1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:08,360 You’re listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open The Bible, to contact us, call 2 00:00:08,360 –> 00:00:15,180 us at 1-877-OPEN365 or visit our website openthebible.org 3 00:00:15,180 –> 00:00:20,520 Let’s get to the message, here is Pastor Colin 4 00:00:20,520 –> 00:00:25,820 I hope you’ll have your Bibles open at Matthew Chapter 1 and Verse 23, this marvelous statement 5 00:00:25,820 –> 00:00:29,820 that goes to the heart of the Christmas story and really to the very heart of the Christian 6 00:00:29,820 –> 00:00:37,939 faith, the name given to Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. The Virgin will be with child 7 00:00:37,939 –> 00:00:45,240 and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us, Matthew 8 00:00:45,240 –> 00:00:48,139 1 and verse 23. 9 00:00:48,139 –> 00:00:53,020 Now a good number of our college students have the opportunity of being here with us 10 00:00:53,020 –> 00:00:57,459 today as your home from the holidays. I want you to know, first, that it is always great 11 00:00:57,459 –> 00:01:04,500 to have you back, and second, that I’ve particularly had you in mind as I’ve been preparing for 12 00:01:04,500 –> 00:01:11,739 today. See, God has called us to live for Jesus Christ and communicate the Christian 13 00:01:11,739 –> 00:01:20,120 faith in a culture of spiritual confusion. Some of you are in a Christian college setting, 14 00:01:20,120 –> 00:01:27,940 some of you are in a secular college setting and either way, we face tremendous challenges. 15 00:01:27,940 –> 00:01:34,760 The vast majority of people in the secular world think that Christianity is one version 16 00:01:34,760 –> 00:01:42,000 of spirituality, that it is essentially too narrow and that it is thereby best when it 17 00:01:42,000 –> 00:01:47,379 is mixed with something else. That’s the view of the vast majority of people in the secular 18 00:01:47,379 –> 00:01:52,660 world today. The vast majority of people in the Christian world and by that I mean 19 00:01:52,660 –> 00:01:58,419 church world, or Christian college world, the vast majority of people in this world 20 00:01:58,419 –> 00:02:05,279 believe that a Christianity is essentially about G-d giving me a fuller and happier life, 21 00:02:05,279 –> 00:02:13,020 and many having observed that have concluded that Christianity then is simply too selfish 22 00:02:13,020 –> 00:02:22,940 and therefore unworthy of a person who really cares about the world. Now that is the context 23 00:02:22,940 –> 00:02:33,820 in which you and I are called to communicate the unique claims and blessings of Jesus Christ. 24 00:02:33,820 –> 00:02:39,139 And I want you to know that my passion for you is that you should have a deep grasp of 25 00:02:39,139 –> 00:02:44,820 the Christian faith in order that you may live it authentically, that you may grasp 26 00:02:44,820 –> 00:02:52,779 true Christianity and may express it in the reality of your life. Now I only get one chance 27 00:02:52,779 –> 00:02:58,660 a year pretty much to speak to those who are away from home and this is probably it for 28 00:02:58,660 –> 00:03:05,940 this year so I am well and truly wound up and ready to go. I want to talk to you about 29 00:03:05,940 –> 00:03:13,979 the glorious offence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I’ve chosen these words very carefully 30 00:03:13,979 –> 00:03:17,860 because we’re going to talk about something glorious, there’s no substitute word for that 31 00:03:17,860 –> 00:03:23,300 that I can think of. We’re going to talk about something that is very offensive. And it’s 32 00:03:23,300 –> 00:03:32,500 right here in these three words, God with us, because to call any child born into this 33 00:03:32,500 –> 00:03:43,339 world Emmanuel, God with us, is in our culture utterly offensive and it is at the same time 34 00:03:43,339 –> 00:03:50,860 absolutely glorious. And if you choose to associate yourself with Jesus Christ you will 35 00:03:50,860 –> 00:03:59,300 share in the offence and you will also share in the glory. You cannot separate the glory 36 00:03:59,300 –> 00:04:08,479 from the offence in Christian faith. Christianity is, at its heart, about a cross and a crown 37 00:04:08,479 –> 00:04:13,279 and they are both embraced by Jesus Christ and if you embrace him you cannot embrace 38 00:04:13,279 –> 00:04:18,619 the one without the other. That is why Jesus said, if you are going to follow me you are 39 00:04:18,619 –> 00:04:25,260 going to have to take up your cross. So, to be identified as a follower of Jesus you 40 00:04:25,260 –> 00:04:32,100 need to understand the offence that you will become part of and you need to be convinced 41 00:04:32,100 –> 00:04:38,019 of the glory that you will share and if you are to be an authentic follower of Jesus Christ 42 00:04:38,019 –> 00:04:44,119 you need to be ready for both. So, now let’s get to our text together. Matthew 1 in Verse 43 00:04:44,119 –> 00:04:53,019 23, speaking about Jesus, we read, they will call him Immanuel, which means God with us. 44 