Sermon
Sunday after Christmas 2024
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Well, good morning, everyone. It's a pleasure. It's an honor to be here with you this morning.
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I'm very grateful that I was able to make it. As you all know, there was a lot of fog this morning,
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and I drove from about an hour and a half away, and I thank the Lord that there was no problems.
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So I'll open with the word of prayer, and then we'll jump into the scripture.
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Heavenly Father, as we open your word this morning, would you be with us?
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Would you be pleased with us? Would you search us? Would you make us new in your Son's image?
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I pray that you would so bless us to be fed, but also to leave energized, energized by the Holy Spirit,
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confident, bold, and joyful in the Lord Jesus. And it's in his name that I pray. Amen.
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Amen. I trust that over the last week or last several days, you were able to celebrate Christmas.
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I know that over the last month, you were going through Isaiah and just getting a sense of getting
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a full biblical prophetic picture of who Jesus is, what Christmas actually means. And I'm sure it was
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a very beneficial time. As for myself, I was able to have a good time with my family, enjoy Christmas.
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And it's really, I was very fortunate this year to not work throughout the Christmas. I don't know if
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you were working, but it was nice that, you know, just being able to step back. There's also a very
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weird thing that, you know, next week, most of us, or maybe a lot of us, are going to go back into the
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real rhythm of life. Whether it's work, whether it's, you know, mom groups, community groups,
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whatever it may be, we're going to go back to real life, and it's going to be a big kind of contrast.
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You need to kind of go back into the rhythm. And one thing that is particularly, I don't know if
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it's challenging. I don't know if Christians really think about it all that much. But here's the question.
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If Christmas is really as good, as great as it is, as the scriptures make it to be,
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would it not somehow impact next week? Would it land in some particular way? Would it sort of erupt,
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you know, the goodness of Christmas sort of erupt into daily life next week? And if so, how?
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How could that possibly happen? If Christmas is so good, so great, and I believe that it is,
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how could it really, what is its meaning, and how could it land into the real world, our real
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rhythm of life? So we're going to look at that. I would invite you, if you have a Bible, to turn with
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me to Isaiah chapter 52. And we're going to look at just a few verses. And just to give a bit of a
Isaiah 52 chapter mention
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background to this text, Isaiah spoke around 2,800 years ago. He spoke several hundred years before
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Jesus. And he spoke at that time of things that were to come. Some things happened in his generations.
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Other things happened later on, not in his generation. And the text that we're looking at
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today is a poetic portrayal of God's redemption of the people that he was speaking to, the people of
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Israel. They were God's people. And so he spoke to these people of a time ahead. And so let's just
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read the text, and we'll get a sense of how Isaiah might have seen this or envisioned this.
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So chapter 52, starting at verse 7.
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How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace,
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brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns.
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And so let's pause here. We have an image of a messenger, just a messenger coming towards the
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city and announcing something, a type of victory. Verse 8, the voice of your watchmen, they lift up
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their voice together with, together they sing for joy. For eye to eye, they see the return of the Lord
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to Zion. And so here we have the people who are waiting on the walls. They're waiting for the
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messenger to come. And as the messenger comes, they celebrate, they rejoice. The messenger has come
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with good news. And so they burst out in great rejoicing. Verse 9, break forth together into singing,
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you waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem.
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And so now as the watchmen are rejoicing, as they've received the news, they're rejoicing.
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They're looking back and calling the whole city behind them, behind the walls, to rejoice with them,
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to just join in the celebration of that great victory. And then looking at verse 10, the Lord has
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bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see
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the salvation of our God. And so we have a bit of an interpretation. We're looking, just kind of looking
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through the material, through the people, through the events, looking at an interpretation. What's
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actually going on? The Lord has won the victory. And lastly, in the last two verses, Isaiah is
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calling people to action. Calling people to action. Let's read that. Depart, depart, go out from there.
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Touch no one clean thing. Go out from the midst of her. Purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of
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the Lord. For you shall not go out in haste. And you shall not go in flight. For the Lord will go
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before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. Now again, this is a poetic description.
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And so there, in poetry, there are things that are, that are maybe more clear than other things.
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Some particulars are maybe left out, because it's speaking of a time that is to come later on.
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And this is truly the case of, of this passage.
