Isaiah 43:22-44:5 - Return to the One who Redeems

Let's take our Bible and go to the book of Isaiah, chapter 43.

Isaiah 43 · chapter mention

We're studying through this book, an Old Testament book of 66 chapters, and we are working our way well past the midsection In a grand and glorious portion of Scripture.

From chapters 40 to 55, they give us an understanding of God's wondrous mercy and grace.

Five give us an understanding of God's wondrous mercy and grace.

Both of my sons live in London, as many of you know, and yet I get to enjoy almost daily conversations with them in one way or another, not always by video, not always by voice, but sometimes by sending each other little statements across some sort of messaging app.

And my son Ben and I often will send one another video reels that have captured our attention or tickled our bones or whatever it might be.

And my son Ben sent me recently a little reel an Instagram reel of a collection of short little videos that dog owners had taken of their puppies, and this little montage of videos was showing all of these puppies either running around or sitting in some place or eating, and every one of them falling asleep immediately.

It was really cute to watch this puppy just zooming around the living room and all of a sudden just dropping and just out immediately, or others right in the middle of chewing some of their food and falling into their bowl to sleep.

The cutest ones were ones where the puppies are sitting there just trying to be as polite and sitting up as nicely as possible and then just reeling over and then just waking up.

In a start.

Royal said I've done that a time or two, talking to her when Mike and I returned from visiting Chad and Emily, royal and I, late into the night, were just talking about some of our experiences while we were separated from each other, and Royal says I fell asleep mid-sentence.

So weariness can really bring us down.

It can happen to a puppy, it can happen to a pastor, it happens to all of us.

And I had a friend of mine, frank, in Bible college.

He was out of the Marines, I was out of the Air Force, we were both in Bible college together.

He worked full-time and went to school full-time.

I worked full-time and went to school full-time, and we went to church together and we formed just a great bond with each other.

Because of Frank's abilities, he wasn't a quick learner or fast study, and so he had to spend a lot of free time every bit of his free time, when he wasn't working or going to church, to try to study and keep up with the workload that was there at college.

And so when we would sit together at church, I'd often see him falling asleep, and occasionally I'd just kind of give him a little elbow and he'd wake up.

Well, this really really disturbed him, and one day he took a pin and stuck it through the knot of his tie, thinking that if he did fall asleep he'd wake himself up.

I said, frank, don't do that, that's not something you need to do.

And I said, look, when you fall asleep I'll wake you up.

And so I kind of took it on as my job.

Every time I saw him sleeping I'd be sure to wake him up.

But sometimes compassion overwhelms duty and I would just let him sleep for a few minutes because he needed it.

He really was weary and he needed some rest.

But, boy, I didn't want him putting that pin back in his tie.

Well, the portion of Scripture that we're coming to in Isaiah, chapter 43, speaks of this startling statement that God himself describes himself as weary, and his tiredness is not a weariness of strength like ours, but it's a weariness of a wounded love, the Lord who doesn't sleep, the Lord whose strength never falters, describes himself here like a brokenhearted father who's wearied not by labor, but wearied by the loss of a child's affection by the loss of a child's affection.

Isaiah 43 · chapter mention

In the verses here of chapter 43, god doesn't accuse the people of their overt idolatry or their dramatic rebellion.

What he speaks to them is the gradual erosion of their love, a spiritual forgetfulness that's numbed their desire for him.

They've not forgotten the mechanics of worship, but they've certainly lost the heart of it, and their heart hasn't longed or yearned for him, the one that they were meant to give themselves to and the one in whom they could adore.

And they no longer called upon God, not because he was asking too much of them, but because they were disinterested in him.

They were weary, not from serving the Lord, they were weary of serving the Lord.

And yet this passage doesn't stop with that kind of sorrow and the deserving judgment.

It enters us into the most astounding truth, one of the greatest and glorious statements in Scripture that God who is, yes, wearied with abandonment and our sin.

But he doesn't stop there.

He doesn't abandon these sinners and he doesn't abandon us either, as we'll find out.

He still speaks to them, he still redeems them, he still restores them, he still promises great things for them.

