Immanuel: Grace for the Unworthy

Father, sometimes your word is very, very puzzling and hard to understand and not what we were expecting.

And Lord, today that's one of those times.

And so we ask that your Holy Spirit would illuminate our hearts and minds so that we might understand your word

and that it would give us great comfort in your great offer of grace to know that Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us every day of our lives.

And until we see you face to face and enter the new heaven and the new earth for all eternity.

So Father, bring your word home to us.

And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

Amen.

It says the solemn setting of the timepiece.

So it's a Christmas sermon.

Let's consider doom, judgment, and hell.

Now, you might be wondering that you might say this is the weirdest Christmas sermon that I have ever heard.

Even the fact that we are going to consider doom, judgment, and hell.

You go, I thought this was a Christmas sermon.

Well, here's what happened.

So we have a church plant, Messiah West slash Messiah Kanata.

And so the pastor there, who's an associate of this church, he and I are talking about, like, what should we preach for Christmas?

You know, we'll have 18th, 24th, and 25th will be our Christmas services.

They won't have a service on the 24th.

We do.

And so we're talking about what to preach on.

And he's just starting out in ministry.

I've been doing this, you know, since, you know, since, you know, Moses was a little baby.

And so we're just talking about it.

And then he said, you know, well, let's, you know, let's, why don't we do this?

Like, there's this very ancient Bible reading pattern that goes way back.

It's over 1,600 years old.

And according to this very ancient Bible reading pattern, on Christmas, you would read, the gospel text would be John, John 1.

And the non-gospel text would be from Hebrews chapter 1.

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

And why don't we do, like, one of each of that?

And then we're talking about what to do.

And then they said, you know what, why, you know, the other big Christmas text is in Matthew.

But rather than preaching on Matthew, why don't we preach, you know, Matthew quotes Isaiah 7.

So why don't we read the Isaiah 7 text?

And I say, sure, let's do that.

And so that's what we're doing.

But here, lo and behold, two things happen.

The first thing that happens is, and this, by the way, is what happens to me all the time when I preach from the Old Testament.

I look at it for the first time and I think to myself, what on earth am I going to say about this weird text?

The second thing, actually, there were three things that happened.

The second thing that happened is, and this happens to many people when they look at Isaiah 7 for the first time.

For Christians who know that he gets quoted in Matthew, they go, how on earth does this text connect?

Like, why did Matthew think this was a, like, what's going on here?

And then the third thing that happened to me is that I'm getting to read into it.

I realize that it's a text that talks about human doom and God's judgment.

But it does it in the context of a profound offer of grace.

So, let's look.

If you have your Bibles, the text will be up on the screen.

But if it's always better to have your own Bibles, you can look around and see if I've missed the context.

Just one other note, just checking for some of you.

Don't watch the soccer game pretending to look at your Bible on your phone or your iPad.

That's sort of not, like, if you want to do that, you can go out there and just watch the soccer game and, you know.

In fact, actually, it's going to be important to be hypocritical to do it, which is sort of connected to the text.

Anyway, Isaiah 7.

I have the wrong book open.

Here we go.

Isaiah 7.

So, here's how it goes.

Isaiah 7, verse 10 to 17.

Isaiah 7:10–17

Just one thing to know.

This book was written somewhere between, like, the 740-ish B.C. to 800 and, you know, 810 or 90 or something like that B.C.,

which is a long time ago, and people might wonder how on earth you could ever think you could get anything worthwhile from something which was written that long ago.

But it actually has a very profound psychological insight, and a very, very profound psychological insight, even though it was written so long ago,

which, of course, I would expect because I think it's not only something that was written so long ago, but it's also God's Word.

So, that's an old text, and here's how it goes.

Verse 10, Isaiah 7, verse 10.

Isaiah 7:10

Again, the Lord spoke to Ahaz, ask a sign of the Lord your God.

Let it be deep as Sheol, sort of like that's another word for hell, or high as heaven.

Now, just sort of pause there for a second.

Like, who are these people and what's going on?

