WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:04.080 This week is the second week of Advent, and that is the week of peace. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:06.879 So here's a scripture reading about peace. 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:18.719 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night, and an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:26.239 And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:33.119 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord, and this will be a sign for you. 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:37.119 You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:50.399 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:07.519 This is Luke 4, 16 to 21. 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:20.799 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:24.959 He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written. 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:40.879 He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:54.400 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him, and he began to say to them, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:56.319 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:58.319 You may be seated. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:09.360 Let's pray. 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:26.960 And within ourselves, peace is elusive. 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:35.199 Lord, even if we were to cut ourselves off, then we would recognize that within our own hearts it is an anxious battle. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:38.400 But Lord, you have given us your peace. 00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:46.479 You have given us your peace by establishing peace between us and you by the blood of the cross. 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:50.400 So that we know that we have peace with God. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:03:04.000 Lord, before you went to the cross, you assured your disciples that in the world we will have trouble, but you have overcome the world, and you promise them that it is your peace that you have left with us. 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:06.800 And nobody can take your peace from us. 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:10.240 So, Lord, I pray that you would work this peace into our heart. 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:18.639 Even during the hectic time of this holiday season, Lord, with the misschulings and things that half the room probably remembered this morning. 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:22.560 Lord, we pray that you would work your peace into our hearts. 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:26.960 Especially as you remind us that we have peace with God. 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:30.719 Lord, this is the greatest source of peace. 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:32.800 That we have peace with you. 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:35.919 As we lift this up in Jesus' name, amen. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:39.680 Well, welcome to church this morning. 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:41.199 It's great to gather together with you all. 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:48.240 This is an exciting morning because we have a baptism, uh, the second brown baptism. 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:51.520 But the third brown baptism, I'll explain later. 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:57.280 So this is a um uh joyful time to gather together. 00:03:57.439 --> 00:03:58.879 We also have a first communion. 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:06.000 This is Darby uh Seely's first communion, so that's uh there's a lot to look forward to, a lot in the hopper this morning. 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:09.280 But it's uh always a pleasure to gather together with you all. 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:20.480 This morning we are continuing our four-week Advent series, and the way that we're structuring this is we're looking at the way Christ is described through the catechism. 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:45.120 Westminster Shorter Catechism is one of the foundational documents for our church, and it's it guides a lot of our uh teaching, and it it's an explanation of the scriptures put in question and answer form that are meant to be committed to memory, especially in family worship, that's meant to be passed down to your children so uh that they can have the truths of the doctrines of scripture in their minds from a young age. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:51.839 And last week we looked at question, uh we looked at how Christ is our Redeemer. 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:54.560 Christ is our Redeemer. 00:04:54.879 --> 00:05:04.319 And the catechism continues, and in question 28 it asks, What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer? 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:18.959 And the answer to that is Christ as our Redeemer executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his state of humiliation and exaltation. 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:22.079 This is going to form the outline for the rest of our Advent series. 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:27.120 We've established that Christ is our Redeemer, but how does he accomplish being our Redeemer? 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:34.959 Well, he executes these particular offices, these roles and responsibilities that are delegated to him by the Father. 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:39.519 And these offices are of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king. 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:41.680 This is the fulfillment. 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:45.680 These are offices that have been typically separated throughout the Old Testament. 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:59.199 We had prophets, we separately had priests, and we separately had kings, but these are all made into the one person in Jesus Christ, who fulfills perfectly the requirements of all of these offices. 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:04.240 So this morning we are looking at how Christ executes the office of a prophet. 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:08.319 Now, you may be unfamiliar with the pattern of prophet, priest, and king. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:16.000 This is a typical way of breaking down the offices in Scripture, and you can see that pattern throughout all of the scriptures in the way that they are laid out. 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:27.439 One helpful way to think about it is um Gandalf is the prophet, uh Frodo is the priest, and Aragorn is the king. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:37.279 That's a helpful way to keep them straight in your mind that uh a lot of the first century commentators use that heuristic. 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:44.720 The question continues: Westminster confession, Westminster shorter catechism, question 29. 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:48.959 How does Christ execute the office of a prophet? 00:06:49.680 --> 00:07:00.879 The answer is Christ executeth the office of a prophet in revealing to us by his word and spirit the will of God for our salvation. 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:13.199 He executeth the office of a prophet in revealing to us by his word and spirit, the will of God for our salvation. 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:18.079 There's one word that I'm gonna hone in on, and that's the word revealing. 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:26.240 The truth of the will of God for our salvation is not something that is discovered. 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:32.160 It's not something that's deduced, it's not something that you could uncover. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:36.000 It is something that must be revealed to us. 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:38.560 It has to be shown to you. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:50.800 You you cannot you you you cannot hack your way into it, or you cannot collect enough data uh from the world to deduce the will of God is for my salvation. 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:54.560 In fact, if you were to try and do that, you would come, who knows what you would conclude. 00:07:54.800 --> 00:08:07.519 If you were to uh it deny all revelation, you would probably conclude that the world is just cruel and dark and it's a winnowing process of death that leads us towards nothing, and then finally all the stars will burn up. 00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:13.759 It has to be revealed to you that the will of God is for your salvation. 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:20.879 Now, revelation, it's something that we we often don't think of knowledge in terms of revelation. 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:25.759 We often think of, we mostly I think think of true knowledge as deduction. 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:27.680 It's something that follows from the evidence. 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:30.079 It's a premise-premise conclusion sort of thing. 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:37.120 And if somebody just reveals something, if somebody just says it, if they just tell it to you, that feels like a lesser category of knowledge. 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:50.080 That's the way at least we think sometimes when we're in our academic mode or we're in our discerning uh some business analytics sort of mode, when we're excel spreadsheeting or whatever it is you guys do for a living. 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:51.440 Thanks for doing it. 00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:55.759 Glad we have folks like you on the job. 00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:03.440 But in our hearts, we know, we know that what we really desire is revelation. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:09.039 My wife, before bed, exclusively reads British murder mysteries. 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:13.360 It's fine, I'm sure. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:21.919 What she and my my thought is she reads this because she knows it's not that she loves murder. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:27.840 It's that she knows that uh what she loves is revelation. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:30.720 This is what I say to myself as I fall asleep next to her. 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:33.919 She loves it when there's a grand reveal, and we all know that. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:37.279 We all know we love a grand re love a grand reveal. 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:40.080 Don't you feel it in the air? 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:43.039 Don't you feel the longing for grand reveals? 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:50.960 Aren't we as a society pining for some grand reveal that will make sense of all the things that that we've seen? 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:58.240 That there will that finally somebody will come down and and release the Epstein files. 00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:06.879 We'll finally have the the JFK documents that say it was this person on this day, and I wrote it down here. 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:12.480 Or we'll we'll finally know what happened in Roswell in 1947. 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:15.360 Which I think we do finally know. 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:25.360 But we'll we'll we'll finally know what happened there, and then what we'll be able to see is okay, that explains the state of things. 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:29.919 That that finally ties together this terrible anxiety that I'm feeling. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:39.279 Because isn't it strange that now at this time in our culture, there's there we have we we are we are insanely rich with information. 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:45.679 There's there's you can know anything at any moment, all the time, everything is perpetually recorded. 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:58.960 We live in in this like the dream of an Orwellian surveillance state that we just do to one another and ourselves all the time, and the mysteries seem like they're greater than ever. 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:01.919 Wouldn't you expect the opposite? 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:17.120 Wouldn't you expect that somewhere in the flood of information, like if we got enough of it, and now we even have we even have the ability to have these machine demons discern the information and give it to us at a palatable, human-paced speed. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:23.360 You know, you can just talk to them and you're in the on the summoning object in your pocket. 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:28.960 And and so you would think that there would be, it would be plain, it would be clear. 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:30.720 Finally, we've got all the information. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:35.840 And don't the mysteries seem see, aren't they, isn't it foggier than ever? 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:38.240 It's foggier than ever. 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:41.039 So we have expressions that explain this sort of thing. 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:45.919 One is uh the beginning of perhaps the best pop song ever written, God only knows. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:47.600 God only knows. 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:48.879 And isn't that the truth? 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:51.440 It's a double confession when we say that, that God only knows. 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:53.919 We're saying that God, only God knows. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:55.840 Only God knows. 00:11:56.240 --> 00:11:58.960 And it's sort of like when we say, I am not the Christ. 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:01.600 We are confessing, it's a double confession. 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:04.799 When we say I am not the Christ, we are saying Jesus is. 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:09.600 When we say God only knows, what we're saying is we don't. 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:15.440 We don't know the heart of these mysteries. 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:21.120 We seem surrounded by a world of mystery, and we can't arrive at the truth. 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:28.240 We are drunk with information, we are drunk with data, and the truth is more elusive than ever. 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:33.039 What we need is revelation. 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:37.919 We need the God's eye view of things. 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:40.639 We need God to tell us what happens, what it means. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:56.879 If we've learned anything, you you know, we used to say things like, you know, if there was a video camera on the empty tomb and we watched people walk out, then we would all know why didn't God do this in, you know, 2012? 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:03.200 And then we would have the video evidence, we would all know that Jesus is obviously Lord in Christ. 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:06.879 Why, if we saw him feed the 5,000 from the two fishes and the two loaves. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:10.639 But if we've learned anything, it's that that would that would make no difference. 00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:14.799 It would make no difference at all because we have video footage of everything. 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:18.960 And it turns out that all the video footage in the world is just a Rorschach test. 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:21.360 You know, it's just an ink blot. 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:28.559 And what we learn when we all look at it together is, oh, we just learn our own personalities. 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:30.799 It turns out is what we see. 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:34.720 There's no cohesion when the video evidence finally drops. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:41.600 It's just we all look and what's revealed is your own personality, and then we're more muddled and muddied than ever. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:57.360 What we need is for someone to come down, someone who has God's perspective, and he could say, here's what happened, and here's the interpretation of what that means. 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:00.879 Here's what happened, here's what it means. 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:04.080 For it's it's always the missing part, isn't it? 00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:07.759 We we can see the data, but we can't fit it into our story. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:12.960 We hear of a terrible shooting, and then this the what's the elusive part? 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:13.840 Why? 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:15.600 Why did that happen? 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:17.440 What caused someone to act like that? 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:18.559 What did that mean? 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:21.519 And that never we never get it. 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:23.039 We never get it. 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:26.720 And so we never get to fit it into the story, and we can't make sense of it. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:28.399 We can't slot it into the story. 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:36.559 It just becomes more data and more or a greater flood, and and we're we're further and further lost amidst the data. 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:38.799 We need a prophet. 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:45.759 We need a prophet who can come and say, This is what the Lord is doing. 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:47.519 This is what happened. 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:50.639 This is the proper interpretation of a thing. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:53.039 You can look at it and you can know. 00:14:54.879 --> 00:15:08.480 See, that type of knowledge, the type of knowledge that you're longing for, the type of knowledge that gets revealed at the end of a murder mystery, where everything gets tied up and all the loose ends are tied up into a nice little little knot, like at the end of Law and Order. 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:12.399 Then we we finally know. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:18.240 That's the type of knowledge you're looking for, but that's the type of knowledge that can only be revealed. 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:20.320 It can't be deduced. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:23.279 It has to be shown to you. 