Return of the King

The Ultimate Accomplishment

June 26, 2022 • Ben Kimmell • Isaiah 55

Isaiah 55 completes the invitation to celebrate the achievement of God's Servant. In it, we are invited to enter into the Servant's saving work by repenting of our sins and returning to I AM. In this message, Pastor Ben calls hearers to turn from their rebellion against God and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sins and receive the free gift of eternal life.

Isaiah's Apocalypse

June 12, 2022 • Ben Kimmell • Isaiah 52:13—53:12

Isaiah 52.13-53.12 is the moment to which the Poet has been building since chapter 40. All the great themes of liberation and rescue, YHWH's arm, and the Mysterious Servant--all of them converge here in the revelation of God's Servant as it paints a breathtaking picture of Jesus of Nazareth--crucified and risen, now exalted to the place of highest honor and authority over the cosmos. In this message, Pastor Ben highlights the reality of this revelation to inspire in us renewed adoration of Christ and motivate fresh obedience to Christ by contemplating the atoning sacrifice of God’s Servant, King Jesus.

Good News!

June 5, 2022 • Ben Kimmell • Isaiah 51:9—52:12

The believing remnant of Israel's exiles cry out to God to fulfill his promise of deliverance. And in return, God promises them rescue from exile and deliverance from sin. In this message, Pastor Ben shows us how God's rescue of Israel will lead to worldwide gospel celebration.

The Sovereign Servant

May 29, 2022 • Ben Kimmell • Isaiah 50:4—51:8

The true gulf between God and His people was caused by Israel’s sin. And it would take the work and ministry of Isaiah's mysterious Servant to bridge that gulf. In this text, we see that God’s Servant is obedient through adversity and that God’s people today are commanded to do the same. In light of the massive spiritual need in our world right now, Pastor Ben calls us all to urgently, passionately, and sacrificially devote our whole lives to imitating the Servant both in His ministry and also by persevering through adversity.

The Saving Servant

May 22, 2022 • Ben Kimmell • Isaiah 49:1—50:3

In light of Israel's catalog of failures in chapter 48, chapter 49 marks a transition to begin revealing a Greater Deliverer that will rescue Israel, not just from exile in Babylon, but from its exile from God. God will save the world through His singular Servant despite Israel’s doubts, fears, and sin. In this message, Pastor Ben calls God’s people to join in the task of the saving Servant in taking the gospel to the nations. This message closes with an urgent call to non-Christians to trust in the sin-eradicating power of God and turn to Christ by faith.

Fierce Grace

May 15, 2022 • Ben Kimmell • Isaiah 48

In Isaiah 48 we see the motivation for God to rescue His people is the demonstration, the defense, and the display of His own glory. God will act for our good because in doing so He will display His glory. Christians often have this tendency to make everything in this world, even Christian faith, all about themselves. But what God is going to show us is that His world and His gospel are all about Him. God and His glory are the ground, the glue, the motivation, and inspiration for the very existence of this world and the purpose of our lives. In this message, Pastor Ben challenges us all to see our lives in light of God’s glory, and calls us to courageous obedience despite our own history of failures.

Every Knee Will Bow

May 1, 2022 • Ben Kimmell • Isaiah 44:24—45:25

Today's passage was originally intended to prepare Israel for seeing God’s sovereignty over their coming deliverance in His use of a certain pagan king. In this message, Pastor Ben challenges the church to see God's sovereignty even in times of darkness, and trust God's relentless pursuit of the good of His people as it is supremely displayed in the cross of Christ.

The Anatomy of Idolatry

April 24, 2022 • Ben Kimmell • Isaiah 43:22—44:23

In the previous chapters, God has been challenging Israel about its own history of disobedience. He has been challenging the idols that the world worships. In the present text, God reveals that at the bottom of Israel’s current distress and devastation, there is the sin of idolatry from which YHWH, Israel’s God, will rescue them by His own powerful grace. In this message, Pastor Ben exposes the anatomy of idolatry for God’s people today. Here we will consider what idolatry is, and how it is still wrecking the world we live in today.

YHWH: King of Israel

April 10, 2022 • Ben Kimmell • Isaiah 42:18—43:21

In this text, God both announces His Servant's guilt but also extends His Servant Grace while ultimately declaring and demonstrating His own glory to the world. Here we see both the seriousness of sin but also the grace of our Savior. And it is a prelude and a foretaste of the events that Palm Sunday set into motion when Israel’s true King finally did return to liberate His people. In this sermon, Pastor Ben summons God's people to behold, in its early prophetic form, the glory of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ by contemplating four central themes of the text.

Light to the Nations

April 3, 2022 • Ben Kimmell • Isaiah 41:21—42:17

In this text God proves His supremacy over all the false gods and goddesses of the nations. And the challenge to Israel is to not only trust God’s promise of rescue but also to embody or become the agent of God’s rescue for the rest of the world. In this message, Pastor Ben challenges God’s church to fearless faith in God’s promise of rescue and also challenges the church to embody God’s plan to rescue the nations of this world. God’s purpose isn’t just to mock the idols, but it is mission to those held captive by them.

Fear Not

March 27, 2022 • Ben Kimmell • Isaiah 41:1–20

Isaiah 41.1-20, the Poet continues to challenge Israel to trust in Yahweh, their covenant God, for the restoration that He is promising precisely because He, and He alone, is the sovereign governor over the nations of the world and Israel's faithful covenant God. In this message, Pastor Ben summons Calvary Christians to courageous confidence in God for the restoration of both our community and the whole world.

Here Is Your God

March 13, 2022 • Ben Kimmell • Isaiah 40

Isaiah 40 begins the famous Servant Songs written to defeated, exiled, and devastated Israelites who had been living in Babylonian captivity for half a century. Driven from their homeland, and with their Temple in ruins, many of God's people wondered if there was any place left for them in God's future. In this first message of the Return of the King series in Isaiah 40-55, Pastor Ben shows us that God remains sovereign over both the creation of the world and the salvation of His people. No matter how hopeless and dark our circumstances, God's future is as certain as He is sovereign.

Calvary Baptist Church | Perry, FL

Isaiah 40-55