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ISAIAH 7:14 (10-17)
“CHRIST OUR LIGHT
COMES FROM JESSE’S DESCENDANT,
THE VIRGIN MARY”
Sunday, December 23, 2007
4th Sunday in Advent
[Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25]
In the name of the Triune God—Father,  Son,
and Holy Spirit. [Amen.]
(Isa 7:14 ESV) “
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a
sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall call his name Immanuel.’”
INTRODUCTION: Dear fellow anticipants of Christ’s
Christmas birthday celebration.
The letters that spell the common word “sad”
form an acronym that identifies a problem that
plagues many people, including myself. That condition is “Seasonal Affective Disorder.” The MayoClinic.com website tells us that,
“… people with seasonal affective disorder experience a
much more serious reaction when summer shifts to fall
and on to winter. … fall's short days and long nights
may trigger feelings of depression, lethargy, fatigue and
other problems. Seasonal affective disorder is a type of
depression, and it can severely impair your daily life.”
The most common treatments for SAD are light
and exercise. However, more serious cases of it
may call for additional types of treatment including
prescription medications and psychotherapy.
The Old Testament Reading for today reveals
another SAD condition … Spiritual Affective Disor-
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Sunday, December 23, 2007; Advent 4
der. King Ahaz was its victim. Its major symptom
was his hypocritical rejection of God’s gracious offer
to give him certain evidence of His divine reality.
On this fourth and final Sunday of Advent God
calls us to examine ourselves in the light of His Spirit-inspired Holy Word to determine not if but when
and where we reject His gracious offer to give us
certain evidence of His divine reality. That is,
 Are we prepared to once again celebrate His
humble birth by Spirit-given striving to overcome
 devilish temptations,
 worldly distractions, and
 sinful thoughts, words, and deeds?
 Are we prepared to greet Him upon His final arrival to judge the living and the dead also by
Spirit-given striving to overcome
 devilish temptations,
 worldly distractions, and
 sinful thoughts, words, and deeds?
 Are we in a state of continual Spirit-guided repentance whereby we
 recognize,
 grieve,
 and confess
our rebellious sinfulness against Almighty God
that deserves His temporal wrath and eternal
punishment separated from Him in the fiery pit
of hell?
 Do we
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Sunday, December 23, 2007; Advent 4
 thankfully acknowledge and
 humbly receive
His compassionate forgiveness that results in
salvation and eternal life with Him in the glorious mansions of heaven coupled with a Spiritgiven desire and pledge to replace our rebellious sinfulness with sanctified obedience of His
Holy Will?
Well, the time is now short before this 2007 annual celebration of Christ’s incarnation. Hopefully,
 gifts are all bought and wrapped and, if necessary, mailed or shipped,
 cleaning is all done in anticipation of the arrival
of special guests, and
 meals are all mapped out and perhaps even
prepared for those festive banquets.
For the children among us it probably feels like an
eternity since Advent began on December 2, merely
21 days ago. For the adults among us it probably
feels like the time has flown by with not enough of it
to complete everything on our to-do lists.
On the one hand, we can now begin breathing a
sigh of relief that the event itself is only two days
away and we look forward to relaxing and enjoying
it. On the other hand, we may be feeling
 fear,
 fright, and
 frustration
that
 unforeseen delays,
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Sunday, December 23, 2007; Advent 4
 personal procrastination,
and
 pesky obstacles
have prevented and are even now preventing us
from doing everything we wanted, although not
necessarily needed, to do. Regardless of that situation, let’s now focus our attention where it needs to
be, namely, that …
Transition: CHRIST OUR LIGHT COMES FROM
JESSE’S DESCENDANT, THE VIRGIN MARY, so
let us repent the fact that Our Human Pride Rejects God’s Grace and celebrate the fact that God
Sent Immanuel to Rescue Us.
