Isaiah 42:1-9, What We Behold

Isaiah chapter 42 verses 1 to 9 Hear the word of the Lord Behold my servant whom

I uphold my chosen and whom my soul delights I put my spirit upon him.

He will bring forth justice to the nations he will not cry aloud or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street a

Bruised reed he will not break and a faintly burning wick. He will not quench He will faithfully bring forth justice

He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice and the earth and the coastlands wait for his law

Thus says God The Lord who created the heavens and stretched them out

Who spread out the earth and what comes from it who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in?

It I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness I will take you by the hand and keep you

I will give you as a covenant for the people and light for the nations To open the eyes that are blind to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon from the prison

Those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord that is my name my glory

I give to no other nor my praise to carved idols Behold the former things have come to pass and new things.

I now declare before they spring forth I tell you of them And the

Lord had his blessings the reading of his Holy Word. Oh, we become what we behold

I like to behold football I Miss football in the offseason, of course here this area with so many college basketball fans.

This is the peak Period this is the tournament going on. They can hardly look away

Basketball nearly every night smarts madness after all a lot of kids though Like to behold athletics of some kind a lot of people of all kinds

Usually though in this area particularly basketball and yearn to be the next Michael Jordan or LeBron James now

Sure, it can be I think sports can be great entertainment. It can even keep you healthy if you do it Just watching it does it keep you healthy, but it can do that for a while But if all you do is behold athletics

Physical prowess What happens when your body ages and declines?

I know a runner around here striving to make it to the Boston Marathon Pushing himself and arduous track workouts going on long -distance runs and it was going well for a while He was progressing.

He could see his goal. He was gonna get there and Then he got injured

Couldn't run and all that work was for nothing and that shook him to the core

It was everything to him He said he felt like shooting himself on the head if you behold athletics

You might become What you behold a great athlete But sooner or later your idol your body

Will let you down And for others it's it's it's money it's business and how to get rich in it they behold

Wealth their life is all about money making and so even when they're done working making money for the day

They can't be distracted by anything else. And so they got to watch the business channels, you know, that's why there are those business channels

For people like that and they get home after making their money they can sit at home and watch

I Ideas on how to make more money. They have no hobbies. They have no sports. They like to watch They have no real interest if they're if they're professed

Christians and learning the Bible serving the church or seeking after God What will happen to them when they're old?

When they've got all the money they need But the kids are gone Whom they hardly know because they spent their life chasing dollars.

They say they're Christians, but they hardly know the faith they claim to believe They'll die the poorest people

Others in our culture though you behold the relationship, right? That's the thing. That's the meaning of life

They believe having the soulmate everything must serve that goal and so we even have churches that sell themselves as Having the keys that you need for that perfect relationship or maybe once you've had the relationship for a while Now, it's the kids.

That's what it's all about. It's about the kids That's what you that's what you look for Whatever is good for the kids keeps him entertained that determines maybe where you live what church you go to I Wonder though if kids conclude, you know, hey the family goes to the church that entertains me the best

Does that mean the church and God? is all about my entertainment

We become what we behold and if we behold a God Who is all about us all about our entertainment, is it any wonder if we become self -absorbed people all about us

Of course the church should say behold God But do they know who

God is? That they present a picture of God hopefully from his word, but they can pick and choose verses here and there

What is the picture of God that are presenting? What is it? We're supposed to be beholding

More pernicious I think than churches that are just compromised with the with culture with with our idols

Serving those idols is is a religion that sounds zealous That claims it's insistent

To that God comes first that we are to behold God and yet then puts out a portrait of God That is wrong.

It's just distorted Maybe a God who conveniently supports our political agenda. It's not that nice if the church is white

Their God never seems to be much interested in in racism or the concerns of minorities

Their God was it never seemed much interested in them before well when there was sort of institutionalized racism segregation and and slavery

He wasn't concerned about it then and he wants us now very conveniently to forget all about it

They're bringing it up now is just divisive It's in bad taste their God certainly isn't doing that.

