It's been such a privilege to be here with you all in South Grove, to get to know you, and for you to have an opportunity to get to know us as well. I know that it makes a great difference whenever you go to pray for missionaries, that you actually know who we are, you've met us, had an opportunity to speak to us and ask questions, and all those things really do make a difference, so I'm so thankful that you've given us this opportunity, Reverend Knowles, to be here, and to meet everybody, and to invite you to pray for us in the years ahead. We're going to turn together this afternoon in the Word of God to Isaiah chapter 42, please. Isaiah 42. and this chapter, while you turn to it, like so many other parts of Scripture, this is not unique in this respect. It sets up for us really the whole point of missionary meetings like this one, missionary work in general, I suppose I could say that. Really the entire point of why we're here today, why I'm planning to take my family thousands of miles away across the world for the foreseeable future. Essentially, the why of missions. the why of missions, and I want you to keep that thought very much in your head as we read some verses from this chapter. Isaiah chapter 42, and we'll begin to read at verse 10, reading from there to the end of verse 17. So Isaiah chapter 42, beginning to read now at verse 10, please. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth. ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the isles and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit. Let the inhabitants of the rocks sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains, let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise in the islands. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man. He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war. He shall cry, yea, roar. He shall prevail against his enemies. I have long time hold in my peace. I have been still and refrained myself. Now will I cry like a travailing woman. I will destroy and devour at once. 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. And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not. I will lead them in the 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. 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. We'll finish our reading there at the end of verse 17. Can we pray again, just for a moment, and ask the Lord to help us and even open up our eyes and our hearts to be blessed through this passage of Scripture today. Let us pray. Father, we thank you already for help given in the worship of God, and we ask again for that special help, that the Holy Spirit will be very much present and experienced as we come to the Word of God today. We pray for his help. Preacher needs the Holy Spirit in order to be clear, in order to be compelling, in order to communicate with power, And each hearer needs the same Holy Spirit to give help, to grasp and understand, and to apply the truth, to be even challenged and moved by it. And likewise, those who need to be saved need the power of the Holy Spirit to work in their own hearts. So Lord, that is what we plead for now, the presence of the Spirit of God. We ask that he will do his work and that the will of God will be done through him. We ask it for Christ's sake. Amen. What we find to be one of the most daunting things about the idea of going to the mission field and the transition that is coming in the years to come is the prospect of homeschooling the children. We've never done that before, but we will be starting that in September. And so as a part of trying to make that transition a little bit easier, Emma's been doing, obviously, as you would appreciate, a lot of research, a lot of planning in terms of how she's going to approach that. She will be the head teacher, if you like. And so as part of that, all the way along, she's involving the children, already trying to get them a little bit adjusted to what that homeschooling routine might look like and what some of the different methods might be as she does that work. But one of the things we started doing that we have not been doing before, something that's new for us, is playing and singing educational songs with the children. This is not something that we would have routinely done before now. So they've got all kinds of new songs. They've got a song for the continents, of the Earth. You can ask them to sing that for you later on if you want. They've got a song for the periodic table, that's still a work in progress. They've got a song for all the planets in the solar system. And all of these different songs allow them to remember. And it's been met with great enthusiasm. And more than that, with a bit of memorization as well, I think it's working. Now our middle son, who is George, has particularly enjoyed the new songs. And the information that he's taking, and it seems to occupy his mind an awful lot as we go about doing our business day-to-day, week-to-week. We'll be driving somewhere and he'll say, Dad, where are we going? I'll say, I mean it could be anywhere, but I'll say, for example, we're going to Belfast. And he says, Is that in Europe? And I say, yes George, it is in Europe. And then they say, is that close to the Pacific Ocean? And I say, well no actually George, it's not, it's close to the Irish Sea. And that's new information for George, he hasn't got a song that includes the Irish Sea yet, so he's absorbing that and he's thinking about it for a minute or two in silence. And then after a lot of contemplation he says, As if what he's about to say is completely logically connected to what went before, where is North Macedonia