I. OUR HUMAN PRIDE REJECTS GOD’S
GRACIOUS OFFERS. [10-13: “Again the Lord
spoke to Ahaz, ‘Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let
it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.’ But Ahaz
said, ‘I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the
test.’ And he said, ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is
it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my
God also?’”] King Ahaz was the most wicked
king that ruled the Southern Kingdom’s two
tribes of Judah and Benjamin. He was a descendent of King David but did not share King
David’s love and reverence for the one true
God. Nevertheless, God graciously invited him
through the Prophet Isaiah to request any sign
whatever that would prove to him the true God’s
protective presence. Sadly, King Ahaz’s hard-
ISAIAH 7:13-14 (10-17)
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Sunday, December 23, 2007; Advent 4
hearted self-reliance caused him to reject that
kind divine invitation.
Such “sign-giving” by God was nothing new.
Four commonly-known examples are
 the signs He gave through Moses to Pharaoh and the Egyptians … the ten plagues,
 the sign He gave to King Hezekiah … making time go backward,
 the sign He gave Gideon … the fleece being
dry or wet on consecutive mornings, and
 the miracles Jesus Himself would perform …
healings, resurrections, feedings, and stormstillings.
The fact is, even today …
A. God graciously gives reassuring signs.
Those signs are so seemingly simple that we
often miss their grand and glorious significance. They are His Blessed Sacraments of
…
 Holy Baptism and
 Holy Communion
that His Holy Word empowers.
The common gift God offers in those signs
is grace, that is, His love that we neither deserve or merit nor can obtain on our own. In
those signs God grants us His free gifts of
 forgiveness of sins,
 salvation, and
 eternal life
that Jesus Christ gained with His
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Sunday, December 23, 2007; Advent 4
 Holy life,
 innocent suffering,
 crucifixion death, and
 triumphant resurrection from the dead
in victory over
 sin,
 Satan, and
 death itself.
We undeserving sinners receive such undeserved gifts by the additional undeserved
gift of trust in Jesus Christ that the Holy Spirit
gives us. That’s the magnificent mindchallenging miracle He works in the lives of
newborn babies through Holy Baptism
[as He will do tomorrow with Josiah Bailey
and Logan Krauss;
as He did at the beginning of this worship
service with Josiah Bailey and will do after
the 10:00 o’clock worship service with Logan
Krauss;
as He did with Josiah Bailey in today’s 7:30
worship service and will do with Logan
Krauss after this worship service]
and nurtures through Holy Communion in us
who have attained not an age of accountability but an age of discernment. That is, we are
able to read, mark, study, learn, and inwardly
digest God’s Holy Word by means of which
our faith is not a blind faith but an enlightened
faith.
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Sunday, December 23, 2007; Advent 4
You see, the sacraments are all about Advent activity. That is, Advent’s focus on Immanuel’s approach, arrival, and coming to us
is the very thing that happens in the sacraments. Jesus comes to us, claims and keeps
us as His own possessions, and connects us
to His atoning death and resurrection. That’s
why the sacraments are not obediencebased activities that we do for God but gracebased activities through which God advents
to us.
At the same time, it is also necessary that
we be fully informed and duly warned that …
B. Unrepentant rejection of God reaps His rejection. As was the unfortunate case with
King Ahaz, people today often unrepentantly
reject God’s gifts of mercy and grace. Like
him, people today also depend on their
 knowledge,
 strength,
 understanding,
 power,
 education,
 wealth,
 relationships, and
 untold other worldly resources.
Such misplaced trust pales in the presence of
Almighty God and even insults and offends
Him.
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Sunday, December 23, 2007; Advent 4
After all, He created and gives all good
gifts. And, He graciously grants them to us
 as signs of His love for us and
 to enable us to more fully honor and
serve Him
by helping, assisting, and supporting one another here in this earthly life. When someone
obstinately rejects God’s offered signs, He
will righteously reject them resulting in the
loss of His eternal heavenly riches.
