Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] All right, I'm going to have us turn our hearts and minds to a message regarding Christmas. Now, I know that many of us have heard the Christmas story of the birth of Jesus, born of a virgin 2,000 years ago. And then we think of that first night while shepherds were watching over their flocks. These were temple shepherds. These were the shepherds that were, you know, taking care of the sheep that would be brought to the temple and they would be sacrificed for the sins of the people.
[00:00:29] But on this particular night, an angelic host appeared to these shepherds and announced an amazing element. And it was simply that the Messiah, the one that they had all anticipated, looked forward to, was now being born in the little town of Bethlehem. And they could find him in a very unique place in a manger. And off they ran to see this wondrous birth. In Matthew's Gospel we read a little later that magi, which we call the wise men from the east, who saw his star a few years before, came and paid homage to him as he bowed down before the Christ child at this house in Bethlehem. And then God warned Joseph in a dream and he took his family to the country of Egypt, while Herod in his madness discovered that the magi had not come back to him. And so he had decided to destroy all the first the children in Bethlehem, the two year olds and under the males. And he had them killed because he felt threatened by this news of a reigning king that was coming upon the land.
[00:01:34] But now we notice in Mark, he doesn't go into the details of the earthly days of Jesus. Rather he presents a message of preparation. And this is how Mark begins his gospel, the beginning of the good news about Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah, the prophet, I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way. A voice to one calling in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. And so John the Baptist came, preaching and preparing the nation for the arrival of Jesus the Messiah. And people responded to that message of repentance. And they turned from their sins and began to look and await this coming Messiah. And yet we know from the scriptures that Jesus arrival was quite obscure, born in a stable, even though his ministry attracted great crowds. And some of the things that Jesus did, no one had ever seen before.
[00:02:30] You know, eventually his ending, his death came in an apparent shameful death as a criminal being crucified by the Romans on a cross.
[00:02:40] So many of the Jewish people at that point did not see Jesus as their promised Messiah. Some of them did, but others didn't. And Jesus, because he had come in an unexpected manner and they were looking for someone to liberate them from Roman oppression, rather than seeing that God had a greater purpose when he sent His Son into the world, that he came not to deal with political oppression, but he came to deal with the ultimate oppression that every one of us faces. And that's the oppression of sorrow, sickness, death and dying, alienation from God. And so Jesus came to address the sin issue of humanity so that you and I could be reconciled to God.
[00:03:22] So the early church focused not just primarily on the first coming of Jesus, but they began to prepare the hearts of people for the soon appearance of Jesus second coming. And I believe that you and I need to begin to think about this, because even though 2000 years has elapsed, many of the promises of Scripture that were fulfilled in the first coming of Christ, now there's a bunch of promises that are going to be fulfilled in the second coming of Jesus. And so in the larger scheme of things, it doesn't matter how prepared we are this season for Christmas. What really matters is, are we prepared for Christ's return? Are we ready for his arrival? Do we really understand why Jesus came to our planet? As a matter of fact, Mark summarizes the Gospel in this way in chapter 10. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom for many. In other words, Jesus came to die to deal with the big issue in all of our lives, and that's the sin issue. But let's listen to what Jesus had to say about his coming again, his second coming. And he records this, Luke does in chapter 21, when he says, at that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And then he gives a warning to us. He said, be careful or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness, and the anxieties of life. And that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth.
[00:04:53] Be always on the watch and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man. So I want to just take a few moments here to just talk about what does it take to be prepared for Jesus coming again? And I'm going to give you just two quick thoughts here. First of all, we need to be vigilant. What does it mean to be vigilant, we need to be awake, aware, we need to be alert Here in Luke's gospel, Jesus warns against three seductive elements of life that literally diminishes our expectations of Christ's arrival. And the first one, we are told not to squander our lives in dissipation.
[00:05:33] You may say, what is a life of dissipation? Well, it's really focusing our lives on the frivolous, frivolous pursuits and activities. You know, a lot of people are just spending their time wastefully. And William Law in his book on Christian maturity, says if you attempt to talk with a dying man about sports or business, he's no longer interested. He now sees other things as more important.
[00:05:58] People who are dying recognize what we often forget, that all of us are standing on the brink of another world. The second seductive element is drunkenness. Now, I know it's obvious, you know, Jesus is talking certainly about chemical addiction, but it's even more than that. James Houston says addiction means being so completely possessed that one is enslaved and deprived of inner freedom and ultimately of personal integrity. It is the ghastly process of losing one's own soul. And the last element that seduces our soul. Jesus calls the anxieties of life. And what does he mean by that?
[00:06:37] He speaks about being fearful and anxious about the future. It was the 17th century Bishop Francis Felanon who said, don't worry about the future. Worry quenches the work of grace within you. The future belongs to God. He's in charge of all things. Never second guess him. So we can become so accustomed and consumed with this life and with all of its cares and difficulties and pressures that it often begins to define our sense of mental well being.
