Matthew 5:27-9:17 (January 13, 2013)

Conviction in the Heart.  Was your world rocked this week by what you read?  If not, what did you read?  What did you hear from Jesus?  Who among us remains unscathed from the sinful scandal in our hearts?  I underlined Matthew 5:28, 5:37, 5:39, 5:44, 5:48, 6:2, 6:6, 6:15, 6:17, 6:19, 6:25, 7:1, 7:3, etc.  I might as well have been led out into the sagebrush desert west of town and be plugged full with a magazine round from a Sig P250 9mm.  The Sermon on the Mount crumples my stubborn individualism faster than any other words I might hear in a given week.  Wow.

The Sermon on the Mount is a well-known passage in Idaho Falls.  But Oswald Chambers warns us, “Beware of placing our Lord as Teacher first instead of Savior.  That tendency is prevalent today, and it is a dangerous tendency.  We must know Him first as Savior before His teaching can have any meaning for us or before it can have any meaning other than that of an ideal that leads to despair.  Fancy coming to men and women with defective lives and defiled hearts and wrong mainsprings, and telling them to be pure in heart!  What is the use of giving us an ideal we cannot possibly attain?  We are happier without it.  If Jesus is a teacher only, then all He can do is to tantalize us by erecting a standard we cannot come anywhere near.  But if by being born again from above we know Him first as Savior, we know that He did not come to teach us only:  He came to make us what He teaches we should be.  The Sermon on the Mount is a statement of the life we live when the Holy Spirit is having His way with us.”

Co-dependency on God.  I would suggest to you that the Sermon on the Mount purposely should drive us (all of us) to helplessness, which is a very difficult position for self-reliant, independent, religiously competitive folk like us in Idaho Falls to accept.  Oswald shares, “As long as we have a conceited, self-righteous idea that we can do the thing if God will help us, God has to allow us to go on until we break  the neck of our ignorance over some obstacle, then we will be willing to come and receive Him.  The bedrock of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is poverty, not possession; not decisions for Jesus Christ, but a sense of absolute futility, ‘I cannot begin to do it.’  Then, Jesus says, ‘Blessed are you.’ That is the entrance, and it takes us a long while to believe we are poor.”

Five years ago, Eugene Peterson, devoted about thirty pages of devotional commentary on the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) in his book, Tell It Slant.  Think of the simple request to the Father, “Give us daily bread.”  Eugene muses, “Praying for bread acknowledges need.  We are creatures who are interdependent in this huge and intricate marvel of creation, where everything and everyone is related and in touch with everything and everyone else.  When we pray for bread we make a decidedly un-American declaration of dependence.  We don’t have it within ourselves to be ourselves.  We renounce the silly pretentiousness of posing as a self-made person.”

Corpse brought to Life.  But will people of the Kingdom in Idaho Falls pray in the New Year 2013?  Eugene adds, “Prayer is the core of the Sermon on the Mount teaching.  It is located at almost the exact center of the Sermon.  It holds the Sermon together and animates it.  A kingdom-of-heaven life consists of things to do and ways to think, but if there is no prayer at the center nothing lives.  Prayer is the heart that pumps blood into all the words and acts.  Prayer is not just one more thing in an inventory of elements that make up a following-Jesus, kingdom-of-heaven life.  Prayer is the whole heart.  If there is no heart doing its work from the center, no matter how precise the words, no matter how perfectly formed the actions, there is only a corpse.  It may be a very lovely corpse.  The embalmer’s art, especially when the embalmer knows his or her Bible, works wonders with appearances.  But dead is dead.  R.I.P.”

Quite frankly, among the most unusual people, things come to life in Matthew 7-9:  a leper, a centurion, a mother-in-law, demon-possessed men, and a paralytic.  In 2013, look for some of the King’s work among the helpless fringe in Idaho Falls.  This is the King’s territory for magnifying His glory.

