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foreign you you you you good evening everyone and uh we're happy to have you here at free grace uh baptist church this evening and we're gonna start the service off with a call to worship so i'd ask that you please turn in your bibles to psalm 104 verse 24. that's psalm 104 verse 24. and 24 right to the end of the chapter oh lord how manifold are your works in wisdom you have made them all the earth is full of your possessions this great and wide sea in which our innumerable teeming things living things both small and great there the ships sail about there is that leviathan which you have made to play there these all wait for you that you may give them their food in due season what you give them they gather in you open your hand they are filled with good you hide your face they are troubled you take away their breath they die and return to their dust you send forth your spirit they are created and you renew the face of the earth may the glory of the lord endure forever may the lord rejoice in his works he looks on the earth and it trembles he touches the hills and they smoke i will sing to the lord as long as i live i will sing the praise to my god while i have my being may my meditation be sweet to him i will be glad in the lord may sinners be consumed from the earth and the wicked be no more bless the lord o my soul praise the lord amen i'll now ask that you turn in your hymn books to psalm 99 and please stand as we sing to the lord 99 oh sorry flip throne there you go [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] maybe seated let's close as we go to our lord in prayer dear lord heavenly father you are the lord of lords and you are the king of kings and you are the creator of all the heavens and the earth lord and all the creatures in him and uh you are the elf and the omega and you are the great i am and uh lord we have so much to be thankful for we thank you for your glorious gospel that you have given to us and we pray that it would be proclaimed in every corner of the earth and that you would gather your elect lord of every tribe and tongue and we thank you lord that salvation is not through our works lord but it is through jesus and we know lord that there is nothing that we can do that would save us only the blood of our lord and savior jesus we thank you for your word that has come down to us lord and as the scripture says that we cannot live off of bread alone but every every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the lord lord we thank you so much for our church plants we think of surrey and vernon and dryden and the church in honduras lord we thank you for the men leading them and we pray that you would just empower them and you would give them wisdom and knowledge in your word lord and that they would speak faithfully and boldly and courageously lord your gospel we pray that the holy spirit would be present in these churches lord and bring many sinners to repentance through them and lord we pray that these churches would be beacons in their communities and cities and that you would use them as instruments lord to advance your mighty kingdom lord we also think of the persecuted church we think of the church in china and um the atrocities that happened there lord and and our friends in myanmar and we think or we we pray that uh you just keep any evil thing from hindering their work lord and that they may continue proclaiming the gospel lord to refugees and orphans and the the persecuted church and the middle east and and china lord we pray that you just empower them help them to persevere to whatever end lord and that they would proclaim christ to that end lord we think of our our own government and the authorities above us we know lord that you have their hearts in your hand lord and you control their ways we pray lord that you would remove their hearts of stones and give them hearts of flesh and it just seems every day that every decision they make and direction they turn is a rebellion against you and it brings us great stress lord and so we pray that you would remove remove these leaders lord and give us men who who fear you and not man and uh that they would be restrained and and removed lord we think of our own church and we pray that we can be uplifting and uh encouraging to each other and that we can continually be building each other up lord and for any here that are are suffering in silence lord i pray that you would be a comfort unto them and that they would just be reminded that you were sovereign over over all things and when we cry out to you that you hear our prayers lord and we thank you that you are a god that hears our prayers and and looks after its children um we we know that uh you know every hair that's on our head lord it is numbered and counted and you know our needs more intimately than we do and we pray that you just continue to watch over each and every one of us and to have our needs met lord we pray that the rest of this evening on this lord's day that your name would be greatly exalted and that uh we would bring glory and praise to your name and we pray this in your son jesus's precious and holy name amen i'll now ask that you stand and turn in your hymn books to him 541 same 541. [Music] oh is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] uh [Music] oh [Music] you may be seated in the evening services we read a chapter from the old testament and this evening we are reading numbers chapter 2. so if you turn there please numbers chapter 2 starting in verse 1 and we will read the entirety of the chapter and the lord spoke to moses and aaron saying every one of the children of israel shall camp by his own standard beside the emblems of his father's house they shall camp some distance from the tabernacle of meeting on the east side toward the rising of the sun those of the standard of the forces with judah shall camp according to their armies and nashon the son of a minidad shall be the leader of the children of judah and his army was numbered at seventy four thousand six hundred those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of ishikar and nathanael the son of zuar shall be the leader of the children of issachar and his army was numbered at fifty four thousand four hundred then comes the tribe of zebelon and eli the son of hellon shall be the leader of the children of zebelon and his army was numbered at 57 400 all who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with judah 186 thousand four hundred these shall break camp first on the south side shall be the standard of the forces with reuben according to their armies and the leader of the children of reuben shall be eliezer the son of shedder and his army was numbered at 46 500. those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of simeon and the leader of the children of simeon shall be shel emil the son of zura shaddai and his army was numbered at 59 300. then comes the tribe of gad and the leader of the children of god shall be eliassef the son of ruel and his army was numbered at forty five thousand six hundred and fifty all who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with reuben one hundred and fifty one thousand four hundred and fifty they shall be the second to break camp and the tabernacle of meeting shall move out with the camp of the levites in the middle of the camps as they camp so they shall move out everyone in this place by their standards on the west side shall be the standard of the forces of ephraim according to their armies and the leader of the children of ephraim shall be elishima the son of ammahud and his army was numbered at 40 40 500. next to him comes the tribe of manasseh and the leader of the children of manasseh shall be gamaliel the son of pedezir and his army was numbered at 32 200. then comes the tribe of benjamin and the leader of the children of benjamin shall be abiden the son of gideon i and his army was numbered at 35 400. all who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with ephraim one hundred and eight thousand one hundred they shall be the third to break camp the standard of the forces with dan shall be on the north side according to their armies and the leader of the children of dan shall be ahizer the son of amishadai and his army was numbered at sixty-two thousand 700. those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of asher the leader of the children of asher shall be peggy the son of akran and his army was numbered at 41 500. then comes the tribe of naftali and the leader of the children of naftali shall be ahira the son of enon and his army was numbered at 