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00:00:00 morning church so today's scripture reading we will be looking at four passages so I will first start in Isaiah 7 we will go from: 1 to 14 after that it will be chapter 9: 1 to 7 and then we'll go to the New Testament in Matthew where will be chapter 1: 22 to 23 and finally Hebrews 4: 14- 16 so I'll start now reading from the NIV when ahas son of jotham the son of uzia was king of Judah King resent of Aram and pah son of Ralia king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem but they could not overpower it now the
00:00:48 House of David was told Aram has Allied itself with Ephraim so the hearts of aaz and his people were shaken as the Trees of the forest are shaken by the wind then the Lord said to Isaiah go out you and your son Shia jashub to meet ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the upper pool on the road to the launderers field say to him be careful keep calm and don't be afraid do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood because of the fierce anger of Rin and Aram and of the son of remalia Aram Ephraim and remalia son
00:01:30 have plotted your ruin saying let us invade Judah let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves and make the son of tabil King over it yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says it will not take place it will not happen for the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is only risen within 65 years ephra will too be shattered to be a people the head of ephra is Samaria and the head of Samaria is only Ralia son if you do not stand firm in your faith you will not stand at all again the Lord spoke to ahaz ask the
00:02:10 Lord your God for a sign whether in the deepest depths or in the highest Heights but ahas said I will not ask I shall not put the L to the test then Isaiah said here now you House of David is it not enough to try the patience of humans will you try the patience of my God so therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign the Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel he will be eating CDs and honey when he knows to reject the wrong and choose the right chapter 9 nevertheless there will be no more
00:02:52 Gloom for those who were in distress in the past he humbled the land of zeun and the land of naftali but in the future he he will honor Galilee of the Nations by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan the people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those living in the land of deep Darkness a light has dawned you have enlarged the nation and increased their Joy they Rejoice before you as people Rejoice at the Harvest as Warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder for as in the day of the midian's defeat you have shattered the
00:03:26 Yoke that burdens them the bar across their shoulders the rod of the oppressor every Warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning will be cruel for the fire for to for to us a child is born to us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor Mighty God Everlasting father Prince of Peace of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end he will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom establishing and
00:04:03 upholding it with Justice and righteousness from that time on and forever uh Matthew chapter 1 verse 22 all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet the Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel which means God With Us Hebrews 4:14 therefore since we have had a great high priest who has ascended into heaven Jesus the son of God let us hold firmly to the faith we profess for we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses but we
00:04:57 have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are yet he did not sin let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find Grace to help us in our time of need this is the word of the Lord very good morning church very good morning church and greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus who is with us this morning and as usual thanks to the worship team um and Adam for reading God's word to us next uh three sermons we have uh our Elder Arnold preaching on Joy to the
00:05:42 World and silent night which is a continuation of the Advent series and then Dr Peter will uh lead us in the Christmas service sermon this is the second week of of Advent it is a season of Hope of faith of joy and peace that Christmas brings now for this year's Advent sermons including the uh the next two by uh our Elder Arnold we'll do something different we'll be coming up with uh we we opening up the all familiar hymns one of which we just sung just now very long seven stanzas of okam okam Emanuel all
00:06:21 these hymns that we've been singing for Christmas and un to unveil the rich gospel truth that inspired the hym writers as much as the biblical authors I hope we will sing these hymns in a very different light always having scripture at the back of our minds God With Us God With Us a term we use so frequently even flippantly at times whether in our prayers or words of encouragement as if it's some magic formula God be with you as if almost aking to Star Wars sorry almost the king to Star Wars May
00:07:10 the force be with you right we swing to two simplistic extremes at times when times are good God is with us when times are bad or not going the way we expect God is therefore not with us or have forsaken us whatever the reason may be well I had the privilege to have a a short interview with four FBC members of ours of different ages and background new Believers as well as those born and bred in a Christian family uh a disclaimer this was very impromptu and was spoken from the heart with no rehearsal but let's hear them
00:07:58 out e from the technical glitch here there is a YouTube video link uh as well if you could see if it works on on YouTube a forsaken us and I think it's just apologies [Music] well to me personally it means like God uh since we know that he is three in one the phrase imanuel God With Us it mean to me it means that the holy spirit is with you and will guide you through your life it will allow you to make better decisions and will also allow you to help others easily and also to forgive them if they do something wrong so it