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Where I live, I live on a mountain in Rego. I don't know if you've been skiing at Rego. It's
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kind of known for the little ski hill. I live on the mountain. And so I see airplanes coming from
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really far, far off. And it's the kind of cargo jets that, that go from Toronto to Montreal.
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And from really afar, it looks like a star. And I can stand there like five minutes. It just looks
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like a star. And then all of a sudden, I start seeing these little lights, little red and blue
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lights on the side. I say, oh, it is a plane. Okay, I thought that looked like a plane. And then all of a
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sudden, the plane drives right above my house. And I know it because the whole house kind of vibrates.
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The airplane comes and me and my boys, we go to the window and we look, okay, it's an airplane.
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So cool. And so we experience the airplane in that sense. And reading the Old Testament is kind
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of like that, especially poetry. But reading the Old Testament generally, it's kind of like that.
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You have something that, that is there in the past, in the distant past. You can't really put your
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finger on it. Sometimes it's very clear. Other times it's not so clear. But then as time goes,
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you start to identify, okay, this is not a star. This is a plane. And you start identifying the text.
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This is actually talking about Jesus. This is actually talking about Jesus in a very particular
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way. And we see it in the gospel, how the life of Jesus gives life to that Old Testament kind of
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mysterious text. It's kind of like driving in the fog. You don't know what's next, you know,
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and a hundred feet from you. And then, not only that, but with the airplane coming over your house
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and just, you know, the house kind of shaking, the Holy Spirit doesn't leave us just to see Jesus in
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the distance, but he brings Jesus in us to change us, to shake us up, to change certain things about us
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that shouldn't be there anymore so that we can reflect Jesus. And so we experience the text in that way.
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And that's my plan for us this morning as we read this text. So how does Jesus shine in this text?
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Well, we sang about it already. The cue is already there. The angels coming down from heaven,
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speaking to the shepherds. The angels were the messengers that came to bring tidings,
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good news of a king, Jesus. And the shepherds, they were the watchmen,
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and they were looking, and they received the message of the angels, and they started running.
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They participated in that big event that Jesus has come. And not only that, but you see,
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just to pause for a second, I'm kind of glad Daniel didn't ask me for a sermon title because
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the title that I had was a bit weird, like, beautiful feet in a pluralistic age, something
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like that. It's kind of like weird, but anyway, I'm glad he didn't ask me to do that, although I just
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didn't give it away. But anyway, that's something else. The feet, what kind of role do feet play in
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Jesus's life? Well, Mary sat at Jesus's feet, and she had the right, the good portion. She sat at his
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feet. And not only that, the other woman, the woman who, the sinful woman, came with perfume
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and washed Jesus's feet with expensive perfume. Why do you think that happened? Do you think it's
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just because, do you think it's just cultural? I mean, there's certainly a cultural element.
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Or do you think it's because Jesus came to bring good news? And all those things were pointing to
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what Jesus would accomplish at the cross. Indeed, Jesus accomplished something magnificent at the
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cross. He is the one who accomplished the victory. Every single one of us, we experience what the
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Bible calls the fall. We experience brokenness, but not only brokenness, we experience the
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difficulty, and not only difficulty, but sometimes even hostility of choosing God's will. I had a
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friend who asked me at work, I work in the kitchen, she asked me point blank, as we were cleaning up the
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kitchen at the end of the night, nobody was around, just the co-workers, and she asked, Jonathan, do you
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believe in hell? I was like, believe in hell? I was like, oh Lord, where do I go from this? Like, yeah, I
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believe in hell, but I don't want to just say, yes, I believe in hell, because, you know, that's the end of
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the conversation. So I asked her, what do you mean by hell? I said, well, you know, like, what the Bible,
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like, considers hell. Like, you believe in the Bible. I'm like, yeah, I do believe in the Bible. Okay,
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that's not very helpful. So I said, well, let's look at it this way. I do believe in hell, and I do
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believe that you also believe in hell. And all of a sudden, she was like, what? It's like, yeah. So when I was
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not a Christian, before I became a Christian, I had very deep anxiety and depression. And that's
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because I staked my whole life on music. Music was my idol. It was my identity. Performance was the
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meaning of my life. And as soon as music didn't return the life that I was giving it, you know,
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my whole life was on it. As soon as it was not returning it to me, I started experiencing breakdown.