53 400. all who were numbered of the forces with dan 157 600 they shall break camp last with their standards these are the ones who were numbered of the children of israel by their father's houses all who were numbered according to their armies of the forces were six hundred and three thousand hundred 550 but the levites were not numbered among the children of israel just as the lord commanded moses thus the children of israel did according to all that the lord commanded moses so they camped by their standards and so they broke camp each one by his family according to their father's houses amen let's now go to our lord in prayer dear lord heavenly father we thank you again for this evening and for gathering us together and lord we just pray that as the your word is preached tonight that uh if there's any anyone here still lost in their sins lord that you would remove their heart of stone and give them one of flesh lord and that you would reveal the glory of your son jesus to them and that they may be saved through that and we pray lord that you just use ryan as your instrument lord and and uh that you just give him a spirit of of peace and um that he would just speak the word clearly tonight lord and and uh that you would remove the veil from our eyes and any uh fog from our mind lord that we may see and comprehend clearly and we pray that uh you we would be blessed by it and edified by it and we pray this in jesus holy name amen and ask for that you would stand again for the last hymn before the preaching hymn 421 so mercedes [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] mercury foreign [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] i shall be [Music] is [Music] maybe see it well good evening everyone if you were paying attention or thinking as we sang all these hymns the common theme that uh of each one of these ones was the universal kingship of our savior lord jesus christ his universal dominion from to all the from from from sea to sea from to all the nations and that's uh that is that is indeed our topic tonight and from isaiah chapter 42 so if you turn in your bibles to isaiah 42 this the one of the first servant songs that we find in the book of isaiah look at the first 13 verses this evening in uh in isaiah 42 i'll read the entire chapter though so isaiah chapter 42 behold my servant whom i uphold my elect one in whom my soul delights i have put my spirit upon him and he will bring forth justice to the gentiles he will not cry out nor raise his voice nor cause his voice to be heard in the street a bruised reed he will not break and smoking flax he will not quench he will bring forth justice for truth he will not fail nor be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth and the coastlands shall wait for his law thus says god the lord who created the heavens and stretched them out who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it i the lord have called you in righteousness i will hold your hand i will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people as a light to the gentiles to open blind eyes to bring out prisoners from the prison those who sit in darkness from the prison house i am the lord that is my name and my glory i will not give to another nor my praise to carved images behold the former things have come to pass and new things i declare before they spring forth i tell you of them sing to the lord a new song and his praise from the ends of the earth you who go down to the sea and all that is in it you coastlands and all you inhabitants of them let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice the villages that kedar inhabits let the inhabitants of selah sing let them shout from the top of the mountains let them give glory to the lord and declare his praise in the coastlands the lord shall go forth like a mighty man he shall stir up his zeal like a man of war he shall cry out yes shout aloud he shall prevail against his enemies i have held my peace a long time i have been still and restrained myself now i will cry like a woman in labor i will pant and gasp at once i will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation i will make the rivers coastlands and i will dry up the pools i will bring the blind by the way they did not know i will lead them in paths they have not known i will make darkness light before them and crooked places straight these things i will do for them and not forsake them they shall be turned back they shall be greatly ashamed who trust in carved images who say to the molded images you are our gods hear you deaf and look you blind that you may see who is blind but my servant or deaf as my messenger whom i send who is blind as he who is perfect and blind as the lord's servant seeing many things but you do not observe opening the ears but he does not hear the lord is well pleased for his righteousness sake he will exalt the law and make it honorable but this is a people robbed and plundered all of them are snared in holes they are hidden in prison houses they are for prey and no one delivers for plunder and no one says restore who among you will give ear to this who will listen and hear for the time to come who gave jacob for plunder and israel to the robbers was it not the lord he against whom we have sinned for they would not walk in his ways nor were they obedient to his law therefore he has poured on him the fury of his anger and the strength of battle it has set him on fire all around yet he did not he did not know and it and it burned him yet he did not take it to heart amen and let us pray oh lord we come before you again lord we ask your blessing upon us as we come to this passage of scripture lord as we think of the sovereignty the the universal dominion of our savior the lord jesus christ your servant here whom you present to us in this in this song in isaiah lord i pray that you would be pleased to bless us this evening that it would be a means for the strengthening the edifying of your people here that it would be a means for the the salvation of sinners that do that that it would be a means where by which you call them out of darkness by which you open the blind eyes and bring the light to the in in the dark hearts and and release those captives in prison lord i pray that you would be pleased to bless us now we pray for the ministry of your spirit and we pray this in the name of our savior the lord jesus christ amen so the the greater context that um that this passage comes in is begins in chapter 40 of isaiah and uh chapter 40 41 here and the um and we see this this cry to jerusalem or this this comfort story that goes out in in chapter 40 verse one comfort yes comfort my people says your god speak comfort to jerusalem and cry out to her that her warfare is ended that her iniquity is pardoned so it's this uh he's speaking to to jerusalem here that that the this oppression depression by your enemies is is going to to come to an end that and that yahweh himself is declaring this that that he's going to bring an end to this oppression and then and then he as he as he goes through he's we see the futility of putting hope in in other other um other other gods of the nations or in man whatever it may be but rather rather it's yahweh is going to he himself is will will see to it he will ensure the deliverance of his people there and then as we come to chapter 42 then this then this is where where he always says this is this is how i'm going to do it and then we see this uh this this you know as the the servant presented to us the the the servant of yahweh so so this is um this passage here is is the is the what i call the commissioning of the servant of yahweh and we find um we find first in verse one through four the the presentation of the servant in verses five through nine we have the the mission of the servant and then in through 13 we have the victory of of this servant of yahweh so he begins then in in verse 1 here he says behold now in the in the hebrew this uh this word behold indicates an an element of surprise or an element of of of unexpectedness that that um that that he's going to to present there's something there that that was not expected we might we might say well i would have i would have thought otherwise but but so that's kind of what the the word behold indicates that's coming something unexpected there so so behold um and so he says so in and then he says behold my servant whom i have pulled my elect one in whom my soul delights so in the in the previous chapters we've seen yahweh says i'm going to i'm going to be the one who who saves you who who rescues you who releases you from this oppression this