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good morning church today's scripture reading is taken from Isaiah 11: 1-10 I'm reading from the ESV version 20116 there shall come forth a sho from the stump of Jesse and a branch from his root shall bear fruit and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord and his Delight shall be in the fear of the Lord he shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide disputes by what his ears
hear but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the MEK of the earth and he shall strike the Earth with the rod of his mouth his lips he shall kill the wicked righteousness shall be the belt of his waist and faithfulness the belt of his WIS the wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with a young good and the Cal and The Lion and the fattened Cal together and a little child shall lead them the cow and the bear shall Grace their young shall lie
down together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox the nursing sha shall play over the whole of the Cobra and the wind sha shall put his head on the eers den they shall not hurt or destroy in all my Holy Mountain for the Earth shall be F of knowledge of the Lord as the waters covers the sea in the day of the root of Jesse we shall stand as a signal for the peoples of him shall the nation inquire and his resting place shall be glorious this is the word of the Lord good morning it's good to be back uh this is
my second time having the privilege to preach at FBC uh so I guess the first time must not have been too terrible um yeah uh in case we haven't met uh my name is Eon as you've heard and uh I'm one of the elders at gospel City Church I I don't know if you are familiar uh we are we are also a Baptist Church we don't have Baptist in the name I think I've said that the last time uh fear not um but uh we we we meet in a co-working space which is a little bit different from this uh and it's my privilege to
preach the word uh now first uh let me explain uh the lengthy title uh I I think uh the title is looking further to the Bright Horizon of God's Reign I apologize it's quite long but let me explain uh why what does what it means what are we talking about today uh we live in tumultuous and uncertain times all right in the past year we have heard news about Regional and Civil Wars newly elected president resents that not everyone is happy with a shaky economy a difficult job market and most recently a potential
epidemic uh lots of lots of things to take in a lot of uncertainty but maybe you're here and the future seems uncertain for a different reason uh maybe in the past year you've struggled on different fronts uh maybe work dominates your life like uh we heard in the corporate prayer just now now there are many many of us for whom work is not a joyful thing to wake up to on a Monday morning for many of us work is something we dread um maybe your overbearing boss at work is not helping either uh or maybe you've had health
issues um I love hearing about caregivers uh I just want to put a side note there some of the most mature Christlike Believers I know are those who have been car caregivers or who are caregivers and so I ask you to please support that Ministry and pray for them um and don't undervalue what caregiving can do um in building a faith that is strong and mature or maybe maybe you've just had a difficult year overall with family I don't know right but here's the thing what crossed my mind is this is the third Sunday of
the year of 2025 life and maybe the thought has crossed your mind is the coming year going to be more of the same right maybe you you're throwing up your head and saying I guess this is my lot that's it this is my life I'm resigned to it but is that true as followers of Jesus is that true is that the posture of Our Lives I I don't think so I think there's more for us as Believers I think there's more joy I think there's more hope uh as we navigate these uncertain times so that's what we're going to explore today uh
we're going to explore how we can live driven by a vision vision of a brighter a Bright Horizon so let me pray for us father uncertain and tumultuous times are not new in history you are God Eternal you have seen many you have worked all things out for the good of those who love you and are called according to your purpose for Generation after generation Lord as we reflect and learn from your word today about what the Eternal future holds would you give us eyes to see further than our present we ask for your help and the
help of the Holy Spirit to learn out your word today in Jesus name amen how far you see changes how you live as you might be able to tell I am shortsighted if I were to drive without my glasses I would not be able to see more than a meter beyond my car now you can imagine that driving anywhere would be a panic fill and pretty chaotic experience to to say the least but with my glasses I would have enough time to react to traffic situations and I can definitely make sure I'm on the right path right how far you see changes how you
live what does that have to do with our text Isaiah chap 11 is the word of God spoken through the prophet Isaiah to the southern Kingdom of Judah the kingdoms had split to the northern and southern Kingdom of Israel and Judah and it was spoke looking at a time when they were facing turmoil and uncertainty uh in that time the Assyrian King tigl Pila III had ascended to power and had recently conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel now tiglath Pila III was a cruel and tremendously unkind King to
