In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes that those who have ridiculed and denied Jesus will eventually bow down and confess that Jesus is Lord. The sermon highlights the importance of spreading the message of God's love and salvation to people all over the world. The preacher refers to Isaiah 49:5-6, which introduces the servant of the Lord who will bring salvation to the ends of the earth. The sermon also mentions the covenant that God has made, offering the remission of sins through repentance and belief in Jesus Christ.

Now in our Bibles to Philippians chapter 2, our scripture reading this morning will be the first 15 verses, 1 through 15 of Philippians chapter 2. Let's stand as we read the Word of God. I'll read the first and the unnumbered verses. We ask you to join in reading together the even-numbered verses. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, and let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, that each esteem others better than themselves. And let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. Wherefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. Let's pray. Father, as we come this morning unto you, we ask, Lord, that we might indeed have the mind of Christ. That same attitude, Lord, of humbling ourselves, serving one another in your love. Lord, we ask that you might open our hearts now. Speak to us. Let the seed, the word of God, be planted there in our hearts. That it might bring forth fruit in our lives, the fruit of your love, your joy, your peace, patience. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Well, tonight we continue our journey through the Bible. We are in Isaiah chapters 47 through 49. Pastor Skip can't be with us tonight. He had a previous engagement of long-standing that he needed to fulfill. So as the Lord said, the poor you have with you always, I'll be here. So we'll lead you. These are great chapters. I encourage you to read them over this afternoon. I've been studying them this week and I'm sure that the Spirit has much to say to us through these chapters this evening. We invite you to be a part of our evening fellowship tonight. This morning we'd like to draw your attention, however, to the 49th chapter, beginning with verse 5, as the Lord is introducing to us the servant of the Lord. And on through chapter 53, we'll be dealing with God's righteous servant, His Son, that will come to not do His own will, but the will of the Father that sent Him. His Son who said, I do always those things that please the Father. Verse 5, And now saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob again to Him, though Israel will not be gathered. Yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. And He said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation unto the end of the earth. Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and His Holy One, to Him whom man despiseth, to Him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, kings shall arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful and the Holy One of Israel, and He shall choose thee. Here introduced to God's faithful servant, Israel had been called to be a servant of God, but they were not a faithful servant. It was God's will that Israel be a light to the world, that the whole world could see the blessings of a nation whose God was the Lord. He wanted to just prosper and bless them, so that all of the nations of the world would just see the value of serving God and the blessings that would attend a nation who would make the Lord their God. The next few chapters of Isaiah are devoted to this righteous servant, more or less culminating in chapter 53. And we know that from the New Testament that this righteous servant that is being spoken of here is none other than Jesus Christ. So these things are actually prophecies of Jesus Christ. In Luke's Gospel, we read that when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to present him to God in the temple when he was just a little baby, that there was a old man in Jerusalem, his name was Simeon, a very godly man. And the Holy Spirit had spoken to his heart and had told him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Messiah. And so as they brought the baby Jesus into the temple, he was led by the Spirit to come in at the same time. And when he saw Jesus, he took Jesus out of the arms of Mary, and he prayed, and now Lord, let thy servant die in peace. For I have seen your salvation, which you prepared before all of the people, a light to lighten the Gentiles. So he quotes this very passage of Scripture as he acknowledges that it is to be fulfilled in Jesus, he would be a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of the people of Israel. Now God is declared here in these passages concerning his righteous servant. He said he was formed from the womb by God to be a servant. When the angel came to Mary to inform her that she was blessed of the Lord, highly favored, because God had chosen her to be the human instrument by which he would bring his son into the world. Mary questioned the angel. She said, How can this possibly be? I'm a virgin. And so the angel explained to her how that the Holy Spirit would come upon her, the power of the highest would overshadow her, so that the Holy One that would be born would be called the Son of God. The child formed in the womb of Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit, would be known as the Son of God. He's formed in the womb by God to be the servant. And that he would be sent to bring Jacob unto the Lord. However, the nation of Israel would not come. In chapter 53, we read that he is despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. John tells us he was in the world. The world was made by him, but the world knew him not. He came to his own, that is the Jewish nation, but his own received him not. But as many as did receive him, to them he gave the power to become the sons of God. Jesus in Matthew 23, 37 said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you killed the prophets and stoned those which were sent to you. How often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not. So his being rejected by his own people as their Messiah was prophesied. But we are told that he would be glorious in the eyes of the Lord. When Jesus was baptized by John at the Jordan River, we read that the heavens were open as he came up out of the water. The Spirit of God, in the form of a dove, descended and lighted upon him. And there came a voice from heaven which said, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. We read also that when Peter, James, and John were with Jesus, and he was transfigured before