bondage um that that you're in i'm going to be your redeemer he says the in in back in chapter 41 you i'm your redeemer you're your holy one the holy one of israel he calls himself there but but here he says this is this is i i i will do it but it's going to be through my servant my servant whom i'm going to commission to do this task of of re of redeeming you of of um of releasing you from this this bond is bringing an end to your warfare your oppression there now so he presents his servant so behold my servant now we understand we know this this the servant here the servant of yahweh is the messiah he's the the lord jesus christ we have that explicitly given in matthew chapter 12 where matthew applies this this passage to our lord jesus christ so there's no there's no um there's no question as to who is he's who's he speaking about here he's speaking of of the lord jesus christ the messiah so so he says my servant now reference referencing to his his humanity in this uh in this instance um that uh the that the servant is um he's he's his he's the referring to the human nature of our of our savior of the messiah and we'll see later as we as we get to the end here that that uh the messiah is also yahweh of israel himself but um but but but the the the servant the fact that he's the he's the servant here is is referencing his his human nature and his in his um and his mission we can we can say there's uh there's an element of of servant um in the economy of redemption now that's going to be outside the scope of this message but um but primarily just understand here this is he's speaking of the of the human nature and the and the the the the both the earthly ministry of our lord jesus christ but also of the spiritual aspect of it as well we'll see that as we as we as we get into this more so my so my servant whom i uphold he says here now this is interesting here this verb um is the the verb uphold it could be either in the the the passive or the active meaning um meaning that you know it could be the servant or or or yahweh the one being upheld or yahweh doing the upholding we might think like what do you mean yahweh is the one being upheld well well the um the idea here and again this calvin and gil um you know i have them on my side they present both of these uh both of these positions as well the active or the passive it could be so in this so in the sense of of of um of you know my servant whom i will be upheld by would be a literal um in the passive form their meaning meaning um my my my glory my reputation my my sovereign dominion over this earth will be upheld by this servant so it's a very legitimate um legitimate translation when we understand that there and i think when we see that um we see that in in in the previous chapters we see it in this chapter as well that god that that yahweh's glory his reputation his and and his um not not so much his reputation i could i guess but his dominion is um is is he's upholding that in this redemption of his people so and his and bringing this dominion from from from uh from to all the nations so so it could be that um you know so that i've commissioned this servant to be the one who upholds my glory and upholds my dominion over over all of all of creation it could be that it could be the act active um in which is how our english bibles translate it whom i and i will uphold him so yahweh being the the the the one doing the upholding there i think that's probably that's better i think it fits the context better um in in verse six we see that he says i i will hold your hand uh we see he tells us here how he's going to do it in verse one that i will put my spirit upon him so the idea then that yahweh is going to equip his servant to carry out this task and uphold him and and and and be there so to to help him to to um to guarantee the success of his mission so we have we have both options it could be either one um but but again i think it's i think it's the act of one yahweh doing the upholding there so and then he calls him my my elect one or my chosen one and he doesn't worthy he doesn't use the word messiah here the the hebrew word messiah we you know we know that that means chosen that means anointed but that's not what the hebrew word here is what it is here is um it means chosen but it it denotes an element of excellency or or virtue of of something there's something about this one who who he has chosen for this for this his excellency his virtue there's something about this person this servant of yahweh that is that is there's is excellent it's it it and and that is a reference to his person as i said that the fact that he is the second person of the trinity um and the this uh you know he is the he is yahweh himself now we'll we'll see that fleshed out in more detail as we go through but that's but there's there's a there's an element of virtue there of about this person something something something excellent being him being yahweh himself and then of course and that is why that is why the lord delights in him my my elect one and whom my soul delights we see that very clearly when we come to the new testament we and we come to the baptism we see the baptism of christ at the baptism which is which was which was christ's um formal commissioning we could say to do his task then we hear the voice from heaven behold this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased so we have that very very very clearly we see that as baptism the father very very pleased with the son for for uh for for his for who he is and for the work that he's about to do and then we and then and that's also where we where we find that at the baptism that's where we find the fulfillment of the next line in this in the psalm or in this uh in this passage here and i have i have put my spirit upon him at the at the christ baptism that was where we that was like i said the beginning of his earthly mission uh ministry there in the beginning of him carrying out this commission and the spirit came upon him at his baptism visibly there in the form of a dove there was that special anointing of the holy spirit to to enable the christ the messiah the to to fulfill his god given task so we have very clearly here this this um the the upholding yahweh's yahweh upholding his spirit to perform upholding his servant by his spirit to perform this task that he has given him this because this is no this is no ordinary task this is a this is uh what the what the servant what the servant is going to do he says he says now in the next line and this is where if you remember what i said back about the word behold there's an element of surprise something we would have thought that's that's uh that's strange um you know i wouldn't have thought that way especially when given the context is to jerusalem i'm going to you know i'm i'm going to bring an end to your warfare and now he says here how i'm going to do this he says he's going to bring forth justice to the to the gentiles and so we think what that's that's that's strange well that's again was as we see well the the the the work of the savior is not about national israel it's about it's about uh uh to all the nations that christ is going to make a kingdom for himself from every tribe tongue people and nation it's not limited to israel so there's that's where this element of of surprise to to a jew reading this would have there but it would have been he's going to bring justice to the gentiles now important to understand here the word justice in this context does not mean um judgment it's not it's not you always going to the servant is going to bring judgment to the gentiles but it's the the idea of it's it's justice it's it's it's freedom from oppression having having having one who's who rules righteously in truth and and in justice it's it's a it's a it's this freedom from oppression that's a and again this is a this is a a a new and a strange promise to the jews in isaiah's day righteous rule was limited to to the nation of israel you can turn to deuteronomy 4 to see that that this that the the other nations were marked by unrighteous leaders and you know which which goes back to what we talked about this morning in terms of on this on the the the spiritual element behind it in terms of what happened at babel but deuteronomy chapter 4 in verse seven here for he's uh he says yahweh speaking he says for what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as yahweh our god is to us and whatever reason for whatever reason we may call upon him and what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which i set before you this day so so we can see that the that the nations