00:09:34 means that God is present God is um he's never forsaken us and I think it's just an a reassurance it's a promise it's something that we can hold on to that um that you know that he is with us that he's constantly with us it's just that you may not see him but when Jesus came that's that's when you know it's it's showing the Israelites you know years and years ago that God has always been there but Jesus is it's just I'm sending you someone to show you that I have always been with you uh for me because
00:10:06 I'm not so good uh I'm a new Christian I think God With Us that mean uh uh that we Rel believe in Jesus that God is always with us yeah he won't feel us we got faith with him then he will be with us [Music] uh during the very initial stage when I accepted Christ uh of course um it was a struggling because uh I can't see the respond from uh maybe God or the Holy Spirit In Me But as time goes by I have the feeling of comfort in me that means um when I want to do thing I always want to think first know is this correct way
00:10:53 or not like something is prompting me inside me somehow I I felt that the Hol holy spirit is give me giving me some answer inside me but I cannot tell um I think many times I've felt god with me um it's usually in the provision and seeing his hand in in really really little things every step of the way in um you know providing um even the most basic necessities um an example would be you know being in the UK um you know finishing my house contract and not having anywhere to go and God just sends
00:11:28 people and be like come State my house uh me look going to a new place not having a church and God sends people like you know so that I think in that little provisions and him just slowly pointing me and directing me to you know what he wants me to do is where I see his hand and his presence really really stands out for me well quite a few times actually my friends they would maybe do something uh wrong to me because they might have thought that it would be funny but then since God is with me and
00:12:01 I know God is with me I am capable of immediately at that second the same time that they did something wrong to me I was able to immediately forgive them and if they were maybe laughing I would have laughed with them as well got changed my life my family now is they so close to me they come closer to me and have a good family now with my exf family also they all come to me yeah I I feel that God uh is very good to me I have had my doubts uh for example sometimes it would get a bit out of hand and I it wouldn't be as easy to forgive
00:12:47 so then I start doubting is God really there with me is God really helping and then sometimes I'm put through challenges which I now realize uh they are challenges of faith and they are what God put you through and it is supposed to be that way okay when I first become a Christian uh they says that uh once you become Christian God be with with you okay but the truth is that nobody have seen God before cor and uh I have also never seen God before so how can I imagine that God is beside me then um they say that oh
00:13:27 yes true because God is so what pure that they cannot see you so he sent his son his son is Jesus so those who see his son see the father but the thr is that I've never seen Jesus before also and later on at towards the end of the Jesus life he says if I I die I will my spirit will be left behind and if you believe in Jesus the spirit will be you okay then the same question I ask again is uh now how do I know that the spirit is inside me because I also never seen the spirit okay sometimes I feel
00:14:07 doubt that uh I'm having health problem my whole body here pain there pain I'm asking God to help me to heal all this pain cast out the pain from my body until now not answer yet I think this is not the time yet gu I feel doubt uh but I still have the Faith with him I think sometimes I do um sometimes I do cry out and go like God where are you and it's usually in the times where um either when temptation's great or when um when I'm feeling lonely especially when you're alone abroad you feel really
00:14:43 really lonely sometimes you wonder God where are you or when things just happen to you and you go like God why did you let this happen to me like are are you even there do you even care sometimes you that and sometimes that's that's when you start doubting with you [Music] I want to thank Jonathan Melissa fan and Edward for their willingness to share under short notice and uh sisters Ken and F for helping with the recording and the video editing indeed regardless of where we are in the Journey of
00:15:21 Faith where we are in the Journey of Faith we will have our ups and downs in our in in our faith and will experience doubt needless to say God With Us is a very vast topic you can preach this from Genesis to Revelation but today we want to focus on what we can learn from the original uh Isaiah prophecy that inspired the hymn Oh Come Oh Come Emanuel so I'll broken this down to um three parts first we'll look into the context of how the sign of the prophecy of Emanuel came about in Isaiah 7 and then the tip
00:15:59 or the characteristics of Emmanuel as prophesied in uh in Isaiah 9 two chapters later and then we'll be ready to tackle the hymn Oh Come Oh Come Emanuel as we learn to put our confidence in Jesus but before that let's pray and ask God to speak to us today gracious Lord our heavenly father thank you for being with us and even right now we acknowledge your presence in our midst there are times as we have witnessed from the video interviews earlier I we doubt oh Lord during this Advent season as we delve into your word
00:16:34 we pray that your spirit will speak to our hearts reminding us of who Christ Our Emanuel really is fully God fully man and why he had to be born into our lives and the reassurance that he is and will forever be with us in Jesus our emanuel's name we pray amen so the first part context of Emanuel is what what was the background of this sign that was given to King ahaz the passage in Isaiah 7 that we read earlier bit of brief history here okay um history setting was what is known as the syyro ifite war it happened
00:17:17 around 735 734 BC thereabouts there is Syria or Aram there is Israel the northern kingdom and Judah the southern Kingdom Syria or Aram was led by King resin and Israel the northern kingdom was led by King P right they have both they have joined forces and form a coalition this one we very familiar pakatan batan gaban whatever we call it right to fight against the Assyrian super powers in the Northeast and was led by tiglath Piza III and wanted to recruit Judah as well so they fought against Jerusalem but
