The Servant of the Lord

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We all go places and have memorable moments in our life.
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One of the most memorable moments of my life was having the opportunity to go to the Middle East.
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And in goings, I got to go to Israel, which I always wanted to do.
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And this may seem somewhat silly at first, that the first memorable part of going was when I got there, me and a friend of mine, we were staying in the Muslim quarter in a hostel.
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I may know that the hostel is.
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It's basically a cheap hotel.
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It's where people just pass through.
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So we're, we get there and we begin to get our stuff unpacked and they start rioting in the street.
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And I was like, man, this is awesome.
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You know, I got to call my wife.
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Stupid me, that was probably the bad thing to do.
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It's like, babe, you ain't going to believe it.
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We're three blocks from the Dome of the Rock and they're rioting in the street.
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This is great.
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Guys, if you get married, don't do that.
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So then I had to say the next day I called her and said, hey, let me tell you what the most important thing I got to see.
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I got to see the scroll of Isaiah that was some 2,200 years old.
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2,200 years old.
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And if you take your English translation and you look at it to that, it is 99 percent accurate and the 1 percent that is not, does not change any of the meaning of the text.
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Absolutely amazing.
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If you have your Bibles, open them up to Isaiah chapter 42.
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The book of Isaiah contains some of the most detailed Messianic prophecies in all of Holy Scripture.
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Just in my counting alone, I've counted 50.
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I'm sure there are more, but 50 explicit.
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The prophet, his ministry was some 2,700 years ago.
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It's still powerful.
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It's still refreshing and it's relevant today.
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These vivid Messianic descriptions of Christ and his work are absolutely astounding.
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They're so accurate in fulfillment and they're so profound in word and his actions described indeed that some, and I would agree with this most definitely, that the book of Isaiah has often been called the gospel of Isaiah.
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And I think that is good.
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But contained in it are what we would call, or if anybody you have heard, it's called the servant songs.
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And there are four.
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And the four servant songs speak directly to Christ.
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At times you see the servant of the Lord used in Scripture and it is used concerning the nation.
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When these specific times it says the servant of the Lord, it is speaking specifically of Christ.
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And if you want to write them down and read them at your own time, you can.
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Isaiah 42, verses 1 through 9, that is the chosen servant.
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Then Isaiah 49, 1 through 6 would be the saving servant, which brings restoration to Israel and salvation to the Gentiles.
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And Isaiah 50, verses 4 through 9, which is the obedient and faithful servant.
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And then the most famous, the most known would be Isaiah 52, 13 through 53, 12, the suffering servant.
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And I'll just let you know when I got to see that scroll, that's the first place I wanted to go to.
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Was to see Isaiah 53 and to see the suffering servant with my own eyes in the same Hebrew that the other men long before us had saw.
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People in the world, and maybe even some of you in this room, you read all kinds of books.
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You read articles.
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You hear podcasts.
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You listen to eloquent speakers wax eloquently on how to be made whole in life.
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You look at the talking heads on television and you listen to them tell you what you should like and what you should not like.
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Tell us what political party we should follow and who's going to be the next best elected official.
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And they look at those as a way of saving them.
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These verses that we're about to look at smash all worldly wisdom.
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They point to the servant of the Lord, the one who can actually reign and the one who will actually reign in righteousness and judgment.
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Let's read Isaiah 42.
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We're going to read verses 1 through 9, but I'm only going to attempt to get through 1 through 4.
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Behold my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights.
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I have put my spirit upon him and he will bring forth justice to the nations.
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He will not cry out or raise his voice in the street, nor make his voice heard in the street.
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In a bruised reed he will not break.
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In a dimly burning wick he will not extinguish.
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He will faithfully bring forth justice.
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He will not be disheartened or crushed until he has established justice in the earth and the coastlands will wait expectantly on his law and instruction.
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Thus says the God of the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and the spirit to those who walk in it.
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I am the Lord and I have called you in righteousness.
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I will also hold you up by my hand and watch over you and I will appoint you as a covenant to the people.
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You will be a light to the nations or to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring prisoners from the dungeon and those who dwell in darkness you will bring from the prison.
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And I am the Lord that is my name and I will not share my glory with another nor my praise will be given to graven images.
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Behold the former things have come to pass and now I declare new things before they spring forth I will proclaim them to you.
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Most gracious heavenly father, thank you so much for this opportunity to stand once again and speak to your sheep and open your word to expound your truth and father I pray that I would do it in the power of your spirit and that I would do it with the boldness that you provide.
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Oh father God protect me from error.
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May your people who are called by your name be more equipped to be more into the image of your son and may those that are in this room that do not know you, God I pray that as the word is preached today that you would grant life unto life.
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In your son's name we pray.
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Amen.
