If you will journey with me to an unforgettable moment from the Lord of the Rings, the Two Towers. A personal favorite of mine, if I must say so. Okay, I've not seen the movie, nor have I read the book. But Charlie gave me the longest play-by-play of the scene I'm about to describe this week. Asked Charlie to write it up. He did not. So I spent more time than I should looking at Lord of the Ring blog. The people of Rohan are under siege at Helm's Deep.
a great stone fortress built into the mountains. The night is long and the enemy is relentless. Outside, tens of thousands of orcs, creatures of darkness, claw and hammer at the walls. Inside the warriors are weary. Arrows are running out. The injured line the halls and the air is thick with fear. Hopelessness is setting in. The enemy is too strong. The fortress is too compromised. And the night seems too endless.
Aragorn persuades the king to have faith and make one last charge. In a final desperate act of courage, the gates fly open. A few riders charge out into the overwhelming horde, choosing to fight to the end. They quickly lose momentum. It's obvious that they're outnumbered and they're outgunned. Everything looks hopeless. Darkness seems like it's going to prevail. But at just the right time, dawn breaks. And on the eastern hilltop, Gandalf appears.
Mounted on a white horse, a host of riders behind him, fresh and strong, ready for battle. As the sun catches his staff, light pours down the mountainside like a river. The orcs turn to face it, but they can't even bear it. The light is too strong and blinding. The battle turns in and in. That scene provides a helpful idea of the kind of blazing light that pierces the darkness in Isaiah's day.
The disorienting darkness of God's people in Isaiah chapter 8. This people who because of their king has made the decision to not trust in God. That scene also captures a bit of the testimony of every Christian in this room. not with a physical battle inside some compromised fortress, but a battle that we could not prevail with the darkness swirling within us because of our sin.
God's word tells us that while we were dead in our trespasses, that's a word for sin. While we were dead in our sin, God made us alive together with Christ. Ephesians chapter. God's word also tells us in Romans chapter 5, for while we were still helpless at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. But God demonstrates his own love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
So if you're a Christian, that scene should feel all too familiar. You facing a losing battle and at just the right time. In great mercy, the light of God pierced through the darkness and led you to victory. That scene also stands as an invitation. An invitation for all who have yet to turn from their sin and who have yet to place their faith and their trust in Jesus as Savior and as King.
Friends, I want you to know if you're not a Christian this morning, you have the opportunity to be gloriously rested. and saved from a hopeless and helpless battle against your sin. And so this passage makes clear what so many other passages in the Bible make clear. That is, there are two ways to live. With two drastically different outcomes. The question before us is which will we do?
Our holy God, Father, Son, and Spirit, we come before you in awe that amidst the deep gloom of our world, you have spoken life. You did not leave us in the shadow of death, but you sent your son. the light of the world, the child born, the son that was given. And so would you open our eyes over these next few moments to behold him again, the wonderful counselor. the mighty God, the everlasting and eternal Father, the Prince.
God, I pray that you would not allow preaching and sitting under preaching. to be cold information that's just passed. God, I pray that there would be a joy-filled proclamation and a joy-filled reception to your... So for that to happen, I pray that you would allow the sermon that is heard to be far more effective than the one I can eat. I invite you to open your Bibles, if you haven't yet, to Isaiah chapter 8. If you recall from two weeks ago, where we're at in Isaiah's day.
Judah, the southern tribe of God's people. There was a civil war among God's people, the northern tribe and the southern tribe. And Judah, this southern tribe, is under intense pressure. They're experiencing the vice grip of two smaller nations, the nation Syria. And then the northern tribe of God's people called Israel. Syria and Israel are afraid. They're trying to hedge their bets and they're trying to protect themselves from the superpower Assyria.
who is coming down the coast, and they're just wiping out nation after nation. They're brutal in what they're doing. Judas King, King Ahaz, is considering whether he's going to join alliance with this kind of two-nation pact. And the king says no. But sadly, the king ends up aligning God's people with Assyria. This big superpower. So in order to not be wiped off the map, the king says, we're willing to just become your servant.
