WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.700 Well, good morning, everyone. It's a pleasure. It's an honor to be here with you this morning. 00:00:07.700 --> 00:00:12.500 I'm very grateful that I was able to make it. As you all know, there was a lot of fog this morning, 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:17.219 and I drove from about an hour and a half away, and I thank the Lord that there was no problems. 00:00:17.420 --> 00:00:22.160 So I'll open with the word of prayer, and then we'll jump into the scripture. 00:00:24.600 --> 00:00:28.320 Heavenly Father, as we open your word this morning, would you be with us? 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:36.460 Would you be pleased with us? Would you search us? Would you make us new in your Son's image? 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:45.879 I pray that you would so bless us to be fed, but also to leave energized, energized by the Holy Spirit, 00:00:46.400 --> 00:00:53.579 confident, bold, and joyful in the Lord Jesus. And it's in his name that I pray. Amen. 00:00:53.579 --> 00:01:03.320 Amen. I trust that over the last week or last several days, you were able to celebrate Christmas. 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:10.039 I know that over the last month, you were going through Isaiah and just getting a sense of getting 00:01:10.039 --> 00:01:17.879 a full biblical prophetic picture of who Jesus is, what Christmas actually means. And I'm sure it was 00:01:17.879 --> 00:01:24.479 a very beneficial time. As for myself, I was able to have a good time with my family, enjoy Christmas. 00:01:25.219 --> 00:01:30.259 And it's really, I was very fortunate this year to not work throughout the Christmas. I don't know if 00:01:30.259 --> 00:01:35.479 you were working, but it was nice that, you know, just being able to step back. There's also a very 00:01:35.479 --> 00:01:40.000 weird thing that, you know, next week, most of us, or maybe a lot of us, are going to go back into the 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:45.700 real rhythm of life. Whether it's work, whether it's, you know, mom groups, community groups, 00:01:46.299 --> 00:01:51.019 whatever it may be, we're going to go back to real life, and it's going to be a big kind of contrast. 00:01:51.219 --> 00:01:57.700 You need to kind of go back into the rhythm. And one thing that is particularly, I don't know if 00:01:57.700 --> 00:02:03.359 it's challenging. I don't know if Christians really think about it all that much. But here's the question. 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:09.780 If Christmas is really as good, as great as it is, as the scriptures make it to be, 00:02:11.240 --> 00:02:20.240 would it not somehow impact next week? Would it land in some particular way? Would it sort of erupt, 00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:26.560 you know, the goodness of Christmas sort of erupt into daily life next week? And if so, how? 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:32.939 How could that possibly happen? If Christmas is so good, so great, and I believe that it is, 00:02:32.939 --> 00:02:37.979 how could it really, what is its meaning, and how could it land into the real world, our real 00:02:37.979 --> 00:02:44.460 rhythm of life? So we're going to look at that. I would invite you, if you have a Bible, to turn with 00:02:44.460 --> 00:02:52.280 me to Isaiah chapter 52. And we're going to look at just a few verses. And just to give a bit of a 00:02:52.280 --> 00:03:01.120 background to this text, Isaiah spoke around 2,800 years ago. He spoke several hundred years before 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:07.020 Jesus. And he spoke at that time of things that were to come. Some things happened in his generations. 00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:11.580 Other things happened later on, not in his generation. And the text that we're looking at 00:03:11.580 --> 00:03:19.400 today is a poetic portrayal of God's redemption of the people that he was speaking to, the people of 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:27.340 Israel. They were God's people. And so he spoke to these people of a time ahead. And so let's just 00:03:27.340 --> 00:03:34.180 read the text, and we'll get a sense of how Isaiah might have seen this or envisioned this. 00:03:34.900 --> 00:03:37.060 So chapter 52, starting at verse 7. 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:44.240 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:52.280 brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns. 00:03:52.280 --> 00:04:00.120 And so let's pause here. We have an image of a messenger, just a messenger coming towards the 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:08.360 city and announcing something, a type of victory. Verse 8, the voice of your watchmen, they lift up 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:15.680 their voice together with, together they sing for joy. For eye to eye, they see the return of the Lord 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:21.060 to Zion. And so here we have the people who are waiting on the walls. They're waiting for the 00:04:21.060 --> 00:04:27.360 messenger to come. And as the messenger comes, they celebrate, they rejoice. The messenger has come 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:37.060 with good news. And so they burst out in great rejoicing. Verse 9, break forth together into singing, 00:04:37.300 --> 00:04:43.319 you waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. 