Like, why does it say again?

So, okay.

So, basically, Ahaz is the king of Judah.

And, like, right now when we think of Israel, there's just the one nation of Israel, and it's called Israel.

But back in those days, the Jewish nation got divided into two separate countries with two different kings.

The northern one, and throughout this, it's going to be called either Ephraim or Israel.

And the southern one is called Judah, after the main tribe that stayed with King David's line of sons.

So, Ahaz is the king.

And what's going on here is actually a perennial issue, and it's just as prevalent as an issue today.

I was reading a news report a little while ago that Poland has been arming itself, has been on a major arms race,

because they don't trust the Americans in the European Union to protect them.

If Russia was to continue to expand or there were some other types of problems.

They don't trust Germany.

They don't trust the EU.

And learning from Ukraine, where the Ukrainians have sort of had to deal with this themselves,

they've been arming themselves to the teeth.

So, there's something like, and you know about all the saber rattling that's going around,

about Chinese expansion and Taiwan.

And so, this is just like reading, watching BBC World News, reading The Economist,

like just following the world.

It's as old as history.

And what's happened is there's this very, very mighty empire called the Assyrian Empire.

And they've been quiet for about three decades.

But they've gotten restless.

They've been dealing with some internal things.

They've gotten dealt with.

They've gotten restless.

They want to expand their empire.

And they're looking down to this region where there's a whole lot of small nations.

And what's happened is they've decided they're going to invade.

The Assyrians are going to evade.

They're starting to move down.

And so, the small nations do what small nations do compared to a mighty empire.

A couple of them get together and say,

maybe if we form an alliance, if we all work together,

there'll be enough of us so we can resist the Assyrian army.

And scholars differ whether there's two or four nations in it.

We know there's two.

But basically, that northern kingdom, which is called Israel now, back then,

and not Judah, which is under David,

and this other group, a nation that we would now call Syria,

and potentially two other nations.

Scholars disagree whether Edom and Philistia were also involved in it.

But they decide they're going to create an alliance to resist the Assyrian empire.

And they want Judah to join them.

And Ahaz is having cold feet about wanting to join them.

And so, these nations decide they're going to do,

well, they're going to do what happens all the time in the world.

In fact, wasn't there just an attempt to have a coup in Germany?

So, what they decide to do is they're going to send some troops,

and I guess some special forces types down there.

They're going to kill Ahaz, put their puppet in place,

and that puppet will now rule that country,

and they will now, depending on how you count,

three or five nations will all work together to resist the Assyrians.

So, Assyria, so Ahaz is the king,

and he knows that there's this pressure that's been going on.

And when it says, again, that was because just before this,

Isaiah has confronted him about this whole situation

and calling him that he needs to trust God's promises,

the Lord's promises, that he would protect the Davidic line,

he would protect his people,

and that Ahaz has to trust in the Lord,

that that's the primary way.

It doesn't mean that you don't bring in water.

It doesn't mean you don't arm your troops.

But beyond all of those things,

the fundamental thing is that he needs to trust the Lord.

That's what's just gone on.

And so, he's speaking to him again.

That's why, look at verse 10 again.

Again, the Lord spoke to Ahaz.

So, he spoke to him earlier.

That's verses 1 to 9.

You can go read that later if you want.

And Ahaz, he says to Ahaz,

listen, you need a sign to show

that God is actually going to do what he's promised,

that he'll protect you, the nation,

that there will be victory,

that you will not succumb to Assyria

and be conquered by it.

And so, verse 11,

ask a sign of the Lord,

your God.

Let it be as deep as hell

or as high as heaven.

And what we see here that's going on

is very, very, very significant.

You see, and this is what,

if you just, if you were to read the whole book,

and then if you were to read 2 Kings,

and you look around,

and you read very, very carefully,

what you discover is that Ahaz

has already made up his mind about what to do.

Between the first nine verses and this,

the first account and this one,

he's already made his mind up.

And what he's done is he's taken money,

he's emptied the treasury,

he's taken many of the most precious items

of the temple,

and he's given them to the king of Assyria.

