1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,040 I want to encourage you during the holiday season to include in your plans, to go see 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:09,440 the movie, The Nativity Story. 3 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:16,060 A few weeks ago I was able to preview a version of it and came away mightily impressed with 4 00:00:16,060 --> 00:00:23,680 how the producers of this particular movie have captured the essence of the biblical 5 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:24,680 story. 6 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:30,560 I may add to it a little bit to make it a drama for the screen, but it gives you an 7 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:35,120 idea of how things might have happened 2,000 years ago. 8 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:39,200 And I would tell you in advance that it's also the Christmas card version of the story 9 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:45,840 in that, for example, the wise men come to the manger scene, which in the Bible that 10 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:47,520 does not seem to be the case. 11 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:53,720 But nonetheless, it is a marvelous story and it's one of which the gospel is presented. 12 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:58,520 So I would encourage you not only to go, but to take a friend along and expose them to 13 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,840 the truth of the coming of the Savior. 14 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:06,640 I believe it starts in theaters this coming week. 15 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:14,400 In their gospels, Matthew and Luke provide what we know about that Christmas story, about 16 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,480 the birth of Jesus the Christ. 17 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:23,440 They recount how he in fact got his name, Jesus. 18 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:30,360 John in his gospel, however, gives another name to him as he comes into the world. 19 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:37,080 And I invite you to turn to the gospel of John and the first chapter as we begin our 20 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:43,160 message this morning in John chapter 1. 21 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:51,680 The name that John gives to Jesus is that of Logos, the word. 22 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:59,640 As he begins to recount the life of Jesus, he wants us to know that this man tells us 23 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:04,080 what we must know to know God personally. 24 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:08,800 He is the word of God. 25 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:13,800 The word is God's communication to you personally. 26 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:19,520 Jesus explains God's attitude and his purposes for humanity. 27 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:28,600 We're going to look into the chapter to verse 14 where it says, the word became flesh. 28 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:31,120 That's the Christmas story, isn't it? 29 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:36,860 The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. 30 00:02:36,860 --> 00:02:44,680 We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only who came from the Father full of 31 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:49,040 grace and truth. 32 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:55,880 John in the prologue to his gospel, the first 18 verses, makes several statements about 33 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:58,320 the word. 34 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:02,740 He makes it very clear in verse 1 that the word is God himself. 35 00:03:02,740 --> 00:03:04,320 Make no mistake about that. 36 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:08,140 But when we come to verse 14, he gives us another insight. 37 00:03:08,140 --> 00:03:18,260 He says that this eternal word, God himself, became flesh and lived among us. 38 00:03:18,260 --> 00:03:20,040 He became flesh. 39 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,360 He always was God. 40 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:31,340 But there was a moment in time and history when this eternal word of God became something 41 00:03:31,340 --> 00:03:34,520 more than what he had been before. 42 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:37,720 A change of state took place. 43 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:42,600 He who had always been deity became man. 44 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:47,880 John says that he lived for a short time among us. 45 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:53,240 While he was here, he displayed his glory as deity. 46 00:03:53,240 --> 00:04:03,400 The divinity that was his as the one and only, the unique one of God who came from God displayed 47 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:07,000 his glory for all to see. 48 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:16,280 That glory can be summarized, says John, in this, that he was full of grace and truth. 49 00:04:16,280 --> 00:04:20,360 Now it's that particular phrase that I want to try to unpack for us a little bit this 50 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:25,520 morning and also at a subsequent Sunday service. 51 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:31,680 The word became flesh and he was full of grace and truth. 