00:18:05 Judah was still able to hold the for but King ahaz was king of Judah was already shaken to the core right panicking Judah was just like Israel has had a a roller coaster ride of uh good versus evil Kings we remember this chart that I think was shown by Dr Peter once in his sermon worse than the stock market today the ups and downs right Judah was at the bottom of the pit with King ahaz promoting bail worship alongside the worship of God and he reinstituted and practiced the Abominable custom of child
00:18:52 sacrifice inar with the worship of God in the temple as instructed by the Lord Isaiah and his son Sher jup took king ahaz for a mamak meeting at the aqueduct no mamak Dina went to the aqueduct and essentially was telling K ahes chill can you chill keep calm and don't be afraid don't lose heart because the Sovereign Lord says it will not happen stand firm in your faith stand firm in your faith to further reassure ahaz the Lord spoke to him and offered him a sign he says ask me for a sign whether in the
00:19:33 deepest depths or the highest Heights that's like almost a blank check but how did ah reply ah says I will not he not only refused but acted Pious you know he says I will not put the Lord to the test that's a smoke screen is T Mount to saying I don't need you Lord I have my own plans thank you very much right notice the I will not take Center Stage because we know that in 2 Kings 16 and he was what the Chinese say he's going to chaa he's going to Running Dog or the frogs the political term frogs who were jump sheep right he was
00:20:23 going to cow in the blue line there he was going to cow to the king of Assyria Instead This is like Sleeping with the Enemy he completely forgot what God had promised King David in 2 Samuel chapter 7 that he will establish the House of David forever so Isaiah reprimanded ahaz and his cohorts that this has gone way too far even testing the Lord's patience let's pause and think for a minute it's easy for us to look at King ahaz and say God is offering you a a golden opportunity how could ahaz be so
00:21:07 arrogant or will still pretend to be but again the Chinese say are very hot hair you know don't want to trouble you Lord huh don't want to trouble you don't want to test you but really what is really in his heart was that he's got other plans don't we at least for some of us here myself included subconsciously enter this mode especially in times of desperation of fear what we say now formal fear of missing out just like ah has we like to sing Frank sinatras I did it my way and we heartly inquire of the Lord
00:21:55 whether through prayer or going back to scripture or listening to the small still voice of the Holy Spirit prompting you but God would not be mocked because he's Sovereign he gave he himself gave the sign and that's the context of Isaiah 7:14 the Lord himself will give you a sign the Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel which comes from the Hebrews immanu which means is with us and L God God is with with us now this verse has over the centuries stood many many
00:22:33 debates around who Sun this is we're not going to we're going not going to debate here for those who are more scholarly and want to know more we can go for a coffee chat later but we take the passage that we read earlier in Matthew 1: 22-23 that was read to us Isaiah 7 to9 as a unit as unmistakably unmistakably pointing to Jesus and now we move to Part B Part B is the characteristics of Emanuel by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Isaiah didn't leave us to Guess Who the Emmanuel would be or what his
00:23:16 major characteristics would be so fast forward Isaiah 9 which we read as well we have the other well-known verse six some of you may have U the Messiah playing in the back of your mind for to us a child is born to us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor Mighty God Everlasting father the Prince of Peace Isaiah expends the name of Emmanuel by giving it four additional titles which is not so much of the name that Christ would be called
00:23:57 but the characteristics of IM ual God With Us he is our wonderful counselor in some translations like the King James version they break it down to two names wonderful and counselor being two names but most translations agreed this is wonderful modifies counselor so wonderful counselor Mighty God Everlasting father Prince of Peace this verse is very unique in the sense that if you read this verse some words are more appropriately used in a human context isn't it While others are obviously Divine in
00:24:34 nature right if I were to map yellow for those belonging to humans and orange belonging to God it looks like this right um a child is born the government on his shoulders counselor the prince these are names that are pretty human in nature youth quite humanistic but words like a son is given seems to indicate pre-existence some sort of pre-existence or only a special gift Mighty God Everlasting father even the word wonderful which I'll explain shortly are clearly categories reserved for God since these are important titles
00:25:19 attributed to Jesus or Emanuel allow me to Define each title now Charles Spurgeon spends one sermon for each each name but don't worry I'm not not going to do that today okay so firstly wonderful counselor the word wonderful comes from the word Hebrew P that commonly denotes quality associated with the Divine realm in in Judges 13 for example before the the predicted birth of Samson his father manoah inquired of the Angel of the Lord for his name and the Lord what did the Lord say why do you ask my name seeing it is
00:25:59 P seeing it is wonderful or beyond comprehension in the NIV now the the the derivatives of P whether is wonders wonderful uh often designate God's extraordinary acts as in the Miracles of The Exodus which we remember I say this the the way the psalmist praise and sing sing of God's wondrous works as in you know an example in Psalms 89:5 the heavens praise your wonders Lord that's the same word used right counselor the Hebrew Yas carries two basic meaning of one who counsels an advice but also sometimes use as
