- Good morning everybody and welcome
to Steadfast Baptist Church.
Wonderful to see everybody here.
Go ahead and find our seats.
We will get started with this morning's service.
See, let's grab a hymnal.
We'll sing the famous "Joy to the World" this morning.
Song number 423.
423 in your hymnal.
423.
Lord, thank you so much for this great church
and thank you so much for gathering all these people here
to hear your word and sing unto you this morning.
We just ask that you fill this room with your spirit
and help us to sing loudly this morning.
And it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
All right, for our next song,
let's actually go to our black binders.
There'll be one nearby under your seat or in front of you.
And you're gonna sing every night,
every night in your black binders.
Sing that out together this morning.
- Morning, Christmas.
If you did not already get a bulletin
and you would like one,
just lift up your hand nice and high.
Thanks for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church.
We have a Bible memory passage,
Romans 10, that we're going through.
Anybody that's able to quote our entire chapter,
Romans 10, can receive a special prize.
And of course, our kids that are 18 and under
that can quote the verse of the week
can get a ice cream treat on Wednesdays.
Inside is our service times.
We have a Spanish service every Sunday morning at 9 a.m.
Our Sunday morning is 10.30, our Sunday evening is 4.30,
and then Wednesday evening is 7 p.m.
Today's a special day because we've been having
both of our children's choir and our youth choir
practicing for several weeks now.
They're actually gonna be performing for us today.
And so after our third song,
we're gonna have both of our choirs come up
and perform for us.
Very exciting.
Of course, if you wanna take pictures, go ahead, all right?
We also have church-wide soul-winning
that meets here at the building,
both Sundays at 2 p.m. and Wednesdays at 5 15.
We usually meet, get organized,
and then try to get out there shortly afterwards.
Regional soul-winning times
meet in different parts of the city
with our soul-winning captains and leaders
and soul-winning team efforts there.
We have a couple ladies' times,
Tuesdays at 10 30 and Thursdays at 10 30.
My wife, Ms. Lucy, helps lead some of those.
And so if you have any questions, you could always ask them.
And then any of the other times,
just ask one of the responding leaders there.
Down below is our church stats.
We've done really good this year.
Honestly, it's been our greatest year by far
as far as just soul-winning efforts by a long shot.
It's not even really close.
So, you know, definitely appreciate all the work
and the effort and the energy.
We wanna make sure that we finish strong this year.
And next year, I'm planning on trying to do a lot
of soul-winning efforts as well.
And so we wanna keep up that momentum
and really appreciate all the work,
the hard work that goes into what these numbers are.
Lots of missions, trips, lots of soul-winning events,
lots of hours put into our soul-winning.
And you know what?
That's what we really emphasize and focus on at our church
is our main ministry is soul-winning.
And so really appreciate that.
We get to think about what Jesus Christ did for us
by coming here and his birth,
but it's more important that we go out and tell people
than just remember it.
On the right, we have the list of our expecting ladies,
a lot of ladies to be in prayer for.
And so please be in prayer for them.
Upcoming events tonight is our cookie bake-off as well.
So if you enjoy the kids choir,
you need to stick around for tonight
and come because we have a bunch of cookies tonight.
And honestly, our cookie bake-offs
have always been a spectacular event.
People put a lot of effort, energy into their baking
and it's always been extremely impressive.
And so looking forward to having cookies this evening
immediately following our evening service.
We also have a Christmas candlelight service
Wednesday night if you'd like to attend, December 24th.
Men's preaching and pizza the last day of the year
and then come at your own risk.
And then marriage workshop.
This is just a free event
that our church is gonna be hosting.
It's not gonna be at the church itself.
It's at a completely different venue.
This event is gonna be,
honestly, the venue is really nice.
So it's gonna be at a really nice place.
It's just an encouragement to help couples
that just spend a little bit of time
working on their marriage, getting better at it.
It's called the Till Death Marriage Workshop.
And again, that's our philosophy.
That's our viewpoint.
That when you've made that vow to God,
that you're gonna have them for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer, and until death.
You know, we want to encourage people
that have gotten married to stay married
no matter what.
And of course, if you have that mindset,
I think you'd be encouraged to work on your relationship
as much as possible.
So even if you have the worst marriage or the best marriage,
you can always just work on it and get better.
And we encourage, it's a free event.
If you'd like to register, steadfastvows.com,
you can go and register.
Please make sure you register
because registration will close
probably shortly into January.
So you want to make sure and get registered for that
so we can make sure to prepare for it as well.
There's a signup sheet in our welcome area
in our foyer for any late teenagers
or any of our young singles that would like to help us.
We're going to provide some free childcare
only during the workshop periods,
but it would really be a blessing
if you wanted to help with that.
If you did get a name tag off of our Christmas tree
for the expecting ladies,
please try to get that back to us today
if you haven't already.
On the back is our prayer list.
And if you have any additional prayer requests,
please just email us, steadfastbabduskjv@gmail.com,
put in your request and we'll try to get this
put in our prayer list.
If you have updates, try to always let us know
so the way you can update our list
and keep it pretty fresh, keep it accurate.
So that's pretty much all I have
as far as announcements are concerned.
At this time, we're gonna sing our Psalm of the Week,
Psalm 149, Psalm 149.
Psalm 149 in your binders.
Psalm 149, let's all sing that out.
♪ She did turn to Him with the tempest ♪
♪ Down in just a state ♪
♪ Joyful was the cue upon ♪
Children's choir, come up and sing.
So give ear and give them a moment to set up.
As the offering plate is passed around,
let's turn in our Bibles to Luke 2, Luke 2.
Read the entire chapter as is our custom.
Follow along silently, starting at verse number one,
Luke chapter 2.
Bible reads, "And it came to pass in those days
that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus
that all the world should be taxed.
And this taxing was first made
when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.
And all went to be taxed, everyone into his own city.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee
out of the city of Nazareth,
into Judea under the city of David,
which is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house and lineage of David,
to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife,
being great with child.
And so it was that while they were there,
the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son
and wrapped him in swaddling clothes
and laid him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country
shepherds abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night.
And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them,
and the glory of the Lord shone round about them,
and they were so afraid.
And the angel said unto them, "Fear not,
for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David
a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you,
ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger."
And suddenly there was with the angel
a multitude of the heavenly host praising God
and saying, "Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth, peace, good will toward men."
And it came to pass as the angels were gone away
from them into heaven.
The shepherds said one to another,
"Let us now go even unto Bethlehem
and see this thing which is come to pass,
which the Lord hath made known unto us."
And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph
and the babe lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad
the saying which was told them concerning this child.
And all day that heard it wandered those things
which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these things and pondered them
in her heart.
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God
for all the things that they had heard and seen
as it was told unto them.
And when eight days were accomplished
for the circumcising of the child,
his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel
before he was conceived in the womb.
And when the days of her purification
according to the law of Moses were accomplished,
they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.
As it is written in the law of the Lord,
every male that openeth the womb
shall be called holy to the Lord.
And to offer a sacrifice according to that
which is said in the law of the Lord,
a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem
whose name was Simeon,
and the same man was just and devout
waiting for the consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost
that he should not see death,
for he had seen the Lord's Christ.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple.
