WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:06.240 And our gospel reading this morning is from John chapter 3, verses 22 to 30. 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:15.519 After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with him and was baptizing. 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:27.600 John also was baptizing at Anon near Salem, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized, for John had not yet been put into prison. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:33.679 Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification. 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:44.799 And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who is with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness, look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:52.799 John answered, A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 00:00:53.119 --> 00:01:01.280 You yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:04.879 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:11.920 The friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:15.519 Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:20.159 He must increase, but I must decrease. 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:22.400 The word of the Lord. 00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:24.480 Thanks be to God. 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:26.000 Let us pray. 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:36.959 Lord, we desire joy like John's joy, a joy that's complete, a joy that's full, a joy that's abundant. 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:44.560 Teach us what it means for us to decrease so that you might increase. 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:56.000 And Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be always pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. 00:01:56.400 --> 00:01:57.040 Amen. 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:02.400 So what is joy anyway? 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:05.599 If someone asked you what joy is, what would you say? 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:07.599 How would you define it? 00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:10.240 Is it the same thing as happiness? 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:12.960 Is there a distinction between the two? 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:17.520 Can you be joyful without being happy? 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:21.039 Can you be happy without being joyful? 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:28.560 Isaiah's word to Israel today is a word of joy. 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:30.719 It's a word of comfort. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:39.599 It's a word spoken to a people in the midst of desolation and heartbrokenness and hardship. 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:43.759 It's a people experiencing what Psalm 126 talks about. 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:46.639 Psalm 126 is an exile psalm. 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:53.840 It's a people far away, displaced from their homeland, the promised land that God promised to his people. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:57.439 And they cry out, Overturn our captivity, O Lord. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:02:59.759 Would you turn the tables? 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:01.919 Would you restore what's been lost? 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:06.080 Israel is experiencing considerable hardship. 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:15.199 That's what this word that gets translated, warfare, in uh in Isaiah, can also be translated as hardship. 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:18.000 We might see that in the footnotes of our Bibles. 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:22.960 Life for Israel is getting worse and not better. 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:25.599 Do you ever feel like that? 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:33.280 Do you know what it's like for life or maybe life's outlook to look like it's gonna get a lot worse before it gets better? 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:39.759 Can a Christian be joyful even in the midst of that kind of hardship? 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:44.000 Isaiah gives. 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:48.080 A word, a word of comfort and joy. 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:53.840 Maybe last week I got David Bowie and uh and Bing Crosby stuck in your head. 00:03:54.159 --> 00:03:59.360 This week I hope tidings of comfort and joy get stuck in our head. 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:03.919 This is a tiding, a great tiding of comfort and joy. 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:05.919 Comfort, Isaiah says. 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:26.560 The Lord is speaking to Isaiah, comfort, comfort my people, says your God, speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare, her hardship is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double from all of her sins. 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:31.680 The Lord's dealt abundantly, graciously with this people, Israel. 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:38.319 In the midst of their hardship, in the midst of displacement and exile, God speaks comfort. 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:39.920 He speaks joy. 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:50.639 See, Isaiah witnesses to the fact that true joy, a Christian's joy, comes not from any kind of fuzzy feelings on the inside. 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:56.399 It's grounded on the sure and certain foundation of the comfort of the Lord. 00:04:56.639 --> 00:05:00.800 Christian joy is the comfort of the Lord. 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:03.920 It's the word of comfort that the Lord speaks to us. 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:11.199 It's the word of comfort that we can grab onto, that we can claim even on the darkest and hardest of days. 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:16.959 And Isaiah gives us three reasons to take comfort in the midst of hardship. 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:23.600 He gives three reasons to God's people to take comfort in the midst of a hardship that they face. 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:36.800 We see three times a voice crying in these 11 verses, and they give us three reasons to take comfort, a comfort that gives us joy in the midst of hardship. 