It is, therefore, ever so important that we
confidently realize that …
Transition: CHRIST OUR LIGHT COMES FROM
JESSE’S DESCENDANT, THE VIRGIN MARY, so
let us repent the fact that Our Human Pride Rejects God’s Grace and celebrate the fact that God
Sent Immanuel to Rescue Us.
II. GOD SENT IMMANUEL TO RESCUE US. [1517: “He shall eat curds and honey when he knows
how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose
the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be
deserted. The Lord will bring upon you and upon
your people and upon your father's house such days
as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed
from Judah—the king of Assyria.”] We are presently in the beginning weeks of the festival portion of the liturgical church year. In it we celebrate Immanuel’s
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 birth,
 death,
 resurrection, and
 ascension.
It’s all about His rescue activity. Only the sinless Son of God could and did accomplish what
was necessary to rescue us from
 sin,
 Satan, and
 death itself.
And He willingly accepted that assignment by
which He redeemed and reconciled us to His
heavenly Father, Who is also our heavenly Father. Instead of doing so with a magnificent
show of power, strength, and force, …
A. Immanuel rescued us by humbly assuming our humanness. That’s right! He confused all who were looking for a great and
mighty battle-ready warrior to arrive on the
scene and lead a successful coup against
earthly armies. Oh, don’t be mistaken … He
definitely had power, strength, and force. But
He laid such aside in this worldly realm. Instead, the heavenly hosts who sang the joyful
message of Immanuel’s birth to the shepherds that first Christmas long ago wielded
His power, strength, and force.
The confusing irony is that He chose to not
use those heavenly hosts. Rather, he chose
to advent this sin-darkened world as an un-
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Sunday, December 23, 2007; Advent 4
known homeless Baby born in King David’s
city of Bethlehem. His birth was not announced to the masses and the royalty but to
lowly shepherds as they carried out their
wearisome responsibilities.
In addition to His humble humanness, …
B. Immanuel rescued us by humble submission. He didn’t live a life of
 comfort,
 prosperity, or
 social status.
He didn’t recruit and rally an army of rebellious renegades to rise up against the mighty
Roman military machine. Instead, He
 comforted the distressed,
 healed the infirm,
 encouraged the fainthearted,
 confronted sin, and
 declared forgiveness.
In addition, He humbly submitted to His
earthly parents when they sought Him and
found Him in the temple at age 12 and He
humbly submitted to His heavenly Father
when He sent Him to Calvary’s cross at age
33.
Today He calls us to humbly submit to Him
as Lord and Savior. That is, cling to Him
alone by Spirit-given faith for
 rescue from the evils of this life,
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Sunday, December 23, 2007; Advent 4
 redemption from Satan and the world,
and
 reconciliation with Himself and the Father.
Let’s follow His example by
 placing ourselves below others,
 serving one another instead of expecting
to be served, and
 providing for those who cannot provide for
themselves.
As we do so we will experience the joy of His
Advent presence about which Pastor Cole so
eloquently spoke last weekend, knowing that
…
Transition: CHRIST OUR LIGHT COMES FROM
JESSE’S DESCENDANT, THE VIRGIN MARY, so
let us repent the fact that Our Human Pride Rejects God’s Grace and celebrate the fact that God
Sent Immanuel to Rescue Us.
CONCLUSION: In today’s Epistle Reading, the
Apostle Paul identified himself as one who was
(Rom 1:1-4 ESV)
“… set apart for the gospel of God, which
he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy
Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from
David according to the flesh and was declared to be the
Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness
by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord
… .”
In our Baptism, God set us apart to be His missionaries who tell the Good News about Jesus to each
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other and others who don’t yet know Him. Let’s
faithfully do so standing on the divine promises that
Christ fulfilled in His coming to us. Let’s realize that
He truly is the Son of David and the Son of God.
Let’s revel in the fact that He defeated the devil, the
world, and our sinful flesh. And, let’s rest in the security of Immanuel’s advent to us through Word and
Sacraments.