anyway? These new songs, you see, they've totally changed everything for George, and he thinks about them all the time, and he brings them into conversation, and when he sings these songs, he could not be happier. It's a new thing, a new song. Isaiah chapter 42 and verse 10 describes for us a new song. And it's new in every conceivable sense, as we'll see today as we work our way through this. The words of the song are new. The singers of the song are new. Their reason for singing the song is also new. And all of that has a connection to what I mentioned to you earlier. The why of missions. Why do we do this? Why do people like me go? Why do people like you pray and support and perhaps, Lord willing, one day go yourself? Why do we do it? And that, I hope, can be understood as we ask three questions about the new song. Three questions about the new song. The first of those is, who is singing? Who is singing? We'll read again the section from verse 10 to verse 12, which answers for us that question. Who is singing? Verse 10. Sing unto the Lord a new song and his praise from the end of the earth. Ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the isles, and the inhabitants thereof, let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice. The villages that Kadar doth inhabit, let the inhabitants of the rock sing. Let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory unto the Lord and declare his praise in the islands. There's an awful lot of stuff going on there in those verses, but one thing, and I want you to focus on this in particular, very clearly stands out. This new song is being sung in all kinds of places and from all kinds of mouths. See in verse 10, when the Holy Spirit says that this song will be sung from the end of the earth, He means it. He shows that he means it by the very descriptive language which follows throughout the rest of verses 10 to 12. No kind of setting is left out. It talks about the sea, which is very different from the cities. It talks about the islands, which is very different from the villages. It talks about the mountains and the rock, which is very different from the wilderness. Or you could translate it as the desert place. All of these places are included. And people from all of those places are included as singers. There's a choir invited to sing this new song and everybody's represented. Every background is included. Now there's great importance to that as we think about the why of missions. The people who are singing this new song, they're singing praise to Jehovah, to the true God. And those who are, through this new song, praising Him, they are, therefore, His people. That's very important to stress. The people who sing the new song are redeemed people. They are saved people. They are transformed people. They are not people from all across the world, irrespective of their religion. They're God's own people. I can say that because a person who does not truly belong to the Lord cannot truly sing this song. They're incapable of giving true, genuine heart, praise and worship to the Lord Jehovah. The singers are therefore the company of the redeemed. There's a missionary point here. I pointed out to emphasize that as Isaiah writes these words to describe the singers of the new song, it is a promise. A promise that there is not a place in this world, London, North Macedonia, Kenya, everything in between those places. There is not a place in this world from which God does not intend to redeem. Not a place in this world from which he does not intend to gather people into his choir and enable them to worship him and praise his name. This is his missionary intent. God is determined to bring this to pass. Therefore, no matter where each one of us here today is from, no matter where the Lord takes us to be, we do not know what our futures hold. It doesn't matter. Wherever it is, we ought to expect that He will bring this promise to pass. He will bring it to pass in a way that we ourselves will witness it, Better yet, he will bring it to pass such that we are used in order to fulfil it. He intends to use his people to bring this all about. Presenting Christ to God's chosen people in all of these varied settings. And then the promise, they will receive him. And they will bring praise to his name. See Isaiah, in the context of the chapter, Isaiah is revealing here that a time is coming when the praise of the Lord will not only come from the Jews, but will also come from those from different kindreds, different cultures, different tongues. If you look again at verse 11, he mentions the Qadar there in that verse. You might wonder, who are those people? That's the people group from which the Arabians, as we know them today, Middle Eastern culture, that's the people group from which they would come, Saudi Arabia. The idea is that those are people the Jews would not have expected to worship their God, the God of Israel. In fact, they might have even, the hearers in Isaiah's day, they might have been uncomfortable with the idea of the people of Kedar coming to the worship of the true God and joining them, their voices together praising the Lord Jehovah. That's not necessarily something that most Jews would have welcomed. They're cultural and traditional enemies in many senses. We do well to bear that promise in mind when we try to divide ourselves, divide our cultures and divide our communities. This song is new because the singers are new. And this meeting today, I presume, is mostly made up of Gentiles. Our meeting here today is a fulfillment of this promise given by Isaiah. We've been singing. We've been raising our own voices and mixing them. We