Sunday Morning Worship Service December 20, 2020

Well, good morning. Good to see you here on this Sunday before Christmas, and what a joyful day it is to serve the

Lord and worship together with Him, sing the songs of the season, focus our attention on the real purpose of Christmas, and we'll be doing that in the service this morning.

Before we begin the service, a few announcements to point out and a couple that aren't in your bulletin.

Wednesday night is our annual Christmas candlelight service. That'll be at seven o 'clock, and we'll be doing that in person.

It'll also be live -streamed if not able to make it, and of course, if we live -stream things, the videos are available indefinitely after the fact, so you can always catch that at a later time if you're having to work or something of that nature.

That'll be at seven o 'clock Wednesday. Still, if there's anybody who would like to participate and you haven't signed up, that sign -up sheet is on the bulletin board there in the foyer.

After the service today, we do have finance and nominee committee meetings and preparing for next

Sunday's budget approval and election of officers after the morning service, so members should note that.

There are several missionary letters that are now available in that missionary wall, and I encourage you to stop by, pick up one of those letters from each of those missionaries that have written in the last few weeks, and those are posted for you.

Those devotional books finally arrived only about a week and a half after they were supposed to, but I think we've all been very well aware of what the

Postal Service has been under, the gun they've been under these last couple weeks, but they are available, and I've put them on the foyer table just for your convenience, and very simple, if you would, like one of those books, inside the cover of the book, there's an envelope, and you just put the cost, the money for that book in that envelope, drop it in the offering box, and it'll be taken care of.

We're getting to the end of the year. I don't know if you're on a Bible -reading schedule. We started to do that at the beginning of this year, 2020, and had that schedule in the bulletin every week, and then

COVID hit, and if that was what you were relying on for your Bible -reading schedule, you got stymied in the middle of March, and I don't know what you've been doing since that time, but we will be having a new reading schedule, and gonna be on a different plan this year.

What we'd like to do is have a two -year reading plan, so you end up reading through the

Bible in two years instead of one, and that may make it a little more manageable, and then my intention is to dovetail the daily devotionals with the daily readings, so that may help you even to keep up with that reading, and may encourage you even in looking for things in your daily reading, and see how much more you find than I share, how's that?

So those reading schedules I expect to have out next Lord's Day in preparation for the new year.

Well, we've come together today to worship the Lord, and as we begin, we'll read the last couple of verses from the second

Psalm, from Psalm 2. It says, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in Him, in the Son. And we're celebrating the

Son's birth today and through this week, and we want to begin with the hymn,

Joy to the World, as Jim comes and leads us, so Jim, please. Thank you,

Pastor. 194, 194 Joy to the World, one we're all familiar with, all of these we are in the

Christmas season. Let's stand together, please, and sing verses one, three, and four of 194.

♪ Joy to the world, the Lord is come ♪ ♪

Let earth receive her King ♪ ♪

Let every prepared and heaven and nature sing ♪ ♪

And heaven and nature sing of the sins and sorrows ♪ ♪

Heroes of His love and grace ♪

Our Father, we are again grateful and thankful for the meeting of your people, of your family, this family, the sons and daughters of Christ made nigh unto thee through the blood of Christ.

We thank you, Father, for this opportunity to bring our praise and our worship unto you, the singing of the songs.

These things from our heart help us to worship you in spirit and in truth this day, for we ask these things in Jesus' name, amen.

You may be seated. Psalm reading, we want to read a portion of Psalm 8.

Psalm 8, it's on the back of your bulletin. You can follow along, focusing, of course, on our

Lord Jesus Christ, His birth, His coming into this world. This psalm is a psalm that praises

God for His creation of man, His making of man. But then this psalm is fulfilled in a messianic form in our

Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 8, following along as I read. O Lord, our

Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth, who has set Thy glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength because of Thine enemies, that Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained, what is man that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou visitest him?

Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels and has crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands,

Thou has put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea.

O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth. Lord, add

His blessing to the reading of this psalm together, Jim. Page number 222 in your hymnals, 222.

By the way, I found the other day on the floor back in that area there, a tie clip.

So if anybody's missing a tie clip, it's a very nice one, let me know after the service and I'll be glad to give it to you, if not,

I'll stick that in my own pocket, you know, add it to my collection. But 222, we'll sing all three verses together in the bleak midwinter.

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind hit me.

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone.

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, fallen snow on snow.

In the bleak midwinter, many years ago.

