27.10.24 am

[0:00] Good morning. Well, welcome to the service this morning. Any visitors, I haven't had a chance to properly scan my glasses when I'm talking my head.

[0:12] I'm getting to that age now where I can't read through my glasses and I can't see without them. But any who are visiting with us this morning, it's good to see you. And if you're able to stay behind, at the end there's tea and there's coffee, and it's good to get the chance, whether we're visitors or whether we're not, to enjoy fellowship together.

[0:31] The notices have been on the screen. I'm not going to take the time to go through all these notices. You've had the chance to read them in advance of the service. But there's two notices that didn't make it onto the screen.

[0:42] So let me just read these out. The first is the notice of a congregational meeting on Wednesday 6th November at 7.30pm.

[0:53] And I'm just going to give you here the words that have come from the session meeting. At the meeting of September, the Kirk Session agreed that the number of elders should be increased by up to two.

[1:05] This would raise the number of elders in the congregation to 12. The Kirk Session is proposing that the following two men are appointed to the office of elder, Mr. Stuart King and Mr. Richard Killer.

[1:18] Both men preach within the congregation and other congregations within presbytery and have been entered onto the list of approved preachers held by the presbytery. It's normally expected that those preaching in other congregations hold the office of elder.

[1:34] So there's a process that we have to follow for ordination. The election and ordination of office bearers requires both the approval of the Kirk Session and of church members. One of the methods of election approved by the Free Church is that the Kirk Session may propose certain names to the communicant membership at a congregational meeting for their approval and on securing the agreement of a majority to proceed to the ordination.

[2:00] The Kirk Session has therefore appointed a congregational meeting to take place on Wednesday 6th November at 7.30pm where the names of Mr. Stuart King and Mr. Richard Killer will be proposed to the communicants for election and ordination to the office of eldership.

[2:19] So that's a congregational meeting, just to be clear, a weekend Wednesday, not this Wednesday, the following Wednesday. And we can be praying in advance of that and if you can plan to be there just so you can make your mind known at that meeting.

[2:34] The second notice I was given just at the last minute is that of a fellowship this evening. The After Church Fellowship, as we know, is scheduled for this evening after the Gaelic and Cammie's just given me some details for tonight.

[2:50] There will be a fellowship this evening at 7.30pm after the Gaelic service. At tonight's fellowship we will hear from Cammie and Ian who lead the Scripture Union in Sri Scott School and with a little help from a few of the kids who attend, find out more of the work they are doing in the school.

[3:08] We'll also have a testimony from a young Christian lady from Kinloch. The name has not been provided to me, so I'm in secrecy as well as you are. But a testimony from a young Christian lady in Kinloch.

[3:20] All are welcome to come along for coffee and cake. Please pray for this evening's meeting. So these, along with the intimations that have been on the screen, are all the notices for this morning.

[3:34] And I will worship God and let's sing to his praise. We'll sing from Psalm 84. Psalm 84 and verses 1 to 9 of this psalm.

[3:44] We'll sing to verse 9.

[4:03] We'll stand to sing to God's praise. How lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of course to me.

[4:21] The tower knuckles of thy base, how pleasant, Lord, may be.

[4:33] My thirsty soul longs vividly, it faints my course to see.

[4:45] My very heart and flesh cry out, O living God for thee.

[4:58] Behold the sparrow findeth her, and her swear in to rest.

[5:10] The sparrow also for herself hath purchased a nest.

[5:23] In thine own altars where she said, her young ones forth may bring.

[5:35] O thou almighty Lord of hosts, who art my God and King.

[5:47] Blessed are they in thy house thou dwell, they ever give thee praise.

[5:59] Blessed is the man whose strength thou art, in whose heart are thy ways.

[6:12] Through the passing thorough make us fair, therein good day God dwells.

[6:24] The fools with water fill.

[6:36] For they from strength and weary go, still forward unto strength.

[6:49] Until in sight yon they appear, before the Lord and land.

[7:01] Lord God of hosts, my prayer be. O Jacob's God, give me.

