Good morning. How in the world are you? You doing all right? Good. That comes from Bob Cook up in New York. He'd always start that way. Good morning. How in the world are you? You doing all right? Then he'd say at the end, walk with the king today and be a blessing. But it's a joy to be here. I'd like to thank the church for this opportunity. that we could be among you. On Thursday afternoon, I spoke on the book of Colossians, four chapters. So that you know that I'm a little crazy, what we're going to do today is the book of Isaiah, 66 chapters. What we want to get across here is that the Bible is the story of God's glory in Jesus Christ through salvation by judgment. The story of God's glory in Jesus Christ through salvation by judgment. And so the Bible is where God tells his great true story about himself. He makes himself known. And if we're not seeing God making himself known in the face of Jesus Christ, we're missing the whole point of the Bible. It's his message. He's telling us about himself. telling us about ourselves. Because as Calvin said, the only way we can understand ourselves is to understand God. You can't understand humanity apart from the God who created humanity. That's the great problem in our country today, right? We have a conscious effort to suppress the truth of God, the truth of the gospel. You can read this in Romans 1. And so people don't know who they are. And God just, OK, you don't want me in your life? I'll let you find out what it's like. And so he just abandons people. And this is Romans chapter 1. But our job as Christians, those who are in Christ, is to call people back to the true knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We remarked on Thursday. Here's how the Bible is put together. It has narrative part, the storyline of God's story. Then it has a commentary. Then it has more storyline. That's the Old Testament scriptures. New Testament scriptures run the same way. You have the narrative, the storyline in the Gospels and Acts. Then you have the commentary in all the letters. And then you have the final narrative about where all history is headed in the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ. That's how you understand the Bible. But to see the Old Testament part, you have to read the Bible the way Jesus did and the people like him. And the Old Testament scriptures, in the Jewish approach, had three parts. They had the law, the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, the Pentateuch. Then you had a big section called the prophets. And then you had, at the end, the writings. And the last book was the book of Chronicles in the order of Jesus' time. It helps if we know that. So we're here in Isaiah today. And Isaiah is the first book of the latter prophets. You had the former prophets, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings. That was the first part of the former prophets. Then you have the latter prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the 12. They considered all the minor prophets in one group. So whenever you preach this going through and you come to minor prophets, that's quite a challenge to do all the minor prophets in one sermon. Well, Isaiah is what the matter of words is the second longest book in the Bible. The longest book is Jeremiah by count of words, not talking about chapters here. So here we are in Jeremiah. We have God the Holy Spirit's commentary on all that has happened up to this point as God tells his story. And then you have the great prophecies about what God would yet do in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And so here's what happens in the book of Isaiah. And at the end of the message, there's going to be a quiz on this, so listen carefully. Now, I'm just painting a broad stroke picture. You can see this kind of outline in many study Bibles. The book opens with an opening message about present sin and future hope. Come now, let us reason together. Chapter 1, verse 18. Well, that goes from chapter 1 through chapter 6. That message about present sin and future hope. Then you come to the great book of Immanuel. Immanuel means God with us. One of the greatest ideas in all God's story, God with us. The end of Matthew, right? Look, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. God with us. This is happening again and again. So you have the book of Emanuel, chapters 7 through 12. Then you have messages about many nations, chapters 13 through 23. Many messages about Babylon and Assyria there, Israel's great opponents back in the time of Isaiah, who lived 700 years before Christ. Then you have warnings of, excuse me, then you have this great vision of the future. It says here's what God's going to do in times yet to come. That's chapters 24 through 27. Then there are warnings and judgment and showing the glory of the Lord's power in chapters 28 through 35. And all this has been basically in a form of poems or songs. Suddenly, it switches to a narrative, and you have the great story about God's deliverance of Judah from the Assyrians. We ought to read that again and again. We need that in our day. After deliverance, then God speaks again, comfort. Comfort you, my people, says the Lord. And so you have this great message of comfort from the incomparable glory of Yahweh. And that's chapters 40 through 48. And then you have the ministry of the servant of the Lord. The servant of the Lord is Jesus Christ. And it's from here that we have some of the greatest prophecies about the saving work of Christ. We'll look briefly at one of these today. And the book wraps up with a story of the future deliverance of God's people and the judgment of the wicked. So in all this, see, it's the story of God's glory in Jesus Christ through salvation