Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Sunday, December 17, 2017
We’re surrounded by that beauty, lovely trees with bright lights and decorations, colorful ornaments, beautiful candles, wreaths, snow scenes, warm fireplaces in the hearth in a family home, beautifully wrapped presents.
We could talk about a dark, cold night in a small non-descript village in Palestine, where a lovely young woman gave birth to a baby in the most unsanitary, wretched conditions imaginable, standing in the filth and manure of a stable.
The most wretched, heinous, hideous reality in all of the universe.
1Jo 3:5 says, “And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins;”
1Jo 4:14, “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the savior of the world.”
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.
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.
Thomas Watson, the great Puritan writer, said, “Sin has turned beauty into deformity and the wicked takes more care to have his sin covered than cured.”
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.
You see, the reason that Christ was born was to be the savior who came to deliver men from sin.
If there were no sin, there would need to be no Christmas.
It is that which generates cosmic chaos.
The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death.” And every person on the globe will die, either once or twice."
And the greatest gift that God gave all of us where the Bible says that Jesus Christ came into the world to save us from sin (nature).
Sin is the ugliness of Christmas.
It is the degenerative power in the human stream that makes man susceptible to disease, disaster, illness, death, and hell.
Every broken marriage, every disrupted home, every shattered friendship, every argument, every disagreement, every evil thought, evil word, evil deed, every good deed undone, good thought, and a good word unsaid can be attributed to the sin nature.
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.
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!"
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?"
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.
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.
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
The ugliness of Christmas turned into the glory of God. Just like 2CO 9:15, 3:17-18.
The darkness and ugliness turned to light and beauty, 2CO 9:15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
And what does it mean to believe? It means to metabolize doctrine.