1 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:08,160 Good evening to you. How are we tonight? 2 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,120 Good. It thrills me to be with you all 3 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:18,400 this evening and for a time of singing and hearing a choir 4 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:22,400 sing, and reading the scriptures together, having the scriptures 5 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:27,680 read to us, but also hearing the word of the Lord taught, and all 6 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:30,640 of these things. I want to draw your attention to 7 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:35,880 one thought tonight, as you hear the word red, and as you hear 8 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:39,640 the word sung, and as you hear the voices of others who you 9 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:43,520 call brother and sister in Christ singing alongside you, 10 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:47,600 and as you hear the word of the word of the Lord proclaims even 11 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:54,080 now I want you to understand that all of this makes it clear 12 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,200 that God loves you. Amen. 13 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:03,200 He loves you. And this gathering, anytime the 14 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,000 Saints are gathered together, is great evidence of the love of 15 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,000 God. Now I want to recognize as well 16 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:15,760 that some of you, myself included, may be struggling at 17 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:22,080 times with the concept of love. How can a loving God allow such 18 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:24,400 pain? Or how can a loving God allow 19 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:26,360 loss? Or how can a loving God allow 20 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:29,560 misery? Or how can a loving God allow 21 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:33,800 suffering? All of those things shape our 22 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:39,160 lives at different times, right? But it's especially heightened 23 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:44,080 at a time of year where we're talking a lot about joy and 24 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:49,000 peace and happiness and mirth and being merry, right? 25 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:56,640 Not Mary the mother of Christ, but Mary MERRY, right? 26 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:03,280 I think the the reason for that and and I don't want to take a 27 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,240 ton of our time tonight, but I I did want to lead you through 28 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:09,039 this thought process. The reason for that is that we 29 00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:15,160 live in a Dark World, you know, we don't want to overlook that 30 00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:20,760 at Christmas We're constantly attacked by suffering and 31 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:24,920 deception and violence and lies and death and so many of the 32 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:30,640 other fiery darts of the enemy, the darkness of sin and death 33 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:37,840 and their effects on our world cast a very long shadow over our 34 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:43,120 lives constantly. As the prophet Isaiah says, he 35 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,760 speaks for the Lord. He says and writes for us in 36 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:52,840 Isaiah 822. It says there, and they will 37 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:58,480 look to the earth, but behold, distress and and darkness, the 38 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:04,640 gloom of anguish, and they will be thrust into thick darkness. 39 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:15,080 And yet, because of Jesus Christ, the immortal Son of God, 40 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:22,400 who puts on mortal flesh to dwell among us, yet because the 41 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:29,400 infinite becomes an infant, yet because the Lord of all creation 42 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:37,080 chose to be born in a lowly Manger in Bethlehem, because of 43 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:42,080 all of that and so much more, words fell us as we try to 44 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:45,520 describe the wonders of the incarnation. 45 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:49,840 But because of the incarnation, because of what we celebrate at 46 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:55,000 Christmas, we celebrate the fact that we have seen a great light. 47 00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:02,840 That light has dawned, and this light cannot be overshadowed. 48 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:09,160 Rather, it cast out the shadows. It eliminates shadows. 49 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:17,160 In John One verse five, we see there as we read that the Word 50 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:22,120 became flesh and dwelt among us. In verse five it says that he is 51 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:27,320 the light of man. This light shines in the 52 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:30,680 darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. 53 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,000 You see what I'm saying? There's a light that has shown 54 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:39,320 in Christ that the darkness cannot over shadow. 55 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,080 Now in John chapter 3, if you have your Bible, you can turn to 56 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:46,440 John chapter 3. I'm going to read 16 through 21 57 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:48,480 here in a moment. We're going to look at 16 58 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:50,480 through 21 more closely, but we're going to spend just a 59 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:53,240 moment in John 3. What I want you to know about 60 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:57,440 John chapter 3 is that we meet a man here whose name or who's 61 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:02,080 called Nicodemus. And Nicodemus was a Pharisee. 62 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:05,920 He was a ruler of the Jews. I don't have a ton of time to 63 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,880 explain what all of that meant, but I need you to know this. 64 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:14,720 This means he spent his whole life working to gain those 65 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:19,880 statuses. He devoted himself to studying, 66 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:28,320 to working, to teaching for years, for years to reach his 67 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:35,920 goal and for these things. These things were the height of 68 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,840 the religious world at the time He climbed the ladder, And if 69 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:45,480 anyone was was going to have a guarantee, we might say to get 70 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:49,520 into heaven, it would be a man like Nicodemus, one who is a 71 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:53,640 Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews, at least on the outside. 