00:26:39 planning and purposing as if his counsel and advice has a purpose and has a plan and the back of it in the New Testament in John 14 sorry used together wonderful counselor is best summarized in Isaiah 29 vers 28:29 Jesus is Wonder wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom in the New Testament in uh in New Testament in John 14 we remembered of course that Jesus promised us another counselor an advocate a helper literally one who is called alongside us Spirit of Truth who will teach us all things and remind us all
00:27:21 that Jesus has taught and be witness for Christ not only that Jesus is our wonderfully wise counselor he is our Mighty God interestingly although God is often referred to as the mighty one or the Lord Almighty the phrase Mighty God is used only here in Isaiah 96 and two other places referring to the Lord Almighty Isaiah 10 for example speaks of the remnant who will return to the mighty to to to the Mighty God and he is and therefore he is mighty to save Jeremiah 32 speaks in Jeremiah's prayer refers to Great and Mighty God
00:28:02 whose purposes are great and deeds are Mighty and nothing is too difficult for him who made the heavens and the Earth it is Christ who gives us strength when we Face trials and tribulations as he promised in Philippians 4:13 thirdly Emmanuel is our Everlasting father now this is not as intuitive as the rest of the titles so we'll spend a bit more time Everlasting requires little explanation Jesus is the Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end he always existed Christ is eternal John chap 1 verse1 in the beginning was the word and
00:28:45 the Word was with God and the Word was God now it comes the tricky one father how are we to understand Jesus as our Everlasting father well first and foremost it's not to be confused with the first person of the Trinity there a theology called Oneness theology that equates Jesus as the father and they quote that verse in John 10:3 I and the father are one right but but but when Jesus said that in John chap 10 he didn't mean that he and the father is one person but they are one in the sense of being perfectly
00:29:23 in sync in what they do what Jesus does the father does and vice ver so how then should we understand the title given to Jesus again sp sp a whole sermon on this and gave five senses of the father but I'm not going to bore you with that I'm going to highlight three which I think is most important Jesus is father in the sense of him being the second or the last Adam under the New Covenant of Grace as found in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 time doesn't allow us to go into the verses but Charles Spurgeon summarized it well
00:30:01 he says in our first birth we come under the fatherhood of the Fallen one in our second birth we enter into the fatherhood of the innocent and perfect one in our first fatherhood we wear the image of the Earthly in a second we receive the image of the Heavenly secondly Jesus is the Everlasting Everlasting father in the sense of a founder or the an originator that's where we have the phrase the founding father isn't it so we have we have um for example George Washington as the father of the country Socrates as
00:30:49 the father of philosophy alen Turing the father of modern computer science whose pH is appeared in the UK 5 pound note and closer today to to today maybe Elon Musk founder of Tesla SpaceX known for electric cars although actually he wasn't the first inventor it was it was wner Von Simmons the founder of what is now Simmons AG who made the first electric car in 1905 and actually before him there was Ferdinand Porche with an electric car in 1900 and you can surely think of more example exles in the same
00:31:30 way Christ is the founder the father of Christianity the system of Salvation as opposed to the devil who is the father of lies and thirdly which I and I believe this is the most important sense Jesus is our Everlasting father in the sense of an ideal Father Figure an ideal father figure who is good tender loving caring protecting providing above and beyond what our Earthly fathers are able to do and most importantly he doesn't vacate the Father's Office some of us may have experienced a very good childhood
00:32:24 growing up having come from broken families and have experienced even traumatic experiences where our parents may not have played their roles well or even struggling parents like me who are constantly looking for Role Models let's imitate Christ who is our Father Figure as each of us subject ourselves to him with childlike Faith so Christ is our Everlasting father in all the senses shown here all the three senses and more that transcends time and space of all ages past present and future he is constant and consistent for he is the
00:33:07 same yesterday today and forever finally our Emanuel is the Prince of Peace Prince of course denotes sunship and sunship denotes that one day he will be king he will be king and in the next verse 7even tell say he will reign over David's throne and over his kingdom with Justice and righteousness eternally and the word sh peace in Hebrews means Shalom one of the most important word in the Old Testament and it's rich in meaning it is used as as greetings and and and blessings as in the the Priestly blessings that we find
00:33:49 in Numbers Chapter 6 the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace Shalom modern Israeli greet each other by saying Shalom it can also denote a larger sense of prosperity of health of safety of well-being not from a health and wealth gospel or a or a k Cho sense but but from a completeness and wholeness standpoint Shalom could also mean positive relationships with friends with parties with Nations the absence of
00:34:30 strives not just the absence of War but again from the sense of completeness wholeness and Harmony and above all it is peace with God for Jesus is our peace and this is what Jesus taught in Beatitudes blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called Sons or children of God God brought Shalom between God and man and amongst his people he is therefore our chief Chief Peacemaker the founder of Peacemaker so here in verse 6 we learn four Titus of Emanuel um god with our wonderful counselor who is wise um Mighty God who
00:35:17 is strong a love an everlasting father who is loving and caring and the prince of PE who is our Shalom but I'd like to add one more title for Emmanuel and from earlier part of chapters n right chapter 8 ended in the we didn't read chapter 8 but chapter 8 ended in the lowest note of the prophecy of the fall of Judah a deplorable state that they will be in for following other gods so in the last verse of chapter 8 we read then they will look toward the Earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom
00:35:51 and they will be thrust into utter Darkness but then there's a breakthrough in chapter nine that we just read nevertheless there will be no more no more Gloom for those who were in distress the people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those living in the land of deep Darkness a light has Dawn our Emanuel is the light of life and the life was the light of all mankind John 1 ver4 so adding to the list of four titles is five names that describes who our Emmanuel is remember these five names because we'll be
00:36:26 referring to them in the next section and now we look into the song that we have sung Oh Come Oh Come Emanuel and what are the lessons we can learn from that song it's a very old hymn and sometimes when we sing that song we don't know what it really means they're just random words very technical archaic words so let us let us go into into the hymn and see what we can learn from it and let it become an encouragement and insurance for us the song OK Come okam Emanuel of is came from the Original Latin ven V Emmanuel in the 9th century
00:37:00 was first translated in English um by John Mason Neil an English Anglican priest and Scholar was further revised by Reverend Henry coffin and Reverend and Professor Lawrence stuki who shaped the way United Methodist worship the music was developed separately in the 15th century France and there are many versions of this hymn if you Google it's very hard to find one that is consistent but I've taken one from the United Methodist Himel number 211 it has seven complete verses or stanzas and these are the the seven
00:37:35 stanzas that we sang earlier so the first stens goes Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel and Ransom captive Israel that Mourns in lonely Exile here until the Son of God appear we hear in the in the video interview earlier doubts about God when we feel lonely how many of us here have experienced loneliness yeah how many of us have experienced loneliness so have I but but we're not talking about a home alone situation or a covid quarantine although that could be pretty lonely my family and I just had covid round two uh just a week ago
00:38:23 uh being quarantined in a room uh is no fun isn't it espe ESP when one like who is extroverted like me but that's even that is more boring anden right than loneliness here the immediate context was the mourning type of loneliness it was the mourning of the Israelites who were exiled from their Homeland close to 70 years for close to 70 years that's almost like a lifetime of about two generations it is the separate of God's presence because of Israel's repeated sin of idolatry of rebellion for us it could be times when
00:39:10 we repeatedly fall pray into the same sin and we feel a strong sense of guilt and shame and then we we shy away from God so that God seems distant and we doubt whether God will never forgive or accept this again but God's restoration and rebuilding of Jerusalem after 70E Exile is a testament to God's faithfulness to his people and time and again and the Assurance of his promises and so lesson number one is God is with us in our loneliness even our deepest loneliness he is our Emmanuel who promises not to
00:39:53 leave nor forsake us he is faithful and just to forgive if you return turn to him in obedience the second stanza reads Oh Come Thou wisdom from on high and order all things far and nigh to us The Path of Knowledge show and causes in her ways to go I'm sure most of us myself included have encountered times when we are at our Wits End isn't it for me for instance it is I've given a lot of examples of parents parting but parenting is really my struggle right now is parenting my two boys up to today
00:40:33 no matter how much we read how much we watch lot of educational videos telling us how to parent respectful parenting Consulting others there are times when both my wife and I feel we are just hitting the brick wall James 15 says if any of you lacks wisdom you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to you but when you ask you must believe and not doubt no matter how resourceful a clever we think we are God's ways and thoughts are always higher than ours he is our
00:41:11 wonderful counselor and so the lesson number two is we learn from stanza number two is God is with us when we are just at a loss not knowing what to do or just needing wisdom guidance and direction the third censor reads Oh Come Oh Come great Lord of Might who toai tribes on sinai's height in ancient times once gave the law in cloud and majesty and awe you would you just sing like this you probably catch no ball right so let me explain this is reminiscent of The Exodus records it speaks of how the Lord of Might the El
00:41:55 Shai the Holy One of Israel appears in a form of if you remember the Exodus encounter God Is So holy that he has to appear either in a form of fire of smoke and cloud and represents God's majesty and the Mystery of the Lord and that mystery is not to be seen by human eyes every time Moses went up to commune with God on Mount Si God tells him after this go down go down and speak to the people God wants to speak to his people but could not do so directly so he uses Moses who acts as a a mediator a go a go between God and his
00:42:38 people in the same way Jesus almighty God has come down he is God's word becoming flesh and making his dwelling amongst us lesson number three God speaks to us through Christ who is our mediator because he has come down and fourthly Oh Come Thou root of Jess's tree and an sign of thy people be before thee ruler silent fall all peoples of thy mercy call very old English have to explain the word and sign right but first let me explain the root of Jesse the root or the branch of Jesse appears in Isaiah 11 a few chapters later
00:43:20 referring to Christ as the notice it's not root of David it's root of Jesse David is the son of Jesse and so this is the root of Jesse as if there's another branch that comes out of Jesse so he is referred to as the greater David the word n sign is an Old English word to mean a flag or a signal and this signal is normally raised on a hill or a mountain as a signal or a standard to follow like when you go for T group people raise the flag follow me here here that's the end sign Jesus J is that that flag that standard it gathers and