[7:13] Sing on a shield, look on the face of thine anointed ear.

[7:26] Let's unite our hearts in prayer.

[7:38] Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can come into your presence this morning.

[7:49] Well, we thank you that we thank you that we thank you that we thank you that we thank you forNING can come in reverence, recognizing that we bow before the Lord Almighty, the God of heaven and earth, the Lord of hosts, the God who is holy and just and pure and righteous.

[8:10] And yet we thank you that we can come before your presence with holy boldness because we come not in our own name, but in the name of Jesus.

[8:24] We thank you that we come not seeking to be accepted on the basis of our lives, but we come trusting in the life, the death, the resurrection of your Son, our Saviour, the Lord Jesus.

[8:44] We thank you that in Christ alone our hope is found and our hope is sure and steadfast when our hope is in Christ.

[8:57] So help us, we pray, this morning to have our eyes fixed upon Jesus. Help us as we wait in your presence to wait with expectation, believing that you will speak to us through your word and that you will meet with us in the power of the Holy Spirit.

[9:19] Lord, we pray, Lord, that we may know and taste fresh this morning the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are sinners and we confess that we sin in word and in deed and thought.

[9:39] And yet we thank you that Jesus is the Saviour. We thank you that as we confess our sin, as we agree with you that we are guilty, that we are sinners.

[9:51] You promise that you will cleanse us from sin, that you will purify us from all unrighteousness and that you will make us righteous in and through Christ.

[10:04] So we ask, Lord, that you would do that even now as we come before you. We confess the sin of the last few days, the last few weeks, perhaps even the last few minutes.

[10:15] and we ask that you would cleanse us in the blood of Christ, that blood that was shed at Calvary. And we pray that you would make us righteous in him.

[10:29] We thank you for the great exchange that we often talk about, the great exchange that happened at Calvary where our sin was transferred to Jesus and he died to pay the penalty for our sin and his righteousness was transferred to us, his life given to us and we live, we have eternal resurrection life because of all that he has done on our behalf.

[10:59] So we thank you for the wonder of the gospel message. We thank you for the power of the gospel call that we simply have to believe and receive grace and we are saved.

[11:14] And we thank you for the message that we are given to proclaim that this message when we believe it is a message that we are called to share. And for some of us we are called to preach in different places.

[11:29] For all of us who are in Christ we are called to tell through our words and in our lives we are called to share the gospel message. So help us to do that we pray.

[11:40] From the young ones in school to those who are going through university and who perhaps are away from home at this time. For those who are working here and elsewhere.

[11:53] For those who have moved into retirement. We ask Lord that you would help us at whatever stage of life we are in and whatever place you have put us with whatever relationships fill our lives.

[12:09] Help us we pray to have the fragrance of Christ about us. That our conversation would be seasoned with the salt of the gospel. That we would be ready to tell people about Jesus and that our words would not be in conflict with our lifestyle but that people would see that we believe what we say.

[12:30] So help us we pray to be ambassadors for Christ to go out and make disciples of all nations. And we pray for our nation at this time. We pray for these islands at this time.

[12:42] Once we remember some of us days of revival we have read others of us the stories of how you came down in great power and the power of the Holy Spirit in these places and we ask Lord that you would come down once more pour out your spirit upon these islands.

[13:01] And survive thy work O Lord. And we pray for our nation. A nation that we confess is far from you. We have set aside your word.

[13:13] We have wandered from your way. We ask Lord that you would have mercy on us and that you would draw us back to yourself. And those who are in authority over us Lord you have called us to pray for them.

[13:25] And so we pray for them and we ask that you would create within them a sense of great need. a sense of a need to return to your word and your ways.

[13:37] When we depart from the Bible everything is unsteady. Everyone ends up doing what is right in their own eyes and there is chaos and that's what we see around us.

[13:49] We ask that you would draw us back and that once more we would be known as a nation where we are in your word a nation of the book. We pray for all nations especially places where there is no gospel proclamation where the light of the gospel is not shining.

