The Coming of the Faithful Servant

Good morning. The scripture reading today comes from the book of Isaiah chapter 50, verse 1 to 11.

Isaiah 50 · chapter mention

You can follow along on the screen or your Bible.

Thus says the Lord, where is your mother's certificate of divorce, with which I sent her away?

Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you?

Behold, for your inequities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

Why, when I came, was there no man?

Why, when I called, was there no one to answer?

Is my hand shortened, that is, cannot redeem?

Or have I no power to deliver?

Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea.

I make the rivers a desert.

The fish stink for lack of water and die of thirst.

I cloth the heavens with blackness and make sackcloth their covering.

The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word.

Him who is weary.

Morning by morning he awakens.

He awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.

The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious.

I turned not backward.

I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard.

I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.

But the Lord God helps me.

Therefore, I have not been disgraced.

Therefore, I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.

He who predicates me is near.

Who will contend with me?

Let us stand up together.

Who is my adversary?

Let him come near to me.

Behold, the Lord God helps me.

Who will declare me guilty?

Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment.

The moth will eat them up.

Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant?

Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.

Behold, all you who kindle a fire,

who equip yourselves with burning torches.

Walk by the lights of your fire and by the torches that you have kindled.

This you have from my hand.

You shall lie down in torment.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you so much, Soda.

For those of you who don't know, and I was just wondering about that reference at the end,

Soda is Dan's wife.

So in case you're worrying about any kind of flirting going on there, it's perfectly okay.

You can talk with Dan and Soda afterwards.

One of the great things that we want to do as a church

is we want to be able to raise up other people to lead within the church.

We're always wanting to raise up people who can be preaching

because we believe God wants us to be a church which multiplies

and which raises up others in this process.

And so one of the things we're going to be doing now

is we're going to actually have a different kind of sermon.

We're going to tag team a sermon now with both Alan,

who is overseeing the youth at Watermark.

He is going to start us off on our third in the sermon series.

And then we're going to, I'm going to close it afterwards.

So without further ado, I want to just pray

and then welcome Alan to come and bring God's word to us.

So let me pray.

Father, thank you that even as we celebrate Advent

in what is just totally crazy times

where we have no idea what's going to be coming up in the future.

And yet we have an utter certainty in you.

I pray, Lord, as we come and hear your word

that our hearts would not be focused on everything that's around us,

but our hearts would be attentive to your voice.

I pray that we'd hear what you want us to say,

not just to hear, but to go out and live in the light of who you are

and what you've called us to be as a church during this Advent and Christmas season.

Pray for Alan as he brings your word.

Pray that you'd really anoint his lips as well.

And Father, just get all the glory this morning.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

So over to Alan.

Awesome.

Thank you, Chris, for that introduction.

So I am Alan, overseeing the youth here at Watermark Church.

And it's such a joy to be able to minister the word of God today.

Many years back when I was about 17 years old,

okay, a few years back when I was 17 years old,

I was back in India.

My cousin and I, we were taking a walk down this road.

It was very dark in India, so there was no electricity at that moment.

So as we were walking down the street,

we came across these two drunk people,

and they were fighting dead right in the center of the street.

And my cousin, being a teenager, he thought that was great entertainment.

Two drunk people fighting, that's great.

But I, on the other hand, I told him, like,

hey, we should get out of here.

We're going to get in trouble.

But then he insisted.

We said, I told him many times, but he thought, like, no, no, we should watch.

And soon enough, we had these people rushing in into that scene.

And it was actually the police who were coming in.

And since it was so dark,

that they just went around beating anyone they could get their hands on.

They started arresting people, and it was just chaos in that place.

If my cousin had just listened to me,

we would not have been in that darkness and chaos.

So, as we head towards Christmas,

we're actually going through the four servant songs that are found in the book of Isaiah.

And what we find in the book of Isaiah is a very similar situation to that of my cousin and I.

We see, we find a people of Israel that has not really listened,

that have become rebellious and disrespectful.

And in fact, we even find that actually,

while animals were honoring God,

that while animals could honor and worship their creator,

while the people were not really doing it.

