1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,180 and my voice might try to go out again, 2 00:00:03,180 --> 00:00:05,580 but we'll struggle through it together. 3 00:00:05,580 --> 00:00:08,440 But what a wonderful passage, amen. 4 00:00:08,440 --> 00:00:11,840 I mean, it's one of the main Christmas passages, 5 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:15,020 this one that everyone here is familiar with this morning, 6 00:00:15,020 --> 00:00:17,080 but the thing you have to understand 7 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:21,300 is that this event was not just another birth 8 00:00:21,300 --> 00:00:23,460 of another baby, although praise the Lord 9 00:00:23,460 --> 00:00:26,000 for every single baby that is born, amen. 10 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:30,020 Now this event was cataclysmic. 11 00:00:30,020 --> 00:00:32,540 This event rocked the very foundations 12 00:00:32,540 --> 00:00:34,060 of humanity to its core. 13 00:00:34,060 --> 00:00:36,220 It was paradigm shifting, 14 00:00:36,220 --> 00:00:39,940 and yet so many people today do not want to give 15 00:00:39,940 --> 00:00:44,820 the Son of God the credit He so rightly deserves. 16 00:00:44,820 --> 00:00:46,700 I was reminded of this this past week 17 00:00:46,700 --> 00:00:50,860 as I was recalling a book written by Michael Hart 18 00:00:50,860 --> 00:00:55,860 called The 100, a ranking of the most influential persons 19 00:00:56,780 --> 00:00:57,740 in history. 20 00:00:58,700 --> 00:01:03,540 Now, I expected to find Jesus first on that page 21 00:01:03,540 --> 00:01:05,100 of that book, right? 22 00:01:05,100 --> 00:01:06,340 You're telling me you've got a book 23 00:01:06,340 --> 00:01:08,460 of the 100 most influential persons 24 00:01:08,460 --> 00:01:10,260 throughout all of human history. 25 00:01:10,260 --> 00:01:13,580 Surely the Son of God, God and the flesh 26 00:01:13,580 --> 00:01:16,300 would be first on the list, right? 27 00:01:16,300 --> 00:01:17,700 No. 28 00:01:17,700 --> 00:01:21,340 First on his list was the prophet Muhammad, 29 00:01:21,340 --> 00:01:25,860 born in AD 570 and died in AD 632. 30 00:01:25,860 --> 00:01:30,340 Second on his list was Sir Isaac Newton, 31 00:01:30,340 --> 00:01:35,340 who was born in AD 1643 and died in AD 1727. 32 00:01:35,740 --> 00:01:40,740 And then third on his list was Jesus. 33 00:01:40,740 --> 00:01:45,740 Third, the Son of God, literally God in the flesh, 34 00:01:48,660 --> 00:01:50,980 calm down from heaven to earth. 35 00:01:50,980 --> 00:01:54,380 And Michael Hart says, yeah, put him at third, 36 00:01:54,380 --> 00:01:55,780 a solid third. 37 00:01:55,780 --> 00:01:58,380 Now, here's the reason why that list is ridiculous. 38 00:01:58,380 --> 00:02:00,220 And it should be obvious why it's ridiculous 39 00:02:00,220 --> 00:02:01,380 for a number of reasons. 40 00:02:01,380 --> 00:02:04,620 But if you haven't picked out the most obvious reason, 41 00:02:04,620 --> 00:02:06,500 let me just point it out to you. 42 00:02:06,500 --> 00:02:10,380 As you read this book of the 100 most influential persons 43 00:02:10,380 --> 00:02:12,580 throughout human history, you're gonna notice 44 00:02:12,580 --> 00:02:16,500 that Michael Hart gives you the person's birth year 45 00:02:16,500 --> 00:02:18,220 and the year of their death. 46 00:02:18,220 --> 00:02:23,220 And each one of those years is either going to be BC or AD. 47 00:02:27,020 --> 00:02:29,060 You all see where I'm going with this yet? 48 00:02:29,060 --> 00:02:34,060 Okay, so BC stands for before Christ. 49 00:02:34,300 --> 00:02:37,340 And AD stands for Anu Domini, 50 00:02:37,340 --> 00:02:41,620 which in Latin means in the year of our Lord. 51 00:02:41,620 --> 00:02:43,460 And so for many reasons, 52 00:02:43,460 --> 00:02:44,820 Jesus should be first on the list, 53 00:02:44,820 --> 00:02:47,580 but one painfully obvious reason 54 00:02:47,580 --> 00:02:51,860 is that the birth of Christ literally caused all of humanity 55 00:02:51,860 --> 00:02:54,800 to change how they record the years. 56 00:02:55,780 --> 00:03:00,100 Every year after that is either gonna be before Christ 57 00:03:00,100 --> 00:03:01,860 or in the year of our Lord. 58 00:03:02,940 --> 00:03:05,060 But let's put that guy third. 59 00:03:05,060 --> 00:03:06,860 It's pretty crazy, is it not? 60 00:03:06,860 --> 00:03:08,180 But this is just one of the ways 61 00:03:08,180 --> 00:03:13,180 that the birth of Jesus has radically impacted our world today. 62 00:03:13,740 --> 00:03:16,780 You see, Jesus was not born by accident. 63 00:03:16,780 --> 00:03:19,540 Jesus was not born in some random place, 64 00:03:19,540 --> 00:03:22,260 at some random time in human history. 65 00:03:22,260 --> 00:03:25,140 Jesus was born on mission. 66 00:03:25,140 --> 00:03:28,380 And the Christmas season reminds us of this mission. 67 00:03:28,380 --> 00:03:30,540 And I know the Christmas season is different 68 00:03:30,540 --> 00:03:31,500 for a lot of people, 69 00:03:31,500 --> 00:03:35,180 because some people, they're Christmas people, 70 00:03:35,180 --> 00:03:36,300 and they're the type of people 71 00:03:36,300 --> 00:03:39,100 they're gonna start decorating in July. 72 00:03:39,100 --> 00:03:40,780 And they're gonna post pictures on it on Facebook, 73 00:03:40,780 --> 00:03:42,340 Christmas in July, and they're gonna leave them up. 74 00:03:42,340 --> 00:03:44,380 They're people who leave their Christmas decorations up 75 00:03:44,380 --> 00:03:45,460 all year round. 76 00:03:45,460 --> 00:03:48,700 Some people decorate right after spooky season is over. 77 00:03:48,700 --> 00:03:50,340 Although in my house, that was not allowed. 78 00:03:50,340 --> 00:03:52,020 Mom said you have to wait till Thanksgiving, 79 00:03:52,020 --> 00:03:54,020 and then after Thanksgiving, the tree goes up. 80 00:03:54,020 --> 00:03:55,340 So that's how we operate. 81 00:03:55,340 --> 00:03:58,820 But there are different types of feelings about Christmas, 82 00:03:58,820 --> 00:04:00,900 but I know for some people, 83 00:04:00,900 --> 00:04:03,300 even though this is a season of joy for many, 84 00:04:03,300 --> 00:04:06,940 it's also a season of mourning for a lot of other people. 85 00:04:06,940 --> 00:04:08,180 Right? 86 00:04:08,180 --> 00:04:09,380 Because in this season, 87 00:04:09,380 --> 00:04:12,380 people tend to remember the loved ones 88 00:04:12,380 --> 00:04:14,300 who are no longer with them. 89 00:04:14,300 --> 00:04:16,980 They tend to pay more attention to the empty seats 90 00:04:16,980 --> 00:04:19,940 at the table than those that are filled. 91 00:04:19,940 --> 00:04:22,500 And so no matter where you find yourself this morning 92 00:04:22,500 --> 00:04:23,980 in the Christmas season, 93 00:04:23,980 --> 00:04:25,380 no matter where you find yourself, 94 00:04:25,380 --> 00:04:26,540 whether you're full of joy, 95 00:04:26,540 --> 00:04:28,780 whether you're full of sadness and mourning or busyness 96 00:04:28,780 --> 00:04:29,820 or whatever it is, 97 00:04:29,820 --> 00:04:31,780 I want you to understand 98 00:04:31,780 --> 00:04:34,980 that the birth of Jesus did something very special 99 00:04:34,980 --> 00:04:36,900 for each and every one of us. 100 00:04:36,900 --> 00:04:38,380 And what did he do exactly? 101 00:04:38,380 --> 00:04:40,020 What was his birth intended to do? 102 00:04:40,020 --> 00:04:41,980 Well, the point of this passage is that 103 00:04:41,980 --> 00:04:46,500 the birth of Jesus moves us from gloom to glory. 104 00:04:48,420 --> 00:04:53,420 The birth of Jesus moves us from gloom to glory. 105 00:04:55,660 --> 00:04:57,260 That's the plan, that's the goal. 106 00:04:57,260 --> 00:05:00,580 That is the mission of Christ upon his birth 107 00:05:00,580 --> 00:05:01,540 into the world. 108 00:05:01,540 --> 00:05:04,020 And so really the question that I want us to consider 109 00:05:04,020 --> 00:05:06,740 this morning is, well, how does that work? 110 00:05:06,740 --> 00:05:11,740 How exactly does Jesus move us from gloom to glory? 111 00:05:13,540 --> 00:05:15,740 And I think you'll see exactly how he does that 112 00:05:15,740 --> 00:05:17,100 in this passage. 113 00:05:17,100 --> 00:05:19,700 So look with me again, if you would, in verse one, 114 00:05:21,580 --> 00:05:22,980 and a spoiler for you, 115 00:05:22,980 --> 00:05:26,140 we're not gonna get through all six verses completely. 116 00:05:26,140 --> 00:05:29,540 So just hang with me, but we'll get a couple of them. 117 00:05:29,540 --> 00:05:31,780 So verse one, notice what it says, 118 00:05:31,780 --> 00:05:34,660 but there will be no, what's the word church? 119 00:05:34,660 --> 00:05:35,500 Yeah, no gloom. 120 00:05:35,500 --> 00:05:39,300 There will be no gloom for her who was in English. 121 00:05:39,300 --> 00:05:41,460 In the former time, he brought into contempt 122 00:05:41,460 --> 00:05:44,380 the land of Zebulun and the land of Naftali, 123 00:05:44,380 --> 00:05:47,220 but in the latter time, he's made glorious 124 00:05:47,220 --> 00:05:49,860 the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, 125 00:05:49,860 --> 00:05:54,860 Galilee of the nations or Galilee of the Gentiles in Hebrew. 