Putting The 'Christ Who Preaches' Back In Christmas - [Matthew 5:4]

Well merry christmas. Just a quick announcement. We do have junior church today for those kids that want to be in junior church so you could just slip out if you like. Joanne Dunn is going to be back there so thank you.

I was just in the restroom earlier today and someone said I was very disappointed in the service last night. I never know what people are going to say. I said well why was that? Because you didn't preach long enough.

So today we'll try to correct that something about this church that I praise God for you love bible preaching and I commend you for that. We come to hear from God. Yes it's through a fallible minister.

But we want to hear what God says as a matter of fact. God loves preaching and that's what we want to do is herald his word to as many people as will hear it. We just ordered thirty more chairs this week.

Fred did and so we're trying to fill this place up to capacity up to where the fire code will allow us and they should be coming in the next couple months. Read an article this week called Christmas comeback by Lynn Vincent.

She said Christmas is making a comeback against the scrooge-ocracy of America. You've probably heard of some of these Macy's holiday theme for 2005 Christmas in the city. Dillard's department stores discover Christmas.

Discover Dillard's. I'm not talking about the theology. I'm just talking about their saying Christmas. Unlike Target our Walgreens Encinitas, California Mayor Dallagher said we will no longer call our December processional a holiday parade.

It will be known as a Christmas parade every year for thirty four years. Nova Scotia ships in a fourteen foot tree and is placed right in the center of Beantown in Boston. It used to be known as a holiday tree earlier this year in November but the city backed down right away and said this is a Christmas tree.

Boston Parks Commissioner Tony Pollack told the Boston Herald quote it is definitely a Christmas tree. Someone said everybody knows that a green pointed tree that we decorate in December is a Christmas tree.

Calling it a holiday tree is like calling a menorah a candelabra. Lowe's was saying happy holidays. And now they have Christmas trees instead of holiday trees. And the list goes on and on putting Christ back into Christmas.

Putting Christmas back into Christmas. As for me in my house we want to put the Christ who preaches back into Christmas. It's one thing to have Jesus in Christmas. He's a little manger there matter of fact one song even goes so far to say no crying.

He what makes. He doesn't talk. He doesn't cry. He doesn't say anything offensive. He doesn't say anything that talks about sin or need of a savior. So as long as Jesus is sequestered and relegated to this manger where he doesn't talk except maybe say goo or ga that's great Christ is in Christmas.

Today we want to put the Christ who preaches into Christmas because did you know he came to die on Calvary. But the way to Calvary was paved with the cobblestones of gospel preaching. And today we're going to look at his first sermon that he preached called the sermon on the mount.

If you have your bibles i'd encourage you to turn to the book of Matthew the first gospel in the new testament about three-quarters the way into your bible. If you're visiting today and don't have a bible there's a black one probably in front of you and you're going to need it.

Uh... today we won't have a sermonette for christianettes. Today i want to feed the souls of you who have come to worship the lord. Al fancy said last night uh... that was a good sermon. Introduction.

Pastor. Uh... Today we want to put the christ who preaches back into christmas. And the theme for today is going to be christ here preaching in the sermon on the mount on this particular word comfort.

He's going to be preaching on this word called comfort. The psalmist cries out in psalm seventy one. God may you increase my greatness and turn to comfort me. People are in need of comfort. Psalm one nineteen.

David said oh may your loving kindness comfort me. Isaiah fifty one. Speaking of the nature of god indeed the lord will comfort zion. He will comfort all her waste places. Now to catch you up to speed.

Here we have jesus preaching the sermon on the mount. And just before he does he stands up in a synagogue and he reads the book of isaiah. And he says the one that isaiah prophesies of. Just like when pastor steve read isaiah forty two today talking about my servant christ the son jesus is going to read a portion of this text in isaiah sixty one and listen for the words comfort please.

The spirit of the lord god is upon me because the lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted. To proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners.

To proclaim the favorable year of the lord and the day of vengeance of our god. To comfort all who. To grant those who mourn in zion giving them a garland instead of ashes the oil of gladness instead of mourning the mantle of praise instead of spirit of fainting.

So they will be called oaks of righteousness the planting of the lord that he may be glorified. Jesus said this prophecy of old spoke of me. And i was coming to preach and i was coming to anoint and i was coming to comfort.