00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:49.959 And so now as the watchmen are rejoicing, as they've received the news, they're rejoicing. 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:55.659 They're looking back and calling the whole city behind them, behind the walls, to rejoice with them, 00:04:56.060 --> 00:05:04.500 to just join in the celebration of that great victory. And then looking at verse 10, the Lord has 00:05:04.500 --> 00:05:10.679 bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see 00:05:10.679 --> 00:05:16.219 the salvation of our God. And so we have a bit of an interpretation. We're looking, just kind of looking 00:05:16.220 --> 00:05:21.500 through the material, through the people, through the events, looking at an interpretation. What's 00:05:21.500 --> 00:05:28.500 actually going on? The Lord has won the victory. And lastly, in the last two verses, Isaiah is 00:05:28.500 --> 00:05:35.640 calling people to action. Calling people to action. Let's read that. Depart, depart, go out from there. 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:43.080 Touch no one clean thing. Go out from the midst of her. Purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of 00:05:43.079 --> 00:05:49.419 the Lord. For you shall not go out in haste. And you shall not go in flight. For the Lord will go 00:05:49.419 --> 00:05:59.240 before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. Now again, this is a poetic description. 00:06:00.019 --> 00:06:05.740 And so there, in poetry, there are things that are, that are maybe more clear than other things. 00:06:06.459 --> 00:06:11.799 Some particulars are maybe left out, because it's speaking of a time that is to come later on. 00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:15.319 And this is truly the case of, of this passage. 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:21.220 Where I live, I live on a mountain in Rego. I don't know if you've been skiing at Rego. It's 00:06:21.220 --> 00:06:26.780 kind of known for the little ski hill. I live on the mountain. And so I see airplanes coming from 00:06:26.780 --> 00:06:32.400 really far, far off. And it's the kind of cargo jets that, that go from Toronto to Montreal. 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:37.660 And from really afar, it looks like a star. And I can stand there like five minutes. It just looks 00:06:37.660 --> 00:06:42.939 like a star. And then all of a sudden, I start seeing these little lights, little red and blue 00:06:42.939 --> 00:06:49.200 lights on the side. I say, oh, it is a plane. Okay, I thought that looked like a plane. And then all of a 00:06:49.200 --> 00:06:56.300 sudden, the plane drives right above my house. And I know it because the whole house kind of vibrates. 00:06:56.300 --> 00:07:02.740 The airplane comes and me and my boys, we go to the window and we look, okay, it's an airplane. 00:07:03.139 --> 00:07:09.340 So cool. And so we experience the airplane in that sense. And reading the Old Testament is kind 00:07:09.340 --> 00:07:13.600 of like that, especially poetry. But reading the Old Testament generally, it's kind of like that. 00:07:14.139 --> 00:07:19.780 You have something that, that is there in the past, in the distant past. You can't really put your 00:07:19.779 --> 00:07:25.619 finger on it. Sometimes it's very clear. Other times it's not so clear. But then as time goes, 00:07:26.199 --> 00:07:30.719 you start to identify, okay, this is not a star. This is a plane. And you start identifying the text. 00:07:30.779 --> 00:07:36.559 This is actually talking about Jesus. This is actually talking about Jesus in a very particular 00:07:36.559 --> 00:07:42.779 way. And we see it in the gospel, how the life of Jesus gives life to that Old Testament kind of 00:07:42.779 --> 00:07:46.719 mysterious text. It's kind of like driving in the fog. You don't know what's next, you know, 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:54.480 and a hundred feet from you. And then, not only that, but with the airplane coming over your house 00:07:54.480 --> 00:08:00.840 and just, you know, the house kind of shaking, the Holy Spirit doesn't leave us just to see Jesus in 00:08:00.840 --> 00:08:10.220 the distance, but he brings Jesus in us to change us, to shake us up, to change certain things about us 00:08:10.220 --> 00:08:15.200 that shouldn't be there anymore so that we can reflect Jesus. And so we experience the text in that way. 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:22.620 And that's my plan for us this morning as we read this text. So how does Jesus shine in this text? 