Participants: Pr. Dwight K. Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP120906
|
00:26 Worship Christ, the newborn King
00:33 Sages, leave your contemplations 00:39 Brighter visions beam afar 00:43 Seek the great Desire of Nations 00:49 Ye have seen His natal star 00:53 Come and worship 00:56 Come and worship 00:59 Worship Christ, the newborn King 01:31 Joy to the world 01:33 The Lord is come 01:36 Let earth receive her King 01:40 Let every heart prepare Him room 01:46 And heaven and nature sing 01:48 And heaven and nature sing 01:50 And heaven, and heaven and nature sing 01:57 Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns! 02:02 Let men their songs employ 02:07 While fields and floods 02:10 Rocks, hills, and plains 02:12 Repeat the sounding joy 02:15 Repeat the sounding joy 02:17 Repeat, repeat the sound joy 02:24 He rules the world with truth and grace 02:28 And makes the nations prove 02:33 The glories of His righteousness 02:38 And wonders of His love 02:40 And wonders of His love 02:42 And wonders and wonders of His love 02:55 "Every warrior's boot used in battle, 03:00 every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, 03:07 will be fuel for the fire because to us a child is born 03:15 and to us a Son is given, 03:18 and the government will be on his shoulders. 03:20 And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, 03:25 Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, 03:30 the Prince of Peace." 03:47 Silent night! 03:51 Holy night! 03:55 All is calm 04:00 All is bright 04:04 Round yon virgin 04:08 Mother and Child 04:12 Holy infant 04:16 So tender and mild 04:20 Sleep in heavenly peace 04:29 Sleep in heavenly peace 04:38 Silent night! 04:43 Holy night! 04:47 Son of God 04:51 Love's pure light 04:56 Radiant beams 04:59 From Thy holy face 05:04 With the dawn 05:08 Of redeeming grace 05:13 Jesus, Lord 05:17 At Thy birth 05:23 Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth 05:37 Silent night! 05:41 Holy night! 05:46 Wondrous star 05:50 lend thy light 05:55 With the angels 05:59 Let us sing 06:04 Alleluia to our King 06:13 Christ the Savior is born 06:22 Christ the Savior is born 06:43 What child is this, 06:46 who laid to rest, on Mary's lap is sleeping? 06:51 The song may start with a question 06:54 but it's actually an invitation to come, 06:58 to bring Him glory and honor, 07:01 to come before Jesus our Lord and worship Him. 07:06 As we listen, or sing along if you like, 07:10 let us once again open our hearts to our God 07:12 and welcome Him in as Lord and King. 08:03 What child is this 08:08 Who, laid to rest 08:12 On Mary's lap is sleeping? 08:20 Whom angels greet 08:24 With anthems sweet 08:28 While shepherds 08:31 Watch are keeping? 08:37 This, this is Christ the King 08:45 Whom shepherds guard 08:49 And angels sing 08:54 Haste, haste to bring him laud 09:02 The babe 09:03 The son of Mary 09:10 Why lies He in such mean estate 09:18 Where ox and ass are feeding? 09:26 Good Christian, fear; 09:30 For sinners here 09:34 The silent Word 09:37 Is pleading 09:42 This, this is Christ the King 09:50 Whom shepherds guard 09:53 And angels sing 09:58 Haste, haste to bring him laud 10:06 The babe 10:08 The son of Mary 10:55 So bring him incense, gold 11:02 And myrrh 11:04 Come, peasant, king, to own him 11:12 The King of kings 11:16 Salvation brings 11:21 Let loving hearts 11:24 Enthrone him 11:29 This, this is Christ the King 11:37 Whom shepherds guard 11:41 And angels sing 11:45 Haste, haste to bring him laud 11:53 The babe 11:55 the son of Mary 12:28 Tears are falling, hearts are breaking 12:34 How we need to hear from God 12:39 You've been promised 12:41 We've been waiting 12:44 Welcome Holy Child 12:49 Welcome Holy Child 12:56 Hope that you don't mind our manger 13:01 How I wish we would have known 13:05 But long awaited Holy stranger 13:10 Make yourself at home 13:15 Please make yourself at home 13:27 Bring your peace into our violence 13:31 Bid our hungry souls be filled 13:36 World now breaking Heaven's silence 13:41 Welcome to our world 13:45 Yes, welcome to our world 13:56 Fragile finger sent to heal us 14:01 Tender brow prepared for thorns 14:05 Tiny heart whose blood will save us 14:10 Unto us is born 14:14 Yes, unto us is born 14:27 So wrap our injured flesh around You 14:33 Breathe our air and walk our sod 14:39 Rob our sins and make us holy 14:44 Perfect Son of God 14:49 Perfect Son of God 14:54 Welcome to our world 15:25 What sweeter music can we bring 15:31 Than a carol, for to sing 15:36 The birth of this our heavenly King 15:41 Awake the voice! Awake the string 15:48 Dark and dull night fly hence away 15:53 And give the honor to this day 15:59 That sees December turned to May 16:05 That sees December 16:08 Turned to May 16:13 Why does the chilling winter's morn 16:19 Smile, like a field beset with corn 16:24 Or smell like a meadow newly shorn 16:30 Thus on the sudden come