Have you ever wondered about the true essence of Christmas amidst the holiday hustle and bustle? During this Christmas season, it's important to understand and appreciate the significance of Emmanuel, "God With Us".
Embrace the act of letting go to welcome more of God into your life. You don't have to be flawless to approach Him. God is our everything. He is our shepherd, ready to shield and guide us at the right moment. By acknowledging God's omnipresence in our lives, we can trust in His plan, finding comfort and guidance in every step of our journey.
Have you ever wondered about the true essence of Christmas amidst the holiday hustle and bustle? During this Christmas season, it's important to understand and appreciate the significance of Emmanuel, "God With Us".
Embrace the act of letting go to welcome more of God into your life. You don't have to be flawless to approach Him. God is our everything. He is our shepherd, ready to shield and guide us at the right moment. By acknowledging God's omnipresence in our lives, we can trust in His plan, finding comfort and guidance in every step of our journey.
Hey, what up? It's Mark Carter on, the Pastor of Fierce Church. Welcome to our podcast. I'm so pumped that you're able to join us today. I hope this encourages you, inspires you, strengthens you, gives you hope to keep pressing on, and it's my prayer that this sermon gives you a more expansive view of God's love for you. Enjoy the message. Welcome to church everybody. I'm so excited to dive into God's Word with you.
Speaker 1:I don't know how this has ever been for you. I don't know how big the family you've been a part of was, but I've got a lot of kids five kids and when they were little ones we would hang with other parents who also had a lot of kids. And sometimes, when you're hanging with friends that have a lot of kids and all the kids are together in the room, it's a little bit hard to totally focus on the conversation you're trying to have. Okay, so you're talking to somebody like, okay, oh, yeah, you tried the restaurant, right. Okay, that's really good. And then this little guy's trying to push the bookcase over on some other ones, and so, you're, okay, I'm trying to manage all this at the same time. And then you're looking over here and this one's poking a dog with a stick and it's. You know, there's like 12 seconds before that thing's going to blow up, and so you're trying to talk to them. You're like, oh yeah, okay, the pack and play is red, oh great, but you can't really pay attention because your focus is diffused.
Speaker 1:We're coming up on Christmas time and I want to pitch to you. There's a lot of potential for you to enjoy a relationally deep and satisfying time with Jesus Christ, but there's also a lot of potential to be very distracted with a bunch of other good stuff. That just isn't the main thing. We're going to talk today about being single-minded. We're going to talk today about keeping the main thing. The main thing, all those things that you might be doing, whether they're traditions, whether they're memories, whether they're friends you see from time to time whether it's travel, whether it's a special kind of food all great stuff, hey, great, enjoy it. But there's something deeper, there's something bigger. There's something more important, more central, that we're going to focus on, and we've got to learn about it.
Speaker 1:Today we're starting this series God With Us. You've heard probably most of you, you've seen it on Christmas cards, you've heard it somewhere, you've seen it in the Bible. This name Emmanuel. It was one of the names that was prophesied. Jesus could be understood by Emmanuel. It means God With Us.
Speaker 1:We're going to jump right into the Scripture and we're not going to spend a lot of time here. I just want you to see it. This is where the angels is explaining to Joseph hey, man, here's going to come, the one that was prophesied. He says she, mary, will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. The Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God With Us. Now, 700 years earlier, isaiah, he penned this. Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. The Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son.
Speaker 1:We're going to spend this series tearing apart. What does it mean that God is with us? Because I hear that sometimes and I'm like, oh right, so like he was on planet earth, like how am I supposed to understand? How's that supposed to make a difference? Why is that a big deal at Christmas time? And I believe it has the power to change the way you view the purpose of Christmas for ever or real.
Speaker 1:We're going to look at Psalm 16. It seems a little strange at first, but you'll see why in a minute. There's a man and he's running to the Lord. He's in trouble, somebody's after him, he needs help, he needs a defender, and we're going to jump into the middle of Psalm that. We're going to go back to the beginning. As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight. But verse 4 says for the sorrows of those who have bartered for another, god will be multiplied. I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, nor will I take their names upon my lips. You probably won't get that one on a Christmas card. The saints who are in the earth.