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This is the first of the servant songs of the book of Isaiah.
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It was prophesied some 700 years ago before Jesus Christ the son of the living God clothed himself in humanity.
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We look at the verse 1 and I will say this is a Trinitarian plan.
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We see God choosing the son and then empowering him by the Holy Spirit.
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Let's look at it.
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It says this is the God of the father, this is God the father and he's speaking behold my servant whom I uphold.
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The word behold I see is in a contrast.
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If you go back into chapter 41 and verses 22-24 he says behold and behold and behold.
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Let me back up just a little bit to bring a little bit of context to what's being said.
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He says behold in chapter 41 22-24 he's talking about the false idols and how they have nothing that they can provide and he says behold you are of no account.
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He's speaking of the idols.
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You are, you amount to nothing.
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That's what the Lord says.
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You amount to nothing and you do not have anything.
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You have no way of saying what happened in the past and why nor do you have any way of saying what's going to happen in the future.
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And then he says this in verse 29 of chapter 41 right before we get into this passage it says behold all of you are false, all of your works are worthless and behold all your molten images are full of wind and emptiness.
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And then he makes the contrast immediately to this.
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Behold my servant I will uphold.
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The my servant part says that it's someone who does not have the will and desire of the one whom he's submitted to.
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The Hebrew word here is Haved.
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It means a household slave.
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It means a bond servant.
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In humility the son of the living God he willingly submitted himself to the plan of God.
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The predetermined plan of God of redemption to be the servant of the Lord and he would be the one by which he would carry out his messianic work and it would climax at the cross and his resurrection.
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This servant would not come on the scene and be just a mere man.
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He would be the God man.
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He would be 100% God.
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100% man.
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He would be what is called in the New Testament the son of man.
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Jesus the servant of the Lord would remain co-equal and eternal and remain part of the Godhead.
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Listen to what it says in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 6-8.
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It says although he existed in the form of God he did not regard equality with God to be something to be grasped but he emptied himself.
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He did not empty his deity.
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He set aside the prerogatives of his deity.
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He emptied himself taking on the form of a slave or a bond servant and being made in the likeness of men.
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Being found in the appearance of man he humbled himself and became obedient even to the point of death.
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Even the death on the cross.
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This servant of the Lord was in full submission to the Father and what he had called him to do.
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Now in submission the word immediately comes out amongst theologians as subordinate.
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Was Jesus subordinate to the Father? Well in the fact that he was submitted to the will of the Father yes but not subordinationism as the heretics have said and it was the council of Nicaea in which this was actually taken care of in 325 with the Arian controversy.
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Arius believed that Jesus was less than God.
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Jesus is not less than God.
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He was submitted to his Father.
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He at no point in time was any less God when he clothed himself in humanity.
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All he did was submit him to the will of the Father.
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Jesus the servant of the Lord was resolute.
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He was unwavering.
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He was obedient to the mission that his Father had sent him to accomplish.
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Isaiah 50 verses 5-7 say this and this is part of the servant songs.
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It says that the Lord has opened my ear.
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I was not disobedient.
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I did not turn back.
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I gave my back to those who would strike me.
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They hit my cheeks.
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They plucked out my beard but I did not cover my face from their humiliation or their spitting for the Lord God helps me.
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Therefore I am not disgraced.
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Therefore I have set my face like flint and I know that I will not be ashamed.
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Listen to what it says in John chapter 4 verse 34 about the servant of the Lord says this that Jesus said that my food is to do the will of him who sent me.
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He said that to his disciples after preaching the gospel to the woman at the well.
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And then in John 6 verse 38 he says I have come to do the will of the one who sent me speaking of his Father.
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And in John 12 he says this in verses 27-28 he says my soul is troubled and what shall I say? Shall the Father save me from this hour? No for it is this very hour that I have come into the world.
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You see the servant of the Lord was different than Adam.
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Much different than Adam.
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Adam disobeyed in the garden and threw all of his prodigy into headlong corruption.
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He broke and disobeyed the covenant that God had gave him in the garden.
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This servant is not that way.
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This servant would obey in perfect obedience.
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Not trying to quote as some theologians say earn righteousness.
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Jesus Christ was righteous.
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And he is going to do what Adam did not do in the garden which was trust and obey.
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Trust and obey.
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That reminds me of that hymn.
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So simple.
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Trust and obey.
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Trust and obey.
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No better way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.
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Behold the servant of the Lord in whom I uphold.
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This servant that God has chosen he is going to uphold him.
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In chapter 40 if you back up just a hair and you could look if you want in verses 19 through 20.
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Because you know that our chapter and verse structure is not inspired.
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So if you were reading the scroll this would just be one long narrative.
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So if you go to chapter 40 and look at verse 19 through 26.
