I would like you to turn in your Bibles this morning to Matthew chapter 1 and pick up with me
! as we begin reading there in verse 18. Matthew chapter 1 beginning with verse 18.
!
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to
Joseph before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her away to shame, resolved
to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him
in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife,
for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus,
for he will save his people from their sins.
Let's pray.
Our precious God and Father, this morning as we take this passage of Scripture in hand,
we recognize that it represents
your revelation to us.
It is the truth.
It is of eternal worth.
It's the words of life.
And as we hold it, as we read it, we recognize that
we are dependent this morning upon your
spirit to work in us
as your children
to allow the word to have free course
and make a difference in our thinking and our affections.
We recognize that as we come together
this morning, there are many things that would
distract us from the significance of our time in your word.
And so we ask, as Paul prayed,
that we would cast down every imagination
and every vain thing that exalts itself against our Savior,
and that this morning, by your enabling,
we would appreciate your word,
that we would find it to be a thrill to our souls,
an encouragement to us in our anticipation of seeing you face to face,
that it would be part of your process in shaping us
as your children to be more like Christ,
and stirring our hearts that we would be faithful in our
high and holy calling of being your representatives in this world
in the time that you give us.
And so we are going to say thank you in advance
for what we ask you to do in us
for the glory of our Savior.
We pray this in his name.
Amen.
Well, as you look at this passage here in Matthew,
I want to stop just for a moment and have you think with me
about what the Christmas season represents to all of us.
And as I think about Christmas,
I recognize that we are here together
in many, many different mindsets.
There are some of us here, actually,
when we think about Christmas,
as we come towards the last week,
our life becomes a little more anxious.
How many of you find that to be true?
Because you're thinking about the list you have
and the things you haven't done yet
that should be done by the 25th, right?
Yesterday, I was out on an errand
and I happened to stop in a store
and it was just packed.
And I have to confess that I thought to myself,
self, aren't you glad you shop on Amazon?
If I can't hit Amazon and get what I need,
the idea of going out and braving the traffic
is just beyond my imagination.
Others of you are thinking with anticipation.
You've given your little list to your parents
and you're hoping that at least some of the things
that you asked for, you get.
I mean, you didn't put socks or underwear
and you know those are coming,
but there are a couple things that you said, right?
You're thinking, well, Christmas morning
and that's going to be a wonderful thing
and I'm looking forward to it.
Let me ask you this.
How many of you that are older
kind of find your approach to Christmas
to be a little less enthusiastic
than when you were like five?
How many of you here used to wake up
and had your parents put that wet blanket
across your enthusiasm of saying,
don't be making noise until I get up?
How many of you are in that space?
Yes.
You know, it's like,
and so you were trying to think of ways
that you could kind of waken your parents
within a reasonable frame.
You know, before it was like 11, 30 or 12
and the presents had all kind of dissolved
under the tree.
But you spent your time doing what?
Shaking the boxes?
Double checking to see whether or not
it sounded and weighed about
what you thought you were going to get?
We all had a certain amount of enthusiasm
for Christmas earlier on.
And this morning, as we think about
the subject of Christmas,
here is the thing that I appeal to you in advance.
I want you to consciously and deliberately
ask the Spirit of God to give you,
through His enabling,
just a wonderful sense of appreciation
for what the Christmas story really is.
Because I know that every one of us here
have heard it many, many times.
And sometimes the things that we've heard
many, many times,
because they're not novel and they're not new,
can kind of fade away
to become things that are just kind of routine
and redundant.
And that is not the purpose
of opening the Word of God.
His mercies are new every morning,
and the sweetness of His Word
is new every morning.
In particular, when we ask the Spirit of God
to do something in our hearts.
So as we take this passage
and think about it carefully,
I want you to say at the outset,
I need God's help to think carefully
and with sweetness about the truth
that God's Word has here for us.
Now we look at the passage,
and it reminds us here,
in verse 20,
I do want you to know that this evening,
when we come together again
to study the Word of God,
the focus on this evening's message
is going to be particularly
on the matter of the incarnation.