Heaven cannot not hold Him, nor the frost sustain.

Heaven and earth shall vanish when

He comes to reign. God Himself became a man born to pay

His price. He's the great Redeemer, our

Lord Jesus Christ. What can

I give Him, needy as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb.

If I were a noble man, I would do my part.

What can I give Him, give

Him all my heart. Once we pray together this week, we want to remember

Dwayne and Sinshi Ott, our missionaries in Malaysia, endeavoring to plant a church in the city of Kluang and pray for them in these days in this challenging environment, not only with a pandemic, but Malaysia, of course, is largely a

Muslim and a lot of Hindu influence. And so pray for them in that work.

And then we want to pray for our shut -ins, those who are not able to get to the services.

And Maxine Gomer has been struggling since a fall several months ago, and we want to pray for her.

Continue to pray for Sue Cherry and Jeannie Ludwick. These are two shut -ins that are in facilities that do not allow visitors and do not allow them to leave, except for maybe a doctor's appointment.

And so therefore, they haven't had anybody come to visit them in months.

So pray for them. And then we have a couple of others that are not able to get out, Jed Hunsberger and Dean Kinnaman, and pray for these folks.

And at this time of year, most of us enjoy the beauty of the season.

We enjoy the music and the celebration and all the rest of that. But there are also many who are hurting and some who are very lonely.

I just mentioned some of those just a moment ago and want to pray for them. There are some who, in their normal holiday traditional gatherings, there will be an empty place this year because of the loss of loved ones.

And then just because of the pressure of the COVID pandemic, a lot of people are feeling stressed and pressured about gatherings and curtailing those things.

I know that's happening even in our own, some of our extended family. So I want to pray regarding these things.

And let's pray that God will be merciful and gracious to us regarding this pandemic that would continue to decline in our area as we've seen recently.

So let's look to the Lord in prayer, shall we? Our Father and our God, we are grateful today for our

Lord Jesus Christ. We're thankful that in the bleak midwinter of that Oriental land,

He came into this world and He came to be our Savior and how desperately we needed the light of the world to shine in the darkness.

And the darkness hasn't abated. It still is deep and it is dark.

And how desperately the world in which we live is in need of the light of the gospel of the

Lord Jesus Christ. And we're thankful, Father, that in these dark days that we have the light to shine, to show forth the glories of our

Savior, His glorious birth and the purpose of it and all that He accomplished in His coming to this earth.

We pray even as we focus on that this morning, that our hearts would be not only rejoicing, but would be motivated to shine forth the light of the gospel of Christ.

Father, we come before you as a needy people and the needs are many. There are some here today whose hearts are heavy as even in this

Christmas season, when there's so much expression of celebration and joy.

And I pray that, Father, you would give comfort and grace to these hurting hearts. But we're a needy people also,

Father, because even those of us who know Christ as our Savior and are confident that our sins have been put under the blood of our

Savior, we still offend in so many ways. We trespass against you.

We have iniquity in our hearts. And Father, for these things, we need forgiveness and we need the cleansing work of Christ.

And we're thankful that the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin. So cleanse us today by your grace and wash us clean through the water of your word.

And I pray that you would give us the joy in our hearts of your salvation.

Father, we do pray for those who are not able to attend a service like this, either in person or even live streaming.

Think of our shut -ins and their limitations. We pray for Maxine and Sue and Jeannie and pray that you would be gracious to them, especially think of Sue and Jeannie and undoubtedly the measure of loneliness that they must feel.

Pray that you would be near to them and comfort their hearts. I also pray for Jed and Dean and I pray that you would meet their needs in this situation of being unable to leave their place and to come to a service like this.

Bless these men, we pray. Father, we pray for Duane and Sinchi Ott serving in Malaysia.

I pray that they would have wisdom as they navigate the challenges of the pandemic restrictions as well as the religious challenges of their area with Islam and Hinduism and even

Buddhism. I pray that as they endeavor to shine forth the light of the gospel of Christ in the darkness where they serve, that light would shine brightly and many would be drawn to the light, many would come to Christ.

Father, we pray for your people who are hurting, who are lonely this time of year, grieving because of lost loved ones through this past year, first holiday without them.

We pray for the discouragement and maybe frustration of curtailed family gatherings.

And Father, I pray that you would encourage your people and help us to keep our focus on Christ and to find great joy and reason to rejoice and celebrate, even if that is limited with the number of people and loved ones that we can do that with.

So Father, we commit these things to you today. We pray that you would meet the need of our heart even in the message of the hour.

