Preparation Verse:<\/p>\n
\u201cFor this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what
\nyou shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you
\nshall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing?\u201d
\n(Matthew 6:25)<\/p>\n
Last week we asked the question, “Where was Jesus born?” We also sought the
\nanswer to another question, “Where is He now?”<\/p>\n
So, this week I’ll ask that second question again. Where is Jesus now? Is
\nJesus alive in your heart?<\/p>\n
Or, did you leave that special Christmas present of God’s love behind,
\nagain, at Christmas? I pray not!<\/p>\n
Therefore, with the hope for the best, I’ll wish you all a merry Christmas.
\nOr even better yet, why not each of us say: \u201cHappy Birthday, Jesus, for
\nbeing born anew every day in my heart.\u201d And when you feel this way, that’s
\nwhen you know that it’s Christmas every day.<\/p>\n
This is the peace of heart and mind and soul that we are to have as
\npeacemaking children of God.<\/p>\n
Last week a woman said to me that last week\u2019s message was meant more for
\nthose who don\u2019t see or hear these messages, than for those who do. So I
\nsuggested to her that she share the message with them. Therefore, I’ll
\nchallenge all of you; did you share a little Christmas with someone this
\npast week?<\/p>\n
That challenging, and hopefully convicting, question will now lead us into
\nthe subject of today’s sermon: Is the true Spirit of Christmas still with
\nyou (each of us)?<\/p>\n
This morning we read two portions of Scripture. The first is Isaiah 6:1-13,
\nwhich speaks of our holy God and His call to a willing prophet who knew his
\nown unworthiness, yet accepted the call to speak to those who thought they
\nwere worthy, but really were not.<\/p>\n
1. In the year of King, Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne,
\nlofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.<\/p>\n
2. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his
\nface, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.<\/p>\n
3. And one called out to another and said,
\n“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts,
\nThe whole earth is full of His glory.”<\/p>\n
4. And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who
\ncalled out, while the temple was filling with smoke.<\/p>\n
5. Then I said,
\n“Woe is me, for I am ruined!,
\nBecause I am a man of unclean lips,
\nAnd I live among a people of unclean lips;
\nFor my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”<\/p>\n
Note carefully that Isaiah considers himself to be unworthy, but God would
\nnot have asked him, if He didn\u2019t believe he was worthy to do the Lord\u2019s
\nwork.<\/p>\n
We know a lot of people in this position, and most of them get stuck on
\ntheir fears and thoughts of failure, and they forget the Lord is right there
\nwith them to guide them in everything they do, including removing their
\nfears and excuses.<\/p>\n
6. Then one of the seraphim flew to me, with a burning coal in his hand
\nwhich he had taken from the altar with tongs.<\/p>\n
7. And he touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your
\nlips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is forgiven.”<\/p>\n
Note also that there is no mention of any shedding of blood, or of any
\nanimal being sacrificed in order to bring about the Lord\u2019s forgiveness.<\/p>\n
Isaiah was just forgiven, because the Lord saw his repentant heart.<\/p>\n
8. Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who
\nwill go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”<\/p>\n
And Isaiah responds positively to the Lord\u2019s calling, as we all should.<\/p>\n
9. And He said, “Go, and tell this people:
\n‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
\nKeep on looking, but do not understand.’<\/p>\n
10. “Render the hearts of this people insensitive,
\nTheir ears dull,
\nAnd their eyes dim,
\nLest they see with their eyes,
\nHear with their ears,
\nUnderstand with their hearts,
\nAnd return and be healed.”<\/p>\n
God is actually putting a curse upon the people of Israel, because of their
\nhardness of heart.<\/p>\n
But Isaiah has a soft heart that seeks to reach out to everyone to change
\ntheir ways into the will of the Lord.<\/p>\n
11. Then I said, “Lord, how long?”
\nAnd He answered,
\n“Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,
\nHouses are without people,
\nAnd the land is utterly desolate,<\/p>\n
12. “The LORD has removed men far away,
\nAnd the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.<\/p>\n
13. “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it,
\nAnd it will again be subject to burning,
\nLike a terebinth or an oak
\nWhose stump remains when it is felled.
\nThe holy seed is its stump.”
