Col. 1:13 and I Peter 2:9

Exordium:
Last week we were treated to a description of the Kingdom of God from the Lord Jesus through our brother, Mike Fenimore, and what a gift it was!  If you missed it, be sure to get a copy from our Book Table.
Today I am being led to build upon that message and ask the question, “What would life in the Kingdom look like?”

How important this is for all of us, especially if you are thinking of the Gospel and the Christian life as merely a pass out of hell, or as basically a set of rules to be followed.
Get set to experience Kingdom Life as described in the Word of God and illustrated by two Kingdom nationals. (I am glad our baseball team is called the Nationals. That is just the description we need for what we mean by those who are living out the Kingdom life.)

Exordium:
I want to base this message on Colossian 1:13.   “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the Kingdom of the Son of His love.”
Proposition:  What this verse says to me is that something very great has happened to us who believe. Perhaps something greater than we have ever realized.
I.  WE HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED FROM ONE NATION TO ANOTHER
A.     One of the nations is characterized by darkness.  The tyranny, the limitation, the bondage of being in the darkness unable to move, as we would like and by selfishness, and self-centeredness. It is the kingdom of “It’s all about me.”
We have been brought into the kingdom of light, out of the shadows into the brilliance of God’s light and truth.
Instead of centering in “me”, the center is the Son of God Jesus Christ, whose nature and name are love. What a change of environment and values and attitudes this is. It is a sea change for the soul, to be so transferred from one realm to another.
B.    Peter calls our new citizenship “a chosen generation” i.e. those on whom God has set His favor.

A “royal priesthood”, because like our great King, we are also priests, that is those who offer praises, those who pray for others, and offer the sacrifice of their service and their love to Him.

A “holy nation”.  Our own generation has finally caught up with the Bible meaning of nation. What we might call a fan club around a celebrity, following him or her, or those who follow a team and wear their shirts, and their flags on their cars.  People, who root for the Redskins and get to the games religiously, or for the Gators, might be called the “Gator nation.”

We have been brought into the “Jesus nation”, into His kingdom and we are part of “this nation”, the most important enterprise in human history.

He is our Champion, our Superhero.  We have a likeness to Him which is growing every day.  We are clustered around Him and we follow Him wherever He leads. In all things He is first. He is pre-eminent.

C.    The Sermon on the Mount is the constitution of the Jesus nation.  That’s how we live out the excellencies of Jesus. It is the manual, the handbook of the Kingdom. We don’t define ourselves any longer.  We are who He says we are. We don’t arrange the trajectory or path of our lives any longer. He does. He gives the marching orders. We take our cues from Him.

He will fill our life with focus, fulfillment and purpose.  Being part of something bigger and greater than yourself is part of the joy of citizenship in the Jesus nation.

D.    So we ask what does life in the Kingdom look like?  Of course, for each citizen it is unique, but there are also some common features. I take two examples. One from our history as a kingdom and one from a present-day, well-known person.

II.  JOSEPH – HERO OF EGYPT

A.     You know the account of his life.  His brothers envied him and they sold him to merchants who were on their way to Egypt. There he became the property of Potiphar working his way to being the chief steward or manager of the household. Potiphar’s wife tried to get him to take advantage of his master’s trust with her. When he refused and ran for his honor, she falsely accused him and landed him in prison. But, again cream rose to the top, and in prison he was given charge of the whole operation.

One day the King was troubled by a dream. One of the prisoners who had been released into the court of the King spoke up how Joseph had correctly read his dream. Joseph was called, cleaned up and presented to the King. He explained the meaning of the dream to the King – warning him that seven years of plenty would be followed by an equal number of years of famine.

Joseph was put in charge of preparing for the famine. He bought up the excess food in the first seven years and stored it for the lean years to come. By his leadership he saved the people of Egypt and his own Hebrew people who came there in the famine to buy food.

B.     Joseph is an example of a Kingdom citizen.

He used his talents and religion to save others and to preserve life. By his actions, He made the true God who is invisible, visible to a pagan people.

His father, Jacob, summed up his life as a “fruitful branch” that grew over the wall and dropped its fruit in another land.  He was nourished in the Kingdom in Israel with true religion and the knowledge of Jehovah, from that he enriched another nation. (Genesis 49:22)

C.    What a Kingdom citizen he was!
He remained who he was even in a foreign and godless setting. He did not change to fit in with that culture. Did not take on their attitudes or standards.   He brought the excellencies of Kingdom life into that wicked society and for that he stood out. He reflected God’s nature of mercy and forgiveness to a people who had no idea of who God is and what He does for us. When his people learned of how his brothers had sold him and then how he forgave them with tears of love, he was sharing the excellencies of the kingdom of God with a people who were utter strangers to it.

D.    There is a picture of you as a member of the Jesus nation.
You are rooted in true religion. What a heritage you have!  You find yourself in a different culture – as a kingdom citizen, you love that culture and serve it’s people.
You live out the excellencies of the kingdom before others and thus attract them toward your King. You live in the world but you do not become of the world. You are a subject of King Jesus!
III. A CONTEMPORARY PERSON LIVING OUT THE KINGDOM
A.    Let’s take an imaginary trip to Bronco Stadium in Denver. Two teams struggle in the NFL playoffs-Denver vs. Pittsburg. The score is tied 23-23 in the fourth quarter. Overtime is called and Denver recovers the kick off. On the first play on their own 20-yard line, Denver’s quarterback Tim Tebow barks out a play-a pass to Thomas. It works for a touchdown and the Broncos win! But the surprise is that Tim Tebow goes to the sideline and kneels down to thank and glorify God for His blessings in the game. The whole country is talking about Tim Tebow, a citizen of the Jesus Nation, born in the Philippines of missionary parents, nourished in the Bible, Christian teaching, and love.  He is uniquely gifted in athletics and in the love of others, especially children and the weaker people of our society.

B.    Tim exhibits the life of the Jesus nation in a “foreign” setting. There have been and are other players and coaches in the National Football League but none has attracted the attention of the nation the way Tim has. Think of Kurt Warner, Reggie White, Don Meredith, or Fran Tarkenton. They served God on the gridiron, too, but Tim has used football as a platform to demonstrate and discuss the love of God in Jesus Christ. He is unafraid and unembarrassed to lead his teammates in Bible study and prayer, to kneel down on the sidelines and pray, even though he is sometimes ridiculed for it and pray, giving thanks to God and giving the glory to him.
Before and after his games at Denver or away, he meets with suffering people who have been brought to the game from distances and cared for there through his generosity. The excitement of the game pales in comparison to his delight in being with these guests of his whom he had never met. He says this is no distraction for him but rather his way of keeping the game in perspective as to what is really important in this world. That reminds me of the early church pastor who had been ordered to bring his church’s treasures to a central place on a certain day. He showed up with the blind and crippled and the aged, saying these are the real treasures of the Church. These guests are also the
Tim Tebow is not perfect. But he is seeking to be a consistent member of the Jesus nation on and off the field. In the midst of criticism and division over him, he keeps a smile and a love for those who mock him or distrust his witness.
C.    It seems to me that I can learn much from Tim Tebow. Perhaps you can too.
1.     We must pray. God will hear us.
2.     Humble ourselves. He said after the Steelers’ game that Thomas’ catch made him look better than he really is.
3.     We must not be afraid to tackle big problems.
4.     We must never give up on the things God is asking of us. His fourth quarters are amazing because he never gives up.
5.     We must have a new regard for the poor, and the disappointed and the handicapped. The world doesn’t seem to want hear our words, but they will watch if we do something “Jesusly”. As he does.

Application:

Jesus is saying to us today, as His nation, His kingdom, “Live like I do.”

Use your platform. Thank God for it. It is your tool to make the invisible God seen and known in the world. Joni Erickson uses her handicap as her platform and attracts thousands to the love and life of the Kingdom.

Let Jesus make something very wonderful out of you.

It’s not hard: Keep your self-life crucified. Instead live out the fullness of Christ, our King, before others from your platform as Tim does, as Joseph did, as Joni does. Amen.

Glen C. Knecht

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Exordium:

Last week we were treated to a description of the Kingdom of God from the Lord Jesus through our brother, Mike Fenimore, and what a gift it was!  If you missed it, be sure to get a copy from our Book Table.

Today I am being led to build upon that message and ask the question, “What would life in the Kingdom look like?”

How important this is for all of us, especially if you are thinking of the Gospel and the Christian life as merely a pass out of hell, or as basically a set of rules to be followed.

Get set to experience Kingdom Life as described in the Word of God and illustrated by two Kingdom nationals. (I am glad our baseball team is called the Nationals. That is just the description we need for what we mean by those who are living out the Kingdom life.)

Exordium:

I want to base this message on Colossian 1:13.   “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the Kingdom of the Son of His love.”

Proposition:  What this verse says to me is that something very great has happened to us who believe. Perhaps something greater than we have ever realized.

I.  WE HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED FROM ONE NATION TO ANOTHER

A.                One of the nations is characterized by darkness.  The tyranny, the limitation, the bondage of being in the darkness unable to move, as we would like and by selfishness, and self-centeredness. It is the kingdom of “It’s all about me.”

We have been brought into the kingdom of light, out of the shadows into the brilliance of God’s light and truth.

Instead of centering in “me”, the center is the Son of God Jesus Christ, whose nature and name are love. What a change of environment and values and attitudes this is. It is a sea change for the soul, to be so transferred from one realm to another.

B.               Peter calls our new citizenship “a chosen generation” i.e. those on whom God has set His favor.

A “royal priesthood”, because like our great King, we are also priests, that is those who offer praises, those who pray for others, and offer the sacrifice of their service and their love to Him.

A “holy nation”.  Our own generation has finally caught up with the Bible meaning of nation. What we might call a fan club around a celebrity, following him or her, or those who follow a team and wear their shirts, and their flags on their cars.  People, who root for the Redskins and get to the games religiously, or for the Gators, might be called the “Gator nation.”

We have been brought into the “Jesus nation”, into His kingdom and we are part of “this nation”, the most important enterprise in human history.

He is our Champion, our Superhero.  We have a likeness to Him which is growing every day.  We are clustered around Him and we follow Him wherever He leads. In all things He is first. He is pre-eminent.

C.               The Sermon on the Mount is the constitution of the Jesus nation.  That’s how we live out the excellencies of Jesus. It is the manual, the handbook of the Kingdom. We don’t define ourselves any longer.  We are who He says we are. We don’t arrange the trajectory or path of our lives any longer. He does. He gives the marching orders. We take our cues from Him.

He will fill our life with focus, fulfillment and purpose.  Being part of something bigger and greater than yourself is part of the joy of citizenship in the Jesus nation.

D.               So we ask what does life in the Kingdom look like?  Of course, for each citizen it is unique, but there are also some common features. I take two examples. One from our history as a kingdom and one from a present-day, well-known person.

II.  JOSEPH – HERO OF EGYPT

A.    You know the account of his life.  His brothers envied him and they sold him to merchants who were on their way to Egypt. There he became the property of Potiphar working his way to being the chief steward or manager of the household. Potiphar’s wife tried to get him to take advantage of his master’s trust with her. When he refused and ran for his honor, she falsely accused him and landed him in prison. But, again cream rose to the top, and in prison he was given charge of the whole operation.

One day the King was troubled by a dream. One of the prisoners who had been released into the court of the King spoke up how Joseph had correctly read his dream. Joseph was called, cleaned up and presented to the King. He explained the meaning of the dream to the King – warning him that seven years of plenty would be followed by an equal number of years of famine.

Joseph was put in charge of preparing for the famine. He bought up the excess food in the first seven years and stored it for the lean years to come. By his leadership he saved the people of Egypt and his own Hebrew people who came there in the famine to buy food.

B.                Joseph is an example of a Kingdom citizen.

He used his talents and religion to save others and to preserve life. By his actions, He made the true God who is invisible, visible to a pagan people.

His father, Jacob, summed up his life as a “fruitful branch” that grew over the wall and dropped its fruit in another land.  He was nourished in the Kingdom in Israel with true religion and the knowledge of Jehovah, from that he enriched another nation. (Genesis 49:22)

C.               What a Kingdom citizen he was!

He remained who he was even in a foreign and godless setting. He did not change to fit in with that culture. Did not take on their attitudes or standards.   He brought the excellencies of Kingdom life into that wicked society and for that he stood out. He reflected God’s nature of mercy and forgiveness to a people who had no idea of who God is and what He does for us. When his people learned of how his brothers had sold him and then how he forgave them with tears of love, he was sharing the excellencies of the kingdom of God with a people who were utter strangers to it.

