1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,960 My name is Gabe Richards. Today's scripture reading is Jude 24 and 25, page 1055 in the 2 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:14,820 Bibles in the back of the pews. Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling 3 00:00:14,820 --> 00:00:21,160 and to make you stand in the presence of his glory without blemish and with great joy, 4 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:28,040 to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority 5 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:40,080 before all time, now and forever. Amen. This is God's word. 6 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:51,760 When your sound man comes up to read scripture, everything goes haywire. All right, take two. 7 00:00:51,760 --> 00:01:00,680 Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her King, and let every heart prepare 8 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:09,520 him room, and heaven and nature sing. Joy to the world, the Savior reigns, let men their 9 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:18,640 songs employ. We did some employing this morning, yes, in song. While fields and floods, rocks, 10 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:29,560 hills and plains repeat the sounding joy. Joy to the world, the Lord has come. 11 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:37,560 C.S. Lewis once said that human history is the long, terrible story of mankind trying 12 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:45,500 to find something other than God which will make him happy. And truth is, maybe your life 13 00:01:45,500 --> 00:01:53,360 is the long, terrible story of you trying to find something other than God to make you 14 00:01:53,360 --> 00:02:00,360 happy. How many of you guys remember the movie, we talk about Christmas movies, the movie 15 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:07,720 Christmas Vacation? Anyone see that movie? Well, Cousin Eddie comes over to visit, and 16 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:13,680 Cousin Eddie brings his RV, right? And Cousin Eddie does some illegal dumping in the street, 17 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:19,600 if you guys remember. He decides that it's time to clean out the RV's sewage tank, and 18 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:28,320 so he dumps the sewage into the drain on the street in front of Clark Griswold's house. 19 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:32,960 And we see this progress throughout the movie, and later on, toward the end of the movie, 20 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:38,320 Grandpa's out there, and Grandpa wants to light up his cigar, right? And he just so happens 21 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:44,920 to light a cigar next to the inlet of the street, and you can imagine the liberties 22 00:02:44,920 --> 00:02:50,640 that the filmmakers took there, because what followed was a huge explosion of the methane 23 00:02:50,640 --> 00:02:58,680 gas coming out of the sewage, and Santa and his sleigh, boom, go flying off into the sky. 24 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:05,960 There was Santa and sleigh decoration on Clark's front yard, and with a burning trail behind 25 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:12,240 it like a shooting star, I think Grandma puts her hand over her heart and begins to sing 26 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:17,160 the Star Spangled Banner or the Pledge of Allegiance or something like that, and everyone 27 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:18,160 laughs. 28 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:25,400 Well, maybe this morning, you've been sitting in the driver's seat of your sled, and it's 29 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:31,720 been rocketing through the sky, trail of fire behind it, flaming spectacle as it shoots 30 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:40,640 through the sky of life, and with the inevitable crash waiting and the laugh ensuing. And I 31 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:45,680 want to tell you this morning, if that is you, and your life is the terrible, long story 32 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:51,360 of you trying to find something other than God to be happy in, we're told this morning, 33 00:03:51,360 --> 00:04:03,040 joy to the world, joy to the world, joy to the world, the Lord has come. And do you know 34 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:08,360 what that means? Do you know what that means for your story and how that speaks to your 35 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:16,400 story? Do you know that regardless of your life circumstances, this is good news? Very 36 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:24,800 good news. We are all about joy when it's that situation out there, persecution and 37 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:29,000 trial coming against