And we ask this in Jesus name, amen. Jim will come and lead us one more hymn today.

And that is in your blue books, that is your song books. Number 29, holy child, does everybody have one?

Anybody need one? Just have someone, okay, we need a couple up here. Either Dan, maybe

Mitchell can bring a few. It's number 29. Let's all stand together.

And sing all three verses before we begin. Chuck's got a few supplement up here.

Chuck, there's a couple, I believe. Okay, let's all sing together.

Holy child, all three verses, number 29. ♪

Holy child, who choose the hearts of men ♪ ♪

To be with neighbor and home ♪ ♪ Leaving heaven's gates for Bethlehem ♪ ♪

God came to call his own ♪ ♪ Now to us the highest king is born ♪ ♪

Behold the royal son ♪ ♪ Glory teels to bind up all that's o 'er ♪ ♪

The promise one has come ♪ ♪ Joy and pain as man he knew on earth ♪ ♪

Placed to slay instead ♪ ♪ As a servant he embraced this world ♪ ♪

And on his cross he bled ♪ ♪ Having borne the deepest grief of man ♪ ♪

He rose to heaven's throne ♪ ♪ Now I'm sheltered in the father's hand ♪ ♪

Till he calls me home ♪ ♪ May the gift of God amaze us still ♪ ♪

The triumph of a time ♪ ♪ As a child

I kneel to heaven's will ♪ ♪ And make his purpose known ♪ ♪

Though then he's scarred with trial and pain ♪ ♪

He's paid with love and grace ♪ ♪ Knowing him will be my greatest gain ♪ ♪

His throne and my seat ♪ Please be seated.

Our scripture reading for our message today. I want to turn to John chapter 19. Gospel of John chapter 19.

I want to read together verses 23 through 30. John chapter 19, beginning in verse 23.

Says, then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts to every soldier a part, and also his coat.

Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said, therefore, among themselves, let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be, that the scripture might be fulfilled, which say, if they parted my raiment among them and for my vesture, they did cast lots.

These things, therefore, the soldiers did. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother and his mother's sister,

Mary, the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus, therefore, saw his mother and the disciples standing by whom he loved, he saith to his mother, woman, behold thy son.

Then said he to the disciple, behold thy mother. And from that hour, that disciple took her into his own home.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.

Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon Hyssop and put it up to his mouth.

When Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. He bowed his head and gave up the ghost.

Brief prayer. So our Father, I pray that as we consider the climax of Christmas, that we would see the real reason for joy and rejoicing at this season.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Now without a doubt, there are several climactic situations in the

Christmas story, aren't there? I mean, even think of the genealogy in Matthew chapter one.

Matthew begins talking about the lineage of Abraham, and he starts us with Abraham, and then

Abraham begat so -and -so, and on and on and on, and you're going through this, reading through this genealogical table, if you will, and it comes to a climax in verse 16, where it says,

Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called

Christ, or Messiah. That's certainly a climactic moment.

And then, of course, there's the climactic moment of the birth itself, after we read of the annunciation in Luke chapter one, the angel comes to Elizabeth and tells her she's going to miraculously have a child, but then comes to Mary, who is a virgin, and says, you're gonna have a child, and she's perplexed by that, and you read the tension of that whole story, and then she goes and visits

Elizabeth, and you have that interchange, and you have all of this going on in Luke chapter one, and then you come to chapter two, and Jesus is born in Bethlehem of Judea, certainly a climactic moment.

And there was the climactic moment of the visit of the shepherds, right? They'd been out on the hillside taking care of the sheep, and all of a sudden, boom, these angels show up, tell them this wonderful news of a child that's born, a savior's born, and you find him in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes, and the angels shout out glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will, and they disappear.

Shepherd said, we gotta go find this baby, and off they went to find the baby, and sure enough, they did, and they come before the child, and they tell what's happened to them, and they praise

God for all that they had seen and heard, and off they go, and it's a climactic moment that leaves

Mary to ponder all that's happened, all that she has seen, and all that she has heard.

Short time later is the climactic occasion of the visit of the magi, what a journey they've been on for a long time, they left their home in the east, and journeyed all the way to Jerusalem, and looking for the king of the

Jews, still hadn't found him, sent on to Bethlehem, off they go to Bethlehem, and the star, this star, this miraculous star comes and points them to the very house where the child is, and they go into the house where the child is, and they present their gifts of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh, and they worship him.