72 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:58,840 As we look at it, we say this is a man who is near to God. 73 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:04,720 He has to be. And yet John says this about 74 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:11,800 Nicodemus, says now there was a man of the Pharisees named 75 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:14,440 Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, verse two. 76 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:23,320 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know 77 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:25,960 that you are a teacher, come from God, for no one can do 78 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:29,160 these signs that you do unless God is with him. 79 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,760 So he's making just a general statement about the works that 80 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:37,800 have been observed, that Christ has done the miracles, the signs 81 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:41,400 that he has performed thus far, early in his ministry. 82 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:48,400 But I want you to pay, and typically we catch that. 83 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:51,120 But what I want you to catch tonight as you think about this 84 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,080 passage is that he came to him by night. 85 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:02,720 John is not leaving out that detail because he wants us to 86 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:06,080 know the detail. John is not adding the detail, 87 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:09,120 just simply as a way for us to understand what it might have 88 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:11,480 looked like when Nicodemus showed up. 89 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:14,880 John adds the detail. The description of literal 90 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:19,560 darkness colors for us a picture about the condition of 91 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:24,920 Nicodemus's heart. He came to Christ in darkness. 92 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:31,040 He's he's full of darkness. How do we know this? 93 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,400 Well, Jesus makes the assessment himself. 94 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,800 He says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, 95 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,600 he cannot see the Kingdom of God. 96 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:42,440 And when Nicodemus questions this, how could a man be born 97 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:49,600 again, Jesus buckles down on it and tells him once again. 98 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:54,080 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of spirit and 99 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:57,880 water, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. 100 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:03,120 What's the assessment that Christ is making about 101 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:05,840 Nicodemus? Well, it's nothing short of 102 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:06,840 this. Nicodemus. 103 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:12,480 Your heart is far from you. Assume that you stand in great 104 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:15,200 light and you come here to question me. 105 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,600 But I have some questions for you about the state of your 106 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:22,480 life. You must be born again. 107 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:29,640 You must start over, is what he say. 108 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:35,159 Now again you think about a man who has worked the totality, the 109 00:08:35,159 --> 00:08:39,159 entirety of his life to achieve, becoming a Pharisee, 110 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:44,880 high-ranking Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, a teacher of God's 111 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:51,080 word. And yet now he's being told you 112 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:54,280 can't even see the Kingdom of God unless you are born again. 113 00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:59,400 That's a crushing thing to hear, isn't it? 114 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:03,360 To be told that your whole life's work, all the morality 115 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:06,240 that you have built up, all the cred that you've built up among 116 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:11,520 the religious elite, is nothing in the eyes of Christ. 117 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,240 Why? Well, because your works will 118 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:19,200 not save you. Your works. 119 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:24,280 To be sure, I'm not a I'm certainly not against faithful 120 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:27,120 works. The Bible commands us to do good 121 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,000 works, but the Bible never commands that we do good works 122 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,400 unto salvation. The Bible commands that you do 123 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:38,360 good works from salvation, from a heart that's been transformed, 124 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:42,160 from a life that's been changed by the spirit of God, from a 125 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:47,080 life that has been regenerated, that is given new birth by God's 126 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:51,160 spirits. In that way you go, brothers and 127 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:55,800 sisters, and you tell the world of Christ in your actions and in 128 00:09:55,800 --> 00:10:00,600 your words. But you best not trust your 129 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:06,840 works to get you into heaven, or you too will arrive in darkness 130 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:11,360 to see the Messiah. You'll arrive in darkness. 131 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:14,440 Darkness. The problem with darkness. 132 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:18,160 The problem with things like what Nicodemus is experiencing 133 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:21,720 and coming in darkness. The issue with this is, if you 134 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:29,080 ask Nicodemus, he has the most light available already on him. 135 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:34,720 He thinks he suspects that he stands in bright light and that 136 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:39,840 there is no darkness within him. You understand the deception 137 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:44,240 that comes through things like your good works. 