Revelation 22 The Eternal Day of Joy! Hallelujah!

Revelation 22

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There was once a very rich man who wanted to take his money with him to the afterlife. So he was buried with a huge sack of gold bars that he would take with him to Heaven. It was a massive effort, but he managed. Utterly exhausted, drenched in sweat, with blisters covering his hands, he arrived at the Pearly Gates. “Welcome,” said the angel. “But tell me, why did you bring a big bag of tar for the road with you?”

The point of the joke is this: what we experience now is nothing compared to what we are going to experience. The best in this world is a thousand times worse than the worst in the world to come. We’re not missing out on anything by choosing Jesus now! What we miss out on is Heaven’s rubbish. Gold is bits of tar (asphalt). The best in this world is cheap instant coffee - heaven is the finest beans. (Or “fruit-tea” against a cup of Ceylon tea from England)!

It will be this world version 2. Rebooted, recreated. Made new. Everything and everyone, including us. No sin! We will be where we’ve always wanted to be. Free from sin! No longer carrying the burden of sin. And so there will be no pain, nor sickness, nor sorrow nor death. Hallelujah!

Last week we saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem descended from Heaven. Spectacular, beautiful, majestic. V1-5 finishes that description, so before we get stuck in there, let me just remind us what we learned last week.

The city, descended from heaven is the Bride of Christ, the Church, the people of God. The city is vast, and covers the whole earth. And it is the Most Holy Place, the cube-shaped room in the temple that was where God lived. But now we all live there. We live with God. God lives with us. We are His people and He is our God.

The city is built on precious stones - the same precious stones that the high priest had in his priestly garments when he brought the people of God before the altar to pray God for mercy. God's mercy through God’s sacrifice on God’s altar is the foundation of the whole city. And God's sacrifice was God Himself: Jesus on the Cross. “Father, forgive them!” God’s grace and mercy flowing over us, his people, is what the City is built on.

The city is the fulfilment of all the promises of God given through his prophets. We see fulfilled prophecy from, for example Haggai 2:9 The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!

Isaiah 65 and 66, for example 65:17 Is 65:17 Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth

Jeremiah 3:17 In that day Jerusalem will be known as ‘The Throne of the LORD.’ All nations will come there to honour the LORD. They will no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires.

And basically most of Ezekiel 40-48!

The whole Bible, the whole universe, is aimed at, rejoices over, this day, this day of joy, which lasts forever. And central to all this is the cross. For without the cross we would be outside. Everlasting rejoicing and singing and dancing – and we would be outside. But because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross - suddenly, all these promises, all these prophecies, are ours! Amen.

For

1. Jesus is the water of life

2. The water of life flows through us when we listen to and obey the Bible, Jesus’ word

3. Jesus will return - at any moment

Let's look at the final part of the description of the heavenly city.

1. Jesus is the water of life

Re 22:1–3 Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 It flowed down the centre of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. 3 No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.

In the very centre of the city is the river filled with water of life. Every city must have a water source. Without water, the city dies. No wonder, then, that the water source of the Holy City is God Himself. The water of life… flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

This is the fulfilment of God's promises. In Zechariah 14, God wages war against the army of evil and crushes it and in v8 says On that day life-giving waters will flow out from Jerusalem… 9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one LORD—his name alone will be worshiped.

In Joel 3:18 we read In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. Water will fill the streambeds of Judah, and a fountain will burst forth from the LORD’s Temple, watering the arid valley of acacias.
The day Joel is talking about there is Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came like a flood over his people, and still does today. The Holy Spirit is with us and in us.

And we who go to the Bible groups will recognize this as fulfilling the words of Jesus. For in John 7:37-39, Jesus says “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’ ” 39 (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him.)

The point is that the entire Bible meets here and finds its fulfilment here. The whole Bible flows from all different directions to Jesus, the Cross and the Resurrection, and from Jesus like a flood rushing to the Revelation and the new Heaven and new Earth. All the promises of God find their fulfilment in Christ. All. If you are Christian - if He is your Lord and your God - then you’re not missing out on anything! Everything good God has ever planned is yours – now in part, then in full. Everything is ours. In Christ, we have access to the living water of Heaven. Jesus is the water of life.

But how do we take part? How do we get this living water?

Well, did you notice the strong emphasis in this chapter on the Word? God's Word? Because that's the answer to how we take part, and it’s point number two. Jesus is the water of life and we take part in it, also now, through his word, the Bible.

2. The water of life flows through us when we listen to and obey the Bible, Jesus’ word

6 Then the angel said to me, “Everything you have heard and seen is trustworthy and true. The Lord God, who inspires his prophets, has sent his angel to tell his servants what will happen soon.” 7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book.”

What God shows John is truth. Write this down, he says, for these are true words of prophecy. God’s word is trustworthy and true. And we know it’s true because everything he has spoken has actually happened. That’s why we have a book rooted in real history. We don’t have to wonder who God is: we know him through his actions and words, in his dealings with the nations and with Israel.

These words are trustworthy and true. Because those who wrote the Bible wrote what God wants. It is God who gave the prophets, including John, his Spirit. It is God who sent the angel to show them what will soon happen. The Bible is written by men, but what they wrote was exactly what God wanted them to write. They wrote what they wanted - and what they wrote was exactly what God wanted. We see this here: Revelation is written by John 8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw all these things. But what John wrote was what Jesus had shown him. 16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches.

These are words of Jesus, written down by John, and guarded by the Spirit. These words are trustworthy and true.

Everything God says is trustworthy and true. We cannot say the same about what you and I say! Everything we say is full of mistakes and influenced by sin. Therefore, I am astonished when Christians - even whole churches - look for something other than listening to God's Word in the Bible. Particularly popular today are dreams and visions and so-called “prophetic words”. Why, when we have God's trustworthy and true words?

I grew up in a congregation with a heavy emphasis on prophecy. And I heard a “prophetic word” at least once a week. And out of probably 1,000 prophecies, do you know how many were really a word from God and not just vague drivel? One.

That's why we don’t waste time in this church with that nonsense. We need the word of God, not the word of you (or me). Because I also know that if God really has something on his heart that he wants to share with us, he’s not dependent on getting a special time in our service where he can speak (often with some music in the background and a little bit of a raised, slightly tremulous, voice). He’s God for goodness sake! He created all things with a word! A word! If He wants to tell you something, you don’t have a choice – you’ll hear it. That’s the testimony of the Bible, and that’s my experience too. Even if you want him to be quiet – you cannot shut him out...!

You know, we will not miss out on anything if we use our time to hear the voice of the Spirit here in the Bible. We most definitely will miss out on a lot, and maybe even be misled, if we spend our time instead chasing dreams and visions and so-called “prophecies” and “words from God” instead of the Bible. Jesus warned us of false prophets and false teachers. For this (the Bible) is the water of life.

(This morning got a helpful question: what is prophecy, aren’t we called to prophecy. From 1 Cor 14. Prophecy linked to gospel (only gospel has power to convict of sin and cause repentance, not “God told me to tell you to go to China”)! It is clear that much of what is called prophecy today is not what the Bible would call prophecy. If you get something you need to tell someone “From the Lord” please say “I think” not “God told me to tell you”.
Preaching is prophetic. Bible group prophetic. Because bringing Word to bear on our lives. Calling us to repentance. That’s what OT prophets did. Not future telling. And not buttering us up with lies about how important we are to God’s plans. That’s water from the toilet, from the sewer. We need living water.)

Psalm 1 says, Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. 2 But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night. 3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.