Speaker 1:What this means in this time everyone would have understood. That just means the people of God. He says the people of God. I'm looking at this. I'm running to God for help and I'm looking at two different kinds of folks. I see the one. These are folks. When they come to mind, I just get happy. I think about their faithfulness For me.
Speaker 1:I think about two of my friends, nate and Faith Walter. When we were in our early 20s. We was just hanging man and they're like so here's what we're going to do. We're going to move to Spain. We're going to start this hostel for pilgrims to just come and have a place to stay and encounter the Lord and we're going to give our entire lives to it. I'm like dang. And then they went and did it and they're still doing it, and every time I think of them I just get like a bright feeling in my heart of like the faithful in the land in whom is all my delight.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you got people like that. You ever think about that. For me they're usually not famous people. There's someone behind the scenes that mostly nobody knows about, but I just see him day in and day out. They're just being faithful, they're just doing what they should.
Speaker 1:But then he contrasts that with the sorrows of those who bartered for another. God will be multiplied. See the ancient Israelites. They would look around at the other nations around them and they would see well, you know, they kind of their God lets them give themselves to that sinner. Maybe if we go worship this God over here he'll help our harvest and it'll be a little bit better. And so they did exactly what God told them not to do. They were going to go after other gods. And this guy said you know, I watched this for a while and here's what I see Eventually it might seem good at first, but eventually their sorrows are multiplied. They don't even always know it, but I can see it from over here.
Speaker 1:And here's the thing, my friend, you and I, we do this. We barter for other gods. We call them idols. An idol is anything you put in the place of God and you give it the reverence that really only God is due. It doesn't mean that thing is necessarily bad, that just means it might even be good. But you're giving it an importance that is not appropriate. That can happen at Christmas time for real. You're giving it an importance that is not really central. It's reserved only for God. But we do this without. We do this stuff all the time and you've seen it.
Speaker 1:So, people, it becomes a cautionary tale almost. You see people to give themselves to. It might be lust, it might be food, it might be, you know, like on a national scale, greed and what happens. Sorrows are multiplied. But you know it's even more personal than that because it doesn't have to be national. It can just be people pleasing, you know it's just one person in their circle, but they're always. They're never really free to be themselves because they've always got to keep everybody happy and keep everything, just so nobody can possibly get mad at me. And what are they really doing? They've got a little God, little idol called everybody's happy with me, and they traded in their own peace and their own just freedom to be who they are and their sorrows continue to multiply. And we all do this. We've all got stuff. We've all done it from time to time and what you notice about it is that it costs you something. What do they do? They're bartered to another God. They pour out libations of blood. They pour out libations of blood. They're drink offerings of blood.
Speaker 1:In ancient times, many of the surrounding nations they thought human blood and human sacrifice would be sometimes, how especially pleasing it was, so sacrificial to be especially pleasing to these demon gods. And so you remember if you remember those of you who know about this, I'm Mount Carmel when Elijah, he's going up against all the prophets of Baal and they're like cutting themselves, like just bleed, and see if we can wake this guy up because he's making us look like a chump because Baal doesn't do nothing. Yeah, he doesn't, he doesn't. And yet it's costing them blood and their sins that are costing us life, costing us all kind of focus, all kind of resources, all kinds of turmoil inside. It's costing, but what I was really doing is multiplying sorrow, and we all do it and we've all got it and we've all seen it. So when hell, hell breaks loose, when all hell breaks loose in your life, when the sorrows are beginning to be multiplied, it's time to find those little idols. You're going to throw them overboard and you're going to run to the refuge of the Lord.
Speaker 1:Verse 1, preserve me, o God, for I take refuge in you. This guy makes a break for it. He's like I've been thinking about these two groups of people. I'm cutting over to the Lord. I said to the Lord you are my Lord. I have no good besides you.
Speaker 1:We're going to skip down to verse 5. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance in my cup. You support my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. I'll bless the Lord who has counseled me. Indeed, my mind instructs me. In the night, I've set the Lord continually before me because he's at my right hand. I'll not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices that's a weird phrase. You might understand it better in the ESV and my whole being rejoices. I'm overflowing with praise for my God. My flesh will also dwell securely. He's like I'll actually keep my being safe, for you will not abandon my soul to sheol We'll talk about that in a sec Nor will you allow your holy one to undergo decay. You will make known to me the path of life in your presence. It's fullness of joy. In your right hand. There are pleasures forevermore. In the NLT, in verse 8, I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. I know the Lord is always with me. God is with you, emmanuel. God is always with me. That's what we're talking about today Single-minded focus on the fact that God is always with me.
