WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.940 Please turn back to Isaiah chapter 11, page 575. 00:00:12.939 --> 00:00:17.080 Every time we have a winter clock change, I feel like it catches me out. 00:00:17.080 --> 00:00:24.920 ! I feel like I'm surprised again this year by how early it gets dark every day. 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:29.980 I feel like that bit of the day when you don't need lights on either in your house or in your 00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:36.620 car just is really, really brief. Some of you will go out in the morning in the dark. 00:00:37.259 --> 00:00:42.179 You'll come home from work in the evening in the dark. You'll see very little natural light during 00:00:42.179 --> 00:00:51.840 the day. And it feels a bit like at this time of year, the darkness is chasing us. And it begins 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:57.060 to win the race at about quarter to four every afternoon. It's that time of year. 00:00:57.060 --> 00:01:06.719 And I think it's fair to say that at the moment, that darkness that we see all around us feels like 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:12.120 a reflection of the moral state of things, certainly in our nation. There's conflict. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:18.280 You look at the news, there are people that are arguing and fighting. There's the cost of living. 00:01:19.620 --> 00:01:24.620 There's celebrity scandal, it seems, at every turn. And now we have a House of Commons that have voted 00:01:24.620 --> 00:01:34.480 for assisted suicide. It feels a bit like whichever news tab you click. The physical darkness at this 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:44.320 time of year is illustrating the moral darkness that seems to be all around us. And yet, we've begun to 00:01:44.320 --> 00:01:50.520 celebrate Christmas. We've started to put up our trees and think about gifts and begin to wrap them. 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:59.819 Certainly, many of the women amongst us have started to wrap them. I've got another 20 days. 00:02:03.659 --> 00:02:10.000 The thing that we're doing at Christmas in many ways is through the traditions and through the 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:14.039 things that we do, we're trying to overcome the darkness. If you think about it, we put up lights, 00:02:14.039 --> 00:02:21.139 lots of them on wire wrapped around the tree, or we light candles, or if you're that way inclined, 00:02:21.400 --> 00:02:27.659 you put a giant illuminated sleigh in the window of your house. We associate this season in lots of 00:02:27.659 --> 00:02:36.379 ways with lights that brighten those long evenings. We also, of course, look for ways to overcome the 00:02:36.379 --> 00:02:45.740 societal darkness as well. We party, and we purchase, and we pretend for this season. And for a moment, 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:51.960 it feels a bit like things don't seem so bad. The darkness gets chased a little bit because we've been 00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:57.359 able to cover it. But then the season passes, and we realize the darkness is still there, and we're not 00:02:57.359 --> 00:03:06.000 sure if it was worth it after all. But Christians recognize that the lights that we put up and the 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:12.759 celebrations that we enjoy at this time of year in this season of Advent are entirely appropriate. 00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:21.500 They're not a waste of time. Advent, we said last week, the word means coming. The season takes our 00:03:21.500 --> 00:03:28.159 attention to the coming of Jesus Christ, the light of the world. That's why we put up lights at this 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:33.099 time of year. We're looking to the one who is the light of the world. And there are two aspects to this. 00:03:33.099 --> 00:03:39.939 We look back to that first Christmas, to His first coming, His first Advent, and we look forward to His 00:03:39.939 --> 00:03:48.259 promised return. We anticipate His second Advent. And when we're gathering in the mornings in December 00:03:48.259 --> 00:03:56.379 on these Sundays, what we're doing is choosing texts that the Bible helps us to see, both that we look back 00:03:56.379 --> 00:04:02.819 and we look forward. They're shining a light, these texts, into the darkness. And the great news is that 00:04:02.819 --> 00:04:08.159 it is a light that doesn't get packed away in January. It's a light that doesn't just make the 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:14.079 harshness of life a bit easier to bear for an evening or two or a few days during this season. 