all his subjects uh he sought to expand the reign of Assyria across the region he was he was looking to invade Egypt down south next and poor little Judah was in the way one would not blame a judahite for worrying incessantly during that time after all the Northern Kingdom of Israel was the larger and stronger Kingdom of the two how could Juda possibly stand a chance but God wanted to reassure Judah of his faithfulness so that they would not lose hope and without a vision of God's future that is exactly what would
happen they would be prone to panic and they might be tempted to compromise and seek Peace With the Enemy rather than trust God and resist and make no mistake seeking peace of the enemy as powerful as Assyria would mean assimilation into Assyrian religion worship and culture and they would cease to be God's people as he meant them to be but in the same way if we don't learn to look past our uncertain future we will be prone to pessimism panic and compromise so what we need is that Future Vision where God himself Reigns
over the world and over his people and we'll see uh three things today uh firstly we'll see that the future holds the qualified King secondly that it holds uncom compromising Justice from this King and thirdly that there will be perfect restoration let's look at our future let's look first at the qualified King point1 now God's intention was always that his people would live under a righteous King all the way back in Genesis chapter 17 God promised Abraham not only that he would become a great nation which is what we usually remember
but he also promises that Kings would come through him uh all throughout the Old Testament though we read episode after episode of failed Kings sometimes it's almost comical and God promised that one day the right King will come and here in verses 1 to2 the curtain is pulled back just a little bit to reveal the shape of this ruler and what he ought to be now a person's qualifications are crucial if you were seriously ill and needed urgent medical attention I would strongly suggest that you refer not to
me but to Dr Peter and there are pretty clear reasons for that I am not a doctor and medical advice from an unqualified person could just as easily kill you as it could heal you qualifications matter and in this text we see that the the responsibility of this king is no small thing in verses 310 we see that this king must correct the turmoil of our world not only that he must restore creation all of the world to perfect peace who could be qualified for such a task but Isaiah is very specific it's not
just anybody he says that this king must be from the line of David and yet surpass King David now how do we know and why does that matter well we know because Isaiah references Jesse the father of King David but notice that Isaiah does not say a shoot from David but rather a shoot from Jesse and what he's essentially saying is this is not just going to be another descendant this needs to be a king like David David was Israel's mightiest King and he's saying it's that kind of stature that we're talking
about but why does that matter in 2 Samuel 7 God's promise of a king is repeated to David that a promised King will descend from his lineage to establish God's kingdom forever and that is something that David could never do so not only must he be as mighty as David have stature like David and yet also be greater than David you see being from the davidic line was like an authentication of this promised King's identity because it fulfills God's promise Isaiah saying I'm not just talking about any good old King I am
talking about the promised King but there's still one more aspect to complete this picture look at look all the way down at verse 10 in verse one this king is described as the Shute of Jesse but in verse 10 he is described as the root of Jesse now I am no botanist in the same way I am no doctor but I do know that when a PLO Tree Grows The Roots come first and then the shoots and it gets bigger and they're not the same thing so how can this king who will come in future as a human descendant to Jesse also precede
Jesse how does that work Isaiah is showing us something very profound this King will be a human descendant but he is also eternally pre-existent this will be a human and divine King friends this king is Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 1 Matthew provides the genealogy of Jesus and in uh Matthew 1:5 we read and Obed the father of Jesse and Jesse the father of David the king and he go all the way down to the end and it says and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary of whom Jesus was born who is
called Christ Jesus is Humanity's promised King descended from the line of Jesse and David but and yet later on if you read in events like John 8 Jesus calls himself the title I am and this is the same type title that Yahweh used during the time of The Exodus to to speak to his Nation Israel and to tell them among other things that he is eternally pre-existent and Jesus has the audacity to say that's me human and divine but we're not done in verse two it gets better we get a picture of a king who is Anointed by God's spirit now
