SPEAKER_00: The scripture reading this morning is in Isaiah chapter 2, verse 1 to 5.
SPEAKER_00: The word that Isaiah, the son of Amos, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established at the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills, and all the nations shall flow to it.
SPEAKER_00: And many people shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, and that we may walk in his path.
SPEAKER_00: For all of Sion shall go for the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: He shall judge between the nations and shall decide disputes for many peoples, for many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into plows, and their spurs into pruning hooks.
SPEAKER_00: Nations shall not lift up swords against nations, neither shall they learn war anymore.
SPEAKER_00: O house of Jacob, come let us walk into the light of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So it's God's word.
SPEAKER_02: It is great to be with you this morning.
SPEAKER_02: As we begin this Advent season.
SPEAKER_02: And as I was thinking about this Advent season, I was thinking about how things around us often get in the way of us enjoying what we have been called to enjoy.
SPEAKER_02: And I feel like what's happened out there today is quite an example of that because life can seem so busy and so hectic at this time of year, and yet this time of year, this season is a season in which we are called to slow down, to have a time where we get to just fix our eyes upon our Savior, a time in which we get to remember what he did for us all those years ago, and as we look forward to his coming again.
SPEAKER_02: So that is my prayer for us.
SPEAKER_02: That this time, this space, this moment, by his spirit, through his word, we would just be still.
SPEAKER_02: That we would push away the noise, the craziness, and that we would be able to see our glorious, beautiful Savior.
SPEAKER_02: I know in this room, uh what I'm about to share for some of us is just gonna resonate.
SPEAKER_02: You are just gonna enjoy this, you are gonna be here with me, you're gonna, in your mind's eye, picture exactly what I am speaking about.
SPEAKER_02: And then there's others of you who will probably probably resent every word.
SPEAKER_02: You might resist wanting to even listen.
SPEAKER_02: So the Lord of the Rings.
SPEAKER_02: Now, this is a wonderful film.
SPEAKER_02: What a book! I don't think that's ever been said here, so I'll just say it.
SPEAKER_02: And at the end of the Two Towers, there is this scene, this moment, where Frodo is feeling at the end of himself.
SPEAKER_02: They have been fighting their way to Mordor, and the impact of the ring has been growing and growing upon Frodo.
SPEAKER_02: The darkness and its evil power has been growing.
SPEAKER_02: And Sam and Frodo have experienced setback after setback.
SPEAKER_02: It feels so hopeless, and with the Nazgul flying overhead, with their mission seemingly hopeless, with such darkness all around them.
SPEAKER_02: Sam speaks to encourage Frodo with these words.
SPEAKER_02: It is like the great stories, the ones that really mattered.
SPEAKER_02: Full of darkness and danger they were.
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes you didn't want to know the end.
SPEAKER_02: Because how could the end be happy?
SPEAKER_02: How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?
SPEAKER_02: But in the end, it's only a passing thing.
SPEAKER_02: This shadow, even darkness must pass.
SPEAKER_02: A new day will come, and when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer.
SPEAKER_02: This story is just a story.
SPEAKER_02: And yet the sentiment of Psalm's words should resonate with us all.
SPEAKER_02: We know that it is so hard at times to see the light because of the darkness.
SPEAKER_02: It can at times feel overwhelming.
SPEAKER_02: Each of us have felt darkness in our lives.
SPEAKER_02: It touches us all, it impacts our lives.
SPEAKER_02: Moments of brokenness you experience personally, a broken relationship, and and you just don't understand with such pain and hurt how it ended up in this place.
SPEAKER_02: Or an incredibly difficult health diagnosis, which the outcome just looks devastating.
SPEAKER_02: Or the loss of a job, and and you have no clue what the future holds for you.
SPEAKER_02: This is our life, this is our experiences, this is our world.
SPEAKER_02: And yet the darkness goes much further than just our personal experience.
SPEAKER_02: You don't need to look hard to see the brokenness in this world.
SPEAKER_02: It's impossible to miss it.