What a climactic moment is that, and then they, of course, leave, and then there is the climactic moment of taking

Jesus, and as Mary goes to be purified in the offering of purification in the temple 40 days after his birth, and as they arrive, they happen to be there at the same time that Simeon is there, and Simeon takes up this little baby, and utters this prophetic utterance related to the baby, and then that's followed by Anna, as she also testifies of Messiah's birth, and can you imagine the, not so much the perplexity, but the amazement of Mary and of Joseph in that climactic moment?

Well, all of those are truly climactic scenes in the Christmas story, but the climax of Christmas comes much later, and it comes on a darker day.

It's the day when Jesus himself cried out, it is finished, it's that day, that day that's enshrouded in the darkness of a sunless afternoon, and it's at that moment when

Jesus utters that, it is that moment that is the climax of Christmas.

So it didn't occur in a Bethlehem stable, or in a relative's house, or the temple in Jerusalem.

Climax of Christmas came on Golgotha's Hill, on an old rugged cross.

The climax of Christmas wasn't centered on a baby nestled in his mother's arms.

Instead, it focused on the man, Christ Jesus, hanging on a cross as his mother helplessly looked on.

It is finished, he cried, it is finished. And then came the climax of Christmas as Jesus breathed his last and gave up the spirit.

There, there, on that old rugged cross, Jesus Messiah could triumphantly declare, it is finished.

And he could declare that for three simple reasons. One of them is that Jesus clearly understood the purposes of Christmas.

Secondly, he diligently pursued those purposes of Christmas. And thirdly, he fully accomplished those purposes.

So what was it that he understood as the purposes of Christmas?

The purposes of his being here? Well, I think we can see, even here in John's gospel, back in chapter 18, verse 37,

Jesus is standing before Pilate, and he communicates to Pilate why he's here.

And that is to bear witness to the truth. Pilate said to him, are you a king then?

Jesus answered, you say that I'm a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came

I into the world. You see, there it is. Jesus is talking about the purpose of Christmas. The purpose for this day that we celebrate in a few days, and the purpose for this whole season that demands so much of our attention.

What is the purpose of this? Jesus said, this is the purpose for which I came, for which I was brought in,

I came into this world. I came to bear witness unto the truth.

I came to bear witness unto the truth. So Jesus did not lose sight of that purpose of his coming into this world, even though he's standing before Pontius Pilate as a judge who, from an earthly standpoint, holds

Jesus's life in his hands. He doesn't allow that to deter him from his purpose for coming.

I will speak the truth. He clearly understood that he came to bear witness to the truth.

Flip back to John chapter 12, and there's a second purpose Jesus understood for his coming.

In John chapter 12, verses 27 and 28, he sees and understands that he came to glorify the

Father. Jesus says, now therefore, now is my soul troubled.

He knows what's coming. He knows the cross is near. He says, now is my soul troubled, and what shall

I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this cause came

I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. So what is foremost in Jesus's mind at this point is this purpose for his coming into the world, and that is to glorify the

Father. Notice he would not ask for deliverance. He says, this hour is coming upon me, and my soul is troubled about this hour.

He's speaking of the cross. He says, I know this is coming, and my soul is troubled about what is coming.

He's going to be made sin for us. He's going to be forsaken by the

Father because of that sin that he takes upon himself.

He knows what's coming, and his soul is greatly troubled about it, but he will not ask for deliverance.

He said, shall I be delivered from this? He said, no, no,

I came to glorify the Father, and the Father is to be glorified in this hour.

He understands that his purpose for coming into this world is not only to bear witness to the truth, but to glorify the

Father. He thirdly understands that he came into this world to save sinners.

Says this in verse 47. He says, if any man hear my words and believe not,

I judge him not, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. Indeed, that's exactly what

Paul was getting at in the theme verse that we've been using through this series of A Cross -Centered

Christmas. And that was Christ Jesus, Paul stated in 1

Timothy 1 .15, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

He came to save sinners, and Jesus understood this purpose. You think about his conversation with Zacchaeus.

You remember that? The wee little man who wanted to see Jesus, and Jesus got him down out of that sycamore trees, and I'm gonna go to your house for dinner.

What did we used to sing? How did we, going to your house for tea? Going to your house for tea? That had to have come from Britain, you know?

But he goes to his house, and then what does

Jesus say when Zacchaeus is under conviction and expresses repentance?

Jesus says to him, today salvation has come to this house, for the

Son of Man, speaking of himself, came to seek and to save the lost.

