The Great Substitution: Finding Life in the Servant’s Sacrifice

[00:00:03] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
In Jesus name we pray.
[00:00:14] Amen.
[00:00:33] In Jesus' name we pray.
[00:00:45] Amen.
[00:01:10] Let's pray.

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
In Jesus' name we pray.

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.
[00:02:22] Thank you.

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Y'all sound ready to start.
[00:03:48] Y'all sound ready to start.
[00:03:50] All good.
[00:03:51] Welcome, everyone, this morning to worship at Prospect Presbyterian Church.
[00:03:55] Glad everybody's here.
[00:03:57] And we pray, as always, this will be an opportunity for all of us to worship our Lord in spirit and in truth.
[00:04:03] The announcements are scheduled there for your consideration.
[00:04:05] I know it is resolution season.
[00:04:08] I hope you're enjoying your resolutions or whatever, those who still make them.
[00:04:13] I don't know if this is on there, so this is just a general announcement.
[00:04:18] Bible study is resuming.
[00:04:19] Bible study is resuming on Wednesday night at 6.30.
[00:04:22] The meal is great, and we have a great Bible study afterwards.
[00:04:25] So there's a meal at 6.30 on Wednesday night.
[00:04:29] There's a Bible study Thursday, 10 o'clock.
[00:04:32] So there's an announcement to the crew that usually attends, but if you're interested in doing something like that, they're both very, very good.
[00:04:40] There are two great groups that you need to sit with and be around and listen to them and hang out with them.
[00:04:44] There's two great opportunities.
[00:04:47] There's a variety of things we're trying to do in this church.
[00:04:49] There's a variety of things we might be trying to do in the new year.
[00:04:51] That's a great thing that we're doing.
[00:04:53] So 6.30 on Wednesday, 10 o'clock on Thursday.
[00:04:58] Let's prepare now our hearts and minds for the worship of our Lord.

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:05:44] Amen.
[00:05:45] The Gospel of John
[00:06:33] Let us pray.
[00:07:05] In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:07:32] Amen.

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Let us pray together.
[00:07:39] Almighty everlasting God, come in and continue to be present in this worship service by the power of your Holy Spirit, we humbly ask you.
[00:07:46] And come into the year for this church and for each of us and shape us.
[00:07:55] Make our lives with you this day, this week, this year, an act of spiritual worship where we worship you with the way we live.
[00:08:07] We need mercy.
[00:08:10] We need to be changed.
[00:08:11] We need perseverance to keep doing the things we're doing right.
[00:08:16] We need to see where we're being conformed to this world.
[00:08:21] And we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds that we might do what's good and right.
[00:08:26] That we might please you for sure.
[00:08:28] That we might be a blessing to others for sure.
[00:08:34] that we might find the joy and the purpose that we're looking for for sure.
[00:08:40] Cause us to believe that for sure that you're working in us and that you will deliver.
[00:08:50] Shape us the way you want us to be.
[00:08:53] For we have received the life and hope from Jesus Christ.
[00:09:00] We've received so much.
[00:09:02] Help us live as grateful people and may our gratitude show forth in our obedience.
[00:09:09] We pray humbly through Jesus Christ our Lord.
[00:09:12] Hear us now please as we pray together the prayer he taught his disciples.
[00:09:17] Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[00:09:22] Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
[00:09:30] Give us this day our daily bread
[00:09:33] And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
[00:09:38] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
[00:09:43] For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
[00:09:49] Amen.
[00:09:49] Our opening hymn for the morning is 163.

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
In Jesus' name we pray.
[00:10:05] Amen.

[00:10:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

[00:11:00] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.

[00:11:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Let women love ye the Lord, if you have not heard the Lord.

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
So may we with willing feet ever see the mercy seat.

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy

[00:11:57] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
In Jesus' name, amen.

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
We are reminded of our privilege to pray for other people, to bear one another's burdens, to look not only to our interests but also to the interests of others.
[00:12:58] So, let us pray together.
[00:13:03] Almighty God, thank you for your care of us, your blessing of us.
[00:13:07] Our cups overflow, as the Psalm says.
[00:13:13] Cause us to know that, trust that, believe that.
[00:13:21] Let our desire to be generous never be squashed by fear.
[00:13:34] Help us trust you that our cups overflow.
[00:13:38] And as we enjoy the blessing we have, cause us to remember that you have blessed us also, that we might bear one another's burdens, that we might be a blessing, that we might make it better for other people.
[00:13:50] and get the gospel out, you know, help get the gospel out in a way that pleases you.
[00:13:54] So we pray for your church, we pray for our congregation, your church in general, our good friends at Triplett, United Methodist Church, great church, bless them, prosper them, appreciate the brotherhood and sisterhood with them, help them be great as we pray for ourselves to be great and your church to be great.
[00:14:13] Pray for our missionaries, Justin and Kristen, Rob and Sandy,
[00:14:17] among others on the mission field enable them to get the gospel out.
[00:14:20] Thank you for how they go for us.
[00:14:28] So bless their work among others.
[00:14:30] And just cause us to see, as Jesus lays out in Matthew, the hungry and the thirsty and the sick and the imprisoned, the naked, and we add the lonely and the grieving
[00:14:47] The doubting and afraid, the troubled, people who are battling, help us battle with them.
[00:15:00] From our overflowing cups and from how you've lifted the burden off of us of having to be good enough.
[00:15:11] Jesus Christ and his covering has made us good enough, so just help us be good.
[00:15:18] and love being generous and love working hard for you and love being servants.
[00:15:25] Holy Spirit, get in us and make that happen.
[00:15:28] Cause us to trust that way.
[00:15:30] Cause us to trust the way of Jesus Christ who came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.
[00:15:36] Help us enjoy the ransom.
[00:15:37] Help us enjoy the salvation.
[00:15:39] Help us follow him.
[00:15:44] Loving you with all we got.
[00:15:45] Our neighbors, we love ourselves.
[00:15:50] Cause us to trust that's the good life, the richest life, the best life, the one where we're more conformed to the way of Christ.
[00:16:00] So Holy Spirit, be at work in us making that happen.
[00:16:03] We pray humbly in Jesus' name.
[00:16:06] Amen.