126 00:05:56,020 --> 00:05:58,380 All right, so this is our background. 127 00:05:58,380 --> 00:06:00,060 We need to understand a little bit 128 00:06:00,060 --> 00:06:01,780 of the background behind this verse, 129 00:06:01,780 --> 00:06:03,860 because I know this is the one that leads into 130 00:06:03,860 --> 00:06:07,820 like the Christmas verse, but there's a whole context 131 00:06:07,820 --> 00:06:11,380 and a whole situation going on here in Israel's time. 132 00:06:11,380 --> 00:06:13,500 You have to understand, it was a very dark 133 00:06:13,500 --> 00:06:16,260 and scary time to be living in Israel, 134 00:06:16,260 --> 00:06:18,740 because there was a new superpower on scene 135 00:06:18,740 --> 00:06:21,140 that was making everyone nervous, 136 00:06:21,140 --> 00:06:23,940 and that was the nation of Assyria. 137 00:06:23,940 --> 00:06:25,740 And Assyria was making everyone nervous 138 00:06:25,740 --> 00:06:27,340 because they kind of risen to power 139 00:06:27,340 --> 00:06:30,500 and become this new superpower in the region. 140 00:06:30,500 --> 00:06:33,140 And so all the nations, because they were nervous, 141 00:06:33,140 --> 00:06:35,140 all the surrounding nations decided 142 00:06:35,140 --> 00:06:36,740 to form an alliance together, 143 00:06:36,740 --> 00:06:40,140 and they were going to protect each other from Assyria. 144 00:06:40,140 --> 00:06:42,860 And so what they did is all these nations, 145 00:06:42,860 --> 00:06:45,580 they came to King Ahaz of Israel and they're like, 146 00:06:45,580 --> 00:06:48,220 hey, have you heard about Assyria? 147 00:06:48,220 --> 00:06:49,740 Scary guy, that guy, right? 148 00:06:49,740 --> 00:06:51,460 Yeah, so here's what we wanna do. 149 00:06:51,460 --> 00:06:55,100 We're forming an alliance, and we would just love 150 00:06:55,100 --> 00:06:56,580 for you to join our alliance. 151 00:06:56,580 --> 00:06:59,140 And then that way, we can protect you from Assyria, 152 00:06:59,140 --> 00:07:00,420 you can protect us from Assyria, 153 00:07:00,420 --> 00:07:03,980 so man, we would love for you to join this alliance. 154 00:07:03,980 --> 00:07:07,980 But if you don't, we're gonna kill you. 155 00:07:07,980 --> 00:07:11,300 And we're gonna put someone else on your throne 156 00:07:11,300 --> 00:07:13,660 who will join our alliance and play ball. 157 00:07:13,660 --> 00:07:16,340 So we love you, we'd love for you to join the alliance, 158 00:07:16,340 --> 00:07:19,660 so you join us, or we're gonna kill you. 159 00:07:19,660 --> 00:07:22,780 Well, Ahaz was like, no thanks. 160 00:07:22,780 --> 00:07:24,140 He didn't wanna join their alliance 161 00:07:24,140 --> 00:07:26,460 because he didn't really like those guys. 162 00:07:26,460 --> 00:07:29,780 And so then, what happened is, the king of Assyria, 163 00:07:29,780 --> 00:07:32,780 he came to Ahaz and he's like, those other guys, 164 00:07:32,780 --> 00:07:34,100 am I right? 165 00:07:34,100 --> 00:07:37,380 Like, pretty crazy that they're trying to form this alliance 166 00:07:37,380 --> 00:07:38,860 and they think I'm the bad guy here. 167 00:07:38,860 --> 00:07:40,740 Trust me, I'm not the bad guy here, 168 00:07:40,740 --> 00:07:42,420 but I know you're scared of them, 169 00:07:42,420 --> 00:07:44,700 so here's what I'm gonna do for you. 170 00:07:44,700 --> 00:07:47,820 You can join me, and if you'll join me, 171 00:07:47,820 --> 00:07:49,780 I'll protect you from all those other nations, 172 00:07:49,780 --> 00:07:51,660 so you don't have to worry about them, 173 00:07:51,660 --> 00:07:52,980 and you don't have to worry about me, 174 00:07:52,980 --> 00:07:54,900 and we can all be buddies. 175 00:07:54,900 --> 00:07:56,580 So that's what you should do. 176 00:07:56,580 --> 00:08:00,420 Oh, but if you don't, I'm gonna kill you, 177 00:08:00,420 --> 00:08:03,020 and I'm gonna put someone else on your throne 178 00:08:03,020 --> 00:08:05,140 who will join my alliance. 179 00:08:05,140 --> 00:08:07,380 And so this is a situation of King Ahaz. 180 00:08:07,380 --> 00:08:10,420 He either gets to join the nations or die, 181 00:08:10,420 --> 00:08:13,740 or he can join Assyria or die, 182 00:08:13,740 --> 00:08:16,960 or he could do neither, and probably, most likely, 183 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:18,240 you wanna take a guess? 184 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:19,740 Die, yeah. 185 00:08:19,740 --> 00:08:22,260 So this is what it was like to live in Israel 186 00:08:22,260 --> 00:08:24,140 at the time that this was written. 187 00:08:24,140 --> 00:08:27,580 It was not fun, and what's interesting is that two cities here 188 00:08:27,580 --> 00:08:29,220 are specifically mentioned by name, 189 00:08:29,220 --> 00:08:33,420 the cities of Zebulun and the cities of Naftali, 190 00:08:33,420 --> 00:08:35,880 which these were the northernmost cities 191 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:37,860 in the nation of Israel, 192 00:08:37,860 --> 00:08:41,220 which means they would have been the very first cities 193 00:08:41,220 --> 00:08:43,980 to be invaded by the enemies, 194 00:08:43,980 --> 00:08:46,500 because almost all of Israel's enemies 195 00:08:46,500 --> 00:08:48,420 were to the north of them, 196 00:08:48,420 --> 00:08:50,280 and so if you were going to invade Israel, 197 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:53,980 you're coming in through Zebulun and Naftali. 198 00:08:53,980 --> 00:08:56,140 In other words, actually, if you read 199 00:08:56,140 --> 00:08:57,940 the last half of the Old Testament, 200 00:08:57,940 --> 00:09:00,860 the nations of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia, 201 00:09:00,860 --> 00:09:03,860 they all invaded from the north, 202 00:09:03,860 --> 00:09:06,460 through Zebulun and Naftali. 203 00:09:06,460 --> 00:09:10,940 And so for Israel, this was their weakest point. 204 00:09:10,940 --> 00:09:13,660 These cities were their most vulnerable point, 205 00:09:13,660 --> 00:09:14,580 their darkest point. 206 00:09:14,580 --> 00:09:17,300 This was the place where they had experienced 207 00:09:17,300 --> 00:09:19,860 the most setback and difficulty, 208 00:09:19,860 --> 00:09:23,000 and yet God says it is gonna be this very place 209 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:25,820 in this region where the light of Christ 210 00:09:25,820 --> 00:09:27,380 is first going to shine, 211 00:09:27,380 --> 00:09:30,620 and the gospel of Christ is first gonna be proclaimed 212 00:09:30,620 --> 00:09:33,180 and believed, and people are going to trust 213 00:09:33,180 --> 00:09:36,860 in the Messiah first in these places. 214 00:09:36,860 --> 00:09:38,140 Notice what it says in verse two. 215 00:09:38,140 --> 00:09:41,980 It says, the people who walked in darkness 216 00:09:41,980 --> 00:09:43,820 have seen a great light, 217 00:09:43,820 --> 00:09:46,140 and those who dwell in a land of deep darkness 218 00:09:46,140 --> 00:09:48,300 on them a light has shown. 219 00:09:48,300 --> 00:09:49,700 Now here's what I want you to do. 220 00:09:49,700 --> 00:09:50,620 Look at the screen, 221 00:09:50,620 --> 00:09:53,580 because we're gonna turn to Matthew chapter four. 222 00:09:53,580 --> 00:09:56,180 And this is what the Bible says, Matthew chapter four. 223 00:09:56,180 --> 00:10:00,780 Now when he, this is Jesus, heard that John, the Baptist, 224 00:10:00,780 --> 00:10:04,300 the Presbyterian, John the Baptist, had been arrested, 225 00:10:04,300 --> 00:10:05,420 he withdrew into Galilee. 226 00:10:05,420 --> 00:10:09,340 So this is right after Jesus has been baptized by John. 227 00:10:09,340 --> 00:10:11,540 He's just been tempted in the wilderness 228 00:10:11,540 --> 00:10:14,020 for 40 days and nights by the devil. 229 00:10:14,020 --> 00:10:14,900 And right after this, 230 00:10:14,900 --> 00:10:17,220 he's about to start his public ministry. 231 00:10:17,220 --> 00:10:18,420 And this is what it says, 232 00:10:18,420 --> 00:10:21,700 in leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum 233 00:10:21,700 --> 00:10:25,100 by the sea in the territory of what church? 234 00:10:25,100 --> 00:10:27,000 Zebulun and Naftali. 235 00:10:28,900 --> 00:10:31,100 So that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah 236 00:10:31,100 --> 00:10:32,460 might be fulfilled. 237 00:10:32,460 --> 00:10:34,820 The land of Zebulun and the land of Naftali, 238 00:10:34,820 --> 00:10:37,100 the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, 239 00:10:37,100 --> 00:10:38,980 Galilee of the Gentiles. 240 00:10:38,980 --> 00:10:42,180 The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, 241 00:10:42,180 --> 00:10:44,000 and for those dwelling in the region 242 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,940 and shadow of death on them a light has dawned. 