WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.880 I really wanted, and actually this passage and the quotation from Jeremiah was actually 00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:12.800 the trigger for me doing this series. 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:19.080 It was what brought the whole concept of thinking of the king and the forgotten king into my 00:00:19.080 --> 00:00:21.160 mind for thinking through this series. 00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:24.920 So this was the genesis of the series, so I'm going to do it. 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:28.400 And it's entitled The Weeping King, okay? 00:00:28.400 --> 00:00:34.800 And it might not seem very appropriate for Christmas, just about Christmas Eve, but actually 00:00:34.800 --> 00:00:37.640 it couldn't be more appropriate. 00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:44.880 And it is absolutely essential that we have the balance as we think of the incarnation 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:47.040 of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:00:47.040 --> 00:00:54.160 So I know you always give me a hard time for greeting in church. 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:56.919 And I probably will today, I'm just going to say that already. 00:00:56.919 --> 00:01:03.199 I probably will, so don't mock me for my emotion, okay? 00:01:03.199 --> 00:01:11.560 But I hope to bring it around, obviously, to the great gospel and the hope of the gospel. 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:19.239 Because I remember very vividly one day, before any of these youngsters who are here today 00:01:19.239 --> 00:01:28.839 was born in 1996, 13th of March, 1996, I remember it well, because it was the deadliest mass 00:01:28.839 --> 00:01:42.959 shooting in British history, 16 children and one teacher in Dumblane, the perpetrator, 00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:46.519 Thomas Hamilton, shot himself. 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:52.519 It was what triggered a whole raft of changes in law, apart from anything else. 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:59.199 But I really remember, you know, sometimes you remember a significant event or a terrible 00:01:59.199 --> 00:02:01.640 event, a tragedy, you remember, where you were. 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:03.319 I remember exactly what I was. 00:02:03.319 --> 00:02:11.359 I was driving from visiting someone in hospital in Inverness, back to the parish, the area 00:02:11.359 --> 00:02:12.560 that I lived in. 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:15.359 We lived in at that time in Roskeen. 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:20.400 And the radio was on, so you were always listening to the radio in the car. 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:24.600 And it was, I was completely oblivious to the journey. 00:02:24.600 --> 00:02:32.840 I had no memory of getting from A to B. I simply remember being absolutely engulfed in 00:02:32.840 --> 00:02:38.560 this live broadcast from Parliament following the shooting in Dumblane. 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:53.680 And it was a hugely moving series of messages from members of Parliament at that time to 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:58.879 the MP for Dumblane. 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:04.360 His name was Michael Forsythe. 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:08.680 I can't remember his second name, Michael Forsythe, who was MP at that time for Parliament. 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:15.880 But I'll never forget when the Reverend Ian Paisley, who was the member of Parliament 00:03:15.880 --> 00:03:23.960 for North Antrim, and he was much more often quoted for his fiery comments about the troubles 00:03:23.960 --> 00:03:26.240 in Northern Ireland. 00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:33.600 As he was a minister, he was all at an MP, and he was a very powerful MP at that time 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:36.000 during the troubles in Northern Ireland. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:41.400 But he spoke, and I remember him speaking so powerfully at that time. 00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:51.840 And I've quoted from the Hansard Records, great grief is never great at talking. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:57.719 It is not words but tears and a sob and a heartbreak. 00:03:57.719 --> 00:04:02.319 This house has today reflected that more than I have ever seen in many years that I've 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:03.639 sat in it. 00:04:03.639 --> 00:04:09.060 When I heard about the tragedy, I thought of the text of Scripture that says, Rachel, 00:04:09.060 --> 00:04:14.000 weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted because they were not. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:18.719 Today, I think of those who weep for their children and cannot be comforted because they 00:04:18.719 --> 00:04:20.039 are not. 00:04:20.039 --> 00:04:27.639 That text comes from the Old Testament prophecy and holds out a great hope. 00:04:27.639 --> 00:04:32.279 I heard against the wickedness of this crime, I hear the words of the Savior who said, Suffer 00:04:32.279 --> 00:04:39.360 the little children to come to me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:48.919 I trust that faith and that hope will cast a beautiful rainbow over this terrible valley 00:04:48.919 --> 00:04:49.919 of tears. 00:04:49.919 --> 00:04:53.759 I've never forgotten that. 00:04:53.759 --> 00:05:02.120 I've never forgotten the power and the silence of the people of, or the members that were 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:04.759 sitting in the House of Parliament. 00:05:04.759 --> 00:05:13.079 And every time I've read that passage, it's always reminded me of that day. 00:05:13.079 --> 00:05:23.279 And for us, we have to recognise and appreciate that that sadness is at the very core of the 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:24.279 incarnation. 00:05:24.279 --> 00:05:27.599 It's at the very core of it. 00:05:27.599 --> 00:05:33.719 The deepest heartbreak births the greatest hope. 00:05:33.719 --> 00:05:42.519 And that, we're not, we can't be simplistic and we can't simply ignore these realities 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:48.199 because it's right in the text and it's right at the very heart of the Nativity Story. 00:05:48.199 --> 00:05:53.360 We don't hear many songs about it and we don't sing carols about it and it's very seldom 00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:57.519 mentioned, but it's right at the heart of the Bible Story. 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:04.719 It's right at the heart of what is happening here, that we can't avoid the tyranny of evil. 00:06:04.719 --> 00:06:11.079 It's simply impossible for us to avoid, even in the sweetest and most beautiful of all 00:06:11.079 --> 00:06:15.120 biblical stories, the story of the Nativity. 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:22.280 Because in this place of the greatest good, we see the greatest evil because we recognise, 00:06:22.280 --> 00:06:28.800 okay, philosophically, think about it for a moment, evil only exists in opposition to 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:29.800 good. 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:33.639 It is not a free-standing reality. 00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:36.160 It is only there because of good. 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:41.439 It is a leech that seeks to destroy everything that is good. 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:48.719 I know there's much that's inexplicable and irrational about evil and its origins, but 00:06:48.719 --> 00:06:55.160 it stalks our lives and it's the deepest mystery for us all, which the Incarnation speaks into 00:06:55.160 --> 00:06:58.519 and which Jesus comes to defeat. 00:06:58.519 --> 00:07:00.240 And we see it and we recognise it. 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:03.360 We see it here and we recognise it in our lives. 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:10.360 It divides, it separates, it breaks trust, it pits one person against another, it destroys 00:07:10.360 --> 00:07:17.720 what should be together, and its final outrage is death. 00:07:17.720 --> 00:07:21.960 And that's not simply something that is outside of ourselves. 00:07:21.960 --> 00:07:27.800 It's not something that's just distant or that we can blame on society or on our parliamentarians 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:31.120 or on our world powers. 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:32.920 It's not simply impersonal forces. 00:07:32.920 --> 00:07:38.360 It's not even simply satanic darkness that we recognise. 00:07:38.360 --> 00:07:44.759 Because if we are honest with ourselves today, it's an outrage we see in the ugliness of 00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:53.319 our own consciousness, of our own thoughts, of our own hearts, and in our own actions. 00:07:53.319 --> 00:08:00.360 We see it in life's sadnesses, in loss, in grief, in mortality. 00:08:00.360 --> 00:08:02.080 It's all pervasive. 00:08:02.080 --> 00:08:03.720 It's everywhere. 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:09.680 It's absolutely central to our existence. 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:15.480 And as I mentioned earlier, we can't even ignore it in the nativity story. 00:08:15.480 --> 00:08:23.080 I know we do, and I know we don't want to, but it's there, and it's not good for us to 00:08:23.080 --> 00:08:24.800 avoid it. 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:37.159 Because in the birth of Jesus, with this remarkable angelic annunciation of Jesus coming, there's 00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:41.120 this eruption of evil at the birth of Jesus. 