D.               There is a picture of you as a member of the Jesus nation.

You are rooted in true religion. What a heritage you have!  You find yourself in a different culture – as a kingdom citizen, you love that culture and serve it’s people.

You live out the excellencies of the kingdom before others and thus attract them toward your King. You live in the world but you do not become of the world. You are a subject of King Jesus!

III. A CONTEMPORARY PERSON LIVING OUT THE KINGDOM

A.               Let’s take an imaginary trip to Bronco Stadium in Denver. Two teams struggle in the NFL playoffs-Denver vs. Pittsburg. The score is tied 23-23 in the fourth quarter. Overtime is called and Denver recovers the kick off. On the first play on their own 20-yard line, Denver’s quarterback Tim Tebow barks out a play-a pass to Thomas. It works for a touchdown and the Broncos win! But the surprise is that Tim Tebow goes to the sideline and kneels down to thank and glorify God for His blessings in the game. The whole country is talking about Tim Tebow, a citizen of the Jesus Nation, born in the Philippines of missionary parents, nourished in the Bible, Christian teaching, and love.  He is uniquely gifted in athletics and in the love of others, especially children and the weaker people of our society.

B.               Tim exhibits the life of the Jesus nation in a “foreign” setting. There have been and are other players and coaches in the National Football League but none has attracted the attention of the nation the way Tim has. Think of Kurt Warner, Reggie White, Don Meredith, or Fran Tarkenton. They served God on the gridiron, too, but Tim has used football as a platform to demonstrate and discuss the love of God in Jesus Christ. He is unafraid and unembarrassed to lead his teammates in Bible study and prayer, to kneel down on the sidelines and pray, even though he is sometimes ridiculed for it and pray, giving thanks to God and giving the glory to him.

Before and after his games at Denver or away, he meets with suffering people who have been brought to the game from distances and cared for there through his generosity. The excitement of the game pales in comparison to his delight in being with these guests of his whom he had never met. He says this is no distraction for him but rather his way of keeping the game in perspective as to what is really important in this world. That reminds me of the early church pastor who had been ordered to bring his church’s treasures to a central place on a certain day. He showed up with the blind and crippled and the aged, saying these are the real treasures of the Church. These guests are also the

Tim Tebow is not perfect. But he is seeking to be a consistent member of the Jesus nation on and off the field. In the midst of criticism and division over him, he keeps a smile and a love for those who mock him or distrust his witness.

C.               It seems to me that I can learn much from Tim Tebow. Perhaps you can too.

1.                         We must pray. God will hear us.

2.                         Humble ourselves. He said after the Steelers’ game that Thomas’ catch made him look better than he really is.

3.                         We must not be afraid to tackle big problems.

4.                         We must never give up on the things God is asking of us. His fourth quarters are amazing because he never gives up.

5.                         We must have a new regard for the poor, and the disappointed and the handicapped. The world doesn’t seem to want hear our words, but they will watch if we do something “Jesusly”. As he does.

Application:  

Jesus is saying to us today, as His nation, His kingdom, “Live like I do.”

Use your platform. Thank God for it. It is your tool to make the invisible God seen and known in the world. Joni Erickson uses her handicap as her platform and attracts thousands to the love and life of the Kingdom.

Let Jesus make something very wonderful out of you.

It’s not hard: Keep your self-life crucified. Instead live out the fullness of Christ, our King, before others from your platform as Tim does, as Joseph did, as Joni does. Amen.

Glen C. Knecht

Revelation 12

The first Sunday of the New Year is a good time to get the big picture of our Christian lives. We step back a bit, and look at where we have been and forward – where we are going. Isn’t that who Janus is – the doorkeeper at the entrance of the New Year?
Usually we see our Christian life in too small a frame so we don’t realize what a big thing we are involved in, and how vitally important our Christian life is.  We need a wide lens today and the ability to see what is behind us as well as what is still down the road we are going to walk this year.

If God grants that to us today, our daily decisions will be better and our attitude will be one of a supreme optimism.  Even our faces will be radiant because of the solid hope in our hearts.

Explication:

Revelation 12 is to the “go to” place to get our bearings right after Christmas and before we enter the fray of 2012.  It takes us back to the beginning of things. That is the pattern in Revelation. Each section starts over and tells the story of God’s plan a little differently. The same pattern in revelation is repeated over and over.  It is “struggle followed by triumph – the triumph of God.”

I.    WE BEGIN WITH THAT WORD STRUGGLE  (A fight – for the children)

It is a contest between Satan and Christ. That is the great battle in the Bible.

A.    It is a huge and cosmic battle – it takes place not primarily on the earth but beyond the earth in the heavenly places.

Here in Revelation 12 is at first a great sign in the heavens.  John is given this vision of a wonderful woman, a glorious woman. Her dress is the sun, she stands upon the moon and there is a crown of stars on her head. What a sight!

The woman is expecting a child. In fact, she is great with child and ready to give birth. This is a symbol of the Church of God in all ages, in the Old Testament and the New.  When we think of the church it may be in small and unworthy terms.  We think of clashes of persons, or misdeeds among the leaders and laity.  But that is not the picture from God’s point of view.  He sees her and us as a beautiful bride, glorious and godly.

B.      There is another sign John sees in the heavens:  A fiery red dragon with seven heads speaking of his amazing knowledge. Ten horns symbolize his arrogant power. He has seven crowns, “diadems”, telling of authority which is not rightly his, but which he has proudly assumed. It is none other than the devil himself, that great liar and powerful influencer.   He can sweep away one third of the stars. He is the accuser, the great slanderer, the deceiver.

The baby is born – He is a man-child who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron. The dragon hates the woman which is the church. So he stands before the woman who was ready to give birth – in order to devour the child the instant he is born. But immediately, it seems, the child is caught up into heaven and to the throne of God. He is “snatched away.”  Here the life of Christ is telescoped so that in a few words is summarized his baptism, his temptation, his miracles and teachings, his death and resurrection. It leaps from His birth to His ascending into Heaven, giving only the “bookends” of his life. But the message is clear, the victory of the Child is certain. God’s plan for Him cannot be defeated!

C.    The first part of the battle is over. The Child is out of the devil’s reach. He is, as it were, safely home with the Father God. He cannot be kept from doing what He was sent to do – assume a human body, die for the sins of those who believe, and open the way for the eternal life of men and women, boys and girls.

But the dragon, the devil, was incensed with the woman for bringing forth the baby whom he hated.  So he turned his anger on her – on the church, the woman. The church fled from him into the wilderness, the place of training, of discipline, of testing.  The wilderness is also a place of spiritual refuge. It is a hidden place, prepared by God for His people, to grow and develop into all that He wants them to be. Remember how Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you.”

In a sense, the wilderness is a picture of the world. Here we are trained, tested, tempted, just as John the Baptist and our Lord Jesus were made ready for what was before them. In the wilderness, God protects His own and nourishes them.  Still we are being tested and trained and toughened for that part of our pilgrimage which still lies before us.

Our time in this world is brief, limited, and exactly measured. That’s why John writes that it is 1260 days. That number is not to be taken literally, but it represents its brevity and the importance of making the best use of every one of the days.

II.    THEN THE DECISIVE BATTLE IS FOUGHT

A.    It is fought in heaven. On behalf of the Church, Michael, the supreme angel, fought with the dragon, Satan, who still had a place in heaven at certain times. We saw this in the Book of Job, when Satan “was going to and fro” there. (Job 1:6-7)

But Satan’s attempt to destroy the Child at His birth was too much for Michael. All of God’s redeeming purpose was tied up in the birth of the Christ child.  Michael took the imitative in the battle and they defeated the devil soundly. That old serpent, the devil, Satan, was cast out and all his evil angels with him. This is the battle and the victory that took place behind the scenes, but which we must know about if we are to live the joyful, overcoming life.

Now the devil is a defeated enemy.  He is a chained dragon.  He is still active, not dead, but a mortal blow has been dealt to him and he is only trying to inflict evil with the last gasps of his life.  He is held back by God’s mighty hand. Now he can go only so far and no farther.

B.    There is a mighty celebration in heaven. They can see more clearly than we can what is taking place. The song is, “Salvation, and strength and the Kingdom of our God and the power of Christ have come.” (Revelation 12:10-12) The accuser has been cast down. He no longer has any basis for his accusations because Christ has died for His people’s sins. Their sins have been taken away – as far as “the East is from the West.” They are “behind God’s back.”

Paul celebrates this too. He looks around and there is no one who has a basis for accusing Christians of their sins.  “Who is He who condemns? (Romans 8:31-34)  It is Christ who died and furthermore who is also risen from the dead.  He is the only one who would have a right to accuse us.  He has already died in our behalf and taken away our condemnation.

C.    This victory gives to the church the boost in the morale we needed. Things are different now, this side of the heavenly victory. So we overcome Satan by “the blood of the Lamb.” That is, His blood took away all basis for our being accused by Satan. We can say with David “My strength is as the strength of ten because my heart is pure.” The conscience is cleansed; the fear of death is taken away. They were of one blood with the whole church because they had been redeemed by the same blood.

Moreover they had a story to tell of how Christ had delivered them from the bondage to sin and fear and given them hope and courage and a great joy.  They had a testimony with words and without words, because for them all things had become new.

Now they had a new oneness with the inhabitants of heaven and could sing, “Rejoice O heaven.” The enemy has been cast out. The communion of saints was real and vital. They knew they were surrounded with a great cloud of witnesses as the saints in heaven looked on and cheered them forward in their race to the presence of Christ.

III.    THE STRUGGLE ON EARTH CONTINUES

A.    The wounded dragon, having lost in Heaven, flails around to do what damage he can.  He knows he cannot win the conflict but in his fury, he finds ways to persecute and hinder the church. All of us who love Christ’s church know this pressure from the enemy to impede what we try to do.

B.    But the woman, the church, is given great assistance by the Lord in the struggle.  She has the two wings of the great eagle, who is the Lord.  We are like the little eaglets in the nest that are almost ready to fly. Then the parent bird nudges us out of the nest and we fall, and as we fall we learn how to fly and if we don’t, just when we were about to give up, the giant eagle swoops down and bears us up on her mighty wings. Back to the nest to be nurtured and strengthened and taught.

C.    The serpent, in his anger, spews out all his lies, deceptions, false doctrines, wrong motives and methods trying to carry us away before his evil floods the earth. The natural world swallows up the floodwaters that Satan spews out. Whatever theories the enemy generates to deny God’s existence or creation of the world, are contradicted by the natural world as it actually is.

D.    All this enrages the serpent, the enemy. He continues to struggle not because he is strong, but because he has been beaten decisively. His hubris will not allow him to give up and surrender. He lies even to himself.  His pride will not allow him to acknowledge the fact that the Lord God Almighty reigns. He knows that but he will not bow the knee to God.

E.    He changes his strategy in his frustration and anger. No he will attack individual Christians, separating them from the rest and targeting them for their temptation and destruction. You and I have seen that happen.  He still walks abut seeking whom he may devour. So we must be alert – resisting even the slightest and first advances he makes. We must stay as close to the center of the church as we can, being surrounded by the saints as a wall of protection.

And our defense is written here. We are to keep the commandments of God. Let us be careful how we observe, meditate, study, and follow them. As well, we have the testimony of Christ as a weapon, not our testimony. We need that too, but our reliance is on the way our Master held fast to His calling and His purpose and would not be dissuaded by the evil one. His testimony was that
•    He came forth from the Father
•    He died for our sins
•    He returned to the Father
•    He rules the world for the Church and
•    He is coming again.

Conclusion:     Now as 2012 lies before us, let us resolve together to walk with Christ more closely, to keep His commands and resist the devil in all his efforts to cause us to fall.