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:27.919 Someone from the outside who sees it all has to lay out what the truth is. 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:33.519 God, in his mercy, has given us these people throughout history. 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:50.879 He has chosen for himself people to be his prophets, that he has given his word to, so that they tell us what happened and they give us the proper interpretation of a thing, so that we might know what it means. 00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:58.000 You know, if you're standing on the edge of the Red Sea and all of a sudden the walls of water start to go up, and then you walk through. 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:15.919 If a modern person, if one of us were to do that today, we would walk through to the other side and be like, wow, that was a helpful coincidence of some strange but probably explainable physical phenomenon that has something to do with the wind patterns that we could certainly track and understand. 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:19.600 That was a lucky break, is what we'd say on the other side of that. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:22.639 Same experience as the Israelites had. 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:24.720 But the Israelites had a prophet. 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:28.879 And the prophet was able to say, this was no mere strange event. 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:35.840 This was no mere happenstance or a lucky break here at the end of a strange week. 00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:40.399 This was the salvation of God. 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:44.159 That is the interpretation of the thing. 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:46.799 And that has to be revealed. 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:48.879 That has to be told to them. 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:50.559 This is the salvation of God. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:51.679 Well, what does that mean? 00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:53.200 That means God's chosen you. 00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:54.960 That means God's made you his people. 00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:56.399 That means he's your rescuer. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:57.679 That means he's your provider. 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:06.000 See, the right interpretation of a thing, all of a sudden it starts to lock in, and all of these mysteries start to be explained at the revelation by the prophet. 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:08.079 We're going to look at a couple of these prophets. 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:10.480 I've jumped ahead to one because I got excited. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:12.640 The first one that we're going to look at is Moses. 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:17.279 Let's get a sense of what these prophets are like, the ones that do the revealing. 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:19.839 So, first, let's begin. 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:22.640 We'll look at Moses, and then we'll look at Isaiah, and then we'll look at Jeremiah. 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:36.799 In Exodus 3, verses 1 through 2, it says, Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:44.960 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:50.799 He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:52.559 You're familiar with this story. 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:54.640 What happens to Moses? 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:58.799 It's an ordinary day, another day working for your father-in-law. 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:00.640 Some of you know what that's like. 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:03.920 It excel. 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:12.880 So you're working for your father-in-law, and it's an ordinary day, and then all of a sudden there's a bush and it's burning, but it's not consumed. 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:21.519 And while the bush is burning but not consumed, you notice that standing out of the midst of the fire is the angel of the Lord. 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:24.079 The angel of the Lord. 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:26.079 That's a strange thing. 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:38.079 Now, what Moses will be called to do by this angel of the Lord is to return to Egypt, the place of his birth, and to go and release the captives, the captive Hebrews. 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:40.319 And he's told it now is the time to go back. 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:51.839 I will give you my words, you will proclaim them, you will speak to Pharaoh and warn him of the punishment that is coming from the hand of the Lord, and you will proclaim liberty to the captives. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:54.799 This is the mission that Moses is placed on. 00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:59.680 Proclaim liberty to the captives, that the angel of the Lord tells him out of a burning bush. 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:04.160 It means that the rest of his plans for that week had to be canceled. 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:10.720 Because there was something that just came down out of nowhere that would alter Moses' life forever. 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:19.440 And Moses, here's his response to such a wonderful event, such an incredible and beautiful and glorious event in his life. 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:22.000 Here are some of the responses that Moses offers to that. 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:30.319 Then Moses answered, but behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, The Lord did not appear to you. 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:36.000 Initially, Moses' initial response is, Nobody's gonna listen to me. 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:39.440 They'll just say, That didn't happen. 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:42.160 Where's the video evidence? 00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:44.000 That's what they would say. 