We're willing to lose our identity in being God's people. We will be a part of you. Just don't kill us. And it turned out to be worse than he had hoped. Isaiah goes to Ahaz and says, do not trust in Assyria, but rather trust in God. And yet in their suffering, God is gracious to make clear. That though his people were disobedient, they weren't disobedient enough to nullify his love and his commitment to them.
Friends, that is such good news to those of us who find ourselves struggling day in and day out. That because of the work of Christ, because of the covering of Christ, God is faithful to a people even when we are not faithful to him. And so God was continuing to redeem for himself a people. He was making promises that really would choose, that would prove to change the plight of every captive who had ever trusted in God. God's zeal.
compelled him to act. Even as we heard the last phrase of our passage this morning, Isaiah chapter 9, verse 7, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. And so God is working through a remnant. a remnant, a smaller subset in the larger group.
And the remnant that God is working in, as his people are making the decision, they're led by leaders to make a decision to turn away from him. And as they're turning away from him, God is not just saying, then fine, I'm going to give you all over. God is saying, I have made promises. I've made commitments. And so I am going to keep. I'm going to still redeem. I'm going to offer grace and mercy and forgiveness. to a small subset of my people. This remnant was not the super spiritual elite.
No, they were just those that were just daring to live by faith in what God. And so the first half of our passage makes clear the difference between this remnant that God was preserving and everyone else. And so as we consider our passage this morning, I want to encourage you to locate yourself in this story. I think it would be easy to just listen and kind of watch something happen. But the invitation is that we would find where we're at in this story.
And so two questions that we will consider to help guide us through our passage this morning. And the first one is this. How are the people of God to live? How is this remnant to live? We really see this in verses 11 through 22 of chapter 8. This section serves as a section of contrast between the remnant, the people of God, and everyone else. And verse 11 is...
is this intense experience of inspiration. Listen to what Isaiah says. For thus the Lord spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people. And so the Lord is speaking to Isaiah and he's saying, Isaiah, you are a part of the remnant. You are to walk different than everyone else is walking. In a very personal way. The Lord warns Isaiah to not walk in the way of the people.
We could just flip back through these first seven chapters and we would find it's a way that's marked by idolatry. It's a way that's marked by we're still doing our religious activity, but our... Our worship is nowhere to be found for the one true and living God. It's a way of injustice. It's neglecting those that are in need. It's a way of pride.
This is the Lord's message. How is it that the remnant, how is it that the people who really do believe in the promises and in the word of God, how are they to live? And friends, I think if you're a Christian this morning, I trust that these principles are still true for you. And if you're not a Christian this morning, I would just hold out these principles as a manner in which for you to see an invitation to live in a better way, a different way.
A way that's marked by trust and sincere faith in this God. We begin by noticing that God's people are to live in the fear of God. They're to live in the fear of God. Listen to verses 12 through 15. You are not to say it is a conspiracy in regard to all that this people call a conspiracy. And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it. It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy, and he shall be your fear, and he shall be your dread. then he shall become a sanctuary.
But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over. And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Many will stumble over them. Then they will fall and be broken. They will even be snared and caught. God's people are to live in the fear of God. Think about King Ahaz. Think about the people of Judah. Not only do you have the pressure to join with this two-nation alliance, but God's word in other places would tell us that each of those nations attacked Judah.
And not only did they have the attacks from these two, they also had the impending attack from Assyria. The image in my head is just these leaders and these people just wringing their hands in fear over all of these other nations. I think it's helpful to note what's true of God's people. What's true of this remnant. What's true of all people who live by faith. It's not that they don't have any fear. What's true of them is that they have the right object.