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It says as for the idol a craftsman cast it a goldsmith plates it and the silversmith fashioned chains of silver to it.
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He who is too impoverished for such an offering he selects a tree or he selects something else to prepare an idol.
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And then it goes on to say that they fashioned chains and cords to hold it up.
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Because this thing can't hold itself up.
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It's unable to do it and then they bow down and they talk and pray to this very thing that has no power at all.
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Well God says you know what it's not going to be chains and things that uphold this man.
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It will be my power that upholds him.
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And we'll speak about that in a minute of how God does that.
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And it says that he is the chosen one.
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My chosen, my elect one in whom my soul delights.
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Jesus the servant of the Lord is the elect of God.
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He is chosen by God.
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There is no mistake.
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It says right here.
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My chosen one.
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Matthew 9.35 on the mount of transfiguration says this.
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This is my son.
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My chosen one.
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Listen to him.
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Man imagine being on the mount of transfiguration.
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Peter, James, John the sons of thunder who were my kind of guys.
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They were up on the mountain.
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Saw Jesus in all of his glory.
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It says he was clothed in white and it's not because there was a good laundromat in Judea.
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It's because all of his glory and his purity was put on display.
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And then they hear this being overwhelmed with what they were seeing.
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Seeing Moses and Elijah and Peter wanting to go make a shrine to either one of them.
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He hears this voice and they fall to the ground and shudder.
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This is my son.
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Listen to him.
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He is my chosen one.
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God in eternity past chose Jesus the only begotten son to be the executor of the covenant.
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An executor is someone who carries out and is appointed to carry out what the testator meaning the one who prepares the will to carry it out.
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Jesus was that one.
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God is the testator.
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Jesus is the executor.
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And he did this long before the world began.
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You can read that in Ephesians chapter 1.
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But in Luke 22 verses 14 through 22 it says this.
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Jesus says that he had longed for this Passover meal with his disciples.
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He then institutes the Lord's supper.
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He says this is the bread which my body will be broken and this is the cup which is the representation of the blood of the new covenant.
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And he says this.
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For the son of man has now come to accomplish what has been determined.
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You see this servant of the Lord is faithful.
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This servant of the Lord will do what his father has sent him to do.
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And in 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 18 through 20 says this.
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He speaks of the spotless redeeming blood of the Lamb of God who before time began God had prepared.
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Also again in 1 Peter chapter 2 he says this in verse 4.
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He says he was rejected by men but he was chosen by God.
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That reminds me of the first chapter of John.
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You get through the prologue and it says he came unto his own as his own received him not.
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The very people that Jesus came to save, the very ones that the servant of the Lord came to save would be the ones that would punch him in the face, that would pluck out his beard, that would betray him, that would have him turned over to the Romans, have him led out to a hill called Golgotha and be hammered to a tree.
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But that man was chosen by God.
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And we like words, like phrases such as chosen by God, the elect of God, God's elect.
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Heck, I loved it so much I've had it tattooed on my arm.
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We are chosen by God.
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If you believed and trusted by faith it was not on your own volition.
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It was a sovereign act of God.
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And we love those things.
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But Jesus' choosing was far different than mine and yours.
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Jesus' choosing because He was a faithful and worthy servant.
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You, me, we were chosen despite of who we are.
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We are unfaithful.
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We are unworthy.
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If you want to talk about worthiness, the only thing that we deserve is death, hell, and the grave and every one of us should get it.
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And if you came to faith in Christ it wasn't because you exercised some choice of yours, it's because the Spirit of God came in, He enlightened you, made you realize that Jesus Christ the Almighty is kind and loving and compassionate and is willing to save you.
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And then God gave you the gift of faith which made you turn from unbelief to belief.
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And we will call that repentance.
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That's how.
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Jesus was worthy of His election.
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Jesus was worthy of the task by which God was going to send Him to do.
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It says here that My servant, My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
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God was pleased when He chose a servant of the Lord.
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It says here that God's soul in delight, meaning overwhelmed, pleasurable, that He was overwhelmed when He chose His Son.
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Look at, or you don't have to turn there, let me just read this.
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Matthew chapter 3 verse 17.
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This was at the time of His baptism.
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He said to them, Behold a voice out of heaven came and said this, This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
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Then again in Matthew 17 verse 5.
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This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
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Hear Him.
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Now listen to this.
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His disciples heard it and they fell on their face.
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They fell on their face.
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The chosen one of God.
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God's soul delights in Him.
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And how did He do it? Because He said I will put My Spirit upon Him.
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The chosen servant of the Lord was empowered by the Holy Spirit.
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He would be the anointed one and He would be the long awaited Messiah.
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We often forget that Jesus came into the world to be the anointed Messiah.
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He was the long awaited one.
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In the Old Testament the priest and kings and prophets would be anointed by a prophet.
