My name is Gabe Richards. Today's scripture reading is Jude 24 and 25, page 1055 in the
Bibles in the back of the pews. Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling
and to make you stand in the presence of his glory without blemish and with great joy,
to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority
before all time, now and forever. Amen. This is God's word.
When your sound man comes up to read scripture, everything goes haywire. All right, take two.
Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her King, and let every heart prepare
him room, and heaven and nature sing. Joy to the world, the Savior reigns, let men their
songs employ. We did some employing this morning, yes, in song. While fields and floods, rocks,
hills and plains repeat the sounding joy. Joy to the world, the Lord has come.
C.S. Lewis once said that human history is the long, terrible story of mankind trying
to find something other than God which will make him happy. And truth is, maybe your life
is the long, terrible story of you trying to find something other than God to make you
happy. How many of you guys remember the movie, we talk about Christmas movies, the movie
Christmas Vacation? Anyone see that movie? Well, Cousin Eddie comes over to visit, and
Cousin Eddie brings his RV, right? And Cousin Eddie does some illegal dumping in the street,
if you guys remember. He decides that it's time to clean out the RV's sewage tank, and
so he dumps the sewage into the drain on the street in front of Clark Griswold's house.
And we see this progress throughout the movie, and later on, toward the end of the movie,
Grandpa's out there, and Grandpa wants to light up his cigar, right? And he just so happens
to light a cigar next to the inlet of the street, and you can imagine the liberties
that the filmmakers took there, because what followed was a huge explosion of the methane
gas coming out of the sewage, and Santa and his sleigh, boom, go flying off into the sky.
There was Santa and sleigh decoration on Clark's front yard, and with a burning trail behind
it like a shooting star, I think Grandma puts her hand over her heart and begins to sing
the Star Spangled Banner or the Pledge of Allegiance or something like that, and everyone
laughs.
Well, maybe this morning, you've been sitting in the driver's seat of your sled, and it's
been rocketing through the sky, trail of fire behind it, flaming spectacle as it shoots
through the sky of life, and with the inevitable crash waiting and the laugh ensuing. And I
want to tell you this morning, if that is you, and your life is the terrible, long story
of you trying to find something other than God to be happy in, we're told this morning,
joy to the world, joy to the world, joy to the world, the Lord has come. And do you know
what that means? Do you know what that means for your story and how that speaks to your
story? Do you know that regardless of your life circumstances, this is good news? Very
good news. We are all about joy when it's that situation out there, persecution and
trial coming against us, and we'll talk about, you know, we've got to find joy, we've got
to rejoice in the Lord. We even sang a little bit about that and talked a little bit about
it, and that is absolutely true. But what about when the reality of our joy is in the
face of our own mess? What if our joy begins to wane in the face of our own sinfulness
and our own failures? Then do we hear the words, joy to the world, the Lord has come?
Don't live in fear of those out there, of the haters. Don't live your life in fear as
we point toward Christmas Day and we look toward the New Year of 24. Don't live your
life in fear of the reality of disease or hardship all around you or the never-ending
cycle of COVID that's always going to get us at some point in time. Don't live in fear
of your own stupidity and foolishness. Some of you walk around crippled by your own foolishness
and sin, living in fear that any moment you're going to screw up and take your whole life
down with you. Stop living in fear because joy to the world, the Lord has come.
In the book of Luke chapter 2 verses 10 through 11, the angel of the Lord appears to some
shepherds that are tending their flock in the hill country. And what does the angel
say to them? The angel says, don't be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great
joy that will be for all people. Today in the city of David, a savior was born for you,
who is the Messiah, the Lord. Fear not. Good news of great joy for all people. Is that
for you and me today? Is it good news of great joy for you and me today? Regardless of the
circumstances of our life, whether it be external forces or internal forces we are warring with,
is it good news of great joy the Savior, the Lord is born even for you and me today? And
how can you and I access this fearless joy that's talked about in Luke chapter 2, this
fearless joy in life? How can we have sustained and supported fearlessness and rejoicing no
matter what? Today our whole topic is around the advent, the coming, the welcoming of joy.