With all that is swirling around them. How could they not fear everything? David Pallison wrote, the fear of the Lord puts all other fears in their heart. Only a big God can cast out the fear of man and every other anxiety that easily... So it wasn't that Judah and Ahaz and the other nations, it wasn't that they just didn't fear. They were courageous. They had no fear. No, they feared the wrong thing. And so what does the Lord say about those that truly believe in him? Verse 13.
It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy, and he shall be your fear, and he shall be your dread. What does that mean? What does it mean that the Lord is to be your fear? What does it mean that we are to fear the Lord? Well, I believe in part it means treating God like he's the only one who's God. It's not responding to life in a way that makes God look worthless, insignificant. Not considered weak, helpless?
When we hear fear of God, maybe it's helpful to think less of being terrified, like so scared I can't approach him, and more like being captivated by his greatness. And that brings about an awe. and an appropriate fear. Like if this God does what he's capable of, then I don't treat this God as though he's just like everyone else. The Lord tells Isaiah, there's no need to cry conspiracy.
about the things that are happening and about alliances that are being formed and about what could happen. There's no need to cry that when there is one who's in control over it all. Fear him. Fear is what happens when we leave God out of the equation. I wonder, as you assess your life, are you living according to the world's priorities? Are you living without real reference to God? Are you caving into the pressures of Tampa Bay that are seeking to conform you to their mold?
Who is it that you're making alliances with that's keeping you from being able to say, because I fear God, I will fully trust God. God says, don't walk in the way of the people. Live a countercultural life in every aspect of who you are. Live in a way that evidence. that showcases the fact that your highest fear is a right fear of God. I mean think about every aspect of your life. Is your greatest fear in that aspect God?
Think about the way you spend your money. Think about the things that you worry about and what you don't worry about. Think about your entertainment choices. Think about your career path. Think about your educational pursuit. God's people. are a strangely different people with different priorities, all stemming from what they do. Friends, you want to know what the antidote is for not trembling at your circle?
It's verse 13. Let God be your fear. God is holy. We are sinners. God is infinite. We are finite. This is all inspiring. What is God to those who fear him? Verse 14 tells us, when you fear him, verse 14, then he shall become a sanctification. When you fear God, God becomes a place of refuge. When you fear God, God becomes a safe place, a place of protection. He becomes the strong tower that we can run into for deliverance. And in Christ, we will not face judgment from God because he protects us.
And so if you are in Christ, don't fear man. Fear God. Well, what about those who will not trust in him? Do they still get the sanctuary? Do they get the protection? Do they get the refuge? No, verse 14 tells us. But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to show. and a rock to stumble over. A stone of offense and a rock of stumble. God will show himself to be an enemy of any who will not fear him. He'll be a stumbling stone. And you may hear this and think, ah, that's not how I envision God.
I envision God like he is appropriate for everyone. That everyone should be able to just do what they want to with him. Friends, God is not what we imagine. God is not what we prefer him to be. God is what he is objectively. And the Bible is clear that all who persist in their sin, in their sin against him, there will come final judgment and condemnation. And in tripping over the rock that is Christ, they will have landed in the snare and in the trap that had been set all along.
I believe this is how Peter understands this verse. Listen to 1 Peter 2, verses 4-8. And coming to him, him being Christ. As to a living stone which has been rejected by men but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also... Scattered Christians as living stones are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood. To offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
For this is contained in the scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who believes in him will not be disappointed. This is precious value then. Or this precious value then is for you who believe, but for those who disbelieve, the stone which the builders rejected, they became the very cornerstone and a stone of stumbling block and a rock of offense. For they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.
There's two ways to live as it pertains to Christ. He's either the precious cornerstone that you build everything on. Or he's the stumbling stone. There's a way of honor and a way of offense. Friends, what is it that you fear most in life? What is it that rules your thoughts and your emotions and your decisions? A right fear of God leads to joy inexpressible because a right fear of God leads us to God. And Isaiah is saying, it is clear who belongs to God by what they do.
