Glimpses of Glory God's King

Good morning, everyone.

We need to cut the Bible reading short because I needed some more time to preach this morning.

I've been away.

This time, in fact, this time last week I was in Dubai.

It's a remarkable city if you've ever been there.

30 years ago, Dubai was a desert.

I mean, it still is, but it's now this city built on a desert.

And as you come into land, it's like sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, and then this city.

It's an amazing place.

It is a picture of success.

Three and a half million people live there now.

It has 13 billionaires, 202 centimillionaires, and 68,000 millionaires.

In the space of four minutes, I saw four Lamborghinis drive past me.

90% of the population are expats from all over the world seeking their fortune.

If you lose your job in Dubai and you're an expat, you've got 28 days to depart the country.

That's it.

They don't have any hangers on there at all.

So how would you do it?

That's how Dubai did it.

How would you do it?

Well, what I mean by that is how would you plan your success?

Imagine you gather some experts into the room, a bunch of friends, and with the goal to put

together a strategic plan for a successful life for you.

That you would leave the world a better place.

How would you, what would your strategic plan include?

There you go.

I'm going to give you one minute.

Turn to the people around you and come up with a list.

Thank you.

All right.

That'll do.

The strategic plan is amongst us.

Struggle to do that without a whiteboard and some sticky notes.

But the rest of us, hopefully you come up with something.

If you've just joined us, you've just tuned in, we are working our way through the Old

Testament book of Isaiah.

It's about 800 years before Jesus.

So we're winding history back a fair bit.

Isaiah begins with God bringing a message of judgment to his fruitless and faithless people

because of their rebellion against him and because of the way that they have been treating

one another.

They have existed in a life of comfort and ease and wealth and they have drifted for God and

his priorities in life.

And this judgment can only be averted if they repent of their sin.

And we see that in Isaiah 6 when Isaiah himself is confronted with the holiness and the glory of God.

Amid the judgment on a faithless people, there is a promise of mercy.

As we see here, God raises up a new king who will lead with wisdom and bring justice and hope.

But there are some surprises with God's king.

He's an unexpected king.

And that theme runs throughout Isaiah, but we see glimpses of it here.

So if you've got the St. Paul's app in front of you, you'll notice there's four points today.

Justice of the king, wisdom of the king, identity of the king, and follow the king.

So if you've got the app, that'll be a way to keep track of where we're up to.

So first of all, the justice of the king.

Look at verse 4 in Isaiah 11 that was just read out to us.

It says,

When it says in verse 4,

He will judge the needy, it doesn't mean there that he will condemn the needy.

It literally means he will make things just for the needy and for the poor.

The poor in verse 4 means not just economically poor, but the downtrodden, the oppressed of the world,

people who are powerless.

When it says he will give decisions for the poor of the earth,

it means that he will use his power to stand in for the poor and the oppressed

and make decisions on behalf of the poor and the oppressed, the downtrodden.

He will use his power and authority for the sake, if you like, of the underlings,

the minority, the oppressed, the poor.

Now we could be tempted to view here, just on a surface reading of this verse,

to think that this king of God, God's king,

is little more than a great civil servant crusading for social justice.

What overturns that view is verses 6 to 8.

What those verses are saying is that the promised king

is going to do a whole lot more than just make the world a better place for some.

He's not just about social justice.

This king is going to rid the world of death, disease, violence, suffering, fear.

He's going to make everything right.

He's going to bring ultimate reconciliation, renewal and rest to the whole created order.

Now if these verses at all seem familiar to you,

he's like, hang on a minute, I've read this somewhere before.

It's probably because Isaiah 11 is read throughout the world every year at Christmas time.

The Christmas story is the God's king of Isaiah 11,

who will identify with the poor and make everything right,

is in fact Jesus of Nazareth.

The Christmas story reveals the extent to which God's king would in fact identify

with the poor and the oppressed.

Christmas declares that God the son, the Messiah, the Christ,

God's king here in Isaiah 11, was born into a poor family.

He did not enter the world as a philosopher or as a general leading a great army,

but as the son of a carpenter.

And he worked as a carpenter himself.

His mother was a peasant girl from a poor village, an obscure village.

His ministry was mostly directed towards the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized of society,

as he preached the gospel, raised the dead and healed the sick and lifted the downtrodden.

At the very least, to follow Jesus means that his priorities become our priorities.

However, we do not only need to be concerned about the poor and the oppressed in our world right now,

as those who have allegiance to Jesus,

but we need to do it up close.

Jesus didn't commute in to help the poor and the oppressed.