138 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:48,360 They will make you think that because of my morality, because 139 00:10:48,560 --> 00:10:51,760 I do believe that there is a God in heaven, and I do believe that 140 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:57,360 he had a son who existed and who came to be like man and to die 141 00:10:57,360 --> 00:10:59,640 for us. I do believe those things. 142 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:02,280 And yet you never yield your life to His Lordship. 143 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:05,560 You may think that because there's morality and some 144 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:11,760 general belief in Christ or in his name, that this is enough. 145 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:19,320 But it just it is not enough. You must possess faith. 146 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:23,440 Well, what is faith? Faith is not only saying I 147 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:26,520 believe with my mouth. It's not only confessing with my 148 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:30,480 mouth that Jesus is Lord, but it's believing it in such a way 149 00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:36,520 that I stake my own life on it, and that I give up the desires 150 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:38,560 of this world and the things that I want. 151 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:45,760 And I run after Christ and I submit to him, to His Lordship, 152 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:51,120 to his desires for me, to his will for my life. 153 00:11:52,840 --> 00:12:04,160 In that way you dwell in light. But darkness appears as light by 154 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:11,760 Satan's very design, and therefore it always crushes us. 155 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:16,920 Very few people wake up saying I'm going to live a life for the 156 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:20,400 darkness. We're going to live a life unto 157 00:12:20,560 --> 00:12:25,720 the glory of evil. And yet, because our hearts are 158 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:31,720 far from the Lord, we serve evil every day, even in our morality, 159 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:35,480 because even those good works are selfish works. 160 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:42,680 Jesus goes on to explain though that the new birth comes by the 161 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:46,080 Spirit of God when the Son of Man is lifted up in the 162 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:49,320 wilderness and the people will believe in him and receive 163 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:53,480 eternal life as the bronze servant was lifted in the days 164 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:57,600 of Moses. What's Jesus doing here was 165 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:00,320 drawing out a teaching from the Old Testament that Nicodemus 166 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:03,040 would have been very, very familiar with. 167 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:05,840 He spent his life studying the Old Testament. 168 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:08,400 Again, they didn't have a New Testament yet. 169 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:15,280 He spent his whole life studying the Old Testament, and Israel in 170 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:17,560 this particular story is wandering around in the 171 00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:21,520 wilderness. Israel often sinned against God, 172 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:26,920 and in one instance God sent venomous snakes to bite them as 173 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:32,400 punishment, and so many died. It was a dark time in the life 174 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:34,120 of Israel. They had sinned against God. 175 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:39,960 God is judging them rightly for their sin, and many are dying. 176 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:44,720 And yet Moses pleads with God on behalf of the people. 177 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:49,760 And so God instructs him to raise up a bronze serpent in the 178 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:52,000 wilderness. And when anyone is written, so 179 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:56,000 it's a serpent raised up on a pole, and when anyone is bitten, 180 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:59,040 they could look unto it and be healed. 181 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:06,480 Nicodemus would know the story of these Israelites very well. 182 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:11,720 And so when Jesus says that the Son of Man will be lifted up, 183 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,680 Nicodemus is understanding. Wait a minute, he's talking 184 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:22,160 about himself. So not only is he saying I've 185 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:25,080 come from God, he never denied that we know that you've come 186 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:26,680 from God because the works that you do. 187 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:30,320 He's not only not denying that, he's now saying more than that, 188 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:35,400 He's saying I am the Son of Man. I am the promised Messiah, is 189 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:40,320 what this would mean, and anyone who looks to the Son of Man, who 190 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:43,640 will be lifted up and believes in him, will receive eternal 191 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:47,600 life. But why? 192 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:52,080 Why would this happen? What's the motivation for it? 193 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:58,000 How would that put away the darkness that is in Nicodemus's 194 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:02,840 life? Well, remember that John 195 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:05,800 introduced Jesus Christ as the Word. 196 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,560 In John chapter one, he introduces him as the Word who 197 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:13,480 became flesh, that he was with God in the beginning, and that 198 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:20,800 he was God, and he becomes flesh, and he is the light of 199 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:23,960 man, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness 200 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:28,760 cannot overcome it. Now, in this report of 201 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:32,640 Nicodemus's meeting with the Messiah, John is going to flesh 202 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:34,760 this out for us. He's going to report to us what 203 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:38,720 Christ goes on to say. What does it mean that the light 204 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:42,320 shines into the darkness? Well, it means this. 205 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:49,560 That the light of God's love has shown in Christ Jesus. 