00:04:15.319 --> 00:04:20.779 And Isaiah 11, page 575, it might be one of the best texts, actually, to help us think with this dual 00:04:20.779 --> 00:04:27.699 focus, to both look back to Christ's first coming and to look forward to His coming again. In the 00:04:27.699 --> 00:04:33.959 earlier chapters of Isaiah, the prophet has exposed the faithlessness of God's people. And he said that 00:04:33.959 --> 00:04:38.519 He's going to bring judgment. A divine judgment is coming that will come through the neighboring 00:04:38.519 --> 00:04:44.699 Assyrian armies. But despite this, God says, I'm not going to leave you. He will not give up on His 00:04:44.699 --> 00:04:50.079 people, the house of David. And we're told that He will bless them. He will bless them through one of 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:57.139 David's offspring. And back in chapter 9, in another well-known Advent text, we're told explicitly that 00:04:57.139 --> 00:05:02.480 God will shine light into their darkness, and there will be a deliverance from that oppression 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:09.019 when His King brings in His eternal kingdom. That's the promise in chapter 9. And here in chapter 11, 00:05:09.019 --> 00:05:15.120 we're being told more about that King. We're being told more about the King and about the salvation 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:21.060 that He will accomplish as His kingdom is established. So, that's what we're thinking 00:05:21.060 --> 00:05:25.259 about this morning. When the darkness that's all around us, whether it's the physical darkness 00:05:25.259 --> 00:05:30.379 of this time of year, or it is the cultural darkness that we feel pressing in around us, 00:05:30.779 --> 00:05:37.819 here are two cast-iron reasons for hope at this time of year. And the first is very simply this, 00:05:37.819 --> 00:05:43.599 point number one, the King. The King. You see, out the other side of God's judgment, 00:05:44.019 --> 00:05:48.599 both on His enemies and the faithfulness of His people, here we are in Isaiah chapter 11, 00:05:48.740 --> 00:05:51.240 God is saying He will do a new thing. Verse 1, 00:05:51.620 --> 00:05:58.959 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:05.860 It's the horticultural imagery, but the reference to Jesse, King David's father, 00:06:05.860 --> 00:06:12.280 is significant because it shows us that this promise goes back beyond David. The legacy of the 00:06:12.280 --> 00:06:17.879 sons of David at this time was bad. Isaiah chapter 7 reminds us that they're going to incur judgment. 00:06:18.400 --> 00:06:24.560 So, it's important to see here that we realize God is promising not another son of David, 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:30.560 but another David, another king that has the anointing of God on his life. 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:35.560 The faithless line of kings will be replaced by one who is altogether superior, 00:06:35.980 --> 00:06:41.459 and this will be seen in two striking ways. That's what these verses show. They show the king here. 00:06:41.699 --> 00:06:44.959 First of all, we see his wisdom. Verse 2, look at verse 2. 00:06:45.819 --> 00:06:47.319 And here's the one who has promised, 00:06:47.319 --> 00:07:06.120 Old Testament kings were anointed with oil and were described as the Lord's anointed. But David was 00:07:06.120 --> 00:07:11.420 special, and he was anointed not simply with oil but with God's Spirit to empower him for the special 00:07:11.420 --> 00:07:18.080 role that he would play in the life of Israel. And Isaiah is taking that pattern to describe the one 00:07:18.080 --> 00:07:24.120 who is to come. He will be covered by, he will be clothed in the Spirit of the Lord, and the power 00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:29.240 and the presence of the Spirit will be made known in the wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, 00:07:29.560 --> 00:07:34.139 knowledge and fear of the Lord that will mark him and mark his life and rule. 00:07:34.139 --> 00:07:42.219 Now, we know from Proverbs 1 that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And we would expect 00:07:42.219 --> 00:07:46.759 one who is perfectly filled with the Spirit of God to possess that wisdom. But what do these other 00:07:46.759 --> 00:07:53.000 descriptions actually mean? Wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and fear of the Lord. 00:07:54.579 --> 00:07:59.219 Well, the theologian Alec Mateer in his commentary on Isaiah says this, 00:07:59.220 --> 00:08:05.880 Wisdom and understanding are judicial and governmental attributes in Deuteronomy 1 and 1 Kings 3. 00:08:06.740 --> 00:08:13.840 Counsel and might are rendered strategy and power for war in Isaiah 36 verse 5, suggesting the ability 00:08:13.840 --> 00:08:19.100 to devise a right course of action coupled with the personal prowess to see it through. 