them, Moses and Elijah appeared with him, talking about his death in Jerusalem, that Peter said, Lord, it's good for us to have been here. And as Peter was speaking, there was this bright cloud that came over them. And again, the voice of the Father saying, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him. It's like the Father is just exalting in his son. This is my boy. I'm well pleased with him. I can remember many years ago when I was playing softball in a league in Santa Ana, that we were behind the last inning. And we were home team. So a couple of the fellas got on base. I got up and got the pitch that I wanted. And I connected with it and put it way out over the left fielder's head. And as I was rounding third base coming into home, having hit the home run that won the game, my dad was there in the stands and he was shouting, that's my boy, that's my boy. And it's sort of what God is doing. He said, that's my boy. This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. We're told of this servant that God would be his strength. Over and over again, Jesus affirmed that the things that he was doing were being done actually by the Father. That God was his strength. He was doing the work of the Father. The night that Jesus was betrayed, when he was talking intimately with his disciples, encouraging them, saying, don't let your heart be troubled. You believe in God, now believe in me, and assuring them of God's future plans for them. Jesus said, from henceforth, you have seen the Father and have known the Father. Philip said to him, Lord, just show us the Father and we will be satisfied. And Jesus said, have I been so long a time with you, Philip? Haven't you seen me? He that has seen me has seen the Father. How sayest thou then, show us the Father? Believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works sake. And so Jesus is saying to him, the works that I do, I do not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the work. And so this righteous servant, God would be his strength as he would do the work of the Father. But he will also be a light to the Gentiles. Jesus said, I am the light of the world, not the light to the Jewish nation only, but I am the light to the world. When he sent his disciples out, he said, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. So the gospel is not to be limited just to the Jewish nation, but the gospel is to go to all the world. He will be a light unto the Gentiles. When Jesus called Paul to the ministry, he said, I am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes, to turn them from the darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God, that they might receive the forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me. So here we are today gathered together, Gentiles believing in Jesus Christ, because he has become a light unto the Gentiles. But we are told also that he would be despised and the nation of Israel would abhor him. And of course, we have seen how this is true, the rejection of Jesus as the Messiah, even to the present day, by the majority of those in Israel. In chapter 53, speaking of this servant, declares that he would be despised and rejected by men. In Psalm 118, it's prophesied that this stone, which was refused by the builders, would become the chief cornerstone. Jesus spoke a parable about this particular passage from Psalm 118. He tells us that there was a certain man who planted a vineyard, he put a hedge around it, he placed a winepress within it and a tower, and he then let it out to husbandmen, men to take care of it. And when he went away to a far country, when the time came for him to collect the revenue from the produce, he sent a servant back to get the revenue for that produce. But it says they caught him and beat him and sent him away empty. So he sent another servant and they cast stones at him, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully. And again he sent another servant and him they killed. Many others, they were beating some, killing some. Referring to the prophets that God had sent to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, prophets that the people would not listen to. Some of the prophets were killed, some of them were beaten, many of them imprisoned. And he said, I have one son, my beloved son, I will send him and surely they will reverence my son. But those husbandmen said among themselves, here comes the heir, let's kill him and the vineyard will be ours. And so he said, what will the Lord do to these wicked husbandmen? He will come and destroy the husbandmen. He will give the vineyard to others. The interpretation of the parable becomes very obvious. The nation of Israel that rejected, who killed the Son of God in that sense of demanding his death. And so the vineyard to the Gentiles. But then Jesus quoted this passage from Psalm. He said, have you never read this scripture? The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner or the chief cornerstone. Have you never read that Psalm? He said, it's referring to me. It is interesting, we do read how that the leaders of the Jews, the religious leaders, were the ones who conspired to have Jesus put to death. Because they were worried about their own position. They were saying, we've got to do something about this fellow. We've got to get rid of him. All people are following after him. And we were, we're going to lose our position. We'll lose our power over the people. And thus the conspiracy. And the stone which the builders, that is the rulers of the nation rejected, was actually the chief cornerstone. It goes on to tell us that kings will stand up before him. It is a common practice when a person of prominence and prestige with a high office walks into a room, that those people that are in the room stand up to honor the position that that person has. If you're in a courtroom, when the judge enters the chambers, those that are in the courtroom stand as they respect the position that this judge has as a judge over others. When the president walks into a room, those that are in the room stand as they respect the position that this man has as a ruler over the nation. When Jesus walks in, even the kings, who are usually have people standing before them, they will stand in honor and in respect for who he is. He goes on to say princes will bow down to him. That word worship is bow down. In Isaiah 45 we read, I have sworn by myself, the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear. In Psalm 22 it's prophesied concerning Jesus, that even those that have gone down to the dust, that is those that have died, will bow before him. Paul wrote to the Philippians as we read this morning about