1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,560 Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located in 2 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:17,320 beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship Ministries with 3 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:22,880 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism, discipleship, and 4 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:28,360 church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church and other sermons from 5 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:33,000 throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bigford and I will be your host for this podcast. 6 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:37,840 I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages are a blessing to you and bring you closer 7 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:50,920 to God. Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. My name is David Bigford. 8 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:56,080 I'm the pastor here in town and so you're more than welcome to come and visit us. We are hold 9 00:00:56,080 --> 00:01:03,080 service at 1030 on Sundays just above the Bank of Montreal downtown Salmon Arm. So come on out 10 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:10,240 and see us in person. So the message I have put together today is Seeking the Messiah and this is 11 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:19,080 going to be looking into Isaiah chapter 52 and part of 52 and part of 53. And so if you're 12 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:24,000 going to follow along with me today you can go ahead and grab your Bible and get ready as 13 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:32,840 we get ready to go. So why don't you know a lot of Jewish communities read Isaiah 53 in their 14 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:39,880 synagogue? So this is a question that came to mind from a young Obadiah when he was just living in 15 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:47,000 Ethiopia as a boy. He grew up hating Christians for the way they treated him because of his Jewish 16 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:53,680 religion. After his family fled to Israel he expected to build a new and beautiful life but 17 00:01:53,680 --> 00:02:00,040 he suffered racial discrimination in Israel and the life he had dreamed of failed to materialize. 18 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:07,600 Eventually Obadiah decided he didn't believe in anything. Now this is something that we can 19 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:14,240 relate to a lot in any place that we live is that when you come to realize something that you 20 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:22,120 believed in wasn't exactly as you'd been taught and the young Obadiah had come to the same conclusion 21 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:28,600 with the life that he had been brought up in. So let's get right ahead to our scripture today 22 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:34,960 and let's go ahead and read we're gonna read Isaiah 52 verse 13 all the way through Isaiah 53 23 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:41,400 verse 12. So I apologize for the lengthy scripture but it'll make sense as we get going. So this 24 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:48,320 portion of scripture has a pre-hitting that says he was pierced for our transgression. Behold my 25 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:54,240 servant shall act wisely he shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted as many were 26 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:59,760 astonished at you his appearance was so marred beyond human semblance in his form beyond that 27 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:05,720 of the children of mankind so shall he sprinkle many nations kings shall shut their mouths and 28 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:14,060 because of him for that which has not been told or has not been told them they see and that which 29 00:03:14,060 --> 00:03:21,840 they have not heard they understand continuing into chapter 53 who has believed what he has 30 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:28,080 heard from us and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed for he grew up before him like a 31 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:33,360 young plant and like a root out of the ground and he had no form or majesty that we should look at 32 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:40,960 him and no beauty that we should desire him he was despised and rejected by men a man of sorrows 33 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:49,000 and acquainted with grief as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised and we esteemed 34 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:56,480 him not surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we esteemed him stricken smitten 35 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:03,040 by God and our and the and afflicted but he was pierced for our transgressions he was crushed for 36 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:09,200 our iniquities upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace and with his wounds we are healed 37 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:17,720 all we alike sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on 38 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:25,880 him the iniquity of all of us or of us all he was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not 39 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:31,840 his mouth like a lamb that was led to slaughter and like a sheep that before its shears is silent 40 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:39,160 so he opened it not his mouth by oppression and judgment he was taken away and as for his this 41 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:45,560 generation as for his generation who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living 42 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:53,000 stricken for the transgressions of my people and they made his grave with the wicked and with a 43 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:59,760 rich man in his death although he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth yet 44 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:05,840 it was the will of the Lord to crush him he has put him to grief when his soul makes an offering 45 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:12,360 for guilt he shall see his offspring and shall prolong his days the will the Lord shall prosper 46 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:19,160 in his hand out of the anguish of his soul and he shall see and be satisfied by his knowledge shall 47 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:24,880 the righteous one my servant