And so, as we go from this passage and we'll begin in chapter 43 and verse 22, just a verse past where we left off last week we're going to see this movement from sorrow to mercy, from estrangement to renewal, this movement from weariness to relentless grace.

Let's read it together Chapter 43, verse 22.

But, jacob, you've not called on me because, israel, you've become weary of me.

You've not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings or honored me with your sacrifices.

I have not burdened you with offerings or wearied you with incense.

You've not bought me aromatic cane with silver or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices, but you have burdened me with your sins.

You've wearied me with your iniquities.

I am the one I sweep away your transgressions for my own sake and remember your sins no more.

Remind me.

Let's argue the case together, recount the facts so that you may be vindicated.

Your first father sinned and your mediators have rebelled against me.

So I defiled the officers of the sanctuary and set Jacob apart for destruction and Israel for scorn.

And now listen, jacob, my servant, israel, whom I've chosen.

This is the word of the Lord, your maker, the one who formed you from the womb.

He will help you.

Do not fear Jacob, my servant Yeshurun, whom I've chosen For.

I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground.

I will pour my spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring.

They will sprout among the grass like populars, by flowing streams.

This one will say I am the Lord's.

Another will use the name of Jacob, still another will write on his hand the Lord's and take on the name of Israel.

This passage invites us to pause, not a pause of analysis, but a pause of reflection.

And before we step any deeper into this text, we need to bring ourselves to a question about ourselves, to examine the posture that we've come into this room today.

And perhaps you've come spiritually exhausted, like my friend Frank, weary, needing rest, yearning.

Maybe your journey with God has brought you to the place where it's not rebellion but routine that has dried you out, a slow drift that's bold your delight.

Or maybe you're here with a sincere desire to serve the Lord and yet you see the inconsistencies of your own life, so much so that you wonder if God's mercies could continue because of the fickleness of your heart.

Or maybe you're here this morning, you're just exploring spiritually where you're at.

It's not a question you've entertained, maybe even ever before, but you're here today and that too is by the grace of God.

As we go through this passage, we're going to find out that this heartache of heaven is not the end.

It's actually the statement that begins the restoration.

This God that we've wearied by our sins is still merciful and yet still invites us to return.

So let's step into this passage and let's take a look at the heart of it, where the grief of God is met by the grace of God.

Let's look at the first point, verses 22 to 24.

And I want to focus all of these three points on God, because that's what this passage certainly does.

And the first point is a neglected and yet a nearing God.

A neglected yet nearing God and yet a nearing God.

A neglected yet nearing God.

Isaiah opens up with a painful exposure here of spiritual drift, as I said a moment ago, and it's not one of fiery defiance but quiet indifference.

Here God's sorrow is not stated as being provoked by the rebellion, but provoked by being forgotten, and he points to their failure because of the absence of their intimacy.

No prayer offered in communion, no sacrifices brought in devotion, no grateful praise, no joy, no pursuit of his presence.

And the indictment isn't that they've run after false gods, but they've quit running after him.

The rituals might have continued, perhaps, but their hearts have silenced.

The rituals might have continued, perhaps, but their hearts have silenced.

And in that silence God speaks, because their neglect was not incidental.

In fact, it would soon carry weighty consequences, as the end of chapter 43 indicates.

Their sin, layered upon layer by generation of generation, is going to bring them to a place of judgment.

But let's linger here for a moment, not just, like I said, for analysis, but for reflection.

God says you've not called on me.

Certainly he's talking about these times of intimate expressions of praise and petition in the presence of God.

We call it prayer.

Ask yourself when was the last time you prayed, not out of duty but out of delight?

You see, israel hadn't stopped believing, they'd stopped communing.

And here they were, perhaps even praying mechanically, but not with their heart full.

Their voice was a distant echo because there was no intimacy in it.

Their sacrifices, too, had vanished.

Sacrifices certainly cost something.

Sacrifices are that word we use because it is a sacrifice.

It cost them time.

It cost a sacrifice.

It costs them time, it costs them livestock, it costs them grain, it costs them effort to make a sacrifice.

