1 00:00:01,880 --> 00:00:04,040 My friends, the Word has spoken to us this morning. 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:05,960 Let us hear the word of the Lord. 3 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:10,000 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen 4 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:14,480 his glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father, full 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:20,120 of grace and truth. From Isaiah 43 But now thus says 6 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:22,880 Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O 7 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:26,680 Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed you. 8 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:29,120 I have called you by name, and you are mine. 9 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,759 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and 10 00:00:32,759 --> 00:00:35,480 through the rivers they will not overwhelm you. 11 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:38,680 When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, and the 12 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:43,080 flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the 13 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:48,840 Holy One of Israel. I am your Savior and this is the 14 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:51,000 word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. 15 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:53,920 Dear God, we do give you thanks and praise and ask once again 16 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:57,760 that you transform our lives through this word, change us, 17 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:00,600 mold us, shape us. We pray through Christ our Lord, 18 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:03,360 we ask Amen. Please be seated. 19 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:06,440 If you would grab your Bibles wherever you happen to be 20 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:08,880 worshipping with us today. Grab your Bibles and flick them 21 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,600 are open. Probably best to be to Isaiah 22 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:15,240 43, the passage we'll be spending most of our time with 23 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:21,000 today, Isaiah chapter 43. I want you to have an idealized 24 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:27,240 picture of Christmas in your mind for a second and idealize a 25 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:29,520 romantic picture of Christmas in your mind. 26 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:34,600 I I freely understand that for a lot of people Christmas is not 27 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:36,880 romantic for Christmas is not ideal. 28 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:41,680 It is a time of great chaos. Chaos shopping wise chaos family 29 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:46,640 wise chaos lonely wise. I fully recognize this but for 30 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:50,080 purposes of this mental exercise, I want you to picture 31 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:54,120 for a second idealized or romanticized kind of a Christmas 32 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:56,560 moment. So here's here's mine I'm 33 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:59,480 sitting on the couch wrapped in a nice warm blanket. 34 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,960 The family has gathered around. We're looking at the Christmas 35 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:06,480 tree, as beautiful as it is. I've got hot cocoa in my mind, 36 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,759 in my hand. Everything is warm, everything 37 00:02:09,759 --> 00:02:12,320 is wonderful. It is a time of great comfort. 38 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:15,440 It's a time of great comfort for me. 39 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:19,200 Now. Comfort and Christmas are 40 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:24,760 connected and they are connected for a reason in our minds. 41 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,560 I think it's not simply because it's winter out or it's cold and 42 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,800 therefore we get to be tucked in or that it's a family holiday or 43 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:34,920 something along those lines. But there's a connection, a 44 00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:38,440 deeper connection between the comfort that we received from 45 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:42,400 God and Christmas, the coming of Jesus Christ. 46 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:44,320 And we're going to look at that a little bit today. 47 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,680 Over the past couple weeks, we have been looking at this idea 48 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:51,200 of Emmanuel, God with us, and the gifts that we receive 49 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:53,720 because of Emmanuel being with us. 50 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,480 And this is carried forward in on 1/14. 51 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:00,000 The verse we opened with the Word became flesh and dwelt 52 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,400 among us. We have seen His glory, the 53 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,560 glory of us, the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. 54 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:08,200 A couple weeks ago we looked at the idea of dwelling. 55 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,400 What does it mean that God dwells with us? 56 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,040 And the impact of that word, it's not just a physical 57 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:17,200 description, it's actually a description of His desire and 58 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:20,280 His passion for us to dwell in our midst. 59 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,400 And last week we looked at the idea that God reveals himself 60 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,880 consistently through Jesus Christ and part of the gifts 61 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:29,800 that we receive because Christ came upon this earth. 62 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:32,200 Of course, the greatest one. And we're not trying to over 63 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,160 shadow that one. The greatest one is our 64 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:38,200 salvation and everything that the Lord has done on the cross. 65 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,960 And we will continue to be a community that emphasizes the 66 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:44,760 cross of Jesus Christ and the connection between Christ's 67 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:48,320 coming, his incarnation and his crucifixion and his 68 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:50,480 resurrection. But in the midst of that, there 69 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:52,400 are other gifts. There are other blessings that 70 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:55,640 we receive because God made it work this way. 71 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:59,560 And one of them is his revealing that he reveals himself. 