\nNASB<\/p>\n
The Lord is saying that only about ten percent of the people will remain who
\nare willing to return to the Lord with a repentant heart.<\/p>\n
The second portion of Scripture for today is from Mark 4:1-20. It tells the
\nstory of the sower and the seed. Most of the seed unfortunately didn’t
\nproduce any crop, but one portion did, and it produced an abundance. \u00a0Let\u2019s
\ntake a look.<\/p>\n
1. And He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very great multitude
\ngathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the
\nwhole multitude was by the sea on the land.<\/p>\n
2. And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them
\nin His teaching,<\/p>\n
3. “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow;<\/p>\n
4. and it came about that as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road,
\nand the birds came and ate it up.<\/p>\n
5. “And other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil;
\nand immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil.<\/p>\n
6. “And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no
\nroot, it withered away.<\/p>\n
7. “And other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked
\nit, and it yielded no crop.<\/p>\n
8. “And other seeds fell into the good soil and as they grew up and
\nincreased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a
\nhundredfold.”<\/p>\n
9. And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”<\/p>\n
10. And as soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began
\nasking Him about the parables.<\/p>\n
11. And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the
\nkingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables,<\/p>\n
12. in order that while seeing, they may see and not perceive; and while
\nhearing, they may hear and not understand lest they return and be forgiven.”<\/p>\n
This is exactly what the Lord said to Isaiah about the hard of heart people.<\/p>\n
13. And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? And how will
\nyou understand all the parables?<\/p>\n
14. “The sower sows the word.<\/p>\n
15. “And these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown;
\nand when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which
\nhas been sown in them.<\/p>\n
16. “And in a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the
\nrocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy;<\/p>\n
17. and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then,
\nwhen affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they
\nfall away.<\/p>\n
18. “And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these
\nare the ones who have heard the word,<\/p>\n
19. and the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the
\ndesires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes
\nunfruitful.<\/p>\n
20. “And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they
\nhear the word and accept it, and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a
\nhundredfold.”
\nNASB<\/p>\n
At this point, some might be asking, “What do these Scripture verses have to
\ndo with having Christmas every day?”<\/p>\n
First of all, in order for us to have Jesus in our hearts, and Christmas
\nevery day, we cannot be like the people in Isaiah’s day.<\/p>\n
We cannot be so hard of heart that we are deaf to the word of God or so
\nblind that we cannot see the wonders of His creation that speaks of Him.<\/p>\n
We cannot be so hardened that we begin to think that the Bible was written
\nfor some people way back then who needed that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n
We cannot start to think that we are in control of the universe, and
\ntherefore are not accountable for what we do.<\/p>\n
We cannot live in a world governed by both situational ethics and Jesus
\nChrist, and at the same time expect to have any part in Jesus Christ, let
\nalone have Christmas every day.<\/p>\n
This is exactly what happened to the people in Isaiah’s day. They turned
\naway from God, and everyone sought to do their own thing. As a result, God
\nturned against them. Are not we, in our society today, doing much the same
\nthing?<\/p>\n
Aren\u2019t most people so hard of heart that they care little or nothing about
\nthe millions of our fellow human beings, and billions of animals that suffer
\nand die every year, and who all are a part of God\u2019s creation?<\/p>\n
How did the people in Isaiah’s day permit such a thing to occur, and how are
\nwe allowing a similar situation to take place today?<\/p>\n
The answer is found in Jesus’ parable of the sower and the seed.\u00a0 (Mark
\n4:1-20) The sower of this parable is really Jesus, or perhaps others who are
\npreaching and teaching the gospel, and about living in the heavenly will of
\nGod.<\/p>\n
The seed is the Word of God. And we, the hearers of this parable, are the
\nvarious kinds of ground.<\/p>\n
The first category of ground is so hardened that they cannot receive the
\nword at all. Unfortunately we have people like that in our churches. They
\nreally don’t want to hear the truth about Jesus Christ and the way we have
\ncorrupted this world, and what our relationship to Him should be like.<\/p>\n
These people only want their ears tickled. They don’t want to know that we
\nare all sinners, and that we must repent if we are going to get into heaven.<\/p>\n
They just make up the lie that God is so good that He is going to let
\neveryone into heaven. And this is probably why the Lord says in Matthew
\n7:13-14:<\/p>\n
13. \u201cEnter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad
\nthat leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.<\/p>\n
14. \u201cFor the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and
\nfew are those who find it.<\/p>\n
When the second classification of soil people hear false statements, their
\nunderstanding of the truth is so weak that they believe the lie instead of
\nthe truth, thus making the church even weaker.<\/p>\n
How does this second group get this way? They don\u2019t have any depth of soil.