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:46.000 The first reason is this we take comfort in the midst of hardship because the glory of the Lord will be revealed. 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:53.759 The second reason we take comfort in the midst of hardship is because the word of the Lord stands forever. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:06:00.800 And the third reason to take comfort in the midst of hardship is that the good shepherd will carry us. 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:04.319 So this is important stuff. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:12.560 For us who know what hardship is like, we've experienced illness or experienced the suffering of a loved one. 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:23.439 Those of us who know hardship, even in the midst of a pandemic, have good reason to have joy, a deep joy, a joy founded upon the comfort of the Lord. 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:30.639 We can be joyful in a profound sense when life gets worse and not better. 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:35.839 So here we've been journeying with Isaiah through this season of Advent. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:44.959 We've been exploring traditional Advent themes through the lens of what God has inspired Isaiah to write in his book. 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:47.759 It's a book of 66 chapters. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:53.040 So in a way, it feels a little bit like we have a layover in London for like, I don't know, eight hours. 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:58.959 So we're gonna pop out and see a couple of sites, but it's hard to experience the city of London in eight hours, right? 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:11.759 We're a little bit stopping and checking out a few of the sites along the way, but we're looking through this lens of Isaiah and we're seeing these Advent themes uh come to life. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:21.120 On our first week, we looked at chapter one and uh and the first five verses of chapter two, and we saw hope, the theme of hope. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:25.279 We saw that walking in the light is walking in hope. 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:27.680 That's what Isaiah is calling the people of Israel to. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:36.079 He's calling them to walk in the light, walk in obedience to the word of the Lord, and that's grounded upon God's promise to them. 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:49.759 Last week we looked at uh the end of chapter 25 and the beginning of chapter 26, and we looked at the theme of peace, and we found that perfect peace comes from a steadfast trust in the Lord. 00:07:49.920 --> 00:08:00.160 That makes the difference between the lofty city of human pride, which is brought to nothing, and the strong city of God's salvation, which he establishes for us. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:03.920 Peace comes from trusting in the word of the Lord. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:12.560 And now, since chapter 26, where we left off, and now entering into chapter 40, some important events have taken place. 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:18.720 See, exile has been looming over the people of Israel for a long time now. 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:30.800 Isaiah has been speaking the word of the Lord to his people, warning them that if they continue in this spiral and cycle of sin, it will inevitably result in their exile from the promised land. 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:32.799 God will chasten his people. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:36.320 God is calling his people back to obedience. 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:47.519 But now, since Isaiah 39, we've entered into something like part two of Isaiah, where exile is not a question of if, it's a question of when. 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:55.679 In fact, chapter 40 is Isaiah inspired to see a day beyond the exile. 00:08:55.919 --> 00:09:02.480 God will exile his people from the land, they'll go into captivity in the brutal and oppressive nation of Babylon. 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:18.399 But Isaiah is inspired to see a day beyond that, a day where the captivity of God's people will be overturned, a day where they will return to their homelands, a day where God's promises to them will come to pass. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:30.240 And so Isaiah speaks a word of comfort, a word of joy, a word that's meant to sustain God's people even through the hardest days of their exile. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:33.360 Comfort, comfort, my people, says your God. 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:33.919 Why? 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:38.240 Because your exile, your hardship will not last forever. 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:43.679 There is joy for us, for God's people, even in the midst of hardship. 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:45.360 And why is that? 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:48.480 Christian joy is the comfort of the Lord. 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:58.080 And here's what we see: we see Christian joy being the comfort of the Lord grounded in the glory of the Lord, which is revealed. 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:02.240 The glory of the Lord will be revealed even in through hardship. 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:09.840 So this last week we've um been watching a show in our home, and it's a it's a it's a pretty silly premise. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:19.279 But the idea is it's a comedy drama, and in this show, an American college football coach is hired by an English premier soccer team, right? 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:31.279 An English football team to coach this sort of wavering ragtag group of of um of kind of lower tier Premier League uh soccer players. 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:34.879 And the running joke, of course, is that he's more familiar with football plays. 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:36.559 He doesn't know anything about soccer, right? 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:38.240 He's trying to figure it as he goes. 