Latest / Providence Baptist Church - Sermons / Making Much of Jesus

Transcript

Making Much of Jesus · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

0:00
All right, please take your copy of God's Word and turn to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 3, and join me in prayer.
0:10
Father, we praise you for this day that we have been granted to come together and study your Word.
0:17
I pray, Father, this morning that you will use our frailty and that you will maximize the preaching of your Word by its transforming power to make us more into the image of your Son for your glory.
0:29
And I pray this in Christ's name. Amen.
0:33
So as a general habit together here at Christ Family Church, we preach verse by verse, expositionally.
0:41
And there's a number of reasons that we do that that I won't get into in their entirety.
0:45
There have been many faithful preachers throughout history that have done this differently, not always preached in this fashion.
0:53
An example of a fairly dogmatic verse-by-verse preacher is John Calvin.
0:59
In fact, when he was driven out of Geneva for a time, he had left off, I believe he was in the book of Leviticus at the time.
1:06
Forgive me if you know when I'm getting that wrong.
1:09
Came back a couple of years later, was rehired, so to speak, back at the church that he was leading.
1:14
And he picked right back up at the verse that he left off at a number of years prior to that.
1:21
Charles Spurgeon, said to be the prince of preachers, thought that preaching verse by verse actually quenched the Spirit
1:27
because a pastor wasn't required to search God for what he would have to say to the people for that week.
1:34
And so I always try to find a healthy balance in that.
1:37
While we preach through a book together, that's kind of the normative pattern, but each week I ask,
1:43
God, is this what you would have me do?
1:44
Is this the text before me that I ought to preach to this people this day?
1:49
And so this week I've been preparing Mark chapter 3, verse 20 through 35,
1:55
pretty fervently for what's commonly called the unpardonable sin.
1:58
How about that for a week before Christmas sermon for you?
2:03
We get that from verse 29.
2:04
Jesus says, but this is an eternal sin.
2:09
And I prepared for it.
2:10
I had it all prepped and ready to go.
2:12
And guess who changed my mind this morning about preaching such a sermon?
2:17
So I have half a page of scribbled notes on a piece of notebook paper.
2:21
And we're going to look at an entirely different text and text together today.
2:26
And so I want you to start by turning to Revelation chapter 1, verse 8.
2:31
And I have to tell you this morning that I come to you to preach with a pretty heavy heart.
2:37
I'm grieving a bit in my heart.
2:39
And the reason for that is last night we attended a great event that Sam's family does every year.
2:45
Sam's mother's side of the family, she has five siblings.
2:49
There's six of them, and they all have kids who now have kids.
2:51
And so it's quite a troop.
2:53
I have no idea how many we number in total, but it's a clan to be sure.
2:57
We call it Puckett Family Christmas, and it's always the Saturday before Christmas.
3:02
And last night was that very event.
3:04
It kind of kicks off the season for us.
3:07
And there's lots of good food and cute kids in their Christmas sweaters and the like.
3:12
Presents to go around and things of this nature.
3:15
And in previous years, this has happened, and it happened again last night.
3:19
There's suddenly a great excitement in the room because a particular jolly character arrives at the house.
3:26
who's been hired in the past.
3:28
This year it was Uncle Buster wearing an elaborate costume.
3:33
I'm going to speak in code just in case.
3:35
I don't want to burst any children's bubbles this morning.
3:38
I'll let you do that at some point.
3:40
But you know who I'm talking about.
3:42
Shows up, and the house just lit up.
3:46
Adults and children alike.
3:50
I mean, just the excitement level in the room went from a 2 to a 10.
3:55
And all the cameras came out, and everyone was so excited.
3:58
One of her adult cousins came to me and said,
4:00
I'm having flashbacks of being a kid.
4:01
And then kept on going.
4:02
I'm like, what is happening in this room right now?
4:06
It almost seemed as if they were drugged.
4:10
I mean, really, like the super excitement came on the room.
4:14
And I started out a bit frustrated, just, you know, the kind of typical,
4:18
this isn't what Christmas is about kind of frustration,
4:21
which I've experienced in years past at this event.
4:25
I'll tell you later if you'd like to know.
4:28
I'll give you three clear reasons why we ought not do the Jolly Man.
