Word of Salvation – Vol. 35 No. 47 – December 1990

 

He Has Come!

 

Sermon by Rev. A. Esselbrugge on Psalm 40:6-8

Readings:  Psalm 40; Hebrews10:1-18

 

Brothers and sisters, young people, boys and girls,

There are people who become so engrossed in a desire to have the world end, and the Lord return, that they withdraw from normal life to live in communes in the country, or even go and wait on certain mountains, eagerly looking forward to His coming.  The sad thing is, these people must be terribly disappointed and disillusioned when the calculated time of the Lord’s arrival passes and He hasn’t come.

Others long so much for some kind of supernatural intervention in life that they will support ‘little pebble’ who claims to talk with Mary; or will spend great sums of money to visit so-called holy shrines like Lourdes in France, or a waterfall in New Zealand; or their longing takes such a hold on them that they imagine seeing the Christ, being touched by Him, and receiving direct communications from Him.

I would say that one of the most important things about the church celebrating Christ’s birth regularly is to remind ourselves HE HAS COME!  He HAS intervened in life and history in the most wonderfully supernatural way possible and God’s Word, the Bible is full of Him.  Why won’t people listen and believe?  Because, even while many say that Christ has come, deep down, they don’t accept the truth of the Scriptures.

Our verses, from the Old Testament, from the Psalms simply and plainly declare ‘I have come, and the scroll (which is the Bible) is full of Me’.

Before we go further, we need to find out who is speaking here.  David wrote the Psalm but the writer to the Hebrews, which we read earlier convinces us, and declares that the ‘I’ in our verses, is not David, nor is it meant to be some personal hymn to be sung and enjoyed in the privacy of our devotions.  This whole Psalm is a song for public worship and the words of the song are the words of Jesus Christ our Lord Himself.  He is the One speaking.  He is the One this song is about; the ‘I’ is the Lord.

Now, read these verses (read the Psalm) again, and you will see they begin to take on a whole new meaning.

How many times have you heard it, read it, been taught it, that Jesus Christ has come.  And yet, we so often fall into the devil’s trap.  And we think somehow we will please God by doing certain things, by religiously upholding certain ceremonies and condemning those who don’t follow the long traditions of the church.  Yes, I too have my problems with those who are too tired from partying the night before to come to church.  I too suffer disappointment and raise questions about the reality of Christ for those who for the flimsiest of excuses don’t show much commitment to their confession of Christ as Lord.  And yet, right there in verse 6, in these Old Testament verses, we have a direct Word from the Lord saying that He doesn’t want mere ceremony and ritual performances.  His great joy and delight is obedience that comes from deep down, from the heart.  We don’t need all the trappings of candles and decorations.  We don’t need the carols and the piped music.

We don’t need the feasting of Christmas to celebrate Christ.  They are nice, but we don’t need them.  None of these trinkets, none of the glitter, is necessary when Christ Himself is with us.

The Lord has come.  He simply declares it.  There’s no great trumpet blast.  He simply says: ‘I have come.’  But the world, even though formed and made by His command, doesn’t recognise Him and refuses to believe in Him.  Instead the world goes mad with glass angels and plastic balls, and tinsel and Christmas trees with flashing lights and cardboard cut- outs of the manger in Bethlehem while all along there is the calm voice of the Lord saying, ‘I have come’.

Do you hear Him, people?

He says it to you each time you sit about His table and drink the wine and eat the bread.  That is what the Christmas feast ought to be like.  On that table you won’t see a leg of ham or roast turkey, no baked potatoes and salads.  Just a very humble and simple message of cheap wine and plain bread: ‘I have come.’  And, you can look back to Bethlehem in some poor innkeepers stable, with a sweaty animal smell lingering in the air and you can see the Christ has come.  No pine tree in the corner, or bells hanging from the ceiling.  But the Lord God of heaven and earth, the KING of kings, lying defenceless on a bed of straw.