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See, I had experienced false worship. I worshipped music as an idol, as a god. And that is actually
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the breaking of the first commandment. And the experience that I had of doing that was depression,
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anxiety, darkness. And I, at that time, did not need anyone to tell me about, you know, about hell.
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I knew what hell was. I experienced it in my body, in my bones, in my soul. I experienced something
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of hell. And all of a sudden, I realized, okay, she was tracking. Like, she experiences something
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like that, too. And I say, from there, you know, here's the thing. If Hitler was able to just shoot
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himself in the head, he would get away with it. You know, he would get away with everything that he did.
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There would be no earthly justice. And if that's the end of justice, he got away with it, and that's it.
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But you don't want that to be true, don't you? Neither do I. I want there to be justice beyond
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this life. And so it is with everything, you know, with hell, with heaven, with goodness, with truth,
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with mercy. Anytime that we experience a shadow of those things, there is an eternal version in heaven.
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And so where am I going with this? So Jesus is the one who came to bring that victory over the very
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sinfulness that we carry and express from day in and day out. And how did he do that? Well, he,
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being perfect, went to the cross, having gone to the cross, sinless, not deserving of death, but he went
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willingly for the joy that was set before him, which is knowing us and having us in him and him in us,
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he endured the cross, suffered shame, so that we could have life. His blessing, his goodness,
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his riches would be our treasure, would be our blessing, and our doom was poured on him. That is
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the, that is the Christian message. That is the reason why Jesus came to earth to be born of a virgin
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and to live a perfect life, so that he could actually go to that very place, that very moment,
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so that we could be in him and him in us.
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And as Jesus died, he was buried, real body, real grave. On the third day, he was risen from the grave.
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And what happened? He started preaching again. He started telling the disciples, went to go see him,
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go tell of the good news. And they became the watchmen. And it was kind of like a game of tag,
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you know. It was just kind of transferring across. And in a way, it's kind of linking,
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creating a new generation on earth through this message of the gospel, that when people are receiving
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it with great joy, they're, they're sharing it with their, with their neighbors, with their friends,
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their family. Now, we could all, we could see that this is the, the poetic and prophetic vision that,
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that takes flesh in Jesus. But what does that have to do in a pluralistic age? You know, like,
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as Canadians, we're very tolerant. We love to, to just kind of go easy on one another. And I've
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experienced that recently, had a friend over, non-Christian, and we had them over for supper.
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And I shared with him a little bit of some of my, my thoughts on, particularly on Genesis. I'm writing
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on Genesis. So I got to share with him a little bit. And then he said, oh, why are you writing on this?
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I said, well, because I think a lot of Christians struggle on, on the topic of Genesis one. And,
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and I remember, you know, when I was younger and new Christian, I experienced a lot of, you know,
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backlash for my belief in the fact that God created the world. And he, and he said, really? Like,
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people actually, like, did that? They tried to undermine what you believed? I was like, yeah, yeah,
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really? And I was shocked, like, that he, he took that, that, that kind of angle. But it's true.
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In Canada, there's sort of the, the strata of, you know, pluralism takes the shape of, you know,
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every religion is equal. Therefore, don't try to elevate your belief, your spirituality over those,
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that of others. And then there's another layer where it says, actually, you should affirm yourself,
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express yourself. If you're a Christian, you should be a Christian. If you, if you're a Muslim,
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you should be the best Muslim. If you're a Hindu, you should be the best Hindu. That's actually the,
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the situation at my workplace. Like, the first day I got there, my boss, when she found out that I was
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a Christian, was like, hey, if anyone, like, says bad words and, like, you're offended, like, just tell
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them. And I was like, okay, well, I have other, like, agendas than, than just telling people, like,
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like, what to, what to say, right? Like, I have other concerns than that. I want to showcase the gospel.
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But those are the kind of two strata of pluralism, which are completely contradictory.
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But underneath, you have these subcultures where people actually have very exclusive views.
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At my Christmas dinner, where I, or day, rather, where I went, somebody wore a t-shirt saying,
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merry vibes only. I didn't know that the vibe kind of culture took on exclusivity, but apparently it
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did, uh, this Christmas. Merry vibes only. Um, fascinating. I heard of another friend who,
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as, uh, she grew up Hindu, and then she became a Christian after the, the bread man who, uh, who
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was friends with her dad, uh, shared the gospel with her family. She received the gospel, became a
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Christian, and then her parents invited her to do the, you know, the casual ritual sacrifices at the
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temple. And she said, mom, dad, I can't, I can't do that anymore. And they gave her the silent
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treatment. They didn't cook her any food, didn't talk to her for an entire month, shunned her. And so
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there are these exclusive pockets, uh, in this whole pluralistic kind of mix of what Canada is today.
