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Start there in verse number 6, it says, I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles. The title of the sermon tonight is, A Light of the Gentiles, A Light of the Gentiles. Now that word Gentile, we read about that many times in the Bible, if you don't know, the word Gentile simply means nations, okay? And, but specifically, it's all nations besides the nation of Israel, okay? So often the Bible refers to the nation of Israel, and then the Gentiles, and the Gentiles are every other nation besides Israel. Now, the reason I wanted to start with this title, A Light of the Gentiles, is because there is such stupid teaching out there in so many churches that say God only cares for the Jews, and the Gentiles are just plan B. It's like, you know, God came for the Jews, God only cares for the Jews, but because the Jews rejected Christ, then God had to make a new plan and he went out to the Gentiles. Now, I want to show you from the book of Isaiah, written 700 B.C., 700 years before Christ walked this earth, and we're already getting confirmation that Christ would come for the Gentiles. He's a light for the Gentiles. He did not just come for one race. You know, God is not a racist. God does not have, he's not a respecter of persons. God does not view one nationality above another nationality. Of course, God blessed the nation of Israel mightily in the Old Testament times, but of course, God always was open to receive people of all nations as long as they made the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob their God. So that's the truth. A light of the Gentiles, we see that 700 years before Christ came to this earth. So let's start there in verse number 1. Isaiah 42, verse number 1, Behold my servant, whom I uphold. Now, this is God speaking. Behold my servant. Now, I'll tell you immediately that servant he's speaking about is his son, Jesus Christ. Behold my servant, whom I uphold. Mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit, that's the Holy Spirit, upon him. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. There's the Gentiles again. Judgment to the Gentiles. Now, what I love about verse number 1 here is we have God the Father speaking, okay? Then he speaks of his servant, the son, and he speaks and he's going to put his spirit upon his son, the Holy Spirit. This is one reference in the Old Testament where we see Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all referenced at the one time. It continues there in verse number 2. He shall not cry. Now, the word cry there is to shout. You know, to cry out is to shout. So it's saying that Jesus shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. Now, the verses we're reading here are very famous verses that get used once again in the writing of Matthew. So if you can keep your finger there and come with me to the New Testament in Matthew. Come with me to Matthew chapter 12, please. Matthew chapter 12. These words get repeated. That, you know, the words of Jesus, he shall not cry. He will not lift up his voice. You say, well, what does that mean? I'm sure there are times when he went into, like, into the temple. You guys know the story where Jesus put together a whip, made a whip, and he drove out the merchants out of the temple. Surely then he was yelling out. Yes, he was. But I want you to notice that Jesus' general ministry was not one that caused a lot of chaos, okay? Jesus was not seeking chaos on the streets when he went out preaching to the multitudes. And so if you have a look at verse number, you're in Matthew 12. Look at verse number 17 just quickly. It says, That it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet. That's what we were reading, saying, Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, that's like fight, okay, argue, nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. And then it continues. I want to show you that it's the same passage that we read there in Isaiah 42. But I want you to now understand the context. When it says that Jesus acted this way, you know, as the light of the Gentiles, as he went about his ministry 2,000 years ago when he walked this earth, what is it that we see in Christ Jesus with how he dealt with the enemies, okay? Now let's backtrack there. You're in Matthew 12. Come back with me to verse number 14 so we can build the context there. Matthew 12, 14. It says then the Pharisees, the Pharisees were, the majority of Pharisees did not believe in Christ. They were enemies of Christ. Right, the Pharisees are working out. How do we kill Jesus? They're trying to figure this out. And look what happens, verse number 15. That they should not make him known. Look at the context that leads up to that passage in Isaiah. So as the Pharisees were trying to come and cause chaos, take Jesus and kill him, Jesus says, look, let's go. Let's leave this place. Let's not just get head first into conflict. Let's stay away from the Pharisees. They're there to stop the ministry. Let's go elsewhere. He withdrew himself. Many multitudes followed him. And then as he's healing them and as he's teaching them, he charges them that they should not make him known. He's like, look, don't tell the Pharisees where I am. Don't tell the enemies where I am, okay? Don't let them know. And that's how Jesus conducted himself, right? If there was conflict, if there was controversy, Jesus would try to stay away from it. And that's why it says in verse number 17, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, behold my servant. Like, look at Jesus, okay? Whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. This is what pleases God. I will put my spirit upon him. He shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive nor cry. Neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. You know, if you're walking in the day of Jesus Christ and you saw Jesus and you see him teaching, you're not going to see him just fighting constantly with all his enemies. You're not even going to notice him, all right? Like, if Jesus knows there's a conflict coming, he's going to do what he can to