In this, the first Psalm, as in tonight’s passage, we see the connection between the word of God “the law of the Lord” and living water. The words of Jesus root us, so that we can bear fruit at the right time. We become like living trees, reflecting those in the heavenly city that have healing in their leaves because we carry the gospel in our words and our actions. We are the children of God.

That’s certainly been my own experience. The Word of God roots me. The more time I spend in His Word the more stable and rooted and simply holy I become. The Spirit makes the Bible alive when we read it and it’s food for the soul. Blessed, happy, joyful is he who delights in the word of the Lord. 7 Look, I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book.

A further warning for us not to rely on other sources for God’s word than the Bible and being careful to check everything against the Bible I v18 and 19. 18 And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.

These verses are about the book of Revelation. But I do not think it's a coincidence that they come in the last book of the Bible. Do not add to the Bible - we do that when we make extra rules, we add obstacles for people becoming Christian. When we say things that the Bible does not say as “don’t smoke” “don’t gamble” “don’t watch this movie or that TV show” – now that may be good advice, but it's not God's law! Or to come to this church, you must be like this, or be that type of person, or be dressed like that. We try to keep things very informal here so that anyone can walk in and feel welcome. Come as you are!

But even more dangerous is the temptation to remove things from the Bible. Things we don’t like. God's sovereignty. Our sinful nature. Hell! Forgive your enemies. Sexual ethics. Just skip over it, go quiet, or deny it. But if we choose only what we like - then who is God? We’re not worshipping God when we decide what we think is right or wrong in the Bible. We’re worshipping ourselves. This is an all or nothing package! Everything else is idolatry.

Listen to the Spirit. His words, the words of Jesus, give life.

Jesus is the water of life. The water of life flows through us when we listen to and obey the Bible, Jesus’ word. And it's worth it because

3. Jesus will return - at any moment

10 Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy.

I had a work colleague called Paul who really wanted to be a Christian. He thought it was right and good and he believed in Jesus. But “not yet” he said. “I want to do my own thing for a few years, then I’ll settle down and accept Jesus.”
Dangerous, dangerous words. Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile. He thought that Jesus' words were a bit boring, a bit dry. God’s a killjoy. And Paul wanted to sin! And, yes, of course, it was about sex. He was a good-looking guy who wanted to play the field. He wanted to play with sin. That was 18 years ago, and the last I heard he was still no nearer Christ. Not yet. Not yet.

Jesus return is so close that there’s hardly time to repent. And when he returns, it's too late. That’s why those being vile (Bible-speak for ignoring God) those being vile will continue to be vile. Time is running out! If that’s you, if you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour – do it now, today! Before it’s too late. Do you know the time of your death? Many have walked out the door in the morning “Bye, see you later” not knowing that they would soon be standing before the judgement seat of Almighty God

12 “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” 14 Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life. 15 Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.

We are judged by our deeds (our actions, what we do), and our deeds expose us as sinners. We have not lived the way we ought, none of us have lived like Jesus. The standard is so high and we do measure up. We don’t even measure up to our own standards! How often do we do things that we know are wrong and which we really don’t want to do - but do them anyway? It’s so frustrating that we’re so weak. We can’t even meet our own low standards, not to mention God's.

What a relief that Jesus says "Come!". Those who thirst come and wash your robes in the blood of the Lamb, taking part in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and washing your sins away.
Yes! That is the offer! All that wrong you've done, all that which is dirty and rotten and shameful. Washed away. Forgiven. Borne on Jesus' shoulders on the cross. A gift! What a gift! And what a gift that continues to be for it’s not a one-time deal. No, as Christians, we now live in realm of grace. It is forgiveness upon forgiveness.

Because Christ’s blood covers not only our sinful past, but also the sin we commit now, and the sins we will commit in the future. That’s why we confess our sins every Sunday. To remind us that we are sinners, yes, but also that we are forgiven! We are blessed!

Finally, note that those who were thrown in the lake of fire in 21:8 are here in v15 “outside”. Hell with its fire and brimstone is just a picture, a picture of eternity outside. Excluded.
We don’t want God, we choose to ignore him, to have nothing to do with him - and the most frightening is now he says, alright, I will give you exactly what you want.
Hell is a place outside of God's city, an eternity excluded from all that is good. If you’re not a Christian, that’s what you’ve chosen. Tonight, make a new choice. Choose Christ. Choose life.
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life

Jesus is the water of life. Receive him.
The water of life flows through us when we listen to and obey the Bible, Jesus’ word. Listen to him.
Jesus will return - at any moment. Be ready for him.

20 He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

21 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people.

A prayer of repentance:

Almighty God, I am a sinner because I have lived without you. I chose to ignore you. I chose Hell.
In your mercy, Lord, forgive me. Give me streams of living water. Wash me clean. Thank you Jesus that you died on the Cross so that I can be forgiven.

I don’t want to live for me any longer. From today I want to belong to You. Be my Saviour, my Lord, and my God! Amen.

A blessing:

4 And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.

Now the priest's blessing from Numbers 6:24-27 is fulfilled. The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. 27 So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.

Revelation 19 The White Knight

Revelation 19:1-21

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Imagine a world where people just did what was good.

Imagine a world where news broadcasts weren’t filled with bad and cruel events, but just love and kindness and kindness!

Imagine a world where evil has been conquered and goodness and justice rule.

For that day is coming. That day is coming!

And we know that fundamentally, deep down. We know we were created for such a world because of our response to misery and suffering in the world. We know it's wrong. Like what happened to Alexia. Everything in us cries “No! This should not be! This is not how the world should be”. This is not how we should be.

And we are right. Because God says the same. He says this world is not the way it should be. And He will put it right by putting an end to all evil - and we will rejoice! Behold our God, Jesus Christ, the White Knight, and rejoice, for he will put an end to all evil. Amen!

1. Judgment Day is a day of rejoicing because evil is overcome (1-10)

2. Praise Jesus, for he has overcome evil (11-21)

1. Judgment Day is a day of rejoicing because evil is overcome (1-10)

19:1 After this, I heard what sounded like a vast crowd in heaven shouting, “Praise the Lord! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. 2 His judgments are true and just. He has punished the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the murder of his servants.” 3 And again their voices rang out: “Praise the Lord! The smoke from that city ascends forever and ever!” 4 Then the twenty-four elders and the four living beings fell down and worshiped God, who was sitting on the throne. They cried out, “Amen! Praise the Lord!”

Evil will fall. The Great Prostitute has fallen. Babylon, the city in rebellion against God, the symbol of evil, has fallen.

Two weeks ago we looked at Chapters 17 and 18. There we met the woman “Babylon”. Now Babylon was the empire that destroyed Israel and wiped out Jerusalem and God’s Temple in 587 BC. Because God's people turned their back on God, God removed his hand of protection over them. And King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched in, laid waste to Jerusalem and led all Israel in captivity back to Babylon. God's people were outside God's place under God's judgment, in Babylon.

And if we look further back, we see that Babylon is linked with the tower of Babel. In Genesis 11 we meet the city of Babel on the plain of Shinar. “Come,” they said, “let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into heaven, and make our name great.”

Babylon and Babel represent us, mankind. For we are rebels against God. We want to reach heaven on our own. We want to make a name for ourselves. We live to honour and glorify ourselves instead of what we were made for: honouring and glorifying God.

We are now in chapter 19 of Revelation, and we have been shown over and over again, from many different angles, that sin leads to suffering and to God's judgment. We’re now nearing the end and the message is the same. Judgment will fall on all those who sin against God. We stand with the devil, with his beasts, and we are treated like the devil if we are not in Christ.