72 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:02,400 And we looked at that last week. Today we're going to be looking 73 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:07,120 at this idea that God comforts us, the comforting work of the 74 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:10,400 Lord on our behalf. And we can see the importance of 75 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:12,360 that in the text that Jerry read for us. 76 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:16,560 If you have, if you remember in Second Corinthians chapter 1, 77 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,800 Paul writes, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 78 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:22,920 Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. 79 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:27,320 Listen, just the way in which Paul spills out of himself 80 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:31,280 trying to talk about comfort here, the God of all comfort who 81 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,240 has comforted us in all of our afflictions so that we might 82 00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:38,000 comfort those who have any affliction with the comfort that 83 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,080 we ourselves have received. When we are comforted by God, 84 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,960 there's this constant comfort idea that is being poured 85 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:46,080 forward. And I need to clarify a little 86 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:50,320 bit because while it is comforting to think of God 87 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:55,320 comforting us, comfort in the Scriptures means so much more 88 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:58,760 than just putting his arm around us and encouraging us 89 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,400 emotionally. That's I think overwhelmingly 90 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:04,400 what it means when I think of comfort, when I think, hey, 91 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:07,840 somebody comforted me or I want to comfort them in their 92 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:10,160 troubles. Overwhelmingly what I have in 93 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:13,720 mind is coming alongside them, putting my arm around them, 94 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,880 telling them of the good things of the Lord, encouraging them to 95 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:21,400 some extent what my idea of comfort is to support them 96 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:24,480 emotionally, spiritually, etcetera. 97 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:29,520 There's, there's little that I can do beyond provide that 98 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,640 emotional support. But comfort in the scriptures 99 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,840 means something else. It's something deeper, something 100 00:05:35,840 --> 00:05:38,960 richer. The word comfort itself means to 101 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:43,720 thoroughly strengthen something, to thoroughly strengthen and to 102 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:49,000 empower and to enable. So when God comforts us, it's 103 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:51,120 not just that we are strengthened emotionally. 104 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:53,160 It's not just that we feel better about ourselves. 105 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:55,400 It's not just that we feel better about the things that are 106 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:59,160 happening around us. Rather, God provides us the very 107 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,520 thing that we need in the moment of trial and difficulty, 108 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:05,840 whenever we are suffering, whenever we are dealing with at 109 00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:09,840 that point in the game. Comfort from the Lord is exactly 110 00:06:09,840 --> 00:06:13,000 that strength and empowerment that we need to move forward. 111 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,280 That's the biblical picture of comfort. 112 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:21,000 Now, the necessity of comfort or the reality of comfort comes for 113 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:23,760 a lot of different ways. Probably the biggest 1 is this 114 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:28,680 notion of fear. We need comfort from God because 115 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:31,800 of the reality of fear in our lives. 116 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:37,080 When I was in my late 20s, Kelly and I took a 2 month long 117 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:40,880 mission trip over to Bulgaria. This was right as soon as the 118 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:43,400 very soon after the wall came down. 119 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:46,600 Bulgaria, you might know, was a communist country and it 120 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,720 suffered greatly under the pressures of communism at that 121 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,280 time and while we were over there in Bulgaria and spent that 122 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:57,000 much time over there in Bulgaria, I have never seen a 123 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:02,120 more fearful society now. They were lovely people. 124 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:04,680 They were encouraging, they were wonderful in so many ways. 125 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,040 It was a great summer for Kelly and I and for the mission team 126 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:11,400 that we were working with, and there was lots of beauty and 127 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:13,880 lots of wonder that I can talk about Bulgaria. 128 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:19,160 But there was a consistency of fear that was present in 129 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,080 everything we did. Now, some of it was very similar 130 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:24,640 to what we had. They were afraid of death, they 131 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:27,120 were afraid of getting sick. They were afraid of their 132 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:29,240 families breaking down. They were afraid of the 133 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:33,840 struggles of of work and relationships, all the kind of 134 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:35,480 fears in which we'd associate with. 135 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:40,240 But on top of that, there was a fear that was inbred through 136 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:43,960 society. The communist government had 137 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:47,480 wrecked the economy in such a way that so many of those people 138 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:53,520 had a daily fear of starvation, a daily an actual concern of not 139 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:58,160 being able to eat that day. Be beyond that, the oppression 140 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:02,800 of the government, the political oppression, was such that the 141 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:08,960 people feared their neighbors, They feared their friends. 