00:44:00 rallies the people towards a higher cause Jesus's cause of truth of justice and righteousness unlike King ahaz which we read and all other kings and government who came and went the ups and downs which we saw earlier even up to today our Unity government right government will come and go and will become no more but Advent calls us to look forward to the Return of the ultimate and rightful King in power in majesty and Glory that du him come come Lord Jesus and so lesson number four is that God is with us as our
00:44:43 ultimate ruler and King in his kingdom uh our dear brother John spoke of living in Two Worlds last week isn't it this is the kingdom of God the world that we live in for which Christ is our ruler and King closely tied to four the fourth stanza is the fith that reads Oh Come Thou Key of David come and open wide our Heavenly Home the captives from their prison free and Conquer death deep misery again might not you might not catch any ball let me explain the Key of David comes from Isaiah 22:22 but it was quoted in Isaiah in
00:45:26 Revelations 37 speaking to the Church of Philadelphia Jesus says these are the words of him who is Holy and true who holds the key of David what he opens no one can shut what he shuts no one can open the key is what is a symbol of authority the door that Jesus opens is first and foremost the narrow gate by which we enter the kingdom of heaven but it also Al can signify the windows of opportunities for both Ministry and Mission isn't it and hence the Great Commission that we read in Matthew 28 where Jesus says all authority in heaven
00:46:10 and on Earth has been given to me therefore go and make disciples of all Nations and surely I Am With You Always to the very end of the age and so lesson number five is God is with us in our Salvation even in Ministry and missions two more to go bear with me six stanza reads Oh Come Thou day spring come and cheer our Spirits by thy Justice here disperse the gloomy clouds of night and death Dark Shadows put to flight any of us will remember uh I don't know maybe some of you who are as young or old as me uh the day spring
00:46:52 greeting cards who who remembers this the day spring greeting cards very few I think are living in the wrong generation right um so the uh this was before the time of eCards now who sends physical cards anymore and some maybe do right by the way do you know how the story of Day Spring started more than 50 years ago in 1971 two pastors sat down and had coffee at in Southern California and asked one live changing question they say if we had 10 more years to live what would we do to make Christ known that question led to the Inception
00:47:33 of Day Spring which which is 50 years after is still actively serving God headquartered in uh Siloam Springs in Arkansas the word day Springs it's an archaic word it's kind a very old word h found primarily in the King James version which means Dawn or morning or Rising Sun that is used to refer to Christ in zechariah's Prophecy in Luke chapter 1 Luke chapter 1 says because of the tender mercy of God by which the Rising Sun The Day Spring will come to us from Heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the
00:48:14 shadow of death to guide our feet into path of Peace Jesus says I am the light of the world whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life light does two things to us doesn't it first it exposes all things evil including our dark little secrets our secret sins it exposes all injustices and will eventually bring them to light but God is also faithful and just to forgive if we confess and repent from our sins and that brings that will bring us comfort and peace secondly light illumines our path so
00:49:03 that we may walk in Paths of righteousness of peace and Truth Jesus the word made flesh is the lamp unto our feet and the light and to our path so lesson number six God Comforts and restores US despite our guilt shame and the injustices that surrounds us the final and it is the culmination of this hymn that summarizes all that we've been learning today oh come desire of Nations bind all peoples in one heart and mind from thus thou brought us forth to life Deliver Us from Earthly Strife the the version We sang earlier has a
00:49:48 slight variant but it means the same thing one of my favorite verse is Psalms 374 that says delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart there's this relationship between delight and Desiring that goes hand in hand doesn't it the more we Delight in something the more we desire it and vice versa the more we desire something the more we will Delight in it but here delighting in what in the Lord in everything that pleases and glorifies Christ hence the famous quote from John
00:50:28 Piper it says God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him it is not a one-way action where we are just longing praying and hoping but it's a relationship of knowing him of loving him of serving him and trusting in his promises to to Deliver Us from Earthly Strife as the last stanza says he will Deliver Us from Earthly Strife in his own time in accordance to his good pleasing and perfect will dear brothers and sisters what are your Earthly strives
00:51:12 and struggles for many of us myself included every day is like every day is a war zone whether within ourselves when we deal with our pride our ego and our [Music] sin at home and we deal with our spouses in our marriage we deal with our children our parents our in-laws sometimes get into a lot of conflict isn't it those who are studying students who have just returned who are are still studying struggling to make your grades to complete your course and just trying to find out what to do really in life right at
00:52:00 work conflict with our bosses and our peers with our colleagues frustrations with our government maybe the frustration is a bit less now but even now doubts and uncertainties of the unity government that is being formed even here in church in FBC there a lot of strife there a you know service you know minist Mysteries and there's sometimes a lot of loneliness as we go through this the cause of Christ right and of course sicknesses illnesses pain and suffering and the this goes on and on but our Emanuel has come he is our