are, everyone, the new people who are invited and made able to sing the new song in praise to the Lord God of Israel. Who is singing? Our first question. The answer is new people from the end of the earth. But a second question. Why are they singing? Why are they singing? If we want to answer that question, we need to go back to the beginning of the chapter. We didn't read the opening nine verses, but we will scan our eye down them at this point in time. And in those verses, the Holy Spirit gives us the basis for this new song. You look at the words with which this chapter opens, the opening three words. Behold my servant. Behold. Take notice of him. Look at him. Pay attention to him. Hear his words. Behold my servant. Clearly, the servant is of crucial importance. If we already understand the new song, the reason it's being sung, who is he? I think by the time we scan our eye through these verses, we'll each be able to work out who the servant is. Verse one tells us, he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. What does that mean? His rule, his law, his way will reach out into the Gentile world. Verse 2, he shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. He's not brash, contentious. He's gentle, mild, servant-hearted. Verse 3, a bruised rage shall he not break. He has deep affection for, and he will show mercy towards the humble and the repentant of this world. Verse 4, he shall not fail, nor be discouraged. What does that mean? He is committed to fulfil the task he has been given as the servant, and he will not stop until that work is done. What does that mean? The Lord, Jehovah, is the one who has sent this servant. He is the one who will ensure success in this work. Verse 7, what is that work? It tells us to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison. This servant is going to bring the light of the gospel to the darkened and the blind of this world. Verse 8, I am the Lord and my glory will I not give to another. The servant intends to bring the blind, the heathen, idolaters of this world to the worship of the one true God. Who is that describing? Who is being pictured for us in that very deep, very full description? God says the servant is coming. He is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This person is the reason why the new singers are singing the new song. Look at verse nine, where it gives us God's summary of all that comes before, of this plan to send a servant for the good of his church. Verse nine, behold, the former things are come to pass. Look at this, and new things do I declare. Before they spring forth, I tell you of them. The arrival of this servant and the work that he performs is something new. It is the new thing that God is doing. It hasn't happened yet. But the God who knows all that will come to pass has revealed it to his people in advance. The work of the servant is a new thing. And so the song that's described for us in verse 10 is new because it's being sung in response to the new things that God is doing and has done as we stand here today through his servant, Jesus Christ. Without the servant, this song would never be sung. It is entirely based on the person and the work of God's servant. Why are they singing? They're singing because they who were blind have been made to see by the gentle servant of God. We've asked the who, we've asked the why, but a third and final question. What are they singing? What are they singing? We know who and why, but what is the theme of their song? It's not entirely obvious, but it seems, and most commentators seem to take it this way, that what we read from verse 13 onwards is essentially the content of the new song, the things about which these new singers can sing. And rather than read all of those verses from 13 to 17 now. Let me look at just a few of them with you to bring out the themes of the new song, the content of the new song. Verse 16 we'll read at this point. I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not. 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. This part of the song is describing for us, from God's own perspective, his promise to do four things, essentially four things, for his church. Four verbs that are given to us in that verse. You've got a promise to bring, a promise to lead, a promise to enlighten, and a promise to stay with and not forsake his people. Four things. Those who've been saved by the gentle servant, those who've been saved and are praising God through the new song, sing of the wonderful benefits that they enjoy because they are in the company of the redeemed. That's what verse 16 is all about. And we know that this scripture is absolutely true. Because thousands of years later, the Church of Christ is still singing, and the theme of our songs is exactly the same as what you find in that verse 16. I could give you so many examples, you could give me more that I've even thought of. But first of all, it says in verse 16, from God's perspective, What do we sing in our services? Wondrous grace that brought me to the fold. We sing about God's bringing. God says later in the verse, I will lead. We sing, Jesus shall lead me night and day. We sing about the leading of God. He says later in that verse, I will make darkness light before them. And we sing at the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light. God says, I will not forsake them. We sing, did ever saint find this friend, forsake him? No, not one. No, not one. We are still singing the themes of the new song today. Of course, we will continue singing until that day when Christ returns and only when we enter into His glory will we know in its fullness the words of the new song and sing it exactly in the way that the Lord intended. But that's only one part of it. One of the themes of the new song is singing and recalling the blessings of salvation. Not only that, another part of this new song anticipates the Lord's victory over all of his enemies. And that's very important not to be missed. In fact, if you look at those verses 13 to 17, that very much is the major theme of those verses. We will just read verse 13. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man. He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war. He shall cry, yea, roar. He shall prevail against his enemies. God will have victory over his enemies. We don't always see it that way in terms of how we conceive of Christ and of what the blessings of being a child of God are, but this is something to sing about. This is something to rejoice in, for those of us at least who are his friends rather than his enemies. It is something about which we can be joyful that Christ will have victory over his enemies. Certainly it's far more pertinent, thankfully we don't know much about this in our own culture, but for those people of God from the far corners of this world who suffer, who endure persecution at the hands of the enemies of Christ and his church. They may not see justice in their own lifetime, but here is a promise from God that He will see justice done against those who are His enemies and the enemies of His own church. Those who have rebelled against Him. It is a matter for joy. Interestingly, verse 17 shows us who the enemies of God are, what that rebellion against Him looks like, who his enemies are. Verse 17, they shall be turned back. They shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, and say to the molten images, ye are our gods. These are those who will be destroyed by God, the mighty man, the man of war who roars, the God whose wrath is to be feared. They are those who have refused the light of the gospel. It comes to the human race through the gentle servant. They are the ones who will be overthrown. Those who instead choose to worship idols. Those who instead choose to worship false gods who engage in false religion or even worship the God of self. Probably the most popular false god of our generation. They are the enemies of God. And this point, this content of the song, the fact that Christ will have victory over his enemies, it presents for us a challenge as we come to a finish this afternoon. First of all, for those of us who are God's people, there is great challenge in this thought. We possess, we understand, and we are inhabited by the light of the gospel. Now we're being reminded through the words of the new song, that in every place, from the desert to the city, there are those who sit in darkness. They have not yet received the light. And if they do not receive the light, if they do not come to the worship of the true God, these verses tell us they will be devoured and destroyed. You can't escape that from this passage. The question, very searching one is this, for the people of God, what are we going to do about it? What are we going to do to ensure that those who are in darkness have been given the opportunity to receive the light? We have to do something. Of course there's a challenge, not only for the people of God, there is certainly a challenge for you here this afternoon if you're not a believer. Because right now you are the one who sits in darkness. You are the one who has refused the servant. The new song comes to you as a warning that if you continue to rebel, continue to refuse the Savior, run from the gospel like that he offers, you will be consumed as an enemy of God. He promises victory. It is assured. Will you join him in victory or are you the one he will have victory over? Those are the only two possibilities. And it all turns on the question of what you will do with the servant. Behold my servant. By faith in him, you have one who promises to lead, who promises never to forsake you. But by refusing him, you face the prospect of standing against a God who is coming and will prevail against all of his enemies. You've heard the new song. You know why it's being sung. Now you're offered a place amongst its singers. I ask you in response to all of that, as the prophet does in verse 23, and let me read these words before we finish. Who among you will give ear to this? Who will hearken and hear for the time to come? May the Spirit of God open your eyes and your ears, enable you to see, enable you to hear, enable you to come. Let us pray. Father, we give thanks for the promises of God. We give thanks that you have promised to have your praise heard from the ends of the earth, from every place. A choir of people from every part of this world, from every culture, from every language, from every tongue. Lord, we pray that you would use us as part of the fulfillment of those promises, that you would make us ready to do it, that you would make us those who see the stark reality of sitting in darkness and staying in darkness, of still being in that darkness when Christ returns. Lord, we pray that you would speak through that warning. that you would enable those who right now have refused, or up until this point have refused the light of the gospel. Lord, enable that gift of faith and repentance. Lord, we pray that there will be none here left outside, left out of the choir of new singers. Bring everyone in, we pray, according to your sovereign will. Lord, we pray that you will speak on throughout the rest of this day. even this week, and that all has been said for the glory of God. We ask it in Christ's precious name.