He isn't bringing that up. Maybe though If you're more comfortable in your middle class Maybe in a church spirit or kind of a spirituality that's dominated by people who assume the discipline is unloving and Unnecessary, I guess who spoil their kids and so think

God is their father should be spoiling them And so their God kind of oozes

Sentimentality, you know, he's the God you can walk on the beach alone with only two sets of footprints

Only one during the bad times because he's caring for you or him

With that a caring of course with that reckless love or maybe it's one of those rare and becoming rarer

Old -time religion churches dominated by conservative men whose idea of spirituality is an angry man with it in a suit and tie

Thumping the Bible a King James Version, of course decrying abominations and heretics, which is about Heretics just about everybody except for them

Calling us to a life of grim Duty do your duty.

You don't have to like it. You just do it. They say look to God Look at Jesus But do they really know who he is?

We become what we behold And we're shown here whom to behold in three major parts first look at him

Second look at me and finally look at this

First look at him. That's how the passage just literally begins behold Sometimes you read that word kind of think it's a throwaway word doesn't really mean anything

No, it means what it says behold look at this look at my servant

Now that's surprising at least to some To the Bible thumpers denouncing everyone different from them

It's kind of surprising because they often the types that don't don't care about their servants, but I think others today

Think they understand this Behold my servant, but they really don't they see

Behold my servant and are reassured that that is just the

God they want a servant God a God who serves them

Jesus said I came not to be served but to serve and they think yeah, that's great

He serves me He serves my me by giving me all the things. I want the relationship

I want the business. I want the money. I want the family I want and the church I want and if that obnoxious preacher doesn't stop talking about those biblical passages that annoy me make me look bad

I'll go find another church, but that will serve me the narcissistic culture today filling people's heads with the idea that they deserve every

They deserve every good thing that comes to them that God is there serving them to give them all the good things they want

To look to themselves as the standard of right and wrong that culture churns out people who think the servant of the

Lord is their servant Kind of like Narcissus, you know that the myth of Narcissus fell in love with himself

He saw his reflection in the water one day and he just fell in love with himself And he spent his rest of his life staring at himself.

So like Narcissus staring at his reflection of the water They're beholding themselves

When they see servant of the Lord, they're beholding themselves. They look at the Bible. They're looking for themselves And they see that reflection

Was really themselves serving them and they call that reflection

God But this servant is the servant of the

Lord Behold him look at him and look at seven facets of him

Isaiah described seven things about the servant of the Lord first the Lord upholds him

Behold he upholds him in verse 1 literally that means the Lord that grips him fast.

He's holding on to him He preserves him. He sustains him now.

We might think then that that's a promise of great success Right, if you were problem, that'd be great. God will always sustain you will hold on to you

Well, that means you would think I'm always gonna win here. Maybe the servant. He'll always win. I'll always profit He'll be successful be healthy.

I'll be a victorious life of wealth and ease for him for me. We're all in this together We're upheld

I mean if you were promised to be always be upheld you might think that means you'll never fall You're never going down. He's holding you up But he was upheld the servant was upheld through humiliation

He went down to earth. He was upheld through that He went down to wash the disciples feet

He was upheld through that he went down to death He's upheld that down into the tomb he was upheld by the father through all that When we look to the true

Jesus the servant of the Lord We look at one who was willing to go through death and burial because he knew he would be upheld through it

So we can believe He upholds up. He upholds us also that he will hold us fast through death, too

At the end At the judgment, even though we've sinned and we deserve condemnation

We can believe that the father will uphold us that he will hold us as right with him because the servant

Who served us? Took our guilt and gave us his righteousness

Second the servant whom we behold is the chosen one Notice that behold my servant whom

I uphold my chosen That is that means another way of saying that is the elect my elect now

Calvinists are supposed to love talking about the elect That is the people whom God has predestined to be saved whom he has chosen to save the salvation doesn't rely on our choice

Ultimately, we do choose but we choose because we're chosen on our election election does another word for choice, but on God's But our being elect depends on the capital e elect first Christ is

The elect he's the chosen one and we become one of the elect one of the chosen if guys

God decides to look at us in him in the the elect

That's why the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4 We were chosen in him before the foundation of the world.