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And we see that take place.
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Moses was a prophet of God and if you remember what happened once the tabernacle was built, he then took Aaron, Nadab and Abihu which they didn't last long, took them, anointed them by pouring oil over their head.
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Same thing with Samuel when he anointed Saul as king and same thing as David when he anointed David as king.
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They would take some oil, most likely olive oil from what history tells us and they would pour it over their head and they would let it run down.
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If they had a big beard they would let it run down and it was supposed to represent the Spirit of God resting on that individual for the purpose by which they were called.
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And Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and every priest that came after that, the purpose was for them to be a priest, in particular in kings, to carry out their kingships in righteousness and in judgment.
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That's what they were supposed to do.
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Well these men were all anointed by other men.
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Fallen men.
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Jesus was not anointed by a fallen man.
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He was anointed by God Himself.
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And at His baptism, when He came up out of the water and that's why we believe in immersion, Jesus went down and He came up, Jesus was not sprinkled, He went in and came up and when He came up, the Spirit of the Lord descended down on Him in the form of a dove.
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Matthew 3 verses 3, 13 through 17 says this, Jesus arrived to Galilee at the Jordan where John was and He came to be baptized by Him.
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But John tried to prevent Him and he said, I can't baptize you.
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Why do you come to me? And Jesus answered and said, permitted at this time for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.
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And then He permitted him and after being baptized, Jesus came immediately up out of the water and behold the heavens were opened up and He saw the Spirit of God descending on Him as a dove and behold, a voice from heaven said this is My Son, My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
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Even under the Mosaic covenant a person before they carried out ministry was to be anointed by a prophet.
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That's why Jesus says this has to be done for all righteousness so Jesus going to the prophet, John the Baptist would be baptized for men to see but then as He came up His messianic work would be established by the Spirit of the Lord descending on Him.
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Jesus in the time of His humiliation, that is in the time of His flesh and bone before His resurrection, He carried out the messianic ministry all that He did in the power of the Spirit.
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Could Jesus have healed the sick, made the lame walk make mute and dumb people, meaning not being able to talk make them speak through the power of being deity well most certainly, but that's not how it was by divine design.
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Divine design says that Jesus came into the world and He did everything He did by the power of the Spirit that's how He did it.
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He was the God-Man submitted to the Father through the power of the Spirit to accomplish the task that He was sent to do.
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That should be an eye-opener to you and I.
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As I prepared this part, I was like man that just stomps on my toes.
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The same Holy Spirit that resided in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you're a believer today is inside of you in full measure, not waiting for some second blessing, not waiting for some uttering ecstatic speech, but in full power the same way it was in Jesus and the only thing that hinders it from acting in its fullness is our sin.
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That stomped on my toes.
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That means there's no sin in my life that I can't conquer because I have the power of the Spirit within me.
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There's no animosity or bitterness or anger that can't be overcome there's no weakness and spiritual depression that can't be overcome, but I have the power of the Spirit living within me and just as Jesus trusted and obeyed, that's my duty.
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Isaiah 11 verses 2-5 say this, the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him.
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The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord will be on Him.
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He will delight in the fear of the Lord.
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He will not judge by what He sees nor make a decision by what He hears but with righteousness He will judge the poor and decide with fairness from the afflicted on the earth.
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He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
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Also righteousness will be the belt of His loins and the faithfulness of the belt upon His waist.
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Jesus was filled with the Spirit and it gave Him wisdom and counsel and knowledge and it delighted in the Lord and it gave Him righteousness and fairness and it gave Him the ability to carry out the deeds that God carried Him to do and at the end it says with faithfulness.
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Luke 14 verses 4-21 say this, and Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.
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This is after His baptism.
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He returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.
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The news about Him spread throughout the surrounding districts and He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by all and He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up and as He was accustomed He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and He stood in there and He read from the book of Isaiah and here's what He read.
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He opened the book and He found in the place where it says the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me.
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He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
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He has sent Me to proclaim and release the captives and to recover the sight to the blind and set those who are oppressed free and to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.
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He closed the book and actually it was a scroll.
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He closed the scroll.
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He gave it back to the attendant.
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He sat down and all the eyes in the synagogue it says were fixed on Him and He said this, today this Scripture is fulfilled in your sight.
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The chosen servant of the Lord was the light of the Lord's soul because He had been anointed the Messiah, had been empowered by the Holy Spirit and that He would bring forth justice to the nations.
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Make no mistake, the Messiah came through the long line and promised seat of Abraham and as Keith continues to preach through and maybe seven years of tribulation before we get through it.
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What have we learned? The promised seed.
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It came through Abraham.
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Then it was Isaac.
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Then from Isaac it would go to Jacob.
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Jacob would be the one to establish the nation of Israel.
