The Reasons He Came - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Luke chapter two beginning in verse beginning in verse eight. And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night and an angel of the Lord appeared to them. And the glory of the Lord shown around them and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, fear not for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the 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'll find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host 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 shepherds 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 to 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 in her heart. And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them. Father, thank you for this morning.

Lord, we ask in total humility and brokenness that we need you to soften our hearts for we are so easily calloused. And Lord, we can become even hardened by familiarity where we hear and we sing about these things year after year yet it does not move us. But Lord, we're asking that you would cause us to praise you and glorify you through what we hear in these precious verses concerning a precious truth of Jesus Christ coming into this world. And so Lord, in this moment, in these next few minutes, we ask that your glory would be revealed. That we would understand the full implications of Jesus' incarnation.

And Lord, that it would leave us stunned as though we've heard it for the first time. And so Lord, may you revive the hearts of those who know this truth and have believed in this truth. And for those who do not know this fully, may they come to a place of total surrender. And so we call upon you to make manifest the Spirit of God in this house and in our hearts that may whatever happened in this place not stay in this place, but bring it, Lord, into such a depth of our souls that it would carry with us as we go home and as we go to our families and for the rest of our lives. We pray this by faith, believing in the power of the scriptures carried by the Holy Spirit.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Year after year we come to this place to remember the birth of Jesus Christ. And though the date of his birth is debated and disputed among many, it is still a time in which we must take to reflect upon the glorious truth of the entrance of the savior into this world.

It's an important truth. It's a vital teaching. It's a vital understanding of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Matthew and Luke dedicate their first two chapters, including Luke chapter three, concerning the Jesus' genealogy, his miraculous conception, and even moments of his early years. And the beauty of this account is that we have different snapshots.

We have different vantage points to the very same story. We see with different characters such as Zechariah and Elizabeth and Mary and Joseph, the Magi, Herod the king, Simeon and Anna, all of these characters have a specific thread that plays into the overall narrative. They all offer wonderful details to the Christmas message. But today we're gonna focus on these shepherds in the field. We're gonna give our attention to these verses and what they mean to us.

And hopefully, as we take these verses step by step, it would break any familiarity once again that we have to the story that would cause us to be apathetic to the truth of Jesus Christ and his incarnation. Verse eight tells us, and in the same region, there were shepherds. We understand that Caesar Augustus made this call to the world to be registered, and so all these people were going back to their hometowns. And Joseph and his family go to Bethlehem to be registered. And as they come to this region, the Bible tells us that in the very same territory there are these shepherds.

And I find that spectacular because they don't know anything about the birth of the savior initially. There there is this amazing truth that just takes place. And there is no city wide announcement. There is no parade prepared for the coming Messiah. The religious guides do not come to even pay this visit.

All there is is silence. And to these shepherds, they probably heard crickets just chirping, mingled with the sound of the bleeding of sheep echoing through the dark fields and nothing else. And while they're doing their day to day duties, while they're just being shepherds, we read that Jesus appears on the scene. Jesus comes, and he comes as the bread of heaven into Bethlehem, which means the house of bread. And as he comes, he comes just like the manna with the Israelites in Exodus as the dew would appear throughout the night so subtle, so silent, yet carrying the very substance of life itself.

And here are these shepherds surveying their own lambs, surveying their own sheep while the lamb of God just entered into the world. They were in the very same region and they did not know it. The savior just enters into the world and they had no awareness of it, therefore they did not reach out to him. And when I read a verse like this, it makes me wonder how many people even today fail to realize how close Jesus is. How close he actually is to them.

How many people fail because they're ignorant realizing that though he is the God who created the heavens and the earth, he is closer to us than we think. The apostle Paul said this in one of the most glorious sermons he's preached recorded in scripture in Acts 17. He says, and he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place. Why? That they should seek God.

And perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being. What is Paul saying there? Paul is saying that God created every man in different periods of history.

God placed man in a specific country, in a specific city, in a specific neighborhood, in a specific local church, in a specific house, in a specific school. He's ordained all of that for one purpose, that they should seek God and find him and feel the way towards him. And he encourages the people that he's speaking to. But he's not far from us. In fact, he's here right now.

And we also must, like Paul, must declare the truth that God is easily access to. That we can lift our hearts and call upon him and he can answer and bring deliverance and salvation. And the shepherds receive that opportunity, not through the lips of an evangelist, Not through the guidance of one of the followers of this Christ. No. Through the visitation of an angel.