But it's also clear who belongs to God because God's people are to live by the truth of God. God's people are to live by the truth of God. Listen to verses 16 through 20. Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples, and I will wait for the Lord who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will even look eagerly for him. Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts who dwell on Mount Zion.
When they say to you, consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter, should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? to the law, and to the testimony. If they do not speak according to this word, it's because they have no dawn. The words testimony and law are regularly used throughout the Old Testament to refer to the scriptures, to refer to God's word. That which God has revealed about himself and about his world.
Bind up the lives and the hearts of the people of God with the words of God. Even if the culture goes differently. The Lord is telling Isaiah, you and your disciples, this remnant, you be bound by God's revelation. Because God is the one that you fear. Friends, treasuring God's word and finding hope in God himself are in salvation. God's people are to live by the truth of God. In his preface to his Greek New Testament, Erasmus wrote these words. On these pages, you will find the living Christ.
And you will see him more fully and more clearly than if we stood before you, before your very eyes. God was raising up an assembly that would be bound together around and by the word of God. But this assembly would also, look at verse 18, it would also be a testament, a sign of God's grace. Remember Isaiah's children earlier in chapter 8. And even in chapter 7, he has two children with some weird names, meaning a remnant shall return and swift to the spoil.
These names were symbols. It was a reminder that even through the names of the sons of this prophet that God was working among his people making a remnant. God's true remnant has always heard the word. God's true remnant has always heeded the word. But what was Judah doing? That's how we know people belong to God based on what they do with his word.
Did you catch in verse 19 what Judah, the rest of the people were doing? They weren't turning to the word. They were consulting with mediums and with spiritists. This society that had cast off God and were turning to the dead. in order to find out information about the future. We so want to know the future, to control the future, to domesticate the future, to handle the future, to find security in the future. And sadly, many of the people of God put their trust in what was futile and empty.
as if they just didn't consider the question, who's in control of the future? Like, will we trust in the God who makes promises about the future, or will we consult the dead because we think they're going to tell us something about the future? And what's Isaiah's response to all of this? Verse 20, I love it. To the law. To the testimony. That was the cry of the Reformation. To the word of God. Martin Luther said, let the man who would hear God speak, read his Bible.
The Spirit still uses this book to help us hear from God himself. With darkness all around, Isaiah declares to the Scriptures. To the scriptures. To the testimony. Friends, you find yourself wrestling, having the wrong object, fear. How are you doing at living a life that is modeling to the... My fear in asking this question is that you could begin to feel some level of guilt for not reading enough. And while I pray for spirit rock conviction, I don't want you to walk away.
I want you to walk away compelled that God has been doing something for his people in and through his scripture. And he's graciously preserved the scriptures and given them to us for days that are really dark. so that we would not be tossed back and forth, to and fro, as though there's no anchor for the soul. And so friends, how are you doing in your intake of God's word? Are you one of those oxymorons, like a professing Christian who doesn't read the word?
Is this a daily rhythm for you? Let's get beyond the rhythm. Is it a daily longing and delight for you? People in our day are enticing you to hear from God through horoscopes, through words from the Lord, through bad energy. Friends, maybe you would just say, Justin, you don't understand. I don't read the Bible because I find the Bible. I would encourage you to read with someone else. Just take up the habit of saying, will you read with me through the Bible? Because it seems really boring.
And before you're tempted to just give up on the Bible because it seems boring, that may reveal more about you than it does about the Bible. I mean, did you read verse 20? If you do not speak according to God's word, it's because you have no dawn. There's no illumination, no light. And so find others where there is light and have them walk with you so as to just beg the Lord to graciously flip on the light switch of your mind.
that you would be able to see and behold wondrous things in and through his word. Friends, when you walk away from the word of God, you will always be disappointed. You may have a moment, you may have a little bit of a season where you think, yeah. I kind of like walking away. I kind of like this versus what his word is telling.
