Oh Holy Night

please don't judge me when i say this but i have always and i mean always abhorred christmas music so this time of year though exciting and fun and all that is always a smidge cringe because i know when december starts so does the singing but i had an epi epiphany last week i was watching a christmas special on tv and they were singing christmas songs but the tone it wasn't all jolly and stuff it was worshipful which made me sit and finally listen to the words and then i realized that i actually do kind of like christmas music that it that it wasn't just the genre that i detested but the melodies are the tone in which they were sung as i started to listen to the words i was like this stuff is mad dense theologically high key so for the last week or so i jackie hill perry have been listening and enjoying christmas music god is real put a praise right there in that vein i thought it right to name this sermon or talk after one i don't usually do that but to commemorate my new love for christmas stuff i wanted to title this sermon holy night after the carol silent night the first verse of the song says this silent night holy night all is calm all is bright round yon virgin mother and child holy infant so tender and mild sleep in heavenly peace whoever wrote that i don't think they had a newborn i've had three the youngest one in seven weeks and they don't sleep in heavenly peace ever but that's another topic for another day tonight i plan to speak with you about the holiness of god and how special the birth of christ is in light of it the term holiness can be triggering for some confusing for others or comforting to many but it's nothing we should be afraid of per se to venture into this subject of holiness is to dive deep into the person of god which is always a worthwhile thing to do how i'm going to do that is by walking through one old testament example of a holy day that i hope will help us see and respond to the significance of that holy night that holy night when a child was born so if you have your bibles please turn to exodus chapter 3. starting at verse 1 it says now moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law jethro the priest of midian and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to horeb the mountain of god and the angel of the lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush he looked and behold the bush was burning yet it was not consumed and moses said i will turn turn aside to see this great sight why the bush is not burned when the lord saw that he turned aside to see god called to him out of the bush moses moses and he said here i am then he said do not come near take your sandals off your feet for the place on which you are standing is holy ground and he said i am the god of your father the god of abraham the god of isaac and the god of jacob and moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at god we all might know a little something about mr moses how he was a hebrew man raised by pharaoh's daughter that eventually helped israel out of egyptian slavery how he helped to split the red sea uh on account of the power of god how god's law was given through him etc but before all of that he was a man that met with the holy god on a random day in the wilderness the text says that moses was keeping or taking care of his father-in-law's flock when he saw something strange he looked and he saw a bush burning now that ain't altogether special the kinds of bushes that were scattered around horror were easily a fl in flame they were quick to catch fire what made this bush a sight to behold however was that the bush was burning yet it wasn't consumed so imagine if you can a bush with the flame in the midst of it with its leaves and branches still intact not burning at all we've all seen something burn paper candles wood hair if you're messy like that once fire gets a hold of anything flammable it consumes it and the reason this happens is because the fire is using the thing that it burns as its fuel it needs its energy fire is dependent on something outside of itself for it to continue to exist once the fire has nothing left to burn it's gone because it has no life in it of itself but only in condition with another this entire scene is so strange for a reason to see a full-blown fire inside of a bush while the bush remains unaffected by the heat this bush that moses had come across seems to have a fire within it that doesn't seem to need it for it to keep burning why because this bush contains a holy god the concept of holiness communicates two things one absolute uniqueness two absolute moral purity usually when we think about holiness we think about the latter that god is completely sin sinless and therefore antagonistic towards sin which is true but that is not the only way to understand holiness god is holy also means that god is literally set apart from everything he is totally unique as in god exists differently from everything that exists i'm gonna take an example from jen wilkin to to explain what i mean by that she said that if you took a sheet of paper and wrote a line down the middle and then labeled the left side created and then labeled the right side uncreated on the left side under the term created what would your list be comprised of everything you your mother your mind your personality the world the sun time heaven angels ideas coffee lungs the stars everything you know of has been created but on the right side of the paper underneath the word uncreated there is literally only one word you could write god and so if you stuck took a step back and looked at that sheet of paper with everything ever made on the left and just god on the right you can see then how god is absolutely different and unique than anything or anyone you will have or have ever met and this god is meeting moses in the wilderness in a flame of fire the reason the bush was burning and not consumed is because this since god is not created that mean god does not that means that god does not need anything to exist the flame did not need the bushes or the branches or the leaves or the stems to keep burning it only needed itself god is the only independent being in the universe he doesn't need anything or anyone for him to be himself unlike you and me who