WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.580 passage that we read tonight from the book of Isaiah, something that you often hear every 00:00:06.580 --> 00:00:11.919 December. It's from the book of Isaiah. We've been in the book of Isaiah the last four weeks. 00:00:12.040 --> 00:00:18.300 These are all passages about waiting and about hope. We've titled this series Certain Hope 00:00:18.300 --> 00:00:26.160 in Uncertain Times. Certainly you get why we call it uncertain times. But I trust today that you 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:30.320 will be filled with a certain hope upon looking at this passage, a passage that we hear every 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:37.600 December. It makes a special appearance in the Messiah by Handel. Behold, a virgin shall conceive 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:49.539 and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel, God with us. So we think this gives us a lot of hope, 00:00:49.539 --> 00:00:58.560 God's presence. Why should that fill us with hope? Well, before we get there, we're going to look 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:04.239 and see what the whole Bible says about God's presence from the very beginning. 00:01:05.819 --> 00:01:10.980 And then we'll see how this passage from Isaiah fits into that history, the history of God saving 00:01:10.980 --> 00:01:17.719 his people. And then we'll see how we fit into that history of God making himself present to his people. 00:01:17.719 --> 00:01:24.739 He's with us. He's right here, more present than we are. So let's talk to him. Let's ask him for help 00:01:24.739 --> 00:01:26.280 as we look at this passage. Let's pray. 00:01:35.340 --> 00:01:41.159 Oh Lord, our souls in stillness wait. 00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:47.280 Truly, our hope is in you. 00:01:51.840 --> 00:02:00.199 So light our hearts, illumine our minds as we open up your word. Illumine your scriptures, Lord, so that we can 00:02:00.199 --> 00:02:07.840 know and learn and grow and know you better. Would you change us, Lord? Would you fill us with hope? 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:11.360 We pray in your son's name. Amen. 00:02:14.420 --> 00:02:19.819 So whereas it is true that God is present at all times and in all places, when we talk about the 00:02:19.819 --> 00:02:27.340 presence of God, what we mean here is we're referring especially, we're referring to him being 00:02:27.340 --> 00:02:33.480 especially present to his people in terms of relationship. He especially reveals himself and 00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:37.879 communicates himself and gives special blessings to those to whom he is present. 00:02:39.060 --> 00:02:45.139 Adam and Eve were the first to whom God was present. He placed them in the Garden of Eden and there he lived in 00:02:45.139 --> 00:02:51.339 loving relationship with them. Even though God was present throughout all creation, he was especially present to 00:02:51.339 --> 00:02:56.639 them there. In chapter 3, we read and find him walking in the cool of the garden. 00:02:56.639 --> 00:03:03.919 He was especially present to Adam and Eve and he gave Adam and Eve responsibilities. They had a mission, 00:03:04.279 --> 00:03:11.099 which was to fill the earth with the knowledge of him and his glory by being fruitful and multiplying 00:03:11.099 --> 00:03:19.459 and by cultivating the garden. And God gave them boundaries as well. In chapter 2, God says, 00:03:19.460 --> 00:03:23.719 you may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:32.500 you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. But they didn't trust God. 00:03:33.500 --> 00:03:39.080 They chose to do the one thing he forbade. And at that point, everything broke, including their 00:03:39.080 --> 00:03:44.420 relationship to him. And his presence would be a lot different after that. 00:03:44.419 --> 00:03:50.000 They were ashamed of God's presence and they tried to hide from him. 00:03:53.500 --> 00:03:59.139 And God's mission to have his presence known throughout creation was derailed. And so much 00:03:59.139 --> 00:04:05.560 later, God chooses a family by which to bless all of creation. Abraham was the father of that family. 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:11.579 And the family would eventually be known as the nation of Israel. When that nation was in slavery in 00:04:11.580 --> 00:04:18.460 Egypt, God rescued her and entered into covenant with her. They would live in loving relationship to God. 00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:23.199 He would give them the same responsibility, reflecting his image to all the nations. 