And we shall be “more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
Glen C. Knecht

Luke 1:46-55

Maybe you’ve had this thought while walking through the mall the past couple weeks: “I don’t  understand what is going on. I can’t fathom the amount of money that is being spent here. If I compared the national average per gift with my own budget, I would quit. You win. I can’t compete. Every year, I
see Christmas advertisements trying to get me to buy jewelry for rock-bottom prices that represent my Christmas budget for the last ten years combined. Just last week it got worse, and I saw an advertisement on television where a young woman gives her boyfriend a Lexus for Christmas. A
Lexus! I got a Matchbox car for Christmas last year, and yet there really exist on this planet people who give each other actual full size vehicles that they can really drive around in for Christmas! And you know what? God bless ‘em, every one. God showers His gifts totally disregarding our ideas of fairness and equality, and none of us get what we really deserve.

So don’t be envious, but think for a moment about the message that sends. If a bunch of Martians landed here at Christmastime, who would they think Christmas was for? Who was it meant  for? I think they would pretty quickly get the idea that Christmas, like country clubs, yachts, and the state of Florida, is for rich people, and people who get toothbrushes on the 25th are doing something different from everyone else. The idea seems to be that if you can’t give a Cadillac for Christmas, you’re doing it wrong. If you can’t afford enough Christmas lights and inflatable yard decorations that your house can be seen from space, you’re doing it wrong. If your Christmas roast weighs less than a piano, you’re doing it wrong. Again, stuff is not the problem, certainly not heavy roasts. But who is Christmas for? Who does it belong to? Is a really good Christmas something reserved for the rich and
famous?

Luke’s gospel, and especially Mary’s song here in chapter 1, give us quite a different answer, an answer that presents a challenge to our culture, and to our own hearts, as well. I want to begin by looking at what Mary tells us about Christmas, and then see how her answer affected Luke and the rest of his gospel account, and then ask what their combined witness tells us about who God is and what His purposes for Christmas are. So let’s look closer at Mary’s Magnificat by asking, what is Mary doing in this passage? The answer I want you to see is that:

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Mary RECEIVES Christmas in humility.
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Mary is responding in humble faith to God’s character revealed in His actions. This kind of faith is something we would expect from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but coming from a young girl in Nazareth, this is something special. So how do we account for this response? Three reasons:

First, Mary responds this way because she knows God’s character

God’s character and attributes
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mighty (v.49,51) and holy (v.49)
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merciful (v.50,54)
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Why these attributes? Well, it takes power and might for a virgin to have a baby. Only God could do such a thing, and so Mary recognizes God’s hand in this miracle.
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Holiness in the Bible usually refers to two related ideas: moral purity, and what we might call set-apartness, or given a unique task. Think of the holy silverware for Solomon’s temple, or the holy bread that only priests could eat. Mary seems to be highlighting this second idea: God shows Himself holy, because giving a virgin a baby is something that sets God apart.
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Mary also recognizes the coming of the Messiah as a great mercy from God. Israel is in need of salvation, but God is not obligated to save anyone. He has freely chosen to do so, because He is merciful by nature, which led Him to make promises to His people.

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Second, Mary responds this way because she knows from Scripture how God works
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Notice that many OT quotations or allusions make up the text of the Magnificat
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Hannah’s Song – 1 Sam. 2:1-10 (read?)
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my heart exults//my soul magnifies
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there is none holy like the Lord//holy is his name
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talk no more so very proudly//scattered the proud
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raises up the poor from the dust//lifted up the humble
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full working for bread/hungry ceased to hunger//hungry filled/rich sent away empty
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Psalms
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v.46 – Psalm 34
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v.49 – Psalm 126
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v.50 – Psalm 103
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v.51 – Psalm 89, 98
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v.52 – Psalm 113, 147
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v.53 – Psalm 107
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v.54 – Psalm 98
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Mary is able to combine ideas, phrases, and quotations from Hannah’s song, at least ten Psalms, and many other places into a beautiful song of praise to God. Her faithfulness to hear and remember God’s word enabled her to recognize what God was doing, because it looked and sounded just like what she had learned.
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So how about you? Could you piece together a Magnificat? Let Mary’s example drive you to know the Bible better, until it comes pouring out of your mouth. Young ladies, I know a twenty year old young woman who has spent a great deal of time committing the Psalms to memory. After three years, she had memorized all 150. She could produce a Magnificat, a sweet song of praise constructed from the rich storehouse she has hidden in her heart. Don’t be overwhelmed, be encouraged – try this at home!
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Lastly, Mary responds in this way because she knows her place before God
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humble servant of God (v. 48)
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blessed of God (v. 48)
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a member of the chosen people (v. 54-55)
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Because Mary knows and believes these things, she is ready and eager to serve God when He calls on her, and responds in joyful praise.
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So what can we learn from Mary?
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Like Mary, we should respond in humble faith to the character of God displayed through His actions
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If you are in Mary’s situation, a young woman waiting for God, here is what Mary’s example says to you. We’ve noticed how she responds in humble obedience, but we’ve paid special attention to the things that prepared her to respond that way: she knew the character
of God, and the word of God. As a young woman waiting for a husband, waiting for children, waiting for direction from God, this is your preparation: know and love God and His word so that when He comes to visit you, you can respond not with grudging obedience, or resigned apathy, but with Mary’s expansive, explosive joy.
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And notice also, Mary’s response is the fruit of a tough bit of theology: it is one thing to parrot the saying that God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble, and another thing entirely to recognize it when it happens. If the world is run by the rich and powerful,

then Mary should have just assumed that she was hallucinating, out in the desert sun for too long. But if the world is ruled by a God who humbles the proud and exalts the humble, then Gabriel’s message makes perfect sense. Only someone who knew God well would be able to
believe that between Herod’s baby, Caesar’s baby, and the peasant girl from Nazareth’s baby, Mary’s would be the one to save to world. So sisters, don’t be afraid of theology – theology prepares you for life.

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Parents, Mary didn’t sing the Magnificat out of the blue: because she was fed a steady diet of God’s word, she was able to recognize God’s actions in the world, and her immediate joyful obedience is an example to set before all of our children. Is this how conversations go at your house: “Alright, time to clean your room.” “Oh thanks, Mom. My soul magnifies the Lord!” “Time to do the dishes.” “Oh boy, all generations will call me blessed!” While this is over the top, the principle is the same: do they rejoice to do the things you ask? If not, think about the preparation you have given them: Have you been careful to explain the connection between their work and God’s pattern of exalting the lowly? Do they know that the path to
glory starts in humility? Do the chores you assign and the way you reward them teach this pattern? Don’t expect Mary’s response without Mary’s preparation.
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Children, learn these things from Mary’s song:
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yes, you are like servants, commanded to obey your parents
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BUT: you are also blessed of God to be chosen for service. God gave Mary a job: be the mother of Baby Jesus. And as a reward, everyone thinks that Mary was given a huge blessing. Your chores might seem hard, like having a baby was hard work for Mary, but God says that it is also a blessing.
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AND: receiving tasks from Mom and Dad means that you are part of the family, and this also is a great blessing. Your Mom and Dad don’t give chores to someone else’s kids, because they don’t have the same responsibility to love and train children who aren’t in your family. So be thankful that your parents love you enough to give you jobs to do. We’ve looked at Mary’s song, but now I want to zoom out and ask “what is Luke doing?” My answer:

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Luke ANNOUNCES Christmas to the lowly
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The Magnificat is part of the Christmas story, but the Christmas story is a part of a bigger
account, the gospel of Luke. Luke has told us that he talked to eyewitnesses when he was doing
research for his book, and many Bible teachers believe that Mary was one of his best sources. I want to show you how Mary’s story helped shape the book that Luke was writing, by helping him choose which parts of Jesus’ life to include.
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So let’s think for a minute about the writing of the book of Luke. Luke’s gospel is a history of Jesus’ life, which Luke carefully researched in order to be sure that everything that he wrote was true. But like all historians, he has to carefully choose which facts to include. Well, these decisions can entirely change the way we read a book: imagine I told you a story about a man who took a group of escaped slaves into a far country, where they went around killing thousands of people, and taking away their land. Sounds like a pretty bad guy, until we know that his name is Joshua, and he is fighting on God’s orders. Or if I told you about a wonderful king who loved a beautiful woman, and would do anything to be her husband. Sounds like a
great love story, until we learn that she was already married to someone else, and the king had this man killed in order to marry her. Certain details can change the whole story.
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So how does a historian choose which facts are important, and which facts to leave out? I want to point out how Mary’s song illustrates a principle that Luke uses to guide him in choosing which small sections of his larger account to include. That principle is the one found in verses

51-53 of Mary’s song, especially verse 52: God has brought down the rulers from their thrones, and exalted those who were humble. When Mary tells Luke about her song, Luke not only believes the historical truth that Mary actually sang this song, but he also believes theologically that the message of the song is true. And so, Luke picks certain parts of the gospel that illustrate this truth, and leaves out other parts that don’t help him make this point.

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Now, notice carefully, I’m not saying that if Luke didn’t write about it, it isn’t important. For instance, Luke doesn’t mention the angel coming to Joseph to reassure him that he can still have Mary as his wife, but Matthew does. So God thinks that it is important that we know about Joseph and the angel, but He lets Matthew be the one to tell us about it. But Luke has a point that he is trying to make, and chooses certain facts that help him make his point. Matthew has a different point, and so he chooses different facts, but both gospel writers are being guided by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit wanted us to have four different accounts of the life of one man, Jesus Christ.
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We don’t have time to look at the whole book of Luke, so I’m just going to focus on Luke’s history of the Christmas announcements. When Luke chooses which parts of the Christmas story to tell, he chooses stories about people who are weak and lowly. In particular, Luke includes Christmas announcements that feature two classes of outcasts: women and poor people. In this sense, Luke’s gospel as a whole can be taken as a fulfillment of Mary’s words:
the gospel is for the humble. So let’s look deeper at the various Christmas announcements, and see what message that has for us today.
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Who does Christmas come to?
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Women! Elizabeth and Mary.
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Think about the timing of Gabriel’s announcement to Mary. At the end of the Old testament, Amos’s word of judgment was that Israel would suffer a famine, not of food, but of the word of God. God hasn’t spoken to anyone in four hundred years, and who does He start talking to? To Elizabeth and Mary, a couple of women.
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Why is this surprising? Well, in those days, women were second-class citizens at best, limited in their religious duties, legal rights, and certainly not anyone’s choice to be the first recipients of such important news. Surely you would tell the king, the chief priest,
the elders of the people first! To make it worse, until now Elizabeth has been barren,
which was often seen as a curse from God due to some previous sin, and Mary soon
began to show evidences of being pregnant long before she was married to Joseph. The
announcement of Christmas comes not just to any women, but to a barren woman and an
unwed mother. It doesn’t get much lowlier than that. But God’s way is different. This is
the God who sends young teenagers to fight giants, and turns shepherds into kings. And
speaking of shepherds…
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The poor! Shepherds in their fields, Mary and Joseph (cf. Luke 2:24)
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The next announcement Luke records was given by a mighty angel and his choir, but
this announcement also seemingly went to the wrong place. Instead of hovering over
Herod’s palace, the angel appeared to the farmhands.
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Shepherds not only didn’t get to make important announcements, but were so
notoriously unreliable that their witness wasn’t accepted in the law courts. When you
work outside with sheep all day, especially in the days before plumbing and hygiene,
nobody wants to be around you when you wander into town. Try to picture it: “Well, I
was out with the sheep, and around midnight, the sky lit up, and a bunch of glowing men
sang about a little baby born in a foodbox.” Now, we tell it much more reverently in our
songs and books, and we should, but realize how it must have sounded to skeptical

people back in town. Imagine running home to tell your wife that the greatest event in
world history is happening, and when she asks where you heard that, you tell her that
some homeless guy down the street told you. God is using people who are despised and
rejected to carry his message.