make many to be accounted righteous and he shall bear their 48 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:31,200 iniquities therefore I will divide him a portion with many and he shall divide the spoil with the 49 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:37,680 strong because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors transgressors 50 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:44,800 yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors let's pray dear Lord I pray 51 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:52,680 this word would penetrate the heart of man it would help people to come to a realization that 52 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:59,200 you are Christ you are Lord you are the Messiah and only through you can we have a chance for 53 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:07,000 salvation through grace in Jesus name we pray amen so in this book of Isaiah we have the announcement 54 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:13,560 of salvation this is dealing with God's atonement for Israel salvation is announced after the 55 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:21,080 anticipation is built up in the previous chapters of Isaiah 49 what you know 49 all the way up to 56 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:26,560 the where we started off in 52 this is the fourth and most famous of what is called the servant 57 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:33,680 songs the revelation from this section of scripture is that some of the most profound in all of the 58 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:39,160 Old Testament is a vindication of the servant it is made so clear and so true it lays out and 59 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:47,800 and defines our understanding of the Messiah so as a reader it promises that God will redeem his 60 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:57,920 people with a mighty arm found in Isaiah 50 51 and 52 and as you read this it's it's reasonable 61 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:05,240 to expect that that redemption would come with a great display of overwhelming power but the 62 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:10,720 careful reader of the previous servant songs should also have picked up some hints that the 63 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:16,960 servant would not fit the mold of the traditional action hero rather in this passage Isaiah 64 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:25,080 filled out this the the full fuller picture of what the servant will be he provides more detail 65 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:31,560 about his work his character and what kind of a nature he will have God's greatest power is 66 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:39,560 evident in his ability to return love and forgiveness when he's receiving hatred and injustice 67 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:49,080 and he doesn't come to crush his opposition but rather to save and Isaiah 53 we see the 68 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:54,920 great atonement chapter being fulfilled in the Old Testament it teaches us that Jesus Christ bore 69 00:07:54,920 --> 00:08:00,920 our sicknesses and sins on that fateful day on Calvary we learned that through this prophecy 70 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:08,200 Isaiah of Isaiah that these events would not unfold for hundreds of years at time after the 71 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:16,160 hundreds of years of time until you know Isaiah had passed Isaiah marveled at the message that 72 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:21,600 the Lord had revealed to him and that he believes the Israelites were declared to to the world as 73 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:26,840 light of nations it was it was unbelievable to him so amazed with the prophet that the Lord you 74 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:33,480 know to reel this to him so that when the when the Lord would bear his arm to save humankind and 75 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:41,280 Isaiah 51 52 and 63 that manifestation of strength was not at all impressive we might say that when 76 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:48,120 God rolled up his sleeve the arm that he exposed was not the powerful arm of a of a superhero or a 77 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:56,200 weightlifter but a very ordinary looking human and Jesus Christ nevertheless that arm would 78 00:08:56,200 --> 00:09:02,800 prove to be stronger than any other arm the arm of the Lord appears as a person distinct from the 79 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:12,200 Lord himself namely our Lord and Savior the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ it's brings me 80 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:17,600 to my first point as we look at Isaiah's servant songs the chief question that has to be asked is 81 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:24,760 invariably you know we were going to be thinking about this is we're gonna have to question or 82 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:35,640 ask did he do the work he was sent to do did the servant do what he came to do there's no 83 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:40,360 doubt that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ understood and undertook his father's will as 84 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:46,520 his days on the earth drew to a close he prayed to his father and John 17 for I glorified you on 85 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:55,320 earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do Isaiah's servant song provides us with a 86 00:09:55,320 --> 00:10:05,280 a fuller view but almost panorama or panoramic view of what the Messiah was there was no hesitancy 87 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:12,520 on the part of Isaiah to assure that the reader of the servants successful service he begins 88 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:21,080 by proclaiming the Messiah in triumph linking this victory to his wise or prudent actions 89 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:29,840 Jeremiah later watched the collapse of the Jewish society and when he prophesied of the wise reign 90 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:37,960 of the Messiah he said this in Jeremiah 23 5 through 6 behold the days are coming declares Lord 91 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:44,160 when I will raise up for David a righteous branch and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and 92 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:49,720 shall execute justice and righteousness in the land and his day Judah will be saved in Israel will 93 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:55,120 dwell securely and this is the name by which he