So basically, even the human beings were like,

they were just worse than the animals.

And that has actually put them into a place of darkness and chaos.

And so much so that they actually start saying that God has rejected our cause,

that God has disregarded our cause,

that God has forgotten our cause,

and He just abandoned us.

But actually, when we come to today's chapter,

we find that actually God telling them that,

no, no, no, it is actually your sin and your transgressions

that has put you in that situation.

But why don't we just stop there and just think about it.

You see, this is a God who is a father speaking out to His child.

Now, I'm sure many of you are a father who's watching over.

Now, just imagine this is a God who's a father speaking out to His child.

He's telling them, hey, was I too weak to save you?

Is my hand too short that I cannot redeem you?

You see, He's telling them like, look, I want to save you,

but you have put yourself in that situation.

In fact, He's kind of telling them like,

hey, you got to trust me, I can't save you.

And what we have here now is a people who is rebelling against God,

disobedient, they're not listening,

they have unbelief, and because of that,

they are suffering and they're actually exiled from their own place.

Now, does that sound familiar?

Well, it should sound familiar because that is actually our natural state towards God.

You see, our natural state is against God,

that our sin would be against God,

that we would listen to anyone or anything except God,

that we would worship anyone or even anything except God,

that we would give priority to anyone, anything else except God.

But what we find here now is that,

yeah, but your exile and your suffering is not the final act.

And last week, we were just looking at this thing that,

Israel was supposed to be the light for the nation,

to draw all the nation towards God,

but Israel themselves have become so lost,

they have become lost as the other nation.

And here we have God telling them,

I'm going to save you,

that I'm going to redeem you,

but not just you, Israel,

but I'm going to redeem and save the whole world.

And the way God is going to do that is going to do through this agent,

through this mysterious figure that we find in the book of Isaiah called the servant.

Now, from today's passage,

we're going to,

we'll be learning three things about this servant,

the obedience of the servant,

the suffering of the servant,

and finally,

the vindication of the servant.

So let's just dive into today's first point,

the obedience of the servant.

So now what we find here is,

that we have a servant that receives the tongue of those who are taught from God,

that sustains the weary,

who is woken up every morning by God,

so that his ear is opened by God,

to hear as one who are taught.

Now, can you tell me what is the phrase that I used the most in that sentence?

It was by God.

You see, we see that it was God who initiates this relationship with this servant.

It was actually God who starts this relationship that he has with the servant,

and he's the one who begins that.

It was God who began that relationship.

And that seems to be a pattern we find throughout the Bible.

You see, God chose the nation of Israel.

It was God who chose Abraham.

It was God who chose Moses, Joseph, Abel.

And it was God who starts everything.

And let's stop there.

Do you see the beauty in that?

Do you see the beauty when God starts something?

Now, let's just look at it.

You see, we have here a God who is moving,

who is working first for the salvation of his people.

He's starting something to redeem his people.

He's starting something to actually save not just the people of Israel,

but actually to save the whole world.

Now, the question is, what did the people of the whole world deserve to get this?

What did the people of Israel do to deserve this salvation?

Nothing.

And it's so beautiful that we see here that it was God,

even though the people were undeserving,

it was God who initiates the relationship with the servants

to save his people, to save the whole world.

Now, looking at the obedience here,

whenever we talk about obedience,

we always have a person who's receiving instructions,

who's receiving words,

and that person actually doing it.

I mean, that is the essence of obedience, right?

I mean, if you have someone listening and not doing it,

that's actually called disobedience.

So, yeah, that's clear.

So, here we have a servant

who is receiving words from God,

whose ears awaken to hear.

Now, I want us to just think about it.

This servant is listening.

This servant is hearing from God,

and he's actually doing this before he does any work.

You see, before the servant is doing any work,

before the servant is doing anything,

we find him being filled

and being like those who are taught.

He's listening before anything else.

And that is the thing about obedience, right?

You listen first, and then you do it.

But what happens when you do first,

and then you listen?

Does that make sense?

Because many times that's what we do.

