Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Four Things Trials Should Produce

Temple Baptist Church - 12-28-2016
1 Peter 1:6-9

Introduction:

A.  We have spent a lot of time looking at trials because they are a way of life.  The Old Testament is a “gold mine” when it comes to preaching on the troubles and trials of this life.  One Book often referenced is Job.  Job summed things up in chapter 14:

Job 14:1-2  Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.  (2)  He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. (Trials and tears are a way of life!  Sorrow comes our way more often than we like.)

B.  It is in the valleys that we grow.  It is the hard places in life that produce both spiritual growth and spiritual strength.  Men are born out of adversity!  I have often said that the true measure of a man is not found in that which he accomplishes but rather in what it takes to stop him.

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4  It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.  (3)  Sorrow isbetter than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.  (4)  The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

C.  Tonight, I want to look at three things that trials should produce in the life of God’s children.  Verse 7 says, “might be found.”  Might or might not is up to the individual.  I have often said that, when troubles hit, you can come out better or bitter.  It is personal choice and I choose better.

1.  A Faithfulness to the Will of God.  Verse 6.  “A faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted.”  Paul said to “Examine yourselves.”  Too many people leave the will of the God and the local church when trials come.  Satan is an “isolator!”  He divides and conquers.  Our Lord said that “a house divided” cannot stand.  Sin can divide but also trials tend to do so.  Trials caused Peter to deny the Lord thrice. 

Luke 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:  (Satan uses our circumstances to “sift” us.  “sift” simply means to separate.  Most of you ladies have a sifter to remove the lumps in flour.  Satan uses the “sifter” of trials to remove our faith in Christ.)

2 Timothy 2:26  And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Luke 22:41-43  And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,  (42)  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me:nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.  (43)  And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.  (When we, in our weak moments, bow to the will of God—it is there that we will find strength to endure and overcome.)

2.  A Whole heartedness in our Trust of God.  Verse 7.  The Holy Ghost compares our trials to be far better than “gold that perisheth.”  Trials become precious when they produce the right results.  I have often said that, if you can trust the Lord with your eternal soul, you can trust Him with your life.  Trusting Christ when you cannot track Him. 

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  (6)  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.  (This is one of those easy to quote but hard to live verses.  We often use it until we come to the hard places in life.  Trusting the Lord with all our heart means to know that He loves us and has final say in all our circumstances.  We must trust “though now for a season, if need be” as God knows!)

John 20:29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

3.  A Fervent Love for God.  Verse 8.  “Whom having not seen, ye love … joy unspeakable and full of glory” are words that the world will never understand.  The child of God loves the Lord Jesus!  One who does not love Him does not know Him!

1 Corinthians 16:22  If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.  (As trials are what strengthens the love between a man and a woman, our trials should strengthen our love for Christ.

4.  A Blessed Hope of Deliverance.  Verse 9.  Trials are proof that this world is not our home.  One day, the Lord will wipe all tears from our eyes because the “former things” of pain, suffering, disappointments, sorrow, troubles and trials will all come to an eternal end when we are finally and eternally home.  We have a place prepared for us through the applied blood of Christ on the Mercy Seat in heaven.  Until that day, we will indeed suffer but must do so with commitment to the will of God.

1 Peter 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.


Sunday, December 25, 2016

The Word Made Flesh

Temple Baptist Church - 12-25-2016
John 1:14; Matthew 18:1-25; Luke 2:1-19


Introduction:

A.  Christmas morning is Sunday morning this year.  What a wonderful time to be in church!  This morning makes this Christmas a special one.  Christmas is all about the incarnation of Israel’s long awaited Messiah and our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

1.  456 passages of Scripture in the Old Testament refer directly to Christ.

2.  45 times in the New Testament, when referring to the incarnation, the Bible declares that it was “fulfilled” concerning Christ.

B.  I do not want to go into the math this morning but will give some figures proven to be true by a secular mathematician concerning the prophecies of Christ and their fulfillment.

C.  Peter Stoner, Professor Emeritus of Science at Westmont College, used the science of probability to determine the chance that these prophecies could all occur in one person.  The value and accuracy of the science of probability has been well established.   Professor Stoner, calculated the probability of one man fulfilling the major prophecies concerning the Messiah and submitted his figures for review to a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation. Upon examination, they verified that his calculations were dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented (Peter Stoner, Science Speaks, Chicago: Moody Press, 1969, 4). I have all the computations that were mathematically derived from this study at the end of this message but I want to just give the “gist” of it.  If you would like to see it all, I have the notes.

1.  The mathematical conclusion was that for the Messiah to be born in Bethlehem was one in 300,000.  That is just the fulfillment of one prophecy.

