God With Us

I occasionally get to speak on Parliament Hill and I went to speak on

Parliament Hill on Friday to some of the staff for the MPs, some of the staff are

the senators and some of the permanent employees on Parliament Hill and I was

there on Friday and of course for many of them they were in complete and utter

shock because even those who worked on Parliament Hill were caught completely

and utterly by surprise with what happened on Thursday with Andrew Scheer

resigning as leader of the Conservative Party. You know you can think you know how

things are going to unfold and how what's going to be happening next and when

there'll be reviews and you just think you can know the future but in fact you

really can't. Monday night of the same week I met with the council of the church

and one of the things we did was look at the first draft of our budget for 2020

and at the heart of looking at a budget of course is trying to have a bit of a

sense as to how much money you're going to receive in the coming year. If you

don't have any idea about the money that's going to come in it's sort of hard to

hard to make some type of a budget. This church doesn't make any money from

rentals or sales or anything like that. We're completely not really dependent upon

the support of people who who make this their church home and of course you don't

really know. It's a very human problem on one hand or very human part of the human

condition to want to know the future. It's part of the human condition to sort

of think you do know the future in some way but the fact of the matter is is that

we don't know the future and every single one of us when we have coffee after the

service we can probably tell often in tragic terms how you think something's

going to happen or something's going to unfold only to be completely and utterly

blindsided by something that you had not anticipated had never dreamed would

happen and completely and utterly changes how your afternoon your day your

week that next month is going to be. It's a very very human aspect that we both want

to control think we can control but reality keeps showing us we can't control

the future and we don't know the future. The text that we're going to look at in a

moment is actually a text that in an odd way speaks into this human condition in a

very very powerful way. I'm beginning a new sermon series if you go and listen to

the whole of Handel's Messiah there's four different passages from the book of

Isaiah that talk about Jesus in the book of Isaiah and I'm going to look at one

each week. In this particular week I'm going to look at a prophecy made some

somewhere between 735 or 734 BC about the birth of Jesus. 735 years, 735

before Jesus was born a man by the name of Isaiah living in Jerusalem made a

prophecy about his birth. We're going to look at that this morning. For Christians

it's a very very well-known verse. So if you have your Bibles, those of you don't

have your Bibles I'll put it up on the screen and here's how Isaiah chapter 7

Isaiah 7:1

verses 1, how this sort of how it gets into this particular type of prophecy.

And just before we start to read it, just a couple of things. Some of you are maybe

aware of the fact that there's a couple of huge controversies around this. One of the

controversies is whether or not Matthew, when he quotes and talks about Matthew, I'm

sorry, when Matthew talks, when the early Christians talk about Jesus and the virgin

birth, whether they get it right. Whether in fact Isaiah did talk about a virgin birth.

There's a big controversy about that. There's whole books written on it. I'm not going to

talk about it other than to say that I'm aware of it. I've studied it. I think at the end of

the day, those who hold to the traditional interpretation of it meaning virgin, I think

they won the exegetical argument. I think they won the argument in terms of the ancient

documents and the meaning of the ancient words, but I'm not going to get into it. There's also

a big controversy as to whether Isaiah would have written this in 735 or 734 BC. There's a whole

pile of people who think that it wasn't written until the 400 BCs, but I'm not going to address

that either other than to say that if in fact, on one level for our topic, if in 430 BC they

predicted a virgin birth, that's still a pretty big prophecy 430 years in advance. So I'm not

going to get into those dating issues. I'm just going to take it as it's been traditionally

understood. If you went to a traditional Jewish family, they would understand that this text was

written in 734 or 735 BC, and we're just going to look at it. And here's how the text begins.

It starts like this. I should be better if I actually had it in my Bible. You folks can see it.

Isaiah chapter 7 is where it begins. Isaiah chapter 7. Here's how the text begins.