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Where does this take place?
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Think of how we can run down the list today: what city does politics? DC. What city does
entertainment? Hollywood. What city does banking and money? New York. What city does
fashion and culture? Paris. Well, things worked similarly in ancient times: where do world
shaping events happen? Babylon? Egypt? Rome? Jerusalem? Nobody picks Galilee, nobody
picks Nazareth, nobody picks Bethlehem. Except for God.
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Who doesn’t know, and has to find out?
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The mighty! Herod’s only clue comes from the Magi, and this story doesn’t even show up in
Luke’s gospel. Matthew is telling a kingly story about King Jesus, so he includes events that
have to do with kings, but Luke leaves them out, focusing on the poor and humble.
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Instead of getting Herod or Caesar to announce to the world that God was fulfilling His
promises, He exalts the weak, the lowly, the humble. If you are going to hear the news of
the coming child, you’re going to have to hear it from an unusual source.
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This is like a team of researchers working for weeks on a problem, only to have the
janitor figure it out one night while mopping. Or a group of mathematicians working
over a famous puzzle, and a seventh grader knocks it out doing his homework one night.
This is the private giving orders to the generals, the student instructing the teacher, CNN
getting the story after the middle school paper. Even if he’s right, nobody wants to hear
it from him. The proud have to humble themselves if they are going to hear the news.
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Applications from Luke:
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First, if any of you today are under the impression that you are not important enough or
good enough to matter to God, you need to hear the central message: Jesus came for humble
sinners, Jesus came for you. A God who ignores the rich and powerful and sends His
Christmas announcement to women and shepherds is a God who cares for the lowly, which
means, He cares for you.
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But hear the opposite truth, as well: Maybe the world would consider you very wealthy, or
very important. Of course, you still matter to God, but be sure to remember that it isn’t
because of your money or your position, but instead, you matter to God because in His eyes,
you are a humble sinner in need of the grace of God. Don’t let wealth or success blind you
to your need for Christmas.
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Next, like Luke, we need to be careful to make sure that our gospel and our church don’t
seem like they are just for the rich and powerful. We need to be careful to make sure that if
someone came to our church who couldn’t afford nice clothes or didn’t have enough food to
eat, they would know that what we are doing here is for them, too, and not just for middle
class americans. We need to actively avoid a country club mentality in the church.
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We should make sure what our lives and priorities say match up with God’s priorities. God
makes light of trivial details like wealth, power, and fame, and focuses on important things
like fearing God, walking in humility, and hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Luke
would have us know that these things are usually found among the humble and lowly. Think
about the example you set to your family and to the world with the choices you make, the
people you celebrate, and the things you are pursuing. Would you be more eager to share the
gospel with a celebrity than with a neighbor? If a historian were searching for facts about
your life, would he find any that showed you scattering the proud and blessing the lowly?

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But wait, you might say, doesn’t God love rich and powerful people too? Of course He does,
but something about lowliness and poverty makes people particularly aware of their need
for God. Think about it this way. Imagine that you have just come from a huge Christmas
party, and have thoroughly enjoyed the cookies, egg nog, and fudge. Then you walk by a
restaurant where the owner himself is standing in the doorway, and he promises you the best
dinner you’ve ever eaten, for free! How excited are you? How thankful would you be for
that meal? Now, imagine instead that you haven’t eaten anything in two days, and you walk
by the same restaurant, and receive the same offer. Now how excited are you, and how
thankful would you be? Then think of the owner. Which person would he be more excited to
serve? In the same way, Christmas is for everyone, but especially those who are hungry for
God. Like Luke, let us announce Christmas to the lowly.
We’ve looked at what Mary is doing in her song, and we’ve looked at what Luke is doing in his record
of the Christmas announcements; let’s close by looking at what God is doing by sending Jesus at
Christmas.

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God GIVES Christmas to the lowly
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God could have sent a troop of mighty angels, led by Christ as a powerful warrior, much as He
will do at the second coming. Jesus could have come that way. God could have had Jesus be
born in Rome, or Jerusalem, a famous birth in a famous place. God could have had Christmas
announced by King Herod, the Chief Priest, or even Caesar Himself. But these ways would
have served human pride, and puffed up those who were already rich and powerful. Our human
pride was one of the things that Jesus came to save us from, and so God decided to give
Christmas first to those who were lowly, weak, and despised.
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God is a God who loves humility, and hates pride. He is using history to manifest His character,
as He lays the proud low, and raises the lowly. He humbles those who don’t think they need a
Savior, and raises up those who come to Him in desperate humility. “I didn’t come for the
righteous,” Jesus said, “but for sinners.” Jesus didn’t become a baby because being human
looked like a lot of fun. He didn’t descend from the glory of heaven to this sin-cursed earth
because He was impressed with our riches and power. He didn’t leave the throne of the majesty
on high because He wanted to become president down here. No, He came because we were
ruined, sin-sick and desperately lost without Him, and He came as a lowly baby to show us that
God brings down the proud, and exalts the humble.
Application: What should we do?

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Like God, we should give Christmas to the lowly:
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And this means that we should honor the women the world despises
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while many think that in our day women aren’t lowly at all, but very much empowered,
we need to look closer. Does our culture admire women who are women, or women who
are very much like men? Does our culture admire the businesswoman or the stay-athome
mom? Does our culture celebrate women who are leaders or women who are
helpmates?
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God’s blessing came to the world through a woman at her most “womanly”. Only a
woman could have birthed the Messiah into the world, and in this way saved the world
through childbearing. The gospel celebrates women as women. Not women imitating
men, but women doing things that only women can do. Christmas should be a time
when we should do the same, showing honor to our sisters in Christ, and counting them
blessed along with Mary.
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Give the good news of salvation and peace to the poor
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There are two main ways to give salvation to the poor:

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the first is obvious: James asks, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking
in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,”
without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” There are
many ways to bless your brothers and sisters who are poorly clothed and hungry, but
mere words don’t bless them at all. So consider how you can bless your neighbors,
starting with brothers and sisters in Christ, but not stopping there. Certainly not at
the beginning, but by the end of Dickens’ Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is a
great role model. Buy a hungry family the biggest turkey Safeway can find, or give
them some warm winter clothes. And while serving at a soup kitchen or making an
anonymous clothing donation are indeed good ways to fulfill Jesus’ command, it is
at the same time better and more difficult to help poor people that you actually
know. PJ O’Rourke once said: “Everybody wants to save the world, but nobody
wants to help Mom with the dishes.” We could adapt that and say: “Everybody
wants to help the hungry, but nobody wants to have dinner with them.” Scrooge
ended up contributing to general charities, but the things we remember him for are
his kindnesses to the Cratchit family. Maybe the people God is bringing to your
mind live next door, or down the street. Maybe there is a part of your extended
family that can never quite make it to the family dinner, and the real reason is
because they can’t afford presents for everyone, or even the gas to make the trip.
Maybe here in this room, there are some whose Christmas could be turned upside
down with an extra fifty dollars. There aren’t many passages in the Bible that are
simpler to obey, or that come with assurances like the words of Jesus who promises
that it is more blessed to give than to receive.
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The second way to give salvation to the poor is especially for those who don’t know
God. Even pagans can give gifts, though they can’t truly honor God by doing so. But
we as Christians have an inexhaustible supply of something that the richest
unbeliever could never provide. When the lame man asked Peter and John for silver
and gold, they responded by giving him Jesus instead. Not a tract, or an inspirational
thought, or a Christmas greeting; they brought the love of Jesus to bear on his life in
a way that changed him forever.
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All around us are people who think that silver and gold, presents and gifts, are the
best things that they could possible receive. Our task and opportunity is to direct
them away from this cheap satisfaction with earthly things, and to lead them to
desire the true gift: the mercy of God available to us all through Jesus Christ. Mary
began her hymn by rejoicing in God her Savior. Yes, Jesus came to save the poor and
the hungry, but not only by providing food and clothing. “He shall be called Jesus”,
the angel said, “for He shall save His people from their sins.” Just as the Christmas
gospel celebrates women doing what only women can do, so it celebrates Jesus for
doing what only He can do, providing salvation from sin, through His atoning work
on the cross.
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Here’s the point I want to leave you with today: who the gospel goes out to tells us
what kind of gospel it is. Mary’s song and Luke’s accounts show us that Christmas is
a gospel for the poor, Christmas is good news for the lowly and disregarded,
Christmas is for sinners. Which means, Christmas is for you. But more than that,
Christmas is for you to share with those who need it most, because God is a God
who exalts the humble, fills the hungry with good things, and does great things for
His people.
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In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen

–CJ Bowen

Luke 1:35
Exordium:   What is God doing in this world?

He is busy exhibiting His power. The world doesn’t believe in His power.  They see him as a benevolent bystander, more than the Almighty God who made and controls all things. We, who have eyes to see, recognize His hand when we pray and He answers us according to the good pleasure of His will; when we walk in righteous paths and He fulfills the promise who are His; when we trust Him and He enables us to do the impossible, believe the unbelievable, and see the invisible.

For example, we see God’s hand in the virgin birth of our Lord. We may ask, “Why this way, Lord?”

Part of the answer to your question is that He exhibits His power in the birth of our Lord.

I.    LET US LOOK AT THE POWER OF GOD’S PLAN FOR HIS SON

He would do this supernaturally. For the children, that is by a miracle, rather than in the usual ways of life. In something of the same way as He created Adam and Eve. They were not born in the accustomed pattern of bringing people into the world. Instead God made Adam from the dust of the ground and Eve out of a rib from Adam’s side. Each by a miracle of creation.

The creation of the Lord Christ, the Son of God, marks the end of the natural era and the beginning of the spiritual era in the life of man. Christ’s birth not only divided the measurement of time into BC and AD, but it also divided the Old Covenant from the New.
The plan was centuries in the making and developing and putting it in place. Until at last the “fullness of time” had come and all the steps were in place for ushering in our glorious Son of God into human life.
All the births of godly Hebrew women over the years from Eve’s giving birth to Mary’s conception led up to the virgin birth of Christ.  In one sense they were all types and preparations for the supernatural birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For example the birth of John the Baptist from his mother, Elizabeth, was a preparation of the miraculous advent of the Lord Jesus.   You will remember that his father, Zechariah, an old man, and his wife Elizabeth who had passed the age of bearing children are John’s parents.  God could have brought forth the Baptist preacher from another couple who would have been within the normal years, but He chose to do it supernaturally, by miracle as He had with Abraham and Sarah-in order to show His great power.

All the elect ladies were making the way for Mary’s great birth. They were all of the elect, and she was of the “more elect.”

Likewise godly fathers had been guiding their children in the ways of the Lord. They were making way for the pious Joseph who would be even more elect then they. But they also were strong self-controlled men and righteous with their wives, treating them with gentleness and respect.

Then came Joseph, the ripe fruit of years of godly fathering, and in the hard place he was able to obey God and trust Him that what he heard was true and then to act upon that word. Without Joseph’s obedience and understanding heart, and great self-control, the virgin birth of Christ could not have taken place.
What power this required!  The power of God’s providence. Arranging all the people, events, timing to lead up to this point when Mary and Joseph were ready to play their part in the great drama of Christmas, the joining of the God with men in the God-man, Christ Jesus!
This is what the unbeliever does not see, as yet.  The power of the supernatural, the miraculous. When God suspends the natural laws He Himself put in place and does what He will do in order to accomplish His purpose, that is supernatural.

II.    GOD FOLLOWS HIS PLAN WITH POWERFUL PROOFS

A.     God brought Dr. Luke into the scene.  He had been with Paul on his missionary journey and there became his beloved companion.

There he had opportunity to be with Mary, the mother of the Lord.  From her he got first hand, the amazing account of the visitation of the angel, the striking news that sounded throughout her soul, that she would bear the Messiah who would be called the Son of God.

Here we have a physician giving witness to a medical miracle.

B.    The conception of Jesus and His birth are referred to throughout the New Testament.  Not only in the accounts of Matthew and Luke, but the way the Lord Jesus is described in the other books.  He is not the son of Joseph, though he is His legal father.  He is the Son of God.

This was the faith of the early Church.  The Fathers of the Church: Augustine, Athanasius, and Epictetus all affirm the historicity and the faith in this miracle. The greatest minds in the life of the Christian Church have bowed in humble surrender and grateful praise before the mighty hand of God, in sending forth His Son into the world, in this remarkable way.

C.    Yet God never locks us up to faith with no way out except to surrender. Yes, He gives us a basis for our faith, so that we can rest in the adequacy of the evidence, but He always leaves escape hatches for those who do not believe, so that they will not be coerced into believing.

D.    In the life of Jesus, the fact of His existence before Bethlehem comes up again and again.  For example when they spoke to Him about Abraham, He countered with the words, “Before Abraham was I am.”

E.    Now the Virgin Birth miracle provides an entrance into life unique to Him, unique to One who had always existed, and is now sharing human life with the people God loves as the Godman in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.  In Him both the divine and human natures are joined together.  He is divine by the holy seed planted in the body of Mary and being the human Son of Mary making Him both the Son of God and the Son of Man.