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:43.399 Have you ever thought about that? 00:08:43.399 --> 00:08:50.519 Have you ever thought about the immense eruption of evil that is triggered by the birth of 00:08:50.519 --> 00:08:53.799 Jesus? 00:08:53.799 --> 00:08:57.559 It's unnatural, isn't it? 00:08:57.559 --> 00:09:01.599 It's strange. 00:09:01.599 --> 00:09:06.479 And it's because of who Jesus is. 00:09:06.479 --> 00:09:07.479 Absolute goodness. 00:09:07.479 --> 00:09:12.199 The crazed actions of King Herod. 00:09:12.199 --> 00:09:19.519 There's very seldom been someone like King Herod in a position of power as there was then. 00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:22.319 He was a cruel and an evil despot. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:28.960 He killed thousands of people in his life, absolutely gratuitously. 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:30.879 He did it with a snap of his finger. 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:32.200 He loved killing people. 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:34.960 He was an absolute maniac. 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:39.280 He was paranoid about his own position and his own power. 00:09:39.280 --> 00:09:45.840 He murdered thousands of people, including his own wife, his uncle, his sons. 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:48.800 He was a brute, an absolute brute. 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:52.199 And you know, some people have looked at the historians and say, well, there's no account 00:09:52.199 --> 00:09:55.000 of the killing of the young boys in Bethlehem. 00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:56.000 It's not historical. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:59.240 It's just fabled. 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:05.039 Not so… the historians of the day wouldn't have regarded this event as anything out of 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:06.039 the ordinary. 00:10:06.039 --> 00:10:14.120 Worth recording, it was only probably, in their eyes, thirty or thirty-five young boys, small 00:10:14.120 --> 00:10:15.120 rural place. 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:17.719 It wasn't worth recording. 00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:20.600 He was used to killing thousands at a time. 00:10:20.600 --> 00:10:27.720 That would have been worthy of a report in the Daily Mail of the Day, but not this. 00:10:27.720 --> 00:10:31.480 Caesar Augustus was his friend, and he's reputed to have said, I would rather be Herod's 00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:34.759 pig than his son. 00:10:34.759 --> 00:10:40.279 There was more chance of a pig surviving in Herod's household than his son. 00:10:40.279 --> 00:10:42.720 He was horrific. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:50.320 And he ordered the massacre of all of these young boys in the area of Bethlehem, up to 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:53.440 two years old. 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:56.399 Brutal but typical. 00:10:56.399 --> 00:11:02.720 He was wanting to erase the threat of this young king that the wise men had spoken to 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:08.240 him about, and that he fond interest in when they were in his company. 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:14.519 He wanted to erase Jesus and King Jesus from his consciousness and from being the threat 00:11:14.519 --> 00:11:16.840 that they thought he would be. 00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:23.120 And of course, along with that very physical brutality of King Herod, there doesn't, in 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:29.159 any way, deny his responsibility, but there is also a deeper spiritual undertone at work 00:11:29.159 --> 00:11:30.159 here. 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:33.480 There's a deeper evil. 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:40.120 Can you think of another biblical story that reflects this one? 00:11:40.120 --> 00:11:42.560 There is another one. 00:11:42.560 --> 00:11:52.720 It's reflected of another despot, not a Jewish king but an Egyptian pharaoh who massacred 00:11:52.720 --> 00:12:00.560 baby boys in Egypt, maybe for a slightly different reason, but in the end, to make sure there 00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:07.439 wasn't a threat to his power and a threat to his authority. 00:12:07.439 --> 00:12:15.319 And Jesus' flight takes him to Egypt so that another prophecy that comes out of Egypt, I 00:12:15.319 --> 00:12:22.799 have called my son, is fulfilled with Jesus coming back from Egypt and returning to fulfill 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:28.799 a greater rescue than what Moses was able to fulfill for the people who were brought 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:30.439 out of Egypt. 