00:04:53,019 –> 00:05:03,200 That’s then the offence. Why is that offensive? God with us. I want to state again so that 45 00:05:03,200 –> 00:05:08,040 it’s absolutely clear that properly understood this statement is utterly offensive to our 46 00:05:08,040 –> 00:05:12,359 culture, despite the fact that many people have got very sentimental about it over these 47 00:05:12,399 –> 00:05:23,440 last few days. Now anybody who studies religions will know that mythology is full of stories 48 00:05:23,440 –> 00:05:29,839 about various gods coming down from the heavens and doing various things on earth, most of 49 00:05:29,839 –> 00:05:37,739 which are unmentionable from a pulpit on Sunday morning. If you move from the world of mythology 50 00:05:37,779 –> 00:05:43,540 into the world of Eastern religion, you will also find that there is a vast literature 51 00:05:43,540 –> 00:05:49,519 there, stories of gods visiting the earth, sending emissaries here to do work on their 52 00:05:49,519 –> 00:05:57,299 behalf and so forth and so on. Hinduism has several million gods and there are stories 53 00:05:57,299 –> 00:06:03,459 of most of them coming to earth at one time or another. So there is nothing very special 54 00:06:03,600 –> 00:06:13,140 the idea that a god should come to earth and be with us. But Matthew is not talking about 55 00:06:13,140 –> 00:06:20,540 some member of the Pantheon coming to earth to pay us a visit. He is talking about the 56 00:06:20,540 –> 00:06:28,540 one god of the Old Testament coming to be with us in the person of Jesus Christ. 57 00:06:28,540 –> 00:06:34,579 Now I hope you have your Bibles open at Matthew, in chapter 1. And if you do, you will see 58 00:06:34,579 –> 00:06:39,399 there that the Gospel of Matthew, the whole of the New Testament in fact, begins in what 59 00:06:39,399 –> 00:06:45,859 seems to be a rather uninteresting way, with a long catalogue of names, listing the generations 60 00:06:45,859 –> 00:06:52,279 right through Old Testament history, from Abraham onwards. And that is incredibly important 61 00:06:52,380 –> 00:06:59,380 for this reason. That the central claim of Christianity is that the God who made himself 62 00:06:59,600 –> 00:07:06,600 known in the Old Testament has come to us in Jesus Christ. The New Testament is bound 63 00:07:06,980 –> 00:07:11,739 to the Old and that is for good reason. This is not some kind Jonny-come-lately sort of 64 00:07:11,739 –> 00:07:16,519 religion that’s just arrived on the world scene in the last 2000 years. The claim of 65 00:07:16,519 –> 00:07:21,679 Christianity is that all of the revelation of the Old Testament is fulfilled in Jesus 66 00:07:21,779 –> 00:07:26,619 Christ. And that the God who made himself known in the Old Testament has come to us 67 00:07:26,619 –> 00:07:31,459 in Jesus. So the question then is, which God are we talking about? We’re talking about 68 00:07:31,459 –> 00:07:36,160 the God who has made himself known in the Old Testament. Let’s just take a moment to 69 00:07:36,160 –> 00:07:43,160 remember who that is. See, the Old Testament tells us that there is only one God. That 70 00:07:45,660 –> 00:07:49,920 he cannot be known by reason or philosophy, that he can’t be worked out by science or 71 00:07:49,940 –> 00:07:56,940 by astronomy. But that he has made himself known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses. 72 00:08:01,059 –> 00:08:08,059 That he, the one God, made a special covenant with one group of people, the Jews. And that 73 00:08:09,720 –> 00:08:16,339 through them it was his purpose that all people would come to know him. The Old Testament 74 00:08:16,339 –> 00:08:19,660 teaches… Now I’m just describing what the Old Testament states. You just read the Old 75 00:08:20,059 –> 00:08:24,940 Testament, you’ll find these truths are quite clearly taught in the Old Testament. That 76 00:08:24,940 –> 00:08:30,299 this one God is the creator of all things. That he made all things in the beginning and 77 00:08:30,299 –> 00:08:34,840 that he is the one who gives life and breath to all people in every generation and in every 78 00:08:34,840 –> 00:08:41,840 culture. This means that all people, wherever and whenever they live, are accountable to 79 00:08:42,840 –> 00:08:49,640 him whether they know him or not, whether they believe in him or not, whether they choose 80 00:08:49,640 –> 00:08:56,640 to obey him or not. Thirdly, the Old Testament teaches us that all other gods are idols. 81 00:08:59,340 –> 00:09:06,020 Because there is only one God, all other claimants to the title of God are essentially idols. 82 00:09:06,039 –> 00:09:11,859 In other words they are products of human imagination or culture. As far as the Old 83 00:09:11,859 –> 00:09:18,460 Testament is concerned, what we call the history of religions is actually the history of idolatry. 