He understood his purpose was to save the lost. And you remember the conversation that Jesus had regarding the little ones?

This occurred back in Matthew 18, verses 10 and 11.

And he says, take heed that you despise not one of these little ones. We have some little ones here in the auditorium, some other little ones who are in a children's church setting.

And we don't despise one of them, even if they occasionally let out a whelp.

You know, they're just saying amen in their infantile way. That's what they're doing, they're praising, they're singing praise in their way to the

Lord. We don't despise them, why not? Jesus explains, don't despise one of these little ones, for I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my

Father, which is in heaven, for the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. We don't despise the little ones because Christ came to save that which is lost.

And even the little ones are in need of that redeeming grace. So Jesus clearly understood the purposes of Christmas, to bear witness to the truth, to glorify the

Father, and to save lost sinners. But there's more, it's one thing to know one's purposes.

It's another thing to pursue those purposes, right? I mean, you may know what your purpose is in certain aspects of your life, as a husband, a father, a mother, a wife, even as a student in school.

I mean, you may know what some of those purposes are for your life, it's one thing to know them up here, but it's another thing to diligently, earnestly pursue the fulfilling of those purposes.

Well, Jesus earnestly pursued the purposes of Christmas, as he bore witness to the truth.

In Luke's gospel, chapter two ends with that fascinating account of when

Jesus was 12 years old, when he and Joseph and Mary had gone to Jerusalem for one of the festivals, and they leave to head home.

And at night, in the evening, when they go to set up camp, they realize

Jesus isn't here, where is he? And they pack things back up, and they head back to Jerusalem to go looking for Jesus.

And they look around, and they finally find him in the temple, and he is reasoning with the doctors of the law.

He's asking them questions, he's giving them answers, even. And Luke tells us in chapter two, in verse 49, he said, how is it that you sought me?

Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? They didn't know what in the world he was talking about.

But everyone who was hearing him says all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and his answers.

How so? He's bearing witness to the truth in ways that they had not even realized.

They had not even considered what that truth was all about. And Jesus bore witness to the truth also in his preaching ministry.

Mark's gospel begins in chapter one. Unlike Matthew or Luke, he doesn't begin,

Mark doesn't begin with the birth of Jesus and say anything about his childhood. Mark's gospel begins like jumping right into his ministry, the baptism of Christ by John and then the preaching, the sending out into the wilderness by the spirit for 40 days.

And he gets into his ministry right away. But in Mark one, verses 35 to 38,

Jesus got up very early in the morning after a day before of great ministry and casting out devils and healing people and so forth.

And he went out into a solitary place and prayed. And Simon, Peter, and they that were with him followed after him.

And when they found him, they said unto him, everyone's looking for you. What are you doing?

Everyone's looking for you. Come on, there's a lot to do. A lot of secondary things to do in their, it wasn't secondary in their mind, but things like healing people and other people coming with, saying they're demon possessed or whatever.

There's a lot of stuff to do. What are you doing? And Jesus said unto them, let's go to the next town that I may preach there also.

Preach the truth there also. Why? He explains, for therefore came

I forth. He's not only aware of his purpose for being here, he's earnestly pursuing that witness to the truth.

And Jesus does this even in interpersonal dealings with people.

And so in John chapter three with Nicodemus, as Nicodemus comes and wants to know, what do

I need to do to have eternal life? What does it take? You need to be born from above,

Jesus testifies to the truth. And in John chapter four, in the interaction with the woman at the well, the

Samaritan woman, you remember that account? He deals with her and she goes back into the village.

The disciples had gone into the village to get food, you recall? And so Jesus was left there at the well by himself, the

Samaritan woman comes out and so they have their interaction. And Jesus testifies to her of the truth and so forth.

She goes back into the village to tell everybody, this has to be the Messiah, he has to have come.

In the meantime, the disciples come out to where Jesus is and they have food for him to eat.

And so we pick up the story in verse 30, and it says, in the meanwhile, his disciples prayed to him and said, master, eat.

And he said unto them, I have food to eat that you don't know about. Therefore said the disciples one to another, has somebody brought him food, something to eat?

Jesus said unto them, my food is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.

Well, what was that food? What was that will of him that sent him, that he came to do and that was consuming him in that moment?

What was it? Well, you go back to verses 23 and following. When Jesus says to this woman, speaking to her, he says, the hour is coming and now is when true worshipers shall worship the

Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth, he tells the woman.