When the parents brought in the child Jesus
to do for him after the custom of the law,
then took he him up in his arms and blessed God,
and said, Lord, now let us now thy servant depart in peace
according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
which thou hast prepared before the face of all people,
a light to lighten the Gentiles
and the glory of thy people Israel.
And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things
which were spoken of him.
And Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary his mother,
Behold, this child is set for the fall
and rising again of many in Israel,
and for a sign which shall be spoken against.
Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also,
that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
And there was one Anna, a prophetess,
the daughter of Faneuil of the tribe of Assur.
She was of a great age and had lived with an husband
seven years from her virginity.
And she was a widow of about four score and four years,
which departed not from the temple,
but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise
unto the Lord and spake of him to all them
that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
And when they had performed all things
according to the law of the Lord,
they returned into Galilee to their own city, Nazareth.
And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit,
filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him.
Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year
at the feast of the Passover.
And when he was 12 years old,
they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.
And when they had fulfilled the days as they returned,
the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem
and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.
But they, supposing him to have been in the company,
went a day's journey and they saw them
among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.
And when they found him not,
they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.
And it came to pass that after three days,
they found him in the temple,
sitting in the midst of the doctors,
both hearing them and asking them questions.
And all that heard him were astonished
at his understanding and answers.
And when they saw him, they were amazed.
And his mother said unto him,
"Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us?
And behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing."
And he said unto them, "How is it that she sought me?
Wist ye not that I must be about my father's business?"
And they understood not the saying
which he spake unto them.
And he went down with them and came to Nazareth
and was subject unto them.
But his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
Jesus increased in wisdom and stature
and in favor with God and man.
- Let's pray.
Father God, I pray that you bless the sermon this morning.
Fill Pastor Shelley with your Holy Spirit
and help him to preach the sermon with clarity of mind.
And Lord God, I pray that you give us ears to hear
and soften hearts in the room
to apply this sermon to our lives and be better Christians.
We love you in Jesus' name, I pray, amen.
- Amen.
I wanted to preach a sermon this morning
called "The Christmas Story."
Here in Luke chapter two,
we have probably the most famous passage of scripture
describing the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the events surrounding his birth.
And I think there's a lot of lessons
that we can learn from Luke chapter number two
and the real Christmas story here in the Bible.
Now, it starts out in verse one,
saying that all the world should be taxed.
Interestingly enough,
that the Christmas story starts with taxing.
And of course, no one loves to pay taxes.
It's pretty much a universal hatred for taxes.
And it's interesting how God can allow negative things
to end up causing positive things.
And so the entire world needing to be taxed
actually fulfills scripture by causing Jesus' parents,
his adoptive parent, Joseph,
and his biological mother, Mary, to travel to Nazareth.
And as a result, because of traveling here,
it's gonna fulfill the scripture
that the Lord Jesus Christ would be born
in Bethlehem specifically.
And so just because negative things happen in our lives,
we shouldn't think that that's God not working in our lives.
Obviously, you could look at this and see,
oh man, God must not be for us.
He's causing heavy oppression.
He's causing us all to be taxed
or he's causing this negative circumstance in my life.
But through this negative circumstance,
we are given the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so even through taxes, God can work, right?
Isn't that kind of interesting?
It says in verse two, "And this taxing was first made
when Cyrenius was governor of Syria,
and all went to be taxed, every one in his own city."
Here's another thing that's important to note.
If Joseph and Mary were tax protesters,
we wouldn't have fulfilled scripture.
Notice that they have to actually pay the taxes.
They actually have to abide by this law and this custom
in order to fulfill scripture.
And I don't know that they were aware of the reality
that they're fulfilling this Bethlehem scripture or not,
but regardless, they're going to pay their taxes.
And of course, we should pay our taxes
whether we like it or not.
And of course, Jesus is gonna be born
as a result of this taxing.
Now, I wanna skip to verse seven.
It says, "And she brought forth her firstborn son."
You know why it says firstborn?
Is because she had other children.
Sorry Catholics, the Lord Jesus Christ is the firstborn,
but he had brothers and sisters.
And the Bible tells us that Joseph did not know his wife
until she had given birth to her firstborn son.
And so that's why we believe in the virgin birth
is that Mary was a virgin until after she had given birth
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He was the firstborn physically in his family.
And of course the Bible talks about him
being the firstborn spiritually as well
because of his resurrection.
Because of him being resurrected,
he's the firstborn among us in a spiritual sense.
And so he always gets the preeminence.
He exists before Adam.
And then of course he's the firstborn in his own family.
And then of course he's the firstborn spiritually among us
and we are called brethren alongside him.
But in verse seven,
she brought him forth in his desks
and wrapped him in swaddling clothes
and laid him in a manger
because there was no room for them in the end.
Now of course the Lord Jesus Christ is God.
He's God in the flesh.
And of course this is all at the Father's will.
But think about this.
I mean, God in his infinite wisdom,
his infinite capability to do whatever he wants,
decided to allow his son to enter the world
and arguably some of the most humble means possible,
not even being able to stay in a poor residence.
He didn't even have a Motel 6.
This guy is in a manger, an animal's dwelling place,
very low, very humble abode,
and then specifically is laid in an animal trough.
And so, it's kind of incredible
to think how powerful God is.
The creation that he made.
I mean, he made this beautiful world.
Obviously, kings have great palaces.
God's allowed mankind to be smart enough
to create very nice accommodations.
And yet, even for himself, even for his own son,
he allowed him to be laid in a manger in an animal trough,
which is not suitable for babies or for children.
It's a very humble means.
And so, we should understand that God has great humility,
probably humility beyond all of us.
If we were to dream up our own story,
we probably wouldn't put ourselves in a manger
or put our children in a manger,
yet the God of the Bible did so
because of how humble he is.
He's the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords,
he's the creator of the universe,
he's the Alpha and the Omega,
and he decided to be born in a manger.
And it's pretty incredible when you think about
the humility that God went through for us.
And also notice that he doesn't,
he's not an attention seeker.
I mean, he could have come in in a very dramatic fashion.
He could have come in in some grandiose way,
but he's in a humble fashion,
just coming into the world, laid in a manger.
Now, of course, those around the Lord Jesus Christ
do wanna give him some glory and give him some praise.
So of course, in this story,
you have angels appearing under shepherds
and making great proclamations unto the shepherds
so that they could visit this child.
And of course, you have wise men traveling from the East
because of the star that's in the sky
and they can tell that there's something
significant gonna happen.
There's other people in this story that are waiting
for the Lord's Christ to appear.
So it's not that to some people,
this wasn't still a special moment or a special event,
but for the world, they're not paying attention.
The world doesn't care.
The world is doing its thing as the most significant event
that's ever happened is happening
right underneath their nose and a big one at that, okay?
And so you have to understand that when it comes
to the Christmas story, not everybody cares,
but they should think about this.
All the world cared about being taxed,
but more important than being taxed
as the savior being born in the manger.
I think that's important about this chapter is notice
it's all the world is being taxed.
There's no room for them in the end.
He's lying in a manger, but notice what it says in verse 10.
When the angel appeared
and the angel said to them, "Fear not for behold,
"I bring you good tidings of great joy,
"which shall be to all people."