[00:16:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
What child is this who lay to rest on Mary's lap is sleeping?
[00:16:37] Who angels greet with anthems sweet While shepherds watch are keeping This, this is Christ the King
[00:17:03] God and angels sing Praise, praise to bring Him all the way The Son of Mary
[00:17:26] Why lies he in such meaningless state where arms and ass are fleeting?
[00:17:44] Good Christians fear for sinners here, the silent word is clean.
[00:17:56] and Redeem.
[00:18:04] Hail, Spirit of peace, live through the cross below for me, for you.
[00:18:16] The Word may flesh away the Son of Mary.
[00:18:44] So bring him incense, gold, and work of peasant king to loan him.
[00:19:07] The king of kings salvation brings, and loving hearts enthrone.
[00:19:16] The virgin sings her lullaby Joy, joy, for Christ is born The Babe, the Son of Mary
[00:19:50] The Babe, the Son of Mary

[00:20:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Thank you, friends.
[00:20:12] Any children are welcome to now meet in the vestibule for Children's Church.
[00:20:19] Our ushers will now come forward to collect the morning offering.
[00:20:21] As they do, we are given opportunity to consider all our many blessings and how we may use some of the offering here and then through the rest of the week, how we may use all that God has given us in his service.
[00:20:32] So let us consider these things.

[00:20:42] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let's pray.
[00:21:40] Let us pray.
[00:22:25] Let us pray.

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
[00:23:20] Praise Him all creatures here below.
[00:23:21] Praise Him above ye heavenly host.
[00:23:23] Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