Now if we look at matthew chapter five in the sermon on the mount verse four we see this second beatitude. And what we do in our church is just week after week verse by verse by verse word by word by word letter by letter by letter.

Well we want to rush. It's good. One of my tactics of preaching with depth is to teach you that every little bit of the bible is what important full of depth. And here if you take a look at matthew five four it's almost right out of isaiah sixty one.

Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Comfort means to come alongside of you've all experienced grief. And somebody has come and maybe literally sat right next to you and put their arm around you to comfort you close right in your personal space.

And this word comfort here is where we get the word holy spirit the comforter. It's like one who comes along and puts his arm around you or she puts his arm around you and just gives you comfort. The one that comes right alongside blessed are those who mourn for they shall receive.

It means to refresh to receive consolation. And the one in context that is giving the comfort is god himself. I love isaiah sixty six as the one whom his mother comforts so i will comfort you. God is the comforter.

Commentator linsky said the greatest of all comfort is the absolution pronounced upon every contrite mourning sinner. We lose a loved one. We need comfort. We have a sickness. We need comfort. Financial woes we need comfort.

But the greatest comfort of all is what you can be pretty healthy to the end you can have all your bills paid for everything in your life can be going great. But one day when we die and stand before god then what we then what we want.

The ultimate comfort. And today we look to this passage to see that jesus christ is the only hope of forgiveness and true after all jesus in martin said for the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

And i would say to you this morning that that is the greatest comfort that could ever be given. In a dream martin luther found himself being attacked by satan. This is just a dream. The devil unrolled a long scroll containing a list of luther's sins and held it before luther.

On reaching the end of the scroll luther asked the devil is that all. No came the reply and a second scroll was thrust in front of him. Then after a second came a third. But now the devil had no more.

You've forgotten something. Luther exclaimed triumphantly quickly write on each of them. The blood of jesus christ cleanses from all sin. Could there be any better comfort than the hope of salvation and the forgiveness of sins.

Would you turn to revelation chapter twenty one. And let me show you this ultimate comfort. Here's almost the fulfillment of for me to live as christ and to die as gain. What do you mean for me to die as gain.

Well let's take a look at heaven. I remember my mother was dying. She was just moments away from losing consciousness. And i looked at her and i said to live as christ and to die as gain. How can death be gain.

Well revelation chapter twenty one will give us a little insight on the ultimate comfort. That's heaven. And i love preaching about heaven. I wish there was more about having to preach. Find it odd that there's not much in the bible about heaven.

It's too indescribably good. We just have to wait. But there is something here. Look at revelation chapter twenty one the last book of the bible the ultimate comfort. And i heard a loud voice twenty times about in revelation.

I heard a loud voice. Why would he say it loudly. It's important. It's authoritative. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold the tabernacle of god is among men and he shall dwell among them and they shall be his people and god himself shall be among them.

I met a guy once and he was my boss. He had a pomeranian. He couldn't have children so he loved that pomeranian. I'd walk into his house. There's a picture of him and his wife in the pomeranian. He would set the table at night time big corporate executive guy.

But he'd set the table where it would be his wife himself and a plate for the pomeranian. Thought i was in paris or something for a minute. When i went over there i was preaching the gospel to him one day.

And i said ben what do you think about heaven. He said. Will my dog max be there in heaven. Max the pomeranian. I said sorry. Dogs don't have souls. Now god might just make a horse to live up in heaven something like that.

But an animal that's here been tainted by sin because of the fall. Jesus didn't die for dogs. I'll never forget what he said. He said if my dog max isn't in heaven it ain't heaven. Heaven here in revelation is exposed to us as not who else is in heaven.

But god is in heaven. And he's close by. Instead of jesus just being with peter james and john up on the mountain instead of god manifest in the shekinah glory in the holy of holies. And we're out here in the temple of the gentiles.

In the temple of the court of the uh... gentiles in the court of the women and outside the gate. Here god is typified as a god who will come and put his tent right in among the people. Did you see that it says first the tabernacle of god is among men.

His place of abode is close. Not a different area code not a different country. With men not just israel. Man's lost fellowship with god in the garden. And now he's close. Did you also see. And he shall dwell among them.