In a non-patronizing way, the church,

but I would argue more specifically individual Christians,

need to figure out how to come alongside and walk close with the poor and the oppressed of our world.

At the very least, the life and the ministry of Jesus points us in that direction.

The second thing we see here about God's king is his wisdom.

Have a look at verse 2.

The spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

the spirit of counsel and of might, the spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord,

and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

The word counsel there is the same idea as wisdom.

That is, this king, we are told, has wisdom and might.

That simply means that he not only has the power to do what needs to be done,

but he knows exactly what needs to be done

and the best way to achieve what needs to be done.

And then in verse 3, it describes his wisdom in a surprising way.

It says, he will not judge by what he sees with his eyes

or decides by what he hears with his ears.

His justice and his wisdom come together in a very surprising way.

That is, he doesn't act.

He doesn't decide the way we act and we decide.

That is, by mere outward appearance.

He doesn't look at the surface of things.

He sees things the way they actually are.

Another way of saying that is that the wisdom of God's king here

turns the wisdom of the world on its head.

The wisdom of God's king is a violation of worldly wisdom.

God's king is going to bring justice and reconciliation,

renewal and rest for all of God's people

in an orderly, remade world,

but not as we would expect him to.

I asked you a couple of minutes ago,

what was your strategy to become successful

to make an impact in this world for generations to come?

What was in your list?

I wonder,

did it include being born in a backwater town in a feed trough?

Did it include staying away from major cultural and commercial centres

and spending your time in little villages?

Did it include staying out of every network

of political, social and academic power?

In fact,

did it include making sure that you knew no one in any of those networks?

Did it include getting executed in disgrace at a young age,

just as you started to become known?

Was any of that in your strategic plan to change the world?

He turns the wisdom of this world on its head.

This is the wisdom of God.

2,000 years since that plan was put into effect,

Jesus is still the most influential person who has ever lived.

A person of impeccable character

that today you still can't pull him apart.

One quarter of this world centre their entire lives on him.

His teaching is seen as the single most influential body of thought

in the history of humanity.

Even a few major civilisations

have their existence based solely on his person and his teaching.

That is way more successful

than Cristiano Ronaldo,

who is the world's biggest social media influencer

with 573 million followers on Instagram.

Within 100 years, he'll be forgotten,

except by a few soccer tragics.

That's nothing.

The wisdom of God makes the wisdom of this world look foolish.

And in the wisdom of the world,

the wisdom of God looks foolish.

Now, there's another way here

that the wisdom of God's king

turns our wisdom on its head.

It has to do with his miraculous work in the world.

There is a miracle in these verses,

and I want to pick it up a little bit later.

But let me just say,

miracles cut into another paradigm

of the wisdom of our world.

It makes our society

think that Christianity

and anything religious and supernatural

or spiritual

just makes it look stupid.

That's the wisdom of our world.

One of the paradigms of our society

is that everything has to have

a scientific explanation,

which means ultimately the miracles can't happen.

The supernatural doesn't exist.

Many parts of the Christian church

in the Western world

have responded to our world

and the wisdom of our world

in an attempt to align itself

and to win over the world

by, in fact, downplaying

the supernatural in the Bible and in life.

And the Western church has done this

a bit over 100 years now

that has been roaring in the Western church.

Instead, what the Western church

has wanted to do

is highlight the ethical principles

of the Bible and the Christian faith,

emphasizing love and social justice

over the supernatural work of God.

What's interesting is

that the churches

that have embraced the wisdom of this world

and rejected the supernatural of God,

His work in this world,

are in steep decline.

Steep decline.

But supernatural Christianity

is exploding in the world.

The Christian faith has grown

from 5% Christian

to 50% Christian

in 100 years in Africa.

South Korea went from 0%

to 40% Christian

in less than 100 years.

The same trajectory

is happening in China right now.

God's wisdom and work

is exploding

in the supernatural world.

Let me tell you one story

from my time in Africa recently.

Pastor from Northern Sudan.

If you want to be a Christian,

being a Christian in Northern Sudan

is very hard.

So this is a pastor

in Northern Sudan

who told of growing up

with two things

that deeply shaped

his entire existence.

The Quran

in one hand

Christian

and a deep hatred

from anyone

from Southern Sudan

and especially Christians

from Southern Sudan.

A deep, deep, deep hatred.

He was a radicalised Muslim.

One day

a new student

joined his school.

He was a Christian

from Southern Sudan.

And so with his friends

they abducted him.

They beat him.

They stabbed him.

They stole a car.

They ran over him.

They killed him

and dumped his body

in a remote area

in the bush.