Sin - our rebellion against God – selfishness - is what leads to all suffering, misery and pain in the world and in our lives. Sin is the reason that we are now under God’s judgement. Sin is the cause of famine and war and death and tragedy. Sin! Our selfishness! We live for ourselves. We seek power and money and sex and everything to honour ourselves. And we totally dismiss God.

Unfortunately sin is incredibly easy to prove. We see sin, to a greater or lesser extent, in the world, on news broadcasts, and in our own lives. We hurt each other. We do what we know we should not do. We know what's right - but we don’t want to do it.

You know, if people weren’t sinful we wouldn’t need lock on our doors, or police, the army, the courts, insurance, and all the rest of the things that we take for granted but proclaim that we are sinners who are full of sin.

The symptoms of sin is seen in the way we treat each other, but the root cause is that we have turned our backs to God. The root cause is that we who were created to be the bride of the Lamb - we who were made to be faithful to Jesus – we abandoned him and prostituted ourselves to other gods. Especially the god "myself".

It's a strong image. A couple of weeks ago I was at a wedding and imagine if the bride just never showed up! And then the message comes: she ran away with someone else! Or even worse – she’s in Storgata offering sex for money!
That’s us when we pursue anything else other than God.

That’s why Babylon is described as a prostitute, a whore. A prostitute who in v2 corrupted (ruined) the earth with her immorality. Just look around. We live in world devastated by our prostitution. Our sin.

Babylon has ruined the world, and Babylon hates God and hates those who belong to God. In the last 2000 years, more than 60 million Christians have given their lives for their faith. 60 million martyrs! No wonder they rejoice when judgement comes!

1 “Praise the Lord! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. 2 His judgments are true and just. He has punished the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the murder of his servants.” 3 And again their voices rang out: “Praise the Lord! The smoke from that city ascends forever and ever!”

Amen. Hallelujah. Justice is done. Judgment Day is a day of rejoicing for the martyrs’ sacrifice – the murder of his servants - will be remembered and will be paid for. Babylon falls and will burn forever. Amen.

Nothing evil will escape his judgement. Every evil thing that has happened to you will be dealt with.
We will praise God forever for his justice as righteousness rules. For what is evil shall fall and shall never rise again. Sin will be judged and paid for and will never happen again.

Sin is paid for either in Babylon that burns forever. Or! Or! There is another option. We do not have to be in Babylon. “Come out of her my people” the Lord says. We can repent, and fall at the feet of Jesus, the Lamb, and be his bride, given an outfit of spotless linen. That’s why he came to die. Jesus will seek us out in the street selling ourselves and he says “You don’t have to do this anymore. You are forgiven, the price is paid. Come home.” Isn’t that amazing?

6 Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder: “Praise the Lord! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. 8 She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people. 9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.”

John is so overwhelmed with the joy of this message that evil has been defeated and that we can be the bride of Christ that he falls down to worship the angel. v10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers and sisters who testify about their faith in Jesus. Worship only God. For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus.”

The angel was adamant! We worship God and no other! Only Jesus. Anything else is prostitution. Anything else is Babylon.

Because Jesus is the great victor! He is the White Knight, the rider on the white horse. The Warrior God. All things are in his hand, and all things are made for him. That’s why prophecy is about him. Prophecy is Jesus-focussed and not about us. For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Let me spend just a little time on this, because there are many today who claim they are prophets. Many who come with a “word from the Lord” or a “prophecy”. But Revelation reminds us that if it doesn’t lead us to Jesus – the Biblical Jesus – not a made up version - if we are not lead Back to the Bible, to God’s Word, then it is not prophecy. It is from Babylon. It is from the beast. It is false.
Fortune-telling is not prophecy. Prophecy – a word from God - is about Jesus. This should not surprise us. He is the centre of the Bible, all the prophets and law points to him, all the promises of God are fulfilled in Him. He is the centre of the universe, all things are made to glorify him, and so he too is the heart of prophecy.

These are the true words of God. You stand either with the Lamb or with Babylon. Bride or whore. You have either been given clothes of righteousness or you will be stripped naked and thrown into the fire. It's that simple. We have been warned.

So what should we do? What will you do?

Judgment Day is a day of rejoicing because evil is overcome. Make sure you are not on the wrong side when that day comes. May it be a day of joy and not a day of terror for you. Because Jesus is coming soon. And Jesus is the one who has overcome evil.

2. Praise Jesus because he has overcome evil

We have seen the devil like a great dragon. We have seen that he called forth two beasts, and they were big and powerful. And we saw the temptress Babylon – alluring, powerful, seductive, tempting. Oh evil is seductive. Sin lures us. So powerful!

But then we read that "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great." How did that happen? And we did not know - until now.

Brothers! Open your eyes and see your God!

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. 12 His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. 13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God.

You know, we are so familiar with the cross. We are used to Jesus, the “Man of Sorrows”, he who suffered and died - who went through death for us. We sing about his death, we celebrate every week during communion that his blood was poured out and his body was broken so that we could be forgiven. Our prostitution, our rebellion against God has been forgotten, redeemed by the cross!

But he is not on the cross anymore. He literally went through hell for us, yes, but he went through. The power of death could not hold him because death is the wages of sin. We die because we are sinners. But Jesus never sinned. He was innocent. How could death then have any power over him?

That’s why on Sunday morning, the third day, the grave was filled with light, the tomb burst open, and Jesus rose from the dead. The King. Majestic. Mighty. The victor over death. He conquered death and proved that he really is the one he says he is. The Almighty.

And he will return. Not as the suffering servant, but as a mighty warrior. The White Knight at the head of Heaven’s armies. The King of all kings, the Almighty One.

When he returns he will make war on all that is unjust and all that is evil and bad and wrong in this world, for his name is Faithful and True. His eyes are like flaming fire - they see everything. Nothing escapes his gaze. You know, there is nothing you and I do that Jesus does not see.
Let’s remember that the next time we are tempted! Jesus sees. The rider at the head of Heaven's Army sees everything you do. Sees everything I do. And he is faithful and true. Do you think we will escape his judgment?

What would we say if in that moment of sin he stood before us, "What are you doing?". My brothers, we must repent. Kill the sin in us, run away from temptation or situations where we know we will be tempted. Let's fight sin and fear God more than anything else!

13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God.

A robe dipped in blood. It’s quite the picture! Is it a picture of the warrior coming victorious from the battlefield with the enemy's blood on him? Maybe? Because v15 says He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. It recalls the dreadful picture from chapter 14 where all who oppose God are thrown into the winepress of God's wrath and trampled such that blood will flow 2 meters high for 300km. That would be lake of ​​blood so massive it would stretch from here to Bergen, Stavanger, Kristiansand, and across the Hardangervidda, and to the border with Sweden. It's a horrible and frightening picture and it's supposed to be! Heb 10:31 It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

So Jesus’ robe is dipped in blood from the slaughter of his enemies. But there may be another reason why his robe is dipped in blood. The blood might be his. His blood shed for those who belong to him. We who have put our trust in Jesus as our King. We who have asked him for forgiveness and who now live for him. We who are children of God. And instead of our blood flowing from the winepress of God's wrath, his blood flowed for us.

Behold your God! Mt 26:26–28 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.

Aren’t you just filled with wonder and awe and thanksgiving for what Jesus has done for you? My Lord and my God! Sometimes we need to just stand in adoration of him. In praise. Thank you! Thank you Jesus Christ for what you did for me.
This is why we will rejoice and sing forever in the new creation! Forever praising this our God! Amen!

13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. 15 From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod.