And I would say it is only possible for us to have fearless joy that is sustained and
supported and fed. It's only possible because the Lord has come. It is because we are invited
to live under the Lordship of Jesus Christ that you and I can live fearlessly today.
The Lordship of Jesus supports and sustains and feeds our fearless joy. So what is it
about His Lordship that supports, sustains and feeds our fearless joy? Well let's look
at five points this morning asking what kind of Lord is He? If we are not to be afraid
because there is good news of great joy and it's for all people because today in the city
of David a Lord is born. What kind of Lord is He? And how can that Lord allow me to live
a life of fearless joy? The first point I will make is that He is a divine Lord. He
is a divine Lord. In the Old Testament we are told that He will come and He will be
born and He will be called Emmanuel. Quick test, what does Emmanuel mean? God with us.
Get Kimberly a cookie. She was like ready for that one. I don't even think I finished
talking before she was answering. Emmanuel, God with us. God with us. This changes everything.
This changes everything. This means that God, the God of all creation and the God of all
glory stepped down into our story. The God of all creation, the God of all glory, the
God who made you and everything around you stepped down into your story. That changes
everything. He is not a distant deity, warring with other deities for a pastime and poking
fun at the humans down below, trying to irritate them. He is a God who stepped down, we are
told, who became flesh and dwelt among us, Emmanuel. He stepped down into our story,
into our history. And this means that Jesus' Lordship, because wherever the King is, there
the Kingdom is. Remember that. Wherever the King is, there the Kingdom is. And that means
his Lordship stepped down into our story as well. And his Lordship is divine. His Lordship
is divine. It's not backed by human resources or the will of humanity that shifts and changes
over time. Jesus isn't just a charismatic ruler who rose to fame for a moment, only
to be overthrown by the next charismatic ruler. No, this means implicit in his Lordship are
all of the attributes of God. Implicit in the Lordship of Jesus Christ are all the attributes
of the living God, all powerful, all knowing, unchangeable, ever eminent. We are told in
the story of Christmas that Gabriel appears to a young virgin named Mary and says that
she will be overcome by the Holy Spirit and that she will be with child. Why is that in
the story? Why do we have that narrative in the story of Jesus Christ? Because we are
being told to understand that no human could bring this about. Jesus' birth, no human could
bring this about. Only the Holy Spirit, the triune God at work. This is the working of
God and God alone. Jesus, the God man, who was born with two natures, a divine and a
human nature, born of God and born of Mary. This Lord is God and that's profound. Why
else would we worship Jesus today? Why else would we sing praises today? After the announcement
of the birth of Jesus by the angels, Luke goes on to describe a scene where a multitude
of angels cannot keep quiet. They burst out in song and that would have been a sight to
see. The song they sang is glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth to people
that he, God, has found favor in. It would be idolatry to worship anything or anyone
other than the true and living God. And the angels burst into worship of God at the announcement
of Jesus' birth. But not only at the beginning do we see that there's this worship service
that kicks off spontaneously because of the birth of Jesus, but at the end of Luke we
also see the same thing. We're told that at the end of Luke, Jesus leads his disciples
out of the vicinity of Bethany and lifting up his hands he blesses them and while he
was blessing them he left them and was carried up into heaven, the ascension of Jesus at
the end of his life. And what did the disciples do? They worshiped him. They worshiped him.
And then it says they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. There's those words again.
Great joy. They worshiped Jesus because Jesus was God. And then they returned to Jerusalem
with great joy. The divine Lord changes everything. They knew who he was. Luke begins the story
of Jesus with great joy and ends the story of Jesus with great joy. And so I say this
morning fear not. Have great joy for he is a divine Lord. Number two, he is a real Lord.