That we would go out and do something,

we would do whatever we want,

and then later on we come and try to see

what God would say about that.

And that's what we do.

Now, how does that look like?

Let me give an example of that.

Okay.

God, I have invested my finance in this.

I want you to bless it.

God, I'm dating this girl,

and I want you to bless it.

God, I'm making this life decision right now,

and I want you to bless it.

You see, we would actually do the thing first

and actually ask God later

about what he thinks about it.

And actually, Israel was in the same situation

where God was speaking to them,

but they were just not listening.

So this servant,

but what we find here is that

this servant was not just listening,

but he was actually being awakened

morning by morning.

So this listening that the servant was doing

is not just a one-time incident,

not just a one-time thing,

but it's actually a continuous thing

that is happening.

You see, this is not just a once-a-week Sunday preaching

that he's listening to.

This is not just a once-a-week

listening to Word of God

in your community group kind of thing.

It's actually something that's happening

morning by morning, every day.

I mean, I can push it to every moment too.

Because for this servant,

listening to God's Word

is not just a duty that he fulfills once in a while.

It's not just a duty that he wakes up in the morning

and just to listen to God's Word.

Because for this servant,

he actually needs God's Word every morning.

For him, he's utterly dependent on God's Word.

And what I mean by that is

he actually needs God's Word.

So the question is,

do you?

Do I?

Do I live my life as if I need God's Word

every morning, every day?

Or is it something I keep it once a week on a Sunday

or in our CG groups?

Do I need God's Word

morning by morning?

And that's what we see here.

A servant who's listening to God's Word

morning by morning.

And this is happening

before he's going out and doing anything.

So in obedience, we have,

that was the listening part of the servant.

That's the receiving part of the servant.

But this servant is not just listening,

but he's actually obeying.

We see that he's actually given the Word

to sustain the wearing.

Now, that is a powerful thing,

to sustain the wear,

to receive a word to sustain the wear.

I remember in 2019,

in July, in the month of July,

I was sitting in this coffee shop

with my mentor, Martin.

And I remember being broken down at that moment

because my life's one purpose,

my one dream had been just shattered.

And I could not understand why.

And I broke down.

I was crying in that coffee shop

because I was feeling so hopeless,

so discouraged,

and so weary at that moment.

And I remember that Martin,

he spoke words in Christ

that actually sustained me,

that actually encouraged me,

uplifted me as I was discouraged,

as I was broken and weary.

You see, the promise of this servant

is that he comes with the words

to sustain the wear.

Now, imagine Israel who is suffering.

Imagine Israel who is exiled from their home place

and to have a promise

that this servant is bringing the words

that will sustain them

as they are weary and discouraged and suffering.

Now, that's just beautiful.

And that's just powerful.

Now, this servant is not just,

he's just receiving these words

and he's actually speaking this out

from what he heard from God.

Now, if you go up to verse 5,

it actually tells us that

he has not been rebellious,

that he has not turned backward.

So, you see, he has not just listened,

but he has actually gone forward

and actually he's doing

what he has been told to do.

Now, that is obedience, right?

Obedience requires one to do

what he has heard.

And here is a servant that is listening.

Here is a servant that is listening

and then you have his people of Israel

who is not listening at all.

Here is a servant who is not just listening,

but he's also called to speak out the words,

words that sustain the weary,

who is not rebellious,

who has not turned backward.

While we have a people of Israel

that are rebellious,

that are not listening,

that have turned backwards,

that are worshipping anything but God,

who are just disobedient.

And we would actually think

that obedience,

when one person is obedient,

that would actually lead them to blessings,

that would actually lead them

to have blessings in their life,

that would actually lead them

to have a comfortable life.

But that's not really the case here.

You see, the servant's obedience

actually leads him to shame and suffering,

which leads us to the second point today,

the suffering of the servant.

When I was back in India,

in my high school,

I was,

in our high school,

we had this senior wing

and a junior wing

and we were kind of separated

and we were not encouraged

to interact with each other.