get away from that situation. And don't forget who Jesus is. He's God. He's God the Son. And this is God, how he deals with ministry. This is what it means to please the Father or to have the Holy Spirit within you. It's not like you're just trying to get out there and cause havoc and call everybody reprobates and call everybody wicked and just try to get into fight with everybody because they don't agree with you on something in the Bible. No, Jesus is actually a very gentle teacher. Okay, now, are there times that he got angry? Of course. Are there times that he couldn't help himself because the Pharisees were there in the midst of his ministry causing problems and he had to call them out? Of course. But by and large, if you knew Jesus for those three years that he walked this earth, he was ministering in peace. And he was very gentle with his listeners. Okay, this is why it says in verse number 20, a bruised, you're in Matthew 12, and this is also in Isaiah 42, a bruised reed shall he not break. Now, a reed is a type of grass that grows in watery grounds, reeds. Okay, so they're very fragile. But this is a bruised reed. This is a reed that's already kind of broken, kind of damaged. A bruised reed shall he not break. Obviously, you know, the reed here represents people. Okay, this is how Jesus dealt with the people that he came across. It says here, and smoke and flax shall he not quench. Flax is another type of plant. Okay, so if there's, you know, another reference to damage, right, there's a little bit of fire there, he's not going to prevent that fire, he's not going to stop it. It says here, till he sent forth judgment unto victory. So one thing we learn here is that when Jesus conducted his ministry, he was almost unnoticeable. It's not like he was turning everything upside down. Okay, it's not like he had all these, you know, just constant confrontations, or when people came and they've got their problems, the bruised reed or the smoke and flax, you know, they've got life's problems and turmoil's upon them. Jesus did not just rebuke every listener, he was very gentle with the way he conducted himself with his listeners. And then it says in verse number 21, and in his name, look at this, shall the Gentiles trust. In his name shall the Gentiles trust. See, Jesus Christ came for the Gentiles. Just as much as he came, I'm not saying he didn't come for the Jews, he obviously came for the Jews, but he also came for the Gentiles. He's a light to the Gentiles. And Brethren, if you're not part of that physical nation of Israel, you are part of a physical Gentile nation, you know, you can trust in Christ Jesus. You know, he is your light as well. He is trustworthy to you as well, and guess what? He is gentle with you as well. Because you have messed up lives. You've messed up. You've got damages. You've got problems. You've got relationship issues. You've got financial problems. You've got marriage problems. You've got whatever it is, illnesses. You've got all kinds of problems in your life. And if you're like a bruised reed, you know, Jesus is not going to come and just break you into pieces. He's going to treat you very gently, because he's very loving. Okay? And you know, this is the example that we see in Christ, and of course, it's the example that we should follow in Christ Jesus. If you can return back with me to Isaiah 42, Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42. So I want to show you that this is definitely a prophecy of Christ. And do you notice that it was written by Isaiah 700 years before Christ was even born? I mean, this is the majesty of the Bible. You know, 66 books, 40 different authors, okay? Thousands of years writing these books, and yet they all spoke of Jesus Christ. All these prophets. I mean, it's impossible that Jesus Christ could fulfill all these words, and yet he did. This is what shows us that the Bible is not the work of man, but the work of God. Verse number 4, Isaiah 42, verse number 4. He shall not fail, nor be discouraged. Of course, Jesus did not fail in his ministry. Till he hath set judgment in the earth, and the isles wait for his law. I remember, I don't know if it was the current pope or the previous pope, the Catholic pope, said that Jesus' greatest failure was the cross. Does anyone remember that? Well, the Bible says he shall not fail. Like when he died on the cross, that was not failure. You know, he did that. He laid down his life. Obviously, wicked men took him, wicked men crucified him, but Jesus knew that was the process by which he would die, rise from the dead, pay for our sins, and cleanse us, and give us salvation and everlasting life. It is not a symbol of failure, it's victory. It's victory, and he gives us salvation. He promises us a home in heaven. It continues there in verse number 5. At the end of verse number 4, it says, and the isles shall wait for his law. So the isles, again, is a reference to just isles, Gentiles, just in general, nations. You'll see those words being used interchangeably in these chapters. And of course, when we talk about the nations waiting for his law, that will be ultimately fulfilled in the millennium. So, this is what I'm trying to show you about, especially for the visitors. This is what I'm trying to show you about in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah is speaking of current events. You can see it's shown away. Now he's speaking of Jesus, and now he's speaking about the future, the millennium. Because Jesus Christ is coming back one day and is going to rule on this earth for a thousand years. And so that's why it's so cryptic sometimes and so deep, because there are so many layers in these prophecies that have been spoken of. Verse number 5 says, I, the Lord, have called thee in righteousness. I will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, look at this, for a light of the Gentiles. For a light of the Gentiles. So our Lord God has come here. He's speaking about his covenant to people once again. The physical nation, of course, in the time of Isaiah. And they were supposed to be a light of the Gentiles. And we also know that our Lord God is the light. Now look, here we are in Isaiah 42. We've also been talking about how each chapter of the book of Isaiah is associated by the number of the book of the Bible. So if we're up to Isaiah 42, what is the 42nd book of the Bible? Or what are we up to? Mark. Luke. We're up to Luke. Good try. Good try. But we're up to Luke, so keep your finger there. And come with me to Luke, please. Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2 and verse number 29. Luke chapter 2, verse number 29. Luke chapter 2, verse number 29. It says, So these words, before I... I should have given you the context. These words, when Jesus Christ was born, there was a man known by the name of Simeon. He was an old man. And God had told him, before you die, you're going to see Christ. You're going to see the Savior. And then when they finally bring Jesus eight days old, because they had to circumcise him on the eighth day, they bring him to the temple and Simeon takes him in his arms. He looks at the baby and he starts saying these words. He's seen the Savior. He's seen the light of the world. So these are the words in verse number 30. Before the face of all people. Look at this. A light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. These are the words of Simeon. When he sees Jesus, what does he say? He says the light that lightens the Gentiles. This is why we're in Australia on a Thursday night at church, learning about the light, Jesus Christ, okay? But again, I want to just emphasize verse number 32. A light to the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. Again, Jesus came for all people. Not just the Jews. The Gentiles are not plan B. Very clear. Simeon knew this as soon as Christ was born. Eight days into it, right? He knew who Jesus was. A light of the Gentiles. Why? Because of course, Simeon knew the book of Isaiah. He obviously knew the scriptures. He knew what was prophesied of this Messiah to come. Come back with me to actually stay there. Again, keep a finger there in Luke. We are going to come back to Luke and come back with me to Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42, please. So all these verses so far are about Jesus Christ. And then in verse number 7, Isaiah 42 verse number 7, it says to open the blind eyes. We know that that's what definitely Jesus did, right? He physically healed the sick. To bring out the prisoners from the prison and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. Now, Jesus never actually broke into a prison, okay? He didn't break into, you know, a jail or something like that and pull prisoners out. Of course, this is speaking like the darkness. They're speaking of spiritual darkness, okay? And before you're saved, you are in spiritual darkness. You're in prison. You know, you're being held back by your sins. You're foolish. I was going to say your foolish heart was darkened, but that's a reprobate. But hey, you know, you're under the bondage of sin. And of course, the moment you believe in Christ, He takes your sins from you. You're delivered, right? He's paid for all of your sins and you're freed from the power of sin, okay? And so, of course, the prisoners in the prison refers to someone who is yet unsaved, okay? Someone that is unsaved. And so Christ comes to open the blinds and the blind dies. And obviously, He did that physically, but we're also talking spiritually here, okay? Before you're saved, you don't even understand the gospel message. You don't understand the words of the Bible. It doesn't make sense, but once, you know, you're saved and the Holy Spirit of God lives within you and you understand that you're going to heaven because of Christ Jesus, everything starts to make sense according to God's Word. And so, you know, if you've been saved later in life, you can probably relate to once being blinded, you know, following some false religion, not understanding the gospel message, but now that you do, your eyes have been opened and you're no longer blind. And of course, this is why I ask you to stay there in the Book of Luke because if you come with me to Luke 4, Luke 4, verse 18, Luke 4 and verse 18, Luke 4 and verse 18, Jesus Christ says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. So Christ says, you know, when he came, he started his work, he started his mission that he came to deliver the blind, to give them sight, to preach deliverance to the captives. Again, there's the captives taken into prison, right? And he's making us free. And of course, the moment you believe in Christ, you've been set free from the power of sin and you can be sure that you're going to heaven because the gospel there was preached to the poor. You know, and again, the poor doesn't mean, of course, you know, when we preach the gospel, sometimes we want to target lower social economic areas because usually poorer people are more receptive to God's Word. But the poor here, of course, is poor in spirit. People that are suffering within, right? People that do not have the light of Jesus Christ in them. Jesus wants us to go and preach the gospel to this lost and dying world. Again, you can stay there in the Book of Luke. We're going to come back to the Book of Luke. Come back with me to Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42 and verse number 8. Isaiah 42, verse number 8. He says, I am the Lord, that is my name. And my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Now, this is, of course, we've seen this in the previous chapter, that people that reject God immediately want to worship some image, some idol, some false god, some type of false religion. You see, as human beings, we are all beings of faith. Okay, we all have the ability to place our faith on something. And God, of course, wants us to place our faith on the Lord God, the God of the Bible. But when you don't do that, you'll ultimately end up placing your faith on something else. Okay, some false religion, some false beliefs, whatever it is, something that cannot be proven. You know, trying to understand why this universe even exists. You cannot know, besides what the Bible teaches us. You don't know what purpose there is. You don't know why you even exist. You don't even know what your plan of life is. And people start to search and want to place their faith on something. You know, even if it's just reincarnation, or some element, they want some answers. And God shows us, man, if you're not going to choose the God of the Bible, you're going to end up placing your faith, your belief on some random issue that is never going to satisfy you. You know, that's why it says in verse number nine, Behold, the former things that come to pass, and new things do I declare. Before they spring forth, I tell you of them. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth, that ye, sorry, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the isles and the inhabitants thereof. So, you know, God is essentially saying, look, this is, we need to proclaim this new song. You know, this gospel message, this newness of understanding who Christ Jesus is, and what He's done. We've got to go and proclaim this to all the earth. And then it says in verse number 11, Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice. The villagers that Kedar doth inhabit, let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Now, so, God is essentially saying, look, this message, this gospel message, this message of Jesus, needs to go out throughout the whole world. And again, what I love about verse number 11, just as a random one there, it speaks of the villagers that Kedar doth inhabit. What's the reference to Kedar? Does anyone know? The Arabs, the Arab nations. Now, today, when we talk about, you know, the Arabs, we largely think of them as Islamic, okay? As Muslim nations. And yet God is telling us, even amongst the Arabs, there are people that lift up their voice and praise Jesus Christ. There are believers all across this earth. And again, a lot of this is going to be fully realized at the millennium, once again, okay? When Christ comes back and He rules over this entire earth, there will be a full realization of this. Another really interesting fact in verse number 11, it says, after Kedar is referenced, it says, let the inhabitants of the rock sing. Now, I'm not sure what that means. I'm not sure if that means rocky lands, inhabitants of rocky lands or what. But, you know, if we are kind of liking, you know, the book of Luke with chapter 42 of the book of Isaiah, I want to show you something here that if you come with me to Luke 19, Luke 19, come with me to Luke 19. Luke 19. Because it's speaking about, you know, lifting up your voice, speaking about the inhabitants of the rock to sing. And we turn to Luke 19 when Christ, you know, went into Jerusalem in His final week before He was crucified. And you may recall the story where He got onto a donkey and He's, you know, He's been taken into the city of Jerusalem. And it says here in Luke 19, verse number 37, and when He was come nigh, that's come nigh to Jerusalem, even now at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto Him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. Right? Because they're coming. You know, this man or the donkey is coming in the name of the Lord. The Pharisees obviously don't believe in Jesus. They don't believe He's coming in the name of the Lord. It's like, tell your disciples to shut up, rebuke them. Tell them to stop praising your name. And then Jesus says this in verse number 40. And He answered and said unto them, I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. I just, I find that interesting, right? He says, if my disciples stop praising me, the rocks, the stones, they're going to cry out. They're going to worship that the one that comes in the name of the Lord is coming here into Jerusalem. And so is there a correlation there? Let the inhabitants of the rock sing. You know, it also reminds me, I'll just read it to you. In Matthew 3.9, when John the Baptist says, and think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father. For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. This is, of course, the Jews going, we have Abraham as our father. You know, we're the special, chosen people. He says, what's, who cares? God can make children out of these stones. And I was like, you know, and again, I think that's speaking, you know, metaphorically of believers, you know. You know, stones being something that is, it has no life. And, you know, people that were, before they were saved, you know, we were dead spiritually and then brought to life by the gospel of Jesus Christ. And now that we're saved and we're these Gentiles or these former dead stones, as it were, we can also praise the name of Jesus like everybody else. Come back with me to Luke, sorry, to Isaiah 42, please. Isaiah 42. I don't have any more references to the Luke, so you don't need to turn there anymore. But Isaiah 42, please. And verse number 12. Again, let them give glory. Again, a reference to Kedah, so even the Arab nations, right? Verse number 13. He shall prevail against his enemies. All right, now, this is really interesting, right? And again, this is talking about the depth of the book of Isaiah. We're seeing the Lord here is going like a man of war. He shall cry, yea, roar, right? He shall prevail against his enemies. Now, what did we read about Jesus before? It says in verse number 2. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. So, we know the Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord God, he's God, right? We see a division, a separation with Christ's first coming, and then his second coming, right? Like that, I mean, if you know the Bible well, this starts to make sense. Otherwise, you're going to say there's a contradiction. It says he doesn't cry. And then it says he is going to cry. He's going to roar. Well, I mean, do you really think the author in one chapter is going to forget what he wrote before? No, there's a change, right? When Christ came the first time, he came in humility. He came as the Lamb to be sacrificed, the Lamb of God, which take away the sin of the world. But when he comes a second time, he's coming as the Lion of Judah. He's coming to rule, to reign, to destroy the wicked. Christ is coming back. I don't know when. I don't know when. It can be 100 years from now, it can be in our lifetime, it can be another 1,000 years away, I have no idea, but Christ promises us that he's coming back. Look, if we have Isaiah prophesying of the first coming of Christ, 700 years before he did, and that came true, then we know all these other prophecies are going to come true. We know Christ is coming back and is coming back with anger. Okay, so we have the rapture, we have the believers being caught up in the air, and then what do we have? The wrath of God, the day of the Lord takes place, and this earth is going to be turned upside down. Like, there's going to be such destruction on this earth, the anger of God, okay? And then Christ comes, and then after that period, he's going to rule for 1,000 years on this earth, okay? If you know the book of Revelation, if you know the end times, that's crystal clear, okay? Now, again, a lot of churches do not want to talk about this aspect. They like Christ's first coming. They like meek and gentle Jesus, and so do I. I like meek and gentle Jesus as well. I like that Jesus too, okay? That's because when I mess up, when I commit sin, when I do wrong, you know, I don't have God who's just about to wipe me out, you know, the moment I do something wrong. We know our Lord God is long suffering. We know that our Lord God is slow to anger, okay? But there's coming a time when his anger is going to be put on blast, okay? We just can't hold back any further, and like it says, he's going to rule, and he's going to prevail against his enemies in verse number 13. Look at verse number 14. It says, I have long time holding my peace. He's like, I've been quiet for a long time. It's like, I've wanted to, you know, pour out my anger, but I'm holding it back. He says, I have been still and refrained myself. Now will I cry like a travailing woman. I will destroy and devour at once. He says, I'm going to cry like a travailing woman. That's a woman giving birth. You know, for husbands that have seen their wives give birth, you know how they travail. Alright, God says, look, that same, you know, sound, that same, you know, anguish, you know, that same passion, his anger is going to fall. You know, our God is an angry God, but he's also a very peaceful God. Like you need to understand this about God that he's long suffering. He gives us time. Some people say stupid things. Like if God truly exists, why doesn't he just bring judgment right now? If there are wicked people on the earth right now, why doesn't just God just come and destroy them? Here's the thing, you're wicked as well. You've done wrong as well. You've broken God's laws as well. Do you really want God to just come and destroy you the moment you do wrong? He's long suffering. He's gentle. He gives us time. Okay, so we can figure out what is right and wrong. So we can figure out, you know, have the opportunity to seek God and for God to show us his gospel message. He gives us time to believe on Jesus Christ. Now, look, some of you got saved in your adulthood. And you know, even if you got saved in your adulthood, you know how much you messed up in your teenage years, in your young life. Do you really want God to have just wiped you out when you're a teenager? Die and go to hell? Why did he not do that? Because he knew there would come a time when you're seeking him. He's long suffering, he holds it back. Okay? He knows that you will come to a time when you're seeking him, where you want salvation, you want this light of the Gentiles, you want Jesus Christ, you want to trust him, you want to put your hope in him. And the moment that's happened, you're saved. You're not appointed to God's wrath if you're saved. Okay, I mean, God, Jesus took your wrath. Jesus took your punishment. Jesus took the anger of God the Father, the judgment of God. Instead of it being fallen upon you, it fell upon his son. That's what Jesus did for you, because he loves you. But so why would we reject this wonderful love of God? Yeah, you know why God gets angry? Because for those that reject his son, you know, he's going to pour out his wrath. And ultimately, one day they're going to be thrown into the lake of fire and be tormented forever, day and night, forever and ever. Look, if someone treats my kids badly, and hates my kids and speaks critically, I'm going to get angry at that individual, am I not? But if, you know, if you take care of my kids, you love my kids, you give them direction, I'm going to appreciate you for it. Think about God. If you accept Jesus, you accept his sacrifice, you accept that Jesus suffered and died for you, and you thank him for that and you love him for that, how God would receive you. What about if you reject Jesus and say, well, I don't want that, I don't want that salvation. I'll try to figure it out on my own. I'll put my faith on something else besides the Son of God. I'm going to reject him. He died for me, he suffered for me, he paid for my sins, he took my punishment, but I don't want that, I want something else. Of course God's going to get angry at you. Look what God's done for you. Look how much he loves you. But I want you to understand the reality of God, his long suffering, but when the wrath comes, it's going to be like a travailing woman. It won't stop. It won't stop until the baby's born, as it were, right? He says at the end of verse number 14, I will destroy and devour at once. God's anger, God's judgment, just falls so suddenly that you're destroyed. I'm going to read to you just quickly Psalm 103 verse number 8. It says, the Lord is merciful and gracious. Slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. So does God get angry? Of course, but he's slow to anger. We as men, especially men, we need to learn to control our anger. There's nothing wrong with anger, all right? If there's something to get angry about righteously, but we need to be slow at it. Because when we get frustrated, the flesh gets in the way. And if we're quick to anger, if we're quick tempered, we lose control, we don't have control