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Some of you might have seen the, uh, king's address, uh, his Christmas message. I, I've kind of started
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listening over the last few years what the queen would have to say, and I was really pleased.
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Oftentimes she would share the gospel. And, uh, this year, if you've seen it, uh, the king made mention
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of the great things that they do, and, uh, things that are values of Christianity, values of Jesus, but
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also of all the great faiths. Uh, so you have pluralism, even from the king of England. Uh, and so
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a typical Canadian might think, well, isn't it wiser? Isn't it better? Isn't it more tolerant to set our
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differences aside and learn to get along? Like, isn't that the best way forward, especially as our
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culture is becoming more and more diverse? Now that's a good question. And, uh, I'm reminded of
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my, my friend whom, uh, I, I talked about with, you know, the story of, of hell and all that. Um,
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I shared with her a very weird event that happened to me. Um, in the, in the spring, early spring of last
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year or this year, rather, I had burnt my hand quite badly. I was, uh, doing, I was boiling maple syrup,
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uh, cause I have maple trees and all that. And, uh, I took a pot that was on the fire and I had, I had
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my gloves. I took it off. Then I put it there. I did something else, came back, didn't put my mitten on
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and I took the handle, lifted it up and it was just like sizzling as I was, like my hand was burning as
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I was bringing it up. And, uh, my hand was all red and it was like, it was bad. It was really, really bad.
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And I work in the kitchen, so I work in front of a grill and you know, if you've been burnt, you can't stay in
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front of heat for very long. Uh, you're like, you just have to stay away from the heat, put ice and
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hopefully you'll heal in a couple of weeks. And, uh, that evening, my son, my three-year-old, uh, just
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came up to me in his pajamas before going to bed and just, you know, sat beside me and I had my hand
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on ice the, the same evening where I, where I got burnt. And, uh, he started praying, uh, God, I pray for
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dad in Jesus name. Amen. And I thought, oh, he's so cute, you know, so kind. And then he starts praying
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again. God, I pray for dad in Jesus name. Amen. Like, that's so sweet. Like, thank you so much. And I
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looked at my hand, I was like, oh, you know, it hasn't worked. Then he starts praying a third time,
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fourth time, fifth time. I look at my hand, oh, sorry. Like, you know, but, but maybe God's going to
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heal me tomorrow, you know, and through the ice and all that fifth time, sixth time he prays,
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take my hand off. I'm like, son, you did it. My hand, uh, doesn't hurt anymore. Like Jesus healed
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me. And, uh, and, and he really did heal me. What happened, uh, was not that he didn't have red lines
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anymore, but it's just that they're never, it never swole. There was never water. It just kind of
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bypassed that process of healing. Uh, my hand stopped hurting. I didn't need the ice and I worked the next
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day in front of the grill. And, uh, that was clearly a miracle of Jesus. And I wanted to share
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that with my coworkers. And I shared that with my friend at work. I shared her exactly what I shared
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with you. And, uh, and she said, wow, that's so interesting. Such a good story. Um, I really do
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believe that when, when we have really good thoughts and we align our thoughts, we can actually do things
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like that. We can actually heal our body. And, uh, she asked me if I read the book, The Secret.
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And I thought, oh no, she didn't get it. She didn't get it. So what's the, what's the difference
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between The Secret and Jesus? The difference between Jesus and every spirituality, every religion,
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everything that you will find in this world, uh, on the bookshelf and the, and Dollarama, uh, you know,
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on the horoscopes at the end of your newspaper is that we have a hero. Christians have a hero.
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There's no hero. There's no hero in the secret. There's no hero in Islam. There's no hero in
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Hinduism. There's no hero in self-help spirituality. There's no hero other than Jesus. And so I want
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to invite you to look, let's look at the text. Let's look at the text because this changes everything.
