I believe that one can more easily look into
the cloudless, frigid night sky of Minnesota
and see no stars than to look into the Bible
and miss Jesus Christ. He is the theme of the
Bible. He himself said, search the scriptures.
They bear witness of me. So we expect to find
him when we open the word of God. Jesus himself
gave us a key statement regarding that truth
in Luke. chapter 24. I invite you to turn there
with me again this morning as we talk about an
Old Testament Christmas. Luke chapter 24. The
context here is after the resurrection, Jesus
speaks to his disciples and tells them that the
things that have happened in those recent days
have been but the fulfillment of prophecy. And
he says in verse 44 of Luke 24, These are my
words which I spoke to you while I was still
with you, that all things which are written about
me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the
Psalms must be fulfilled. Jesus says, in other
words, that in each division of the Old Testament,
as the Jews commonly divided it, There were things
written about him which must be fulfilled. Some
of those things have been fulfilled. Some have
yet to be fulfilled. Some of those that have
been fulfilled were done in his suffering, his
passion, which is the immediate context here.
But as well, there are things written in each
division of the Old Testament about his coming
in Bethlehem, the incarnation of the Son of God,
and the mystery. that surrounds that Christmas
truth. And so we're looking into the Old Testament
to see our Christmas these weeks. We have seen
already that the law of Moses points us to Jesus
Christ. There are prophecies of him, for example,
in the book of Genesis, as found in chapter 3,
verse 15, in the Protevangelium. That is the
first word of the coming Redeemer, the one who
would be of the seed of the woman. and who, although
his heel would be bruised, would nonetheless
crush the head of the serpent, Satan. And then
we saw him in Genesis chapter 12 in the promised
blessing that would come to Abraham and through
Abraham to all the families of the earth. Jesus
Christ is the seed of Abraham in whom that blessing
will be fulfilled. And then we saw him as well
in the prophecy of Moses. When he said to the
people of Israel, there will come a prophet like
unto me. You must listen to him. And that prophet
was Jesus Christ. Finally, we saw him last week
as revealed in the provision that God made for
worship for his people in the Old Testament.
That was the tabernacle. The tent of the meeting,
it was called. the place where God and man met
together. And we saw very briefly how the tabernacle
itself, as well as the veil in the tabernacle,
the Ark of the Covenant, which was in the Holy
of Holies, how all of those typify or speak about
the Lord Jesus Christ and point to his coming
and to his work for our sin. And so what Jesus
says here we have seen illustrated in the Law
of Moses. Today I'd like for us to consider the
Psalms and how the Psalms write about him things
which must be fulfilled. Now when Jesus spoke
about the division of the Old Testament called
the Psalms, he was thinking of more than the
150 Psalms that are in the psaltery. He was thinking
about all the books of poetry. But for our consideration
today, we're going to limit ourselves to the
book of Psalms and find therein prophecies that
reveal to us important truths about the Messiah
in his first coming. We're going to begin by
turning to Psalm 110, verse 1. If you're not
very familiar with the Bible, that's right in
the middle of the book. If you'll open it to
the middle, you'll probably come to the book
of Psalms. Unless you have a lot of helps at
the back of your Bible. Psalm 110 and verse 1
is a dramatic and important messianic statement.
It is a psalm of David, as the inscription says,
and that's confirmed in the New Testament. The
Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand. until
I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet.
I'm particularly interested in the first part
of that verse, in which David says, The Lord
says to my Lord. If you notice carefully, the
two words translated Lord are written differently
in the English. The first is all in capitals,
L -O -R -D. That is the English translator's
way of saying that that word is the Hebrew equivalent
of Yahweh or Jehovah. It is the name that God
elaborated upon when he revealed himself to Moses
at the burning tree on Mount Sinai. Moses said,
well, Lord, who shall I say sent me? And he says,
Tell them that I am has sent you. That is Jehovah
or Yahweh. We don't really know how the Hebrews
pronounced that word. They considered it so holy
that in fact they didn't pronounce it as they
read through the scriptures. They refused to
pronounce the word because of its fullness of
meaning. It means the I am or the I am that I
am. I am the self -sufficient one is the meaning
of it. And so David says, the Lord Jehovah says
to my Lord. And in that word, Lord, there is
a capital L, but a small O -R -D. And that's
because the Hebrew word there is not Yahweh,
but Adonai. And the word Adonai is sometimes
used of men. It is used that way, for example,
of David, or rather, I'm sorry, of Abraham. Back
in Genesis chapter 23, verse 6, in that text
he is dealing with the sons of Heth regarding
a burial place for Sarah. And when they speak
to Abraham, they say, Hear us, my Lord, my Adonai.