SPEAKER_02: Whether it's war, famine, abuse, the list is endless.
SPEAKER_02: Acts of unimaginable cruelty.
SPEAKER_02: At times the darkness can feel overwhelming.
SPEAKER_02: We can wonder: is there truly any hope for us?
SPEAKER_02: For our world?
SPEAKER_02: We are in desperate need.
SPEAKER_02: We are in desperate need to gaze, our gaze to be lifted up.
SPEAKER_02: Lifted from the situations we are in, lifted from the emotions we feel, lifted from the experiences we have to see and hear our God speaking.
SPEAKER_02: This is what we need.
SPEAKER_02: Isaiah writes this book during the decline of Israel, in dark moments within their history, a moment in which they are facing even darker days.
SPEAKER_02: They are about to go into exile.
SPEAKER_02: Assyria is coming to conquer Judah, to bring them from the land, and yet within the darkness, within the brokenness, God speaks.
SPEAKER_02: God speaks, making clear his plans and purposes.
SPEAKER_02: We see that in verse 1, the word that Isaiah, the son of Amal, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_02: You see, for these people and for us, it is in those moments, in these moments, we need to hear God.
SPEAKER_02: In the dark moments, this is where we need to fix our gaze upon Him and allow Him to remind us of who He is, to know that He is not absent, He is not ignoring us, His love is not removed from us.
SPEAKER_02: God is working, God is present in these moments, unfolding His plans and purposes, breaking through the darkness, a darkness that can never and will never overcome Him.
SPEAKER_02: Because for us, unlike the first hearers, we can see that this isn't just about what is coming, but what has already come.
SPEAKER_02: That we get the joy, the privilege in this season to celebrate both the first Advent in Jesus coming, but also we look forward to the second when He will return.
SPEAKER_02: Throughout history, kingdoms have come and gone.
SPEAKER_02: But God's kingdom is forever.
SPEAKER_02: His kingdom is the kingdom we all long for.
SPEAKER_02: His kingdom is the kingdom that he came to reveal to us.
SPEAKER_02: A kingdom that has begun and will fully one day be realized when Christ returns.
SPEAKER_02: That though we are traveling through darkness all around us with struggles and pains, the light has come.
SPEAKER_02: And this is where we need to fix our gaze.
SPEAKER_02: Upon the light.
SPEAKER_02: And because he has come, we can be confident he will return.
SPEAKER_02: So what I want for us is for us to see, see the king and his kingdom, a kingdom that is an exalted kingdom, a magnetic kingdom, and a peaceful kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: Hopefully the points will appear on the screen.
SPEAKER_02: Here we go.
SPEAKER_02: An exalted kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: Lovely.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 2, read with me.
SPEAKER_02: It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be lifted up above the hills.
SPEAKER_02: The imagery here is used to make a point about God and his kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: Throughout the Bible we find mountains being used, referred to at key moments.
SPEAKER_02: Whether it is the call to Abraham to go and sacrifice Isaac on a mountain, or where the Lord meets with Moses on Mount Sinai, or Jesus on many occasions going to a mountain.
SPEAKER_02: Mountains hold significance, but the imagery of the mountain would not just resonate with God's people.
SPEAKER_02: This imagery would resonate with the nations.
SPEAKER_02: At this time, historically, people would have believed that mountains were the place where gods would dwell, where the gods would be, where they lived.
SPEAKER_02: So the imagery is unsurprising.
SPEAKER_02: What Isaiah is describing is what God in part has done, and then what he is doing.
SPEAKER_02: That he is not just abandoning his creation, no matter how dark it feels at times, but rather he is coming.
SPEAKER_02: Coming to establish his dwelling, his presence for all to see, to once and for all reveal himself to be above all others, without question.
SPEAKER_02: The one whose kingdom does not compare to any other.
SPEAKER_02: Do you see that in the text?
SPEAKER_02: In the latter days, the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted above the hills.
SPEAKER_02: This kingdom and the king of this kingdom have no one to compare to.
SPEAKER_02: It is an exalted kingdom above every other.