This angel comes suddenly and as he comes in verse nine, it says that the glory of the Lord shone around them. And in a moment, the darkness of the hearts of these shepherds will illuminate with truth the same way that the glory of God will shine in this dark night. He appears and the first thing that he says is fear not. First thing that he says is fear not. And we have to ask this natural question because this angel visits shepherds.

He's revealing one of the most blessed truths to unnamed sheepkeepers. And based on what we see in the scripture, we do not see any angel visiting anybody outside of those who are immediately involved with Jesus. We don't see angels visiting Roman politicians. We don't see angels visiting Sadducees and Pharisees. We don't see angels visiting royalty.

Just ordinary, common, and some in Jesus' day might look and see some unimpressive and even low class shepherds. And this is the group of people that God Almighty chooses to reveal this amazing truth to. Why? Why? We see this in Matthew's gospel where these wise men come, and we see these scribe and chief priests who have the scriptures.

They have the scriptures. They have the insight of these wise men. And when they know the exact place of where Jesus is born, they don't even inquire. They don't even send maybe even a couple of scribes to go with these wise men to see if this Jesus, if this Messiah has truly come. And as we learned last week that it speaks of the fact that so many have knowledge yet don't have the heart of worship.

So many have understanding, but that understanding doesn't bring them to a place to say, let me seek this Jesus. Let me find this Jesus. So we see in Matthew that this group of Gentiles come and they see this child, not in a manger later on in his life, but worship. And we see in Luke's gospel that these shepherds are the ones that God chooses to reveal this truth to, and they come to this child praising God. Shepherds, Gentiles.

I believe why God revealed himself to these shepherds was to give us a foretaste of what Jesus' ministry would be like. That Jesus himself, as he grows up into his ministry, as he grows up into the very purpose of why he came, chose to reveal himself to the common, chose to reach out to those that would not be chosen by others, chose to go out into the midst of those who are unworthy, to reveal his glory to those who other people would not go to. That is the message of the fact that the shepherds understood and grasped. We're not worthy for this. I'm sure that we're who are we for God to come to us?

That's the point. That's Jesus' love. And as he comes, this angel is to give us an understanding that this is the heart of God. That though you may not deserve it, that though you may be common to the eyes of man, you're precious in the sight of God. And they hear this they hear this truth, fear not for behold, I bring to you good news of great joy.

And this news is not just for the shepherds, clearly states for all people. For all the people. Fear not, there's good news of great joy. Fear is replaced through the good news with great joy. It is eliminated.

It is it is gone. There's no need to fear. And there's the fear here. Yes, the immediate says the fact that the glory of God is shining. But remember, I believe that this is something for all people and the message is still the same, fear not.

There's nothing to be anxious about. There's nothing to be worried about. There's nothing to fear. Why? Because there's good news.

And this good news allows great joy to bury that fear. And this is why. Verse 11, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. In the same chapter in verse 32, it says that he will be a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. Fear not.

Why? Because the savior is here. And Jesus takes that summary, that one verse, and he elaborates the truths of why he came throughout his life. And each statement that Jesus makes throughout his life is one blow after the other to break any stronghold of fear that has been built in any man's heart. Doesn't matter what the fear is.

Fear of what? It does not matter. Fear of death, fear of the future, all of that is destroyed by every statement that Jesus makes, I believe. And may every verse that you hear in the next few moments be taken by faith in order for any hint of fear to vanish in the presence of truth. Why did Jesus come?

Why did he do this? Why should there be no fear? What is this good news? Well, Jesus said, number one, I came to be a ransom. Even as a son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Matthew twenty twenty eight. Jesus came through the lips of the savior. He himself testified, the reason that I came into the world is to be a ransom for many. The law in the old covenant simply did this. It shed light on the moral bankruptcy of every human individual, and the inconsistent faith and devotion of the people of Israel proved that truth.

God had a standard of holiness, and the people, including us, failed to meet that standard. And because there is a violation of God's standard, there needed to be a solution. And in God's righteous justice, the solution was to pour out the wrath of God on the Adamic race. Every man and woman was in debt to God. And the payment could not be satisfied through any amount of money, any amount of service, any amount of offering.

No payment would suffice. And so we read that Jesus comes as a baby. He comes as this tender child, so soft, so gentle, helpless babe. And here he is wrapped in swaddling cloths, being cradled in the arms of a young mother. For what purpose?