And so, in a sense, it's roughly equivalent to
sir, a word of respect. It is a word, however,
that most prominently is used of deity. of God
himself. In fact, in Exodus chapter 4, the same
occasion as when God revealed himself as Jehovah
or Yahweh to Moses, Moses, in conversing with
the Lord, says to him, Please, Lord, I have never
been eloquent. He says, Please, Adonai. And so
Moses uses this term Adonai there in addressing
God, Jehovah. Now in the text before us, David...
It says, Jehovah says to my Adonai. What do we
see there about the Messiah? Well, we see his
distinction. First, the distinction of his personage.
What we actually have here is an Old Testament
statement of God the Father to God the Son. They
were not revealed that fully in the Old Testament,
although there are strong implications. of a
plurality in the unity of the Godhead. The triunity
of God can be seen with New Testament flashlights
as you explore the Old Testament. Here is an
example of it. Jehovah, God the Father says to
my Adonai, sit at my right hand. So there's a
distinction of persons here in the Godhead. But
there's also a distinction of position. God the
Father says to God the Son, sit at my right hand.
That's where Jesus is today, isn't it? When Stephen
was martyred, he looked and saw Jesus standing
at the right hand of God. The book of Hebrews
tells us that he is seated at the right hand
of God. That's where he is, at the right hand.
What does that mean? That's an oriental expression.
One who is put at the right hand was one who
was honored. But it meant more than that, often.
It often included the idea of equality. So that
as one put another at his right hand, he was
saying, this one is on an equal basis with me.
Treat him that way. When a host wanted to highly
honor a guest, that's where he was, at the right
hand, indicating that this special guest was
one who would be honored as himself. And so God
the Father says to God the Son, you are at my
right hand. You are in the place of equal honor
with me. And so the Father and the Son are here
identified, though distinguished as well. There
were those who thought that the Messiah was going
to be a man, a very important man, one who would
deliver the people of Israel from Roman oppression
and domination. But clearly, David suggests that
this one who was to come, the Messiah, would
be more than a man. He would be the Lord himself.
And this is confirmed in the New Testament record.
For example, when the angels... spoke to the
shepherds outside of Bethlehem. They said, For
unto you is born this day in the city of David
a Savior who is Christ, Messiah, the what? The
Lord. Christ, the Lord. The two are identified
together. The Messiah was to be more than just
a man. He was to be God come in the flesh. Thus
Peter, preaching on the day of Pentecost to the
Jews, says in Acts 2 .36, This Jesus, whom ye
crucified, is both Lord and Christ. And so the
two are put together, the titles Lord and Christ.
Messiah is not just another man. The Messiah,
the anointed one, the anticipated deliverer,
was to be the Lord himself. Therefore, may I
suggest that all of us Speak of him reverently.
It grieves me when I hear someone speak of Jesus
Christ as the man upstairs. I want you to know
that that at least borders on blasphemy, if it's
not blasphemy itself. To speak of him in those
kinds of demeaning phrases. Jesus Christ is not
just a man. He is God come in the flesh. and
we should reserve for him, therefore, proper
reverence. Ours is a day that emphasizes intimacy
and familiarity, and sometimes I think we go
too far with that, to the point of becoming careless
and lacking caution, particularly when speaking
of God. We are invited to call him our friend,
but let us never forget that he is God. as well.
This kind of over -familiarity is perhaps illustrated
in what happened to Uzzah. You remember him?
The ark was being brought back to its place in
Israel, and as the cart was pulling it, which
was an improper mode of transporting it in the
first place, as the ark was pulling it, the oxen
stumbled. And it appeared that the Ark of the
Covenant was going to fall off the cart. So Uzzah
reached out with his hand to hold it on there,
and God struck him dead immediately. Was that
not unfair of God to do something like that?
No, it was not unfair. Because, you see, Uzzah
was a priest. He was of the family of the priesthood.
And therefore was familiar with God's word that
no one was to touch the Ark. It was to be carried
very carefully, and no human hand was to touch
it because it symbolized the very presence of
a holy God. But Uzzah, perhaps out of careless
over -familiarity with holy things, reached out
and was struck dead by God. I believe that we
need to be careful when we talk about our Savior.