The woman said unto him, I know that Messiah is coming who is called Christ. When he comes, he will tell us all things.

Jesus said unto her, as he testifies to the truth, I that speak unto thee am he.

He's diligently bearing witness to the truth and he's earnestly pursuing that purpose of Christmas as he seeks to glorify the

Father, even through his death. So look with me at Luke chapter 18, for example.

In Luke 18, verses 31 through 33, says he took unto him the 12 and he said unto them,

Behold, we go up to Jerusalem and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the

Son of Man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles and shall be mocked and spitefully entreated and spit it on and they shall scourge him and put him to death.

So he tells the disciples exactly what's coming and he's on his way to that destination.

He knows what's happening to him, what is coming for him when he gets to Jerusalem.

He knows it completely. He says, we're going to Jerusalem and everything that's been prophesied about me is going to come to pass.

I'm going to be delivered to the Gentiles. I'm going to be put to death. He knows fully what's happening and he also knows why it's happening.

He tells us at the end of verse 31. It's happening because the prophets of old have spoken these things concerning the

Son of Man and they must be accomplished. So he knows what's coming. He knows why it's coming and yet he is determined that it shall be so.

He said, we are going to Jerusalem. What in the world?

Why would he do that? Because his purpose in coming into this world was to glorify the

Father and he's to glorify the Father through his death. Remember that purpose? I came to glorify him, he said.

So he bore witness to the truth. He sought to glorify the Father even through his death and thirdly, he earnestly pursued the purpose of Christmas when he went on this mission to provide salvation.

So back in chapter nine, you're in Luke's gospel. We'll look back at chapter nine. In chapter nine, verses 51 through 56, says it came to pass when the time was come that he should be received up.

Notice this last part of the verse in verse 51. He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem and he sent messengers before his face and they went and they entered into a village of the

Samaritans to make ready for him and they, the Samaritans, they did not receive him.

Why? Because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. He was determined to go to Jerusalem.

There was this mission that he has set out to accomplish and it is a mission to provide salvation and he is determined to provide this salvation.

He is determined to fulfill this mission. He is not even going to be sidetracked by the rejection of the

Samaritans. A couple of his disciples, James and John in verse 54, they says, it says when they saw this, they said,

Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them even as Elijah did?

What did Jesus say? I'm not going to be sidetracked from my mission of providing salvation.

So essentially what he says in verse 55, he turned and rebuked them and said, you don't know what manner of spirit you are of for the son of man has not come to destroy men's lives but to save them.

I'm on a mission of mercy. I'm on a mission of salvation, to provide salvation. I am not going to allow that purpose to be changed.

So Jesus could cry out, it is finished because he clearly understood the purposes of Christmas and he earnestly pursued those purposes.

But thirdly, he would cry out, it is finished because Jesus fully accomplished the purposes of Christmas.

Look with me at John 17. John 17, verse four.

Jesus is, he's in that high priestly prayer.

He's expressing that prayer to the father and he says in verse four, I have glorified thee on the earth.

I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. So he fully accomplished the purposes of Christmas as he completed the service that he came to render.

He completed the service. I have, he says, I have finished the work which you've given me to do.

The service that you've called upon me to render. Now, get the timing of this prayer in John 17.

This is in the upper room. This is the night of the

Passover meal. This is the night when Jesus established the Lord's supper.

This is the night where he washed the disciples' feet. This is after the final instructions that he had given.

This is just before they leave. We read in verse 18 when Jesus, or chapter 18, verse one, when

Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook

Kidron and he's going out to Gethsemane, to the garden. You know what happens in the garden of Gethsemane is he wrestles in prayer and he concludes, not my will, but thine.

So it's just before Gethsemane and at the climax, if you will, of that time in Gethsemane, Judas comes with the soldiers to betray him, to arrest him and take him off for his trial.

So it is at this point, at this critical point, that Jesus says,

I have finished the work that you've given me to do. I have finished, completed the service that you've called upon me to render.

What is that service? What did he do? What work did he accomplish?

He says in verse six, I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world.

He manifested the Father to his disciples. You remember on that one occasion when one of the disciples said, show us the

Father. Show us the Father. Jesus says, have I been with you so long and you haven't seen?

You've seen me, you've seen the Father. I have manifested the Father, Jesus says.

This is the work, this is the service that the Father has sent him to render on this earth.

More than that though, in verse eight, he says, I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.

And he repeats that in verse 14. He says, I have given them thy word. I have come to give your word to these closest disciples, these who would become the apostles.