00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:39.040 Moses came not to release us from a physical slavery or from a cultural despot but from 00:12:39.040 --> 00:12:42.600 spiritual death and slavery to sin. 00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:48.880 So we find even in these accounts a tremendous parallel and a tremendous unity and a tremendous 00:12:48.880 --> 00:12:55.600 focus between the shadowy, anticipatory events of the Old Testament that are pointing us 00:12:55.600 --> 00:13:01.600 to what Jesus has come to do and even the horror and the darkness of the powers of evil 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:08.040 who wanted to destroy this child, this child that God predicted in Genesis chapter 3 would 00:13:08.040 --> 00:13:14.120 crush the serpent's head and the serpent from that moment sought to destroy every evidence. 00:13:14.120 --> 00:13:18.480 And you see it right through the Old Testament with the destruction of the Jews, the Esther, 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:26.080 the captivity to all kinds of things which were satanic at the very lowest, deepest, 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:34.279 most profound level, the powers of darkness seeking to circumvent the coming of this great 00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:36.560 Messiah. 00:13:36.560 --> 00:13:42.600 But can you imagine these days? 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:47.600 Can you imagine the overwhelming family grief? 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:50.560 Every child under two in this place gone. 00:13:50.560 --> 00:13:51.560 Can you imagine that? 00:13:51.560 --> 00:13:58.519 Can you imagine the desperate, desperate personal tragedy that lies behind this account? 00:13:58.519 --> 00:14:08.600 The mothers unable to be comforted because of what was happening and what was being experienced. 00:14:08.600 --> 00:14:14.759 And the quote comes from Jeremiah and the original context where we were reading it 00:14:14.759 --> 00:14:23.919 from was Jeremiah speaking into the exile of the people of Israel from the promised land 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:28.519 they were being taken out of the promised land into slavery, into captivity because 00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:33.360 of their own rebellion and their own turning away from the living God. 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:41.399 And it seems to be, most commentators think that they would have been, as they were taken 00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:46.480 out of the promised land, they would have been led past Rachel's grave. 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:53.399 Rachel who was really symbolic of being the mother of Israel, you know, Jacob's true love, 00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:57.959 the mother of Benjamin representing God's covenant people. 00:14:57.959 --> 00:15:07.759 And it's a symbolic picture of her weeping, unable to be comforted as she sees her people 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:17.439 led out of the promised land into captivity, brutalized, enslaved and losing what they'd 00:15:17.439 --> 00:15:21.279 been promised because of their own choices. 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:27.799 And that's the picture that it's a family picture. 00:15:27.799 --> 00:15:30.919 It's a very powerful family picture. 00:15:30.919 --> 00:15:35.679 I'll go on to speak about the hope that comes from it very shortly. 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:41.479 And yet God uses that because that's the deepest grief of all, isn't it? 00:15:41.479 --> 00:15:49.479 It's the deepest division of all is losing a child or the breakup of a family. 00:15:49.479 --> 00:15:57.399 That's where satanic darkness and the effects of sin in our own lives wreak the most havoc. 00:15:57.399 --> 00:16:04.519 With the strongest bonds of love, with the greatest good is affected by the deepest division 00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:07.759 and darkness. 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:16.399 So as a brief aside, you know, and that prayer from Scotty Smith was focused on that. 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:22.480 Remember, you know, at this time of year, you know, everything is focused on, you know, 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:26.439 celebration and joy and presence and, you know, all the adverts and everything else. 00:16:26.439 --> 00:16:30.439 And we do, and rightly so, rightly so we should and we must. 00:16:30.440 --> 00:16:39.480 But also as believers as Christians, we mustn't be insensitive and we mustn't be obsessive 00:16:39.480 --> 00:16:41.880 about our own happiness. 00:16:41.880 --> 00:16:46.040 Remember those for whom this time of year is particularly difficult. 00:16:46.040 --> 00:16:50.720 Remember the refugees in our city here, the Syrian families, the estranged, those who sense 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:55.680 loneliness, loss, brutality, slavery, slavery, despair. 