[00:23:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Amen.
[00:23:38] Please be seated, friends.
[00:23:42] Reading for the morning is from the prophecy of Isaiah.
[00:23:47] We kind of keep working through some ideas of the prophets, which we'll be spending some
[00:23:52] Good time here in the new year.
[00:23:56] There's no connected New Testament text provided for you.
[00:24:00] We'll be quoting some.
[00:24:01] Always good to read from the New Testament whenever we read from the Old Testament.
[00:24:06] This is one of the most important passages in the entire Old Testament.
[00:24:13] It addresses all kinds of things.
[00:24:17] We talked a little bit last week about how the Jesus that shows up is not the Jesus we expected.
[00:24:24] And that is fantastically laid out in what we're going to talk about, especially at the beginning today.
[00:24:29] This is talking about who our Messiah is, what's he about, how does he get it done, what's the result, how then should we live.
[00:24:36] It's a great passage for all kinds of things like that.
[00:24:39] I'm going to go ahead and pray now because I think we're going to do some reading along as we're going to read and maybe talk along with it as we read it more than we usually do.
[00:24:48] And so, prior to the reading of God's Word, let us pray together.
[00:24:54] Almighty and everlasting God, we're looking forward to the Word, not only on this day, but in what you've got for us this year.
[00:25:01] We pray humbly that your Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that inspired the recording of these words, would now be in our hearts and minds and souls to teach us what the Word has to say, be active teaching us what the Word has to say, and active in enabling us in these moments and in the week and in our lives to live as the Word teaches.
[00:25:20] We are focused on ourselves, we are focused on our flesh, we are focused on the world.
[00:25:24] Focus us not on these things, focus us on you.
[00:25:26] Focus us on your body, our place in your work, and in the life you have for us.
[00:25:32] We pray humbly, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
[00:25:35] Amen.
[00:25:37] This passage, Isaiah 52, 13 to 53, 12, is quoted by Mark in outlining some things that are going on in the Lord's Supper by Paul.
[00:25:47] It's lived out by Jesus.
[00:25:49] Next week we're going to talk about it in Acts 8, where this passage is specifically linked to one of the more memorable conversions, stories of the Acts of the Apostles.
[00:26:01] So we'll just read this and see what God has for us.
[00:26:07] My servant, Isaiah has been talking about the servant throughout his writing, who we now know and identify as Jesus Christ.
[00:26:17] My servant shall act wisely, he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.
[00:26:22] That's starting out very well for the servant.
[00:26:25] There's some difficulty coming for the servant.
[00:26:27] Verse 14, many were astonished.
[00:26:32] His appearance was so marred beyond human semblance and his form was beyond that of the children of mankind.
[00:26:47] So shall he, and sprinkle is not a great translation, startle is probably the better translation.
[00:26:53] He'll startle people.
[00:26:58] He will startle many nations and kings shall shut their mouths
[00:27:02] For that which he has not been told them, they see.
[00:27:07] And that which they have not heard, they understand.
[00:27:15] Who has believed what he has heard from us?
[00:27:25] People are going to find this hard to believe.
[00:27:28] This Jesus way is what Isaiah is telling us, what we started talking about last week, what we're going to talk about all the time as Christians.
[00:27:38] The power of God is showing up in the servant, and it is not what we expect.
[00:27:44] We expect power to work in favor of or to lift up those who deserve it.
[00:27:54] For power to reward and serve power.
[00:27:56] Power to serve the good in that sense.
[00:27:59] The servant is coming to do something different.
[00:28:03] That we're talking about power is clear in the second little phrase in chapter, verse 1 of 53.
[00:28:08] And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed.
[00:28:10] The arm of the Lord.
[00:28:11] This is God acting in history.
[00:28:13] This is the great revelation of God acting in history.
[00:28:16] This servant.
[00:28:17] This appearance of Jesus of Nazareth.
[00:28:21] For he grew up before him like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground.
[00:28:24] He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, no beauty that we should desire him.
[00:28:30] He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief.
[00:28:37] And as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not, this servant.
[00:28:49] Most commentators, and I would agree, they're making no comment on whether or not Jesus was good-looking.
[00:28:57] Right?
[00:28:58] There's this great, you know, there's a little passage in Exodus where it talks about how Moses was, it actually says Moses was not good-looking.
[00:29:07] And I said, somebody needs to tell Charlton Heston that.
[00:29:10] All right.
[00:29:11] Whoever cast Charlton Heston, you know, all right, you know, hey, all right.
[00:29:19] Most commentators are saying, they're not making a comment on whether Jesus was good looking or not.
[00:29:24] What they're saying is that no matter how good looking he may or may not have been, the way he went about his business, the humility, the going to the cross, the crown of thorns, the getting beaten up, the getting rejected, the getting left alone, the appearing to be a loser.
[00:29:42] When you're hanging on a cross, you're a loser.
[00:29:47] That's why they invented the cross.
[00:29:50] To make you look like a loser.
[00:29:51] To tell everybody that thought you were somebody, this is not the guy.
[00:29:56] That we then turn our faces from that.
[00:29:59] That's what Isaiah said.
[00:30:01] The way he lived his life.
[00:30:03] What he tells us to do.
[00:30:04] We may go, I don't know if I want to do that.
[00:30:07] If you want to be great, be a servant.
[00:30:12] Lose your life to save it.
[00:30:13] I don't know if I want to do that.
[00:30:18] That's what Isaiah is telling us.
[00:30:20] We turn away from that.