and see 16:36 The cause, why things thus fragrant be 16:42 Tis he is born, whose quickening birth 16:47 Gives life and lustre, public mirth 16:53 To heaven 16:55 And the underearth 17:02 We see him come, and know his mours 17:08 Who, with his sunshine and his showers 17:14 Turns all the patient ground to flowers 17:19 Turns all the patient ground to flowers 17:26 The darling of the world is come 17:32 And fit it is, we find a room 17:37 To welcome him 17:40 To welcome him 17:46 The nobler part of all the house here, 17:51 is the heart 17:54 Which we will give him, and bequeath 18:00 This holy, and this ivy wreath 18:05 To do him honor; who's our King 18:11 And Lord of all this reveling 18:23 What sweeter music can we bring 18:29 Than a carol, for to sing 18:35 The birth of this 18:37 Our heavenly King 18:45 The birth of this 18:50 Our heavenly King 19:13 Let's pray together. 19:15 I believe God has a teaching for us today. 19:21 What music can we sing? 19:23 What music can we bring to our heavenly king? 19:27 Holy Father, with a choir we respond. 19:36 What we bring is so small and yet please receive it. 19:42 Receive from us our hearts right now, 19:43 our minds that we will engage 19:46 as we ponder Holy Scripture once again. 19:50 You've been good to us in this journey. 19:54 We would still follow the star. 19:58 We pray in Jesus' name. 20:01 Amen. 20:04 What would happen on this university campus 20:07 this next week 20:08 if a busload of white clad 20:16 Muslim clerics suddenly showed up 20:20 at the entrance of the theological seminary, 20:23 just a few yards from where we are worshiping right now? 20:27 What would happen if they all came 20:28 piling out of that stained, travel-weary vehicle, 20:35 prayer rug under arm? 20:37 These Imams, because that's what they called, 20:40 these Imams go striding through those glass doors, 20:44 up into the hallowed hallways of the seminary. 20:47 What would happen if they began to bang 20:49 on all those professors' doors, pounding, pounding? 20:54 And then when the doors were answered. 20:56 What would happen if these Imams cried out, 20:58 "We have been studying 21:00 the ancient prophecies of your sacred book 21:05 and after our study we are convinced 21:08 that your Jesus is about to return to this earth. 21:13 Can you help us prepare for Him?" 21:16 What would we say then? 21:21 Would we be any different? 21:23 Would we be any different than the Jews of Jerusalem 21:27 on that starry, starry night? 21:30 Open your Bible with me please to that beloved 21:32 Christmas narrative, the Gospel of St. Matthew. 21:36 We're sticking in this narrative 21:37 all through the evinces 21:38 in at the Pioneer Memorial church this year. 21:41 Matthew, the Gospel of St. Matthew 2. 21:45 Go back to the story that we know so well. 21:49 If you didn't bring your Bible, 21:52 please take the pew Bible in front of you. 21:53 In fact, I'll give you a page number, its page 649. 21:56 You know, we discovered this last week. 21:57 There is more than meets the eye 21:59 in this old and familiar story. 22:03 And I have a feeling we're going to discover 22:05 the very same reality today as we move in this teaching. 22:08 We are entitling the teaching, "We Four Kings." 22:13 Four kings because I am hoping and praying 22:16 that by the time this teaching is over, 22:18 you and I will determine that we want to join 22:20 these Christ seeking children of the east ourselves 22:23 which will make it four, five 22:24 if you're coming, six, if you've along. 22:26 We kings together. So let's read the story. 22:31 Matthew 2:1, "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea 22:36 in the days of Herod the king, 22:39 behold, wise men from the East 22:42 came to Jerusalem, saying, Verse 2, 22:44 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? 22:48 For we have seen His star in the East 22:49 and have come to worship Him.' 22:52 When Herod the king heard this, 22:55 he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him." 23:00 Question. 23:02 Why would Herod the king and Jerusalem, 23:04 all Jerusalem with him, why would they be troubled 23:07 over the arrival of these foreign dignitaries? 23:12 I mean, I have no problem grasping 23:15 that the king would be a bit troubled. 23:17 I've never known the king that's really excited about 23:19 any competition for his throne. 23:21 And he get the word on the street 23:22 that there's a baby born somewhere in this place 23:24 that's the next king and he's not my boy, 23:27 I would be a little bit troubled. 23:29 And besides this is Herod the Great. 23:34 Ever heard of Herod the Great? 23:35 Oh, mercy. 23:36 The first in the line of the Idumaean Jewish line. 23:40 He is a half Jew, a bloody, bloody king. 23:45 He has one style of leadership 23:48 and that is slaughter the opposition. 23:51 Anybody in his way... is gone. 23:54 His mother-in-law... His brother-in-law... 24:00 His wife... the two boys by Herod... 