III.    GOD EXHIBITS HIS POWER BY USING THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF CHRIST FOR THE GOOD OF THE CHURCH

A.    This is not an ancient miracle that is unimportant now or irrelevant to our lives today. It is a present power in the hand of God for the shaping of the Church and empowering her in her witness to the world.

It remains the greatest miracle in history and the foundation stone on which the Kingdom of Heaven is built.  So it must be studied, defended, believed, and preached.  If any minister tries to cast doubt on this fact, or deems it unimportant and unneeded, run, don’t walk from that church.

Once we grasp the centrality of this truth, we will see it in Scripture in places we may not have seen it before. e.g. Galatians 4:4  “In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, made of woman, made under the law.” There is no mention of the man, the father. He comes forth from woman. or John 1:13 “He was born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”  Augustine said that the reference is not the Christian, but to the Lord Christ’s birth.

B.    By this grand miracle God has elevated woman to the place of great honor.  Before He was born the heathen humiliated women; the non-Christian religions degraded and exploited her. To this day the Muslim may count her as property, and definitely second class, falling into the sin of sexism.

But our Lord knowing that He was born of a virgin championed women, surrounded himself with them on his journey and then on Easter morning gave them the first glimpse of His risen glory.
He inspired Paul to write, “In Christ there is neither male nor female.” (Galatians 3:28) Not that he erased human distinctions or roles, but He saw that in God’s eyes there was no difference in value between us.

C.    By this mighty act of His, God has lifted up purity as the distinguishing mark of the people of God.
Through Paul, His servant, He calls marriage good and holy.  It is no lesser state than singleness, “(He that finds a wife finds a good thing.)” There is nothing impure about the relation between husband and wife. Marriage is not merely a friendship; it is a union of body, mind and spirit.

At the same time our Lord Jesus champions the gift of singleness which was the Master’s own gift as well as that of the Apostle Paul.  Let the single person rejoice in the state of being set apart for a time in a unique way for the work of the Kingdom. Yes, singleness may be a result of the fall, but God brings good out of the evil of the fall and uses it in a mighty way to say to a world satiated with sexuality, that sex is not the be-all and end-all of life. God is. Sex is a beautiful gift, but so is chastity and both can be used to bring honor and glory to God, its designer.

It is interesting that as belief in the virgin birth weakens in our modern unbelieving culture, purity declines as well.

Conclusion:   One of the great Southern Presbyterian “worthies” was James Henley Thornwell. At age 19 he was examined by the Presbyterian for ordination to the ministry. When asked if he accepted the Westminster Confession of Faith as containing the system of doctrine found in the Scriptures, he answered, “Accept it? I embrace it and I would die for it.”

That is the way believers feel and think about the fact of Christ’s supernatural birth.

We are those who not only believe the virgin birth of our Lord but love it. It cannot be improved upon or embellished. It cannot be explained, but it can be believed and rejoiced in to the praise of God’s glory and grace.

Glen C. Knecht

Isaiah 40:1-11

Exordium:
One of the great themes of the Bible is waiting.  In our hurry up society, we dislike it, but the Word of God seems to approve, even value it.

It calls us to wait on the Lord when we are weary or puzzled about what to do.  It calls on us to be patient with one another and with ourselves.

In the Bible to wait is to look expectantly to God for the result or the answer to prayer or for a promised blessing.
There is an important lesson to learn – the value and the agenda of waiting.

Explication:
That is what Advent is. A time of waiting for Christmas.  Yet we are probably not sure how to wait, with what to fill our hours while the days go slowly by.  Lacking an answer to that we may turn to shopping or baking or wishing.  We may even engage in self-pity, because others seem to have figured out how to wait for Christmas but we have not.

Isaiah tells us about the people of God in another day who were waiting for God to bring them back to the land from which they had been carried away, many years before. He calls them away from discouragement and despair to fill their waiting days with some good things. Not to kill time, (the Bible never calls us to that,) but rather – to obey God doing the things that please Him as we wait.
In these eleven verses which set the tone for the whole second half of Isaiah, we find four distinct activities in which we are to be engaged. Watching for God to come.

Bible students and scholars link their situation to Christ’s advent, His entrance into the world and the ministry which He did here so splendidly.  As is so often the case in the Old Testament there are two readings of the passage.  One, the actual historical situation, and then the New Testament parallel event. On this side of the cross we learn from the Old Testament patterns how to understand the New Testament and the present day situation.

So let us follow the message of the Prophet Isaiah and make the application to our waiting for the culmination of Advent – the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ into the world.

I.    WE ARE TO COMFORT THE PEOPLE OF GOD

A.    The theme of these 26 chapters of the prophet could be summed up in this word “comfort”.  Up to this point in the book, the emphasis had been God’s judgment on the sin of the people, but now the sun comes out and shines on them with this great word…comfort.

B.    Tell them that their “warfare” has been accomplished, that it is ended.  Isaiah is speaking about the hard things they have endured, in being carried away to Babylon, the 70 years in captivity.

He uses the word warfare, because it was a hard military-type life for them. Constant moving and not quite knowing where you go next. They were a disobedient people which had brought the judgment upon them.  Sin is a hard taskmaster.  It gives some pleasure for a season, but it never satisfies.  Instead it produces weariness, guilt, sorrow and crying, and remorse. But that is over now.  Receive comfort from the God of all comfort.

C.    “Tell her that her iniquity is pardoned.”
The guilt of her sin has been taken away.  There is no more heavy weight on the human soul than the burden of guilt.  But the Redeemer is coming to take away your sin and guilt.  Later in chapter 53 the prophet will tell of the One who will be wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. All our iniquity on Him was laid.

And when John the Baptist came proclaiming the Advent of the Messiah his message was the reinforcement and the answer to this prophecy:  “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

D.    “For she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”
It does not mean that he was punished twice as much as she deserved.  But He has promised far more blessings than the guilt of all her offences could have produced in punishment.   God who is rich in mercy will pour out His mercy on you. That is why he waited till the end of His time of suffering on the cross. He wanted to give a complete pardon to sinners. Then He said,  “It is finished.” The debt was paid in full.

E.    This too is our agenda during Advent.  So we look around the world, we see many folk bound up with guilt.  That means that they carry an aversion to God, a dislike of Him, because they expect His judgment. They think that He deals with them according to their iniquities, but the Bible teaches otherwise.

We have a message of comfort and hope for them. God waits to bless them, to forgive their sin, and give them a new beginning. “Come let us reason together though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”

“Ask God to give you comfort’s art.
For heavy is the weight of ill in every heart
And comforters are needed much.
Of Christ-like touch.”

Hear God say to you, “Comfort my people” and He repeated it. “Comfort them.” That is one of your Advent imperatives.

II.    CLEAR THE PATH FOR CHRIST TO ENTER HUMAN HEARTS

A.    Here Isaiah points to the work of John the Baptist. A man of the wilderness, born and brought up there. He know the desert and what were it its pitfalls and obstacles, and dangers.

He preached repentance to a sinful and hypocritical people.  Even the religious leaders were called to repent and change their ways in preparation for the Saviour’s coming.  It was necessary for such a forerunner to preach before the Lord’s advent.  It produced a people who could recognize and receive and follow the Lord Christ.

B.    In something of the same way, we are to be John the Baptist to those around us. Many are so far away from the Lord Jesus that they would not recognize His Word or His voice. But we are introducer. Pointers to Him so that the heart may be ready to call upon Him for forgiveness and grace.

John tried to make a straight path for the Lord – a highway in the desert.  The desert has no highways; the path wanders around until the traveler may be lost. And many are lost trying to cross the desert, which is a picture of the world.
The world is no friend to the believer. But we must build roads for the seeker and the fellow searcher, highways by which they can reach the Lord.

We are to be like Evangelist in Pilgrim’s Progress who said to the pilgrim, starting on the journey to the celestial city, “See that light, keep going toward it, don’t take your eye off of it. There are many detours and temptations, keep your eye on your destination. It is Christ who awaits you.  And will reward you with the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

C.    “Every valley shall be exalted”
The ancient kings tried to display their wealth and pomp by filling in the valleys for easier travel. We, as believers, can fill up the valleys that prevent people from finding the Master. That means lifting up the downtrodden, the humble, the despairing.  That is a sign of the Saviour’s coming; the poor have the Gospel preached unto them. The depressed and discouraged need to be lifted up where they can see the King coming. Those who have no hope need to be given hope-which is a belief that God will do what He has promised for us.

D.    “Every mountain and hill will be made low.”
Where human pride has kept a person form bending the knee to Christ, by our own humility, they will humble themselves too.  No wonder a true preacher asks for two things as he goes into the pulpit, humility and tears.  It takes brokenness to prompt brokenness.

E.    “The crooked made straight and the rough places plain.”
This was the work of John the Baptist, to challenge the perverse dispositions of men – to soften and subdue their hard hearts.
First, people must hear the law of God so that their lives can be straightened out and the rough places smoothed. Then when they ask, how we can do this, the Gospel is preached to them. They cannot do it on their own strength.  Only by the grace of God in Jesus Christ and by the power of His blood can they succeed.

F.    G. Campbell Morgan commented on this verse: we prepare the way of the Lord in two ways:
1.    Standing for God with men. That is, we stand up for the fact that God has not changed. He is still holy, righteous and He stands by His laws. He is sovereign, and in charge of all things.  His character is the same, full of goodness and tender mercy, but he will by no means clear the guilty apart from the blood of Christ.
2.     By acting with God for men. That is, we cooperate with God in trying to reach lost men and woman. We take action for them. We not only pray but lift their burdens and the level of their life in the hope and prayer that we are removing obstacles that keep them from following the Saviour.

III.    WE ARE TO STAND FOR THE WILL OF GOD NOT THE WILL OF THE FLESH

A.    “The Glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh will see it together.”
God’s deliverance of His ancient people will not be done in a corner, with little knowledge of it.  Every nation will see what God is doing and that He is the author of it.
They will see how He protects and delivers His Church.  It will surely happen because God has spoken it. This is how God underlines what He is dong. First, He promises a thing and then He performs that thing that all will know the He has done it.
B.    But to receive His comfort we must know that we are nothing:
•    Our hardness must be softened
•    Our pride must be laid low
•    Our boasting must be put to shame
•    Our hearts must be subdued
We must know how frail and fading we are and how strong and lasting is His Holy Word.

We must not in the slightest respect depart from His Word, or we will wander in strange paths and not know how to find our way back.

C.    We need the breath of the Lord, which is the Holy Spirit, to blow upon us.  It is true that the Spirit breathes life, but He also can breathe death if He wants to replace deadness with His new life.

He can breathe on our lust and destroy it, on our addiction, on our unbelief, our disobedience, our unwillingness to witness or serve him; and put it to death. Ask the Spirit of the Lord to breathe upon your pride or worldliness, or half-hearted commitment. These things will wither and fade away.

IV.    WE ARE TO PROCLAIM CHRIST DURING ADVENT

A.      God is calling John the Baptist to bring the good tidings of the coming King.  “Lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up. Be not afraid. Say to the Cities of Judah, Behold Your God.”

B.     In this season, when the devil is more active than ever, it is also Christ’s time.  This is His hour and ours. Let us put aside all embarrassment and reluctance and proclaim Christ by every means possible.  Find creative ways to introduce Him to friends and neighbors and family members. Surprise them as John did.

C.        John said that He is coming with strength.  He said, “One is coming who is mightier than I.” This wilderness man, who slept under the stars and eked his living out of an unforgiving desert, the Master will be stronger than he.
He is a robust and manly Christ.  He rules the world with His strong arm.  He knows His work – He is here to bring many sons to glory. Not a few here and there but multitudes which no man can number.
D.     Yet He is also a shepherd.
The best of Israel’s kings were shepherds of their flocks and their people.  To be called a shepherd was a distinction in the ancient world. Christ calls Himself a shepherd as well. He guards His sheep, feeds them, comforts them, heals and loves them.

He is tender, especially to children, to new converts.  He leads gently.