by judgment. And Isaiah works this out marvelously through its 66 chapters. So after you read through the book of Colossians, one time a day for 30 days, you might want to launch off to do something different in Isaiah or something like that. Commercial? Hint, hint? In Isaiah 46, verses 9 through 11, the Spirit said through Isaiah, remember what happened long ago, for I am God. and there is no other. I am God, and there is no one like me. I declare the end from the beginning and from long ago what is not yet done, saying my plan will take place. And I will do all my will. I call a bird to pray from the east, a man for my purpose from a far country. Yes, I have spoken, so I will also bring it about. I have planned, I will also do it. This is the one speaking to us through Isaiah. I have planned, I will do it. That's what you need tonight when you go to lay your head down on your pillow, that you know who is in charge, that God has a plan, that God is working out his purpose. I don't know how people can sleep without that. Does anyone here ever look at the news at any time? I mean, some of the crazy things we've seen this past week up in Maryland, right? The crazy shooting. These things are happening all the time. How can people sleep without knowing God's in charge? And that he is only letting people go so far, and then one day he's going to say, time's up. Okay? It's all over. I'm imposing my rule through my son. That's what Isaiah is telling us. There are a number of pertinent ideas in Isaiah. So you have that presentation of salvation and judgment we've just talked about. God makes himself known as the Holy One of Israel 26 times in this book. Another frequent phrase, it takes two Words, names of God, the name Yahweh or I Am, and it puts that with Adonai, Master. And in some translations, it's translated either Lord God or Sovereign Lord, but just a great name of God. Another thing you find here is like the text we already read together. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. And I thought for a long time, what's a host? And then I found out a host is an army. God is the God of armies. God's in control. Whoa. This gives you another perspective on the scriptures. There are many prophecies about the Messiah. Christ and his saving work. The Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, you'll call his name Emmanuel. Chapter 9, it's known so much at Christmastime. Handel's Messiah was built a lot around Isaiah chapter 9, Isaiah 11, the great prophecy about the Messiah. And then you have the servant songs, Isaiah 42, 49, 50, 52 and 53, and then 61. There's a lot of figurative language in Isaiah. Things like fire, holy mountain, Isaiah teaches us through those figures. Isaiah talks about the foolishness of idolatry. It does this in a number of different passages. You know, when I was young, I was born way back in the last millennium. OK, I know some of you were too, born way back in the last millennium. And at that time, way back in the mid part of the last century of the last millennium, I can't tell you how old I really am. Then you'd be disappointed. But I would read Isaiah 44, and I'd say, People used to need to know about how to combat idolatry, right? That's something people needed to know back in ancient times. And then look, suddenly we're in the 21st century, and everywhere around us, at least where we live, are idols. People worshiping idols. I mean, I'm talking temples to other gods. up in our area. There's a huge Hindu temple about an hour from where we live. Idolatry. And we need Isaiah 44. It's a very important chapter to describe how to look at idolatry. As we move deeper into the 21st century, we're going to need these chapters in Isaiah more. Isaiah talks about how in God's sovereignty, God's the blessed controller of all things, he uses creation history, including the sinful actions of people, for his own glory. To show God's sovereignty in history, one of the great chapters is Isaiah chapter 10, where he talks to Assyria, the rod of my anger. And then, OK, that's what you've been, but guess what? Here's what happens to you. And then what makes Isaiah especially the gospel prophet? Not only the servant songs, but the mission of God to save his people from all nations. Isaiah is the great missionary book in the Old Testament scriptures. So that's a little overview of Isaiah. Now let's catch a flavor about how Isaiah shows us the glory of God. And we want to pick three different chapters to look at briefly. The first we've already read is chapter 6. So look at Isaiah chapter 6 with me. And in verses 1 through 7, you have a vision of God's majesty. In the year the King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne. His robe filled the temple. What a vision of God's majesty. You have the great I am, Yahweh, the Lord. And how does Isaiah see him? He's seated on a throne. And so if you had the picture like this would be God's throne room, he sees the Almighty seated on a throne. And no one can get in the temple because God's robe fills the temple. OK? If I had a robe on, it wouldn't be bigger than me because I'd be wearing it. And so what's a picture about how big God is here? Seated on the throne, and just his robe fills the whole temple. And you have these special beings. Here they're called Seraphim. In the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, they're called depending on your translation, the living creatures. And there's four of them. And what do they do day and night? They do nothing except call out, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. Could you imagine walking into the throne room of heaven now and just hearing that echoing again from these great mighty creatures? And they're covered up