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10:30 WORSHIP ~ Join us for worship each Sunday morning at 10:30am

Easter Special 2018 Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12

April 1, 2018 Speaker: Jim Galli Series: Specials

Topic: Special Messages Passage: Isaiah 52:13– 53:12

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I want to close our thoughts quietly this morning so that the beauty of the music will remain like a fragrant aroma.  For my little part, I will read some poetry that was written 700 years before the events at the cross and the empty tomb.

Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12  
    
      13 Behold, My servant will prosper,
            He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.

      14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people,
            So His appearance was marred more than any man
            And His form more than the sons of men.

      15 Thus He will sprinkle many nations,
            Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him;
            For what had not been told them they will see,
            And what they had not heard they will understand.

      1 Who has believed our message?
            And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

      2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
            And like a root out of parched ground;
            He has no stately form or majesty
            That we should look upon Him,
            Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

      3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
            A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
            And like one from whom men hide their face
            He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

      4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
            And our sorrows He carried;
            Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
            Smitten of God, and afflicted.

      5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
            He was crushed for our iniquities;
            The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
            And by His scourging we are healed.

      6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
            Each of us has turned to his own way;
            But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
            To fall on Him.

      7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
            Yet He did not open His mouth;
            Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
            And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
            So He did not open His mouth.

      8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
            And as for His generation, who considered
            That He was cut off out of the land of the living
            For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?

      9 His grave was assigned with wicked men,
            Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
            Because He had done no violence,
            Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

      10 But the LORD was pleased
            To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
            If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
            He will see His offspring,
            He will prolong His days,
            And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

      11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
            He will see it and be satisfied;
            By His knowledge the Righteous One,
            My Servant, will justify the many,
            As He will bear their iniquities.

      12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
            And He will divide the booty with the strong;
            Because He poured out Himself to death,
            And was numbered with the transgressors;
            Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
            And interceded for the transgressors.

We evangelicals are guilty of making this all about us, and it is, in a way.  We are the spotless bride purchased for the Servant-King who prospered.  We have a role to play.

But there's also a sense that if we were speaking of this in terms of Oscar nominations, the church would be nominated for best supporting role.  We aren't the star of the movie, Jesus is.

The victory of the Servant is much more than just us.  We are a limited portion of His glory, but there is so much more.

Three times in fairly rapid succession recorded for us by John, Jesus looks at the big picture;

Jn. 12:27 Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? No, it is for this purpose that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it had thundered. Others said that an angel had spoken to Him.

30 In response, Jesus said, “This voice was not for My benefit, but yours. 31 Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”

Jn. 14:30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming, and he has no claim on Me.

Jn. 16: 7 But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

8 And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world has been condemned.

The prince of this world.  The prince of this world.  The prince of this world.  Coming for Jesus,  Condemned,  Cast out.

After the resurrection He said these words before He ascended back into heaven;   “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."

The servant prospered for the Father in more than just purchasing us.  He purchased every molecule, every atom of this world and it's inhabitants, past present and future, for the Glory of the Father.

We look forward to the day when He returns to this world and sets up His Kingdom and reigns on David's throne in victory and glory in this place.  Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

The resurrection didn't just purchase the church.  It did that, but it also purchased every created being past, present and future for the glory of the King of Kings.  Some for judgement, and some for the pleasure of His company.  I pray that we are the latter.