Literally. He shall put up his tent among them. He'll pitch a tent. And that word for tent is where we get the word shekinah from same root word scholar mount said closely related to the hebrew shekinah which was used to denote the presence and glory of god.

The metaphor does not suggest a temporary dwelling. For this point on god remains with his people throughout eternity. That's comfort. All these issues going on in life. And then you have the privileged to bask in the glory of god forever and ever the ultimate fulfillment of leviticus.

Twenty six. I will make my dwelling among you. My soul will not reject you. I will also walk among you and be your god. And you shall be my people. Look what else the passage says in revelation. Twenty one.

Three. They shall be his people. Close bond of fellowship. In the original there this is the focal point of the passage. We shall be his people called by name and god himself emphatically. Did you see.

That shall be with them intimacy. Could anything get any better than that. Well verse four. And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. And there shall no longer be any death. And there shall no longer be any mourning.

Did you get that. Or crying or pain. The first things have passed away. Literally every single tear wiped away. Just singing that last song thinking about the greatness of god. And thinking about this is a christmas without my mother.

And i just kind of began to cry sitting right there. No tears in heaven. Every single tear. Nothing to be sorry about. Nothing to be sad about. No pain no disappointment. No tears of remorse. No tears over people who've died.

Nothing will be sad disappointing. Deficient are wrong. One man said every single tear. And there's a repetition of a little word in greek where it says shall wipe out shall wipe out every tear. Listen to this.

Human hands are poor at drying tears. But in heaven we won't have to worry about that. Death gone. We've buried quite a few people here. I've buried quite a few people. And watch people die ultimately.

First corinthians fifteen. Death is swallowed up in victory. Sorrow. Do you see the text. It's gone. Crying gone. By the way that's a crying outcry. Clamor loud gone. No pain gone. Why. The first things have passed away.

Could it get any better than that. Could there be better comfort. Look at revelation twenty two verse three. The next chapter. And there shall no longer be any. What curse. What was hindering the fellowship between god the triune god father son and spirit.

And sinful mankind is gone. The curse is gone. Would you like to have heaven ultimate comfort. I think i forgot to tell you something. There's a condition. Did you know that. There's a condition for comfort.

Do you want comfort. I do. I'd like to receive comfort. Do you. You know there's a condition to have god's comfort in heaven. What might that condition be. Well let's turn back to matthew chapter five and find out.

I want comfort. And as basal said holy morning is the seed out of which the flower of eternal joy grows. I don't know why churches only preach the good news. The good news is great when the bad news is bad.

That makes sense. Did you get that the worst the bad news the greater the good news. If i am a great sinner then i need a greater grace than all my sins. True. Jesus didn't come to put a band-aid on us.

Jesus didn't come to say well i know you're dysfunctional. Uh... Newsflash. I'm dysfunctional. And you're dysfunctional too. We have been tainted by the fall i loved last night because it started off with the first script reading which came from genesis three.

We don't need a savior to pick us up when we fall. If there's no fall he could have just come to affirm us. And jesus comes giving comfort. Jesus comes and says i have blazed the trail for heaven. I've come from heaven.

I will go back to heaven. And i'm here to take people to heaven with me. But there is a condition. And the next time you hear people say god loves people unconditionally. You can just say you know what that abendroth guy once says.

When people say that you can say is that true. What do you mean. Unconditional love. God's love for christians. Yes is in fact unconditional. Because if ever the father loved you he'll love you. What.

Forever. God has two kinds of love. He has a love of creation he creates us and he loves us. But there's another kind of love that's reserved for only those who are in christ. True. It is true. God love judas as a s created being.

But god did not love judas in the sense that he had his son die for him. Because if his son died for him he surely would be in heaven. Wouldn't he. There's a condition to heaven. And today as a preacher knowing that there are visitors and guests and everything else my heart's desire is for you to know who you are.

That you might look to the savior who is matthew. Chapter five verse four. What is the condition to this word. Comfort. By the way it says for they and they only will receive comfort. You want the ultimate comfort.

This is a very conditional statement. Blessed are approved by god. Are those who. What. Party party party. Eat drink and be merry. Do the minimum amount possible. What does it say. I mean this'll pack a church out on sunday christmas morning on it.