like this because they can't even look at the Holy One. And just they're crying out, holy, holy, holy. Brothers and sisters, that's your God. That's how great he is. Without Christ, we could not even dare to think about approaching him. Yet we come in to worship service like this, and we dare to call this great God of armies Father in heaven. Father in heaven, we come to you in Jesus' name. Receive us for Jesus' sake. He's holy. This is one of the words in the Bible. Nobody knows what it means. I'm a little exaggerating there, right? Everybody says words like holy, saint, and sanctify. And no one has a clue what the word even means. It becomes like a Christian buzzword. We just say holy, holy, holy. The word itself means set apart. And these great angelic beings are just calling out, God is set apart. He's set apart. He's set apart. All creation is filled with his glory, but he's set apart. He's above all. He's above all his creation. There is God, the creator, and everything else is non-creator. It's the created. And he's set apart from his creation. He's set apart from all evil. James tells us God can't conceive of evil. He would never tempt anyone to do evil. He's not tempted by evil. He's set apart. Whenever the spiritual forces of evil met the Lord Jesus Christ during the days of his earthly ministry. They would cry out before him, crying out for mercy, I know who you are. You're the set apart one. You're the holy one. You're the set apart one. They knew who he was, even though they hated him. See, we can't really have a biblical idea of salvation unless we have a biblical idea of God. This is why people just drift along in our day. They've never had a biblical idea of God as the Holy One. In contrast, Isaiah knows his sinfulness, and he senses his desperate condition before the Holy Lord. Note well that he knows this. He knows who he is as he sees the Lord. What does he say here? Then I said, verse 5, then I said, after he sees God in this vision, then I said, woe is me, for I am ruined. I'm a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips. How do I know that? Because my eyes have seen the king, the lord of armies. When you see God as he is, as he's revealed himself in the scripture, then you begin to understand who you are. Say, I'm a person of unclean lips. And remember what Jesus said in Matthew 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, 34. Out of the overflow of the heart, what speaks? The mouth. So whatever we say comes from our heart. And he sees, I'm just completely corrupt. I'm a man of unclean lips. Everyone I dwell among, because I've seen God. We're just people of unclean lips. Our hearts are in bad shape. What is to be done? And so the only hope for Isaiah or anyone else is an atoning sacrifice that can take away guilt. Here, Isaiah uses one of his symbols of a burning coal taken from the altar to put on and purify him. Later in his book, Isaiah 53, he talks about how that burning coal came through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. And the point here is the only way to be right with God is through the sacrifice made by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Otherwise, all you're going to say, I'm undone, woe is me, I'm ruined, I'm headed for destruction. But no, there's a way of salvation. That is truly good news. The response to God's greatness is seen in verses 8 through 13. Isaiah gladly receives a commission to serve the Lord, though this put Isaiah on the path of hardship, rejection, and disappointment. How long will I cry out? Well, he'll cry out the whole life. Who's going to listen? No one. That's not, you don't think you'd get anybody to sign up for the ministry if you tell them you're never going to reach anyone. You're just going to cry out. This is extra. Don't be discouraged today because sometimes we go through days of small things, okay? Do you realize that this is the greatest day in the whole history of the Christian church? Do you understand that? I mean, for so long, the gospel was just in Europe and North America. Now the gospel's in South America, it's in Africa, it's in Asia, it's in Australia. The knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, Habakkuk says. And it's happening. We're living in the greatest day. And we might not see it right where we are in our own little Jerusalem, so to speak. But if you lift up your eyes, the fields are white to harvest. We need to be energized with that. These are great days. And so we might be crying out like Isaiah, but let's not think everybody is crying out and not seeing anybody turning to the Lord. Multitudes are coming. They're going into towns in Africa. A man will go in there and preach. A day or two, he'll leave, and there's a church there already. So let's give thanks. Let's pray. And let's pray, Lord, we get on our face before you. Send the good news back to the United States of America. Send it back to Canada. Send it into Mexico, because Mexico really needs it. Right? Great Britain. We could talk about Great Britain. You can weep when you go to Britain. But let's be thankful for the other things that are happening. South Korea wants to send out a million missionaries. That's more than we've ever sent out, okay? And they have the people to do it. They're in the process of sending them out. As the Apostle John makes clear, and the Apostles are always right, okay, John chapter 12, he says, this vision here in Isaiah 6 is a vision of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You can read that in John 12, 37 through 41. Jesus came and did many miraculous signs. People would not believe in him, No one can believe and be saved apart from the regenerating power of God the Holy Spirit. But God is so great that he