[00:30:26] It's hard to believe that this is the way God is working.
[00:30:30] It's why we miss Him.
[00:30:32] It's why we don't take it all the way in.
[00:30:35] It's the reason why we like the Savior stuff but the Lord stuff we have a problem with.
[00:30:40] When we get to Communion, we're going to reaffirm our faith and we're going to reaffirm our acceptance of Him as Savior and Lord.
[00:30:48] We're going to live this way.
[00:30:50] And then we need this kind of salvation.
[00:30:55] And then 4-9, verses 4-9 is really what we're going to focus on today.
[00:31:01] And I would like for you to notice how Isaiah keeps talking about how he takes things that belong to us.
[00:31:10] It's a very hard thing for the humans to do.
[00:31:14] To take on negative that doesn't belong to them.
[00:31:18] We will take responsibility for when I've messed up.
[00:31:21] We learn to, and there's a dignity in when I mess up, I will own it, and I will take this.
[00:31:29] I will take the punishment.
[00:31:30] I will take this.
[00:31:32] Here is what is hard for us, and my favorite illustration of this is when my kids were little, and Christmas vacation or summer break or just a regular day,
[00:31:44] You know, somewhere around bedtime, if Stacy was here, 8 o'clock, if me was there, free-for-all.
[00:31:50] All right, but sometime before bedtime, there would be a clean-up period, which they were not jazzed about.
[00:32:02] But with some coaching and with some teaching, with some threatening, and over time, we would clean up our mess.
[00:32:10] But here is what they bucked on, and they bucked on, and we buck on.
[00:32:17] We'll just use this as an example.
[00:32:18] It goes both ways.
[00:32:19] When Will would be cleaning up and my daughter Laura would not be there, I'd say, now clean up over here where Laura made her mess.
[00:32:25] And he would say, what?
[00:32:26] That's not my mess.
[00:32:31] We can get taught, and there's a dignity, there's an integrity, and there's a something, and I'll clean up my mess.
[00:32:36] I ain't cleaning up somebody else's mess.
[00:32:40] The humans bucket that.
[00:32:43] And here's the gospel.
[00:32:46] Jesus didn't have a mess.
[00:32:48] And he came and got messed up.
[00:32:51] Because he was cleaning up our mess.
[00:32:54] So I would like for you to watch in verses 4 through 9.
[00:32:56] Watch all the, he took on, he did this, he absorbed, he cleaned up our mess.
[00:33:07] Surely he has borne our griefs.
[00:33:10] and carried our sorrows.
[00:33:12] We esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.
[00:33:15] He was pierced for our transgression.
[00:33:17] That's three.
[00:33:18] Crushed for our iniquities.
[00:33:19] Four.
[00:33:21] And on him was the chastisement that brought us peace.
[00:33:26] Five.
[00:33:26] With his wounds we are healed.
[00:33:33] All we like sheep have turned astray.
[00:33:37] We have gone astray.
[00:33:39] Let's pause there just for a second.
[00:33:48] All we like sheep have gone astray.
[00:33:50] That sounds like something we don't want to do.
[00:33:52] But the next little verse there is the goal, is the dream, is the great human desire.
[00:34:05] We have turned everyone into our own way.
[00:34:07] We've gone our own way.
[00:34:08] We've done it our way.
[00:34:12] This is the goal.
[00:34:15] We grow up to be adults so we can do it our way.
[00:34:21] I want to do it my way.
[00:34:24] Another preacher talked about this.
[00:34:25] This is so fantastic.
[00:34:27] You know, again, back to kids.
[00:34:30] Here is what is in all of our hearts.
[00:34:33] Me first!
[00:34:36] Me first is in all of our hearts.
[00:34:41] And I would suggest to you, the world's a complicated place.
[00:34:46] I would suggest to you that behind crime, and behind war, and behind abuse, and behind busted up relationships, behind the vast majority of the things that we call sin, if you start looking down, breaking the Ten Commandments,
[00:35:04] What is underneath them at the start and a driving force is me first.
[00:35:11] My way.
[00:35:14] You can have all the trees.
[00:35:16] You can eat of all the trees of the garden except one.
[00:35:22] The serpent says he's just trying to keep you from having a happy life.
[00:35:26] I've got to have my way.
[00:35:29] Here's what's hard about the Christian thing.
[00:35:34] Excuse me.
[00:35:35] Here's one of the things that's hard about the Christian thing.
[00:35:40] We have turned everyone to go his own way.
[00:35:42] That's the goal.
[00:35:45] That's the essence of what we want.
[00:35:48] And the challenge is either God calls the shots
[00:35:52] Or I do.
[00:35:53] Either there's two ideas meeting on a lot of our decisions.
[00:35:57] What I want to do because I'm conformed to the world, my flesh, my sin, my best common sense, whatever, you know, my desires, which seemed okay.
[00:36:06] And whenever they conflict with what God says or what God wants or how God wants us to order our lives, now there's a contest.
[00:36:16] And one of these ways of thinking is the way and the other one is advice or ideas by which I judge the standard.
[00:36:25] There's a standard.
[00:36:27] And it's either what I'm thinking or what God's thinking.
[00:36:30] When there's conflict, we all do this in all kinds of different ways.
[00:36:35] You get advice from people.
[00:36:39] And you take their advice and then you decide what you're going to do, which means you accept this advice and you reject the other advice that goes against it.
[00:36:48] To turn our own way is to say this.
[00:36:51] I will listen to God.
[00:36:52] God seems pretty smart.
[00:36:55] But at the end of the day, I'm going to do what I want to do.
[00:37:00] And the world tells us that's what it means to be a man.
[00:37:04] That's what it means to be a woman.
[00:37:05] That's what it means to be a grown-up.
[00:37:06] That's what it means to be self-actualized.
[00:37:08] That's what it means to look yourself in the mirror and say, I'm doing it the way I want to do it.
[00:37:17] One of the hard things about the Christian thing is, if he's God, then he's always the one where what he says trumps what we think.
[00:37:27] And we change for him.
[00:37:30] We discard what we were thinking and we conform it to what he wants us to be.