84 00:09:18,460 –> 00:09:24,619 And idolatry is simply when a man or a woman invents God, a God for him or herself. You 85 00:09:24,619 –> 00:09:27,780 can do it with a piece of wood and worship that, a piece of stone and worship that, that’s 86 00:09:27,780 –> 00:09:31,419 pretty primitive. You can do it by writing a very clever book that’s more sophisticated 87 00:09:31,659 –> 00:09:37,419 or launching a seminar or whatever. But idolatry is any kind of teaching that presents God 88 00:09:37,419 –> 00:09:44,059 in a way that is different from who he really is. A great teacher once said that the human 89 00:09:44,059 –> 00:09:52,940 mind is a factory of idols. In other words he meant we are always coming up with new 90 00:09:52,940 –> 00:09:58,880 ways to think about God that are other than he really is. And if you want evidence of 91 00:09:58,880 –> 00:10:02,500 that, just go into Barns Noble, go into Borders, go into the airport at O’Hare, look into 92 00:10:02,500 –> 00:10:06,719 any major Christian bookstore and look at the religion section and you will find that 93 00:10:06,719 –> 00:10:11,140 the human mind is a factory of idols and that we have generated untold versions of who we 94 00:10:11,140 –> 00:10:17,159 think God might be. Now the Old Testament, of course, is aware 95 00:10:17,159 –> 00:10:22,119 that the nations of the world worship many different Gods. In fact the Old Testament 96 00:10:22,119 –> 00:10:28,840 mentions a good number of them by name. And that’s very significant. For example, the 97 00:10:28,840 –> 00:10:41,520 Old Testament speaks about Bel, Nebo, Marduk, Dagon, Baal, Molloch, and others. These are 98 00:10:41,520 –> 00:10:47,880 the names of Gods that were worshipped in ancient times in various culture. Now the 99 00:10:47,880 –> 00:10:52,219 Old Testament does NOT say, oh well of course these, you know, Bel and Marduk and Dagon 100 00:10:52,219 –> 00:10:55,919 and Baal and all these ones, they’re just the one true god known by a different name. 101 00:10:56,020 –> 00:11:00,739 No, the Old Testament does not say that. The Old Testament does not say, oh this is just 102 00:11:00,760 –> 00:11:09,260 another version of the same fundamental reality. No, the Old Testament says there is one creator 103 00:11:09,260 –> 00:11:18,280 God. He has made himself known to Moses. All other claimants to the title of God are idols, 104 00:11:18,280 –> 00:11:24,539 they are no gods at all, they are the product of history and culture only. They live only 105 00:11:24,539 –> 00:11:30,159 in the minds of those who believe in them and they die with the passing of the cultures 106 00:11:30,159 –> 00:11:41,080 that produced them. There is one God. Now, when Matthew says, the Virgin will conceive 107 00:11:41,080 –> 00:11:52,380 and bear a son, and they will call him Immanuel which means God with us, he is talking about 108 00:11:52,619 –> 00:12:00,719 of the Old Testament. He’s talking about the one, living, eternal, true God who is who 109 00:12:00,719 –> 00:12:07,719 he is. The God who gives life and breath to all men and women and before whom all other 110 00:12:08,020 –> 00:12:15,020 claimants to the title of God are simply imposters. This God, the only God, came to be with us 111 00:12:15,440 –> 00:12:22,440 in the person of a tiny child whose name was Jesus. I tell you that that claim was so utterly 112 00:12:26,219 –> 00:12:33,219 offensive in the time of Jesus that when people understood that that was what was really being 113 00:12:33,419 –> 00:12:40,419 taught, they picked up stones to stone Him. And eventually they crucified Him. And our 114 00:12:41,119 –> 00:12:48,119 culture will take no more kindly to that claim from us either. It has always been and always 115 00:12:49,039 –> 00:12:53,619 will be fundamentally offensive to say that there is one God who has come to us in one 116 00:12:53,619 –> 00:13:00,619 person, and Jesus Christ. And yet, that is central to Christian faith. 117 00:13:00,619 –> 00:13:09,260 That is central to Christian faith. Let me make three observations to remind you 118 00:13:11,520 –> 00:13:17,659 of just how central this affirmation that Jesus is God with us really is. 119 00:13:17,659 –> 00:13:24,659 Let me flip it around the other way. If Jesus is not God, we don’t know God. 120 00:13:25,340 –> 00:13:34,179 We don’t know God. See I know Jesus Christ. I know him through the Gospels. 121 00:13:34,179 –> 00:13:38,280 I believe what I read about him in the Gospels. That doesn’t mean of course that 122 00:13:38,280 –> 00:13:45,539 I know everything about him but I do know him and if he is God then I know 123 00:13:45,539 –> 00:13:52,940 God. If he is not God then I do not know God. In fact more than that if he is not 124 00:13:52,979 –> 00:13:56,919 God then I do not even know where to look for God because God is invisible 125 00:13:56,919 –> 00:14:03,059 and where would I begin to look to find him? Now the central claim of 126 00:14:03,059 –> 00:14:10,340 Christianity is that coming to Jesus Christ, you are coming to God. That in 127 00:14:10,340 –> 00:14:14,659 honoring Jesus you’re honoring God, in dishonoring Jesus you would be 128 00:14:14,659 –> 00:14:19,419 dishonoring God, in obeying Jesus you’re obeying God, that if you were to resist 129 00:14:19,500 –> 00:14:28,299 Jesus you would be resisting God. Jesus is not God we don’t know God. Second, if 130 