WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:08.480 There was a time a few years back that there was a prayer circle at our church. 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:14.000 Not unlike prayer circles everywhere, it wasn't very large. 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:21.440 I've discovered that when you want to decrease the congregation, you call for a prayer meeting. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:25.920 And these people were praying for each other and for the needs of the church. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:33.119 One of the couples happened to be a missionary couple who was home, like Matt and Laura have been home with us. 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:39.359 And this one man said, Do you have any needs that we could help you with? 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:45.200 And the missionary said, Well, actually I do. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:50.240 We have an old car and it needs new tires. 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:55.039 How would you respond to something like that? 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:56.479 Tires. 00:00:56.960 --> 00:00:59.039 Have you bought any new tires lately? 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:05.040 A couple years ago I bought some and I couldn't believe how much tires have gone up in price. 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:11.280 How would you respond to a need like that from a missionary in your church home? 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:18.560 Today I want to talk about responding to the truth of God's word. 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:32.319 Because last week we looked at Mary and Joseph, and we saw that their over-romanticized story that we often think about at Christmas time was really a difficult time for them. 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:46.719 Unexpected pregnancies, talk of divorce, families that probably didn't understand taxes that were being raised, threats upon the child Jesus. 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:53.040 And yet we read these stories and we forget that these emotions were there as well. 00:01:53.200 --> 00:02:04.560 But in every case, Mary and Joseph responded to God and what he asked them to do with faith and obedience. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:24.240 Now there are other characters in the Bible story that we don't know as much about, and that's why I've titled this sermon Christmas Characters I Wish I Knew Better, because there are some of them who also had revelation from God at Christmas who responded differently. 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:44.960 For example, we looked last week at the relatives of Jesus or the innkeeper, and maybe you are wrestling with this for the first time because a more accurate translation of Luke 2.7 says, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:54.479 She wrapped him in clothes and placed him in a manger because there was no guest room available for them. 00:02:55.520 --> 00:03:00.960 Now we usually read that, there was no room for them in the inn. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:10.879 So we picture Mary and Joseph being moved to a stable because there was a manger there, and that's where Mary gave birth. 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:19.280 But this word guestroom is more accurate in translation than in is. 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:34.719 And guestroom is used by the same author in the same book in Luke chapter 22 when Jesus sent his disciples to find a guestroom where they could have the Last Supper. 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:46.639 The word in was a word that Luke would have been familiar with because he used it also in Luke chapter 10, the story of the Good Samaritan. 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:49.439 But here he uses guest room. 00:03:49.680 --> 00:04:10.479 The manger we can explain, because in those days the guest room was often the upper level, the main room of the house was where the family lived, and down below a little bit, so there was an elevation in the family area, is where they kept some of the animals. 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:23.600 So they would bring them in at night, make sure nobody stole them, and take them out in the morning, and so a manger would have been readily available for Jesus to be placed in. 00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:38.959 So that helps understand other portions of this word, where we read in Luke 6, while they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:56.399 That seems to indicate that Jesus didn't just, or Mary didn't just come at the last minute, but while they were there in the guest room or in the room where their family relatives were, that's when she gave birth to Jesus. 00:04:56.639 --> 00:05:06.639 And it would make sense because we read later that when the Magi came, they came not to a stable, but they came to a home. 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:14.160 And coming into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother. 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:38.399 So while I can't be dogmatic about this, it seems to make sense to me that Mary and Joseph came to Bethlehem intending to stay with relatives, but because there was no room in the guest room, other relatives had already come, they stayed with the family on the first floor, which was attached to a place where animals are kept and gave birth there. 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:43.920 Now, if you want to have Jesus born in a stable, go ahead. 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:51.360 I think it's just more comfortable to have him born in the relative's home, but it's up to you. 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:54.000 We can't be dogmatic about this. 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:05.519 But if if Jesus were born in the home of a relative, I wish I knew something more about it. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:18.800 I I, for example, did the women in the family assist Mary in the birth of Jesus, which would have been customary in those days, or did they have a midwife? 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:28.240 I thought about this and I decided it was probably not because it would be difficult to find a midwife available on Christmas Eve. 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:35.920 You know, you got that joke much better than the first hour. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:45.439 But what I really wish I knew was their reaction. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:07:08.000 If Jesus were born in a stable and had an innkeeper involved, or if he were born in a house and had the family involved, certainly they would have heard the stories about Mary and Joseph and the stories that the shepherds shared, and the stories that the magis shared. 