anointing was a way of appointing someone for a specific task uh David himself was anointed by the prophet Samuel before he became king actually quite a bit before he became king that was the indication that God had chosen him to be king but this coming king is not going to be Anointed with oil but with God's spirit he will receive the full measure of God's wisdom knowledge and power to execute Justice and restore the world and in Matthew 3:16 we read that when Jesus was baptized the heavens were open
and the spirit of God descended like a dove coming to rest on him it is undeniable then that Jesus Christ is God's appointed promised King and ruler of the world now what does this matter to us today friends how has Humanity tried to respond to our turmoil how have you tried changing your life isn't it funny that we try to convince ourselves on a global scale no less that the Democratic processes of Elections could change the world or it hasn't in our lives don't we tell ourselves that if we just spend our
time more efficiently that if we make better dietary choices if we just bite the bullet and and work the longer hours that are asked of us then we would be more productive people then we would Sid step and avoid all those health issues then we would achieve career progression and Status faster how are you feeling about that is it going well you see the narrative that Humanity has repeated to itself has been the same throughout the ages we truly believe that we are qualified to solve our problems and history stars back at us
and laughs we do not have the wisdom knowledge nor consistency to make the lasting changes that we wish for we don't but you know what Jesus Does Jesus does because if he really is all that Isaiah promises him to be with knowledge wisdom consistency Power Authority and surely surely he must govern the world and govern Our Lives better than we ever could if the turmoil and uncertainty of our day forces us to do anything it should be to look forward to God God's King and now that we know who the king
is let's look at his Justice point two now when we talk about Justice it can be very easy to think of it conceptually at least I don't know about you but for me I I often think of Justice as a concept my wife is much better at thinking about Justice in real terms she's a lawyer but you see the thing is the reason that that's a problem is that Justice is so agreeable I mean it's so reasonable who who could disagree with Justice do you like just of course I want Justice right but I think it's only when we
reflect on real and concrete injustices that we can feel the weight of how necessary Justice is let me illustrate for us late last year uh the rebel movement in nor from northern Syria succeeded in overthrowing Syria's long-standing dictator Bashar alassan among his many horrific legacies one in particular stands out 30 km north of Damascus is a prison named setah prison former inmates describe it as a place that prisoners went to die a slow and excruciating death as my sister here in front is reminding Us in fact s
prison became so notorious for horrific methods of torture and execution that it became known as the human slaughter house in the wake of al-asad's downfall thousands of syrians flooded satah prison on foot in desperation why they were searching for their family members many of whom had been abducted years ago what were they hoping for they were hoping at the very least for closure to know that their family members had died friends that is Injustice that should make us cry out for justice when we think of Injustice
like that think of the thousands of political prisoners who have been tortured and killed at the whim of one man's fancy many of them were sealed in prisons that had to be excavated for them to be found that is Injustice but you know what Injustice also happens in less visible ways in the everyday a worker who's refused minimum wage that is Injustice a spouse or a child who endures abused silently in the home that is Injustice an employee who is unreasonably overworked that is Injustice judges who can be bought to
let people off the hook that is Injustice I just want to say if you're in here and you are culprit to any of these change but as we think about these these two should make us cry out for justice these are the things that are happening within our community within our society in this city every day friends isn't it a relief then that we read in verses 3 to 5 about a king who will fear who who will he fear he will fear no one but the Lord this king who will reign with Justice and righteousness who
cannot be swayed by anyone and who cannot be bought with anything these verses tell of a king who will not be fooled by external appearances or rumors and hear say he will see through the truth of every matter and to the bottom of every person's heart and while those who are poor and disadvantaged often don't get a fair chance at Justice this King will Implement a standard of Justice Equitable for all people regardless of class friends can you conceive of a ruler like this don't you want a king like
this but let's think for a moment what makes Jesus reign of Justice truly necessary I mean yes we can see that Injustice is a problem but why specifically Jesus right I mean doesn't everyone know what's right and wrong don't we have CTS of law when people cross the line right what are we missing here and I think the text hints at the answer in verse three the problem isn't figuring out what's right or [Music] wrong the problem is deciding to do what is right right even when it's inconvenient or