24:06 Three hundred Jewish sympathizes of his two sons, 24:10 I am not going to do it 300 times. 24:13 Forty five young leaders of the Jewish community 24:16 in the Sanhedrin, plus more and more and more. 24:20 He was a bloody, bloody king. 24:22 And in fact at the end of his life, 24:24 his reign was about to over, 24:25 you already know the Christmas story blood. 24:28 At the end of his life, he falls into a mortal illness. 24:33 And this is a true story, 24:34 the word got heard on the streets of Jerusalem 24:36 and they started having a party, 24:38 the wicked king is sick, the wicked king is sick. 24:41 And they raced over to the temple, 24:42 they ripped down the golden eagle 24:44 emblem of the Roman Empire 24:46 that Herod had it affixed above the temple gate. 24:49 Big problem though, Herod got better. 24:56 He got sick again, and this time it's mortal. 25:01 And he calls his sister Salome to him, he says, 25:03 "I have these instructions, carry them out, please. 25:05 Arrest every Jewish leader, 25:07 put them all in the hippodrome." 25:09 It's a stadium that he built. 25:11 "And when I die, 25:13 slaughter them all for I will make certain 25:15 that there is mourning in this land when I am gone. 25:19 To Salome's credit after her brother died 25:21 she let them go. 25:23 This is Herod the Great, folks. 25:24 I am not surprised he has a little dis-ease 25:27 in his heart over rumors. 25:30 But here's a question. 25:31 Why does it also read that all of Jerusalem, 25:35 the whole city is also troubled? 25:37 I think we'll be saying, "Yeah, we got another king." 25:41 But it says, all of Jerusalem was troubled. 25:44 Let's put ourselves in their sandals 25:45 for just another moment. 25:47 Excuse me. 25:48 By returning to those Imams and asking again, 25:51 how would we react, okay? 25:53 What would happen if a busload of white clad 25:55 Muslim cleric descended upon our campus 25:57 with the passionate query, 25:59 "We have been studying 26:00 the ancient prophecies of your holy book 26:02 that all of you teach in this thriving academic community 26:07 and we believe it indicates that the king of heaven 26:09 is about to return to this earth." 26:13 I mean, how would I respond? 26:15 I, who once upon a time have even preached on that theme. 26:18 How would you respond, you who are required 26:21 once upon a time to preach that thing? 26:23 How would we respond, 26:25 we who have the nerve to go around, 26:27 calling ourselves Adventists, 26:28 which means those who believe 26:30 in the Messiah's quick and soon return? 26:33 How would we respond... 26:39 if a busload of Imams 26:40 walked the hallways of our dormitories? 26:43 Number one, they get an eyeful and number two, they say, 26:47 "Hey, anybody around here get ready for the king?" 26:51 How would we respond? 26:54 I am going to remind you that Jerusalem here, 26:59 Jerusalem here in Matthew 2 27:04 is not some backwater little village, 27:06 you know forsaken section of the wilderness. 27:08 We're talking about the intellectual sea of Israel, 27:11 the community of faith. 27:12 This city is peopled by academics, ecclesiastics 27:16 and other bureaucrats of "the saved." 27:19 No wonder it's unnerving and troubling 27:21 when men consider to be right pagans 27:23 suddenly show up on the temple precincts 27:25 and began parsing the Holy Scriptures 27:28 and ancient prophecy in ways 27:30 that the spiritual leaders have long ago abandoned. 27:34 They are doing it. 27:36 If a busload of Muslims 27:37 showed up on this campus with the word, 27:39 "We believe your Jesus is coming to earth very soon. 27:41 What are you people doing about it?" 27:42 You know what? 27:43 It would hurt to be bested at our own best game, 27:47 would it not? 27:51 Verse 1, "Now after Jesus was born 27:53 in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, 27:56 behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 28:00 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? 28:02 For we have seen His star in the East 28:04 and have come to worship Him.' 28:06 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, 28:08 and all Jerusalem with him." 28:11 I mean, look here, when people 28:12 who don't deserve the light seem to have found it. 28:16 When people are consider pagans in darkness follow the light 28:19 and the people who have the light are in the dark, 28:22 what is wrong with that picture? 28:26 Verse 4, "And when he had gathered all the chief priests 28:30 and scribes of the people together, he, 28:33 that would be Herod the Great, 28:34 inquired of them where Christ was to be born." 28:41 The leaders of the clergy, 28:42 the entire faculty had been summoned to the palace 28:45 and bloody Herod has locked the doors behind them. 28:50 It's not wise to mess around with the Herod the Great, no. 28:55 Then fainting the heart of such sincere 29:00 and seeking faith, he says, oh, my beloved clerics, 29:04 so nice of you to come today. 