King

Isaiah 9:1-7; Luke 2:15-32 / Psalm 110:1-7

I. God Gave His People a King

A. The Holy Nation wanted a king; God’s government made them different from the people around them.“Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.” (1 Samuel 8:19-20)

B. God had intended His people to be different from the world. “But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people. Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.” (Leviticus 20:24-26)

C. The appeal for an earthly king expressed rejection of God as king. “And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” (1 Samuel 8:7)

D. God’s plan is larger than what the world can imagine. “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 7:6)

II. Eventually God Gave a Better King

A. As the fruit of the Fall ripened across the ages, God promised a far better king for His people than the one they sought—Jesus Christ. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

B. Christ the King establishes His own Kingdom. “Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:” (Acts 15:14-16) “Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” (Daniel 2:34-35)

C. Christ the King rules His kingdom. “For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.” (Isaiah 33:22) “But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.” (Psalm 75:7) “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)

D. Christ the King defends His people. “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” (Isaiah 32:1-2)

E. Christ the King overcomes all His and our enemies. “For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.” (1 Corinthians 15:25)

III. Acknowledge the True King

A. The kingship of Jesus was acknowledged at His crucifixion. “And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.” (Matthew 27:11) “And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.” (John 19:19-22)

B. The church acknowledges the High King and continues in the world to serve Him above all other powers and authorities. “I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:13-16)

C. Believers testify to the resurrection of the King and warn that all people will give accounts before His throne at the end of this age. “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31)

D. Christians thank God for the gift of His king and acknowledge His government in both this world and the world to come. “And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.” (Luke 11:2)

O Little Town of Bethlehem

Massachusetts Bishop Phillips Brooks (1835-1903) of Boston wrote the words to O Little Town of Bethlehem in 1868, following a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He was inspired by the view of Bethlehem from the hills of Palestine, especially at nighttime, hence the lyrics of O Little Town of Bethlehem. His church organist Lewis Redner (1831-1908) wrote the melody to O Little Town of Bethlehem for the Sunday school children’s choir. Brooks had been educated at the seminary in Alexandria and was ordained in Virginia.

I. Bethlehem Was a Patriarchal City

A. Bethlehem first appeared in Biblical history when Jacob buried his beloved wife Rachel, the daughter of Laban. “And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.” (Genesis 48:7).

B. The town was also the home of a concubine who figured in a famous murder during the period of the judges. “And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehemjudah. And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months.” (Judges 19:1-2)

C. Some 123 men of Bethlehem came with Zerubbabel to restore the holy city after the Babylonian captivity. “The children of Bethlehem, an hundred twenty and three.” (Ezra 2:21)

II. Bethlehem Was the City of David

A. The story of David begins with Boaz and Ruth in Bethlehem. “Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.” (Ruth 1:1) “So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?” (Ruth 1:19) “So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son.” (Ruth 4:13) “And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.” (Ruth 4:21-22) Tradition identified Jesse as a Temple weaver.

B. The royal line of David began with an anointing at Bethlehem. “Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.” (1 Samuel 17:12) “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.” (1 Samuel 16:13)

C. As the passage of time sidetracked Bethlehem, the prophet Micah reminded the faithful of the promises to David to establish the messianic line in the city. “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2)

D. The religious leaders in the time of Herod and the Wise Men acted on the message of Micah. “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.” (Matthew 2:1-6)

III. Bethlehem Was the City of Jesus

A. Bethlehem or “House of Bread” was well named as the birthplace for the heir of David who would be the “Bread of Life.” “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35)

B. The entire story of the savior is counterintuitive; only God would have chosen Bethlehem to keep His gracious promises. “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:” (1 Corinthians 1:27-28)

C. Bethlehem was an appropriate starting place for a life of “living in plain sight” where the world could not see the Lord of Glory. “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.” (Isaiah 53:2) “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:7-9)

O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;

Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;

O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

Priest

Isaiah 35:1-10; Hebrews 9:1-20 / Isaiah 40:1-8

I. God Gave His People Priests

A. The title “priest” was first applied in Scripture to Melchizedek. “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.” (Genesis 14:18)

B. A priest makes offerings to God to satisfy heaven’s justice, reconciles people to God, and intercedes for people with God. “For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.” (Hebrews 5:1-4)

C. Originally God called all His people to be priests. “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” (Exodus 19:6)

D. God granted the Aaronic priesthood at the request of the people when they expressed fear of approaching God. “According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.” (Deuteronomy 18:16-17)

E. Christ is the ultimate gift from God: A perfect and permanent priest. “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10) “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;” (Hebrews 10:12)

F. God has given the gift which erases sorrows and guarantees hope. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” (Hebrews 1:1-3)