Such was the depth

of his hatred

even as a school kid.

Later in life

as still as a Muslim

a relative of his

was near death

in hospital.

Like this relative

had been dying

for some time

and they were

it was the end

the family were told

to gather.

Your relative is dying.

They're there.

They're unconscious

in the hospital bed.

The family has gathered around.

There's nothing more

they can do.

And they said

in the midst of that scene

two Christian missionaries

walked in.

Before they knew it

they laid hands

on our relative

and prayed.

and as soon

as they said

amen

our relative

sat up in bed

and said

what's going on?

Pulled all the tubes

out

and walked out

of hospital.

He said

that

profoundly

impacted my life

but not immediately.

Ended up

at university

became a Christian

at university

went home

told his parents

that he's now

a Christian

and they disowned him.

They disowned him.

And when they disowned you

as a Muslim

in northern Sudan

they hold a funeral

for you.

Dug a hole out

in the cemetery.

They have a coffin

that they parade

through the streets.

There's wailing

and mourning

and they bury you.

He said

he found himself

going to his family

and saying

trying to convince them

that Christ

is the way

and they said

you're dead to us

you don't exist.

And then he found himself

early one evening

by standing

in the cemetery

looking at his grave.

tombstone there

date of birth

date of death

he's there

looking at it

and as he's standing

there looking at it

he felt a hand

on his shoulder

he looks around

and no one's there

and he heard a voice

audibly say to him

my tomb is empty

and so is yours.

Preach the gospel.

He said

for that moment

that's what I did

I preached the gospel

became a pastor

church planter

evangelist

he's still doing that

daily now

right now

in Sudan

a great fear

of his life

well he doesn't fear

his life

but a great danger

to his existence

right now.