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This changes everything. Uh, verse seven, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him
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who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes
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salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns. Now, what does this mean? Mountains in Isaiah are, are
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typically high places, places of worship, places where many gods would, would ensnare people to
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worship them and, and kind of go into this cycle of, you know, this dizzy cycle of worshiping this false
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God, this deity, maybe a material deity, maybe a force phenomena. You see the messenger just kind of
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walking on top, walking on top of these high places. The victory is, is Jesus' victory. And he brings
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good news, good news. This is the word for the gospel. He publishes peace in Hebrew, shalom, which is the
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image of wholeness. Uh, it's not just that we're going to quietly non-disagree. It's that there is peace.
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There is actual peace. War is over. The war is over. And he publishes salvation. And if you look at the
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Hebrew Bible, uh, the, in the original language, it literally says who publishes Yeshua, who publishes
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Jesus. And that is just the, the, this idea of rescue, this idea of, of rescue from darkness, from,
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from forces that we could not disentangle ourselves from. Forces not only at the exterior of ourselves,
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but interior, our flesh, our, our desires, our affections that are misaligned. He has victory over
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them all. And the voice of your watchmen, they lift up their voice. Together they sing for joy.
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For eye to eye, they see the return of the Lord. And so here's my first point. Behold, behold,
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uh, just a simple word. Uh, my, my three points are just, uh, simple, simple like that. Behold.
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It doesn't say behold here, but that is the, that is the emphasis in this text. How beautiful
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upon the mountains are the feet of him who bring, brings good news. Uh, this idea of looking at and
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just admiring, uh, cheering on the messenger. Jesus wants us before we start doing anything,
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he wants us to sit at his feet and watch, to admire, to abide. He wants us to do that. He wants you to do
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that as you're considering your year 2025, uh, as you're going to mingle with, uh, in a world of
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pluralism. Jesus wants us to sit at his feet, to listen, to pay attention. And attention is the
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very beginning of worship. You know, worship takes on many forms. Uh, it's, but it's essentially service
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or love. And, um, if I am going to love my wife, the first thing I'm going to do is give her attention.
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And I'm not going to wait until she tells me to give her attention. I'm going to love her and give
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her attention, uh, to just kind of watch and listen, be attentive. And the same thing with my
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children and same thing with, with friends, coworkers. And that's what makes me kind of set
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apart from my, my friends, not to boast or anything, but I tried to, you know, display my Christian values.
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And it's just to give attention to people who are, whose, whose hearts and voices just fall on deaf ears
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constantly. Um, so attention, behold, we want to, Jesus wants us to just be enamored, like the best
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hockey player. You know, I, I remember when Mario Lemieux came back into the NHL, everyone was so
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happy, uh, and everyone cheered him on. The hero is back. The, what is he, he's not the great one.
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Who's Mario Lemieux? He's the, I forget the title that they gave him, but anyway, everyone was kind of
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like cheering on the great hero. He's back. And that's the story of Jesus. He's back. The hero is
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here. Um, the, the, the mighty one. And so behold, and not only that, but the apostle Paul
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saw this as a template for Christian, uh, sharing of the gospel. Uh, he, he said that if people, uh,
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if there are no messengers, how are people going to hear? And so there's a necessity to open our mouths
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and share with people about Jesus. And I found that in a very pluralistic place where you have,
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where you often have very little time to share, uh, the best way to approach it is just to share it as
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your own personal experience. And you, um, like the apostle Paul did with the Jewish people, you arouse
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them to jealousy. You know, with my, with my friends who, uh, pray to the universe, that's a very big thing
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in Quebec right now. People love to pray to the universe, to the unknown God of the universe. Um, I can share
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with them that I do something actually quite similar to that, uh, except that I pray to a person. I think
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there's a person behind the universe and that person is God and he's made himself known, uh, through the
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universe, but also through his son, Jesus. And I actually have a connection with him, communion with
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him. Uh, so, so to rouse them to jealousy, I have something very similar that the good experience that
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you think you have, I have something similar, but mine goes a little further. Mine is personal.