142 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:13,680 To some extent, they even feared their family members, and it was 143 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:17,120 a society that was dominated by this fear. 144 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:19,960 Into that place we came, bringing the gospel message. 145 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:22,680 And so a number of us would sing out. 146 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:25,720 We'd gather out on the street corner and we'd sing. 147 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:28,240 And in no time there be a gathering of people around. 148 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,360 They recognized right away that we were from the West. 149 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:34,080 They could pick it up from our clothing, fact that we had 150 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:36,280 colors, colors in our clothing, etcetera. 151 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:39,480 So there would no time be a gathering of people. 152 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:41,840 In my mind, there's hundreds and thousands of people. 153 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,040 There were probably 50 or so every time we did this, but we 154 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:47,480 would be gathering together. It was the first opportunity I 155 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:50,920 had to preach the gospel in an open air setting like this. 156 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:53,840 And so I would do a gospel presentation, start at the 157 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:56,200 beginning and work my way up into the cross. 158 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:58,720 And of course, as I got to the high point, Christ's death on 159 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,600 the cross, I'm getting all emotion excited, thinking about 160 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:04,320 what the Lord has done for me. And I talk about Christ's death 161 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:06,840 and sacrifice, and it's wonderful and glorious. 162 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:09,240 And there's murmurs of yeah, yeah, OK. 163 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:13,560 And I think darn, you know, not very encouraging for an upcoming 164 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:17,640 preacher, you know, has very little impact on the audience. 165 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:22,080 And then I thought, well, OK, just to wrap up the sermon, just 166 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:25,240 to wrap up the gospel message. I will mention that Jesus Christ 167 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:29,080 is coming again in the future to save us from this world and the 168 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:31,880 struggles of this world that there is a heaven that is 169 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,000 coming. There is a second coming of the 170 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:37,800 Lord Jesus Christ. And the place went nuts every 171 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:40,040 time this happened. The place after a while, I got 172 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:43,040 used to it and would get we're wind up for it, but the place 173 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:47,080 went crazy. They were so ecstatic because 174 00:09:48,560 --> 00:09:52,040 the antidote for fear is not courage. 175 00:09:53,040 --> 00:10:00,160 The antidote for fear is hope. And into these lives that are 176 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:06,560 shattered by fear came this massive expression of God's hope 177 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:11,280 that there was something else yet to come, that this wasn't 178 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:14,600 all that there was. But there is hope for something 179 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:18,120 greater, something better, something more wonderful yet to 180 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:20,400 come. And that was wrapped up in the 181 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:26,080 presence in the person of Jesus Christ and the blessing that 182 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:31,320 fell upon the Bulgarians from embracing and understanding that 183 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:35,680 hope was overwhelming. We can see this so clearly in 184 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:39,400 our text. If you look in Isaiah 43 verse 185 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:45,880 one towards the end of the verse one, it says fear not for I have 186 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,160 redeemed you. Fear not, do not fear. 187 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:51,600 And we've talked about this before that do not fear is the 188 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:54,520 most repeated command in the Scriptures, Old and New 189 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:57,480 Testaments. It is not love the Lord your 190 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:00,160 God. It is not treat others well. 191 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:04,960 It is not praise God. It is do not fear. 192 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:08,400 Do not fear. The Lord says over and over 193 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:10,560 again, why? Because I have redeemed you, 194 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:16,160 there is a hope that is held out for you, there is a future held 195 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:22,680 out for you, and it is that fear that you are to put aside 196 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:25,800 because of the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ. 197 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:32,080 Jesus Christ. Emmanuel brings the comfort of 198 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:36,280 hope, and it has to bring the comfort of hope into our lives 199 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:40,720 as well. I worry that the ease with which 200 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:47,000 most of us live our lives masks the fear that hope is the 201 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:52,560 antidote to, And consequently we don't appreciate the incarnation 202 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:56,080 of coming, the coming of Jesus Christ, because we have learned 203 00:11:56,080 --> 00:12:01,480 to underplay and downplay the fear that is before us 204 00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:08,240 consistently. But it's not just from fear that 205 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:11,160 Christ's coming saves us or redeems us. 206 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:17,360 It is also this idea of obscurity or meaninglessness. 207 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:20,520 I can't be the only one. I suspect that this is a 208 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:24,200 universal concern for people. What's my purpose in life? 209 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:26,360 Why was? Why was I created? 210 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:28,320 What am I doing here upon this world? 