29:06 I have one question for you, 29:09 this Messiah, the Christ, were will he be born? 29:16 You know, it's amazing that Herod asked about the Christ. 29:18 The Wisemen had not said a word about the Christ, 29:20 they just call Him the King of the Jews. 29:22 But Herod's been listening to what's on the street 29:24 and obviously he has carefully interpreted 29:29 and in fact these Arabian kings 29:31 are inquiring about the Messiah, 29:34 the predicted one. 29:37 You say, wait a minute, 29:38 how do you know these are Arabian kings? 29:40 Oh, my friends, you were not with us 29:41 last Sabbath, were you, in this teaching? 29:43 You were not with us. 29:47 I believe that teaching last Sabbath is so important. 29:49 Now I heard from all over the world 29:51 since last week, I want to tell you 29:54 that if you have not heard, I'd like to invite you, 29:55 if you have not heard last week's teaching. 29:57 Let me put the website on the screen for you. 30:00 I wish we go to our website, 30:01 do you see there, www.pmchurch.tv. 30:04 This is a little mini-series called "Wisemen from the East." 30:09 And would you click on to the teaching, 30:11 "Star Still Rising Over Islam." 30:14 You can get it podcast, you can get it video streaming, 30:16 get all the PowerPoint that's there, 30:17 even the study guide is there. 30:19 If you did not hear last week, you owe it to yourself 30:21 to at least consider the teaching. 30:24 They are Arab kings, trust me. They are Arabians. 30:31 Herod looks into the faces of these clerics, he said, hey, 30:35 these Arabian kings are all talking about a Messiah. 30:38 Tell me where will He be born? 30:43 Now you need to be reminded 30:46 that being forced to stand before Herod 30:49 is a double slap in the face of Jerusalem's clergy, 30:53 because not only a pagan kings come up 30:54 and start this whole Messiah talk 30:56 which they are trying to keep quite. 30:57 Now we have the hated half-breed 30:59 king himself cornering them and saying, 31:01 I am not letting you out of here 31:02 until you talk Messiah to me. 31:05 This is bad news. There is no way out of this. 31:07 And by the way, 31:08 they don't have to call a committee. 31:10 They don't have to say, well, listen, we'll go back 31:11 and do some research in the library. 31:12 They already know the answer and they respond. 31:16 Verse 5, "And so they said unto him, 31:19 In Bethlehem of Judaea, 31:21 for thus it is written by the prophet." 31:23 Verse 6, "But you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, 31:26 are not the least among the princes of Judah, 31:28 For out of you shall come a Ruler, 31:31 who shall shepherd my people Israel." 31:34 Your Majesty, he will be born in Bethlehem, this Messiah. 31:41 And Herod breaks into a crooked grin. 31:45 Splendid, lovely. 31:48 Thank you, that's all I need. 31:49 You are dismissed. 31:53 You got to hand to these scholars and prelates. 31:56 They know the answers 32:00 but they are indicted by history 32:02 because they had quit asking the question. 32:07 But you see the danger of those who know all the answers 32:10 is that they no longer ask the question. 32:14 For them it's no longer, 32:15 it was no longer fashionable to ask, 32:17 is the Messiah coming soon? 32:22 Too embarrassing, too fundamentalist, 32:27 too back woodsy, too right wingish. 32:30 We don't ask those questions any more around here. 32:36 I was reading this last week 32:38 an essay written by the American lawyer 32:39 and social critic an essayist William Stringfellow, 32:44 in a little book that my friend Carol Lewis gave me 32:46 "Watch for the Light." 32:48 In that book the lawyer Stringfellow 32:50 describes a very similar mindset 32:52 in the contemporary church. 32:53 He refers to, and I put the words on the screen. 32:56 He referees to 32:57 "...the illiteracy of church folk today, 33:00 about the Second Advent and, in the mainline churches, 33:02 the persistent quietism of pastors, 33:05 preachers, and teachers about the Second Coming. 33:07 That topic has been allowed to be preempted 33:09 and usurped by astrologers, sectarian quacks, 33:14 and multifarious hucksters." 33:16 Not a very slick group to be a part of. 33:19 "Yet it is impossible" and here is his point, 33:22 "Yet it is impossible to apprehend either Advent 33:25 except through the relationship of both Advents." 33:32 The danger for those who know all the answers 33:35 is that they will forget the question about the advent. 33:39 Just like that stary, stary night in Jerusalem, 33:43 when some Bedouin Arab seekers 33:45 have the audacity to show up and say, 33:47 hey, you know what, you know what people, 33:49 you have been teaching that your king is coming 33:52 for hundreds of years now. 33:54 Question. Has your king come? 34:04 Religious leaders, the hierarchy they knew all, 34:09 they knew all the answers 34:10 they had simply banished the question long ago. 34:15 A century ago, Desire of Ages 34:16 that classic on the life of Jesus 34:18 captured the seeds of the terrible predicament 34:20 of these religious leaders with these words. 