the nations around there were governed through through tyranny through oppression of the poor murder of the innocent we saw a lot of that in in psalm 94 last week when we looked at that but that was that was that's what marked these these these nations who were in darkness and again this is this is on a on a spiritual level the you know the the gentiles are in are in darkness or under the oppression of of satan his devices and being kept in in darkness now of course this this this this is there's a spiritual element behind it but of course it fleshes itself out in in their their lives and their societies to be sure their but but uh christ's job christ's task the servants task is to bring freedom to them to bring righteous rule to these poor gentiles now this is not not in terms of an earthly kingdom that's not uh that's not what his his role is here this is a this you know he's not bringing an earthly kingdom with earthly leaders who are going to rule rule you know uh in in justice and rule rightly there but rather he this is in terms of his spiritual kingdom freedom from the kingdom of darkness bringing them into his kingdom wherein we're in righteousness dwells where the the the kingdom which is going to which which will re uh in the inheritance at the end of the age when the kingdom is complete is it peter says it's it's new heavens it's new earth we're in righteousness dwell so that's the idea that's going on here so so when he says he's bringing it to the gentiles it's too to those who are in darkness on a spiritual level it's it's it's it's everyone across the board we saw that this morning in our in our um confession study with the with the concept of covenants and what happened when adam sinned and and broke that covenant adam was adam was we could say was was plunged into darkness all of all of creation became part of this kingdom of darkness governed by governed by satan and and his his host and his armies and his his um hierarchy of of beings now christ is coming to bring freedom from from that and create a a kingdom with a lot of this is a lot of overlap of what we uh what we looked at this morning um in these things so so that is that is what that is what the servant is going to do he's going to bring righteousness justice to the gentiles yahweh says here and then so then he goes on to describe who this servant is here in in in light of this so so first um we have the servant's humility in verse two he says he will not cry out nor raise his voice or nor cause his voice to be heard in the street so he's speaking of his of his humility there the christ he's not going to arrive like a like the next uh tyrannical uh leader you know and with much pomp and circumstance and and and splendor announcing his his arrival and come in and and destroy the people we can imagine you know whoever it may be you know um alexander the great or nebuchadnezzar or these you know these these assyrian kings that would come in and and decimate a a place much pomp and circumstance that's not how that's not how the messiah is going to go about his his business he's he is he is he's humble he's he's here he's he will not cry out he will not raise his voice um nor cause his voice to be heard in the street now now what now we know this is this is referring to christ's earthly ministry when we and we know that because because matthew applies this passage in matthew 12 to christ as he's referring to the to the humility and to the compassion of the savior he and then he quotes this as the fulfillment of that so and the purpose is there so that is that so that we don't form a uh an earthly conception of his of his kingdom and for the and for the jews in his day when he when he came that they for for them to to realize that his this messiah was not to to bring in a national kingdom there but he was to bring in he was to bring in building a spiritual kingdom out of those whom he would save from spiritual darkness so so he's he's he's he's humble his earthly ministry is one of humility and then in verse three we have his compassion a bruised reed he will not break and smoking flocks he will not quench so he's he's these are these this this bruised reed and smoking flax this refers to those who have been who've been afflicted been oppressed those those who are in this in in darkness and have a an and see their see their their their their state that they're in and they who have a desire for freedom from this darkness that's what he's that's what he's speaking to again they're they're under this this rule of of evil this oppression they see that they don't want to be in that darkness and and christ is coming to free them from that darkness it's the the the concept is one of here where they realize their they can't they're they're they're they're they're in they're in there they can't save themselves and they and they're they but they and they then they desire to be saved that's who that's who christ has come here and he and he has he comes um it's it's it's one where he comes for to give this this spiritual healing and and freedom we saw how matthew applies it to the to the compassion he had on the on the people in his earthly ministry and the healing that he that he gave to those people in terms of their illnesses and their things but it's on a spiritual level it's the same thing it's those who are in in in oppression those who have a desire who come to him for for for healing for salvation he will he will not he will not not break a bruised reed one that's been bruised in this in this in this state of oppression he will not come and break it but rather he's he will rescue that that bruised reed and this then the smoking flax he will not quench smoking flax referring to a candle wick here that's uh a candle wick that's that's uh that's smoldering there there's there's no hope the um we could say there's there's no hope of salvation in themselves they you know they they those who have no hope of salvation in themselves christ will not extinguish someone in that in that who looks to him for for salvation from this from this darkness he will not extinguish that so i think that's if if if if you're here tonight and something you know you feel like this broken reed this this smoldering wick no hope of salvation in yourselves no hope of of of freedom from this the bondage of being in darkness no hope of salvation from in yourselves from this tyranny of satan which the bible says that you are under um which which will end in your in your destruction under the wrath of god for your rebellion against him if if if that's you and you and you feel like that like like you're you're a bruised reed or you're a smoking flocks then christ is the answer christ came for sinners like that for like for sinners who see their helplessness who who who recognize their state in darkness and he's come to to rescue those from darkness those who look to him for their salvation so so then so believe on the lord jesus christ so look to him and and you will be saved says the bible very clearly but we'll move on here in verse in uh in the end of verse 3 then we see the servant's determination he will he will bring forth justice for truth he will and then verse 4 he will not fail nor be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth so his determination so he says here he will bring forth justice for truth or justice unto truth now the the uh the idea here is not one of the of the the truthfulness of the of the justice whatever that may mean but it's but it is one of the the certainty like for for certain for for for truly he will bring forth justice that is the that is the concept being uh being conveyed here that he he will he he will most certainly bring forth this justice to to the earth here this this redemption from the kingdom of darkness john gill on that comments on that now john gill applies it on on an individual level here he says but but rather so so again speaking of this you know it's not talking about the truthfulness of this justice but it's the certainty of it so he says but but rather it designs the the power of his spirit and grace accompanying the word to the carrying on of his own work in the hearts of his people which though attended by many difficulties and discouragements shall go on and be performed grace will break through all obstructions and prove victorious at last so so again gil applies it to on an individual level there but we can also we can apply it just corporately christ will build his his kingdom and and grace will break through grace is by the means by which he's building his kingdom grace will break through all obstructions and prove victorious