He is called the word of God and out of his mouth comes a sharp sword. His words are full of power. Through his word he rules the world and leads his church. Prophecy has power because it is his word. And prophecy is about ... Jesus.
Jesus is called the Word of God because in him God is revealed. We do not have to wonder who God is because he revealed himself in Christ. Jesus is God's Word about God.

And we only find Jesus here in the Bible. It is not a coincidence that both the Bible and Jesus are called the word of God. This is the only way to know the true and living God. His truth is not found anywhere else. Not in dreams or visions, not in words of so-called prophets or holy people. That’s just paganism (even if it’s dressed up in Christian language). He is not found in other religions or in singing or meditation or rituals. He is found in his word, the Bible. Because the Bible is the sword of the Spirit, and that sword comes from the mouth of Jesus.

The Spirit is Jesus' breath. The Spirit carries the Word to us and makes this book - which is just a book, a mixture of paper and cardboard, or electronic pixels on a screen, nothing sacred or special in itself - the Holy Spirit makes this book alive. And when we read it, we hear the White Knight. We hear the words of Jesus.

By his word rules the nations with an iron rod. We are judged by how we respond to his word, the gospel. It is his word that will judge us - if we have not received him, we will be judged, pressed down, and thrown into the wine press.

V15 continues He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. 16 On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

It is Jesus who is put in place as God’s King, the Son of God on the throne. So what should we do with the White Knight, with Jesus Christ, Son of God, King of God? Give honour to him. Seek refuge in him. Apply for mercy while there is still time! For then the blood on his robe is his own, given to us, instead of ours. Then we have nothing to fear when he returns, because he comes to rescue us and not hunt us down. And we have nothing to fear now for who can compare with him? Who can stand against him? We do not fear state powers, rulers, family, neighbours, our boss, those at work who laugh at you, those who scoff and make fun of you, those who reject you, whether they be loved ones or strangers. Do not be afraid. Serve the Lord. Because their time will soon be up.

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, shouting to the vultures flying high in the sky: “Come! Gather together for the great banquet God has prepared. 18 Come and eat the flesh of kings, generals, and strong warriors; of horses and their riders; and of all humanity, both free and slave, small and great.” 19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast—miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the white horse. And the vultures all gorged themselves on the dead bodies.

Jesus will put an end to all evil. The devil's time is up. He is enraged because he has already lost. The verdict has fallen and he is done.

Praise for Jesus for he has overcome evil and will soon bring it to an end.

How then should we live as Christians?

And if you're not Christian, what should you do now so that you do not become one of those who are crushed by Christ, The White Knight?

Mark 14:26-52 No guilt, no shame – Jesus has taken it!

Mark 14:26-52

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Look at yourself in the mirror. And say to yourself these words: “I am strong. I am confident. I am powerful. I will overcome.”

This is the kind of pastoral advice that people like Joel Osteen are giving. It sounds good. It sounds like advice I want to hear. But is this advice that Jesus would give?

Well, based on tonight’s passage, the answer is a resounding “no!”

In fact what Jesus says is “don’t fool yourself. You are weak.”

And then he says “but do not fear, for I am strong, and my will will be done”

“I am weak. I am a sinner. But Jesus is strong. Jesus is my saviour. Jesus has overcome!”

“In Christ, I am strong. In Christ, I am confident. Christ is powerful. Christ will overcome.” Amen!

1. We are weak (27-32)

2. Jesus is strong (33-42)

3. God’s will will be done (41-52)

1. We are weak (27-32)

27 On the way, Jesus told them, “All of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say, ‘God will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ 28 But after I am raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.” 29 Peter said to him, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will.” 30 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.” 31 “No!” Peter declared emphatically. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the others vowed the same.

How often do we see ourselves as better than we are? Especially us guys – we always want to do it alone, in our own strength. That’s the disciples, confidently asserting that they would rather die than deny Jesus. But a few hours later 50 Then all his disciples deserted him and ran away.

It’s brutal isn’t it, to have your weakness so cruelly exposed. We (people) want to be strong, wish we were strong – but we are weak. Often we know the right thing to do, we want to do the right thing, but we don’t do it. It’s too hard, too costly, and so we chicken out, take the easy road.

We are weak.

And Jesus knows this. And he still loves us!

Our weakness, our failure is not something we have to try to hide from him. Christianity is not about pretending you’re better than you are!

Because Jesus is strong. Although he was “deeply troubled and distressed” he still went through with his suffering and death on the cross, bearing the sins of the world – in order that he, the strong, can lift us, the weak, up.

It’s fantastic news!

And that’s why we see the disciples “warts and all” – with all their failures. I can imagine Peter sitting with Mark as he writes this book says “no Mark, you must put my failure in. I don’t care about my reputation! People must understand the gospel. Jesus came for sinners.”

I thank God for the disciples. Because they are real people like you and me. They make mistakes, they get things so wrong, they don’t understand, they are foolish, they are cowards – these are no super-spiritual giants, ticking all the right religious boxes! I mean Peter even tells Jesus off at one point, telling him he’s wrong. Oops.

And Jesus still loves them, still accepts them, still allows them to follow him – and uses them, makes them part of his great glorious work of salvation! And builds the church upon their weak and frail backs!

I heard someone tell a story about Jesus returning to Heaven after his resurrection. The angels are standing there singing praise, congratulating Jesus about his great work of salvation, his great achievement. All glory to the King!

But then one angel comes up to him and says

“uh, Jesus, I’ve got a question....”

“Yes?”

“Um, how are you, you know, going to get the message out? About what you’ve done? How are people going to hear about it”

Jesus points to the little band of weak and small disciples.

“Ah, hahaha, hmmm, yes, yes, them, yes. Do you, um, have any other plan?”

“No, no other plan.”

Don’t you love our God, who chooses the weak to shame the strong, who reveals truth to children and conceals it from the “wise”, who loves the unlovable and forgives the unforgiveable – even at the cost of his own life. Who builds his unstoppable church through people like you and me!

The God who is strong in our weakness.

“No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me. From life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.”

Did you notice v27 27 On the way, Jesus told them, “All of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say, ‘God will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’

Jesus knew hundreds of years before that the disciples would fail him. It’s from Zechariah 13:7. The big themes in Zechariah are the LORD returning to his Temple, and blessing the whole world through “Jerusalem” – the new people of God. The last time we heard a quote from Zechariah was during the triumphal entry: Jesus, the King, riding in on a donkey. Rejoice O Zion! But now the King, the Shepherd, will be struck and the sheep scattered. This is all part of God’s to bring about his purposes: here is the King, ready to be struck, the sheep, bleating their cries of “we will not be scattered” – but He will be struck and they scattered.
He knows. He knows they will fail him. And he has already forgiven them! 28 But after I am raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.”

They will fall, but have no fear, for Jesus will bring them together again in Galilee, where he began his ministry, this time the risen, victorious Christ, giving them power to enable them to do the works he has given them to do: to spread the word about Jesus, his victory over sin and death, and forgiveness for all who come to him. No guilt, no shame, but forgiveness, acceptance, and a new way of living, a new purpose, a new goal: the glory of God Almighty.

What a God we serve. He knows their coming failure, yet has already forgiven them as he goes to the Cross to pay the price that forgiveness costs. Remarkable.

What is it that you feel guilty about? Have you let Jesus down? Have you some secret sin which you could never reveal to anyone, certainly not Him? Do you sit awake sometimes in the dark watches of the night, your room closing in about you, as your thoughts accuse you “guilty! Guilty! Weak! You are no Christian! How dare you call yourself a Christian! Failure!”. Are you ashamed of boldly claiming to stand for Jesus “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” – only to shrink away in denial when the time came?