So one of this evening,

my cousin brother,

little cousin brother,

he was quite sick,

so I had gone down to

give him some medicine

and just give him,

just take care of him.

And as I was coming back up,

I was met by a teacher

who saw me

and what he did was

he came up to me

and he straight up

slapped me across the face.

So, like,

okay,

hitting was allowed in India,

is allowed in India,

was allowed in India.

Let me make it that clear.

So I was there,

coming back

and I just got slapped

across my face

and I was so angry

and there were people around

and I was so humiliated.

And I tried to tell him that,

hey, I did not do anything wrong,

I was just taking care of my brother

but he would just not listen.

And I was not even allowed

to justify myself

and I was so angry

at this injustice

that I was on the verge

of hitting this teacher back.

And I was just that angry.

And yeah,

I looked like that.

And I was just so angry

and I hated,

I hated

that I did the right thing

but I was met with slaps

and shame

in that time.

I hated that.

It was just so,

angry.

And I'm sure

many of you have

a similar story to that.

And the anger we feel

when we do something right

and get back

what we feel like

we don't deserve

is just

so infuriating.

And we want to react

to that many times

in anger

and violence.

But hey,

coming back to the scriptures,

coming back to the servant,

we have a servant

that is listening,

that is obeying,

he's obedient.

But in verse 6,

when we come down

to verse 6,

what we see is that

he's actually beaten up

and that he has

his beard pulled out,

that he was actually

spitted on

and he was actually

disgraced.

One commentator

actually says,

he suffered the deepest

humiliation

for to pluck out

the hair

of the beard

and to cover

someone's face

with spit

was,

according to

Near Eastern concepts,

the most humiliating

suffering

that could be

inflicted

upon a man.

So you see,

this servant

is not just

going through pain.

This servant

is not just

going through

suffering

and shame.

He's actually

going through

a humiliating

suffering

and humiliating

shame.

It was just

downright

bad.

Now,

in fact,

if you look at,

if you go back

to the verse,

the servant

actually says that

I gave my back

to the beatings.

that he was

actually not,

he was not

actually just

being beaten

because of

obedience.

He was actually,

he was giving

himself to

the beating.

In other words,

he was actually

voluntarily,

obediently,

willingly giving

himself to the

suffering and

humiliation.

Now,

look,

this servant

is not just

another nice

guy.

This servant

is not just

a nice,

obedient guy

who is like

a good guy.

No,

no,

no.

He is a servant

who is actually

following God,

who is really

obeying God.

You see,

while you and

I,

we would react

very differently

to this,

we would react

in a very angry

way,

we would react

with violence,

but this servant

is reacting

in a totally

opposite way.

You see,

he is willingly

giving himself

to that.

He actually

is reacting

in submission

to God's

will

for his life.

And he's

not just that.

This servant

is actually

honoring God

even when

he's humiliated

and beaten

unjustly,

and he's

not actually

angrily

seeking out

revenge.

He's not

planning revenge

behind the back.

He's not like,

I don't care

about the world.

He actually

doesn't give in

and he does not

let the shame

win in his life.

Just moving

ahead to verse 7,

you see that

for the servant,

the shame

actually bounces off.

He says that,

I have not been

disgraced.

It's as if,

like,

have you seen

the movie Superman?

Like,

the people

would shoot

bullets to Superman

and the bullets

would just bounce

off?

It's pretty similar.

The shame

would come to him

but it just

does not,

it just bounces

off.

He's saying,

I have not

been disgraced.

No,

I'm not unworthy.

In fact,

in the future,

I shall not be

put to shame.

So thank you,

Alan,

for just sharing

right at the end

there how this

servant who's just

depending on God,

listening to him,

he's willingly,

obediently following

the call that God

has on his life

and yet he's getting

shame and suffering

instead but he's

fixed his eyes

on the call

that God has for him

and he's obedient

to him,

not hating on

anything else.

How can he do that?

How can he persevere

when he tells us

in verse 7?

He says,

the Lord God

helps me.

The Lord God

helps me.

And he says,

in all of these

things,

verse 7,

verse 9,

the Lord God,

that means the

sovereign God

of the universe,

the personal God

of Israel

is with me,

is helping me.