For one day he will be wrapped in burial cloths. Because one day, this innocent baby will be condemned as an innocent man. So Jesus takes on flesh. He takes on skin. He takes on nerve endings.

He takes on facial hair. He takes on the temptation that we face. He takes on all of those things. Why? So that one day he would be whipped, he would be slashed, he would be bruised, he would be beaten, and he would ultimately be nailed upon a tree as a substitutionary act, as a ransom for all of us.

In other words, Jesus said, I came into this world. I came into human life. For what purpose? To die a death that you deserved. And only my life and only my death would satisfy the wrath of God.

Because He prayed that prayer, if it be your will, let this cup pass from me. But if not, let your will be done. There was no other way. There was no other way. The only way that the wrath of God will be satisfied is if this helpless babe would grow into an innocent man and be crucified.

I came to be a ransom for many. That's the good news. But he didn't just say that. He says I've come to bring light. He says in John twelve forty six, I have come into the world.

I've come into the world as what? As light so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. So we just read that the glory of God shown to these shepherds in the night. And what a picture of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ shining through. Because this world is blanketed by darkness.

And in comes the radiance of God in Christ Jesus to penetrate the gloom that has haunted every generation. Is in darkness there is confusion, but the light brings clarity. In darkness, there is frustration, but the light provides stability. In darkness, there is heightened fear, but the light provides comfort. In darkness, there is no discernment for direction, but the light provides guidance.

Remember this, he did not say I am a light. He says I am the light of the world. I am the only one that can provide these blessings forever and ever. Past, present, and future, there will never be another light. There will never be another one that will be able to illumine and bring clarity and bring guidance and bring safety and bring stability and bring comfort.

No one else but Jesus. He made that claim of exclusivity And the reason why he came as a helpless babe is so that he could be that very light. I've come to be a ransom. I've come to be the light of the world. I've come to seek the lost.

And Jesus answered them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I've not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. I've not come to call the righteous. I've come to call sinners to repentance. Jesus, the Holy One of Israel, the Holy Son of God, did not come into this world and become a rabbi so he can buddy buddy with the Pharisees.

He didn't come to walk with these men who were so well learned, to have theological discussions and to pat them on the back for keeping the man made traditions without blemish, without fault. He went where they wouldn't go. He went where they would not go. He sat with the sinners. He sat with the prostitutes.

He conversed with the tax collectors. He ate with them. He taught them. He spent time with them. And here are these Pharisees that would look at him and say, look at this gluttonous drunkard.

It's amazing. You can never satisfy religious people. If you're John the Baptist and you don't drink wine and you're holy and you only eat a limited diet, they criticize you and think you're crazy. If you are one to go out to be with those that are in the world and to associate with themselves in dark places, well look at you. You're a sinner.

He comes to what? Be careful not to be friends in the sense of partnering with them because a lot of people take that truth. Well, Jesus came to be with sinners. Yeah. Not to sin with them.

He came to call them to repentance. Repentance. Oh, repentance is a glorious doctrine. It's a glorious word. It's a glorious truth.

But repentance is a beautiful invitation into restoration. That's what repentance is. Repentance essentially is a call to a second chance and Jesus comes to say, come. I'm calling you because you are not in a place in which you cannot turn around. Repentance is that.

It's an offering. It's a gift. Did not the apostle Paul say himself in concerning conversing with those that have different beliefs, and he's saying, listen, do it in a right attitude. Perhaps God will grant them repentance. And I used to often say this.

I remember first being saved and reading and seeing how Jesus' ministry, every miracle, every act of compassion, Everything that he did was motivated to bring people to that decision of repentance. John the Baptist preached repentance. Jesus preached repentance. The apostles took the baton and they preached repentance. And I thought to myself, wow, repentance is a gift.

We should preach it more. He's come to call people to repent. He's come to say, listen, I'm coming here to give you a second chance. There is a way back to the father. I've come to make a way again.

Just turn. Realize that I am the one that satisfies. Realize that your sin will disappoint you. Realize that repentance is an opportunity. Do Do you think the Pharisees called them to repentance?

No. They criticized. They judged. Shame on us if we don't preach repentance. Shame on us if we don't offer people to turn to give themselves over to Jesus Christ.

People that don't understand repentance are missing out a vital understanding of Jesus' ministry. He came to call sinners to repentance. Did he do it in love? Absolutely. But he did it.

And it was effective. He magnetized sinners. He magnetized people to himself. The fact that he was oozing out grace through this message of repentance Spread abroad. Because he says in another place in Luke 19 that I have come to seek and save the lost.