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Then it would be through Jacob's line that Judah would come.
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And it would be through Judah that it was prophesied at the end of Genesis and we'll get there at some point.
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I think chapter 49 where He says, and it would be through you that the scepter of righteousness you will have.
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Well then it would be through the line of Judah that the King of David would come.
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And it would be through whose line? Through David's line that the Messiah would come.
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And He would establish righteousness in the kingdom.
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That is what it says when it says that justice will bring forth to the nations.
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Justice.
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Most Jewish cultures saw justice as God just destroying the nations around them.
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And if you read some of the Old Testament, that is how some of the prophets saw it.
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Look at Jonah.
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Jonah's a tough guy to swallow.
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Jonah thought the best thing for the Ninevites to hear was not repent and believe.
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It was, bzzzt, smoke them.
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But what it was is salvation certainly would come through the Jewish people.
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But it was to go to all the nations.
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It says it right here.
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That He would establish justice to the nations.
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Unfaithful Israel was to be a light to the nations and they were not.
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The true Israel comes and He will be the light to the nations.
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He will be the one to uphold in righteousness.
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He will be the one that will be faithful.
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It says in Isaiah 49 verse 6, the faithful servant of the Lord will be a light to the nations.
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It says, is it too small of a thing that you should be my servant? I will raise you up in all the tribes of Jacob and will restore and preserve the ones of Israel.
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And then you will be a light to the Gentiles.
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You will be a light to the Gentiles so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
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Justice throughout the Bible is all about bringing honor and glory to God's name.
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That's what it's about.
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We see justice in trying to see all these certain wrongs that we see in the world be made right.
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And there's a part of that that's true.
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We see a man violates the law.
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He either is not punished as we see fit and we get all in a piffy.
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And there is part of that that's true.
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But the justice is rooted in the revelation of God, not my opinions or in my feelings.
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Now don't get me wrong.
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A five-time child rapist, yep, he gets four bullets, no problem in my sight.
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No problem.
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I had that conversation recently.
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He should have got eight.
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And I'll tell you why.
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And the guy even told me, you call yourself a Christian and you say that.
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I said, let me tell you what the Lord Jesus said about that.
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He said, it would have been better for a millstone to be wrapped around that man's neck and him to be thrown in the ocean than to offend his little ones.
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I make no apologies.
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You want to come up and rebuke me after that? He should have shot the guy twelve times.
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I'll take it on the chin.
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What's the greatest injustice to God? What is it? Is it not suppressing the truth and unrighteousness? Is it not exchanging the truth for a lie? Is it not taking what God has revealed to us and just cast it away? We exchange the incorruptible God for corruptible things.
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We trade them in for money, boats, cars, houses, careers.
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Those are all good in their place.
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And those can all be gifts of the Lord to be enjoyed and to be managed and to be the fruits of your labor.
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But when you begin to worship those things rather than the Creator, that becomes idolatry.
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But what about when we exchange those things for other things like sex, drugs, thievery, debauchery, drunkenness, all of those things that are an offense to God? That's the most injustice in all the world.
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When we take those things and trade them for the incorruptible God, nothing would bring God more satisfaction and justice than when He would take a sinner and He, through the power of His Spirit, and take and acquit that person, that man, that woman, that boy, and that girl, acquit them of their sins, give them the gift of regeneration, and give them the gift of righteousness through Jesus Christ.
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That is the greatest act of justice that could ever be done.
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And the greatest act of injustice is for a person to reject that.
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Anytime in Scripture, search it far and wide and high and low.
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Anytime there's an act of judgment and justice, there is an act of salvation and redemption.
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Look at it.
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Start in the garden.
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Act of judgment, what did God do? He killed an animal so that He could save Adam and Eve and clothe them and atone for their sins until the Lamb of God would come.
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Look at Noah.
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He slayed all the earth, judging them, so that He could save eight souls.
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I mean, just keep going.
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Look at Moses.
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He killed all of the armies of Egypt so that He could save a nation.
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That's Moses.
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Imagine that.
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Standing out there, the waters are parted, and Moses stands up there, holds his hands up, and he says, you watch the salvation of the Lord.
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And he drowned at his enemies.
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Again.
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Again.
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That was verse 1.
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Verse 2.
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He will not cry out or raise his voice or make his voice heard in the street.
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It's not saying that Jesus was not an open air preacher.
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This is not to say that Jesus did not preach in large crowds, because we know that He did.
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You look at the passages where He fed the 4,000 and then fed the 5,000, or however you want to see it, 5,000, 4,000, where He fed both, one in the land of Judea and one out by the Gentile land.
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In one case, it says they had already been with Him three days.
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So we know that Jesus spoke openly in the air.
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And we know that He did preach in Solomon's portico, inside the temple.