It doesn't look like

he's helping him

because he's getting

beaten but he's

going to go and say,

no, no,

I've got a different

perspective on this

thing.

You see,

I can see

verse 8,

he says,

I'm not going to be

put to shame

because he who

vindicates me

is near,

is on my side,

is with me.

That word,

vindicate,

that's courtroom

language.

That's the language

of someone who

has been wrongfully

accused and then

been acquitted

of their crime.

It's the verdict

of not guilty.

In the right,

you are righteous.

Everyone else

may give the verdict

of guilty,

not worthy,

not respectable,

shamed.

But God says,

verdict of vindicated.

You see,

he says,

who matters most,

whose verdict

matters most,

is not everybody

else's,

is what God

says.

That's where

my vindication

is.

And God has

his stamp of

approval on me.

You know,

this is the same

word in the New

Testament,

which is the word

for justified.

Declared right

in God's sight.

I'm justified

before him.

You know,

it's like a

whistleblower

who has exposed

the abuses

or corruption

in a company

and gets just

run out

and outcast

from the company

for his daring

to speak the truth.

And then,

years later,

everything gets

exposed for what's

happened.

Another person

who is shamed

and humiliated

is now vindicated,

is now seen

as a hero

for not giving in

because they stood

for the truth.

That's what's

going on here.

The servant

right now

is declared

in the wrong

by everybody else.

But he looks

ahead and says,

no,

my vindication

is with God,

with the ultimate

judge.

And in his eyes,

I know that

his judgment

is the one

that's going to

quash every other

judgment.

And so that's

where I'm fixing

my eyes.

And I'm going

to be declared

right.

And I know

even now

that I will

be vindicated.

And he knows

that when you

are vindicated

than those

who've accused

you will,

in his words,

wear out.

They will disappear.

They will walk

away.

They will be

the ones in shame.

And you've got

to think,

how can this guy,

how can this

servant live

with this

perspective of

God's voice

above all others?

Well,

it's because

morning by morning

he's listening

to his voice.

He's utterly

dependent on

his word.

servant.

And so,

we go,

okay,

who is this

servant?

The original

readers would

spend a long

time thinking,

pondering who

this servant

was.

Well,

we know as

Christians,

it is Jesus

Christ.

It is the

true,

obedient,

faithful Israel.

Everything Israel

wasn't,

he was.

He's the one

who listened

to God's voice

and said,

I only do

the will

of my father.

In temptation,

he brought

God's word

and would not

back down

or give in.

He's the one

who,

when he,

he says he knew

his time was

there,

it was up,

that he set

his face

towards Jerusalem,

towards the cross,

and Peter and

none of the other

disciples who tried

to dissuade him

could get in

the way.

He rebuked them

because he had

his face set

on Jerusalem.

He's rejected

by the very

people that he

is seeking

to sustain

with a word

of liberation

and a word

of hope.

And he then

is unjustly tried.

He's brought

with false witnesses

a declaration

of guilt.

He is brought

against him

even though

everyone knew

that it was wrong.

Everyone knew

he was innocent.

He is mocked,

he is beaten,

he is spat on,

he is humiliated.

And yet he doesn't

go,

I don't deserve this.

He doesn't get bitter

but he says,

Father,

forgive.

He doesn't

choose to back down

and get for his

own comfort.

He says,

I lay down

my life

of my own

accord,

not my will

but yours

be done,

Father.

He looks

death and shame

in the eye

and says,

my vindicator

is near.

Into your hands,

Father,

I commit my spirit.

And at that moment

it looked like

death had won.

The religious leaders

thought it was over.

The disciples

thought it was over.

The Romans

thought it was over.

Death seemed

to have had

the final word.

But Jesus'

vindicator was near.

On the third day

he rose again,

triumphant.

It says he was

declared the son

of God with power,

exalted to the right

hand of the Father

and he will come

again to return

as the one

who is now

seated as

the highest judge

of all

before whom

every knee will bow

and every tongue

confess.