206 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:55,120 That's what's revealed here. Look at verse 16, a verse you're 207 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,520 all likely very, very familiar with. 208 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:06,320 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that 209 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:10,000 whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal 210 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:12,680 life. For God did not send his Son 211 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:15,440 into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the 212 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:18,480 world might be saved through him. 213 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:30,080 Jesus is simply here in verse 16 and 17 explaining further the 214 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:34,960 story of the Bronze Serpent, that that bronze serpent was a 215 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:37,840 type. It was a shadow in the Old 216 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:42,120 Testament of the Messiah to come and the work that he would do. 217 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,240 Then It was the serpent that meant the healing for the Jews, 218 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:49,320 but now it's the Messiah that marks a healing for the nations. 219 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:55,880 It's a welcoming of all peoples for God's. 220 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:59,960 So love just simply means that God loved the world in this way 221 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:04,599 that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not 222 00:17:04,599 --> 00:17:10,200 perish but have eternal life. See, Jesus was not sent to 223 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:16,400 condemn the world, rather that the world might be saved through 224 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,680 him, meaning that the nations might come. 225 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,880 As the bronze serpent reconciled the believing Israelites with 226 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:29,800 God, so does Christ. Reconcile all who believes in 227 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:34,280 him with God. And this is the height of love. 228 00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:40,760 This is the foremost work that God can do for us. 229 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:44,440 To show that he loves us is to send a Messiah. 230 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:49,040 You and I are destitute. Without it, you and I are 231 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:52,760 hopeless without a Messiah. You and I have. 232 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:57,720 We're guaranteed hell forever if Christ never comes. 233 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:03,840 You understand? It's not God sitting in the 234 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:07,160 heavens looking at us, saying, all right, I've given you the 235 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:09,120 law. You've proven that you can't 236 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:11,440 hold the law. You can't keep the law. 237 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:14,480 But I'm telling you, if just one of you could finally keep the 238 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:18,120 law, he'll be saved. She'll be saved. 239 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:25,360 Well, guess what? No one can keep the law except 240 00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:31,840 Christ, and So what does God do? He looks into the darkness of 241 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:34,880 sin and death, a world marked by sin and death. 242 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:40,240 And rather than God remaining, I would call it transcendent 243 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:43,120 rather than distant, He becomes imminent. 244 00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:48,200 He moves into the darkness himself in the second member of 245 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:53,160 the Trinity, Christ, Christ puts on flesh. 246 00:18:54,120 --> 00:19:00,520 The Word is born of the Virgin, and he becomes the Messiah by 247 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:04,120 giving his own life. This is the height of love. 248 00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:05,880 It's dying for those who hate you. 249 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:09,320 You say, well, I've never hated God. 250 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:16,120 Well, your brother and sister, as the great theologian Oscar 251 00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:25,630 Meyer says, baloney. Apart from Christ, you can do 252 00:19:25,630 --> 00:19:29,560 nothing but hate. God may might love the concept 253 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:33,200 of God, but you'll never love God's justice because you are 254 00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:36,360 unjust. You'll never love the concept of 255 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:39,600 God's righteousness because you are unrighteous and those, 256 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:44,840 therefore judgment must be executed on your head on that 257 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:53,600 day but Christ. But Christ marks the love of God 258 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:58,400 for his people, the saving of his people. 259 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:06,720 And so Christ dies for those who hate the Father so that they 260 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:09,640 might be able to love the Father. 261 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:14,200 You understand Romans 5-6 and eight For while we were still 262 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:18,200 weak, meaning while we were still helpless, while we're 263 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:21,120 still bound to our sin, while we were still dead in our 264 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:25,200 trespasses at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 265 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:28,800 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person. 266 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:32,040 Meaning you might be good enough that you would give your life 267 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:34,040 like some of us men in here. We would say, yeah, I would 268 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:37,200 gladly give my life for my wife, right? 269 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:42,680 And so there's there's a scarcity to this that you might 270 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:46,680 scarcely die for someone that you think is worthy of dying 271 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:54,960 for, but you're not going to die for sinners, he says. 272 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:57,280 For one, we'll scarcely die for a righteous person, though 273 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:01,320 perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. 274 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:06,000 But God shows his love for us, and that while we were still 275 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:10,760 sinners, Christ died for us. How does he show his love for 276 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:12,440 us? And that while we were still 277 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:17,560 sinners, Christ died for us? Again, He's not saying I need 278 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:22,400 you to do all of these things to check all of these boxes. 