211 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,400 It's one of the key central concepts of any worldview, 212 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:33,920 answering the question, Why am I here? 213 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,360 What is this world all about? What's the meaning of life? 214 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:39,720 What is the meaning of life? Leo. 215 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:44,600 Toy Story. Tolstoy, the famous Russian 216 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:48,280 author, described meaninglessness this way. 217 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,200 He said it's like suddenly waking up, realizing that you're 218 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:54,640 lost in the woods, and you know that you're lost. 219 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:57,800 And the panic comes upon you, and you start moving quickly 220 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:00,880 from one spot to the next, realizing that everywhere you 221 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:04,240 go, no matter how fast you move, you're getting yourself more and 222 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:06,600 more lost. But you can't stop yourself from 223 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,720 continuing to move around. And so you have this aimless 224 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,600 panic, the jumping from one spot to the next. 225 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:15,840 That's the emotions of meaninglessness. 226 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:23,280 That's the emotions that Christ claims to repair in our lives. 227 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,200 And so we have looking closely at verse one. 228 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:31,480 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who 229 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:34,240 formed you, O Israel, O Jacob and O Israel. 230 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:36,320 Just think of that in terms of the people of God. 231 00:13:36,680 --> 00:13:41,560 He who created you, O people of God, he who formed you, O people 232 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:42,840 of God. Realize this. 233 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:47,920 There's a slight nuance in in the biblical use of the word 234 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:51,480 created and formed. Created is the idea that we are 235 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:54,120 created out of nothing, that God is the one who shaped us and 236 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:55,280 molded us. All that's true. 237 00:13:55,520 --> 00:14:00,840 Formed is the direction is the the idea that you you're just 238 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:04,160 not made by God, but you are pointed in a certain direction. 239 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:08,920 And for each one of us, the comfort of the Lord, the comfort 240 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:12,800 that comes through Jesus Christ, is also a purpose. 241 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:16,240 It is a meaningfulness. We are told here that because 242 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:19,960 the Lord created us, because He fashioned us, because he molded 243 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:22,320 us, we have been created with a purpose. 244 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:24,480 We have been created with an intent. 245 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:27,680 We've been created. You have a goal in life. 246 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:30,320 You have a purpose for your existence. 247 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:33,360 This is not just a random. You are not a random collection 248 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:35,960 of things that just happened to come together that forms you 249 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:39,080 along the way. That is a ungodly understanding 250 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:41,800 and ungodly and unbiblical understanding of the gospel 251 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:44,000 message. The gospel message holds that 252 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,480 each one of us have been shaped and molded by the Lord with a 253 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:50,560 purpose, with an intent, and with a goal in mind. 254 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:54,240 This is the comfort. This is is the strengthening the 255 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:57,720 to be thoroughly strengthened by the Lord that he provides 256 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:03,560 through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ Emmanuel brings the 257 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:12,600 comfort of purpose into our lives when there's a fear of 258 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:15,440 purposelessness or meaninglessness. 259 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:21,760 If you wonder why, the answer is in Jesus Christ and the coming 260 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:24,800 of Christ alone. But that's not the only reason 261 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:29,520 why we need to look to Christ for comfort. 262 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,320 We also have the comfort from loneliness. 263 00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:37,600 Now statistically, this is really easy to demonstrate in 264 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:43,160 the modern day America, the fact that we are in a crisis of 265 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:46,520 loneliness. The statistics are horrific if 266 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:49,800 you've ever seen them. Gallup just did a poll last year 267 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:54,440 that found that 20% of adults, and please notice this is this 268 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:58,800 is adults, This is not kids or youth where you would think the 269 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:05,080 numbers would be worse. The 20% of adults daily have 270 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:10,760 feel a debilitating effect of loneliness daily. 271 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:13,600 That's one in five. Look around this room. 272 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:20,240 If we're statistically normal, one in five of us daily not just 273 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:26,240 a momentary expression of loneliness, but daily feel 274 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:30,720 lonely in such a way that it affects the way in which they 275 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:34,360 live their lives. We know some of the social 276 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:37,640 impacts of this. We've seen the shootings and the 277 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:42,000 mass casualty events and things like that, that it so frequently 278 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:45,360 are traced back to isolation and to loneliness. 279 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:51,520 And you have that cultural expression, cultural reality. 