00:14:28,299 –> 00:14:35,460 Jesus is not God then the cross far from being an act of love turns out to be an 131 00:14:35,460 –> 00:14:43,719 act of utter despicable cruelty. Now think about this the death of Jesus on 132 00:14:43,719 –> 00:14:48,179 the cross stands at the center, obviously, of Christian faith and the New 133 00:14:48,280 –> 00:14:52,979 Testament teaches very clearly that the death of Jesus was a sacrifice for our 134 00:14:52,979 –> 00:14:59,119 sins. It teaches us that Jesus took our place and that the punishment that was 135 00:14:59,119 –> 00:15:06,900 due to me for my sin was diverted onto him who had no sin. And the Bible makes 136 00:15:06,900 –> 00:15:10,940 it clear that this was a demonstration of God’s love God demonstrates his love 137 00:15:10,940 –> 00:15:14,380 for us in this Romans chapter five in verse eight that while we were still 138 00:15:14,440 –> 00:15:23,919 sinners Christ died for us. Now think about it, if Jesus is not God the cross 139 00:15:23,919 –> 00:15:32,380 would not be a gift of love but an act of cruelty injustice and abuse. You see 140 00:15:32,380 –> 00:15:40,179 if the father chose just some person from human history called Jesus and then 141 00:15:40,239 –> 00:15:46,200 took all your sin and all mine and laid the guilt of it on this person God would 142 00:15:46,200 –> 00:15:52,440 have picked on him. God would have victimized him. God would have done a 143 00:15:52,440 –> 00:15:59,179 fundamental injustice to him in causing him to bear responsibility for things 144 00:15:59,179 –> 00:16:05,640 that he had never done. If Jesus is not God he was victimized and abused by the 145 00:16:05,760 –> 00:16:11,020 Father. If Jesus is not God he was sentenced for crimes that he did not 146 00:16:11,020 –> 00:16:17,000 commit. If Jesus is not God the cross is the greatest miscarriage of justice in 147 00:16:17,000 –> 00:16:20,679 human history and it’s not just a miscarriage of justice by Pontius Pilate 148 00:16:20,679 –> 00:16:25,479 it’s a miscarriage of justice by Almighty God. And if God himself is 149 00:16:25,479 –> 00:16:29,340 guilty of the most fundamental miscarriage of justice then we would be 150 00:16:29,340 –> 00:16:33,460 right to spend the rest of our lives in anger and fury towards him. Wouldn’t we? 151 00:16:34,239 –> 00:16:50,799 If God is unjust, but if Jesus is God with us and he chose to lay down his 152 00:16:50,799 –> 00:17:01,840 life then what happened on the cross is that God gave himself for you. 153 00:17:01,900 –> 00:17:11,199 God gave himself and I cannot understand nor explain to you today the mystery of 154 00:17:11,199 –> 00:17:17,680 the relationship between the Father and the Son, but I can understand and grasp 155 00:17:17,680 –> 00:17:26,640 that when Jesus died on the cross, God was giving himself for me. That God was 156 00:17:26,640 –> 00:17:33,199 standing in my place himself, not someone else. That God was intervening for me 157 00:17:33,199 –> 00:17:43,599 because Jesus is God with us. Thirdly, if Jesus is not God we cannot be sure of 158 00:17:43,599 –> 00:17:49,400 our final salvation. See my hope of final salvation rests on one conviction, and 159 00:17:49,400 –> 00:17:52,920 that is that Jesus Christ has been exalted to the highest place in the 160 00:17:52,920 –> 00:17:59,520 universe, that all authority has been given to him, that none is above him. This 161 00:17:59,520 –> 00:18:04,020 means therefore that he is able to fulfill all his purposes and deliver on 162 00:18:04,020 –> 00:18:09,459 all his promises. But, if Jesus were not God there would always be the 163 00:18:09,459 –> 00:18:14,640 possibility that he would in some way be overrun or overruled, that some force in 164 00:18:14,640 –> 00:18:18,599 heaven or hell or in the culture or in history may actually prevail against him 165 00:18:18,599 –> 00:18:22,439 and leave him unable to do what he wanted to do for you and for me and what 166 00:18:22,479 –> 00:18:32,939 we trusted him to do for us. Now, if Jesus is not God… all pack up and go home. 167 00:18:32,939 –> 00:18:39,780 In fact, if Jesus is not God, I would distinctly want nothing to do with 168 00:18:39,780 –> 00:18:51,119 Christianity for this reason that if Jesus is not God then all Christianity 169 00:18:51,599 –> 00:18:55,479 amounts to is a bunch of people claiming to know God when actually they don’t know 170 00:18:55,479 –> 00:19:01,859 anything more about him than anybody else… and an out-of-date religion that 171 00:19:01,859 –> 00:19:08,199 has much more to do with cruelty than love… and a rather naive group of people 172 00:19:08,199 –> 00:19:11,439 who are far too certain about eternal things that nobody can really know for 173 00:19:11,439 –> 00:19:17,900 sure. I wrote that down this week and I looked 174 00:19:17,900 –> 00:19:22,640 at it and I thought, that’s exactly why thousands of people have rejected 175 00:19:22,640 –> 00:19:28,140 Christianity today, isn’t it? It’s exactly why thousands of people have rejected 176 00:19:28,140 –> 00:19:31,380 Christianity today. They say, we’re a bunch of people claiming