34:22 Put it on the screen for you. 34:24 "The report of the angels' 34:26 visit to the shepherds had been brought to Jerusalem, 34:28 but the rabbis had treated it as unworthy of their notice." 34:32 Just a bunch of country bumpkin shepherd 34:34 that's all they had a one to many pieces 34:36 before they went to bed that night. 34:38 Come on, guys, you are not serious, 34:40 angels oh, please. 34:45 They themselves might have found Jesus, 34:48 and might have been ready 34:49 to lead the magi to His birthplace, 34:52 but instead of this, it's the other way around, 34:53 the wise men came to call their attention 34:56 to the birth of the Messiah. 34:58 Now, pride and envy closed the door against the light." 35:04 And I must confess to you that that is where I fall too, 35:09 right there, a struggle. 35:13 You know what I do? Here's what I do. 35:15 I prejudge, I prejudge the messenger 35:20 and then reject the message. 35:23 Do you know, there is a word in English for prejudge, 35:26 it's prejudice, prejudice. 35:31 When you have prejudice, you have prejudged somebody, 35:33 you haven't even investigated the fact, wrong out forget him. 35:38 I mean come on, come on. 35:39 Am I supposed to listen to some fanatical right wing offshoot? 35:42 I don't have to listen to them do away. 35:45 Where did he get his degree? Uh-huh? 35:48 Doesn't have a degree? Forget him. 35:52 I mean, come on, they look strange, 35:56 they are weird, they think wrong, 1888, 36:02 ha, don't get me wrapped up in that stuff. 36:10 I prejudge the messengers as wanting 36:12 and I reject their message as unwanted. 36:16 Spiritual prejudice and pride, prejudice and pride. 36:21 It's what destroyed 36:22 the religious leaders of Jerusalem. 36:25 In fact, the Desire of Ages quote goes on. 36:27 "These learned teachers would not stoop to be 36:30 instructed by those whom they termed heathen. 36:33 It could not be, they said, that God had passed them by, 36:37 to communicate with ignorant shepherds 36:39 or uncircumcised Gentiles. 36:41 They determined to show their contempt for the reports 36:45 that were exciting King Herod and all Jerusalem. 36:47 They would not even go to Bethlehem to see 36:49 whether these things were so." 36:51 I am not even crossing the street 36:52 to listen to that guy. 36:55 I don't read that book, 36:56 I'm not going to look at that... forget it. 36:59 They wouldn't even go to Bethlehem 37:01 5 miles to the south. 37:07 In that last line, "And they led the people" 37:09 here's what so sad, I tell you this is where 37:13 this little pastoral heart feels the pain. 37:15 "And they led the people to regard the interest in Jesus 37:20 as a fanatical excitement." 37:23 All you have to say is, 37:25 hey, guys, don't get so excited, 37:27 the Messiah is not really coming soon 37:29 and with a giant bucket of cold water 37:31 you can douse the flame of hope. 37:35 I know it fits with your modus operandi. 37:38 I know that with your intellectual journey, 37:41 it just isn't compatible, 37:43 but when you take the bucket, when I take the bucket 37:45 and douse every little flickering candle around me. 37:52 How easily the mind that knows all the answers 37:54 but has forgotten the question can dismiss as fanatical. 37:58 A longing for the Messiah 38:00 that is foreign to the prejudiced mind. 38:05 What can I possibly learn from a Muslim? 38:09 What can I possibly learn from a Jew? 38:13 What can I possibly learn from a Catholic? 38:16 What can I possibly learn from an 1880 editor? 38:22 From anybody I have prejudged. 38:24 How utterly foolish of those leaders. 38:27 No, no, no, how utterly foolish of me. 38:32 One more line from, Desire of Ages. 38:34 It's a one line indictment. I put it on the screen. 38:38 "The wise men are not idolaters, 38:41 and in the sight of God 38:43 they stand far higher than do these, 38:45 His professed worshipers." 38:47 That's pretty heavy, 38:48 I'll leave that on the screen just for an extra moment, 38:50 so that you can sink it in to that mind of yours. 38:54 "In the sight of God they stand far higher than do these, 38:57 His professed worshipers, 38:59 yet they are looked upon by the Jews as heathen." 39:02 Pagans, so who do you look upon? 39:08 Who do I look upon as heathen? 39:12 Could it be that I'm more lost than he is? 39:17 But you see, unbeknown to us, the ancient Christmas story 39:21 has ever been a compelling contrast 39:23 between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ishmael. 39:29 Both are unflatteringly presented 39:31 here in Matthew 2, the sons of Israel, 39:32 we have just seen how they responded 39:34 and how is it with the sons of Ishmael. 