00:16:55.679 --> 00:17:01.839 And remember that for many the tensions of life will be exacerbated in many homes over 00:17:01.839 --> 00:17:05.480 Christmas and in Christmas Day. 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:09.079 They'll be highlighted, they'll be exposed. 00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:14.519 People in debt, people who are faced up with their broken dreams and their memories, as 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:19.000 well as all of us with the ordinary strains and stresses of parenthood and of disappointment 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:20.000 of depression. 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:21.519 It was ever thus. 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:30.839 But let's remember that to be sensitive and to bring others into our joy and celebration 00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:41.160 and into all that we know and appreciate and are thankful for, as we mentioned, no, we 00:17:41.160 --> 00:17:42.160 didn't mention it. 00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:44.359 I'm going to preach it next week. 00:17:44.359 --> 00:17:45.359 So prophetic. 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:47.559 What's happening next week? 00:17:47.559 --> 00:17:48.559 Okay. 00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:49.559 But yeah, I will. 00:17:49.559 --> 00:17:50.559 It's just that I've prepared already. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:54.720 But I don't want to be a miserable old curmudgeon, okay? 00:17:54.720 --> 00:18:04.399 And so while thinking of these things, we change our focus. 00:18:04.399 --> 00:18:12.960 But the one thing we need to do as Christians, as believers, is face reality, don't we? 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:14.200 We need to be realistic. 00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:19.379 Our celebrations, our joy, our happiness, our family times, all that we are need to be 00:18:19.380 --> 00:18:26.240 rooted in reality, and the reality that Jesus is saving us from and the reality that is redeemed 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:32.720 by Him to make us people who love God first and love one another, and not just when it's 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:41.120 easy, but particularly looking out with shepherd's eyes to those who are less fortunate in their 00:18:41.120 --> 00:18:44.240 experiences than we are. 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:49.080 But in the reality, it reminds us that this is the reason for the season. 00:18:49.079 --> 00:18:56.199 It's not be completely consumed by the consumerist sentimentality fest that is Christmas, which 00:18:56.199 --> 00:18:58.399 is sometimes emptied of all its goodness. 00:18:58.399 --> 00:19:01.159 Let us focus on Jesus Christ. 00:19:01.159 --> 00:19:09.039 So we come towards the conclusion by shouting for joy at the greatest hope that we have 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:10.039 in the midst of this. 00:19:10.039 --> 00:19:15.079 Now you might look at this passage, you will, I actually don't see much joy in this passage. 00:19:15.079 --> 00:19:21.839 Well, it's broader as part of the nativity, but it's also reflected in Jeremiah where 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:24.000 we read Jeremiah chapter 31. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:31.240 If you remember, we read about that initial prophecy that's given, but we also read on 00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:38.559 a little bit further, which reminds us that, thus says the Lord, keep your voice from weeping 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:42.639 and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the Lord. 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:46.440 They shall come back from the land of the enemy, there is hope for your future. 00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:50.120 And then he goes on to, is Ephraim not my family image? 00:19:50.120 --> 00:19:51.680 Is Ephraim not my dear son? 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:55.320 Is he my darling child? 00:19:55.320 --> 00:19:59.280 For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still, therefore my heart yearns 00:19:59.280 --> 00:20:00.440 for him. 00:20:00.440 --> 00:20:02.759 I will surely have mercy on him. 00:20:02.759 --> 00:20:05.160 So there's our hope, there's our joy. 00:20:05.160 --> 00:20:10.880 As we link the Old Testament prophecies to the New Testament reality, we see the significance 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:15.320 and the importance of what was happening. 00:20:15.320 --> 00:20:20.360 Even in this judgment of captivity, God was saying, I'm going to bring you back, and the 00:20:20.360 --> 00:20:24.720 Savior will come from the remnant, and He will be the one who will bring absolute joy. 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:26.520 I haven't forgotten you. 00:20:26.520 --> 00:20:27.520 You are my child. 