Amen.

And this servant

is vindicated

before the eyes

of the watching world.

And at the end

of the day

he will bring

judgment on all of us

and it's only

his verdict,

it's only his word,

it's only his opinion

that really counts.

And the amazing thing

in the gospel message

is this.

It says that people

who follow

this servant

Jesus,

who trust him,

they actually,

his mission

becomes their mission.

What God says

about him,

God says about them.

What that Jesus

gets,

we get.

We depend

day by day

on God's word.

We're called to

sustain the weary

and the broken

and the hurting

and the struggling

and the marginalized

in Hong Kong

with the gospel word

of hope

and of life.

and we may

experience rejection,

we may experience

shame,

we may experience

all those things

that may increase

in the next few years.

We do not know.

But where does

our confidence

to not back down

come from?

The Apostle Paul,

he read

this passage

and he comments

on it

and applies it

to his life

and those he's

talking to

in the book of Romans

Romans 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8.

Here's what he says.

He says,

If God is for us,

who can be against us?

He who did not

spare his own son

but gave him up

for us all,

how will he not

also with him

graciously give us

all things?

Who shall bring

any charge

against God's elect?

And it may look

like a lot of people.

Your mom.

It may look like

your relatives,

your colleagues.

But he says

it's God who justifies,

God who vindicates,

who's going to

condemn you.

You may have voices

in your own head

that condemn you.

You may have other

people's voices

that condemn you.

But he says

the only one

who's really matters

Christ Jesus

is the one

who's died.

More than that,

who was raised

and who is exalted

at the right hand

of God.

Who indeed

is interceding

for us

watermarkers

right now

in December

2020.

Who's going to

separate any of us

in watermark

from the love

of Christ?

Shall COVID-19?

Shall economic

hardship?

Shall family trials?

Shall ill health?

Shall people

mocking you

or outcasting you?

Shall any of these

things?

And Paul says,

no,

in all these things

we are more

than conquerors

through the servant

who loved us

even to the point

of death.

You see,

his resurrection,

his exaltation

means our resurrection,

our exaltation,

his vindication

is our vindication.

And that means

on that final day,

that means actually

right now,

there is a verdict

over us

who believe in Christ

and that is justified

in the right,

righteous before God.

And that also means

on the final day

of judgment.

We don't have to wonder

what the verdict

is going to be.

If we are trusting

in Jesus,

he says,

our vindicator

is near.

We have one

who is in the seating

for us

and we come before

that judge

and we can have

confidence before him

because of Jesus.

Isn't that amazing?

Isn't it amazing?

This is the good news.

The verdict is settled.

And so,

with that,

the light of this,

that those who trust

in the servant

have this,

then the passage

calls us

to respond

to the servant.

It turns the spotlight

onto us

and it goes,

okay,

in the light of this,

how are you responding

to Jesus right now?

How are you responding?

He says,

who among you,

verse 10,

who among you

fears the Lord

and obeys

the voice

of his servant?

You know,

where does your vindication

come from?

Where,

whose voice

really matters

in your life?

Is it your own voice?

Is it the voice

of everybody else

or is it the voice

of the servant,

Jesus?

You see,

this Christmas time,

just like the people

of Israel,

many of us feel

like we're in darkness.

Times are not easy.

COVID,

emotions can be challenging,

relationships can be challenging,

politics can be challenging,

the economy can be challenging,

all these different things

can be challenging.

But he says,

for people

who are in darkness,

we have two choices.

And this is actually

a really powerful image

he gives.

He says,

you can get light

by listening

and trusting

the voice of the servant

or you can

kindle your own fire.

Kindle your own fire,

walk by the light

of your own fire.

And he says,

if you do that,

you're going to get

what you don't want.

You're going to get

something else.

You're going to lie down

in torment.

You see,

what he says is,

you can listen

to the voice

of unfairness.

You know,

there are Christians

around the world

who are being falsely

accused

for being faithful

to Jesus.

There are many of us

who feel

the voice of unfairness

in our lives

when we step up

to love and serve

and lead other people.