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:46.000 But as you're trying to figure out why this guy got got hired, he has a he says something profound about what it is, what it means to coach. 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:52.799 He says, I took this job because I don't know, not because I know anything about soccer, but because I know what it is to coach. 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:57.200 He says, I want to bring the best out of my players on and off the field. 00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:01.759 I want to bring their character to uh to manifest. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:05.120 I want to, I want to call the best out of them on and off the field. 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:17.759 And maybe you've had a coach, or maybe you've had a teacher or a figure in your life who has called out the best of your character in the midst of a difficult trial, in the midst of overcoming an obstacle. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:27.120 Maybe you've heard a coach say that uh this particular game, or maybe this particular trial is going to separate the women from the girls or the men from the boys. 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:30.879 It's the kind of moment that calls forth your true character. 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:32.960 That's why we love sports movies. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:37.679 We love to see that triumph of good character in the midst of hardship. 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:46.080 Well, Isaiah wants to see that this hardship, this trial, is going to call forth a profound and comforting character. 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:52.559 But it's not the character of God's people that Isaiah highlights, it's the character of God Himself. 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:57.039 This trial is going to call forth the character of God. 00:11:57.120 --> 00:11:59.759 It's going to manifest God's glory. 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:02.480 This is what we read in verses three to five. 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:09.840 This voice cries in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:26.799 Every valley shall be lifted up, every mountain and hill be made low, the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh will see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:31.200 Isaiah says, The glory of the Lord is going to be revealed. 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:34.720 This hardship is going to put on display the glory of God. 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:35.919 Now, what does that mean? 00:12:36.080 --> 00:12:37.279 What does God's glory mean? 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:39.840 That's one of those Christian words that we say a lot, right? 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:44.399 Sometimes we say it so often we're not really sure what we're talking about or what we're singing about. 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:48.320 But here's one theologian's attempt to define God's glory. 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:55.200 It's the unapproachable and mighty manifestation of the immediate presence of God. 00:12:56.320 --> 00:13:01.919 See, this unapproachable, mighty manifestation of God's presence calls for reverence. 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:04.159 It calls for a sense of awe. 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:06.320 We're overwhelmed by it. 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:15.200 It calls for a sense of fidelity because God calls us who behold his glory into faithfulness and into obedience. 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:20.080 God's glory is associated with fire and with cloud in the Old Testament. 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:26.320 It's associated with God's actions of deliverance towards his people Israel. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:37.600 God's glory is shown in the Exodus, where God leads his people out of captivity in Egypt through fire and through cloud into the promised land. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:45.440 And God establishes his glory in the midst of his people through the temple, where sin is pardoned and iniquity is atoned for. 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:54.240 Israel's hardships put God's glory, his mighty acts of deliverance on display for all people to see. 00:13:55.279 --> 00:14:02.320 So it's true of Israel's hardships, that God's glory is put on display, is true of our hardships as well. 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:12.240 The things that we experience, the tragedies and trials that we face, can call for God's mighty deliverance to be put on display. 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:16.000 We see this in the story of the raising of Lazarus. 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:21.919 Jesus is away and he's made aware that his close friend Lazarus is about to die. 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:33.039 When Jesus hears it, he says, This illness does not lead to death, it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:42.320 In other words, Jesus is saying this Lazarus' illness is purposed with putting on display God's mighty acts of deliverance. 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:45.120 That's his glory being made manifest. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:54.480 And so here is Jesus, and to all appearances seems to be dithering around, and then he receives word that Lazarus has in fact passed. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:57.039 Then he goes to Lazarus's grave. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:14:59.039 He's led by Martha and Mary. 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:03.679 And Martha, who's so troubled, blames Jesus for being absent. 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:04.559 You weren't here. 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:07.120 If only you were here, you could have prevented this. 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:15.759 And Jesus says to Martha in the midst of this tender moment, Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:20.480 What happens next is Jesus calls Lazarus forth from the grave. 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:24.720 Jesus puts God's mighty acts of deliverance on display. 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:27.519 His glory is made manifest. 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:30.559 This is true for our hardships. 