He's already become a vassal

of the Assyrian empire,

and he's paid off the Assyrians

to invade Israel and Syria

and the other countries and kill them.

He's already done that.

Now, he's hidden it from the people,

but he's already done that.

That's what he's done.

Now,

what you think,

when you realize this,

one of the things then you're going to see

right off the bat,

this is a,

when you understand this,

this, what you have here

is a profound act of grace by God.

A profound act of grace.

Ahaz is given an opportunity to repent

and to trust in the Lord.

He's very unworthy.

In fact,

if you were an Israelite back then

and you understood that he's,

in fact,

sold the most precious items

from your worship and your temple,

and emptied your treasury,

like you would be furious at him.

But God offers him

a chance to repent.

He offers him grace.

And he says,

you can pick a sign

to show

that not only am I offering you

a chance to come under,

back under the Lord,

but I'm offering a chance

to show you

that the Lord will,

in fact,

keep his promise to you

to protect you.

And you can ask any sign you want.

It can be as deep as hell.

It can be as high as heaven.

How does Ahaz respond?

Well, look at verse 12.

It tells us how he responds.

And see,

when you understand this,

you understand,

well, here,

listen to it.

But Ahaz said,

verse 12,

I will not ask

and I will not put the Lord

to the test.

Ah, he's so pious.

He is such a godly man.

But he's not.

His answer isn't pious.

You know,

it's like back in the day,

I don't think they do it anymore.

You know,

when a U.S. president

got in trouble,

what would you see

the next Sunday?

You'd see the biggest,

fattest,

blackest Bible

they could find

in his hand

as he's walking into church.

And that's what Ahaz is doing.

Yes, I'm very pious.

Of course,

it's wrong

to put the Lord to the test.

No,

that's not what's going on, Ahaz.

You're refusing grace.

You're refusing

the opportunity

to repent.

And you do not want,

you do not want it

come to light

that the Lord

is going to deliver you

and you just gave away

all the money.

How will that look

for Ahaz?

Because for Ahaz,

what's most important

is Ahaz.

that's what's most important.

And that's going to just

knock the legs underneath.

You see,

the Bible has nothing

to do with your daily life.

None of us

or none of the world

ever does anything

to do remotely with that.

We're never concerned

with appearances

and our own importance

and position.

You know,

so I like to say

in this church,

one of the problems

people have

when they read the Bible

is they expect

something like

a Hallmark movie

and they get

human reality

in all its mess.

And it catches us

by surprise.

So,

how does the Lord

respond

to Ahaz's

hypocrisy

and his refusal

to accept grace?

His refusal

to accept

the opportunity

to repent?

Well,

that's what is happening

in the next verses.

Verses 13

through 16

in particular.

We see how the Lord

responds.

And here's how

the Lord responds.

Look at verse 13.

And he said,

here then,

O house of David.

And when Isaiah speaks,

it's God speaking.

And he said,

here then,

O house of David.

Because Ahaz

isn't just

Ahaz.

He is,

in a sense,

the current

representative

of the house

of David,

which the Jewish

people have been

hoping

that it is

through that house

that the Messiah

will come.

it's through that

house,

that line,

that the Messiah

will come.

And so,

the Lord speaks

to Ahaz

because there's

something more

important than

you

here,

Ahaz.

O house of David,

is it too little

for you

to weary men

that you weary

my God also?

So God calls him

on this hypocrisy.

This isn't godliness,

Ahaz.

This is just

your attempt

to try to

weary me,

wear me down.

And frankly,

which is going to

happen when people

hear what you've done,

you're just wearying

people as well.

Your hypocrisy

accomplishes nothing.

Your superficial,

surface religion

and piety

accomplishes

absolutely nothing

other than

to weary people

and to weary

people of the

true and living

God.

Now,

for us,

when we catch

people in hypocrisy

of such a major

thing,

we write them

off.

We cancel

them.

We ghost

them.

Is that what

God does?

Well,

let's look what

he says next.