243 00:10:47,940 --> 00:10:50,700 And listen, from that time, 244 00:10:50,700 --> 00:10:53,180 Jesus began to preach saying, 245 00:10:53,180 --> 00:10:56,540 repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 246 00:10:56,540 --> 00:10:57,940 So when Jesus was on earth, 247 00:10:57,940 --> 00:11:00,860 he could have chosen anywhere to live. 248 00:11:00,860 --> 00:11:05,420 And yet he specifically chose Zebulun and Naftali 249 00:11:05,420 --> 00:11:08,300 in order to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah. 250 00:11:08,300 --> 00:11:12,100 And it was there in the region of Zebulun and Naftali 251 00:11:12,100 --> 00:11:15,900 that Jesus preached his very first sermon. 252 00:11:15,900 --> 00:11:19,040 It was the very first place that ever heard the message 253 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:20,440 of the kingdom of God, 254 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,040 straight from the mouth of the Son of God. 255 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,560 It was the very first place where they believed 256 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:26,940 in the gospel of Christ, 257 00:11:26,940 --> 00:11:29,540 and the very first place where the light of Christ 258 00:11:29,540 --> 00:11:32,700 began to shine here in our world. 259 00:11:32,700 --> 00:11:35,020 It was the darkest place, 260 00:11:35,020 --> 00:11:38,140 and God decided to shine the light of Christ. 261 00:11:38,140 --> 00:11:41,780 So the picture here is that God identified 262 00:11:41,780 --> 00:11:45,060 their weakest point, their most vulnerable point, 263 00:11:45,060 --> 00:11:47,180 their most shameful point. 264 00:11:47,180 --> 00:11:50,220 And he chooses this place to be the place 265 00:11:50,220 --> 00:11:52,060 where he's going to shine his light. 266 00:11:52,060 --> 00:11:53,860 And I want you to understand something, church. 267 00:11:53,860 --> 00:11:58,140 This is how God operates throughout history. 268 00:11:58,140 --> 00:12:00,660 I want to tell you about my friend, Tim. 269 00:12:00,660 --> 00:12:04,780 He is an inmate at Perry Correctional. 270 00:12:04,780 --> 00:12:06,380 And Tim's a great guy. 271 00:12:06,380 --> 00:12:07,460 He's an amazing man. 272 00:12:07,460 --> 00:12:09,580 And I was talking with him recently 273 00:12:09,580 --> 00:12:12,100 when Brian and I went to serve the prisoners 274 00:12:12,100 --> 00:12:13,740 a meal a few weeks ago. 275 00:12:13,740 --> 00:12:15,860 And I was talking with Tim 276 00:12:15,860 --> 00:12:18,980 and just trying to get more of his life story. 277 00:12:18,980 --> 00:12:21,820 And he said that he's in prison 278 00:12:21,820 --> 00:12:24,100 for committing a violent crime. 279 00:12:24,100 --> 00:12:26,340 And he did not have a violent tendency, 280 00:12:26,340 --> 00:12:29,100 but he committed a violent crime serving the sentence for it. 281 00:12:29,100 --> 00:12:31,980 He was not a Christian when he went into prison. 282 00:12:31,980 --> 00:12:34,140 And he said that when he first went into prison, 283 00:12:34,140 --> 00:12:36,260 he thought that his life was over, 284 00:12:36,260 --> 00:12:39,500 as I imagine most of us would feel that way as well. 285 00:12:39,500 --> 00:12:41,980 So he said he felt like his life was over, 286 00:12:41,980 --> 00:12:43,180 that he had thrown it all away 287 00:12:43,180 --> 00:12:45,140 because he knew from that point on, 288 00:12:45,140 --> 00:12:48,380 he would be spending the majority of his life behind bars 289 00:12:48,380 --> 00:12:51,420 and then he's gonna die and that's his life. 290 00:12:51,420 --> 00:12:52,780 And so he was in a dark place. 291 00:12:52,780 --> 00:12:53,820 I would think we would all agree. 292 00:12:53,820 --> 00:12:55,980 A prison is a pretty dark place, right? 293 00:12:55,980 --> 00:12:59,220 He's in a dark place figuratively, spiritually. 294 00:13:00,180 --> 00:13:03,940 And so one day Tim decides to go to one of the chapel services 295 00:13:03,940 --> 00:13:07,300 that they're having there at Perry Correctional. 296 00:13:07,300 --> 00:13:10,660 And it was the first time in his life 297 00:13:10,660 --> 00:13:13,580 that he heard the gospel preached. 298 00:13:13,580 --> 00:13:15,500 And it wasn't in a church building, 299 00:13:15,500 --> 00:13:17,060 and it wasn't in a revival, 300 00:13:17,060 --> 00:13:19,260 and it wasn't at any other Christian conference 301 00:13:19,260 --> 00:13:20,100 or something like that. 302 00:13:20,100 --> 00:13:22,980 The first time he heard the gospel preached 303 00:13:22,980 --> 00:13:26,620 was in a prison behind bars. 304 00:13:26,620 --> 00:13:29,060 And he said that when he heard the message of the gospel 305 00:13:29,060 --> 00:13:30,420 in that dark place, 306 00:13:30,420 --> 00:13:32,500 he said he felt the light of Christ 307 00:13:32,500 --> 00:13:34,220 begin to shine in his life. 308 00:13:34,220 --> 00:13:36,180 He was convicted of his sins. 309 00:13:36,180 --> 00:13:38,820 He turned his sins over to God, repented of them. 310 00:13:38,820 --> 00:13:40,940 And that day he became a Christian, 311 00:13:40,940 --> 00:13:43,860 a light in the darkest of places. 312 00:13:44,980 --> 00:13:46,940 But then guess what else happened? 313 00:13:46,940 --> 00:13:49,340 He felt God's call on his life. 314 00:13:49,340 --> 00:13:51,140 And so he joined the chaplaincy program 315 00:13:51,140 --> 00:13:52,580 that they have there. 316 00:13:52,580 --> 00:13:54,180 And they do this really cool program 317 00:13:54,180 --> 00:13:56,740 where if you join the chaplaincy, 318 00:13:56,740 --> 00:14:00,820 you can actually as a prisoner be transferred to Columbia 319 00:14:00,820 --> 00:14:05,260 where you get to attend Columbia International University 320 00:14:05,260 --> 00:14:09,100 and get a degree in Bible while you're in prison. 321 00:14:09,100 --> 00:14:11,820 And so he was completely uneducated going into prison. 322 00:14:11,820 --> 00:14:13,500 And while he was in prison, 323 00:14:13,500 --> 00:14:16,060 he went to college and got a degree in Bible. 324 00:14:16,060 --> 00:14:18,020 He graduated that program. 325 00:14:18,020 --> 00:14:19,940 And then he said, as part of that program, 326 00:14:19,940 --> 00:14:22,340 they can send you to any prison in South Carolina 327 00:14:22,340 --> 00:14:24,740 that needs help in the chaplaincy program. 328 00:14:24,740 --> 00:14:26,340 And so Tim told me he started praying 329 00:14:26,340 --> 00:14:29,740 and he told God, I will go wherever you need me. 330 00:14:29,740 --> 00:14:30,820 You just send me. 331 00:14:30,820 --> 00:14:32,380 Wherever the darkest place is, 332 00:14:32,380 --> 00:14:34,460 I wanna go and be a light in that place. 333 00:14:34,460 --> 00:14:35,660 And in God's providence, 334 00:14:35,660 --> 00:14:37,460 he sent him right back to Perry, 335 00:14:37,460 --> 00:14:41,740 the very place where the Lord had led him to faith in Christ. 336 00:14:41,740 --> 00:14:46,660 And now Tim, every single night in his dormitory, 337 00:14:46,660 --> 00:14:49,460 leads a Bible study with the men in his dormitory. 338 00:14:49,460 --> 00:14:51,740 He is part of the chaplaincy program. 339 00:14:51,740 --> 00:14:53,300 He's a chaplain's clerk 340 00:14:53,300 --> 00:14:56,060 and he gets to preach the gospel two times a month 341 00:14:56,060 --> 00:14:57,620 for their Sunday services. 342 00:14:57,620 --> 00:15:00,260 All because even though he was in a dark place, 343 00:15:00,260 --> 00:15:03,540 the light of Christ began to shine in that dark place. 344 00:15:03,540 --> 00:15:06,140 And he saved him from his sins. 345 00:15:06,140 --> 00:15:08,340 That's exactly how our God works. 346 00:15:08,340 --> 00:15:11,540 It's exactly what he was doing when he sent Jesus 347 00:15:11,540 --> 00:15:13,700 to the region of Zebulun in Naftali. 348 00:15:13,700 --> 00:15:15,460 He said, here's a dark place. 349 00:15:15,460 --> 00:15:16,540 Here's a weak place. 350 00:15:16,540 --> 00:15:17,940 Here's a vulnerable place. 351 00:15:17,940 --> 00:15:21,460 But I can do something in that place. 352 00:15:21,460 --> 00:15:23,820 I can shine the light of Christ there 353 00:15:23,820 --> 00:15:26,260 and I can make a difference in people's lives. 354 00:15:26,260 --> 00:15:29,500 And this is one way he turns our gloom into glory. 355 00:15:29,500 --> 00:15:31,300 Here's what I want you to understand church. 356 00:15:31,300 --> 00:15:34,300 God transforms our reasons for shame 357 00:15:34,300 --> 00:15:36,780 into stories of grace. 358 00:15:38,340 --> 00:15:40,980 Anybody in here got a story of grace this morning? 359 00:15:40,980 --> 00:15:42,940 Yeah, just me, okay. 360 00:15:42,940 --> 00:15:47,940 God turns our reasons for shame into stories of grace. 361 00:15:49,540 --> 00:15:51,140 In other words, I want you to understand something 362 00:15:51,140 --> 00:15:52,100 this morning. 363 00:15:52,100 --> 00:15:55,460 There is no shame for Christians. 364 00:15:56,460 --> 00:15:58,900 I don't know if you believe that or not, 365 00:15:58,900 --> 00:16:00,780 but it's 100% biblically true. 366 00:16:00,780 --> 00:16:03,300 There is no shame for Christians. 