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:28.699 Well, we sang about it already. The cue is already there. The angels coming down from heaven, 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:33.319 speaking to the shepherds. The angels were the messengers that came to bring tidings, 00:08:33.980 --> 00:08:41.059 good news of a king, Jesus. And the shepherds, they were the watchmen, 00:08:41.059 --> 00:08:46.759 and they were looking, and they received the message of the angels, and they started running. 00:08:46.759 --> 00:08:55.879 They participated in that big event that Jesus has come. And not only that, but you see, 00:08:56.859 --> 00:09:02.699 just to pause for a second, I'm kind of glad Daniel didn't ask me for a sermon title because 00:09:02.700 --> 00:09:09.200 the title that I had was a bit weird, like, beautiful feet in a pluralistic age, something 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:14.280 like that. It's kind of like weird, but anyway, I'm glad he didn't ask me to do that, although I just 00:09:14.280 --> 00:09:22.080 didn't give it away. But anyway, that's something else. The feet, what kind of role do feet play in 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:29.680 Jesus's life? Well, Mary sat at Jesus's feet, and she had the right, the good portion. She sat at his 00:09:29.680 --> 00:09:37.360 feet. And not only that, the other woman, the woman who, the sinful woman, came with perfume 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:44.580 and washed Jesus's feet with expensive perfume. Why do you think that happened? Do you think it's 00:09:44.580 --> 00:09:48.400 just because, do you think it's just cultural? I mean, there's certainly a cultural element. 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:55.079 Or do you think it's because Jesus came to bring good news? And all those things were pointing to 00:09:55.079 --> 00:10:03.620 what Jesus would accomplish at the cross. Indeed, Jesus accomplished something magnificent at the 00:10:03.620 --> 00:10:12.460 cross. He is the one who accomplished the victory. Every single one of us, we experience what the 00:10:12.460 --> 00:10:18.379 Bible calls the fall. We experience brokenness, but not only brokenness, we experience the 00:10:18.379 --> 00:10:24.720 difficulty, and not only difficulty, but sometimes even hostility of choosing God's will. I had a 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:29.939 friend who asked me at work, I work in the kitchen, she asked me point blank, as we were cleaning up the 00:10:29.939 --> 00:10:34.379 kitchen at the end of the night, nobody was around, just the co-workers, and she asked, Jonathan, do you 00:10:34.379 --> 00:10:42.360 believe in hell? I was like, believe in hell? I was like, oh Lord, where do I go from this? Like, yeah, I 00:10:42.360 --> 00:10:45.860 believe in hell, but I don't want to just say, yes, I believe in hell, because, you know, that's the end of 00:10:45.860 --> 00:10:50.820 the conversation. So I asked her, what do you mean by hell? I said, well, you know, like, what the Bible, 00:10:51.159 --> 00:10:56.460 like, considers hell. Like, you believe in the Bible. I'm like, yeah, I do believe in the Bible. Okay, 00:10:56.460 --> 00:11:04.779 that's not very helpful. So I said, well, let's look at it this way. I do believe in hell, and I do 00:11:04.779 --> 00:11:11.259 believe that you also believe in hell. And all of a sudden, she was like, what? It's like, yeah. So when I was 00:11:11.259 --> 00:11:19.240 not a Christian, before I became a Christian, I had very deep anxiety and depression. And that's 00:11:19.240 --> 00:11:26.379 because I staked my whole life on music. Music was my idol. It was my identity. Performance was the 00:11:26.379 --> 00:11:33.159 meaning of my life. And as soon as music didn't return the life that I was giving it, you know, 00:11:33.179 --> 00:11:38.639 my whole life was on it. As soon as it was not returning it to me, I started experiencing breakdown. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:47.759 See, I had experienced false worship. I worshipped music as an idol, as a god. And that is actually 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:52.980 the breaking of the first commandment. And the experience that I had of doing that was depression, 00:11:53.259 --> 00:12:00.399 anxiety, darkness. And I, at that time, did not need anyone to tell me about, you know, about hell. 00:12:00.620 --> 00:12:08.179 I knew what hell was. I experienced it in my body, in my bones, in my soul. I experienced something 00:12:08.179 --> 00:12:15.759 of hell. And all of a sudden, I realized, okay, she was tracking. Like, she experiences something 00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:23.919 like that, too. And I say, from there, you know, here's the thing. If Hitler was able to just shoot 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:28.299 himself in the head, he would get away with it. You know, he would get away with everything that he did. 00:12:28.359 --> 00:12:33.919 There would be no earthly justice. And if that's the end of justice, he got away with it, and that's it. 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:41.299 But you don't want that to be true, don't you? Neither do I. I want there to be justice beyond 00:12:41.299 --> 00:12:48.459 this life. And so it is with everything, you know, with hell, with heaven, with goodness, with truth, 00:12:48.579 --> 00:12:54.339 with mercy. Anytime that we experience a shadow of those things, there is an eternal version in heaven. 