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:48.720 Then Moses would say, It hasn't, it doesn't exist yet, and they'd say, Exactly. 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:50.559 We don't believe you. 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:57.119 That was the most common argument form until the late or the early 1900s. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:00.559 And this is also what Moses says. 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:18.640 And Moses says, I can't speak well. 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:21.440 He's slow of tongue. 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:28.480 We don't know exactly what that means, but perhaps some sort of speech impediment or some inability to speak. 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:38.640 And so Moses' reaction to this great call of God, you're going to be the voice of God to proclaim truth and liberty to my people, the Lord says to Moses. 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:43.519 And Moses' initial response is, No, there's all kinds of reasons why I can't do that. 00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:47.680 And whatever you come up with next will be one reason more why I can't do that. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:52.799 But of course, the Lord overcomes the objections of Moses, who's the most wonderful salesperson. 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:56.319 And every objection that Moses comes up with, he's able to overcome. 00:20:56.559 --> 00:21:09.440 And he teaches him how he will go and speak to the Hebrew people, and Moses proclaims liberty to the captives. 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:11.759 The Hebrew people are drawn out. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:28.640 The greatest king in the world is humiliated as the truth of the Lord is proclaimed through the mouth of Moses, a regular person who sees the angel of the Lord, is blessed with the Holy Spirit, and then proclaims liberty. 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:37.279 In Isaiah 6, Isaiah recalls his call to being a prophet. 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:46.960 He says, This in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne. 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:51.519 So Moses sees the angel of the Lord. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:56.640 Isaiah sees the Lord sitting upon a throne. 00:21:57.359 --> 00:21:59.440 This is the second person of the Trinity. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.359 In both instances. 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:04.160 You're seeing the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:09.039 That's the part of the Godhead that does things like sits. 00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:15.680 I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up. 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:17.039 Listen to this description. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:20.880 And the train of his robe filled the temple. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:25.279 Above him stood the seraphim. 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:35.359 Each had six wings, with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:42.319 And one called to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:46.240 The whole earth is full of his glory. 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:51.119 This is what Isaiah witnesses in the throne room of God. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:58.960 Called up into the throne room of God, the train of the robe of the Lord filled the temple. 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:05.200 This is not a very big chapel, as you could tell while you were trying to find seats. 00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:17.440 But if the train of a robe filled this room, we would say that's a long train on that robe. 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:26.160 Then if we looked and we saw the throne of God high and lifted up, and he was surrounded by angels called seraphim. 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:28.079 That means flaming ones. 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:30.960 They're covered in fire. 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:35.039 They're suited to the habitat, just like the creatures of God that he makes. 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:38.640 He makes them suited to the place that they will inhabit. 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:45.519 So when they will inhabit his presence in his throne room full of glory, he makes them glorious. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:48.319 They have six wings. 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:53.359 They're covering their faces, they're covering their feet, and they're flying. 00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:57.680 And they are singing back and forth to one another. 00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:00.880 Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:04.559 The whole earth is full of his glory. 00:24:05.039 --> 00:24:08.079 And Isaiah the prophet thinks, Finally, I've arrived. 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:11.279 This is what I've been trying to do with my whole prophetic career. 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:14.799 He'd been mostly in the pronouncing woes business. 00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:20.079 That's where you go around people who are doing bad things and you pronounce, you say, woe is you. 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:23.119 And they don't like it. 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:26.799 He's a woe, man. 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:29.519 Not to be confused, you know. 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:38.240 Isaiah 6, 5, in the presence of this, here's his response. 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:41.599 And I said, Woe is me. 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:44.960 Woe is me. 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:49.119 For I am lost. 00:24:50.400 --> 00:25:01.279 For I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts. 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:04.000 You know, we long for the revelation. 00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:07.039 We long for the truth to finally be laid bare. 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:09.200 And then once the truth is bare, we have this sense. 00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:10.880 Now I'll be set free. 