Well, welcome to the human race! This is us. We are not righteous. We do not seek God.

But, thankfully he seeks us. He knows our weakness. He knows our shame. He knows our guilt. And he has covered it with his blood.

It is gone.

No guilt in life, no fear in death! This is the power of Christ in me.

I am weak – but he is strong. And in Christ, I am strong.

Confess your sins with joy, not fear, for he knows and has forgiven you!

We may not be the best Christian in the world – but we have the best Christ! Where we are weak, he is strong. So trust him. He will hang on to you. His grip will not fail. You are secure in him.

I am weak, but

2. Jesus is strong (33-42)

33 He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. 34 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 35 He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. 36 “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

That night in the garden was the worst of Jesus’ life. Here before him lay the final choice: to go through with torture and death, and worse, face the anger, the wrath, of the Father as he carries our sins to the cross; or to turn aside, to call down myriads of angels to fight for him, to be carried up in glory to his rightful place in the throne room of heaven. What would you have chosen?

Like Jesus, deeply troubled and distressed – what would you have done?

Like Jesus, saying “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death.” – so deeply full of sorrow you feel like you’re going to die, simply because of sorrow, of dread of what is to come – what would you have done?

Like Jesus, throwing yourself before God Almighty in prayer, begging him to get you out of this, open another way “Abba (Daddy), Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me.” – what would you have done?

Well, we know what Jesus DID. He did not fall away. He did not yield to temptation. He did not fall asleep but prayed for strength. He did not turn back. Instead he prays the most remarkable prayer in the Bible, and the prayer that should be echoed in the heart of everyone who follows Jesus, everyone who calls themselves a Christian, in every area of our lives because we belong to him: 36 “Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Not my will, but yours be done. That is the cry of a heart yielded up to God.
Jesus here is the perfect human being, willing to do whatever the Father asks in order to glorify him.
We were created to bring God glory – that is our purpose and our destiny. We were made to reflect back to God his beauty, his splendour, his majesty, crying out with every action, every thought, every prayer, every word spoken, at work, at home, in the garden, up on the mountain: you are glorious, you are holy, you are amazing. Your will be done.

We pray that in the Lord’s Prayer, don’t we? “Your will be done on earth as in heaven.” That doesn’t mean out there somewhere, distant from us – no we’re praying that his will is done in our lives, we’re praying that we would yield to his will, praying that we would not fall into temptation and follow Satan along the path of comfort and death, but Jesus along the hard path – but glorious and fulfilling and the path of life eternal.

And so often we fail. So often we do what WE will. We are weak. We are like the disciples – when they were supposed to be praying what were they doing? Sleeping!
37 Then he returned and found the disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 38 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” 39 Then Jesus left them again and prayed the same prayer as before. 40 When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. And they didn’t know what to say.

While we are sleeping. While we are giving in to our desires, our “needs” – Jesus is praying. Jesus is doing exactly what he should be doing – even though he was totally alone. Even though he knew what was coming. His “sheep” were about to be scattered. His friends would abandon him. He was about to be arrested. “The time has come” he says.
And he was about to drink the Cup. In the Old Testament the Cup was often used as a symbol of God’s judgement on sin. For example Jer 25:15-16 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled to the brim with my anger, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it. 16 When they drink from it, they will stagger, crazed by the warfare I will send against them.” Similarly Jer 49, Isaiah 51, and Psalm 75:8.

Set before Jesus was that cup. A foaming cup of poisonous punishment. Anger upon anger, wrath upon wrath, poured out for the sins of the world from all of time and space all gathered into one concentrated poisonous dose. Like a witches’ brew – but a thousand, a million, a trillion times worse. We will never know what Jesus knew he was facing.

But he faced it.

Three times he prayed for steely resolve to drink this cup to its last drop. And he did not falter, did not stop. “Up”, he says, “let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here”
He did not run, did not call down legions of angels to defend him, did not use his awesome power to simply swat away the soldiers who had come to arrest him. He had prayed. He was at peace. Not my will, but yours, Father.

We may be weak, but Jesus is strong.

3. God’s will will be done (41-52)

48 Jesus asked them, “Am I some dangerous revolutionary, that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? 49 Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there among you teaching every day. But these things are happening to fulfill what the Scriptures say about me.” 50 Then all his disciples deserted him and ran away.

Jesus offers no resistance to his arrest - in fact he goes out to meet them. No playing hide and seek amongst the trees. No fighting. No running. One of the disciples gets it wrong – hacking off someone’s ear.
He should have prayed – he’s totally on the wrong page!
And then when Jesus simply gives himself up, terror grips them all and, just as Jesus prophesied in v27, quoting Zechariah’s prophecy from hundreds of years before, the sheep do indeed scatter: v50“they deserted him and ran away”. One disciple, a “young man” who is probably Mark, the writer of this gospel, was so frightened that when the soldiers grabbed him by his long shirt he 52 he slipped out of his shirt and ran away naked.

They all abandon Jesus. The spirit was willing “I will die for you Jesus!” – but the flesh was weak.
But Jesus, the perfect man, prayed, was strengthened, and did not fall away. Where we are weak, he is strong.

All this is happening according to God’s plan. 49 But these things are happening to fulfill what the Scriptures say about me

This was written down hundreds of years before so that we would KNOW that it is true. We would KNOW that Jesus is truly the Messiah, the Christ, the Rescuer – and our King. The Bible is not one book written by some old dude in a tower. It’s a library (so the name “Bible” from the Latin biblia meaning library): 66 books written by 40 authors, written over 1500 years. So hundreds of years before Jesus, men were writing, inspired by the Holy Spirit, about what he would be doing and what he would be saying. Isn’t that amazing?

Last week we saw how all the different promises of God come together in Christ. He is our King, our Priest, and our Prophet. He is the new and better Moses leading the new and better Exodus: the rescue of God’s people. Jesus is the Temple, the meeting palce between mand and God. And he is the Passover Lamb. The sacrifice that can protect us from the angel of death. His body is broken for us. His blood shed for us. He is the Suffering Servant the prophet Isaiah saw. He is the King the prophet Zecahriah saw. He is the LORD – Yahweh - coming to his Temple from Malachi.
Again and again we see that Jesus fulfils Scripture. Someone counted up all the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled – somewhere between 300 and 400, depending on how you count (some people count one verse saying two things as two prophecies, others one)! And Jesus fulfilled all of them. Every single one. Statistically impossible to do by random chance – the only way to fulfil these prophecies is if you are the one who was prophesied!

Have assurance. This is true. This is the gospel: Christ Jesus came to save sinners. Do you think he would bother with all this if that weren’t true. He could have blasted all these fools out of the garden with a word. But he didn’t, because this is why he came. He, the perfect man, came to take our place. He came to be found guilty, to die a sinners death, so that you and I can be found righteous, and live for him. And he rose to life again

He came because we are weak. So if you’re feeling like a failure. If you are agonising over sins that you just keep committing, over sins that you choose to do – remember the disciples, and remember that they ran away from Jesus! And he knew they would. And yet he carried on to the cross so that he could forgive them, and so that he could forgive you.

Yes, sin is serious. Yes it is painful and ugly and damaging. But it can be forgiven. Our confidence is not in ourselves. But our confidence is in Christ.

We may be weak, but Jesus is strong. He knows our weakness, knows our guilt – and has covered it.
Pray without fear. Pray without guilt. Come to him knowing your darkest secrets are covered. And walk in new life, to his praise and glory. Hooray for Jesus!

Isaiah 48-49 God’s surprising plan: His Servant who will save the world.