I was reading this morning in Revelation chapter 21, that great scene of the new

Jerusalem as it comes down from heaven. And that city, that vision of this incredible city, by the way,

I noticed it was that city, 1 ,380 miles long, 1 ,380 miles wide, 1 ,380 miles high, and I got out my calculator.

What's 1380 times 1380 times 1380? And some of you are reaching for your phones.

You're going to find that out. I don't remember, but it was in the millions of cubic miles, miles, this fantastic city.

And it's enclosed by this wall that has 12 gates.

And the 12 gates are the 12 tribes of Israel. But the foundation, listen, the foundation of that city is the, has the names of the 12 apostles.

Why? Because of the truth, the word that Jesus gave to them.

They then served to lay the foundation for the bride of Christ, foundation for your very existence in the church.

I gave them the word, he says. And he says in verse 12, he says,

I kept, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that you gave to me,

I have kept, and none of them is lost except the son of perdition. And that, of course, he's speaking of Judas.

In other words, the work that Jesus was given to do, the service that he was called upon to render to the father was the service of saving and keeping the chosen ones, these whom he has with him.

I've kept them as you've given them to me. And in verse 18, he says, as you have sent me into the world, even so also have

I sent them into the world. I've given them a commission to do your work, father.

And in verse 22, he says, the glory which you gave me,

I have given them. And here Jesus is referring to the power and the authority to do that work that they have been sent out to do.

I have not only authorized them and I have not only commissioned them, but I've authorized them to do the work and I am empowering them for that work that they have been called to do.

So Jesus has done all of this. And so he can say to his father, I have finished the work that you've given me to do.

He's completed the service that he came to render. But shortly after this, not even 24 hours later from this prayer, as he is on Golgotha's hill, hanging on that cross, about to breathe his last breath, he says, it is finished.

It is finished. He not only completed the service that he came to render, he completed the sacrifice that he came to offer, the sacrifice that he came to offer.

And interestingly, the words translated in our text, it is finished, they translate one

Greek verb and it's in the perfect tense. So it could be translated cumbersome, cumbersome,

I know, but it could be translated this way. It has been and will remain finished.

It is finished. What is finished? Why? The whole plan to provide salvation is accomplished.

Remember Jesus came to provide salvation. He came to seek and save that which was lost. He came to save sinners.

Well, the whole plan to provide salvation has now been accomplished.

And think about that plan. Think about what all is involved in that plan. There was a council, if you will, in eternity past between the

Father and the Son. I mean, God is omnipotent and God is omniscient.

And the all sovereign God knew from eternity past what his plan was for all eternity future.

He knew he was going to create this world and he knew what would happen when he did.

He knew what would come with Adam and Eve. When Eve took that fruit, it didn't blindside

God. He said, oh, now I got to come up with plan B. No, Christ was crucified in eternity past by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.

And this plan that was set in motion in the divine wisdom in eternity past has now come to the place of fruition.

And think of all of the orchestration that went into it in time.

I mean, that's what happened in eternity past. But what about what happened in time? The orchestration of the genealogical line.

You could go back to Matthew one and read that, right? From Abraham on. And you see all that took place in the lives of those individuals, those different people named in that genealogical table.

You have those women whose names show up as well, right? Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba.

These people don't belong in such a place. How could they be there? They're kind of outsiders.

They're like, these, and Bathsheba. How are they in there?

Because of the orchestration, the divine orchestration of this genealogical line that would culminate in the birth of Jesus and His life would climax,

His purpose in coming at that Christmas day would climax. Here on the cross, it is finished.

Orchestration of that genealogical line. Think of the orchestration of key events and people throughout history.

Think of the orchestration even of the virgin birth, a totally miraculous, unheard of, unprecedented birth through a virgin.

Think even, even of the orchestration of the fulfillment of Simeon's prophecy, right?

As he's holding that baby in his arms and he says to Mary, this child who is set for the rising and fall of many in Israel, He's going to pierce your soul also.

And here in our text, in John chapter 19, we read about Mary standing at the cross and she's looking on at her son who is hanging on that cross.

And his life is ebbing from him. And if that didn't pierce her heart enough, she sees him and then he turns to John.

He sees her and then he turns to John. He says to John, behold your mother, take care of her.

Take care of my mother. And the sword pierces through her, fulfilling even that prophecy of Simeon.

Oh yes, the whole plan to provide salvation is accomplished. What else is accomplished?

