Read Isaiah 9:1-7

This may be one of the most famous
Christmas passages in all the Bible.

It is a passage that helps us celebrate the God who became a baby.
“For a child will be born to us…”

It is an amazing passage all by itself.
It was one thing for God to be willing to become a man,
But for God to be willing to become a baby is mind boggling.

But He did.
He became a child.

And since God became a child,
This passage holds a tremendous amount of popularity with us.

But I would imagine that this passage was very popular,
Even before Jesus was born.

The reason of course is because it is full of so much hope.

This passage breeds anticipation,
And since that is our theme for Christmas this year,
Tonight, we are going to look and see exactly what to anticipate.

You do need to know a little background here.

At this time, Ahaz is King in Judah, and he wasn’t one of the better kings.
He did many foolish things,

2 Kings 16:2-4 “Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD his God, as his father David had done. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from before the sons of Israel. He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.”

One of which was trying to form an alliance with Assyria.
2 Kings 16:7-8 “So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.” Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria.”

Of course this was the same Assyria who would completely conquer the Northern Kingdom, and nearly conquer Judah.

Which is what we find Isaiah prophesying in Isaiah 8

Isaiah 8:7-8 “Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates, Even the king of Assyria and all his glory; And it will rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks. “Then it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, It will reach even to the neck; And the spread of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”

There was a very difficult time on the horizon for the people of Judah.

Aside from the ignorant King who led the people away from God,
The end of chapter 8 reveals why the people are in danger,
And just how bad God says it is going to get.

Isaiah 8:19-22 “When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. They will pass through the land hard-pressed and famished, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse their king and their God as they face upward. Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.”

A terrible time is not only upon them, but a terrible time is coming.
This is the setting for the prophecy of Isaiah 9:1-7.

And in this time of peril, doom and gloom,
God gives His people 7 promises that they could anticipate.

I believe they certainly must have held fast these promises
With the greatest of anticipation.

Tonight, we will look at them and see why we, like they, should also have this same anticipation.

#1 THE PROMISE OF A PRIVILEGED RENOWN
Isaiah 9:1

God was going to make them something special.
A nation of great renown, a nation with great glory.

He had just promised a time of hardship,
But that time would eventually come to an end.
The difficulty they would face would be overtaken by glory.

You can see why they would have held on to this promise.
If life is going hard,
If destruction is surrounding you,
If you are under God’s punishment,

Wouldn’t you eagerly look for the day when God would once again cause His face to shine upon you?
Wouldn’t you eagerly wait for the day when God would make you glorious in the world?

This was their promise.

Now, when Jesus walked the earth, we saw part of it’s fulfillment.

Matthew 4:12-16 “Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES — “THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”

When Matthew saw Jesus walk through Galilee, it just clicked.
He knew this is what Isaiah was talking about.

Jesus brought hope to the hopeless,
And just His presence made that land glorious.

We still anticipate the fulfillment of that prophecy.
We still anticipate the day when we are removed from a world that hates us so that we may be glorified by Christ.

Christians aren’t popular in the world.
Paul said it like this.

Romans 8:36 “Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”

2 Corinthians 4:7-11 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

It is that same fact that we have been studying as we have looked at 1 Peter.
Christians are rejected.

We live in a difficult time,
But we long for the day when, He shall make us glorious.

1 John 3:1-2 “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”
With the same anticipation they must have had,
We look for the day when we receive our renown.

Revelation 20:4 “Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

We anticipate the fulfillment of our promise.
#2 THE PROMISE OF PERSONAL RELIEF
Isaiah 9:2

He said in chapter 8:22 “Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.”

They were a people who knew hardship was coming.
But here He promised a day when they could escape the darkness.

He promised a day when the hopeless would have hope.
Again Matthew said this happened when Jesus walked the earth.

Those people in the regions of Naphtili and Zebulun saw the Light.

But we also long for this fulfillment.
Certainly now we have wisdom from God,
But we long for the day when we have perfect understanding.

1 Corinthians 13:8-12 “Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”

We anticipate this day when we know fully.

BUT EVEN MORE THAN THAT (Knock Him Out John)
We long for the day when we have relief from this futile life.
We long for the day when the curse is gone.
We long for the day when death can no longer taunt us.

1 Corinthians 15:20-26 “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.”

We long for personal relief
#3 THE PROMISE OF PLEASANT REJOICING
Isaiah 9:3

Now if the nation was as bad as Isaiah said it was,
You and I both know there wasn’t much rejoicing going on.
It was a time of despair.

But they could hope for a better day.
God promised a day when they would have joy.

And certainly the first time Christ came, we did receive joy.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”

But the joy prophesied here is even bigger than that.
This speaks of a joy after the harvest, we are still in it.
This speaks of a joy after the battle, we are still in it.

We will have this joy later.

Revelation 19:1-6 “After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.” And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER.” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” And a voice came from the throne, saying,”Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”

There is a shout of joy that can only come after the battle,
And that is the joy we greatly anticipate.

The day when the enemy is thrown down.
The day when sin is gone.
The day when false religion is exposed.
On that day we stand in victory and joyously shout!

#4 THE PROMISE OF PEACEFUL REST
Isaiah 9:4-5

He speaks of that day when God would break the yoke of their oppressors.
When the chains would be torn in two, and they could have peace from opposition.

Of course this did come in a spiritual sense during Christ’s first coming, when we were freed from sin. The condemnation that sin brought was removed from us.

Romans 8:1-4 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

But this passage hasn’t been totally fulfilled,
For we still wage war in the flesh against sin.