00:12:54.340 --> 00:13:07.759 And so where am I going with this? So Jesus is the one who came to bring that victory over the very 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:15.680 sinfulness that we carry and express from day in and day out. And how did he do that? Well, he, 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:24.979 being perfect, went to the cross, having gone to the cross, sinless, not deserving of death, but he went 00:13:24.979 --> 00:13:31.819 willingly for the joy that was set before him, which is knowing us and having us in him and him in us, 00:13:32.500 --> 00:13:42.500 he endured the cross, suffered shame, so that we could have life. His blessing, his goodness, 00:13:42.500 --> 00:13:49.899 his riches would be our treasure, would be our blessing, and our doom was poured on him. That is 00:13:49.899 --> 00:13:57.519 the, that is the Christian message. That is the reason why Jesus came to earth to be born of a virgin 00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:02.940 and to live a perfect life, so that he could actually go to that very place, that very moment, 00:14:02.940 --> 00:14:06.840 so that we could be in him and him in us. 00:14:11.880 --> 00:14:21.320 And as Jesus died, he was buried, real body, real grave. On the third day, he was risen from the grave. 00:14:21.400 --> 00:14:25.840 And what happened? He started preaching again. He started telling the disciples, went to go see him, 00:14:26.340 --> 00:14:30.620 go tell of the good news. And they became the watchmen. And it was kind of like a game of tag, 00:14:30.620 --> 00:14:35.000 you know. It was just kind of transferring across. And in a way, it's kind of linking, 00:14:35.639 --> 00:14:40.899 creating a new generation on earth through this message of the gospel, that when people are receiving 00:14:40.899 --> 00:14:44.879 it with great joy, they're, they're sharing it with their, with their neighbors, with their friends, 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:54.399 their family. Now, we could all, we could see that this is the, the poetic and prophetic vision that, 00:14:54.399 --> 00:15:01.340 that takes flesh in Jesus. But what does that have to do in a pluralistic age? You know, like, 00:15:01.899 --> 00:15:08.600 as Canadians, we're very tolerant. We love to, to just kind of go easy on one another. And I've 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:13.000 experienced that recently, had a friend over, non-Christian, and we had them over for supper. 00:15:13.139 --> 00:15:18.579 And I shared with him a little bit of some of my, my thoughts on, particularly on Genesis. I'm writing 00:15:18.579 --> 00:15:23.179 on Genesis. So I got to share with him a little bit. And then he said, oh, why are you writing on this? 00:15:23.179 --> 00:15:27.899 I said, well, because I think a lot of Christians struggle on, on the topic of Genesis one. And, 00:15:27.979 --> 00:15:34.099 and I remember, you know, when I was younger and new Christian, I experienced a lot of, you know, 00:15:34.179 --> 00:15:40.979 backlash for my belief in the fact that God created the world. And he, and he said, really? Like, 00:15:41.419 --> 00:15:46.659 people actually, like, did that? They tried to undermine what you believed? I was like, yeah, yeah, 00:15:46.759 --> 00:15:51.939 really? And I was shocked, like, that he, he took that, that, that kind of angle. But it's true. 00:15:51.940 --> 00:15:59.320 In Canada, there's sort of the, the strata of, you know, pluralism takes the shape of, you know, 00:15:59.400 --> 00:16:07.000 every religion is equal. Therefore, don't try to elevate your belief, your spirituality over those, 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:12.480 that of others. And then there's another layer where it says, actually, you should affirm yourself, 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:17.240 express yourself. If you're a Christian, you should be a Christian. If you, if you're a Muslim, 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:21.820 you should be the best Muslim. If you're a Hindu, you should be the best Hindu. That's actually the, 00:16:21.820 --> 00:16:26.279 the situation at my workplace. Like, the first day I got there, my boss, when she found out that I was 00:16:26.279 --> 00:16:30.820 a Christian, was like, hey, if anyone, like, says bad words and, like, you're offended, like, just tell 00:16:30.820 --> 00:16:36.220 them. And I was like, okay, well, I have other, like, agendas than, than just telling people, like, 00:16:36.700 --> 00:16:42.299 like, what to, what to say, right? Like, I have other concerns than that. I want to showcase the gospel. 00:16:42.299 --> 00:16:47.699 But those are the kind of two strata of pluralism, which are completely contradictory. 00:16:48.259 --> 00:16:52.339 But underneath, you have these subcultures where people actually have very exclusive views. 