← ArchiveDear ChurchDear Church: God Is With Us!DateDecember 11, 2022SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamText—Passages in this sermonGenesis 17:28Genesis 3:89:04Matthew 113:58Isaiah 715:03Isaiah 915:03Revelation 2218:08TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.0:11Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.0:32Mm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm.0:51Mm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm. Mm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm.1:20Thank you.1:36Thank you. So welcome to the church that worships at Bethel.2:06We say it that way specifically because the church is gathered all around the world today on the Lord's Day. But this is the local church that gathers here. So if you've given your life to Christ by public profession and by baptism, you are part of the church.2:33So glory be to God. If you are new here, we want to welcome you. For those who are watching online, for those of you who are new here in person, we're going to clap and say thank you. You are our honored guest today. You might hear some noise because we have little ones in the audience with us. We actually have a young adult that was born not even a week ago here in the service.3:00So listen, if she can come to church and she's not a week old, what is our excuse, right? So what a great joy that is. Listen, I love parents who say the greatest thing that we can do for our children is to let them hear the word of God. That is the deepest treasure of our hearts as parents. Today we start a new series called Dear Church, where we're simply going to look at certain aspects of the Christmas story and remind ourselves, church, of deep truths of faith.3:24For those of you who are worried, don't fear, because I will be reading from the book of Revelation at some point. Because we're just now ending our sermon series in Revelation. But today we turn our hearts to Emmanuel, which is God with us.3:47So if you have your Bibles, go ahead and turn to the first book in the New Testament, the book of Matthew, chapter 1, verse 26. And it'll be one verse today. Matthew, chapter 1, verse 26. As you turn there, I want to read this quote by Charles Spurgeon, who many call the Prince of Preachers.4:16He had his heart personally captivated by Emmanuel, God with us. So listen to how he describes this beautiful spiritual truth. And it should be on the screen in front of you. Spurgeon says it this way. Emmanuel, God with us. It is hell's terror. Satan trembles at the sound of it.4:47Let Satan come to you suddenly. And do you but whisper the word, God is with us. And back he falls, confounded and confused. God with us. It is the laborer's strength. How could he preach the gospel? How could anyone bend their knee in prayer? How could the missionary go to foreign lands? How could the martyr stand at the stake? How could the confessor own his master?5:15How could men labor if that one word were taken away? God with us is eternity's sonnet. Heaven's hallelujah. The shout of the glorified. The song of the redeemed. The chorus of the angels. The everlasting oratorio of the great orchestra of the sky.5:38So, dear church, God is with you. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you sent your son, Jesus, to remind us of this great truth, that you are with us.6:06It is the word, Emmanuel, that strikes fear into the depths of hell. Because you are with us. It is Emmanuel that frees us from our sin. It is Emmanuel that breaks us from our chains. It is Emmanuel that comforts us in our sorrow. Lord, today, help us focus our hearts, our affections, and our minds on the fact that you are here.6:29And his name is Emmanuel. Lord, we give you glory and honor and praise. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, before we turn our attention to God with us, we're going to start with us without God. Because there are many times in our life where we take for granted the fact that God is with us.7:00And I believe that this concept of Emmanuel rings hollow if we fail to understand that God with us is such a grand image because we began without God. Not because God created us that way, but because we walked away from his loving presence. So in the beginning, in Genesis 1, chapter 26, it starts this way.7:28God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. So with one word, and I love how God creates. He creates by what scholars call divine fiat. God didn't go into the factory and create us. He spoke things into existence. That's the power of the word of our Lord. And with one word, he created you and he created me.7:57This incomparable nature of human beings. He created you in his image with a special relationship with the creator. So if you hear nothing else, I want you to start there and hear that, that you have incomparable worth and you were fashioned to live in a special relationship with God. So you have incomparable worth. You were created in God's image.8:26The sun can't say that. The solar system can't say that. There's a special relationship that God has created you to have with him. What a great joy. What a great joy. The loving presence of our God. But something catastrophic happened, didn't it? The first man, Adam, and first woman, Eve, sinned. To say another way, they chose their own way instead of God's way.8:56So listen to how Genesis describes it. Again, Genesis chapter 3, verse 8. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze. And they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Now let's stop there. As if they could hide from God. Right? But that's what sin does to us.9:26Sin brings us to the point that we say, you know what? We can hide from God and he won't see us. It's the child saying, you know, you're playing hide and seek. And they close their eyes or they put their hands over their eyes and they say, you can't see me now. That's what sin does to us. Look at verse 9. So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, where are you? Now this is a rhetorical question because God doesn't need their answer.9:54God is giving them a chance to fess up. From the very beginning, you were created to be with Yahweh. Adam and Eve could physically hear the sound of God walking. Now this stirs my imagination on a thousand fronts.10:23What do you think God sounds like when he walks? Is it like the giant?10:40Is it a casual stroll? Church, if you know, if you have given your life to Christ, one day you will hear the walk of God. Think about that. And we with our ears will get to hear that. I don't know what the sound, what it sounds like, but I do know it should sound like joy. To hear God and be in his presence. This is described as an early tabernacle. The garden was a place where God and man met together.11:09You were made for divine relationship. But the walk of God did not bring joy to Adam and Eve. What prior to the fall did, I can imagine they heard God and say, Eve, get ready. He's coming. God is walking this way. He's coming to our house. He's eating with us.11:39He's fellowship. We are meeting with the Lord. We are walking in the garden with him. But it wasn't that way, was it? Because Adam says, God, we heard, we heard your sound and we were, we were afraid. Now, what's fascinating in the Hebrew is that the word for obey is Shema. It's the same word that means to hear. Shema Israel. Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one.12:09So for Adam to tell God, God, I heard you, he could have also been saying, God, I obeyed you. But we know Adam in the, with the same words he said, God, I heard you, he was having to admit to himself, God, I did not obey you. Can you imagine the shame of Adam saying, God, I was afraid when I heard you because I knew when I heard you, I didn't hear you and I had sinned and I'm living in shame.12:28Sin turns the sound of joy into the sound of shame. And before you think this is only Adam and Eve story, this is our story, isn't it? We've all been there where the presence of God in our life should bring joy and hope and satisfaction.12:56But because of our sin, to hear the voice of God makes us go, oh, no, he's coming. I've sinned. I am not worthy. The story of sin is a story of us without God. And life does not work without God. No matter how hard you try, no matter how hard you work, no matter how hard you worship.13:26Maybe you sing in the choir, maybe you serve with the nursery and you, you know, you should get briny points in heaven when you serve in the nursery. Maybe you say, God, look what I've done for you. Listen, without God in our life, nothing we do works. You see, sin is a story of us without God.13:55So when we read in Matthew chapter 1, that a virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son and they will name him Emmanuel, which is a translated God with us. The darkness of our spiritual lives finally heard a beautiful word. This is no ordinary child, church.14:26This was not some baby born in a rural town as any other child. This child was different. There's not a single baby born in the Old Testament with the name Emmanuel. Mary and Joseph didn't Google the top 10 baby names of 0 AD and find Emmanuel on the top 10 list.14:54This was God ordained for the world. This was the fulfillment of the promise in Isaiah chapter 7 and again in Isaiah chapter 9. And let me remind you that God's promises always live up to expectations. This is Emmanuel. Church, you need Emmanuel. Because without Emmanuel, you are alienated from the Lord.15:23Without Jesus, we have no relationship. You need Jesus because Emmanuel broke the curse of sin. Right? Us without God. The Old Testament prophets longed for the day where they would see and hear what you have just heard today. So when they called his name Emmanuel because he is God with us, the very presence of this child brings God to his people again.15:53What a great joy that is. So this is not just a story. For those who have given their life to Christ because of Jesus, this is your story. He very literally brings God to us in the incarnation. Emmanuel, God with us. But he is also God with us. But he is also God with us.16:22This simple preposition. We find in Christ a personal and familiar relationship with our creator once again. Do not forget that God with us is so beautiful because sin is us without God. And some of you will do good to remember your life before Christ because we should preach the gospel to ourselves daily. We should never get to the point where we wake up and say, God, here I am. I know you're happy that I'm awake again.16:53We should wake up and say, God, who am I that I should be in relationship with you? But God, I heard you walking today and it brought joy to my heart because you sent your only son, Jesus, to bring me back into relationship. So the guilt and the shame of sin is now broken and what was shameful now is joyful again. This is God with us. This preposition with again by Spurgeon, he says it is a close rivet, a firm bond, implying, if not declaring close fellowship.17:21You see, I think some of us believe that God tolerates us, right? We'll get to heaven one day and you feel like God's going to say, I guess I'm going to let you into heaven because Jesus died for you. Come on in, you scum, you dog. God doesn't tolerate you because of Jesus.17:55He redeems you. He cleans you. Listen to what God calls you because of Christ. He