Sermon Tone Analysis

Advent 1, November 27, 2005

Confident in the Coming of Christ

*Text:* Isaiah 63:16b–17; 64:1–8

*Other Lessons:* Psalm 98; 1 Corinthians 1:3–9; Mark 13:33–37

* *

*Theme:* We can be confident in the coming of Christ.

*Goal:* That we be confident in the coming of Christ through the preparation he provides in his means of grace.

"/For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.

O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?

Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage./"

(Isaiah 63:16-17, ESV)

"/Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence— as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence!

When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.

From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.

You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways.

Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.

But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand./"

(Isaiah 64:1-8, ESV)

/ /

/Introduction:/ Let’s think about the season of Advent for a moment.

If someone were to ask you, “Why do you celebrate this season,” what would you say?

Let me give you a hint: The Scriptures depict the Christ of God as the one who is coming, the promised Messiah; the one who has come, God incarnate; and, the one who will come again, the judge of all the Earth.

This threefold emphasis is what the church calls Advent.

During the Advent season, we hear again God’s call to faith, our need for repentance, and the reconciliation to God we all constantly need.

In actual time, the Messiah who was promised to come, has come, and now we await the consummation (conclusion) of this age when Christ returns in omnipotent (all-powerful) glory with all the people purified of sin and redeemed from death.

Now this should instill confidence in us, and I believe it does.

So our goal today is to assure you, God’s people, that …

We Can Be Confident in the Coming of Christ.

Fundamental to our “visitation confidence” are three questions: (1) Who is being “visited”?

(2) Who is doing the “visiting”?

and (3) What is the nature of the “visitation-relationship” and its purpose?

*  I.

Who is being visited?*

A.

Obviously, Isaiah’s prayer for mercy is meant for the Old Testament people of God.

You see, Isaiah lived at a time when it seemed to his people that God just wasn’t that interested in “being there” for his people during their times of trouble.

We might even say that He had “hidden [his] face” from them.

Listen to Isaiah’s words in (64:7).

"/There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you;/ [and here is the reason]/ for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities./"

Isn’t that something?

God hiding!

As the people saw it, it seemed that God had even caused their trouble: "/O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?

Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage./"

(Isaiah 63:17, ESV)

But reality is often quite different from perception.

You see, God had already “visited” them.

But they didn’t find that visitation too pleasant.

That visit used the Assyrians to conquer the northern ten tribes of Israel in judgment for their sins.

Isaiah had even spelled out the warning that God would visit them again in judgment for their sins and cause their sanctuary to be utterly destroyed.

With all of that, it is really no wonder that the people lacked confidence in God’s visitation.

No wonder they prayed for a different type of visitation!

They wanted a visitation, not in judgment against themselves.

They wanted God to act on their behalf against their enemies.

However, the people of God could hardly deny their own dreadful state of sin.

They are a people who must confess the truth that even they /“have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away./

(Isaiah 64:6).

/ /

     B.

But we should not think that those people were worse than we are.

The prophet’s words are meant also for us, today.

So, how do we compare with the people of the Old Testament?

We at times find it hard to understand why God hides his face from us.

Look at Katrina and the devastation brought about by the breeching of a dike.

I recently spoke with a woman whose home had been demolished in the inundation.

She said the people she worked for were doing all they could to help.

But FEMA was not of much use.

As I listened, I posed a question to myself: “Where is God in all of this?”

It is so easy to ask if God is really, “there” for us.

We much rather think in terms like how exciting it would be to experience firsthand a visitation from God!—but, are you real sure?

Considering our own dreadful state of sin, I mean.

During this Advent season, how confident can we be about any sort of arrival or visitation of God? Who is this God doing the visiting anyway?

*II.

Who is doing the visiting?*

I mean, just think about who we are with respect to God.

Do we not all mean it when we say: /“We poor sinners confess to you that we are by nature sinful and unclean and that we have sinned against you by thought, word, and deed/” I pray we all mean it sincerely.

You see, we must face the fact that we stand guilty as charged before the One against whom we have personally rebelled.

God’s Old Testament proclamation of judgment, vengeance, and visitation against his people apply to all who are in the state of sin.

Therefore, in regard to sin, this God is /Judge, Avenger, /and a fearful “/Visitor./”

But that’s not the whole story!

Moses calls him /Father/ and /Redeemer./

In these names of God, we learn the good news of salvation and his loving purpose in his visitation.

*III.

What is the nature of the “visitation relationship” and its purpose?*

In the midst of their troubles, the Old Testament people of God held fast to the confidence they had in God and in his saving name.

/“You, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name” /(63:16 ESV).

Repeatedly, (thirteen times in all), Isaiah uses God’s name /“Redeemer” /to teach confidence in his promise of redemption, that is deliverance, from all their enemies.

The promise never changes.

The promise calls forth confidence in the hearts and minds of the faithful.

But that’s not the only reason for confidence!

The other name tied to this redemption is /“Father.”

/Three times in this section of Scripture alone, Isaiah invokes the name /“Father” /and appeals to that relationship as the basis for confidence in God’s deliverance.

I know that the name /“Father” /does not always stir positive images in the minds of people.

That’s because, no matter how rich, or warm, or comforting and embracing, or how shallow, self-serving, faulty, and incomplete our experience from our earthly fathers, it cannot reflect our heavenly Father’s love.

This is why His fatherly “visitation” can seem rather double-sided: God is not like any earthly father when it comes to loving discipline, however.

He knows precisely how to turn us toward Himself.

No wonder the Psalmist prays: "/Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!

You have said, “Seek my face.”

My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

Hide not your face from me.