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:10.800 How did they respond? 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:13.439 We don't know. 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:15.439 Scripture doesn't say. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:20.319 So that's why I titled the sermon, I Wish I Knew More. 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:31.199 But then there's another group of people that we know something about who responded to the revelation that they received, and that's the chief priests and teachers of the law. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:41.920 They were the religious leaders, they were the pastors, the theologians, they studied the scriptures, they knew that the Messiah was coming, they even know where he was coming. 00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:44.079 He was going to be born in Bethlehem. 00:07:44.399 --> 00:08:02.800 So when the Magi came to Jerusalem, they were asking these questions, and they came to the teachers of the law, and the teachers of the law said, He's going to be born in Bethlehem, just down the road. 00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:08.959 And we're told that it created quite a stir for Herod and all of Jerusalem. 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:11.439 So how did they respond? 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:16.639 You'd think that they would say, at last the Messiah is here. 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:19.439 Let's go see if this is true. 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:29.920 But again, that's an argument from silence because we have no record of them doing anything with what the message that they shared with the Magi. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:34.960 Why wouldn't they go see this thing through? 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:36.720 Maybe it was pride. 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:43.759 Maybe they thought, you know, if the Messiah is really coming, he would, the message would come to us first. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:45.919 We're the religious leaders. 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:47.120 We know the truth. 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:51.759 It wouldn't come from these Gentiles from Babylon. 00:08:52.879 --> 00:09:00.960 So maybe they just brushed it off as suckers for believing such false things. 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:02.639 We know better. 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:05.360 The message didn't come to us. 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:06.720 We don't know. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:14.159 But then there are the shepherds and the wise men, and you talk about two very different people. 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:17.120 Shepherds were very humble and common. 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:20.080 The magi were connected to royalty. 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:27.279 The shepherds were probably poor Jewish men, and all they had to offer was worship. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:33.200 Where the magi were well-traveled Gentiles who brought expensive gifts. 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:37.440 Shepherds were locals from the surrounding hills. 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:41.600 The magi from the courts of a distant empire. 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:52.480 But wouldn't you have thought that the message of the Messiah would have come to the high priest in Jerusalem? 00:09:53.519 --> 00:10:04.879 But instead the message came to shepherds and to Gentiles, just as the Lord overlooked apparently the chief priests and teachers of the law. 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:22.399 Now, some have conjectured that the shepherds were caring for sheep that were going to be offered as sacrifices, and that's why the angel came to the shepherds and told them about the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the people. 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:24.559 But why? 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:26.000 Think about this. 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:34.399 Why would men from a pagan land inquire about the king of the Jews? 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:36.639 Why would they care? 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:41.759 And why would they ask at this particular time? 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:45.279 Some of you might remember Dr. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:58.399 Arnold Fruchtenbaum, who used to come and hold Bible lessons here with us at church, and he has posited, I think, a very possible explanation. 00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:06.720 First of all, he says we're not dealing with a star as we see at night shining up in the heavens. 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:22.559 Because this star travels from east to west and it travels from north to south, and it actually hovers over a single house in Bethlehem, pointing out the exact location of the Messiah. 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:24.639 Now think about that. 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:36.000 If there were a star that hovered over a particular house, it would literally destroy not only the house, but probably the whole world. 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:43.600 This star is better translated as radiance or brilliance. 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:50.240 And this radiance or brilliance is also seen in the Old Testament. 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:56.960 It's often the visible manifestation of God at a particular place. 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:04.080 The burning bush, like fire, the pillar of fire at night that led the children of Israel. 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:17.519 So he speculates that this star was some sort of brilliance that these men saw while they were in Babylon. 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:26.399 But how did they know it was the right time for this child to be born? 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:31.919 How would they know it was now and not another time? 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:45.360 And he answers by looking back to the book of Daniel, which is the only book in the Old Testament that lays out a specific timetable for when Messiah was to be born. 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:56.720 Daniel chapter 9, verses 24 to 27 lays out a specific timetable for when the Messiah was to come. 00:12:56.799 --> 00:13:03.200 And it was written by Daniel, who was living in Babylon. 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:08.960 It was written in Aramaic, which was the language of Babylon. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:16.960 And you remember, Daniel was the predecessor of these magi who served under Nebuchadnezzar. 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:20.240 And he was the head of all the astrologers. 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:33.759 So we conclude then from the book of Daniel that the Babylonian astrologers did know the time when the Messiah was to be born from what Daniel had written. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:42.000 But how did they know that the star was pointing the way to the Messiah? 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:47.440 And they even call it his star in Matthew 2.2. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:56.080 Daniel makes no mention of a star, so how did they connect Messiah's coming with a star? 00:13:57.279 --> 00:14:05.360 From another well-known Babylonian astrologer named Balaam. 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:11.039 He was from a city on the banks of the Euphrates in Babylon. 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:23.200 And you remember that he was hired by the king of Moab and the king of Midian to curse the Jews as they moved from Egypt to the promised land. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:28.879 But instead of cursing them, he blessed the Jews. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:37.919 And in his fourth blessing he says this, I see him, but not now. 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:42.240 I behold him, but not near. 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:46.639 A star will come out of Jacob. 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:52.480 A scepter, which is a kingship symbol, will come out of Israel. 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:59.440 So centuries later, when the star appeared, or that brilliance appeared, they put it together. 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:04.159 It was the right time, because that's what Daniel said in chapter 9. 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:10.720 And it was the star because that's what Balaam said in Numbers 24, 7. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:12.879 So how did the wise men know? 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:15.440 If you look it up, there's a lot of speculation. 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:19.360 There's a confluence of planets that somehow led them. 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:23.360 There was the pseudoscience of astrology that led them. 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:44.879 But I prefer to take their understanding of the star and where Jesus was to be born because they had the scriptures from Daniel and also from Balaam, both who had been astrologers in the kingdom of Babylon. 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:48.720 But I'd like to know a lot more about these men, wouldn't you? 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:56.480 There may have been a lot more than three, but we know that they brought three gifts. 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:02.559 And they responded to God's revelation in Scripture and in nature. 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:13.200 Now, there's one other group I want us to look at and think about their response. 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:18.080 And that is the families of the slain children. 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:23.919 Remember when the Magi saw the baby Jesus? 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:33.600 They were supposed to come back to Herod and tell him where to find Jesus, but instead the angel warned them, so they went home a different way. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:37.519 Herod found out this and he was angry. 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:41.120 Herod was a man of rage. 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:47.360 He killed several of his wives and children because he thought they were plotting against him. 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:55.679 Emperor Augustus reportedly said, it's better to be Herod's sow than his son. 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:11.440 And so he said, I'm going to have all the babies in Bethlehem and environs killed so that we might cover this Messiah that's got to be living somewhere in Bethlehem. 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:12.880 How many was that? 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:20.319 Well, we speculate that Bethlehem was about a city of a thousand people. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:23.920 So how many two-year-olds and younger? 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:26.720 And in the surrounding area? 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:31.519 How do you suppose the parents dealt with that? 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:38.160 When a Roman soldier comes to the door and says, Do you have a toddler in your house? 00:17:38.319 --> 00:17:39.519 A toddler boy? 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:40.319 Yeah. 00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:44.559 Slain right before their eyes. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:50.000 Could you accept that? 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:57.920 Especially if you learned that the reason for that was because they were trying to kill the Messiah. 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:08.319 Now don't forget, as we apply this briefly, that these were similar people to us. 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:16.559 They had the same emotions, the same intellect, the same will, and they had one other thing in common. 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:27.200 God had revealed himself to them, revealed to them about the Son, not in the same way. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:31.839 And notice how these people responded to God's revelation. 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:45.599 The extended family, I'm assuming that Jesus was born in a family home, or even if he was born in a stable of the innkeeper's possession. 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:51.920 These family members must have heard about the miracle of the incarnation. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:58.799 Mary certainly would have shared with them how this all took place and Joseph about the dreams he had. 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:03.599 But we don't have any record of any response. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:19.440 I know it's an argument from silence, and we can't put much on to that, but I wonder why they didn't respond or didn't have something there about their response. 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:29.119 You know, I've known over the years that sometimes relatives are slow to acknowledge God working in their own families' lives. 