That is we were chosen because the father looks at us in him in the chosen

Look at who he beholds. He beholds he beholds the chosen and if he sees us in him Then we're chosen since he's the he's the one chosen we get chosen to if we're in him but instead

But first let's just say instead of looking at ourselves Thinking we can stand on our own.

We can be beheld by ourself No, like no, but instead of looking at ourselves like narcissistic people. We look at Christ He's the chosen one the father chose him because invert he says in verse 1

Notice what he says about him by my chosen in whom my soul delights

My soul here means father speaking My person and that is he personally father saying he personally delights

Takes joy in gets pleasure from The servant that's why he beholds him.

If you delight something you like to look at it and you have a Beautiful painting on your wall.

You just love it. You behold it something you find beautiful. You behold it father delights in The chosen the servant and he beholds him the father chose the servant for the same reason we choose what we choose

Why don't we choose something because we delight in it. We like it. Whatever it is. Watch it watching

March Madness That's because you delight in it. We eat our favorite food. Hopefully you don't you know filet mignon.

I love it I delight in that right? I don't do it I don't eat it because it's my duty and I gotta do it gotta eat this steak.

Uh, no, we delighted it We delight in our favorite drink we delight in what maybe watching our favorite movie or Singing our favorite song.

It's just it's just delightful or being with a friend. It's delightful. We're being with your spouse. It's delightful

We choose but not because it's a grim duty that we must perform. Oh, I gotta spend some time with her today

Horrible. No, it's delightful. You guys I get to do it Well, that's what we what we find delightful about it

But we personally find him or her or it's whatever it is delightful. Our soul takes delight personally, we get joy from That person or thing for activity and that's what the father is saying here about the son in him my soul

Myself personally I delight in him the father finds the servant delightful and so chooses him and thus chooses all of us

Who he sees in him. That's why in Ephesians 1 He predestines us because of remember the phrase his good pleasure

He enjoys it. He takes delight in saving his people

And he enjoys the servant and all of us he looks at as in him

So we behold God who's the God we behold we behold him Delighting he's the happy Delighted King and we behold the servant as delightful

Well third the father says about the servant we should look to I Put my spirit on him

The Lord Jesus began his ministry memory in a synagogue Quoting Isaiah another passage from Isaiah 6 chapter 61.

I think that the spirit of the Lord is upon me Jesus did his ministry and the power of the

Spirit now How much more than do do we need the power of the Spirit how much more? Should we be praying to be filled with the

Spirit if the perfect Son of God relied on the power of the Spirit we imperfect Sinners certainly need need him to walk in the

Spirit not in our own power our own determination Willing ourselves to live right? No, it's not first more willpower

That we need but more spirit power We need a spirit in order to not live in the flesh as relying on her own

Corrupt natures here. The father says to the son. I have put my spirit on him we behold the servant as Not a man of of grim

Duty and is determined to do what he has to do No, we but we behold the servant as a man filled with and propelled by moved along by the

Spirit Well The fruit of that will be for thing were to behold that he will bring forth justice to the nations

He is that he's the justice Bringer he brings justice to notice and he particularly brings justice to the nation's which means the

Gentiles to us Here it is in the Old Testament. Not just to Israel It's to all the kinds of nations of the world the service empowered by the

Spirit so that we not Israelites They weren't given the law wasn't given to us. I'm outside.

It was given to Israel But now we can all learn God's ways we can know God's justice here in this passage

Justice means just basically broadly God's ways not that simply his judgments like his decrees like on a law book, you know

Free the slaves that kind of thing includes that but it's his kingdom his rule the kind of life that issues from him being in charge

He puts he makes things just or right Setting things, right So the servant of the

Lord brings God's kingdom on earth To the nation's again to all kinds of people the nation's like Ethiopia like China like America the servant of the

Lord is bringing justice To the nation so that we can seek it first Seek first the kingdom of God to be ruled by God so that our lives are now organized by his rule his ways

God's servant brings God's kingdom And now we can live in it We who were far off from Israel Where God rules can live under his rule

That's justice the judge decreeing his judgments and now us living according to those decrees like love your neighbor as yourself

Well that pretty much destroys slavery doesn't it? Unless you want to be a slave I don't know who does and racism and all that it's his justice three times here

We're told that the three times that word occurs here justice the servant brings justice. That's for emphasis.