Coming up this week, Read Matthew 9:18-Matthew 13:30 . . . Are you a laborer among the Kingdom harvest in Idaho Falls?  Do you know of anyone else whose works and words compare to the King described in these chapters?

Matthew 1:1-5:26 (January 6, 2013)  The first of 52 posts for 2013

This New Years’ Eve, some of my family spent time with me in Rexburg, Idaho as we brought in the New Year 2013.  I noticed a book that one of my sisters read and had recommended to my other sister.  So I picked it up and browsed through the pages.  Apparently, the volume is loaded with pithy quotes.  The author, Ann Voskamp, published One Thousand Gifts in 2010.  As I think of our 2013 Berean Challenge in Idaho Falls concerning reading through the New Testament, I appreciate how Ann integrates the written Word with the living Word and encourages us to use this lens as we interpret our world filled with suffering.  She writes,

“To read His message in the moments, I’ll need to read His passion on the page: wear the lens of the Word, to read His writing in the world.  Only the Word is the answer to rightly reading the world, because the Word has nail-scarred hands that cup our face close, wipe away the tears running down, has eyes to look deep into our brimming ache, and whisper, ‘I know.  I know.’  The passion on the page is a Person, and the lens I wear of the Word is not abstract idea but the eyes of the God-Man who came and knows the pain.

“How does the Word read the world? (p. 87). . .

“Without God’s Word as a lens, the world warps (p. 91).

Brothers and sisters, as we go into 2013 with all its uncertainties, victories, trials, celebrations, heartaches, and laughter let us be anchored in the fact that there is a reigning King and an eternal Kingdom with which we are a part of.  The opening of our New Testaments announces that there is a Savior and that God is with us!  Presently, I am sitting here on a Saturday afternoon at ijump off of Hitt Road in Ammon, Idaho.  Kids are bouncing, flipping, and laughing.  Life is good.  It brings big smiles to me when I see pure joy on the countenances of these young people.  But we all know life has twists and turns that are very bad.  Thank God for the coming of the King who makes all things new.

In the midst of corrupt earthly kings, skewed religious traditions, community apathy, and even horrific acts of violence (Matthew 2), there is Jesus.  Our responsibility is to repent before our Creator.  And as He calls us to be His disciples, we are to forsake all and follow Him.

These kids at ijump have abandoned themselves completely to the fun of the moment.  They are caught up in the excitement.  Other desires diminish.   It makes me think of John and James standing before Jesus in Matthew 4.  Their careers and earthly family became secondary in the presence of the King.

This King will demand everything of you.  You will discover this in the book of Matthew.  Join me in this adventure.  And remember “He will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

Coming up this week, read Matthew 5:27-9:17 . . .

• How do you act out the beatitudes of the Kingdom of Heaven in the kingdom of America?
• In the Sermon on the Mount, where do you find that you fall short of Kingdom character?
• Take some time this week to worship God with the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).
• How do you carry out the battle against sinful worry and fear?
• Jesus says, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13).  How do you apply that to your ministry in Idaho Falls?

Bereans:  “a living sacrifice”

A theme verse for the Bereans in 2013 is Romans 12:1.  It is a famous verse which will provide a undergirding foundation for our church motto in the new year, Berean Baptist Church:  Your Pathway for Service.  Perhaps you have the verse memorized.  It has been translated a number of ways from the Greek:

1. Parakalo oun humas, adelphoi (I beseech therefore you, brothers) Dia ton oiktirmon tou Theou (through the compassions of God) Parasteisai ta somata humon (to present the bodies of you) Thusian zosan hagian to theo euareston (sacrifice a living holy to God well-pleasing)Tein logikein latreian humon (the reasonable service of you) – Koine Greek
2.  “I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercifulness of God, that ye make your bodies a quick sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable serving of God.  And fashion not yourselves like unto this world:  But be ye changed in your shape, by the renewing of your wits that ye may feel what thing that good, that acceptable, and perfect will of God is” (Tyndale New Testament, 1534, modern English and including verse 2).  Tyndale adds in the margin, “True serving of God is to bring the body into the obedience of the law of God.”
3. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” (27, NKJV)
4.  “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you.  Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable.  This is truly the way to worship him.” (NLT)
5. “Asi que, hermanos, os ruego por las misericordias de Dios, que presenteis vuestros cuerpos en sacrificio vivo, santo, agradable a Dios, que es vuestro culto racional” (Spanish)
6. “I urge you, then, brothers, remembering the mercies of God, to offer your bodies a living sacrifice, dedicated and acceptable to God; that is the kind of worship for you, as sensible people.” (New Jerusalem Bible)
7. “I plead to you, therefore, my brothers, by the mercies of Elohim, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, Set Apart and acceptable to Elohim by a rational service (of Him).” (Aramaic English New Testament) Note – this translation came from  15 Hebrew words.
8. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (ESV)
9. “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” (NASB)

In considering this verse, you must first meditate on the reasons for your service – God’s mercies.

Notice that the mercies are plural, not singular.  The Triune God is full of tender mercies.  Rivers flow with the riches of compassion.

• “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (II Cor. 1:3).
• “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of the one accord, of one mind” (Phil. 2:1).
• “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.  But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection” (Col. 3:12-14).

Mercy is God’s love for you and me when we were poor and needy and helpless.  We reflected the pagan and religious sinners of Romans 1-2.  According to Romans 3, there is no difference among any of us.  We were and are all sinners.  But God’s mercy stepped in.

• “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24)
• “Blessed are those who lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin” (Rom. 4:7-8)
• “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1)
• “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5)
• “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8)
• “When we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son” (Rom. 5:10)
• “where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:20-21).
• “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life” (Rom. 6:22)
• “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom. 7:24)
• “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1)
• “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom he predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Rom. 8:29-30)
• “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Rom. 8:35)
• “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God with is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39)
• “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom. 10:4)
• So here comes the doxology at the conclusion of Romans 1-11:  “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!  ‘For who has known the mind of the LORD?  Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?’  For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:33-36).

Start now by purchasing a journal so that you may keep a record of God’s daily mercies in your life.

Romans 12:1 is Berean’s theme verse for the year 2013.  Written by Marilyn Peters.  A Berean.

Así que, Hermanos, os ruego por las misericordias de Dios, que presentéis vuestros cuerpos como sacrificio vivo, sano, agradable a Dios, que es vuestro culto racional.  Romanos 12:1

¿Qué quiere decir, “que presentéis vuestros cuerpos como sacrificio vivo” a Dios? Pablo habla de su experiencia personal, habiendo sido golpeado con varas, casi se ahogó, y por fin murió por la mano de los romanos.  ¿Se trata de eso aquí?

Creo que no. Porque fue golpeado sin querer, estuvo en las manos de sus opresores. No optó a ser apedreado tampoco. No, Pablo aquí nos pide que presentemos nuestros cuerpos—lo cual es una cosa voluntaria, y no algo que nos haya forzado hacer otras personas malas ni es lo que algunos llaman “destino.”  Sino que es una ofrenda voluntaria a Dios. Creo que lo que Pablo quiere decir aquí tiene que ver con las obras de la carne. Someter nuestra carne a Dios voluntariamente lucha contra lo espiritual. ¿Cuáles son algunas obras carnales?

