Lars Larson Live Stream

First Baptist Church Leominster iconFirst Baptist Church Leominster

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Born into this world, took upon himself our human nature, a truly eternal son of God, becoming fully man as well as fully
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God. And we thank you, Father, for this, because through him we have salvation. And so, our
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God, we want to be as the heavenly host, praising the birth of your Son. Glory to you, our
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God, in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. And we pray, our
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God, that you would bless our gathering this evening. We do gather now in Jesus' name. Help us, our
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Lord, to sing with joy and with understanding also, with regard to the importance and the relevance of the birth of the
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Son of God. For it's in Jesus' name that we do pray. Amen. Well, every year at this time we have the lighting of the fifth
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Advent candle, and the Turners are going to come and do that for us right now. Thank you. The fifth and final candle lit on this night symbolizes and celebrates
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Jesus' birth as the Advent of life. Now, this evening we'll be using both the red and the blue hymnal that should be in front of you, and the first Christmas carol we'll sing is
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Joy to the World, in your red hymnal, and it's hymn 195. Let's turn there, and let's stand to sing this carol, please.
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And heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing,
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Joy to the Savior reigns, let men their songs employ,
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While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains,
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Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy,
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Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
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No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground,
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He comes to men's flow,
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Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as the curse is found.
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And let's be seated, please, and the choir piece this evening is
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Emmanuel. The back of your blue hymnal, we have some responsive readings, and so if you will take one in hand, please, and turn to number 634, and this is entitled
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The Messianic King, and you have alternating verses, of course, in regular font and bold font.
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I will read the regular font, and if you will responsibly read the bold font, and this is basically a setting forth of the prophecy of Isaiah, Isaiah 9, verses 1 -7, given about 700 plus years before the birth of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. The Messianic King, number 634 in your blue hymnal.
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There will be no more gloom for those who are in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor
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Galilee of the Gentiles by way of the sea along the Jordan. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy.
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They rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.
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Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
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Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
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This time we're going to have a portion of scripture read from one of the infancy narratives in the
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Gospels. Our past associate pastor Jason Austin will read for us Matthew 1, 18 -25.
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Matthew 1, verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.
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When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the
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Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
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But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,
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Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the
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Holy Spirit. She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
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All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name
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Emmanuel, which means God with us. When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the
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Lord commanded him. He took his wife but knew her not until she had given birth to a son and he called his name
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Jesus. All right let's turn again in our red hymnal to hymn number 225.
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Jesus of course was born in Bethlehem, although his parents were from Nazareth and God in his providence of course even moved the
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Roman Emperor Caesar to tax the whole known world in order to, in God's purposes, to get this family to Bethlehem where Mary gave birth to her son
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Jesus. And this was Bethlehem, the city of David, and the son of David, Jesus, who would rule.
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It was necessary to be born in this city of David, once in royal David's city.
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Hymn 225, let's stand and sing please. And pastor
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Jason will now come and read for us out of Luke's gospel, the birth of Jesus. Luke chapter 2 verses 1 through 20.
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Luke 2, in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world would be registered.
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This was in the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria and all went to be registered, each to his own town.
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And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called
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Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary his betrothed, who was with child.
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And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
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And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the
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Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone round them, and they were filled with great fear.
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And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
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For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the
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Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.
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And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
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Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,
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Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.
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And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
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And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
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And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them.
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In the choir at this time we'll sing Anthem How Quietly. Well let's again take our red hymnal please and we'll sing this
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Christmas carol, What Child is This, number 213. And let's stand again please.
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What child is this who laid to rest on Mary's lap is sleeping,
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Whom angels greet with anthems sweet while shepherds watch are keeping.
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This the king whom shepherds guard and angels sing,
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Haste, haste to bring him loud the babe, the son of Mary.
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I see him such be a state where ox and ass are feeding.
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Good Christian, fear for sinners, Hear the silent word is pleading.
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Be seated please and let's turn to another responsive reading. And this is number 636.
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It's in the back of your blue hymnal please, 636.
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And this is an account of the magi's visit, the wise men coming from the east bearing him gifts, number 636 in the blue hymnal.
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Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, and when
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Herod the king heard this he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. They told him in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet.
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Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared.
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When they had heard the king they went their way and lo the star which they had seen in the east went before them till it came to rest over the place where the child was.
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And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They fell down and worshipped him and then opening their treasures they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
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And at this time we have a duet, Emmeline Earhart, Mary Robinson, Jesus, joy of the highest heaven and choir, the
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Christmas miracle. Hymn number 214 in your red hymnal, angels we have heard on high.
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Let's stand please for this last carol that we'll be singing apart from silent night.
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In scripture this evening and in song we have been considering the great anticipation and then the realization of the birth of the son of God Jesus Christ.
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And we read in Isaiah 9 verse 6 and following, for to us a child is born to us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor mighty
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God everlasting father and prince of peace. And of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end and on the throne of David over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore the zeal of the
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Lord of hosts will do this. Again Isaiah the prophet in the 8th century
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BC, over 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem this was declared.