This chapter could not make it more clear
that the Lord Jesus Christ is not just coming
for a specific group of people or just the Jews
or just those of Israel,
but rather it's a good news, good tidings for all people,
for every single person
because Jesus Christ is the savior of all men,
especially those that believe.
The Bible makes it clear that he didn't just come
for the Jews or just come for Israel.
He's coming for all men.
He's gonna taste death for every man,
as the Bible describes.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord of all,
not just the Jew, but the Jew and the Greek,
and not just the Greek, the barbarian,
not just the wise, yet the unwise for all people.
And let's skip forward to verse 32.
Notice this, this is in the context of Simeon
being excited about the Lord Jesus Christ,
getting to see him, getting to hold him,
getting to what he says, "Hold the Lord's Christ."
And he says, let's read verse 31 as well.
"Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people,"
notice again, all people,
"to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel."
When Simeon sees the Lord Jesus Christ,
his first reaction is that this is for all people,
and then even brings up explicitly
that this is a light for the Gentiles.
So you can see that the anticipation,
those that actually know the Bible and knew the Lord
and were anticipating the Lord Jesus Christ,
they understood that he was coming for the Gentiles.
They understood that he was coming for all people.
They understood that they're not special.
They didn't have this racist ideology,
believing that the Jews are superior to all men,
but rather understanding this is the savior of all men.
Now, of course, there is significance
for the children of Israel
because notice he's the glory of Israel.
So of course, when it comes to Israel, what is their glory?
It's the Lord Jesus Christ.
What's the best Israelite to ever exist
is the Lord Jesus Christ.
What's the best Jew to ever exist is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the glory of Israel.
He's the bright spot of Israel.
He's the best person.
You know, he's the MVP of their team.
He's the greatest of their tribe.
He's the leader.
He's the captain of their salvation.
And so he is the glory of Israel, no doubt.
He is biologically of the children of Israel,
but at the same time, he's still for all men.
He's still for every single person,
and he's a light to lighten the Gentiles.
The nation of Israel was always to be the bright spot
in the world for mankind so that everyone could be saved,
so that everyone could have the knowledge of the truth.
It was not limited to a certain race or group of people.
The gospel has always been for all people,
for all nations, for the Gentiles, not just the Jews.
And of course, Jesus is this light
coming to lighten the Gentiles.
And of course, if you think about it after the gospel,
after we think about the death, burial,
and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ,
who really does carry the torch?
Who does end up embracing Christianity in the gospel?
It's the Gentiles.
We have churches being formed all over the world,
and it's the Gentiles that are being reached.
You read in the New Testament epistles,
it's to the Romans, that's the first epistle.
Obviously, when you read through Acts, you learn all this,
but I'm just saying even the epistles,
Romans and the church at Corinth,
and the church at Thessalonica, and Galatia, and Ephesus,
and all these different Greek places,
because that who really received the Lord Jesus Christ
and are gonna carry the torches,
we have epistles written to people like Timothy,
and to Titus, Philemon, these are not Jews,
these are not Hebrews, these are men that are Greek,
and of course, Timothy's half and half, I get that,
but these are people that the Bible's basically talking
about that are from a Greek perspective,
heritage, or race, or identity,
but again, the Lord Jesus Christ is for all people,
for all people, all nations,
even to the Gentiles specifically,
and that's being mentioned here in the Gospel of Luke.
It's not picking out a certain group of people.
Now in verse 34, the Bible says this,
and Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary his mother,
Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again
of many in Israel and for a sign
which shall be spoken against.
Now for me, this verse really stood out to me
when I was reading this chapter this week,
and it says that when Jesus came,
he's gonna be spoken against.
You kinda think like,
oh, everybody's gonna love the Christmas story,
everybody's gonna love the Lord Jesus Christ,
everybody's gonna love the truth,
but the Bible teaches that a lot of people reject the truth.
A lot of people don't like Christmas,
they don't like the Lord Jesus Christ,
and in fact, he's gonna be spoken against.
That was prophesied of him before he had done anything,
just as a baby, just as a little infant,
and he's being described here as a sign
that's going to be spoken against,
and it's going to cause some people to fall
and some people to rise in Israel.
Who's going to rise?
Those who accept the Lord Jesus Christ,
men like Peter and James and John and his disciples,
they're going to rise.
Who's gonna fall?
Caiaphas and Judas and those who rejected
the Lord Jesus Christ and turned against him,
and so he's gonna cause the rise and the fall
of many in Israel.
He's gonna be spoken against.
People are going to hate him.
The rulers would scourge and beat Peter and John
for talking about the Lord Jesus Christ
after the death, burial, and resurrection.
They were causing people to be beaten.
They said, "Hey, you filled Jerusalem with this doctrine."
And so, of course, that's fulfillment of the reality
that the Lord Jesus Christ will be spoken against.
Of course, today, you have many religions
and many groups of people who will speak
against the Lord Jesus Christ.
They'll use his name as a cuss word.
Whose name is used as a cuss word
more than the Lord Jesus Christ.
You go into the Hollywood movie theater run by Jews
and they love to use Jesus Christ's name
as a pejorative term, as a cuss word, as a swear word.
They love to speak against the Lord Jesus Christ.
You listen to many different religious people
and they'll speak negatively about the Lord Jesus Christ,
about the gospel message.
They do not believe in him, they speak against him.
This is prophesied here.
Now, verse 35 is a continuation of this thought
Simeon's talking to his mother.
So all of this is addressed to Mary.
He's telling Mary, hey, this child of yours,
your son is gonna be the cause of the rise and fall
of many in Israel.
Not only that, you're going to have many individuals
basically speaking against your son.
Many people are gonna hate your son.
That's not necessarily the most positive message.
Imagine you come to someone, someone just had a baby
and you show up, hey, everybody's gonna hate your kid
and be like, what does that mean?
You know, are you saying he looks weird?
Are you saying he looks ugly or something like that?
I mean, just imagine, you're showing up.
It's like, oh, this is a face only a mother could love,
you know, and I'm not saying they said that
about the Lord Jesus Christ, but I'm just saying like,
it wouldn't be very apropos to criticize the child
that a mother's just given birth to.
He is saying, hey, people are gonna speak against him.
People are gonna be against this child.
People are not gonna like this child.
I just wanna, I just wanna warn you.
I wanna give you the right expectation.
Then it gets worse.
It says in verse 35, yay, a sword shall pierce
through thine own soul also,
that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
Now, this is kind of a cryptic statement,
but I wanna unpack this passage,
and we're gonna come back to Luke in a little bit,
but let's unpack this passage for a moment.
What is this talking about?
This sword piercing through her soul,
and then the thoughts of many hearts being revealed?
Well, I wanna go to a couple different passages.
Go back to Matthew chapter two for a moment,
go to Matthew chapter number two.
I believe that what the Bible is describing here
is the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And if you think about it,
probably one of the worst things that can happen to a mother
is watching their own child die.
That's probably the worst thing for a mother
that she can really experience
is see her own son to suffer and die
and be killed before her eyes.
And I think what's being described here metaphorically
is the idea of a sword piercing through her soul.