52 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:43,080 Full of grace means that in Jesus we see the greatest possible expression of God's compassion 53 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:45,120 for his people. 54 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:51,120 He is full of grace and kindness. 55 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:56,160 The Bible says that Jesus is God's gift to the world. 56 00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:04,040 And in him, in Jesus, you have God's grace in its fullness. 57 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:09,520 That is, in this gift God left nothing out of his grace. 58 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:16,880 His grace in all of its fullness is available to all who will believe. 59 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:23,980 Notice what he goes on to say, for example, in verse 16, from the fullness of his grace, 60 00:05:23,980 --> 00:05:30,520 we have all received one blessing after another. 61 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:40,160 What he says, and out of his fullness we have received grace upon grace. 62 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:48,880 In other words, Jesus Christ is such fullness of God's grace that he's like the ocean itself, 63 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:54,360 which keeps bathing the shores of the world with its waves. 64 00:05:54,360 --> 00:06:01,320 One after another laps at the sand, one after another. 65 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:10,800 And grace upon grace comes upon us who believe because of its fullness in the person of Jesus 66 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:12,360 Christ. 67 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:18,000 God's kindness knows no limit to you in Christ. 68 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:23,220 John uses the word grace four times right here in our text. 69 00:06:23,220 --> 00:06:26,520 And then he doesn't use it again. 70 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:32,440 It really is Paul who unpacks the riches of God's grace for us, because the word grace 71 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:35,600 was one of Paul's favorite words. 72 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:45,040 Paul, in fact, takes the gift of the fullness of grace and he opens it for us so that we 73 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:54,520 can begin to see all that this gift of grace that comes in Christ, all that it includes. 74 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:59,720 We could turn to a number of passages in the New Testament where Paul talks about grace, 75 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:04,800 but I've chosen this morning one in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 76 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:10,400 And I invite you to turn there as we read the text beginning in verse 3 of 1 Corinthians 77 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:12,240 chapter 1. 78 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:16,200 Please open your Bible and follow along, or if you don't have your own copy of the Bible 79 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:21,560 with you today, there's a copy near you in the pew, and I invite you to turn there. 80 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:28,400 1 Corinthians chapter 1 I begin reading in verse 3 where it says, grace and peace to 81 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:32,280 you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 82 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:35,800 What's the very first word in that verse? 83 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:36,940 Grace. 84 00:07:36,940 --> 00:07:46,800 He says grace, along with peace, to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 85 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,160 He wants to go on and talk about this grace. 86 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:59,120 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 87 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:03,840 You see, Paul now wants to explain to us this grace in its fullness. 88 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:10,000 He wants to open the present and lay the pieces out for us to see. 89 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:15,520 For in him you have been enriched in every way, in all your speaking and in all your 90 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:21,720 knowledge, because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 91 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:28,080 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ 92 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:29,880 to be revealed. 93 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:35,200 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord 94 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:37,680 Jesus Christ. 95 00:08:37,680 --> 00:08:45,720 Great God rather who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. 96 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:52,280 I appeal to you brothers in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that all of you agree with 97 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:58,480 one another so that there be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united 98 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:03,160 in mind and in thought. 99 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:10,440 While this letter of 1 Corinthians is largely a letter of correction by Paul to the church 100 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:17,000 at Corinth because it was a very troubled church, Paul astutely begins the letter on 101 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:19,480 a more congenial note. 102 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:28,120 He reminds them as he reminds all of us of God's provision by his grace. 103 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:35,840 First he tells us that you and I have unlimited resources to do God's will. 104 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:39,440 Verses 3 through the first part of verse 7. 105 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:41,840 We have unlimited resources says Paul. 106 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:48,040 What God purposes for your life is supported by all of the resources that you will ever 107 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:50,080 need. 108 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:56,640 God has already given you all that you will ever need to fulfill his purpose for your 109 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,440 life in this world. 110 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:07,480 Paul is writing here to the church as a whole and he says you are enriched in Christ, but 111 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:10,840 it's also true of us personally. 112 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:13,520 God has enriched us. 113 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:20,880 The word there means to make wealthy or to be richly furnished. 114 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:25,760 Have you ever been to one of the model homes that you see advertised in areas that are 115 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:27,440 being built out? 116 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:33,600 You go into the home and you admire not only the color scheme, but you begin to see the 117 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:39,160 furniture that has been placed there and the drapes and all the little pieces that make 118 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:41,560 a home beautiful. 119 00:10:41,560 --> 00:10:46,880 You say to yourself, oh if I could just buy the model home, right, as if you could afford 120 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:48,840 it. 121 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:52,280 Because you see that home has been enriched. 122 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:59,680 That home has been filled out with things that are exactly what the home needs to make 123 00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:03,280 the model sell other homes. 124 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:08,080 God tells us here that he has enriched us in Jesus Christ. 125 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:15,400 He has given to us in Christ all of the riches that we will ever need. 126 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:20,640 In 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 9, Paul says to them in that letter, you know the 127 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:24,840 grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 128 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:31,140 That though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. 129 00:11:31,140 --> 00:11:36,160 That you through his poverty might become rich. 130 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:37,920 Rich with what? 131 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:41,160 Rich with the grace of God. 132 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:46,600 Paul is thinking here in this context especially of spiritual gifts. 133 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:52,480 He says to that church, you have all the gifts you need in speaking and in knowledge. 134 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:57,240 You have all that you need to fulfill God's will for you there in Corinth. 135 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:02,040 But I want you to know that's true of you personally as well. 136 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:07,440 God has enriched you as part of the body of Christ with spiritual gifts. 137 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:14,800 Yes, he's given you also natural gifts, which are part of the shape of who you are. 138 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:20,680 You have inclinations, you have attributes, you have abilities that come to you simply 139 00:12:20,680 --> 00:12:23,280 because you're a human being. 140 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:28,080 You have certain interests and certain strengths and for that matter certain weaknesses. 141 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:29,960 They're part of who you are. 142 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:32,560 But Paul is talking about something different than that here. 143 00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:35,860 He's talking about spiritual gifts. 144 00:12:35,860 --> 00:12:42,160 Those unique and special abilities that the Holy Spirit brings to every child of God. 145 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:44,880 We have natural abilities by our first birth. 146 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:52,880 We have spiritual gifts and abilities by our second birth, our new birth in Christ. 147 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:57,880 God has enriched you with spiritual abilities to serve him. 148 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:00,080 He has blessed you. 149 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:05,560 And you are blessed to bless others. 