[14:09] We pray that where people have not heard about Jesus that you would send your messengers to that place and that you would speak through dreams and speak through supernatural things where there is no Bible and where your word is present Lord.

[14:25] We ask that you would speak in power through your people through preachers through the message of the Bible as it's shared. So we pray for all nations the nations that we're connected with here.

[14:40] We think of Malawi we think of Romania we think of Nepal we think of other places as well where we have an interest and we pray for them.

[14:51] We pray for our own island and we think of the faith mission in particular as they come back this weekend as they follow up on the tent mission in Liberborough we ask Lord that you would be working at these meetings and we pray that you would bless the faith mission as they go out into villages across all the nation here and that you would use them to draw people to yourself.

[15:17] We pray that you would help each one of us those in particular need especially we are always conscious of those who are grieving we think of them still we ask that you would comfort them we are conscious of those who are sick and some who have had bad news in the last couple of weeks and we bring them to you and we ask Lord that you would lay your hand upon them and if it's your will to heal that you would heal but where that's not your will we pray for grace for each day for them and for the family we ask Lord that you would continue with us now take away our sin and help us to worship you in spirit and in truth and we pray this in Jesus name and for Jesus sake Amen boys and girls would you like to come out please how are you all today good good

[16:25] I was going to show you one thing but I think I'm going to change my mind and show you something different this morning can anybody tell me what this is go on Fraser it's a fly swatter isn't it any particular kind of flies would you swat any fly with us you could do but would you probably wouldn't swat a bee with it because they they make some tasty honey some little flies and we're not too bothered by them but what would you what would you swat especially with this what would you just swipe with no problem at all you saw one of them coming buzzing about the church like there seems to be every single week a wasp if a wasp came in your direction you would just not hesitate for one second and you would swipe this thing and hope that wasp gets volleyed straight out the window into the car park why do you want to swipe away a wasp really if a blue bottle comes you might not be bothered about swiping that way because all it does is buzz it's a bit annoying it just buzzes why would you want to swipe away a wasp because they sting you don't they they like to sting you and they sting you over and over again and sometimes people will say oh just leave them leave them just sit still they're fine they won't touch you take it from me they will you see a wasp run you get the chance to kill it

[18:16] I should go as far as that just go inside good idea just go inside you know when I was about your age when I was in Stornoway when I was about your age I was one day I was sailing my boat in the river and my boat got stuck in the river so in Stornoway in the castle grounds and I had two friends with me and they said oh the first one to catch the boat keeps it so we all went charging across this bridge and onto the top of an embankment and it went down to the river and they were creeping down but I wanted the boat so I slid down on my backside and you know what I slid over two wasps nests and I was standing in the river with the boat saying I got it first and I heard this kind of mmm then I saw a wasp and then I saw another one then I saw another one and they swarmed me and my two friends and we were black from head to toe and they just went sting sting sting sting sting sting sting so from now on when I see a wasp in the church

[19:30] I'm highly distracted and if I get the chance to use this thing it's not moving from here it will be used thank you very much Michael for thinking of me and buying me this thing pardon yeah don't feel guilty about that don't worry don't worry now there's the sting that's why we swap wasps is there somebody who likes to come after God's people and is there a sting that he likes to put in us there's God and God is good does God have an enemy the devil the devil likes to come after us we can't see him and sin is about like a sting so when the devil comes after us and maybe you know we're maybe we're we're in school and somebody's annoyed us and we know the right thing to do we know that we shouldn't get mad and we shouldn't maybe hit somebody but we're tempted to hit somebody or maybe they say something to us and we want to say something back and it's nasty we're tempted the devil's there and he's saying do it do it do it what can we use if I want to swat a wasp away whoosh with a swatter what can we use that always pushes the devil back there's a thing that we can use and it's like it swats the devil away because he's not strong enough to resist will I give you a clue it's the bible so when we're tempted we're to take the message of the bible that we know that's why you go to