1. Encuentro una lucha hirviendo dentro de mi cuando estoy tentada a ser impaciente. My hermana fue tentada a expresar frustración y enojo a su esposo con Alzheimers recientemente cuanto descubrió su abastecimiento de tres meses de sacos para la basura, su esposo los había colocado sin darse cuenta en la basura. Siempre podemos optar, decidir—a dejar que Dios nos de paz interior y paciencia, o expresar nuestra naturaleza carnal. Es un asunto de nuestra voluntad.
2. Cuando alguien me ofende, y siento justificada a no perdonar. Pues, Dios  exige que lo perdone. Que perdonemos como Jesucristo nos perdona a nosotros.  Dios nos ha dado libre albedrio para decidir si vamos a guardar rencor o someterlo a El.
3. Cuando no van bien las cosas cuando paso por malas rachas, y las cosas contrarias ocurren, quiero quejarme.  Hace unos meses, mis vecinos me despertaron a medianoche, gritándose, borrachos, e hicieron un hueco grande en la cerca de atrás. Tenía que decidir si iba a quejarme con “qué mala es la gente,” o regalarles un tratado cristiano. (La próxima semana se mudaron)
4. Cuando trato de expresarme, pero la gente no me presta atención o me interrumpa porque obviamente, no me respetan o no tienen la bondad de escuchar. Eso me da cólera, pero puede responder con entendimiento, sin juzgar sus motivos, y el deseo de escuchar a ellos o guardar rencor y hacer lo mismo a ellos.
5. Cuando algo me domina, que sea ese chocolate que tengo que comer o muero, Ju otra obsesión que domina mis pensamientos, hay un conflicto entre lo carnal y lo espiritual. Digo eso porque hay muchas personas que no tienen control de si mismo. Puede ser enojo expresado que le traspasa el corazón de otra persona como puñal. Si uno no controla tu lengua, dice Santiago, esta persona se engaña. Puede ser una prenda de ropa colgando en una tienda—que tengo que tenerlo. Puede ser un deseo de dominar una conversación o atraer atención a mí todo el tiempo. O hablar de mí, mí, mí sin tener interés en otras personas. Todas estas cosas son de la carne, carnal, y no del espíritu.
6. Puede ser un miedo o un deseo sexual que domina. En todos esos casos tenemos el remedio, hermanos. Tenemos que dominar en el nombre de Jesucristo, y tomar cautivos los pensamientos errantes que no doblan la rodilla al Señor. Y en un acto supremo de negar a la carne, nos colocamos en el altar de sacrificio, de muerte, que es nuestro culto racional.
7. ¿Es difícil? Claro que sí, pero cada cosa pequeña que le damos a El tiene galardones tremendos, tesoros en los cielos, y paz interior aquí.  A veces voy a visitar a varias viudas que conozco, porque sé que están solitarias, necesitan saber que todavía alguien las aprecia, que son personas de valor aunque la tercera edad les haya quitado la belleza, la salud, su confianza, su motivación, y muchas veces se han muerto sus amigas. Un día se me ocurrió que podría visitar a una señora de 87 años que vive cerca de mí. Pero aquel día, estaba muy interesada en un libro que leía, y además hacia mucho frio, como un grado. No quería salir de mi casa, sino estar donde me sentí cómoda y con calor. La carne quería que escuchara a ella. Por eso me puse el abrigo y sombrero, y salí a visitarla. Era incomodo pero que placer tenía esa viuda al verme. Una cosa pequeña. Pero algo agradable a Dios.

Quizás lo único que Ud. puede regalar a Dios hoy es algo pequeño. Pero cuenta. Importa. Una vez hace tres o cuatro años estuve con la Doña Teresita. Se sentía frio, y yo también, pero sabía que Dios quería que sacrificara mi suéter temporalmente. Me lo quite, y se lo di a ella. Una cosa pequeña, pero nuestros días se componen de piezas pequeñas, de selecciones pequeñas, de decisiones donde podemos  ofrecer nuestros cuerpos como culto racional. No desprecien la cosa pequeña.

“La persona más pequeña que Dios podría haber colocado en los brazos del mundo era un bebé.

El pueblo más insignificante donde podría haber colocado ese bebé era el pueblecito de Belén.

El lugar más repugnante en ese pueblecito donde podría haber colocado ese bebé estuvo en un pesebre.