00:16:53.139 --> 00:16:59.740 At my Christmas dinner, where I, or day, rather, where I went, somebody wore a t-shirt saying, 00:17:00.219 --> 00:17:07.619 merry vibes only. I didn't know that the vibe kind of culture took on exclusivity, but apparently it 00:17:07.619 --> 00:17:14.419 did, uh, this Christmas. Merry vibes only. Um, fascinating. I heard of another friend who, 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:21.099 as, uh, she grew up Hindu, and then she became a Christian after the, the bread man who, uh, who 00:17:21.099 --> 00:17:25.639 was friends with her dad, uh, shared the gospel with her family. She received the gospel, became a 00:17:25.639 --> 00:17:32.419 Christian, and then her parents invited her to do the, you know, the casual ritual sacrifices at the 00:17:32.420 --> 00:17:38.480 temple. And she said, mom, dad, I can't, I can't do that anymore. And they gave her the silent 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:45.120 treatment. They didn't cook her any food, didn't talk to her for an entire month, shunned her. And so 00:17:45.120 --> 00:17:53.259 there are these exclusive pockets, uh, in this whole pluralistic kind of mix of what Canada is today. 00:17:53.259 --> 00:18:02.500 Some of you might have seen the, uh, king's address, uh, his Christmas message. I, I've kind of started 00:18:02.500 --> 00:18:05.819 listening over the last few years what the queen would have to say, and I was really pleased. 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:12.039 Oftentimes she would share the gospel. And, uh, this year, if you've seen it, uh, the king made mention 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:17.960 of the great things that they do, and, uh, things that are values of Christianity, values of Jesus, but 00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:27.200 also of all the great faiths. Uh, so you have pluralism, even from the king of England. Uh, and so 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:34.700 a typical Canadian might think, well, isn't it wiser? Isn't it better? Isn't it more tolerant to set our 00:18:34.700 --> 00:18:41.480 differences aside and learn to get along? Like, isn't that the best way forward, especially as our 00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:50.779 culture is becoming more and more diverse? Now that's a good question. And, uh, I'm reminded of 00:18:50.779 --> 00:18:56.279 my, my friend whom, uh, I, I talked about with, you know, the story of, of hell and all that. Um, 00:18:56.279 --> 00:19:04.299 I shared with her a very weird event that happened to me. Um, in the, in the spring, early spring of last 00:19:04.299 --> 00:19:10.519 year or this year, rather, I had burnt my hand quite badly. I was, uh, doing, I was boiling maple syrup, 00:19:10.519 --> 00:19:17.259 uh, cause I have maple trees and all that. And, uh, I took a pot that was on the fire and I had, I had 00:19:17.259 --> 00:19:21.480 my gloves. I took it off. Then I put it there. I did something else, came back, didn't put my mitten on 00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:26.799 and I took the handle, lifted it up and it was just like sizzling as I was, like my hand was burning as 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:34.119 I was bringing it up. And, uh, my hand was all red and it was like, it was bad. It was really, really bad. 00:19:34.619 --> 00:19:38.940 And I work in the kitchen, so I work in front of a grill and you know, if you've been burnt, you can't stay in 00:19:38.940 --> 00:19:44.580 front of heat for very long. Uh, you're like, you just have to stay away from the heat, put ice and 00:19:44.580 --> 00:19:51.279 hopefully you'll heal in a couple of weeks. And, uh, that evening, my son, my three-year-old, uh, just 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:55.340 came up to me in his pajamas before going to bed and just, you know, sat beside me and I had my hand 00:19:55.340 --> 00:20:01.620 on ice the, the same evening where I, where I got burnt. And, uh, he started praying, uh, God, I pray for 00:20:01.619 --> 00:20:09.139 dad in Jesus name. Amen. And I thought, oh, he's so cute, you know, so kind. And then he starts praying 00:20:09.139 --> 00:20:16.500 again. God, I pray for dad in Jesus name. Amen. Like, that's so sweet. Like, thank you so much. And I 00:20:16.500 --> 00:20:21.459 looked at my hand, I was like, oh, you know, it hasn't worked. Then he starts praying a third time, 00:20:21.899 --> 00:20:26.399 fourth time, fifth time. I look at my hand, oh, sorry. Like, you know, but, but maybe God's going to 00:20:26.400 --> 00:20:30.500 heal me tomorrow, you know, and through the ice and all that fifth time, sixth time he prays, 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:39.160 take my hand off. I'm like, son, you did it. My hand, uh, doesn't hurt anymore. Like Jesus healed 00:20:39.160 --> 00:20:45.080 me. And, uh, and, and he really did heal me. What happened, uh, was not that he didn't have red lines 00:20:45.080 --> 00:20:48.680 anymore, but it's just that they're never, it never swole. There was never water. It just kind of 00:20:48.680 --> 00:20:54.580 bypassed that process of healing. Uh, my hand stopped hurting. I didn't need the ice and I worked the next 00:20:54.579 --> 00:21:01.159 day in front of the grill. And, uh, that was clearly a miracle of Jesus. And I wanted to share 00:21:01.159 --> 00:21:06.279 that with my coworkers. And I shared that with my friend at work. I shared her exactly what I shared 00:21:06.279 --> 00:21:13.699 with you. And, uh, and she said, wow, that's so interesting. Such a good story. Um, I really do 00:21:13.699 --> 00:21:20.059 believe that when, when we have really good thoughts and we align our thoughts, we can actually do things 00:21:20.059 --> 00:21:24.099 like that. We can actually heal our body. And, uh, she asked me if I read the book, The Secret. 