Jesus Christ,
all man,
and all God.
A mystery
that we accept by faith,
and yet there is benefit
in thinking about it very carefully.
We'll do that tonight.
What we want to do this morning
is look more particularly
at the statement that is made
there in verse 21.
She will bear a son,
and you shall call His name Jesus,
for He will bear His,
He will save His people
from their sins.
Now here's what I want you
to think about
as we start into this passage.
Here is the Holy Spirit
saying to Joseph,
here's what you're going to do.
You are going to,
you're going,
and not the Holy Spirit,
but an angel, okay.
It says,
here's what you're going to do.
You're going to call your child
by a particular name.
So I want you to think with me
just for a moment
about the purpose
that names had
in the ancient world.
In most cases,
when people in the modern age
decide that they're going
to name their children,
they really don't go about it
the same way
the ancient world did.
I remember when Judith and I,
and we were in the pre-internet
phase of life
when we named our children,
and I remember when we started
thinking about naming children.
How many of you
have been through that process?
You're deciding on what
you're going to name your child.
In our case,
our first one,
I was fully convinced,
I was fully convinced
that it was going to be a boy.
Hi, Heather.
In fact,
I was so fully convinced,
I was rather full of myself
back then,
struggled with it still,
but I remember thinking,
I wouldn't even let my wife
talk about girls' names.
It wasn't going to happen.
It wasn't on the agenda.
It was all planned out,
boys' names,
and we worked through them.
You know,
never choose a girl's name
until the last day
we're in labor and delivery,
and Judith says,
well, just as a matter of chance,
why don't we think about
a girl's name?
I said, really?
Okay, Heather.
It wasn't that simple.
We had a friend who had a daughter
that was named Heather.
In those days,
when you decided
you were going to name a child,
what you did was
you went and bought
a little book,
you know,
in the grocery store,
you could,
Mary Ellen,
you remember that.
You're my age, kind of.
You go through the grocery store,
and there was a little book there,
100 top boys' names,
100 top girls' names.
Now what do you do?
I knew it.
I did actually do that
earlier this last week.
I just said,
okay, let me check
what is out there on Google,
and I figured out
here are the top 100 boys' names
in America.
By the way,
did you know that
they're the 100 top Jewish names
and the 100 top Muslim names
and the 100 top Hindu names,
and if you want to break it down
to the state of Ohio,
they'll tell you
what the best names are in Ohio.
It's very neat,
and people choose names
largely on the basis
of popularity
and what sounds good
at the moment.
It really is true,
and some of you
are teachers.
You walk into a classroom,
and you have six of them
that have the same name.
Are there any Jadens in here?
Raise your hand
if you're a Jaden.
Okay, you walk in,
and there are six Jadens.
What you know is that
about five or six years ago,
Jaden was a top-end name,
and everybody picked it.
Why?
Because it was on Google.
And so,
in the contemporary world,
we go about picking names
for a completely different reason
than they did
in the ancient world.
The ancient world
tended to choose names
for a completely different idea.
Names were chosen
to reflect a truth,
a particular feature,
or a purpose.
When Isaac and Rebecca
had their little twins,
they used very interesting features
of the two little boys
to give them names.
How would you like
to be called Harry?
Harry.
That's what Isaac means.
I'm not Isaac.
I'm sorry.
That's what Esau means.
And the reason is,
is when he came out,
he was,
how many of you look at a baby
and say,
whoa,
there was Esau.
I mean,
he was one hairy little dude.
And so,
pop,
there he is.
We'll call him Esau.
And guess what little Jacob was doing?
Jacob had clutched a hold
of the heel.
And as a result of that,
I mean,
here is the dad and mom
thinking,
well,
we don't have Google yet
and we don't even have books
that we can check.
So what are we going to do?
We're going to call him Jacob,
which means what?
Supplanter.
Or another thing that it means
is one who trips.
The idea is,
there's that little Jacob
still in the womb,
grabbing onto the heel
of his brother
and insisting on having
the preference.