Pero, Ojo, Mundo, que al estimar esa cosa pequeña, que no confundas tamaño con importancia; porque lo que ocurrió en Belén, se ve no sólo a un bebé, sino el mayor regalo de Dios a los seres humanos.

No confundas tamaño con importancia. Lo que sacrificamos a Dios, aunque sea pequeño, importa a Dios, lo ve todo y puede usarlo para su gloria. Amén

We have a lot of Bibles in Idaho Falls.  Here are ten reasons why you should personally open each day the Bible in your house.

1. You will come face to face with Someone who is much bigger than you and the One whom you can’t control.  A Being who is perfect, infinite, trinity, and dangerous.  You are in for the adventure of your life.  Very dangerous but very good.
2. You will learn about the one Hero.  Not batman or Ironman, but the God-man.
3. Light will be thrown on the status of your culture and your world.  This is not too hard to understand and accept.
4. You will be taught the truth about yourself.  Much more difficult to believe.  The Bible is a straight shooter in the hands of the Hunter.  Yes, it will be very uncomfortable for you at times.  It will be up to you to humble yourself, turn from yourself, and surrender to the Rescuer.
5. In fact, you will be told to die to yourself.  But it is in death that you find life.  Do you believe in the cross?
6. You will be shown the way beyond an American business (and Wall Street) to a spiritual Body.
7. The Bible speaks of grace gifts and how to utilize these for the glory of God.  Are you ready to learn and serve?
8. The Bible is the only book that is living and infallible light.  You don’t have to stumble along; you were not originally created to do that.
9. The Bible is our trustworthy source for what happened in the beginning, eliminating the mindless speculation.
10. Surprise.  Surprise.  Surprise.  And the Bible lets you know how everything is going to end.

Bonus – You will see my semitic name with rich Hebraic roots.  It’s Elon.  Through the Bible, (1) I have found where I came from, (2) what is my purpose, and (3) where I am headed.

We desire to start a Berean movement, but here are ten reasons (closely related) why people in Idaho Falls will not read their Bibles in 2013.

1. They start to read their Bibles but then they don’t have enough discipline to finish.
2. They find the Bible boring.
3. They think that the Bible is full of contradictions and/or morally offensive.
4. They have a hard time making the Bible relevant; the daily Bible reading entry doesn’t meet their needs.
5. They read a portion of the Bible and wonder what in the world it is talking about.
6. They think they are too busy in the morning or on work break or during the evening to read.
7. They have read the Bible and don’t feel the need to read it again.
8. They are too sad to read.
9. They are too mad to read.
10. They think they are too bad to read; they don’t want to be shackled with the laws in the Bible.

Bereans: Out of the Darkness, Light

Read Matthew 4

As Bereans living in Idaho Falls, we can testify to the power of God bringing light to the darkness.  I remember as a boy in this town reading through the Bible for the very first time.  Through that particular journey, I thought that I was caught up in some kind of cataclysmic battle between good and evil.  Reading through the Bible for the very first time changed my life spiritually.  Over and over, I realized that when it seemed like mankind was at their darkest and most helpless moments, God would step in and save the day.  I saw a Hero for Idahoans.  God.

This is what Christmas is all about – God raising the banner in Bethlehem, declaring war on sin, Satan, and death, by giving to us a Child.  The gift is remarkable.  Unspeakable glory.  God gave to us a Person.  A living, breathing, perfect Baby, who would be our Rescuer, our Warrior, and our King.  We have Him.  He is our Christmas gift.  Forever.

The year 2012 has been a tough year for many:  political disappointments, wars and rumors of wars, economic struggles, threats of a looming fiscal cliff, loss of jobs, hurricanes, tornadoes, loss of loved ones, broken friendships, depression, and discouragement.  But at the end of this year, we have Christmas.  And it’s at Christmas where we can carefully, thankfully, and joyfully observe how God delights in bringing light to the darkness.  Today, we join in with the worship of king David in II Samuel 22:29 and Psalm 18:28, “For You are my lamp, O LORD, the LORD shall enlighten my darkness.”