SPEAKER_02: It is lifted up above all others.
SPEAKER_02: And in this there is no stopping it.
SPEAKER_02: Isaiah is not describing an idea or an aspiration here.
SPEAKER_02: He isn't saying this in a way that he thinks this might happen.
SPEAKER_02: He's saying it with confidence, declaring this is going to happen.
SPEAKER_02: Because unlike any other kingdom, there is no doubt.
SPEAKER_02: There's no uncertainty.
SPEAKER_02: Look around the world right now.
SPEAKER_02: The war in Ukraine, the situation in North Korea, the unrest in China and Iran, the situation in Afghanistan.
SPEAKER_02: It can feel so destabilizing.
SPEAKER_02: But we need to understand, we need to rest in the fact that every kingdom has fallen and every present kingdom will fall.
SPEAKER_02: But when we look to God's kingdom, his kingdom will never.
SPEAKER_02: It can never.
SPEAKER_02: This is what he is doing.
SPEAKER_02: He is working all things in one direction.
SPEAKER_02: The mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established.
SPEAKER_02: Utter confidence.
SPEAKER_02: Because it is his kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: God is laying out his clear plan and purpose.
SPEAKER_02: In this moment, can you imagine the people?
SPEAKER_02: The uncertainty.
SPEAKER_02: They are headed towards exile.
SPEAKER_02: And in this moment, God is declaring this.
SPEAKER_02: This is who he is.
SPEAKER_02: Because whenever we begin to believe God is not in control, we miss him.
SPEAKER_02: We are not seeing him for who he is.
SPEAKER_02: The God of the Bible is working everything under his sovereign rule.
SPEAKER_02: If you read his word, it is inescapable.
SPEAKER_02: This is what we are seeing in this text.
SPEAKER_02: Being exalted above all other powers and authorities.
SPEAKER_02: And yet, I think when we think about that, when I, if I were to ask you, what has your experience been with authority?
SPEAKER_02: I suspect for most of us it hasn't always been positive.
SPEAKER_02: Or when we think about the perception of those who hold and have power, I don't think it's going to be fully positive.
SPEAKER_02: Sadly, our experience of what we've seen and what we personally have experienced has been a lot of abuse at times.
SPEAKER_02: Abuse of power, abuse of authority.
SPEAKER_02: It is often what we think when we think about these things.
SPEAKER_02: This idea of authority and power.
SPEAKER_02: We have just seen case after case, situation after situation, and it can make us despair.
SPEAKER_02: But there is a wonderful clear reason you and I can rejoice in the coming of this kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: There is a clear reason you and I can have confidence in this kingdom because the kingdom is ruled by the true king.
SPEAKER_02: And when we gaze upon the king, we find him to be like no other.
SPEAKER_02: At Advent we reflect and we gaze upon the king who does not use and abuse his power and authority.
SPEAKER_02: The king who does not seek his own interests, but reveals himself to be the one you can trust in.
SPEAKER_02: The king who lowers himself in order that we might be invited to come.
SPEAKER_02: The king who comes not to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus Christ come as a baby, laying down his power and authority, experiencing and embracing poverty, embracing rejection, embracing suffering.
SPEAKER_02: Do you see that?
SPEAKER_02: Do you truly see him?
SPEAKER_02: Do you appreciate what we get to celebrate?
SPEAKER_02: He has always existed.
SPEAKER_02: He is the eternal one.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus has no lack, no need, no want.
SPEAKER_02: He has been in perfect unity with God the Father and the Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus never had to come.
SPEAKER_02: But as God Himself with complete power and authority, what we see in the King of the kingdom is a laying down.
SPEAKER_02: Even though he is the one with all power and authority, he chooses to act for us, for you, for me.
SPEAKER_02: To reveal his glory and grace to us.
SPEAKER_02: Not by domineering over us, not by simply demanding of us, but rather humbling himself.
SPEAKER_02: Unlike any other power and authority we have ever or will ever see, this is who he is.
SPEAKER_02: When you see him, do you see him for who he is?