[00:37:36] So here's some passages, this may be a little bit more familiar.
[00:37:39] Luke 9.
[00:37:41] These are hard, and I think they're talking about what we're talking about right now.
[00:37:46] He said, Jesus said to all of them, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
[00:37:53] For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
[00:37:58] I would argue that Jesus is saying, this is what it looks like to say, to really have a God who's running my life.
[00:38:07] Or when Paul says in Galatians 2, I have been crucified with Christ.
[00:38:11] It's no longer I who live.
[00:38:13] My self-centered, I'm-in-charge self has been crucified.
[00:38:18] It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
[00:38:21] And the life I now live, I'm still living, I'm still doing things in the flesh.
[00:38:24] I live by faith in the Son of God.
[00:38:26] I trust what He's going to tell me.
[00:38:29] I trust that His way is the way that's going to bring me the life I've been looking for.
[00:38:34] The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
[00:38:40] So Jesus is asking a lot to take over.
[00:38:44] As I like to say, Jesus did not come to take sides.
[00:38:47] We get in arguments with people about religion or politics or any number of things that we want Jesus on our side.
[00:38:52] Jesus did not come to take sides.
[00:38:53] Jesus came to take over.
[00:38:55] He came to take over us.
[00:39:00] And we're supposed to give him that, and that's hard.
[00:39:02] That's hard to do.
[00:39:04] And that's what we really want to look at and keep talking about.
[00:39:08] Verse 6.
[00:39:09] Oh, we like sheep have gone astray.
[00:39:10] Actually, borne our griefs, pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities.
[00:39:15] Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.
[00:39:17] By his wounds we are healed.
[00:39:18] We'll keep going.
[00:39:19] Verse 7.
[00:39:21] He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, like a sheep that is before its shearers is silent.
[00:39:28] He opened not his mouth.
[00:39:30] Wasn't that he couldn't have.
[00:39:33] While he was going to the cross, he said, I got legions of angels ready to come down and take care of business.
[00:39:40] But if I did that, Satan would win and y'all would be lost.
[00:39:44] So I will take it for you.
[00:39:51] By oppression and judgment, verse 8, he was taken away.
[00:39:53] And as for his generation who considered that he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken, we're about on number 7 or 8, where he's absorbed.
[00:40:02] Stricken for the transgression of my people, they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man whose death, although he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth, yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him.
[00:40:16] He has put him to grief.
[00:40:18] God was in charge of this.
[00:40:20] Jesus said, I'll go.
[00:40:23] When his soul makes an offering for guilt, I'm going to hold there, I'm sorry, it's the will of the Lord to crush him.
[00:40:29] Here is the essence of the passage.
[00:40:31] Here is the essence of what we need to understand for understanding the communion and understanding how we're now going to go forward, how we understand our salvation and how we understand living.
[00:40:40] The main theme of the passage is substitution.
[00:40:44] He is receiving our punishment.
[00:40:45] He is receiving our stripes.
[00:40:46] He is being punished for our transgression.
[00:40:50] The essence of sin is we put ourselves in God's place.
[00:40:55] The essence of sin is we take our seat as number one and take our seat and we put ourselves in God's place.
[00:41:00] The essence of salvation is God puts himself in our place.
[00:41:02] Jesus puts himself in our place and absorbs the punishment.
[00:41:10] And here's the transaction that we have to understand.
[00:41:15] Somebody has to pay.
[00:41:16] You know it.
[00:41:19] When things are wrong, when you've done wrong, when something's gone wrong, when it's wrong, when it's not right, somebody has to pay.
[00:41:29] The gospel, the great good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is not, you know, God just lets this go.
[00:41:36] We kind of sit there and go, well, why can't God just let this go?
[00:41:41] Because here's what you know in your life.
[00:41:45] When someone offends against you, when somebody comes in and makes a mess of your Christmas, when somebody comes in and hurts you and angers you, when somebody hurts you, you can forgive them.
[00:41:57] But it has to be talked about.
[00:41:59] It has to be addressed.
[00:42:01] It has to be looked at.
[00:42:04] And then somebody has to pay.
[00:42:07] Justice is they pay.
[00:42:12] Forgiveness is the forgiver pays.
[00:42:16] The forgiver absorbs the cost.
[00:42:18] The forgiver doesn't take their vengeance.
[00:42:20] The forgiver is owed a pound of flesh and doesn't take it.
[00:42:23] Somebody pays.
[00:42:27] Why can't God just forgive?
[00:42:28] Because we know it doesn't work that way.
[00:42:29] Somebody has to pay.
[00:42:30] Here's the great good news of the gospel.
[00:42:32] Jesus says, I'll pay.
[00:42:35] And the essence of love is substitution.
[00:42:40] Jesus here is not only doing a transaction where he absorbs the punishment our sins deserve, but he's showing us how life is.
[00:42:49] How real life is.
[00:42:52] All real love is substitution.
[00:42:57] Think about the people you love, think about the love relationships you're in, and see if these relate to you.
[00:43:03] Think about the people you admire, see if these relate in any way.
[00:43:06] All good parenting is
[00:43:09] You don't have any food, you don't have any money, you don't have a place to live, and I will let you live in my house and eat my food.
[00:43:16] I did have freedom, now I take care of you.
[00:43:20] I did have a clean house, now I have one, you know, from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., and then it's all messed up again.
[00:43:27] I substitute my freedom, I substitute my money, I substitute my energy for your well-being.
[00:43:34] Your well-being comes in and takes that spot.
[00:43:39] A good marriage, a good friendship, especially a good marriage and great friendships are the number one source of joy in my life is your joy.