You say why am i preaching this. Well i'm pretty much out of christmas sermons. Been preaching for nine years christmas eve christmas morning. I'm kinda out of christmas sermons. Jesus came to save his people from their sins.

He died and he was born out of those sermons. So i just thought we're just gonna keep going. And we've been going through matthew. So why stop now. John calvin was kicked out of his pulpit in geneva three and a half years later they let him come back.

Guess where he started preaching. From the next verse where he left off. We can twist anything to christmas message. I just throw a few things out about macy's and dillard's. And you're caught. I don't know what god says.

This is going to be a good message for christians because we can remember from what god has saved us from and what god has saved us unto. It will also help us as christians because when we preach the gospel we don't have to go for the least common denominator minimalistic reductionistic gospel that says you know what god just loves you as a wonderful plan for your life.

I'm okay. You're okay. Just somehow intellectually throw god a bone of belief. And you're okay till next christmas. That's a lie. It's going to be good for those who aren't born again today. Who aren't born from above because they'll realize this is what god calls people to who want to enter into that ultimate comfort.

He calls them to mourn. What do you mean mourn. Mourning over sin. Listen to a couple of these wonderful quotes. God pours the golden oil of comfort into broken vessels. That sin which cannot be defended by argument may be washed away by tears.

No meat so sweet as tears. It is one of the worst sites to see a sinner go laughing to hell. How unreasonable it is to take a harp when god is taking a sword. What does jesus say in this first sermon.

Jesus came to preach. What did he say in the first sermon. You see the first beatitude verse three. Remember that from a couple weeks ago beatitude number one approved by god are the poor in spirit. They're spiritually bankrupt.

They come to god not bringing anything for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. They're crouching. They're beggars. They're having no spiritual resources at all. They get the kingdom of heaven. They realize something's wrong with them.

They look to the lord. Now becomes not just intellectual but emotional. With the second beatitude. Blessed are those who mourn. They're sad. They cry all over sin gave an outline last time. And here's my outline on biblical mourning to help you realize how true comfort comes.

And i said first of all people biblically mourn when they see sin for what it is. You biblically mourn when you see sin as a sin against god not a crime against society. What jones says. As i confront god and his holiness and contemplate the life that i meant to live i see myself my utter helplessness and hopelessness.

I discover my quality of spirit. And immediately that makes me mourn. Number two. Not only do we see sin against god we should mourn on earth. So we don't have to mourn in hell forever. There's mourning there.

Do you know what jesus said in this exact same sermon in luke chapter six verse twenty five. Woe to you who are well fed now for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now for you shall mourn and weep.

If you don't mourn on earth for your sins you'll mourn that you didn't repent. And over your sins when it's too late in perdition. And now for the new information this morning the new proclamation is thirdly biblical mourning is mandatory for salvation.

Let's turn to james if we would. Please do you have a bible. Please turn to the book of james. I love james because james had a teacher. Who was james' teacher by the way. Oh let's back up. Who was his brother.

Can you imagine having a brother jesus. That's another sermon. That's parenting sermon. The half brother of jesus he had the same mother but different father. Right was james. Do you imagine james listened to everything jesus said james in his book.

The epistle of james uses all kinds of things from the sermon on the mount. It was as if he listened to that and memorized it. And it just comes out when he preaches matter of fact. This used to be a sermon james.

And let's focus in on this idea of mourning over our sins. So we run to the savior. There's got to be a reason why we need forgiveness. James chapter four verse six is in the context of salvation. It's a context where the pastor knows not everybody in the church is a saved and a christian.

But they need to hear the gospel. In this particular case he doesn't even talk about the cross. He just shows that god has grace. And then what should the response be. It's amazing. People don't preach like this.

I dare say if james got up and preach the sermon in this church i don't know how many would stay. So i'm a lightweight. Is what i'm trying to say. James chapter four verse six. And you're going to see words on the sermon on the mount that are right here.

But he gives a greater grace. He gives salvation grace. By the way the word great i love is what megaphone. Some of you stayed up late last night for those parties. And i see you kind of drifting off.