4:32
But my frustration really quickly turned to sadness.
4:36
And that's really what I want to talk about today.
4:39
Because I realized, and it was when Cademan ran up to me,
4:42
jumped up on the couch, I was sitting on the back of the couch,
4:44
came up to me and said, Dad, I just saw Santa Claus.
4:47
And I went, yeah, buddy.
4:50
And he hopped down.
4:51
And I just, this sadness came over me because that kind of joy is infectious.
4:56
Like, there's no way.
4:57
Like, we've been very clear with Cade on this particular issue.
5:00
And there's no way by what we've been teaching him
5:03
that he should have been that stoked about it.
5:05
But the whole house was really, really excited.
5:09
I mean, kids who were apparently afraid of this costumed man,
5:12
creepy-looking guy, were being, like, drugged to go meet him, right?
5:16
Like, kicking and screaming to go see this character.
5:19
There was much, much excitement.
5:21
And I realized all in kind of one moment that we as a Christian people,
5:26
and myself personally, we don't get that excited about Jesus.
5:31
That we don't look for opportunities to make much of him
5:35
in all of the various settings.
5:37
This was an elaborate costume.
5:38
I mean, it was well done, right?
5:41
He had to leave, change, come in, the whole thing.
5:44
He planned it out in order to make much of this particular character.
5:48
And I hadn't even given a thought to that evening
5:51
to how I was going to make much of Christ with Sam's family, right?
5:55
I was going for food and Christmas sweaters
5:58
and maybe some presents along the way.
6:01
And we do the same thing with our church.
6:03
We come together 52, 53, if you count our Christmas Eve service,
6:07
times a year as a congregation
6:10
to make much of Christ together.
6:13
And we do some things certainly to be deliberate about that.
6:15
But is it infectious?
6:17
Do our kids see what we do and go,
6:20
what is going on in that place?
6:23
Right?
6:24
And I thought about some of the reasons
6:26
why that's a challenging thing to do.
6:28
I don't think it'd be really appropriate
6:30
for us to hire somebody to dress up as Jesus
6:33
and show up at our Christmas parties.
6:34
I just, that would feel weird to me.
6:36
So, how do we make much of Christ?
6:41
And the thing I really came to realize
6:43
is that we must make much of Him in our preaching.
6:47
And I labor to do that,
6:48
but I don't know that I do that incredibly well.
6:50
I don't know that people leave here
6:51
excited about our Savior, right?
6:55
Wanting to run around.
6:56
Wanting to be really stoked about who He is.
6:59
And so I want to talk a little bit this morning
7:01
about who He is
7:04
and why we should celebrate Him properly this year.
7:08
Christ Himself is God.
7:12
We've seen that case made to us already in Mark.
7:15
He Himself has proclaimed it a number of times.
7:17
The great accusations that are being railed against Him
7:19
is that He's speaking blasphemy.
7:22
Which He would be if He weren't in fact the Lord.
7:26
Revelation 1, verse 8.
7:30
God the Father says this of Himself,
7:32
I am the Alpha and the Omega,
7:35
says the Lord God,
7:36
who is and who was and who is to come.
7:39
The Almighty.
7:40
In the Greek alphabet,
7:41
Alpha is A and Omega is Z.
7:44
Right?
7:44
There's nothing that existed before me.
7:47
There's nothing that will exist after me.
7:49
I am everything.
7:51
This is a more elaborate way of Him saying,
7:54
I am who I am,
7:56
which is the name He gave to Moses.
7:58
I am the Alpha and the Omega,
8:00
who is and who was and who is to come.
8:03
The Almighty.
8:04
But turn, if you will,
8:05
to the end of the book of Revelation.
8:07
Chapter 22, verse 13.
8:13
And here we see Jesus speaking,
8:14
and He says,
8:15
I am the Alpha and the Omega,
8:18
the first and the last,
8:20
the beginning and the end.
8:23
In this time of year,
8:24
we very readily forget
8:27
that Jesus who came in the form of a baby
8:30
was in fact God Himself,
8:34
incarnate amongst us.
8:36
Right?
8:36
I think sometimes in our minds
8:38
we celebrate the little baby Jesus.
8:40
Right?