279 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:25,200 If ever there was a man who checked the boxes, what's his 280 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:27,080 name? Nicodemus. 281 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:32,280 And yet he still must be born again. 282 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,600 He still is a Sinner whom Christ dies for. 283 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:40,960 Ephesians 2, One through three we read it. 284 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:43,760 Set this way. And you were dead in the 285 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:47,480 trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the 286 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:51,200 course of this world, following the Prince of the power of the 287 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,600 air, the spirit that is now at work, and the sons of 288 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:56,800 disobedience. This is a long form way of 289 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:03,320 saying, Satan, among whom we all once lived in the passions of 290 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:06,560 our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the 291 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:10,600 mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest 292 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:14,440 of mankind. So there's no one exempt from 293 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:20,800 this. And so I understand that in a 294 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:24,000 room like this, of people gathered like this, such were 295 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:35,000 some of you, such were some of us, and yet such are still many 296 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:37,880 today. Potentially, even in this room 297 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:42,280 there is someone here who has not yet surrendered their life 298 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:46,200 to the Lordship of Christ Jesus. They're still trying to get in 299 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:47,840 by their good works. They're still trying to say, if 300 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:53,160 I build a life of good works, if I assemble this castle of good 301 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:56,920 works and I present it to the Lord on that day that it will 302 00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:00,280 stand, I'll be the king of that castle. 303 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,240 But the problem with that thinking is that castle's made 304 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:14,760 of sand. It's going to come a cart and 305 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:18,720 it's not going to stand. And you must learn to build your 306 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:24,560 life now on the words of Christ Jesus, to turn from your sins 307 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:27,640 and to submit yourself to His Lordship. 308 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:31,160 And this is the God you'll come to find. 309 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:33,320 Verse 4. So I read that this you were 310 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:35,040 this way. Look at verse four. 311 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:37,720 Or you can hear it read. Sorry, Ephesians 2, verse four. 312 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:43,080 But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with 313 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:46,520 which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, 314 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:49,680 made us alive together with Christ. 315 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:52,720 That sounds a lot like Romans 5, doesn't it? 316 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:58,680 By grace you have been saved and raised us up with Him and seated 317 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:02,000 us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 318 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:06,400 So that in the coming ages, the age in which you and I now live, 319 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:09,880 in the ages beyond us, and the ages that have preceded us, 320 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:13,720 became after the 1st century, so that in the coming ages he might 321 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:18,760 show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us 322 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:23,400 in Christ Jesus. Listen to the way the Apostle 323 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:27,800 Paul, once a murderer of Christians, once a persecutor of 324 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,840 the very people of God. He's now encouraging them, and 325 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:32,880 he's saying, such were some of you. 326 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:39,720 But look, God is rich in mercy, and He's filled with great love. 327 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:43,160 And it's this great love which He's lavished upon us. 328 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:46,520 Though we were dead in our sins, He's made us alive together with 329 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:48,440 Christ. You were dead. 330 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:50,800 It's not that you were drowning. It's not that you were hopeful, 331 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:54,600 hopelessly swimming in an ocean, and he's cast out a life net for 332 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:59,800 you to hold on to. You were dead, and he's raised 333 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:04,760 you up and his love, and he's made you alive together with 334 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:08,960 Christ, and He's raised you up, and He's seated you with him who 335 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:13,400 is in the heavenly places. So very much so even now you 336 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:17,560 possess eternal life, and you live here and now, But your 337 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:21,680 place, your home, your residence is in heaven. 338 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:28,280 Brothers and sisters, you reside with Christ because God has 339 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:37,920 loved you, unlovable as you are. He's loved you and He loves you 340 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:42,520 now, and He wants us at Christmas to remember this great 341 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:51,040 love you see without the coming of Christ Jesus as a child in a 342 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:55,840 Manger who was born to die for the sins of all who believe in 343 00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:59,680 Him. Without that, and you and I 344 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:05,800 would not know the first thing about God's love, wouldn't 345 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,680 understand it. We couldn't know him. 346 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:11,440 We couldn't be reconciled to God. 347 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:14,080 We could have no peace with the Father. 