And sure enough,
according to the choices
that these names
were given to the boys,
they ended up being a lot
like what was being said
about them.
And so,
you find this idea
that names were used
to communicate
particular features
or particular purposes.
As a result of that,
you will find a lot of people
that were named
with kind of some prefix
or suffix
according to God's name.
That's why you have names
like Jehoshaphat
or Joshua
or Joash.
Do you know where the J
comes from in Hebrew?
What's the idea behind J?
Jehovah.
Right?
So,
you don't want to say,
you don't want to call
your boy Jehovah.
Right?
I mean,
that's a little over the top.
But you just stick a J
on the front
and it's safe.
It's a good idea.
It communicates that
you've got some kind
of Bible interest.
How many of you
have bumped into people
and there you are,
you're shopping
or whatever else
and the lady
at the checkouts,
you ask her,
so what's your name?
She says,
Grace.
Well,
why did you get that name?
I don't know.
My mom,
you know.
What does that tell you?
It tells you something
about the person
when you pick up
on the name
and you find out
they don't have any idea
what it's about
or they communicate,
yeah,
I understand
what my name's all about
and here's what
it communicates.
In the old days,
they used names
to tell you truth
about the person
or something
you wanted to emphasize.
And so,
as a result of this idea
of using names
to communicate truth,
one of the very popular names
in the Old Testament
was Jesus.
Does anybody know
what the alternative name
for Jesus was?
Joshua.
And what does the name
Joshua or Jesus communicate?
How many of you know
up front
that the name Joshua
or Jesus
communicates the idea
Jehovah is salvation?
Who's the one?
And so,
when you named
your little boy
Joshua or Jesus,
you were in essence saying
God's the one who saves.
It was a theological statement.
It was a statement
about who you believed in
and who you were dependent upon.
So now here,
when we stop and realize
that in the ancient world,
names meant a lot,
you find God
saying something
about what he wanted
Joseph to name his son.
So what was God's purpose
in naming his son Jesus?
You look there,
and in verse 21,
we find that the angel says,
here's what you are to do.
You are to call
this little boy Jesus.
And then we find
an explanation why.
Going back to the verse,
it says,
you shall call his name Jesus
for,
for he will save his people
from their sins.
So when God chose
to name Jesus
with the name
that he gave him,
he was announcing
that salvation
would be through Jesus
from the very beginning.
Little boy comes,
born in a manger,
born in human form,
taking upon himself humanity.
And here we have
an angel telling Joseph,
when you name the son,
what we want you to do
is we want you
to make it clear
that this little boy
is going to be
the savior of the world.
And when God sent
his son into the world,
he did not make it
something that was unclear
and uncertain
as to what his purpose
was going to be.
He came to be our savior.
That's why he came.
And I want you to understand
that in his first coming,
he did not come
to be the judge of the world.
He came to be
the savior of the world.
Turn in your Bible.
You're there in Matthew
and we'll come back there later.
But I want you to turn over,
if you would,
to John chapter 3.
John chapter 3,
verse 16 and 17.
For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son,
his only son,
that whosoever believes in him
should not perish
but have eternal life.
Explanation of Christ's purpose
and coming.
And then look at verse 17.
For God did not send his son
into the world
to condemn the world,
but in order that the world
might be saved through him.
And so when you look at this passage,
going back there to Matthew,
you recognize that
at the very beginning,
when the announcement
of Christ's birth was made
and his name was attached
to that little baby,
what God wanted everyone to know
is that from the very beginning,
the purpose of Christ's coming
was for our salvation.
I want to stop just for a moment
and have you think,
how important is that to you really?
How important is the reality
of your salvation to you?
How important is it?
The importance that you attach
to the significance of your salvation
when you stop and think about it
is reflected in, for one thing,
the emotional sensation
that comes with that thought.
How many of you understand
what I just said?
If your salvation does not mean much
and you stop and think
about your salvation,
it's like, yeah, no big deal, right?
What does that say
about the value you attach
to your salvation?
It indicates that there's something
missing in your thinking.
