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[872.52 --> 873.04] Because,
[873.44 --> 875.34] He's the only one who can.
[876.50 --> 878.44] He's the only one who can,
[878.94 --> 879.72] forgive our sins.
[879.90 --> 882.60] The only one who has the power to do so.
[883.92 --> 885.06] And so, remember,
[885.52 --> 886.90] whenever Jesus had conflicts,
[886.90 --> 887.82] with the Pharisees,
[887.88 --> 888.90] and the teachers of the law,
[888.90 --> 891.50] these Jews had the right idea.
[891.60 --> 893.02] They were asking the right question.
[894.22 --> 895.54] As He was healing,
[895.86 --> 896.82] He was also what?
[897.60 --> 899.74] He was also forgiving people's sins.
[900.22 --> 900.86] And...
[900.86 --> 908.44] Who is this person
[908.44 --> 910.54] that has the power to heal,
[910.64 --> 911.26] for one thing,
[911.40 --> 913.48] but also has the power to forgive?
[913.48 --> 915.14] Who does He think He is?
[915.14 --> 916.94] Does He think He's God?
[918.54 --> 919.14] Yes.
[919.86 --> 922.42] He is the Son of God.
[922.84 --> 923.98] God in the flesh,
[924.24 --> 926.60] who came to forgive all of our sins,
[926.80 --> 927.78] once and for all.
[927.98 --> 929.52] That's the good news.
[930.22 --> 932.26] But I just want to sympathize with the Jews,
[932.80 --> 935.28] because they were asking the right questions.
[935.28 --> 937.90] Who is this person
[937.90 --> 939.84] who is able to forgive?
[940.84 --> 942.52] And this one person
[942.52 --> 944.42] that is able
[944.42 --> 946.36] and has the power to forgive,
[947.10 --> 948.04] came in the flesh,
[948.78 --> 950.18] was born in a lowly manger,
[950.32 --> 950.74] as you saw,
[950.84 --> 951.94] demonstrated by our kids,
[952.60 --> 955.52] took up that curse of death on the cross,
[955.52 --> 958.20] so that we may be forgiven our sins.
[958.20 --> 961.36] That's the teaching,
[961.50 --> 963.40] that's the doctrine we call atonement.
[963.74 --> 964.86] That is good news.
[965.14 --> 966.30] And that's the heart
[966.30 --> 967.84] of the Christmas message.
[968.28 --> 969.78] That's why we celebrate Christmas
[969.78 --> 970.74] in the first place.
[973.04 --> 974.62] And our loving Father,
[974.94 --> 976.80] through the sacrifice of His own Son,
[977.16 --> 978.72] and His victory over death,
[979.12 --> 980.98] did all this so that
[980.98 --> 982.60] we as His people
[982.60 --> 984.44] may be free from slavery,
[984.82 --> 985.62] from our brokenness,
[985.76 --> 987.70] and that we may be able to follow Him
[987.70 --> 990.12] and align more and more with Him
[990.12 --> 992.20] by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
[994.12 --> 996.26] For as it says in our passage today,
[997.38 --> 998.08] our thoughts,
[998.82 --> 1001.14] even the smartest of us,
[1001.58 --> 1003.20] cannot and is not
[1003.20 --> 1005.22] perfectly similar to God's ways.
[1006.88 --> 1008.04] This Arab transition,
[1008.16 --> 1009.36] what I'm trying to say is that
[1009.36 --> 1011.18] not any single one of us
[1011.18 --> 1013.22] or a collection of the smartest
[1013.22 --> 1014.84] Christians and theologians
[1014.84 --> 1016.46] have the ability
[1016.46 --> 1018.54] to know exactly
[1018.54 --> 1020.42] what the mind and will of God is.
[1020.58 --> 1021.88] We discern together.
[1022.82 --> 1023.90] It's a call of humility.
[1025.42 --> 1028.34] That's why God came to us.
[1028.62 --> 1029.60] We didn't go to Him.
[1030.74 --> 1033.22] His Holy Spirit now guides His people
[1033.22 --> 1034.40] so that we can reflect
[1034.40 --> 1035.52] and we can glimpse
[1035.52 --> 1037.22] and we can reveal
[1037.22 --> 1039.62] more and more of what real joy is,
[1039.62 --> 1041.70] which is found only in Him.
[1043.32 --> 1043.94] So again,
[1044.44 --> 1045.26] we are desperate
[1045.26 --> 1047.14] for His guidance.
[1048.18 --> 1048.80] His thoughts
[1048.80 --> 1050.30] are higher than our thoughts
[1050.30 --> 1051.86] and His ways
[1051.86 --> 1053.26] are trustworthy and reliable
[1053.26 --> 1054.70] because it never fails.
[1057.12 --> 1058.04] And so Isaiah then,
[1058.98 --> 1059.72] now that he has
[1059.72 --> 1061.08] called for trust
[1061.08 --> 1062.02] of God's people
[1062.02 --> 1062.88] to trust in His
[1062.88 --> 1064.58] ways and His will,
[1065.16 --> 1065.62] demonstrates
[1065.62 --> 1067.26] or pictures for us
[1067.26 --> 1068.40] in a poetic illustration
[1068.40 --> 1069.48] that compares
[1069.48 --> 1070.72] this word of the Lord,
[1071.12 --> 1071.74] God's will,