Verse 14.

Therefore,

the Lord himself

will still give

you a sign.

What's the sign?

And for those of you

who are Christians

and you're familiar

with the Bible story,

here's the sign.

Behold,

the virgin shall

conceive and bear

a son and shall

call his name

Emmanuel.

Right?

You see,

this sign is

originally given

to a hypocrite

who's rejected

grace.

Rejected the sign,

rejected the

opportunity to

repent and

God says,

I'm going to

give you a sign

anyway.

And it's this

sign that

Matthew,

700 years

later,

will say is

fulfilled in

the birth of

Jesus,

the virgin

birth of

Jesus.

And,

well,

we're going to

talk again.

And some of

you guys say,

whoa,

whoa,

whoa,

okay,

George,

what's,

uh,

ba,

ba,

ba,

ba,

ba,

ba,

ba,

ba,

ba,

ba,

virgin birth.

I mean,

that's how,

like,

George,

just to even

talk about a

virgin birth

just shows

that you're

ignorant,

you don't

know science,

you can't

think.

And God

with us,

I thought God

was everywhere.

Like,

George,

none of this

makes sense.

So,

by the way,

I'm not going

to talk about

that right now.

I'll just

sort of put a

little sticky

note with it.

If you want to

hear me talk

about it,

come on

Christmas Eve

or Christmas

morning or

both,

because I'm

going to

talk about

one on

Christmas Eve

and one on

Christmas

morning.

How can

God be

present if he's

everywhere,

and how can

there be a

virgin birth?

And you

don't have

to kiss

your brains

goodbye to

believe it.

It's not a

matter that

they were

all gullible

that they

believed this

sign.

But the

other thing

you might

ask is,

George,

it seems

a little

bit unfair

to Ahaz

to say

that I'm

going to

give you

a sign,

and by

the way,

you're

going to

have to

wait 700

years to

see it.

That seems

not quite

gracious of

God.

Well,

let's look

at the rest

of what is

said.

Verse 14,

we'll read

verse 14

again,

therefore the

Lord himself

will give

you a sign,

behold,

the virgin

shall conceive

and bear a

son,

and shall

call his

name Emmanuel.

Verse 15,

he shall eat

curds and

honey when

he knows how

to refuse the

evil and

choose the

good.

For before

the boy knows

how to

refuse the

evil and

choose the

good,

the land

whose two

kings you

dread will

be deserted.

Now,

just sort of

pause there.

It depends a

little bit on

the context,

but in one

of the context,

the language

of curds

and honey

is a

reference,

and that's

the reference

here,

is a reference

to devastation.

It's a reference

to the fact

that what you

really need,

you just have

one little,

you have a

couple of

goats,

and you need

to just be,

all you can

do is just

basically eat

found stuff.

You have your

goats that you

keep alive,

because goats

can survive,

they're very

hardy,

and you're just

surviving on

their milk and

the honey that

you can find.

It's an image

in this

particular case

of great

hardship.

And what he's

saying is that

there's a boy

who's going to

be born,

and before the

boy, in a sense,

reaches the age

of being able

to make moral

decisions that

are binding,

which let's say

would be around

12,

before this

happens,

the nations

that you fear,

they will no

longer be a

worry.

Now,

so,

what,

so,

so here's

the issue.