00:21:24.579 --> 00:21:29.639 And I thought, oh no, she didn't get it. She didn't get it. So what's the, what's the difference 00:21:29.639 --> 00:21:37.980 between The Secret and Jesus? The difference between Jesus and every spirituality, every religion, 00:21:38.159 --> 00:21:44.439 everything that you will find in this world, uh, on the bookshelf and the, and Dollarama, uh, you know, 00:21:44.439 --> 00:21:53.599 on the horoscopes at the end of your newspaper is that we have a hero. Christians have a hero. 00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:59.019 There's no hero. There's no hero in the secret. There's no hero in Islam. There's no hero in 00:21:59.019 --> 00:22:07.939 Hinduism. There's no hero in self-help spirituality. There's no hero other than Jesus. And so I want 00:22:07.939 --> 00:22:13.240 to invite you to look, let's look at the text. Let's look at the text because this changes everything. 00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:20.559 This changes everything. Uh, verse seven, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:27.279 who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:37.819 salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns. Now, what does this mean? Mountains in Isaiah are, are 00:22:37.819 --> 00:22:44.000 typically high places, places of worship, places where many gods would, would ensnare people to 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:49.919 worship them and, and kind of go into this cycle of, you know, this dizzy cycle of worshiping this false 00:22:49.919 --> 00:22:57.019 God, this deity, maybe a material deity, maybe a force phenomena. You see the messenger just kind of 00:22:57.019 --> 00:23:05.500 walking on top, walking on top of these high places. The victory is, is Jesus' victory. And he brings 00:23:05.500 --> 00:23:11.519 good news, good news. This is the word for the gospel. He publishes peace in Hebrew, shalom, which is the 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:18.119 image of wholeness. Uh, it's not just that we're going to quietly non-disagree. It's that there is peace. 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:27.339 There is actual peace. War is over. The war is over. And he publishes salvation. And if you look at the 00:23:27.339 --> 00:23:34.140 Hebrew Bible, uh, the, in the original language, it literally says who publishes Yeshua, who publishes 00:23:34.140 --> 00:23:41.960 Jesus. And that is just the, the, this idea of rescue, this idea of, of rescue from darkness, from, 00:23:42.100 --> 00:23:47.980 from forces that we could not disentangle ourselves from. Forces not only at the exterior of ourselves, 00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:57.080 but interior, our flesh, our, our desires, our affections that are misaligned. He has victory over 00:23:57.080 --> 00:24:03.540 them all. And the voice of your watchmen, they lift up their voice. Together they sing for joy. 00:24:04.140 --> 00:24:12.180 For eye to eye, they see the return of the Lord. And so here's my first point. Behold, behold, 00:24:13.520 --> 00:24:18.280 uh, just a simple word. Uh, my, my three points are just, uh, simple, simple like that. Behold. 00:24:18.280 --> 00:24:23.820 It doesn't say behold here, but that is the, that is the emphasis in this text. How beautiful 00:24:23.820 --> 00:24:31.480 upon the mountains are the feet of him who bring, brings good news. Uh, this idea of looking at and 00:24:31.480 --> 00:24:39.620 just admiring, uh, cheering on the messenger. Jesus wants us before we start doing anything, 00:24:39.860 --> 00:24:48.860 he wants us to sit at his feet and watch, to admire, to abide. He wants us to do that. He wants you to do 00:24:48.860 --> 00:24:56.740 that as you're considering your year 2025, uh, as you're going to mingle with, uh, in a world of 00:24:56.740 --> 00:25:05.240 pluralism. Jesus wants us to sit at his feet, to listen, to pay attention. And attention is the 00:25:05.240 --> 00:25:11.440 very beginning of worship. You know, worship takes on many forms. Uh, it's, but it's essentially service 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:19.440 or love. And, um, if I am going to love my wife, the first thing I'm going to do is give her attention. 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:24.620 And I'm not going to wait until she tells me to give her attention. I'm going to love her and give 00:25:24.620 --> 00:25:29.860 her attention, uh, to just kind of watch and listen, be attentive. And the same thing with my 00:25:29.860 --> 00:25:34.299 children and same thing with, with friends, coworkers. And that's what makes me kind of set 00:25:34.299 --> 00:25:39.680 apart from my, my friends, not to boast or anything, but I tried to, you know, display my Christian values. 