00:04:24.080 --> 00:04:28.160 And he would give them boundaries. And those boundaries are summarized by what we would call today 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:35.180 the Ten Commandments. His relationship to Israel sounds very similar to the one with Adam and Eve in the 00:04:35.180 --> 00:04:38.740 garden. Listen, in the book of Leviticus, chapter 26, he says, 00:04:38.740 --> 00:04:44.360 I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you. 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:50.800 I will make my dwelling among you and I will walk among you and will be your God. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:05:00.720 I will be your God and you shall be my people. I'm the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:07.699 Egypt that you should not be their slaves. How would he make his dwelling among Israel? 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:13.240 Well, after being rescued from Egypt, as they wandered through the wilderness, he would literally pitch his 00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:20.360 tent in their presence. That tent, a physical tent, was called a tabernacle. Eventually, when Israel settled in 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:27.080 Palestine, the tabernacle was replaced by a temple built on a mountain called Zion. 00:05:28.520 --> 00:05:31.939 And the deepest chamber of this temple was a place called the Holy of Holies. 00:05:32.960 --> 00:05:37.400 And that was the place where God's presence especially intercepted time and space and matter. 00:05:39.080 --> 00:05:46.560 But ever since God rescued Israel from Egypt, his presence was linked with his covenant with them. 00:05:47.639 --> 00:05:49.540 Presence, covenant. No presence, no covenant. 00:05:50.360 --> 00:05:54.680 Israel would enjoy blessings if they obeyed God and suffer punishment for disobeying. 00:05:54.780 --> 00:05:55.980 That's what a covenant is. 00:05:56.840 --> 00:05:58.620 This again from Leviticus 26. 00:05:59.080 --> 00:06:02.060 I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars. 00:06:02.520 --> 00:06:03.759 My soul will abhor you. 00:06:04.060 --> 00:06:05.500 I will scatter you among the nations. 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:07.560 And I will unsheathe the sword after you. 00:06:07.860 --> 00:06:09.280 And your land shall be a desolation. 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:11.040 And your cities shall be a waste. 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:15.520 And so we come to Isaiah chapter 7. 00:06:17.200 --> 00:06:20.240 God's people are now named Judah. 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:25.020 They were Israel, but five-sixths of the nation was carved off in a rebellion. 00:06:25.760 --> 00:06:29.400 And so the people of God are Judah with the capital of Jerusalem. 00:06:29.399 --> 00:06:31.099 And they have a king named Ahaz. 00:06:31.419 --> 00:06:36.419 And he's afraid because there's two nations that have allied themselves against Judah. 00:06:36.620 --> 00:06:37.679 Syria and Ephraim. 00:06:38.799 --> 00:06:41.699 Ahaz is afraid, so he seeks help from the kingdom of Assyria. 00:06:41.919 --> 00:06:44.099 Which is a very interesting ally to make. 00:06:44.519 --> 00:06:47.199 A very strong ally, but so wicked. 00:06:47.899 --> 00:06:48.519 So wicked. 00:06:49.019 --> 00:06:57.939 Assyria is like ISIS and the Third Reich and Khmer Rouge all rolled up into one. 00:06:57.939 --> 00:06:59.199 They are nasty. 00:07:01.819 --> 00:07:05.219 And God says, don't go to them. 00:07:05.819 --> 00:07:06.600 Don't go to them. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:08.360 Trust me. 00:07:09.699 --> 00:07:10.439 Trust me. 00:07:11.699 --> 00:07:15.839 In verse 11 of chapter 7, God says to Ahaz, ask a sign of the Lord your God. 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:19.000 Let it be as deep as Sheol or as high as the heaven. 00:07:20.779 --> 00:07:26.659 God is saying, I will intersect with time and space and matter to confirm to you, Ahaz, 00:07:26.660 --> 00:07:27.840 that I am trustworthy. 00:07:28.280 --> 00:07:30.240 Ahaz is being given a blank check. 00:07:30.900 --> 00:07:32.540 And he's refusing to cash it. 00:07:34.060 --> 00:07:35.640 Well, he knows there are strings attached. 00:07:38.260 --> 00:07:42.560 Ahaz understands, at least subconsciously, that God lives in covenant with his people. 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:47.400 And so I think he thinks, well, anything you give me, God, that is good, 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:54.279 is going to come with a condition, rules to follow, laws to keep, so inconvenient. 00:07:56.759 --> 00:08:06.899 And essentially, he says, I would rather be under the yoke of someone who might flay me alive. 00:08:06.899 --> 00:08:09.099 A favorite practice of the Assyrian kings. 00:08:09.500 --> 00:08:15.659 I would rather be under the yoke of someone who might flay me alive than to submit to you, God. 00:08:19.599 --> 00:08:23.019 It's easy to pick on Ahaz, but man, that's me. 00:08:23.779 --> 00:08:24.299 That's me. 00:08:24.359 --> 00:08:25.539 I'm looking in a mirror here. 00:08:25.719 --> 00:08:26.879 And I think you are too. 00:08:27.679 --> 00:08:32.379 We enjoy the good stuff that comes with being a member of a church or being a Christian, 00:08:32.379 --> 00:08:35.439 but we don't like the submitting part. 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:42.700 What was the name of that satirical op-ed on the internet the other day? 00:08:43.500 --> 00:08:48.639 I'm finally ready to completely and totally surrender a small fraction of my life to God. 00:08:52.200 --> 00:08:56.580 When we don't trust God, it makes sense to trust our own worst enemy. 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:01.360 The root of this problem is that we forget that God truly loves us. 00:09:02.379 --> 00:09:08.600 All of those things he tells us about who we are and what we are to love and what we are to reject 00:09:08.600 --> 00:09:13.240 and what to do with our bodies and our money and our time and our relationships and our desires, 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:18.159 those are boundaries that are meant to protect us and to provide for us. 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:22.220 He loves us by giving us those boundaries. 00:09:23.639 --> 00:09:25.460 But Ahaz has already made up his mind. 00:09:26.360 --> 00:09:29.399 Going to trust Assyria, not God. 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:34.199 God, which means he's entering into covenant with Assyria instead of God. 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:36.419 And he responds with a fake piety. 00:09:36.919 --> 00:09:38.000 God, I won't test you. 00:09:38.220 --> 00:09:39.299 I will not test the Lord. 00:09:40.819 --> 00:09:43.939 He's quoting scripture, trying to be diplomatic with his maker. 00:09:44.840 --> 00:09:46.759 And this exasperates God's prophet. 00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:51.419 And tells Ahaz, you'll be given a sign anyway. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:52.559 This is what's going to happen. 00:09:52.939 --> 00:09:54.240 A child is going to be born. 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:55.600 And his name is Emmanuel. 00:09:55.779 --> 00:09:58.919 And that's going to remind you of my covenant presence. 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:02.000 Which means I will protect you. 00:10:02.740 --> 00:10:07.620 And before this child turns three years old, those armies allied against you will be defeated. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:13.860 How embarrassing. 00:10:13.860 --> 00:10:20.539 And by the time this child turns 12, those two nations will be completely defeated and wiped out. 00:10:22.060 --> 00:10:23.060 Good news, right? 00:10:23.860 --> 00:10:26.840 But the sign of Emmanuel here is two-sided. 00:10:28.560 --> 00:10:32.580 God's presence among them means there are terrible consequences for breaking covenant with him. 00:10:33.580 --> 00:10:37.600 From this point onward, the kings of Judah will be under the yoke of a foreign king. 00:10:37.659 --> 00:10:40.060 This is really the turning point of the whole monarchy. 00:10:40.059 --> 00:10:47.899 Within a generation, Assyria will sweep down from the north in level 46 of Judah's cities. 00:10:50.659 --> 00:10:53.299 After Assyria, Judah's oppressor will be Babylon. 00:10:53.479 --> 00:10:55.379 And Babylon will finish what Assyria started. 00:10:55.799 --> 00:10:57.119 Jerusalem will be destroyed. 00:10:57.500 --> 00:10:59.039 The temple of God will be destroyed. 00:10:59.539 --> 00:11:01.899 And God's people will be hauled off into exile. 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:07.179 With Assyria, Ahaz has taken the tiger by the tail. 00:11:07.179 --> 00:11:13.739 And whatever one trusts besides God will devour him. 00:11:14.139 --> 00:11:19.379 Whatever one trusts besides God will devour him. 00:11:19.379 --> 00:11:23.939 We find this to be true, don't we? 00:11:24.980 --> 00:11:27.799 There's simply nothing in the created order that can satisfy our desires. 00:11:28.220 --> 00:11:33.759 If we were made to be in relationship to an infinite God, then we were meant to desire him. 00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:35.600 We were made to desire him. 