We anticipate the day when we have peace from this battle.
We anticipate the day when we no longer struggle against this world,
But when we are finally at peace.

Revelation 21:1-4 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

That day when heart ache and pain are gone, and we can truly be at perfect peace.

#5 THE PROMISE OF A PERFECT RULER
Isaiah 9:6

I told you what a blunder Ahaz was, how he gave the gold to Assyira, if you read on in I Kings 16, you’d see how he demolished the temple furniture in order to build an altar to the god of Damascus.

DON’T YOU THINK THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL LONGED FOR A PERFECT RULER?
One who would rule in WISDOM…
One who was a Wonderful Counselor

One who would rule in POWER…
One who was a Mighty God.

One who would rule forever…
One who was an Everlasting Father.

One who would keep them safe…
One who was a Prince of Peace.

DON’T YOU THINK THEY LONGED FOR HIM?

Now certainly we saw Jesus at His first coming,
But He never sat on a throne.
He hasn’t begun to reign upon the earth yet.

So this promise is still for the future.

We anticipate His rule on the earth.
And regardless of what you think of our President, or the last President, it will be a wonderful day when Jesus begins to rule!

Revelation 19:11-16 “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

We still anticipate this day.

#6 THE PROMISE OF A PROSPEROUS REALM
Isaiah 9:7a

We are promised a prosperous kingdom that will go on forever.
There will be no end to it.

Certainly as they were watching their country fall to Assyria,
They were longing for the fulfillment of this verse.

And while we did see the Kingdom of God come in a spiritual sense after Jesus first coming, we still await the coming of His kingdom in a literal physical sense.

We still anticipate the day when the Kingdom comes!

Revelation 22:1-5 “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.”

That is a day we still anticipate.

 
#7 THE PROMISE OF A PASSIONATE REALIZATION
Isaiah 9:7b

We are promised that God Himself will bring this fact about.
And this is a glorious promise.

We don’t just hope this will happen, we know it will.
Revelation 22:6 “And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.”

We often read this passage
As though it was fulfilled at the birth of Christ,
When nothing could be further from the truth.

It was partially fulfilled at the birth of Christ, but most of it still waits to be fulfilled.

We ought to be living in the same anticipation that they lived in.
We ought to be longing for the Messiah like they were.
We ought to be craving that sweet peace like they did.

It will truly be a wonderful thing,
When the Messiah puts His feet back upon this earth.

Imagine how great it will be when He comes back!
Imagine how wonderful.

Renown instead of humiliation
Relief from the curse
Rejoicing instead of weeping
Rest from our toil
A Ruler to guide us
A Realm to enjoy

That is the anticipation that those in the Old Testament had,
It is the anticipation that we also must have.

That is how we fully appreciate the spirit of Christmas.

Revelation 22:20 “He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

Read Hebrews 9:27-28

Last week we talked about Christ and the sacrifices.
We talked about how He is our sin offering before God.
He is the One who suffered outside the gate.
He is the One who atones for our sin.

That is precisely the theme in Hebrews 9.
He spends the chapter showing the significance of the death of Christ.

Hundreds of thousands of lambs, bulls, and goats lost their lives,
And none of them fully atoned for sin.
But Jesus died once, and His blood was enough to atone forever

Hebrews 9:11-14 “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

He has spent the chapter showing the sufficiency of the death of Christ.
And of course we glory in the death of Christ.
It was this sacrifice that allowed us to be justified before God.
It is Jesus death that allows us to receive salvation.

But he doesn’t want to leave you just thinking about Jesus death
He doesn’t want his readers looking upon this sacrifice
As the end of the line for the Savior.

And this is why he pens the last two verses of this chapter.

I know we aren’t supposed to be talking about Jesus’ death right now.
We are supposed to be talking about His birth.
I see the Christmas decorations. I heard the songs this morning.

I know this is Christmas,
And at Christmas we talk about babies, mangers and wise men and shepherds and gifts and “decking halls” and reindeers with red noses.

But not if you want to fully appreciate Christmas.

You see, if all we ever see is the baby in the manger,
You will never fully appreciate what Christmas means.
When I was a child, my parents used to do one of the cruelest things
(or so I thought) on Christmas morning.

Before we got to open presents,
We had to all sit down and listen to the Christmas story.
And as a child, looking at all those packages,
The story just seemed like a necessary technicality.

BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I’VE NOTICED AS I’VE GROWN UP?
Many adults treat that story exactly the same way.

They read it, but it’s the same old story.
We know it inside and outside, and so,

While we all talk about Christmas being more than presents,
It often just becomes empty talk,
Because we have grown complacent with the story.

But I want you to know something.
CHRISTMAS IS HUGE!

And when we fully begin to comprehend what Christmas means,
It ought to spark an excitement in us that truly brings joy to the world.

But in order to fully understand Christmas, you must realize:
It is bigger than the manger…
It is bigger than the wise men…
It is bigger than the story…

And so this morning to help us learn how to approach Christmas,
There are four things that the writer points out that we will look at.

#1 A NEARING APPOINTMENT
Hebrews 9:27
“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”

Now there’s a verse that makes you want to sing “fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la”
We all have an inescapable appointment.

There is a date that is quickly approaching for all of us.
It is the day in which we will leave this world.

Sometimes we think it would be nice if we could cancel the appointment
But we aren’t the ones who scheduled it.

It was appointed by God. He made it.
And this appointment was made to be followed by judgment.

This day is on everyone’s calendar.

Now we don’t know when our appointment is,
We don’t even have the luxury of knowing whose appointment is next.
We just know that there is a day when I am scheduled.