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:45.299 And it's just to give attention to people who are, whose, whose hearts and voices just fall on deaf ears 00:25:45.299 --> 00:25:55.279 constantly. Um, so attention, behold, we want to, Jesus wants us to just be enamored, like the best 00:25:55.279 --> 00:26:00.000 hockey player. You know, I, I remember when Mario Lemieux came back into the NHL, everyone was so 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:05.619 happy, uh, and everyone cheered him on. The hero is back. The, what is he, he's not the great one. 00:26:05.819 --> 00:26:11.639 Who's Mario Lemieux? He's the, I forget the title that they gave him, but anyway, everyone was kind of 00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:17.420 like cheering on the great hero. He's back. And that's the story of Jesus. He's back. The hero is 00:26:17.420 --> 00:26:24.580 here. Um, the, the, the mighty one. And so behold, and not only that, but the apostle Paul 00:26:24.580 --> 00:26:34.440 saw this as a template for Christian, uh, sharing of the gospel. Uh, he, he said that if people, uh, 00:26:34.440 --> 00:26:39.560 if there are no messengers, how are people going to hear? And so there's a necessity to open our mouths 00:26:39.559 --> 00:26:45.579 and share with people about Jesus. And I found that in a very pluralistic place where you have, 00:26:45.679 --> 00:26:51.079 where you often have very little time to share, uh, the best way to approach it is just to share it as 00:26:51.079 --> 00:26:56.759 your own personal experience. And you, um, like the apostle Paul did with the Jewish people, you arouse 00:26:56.759 --> 00:27:02.599 them to jealousy. You know, with my, with my friends who, uh, pray to the universe, that's a very big thing 00:27:02.599 --> 00:27:08.779 in Quebec right now. People love to pray to the universe, to the unknown God of the universe. Um, I can share 00:27:08.779 --> 00:27:12.920 with them that I do something actually quite similar to that, uh, except that I pray to a person. I think 00:27:12.920 --> 00:27:18.420 there's a person behind the universe and that person is God and he's made himself known, uh, through the 00:27:18.420 --> 00:27:23.359 universe, but also through his son, Jesus. And I actually have a connection with him, communion with 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:29.019 him. Uh, so, so to rouse them to jealousy, I have something very similar that the good experience that 00:27:29.019 --> 00:27:33.579 you think you have, I have something similar, but mine goes a little further. Mine is personal. 00:27:33.579 --> 00:27:40.079 Mine makes me more human, uh, as I meditate on Jesus and as Jesus dwells in me through the Holy 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:48.039 Spirit. So behold, we want to participate. Uh, we want to, uh, look and enjoy the messengers, 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:57.319 cheer them on, but also, uh, the message and also participate. Secondly, break forth. We see this in 00:27:57.319 --> 00:28:07.500 verse nine, break forth, break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem for the Lord 00:28:07.500 --> 00:28:15.019 has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm before the, the eyes 00:28:15.019 --> 00:28:21.099 of all the nations and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Uh, here's calling 00:28:21.099 --> 00:28:29.039 us to worship, uh, to, uh, not only, you know, receive Jesus, but let him seep out, let him exude 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:35.459 out of our being. Um, you know, in a pluralistic age, it actually affords a unique opportunity to be 00:28:35.459 --> 00:28:41.839 very subjective about your experience and, uh, and just kind of put it out there and, and see who bites, 00:28:42.279 --> 00:28:48.219 who, who takes it on, who's actually curious about your, uh, your Christian experience. And so we want to, 00:28:48.220 --> 00:28:54.120 uh, break forth, want to share into singing. Singing is a symbol of worship. This does not mean that you 00:28:54.120 --> 00:28:59.160 have to go to the Cineplex or to the, uh, uh, Canadian Scotiabank, Scotiabank and start, you know, 00:28:59.180 --> 00:29:04.759 you go there as a church and then you break forth into a, uh, singing like a flash mob. Uh, that's not 00:29:04.759 --> 00:29:09.600 how you obey this text necessarily, but if the Lord calls you to do that, do it with excellence and 00:29:09.600 --> 00:29:15.819 reverence. Uh, I commend it, uh, but, uh, it's not necessarily what it's speaking of. It's speaking of 00:29:15.819 --> 00:29:22.099 worshiping, making your whole life an act of worship, um, making your whole life an act of 00:29:22.099 --> 00:29:28.740 worship before God and in the eyes of others. And in that way, the, uh, the nations will come and see. 00:29:28.740 --> 00:29:36.220 And the, the notion that the Christian faith is the faith, uh, that's centered on a hero takes up, 00:29:36.220 --> 00:29:41.939 uh, an extra notch here. It goes up an extra notch in verse 10. The Lord has bared his holy arm. 00:29:41.940 --> 00:29:50.080 Um, the Lord has flexed his muscles is essentially what it's saying. Uh, Jesus has flexed his muscles. 