:58.480 It's not. 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:02.399 I'm going to skip ahead to the fifth movement. 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:03.360 I'll come back to the fourth. 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:03.840 Don't worry. 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:11.759 We've got creation, Exodus, return from exile, and ultimately, God's going to work and bring about a whole new creation. 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:13.600 Look at verse 11. 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:20.559 We're told that people will be crowned with unending joy. 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:25.360 That sorrow and sighing will flee. 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:27.039 That sounds permanent. 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:29.279 Unending? 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:38.159 When the people came back from exile, there was rejoicing, but it but it was it was it really permanent? 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:40.000 There were people that were crying. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:43.840 They remembered the temple from before, even though the temple was being rebuilt. 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:48.960 Permanent joy is reserved for the new creation. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:53.200 Verse 16 points in this direction as well. 00:14:53.200 --> 00:15:03.440 I've put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand in order to plant the heavens to found the earth. 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:06.879 It's something that God is going to be doing. 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:11.279 Well, didn't He already create the heavens and the earth? 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:13.519 He did, but the whole world is fallen. 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:16.399 Creation's groaning, longing to be made new. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:20.720 God's going to plant it and establish it once again forever. 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:28.480 According to His promise, we look for a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:36.399 So you've got the work of God coming full circle from creation to new creation. 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:40.639 You've got the exodus of Israel and their return from exile. 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:44.000 It's like this story within a story. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:46.399 This is not an inception thing. 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:47.919 This is real history, okay? 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:53.679 And the story of Israel is meant to tell us about the story that God's going to do for the whole world. 00:15:53.679 --> 00:16:01.279 His work in Israel's past is a work of what he's going to do ultimately for all those who truly know him. 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:06.159 So I said I left out that fourth step in God's work. 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:11.840 How do we get from return from exile to the new creation? 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:15.759 It's God's servant. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:18.559 That fourth movement here is redemption. 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:22.799 Let me show you this. 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:25.360 Verse 12, I am the one who comforts you. 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:26.000 There's the Lord. 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:28.159 Verse 15, I am the Lord your God. 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:30.399 There is the Lord speaking again. 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:32.879 Verse 16 begins. 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:39.759 I, so still the Lord God speaking, have put my words in your mouth. 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:43.200 Whose mouth? 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:45.919 Well, perhaps Isaiah. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:48.799 Certainly he was a prophet inspired by God. 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:49.840 That's true. 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:59.679 But the text says, God has put his words in your mouth in order to plant the heavens and found the earth. 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:03.759 Isaiah was a messenger of God. 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:08.160 Isaiah didn't bring about this eternal, permanent new creation. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:11.200 So this has got to be someone else the Lord is speaking about here. 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:17.359 And throughout the last several chapters of Isaiah, we've been brought again and again to this figure called the servant. 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:20.400 It's not as explicit in this passage. 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:22.160 The fourth servant song. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:33.839 So there's these different poetic descriptions of this character called the servant, his person, his work, will start the fourth servant song next week at the end of chapter 52. 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:37.680 But I take it here, the Lord is alluding to his servant. 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:40.640 The Lord's put his words in the mouth of his servants. 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:54.960 And even though Isaiah is a servant of God, and other people and even groups of people are servants of God, friends, there's one great servant of God that we've seen again and again. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:56.559 It's the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:02.880 God has put his words in the Lord's mouth, and it's only Jesus that can bring about new creation. 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:09.440 But before he brings about new creation, he brings about redemption. 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:16.079 There's tokens of redemption throughout the verses that we read. 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:20.000 Verse 10, God calls his people the redeemed. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.000 In verse 11, they're called the ransomed. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:27.759 In verse 14, there are prisoners that will be set free. 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:31.359 Redeemed, ransomed, prisoners set free. 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:51.359 Yes, that language is used of God's work in the Old Testament to rescue Israel, but those types of descriptors often point forward to what God's going to do climactically in the person of Jesus Christ to bring about the redemption that's needed most, redemption from sin and slavery there. 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:56.880 The blood of the animals led Israel out of Egypt. 00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:00.400 It's the blood of Jesus that gives us freedom from sin. 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:09.680 Jesus came, he said in Mark 10, 45, to give his life a ransom for many. 00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:16.799 And how does the Lord bring about that redemption through his servant? 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:18.400 Look at verse 22. 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:24.880 This is what your Lord says, the Lord, even your God who defends his people. 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:34.240 Look, I have removed from your hand the cup that causes staggering. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:40.799 That goblet, the cup of my fury, you will never drink it again. 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:50.480 God's wrath is compared to a beverage that is so strong it just leaves you sick and spinning. 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:56.079 And the Lord says, I'm gonna take the cup away from you. 00:19:56.079 --> 00:20:01.279 Do you remember our Christ in the garden, his prayer? 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:08.880 Lord, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me. 00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:10.960 Why would he use language like that? 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:13.359 What does a cup have to do with the wrath of God? 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:15.680 Because it's a comparison from the Old Testament. 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:24.640 And Jesus Himself is the one who drank all of the wrath of God so that we wouldn't have to, beloved. 00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:29.440 It's an amazing thing that he would redeem sinners and he took it all. 00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:31.920 There's not one drop left for us. 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:34.000 We just have to trust in him. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:37.839 So wake up. 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:40.160 God is working. 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:48.160 Second reason we should wake up, and these last two reasons will be a little bit quicker than that first one. 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:54.160 But wake up, number two, because redemption draws near. 00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:59.359 If you look at chapter 52, verse 1, here's God repeating this call. 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:10.240 Wake up, wake up, and then in the first six verses of chapter 52, God reiterates many of the things we already talked about with redemption and new Exodus. 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:18.880 But as you look through these verses, there's an increased urgency and a personal invitation to step into what God is doing in redemption. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:26.079 So we could talk about God working from the 20,000-foot level of all the way from creation to new creation. 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:27.680 He's always at work. 00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:34.079 But what does that look like for us today, right in the middle of God's redemption story? 00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:35.759 Well, redemption is drawing near. 00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:42.960 Verse number one, Jerusalem is told to put on beautiful garments. 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:44.559 This is verse one of chapter 52. 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:50.160 These may be priestly garments, that's what some commentators suggest. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:56.559 And that would fit with the idea of unclean people being kept out of this holy city. 00:21:56.559 --> 00:22:11.200 But if it's true that these are priestly garments, then it's all of Zion, all of Jerusalem, all of the people of God who can now put on these garments and be priests. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:13.680 Not just the Levites. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:17.440 What did the apostle Peter say? 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:22.000 You're a royal priesthood, a holy nation. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:24.160 Redemption has drawn near. 00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:27.119 We don't have to come through another human mediator. 00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:30.480 We can come to God directly through the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:31.920 What a privilege that is. 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:47.920 Maybe it's both. 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:51.680 We're the bride and we're this kingdom of priests. 00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:53.599 What a ceremony this is. 00:22:53.599 --> 00:23:01.279 And then in verse 2 of chapter 52, there's the invitation to remove the bonds from the neck. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:03.920 We don't have to wait. 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:05.920 Redemption's here. 00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:15.039 If you're here today and you haven't embraced the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord's servant, what's keeping you from doing that? 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:18.480 Oh, the Lord wouldn't take me. 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:19.920 Oh yes, he would. 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:22.240 He's taken all of us. 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:24.240 We're sinners just like you. 00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:26.319 Come and receive free grace. 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:34.559 If I come to the Lord, then I I'd have to live for him, and that means I'd have to give up. 00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:36.960 Give up what? 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:52.000 The chains, the bonds, give up temporary, slight joys, and long frustrations in exchange for the wonder of knowing God? 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:53.279 That's not a trade. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:57.440 Redemption is near. 00:23:57.440 --> 00:23:59.920 It's near for you, friend, today. 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:07.519 And there's a beautiful word of assurance for us among all the assurances of this passage. 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:24.799 Verse number six, when God concludes this reiteration of his new Exodus work through Jesus and redemption coming to be here, verse six says, Therefore, my people will know my name. 00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:31.920 They will know on that day, I am he who says, Here I am. 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:35.839 God came to Adam in the garden. 00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:37.759 Where are you, Adam? 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:42.000 Adam had to eventually step forward and say, Well, I was I was hiding. 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:42.640 I sinned. 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:54.000 Genesis 22, verse 1 says that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and Abraham says, Here I am. 00:24:54.000 --> 00:25:03.440 And Abraham did agree to sacrifice his son after he and his wife had already tried to have a child through their own means. 00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:10.720 Genesis 31, 11, God appears to Jacob in a dream, and Jacob says, Here I am, Lord. 00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:12.400 Jacob the deceiver. 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:14.960 Exodus 3 4. 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:18.720 God calls Moses from the burning bush, and Moses says, Here I am. 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:21.519 The same Moses that didn't make it into the promised land. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:24.240 A very familiar passage for many of us. 00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:26.319 God comes with a boy Samuel. 00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:29.680 And Samuel says, Here I am, your servant's listening. 00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:32.799 And Samuel gave God's message to the people. 