O Come Emmanuel

A customs officer observes a truck pulling up at the border. Suspicious, he orders the driver out and searches the vehicle. He pulls off the panels, bumpers, and wheel cases but finds not a single scrap of contraband… still suspicious but at a loss to know where else to search. He waves the driver through. The next week, the same driver arrives. Again, the official searches, and again finds nothing illicit. Over the years, the official tries full-body searches, X-rays, and sonar, anything he can think of, and each week the same man drives up, but no mysterious cargo ever appears, and each time, reluctantly, the customs man waves the driver on. Finally, after many years, the officer is about to retire. The driver pulls up. "I know you're a smuggler," the customs officer says. "Don't bother denying it. But I can’t figure out what you've been smuggling all these years. I'm leaving now. I swear to you I can do you no harm. Won't you please tell me what you've been smuggling?"

"Trucks," the driver says.

Do we have difficulty with the obvious today? Too many distractions keeping us from what is right under our nose? So distracted that we cannot see what is right in front of our face? More specifically, do we have difficulty with the obvious concerning the holiday called Christmas? Such as… what this holiday if for? Or what this whole thing is all about. What are we celebrating? Strange question, right? We might think it’s obvious, but is it? I think so, but it does not seem like it is sometimes. We hear even from Christians that this season is about … well, I have heard many say… it’s about family. It’s about loving each other, it’s a time to emphasize giving, it’s about mending broken relationships, it is about world peace, helping the less fortunate, lights, trees, eggnog, presents, and kisses under the mistletoe. What about Christ… well Him too. So… do we, Christian, know what Christmas is about? What is sad...Unbelievers see it as pertaining to Christ, that is why they want to change the name of the holiday.

A super popular evangelical pastor said in an interview, when asked what we should do on Christmas…Some gifts you can give this Christmas are beyond monetary value: Mend a quarrel, dismiss suspicion, tell someone, "I love you." Give something away--anonymously. Forgive someone who has treated you wrong. Turn away wrath with a soft answer. Visit someone in a nursing home. Apologize if you were wrong. Be especially kind to someone with whom you work. Give like God gave to you in Christ, without obligation, or announcement, or reservation, or hypocrisy.

What about the gift of telling someone about the gospel? Is this not the greatest gift you could give anyone? Should we not tell someone about Christ… is not the season about Christ? The coming of the King. The Kingdom of Heaven. Salvation? Should Christians especially pastors, know this?

A popular Christian Musician wrote a song called a grown up Christmas list...

No more lives torn apart That wars would never start And time would heal all hearts And everyone would have a friend And right would always win And love would never end, no This is my grown up Christmas list This is my only lifelong wish This is my grown up Christmas list

Christ. The Gospel Declared. Salvation of friends and loved ones. Great .... a person with a life not torn apart, that never had to deal with war, that always has a healed heart, that always has a friend, where right always wins out form them and experiences love from people that never ends… and burn in hell for eternity. Yeah that makes sense.

You cannot have life without Christ. You cannot have the church without Christ. You cannot have Christianity without Christ. You cannot have Christmas without Christ.

Or is Christ the Lord coming into the world to seek and save that which was lost not the reason for the season? Is the season not about Christ? Maybe I missed something? Is not the name Christ not a part of the name of the holiday? He is in there. Would it not be foolish… what is New Year’s Day about? What is Columbus Day about? What is Independence Day about? What is Martin Luther King Day about? What is Easter about? The Easter bunny of course.

Family, we gotta know that we are naturally inclined to reject Christ. There is too much honesty there. When face to face with the truth of Christ, we see who he really is and we see who we really are. This is the nature of sin in us. Every time we are faced with Christ, we see our sin. Can we overcome this? Can we overcome the discomfort of the reality of Christmas? Let’s take a look at our passage today.

King Ahaz was frightened that Israel and Syria were coming to take over Judah and set one of their puppets on the throne. God promised Ahaz that they would not conquer. But it seems that Ahaz still did not believe God. God said to Ahaz...ok fine ask me for a sign and I will give it to you and Ahaz did not ask…probably did not want the sign because he did not want to believe. Did not want to trust in God. God the Father gave him one anyway and this sign would be a wonder for us all. He said…

Isaiah 7:14 NLT

All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

The Grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.

1. The Promise

2. God with Us

3. The Reason for the Season

The first thing we will look at today is the promise and or sign that the Lord had given the king which he rejected. Do we reject because of lack of information or is it rebellion? The second thing we will look at is the meaning of Emmanuel - God with Us. We see that the greatest gift is the presence of God, not the presents from God. Finally, we will see that the only thing that remains is the only thing that matters… it is our Lord Jesus, God with Us our salvation.

Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world continue to cause confusion and unbelief, it is the power of the gospel, the promised baby born in a manger, called Emmanuel, that brings us life and life more abundantly for all eternity.

I. The Promise

- Don’t let Christmas get in the way of Christmas.

A. God made a promise to Ahaz, but he did not believe. He was in so much unbelief that when God asked him to request a sign of him he refused. I will not test…It was false piety in order to persist in his unbelief. He trusted the Assyrians not God. He did not care. He trusted what he could see and comprehend. He trusted in the might of men… not God. He did not trust the Lord.

B. He gave a promise and there is much controversy over this passage regarding the “virgin” and the identity, but we are missing the point here. He is wanting to give a different picture. Lack of faith and the wonder of Salvation. Specifically, from king Ahaz’s enemies, but more… salvation from sin for us all.

C. You are so afraid of these two kings, but I want you to see that when the child is born and grows to be at the age of 3 or 4 the two kingdoms you are afraid of will be demolished. Unbelief continued in Ahaz and God fulfilled His promise.

