Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

This sermon was preached on 30/9/2012 In this song, the Father is highlighting various features of his Servant. Sometimes he does so by speaking in the first person, at other times he uses the words of others to stress various details. Who is speaking in this verse? It is hard to say because there are no first person pronouns, only third person. So the speaker could be those in the previous verse (the redeemed) or it could be the speaker in the following verse (the Father who refers to ‘my people’) or it could be the voice of an onlooker or the voice of Isaiah himself. On one occasion a very important individual was travelling home. As he journeyed he was engrossed in reading about an unusual character. We are told about the traveller in Acts 8 – he was the individual in charge of the finances of Ethiopia. The text that he was reading was Isaiah 53 and verses 7-8 in particular. Clearly he was puzzled about how an individual could accept such a great deal of suffering and remain si...

This sermon was preached on 23/9/2012 In this verse the redeemed people of God continue their contribution to this Servant Song, a contribution that began in verse 4. In verse 4, they revealed that they now understood why the Servant was the man of sorrows and in verse 5 they described their contribution to the extreme sufferings that he had to endure. Now, in verse 6, they continue to detail further discoveries about themselves and about the Servant. Introduction One of the most effective ways of communicating a message is the use of word pictures. A word picture appeals to the imagination of a listener and draws him into the message. The obvious biblical example is the parables that Jesus taught. When we listen, for example, to the parable of the Sower, we are compelled to ask to which group we belong. Some word pictures can be short stories; others, like the people here in the verse, may use a simile in which a person is said to be like something. Here they say that they ...

This sermon was preached on 9/9/12 In the previous section of the song, the prophet had described two reasons why Jesus had been rejected by the people. One reason was that he had an ordinary childhood and adolescence and the other reason was that he was marked by sorrows as an adult. Now, in his next section, he describes how those people came to a different conclusion about Jesus. They now realised that his sorrows were connected to their sins, that he had been carrying a heavy load which was their sins. The prophecy here gives us an important perspective on sin – it was their understanding of the nature of their sins that enabled them to see why their sins were such a heavy burden for Jesus. Now they were penitent over their sins. Here we have a description of believers responding to the story of the cross. The certainty about his sorrows In verse 3, the people had noticed that Jesus was a man of sorrows. They went on to conclude that he was in such a state because the L...

This sermon was preached on 9/9/2012 As we look at the contents of chapter 4 we can see that there are several speakers with something important to say. The first two speakers are Boaz and the potential redeemer, then Boaz speaks about his role, then the city officials speak, then Naomi speaks, and finally the women of Bethlehem speak. Each of them has an interesting story to tell. Yet, at the same time, each is part of a bigger story, and that at different levels – for example, they belong to the story of the nation of Israel, which is a very important feature of human history. And beyond that, they are connected to the coming of the Saviour who will be one of their descendants away in the distant future. Because that is the case, their stories are of interest to us. God’s Word in Boaz’ Story – the Upright Boaz, as we have seen, was an upright man who had sought to fear God throughout life. Yet although he had done so, there was something missing in his life and that was a...

This sermon was preached on 2/9/2012 C. H. Spurgeon once wrote, ‘This fifty-third of Isaiah is a Bible in miniature. It is the condensed essence of the gospel. I thought that our beloved friend, Mr. Moody, answered with extreme wisdom a question that was put to him when he came to London some years ago. A number of ministers had come together to meet Mr. Moody, and they began to discuss various points, and to ask what were the evangelist’s views upon certain doctrines. At last, one brother said, “Would Mr. Moody kindly give us his creed? Is it in print?” In a moment the good man replied, “Certainly; my creed is in print, it is the 53rd of Isaiah.” It was a splendid reply. How could a man come closer to the very essentials of the faith than by saying, “My creed is in the 53rd of Isaiah”? I trust that many of you, dear friends can not only say, “This is my creed,” but also, “This is the foundation upon which I have built all my hopes for time and for eternity; this is the source of ...