[00:43:52] The number one source of joy in my life is the other person's joy.
[00:43:56] That is the mark of great friendship.
[00:43:58] That is the great mark of great relationships at all kinds and all levels.
[00:44:03] I will substitute your joy and I will make it my great joy.
[00:44:09] Generosity.
[00:44:10] This thing we call generosity is, I have the benefit of time and money and I'm putting you in the place.
[00:44:16] I'm giving it to you.
[00:44:19] Instead of me enjoying it, I'm substituting you enjoying it.
[00:44:22] Forgiveness.
[00:44:24] I will pay instead of you will pay.
[00:44:28] Bear one of those birds.
[00:44:30] When we honor the military, or when the missionaries come,
[00:44:38] If we're honest, here's one of the reasons why we love it when the missionaries come.
[00:44:44] We love it when the missionaries come because they tell us stories and it's a break from will and somebody different.
[00:44:51] We'd love to hear the stories, but here's another reason why we love it when the missionaries come and when they go.
[00:44:57] I'm glad that's not me.
[00:45:00] If we're honest.
[00:45:01] There's something in us that says somebody needs to go and I'm really glad it's them going.
[00:45:06] I'm happy to support them.
[00:45:07] And you know what?
[00:45:08] They're happy to do it and they know that.
[00:45:11] When I talk to the missionaries, I tell them one of the reasons why we pray for you every week is that you are representing, you are substituting for us.
[00:45:18] Matthew 28 says go make disciples of all the nations.
[00:45:23] And we can't all go.
[00:45:24] You know why?
[00:45:24] Because we're not called to go.
[00:45:25] But they're going.
[00:45:27] And they're going on their own selves, but then they're also taking our place out there.
[00:45:36] That's real love.
[00:45:37] They're doing what they're called to do.
[00:45:39] We're doing what we're called to do.
[00:45:40] All the good.
[00:45:42] Substitution.
[00:45:43] Here's something I learned as a parent.
[00:45:49] I hate getting sick.
[00:45:51] I heard someone about six weeks ago say, you know, somebody was in an event and his wife said, he's got a man cold.
[00:45:59] Which I think what that means is, if I had that, I'd be here.
[00:46:03] But he's a man, so he's at home on his back.
[00:46:07] Man, I get man cold.
[00:46:08] I've yet to not have a man cold.
[00:46:10] I have some words that I get it.
[00:46:13] I hate being sick.
[00:46:15] My guess is that most of you hate being sick, too.
[00:46:19] Here's one of the things that I learned as a parent.
[00:46:22] It makes you realize how you love people.
[00:46:24] This could be true of other people.
[00:46:26] When your kids get sick, this thought welled up in my mind.
[00:46:29] It even came out of my mouth once.
[00:46:31] I wish I could be sick for you.
[00:46:35] It's one of the marks you love people.
[00:46:37] I wish I could absorb it for you.
[00:46:41] I wish I could absorb it for you.
[00:46:43] Substitution is the essence of love.
[00:46:46] Cleaning up somebody's mess.
[00:46:51] The gospel is that you cannot take their sickness.
[00:46:56] Jesus Christ took our sickness.
[00:46:59] And he died voluntarily.
[00:47:01] And he's the only human being who ever died voluntarily.
[00:47:08] And we may say, I want us to get the voluntary nature of God's love, of Christ's love for us.
[00:47:14] We hear the preacher say, he's the only person who died voluntarily.
[00:47:17] Well, that's not true.
[00:47:19] People volunteer to go to war.
[00:47:21] People fall on a grenade.
[00:47:25] And at some level, they have died voluntarily.
[00:47:28] But that's not what I'm talking about.
[00:47:30] Here's how much Jesus Christ loves you.
[00:47:34] Everybody that falls on a grenade, everybody that dies to protect somebody, they have chosen when and how they are going to die.
[00:47:43] They have not chosen whether or not they're going to die.
[00:47:49] They have voluntarily said, I will die here and now for you in this situation, but they have not decided, I'm going to move from not having to die to having to die because of my love for you.
[00:48:01] Jesus Christ did not have to die.
[00:48:04] He chose immortal life.
[00:48:05] For all you Lord of the Rings fans, if there are any out there, this is where the Arwen character comes in.
[00:48:12] Who did not have to die.
[00:48:14] She was from an immortal race.
[00:48:16] But she chose to love a man.
[00:48:18] And she says, I choose a mortal life.
[00:48:22] That's where the Arwen character comes in.
[00:48:23] It takes about nine Lord of the Rings characters to make up Jesus.
[00:48:30] All of this is to get us to verse 10 through 12.
[00:48:33] We'll finish up.
[00:48:35] It was the will of the Lord to crush him.
[00:48:37] He has been put to grief.
[00:48:38] And when his soul... Now watch...
[00:48:41] Jesus has taken on a lot.
[00:48:43] When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring and shall prolong his days.
[00:48:49] The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
[00:48:52] And now look at this, and we're thinking about communion.
[00:48:54] Out of the anguish of his soul.
[00:48:56] It's hard up there on the cross.
[00:49:00] I want you to have confidence.
[00:49:01] We always talk about confidence leaving this room.
[00:49:03] I want you to have incredible confidence that no matter what you have done, it can't break his love for you.
[00:49:13] Satan is going to try to tell you that whatever your sin is, it could cause him not to love you.
[00:49:16] It could break his love for you.
[00:49:19] I want you to understand the anguish of the cross.
[00:49:22] If that didn't break him, nothing you're going to do is going to break him.
[00:49:26] He will stick with you.
[00:49:29] Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied.
[00:49:33] He sees something on the cross and it is satisfying to him.
[00:49:39] By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many accounted to be righteous.
[00:49:43] He will bear their iniquities, therefore I will divide him a portion with the many.
[00:49:47] He shall divide the spoiled with the strong because he has poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors.
[00:49:55] He bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the rebels, for the transgressors.