to know God but we 177 00:19:31,380 –> 00:19:35,540 don’t know more than anyone else… this is an out of date religion that seems to, 178 00:19:35,540 –> 00:19:38,680 with all its emphasis on a cross, have much more to do with cruelty than with 179 00:19:38,680 –> 00:19:43,780 love… it seems to be a rather naive group of people who are far too certain about 180 00:19:44,219 –> 00:19:47,339 things that nobody can know for sure. 181 00:19:47,780 –> 00:19:55,219 That’s why they’ve written us off. And if Jesus is not God they’re right to, because 182 00:19:55,219 –> 00:20:05,020 we got nothing if Jesus is not God. But the central claim of Christianity is 183 00:20:05,020 –> 00:20:17,979 that in Jesus Christ God is with us. The question is are you ready to be 184 00:20:17,979 –> 00:20:25,099 associated with that offense? See it’d be much easier for us in this culture if we 185 00:20:25,099 –> 00:20:28,040 were just to say well you know history has thrown up many great leaders who 186 00:20:28,040 –> 00:20:32,180 have insights and Jesus as one of them and we commend him to you. Of course 187 00:20:32,180 –> 00:20:34,739 we’re all brought up in various traditions, the important thing is that 188 00:20:34,739 –> 00:20:37,560 we all follow the light that we have and that we live a genuinely good life. 189 00:20:37,560 –> 00:20:50,219 Listen, we can’t do that. Our calling is to proclaim him. And if you proclaim him 190 00:20:50,219 –> 00:20:57,280 the world will hate you the same way as hated him. That is true across cultures 191 00:20:57,280 –> 00:21:05,579 and it is proved true across history. If you proclaim him the world will call 192 00:21:05,579 –> 00:21:13,260 you arrogant, the world will call you intolerant, the world will call you 193 00:21:13,260 –> 00:21:20,140 narrow-minded, and the world will call you bigoted. So if you’re going to live 194 00:21:20,140 –> 00:21:29,040 for Jesus you’d better be ready to embrace the offense. Now I just say we 195 00:21:29,040 –> 00:21:33,020 have to be very careful not to add to the offense of the gospel. I mean let’s 196 00:21:33,020 –> 00:21:36,640 face it some Christians are arrogant, narrow-minded, intolerant and bigoted. 197 00:21:36,640 –> 00:21:44,819 We have no reason to be. But listen that our calling is as humbly and as gently and 198 00:21:45,819 –> 00:21:52,560 lovingly as we possibly can. As God gives us in the context of relationship real 199 00:21:52,560 –> 00:22:00,180 opportunity to look another person in the eye and to say, you know I just 200 00:22:00,180 –> 00:22:06,439 don’t believe that you’re an accidental product of history. You’re made by a 201 00:22:06,439 –> 00:22:15,459 creator. And he loves you and he’s made himself known in history. And he’s 202 00:22:15,459 –> 00:22:24,060 entered history in a person whose name is Jesus. And by believing in him you can 203 00:22:24,060 –> 00:22:30,680 know God. And you can find peace with God. And you can find the everlasting life 204 00:22:30,680 –> 00:22:36,319 that he wants you to know. Now let’s be careful not to add to the offense of the 205 00:22:36,319 –> 00:22:40,420 gospel, but let’s not be naive either and pretend that our message is some kind 206 00:22:40,420 –> 00:22:46,939 of innocuous placebo that is generally acceptable to everybody. It is not. If it 207 00:22:46,939 –> 00:22:51,939 were, Jesus would not have been crucified. The world does not have room for the God 208 00:22:51,939 –> 00:22:55,780 of the Bible. It never has. It never will. The world’s agenda is to get everybody on 209 00:22:55,780 –> 00:23:03,780 the same page. That’s why Antichrist will come. Because Jesus makes that 210 00:23:03,800 –> 00:23:10,800 impossible. That’s why every one of us has to make a choice. Are you ready to be 211 00:23:10,800 –> 00:23:22,599 identified with the offence? We’ll call him Emmanuel because he’s God with us. 212 00:23:22,599 –> 00:23:29,979 That’s enough on the offence. Let’s come to the glory. We talked 213 00:23:30,040 –> 00:23:43,739 about a glorious offence of the Gospel. Use the glory. God with us. God with us. 214 00:23:44,459 –> 00:23:52,140 That is mind-shatteringly glorious. Now the big question here of course is, 215 00:23:52,219 –> 00:23:55,339 who is Matthew referring to when he says, us? 216 00:23:56,859 –> 00:24:04,060 God with us, who are these people who are the us in this magnificent name? 217 00:24:05,339 –> 00:24:10,219 Now this is a serious question and people who come up with different answers go down all kinds 218 00:24:10,219 –> 00:24:17,180 of strange rabbit trails and bypass. Is the us the Jews? 219 00:24:17,739 –> 00:24:21,420 Could the us be the Americans? 220 00:24:22,939 –> 00:24:29,500 Is the us all sincere people, or maybe even people who live a good life? 221 00:24:31,300 –> 00:24:35,979 Who are the us that God is with? 222 00:24:37,979 –> 00:24:40,380 When two nations go to war, which side is God on? 223 00:24:40,380 –> 00:24:44,140 Which side is God on? 224 00:24:44,140 –> 00:24:46,500 When we have an election, which party is God with? 225 00:24:48,060 –> 00:24:51,839 You see the problems we get into if we’ve not thought about who the us actually is? 226 00:24:56,079 –> 00:24:57,560 Who is God with? 227 00:24:57,560 –> 00:24:59,500 Who is God committed to? 228 00:25:02,300 –> 00:25:06,500 Well, the Gospel of Matthew was written, of course, to the early Christian church. 