This is the word mega. He gives a mega grace. Why would you need mega grace. If you're ok we know the answer to that. Would you ever say what the sixteenth century german theologian said. I have a natural tendency to hate god and hate my neighbor.

You've got a problem with self esteem. If you say things like that this is abundant grace. Greater than what. Greater than our depravity. Greater than our sin. Greater than everything about us. God's got a greater grace.

And here's the proclamation to greater grace. What's the definition of grace. Unmerited favor. I like sinclair ferguson's definition better demerited favor. He gives greater grace. Therefore it says god is opposed to the proud.

But gives grace to the humble. The proud. Those that literally say god. I know you want me to humble myself and to think that i'm poor in spirit and to mourn over sin. But i dare you to knock this battery off my shoulder.

This means to stand in military array. By the way we're gonna line up in a military formation of war against you. Because how dare you think you're gonna need great grace to overcome my little sin. What do you think.

God's attitude is for that. He stands opposed to that. He's opposed to the proud. It's self-centered defiant. They worship the unholy trinity. Me myself and i. God says i'm ready for battle against those kind of folks.

But there's the but god there the grace. But he gives grace to the humble. He gives grace. There are only two religions in the world. Ready for the two religions. Religion number one. Bathe in that sacred river.

Kiss that statue. Eat that wafer. Have that water poured on your head. Do something. Have something done to you. There's one other religion. And that's a religion of it's been done by god for you. You couldn't save yourself.

And what god has done at calvary what god has done in the eternity past. It's called christianity. And here's the path to comfort. Do you want comfort. Here comes the ten steps for comfort. This is my new ten step for comfort.

Forget the twelve steps. Let's do ten steps. Ten steps for comfort. Because there's ten commands right here in james chapter four. Here's the ten step approach. Not the two step. Not the twelve step. Here's the ten step.

Some of you are listening closely. Right. You said i'd pay to see pastor. Two step. Scott farrah has seen it along with cindy and kim. God says i give greater grace. These are going to be so high that you can't do it.

And you're going to have to be forced to say if you're not a christian god give me mercy. The standards are high because they're so high because we can't attain to them. The sermon on the mount is you know pick the most religious religious leader and say if your righteousness exceeds him then you can get into heaven.

These standards are going to be perfection. And if you're not a christian the solution is not. I'm going to try harder. I'm going to be better. The solution is god have mercy upon me. I'm a sinner. This is so wonderful.

He's preaching right to the unbelievers. Here here we go. Ten steps to receiving the comfort from god. Number one submit to god. James chapter four verse seven. These are kind of like machine gun bursts by the way.

Jackhammer. Like very colorful very james like james just loves to preach this way. Submit therefore to god. If god is opposing the proud then we should tuck ourselves underneath god and his authority to line up under.

This is also used of soldiers under the authority of their commander. And if i had a chalkboard you know what i would do. I would take that chalkboard and i would just go like that. Who said we didn't do drama at this church drama.

That's another sermon. It's like fingernails against the chalkboard of some kind of culture that says i'm pretty good. It's a culture that compares itself against others instead of comparing itself against god.

Submit to god. He's your superior. He's your lord. If you confess with your mouth. Romans ten nine. Jesus as lord number two. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 7b. This is the flip side. Line yourself up underneath god.

And as you do that in fact you'll be resisting or standing against satan. He's the one for unbelievers who's captivated their minds and enslaved them. They think they have free will. But they're doing satan's will resist that.

Take your stand against satan. The slander here he's called diabolo. The slander here's the worst slander anybody could ever give. I have self-sufficiency. I have self-esteem. I have self-righteousness.

Therefore i don't need god. And you can tell that's satanic because that's slander. You're either under the lordship of christ or the lordship of satan. No middle ground. Thirdly. Draw near to god. All in the context of salvation.

And he'll draw near to you. It's a call to get close to god. Come to god. Come to your father. Priests used to do this. Draw near to god spoke of approaching god in hebrews 4. Let us draw near with confidence.

Fourthly. Uh oh we're gonna probably offend some people here now with these kind of things. Cleanse your hands. You sinners. Cleanse your hands. You sinners. Hands signifying lifestyle. Have a lifestyle of sin.