For many mothers to watch their own child
be in extreme agony and pain and suffer and die
would be one of the worst
and most heartbreaking events of their life.
And so for Mary, he's trying to give her this anticipation.
A lot of people are gonna speak against him,
like saying, "His blood be on us and on our children."
Screaming, crucify him.
That was, a lot of people spoke against him.
And then because of that,
because of them all wanting him to be crucified,
then he ends up being killed.
And of course, Mary has to witness this.
The Bible describes Mary being there.
But just to show similar events,
this is a theme in the Bible
where mothers lose their children.
This is kind of an interesting anecdote
that's being brought up.
Matthew chapter number two, look at verse 18.
In Rama, was there a voice heard,
lamentation and weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and would not be comforted because they are not.
Notice what the Bible says,
that a mother is so grieved over her child being killed
that she can't stop grieving.
It's saying she cannot be comforted.
Just trying to show the emotion that women have.
Men and women, I believe are different.
And women have more ties to emotion,
they're more invested in their children
in an emotional way than a father would in many cases.
And for her, it's much more difficult
to get over the loss of a child than it would be a man.
Men sometimes can come mentalize
and can just be more pragmatic,
more logical about the situation.
But for a mother to lose her child,
this is one of the most grievous things
you can talk about.
The Bible talks about a bear,
like the mother bear being robbed of her whelps.
A she bear being robbed of her whelps,
talking about man, this is just the worst imaginable situation
because a mom cares so much about her children.
I wanna go to another place, go to Jeremiah 31,
go to Jeremiah 31.
And this is actually an Old Testament prophecy
that happens where the town of Bethlehem
is basically being described here as Rachel.
And in the Old Testament, using more of the Hebrew
like way that you would transliterate the name,
it's not Rachel, it's Rahel,
so it doesn't have that C in there.
But it's mentioned in Jeremiah chapter 31, verse number 15.
It brings up this prophecy.
Look at verse 15.
Thus say the Lord of voice was heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rahel, weeping for her children,
refused to be comforted for her children
because they were not.
So again, I'm only bringing this up
to basically illustrate how the Bible describes
how a mother feels about losing her children.
I mean, it should be obvious.
Unfortunately, we live in such a disgusting era
where mothers are aborting their children
or killing their children,
wearing T-shirts, praising this.
That shows they have no natural affection
because the normal person would be extremely grieved
to lose their child, to lose their son.
And it's just crazy to not understand that concept.
Goodwood to John chapter 19,
but I also brought this up for another reason,
that the Bible has a lot of overlapping symbolism,
and there's a lot of stories that fit together
in a really unique way,
just showing God's fingerprint on the Bible.
Now, why do I bring this up?
Well, there's a character in the Bible named Rachel,
and Rachel ends up having a son, Joseph.
And the Bible says that Joseph at one point
is betrayed by his brethren, thrown in a pit,
lied about, the brethren tell their parents
that he was killed, but he's actually sold into Egypt.
And what's kind of interesting about this anecdote
is if you think about it, Rachel pictures Bethlehem
and how their children were lost,
and then they had to flee to Egypt.
And then Rachel, the character, her son is killed,
even though he's not, and then sold into Egypt,
showing that precursor that was gonna happen
about the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so you have all these different layers of the Bible,
how the character Rachel, her firstborn son,
goes into Egypt to flee death.
And then we also have Jeremiah, this story being told,
which was, it was kind of a double understanding
because Jerusalem was gonna be destroyed,
that whole area was gonna be destroyed
by the Babylonian army.
And so they did experience this as well,
where their children were killed.
And then it's a foreshadowing of the anecdote
that when the Lord Jesus Christ is born,
then you're gonna have King Herod make this decree
to kill all the children and Rachel.
So you have like three different scenarios
with the same kind of character names, pictures,
foreshadowing what was gonna come of the Lord Jesus Christ.
'Cause the Bible is always foreshadowing
the realities of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And you can even have the Christmas story
with Rachel and with Joseph.
And you get to have all those same elements
in the Old Testament.
In John chapter 19, we have the reality of Mary
having to watch her son being killed.
And this is, it's gruesome.
I mean, it would be arguably one of the worst things
or the hardest things to ever watch,
even if you weren't related,
but especially if you were related.
You know, the Bible says in Isaiah
that his visage was so marred
that you couldn't even tell who it was anymore.
And the Bible talks about that there was no beauty
or comeliness to be observed in the crucifixion period.
Obviously, I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ
would have been a handsome man.
All of his ascendants are good-looking people.
But on the cross, it was a gruesome scene.
And his visage, meaning his face,
was just so marred by the crown of thorns,
by the blood, by having been beaten,
by all the grief, by all the anxiety,
all the just pain, the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The Bible says he bare our sins in his own body on the tree.
This is a gruesome, ugly scene to picture our sin
and how the Lord Jesus Christ took on our sin
and that our sin is an ugly picture
and that the consequence of our sin
is a grievous consequence.
And now this perfect spotless lamb that's done nothing wrong
has to bare our sins in his own body on the tree.
And of course, his own mother who's lived with him
and watched him and partook in his life,
partook in his ministry,
she was there for the first miracle.
She's been traveling at many times with them
and seeing all the different miracles
and wonders and signs and all this great stuff
is now having to watch her son being crucified.
The Bible says in John chapter 19, look at verse 25,
"Now they're stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother."
Also gotta think about,
that's gotta be an extra layer of shame to be crucified,
to have your clothes stripped off of you,
to be hung up on a cross right in front of your mom,
in front of your mother and to watch.
I mean, just think about the grief you have
of watching your mom be grieved for you.
No one wants to watch their parents
feel anguish and pain and sorrow.
And again, what's the picture?
Like a sword just being just jabbed right into her soul.
You know, if you've ever had some bad news,
you've ever had some horrific event
and you just get that, you get that feeling
that just like a literal just like knife
just being shoved into your belly,
into your stomach, into your soul.
Recently this year,
I wasn't even necessarily as close as many others,
but you know, after our morning service,
Pastor Henderson had texted me and said,
one of my favorite church members,
one of my best friends just died.
And it's like, as soon as you hear news like that,
it's just like a literal,
just like sword just goes into your gut.
You're just like, ah.
Imagine the news, you know,
many widows had to hear the first time
when they heard about their husband on the battlefield
having been killed.
Or police showing up and arriving at their house
and saying, they're gone.
Or your child or anyone.
I mean, this is a gut-wrenching experience.
This is a horrific experience.
And his mother's having to watch it play out before her eyes.
She doesn't need anybody to tell her she's witnessing it.
The sword that's just being pierced into her.
Of course, if he skipped down, look at verse 32.
Then came the soldiers and break the legs of the first
and of the other, which was crucified with him.
But when they came to Jesus and saw
that he was dead already, they break not his legs.
But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side
and forthwith came there out blood and water.
And of course, there's a spear here,
but almost in kind of an analogy,
just as he's speared and the blood and water come out,
it's kind of at that point that reality has to sink in
for the mother and for everyone else, he's really dead.
It really happened.
It's really over.
And just like that, you could almost see
just the same spear going into his side
is like that sword just being shoved into Mary's soul
for what was happening to the Lord Jesus Christ.
What a gruesome, horrific experience.