Here is our agenda for Advent:
1.    Comfort others with the news of God’s redeeming love in Christ.
2.    Clear the path of obstacles, of everything that stands in the way between Christ and the human soul. We must stand for God with men and we must act with God for men.
3.    Stand for the will of God not the will of the flesh.
4.    Proclaim Christ without fear or embarrassment.

Glen C. Knecht

Letter to the Romans: Fifth in a Series
Romans 2:17-29

Exordium:
All Scripture is given by God’s inspiration.  Some parts however are more important than others.  Some, like tiny pearls, are part of the great treasure chest of God’s truth; others are, like great rubies, visible and prominent the moment the cover is lifted.

In the Old Testament, the Book of Psalms, and in the New, the Letter to the Romans, need to be studied more frequently and more deeply than some other sections of the Bible.

The Letter to the Romans is the only part of Scripture which contains a detailed and systematic exhibition of the doctrines of Christianity.  Great truths, which are taught in other places, are brought together here in a concise and complete form.  No wonder we are turning to this centerpiece of the Word of God.

Explication:
We have already seen how God told us that judgment will be according to our deeds.   Not the balancing up of one’s good and bad deeds, but rather what is the pursuit of a man’s life.  Does he seek after eternal life, or is it self-seeking and the pursuit of unrighteousness?

It will be according to deeds, not that deeds are the ground or basis of our salvation, but that the deeds are evidence whether of wickedness, or of union with the Lord Jesus Christ in saving faith.

This passage gets more specific. First he speaks to the Jews, “But if you bear the name of Jew” Paul is talking to those who have received the revelation of God.

And that includes us. For there are two kinds of Revelation: general, which is through nature and through conscience. This might be called natural revelation; and special revelation, which is the Word of God given to us in intelligible language.  This is revealed religion. This is God making himself known far more intensely and specifically  than through nature.
Revealed religion is God’s word spoken in words through His Spirit and captured by the work of the Spirit in the Bible.
Bu not all people have received revealed religion. Many have only the general revelation of God and they will be judged by that standard.

(Proposition) There is an immense advantage and an enormous opportunity in revealed religion.
Let us look at the tremendous advantages of those who have received that message from God.

I.    THE PRIVILEGE OF REVEALED RELIGION

A.    It’s a great advantage to the Jew. He is the recipient of God’s great gifts. The Book of Romans makes the Jew a pattern of those who have God’s truth.
He has the gifts of God.  “Jew” means one whom God praises.  Judah means the praised one, the tribe from which Jews take their name.  What a great name to bear!
He has the law of God.  He rests upon it. He does not need to labor to form an ethical code and hammer out a philosophy of life.  It is given to him in the revelation God gives.  It comes from God. He need not wonder if it is right and sound or not.

He has the true God who has said, “I will be your God.” The idols have not spoken any such words. Only the believer confesses God’s name, praises Him and thanks Him, so that while the gods of the nations are idols, he glories in the God who made heaven and earth.

2nd.    He has skills which are given to him through these gifts of God.  E.g. He knows the will of God, He has it written before him. This is what God wants him to be able to do and to know.
He can judge between things and approve the things that are good and essential because he has God’s light and because he is instructed by God’s law.

He has a servant relation to other people, since the deposit of God’s truth has been given he is:
A guide to the blind
A light to those in darkness
A corrector of the foolish
A teacher of the immature

B.    The privilege of the Christian.  We can see that the very things that are applied to the Jews can be said of our privileges and more. For we have not only the light of the Word that they had, but also the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, as well as the Scriptures of the Apostles and the whole New Testament.
What a people of privilege we are.
1.    Our name is from God – Christian, followers of Jesus Christ, Christly souls, people who resemble Him and act like Him and are identified with Him in purpose and method and destiny.

2.    Think too of our great mission. We are the ones to whom God has committed the evangelization of the world. It was to us He said, “Go ye into all the world and make disciples.”
C. Think of the implications of these privileges.
•    We have been given this revelation not merely to know, but to obey and to allow it to expose our sin.
•    The skills are given not merely to possess them and to glory in them, as something we might use with others, but apply them to ourselves. We are to relate the understanding of the word and will of God ruthlessly to our own souls.
•    God’s revelation is not given to put us in a superior position, into a servant posture to the nations of the world.

II.    THERE IS ALSO, WITH THE REVELATION, A GREAT PERIL

The peril is the accountability to God we have as heirs of this Word from God.

A.    This peril is described in terms of the Jew. These privileges do not mean that automatically we have a new heart.

Because the human heart is wicked it takes the revelation of God and applies it to others rather than to our own hearts.

1.    You teach another – but do you teach yourself?
2.    You preach do not steal, but do you steal through a covetous heart, dishonest measures, the usurping of time and money that are not yours?
3.    You say you abhor idols (and Israel did after the exile) yet you rob temples, that is, you withhold from God His honor, His worship, His love, and His obedience.
4.     You boast in the law when you break the law you dishonor God. You use God’s law as an instrument of self-righteousness and pride.
5.    So for this reason the Gentiles, those who have not had the light of special revelation, blaspheme the name of the true God. They say that God must be like His people, wicked and hypocritical. They curse His name and do not turn to Him.

B.    So, we must learn the principles of this peril.

1.    God is just and renders to every man according to his deeds. It is reality by which He judges.  He asks what has come from your life because of this faith, whether it be good or bad? What is the issue of your life?
God cares nothing for show, for mere profession, appearances or empty formal rites.  Nor do any of these external things form a protection from the just condemnation of God.
2.    To whom much is given, from him much will be expected.
3.    God hates hypocrisy- the difference between profession and action.  It ranks the opinion of man of greater value than the opinion of God.

C.    Now let us apply this principle to ourselves as Christians.

1.    How easily we depend on mere knowledge! Because we know a thing, we think we have done it but knowledge cannot commend us to God.  It may only enhance our guilt.
2.     How easily we confuse our words with reality. Because we say it, we think we have done it.  Love not in word and tongue but in deed and in truth.
3.    How easily we apply God’s word to others rather than to ourselves. First we must take the log out of our own eye and then we are able to help our brother take the speck from his eye.
4.    So we see that we are right where the Jews were in Paul’s argument: Given a great and wondrous light from Heaven, we are in danger of that weight of glory becoming for us a weight of condemnation.  For we shall be judged with a stricter standard.

What shall we do?

III.    GOD GIVES US AN ABUNDANT PROVISON IN JESUS CHRIST
Paul shows the despairing Jew who is reading this indictment, the ancient rite of circumcision which is an Old Testament sacrament. He uses circumcision to show us our opportunity.
A.    He is saying that the sacraments are of value. They point us to Christ.  Indeed they have value.
To neglect them is a great sin
They point us to great truths
They strengthen our faith
They preach the Gospel to others
They signify inward purification

B.    But they are no substitute for repentance and faith. They point to it and are   pictures of it, but how easily we can use them for refuge from the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.

1.    Every generation has a strong tendency to rely on forms and rites and creeds and sacraments and not on the Saviour and His Spirit for salvation.
2.    Trusting ritual is native to the corrupt heart of man.

Here’s how it happens.
1.    The conscience oppresses a person with guilt
2.    He says, “I must do something to relive my guilt.”
3.    Formalism says, “Here is something you can do. Do it and you will feel better.”
4.    The trial is made and the conscience is quieted and blinded to its real need.
5.    He is encouraged to press on and the sad delusion steals over him that this is piety and true religion.
6.    His blind self-love causes him to trust his ritual and his formalism.

3.    So that when true religion declines among a people there is more and more emphasis on form, and the sacraments come to have a “magical” value.

C.    What we must do is to go straight to Jesus Christ and find in the sacraments the key to the new heart. We cannot stay on the surface of things. We must see the meaning God has put into them and get that reality into our being by the Holy Spirit.

Here he is using circumcision. That is an outward sign, but it doesn’t stop there.
What God asks for is a circumcision of the heart: Cut away the evil lusts and longings of the heart. Put away the spiritual impurities and all that hinders the holiness of the heart.

But no one can circumcise his own heart. Only the crucified Christ is God’s instrument for renewing of the heart.

In our case, circumcision has been replaced by baptism. The water of baptism stands for the cleansing of the blood of Christ. You have felt the waters of baptism.  But you are in great peril if you don’t know that the water points to the blessed washing that comes from the blood of Christ applied to your repentant and believing soul.

Both the Jew and the Gentile need the righteousness that comes through faith.

As New Testament people, we may think that we have all that is needed. We are regular in worship. Have good morals, are honest, we have a good name; we exhibit integrity in all our transactions, yet the new heart may be lacking. Our heart may be set on the things of this world. We may love what is splendid and not what is holy.

If so we are at great peril. We may be confusing acquaintance with the Gospel with personal saving faith. Our religion may be a refuge from our conscience without ever cleansing the conscience.

We must all come to Christ’s cross, see the effect of our sin and the power of Jesus’ blood to cancel our guilt and bring us to eternal life.

Glen C. Knecht

Letter to the Romans: Fourth in a Series
Romans 2:1-16

Exordium:
I have chosen to pass over that dark and somber section where the existence and extensiveness of human sin are shown to us, Romans 1:18-32.  There are passages of the Word of God that are not suitable for the younger ages of the flock. This may be one of them.

Explication:
But we have to ask at least what is the significance of this graphic description of sin?  Where is Paul going with this dreadful topic against which the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven?
Here in chapter 2 Paul points out how sin leads to God’s judgment.  He does this by outlining some of the principles of that judgment.  How important it is that we understand these principles and not only understand them, but build our lives around them.
There are five such principles to be found in this section of Romans.

I.    JUDGMENT BELONGS TO GOD ALONE

A.    The word means to pass sentence, to give a verdict on the eternal destiny of a human soul.  In the Bible judgment does not mean:
•    Assessing human character or
•    Discerning spiritual gifts or,
•    Finding out error.
We are commanded to do these things rather to pass sentence on the eternal destiny of a soul – that is judging.

Only God does that. He is the righteous God.  Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? (Psalms 19:9) The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. His judgments are predictable, constant, and without exception, and the prerogative is His alone.

B.    Our human tendency is to judge others.  It is s sign of our pride, and our desire to evade God’s judgment by pronouncing sentence on others.

Our judgments reveal our blind spots. Because we are prone to see in others the very faults we ourselves have, so while we are condemning others, God is condemning us.
Outside the church there is a condemnation on those hypocrites who go to church, but inside the church there may be a spiritual pride which looks down on those outside the church.  In both cases, the right of God to judge is usurped.

C.     All are under the righteous judgment of God. All must give account to Him and only to Him, so Jesus taught us, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” i.e. By judging others you yourself are sinning in taking God’s place as the judge. You show that you do not know the first principle of God’s judgment. It is His alone.

II.    GOD JUDGES THE ABUSE OF HIS GOODNESS

A.     The very name of God means His goodness, and we experience that goodness – His rain falls on us all. He gives life and breath to all. But His goodness may make us proud. We think we deserve His good gifts and take them for granted.
Just think of the kindness of the Lord in bringing us into being and of His patience as He endures our rejection and rebellion and the forbearance of the Lord in restraining judgment though we are sinners. How rich and deep is His goodness to us.
B.     The goodness of God was meant to bring us to repentance.  He shows His love and withholds His judgment so we might seek after Him and find Him, and repent of our ways and seek to follow Him.
The more goodness we experience, the more God is seeking to bring us to repentance. Yet we may harden our hearts, think we deserve what He gives and that we have these good gifts coming.
We may even think because we are experiencing such goodness that there is no judgment coming to us.  We will always go on receiving His gifts.  How can men speak of His judgment?
C.     But when we abuse God’s goodness, we are storing up wrath in the day of the revelation or the appearing of Jesus Christ. One can accumulate the wrath of God by abusing God’s goodness and failing to repent.  (Luke 13)

III.    GOD JUDGES ACCORDING TO DEEDS

We read that He will render to every man according to his deeds.

A.     His judgment is on the same principle for every one. There is no partiality, no respect of persons and we are judged as individuals, not as a group.

There is no difference in nationality, in social position, in education, in race. God doesn’t judge by the label on the bottle, but on the contents. By reality, not imagination.

Here mercy is not the issue. Everyone will be judged according to his deeds.  It will be required of all that they be righteous and nothing will deceive the all-seeing eye of God.  He will demand righteousness, not only on the outside, but holiness of heart, all will be judged according to their deeds.