All of the Old Testament scriptures regarding the saving work of Jesus are fulfilled.

They are accomplished here as well. Remember after his resurrection in Luke 24,

Jesus met up with these two men that were on their way to Emmaus and they were perplexed.

They were befuddled by what had taken place. Jesus has been crucified.

They thought he was going to be the Messiah. He's been crucified. But now there's reports that he's risen from the dead.

And Jesus encounters these two men and we read in verses 25 through 27 that he says to them, oh fools and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken.

Should not Christ have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

He did the same thing when he got his disciples together again later that day. He says in verse 44, he said unto them, these are the words which

I spoke unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the

Psalms concerning me. Then he opened their understanding that they might understand the scriptures. It is finished,

Jesus cried. What is finished? All of the

Old Testament scriptures regarding his saving work are fulfilled as he gives up the ghost.

What is accomplished? What is finished? The atoning sacrifice for sin.

It is finished. That word in its same tense shows up in first century documents, tax documents, where the tax has been paid.

Just like, it's like when you get your property taxes and you go to the bank or wherever you go to get them paid, you know,

I pay mine at the bank. You know, I send in the thing, I send in the check and the little form, you know, and they send the form back.

And on the place where it says how much the tax is that's due, there's a stamp that says, it is finished.

It is paid in full. This is what Jesus says. It is paid in full.

It is finished. In his death on the cross, Jesus accomplished what he came into this world to do.

What did he come into this world to do? To be a savior. That means he came into this world to bear the sins of fallen men.

He came into this world to endure the judgment that is ours to endure. He endured it in our place.

He came into this world to procure salvation for all who would receive him.

He came into this world to establish the new covenant with his people. He came into this world to make available to you and to me the forgiveness of our sins.

Writer of Hebrews writes of this purpose in chapter nine.

He says, neither by the blood of goats in verse 12, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

It is finished. And in verses 26 through 28 of Hebrews nine, the writer says, but as it is, he,

Jesus has appeared once for all at the end of the ages. Why? Why?

Why Christmas? He appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

He goes on to say, and just as is appointed unto man once to die and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who eagerly wait for him.

What is accomplished? The atoning sacrifice for your sin is accomplished there on the cross.

It is finished, fulfills the purpose of Christmas.

So the climax of Christmas, it didn't occur when the baby Jesus took his first breath.

It didn't occur when his mother smiled in wonder at this little baby or at all that was said about him.

It didn't occur when the shepherds broke out in praise or when the wise men bowed in worship.

The climax of Christmas came when Jesus bowed his head on the cross and gave up the spirit, not when he took his first breath, but when he breathed out his last.

And he did so that you might be saved.

Our Father and our God, we thank you and praise you today that Jesus completed all that was given him to do.

All the service that he was sent to render was rendered. All the sacrifice that he came to offer was offered.

That we here, 2 ,000 years later, might be able to gather together in a room like this at this season of the year, rejoice in Christmas, in all that it involves and all that it means, which climaxes in its purpose and meaning at the cross.

As we celebrate the birth of our Savior, let us not lose sight of the reason for his birth.

This we pray in Jesus' name, amen. I wanna close this morning with number 202 in our hymnals, the

Christmas hymn. Good Christian men, rejoice. Could sing it, good

Christian souls, rejoice. So we can include everybody in the room, not just the men.

But do you know Christ is your Savior? Have you received him? He came for the purpose to seek and to save that which was lost.

Are you still lost? Call upon him today. Call upon him who came to seek and to save that which is lost.

Let's stand together as we sing. I wanna sing stanzas one and three. Number 202, good

Christian men, rejoice. ♪ Good Christian men, rejoice ♪ ♪

With heart and soul and voice ♪ ♪ Give ye heed to what we say ♪ ♪

News, news, Jesus Christ is born today ♪ ♪ Ox and ass before him bow ♪ ♪

And he is in the manger now ♪ ♪ Christ is born today,

Christ is born today ♪ ♪ Good Christian men, rejoice ♪ ♪

With heart and soul and voice ♪ ♪ Now ye need not fear the grave, peace, peace ♪ ♪

Jesus Christ was born to save ♪ ♪ Calls you one and calls you all to gain his everlasting all ♪ ♪

Christ was born to save, Christ was born to save ♪

I trust you have full reason to rejoice this Christmas season because you have received the one who came to save and you can testify today that he has saved my soul.

Let's close in prayer. And now to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen and amen. Lord bless you, you are dismissed. And have a