Speaker 1:What does it mean that God is always with me? Here's what it means. God is with you means or Emmanuel means. When you hear the word Emmanuel, when you see it on the Christmas card. Here's what it means. It means he is your good. I have no good beside you.
Speaker 1:I don't really have a record that I can offer. It's not that I don't reflect the goodness of God Like you do good, you do stuff but we come to find as we study God's Word, it's actually God's goodness that is living through us. He's put his image into us and it's much more, rather than we're the source of good, we're just reflecting back the good. We're the moon and he's the sun. The moon has no light source of its own. It just reflects the light of the sun. You and I, we choose to do good, but really even our understanding of good is shaped by God. He's giving us grace and sometimes we see even examples in God's Word. He holds us back from evil because he's doing good, not because we would have chosen good.
Speaker 1:And here's what the New Testament we're going to pull this way apart. The New Testament understands you don't really have any. You don't have enough standing, you don't have enough good credit to bring any merit to God at all. And you're going to stumble because we all stumble in many ways and because you stumble, because God knew you would stumble, you and I, because you and I stumble. God is with you as your good. It's all good, baby, did you make some mistakes. It's all good. You know why, emmanuel? Because God is with you and he is with you as your good. He's with you as your good.
Speaker 1:So if you're tempted to say, here's what I better do, I better get better first, then I'll run to God. I don't want to do that. That's not going to help. Instead, run to God first and he'll actually help you clear out the idols, like he don't mind. God is the one man you know. Nobody, almost nobody, will come help you clean out your garage, but God will come help you clean some stuff out. God will come, he'll clean out this heart. You don't need to clean it out first. You run to him because he is. He's not going to be, he is your good. Here's what else Emmanuel means. Emmanuel means he is your portion. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance.
Speaker 1:In the Pentateuch okay, in the first few books of the Bible, one of the big ideas is that the Israelites are traveling to this place called the Promised Land. When they finally get there, the land is divvied up to the different tribes. They all finally get their land, all except the Levites. They were the priestly tribe. They were the ones who they were especially set apart to serve God in special ways. Verse 8, deuteronomy 10,. At that time the Lord he's speaking. Back then. At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark of the Lord's covenant. That's from Raiders of the Lost Ark. You haven't seen that movie. That is your Christmas homework. Okay, that's what that is, that's the box.
Speaker 1:And to stand before the Lord as he ministers to pronounce the blessings in his name. These are their duties. To say this is why the Levites will have no share of property or possession of land among the other Israelite tribes. The Lord himself is their special possession, as the Lord, your God, told them. The Lord is their portion and Emmanuel is with you as your portion. Sometimes we actually have to get less to get more. Sometimes God has to take away stuff in order for us to have appreciation or exposure or interaction with the real best stuff. And these Levites, they're kind of a prophecy toward us to say, hey, you Christians, in the future you've got to get this. That God is really your portion, he's your everything. You're especially set apart in Christ for him. But if you'll withhold yourself from some things, if you'll get some things out of your vicinity, god himself will give you more of him.
Speaker 1:So in 2019, we moved into a new house. We had been living in pretty much our dream house. We got it for a steel man. It was way bigger than we needed. It was beautiful, we loved it, but we wanted to be able to give more to the Lord. We wanted more margin in our finances, and so it took a big gulp and did it. We sold the house and we have a good house. Now. It's good, it's fine, you know, but that was our dream house. The one negative about that dream house it was big enough that different kids would be in different parts of the house and you might not see them but once or twice a day. Okay, so like one's over in this corner, one's down in the basement down here, the other one's out in this room just alone. And one of the huge blessings of a more condensed having less space in our new house, we're all together more. We got each other in a different kind of a way Like you can't go too far and you can run into some people now in the new location.