Isaiah 7 · chapter mention Isaiah 7 · chapter mention

In the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin, the king of Syria,

and Pekah, the son of Hermaliah, the king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it,

but could not yet mount an attack against it. When the house of David, that's the royal family,

was told, Syria is in league with Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz, that's the king, and the heart of

his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. And I'm just going to pause there

for a second. You know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, names, names, names, right? Well,

this is, interestingly enough, this is all historical stuff. These are people who, outside of the words

of the Bible, there's lots of historical records that all of these people existed, and the events which

are being talked about here are events which are talked about in many pagan and other sources.

And what's going on is this. First of all, you have to remember that, I mean, we talk about a two-state

solution nowadays for Israel. Back at this time, there was a two-state solution to a big problem,

but that two-state solution was that there were two Jewish nations. There is a Jewish nation in the

south whose capital was Jerusalem, and Ahaz is the king of that. That's usually referred to as Judah

at this time period. There's another Jewish nation in the north. That's sometimes called Israel.

Sometimes it's called Ephraim. That's what it's called here. And the king of that northern kingdom

in their capital was a city called Samaria. That's mentioned here. He's the son of Hermalia. He's Pekah,

the son of Hermalia. That's that king.

So what's going on is this. Assyria has started to arise with a desire to be an empire,

and they're conquering nations all over the place as their empire expands. And so as the power of

Assyria is rising, the king of Syria and the king of Israel get very worried. And they come and they

want to invade Israel. They want to invade Judah. They want to take over Jerusalem. And the reason is this.

It's a very simple reason. They think that a three-nation alliance might be able to resist

the growing Assyrian power. And Ahaz is terrified of Assyria, and he's also terrified of fighting Assyria

with Israel and Syria. And that's why he's torn. And because the king of Jerusalem doesn't want to join

the alliance, the other two countries, say, listen, all we do, we go, we take Jerusalem, we kill the king,

we put in our puppet, and he's in charge of the armed forces. We have a three-nation alliance. We go and fight

Assyria. And that's what's going on. Ahaz has rejected the offer to join an alliance. He's terrified of being

invaded by the Assyrians and Israel. And he's terrified of the Assyrians. And that's the context. So what happens?

What happens is next in verse 3. Now, one of the things you need to understand is in those days,

Jewish people had prophets. And if you read through all of, for our Jewish friends who might be here

today, it's called, they would refer to it as the Tanakh. And for Christians, we would refer to it as

the Old Testament. And if you read through that, you'll see that there's this phenomenon in Israel

known as prophets. And a way to understand what a prophet is, is a prophet is God's mouth.

That's a simple way to understand what a prophet is. A prophet is God's mouth. God speaks through the prophet,

and he speaks usually in one of two ways. He speaks directly into the situation that the people in front of him

are dealing with. And sometimes he speaks about the future and something which is going to happen down the road.

And in this particular case, Isaiah is a prophet centered in Jerusalem, the southern kingdom.

And here's what happens. And the Lord said to Isaiah, verse 3,

Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shir Jashub, your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool

on the highway to the washer's field. And just sort of pause there for a second.

Isaiah's son is sort of like a walking prophecy. His name, the name means a remnant will return.

And that means it's on one hand, he's a bit of like a warning of God's judgment,

because a remnant happens when everybody gets, almost everybody is destroyed and there's only a remnant left.

But it's also sort of an oracle of hope that the remnant will return to what Jewish people call the promised land.

And so Isaiah's son, he would have introduced him to Ahaz, and Ahaz would have thought,

Oh, that's like a bit of in my face type of way to name your son and to bring him.

And Ahaz is studying the water supply because he's worried about the invasion and he knows there'll be a siege.

And he's studying the water supply and he's worried.

But Isaiah has come because God wants him to say something to the king.

And here's what he says. Verse 4,

God says to Isaiah,

Say to him, that's Ahaz, the king of Jerusalem,

Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint

because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands

at the fierce anger of Rezan and Syria and the son of Remaliah.