Jesus, that God has highly exalted him, given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Awesome to realize that one day we will be standing in that huge multitude of all of the people who have ever lived on this planet Earth and that all will bow down and acknowledge that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. We who have loved him will bow down and declare Jesus is Lord. Those who have hated him will bow down and declare Jesus is Lord. Those who have ridiculed, made fun of him will bow down and declare Jesus is Lord. Those that have denied him, they'll all be there, they'll all bow down and confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. We read that God's righteous servant will bring salvation to the ends of the earth. People throughout the world need to know that God loves them, that God is not willing that they should perish, but desires that they have everlasting life. And because God does love them, he has provided a means whereby their sins can be forgiven in order that they might have fellowship with God, because that's the purpose of our existence. God created man in order that man know meaningful fellowship with God, come into this relationship, loving relationship with God, walking in fellowship with him. Exciting to realize that today God's salvation will go to the ends of the earth. And today we, Calvary Chapel here, have missionaries in Siberia. We have them throughout Russia, throughout Europe, throughout Africa, South America, Central America. We have missionaries in China, Japan, in India. We have them in the Middle East, taking the message of God's salvation throughout the whole world. God promised that he would give this servant as a covenant to the people. Now, a covenant is a binding agreement. It's about as strong as agreement as can be formed, this covenant. It is a binding agreement. And God has promised that through Jesus, he will make a binding agreement with you whereby your sins can be remitted or forgiven. When Jesus was having the Passover supper with his disciples, when he took the cup, he said, this cup is a new covenant in my blood, shed for the remission of sins. This is that binding agreement that God has made. It's in the blood of Jesus Christ, which the word of God says will cleanse us from all sin. So we read concerning the birth of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus. When he was born, his father, who was a priest named Zacharias, said concerning his little son, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people, and has raised up salvation for us in the house of his servant David. And you, child, little John, shall be called the prophet of the highest, for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, that covenant whereby they receive the remission of their sins. We read when John began his ministry, there in Luke 3-3, that many of the people came from all over the country to the Jordan River where he was baptizing as John was preaching the repentance and the remission of sins. That was the message. God is making a covenant, a binding agreement, whereby he declares he will remit your sins upon certain conditions. Repentance and believing in Jesus Christ. Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, there on the Mount of Olives, as he was with his disciples, Luke tells us in 24-47, that Jesus said to his disciples that they should preach in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem the repentance and the remission of sins. That's your message. If you will repent, if you will turn from your sin, God will forgive all of the past transgressions, all of the past sins that you have ever committed. A binding agreement. In the sermon that Peter preached on the day of Pentecost to the multitude that had gathered, when they said to Peter, what shall we do seeing we have crucified the Lord of glory? Peter said, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So this covenant that God has established through Christ for the remission of sins for those who do repent. In the 10th chapter of the book of Acts, Peter is in the house of a Gentile, the Roman centurion named Cornelius, who has gathered with many of his friends there in Caesarea. And as Peter is speaking to them, he tells them all of the prophets bore witness of Jesus that through his name, whosoever believed in him would receive the remission of sins. The two qualifying necessary things, repentance and believing in Jesus, God will sign a contract, a binding contract. You do that and God will remit your sins. Just say, God, I'm sorry that I have sinned. Please forgive me. And I believe that you sent your servant that he might be a light to the Gentiles, that he might bring salvation to the Gentiles and to the world. Our greatest need today, each one of us, is remission of sin. It is sin that will keep you from God. It is sin that is destroying your life. It is sin that will keep you out of the kingdom of God forever. The greatest need any of us could ever have is the remission of sins. And that is what God has provided through his servant as is prophesied here in Isaiah. The servant will bring a new covenant, God's covenant, whereby our sins can be remitted through faith in him. Today, you can have remission of your sins. Today, you can walk out of this place with a conscience that is perfectly clean. Every wrong thing you have ever done, those things that have plagued you, those things that you'd say, why did I do that? And they've been hounding you. You can walk out today with your sins fully remitted because of God's righteous servant who paid the price in order that God might make this covenant with you through the blood of Jesus Christ. You who believe, you who will repent, there is remission for sins. Father, we thank you for Jesus Christ, your son, the righteous servant who humbled himself and came in the form of a servant that he might provide light to the Gentiles, hope to the Gentiles, salvation to the Gentiles, salvation to the whole world. Lord, as we are here this day, there are those that are here, Lord, that need that remission of sins. They need to confess Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives and to believe in him that they might have their sins remitted. Give them, Father, the courage, the strength to act upon the conviction on their heart at this moment. That word of your spirit to their heart saying, you need to repent and turn your life over to Jesus Christ. May they respond, Lord, to the prompting of your spirit and may they experience, Lord, before they go, the joy of knowing their transgressions have been forgiven, their sins are remitted. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.