The world says: We’ll give ourselves some relief from all the miseries of life.  We’ll inject a little joy and celebration into life, even if it’s only for a few days.  We have got to do it!

But Jesus says: when you realise and see that your misery and the dullness of life can’t be fixed up with decorations and a party, with sacrifices and offerings, then you will see I have come and am waiting for you to come to Me with all your burdens and sorrows.

Our whole attention and joy should be focused on the Word.  In these particular words, ‘I have come’.

Here the invisible God comes in the form of sinful flesh.

And as a child, the infinite One hangs at a virgin’s breast!  God with us.  He wasn’t sent, but came.  Came in His own personality.  Came from the glory and splendour of heaven to this place of agony and anguish.  Came at the hour the Father appointed.  Came willingly as One freely offering Himself.  He came so that you and me might rejoice and glory in the only remedy for misery, the forgiveness of our sins by Him.

It’s all here in the Word of God written.  The great mystery of predestination which providence gradually reveals, is here recorded for us.  That at a time of the Lord God’s choosing, the Son would descend to earth to accomplish what all the abattoirs of the world could never achieve.  To do what no amount of alcohol or rich food could ever wipe from our lives.

Friend, is your name written in the Book of Life?

What a privilege it is, to find our name there.  And what an honour because the name of Jesus is at the top of the list!

Yes, our Lord has come.  Come to do what only He could do.

To completely do the will of God.

It is a fact that many people like to overlook.  But God’s law is too broad for you and me or anyone to keep entirely.  Before sin entered the world it was possible, but since then it has become something which is out of our reach, beyond our ability.  So the Lord Jesus came to do it for us.  He not only did what the Father wanted, and did it perfectly and fully.  But He found pleasure in doing it.  He enjoyed it.  Even while living among us, He was tried until he reached the baptism of agony.  And on the cross and in the grave, He set aside His own desire and chose the Father’s will.

That is the core and essence of obedience.  No matter how hard and trying it becomes, obedience is measured in how willingly and cheerfully we are devoted to God.

Measure your own obedience and devotion to God by the example of our Lord.  Measure it as you feel the alcohol begin to loosen your tongue, and your waist line begins to thicken on the feasting over the next week or two.  Measure it by knowing your limit and knowing when to stop.  Measure your obedience and cheerful devotion to the Father in heaven on Christmas day, over the holiday period, after the night of card playing.  And as the Lord calls you to worship Him.

For our sakes, for the saving of our souls, and despite the pain and trauma, our Lord found delight in His work.  And for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame.

Do you see why all this is said about our Lord?  God’s Word was in His heart.  You can see it in verse 8.  He didn’t offer up formal outward devotion.  His heart was in His work.

You and I have to be like Him.  And if we are not, we had better ask ourselves if there really is any evidence of our being His disciples.

People, what is you are concentrating on?  On the Lord who has come, of whom the Scriptures are full?  Of the One who came to seek and to save the lost?

But there is that parcel I must still send to family overseas.  There are those Christmas cards still waiting to be sent.  There is the leg of ham to be carved.  There is the caravan to pack for the holiday, the garden to do before we go.  And Lord, there’s just so much to do.  Please come back.  It’s just too busy; I’m not going to make it.

And the Lord says: Why are you so anxious and disturbed?  You seem like the restless sea, like waves falling over each other to get to the shore.  Why do you make yourself so busy?  It doesn’t have to be like that.  I have come.  Believe in Me.  Live for Me.  Be at peace, trust Me and obey Me.  For ‘Blessed is the (one) who makes the Lord his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.  Many, O Lord My God, are the wonders you have done.  Were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare’.  But the greatest is, ‘I Have Come!  Here I am’.  I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  He who believes in Me will not perish but have eternal life’.

People, you won’t find Him in Christmas; you won’t find Him on a mountain; you won’t find Him under the Christmas tree.  You will find Him here in the Word.

AMEN