Of course, god didn't give this to weigh them down as worshipers, but for them to show their deep affection and appreciation and heart to a God who is forgiving.

But they didn't carry it out, or they didn't carry it out with heart, or they kept some back.

And again for reflection, we might need to ask ourselves are we simply doing things out of habit or performance, or out of the fueled heart of gratitude and love?

Are we doing things because it's convenient or are we willing to step into moments that are costly, that are truly sacrificial?

And here the communion fades.

He says that they hadn't brought and he uses this interesting phrase aromatic cane with silver, an image of fragrant, joyful worship not offered.

Their thanksgiving had shriveled into a transaction and worship had turned into a means by which they could manipulate God.

What can God give me, rather than what can I offer him?

They were disconnected.

We feel disconnected from people all the time, even as much as we think we're connected to them.

If I opened up my Facebook profile right now, I'd probably find out I have 1,500 friends.

Sounds impressive.

How many of them do I spend any time with?

Right?

I'll go on here, I'll open up Facebook, my feed will bring me, and I'll just kind of go oh, that's interesting, oh, that's nice, oh, oh, oh, and maybe once a week I'll stop and write a comment.

We put God on our Facebook feed, the Facebook feed of our life's relationships, and we look down on him and we might even tag him in something that we've done, but when it comes to posts from his, we'll just keep scrolling by, disconnected, not engaged.

God doesn't leave us in the dark about what's going on here.

It is a heart issue, not a performance issue here.

Verse 23, he tells them I've not burdened you with offerings or wearied you with incense.

Worship of the Lord wasn't meant to be a burden, and yet the people had re-imaged it that way that it was really something they just needed to perform, something to do.

And, of course, if you think that way, worship is going to weary you.

If you approach God as if it's something you need to do to bargain with Him, rather than something you do because you belong to Him, worship's going to be a grating activity, and you're going to put up with that grating activity only so long.

Before you just give it up, consider Cain, genesis chapter 4.

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

He offered a sacrifice and the sacrifice wasn't accepted.

Why?

Because it was just a performance.

Saul in 1 Samuel 15 partially obeyed.

He sacrificed to the Lord, but obedience wasn't in his heart, only in his hands.

And the Lord is telling us to take care that we don't go off into the drift of a cold and indifferent heart by allowing ourselves to be disinterested in God himself.

Hebrews 12 gives us.

It says strengthen your tired hands and your weakened knees, make straight paths for your feet so that what is've heard, so that we will not drift away.

What was the result of this?

A ruined relationship.

God here, longing for this relationship, and yet they've reduced him to something they do simply by ritual.

But he's not a distant deity meeting rituals that we perform.

He's a near father aching for the hearts of his people, and his statement here about judgment is a relational pain.

God does not delight in the death of the wicked, the scriptures say, and so he says.

So I have defiled the officers of the sanctuary and set Jacob apart for destruction in Israel, for scorn.

Jesus would echo these verses when he would speak to the generation in his day and he would say the people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

In one of his most tender laments, overlooking Jerusalem, he said oh Jerusalem, jerusalem, how I would have gathered you as a hen does its chicks, but you will not.

But even in the face of this cold, heartless worship, god doesn't withdraw.

His heart remains, his nearness persists.

And while they're making excuses that God demands too much or he gives too little, he tells us the drift is ours, but the desire to restore is his.

And this nearness will culminate in Christ, christ who said come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.

You see, the answer to spiritual fatigue is not picking up the duties, it's seeking the heart of God who wants to show mercy and grace.

And so let's see how that builds as we continue.

We've seen God.

Let's see Him a second way as a merciful and mighty judge.

A merciful and mighty judge.

We've listened to the ache of his voice, a voice not distant but grieving, as a father burdened by forgotten love.

But let's see how he interacts with these people, and he leads with mercy.

He is a merciful and yet mighty judge, but he leads with mercy.

Here, verse 25,.

I am the one.

I sweep away your transgressions for my own sake, and remember your sins no more, the face of the dullness of their hearts.