229 00:25:06,959 –> 00:25:11,660 At the time that Matthew wrote, Christian believers were enduring an absolute hammering 230 00:25:11,660 –> 00:25:15,839 for their declaration of the deity of Jesus Christ. 231 00:25:16,500 –> 00:25:20,719 The Christian preaching of Jesus was regarded in the Roman Empire as being so subversive 232 00:25:20,719 –> 00:25:24,160 that Christians had to meet secretly in caves. 233 00:25:25,760 –> 00:25:29,260 Now, our freedom to meet like this on a Sunday after Christmas 234 00:25:29,260 –> 00:25:34,479 is highly unusual in history and across culture 235 00:25:34,479 –> 00:25:36,119 and it’s good for us to remember that. 236 00:25:37,380 –> 00:25:40,520 If you had lived in the first century, 237 00:25:41,739 –> 00:25:47,180 the question you would have faced when you woke up on the 28th of December on a Sunday morning 238 00:25:47,979 –> 00:25:52,180 would not have been, as you thought about going to church, 239 00:25:53,060 –> 00:25:55,060 now do I like the music? 240 00:25:56,199 –> 00:26:00,800 Your question would not have been, are my friends going to be there today? 241 00:26:01,859 –> 00:26:04,579 The issue would have been, can I risk getting caught? 242 00:26:05,459 –> 00:26:08,979 Can I get there and back safely? 243 00:26:10,180 –> 00:26:17,020 And I could tell you what happened to those who were caught. But it is not appropriate for a Sunday morning family service. 244 00:26:19,000 –> 00:26:21,000 Nevertheless you should know 245 00:26:21,540 –> 00:26:25,160 and at some point every Christian except for the most squeamish 246 00:26:25,920 –> 00:26:30,660 should read at least some of John Foxe’s Book of the Martyrs. 247 00:26:31,579 –> 00:26:38,599 John Foxe recorded a classic book recording the deaths of Christian martyrs from the early Church up through the Middle Ages and 248 00:26:38,859 –> 00:26:40,859 until the 16-17 century. 249 00:26:42,459 –> 00:26:47,540 These stories in their vivid and awful 250 00:26:48,920 –> 00:26:50,699 reality 251 00:26:50,699 –> 00:26:57,439 will give you a sense of how hard it was and how costly it has been for Christians in most generations 252 00:26:58,000 –> 00:27:01,780 since the time of Christ and how hard it still is in many countries today. 253 00:27:02,040 –> 00:27:06,579 It will cause you to repent of being a wimp. 254 00:27:07,660 –> 00:27:09,699 I say that because that’s the effect it had on me. 255 00:27:10,760 –> 00:27:14,079 Why have I ever complained about the difficulties of living the Christian life? 256 00:27:16,439 –> 00:27:19,760 Now, Matthew was writing to the early Church 257 00:27:20,280 –> 00:27:24,760 at the beginning of these days of great persecution and 258 00:27:25,339 –> 00:27:27,800 at the beginning of his gospel, 259 00:27:27,800 –> 00:27:32,599 he opens it up under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by reminding these 260 00:27:32,920 –> 00:27:39,719 communities of believers around the Roman Empire as the church was spreading out, that the name given to Jesus is 261 00:27:40,180 –> 00:27:43,040 God is with us! 262 00:27:44,420 –> 00:27:49,699 We’re facing the overwhelming power of a rampant, militant 263 00:27:50,319 –> 00:27:53,760 dictatorship, but God is with 264 00:27:54,760 –> 00:27:56,199 us! 265 00:27:56,619 –> 00:27:58,160 us! 266 00:28:00,420 –> 00:28:02,439 And if you look at the end of his gospel, 267 00:28:02,439 –> 00:28:05,619 these are really like bookends on the gospel. The beginning and the end. 268 00:28:05,760 –> 00:28:07,760 How does the gospel of Matthew end? 269 00:28:07,760 –> 00:28:10,359 With recording the words of Jesus of the Great Commission. 270 00:28:10,439 –> 00:28:14,459 Go make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit, 271 00:28:14,859 –> 00:28:19,140 teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you and lo, Jesus says I 272 00:28:19,680 –> 00:28:21,040 am 273 00:28:21,040 –> 00:28:23,040 with you always 274 00:28:23,520 –> 00:28:28,459 Always even to the very end of the age. This is what Matthew is about 275 00:28:30,020 –> 00:28:32,520 The presence of God with his people 276 00:28:32,520 –> 00:28:33,900 That’s why right at the heart of the gospel 277 00:28:33,900 –> 00:28:39,260 Matthew records the words of Jesus where two or three gather together in my name there. I am in 278 00:28:40,160 –> 00:28:42,160 the midst 279 00:28:42,459 –> 00:28:45,959 Now you think about it the idea that the presence of God 280 00:28:47,359 –> 00:28:52,540 The presence of the one who created the whole of the universe is actually with 281 00:28:53,060 –> 00:29:00,199 a small persecuted Minority group who meet underground in caves must have seemed unlikely beyond belief 282 00:29:02,000 –> 00:29:04,140 But this is precisely what Matthew is saying 283 00:29:05,319 –> 00:29:10,680 God is with us. Oh, you