150 00:13:05,560 --> 00:13:13,240 God has richly given spiritual capacities to you to be a helper in serving them, serving 151 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:17,240 others and in doing that serving God. 152 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:19,480 So God has enriched us. 153 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:21,200 He has enriched you. 154 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:25,080 And you are blessed that you might bless others. 155 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:29,820 One of the things that we talked about in Beautiful Day was what do we say to people 156 00:13:29,820 --> 00:13:34,500 when they ask the question, why are you doing this? 157 00:13:34,500 --> 00:13:41,560 The answer to that is we are doing this because we are followers of Jesus who has called us 158 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:48,080 to be a blessing because that's what he is to the world. 159 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:54,040 We did what we did on Beautiful Day because we're followers of the one who blessed us 160 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:56,200 that we might be a blessing. 161 00:13:56,200 --> 00:14:04,800 The reason that you and I serve and bless others is because we ourselves have been blessed. 162 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:10,080 You are personally given all of the resources that you could possibly use to carry out your 163 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:12,600 divine design. 164 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:18,360 God wants you to fulfill his purposes and he provides all of the tools for you to get 165 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:20,480 your job done. 166 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:27,800 In 2 Peter chapter 1 it says, his divine power has given us everything we need for life and 167 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:34,040 godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 168 00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:41,640 His divine power has given us everything that we need for life and to live a Godward life. 169 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:53,440 So you say, if I'm rich, then how do I release these unlimited resources? 170 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:59,960 The answer to that is profoundly simple and at the same time most challenging. 171 00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:05,920 How is it that you and I release the resources that God has already packed within us by his 172 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:10,380 grace? 173 00:15:10,380 --> 00:15:12,880 It is through prayer. 174 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:16,320 You say, oh come on, couldn't you find something a little more sexy than that? 175 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:18,040 I'm sorry. 176 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:19,040 That's where it's at folks. 177 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:24,640 In fact, there's a little acronym that maybe you've heard for prayer. 178 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:31,600 Prayer releases all your eternal resources. 179 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:38,760 As you and I are people of prayer, we will experience in our lives the resources that 180 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:42,400 God has already given us by grace. 181 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:51,960 And those resources then will be unleashed to go out and to bless others as well. 182 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:56,480 There is a direct proportion. 183 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:05,160 There is a ratio between how much I pray and how much of the eternal resources that God 184 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:12,800 has already given to me I experience in my life. 185 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:19,960 If my life is a life, a Christian life that is impoverished, it's not because God has 186 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,040 failed. 187 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:27,800 It's because I have not spent time with God. 188 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:34,400 For as I pray, you see I become more intimate with God. 189 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:37,560 I become more open to God. 190 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:46,560 The aperture of my heart enlarges so that I'm able to experience and then release to 191 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:52,860 others the resources that God has put in me. 192 00:16:52,860 --> 00:17:00,280 How much time are you spending in prayer? 193 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:08,240 There is no question that gets a person under conviction more quickly than that one. 194 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:17,640 Because if there is any place the devil fights you and me, it's at the point of prayer. 195 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:23,900 The devil doesn't mind if we're busy serving the Lord, if we're doing good things, as long 196 00:17:23,900 --> 00:17:29,920 as we don't take time to pray. 197 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:34,200 You know the devil doesn't even mind if you're reading your Bible or reading good Christian 198 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:42,720 books or watching Christian television, as long as you don't pray. 199 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:49,120 Because it's when you pray, it's when you pray that those resources that God has already 200 00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:55,720 put within you begin to come forth to bless your life and through that to bless others 201 00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:56,720 around you. 202 00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:05,840 I want to challenge you this morning to devote yourself to prayer more than you do now. 203 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:18,120 I know some of you are prayer warriors, but others of us, well, we only play at it. 204 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:22,360 God has already given you in Jesus Christ all of the resources you'll ever need. 205 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:23,760 You are rich in Him. 206 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:25,060 You are wealthy. 