That's important to him Justice the kingdom of God and so we behold the servant Is not our menial slave to give us the money or the relationship or the family or the health that we've always wanted

We behold him as the judge Decreeing justice the king bringing his rule

Go fifth in verse to behold the servant Who will not cry aloud

Or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street he's peaceful He's not an angry young man pouring out vitriolic denunciations of everything and everyone

You know screaming heretic and abomination all the time He will have a passion in opposing evil and sometimes there's a place

Time and place that strong words need to be used but he is a passionate opposing evil sure telling the truth

But he is able to control that passion and mix it with compassion

For those who are deceived by that evil He is he can use strong terms in a calm voice now the angry

Bible thumper in the suit might call him a Compromiser For not being as rash as inflammatory as is as harsh as he is

But the servant is no compromiser He's just in control of him himself And he understands what we heard in Sunday school that if if you're in a graveyard speaking to the dead raising your voice doesn't help

Right people dead people are dead in their sins. God may use the truth to bring them life

But increasing the volume of the truth Doesn't doesn't really help the truth get through Right, he's he's peaceful just this past week.

I saw someone Scolding or condemning however, you want to put it Tim Timothy Keller pastor

Timothy he's a pastor of Presbyterian Church in Manhattan a fateful pastor that evangelical pastor there and Tim Tim Keller made some comment that homosexuality

Forgot it was put in a very mild way But it was like homosexuality is is not help you reach your full potential something like that It was exactly the words but it was put in a mild way and this person was just scolding

He's a compromiser for putting it like that. And you know, I think don't you understand? he's trying to he's trying to appeal to these people that you're not getting your full life by living this way and By putting it in a mild way by being calm about it.

He's probably more likely to be listened to You understand now screaming. It's an abomination and you're going to hell

That's probably not gonna That's true, but they don't repent but it's probably not gonna win them

All right, you understand the difference and Timothy Keller. I think was being right. He's appealing to these people be in a peaceful way

Here the servant is calling to lost sheep He's not screaming at them

He's calling them come to me all of you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest

He's inviting them to peace behold How the servant calls the sheep?

Peacefully Six in verse three I run out of fingers when we get over five a bruised reed will not break

A bruised reed he will not break and a faintly burning wick. He will not quench

He is he is meek and gentle He calls come to me for I am meek and Lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls so if you're bruised

You're like a stalk of reed or maybe bamboo It's normally stiff enough that you could perhaps make it into a walking stick.

You could put your weight on it You could lean on it But if it's bruised if it's just bent just a little bit

Indentation a little crease and that it will collapse on you as soon as you put any weight on it

So first as soon as still planted you let it let it grow out. Let it heal Till it's strong again

So if you're bruised He will let you heal first. He won't break you

Sure, we may have only a little faith and we think we can't obey perfectly yet Take up our cross deny ourselves seek first the kingdom

Not yet. We feel weak and broken Maybe maybe guilty that we're not doing everything.

We know we should be doing so far We failed to pray like we think we should we should we to seek to give to serve?

if we put all the Expectations and just condemn you for your failures to live up to perfectly full maturity now

You're afraid that that will that will crush you Well, that's why he won't do that quite yet He'll let you grow until you're strong enough to hold up under the weight of the cross.

He calls you to carry behold him caring for you

Not with a reckless love But with a gentle one He's understanding your bruises your weaknesses your anxieties

He's not crushing you We have some faith

We're wanting to do better to have more of a desire to read his word to serve to grow

But we feel weak Tired faith is so small maybe when confronted with what we should be a

Disciple sacrificing it all Maybe you wonder whether you have any faith at all You wonder since you don't feel like you're on fire for God like you should be whether you have any fire at all

But you have a spark Something is smoldering You probably wouldn't be here if not for that The servant won't smother that smoldering wick by dumping heavy loads on it

He will first gently fan it into flame and then set the whole world beginning with your life on fire ablaze

With that love for him behold the servant He's not blowing you out

As long as there's still a flicker The servant expects us to give his people the benefit of the doubt

You know if they say the believers we believe them We don't load them down with a burden of rules that crushes them.