He said

he was preaching

at this event

calling people

to respond

to Christ

and as he did

he came down the front

asked people to come

and he's praying

for them

they would receive Christ

he says

a man there

came to him

he said

well just remember

it so vividly

this person

this man walks up

to him

who clearly

broke it in life

and clearly

they needed

prayer for healing

arms was twisted

they were distorted

they could hardly walk

he said

dear brother

how can I pray

for you

he said

oh you've got it wrong

I've been praying

for you

you don't remember

me do you

I'm your school friend

who you left

in the bush

from that very night

you thought I was dead

and I was dead

but Christ raised me

that very night

I've been praying

for your soul

and tonight

I see God's answer

that

are you praying

for your friends

and your family

your neighbours

your work colleagues

are you expecting

a supernatural

work of God

in their life

supernatural Christianity

is changing

the face

of human history

Christianity

that has no

supernatural element

to it

is nothing more

than a self-improvement

religion

nothing more

than that

it seems right

it seems appealing

it seems wise

but it only works

for people

in prosperous countries

it's an elitist religion

that has no power

at all

have you bought

into it

I said that there

are miracles

in these

these verses

so let me

pull that together

as we look at

the identity

of God's king

in chapter 11

verse 1

we read

a shoot

will come up

from the stump

of Jesse

from its roots

a branch

will bear fruit

what is behind

those verses

is the description

of the judgment

of God

in chapters

9 and 10

and the picture

is of total

devastation

of God's people

because of their

faithlessness

but the promise

of a remnant

it's an image

of deforestation

a thriving forest

being cut down

piled up

and burnt

because of

faithfulness

faithlessness

of God's people

then in verse 1

the green

shoot

sprouting out

of a stump

it's a metaphor

of descending

from someone

a green shoot

is descending

from someone

coming out

of life

coming out

of someone else

it is saying

that God's king

will come

out of Jesse

who is the father

of Israel's

king David

out of the

destruction

of Israel's

God's king

will be raised

up from

David's family

line

and yet

if you go down

to verse 10

you'll notice

something

interesting

in that day

the root

of Jesse

will stand

as a banner

for the nations

a banner

for the peoples

the nations

will rally

to him

and his

resting place

will be glorious

this is again

referring to

the same

king

but it doesn't

say he

descends

from David's

family line

it says

he is the

source

of David's

family line

God's king

is growing

out of Jesse

but Jesse

grew out

of God's

king

how can

someone be

both the

shoot

and the

root

of David

and Jesse

and the

answer is

as crazy

as it seems

to our

non-supernatural

society

that the

creator God

who is the

source of

us all

was born

into the

world

as a human

being

a descendant

of King

David

from Israel

the message

of Christmas

is that the

creator God

has broken

into his

world

Jesus Christ

is not just

simply a man

concerned for

the poor

or just

simply a wise

teacher

he's not just

left us with

a great

example of

how to live

life and some

wise sayings

that we can

twitter

this is what

Matthew 1

says as

the angel

speaks to

Mary

that she

will give

birth to

a son

and you

are to

give him

the name

Jesus

because he

will save

his people

from their

sins

and all

this took

place to

fulfill what

the Lord

had said

through the

prophet

then he

quotes from

Isaiah 7

the virgin

will conceive

and give

birth to

a son

and they

will call

him

Emmanuel

which means

God

with us

God's

king

in verse

11

is the

son of

the virgin

in Isaiah

7

that's the

miracle here

in Isaiah

11

God

with

us

Christmas

the Christian

faith

is

category

breaking

for our

world

because

our

world

understands

two

kinds

of

religion

and

frankly

many

Christians

are bought

into this

two kinds

of

religion

idea

the

religion

of

wrath

is where

there are

rules

and laws

that must

be

obeyed

if you

do

if you

obey

them

God

will

bless

you

if you

don't

God

gets

super

cranky

with

you

it's

a very

black

and white

simple

religion

there are

the good

people

there are

the bad

people

the other

kind of

religion

our world

understands

is the

religion

of

acceptance

God

is viewed

as a

spirit

of love

in the

world

and in

this

religion

you

must

determine

your

own

way

and you

must

accept

other

people's

ways

everything

is

accepted

everyone

is

loved

everything

is

tolerated

the

miracle

of

Christmas

the

miracle

of

the

Christian

faith

is that

neither

of

these

work

Christianity

is neither

of those

things

because

both of

those

religions

are

religions

of the

self

Christianity

is infinitely

richer

because

the one

born in

a major

is not

just a

human

being

and he's

not just

divine

he is

the

God

man

God's

king

is not

just

one

more

religious

founder

not

one

more

prophet

or

sage

coming

to tell

you

how

to

find

God

the

shoot

of

Jesse

the

of

Jesse

God's

king

Jesus

Christ

is

God

come

to find

you

God

at

Easter

as

Easter

tells

us

he

is

the

God

come

to

die

to

rescue

people

from

slavery

to

sin

you

see

the

imagery

of

verses

15

and

16

of

Isaiah

11

is

of

a

new

exodus

led

by

God's

king

as

he

rescued

his

people

from

slavery

in

Egypt

so

he

will

lead

them

from

slavery

to

sin

and

that's

why

Christianity

is so

transforming

it's

not

just

a

religion

of

wrath

it's

not

just

a

religion

of

acceptance

it's

a

religion

of

grace

and

grace

is

costly

love

yes

there is

justice

on

sin

we

see

that

in

Isaiah

9

and

10

like

Israel

before

us

we

are

not

living

as

we

should

live

there

is

lots

of

evil

and

injustice

in

our

world

and

frankly

there's

lots

of

selfishness

and

pride

in

our

hearts

every

single

one

of us

has

done

things

and