II. Christ Provides Believers What They Need

A. Because believers have the best possible priest, Christians have reason to hold on to hope under all circumstances. “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” (Hebrews 4:14)

B. Christ guarantees full reconciliation with God; there will be no little surprises on Judgment Day. “Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2:17) “For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Hebrews 9:26)

C. Christ is both uniquely priest and uniquely sacrifice. “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24) “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

D. All the old terrors, the bloody sacrifices, and fearful penalties have come together in the priesthood of Christ; the perfect sacrifice has been made. “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” (Hebrews 9:28) “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.” (Ephesians 5:2)

E. Christ now lives to intercede for His people. “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:12) “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25) “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” (1 John 2:1)

III. The Gift Continues To Give

A. What Christ did restored the priesthood to all God’s people. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:” (1 Peter 2:9)

B. Through the gift of Christ and the gifts from Christ, the holy order for eternity is in place; even now Eden’s curse is passing away. “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 1:6)

Genuine Worship

Psalm 50

I. God Is Coming

A. God [El, Elohim, Jehovah] has spoken to the entire world; the Judge is ready to pass sentence. “A Psalm of Asaph. The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.” (Psalm 50:1-2)

B. God consumes as He comes. “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.” (Psalm 50:3) “And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.” (Exodus 33:19)

C. God will settle accounts. “He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.” (Psalm 50:4)

D. All doubt about God’s authority above everything will disappear when He gathers the world to stand judgment. “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.” (Psalm 50:5-6) “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:31)

II. God Demands Appropriate Worship

A. God has a charge to bring against His people. “Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.” (Psalm 50:7) “To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.” (Proverbs 21:3) “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6)

B. God did not object to the offerings being made but to the implications in which they were cloaked; God does not need offerings in the form of bribes. “I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.” (Psalm 50:8-11)

C. God needs nothing and, if He did, He would not ask His creatures for it. “If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.” (Psalm 50:12) “Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.” (Psalm 115:15-16)

D. God prefers sacrifices of genuine thanks and integrity to bloody offerings. “Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:” (Psalm 50:13-14)

E. The faithful can expect help from God for simply asking but unrepentant evil people can sacrifice all they want without interesting God. “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?” (Psalm 50:15-16) [Literally—But to the evildoer Elohim saith: How doest thou dare to tell My statutes, And that thou takest My covenant into thy mouths].

F. When people refuse to be corrected and then side with evildoers, their worship provokes rather than pleases God. “Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee. When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.” (Psalm 50:17-18)

III. When People Ignore God, He Notices and Acts

A. People are always ready to distort the truth. “Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.” (Psalm 50:19) “Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.” (Psalm 31:18)

B. The closest human bonds count for nothing. “Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son.” (Psalm 50:20)

C. When people do these things, they imply that God has a shadowy character and approves what they do, but He will not. “These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.” (Psalm 50:21)

D. Consider this when you forget God: He will destroy anyone who ignores Him and no one will be able to stop Him. “Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.” (Psalm 50:22)

E. People who do what God requires will be gloriously saved. “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.” (Psalm 50:23) “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:” (1 Peter 2:9)

Prophet

Isaiah 11:1-16; Hebrews 1:1-14 / Genesis 3:1-24

I. God Promised a Wonderful Gift—New Life

A. Life began for people with bright prospects and fearful warnings.“And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:15-17)

B. Death entered the human story and life became miserable. “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Genesis 3:19)

C. Jesus Christ is a marvelous and utterly unmerited gift. “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22)

The English word prophet represents some one who bubbles [nabi] or gushes messages from God or a person who sees the future [ro’eh] from God’s perspective. The prophet proclaimed the message given to him, as the seer beheld the vision of God. Consequently a prophet was a spokesman for God; he spake in God’s name and by His authority.

II. With New Life Comes New Understanding

A. God promised to explain His objectives. “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.” (Deuteronomy 18:15-19)

B. Christ became a man by taking to Himself a true human body; that process prophetically revealed the intent of God to save people. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;” (Hebrews 2:14) “For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.” (Hebrews 2:16)

C. Through the gift of Jesus Christ, God demonstrated His willingness and His ability to save; Christ is both fully God and fully man. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

D. Christ is the ultimate revelation of God in the language and experience of humanity. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” (John 1:18) “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:” (Colossians 1:12-15)

E. All of history turned on the gift of Jesus Christ. “Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.” (1 Peter 1:10-12)

III. Christ Also Prophesies of Better Things

A. Not only does Jesus Christ pay off the debt of sin, He brings with Him the assurance of gifts far beyond simple redemption. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:1-3)

B. Things which cause sorrow will have no place in the world to come. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

C. The good times will never end. “Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.” (Isaiah 60:20)

D. As God became part of the world, believers will become part of heaven. “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” (1 Corinthians 15:45-49)