00:29:50.420 --> 00:29:59.580 He has shown, uh, in an age where there are many, uh, gods and, and many deities, uh, false worship 00:29:59.580 --> 00:30:07.100 everywhere, many ideas, philosophies. He has shown the strength of his arm. He has shown his power and 00:30:07.099 --> 00:30:16.259 his might to rescue feeble sinners as myself. People who are unable to turn his gaze upon God, 00:30:16.719 --> 00:30:23.059 unless it was by his goodness to lift up my chin towards him. And he will do it. If you're in that 00:30:23.059 --> 00:30:29.919 place where you are unable to do it because your desires have entangled you, your vision of the world 00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:35.480 is so blurred, uh, you know, following a certain ideology has led you to a path where you cannot 00:30:35.480 --> 00:30:42.960 even distinguish between good and evil, just cry out to him. He will lift up your chin towards him 00:30:42.960 --> 00:30:49.840 and he will begin to pour out his love upon your face. He'll shine his light upon you. And as it goes 00:30:49.840 --> 00:30:53.759 through your face, it's going to go through your heart and soul and change you, make you a new person. 00:30:53.759 --> 00:31:02.900 That is how he rescues today. And lastly, depart, depart, go out from there, touch no unclean thing. 00:31:03.559 --> 00:31:09.420 Go out from the midst of her, purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord, for you shall 00:31:09.420 --> 00:31:15.559 not go out in haste and you shall not go in flight for the Lord will go before you and the God of Israel 00:31:15.559 --> 00:31:22.839 will be your rear guard. And this is an image of the Exodus in the Old Testament, uh, the Exodus where the 00:31:22.839 --> 00:31:29.059 people of Israel were led out of slavery in Egypt, God will do the same. If you're worried that leaving, 00:31:29.059 --> 00:31:35.539 uh, a certain spirituality, ideology is going to cause you harm, it's going to cause you social harm, 00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:40.220 the Lord is going to be with you. The Lord is going to be with you. And one of the ways he does that is 00:31:40.220 --> 00:31:47.779 through his church. Um, and so here's my last point. Depart, depart. Be willing to make a step for Jesus. 00:31:47.779 --> 00:31:56.559 Step out of 2024 towards Jesus in 2025. Um, one of the ways I love to do that is to read, uh, a great 00:31:56.559 --> 00:32:02.379 author named J.C. Ryle. He was a bishop, uh, in the, uh, Church of England back in the 1800s. And I just 00:32:02.379 --> 00:32:07.460 take one of his, uh, tracts or his, uh, sermons and I read it. Just at the very end of the year, the Lord 00:32:07.460 --> 00:32:12.759 just kind of puts one on my heart and I read it and I meditate upon it. And it's kind of a theme for me to 00:32:12.759 --> 00:32:17.660 carry me through the year. Last year it was zeal. This year is the Christian race. And, uh, I'm 00:32:17.660 --> 00:32:22.400 looking forward. I just started reading a couple nights ago, but, um, but we want to equip ourselves 00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:30.000 to go and depart, leave the old life and go towards Jesus. And what this image is for Israel at the time 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:36.759 was that they were in exile and God was going to deliver them so that they can take up their, uh, 00:32:36.759 --> 00:32:42.440 their place in the world stage again as God's royal priests and holy nation. That was the point. 00:32:42.759 --> 00:32:49.900 And for us, God is making us into his priests to the nations. Uh, so we have to leave the old, 00:32:49.900 --> 00:32:56.960 uh, the old ways of life and enter into this new way. And, uh, I want to, I want to read, uh, from Paul 00:32:56.960 --> 00:33:05.720 in second Timothy 21. He says, therefore, if anyone cleanses, cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, 00:33:05.720 --> 00:33:12.740 he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, 00:33:12.740 --> 00:33:19.200 ready for every good work. And that's the, that's the message for us is to be ready to, to leave the 00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:24.859 old ways, leave the old patterns of life. Be bold in what you're praying for, for this new year and 00:33:24.859 --> 00:33:32.539 enter it, uh, full speed, full energy, uh, full excitement running towards Jesus. Uh, let us pray. 00:33:32.539 --> 00:33:43.240 Father, as we consider these things, as we consider what your prophet, uh, Isaiah preached, as well as 00:33:43.240 --> 00:33:50.599 what was, uh, mentioned this morning, I pray that your spirit would so anoint us and bless us to, uh, 00:33:50.599 --> 00:33:58.019 discern these things, to ponder them, uh, and to, uh, to run in the speed and in the, in the energy of the 00:33:58.019 --> 00:34:04.740 Holy Spirit towards you and, uh, towards, uh, God, our heavenly father. Would you bless us and lead us 00:34:04.740 --> 00:34:06.380 in Jesus mighty name? Amen.