bear the offense of that confession that he’s God 284 00:29:14,400 –> 00:29:19,199 Some of these folks must have wondered what hoped there ever was of family neighbors and friends ever coming to Christ 285 00:29:19,199 –> 00:29:22,180 Can you imagine inviting someone to church in a cave? 286 00:29:23,040 –> 00:29:25,040 You like to come with us on Sunday 287 00:29:25,260 –> 00:29:27,260 No, we don’t have a car park 288 00:29:29,459 –> 00:29:31,459 No, we don’t actually have a building 289 00:29:32,719 –> 00:29:34,719 What do we do? 290 00:29:35,800 –> 00:29:39,479 We worship Jesus and we believe that God is with us 291 00:29:41,599 –> 00:29:43,660 So anyone in the world who believes that 292 00:29:45,900 –> 00:29:49,119 You see you going to a secular University campus today 293 00:29:49,359 –> 00:29:53,579 and see all of the religious spiritual hoopla that is on offer there 294 00:29:54,579 –> 00:29:56,079 and 295 00:29:56,079 –> 00:29:59,199 here’s this Christian Union. If it’s not already been thrown off campus 296 00:30:01,060 –> 00:30:07,560 Can anybody seriously believe that God has uniquely bound himself to these people? 297 00:30:09,959 –> 00:30:11,959 That is staggering 298 00:30:12,920 –> 00:30:17,099 But that is exactly what Matthew is saying. God is with us 299 00:30:19,800 –> 00:30:21,800 Confessed Jesus Christ 300 00:30:22,619 –> 00:30:28,479 and it was that conviction that fired the ministry of the early church in the face of 301 00:30:29,000 –> 00:30:31,239 overwhelming difficulty and opposition 302 00:30:34,920 –> 00:30:41,020 Now we’re nearly through I want just to close with two questions and a very short statement. Questions are these 303 00:30:42,819 –> 00:30:44,880 if God would condescend 304 00:30:45,859 –> 00:30:49,500 to associate himself with believing people 305 00:30:51,180 –> 00:30:53,339 Do you think you could do that, too? 306 00:30:56,640 –> 00:31:04,180 You see I meet a lot of people these days who say that they love Jesus, but they despise the church 307 00:31:05,579 –> 00:31:07,579 They love Christ 308 00:31:08,000 –> 00:31:10,560 But they’re very impatient with other Christians 309 00:31:12,239 –> 00:31:14,239 Listen 310 00:31:14,400 –> 00:31:19,119 Jesus loved the church and gave himself for it to bring it into being 311 00:31:20,880 –> 00:31:22,880 God is with his people 312 00:31:24,520 –> 00:31:32,359 Despite all that inadequacies all that eccentricities all of their foolish mistakes all the uncool people that you find in church 313 00:31:34,439 –> 00:31:37,640 God’s presence is with his people I 314 00:31:38,219 –> 00:31:43,939 I don’t know how many times I’ve heard someone say oh, I can’t find the church where there are my kind of people 315 00:31:45,839 –> 00:31:47,839 Are they believers in Jesus 316 00:31:48,780 –> 00:31:56,079 are they committed to follow him well, then God is with them and if God would condescend to be with them do you think 317 00:31:56,079 –> 00:31:58,079 You could too 318 00:32:01,040 –> 00:32:04,160 Second if God is with us 319 00:32:04,839 –> 00:32:10,500 what part of the great commission do you think we’re not able to fulfill if 320 00:32:11,520 –> 00:32:13,520 God is really with us 321 00:32:14,280 –> 00:32:18,199 Who really believed that not just that he’s God, but that he’s caught with us 322 00:32:20,640 –> 00:32:25,900 I’ve been greatly helped by reading a book by British missionary Martin Goldsmith called Matthew and 323 00:32:26,239 –> 00:32:30,979 Mission and he makes simply the point that this whole gospel of Matthew is 324 00:32:31,479 –> 00:32:37,219 geared to the calling of the church to declare the good news of Jesus Christ to all people and 325 00:32:37,660 –> 00:32:42,560 I’d like just to quote a couple of paragraphs. He says this I found it very helpful. It is almost 326 00:32:43,300 –> 00:32:49,459 Unbelievable, he writes that such a God would want to be with such people as we are 327 00:32:50,900 –> 00:32:56,060 those first 12 disciples must have been deeply aware of how ordinary they were and 328 00:32:56,699 –> 00:33:00,380 The Church of Matthews Day must have felt small and inadequate 329 00:33:01,540 –> 00:33:03,859 Surrounded as they were by a sea of unbelief 330 00:33:04,859 –> 00:33:09,420 They were constantly threatened by the hovering sword of martyrdom and persecution 331 00:33:09,540 –> 00:33:13,579 They surely needed the comforting promise that God was with them 332 00:33:14,280 –> 00:33:19,660 rather than with the overwhelming powers that were around them and then he says this as 333 00:33:20,959 –> 00:33:22,959 A new missionary. I 334 00:33:23,920 –> 00:33:31,900 I remember standing under the towering blocks of flats in an immense new housing estate in Singapore 335 00:33:33,339 –> 00:33:36,859 The Chinese crowds milled past me. 336 00:33:37,900 –> 00:33:39,900 I knew no one and 337 00:33:39,939 –> 00:33:45,979 At that stage understood not one word that people were saying as they thronged around me. 338 00:33:47,420 –> 00:33:52,500 I remember feeling frighteningly insignificant 339 00:33:52,599 –> 00:33:54,599 You ever felt that? 340 00:33:55,540 –> 00:33:59,079 Ever felt that your little Christian testimony 341 00:33:59,140 –> 00:34:03,540 Is up against overwhelming odds 342 00:34:03,640 –> 00:34:09,020 And that it sometimes seems hopeless in the hardness of the unbelieving world 343 00:34:11,479 –> 00:34:15,379 And then he describes how his mind went to these words 344 00:34:17,580 –> 00:34:19,419 Emmanuel 345 00:34:19,419 –> 00:34:21,419 God 346 00:34:21,540 –> 00:34:23,540 With us 347 00:34:24,139 –> 00:34:27,219 God with us 348 00:34:30,300 –> 00:34:35,239 If God is with you, what part of his commission can you not fulfill? 