at at last so we see the certainty of it and then we see that we see the the dedication of of the the servant to to carry out this mission he he will he will not fail nor be discouraged until he has established justice in the earth so the the dedication there we just sang um we say 421 i believe christ shall have dominion you know over land and sea earth's remotest region shall his empire be so that that that that certainty of it that he will he will persevere until he until he completes his kingdom turn to first corinthians 15. first corinthians 15 we see that we just pick up in verse 23 uh no verse 20. i guess but now christ has risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep for since by man came death by man also came the resurrection of the dead for as in adam all die even so in christ all shall be made alive but each one in his own order christ the firstfruits after afterward those who are christ at his coming then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to god the father when he puts an end to all rule and all authority and and power for he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet the last enemy that will be destroyed is death so we see that very clearly here as well in in first corinthians this the the certainty of this that christ will reign until his until his mission is complete he will he will complete this this mission he does not do he does not do a half job he doesn't get halfway through building his kingdom and say lord that's that's that's enough i've i've rescued enough people and and you know and this is good enough no he he will rescue every last one of his people from the kingdom of darkness there's no half job there so he will he will complete this god-given mission of the redemption of his people rescuing them from darkness calling them out of darkness into his marvelous light and and then it says here and then the the the coastlands will will wait for his law so this is this is the coast lands here speaking of the of the the the far-off nations the ends of the earth we might say these um that's that's generally what coastlands means um in the bible so those these far-off nations they will wait for his law now wait here has the the the the concept of of um not only expecting it waiting for it but also this embrace of it that they will that they're going to embrace his law his rule um the septuagint translation of this says that the gentiles shall trust in his name that's the the the septuagint is what matthew uses when he when he quotes it there and so matthew quotes that matthew says the gentile still trust in his name and that's the that is the the concept here of the coastlines waiting for his law or or embracing his his rule so what we see here is the is the the fulfillment of his mission that that yahweh as he presents the servant to us he says he is he will fulfill this mission the the coastlands the far-off nations will submit to his kingship e.j young on his commentary on this passage here he quotes john calvin and john calvin says christ was sent in order to bring the whole world under the authority of god and under obedience to him so that's that was the mission of christ was to bring the whole world that doesn't mean all people universally but that means that means well it it um it will in terms of the destruction of the of the those who remain in rebellion in the sense where they're uh they're put under the the authority of god but um but but that was the role that's the role of christ we saw that in our in our morning sessions the confession and in our looking in first peter chapter two the role of adam that was adam's rule right but adam failed adam's role was to was to bring the whole world under the authority of god and obedience to him not from a fallen state but from a from a a neutral state we could say but now christ comes to to restore all that and christ is successful in what he does he brings this he brings his kingdom to throughout through the ends of the earth so then we come to the mission then of the servant in verse five the the thus says god the lord who or or we could yeah thus says god yahweh who created the heavens and stretched them out who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it i the lord have called you so so this is this is spoken to the servant now this is the servant receiving his marching orders his commission and yahweh gives him a reminder of who the one is that is giving this this commission who's the one who's commissioning him to do this this is not given as a threat saying you know i'm i'm yahweh i'm i'm sovereign and you better do what your what you're what you're told this is uh this is given as a as a comfort here and he and his his emphasis yahweh's emphasis is that i am the creator he's saying he's going he says to him i'm going to send you to release the the captives that are in prison to to to conquer your people the people whom i have given you i'm going to give i'm going to send you to conquer them out of of of darkness out of the kingdom of darkness the kingdom of darknesses is ruled by by strong forces we need to understand that when we when we uh when we when we when we look at passages like this the kingdom of darkness is ruled by strong forces but i am yahweh the creator remember these strong forces are only created beings i am the creator of them and i will uphold you so it's strengthening the faith of this servant of of the of this of the servant of israel strengthening him that he has yahweh behind him backing him upholding him yahweh the creator as he goes about to to take on this mission of rescuing his people from darkness so now i can imagine jesus in jesus human nature as he read the scriptures and as he learned of his role as as mediator remember christ christ was as a human nature in which he had to learn luke luke chapter 2 tells us that christ grew in wisdom he learned of his role as mediator by reading the scriptures and a passage like this would have been an an incredible source of of of comfort to him as he comes here to realize that yahweh the creator is is the one commissioning me and is the one behind me is the one upholding me and i think we see this evidenced in in matthew chapter 12. you can turn there for a minute matthew 12 this is the same where we see this we see the the servant we see him in his in his earthly ministry there the casting or healing matthew quotes this passage in this this isaiah 42 passage there and then after that we have we have a demon being cast out and then the pharisees say to him you're only doing this because you're on the side on you know the same side as satan you're doing this by by uh you know by beelzebub that's the only reason you can cast out uh cast out demons but jesus says to them in in um in in verse 28 and and following or or before that but then verse 28 um that that this is an evidence that the kingdom of god is here satan why would satan why would satan cast out his own he you know but but rather he's saying this is an evidence that the kingdom of god is here this is a you know as as christ casts out this this demon very tangible evidence that that he is he is here to to destroy the works of the devil but and and then look at verse 29 here he says how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man and then he will plunder his house so so jesus what jesus is what he's saying in this in this verse is that is that he he knows that satan is bound satan is the strong man in this in this uh in this in what jesus is referencing here satan is the strong man and jesus is plundering his goods but first the the strong man is is bound and then the goods are are plundered and that is the that is what what what jesus understands here he he realizes that satan is bound meaning that he's not all powerful he's bound or he's limited in his power he's restricted in what he can do because he's a created being and and but the kingdom of heaven the kingdom of the kingdom of god is ruled by yahweh the creator so so that was the that was the comfort that provided to to the messiah and then and then um back to i back to isaiah again 42 we're in verse verse um six now so verse five we see that reminder of yahweh as the creator um now now in in verse six i yahweh have called you in righteousness and will hold your hand and will i will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people as a light to the to the gentiles so so that reminder aye yahweh the creator i will uphold you there i will i will uh john calvin here he says christ will be directed by the father in such a manner that he shall have him as his protector and guardian shall