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:39.379 Our desires then are infinite and cannot be satisfied with what is finite. 00:11:39.379 --> 00:11:46.460 And so those things, those possessions, fame, success, people, money, lovers, power, 00:11:46.700 --> 00:11:51.679 they either let us down or prove to be insufficient, or they just simply start to bore us. 00:11:51.820 --> 00:11:52.679 They're never enough. 00:11:53.399 --> 00:11:55.460 In the end, they devour us. 00:11:56.480 --> 00:12:00.559 I'm reminded, haunted really, of a letter that someone wrote. 00:12:00.820 --> 00:12:01.779 His name was Ralph Barton. 00:12:02.200 --> 00:12:05.500 He was a famous cartoonist for the New Yorker magazine in the early 20th century. 00:12:05.500 --> 00:12:11.980 He wrote, I have had few difficulties, many friends, great successes. 00:12:12.620 --> 00:12:16.960 I've gone from wife to wife and house to house, visited great countries of the world, 00:12:17.179 --> 00:12:21.919 but I'm fed up with inventing devices to fill up 24 hours of the day. 00:12:22.299 --> 00:12:24.019 That was a suicide note. 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:26.460 He shot himself in the right temple after writing that. 00:12:26.460 --> 00:12:33.759 That note is the dark side of what St. Augustine wrote. 00:12:36.680 --> 00:12:39.060 He wrote, you have formed us for yourself, God. 00:12:40.100 --> 00:12:44.120 Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you. 00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:51.539 God says, let my presence be what satisfies you. 00:12:52.679 --> 00:12:55.320 Let my presence be what gives you confidence. 00:12:56.600 --> 00:12:57.919 Trust me. 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:03.299 Well, Judah's destruction is not the end of the story. 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:09.120 Out of this destruction would emerge a greater opportunity for God to show himself trustworthy. 00:13:09.940 --> 00:13:11.500 The restoration from captivity. 00:13:11.500 --> 00:13:18.480 Looking to the future, another of God's prophets, Jeremiah, would say this. 00:13:19.700 --> 00:13:21.879 Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:27.480 when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:32.799 Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:34.320 to bring them out of the land of Egypt. 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.899 My covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 00:13:39.899 --> 00:13:44.459 And I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:47.039 Hear God's presence? 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:50.740 I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:55.220 No longer shall each one teach his neighbor and his brother, saying, know the Lord. 00:13:55.959 --> 00:13:59.919 For they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. 00:14:00.259 --> 00:14:04.559 For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:06.439 For I will forgive my sins no more. 00:14:06.439 --> 00:14:06.839 For I will forgive my sins no more. 00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:12.359 This prophecy would be fulfilled in a baby born in Bethlehem. 00:14:13.199 --> 00:14:20.379 The child born in Ahaz's time would prefigure another child to be born several hundred years later, 00:14:21.159 --> 00:14:22.479 in the year 4 B.C. 00:14:23.159 --> 00:14:24.779 He would be born of a virgin. 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:27.819 He would be known as God with us. 00:14:28.500 --> 00:14:30.239 Well, because he was indeed God. 00:14:31.079 --> 00:14:32.039 Made flesh. 00:14:32.039 --> 00:14:36.279 John would write that in Jesus, God would tabernacle among us. 00:14:37.959 --> 00:14:39.740 He would pitch his tent here. 00:14:41.539 --> 00:14:42.799 John says this about Jesus. 00:14:43.299 --> 00:14:44.459 To all who did receive him. 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:46.439 Who believed in his name. 00:14:46.959 --> 00:14:49.419 He gave the right to become children of God. 00:14:50.219 --> 00:14:51.879 For those children, that's you and me. 00:14:52.019 --> 00:14:55.039 Jesus would take care of something that we couldn't take care of for ourselves. 00:14:55.659 --> 00:14:58.819 You see, we still live in covenant with God. 00:14:59.500 --> 00:15:01.219 The terms are actually the same. 00:15:01.220 --> 00:15:02.259 Did you know that? 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:05.000 And we don't keep the terms of those covenant. 00:15:07.040 --> 00:15:11.300 Like Ahaz, we daily put our faith and trust and confidence in other things besides God. 