O Come, O Come!

Christmas 2017  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  32:35
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 O COME, O COME THE PROMISE OF THE SAVIOR Isaiah 9:6–7 — 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over His kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. Isaiah 9:6-7, which is a clear prophecy of the birth and ministry of Jesus Christ, is familiar to many of us. It is one of hundreds of prophecies throughout the entire Old Testament that were fulfilled by the Lord Jesus in His conception, birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and saving work even in our own time. It’s easy to see these sorts of verses as not really being meaningful today. After all, they were promises made about 2,700 years ago, and fulfilled about 2,000 years ago. Years ago I learned the secret of being personally impacted by the words of Scripture, often being moved to tears. That secret – which is really no secret – is to understand that the Word of God is not an instruction book, or a textbook, or a “life manual,” but a historical book. The people in it were real. Their circumstances were real. The very real judgment of God came against real sin. The promises of God were made to real sinners. DAVID’S CRISIS Would you turn to Psalm 51 with me? I want to show you why all of those many prophecies about the Savior, which were fulfilled in Jesus Christ, matter so very much. The opening words of Psalm 51 give us the historical context: Psalm 51:title — To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. These words were not added by the translators or publisher of your Bible; they are part of the original text. They describe the circumstances of David’s adultery with a woman named Bathsheba. That story is told in First Samuel 11-12; you can read the details there later. This is essentially what happened. David saw Bathsheba bathing late one afternoon; the text tells us that he was on his roof. She was probably not on her roof, but in an open-roofed courtyard, feeling that the late afternoon light and walls gave her privacy. He was overcome with lust, and sent for her. After sleeping with her he dismissed her. As a result, Bathsheba conceived. To cover up his sin, David ordered his general, Joab, to put Uriah into mortal danger in battle. Uriah died as well as others, and no doubt still others were injured. Only David and Bathsheba knew about his sin, but he could not escape the conviction of the Holy Spirit. He writes of the same episode in Psalm 32, Psalm 32:3–4 ESV For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah It might have even been a relief when the prophet Nathan came to him and confronted him. We see in Psalm 51 that he didn’t defend himself or minimize his sin: Psalm 51:3–4 — 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be justified in Your words and blameless in Your judgment. David wronged many people, but he only sinned against God. And he agrees that God’s judgment against him is utterly justified and righteous. DAVID’S HELPLESSNESS David understood that the Law didn’t offer a solution for his sin. He says, Psalm 51:16 — 16 For You will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. God established the sacrificial system to cover unintentional sins. Over and over again the word unintentional appears in the book of Leviticus, but there are no options given for deliberate, intentional sin of any kind. Nothing of David’s sin was unintentional. He committed adultery: that calls for death. He commanded the murder of Uriah and the other soldiers: that calls for death. He conspired to deceive everyone around him. David understood that his sins deserved the judgment of God, and that he was powerless to help himself in any way. DAVID’S PLEA And so David appealed directly to the Lord: Psalm 51:1–2 — 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to Your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! Why would God grant David mercy? Not because of sacrifices David made. Not because of any works or good intentions. He could only appeal to the steadfast love and mercy of God, and he did. David’s plea comes through six requests in Psalm 51:7-12. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalm 51:7) He asks for actual cleansing, actual forgiveness, for such purity that his heart and soul would be whiter, purer, than new fallen snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that You have broken rejoice. (Psalm 51:8) He asks for utter joy, which was shattered by the wounds God inflicted on him to make and keep him aware of his sin. 9 Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. (Psalm 51:9) He longs for justification, for God to see him as completely righteous. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10). He asks to be spiritually renewed, to really be born again with a clean heart and a right spirit. 11 Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. (Psalm 51:11). He asks for mutual intimacy with God: that he would be fully in the presence of God, and God would be fully with him. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. (Psalm 51:12). And he asks for eternal preservation, that the joy of salvation would be fully and perfectly his, and that he would be upheld and sustained by the Lord. DAVID HAD NO ASSURANCE David could have no assurance that any of these things could ever happen, or if they were possible, that God would grant them to him. He could only ask in his desperation, and then leave the outcome in the Lord’s hands. In Second Samuel 12:13 you’ll see that the prophet Nathan told David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die,” meaning the judgment of physical death. But he had no assurance of spiritual restoration, of the restoration of true joy, of peace in his innermost being. David died hundreds of years before Isaiah wrote, Isaiah 53:4–6 ESV Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned— every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. David lived without the hope that a substitute would be given. He had to take all the grief and guilt and shame of his sin, and hope that someday, somehow, God would fulfill His prayer. BRINGING IT HOME The Lord does for His people today what He did for David 2,700 years ago. For Christians: If you have trusted Jesus Christ, and God has answered David’s prayer in your life, then give Him the glory! And let me encourage you to listen now, so that you can share this with others. And let me encourage you to be in prayer for those who are less certain. For Unbelievers: If you aren’t sure whether you’ve really trusted Christ or not, or, you know that you haven’t, then let me speak specifically to you. Right now you may be feeling the weight of your sins, whatever they are. You’ve never done what David did, his were pretty specific to his life, but you know that you are guilty of things that are just as sinful and just as deserving of judgment. It might surprise you to learn that your guilt is called conviction, and it’s from God. The Holy Spirit forces our consciences to face our own sin, and the results are painful. But let me tell you something wonderful. The Holy Spirit causes us this pain of conviction so that we may turn away from our own sin and turn to Jesus Christ. You can bring nothing to Jesus but your sin, but He calls upon you to do exactly that. The Spirit of God is causing you this pain so that you would long for and plead for perfect cleansing, actual forgiveness of your sins, which He provided through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. The Spirit of God is causing you this pain so that you would long for and plead for utter joy and for the removal of your shame and guilt, which He provided through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. The Spirit of God is causing you this pain so that you would long for and plead for complete justification, that you would be utterly righteous before God, that your conscience would be free from shame; that justification is provided for in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The Spirit of God is causing you this pain so that you would long for and plead for spiritual rebirth and regeneration, not just a second chance to fail all over again, but new life, lived as a new creation in Christ. He has provided this through Jesus’ death and resurrection, and will make it real in you through the Holy Spirit, who, the moment you believe, will take your old life and place with Jesus on the cross, and raise you with Jesus from the grave. The Spirit of God is causing you this pain so that you would long for and plead for mutual intimacy with Him as your God and Creator, you in His holy presence without fear or shame, and the Lord dwelling within you as His temple, His house, His precious, adopted child. This mutual intimacy is provided through the cross of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God is causing you this pain so that you would long for and plead for eternal preservation and safety with Him, saving you and keeping you by His own power. Like all the rest, He has provided this for you through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you will trust Him today, then He will save you from your sins, enter into your life, cleanse your conscience, grant you incomparable peace, fill you with joy, and never leave you or forsake you. He will stand with you through every circumstance of this life, take you in His arms as this life comes to an end, and bring you into His eternal heaven. You will never be separated from Him again. But you must understand that rejecting Jesus Christ comes with the consequence of eternal separation from Him in hell. Those who want nothing to do with Jesus here will have nothing to do with Him in eternity. Those who reject forgiveness and cleansing through Jesus’ cross will personally bear the eternal wrath of God. Ezekiel 33:4–5 says, “if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life.” I can’t urge you strongly enough to turn away from your sins and trust in Jesus Christ. There is no magic to a prayer for salvation, but some don’t know where to start. It’s as simple as praying in faith, with all your heart, and saying, “Lord Jesus, I am a sinner who deserves nothing but hell, but I believe that You are the Savior. I turn away from my sins, and I ask that You take me and wash me clean. I ask that You grant me new life, and fill me with Your Spirit, and keep me faithfully Yours for all time. Amen.”
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