00:20:27.520 --> 00:20:33.920 And there's this whole familial concept with God as our Father, reaching out with Jesus 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:39.040 as the Son to redeem His people back to us. 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:46.680 And that is revealed in the birth of Jesus, at this great nativity scene, the angels telling 00:20:46.680 --> 00:20:52.440 us about the light of the world and the darkness of the evil of the surrounding events that 00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:54.599 are so tragic and brutal. 00:20:54.599 --> 00:21:02.960 On Tuesday night, we were at the concert down in Carrabber's, Sarah Groves' concert is a 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:04.480 Christian singer. 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:06.240 And she was speaking very beautifully. 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:11.000 She's an artist and she's a musician and she's a poet, so she speaks very beautifully about 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:12.000 things. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:17.079 And she painted a beautiful word picture of what she felt that the angels wanted to do 00:21:17.079 --> 00:21:21.759 when they heard about the purpose and plan of God to send Jesus. 00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:25.599 He said, oh, please, they went into God's presence and said, please, let us just give 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:29.359 a fanfare and tell the whole world, this is amazing news. 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:33.200 God said, no, no, you can't, not yet, not now. 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:35.200 Please, please let us go. 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:37.319 We're so desperate to tell this great news. 00:21:37.319 --> 00:21:40.880 Well, you can, but just tell the shepherds. 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:45.680 Just tell this lowly group, this most despised group, tell them and they'll tell the world. 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:53.759 And it was just a beautiful picture of the imaginary joy of heaven, and Revelation speaks 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:59.799 about that as well, the great joy of heaven and the anticipation of this remarkable event 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:06.759 that God, as the angels who worshiped and adored Him, was sending Jesus to become a 00:22:06.759 --> 00:22:14.119 child in the womb and to be the Redeemer who came into our experience, born into darkness, 00:22:14.119 --> 00:22:18.240 born into the time of King Herod. 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:23.919 The angels' joy and anticipation must have been tempered by that fact. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:31.440 Can Jesus be born as a baby into this world, into this time, into this darkness? 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:33.039 That's why He came, wasn't it? 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:39.960 He came into the darkness, into the chaos of spiritual battle, into the chaos of sin 00:22:39.960 --> 00:22:43.840 and brokenness and separation. 00:22:43.840 --> 00:22:48.200 Revelation is a book that I, there's tons of it, I don't understand in any way. 00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:53.080 There's lots of apocalyptic symbolism going on, but there is an amazing picture in Revelation 00:22:53.079 --> 00:22:59.119 12 verse 4 which speaks about the evil one, and he says, His tail swept down a third of 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:04.679 the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth, and the dragon stood before the woman who 00:23:04.679 --> 00:23:10.399 was about to give birth so that when she bore her child, he might devour it. 00:23:10.399 --> 00:23:13.079 She gave birth to a male child. 00:23:13.079 --> 00:23:19.220 And it goes on to speak about the fact that that was circumvented, that he wasn't able 00:23:19.220 --> 00:23:27.120 to destroy the child, this amazing symbolism and picture of the reality of warfare, spiritual 00:23:27.120 --> 00:23:30.839 warfare in Christ alone. 00:23:30.839 --> 00:23:35.880 Hebrews 12 speaks about our sure and, Hebrews 11 verse 1, our sure and certain hope, and 00:23:35.880 --> 00:23:40.360 goes on to speak about that that's what our faith is based on, a sure and certain hope 00:23:40.360 --> 00:23:42.240 of Jesus Christ. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:47.519 And that is what we rejoice, and that's why we sing, and that's why we praise, and that's 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:52.599 why we give our lives to Jesus Christ today because of His person, because of His passion, 00:23:52.599 --> 00:23:55.160 and because of His promises. 