over our emotions, that's a fleshly anger. But a righteous anger is one that is slow to anger. You're long-suffering, you give time, you're merciful, you're gracious. But of course, there comes a time when the anger needs to come out. We should be angry at pedophiles. We should be angry at wicked people. We should be angry at laws that get passed by our government that is contrary to the laws of God. But I want you to understand that even though we get angry, and God is our example, we need to be slow to it, okay? We need to have self-control over our emotions. And so when you're slow to anger, it means you're controlling it. I'm sure, especially men, even women, right? I'm sure especially men, there have been times in your life when you've gotten so angry that you went out of control. You know, you weren't in control of your emotions. You look back and you go, man, I wasn't in control, right? I lost my temper. When you're slow to anger, you're able to control your anger, okay? That's the key difference with how God is. His anger and His wrath is controlled for the day of judgment. Oh, in verse number 9, in Psalm 103, verse number 9 says, He will not always chide. So He's not always going to be fighting and arguing. Neither will He keep His anger forever. That's what I love about God as well. His anger's not forever. It falls, it happens, but it's not forever. It's like sometimes if you have to chastise your children, right? Your child does something wrong and you need to correct them and you get angry because they've rebelled or they've done wrong, whatever it is, right? And you might need to conduct discipline on that child. But then that anger should not be forever. You know, once the discipline's been dealt with, forgive, forget, put it behind you, move forward, right? It's been dealt with, let's do better moving forward. You know, we should not hold grudges and anger toward people that have done wrong, right? Like, you know, if you've fought with your wife, if you had a spousal dispute and then you've made peace and you've sorted it out, don't bring it up again, right? You've forgiven each other, you've said sorry, don't, you know, don't bring it up again in some future fight down the track, you know, two weeks later, oh, but you did that two weeks ago, that's been settled, okay? Don't be, you know, don't hold grudges. God's not like that. Verse number 15 in Isaiah 42, verse number 15. I will make waste mountains and hills and dry up all their herbs. And I will make the rivers islands and I will dry up the pools. This is, of course, God's wrath in the end times, okay? There's gonna be a complete change in the world, like mountains are gonna collapse. Islands are going to be, you know, covered by water. There's gonna be complete destruction on the earth. And so, let's continue there, verse number 16. Actually, I should give, I'm gonna explain to you what verses 16 is and what this really is about is the nation of Israel, the southern kingdom of Judah, I should say, okay? The southern kingdom of Judah in context of Isaiah's day, okay? But also, Judea in context of the day of Jesus. What we're reading is essentially the next verses all the way to the end is almost like a double prophecy because we know that in the time of Isaiah, there's gonna be the judgment coming from the Babylonians, okay? And then when it comes to the time of Jesus, the judgment that falls upon Israel in that day or the Jews in that day is the Roman Empire, which, you know, climaxes at 70 AD when they destroy the temple and the, you know, you'll soon see that there's a double prophecy playing out in these verses. In verse number 16, it says, And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not. Remember, Christ has come for the blind, right? I will lead them in paths that they have not known. I will make darkness light before them and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them and not forsake them. God is showing his long suffering here, okay? With the people that are blind, he says, I'm gonna help them. I'm gonna help them find the right paths. I'm gonna turn the darkness into light, okay? The crooked ways, he's gonna make straight. God says, I'm not gonna forsake you, okay? But here's the thing about it. When Jesus came, and he did come for the Jews, he came for the Gentiles as well, but he came for the Jews too. Did they receive him? They didn't receive him. God sent John the Baptist, then he sent Jesus, okay? And his apostles. God was trying to reach out to the Jews. He's trying to show them the light, which is Jesus. They're trying to show them the way, which is Jesus, okay? But it says in verse number 17, they shall be turned back. They shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, ye are our gods. Hear ye deaf, and look ye blind, that ye may see. Again, the deaf and the blind here is referring to their spiritual condition. It's like, look, I've sent you Jesus, the light of the world. Can't you see? Can't you hear? This is, like, this is your salvation. And you still want your idols. You still want your false gods. You still want your false religion. It's like, what's wrong with you? Verse number 19. Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger that I sent? Who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant? Seen many things, but thou observest not. So you see many things, but you still don't, like, observe it. You still don't understand. It's like the people in the day of Jesus. They saw his miracles. Do you remember the miracle when he raised Lazarus from the dead? If you know that story, there's a big public, like, there's people everywhere, okay? There's people that love Jesus there. There are people that hate Jesus there. And Jesus calls out Lazarus. He's risen from the dead. This is a miracle. Nobody can deny this miracle. Okay? And the haters of Jesus, they went back and reported, and they're like, we've got to kill this guy. It's like, what? You didn't see? Jesus raised someone from the dead, and you still can't observe. Like, you still haven't understood that this is not just a man. This is God. Walking the