Not only that,
but when we stop and think
about our salvation
and along with that thought
of salvation comes an interest
in living appropriate
to our salvation,
that's an indication also
of the value that we place in it.
Why do I behave the way I do?
Why do you behave the way you do?
It should be because
we regard the salvation
that we receive
and our interest is in reflecting
the value that we have in Christ.
So let me have you follow along
with me here in the passage
and you think about this statement.
It says,
He will bear a son.
You shall call his name Jesus,
for He will save His people.
He is coming to be
the Savior of the world.
God sent His Son, Jesus,
first of all,
to make the way of salvation
through His blood.
And even though at this moment
in the passage,
we do not find reference
directly to Christ coming
to be our Savior
by dying on the cross,
what you need to understand
is that behind the reality
of the incarnation,
why did Jesus come in the flesh?
It was for one,
to live a sinless life
and two,
to be a sacrifice
in my place
and your place
and satisfy the debt
that our sin had created.
So I want you to stop
and realize
that as you look at this passage,
it says,
He is coming,
He came
to be our Savior,
to save us from our sins.
So let's think together
of what does it mean
to be saved from our sins?
Jesus came to save us
from our sins.
Let me stop just for a moment
and ask you this question.
How many of you
in this last week
have found yourself
pretty irritated
with sin
in somebody else's life?
How many of you
have been irritated
with sin
in somebody else's life?
Happened to you?
Illustration.
I remember
yesterday driving
and I happen
to have not been
as quick
in responding
to a light
as I should have been.
How many of you
have been in that moment?
Right?
And someone about
one, two cars back
just, I mean,
laid on the horn
and just let me know
that I had been dozing
or whatever else
thinking about something else.
I was like,
and I just thought to myself,
bless him, Lord.
No, that's not really
your thought.
How many of you
this week
got frustrated
with sin in your own life?
Got frustrated
with other people's sin,
but how many
got frustrated
with sin in your own life?
I want you to understand
that when we stop
and think about
why Jesus came,
one of the incredible
blessings is this,
is that he came
to free me from my sin.
He came to free you
from your sin.
And as you look
at this passage,
one of the things
that really stands out
is that salvation
really is the exclusive
work of God
in the lives
of broken and ruined
sinners.
Look at the passage.
Jesus will save
his people
from their sins.
The fact of the matter
is that we cannot
save ourselves.
How many of you
have ever given a shot
at trying to do
a little bit
of self-improvement?
We've all done that,
right?
Oh, I need to work
at this,
I need to work
at that,
and there are
some things
that we can make
reasonable progress in,
but at the end
of the day,
when it really comes
down to changing
the heart attitudes
that we have
and really growing
to be the person
that we need to be,
is that something
that we can do
on our own initiative?
What's the answer?
I want you to think
with me just for a moment
of something that we
find over in Jeremiah.
I want you to turn
to Jeremiah chapter 13.
Go back,
if you will.
Jeremiah chapter 13,
verse 23.
Jeremiah chapter 13,
verse 23.
Can the Ethiopian
change his skin
or the leopard
his spots?
What's that saying?
How many of you
understand that
your genetic code
is your genetic code
and you may wish
that it would be different,
but it's not going
to change?
Furthermore,
the reality of the matter
is that the sin
that is in your life
is not something
that you can arbitrarily
choose to change.
You may make some
improvements in your behavior,
but the attitudes
of your heart
remain the same
apart from the grace
of God.
And we need to recognize
that this business
of self-improvement
is beyond us,
and that is the reason
God sent His Son
to be our Savior.
If the Ethiopian
can't change
His skin color
and the leopard
can't change
His spots,
nor can I,
nor can you,
ultimately bring about
change in our own
behavior and attitudes,
that is something
that will not take place
apart from Christ
who came to be
our Savior.
And so I want you
to look at this
and recognize salvation
is something God
has to do,
and that is what we find
announced in the text.
Yes, salvation
is the work of God.
Now I want you
to think with me
a little bit more
of what it says here.
He will save His people
from their sins.
Think with me
about what salvation
does in regards
to the matter of sin.