00:08:20.300 --> 00:08:24.920 And the Spirit-given knowledge and fear of the Lord implies a distinctive relationship with the Lord 00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:32.180 and a life conformed to that relationship, end quote. In short, what he's saying is this, 00:08:32.180 --> 00:08:39.360 this anointed, Spirit-filled King will be able to perceive things accurately, make the right decisions 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:45.519 for the good of God's people, and execute what needs to be done to bring those plans to pass. 00:08:46.800 --> 00:08:54.259 This is the wonderful counselor of Isaiah chapter 9, perfect in mind, heart, and action, 00:08:54.259 --> 00:09:01.960 perfect in mind, heart, and action, thoughts, feelings, and the ability to execute those. 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:06.539 Now, isn't this the King that we're waiting for? 00:09:09.419 --> 00:09:12.960 It's always tempting to think that you're living at a unique time in history, 00:09:13.559 --> 00:09:16.080 to think that we have it particularly bad. 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:22.520 However, it does seem that these are strange days politically. 00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:28.060 It does seem that there is a particular dearth of wise leadership around. 00:09:30.100 --> 00:09:36.940 And in all of our uncertainty and concern about that, we are longing for oversight from someone 00:09:36.940 --> 00:09:38.740 who has this kind of wisdom. 00:09:38.740 --> 00:09:42.460 One who knows the right thing to do. 00:09:43.460 --> 00:09:46.480 One who has the power and the aptitude to make it happen. 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:51.340 One who is full of the Spirit of God and who only ever does what is good. 00:09:51.539 --> 00:09:54.799 That is the King that we're waiting for, isn't it? 00:09:57.820 --> 00:09:59.680 But isn't this the King that we have? 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:06.379 The kingship in David's line that Isaiah sees here finds its fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:10:06.899 --> 00:10:12.179 Luke makes it most clear that Jesus comes as the Son of the Most High, 00:10:12.299 --> 00:10:16.239 who is given, quote, the throne of his father David, Luke chapter 1, verse 32. 00:10:17.199 --> 00:10:20.519 And when the angel speaks to the shepherds in Luke chapter 2, 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:22.620 the good news of great joy is, 00:10:22.620 --> 00:10:47.639 When you read the beginning of the Gospels and you watch the ministry of Jesus unfold, 00:10:48.100 --> 00:10:49.860 he proclaims the good news of the kingdom. 00:10:49.860 --> 00:10:53.159 He releases those who are held captive to demonic forces. 00:10:53.379 --> 00:10:54.460 He heals the sick. 00:10:54.779 --> 00:10:56.120 He even raises the dead. 00:10:56.379 --> 00:10:59.080 He is demonstrating his divine power at every turn. 00:10:59.580 --> 00:11:03.960 Even the most cursory look at the earthly ministry of Jesus shows that he is the one 00:11:03.960 --> 00:11:06.379 Isaiah's prophecy is describing. 00:11:08.279 --> 00:11:11.899 This King that we long for is the King that we have. 00:11:13.100 --> 00:11:14.659 But we don't just see his wisdom. 00:11:15.659 --> 00:11:18.460 Isaiah also highlights, look at verse 3, his justice. 00:11:18.460 --> 00:11:20.580 He says, 00:11:20.580 --> 00:11:26.200 and his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord, and he shall not judge by what his eyes see or 00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:31.879 decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide 00:11:31.879 --> 00:11:36.400 with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, 00:11:36.400 --> 00:11:40.800 and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his 00:11:40.800 --> 00:11:49.259 waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. We're not just told about his character and what 00:11:49.259 --> 00:11:56.139 he'd be like. We're also told about how he will act. And unlike earthly kings, he won't just judge 00:11:56.139 --> 00:12:01.659 on the basis of what he sees and what he hears, but because of his divine wisdom, his judgment will 00:12:01.659 --> 00:12:10.360 exceed all earthly categories. And do you notice his eye is especially on the poor and the meek, 00:12:10.460 --> 00:12:17.700 verse 4. He will bring justice, a justice that lifts them up. We sing, 00:12:17.700 --> 00:12:28.980 He knows our needs. To our weakness is no stranger. Behold your King. He is, as one theologian says, 00:12:28.980 --> 00:12:37.840 a King in whose hands the concerns of the weakest will be safe. The state, certainly in our day, 00:12:37.940 --> 00:12:43.280 may leave the vulnerable terribly exposed, but the Lord Jesus will uphold their cause. 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:51.720 But his justice isn't, do you see, just positively for the weak. Isaiah goes on to say that for the 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:56.659 wicked there will be justice of another kind. Their hearts will be laid bare, and their deeds will be 00:12:56.659 --> 00:13:01.899 seen for what they are. And with a word from this King, verse 4, they will be destroyed. 