[21:46] Sunday school and you come to church so we can learn about the bible that's why we read the bible at night so we can know the bible and when we know the bible and when the devil comes at us and we say I'm not doing that because the bible says that we shouldn't he's got to go away Jesus was tempted by the devil and every time he was tempted do you know what he said he said it's written in the bible don't do this don't do that and the devil had to go away so boys and girls I want you as I want me every day not just when you come to church but every day even just a wee bit read a bit of the bible and ask that god will speak to you as I ask him to speak to me so that we'll have the strength and the protection so that when the devil comes we can push him away with god's word and know the best news of all although the devil is strong who is stronger god jesus is stronger and when he went to the cross he went to take our sin away and he went to war against the devil and he beat him and he's forever beaten and when we're trusting in jesus we're safe so boys and girls let's be trusting in jesus and let's be in the bible a lot so that when the devil comes we can swap him away we can be safe in jesus let's pray lord god we thank you for this day and we thank you that you love us we thank you that you are the strong and the mighty god and even though we know that we have a an enemy of our souls who wants to pull us down and trick us and make us sin we thank you that your word is powerful and when we speak to him in your word he has to flee from us and we thank you that jesus your son our saviour we thank you that he is the all powerful one that he beat the devil at the cross that he rose from the dead and when we're trusting in him when we're friends with jesus we are safe today and forever we thank you that when we do sin because we know that often we do we thank you that when we ask for your forgiveness we get that forgiveness because jesus is able to give that to all who will ask so help us heal us in our hearts take our sin away keep us safe we ask this in jesus name amen we're going to sing now we're going to sing the the words of mission praise 975 before the throne of god above before the throne of god above i have a strong a perfect me a great time!

[25:09] name is! name is my name is given on his hands my name is written on his heart i know that while in him he stands no tongue can with me thanks depart no tongue can with defense depart when satan tends me to despair and tells me of the guilt within a word i look and see him there who made an end to all my sin because the sinless savior died my sinful soul is can live free for both the justice satisfied to look on him and pardon me to look on him and pardon me behold him there the risen lamb my perfect spotless righteousness the made unchange him the king of glory and of praise one with himself i cannot die my soul is purchased with his blood my life is hit with christ on mine with christ my saviour and my god with christ my saviour and my god okay boys and girls if you head to sunday school remember to pray for them as they go the intimations just keep on coming we are having a collection at the fellowship for the work of su and school so for the after church fellowship tonight there's a collection and the collection will go towards the work of su and school so please note that if you could turn down your bibles please to matthew chapter 12 matthew 12 just a short reading today from verse 15 to verse 21 of the chapter

[28:17] Jesus aware of this we'll think about this just shortly withdrew from there and many followed him and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known this was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah behold my servant whom I have chosen my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased I will put my spirit upon him and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles he will not quarrel or cry aloud nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets a bruised read he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not quench until he brings justice to victory and in his name the Gentiles will hope amen and may God bless that reading of his word to us we're going to sing again now to

[29:17] God's praise from the end of Psalm 84 the last two stanzas of the psalm for God the Lord's a son and shield he'll grace and glory give and will withhold no good from them that uprightly do live thou that art the Lord of hosts that man is truly blessed who by assured confidence on thee alone doth rest we'll remain seated to sing these verses to God's praise and GodNING Thank you.