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:13.300 Things that would devour us. 00:15:13.460 --> 00:15:17.940 But on the cross, the suffering and death of Jesus, the Son of God says, 00:15:18.500 --> 00:15:21.840 I will endure the curses that your disobedience merited. 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:25.460 A great exchange takes place. 00:15:25.960 --> 00:15:29.639 And to you right, the theologian writes about this exchange. 00:15:29.639 --> 00:15:30.840 He writes this. 00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:32.960 Jesus, the innocent one. 00:15:33.419 --> 00:15:35.259 The one person who has done nothing wrong. 00:15:35.419 --> 00:15:39.080 The one person of the crimes of which Israel as a whole was guilty. 00:15:39.500 --> 00:15:41.799 Has become identified with rebel Israel. 00:15:42.039 --> 00:15:45.039 Who represents God's whole rebel world. 00:15:45.659 --> 00:15:46.220 With us. 00:15:47.100 --> 00:15:47.899 Who are rebels. 00:15:49.059 --> 00:15:49.600 Unclean. 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:50.800 Unfaithful. 00:15:50.800 --> 00:15:51.200 Unloving. 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:51.279 Unfaithful. 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:51.759 Unloving. 00:15:52.220 --> 00:15:52.759 Unholy. 00:15:52.759 --> 00:15:57.519 So that he may take that sin, as it were, into himself and deal with it. 00:15:57.920 --> 00:16:01.820 Give us instead his holiness as a robe. 00:16:02.340 --> 00:16:05.759 His purity as a gift and a power. 00:16:06.180 --> 00:16:07.180 That's the exchange. 00:16:07.340 --> 00:16:07.920 Do you hear it? 00:16:08.620 --> 00:16:11.700 He takes our stuff, all of our junk, and he deals with it. 00:16:11.860 --> 00:16:13.320 And we get his stuff. 00:16:13.320 --> 00:16:17.720 This exchange happens because we become united with Christ. 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:20.920 We are united with Christ. 00:16:22.020 --> 00:16:26.160 The New Testament writers speak about us being in him. 00:16:26.860 --> 00:16:28.420 It's all over the New Testament. 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:33.760 You could say this is how we should primarily understand our life in God. 00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:37.500 United to Christ. 00:16:38.860 --> 00:16:42.180 He could not be any more present then, right? 00:16:42.179 --> 00:16:44.339 He's not in a tent in the desert. 00:16:44.519 --> 00:16:47.859 He's not in a temple on a mountain. 00:16:48.859 --> 00:16:50.579 But he's united to us. 00:16:52.239 --> 00:16:54.179 This is where we find ourselves today. 00:16:54.739 --> 00:16:58.079 In the history of God making himself present to his people. 00:16:59.019 --> 00:17:01.079 And it's the fulfillment of God with us. 00:17:01.579 --> 00:17:03.719 God is closer than close. 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:13.460 And we could spend a year exploring the ramifications of being united to Christ. 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:16.120 We'll just briefly touch on two. 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:18.059 The first is our position. 00:17:18.779 --> 00:17:20.000 The second is our prayer. 00:17:21.940 --> 00:17:24.559 And when I say position, I'm talking about status. 00:17:25.559 --> 00:17:26.460 Our identity. 00:17:26.460 --> 00:17:29.740 We've talked about a great exchange taking place. 00:17:30.220 --> 00:17:32.700 Christ getting our stuff and we get his. 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:36.019 And being united to Christ, we get his position. 00:17:37.019 --> 00:17:38.000 His status. 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:40.460 First born son of God. 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:43.759 First born here doesn't mean chronologically born first. 00:17:44.180 --> 00:17:46.860 It means position within the family. 00:17:46.859 --> 00:17:49.859 We are God's favorite child. 00:17:50.579 --> 00:17:52.759 You are God's favorite son. 00:17:53.139 --> 00:17:55.219 You are God's favorite daughter. 00:17:55.359 --> 00:18:00.819 We are all God's favorite child paradoxically at the same time. 00:18:02.819 --> 00:18:05.579 This forms our primary identity, right? 00:18:08.259 --> 00:18:10.259 You are who God says you are. 00:18:10.899 --> 00:18:13.299 You are not who the trolls say you are. 00:18:13.299 --> 00:18:13.779 You are. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:19.919 Your identity isn't in your job or your job status or lack thereof. 00:18:20.839 --> 00:18:23.079 It's not in your health or your illness. 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:25.960 It's not in your victories or your struggles. 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:30.240 But it's as God's favorite child. 