calls you saints. For those of you who were here last week or heard the sermon in Revelation 22, John is standing next to an angel and he falls down to worship the angel. What does the angel do? The angel says, don't do that. Uh-uh, not me. You are a fellow laborer with me. God makes you a fellow laborer with the angels because of Jesus Christ.18:26This is Emmanuel, God with us. It is nearness. It is close relationship. You see, God's not a force. He's not an institution or a principle. God is a person. A person made manifest in Jesus Christ. God incarnate. God in flesh. Emmanuel displays the personhood of God who is personally present with his creation.18:56Church, they will call his name Emmanuel because he is God with us. He is God with us. Now, maybe you're thinking, okay, pastor, I got it. Us without God, sin. God with us, Jesus. They will name him Emmanuel. So how long does that last?19:25What a great question. Revelation, chapter 21. I had to do it. It says it this way. I heard a loud voice from the throne. Look, God's dwelling is with humanity. That word with again, right? God with us. Revelation. God with humanity.19:53And he will live with them and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them and will be their God. Emmanuel means that God is with us forever. He is with us forever. What the Garden of Eden should have been, what sin broke, Jesus restored, and Jesus will make new one day. You will be with God forever because of Jesus Christ.20:25This is not simply a Christmas story. This is a Christian story. Emmanuel, God is with us. Because of the incarnation, you can hold on to the hope of the second coming. And as we've been preaching through Revelation, I think some of us view Revelation like we view the Garden of Eden.20:49Some of us have grown up. Some of us haven't grown up, but I've heard the story either way. And for you, the second coming is a moment of fear. It's, oh no, I hear God coming. I better get my act together. But for those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, the second coming should stir our hearts, shouldn't it?21:14To say, hey, Frank, I hear, I hear the sound. He's coming. Soon, Revelation says. Not one day, soon. There should be a great joy because what we long for today will be redeemed forever. Emmanuel means that God is with us, with humanity. He will live with them and God himself will be with them.21:44I don't know about you, but I long for the day where God will be with me without hindrance. Can you imagine that? I believe God gives us his word to stir our spiritual imagination and affections. I don't think we should read the Christmas story and say, see, the virgin will become pregnant and will give birth to a son and they will name him Emmanuel, which is translated, God is with us.22:05Open the presents. The story of redemption should stir your heart to think about that we will be with him in his presence one day.22:27Not one day, not two days, not forever, but five ever. Eternity. Can you imagine that? It's hard to think about, isn't it? To say one day when we hear God, when we're with him, to say, you know what?22:56I read about that one day and it's better than I could have ever imagined. They will name him Emmanuel. He will be with his people forever. As we said in Revelation, when God says he will dwell with his people, it's the word in Greek, skinne, which is the word we get in English for scene. It comes from the Greek theaters where they would have the backdrops that were made built on tents.23:23And after every scene would change, they would change the backdrop. And in the Old Testament, they would meet God at the tent of meeting, the skinne of meeting. And I think the tent was God's reminder to the people, I will dwell with you. I created you to dwell with me. But right now, that's temporary. Because tents aren't made to live in forever, are they?23:51But the tent of meeting pointed the people to the tabernacle, which was a more permanent structure. For God would be in the midst of his congregation in his camp forever, that they thought. But in 70 AD, the temple was destroyed and is no more. And even today, the temple has not been rebuilt. But let me tell you about Jesus Christ, the greater temple.24:21That when he came to earth, he established something that will never be broken again. That we're not waiting for God to fashion a tent in the wilderness again. We're not waiting for God to rebuild a temple again. That way we can say, yes, we see the temple and his presence is here. Because of Jesus Christ, he is with us forever. This is the joy.24:52The tabernacle pointed us to a time where God would be with us. The incarnation ushered in the hope that God could be with us. And the second coming reminds us that God will be with us. And he will be with us forever as we experience his presence for eternity. Church, because of Jesus, you will, you will experience the presence of Yahweh forever.25:22I thought that was going to hit different. Imagine this is the first time you've ever heard this in your life. Imagine this is the first time you came to Jesus Christ. And for the first time you heard the Spirit say to you, Josh, because of Jesus Christ, you will be with me forever.25:45Can you imagine? This is the reality of Emmanuel, God with us. Church, God's presence is the greatest reward of the new birth. This is Emmanuel, God with us. And through Christ, through his presence, through his sinless life, his death on the cross,26:11three days later, his resurrection, he saved you from the penalty of your sin. Us without God, separation. Through Christ, you are saved from the power of your sin. If you've given your life to Christ, there are