349 00:34:36,020 –> 00:34:37,239 if 350 00:34:37,239 –> 00:34:39,780 God is with you you can face 351 00:34:40,580 –> 00:34:42,580 overwhelming odds and 352 00:34:42,959 –> 00:34:44,959 prevail 353 00:34:46,620 –> 00:34:48,620 The last thing is this 354 00:34:49,540 –> 00:34:51,540 If God is with us 355 00:34:52,139 –> 00:34:54,139 We need one another 356 00:34:54,620 –> 00:34:56,919 See just notice that the name 357 00:34:57,699 –> 00:35:00,399 Emmanuel does not mean God with me 358 00:35:02,760 –> 00:35:05,199 It means God with us and 359 00:35:06,699 –> 00:35:12,000 There are a lot of folks who would really prefer that it said God with me because they want to be 360 00:35:12,580 –> 00:35:17,419 Individualist loaner Christians, they love Christ and care love very little for anybody else 361 00:35:18,919 –> 00:35:20,820 But 362 00:35:20,820 –> 00:35:22,820 Emmanuel is God with us 363 00:35:24,040 –> 00:35:26,040 Not God with me 364 00:35:26,800 –> 00:35:30,540 I’m convinced that one of the greatest miscalculations of our time 365 00:35:30,540 –> 00:35:37,760 Is that we vastly overrate what an individual can do and we vastly underrate what the church can do 366 00:35:39,659 –> 00:35:46,419 What we can do for Christ together is far far more than any or all of us could do alone and 367 00:35:46,979 –> 00:35:53,919 And one of the tragedies that I see in these days is that there are many Christians who get to be 30 years old before they 368 00:35:53,919 –> 00:35:55,979 Really connect with the body of Christ 369 00:35:57,600 –> 00:35:59,600 That’s a tragedy 370 00:35:59,820 –> 00:36:03,580 Because the church is the body of Christ 371 00:36:05,020 –> 00:36:09,520 The body with its various functioning parts remember that analogy in the New Testament 372 00:36:10,620 –> 00:36:13,360 Don’t be an 18 year old 373 00:36:14,479 –> 00:36:16,399 disconnected hand 374 00:36:17,399 –> 00:36:19,399 Don’t be a 20 year old 375 00:36:20,340 –> 00:36:22,340 dislocated foot 376 00:36:23,560 –> 00:36:29,139 Get connected to the body of Christ whatever God has placed you 377 00:36:30,439 –> 00:36:33,679 Learn to love other believers who are different from you 378 00:36:35,300 –> 00:36:41,780 Find out what God has gifted you to do and pursue it and you will begin to grow and 379 00:36:42,260 –> 00:36:44,840 You will find that God will use you 380 00:36:45,820 –> 00:36:47,820 They will use us 381 00:36:48,939 –> 00:36:50,679 more 382 00:36:50,679 –> 00:36:52,679 than any of us had ever imagined 383 00:36:53,179 –> 00:36:55,179 Let’s pray together 384 00:36:55,520 –> 00:36:58,500 And all who believe will want to make this prayer their own 385 00:37:02,860 –> 00:37:06,919 Gladly we confess Lord Jesus the truth of your name 386 00:37:08,99 –> 00:37:10,699 Emmanuel 387 00:37:11,300 –> 00:37:13,340 God with us 388 00:37:14,840 –> 00:37:17,939 We know its offence 389 00:37:20,459 –> 00:37:22,979 And yet we would embrace you still 390 00:37:25,439 –> 00:37:27,439 For we see its glory 391 00:37:28,879 –> 00:37:31,860 We thank you that as in Jesus Christ you’re with us 392 00:37:33,879 –> 00:37:37,179 One day in Jesus Christ, we also will be with you 393 00:37:39,080 –> 00:37:41,120 So let us live 394 00:37:41,360 –> 00:37:43,739 As Christians through the centuries have lived 395 00:37:43,739 –> 00:37:47,580 In the face of the cold wind of a prevailing culture 396 00:37:47,580 –> 00:37:50,800 that bites against the claims of Christ 397 00:37:52,580 –> 00:37:59,379 Let us humbly, boldly, faithfully, lovingly, sensitively, courageously 398 00:38:01,360 –> 00:38:03,360 Proclaim Him 399 00:38:04,699 –> 00:38:06,699 Live for Him 400 00:38:07,419 –> 00:38:08,439 and 401 00:38:08,439 –> 00:38:13,520 May your blessing so be upon your people that in this year that lies ahead 402 00:38:13,540 –> 00:38:19,239 we may see here throughout the state throughout this country and throughout the world a 403 00:38:20,459 –> 00:38:22,620 sweeping in gathering of many 404 00:38:23,639 –> 00:38:25,739 who come to bow before Emmanuel 405 00:38:26,860 –> 00:38:28,860 And to worship Him also 406 00:38:29,620 –> 00:38:34,959 For these things we ask with gratitude and love in the Savior’s name 407 00:38:36,780 –> 00:38:38,780 Amen 408 00:38:41,120 –> 00:38:46,399 You’ve been listening to a sermon with pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible to contact us call us at 409 00:38:46,840 –> 00:38:49,639 1-877-OPEN-365 410 00:38:49,899 –> 00:38:53,580 or visit our website, OpenTheBible.org