2.  After studying just 8 different prophecies, they conservatively estimated that the chance of one man fulfilling all 8 was one in 10^17 or one with 17 zeros behind it.  That is 100 quadrillion!  Suppose that we take 10^17 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. That is 268,820 square miles! They would cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would've had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote them in their own wisdom (Idem, 106-107).

3.  In another calculation, Stoner used 48 prophecies (Idem, 109) (even though he could have used Edersheim's 456), and arrived at the extremely conservative estimate that the probability of 48 prophecies being fulfilled in one person is the incredible number 10^157. (ten unquinquagintillion – un-quin-qua-gin-tillion) Again, 45x the Bible uses the word “fulfilled” when speaking of the life of Christ.

4.  Electrons are very small objects. They're smaller than atoms. It would take 2.5 TIMES 10^15 of them, laid side by side, to make one inch. Even if we counted 250 of these electrons each minute, and counted day and night, it would still take 19 million years just to count a line of electrons one-inch long (Stoner, op. cit, 109).

5.  God so thoroughly vindicated Jesus Christ that even mathematicians and statisticians, who were without faith, had to acknowledge that it is scientifically impossible to deny that Jesus is the Christ.

D.  I wanted to read 3 accounts of the birth of Christ this morning as each sheds light upon the incarnation of Jehovah God in the flesh. 

1.  The Book of John sets forth the deity of the eternal Jesus Christ, the Word of God—Jehovah God in flesh.  When describing the eternality and incarnation of Israel’s Messiah, our Lord and Saviour—Jesus Christ, we find no more detail anywhere in the Bible than is found in these much-preached verses. 

2.  The Book of Matthew shows who He was, how He came, and the reason for His coming.  The virgin born Son of God, the Saviour of the world. 

3.  The Book of Luke shows the time frame in which He was born, the place of His birth, who He was, and why He came.

E.  So much can be said about the birth of Christ and what He did for us through the incarnation. 

1.  He sought us.

2.  He bought us.

3.  He illuminated us.

4.  He convicted us.

5.  He convinced us.

6.  He graciously saved us.

7.  He abides within us.

8.  He marvelously keeps us.

9.  He works through us.

10.  He protects us.

11.  He provides for us.

12.  He guides us.

13.  He succors us.

14.  He is coming for us!

15.  That will preach!!

F.  For a few minutes this morning, I want to look once again at the Lord Jesus Christ.  I do not think that I can preach enough about Him.  I do not think that I will ever understand everything about Him. 

1.  There was none before Him

2.  There is none like Him

3.  There is none beside Him

4.  There will never be one after Him! 

5.  He was that He was.

6.  He is that He is

7.  He will be what He will be!

G.  John 1:1-14 has perhaps the best description of who our Lord Jesus was as well as what He became and came to do.  I just want to lift His name for a few minutes this morning.  He certainly is worthy of both our praise and our preaching.  Dr. Harold Sightler taught us “preacher boys” to preach Christ.  He often told us to never stray far from the cross for it was the preaching of Christ and Him crucified that would win the world to God.

H.  John 1:1-14

1.  Vs. 1-2 – His Person - We See Christ As God!  He is the eternal God and the only true God!

John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.  (The phrase “I AM” means “to exist!”  All that I can say about God is that HE IS!  The world can accept Him or reject Him but that does not change the fact that HE IS!!  When this world is gone and time is no more HE IS!!)

2.  Vs. 3 – His Power - We See Christ As Creator – Jesus Christ is the Jehovah God of the Old Testament, the Creator of all things.  Don’t take my word for it.  Take God’s Word for it.

Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God (that’s HIM) created the heaven and the earth.

Psalms 33:6 By the word of the LORD (that’s HIM) were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his (that’s HIM) mouth.

Colossians 1:16-17 For by him (that’s HIM) were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him (that’s HIM), and for him (that’s HIM): 17 And he (that’s HIM) is before all things, and by him (that’s HIM) all things consist.

Hebrews 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son(that’s HIM), whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom (that’s HIM) also he made the worlds; (All I can say is that HE DID IT!  I do not have to understand it to believe it!  I know that the Word of God declares that He formed the heavens and the earth through the spoken Word of His mouth and I believe it.  HE DID IT!!  Nothing has been created since He DID IT!  Matter can neither be created nor destroyed.  It can only be changed!)

3.  Vs. 4-5 – His Purpose - We See Christ As Life! It is because of the very breath of God that you and I live.  He is our mortal Life!  He is our spiritual Life!  It is through Him that we believe!

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

1 John 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; [and] he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.  (Without Him, there is no life.  Without Him no life could possible exist!  You may have physical life ([and that came from Him] but without Him you have no spiritual life.  You are dead in trespasses and sins!)

4.  Vs. 6-9 – His Purity - We See Christ As Light!  I want to say this morning that He is THE LIGHT, not a light!  THE LIGHT that shines through this sin darkened world to point the wandering sinner to Himself!