39:37 Verse 7, "Then Herod, 39:42 when he had secretly called the wise men, 39:44 determined from them what time the star appeared. 39:47 And he sent them to Bethlehem 39:48 and said, hey, guys, go, please, 39:51 'Go and search carefully for the young Child, 39:54 and when you have found Him, oh bring back word to me, 39:57 that I may come and worship Him too." 40:00 Not, not, not. 40:04 When they had heard the king, verse 9, 40:05 they departed and behold the star, 40:07 which they've seen in the east, went before them, 40:09 till it came and stood over where the young child was. 40:12 Verse 10, "And when they saw the star, 40:15 they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy." 40:20 Hallelujah. 40:21 Eugene Peterson in his rendering called the message. 40:23 Translates to this, they could hardly contain themselves. 40:27 The NIV that you have on your lap 40:28 that says, they were overjoyed. 40:33 Joy, there it is ladies and gentlemen, 40:35 the very emotion that surely 40:37 all of heaven had hoped against hope 40:39 would be found in the hearts of those who believe 40:41 who had been taught from childhood 40:42 that the Messiah was coming. 40:44 Joy, the very emotion missing from the essay 40:49 in the entire Christmas story 40:50 say for a motley banded shepherds 40:52 and a teenage virgin mother and her aged husband 40:55 and devout old man and an elderly prophet is joy. 40:59 The very emotion missing from those 41:02 who have all the answers 41:03 but cannot remember the question. 41:04 Joy bust into a passionate flame 41:07 in the heart of these children of the east 41:10 who have come asking, seeking the Messiah. 41:17 How sad, Matthew's dramatic contrast 41:21 between the children of the east 41:23 and the children of the saved. 41:25 Hey, hold on, a contrast by the way 41:28 he not only portrays in the Christmas story 41:30 but one he later adeptly reinforces 41:33 in the Jesus story that he tells. 41:36 You are gonna wish that this line 41:38 perhaps was not in Matthew's gospel. 41:41 Matthew Chapter 8, a pagan Roman centurion 41:45 has just beg Jesus to heal his servant 41:48 by simply saying no, no, don't you come to my house. 41:52 You just say the words, sir, say the word 41:54 that my servant will be healed. 41:55 Matthew Chapter 8, a nonplused amazement, 42:00 Jesus turns to all the people around Him and He speaks. 42:03 Just turn a few pages, come on just a few pages. 42:04 Matthew Chapter 8, look at in verse 10. 42:08 "When Jesus heard it," This pagan centurion, 42:11 "When Jesus heard it, He marveled, 42:13 and He said to those who followed, 'Assuredly, 42:15 and in the Greek the word is Amen, 42:17 Amen, I say to you, 42:19 I have not found such great faith, 42:21 not even in Israel!" 42:26 Anybody there. 42:27 And then the next line is what knocks the socks off. 42:30 Look at verse 11, "And I say to you 42:34 that many will come from the" 42:37 give me the direction please, many will come from where? 42:41 Say it again, many will come from where? 42:43 They are gonna come from the east 42:44 and they will come from another direction, 42:45 what's the other one? 42:46 And west, many note the word, note the word, 42:50 many will come from east and west, 42:56 and will sit down with Father Abraham, 42:58 Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." 43:01 But I wish this verse weren't there, 43:04 verse 12, "But the sons of the kingdom 43:08 will be cast out into outer darkness, 43:11 where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 43:17 Ladies and gentlemen, did I make that up? 43:19 Is that verse in your Bible too? 43:22 Isn't it amazing? 43:25 In this dramatic reinforcement of what the Christmas story 43:27 has already portended, Matthew's Jesus declares 43:31 that the heavenly banquet table 43:32 will welcome the children of the east, 43:35 while the sons of the kingdom and the daughters of the church 43:37 are banished to outer darkness. 43:42 You say, oh, come, Dwight, 43:43 all the children of the east get saved? 43:44 No. 43:45 All the sons of the kingdom get lost? 43:47 No. 43:48 Jesus uses the word many, 43:50 many for the children of east, many will come. 43:58 "And I say to you that many will come 44:01 from the east and the west, 44:03 and sit down with Abraham, 44:04 Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 44:08 But the sons of the kingdom 44:10 will be cast out into outer darkness, 44:13 and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 44:17 Why? 44:19 Because faith not family, faith not family 44:23 has always been God's defining of the saved. 44:25 The only Israel God has known 44:26 from Genesis all the way through to Revelation 44:29 has nothing to do with blood in the veins 44:31 but every thing to do with faith in the heart. 44:34 In fact, Matthew has already gone out of his way 44:36 to prove that point in those old genealogies. 