\nThey haven’t read their Bibles. There is nothing for the seed to grow on.
\nThere is no soil, no water, and no fertilizer.<\/p>\n
They cannot tell the difference between a lie and the truth. And since, for
\nsome reason, it’s easier to believe a lie than the truth, especially when it
\ncomes to the things of God, they head off in the wrong direction.<\/p>\n
Now this second group becomes harder and harder, and add to the problem of
\nthe first group. And what do they do? They steal Christmas, or at least try
\nto steal away the true meaning. They do this by adding so many unimportant
\nthings to Christmas that it eventually becomes more of a burden than a joy
\nto many. And this is where we come to the third category of soil people.<\/p>\n
This third category of soil people often are the ones that we always see
\naround the church. They do a lot of church work. They have heard the word
\nmany times. But all too often, these people are more like Martha in doing
\nthe work, than like Mary hearing the word. ‘They also are usually weak in
\nthe word, for they are too busy doing all of the things they are doing, than
\nspending time with the Lord in prayer and study.<\/p>\n
Yes, what this third category of soil people are doing is important, and the
\nchurch needs their work very much; but their priorities are out of line with
\nthose set by the Lord.<\/p>\n
These people tend to worry about this and that, and getting this, and doing
\nthat, or that we need something, or about what we are going to do about it,
\nand they forget what the Lord said in<\/p>\n
Matthew 6:33:<\/p>\n
33. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things
\nshall be added to you.”<\/p>\n
And then do you know what happens? They begin to get tired, and think that
\nothers don’t appreciate what they are doing. They get upset because the
\nfirst and second category soil people are not coming to church regularly and
\nnot donating as they should. They feel like giving up, and many have done
\njust that, and the church and community becomes even weaker.<\/p>\n
These same kinds of people let the cares of the world bother them so much
\nthat they begin to think that God doesn’t care either.<\/p>\n
Nothing is further from the truth. God cares a great deal. So much so that
\nHe gave us Jesus.<\/p>\n
This is just one example of what has caused us to head in the same direction
\nas the people in Isaiah\u2019s day.<\/p>\n
Church! It\u2019s time we stop giving in to Satan.<\/p>\n
It’s time we stop letting him steal the Word of God from us.<\/p>\n
It’s time we stop him from weakening our churches and communities.<\/p>\n
It’s time we stop letting him steal our joy.<\/p>\n
It’s time we start putting Jesus Christ first in our lives.<\/p>\n
It’s time we start making every day Christmas.<\/p>\n
It’s time we start putting joy back into being a Christian.<\/p>\n
It’s time we start opening up our Bibles and really come to know the Word in
\na very personal way.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s time we start living as peacemaking children of God, and help free
\ncreation from its present corruption, for they desperately need this
\nChristmas gift.<\/p>\n
It’s also time we start calling those who have become discouraged and are
\nnot coming to church. Start by telling them that you miss them, and even
\nbetter, that you love them and that Jesus loves them. Then take them in your
\nloving hand and bring them back.<\/p>\n
And at the same time, truly desire to know the real truth about God\u2019s plan
\nfor us. Don’t fear salvation or the preaching about it, but let it fill you
\nwith joy. Believing the lie will only lead to death, but the truth will set
\nus free.<\/p>\n
Yes, Church, it’s time we begin to look like a church and not a funeral
\nparlor.<\/p>\n
It’s time we become filled with the joy of the Lord, and let others know it.<\/p>\n
It’s time we have the true meaning of Christmas in our hearts every day.<\/p>\n
It’s time we truly make Jesus Christ Lord of our lives.<\/p>\n
It’s time we start plowing up that hardened ground, pulling out the rocks
\nand brush, and plant good seed.<\/p>\n
And when we do this, we will have produced an abundant crop, for we will
\nbecome the fourth category of ground. Our churches will again be full. For
\nthe love and joy of the Lord will shine out to the entire community, and
\neven to the ends of the world.<\/p>\n
Amen.<\/p>\n
Since ![\"date\"](\"http:\/\/all-creatures.org\/images\/date.gif\")