will be called the Lord is our righteousness 94 00:10:55,120 --> 00:11:06,120 his greatness would be bound up and ascribed to him Yahweh the Kenu the Lord our righteousness 95 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:11,200 and I probably slaughtered that you want the spelling you could you can under you could 96 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:16,960 probably spell Yahweh yourself and the other word is TZ ID KENU and of course that would be 97 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:23,800 phonetically Hebrew and not so it'd be different there but his wise course of action would bring 98 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:32,760 salvation to his people the first servant song is found in Isaiah 42 its verses 1 through 9 and 99 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:40,160 and I won't read the whole thing but it talks about the Lord's chosen servant in verse 1 behold 100 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:46,280 my servant whom I've uphold my chosen and whom my soul delights I have put my spirit upon him and 101 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:54,760 he will bring forth justice to the nation and contrast all of the other idol worshipping nations 102 00:11:54,760 --> 00:12:02,080 around God presents his servant as the only hope of the nations this is later cited in Matthew in 103 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:10,600 the gospel in 12 in Matthew 12 18 through 21 and then we find the second servant song in 49 verses 104 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:15,820 1 through 3 where it talks about the servant of Lord it's going to restore Israel and save the 105 00:12:15,820 --> 00:12:23,440 nations this song clarifies that the servant is distinct from Israel but is also called Israel so 106 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:30,280 here we see the servant stands as a representative of the whole nation of Israel and Isaiah 49 3 it 107 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:36,400 says and he said to me you are my servant Israel in whom I will be glorified so this shows us why 108 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:45,520 it is correct to believe that the servant is a messianic figure it's part of the Davidic covenant 109 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:53,600 as a as David's heir represents and embodies the people as a whole it's also shows that he'll have 110 00:12:53,600 --> 00:13:00,260 an expansive rule which is going to include the Gentiles and then also that the later prophets 111 00:13:00,260 --> 00:13:06,680 are going to describe an heir of David and especially the Messiah as a servant so these 112 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:14,480 all summed up with other books of the God of the of the Bible and it's a very powerful thing to 113 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:21,160 again fill out this picture of our Lord Jesus and how he is a fulfillment of so much of the Old 114 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:26,760 Testament scriptures all of the Old Testament scripture in regards to the messianic scriptures 115 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:35,440 of course so then the third servant song is found in Isaiah 50 4 through 9 this song focuses on the 116 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:41,440 servant as a rejected prophet now we get a little bit more interesting because we're building up to 117 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:48,840 the culmination of this of Isaiah 53 but here we see the servant being rejected his willingness to 118 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:55,200 suffer being you know obvious and apparent confident that God is going to help him and 119 00:13:55,200 --> 00:14:02,360 that he's going to rule finally it's a confirmation that as he suffers it's not because he is guilty 120 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:09,480 but because others are guilty we are guilty you are guilty I am guilty and he is here to cover 121 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:16,840 that guilt he is our righteousness this very is the very heart of all of the Gospels because of 122 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:22,960 his successful ministry as the servant of the Lord he has become our righteousness our holiness 123 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:31,040 and our redemption and that resonates with first Corinthians 130 the gospel tells us in whom we 124 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:39,760 can trust and brings God's life-changing power the Messiah's victory comes from this vindication 125 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:46,560 he declared that he would and and that he would not be disgraced but rather honored in the eyes 126 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:55,200 of his God so this brings me to the next point which is behold my servant Isaiah and we get back 127 00:14:55,200 --> 00:15:03,280 to our story of Obadiah one day some men approached him and he began to ask him questions about the 128 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:08,720 Messiah and when they started using the word Yeshua the Hebrew word for Jesus he realized that 129 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:14,960 they were Christians and became enraged he never expected anyone in Israel to talk about Jesus but 130 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:20,400 the conversation about the Messiah prompted him to think about what he did believe soon afterward 131 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:25,760 we're walking down a street in Nazareth Obadiah saw an advertisement that asked why don't you read 132 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:35,760 Isaiah 53 in the synagogue Isaiah 52 13 through 15 is the first five stanzas each with three verses 133 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:42,480 which together compromise the largest climactic section of the servant it is set appropriately 134 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:48,720 at the center of Isaiah's book of consolation a massive two-volume compilation of the ancient 135 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:57,680 modern rabbignik thought or yeah on this portion of Isaiah by Jewish orthodoxy fails to reach any 136 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:00,880 firm decision regarding the identity of the servant 137 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:09,680 Rashi a prolific expositor of the highly regarded 11th century French Jewish or 138 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:18,240 a high a prolific exhibition exposition or sorry my it's getting late in the day here when recording 139 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:23,200 this and I'm not even going to cut that out you guys can see me flail a little bit with my words 140 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:33,520 just for fun so this Jewish