And don’t worry about if your busy on that day,
You will drop whatever you are doing to make sure you aren’t late.

WE HAVE AN APPOINTMENT, AND IT KIND OF LOOMS OVER US DOESN’T IT?

Just take a second and think about that.
Some day, you will die, and you will be judged.

It doesn’t matter what you believe, it doesn’t matter how you live, it doesn’t matter if you drink whole milk or 2%, some day you will still die.

And although we often choose not to think about it,
This scheduled appointment sends out the cruelest of reminder cards.
They arrive unwelcomed periodically.

We all received one last Saturday when Doug Harney was killed in a pickup wreck, and we all were reminded that there is no rule that says the oldest must go next.

We received a reminder about a month ago when the young pastor in Waco, and we all were reminded that there is no rule that says the most evil must go next.

We get reminders when we see the news…
We get reminders when we get a check up at the doctor’s office…
We get reminders with every illness…

Even when we try to forget about it,
Something continually brings the appointment to our minds.

What a pitiful people are the human race.

Solomon understood this.
Ecclesiastes 9:2-3 “It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead.”

We understand the pitiful shape we are in.
So did the people back in the Old Testament.
(LEVITICUS – “unclean”)

It can certainly be a futile way of life to know
That some day you will die and then you will be judged.

SO HOW IN THE WORLD DOES THAT HELP US APPROACH CHRISTMAS?

You cannot fully appreciate Christmas
Until you realize why you need it.

You see we as humans were fighting a battle we couldn’t win.
That is until Christmas came and the help showed up.

Hebrews 2:14-15 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

It is the miracle of the incarnation!
God actually became a human and “share in flesh and blood” just to help us.

Many people never fully appreciate Christmas
Because they don’t fully understand why they needed it.

#2 THE NEEDED ATONEMENT
Hebrews 9:28a
“so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many…”

Of course we know we will die,
That is a curse we can rightly hang on Adam.
He’s the one who opened the door and let death come barging in.

But when we get honest we see that the judgment that comes after death
Still hangs on us.

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned”

Adam may have opened the door,
But we all determined to give sin and death a greeting.
We all signed up for his newsletter. We all joined his club.

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

The writer of Hebrews realizes this,
So he gives us this second thing to focus on,
And that is the atonement we so desperately needed.

And there are three aspects we see about this needed atonement

1) Surety of the Atonement
“So Christ also”

Christ’s atonement is as certain as the fact that you will die.
2) Sufficiency of the Atonement
“having been offered once”

The reason this speaks of the sufficiency is because goats, bulls, lambs,
Were all offered over and over again simply because they weren’t sufficient.

They never fully measured up to what God was looking for.
Hebrews 10:1-4 “For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

But the atonement of Jesus was sufficient
Hebrews 10:11-14 “Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”

3) Satisfaction of the Atonement
“to bear the sins of many”

He satisfied the wrath that was coming to us.

You see, people are enamored with the baby Jesus.
We love the story of the manger and the wise men and the shepherds.
We love the picture painted by the cattle lowing the baby awake.

BUT THAT ISN’T ALL THE STORY

This child was born to die.
Luke 2:34-35 “And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed — and a sword will pierce even your own soul — to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

God entered our world in order to atone for our sin.
Galatians 4:4-5 “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”

TO APPRECIATE CHRISTMAS
Realize how bad you need it.
Realize the reason the baby is in the manger
#3 THE NOBLE APPEARING
Hebrews 9:28b
“so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin,”

Now here is what the writer of Hebrews wanted to leave you with.
It didn’t end with Jesus death.

He is alive, and He will return!
The second time He comes for salvation.

But I thought I was already saved.
DO YOU STILL SIN?
Then I guess your salvation isn’t complete yet is it?

Romans 13:11 “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.”

1 Peter 1:9 “obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”

Both Peter and Paul spoke of salvation as something yet to occur.
Because at this point our salvation is not yet complete.

The day you placed your faith in Jesus, you were justified in the sight of God.
Now, until death you are going through the process of sanctification.
When Jesus returns, comes glorification.

1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

We are still living in anticipation of our salvation from this world.

This another thing you must do
In order to fully appreciate Christmas.

You must grasp the anticipation it brings.

It is a time of rejoicing because God came,
But it ignites in us an even greater anticipation
Because we know that the God who came once will indeed come again!

In this way we share in the anticipation of the saints of old.

TURN TO: ISAIAH 9:1-7

TURN TO: MICAH 5:1-5

Only part of that prophecy has been fulfilled.
We still anticipate the day when the rest of it is fulfilled.

We see the same thing in some of the New Testament passages.
Philippians 2:5-11 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The first part of that certainly speaks of the incarnation of Jesus,
But it is the last part we still anticipate.

Even think of some of the songs we sing at Christmas.
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her king. Let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and heaven and nature sing.
“Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ, While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains Repeat the sounding joy. Repeat the sounding joy. Repeat the sounding joy.
“No more let sin and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found, far as, far as the curse is found
“He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove, the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love and wonders of His love, and wonders, wonders of His love.”

IF YOU WANT TO APPRECIATE CHRISTMAS
Don’t just look back at the manger.
Look at why the manger happened. Because we had an appointment with death.

Don’t just look at the manger…
Look at where the child in the manger was headed. born to die that we might live.

Don’t just look at the manger…
Look that God came once, and know that He will certainly come again.

#4 THE NECESSARY ANTICIPATION
Hebrews 9:28
“so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”

You see, the reason you must have this anticipation,
Is because those are the ones to whom Christ belongs.