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:38.480 I've seen that as young people have come to know the Lord through crew and their families at home think, well, what is this that they got themselves into? 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:41.680 What is this religious stuff that they're doing? 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:45.519 And some families are very slow to embrace that. 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:50.240 Maybe that's the case with Mary and Joseph's family. 00:19:50.960 --> 00:20:01.920 Or maybe they were Scandinavian Jews who kept their faith to themselves, didn't talk about their faith. 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:10.240 Or maybe they weren't convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:20.799 There's a startling little verse in John's Gospel where it says Jesus was afraid to go to Jerusalem because they were trying to kill him, and his brothers said, Go down there. 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:28.160 Go down to Jerusalem because even his brothers did not believe in him. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:34.799 Interesting response from the extended family. 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:37.759 What about the chief priests and scribes? 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:42.000 How had God revealed his incarnation to them? 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:45.839 They had the written word of the Old Testament. 00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:50.319 They knew it, they'd studied it, it pointed to Messiah. 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:58.480 They could quote chapter and verse, they could point out not only Messiah was coming, but this is where he's going to be born. 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:05.279 You know, their revelation about God's son is a lot like our own. 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:08.400 It's from the scriptures. 00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:34.720 And sometimes we go to church all our lives, we memorize the scriptures, we know the stories, but their knowledge of God never moves from their heads to their hearts, to their wills, to their behavior. 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:38.559 You say, you're kind of being judgmental of these guys, aren't you, Pastor? 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:41.279 Or well, think about it. 00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:50.240 These chief priests and scribes apparently weren't willing to go five miles to check out the story of the Magi. 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:54.160 Do you know anyone like that? 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:59.359 You know all the stories of the Bible, all the scriptures, you've memorized it. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:08.880 But when is the last time you've acted on something that the Lord is telling you to do from his word? 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:12.240 And then there are the shepherds. 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:14.559 I love the shepherds. 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:15.920 Simple folk. 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:25.599 God brought this amazing message from an angel, and they wanted to check it out, and they went and saw for themselves, and they believed. 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:32.960 And it's not unlike some of you who heard the word of God, you understood the message about Jesus. 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:45.440 You didn't hear it from an angel, but you might have heard it from a pastor, a Sunday school teacher, or even a parent as I did, or a camp evangelist, and you heard the message and you believed. 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:52.000 And like the shepherds, you can't stop talking about this Christ child. 00:22:53.599 --> 00:23:08.240 A few of you might be like the magi who had not only the spoken word, as we saw from Daniel and Balaam, but you had some miraculous thing like the star in your life. 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:13.839 You can't explain other than God worked in your life. 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:17.599 You shouldn't have gotten well, but you did. 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:22.480 Your children shouldn't have escaped that accident, but they did. 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:26.799 Your marriage wasn't salvageable, but it was. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:35.279 And these things that happened can only be explained because God was in your life. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:51.200 Like the magi on your journey, you've had help from others along the way, as they did, but you were not the same because God met with you in a very special way. 00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:55.759 You have no trouble worshiping him or serving him. 00:23:56.799 --> 00:23:59.599 Wonder how anybody could do otherwise. 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:04.559 But maybe you're like the parents of these slain children. 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:08.720 Life for you has been tough and unfair. 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:20.160 God hasn't communicated with you, you say, and if there is a God you'd like to give him a peace of your mind, because you're angry. 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:40.079 You recall your life as being one of pain, the pain of a broken home, the parents who are less than exemplary, the pain of disappointing people, of broken relationships, of loss and grief. 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:44.880 And your pain has caused you to question the very goodness of God. 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:52.400 He's either too weak to fix the problem or he's too distant to care about you. 00:24:54.000 --> 00:25:02.720 But one thing I want you to say is you're not alone because the Lord has experienced similar things. 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:08.240 You've been rejected, so was he. 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:14.319 You've been despised, so was he. 00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:18.720 You had pain, so did he. 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:39.519 You felt alone, so did he, and all of that pain and rejection and sorrow was experienced on your account for you and me, so that you could one day become right with God through his death and resurrection. 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:49.279 Now these different people all had opportunities to respond to God's truth. 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:53.599 They differed in the way that they responded. 