I can remember a joke that was told me back when
I was in junior high school. Isn't it interesting
how you remember the jokes you'd like to forget
and you forget the jokes you'd like to remember
and tell again? This is one of those jokes I'd
like to forget. It's a joke that blasphemes each
person of the Trinity. You know, it's easy for
us in a joking, lighthearted way to say things
about God which are careless. Let's be careful
about that. David says, Jehovah says to my Adonai,
sit in this place of equality, this place of
honor at my right hand. Let's turn back a few
pages to Psalm 102 as we see another truth about
Messiah. First, his distinction, who he is. More
than a man, he is God. Psalm 102 now tells us
about his pre -existence. I'll explain what I
mean in a moment, but look in that psalm at verse
25, where the psalmist says, Of old thou didst
found the earth, and the heavens are the work
of thy hands. Even they will perish, but thou
dost endure. And all of them will wear out like
a garment, like clothing thou wilt change them,
and they will be changed. But thou art the same,
and thy years will not come to an end. If you
and I want to illustrate something that endures,
we often use the stars, don't we? Or the moon.
This thought provoked me to consider that the
moon that we look up at at night is the same
moon that Jesus looked at as he prayed late into
the night or early in the morning to his Father
in Heaven. It's the same moon that David spoke
about in the Psalms as he pondered the miracle
of God's creation. Those stars are the same stars
that Abraham looked up at and God said, your
descendants are going to be like the stars of
the heavens. The very same heavenly bodies. They
endure till today. The constellations that we
look at, some of them are mentioned in the book
of Job, the oldest book of the Bible, as far
as this date of being written is concerned. When
we think of something that endures, we think
of the heavens. And yet the psalmist says, even
they will be changed. They will be taken down
like a garment and something else put in their
place, but God remains the same. You say, well,
I agree with all that, but how does that apply
to Jesus Christ? We're talking about him as the
Messiah. Well, turn with me to the New Testament
now, to Hebrews chapter 1. The writer of Hebrews
is presenting... the superiority of Jesus Christ.
He says that he is superior to the angels, to
Moses, to Joshua, to the priesthood of Aaron.
In the first part of the book, he talks about
his preeminence over the angels. And in talking
about that, he quotes a lot of verses from the
Old Testament. In verse 8, notice that the writer
says, He, God, says, and then he quotes from
Psalm 45. And then down in verse 10, he goes
on to say, And, he says, Thou, Lord, in the beginning
didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the
heavens are the works of thy hands. Who's speaking
here? Well, God the Father is speaking. And he
is speaking about his Son, whom he's described
in the verses 1 through 4. as the fullness of
his revelation. And God the Father says about
God the Son, Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst
lay the foundation of the earth. In other words,
God the Father says that Jesus Christ was the
instrument, the agent of creation. Paul agrees
with that in Colossians when he says, By him
were all things created. What does that imply?
It implies that he existed before creation. If
he's the creator, it means that he came before
what was created. He is not a part of it. He's
separate from his creation and over it. This
ties together with what John, in John chapter
1, says. I want you to turn over there because
we want to look at that verse for a moment. Do
you ever think about the fact that John doesn't
talk about Bethlehem or the manger? for the wise
men. But he doesn't leave out the Christmas story.
He simply strips it of it, the wrapping of its
narrative, and gives it to us theologically.
He begins the whole book by saying, in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. What an amazing statement that
is. I wish we had time to talk fully about it
this morning. But I would point out to you that
he simply says, in the beginning was the word.
What is the word? Well, that is a Greek word,
logos. To the Greeks, it meant a word or a concept
or a thought which was expressed. That was a
logos. And so John takes that term logos and
applies it to Jesus Christ. And he says what
God has thought, he has expressed in Jesus Christ.
He is the logos of God. You see how that word
so beautifully tells us about him? He says, in
the beginning was the word. What is the beginning?
The beginning of what? Well, he's talking about
the beginning of all things. Back when matter...
was called into existence out of nothing by God.
That was the beginning of the universe as we
know it. That is the beginning. That's how Genesis
1 also starts. What are the three words of Genesis
1 -1? In the beginning. Didn't take a lot to
recall that, did it? John starts the same way.
He says, in the beginning. That is when that
which characterized the beginning of all things
took place. The Word was already. He existed
before that. Then he goes on to say, And the
Word was with God. Again, notice the distinction.
God and the Word, they are separate here. The
Word was with God. But he says that in such a
way that he says they were face to face. The
Word was face to face with God. In the most intimate,
blessed kind of communion. The Word was with
God, and then he says, and the Word was God.