00:13:04.459 --> 00:13:08.620 The righteousness and faithfulness which underpinned the character of God would be seen in this King, 00:13:08.620 --> 00:13:16.960 verse 5, as he brings justice to the earth. So, if his wisdom showed this King to be the wonderful 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:21.039 counselor of chapter 9, his righteousness and faithfulness that are expressed in his justice 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:27.080 show him to embody those other titles in Isaiah 9. He is the mighty God and the everlasting Father. 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:32.139 Isn't this the King that we're waiting for? 00:13:32.139 --> 00:13:38.879 When we look around and see the poor being exploited, and we see the wicked seemingly 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:45.699 prospering, we see corruption and exploitation are rife, whether it's in Westminster or in the BBC or 00:13:45.699 --> 00:13:50.799 whichever big you would like to choose, big pharma, big tech, big agriculture, whichever one, 00:13:51.379 --> 00:13:56.960 take your pick. Don't we long for a ruler who will bring justice, who will drive out corruption, 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:04.759 who will put exploitation behind us once and for all. As our hearts break, as we live in a land 00:14:04.759 --> 00:14:10.560 that permits the legal killing of thousands of unborn lives every year, and it seems we're 00:14:10.560 --> 00:14:16.300 accelerating towards the right for this to happen at the other end of life, don't we cry for justice to 00:14:16.300 --> 00:14:24.940 be done. We're waiting for this King. The longing of our hearts is a longing for this King to come, 00:14:24.940 --> 00:14:32.820 one who is perfectly wise and one who is perfectly just. But isn't this the King that we have? 00:14:34.820 --> 00:14:39.180 When Jesus announced at the beginning of His ministry that the kingdom of God is at hand, 00:14:39.940 --> 00:14:45.880 He then proceeds to show us the character of this promised King. He meets the weak and the needy and 00:14:45.880 --> 00:14:52.060 the outcast with love and compassion, while at the same time confronting those who use their power 00:14:52.059 --> 00:14:57.859 to exploit others and to keep them from the kingdom altogether. He is tender with the broken. He is 00:14:57.859 --> 00:15:03.039 tough with the wicked. Jesus Christ embodied the righteousness and faithfulness of God to each 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:10.019 individual. And this is a pattern of the final judgment that He will one day bring. We're told that 00:15:10.019 --> 00:15:16.659 Acts 17, the apostle preaches, God has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness 00:15:16.659 --> 00:15:22.959 by a man whom He has appointed. And of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead. 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:31.059 The hope of Advent is that in the one born in the manger that first Christmas, we have a King 00:15:31.059 --> 00:15:35.240 who is full of wisdom and justice, and that King is coming again. 00:15:35.240 --> 00:15:39.799 The question for all of us is, are you trusting Him? 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:42.680 Are you trusting Him? 00:15:44.500 --> 00:15:49.500 Only those who have put their faith in Him will experience His justice for their good. 00:15:50.120 --> 00:15:56.440 If we have to stand before Him unforgiven, His justice demands that we are cast off forever. 00:15:56.440 --> 00:16:04.960 With all that I have within me, I want to plead with you to trust Him for the salvation that He brings 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:08.960 this morning. If you haven't done that yet, you can do it right now. You can do it in your seat. 00:16:09.920 --> 00:16:13.680 Turn to the King who is wise and just. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:22.220 As your soul longs for this kind of integrity, He is the one to whom you must turn. 00:16:22.220 --> 00:16:29.960 You can only find it in Jesus Christ. He is always right, always good, always fair, always true. 00:16:30.100 --> 00:16:37.779 He is the only ruler that we can trust. So, recognize and embrace this King. 00:16:40.740 --> 00:16:48.300 But Isaiah doesn't just describe the King. He offers a second reason why we can have hope in the 00:16:48.299 --> 00:16:57.559 darkness. Point number two, the kingdom. The kingdom. There's the King, but there's also a profile here of 00:16:57.559 --> 00:17:01.519 the kingdom that He will bring in. The nature of the kingdom that Christ brings. Verse 6, 00:17:01.599 --> 00:17:07.799 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf 00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:12.980 and the lion and the fattened calf