But it will not endure. Listen to what happens when people walk away from the word of God. Verses 21 and 22. They will then pass through the land hard pressed and famished. And it will turn out when they are hungry that they will be enraged and they curse their king and their God as they face upward. The one whom they walk away from. They turn around in time of need and curse.
Verse 22, then they will look to the earth and behold distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish and they will be driven away into darkness. If you walk away from the word of God, like the people did here in Isaiah chapter 8, you will become more and more delusioned. You will become more and more disappointed. You will become more and more frustrated. You will then begin to lash out. at those things that were meant to provide light for you.
And you will seek to blame whoever is in control because you want security. And what you will have missed. is that it was you that walked away. Friends, is your life guided by the fear? Friends, are you living by the truth? Second question, what are the people of God to hope?
This is the passage that Charlie read, Isaiah chapter 9, verses 1 through 7. In this section, I mean, when you read back, you go back and just look at Isaiah chapter 8, verse 22. There is distress, there's darkness, there's gloom. And then chapter 9 verses 1 through 7 describes an extraordinary light that breaks in on a place where great suffering and anguish and darkness and gloom had dominated.
He references this earlier time where he treated the land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali with contempt and says, but later on shall make it glorious. Naphtali lay aside the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. It extended northward. Zebulun was west and southwest of that land. And so when you see Assyria coming, what happens? The first two places that fall. Naphtali and Zebulun. And these places were a maximum mix.
So many people coming there. There were Canaanites and Hittites. There were those that were culturally confused and religiously impure. And Isaiah is saying that this place that saw disaster first is going to be a place where God is going to show light. Isaiah saw that anguish would give way to rejoicing in this place. That darkness would give way to glory.
And it would be in this mixed bag place. They would have a different name and it would be the Galilee of the Gentiles. If we were to read Matthew's gospel, Matthew chapter four. Verses 12 through 17, Jesus is beginning his ministry. Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, he withdrew into Galilee. He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the region of Zebulon.
Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet. So this place that saw disaster first. The ministry of our Savior, this promised king, takes place here. This very region that was plunged into darkness would receive this light. Friends, this Messiah is for the world. The result that there would be great life.
Verse 3 is that there would be this multiplying, this increasing of gladness, that they would be glad in his presence, that there would be a gladness of harvest as when men rejoice dividing the spoil. There would be this great multitude that no one could number, and it would be rejoicing. Just be marked by joy. Where there was anguish, there would now be joy. Where there was darkness, there would now be light. These people, they had the truth, but verse 20 told us, chapter 8, they had no dawn.
God graciously brings light in chapter 9. He promises his Old Testament remnant a triumphant brightness that they've never seen before. And really, this is what the eyes of faith do. The eyes of faith are able to look at all of the brokenness. And say, as bad as things are, there is a greater reality that's overriding all of this. As bad as the brokenness is. And so again, think about the people of God. Even this remnant.
This remnant was still walking through the consequences of King Ahaz's decision to not trust in God. So it wasn't that everybody else who didn't trust in God got what was bad. And God's people got really, really good. No, they endured the bad as well. But the eyes of faith are able to look at all of the brokenness and say, as real and as difficult and as hard as these things are, there is a greater guiding reality.
God's people must decide what reading of their experiences are they going to live by. Are they going to look at the darkness and the hopelessness and the dreams that were shattered and just think, God has forgotten me? Or were they going to look at the darkness and the hopelessness and the shattered dreams and recall past mercies and recall present promises and then to make great affirmations about future?
Can you imagine a world where there's no darkness? A world where there's no anguish and sorrow, only joy? It's hard to imagine. It sounds good, but it is hard to imagine. We want that world to be true. And it's the world that God promises here. So God's people should have been saying, well, how does this world move from a promise to reality? And in the next few verses, he gives three reasons that begin with the word for, F-O-R. For you shall break the yoke of their burden and staff on their...
Like, how are we ever going to get to a place where there's no darkness, there's just light? But there's no anguish. There's just joy. How are we ever going to get there? Well, God is going to break oppression. He's going to put an end to oppression. We're going to go from oppression to freedom.
He's going to break the bondage of his people. And what may not be clear to you in first reading is that he's quoting from Old Testament stories to help them remember, this is what I've already been doing. He's alluding to the Exodus story. He's alluding to the story of Gideon. Judges chapter 7, Gideon is raised up by the Lord to deliver God's people from the Midianites.
And so Gideon rounds up an army to take on what the text tells us is just hordes of Midianites. And so he rounds up an army, 32,000 soldiers. God says, let's get it down to 10. Gets it down to 10, God says, let's get it down to 300. 300 people with Gideon are going to take on hordes of Midianites? Like, is this some cruel joke that God is playing? And no, it's not a cruel joke. It's an opportunity for God's people to trust in the God who is saying, I will deliver you if you do it my way.
And so as they hear this, about this breaking of oppression, this yoke from their burden, the rod of their oppression, as they hear about that, It would have resonated with God's people. They were watching section by section of their people. The people of God going away. People being shipped off. Assyria just coming down and putting bombs.
And God says, I am going to break those bonds just like I did in Egypt. But it's not just from oppression to freedom, verse 5. It's from war to peace. There's going to be an end of war. The stuff that they needed for battle, it's all going to not be needed. Time to throw every weapon, time to throw boots, time to throw whatever we have. Time to throw nuclear warheads. Time to throw unmanned drones. Whatever it is, we're just going to throw it on the junk heap of outdated and useless.
Bible's images for salvation are peace. Many of them are about peace. Just consider what happens whenever people go to war. For some of you, it doesn't take much to think about what all is included. I feel far removed from that. The way of life and the way of families and the way of communities and the way of thinking and everything is affected. And many things are even destroyed.
And the Lord is saying, there's coming a time, I'm bringing a king who's going to put an end, his rule and reign, there's not going to be war. Not even the things that rise up within us that would lead to war. And so if you were part of God's people, you should have been asking, how is this possible? Because if the hope for this kind of change is on us to make it happen, then we're lost. And this is where our text concludes this morning.
This new day is possible because of the arrival of a new king. One who will establish light. One who will establish. The king who's perfect and permanent. God is going to give his people a perfect and a permanent king. This king is going to be born a real baby in real time. He's going to have a real government placed on his shoulder. Verse 6, just listen to his resume. This king is going to be a wonderful counselor. Why do you need a wonderful counselor? Because you can't see into the future.
You need a wonderful, wise, all-knowing counselor that you can trust is carrying you into a future that you don't know about. But he's not just wonderful counselor. He's mighty God. You need a God who is in charge. Even if you could see it, you wouldn't have the power to bring about the future. But a mighty God can. And you need an eternal father, an everlasting father.
We know what it means to be abandoned. We know what it means to be isolated. We know what it means to be wayward and to be empty. And so then we know what it means to need a father who would provide and correct and shelter and redirect. And then a prince appeared. The Hebrew word there for prince is more about like a manager. So a prince is someone who is dispensing and administering peace for those who trust in him. Peace is the opposite of war. It's flourishing in harmony.
And something that should jump out at us is that these traits, each of these four traits in verse 6, are almost exactly the same things that God said about himself in Exodus chapter 40. He doesn't need counsel because he knows all things. He's powerful and loving and he will not allow his children's abandonment of him lead him to abandon them. His zeal is going to compel him to act in this way. He gives peace.
And so if this kind of world, this kind of reality really could be true, and it could come from this kind of king, we just begin to imagine how mighty and how impressive would his entrance into human history be. that's not what happens. The answer wouldn't even come for several hundred more years. This passage is quoted in Luke and in John. helping us know the key to this Old Testament mission. Who is this one? It's Jesus. Jesus clears up what has been mysterious.