But the Bible says, it says,
but one of the soldiers of the spear pierced his side
and forth and came out there on blood and water.
And he saw, and he that saw it, bear record.
And his record is true.
And he knoweth that he sayeth true,
that ye might believe.
For these things were done
that the scripture should be fulfilled.
The bone of him shall not be broken.
And again, another scripture sayeth,
they shall look on him whom they pierced.
Of course, this is necessary for the gospel.
It's the death, burial, and resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we're confirming that Jesus Christ truly died,
that the blood was even truly drained from his body.
The Bible makes it clear that the life is in the blood.
And so the Lord Jesus Christ truly died
for our sins on the cross.
And this was the foreshadowing.
This is the picture of the lamb,
which would take away the sins of the world.
The lamb picturing a sacrifice, the death,
the blood being spilled.
Every animal sacrifice of the Old Testament
is leading up to this event of the Lord Jesus Christ
on Passover being killed and slaughtered for mankind.
Just like you think an animal being born,
think about this, an animal being born could be put in a,
not necessarily in the manger, that's where they eat,
but he's gonna be put in the animal house, in the barn,
where the Lord Jesus Christ is being born.
And what is, for most animals,
especially when we think about the lamb or a cow,
what is its journey from birth?
It's to die.
The whole point of the lamb,
the whole point of the cow being born
is so that you and I can have lamb chops,
so that we can have the ribeye,
so that we can have the steak.
It was born to die.
It came here.
And of course, what does the animal do?
It gives us life.
We eat food as sustenance, and it gives us life.
In the same way, picturing the Lord Jesus Christ
in this manger, a feeding trough,
we were to consume, and we eat the bread of communion,
and we drink the juice of the picture of his blood,
and that is what we trusted in for our salvation.
We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and through his death, we get life,
just like the animal gives his life
so that we can have life, we can have nourishment.
And so we have all this symbolism
and all these pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ
being put in the manger signifying what?
His death.
He was born to die.
He was born to be a sacrifice.
He was born to be consumed.
His death to be consumed by us metaphorically
so that we could then have eternal life.
Of course, the Catholics take this overly literally
and think you have to physically eat Jesus to be saved,
which is not what the Bible teaches
because the Bible is a spiritual book.
We must consume his death, burial, and resurrection
spiritually by accepting the words of the Bible
and accepting the gospel into our hearts
and that's what saves us.
That's what gives us eternal life.
No physical food can save you.
Even if you ate Jesus' physical body,
which is cannibalism, it's crazy,
that will not save you.
You could drink Jesus' actual blood
and it will not save you.
What you must do is put your faith
in his death, burial, and resurrection.
That's what actually saves you.
That's what gives you eternal life.
You can see how a mother would not be comforted
after the loss of her son.
Rachel weeping and would not be comforted.
Mary weeping and not willing to be comforted
for the loss of her son.
Go back if you went to Luke chapter two for a moment,
go back to Luke chapter number two
and look again at verse 35.
Kind of a cryptic proclamation being given to Mary.
She's being told all these different things,
being prepared for what will come.
Luke chapter two, verse 35,
"Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also."
Now it says this,
"And that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."
We have to understand about the gospel message
is that it divides people.
The gospel divides people
and we get to see who you really are.
What is really going on in your heart?
The gospel message helps us understand who people are.
It's a radicalizing effect.
And I want to go to some more passages on this,
but we're dwelling on this idea
that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed,
meaning we can know what you're like.
We can know what you're thinking in your heart
and what kind of a heart you have.
Look at Mark chapter number seven.
"Out of the abundance of the heart,
the mouth speaketh," is what the Bible says.
The disciples say,
"We cannot but speak the things which we've seen and heard."
How can you even communicate anything
that you haven't seen or heard?
You're limited, unless you're making up your own language,
which is what the Pentecostals do,
you're only going to speak that which you've seen and heard.
And let me give you a tip on the Pentecostals.
They're doing that too.
They watch someone speak gibberish
and they repeat that same gibberish.
You go to some Pentecostal churches,
they all found the same gibberish.
You go to a different one,
they have a different kind of gibberish.
It's like a Hebrew gibberish, a baby gibberish over here,
or whatever, why?
Because they cannot but help,
but speak the things which they've seen and heard.
You know, you wanna speak good things,
you gotta read the Bible.
And many people will try to claim,
oh, that's not what my heart is like,
even though those are the words I'm using.
No, we evaluate your heart by your words.
Your words help us understand who you are.
You know, that's why preaching is dangerous.
Because let me tell you this,
if you have a bad heart, it will come out in your preaching.
You can't stand by in a pulpit and talk for an hour straight
and we don't learn a lot about you.
You can learn a lot about someone
if you just listen, just listening to someone.
Of course, that's why a lot of people are intimidated
when police officers are telling you
you have the right to remain silent.
Why?
Because we'll figure out a lot by you opening up your mouth
and the words that you say will be used against you
in a court of law.
God says in the Bible that every idle word
that men shall speak,
they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment.
God is not a God that says, oh, I don't care what you said.
He cares about every idle word.
Why? Because it tells us who you are.
He tells us what's going on in your heart.
That's why it's important when you have that bad thought
or a weird thought, don't say it.
And you know, why?
Because the person with the good heart
takes those imaginations captive and doesn't say them.
The person with a bad heart will say
all kinds of crazy, weird nonsense.
And so you have to be careful with what you say
'cause it reveals to us what's in your heart.
Some people keep silence,
we don't know what's going on in their heart.
But boy, when they open their mouth,
it's hard to take it back.
Mark chapter seven, verse 20, the Bible says,
"And he said, that which cometh out of the man,
that defileth the man, for from within,
out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders,
thefts, covetousness, wickedness,
deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye,
blasphemy, pride, foolishness,
all these evil things come from within and defile the man."
What is the Bible saying?
"Out of the heart is proceeding all of these thoughts."
They may not be revealed to us yet.
We may not know it yet,
but the gospel will reveal these things
in man that's going on.
Go to Romans chapter two, go to Romans chapter number two.
The Bible says that the gospel will push people
in one of two directions,
and we'll get to see what's going on in their heart.
We emphasize a program at our church called soul winning,
and we believe in what we call
confrontational soul winning.
What is confrontational soul winning?
It's that we don't just accept
that someone that goes to church is saved.
We don't just accept that someone
that has a Bible in hand is saved.
We don't accept that you're a Baptist that you're saved.
I don't accept that you just say,
I believe in Jesus that you're saved.
You know what I do?
I confront that person and I say,
yeah, but what do you believe you have to do to be saved?
Do you think salvation is by faith alone?
Do you believe you can lose your salvation?
We confront that person
because we wanna know what's going on in their heart.
And when you put pressure on people,
you know what happens?
Their heart will be revealed.
Yeah, I'm going to heaven 'cause I'm a good person.
What's going on in that person's heart?
They're prideful.
They think that they're good enough to get to heaven,
but unfortunately, no one is good enough to get to heaven.
We can't achieve salvation
through our own merits, our own works,
but when you put pressure on people
and they declare their wonderful works,
we understand what's going on in their heart.