00:18:32.059 --> 00:18:33.059 There's confidence. 00:18:33.899 --> 00:18:34.940 There's trust. 00:18:36.299 --> 00:18:37.599 The king is our dad. 00:18:39.419 --> 00:18:43.180 And so we can go to him with anything that we need or want. 00:18:43.879 --> 00:18:44.779 In prayer. 00:18:45.399 --> 00:18:46.680 We approach the king. 00:18:47.700 --> 00:18:48.680 He's our dad. 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:49.960 That's the second thing. 00:18:50.579 --> 00:18:53.639 The second implication that we'll explore of being united to Christ. 00:18:54.599 --> 00:18:55.740 It's how we pray. 00:18:58.220 --> 00:19:02.559 So we know God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:07.299 In being united to Christ, the Holy Spirit indwells us. 00:19:07.419 --> 00:19:09.940 God is closer than close. 00:19:09.940 --> 00:19:13.820 Which is the name of a book, by the way, which I find very helpful to understand this whole thing. 00:19:14.320 --> 00:19:15.000 Highly recommend it. 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:16.400 A little book called Closer Than Close. 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:16.980 Anyway. 00:19:17.559 --> 00:19:19.100 The Spirit indwells us. 00:19:19.580 --> 00:19:21.240 We are united to Jesus. 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:25.279 He brings our prayers to the Father. 00:19:25.460 --> 00:19:26.700 He is our dad. 00:19:26.700 --> 00:19:30.279 You see, we have entered into this life of the Trinity. 00:19:30.420 --> 00:19:37.019 The perfect, loving community of the Trinity that has existed in mutual love and affection and praise. 00:19:37.140 --> 00:19:39.340 And has existed like that since the beginning of time. 00:19:39.400 --> 00:19:40.759 And then we find ourselves. 00:19:42.460 --> 00:19:47.519 And you know, God, when he brought you into his life, he knew what he was getting. 00:19:47.940 --> 00:19:54.340 He knew you weren't going to be like this perfectly made, had it all together, no baggage kind of person. 00:19:54.339 --> 00:19:56.419 He knew you were bringing in plenty of baggage. 00:19:56.959 --> 00:19:57.159 Right? 00:19:57.699 --> 00:19:59.539 And that is where he deals with it. 00:19:59.859 --> 00:20:06.439 That's where he wants you to express your anger, your bitterness, your fear, your frustration like we did in Psalm 80 tonight. 00:20:06.519 --> 00:20:07.220 Did you notice that? 00:20:07.579 --> 00:20:08.740 That's a very honest prayer. 00:20:09.179 --> 00:20:11.559 That's what our prayers can be like. 00:20:13.059 --> 00:20:14.179 United to Christ. 00:20:14.980 --> 00:20:15.919 Not afraid. 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:20.300 It's a lesson I'm learning lately. 00:20:21.300 --> 00:20:27.120 Speaking with my spiritual director who's helping me work out this issue I have. 00:20:27.120 --> 00:20:38.759 So I was talking to him and I said, Donovan, I could really use your help with feeling anger towards an organization that doesn't necessarily have like a particular face I can be angry at. 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:42.539 Now I understand how to get over anger with a person, right? 00:20:42.539 --> 00:20:48.559 You do these steps, one, two, three, four, and then over time, like my heart changes and melts. 00:20:49.500 --> 00:20:50.180 And right. 00:20:50.359 --> 00:20:52.240 So what about with an organization? 00:20:52.420 --> 00:20:53.279 How do I do that? 00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:56.559 How do I get over this anger or frustration or bitterness? 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:02.539 And he says, well, Dan, you sound like typical evangelical. 00:21:03.059 --> 00:21:08.000 Like you've taken the right steps to solving your problem and getting it right. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:11.240 But it doesn't sound like you've started at square one. 00:21:12.660 --> 00:21:19.519 Which is telling God all about your anger and your bitterness and expressing that to him. 00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:21.759 How frustrated you are and hurt. 00:21:23.299 --> 00:21:24.680 So that's what I've been doing. 00:21:26.579 --> 00:21:27.660 God, I'm pissed. 00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:31.420 Why did this happen? 00:21:32.119 --> 00:21:34.980 Like why is this organization not being held accountable? 00:21:34.980 --> 00:21:39.120 Why did, wait, you let this happen, didn't you? 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:41.099 I think I'm angry at you. 00:21:41.880 --> 00:21:42.620 What's going on? 00:21:43.160 --> 00:21:43.680 You know what I mean? 00:21:43.819 --> 00:21:50.480 So I've been able to express those emotions to God. 00:21:50.539 --> 00:21:53.140 And even so, like I feel my heart melting. 