207 00:18:25,060 --> 00:18:28,820 You are a prince, a princess of God. 208 00:18:28,820 --> 00:18:34,860 And all of the grace, all of the power, all of the ability that you will ever need to 209 00:18:34,860 --> 00:18:41,100 fulfill His purpose in this world is yours already. 210 00:18:41,100 --> 00:18:47,100 And you will experience it when you begin to be serious about prayer. 211 00:18:47,100 --> 00:18:53,920 And some of you know exactly what I mean, because that is the heartbeat of your life. 212 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:57,960 Oh, that it were the heartbeat of all of us. 213 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:00,680 It would change our church. 214 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:08,120 And we have our one night a month devoted to prayer as a church family. 215 00:19:08,120 --> 00:19:12,260 And I see how many come. 216 00:19:12,260 --> 00:19:21,060 It helps me understand the life of our church a whole lot. 217 00:19:21,060 --> 00:19:28,080 If we are serious about experiencing God and serving God as a congregation, dear people, 218 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:31,360 it must begin with prayer. 219 00:19:31,360 --> 00:19:34,580 And certainly a lot more than one night a month. 220 00:19:34,580 --> 00:19:39,340 It means being in prayer on a regular, consistent basis, being with God. 221 00:19:39,340 --> 00:19:52,900 But can we not at least one night a month come together to pray? 222 00:19:52,900 --> 00:20:01,020 If we as a church fail, it will not be because God has not given us what we need. 223 00:20:01,020 --> 00:20:06,440 It will be because we have not yet opened the resources of grace that God has already 224 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,320 given to us. 225 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:17,800 Prayer releases all your eternal resources. 226 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:23,200 Well Paul tells us secondly that out of this gift of grace that God has given us in Christ, 227 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:24,600 we have something more. 228 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:30,440 He says you have unlimited confidence to face the future. 229 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:35,980 He says to them, you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 230 00:20:35,980 --> 00:20:42,040 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord 231 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:45,440 Jesus Christ. 232 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:51,280 Like the Corinthians, you and I live in a scary world. 233 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:55,820 We live in a world that is threatened by terrorism. 234 00:20:55,820 --> 00:21:04,700 We live in a world that is under the threat of nuclear bombs and missiles from rogue nations. 235 00:21:04,700 --> 00:21:13,420 We live in a time when the Western European civilization is crumbling and there is an 236 00:21:13,420 --> 00:21:20,480 ascension of the Islamic civilization in the world. 237 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:27,160 We live in a period when there is the overthrow of moral values, when there is in many places 238 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:33,860 in the world the violent persecution of the followers of Jesus and there is looming persecution 239 00:21:33,860 --> 00:21:36,680 in our own land. 240 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:41,600 We live in a very different world than the world that I grew up in as a child 50 years 241 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:42,600 ago. 242 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:45,860 It is a scary world. 243 00:21:45,860 --> 00:21:52,600 The world back in those days of the 50s and the 60s was called the age of anxiety. 244 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:59,020 I want to say to you today that we have graduated to the time of terror. 245 00:21:59,020 --> 00:22:06,160 People today long for personal safety and security, but the fact is that fear dominates 246 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:08,780 our culture. 247 00:22:08,780 --> 00:22:13,600 But I have good news for you if you're a child of God. 248 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:17,900 If you're one of those who has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and who has now received 249 00:22:17,900 --> 00:22:27,760 this gift of grace out of his fullness, God's grace secures the future for you. 250 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,220 You need not live in fear. 251 00:22:31,220 --> 00:22:34,460 The age in which we live is coming to its culmination. 252 00:22:34,460 --> 00:22:36,300 I believe that with all of my heart. 253 00:22:36,300 --> 00:22:37,300 How soon? 254 00:22:37,300 --> 00:22:39,480 I do not know. 255 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:45,940 But I see the signs on the horizon that our Lord's coming is soon. 256 00:22:45,940 --> 00:22:53,060 It was 50 years ago we began singing one of John W. Peterson's great hymns. 