There could not be a more clear statement that
Jesus Christ is deity than what says in verse
1. Now there are some cults, prominently the
Jehovah's Witnesses, who because of their heresy,
denying this, have changed what verse 1 says.
They have their own version of scripture called
the New World Translation. And if you read that,
it says, And the word was a God. And they say
that there is no definite article before God.
Therefore, it's proper to say the word was a
God. And they absolutely destroy. Proper Greek
grammar and syntax construction, that is. When
there's an absence of the article there, it's
sort of like a mathematical formula with an equal.
He's saying the word equals God, and God equals
the word. The two parts equal each other. They're
the same, in other words. And so it's a clear
statement of who Jesus Christ is. Now, skip down
to verse 14. He goes on to talk about Christ
being the one by whom all things came into being.
In verse 14 he says, And the word became flesh
and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory.
He says this word became flesh and dwelt among
us. He who was a part from creation, separate
from it, became a part of it by his incarnation.
How can we apply this? We're talking about the
eternality of Christ, the fact that he existed
before creation. Let me apply this one quick
way. Folks, because Jesus Christ is who he is,
because he existed before time began, Because
all of history flows to its appointed destiny
by his power. Because someday he will wrap it
all up and begin eternity again. Because of who
he is and what he has done, don't you think that
one who's like that has the power to take care
of you? Don't you think that the one who lives
in you for Jesus Christ lives in the believer?
That he's able to direct your life? Of course
he can. If he can direct all of history, surely
your life is not too big a challenge for him.
How blessed we are then when we give ourselves
to his lordship and he's able to direct us. And
we say, Lord, because of who you are existing
even before the creation of the world, direct
my life in its brief span in this world that
it can have significance. He is able to take
even a... a broken, shattered life. Put the pieces
back together again so that that life can have
meaning and fulfillment. He can do that with
you if you'll let him do it. He's preexistent.
We see his distinction. But thirdly, we want
to see his incarnation in the Psalms. So let's
hurriedly turn back to Psalm 40. termed by some
the Christmas Psalm because of a statement that
we're going to read. It's one of the Messianic
Psalms, that is the Psalms pointing to the coming
of the Messiah. David is apparently in a difficult
spot here, so he prays to God for deliverance.
And as he writes, he says in verse 6, Sacrifice
and meal offering thou hast not desired. My ears
thou hast opened. Burnt offering and sin offering
thou hast not required. Then I said, behold,
I come. In the scroll of the book it is written
of me. I delight to do thy will, O my God. Thy
law is within my heart. My friend, as David pens
these words, he's writing for more than just
for himself. What he is pinning here is the very
word of Jesus Christ as he came into the world
to be our Savior. You say, now, Pastor, you're
becoming a little fanciful here to say that those
are the words of Christ. Not so. Turn back again
to Hebrews with me. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10
this time. Again, I say the writer is talking
about Jesus Christ, showing how that his one
sacrifice forever is God's provision for our
sins. He says, for example, in verse 4 of Hebrews
10, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and
goats to take away sins. Therefore, when he comes
into the world, he says, question. Who is the
he the writer is talking about when he comes
into the world? He's talking about the Messiah,
the Christ. And he says, when he comes into the
world, he says, Sacrifice and offering thou hast
not desired, but a body thou hast prepared for
me. You see, those words written by David were
the very words that expressed the heart of Jesus
Christ. as he left the glories of heaven and
came and incarnated himself in human flesh in
the world. Oh, what words these are. David is
saying there is someday coming a sacrifice that
will do away with all other sacrifices. God does
not desire sacrifice anyway. What does he desire?
Above sacrifice. Obedience. Obedience. And that's
why when the Messiah comes, he says, I come to
do thy will, O God. Perfect obedience. He says,
your law is written on my heart. Perfect obedience.
But now if you're an astute reader, you will
have noticed that there's a sentence that is
different in Hebrews 10 from the origination
of it in Psalm 40. It's the second sentence.
In Psalm 40, David says, my ears you have opened.
Here, the Holy Spirit writes it this way, a body
thou hast prepared for me. Oh, you say, that's
a mistake in the Bible. Not so. Don't you think
that the author of the Bible has a right to do
anything with it he wants to do? When he inspired
David to write what he did, it was inerrant.