367 00:16:03,300 --> 00:16:05,620 We do not have to hide our past. 368 00:16:05,620 --> 00:16:08,420 We do not have to hide our sins, our shortcomings, 369 00:16:08,420 --> 00:16:11,300 our failures because the light of Christ 370 00:16:11,300 --> 00:16:13,460 has already exposed us. 371 00:16:13,460 --> 00:16:15,340 There's nothing else we can hide from. 372 00:16:15,340 --> 00:16:16,900 What are you talking about? 373 00:16:16,900 --> 00:16:19,180 I don't think people understand this. 374 00:16:19,180 --> 00:16:23,140 To identify with Christ and to claim to be a Christian 375 00:16:23,140 --> 00:16:27,100 is to say that when Jesus died on the cross, 376 00:16:27,100 --> 00:16:29,500 he died for my sins. 377 00:16:29,500 --> 00:16:32,460 It was my sins that nailed him to the cross 378 00:16:32,460 --> 00:16:33,500 according to the Bible. 379 00:16:33,500 --> 00:16:36,820 And so as he's hanging on the cross naked, 380 00:16:36,820 --> 00:16:39,580 bearing the shame that comes with hanging naked 381 00:16:39,580 --> 00:16:42,540 on a cross, we are saying, that should be me. 382 00:16:42,540 --> 00:16:44,180 I should be the one on the cross. 383 00:16:44,180 --> 00:16:45,020 Why? 384 00:16:45,020 --> 00:16:46,180 Because those are my sins. 385 00:16:46,180 --> 00:16:47,780 This is exactly what I deserve. 386 00:16:47,780 --> 00:16:50,100 So how could I possibly hide my sins 387 00:16:50,100 --> 00:16:52,340 when Jesus has already exposed them? 388 00:16:52,340 --> 00:16:54,220 The light of Christ has exposed them. 389 00:16:54,220 --> 00:16:56,060 And so now I don't have to hide from them 390 00:16:56,060 --> 00:16:58,420 because the Bible says that in Christ, 391 00:16:58,420 --> 00:17:02,220 God has now hidden us in Christ. 392 00:17:02,220 --> 00:17:04,740 So God no longer looks at you and sees your sins. 393 00:17:04,740 --> 00:17:08,380 God looks at you and he sees the life of Christ 394 00:17:08,380 --> 00:17:11,140 because you have been hidden in Christ. 395 00:17:11,140 --> 00:17:13,660 And so we don't have to hide our sins. 396 00:17:13,660 --> 00:17:16,140 We don't have to be ashamed of our past 397 00:17:16,140 --> 00:17:19,140 because Jesus has done something about it. 398 00:17:19,140 --> 00:17:20,260 I know that many of you in here, 399 00:17:20,260 --> 00:17:23,060 you might be like me and you struggle with this 400 00:17:23,060 --> 00:17:25,340 because you look back over your past 401 00:17:25,340 --> 00:17:27,460 and all you see are failures. 402 00:17:27,460 --> 00:17:29,700 All you see are reasons for shame, 403 00:17:30,700 --> 00:17:33,780 a past full of sin and disobedience and rebellion 404 00:17:33,780 --> 00:17:34,620 against God. 405 00:17:34,620 --> 00:17:36,260 And I just want you to understand 406 00:17:36,260 --> 00:17:40,060 that God can use those dark points in your life 407 00:17:40,060 --> 00:17:41,540 for his purposes. 408 00:17:41,540 --> 00:17:44,180 He can transform them into a testimony 409 00:17:44,180 --> 00:17:48,100 that are gonna help other people see the work of Christ 410 00:17:48,100 --> 00:17:51,460 in you and lead other people to Christ. 411 00:17:51,460 --> 00:17:53,700 I've had people say about me. 412 00:17:53,700 --> 00:17:56,460 Yeah, he may act holier than now. 413 00:17:56,460 --> 00:17:59,900 Preaching every Sunday, but I know who he used to be. 414 00:18:01,180 --> 00:18:02,900 I know the things he used to do. 415 00:18:03,900 --> 00:18:05,340 I know the way he used to talk. 416 00:18:05,340 --> 00:18:06,900 I know the way he used to treat people. 417 00:18:06,900 --> 00:18:10,300 I know the things he used to be involved in. 418 00:18:10,300 --> 00:18:11,660 You can see him there on a Sunday, 419 00:18:11,660 --> 00:18:13,460 but I know who he was. 420 00:18:13,460 --> 00:18:16,420 And to all that I say, yes, sir, amen. 421 00:18:17,340 --> 00:18:19,700 That is who I was. 422 00:18:19,700 --> 00:18:20,900 That's not who I am. 423 00:18:22,140 --> 00:18:24,500 That's who I was before Christ. 424 00:18:24,500 --> 00:18:27,180 That's not who I am because of Christ. 425 00:18:27,180 --> 00:18:29,860 That old identity does not fit on me anymore. 426 00:18:29,860 --> 00:18:32,660 The Bible says now I am a child of God. 427 00:18:32,660 --> 00:18:34,420 I am a sinner and yet a saint, 428 00:18:34,420 --> 00:18:35,900 not because of what I've done, 429 00:18:35,900 --> 00:18:38,580 but because of what Jesus has done for me. 430 00:18:38,580 --> 00:18:41,260 And so yeah, you can say all that stuff you want about me, 431 00:18:41,260 --> 00:18:43,180 but Jesus has washed me clean, brother. 432 00:18:44,700 --> 00:18:46,420 So I'm not gonna hide from my past. 433 00:18:46,420 --> 00:18:48,060 I'm not gonna deny my past 434 00:18:48,060 --> 00:18:49,820 because I want you to understand my past 435 00:18:49,820 --> 00:18:54,180 is nothing more than a story of God's grace to recall. 436 00:18:54,180 --> 00:18:55,900 And I've tried to point this out to people. 437 00:18:55,900 --> 00:18:57,940 When all these people from my past come 438 00:18:57,940 --> 00:19:00,340 and they try to remind me of all these things 439 00:19:00,340 --> 00:19:03,100 and all the ways I've failed and all the things I've done, 440 00:19:03,100 --> 00:19:05,500 and they're using that against me to try to shame me, 441 00:19:05,500 --> 00:19:07,060 I'm like, brother, all you're doing 442 00:19:07,060 --> 00:19:10,180 is reminding me of how good my God is. 443 00:19:10,180 --> 00:19:12,020 All you're doing is reminding me 444 00:19:12,020 --> 00:19:13,820 of how much he has forgiven me. 445 00:19:13,820 --> 00:19:15,380 All you're doing is reminding me 446 00:19:15,380 --> 00:19:18,100 of his great love towards me and mercy towards me 447 00:19:18,100 --> 00:19:19,340 and grace towards me. 448 00:19:19,340 --> 00:19:22,440 You are just giving me reasons to praise God. 449 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:24,820 So keep it on coming. 450 00:19:24,820 --> 00:19:26,540 You can let people talk about your past. 451 00:19:26,540 --> 00:19:27,980 You can let the devil remind you, 452 00:19:27,980 --> 00:19:31,260 I glory in my sins forgiven 453 00:19:32,740 --> 00:19:36,580 because the light of Christ has exposed my darkness. 454 00:19:36,580 --> 00:19:38,180 And the Bible says that he has transferred us 455 00:19:38,180 --> 00:19:41,700 out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his Son. 456 00:19:41,700 --> 00:19:44,620 And he has transformed our reasons for shame 457 00:19:44,620 --> 00:19:47,300 into stories of his grace. 458 00:19:47,300 --> 00:19:49,340 I wanna encourage you even now, Christian, 459 00:19:49,340 --> 00:19:50,780 it's not even just about your past. 460 00:19:50,780 --> 00:19:53,180 I wanna encourage you to be open 461 00:19:53,180 --> 00:19:55,500 about your shortcomings now in the present. 462 00:19:55,500 --> 00:19:57,380 You don't have to hide those either. 463 00:19:57,380 --> 00:19:58,920 I know we like to put on our church clothes. 464 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:00,580 This would work better if I was wearing a jacket, 465 00:20:00,580 --> 00:20:03,220 but you know me, first Sunday of the month kind of guy. 466 00:20:03,220 --> 00:20:05,460 So if I had a jacket, but we like to wear our church clothes 467 00:20:05,460 --> 00:20:07,060 and we like to come here and pretend 468 00:20:07,060 --> 00:20:08,780 that we all have it together, look at us. 469 00:20:08,780 --> 00:20:11,100 We're good church people and we dress the part 470 00:20:11,100 --> 00:20:13,500 and we play the part and we try to act 471 00:20:13,500 --> 00:20:16,820 like we're perfect church. 472 00:20:16,820 --> 00:20:18,540 Who's that helping? 473 00:20:18,540 --> 00:20:21,300 Has that helped anyone recently? 474 00:20:21,300 --> 00:20:24,020 No, we need to be open and honest about our shortcomings. 475 00:20:24,020 --> 00:20:27,060 This is one reason I always try to be open and honest 476 00:20:27,060 --> 00:20:30,820 from the pulpit with you about my shortcomings and failures. 477 00:20:30,820 --> 00:20:32,300 I don't try to hide anything 478 00:20:32,300 --> 00:20:35,160 because I think, excuse this rant for a second, 479 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:36,740 but I think for far too long, 480 00:20:36,740 --> 00:20:38,300 the church went through this period 481 00:20:38,300 --> 00:20:40,460 where they put the pastor on a pedestal 482 00:20:40,460 --> 00:20:43,540 and they acted like he was a separated man of God. 483 00:20:43,540 --> 00:20:45,460 He was holier than everybody else. 484 00:20:45,460 --> 00:20:46,660 He was the anointed one. 485 00:20:46,660 --> 00:20:48,140 You can't touch God's man. 486 00:20:48,140 --> 00:20:50,780 And that's what gave rise to the celebrity pastor 487 00:20:50,780 --> 00:20:53,180 influence stuff that we've got going on today. 488 00:20:53,180 --> 00:20:55,580 And that is so unhelpful for the church 489 00:20:55,580 --> 00:20:57,860 to think that there are two classes of Christians. 