When they declare their false religion,
oh, I'm a Hindu, oh, I believe in multiple gods,
I'm a Buddhist, I don't believe in God,
they're revealing what's going on in their heart.
When someone says, I've put all my faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ and his death,
burial and resurrection is the only thing saving me,
we see what's going on with their heart,
that their heart is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that's why we believe in confrontational soul winning.
Why?
Because many times when you confront somebody
on what they believe,
it scares you what they actually believe.
You know, don't take any person's salvation for granted.
You don't want to find out what people believe
on that side of death.
You want to find out now.
You know, you're not, and at the end of the day,
if someone's headed for hell,
you can't send them to a worse hell.
They're already there.
They're already headed there.
You know, it's important to confront people.
It surprises you how many moms and dads and brothers
and sisters and cousins and nephews and pastors
and whoever don't believe the gospel.
They're not even saved.
But the gospel, when you talk about the gospel
and you say, what are you really believing?
It will reveal many hearts.
It'll tell you what they're thinking.
The Bible says in Romans two verse 13,
"For not the hearers of the law are just before God,
but the doers of the law shall be justified."
Just 'cause you go to church
doesn't mean you're right with God.
"For when the Gentiles which have not the law
do by nature the things contained in the law,
these having not the law are a law unto themselves,
which show the work of the law written in their hearts,
their conscience also bearing witness,
and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing
or else excusing one another in the day
when God shall judge the secrets of men
by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
Notice that the secrets of every man
will at one day be revealed.
On earth, many times it can be revealed,
but at that point, all of them will be revealed
through what?
Through the gospel.
The gospel is what is revealing the secrets of men,
and we understand where people are at.
Now, here's the scary part.
If you're not saved,
what will also be revealed is all of your sin.
If you're saved, your sins are separated from you
as far as the East is from the West.
I don't want people to find out every sin
that I've ever committed.
Praise God for the gospel.
Praise God for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who are not saved,
every sin that haunts them of being discovered,
every Epstein file will be revealed.
The perpetrators of 9/11 will be revealed.
You thought that we got their passport.
I don't think it's the right passport.
The birth certificate of Obama,
all the layers will be revealed.
Whatever Michelle Obama is will be revealed.
I'm just telling you.
Every secret will be revealed by the gospel.
The only way to escape is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and have all your sins washed
in his blood.
Praise God for that.
I mean, God didn't have to do this.
Couldn't God have said, "You know what?
I still just want to kind of like bring it up one last time, just to remind everybody
how bad you were."
But you know what?
Praise God for his grace that he's not even going to let, he's not even going to let us
find out what happened.
He's just like, "You know what?
It's covered in the blood."
Praise the Lord Jesus Christ for that and his sacrifice.
You know, in today's culture, kids don't get away with very much anymore with TikTok and
the internet.
You do something stupid, someone's there to always record it and upload it for you.
And so, you know, in some ways they live in a much more of a glass house than many of
us.
But boy, if people were following us around when we were teenagers, we would have a lot
of problems too.
We'd have a lot of shame as well.
Praise God that he's allowed us to not necessarily have to be shamed for every evil that we've
done because he took that shame for us on the cross.
He despised the shame, but he did it anyways just so that we could be saved.
And notice again that our thoughts are essentially going to be exposed through what?
The gospel.
I want to go to another place.
Go to Hebrews chapter 4.
The Bible brings up this concept of what people are like, what's going on in their heart
being revealed through the gospel, through the Bible.
It says in Hebrews chapter 4, look at verse 12, really famous verse, "For the word of
God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
dividing of the soul and spirit into the joints and marrow, and as a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart.
Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are
naked and open under the eyes of him with whom we have to do."
The Bible says you cannot hide anything from God.
God sees through everything, and not only that, the Word of God itself is a tool to
be used for us to understand what's really going on.
We can see through someone's thoughts and heart through the lens of scripture.
The Bible will tell us what's pride.
The Bible will tell us what's evil.
The Bible will tell us what's adultery.
The Bible will tell us what's fornication and covetousness and blasphemy and all these
different things.
And then we can see what's going on in someone's heart.
And the Bible will slice you up and down and it will tell you what you're really like.
It will tell you if you're lazy.
It will tell you if you're prideful.
It will tell you if you're covetous.
It will convict you.
And of course the Holy Spirit, for those of us that are saved, He will remind us of the
scripture and many times He's there to cut us down, to help us to need to crucify the
flesh to recognize our weaknesses and our infirmities and our problems and areas in
our life that we need to change.
And of course the Bible and the gospel has this effect of revealing what's in your heart.
Many times you don't even know what's in your heart and this is just reality.
How many people in this world have a problem in their body and they don't know it.
They don't know that they have some heart issue, heart disease, some kind of a cancer,
some kind of a sickness, some kind of an illness.
They don't even know how to diagnose their own body and they need a physician.
They need someone to recognize the problems and the issues and perform surgery in your
body perhaps to fix and remedy this situation. Well, God, Jesus Christ is the great physician
and he knows how to diagnose our heart. He knows how to check and see if there's any
problems in there and say, Hey, you need heart surgery. Hey, you need, you got some cancer
in here. You got some leaven in here. We need to clean this up. You need to die to yourself.
And of course the gospel will radicalize you. It cuts through all the lies, all the deception,
all the guile, all the dissembling, all the confusion. Do you believe in Jesus Christ
or do you believe in your works? With the Bible, you can tell someone's saved or not.
Many people say, oh, how do you know people are saved? By what they say and by using this.
By using this and what they say, I can tell if they're saved or not. Why? Because the
Bible wants us to know so that we can get them saved. What benefit would it be if we
could never know? Then we would never know who to talk to, who not to talk to, who to
say, hey, you're already saved. Hey, you need to fix this. Hey, you're a heretic. We're
leaving you alone. The Bible tells us what people are like. And of course you can know
these things. You can have that same wisdom. We have the mind of Christ here with the Bible
and so we can know what he knows. Go view it back to Luke chapter 2. The Christmas story.
We're talking about the world being taxed. No room for the Lord Jesus Christ in the end.
No one wants to take him in. Yet he's good news for all people. He's going to lie in
a manger and he's going to be a light to lighten the Gentiles. He's for all people. Yet he's
a sign which shall be spoken against. And for his mother specifically, she is going
to see the rise and fall of many in Israel. The Bible says about herself that it's going
to be like a sword piercing through her own soul. And that many thoughts are going to
be revealed about the Lord Jesus Christ. You don't really know who somebody is. But, you
know, this is why it's also important, you know, when you think about sharing the gospel,
you should always share the gospel. I'm not saying that you shouldn't. Sometimes you have
to be careful. You have to be prepared for the consequences of sharing the gospel. Share
the gospel with a family member. It may draw you closer. It may draw your father apart.
Share the gospel with a coworker. It could draw you closer. It could get you fired. Oh,
so you're saying I'm going to hell? Well, if you don't change your mind, yeah, you are
going to hell. Well, I'm going to go tell HR that you're telling me I'm going to hell.