us, and we'll talk about, you know, we've got to find joy, we've got 38 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:33,120 to rejoice in the Lord. We even sang a little bit about that and talked a little bit about 39 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:39,680 it, and that is absolutely true. But what about when the reality of our joy is in the 40 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:49,560 face of our own mess? What if our joy begins to wane in the face of our own sinfulness 41 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:59,600 and our own failures? Then do we hear the words, joy to the world, the Lord has come? 42 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:05,600 Don't live in fear of those out there, of the haters. Don't live your life in fear as 43 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:11,440 we point toward Christmas Day and we look toward the New Year of 24. Don't live your 44 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:16,120 life in fear of the reality of disease or hardship all around you or the never-ending 45 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:21,960 cycle of COVID that's always going to get us at some point in time. Don't live in fear 46 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:28,640 of your own stupidity and foolishness. Some of you walk around crippled by your own foolishness 47 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:34,540 and sin, living in fear that any moment you're going to screw up and take your whole life 48 00:05:34,540 --> 00:05:45,840 down with you. Stop living in fear because joy to the world, the Lord has come. 49 00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:51,880 In the book of Luke chapter 2 verses 10 through 11, the angel of the Lord appears to some 50 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:57,320 shepherds that are tending their flock in the hill country. And what does the angel 51 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:06,560 say to them? The angel says, don't be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great 52 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:16,000 joy that will be for all people. Today in the city of David, a savior was born for you, 53 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:25,580 who is the Messiah, the Lord. Fear not. Good news of great joy for all people. Is that 54 00:06:25,580 --> 00:06:32,040 for you and me today? Is it good news of great joy for you and me today? Regardless of the 55 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:37,360 circumstances of our life, whether it be external forces or internal forces we are warring with, 56 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:47,160 is it good news of great joy the Savior, the Lord is born even for you and me today? And 57 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:55,600 how can you and I access this fearless joy that's talked about in Luke chapter 2, this 58 00:06:55,600 --> 00:07:03,280 fearless joy in life? How can we have sustained and supported fearlessness and rejoicing no 59 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:10,920 matter what? Today our whole topic is around the advent, the coming, the welcoming of joy. 60 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:17,360 And I would say it is only possible for us to have fearless joy that is sustained and 61 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:27,080 supported and fed. It's only possible because the Lord has come. It is because we are invited 62 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:35,760 to live under the Lordship of Jesus Christ that you and I can live fearlessly today. 63 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:46,240 The Lordship of Jesus supports and sustains and feeds our fearless joy. So what is it 64 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:50,720 about His Lordship that supports, sustains and feeds our fearless joy? Well let's look 65 00:07:50,720 --> 00:08:00,000 at five points this morning asking what kind of Lord is He? If we are not to be afraid 66 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:04,600 because there is good news of great joy and it's for all people because today in the city 67 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:14,760 of David a Lord is born. What kind of Lord is He? And how can that Lord allow me to live 68 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:25,240 a life of fearless joy? The first point I will make is that He is a divine Lord. He 69 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:30,640 is a divine Lord. In the Old Testament we are told that He will come and He will be 70 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:39,560 born and He will be called Emmanuel. Quick test, what does Emmanuel mean? God with us. 71 00:08:39,560 --> 00:08:43,880 Get Kimberly a cookie. She was like ready for that one. I don't even think I finished 72 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:56,160 talking before she was answering. Emmanuel, God with us. God with us. This changes everything. 