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[35:48] Thank you. We thank you. listen or watch at a distance this morning we pray that they would know that they are remembered by us as a congregation we pray that they would know the blessing of your spirit with them we thank you that you are not bound by these four walls but that you are the god who is everywhere and so as we bring those who are elderly and infirm and sick and struggling to you we ask that you would bless them as we pray that you would bless us and bless all who open your word this morning in whatever denomination whatever place whatever christ crucified is preached we ask that you would be working in the power of the holy spirit that as jesus has lifted up many would be drawn in faith to him we ask all this in jesus name amen if you could open your bibles please at matthew chapter 12 sometimes we can walk into a room and we can sense the second that we walk into the place that there's an atmosphere things are tense maybe it's the staff room uh in in school or some coffee area in an office or it's a room within the home and two two are speaking and you walk in and you're immediately conscious that you walk into something uh there's an awkwardness and you just get a sense that something isn't right well as we come back into matthew um at matthew 12 and as we enter back into this section that we read this morning uh there's a clear sense right from the beginning uh that something isn't right there's a growing tension between jesus and the pharisees in particular uh there's a there's a sense of foreboding that's starting to to press in a sense that uh there's trouble ahead and jesus knows that and so jesus withdraws from that place that he'd been ministering in it tells us in verse 15 that jesus aware of this withdrew from there from that place so we have to ask the question immediately as we come back into this section uh what is the this matthew says jesus uh he was aware of this so what is the this that jesus was aware of and to get the answer to to that we just have to step back a verse uh from verse 15 to verse 14 and uh in verse 14 we read that the pharisees went out and they conspired against jesus how to destroy him so jesus is aware that the religious leaders jesus is aware that um they were more than religious leaders you know in terms of our context we can think of religious leaders they might be very annoyed but were very powerless but in that context the religious leaders were those who wielded the power and so jesus is aware that the most powerful people in that place they are they're planning to kill him they are conspiring against him how to destroy him so why was that

[39:49] and the answer to that question is because they hated him and that's the first point we have today three points the first point is the hatred of jesus we get a sense of the hatred of jesus that is particularly held by the pharisees now hate is a strong word uh most of us when we were children uh we would be told off uh for using the word hate if we said that we hated something i remember one day saying i hate salt heron and i remember the row that uh followed that if we said that we hated something you know whether we hate salt heron or we hate cold lumpy porridge or we hate going to this house for a visit or whatever uh there was a firm telling off that that came on the heels of that or if we ever uh dare to say that we that we hated a person there was big trouble you don't use the word hate you don't hate anyone that's what we were told but as we look at the pharisees here and the way that they were towards jesus they truly hated him so what had jesus done to trigger this hatred well if you glance back in your bibles uh to the beginning of uh chapter 12 and just scan the first 13 verses of uh chapter 12 uh then we can see what jesus has been doing uh we can read that jesus he had he'd healed a man with a withered hand uh he'd performed this act of mercy uh he'd healed a man with a withered hand uh he'd spoken about the the mercy of god uh he'd reminded the people in that place that the sabbath day was a was a gift from god it was a day of rest a day of refreshment all good things all encouraging messages and yet in response the pharisees uh they absolutely detested they hated jesus to the point that they wanted to kill him they wanted to destroy him they wanted to wipe him off the face of the earth why was that jc ryle says what evil had our lord done that he should be so treated then he responds none none at all no charge could be brought against his life he was holy harmless undefiled and separate from sinners his days were spent in doing good no charge could be brought against his teacher he had proved it to be agreeable to scripture and reason and no reply had been made to his proofs but it mattered little how perfectly he lived or taught he was hated the hatred of jesus 2000 years ago plus the hatred of jesus that was evident and still today jesus is hated probably more than any other name in in history jesus his name is used as a

[43:51] as a curse even in our own villages it would be a struggle to get through a day in a workplace without hearing the name of jesus being used as a curse and i think we're if we're christians we've all experienced something of this we've all experienced um this scenario where some of the the nicest uh most gentle agreeable people uh that we can meet suddenly become so prickly and so even hostile the moment we speak to them about jesus you can speak to them about any other name any other thing and they're fine you can speak to them about coming to to any other place a kelly here at an event there a coffee morning in the next place they're always fine but the moment that you speak to them about the the house of jesus there's a change what was driving the the pharisees to hate jesus so much or or maybe the more accurate question to ask is who was driving the pharisees to hate jesus so much and the answer is satan satan is the character he is the influence that is not named and is not seen in this account but he is behind these responses to jesus and in terms of a word of application here and perhaps this is a word of application which is even more pointedly towards those who are not yet christians a hatred of jesus and a resistance to jesus is always fueled by satan and the pharisees they didn't realize they didn't know that and we might not realize that but that's the truth when we feel a resistance to jesus and his word satan is at work even sitting here this morning there may be some who you'll sit here week by week by week and you hear the call of jesus and there'll be a deep sense of longing wanting to respond to the call of jesus to confess sin to come to him and yet there's something within you and it's just holding you back you'll say maybe later in the day but as the day gets later you get busy maybe next week maybe when things are just a bit more stable a bit more steady in life that's when