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:14.559 Now I'll be, I won't be under these captors anymore. 00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:30.480 All the government secrets that plague my day-to-day life will no longer be doing that anymore because I'll know and we'll all sleep, this most glorious sleep, on the night after the release of all the files. 00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:35.359 And then the truth is revealed. 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:41.839 And we come into the presence of it, the real truth, the truth of God is revealed. 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:47.359 And we realize that what is revealed is also revealed about us. 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:54.720 What Isaiah recognizes is that the truth of God lays bare this reality. 00:25:55.039 --> 00:25:57.279 Woe is me. 00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:02.000 I am not worthy to be in this throne room. 00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:12.160 The revelation that I desired of the unclean lips, I realize I am the man of unclean lips. 00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:19.599 The lies in the hiddenness that I wanted so desperately to finally be revealed, I am the liar. 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:27.519 When I am revealed, I realize this becomes my destruction. 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:37.039 Woe, the woes that I desire to pronounce when the truth is finally laid bare, the truth of me is laid bare, and woe is me. 00:26:39.680 --> 00:26:44.160 You see, revelation that we so desire, that we so long for. 00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:46.880 It's a double-edged sword. 00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:53.039 Because the whole truth, the revelation of the whole truth means the truth of you. 00:26:54.799 --> 00:26:57.519 The truth of your sin before the Lord. 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:05.839 Laid out plainly for the world to see before the judge of all creation. 00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:07.920 Isaiah experiences this. 00:27:08.160 --> 00:27:09.279 Now look what happens. 00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:11.920 This is Isaiah's call to be a prophet. 00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:17.680 And in verses six through seven, hold your horses, kids. 00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:31.759 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:45.359 And he touched my mouth and said, Behold, this has touched your lips, your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for. 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:24.319 Now what if that were a part of the grand reveal? 00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:31.759 What if that were the next thing that's revealed in this grand revelation of the truth? 00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:40.720 What if the truth of you is finally revealed and it and the woe that is pronounced against you before the Lord is finally revealed? 00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:49.920 And what if the next action of the Lord is to cleanse you in his presence and say, Behold, your guilt is removed. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:54.799 Your sin atoned for. 00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:30.799 Jeremiah 1, verses 4 through 7. 00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:33.920 This is a shorter one. 00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:44.160 And before you were born, I consecrated you. 00:29:44.559 --> 00:29:47.839 I appointed you a prophet to the nations. 00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:50.640 This is what the Lord tells Jeremiah. 00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:54.640 Now this is Jeremiah's response. 00:29:54.799 --> 00:30:02.960 Then I said, Ah, Lord God, behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth. 00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:10.000 But the Lord said to me, Do not say, I am only a youth. 00:30:10.240 --> 00:30:12.160 That's the way I picture him saying it. 00:30:14.240 --> 00:30:18.720 For to all to whom I send to you, you shall go. 00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:23.759 To all to whom for all to whom I send you, you shall go. 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:27.519 And whatever I command you, you shall speak. 00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:35.920 Spirit will fill Jeremiah, and what he will proclaim later is that to not proclaim the word of the Lord. 00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:39.440 The word of the Lord is like a fire in his bones. 00:30:39.839 --> 00:30:41.680 He must proclaim it. 00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:45.200 He must share the word of the Lord. 00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:50.480 In these three prophets, we see these three patterns. 00:30:50.640 --> 00:31:02.319 The first is that we see that they are called by God, who's doing sort of man things. 00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:08.160 The angel of the Lord appears to Moses. 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:10.640 He can look at him and see him. 00:31:11.519 --> 00:31:14.480 The Lord, our father is spirit. 00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:17.200 Nobody has ever seen the Father. 00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:19.279 But they look and they see. 00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:22.640 Moses sees the angel of the Lord. 00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:25.519 Isaiah sees him seated on the throne. 00:31:25.599 --> 00:31:28.720 He's doing things like sitting on a throne. 00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:44.400 In Jeremiah, it says, The word of the Lord came to me, saying, He comes to him, and he says things to him. 00:31:45.920 --> 00:31:48.160 Who are these that are doing this? 00:31:48.319 --> 00:31:51.119 What is this Lord who is doing such a thing? 00:31:51.279 --> 00:31:53.279 Who is the one who is seated on the throne? 00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:55.920 Who is the one who is showing himself in the fire? 00:31:56.079 --> 00:32:00.720 Who is this word of the Lord that comes to him? 00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:11.519 We see that they are called by the true prophet, our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:32:13.440 --> 00:32:19.599 That they all show a resistance and a recognition of their uncleanness. 