Such judgment is certain and universal.

There is an invisible hand that treasures up all that a person thinks, says and does, not the least part is lost.  All is laid up in the treasury of justice.

B.    Those deeds are not balanced up as some presume. “God counts up what is good and evil and the one that is greater is the judgment.”

No!    Rather, what are your pursuits, what is the seeking direction of your life, from your deeds? Are you in patience and well-doing seeking after eternal life? Then glory honor and immortality are yours. You are pursuing God’s glory.

Or are you pursuing your own ways? Do you have a controversy with God? Is your life a malicious opposition to God and His requirements?

All of the human race will be put in these two groups according to their deeds, either friends or enemies of God, no middle ground.

C.    How does that square with the requirement to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved?
1.    The wickedness of the wicked will be evidenced by their wicked deeds and wicked omissions.
2.    The good needs of the righteous will be evidence of their religion to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, because they could not have produced them without Him.  Their works proved their genuine faith in Him. (Rev. 14:13)  Their works do follow them to form a background of evidence of faith.

Here we see the mighty relevance of the Apostle James’ words: “Faith without works is dead.” We are saved by faith alone, but that faith is not alone. It begins a process of overcoming sin and producing holiness and fruit.

Any view of religion which makes us careless about fleeing from sin and wrath and laying hold on Christ is false.

IV.    GOD JUDGES FAIRLY – ACCORDING TO LIGHT RECEIVED

There is only one ground of judgment- deeds. There are different standards against which God measures.  The ground of judgment is deeds; the rule of judgment is knowledge.

A.    The standard of conscience.  Some people have never heard of the Lord Jesus Christ in a way that they could embrace. On their own, they will be judged by the light received. They have received the light of conscience, the moral law within them that told them they were not living up to God’s laws for them.
They will be judged by that inner law, the law of conscience. Here we read with great sadness that they will perish, not having the law of God to illumine them.

Is this not why we send missionaries that the world may hear God’s requirement of them, repent of their sin, and receive the forgiveness and love of Jesus Christ?

B.    Some have received the news of God’s revelation.  They are within hearing of the word of God and have the great advantage of knowing the Gospel and the way of salvation. They will be judged with greater strictness, because they have received more light.

C.    The absence of revelation will not in itself condemn a man or woman.  It is his sin that condemns him. The privilege of hearing God’s word will not save Him.

The question is what has a man done with the light he has received? In every case, he is a sinner. Left to himself he stands under the judgment of God – by whichever standard God applies to him.

How solemnly this makes us approach our own judgment.  How much light have we received?  How many Bibles are there in our homes, how many sermons heard, how many Christian friends have sought to unfold to us the way of salvation? “Of him to whom much is given much is required.”

V.    GOD WILL JUDGE PUBLICLY BY JESUS CHRIST

A.      God says there will be a day when He will judge the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. He has appointed a day so that the judgment which is veiled now will be manifest for all to see.

B.    Then the secrets of men will be made known. Some who were thought to be believers will be shown to be hypocrites.  In others, secret works of grace will be brought forth, revealing a heart of love for God and repentance for sin.
There is nothing that is hidden that will not be known, nothing obscure that will not be clear- especially the unfathomable depth of hypocrisy in the hypocrite.

C.     All this by Jesus Christ. The Father has committed all judgment into His hand. Our Redeemer will be our judge.

Then shall all unbelief and slander about His deity be removed. For to be judge, He must have complete knowledge of every soul. There He will test us. Do the deeds done in the body show that the faith was counterfeit or genuine? None will be acquitted except those He calls righteous when He stands in judgment arrayed in glory and majesty.

Conclusion:
Life consists in reality not appearances.
Our secret life is more important to God than our public life.
Holiness is utterly essential.
We cherish the love of God, but He wants us also to cherish His judgment, to build our life around these principles.

“For we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the things done in the body whether good or bad.”

Glen C. Knecht

Letter to the Romans: Third in a Series
Romans 5:1-11

Exordium:   Last week we saw that there is an extra-ordinary righteousness which is not matter of character or conduct, but is a gift from God to those who believe.

Since today is Reformation Sunday and we celebrate and study that great movement of the Spirit which led to our Protestant faith and freedom, I am going to go to the passage in Romans which is the foundation for our understanding of the results of being justified by faith.

Explication:

Here in chapter five we are confronted with the question, “Is justification by faith a mere theory that has no reality- that will not work and will make no lasting difference?

What happens when it is lived out in actual life?

In this part of Romans we are given the joys of the justified – the saving, gladdening effects of justification by faith so much so that we could say from this section of the Word of God that:

Proposition:  All that a person needs for life is found in the extra-ordinary justification God gives to those who believe in Christ.

This great gift comes fully equipped with all that the soul will need in its pilgrimage.

1. WE HAVE PEACE WHICH IS THE FUNDATION OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

1. No other system of thought can produce the peace that is described here in the Word of God.

It is a peace created by God; we have not imagined or conjured up this peace.

Initially, it is peace from God’s point of view. That is, sin lay between us and caused a barrier to fellowship.  He did not hate us but the sin caused a natural repulsion to exist. But He took the initiative and dealt with the sin through the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.

With the sin gone, there is an active and harmonious and joyful peace from God’s point of view. The barrier has been taken away and there is fellowship and oneness between God and His child.

Peace is not merely the result of forgiveness, but of justification, of reconciliation, founded on the Atonement of Christ.

1. That peace with God results in the peace of God, known and felt within us.

Our conscience is made aware of God’s action by the Holy Spirit. He turns our dread into delight and our guilt into glorying so that we not only have reconciliation with God but we feel peace in our hearts, emotionally by our conscience. The tension with God is gone, we are not afraid. We do not run from Him, but to Him.

One commentator defines this peace like this. “The rest and contentment present in the hearts of those who know that the sins of past have been forgiven, the events of the present are bring overruled for good, and future events cannot bring about separation form God’s love.”  (Hendrickson)

1. It is not the peace that the ungodly person knows. He is at rest because he has dismissed God and ignores Him.  He has stifled his conscience and so is at peace.  This is a temporary peace, but the Christian’s is a permanent peace.

This peace will last because we know that the hard part of God’s action is over.  The dying is done and now He lives.  If His dying took away the hostility, what will His living bring to us?  It can only produce more and deeper peace that will go on forever simply because He goes on forever – praying in the heavenly places for us who follow Him.  So, in a sense, we are also saved by His life. It is pledge for the life of all His people. “Because I live you shall live also.”

1. Only through the Prince of Peace is such a peace enjoyed. There are many who try to find peace without Christ.  These endeavors do not please God and actually lead to less and less peace. Some seem to want Christ but they will not have Him by faith. Yet it is only justification by faith that leads to true peace.

1. WE HAVE JOY

“We rejoice in the hope of sharing the glory of God.”

1.  Justification by faith is the true source of Christian joy. Since our relation to God has changed, the relation of all things to us has also changed as well.

The test comes in the middle of trouble. Even then we rejoice. In fact, we count it all joy when troubles come.  We know they do not come from the wrath of God. We have been saved from that.  Rather it comes from His goodness.  It is appointed to us for good, so we can welcome trouble as a friend.

It makes us look to God-away from ourselves.

It produces in us an endurance. We know how to stick to it when we suffer.

We know that we are truly justified, when hard things come and we stand true.

.

Tribulation makes you more of what you were. It reveals your true character.

1. WE HAVE HOPE

We cannot live without hope. Without it the heart grows sick and the human spirit fades away. God provides for our hope in this gift of justification by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ. The hope He gives us is “the confident expectation of future good.”

1. Justification gives us a two-stage hope.

1. An immediate hope, looking only to Christ and away from ourselves we are filled with hope, for we have discovered the sovereign gracious God and known His power to lift us up.  What can He not do for us and with us?
2. Then after some testing and trials we look at ourselves and see an individual who has been enabled to endure hardship and we are filled with a second and more mature hope.

1. This hope is that we shall be saved by Him from the wrath to come. That includes the immediate wrath of God and the protection He affords throughout our lives and all the way till we stand before the great white throne, when some will hear the words, “Depart from me for I never knew you,” words that we in Christ shall never hear.

We shall be preserved from all the causes of destruction, from the evils, which surround or threaten us and introduced into the blessedness of Heaven. That is the Christian hope and that hope beats in every justified heart. All power has been committed to Him and He uses it for the salvation of His people.  That is an abundant ground for our confidence.

Without that hope, we cannot witness, but with it we have a tool to help others who have no hope.  They are what the Bible describes as “without hope and without God in the world.”  What a plight, but the hope they need is in the world. It is within you. Give a reason for it to all who ask and to all who are hopeless.

1. WE HAVE LOVE

A.   This is that for which we have been made, by the God who is love. When His love is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, it fills our whole soul with a consciousness of His presence and power.

It is poured into our hearts, not trickled in, but poured freely and richly, lavished on us freely. “Shed abroad” = communicated to us abundantly.

We are given an inner persuasion that we are the objects of God’s love by the Holy Spirit.  The heart of the natural man cannot receive that because it is still at war with God, but when justification comes the sense of God’s love floods the hearts.

B.  It is love that has no precedent and no parallel. He commends His love to us i.e. He shows it. He proves it. He sets it forth, as if He said, “What is the most persuasive picture I can give that I love them?

Men and women die for those they love.  But God commends His love toward us in that His Son died for the ungodly, for that which is obnoxious and repulsive. For one without anything to commend him to God, for that one He dies.

As a mother’s love is not based on the attractiveness of the child, so God loves the sinner.

C. It is this love with which we are filled. We do not need to develop a love of our own.  With the love with which we have been loved, we love each other and the world around us, and we love Him who first loved us. We return His love to Him in an everlasting cycle of affection between God and man.

What a resource for a love-starved world!

Conclusion:

What resources we have to live in this world, peacefully, joyfully, hopefully and lovingly!

Are you living below your privileges as a justified woman or man?

A little faith may bring a soul to Heaven, but strong faith will bring heaven into the soul.

Glen C. Knecht

Letter to the Romans: Second in a Series
Romans 1:16-17

Exordium:   This section of Romans 1 speaks of the struggle in the heart of Paul.  You and I may be able to identify with him.  Are you in the grip of the Gospel?

But why would one be ashamed of the Gospel?

1. PAUL’S WORDS IMPLY THERE ARE REASONS TO BE ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL

What are they?

1. He was approaching Rome with his Gospel. It was the world center of power and pomp; it was the seat of government and wealth, the symbol of strength. Who is Paul to approach these massive buildings, this military installation, where men and women are regularly condemned to fight with lions for their lives?

He was a Jew.  They were looked down upon with that ancient stigma that still lingers in an ungodly way upon them. They ought to be esteemed and loved and respected. But Paul knew they were not.

His message was of a carpenter in far away Palestine who went about preaching, who had been put to death on a cross, the very worst way to suffer and die.  Yet, it was said that He had risen again.

He knew that his physical presence was not powerful or impressive to any one. His speech was weak and not at all like the oratory of the Romans.

1.  There was a reticence. For the children, that is a hesitation in the mind and heart, a fear about how he would be received and how his message would be understood.

It can seem embarrassing to talk about turning the other cheek to a culture that is aggressive and cruel to each other.   The accounts of Jesus turning water into wine, or walking on the Sea without sinking might be taken as fairy tales. These strange things had never been heard before and would surely produce laughter rather than faith.

Today we must realize that ours is the only message that produces this embarrassment.  False religions have idea and teachings harder to believe but their followers are unafraid to speak of them. Paul knew the reticence, and you and I know it too.  It loosens our grip on the Gospel.

1.  The message we are given and called to spread seems against human reason, and the tempter keeps reminding us of that. It is laughable to say:

“Give and it shall be giving unto you.”

“He who humbles himself will be exalted.”

“Forgive others that your Heavenly Father may forgive you.”

“Love your enemies.”

“Do good to those who persecute you.”

“He that loves his life will lose it.”

“Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me.”

No other religion is so offensive to the pride of man.

Yes, there are reasons that Paul may be ashamed!