348 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:19,760 And yet in Christ. In Christ, the love of God 349 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:24,280 shines for eternity, and it will never be overshadowed or put out 350 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:29,160 by the enemy's attacks. Though we are people who walk 351 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:32,880 amid great darkness even today, and though we sense great 352 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:37,160 darkness creeping in and seeking to over shadow us through our 353 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,880 persecutions and our pains and our sufferings and trials, and 354 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:45,640 through death and you name it, we feel this. 355 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:50,440 And yet the truth is, you've seen great light. 356 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,160 You've not been left in darkness, have you? 357 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:00,200 The light of God's love, through the coming of his own son has 358 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:05,160 shown on you. He sent Christ to die so that he 359 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:07,400 may save his people from their sins. 360 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:08,800 We read it early. I'll read it again. 361 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:10,840 She will bear a son. Matthew 121. 362 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:14,000 And she and you shall call his name Jesus. 363 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:16,760 Now this is being spoken to Joseph, who's having a little 364 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:22,760 bit of trouble understanding how his betrothed, soon to be wife 365 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:28,040 could be pregnant. And he's wondering, how do I 366 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:31,320 just divorce her quietly and let this go? 367 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:39,120 And yet an Angel says to Joseph, you shall bear a son, you shall 368 00:27:39,120 --> 00:27:42,600 call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. 369 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:47,120 And this took place, Matthew writes, to fulfill what the Lord 370 00:27:47,120 --> 00:27:49,440 had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the Virgin shall 371 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:52,800 conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name 372 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:57,040 Emmanuel, which means God with us. 373 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:01,000 You see, God has put on flesh in Christ. 374 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:06,320 The second member of the Trinity was born, and has resided with 375 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:11,120 mankind, and gave himself up, and will one day greet us in 376 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:14,480 glory. And yet he has not left us 377 00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:17,760 alone. He has left His Spirit with us 378 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:22,400 to bear witness to the truths of who Christ is, to bear witness 379 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:26,440 to the truths of who the Father is, to transform us from 1° of 380 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:30,000 glory into the next, so that we bear the image of Christ in 381 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:34,520 ourselves. It's done this work for us 382 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:40,320 because God so loved the world, and so no matter what darkness 383 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:44,920 may come, though the shadow of trials and despairs and sins and 384 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:48,680 sufferings and deaths may rise, and that shadow may lengthen 385 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:52,280 over you. And around you the light of 386 00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:55,160 God's loves withstands. All of it. 387 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:02,960 So I heard you come to Christ in your darkness, just like 388 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:08,760 Nicodemus, and understand that you will receive eternal life 389 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:13,640 with the hope and the joy there of this day. 390 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,240 In verse 18 I want to draw your attention to John 318, because I 391 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:23,000 think we must also receive this warning from Christ. 392 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,640 He says whoever believes in him and is not condemned. 393 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,360 Sorry, whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever 394 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:33,960 does not believe is condemned already because he is not 395 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:36,520 believed in the name of the only Son of God. 396 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:40,120 You see, Christ didn't have to come to condemn because you 397 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:48,240 stood condemned already. The condemnation shows up when 398 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:52,960 you refuse to believe that Christ is Lord when you 399 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:56,720 blasphemy his name. And this is the judgment. 400 00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:58,800 Verse 19. The light has come into the 401 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:02,360 world, and people love the darkness rather than the light 402 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:09,080 because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked 403 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:12,920 things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his 404 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:17,000 work should be exposed. But whoever does what is true 405 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:20,480 comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his 406 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:23,480 works have been carried out in God. 407 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:32,080 And so I urge you, I ask you, I want you to see this. 408 00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:35,840 If you love the false light of the world, those things that 409 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:39,280 seem as though they are light but are truly the deception of 410 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:44,040 Satan, their darkness. If you love that more than the 411 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:48,400 true light of God's love, the true light of what God has done 412 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:54,600 for you, the true light of what God commands of you this day, 413 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:59,440 that I implore you to repent this evening, to not go on 414 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:03,120 living this way, to be reconciled to the Father through 415 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:07,200 Jesus Christ, by the power of his Spirit, which is drawing you 416 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:16,620 even now. Or maybe you're a believer. 