needs him to live and move and have our being the reason we can do or be anything is because there is a god in whom we derive our existence and this god decided to reveal himself to little old moses let's read what happened next verse 5. it says god called to him out of the bush moses moses and he said here i am then he said do not come near take your sandals off your feet from the place on which you are standing is holy ground and god's words to moses i want you to see something first god says moses moses then he says do not come near moses moses do not come near god's use a repetition here can be called repetition of endearment it's one of god's ways of communicating to someone that he loves them or has an affection for them simon simon behold satan has demanded to have you that he might sift you like we but i have prayed for you that your faith may not fail martha martha you are anxious and troubled about many things but one thing is necessary so knowing that that god is calling moses's name twice out of affection do you then find it strange that god tells him not to come near i mean friends like to be near each other right that's one of the beautiful things about friendship is intimacy being able to share space and food and ideas and picture and instagram likes whatever with another person if my friend told me that they loved me and that they got an affection for me and then the next minute they told me not to come near i'd be a little confused but this is the thing god does not like our friends he is not like us in essence at all he is all together holy and he is to be approached as such he tells moses that the place that he is standing on is holy ground this ground is different unique set apart not because of any virtue that it has in and of itself it's just dirt but because the presence of god has sanctified it what do you think might have happened if moses heard his name being spoken with affection and somehow thought that meant that he could approach god on his own terms i mean we can all relate to being so comfortable with the love of god that we forget or don't believe that god is also holy do you think that god's affection for him would have dismissed moses's irreverence that his holiness would not respond to moses's sinfulness i think a good story to put here is that of aza in second samuel 6 the ark of the covenant of the covenant which was symbolic of god's presence among his people and thus to be treated as such had been captured by the philistines and eventually this is the wikipedia version and eventually brought into the home of abinadab after being in the benadab's home for a few decades king david decided that it was time to bring the ark back to jerusalem so he commissioned abinadab's son to carry the ark back into the city one of them was a man by the name of uzza the passage states that the men put the ark on a card which was the incorrect way to carry it actually the law prescribed that the ark should be carried on two poles placed on the shoulders of the levites who could then carry the ark wherever they needed it to go but instead of looking into god's law how to for how to handle god's stuff otza and them put it on a cart led by some oxen as the people of god danced and sang and played instruments and uh uh used the little trampolines and all that type of stuff what's it called the little thing that you shake i don't know to welcome the ark back into the city one of the oxen's foot slipped causing the ark to tilt fearing that this symbolic thing that represents the holy holy presence of god would hit the ground azza reacted impulsively though not faithfully reaches out his hand to steady it and do you know what happened when ozzle's hand touched the ark the lord struck him dead and we don't like these kinds of passages we stay far far away from the stories of old where god judges in ways that we don't understand or like we empathize with other we call his sin by good names we say he was just trying to help why would god do that to him the answer is because god is holy our z sproul said this that the presumptuous sin of other is that he thought that his hands were less polluted than the dirt god told moses not to come near because god was holy and he was not he was born after adam and thus he was sinful if he were to come near to god on his own terms god would be just and judging him the absolute moral purity of god sets him at odds with sinful flesh habek 1 3 says that god's eyes are too pure to look upon evil this is why throughout the scriptures you see a kind of divine distance between god and man after adam's sin they were banished from the garden where they had once had unlimited access to god distance at mount sinai when god gave his law to israel they were commanded not to touch the mount unless they die distance when isaiah saw the lord of hosts on the throne he could see everything but his face distance this distance is a natural consequence of sin being in proximity to righteousness the two are incompatible like oil and water thus when the two do meet the profane and the holy the secular and the sacred it can be a deadly thing we we marvel we're shocked surprised when god judges the likes of us or other for his sin as if the holy god has some injustice as if he is wrong for being so righteous as if he is irrational with his wrath but what we should be more astounded by is that god has not judged us i have sinned more than other on a good day but here i am roman says note the kindness and severity of god in this interaction between god and moses we see that though god loves moses that does not mean that god is like moses if moses were at any point to presume that he a sinner can come near the holy one apart from the grace of god he would drop dead immediately for the wages of sin is death which brings me back around to this day that we call christmas turn in your bibles to luke chapter two starting at verse 4. it says and joseph also went up from galilee from the town of nazareth to judea to the city of david which is called bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of david to be registered with mary his betroth who was with child and while they were there the time came for her to give birth and she gave birth to her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no