And the context of that verse is when he meets Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus, the one who was curious to find out about Jesus as he was walking through Jericho. Why? Perhaps he heard that Jesus was one to associate himself with tax collectors.

That he called Levi, that he called these others, that he healed blind Bartimaeus. And perhaps in his heart, examining his life, realizing I have the riches, I have the reputation, I have all these things, I have the position, but there's an emptiness inside of me. Perhaps Jesus would call me to be a follower of him. And he inquires. And what does he do?

He runs up on a tree. Humble hunger. And that's what attracted Jesus to him. When he sees you hungry enough where you're willing to make yourself look like a fool in the eyes of man, this is where he's drawn. He says, I wanna eat with you Zacchaeus.

Come down quickly. Revealing the heart of Jesus. Now we look at that story and we see the interaction between Jesus and Zacchaeus. The the fact that Jesus came to eat with Zacchaeus and to give him a chance to repent. But we don't realize the murmuring that happened outside of that.

That when Jesus invited himself over to Zacchaeus, those around him said, what is this man thinking doing? He's going over to Zacchaeus, a tax collector, a traitor to the Israel people. One who is taking extra for himself in the taxes. One who is promoting and advancing the bondage that we are experiencing through the Roman Empire, this is who Jesus is so associated himself with? If we were honest with with ourselves and we found ourselves in Jesus' day and saw him associating with tax collectors.

Many of us might be critical of that. We don't understand that but think of it in this day as a traitor to America, as a traitor to society. Everybody hated these people but Jesus gave them a second chance. I've come to seek and save the lost. I've come to call them to repentance.

It doesn't even stop there. He says, do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. Matthew ten thirty four thirty five. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I've come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

I have not come to bring peace to the earth, but a sword. And you might be thinking to yourself right now, I thought this was good news. It is good news when you understand what Jesus is trying to say. The command to follow Jesus involves the great possibility of the abandonment of those who love you and have grown up with you. That's part of the package.

His call to total allegiance to him will cause friction, will cause division, will cause awkwardness to manifest in the household. And he has come to do just that. Not as a immediate thing, but as the result of calling those to follow him. That is simply the result. That is simply the possibility that there will be some who would say yes to this Jesus, who would understand that he is the light of the world, to understand that he has come as a ransom, that would understand that he did come to seek and save the lost.

And as a result of that, there is a divorce from everything else to be one with him. But this is the good news. As some will lose families and homes by following Jesus, we have to remember it's because he is creating a new family. The reason why he's calling us is because he has an eternal home and he longs to have many brethren with him. And so even in that process, that painful process of choosing to follow Jesus, not because believers come to that place of faith and attack those in the household.

No. It's the other way around. That those who do come to faith in Christ will receive those attacks. Why? Because you have different people in one home walking on two different paths.

One the narrow, the other the broad. Eventually, you're gonna part ways. Does that mean you abandoned in love? Does that mean that you don't see your family? No.

No. No. Remember, it's coming from those who do not and are not committed to the cause of Christ. It's just the result of following him. But because Jesus is creating a new family and because he is inviting people into his eternal home, that's the good news.

So we read a verse like that, we say, yes. He has come into the world not to bring peace, but a sword. But at the same time he says that you have a peace that the world does not give. I've come to give you a peace. You will have tribulation in this world, but behold, I've come to give you a peace that doesn't even make sense to the human understanding.

So though there may be chaos even in our homes and some of you are experiencing that, some of you are experiencing that. Frustration, strife, arguments, constant questioning, criticism. You are walking in the will of God because he said I've come to do that very thing. Why would he say such thing? Because he doesn't want you to be surprised when it happens.

This is just a natural result of what happens when you choose to follow Jesus. And finally, he finally finally, out of all the statements, we all know this one, he states out of his own mouth that he has come to be the expression of God's love to the world. For God so loved the world. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son. God so loved he gave.

Jesus Christ is the embodiment of God's love for the world. The word of God in flesh is the expression of the mind and heart of God towards humanity. The life and ministry of Jesus is the eternal stamp of love towards you and me. And that's why it's unquestionable and that's why we should never doubt and that's why we can live this life with full confidence that we are treasured by the Almighty. Jesus Christ is the picture.

Jesus Christ is the statement. Jesus Christ is the full expression of his love, God's love to us. I hear this often from people who have kids that that verse, John three sixteen, becomes so much more real to them when they have a child because they can never imagine giving that little one, that precious one away, not for those that are calling for help, not for those that are begging for mercy, for those that are willfully rebellious towards a holy God. It's mind numbing to think of such a glorious truth. Let me be very transparent.