00:52:44 wonderful counselor he's our Mighty God he's our Everlasting father and the prince of peace and the light of life and so the last lesson here to learn is God Is With Us in and through our trials and our tribulations let's summarize because there's a lot that we have to have covered today right in Isaiah we learn of the titles and the characterising the Perfection of [Music] Emmanuel the hymn okam okam Emanuel describes the human problems of loneliness being lost of lawlessness of sinful of guilt and shame and injustices
00:53:29 and all kinds of Earthly Strife trials and temp tribulations and temptations and how we long for a savior who can deliver us if God stayed up in heaven we will continue to be hopeless but hallelujah what the prophet Isaiah promised has come true Jesus the only one who has met all the requirements and his fully God has come down born into this World taking on human nature lived among his people endured all kinds of suffering not uncommon to men from physical torment to emotional trauma to spiritual Agony when he when he cried my
00:54:12 God my God why have you forsaken me leading ultimately to his inevitable and most excruciating death on the cross there is one word that describes this and if you can't remember everything that I preached today just remember that one word and one word is called empathy sorry is it empathy and so we read in Hebrews 4 15 we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are yet he did not sin the Greek for empathize is
00:54:54 sympath from from where we have the English sympathize with here it means more than just pure sympathy isn't it but what what's the difference the between sympathy and and and empathy right I think NIV uh translates correctly to to use empathize right so here's a here's a diagram that describ the difference between sympathy and empathy sympathy is saying looking looking from above I'm and if you're in a hole he says I'm I'm so sorry you're in this hole I I feel I feel for you right but empathy goes beyond and literally comes
00:55:31 down into the hole and for at least a moment experience what the sufferer is experiencing and saying it's so dark in here how are you [Music] coping in fact the same word is used few chapters down Hebrews 10 to mean having compassion which in the scale of there's a scale called pity to compassion you know pity is acknowledge of suffering sympathy I care about your suffering empathy is I feel your suffering but compassion is wanting to relieve one's suffering Christ did so by dying for us on our
00:56:13 behalf I'm going to end with a story the story of Frederick boo Tucker a commissioner in the Salvation Army Who had who had a great love and affinity for the Indian people he spend almost all his life preaching and reaching out and evangelizing to the Indian Nation tuer unlocked one of the great methods of evangelism called incarnational Ministry it is when he brought the gospel to the to the people in of India he did not try to europeanize them you know he's a British guy right instead he adopted their lifestyle and he lived
00:56:50 among them in squala he and the other salvationist the cond salvationist they wore the Salvation Army uniforms that had been modified to resemble traditional Indian GS that you see in the in the in the photo here right they Liv off the scraps of food that they could find they live like the people in India One Night Freddy Tucker while conducting an an Evangelistic meeting in the Salvation Army Citadel in Chicago towards the end of his life he was he spent more time in US F was preaching to on the topic of the
00:57:29 sympathy or the empathy of Jesus after his message a man approached him and said if your wife had just died like mine has and your babies were crying for their mother who would never come back you wouldn't be saying what you are saying Tak could answer the question at that point tragically a few days later Tucker Tucker's wife was killed in a trained rack it was tragic the body was brought to Chicago to the same place where he preached that sermon to the man after the service Tucker looked down
00:58:19 in the silent face of his wife and and then turned to those attending and said the other day a man came and told me that I wouldn't speak of the sympathy of Jesus if my wife had just died Tak said if if that man is here I want to tell him that Christ is sufficient my heart is broken but it has a song put there by Jesus I want that man to know that Jesus Christ speaks Comfort to me today brothers and sisters Jesus speaks Comfort to to us today because he is our great high priest who empathizes with
00:59:04 us it is what should then be our response it is exactly what the hymns refrain or the chorus says Rejoice Rejoice Emmanuel shall come to thee oh Israel the people of God Jesus is our wonderful counselor Mighty God Everlasting father Prince of Peace he is and will always be with us because he is able to empathize with us in all situations and circumstances they JW in so I'll leave it with Hebrews 4:16 that says let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy
00:59:48 and find Grace to help us in our time of need let us close in prayer and after which we shall sing Our Song of response Remembrance in preparation for the Lord's Supper Lord we thank you for sending your son Jesus Christ to come down from Heaven to Earth so that he can be our Emmanuel God With Us and he does so by being our wonderful counselor Mighty God Everlasting father Prince of Peace bringing light Into Darkness hope in despair strength in weakness Joy deep joy in our Salvation peace with God and Men because
01:00:35 Christ came and suffered for our sakes he's able to empathize with us in our trials and when we are tempted help us to approach your throne of grace with full confidence never in ourselves but always in Christ and him alone to help us in our times of need and we pray this in in in IM 's name and for his name's sake [Music] amen oh how could it be and my God will welcome me into this [Music] mystery say take this bread take this wine now the simple made Divine for any to receive by your mercy we come to your
01:01:50 table by your grace you are making us f oh Lord we [Music] remember you and remance pleas us to worship and let we worship you I worship Le to communion we respond to your invitation we remember [Music] [Music] you see his body his know that he is overcome every trial we will face [Music] one to Lost to be Sav one to broken or ashame no welcome In This Place Your Mercy we come to your table by your grace you are making us fiful no we re by you remember SES to worship and as we worship you our worship me to