00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:35.279 But that the Lord, by his word and spirit, prepares them to face the very word, to share and proclaim his very words to his people. 00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:38.319 Here are some things that they say. 00:32:39.039 --> 00:32:42.160 Moses will say in Deuteronomy 18, 15. 00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:51.200 Moses says, The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers. 00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:53.920 It is to him you shall listen. 00:32:56.079 --> 00:33:02.640 Moses says, There's someone after me who's he'll be raised up from your brothers. 00:33:03.200 --> 00:33:04.559 He's like me. 00:33:05.039 --> 00:33:06.799 You should listen to him. 00:33:09.039 --> 00:33:29.119 Isaiah will say things like, in Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6, he'll say, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 00:33:31.680 --> 00:33:33.279 Who's he talking about? 00:33:35.680 --> 00:33:55.039 Jeremiah in Jeremiah 23, verse 5, will say, Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 00:33:56.799 --> 00:34:09.840 These three prophets called by the Lord, over and over again, proclaiming someone else, another one like them, but greater than them. 00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:17.039 Someone who will realize all it is that they have been sent to proclaim. 00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:33.920 Somebody who will proclaim a real liberty, a real freedom, someone who will legitimately take away oppression, someone who can cleanse them and heal them and atone for them and forgive them. 00:34:34.320 --> 00:34:52.000 A true prophet who will finally be able to say the truth of the Lord, and in saying and laying out the truth of the Lord, all of the mysteries, all of the revelation that we long for, so that we might know what the truth is, we might be able to hear. 00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:54.880 That longing might be satisfied. 00:34:56.079 --> 00:35:11.840 So at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, after he's tempted in the desert and after he is baptized by John the Baptist, he goes to his hometown and he goes to his home synagogue, and on a Sabbath day, much like this one, he was set to preach. 00:35:14.079 --> 00:35:19.760 And so he is handed the scroll, and it's the scroll of Isaiah. 00:35:20.559 --> 00:35:23.840 And he finds the place in what we call Isaiah 61. 00:35:25.199 --> 00:35:28.400 And he begins reading from Isaiah 61. 00:35:29.039 --> 00:35:31.920 And here's what he says as he reads the scriptures. 00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:37.119 This is recorded in Luke 4, 18 to 21. 00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:49.840 Jesus says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. 00:35:50.559 --> 00:36:03.440 He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. 00:36:04.400 --> 00:36:13.119 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 00:36:13.920 --> 00:36:17.039 They were ready to hear his interpretation of the thing. 00:36:19.519 --> 00:36:21.440 Look at what Jesus proclaims. 00:36:21.679 --> 00:36:24.800 He says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. 00:36:26.400 --> 00:36:31.199 What he's saying, and what this scripture is testifying to, is he saying, I am the prophet. 00:36:32.320 --> 00:36:34.719 He's at least saying, I am a prophet. 00:36:35.920 --> 00:36:43.360 Because the spirit of the Lord is upon him, because he's been anointed by God, he's been set apart by God to do what? 00:36:43.519 --> 00:36:44.719 To proclaim. 00:36:46.000 --> 00:36:47.599 That's prophet work. 00:36:48.639 --> 00:36:51.440 He is the prophet who is sent to proclaim. 00:36:51.599 --> 00:36:54.079 And what is he sent to proclaim? 00:36:54.159 --> 00:36:55.760 It's the truth of God. 00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:58.960 That's what prophets proclaim when they're anointed by God. 00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:03.760 So what is the truth of God that he is sent to proclaim? 00:37:05.199 --> 00:37:07.280 Liberty to the captives. 00:37:09.440 --> 00:37:14.559 Are they captive, slaves to Satan, slaves to their own sin? 00:37:15.599 --> 00:37:18.960 I'm here to proclaim liberty to them. 00:37:20.880 --> 00:37:24.239 That he is here to proclaim sight to the blind. 00:37:25.119 --> 00:37:28.239 Are they in a flood of information? 00:37:29.760 --> 00:37:32.239 And is the world foggier than ever? 00:37:34.480 --> 00:37:36.000 I will let them see. 00:37:39.599 --> 00:37:42.880 To set at liberty those who are oppressed. 00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:50.639 Do they find themselves in a system that they cannot pry themselves out of? 00:37:53.920 --> 00:37:55.760 They will be set free. 00:37:56.800 --> 00:38:00.800 What is this year for these wicked people? 00:38:01.599 --> 00:38:03.920 It is the year of the Lord's favor. 00:38:05.840 --> 00:38:18.320 You know, all the revelation that we're pining for right now, you know, the all the revelation that we're looking for, it's like an anti-picture of this. 00:38:19.119 --> 00:38:37.519 Because all the revelation that we're pining for is what we're looking for confirmation of our poverty, confirmation of our captivity, confirmation that we're in a system that we cannot get ourselves out of. 00:38:38.239 --> 00:38:40.400 Because let's say we get it, we get it all revealed. 00:38:40.559 --> 00:38:42.079 What gets revealed? 00:38:43.199 --> 00:38:47.440 All the files are finally released, and we read through them. 00:38:47.840 --> 00:38:51.599 By read, I obviously mean upload to ChatGPT and ask for summary. 00:38:53.119 --> 00:38:57.440 And we get the summary, and it explains, yep. 00:38:59.280 --> 00:39:02.159 The state is deeper than you thought. 00:39:02.880 --> 00:39:18.639 And in its depths, it is tyrannically ruling over all of you, also conspiring with demon aliens, and you are unable, you're you're more captive, it felt like you were captive, you're really, really captive. 00:39:19.679 --> 00:39:21.760 And that becomes the revelation. 00:39:22.960 --> 00:39:24.239 You say, okay. 00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:26.639 Things were worse than I thought. 00:39:26.800 --> 00:39:29.920 That's the type of, it's like the shape of revelation that we're looking for. 00:39:30.159 --> 00:39:33.519 What is the revelation that Jesus Christ shares? 00:39:33.679 --> 00:39:34.960 What can he accomplish? 00:39:35.280 --> 00:39:37.920 Liberty to the captives. 00:39:38.480 --> 00:39:40.320 Liberty to the captives. 00:39:41.440 --> 00:39:43.119 It's not just a revelation, you know? 00:39:43.199 --> 00:39:45.519 That's not just a revelation, that's a power. 00:39:46.559 --> 00:39:47.440