490 00:20:57,860 --> 00:21:00,780 There's the pastor and then there's all you dirty sinners. 491 00:21:00,780 --> 00:21:02,740 How dare you be part of this group? 492 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:05,900 Look, I'll tell you something. 493 00:21:05,900 --> 00:21:09,700 Yes, God by his grace has given me discernment 494 00:21:09,700 --> 00:21:12,740 and the ability to understand his word and teach his word. 495 00:21:12,740 --> 00:21:14,700 Listen to me say this as your pastor. 496 00:21:14,700 --> 00:21:16,700 I'm just a sinner saved by grace. 497 00:21:16,700 --> 00:21:19,360 And that's not my past story. 498 00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:21,240 That's my present story. 499 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:23,400 Every single day I wake up, 500 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:26,800 I'm reminded I am nothing more than a sinner saved by grace. 501 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:29,880 I am in need of God's daily grace in my life. 502 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:31,280 I am no better than you. 503 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,640 God has gifted me in different ways than you, 504 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:34,840 but at the end of the day, 505 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:36,600 we are just struggling together 506 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:40,040 until we get to be with Jesus in glory, amen. 507 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:42,000 So I'm not better than you. 508 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:42,840 We need to be open. 509 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:43,920 We need to be honest 510 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:46,880 because Jesus has exposed our sins. 511 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:47,720 And so here's what I want you to do. 512 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:49,960 When you think about Jesus going first 513 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:51,400 to Galilee of the Gentiles, 514 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:55,840 I want you to know that Jesus comes to us at our weakest. 515 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:58,240 He comes to us at our most shameful. 516 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:00,140 He comes to us at our most vulnerable 517 00:22:00,140 --> 00:22:02,800 and he shines the light of Christ. 518 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:04,440 And I want to just remind you this morning, church, 519 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:08,280 the light of Christ always shines brightest in the darkness. 520 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,200 And so gloom becomes glory in an unexpected place, 521 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:15,880 but it also becomes into glory in an unexpected way. 522 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:17,360 Look at the first part of verse six. 523 00:22:17,360 --> 00:22:19,880 I told you we're not gonna get as far as we'd like, 524 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:21,640 but the first part of verse six, 525 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:27,160 for to us, a child is born, 526 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:31,040 and to us, a son is given. 527 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:33,000 Now I want you to just pause for a moment 528 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,280 and think back to the situation of King Ahaz in Israel. 529 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:38,480 Do you remember their situation? 530 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:42,080 You either side with the nations or die, 531 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:45,160 or you side with a Syria or die, 532 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:49,640 or you do neither of those and you probably still die. 533 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:51,440 That's their situation, right? 534 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:53,400 They're stuck between a rock and a hard place. 535 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:56,160 I imagine living in Israel at the time 536 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:59,520 would have felt a lot like living in Ukraine today. 537 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,320 Living in constant fear of an invasion from the North, 538 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:03,200 except with Ukraine, 539 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:05,200 they're fearing an invasion from Russia 540 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:08,280 and they know, given how much smaller and weaker they are, 541 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:10,400 that if a full out war ever did take place, 542 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:12,060 they probably stand no chance. 543 00:23:12,060 --> 00:23:15,520 That's exactly how Israel feels here. 544 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:16,920 And so here's what happens. 545 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:22,000 God sends the prophet Isaiah to King Ahaz. 546 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:23,840 And he says to King Ahaz, 547 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:25,760 hey listen, God's gonna protect you. 548 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:26,600 Here's what you do. 549 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:28,840 Ask God for any sign. 550 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:30,200 Any sign that you want. 551 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,000 It could be as deep as Hades, high as the heaven. 552 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:35,880 You ask him for any sign that he's gonna protect you. 553 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:37,880 God's gonna give it to you. 554 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:40,000 Now let's just be real honest with you. 555 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:42,360 If Isaiah was offering that to me, 556 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:43,520 I would have taken that deal 557 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:45,800 before he could have even finished talking. 558 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:47,560 As soon as he said, hey ask God for it, 559 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:48,960 I'm like, yes, absolutely. 560 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:50,320 Here's what I want. 561 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:53,280 I would have laid out my demands and asked for a nice sign. 562 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,320 King Ahaz though says no. 563 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:57,600 Can you imagine that? 564 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,480 Literally Isaiah is like, hey, God's gonna protect you. 565 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:02,000 Ask him any sign he'll give it to you. 566 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:03,280 And Ahaz is like, no, I'm good. 567 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:04,320 I don't really want a sign. 568 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:06,800 And so Isaiah says in modern translation, 569 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:08,200 okay, cool, cool, cool, cool. 570 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:10,320 God's gonna give you a sign anyways 571 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:12,000 and here's what it's gonna be. 572 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:16,040 And he tells him, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son. 573 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:19,560 And he, you shall call his name Emmanuel. 574 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:23,040 Do you see what is strange about that? 575 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:25,580 They're worried about Assyria. 576 00:24:25,580 --> 00:24:26,920 They're worried about the nations. 577 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:28,520 They're worried about an invasion. 