00:23:55.160 --> 00:23:59.519 So we give thanks today, and rejoice because of the person of Jesus Christ who was born 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:09.680 here, born in complete juxtaposition to Herod, both kings, but in complete juxtaposition, 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:12.720 an absolutely different kind of king. 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:19.799 No power for us corrupts, and absolute power corrupts, absolutely. 00:24:19.799 --> 00:24:25.640 And we recognize that, we recognize it in our current political environment on the world 00:24:25.640 --> 00:24:26.640 stage. 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:33.400 You get two very powerful people, Trump and Putin, and it is remarkable to see the power 00:24:33.400 --> 00:24:38.480 that they have and both the corruption that will be revealed as a result of that. 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:43.640 But here is a different kind of king, and this is the king of kings. 00:24:43.640 --> 00:24:46.480 This is the king. 00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:57.039 All other kings and power is destructive ultimately and failed. 00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:03.799 He is the king who had sympathy and empathy, who had refugee status, who was born in poverty 00:25:03.799 --> 00:25:11.799 and scandal to an unwed mother, who knew loss and anonymity, whose life was marked, his 00:25:11.799 --> 00:25:18.319 public life was marked by a time for the marginalized, whose teaching was unparalleled, who brought 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:26.799 warnings, who hated pride and particularly religious hypocrisy and lust, and spoke about 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:33.759 the battles in our hearts, the unseen battles, who personified divine love and divine kindness, 00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:41.519 who took risks, great risks for people's sakes, whose piercing look got straight into our hearts. 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:47.279 So the look of Jesus, the word of Jesus, the truth of Jesus exposes our heart, who wept 00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:52.680 at the graveside of a friend who had glory and power but emptied himself of that and 00:25:52.680 --> 00:25:55.079 was nailed to a cross. 00:25:55.079 --> 00:26:01.960 His person and of course his passion taken from the Latin, I'm speaking about passion 00:26:01.960 --> 00:26:07.720 or emotion but rather suffering, passion meaning suffering. 00:26:07.720 --> 00:26:12.240 He knows, he understands, he sees. 00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:17.440 He appreciates our suffering because he has gone through that and far more than we will 00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:25.039 ever experience because as God, he took our guilt and our sin and our loss and was estranged 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:30.000 from his father on the cross in order to be our Savior. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.799 The greatest act of evil that was ever perpetrated was against Jesus Christ, the innocent Son 00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:36.759 of God on the cross. 00:26:36.759 --> 00:26:42.799 And yet God took that greatest act of evil, even greater than Herod's act and he used 00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:50.640 it to reveal the greatest good, the deepest good that affects every single one of us today. 00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:57.559 Every one of us, we're all mortal, we're all failed, we all fall short of God's glory and 00:26:57.559 --> 00:27:07.720 yet He powerfully gives free salvation because He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords 00:27:07.720 --> 00:27:09.839 is nothing like Him. 00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:16.079 In His passion and in His promises, what's the greatest promise of the Nativity? 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:18.480 We're going to sing about it in a minute. 00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:22.919 Emmanuel, I am with you, God with us. 00:27:22.919 --> 00:27:26.799 You know, that's what He says, isn't it? 00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:29.000 That's the fatherhood of God. 00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:38.399 That's the family, the great family motto that He brings, that He says, I'm with you. 00:27:38.399 --> 00:27:43.079 When we come to Him by faith, when we come and offer ourselves and say, I have nothing 00:27:43.079 --> 00:27:49.599 to give you, I simply cling to your salvation and to your cross, I can't make myself right. 00:27:49.599 --> 00:27:51.639 I trust and use my Savior. 00:27:51.639 --> 00:27:54.839 He says, you're my children. 00:27:54.839 --> 00:27:58.319 My beloved children, my heart yearns for you. 00:27:58.319 --> 00:27:59.439 I will have mercy on you. 00:27:59.439 --> 00:28:02.000 You are my darling child. 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:04.000 That's what He says to us all. 