00:25:54.240 --> 00:26:01.759 The scriptures tell us that some of the response was miraculous and some of them we just don't know. 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:21.680 One thing is sure, though, as we see not only in the Christmas story but elsewhere, is that when God gives us revelation, when God speaks to us, when God provides us with light, he expects that we would respond. 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:32.000 I can hear somebody saying, who wouldn't respond to a supernatural star or to angel visitations? 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:34.720 I haven't had any of those things. 00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:35.920 Never have. 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:37.440 How about you? 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:39.599 No. 00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:54.640 But I've thought, you know, if somebody at Amundsen's funeral home could get up out of that casket and say, let me tell you what I've just experienced on the other side. 00:26:54.880 --> 00:27:04.960 If somebody could just come back and tell us what to avoid or what to embrace in this life, then certainly people would believe. 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:08.720 And somebody suggested that to Jesus. 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:10.799 And this is what he said. 00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:22.240 If you do not listen to Moses and the prophets, you will not be convinced, even if someone rises from the dead. 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:36.480 If you don't believe Moses and the prophets, you won't believe even if somebody rises from the dead. 00:27:38.400 --> 00:27:43.920 So I don't know where you are this morning in your response to the truth of God's word. 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:54.880 Many of you have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, but perhaps there's someone here who hasn't. 00:27:55.200 --> 00:28:06.160 And what's going to make Christmas exceptional this year is for you to embrace Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin by faith. 00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:15.759 Now for those of us who have responded to the light of the gospel, let me ask you one more question. 00:28:17.440 --> 00:28:31.039 When is the last time that you took specific action to obey God's revelation, his light, other than the gospel? 00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:50.319 Can you think of a specific thing that the Lord has spoken to you about that you have said, with God's strength, the Holy Spirit enabling me, I'm going to be baptized? 00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:54.400 I'm going to join a church. 00:28:55.519 --> 00:28:59.920 I'm going to write a letter and ask for forgiveness. 00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:03.359 I'm going to share my faith with someone. 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:13.759 When is the last time you specifically did something in response to what the Lord has said to you in his word? 00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:18.640 Can't think of anything. 00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:22.880 Then I have a suggestion. 00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:28.000 Get into this thing called the Bible. 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:30.559 Look for commands. 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:40.079 Look for examples, positive and negative, look for principles, and begin to pray, Lord, is this what you want me to do? 00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:47.839 I guarantee you the Lord is going to show you something this Christmas. 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:58.640 One passage Matt already mentioned from 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. 00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:00.000 That'd be a good place to go. 00:30:00.160 --> 00:30:02.400 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:28.000 It's in that passage that we read, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. 00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:36.160 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 is the meat and potatoes passage about giving. 00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:44.400 You know, we started this sermon by telling you about this prayer circle. 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:50.240 And this man asked the missionary, what is it that you need? 00:30:51.039 --> 00:30:56.400 And the man said, We need four new tires for our car. 00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:05.440 And the man and his wife thought it over and said, I'll give you those four tires. 00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:12.160 But they're attached to almost a brand new car. 00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:20.079 Would you do something like that? 00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:25.599 Be careful what the Lord might ask you to do. 00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:28.160 You say, Well, I couldn't afford a new car. 00:31:28.319 --> 00:31:29.359 Maybe not. 00:31:29.759 --> 00:31:32.480 And you just got your taxes from the city, right? 00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:34.160 I told you you would last week. 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:36.720 They came this week and they went up. 00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:38.000 Did you notice? 00:31:38.400 --> 00:31:40.240 And Christmas is coming. 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:42.480 We don't have any money, right? 00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:50.960 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:31:53.839 --> 00:32:06.319 That though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. 00:32:07.119 --> 00:32:25.599 The same man who gave this missionary couple a car wrote a pamphlet on New Testament giving for a seminary, and the president of the seminary read it, and he doubled his giving to the Lord, the president of the seminary. 00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:49.680 He also one day realized that the seminary where he worked needed extra funds, and he had some, and he went to his bank and he withdrew all his life saving and gave it to the seminary. 00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:54.400 I'm not telling you to do that. 00:32:54.880 --> 00:33:06.000 I'm just saying, is there one thing that you can think of this Christmas season that the Holy Spirit of God is saying, I want you to do this? 00:33:07.039 --> 00:33:09.759 And you have said, No, some other time. 00:33:12.559 --> 00:33:22.319 Will you with his strength respond to the light of his word and obey? 00:33:24.319 --> 00:33:25.519 Let's pray. 00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:50.000 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:33:50.880 --> 00:33:51.519 Amen.