Sermon Tone Analysis

2008-05-11am Isaiah 61:1-4 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord

 

\\             How do you read the Bible?

Do you simply read it?

Do you pray over the words?

Do you memorise them?

Do you recognise that this book is the most important book on the planet?

Do you know that this book reveals the creator of the universe?

By reading the Bible, we have the privilege of getting to know God!

It is an awesome book!

This book is timeless.

It speaks to every culture, every people, every situation.

Really, it does.

It does not need our help to be more relevant.

It is relevant.

It’s relevance is built in!  God knows His people!  God knows his creation, much more than a woodworker knows how his bookshelf is built, much more than a mechanic knows how the engine is put together, much more than the tailor knows how many stitches are in a garment.

God knows His people.

He knows what we need to hear.

He knows our situation.

He knows.

He’s the author of the universe!

He created it!

He knows.

Nothing we do shocks him.

Not the good, not the bad, nothing comes as a surprise to God!

          God knows us, perfectly.

He knows our situation.

He knew Israel’s situation.

In the original passage, the passage that Jesus read out in Nazareth, Isaiah is preaching to his people.

He’s preaching, he’s proclaiming good news!

It is a beautiful message!

It is a hopeful message!

It is pregnant with promise.

He says, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me to preach.”

God anointed Isaiah, God specially anointed him!

And because of that, Isaiah was up for the task.

Are you familiar with Isaiah’s anointing?

At the beginning of his ministry, Isaiah has a vision of God’s throne.

God is sitting on the throne; the train of God’s glory fills the huge expanse of the temple completely.

There are two creatures, two seraphim in front of the throne.

They have six wings.

With two, they cover their eyes, and with two, they cover their feet and with two, they fly.

They call to one another saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3).

On seeing all this, Isaiah cries out, “Woe is me!

For I am a man of unclean lips!

I live among people with unclean lips!

And my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!”

Then one of the seraphs flew over to Isaiah with a burning coal.

He touched Isaiah’s lips with it, saying, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6.7).

Then, the call goes out.

The Lord asks for a prophet.

He asks whom he shall send.

Isaiah, full of awe, full of the sight of God’s glory, full of the realisation that his sin has been atoned for, Isaiah cries out, “Here I am!  Send me!”

          Now, we speed up, several years, and several chapters.

Isaiah proclaims that the Spirit of the Lord is upon him!

His lips have been purified.

Cleansed by God, he is worthy of bringing the truth of God to the people.

He’s anointed, through the coal, to speak!

His lips are clean!

The setting is significant.

Once again, God delivers a promise.

The people are not in exile yet.

The wise among them realise it is coming.

The blind and foolish don’t have a clue.

They keep doing the things that incur the wrath of God against them.

But it will happen.

The Israelites will be exiled to Babylon.

The nation will come under God’s loving, righteous discipline.

But the discipline will be effective.

It will turn people’s hearts back to God!

They will repent.

They will confess.

They will seek after the Lord, and He will be found!

And yes, after 70 years, the exiled Israelites return to the Promised Land.

They rebuild the temple.

They continue to worship God.

But it is not complete yet.

It is not perfect.

They keep some of the high places.

They still are influenced by pagan worship.

They don’t love God will all their hearts, all the souls, all their minds and all their strength.

There’s something missing.

Everything is less than perfect.

Fast forward several hundred years.

Jesus goes home.

He’s just come out of forty days in the wilderness.

Forty days of fasting.

Forty days of round after round of bouts with the devil.

What could be better than going home?  Familiarity.

Family.

Friends.

A chance to relax.

On his way home, he preaches and teaches.

He taught in all the synagogues along the way.

He taught with power and authority, with grace and wisdom.

News about him spreads.

Finally, he gets home.

It’s the Sabbath.

He goes to his home synagogue.

His home church.

Listen to what happens.