8:41
Like we have in our mind
8:42
the picture in the manger
8:43
of us standing around
8:44
inside Northeast Georgia room
8:46
and we all kind of like
8:47
take turns holding the baby
8:48
and pass them on.
8:48
Oh, a cute baby.
8:49
Snap a photo.
8:50
Right?
8:51
This was God Himself
8:53
who came down off His throne
8:56
and dwelt amongst us.
8:59
And we can see some encounters.
9:00
When we see encounters
9:01
of the people have with God,
9:03
they lay prostrate on the ground.
9:05
One of my favorites
9:05
is in Exodus chapter 34.
9:08
Turn there if you will with me.
9:09
After Moses has gone back up on the mountain
9:22
for the second time,
9:24
he comes down the first time
9:25
and the people are worshiping
9:26
the golden calf
9:28
and he breaks the tablets.
9:29
He goes back up on the mountain.
9:30
God gives him tablets once again.
9:34
Chapter 34, verse 29.
9:35
It says,
9:36
When Moses came down from the Mount Sinai
9:38
with the two tablets of the testimony
9:39
in his hand,
9:40
as he came down from the mountain,
9:42
Moses did not know
9:43
that the skin of his face shone
9:44
because he had been talking with God.
9:47
He actually was illuminated.
9:50
Right?
9:50
He had a countenance about him
9:52
that brightened
9:54
what people were seeing
9:55
to be true of who he was.
9:57
And we see later in this text
9:59
that he actually begins to veil himself
10:00
because this brightness
10:01
was a fading brightness.
10:03
So he would veil himself
10:04
because it was going away
10:05
and then he would unveil
10:07
to go meet with the Lord again
10:08
and he would get bright once again.
10:10
And we see some commentary on this
10:12
in 2 Corinthians 3.
10:15
Bible drill.
10:15
Go with me to 2 Corinthians 3.
10:25
Paul here in 3, verse 6
10:27
has talked a bit about the law itself.
10:30
This law that Moses brought down
10:31
on these tablets of stone.
10:33
And it said,
10:34
For the letter kills,
10:36
but the Spirit gives life.
10:37
And what he means is that the letter,
10:39
the law itself,
10:39
simply brings the conviction of sin.
10:41
It cannot deliver us from it,
10:42
but it simply makes us aware
10:44
that it exists.
10:45
So the letter kills.
10:46
And then in verse 7,
10:47
he says,
10:48
Now if the ministry of death,
10:50
carved in letters on stone,
10:52
came with such glory
10:53
that the Israelites could not gaze
10:54
at Moses' face
10:55
because of its glory,
10:56
which was being brought to an end,
10:58
will not the ministry of the Spirit
11:00
have even more glory?
11:02
For if there is glory
11:03
in the ministry of condemnation,
11:03
condemnation,
11:04
the ministry of righteousness
11:05
must far exceed it in glory.
11:08
Indeed, in this case,
11:09
once once had glory
11:10
has come to have no glory at all
11:12
because of the glory
11:13
that surpasses it.
11:15
The glory,
11:15
the gospel of grace
11:17
that surpasses the law.
11:19
Verse 11,
11:20
For what was being brought
11:21
to an end came with glory.
11:23
Much more will what is permanent
11:25
have glory.
11:27
Since we have such a hope,
11:29
we are very bold.
11:30
Not like Moses
11:31
who would put a veil
11:32
over his face
11:33
that the Israelites
11:34
might not gaze
11:34
at the outcome
11:35
of what was being brought
11:36
to an end,
11:37
but their minds were hardened.
11:38
For to this day,
11:39
when they read the Old Covenant,
11:40
that same veil remains unlifted
11:42
because only through Christ
11:44
is it taken away.
11:45
Yes, to this day,
11:47
whenever Moses is read,
11:48
a veil lies over their hearts.
11:50
But when one turns to the Lord,
11:52
the veil is removed.
11:54
Now the Lord is the Spirit,
11:55
and where the Spirit of the Lord is,
11:56
there is freedom.
11:57
And we all,
11:58
with unveiled face,
11:59
beholding the glory of the Lord,
12:01
are being transformed
12:03
to the same image
12:03
from one degree of glory
12:04
to another.
12:06
For this comes from the Lord,
12:08
who is the Spirit.