He reminds them of who he is.

And don't be mistaken this merciful God is also a mighty judge.

But here he speaks with tenderness.

He speaks in the middle of this mess with these wondrous declarations I, I, it is me, I'm the one that forgives you, that blots out your transgressions.

Now, their failures were undeniable.

Your first father sinned.

Verse 27.

Your mediators have rebelled against me.

They've done nothing but widen the divide between God and themselves.

And yet here is the wondrous statement that when God argues with their heart, he speaks first of all about His merciful character, because His forgiveness is not exhausted yet.

It stands ready for those who return, and it's not contingent upon their behavior, but their acknowledgement and recognition of their failure, and it flows from his character.

But this merciful judge is also a mighty judge.

Maybe you're here today thinking that grace is something you deserve and mercy will be proportioned to you according to your performance.

This passage will certainly disavow you of that perspective, because forgiveness begins with where who God is, not what we do and where we've been.

But still there is, like these people, something within us that just wants to argue for ourselves, something within us that wants to justify ourselves, to say that we're okay.

And so he says look, I've given you my appeal, I'm the forgiving father.

Now, what do you have to say in light of that, verse 26.

Remind me, let's argue the case together.

Recount the facts so that you may be vindicated.

Recount the facts so that you may be vindicated.

With piercing irony, god says okay, let's go into the courtroom, let's talk about it there.

I'll give you room to speak.

State your case, give me your answers.

Maybe I have demanded too much, maybe you don't need my forgiveness.

What do you have to say?

God says you've got the floor, go ahead and speak.

But the silence says everything.

We have nothing to say.

How could we justify ourselves before this judge?

The floor has been given to us, we've been prompted to offer arguments and we have literally nothing to say for our defense.

I mean, what could we possibly present?

God says well, let me just remind you of something your fathers, from the very first, were sinful, and your mediators have only separated you more and more from me.

And the verdict is clear I will deliver Jacob apart for destruction and Israel for scorn.

This is not an overreaction, this is justice.

And we may think God's justice is some outdated, overly harsh statement.

I'm reading a biography on Mark Twain at the moment Samuel Clemens, and he said the Old Testament, God is just a fickle ogre.

I love the God of the New Testament.

Wait a second.

Let's go to Acts, chapter 5.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

You don't need to turn there.

Five.

You don't need to turn there.

But Ananias and Sapphira, whose subtle sin was deceit of holding back gifts, and they wrapped up their excuse in a thin veil of self-preservation, only to find out that God knew their hearts and understood when they lied and the judgment was immediate.

They died in the middle of the worship service, not because God was vindictive, but because he's holy.

And this justice confronts us, and God is saying here between the lines do you really want to get what you deserve?

Do you really want to try to argue your case as though you could win this?

The story doesn't end here, though.

You see, this passage of Scripture is a prophecy.

It's not just an argument with the present generation of the people here.

It is a statement that projects itself forward in God's unfolding plan of redemption, because God's justice continues to stand firm.

God in the New Testament has not set aside his justice, as if it was only a thing preserved for those days past.

But his mercy has not retreated either.

It advances, but it only advances in one place, and that's in Christ.

You see, this passage prepares us for a mediator who won't keep separating us from God, but who will actually bring us to God.

And we find ourselves enveloped in a Father who receives us as if we'd never sinned, even though generationally we've had sin after sin after sin after sin in all of our forefathers.

And the New Testament draws back the veil of eternity and shows us that entering into the courtroom is one more person, that entering into the courtroom is one more person, not just God, the judge, and us, the silent defense, but Jesus.

Jesus walks into the courtroom and he intercedes, not with ritual repetitions, but with a once-for-all sacrifice.

And he doesn't bring bulls and goats and lambs, he brings himself.

Imagine the picture the judge saying you've got the microphone, it's your turn to speak, your defense, what do you have to say?

And we stand there with nothing to offer.

And then walks in Jesus, the only person on earth who has never sinned, and God doesn't look at him and then look at us and say you see, that that's what I want you to do.

And he doesn't point at Jesus and say just take up everything that he's doing and then you'll be okay.