257 00:22:53,060 --> 00:23:00,460 It said, Marvelous message we bring, glorious carol we sing, wonderful words of the King, 258 00:23:00,460 --> 00:23:03,100 Jesus is what? 259 00:23:03,100 --> 00:23:04,880 Coming again. 260 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:10,820 The chorus said, coming again, coming again, maybe morning, maybe noon, maybe evening, 261 00:23:10,820 --> 00:23:11,820 and maybe soon. 262 00:23:11,820 --> 00:23:14,420 Oh, what a wonderful day it will be. 263 00:23:14,420 --> 00:23:18,120 Jesus is coming again. 264 00:23:18,120 --> 00:23:23,660 My friend, there is absolutely no doubt about that. 265 00:23:23,660 --> 00:23:27,700 There's a lot of uncertainty in our world, but there's one thing you can count on. 266 00:23:27,700 --> 00:23:31,460 Jesus is coming again. 267 00:23:31,460 --> 00:23:39,940 Paul says to the Corinthians 2,000 years ago, you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ 268 00:23:39,940 --> 00:23:42,720 to be revealed. 269 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:46,220 You see now he is veiled. 270 00:23:46,220 --> 00:23:50,920 He is a historical figure, only to some. 271 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:53,660 To others he is a myth. 272 00:23:53,660 --> 00:23:59,820 And then there are those who count him an important teacher or moral instructor, an 273 00:23:59,820 --> 00:24:00,820 example. 274 00:24:00,820 --> 00:24:07,400 They do not perceive the truth that he is in fact God incarnate, the Word become flesh. 275 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:12,500 He is the Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing. 276 00:24:12,500 --> 00:24:14,540 They don't understand that. 277 00:24:14,540 --> 00:24:20,100 But one day he is going to be unveiled. 278 00:24:20,100 --> 00:24:25,820 Even now the Spirit of God unveils one heart at a time as people come to faith. 279 00:24:25,820 --> 00:24:32,620 But there is a day coming when he will be unveiled to the world. 280 00:24:32,620 --> 00:24:40,960 Last Monday some of us gathered over in the playground at Beacon School and Almoden Prep 281 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:44,020 where we had done the work on Beautiful Day. 282 00:24:44,020 --> 00:24:45,780 It was so exciting. 283 00:24:45,780 --> 00:24:52,540 The children had come to class on Monday when they had left the weekend before, the week 284 00:24:52,540 --> 00:24:54,500 before. 285 00:24:54,500 --> 00:24:58,940 They saw the playground equipment being taken away because it was old, but they had no idea 286 00:24:58,940 --> 00:25:00,900 what was happening. 287 00:25:00,900 --> 00:25:05,060 They got to school on Monday morning and now the building is painted. 288 00:25:05,060 --> 00:25:10,980 The grounds have been groomed beautifully by you Beautiful Day volunteers. 289 00:25:10,980 --> 00:25:15,860 And there in the playground was a brand new playground, one playground for the kindergarten, 290 00:25:15,860 --> 00:25:20,700 one playground for the elementary school, and it was all covered in tarps. 291 00:25:20,700 --> 00:25:22,060 It was veiled. 292 00:25:22,060 --> 00:25:24,500 They didn't know what was underneath it. 293 00:25:24,500 --> 00:25:26,980 They were eager to see. 294 00:25:26,980 --> 00:25:33,340 And so we had a little bit of a dedication service and then the tarps were pulled off 295 00:25:33,340 --> 00:25:34,340 and it was unveiled. 296 00:25:34,340 --> 00:25:39,100 And oh the excitement as they began to climb on the playground. 297 00:25:39,100 --> 00:25:41,420 I wish all of you could have been there to see it. 298 00:25:41,420 --> 00:25:46,300 I knew at that point that we had done a good job putting that playground together because 299 00:25:46,300 --> 00:25:50,180 it had a ton of kids on it, let me tell you. 300 00:25:50,180 --> 00:25:53,180 They were all over that thing with excitement. 301 00:25:53,180 --> 00:25:57,020 They could hardly wait to get their hands on it. 302 00:25:57,020 --> 00:26:03,100 Dear friends, do we feel that way about the coming of Jesus? 303 00:26:03,100 --> 00:26:07,100 Do we eagerly wait for Him? 304 00:26:07,100 --> 00:26:15,100 That's one of the reasons that we in the West are beginning to see persecution on the horizon 305 00:26:15,100 --> 00:26:22,180 is so that we will be more eager in our waiting for Christ. 306 00:26:22,180 --> 00:26:30,380 Could it be that our hearts have grown complacent and careless with the ease of this age? 307 00:26:30,380 --> 00:26:35,760 That we have become very comfortable in this culture as it has been? 308 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:39,120 That we have adopted it? 309 00:26:39,120 --> 00:26:45,420 And that really we know Jesus is coming again because the Bible says about it but it'll 310 00:26:45,420 --> 00:26:49,340 come in time. 311 00:26:49,340 --> 00:26:51,180 Or do we eagerly wait for it? 312 00:26:51,180 --> 00:26:55,500 That is to wait with intensity because that's what the word means here. 313 00:26:55,500 --> 00:27:02,780 It's the eager intensity that you see in the hospital ward and the coming of a new baby 314 00:27:02,780 --> 00:27:06,940 and that mother and father who are yearning for that little one to come, especially the 315 00:27:06,940 --> 00:27:08,060 mom. 316 00:27:08,060 --> 00:27:12,020 And there's an eager intensity waiting for that little one to come. 317 00:27:12,020 --> 00:27:16,220 And dad can hardly wait to hold that little one. 318 00:27:16,220 --> 00:27:21,540 Paul says in Philippians chapter 3, our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a Savior 319 00:27:21,540 --> 00:27:23,540 from there. 320 00:27:23,540 --> 00:27:31,580 I wonder just how much of the church of Christ, at least in the Western world, understands 321 00:27:31,580 --> 00:27:35,340 that our citizenship is in heaven. 