Today’s Gospel Reading revealed about Joseph,
who was Mary’s husband and the so-called “earthly
father” of Jesus, that
(Matt 1:20-23 ESV)
“… an angel of the Lord appeared to him
in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to
take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in
her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you
shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from
their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord
had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us).”
We confess in The Apostles’ Creed,
(LUTHER’S SMALL CATECHISM WITH EXPLANATION, © 1991 CPH, page
“I believe in Jesus Christ, … born of the Virgin Mary
… .”
Our Synodical Catechism presents the following
question and answer regarding that item,
(Ibid., page 128)
“130. What do the Scriptures teach of the
birth of Christ? They teach that Jesus Christ, the Godman, was born of the Virgin Mary.”
115)
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Sunday, December 23, 2007; Advent 4
Among the proof texts that are given are today’s Old
Testament Reading (especially Isaiah 7:14) and this
Gospel Reading (especially Matthew 1:23).
Through them the Holy Spirit has provided for us
the Old Testament prophecy and its New Testament
fulfillment that identify Jesus Christ as Immanuel,
which means “God is with or among us.”
Yes, God continues to come to, arrive, approach
us in the Person of Jesus Christ, who
(Ibid., page 124)
“… was anointed to be our Prophet, Priest,
and King.”
He clothed Himself with our human flesh as the sinless Son of Man, who atoned for our sins and
thereby provided the necessary cure for our Spiritual Affective Disorder. Let’s now foster that cure by
living in the bright holy light of Jesus Christ, about
whom Holy Scripture tells us the following.
(Isa 9:2 ESV)
“The people who walked in darkness have seen
a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.”
(John 1:4-5 ESV)
“In him was life, and the life was the light
of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
(John 8:12 ESV)
“Again Jesus spoke to them [the selfrighteous scribes and Pharisees], saying, ‘I am the light
of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”
(Acts 26:15, 17 ESV)
“And the Lord said [to Saul, whom He
later renamed Paul], ‘I am sending you [to the Gentiles]
to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to
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Sunday, December 23, 2007; Advent 4
light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may
receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who
are sanctified by faith in me.’”
(2 Cor 4:6 ESV)
“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of
darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ.”
Let’s faithfully nurture the faith the Holy Spirit
gave us by reading and hearing God’s Holy Word
and properly partaking of Christ’s Holy Supper.
Then let’s vigorously exercise that precious faith by
following Immanuel’s own direction when He said in
His Sermon on the Mount,
(Matt 5:16 ESV)
“In the same way, let your light shine before
others, so that they may see your good works and give
glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Let’s do so ever recalling and ever rejoicing that
Christ Our Light Comes from Jesse’s Descendant,
the Virgin Mary as we repent the fact that Our Human Pride Rejects God’s Grace and celebrate the
fact that God Sent Immanuel to Rescue Us.
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His
humble Son, our holy Savior. Amen.
In the name of the Triune God—Father,  Son,
and Holy Spirit. [Amen.]
ISAIAH 7:13-14 (10-17)
“CHRIST OUR LIGHT
COMES FROM JESSE’S DESCENDANT,
THE VIRGIN MARY”
ISAIAH 7:13-14 (10-17)
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Sunday, December 23, 2007; Advent 4
INTRODUCTION: “_____” is an acronym that identifies the
ailment, “Seasonal Affective Disorder.” The most common
treatments for SAD are _______ and __________. The Old
Testament Reading for today reveals another SAD ailment
… __________ Affective Disorder. King _____ was its victim. Its major symptom was his __________ of God’s gracious offer to give him certain evidence of His divine reality.
I. [10-13] OUR HUMAN PRIDE REJECTS GOD’S
GRACIOUS OFFERS. King Ahaz’s _____-hearted
_____-reliance kept him from accepting God’s kind divine invitation. “Sign-giving” by God was nothing _____;
He had done so often in the past.