MP3 link

Isaiah 48-49

(God saves rebellious sinful people through his servant)

What does 49:26 tell us about God? Does it challenge your view of God? Discuss.

We must allow the Bible to change our view of God. Debby has been meeting with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They may as well have been reading two different books. Every time there’s something that goes against their theology, their idea of God, they just ignore it or explain it away. We must not do that! Otherwise we can end up worshiping an idol – a parody of God. God is bigger than our framework, our idea of him. We need to keep asking the question: “Where do you find it in the text?” We need to learn to read what they Bible actually says, not what we think the Bible says, or what we want the Bible to say.

We need to see ourselves and to see God as the BIBLE describes. Only the Bible is the revealed word of God. Only the Bible is untouched by sin. Only the Bible is God’s word written so that we can know Him.

Do you read your Bible?

My challenge to you is to start reading the Bible every day. If you have kids read it with them. Great way to get started.

Right, let’s jump into these chapters and widen our view of the God that we serve!

1. The sinful idolatrous people of God are disciplined and saved

2. The Lord has saved his people in the past – he can save his people today

3. The Lord saves through his Servant King

1. The sinful idolatrous people of God are disciplined and saved

Is 48 “Listen to me, O family of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and born into the family of Judah. Listen, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord and call on the God of Israel. You don’t keep your promises, 2 even though you call yourself the holy city and talk about depending on the God of Israel, whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Oh, oh, oh. I read these verses and I see myself here! How often do I TALK about depending on the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies – and yet when tested, I run to depend on myself. I shrink back in fear.

I don’t trust that God is in control. I have to keep reminding myself to trust him – and that trust is seen in obedience.

Why didn’t Israel obey the Lord? Why don’t WE obey the Lord?

Because we think he doesn’t see the evil we are doing.
Because we think he’s not in control so we’ve got to help him out (cheating, cutting corners, telling “white” lies)
Because we think His ways are not best – my solution is the best (lying, headship, divorce, porn, disciplining children, etc.)

4 [Our] necks are as unbending as iron. [Our] heads are as hard as bronze.
We stubbornly resist God’s will. We want to do our own will. So much so that we ignore the work of God around us.

5 That is why I told you what would happen; I told you beforehand what I was going to do. Then you could never say, ‘My idols did it. My wooden image and metal god commanded it to happen!’

God does something and we say I did it. We forget to thank God. We don’t praise him. That was Israel. That is us.

So what does God say to his people as they rebel against him?

1. V10 Discipline: I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering.

2. V11 Salvation: I will rescue you for my sake— yes, for my own sake! I will not let my reputation be tarnished, and I will not share my glory with idols!

God’s discipline is often just allowing us to experience the consequences of our decisions. He lets us do what we want! Things do not go well when we rebel against God. When was the last time you sinned and thought “I’m so GLAD I did that.”?

Never!

It always brings pain. God doesn’t tell us to obey him just so he can get thrills – ooh they obey me! He tells us to obey him because that’s how life was created to work. That brings deepest pleasure, deep joy.

17 This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow. 18 Oh, that you had listened to my commands! Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea.

Disobeying God brings pain. It’s like gravity – jump off the roof – ah for a moment it seems like you’re free from gravity, no consequences for disobeying gravity. Then crunch. We understand this physically. But it is the same morally and spiritually.

And some of us are slow learners, we need to be refined in the fire of suffering. Anyone here who finds they tend to disobey and need to be refined in the fire of suffering? Or am I the only one?!

When we rebel against God we experience his discipline. But if we are his people, we also experience salvation.

V11 God says I will rescue you. That in itself is amazing. But look at the reason he gives. Look at v11. What’s the reason? Because you’ve tried really hard… no. Because you’ve really had faith. No. Because you’ve turned over a new leaf and been really good. No. Because you live in Norway, the luckiest country in the world… no. for my sake (says the Lord in v11)— yes, for my own sake!

That gives us great confidence doesn’t it? Because our salvation like Israel’s salvation is not dependant on us. It is mercy from God, based on God, for God’s sake. It is not dependant on us. In fact it has very little to do with us. We just get blessed. Wow.

And this mercy runs through our whole life. So if you’re sitting here this morning knowing that you have sinned against God.... that would be all of us to varying degrees. If you’ve sinned against God know that you can be forgiven. No matter what you’ve done, no matter if you’ve even rejected the Lord again and again. You might have been acting towards God with a head of bronze – hard, stupid. And God can forgive you. Why? Because it’s not for your sake, based on what you have done. It is for God’s sake, for his glory, based on Him. So be confident that he can save.

The sinful idolatrous people of God are disciplined and saved. And that salvation we can depend on, because the Lord is powerful to save.

2. The Lord has saved his people in the past – he can save his people today

12 “Listen to me, O family of Jacob, Israel my chosen one! I alone am God, the First and the Last. 13 It was my hand that laid the foundations of the earth, my right hand that spread out the heavens above. When I call out the stars, they all appear in order.” 14 Have any of your idols ever told you this? Come, all of you, and listen: the Lord has chosen Cyrus as his ally. He will use him to put an end to the empire of Babylon and to destroy the Babylonian armies. 15 “I have said it: I am calling Cyrus! I will send him on this errand and will help him succeed. 16 Come closer, and listen to this. From the beginning I have told you plainly what would happen.

God does not beat around the bush with proving that he can save! This is not something we just have to blindly believe just have faith as if faith is something brainless. He shows us time and time again – evidence that He and He alone can save.

Look at the Israelites. They sinned against God and so Babylon sweeps in and takes them off into captivity. But God has not forgotten them. Even though they have sinned and rejected Him He has not rejected them. He will show mercy. And so He calls up Cyrus – a pagan unbelieving king. He raises a whole empire, with Cyrus at its head, in order to rescue his people

Is there anything God cannot do?

And we know this happened just as he promised. Cyrus arose, the Medo-Persian Empire swept into Babylon, and the people of God were set free. Just. As. God. Said.

How do we know what someone will do in the future? How do we know how they will act? Well, we look at how they’ve acted in the past? A friend of ours is a known liar – when he says “I’ll pay you back I promise” what do we think. Yeah right. That money’s gone. But when someone who always keeps their promises say “I’ll pay you back” we know it will happen.

Past actions predict future actions. People don’t change (unless the Holy Spirit gets involved – then people change! As we know very well in this church!). But apart from a miracle work of God, past actions predict future actions.

And God is the same. His past actions predict his future actions. He is not an idol, empty words, powerless to act. He says 3 Long ago I told you what was going to happen. Then suddenly I took action, and all my predictions came true.

In fact the whole way through these chapters again and again God reminds us that his words come true. “I have said” - and it happens. His power, his absolute power to make his words happen – that is what defines him as GOD - rather than, say, an idol.

It is no surprise that when Jesus was exactly the same. What he spoke happened. Whether it was speaking to the wind and the waves, or to demons, or predicting his arrest, crucifixion and resurrection from the dead – everything he said came true.

His words are true. His words are power.

So when he says he can save, he can save! And we know he can save because he’s shown us in the past. He has saved in the past, so he will save now, and he will save in the future.

But how does God save?

3. The Lord saves through his Servant

Is 49:1 Listen to me, all you in distant lands! Pay attention, you who are far away! The Lord called me before my birth; from within the womb he called me by name. 2 He made my words of judgment as sharp as a sword. He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand. I am like a sharp arrow in his quiver. 3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, and you will bring me glory.”