00:25:32.799 --> 00:25:37.680 And yet we learn he didn't do very well by his own sons in honoring the Lord. 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:43.440 Earlier in the book of Isaiah, who will I send? 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:44.640 Who will go for me? 00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:49.680 Isaiah says, Here, here I am, send me. 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:55.279 And yet this is the same Isaiah who had to confess, woe is me. 00:25:55.279 --> 00:25:57.279 I'm a man of unclean lips. 00:25:57.279 --> 00:25:59.519 I live among a people of unclean lips. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:07.200 All the while the Lord is stepping forward looking for a faithful covenant partner. 00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:10.240 And all the while there's failures. 00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:14.480 But the Lord's name is Redeemer. 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:17.839 And redemption draws near. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:25.279 And here in verse 6 of chapter 52, there's a day coming when it's not a human partner that reports for duty and fails. 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:31.759 It's not a human partner who commits spiritual adultery and breaks the marriage covenant. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:38.240 It is a human, yes, a true human, but it's none other than the Lord of glory. 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:43.359 And we find a wonderful fulfillment of this passage in Hebrews 2.13. 00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:46.480 Listen to these words, put on the lips of Christ. 00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:52.079 Here I am and the children God has given me. 00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:55.200 Christ represents us. 00:26:55.200 --> 00:27:00.480 He has come to fulfill all of the lack, all of the failures, and we belong to him. 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:02.079 Redemption is right here. 00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:05.440 We have received it, can testify. 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:13.200 And we get to experience it together. 00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:16.400 Christ is among us here. 00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:21.680 Verse number six: my people, the plural will know my name. 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:24.160 They will know me on that day. 00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:31.440 We're rejoicing together every Lord's day that Christ has drawn near to redeem us. 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:35.440 And doing it together is one of the things that makes it so special. 00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:41.440 I'm going to take a little risk of distraction and give you an example. 00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:44.799 Let's say you're at a Yankee playoff game. 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:47.440 Now stay with the techs. 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:50.400 Don't get too focused on what that's going on now. 00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:59.359 Let's say you're at a Yankee playoff game and you come in and you see over in the corner of the food court, there's a guy over there with one hot dog. 00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:00.799 He's got a little black and white TV. 00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:02.240 That's kind of weird. 00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:06.559 And you go into the stadium, you're cheering on the Yankees if you're a Yankee fan. 00:28:06.559 --> 00:28:11.440 And the seventh inning stretch comes and you go out to the bathroom, and this guy's still sitting over there. 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:14.000 I gotta figure out what's going on. 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:18.799 So you go up to this guy, you say, excuse me, I had to ask. 00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:20.000 What are you doing? 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:22.799 He's like, Oh, I'm just kind of watching the game here. 00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:24.160 I'm I'm I'm a Yankees fan. 00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:29.119 And you say, Well, did you did you sneak in? 00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:30.319 Didn't you have to pay to get in? 00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:32.960 And he said, Oh, yeah, yeah, I paid for my ticket. 00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:34.160 I I I I wanted to be here. 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:35.279 I knew it was the right thing to do. 00:28:35.279 --> 00:28:39.039 He said, Well, why are you out here? 00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:40.640 Why don't you why don't you come in? 00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:42.240 Is it a problem with your seat? 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:44.079 Well, we'll we'll get you into our row somehow. 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:49.920 And he says, Well, you know, just just for me, being a Yankees fan, it's it's a very personal thing. 00:28:49.920 --> 00:28:55.119 You're missing half the joy of it. 00:28:55.119 --> 00:29:02.400 Part of the gladness is being with everybody else cheering on the team, right? 00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:09.759 Why would you want to stay home and watch a worship service online when we've got free front row tickets right here? 00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:13.440 There's still four seats down here ready to be claimed. 00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:21.200 And if you're if you're coming out of a sense of duty, I know I need to be there, we're glad you're here. 00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:22.559 This is that's a great step. 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:24.400 But look around. 00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:30.319 Take in the joy of what others are experiencing, what we trust is in your heart too. 00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:36.640 Greet someone, hug someone, say amen to something, we're redeemed. 00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:46.400 Wake up because God is working, wake up because redemption draws near. 00:29:46.400 --> 00:29:56.160 And then the last reason we should wake up this morning wake up is because we have good news to share. 00:29:56.160 --> 00:29:59.200 So we gather. 00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:04.319 To worship this Lord, and then we go out to spread these good tidings. 00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:07.200 Chapter 52, verses 7 and 8. 00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:24.240 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the heralds who proclaims peace, who brings good news of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says, To Zion, your God reigns. 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:28.319 The voices of your watchmen, they lift up their voices. 00:30:28.319 --> 00:30:30.319 They shout for joy together. 00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:34.000 Every eye will see when the Lord returns to Zion. 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:39.839 Freely we've received and freely we give. 00:30:39.839 --> 00:30:52.799 We can't bring in God's redemption with our own strength, but we can testify to the work that God is doing and the redemption that is drawing near. 00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:57.279 We can go out and say, the Lord reigns. 00:30:57.279 --> 00:31:04.880