The reason we can often go through Christmas with such apathy
Is because we often anticipate the presents we will receive
More than we do the return of Christ.

We often anticipate the things of this world more than His return.

We must be among those who eagerly anticipate the coming of Jesus.
Imagine Joseph and Mary…how eager they must have been.
Imagine Simeon…how eager he must have been.
Imagine the Magi…
Imagine the Shepherds…

Imagine every person who realized their problem of sin and death….
HOW EAGER THEY MUST HAVE BEEN FOR THE MESSIAH
That is how eager we must be,

2 Timothy 4:8 “in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

Christmas is about anticipation.
We still long for the coming of the Messiah.
We still long for His kingdom.

Listen to Zacharias.
Luke 1:67-75 “And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant — As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old — Salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES, And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US; To show mercy toward our fathers, And to remember His holy covenant, The oath which He swore to Abraham our father, To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.”

DO WE NOT LONG FOR THOSE SAME THINGS?

If you want to know how to approach Christmas,
Then approach it with anticipation.

There is no greater proof that Jesus will return
Than the fact that He already came once.

And if He was willing to come once in a manger
Certainly He will be willing to come again in glory

If He was willing to come once as a servant
Certainly He will be willing to come again as King

If He was willing to come once as a sacrifice
Certainly He will be willing to come again as Judge

If He was willing to come once to die for sinners
Certainly He will be willing to come again to take them home

Christmas is about anticipating the second coming
Of the God who already came once!

Revelation 22:20-21 “He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”

The Propitiation
1 John 2:1-2
September 9, 2012

I had initially planned to pick back up with our study of Matthew this morning and go in chapter 23 dealing with the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.

But I realized it was time for the Lord’s Supper and since you’ve already had a three week break from Matthew I didn’t think one more week would do you any harm.
So we’ll pick back up there next week.

This morning I want to simply focus on a truth
That certainly needs to be focused on from time to time.

I’ve always liked the lyrics to the hymn “I love to tell the story”

The third verse says:
“I love to tell the story; for those who know it best seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest; And when in scenes of glory, I sing a new, new song, ‘Twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.”

And of course the point of the hymn writer is that
Even seasoned saints never get tired of the message of the cross.
We never get tired of hearing about atonement.
We never get tired of hearing about forgiveness.

And that certainly is a God-given desire,
For it was never intended that we ever allow ourselves
To get too far from the message of the cross.

That, in part, was why the Lord’s Supper was instituted.
• It was a time to build unity
• It was a time to examine self
• But ultimately it is a time to remember the sacrifice of Christ.

And certainly, as the hymn writer said,
This is a theme that will echo even into heaven.

Revelation 5:8-10 “When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

And so it is a fitting topic to discuss
As we come this morning to the table of the Lord.

And as you have already noticed we are going to study
Just a couple of verses here in John’s first epistle.
And in this text there are three things I want you to see.

#1 THE CHRISTIAN’S EXPECTED PURITY
1 John 2:1a

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that that you may not sin.”

Certainly we catch the turn of endearment from John.
He writes to his little children.

It is affectionate, it is caring, but it also carries the wisdom of an older and wiser man
Giving important instruction to those who need it.

And John is clear.
“I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.”

First we have to ask “what things”?

Flip back to chapter 1.

(READ VERSES 5-10)

John is very pointed about what it means to have fellowship with God.
And John clearly identifies the barrier to having fellowship with God.

WHAT IS IT?
SIN

• (5-7) – If you walk in sin there is no fellowship
• (8) – If we deny our sin (that is seek to hold on to it) we have no fellowship
• (9) – If we confess our sin then fellowship is restored
• (10) – If we seek to conceal our sin and cover it, then again no fellowship

And without going into too much detail about those verses
It becomes obvious that the great hindrance
To having fellowship with God is sin.

And there is really no surprise to us there.
God is holy, He has no fellowship with darkness at all.

And so it makes sense to us what John says here in the second chapter.
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.”
WHY?
Because sin messes up your fellowship with God.
It will steal your joy, and muddle your hope.

So I’m writing to encourage you in every possible way not to sin.
And really I think this is a point
That desperately needs to be stressed in our culture today.
• We have heard so much about the mercy of God…
• We have heard so much about the grace of God…
• We have heard so much about the love of God…
• We have heard so much about the forgiveness of God…

That if you aren’t careful it is easy for a person
To take a real nonchalant view of sin.

The temptation is to treat sin like it really isn’t all that big of a deal.
“Since I have an unlimited supply of forgiveness,
why worry about a few sins here or there?”

But I promise you that is a Satan-inspired mindset.
Jude 4 “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

“licentiousness” would be literally a license to sin.
And there are plenty with that sort of mindset.

And yet we are reminded of what Paul taught.
Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”

How can you live in sin if you’ve died to sin?

He would later say:
Romans 6:12-14 “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

Paul definitely saw sin as something to be avoided at all cost.
And yes even by the believer.

WHY IS SIN SUCH A SERIOUS ISSUE?
Because of the consequences it brings.

ASBESTOS ROOFING IN AFRICA
(Mesothelioma)

AIDS IN AFRICA

Now why are we so afraid of Mesothelioma or AIDS?
Because it can kill you.

SO WE’RE AFRAID OF THOSE THINGS, BUT NOT SIN?
Sin not only kills the body, sin kills the soul.

Ezekiel 18:4 “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.”