So chapter 49 opens like chapter 48, with the command to LISTEN! But this time it is not just Israel who are called to listen, but those in distant lands – those far away. Foreigners, those not God’s people. Gentiles (non-Jews) like us. We are to listen now as God speaks about his servant. Why? Because God’s servant is going to be a light to the Gentiles.

Who is this servant? One called from within the womb. Even before he was born he was called to this work. Unborn babies are people too. So, within the womb he’s called by name. He’s called to bring words of judgement, a sharp arrow. And in v3 he’s identified as Israel.
But Israel’s a complete failure! God just described them as people with heads like bronze. And a few chapters back (42:18) Israel was described as deaf and blind. Very unflattering! Hmm. Let’s read on…

4 I replied, “But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand; I will trust God for my reward.” 5 And now the Lord speaks— the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant, who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him. The Lord has honoured me, and my God has given me strength.

V5 confirms our suspicions. Not Israel – but someone one of Israel, from Israel, sent to Israel to bring Israel back to God.
Perhaps someone like... Isaiah. A prophet, from Israel, sent to Israel. Not surprising he says “My work seems useless”. Israel are rebellious, heads like bronze, and things have got so bad that they’ve been booted out to Babylon! This was probably Isaiah’s heart cry as he saw where things were headed. My work seems useless.

Sometimes we feel like that don’t we? Maybe with other people, often with ourselves.
I will never be able to obey God in this area. It’s hopeless.

Israel will never turn back to God, will never be able to bless the world like God promised to Abraham. It’s hopeless. But what does this faithful servant say in v4 Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand; I will trust God for my reward.

Php 1:6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Php 2:13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

Even when things seem hopeless – God is at work. When we see our own power, when we see our circumstances, sometimes it does look hopeless ... but for God. As long as the Lord is on the throne there is hope.

5 The Lord has honoured me, and my God has given me strength. 6 He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

Lk 2:30–33 I have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared for all people. 32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!” 33 Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him.

Jesus is the light to the Gentiles, to us. Jesus came not as a mighty King but humble, despised and rejected by his own people and by the might of Rome. 7 despised and rejected by the nations. Jesus was crucified by Jews and Gentiles together, a lowly servant – a carpenter from a backwater village Nazareth. “Did anything good ever come from Nazareth” people said.

He came as a nobody, but He, Jesus, is the King of Kings. v7 continues “Kings will stand at attention when you pass by. Princes will also bow low because of the Lord, the faithful one, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

And what will this Servant greater than Kings do?

8 This is what the Lord says: “At just the right time, I will respond to you. On the day of salvation I will help you. I will protect you and give you to the people as my covenant with them. Through you I will re-establish the land of Israel and assign it to its own people again. 9 I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out in freedom,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’

He will save us.

So 13 Sing for joy, O heavens! Rejoice, O earth! Burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on them in their suffering.

Dear friends, let us have confidence that even though our necks have been like iron and our foreheads like bronze. Even though we have sinned against God time and time again – we can be forgiven. He forgave the Israelites. He can forgive us. In and through Jesus, the humble King, the Suffering servant, the one who came to die in our place in order to bring his people – us – back to God.

Let us sing and shout with joy. This is awesome news. The new creation will echo with this word of praise. Our lives shout aloud that Jesus is our Lord. That he has saved us. Let us live out loud – obedient to him, and sharing the good news that God can save his people. Who can you share this with?

Think now, in a moment of quiet of one person you can share this joyous news with. God can save you. Yes you. No matter what you’ve done.

1 minute

Now as we go into confession, let us think about our own lives where we have had heads like bronze, and confess our sins to God, knowing that he is faithful to forgive us.

Isaiah 7:1-9:7 The Messiah: the promised child who brings judgement – and salvation

Isaiah 7:1-9:7

God! Vast, powerful, enthroned in glory. We saw Him in chapter 6 on the throne, surrounding by massive powerful burning angels. He was in the Temple and his glory filled it. Here is the true King of Israel.

And in this chapter this great King, this being of Ultimate Power in the Universe promises a sign. A sign that he is in control. A sign of his power and his sovereign rule. A sign that will show the world God is in charge.

What kind of sign would you expect? 10 plagues? Sea opening up? Worldwide flood?

The sign God promises? A baby.
A baby?!
Yes, a baby.

That’s probably what King Ahaz thought as well! Seriously? That’s the big sign? A young woman will have a baby? A virgin will get married and have a baby. Wow.

And in Isaiah and Ahaz’s time, yes, the sign of the baby wasn’t that impressive – although it did come true. By the time the baby was a child, the two nations threatening Judah had been wiped out just as God had said. But the baby, well, the baby didn’t seem that important – at least not then. Not until a young unmarried woman – a virgin – called Mary - became pregnant without having sexual intercourse. And suddenly Isaiah’s prophecy became a lot more interesting.

Let’s have a look. Remember what I said about prophecy often working on two or more levels, in two or more time periods. This week’s chapters find their partial fulfilment in Isaiah’s time, and their full fulfilment in Jesus’ time.

We’ll follow Isaiah and Ahaz’s story first, then look at Jesus, and then apply it to us.

1. The child: a sign of judgement for Ahaz

The scene is set in v1-2: Ahaz, King of Judah, the Southern Kingdom of Israel, is being threatened by Syria and the Northern Kingdom of Israel (in some translations called “Ephraim”). This is bad! V2 the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm.

So, Isaiah is told in 7:3 to go and meet Ahaz and tell Ahaz not to fear, but to trust God. Stop looking at the problem. Look up! But just as God had said in chapter 6, Ahaz will not listen. God says don’t worry? Are you blind God? Look at Syria’s armies! Look at Israel’s armies! How can you say this invasion will never happen? V7

Ahaz does not believe because what God is saying through Isaiah was just unbelievable. God says their enemies are nothing – that in fact, Israel (the North) will be no more in just sixty-five years (v8). Pff. No. They’re Jews like us. We are Israel, God’s people! God would never abandon his people like that. Shut up Isaiah, you speak lies.
Isaiah’s message ends at the end of v9 with a warning, translated a bit weirdly in the NLT. Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm. This almighty God “cannot”? The ESV has a better translation, as does the Norwegian bible: “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all”.
Literally: If not believe / established then not believe / established. It is the idea of a secure foundation. Ahaz – be warned: the only secure foundation, the only safe path through this terrible time is the Lord. If you will not stand on Him, then you will not stand. A few weeks ago back in chapter 2 we saw how all the world will be shaken, our lives will be shaken – and only Christ is unshakeable. And I asked us this question “When my life is shaken, what will stand?”

That is the question for Ahaz. Stand or fall on me. Says the Lord. But Ahaz, we know, will not listen, so in v11 God tells him to ask God for a sign! Very interesting.
But Ahaz refuses! Why? He uses religion “I will not put God to the test” but actually he doesn’t want to be convinced. He does not want a sign from God because he does not want to obey God.
We’re good at that – coming up with reasons for why we shouldn’t obey God. Sometimes, and these are really good, we come up with spiritual, religious reasons for disobeying.
We only fool ourselves. Not God. Not ever.

Look at God’s response: 13 Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? 14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. What is the sign? Look! The virgin (or young woman) will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’)...16 For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.
The sign will be a young unmarried woman, a virgin, giving birth to a son. The boy will barely be grown up when the threat of Syria and Northern Israel (in some translations called Ephraim) will be no more.

And in chapter 8 what do we find? Isaiah has sexual intercourse with a young woman - his wife - and she becomes pregnant with their son. And by the time he is ready to eat solid food (yoghurt and honey) – Assyria captured Syria and North Israel. My personal view is that chapter 8 is supposed to be seen as the fulfilment of 7:14. For Isaiah’s time. There are many who would disagree – there are 10 theories on how this is fulfilled! But I think that like in previous chapters we are supposed to be looking beyond the partial fulfilment and waiting on the Lord to do what he promised. Because waiting on the Lord is a major theme of these chapters!