[47:26] I'll come to him that's when I'll give my life to christ and we think that we're just we're just thinking through our own thoughts but the reality is there is an enemy of our souls who is working whenever there is a resistance to the call of jesus this is not a neutral place there is a god who is calling us to be saved there is a devil who will do whatever he can to keep us from salvation there is a spiritual battle going on here every week so be alert to satan be alert to the one who causes us to hate or at least to hesitate to come to jesus one further word of application on this point before we move on and it's not so much an alert to the workings of satan but it's an assurance that's to be taken for those of us who are christians and if we are christians and if we are seeking to share christ with the people that god puts into our lives as we're called to then sometimes we will feel the sting of being hated we're not getting overt hate here but sometimes it can sting when we can feel like we're kept at a distance we're marginalized we're considered to be weird for jesus sake and if that's where you are this morning or that's where you've been in the past there's a word of assurance here from jesus john chapter 15 verse 18 and 19 jesus says if the world hates you know that it has hated me before it hated you if you are of the world the world would love you as its own but because you are not of the world but i chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you so there's a word of assurance to christians who may who may come under fire for jesus sake jesus says even as we see him in this situation here jesus says to us i know what it feels like i'm with you speak to me about this do i friend friends despise for safety that what the lyrics say is there trouble anywhere we should never be discouraged take it to the lord in prayer the hatred of jesus is the first thing that we see the second thing that we see here is the hiding of jesus matthew matthew tells us still in verse 15 that jesus aware of what was happening aware of what the pharisees were up to he withdrew from that place so to some extent jesus went into hiding jesus aware of this verse 15 withdrew from there and when we think about the context that jesus was in at that point it wasn't easy for jesus to withdraw because there was huge interest in jesus the ordinary people especially the crowds

[51:26] they had this huge interest in jesus so they weren't willing for him to withdraw they weren't happy for him just to disappear the pharisees knew that that's what the tension was it says in verse 15 many followed him and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known again there's that hiding there's that secrecy so so why was that why the secrecy why does jesus withdraw why is jesus hiding at this point what does the withdrawal of jesus mean well the withdrawal of jesus from that place at that time it indicated two things the first thing it indicated was for some people this indicated that they had missed their opportunity to be saved and the second thing that this withdrawal on the part of jesus indicated was that he was clearly seeking to fulfill a mission he had an agenda he had a plan he had a purpose so there was a there was a missed opportunity for some and there was a mission to fulfill on the part of jesus the missed opportunity is a tragic thing to think about because if you put yourself back into that place at that time here was god the son jesus christ the messiah the savior he was there in that place with them and what had he been saying to them well he'd been saying to them at the end of matthew we studied it for a number of weeks come to me think upon it god the son the savior of sinners the one who can satisfy our souls and he's saying to them at that time come to me and i will give you rest but there were many who were there in that place and they would not and they did not come to jesus and so jesus having spent time amongst them he got to the point where he he knew it was time to withdraw and for some there their opportunity to be saved was missed they heard the call they had the opportunity but now it was withdrawn as jesus passed on by see jesus will not force anyone to be saved that was the case back then and that's still the case today he will not force you to accept his mercy he will not force you and i to receive his grace he will not impose upon us eternal life and the forgiveness of sin and peace for our souls and purpose in life all these amazing things he won't force them on us c.s lewis says there are only two kinds of people in the end those who say to god thy will be done you know those who let god have his way in our lives as we are saved and those to whom god says in the end thy will