scholar consistently maintained that Isaiah's servant was the nation 141 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:41,200 of Israel a position that the venerable you know that may omids believed was untenable so as one 142 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:46,160 reads the opinions of these well-meaning scholars it's like a breath of fresh air to study an event 143 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:51,280 which involved a first century believer named Philip and a foreigner who had been worshiping 144 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:56,960 in Jerusalem we get this picture in the in the gospel you know in the gospel of acts 145 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:03,920 Luke tells us that Philip approached the chariot of an Ethiopian eunuch who after the the ancient 146 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:08,720 fashion was reading aloud the scriptures Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading 147 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:16,080 in Acts 830 the man responded how can I unless someone explains it to me the text in question 148 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:22,080 was Isaiah 53 7 through 8 and it's concerned in and is concerning the sufferings of the servant 149 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:29,040 comparing him to a lamb who had been unjustly slaughtered so the eunuch asked Philip tell me 150 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:34,720 please who is the prophet speaking about himself or someone else then Philip began with a very 151 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:40,160 passage of scripture and told him the good news about Jesus so the straightforward account in 152 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:47,040 Acts should make us aware of how very you know dependent we are upon God's help his revelation 153 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:52,160 if we're going to interpret his word accurately although the Jewish community has traditionally 154 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:59,360 thought of this final servant song in messianic terms how wonderful would it be in that day when 155 00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:05,680 the multitudes of Israel accept the scripture's reliable witness through such men such as Luke and 156 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:15,520 Philip regardless the fact remains that the final song's 15 verses fit none other so well as the 157 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:24,640 messiah Jesus Christ as he was revealed in the first century Palestine if they do not refer to 158 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:30,880 Jesus we do not have the remotest idea of whom Isaiah was speaking we recall that in the 40th 159 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:36,240 chapter Isaiah began his God-given message of comfort assuring the people and their sin had 160 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:41,840 been paid for and their hard service ended he spoke words of hope the heart of downcast nation 161 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:46,560 God would pass through the devastated wastelands of their lives restoring the bruised and fallen 162 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:52,240 even transforming them into a highway for the manifestation of his presence in the world 163 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:59,360 the sure foundation for every aspect of God's consolation is the well-developed subject of this 164 00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:06,720 final song the unparalleled honor bestowed upon him marks both the beginning and the conclusion 165 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:16,320 of the fourth song commenting on the 13th verse the a Talmudic midrash says that Isaiah's servant 166 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:21,680 he shall be exalted above Abraham lifted up above Moses and be higher than the ministering angels 167 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:26,640 that interpretation reveals a sensitivity to the sequential character of the 168 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:32,800 of the conjunctions one event event flowing logically on the heels of another raised and 169 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:38,800 lifted up and highly exalted if we view the prophecy through the lens of history it's not as far 170 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:43,360 it's not a far reach to see the anticipated glory bursting forth in Jesus resurrection 171 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:49,120 his ascension and the fact that he was he's being seated at the right at the father's right hand 172 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:55,600 right at the father's right hand through the ultimate ultimate triumph of calvary God's light 173 00:19:55,600 --> 00:20:06,160 and peace will be manifest to the nations so as we you know have seen having announced the servant's 174 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:12,000 glorification we are immediately returned to the school of suffering and confronted again with one 175 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:18,320 who even though he was despised did not hide himself from beatings shame and spitting and the 176 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:23,040 picture becomes even more graphic his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man has 177 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:30,640 formed marred beyond human likeness Isaiah uses the word shaman which conveys an image so horrifying 178 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:37,440 that the people who see him are left speechless this is the reality of our of our Lord Jesus Christ 179 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:44,960 this brings me to my final point which is finding Jesus and Isaiah I recommend you read Isaiah get 180 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:52,080 a good study Bible that gives you better correlation between old and new but read Isaiah because it's 181 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:57,040 such a powerful thing for a Christian to read because of the story of Jesus Christ that we know 182 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:02,400 Obadiah had wondered as well 183 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:10,080 he decided to ask several rabbis why the chapter is disregarded in the synagogues 184 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:14,160 but every person every person he asked every rabbi asked they refused to explain it 185 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:20,960 since he couldn't get an answer from the rabbis Obadiah decided to ask some Christians about the 186 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:28,640 chapter they explained the Christian belief that Isaiah 