[00:50:03] Verse 11, out of his soul,
[00:50:07] In its anguish he shall see something and be satisfied.
[00:50:11] He will suffer, he will be a substitute, and he will say, I see something that's worth it.
[00:50:18] And that thing that he sees that is worth all this is you and me.
[00:50:26] We can't break him.
[00:50:28] We can't break his love for us.
[00:50:30] We can't undo what he has done for us.
[00:50:33] We have this supreme confidence that goes with us as we go from this table and out there into the world following this strange savior that the world doesn't believe and frankly sometimes we don't believe this is the way it is.
[00:50:44] We don't believe this is the way it is.
[00:50:46] We don't believe that servanthood is the way to greatness.
[00:50:48] We don't believe, there's some days we don't believe this stuff that he tells us to do and how he tells us to live.
[00:50:57] And the challenge is to hear how much he loved you
[00:51:03] And to hear him say, this is the way to the real life.
[00:51:08] And to trust that day after day when we commit to it, that it will get us what we're looking for.
[00:51:15] And when we see this substitute, and he says, this is the way to live, and we realize, hey, I see that in my own life, that these are the things of which I am most proud, that I find most honorable, when I chase the things that he has taught me, and when I live this substitutionary love life that he has taught me.
[00:51:34] And that helps us overcome when we don't believe it and they don't believe it.
[00:51:39] Stay with it.
[00:51:41] Keep after it.
[00:51:44] This pursuit of you all the way to the cross that Jesus absorbed, he looked at you and he said, you are worth it.
[00:51:53] When we get to the end of our lives that we have committed to him and where we've tried to live like he wants us to, we will get to the end and we will say it is worth it.
[00:52:02] And along the way,
[00:52:04] As he's working in us, we will see it and we will say this is worth it.
[00:52:10] This is the great Savior we follow.
[00:52:15] Let's pray together.
[00:52:18] Almighty and everlasting God, follow then please the preaching of your word with the blessing of your Holy Spirit and where if because of human error in the preacher there may be something false or misleading in the preaching, cause that error to be quickly forgotten and do no harm,
[00:52:34] But if because of your grace, working alone, there may be some truth in the preaching, let that truth be burned into our hearts and minds and souls, that your truth might lead us in the everlasting way.
[00:52:43] We pray humbly in Jesus' name.
[00:52:46] Amen.
[00:52:48] Will the elders who are serving communion please join me at the front of the church.
[00:53:25] Friends, the scriptures record for us very clearly that on the night that Jesus was betrayed, he was having a meal with his friends, and at that meal, he took the bread he broke, and he said, This is my body, which has been broken for you.
[00:53:35] Likewise, after supper, he took the cup, and he poured it out, and he said, This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood, and he said,
[00:53:44] Take and eat, take and drink, and do this in remembrance of me.
[00:53:47] Likewise, Paul says every time we eat of the bread and drink of the cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes again.
[00:53:53] We proclaim that the Lord's death happened, that the resurrection happened.
[00:53:57] We claim that we are a people who say, we see that people saw the crucifixion, and they saw the shame, and they saw the rejection, and the don't do this, and don't follow this guy, and then we saw the resurrection as well.
[00:54:10] and the affirmation of his way and we have bought into him and we have bought into his way when we eat of this bread and drink of this cup we are saying we have bought into him and we have bought into his way the way of substitutionary love the way of trusting the way of the father so we come now to this table to affirm our faith to restate our faith
[00:54:37] To be fed, to be reminded of how much we are loved and who we are called to be.
[00:54:42] So, let's pray together.
[00:54:45] Almighty and everlasting God, enable us to take this supper in the right manner.
[00:54:48] First, we are people in need of a Savior.
[00:54:51] We appreciate we got a Savior.
[00:54:53] We appreciate that by His stripes we are healed.
[00:54:55] We appreciate that He has been bruised for our iniquities.
[00:54:59] Somebody had to pay.
[00:55:00] If we'd have paid, we'd have been destroyed.
[00:55:02] He paid, absorbed it,
[00:55:07] Suffer it as we should have.
[00:55:10] And you raised him from the dead.
[00:55:14] We thank you that he has absorbed it.
[00:55:17] Give us the confidence and the love and the readiness to serve a people who believe that, who realize that.
[00:55:23] We want to live that way.
[00:55:27] So when we eat this bread and drink this cup, we're taking on Jesus Christ as our Savior.
[00:55:30] We're admitting our need for a Savior, admitting we couldn't do it ourselves, glad for him to do it, glad to ride in his victory.
[00:55:36] And secondly, remind us that we're taking on the Lord, we're recommitting ourselves to our Lord, to His definition of success, to His way of living.
[00:55:47] Enable us to commit to that and be people who, be saved people of integrity who take on the Lord as well.
[00:55:55] Forgive us where we don't, make us better day by day, cause us to be confident that you're working in us and we'll see your work in us to completion.
[00:56:04] We take this bread and this cup as a sign of our commitment and that you might just remind us that we might be people who are getting closer every day in who you want us to be.
[00:56:14] In Jesus' name, Amen.
[00:56:17] Friends, everyone in this room who confesses that Jesus Christ is your Lord is welcome to eat of this bread and drink of this cup.
[00:56:23] It doesn't matter what church you're from, denomination, things like that.
[00:56:26] Just understand that when you do eat the bread and drink of the cup, you are proclaiming that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior with all the great privileges that will come with that and all the great responsibilities that come with it.