1 John 1:5  This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

John 8:12  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Psalms 18:28 For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.  (To have Christ is to have Light, to not have Christ is to live a life of total darkness!)

5.  Vs. 10-14 – His Pre-eminence - We See Christ As Saviour!  If you get to Heaven, it will through the FINISHED WORK of Jesus Christ: the gospel!

Isaiah 12:2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

Isaiah 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

John 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.  (Jesus Christ is my Lord and Saviour!  All my hope is found in Him!  He is my eternal Life!)

Conclusion:  What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus my Lord!  Do you know Him this morning?

***
Professor Emeritus of Science at Westmont College, Peter Stoner, has calculated the probability of one man fulfilling the major prophecies made concerning the Messiah. The estimates were worked out by twelve different classes representing some 600 university students. The students carefully weighed all the factors, discussed each prophecy at length, and examined the various circumstances which might indicate that men had conspired together to fulfill a particular prophecy. They made their estimates conservative enough so that there was finally unanimous agreement even among the most skeptical students. However Professor Stoner then took their estimates, and made them even more conservative. He also encouraged other skeptics or scientists to make their own estimates to see if his conclusions were more than fair. Finally, he submitted his figures for review to a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation. Upon examination, they verified that his calculations were dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented (Peter Stoner, Science Speaks, Chicago: Moody Press, 1969, 4). 

For example, concerning Micah 5:2, where it states the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah, Stoner and his students determined the average population of BETHLEHEM from the time of Micah to the present; then they divided it by the average population of the earth during the same period. They concluded that the chance of one man being born in Bethlehem was one in 300,000, (or one in 2.8 x 10^5 - rounded), After examining only eight different prophecies (Idem, 106), they conservatively estimated that the chance of one man fulfilling all eight prophecies was one in 10^17. To illustrate how large the number 10^17 IS (a figure with 17 zeros), Stoner gave this illustration : If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10^17 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They'll cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would've had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote them in their own wisdom (Idem, 106-107). In financial terms, is there anyone who would not invest in a financial venture if the chance of failure were only one in 10^17? This is the kind of sure investment we're offered by god for faith in His Messiah. From these figures, Professor Stoner, concludes the fulfillment of these eight prophecies alone proves that God inspired the writing of the prophecies (Idem, 107) - the likelihood of mere chance is only one in 10^17! Another way of saying this is that any person who minimizes or ignores the significance of the biblical identifying signs concerning the Messiah would be foolish. 

But, of course, there are many more than eight prophecies. In another calculation, Stoner used 48 prophecies (Idem, 109) (even though he could have used Edersheim's 456), and arrived at the extremely conservative estimate that the probability of 48 prophecies being fulfilled in one person is the incredible number 10^157. In fact, if anybody can find someone, living or dead, other than Jesus, who can fulfill only half of the predictions concerning the Messiah given in the book "Messiah in Both Testaments" by Fred J. Meldau, the Christian Victory Publishing Company is ready to give a ONE thousand dollar reward! As apologist Josh McDowell says, "There are a lot of men in the universities that could use some extra cash!" (Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, California: Campus Crusade for Christ, 175). How large is the number one in 10^157? 10^157 contains 157 zeros! Stoner gives an illustration of this number using electrons. Electrons are very small objects. They're smaller than atoms. It would take 2.5 TIMES 10^15 of them, laid side by side, to make one inch. Even if we counted 250 of these electrons each minute, and counted day and night, it would still take 19 million years just to count a line of electrons one-inch long (Stoner, op. cit, 109). With this introduction, let's go back to our chance of one in 10^157. Let's suppose that we're taking this number of electrons, marking one, and thoroughly stirring it into the whole mass, then blindfolding a man and letting him try to find the right one. What chance has he of finding the right one? What kind of a pile will this number of electrons make? They make an inconceivably large volume. This is the result from considering a mere 48 prophecies. Obviously, the probability that 456 prophecies would be fulfilled in one man by chance is vastly smaller. 

According to Emile Borel, once one goes past one chance in 10^50, the probabilities are so small that it is impossible to think that they will ever occur (Ankerberg et. al., op. cit., 21). As Stoner concludes, 'Any man who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a fact, proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world (Stoner, op. cit., 112).' God so thoroughly vindicated Jesus Christ that even mathematicians and statisticians, who were without faith, had to acknowledge that it is scientifically impossible to deny that Jesus is the Christ. our thanks to David Williams, a mathematician who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ.”


Sunday, December 18, 2016

No Room

Temple Baptist Church - 12-18-2016
Luke 2:1-19

 
Introduction:
 
A.  There is so much of the Bible that I have never gotten around to preaching in my many years in the pulpit.  The older that I get, the more that I realize that I have too little time left to preach.  I want to look at a phrase that has found its way into the songs that we sing at Christmas.  Each year, our ladies here at Temple sing the song “No Room.”
 