The judge is righteous and the sentence there's no argument against it it's deserved.

And Jesus arises not to dismiss the charges, saying God, you know, you're a God of love, just, just, just, just look, just just stop the court session now and let them go.

That's not what he does.

He walks up in front of us and he says to the judge All that righteousness which I have done, put it on them, that sacrifice on the cross in which I gave up my life and received the curse, take it from them and put it on me, because this is where mercy and justice meet.

It meets at Christ, who is the advocate and the atonement for us.

Our forgiveness is not cheap.

It costs Christ everything, but he brings us to God on our behalf.

You see, this is God in the courtroom, but the problem starts in the heart, right?

So let's find out when God's mercy moves from the courtroom to our hearts and this brings us to the last point of restoring and reigning Lord in the first five verses of chapter 44.

If all God did was cancel sin, that would be more than enough.

But he does more.

He does so much more.

His justice confronts us with our hard-heartedness, but his mercy is meant to lift up our broken-heartedness.

And he doesn't just stop at forgiveness.

This passage that we're about to look at tells about God reshaping us and renewing us, and reigniting within us, and even renaming us.

He doesn't just merely erase sin.

He forgives us and he forms us as His people, because he's not here simply to stop at rescue.

He wants renewal, not just in our activities but in our heart, and so His mercy here is going to describe how he reorients our lives, how he changes our identities and how he ignites a transformation within us that defies our past and defies our present, defies our circumstances.

Let's move into it.

Notice his faithfulness affirmed in the first verse.

And now listen, jacob, my servant, israel, and who?

My chosen?

Wow, my servant, my chosen.

This is tenderness.

Tenderness of titles not earned, but tenderness of titles offered by grace.

This God, who's been wearied by their neglect, is still desiring to call them his own, my chosen, my servant.

Not because they're faithful, obviously, but because God is, and though we falter, he's not going to forget and we drift, he's not going to withdraw, because his faithfulness is not anchored in our worthiness.

His faithfulness is anchored in his unwavering nature, and so we see not only his faithful expressions but also his renewing power here.

What does he say?

This is the word of the Lord, your maker, the one who formed you from the womb.

He will help you.

Do not fear Jacob, my servant Yesharun, whom I've chosen.

He promises help and he goes on to talk about water being poured on a thirsty land and streams poured out on a dry ground.

He speaks of an image of revival, and it isn't just simply agricultural.

This is in the heart.

I'll pour out my spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring.

They will sprout among the grass like poplars, by flowing streams.

What is God saying?

He's going to do?

He's going to saturate the barren.

He's going to supply nourishment to those who have dried up and shriveled away.

He's going to take the starved and make them fat and full and satiated.

And he anticipates the day of Pentecost in Acts, chapter 2, when the Spirit is poured out upon the believing people of Israel, jews, all the descendants here.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Your offspring will sprout among the grass like populars by flowing streams.

And Peter, on that day, stands up amid the confusion and the questioning and the accusations and he presents Christ to the people and he says at the very end of his sermon on that day, repent and be baptized, each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, for the promise is for you and for your children.

The Holy Spirit, for the promise is for you and for your children, and for as many are as far off, as many as the Lord, our God, will call.

And so they accepted that message and there were baptized on that day 3,000 people and, as you read through the book of Acts, numbers added to the church daily.

What was happening in Jerusalem and Judea and eventually in Samaria and then into the other parts of the earth?

There was water being poured out on a dried land.

There was thirst, assuaged.

There was starvation, satiated with fullness.

There was a spirit poured out upon a dead, dry territory.

And he does that still.

I live very close to a place where William Wilberforce lived.

The building was gone, but there was a plaque there on a rebuilt structure and the plaque about this large talked about William Wilberforce living at that spot and it mentioned about all of his labor in Parliament to try to end the slave trade and to try to bring it to a close.

Well, william Wilberforce was raised up in a church with a very dead, dry, distant heart.

That left him just going through the motions without any igniting of flame within him, until he found the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in truth.