together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear 00:17:12.980 --> 00:17:19.019 shall graze, their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing 00:17:19.019 --> 00:17:25.279 child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:33.380 den. This is where Christmas ultimately takes us. This is the end goal of the Christmas story. The rule 00:17:33.380 --> 00:17:42.200 of God's King will bring this peace. And just look at these reversals, the reversals that will take 00:17:42.200 --> 00:17:48.200 place in the lovely sense of harmony that he describes here. The wolf at once devoured the lamb. 00:17:49.060 --> 00:17:55.120 The leopard, it would gobble up the goat. The lion, it would lick its lips at the sight of a fattened calf. 00:17:55.119 --> 00:18:04.799 They're all at one with each other. Mortal enemies will happily dwell together. Indeed, 00:18:04.879 --> 00:18:09.679 these powerful animals will once again acknowledge humanity's proper dominion over them. Do you see 00:18:09.679 --> 00:18:15.799 that? Such that they will look to the leadership of a small child. Imagine the littlest toddler here 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:23.539 this morning. Imagine them just toddling around, leading a leopard behind them. And they won't even 00:18:23.539 --> 00:18:29.920 need, they won't even need a rope. They'll just say, hey, Leo, over here, come on, let's go. We're going 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:37.720 out this way. And the leopard will follow along. And when you look at them as the leopard walks along 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:43.779 behind them, and you see them putting their hand then in a snake's den, verse 8, you won't need to 00:18:43.779 --> 00:18:49.680 panic. You won't need to worry at all. Snakes will no longer be deadly for the human race. 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:56.799 It is a picture of global cosmic peace and harmony. 00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:04.120 This reference to the Adder's Den here, it may just be continuing the imagery of how opposites, 00:19:04.220 --> 00:19:08.420 how enemies are reconciled in the kingdom, but I think actually it's alluding to something bigger. 00:19:08.560 --> 00:19:14.000 You see, last week, you remember, I talked about the enmity that exists between our first, 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:20.079 that has existed since our first parents' sin, between the seed of the woman and the seed of the 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:28.299 serpent. Humanity's great enemy is the serpent. And here is Isaiah alluding to how that will be 00:19:28.299 --> 00:19:37.119 taken away. Indeed, how the fruit of that enmity, death itself, will also be defeated in this great 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:41.759 reversal. You see, Isaiah here is depicting the transformation of the whole created order. 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:45.640 It is a restoration of the harmony of the Garden of Eden. 00:19:48.339 --> 00:19:56.440 I recently watched a policeman stopping busy traffic on a busy road near where we live, 00:19:56.920 --> 00:20:04.339 and it was very dramatic. He stepped out into the road. He pointed at a car. He put his hand up. The 00:20:04.339 --> 00:20:09.460 car stopped. He then walked across another lane, pointed at the car. The driver could see him. He put 00:20:09.460 --> 00:20:15.480 his hand up. He put his hand up. And the car stopped. That's the image that we get here. The king has 00:20:15.480 --> 00:20:19.620 stepped into the darkness. He has pointed at the darkness in our broken world. He said, 00:20:19.740 --> 00:20:27.240 no further, and it has stopped. He has halted the progress of that darkness. Jesus Christ, the king 00:20:27.240 --> 00:20:35.480 born at Christmas, isn't just the baby in the manger. He isn't just a reason for some cultural celebration, 00:20:35.480 --> 00:20:42.200 some feel-good songs around a piano or an organ or wherever you go to your carol services. 00:20:43.799 --> 00:20:50.180 Jesus Christ, the king born at Christmas, has brought in this kingdom where he has halted the 00:20:50.180 --> 00:20:59.059 progress of darkness and will one day push it out completely. And look how far that will reach. 00:20:59.059 --> 00:21:00.119 Verse 9, 00:21:00.119 --> 00:21:08.139 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the 00:21:08.139 --> 00:21:13.980 knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as 00:21:13.980 --> 00:21:19.940 a signal for the peoples, of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. 