can take the word of God, the message of God, and by his mighty power put it into a human soul. So that person is born again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And that person suddenly says, I'm alive, I'm alive. Praise God, I'm alive. See, that's how we need to be praying. Lord, you can cause people to be born again. So let's think of the area around this church. Think about block by block by block. Okay, Lord, I don't know of a single Christian in that block. And so we're going to start praying for that block, okay, that road. Did I speak like Philadelphia there? Did I just say road? That's how you can always tell somebody from Philly, because we draw out our O's. Road, you know, go. Takes a long time to talk, because we draw out the O's so far. People need God to change their hearts. Now look at Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40. This is... Such a great chapter. Read it on your own. Those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. The very famous verse at the end. That's one of the first verses I knew as a young person. But the other part of this, just Look at verse 9. Zion, herald of good news. Go up on a high mountain. Jerusalem, herald of good news. Raise your voice loudly. Raise it up. Do not be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, here is your God. And then he begins to describe God. So if we've seen God's incomparable, his greatness is seen in his holiness, we see God's greatness is shown in his incomparability. Verses 1 through 8, his incomparable grace provided the way of salvation. The Lord decided to provide salvation for his sinful people. See, God did not have to save any of us, right? If he did, it's not grace. That would be a work. But because he didn't have to say, but freely chose. There's a verse somewhere in the Gospel, John, I don't know if you ever heard it, for God so loved. Anybody hear that verse? Do you know it? He so loved the world, a world in evil, a world in sin. He so loved the world, that world of humanity that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. See, it all comes from the love of God, and he tells Israel that. Yes, Israel, I've decided to reach out to save you, so comfort, comfort you, my people. He gives that great message. He said, that message is certain. He says, the grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever. It's incomparable. Isaiah, spoke some 700 years before Christ. I have a man in, well, my Bible says, he's never got over this. You know, he's read through Isaiah, and he said, David? He always calls me David. David, when did Isaiah write? I said, 700 BC. 700 years before Christ, he goes, wow, this is remarkable, because he gives this great picture about Christ. You see, God's incomparable actions in the world. He cares for his people in the world. Notice. Verse 11, he protects his flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them in the fold of his garment. He gently leads those that are nursing. What a picture of our God. If you are a child of God, where are you being carried? right in his arms. Or Jesus puts it this way. You're right in my hand, and you're in the Father's hand. And no one's going to get you out of there. Jesus says, I'm the good shepherd. I give my life for the sheep. See, he's the fulfillment of what Isaiah is talking about here. He's near as the good shepherd. He acts with wisdom to save his people out from the world by a way that seems foolish to the world. But yet he's saying, this is it. This is how you can know me through my son whom I gave for you. He paints his incomparable glory in contrast to the nation's. Years ago, there was a film, Chariots of Fire, about Eric Little. He gets to the Olympics and he finds out He's scheduled to run on Sunday. He doesn't believe he should do that as a Christian. And so he says, I can't run there. But the other guy, Harold Abrams, runs in the race that Little was supposed to run in. And it shows Little in church, and he's reading Isaiah 40. about the greatness of God, and there is Harold Abrams out on the track, and he's losing, because God is so far above all the nations. And then, of course, the end of the story, Little wins the gold medal in the 400 meters. He does a remarkable job. But that setting in Isaiah 40, it says, the Lord is immense. God is so, your God is so immense, he carries the whole universe in the span of his hand. However large that universe is, God just looks at, okay, it's just in my hand here. And so God could throw it off like that if he cared to, but he doesn't because he created it, the great goodness of our creator. He rules over it, verses 21 through 24, and he's powerful and he's able to supply power, verses 25 through 31. True faith values the glory of the Lord supremely. Thirdly, we see the greatness of God known in the work of his servant. Look at Isaiah 50 at verse 4. The Lord God has given to me the tongue of those who are instructed to know how to sustain the weary with the word. He awakens me each morning. He awakens my ear to listen like those being instructed. The Lord has opened my ear and I was not rebellious. I did not turn back. I gave my back to those who beat me. My cheeks to those who tore out my beard. I did not hide my face from scorn and spitting. The Lord God will help me. Therefore, I have not been humiliated. Therefore, I have sent my face like a flint. And I know I will not be put to shame. The one who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us confront each other. Who has a case against me? Let him come near me. In truth, the Lord God will help me. Who will condemn me? Indeed, all of them will wear out like a garment. A moth will devour them. Who among you fears the Lord, listening to the voice