I could go all

grammar nerd on

you at this

point in time,

but it's a sermon,

not a grammar nerd

lecture,

but basically what

happens is if you

look at the text

very,

very,

very,

very carefully,

what's happening

here is that

there's a,

there's a bit of

room in the

word virgin,

and there's a

subtle shift in

the language,

and when you

combine that with

the context,

what you see

is that God

promises a

sign for his

time right then,

for Ahaz,

but at the same

time that he

promises a sign

that,

that can be

understood for

right,

right then,

he also,

it also would be

obvious to

everybody that

that couldn't be

all of the

sign,

because the

sign,

that sign

isn't as

deep as

hell and

as high

as heaven,

that there's,

like that

language and

the other

language that

goes on implies

that there has

to be a

later fulfillment

that is

greater,

and it comes

with this

subtle shift

of boy,

so here's the

thing,

the fundamental

meaning of

virgin is

virgin,

but it also

has,

in a sense,

a secondary

meaning,

that it could

just mean a

woman,

a young woman

who's a

virgin right

now,

but isn't a

virgin when she

has a boy,

it goes from

child to

boy,

and what

he's saying

is that

right now,

within 12

years,

within the

time that a

boy,

even in the

midst of

devastation,

is old

enough that

he can be

held responsible

for his

moral decisions,

Syria and

the northern

kingdom of

Israel will

not be a

concern,

and that

prophecy came

true.

within two

years,

Syria was

destroyed,

and in

less than a

dozen years,

not only was

the northern

kingdom

destroyed,

it was

destroyed,

destroyed,

destroyed,

destroyed,

destroyed,

destroyed.

There are,

in fact,

every Jewish

person you

meet is

descended from

either the

tribe of

Levi,

Benjamin,

or Judah,

because all

of the other

tribes were

lost,

in 722

when Assyria

crushed the

northern kingdom

and carried

the Jewish

people away

to vanish

into history.

You see,

if you think

about it for

a second,

you know,

just because

they didn't

have TikTok

and flush

toilets didn't

mean people

back then

were dumb.

In fact,

there's an

argument that

would be

made that

TikTok is

making you

dumber than

they were.

Bit of an

aside point,

TikTok

doesn't

raise your

IQ.

Probably

lowers it,

as with

most social

media.

And if

Isaiah just

made prophecies

and all of

them were for

700 years in

the future,

or 2,700

years in the

future,

or 3,000

years in the

future,

who on earth

would have

believed him

or kept

his book?

He had to

be having

prophecies

fulfilled that

were fulfilled

right then,

and that's

what happened

in his life.

Like,

this profound

thing,

the Syrian

threat that

he so

dreaded was

completely

removed,

and the

threat from

Israel was

completely

removed.

But at

the same

time,

when people

saw that,

they said,

okay,

well,

that's like,

whoa,

like,

who would

have seen

that coming?

But at

the same

time,

they go,

yeah,

yeah,

yeah,

yeah,

yeah,

yeah,

yeah,

you know,

but that's

not a

sign that's

as deep

as hell

and as

high as

heaven.

they were

already

familiar with

people as

a people that

God made

promises that

would be

fulfilled right

in the here

and now,

but also

pointed down

history.

And so it

was that

Matthew makes

his profound

announcement,

and I'm sorry,

but it's not

going to be up

on the screen

because I

forgot to

send the

text to

the tech

people to

put it on

screen,

but listen

to how

Matthew chapter

one goes

like this,

verse 18

to 25,

now the

birth of

Jesus Christ

took place

in this way

when his

mother Mary

had been

betrothed

to Joseph

before they

came together,

in other words,

before they

came together

sexually,

she was

found to

be with

child from

the Holy

Spirit.

She had

a virgin

birth.

She wasn't

a virgin

who married

and then

had sexual

knowledge

and then

gave birth.

She never

had sexual

knowledge

and she

became

pregnant.

Before they

came to

be together,

she was

found to

be with

child from

the Holy

Spirit and

her husband

Joseph,

being a

just man

and unwilling

to put

her to

shame,

resolved to

divorce her

quietly.

But as he

considered those

things,

behold,

an angel of

the Lord

appeared to

him in a

dream,

saying,

Joseph,

son of

David.

Notice

that?

House of

David.

Ahaz's

actions,

as we're

going to see

in a moment,

began the

process that

ended the

house of

David,

apparently,

from being

able to

rule.

Joseph,

son of

David,

do not

fear to

take Mary

as your

wife,

for that

which is

conceived

in her

is from

the Holy

Spirit.

She will

bear a

son,

and you

shall call

his name

Jesus,

which means

God saves,

for he

will save

his people

from their

sins.

God

saves.