Romans 6:23a “For the wages of sin is death…”

And sin sends people to hell for eternity.
Revelation 20:11-15 “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Ephesians 5:5 “For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

That is why Paul said, even to believers:

Colossians 3:5-6 “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,”

But it’s not like hell is the only consequence of sin.
Sin will wreck your life.

It certainly blocks blessing in your life.
Jeremiah 5:25 “Your iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have withheld good from you.”

It can stifle the effectiveness of your prayer life.
Psalms 66:18 “If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear;”

Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”

But beyond that, sin just brings about terrible consequences
In everything it touches.

Need I remind you?
Genesis 3:14-19 “The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.” Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

All of that is because of sin.

The point is sin is not to be messed around with.
Sin will Wreck your life, Stop your prayers, Block your blessings,
Kill your body, and Send you to hell.

Mesothelioma has nothing on sin!

And so know that of all the truths that we learn about forgiveness,
Nothing we learn is meant to encourage you that sin is no big deal.

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.”
Just know he is serious!
Stay away from sin.

BUT OF COURSE THAT IS A PROBLEM ISN’T IT.
Because we all sin.

We’ve identified with Paul in our lives.
Romans 7:14-19 “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.”

Just because we don’t want to sin doesn’t mean we always succeed.

WHAT THEN?
Here comes the good news.

#2 THE CHRISTIAN’S EFFECTIVE PRIEST
1 John 2:1b

“And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;”

Now the emphasis is still “Don’t sin”, but if sin occurs in your life
There is something you desperately need to know.

“we have an Advocate”

We sin, and we know the consequences that should be on the way.
• We should lose all blessing,
• We should lose the chance to pray,
• We should be affected with curses,
• We should await sure and certain death,
• We should expect torment for all eternity.

That is what we should expect every time we sin,
But we “have an Advocate”

The word is PARAKLETOS
It means “someone who comes alongside.”

I have someone who stands with me before the Judge.
Someone who pleads my case.

And this is a good thing, I need an ADVOCATE,
Because I have two things against me.
One is the EVIDENCE, the other is the ACCUSER

We know the accuser don’t we.
• He’s the one that told God, “Does Job fear God for nothing..? But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” (Job 1:9, 11)

• He’s the one who accused Joshua of wearing dirty garments.

• And Revelation 12:10 says he accuses the brethren before God “day and night”

That means not only do I have a sin problem, but I also have a tattle-tale.
There is zero chance that my sin is going to go unnoticed.

I’m guilty and I will get caught.
I need a good lawyer.

And that is what I’ve got.
I have “an Advocate with the Father”

His name is “Jesus Christ”

Romans 8:33-34 “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”
Hebrews 7:23-25 “The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
• He is my Advocate.
• He prays for me before the Father.
• He pleads my case.

And by the way, He is a good lawyer.
Notice He is “Jesus Christ the righteous;”

WHY DOES THAT MATTER?
Because the last thing you want at your trial
Is a lawyer that has bad history with the Judge.

And in the past that is all we had.
TURN TO: Leviticus 16

Notice how we were depending on a priest,
And Scripture said he had his own problems.

The picture was that the lawyer who was defending us,
First had to stand trial for his own sin, before he could plead for ours.

That is not a good advocate.

We want a righteous advocate.
And in Jesus we have one.

Hebrews 7:26-28 “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.”

So I try to avoid sin, but when I fail,
I have one who will stand beside me before the Judge.

Now friend, that is good, BUT IT ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH.

WHY?
• Because we stand before a righteous and omniscient judge.
• We stand before a Judge who never misses a verdict.
• We stand before a Judge who never condemns the innocent and who never acquits the guilty.

So I can have the best Lawyer in the world,
But if I am guilty that lawyer can’t do a thing about it.
That is why I need more than a good priest.
And we have more.

#3 THE CHRISTIAN’S ETERNAL PROPITIATION
1 John 2:2

“and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and nor for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

We can have a good priest, but we learned in Leviticus
That a priest is nothing without a payment.

I appreciate the prayer, I need the payment.
Someone has to pay for my mistake.

Praise God that is what Christ did!
“He Himself is the propitiation for our sins;”

Romans 3:23-25 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;”

1 John 4:10 “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

WHAT IS THIS PROPITIATION?

The word is HILASMOS
It means “appeasement” and it is a strong word.

John MacArthur said this:
“Propitiation by the way is a very strong word; hilasmos in the Greek. And Propitiation means “the actual satisfying of God’s just wrath”, it’s not a potential it’s an actual word. It could be translated “placated” or “satisfied”. He Himself is the satisfaction, He is the placation, He propitiates God, satisfies God, placates God’s anger for our sins…Nothing is left out. And Jesus death here was a satisfaction. He was the sacrificial Lamb on the ultimate Day of Atonement, whose blood sprinkled before God was a true satisfaction. Propitiation is too strong a word to mean something potential, because propitiation means it turns God’s wrath away forever…”
(MacArthur, John [Audio Sermon: “90-278 = The Doctrine of Actual Atonement Part 2 = Selected Scriptures”] clip begins at (43:30)

That is what Christ did.
He satisfied every possible reason God had for being angry.

When we stood at court, our Advocate stood beside us, and yet our sin was enough to condemn us anyway, and the Judge was livid!

And then our Advocate did the most unthinkable thing.
He told the Judge that He would pay our sentence.
He satisfied the wrath of the Judge.

That is why I love Jesus’ words on the cross.
John 19:30 “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”

Jesus totally finished the work.
• On the cross He actually atoned for the sin of those who trust in Him.
• He actually paid it all.
• He settled the account.
• He satisfied the righteous requirement of God forever.

Hebrews 10:10-14 “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”

He doesn’t keep suffering…
He won’t have to come again to suffer again…

At that one moment He satisfied God’s wrath for all eternity,
For all who sinned before Him and all who sinned after Him
So long as they believe in Him.

He totally appeased God’s wrath.

“He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

Now don’t misapply that verse.
Some read it as though He paid for all my sin,
And He paid for everyone’s sin as well.

But propitiation is too strong a word for that.
If Christ fully propitiated everyone’s sin, then no one would go to hell.

Rather, what John is saying is that
He is the only propitiation this world will ever get.

He is our propitiation, and He is their propitiation,
Meaning they can’t claim a different one.

What Jesus did was so perfect and so effective
That no one would ever equal what He did.

He fully satisfied the righteous requirement of God
For all those who believe.
Romans 8:1-4 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

And friend, that is why we take the Lord’s Supper.
• I do my best not to sin.
• I know that sin never brings about good results in my life.

But as hard as I try, I still fail, and I still sin.

I’m so thankful to have Jesus stand beside me before the Judge
And not just that He is a sympathetic Lawyer,
But that He is a sufficient one.

For not only does my lawyer plead for me, He atoned for me.
He took away all the wrath God had for me.
He paid for all of it.

And now there is no more war between me and God.
Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”

I once had fear, and now I have hope
Simply because Jesus satisfied God’s wrath on me.

And that is why when Jesus sat in the upper room, taking the Passover, ready to approach the cross He said:

Luke 22:19b-20 “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”

He didn’t do it for Himself, He did it for you.
He did it to pay the debt you owed.
He did it to satisfy the wrath against you.

And that is what we come to remember.

In a moment I’m going to pray and then
We will have a time or preparation for the Lord’s Supper.

Paul told us to examine ourselves and so doing partake of the table of the Lord.
So we’ll have a time of preparation.

And then we’ll tell Christ thank you for His sacrifice
By partaking of the Lord’s Supper.

LORD’S SUPPER

• Deacons come

Isaiah 53:1-3 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

• Give bread to deacons
• Deacon prayer
• Deacons pass out bread

Luke 22:19 “And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

• Take Bread

Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

• Give juice to deacons
• Deacon prayer
• Deacons pass out juice

Luke 22:20 “And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”

• Take Juice

• Prayer

• Closing Hymn

 

 

“The Last Sermon”
Luke 23:27-31

As you have noticed this morning it is time once again
To come to the table of the Lord.

Christianity hangs upon the atonement of Jesus Christ.

The very heart of the gospel is that God became flesh
And gave His life in substitute of wicked, sinful, detestable man.

Romans 3:23-25a “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith.”

Romans 5:6-8 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

We are all aware that were it not for the substitutionary death of Christ There could be no salvation for any man.

It was the death of Christ that appeased God’s wrath.
It was the death of Christ that satisfied God’s anger.
It was the death of Christ that paid our debt.
It was the death of Christ that purchased our forgiveness.

The death of Jesus is the centerpiece of Christianity.
And therefore we are commanded by our Lord
To never stray too far from the cross.

However, this morning we are not focusing on the death itself,
But rather an even that occurred just prior.

As I began to seek and to search for the text that I would preach,
I turned to read the account of the crucifixion in Luke’s gospel,
And was struck by these 5 verses.

It is Jesus explaining how some should respond to His death.

The Crucifixion of Jesus brings about no shortage of emotions.
Well, in our text this morning we see
How Jesus said that some should respond to His death.

And those He specifically refers to
Are those who have rejected His sacrifice.

Many times we focus on the response of the redeemed
As we examine the cross.
And for a redeemed person, there may be initial sorrow, but sorrow that quickly gives way to unspeakable joy.

In fact, once we understand the victory of the cross,
The believer comes to glory in the cross.

Paul would say:
1 Corinthians 2:2 “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”

Galatians 6:14 “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

And certainly those who have come to the cross take a similar view.

But this morning we are NOT talking about the response of the redeemed.
This morning Jesus tells those who have rejected Him
How to respond to the cross.

This sermon is for those
Who have patterned their lives after the Jews of Jesus day.
Those who are educated in religion, and who know all the answers,
But who have failed to ever deny themselves and follow Jesus.

I called this “The Last Sermon”
And indeed it was.

The last sermon Jesus ever preached to the lost.
This is the last time He ever addressed those who had rejected Him.
This is the one truth Jesus chose to leave fresh on their minds.

#1 A CROWD IN TEARS
Luke 23:27

It is true that by picking up here in the text we are well into the story.

But at this point:
• Jesus has already spent the night in the garden praying, and sweating drops of blood.
• Jesus has been betrayed by Judas and arrested by the Roman soldiers.
• Jesus has already been tried by the Sanhedrin, by Pilate, by Herod, and then by Pilate again.
• And even though Pilate tried to release Him, the crowed persuaded him to crucify Jesus.
• The sentence has been passed and Jesus has been led away to be crucified.

Verse 26 reminds us that on the way to “The Place of the Skull”
Simon was forced to carry His cross and there we pick up our story.
And the first thing we see is that “following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting Him.”

We don’t know a whole lot about the crowd,
Except that they were mostly women and that they were from Jerusalem.

Jesus makes that clear in verse 28 when He calls them “Daughters of Jerusalem”

That means that these are not the women you initially think of.
This is not His mother, or the other Mary.
This is not those converts from His Galilean ministry.

These are women of Jerusalem.
That puts them among those who are lost.
They are among those who have rejected Him.

And yet we find them here
Following Him out of the city weeping and lamenting.

And to that let me just say two things.
1) THEIR WEEPING IS HONORABLE

They knew what was coming, and the thought of the cross moved them.

(Explain the humiliation and suffering of the cross)

Here was a man about to suffer like no other and they wept.

Their weeping is honorable
2) THEIR WEEPING IS INSIGNIFICANT

While it is an honorable thing that they wept over the suffering of Jesus,
In reality their weeping doesn’t mean anything.

Tears have never been a fruit of faith, repentance, or genuine salvation.

Remember Esau selling his birthright?
Hebrews 12:17 “For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.”

John the Baptist also had this to say about repentance:
Matthew 3:8 “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;”

Just because a person weeps, doesn’t indicate
True salvation, true faith, or true repentance.

The Rich Young Ruler went away sad, but he went away none the less.

And so their weeping is honorable, but it is also insignificant.
The only reason Luke mentions it
Is because of the response it provokes in Jesus.

A Crowd in Tears
#2 A CORRECTION IN THEOLOGY
Luke 23:28

Here is the beginning of the last sermon Jesus ever preached to the lost.

“Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.”

This must have been somewhat of a shock to them,
But it reflected that their discernment was off line.

For Jesus knew all, and He knew what was coming,
And He wept for different reasons.

Luke 19:41-44 “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. “For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

Jesus did not weep for what Jerusalem would do to Him,
He wept because of what God would do to Jerusalem.

These women were weeping for the wrong reason.

Jesus said, they should also cry for their “children”.

Was it not the crowd in Jerusalem that had just bought upon them the awful curse?
Matthew 27:25 “And all the people said, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!”

No wonder Jesus told them to weep for their children.
They were in a great bit of danger, and they were unaware of it.

A Crowd in Tears A Correction in Theology
#3 A COMING TRIBULATION
Luke 23:29-30

In case you wonder why you should weep for yourselves,
Jesus explains it here.

“For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’”
Jesus revealed that there is coming such a day of judgment
That women with children will wish that their children did not exist.

And this is a very pessimistic sentiment.

You may remember those in Scripture who lamented their own birth.
Job 3:11-12 “Why did I not die at birth, Come forth from the womb and expire? “Why did the knees receive me, And why the breasts, that I should suck?”

Jeremiah 20:14-18 “Cursed be the day when I was born; Let the day not be blessed when my mother bore me! Cursed be the man who brought the news To my father, saying, “A baby boy has been born to you!” And made him very happy. But let that man be like the cities Which the LORD overthrew without relenting, And let him hear an outcry in the morning And a shout of alarm at noon; Because he did not kill me before birth, So that my mother would have been my grave, And her womb ever pregnant. Why did I ever come forth from the womb To look on trouble and sorrow, So that my days have been spent in shame?”

There were those who saw hardship and lamented their own life;

But it is strange for a woman to lament the birth of her child. Unless she is witnessing the brutal suffering of her child.

And that is the picture here.
There will be such a dreadful judgment coming
That as women watch the suffering of their children,
They would rather they had been as one of the barren women.

Similar to the point Jesus made about Judas.
Mark 14:21 “For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”

(My mom prayed for our death over our lostness)

And then Jesus continues.
(30) “Then they will begin TO SAY TO THE MOUNTAINS, ‘FALL ON US,’ AND TO THE HILLS, ‘COVER US.’”

And here Jesus quotes a passage of Scripture
To purposely draw a parallel to both a past and future judgment.
First lets look at the past judgments He is referring to.

TURN TO: HOSEA 10:1-8, 14-15

First Hosea recounts the faithlessness of Israel.
READ VERSES 1-4

You can see that Israel had no regard for God (as we have studied recently in Kings)
Then Hosea begins to announce the coming judgment
READ VERSES 5-8

Their Hosea said that the judgment from Assyria would be so bad
That the people would actually wish for the mountains to fall on them
To quickly ease their suffering.

And by the end of the chapter Hosea reveals why.
READ VERSES 14-15

Hosea saw a day when altars and cities and fortifications would be smashed.
He saw a day of extreme death.
He saw a day when mothers and their children would be dashed to pieces.
He saw a day so horrific that people wanted the mountains to fall on them.

But that wasn’t the only place that such imagery was used.

TURN TO: ISAIAH 2:5-22

And First Isaiah recounts the sin of Judah.
READ VERSES 5-9

Judah had become worldly and had rejected God.

And the advice that God gives?
(10) “Enter the rock and hide in the dust from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty.”

God is so angry that you ought to try and hide from Him.

And then Isaiah announces judgment.
READ VERSES 11-18

God is going to utterly destroy Jerusalem.

WHAT WILL BE THE RESPONSE OF THE PEOPLE?
VERSES 19-22

Men will be so terrified in that day,
That they will wish for the mountains to fall on them.

What Rome is about to do to Jerusalem
Will be like what Assyria and Babylon did to Israel & Judah.

The judgment will be so bad
That you will wish your children had never been born
And that the mountains will fall on you.

But His announcement also foreshadows a FUTURE judgment.
TURN TO: REVELATION 6:12-17
AND SO DO YOU GET THE PICTURE?

Jesus tells these women that they shouldn’t weep for Him,
They should weep for themselves.

• Jesus was about to suffer and die, but in three days He would rise again and reign forever.
• But these women would suffer and die and spend eternity under the judgment of God.

They are about to suffer such great punishment for rejecting Jesus that it makes the cross look easy.

That’s like a man having his arm cut off
And weeping because his rolex was on it.

They didn’t grasp the severity of the situation.
Weeping for Jesus was not unwarranted,
But it wasn’t nearly as warranted as the weeping
They ought to be doing for themselves.

Because of their rejection of Christ,
Their suffering was about to be really bad.

A Crowd in Tears A Correction in Theology A Coming Tribulation
#4 A CONDEMNED TREE
Luke 23:31

Here Jesus closes with a very logical illustration.
“For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

In a literal sense we understand that green trees are not for burning,
Rather dry dead trees are for burning.

And the point there is that if a person is willing to burn a green tree, do you think they would hesitate to burn a dead one?

Of course not

The explanation of the parable then is this.

• The “green” tree represents Jesus, who was full of life and God’s favor.
• The “dry” and dead tree represents Jerusalem and the Jews who were dead and full of God’s judgment.
• “they” who burn the tree is initially the Roman government, but it even looks further, ultimately representing God.

And the point is this.

If Rome (and ultimately God) would destroy Me,
A righteous man who doesn’t deserve it by cruel death on a cross. How much worse do you think He will do to you who do deserve it?

1 Peter 4:17-18 “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER?”

DO YOU UNDERSTAND JESUS POINT?

Here were lost people weeping
Because the suffering of Jesus looked so bad.

But Jesus says, “Look, the suffering I am about to undergo dwarfs in comparison to the suffering you are about to endure. Don’t weep for Me, weep for yourself.”

And just by way of filling in the gaps, you should know that about 35 years later a group of zealots led a Jewish revolt against Rome.

The revolt was squashed and in A.D. 70 Jerusalem and the temple were utterly destroyed.

Jesus’ words had immediate fulfillment.
But they also had eternal fulfillment,

For those very Jews who rejected Jesus on that day,
Suffered a fate far worse than even the destruction of Rome.
They have since been forced to face the wrath of God in eternal hell.

No wonder Jesus didn’t weep for Himself,
But instead wept for Jerusalem.

Luke 19:41-44 “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. “For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

AND YOU AND I MUST LEARN FROM HER MISTAKE.
Israel failed to believe in God even when the opportunity was there for her.

And as a result she was broken off,
The opportunity was given to the Gentiles for salvation.

But take heed to what Paul said:
Romans 11:17-22 “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.”

Don’t make the same mistake that the Jews made
And miss your time of visitation.

2 Corinthians 6:2 “for He says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.” Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”

THE POINT THEN IS SIMPLE

Often times when we look at the cross we are moved to tears.
Weeping is appropriate, but not for Jesus.

There was a time when we might have wept for Him, but not anymore.

Even Jesus said:
John 16:20-22 “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”

Don’t weep for Jesus.

IF YOU ARE LOST weep for yourself,
For if God was willing to crush His own Son who didn’t deserve it,
What must be in store for those who do?

And if you are saved weep for the lost.
It is they who are in danger, not Jesus.

Weep for those who crucified Him
And for those who continue to do so.
Hebrews 6:4-6 “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”

THERE IS THE REASON TO WEEP.

Charles Spurgeon once preached in regard to this text:
“Now, dear friends, I think I have said enough on this painful matter to assure you that the most terrible warning to impenitent men in all the world is the death of Christ; for if God spared not His own Son, on whom was only laid imputed sin, will He spare sinners whose sins are actual, and their own? If He smote Him to death who only stood in the sinner’s stead, will He let the impenitent sinner go free? If He who always did His Father’s will, and was obedient even unto death, must be forsaken of God, what will become of those who reject Christ and live and die enemies to the Most High? Here is cause for weeping; and, very solemnly would I say it, God help me to say it so that you may feel it – the most dreadful thought is that perhaps we ourselves are in the condition of guiltiness before God, and are hastening on to the judgment which Christ has foretold. Oh, think if within the next six months – nay, stretch it as far as you like – if within the next fifty years some of us should be asking the hills to cover us, and wishing that we never had been born? What an awful prospect! And yet, unless we are renewed in heart, and made believers in Jesus Christ, that certainly must be our doom. Think of your children, too, who are growing up about you, capable of understanding, and responsible for their actions. Oh, if they live as they now live, and die as they now are, you may wish that they had never been given to you, and had never borne your name. Think of this, and weep. Dear friends, if the Lord would put you into a right state of heart, you would scarcely think of an unconverted person’s condition without the deepest pity. You would not hear an oath in the street without the tear starting to your eye.”
Spurgeon, Charles; (The Treasury of the New Testament, Volume II St. Luke XV to Romans III. 25 [Marshall, Morgan & Scott, Limited; London] pg. 168-169)

This morning I want you to grasp
The realness and the severity of the judgment of God.

If there was every any doubt how much God hates sin,
All you have to do is look at what He did when sin went on His Son.

There is a severe judgment, and while the cross can save us from it,
The cross is also the greatest proof of it.

If the judgment were not real, Jesus would have never had to die.

 

The call this morning is to mourn.
Not for Jesus, but for your sin, and for the destruction of sinners.

James 4:8-10 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

 

This morning we are going to partake of the Lord’s Supper.
We’ll have a time of preparation.
It is also a time for you to respond to the cross of Jesus Christ.

Pray

LORD’S SUPPER

Deacons come forward and fold blanket.

Isaiah 53:1-3 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

GIVE BREAD TO DEACONS
DEACON PRAYER
PASS OUT BREAD

Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

TAKE BREAD

Isaiah 53:7-9 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”

GIVE JUICE TO DEACONS
DEACON PRAYER
PASS OUT JUICE

Isaiah 53:10-12 “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”

DEACON PRAYER

PARTING CHORUS