44:38 Every time you read Matthew 1, 44:39 you want to get into the gospel, 44:40 you always skip the genealogies. 44:42 Do you know what you miss, when you skip them? 44:44 Matthew has intensely inserted into the genealogy 44:46 a pagan prostitute named Rehab 44:51 who becomes one of the progenitor 44:53 ancestors of the Messiah. 44:55 He slips Rehab in and then right behind Rehab 44:58 he inserts a pagan Moabites widow named Ruth 45:02 and says she too is an ancestor of the Messiah. 45:06 Both of them were pagans but by faith, 45:09 they became daughters of Abraham. 45:11 The issue ladies and gentlemen is not what is in your blood, 45:14 it's what it is in your heart. 45:15 It's been that way from Genesis 45:16 all the way through to Revelation, 45:18 there is no other Israel but an Israel by faith. 45:23 By faith, otherwise Matthew blow it, 45:25 he should have left the girls out boy. 45:28 No, he said I'm making a point. 45:30 The girls belong they're part by faith 45:34 of father Abraham's children. 45:37 Wow. 45:41 And so today, in Arabic the word is Hanif. 45:46 God has Hanif today. 45:48 In English the word is remnant. 45:50 God has a remnant today. 45:52 Ladies and gentlemen, 45:53 God has a remnant today in Islam. 45:56 God has a remnant today in Judaism. 45:59 God has a remnant today in Christianity. 46:02 God has a remnant today 46:03 in secular paganism and get this, 46:05 God even has a remnant today in Adventism not all of them. 46:11 Not all of them, 46:14 it's not by family it's by faith. 46:20 God has a remnant today and one day 46:21 He is gonna call the My people and He's gonna say 46:23 come on out, come on out, it's time now 46:26 and put my entire remnant together in one fell soup. 46:28 Come out of her. Come out, come out come out. 46:33 You know what? 46:34 I got to tell you, 46:35 I just love the God of Christmas, don't you? 46:39 I mean can you beat a God like this. 46:41 Give me a better God. 46:43 Who doesn't ask who your momma was? 46:45 Doesn't ask who your daddy was? 46:47 He says what you got in your heart, girl. 46:49 Hey, boy, what do you got in your heart? 46:50 You got some faith for me? Can I be your Emmanuel? 46:54 Can I be your Lord? Can I be your Savior? 46:56 If you want Me, you got all of eternity 46:58 for ever and ever, amen. 47:01 What a God? 47:02 Every time, you celebrate Christmas, 47:03 you are celebrating the God 47:05 who has the Hanif, He has the remnant, 47:08 He has His faithful in every community on earth. 47:11 Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. 47:14 Just like the Muslim women I read about this week, 47:16 I want to end with this. 47:19 One of our viewers was listening last weekend 47:22 and wrote me a story from where from when 47:24 she was a missionary in a Muslim nation, okay. 47:28 I happen to know this viewer. 47:29 She is not a member of our community of faith. 47:33 She is a medical professional 47:36 and I accept the veracity of her story. 47:39 Let me read it to you in closing. 47:41 Dear, Dwight, thanks for the teaching, 47:45 this weekend. 47:47 When I was working in, she lists the Islamic country. 47:49 When I was working in that country 47:52 in a northern area where our mission 47:54 the Evangelical Alliance Mission has a hospital, 47:57 we had a woman near death 47:58 brought in one evening, all right. 48:01 She had been in contracted labor for days 48:03 and was in a civil government hospital 48:05 where she was told daily, the doctor was coming, 48:07 the doctor was coming, he never came. 48:10 Here husband was with her and her two children. 48:12 Her husband worked at a local mosque. 48:14 One night, when she was alone, 48:16 she related that a person wearing pure white 48:20 with very kind eyes came into her room 48:26 and he told her that if she wanted to live, 48:28 she needed to go to and she lists the city of the town. 48:32 She needed to go to that place immediately. 48:34 She told her husband and he believed her 48:36 so they came to our village from this remote area. 48:39 It took all day to arrive and it was late at night 48:42 when she arrived at our gate. 48:43 Her uterus was ruptured 48:44 and the baby was rotting inside of her. 48:47 We did surgery and had little hope 48:48 that she would live when one of our lady 48:51 evangelist shared with her about Jesus 48:53 a couple of days later, she exclaimed excitedly, 48:55 that was the one who came to my room. 48:57 He came to me and told me to come here. 49:02 Miraculously she lived 49:04 and she accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior 49:07 and did her husband and both children. 49:08 They were with us for a long time 49:10 while she healed and gained strength. 49:12 Word got back to their village 49:13 the day they had become Christians 49:14 they were afraid to leave us, 49:16 but did and when they got home, 49:18 their house had been ransacked 49:20 and everything inside of it ruined. 