[00:07:06] But one of the best ways to retain equilibrium in this life is to have our focus set for the life to come. When we're prepared for the future, the ultimate future, this life loses its demonic, terrifying stranglehold upon our soul. And we're free because now we're able to choose to trust God. But let me move to the second thing. Jesus tells us that we need to prepare our hearts for his coming. And that's simply communication with God, or as we would say, prayer. Jesus is telling us to pray in order to escape the difficulties and challenges that life will bring. As the day approaches when Jesus is coming back, there's going to be incredible challenges. He says it this way in Luke 21:36. Be always on the watch and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen. And that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man. And Jesus gives us two concerns that that we need to pray about. First, we need to pray that we'll be able to escape the future deceptions that will lead people away from genuine faith in Christ. In this chapter, Jesus details a number of catastrophic events that will transpire before he returns. We are told to pray for the strength to survive these things that are coming. He says, watch out that no one will deceive you, for many will come in My name, claiming I am he and the time is near. Do not follow them. And when you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, these things. But the end will not come right away. And then he said to them, nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines, pestilence in various places and fearful events and great signs from heaven. And then he goes on to warn about coming persecution because we're followers of Christ. As a matter of fact, he said, all men will hate you because of me. And then secondly, he says, we need to pray that we'll be able to stand before the Son of Man. In other words, we won't stand before him ashamed because of the way we have lived.
[00:09:11] Will we have lived a life of faith that trusted God, this trust evident in the way we make decisions in our lives and how we live out our lives. But I want to conclude with a poem that was written many years ago, loosely based on it was the night Before Christmas, but this one is entitled the Night Before Jesus Came.
[00:09:32] Twas the night before Jesus came. And all through the house not a creature was praying, not one in the house.
[00:09:42] The Bibles were laid on the shelf without care in hopes that Jesus would not come there. The children were dressing to crawl into bed, not once ever kneeling or bowing ahead.
[00:09:53] And mom in her rocker with baby on her lap. And I was watching the late show while I took a nap. When out of the east there arose such a clatter I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter. And away to the window I fell like a flash, tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. When what to my wondering eyes should appear but angels proclaiming that Jesus was here. With a light like the sun sent forth a bright ray. I knew in a moment this must be the day. The light of his face made me cover my head. It was Jesus returning just like he had said. And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth, I cried when I saw him in spite of myself in the Book of life, which he held in his hands was written the name of every saved man. He spoke not a word as he searched for my name and when he said, it's not here, my head hung in shame. The people whose names had been written with love he gathered to take to his Father above With those who were ready he rose without a sound While all the rest were left standing around I fell to my knees but it was too late I had waited too long and this sealed my fate I stood and I cried As I rose out of sight if only I had been ready tonight.
[00:11:04] Wow. This words of this poem meaning, I think, is very clear.
[00:11:08] We must prepare our hearts for Jesus.
[00:11:13] There's only one life, and it will soon come to an end.
[00:11:17] And we'll find that the Bible was true after all.
[00:11:21] I love the word picture Jesus gives to the church at Laodicea in the final book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation. It was written to a church that had lost sight of what it truly meant to be followers of Christ.
[00:11:33] And this is what Jesus said, and he spoke to that church. He said, those whom I love, I rebuke and I discipline. And so be earnest and repent. You say, what is repentance? It's a change of our mind, which leads to a change of behavior. He says, here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person and they with me. Now, this is actually a metaphor inviting us into a personal relationship with Christ.
[00:12:00] And I believe that the spirit of God reveals himself to us and makes Christ known to us. And there's a. A prompting in our hearts that we need to open our souls and allow Christ to come into our lives and to begin to direct our lives and begin to shape the patterns and thoughts and the directions of our lives. And so when we do that, I'm going to close with this thought. We will experience a love and a joy and a peace that we've never known before, because that's who God is. God is love. And he's going to flood our hearts with. With his presence. So let's stand as we close.
[00:12:36] I want to thank you tonight. I want to thank, Ashley, all your work here helping these kids. Beautiful. Andrea, thank you for all the work that you did here in selecting all these songs. Team. Great job. These guys did an amazing job. Yeah. Thank you.
[00:12:56] I know for a fact that they don't just rehearse once and then come up and do this. They've been rehearsing for months to do this and all these beautiful children. So I'm really grateful for the dedication of mom and dad and the kids that all came and, you know, really made this evening what it is tonight. So thank you so very much. So now let me pray a benediction over you. So may the Lord watch over you. May he keep you. May his face shine upon you. And may he bless you in your comings and goings. In Jesus name, Amen. Amen.
[00:13:27] God bless you as you leave. There's apple cider and cookies awaiting you.
[00:13:32] Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.