Jesus is the Light

Two thousand seven hundred years ago, God spoke to His Servant, “I, the LORD, have called You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house” (Is. 42:6-7).  The Servant of the LORD is the ultimate freedom fighter who breaks into the most impossible prison fortresses, bringing healing and light, for He is unlimited power and pure light.  His name is Jesus.

Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, prophecies, “the Dayspring from on high has visited us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:79).

A man in Jerusalem named Simeon called Jesus a light.  At the temple, he held the Child in his arms and blessed God, “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all people, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).

Matthew says that Jesus fulfills Isaiah:  Light has dawned

Jesus grew up in Nazareth.  Then one day, he stepped into the synagogue on Sabbath day and read Scripture from Isaiah, “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD” (61:1-2a). He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and then he sat down.  Everybody was quiet.  All in the room looked straight at Him.  This is what He said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  And in the ensuing discussion, all hell broke loose.  Like King Herod in Matthew 2, the Jews tried to kill the God-man.  But do you really think that Satan and sinful people could capture and end God’s purposes through their own scheming and timing?  No way!  He is the King!

Jesus was going to show the region that He literally was the One fulfilling the words of the ancient prophet.  He left Nazareth and did exactly the words of Isaiah.  Matthew 4 demonstrates how Jesus is to be connected with Isaiah 9.

“The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.  And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned” (Matthew 4:16).

Consider how much death and destruction the region of Galilee had experienced over the centuries.  Assyrian armies.  Babylon devastation.  Murder.  Rape.  Pillaging.  Burning.  The shadow of death did indeed hang over this area.  But now the time had come for a rising Dawn.

Jesus had come to the earth.  Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world” (John 8:12). Light walked among the people in Galilee.  He preached, “Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  He taught.  He healed.  And great multitudes followed Him.  They experienced firsthand the light of Jesus Christ?

Have you seen the Light?

Have you seen the Light?  It’s Christmas time.  There are lights shows all around us, grand outdoor Christmas lights on houses in Candy Cane Lane and on South Boulevard, colored lights on Christmas trees, and theatre lights in Christmas shows.    But we are talking about much more than what you see with the physical eye.   Christmas is about the transformation of your heart, where you move from unbelief to belief, from doubt to faith, and from spiritual darkness to light.  The singer, Wynonna Judd, has correctly confessed, “Most of us are imprisoned by something. We’re living in darkness until something flips on the switch.”

R.C. Sproul taught, “The metaphor of light is instructive. In our present earthly state we are equipped with the faculty of sight. We have eyes, optic nerves, and so forth- all the equipment needed for sight. But a man with the keenest eyesight can see nothing if he is locked in a totally dark room. So just as an external source of light is needed for seeing, so an external revelation from God is needed for knowing.”  To see the light involves you hearing the Word of God, being illuminated by the Holy Spirit, and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Christ commands you to turn from your sin and to turn to Him.  Repent and believe.  And in this spiritual conversion, God will turn your darkness into light.

In history, there are many examples along this theme of light entering the darkness.  For instance, years ago, my wife and spent a few days in Geneva, Switzerland.   In the Parc des Bastians, a city park, there is a 325 feet long, 30 feet high wall standing proudly as a marker for the Protestant Reformation.  In the center are 15-foot-tall-statues of four Geneva Reformation leaders:  (1) Guillaume Farel – the first to preach the Reformation in Geneva, (2) John Calvin – leader of the Reformation movement and spiritual father of Geneva , (3) Theodore Beza – Calvin’s successor and known for emphasizing Calvin’s doctrine of predestination, and (4) John Knox – Scottish preacher, friend of Calvin, and founder of Presbyterianism in Scotland.  But it is the motto etched in the granite stone that is remarkable – Post Tenebras Lux (“After Darkness, Light”).

On the wall are other statues and bas-reliefs, including Roger Williams and the Pilgrim Fathers praying on the Mayflower.  And so, we have been experiencing the light of Protestant Christmas’s for around 500 years.