earth. This is the Son of God on the earth. Like, what is wrong with you? That sort of thing, like, seeing many things, but thou observeth not. Opening the ears, but he heareth not. Jesus taught, taught wonderful things, wonderful words, but they couldn't hear it. They couldn't understand it. Now, just to show you who these blind people are, come with me to Isaiah 6, and verse number 9. Now, again, there is a double prophecy here. It's people in the time of Isaiah. Okay? But it's also people in the time of Jesus. And it's also, if we want to take an application, this can be you and I to an extent. Even if you're saved, it still can be you and I to an extent. Okay? But Isaiah 6, verse number 9. So, God is telling Isaiah this. And he said, go and tell these people, hear ye indeed, but understand not. And see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of these people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert and be healed. This is what's interesting about Isaiah's ministry. God says to Isaiah, I'm sending you to preach, but they're not going to hear you. Man, it's almost like a failure of a ministry. It's not a failure because God's sending Isaiah. But could you imagine if God says to you, all right, I want you to go out and preach. I want you to be, you know, a preacher. I want you to be a pastor. But no one's going to hear. Like you're going to have an empty church. No one's going to care for the words you're going to say. But God sends you anyway. And you go and get it done. And so he uses this illustration for Isaiah. The people that are blind, the people that are deaf are his, you know, the people of Judah that he was preaching to in his time. But this is also a double prophecy of Jesus, when he would come and he would do amazing things, much greater than Isaiah. Greater miracles, greater words, greater teachings, and the people still, many of them still did not listen. They still did not perceive. Can you come with me to Matthew 23, Matthew 23, verse number 37? Matthew 23 and verse number 37. Matthew 23, verse number 37. I want to show you the heart of the Lord, the heart of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 23, 37, Jesus says these words, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them, which are sent unto thee, thou that killest them, which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. God says Jerusalem, Jews, the Jews of that day, right? I've tried to gather you together. I've tried to be like a hen, protective of its babies, of its baby cheeks, right? I've sent you prophets and you've killed the prophets. Here's Jesus now. And you know what they're going to do with Jesus? They're going to kill him too. He goes, man, God's trying to reach out to them like this final time. And he says, and ye would not. You know, look, I'm thankful. You know, we're not a very big church, but I'm thankful you've heard the words of Christ. I'm thankful that you've received his words. You were like, nah, nah, I'm not going to hear it. Garbage. Man, look, this is important. When you hear the words of the Lord, when you hear the gospel message, you have a decision. Am I going to receive Christ or am I going to reject him? Am I going to hear or am I going to stay deaf? Am I going to open my eyes or am I going to stay blind? You know, this is such an important message that comes from the Bible. Again, Isaiah's been trying to teach his people, but he already knows they're not going to listen. Jesus is trying to teach the people. Now, obviously he had many disciples, but the vast majority of that nation, especially the religious leaders and the governing leaders, they've all rejected him by and large. And so I want you to notice that there is a double prophecy that's playing out in these verses. Come back with me to Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42 and verse number 21. Isaiah 42, verse number 21. Isaiah 42, 21 says, The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake. He will magnify the law and make it honorable. So we have God's laws. We've got his instructions in the Bible, okay? This is something that God magnifies. This is something important. We need to... I'm talking about save people here, right? You're saved. You've trusted Christ as your savior. You know you're going to heaven because of Jesus Christ, okay? Well, now what? Now we've got the rest of the Bible to learn, okay? We have God's laws and commandments. Now whether we do these laws and commandments obviously does not change our eternal destiny. We're going to heaven anyway. But how we follow his laws will determine how much we're going to be rewarded in heaven and in eternity. You know, the rewards that God wants to give us, his great riches in heaven, will be determined on how much you listen to his laws and do it. Now here's the thing though. We also have the ability to listen to a preacher like me tonight and go, I don't want to do it anyway. What's crazy Pastor Kevin up to these days? What's he going to teach tonight? Yeah, whatever, we're garbage. And look, I'd be lying if I said that every time I went to church I paid attention all the time. There's plenty of times I did not listen. Plenty of times that I was bored, right? Plenty of times that the preacher's speaking and I'm just doing my own Bible reading or whatever it is, right? Or going for the hymnal, you know, being distracted. Or as a little kid drawing pictures instead of listening to the preaching or whatever it is. Maybe being bored because the preacher's too monotone, he's not entertaining enough, right? But we should not be that way, brethren. Like, you know, if you were saved, if your eyes were opened, you know, if you heard the wonderful gospel message, you know, say praise God, nothing's going to change that. But we should continue, right, in the laws of God. That's why it says, verse 21, the Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake. We ought to be seeking his righteousness. He will magnify the law. We ought to be walking according to the laws of God and make it honorable. You know, if you live your life according to God's laws, you are