SPEAKER_02: Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
SPEAKER_02: This is the king.
SPEAKER_02: The way of his kingdom is to be displayed through complete humility.
SPEAKER_02: It is the king who is never self-seeking.
SPEAKER_02: This is glorious, a king who gladly lays down his life, that we could come.
SPEAKER_02: It is due to his humility, his willingness, his obedience to his father, that he is the exalted one.
SPEAKER_02: Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.
SPEAKER_02: We are in a moment within redemptive history, often referred to the now and not yet.
SPEAKER_02: That when Jesus came as a baby, he came to bring his kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: But we know his kingdom, though established, is only experienced in part.
SPEAKER_02: The day is coming when all will see and know the true King.
SPEAKER_02: No one will question again.
SPEAKER_02: All will know, all will bow to his power and authority.
SPEAKER_02: The one who shows himself to be above all others.
SPEAKER_02: Do you belong to this kingdom?
SPEAKER_02: Is your life actually oriented around this king?
SPEAKER_02: What is clear is we either are or we are not.
SPEAKER_02: You're either in the kingdom or not in the kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: And the truth is here, we need to see it, we need to recognize God's kingdom for what it truly is.
SPEAKER_02: We are drawn toward it.
SPEAKER_02: We are transformed by it because it is a magnetic kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: Look at the end of verse 2.
SPEAKER_02: All the nations shall flow to it, and many people shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.
SPEAKER_02: Notice what's happening.
SPEAKER_02: The nations are flowing up the mountain.
SPEAKER_02: Now you might not like geography, that's okay.
SPEAKER_02: But if we think about a river, we know that rivers flow downhill, not uphill.
SPEAKER_02: That this is a picture, this is an image that is speaking to the attractional nature of God's kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: The image of people coming to God, unable to resist coming to Him, seeing His beauty and glory for what it is.
SPEAKER_02: This is our story.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know who you are, all of you, some of you I know.
SPEAKER_02: But if you know and love Jesus, this is your story.
SPEAKER_02: Logic did not get you here.
SPEAKER_02: Trusting in Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: It may have helped, but it did not get you there.
SPEAKER_02: It is in the face and the beauty of Christ Himself that we surrender our lives.
SPEAKER_02: It is in his glory, when we see it for what it truly is, that is what transforms us.
SPEAKER_02: Unable to resist Him.
SPEAKER_02: These people come to the one true God.
SPEAKER_02: They submit their lives to the one true King.
SPEAKER_02: And it's so key that even in this moment, as God declares this to his covenant people, we understand the nations are in full view.
SPEAKER_02: From the beginning, God has had a plan and a purpose for not one single ethnicity, for not one singular people group, but for people from every tribe, tongue, and nation.
SPEAKER_02: The God of the Bible has always been about bringing people to himself.
SPEAKER_02: This is who he is.
SPEAKER_02: The challenge for you and I is whether is this our heart?
SPEAKER_02: Is this something you are united to God in?
SPEAKER_02: Do you have a heart to see men, women, young people, children come to know him?
SPEAKER_02: Do you have a heart for those who do not know?
SPEAKER_02: Do you grieve for their loss?
SPEAKER_02: Do you have a heart for the nations, the many people around this world who have never heard the name of Jesus and are in desperate need of a Savior?
SPEAKER_02: Because this is God's heart.
SPEAKER_02: And if we come to know him as Lord and Savior, then our hearts should be for what he is for.
SPEAKER_02: That we would be passionate to be used by him, walking faithfully before him for his glory and the good of all people.
SPEAKER_02: This is a joy.
SPEAKER_02: We cannot and should not try to pretend this is for someone else.
SPEAKER_02: If you know and love Jesus, then this is a call to you.
SPEAKER_02: What is happening?
SPEAKER_02: Look at what's happening here.
SPEAKER_02: They have heard the invitation.
SPEAKER_02: What do they say?
SPEAKER_02: Come, let us go up the mountain to the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.
SPEAKER_02: Do you get that?
SPEAKER_02: The people are proclaiming to those around them, come, let us go up.
