Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Sunday,
December 24, 2017
That is what seems to be overlooked there’s a very ugly side of Christmas.
Even in the word Christmas it is made up of two words "Christ and mass = Christmas.
We could talk about a dark, cold night in a small village in Palestine, where a woman who was blessed among women gave birth to a baby in the most unsanitary, wretched conditions imaginable, standing in the filth and manure of a stable.
We could also talk also about the ugliness of a man named Herod who, because he feared the loss of his control and power, massacred all the babies in that region.
We could also talk about an indifferent population in Jerusalem who could less that the King of kings and lord of Lords had been born in their midst, Joh 1:9-11.
The dark and ugly side of Christmas is sin and evil.
The heart of Christmas is this: Christ came into the world to save sinners. Christ was manifest to take away sin. “You shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sin.”
It's beautiful, magnificent and glorious what He went through but what it cost is beyond human description, Ugly but Glorious.
The real beauty of Christmas is to understand the ugliness that it incurred and the victory attained, Joh 19:30.
To demonstrate the power of the sin nature, to demonstrate the power of Christ’s living and dying and rising again and to deal with that which robs us all of human life.
The phenomena that damns every soul to hell = UNBELIEF!
JOH 3:18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Because of unbelief and sin, there are tears and pain and wars and fighting and anxiety and discord and unrest and fear and worry and sickness and death and famine and earthquakes and pollution.
The problem for many is that we are much more prone to excuse or sin than they are to examine it.
PRO 28:13 He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.
The ugliness of man's independence from God came from Satan, ISA 14:12-14.
ISA 14:12-14, "How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations!
ISA 14:13 "But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.
ISA 14:14 'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.'
Independence is revealed by the ugliness of the believer who does not live in the victory of the cross.
If there were no sin, there would need to be no Christmas.
This is why the cross is referred to as a tree at times as in Deu 21:23.
The sin nature must come to the forefront. It is that which generates cosmic chaos.
The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death.” And every person ever born will die, either once or twice."
The greatest gift that God gave all of us is where the Bible says that Jesus Christ came into the world to save us from sin (nature).
In the first Christmas, sin was dealt with.
In the second Christmas, the Second Coming our Lord God will be glorified.
Every broken marriage, every disrupted home, every shattered friendship, every argument, every disagreement, every evil thought, evil word, evil deed, every good deed undone can be attributed to the sin nature.
In Joshua 7:13 sin is called the “accursed thing.” or that which is banned.
Anything that is that sinister and that powerful and that totally debilitating for the whole human race must be dealt with if God, who is infinitely holy, is to bring man to Himself.
So you cannot look at Christmas without being reminded almost everywhere about its beauty and glory but also now also the cost.
His life was also attacked by the darkness but He did not quit.
I believe that there are two reasons why our Lord endured after the first Christmas:
1. Not My will but Thy will be done.
2. You and I were the joy that is set before Him. Heb 12:3.
For example, Men said in MAT 9:34 that our Lord was of the devil, "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons."
In MAT 11:19 that our Lord was a glutton, a drunk and hung out with prostitutes, "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax‑gatherers and sinners!'
In MAT 26:65, they said that He blasphemed, "Then the high priest tore his robes, saying, "He has blasphemed!"
They said in MAT 26:66 that He deserved to be dead, "They answered and said," He is deserving of death!"
In MAR 3:21, our Lord was accused of being nuts and insane,
"And when His own people heard {of this,} they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, "He has lost His senses."
In MAR 3:22, they said He was demon possessed, "And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul"
In MAR 3:30, they said our Lord has an unclean spirit, "He has an unclean spirit."
In LUK 15:2, He had a reputation for hanging around with sinners, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."
In LUK 23:2, they accused of being unpatriotic, And they began to accuse Him, saying, "We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar,"
In LUK 23:5, they accused of always stirring up trouble, But they kept on insisting, saying, "He stirs up the people,
In LUK 23:14, they said he cause people to rebel, "This man is one who incites the people to rebellion,
In JOH 7:12, they said He was a cult leader and He leads multitudes astray, "He leads the multitude astray."
In JOH 8:48, The Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"
In JOH 10:20 And many of them were saying, "He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?"
But our Lord did something about it, He didn't just die upon that tree 1Pe 2:24, He also left gifts, spiritually speaking, in the form of gifts and promises; Eph 4:7-10.
Don't forget Christmas is about giving.......and I want you to just think of some of those gifts underneath the Tree of the Cross.
In Acts 1:4, the promise of God the Father to the Church-age believer is that God the Holy Spirit would be given to each one of them.
In Eph 3:6 The royal family of God is said to be partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
Heb 9:15 talking about Christ as our mediator says, and for this reason they which are elected may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
They are valuable because they come from a God that cannot lie.
They are fantastic because they come from a God who only operates in perfection.
Heb. 10:23b He who promised is faithful.
2Co 1:20 For as many as may be the promises of god, in him they are yes; wherefore also by him is our amen resulting in the glory of God through us.
In Rom 4:21, the promises are assured by divine ability.
In Rom 4:21 and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform.
God's promises are based on God's performance not man's.
All the promises of God are said to be grounded "in Christ" -
2Co 1:20.
Psa 37:3 - Trust in the Lord, and produce divine good, and you will receive all the supplies needed.
Unlimited blessings are promised to those who believe - Mar 9:23.
Answers to prayer are promised; Mar 11:24 Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you.
Removal of obstacles is promised to those who have faith as a tiny grain of mustard seed - Luk 17:6.
Luk 17:6 And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea'; and it would obey you.
We have the promise of brighter days and joy.
Psa. 30:5 Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.