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:42.960 God's glory, his mighty acts of deliverance are put on display even when things don't go the way we expect them to, even when we don't have that Lazarus moment where what seems to get lost gets reclaimed. 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:51.840 We know that God's glory will ultimately be put on display at his kingdom come when all things will be put right. 00:15:52.399 --> 00:16:02.240 This hardship, like our hardships, put God's glory on display because it is an opportunity for God to display his mighty acts of deliverance. 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:16.159 That's why Peter can write in his first letter that we should rejoice as Christians, insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:19.120 This is good news. 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:20.879 It's good news for Israel. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:24.799 Good news for Israel, experiencing the hardship of exile. 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:30.879 Because God will put his saving deliverance on display. 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:32.639 It's good news for us. 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:42.960 Good news for us Christians who in this season of Advent wait with hopeful expectation for his glory to be put on display when all wrongs will be made right again. 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:48.000 When his glory will deliver us from sin and from hardship. 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:50.480 And so what does that mean for us? 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:52.720 It means we ought to prepare the way. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:54.159 That's what Isaiah calls for. 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:55.759 That's what this voice calls for. 00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:58.639 It's an image of a king's return from a distant land. 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:00.639 Perhaps he's triumphed in war. 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:03.120 Now he's coming back to his capital city. 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:11.680 And now the royal party goes before him and straightens out the path and smoothes out the road so that the king has an even road to walk on. 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:20.960 This voice in the New Testament gets identified as John the Baptist, who's calling for God's people to prepare for the Lord's glorious return. 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:23.200 And how are they supposed to do that? 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:28.000 John says, bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:36.720 Turn away from yourself, turn towards the Lord in fidelity and obedience and prepare his glorious coming again. 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:41.200 For John, this is the way of true joy. 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:45.200 It's a way of decreasing ourselves so that he may increase. 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:47.119 And that sounds paradoxical. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:52.000 It sounds like that means the road of self-denial means like it's a road of more and more misery. 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:53.920 But John understands the truth. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:18:07.599 He understands that the more we surrender of our own self-will, the more we turn from sin and into righteousness, the more abundant life we experience, the closer we draw towards the Lord, who is the source of our life. 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:09.279 It's the way of joy. 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:15.599 We can take comfort in the midst of hardships because the glory of the Lord will be revealed. 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:18.720 God's saving deliverance will be put on display. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:24.640 We can take comfort in the midst of hardships because the word of the Lord stands forever. 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:31.920 Now, the other thing we did in our home this week is we took some of that fresh snow we got, we built a snowman. 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:34.480 We've all built a snowman at one point or another, right? 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:38.240 I mean, it's a great feeling when you roll that up and you've got that fresh packing snow. 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:44.000 And there's this moment where the snowman, not only do we make a snowman, we made a little friend for us, and it was a little snow cat. 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:47.279 You know, because we're kind of little nuts like that. 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:53.920 But we made the snowman, we made his snow cat, we assembled him, put a hat on, put the put the mittens on and everything else. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:58.720 And there's that moment where you just stand back and you sort of revel in your own accomplishment. 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:02.640 Man, that's a sweet feeling when that snowman looks so pristine. 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:07.759 But I'll tell you, there's nothing like making a snowman to make you reflect on your own mortality. 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:10.160 It's a really existential experience. 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:19.279 Because you know when you step back, you go in, that's not going to take longer, as long as you think, for that snowman to become a heap of melting snow on the ground. 00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:21.279 It's an existential experience. 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:24.640 It's a reflection on our own impermanence, right? 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:31.839 I mean, creation witnesses to the fact that nothing seems to last forever, and we can't take it with us. 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:33.759 So where do we find comfort? 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:38.720 Where do we find assurance in the midst of this impermanent and changing world around us? 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:42.960 Isaiah seems to say we have two options in verses six to eight. 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:44.640 A voice says, cry. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:46.720 And I said, Well, what do I cry? 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:48.640 Sorry, that's my paraphrase. 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:55.519 All flesh is grass, and its beauty is like the flower of the field, the grass withers, the flower fades. 00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:00.000 When the breath of the Lord blows on it, surely the people are grass. 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:04.160 The grass withers, the flower fades, snowman melts. 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:08.960 But the word of the Lord our God will stand forever. 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:14.079 See the way of, there's the way of our own self-glorification. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:22.079 We try and find comfort through building ourselves up or building up our world or building up our own reputation or our own influence. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:31.039 But what we inevitably find is these things seem to give away into impermanence, like waves that wash away a sand castle. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:36.640 We find ourselves living in a creation where grass withers, flowers fade. 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:37.839 So will we. 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:39.759 What is it that we can take comfort in? 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:41.599 What is it we can bank on? 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:44.640 Isaiah says, God's word. 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:56.880 God's word is the eternal truth that he speaks into creation that cannot be annulled, changed, overturned, cancelled, or voided. 00:20:57.200 --> 00:21:27.759 Isaiah in chapter 55 will say this of the word of the Lord: as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth, making it to bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word, the word of the Lord, so shall it be that goes forth from my mouth, it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:34.480 Despite all the impermanence of creation around us, the word of the Lord stands forever. 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:46.400 And where creation gives away to entropy and death and withering, the word of the Lord calls forth life and renewal and restoration. 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:50.240 It's like rain that waters the fields and calls forth life. 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:52.720 So too does that happen in our own hearts. 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:59.519 That's why, again, Peter writes in his letters that you, Christians, have been born again, not of perishable seed. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:04.960 But of an imperishable seed, through the living and abiding word of God. 00:22:05.119 --> 00:22:11.359 And then he quotes Isaiah: All flesh is like grass, all its glory like the flower of the grass. 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:16.400 The grass withers, the flower falls, the word of the Lord stands forever. 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:21.039 And this word is the good news that was preached to you. 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:26.880 See, come what may, Peter is saying, we're saved by God's word. 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:31.359 And Isaiah wants us to know that God's word stands forever. 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:36.000 There's nothing to do to shake it, there's nothing to do to void it. 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:38.640 There's nothing we can do to overturn it. 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:42.720 This is where we go when we want true comfort. 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:46.960 A comfort that's not going to fade, a comfort that's not going to wither. 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:53.599 A comfort that gives us joy, knowing that the word of the Lord will accomplish that for which it's purposed. 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:56.400 So, what does that mean for us? 00:22:57.119 --> 00:23:07.119 Well, I want to suggest that if we want an imperishable comfort and joy, it must be founded upon that which is imperishable. 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:11.519 It can't give way, it can't wither, it can't fade. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:21.920 Friends, this is why we're called in last week's collect to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the word of the Lord that we have in Scripture. 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:32.480 Not because Bible study is, you know, got some fun factoids for us, but because this is the word of the Lord, the promises of God spoken into human history. 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:38.240 These are promises for his people to claim, to find their yes in Jesus. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:48.960 In the midst of all of our hardships and all of our trials, we go to the word of the Lord to find assurance, to find something to grab onto, to find something unshakable. 00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:54.480 That's why I want to invite you to read through scripture with us in 2021. 00:23:54.559 --> 00:24:00.559 I'm going to talk a little bit later about a uh a Bible reading plan that we're going to make available for our parish. 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:02.400 And you might have a Bible reading plan. 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:05.119 We might be in the Bible every day, but this is an invitation. 00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:12.960 It's an invitation to Christians, not just to read the Bible, because you know that's that's the nice thing to do, but because we need those promises. 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:17.279 We need the word of the Lord to bank on in the midst of those hardships. 00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:20.480 We need permanence in the midst of our impermanence. 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:26.720 We can take comfort, knowing that come what may, the word of the Lord will stand forever. 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:38.960 Finally, we can take comfort because the glory of the Lord will be revealed, because the word of the Lord stands forever, and because the good shepherd carries us through it all. 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:42.559 Let's look at verses 10 and 11 in Isaiah. 