doing

things

that

we

deserve

to

be

condemned

for

yes

there

is

deserving

wrath

on

our

sin

on

the

other

hand

God

miraculously

comes

into

the

world

goes

to

the

cross

and

takes

the

punishment

that

every

single

one

of us

deserve

even

right

now

still

deserve

God

satisfies

his

own

justice

by pouring

out

his

wrath

upon

himself

that

is

costly

love

not

just

wrath

not

just

acceptance

but

God's

love

satisfying

his

own

wrath

life

that

is

the

wisdom

of

God

that

is

the

justice

of

God

and

to

our

secular

world

it

is

nonsense

have

you

bought

into

that

1

Corinthians

1

18

says

the

message

of

the

cross

is

foolishness

to

those

who

are

perishing

but

to

those

of us

who

are

being

saved

it

is

the

power

of

God

and

down

into

verse

25

it

says

for

the

foolishness

of

God

is

wiser

than

human

wisdom

and

the

weakness

of

God

is

stronger

than

human

strength

the

cross

of

Jesus

Christ

is

the

wisdom

of

God

the

justice

of

God

the

power

of

God

to

bring

regeneration

renewal

and rest

for

your

souls

as

2

Corinthians

5

tells

us

if

anyone

is

in

Christ

the

new

creation

has

come

the

wolf

now

lies

down

with

the

lamb

in

Jesus

the

old

has

gone

the

new

is

here

all

this

is

from

God

who

reconciled

himself

to

us

through

Christ

that

God

was

reconciling

the

world

to

himself

in

Christ

not

counting

people's

sins

against

them

you see

the

image

of

renewal

of

all

things

in

Isaiah

11

begins

with

the

cross

where

Jesus

became

poor

and

oppressed

was

violently

killed

so that

we can

be rich

and free

and live

in peace

with him

and this

renewal

of all

things

will finally

come to

completion

at the

end of

all time

when God's

king

judges

the world

and ushers

his children

into his

perfect world

forever

where there

is no

tears

no more

mourning

no more

crying

no more

death

no more

destruction

that scope

of things

is the

kind of

love

this

Christian

faith

this

Christian

gospel

the

kind

of

love

that

melts

your

heart

it's

the

kind

that

draws

you

to

him

it's

the

kind

of

love

that

sets

you

free

it's

the

kind

of

costly

love

that

turns

you

from

a

slave

to

the

religions

of

this

world

and the

false

hopes

and

philosophy

of this

world

into

a

child

of

God

it's

a

kind

of

love

that

turns

duty

into

delight

duty

into

delightful

choice

and

that's

where I

want to

turn as

we finish

up with

following

the

king

let me

go back

to

verse

10

again

verse

11

verse

11

goes

on

from

there

and

lists

nations

in

every

direction

of

the

compass

in

other

words

it's

saying

that

Jesus

is

the

banner

of

all

nations

he's

the

one

that

all

nations

are

to

look

to

he's

the

rallying

point

of

all

peoples

what

it's

saying

here

is

God's

king

is a

king

he

expects

to be

followed

he

expects

to be

followed

and

those

who

come

to

him

will

find

their

resting

place

in

him

not

their

burial

plot

but

their

home

and

their

place

of

rest

from

all

sin

and

evil

the

restless

wandering

of

life

will

be

over

as

chapter

12

tells

us

in

Jesus

we

move

from

sin

to

singing

his

praise

we

move

from

death

to

life

from

slavery

to

joy

so

let

me

just

close

off

by

first

turning

to

those

who

are

here

tuning

online

who

are

not

yet

Christians

these

verses

are

calling

you

to

rally

to

the

king

to

rally

to

Jesus

and

find

your

freedom

your

home

your

forgiveness

and

rest

for

your

souls

Jesus

is

the

rally

point

of

your

life

he

is

the

gathering

point

of

all

people

to

come

to

him

and

find

salvation

and

rest

for

your

souls

the

very

first

words

of

Jesus

ministry

was

a

call

to

repent

and

believe

the

good

news

that's

a

step

that I

personally

took

30

years

ago

today

to

repent

and

believe

the

good

news

some

of you

have

sat

here

and

listened

to

my

preaching

for

14

years

and

your

consistent

call

to

treasure

Jesus

with

all

of

your

life

and

you've

refused

to

take

that

step

I'm

calling

you

to

take

it

today

rally

to

the

king

today

secondly

if

you

identify

as

a

Christian

Jesus

is

the

banner

to

the

nations

and

all

are

to

rally

to

him

God

a

king

expects

to

be

followed

his

call

on

your

life

is

exactly

what

it

was

for

me

30

years

ago

to

repent

and

believe

the

same

call

in my

life

today

30

years

later

is

to

repent

and

believe

the

good

news

so

hear me

as

your

pastor

14

years

leading

this

church

God

I

fear

that

far

too

many

of

us

in

a

modern

church

like

this

in

the

west

do

simply

half

of

that

we

just

believe

as

J.I.

Packer

has

written

God's

purpose

in our

creation

as

in

our

new

creation

is

that

we

should

be

holy

growth

in

holiness

cannot

continue

where

repenting

from

the

heart

has

stopped

in

the

New

Testament

repentance

is

change

of

mind

metanoia

change

of

mind

John

Stott

argues

that

real

repentance

requires

an

admission

of

failure

and

a

rejection

of

sin

it's

not

just

saying

sorry

it's

an

intentional

turning

away

from

sin

towards

Christ

to be

conformed

to his

pattern

his

character

his

life

his

priorities

that's

what

repentance

is

and

too

many

of us

I think

have

stopped

a

life

following

King

Jesus

is a

repentant

life

where

we

embrace

his

character

his

priorities

and

we

turn

away

from

all

other

alternative

it's

a

life

long

journey

Packer

also

wrote

that

the

highest

priority

for

Christians

in the

Western

Church

as

disciples

in

Christ's

school

of

holiness

must

be

to

purge

complacency

and

comfort

from

our

souls

three

weeks

in

and

I'm

wondering

yet

have we

heeded

the

warning

of

Isaiah

the

people

in

Isaiah's

day

had a

great

life

they were

comfortable

they were

wealthy

they

believed

but they

weren't

repentant

and we

need to

be

I

talk to

pastors

from all