enjoy his assistance and in short shall feel his presence in in all things so so that uh the the the yahweh the creator there calling him and holding and upholding him holding his hand now he says um he says here that i will call you in in in i've called you in righteousness another another way to say that might be i've called you unto righteousness um and and and john gill john gill um says there that it it's to it's to bring an everlasting righteousness to his people so i will call you unto righteousness a righteousness a righteousness that an everlasting righteousness that you will bring to your people and i think that's the that's the idea there and it goes with this next line as well that i will that i will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people so and that's what the because that's what the new covenant is that's what we saw this morning is that in in in our in our study that the new covenant is that provision of a new mediator in the covenant of of works um a new media new mediator between god and man one whose righteousness is worthy of eternal life so that we know that comes through the fulfillment of the of the demands of the law both in terms of curse bearing for um for law breakers and in terms of living in complete obedience to that to that law both of which jesus did we we know in in his in his life and that is uh in his life and his death and that through that righteousness that is how he is able to conquer people from darkness because he's atoned for their sin he's atoned for their rebellion against god and and therefore and therefore he is able to do that so i think that that is uh that is a pro that is a reference to that to the righteousness that christ supplies there um but then but then the father says uh says to him i will i will i will hold your hand um and in a sense in a sense i will i will um i will i will i will keep you i'll protect you i'll uphold you so that you can achieve this righteousness so so that satan cannot thwart your mission that that was we see at the after jesus baptism he was driven into the wilderness and satan did everything he could to to to thwart that mission of christ by by by by trying to get christ to fall short of that righteousness to to get him to sin he'd so satan tempted him there but but rather but but god upheld him through that temptation so that he could complete his mission and and earn that righteousness there and then and then um and then he says now i will give you as a light to the gentiles and and and then and then uh in verse seven as well to open blind eyes to bring out prisoners from the prison those who sit in darkness from the the the prison house now remember in in the in the old covenant setting the the jews were the jews were the were yahweh special people we saw that this morning they they had they had the light so to speak the gentiles lived in darkness the gentiles were under the under the you know the rule of various the various gods of the nations that the bible talks about so the servant is coming he's bringing light to them he's opening he's opening their eyes he's freeing them from this oppression this oppressive bondage to the kingdom of darkness but this is again this is not happening on a national level here this is you know the servant's role was not to grow uh the nation of israel make them a a global nation we've seen that already his kingdom is a spiritual kingdom made up of those that he is saving from from spiritual darkness isaiah uh but it is global to be sure when i say you know when i say he's not making a global nation out of israel it's not a it's not a it's not a political nation but it's a it is a global kingdom to be sure isaiah 49 says it's too small a thing for you to be my servant to the lost tribes of jacob i will also give you as a light for the gentiles so that so this global dominion of of of over over to the ends of the earth that is that that is the the kingdom of christ those he rescues from from spiritual darkness and then and then it says here those who are he's there he's going to open blind eyes so he's going to to those who are blind so this this could be referring to those who those who don't even don't even realize how bad the darkness is um how bad it is their their state you know that that they're blind to that it could be a reference to the depravity of man the spiritual depravity of man the fact that they they hate god they they're in rebellion they're blind to their situation they're blind to the darkness that they're in until christ comes and conquers them out of that it could be it could be a reference to that um i think the primary emphasis in this passage though is not the depravity of man we know the depravity of man is real man men are spiritually blind but the the the the the the emphasis of the passage here is one of of the the servant who's breaking his people free from this bondage and from this oppression of the kingdom of darkness and he who's bringing out prisoners from from from prison he says here so so christ's christ's work is to is to free all those who look to him for salvation that is that is the emphasis of the passage here not so much on the on the blindness the spiritual depravity and again so that's what christ is doing he's advancing his his kingdom the kingdom of heaven to the to the ends of the earth to the to the coastlines as isaiah says here calling this multitude from every tribe every tongue people and and and nation they're from from a universal a universal kingdom not of every every person but universal without distinction there so and now why why is why is this uh why is this is this his task why is he why is he doing this and the answer comes in in verse 8 there i am yahweh that is my name and my glory i will not give to another nor my praise to carved images so so so yahweh is a creator he created this earth yahweh requires the submission of all creation to him and yahweh will not tolerate any other any created being specifically these the the the gods of the nations which is what the what is the carved images um is referring to there we see in deuteronomy 7 25 12 3 um that these these carved images are just the visible representation of the gods of the nations there so that's what he's that's what he's he's saying here he's that that yahweh will not allow them to have any sort type of authority over his earth we know that for a time it's it's happened we see that in verse 14 i've held my peace a long time i've been still and restrained myself so after the fall yes satan satan had dominion over the earth but christ is coming to undo that to destroy those enemies of yahweh and bring back universal universal dominion over the earth now again we we know god is sovereign god is sovereign over all things god has dominion in that sense over everything but in terms of the story of redemptive history and what is going on what is taking place that's how god has chosen to to work this out where satan has this dominion satan has this power over the earth and christ is coming to to to crush the head of the serpent that's that's what the that's what the passage in genesis 3 15 is is all about christ coming to destroy the serpent and and to bring back this this uh this universal kingdom and destroy all those who reject him so those who those who um and again remember that remember the kelvin quote that i that i quoted earlier that christ was sent in order to bring the whole world under the authority of god and under obedience to him if you look at the servant song in isaiah 49 there's a there's a lot of parallels to this um to this one and in isaiah isaiah 49 verse verse 8 thus says the lord in an acceptable time i have heard you in the day of salvation i have helped you i will preserve you and give you as a covenant to the people and to restore the earth to cause them to inherit the desolate heritage so so that is the that's that is the role he's restoring the earth to the sovereign dominion of of yahweh himself and and who who is christ as we'll as we'll see at the end christ is yahweh so um and then we have the the the guarantee of this um of this here so so so john calvin again i'm going to i'll quote him calvin says but since satan by amazing arts endeavors to obscure this glory of god and to bestow it on men and on false gods he yahweh therefore testifies that he will not permit himself to be to be regarded as fickle or deceitful in his promises so then so so that's in commenting on verse nine behold the former things have come to pass and new things i declare before they spring forth i i tell you so so calvin again um here hence here so in this in this verse nine