And then

Matthew

says,

all this

took place

to fulfill

what the

Lord had

spoken by

the prophet.

What had

he spoken?

Behold,

the virgin

shall conceive

and bear

a son,

and they

shall call

his name

Emmanuel,

which means

God with

us.

When

Joseph woke

from sleep,

he did as

the angel

of the

Lord commanded

him.

He took

his wife,

but knew

her not

until she

had given

birth to

a son,

and he

called

the son's

name

Jesus.

God

saves.

Now,

some of

you are

saying,

George,

you said

you were

going to

talk about

doom and

judgment.

I haven't

heard,

I don't

know why

on earth

you said

that.

Is that

just one

of those

cheap

things you

did at

the beginning

as a

teaser to

get our

attention?

No,

look at

verse 17.

Go back

to Isaiah

Isaiah 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7

and look

at verse 17.

And this

is a very

profound

insight

about the

human

condition.

So,

it hasn't

been revealed

that Assyria,

that Ahaz

has already

paid off

Assyria,

that he's

already made

himself a

vassal

to Assyria.

But look

at verse 17.

Okay,

because the

land's going

to be

deserted

and there's

this image

of the

devastation.

There's still

going to be

devastation

that Israel

has to

face.

Verse 17,

the Lord

will bring

upon you

and upon

your people

and upon

your father's

house.

Notice that?

Upon you,

upon your

house,

and upon

your people.

Such days

as have

not come

since the

day that

Ephraim,

that's another

name for

Israel,

departed from

Judah.

What's this

terrible doom?

The king

of Assyria.

Now,

what's

happening here?

His hope

and confidence

is his

doom.

His hope

and confidence

is his

doom.

If there

was a

point,

it would

be this.

Apart

from God's

grace in

Christ,

your hope

is in

fact your

doom.

See,

one of the

things that

people have

about the

doctrine of

judgment in

Christianity

and about

hell is that

we often say,

yeah, yeah, yeah,

yeah, yeah, yeah,

I mean, this is

just completely

and utterly

fair.

Here I am

wanting to

live a

completely

and utterly

fine and

normal life

and God

grabs me

by the

hair and

drags me

off to

this place

and inflicts

all of

these

tortures

upon me

and this

is a

completely

abhorrent

image.

No, no,

no, no,

no, no,

no, no,

no.

What if

happens

in judgment

is that

God says

your will

be done.

All your

life you've

wanted to

serve money,

you will

spend eternity

serving money.

All your

life you

were concerned

about maintaining

your appearance,

all you'll

do is

try to

manage your

appearance

for all

eternity.

all your

life you've

just wanted

power,

well that's

just what

you're going

to have,

it's going

to consume

you,

it's going

to eat

you up,

it's going

to spit

you out,

you can't

live in

a universe,

you can't

live in

eternity

with a

billion people

who all

want to be

the center

of the

universe,

that means

you're just

going to be

locked up

by yourself

and your

desire to

have that

which you

can't

possibly

ever have

because that's

just not

reality,

that will

eat you

up.

Your

hope

apart from

Christ

is your

doom.

We already

see it on

this side

of life,

don't we?

We see

marriages

messed up

because people

have wanted

to serve

their sexual

appetites,

to serve

money,

to serve

career,

to serve

all sorts

of foolish

things,

to maybe

serve a

political

party or a

business that

just chews you

up and spits

you out,

and we see

it already

even on this

side of the

grave,

and that's

this profound

thing.

But some

of you might

say,

George,

are you

saying that

Christians are

better?

Are you

saying that

that's not

your case?

Are you

saying,

George,

that you

and other

Christians like

you,

that you

somehow or

another aren't

like this,

that you just

have the right

types of

desires,

and you're

able to

repent?

No,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

that's not

what this

text is

all about.

The text is

that I

desperately need

this good news

from God,

a good news

that will go

down to the

depths of

hell and

the heights

of heaven.

I need one

who can both

deal with the

depths of

hell and the

heights of

heaven,

but will be

with me

and with

you.

That's what

I need.

That's what

I need.