A. God graciously gives reassuring signs. They are
none other than His blessed Sacraments of Holy
__________ and Holy __________ that are empowered by His Holy _____. The common gift God offers
in those signs is _______. We sinners receive such
gifts by the _______ in Jesus Christ that the Holy
Spirit gives us. That’s the miracle He works in the
life of a newborn baby through Holy _______ and
nurtures through Holy __________ in us who have
attained not an age of accountability but an age of
_______________. The sacraments are all about
_______ activity … Immanuel’s approach, arrival,
and coming to us is the very thing that happens in
the sacraments. Jesus _______ to us, takes up residence in us, and __________ us to Himself. That’s
why the sacraments are not __________-based activities that we do for God but _______-based activities through which God advents to us.
B. Unrepentant rejection of God reaps His rejection.
People today often unrepentantly _______ God’s
gifts of mercy and grace. Misplaced trust pales in the
presence of Almighty God and even insults and
__________ Him. He created and gives all good
gifts as _______ of His love for us and to _______ us
ISAIAH 7:13-14 (10-17)
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Sunday, December 23, 2007; Advent 4
to more fully honor and serve Him by helping, assisting, and supporting one another here in this earthly
life. When someone obstinately __________ God’s
offered signs, He will righteously _______ them resulting in the loss of His eternal heavenly riches.
II. [15-17] GOD SENT IMMANUEL TO RESCUE US. We
are presently in the beginning weeks of the __________
portion of the liturgical church year. It’s all about His
_______ activity. Only the sinless Son of God could and
did accomplish what was necessary to _______ us from
sin, Satan, and death itself. He willingly __________
that assignment by which He redeemed and reconciled
us to His heavenly Father, Who is also our heavenly Father.
A. Immanuel rescued us by humbly assuming our
humanness. He had _______, strength, and force.
His forces were the __________ hosts who sang the
joyful message of Immanuel’s birth to the shepherds
that first Christmas long ago. He chose to _____ use
those heavenly hosts. He chose to _______ this sindarkened world as an unknown homeless Baby born
in King David’s city of Bethlehem.
B. Immanuel rescued us by humble submission. He
didn’t live a life of __________, prosperity, or social
status. He didn’t recruit and rally an _____ of rebellious renegades to rise up against the mighty
_______ military machine. He went about comforting
the distressed, healing the infirm, encouraging the
fainthearted, confronting _____, and declaring
__________ to the repentant. He humbly submitted
to His __________ parents and His __________ Father. He calls us to humbly _______ to Him as Lord
and Savior. Cling to Him alone by Spirit-given
_______ for rescue, redemption, and reconciliation.
Follow His __________ by placing ourselves below
others, serving others instead of expecting to be
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Sunday, December 23, 2007; Advent 4
served by them, and providing for those who cannot
provide for themselves.
CONCLUSION: (Rom 1:1-4 ESV) In our __________, God set
us apart to be His missionaries. Stand on the divine
__________ that Christ fulfilled in His coming to us. Realize
that He truly is the Son of _______ and the Son of _____.
Revel in the fact that He __________ the devil, the world,
and our sinful flesh. Rest in the security of Immanuel’s
_______ to us. (Matt 1:20-23 ESV) Jesus Christ is
__________ … “God is with or among us.” God came to,
arrived, approached His people in the _______ of Jesus
Christ. He atoned for our sins and thereby provided the
necessary _____ for our Spiritual Affective Disorder. Let’s
now foster that cure by living in the bright holy _______ of
Jesus Christ. (Isa 9:2; John 1:4-5; John 8:12; Acts 26:15, 17; 2
Cor 4:6 ESV) Faithfully __________ the faith the Holy Spirit
gave us by reading and hearing God’s Holy Word and
properly partaking of Christ’s Holy Supper. Vigorously
__________ that precious faith by following Immanuel’s own
direction. (Matt 5:16 ESV) Amen.