417 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:21,160 You've trusted Christ as Lord. You've submitted to him, but 418 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:27,200 you've allowed the the pomp and circumstance of the season to 419 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:30,880 cast a shadow in the light of God's love on the meaning of 420 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:35,080 Christmas, the wonders of the incarnation of God's Son through 421 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:44,800 the Virgin conception of Mary. And so I ask you, during this 422 00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:49,400 time again, maybe the season brings about remembrances of 423 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:56,280 loved ones that you miss, and you just find yourself thinking 424 00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:59,880 what a dark, horrible place this is. 425 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:08,200 Or maybe it highlights just the the way you get stressed out 426 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:12,200 over the season, the way you you focus so much on all the things 427 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:14,760 that have to get done or the things that need to get bought. 428 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:18,360 Or maybe you see in your heart a desire for stuff and you 429 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:25,200 realize, Oh no, I covet I want things. 430 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:29,680 I'm not content, right? I mean, the season can draw out 431 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:35,880 all sorts of all sorts of things. 432 00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:41,440 And so I ask you, will you turn your eye to Christ? 433 00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:45,680 Will you turn your eye to the love of God this evening? 434 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:49,400 Will you forget those busy things? 435 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:54,840 Will you submit those painful things to the lordship of Christ 436 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:59,000 and to his sovereign design for your life, to his providential 437 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,840 rule of your life, and say, Lord, it hurts, and I don't 438 00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:05,880 understand it, but I submitted to you, and I trust that you're 439 00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:09,720 good tonight. I trust that you love because I 440 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:13,720 see in the incarnation the love of God for me. 441 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:17,960 And so I have no reason to doubt that you love me even when I 442 00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:24,160 don't understand. We forget those busy things, 443 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:28,000 those things that are seeking to distract you as Satan seeks to 444 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:30,600 tear your attention away from Christ. 445 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:33,280 And will you steal your heart and will you quiet your mind 446 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:40,440 before the Lord tonight? For God loved you in this way 447 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:43,960 that he gave his only Son. Whoever believed in him will not 448 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:48,880 perish but have eternal life. We're going to sing a song here 449 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:50,880 in just a second called He Who Is Mighty. 450 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:55,600 And I Want to Read to You the chorus and I guess it's a 451 00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:57,960 bridge. Not very musical. 452 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:02,000 I'm not. But it says this. 453 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:06,360 It says He Who is Mighty has done a great thing. 454 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:11,920 He's taken on flesh, conquered deaths, Sting. 455 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:16,080 He shattered the darkness and lifted our shame. 456 00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:22,719 Holy is His name. Now my soul magnifies the Lord. 457 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:27,400 I rejoice in the God who saves. I will trust his unfailing love. 458 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:30,960 I will sing His praise all my days. 459 00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:34,080 Amen. We're going to invite the choir 460 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:36,840 and the team to come up. I'm going to pray for us. 461 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:40,040 And then we'll stand together and sing when I'm finished 462 00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:43,560 praying. Heavenly Father, we thank you 463 00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:47,679 for tonight. We thank you, Lord, for your 464 00:34:47,679 --> 00:34:51,320 love for us. We ask, Father, that you would 465 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:56,520 help us tonight to fix our gaze on Christ Jesus. 466 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:03,040 To see He who is mighty, to see the One who has done a great 467 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:06,880 thing, to see the immortal become mortal, to see the 468 00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:11,200 infinite become an infant, so that he might save his people 469 00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:17,240 from their sins. My God, I understand there may 470 00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:22,600 be all manner of of dark shadows hanging over our lives. 471 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:25,080 Maybe it's the darkness of our own sins. 472 00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:29,280 Maybe it's the darkness of our failures and our frustrations. 473 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:33,320 Maybe it's the darkness of sin and death and its effects on our 474 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:38,960 lives. Or maybe it's just distractions 475 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:45,000 and the busyness of the season. But Lord, we would be amiss 476 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:48,600 tonight if we do not fix our gaze on issue. 477 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:54,400 We praise you, We thank you for your love for us, for your 478 00:35:54,640 --> 00:36:01,520 kindness toward us. Lord, it is our hope now to lift 479 00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:06,920 up the One who is mighty to sing the praises of Christ Jesus. 480 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:12,680 As our hearts soar with hope and joy, which we have given to us 481 00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:20,960 in Christ, They are ours. Love you, Lord, we thank you for 482 00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:24,880 your love for us. Christ Name, I pray. 483 00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:26,040 Amen.