This Lord, Jesus, that we worship in glory in this morning, he is real. He is historically
real. He is not a myth. He is not a fiction. He's not a character in Narnia or Lord of
the Rings. He's not Elvish. He didn't come from Wakanda or Pandora. He's not a superhero
in a graphic novel. The Bible is full of all kinds of details surrounding his life, surrounding
who he was. We are told of specific cities, specific towns in which he resided or that
he moved to or where people came from by name so that the people who were alive at that
time, they could verify. They could say that's not what that's called or that's not who that
is or that's not who's in power right now. People of other historical figures who are
verifiably real are recorded in the text of the scripture. Caesar, Augustus, Herod, Pontius
Pilate, Quirinius, the governor of Syria, real historical figures right there in the
text. He is a real Lord. He is as real as the person who is sitting next to you. He
is as real as any other historical figure and his being real means that you and I can
have fearless joy today in the Lordship of Jesus Christ because our Lord is not a fantasy.
Our Lord is not a myth. He is divine and he is real and therefore he is the true and living
God. If that's your Lord, you can be fearless today. Fearless and filled with joy. And so
I will say for the second point, fear not, have great joy for he is a real Lord. And
number three, he is a sovereign Lord. Over and over again, we are told of his sovereignty.
We're told of the extent of his reign and rule. Who is this King? Who is this Lord?
And where does his rule end? What part of the known world or the universe is untouched
by his rule and his reign? Where can his hands and his arms not reach? Where? We're told
that the wind and the waves obey him. Be still and they're still. We're told that demons
obey him. Come out of that man and they come out. They try to talk to him and he says,
be quiet. They try to proclaim who he is before he's ready to reveal it and he says, silence
and they shut their mouth. Where does his arm not reach? He walks up to people who are
diseased, full of disease and sickness and he says, healed or Lazarus, come alive. Come
out. He governs all things. In Hebrews chapter one, verse three, we are told that the son
is the radiance of God's glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things
by his powerful word, sustaining all things. This is the Lord and the Lordship that we
are under if we are in Christ, the sovereign Lord. Just think about this. I came across
this example again. I've used it before. It's just, it really, it really kind of captures
it. Consider this in the Christmas story. The prophets said that the Messiah would be
born where? Bethlehem, the city of David. He would be born in Bethlehem. But where does
the Virgin Mary live? Nazareth. And where does Joseph live? Nazareth. And so how is
Jesus going to be born in Bethlehem if Mary and Joseph lives in Nazareth, seven miles
north? Oh, easy. The sovereign Lord goes to Caesar Augustus and prompts him and provokes
him to take a census of his whole nation, demanding that everyone return to the place
of their birth of the family. And at the exact moment, exact moment necessary so that Mary
and Joseph can be in Bethlehem for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem, seven miles from where
they're at, where do they arrive? They arrive right there, right on time. Caesar Augustus,
the most powerful person in all the world at the time, no problem. Jesus does a little
something. God does a little provoking, does a little bit of pushing, does a, does a little
bit of swaying. And what happens? Boom. Declare a census. Mary, Joseph end up seven miles
south of where they're at in Bethlehem. Jesus is born in Bethlehem, the city of David, just
like the prophets told. He governs all things. He sustains all things by his powerful word.
There is nothing beyond his reach or outside of his control. And so when we look and how
do we face our life with fearless joy that is ours in Christ? Well, it's when we live
under the lordship of the one who is sovereign over all things. He is divine. He is real
and he is sovereign and governs all things. And so my friends, fear not, have great joy
for he is a sovereign Lord.
Number four, he is a saving Lord for God so loved. God loved the world in this way. He
gave his one and only son so that anyone and everyone who believes in him will not perish
but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through him. Wherever the king is, there the kingdom is and the
kingdom of God is all about saving. Jesus came into the world to seek and save that
which was lost. He didn't come to condemn, but to offer himself as a substitute and offering
a free will offering to take the place of sinners and to endure their judgment so that
they could receive pardon. So that they could be reconciled to God their father. And we
are told in Acts that there is no salvation. There is salvation in no one else for there
is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.