SPEAKER_02: That is not God saying those things, that is the people saying those things.
SPEAKER_02: Declaring to others, come, come, come see the one who is glorious.
SPEAKER_02: Come see the king and his kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: The question is to you, to me, is so simple.
SPEAKER_02: Who are we inviting to come?
SPEAKER_02: Who are you pursuing, longing, praying, might see Christ Jesus for who he is?
SPEAKER_02: To see the power of his life, death, and resurrection, to come to saving faith in him.
SPEAKER_02: Because if we truly appreciate what God has done for us, then this will be our response.
SPEAKER_02: We will not be able to contain it.
SPEAKER_02: The only way we have been invited to come is because he chose to come, to make it possible for us to approach.
SPEAKER_02: A few chapters later in Isaiah, we get these verses, which are very well known.
SPEAKER_02: And we see Isaiah having this vision.
SPEAKER_02: And he comes before the Lord God Himself, who is sat on the throne in chapter 6.
SPEAKER_02: And in this moment he recognizes before a holy God he is utterly and completely undone, declaring, Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of armies.
SPEAKER_02: Before a holy God, God Himself, fully holy, none of us can stand.
SPEAKER_02: We need to realize that.
SPEAKER_02: Because what is happening here, this image is astonishing.
SPEAKER_02: Come, let us go up the mountain.
SPEAKER_02: That is astonishing.
SPEAKER_02: That we all, due to our rejection of God, the Creator God, due to our desire to live life our way, deserve his wrath and judgment.
SPEAKER_02: And yet the picture of these people flowing up the mountain to be with their God, the picture of us flowing up the mountain to be with our God is only because, not because we are worthy, not because we deserve it, but because he has acted.
SPEAKER_02: He has done what we could never do.
SPEAKER_02: He has done what we could never imagine him to do.
SPEAKER_02: The King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
SPEAKER_02: Because the way we are able to go up this hill is because he went up another hill.
SPEAKER_02: The hill of Calvary, facing our judgment, facing our rejection, facing death upon that cross.
SPEAKER_02: God's wrath poured out upon him instead of us, choosing to embrace all that we deserve.
SPEAKER_02: In order that we might declare, come, let us go up to the mountain of our Lord.
SPEAKER_02: It is tragic, it is tragic when we take this for granted.
SPEAKER_02: When I take this for granted, when I'm not captured by awe out the wonder of what he has done, that we get to come before God.
SPEAKER_02: That even now in his place he is with us by his spirit.
SPEAKER_02: That he calls us to come, declared righteous before him, viewed as sons and daughters, all because of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Brother, sister in Christ, let us not allow this Advent season to just slip past us.
SPEAKER_02: Let's not neglect what Christ has died for us to achieve.
SPEAKER_02: Do not let yourself to become numb toward the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: Consider how you might be stirred once again toward the beauty and the wonder of your Savior.
SPEAKER_02: None of us have earned the right to be called righteous, and yet by his grace we are.
SPEAKER_02: Because in Isaiah's vision, I want you to just hear what happens.
SPEAKER_02: So he is ruined, remember?
SPEAKER_02: He thinks he is done because he's seen a holy God.
SPEAKER_02: He deserves death.
SPEAKER_02: And what happens?
SPEAKER_02: Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongues.
SPEAKER_02: He touched my mouth and said with it and said, Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed, and your sin is atoned for.
SPEAKER_02: Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking, Who will I send?
SPEAKER_02: Who will go for us?
SPEAKER_02: I said, Here I am, send me.
SPEAKER_02: See, when we grasp the depth of what has happened for us, when we truly allow our hearts to be stirred again and again by the beauty and the wonder of the gospel, then our natural reaction will be to go.
SPEAKER_02: To be, yes, Lord, use me.
SPEAKER_02: I am here, as weak as I am, use me, gladly proclaiming the glory of the one who is truly glorious.
SPEAKER_02: I get times sharing our faith can be daunting.
SPEAKER_02: I get it, I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_02: But when we allow ourselves to actually dwell on this, there will be no stopping.