00:21:21.319 --> 00:21:26.179 The way Isaiah puts these phrases together, it seems clear to me that God's holy mountain is 00:21:26.180 --> 00:21:31.360 equivalent to the earth, which is full of the knowledge of the Lord. The restoration that God 00:21:31.360 --> 00:21:38.120 is bringing will one day reach from shore to shore. Every single square inch, our sin and its effects, 00:21:39.140 --> 00:21:45.039 in our experience today, our sin, it has an effect, it has its fingerprints over every thought, 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:53.100 over every action, over every relationship that we have. And the bottom line is that that sin, 00:21:53.099 --> 00:21:59.859 with its effects that go to the very, very end of everything, it will in the end take us to the 00:21:59.859 --> 00:22:08.879 grave as its due payment. But through this King, the Spirit-anointed Messiah, God removes this curse. 00:22:10.219 --> 00:22:16.619 He removes the enmity between us and Him. He removes the enmity between us and each other. 00:22:17.379 --> 00:22:22.339 He removes the enmity between us and the created order. And He is renewing the whole earth. 00:22:23.099 --> 00:22:30.339 Here's Alec Mateer again, when the true order of creation is restored, the whole earth is the 00:22:30.339 --> 00:22:39.859 Lord's hill, indwelt by His holiness. And the way that Jesus brings this great reconciliation and 00:22:39.859 --> 00:22:45.699 transformation about is ultimately through His sacrificial death. The Apostle Paul tells us 00:22:45.700 --> 00:22:51.580 that God is pleased, Colossians 1 verse 20, to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth 00:22:51.580 --> 00:22:56.840 or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross. You see the cosmic perspective that Paul has there? 00:22:57.640 --> 00:23:05.960 All things reconciled to Him in heaven and on earth, making peace. The peace that this King will 00:23:05.960 --> 00:23:08.380 bring, how does He bring it? Through the blood of His cross. 00:23:08.380 --> 00:23:19.500 It isn't the manger that ultimately brings this deliverance. It is the cross. His death has secured 00:23:19.500 --> 00:23:25.720 this kingdom of peace for all who have put their faith in Him. And it will grow, the kingdom will grow 00:23:25.720 --> 00:23:32.200 and grow and grow to fill the whole earth as this King is proclaimed to the nations. 00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:41.620 Now, of course, we do still wait for the consummation of these plans that Isaiah describes, which comes at 00:23:41.620 --> 00:23:47.980 the second advent, the second coming when Jesus returns. But don't lose sight of this. Don't lose sight 00:23:47.980 --> 00:23:55.900 of the fact that through His perfect Spirit-anointed life, His sin-destroying death, and His life-giving 00:23:55.900 --> 00:24:02.400 resurrection, Jesus has already accomplished a definitive act of restoration. That is, if you 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:08.540 are in Christ by faith, if you have put your faith in Jesus, you are a new creation, and you belong to 00:24:08.540 --> 00:24:16.340 this new world and this new kingdom. And that means that when you feel the darkness snapping at your heels, 00:24:17.120 --> 00:24:23.860 whatever way that is expressed, when you suffer and when you struggle and when you look around you 00:24:23.859 --> 00:24:30.259 and you think to yourself, what on earth is going on in this world? How could it get any darker morally? 00:24:31.659 --> 00:24:38.899 We can persevere. We can persevere with certainty that God is making all things new, and this isn't 00:24:38.899 --> 00:24:45.419 the way it will always be. Those broken relationships will not always be like that. The physical suffering 00:24:45.419 --> 00:24:52.579 will not always exist. The societal pain and darkness, it will not always be there. It is on the clock, 00:24:52.579 --> 00:25:00.379 a day is coming when it will cease altogether. And Advent reminds us of this. That's why this season 00:25:00.379 --> 00:25:07.179 is so important. In all our pain and all our sadness and confusion and fear, the one born at Christmas 00:25:07.179 --> 00:25:14.919 offers us real light in a dark world. It's not just make-believe. He has real light to give us 00:25:14.920 --> 00:25:23.920 in a dark world because He is coming again to bring His children home. And of course, we're the privileged 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:29.820 ones because we can have much more certainty of this than the faithful few to whom Isaiah was speaking 00:25:29.820 --> 00:25:38.039 because we have seen Jesus. We have experienced the pouring out of His Spirit, and we have witnessed 00:25:38.039 --> 00:25:44.259 the gospel spread. We have seen these promises begin to be fulfilled in ways that they didn't. 00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:50.659 And so, we can be cast iron confident that this is a solid hope on which to base our lives. 00:25:51.859 --> 00:26:03.799 So, put your lights up. Light your candles. Celebrate the season with joy. Not to hide from reality like so 00:26:03.799 --> 00:26:08.639 many try to do at this time of year, but to embrace the reality of all that God is doing 00:26:08.639 --> 00:26:12.720 as He's bringing in His kingdom. Let's pray.