01:03:49 communion we respond to your invitation [Music] you you destroy ring you Resto Jesus come the glory Jesus coming Glory dying you destroyed our Rising you is Lord our lord Jesus coming glory Lord Jesus coming Glory Jesus GL [Music] Mercy we come to your table by your grace you are making us faithful Lord we remember you remebrance leads us to worship and as we worship you I worship Le to commun we respond to yourit we respond to your invitation we remember [Music] you Lord Jesus we remember you you are
01:06:14 our Emmanuel God With Us sometimes it's a concept that is so hard to grasp Lord but today we understand you are our wonderful counselor you're all wise all knowing you are our Mighty God who strengthens us in times of need who gave us your word through Christ Our mediator who is the word made flesh you are our Everlasting father who loves us who Embraces who empathize with us who comes down to our level and say I understand your pain and suffering and you are our Prince of Peace who will one day Lord You Will
01:06:55 Rule and Reign eternally and bringing peace into our hearts bringing peace into this world Lord many of us are suffering in our own different ways and going through Earthly Strife whether it's loneliness whether it's unforgiveness whether it's Gil guilt shame because of sin that we repeatedly com commit and we shy away from you whether it's conflicts and struggles within the family at work even in even in church even in the Christian Community there so much of strife and struggle today we learn that
01:07:49 you are with us Lord You're always you always been near us not far from us you have come down it bore our sin you and and and because of that father we can be victorious in you Lord so let us come before you to your throne of grace in with confidence knowing father that you are our great high priest who is able to empathize with us who have yourself gone through the greatest suffering that man can ever no man can ever imagine even death on the cross of us help us Lord to come to you to become your sons of God children
01:08:34 of God thank you for loving us in Jesus name amen for those who want further prayers after the service after the benediction of the Lord's supper please do stay back and and the elders and the pastors myself we would like to pray with you but now we come to a time of the Lord's Supper we invite all believers and followers of Christ to partake of this Holy Communion hear what the hear the word of the Lord come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest God so loved the world that he gave
01:09:19 his only son that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life come to this table not because you must but because you may not because you're strong but because you are weak come not because of Any goodness of your own that gives you the right to come but because you need mercy and help come because you love the Lord a little but would like to love him more come because he loved you and gave him self for you come and meet the Risen Christ for we are his body let us pray almighty God to whom all hearts are open
01:10:05 all desires known and from whom no secrets are hidden cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your holy spirit that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your Holy Name through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen the Apostle Paul tells us of the institution of the Lord's Supper for I receive from the Lord what I also pass onto you the Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me in the same
01:10:39 way after supper he took the cup saying this cup is the New Covenant in my blood do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me for whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes loving God we praise and thank you for your love shown to us in Jesus Christ we thank you for his life and Ministry announcing the good news of your kingdom and demonstrating his power in the lifting of the downtrodden the healing of the sick and the loving of the Loveless we thank you for his
01:11:09 sacrificial death upon the cross for the Redemption of the world and for your raising him to life again as a for days of the glory we shall share we give thanks for this Bread and Wine symbols of our world and signs of your transforming love send your Holy Spirit we pray that we may be renewed into the likeness of Jesus Christ and formed into his body this we pray in the name for his sake amen can we can we say the Lord's Prayer together Our Father in heaven Hallowed Be Your Name Your Kingdom Come your will be done on Earth
01:11:45 as it is in heaven give us today our daily bread forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from Evil evil for the kingdom the power and the glory are yours now and forever amen let's break this bread together Jesus said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me take this in remembrance that Christ died for you and feed on him in Your Heart by faith with Thanksgiving in the same way he took the cup after supper and said this cup is
01:12:25 the new C sealed by my blood whenever you drink it do this in memory of me drink this and remember that Christ's blood was shed for you and be thankful let's end with a prayer of the humble excess together we do not presume to come to this thy table oh merciful Lord trusting in our own righteousness but in thy manif full and great mercies we're not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table but Thou Art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy grant us therefore gracious
01:13:07 Lord so to partake of this sacrament of thy son Jesus Christ that we may walk in newness of life may grow into his likeness and may ever more dwell in him and he in US amen please be seated now receive the benediction May the strength of God sustain us may the power of God preserve us may the hands of God protect us may the way of God direct us may the love of God go with us this day and forever amen the service is over and after a time of silent meditation and prayer you may be dismissed but as I said earlier those
01:13:52 who would like to come forward for prayer the elders and pastors will be happy to pray with you otherwise have a good time of fellowship at the Garden Cafe see you next week and God bless