we obtain a singular confirmation of our faith that the lord never deceives never swerves from his promise and nothing can hinder what he has once determined and that's what verse nine is that's what that's what he's saying the former things have come to pass in the sense that things that i'd prophesied that i said would take place long ago they've all come to pass they've all taken place and and and and therefore the new things that i declare before they happen i tell you of them but it's guaranteed we find that in in joshua 24 verse 45 is a is an amazing amazing verse there just of the faithfulness of yahweh and the fact that what that yahweh um that that he his word will come to pass uh joshua joshua 24 verse 45 that says um of not a word failed let me find it here of all the good things that sorry i have the wrong reference or verse 40 i wrote down the wrong reference but not a not a word failed of all the good things that yahweh said had spoke to the uh sorry verse 21 verse 45 not a word failed of any good thing which the lord had spoken to the house of israel all came to pass that is the that's the faithfulness of yahweh and that guarantee here that he gives in this uh in this um in in this um commissioning to to the servant that you know i've i've promised you this and and it i will i will bring it to pass i there there's the guarantee of of yahweh that that he will that he will he will see this to the end he will be there for the servant to uphold him and then now we see the we come to the victory of the servant in verses 10 through 13 verse 10 sing to the lord a new song in his praise from the ends of the earth you who go down to the sea and all that is in it you coast lands a new inhabitants of them so this is the this is the evidence now of a successful mission of the servant we have the the ends of the earth are called to to sing to to sing this this this new song to to yahweh this is it's it's a new song something something has changed so and and we know that's the that's the successful mission word of this by which now those who are in darkness from all these nations are now in in the light in his kingdom they're praising yahweh um now they're they're they're celebrating his victory celebrating the fact that he liberated them from from darkness there so he says so you who go you go down to the sea and and all that is in it so that's all the the nations to the to the west and and to the to the north there and then in verse 11 let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice the villages that kadar inhabits let the inhabitants of salah sing and let them shout from the top of the mountain so that so so those are the nations to the east and and to the to the to the south so so that's the here we see the the gospel going to the to the ends of the earth that um that just like jesus said it would do that he would he would build his his kingdom through beginning with his apostles they would be his witnesses he said in acts you would be my witnesses in in jerusalem judea samaria and to the ends of the earth and that's exactly um that's that's what it's referencing here and that's what we that's what we see when we come to the new testament when we come to to history we see that that this this message is is is brought to the ends of the earth to all the nations around their history tells us that that um well we know from from acts p peter was the one primarily who brought it to the to the lost tribes of jacob paul was the one who brought it to the the coastlands and to the islands to all those who inhabit the sea which is a reference to the to the islands paul paul brought it there history tells us that thomas took it um took it east into the into the wilderness all the way into india matthew took it south you know but but but that was just the start of it that was just the the the the beginning of this there now so and then christ commissioned the the church to take that gospel message to to all the nations so so that is uh this is the evidence that that that is it is a successful mission that we find here now this is not um this this is you know it's not it's not over yet we we um the you know the the christ and we know so because christ hasn't returned christ is crisis is is still in heaven ruling and reigning and and and um from heaven orchestrating it and guiding his church to bring that message to all the ends of the earth to build that kingdom as the church marches through the ages proclaiming the proclaiming the gospel proclaiming the excellencies of the one who called them out of darkness into marvelous light we saw that in peter this morning that's the role of the church proclaiming the excellencies the the the sovereignty of their of their of their king in to you know to to to all the nations as christ builds his kingdom that's what verse verse 12 says there let them give glory to the lord and declare his praise in the coastlands praising praising the lord declaring the excellencies of the one who who who brought them out of darkness into marvelous light so so so he's saying praise praise the lord you know he's rescued you he saved you from this from this this utter destruction that because of because of your sinfulness your rejection of him he saved you from the destruction that was coming your way satan he saved you from satan satan had you in his clutches satan was doing his best to keep you in the darkness the bible tells us is what he does to try and keep us keep us blinded to the to the truths of the of the gospel of jesus christ but but christ came and christ conquered you snatched you out of satan's satan satan's clutches so so praise him give glory to to to to yahweh declare his praise in the coastlands so so and then we and then we come to verse 13 the lord shall go forth like a mighty man he shall stir up his heel like a man of war he shall cry out yes shout aloud he shall prevail against his enemies so you can see now how the servant and and and yahweh have become one and the same in this um in in this song here now that that that um you know there's still a there's still a distinction here in the sense that christ you know economically and in his human nature he's the he's the servant but yet he is fully yahweh himself we see that now yahweh is the one who's who's the the mighty man so the servant was the one who was going to go he was going to release the captives from prison but here we find it's yahweh the yahweh this this warrior the the mighty uh a mighty man i i i like the translation warrior much better that gives that that's the hebrew word gabor if you've ever heard that word it's it's just it's a warrior that's who and that's who this this servant is that he's a he's a he's a warrior he's a he's a man of of of war here we see that in psalm 24 as well psalm 24 is the is the the ascension psalm and it's a it's a it's the scene of the successful mission of uh of the servant it's the return from in his successful mission as he ascends back into into heaven in psalm 24 verse 8 it says so who is this king of glory he comes up to the gates of of heaven and the gates you know the gates uh the gates say who is who is this you know the the the cry goes out you know the king of glory is coming in and then the question is who will who is this king of glo of glory and then in verse eight it says the lord strong and and mighty or the word there is that is gabor the lord uh strong and a warrior the lord mighty in in the battle so so this is the so so christ is the is a is a a a warrior here we turn to revelations 19 revelation sorry singular revelation 19 we see starting in verse 11. now i saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and he who sat on him was called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war his eyes were like a flame of fire and on his head were many crowns he had a name written that no one knew except himself he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the word of god and the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean followed him on white horses out of his mouth goes a sharp sword and with that he shall he should strike the nations and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron he himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of almighty god and he had on his robe and on his thigh a name written the king of kings and lord of lords so that is our that is our savior that is that is that is our christ he's a he's a he's a warrior we often we we we often think of christ as as as as you know gentle jesus meek and mild in terms of his earthly ministry as we saw in this in this passage yes he was meek and mild he was