Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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With being asked to preach advent series (thankful btw) I find myself with two conundrums
1st
My refusal to celebrate Christmas before month of December
One of the reasons for Christmas’ great success as a popular holiday
(verses lets say a holiday like Easter)
The nature of it being peaceful and light
Baby—Man
Birth—death
Away in a manger
No crib for a bed
The little Lord Jesus
Lay down his sweet head
The stars in the sky
Look down where he lay
The little Lord Jesus
Asleep on the hay
The cattle are lowing
The poor baby wakes
But little Lord Jesus
No crying he makes
I love thee Lord Jesus
Look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle
'Til morning is nigh
Silent night, holy night
All is calm and all is bright
Round yon virgin, mother and child
Holy infant, so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace, ooh
Sleep, sleep in heaven, heavenly peace
My point is not to contend with the idea altogether of it being peaceful around the birth of Jesus
But to acknowledge with the coming of Jesus Christ there is a whole lot of backstory
Certainly of peace on earth with those God is well pleased
But at the cost of great turmoil spearheaded by the birth of Baby Jesus
He was born in a world enslaved in darkness—a darkness that waged war even while the Lord of Light was just a peaceful baby
2nd Conundrum
My desire to continue my study in Psalms—especially Psalm 2
I think I have found a way to do both!
Preach Advent using Psalm 2 to help us get the whole picture of Christmas!
Peaceful baby Jesus....in the midst of great turmoil
Turmoil is not an accident by God but rather used by God for us to be all the more amazed at the gospel and Christ’s entrance into our world 2,000 years ago
And this turmoil is best understood when we see what the world desires to do, and what God desires to do
And how this tumultuous conflict has been present since Satan’s rebellion, seen at the birth of Jesus
and helps us better understand it even in our own day today
You want your life to make sense in the good and in the turmoil//if God only makes sense in the good times then perhaps we need a better understanding of God and how he works
The Goal of the Unbelievers
Right away we are smacked with turmoil of the world
The nations or people rage and plot
Rage is to behave in extreme anger
I think this is contrasted to the one who is in a state of delight in 1:2
In fact plot is the same word found in meditate in the same verse
Thus the turmoil we speak of is found in the fact that God has determined what makes for the blessed man, and the world has rebelled against it
The serpents lies and denying God’s word in Genesis 3 has continued in philosophy and action through the ages
In fact their plotting is seen in 2:3
The law of God is a gift he has given men to show them the blessed life
The lawless see it as bonds (shackles) or cords (rope) that is used only to restrain and restrict
How does this look with your family and friends at holiday gathering discussions?
What is the unbelievers problem with God?
They hate his authority and want to set up their own
I encourage you not to get suck into a debate about whether all the animals really could fit into Noah’s arc and get to the heart of the problem: Rejecting the law of Christ
The command to obey Jesus and his law is burdensome to the rebel, but to the people of his kingdom, it is a delight
And so I do not believe 2:1-3 is referring to one specific event as it is referring to the general philosophy and goal of the world system
Set against whom?
Against the Father and his anointed or messiah
This can be anyone God sets apart for special use
The direct context perhaps are the kings of Israel who were anointed by God to lead his people
But the overall fulfillment is seen in Jesus and his worldwide Kingdom that Satan and his kingdom has set himself against since the very beginning
General principle that shows the motive of all of the world’s dealings in the OT into the NT…to oppose the birth of Christ
The nations tried to destroy Israel for their own purpose, but it was the dragon that worked behind it so he could consume the baby
And so the general principle of Psalm 2:1-3 is that the world acts in a way that is opposed to Christ and his kingdom which has his law as its standard
Does that mean if you were to ask Nebuchadnezzar why he wanted to destroy Israel and Judah he would cite to you Revelation 12? No, he had his own motives but behind it all was this general world philosophy driven by Satan
Same thing with the story that surrounds the birth of Christ
Lets look at the philosophy and goal of the world at work surrounding Jesus’ birth and childhood
Herod was troubled because he was king and he doesn’t like the idea of the messiah coming to overthrow him
Same with all Jerusalem or its leaders
Thus the immediate angst comes from their own position of power, but Satan is working in that for the ultimate goal of destroying Christ and his kingdom
The people used by Satan may not be aware they are being used, but that is reality
First layer, second layer....will show the third in a second
This is why we must be informed of what our state was when we were in the lies of Satan and his kingdom:
All people do outside of Christ and his kingdom is following Satan and his kingdom whether they know it or not (most, if not all, don’t).
We know the end of the story, but without such knowledge such plotting and raging of the world is terrifying
You have a teenage mother with a young Joseph that has no idea of the powers at be that wants to destroy this baby
King Herod, but whats more, the Serpent of old (two layers)
Surely this poor couple has the world crashing down on them, they cannot endure
This doesn’t sound like us sometimes when we live in the age of disbelief as we do and the world is on the advance and the church on retreat?
We have seen generations of the youth lost to the dragon under disguise of living free without the rules and regulations of the church
Then they grow up and we wonder why the news is full of insanity
And now the local church is happy enough when it can at least sheep steal to grow in numbers and not fresh conversions
In fear much of the people of God has left the public square and sit terrified in their bomb shelter while the dogs outside bark
Just like Herod pursuing the child and his young parents to murder…who can stop this madness?
Divine Intervention by God to protect his Messiah
Further Divine Intervention with a twist…this whole thing was established by God to fulfill Scripture—to follow his plan
This should give us great peace when considering the turmoil of the world against Christ and his kingdom
First layer—the immediate players
Second layer—Satan working through them
Third layer—God working it all out for his purpose
Peter and John in front of the council
This scary time for the early church was understood in the context of God’s ultimate sovereignty behind it all (not Satan’s) which enabled boldness in the face of it all
This gives its full meaning to one word I skipped in Psalm 2
VAIN!
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