73 00:08:56,160 --> 00:09:01,800 This changes everything. This means that God, the God of all creation and the God of all 74 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:08,000 glory stepped down into our story. The God of all creation, the God of all glory, the 75 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:14,800 God who made you and everything around you stepped down into your story. That changes 76 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:22,720 everything. He is not a distant deity, warring with other deities for a pastime and poking 77 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:28,520 fun at the humans down below, trying to irritate them. He is a God who stepped down, we are 78 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:38,400 told, who became flesh and dwelt among us, Emmanuel. He stepped down into our story, 79 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:45,360 into our history. And this means that Jesus' Lordship, because wherever the King is, there 80 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:50,640 the Kingdom is. Remember that. Wherever the King is, there the Kingdom is. And that means 81 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:59,640 his Lordship stepped down into our story as well. And his Lordship is divine. His Lordship 82 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:06,720 is divine. It's not backed by human resources or the will of humanity that shifts and changes 83 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:14,640 over time. Jesus isn't just a charismatic ruler who rose to fame for a moment, only 84 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:23,440 to be overthrown by the next charismatic ruler. No, this means implicit in his Lordship are 85 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:30,240 all of the attributes of God. Implicit in the Lordship of Jesus Christ are all the attributes 86 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:41,520 of the living God, all powerful, all knowing, unchangeable, ever eminent. We are told in 87 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:47,800 the story of Christmas that Gabriel appears to a young virgin named Mary and says that 88 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:55,240 she will be overcome by the Holy Spirit and that she will be with child. Why is that in 89 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:59,800 the story? Why do we have that narrative in the story of Jesus Christ? Because we are 90 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:07,140 being told to understand that no human could bring this about. Jesus' birth, no human could 91 00:11:07,140 --> 00:11:16,080 bring this about. Only the Holy Spirit, the triune God at work. This is the working of 92 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:22,320 God and God alone. Jesus, the God man, who was born with two natures, a divine and a 93 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:35,980 human nature, born of God and born of Mary. This Lord is God and that's profound. Why 94 00:11:35,980 --> 00:11:43,120 else would we worship Jesus today? Why else would we sing praises today? After the announcement 95 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:47,040 of the birth of Jesus by the angels, Luke goes on to describe a scene where a multitude 96 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:53,960 of angels cannot keep quiet. They burst out in song and that would have been a sight to 97 00:11:53,960 --> 00:12:02,960 see. The song they sang is glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth to people 98 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:10,980 that he, God, has found favor in. It would be idolatry to worship anything or anyone 99 00:12:10,980 --> 00:12:17,600 other than the true and living God. And the angels burst into worship of God at the announcement 100 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:23,420 of Jesus' birth. But not only at the beginning do we see that there's this worship service 101 00:12:23,420 --> 00:12:28,160 that kicks off spontaneously because of the birth of Jesus, but at the end of Luke we 102 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:34,960 also see the same thing. We're told that at the end of Luke, Jesus leads his disciples 103 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:39,960 out of the vicinity of Bethany and lifting up his hands he blesses them and while he 104 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:45,960 was blessing them he left them and was carried up into heaven, the ascension of Jesus at 105 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:53,660 the end of his life. And what did the disciples do? They worshiped him. They worshiped him. 106 00:12:53,660 --> 00:12:59,360 And then it says they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. There's those words again. 