For one,
salvation saves us
from the penalty
of sin.
Salvation saves us
from the penalty
of sin.
Now think with me
of what it says
in Romans 6,
verse 23.
It says this,
For the wages of sin
is death.
The wages of sin
is death.
Why is it that people die?
They die because of sin.
They eventually die,
and it is an undeniable
reality that death
in every case
is a reminder
that sin came
into the world,
and with sin
came death.
And when God says
the penalty of sin
is death,
He made it undeniably
clear that that
is the consequence
of sin
from Adam on.
And yet,
we find here
in the passage
that God sent His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ,
to die in our place.
And when He did that,
He's paid our debt,
He's satisfied
the debt that you
and I have
because of our sin.
You look first of all
at Romans chapter 6,
but I want you to turn now,
if you will,
to 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
verse 3.
1 Corinthians chapter 15,
verse 3.
Why did Jesus come?
He came to be our Savior,
and that involved
His dying for our sins.
You look at 1 Corinthians
chapter 15,
verse 3,
and let me read
the passage to you.
It says,
I love having
conversation with individuals,
and in the course
of conversation,
asking them the question,
well, why did Jesus come?
People don't have
a great deal of trouble
yet, still,
in admitting that,
well, yeah,
Jesus did come.
He was a wonderful guy.
He was here.
My question then is,
okay, so why did He come?
Well, I suppose He came
to show us
how to live good lives.
Well, do you believe
that He died on the cross?
I mean, you know,
our culture celebrates Easter
and all those kind of things
about the resurrection.
Do you believe
that He died on the cross?
Well, yeah, I suppose.
Why did He die?
He did not die
for His own sins.
He died for mine.
He died for your sins.
He died to satisfy
the debt
that sin creates.
And so here it says
in 15.3,
Christ died
for our sins
in accordance
with the Scripture
because God had ordained
His death
for our sins.
Christ came to do that.
So come back again.
Salvation saves us
from the penalty of sin
and because Christ died
for our sins,
then we can say
with what Paul says
in Romans 8.1,
there is now therefore
no condemnation
to them
who are what?
In Christ Jesus.
How many of you
ever had those moments
when your memory
brings back things
from your past
that you just prefer
you forgot?
Ever had that?
Yeah?
When that happens,
those of you
who are here today
and know Christ
as your Savior
have the undeniable
privilege of being
able to say,
Christ died
for my sins.
He died for all
of my sins.
He died for the sins
that I committed
in the past.
He died for the sins
of the moment
and He died for my sins
in the future.
Therefore,
I can say with Paul
in Romans 8.1,
there is now therefore
no condemnation
to them
who are in Christ Jesus.
Salvation saves me
from the penalty
of sin.
Salvation also saves me
from the power of sin.
Prior to salvation,
we were absolute slaves
to sin.
Now, it doesn't mean
that we did everything
always invariably.
In every case,
we immediately sinned.
But lingering in our heart
was that desire for sin
and the readiness to sin
and ultimately,
we were slaves to it.
Now, what is a slave?
A slave is a person
who is under obligation
to do what his master
says to do.
And prior to our salvation,
you and I
were absolutely
in bondage to sin.
There are many of you
here this morning
that actually grew up
in Christian homes.
And one of the things
that's hard for you
to understand
to a certain degree
is growing up
in a Christian home,
a lot of the major,
the big-time sins,
you know what I mean
by big-time sins?
The filthy five,
the nasty nine.
Oh, we didn't do
all those things.
You know, our parents
kind of coached us
against those.
And we,
what does it mean
to be a slave to sin?
Others of you here
did not grow up
in a Christian home
and your youth
and your adulthood
in many cases
just absolutely clouded
with the wickedness
of your heart
and you have no trouble
remembering
what it was
to be an absolute
slave to sin.
The truth of the matter
is, is that all people
apart from the grace of God
equally enslaved to sin,
obligated to do
what it says
and as a result of that,
salvation delivers us
from that slavery
and leaves us
in a state
where we're no longer
obligated to sin.