00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:54.620 Ask me in a few months how it's going. 00:21:54.619 --> 00:22:04.259 But I think that also helps us wrestle with the things in the world that we can't change. 00:22:05.059 --> 00:22:08.339 And one of those situations, as you know, it's probably for you. 00:22:08.759 --> 00:22:09.159 Syria. 00:22:09.439 --> 00:22:14.259 I don't know if you've seen videos from what's going on in Aleppo right now. 00:22:15.199 --> 00:22:16.759 Children being made orphans. 00:22:18.099 --> 00:22:19.459 Wives being made widows. 00:22:19.460 --> 00:22:24.120 There's nothing we can do about it, it feels like. 00:22:25.600 --> 00:22:27.000 Who do we get angry against? 00:22:28.740 --> 00:22:33.680 Well, if we're united to Christ, if we're welcomed into that perfect fellowship of the Trinity, 00:22:34.860 --> 00:22:36.000 let's bring that into there. 00:22:37.299 --> 00:22:38.240 Let's express to God. 00:22:38.579 --> 00:22:40.420 God, why are you letting this happen? 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:41.340 What's going on here? 00:22:41.400 --> 00:22:42.180 This is wrong. 00:22:43.180 --> 00:22:44.140 Do something. 00:22:46.100 --> 00:22:46.940 Do something. 00:22:46.940 --> 00:22:52.920 Intersect time and space and matter and protect these people. 00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:00.620 We can talk to God like that. 00:23:01.180 --> 00:23:01.860 Because we're his children. 00:23:02.320 --> 00:23:03.980 He's fully accepted us and loves us. 00:23:05.500 --> 00:23:07.400 He's fully present to us. 00:23:08.080 --> 00:23:09.180 It's a great place to be. 00:23:10.519 --> 00:23:13.380 Now, God has asked in chapter 7. 00:23:14.220 --> 00:23:15.240 He asks Isaiah. 00:23:15.240 --> 00:23:16.420 He tells Isaiah. 00:23:16.900 --> 00:23:17.700 Ask for a sign. 00:23:18.740 --> 00:23:20.880 A sign to prove my trustworthiness. 00:23:21.819 --> 00:23:25.900 And God doesn't require Ahaz to make this abstract leap of faith. 00:23:27.940 --> 00:23:30.960 God is willing to intersect with his world of space and time and matter. 00:23:31.099 --> 00:23:32.920 According to scriptures, God has always done so. 00:23:34.279 --> 00:23:35.000 Wouldn't that be great? 00:23:35.339 --> 00:23:36.220 If he could do that in our day. 00:23:36.299 --> 00:23:36.819 Like right here. 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:38.059 For you. 00:23:38.180 --> 00:23:38.559 For me. 00:23:39.019 --> 00:23:40.680 Why doesn't he do that? 00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:43.560 I mean, it would be super encouraging, right? 00:23:44.080 --> 00:23:48.860 If he would somehow intersect with our space and our time. 00:23:49.299 --> 00:23:56.700 If he would somehow communicate to us like physical stuff that he's really here. 00:23:59.700 --> 00:24:01.000 Elizabeth knew what I was talking about. 00:24:02.340 --> 00:24:02.840 That's right. 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:03.779 He does it every week. 00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:05.640 He does it every week here. 00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:07.740 He does so for us tonight. 00:24:08.860 --> 00:24:10.520 He prepares for us this meal. 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:12.200 And in the bread that we eat. 00:24:12.280 --> 00:24:13.600 And in the wine that we drink. 00:24:13.700 --> 00:24:15.000 He is truly present. 00:24:17.900 --> 00:24:19.660 This just gets better and better, doesn't it? 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:22.860 Here he communicates his love for us. 00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:26.500 And strengthens and confirms our faith. 00:24:26.500 --> 00:24:30.579 So as you come forward for communion tonight. 00:24:30.700 --> 00:24:31.759 As you're waiting in line. 00:24:32.259 --> 00:24:33.299 Come in expectation. 00:24:33.799 --> 00:24:35.180 Come as God's favorite son. 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:36.740 And his favorite daughter. 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:38.440 Come expressing your joy. 00:24:38.839 --> 00:24:39.380 Your fear. 00:24:39.700 --> 00:24:40.200 Your doubt. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:41.339 Your gratitude. 00:24:41.859 --> 00:24:43.019 God is giving you a sign. 00:24:44.700 --> 00:24:45.519 He is with you. 00:24:45.940 --> 00:24:46.599 He's Emmanuel. 00:24:47.160 --> 00:24:48.579 In the name of the Father and of the Son. 00:24:48.819 --> 00:24:49.759 And of the Holy Spirit. 00:24:50.359 --> 00:24:50.839 Let's pray. 00:24:50.839 --> 00:24:50.859 Let's pray.