And then other people

turn around

and criticize you

or just ungrateful.

And you feel like,

what's the point?

Why do I bother

to serve them?

Why do I bother

to speak the gospel

to them?

Why do I bother

to love them?

You just want to

give up stuff then,

forget them.

That's the voice

of self.

That's the voice

of kindling

your own light.

But maybe there's

the voice

of self-justifying

which comes to us.

Another kind of way

you can light

your own fire.

You know,

I have relatives

who think that success

is going to all

the most expensive

restaurants,

living in a certain area,

having a certain lifestyle,

having a certain career

position,

a certain amount

of money

in your bank account.

And they'll comment

on all the kind

of gospel-shaped decisions

that me and my wife

have made in our lives.

And they'll go to things like,

when are you going

to get a proper job?

Or,

why are you living there?

Why are you hanging

around those kind of people?

Why can't you be like

so-and-so?

And then they rattle off

all the success

of certain other relatives.

And as you hear those,

a little voice inside of you

goes,

yeah,

maybe we should chase

after those other things too.

You could impress people.

You could prove yourself

as acceptable.

You could justify yourself.

You could light

your own fire.

The voice

of self-justifying

is very powerful.

And many of us,

I think,

listen to that voice

day in,

day out.

Which voice

are you listening to?

You know,

there's another voice

which actually is

the voice of shame

which comes to you

and you make me think

about sharing the gospel

with other people

and you go,

yeah,

but what if I get rejected?

What if I get shamed

by somebody else?

What if I don't know

what to say?

God says,

yeah,

you probably will get shamed.

You probably will get rejected

at some point.

But whose voice

matters to you most?

Is it the verdict

of everybody else

or will you look up

and see the verdict

of the servant?

The one who says,

you in my eyes

are vindicated.

You know,

who are you listening to?

Who are you listening to?

What I need,

what we need

as a community

is people

day by day

encouraging us.

We ourselves

need to be in God's word

morning by morning

remembering

what the voice

of the servant

says to us.

We need to set

our faces

like Flint

to continue

on the mission

that God has called us

to share his word

with others.

And this Christmas time,

this battle

is not just for pastors,

it's for everybody

who follows Jesus.

So that you look

in the mirror

every morning

and you preach

the gospel

of his verdict

over us.

We are righteous,

we are holy,

we are declared

loved in his sight.

Our confidence

and our vindication

is not from what

anyone else says.

There's no condemnation

in Christ.

Jesus has won

the victory

and we are his.

That's what we need

to be reminding

each other

every day.

And if you are not

getting God's word,

if you're not speaking

God's word over you

day in,

day out,

then let me tell you

everybody else's verdict,

even your own verdict

on you,

is going to be

the loudest voice

in your heart

and in your head.

And what that will do,

it will leave you

in shame,

in fear,

in anger.

But the servant

wants to set us free.

Let me close

with just a story

that is very close

to my heart.

Some of you

may not be football fans,

but forgive me

for just indulging

just for a second.

2005,

my team,

Liverpool,

played in one

of the greatest

matches in history

where they played

in the Champions League

final against AC Milan

and at half time

they were being

utterly destroyed.

Three nil down,

they were being

mocked by all the fans

of the AC Milan.

It looked like

complete ruin.

It looked horrific.

The shame

was unbearable.

Second half,

six minutes,

within six minutes

Liverpool scored

three goals.

They went to extra time,

they went to penalties

and Liverpool won.

And you see,

when Liverpool

won the trophy,

it didn't matter

what the half-time result was

or the half-time score was.

You see,

what matters

is the final result.

And you see,

if I had known

and we had known

at half-time

what the final result

was going to be,

then the shame

would have been hard.

It would have been difficult.

But actually,

we could have kept going

with our faces like Flint

because we knew

what the end of the day

was going to be.

As Christians,

that's what the Gospel says.

We know

what the end result is.

We've read this book.

We know that Jesus wins.

And when we're with him,

we win too.

We're more than conquerors.

So let's follow the sermon

with whatever he has

for us this Christmas time.

And let's trust him.