12:09
You see what he's saying there now?
12:11
Is that we now have
12:12
this full revelation.
12:13
We have looked
12:14
into the face of Christ.
12:16
And as such,
12:17
we have a greater glory,
12:19
a surpassing glory.
12:21
And we don't experience
12:22
this glowing skin
12:24
that Moses had going on.
12:26
But what we do experience
12:27
is the transformation
12:28
of our hearts
12:29
and therefore our actions.
12:31
There has to be something
12:32
that comes out
12:33
of a devotion to Christ.
12:37
If we can't worship Christ
12:39
properly during this season,
12:41
it's probably because
12:43
we don't know him that well.
12:46
If we know him at all,
12:47
we don't know him that well.
12:50
He is a surpassing glory.
12:53
If you look down
12:54
in chapter 4, verse 6,
12:55
Paul writes,
12:58
For God who said,
12:59
Let light shine out of darkness.
13:01
This all-powerful God
13:04
who said,
13:04
Let light shine out of darkness
13:05
has shown in our hearts
13:07
to give the light
13:07
of the knowledge
13:08
of the glory of God
13:09
in the face
13:10
of Jesus Christ.
13:14
That is who we behold.
13:16
He is more excellent
13:18
than anything in this world.
13:22
Certainly more excellent
13:23
than Santa Claus.
13:26
Who is an omniscient judge
13:30
of some sort.
13:32
Who hands out rewards
13:33
to those who have earned it
13:34
and who punishes those
13:36
who haven't.
13:37
If we are totally honest
13:39
with our story,
13:39
none of us are getting
13:40
any gifts this Christmas at all.
13:44
But Jesus instead comes
13:45
and he pours out eternal wrath
13:47
on those who have stood
13:49
in opposition to him.
13:50
The things that are just
13:51
and do them.
13:52
But by grace,
13:54
by grace,
13:55
not by our works,
13:56
not by the good things
13:57
that we could have
13:57
ever possibly earned,
13:58
but by grace,
13:59
he gives to us
14:00
eternal life.
14:02
Reward in him.
14:03
Adoption into his family.
14:05
Jesus is more excellent
14:06
than Santa Claus.
14:08
What else are your kids into?
14:10
Probably a million things.
14:11
We have a lot of young ones in here.
14:12
I couldn't think of an analogy
14:14
with Thomas,
14:14
the tank engine.
14:15
But Jesus is more excellent
14:17
than Superman.
14:18
Would have been a great character
14:19
of my day.
14:21
If you recall some of the
14:22
Superman movies,
14:23
there was a movie where
14:24
he turned the earth backwards
14:25
and therefore turned back time.
14:27
You guys remember that one?
14:29
By his great strength,
14:30
if you recall,
14:31
this was a big feat for Superman.
14:33
He flew around the earth
14:34
so quickly in the opposite direction
14:36
that he got it rotating
14:37
in the other direction.
14:39
Jesus holds the earth
14:41
in its rotation
14:42
by the power of his word.
14:43
Superman can't stand
14:45
against that.
14:48
Jesus is more excellent
14:50
than Superman.
14:51
In fact, he's the Lord of time.
14:54
Knows all things
14:55
from the beginning
14:56
to the very, very end.
14:59
Jesus is more excellent
15:00
than Iron Man.
15:03
Who forsook the glory
15:05
of being God.
15:06
Came down as a humble servant.
15:09
It's the opposite of that character
15:10
we see in the movie, isn't it?
15:12
He came as a humble servant
15:14
and emptied himself
15:15
and served us
15:16
to the point of death
15:18
that we might have life in him.
15:21
He traded his glory
15:22
that we might have glory one day.
15:25
He is more excellent.
15:27
Why?
15:27
Why in our homes
15:29
do our kids love these things
15:31
and they don't love Christ?
15:36
The very name of Jesus
15:38
ought to move us
15:40
in some way in our hearts.
15:41
We hear somebody say the name Jesus.
15:43
Has it become just
15:43
commonplace to you?
15:45
Is it blasé in your life?
15:48
It ought to perk your ears.
15:49
It ought to get your heart
15:50
motivated and open and warm.
15:53
This One,
15:54
this Jesus Christ,
15:55
salvation from God,
15:57
the Messiah,
15:57
it should warm us.