no more excuses. You can't say, God, sin has power over me anymore. Because he has broken that. And if we dwell fully in the Spirit, sin has no more power.26:38But one day, because of our sinful nature, Jesus will save us from the presence of sin. One day, we'll talk about sin and say, hey, you remember that word called sin? We'll say, no, I don't remember that. Do you remember the time where it was winter and never Christmas? No, I don't remember those days. Because the king sits on the throne. And the tears we had were wiped away.27:08The downcast faces we had had been lifted up. The sin that's so easily entangled has been removed. And we get to hear the sound of his walk again with joy and no shame. Church, I long for that day. You might read this and say, so what? The story of the incarnation is the most glorious story of Christmas that we could ever hear.27:36A missionary shared an experience that they had with a new country that they were living in. It was a Muslim country, an eastern country. And they were excited because there was a new holiday for them. It was Eid. E-I-D. And on this holiday, family and friends dressed up and they would visit each other. And so this new Christian missionary couple dressed up to the nines.28:05They prepared a great feast. And not a single person visited them. And they were thinking, what's our problem? Why would no one want to visit us? So thankfully, a more seasoned missionary couple explained it to them. And they said, this is what you did wrong. On festival days in our country, the small visit the big.28:32They said, you're new to our country. You are the small. No one would visit you. You should be the one who visits the honor. In this way, the gospel and the incarnation is demonstrated. In the incarnation, God sent his only son to be born of a virgin.28:58To become small. A virgin to be betrothed. To be born not in the world's best hospital. But to be born in a manger. Probably not even as beautiful a manger as we have in our lobby. More likely a stone feeding trough.29:27Because, as you have sung and read, there was no place for God in the inn. God sent his only son to be humbled. But he didn't stop there, did he? God's son, Jesus, redeems us that we might go into the presence of a big God.29:52So God was big and small at the same time during the incarnation. God came to our house. He visited you on the festival. Should have never happened. God visited our homes of squalor. Because he believed that you were worth it. Because he created you to be in his presence and to know him.30:23He created you with incomparable worth. Church, this is the story of the incarnation. God sent his one and only son to us. He humbled himself totally. That he could visit us in our squalor. He became big. Because he became the role of the host. And gave us the best gift he could ever give us.30:52The atonement. The Holy Spirit. He brought us clean clothes. That we might be dressed and free to enter his house. Without every disrespect that it was sin again. Dear church. God is with you. If you have given your life to Christ. This is what I'm going to ask you to do. When we sing a song of response shortly.31:21Would you sing as if you've never heard the Christmas story before. As if for the first time it hits you. God is with me. God is with us. What? Can you imagine? I can imagine the first church receiving Matthew and saying. God is with us.31:50Not in temporary dwellings. And not in a temple. But he will dwell in us. It's true. God will dwell with us through Jesus Christ. May the story of Emmanuel be new in your life today again. May the story of Emmanuel be new in your life today again. But maybe you have never given your life to Jesus Christ. I don't know the reason for that. Maybe for you when you hear about God coming again.32:21Or you even think about God being with you. You jump back and you say that's not good. Because I'm a sinner. If you knew the things I did pastor. You would never say I'm worth God's love. I don't know the things you did. But I know the things I've done. And I know that God still forgave me. For the first time would you receive the greatest gift that you would receive in your life.32:47The good news of Jesus on your behalf. So for you. Would you hear the story of Emmanuel for the first time. And say God forgive me of my sin. I'm sorry. I want your sound to be joy and not fear. Forgive me. I will turn to Jesus Christ as my Lord and my Savior. Because I believe the story of the gospel is true.33:17And not only do I believe it's true in my heart. I will confess with my mouth that you are Lord. Maybe for you. You've not given your life to Christ. Because you've grown up in church. And you look around. And you say all these people at Bethel. Think I'm a Christian. And what would they think now. Of me. If I gave my life to Christ. They would know that my life's been a sham.33:46You know what we would think. We would say hallelujah. You waited a long time. But you didn't wait until it was too late. We would say welcome. The question is not what other people think of you. The question is what does God know about you. Would you give your life to Jesus Christ. Because life does not work without the presence of Emmanuel.34:13If you need to give your life to Christ. I'll be down front. Come. If you want to sit where you are and bow your knee. And say God I'm tired of living for myself. I'm tired of brokenness. God I need you. God's going to say duh. That's why I sent Jesus. Because Josh I know you need me. That's why I took the first step.34:43May Emmanuel God with us. Make us sing. And rejoice like never before. Father,Next in Dear Church →Dear Church: Jesus is the Light