Now, is that a blessing?
Undeniably so.
It is something that
you and I
who know Christ
no longer
have to behave
the way we used
to behave.
Does that make sense?
We don't have to be that way.
I want you to think with me
just for a moment
to what it says
in Romans.
You're there in Matthew
but turn over to Romans
chapter 6.
Romans chapter 6
verse 20
and 21.
For when you were
slaves of sin
you were free
in regards to righteousness.
You could hear
the expectations
rattling around there
but ultimately
I mean you were a slave.
You know what I find
kind of curious
is that sometimes
we as believers
we get quite frustrated
when sinners
act like sinners.
It's like
so?
What do you expect?
Sinners act like sinners.
But when a believer
who is no longer
a slave to sin
misbehaves
sins
he is going
against the freedom
that he has received
he's falling back
into the old patterns
and not only that
but the word of God
the spirit of God
the prompting
of his conscience
works to draw him
away from that
and convicts
and brings him
out of it.
Salvation frees
the believer
from being a slave
to sin
and makes him
a servant of God.
Finally I want you
to recognize this morning
when you think about
what we receive
in our salvation
in relationship to sin
we're freed from the penalty
we're freed from the power of it
but we're also
eventually promised
that we will be freed
from the presence of sin.
Salvation does much
more for the believer
than just free him
in this life
it frees us
in eternity.
In the resurrection
those who are believers
and who have died
in Christ
and will rise again
rise incorruptible.
Now when it says
incorruptible
it's talking in part
one is the flesh
we are not going
to see corruption
but why does
corruption come?
What's the cause
of corruption
in life?
It is
sin.
And so what it tells us
in 1 Corinthians
15 52
it says
we will rise
incorruptible
we will no longer
be under the influence
of sin.
Furthermore
I want you to understand
that in eternity
we are going to be
in the presence
of Christ
and his presence
assures us
that we will not
ever be influenced
affected
choose to sin.
I want you to turn
if you would
to a passage
in 1 John
1 John chapter 3
how many of you
look forward
to the fact
that there is
coming a day
when you will
no longer
sin
period
complete
end
you look forward
to that?
How many of you
on periodic
moments
find yourself
man I am so
disgusted
I remember
a couple days ago
just thinking
to myself
man I'm 67
what is the deal
with this?
And I thought
to myself
you know
when I get
to heaven
I will not
have to mess
with that anymore
why?
Look at 1 John
chapter 3
there in verse 1
see what kind
of love
the Father
has given
to us
that we
should be
called
children
of God
and so
we are
the reason
why the world
does not
know us
is that
it did
not know
him
beloved
we are
God's
children
now
that's pretty
good isn't
it?
We're God's
children
now
it doesn't
get any
better than
that
but then
he goes
on and
he says
this
we're
God's
children
now
yet
what we
will be
has not
yet
appeared
for we
know
that
when
he
appears
we
shall
be
like
him
because
we
shall
see
him
as
he
is
now
what is
Jesus
like?
look forward
just for a
moment
if you
will
into
verse
3
and
everyone
who
thus
hopes
in
him
purifies
himself
because
he
is
what?
What is
Jesus
like
right
now?
He
is
absolutely
sinless
and
the day
is coming
when I
and you
as believers
in the
presence
of Christ
are no
longer
going to
have
that
ongoing
battle
with
sin
come
back
to
understand
the
Christmas
story
the
angel
said
to
Joseph
here's
what
I
want
you
to
do
I
want
you
to
call
your
son
Jesus
why?