We don't blow them out because they're not yet a full flame That's why we accept people's confession of faith. We don't pronounce them spiritually dead just because they're maybe they're immature

They're still not serving or giving or seeking the Lord like they should we teach we preach we encourage we challenge and we give them time and we give the benefit of the doubt, but if eventually

They do something that removes all doubt then we recognize that they aren't just bruised

They are broken. They aren't just smoldering. They're just there's no flame because there's there's no fire.

There's nothing there They're cold and dead there are those but until then Like the servant

We give the benefit of the doubt the Puritan Richard Sibbes wrote the best men are severe to themselves

Tender over others in Christ we behold a servant who is tender to us

Seventh he will be faithful. He will be determined. It will continue at his mission until he's fulfilled his mission

Faithfully But notice here in the letter that last sentence in verse 3 because it's sort of attached Verse 3 and verse 4 kind of go together that last sentence.

Anyway That it is by being tender by being tender kind of person.

We just saw Lady doesn't crush bruised reeds and put out flickering Candles by doing that he will faithfully bring forth justice

So the seventh thing his faithfulness his determination is is how he's

Now should put it the other way his his gentleness is how he is faithfully doing his mission the seventh thing

Now, you know By being tender, he will faithfully bring forth justice

And I seem kind of bizarre if you think about it, there's two things attached together tenderness bringing justice

Because we normally think of some of the justice can be blunt and hard a judge decreeing the judge decrees

Justice where there's injustice that's kind of blunt maybe severe maybe stern slamming the gavel pronounces guilty when it's the just thing to do against injustice a

Kingdom coming against rebels, you know, that's an invasion that's violent and in a way that's true

God's rule overturns this world his kingdom destroys those who resist

But the means the instruments that he uses to bring his rule

His tools to implement his justice the weapons of his kingdom are

Still small voices gentle words Not angry insults the good news of The gospel not the imposition of rules

The spirit giving people new hearts that love him Not the use of man's power, you know force laws that compel people to do what they should do behold

That's how the servant will faithfully notice that word that faithfully faithfully

He won't give up when it gets hard and you think of the past history of the 2 ,000 years There's been sometimes where it looks like his mission is it's got a lot of resistance

It's gotten hard and people quit on him. They choose superstition. They choose coercion instead of his ways

But it says he will not grow faint or be discouraged

When the gospel is replaced with works He's not gonna give up on these people They're not listening when people desert him

When his his so -called people care more about just us than justice

When they start breaking bruised reeds and blowing out flickering candles with their legalism He will start a reformation

I'll bring a great awakening. He will send the gospel to new nations They won't be saddled with the burden of bad cultural habits.

He's in it for the long haul He's been doing it for 2 ,000 years now and he's continuing to do it by tenderness and meekness

He will bring justice the kingdom of God to the earth Notice that again, by the way the theme here to the whole earth

Not just Israel and he'll continue to that till this is how long he will be faithful This is how long he will be undeterred by our failures

How long he will continue to gently bring his revolutionary kingdom on earth

He'll keep doing it until He has established justice in the earth, that's how long he'll do it

Until he said succeeded and it's in the earth. It's not just Israel It's not just the Messiah of that nation, but he says that the coast lands the furthest

Distant lands Isaiah sitting in Israel writing that the coast lands the furthest places of the earth away

Australia but China America wherever is furthest from Isaiah the people there in those further furthest away places

Wait, he says they waiting for his law for his teachings

To love the Lord with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself to seek first the kingdom of God The servant will bring justice his ruling his righteousness over all the earth every nation in Ethiopia and China Or the

USA behold the servant. It was meek and lowly of heart calling his sheep from every nation we become

What we behold Have we been beholding him? upheld delightful spirit -filled doer of justice meek and gentle Faithful and not discouraged even over the long haul.

Are we beholding him first? It's look at him and now in verses 5 to 7

The Lord says look at me First the

Lord was speaking to us About the servant and now in verses 5 to 7.