578 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:32,620 And Isaiah, God through Isaiah says, hey, don't worry about it. 579 00:24:32,620 --> 00:24:34,640 Why? Because a baby's gonna be born. 580 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:39,640 Nobody, nothing there yet? 581 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:43,480 Let's just imagine that we were about to be invaded 582 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:46,440 by a nation and it's gonna happen any single day now 583 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:47,720 and you're living in constant fear 584 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:49,680 and the threat of death is over you. 585 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:51,400 And God says, don't worry about that 586 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:53,800 because a baby's coming. 587 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:57,160 Do you feel very secure from the nations at that point? 588 00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:58,040 Okay, now you got it. 589 00:24:58,040 --> 00:24:59,280 See, yeah, that's the point, right? 590 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:03,640 Like a baby did not seem like a great solution, right? 591 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:04,920 They did not want a baby. 592 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:06,560 They wanted another David. 593 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:09,320 They wanted a Gideon or a Sampson 594 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:12,000 or they wanted God to just wave his hands 595 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,640 and make Assyria just no longer exist. 596 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:16,400 Wipe them off the face of the earth. 597 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:19,480 They wanted some other like parting of the Red Sea miracle 598 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:22,680 and then let the sea swallow Assyria back up into it. 599 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:26,000 They wanted some miraculous work of God. 600 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:31,000 They did not have a baby in mind as the solution 601 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,920 to the problem of the nations. 602 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,120 Now, that was surprising to them 603 00:25:37,120 --> 00:25:39,280 but what was gonna be even more surprising 604 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:43,240 is the way in which God was actually going to deliver them 605 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:48,240 because as you know, the baby Jesus is eventually born 606 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:52,120 but when he grows up, Jesus never once overthrew 607 00:25:52,120 --> 00:25:53,680 the Roman government, did he? 608 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:57,280 That's exactly what people wanted him to do. 609 00:25:57,280 --> 00:25:58,840 That's what they expected of the Messiah. 610 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,560 They all thought, hey, the Messiah is gonna come. 611 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:04,840 He's going to deliver us from the oppression of the nations. 612 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:06,880 Israel's gonna be free once again. 613 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:10,560 If Jesus is the Messiah, he is going to take it to Caesar 614 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:12,160 and Israel will be victorious 615 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:14,400 and instead Jesus says, actually, 616 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:16,680 you should keep paying your taxes. 617 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:18,960 We're gonna do what the Roman government says 618 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:23,080 and I'm gonna submit myself to death on a Roman cross. 619 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:27,360 And what was surprising to them 620 00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:30,040 is they didn't realize that their deliverance 621 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,240 would come through death, not a military trial. 622 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:36,000 And that made no sense to them. 623 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:36,840 That was shocking to them. 624 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:39,160 They wanted a military victory 625 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:42,520 and yet the way God chooses to deliver his people 626 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:44,800 is through the death of the Messiah. 627 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:46,200 And you see, it just goes to show 628 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:47,640 that the way of the cross, 629 00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:50,840 it seems like foolishness to the world. 630 00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:52,800 But the Bible says that the way of the cross 631 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:55,960 is the wisdom of God and the power of God. 632 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:58,520 In 1 Corinthians chapter one, 633 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:01,360 the Bible says, for since in the wisdom of God, 634 00:27:01,360 --> 00:27:03,600 the world did not know God through wisdom, 635 00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:07,880 it pleased God through the folly of what we preach 636 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:09,560 to save those who believe. 637 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:13,320 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 638 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:17,720 but we preach Christ crucify. 639 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:20,840 A stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. 640 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:23,720 But listen, to those who were called both Jews and Greeks, 641 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:24,640 what is Christ, church? 642 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:28,320 Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, 643 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:30,880 for the foolishness of God is wiser than men 644 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,000 and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 645 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:35,560 Do you see what he's doing here? 646 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:39,080 Just as a baby seemed like a foolish solution 647 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:41,660 to the problem of oppression by the nations, 648 00:27:41,660 --> 00:27:44,640 the way of the cross seems like foolishness 649 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:48,520 to those who can't understand the wisdom of God. 650 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:51,660 The way of the cross seems like a foolish solution 651 00:27:51,660 --> 00:27:53,520 to the problem of sin. 652 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:57,000 And yet it is through Jesus' death and resurrection 653 00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:00,360 on that cross that we find our victory, 654 00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:02,680 not because we have earned it or achieved it, 655 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:05,680 but because Jesus did so on the cross 656 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:08,480 and in the empty tomb and in the ascension 657 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:11,080 and now where he is seated at the right hand of God, 658 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:14,360 even to this day, interceding for his people. 659 00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:17,320 This was accomplished in the wisdom of God, 660 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:19,040 which makes no sense to the world. 661 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:23,120 So this is one way that God turns our gloom into glory. 662 00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:27,560 It's by helping us realize that no solution 663 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:29,480 is ever found in ourselves. 664 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:37,520 No solution is ever found in ourselves. 665 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:41,280 This is one truth that I think the American church needs 666 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:44,560 to understand more than almost any other truth today. 