B.  Once again, at Christmas, the world has “no room” for Jesus Christ in their celebrations.
 
1.  Two thousand years ago, the long awaited “Seed of the Woman,” the “Only Begotten of the Father,” the “Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world,” the “Messiah” of Israel, was born in Bethlehem. 
 
2.  Born the right Person-God made flesh, born the right way—of a virgin, born the right time—the fullness of time, born at the right place, but missed by the world.
 
C.  That night, when the Christ was born, there was no fanfare and few awaited His birth.  The Inns were filled and there was “no room” for the Christ to be born in.
 
D.  There is a spiritual truth found in these verses that has never ceased throughout the las two millenniums. 
 
1.  As Christ was not expected 2, 000 years ago, He has been rejected until this day by the majority.  The world still has “no room” for Christ!  Turn to John 1:5:
 
John 1:5-11  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.  (6)  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  (7)  The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.  (8)  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  (9)  That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.  (10)  He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.  (11)  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.  
 
2.  Jesus Christ is not wanted by most but is still available to all. 
 
John 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
 
E.  This morning, I would like to ask each of you the question: “Do you have any room for the Christ?”  I want to look at four classes of people:  two on the outside of the church and two on the inside of the church.
 
Outside of the church:
 
1.  There is “no room” in the heart of the Fool. 
 
a.  The “Fool” knew God.  Romans 1:20-21  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:  (21)  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  (There are so many people who study “science” and yet deny God.  The heavens DECLARE the glory of God and the firmament (DECLARES) His handy work.  True science (knowledge) has God’s “fingerprint” all over it.  To say that this all just happened takes a fool.  To see the body that we have and to deny the God who designed it takes a fool.)
 
b.  The “Fool” had to do something with God: reject God.  Psalms 14:1  The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.  (“They are corrupt” means to be altered.  Corrupt also carries the thought of dishonesty!  God denying “scientists” are willfully dishonest.  Why do scientists keep saying, “There is no God?”  Dr. S. M. Lockridge said, “You can’t get Him off your hands!”  Everywhere they look, God is still there so they spend their lives trying to prove that He does not exist.)
 
2.  There is “no room” in the heart of the Faithless. 
 
a.  This is the man who knows that there is a God but refuses to accept Him.  2 Corinthians 4:1-4  Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;  (2)  But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.  (3)  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:  (4)  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (Though the evidence is clear, though God gives to every man the measure of faith, this man chooses to “pretend” that God is not there or God is not knowable.  If there is a God and He created all things, then He must make Himself knowable.  I am glad that I know Him!!)
 
b.  This the man who is blinded to spiritual truth.  2 Corinthians 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.  (They refuse to believe because to believe is to be accountable.  Ultimately, the “god of this world”—Satan, blinds their minds so that they cannot believe.  One preacher said, “God will always give you what you want but it will always cost you what you have.”)
 
Inside of the church:
 
1.  There is “no room” in the hearts of the Foolish Believer. 
 
a.  The Foolish Believer who lives for self.  Luke 12:16-21  And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:  (17)  And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?  (18)  And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.  (19)  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.  (20)  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?  (21)  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.  (So many people who have come to Christ by faith have no time for Him in their daily lives.  Their lives reflect the world around them instead of a reflection of the Christ who died for them.  Paul declared: “For to me to live is Christ.”  To be saved and have no desire to live for Christ is an oxymoron!  These two things do not belong in the same sentence and, yet, so may professing believers seemingly have no room of Christ in their lives.)
 
b.  The Foolish Believer who does foolish things.  2 Corinthians 5:10-11  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.  (11)  Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.  (They live their lives in a lackadaisical manner, in a selfish manner, in a careless manner, without Jesus Christ taking preeminence in their lives.  Living as if there is no reckoning or recompense for sinfulness; living as if there is no accountability and loss of reward at the Judgement Seat of Christ.)
 
2.  There is plenty of “room” in the hearts of the Faithful Believer. 
 
a.  The Faithful Believer is Thankful.  Psalms 103:1-5  Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.  (2)  Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:  (3)  Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;  (4)  Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;  (5)  Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.  (These are mindful that it is God that has saved them and blessed their lives.  Count you many blessings this morning!  Look around you and see the goodness of God!  God has been so good to us all and He alone deserves the glory for it.)
 
b.  The Faithful Believer is Expectant.  1 John 3:2-3  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  (3)  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (These are those who look for that Blessed Hope and soon appearing of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.  This world is not my home, I’m just passing through.  Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people.  If we expect Him, we will live for Him.) 
 
Conclusion:  Is there “room” in your heart this Christmas?  Have a great time with you family and friends this Christmas but don’t leave out the reason for the season, the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.