And when he caused the writer of Hebrews to write,
he caused him to write exactly what he wanted
him to write, so it was inerrant. The Holy Spirit
wanted this sentence changed in the New Testament
to reveal another truth about the Messiah. Now,
what does it mean in the Old Testament? My ear,
you've opened. It probably relates to what God
says regarding servants in the law. When a servant
was due to be released, because perhaps it was
the year of Jubilee or whatever, he could choose
to remain in servitude to his master. But to
symbolize that voluntary service, his master
had to take a sharp instrument, an awl, and to
punch it through his ear so that he was a marked
man from that time on, indicating joyful, voluntary
service. You see, what David is saying is when
Messiah comes, that will be his spirit. Joyful,
voluntary sacrifice of himself. As revealed in
Philippians 2. When he became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. But now in the New
Testament, the Holy Spirit writes that a body
you've prepared for me. Do you ever think about
this? God has revealed in the Bible four ways
he can make a body. He can make a body without
a man or a woman, which he did in the Garden
of Eden when he gathered some dust together and
fashioned the body of Adam and breathed life
into it. He can make a body with a man but no
woman. That's what he did with Eve. He put Adam
to sleep, performed surgery, took out the rib,
fashioned Eve. He can make a body the normal
way with a man and woman. And finally, he can
make a body with a woman and no man, as he did
in the virgin birth. And you see, it is that
virgin birth that is in view when it says, a
body thou hast prepared for me. The body in which
Jesus, the Son of God, incarnated himself was
a specially prepared body conceived within the
womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit, a body you prepared
for me. And so do you see how, again in the Psalms,
we see his incarnation, his coming into human
flesh to live a life of perfect obedience, that
then he could be qualified to go to the cross
and offer the sacrifice that will forever close
the book on sacrifices. Now, there's a practical
application to all of this. And to find that,
go back quickly to Hebrews chapter 2. On your
outline, you'll notice I've listed another text
from the Psalms that we're not going to read
this morning. It's Psalm 8, verses 4 and 5. It's
mentioned in the first part of chapter 2. It's
the verse that talks about, thou hast made him
a little lower than the angels, or probably thou
hast made him for a little while lower than the
angels. David wrote it talking about man, and
yet its fullest meaning, I think, is in Jesus
Christ, who humbled himself, became a man for
a little while, now crowned with glory and honor.
But in verse 17 of Hebrews 2, he says, Therefore,
he had to be made like his brethren in all things,
that he might become a merciful and faithful
high priest in things pertaining to God. to make
propitiation for the sins of the people. For
since he himself was tempted in that he has suffered,
he is able to come to the aid of those who are
tempted. What's the meaning here? A very wonderful
thought. You know that no one can ever say, God
doesn't understand me. No one is able to say,
God doesn't know what it's like to be a man,
be a human being. Because you see, God has become
a man. And one of the reasons that he did was
so that he could enter into our humanity, though
a sinless humanity, and feel with us what we
endure. There's not a heartache that you can
experience, but that he, He's able also to experience
fully that heartache with you. He can be a merciful
and faithful high priest so that as he stands
before God the Father and prays for you, as he
does now, as he prays for you, he is able to
feel with you the pressure, the tension. He's
able to know the depth of your heartache. He's
able to understand your anxiety. He's able to
know all of that because he himself has suffered.
He came in flesh and blood for that purpose.
And he's able to express before God a request
for you that encompasses your very need and what
God the Father needs to do on your behalf. Isn't
that great? Because of his incarnation, he does
that for you every hour of every day. There's
a fourth and final truth that we see about the
Messiah. We'll look at this and be done. Psalm
132. His distinction, his preexistence, his incarnation,
and finally his destiny. I have not written on
the outline another passage that is important
for you. And you may want to jot it in there.
It's Psalm 89, verses 3 and 4, and verses 27
to 29. Psalm 89, verses 3 and 4, and verses 27
to 29. But we're going to look at just one verse
in Psalm 132, where it says, The Lord has sworn
to David a truth from which he will not turn
back. Of the fruit of your body I will set upon
your throne. What the psalmist is doing here
is quoting from what is called the Davidic covenant
in 2 Samuel 7, verses 12 to 16. It is the covenant
that God made with David. God said, David, you're
going to die, but I am going to raise up one
of your descendants who will be on an eternal
throne, and he will reign forever and forever,
says God. My friend, that son of David is Jesus
Christ. That was a common messianic title in
the days of Christ. The Jews spoke about the
son of David who would come and deliver them.
And I believe that's why, one reason at least,
that Matthew begins his gospel. How many of you
have memorized the genealogy of Matthew 1? Oh,
you're in the majority, I'm sure. Have you ever
noticed, though, how Matthew begins? The book
of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of
David. the son of Abraham, and then he begins
to list all the descendants from Abraham. But
he begins by saying the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
the son of David. Now, why would Matthew particularly
be interested in doing that? Because Matthew
presents Jesus Christ as the what? As the king.
And so he begins by pointing out he's the son
of David. In Matthew 1, in the genealogy, he
traces it through Solomon to Joseph. Now, though
Joseph was not Jesus' natural father, he was
his legal father, and so Jesus inherited from
Joseph the legal right to reign as a descendant
of David through Solomon. In Luke chapter 3,
we have what we believe to be the genealogy of
Christ through Mary, his natural genealogy, and
again you trace it right back to David through
his son Nathan. So both naturally and legally,
Jesus Christ is the son of David, and he has
the right to reign and to fulfill the promise
that God gave to David. I will set a descendant
of yours on the eternal throne. We speak about
the millennium, Christ coming to reign for a
thousand years. Did you know that that's just
the beginning of his reign? When a king is coronated,
These days, there is a week or maybe a month
of celebration. But friend, when Jesus Christ
is proclaimed King of Kings and Lord of Lords,
it's going to take a thousand years for the celebration
of the coronation to take place. And after that,
the kingdom begins. It's an eternal kingdom.
And he will reign forever and ever. Isaiah joins
together by saying, of the increase of his government
and of his peace. There will be no end. No end
to it. When Jesus Christ comes, there will be
peace. And the reason for that is that he will
reign in righteousness. You cannot separate,
in the Bible, peace from righteousness. Did you
know that? That's why it says in Romans 5 .1,
Therefore, being justified by faith, declared
righteous by faith, we have peace with God. Righteousness
and peace go together. Right now in our scene.
In our society, we have an explosion of a peace
movement. I agree with President Reagan as being
manipulated from outside. I also believe the
news media is doing some very interesting things
with this whole ball of wax right now, anti -nuclear
and so on. I'd like to say something that will
shock some of you. What we're seeing today in
all of that is an explosion of humanism. That's
what it is. Because it is a desire, it is a cry
for peace based upon what man can do. That's
humanism. What we need is a peace based upon
what God has done in Jesus Christ. There will
be no peace of any kind in this world until Jesus
Christ reigns righteously. The reason that there
will not be a humanistic peace is because man
is a sinner. And where there is no righteousness,
there is no peace. But bless God, there is peace
coming someday of which there will be no end
when Jesus reigns. So let's anticipate that peace,
true peace, and work for it. Anticipate his coming.
In 1247 A .D., which is before most of us were
born, maybe some exceptions here, I don't know.
In 1247, there was a hospital that was established
in England. It was named St. Mary of Bethlehem.
For 200 years, St. Mary of Bethlehem was a place
of healing, a place where people went to find
peace and restoration physically. But 200 years
after its founding, it was used for another purpose.
It began to be used as an asylum for the insane.
And in those days, Those who had mental problems
were cruelly treated often. They were chained,
incarcerated, imprisoned. So that St. Mary of
Bethlehem became known not as a place of peace,
but as a place of noise and confusion and screams
and agony of people. Therefore, the people around
the hospital renamed it. They shortened the name
Bethlehem and called it St. Mary of Bethlehem.
Bedlam. And thus the word came into the English
language, Bedlam. And today Bedlam refers to
anything that's noisy and confusing. That describes
some lives here today, doesn't it? When God wants
your life to be a Bethlehem, it has degenerated
into Bedlam. When Jesus Christ reigns in righteousness,
there is peace. There may be a storm outside,
but there's peace that passes understanding inside.
Would you know that peace today? You can qualify
to know it by having peace with God through faith
in Jesus Christ. And once you are saved, then
you may enjoy that peace of God continuously.
There are some of you here today who are Christians
that are not enjoying that peace. And frankly,
the reason is that Jesus Christ is not living
as the Lord of your life. He's not the prominent
one. Will you allow him today to be the Lord?
Will you submit yourself to him, your desires,
your plans, your goals, and say, Lord, I give
it all to you? If you will, then his peace will
fill your heart. Father in heaven. I pray as
we conclude this service that you will bring
to a proper culmination your work in our lives.
There are some of us here that you've been working
on for weeks trying to get us to make the right
decision, and may that be made today. In Jesus'
name, amen.