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And of course the birth of Jesus is the greatest most significant birth in the history of mankind.
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We would assert we would affirm it was foretold by God inspired prophets proclaimed by hosts of angels visited by wise men from the east as we read.
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His birth was viewed as a threat to existing powers and both political and spiritual and so King Herod the
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Jewish king would destroy him if he could for he knew that the birth of his child would threaten his reign.
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He was born the king of Israel the king of the Jews and the devil knew that his demise was before him as well for this child was destined to overthrow him and rescue people from his own kingdom and bring them into the kingdom of God's dear son.
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But given the advanced notification of his birth and the stature that would be his as lord of the promised kingdom of David and then considering the wondrous events that surrounded the birth of the child when the child himself is considered and the life that he led it appeared that it didn't match what was foretold of him.
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It was a life of obscurity until the day when the father called him forth to reveal his glory to the world through the miracles he proclaimed the words that he taught and then of course to his death and ultimate resurrection.
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But his actual entrance into the world was quite low -key when you consider what was announced ahead of time and what was anticipated and what was expressed and celebrated when he did when he was born in Bethlehem.
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He was not born into reigning royalty certainly he was born into a royal family for Joseph and Mary were distant relatives of King David but he was not born in a palace but rather of course born in a stable.
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He was not laid in a bespangled cradle of comfort but in a manger among stock animals and then he lived in obscurity spending his infancy in exile in Egypt for several years and then he grew up of course in backwater
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Nazareth in Galilee a little town not well thought of once expressed the rhetorical question can any good thing come out of Nazareth?
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Well Jesus did. He was not credentialed in his education but he was probably homeschooled received training like any other
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Jewish boy of the day maybe in the local synagogue under the Pharisees under the rabbis but the life he lived was what the
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Father had purposed for him. Jesus was born in simple surroundings and he lived in humility throughout his life but he lived what
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God the Father regarded as the perfect life the life that God desired for every person born into this world the kind of life that you and I would live if we lived in complete accordance with the will of God and the law of God.
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The Lord Jesus lived a life of humble submission to authorities to his parents Luke 2 52 indicates that he grew in stature with both man and God as he grew in maturity into manhood.
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He was respectful of authority obedient to authority he was always in service of others he never once took one act in service of himself his entire life but rather he lived a life of service to others but most of all of course service to his heavenly
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Father and even at the age of 12 when his parents couldn't find him they found him after three days in the temple interacting with the with the religious leaders of the day and when they queried him regarding it he said didn't you know
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I'd be about my father's business. The Lord Jesus was always serving others but most of all he sought to glorify his
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Father in heaven. He lived the kind of life that God had intended for every member of the human race he lived a life filled with love for his
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Father in heaven and with love for the people that surrounded him and later of course he would declare to his own disciples that this is if they were to live a life of early maturity perfection before him he gave the greatest commandment when he was asked and he declared you shall love the
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Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind this is the great first commandment and a second is like it you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
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Well Jesus Christ lived a life of perfect conformity to these two greatest commandments having never transgressed the least as well as the greatest of God's commandments he lived a life of full complete undiminished fidelity and obedience to his
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Father. He was actively obedient to all of God's law and he was passively obedient in every possible situation that ever arose in his life obeying regardless of the consequences for having done so and there were consequences throughout his life but in all circumstances
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Jesus was obedient even though it often brought adverse reactions and maltreatment toward him and of course obedience to his heavenly
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Father eventually and ultimately led him to die upon the cross. His obedience to the
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Father resulted in death upon the cross and that of course is what the Lord had
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God had originally intended to send him to do and is that is to die on behalf of his people and so that death on the cross of course on the one hand was the greatest in act of injustice ever perpetrated in history upon a human being and yet even at the same time it was a it was an event it was an action on the part of the
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Son of God ordained of old even before creation God the Father had determined that he would sacrifice his son as a lamb as a sacrifice for sins and so in short
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Jesus Christ lived a life of righteousness and he is the only human being ever to have done so.
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Oh yeah people down through history attempted to do so. God was very gracious and at different times he would put people in rather a good environment where he would protect them preserve them and provide for them yet all down through history mankind failed and fell terribly and there was not one not any one that truly lived before God as God required.
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All mankind are fallen and you and I are fallen as well because when we're born into this world we're not like Jesus but rather we're quite quite self -serving even from infancy.
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Self is at the top of the list and we go through life ordering in our our daily activities and we even order our relationships all too sadly with ourselves primarily at the top of the list.