Because Syria with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah has devised evil against you,

saying, let us go up against Judah and terrify it and let us conquer it for ourselves

and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it.

So that's the first part of this message that Isaiah comes to deliver to Ahaz.

And the first part of it isn't so much don't worry.

Those odd little bits about, in the original language,

be careful, be quiet, is really don't do anything.

Like in a sense he's saying to Ahaz,

you can go back in, don't look at the water supply, don't worry about it.

And then he uses a very, God uses a derogatory way

of referring to the northern kingdom, Israel, and to Syria.

He compares them to a force which is spent.

It's as if you had a log and the log burned,

and now everything in the log that is burned has been burned up,

and all you have left is just the remnants.

This has a little bit of a heat left to it.

It's just smoldering, but it's a completely and utterly spent force.

And God says to Ahaz, that's how you have to understand.

Don't do anything.

And Ahaz is probably thinking, well, you know,

this is very easy for you to say just to do nothing,

but Isaiah has a bit of another message for him.

The reason he's to do nothing is seen in verse 7, which is this.

Thus says the Lord God, it shall not stand, it shall not come to pass.

In other words, it's not going to happen.

Now, remember, this is being written in 735 or 734 B.C.,

and Isaiah says, God has said to you that you aren't going to be invaded,

and so all of your preparations are worthless,

and even part of your fear is worthless because they're not going to invade.

Now, he predicts that there'll be no invasion.

He continues on with his prediction in a very, very interesting way in verses 8 and 9.

For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin.

And within 65 years, Ephraim, that's the northern kingdom,

will be shattered from being a people.

And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Hermaliah.

If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.

Now, in fact, what we know from history is this.

Shortly after this, of 735 or 734 B.C., shortly after this, Assyria invades Syria.

And because Assyria invades Syria,

the alliance between Syria and Israel breaks,

and they don't, in fact, invade the southern kingdom.

And, in fact, we know from history that in 732 B.C.,

the Syrian nation falls to the Assyrian Empire

and is completely and utterly gobbled up.

And in that same move of gobbling up Syria,

they gobble up the northern part of,

large parts of the northern part of Israel.

But northern Israel was able to keep fighting for a little bit of a longer time,

even though they were constantly harassed with battles by Assyria.

And in 722 B.C., the capital of Israel falls.

And the nation of Israel falls to Assyria.

And Assyria was a very, very, very, very brutal empire.

And one of the things that the Assyrians did to trouble some nations

is that they would start to have these forced marches

to force the people to migrate to different parts of the world

where they weren't native.

And they would also take another area,

and they would take some of the people from that,

and they'd have a forced migration, a forced march.

And, of course, the Assyrians wouldn't care

if many, many people died in the way.

And they'd force them to relocate in another land.

And shortly after Assyria took over the northern kingdom,

they began these forced migrations of the Jewish people

living in what we now know of as northern Israel.

And, in fact, these were to go on in waves of forced migrations

and waves and waves and waves.

And by the year 670 B.C.,

all the Jewish people in northern Israel were gone.

And, in fact, not only were they gone,

they completely vanished from history.

If you have a Jewish friend,

not a single one of your Jewish friends

is descended from the northern kingdom of Israel.

Not one.

Every one of those Jewish people completely vanished from history.

And every Jewish person that you know

is descended from the southern kingdom of Judah,

whose capital was Jerusalem.

In fact, if you know a little bit about Mormons,

one of the Mormon beliefs is that all those lost,

what they're sometimes called as the lost tribes of Israel,

ten and a half tribes,

they somehow got to North America,

became what we now know of as First Nations people.

And there's a whole pile of Mormon mythology around that.

And those of us who are older might remember

there used to be a weird religion in England

called British Israelism.

And they believed that all of those northern tribes

ended up in the British Isles.

And so those of us who are English and Scottish and Irish and Welch

are really Jewish.

And that's an old, weird thing that died years and years ago

but was held for quite a while.