322 00:27:35,340 --> 00:27:38,780 It's not here. 323 00:27:38,780 --> 00:27:45,220 Because if we understood that our citizenship, our real place of belonging, was over there, 324 00:27:45,220 --> 00:27:51,380 we would be waiting with intensity for the Savior to come and as worldly and as divided 325 00:27:51,380 --> 00:27:55,900 and as fleshly as this Corinthian church was. 326 00:27:55,900 --> 00:27:58,620 And it was all of that and more. 327 00:27:58,620 --> 00:28:07,380 It was a church that was eagerly waiting for Jesus to come. 328 00:28:07,380 --> 00:28:14,180 The writer of Hebrews says Christ was sacrificed once to take away sins of many people. 329 00:28:14,180 --> 00:28:21,100 And he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are 330 00:28:21,100 --> 00:28:24,500 eagerly waiting for him. 331 00:28:24,500 --> 00:28:28,860 Oh, may that be the spirit of our hearts. 332 00:28:28,860 --> 00:28:38,100 We don't know what 2007 holds, but the followers of Jesus can confidently face it because of 333 00:28:38,100 --> 00:28:41,500 the gift of grace. 334 00:28:41,500 --> 00:28:44,620 We can look to the future with confidence. 335 00:28:44,620 --> 00:28:49,100 Paul says he will keep you strong to the end. 336 00:28:49,100 --> 00:28:52,140 The word end there means to the goal. 337 00:28:52,140 --> 00:28:54,960 To the goal line, he will keep you strong. 338 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:57,940 You will be blameless on that day. 339 00:28:57,940 --> 00:29:00,220 No charge against you. 340 00:29:00,220 --> 00:29:07,040 Then he says God who has called you is faithful. 341 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:10,420 Maybe you aren't anxious about the world that we live in today, but you're anxious about 342 00:29:10,420 --> 00:29:13,020 your own circumstances. 343 00:29:13,020 --> 00:29:19,060 It could be that you're anxious about your job. 344 00:29:19,060 --> 00:29:23,860 And whether that job is going to be there, or if you can really fulfill the responsibilities 345 00:29:23,860 --> 00:29:27,760 that have been put before you. 346 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:35,300 Maybe you're fearful about whether what you've saved for retirement is going to be enough. 347 00:29:35,300 --> 00:29:38,340 If you're going to make it to the end. 348 00:29:38,340 --> 00:29:45,660 Perhaps you're fearful about your child and what's going on in your child's life, or your 349 00:29:45,660 --> 00:29:48,580 grandchild. 350 00:29:48,580 --> 00:29:51,900 Perhaps you have a child who's in the military. 351 00:29:51,900 --> 00:29:57,340 Or someone you love is in Iraq or Afghanistan. 352 00:29:57,340 --> 00:30:01,020 Or maybe today you're fearful about college and whether you're going to be able to make 353 00:30:01,020 --> 00:30:02,540 it there. 354 00:30:02,540 --> 00:30:06,220 You're going to have enough for your tuition. 355 00:30:06,220 --> 00:30:10,140 You don't want the future holes. 356 00:30:10,140 --> 00:30:13,060 Maybe it's a matter of illness. 357 00:30:13,060 --> 00:30:16,860 And you don't want the future holes because of that. 358 00:30:16,860 --> 00:30:24,180 I had an email from my sister this week in which she recounted the fact that her son 359 00:30:24,180 --> 00:30:30,780 has now been engaged and his fiance, who was a professing Christian, but comes out of a 360 00:30:30,780 --> 00:30:36,540 more religious background than Christian. 361 00:30:36,540 --> 00:30:40,540 That his fiance had accepted Christ in the premarital counseling. 362 00:30:40,540 --> 00:30:46,100 And she was rejoicing in the fact that now they were going to be certain to be married 363 00:30:46,100 --> 00:30:53,020 and is one in Christ in 2008 and suffering from colon cancer. 364 00:30:53,020 --> 00:30:59,620 She then put a dash and she said, I hope I'll be there. 365 00:30:59,620 --> 00:31:02,940 What's the uncertainty of your future? 366 00:31:02,940 --> 00:31:07,340 Would you write it on your heart this morning that whatever the question marks or the concerns 367 00:31:07,340 --> 00:31:12,840 that you have may be, God is faithful? 368 00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:20,460 God who has called you is faithful and he will keep you for that day when Jesus will 369 00:31:20,460 --> 00:31:22,020 come. 370 00:31:22,020 --> 00:31:25,540 And there is nothing that can separate that from you. 371 00:31:25,540 --> 00:31:28,940 You are a part of that destiny and that calling. 372 00:31:28,940 --> 00:31:30,180 And God is faithful. 373 00:31:30,180 --> 00:31:31,780 He will keep his word. 374 00:31:31,780 --> 00:31:36,920 Yes, there will be ups and downs and there will be question marks and there will be corners 375 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,540 and you don't know what's around them between now and then. 376 00:31:39,540 --> 00:31:45,020 But understand this, that God in his grace is faithful to you and he will keep you all 377 00:31:45,020 --> 00:31:48,420 the way of your journey until the very end. 378 00:31:48,420 --> 00:31:50,020 Never doubt that. 379 00:31:50,020 --> 00:31:53,180 That's a gift of grace, my friend. 380 00:31:53,180 --> 00:31:56,260 Day when our world is longing for security. 381 00:31:56,260 --> 00:32:00,900 You have it in Christ. 382 00:32:00,900 --> 00:32:07,380 The final thing I want us to note about this gift of grace that Paul points out is that 383 00:32:07,380 --> 00:32:11,420 you and I have unlimited motivation to embrace one another. 384 00:32:11,420 --> 00:32:17,140 Paul begins now to shift his tone from the positive commendation to an appeal, an earnest 385 00:32:17,140 --> 00:32:18,780 appeal out of his heart. 386 00:32:18,780 --> 00:32:25,020 He appeals to them to embrace one another despite the conflict and the differences that 387 00:32:25,020 --> 00:32:27,860 exist among them. 388 00:32:27,860 --> 00:32:30,540 Somebody has said that Christians are like porcupines. 389 00:32:30,540 --> 00:32:34,700 They have a lot of good points but you can't get too near them. 390 00:32:34,700 --> 00:32:38,140 Well, that may be true.