Tidings of Comfort and Joy [Part 3]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. I've engraved you on the palms of my hands, and therefore you are forever in my sight. I can't forget you because I'm like a mother.

I'm like a nursing mother who has a baby that's crying. And if I ever were to forget you, every time I just move my hands, I see your image. Thus is the comfort of the Holy Spirit. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light.

Merry Christmas. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Joy of Every Longing Heart, as presented at Rinaldo Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program today, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource available right now. And it can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries.

As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org. Or call 877-544-4860.

877-544-4860. More on this later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching.

Here is Alan Wright. Remember from Isaiah 53, suffering in our place, atoning for our sins so that by his stripes we're healed. But this in Isaiah 49 is also one of the servant songs.

And at verse 3, we have this interesting verse. He said to me, you are my servant Israel, in whom I'll be glorified. And without spending too much time on this, it's beautiful because what this is saying is that here the designated servant, the Messiah, this is Jesus, is being called or personified as the true Israelite. So the nation Israel, who was given the law of God, which was a wonderful gift, revelation of God, but they never could keep it and never could be righteous in front of the law, but will always be condemned by it because they couldn't keep it. So a true Israelite came who lived a perfectly righteous life. Commentator Alec Matier has said this beautifully, Israel was the name of an individual before it became that of a nation. He's speaking here of Jacob, who was the son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham. And Jacob's name was changed to Israel, thus the naming of the nation Israel. So there was Jacob Israel before there was the nation. And Matier says, and with the name came responsibility for the Abrahamic promises of world blessing. So what was promised to Abraham was that through your seed, all the nations of the world will be blessed. And now Jacob, who becomes named Israel, this promise is flowing through him. But Jacob was a deceiver, in many ways was a scoundrel, who never really understood the grace of God much until he got to the end of his life. And the whole nation of Israel never really was able to obey or be that light to the nations that had been prophesied.

And so Matier continues, must the Lord admit defeat? No, he has prepared a worthy Israel, the servant divinely shaped for the task, the only one worthy of the name. So Isaiah 49 is about Jesus, and he is this righteous one, and he therefore is the comfort giver that is described here. He is the source of the comfort and joy, which explains why in one of his final discourses with his disciples, Jesus says in John 14, 16, I'll pray the father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever. What he's saying here, this word comforter, one of the words that we could translate this Greek word for the Holy Spirit, the parakletos, is that the parakletos, the Holy Spirit, is described as the one who literally comes alongside of. He's saying to the disciples, if you have experienced any comfort while being with me physically, personally on the earth, I want you to have this better news.

I'm going to send another comforter. He's the Holy Spirit, and he's going to always be with you. And because of this, a few verses later in chapter 15, Jesus can say, these things I've spoken to you that my joy may be in you and your joy may be full. My spirit will comfort you and my own joy, the same joy Jesus says that I experience, you will experience. If you've ever tasted the joy of the Lord, if you've ever felt something exalting the Lord within you and rejoicing, not because suddenly all your problems were solved, but because of some other more beautiful, powerful, mysterious reason within you, you are experiencing the actual joy of Jesus.

It's wonderful. And this comes, he says, by the consistent, everlasting, comforting presence of the Holy Spirit. What all of this means leads us into a staggering promise from God at verse 15, Isaiah 49, 15. Can a woman forget her nursing child that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?

Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. I read this week when a baby cries, it triggers oxytocin in the mother, which is a hormone that is associated with attachment and even attunement, the capacity of a mother to be sensitive to the nuances of the baby's needs, which is very important because the baby cannot articulate his or her needs. And so the mother is attuning and discerning and being drawn in. And another span, a study that spanned 11 countries, they found that when a baby cries, that mothers have the same sorts of behaviors, which is not surprising.

They hold them, they speak softly, tenderly, feed them, attune to what's going on with them, smile at them, rock them, all of these things that are common gestures of comforting. But what they did in this big study was they looked at the MRI imaging that could watch which parts of the mother's brains were lighting up when the baby cried. And it's the same regions in the mother's brain that are the regions that influence the instinct for caregiving and the instinct for communication. What I'm saying is that we know that when a hungry baby cries, the mother just physically almost cannot stop herself from picking up the baby, caring and feeding the baby. It's just in her physiologically. And if there ever is an instance where a mother can't comfort or doesn't want to feed her child, we would know that something had gone very wrong.