But the northern kingdom completely vanishes.

In other words, this prophecy ends up happening.

Assyria doesn't invade.

Assyria no longer becomes a threat.

And within 65 years of this prophecy,

the northern kingdom doesn't exist at all.

It's quite a remarkable prophecy.

So, how does Ahaz react to this?

I mean, one of the things which is very surprising to people

when they start reading the Bible for the first time

is you expect that the Bible is going to be talking regularly about faith.

It's going to be talking about people following God.

It's going to talk about people following the Lord

and paying attention to his word and obeying it.

And that's sort of what we think is going to happen.

But actually what happens regularly when you read the Bible

is that that's not what happens at all.

People do the opposite.

So, what happens is if you look at the next few verses,

if you start reading again at verse 9,

at verse 10,

there's a period of time which passes

and God says to Isaiah,

you've got to go speak Dehaz again.

There's been a period of time that's taken place.

The siege of Jerusalem never happened.

The invasion doesn't happen.

But what did Ahaz do when God spoke,

even as he sees these prophecies being fulfilled?

We'll look at verse 10.

Again, that's later on.

Some of your translations might say later.

The Lord spoke to Ahaz.

And this is what he says.

Do I have the right text up here?

Yeah, again, the Lord spoke to Ahaz.

Ask a sign of the Lord your God.

Let it be as deep as Sheol or high as heaven.

But Ahaz said,

I will not ask.

I will not put the Lord to the test.

And then the Lord says through Isaiah to the king,

here then, O house of David,

is it too little for you to weary men and women

that you weary my God also?

Now, there's lots of things

which are very, very curious,

you know, about this text.

Some of you, your ears might have pricked up.

Or if you look up there again,

look at verse 11 again.

It says,

Ask a sign of the Lord your God.

Let it be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.

I've had many, many, many, many, many people

over the years tell me

they're not a Christian

and at a very, very low time in their life

they ask God to give them a sign.

And they've said that if you just give me a sign

and I know you exist,

then I'll believe in you.

And they'll tell me,

and I asked for that

and I asked very, very sincerely

and nothing happened.

Like, if God wants me to be a Christian,

why didn't he give me a sign?

Like, I've had many, many, many people tell me that.

And many Christians as well

have asked over the years

for some type of a sign from God

and often nothing happens

when they ask for a sign for God.

And so there's a very, very curious thing here,

isn't it?

That here God actually says to the king,

I'm going to give this,

I'm going to give you an opportunity.

Ask me a sign

and I'll give you the sign

so that you know that I exist.

And then it's really funny

because Ahaz says,

no, no, it sounds very, very pious.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

I'm not going to ask you

of a sign of you, Lord.

And it sounds very pious.

But then there's this surprising response

where the Lord, through Isaiah, says,

why are you wearying me

and wearying men?

Like, why is it

that Ahaz's pious response

makes the Lord angry?

And that's because

there's something significant.

And if you read

the other different historical accounts,

you know what it was

as to why it is

that he didn't want to give,

ask the Lord for a sign.

It's because

the king of,

the king, Ahaz,

has already made a deal

with Assyria.

In other words,

even though the Lord said,

you don't have to worry,

the invasion is going to happen,

and even though

Ahaz could see

that the invasion didn't happen,

and even though

he starts to have

a bit of a sense

of Assyria attacking Syria

because he would have had

spies and messengers,

even at all of those times,

he doesn't believe the Lord,

even though he's Jewish.

He doesn't trust his word.

He doesn't believe his prophet.

He says,

I'm going to solve

this problem myself.

And what I'm going to do

is I'm going to take

a whole pile of money

and I'm going to go to Assyria

and I'm going to offer

to be their vassal

so they don't invade me.

And so Ahaz

has put his faith

and trust

in power politics.

He's put his faith

and trust

in his ability

to manipulate events.

He's put his faith

and trust

in having Assyria

as his Lord.