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:12.119 He's this loving Father who is involved in this amazing rescue from the estrangement 00:28:12.119 --> 00:28:16.879 that causes us to be separated from Him and from one another. 00:28:16.879 --> 00:28:19.480 If you don't believe you're separated from God, if you're not a Christian today, you 00:28:19.480 --> 00:28:24.799 might not, but you know in your life and in your heart, you are separated. 00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:26.799 Sometimes from one another. 00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:35.240 You know that there's jealousies and bitternesses and grief and anger and just stuff in your 00:28:35.240 --> 00:28:37.240 heart. 00:28:37.240 --> 00:28:42.319 That is the work of the evil one and the result of sin. 00:28:42.319 --> 00:28:49.319 But He says, I, you are my darling children when we come by faith. 00:28:49.319 --> 00:28:55.599 In the reality of suffering and we don't belittle or make it less in any way, but it is not 00:28:55.599 --> 00:28:59.359 without purpose and it is not random. 00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:09.099 It is temporary and He will use it to mature us towards Christ who suffered alone in order 00:29:09.099 --> 00:29:16.639 to be with us in our suffering and to redeem it and to bring it to an end. 00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:23.280 As we look forward to the renewal of God in our lives with the sting of death being removed 00:29:23.280 --> 00:29:27.880 from us and ultimately His promise for us. 00:29:27.880 --> 00:29:28.880 What's His ultimate promise? 00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:33.440 If you were going to finish this sermon and there was a promise you would give that's 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:38.320 related to the sermon, what would it be? 00:29:38.320 --> 00:29:40.120 I will wipe away every tear. 00:29:40.120 --> 00:29:42.440 That's the only promise, isn't it? 00:29:42.440 --> 00:29:45.440 That you can finish this sermon with. 00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:48.840 Be Jesus, the great Son of God. 00:29:48.840 --> 00:29:52.240 As Christians we know that He is there. 00:29:52.240 --> 00:29:56.559 He will be there to wipe away every tear. 00:29:56.559 --> 00:29:58.960 That is the kind of King He is. 00:29:58.960 --> 00:30:02.039 What King cares about my tears? 00:30:02.039 --> 00:30:07.600 What King cares about the suffering of the ordinary person in the street, Jesus Christ? 00:30:07.600 --> 00:30:14.440 Of all people, we have most reason to rejoice today because we have an incredible future. 00:30:14.440 --> 00:30:19.720 And it's so different from our human outlook in many ways. 00:30:19.720 --> 00:30:27.680 And I hope as we go into 2019 you will live considering that. 00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:34.240 And if you're not a believer, what is it that you're looking towards and looking for in 00:30:34.240 --> 00:30:35.640 2019? 00:30:35.640 --> 00:30:42.320 What hope is it that you're clinging to as you look at your own heart? 00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:48.399 Maybe you're not sure about God, but you stare down the barrel of your own mortality. 00:30:48.399 --> 00:30:55.200 May it be that you consider Jesus Christ because He is the returning King that we will all 00:30:55.200 --> 00:30:56.200 face. 00:30:56.200 --> 00:31:02.839 And what is it that you will say to Him when He asks, why did you not put all your hope 00:31:02.839 --> 00:31:04.599 and trust in me? 00:31:04.599 --> 00:31:06.519 My arms were open. 00:31:06.519 --> 00:31:10.960 I wanted you to be my child. 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:13.160 I had done everything for you. 00:31:13.160 --> 00:31:19.400 I simply asked you to trust my darling child. 00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:21.200 Amen. 00:31:21.200 --> 00:31:23.840 Let's pray briefly together. 00:31:23.840 --> 00:31:30.360 Father God, we ask and pray that you would bless your word to us, that you would help 00:31:30.359 --> 00:31:42.439 us to be not mournful without hope or unrealistically depressing, but to be realistic in the knowledge 00:31:42.439 --> 00:31:49.879 that as we recognize our need, we are provided with the answer in Jesus and the wholeness 00:31:49.879 --> 00:31:56.559 and the transformation and the hope and the beauty of all that Jesus provides for us, 00:31:56.559 --> 00:32:06.759 that nothing else can provide, no one and nothing can give us that reunion with you for 00:32:06.759 --> 00:32:12.839 whom we have been created, for whom we will find our creativity and our uniqueness and 00:32:12.839 --> 00:32:17.679 our joy and our peace and our forgiveness and our fullness. 00:32:17.679 --> 00:32:20.759 We will only find it as we come back to you. 00:32:20.759 --> 00:32:28.759 We rejoice in that marvelous message and we ask for your Holy Spirit to bless your word 00:32:28.759 --> 00:32:34.039 to us this morning as we return thanks with praise and adoration. 00:32:34.039 --> 00:32:35.599 We ask it in Jesus' name. 00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:53.599 Amen.