he was humble he has compassion on on on the people but in terms of his spiritual uh the spiritual battle that he is fighting in terms against the kingdom of darkness he's a he is a he is a a warrior and and it goes on here in in in verse 13 so he's so so so yahweh he's going to go forth like like a warrior and it says he's going to he will stir up his zeal like a man of war thing to to to put it into our our our our um language he we might say he's gonna he's gonna pump himself up he's gonna stir up his zeal like a like a man of war and then he's gonna he he'll he'll cry out he'll he'll raise raise a war cry is the is what the shout aloud uh indicates there he's going to cry out he's going to raise a war cry as he goes and and conquers his people out of darkness and then and then and he will prevail against his enemies so so so that's that is our that is our savior and just and just and just just just think about that um there he you know in terms of what he's doing on a spiritual level and what he's done and what he's done to us he's rescued us as a warrior war hero coming in conquering us out of darkness and and bringing us into into into his kingdom leading us leading taking taking um taking captivity captive the bible says there that he rescued us brought us into his glorious kingdom that kingdom that has that has no end that he and he is he is continuing to rescue his his people from the kingdom of darkness he's still that warrior he's still that warrior on the on the white horse in revelation riding force conquering and to conquer and and as as it says here he will prevail over all his enemies he will he will rescue all of his people out of out of of darkness and then he will destroy his enemies those that remain in rebellion against them he will destroy them satan and all his armies we see that in in revelation them them being destroyed at the end of the age and and and all who not just not just satan and in the spiritual realm but those those who continue all who continue in rejection of him that christ will destroy them so christ is building his kingdom he's still he's still doing that and then and then comes the end we read in first corinthians 15 then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to god the father when and he puts an end to all to all rule all authority and all power other than his own there in first corinthians 15. there what a what it what a day that will be that that a a glorious day to be part of that of that kingdom is that when the servant presents that kingdom to the father and he says he says mission mission complete here is this here's his people of those who you gave to me i have lost none i have conquered every one of them out of darkness and and and here they are what a what a glorious day that we that that will be the universal dominion of our savior so so that brings us to the end of this passage here um just in uh in conclusion uh i i think just be greatly encouraged by this i think it just it goes without saying really that that that nothing should nothing should uh um fire us up if i can use that that uh that language nothing should fire us up as in our christian lives more than the thought of our savior our savior as a warrior stirring up his zeal like a man of war and crying out this war cries he as he comes to rescue his people and to and to and to destroy his his enemies but again what a what a warning that is to not reject him as well that christ is christ he will have dominion from sea to sea and if you reject him you he will he he will prevail against his his enemies you will be destroyed along with satan and along with his armies if you continue in rejection of christ but we as we find in the word everywhere god says it says in in chapter 45 he says look to me and be saved all you ends of the earth so that's that's whom christ is going for going out to all the ends of the earth and god says look to me and be saved trust in me look to me for salvation don't look to yourself but look to me and you will be saved all the ends of the earth for i am god and there is no other so so so do not reject christ but look to him you will you will be saved he will he has come for those broken uh broken or bruised reeds that those who are in oppression he will not come and break them but rather he will save them the smoking flocks he will not come quench that but he will he will restore them he will bring them to life so look to him and be saved so so let us uh let us be greatly encouraged by that brethren that our that our christ is warrior he's king of kings he's lord of lords as we saw in in uh in revelation there and let's let us uh let us be encouraged by that and let us close in a word of prayer our father in heaven we do thank you and we praise you for passages of scripture like this that tell us of something of who our savior is lord we we we thank you we praise you for this we praise you for his his life his his death his resurrection by which this was all possible by which he could he could rescue us from from from your justice that your justice was not was not uh sacrificed in any way through this but that he meant he paid for those sins so that he could conquer us out of darkness and and bring us into his marvelous light into his kingdom so lord i thank you for that i i pray that that your people here would be greatly encouraged by this as we as we go out into the week into the world the world that is fraught with evil and seems to be overrun by by evil and and darkness at every turn but lord to know that ours that our savior is triumphant overall he is king of kings he is lord of lords he will prevail over all his enemies and lord he will bring us he will present that kingdom to the father and at the end and will none will be snatched out of his hand lord how we praise you for that how this encourages us i pray that you bless each one of us here as we go about our week lord lord that you will be glorified in all that we do and we pray this in the name of the lord jesus amen well we'll close with number 564. you can stand and sing 564 in closing please [Music] so is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] well brethren just a word in closing here this is um this is my last sunday with you um i just i want to say i've been very blessed the last several years you know you all know my our situation we moved you know back back here three and a half years ago to be part of a church here a church that for one had an incredible pastor and mentor that was a big reason the other was a church that took seriously the um the the the qualifications of of eldership those types of things so so that has been a that has been a blessing but just to be um or and to have that that confirmation i guess from the lord that um you know as you as you voted i hope according to you know god's word this that confirmation that that has been such a blessing for me to have that so i thank you for that i thank you just for the the fellowship and the and the the joy that it's been these past uh you know three and a half years here again with you all um and but the other thing that i really appreciate about this church was the fact that that week in and week out we pray for mike in surrey we pray for pastor mike that he would be that the lord would bless his ministry and i i asked that you do the same sorry i ask that you do the same for me as well as i as i go to armstrong to start a church is you know no easy task but with just passages like what we looked at today in scripture christ is building his church we rejoice in that that's what uh that's what what what what what you know that's that's what we go on is these passages but we need much prayer so i asked that you know for mike's been preaching for i think four or five years week in and week out we pray from here so i asked the same thing that you would pray for for myself for the church in vernon as well that uh er armstrong that that that the lord would just be pleased to bless us there um i i will hopefully in the next few weeks update um as things progress and we get going there we were still trying to finalize names and things like that so we're having some issues with that um but you i'll keep you updated but again i just i ask for your prayers i thank you for for the fellowship i thank you for um for just the blessing that as a church that you have been to myself to esther and the family as well so um i'll leave you with uh with the blessing of aaron from from numbers chapter six the lord bless you and keep you the lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace amen so you can close for a time of meditation thank you you