place in the room a place for him in the end and in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flocks by night and an angel of the lord appeared to them and the glory of the lord shone around them and they were filled with fear and the angel said to them fear not for behold i bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people for unto you is born this day in the city of david a savior who is christ the lord and this will be a sign for you you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising god and saying glory to god in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased when the angels went away from them into heaven the shepherd said to one another let us go over to bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the lord has made known to us and they went with haste and found mary and joseph and the baby lying in a manger and when they saw it they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them but mary treasured up all these things pondering them her in her heart and the shepherds returned glorifying and praising god for all they had heard and seen i don't know if there is anything more astounding than the birth of jesus because when jesus was born into the world it was the holy god coming near us not only that when jesus was born into the world it was the holy god becoming like us remember we all have a beginning because all created things do a birth date is only what creatures have but god exists outside of time he has no beginning of end or end he is what he is and that's a part of what makes him holy the fact that he exists differently from us that's why god doesn't sleep nor slumber he doesn't need to recharge or regain his energy he always has it god also isn't curious he doesn't need google he knows everything so when he asks questions is never to know but to reveal god doesn't change either in personality or person what he is today he will always be unlike us we are always changing we are always becoming who i was 10 years ago is not who i am today heck depending on how much sleep i got who i was at 10 a.m may not be who i'mma be at 12 o'clock as we observed in the burning bush god doesn't need anything he is completely and utterly independent he is not needy or unsatisfied but here in the beginning of luke chapter 2 god needs to be swaddled god needs a bed in this incarnation god has wrapped himself in human flesh therefore god became just as needy as we are just as dependent as we are we fight so hard to not be vulnerable in this way when we project to the world or our friends or our boyfriends that we don't or our husbands that we don't need anything we are trying our best not to be human we are trying our best not to be what we really are we are trying our best to act like god to act like we are sufficient in and of ourselves but that's a lie and we know it that's why we're exhausted but in the birth of christ god chose made a decision to be like us submitting himself under the weaknesses that all humans experience which makes sense because a holy god has to be a humble god philippians 2 says that though he was in the form of god he didn't count equality with god a thing to be grasped but he emptied himself taking on the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men and why does this even matter in the grand scheme of things that the holy transcendent omnipotent high and lifted up god would become human it matters because god chose to be like you so he could help you hebrews 10 verse 17 therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might be a merciful and a faithful high priest for because he himself was tempted or suffered when tempted he is able to help those who are being tempted remember when i mentioned how we have this thing where we we don't want to be perceived as needy most likely because we don't want to be seen as weak and i wonder if we do the same thing with god if in our quest to be holy like he is to not give in to the flesh to not call old boy back to not watch porn to not be unkind or vengeful to not gossip to not given to our sexual temptations i wonder if a part of the reason holiness is harder for us at times it's because we have not understood or believed the fact that jesus has empathy and that because he understands he is able to help i really do get the disconnect because perhaps we imagine god on his throne looking down on all the humans uh being weak fledgling about the world trying to obey unsuccessfully and he is there he is there at the right hand of god but he is not condemning us or criticizing us he is actually interceding for us but what would happen if we remember jesus in the wilderness with the devil being tempted or jesus in the garden of gethsemane struggling with obedience like what if in light of jesus is humanness we made the decision to believe that jesus is a god man that not only understands but one that also overcame so that we could be as victorious as he always was when it comes to god we really don't have to act like we're strong being prideful will never help you be holy he already knows you're weak because he knows you're not him being a human automatically makes you needy and god being god automatically makes him sufficient the holy god became like us so he could help us another reason god being like us is significant is because for us to be saved god had to become human when moses met with god at the burning bush he was warned not to come near it because it was made holy by the presence of god his sinfulness kept him from total access and rightfully so when that which is holy comes in contact with that which is sinful it consumes it god is not called a consuming fire for no reason we are not told that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living god just because god's ethical purity means that he is without sin completely he is without spot he is without wrinkle he is without blemish he must and will always do what is right and true and good sin in all of its colors looks nothing like god it is completely antithetical to god in every way when god sees sin he does not see himself so then in his complete righteousness he is obligated to judge all who do it and i know somebody is saying but isn't god's love jackie i mean it's christmas