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Mine makes me more human, uh, as I meditate on Jesus and as Jesus dwells in me through the Holy
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Spirit. So behold, we want to participate. Uh, we want to, uh, look and enjoy the messengers,
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cheer them on, but also, uh, the message and also participate. Secondly, break forth. We see this in
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verse nine, break forth, break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem for the Lord
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has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm before the, the eyes
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of all the nations and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Uh, here's calling
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us to worship, uh, to, uh, not only, you know, receive Jesus, but let him seep out, let him exude
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out of our being. Um, you know, in a pluralistic age, it actually affords a unique opportunity to be
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very subjective about your experience and, uh, and just kind of put it out there and, and see who bites,
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who, who takes it on, who's actually curious about your, uh, your Christian experience. And so we want to,
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uh, break forth, want to share into singing. Singing is a symbol of worship. This does not mean that you
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have to go to the Cineplex or to the, uh, uh, Canadian Scotiabank, Scotiabank and start, you know,
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you go there as a church and then you break forth into a, uh, singing like a flash mob. Uh, that's not
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how you obey this text necessarily, but if the Lord calls you to do that, do it with excellence and
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reverence. Uh, I commend it, uh, but, uh, it's not necessarily what it's speaking of. It's speaking of
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worshiping, making your whole life an act of worship, um, making your whole life an act of
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worship before God and in the eyes of others. And in that way, the, uh, the nations will come and see.
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And the, the notion that the Christian faith is the faith, uh, that's centered on a hero takes up,
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uh, an extra notch here. It goes up an extra notch in verse 10. The Lord has bared his holy arm.
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Um, the Lord has flexed his muscles is essentially what it's saying. Uh, Jesus has flexed his muscles.
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He has shown, uh, in an age where there are many, uh, gods and, and many deities, uh, false worship
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everywhere, many ideas, philosophies. He has shown the strength of his arm. He has shown his power and
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his might to rescue feeble sinners as myself. People who are unable to turn his gaze upon God,
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unless it was by his goodness to lift up my chin towards him. And he will do it. If you're in that
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place where you are unable to do it because your desires have entangled you, your vision of the world
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is so blurred, uh, you know, following a certain ideology has led you to a path where you cannot
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even distinguish between good and evil, just cry out to him. He will lift up your chin towards him
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and he will begin to pour out his love upon your face. He'll shine his light upon you. And as it goes
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through your face, it's going to go through your heart and soul and change you, make you a new person.
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That is how he rescues today. And lastly, depart, depart, go out from there, touch no unclean thing.
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Go out from the midst of her, purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord, for you shall
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not go out in haste and you shall not go in flight for the Lord will go before you and the God of Israel
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will be your rear guard. And this is an image of the Exodus in the Old Testament, uh, the Exodus where the
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people of Israel were led out of slavery in Egypt, God will do the same. If you're worried that leaving,
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uh, a certain spirituality, ideology is going to cause you harm, it's going to cause you social harm,
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the Lord is going to be with you. The Lord is going to be with you. And one of the ways he does that is
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through his church. Um, and so here's my last point. Depart, depart. Be willing to make a step for Jesus.
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Step out of 2024 towards Jesus in 2025. Um, one of the ways I love to do that is to read, uh, a great
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author named J.C. Ryle. He was a bishop, uh, in the, uh, Church of England back in the 1800s. And I just
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take one of his, uh, tracts or his, uh, sermons and I read it. Just at the very end of the year, the Lord
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just kind of puts one on my heart and I read it and I meditate upon it. And it's kind of a theme for me to
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carry me through the year. Last year it was zeal. This year is the Christian race. And, uh, I'm
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looking forward. I just started reading a couple nights ago, but, um, but we want to equip ourselves
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to go and depart, leave the old life and go towards Jesus. And what this image is for Israel at the time
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was that they were in exile and God was going to deliver them so that they can take up their, uh,
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their place in the world stage again as God's royal priests and holy nation. That was the point.
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And for us, God is making us into his priests to the nations. Uh, so we have to leave the old,
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uh, the old ways of life and enter into this new way. And, uh, I want to, I want to read, uh, from Paul
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in second Timothy 21. He says, therefore, if anyone cleanses, cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,
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he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house,
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ready for every good work. And that's the, that's the message for us is to be ready to, to leave the
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old ways, leave the old patterns of life. Be bold in what you're praying for, for this new year and
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enter it, uh, full speed, full energy, uh, full excitement running towards Jesus. Uh, let us pray.
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Father, as we consider these things, as we consider what your prophet, uh, Isaiah preached, as well as
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what was, uh, mentioned this morning, I pray that your spirit would so anoint us and bless us to, uh,
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discern these things, to ponder them, uh, and to, uh, to run in the speed and in the, in the energy of the
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Holy Spirit towards you and, uh, towards, uh, God, our heavenly father. Would you bless us and lead us
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in Jesus mighty name? Amen.