And now,

Isaiah goes ahead

and asks Ahaz

a very, very, very,

very uncomfortable question.

You see,

what happens

if Ahaz

asks for a sign

and the Lord

keeps his word

just like he kept

his other word

and actually gives the sign?

And then the fact

of the matter is

that he has not

trusted the Lord before,

that he's given

a whole pile of money

to Assyria,

that he's put his faith

and trust

and hope

in Assyria,

that will come out.

And it will come out

in a very awkward way.

Like, you see,

what would actually happen

if Ahaz had asked

for a sign

and had come?

Does that mean

he's going to go back

to Assyria

and ask for the money back?

Is he going to have

to reveal

to everybody

that he's made

Israel,

Judah,

a vassal state

of Assyria?

He doesn't want

a sign to be true.

Because a sign

to be true

would actually

screw up his life.

Now, I can't speak

for all of you

who are here

and there might be

very many of you

who are here

who have asked

the Lord for a sign

and the sign

didn't come.

But I want to just say

a couple of things

about it

if we just want

to be really honest

about it for a second.

Like, first of all,

there's a very,

very general problem.

Let's say

that you were

in a plane

going up north

and a storm comes

and the first blast

of the storm

knocks out your radio

and it drives you

way, way, way

and you know

that you're

with the pilot.

He lets you know

you're being driven

way, way, way,

way off course

and then finally

the plane succumbs

to the storm

and there's a forced

landing in the water

and in the process

of the forced landing

in the water

the plane is destroyed.