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But what it's saying is that Jesus came in humility.
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He did not come to be contentious or quarrelsome.
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Jesus did not come to be a jerk.
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He came, make no mistake, He came to be divisive.
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He came to divide the truth in the air.
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But He did not come to be a jerk.
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Jesus came into the world in humility.
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Not in the pomp and circumstance of a king riding on a white conquering chariot or horse.
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Oh, He'll come that day.
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He will.
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But that's not how He came the first time.
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He didn't come in throwing His weight around saying, look at me, I'm God.
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Worship me.
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Could He? Sure.
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He had the right to do that.
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He had the right to be worshiped.
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But that's not how He came the first time.
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And even when the Pharisees would attempt to kill Him, Jesus would ghost on them, man.
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That always trips me out.
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He's in there preaching inside the temple in, I think it's John chapter 8.
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And they come down there because He claims to be God.
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And they said they pick up stones to stone Him.
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And it says, and Jesus vanished in their midst.
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Poof.
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I don't know.
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Did He pull a David Copperfield? I don't know.
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He just said He was gone.
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Then you take the passage, after He reads the Isaiah passage in Luke, they take Him out to Nazareth.
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They're going to throw Him off the brow of the city.
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And what does it say? He just goes out away from their midst.
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I mean, it's like, sure, certainly.
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Could He have disappeared? Yep.
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When the crowds would attempt to make Him as king, Jesus didn't say, yep, I'm the guy.
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Just do it.
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I'm Him.
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He didn't.
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He withdrew.
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He withdrew.
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That's another one of those things Jesus did.
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Just, I'll laugh.
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Do y'all ever laugh when you read your Bible? You go, man, you gotta read the Gospels.
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I tell Luke, when you're reading, you gotta read how Jesus interacted with people.
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It's great.
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Look, John chapter 6, these guys go out there.
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He feeds 5,000 people.
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They want to make Him king.
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Jesus retreats to the mountains.
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And I know your mind don't think like that, because y'all are far more sanctified than me.
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But when I'm reading that, it says, but then later, He went out, walked on the water.
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So I'm thinking, alright, Jesus goes, alright, I'm hidden in the mountains for a little while.
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They might see me.
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You know what? I'll do what they can't do.
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I'm just gonna start walking on the water.
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And He just walks on over.
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Nobody's gonna follow Him across the water walking.
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It says that the scribes and Pharisees were constantly trying to trap Jesus.
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They would either try to trap Him in some type of theological debate, try to trap Him up in His words.
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Man, this was the Word incarnate.
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And they're trying to trap Him.
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It's amazing.
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Who knew the Word better? He was it.
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You know, I often wonder when Joseph was raising Jesus up and teaching.
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I was just telling my dad the other day, we were talking.
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I said, man, do you ever wonder if Joseph's teaching Him the Word of the Lord? He's teaching Him the Old Testament? And he says, yeah, you know, are the great deliverance, you know, come out of Egypt? And Jesus is like, yeah, I was there.
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Or, hey, Pop, I think you missed the story just a little bit.
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It kind of went like this.
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But Jesus was kind.
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He was compassionate.
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But He saved the harshest words to the religious leaders.
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And when I say harshest, the harshest.
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He did not come in pomp and circumstance.
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He did not come to be a jerk.
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But I tell you what, when it came to those who were ruling with the rod of legalism and the false shepherds, listen to what He says.
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This is what Jesus says to them.
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Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
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You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you're full of robbery and indulgences.
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Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
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You're like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside you look beautiful, but inside you're full of dead man's bones, and you are unclean.
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So you, too, outwardly appear as righteous men, but you are innerly full of lawlessness and hypocrisy.
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And then listen to what Jesus says.
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You serpent, you brood of vipers, you ain't going to escape hell.
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That's what Jesus said to the religious leaders.
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Jesus didn't come into the streets saying, I'm God, worship me, I'm the long-awaited militant Messiah.
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But He did, time and time again, correct the wrong interpretations of Scripture, give them the correct interpretation of Scripture, and then give them the right application to that.
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And Jesus spoke to those religious leaders in that way for this reason, and I want you to listen very clearly.
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They had plenty of light, and they had the Word of God in their hand, and they rejected the truth.
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That's why.
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And then they used the Word of God to manipulate God's people.
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That's why.
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Jesus spoke to those religious leaders because He exposed the truthfulness of their legalism.
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He spoke to them in such a way because He spoke to them because they were rejecting the chief cornerstone by which God had sent.
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And in verse 3, a bruised reed He will not break, and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish.
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Andy, do you have Richard Sibb's book out there? A bruised reed? If anybody wants to read, it's a small book, it was a Puritan, Richard Sibb's great book.
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It talks about the kindness and the gentleness of our Savior.