So what Isaiah's prophecy is saying is that I want you to think about this. Can a mother simply ignore a hungry, crying baby? No, she can't. She just can't. She couldn't.

Was she going to go lie down and just take a nap and just not care, just watch the TV? She can't. And maybe sometimes it happens, but the Lord says, it could not and would not ever happen that way with me. That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Seeing as Jesus Sees. It's the title of Pastor Alan Wright's newest book just released, and it's the giant secret of real transformation. Followers of Christ tend to focus on doing, so we've been told to ask what would Jesus do? But even our noblest efforts to be more like Jesus ultimately fail for the same reason that pledging to keep the law never works.

There's no gospel power in our self-striving. But what if the secret to personal transformation and victorious living isn't found in doing as much as in seeing? Anyone who has ever had an aha moment or has suddenly discovered the truth of a situation knows that fresh vision changes everything. In his eye-opening new book, Alan Wright invites readers into a new, simple spiritual practice, a little breath prayer that can be prayed throughout the day. Jesus, how do you see this?

It's a prayer that the Savior loves to answer because after all, Christ came to be the light of the world. Clear away confusion, win over the darkness, and open your heart to wonder and joy by getting your copy of the book right away. When you make a gift to Alan Wright Ministries today, we'll send you Pastor Alan's new, beautiful hardcover book. And as an additional thank you for your support, you'll also receive a free six-week Seeing as Jesus Sees companion video series from Pastor Alan, along with a study guide and a daily reading plan. Let Jesus take you by the hand and show you a whole new perspective for your life.

As you learn how to ask Christ for his eyes, you'll start seeing as Jesus sees, and you're going to love the view. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org.

Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. Do you see what God is saying? He's saying that though he is the sovereign creator of the ends of the earth and he is free and no one binds his conscience in any way, he is nonetheless saying that he has eternally tied up his own happiness with you being consoled. He is saying that I could in no way ever forget you in your time of need. There is something God is saying in the triune Godhead, in the everlasting creator's being, in his personality and nature. I'm talking about in the intrinsic makeup of who God is. There's something in him like a mother that can't turn away from a hungry baby. He can't leave you unconsoled. He just loves you perfectly. The reason that's so important to believe and know and trust is that if you really believe that, you'd be far less tempted to settle for superficial comfort when you have a father in heaven who's drawn to you in your sorrows and your hunger and you realize that blessed are those that hunger and thirst for they'll be filled.

Your need is not an embarrassment to God. It is a magnet to God and just when you think Isaiah couldn't say anything more astounding, he does. The word of the Lord at verse 16, behold I've engraved you on the palms of my hands. It means etched indelibly.

It is permanent tattoo. There are different thoughts amongst commentators as to what is being referenced here. I think the most compelling is that since this is a prophecy that would one day arrive to the ears of those who have been deported to Babylon promising that they would be restored, that probably this is a reference to something they would have observed in Babylon amongst the pagans. The pagans who worship so many deities in Babylon often would tattoo indelibly the names of their particular deities on the palms of their hands and I think what God is saying here is if you want to know the difference between the gospel, if you want to know the difference between me and all those other gods, false gods, if you want to know the difference between Christianity and every other form of religion, it is this. Every other form is going to have you in some way lacerate yourself, cut yourself in order to try to prove your own faithfulness. Inscribe it into your own flesh how you will worship your God and pledge to do so but God says here's how I love you, here's how I transform you, here's the power of the gospel, I've engraved you on the palms of my hands and therefore you are forever in my sight.

I can't forget you because I'm like a mother, I'm like a nursing mother who has a baby that's crying and if I ever were to forget you every time I just move my hands I see your image. Thus is the comfort of the Holy Spirit, just why he delights in comforting. Maybe this goes far to explain why Jesus when Thomas doubted the resurrected Lord Jesus didn't shame him but said in John 20 27 put your finger here and see my hands. He's engraved his love into nail-pierced hands.