You're battered

and bruised

but you survived

the plane crash

and you're able

to swim

even though it's in

you know

the late spring

or something like that

and the water is cold

you're able to swim

to shore

and you huddle

on the side

you had some

waterproof matches

you make a fire

and you just worry

about how long

you'll have to

be there on this

piece of land

before some help

will come

and you're there

for 24 hours

you're there

for 36 hours

you don't want to leave

and nothing's happening

and so you make

some type of a sign

you think to yourself

well you know

who knows

we could be stuck

here on this beach

and if we maybe

just walked a couple

of miles

like maybe somebody

even lives

a couple of miles away

and it would be so dumb

just to be here

on the beach

when there's help

just a little while away

and so you make

some type of a note

on the side

so that if rescuers

do come

they could see

that you'd been there

and you start going along

and everything you see

just lets you know

that the island

is completely

and utterly uninhabited

but all of a sudden

you come to a spot

right by the water

and you see

two stones

on end

and on top of it

you see a stone

and on top of that

you see

another stone balanced

and on top of that stone

you see another stone balanced

five stones balanced

now what every single

one of us would know

is this

human beings

have been here

human beings

have been here

because who other

than a human being

could have five stones

so clearly set

and balanced

on top of each other

and designed

we would all know

that that was created

by human beings

that human beings

have been here

and instantly

your hopes

would be lifted

that this isn't

maybe a completely

and utterly

unvisited island

up in the north

or a piece of land

that maybe if I keep

walking along the beach

I'll find the kids

who did it

or the teenagers

or the adults

who did it

or maybe I can just

trust that fairly soon

there'll be some hunters

or some fishermen

or something like that

who are going to come here

but a second you see

five stones

just five simple stones

by the water

you instantly know

that human beings

are here

you instantly know

that every one of us

would know that

well how can

how

how is it

that we look

at the universe

how is it

that you look

at a cell

which is vastly

more complicated

than five stones

balanced

how is it

you look at

DNA

which is vastly

more complicated

than five stones

balanced

and don't see design

how can that be

and if you

as a human being

can look at the

all of the miraculous

things in nature

and how it's so

unbelievably

interconnected

in ways

that the adaptation

of genetic changes

can't account

just everything

from the gravity

the atmosphere

everything about

human life

on this planet

just screams

design

and how could

God give you

a sign

if you can't

see design

like how would

that work

and that

that fits in

with an even

deeper problem

how in many ways

even though

we're

2800 years

2900 years

after Ahaz

there's still

something

very very

very serious

in our lives

you see

the fact

the matter

is

is that

if Ahaz

had asked

for a sign

and God

had given

them the sign

then that

would just

mess up

his life

because the

last thing

you want

is an

untamed

God

messing around

in your

affairs

you see

the fact

the matter

is

is that

when a

person

asks that

God

would give

them a sign

so they

would

believe

and I'm

not

maybe

you're

all

different

for those

of you

who've

gone

through

that

but I

think

for many

many

many

people

they do

it

knowing

that it

will

fail

so they

can say

people like

me

to people

like me

why doesn't

God give

me a sign

that I

will

believe

and I

think

that often

many other

people

even though

they might

on one

level

be emotionally

very very

distraught

and they

might on

one level

really think

they want

a sign

from God

that will

help them

to know

that he's

real

and exist

and you

have to ask

yourself

is that what

you really

want

like if that

happened

does that mean

you're going to

tell all of your

friends that you've

become a Christian

does that mean

you're going to

tell your

family that you've

become a Christian

does that mean

you're going to

change your life

as if the

Christian faith

is true

like do you

really think

you would do

all of that

stuff if the

sign was

answered

and I

think many

times

we don't

actually want

to have

anything like

that happen

we're actually

sort of almost

relieved that

God doesn't

give us a sign

and then we

have a reason

for unbelief

and for many

of us if we

even had the

sign it would

just be one of

those curious

things that we

would talk

about over beer

with our

buddies

but that there's

in fact a deep

part of a

human being

that doesn't

want God to

give them a

sign

and is quite

happy with

having eyes

closed to

design in

the world

so God

goes ahead and

does something

which is very

surprising he

says well I'm

not going to

you didn't want

to choose a

sign I'm going

to give you a

sign and

here's where

we're going

to wrap

up with

this very

just brief

examination

of what the

sign actually

is look

at verse 14

therefore the

Lord himself

will give you

a sign behold

the virgin

shall conceive

a bearish

son and

you shall

call his

name

Emmanuel

and you

shall call

his name

Emmanuel

now the

word for

virgin

usually means

virgin but

it can

also mean

young

maiden

and I'm

not going

to read the

rest of the

stuff that

goes on with

the rest of

the context

of it because

we just need

to sort of

focus in on

this it's very

interesting that

the rest of the

prophecy and

most of the

other prophecies

in the book of

Isaiah it's very

clear how they

were fulfilled in

this time this

would be one of

those things that's

even said in a

very very odd

way it said in

Hebrew you're not

sure whether in

Hebrew it should be

translated in the

present tense or the

future tense but

it's very very

telling that about

250 years after

this Jewish

scholars were

translating the

Hebrew Old

Testament into

Greek and the

Jewish scholars

would have looked

and seen all of

the different ways

that the book of

Isaiah had been

the prophecies had

been fulfilled and

fulfilled and

fulfilled and

fulfilled and

fulfilled but when

they came to this

particular one they

would have said to

themselves that

we've never

particularly seen

how that particular

prophecy was

fulfilled and

therefore it's

something that

still has to be

fulfilled in the

future and they

understood that it

was referring to a

virgin which is how

it's translated into

Greek which is how

it makes it into our

New Testament but

it's a very very

very very interesting

prophecy that a day

will come when a

virgin while remaining

a virgin will give

birth to a baby boy

and he will be

known as Emmanuel

which means God

with us

God with us

and Christians

believe that an

angel came to

Mary and asked

Mary on God's

behalf whether she

would be willing to

be that virgin

whether she

remaining a virgin

would be willing to

let God do a miracle

within her womb so

that a baby would be

born and Christians

believe that Mary

said yes to that

and then because

Joseph understood how

babies are made

was going to divorce

his fiancee

and so an angel came

and spoke on God's

behalf and spoke to

Joseph and made

clear that in fact

God had done a

miracle within the

womb of Mary

and that that

which was in the

womb of Mary

that little

zygote

was actually God

himself coming to

live within

among us

and the reason that

Christians believe

that anything like

this is true

is all because

Jesus changes

everything

I mean those are

just weird stories

and most of us

would just discount

them

but the thing

which is so

unique and

powerful about

Jesus

I talk about a

little bit in the

blog which is in

your bulletins

today

is that Jesus

lived a very very

particular type of

life

where he did

undeniable miracles

even as enemies

and opponents

even the pagan

writers who wrote

about Jesus

afterward

acknowledged that

Jesus is a man

who was supposed

to have performed

miracles

and he comes

and he predicts

that he's going to

die a death by

crucifixion

he predicts he's

going to die a

form of death

that he can't

control

he could have

said I'm going

to kill myself

or I'm going to

jump off of a

cliff or something

like that

but actually predicting

that he's going to

die in a way that

only the Roman

authorities can kill

him is part of his

prediction

and he predicts

that he's going to

die by crucifixion

and he predicts

that he's going to

rise from the dead

and he says that

my prediction of

my death by

crucifixion and

my true and real

resurrection will

vindicate everything

that I have said

it'll vindicate who

I am and what I've

come to do

and there is very

very very very

very large and

significant evidence

in fact if there's

one thing which

even the most

skeptical

atheist

scholar accepts

is that Jesus

died by crucifixion

under Rome

and there's very

very very strong

evidence

that Jesus really

did rise from the

dead on the third

day

and if a man

is able to

predict such a

thing and in

fact rise from

the dead

surely he's a

man who's

completely and

utterly trustworthy

to listen to

and so it is

completely and

utterly valid to

believe that

Jesus in fact was

the fulfillment of

this prophecy made

735 years earlier

that a virgin would

give birth to a

son and that he

would be God with

us and it's very

interesting because

one of the reasons

that we don't want to

have God with us is

we think that God

will mess up our

lives but the way

that we actually see

God with us isn't

the way that we

fear he would be

with us he's born

of lower working

class parents he

lives a working

class life he has

virtually no

possessions he lives

amongst a conquered

people he has no

particular academic

credentials or

beauty or wisdom

or power or

privilege that

would draw us to

him all we have

is the depth of

his teaching and

the insight into

human condition

all we have is

his miracles that

heal people and

deliver them from

demons and

deliver them from

sickness that give

people life and

purpose he comes

to people and

comes to us in

the midst of all

of the mess of our

lives and he is

with us in the

midst of normal

human life and

he's even with us

to the point that

we he himself said

that he would be

with us so closely

and so intensely

that the death he

dies would be the

death that we

deserve and

and that in his

dying the death

that we deserve

in a sense taking

upon himself the

doom that we

deserve he would

offer us the

destiny that he

deserves that he's

with us even to the

point of the evil in

our lives and the

failure of our lives

and he's with us

even to our death

and he's with us

he's with us

he's with us

and he dies with us

that we might be his

children that he

might live with us

and this is how an

ending I'll circle

around to the

beginning of the

story

the fact the matter

is is we as a

church when we make

a budget I try to

remember it remind

the council this we

have the vaguest

idea in the world

how much money will

come in in this

coming year not the

vaguest I mean we

have some ideas about

trends and all that

but we don't know

we don't know

we can pray and

make the best

attempt that we

really can but you

see here's the thing

which is really the

most significant thing

about every single

one of us who wants

to know the future

who wishes that we

could know the future

who are the fact

have lots of

experience why about

things that will come

completely not really

out of the blue is

that for us as a

church what matters

is is that Jesus is

with us that every

single day that comes

before me is not a

day that I have to

live and try to deal

with all on my own

and that he knows the

future and that whether

there will be things

that come next week

next month next year

which are a very very

severe blow because

Jesus is with me

through faith I don't

face it alone

and the language of

God being with us is

not just a language of

him being with us just

to be with us but it's

also part of the

language of God having

a call for us

that God has a purpose

or a plan for us

and God is with us

Jesus is with us to

fulfill that purpose or

that plan and the

wonderful wonderful

wonderful wonderful

wonderful wonderful

thing about us is that

Jesus came and lived

amongst us to die for

us in such a way that

when we put our faith

and trust in him he

comes to live with us

again even in the

midst of whatever pain

we might have to face

whatever disappointment

we might have to face

whatever setbacks we

might have to face

whatever triumphs and

good things we might have

to face that he is he is

with us is he is with

us as part of us

entering into the fact

that God has called us

to be his children and

that when Jesus is with

us and we are with him

the final word about any

human being who is with

him is never failure it's

never disappointment it's

it's never loser it's

never hopeless it's

never any foul word that

when we are with Jesus and

he is with us we are with

him because God's call is

being made real in our

lives and in him the final

word about any human being

is welcome home child my

beloved child whom I love for

any person in Jesus that is

the final determinate word about

you and with Jesus we can live

and face the things that come

our way day by day knowing that

he will never abandon us and

that he is with us so that

that call that final word about

us can become more and more

real in our lives as we are

gripped by the wonder that Jesus

is with us as Savior and Lord and

friend I invite you to stand

for any single one of us for those of

us who are in Christ it's a very

very appropriate Sunday morning to

say Jesus help me to know that you

are always with me make the gospel

more and more and more real to me

make those final words that God will

speak over me more and more and

more real to me so that I am able to

face the things which I need to face

today and tomorrow and the day after

that and the day after that make who

Jesus is so real to me and what he did

for me so real to me and those final

words so real to me and his presence

more and more real to me that I

might live each day well in light of

that and if you were here and you've

never asked Christ into your life

there's no better time now than just

in your own words to say Jesus I want

you to be with me I want you to be

with me as my Savior I want you to be

with me as my Lord I want you to be

with me in my plans I want you to be

with me in all my undertakings and not

just be with me as a pet or an

adornment but to be with me as my

Savior and my Lord there's no better

time than today to just say that to

Jesus in your own words Jesus be with

me as Savior and Lord and because of

this prophecy 735 years before the

birth of Jesus that a virgin will be

give birth to a son and his name will

be Emmanuel which means God with us it

means that God gave a sign that he

wants to be with you and if you say to

Jesus be with me he will never say no and

if you think does he know what I'm like

the answer is yes

if you say how on earth could he want to

be with me if he really knew what I was

like then all I can say is he made that

prophecy 735 years into the future he

knows perfectly all about you and he

God would not make any promise like that

if he did not want to keep it he kept

that promise and he will keep the promise

to enter into you and to be with you he

will keep that promise he will never say

no he will be your Savior and your Lord

let's bow our heads in prayer

father we've seen the glory of the dance

we've heard the glory of the music we've

heard Andrew Peterson saying that Jesus

is worthy we've heard of your scripture

we've heard of your promise we've heard

of this spectacular prophecy that you

would cause a miracle within the womb of

a virgin so that a boy would be born and

that he would be known as God with us and

we have been told how he comes to be with

us not to punish us not to destroy us not

to unmake us but to actually die our death

for us that he is with us even to the

point of the evil in our lives and the

death in our lives to make us your child

by adoption and grace father we have been

told those things and we ask that the

Holy Spirit would move with might and

power and deep conviction within us that

we might be gripped more and more by the

truth of the gospel that every day we

will remember what your final word will

be over us when our days are over not

because of anything brilliant or wonderful

or powerful about us but because of

Jesus and that he is with us and he will

help us and guarantee that that call that

you have to come home and be with you and

know that we are your beloved child by

faith and adoption that that will be the

final word spoken over us father grip us

with the gospel that we might be gripped

with your final words about us when we put

our faith and trust in Jesus that we might

live every day and face every problem and

every opportunity in light of that profound

truth and all God's people said amen

you