costly you see Justice is breached when a business owner decides to pay a bribe to avoid losing that license Justice is breached Justice is hindered when people aren't paid decent wages because a manager somewhere wants to reduce his bottomline cost Justice fails whenever someone does a cost benefit analysis and decides that it just isn't worthwhile to pursue Justice anymore because they'll lose out so let me ask us are we invested in Justice because if we want true and unwavering Justice then it has to start
from us if we look ahead to this Bright Horizon of justice and righteousness we agree that it is desirable and good then we must be agents to bring about that Justice some of it even now for example if you're that manager or a manager when was the last time you fought to give your team a pay raise that was more than the rate of inflation what happens when your Superior comes on hot on you because that's going to increase cost and they say it's a waste of resource why you paying people so much are you more worried about how your
boss's perception of you become poorer will you keep silent from then on you see the quality of Jesus Justice and righteousness that makes it truly necessary is that he ultimately fears God Alone he does not do a cost benefit analysis when it comes to Justice and because of that his Justice is unwavering if we can learn to fear God Alone we will sooner please him than fear what others will think or what we might stand to lose and yet Injustice is not the only problem in this world let's look at point three perfect
rest restoration uh we when we read verses 6 to9 uh things might get a little shocking and strange if you look at your text and it's not hard to figure out why right right now when a wolf meets a lamb there are many possible outcomes I think there's only one and it gets stranger still like what's up with this deadly carnivore that turns into a herbivore and why is there a kid leaning leading animals okay now what what is this all about whether it is literal or metaphoric arle the imagery that Isaiah
uses is meant to drive home one key point just one Jesus future reign will restore creation to its intended peaceful State and all the effects of sin and hostility will end this will be essentially a return to the Garden of Eden the way it was some would say even better you see in Genesis CH 1 one God gave the first humans the mandate to rule and subdue the Earth and creation Now is not how it was meant to be H you don't need me to remind you of that as we live in the world here now we experience how sin and
our Rebellion have consequences for creation as well where there was no hostility animals now prey on one another where there was supposed to be only life unending now there is the deterioration and death when we fall sick or get infected with diseases when parts of our body start failing these are the symptoms of what is happening at large in creation there wasn't supposed to be any death in the world but now it seems it is all around us and one way to think of of it is the deterioration and destruction that
happens in nature illustrates for us the depths of our sin and its effects Paul in Romans 8 talks about creation as groaning as if as if it were a participant in our suffering but what does the king's Reign bring about just look at it it says that through his Humanity uh through his coming we Humanity will be able to go back to obeying our mandate of subduing the earth and that's what the child leading the animal signifies Humanity will no longer be threatened by creation such that even a baby could
play with a snake which no parent here is ever going to allow their kid to do right but New Creation danger won't even cross your mind and Isaiah summarizes the state of our world by saying verse 9 they shall not hurt or destroy in all my Holy Mountain for the Earth shall be full of the knowled of the Lord as the waters cover the Earth cover the sea this Holy Mountain is a symbol of God's rule but Isaiah is not prophesying that there will be one particular place on Earth that God will reign but rather
that God's Rule and reign will be the state of the whole earth all of the earth will be restored and heal by his power the effects of sin will be no more and we get glimpses of Jesus power to do this in the gospels uh in Mark chapter 1 there's a strange verse in Jesus uh account of wilderness Temptation that says and he was with or better translated among the wild animals and it's as if the the animals pose no threat to Jesus at all on the Sea of Galilee Jesus simply rebuked the winds and the waves and they they were at
peace as Jesus went from place to place he healed diseases effortlessly glimpses of a restored world what does this mean for us and I want us to reflect on one thing the Christian future is a concrete hope you know sometimes I'm guilty of um I can be incredibly pragmatic sometimes to the point of you know just being unreasonable but I'm prone to think that reflecting on the future is a bit like daydreaming and I'm one of the first people who will say you come on be realistic right focus on the present
don't don't get carried away but that's not true is it because as Christians we are called to hope we are meant to let our present lives be informed by our future that is how hope works and so as we when we reflect on verses like Jesus promised that the meek will inherit the earth we are meant to eagerly anticipate to even wonder about how glorious the Earth will be when Jesus restores it and we are meant to celebrate that the Earth will be our inheritance it's not daydreaming it's a Concrete reality that is