because
he
not
you
he
is
going
to
save
his
people
from
their
sin
from
the
penalty
there's
no
condemnation
from
the
power
I
am
not
a
slave
from
the
presence
and
the
reality
the
day
is
coming
when
you
and
I
who
know
Christ
are
going
to
be
in
his
presence
and
the
truth
of
matter
is
that
you
will
have
no
more
battle
with
that
struggle
that
you
know
today
so
when
you
read
the
Christmas
story
whether
you
read
it
in
Luke
whether
you
read
it
in
Matthew
I
trust
one
of
the
things
that
happens
is
this
is
that
you
stop
and
am
incredibly
blessed
that
God
sent
his
son
Jesus
to
be
my
savior
and
I
am
thankful
in
the
power
of
the
Holy
Spirit
I
am
incredibly
thankful
and
I'm
joyful
because
of
who
Jesus
is
and
what
he's
done
for me
let
me
encourage
you
if
you
are
here
this
morning
and
the
thought
of
Christ
coming
and
the
blessing
that
you
have
received
in
your
salvation
does
not
resonate
with
your
soul
there
are
probably
a couple
reasons
that you
need to
think
carefully
about
for
one
it
may
be
that
you
are
here
and
you
do
not
know
Christ
it's
not
impossible
that
you
grow
up
in
a
!
home
you
hear
all
the
you
do
I
am
fully
persuaded
that
in
the
day
to
come
when
we
all
stand
to
give
an
account
there
are
going
to
be
some
who
are
ultimately
surprised
by
the
reality
of
their
salvation
not
being
what
they
thought
it
was
remember
when
Jesus
said
not
everybody
that
saith
to
me
what
Lord
shall
enter
the
kingdom
I
don't
want
you
to
be
surprised
and
so
I
want
you
to
stop
and
consciously
think
this
morning
is
the
coldness
of
my
heart
towards
the
sweetness
of
my
salvation
a
reflection
of
the
fact
that
I
really
don't
know
Christ
as
my
Savior
and
if
that's
the
concern
of
your
heart
this
morning
I
would
plead
with
you
right
where
you
sit
call
out
on
God
and
say
listen
I
can't
save
myself
but
your
spirit
is
prompting
me
to
be
concerned
for
the
well
being
of
my
soul
and
I
ask
that
you
drive
me
towards
reality
convicting
me
and
bringing
me
to
faith
there
are
some
of
you
here
today
that
know
Christ
you
can
think
about
times
where
there's
been
sweetness
and
joy
and
satisfaction
in
the
Holy
Spirit
and
your
heart
has
grown
cold
I
think
about
the
church
at
Laodicea
remember
that
you
have
lost
!
your
what?
your
first
love
well
you
can't
gin
it
up
on
your
own
can't
do
that
but
you
can
come
with
a
humility
and
a
brokenness
and
say
Lord
I
have
lost
my
sweet
affection
for
what
you've
done
in
saving
me
and
I
ask
that
you
by
your
grace
would
rekindle
that
in
my
heart
that
my
satisfaction
and
my
delight
would
be
with
you
do
you
know
what
it
says
in
the
scriptures
prayer
of
the
contrite
and
the
humble
he
hears
when
the
broken
hearted
cry
out
and
if
you
are
here
this
morning
and
you
know
Christ
but
man
that
joy
is
gone
don't
let
this
Christmas
season
pass
and
allow
that
spiritual
mediocrity
to
just
continue
creeping
on
down
the
road
you
cry
out
and
say
do
whatever
is
necessary
rekindle
in
my
heart
and
affection
for
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
a
thankfulness
for
my
salvation
and
that
the
spirit
will
do
let's
close
in
prayer
our
father
God
this
morning
as
we
think
about
what
the
scriptures
tell us
about
you
sending
your
son
the
Lord
Jesus
we
recognize
that
the
announcement
that
was
made
by
the
angels
to
the
shepherds
and the
word
that
was
given
to
Joseph
about
Jesus
being
the
savior
of the
world
are
undeniably
true
and
supremely
valuable
and
prized
we
recognize
the
frailty
of
our
flesh
and
our
affections
and
so
we
ask
that
this
morning
your
spirit
would
be
the
one
that
would
kindle
in
us
a
true
thanksgiving
for
our
salvation
and
a
readiness
to
live
a
life
that
displays
the
glory
of
the
cross
help
us
this
Christmas
season
to
reflect
our
thankfulness
in
an
unbelieving
and
broken
world
that
Christ
be
glorified
we
ask
in
Jesus
name
amen