[00:57:05] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let us pray.
[00:57:44] In Jesus name we pray.
[00:58:08] Amen.
[00:58:20] Let us pray.
[00:58:41] Let us pray.
[00:58:44] Let us pray.

[01:00:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
This, friends, is the body of Christ which has been broken for you.
[01:00:12] By his stripes you are healed.
[01:00:14] Jesus said, Do this in remembrance of me.

[01:00:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

[01:01:16] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.
[01:01:23] Let us pray.
[01:01:41] Let us pray.

[01:01:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Let us pray.

[01:02:16] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let us pray.
[01:02:45] Let us pray.
[01:02:55] Let us pray.

[01:04:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
This is the blood of Christ which has been shed for you.
[01:04:17] This is the cup of the new covenant.
[01:04:18] You may have an everlasting relationship with God Almighty, characterized by love, peace, joy, confidence, that you are the beloved and okay.
[01:04:29] Jesus said, do this in remembrance of me.
[01:04:38] Let us pray together.
[01:04:39] Almighty and everlasting God, seal in our hearts with a great
[01:04:43] Joy and confidence, how much we're loved.
[01:04:48] And enable us, give us power to believe it when it seems unbelievable.
[01:04:54] And that the way that you've shown us to live is the way.
[01:05:02] We will get plenty of pushback from the world.
[01:05:03] We will get plenty of pushback from our flesh.
[01:05:06] From our common sense and our desires.
[01:05:09] Help us trust.
[01:05:11] The way of this one who has given himself for us and says, Enjoy my salvation and come follow me in this way.
[01:05:20] Calls us to believe it will be joy and it will be satisfaction to live this way.
[01:05:27] We thank you for our Savior.
[01:05:28] We thank you for our Lord.
[01:05:29] Enable us to follow him well, we pray in Jesus' name.
[01:05:33] Amen.

[01:05:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
I will sing a song of Bethlehem Of shepherds watching there And of the hills that came to see
[01:06:26] of Christ Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[01:06:58] In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

[01:07:27] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.

[01:07:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
On the scene, and may it wait this day.

[01:08:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
The scriptures tell us do not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you might show what the real thing is.
[01:09:16] Go forth in this place in joy and confidence.
[01:09:20] You are loved to hell and back by Jesus Christ who has paid what you and I owe.
[01:09:29] Let us be transformed by that and let us trust when we see his way and it doesn't seem that it would work.
[01:09:36] We live in a world that says fundamentally, how do you serve me?
[01:09:39] Your life to serve me.
[01:09:40] Jesus Christ came and said, my life to serve you.
[01:09:45] The things of which you are most proud and the people who you love the most and who had the biggest impact on your life said, my life to serve you.
[01:09:54] Jesus Christ came and did this, served us, gave his life for us not only to save us but to show us the real way.
[01:10:01] Let us embrace the real way on our way to our kingdom that he has made us a place in.
[01:10:09] Go from this place in joy and confidence knowing that you are loved and forgiven.
[01:10:13] And as you go, may the grace, mercy, and peace of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, may these rest and remain with each of you this day and always.
[01:10:21] Amen.

[01:10:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
The Lord bless you and keep you
[01:10:36] The Lord lift his countenance upon you and give you peace The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you
[01:11:06] The Lord be gracious, gracious unto you Amen

[01:11:40] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.

[01:12:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Amen.
[01:12:10] Amen.

[01:12:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
I did it like a thousand years ago, and I was like, is it the one I remember, or is it the other?
[01:12:45] And I listened to it, and I'm like, oh, I'm sure it is.

[01:12:46] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
I'll tell you more about it.
[01:12:47] I found out about it.

[01:12:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
I'm excited.
[01:13:14] I like this.

[01:13:14] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
I can't wait.
[01:13:15] This is the right stuff.
[01:13:15] This is the right stuff.
[01:13:24] In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
[01:13:47] Amen.
[01:14:15] .
[01:14:42] .
[01:14:42] .
[01:14:47] .
[01:15:05] .
[01:15:05] .
[01:15:06] .
[01:15:31] .
[01:15:31] .
[01:15:44] Amen.