Let me share with you another example of God bringing light to darkness.  Remember the story of the Chilean miner, Jose Henriquez, and the 32 miners that were trapped in a San Jose mine?  This guy was a simple man, 54 years of age, who ministered to the other miners as they lay trapped 2,000 feet underground for two months.

CBN reported,

“I believe that the key to all this was in the Word of God, in having believed God,” he added. “That’s why I say to the whole world that the Lord wants them to believe in Him to believe in His Word”.

“Henriquez is a profoundly spiritual person. His faith in God was key in helping his companions to hold on to hope.

“That spirituality served him well, that knowledge of the Word, having worked with the Word, because he preached in the church here,” said Jose Gonzalez, Henriquez’s pastor. “That helped him because he did not have it to read and he had to draw it out from within his heart, to be able to share it with his companions”.

“The Christian miner led devotions twice a day, crying out to God with the other miners. Thanks to his efforts, some of the miners turned their lives over to Jesus.

“On the Sunday before we were rescued, I called for a pastor to come, because I am not a pastor,” Henqiruez said. “So I told my brother in a letter, ‘Bring a pastor that you consider, and that God has confirmed is a real pastor to come and lead the prayer of salvation.’ And he did that. And around 20 miners said, ‘Yes, they believed in the Lord.'”

“After being rescued, Henriquez was the first of the 33 men to go back into the mine. He wanted to return to thank God for getting him out of the depths of the earth alive.

“Henríquez was welcomed in his hometown of Talca as a real hero. Talca Mayor Juan Castro named him an honorary citizen.

“The true hero is Jesus Christ,” Henriquez said. “He is the only hero that should be mentioned. Apart from whatever man may have done both inside and outside that mine, He is the one who deserves the honor and the glory.”

All hail to King Jesus who brings people from darkness into light!

Will you be a light till the King comes again?

Eugene Peterson puts it in his own words.  “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.”

When we go on boyscout  campouts, it is best to put the camp lantern up on a pole than keep it on the ground or under the picnic table.

Be a light until the King comes again.  And Jesus who came to Bethlehem so long ago is coming again!
J.R.R. Tolkien writes this in The Hobbit,

“The King beneath the mountains,
The King of carven stone,
The lord of silver fountains
Shall come into his own!

His crown shall be upholden,
His harp shall be restrung,
His halls shall echo golden
To songs of yore re-sung.

The woods shall wave on mountains.
And grass beneath the sun;
His wealth shall flow in fountains
And the rivers golden run.

The streams shall run in gladness,
The lakes shall shine and burn,
And sorrow fail and sadness
At the Mountain-king’s return!”

This is a short skit, written by Marilyn Peters, and conducted at Berean last Sunday morning.

CARNE DE CARNERO PARA LA CENA NAVIDENA

(Una Representación Cortita)

Personaje 1: Dice mi mamá que vamos a tener carne de carnero para nuestra cena de Navidad.

Personaje 2: ¿Carne de carnero?  ¿Por qué no comen pavo o jamón como el resto del país?

Personaje 1: Pues, dice que es por Jesucristo, para honrarlo como el Cordero de Dios.

Personaje 2: ¿Y qué tiene que ver eso con la Navidad?

Personaje 3: ¿No te acuerdas de Juan el Bautista? Anunció a Jesucristo así: –He aquí, el Cordero de Dios, que quita el pecado del mundo.—

Personaje 2: ¿Y qué?

Personaje 3: Es que el ángel le dijo a María que cuando naciera su Hijo, que lo llamara JESUS, porque en hebreo es una palabra que significa Salvador, porque el salvaría a su pueblo de sus pecados. Era el Cordero de Dios que vino para morir.

Personaje 2: ¡Pensaba que celebramos el nacimiento de Jesucristo en la Navidad,  y no su muerte!