Well, they're probably going to hell, too. They're HR. I'll go tell them. I'm just saying
you got to be careful with the gospel because it's a radicalizing effect. And then when
you say, hey, hey, you're a sinner. You deserve hell. And what you believe is going to take
you there. You got to change your mind. You got to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
a radicalizing effect. And some people will believe and many won't. And when you bring
this message up, it will be a sign of something that's spoken against. Not everybody loves
the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus Christ, when asked about this question, he said that
most people aren't going to be saved. Said the broad way is leading to destruction. Broad
is the gate, or you can just call gateway Baptist. It's not Baptist, gateway church.
With the now exposed pedophile, the guy in prison or in jail, I don't know if he's actually
been taken there. He's been sentenced, I believe. I don't know when he's supposed to serve.
Maybe it's after Christmas. I don't know. Pedophile Robert Morris leading millions to
hell by teaching lordship salvation. We know it's in his art. Adultery, pedophilia, evil
evil thoughts, false gospel, leading many people to hell. Many sincere people that love
the Lord Jesus Christ being sucked in by all the bells and the whistles and all the money
and all the fashion and all the show, showing that they're carnal, showing that they're
prideful instead of wanting to come to a lowly fundamental Baptist church. But you know what?
The Lord Jesus Christ was in a manger and if you wanted to see Jesus, you couldn't
go to some fancy building. You couldn't go to some nice motel. You had to go to the barn,
to the manger where the Lord Jesus Christ is. Because the Lord Jesus Christ is not one
that's going to be worshiped through the flesh. We're not going to glory in our flesh and
glory in our own pump. It's the humble King James Bible. The Bible you can get at the
dollar store. You can't get the ESV at the dollar store. Why? Because they've got to
make their copyright. The humble Bible. The humble God of the Bible. The humble Gospel.
That's what you have to accept. Sometimes you have to go to the manger to worship the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is what's interesting about this chapter. It kind of just changes
the narrative. It's been all about the birth and all these things. And then it just kind
of just fast-forward. Now he's 12 years old. A lot of things happen. We don't know. I'm
not going to fill in the blanks. Many people try to make movies about this or whatever.
It's like weird. Look at verse 41 though. Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year
at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem
after the custom of the feast. And when they fulfilled the days as they returned, the child
Jesus carried behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they supposing
him to have been in the company, went a day's journey and they sought him among their kinsfolk
and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem seeking
him. All I could think of when I read verse 44 is just the mom just being like, "Captain!"
And you know, isn't it interesting that Hollywood can never make an original story. It's Christmas
time. What's, you know, I looked it up, the number one most viewed Christmas movie of
all time is Home Alone. Who in here has not seen it? Okay, like a few kids and a few random
people. It's a pretty good movie. I mean, I'm just going to be honest. It's one of my
favorites. I've probably seen it a dozen times at least. So if you didn't get my joke, watch
the movie, all right? But what's the premise of the movie? A family and its extended family
travel, they're traveling for Christmas time. They accidentally leave one of their children
home. And you know, I've always thought about this movie like this is an unrealistic, impossible
scenario, but it's actually the Bible. Because what did it say? It says in verse 44, "But
they supposing him to have been in the company." So in the movie, they take two vans to the
airport. So they didn't realize that their son's not in one of the vans. And they had
other people checking for them. And so they're in a rush, they get on the plane, tickets
are flying and all kinds of stuff. And they get on there and in the confusion, the mom
doesn't realize. And she has this weird feeling. And then on the plane, she realizes and she
screams the kid's name, the kid's Kevin. And it's funny because it's just like that's
like the Bible story. Jesus Christ has left and they don't realize it. Now what's interesting
is notice what it says in verse 46. And it came to pass that after three days, they found
him in the temple. In the movie Home Alone, he's gone for three days. They come back for
three days. You know, you always think that Hollywood's original, they're just copying
the Bible, folks. And you know what? That's why it's such a story that everybody loves
because it's a cool story. It's in the Bible. I've never made this parallel until, you know,
this week, but I just thought it was kind of funny. Just like, hey, this is like the
same movie. Verse 48, it says, "And when they saw him, they were amazed, and his mother
said to him, 'Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought
thee sorrowing.'" Again, the whole movie, the mom and dad are sad, they're trying to
get back to their son. You know, it's this, and this is a special moment when they're
reunited. And it's all about, you know, the whole movie is about Christmas and it's about
this reuniting of son and mother. And what's so fascinating about this is when we put aside
the Hollywood movie, we recognize that this is also foreshadowing something else. It's
foreshadowing the gospel. Look at verse 41 again. Now his parents went to Jerusalem every
year at the feast of the Passover. So here's the thing, foreshadowing what? A future time
when the Lord Jesus Christ and his parents are going to go to the Passover. Now albeit,
I believe his father's already passed away at this point, but at least his mom and him
are at the Passover, not realizing he is going to be that Passover. And here's something,
she's going to lose him and she's going to sorrow after him for three days. But then
what's going to happen? They're going to be reunited again at the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, then you have this, this passage here, it says in verse
48, to read it again. And when they saw him, they were amazed. Yeah, you'd be amazed at
the resurrection, right? And his mother said to him, son, why hast thou thus dealt with
us? The old thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said to them, how is it
that you sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my father's business? And of course,
what aspect of this that we understand is that Joseph is not his biological father,
it's God. But a second is the, what he's saying is this is what's going to happen. There's
going to be a, there's going to be a time when we go to the temple and you're going
to lose me there for three days. But then I'm that, but then we're going to reconnect.
Then we're going to come back and this is the whole point of my existence. This is my
father's business. This is why I'm here is for the Passover to be the Passover and you're
going to lose me for three days. But then I'm going to rise again from the dead. This
is the Christmas story. Why is home alone one of the most popular movies of all time?
Because it's the Christmas story in disguise, albeit Luke choose even better. I want to
recap this, this morning's sermon with just a few thoughts. Go to Philippians chapter
one, if you would go to Philippians chapter one, what can we learn from the Christmas
story? Well, number one, we need to follow, before I get to my point, we need to follow
in Jesus Christ example of what he did in this Christmas story. We need to follow in
like suit. What did Jesus Christ do? Well, number one, he humbled himself. He humbled
himself to be born in the manger. Number two, he was born and to live a life that would
face opposition. Number one, he was born humble. He humbled himself. He condescended to men
of low estate. Number two, he was to be assigned to be spoken against. He was going to be hunted
down by Herod, by many people trying to kill him. The Jews constantly trying to kill him.
He lived a life where he had many opposing forces and he had to face lots of opposition
in his life. And thirdly, he was to be a sacrifice. He was a sacrifice in his life by essentially
dedicating many hours and many years to simply just preaching the gospel, traveling the world,
doing so much work, being a living sacrifice, sacrificing his livelihood to go out for others,
and then ultimately a sacrifice in his death through the cross. So we too should follow
in like suit. We should follow in his example of humbling ourselves, being willing to face
opposition and to be made a sacrifice. The Bible has a parable in it about the parable
of the sower. I'm not going to go through it for the sake of time or read all the passages,
but the Bible talks about how the seed is the word of God, and there's basically four
different people groups that are brought up. The first is the wayside. And it says specifically
that which was sown in people's hearts, the devil comes and takes that away lest they
believe in that they're saved. And the whole parable is about soil and seed, but it's
also about the word of God in our hearts. Most people are not going to get saved and
it's sad. They hear the gospel and the devil's going to come and take away that or cause
them not to believe and they're not going to be saved. But then there's three groups
of people beyond this that the Bible's describing of those that do get saved. The first is the
stony ground, which essentially is talking about people that are immediately offended
by anything negative associated with the Lord Jesus Christ. They love the free gospel. They
love salvation. They love that their sins are washed away in his blood and they heartily
accept eternal life. But as soon as they find out, oh, this is going to be spoken against,
oh, I'm going to face opposition, oh, the preacher might get onto my sin, they're immediately
offended and they don't want to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. So they're not willing
to face opposition. You know, we need to not only get saved, we need to follow in Jesus
Christ's example of humbling ourselves, being willing to face opposition and being that
sacrifice. The second group or the third group of those that are in the parable, second that
are saved are those that are in the soil with a bunch of thorny ground, thorns and thistles.
