WHAT WAITS ON THE OTHERSIDE OF THE DOOR?

A NEW YEAR’S MESSAGE FROM STEVEN

1:4When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5I said, "I beseech You, O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father's house have sinned. 7"We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. 8"Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; 9but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.' 10"They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11"O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man " Now I was the cupbearer to the king.

2:1And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence.

(Nehemiah 1:4-2:1-New American Standard Bible)

A couple of weeks ago I was preaching through the above passage from Nehemiah 1:4-2:1. I discussed how that Nehemiah was deeply concerned after hearing how that the Jewish population in Jerusalem was being mistreated and how the walls of Jerusalem were torn down offering them no defense. He was so profoundly moved by what was going on that he had decided to spend the next several months praying and fasting over the situation (1:1, 4; 2:1). The painfulness over the circumstances which surrounded his people was so great that he confessed both his and their sins before God (1:6). Nehemiah considered the sinfulness of his people to be a community thing not just a personal issue. The above prayer is just one of many prayers Nehemiah would pray. But I believe this prayer is special because of one thing…I believe this prayer was prayed as he walked the halls of the Susa palace. Why do I believe this? Because he mentions at the end of 1:11 that he was the “…cupbearer to the king.” I believe that there was a literal door standing in between the transition at the end of 1:11 and the beginning of 2:1. As Nehemiah ends his prayer he stands at the door which is the entry way into the king’s court. He is on his way to delivering the tested wine to the king and will be provoked into delivering the will of God before the king. But remember there is a door which is waiting to be opened. That door is what stands between him fulfilling the will of God and him backing down from doing what he is being called to do.

I believe that we are standing at such a door this next year. As always we face it with a certain amount of optimism, pessimism, and anxiety. Regardless we stand at the door and we will be forced to walk through it. Either we walk through it with the attitude of Nehemiah and pray for God’s mercy while seeking to do His will in a hostile world; or we walk through it desiring to do what is right but doing what we always seem to do…nothing. This year is crucial in so many ways. This year we will receive a new President. I will make more comments on this as we near the inauguration. We will also face further and greater violence against the nation of Israel. Israel has been our truest ally in the fight against terrorism. We need to remember this as this fight continues. We face the ever increasing possibilities of homosexual marriages becoming the norm. We face on growing resistance of Christian ethics and morality being upheld in political circles. In fact over the last twelve years we have come to understand that we are more of a play toy for the Republicans and Democrats than an actual moving force. We also face the problem of churches growing smaller and less influential in their communities than before. One more thing we face this year is the political force of the younger evangelicals who are forsaking the call of the right to life for the call of the right to live however we want ( www.recoveringevangelical.com ). Again I will address this issue later and will be in contact with this group throughout the year hoping to set an open dialogue with them.

For us at Ferguson Road Baptist Church, Dallas (FRBC) it means that we are going to have to work all the harder to bring people to church, evangelize the community and follow up on prospects which God brings our way. This year we are going to develop our own Sunday School curriculum, strengthen our children’s and youth ministry as well as continuing to work with our “Young At Heart” group. At FRBC we have a plan which will have the DBA (Dallas Baptist Association) working through us on a project and a possible apartment ministry to start up. And if that is not enough the plans are in the works right now to start POD casting our services where people who are looking for a church home can see what our services are like and hear our pastor as he expounds on the Word of God. And I would like to see our staff get together and do a POD cast at least once every couple of weeks were we take e-mails and calls from people answering questions on various biblical topics.

For Mary and I continuing to work on our marital relationship is preeminence. It is our desire to start a family this year, but as always this is something which rests in the hands for God. For her, it is important that she continue to do well with her carrier while being a witness for Jesus Christ. For me there are several different fronts which I have to battle. First, I must continue to move forward with school. If I continue on I am looking at graduating sometime in 2010, so school is crucial, especially dealing with Greek this next semester. Also, ministry is extremely critical. The two of us want to see FRBC grow and become a lighthouse for those trapped in the darkness of sin in that community. But we want to become more sensitive about the community we live in, the two communities are not the same. I want to preach a little more around the state or around the nation maybe once a month somewhere else. A revival meeting here and some pulpit supply there, just getting out while seeing other churches and how they function in different situations help me to understand dynamics at FRBC. As always I want do a job at my work which is worthy of my being called a Christian. The goal though is to do all that we do for the glory of God.

So, as we enter this new what sets at the other side of the door for you? What has God pointed out to you that He wants you to do? As we enter this year we walk into a new field regard God’s will. Either we will enter the courts of the world, hang our heads low and continue doing what we have always done. Or we will stand up straight, walk in, and when asked what it is we are doing, answer in an affirmative, strong, yet humble fashion, “We are here to do the will of God.”

As one theologian wrote, “It is the cross of Christ we are to declare and the resurrection of Christ we are to explicitly. Always leading others to the kingdom of God in the way we walk, the way we live, and what we say.”

May 2009 be the year we say, “All to the glory of God!”