49:21 Her husband lost his job and no one would hire him. 49:24 The children has stones thrown at them 49:25 whenever they try to go to school. 49:27 Over the years they underwent 49:29 much persecution and eventually 49:31 out of desperation the husband recanted 49:36 but lists the woman's name never did 49:39 and she was thrown in jail. 49:42 She came to visit us often 49:43 and when she would talk with us, 49:45 listen to this, when she would talk with us, 49:48 her eyes would shine with a deep love for Jesus. 50:00 I'll never forget her even though 50:01 she died long ago, I think in jail. 50:04 "I know that God reveals Himself 50:05 to Muslims in visions and dreams 50:07 because some are illiterate like her 50:09 and can't find the truth by reading 50:10 all of them believe in the supernatural 50:12 so it's easy for them to accept visions and dreams. 50:14 They take them seriously I believe that the teaching 50:16 you shared last weekend is an exciting one to me, 50:18 I plan to send this to my missionary friends 50:20 who have or serving in that country." 50:30 When they saw the star, 50:33 they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy, 50:39 for I say to you that many will come from east and west 50:47 and sit down with Father Abraham, 50:48 Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 50:52 Ladies and Gentlemen, the wise men will be there 50:57 and I want to be there too, with them 51:02 and you by faith in the same Messiah 51:09 who really is coming soon. 51:14 Amen. 52:14 We three kings of Orient are 52:20 Bearing gifts we traverse afar 52:25 Field and fountain, moor and mountain 52:31 Following yonder star 52:37 O star of wonder, star of night 52:45 Star with royal beauty bright 52:50 Westward leading, still proceeding 52:56 Guide us to Thy perfect light 53:03 Born a King on Bethlehem's plain 53:09 Gold I bring to crown Him again 53:14 King forever, ceasing never 53:20 Over us all to reign 53:25 O star of wonder 53:29 Star of night 53:34 Star with royal beauty bright 53:39 Westward leading, still proceeding 53:45 Guide us to Thy perfect light 53:53 Frankincense to offer have I 53:58 Incense owns a Deity nigh 54:03 Prayer and praising, all men raising 54:09 Worship Him, God most high 54:15 O star of wonder 54:18 Star of night 54:23 Star with royal beauty bright 54:29 Westward leading, still proceeding 54:35 Guide us to Thy perfect light 54:43 Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume 54:48 Breathes of life of gathering doom 54:54 Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying 55:00 Sealed in the stone-cold tomb 55:05 O star of wonder 55:09 Star of night 55:15 Star with royal beauty bright 55:20 Westward leading, still proceeding 55:27 Guide us to Thy perfect light 55:34 Glorious now behold Him arise 55:40 King and God and sacrifice 55:45 Alleluia, Alleluia! 55:51 Sounds through the earth and skies 55:56 O star of wonder 56:00 Star of night 56:05 Star with royal beauty bright 56:11 Westward leading, still proceeding 56:17 Guide us to Thy perfect light 56:28 Holy Father, we have but one prayer. 56:32 Grant us Your grace 56:34 that we too like the children of the East 56:38 may follow the star and worship Him. 56:45 Now may the communion of the father, 56:49 the fellowship of the spirit, 56:52 and the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ be with you. 56:57 Amen. 57:00 Hello, I am Dwight Nelson. 57:02 During this holiday season when everyone is celebrating 57:04 Jesus' birthday by giving gifts, 57:06 I want to encourage you to take the opportunity 57:08 and share Jesus with someone. 57:10 This book, "The Life of Jesus" written by Ellen White 57:13 is one of the best books I found on the life of Christ. 57:16 It's the perfect gift. 57:18 It's hard-cover, classic looking edition published 57:20 by Review and Herald has beautiful artwork 57:23 depicting the most expressive scenes of the Savior's life. 57:26 Based on the gospels, it shows that Jesus loves and cares 57:29 for each of us the world over. 57:32 Here is a book with the good news of Jesus 57:34 that is your perfect opportunity 57:36 to share the greatest gift of all. 57:38 For this holiday season 57:40 why don't you give "The Life of Jesus." 57:43 As we celebrate the birth of Jesus this season, 57:46 call our toll-free number 57:48 and take advantage of this holiday offer. 57:51 The Life of Jesus retails for $34.99 57:54 but this book is yours for donation of $25 or more. 57:59 That's right, for donation of $25 per book, 58:03 you'll receive this colorful inspirational 58:05 masterpiece on "The Life of Jesus." 58:08 What better gift for your family, 58:10 your friends, your neighbors this holiday. 58:13 So call our toll-free number, 1877-HIS-WILL. 58:19 We will pay the shipping and handling charges. 58:22 Call for as many copies of this classic 58:25 on Christ life as you need. 58:27 Call right now. |
Revised 2014-12-17