SPEAKER_02: There will be no stopping you.
SPEAKER_02: The more you capture this, the more you can't help but declare it.
SPEAKER_02: This is what we need to see here.
SPEAKER_02: Joy that is contagious, joy that overflows to those around us in the joy of our salvation.
SPEAKER_02: Understanding the gospel, seeing what Christ has done, gladly learning from him.
SPEAKER_02: We don't reluctantly submit to him.
SPEAKER_02: We know that his paths are the paths of life.
SPEAKER_02: As people in his kingdom, we come under his right and good authority, embracing all that he has for us is for our good and our eternal joy.
SPEAKER_02: Do we know this?
SPEAKER_02: Is your life marked by this?
SPEAKER_02: Because what is true is your life will be marked by what you love.
SPEAKER_02: And as those who know and love Jesus, he should be the supreme love above any other love.
SPEAKER_02: True, genuine faith is never just mere words, it is displayed in lives lived out for him.
SPEAKER_02: Lives marked by his grace.
SPEAKER_02: This is a slow road.
SPEAKER_02: So don't hear me in saying this is just simplistic.
SPEAKER_02: It doesn't happen overnight.
SPEAKER_02: It is a day by day, moment by moment, seeking him.
SPEAKER_02: But when we find in our passage the people coming to God, they gladly long to follow Him.
SPEAKER_02: I know we are often half-hearted.
SPEAKER_02: I feel that in my own being.
SPEAKER_02: Often we do not feel what we should feel.
SPEAKER_02: Often we struggle to understand why we are not further along.
SPEAKER_02: But this is the beauty of the Christian faith.
SPEAKER_02: That for us as Christians, our lives should be shaped by his word, realizing that there is a day coming when the work will be completed.
SPEAKER_02: When this kingdom will be fully realized, when we will be welcomed home.
SPEAKER_02: Do not be disheartened, do not be discouraged.
SPEAKER_02: Come in repentance and faith.
SPEAKER_02: This is the Christian life.
SPEAKER_02: Repentance and faith.
SPEAKER_02: Knowing that he who began a good work in you will see it to completion.
SPEAKER_02: In these final verses, we get this beautiful picture of where we are headed.
SPEAKER_02: A peaceful kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: Look down at the second part of verse 3.
SPEAKER_02: For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_02: He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into plough shares and their spears into pruning hooks.
SPEAKER_02: Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
SPEAKER_02: I think it's so hard for us to imagine a world like this.
SPEAKER_02: A world in which war is no more.
SPEAKER_02: Conflict in relationships no more.
SPEAKER_02: Peace reigning completely.
SPEAKER_02: That is what we are seeing here.
SPEAKER_02: Because when we even consider those in our lives we love, think about those you love, those you care for deeply.
SPEAKER_02: Let's be honest.
SPEAKER_02: Even in those relations we struggle sometimes.
SPEAKER_02: It's hard at times.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you're better than me.
SPEAKER_02: It's hard, and at times we might even say we're annoyed when really we mean we're angry.
SPEAKER_02: Let's be real.
SPEAKER_02: Christmas is supposed to be a joyful time, isn't it?
SPEAKER_02: Oh, family, yay! It seems rather stressful at times, full of tension, fights.
SPEAKER_02: But what we see is even more incredible, because the picture here is not just those we naturally love, but of the nations, people who are incredibly different, people who have experienced very different things, people who, in an earthly sense, have nothing in common, and yet they come toward their God united in him.
SPEAKER_02: Because the true judge of all has come, and none can question him in his judgments, the one who fulfills the law perfectly, the one who is the word itself, the one who is fully just, the one who calls us to follow.
SPEAKER_02: Christ Jesus Himself, bringing reconciliation, bringing healing, bringing restoration to the broken.
SPEAKER_02: What we're seeing is a disarming taking place here.
SPEAKER_02: They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
SPEAKER_02: Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
SPEAKER_02: When I was reflecting on the text in general, and I came to this bit, I was thinking about this, and I was like, Peter's gonna love this.