shouldn't we just talk about the love of god we should talk about the whole god and to that point i would also respond that don't you know that where there is love there must be hatred if i say i love life i must hate death if i say i love truth i must hate lies if i say i love good food i am obligated to hate mcdonald's it's just a part of the thing whatever it is that you love you will hate whatever it is that attempts to undermine distort or destroy that love if god himself is perfect love then god must have perfect hatred toward the thing that comes against it and if one thing is clear it's that god hates sin but the good news is although our sinfulness created distance between us and god god's love closed the gap what do i mean by that let me recap one more time moses couldn't come near the bush isaiah could see god's role filling the temple but he could not see his face israel couldn't come near the mountain azza simply placed his hand on the ark and god's wrath came out in judgment killing him the priests could only go into god's presence once a year and even then there was a constant threat of death from genesis to malachi is the story of people not being able to freely come near to god because of his holiness and their sin but the glory of the incarnation is that god himself has come near to us for jesus to be swaddled god had to be touched for the shepherds to praise god for the savior that was born god had to be seen the holy holy holy god that isaiah saw on the throne condescended taking on human flesh living with eating with speaking with and touching sinners this is why he is called emmanuel god with us please don't miss the mercy in this that god the son has come near so that we might have direct access to god the father without the threat of death in jesus we can come to god's throne of grace with boldness do you think old testament saints had that privilege but something had to happen first it wasn't enough for jesus to be born it wasn't enough for jesus to live but jesus also had to die as a self-existent god he can't die but when god became the god-man he was able to die as all humans do but what made his death different from adam or moses or abraham or me or you is that his death was a substitution remember i said the wages of sin is death all are born in it it's something we all deserve whether it's because of the lie we told last night or the ego we had a deca decade ago there is wrath stored up and ready to be poured out on us for our sin but god loved us so much that he sent his son to die so that we wouldn't have to he reckoned his son guilty so that we would be declared innocent he made him to be who knew no sin to be sin so that we might become the righteousness of god none of that none of it would be possible if god did not choose to become a baby there is no way in heaven or on earth that i would be able to reach the holy one on my own accord my hands were too dirty my heart was too dark my conscience was too loud but god came to me god came to you he came became like us so he could help us he became like us so he could save us and his holiness was never diminished because of it any anyway if anything it became even clearer to all who had the eyes to see it is it is his holiness that makes him lovely it is his holiness that makes him faithful it is his holiness that makes him good and great and better than anything that exists it is his holiness that makes him worthy of my faith in his son to know his son we must repent it is not an option we must turn from every unholy thing reckoning it as unworthy of our obedience but then we must believe we must believe in the holy holy holy god he loves you and his love is pure and undefiled because he is also holy and he has made a way of escape for us he has created a pathway for us to step onto holy ground with our shoes off and our hearts open the birth of jesus is so much more than a really fun holiday where we wrap presents and eat ham or tofu whichever is your thing on that holy holy night jesus was the gift that the holy god has given us so that all who are far off may come near to close i want to read another christmas song that i now like that has brought me much joy it's titled hark the herald angels sing christ by highest heaven adored christ the everlasting lord late in time behold him come offspring of a virgin's womb veiled in flesh the god-head sea hail the incarnate deity pleased as man with man to dwell jesus are emmanuel hark the herald angels sing glory to the newborn king let's pray god you are holier than we could ever imagine you are bigger you are realer you are more than what more is there are no words to describe who you are but i'm thankful that you have given your given us your scriptures so that we would have some sense of who the transcendent god is you are not so distant that you have not revealed yourself to humans i'm thankful that you love us so much so that you sent your son to become like us and die for us so that we could know you i'm thankful that you have given us people on earth christians to be able to honor and mirror you and image you so that we may see what you are like also i'm thankful that the holy holy holy spirit lives inside of us so all that you have commanded us to do you have also empowered us to do i'm thankful that you just you are what you are you will be what you are and we are what we are we're yours because of what christ jesus has done i pray for everyone watching i pray for those who are confused by your judgment that they will see that it is a outworking of your righteousness that you are not like society that you will judge the guilty that you will not leave them unpunished but you are also merciful so you set your son to be a propitiation for us so that you could be just and justifier of all those who place their faith in jesus i pray god that we were growing our love for you i pray that we will grow in our love for your holiness i pray that we will grow in our love for your truth and your scriptures i pray all these things in that holy holy holy son's name amen

Channel: Jackie Hill Perry Channel

Views: 95,676

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Id: 5ALRUMILjZ8

Length: 33min 11sec (1991 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 20 2020