So Christmas brings tidings of comfort that lead to joy because Christmas is the celebration where we remember God loves you so much that no matter what he wants to be with you. One of my favorite books from the last few years is a book by a man named Bob Goff called Everybody Always, delightful book and he tells a story about his son Adam who got into skydiving. He said he kind of wished his son played soccer you know less at stake, ball rolls through your legs other teams score. Skydiving different matter but he supported his son in it and he'd go watch Adam skydive but he decided one time he wanted to blow Adam's mind and he snuck off and took skydiving lessons himself. I'm not talking about he was going to go to a tandem dive where he had a professional strapped to him who would pull the chute. He went and learned how to do solo skydiving. Wow and the day came to surprise Adam with it and he said he went to drop Adam off and Adam got out of the car put on his parachute started strapping in or getting in the airplane and all of a sudden Goff the dad pulls out his own parachute start strapping it in and his son goes dad what are you doing and I love Bob Goff's response his one-line response he looked at him he said how hard could it be? What a great moment. Here's what he writes I shot back with a wink as I adjusted my helmet you exit the plane into a hundred mile per hour wind and immediately disappear from view when Adam got to the door he yelled see you on the ground he rocked up down like you're supposed to up down then jump and it jumped out not surprisingly Goff writes Adam did a backflip as he jumped out the door and disappeared from view I'm not really sure I'm not really sure what came over me in the moment he writes but there was a massive jolt of adrenaline and an overwhelming desire to be with Adam in the air as he fell I sprang to the door blew off all that up down and out stuff and threw myself out of the plane with everything I had get this he said I jumped so hard I jumped right out of my tennis shoes no joke after he'd landed safely Goff said that Adam pretended he didn't know me as I walked in my socks over to the airplane after it landed to get my tennis shoes back but I love these words he said I know a little bit more now what it feels like to be a father who wants to be with his kids Jesus did something a lot like that that I did with Adam he jumped out of heaven to be with us he who enjoyed limitless perfect glory leapt out of all of that heavenly raiment into this broken world and became flesh because he wants to be with his kids when we go through trouble everything around us in the flesh and even just the things for our mind will allure us to try to get a shortcut to joy but there's not one I mean you can learn and just pause and go okay I'm feeling some sorrow or some anger or disappointment how do I get back to joy it's it's not gonna be simply by the silver lining it's not gonna be a substance it's not gonna God be my comforter and he draws near to the broken-hearted and even says blessed are those that mourn for they'll be comforted and in the midst of the comfort as you experience the presence of God there's fullness of joy the old Carol is right Christmas has brought us tidings of comfort and joy and that's the gospel Alan Wright our good news message tidings of comfort and joy from the Christmas series joy of every longing heart he stayed with us pastor Alan is back here in the studio sharing his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment seeing is Jesus sees it's the title of Pastor Alan Wright's newest book just released and it's the giant secret of real transformation followers of Christ tend to focus on doing so we've been told to ask what would Jesus do but even our noblest efforts to be more like Jesus ultimately fail for the same reason that pledging to keep the law never works there's no gospel power in ourselves driving but what if the secret to personal transformation and victorious living isn't found in doing as much as in seeing anyone who has ever had an aha moment or has suddenly discovered the truth of the situation knows that fresh vision changes everything in his eye opening new book Alan Wright invites readers into a new simple spiritual practice a little breath prayer that can be prayed throughout the day Jesus how do you see this it's a prayer that the Savior loves to answer because after all Christ came to be the light of the world clear away confusion win over the darkness and open your heart to wonder enjoy by getting your copy of the book right away when you make a gift to Alan Wright Ministries today we'll send you Pastor Alan's new beautiful hard cover book and as an additional thank you for your support you'll also receive a free six weeks seeing as Jesus sees companion video series from Pastor Alan along with a study guide and a daily reading plan let Jesus take you by the hand and show you a whole new perspective for your life as you learn how to ask Christ for his eyes you'll start seeing as Jesus sees and you're gonna love the view the gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries this broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support when you give today we will send you today's special offer we are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries call us at 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 or come to our website pastor alan.org back here now with Pastor Alan and our parting good news thought for the day tidings of comfort enjoys we come to the conclusion of joy of every longing heart God wants to comfort us in our grief and he will not leave us in our sorrow so he is according 2nd Corinthians the God of all comfort and he has promised to give you his own spirit as a comforter but he also has promised that his joy would be in you so God comforts us to lead us into joy and he moves us into joy by not neglecting to comfort us and be with us in our sorrows you can count on him so if you're going through a great challenge right now call upon his comfort and know that he wants to lead you to joy and if you're in a season of great joy then praise the Lord and thank him for he also is the God who has comforted you when life was hard comfort and joy thanks for listening today visit us online at pastor alan.org or call 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 if you only caught part of today's teaching not only can you listen again online but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free find out more about these and other resources at pastor alan.org that's pastor alan.org today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries