Life Here and There

This article is based on a message from Matthew 2:1-12 from a series on the light of Christmas.

I’m beginning to preach a series of Christmas-oriented messages at Bethel on the theme of Light. It will consist of three messages…

1. The Light of the Knowledge of God. God wants for us to know Him, so He has revealed enough light that we might pursue a knowledge of Him.
2. The Light of the Glory of God. The shepherds beheld a myriad of angels and the glory of God and I think it dramatically changed their lives forever.
3. The Light of the Salvation of God. As Isaiah said, “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”

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We’re beginning a new Wednesday night Bible study series on prayer and it’s based on the book by David Jeremiah, Prayer, the Great Adventure. We’ve been talking a lot about the theme of “Search & Rescue” as the missional focus of our church in a lost culture, and prayer is the power-giving foundation of being missional, so we’re going to use our midweek adult Bible studies to strengthen this area of our church family’s life.

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ONE GREAT TRUTH: Christians have plenty of reasons to be positive about the state of the church in today’s culture, and all of those reasons revolve around Jesus’ affirmations.

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There have been a number of factors contributing to my recently increased burden for this lost world, and my sense of urgency about fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives before Jesus comes again. A couple of weeks ago on a Wednesday night, we talked about these words of advice from Jesus to His followers:

1. Don’t be deceived. – As we approach the end of this age, false teaching will abound. Don’t get hooked – stick to God’s absolute truth no matter what.
2. Don’t be discouraged. – Jesus said several times, “don’t be troubled.” We have an ultimate hope in His return.
3. Don’t be deterred. – Endure to the end. The gospel will be published to all nations and Jesus will return, so hang on to hope for now.

Tonight, we’re moving into talking about some details concerning events that will take place during what many Christians call “the tribulation.” It’s a time when God confronts the world over its deep sinfulness, when all the forces of evil battle against Him, and when God gathers His nation, Israel, to Himself again.

Why hasn’t Jesus come yet? When will it finally be time? I don’t know. It certainly isn’t my decision and I will know only when it happens. But I do know at least three details of His coming…

1. It’s imminent – nobody knows when but Him.
2. He’s patiently waiting for more souls to be redeemed.
3. The time is approaching us with increasing haste – God’s clock is speeding up.

Are you ready? Are you burdened? Are you living with a heightened sense of expectancy?

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”—Matthew 13:44 (NKJV)

What brings you pleasure? What do you enjoy most in life? Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven (the rule and reign of Christ in the heart) to a treasure which a man valued above all else. One of the most liberating discoveries of my Christian life has been that God is to be enjoyed. We don’t think of God as enjoyable because of our rebellious spirits. Instead we assume that knowing Him is burdensome.

But stare at this verse again. This man sold everything he had, all of the things he thought were entertaining and enjoyable, just to have a shot at the found treasure. Why? Jesus said it was “for joy over it.” John Piper has said “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” Has it ever occurred to you that we don’t want enough? We’ll settle for worldly pleasures when the ultimate pleasure of a relationship with God awaits us. God is glorified when we treasure Him so much that we’ll sell all to have Him, realizing that He’s the great joy we really seek.

Treasuring God is a command. We are to “delight” ourselves in the Lord and rejoice in His presence. More than a mere outward expression of emotion, this enjoyment has to do with a deep and abiding satisfaction. At the end of the day, is the treasure of knowing God enough for us? If not, sell everything else for the joy of knowing Him.

Christmas Sermon Series: God’s Christmas Messages to You, Part 3
Based on Matthew 1:18-25

Joseph is an interesting Bible character for the simple reason that he plays a very significant role in the life of Jesus, but then he passes off the scene and is not mentioned beyond Jesus’ boyhood (Luke 2). Tradition has it that Joseph died before Jesus began His earthly ministry.

Joseph was a very good man as can be seen from the story at hand. He had more than likely been brought up learning the traditions of Israel and the belief in a coming Messiah. He had heard the prophecies before.

A lot of you today are very much like Joseph. You’ve heard about religion all your life but you have yet to personally meet the Savior. What God said to Joseph, He is saying to you as well.

GOD’S MESSAGE ABOUT THE SAVIOR…

1. God is at work in your life.

I don’t believe for a second that Joseph and Mary became the earthly parents of Jesus by accident. They were chosen for this task. We are not given insight into exactly why God chose them but we know that God had selected them and had so arranged the timing of their lives (and of the world for that matter) that Jesus would come at the perfect time and to the perfect place.

God has been at work in your life as well. He knew you before you were ever thought about by your parents. He so arranged things today that you could be here in this place, hearing the gospel with an opportunity to meet the Savior.

God is always at work in, around, and through us. We can either sleep through His activity or respond to what He is doing. I hope you’ll want to be involved with what God is doing today.

2. God is providing you a Savior.

Joseph learned two vital truths about Jesus that day that each of us must learn as well…

A. Jesus is the incarnate God.

“of the Holy Ghost… God with us.”

Jesus is both fully God and fully man. He possessed all of the qualities of a human being physically, emotionally, and intellectually yet was above the possibility of sin, having been born to a virgin and not having received an earthly father’s sin nature. He knows how to be human.

He also possessed every attribute of God from His omnipotence to His omniscience. How did He limit Himself to a time and place and from knowing everything? He never ceased to possess these qualities, but temporarily limited His ability to access them. He never ceases to be God.

See Philippians 2:5-11

B. Jesus is the heaven-sent Savior.

1. Jesus came with a mission.

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” –Luke 19:10

Jesus came to glorify God by completing the work that God had given Him to do. What was that work? An earthly ministry of preaching salvation, ending in the death that would accomplish salvation. Jesus was all about the redemption of mankind.

2. Jesus has given us a great commission.

“As the Father hath sent me, even so sent I you.” –John 20:21

Not only has Jesus come to seek and to save lost mankind, He has also commissioned all of His people to go and tell others of His saving power.

3. God is inviting you to respond to His gift.

Joseph had a choice in the matter. God had given him clear instructions to go ahead and marry Mary, but Joseph had to decide to obey. Imagine all that Joseph would have missed had he said “no.” What happens if you say “no?” God has given you this opportunity and has ordered your life to bring you to a moment of decision about Christ, but what if you say “no?”

“And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” –Revelation 20:14-15

But Jesus came to offer you eternal life if you’ll only respond with “yes.”

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” –John 10:10

Based on Matthew 20:20-28

Quality #3: Leadership – A great church must be led by GOD-centered, SERVANT-hearted leaders.

Did you know that the Bible is the greatest book on leadership ever written? Jesus was the greatest leader of all time, of course, but there are also many other examples of great leadership in Scripture. Joseph was an excellent leader among his brethren but he had to learn some lessons early on. Nehemiah was one of the greatest leaders of history. Moses had to lead the most difficult crowd ever through a trying forty-year adventure through a barren wilderness. The apostles all had to learn some tough lessons but they came through in the end. Paul established great churches through great leadership all across the Mediterranean world.

But the greatest example of leadership will always be Jesus, as modeled in the four gospels and expounded in the epistles. But what made Jesus’ style of leadership so great? I believe it was because of two elements:

• Jesus was always GOD-centered.

That is, He never took his cues from the world around Him. He was never intimidated by the world. He was simply God’s man and he stood in God’s confidence throughout His ministry.

• Jesus was always SERVANT-hearted.

Even though Jesus had all the authority of heaven at His fingertips, He never lorded His power. He always used His power and authority for good in the lives of others.

The story of James’ and John’s mother is often misunderstood. As you read it, you get the impression that Jesus was giving a lesson to them and their Mom about position-seeking. But His words were really directed at all of the apostles about clamoring. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be used of God, or wanting our kids to be used of God. There is simply a problem with stepping on each other to have more power or prestige.

In fact, Matthew points out that she came worshipping and that she came desiring. These two words indicate a heart that has right motives. The other disciples were the once who got upset because they felt threatened, that their piece of the pie might be given to someone else. Jesus used the occasion to teach a few great lessons about leadership.

1. It’s okay to desire greatness in leadership.

Jesus said, “whosoever will be great…” In other words, whoever wants to be a great leader is desiring a good thing. It’s just that leadership is often misunderstood because of the world in which we live.

Jesus pointed out that the Romans had an amazing militaristic leadership arrangement. They were highly organized and you could move up through the ranks by throwing your weight around. The world exalts leaders who have climbed to the top on the backs of other people. We see them as the ones who must work harder, be more educated, more talented, or who simply were born for leadership.

Jesus made it clear that desiring to be a great leader is a good thing, but we must change our idea of what a great leader is.

2. The heart of great leadership is servanthood.

Does this mean that a great leader will always quietly fade into the background and never be vocal? On the contrary, Jesus stepped to the forefront, cast a vision, rebuked the legalists, and firmly corrected the disciples throughout His ministry. The difference is the goal.

We must ultimately decide between seeking a position and serving people. If we want to be like the world, we’ll seek a position. If we want to be like Jesus, we’ll seek someone to serve.

The key word for great leaders is OTHERS.

Our goal as church leaders is not to build a great church using people, but to build great people using a church. The church is never and end in itself, it exists to meet the needs of people.

Leadership is not for everybody. James made that clear when he admonished us not to seek to be leaders, knowing that God would judge us more harshly. Some are given leadership responsibilities and prove to be self-seeking. But there will be some among us whom God calls to positions of leadership who see their role as investing who they are into the lives of others. They will not see people as a means of accomplishing ministry, they will see people as the ministry.

That’s how Jesus saw you! He closes His teaching by reminding the apostles that He came to serve them. He was never under their authority, He simply did what He did for their benefit. The ultimate expression of that would be to “give his life for the sheep.” He would die for them.

Dear Delegates of the Salvation Army Convention:
OTHERS!
Signed, General Booth.

Lord, let me live from day to day
In such a self-forgetful way
That even when I kneel to pray,
My prayer shall be for others.
Others, Lord, yes, others;
Let this my motto be.
Help me to live for others
That I may live like Thee.

-From the first meeting of the Salvation Army