280 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:54,120 In the midst of social media and all the ways in which we're 281 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:58,200 supposed to leave so much more connected, we have this epidemic 282 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:03,520 of loneliness that is attacking our society and undercutting our 283 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:08,079 world. And the solution to that is not 284 00:17:08,079 --> 00:17:12,200 a technological solution. It's not even a sociological 285 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:15,480 solution. The solution to that is what it 286 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:19,319 always has been. It is the coming of our Lord 287 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:21,800 Jesus Christ. Take a look for instance, at the 288 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:24,440 end of verse one. Fear not, for I have redeemed 289 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:27,839 you. I have called you by name and 290 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:31,560 you are mine. I have called you by name before 291 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:37,480 we look at that. Loneliness has physical health 292 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:41,640 issues. This one study that I read this 293 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:47,360 week said that it is more damaging to your health to be 294 00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:52,160 chronically lonely than it is to smoke 15 cigarettes a day. 295 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:57,280 Now, I'm not a smoker. I there's not a lot of that in 296 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:01,040 my background. But by all accounts, 15 297 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:05,280 cigarettes a day is a lot of smoking, and we all know the 298 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:10,040 damaging effects of that. We all go kind of bonkers about 299 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:15,920 the dangers of smoking like that, and yet loneliness is 300 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:19,640 worse. Chronic loneliness is worse than 301 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:22,840 smoking 15 cigarettes a day. So what do we do? 302 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:25,960 The Lord here says fear not, for I have redeemed you. 303 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,400 I have called you by name. Now, this is the Lord 304 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:31,560 identifying something. This is not the fact that the 305 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:34,760 Lord knows each of us by name and can identify and can 306 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:38,960 distinguish Joe from Sally and Henry and Bonnie and those kind 307 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:40,840 of things. It's not that the Lord knows us 308 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:42,840 by name. Like he has the intellectual 309 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,680 capabilities of this. The name is your character. 310 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:50,520 The name is, is the summary of who you are as a as an essence 311 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:54,080 and as a person, not in today's use of the word name, but in the 312 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:57,480 biblical use. When when Isaiah says God knows 313 00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:00,800 us by name, he's not saying that God has a great capability of 314 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:04,160 distinguishing individuals from one another by by their name. 315 00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:07,280 What he's saying is that God knows who we are. 316 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:11,160 He knows the essence of who we are, and yet he has called you 317 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:14,520 by name. He knows you who you truly are. 318 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:16,320 And there's that great ending of that verse. 319 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:22,480 Of course we are His. We belong to Him, we belong to 320 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:25,960 Him. The coming of our Lord Jesus 321 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:32,400 Christ, Emmanuel, brings the comfort of belonging, of 322 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:38,000 acceptance. I said earlier that there's one 323 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,760 in five of us that might suffer if we're statistically common, 324 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:45,760 that one of five of us will might suffer from loneliness. 325 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:51,680 Brothers and sisters, that cannot be in this fellowship. 326 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:57,840 It cannot be. If we do that, we are absolutely 327 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:01,680 rejecting the essence of the gospel message. 328 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:06,120 Realize that you might be sitting next to somebody that 329 00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:10,840 suffers from chronic loneliness and realize that this is not a 330 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:13,800 sociological problem. It's not a personality problem. 331 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:18,200 It is a gospel. Problem because of the coming of 332 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:23,920 Jesus Christ brings the comfort of belonging and acceptance into 333 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:28,160 our lives. But of course, when we talk 334 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:32,400 about comfort, my guess is that for most of us, it's not a 335 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:35,440 question of overriding fear. It's not a question of 336 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:39,840 debilitating loneliness. It's not the crushing weight of 337 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:43,000 meaninglessness. My guess is that for most of us, 338 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:47,760 it's just the everyday trials that we all go through, the 339 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:51,800 difficulties of everyday life. Sure, some things are huge. 340 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,760 Cancer in the family, breakdown of a marriage. 341 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:57,560 We realize the difficulties of that. 342 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:01,320 And frankly, most of us are somewhat good at leaning into 343 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:04,000 the Lord when those difficult times come, when those 344 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:07,000 overwhelming things happen, most of us know that nothing more we 345 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,080 can do but trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. 346 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:13,120 But that's for the everyday, the common when you're stuck in a 347 00:21:13,120 --> 00:21:18,080 snow bank, when you're late for work, when your kids are driving 348 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,880 you nuts, when you're fearful of the family coming over, when 349 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:25,680 you're struggling financially. The everyday aspects of life, 350 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:30,520 the everyday trials of life. We want the comfort of what we 351 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:32,360 want, the comfort of what we want. 352 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:40,000 The comfort of hearing God say it's going to be OK, it's going 353 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:42,960 to be OK. I'm here for you. 354 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:49,480 I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. 