Speaker 1:Sometimes God has to take stuff away to get us to understand what the really important stuff is. One of the lessons he's going to be teaching us over life is I'm your portion. Here's what's mind-blowing about this. God says to you and me, he condescends to us. He says Emmanuel, god is with you. That means I, god, am yours. I in a sense belong to you, the same way a husband and wife belong to one another in marriage. That means it's not that you get to order him around, it's that you get access in the same way that he belongs to you, the same way his spouses work. That's how God belongs to you. It is trippy man.
Speaker 1:What kind of God would make such a claim? The apostle Paul gets this. He's putting this together in the book of Philippians. He's telling his hearers hey guys, I used to have all kinds of things I would rank about. I had all this pedigree, I was from the right families, I had the right degrees, I went to all the right places. And then he says but then I realized that's pretty much nothing compared to if I could give that up and get more Jesus, I'd get more Jesus. Philippians 3.8 is my favorite. Do you ever want to know what my favorite verse in the Bible is? It's this Philippians 3.8.
Speaker 1:What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ. He looks at all this stuff and is like, yeah, I'd sweep that up and throw it away if it meant getting more Jesus. The Lord is your portion as Emmanuel. So there's some things that you and I could walk around our lives and look at and say it's not that I don't like that, I want to keep that. But compared to knowing Christ, that is garbage, that is throw up on the carpet. I would just get rid of it if it would give me more Jesus, that kind of radical following of God. You know what it gets you. It gets you more Jesus. It gets you the experience of his fellowship more, because he's worth it, baby.
Speaker 1:So sometimes things are going to be withheld from you. Maybe you didn't get the role you didn't get onto the team. You're like why isn't my career going the way that theirs is going? Why don't I have the romance that they have? You know, dear heart, I don't know, but I know that Emmanuel God is with you and he says I know about it, I'm your portion, I want to give you me, and it may mean that I need to constrict you from some things so that you have more of me.
Speaker 1:Here's what else he is. He's Emmanuel, he's God with us. He is the author of your destiny, and my cup Cup here is symbolic for destiny. See what the Lord did when he assigned, when Joshua cast lots to give the lot land to the different tribes, god knew these are going to belong to them for a long time. I know what I'm giving them when I give them this land. And see it's unique law. In ancient Israel, every 50 years all the land, even if it was sold, had to be returned to the original family. And so God knows, even in the future, he's like yeah, even if you sell parts of this way, it's going to come back to you, to your family line, in 50 years, because he knows their destiny. He knows what's best.
Speaker 1:Before I was a preacher, before I went to seminary, before I was a pastor, I was an actor. I went to school, a little fine arts college called Millican, in the middle of the state. The first thing I was majoring in was musical theater. That means I had to be an actor and I had to be able to flow in music deep. Well, I got a semester through and one of my professors, who was also my advisor, sat me down and he's like yeah, here's the thing. You're not any good at the music theory stuff. You can't do it. So we're going to take you out of this major and you're just going to be a straight acting major. Best thing in the world for me.
Speaker 1:He's looking at my life. He's seen lots of other students. He's like this is obvious. This guy is going to have a really hard time. It's not a good idea for him to go this way. But while he's telling me this at the table, I'm fuming on the inside. I'm like who are you to tell me what I'm going to do? And I so appreciate that professor and that university even more now, because at my college you know what they did, you know what the teachers did, the professors did. They did what was best for the students. They didn't kowtow to them, they just did what was best, even though I was a little mad and you could tell. And then I got out a few months later and I say, oh, he saw some things I didn't see. Is it possible? I know, I know, baby, I know what I know you like the thing. I know you wanted to go that way.
Speaker 1:God sees the whole thing. He sees the whole story and every possible outcome of everything and he is the author of your destiny and he's like, if you'll just submit to it, if you'll just obey it, just get in line with me, I'll keep you safest, I'll make your life most abundant, I'll give you the most peace. Just don't fight me on it, just flow with me on it. You say I wish I could have somebody else's life. Well, god is with you as the chooser of your destiny. Just let him choose. See, some things are right for people, but God says but it's not, it is good, it's just not right for you. Let me be the chooser of your destiny. Is this hitting anybody? Where they live today?
Speaker 1:God is with us. Here's number four he keeps for you what is yours, so trippy. He keeps for you what is yours. He knows all the things that have been yours. He knows all the things that you want to be. He knows all the places you want to go. He knows all the things that you'll have and then you'll be afraid to lose. He knows that you might be a little bit nervous about your legacy. He knows that you're hopeful that one day you'll be able to do this, and once you finally get it, you're going to really cling on to it because you don't want to lose it.