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It is a great book, and it actually points to some of these passages.
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Well, what is a bruised reed, or what is a reed and what is a wick? Well, first, a reed is something that is blown out by the marshes, and we all have seen some of them have a bulb on them, and if you ever touched one, they break very easily.
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And the stalks are hollow, and as they blow, but I live out at the beach, and as we go over the intercoastal, you'll see the wind blowing, especially in the last few days, and all of those marsh reeds are bent over, and they don't pop back up.
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You have to wait for the wind to blow them back the other way, or they break off and grow back.
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Well, what does this mean when it talks about the wick and the reed? Well, a wick certainly is, we all know what a wick is, it's something that burns with a candle, has a light, usually has some oil on it.
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Well, what does it mean? In speaking of this, He was speaking about those who were beaten and battered.
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Those who were hurt by the result and effects of sin, and certainly from this fallen world, whether it be deformities, sickness, disease, affliction, all of these, but it also speaks of spiritual depression, spiritual oppression, the faint-hearted and the weary.
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That's what it's speaking of.
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And the servant of the Lord, He is so gentle, He is so kind, and He is so overflowing with loving kindness, mercy, and compassion.
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That compassion, you know that all through the Gospels, that compassion is the most emotion you see in all of Jesus' emotions.
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Time and time again it says He had compassion on them.
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Time and time again.
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Even those that would reject Him.
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Take your rich young ruler, he came up to Jesus, he says, Hey, what do I got to do to inherit eternal life? And what did Jesus say? He said, All you have to do is follow Me.
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After He tells him to do these things, He said He did it.
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And it said He walked away, and you remember what it said? It says Jesus had compassion on Him.
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When He fed the four thousand, it says that Jesus had compassion on Him.
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When a person ran up to Him and says, My servant is sick, and Jesus said, Jesus had compassion on him.
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He constantly had compassion on those around Him.
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He would not take a hurt and burdened person who is weighed down by the world or their guilt of sin and stop them.
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That's not what Jesus did.
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Matter of fact, we have an actual passage that we could turn to.
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Turn to Matthew chapter 12.
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Matthew chapter 12, it begins where Jesus' disciples are going through, and the reason why I'm using this is because Matthew says the text we're in was fulfilled at this time.
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Listen to this.
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It says that Jesus' disciples were going through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads off the grain.
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One, why were they plucking the grains off? Why were they popping up the grain? It says right there, they were hungry.
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But when the Pharisees saw this, Yep, here it comes, ding, ding, ding.
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Let's get ready to rumble.
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And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath.
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And here it is, Jesus smacks them in the face.
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Have you not read? These are scholars of the Bible.
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That would be like somebody coming up to you going, Man, have you not read that for God so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten Son? That's kind of how this was.
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He says, Have you not read that David, when he had become hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for them to eat, nor for those with him, but for the priest alone? Or, have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath, the priest and the temple, they break the Sabbath and are innocent? But I say to you, something is greater than the temple here, and if you know what this means, you would desire compassion and not sacrifice, and you would have not condemned the innocent.
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Jesus says right here, His disciples were walking through the grain fields because they were hungry.
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They were popping off them, maybe shaking it in their hand, making some granola, I don't know, and they were eating it.
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And then, here it is, notice the Pharisees just happened to be in this field.
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And what did they do? Ah, they broke the Sabbath.
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Well, if they knew anything about that, you could glean the fields if you were hungry.
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There was nothing unlawful about that.
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But what does Jesus point to them? These men were hungry, and you would rather than starve.
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Why don't you have some compassion? Why don't you have compassion on these men? And then what did He say? Yeah, because in your inconsiderateness and your legalist-ness, you have condemned innocent men.
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Then it says in verse 9, and departing from there, He went into their synagogues.
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Well, He didn't have to go far.
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I mean, just reading that, you're like, okay, He left there, and He went to the synagogue.
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And a man was there whose hand was withered, and they questioned Jesus.
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Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? Hey, that is so funny to me too.
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Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? Who else could heal? I mean, wasn't one of the Pharisees going to say, hey man, check out your hand, fix it.
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I'm going to fix it for you.
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No, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? They're asking something that they cannot do.
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It says, And He said to them, What man is there among you that has a sheep? He falls into a pit on the Sabbath.
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Will he not lay hold of it and pull it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep? So then it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.
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Then He said to this man, Stretch out your hand.
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And the man stretched out his hand, and it was restored to normal.
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But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him how they should destroy Him.
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But Jesus being aware of it, He withdrew Himself.
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Many followed Him.
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He healed all of them.
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He warned them not to tell anyone who He was.
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And it was so that this would be fulfilled, that which was spoken by the prophet Isaiah.