It's his birth that brings light into darkness. He's the wonderful counselor who taught learned men even as a child. He's the everlasting father who draws near to us by divine tenderness. His wisdom can untangle every knot in your soul. He's mighty God, born in weakness to conquer sin, not by crushing his enemies, but by being crushed for his enemies. He was powerful to speak to the seas and the seas obeyed. He's the everlasting father because he draws us into the eternal love of the Trinity.
He welcomed children on his lap as a loving father would. He will not leave or run out or change as your father, and he's the Prince of Peace. Jesus put an end to the hostility between us and God. Jesus is the one who manages peace for all who trust in him and turn from their sin. And a real government is resting on his shoulder and will rest. And in this government, he will never be voted out. He will never resign and he will never be defeated.
He offers all of that to you if you will trust in him. Friends, we have plenty of darkness in this world still. And yet light has dawned in the coming of Jesus and the fullness of this world. We'll be here before we know. How can we know that Jesus is the Lord? When so many have let us down? Maybe you're here and you're wondering, I'm still evaluating Jesus. I'm still on the 30-day trial about whether or not I am going to follow him. Friends, committing to Jesus is less about
Let me take it home, give it a test run, and then bring it back if I don't like it. Committing to Jesus is like leaving your country to become a citizen in another. It's a commitment for better or worse. And you stop evaluating and demanding that he prove himself to you. And just be clear, you can't come to Jesus as much as we're, yes, ready to break the yoke that is on us, the yoke of burden and sin and slavery. All of us say, yes, Lord, we want you to take that burden away.
But coming to Jesus means that you then bear his. and his. He's broken the one that has oppressed you, and now you are called to carry his. That break of oppressive burden happened upon the cross. And it happened in the resurrection of Christ from the dead. His rod and his staff will comfort you. They will lead you beside still waters in places of rest and peace.
And so the question before you this morning, particularly if you're not a Christian, is can you, will you submit yourself to this king? And you can if you will turn from your sin and trust in the work of Jesus as the sufficient work. What a glorious vision Isaiah has given us. A world plunged in darkness, but God promising a piercing light. That light is Christ, born as a child, raised to be the Savior of the world.
Friends, darkness gives way to light. Gloom gives way to joy. War gives way to peace. Oppression gives way to freedom all because of a baby who would grow to have his life ended by death on a cross. And that's why we approach this table, is to remember that work, the broken body and the blood that was poured out, taking our sin and its punishment. In his death, Jesus secured life. And in his resurrection, he validated that everything he said and everything he did.
And the Lord's Supper reminds us of that work. Reminds us that Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promises to us. And so as you think about the Lord's Supper, I think it's helpful. I will lean in on the words of Charles Spurgeon. who says we're taught by the Lord's Supper the best way that we can remember Christ, and that is by receiving him. Oh, the sweetness of that truth. If we will remember it every time we come to this table, you're not asked to bring bread and a cup with you. It's here.
You're not asked to do anything but to eat and to drink. You have to be receivers and nothing more. And so whenever you want to remember your Lord and master, you need not say, I must do something for him. No, let this meal remind you that he has done something for you. And so here at Covenant Life, the Lord's Supper is open to baptize believers. who are members of good standing in a church that preaches the same gospel that you heard preached.
Walking in repentance of sin and walking in reconciliation. The music will begin to play. The elements will be packed. I would encourage you to take those elements and we will observe the Lord's Supper together once everybody has received them. If that's not you, we would encourage you. Consider trusting Christ today. Consider following him in baptism. That's the first public identification with him, not the Lord. Consider having a group of Christians give affirmation to what you profess.
Consider why you wouldn't give up your sin. And consider going and being restored. Whatever you do, whether you eat, drink, or you abstain, consider Christ. In and through the act of remembering through this meal, I pray that you would grow our faith. Strengthen us. Help us to be a people that's marked by right fear. lives unashamedly according to your word, and that is hoping in the person of the Lord. Grow us together, I pray in his name. Amen.