Speaker 1:The Lord says I'm Emmanuel, I'm God with you and I'm the God who keeps for you what is yours. I'll give you the right authority and I'll keep it for as long as you need it. If you lose it, I'll give it back if I want you to have it. I'll give it back if I want you to have it, because I'm the keeper of what is yours. Not only that, friends, even for people who have died, who we've lost as they've known Jesus Christ, check this out. He is the keeper of what is yours. He knows where they are. He didn't lose them. He knows exactly where they are, but at the right time, because he is the God who keeps you what is yours. When it's time, He'll give it back. Not only will he give them back, he'll give several billion people. You don't even know that you're going to so love in heaven. You're going to love every one of them and he's going to give them back. He's keeping them for you. He's keeping Himself for you. He's keeping them for you. He keeps everything for you. What a God. At Christmas time, emmanuel God is with us to keep what is mine for me. Here's the next one. We're just going to keep going, man. Number five, this is the—so if you're a preacher, you want to be a preacher. Someday you'll be a preacher. Let me just give you a tip. You never have a message with eight points, but today we've got eight points, so we'll see if we get to them. Here's number five Emmanuel God with you. He's given you Himself.
Speaker 1:The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. Heritage is something that was passed down to you. Heritage was something that you were just kind of given. You were just in line and you just got the thing. And we've got to recognize.
Speaker 1:You see, it's so easy to point out, like in your—you look at yourself and you look at your passion, like, well, here's everything that my parents did wrong and there's what their grandparents did wrong. You know, dear heart, that's easy to do, that's not that hard. You know what's harder it's to look at. How has God blessed me, even through this line. What about all the things? Maybe they weren't even paying attention, but God got it to me. It came down through my stories, it came down through my genes, it came down through my opportunities. God just set you up with stuff that you did not initiate. He just put you there and gave you these things and this kind of personality and these kinds of gifts. He just gave it to you because it was your heritage. And he says I choose your heritage and I'm just giving this to you. He says, by the way, you know what else you get? You get me, see. I mean, just think about what had to happen.
Speaker 1:If you know and love Jesus Christ. For many of us, someone somewhere, maybe in your family line, they also knew Jesus Christ. And it wasn't just that he came for you, he was coming for you, for them. There's some connection there and you're like well, I don't know if my family did. Well, how do you know what happened three generations ago? How do you know what they were praying for you If you know Jesus Christ, dude, the heritage that you have, oh my gosh, it's mind-blowing. What a privilege that you have that heritage, wow. Well, so when you're tempted to covet something that's not yours, a manual says I'm your heritage, I'm everything you need, I've given you, I've put it in, it's there, everything you're ever going to need to do it, and your heritage is beautiful.
Speaker 1:Number six he counsels you. I will bless the Lord who has counseled me. Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. Okay, so we're talking about Christmas, but let's talk about Easter for a second, because they're really. You need them both.
Speaker 1:The Lord who counsels me? Well, he counsels us through Scripture. That's the primary way, but he counsels us through our conscience. The Psalmist even mentioned in our dreams. Sometimes, like you just get a stark moment of clarity Just as you're waking up in the middle of the night. You're just well, I just something way smarter than me. I just get it. God is just guiding you, or he's guiding your decisions. Whatever it is, he's counseled you.
Speaker 1:But let's just clarify what it took for the Father to be able to counsel you and not reject you and I because of our sin. Do you remember what he did to Jesus on the cross? My friend, the Father, who had never abandoned anybody, abandoned Jesus because he had to leave him to suffer the consequences for you and my sin, and he had to do it alone. And so the Father turned his back on the Son of God and said even when Jesus cried, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The Father did not answer. And he did not answer so that he could answer you because he is God with you, because of what Jesus did, wow.
Speaker 1:So when you don't know what to do, and you're not sure you're going to get there the right way, and you don't know what's going to happen, emmanuel is God with you as your counselor, and when you need to know, he'll let you know. And, my friends, that's a lot of walking with Jesus. Well, when you need to know, he'll let you know. And you don't know a lot. Most of the time You're like I don't know. If God's going to tell me, I'm just doing my best, he's got you, he's got you. He'll let you know if there's something you need to know. See, because he's a good shepherd like that. As a good shepherd number seven, he protects and defends you. I've set the Lord continually before me. So he's my shepherd. I'm in front of him, I'm following him Because he's at my right hand. I will not be shaken. So he's in front of me. He's also to the side of me, this right-hand thing.
Speaker 1:This is an image In ancient times you'd be a warrior. You got your sword in your right hand and your shield in your left. Now, if you were a king or somebody really important, you would have someone right on your right hand so that, as you're using your sword, they've got their shield to get you in case you need it. They're right there. They're your defender, they're your protector. The Lord is at your right hand, ready to defend and protect you.
Speaker 1:Now, this guy seems to be talking about physically protect and I'm sure that there's all kinds of stuff that the Lord has physically protected us from and kept us from. But there's also not just the image of the warrior, but the lawyer. There's just someone nearby you. There's someone to defend you. There's someone to stand up and, at the right time, somebody say right time, at the right time, he'll defend you. Now, he doesn't defend evil. If we're like I'm going to do this, he's never really like, that's fine, he won't, he won't defend that. But you know, he's so awesome that, even when we do, evil in our heart is like a little bit right though, because we just didn't know what was going on, he'll still defend the heart. Now here's the thing about your defender he chooses the day in court, not us. So you may go through some seasons where nobody's defending you. You're like what's up? I thought you're my defender. He says I'm also the shepherd and I know the way, and part of the way for you is the rejection of people, so you don't need their praise and you're just listening to me. So when you don't feel secure, emmanuel is your support and your refuge.
Speaker 1:I was in high school as a 14-year-old young man, you know, I didn't really know the Lord was my defender. I didn't know any of this stuff, and so some of my buddies and I, we would say this kind of thing to one another hey, man, you got my back, you got my back. I don't know I might get jumped here, something might go wrong. You got my back and they'd always be like oh man, I got your back. I got to tell you most of them did not have my back because I got in a couple of fights where they weren't around.
Speaker 1:God's always around. He's always got your back. He's not going to slip up. He's not going to forget to defend you.
Speaker 1:Here's number eight it's my favorite one. He won't leave you to die alone. He won't leave you to die alone. Therefore, my heart is glad, my glory rejoices. My flesh also will dwell securely, for you will not abandon my soul to sheol, nor will you allow your holy one to undergo decay.
Speaker 1:Sheol that's in Old Testament times. They didn't really understand the revelation that we understand now about heaven and hell and how all that works. It was just the netherworld of where you go when you're dead. It's like, oh crap, you're going to just wherever you go. Wherever it is, it's not alive. And he says I'm glad God's not going to abandon me to that. Nor will you allow your Holy One to undergo decay. This is where the Bible is so awesomely. It can say one thing and it means one thing in one era. But then the New Testament comes along and we see that God even back then was talking about here. But not your Holy One. Undergo decay, your Holy One. There's one Holy One, there's only one. His name is Jesus Christ and God did not allow him to undergo decay. In fact he raised him from the dead long before any decay could take place. But that one who was raised from the dead, he also knows what you and I may experience from time to time.
Speaker 1:You know, dude, your own mortality is frightening. You start to think about dying, think about what's next, and for some of us we're like man that's soon. When you're thinking about that, it's natural to be fearful about that. Can I tell you, god with you, goes with you even in death. He's your companion, even in the hardest moment, even when you're afraid no one's gonna be there. What if I die alone? What if I'm just out somewhere? I'm in some random room in the house? Nobody knows. What if I'm outside somewhere? What if I'm somewhere and just no one ever knows? I'm just there to die alone.
Speaker 1:If you've trusted Jesus Christ, he is God with you and he is with you even there. He won't leave you. He won't leave you to die alone. He's your companion. What's gonna happen is because you've walked with Him, because you drew near to Him, man, he's got you like this. You're just like His little baby in His arms and as you begin to expire, he's gonna still have you. He's gonna be like I got you, I got you. Here we go and you're gonna shed this mortal coil like some old wet blanket and all you're gonna transition is to more feeling Him than you did before, because he's gonna go with you. That's His specialty, man, he goes with you, you will make known to me the path of life.
Speaker 1:Now, in Old Testament times, I would have just thought that meant obedience, and it does. But it means something more than that. It means the gospel. Can I just tell you the gospel because you need to know it around Christmas again. Here it is real simple form. Jesus likes you, he likes you and he wants to forgive you, and he can because he paid the penalty for your sin. He likes you, he wants to forgive you. He can forgive you if you trust Him. That's all the gospel is. That's really what it is. You could use a lot of theological other words, but that's what it is relationally, at its heart. That is the way Jesus likes you and forgives you.
Speaker 1:Now check this out John 14.3. Here we go, and if I go and prepare a place for you, he's telling us disciples hey, man, things about to get weird. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me. Take you to be with me where I am. Why? Because he wants you to be with Him. See, emmanuel, god with us. It is about now, but it's not just about now. It's about more than now. It's about next Take you to be with me. Now, what I love about this if I go prepare a place for you, I will come back. He doesn't send a car, he doesn't send a chauffeur, he doesn't send somebody. He's not like man. I gotta like it. I can't just go get them. He doesn't do that. Jesus comes Himself because he's already here with you. He says I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna usher you over the line. Jesus was abandoned by the Father so that even during death, you won't be abandoned, he'll still be with you. One more Well, tumora I mean Thief is right next to Him on the cross.
Speaker 1:They're both dying. The thief looks over and he says something so strange to him. He says Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Now, dude, this dude's about to die. People who are dying on the cross don't come into kingdoms. Yet this dude has this glimmer of faith and he's like I don't know man. I feel like this guy's a big deal. I feel like he's done a lot right. I don't think he's anything like us.
Speaker 1:Hey, when something's about to happen with you, when that happens, can you just have me? And Jesus says today you will be with me. Paradise, paradise With me. My friends, if there's one minute on the clock, okay, jesus will take it. Sometimes we worry about, well, I wonder, I don't know if they really knew the Lord. Hey, I don't know either, but I know Jesus will take anything. He'll just take it. He's like I want it. Yes, you just gave me a nod of like. I trust you a little bit before you died. I'll take it Because I want to be with you. How do we access it? We're gonna access it during Christmas.
Speaker 1:Here I am, revelation 3.20. Stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and today with me. And so today and over the next month or so, can you see Jesus' hand? He's reaching out, he is Emmanuel, he is God with you and he says take my hand so that you can always be with me. That's what Emmanuel's about. Let's bow our heads and I just want to have a moment together before God. Holy Spirit, we just invite you to minister to us right now. I'm gonna speak some things over you and you just receive it about yourself.
Speaker 1:Because I stumble, jesus is my good when I feel unsafe. Jesus is my refuge. When I feel bad about what I don't have, jesus is my portion. When I don't feel like anyone's got my back, jesus has got my back. When I don't know what to do. At the right time, jesus will be my comforter. And even in death, because Jesus was abandoned by the Father, he can now be with me and he'll make sure it's all okay.
Speaker 1:Father, I thank you so much for the truth of your Word. I thank you for Emmanuel. I thank you that no other God even offers to be with us. And here you are, lord, for some of us. We've given ourselves to some of those idols. We've bartered for a different God and we're reaping some of the consequences of it. We're sorry. We wanna ask for your forgiveness. Would you remove some of the consequences that seem like sorrow is multiplying and, jesus, we just wanna start right here again, we put our hand in yours. We thank you that you like us, that you can forgive us if we'll just trust you. We trust you right now In Jesus' name, amen. Hey, thank you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 1:If you don't have a home church and you're looking for a Bible preaching community that has its heart set on passionately knowing Jesus and being his witness in our generation. Check out FearsChurch. We'd love for you to join us, either digitally or in person. Also, if you're looking for leadership development related content, don't forget to check out the Fears Leadership Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts from. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to support this ministry. It's because of you that this is possible. You can click on the link in the description to give now or visit Fears Church for more information. If you enjoy this podcast, why not subscribe? Share it with your friends. Click on the share button, take a screenshot and share it on social media or wherever you would share such things. Whatever challenges you're facing, I know you can make it. Don't give up. Hang on to Jesus. He won't let go of you. Jesus loves you so much and we love you. I hope someday we get to meet in person. Thanks again for listening.