Does Jesus come to save us because we are a worthy bunch? Does Jesus come to save us
because we're a worthy bunch? No. In fact, we're told by the word of God in Romans that
in our sin we are enemies of God. In our sin we're enemies of God and Jesus came to die
for his enemies. That's who he came to die for. Not once we were clean, not once we were
a worthy bunch. Then he said, all right, now I'll come. Take another shower, another, you
know, get clean. No, no. He said, while you're my enemies, I come. I'll come to make myself
a substitute, to take your place, a free will offering to take your place that God might
pardon you of your sins as he looks to me and I take your punishment for you. While
you were still enemies, Christ died for you. Jesus came to purchase a bunch of rebels for
God and every one of you before you were in Christ were a rebel. You had rejected the
God of creation. We know this, that the devil's work, the devil is real and the devil's work
is sin and corruption of God's good creation. Right? That's the devil's work. He works to
bait and lure God's human creation away from glorifying God and enjoying God always. That's
his work. That's what he does on a constant basis. But we also know that the word of God
says that the devil knows his time is coming to an end. He knows his time is coming to
an end and therefore he wants to wreak some havoc. Well, Jesus, we're told in 1st John,
in his work of salvation, what did he come to do? He came to destroy the work of the
devil, to destroy it, to dismantle it, to tear it brick by brick down until it's a pile
of dust. Jesus came to destroy the work of the devil. That's the Lord and the Lordship
you and I live under. That's our Lord, divine and real and sovereign and saving. And so
I'll say one more time, fear not, have great joy for he is a saving Lord. And finally,
he is an eternal Lord. Colossians chapter 1 tells us that everything was created by
Jesus in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him. He is
before all things and by him all things hold together. Our fearless joy is secure in the
Lordship of Jesus because his Lordship is eternal. It is a Lordship that is before and
it is a Lordship that is after. It is from beginning to end for he is the Alpha and he
is the Omega. His kingdom and his glory knows no end. We are told from everlasting to everlasting,
he will rule. And we're told that every authority, every power, every dominion, every throne,
every ruler is under his rule. Not just today's rulers either, not just Joe Biden or, you
know, whoever else is out there right now. We're about to get into political season,
so just get ready. We've got a year before everything heats up here. Not just Joe Biden,
but Trump before him, Obama before him, Bush before him. Every ruler throughout all time
has been under his rulership, his Lordship, for he is eternal. And if you, if you are
in Christ, my friends, then we are told this amazing, glorious truth that we can just honestly
probably sit in for day after day and just glory in, and that is this, that you and I, right now, are
seated in the heavenly realms with Christ. Right now, you and I are seated in the heavenly
realms with Christ. You are hidden with Christ in God, we are told. I am hidden with Christ
in God right now. And when Christ, it says, who is your life, appears, then you also will
appear with him in glory. I am with Christ in the heavenly realms right now. I am hidden
with Christ, and when I see Christ come and return, then I will see my life. Christ. Now,
you tell me this. You who are here cowering in this life, you who are shaking in your boots
because that one person is out to get you, or because this world is scary and there's some new
disease or virus going around every corner, or because sin's deceit is lurking in the shadows
and trying to kill and destroy you and you know it's pursuing you. You, what can any of these things
do to you? What can any of them do to you? Say it, Kenny. Amen. What can they do? They can't kill me.
They can't kill me. My life is hidden in the eternal God. They can't kill me. They can't destroy
me. They can't remove me. My life hidden with the eternal and immortal Lord. My life will appear
with him when he returns or when I die. So what can persecution do to me? What could sickness do
to me? What can rulers do to me? What can authorities do to me? What can the devil and his minions do to
me? Nothing! Because the worst they can do is bring my life in Christ. That's the worst they can do.
Kill me and all you have done is brought me life. Nothing. And so what kind of Lord and what kind of
Lordship do we, if we are in Christ, find ourselves under? We find ourselves under the Lordship and a
Lord who is divine, who is real, who is sovereign, who is saving, and who is eternal. Fear not. Have
great joy, for he is an eternal Lord. And all of that brings us finally to our scripture this morning,
which we'll close with. It's not section two where we're gonna do a whole other study. I saw some of
you like, what? Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling, and to him who is able to make
you stand in the presence of his glory without blemish and with great joy. The only God, our Savior,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and
forevermore. Amen. Who protects you from stumbling? Yeah. Who makes you stand? Who removes all of
sins, blemishes? Who gives you great joy in his presence? The only God, our Savior, through Jesus
Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forevermore.