of his servant? Who among you walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of Yahweh. Let him lean on his God. Look all you who kindle a fire, who encircle yourselves with firebrands. Walk in the light of your fire. And in the firebrands you have lit, this is what you will get from my hand. You will lie down in a place of torment. The servant, the Christ, was sent by God the Father to do his will. And so we can see the greatness of God through the work of his servant. He received his mission and message from the Lord. And that's why the emphasis is, I have listened to you. I've heard you. You've given me the message. He obeyed the Father, though it required great suffering on his part. You read here in Isaiah, 700 years before Christ, what happened to Christ as he was beaten, as he's on the cross? I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who tore out my beard. I can't imagine that. You can see why Isaiah 53 says, we were like people who hid our faces from him. We didn't esteem him. He suffered so horribly at the hands of sinners. And all these details are fulfilled 700 years after Isaiah writes. He relied on the Father for vindication. You see that in John chapter 5, the end of John 5. And Isaiah concludes this. little picture with two possible responses to the servant Jesus Christ. He says, one is the way of faith. You can listen, you can fear the Lord, and you can trust. You can trust in Yahweh. The way of faith can seem very dark and unsure. Our faith cannot explain everything. I was a pastor for 35 years. And when you're a pastor for 35 years, you encounter a lot of suffering among people. And I've never been able to understand, you get a family and life is going along fine, everything is good year after year, and then suddenly, Everything goes wrong. Their whole world goes crazy. And you say, Lord, hold off. They're suffering enough already. Please, Lord, stop. And then they suffer more. We can't explain everything in life. We just know we can trust God in the midst of our sufferings, because he does carry us close to his heart, even in the midst of our suffering. This is the whole message of Romans chapter 8, right? We trust that he will work everything out. And so we might walk in the darkness and have no light, but we trust in the name of Yahweh. We lean on our God. One of the earliest songs I can remember is, what a fellowship, what a joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arms. What a blessedness, what a peace is mine, leaning on the everlasting arms. You know that? You know that joy of just leaning on God? But there's another response, and it's the wrong response, and it's the way of pride. And this is trust in human ability, and it's what we think is the certain outcome of human ability. And so Isaiah speaks to another group of people and says, look, all you who kindle a fire, who encircle yourselves with firebrands, walk in the light of your fire. Walk in the firebrands you have lit. They're people that try and find their own way through life and their own wisdom. They light their own fires. They try and figure out everything. And God, the Holy Spirit, warns them, here's what you get for your trouble. You will receive this from my hand. You will lie down in a place of torment. Well, that's not popular in our day, is it? But see, the Bible is a story of God's glory in Jesus Christ through salvation by judgment. And the way we're saved is one day the judgment fell on him, correct? Where his face was given to those who mocked him, everything what Isaiah has just said here. He was judged so that you and I would not be judged. And then he says, Come unto me, all you who labor and are weary and burdened, and I'll give you rest. Come to me. Come to me, Jesus says. I'm the one who suffered. I'm the one who died. But he also says, John chapter 3. Whoever does not come, whoever does not believe is what? Condemned already. Why? Because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. Which one are you? Where are you today? Are you among those who have believed in Jesus Christ and are saved? I mean, that's the whole purpose of this church. It's been there for years and years and years, hasn't it? Let's remember there's a world out there, a world where people need the Lord, and we have to go out and seek them. We're in Christ. He's the good shepherd. He seeks the lost, so we should be out seeking the lost too. Wherever we are, may God give us grace to do that. People need God to change their hearts. The only way to be right with God is through Christ and His saving works. The fulfillment of prophecy displays the reality of God's word. True faith values the glory of the Lord supremely. And here's the real lesson. You can make your choice, but you can't choose the consequence of your choice. God chooses the consequences of your choices. There are people out there who are rejecting Christ and they think they can choose the consequence of their choice, but they can't. God chooses the consequences of our choices. You trust in Christ, okay, that's your choice. God has a good consequence for you, right? Eternal life. Which choice is yours? Are you trusting in Christ? May God give you the grace to do so. Father in heaven, we thank you for the message of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, written in your words 700 years before you ever sent him. May this give us confidence in the truth of the Word of God, that what was said of him was fulfilled so perfectly. May each of us be trusting in him, even though we can't figure out some of the things of our life. May we still trust in the Lord our God. We pray that everyone here might be trusting in the Savior for eternal life, because it's through his name we pray. Amen.