You see,

the fact of

the matter

is,

is what,

remember how

the text

all began?

The Lord

offers grace

to the

unworthy

Ahaz.

And the

fact of

the matter

is,

is that

the Lord

does not

need my

worthiness,

I need

his grace.

You,

the Lord

does not

need your

worthiness,

you need

his grace.

And the

good news

of the

gospel

isn't,

well,

read this

text and

go ahead

and do it.

No,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no.

You see,

what happens

is,

you know,

I've never

swam,

been caught

up in a

riptide,

I've heard

about them,

and I,

you know,

I know there's

places on the

Ottawa River

you're not

supposed to

swim because

there's these

deadly currents,

and I know

that very

strong swimmers

can go there

and they can

capture it

by currents

and they can

be dragged

down and

they can

go to their

doom even

though they're

very,

very strong

swimmers,

and the

message of

the gospel

is not

that when

I am

caught in

the riptide

and the

currents

of my

desires

that will

be my

doom,

that God

calls down

from heaven

and says,

swim like

this.

Well,

that's useless

advice.

I will

still be

consumed by

the riptide,

the currents

of my

desires

apart from

Christ?

No.

I have

one who

is both

very humble

but very,

very strong,

who jumps

into the

riptide of

my

currents

and is

right in

in my

mess

and I

cannot

fight

the power

of the

currents

of my

desires

that are

my

doom

but I

have a

strong and

certain hope

and his

name is

Jesus

and he

is God

with us

and he

jumps

into the

currents

of my

desire

that will

doom me

and he

rescues

me.

That is

my hope

in life

and death.

I have

no other.

I cannot

swim.

I need

one who

can.

And

Jesus

comes

amongst

us

in human

history.

He is

not a

deistic

or amorphous

God.

God

who is

everywhere

is another

way of

saying that

he is

nowhere.

Little

pointer.

You say

God is

everywhere,

you have

just said

he is

nowhere.

He is

not

distant.

He

comes

with us

and he

lived

amongst

us.

And

because

of who

he is,

because

he is

God

with us,

he can

transcend

time and

history and

he can

be with

you and

with me.

The death

he dies,

he dies

with me.

He dies

in a

sense

for the

currents

in my

life that

I cannot

fix.

And he

dies on

the cross

for me and

he understands

those currents.

He bears

them and

he rises

from the

dead having

defeated

them.

And he

is with

me and

it's now

his

righteousness

that

closes

me,

clothes

me and

it's

his

taking

my

place

that

pardons

me.

And he

is with

me now.

You know,

there's

wonderful

words from

that great

old hymn,

Great is

Thy

Faithfulness.

Pardon

from sin

and a

peace

that

endureth

your own

dear

presence

to cheer

and to

guide.

That is

Emmanuel.

That is

God with

us.

your own

dear

presence

to cheer

and to

guide.

I want

to close

by saying

the words

of a

Christmas

carol.

it's the

last verse

of a

little

town

of

Bethlehem.

Listen

to how

profound

it is.

I'm not

going to

attempt

to sing

it.

O

holy

child

of

Bethlehem,

right,

Emmanuel,

descend

to us

we pray.

Cast

out our

sin

and enter

in.

Be

born

in us

today.

We

hear the

Christmas

angels

the great

glad

tidings

tell.

O

come to

us,

abide

with

us,

our

Lord

Emmanuel.

That

is

the

gospel.

That

is the

good

news.

For

those

of us

who

believe

and trust

in

Emmanuel

today

is an

opportunity

to say

Lord

Jesus

thank you

so much

that you

did not

come for

the

worthy

but for

the

unworthy.

I

am

unworthy

and I

am

yours.

Be

Emmanuel

with me

every

day.

Every

day

until I

see you

face to

face.

And if

you are

here and

you have

not

known

him

then

just

look up

those

last

words

of a

little

town

of

Bethlehem

and

make it

your

conversion

prayer.

Let's

stand.

I'm

going to

say it

again.

For

some of

you it

can be

an act

of just