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The world is here to serve me is generally our attitude and we get upset and disappointed when it doesn't work out that way because we think that we ought to be lord of our lives but that's what that's what
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Sid is according to the scriptures that's what Adam and Eve committed when they were in the garden when
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God gave them a very simple command you shall not eat of that tree of the knowledge of good and evil that tree was an emblem a symbol of God's authority and even though Adam and Eve were so greatly privileged lived in a perfect environment paradise
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God was so gracious and gave them of every tree of the garden to eat to enjoy to be fully satisfied they had to have something more and the devil of course tempted them telling them that they wouldn't suffer the punishment of God if they ate of that tree they would not die if they ate that tree but rather they would become wise and they would then become as gods themselves determining for themselves what is good and right and true and so they ate of that tree and they fell into sin and Adam and Eve of course buried children all their children down through history have been born with that same nature that fallen nature where we live for ourselves
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God is not the center of our universe we are we are as individuals and that's the nature of sin but one day the
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Bible tells us that we're going to stand in judgment and we're going to give an account of ourselves he appointed
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Jesus Christ his son to be the judge because he is the son of man and each of us will stand before King Jesus one day and give an account of our lives and the
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Bible tells us Jesus Christ himself told us that we're going to have to give an account of every word we've ever spoken
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Jesus said by your words you'll be justified by your words you'll be damned you'll be condemned we'll have to give an account of everything that we've ever done everything that we've ever thought of doing wanted to do dared to do but didn't we're going to be judged for every attitude that we've ever exhibited we're going to be judged for every aspect of our life and even the secret things the scriptures say the thoughts of our minds are going to be revealed on that day and the standard by which we're going to be judged is his law that he has that reflects his holy character that he's imposed upon all his creatures all humanity what hope would there be again since Adam and Eve not one of us there's no person without sin there is no person who's righteous and so how could we possibly escape this damnation this judgment this punishment
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God took it upon himself he would do it and so he sent his son into the world to assume a human nature that is a human body and a human soul coming on to in addition to his divine nature which he'd never in any way set aside that is he's always divine but he took upon himself a human nature came into the world and he lived the kind of life that's required of you and me that we cannot do and he lived a life of perfect righteousness and then he died upon the cross of course and the bible tells us he died as a savior to save believers from their sins and so those who believe on Jesus as a substitute all the animal sacrifices the old testament pointed to him those who believe on the son of God as the sacrifice who died for their sins upon the cross they who believe on him who died and then rose and was enthroned those who believe on Jesus Christ as Lord are promised the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life but what do they do when they stand on the day of judgment after all yes their sins are paid for but what about this life of righteousness that uh that none of us had ever accrued ever acquired throughout life well those who believe on Jesus are given a gift of righteousness even the gift of the righteousness of Jesus Christ himself the sum of his life the sum of his obedience throughout all of life even onto death is capsulated as it were and given as a gift to every true believer in Jesus Christ and so when the believer stands on the day of judgment before King Jesus and is judged for his life he recognizes that righteousness he himself accrued he himself gained he himself acquired he himself earned he recognized that gift of righteousness as the believers and so the scriptures describe the believer in Christ as having a robe of salvation a robe of righteousness that covers his his nakedness covers his shame covers his sin his sins are atoned for by the death of Jesus and his righteousness is attained through the life of Jesus and so it's through Jesus Christ alone that salvation is promised and assured to all those who believe on him and this is the good news of Jesus Christ the good news of the gospel that death on the cross of course atoned for the sins of his people he died but because he was without sin himself death as a punishment of sin could not hold him and so on the third day
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God the Father raised him and didn't just bring him back to life but brought him back to life he ascended into heaven and the
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Father seated his son on his very throne in heaven not just eternal son of God as he was before but eternal son of God and Jesus the the man the man
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Christ Jesus Jesus the God -man now is sitting on that throne in heaven and the bible teaches us that King Jesus is the
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Lord of history he is the Lord of lords and king of kings and he's ruling history even now and one day he's coming back what's he doing throughout this world why is this world look so chaotic it looks like anybody and anything is in control except God Jesus Christ is ordering the existence of this world and he's punishing sinners and he's saving people who believe on him he's bringing judgment upon those who live in defiance of him and he's bringing salvation to those who believe on him and now today is the day of salvation those who believe on him are promised the forgiveness of sins and the gift of everlasting life what a glorious glorious matter this is why would anybody refuse it why would anybody reject it once they are informed is what the word of God teaches us it ought to be something that is glorious and received with great joy and wonder that God would do this for me a sinner
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I believe it and Lord I embrace you in faith and I purpose as you enabled me to live as you as you direct me from your word the bible
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I confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and I purpose as you enabled me to live for him the rest of my days and that's what it is to be a
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Christian and I trust and hope that we're Christians this evening if not
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I trust and hope that you'll commit to be one Jesus Christ is Lord he was born every proof every evidence is given forth in the word of God the tomb was empty those disciples who were so discouraged and distraught at his death turned the world upside down in just no time at all because they were convinced their savior didn't remain dead but he rose again and he is
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Lord and we praise him and thank him and we celebrate tonight and tomorrow his birth into the world what a glorious message is it not and it's certainly the message our world needs to hear today amen amen thank you father for your word thank you for the birth of your son our lord