I need my hands cleansed. Listen to psalm 24. Who has clean hands and a pure heart. He's the only kind of person who may ascend to the hill of the lord. Listen to this great preaching acts 15. And after there had been much debate peter stood up and said to them brethren you know that in the early days god made a choice among you.

And by that mouth the gentiles should hear the word of god and believe. And god who knows the heart bore witness to them giving them the holy spirit just as he did also to us. And he made no distinction between us and them cleansing their hearts by faith.

You need to have clean hands. Fifthly. You see what it says there purify your hearts. You double-minded. You need to be sanctified on the inside with your whole mission control center your mind and your soul.

Everything about you needs to be purified. You double-minded. What's double-minded mean. It means two-souled. It means thinking this way. Then thinking that way. Psalm 119 says. God hates the double-minded.

Well so far no one's left. So i think there probably some leave after this one. Do you want comfort. It's conditional. Jesus had died on the cross. God has confirmed that great great death by raising him from the dead.

And now god gives commands to people who want to follow him. Sometimes the commands are. You've got to give it all up and follow me. Other times the commands are like this. Here it comes. Verse 9a. Be miserable.

Just sounds funny. Even me saying that merry christmas. Feel wretched. That's what it means. Be afflicted. Be warmed and filled a deep inner shame. God i've sinned against you. One man said. Some people don't come to salvation because they're not miserable enough in their sin.

Broken one man said. This word describes the experiences of an army whose food is gone and who have no shelter for the stormy weather spiritually. And now we come to the word that's right there in matthew chapter 5.

Verse 4 the seventh step. If you will mourn. You see it there in verse 9 of chapter 4. In james mourn there it is. God gives a greater grace. Here's what he calls people to do. He could call them to repent to turn forsake trust believe.

And james uses this kind of language. And this language here is mourn. Sorrow over sin. One man called it funeral like grief. You can't hide it. You try to make yourself not cry. But you cry anyway. Not because someone died in your family.

That's certainly understandable. But this is because of our own sin. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall receive comfort. How much different than the society says cheryl crow. Like all i want to do is have some fun.

Shouldn't be listening to radio secular. Okay. From solomon. Eat, drink and be merry. And almost contained in that same word mourn is the next one. Number eight. Weep wail sob cry. You ever cried over your sin?

Pastor dave loves this story. And i'll remind all of you. Wesley. John wesley used to preach to coal miners. They come out of their minds. You know methodist wesleyans back in those days they would just ride up to a homestead or ride up to a place where people would be.

They'd get off their horse and they'd stand there with the bible and just keep preaching until people came to listen preaching over and over and over. And if it was a homestead when they were done preaching they'd hand them the bible.

He goes to the mine in kingswood england. Out come the miners. They were so touched with grief over their own sin that their tears made little runnels as they ran down the grime of their faces realizing their need of the savior.

That's exactly what james is saying. And then two more. Let your laughter, number nine, be turned into mourning. There's nothing wrong with laughter. God I think made us as people who laugh. But when the object of laughter is our life before god transient, fleeting ethereal life like a vapor that will one day stand before the judge who knows us and who everything will be laid open and bare.

Hebrews said when we stand before god at judgment time it's like when they used to do the little lambs year old lambs for sacrifice our older lambs. And they would go ahead and take the neck. And they would stretch the neck way out.

Why would you stretch the neck out for sacrifice. And when we stand before god that's the same thing. Nothing is bare. Just everything is before god's eyes. And he says I don't want you to laugh. I want you to mourn over your sin.

Can't think you've pulled the wool over god's eyes. When he said the adjective means of a downcast look can't even look at the judge. They used to take people in the throne rooms back in the east. And they'd make people stare at the judge when the sentence was given.

You didn't even want to look up because you knew it was going to be judgment. Sometimes they would tie a knife around the neck of the prisoner so he would have to look because he couldn't bow down. And just that normal feeling when you're in front of a superior you just want to kind of bow.

And then the summary statement number 10 humble yourselves in the presence of the lord comes full circle. God gives grace to the humble and now he humbles. He calls for us to humble ourselves and he will exalt you.

There it is. There's the exaltation. Here's what god calls us to do. We can't do it on our own. So we call for him to give us mercy. And then at the end there's that comfort and he will exalt you. John Flavel said they who know god will be humble.