Sunday, December 31, 2017

Christmas 2017 - Is There Room in Your Heart?

Christmas 2017
Is There Room in Your Heart?
Pastor Bruce A. Shields


SERMON INTRODUCTION

TODAY’S SERMON
“Is There Room in Your Heart?”

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
Luke 2:1-7
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.

 4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”


I.       To compare the birth of Christ at Bethlehem with his birth in our hearts

a.    God has not left this world without a yearly witness of the birth of his son
                                                             i.      "The birth of Christ means little or nothing to us if he has not been born in our heart"

                                                         ii.      This time of year the witness that Christ came is everywhere

                                                      iii.      Yet there are still too many that know little or nothing of the true meaning


b.     We talk about room in the Inn, but Jesus never got into the Inn
                                                             i.      We’re really not certain where Christ was actually born. Some say a cave, some a barn, or perhaps a stable

                                                         ii.      We do know that it must have been around or near livestock because of the use of a manger for his cradle
                                                      iii.      It makes no difference where Christ was born if he is not born in your heart!!!


c.    Today I want to show the relation between our hearts, and the lowly stable God chose for the birthplace of His Son.


II.   BOTH ARE PLACES GOD HAS CHOSEN FOR HIS SON TO ENTER
a.    Don’t pity poor Joseph and Mary, God made the choice of where Jesus was to be born

                                                             i.      Jesus’ birthplace was ordained before the foundation of the world

                                                          ii.      Galatians 4:4-5
4But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”

                                                       iii.      The Prophet Micah (5:2) had foretold the place of his birth 700 years prior
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are small among the clans  of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times.”


b.      Just as God had chose the time and place for Christ’s birth, God has chosen your heart for Him to dwell in;

                                                             i.      John 15:16
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit…”

                                                          ii.      Acts 9:15
“But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.”

                                                       iii.      Ephesians 1:4
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”

                                                         iv.      Ephesians 3:17-18
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”


c.    BOTH ARE PLACES ARE UNWORTHY OF DIVINE ROYALTY

                                                             i.      Stables and Hearts are Dirty, Dark and Defiled places;

1.      Jeremiah 17:9
“The heart is deceitful above all things
       and beyond cure.
       Who can understand it?”

2.      Isaiah 64:6
“All of us have become like one who is unclean,
       and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
       we all shrivel up like a leaf,
       and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”

3.      I Timothy 1:15 - Paul
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.”



III.      Don’t get pridefull just because God chose you;

a.    I Corinthians 1:27-31
27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to cancel out the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

There is no place on earth worthy of His presence;

                                                             i.      Romans 3:23
            “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

                                                          ii.      Ecclesiastes 7:20
            “There is not a righteous man on earth
                who does what is right and never sins.”

Nobody cleaned up the stable before his arrival

(It is useless for us to attempt to clean up our own heart and make it a presentable place for Christ)

Jesus meets us where and how we are, just as he did the Samaritan, Zachaeus, Bartimaeus and Nicodemus


b.     BOTH THE STABLE AND OUR HEARTS ARE PLACES THAT GOD HAS CHOSEN FOR THE BIRTH OF HIS SON

                                                             i.       The birth of Christ was a spiritual birth. Just as Christ was born of the Spirit in the stable so the Holy Spirit wants to birth Christ in our hearts

1.      Matthew 1:20
“But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

2.      John 3:6
“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”

3.      John 1:14
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”



c.     The birth of Christ is what made all the difference in this stable and He can make all the difference in our lives when He is born in our hearts.


·         II Corinthians 5:17-19
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

 Has Christ been born in your heart?

·        John 6:63-65
63The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."

Jesus KNEW from before creation who would NOT believe, and who would betray Him.

He DID NOT CAUSE THEM to not believe, or betray Him (as some teach predestination), rather, it is God’s will ALL come to Him.

I Timothy 2:3-5 “This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”

Because He knew who would not believe and would betray Him, He CHOSE those who would believe, and “enabled” them to come to the Father through Christ Jesus.

How does he “enable” those?  By giving them the Holy Spirit.


BOTH THE STABLE AND THE HEART ARE PLACES FROM WHICH GOD HAS CHOSEN TO REVEAL HIS SON

The Apostle Paul Called by God

Galatians 1:15-17a
15But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace (Paul did not become a follower of Christ until later in life, but God, knowing Paul would serve Him well, called Him, and enabled him), was pleased 16to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, 17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was…” (Also refutes those who teach Apostolic succession)

The Greatest Witness is the Witness from the Heart

 If Christ is Ever Revealed to this World it will be through us

BOTH THE STABLE AND OUR HEARTS ARE PLACES THAT CANNOT BOAST OR CALL ATTENTION TO THEMSELVES

What was the Focus of Attention? (Not the stable but the Baby!)

Remember, the stable isn’t even mentioned by name!

Our purpose is the call attention to Christ not ourselves!

BOTH THE STABLE AND OUR HEARTS ARE PLACES THROUGH WHICH GOD DESIRES TO REACH A LOST WORLD

 
The stable was the gateway of God to reach the world

Amazing that God would choose a stable, me, and you

 I’m not going to let a stable or stones out witness me

BOTH THE STABLE AND OUR HEARTS ARE PLACES THAT HAVE BEEN IMMORTALIZED BY THE FACT THAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST HAS ENTERED INTO THEM

 How many stables do you know of?

 2000 years have not diminished the fame of this place

 Immortality is the results of receiving Christ into your heart

Colossians 1:27
“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”



ALTAR CALL


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