And all of a sudden, this man, who was in the same church he was in before, is finding his heart ignited with a fiery desire to know God and to serve Him with all of his heart.

And there he was, this aspiring politician, this man who was positioned in places of influence, and he went over to an old minister and asked him for advice and he said I love my Lord Jesus.

What can I do to serve him?

Should I go into the ministry?

And John Newton said you need to stay where you are and serve him there.

And this man gave his life to the very end to ensure that there would be no more shackles in the British Empire on the wrists and ankles of people.

This is God's igniting of dry, dead people and notice how transforming it can be.

This passage doesn't quit.

You think we're done?

We're not.

It's wonderful.

There's a climax here in identity.

Let's back up just a bit in verse 2.

Do not fear Jacob, my servant Yesharun, whom I've chosen.

Well, jacob is a familiar term to us, but do we know what Jacob means here?

Jacob's a biblical figure that lived a long time before.

Why are these people called Jacob?

Well, jacob was known for his cunning and his deceitful ways, especially to his brother, esau, and so his name Jacob was very fitting, because he was a deceiver.

He was a supplanter.

He tried to grab things that weren't actually his own.

He was born holding on to Esau's heel, as if he was going to grab what Esau deserved and make it his own, and he did.

That's exactly what he did.

But now Jacob, after receiving God's mercy, is now called Yeshurun.

What does that mean?

Upright one?

It means upright one.

Why is he called the upright one?

It's not based on performance.

It's based upon God's forgiving nature, his transforming work and power.

This one, who was a deceiver, is now given a new name, and it's not just a cosmetic adjustment.

It is a demonstration of what's happened to this person, what's happened to these people who turned to the Lord?

Because they're changed from the inside out, and this is why Paul would cry out If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation, a new creation.

A new creation Because it is from Him that we are, in Christ Jesus, who has become wisdom from God for us, our righteousness, our sanctification, our redemption, so that it might be written he who boasts, let him boast in the Lord and not in ourselves.

It might be written.

He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord and not in ourselves.

The people are not going to resist this name.

They're going to embrace it and they're going to write the Lord's name on their hands and boast not about their activities but their belonging to God.

The imagery of this new name and having a name stamped on their hands is given to us in the book of Revelation, and there, in the letters of Revelation, it says To those who conquer, I'll give some of the hidden manna and I'll also give them a white stone, and on that stone a new name is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it and again, the one who conquers I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never go out again.

I'll write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven for my God and my new name.

Maybe you've never seen yourself that way.

Imagine through the work of the gospel we can enter up into the record room of heaven and open up all of the books detailing all of the persons who have ever been born or existed on this earth.

And as we go down the aisles of all of these names, from A to Z, and I would go to the M section, mcmaster's, and I would find there, from all the pagan tree-worshiping peoples out of Scotland, a lineage of people who had turned away from the living God, painted blue and screaming Freedom.

And I would bring my name down and I would look and it would say Douglas McMasters.

Thanks, mom and Dad for such a weird first name, but anyway.

And it wouldn't say Doug McM.

Dad, for such a weird first name, but anyway.

And it wouldn't say Doug McMaster, sinner.

It would say Yesharoon, what Upright one.

How.

Jesus Christ is my sanctification and my redemption, because Jesus' name is where mine was and Jesus' sacrifice is covering my iniquity and His punishment covered it all and your name, if you come to Christ, is the exact same name.

We're not defined by what we do.

We're not named by what we were.

We're not seen by what we perform.

We're not seen by what we perform.

We have the name of the living God set upon us, because he's a merciful God who saves those who recognize they can't bring anything to him, who do stop in silence and say I'm guilty, I plead the mercy of the court.

And the judge says I have mercy in my son.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.

John Newton must have smiled inside his heart when he told William Wilberforce to stay in Parliament and continue the fight for the emancipation of the slaves, because he himself was once one of those ones who put those chains on people.

It must have been a delight for him to say do the work, do what you can.

But he spoke about himself and he said this once a slave trader and now a preacher of grace.

I am not what I ought to be, imperfect and deficient as I am.

I am not what I wish to be to abhor evil and cling to what is good.