SPEAKER_02: Peter Thompson is just gonna love this section.
SPEAKER_02: And guess what?
SPEAKER_02: When I talked to him, what did he?
SPEAKER_02: Oh, gardening tools, yay! That's all he focused on.
SPEAKER_02: He was so excited, he loves gardening that lad.
SPEAKER_02: But we should be excited.
SPEAKER_02: Not because of gardening, who cares about gardening?
SPEAKER_02: But rather what this is pointing us toward.
SPEAKER_02: These verses are speaking of us returning to the Garden of Eden.
SPEAKER_02: A time in which there was no brokenness, a time in which there was no knowledge or understanding of war, a time in which there was no broken relationships, not with God, not with ourselves, not with others, not with creation.
SPEAKER_02: A time in which instead of fear and anxiety, peace ruled.
SPEAKER_02: You and I long for this.
SPEAKER_02: If you don't, I don't know what to do with you.
SPEAKER_02: How desperately we should learn for the yearn for this day.
SPEAKER_02: No more strife.
SPEAKER_02: No more fighting.
SPEAKER_02: Can you imagine?
SPEAKER_02: None of those tensions you feel with him, of bitterness, anger, frustration, anxiety, coming under the rightful judge, learning from him, reflecting his character.
SPEAKER_02: You see, the more we are able to embrace his rule, the more we embrace his purposes for us, the more we will be free.
SPEAKER_02: Free from self-seeking, free from insecurity, free from dissatisfaction, free to forgive those who hurt us, free to show love that is unconditional, free to serve others without needing to be recognized.
SPEAKER_02: Beginning to more and more reflect our Savior.
SPEAKER_02: Because we entrust ourselves to the one who judges justly, we entrust ourselves to the one who died to make this possible, the one whom we celebrate at this time of year, in his coming, realizing his coming was for a beautiful and glorious purpose.
SPEAKER_02: As Peter shared at the beginning, stealing my thing, but anyway, the Son shall visit us from on high, Luke says, to give light to those who sit in darkness in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace.
SPEAKER_02: This is what we rejoice in that Jesus came, taking on human flesh as a baby.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus died, absorbing the wrath and punishment we deserve.
SPEAKER_02: And Jesus rose victorious, offering life to us.
SPEAKER_02: And that in him we might experience no lasting peace.
SPEAKER_02: A peace that has no end.
SPEAKER_02: The cry of verse 5 is a cry we should all embrace.
SPEAKER_02: Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Why would you want to walk anywhere else?
SPEAKER_02: Do you see where this is leading us?
SPEAKER_02: Why would you want to ignore this invitation?
SPEAKER_02: I don't know where you are spiritually speaking.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you feel numb in your faith at the minute.
SPEAKER_02: You know and love Jesus, but you just feel numb.
SPEAKER_02: Struggling to remember the last time you were in awe of God.
SPEAKER_02: Struggling to remember the last time you were just by yourself in prayer and just enjoying that communion with your father.
SPEAKER_02: Struggling to remember the last time you were with a brother or sister who was just life-giving.
SPEAKER_02: We need to see that we need to take seriously the care of our souls.
SPEAKER_02: Because what I am so aware of, life can be so busy.
SPEAKER_02: It can be so full.
SPEAKER_02: And we can feel like we're just in a pinball machine, so to speak, bouncing around.
SPEAKER_02: And yet there is no greater thing for us than to be able to gaze upon the one we so desperately need.
SPEAKER_02: To have our hearts stirred again and again by the beauty, the wonder, and the glory of the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: Because we can experience much darkness in this world.
SPEAKER_02: I know we can.
SPEAKER_02: We can have times where we feel overwhelmed by it.
SPEAKER_02: But as those who know and love Jesus, as those who have put our faith in him, we walk by faith in the knowledge of the kingdom we all long for, knowing it is coming, knowing his work is complete, knowing he is returning, and on that day, peace will reign forever.
SPEAKER_01: If you found this helpful or want to know more about City Church Dublin, please visit our website found in the link below.