667 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:47,300 It's that no solution is ever found in ourselves. 668 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,880 When Israel was fearful of Assyria in the nations, 669 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:55,680 God didn't say, hey, come on guys, 670 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,200 stop doubting yourself, you got this. 671 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:00,440 Eat some spinach, bulk up a little bit. 672 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:02,040 You could do this, just believe in yourself. 673 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:04,320 Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. 674 00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:06,000 You got this, I believe in you. 675 00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:08,280 No, he said the exact opposite. 676 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:11,160 God said, hey, guess what, you're right, you can't do this. 677 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:13,600 Assyria is too big, you're too small. 678 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:16,320 There are too many other nations and you're too little. 679 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:17,720 You cannot do this. 680 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:19,360 You cannot deliver yourself. 681 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:21,280 You stand no chance on your own, 682 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:23,800 but here's what I'm gonna do for you. 683 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:26,000 I'm gonna raise up a son from among you 684 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:30,240 who's actually going to deliver my people 685 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,360 in a permanent way against a greater enemy than Assyria. 686 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:35,080 I'm gonna raise up a deliverer 687 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:38,920 who will deliver people from sin and oppression from sin. 688 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:42,480 I want you to understand that you will not find 689 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:45,920 the solution to your sin problem in yourself. 690 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:48,960 I've met so many people today. 691 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:51,720 It's probably the most common class of people I meet today 692 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:53,880 are people who call themselves Christians, 693 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:55,880 they claim to be Christians, 694 00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:58,440 and they think that as long as they can just try to be 695 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:00,720 as good as possible, 696 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,280 if they can just be as religious as possible, 697 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:06,760 then maybe, just maybe, 698 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:08,760 they'll get to go to heaven when they die. 699 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:11,640 And I wanna just tell you two things this morning 700 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:13,160 because they're true and I love you. 701 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:16,880 Number one, you're never gonna be good enough, 702 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:19,440 but pastor, I probably know. 703 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:21,600 You're never gonna be good enough, 704 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:24,480 and number two, you're never gonna be religious enough. 705 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:27,880 And there probably aren't a lot of pastors 706 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:29,240 who will say that to their congregation, 707 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:30,640 but again, I say it because I love you 708 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:32,160 and I say it because it's true. 709 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:34,400 It does not matter how good you think you are 710 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:36,520 and it doesn't matter how good you think you can be 711 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:38,440 one day in the future. 712 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:40,520 You're never gonna be good enough 713 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:42,880 and you're never gonna be religious enough. 714 00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:47,320 But let me just make my point here for arguments sake. 715 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:49,840 Let's say that you're the exception 716 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:51,840 as everybody believes they are. 717 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:53,760 So let's just say you are. 718 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:56,400 And you spend your life and somehow, 719 00:30:56,400 --> 00:31:00,920 you find a way to become the greatest person on earth. 720 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:03,880 You become the most loving person on earth, 721 00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:06,040 the most helpful person on earth, 722 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:07,760 the most forgiving person on earth, 723 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:09,520 the most merciful person on earth, 724 00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:12,040 the most moral person on earth, 725 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:15,320 the most biblically knowledgeable person on earth, 726 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:17,680 the most religious person on earth. 727 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:19,120 Let me tell you something church, 728 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:24,120 even if you did somehow manage to achieve all of that, 729 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:26,720 it still wouldn't be enough. 730 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:31,600 Because God never says that you have to be more moral 731 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:35,880 and more religious than the people next to you. 732 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:37,240 The Bible says you must be perfect 733 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:39,640 as your heavenly father is perfect. 734 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:40,960 And no matter how hard you try, 735 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:43,200 you're never gonna be perfect. 736 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:46,080 The only way you can fulfill that command 737 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:50,480 and that expectation is by dying to yourself 738 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:52,720 and casting yourself on Christ and saying, 739 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:55,080 God, I cannot be perfect on my own. 740 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:59,760 I need you to make me righteous and holy in your sight. 741 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:02,560 You see, in order to come to Christ, 742 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:04,940 we must first come to the end of ourselves. 743 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:07,000 We have to be willing to say, 744 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:09,720 God, I have tried my way and all it's done 745 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,720 has caused me to fail time and time again. 