D. Matthew Henry says… Note, A secret disaffection to God is often disguised with the specious colors of respect to him; and those who are resolved that they will not trust God yet pretend that they will not tempt him.

It’s not that they don’t believe…they won’t believe.

E. Sometimes we can have spiritual conversations with people and we may get to a point when contention is over. We have defended Christ. Now, we ask them to ask more questions of us, but they decline. It is almost as if they don’t want to hear anymore because the issue is not unbelief because of lack of information, but unbelief because of lack of desire. They don’t believe because they don’t want to believe. Don’t believe because they won’t believe. It is amazing what they will believe in...

F. Many times in life we should trust in God, but instead we end up putting our trust in other things like Ahaz did. Yet the promises of the Father are truly Yes and Amen and not only did we see the fall of those kingdoms, but we saw the fullness of the fulfillment. The virgin Mary gave birth to the Messiah.

G. This is our celebration today… the coming of the Messiah. God the Father fulfills His promise even in the greatest of all fulfillments. This is the promise that involves the protection and deliverance of His people from condemnation.

Luke 2:11–14 NLT

The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

H. The promise is here…will we turn away from it like Ahaz? Or will we embrace it? Let us not allow Christmas to get in the way of Christmas. It is the promise of the Father. It is the greatest gift that has ever been given. It is the gift that will bring everlasting joy. It will not end up in a toy box, in the closet collecting dust, in the attic, or a black plastic bag on its way to the salvation army! Or will it?

I. Will the beauty of the Gospel, God the Father’s gracious gift, be set aside like all former Christmas gifts? Will we continue to struggle with the obvious? Will it truly be because of ignorance or is it rebellion.

II. God with Us

- It is about the presence of God not presents from God.

A. This is a glorious promise. Immanuel means “God with us” illustrated wonderfully in...

John 1:14 NLT

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

Revelation 21:3 NLT

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.

B. He is the only sinless man who could provide a sinless offering which was required by the law of God.

- He was a descendant of David which was in accordance to the promise of God.

- He was Human in nature and this is the only way to pay for the sins of human nature and this happened when Jesus was born.

C. Also, He had to be God so He could pay the price for the many transgressions of an eternal law.

- He had to be God so He could bear the weight of God’s eternal wrath for all people.

- He had to be God so that He could bear the sins of the world.

- He had to be God so He could satisfy all that God demanded for all people.

- But God had to become man so that He could actually die. This happened when Jesus was born. This is what we are celebrating… the coming of the Messiah who brings salvation. Peace on earth and mercy mild God and Sinners reconciled.

D. Salvation was possible with the birth of Christ and salvation can only come from Christ and Christ alone.

E. Again the greatest gift ever given. The gift that gives eternally. The gift that gives eternal joy. The gift that gives life everlasting and life more abundantly. Not just a gift from God but the gift of God

F. Will we let it pass… will we let it go unredeemed? Will we let others allow this gift of God to go unredeemed?

G. 39.2 percent of shoppers will purchase a department store gift card for friends and family, followed by 33.4 percent of shoppers opting for a restaurant gift card. But according to estimates reported in the Journal of State Taxation, the typical American home has an average of $300 in unused or "unredeemed" gift cards. These cards are often misplaced, accidentally thrown out, or only partially redeemed. Between 2005 and 2011, $41 billion in gift cards went unused.

H. Let us not allow the joy of us being redeemed by the gift that God the Father gave to us pass us by this season. Let us not allow the gift to pass by our friends and loved ones this season. We would say something if they were not going to redeem a gift card, right? Why something infinitely greater? If you are not a Christian don’t let this gift go unredeemed today. Don’t let Christmas stand in the way of Christmas this year.

I. We have a promise from God the Father and the gift called Immanuel what more could we ask for? I mean really… what more could we ask for? Let us not miss the true joy… it’s not gifts, it’s not a feeling, its more than a feeling. It is the Gospel.

III. The Reason for the Season

- Christ is the reason for the Season but Sin is the reason for the treason.

A. This season can be a time of real distraction. We say to remember the reason for the season and we do though only when we hear it. Why?

B. We seek acceptance from other people, from family members, uncomfortable when gift exchanges are not equal, when children are disappointed, when things go unplanned, when we pick number 2 in white elephant gift exchanges, we just simply stress out this season. Have we lost it? Have we lost it already?

C. Hard to enjoy the season when there are so many expectations. Children…we get disappointed when we get clothes. Teenagers… we get disappointed when we don’t get clothes. So many things distracting us from Christ. When we are relieved on Christmas day, is it because we are truly saved by grace or is it because we got all our work done… we got a sense of satisfaction. Not because God was satisfied.

D. The one time when Christ should not be over looked. But somehow, He can be. Why? It is the corruption of Sin. This is our true plight. Sin is why we pass Him by. Christ is the reason for the Season but Sin is the reason for the treason. Sin is the cause of breaking laws. Family we needed salvation… and we got it!! Christmas God with us. The Promise of redemption… We are redeemed. Here is the truth about the coming of Christ.

E. Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost.

F. Jesus died for our sins and He was buried and He was raised on the third day.

G. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance

H. The baby born in the manger on that o holy night was the wonderful gift that brought salvation. We cannot nor will not now face the wrath of God.

I. Salvation is here… if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart...

J. All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. There is truly life in His name… He is the wonderful counselor, Lord of Life Lord of all, the prince of peace, mighty God Holy one…Immanuel God with us the Promise of God the Father… the sign.

K. Not about the Snow man, but the Son of Man. Not about the colored lights, but the light of the World. Not about the man who lives on the top of the world, but the one who created the world. Not about the ornament hung on a tree but the one who was hung on a tree for you and me.

L. Let it be known this season that when reindeer pause they will bow in awe and worship because… John said… And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang: “Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.”