I'm not even what I hope to be, to put off mortality with all its sin and its imperfections.

But I am not what I once was a slave to sin and to Satan, and by the grace of God, I am what I am.

This is the echo of Yerushalayim, and this is the echo of a heart that's not distant but desirous to love a God who loves us so much.

Isaiah's message it started off a confrontation, but it ends with an invitation.

It started off speaking about weariness and it ends with renewal and restoration and revival.

It speaks of a spirit poured out, about a new name spoken to us, of a people restored and accepted and chosen.

And so I title this message Return to the One who Redeems, the One who Restores, because he comes to us not with reluctance, but he desires our rejoicing.

He comes to us not with reluctance, but he desires our rejoicing.

He comes to us not expecting more ritual, but to enter into a deep relationship with Him, and he wants us to serve Him, not out of obligation but out of the overflow of a thankful heart.

And you might be here this morning, and maybe you've gone to churches your whole life.

And you might be here this morning and maybe you've gone to churches your whole life.

Maybe you've been in places of worship and you've been dulled and wearied by the repetition and you've walked away from it all because it's all just hollow.

Perhaps it really really was.

All of it just seemed like one big performance that you were tired of being on the stage for.

The prayers were scripted.

Sunday duties couldn't overcome your weekday doubts and you left.

Isaiah 43 and 44 wasn't written for the perfect.

It was written for those who are dried up.

And God is not asking you to restart your rituals.

He's inviting you to come into a relationship with Him, and what he offers you is not obligation but grace.

He's not here trying to get you, to pressure you.

He's simply inviting you to rest in him.

As Jesus said come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and he said I will give you rest.

You find rest in Christ himself.

So you've grown tired of ceremonial motions Good.

You got tired of empty prayers Good.

You're tired of simply showing up at church Good.

But don't just walk away Because you're missing someone.

You're missing the Lord.

Maybe you're here and you're a part of the body of Christ here at New Hyde Park Baptist Church, still showing up, maybe, still serving, but not stirred in your heart any longer, but not stirred in your heart any longer.

Beneath the rhythms of your empty faith, there's a Savior who's inviting you back, not to more things to do, but into His presence, to know more about him, to recognize his heart, to hear him.

To these desperately disobedient and distant people, his first argumentation with them is it is I, me, who forgives you your sins.

He says those things to awaken us, not so that we might double our pace or anything like that, but that we might be reignited in our desires.

So let this reflection move into your hearts.

Ask yourself what has cooled in my relationship with God, what stopped me from hoping and loving and thanking and appreciating, and sitting in just simple awe, speechless, before the love of God, and come to Him, not afraid, but into the arms of a Father who says I've missed you Because, a father who says I've missed you Because he will set his name over you, yesharun, upright one.

Let's pray, father.

As we move through this book, we find our hearts left speechless but open in the revelation of your glorious person, full of grace and truth.

And today, in prophetic form, we've been brought into your presence to be able to gaze upon your person and to see you high and lifted up, holy, a righteous judge, but also a reconciling father, a redeemer of sinners, one who pleads and not just punishes, and not just punishes.

And we thank you that your love was so great that you not only speak these words in prophetic form, you brought them in the very person of Jesus Christ, in which we beheld his glory.

The glory is the one and only of the Father, full of grace and truth, for in Christ is all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in Him is the very image of who God is.

And you will hear these words Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Father, I pray this morning for those who have wearied themselves of vain ritual, who have become distant because there is nothing there, who have stepped away and said it's not worth it.

Father, bring them to yourself.

We pray to see you for the first time, to understand grace and mercy and forgiveness in Christ.

And, father, I pray for my brothers and sisters that are part of this body, or for those who are believers sitting among us, who are longing and looking for something that might reunite their hearts.

Pray, lord, that they might be enveloped by your restoring, renewing, refreshing arms, and may this understanding that Isaiah has given us of who you are reignite the passion within their hearts that they had before, that they might recapture, as you told the church at Ephesus, that first love, and not to continue to drift away from it.

And, lord, we ask this in Christ's name, amen.