746 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:17,480 God, I cannot do the things that you have asked me to do. 747 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:19,960 I need you to enable me to be able to do them. 748 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:22,520 God, I cannot do this on my own. 749 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:24,160 I can't overcome on my own. 750 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:26,360 I cannot beat this thing on my own. 751 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:28,040 God, there is no good in me. 752 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:29,920 I'll never beat my sin on my own. 753 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:32,760 I need you to do it for me. 754 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:37,160 I know so many Christians today who are struggling with sin 755 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:38,640 and they think if they can just do more 756 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:41,640 and try harder, one day they're gonna overcome that sin. 757 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:44,280 You're never gonna do it on your own. 758 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:47,360 God did not design you to be able to overcome sin 759 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:48,200 on your own. 760 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:50,720 No solution is found in you. 761 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:54,120 You can only overcome in Christ. 762 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:56,120 You can only find victory in Christ. 763 00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:58,480 You can only have peace in Christ. 764 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:01,360 You can only have assurance in Christ. 765 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:04,960 You only get a spot in eternity in Christ. 766 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:06,960 It's not found in you. 767 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:08,680 So in order to come to Christ, 768 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:10,400 you first have to come to the end of yourself. 769 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:11,440 And I wanna just tell you, 770 00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:14,880 this mentality makes absolutely no sense 771 00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:16,080 to the rest of the world. 772 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:18,880 Unbelievers do not understand this. 773 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:20,440 And I've witnessed this firsthand. 774 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:23,680 I remember sharing my testimony 775 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:26,320 with a guy I used to work with at Lowe's. 776 00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:28,840 And I was explaining how Jesus had saved me 777 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:32,000 and I was explaining how I had come to the end of myself 778 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:35,120 and I was nearing death and I was thinking about 779 00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:38,160 taking my own life and in that moment, 780 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:42,160 I cast myself on Christ and he saved me from my sins. 781 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:43,720 And as soon as I said that, 782 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:44,720 this guy looked at me and said, 783 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,280 what a load of malarkey. 784 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:51,960 Transparency, he didn't say malarkey. 785 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:56,880 But I'm not gonna repeat what he actually did say here. 786 00:33:56,880 --> 00:33:57,960 So, but you can fill in the blank. 787 00:33:57,960 --> 00:33:58,800 He did not say malarkey. 788 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:00,720 But he said, what a load of malarkey. 789 00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:04,520 He said, Jesus didn't actually save you. 790 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:06,680 He said, you were in a moment of weakness 791 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:11,120 and you latched on to the first thing that gave you comfort. 792 00:34:11,120 --> 00:34:14,380 And so you just started using Jesus as a crutch. 793 00:34:16,080 --> 00:34:18,640 I remember telling him, I was like, look, 794 00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:23,640 I know that sounds pretty smart, pretty good argument. 795 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:26,560 I was like, but that line of reasoning 796 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:28,920 is only ever used in religious arguments 797 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,120 and it would never be applied anywhere else. 798 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:32,920 So it doesn't belong here. 799 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:33,760 He's like, what do you mean? 800 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:36,000 Well, imagine I was having a heart attack 801 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:37,400 and I called 911. 802 00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:40,020 Would you say I was having a moment of weakness 803 00:34:40,020 --> 00:34:41,680 and just latching on to the first thing 804 00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:43,080 I thought could give me hope? 805 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:45,520 No. 806 00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:50,200 Would you say that I was using emergency services as a crutch? 807 00:34:50,200 --> 00:34:52,080 No, you wouldn't. 808 00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:54,240 You would say that I was in a desperate situation 809 00:34:54,240 --> 00:34:55,760 and I was calling on the only people 810 00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:58,760 who could do something about the problem I was experiencing. 811 00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:00,060 And in the same way, 812 00:35:00,060 --> 00:35:03,000 when God revealed to me my true spiritual condition, 813 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:06,460 I called upon the only person who could do something 814 00:35:06,460 --> 00:35:08,060 about the situation I was in. 815 00:35:09,060 --> 00:35:10,700 And I said, I know that you are saying 816 00:35:10,700 --> 00:35:12,660 that Jesus is my crutch and you think 817 00:35:12,660 --> 00:35:14,300 that's some sort of insult to me. 818 00:35:14,300 --> 00:35:16,660 I said, brother, you're not giving him enough credit. 819 00:35:16,660 --> 00:35:18,500 Jesus is not just my crutch. 820 00:35:18,500 --> 00:35:22,300 He is my life support, my IV, my heart monitor. 821 00:35:22,300 --> 00:35:23,860 He is the bed itself. 822 00:35:23,860 --> 00:35:25,500 Jesus is everything to me. 823 00:35:25,500 --> 00:35:27,660 Okay, so you can say he's my crutch, 824 00:35:27,660 --> 00:35:29,460 but you're not giving him enough credit. 825 00:35:29,460 --> 00:35:30,860 You're not giving him enough credit. 826 00:35:32,260 --> 00:35:34,460 It just goes to prove the scripture true 827 00:35:34,460 --> 00:35:36,380 that the wisdom of God, 828 00:35:36,380 --> 00:35:39,740 it confounds the wisdom of the world. 829 00:35:39,740 --> 00:35:41,340 It makes no sense to the world. 830 00:35:41,340 --> 00:35:44,140 They think we're giving up, but we're not giving up, church. 831 00:35:44,140 --> 00:35:47,180 We are just simply coming to the end of ourselves 832 00:35:47,180 --> 00:35:49,660 and casting ourselves upon Christ, 833 00:35:49,660 --> 00:35:53,100 recognizing that Jesus is the only solution 834 00:35:53,100 --> 00:35:54,980 to all of our problems, amen. 835 00:35:54,980 --> 00:35:59,380 And when we realize that, we move from gloom to glory 836 00:35:59,380 --> 00:36:01,620 because we're no longer trusting in ourselves, 837 00:36:01,620 --> 00:36:05,340 no longer hoping in ourselves or even depending on ourselves. 838 00:36:05,340 --> 00:36:07,780 We are casting ourselves on Christ, 839 00:36:07,780 --> 00:36:09,980 putting our trust in him and saying, 840 00:36:09,980 --> 00:36:13,500 no matter what, Jesus is sufficient. 841 00:36:13,500 --> 00:36:16,420 No matter the problem, the matter of the difficulty, 842 00:36:16,420 --> 00:36:18,300 no matter what I'm up against, 843 00:36:18,300 --> 00:36:21,980 Jesus is sufficient for this. 844 00:36:21,980 --> 00:36:25,540 I want you to remember this during the Christmas season. 845 00:36:25,540 --> 00:36:27,620 And really every day for the rest of your life, 846 00:36:27,620 --> 00:36:29,660 that when Jesus came to this world, 847 00:36:29,660 --> 00:36:33,260 he came to move us from gloom to glory. 848 00:36:33,260 --> 00:36:35,820 He came to transform our reasons for shame 849 00:36:35,820 --> 00:36:37,540 into stories of his grace. 850 00:36:37,540 --> 00:36:40,580 He came to be the solution to the problems 851 00:36:40,580 --> 00:36:42,580 that we face in our lives. 852 00:36:42,580 --> 00:36:45,580 And so today, this Christmas and every day after, 853 00:36:45,580 --> 00:36:48,100 we should be giving thanks and praising God 854 00:36:48,100 --> 00:36:50,860 for the Son that was given to us, amen. 855 00:36:50,860 --> 00:36:52,140 Let's pray.