00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:46.000 Go up to a high mountain. 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:48.240 O Zion, herald of good news. 00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:49.440 Sorry, this is verse 9. 00:24:49.599 --> 00:25:04.480 Lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news, lift it up, fear not, say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God, behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules with him. 00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:08.480 Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense before him. 00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:18.079 He will tend his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those who are with young. 00:25:19.359 --> 00:25:20.000 Wow. 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:23.279 Here we read about the mighty arm of God. 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:25.039 That's his power to save. 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:31.920 We read about God's mighty arm in Psalms like Psalm 136 with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:36.480 God has delivered his people from bondage and slavery in Egypt. 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:48.720 In Isaiah 48, he's going to use the phrase, the mighty arm of the Lord, to rescue his people from the Chaldeans, from the Babylonians, under whom they're in exile or they're oppressed. 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:51.200 But what's this arm doing in verse 11? 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:52.720 What do we see it doing? 00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:54.880 It's carrying his sheep. 00:25:55.119 --> 00:25:57.119 It's gathered up his flock. 00:25:57.279 --> 00:25:58.960 It's carrying them through. 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:01.599 It's protecting them. 00:26:02.079 --> 00:26:02.960 He's assuring them. 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:08.160 Have you ever scooped up a small, helpless animal in your arms? 00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:12.720 Felt that vulnerability, felt that utter dependence. 00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:20.880 The Lord scoops us up with an arm that's mighty to save and carries us through each and every hardship. 00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:22.559 That's true for Israel. 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:26.559 God will lead his people through the exile, through this hardship. 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:28.799 God will carry them out of this. 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:30.960 That's true for us as well. 00:26:31.279 --> 00:26:37.440 See, Israel experienced an exile from their homeland, and so God carried them through. 00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:48.000 Our first parents experienced an exile from the garden of God's blessing, and so God scooped them up and carried them out of sin and death. 00:26:48.480 --> 00:27:06.319 For us, we experience an exile, an exile in the wilderness of sin, an exile where we're estranged from a loving relationship with our Heavenly Father apart from grace, and we are powerless to overturn our own captivity. 00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:38.559 So our Lord Jesus comes, the Good Shepherd, the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep, the good shepherd who scoops us up in his arms, the good shepherd who carries our sin and our exile and takes it to the cross, and through his death puts it to death, so that in his resurrection, in his newness of life, he can carry us into that new life, that eternal life by faith. 00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:45.359 See, in Christ, the imperishable word of God has been made flesh, has dwelt among us. 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:51.680 And through the cross, Jesus has triumphed over death and promised to come again. 00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:58.079 See, Isaiah, in the midst of their hardship, calls God's people to lift up their voice, to make it known. 00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:01.440 Behold your God, is what Isaiah says. 00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:03.279 This is good news. 00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:05.359 This is good news. 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:18.880 John Calvin writes of this verse that is the sum of our happiness, which I know I said joy isn't necessarily the same as happiness, but here John is using this word happiness in the same way we want to use the word joy. 00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:22.240 It consists solely in the presence of God. 00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:36.000 Our joy is the comfort of the Lord, the comfort and the glory of the Lord, which is revealed, that displays his saving power even in the midst of hardship. 00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:57.839 The comfort of the Lord, which comes from the word that stands forever, that is not shaken, and the comfort of the Lord that carries us through our Lord Jesus, the good shepherds, who scoops us up in his arms and will not let us be overtaken by the trials and hardships that we face until he comes again. 00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:03.279 So, friends, joy might not be the same thing as happiness. 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:07.759 Happiness can be fleeting, it can wither and fade just like flowers can. 00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:18.000 Psalms of complaint show us that it's okay to express our unhappiness, our desolation to the Lord. 00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:22.319 As Christians, we've got permission to be honest about the hardships that we faced. 00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:26.319 I mean, even Jesus wept over the grave of Lazarus. 00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:31.599 But as Christians, we are not left without comfort in the midst of hardship. 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:39.599 As we wait for our Lord Jesus' return, we can take great comfort in the word of the Lord. 00:29:39.839 --> 00:29:51.359 A Christian's joy can be found even in the midst of hardship, even when life gets worse and not better, because Christian joy is the comfort of the Lord. 00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:58.559 So, Heavenly Father, we pray that you would fill us with this unshakable joy even now. 00:30:03.680 --> 00:30:04.880 In Jesus' name. 00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:05.759 Amen.