coming and friends that's how we look at our life now and say you know what things are dark my life may be very difficult there is turo and uncertainty it's kind of like waiting for the next shoe to drop if you know that expression something has got to go wrong eventually right but but would you look at that Bright Horizon would you look at that Bright Horizon coming in the distance and would you say can you say I can't wait to get there you know things are dark now but that that Horizon that Bright
Horizon that's where I want to be but is that really true will we really receive this inheritance you see there's one question left unanswered we've explored how Jesus is God's qualified King we've seen how he would administer uncompromising Justice with seen how Jesus will restore all of creation to be at peace but how do we know we'll be there you see we want all that Jesus gives we are ready to accept the benefits of his kingship and all that he brings but is he our King because often instead of
surrendering Our Lives to him which is what you would do to a King as his subject we are self-serving we pick and choose where we can obey him and where we don't have to we realize that True Justice starts with fearing God more than anyone but even in our minor decisions we are shaken by fear of what we will lose what people think of us we might imagine and wonder at a future that's truly glorious but more often as we said we are we rather than being gripped by this hope and future we are crippled by the turmoil of
our present if this new kingdom is to be filled with Justice and restoration what have we contributed how many things have we done out of self-interest how many words have we said in Anger that have contributed not to peace but to hostility how many things have we left undone because it was inconvenient and costly you see if God's future Kingdom really is is perfect then we must realize that we would ruin Perfection and we would not belong there as much as we wanted and yet we do belong isn't that
paradoxical how is that possible because Jesus came into the world not only to be a Victorious King who would win the victory over synon its effects but he came as a servant King he came not only to put the world right but to save self-interested people like us through his humility and his service what does an Earthly King's rule look like Earthly rulers say that there are those with power who Reign and there are those who serve the one who Reigns but not Jesus uh Theologian Jeremy treat puts it
like this Jesus does not stop reigning in order to serve rather He reigns by serving are you selfs serving today do you feel the weight of your sin look at King Jesus rather than sitting on a throne instead hanging on a cross being mocked as entertainment to win that Bright Horizon for you are you afraid of people's perceptions of you look at Jesus keeping silent at the false allegations laying his own path to the Cross sealing his fate to win that Bright Horizon for you are you crippled by hopelessness at the present
turmoil look at Jesus in turmoil leaving The Garden of Gethsemane trusting in the father's plan to win that Bright Horizon for you friends in humility King Jesus served us by saving us this glorious future is ours not because of any of our contribution but it is received by Grace by all that Jesus has done friends can you see that Bright Horizon let's not be shortsighted look ahead to this glorious fut future that Jesus Will Usher in and know that because of Jesus grace alone you are qualified to receive that
future you will be there if you believe in Jesus and receive his grace and I want you to know that whoever you are this offer is for you this offer is open and you are invited to worship this King in verse 10 Isaiah writes that this promised King Jesus stands as a signal for all people this can be your assured future today if by faith you trust Jesus and follow him and to to us Believers here will you be an Agent of Change Would you let glimpses of that bright future break into the present darkness of our age you may not be able
to meet every need or make every change in your circle of influence but would you serve just one this week would you listen to that struggling and depressed friend would you contribute financially to that cause that is doing real good would you bless your your colleagues at the office and make their week more joyful than the last but maybe the best of all would you share this hope with someone else would you share this this beautiful Gospel of a wonderful future through faith in Jesus Christ with somebody else that is
the best gift gift you could give a person let us live as people driven by hope of this Bright Horizon rather than the turmoil of our present let's pray father we thank you that because of Jesus Christ Our Horizon is not at the end of 70 to 80 years of life and then death but life Everlasting with joy worshiping you and enjoying you thank you that we have a concrete hope to look forward to well we are grateful help us to live as people shaped by hope whose eyes are lit with the joy of Hope as we look
ahead help us at the same time not to take the pain of the present age lightly but to do so soberly to consider and be persuaded that the future is worth being driven by rather than our present help us by your Holy Spirit to change this city for the better to to whatever capacity we can to serve you in Jesus name amen