355 00:21:51,360 --> 00:21:56,280 Now, the problem is that a lot of our trials are brought on by 356 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:59,040 ourself. I lose my temper. 357 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:01,200 I say things that I shouldn't say. 358 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:03,840 I look at somebody the wrong way. 359 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:06,800 I act out in a way that I shouldn't do. 360 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,120 And I think that excludes me from God's comfort. 361 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:16,960 It never does. Or we're the victim of something 362 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,160 random, this disease that just happens to hit us at this 363 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:22,520 particular moment. And what can you say? 364 00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:26,040 Oh well, it's just no, that's never the case. 365 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:33,480 It is always the reality for us that our God brings the comfort 366 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:39,240 of His assurance and confidence into our lives. 367 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:45,320 There is every moment that we are dealing with the everyday 368 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:48,320 struggles and trials of being a parent. 369 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:53,440 Being a mom overwhelmed with one more dirty diaper, being a 370 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:57,960 father that needs the clean of the household up, the being a 371 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:00,760 breadwinner that can't make the payments. 372 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:06,160 All of our everyday struggles in life are consistently covered 373 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:10,720 under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, where He says so 374 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:16,440 clearly to us that He brings the comfort of His assurance and His 375 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:18,880 confidence. He will never leave you. 376 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:24,480 He will never forsake you. Yes, it will be OK. 377 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:31,760 It may not be OK in this world, but it will be OK and you will 378 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:35,120 see it and you will praise the Lord because of it. 379 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:41,760 Now we shouldn't miss the underlying point of all of this. 380 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:43,600 By the way, did we look at the text where it said that? 381 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:46,720 Look at verse 2. When you pass through the 382 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:51,640 waters, Not if, but when. When you pass through the 383 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:55,200 waters, what is God's answer? I will be with you. 384 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,480 When you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm 385 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:00,000 you. When you pass through the fire, 386 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:04,800 you shall not be burned. That is God's promise to every 387 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:11,040 one of us. God's presence brings the 388 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:14,920 comfort, the strengthening, the thorough strengthening that we 389 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:18,880 need in order to survive. And we should never be fooled 390 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:21,120 about the source of this comfort. 391 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:23,720 Look in verse 3, the source of discomfort. 392 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:28,960 Because you are such a lovable person, I am doing this no. 393 00:24:30,120 --> 00:24:33,680 Because you belong to the right political party, I am doing 394 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:39,120 this. No, because your parents were in 395 00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:44,800 the right church, I am doing this, for I am the Lord your 396 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:50,120 God, the Holy One of Israel. I am your Savior. 397 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:54,720 Why does the Lord do all this? He does all this because of 398 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:59,120 Emmanuel, God with us, God coming to earth, being present 399 00:24:59,120 --> 00:25:03,920 with us and blessing us with His presence now and forevermore. 400 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:07,880 The presence that chases away the fear because it brings hope 401 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:11,280 into our lives. The presence that chases away 402 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:15,480 the meaninglessness because it reveals God's purpose in your 403 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:19,920 creation. The presence of God that chases 404 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:24,040 away the loneliness because you belong to Him. 405 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:26,840 He has called you as his own child. 406 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:31,760 And ultimately, that presence that chases away the struggles 407 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:36,400 of every trial because of the assurance that we belong to God, 408 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:39,800 that we are, that he is with us now and forever. 409 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:45,200 Let's pray together. Lord God, we do thank you again 410 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:48,600 for blessing us with your presence, with the struggles in 411 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:52,840 which we go through daily, for the fears that overwhelm us at 412 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:56,160 times, for the loneliness that drags us down, for the 413 00:25:56,160 --> 00:26:00,720 meaninglessness, the fear of meaninglessness, the concern 414 00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:02,800 that we have for that and all things. 415 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:07,160 Lord, in all of these ways and in so much more, we love the 416 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:10,680 comfort that you bring, the thorough strengthening that we 417 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:15,120 need to continue on in our way, serving and and honoring you and 418 00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:18,800 pleasing you in all that we do. Lord, we pray that you would 419 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:21,800 hear us now as we pray the way that our Lord taught us to pray. 420 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:26,760 Our Father who aren't in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy 421 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:31,160 Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 422 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:35,600 Give us this day Our Daily Bread, and forgive us our debts, 423 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:40,160 as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not in temptation, but 424 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:43,560 deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom and the 425 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:46,800 power and the glory forever. Amen.