53 is a prophecy of Jesus Christ the Messiah 187 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:35,600 and before parting they invited Obadiah to a Christian conference so what do they tell 188 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:40,720 Obadiah what kind of what kind of things was he were they able to explain to him and show 189 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:44,720 him the relevance and the connectedness of the old and the new testament 190 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:54,400 I believe they would have talked to him about his exaltation in 52 13 and how that lines up with 191 00:21:54,400 --> 00:22:01,520 what we know in Philippians 2 9 and Hebrews 1 3 or his disfigurement in verse 14 and how that's 192 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:09,760 depicted in Mark 15 15 his rejection by the people of Israel and Isaiah 53 193 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:19,680 and how that's depicted in John 12 the burdens that he had to bear in 53 4 and how that's 194 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:27,120 represented in Matthew 8 as well as in first Peter 2 and of course the sacrifice of our Messiah's 195 00:22:27,120 --> 00:22:34,480 blood in Isaiah 53 5 and how that's talked about and represented in Romans 3 and first Peter 196 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:40,880 but then we would move on to the fact that he died for sinners which can be looked at 197 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:50,240 in second Corinthians 5 Hebrews 9 how his death was voluntary in John 10 and John 19 his burial 198 00:22:50,240 --> 00:23:01,120 the justifying nature of his work his death with sinners his sharing his spoils so at the conference 199 00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:07,360 Obadiah reluctantly went forward during an invitation for prayer as a pastor prayed for 200 00:23:07,360 --> 00:23:14,880 him Obadiah sensed the Lord telling him Yeshua is Messiah Yeshua is the Savior 201 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:19,440 experiencing a deep peace in that moment he placed his faith in Jesus Christ 202 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:27,600 today Obadiah serves as a pastor he has been persecuted repeatedly even attacked once while 203 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:31,840 preaching in his church or telling others about the Messiah who changed his life 204 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:38,640 still he has a strong desire to see more members of the Ethiopian community join God's kingdom 205 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:44,800 he requests for prayer for protect prayers for protection for more gospel workers and that his 206 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:51,360 church will clearly demonstrate God's love to Ethiopian Jews who have lost hope so as we come 207 00:23:51,360 --> 00:24:00,400 to a close the story being fulfilled is that we find ourselves with the Jewish Ethiopian 208 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:08,320 coming to the revelation that is in Isaiah 53 and seeing how how improbably it lines up with the 209 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:14,320 with the story of Jesus Christ and then we see the most important thing happen we see the Holy 210 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:21,040 Spirit intervene into his life and we see a radical conversion take place in Obadiah's life 211 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:26,560 and he's a preacher today and he's believer today because of the power of logos the power of the 212 00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:33,280 word of God the power of these messianic portions of scripture in Isaiah and all the Old Testament 213 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:41,920 and how they direct us you know straight as an arrow to Jesus our Lord and Savior and we see 214 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:49,280 the power of the word of God in Isaiah 53 and we see the power of the word of God in Isaiah 53 215 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:56,320 and we see what the power of the word spread through that Sunday ministry to our life as a 216 00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:06,800 Lord and Savior for站 on that stage for man see what power of the word will occus us to those 217 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:12,720 who want to cloves차ness you know to all as the nation we must focus on what we are doing 218 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:18,720 You want to give Jesus your life. You can do that and I'd like you to signify with an uplifted hand 219 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:24,560 even though I can't see you, God knows your heart. And so if you rose your hand I want you to just 220 00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:31,920 understand that you can be a child of God. And all it takes is for you to repent of your sin and 221 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:36,160 accept Him as your Lord and Savior. If you don't know what that means, it's very simple. It's just 222 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:42,000 dear Lord I know that I'm a sinner but I know you sent your son Jesus who died for my sins and rose 223 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:48,640 from the grave. I repent of my sin and accept Him as my Lord and Savior. It's a pretty simple thing. 224 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:57,600 Amen. And with that I would love it if you took the next step. The next step is to find a Bible 225 00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:04,000 believing church. If you live in salmon arm come to church. Come and be challenged to live a life 226 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:12,720 for Christ. Come and you know partner with us as we build a work of God here in salmon arm. 227 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:20,240 If you need a Bible we'll get you a Bible but you should be reading the word of God. You should be 228 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:29,200 praying and crying out to your Creator and thanking your Savior. And then you can go ahead and with 229 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:34,000 that radical change in your life you're gonna you're it's gonna be impossible for you to not tell people 230 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:40,000 about Jesus Christ. Because if you truly give Him your heart He will radically change you. 231 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:48,160 And you'll be like Obadiah. It'll be impossible for you not to go and share the message 232 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,600 of the cross. So with that I just want to thank you for listening today. 233 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:58,880 And I'm gonna let you go and I can't wait for you to come back next time. God bless.