It’s Beginning To Look Like What?

1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US." 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

2:1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him." 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: 6 `AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.' " 7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him."

9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

13 Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him." 14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. 15 He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON."

16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. 17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: 18 "A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH, WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNING, RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN; AND SHE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED, BECAUSE THEY WERE NO MORE." –Matthew 1:18-2:18

Every Christmas since I became a Christian there has been one controversy or another. In fact I didn’t even know that many of these controversies regarding Christmas even existed before I became a Christian. But in Ephesians 2 the apostle Paul makes it clear that before we come to know Jesus Christ as our Savior we are dead in our trespasses and sins. As usual this year is not any different then that of the last twenty-five years. This year’s war has been with the state of Washington and its governor. But the reality is that this hostility started much earlier. In recent history this struggle started thirty years ago when the educational intuitions made the decisions to stop having “Esther Break” and started having “Spring Break” a week or two before Esther. This was a subversive way of denying deity through the observation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But the battle still goes back further than that. During the late nineteenth century Christians found themselves struggling against a new enemy call “Commercialism.” This was the illegitimate child of the free enterprise system set up by our forefathers. Even then the battle of Christmas goes back further. I could spend pages talking about the different battles Christians’ have fought dealing with Christmas but the truth is that Christmas has never been held as something wonderful by the world. The world loves the idea of a small innocent baby in a cute manager setting. They love the idea of getting gifts full of play things and singing happy songs. They love the sounds and glittering lights and the parties, please don’t forget the parties. The world has done everything from attempting to highjack it to totally doing away with it, but history notes that these actions have occurred from the very start.

In Matthew 1:18-2:18 we read that the original Christmas story is received with less than a glorious thought. At first in Matthew 1:18-25 when Joseph, the future husband to Mary, heard the news of Mary’s pregnancy he was less than enthusiastic. In fact 1:19 brings out that he even thought about having a private divorce and moving on with his life. It wasn’t until he is given a revelation by an angel of the Lord in 1:20-25 that he changed his mind and accepted what was happening as the divine will of God.

On the other hand the news was received with the same lukewarm attitude by King Herod in Matthew 2. When it is revealed to him by the magi what was going on, his handling of the situation was much different. According to chapter 2 verses 4-6 he first verified the information from the religious leaders regarding what Scripture had to say about the matter. Then in 2:7-9 he subversively tells the magi to find the Child so that he can worship Him, even though his plan was to kill the Child. Do not get this story wrong when he sent them out to find the child many scholars believe that Herod had spies in Bethlehem waiting for the magi to arrive in order to kill the Christ child. This is the reason many believe that 2:9b-12 possibly happened at a much later time and some place other than Bethlehem. It is believed and agreed by most commentaries, both old and new, that 2:9b-12 happened around the second year of Jesus’ life possibly in Nazareth. Many of the reasons for this are because of the fact that the star always showed in the east. Nazareth is to the east of Jerusalem while Bethlehem is to the southwest of Jerusalem. Also, the use of the Greek word for “Child” in 2:9b can mean infant to five years of age. Verse 16 in chapter 2 also notes that Herod’s orders included children two years old and under. Regardless of the where and when the magi encounter the Christ child, they leave the country through an alternate route. Because of this Herod becomes indignant (2:16) The word used for “anger” means fits of passion. He was enraged over what had occurred. In line with his history of killing and assassinations he sent a small army, possibly from the fortress Herodion which was only about five miles from Bethlehem. This fortress overlooked Bethlehem and would have taken no time to get to Bethlehem in order to carry out the horrible orders of King Herod. Orders to kill, “…all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.” (2:16) On that night the blood ran like water through the streets of Bethlehem. To the glory of God and by His divine protection Joseph moved his family from wherever they were to Egypt until the danger had passed (2:13-15, 19-23).

So as we can see this war against Christmas has always been going on. It is nothing new. It wasn’t filled with parties, flashing lights, lots of toys, tree trimming, declarations, happy songs, and cool romantic nights by a warm fire place. This conflict has always been going on and it will not end until the Lord Jesus Christ returns. Until then the sinful soul of humanity will constantly and consistently deny the virgin birth. If people do not deny the virgin birth, then they cannot deny the vicarious death on the cross. If they do not deny his death on the cross as a substitutionary act then they have to come into agreement with their guilt before God as a result of their own sinful nature. If they do not deny his virgin birth and substitutionary death on the cross they cannot deny His resurrection. If they cannot deny His resurrection they must conclude that God became a man and met humanity in its inhumanity face to face. Now humanity is caught in a dilemma, they must repent and believe or some day face judgment before the very One they deny. The truth is deny it or accept it the Child in the filthy manager who was being hunted by sinful mankind will one day be the Judge Who will condemn all who deny Him as Savior.

Where are you? What stand are you taking? How do you feel about who Jesus Christ is and what He has done for all of humanity? The answer to these questions could very easily affect your eternity.

Have a Merry Christmas,

Steven