Because a young woman does give birth to a son. But the word Isaiah chooses is not the usual “na’arah” meaning young woman, but “almah” – which means virgin woman, or young unmarried woman. And Isaiah’s wife isn’t exactly a virgin! Also, the boy was to be called Immanuel “God with us”. This boy is called Maher-shalal-hash-baz (called Baz by his mates) – which means “The spoil speeds, the prey hastens”!! Which kind of sounds more like “God has left us” than God with us!

However the sign, was fulfilled in Isaiah’s day, we’re looking beyond to a future day, waiting for God to bring a sign: a virgin who will bear the son Immanuel. The reality of that prophecy was mind-blowing, and we miss it because it’s so familiar. But let’s finish off Isaiah and his son ‘Baz and Ahaz before we get to Jesus…

The Lord promises in 8:5-10 that Assyria will come like a flood. All the human powers that Israel trusted in have come to nothing. Only the Lord can save. And he will. Because Israel is called “Immanuel” (v8), God with us. He is with his people. And for those of us who are slow v10 ends with “God is with us”. And remember Isaiah’s first son’s name? Shear-jashub “a remnant will remain”. That remnant will be like Jerusalem just keeping her head above water in a flood.

Everything else they’ve trusted in will come to nothing – but God will save them. The message is summed up in v11-22 Fear GOD, and nothing else. If not, he will be a stumbling block and a snare. V14 But to Israel and Judah he will be a stone that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.

Either God is your saviour, or he will be your destruction. You either stand firm on God, or you do not stand at all.

For Israel in Isaiah’s time, for Ahaz, the child was a sign of judgment. They should have listened to God: Isaiah’s plea is clear 18 I and the children the Lord has given me serve as signs and warnings to Israel from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies who dwells in his Temple on Mount Zion… 20 Look to God’s instructions and teachings!
Because looking to anything else, listening to anyone else, will lead to v22 will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness.

The people are blind – looking to the wrong thing to save them. They are deaf, listening to the wrong voices – the voices of the dead instead of God. What hope is there in this darkness?

2. 9:1 – 7 The child. A sign of hope for the world.

9 Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. 2 The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. 3 You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. 4 For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor’s rod, just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian. 5 The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire. 6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen

There is one coming, oh yes, who will usher in a new age, a golden age. Isaiah and his sons do not offer much hope. A small hope: a remnant will remain. Jerusalem will not be completely destroyed. But this, this is something else. No more slavery, no more war. A child who is called Mighty God. Is this the Immanuel? The God with us.

Yes! And how!

This child is the sign God will give to Ahaz and all like him who walk in darkness (That’s all of us by the way!)
The virgin will give birth, and that child will be Immanuel himself. God, the great God on his throne will come down, shrink himself down and become one of us. A baby, born of a virgin, Mary from Galilee. And from there a great light will shine out across the whole world v2. He will be the King, the King who will rule forever in righteousness and truth for he is the King, the Lord Almighty, our Everlasting Father and Mighty God himself.

Now that’s a sign!

Turn to Matthew 1:18–25 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. 20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ ” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

Now we see why Isaiah used such a strange word for “young woman”. Because it pointed to Mary. A young woman becoming pregnant is not much of a sign is it. This will be the sign, someone will fall pregnant – and that someone will be a YOUNG WOMAN.

But a virgin falling pregnant – now that’s something else.

The disciples of Isaiah’s day were longing for the day when God would rescue his people - a day when the people now in darkness, now unable to see and hear because the Lord has hidden himself from them – one day they will 9:2 see a great light! Joy as the rescuer will come. This rescuer, this child – yes, the child promised in 7:14, not the child of Isaiah, but the child born to a virgin, the miracle child - he v6 will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And we know this will happen because God guarantees it. Look at the end of v7 there The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!

God says: Oh Isaiah, your people are a mess, I know. But I have set in motion my plan to rescue them. And not just them, but all who are in darkness. I will bring them out of the darkness and into the light. I will do this myself. So have patience. Wait upon the Lord.

Mt 4:13–17 [Jesus] went first to Nazareth, then left there and moved to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah: 15 “In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River, in Galilee where so many Gentiles live, 16 the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined.” 17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

The Kingdom is near, yes, because the King is standing there in front of you. And friends the kingdom is near now because Jesus is still ruling, and he is here now, calling on you to respond. For his kingdom is eternal and he rules forever. He came to earth to shine a light, the only light, into this world. He died in our place to take away our sins so that we who are blind and deaf can be restored to see and hear. Jesus deals with the problem of our spiritual blindness. Is 32:1–3 (NLT) Look, a righteous king is coming! And honest princes will rule under him. … 3 Then everyone who has eyes will be able to see the truth, and everyone who has ears will be able to hear it.

Jesus is the sign of hope for the world. We walk in darkness, we are blind and deaf – but Jesus, Jesus shines a light into our darkness, and calls us out with power and mercy. So, how should we respond?

3. Our response: to actively wait on the Lord in obedience

King Ahaz is the example of what not to do. When put to the test Ahaz shows his faith is elsewhere: Ahaz has put his faith in Assyria, not God! Chapter 8 shows us why. Because Ahaz is listening to the wrong voices. Not the voice of God, through Isaiah, but to the voices of the dead, the voice of Satan.
What is my trust in? When I am challenged, what do I really put my faith in? In the Lord? Does my life show this?

Let me give two examples:

I know two ladies, both single, both attractive. Both started going out with non-Christian men. Why? Because that is how we are designed. To be in relationship. But we are first designed to be in relationship with God. Both were challenged with whether they trusted God or men. One repented, the other, well, she’s still working it out.

I know two men. Both put under pressure at work to lie. Both were worried about their jobs, having no security net – if they lost their job life would be difficult. One was afraid, and so compromised, and went through a difficult time. The other realised that his salary is provided by God, not by men. He sized up the moment, marched into his bosses office, and told him that he served God, not men, and therefore would not lie and also had to expose the corruption. Oh, things exploded around him – but the Lord was with him and he was at peace.

Who do we serve, God or men? Do we really believe that God is sovereign? That he is in control.

WAIT ON THE LORD

That waiting is not passive, slouched on the couch. We wait like King Hezekiah, we wait like Daniel. Hezekiah went to the Temple and prayed to the Lord, listened to the prophet Isaiah, and obeyed everything he told him. Daniel read again and again the words of God in Scripture and so he knew that the exile would soon be over. He prayed every day to God, even when his life was threatened. That’s waiting on the Lord. That is true faith.
Friends, it is simple to be a Christian: let us read the Bible every day, let’s meet together as a church, let’s love and care for each other, pray together, eat together, encourage each other as the Day of Christ’s return approaches. We keep sharing the gospel, keep holding out the word of life, keep praying for our non-Christian friends and family, and wait patiently for the Lord to work in His time and in His way. We obey the Lord, no matter what the cost. We love instead of take revenge. We tell the truth even when it costs. We are faithful even when it hurts. We forgive, because Christ forgave us.
Do not lose heart. Stay the course. Be obedient and trust God.

The people of Israel had to wait 735 YEARS before they saw the true meaning of the sign “the young woman/virgin will be with child”. But oh my was it worth the wait! Never in our wildest dreams could we have known that God himself would be our saviour, that he really would be Immanuel, God with us. That’s the God we serve.

Take comfort and strength. The Lord is with us.