1. BUT PAUL SAYS THAT HE WAS NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL

He had reasons to be, but he was not. Away off in Arabia, in the desert, God showed him the Gospel for the wonderful thing it is.  It is the prelude to the vision of Christ himself, the necessary introduction to the beauty and wonder of the face of God.  As he got a grip on the Gospel, he got a grip on God Himself in a whole new way.  Now he was ready to take it into the streets of Rome, its courts of law, and the palaces of royalty. He took it into the prison where he was held.  In no place was it out of bounds or irrelevant, or powerless.

What changed Paul there in Arabia?

1. If we could pullback the curtain on those years in Arabia, we would see, I think, the Spirit bringing the words of the Lord Jesus to him. “Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in their generation, of him shall the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. (Mark 8:38)e fund that when he had  gripon the Gospel he had a

B.         As the Spirit spoke these words to him, his pride was broken, his reticence driven away and obedience displaced his embarrassment.

1.  He saw the Gospel as the power of God that led to salvation.  That is, it was the weapon God chose to get inside the human heart, to melt it, and make it warm and tender to the message of God’s love.

Salvation here means the whole process from beginning to end, from the electing love of God, to the presenting of the means by which he would believe, to the faith God gives to believe and trust Christ, the growth in grace, (sanctification) up to the final consummation, the glory of seeing Christ, because we are free of sin and doubt and everything that clouds His presence to us.

That is where the gospel is leading. That is what makes the Gospel glad tidings, good news, not only that our sins are forgiven and the Holy Spirit is given to us in exchange for our faith, but that we shall be invited into His glorious throne room and we shall behold His beauty, marvel at His holiness, and revel in His redeeming grace.
D.      He is not ashamed of the Gospel because he knows it is for everyone.  It is not only for his race, or for the Romans, but whoever lives and moves on God’s earth is the object of His Gospel.  It matters not of intellectual power, or wealth, or race of color.  All of Paul’s pride in his Hebrew pedigree was gone. The Gospel, the great leveler, had come and he could be proud of it and not of his racial heritage. Ever since Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, barbarian or Scythian,” the door is open wide for every nationality and tongue to gain a grip on the Gospel and by it see the face of the eternal God.

Yes, it is for the Jew first:  Why?

It fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of Christ’s coming. It showed the compassion of the Lord Jesus for those who shed His blood. The Gospel should be preached first where the great sacrifice for sins took place, where it founded and established.

But then to the Greek. (At this time whatever was not Hebrew was Greek) By saying, “to the Greek” he means to everyone else outside the pale of revealed religion – Hebrew religion.

Thus Paul preached this Gospel as a debtor to the whole world. No matter where he was or to whom he was speaking he was a gospel man, not ashamed, but glorying in the message which God had given him for every man.

He glories in his Gospel because it reveals a secret hidden in the heart of God. It tells us of a part of God we would not know of. An extra-ordinary righteousness. There is a common righteousness which means a person’s actual obedience and conduct. He has an ordinary righteousness- He obeys the commandments.  That is his personal righteousness.

But the Gospel reveals this extra-ordinary righteousness.  It is a matter of special revelation.  It is only made known by the word of God, by the Spirit of God.  It is described for us in chapter 4 more fully. But here it is enough to say that God gives this righteousness, which is really a right standing with Him to all who will trust Him enough to receive what He has to give.  God counts these righteous in this extra-ordinary sense.

Human reasoning cannot figure this out. It must be revealed. Why?

1. Because it is a product of His mercy, which he is not required to show to anyone. It is optional. He shows mercy to whom He will show mercy.
2. He reveals this righteousness only to those who have faith. The basis for receiving it is faith, not works or merit or even desire.  Faith means that God will do what He has promised to do. It is cordial trust in God.

That is what Luther discovered in this passage. It was not his acts of penance, his whipping of the flesh that would bring him into the righteousness of God, but it was believing that God would give what he promised if he would rest in Him and trust in Him.

On this faith, a person is acquitted of the guilt of his sin

He is accepted into the beloved of God

He is embraced as a son returning to his father

Paul says, by the Spirit, that this extra-ordinary righteousness is from faith to faith, or literally “by faith to faith.” Which means that this kind of righteousness is a matter of faith from start to finish. All the way from the awakening of the soul up to vision of the face of Christ is a matter of faith. We don’t start with faith and then try to grow by the works of the law, or by our human efforts or the acquiring of merit. It is faith all the way until prayer has turned to praise and faith finally flees away and has turned to sight that is where the Gospel takes us, to the vision of our God.  We shall see him as He is. No wonder Paul is not ashamed of the Gospel.

To be sure that the Romans (and ourselves) will be certain that Paul is not adding to the Gospel or inventing something new on his own, he adds, a quote from Habakkuk, the Old Testament prophet,  “The Just shall live by faith.”  Way back there God’s way of salvation was the same as it is today and as it was in Paul’s day. He is saying that the righteous person in God’s eyes is only righteous because He believes in this merciful gift of God.

Conclusion:   So what am I saying to you?  Put away your own righteousness which you have been using to cover your spiritual nakedness.  That is a common righteousness. Everyone has some of that.  But it is called in the Bible “filthy rags.”  It will not cover your sin or your sorrow or your lack of peace.

Seek the Lord and His extra-ordinary righteousness. Call upon Him while He may be found.  Believe in Him all the way to Heaven.

                                                                                                                 Glen C. Knecht

Letter to the Romans, First in Series
Romans 1:1-17

Exordium:   This is the most important book in the New Testament.  All Bible books have immense value, but some have a greater importance than others.

Listen to the Rev. William Tyndale, one of the first translators of the Bible into English. The year was 1534:

“Forasmuch as this epistle is the principal and most excellent part of the New Testament, and most pure Euangelion, that is to say “glad tidings”, and that we call Gospel, and also a light and a way into the whole Scripture, I think it meet that every Christian man not only know it by rote and without the book, but also exercise himself therein evermore continually, as with the daily bread of the soul.  No man can read it too oft or study it too well: for the more it is studied the easier it is. The more it is chewed the pleasanter it is, and the more it is searched the precious things are found in it, so great treasure of spiritual things lieth hid therein….wherefore let every man without exception exercise himself diligently and review it night and day continually until he be fully acquainted therewith.”

Therefore, I set before you a challenge. Whoever will memorize this letter, in its entirety will be awarded the complete works of Jonathan Edwards, published in two volumes by Banner of Truth.

Explication:

Proposition-In this book we see God using a human personality which He prepared to express great Christian truth.  In fact, without Paul as the chosen instrument, we would not have this foundation stone for our faith.

Paul is made ready to write this grand letter by parentage, the place and time of his birth, his gifts within the womb and out of it.  Imagine how much detail the eternal God built into his make-up and his life.

We look today at the beginning of Romans where Paul introduces himself and his book.

1. TO DO HIS WORK, and CARRY OUT HIS PLAN – GOD CALLS A PERSON – THE MAN PAUL
   1. So Paul starts with his own name – not to advertise himself in a prideful way, but to call attention to the ways of God.  If by using his name Paul can refer to the authority, which God has given him, and lift up God’s purpose in the world, he will use it.

When Billy Graham gave a guest a tour through the library newly opened to chronicle his work and writings, he says to them, “There is too much of Billy Graham in here.”    He did not design or arrange the library.  But there has to be the story of how God used the man in order to tell the story.

So the first word in the book is “Paul”. True, that was the custom of the day for letters. But Paul uses the custom to make the point that God has been at work to communicate truth through him.

1. Who is this Paul?  Something in himself?  No!  He is a bondservant of Jesus Christ. The Greek word is doulos, slave, someone entirely at the disposal of the master.  He has no life or schedule of his own. He may be a lowly worker or the most important person in the household.

1. He is called to be an Apostle.  That is with a capital A.   This is someone who saw Christ alive after His resurrection and has been chosen by the Lord for this service and for the accompanying suffering.  What an honor this is  – a badge of trust from the Lord.

1. He is separated to the gospel of God.   It means he was designated to carry the Gospel, to herald it, to suffer and die for it, to make it the cause of his life. He is not isolated to the Gospel, as if to take it with him into hiding. Some of Christ’s followers have isolated the gospel making it the property of a few, keeping it in their little group, like a mysterious treasure which only they understand and which must be kept under wraps for fear of embarrassment or rejection.

Not isolation, but separation from other achievements and glories for this one thing, the Gospel. Paul is identified as “the Gospel man” here and he uses that idea for himself.  “Know me by my gospel. This is who I am.” That is why he says later in this letter. “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.”

1. WE ARE LOOKING AT HOW GOD DOES THINGS, AT GOD’S WAYS, WHICH ARE DIFFERENT FROM OURS – HE GIVES HIS BONDSERVANT A MESSAGE TO ANNOUNCE

It could have been entrusted to angels, they would have heralded it perfectly, but God entrusts the Gospel instead to persons like us, to sinners like Paul and you and me, in order to humble us who hear from his pen or his lips.

1. Paul is not to preach himself, but Christ Jesus the Lord, who is the heart and soul of the Gospel.

It is the Gospel of God, not something Paul has put together for a message.

It is something God created out of His great love for His people.  He sent forth His Son to die for the sins of the people He loved, that they might become a community with whom He could dwell on earth and with whom He could abide in Heaven.

1. But there was much for Paul to learn about this Gospel:

• Its origin was in the mind of God and its plan drafted in the council of Heaven
• Its long and careful preparation continued until the day that Jesus

Christ stepped on the stage of the world and said, “Repent and believe the Gospel.”

To make ready Paul, he was taken to the back side of the desert in Arabia where

he could be obscure, hidden for three years to be taken into the third heaven to behold the mysteries of God is such a way that he would be so dazzled by the sights and sounds of the throne room of God, that when in shipwreck or being beaten with rods and left for dead, he would not cease declaring the Gospel of God.

1. In Arabia, God showed him the content of the Gospel he was to preach.

1. It concerned the Son of God our Lord Jesus Christ who was human and divine.  He understood the humanity of Jesus; He came from the seed of David, a very human king. He has a physical, human ancestry and background, so he can identify with us whom He came to save.

1. This sending of the Divine Son of God was accomplished by the Spirit of holiness, meaning the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. It was He who raised Him from the dead after He was crucified. He surrounded His rising for the dead with many infallible proofs, so that skeptics will not be able to shake the belief of His followers.

1. THE HOLY SPIRIT EQUIPPED AND EMPOWERED HIM WITH EVERYTHING NECESSRY TO CARRY OUT HIS LIFE PURPOSE- TO STAND FOR AND CARRY THE GOSPEL TO THE WORLD

1. He received grace which has two wonderful features: favor and
   freedom. Favor means that God gives all Paul needs to carry out his divine call. Freedom means that God does all he does freely, so that Paul cannot take any credit for all that he did. In fact, he called himself “less than the least of all saints and the chief sinner” because he persecuted the Church. So he calls his ministry “a grace”, not a burden or an enterprise which he began but a gift from God’s favor.

1. He is given an apostleship.  The privilege of being sent out by Christ to an honored service which he did not aspire to, but which God gave to him.  He defends it vigorously and will not allow anyone to despise it.

1. GOD BLESSES HIS WORK AND CALLS TOGETHER A COMMUNITY OF FAITH TO RECEIVE AND SPREAD THE MESAGE OF THE GOSPEL WHICH HE BROUGHT TO THEM

1. Without those who hear and obey the Gospel— (the Gospel is a command to be obeyed. not just an interesting idea, but a call to respond.  “What will you do with Jesus?
2.  It is Jesus Christ who gives the call.  The apostle gives the outer call, as the evangelist today does, the call to the ear. But it is Christ ‘s spirit who gives the inner call, personally addressed and enabling and requiring the person to say, “Yes, Lord.”

These are the “beloved of God,” the inner circle of God’s loving. God loves all whom He has made with general love, but He has a delighting love for you who are His own, on whom He set His love from the foundation of the world.

1. These are they who are “called to be saints”. The righteousness of Christ is upon them. They are not righteous in themselves but in Christ.  They live more excellently than the others.

Paul greets them with grace and peace. Grace is the call to rejoice in what Christ has done for you. Peace is a reminder of the inner rest that God gives His own. We are not only given peace with God, but the peace of God which resides in our hearts.

Conclusion:   Let’s begin our study of this great book with the commitment that we will be “Pauline men and women, boys and girls. That is, we too will announce   God’s truth through our personality.

Letting the world know the Gospel of God has gripped and changed us, we have become his bondservants, slaves of the Saviour forever.

Glen Charles Knecht