Personaje 1: Así es. El evento de su nacimiento sí que importa mucho, pero la razón de su nacimiento importa aún más. Vino a morir por nosotros para que viviéramos.

Personaje 2: Nunca he pensado en la Navidad con ese punto de vista.

Personaje 3: En el Antiguo Testamento, en el primer libro (Génesis) después del pecado de Adán y Eva, Dios les hizo túnicas de pieles. Para eso los animales tenían que morir y fue derramada su sangre. Eso es una imagen de Jesucristo, cuya sangre fue derramada por nosotros. Dios nos viste de justicia cuando confesamos nuestro pecado.

 Personaje 5: Conozco otra imagen de Jesucristo. Fue cuando Dios miró con agrado en el sacrificio de Abel, un cordero, y no la ofrenda de Caín, la obra de sus propias manos. Eso significa que lo que hacemos nosotros no cuenta; es el sacrificio del Cordero de Dios que nos salva.

Personaje 6: Y años después, Abraham fue a ofrecer en holocausto a su hijo Isaac, pero Dios proveyó un sustituto, un cordero a morir en su lugar. Asimismo, Dios proveyó el Cordero en nuestro lugar porque la pena del pecado es la muerte, y todos somos pecadores.

 Personaje 5: La Pascua, también simboliza a Jesucristo, porque la sangre de corderos sin tacha, fue derramada por los israelitas para que se escapasen de la muerte cuando pasara el ángel de la muerte por Egipto.

Personaje 6: Hay otras imágenes de Jesucristo también, como el propiciatorio en el tabernáculo rociado de sangre, lo cual habla de la misericordia del Cordero quien derramó su sangre por nosotros.

Personaje 7: O la imagen de la serpiente en el asta en el tiempo de Moisés.

Persona 4: ¿Qué tiene que ver una serpiente con Jesucristo?

Personaje 7: La serpiente representaba la maldad, y Jesucristo por nosotros lo hizo pecado, para que nosotros fuésemos hechos justicia de Dios en él. Y cualquiera israelita mordida de una serpiente, que mirara a la serpiente por fe sería sanado. Asimismo, la serpiente, el enemigo de nuestras almas, nos ha mordido con pecado pero cuando miramos a Jesucristo que fue crucificado en un asta, un árbol, es decir, en la cruz, El nos dará vida.

Personaje 2: ¡No tenía la menor idea de que El Cordero de Dios apareciera tantas veces en la Biblia!

Personaje 8: Es aun representado en el cordón de grana de Rahab. Lo ató en la ventana para salvarse a sí misma junto con su familia. El color es simbólico de la sangre de Cristo, nuestro medio de escaparnos de la muerte espiritual, como el cordón de grana era el medio de salvación de muerte para Rahab y sus padres y hermanos.

Personaje 2: (Hablando al Personaje 1) Por eso tu Mamá quiere servir carne de carnero en la cena de Navidad. Quizás pediré a mi mamá que sirviera carne de carnero también. Ya no me parece tan extraño.

Personaje 1: Sí, tienes razón.  Sin embargo, preferiría comer dulces como las melcochas! ¿No ves cómo tiene la forma de una jota, representando a JESUS, con rayas blancas (por su pureza) y rojas, por su sangre.

Todos: ¡Que vivan las melcochas!

True or False?  Take the quiz.

1. Mary was in labor when she got into town, so Joseph had to take whatever lodging he could get.
2. The Bible uses the Greek word kataluma–translated “inn.”  Kataluma means “small hotel.”
3. The Bible says that Mary and Joseph spent the night in a stable.
4. The innkeeper told Mary and Joseph there was no room for them in the inn.
5. The inkeeper’s wife brought water and towels to Mary and assisted in Jesus’s birth.
6. The Bible says there were three wisemen.
7. The wisemen were present the night of Christ’s birth.

Uncovering the Real Nativity, (2010, Answers in Genesis)

Come pick up your free booklet at the Berean office.