He's speaking to the servant about himself To become like what we behold and now

Behold our God Thus says God in verse 5 literally, it's the

God in Hebrew Just doesn't have to be that way, but it but here it is the God for emphasis not any the

God It's not even the idols that they've been beholding the athletics or the money of the booming business the relationship

He is the Lord Yahweh, that's his name who created the heavens that is the universe

With all the stars and galaxies says he stretched them out The universe is expanding currently 46 billion light -years wide.

That's a long expense Imagine it's like it stretched out the comparisons like to a tent you you've set it up right and then you stretch it out

Here the universe is like that God has set it up and he's been stretching it out 46 billion light -years wide

That's a long arm span to be able to stretch that wide, isn't it? And it's still expanding It's still being stretched out and he's the one expanding it.

He's spread out the earth He's playing the continents and the oceans and get and get and he gave gave breath that his life in the body and he gave

Spirit so there were more than just bodies to all his people every one of us human beings who walk around here on earth

Behold our God. I am the Lord the I am I have called you and we'll see here

We'll see soon that he's speaking. He's speaking to the servant first not not first to us

We get to over here. This is amazing because we're overhearing in this passage to give verses 5 to 7

We're overhearing the father speak to the son Right here in verse 6 and here's what he says

I have called you father to the son in Righteousness, he called him to his mission

Not only is it that the mission the calling of the son to be the servant? Not only is that right what he came to do?

It's what makes us right makes us righteous before God. I Will take you again to the father to the son.

I will take you by the hand and keep you Remember the servant is upheld by the

Lord. That was the first thing you described and here is again. I'm Sustaining you he's kept he's preserved the father says to the son.

That's how he lived That's how the son lived perfectly and died and came back to life because the Lord held him

By the hand and walked him through all that The Lord says to the servant

I Will give you as a covenant for the people Strange wording, isn't it? that is he is the one who makes it possible for his people to have a relationship with God a a covenant a

Covenant is what defines that relationship it make it describes it. It it says who was in it

Right us hopefully and in the God the covenant describes that and when what he did to make that Relationship possible here the servant himself is the covenant

He's in it and if we're in him, we're in it And he what he did is what makes it possible because it's in him that we are in a relationship with God He made that relationship possible by his blood.

This is the new covenant in my blood He said and he is at the end of verse 6 a light

For the nations think what Jesus said. I am the light of the world Here it is again here.

It is beforehand actually again the Nations the world the Gentiles us

Africans Europeans Americans Chinese He's the light of the world. The servant is to be a light that reveals

God. We're in darkness we couldn't see God because we didn't have the light and then he turned on the light so we can behold him and He is that light for all kinds of people

He'll be a light in verse 7 who opens the eyes of the blind so we can see The servant he says here in this passage brings out the prisoners

From the dungeon From the prison those who sit in darkness. That was us

It's the hymn puts it long my in spirit long my imprisoned spirit lay fast bound in sin in nature's night your eye the servants light

Diffused a quickening that is a life -giving ray. I Woke the dungeon filled with light my chains fell off.

My heart was free I rose went forth and followed thee

The servant makes it possible For us to behold our God He turns on the light for us

So now if you've been set free Stop looking at athletics for life or money or business or the relationship look at me says

God finally Look at this in Versus 8 to 9.

I am the Lord the I am that is my name and my glory That is that my weightiness my glory that that which makes him special to be looked to to be be beheld

More than whatever it is You know the sports whatever you can do with your body However much money you can make whatever business empire or family that you can build that which makes him worth beholding his glory

He gives to no other This in verses 8 and 9 He's a jealous

God He doesn't share his glory with Anything else with all the any of those other things that we might behold that we might look to besides God You know, we think we have

God but we can have a little of the other things. No, he doesn't share. He doesn't share glory It's not like a

Chinese temple. You have ever been in Chinese temple There's a good often be a lot of gods and they kind of sharing space

May have various gods and thousands of ancestors and they each kind of share space and you can pick and choose which one you like But the

Lord says no, I'm not gonna be they're not gonna be a part of your temple and you share me with other gods

No, he demands to be the only one sharing no glory with anything or anyone else.