[55:27] be done you don't want me you don't want my grace my peace my forgiveness my rest you won't have it all that are in hell says c.s lewis choose it today we have the opportunity to come to Jesus if you're here and you're still tuned in you're hearing this then you have the opportunity to come to Jesus to be saved to have your sins forgiven to receive the gift of eternal life all that is offered to you in Christ the assurance that we escape hell the sting of death removed it's all offered if you're hearing it's for you don't miss out on that

[56:41] Jesus can withdraw from this place he can withdraw from your life there may come a day when the spirit is no longer striving you hear nothing you sleep through the services you plan where you're putting the the creos or the offices the office supplies or whatever it is that is filling our weeks we do not have the right to say to Jesus week after week after week stay away and assume that when the time is right for us then we'll say okay come today if you hear his voice don't harden your heart you don't know I don't know that we have tomorrow so the withdrawal of Jesus for some it meant a missed opportunity that also indicated that Jesus he had a he had a mission to fulfill that's why he withdrew

[57:45] I mean the crowds around Jesus were growing day by day the crowds were getting bigger and bigger and there was more and more of a buzz more and more excitement about Jesus the crowds wanted Jesus to keep on with the miracles we have a supercharged doctor who can heal anything so let's keep up the miracles that's what the crowds want they want the healings to continue they loved having a miracle maker in town and the Pharisees they wanted Jesus dead as soon as possible dead out of the way so the crowds are a possible distraction and the Pharisees just want Jesus dead immediately but Jesus still has work to do he has places to go he has good news to preach he has disciples to teach and ultimately he has a cross to go to he has a mission to fulfill and so

[59:06] Jesus withdraws from the buzz of the crowds and he quietens the noise so he can fulfill his mission a mission that would lead him to Calvary to the cross where he would suffer and die to save sinners like us if we hear him if we come to him the hatred of Jesus the hiding of Jesus and finally there is hope in Jesus to bring this section to a conclusion Matthew quotes from Isaiah chapter 42 verses 1 to 4 and you can see that in verses 17 to 21 Matthew takes this quote from

[60:08] Isaiah chapter 42 and he lifts it from there and he puts it into his gospel and the verses there that Matthew pastes into his gospel they were key verses to unlocking the mystery of who Jesus was and what he had come to do so in terms of the big picture what's the headline from these verses that Matthew quotes well the headline from these verses is that Jesus is the Messiah that's the headline this says Matthew it is the one whom Isaiah and all the prophets pointed to this is the one verse 17 who came to to fulfill what was spoken and then as we step through the verses and we're not really going to get time to do that today we're we're given a picture we're given a picture of Jesus so who is Jesus that's the all important question as we move towards a conclusion here who is

[61:15] Jesus it is absolutely critical that we understand and we believe who Jesus is and there's three things I'll give you three headings to take away Jesus is the servant of God and he's the son of God and he is the satisfier of divine justice and because of all these things he's the savior so just read the verses as we as we conclude Jesus is the servant of God verse 18 Isaiah and Matthew and I as he quotes it says behold my servant whom I have chosen and the word servant takes us back into Isaiah and in particularly Isaiah 53 and Isaiah 53 we see a suffering servant we see the servant of God who would experience anguish the servant of God who would be despised and who would be rejected the servant of God who would suffer and die

[62:28] Jesus is the servant of God behold my servant says Isaiah behold my servant says Matthew stop what you're doing put down your phones give your full attention to Jesus he is the servant of God the one who came to suffer and die and already we're seeing the shadow of death coming over Jesus as the Pharisees conspired to kill him but why did Jesus die why did the servant of God die why did he come on a mission that he knew would end his life well he did it to save us he did it to give us hope there is hope for sinners in Jesus he's a servant of God he's also the son of God verse 18 he is my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased

[63:50] I will put my spirit upon him says Isaiah as Matthew quotes him and this takes us back to the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus remember when Jesus ministry was beginning and he was being baptized Matthew 3 16 and 17 says when Jesus was baptized immediately he went up from the water and behold the heavens were opened to him and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming on to rest in him and behold a voice from heaven said this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased God did not send a philosopher to this world he did not send a teacher to this world he did not send a special agent to this world to save us for God so loved the world John 3 16 he sent his only begotten son and we have hope we have eternal hope if we believe in Jesus he's a servant of God who laid down his life so that we could have eternal life he's the son of

[65:10] God who promises eternal life to those who believe in him and he is finally the satisfier of divine justice it says in verse 18 he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles who are the Gentiles we are the Gentiles and Jesus through his life and his death his resurrection he proclaims justice to the Gentiles and we sang about this we sang in the second hymn because the sinless saviour died my sinful soul is counted free for God the just is satisfied to look on him and pardon me Jesus satisfied the justice of God my sin is an offense to God and in our legal world for every offense we commit there there's a penalty for every sin

[66:21] I've committed it is an offense against God that deserves a penalty but Jesus came to suffer and die to pay the penalty for my sin he satisfied the justice of God he did it at the cross the wages of sin is death I should have died you should have died but he died for us so that justice could be done so that grace and mercy could be offered till on the cross as Jesus died we're going to sing in a minute the wrath of God was satisfied for every sin on him was laid here in the death of Christ I stand there is hope in

[67:22] Jesus the servant of God who came to be despised and rejected and suffer and die for us there is hope in Jesus the son of God the one in whom if we believe we have eternal life there is hope in Jesus the the satisfied of divine justice he paid the price for us so that we can go free and Isaiah in the Old Testament and Matthew in the New Testament are saying will you behold Jesus will you take your eyes off all the sparkly things in this world will you take your eyes off yourself will you behold!

[68:18] Jesus will you come to him there some people that we hesitate to come to even though we need help we hesitate to come to them because we fear they're going to shout us down and push us away but Matthew says this Jesus is not like that he's not loud and brash and quarrelsome verse 19 Jesus will not roar at us like some sergeant major saying what are you doing here!

[68:52] he's gentle and kind verse 20 a bruised reed he will not break a smouldering wick he will not quench I picked up a reed on the way on the way down here today they're all over the road and you see it just how flimsy how thin how bruisable how breakable it is a strong wind and this is ruined and Jesus takes the illustration of a flimsy reed and he says a bruised reed even one that's bent over he will not break and a smouldering wick a candle with just a spark we snuff it out but he brings it back to life

[70:02] Sinclair Ferguson says we'll finish with this I am that broken reed I am that dimly burning wick Jesus is the saviour Jesus is the saviour who will take me in my brokenness and heal me who will take me in my loneliness and give me his company who will take me in the tangle that my sinfulness has created and graciously and gradually untangle the web of sin that I have woven this is Christ this is Jesus there is hope in him so come to him says Matthew come back to him if you're far away because in

[71:08] Christ alone in Christ alone our hope is found and we'll sing these verses to conclude mission praise 1072 in Christ alone our hope is found!

[71:30] he is my life! he is my life my strength my song this this cornerstone this solid land firm to the fiercest drought and storm what ice of love what depths of peace when fears are still when striving seas I come for turn my all in all here in the love of Christ I stand!

[72:26] in Christ alone who took on flesh for rest of God in helpless way his gift of love and righteousness scored by the ones he came to save till all that cross as Jesus died the wrath of God was satisfied for every sin my name was made here in the depth of Christ I live!

[73:24] There in the ground his body lay, Light of the world my darkness slain, When bursting forth in glorious pain, Out from the grave he rose again, And as he stands in victory, Since God has lost his grip on me, For I am his and he is mine, Walk through the precious blood of Christ.

[74:11] No guilt in life, no fear in death, This is the power of Christ in me, From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny, The power of hell, no scheme of land, Can ever cut me from his hand, Till he returns, For calls we hold, Hear the power of Christ, I stand, Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, The love of God the Father, And the fellowship, The comfort of God the Holy Spirit, Be with us all now and forever.

[75:02] Amen.