107 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:07,780 Great joy. They worshiped Jesus because Jesus was God. And then they returned to Jerusalem 108 00:13:07,780 --> 00:13:15,000 with great joy. The divine Lord changes everything. They knew who he was. Luke begins the story 109 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:21,760 of Jesus with great joy and ends the story of Jesus with great joy. And so I say this 110 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:39,700 morning fear not. Have great joy for he is a divine Lord. Number two, he is a real Lord. 111 00:13:39,700 --> 00:13:47,020 This Lord, Jesus, that we worship in glory in this morning, he is real. He is historically 112 00:13:47,020 --> 00:13:55,540 real. He is not a myth. He is not a fiction. He's not a character in Narnia or Lord of 113 00:13:55,540 --> 00:14:04,660 the Rings. He's not Elvish. He didn't come from Wakanda or Pandora. He's not a superhero 114 00:14:04,660 --> 00:14:13,380 in a graphic novel. The Bible is full of all kinds of details surrounding his life, surrounding 115 00:14:13,380 --> 00:14:18,340 who he was. We are told of specific cities, specific towns in which he resided or that 116 00:14:18,340 --> 00:14:22,820 he moved to or where people came from by name so that the people who were alive at that 117 00:14:22,820 --> 00:14:27,300 time, they could verify. They could say that's not what that's called or that's not who that 118 00:14:27,300 --> 00:14:33,180 is or that's not who's in power right now. People of other historical figures who are 119 00:14:33,180 --> 00:14:41,420 verifiably real are recorded in the text of the scripture. Caesar, Augustus, Herod, Pontius 120 00:14:41,420 --> 00:14:51,180 Pilate, Quirinius, the governor of Syria, real historical figures right there in the 121 00:14:51,180 --> 00:15:00,300 text. He is a real Lord. He is as real as the person who is sitting next to you. He 122 00:15:00,300 --> 00:15:06,100 is as real as any other historical figure and his being real means that you and I can 123 00:15:06,100 --> 00:15:14,560 have fearless joy today in the Lordship of Jesus Christ because our Lord is not a fantasy. 124 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:21,600 Our Lord is not a myth. He is divine and he is real and therefore he is the true and living 125 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:30,540 God. If that's your Lord, you can be fearless today. Fearless and filled with joy. And so 126 00:15:30,540 --> 00:15:38,180 I will say for the second point, fear not, have great joy for he is a real Lord. And 127 00:15:38,180 --> 00:15:48,320 number three, he is a sovereign Lord. Over and over again, we are told of his sovereignty. 128 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:56,860 We're told of the extent of his reign and rule. Who is this King? Who is this Lord? 129 00:15:56,860 --> 00:16:04,260 And where does his rule end? What part of the known world or the universe is untouched 130 00:16:04,260 --> 00:16:15,380 by his rule and his reign? Where can his hands and his arms not reach? Where? We're told 131 00:16:15,380 --> 00:16:25,180 that the wind and the waves obey him. Be still and they're still. We're told that demons 132 00:16:25,180 --> 00:16:32,060 obey him. Come out of that man and they come out. They try to talk to him and he says, 133 00:16:32,060 --> 00:16:38,740 be quiet. They try to proclaim who he is before he's ready to reveal it and he says, silence 134 00:16:38,740 --> 00:16:46,660 and they shut their mouth. Where does his arm not reach? He walks up to people who are 135 00:16:46,660 --> 00:16:55,980 diseased, full of disease and sickness and he says, healed or Lazarus, come alive. Come 136 00:16:55,980 --> 00:17:08,180 out. He governs all things. In Hebrews chapter one, verse three, we are told that the son 137 00:17:08,180 --> 00:17:16,620 is the radiance of God's glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things 138 00:17:16,620 --> 00:17:24,780 by his powerful word, sustaining all things. This is the Lord and the Lordship that we 139 00:17:24,780 --> 00:17:32,340 are under if we are in Christ, the sovereign Lord. Just think about this. I came across 140 00:17:32,340 --> 00:17:36,940 this example again. I've used it before. It's just, it really, it really kind of captures 141 00:17:36,940 --> 00:17:43,540 it. Consider this in the Christmas story. The prophets said that the Messiah would be 142 00:17:43,540 --> 00:17:52,620 born where? Bethlehem, the city of David. He would be born in Bethlehem. But where does 143 00:17:52,620 --> 00:18:03,740 the Virgin Mary live? Nazareth. And where does Joseph live? Nazareth. And so how is 144 00:18:03,740 --> 00:18:10,100 Jesus going to be born in Bethlehem if Mary and Joseph lives in Nazareth, seven miles 145 00:18:10,100 --> 00:18:20,160 north? Oh, easy. The sovereign Lord goes to Caesar Augustus and prompts him and provokes 146 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:25,480 him to take a census of his whole nation, demanding that everyone return to the place 147 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:31,900 of their birth of the family. And at the exact moment, exact moment necessary so that Mary 148 00:18:31,900 --> 00:18:37,980 and Joseph can be in Bethlehem for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem, seven