It says that they choke the word and they cause it to not be fruitful. The Bible describes
this as the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, entering in choking the word and
causing it to not be fruitful. There's many Christians that they love the gospel. They're
not offended by being attacked for being a Christian, but they're just easily distracted
by money, by good things, by wanting to live a life of pleasure, being selfish. And as
a result, they end up not really producing anything for the kingdom of God. And then
the last group says that there is, you know, the good soil, which brings forth a hundred,
some 60 and even some 30. And what we can see through the gospel, not only those who
get saved, but also those who are willing to follow in the Lord Jesus Christ footsteps,
those that are going to be the stony ground Christians, those are going to be the thorny
ground Christians, and those are going to be the good ground Christians. Say what are
those people like? They're soul winners. That's what they're like. They're people that love
to tell the story. They love to go out and preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And you know, we can all sit here and be amused at the gospel story. We can all be amused
by parallels in modern society, movies like Home Alone, and we can all, you know, have
a Christmas tree and we can all celebrate presents and we can all love that. But you
know what? The person that really loves the gospel is the person who shares the gospel.
That's the person with a good heart. And you know what? The gospel reveals what's in your
heart. Are you willing to humble yourself? Are you willing to face opposition? And are
you willing to be a sacrifice, living or dead? And let me tell you something. If you come
to our church, you will have to humble yourself to stay here. The prideful won't last. Prideful
won't like it. It's a humbling experience to be a part of a church like this. And why?
Because you're going to face a lot of opposition. You will face a lot of opposition and it will
be a sacrifice. Living or dead. How you live or how you die. Philippians chapter 1 says
this in verse 20, "According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I
shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always. So now also Christ shall be magnified
in my body, whether it be by life or by death." The Bible says that we are to be a living
sacrifice. The Bible does not teach that we all have to be martyrs. The Bible does not
teach that we all have to die young. But the Bible does teach this, that you have to be
a sacrifice, whether living or in your death. And none of us get to decide when or how.
But you know what? You get to decide how you get there. Will you get there as being a living
sacrifice? Will you get there making sacrifice? And you know what? To preach the gospel year
after year, decade after decade, is a sacrifice. You have to humble yourself and say, "You
know what? My life is not my own. I've been bought with a price." You have to humble
yourself and say, "It's not about me. It's not about my selfish ambitions. It's not
about my goals. I'm going to humble myself. It's not my will, but thine be done." You
have to put yourself in that manger. You have to put yourself on the earth and say, "Hey,
I came here to do the Father's will, not my will." You have to be willing to be spoken
against. You have to be willing to be hunted down. You have to be willing to face all kinds
of opposition for believing the Word of God, for preaching the Word of God. And ultimately,
you have to make that sacrifice with your life and even possibly your death. But you
know what? The apostle Paul said, "Hey, you know what? The thing that I really want is
I want Christ to be magnified in my body." What he did for me, coming in the manger,
living a perfect life, getting on the cross, bearing all my sins, rising again from the
dead, that is my example that I should follow. And I should be willing. My reasonable service
is to be that living sacrifice and to be someone to go and preach the Gospel. The Bible says
that His burden is easy and His yoke is light. My yoke is easy, my burden is light. I mean,
it doesn't matter how you, you transpose these because at the same time, you know, the way
of transgressors is hard. Jesus is easy. And look, preaching the Gospel has its opposition,
but it's easier than the opposition you face when you don't preach the Gospel. But at the
end of the day, we'll all see what's in your heart. Let me ask you this question. How did
you do in 2025? What was in your heart in 2025? Were you the person that if you're the person by
the wayside, you need to get saved. If you were the person that said, you know, I was kind of
offended and I got out of church, I got backslidden. We need to just fix your heart. If you'd allowed
the cares of this world, whatever that is, money, relationships, work, selfishness to cause you to
not do anything for the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what? You're in the thorny ground.
Maybe you were in the good ground. Maybe you did a good job this year. Well, next year's a new year.
What will be in your heart in 2026? Will you be the person who we look at them and they say,
"Hey, this person loves the gospel. They love the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at what they accomplished."
Or will we see you in another group? You know, I'd love to see everybody in our church be in
that fourth group. But you know what? You have to humble yourself. You have to be willing to face
opposition. And you have to recognize, "Hey, this is going to be a sacrifice." Let me tell you
something. It's worth it. You know it's worth it. And you know what? When we celebrate Christmas,
I love it. It's my favorite holiday season, my favorite holiday. I like gifts just as much as
the next guy. I woke up, I wake up at like 5 a.m. and I would just stare at the presents until my
parents would get up. They're like, "You can't get us up until 9 a.m. or something." And even
though it took 365 days basically to get to that point, waiting those four hours felt like another
365 days, okay? I was the kid that, I actually don't do this kids. My parents would put
presents under the tree early. Who does this? Does anybody put presents under the tree early?
Bad idea, okay? I went and snuck those and I would open them up secretly, you know,
and then try to like re-tape them and stuff like that. I love Christmas, but you know what's the
real Christmas story? What Jesus Christ did for us. He's the unspeakable gift according to the
Bible. And you know, some people, they're having a hard time. This is a difficult time for them,
and you know what? The best present we can possibly give them is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But that's going to take you humbling yourself. That's going to take you willing to face some
opposition and making some sacrifice. But that's what Jesus did for us. Let us follow in His example
and let us tell everybody the Christmas story. Closing prayer. Thank you, Heavenly Father,
so much for giving us your Son. Such a beautiful story, but not just a story, reality, history,
the truth. I pray that in our hearts and in our minds, we could dedicate ourselves to the gospel.
I pray that you could help us to humble ourselves, to crucify the flesh, to be willing to
transform our hearts, to soften our hearts. I pray that you would help us. If there's anybody
in this room or any of us that are struggling with the stones or the thorns of this life,
that you would help us to plow that field again, to get our hearts right with you.
I pray those of us have good ground, that we keep it good, we keep watering it with the word of God,
we keep coming to church. And I pray that you would help us to have a great and fruitful year
next year. That you would bless us and that we would take this this Christmas season, we take this
Christmas story and we would apply it for the entire next year. In Jesus name we pray, amen.
Okay for our last song, let's sing song number 430. Song number 430.
Wild Shepherds watch their flocks by night. Song number 430. Let's all sing that out together.
*outro music*