15:59
It should want us
16:00
to engage in conversation.
16:01
It should be the very thing
16:02
we want to talk about
16:03
in all places
16:04
at all times.
16:07
Turn to Philippians 2.
16:09
God has given this name
16:14
to Christ.
16:15
Chapter 2, verse 9,
16:16
Therefore God
16:16
has highly exalted him,
16:18
Jesus,
16:19
and bestowed on him
16:19
the name
16:20
that is above every name.
16:22
So that the name of Jesus
16:23
every knee should bow
16:24
in heaven and on earth
16:25
and under the earth,
16:25
and every tongue confess
16:27
that Jesus Christ
16:28
is Lord.
16:29
To the glory of God,
16:31
the Father.
16:32
Turn to Psalm,
16:33
chapter 66.
16:34
So what happens
16:39
when I scribble notes?
16:40
You've got to go with me
16:40
to the text.
16:53
Psalm 66,
16:54
beginning in verse 1.
16:55
Shout for joy to God,
16:57
all the earth.
16:58
Sing the glory of His name.
17:00
Give to Him glorious praise.
17:02
Say to God,
17:04
how awesome are your deeds.
17:06
So great is your power
17:07
that your enemies
17:07
come cringing to you.
17:09
All the earth worships you
17:10
and sings praises to you.
17:12
They sing praises
17:13
to your name.
17:16
This should be our heart
17:18
during the Christmas season,
17:20
and it should be such
17:22
that it is infectious.
17:25
We should look
17:26
for opportunities,
17:27
deliberate chances
17:28
to make much of Christ.
17:31
Christ.
17:32
We have such limited time
17:34
together.
17:35
As I said before,
17:36
53 services
17:37
that we'll have
17:38
this next year.
17:40
Many of you will get sick.
17:42
I know I do.
17:43
You'll go on vacations.
17:45
So let's give you 48.
17:49
Times we get to come together
17:50
into this holy assembly,
17:53
this thing that has been
17:54
specifically set apart
17:55
to honor Christ in.
17:57
Do we come?
17:58
Do we even come prepared
17:59
to do what we do together?
18:01
Do we simply roll out of bed,
18:03
hit the car,
18:04
get here,
18:05
go through the motion,
18:05
and take off?
18:07
Do we really devote time
18:09
and energy
18:10
to seeing how it is
18:12
we can exalt Christ
18:12
in our meetings together?
18:14
And I know you're thinking,
18:15
that's kind of your job.
18:16
You put together
18:17
the service aspect of it.
18:18
And yes, I agree.
18:19
It is.
18:20
And it's a labor
18:21
that I have got
18:22
to put my nose to.
18:24
But you play a part
18:25
in it as well.
18:26
The condition of your heart
18:27
matters.
18:28
You start coming to this place
18:29
ready to exalt Christ,
18:31
you will find yourself
18:32
exalting Him
18:32
in all sorts
18:34
of unique ways.
18:36
In your meeting beforehand,
18:37
in your meeting after,
18:38
in the singing of praises
18:39
to His name,
18:40
even just in your listening.
18:41
You want sermons to matter
18:42
and mean something to you?
18:43
Set your mind
18:44
to exalting Christ
18:45
as you come together
18:46
with the people of God.
18:49
How are we going
18:50
to treat Christmas?
18:51
Those of you with kids,
18:51
those of you without kids
18:52
who may have kids
18:53
someday,
18:54
those of you who have
18:55
some influence over kids
18:56
in some way.
18:58
Are you more excited
19:00
about Christ
19:01
than all of the other
19:02
trappings that come
19:03
along with Christmas?
19:04
And those things
19:04
aren't bad and evil
19:05
in themselves.
19:06
I say out-give the world
19:08
but point people to Christ.
19:10
I say out-decorate the world
19:11
but point people to Christ.
19:13
Out-eat the world
19:13
but point people to Christ
19:15
in all of that.
19:16
Show the world
19:17
that this is a lesser joy.
19:19
Right?
19:20
That it's just a simple,
19:21
I mean,
19:21
a tiny, minute shadow
19:23
of the greater,
19:24
more excellent joy
19:25
that is found in Christ.
19:28
Let's pray together.