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And it's this, Behold My servant whom I have chosen, My beloved one in whom My soul is well pleased.
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I will put My Spirit on him.
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He will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
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He will not be quarrelsome.
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He will not cry out.
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He will not, nor will he, anyone hear his voice in the street, but a battered reed he will not break off, or a smoldering wick he will not put out, until he leads justice into victory.
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This withered hand man, when Matthew sees this, remember this is Matthew the disciple, he sees this, he says this is fulfilled.
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He saw that withered hand man, kind of like a rhyme, withered hand man, he sees him in the synagogue, this man probably could not provide for himself, or his family, or at least not consistently.
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And here it is, these legalist men looking for a way to entrap Christ, want to use this man as an object lesson, instead of being compassionate on him.
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You know what they should have said? We know you're able to heal him, can you heal him? That's what they should have done, and what did they do? They wanted to condemn the innocent again.
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And then Jesus healed him.
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It's amazing, that is an amazing picture.
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Jesus told this man to do something he could not do.
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He said, stretch forth your hand.
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I mean imagine all of a sudden, Jesus enables him with a power, and boink, his hand comes forward.
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Is that not such a great picture of the effectual call of God? God said, do something.
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That's like when he tells a lame person to get up and walk, and the dude hopped up, rolled up his bed, and he starts getting it.
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It's not like these faith theories you see on TV, where a guy gets up, he's all weak.
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When Jesus healed somebody man, it was a done deal.
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There was no residual effects.
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It was a finished thing.
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Just like when he healed a blind person, they didn't go, hey, you know what, Jesus didn't do it quite good enough, I need to go down here to the linch crafters and get me some eyes.
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No man, he spit on dudes eyes, wiped them off, and boom, he could see, when he would heal the lepers.
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Go wash.
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Be made clean.
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They'd get out there, take them a bath, man they'd come out with baby skin.
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Complete.
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Done.
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But these men did not have compassion.
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These legalists did not have compassion.
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They didn't care nothing about this man being made whole.
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What they cared about was their own law and their own self.
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Jesus was establishing justice.
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He was helping and having compassion on the needy.
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In verse 3, I've got to land the plane.
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Isaiah 42, the end of verse 3 and 4.
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It says, He will faithfully bring forth justice.
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He will not be disheartened or crushed until he has established justice in the earth and the coastlands will wait expectantly for his law.
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And some of your translations may say Torah.
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Jesus, the chosen one of God, in whom the Lord's soul delighted, the one in whom he upholded by the power of his spirit, he would faithfully execute the plan in which God sent him to do.
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He would be the faithful servant that would show compassion.
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He would be the faithful servant that would help the needy.
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He would be the faithful servant that would faithfully take himself to the cross, willingly laying his life down.
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He would not be discouraged.
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He would not grow weary.
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He would not be shaken.
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He would not be overcome by the evil one.
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And he would establish justice and establish it forever at the cross.
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It would be at the cross where God's wrath and justice was satisfied.
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It would be at the cross where Jesus would appease the wrath of God for every person that would ever believe.
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And I say this in closing.
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Do not be deceived.
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The unrighteous will not inherit the earth.
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Do not be deceived.
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Don't let glib-tongued professors on TV tell you that, you know what, it ain't that narrow.
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But when Jesus said, the way, he meant, I'm the only way.
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It's narrow.
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Narrow is the way that lead to life.
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Few be that find it.
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And don't forget this part either.
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Difficult is that way.
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Jesus says he came to seek and save the lost.
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Jesus said he came to heal the brokenhearted and to set the captives free.
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Jesus said he came for the sick and for the unrighteous.
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And Jesus said this.
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Some of the most gracious words spoken from the Lord Jesus is this.
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Come unto me, all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
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I'll give you rest.
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It doesn't matter.
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It doesn't matter where you're at.
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It doesn't matter what you've done.
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Jesus says, come to me.
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You're an unbeliever here.
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Jesus says, come to me.
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You're a believer here.
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Jesus says, come to me.
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I'll give you rest.
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So if you fall into any one of them categories I just read.
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Lost, saved, sick, brokenhearted, need healing, heavy laden.
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We're all in there.
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Come to Christ.
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There's mercy and forgiveness.
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Cry out to Jesus.
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He's the only one that can heal.
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He's the only one that can make right.
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Let's pray.
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Father God, thank you so much for your servant.
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And what an example he was.
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But, Father, he was not just a mere example.
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He was the very substance of the new covenant.
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He was the very substance of what you said you would do on that calvary.
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That you would take sinners, acquit them of their sins through the shed blood of your son.
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And, Father, as we prepare our hearts for a time of communion, I pray that you would help us to search our hearts.
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That, Father, you would help us to be prepared that we would take this table in a worthy manner.
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In Christ's name, amen.