He's not just our number one God Right with 51 % of our affection. No, he's not just our favorite

God Even yeah, I like God more than I like basketball, but I have not like that even ahead of Basketball during March Madness or even ahead of wealth of the relationship, but they get a place too.

We get to serve them some to know He demands to be absolute to be your only God and if you enjoy sports or you know

You're you make money or you have relationships you can do all those things, but you do them

You do all things you do it all Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do

You do it for the glory of God Because he doesn't share his glory with anything else

But here's an interesting thing. I think The Lord says here

That he doesn't share its glory with any other, you know, no other idols whether the literal

You know the kitchen gods or the ancestral tablets or the little Buddhas or the figurative or the figurative idols people have today our money sports relationships

That we seek more than him. No, he tolerates no rivals to his glory, right? That's what he says.

I share my glory with no others and yet Think of this passage He spent most of this passage

Glorifying the servant How's that? Right, it's the it's the

Lord himself here who's who's tells us behold my servant

He told us to behold him The the Lord himself delights in the servant

My soul delights in him who puts his spirit on him who holds him up for all to see who?

So we can look at him to be like him to be meek and not screaming denunciations not crutching crushing people with condemnation the servant is exalted as Not growing faint or discouraged even when many quit on him

He will be the one to finally bring justice the kingdom the the gospel the

Word of God to the furthest Distant lands to America to China wherever the servant is taken by the hand and walked through Crucifixion and death and burial and made the basis for our covenant our relationship with God He's a light for all kinds of people all over the world who opens blinded eyes and sets prisoners free

The Lord has been praising the servant through all this passage and then he says

That he doesn't give his glory to any other his praise to any other now, how is that?

Well, that can only be if the servant is also the

Lord the God who created the universe and Stretched it out 46 billion light -years and counting behold the servant is

God So behold he says in verse 8 look at the servant

Then look at me and finally look at this the former things have come to pass

You know the sin the failure the injustice The screaming Pharisees denouncing people in the streets loading down bruised reeds and and breaking them smothering flickering wicks and with their legalism and traditions

And and and the judgment and the destruction that God brings on all that that's passed new things he now declares a new covenant made by the servant in his blood new life coming from the gospel and the

Spirit and Eventually Jesus says behold look at this I make all things new

Look at this Look at this the Lord says and look at this before these things spring forth

Look at this passage 700 years before the servant came he's described here and we're talking about Jesus here 700 years before he was born

He's upheld. He's delightful. He's spirit -filled. He's a doer of justice. He's meek and gentle.

He's faithful in person Persevering we have we have the character the heart of Jesus described for us 700 years before he came to earth

Look at that Before the new covenant was made He was described and announced based on the servant

So look at that and think about it if he announced all that beforehand and Then did it did what he announced had announced beforehand.

Can't we be sure? That he'll do All the other things he's announced that haven't quite yet come to pass the new heavens in the new earth the the all things

That will be new the resurrected body He's announced all that Can't we now believe it will come to pass too

Well, we've become what we behold The question now is then what have you been beholding?

the promise of what your body can do the promise of money of wealth the things they can buy the promise of relationships even family

Now those aren't bad things. They make good servants But they are bad masters in the end

They'll all fail you if you behold them if you look to them

You will be disappointed or maybe we agree with all we understand that we think all these things are fine in their place

But we fail to see who they serve We think they serve me. They glorify me even religion a dose of religion

Some God talk is fine serves me where I can fit it in, you know, if the game isn't on If you've acquired enough money the rest of the week.

Yeah. Okay. I'll do the God stuff If it doesn't interfere with the relationship, okay,

I'll go along Maybe Christianity maybe it's Christianity here Because this is despite your

America Christians are here maybe somewhere else If you're there, it's ancestral veneration

Chinese traditional religion Buddhism Whatever if it's there, but you know, whatever whatever helps me get along.

It's all about me in that case We're like narcissus

You know beholding ourselves Kind of bent in on ourselves like a black hole of Love and delight and joy and glory nothing can escape because the ego at the center is too strong Pulling everything in on us the idolatry of self is

The most demented idolatry we become what we behold here

We're given a picture of the one to behold the servant the

Lord The Good Shepherd who gently leads his sheep and lays down his life for them