going to be an honorable person. You're going to be a well-standing, well-rounded person in society and even before in the eyes of God. It says in verse number 22, but this is a people robbed and spoiled. They are all of them snared in holes and they are hid in prison houses. Remember Jesus trying to deliver us from the prison? They just want to stay in the prison. They are for a prey and none delivereth for a spoil and none sayeth restore. Who among you will give ear to this? Who will hearken and hear for the time to come? So this is the call of action. The nation by large is rejecting Jesus. And now the question is asked, who's going to hear? Who's going to hearken? Who's going to pay attention to the words of God? You see, I want you to understand something, that the people that listen to God's word will always be the minority. This is why we're not some megachurch here tonight. This is why we're not 5,000, all right, with the spotlight and the smoke machines and, all right, with all the singers, whatever it is, and all the rock bands up here. This is why we're not this huge church because the people that listen to God's word will always be the minority. The people that are saved in this world, Jesus says they are few. Many go in the broad way, the way of destruction. It's very few that find the truth of Jesus Christ. Even self-proclaiming Christians, people that say Jesus, people that say the Lord, you ask them, how do you know you're going to heaven? What do they say? Oh, because I'm a good person, because I'm keeping the 10 commandments. Wrong! You go to heaven because of Jesus and Jesus alone. And you can either hear this or you can reject it. And, brethren, same thing for our world. I want to take an application for you that are saved. You can read God's word and it's a mirror. You know God's word is showing you your failings. You know, it shows you your mistakes and your sins. And you need to get to a point where you say, man, I'm going to humble myself, all right, and I need to do what God says. And there are blessings, there are rewards. You'll have a great life if you live a life according to God's word. You'll have purpose. You'll have hope. You'll have godly desires. You'll want to lay up treasures in heaven rather than laying up treasures on this earth. Let's continue in verse number 24. Let's finish it up. Who gave Jacob for a spoil and Israel to the robbers? Did not the Lord? He again whom we have sinned. For they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. All right? So who's going to give Israel over to the robbers and the spoilers? The Lord will. And in the time of Isaiah, it was the Babylonian Empire, right? God gives them over to the Babylonians, all right? Let's continue in verse number 25. Therefore, he have poured upon him the fury of his anger and the strength of battle. And it have set him on fire round about. That's the Jerusalem. It set on fire round about. Yet he knew not, and he burned him. Yet he laid it not to heart. So this is again a reference of the Babylonians. They came in, all right? And they took over Jerusalem. They burnt down the city. They burnt down the temple, the house of the Lord. But this is also a reference to when Christ was walking the earth. When at 70 AD, what happened? The Roman army destroyed the temple once again, right? Destroyed that place with fire. But what's scary about this at the end of verse number 25? Yet he, speaking about Jerusalem and the Jews there, he laid it not to heart. This is why the Jews today, they still don't believe in Jesus. Like God destroys them, destroys their temple, sets it on fire, trying to send them a message. Look, I've given you over to the spoilers. I've given you over to the robbers. You're not a blessed people anymore. To this day, they've not laid it to heart. To this day, they've still not believed on Jesus Christ. Till this day, the Jews believe in a false religion, Judaism. And so God's just revealing this. And I hope you can see here how Isaiah is speaking of the millennium to come, speaking of Christ, speaking of his day, the complexity there of Isaiah 42. And I hope I've done my best to be able to show you what the word says. But again, this application is to all, you know? You know, are you laying to heart? It says here, yet he laid it not to heart. You know, are you laying to heart the words of God? I know you're saved, praise God. But when you open God's word and you read it and you know you're doing wrong, are you ready to lay it to your heart and say, I better change this. I better humble myself. I better walk in the ways of the Lord. You know, that's the challenge that, you know, for you guys to walk away from this. You know, we can say the unbelievers, they've not listened to the Lord. Okay, but you are a believer. What about the rest of the Bible? What about the rest of the law? Are you going to do what God says? Or are you going to be like the unbelievers? Blind, deaf, I don't know. I don't like, I don't like the message. I don't like, I don't want to change. I still want to live a worldly, wicked life. Reverend, I mean, that's up to you. It's your choice. I can't force you to live a holy and righteous life that pleases the Lord. You know, if you want to live a wicked life, go ahead. That's your choice. But I'm telling you, you're not going to be blessed. You're not going to live a happy life. You're not going to live a fulfilled life. You're not going to lay up treasures in heaven. And so the challenge is, hey, just open your eyes to the words of God. God's laws are honorable. They're good. They'll serve you. They'll help you in life. There's great wisdom found in God's word. God loves you. He wants the best for you. So let's not be blind. Let's not be deaf according to God's word. Look, the title for this one was A Light of the Gentiles. That's Jesus Christ, and it's his laws. It's his ways. That's the light by which we are to walk. Otherwise, we're stuck in darkness, okay? And when it's dark, that's when you fall over. That's when you trip. That's when you hurt yourself. Let's focus on the light, which is Jesus Christ. Okay, let's pray.