miles from where 149 00:18:37,980 --> 00:18:45,260 they're at, where do they arrive? They arrive right there, right on time. Caesar Augustus, 150 00:18:45,260 --> 00:18:51,380 the most powerful person in all the world at the time, no problem. Jesus does a little 151 00:18:51,380 --> 00:18:56,260 something. God does a little provoking, does a little bit of pushing, does a, does a little 152 00:18:56,260 --> 00:19:07,280 bit of swaying. And what happens? Boom. Declare a census. Mary, Joseph end up seven miles 153 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:13,540 south of where they're at in Bethlehem. Jesus is born in Bethlehem, the city of David, just 154 00:19:13,540 --> 00:19:22,620 like the prophets told. He governs all things. He sustains all things by his powerful word. 155 00:19:22,620 --> 00:19:29,980 There is nothing beyond his reach or outside of his control. And so when we look and how 156 00:19:29,980 --> 00:19:35,820 do we face our life with fearless joy that is ours in Christ? Well, it's when we live 157 00:19:35,820 --> 00:19:41,900 under the lordship of the one who is sovereign over all things. He is divine. He is real 158 00:19:41,900 --> 00:19:49,540 and he is sovereign and governs all things. And so my friends, fear not, have great joy 159 00:19:49,540 --> 00:19:55,220 for he is a sovereign Lord. 160 00:19:55,220 --> 00:20:11,940 Number four, he is a saving Lord for God so loved. God loved the world in this way. He 161 00:20:11,940 --> 00:20:19,600 gave his one and only son so that anyone and everyone who believes in him will not perish 162 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:26,480 but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, 163 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:34,380 but to save the world through him. Wherever the king is, there the kingdom is and the 164 00:20:34,380 --> 00:20:41,860 kingdom of God is all about saving. Jesus came into the world to seek and save that 165 00:20:41,860 --> 00:20:48,940 which was lost. He didn't come to condemn, but to offer himself as a substitute and offering 166 00:20:48,940 --> 00:20:54,460 a free will offering to take the place of sinners and to endure their judgment so that 167 00:20:54,460 --> 00:21:02,540 they could receive pardon. So that they could be reconciled to God their father. And we 168 00:21:02,540 --> 00:21:07,900 are told in Acts that there is no salvation. There is salvation in no one else for there 169 00:21:07,900 --> 00:21:15,220 is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved. 170 00:21:15,220 --> 00:21:21,420 Does Jesus come to save us because we are a worthy bunch? Does Jesus come to save us 171 00:21:21,420 --> 00:21:28,020 because we're a worthy bunch? No. In fact, we're told by the word of God in Romans that 172 00:21:28,020 --> 00:21:34,240 in our sin we are enemies of God. In our sin we're enemies of God and Jesus came to die 173 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:40,940 for his enemies. That's who he came to die for. Not once we were clean, not once we were 174 00:21:40,940 --> 00:21:47,820 a worthy bunch. Then he said, all right, now I'll come. Take another shower, another, you 175 00:21:47,820 --> 00:21:55,260 know, get clean. No, no. He said, while you're my enemies, I come. I'll come to make myself 176 00:21:55,260 --> 00:22:00,380 a substitute, to take your place, a free will offering to take your place that God might 177 00:22:00,380 --> 00:22:07,420 pardon you of your sins as he looks to me and I take your punishment for you. While 178 00:22:07,420 --> 00:22:15,420 you were still enemies, Christ died for you. Jesus came to purchase a bunch of rebels for 179 00:22:15,420 --> 00:22:23,980 God and every one of you before you were in Christ were a rebel. You had rejected the 180 00:22:23,980 --> 00:22:30,900 God of creation. We know this, that the devil's work, the devil is real and the devil's work 181 00:22:30,900 --> 00:22:38,180 is sin and corruption of God's good creation. Right? That's the devil's work. He works to 182 00:22:38,180 --> 00:22:44,220 bait and lure God's human creation away from glorifying God and enjoying God always. That's 183 00:22:44,220 --> 00:22:50,140 his work. That's what he does on a constant basis. But we also know that the word of God 184 00:22:50,140 --> 00:22:57,320 says that the devil knows his time is coming to an end. He knows his time is coming to 185 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:02,580 an end and therefore he wants to wreak some havoc. Well, Jesus, we're told in 1st John, 186 00:23:02,580 --> 00:23:06,540 in his work of salvation, what did he come to do? He came to destroy the work of the 187 00:23:06,540 --> 00:23:11,940 devil, to destroy it, to dismantle it, to tear it brick by brick down until it's a pile 188 00:23:11,940 --> 00:23:16,860 of dust. Jesus came to destroy the work of the devil. That's the Lord and the Lordship 189 00:23:16,860 --> 00:23:27,120 you and I live under. That's our Lord, divine and real and sovereign and saving. And so 190 00:23:27,120 --> 00:23:40,620 I'll say one more time, fear not, have great joy for he is a saving Lord. And finally, 191 00:23:40,620 --> 00:23:49,660 he is an eternal Lord. Colossians chapter 1 tells us that everything was created by 192 00:23:49,660 --> 00:23:58,740 Jesus in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions 193 00:23:58,740 --> 00:24:08,300 or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him. He is 194 00:24:08,300 --> 00:24:19,340 before all things and by him all things hold together. Our fearless joy is secure in the 195 00:24:19,340 --> 00:24:25,780 Lordship of Jesus because his Lordship is eternal. It is a Lordship that is before and 196 00:24:25,780 --> 00:24:32,980 it is a Lordship that is after. It is from beginning to end for he is the Alpha and he 197 00:24:32,980 --> 00:24:45,100 is the Omega. His kingdom and his glory knows no end. We are told from everlasting to everlasting, 198 00:24:45,100 --> 00:24:53,500 he will rule. And we're told that every authority, every power, every dominion, every throne, 199 00:24:53,500 --> 00:25:02,340 every ruler is under his rule. Not just today's rulers either, not just Joe Biden or, you 200 00:25:02,340 --> 00:25:08,680 know, whoever else is out there right now. We're about to get into political season, 201 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:14,160 so just get ready. We've got a year before everything heats up here. Not just Joe Biden, 202 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:24,860 but Trump before him, Obama before him, Bush before him. Every ruler throughout all time 203 00:25:24,860 --> 00:25:32,340 has been under his rulership, his Lordship, for he is eternal. And if you, if you are 204 00:25:32,340 --> 00:25:38,660 in Christ, my friends, then we are told this amazing, glorious truth that we can just honestly 205 00:25:38,660 --> 00:25:45,060 probably sit in for day after day and just glory in, and that is this, that you and I, right now, are 206 00:25:45,060 --> 00:25:50,860 seated in the heavenly realms with Christ. Right now, you and I are seated in the heavenly 207 00:25:50,860 --> 00:25:57,460 realms with Christ. You are hidden with Christ in God, we are told. I am hidden with Christ 208 00:25:57,460 --> 00:26:06,620 in God right now. And when Christ, it says, who is your life, appears, then you also will 209 00:26:06,620 --> 00:26:12,820 appear with him in glory. I am with Christ in the heavenly realms right now. I am hidden 210 00:26:12,820 --> 00:26:21,700 with Christ, and when I see Christ come and return, then I will see my life. Christ. Now, 211 00:26:21,700 --> 00:26:30,260 you tell me this. You who are here cowering in this life, you who are shaking in your boots 212 00:26:30,260 --> 00:26:39,580 because that one person is out to get you, or because this world is scary and there's some new 213 00:26:39,580 --> 00:26:46,460 disease or virus going around every corner, or because sin's deceit is lurking in the shadows 214 00:26:46,460 --> 00:26:52,580 and trying to kill and destroy you and you know it's pursuing you. You, what can any of these things 215 00:26:52,580 --> 00:27:08,900 do to you? What can any of them do to you? Say it, Kenny. Amen. What can they do? They can't kill me. 216 00:27:08,900 --> 00:27:19,180 They can't kill me. My life is hidden in the eternal God. They can't kill me. They can't destroy 217 00:27:19,180 --> 00:27:29,580 me. They can't remove me. My life hidden with the eternal and immortal Lord. My life will appear 218 00:27:29,580 --> 00:27:36,140 with him when he returns or when I die. So what can persecution do to me? What could sickness do 219 00:27:36,140 --> 00:27:41,660 to me? What can rulers do to me? What can authorities do to me? What can the devil and his minions do to 220 00:27:41,660 --> 00:27:48,500 me? Nothing! Because the worst they can do is bring my life in Christ. That's the worst they can do. 221 00:27:48,500 --> 00:28:02,180 Kill me and all you have done is brought me life. Nothing. And so what kind of Lord and what kind of 222 00:28:02,180 --> 00:28:08,820 Lordship do we, if we are in Christ, find ourselves under? We find ourselves under the Lordship and a 223 00:28:08,820 --> 00:28:20,900 Lord who is divine, who is real, who is sovereign, who is saving, and who is eternal. Fear not. Have 224 00:28:20,900 --> 00:28:31,860 great joy, for he is an eternal Lord. And all of that brings us finally to our scripture this morning, 225 00:28:31,860 --> 00:28:39,420 which we'll close with. It's not section two where we're gonna do a whole other study. I saw some of 226 00:28:39,420 --> 00:29:00,540 you like, what? Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling, and to him who is able to make 227 00:29:00,540 --> 00:29:08,900 you stand in the presence of his glory without blemish and with great joy. The only God, our Savior, 228 00:29:08,900 --> 00:29:19,420 through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and 229 00:29:19,420 --> 00:29:37,740 forevermore. Amen. Who protects you from stumbling? Yeah. Who makes you stand? Who removes all of 230 00:29:37,740 --> 00:29:50,620 sins, blemishes? Who gives you great joy in his presence? The only God, our Savior, through Jesus 231 00:29:50,620 --> 00:30:07,980 Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forevermore.