Reading Luke chapter two eight, reading this story, I've come to the place where I just stopped and said, lord, don't let my heart get used to this. Don't let my heart, how is my heart not fluttering? I'm not talking about emotion. I'm talking about being stirred by the truth to a place where I worship and whether I feel it or not, but letting it warm up. How can it, how can it be, lord, that I can get so cold to this?

Lord, let may it never be so. May it never be so. Let me not memorize it to the point where it's lost its texture. Let me not know these truths to the point where it just becomes smooth to the tongue, but not effective to my soul. I've come because I am God's embodiment of love to the world.

So the angel's message to the shepherds is really his message to all humanity. Fear not, for I've come to bring you good news of great joy. So verse 12 confirms the statement by a sign. He says, this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

Why is the king of heaven, the savior, the Messiah, the one prophesied of since the Genesis, why is why is he in a manger? Why is that a sign? Well, verse seven tells us because there is no place for him in the inn. So just as the angel appearing to these shepherds is a foretaste of what Jesus' ministry will be like. I believe the location of his birth is also a foreshadowing of how people respond to him.

Rejection. Rejection. And not just in Jesus' day, but even in our day. Just like the end, there are many who have just settled in their minds and hearts that there's just no room for Jesus in their lives. Because if Jesus were to come into the inn, something would have to have to happen.

If there's no room, in order to make room, things have to be rearranged, or things have to be thrown out, or people have to go. And that is the same truth for the human heart. That if Jesus presents himself to man, man has to make a choice because man's heart is full, full of self, full of desires, full of my will, full of my ambitions. And if Christ wants to enter in, things have to go. Things have to be rearranged.

Priorities are no longer the same. Christ and his will becomes number one. And he dictates every area of our life that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for he who gave himself for us and died. But no, there's just no room. There's no room in my heart.

And every man this morning, in this church, and every church that is filled because of this season has to make the same choice. That either they, understanding the gospel that Jesus wants to enter into their life, have to let go of things, or because of their own comfort and because of their own rebellion, will keep those things and Jesus will just move on. We even see it at his birth. At his birth, there is no room. And today, unfortunately, so many have determined the same for their hearts.

And he moves on. And something happens. As the angel declares the fact that Jesus, this baby was born in a manger, it's as though all heaven couldn't contain themselves. Because verse 13 says that a host, a multitude of angels come forth and they begin to glorify God. In light of that revelation, the angels of heaven burst forth in song.

Saying what? There was a with the angel, a multitude of heavenly host praising God and saying glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace among those, peace among those with whom he is pleased. The sight of the very one that was sitting on the throne with angels hovering over him, covering their faces, covering their feet and saying, holy, holy, holy. Because the very train of his robe was even filling the temple and they were stunned by the beauty.

That very same one is now in a putrid, vile, stuffy, dirty manger and it caused them to sing because of the humility of the king. They couldn't contain I read a verse like that and I say, I believe with all my heart that as soon as that angel said those words, behold, he is in the manger. All of heaven just could not contain it and said glory to God. Glory. Nobody knows he's even there.

Quiet, perhaps surrounded by animals, the smell of manure in the atmosphere. That same one is now there. What a God we serve. Should it not stun us as well or have we become so used to this? How do they respond?

Verse 15. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherd said to one lord, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. Oh, wow. Even in this amazing visitation, they still had a choice to make. Let's go see what we just heard.

Let's go inquire. And they do it what? Verse 16. They went out with haste. They did not hesitate, they went with haste.

Is it true? And as they go, they found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And what they heard was true. What you hear from this word is true. He is that humble.

He is that loving. He did actually come into this world. He did actually pay a price. He is actually alive right now as you sit in these chairs. And the shepherds returned, verse 20, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen as it had been told to them.

They saw it and the sight caused them to worship. This truth caused them to tremble. It brought them to a place where they joined the angels of heaven in worshiping God, in glorifying his name, in realizing that yes, he is the one that we've been waiting for. He is the one that is gonna pay and deliver us. He is the one, the only savior of the world.

And they joined heaven. They joined heaven in worshiping him. And my prayer this morning is that you and I would be stirred with the same truths that we heard, to do the very same as what the angels have done, as what these shepherds have done, to worship him, to worship him. Jesus appears in a manger, reveals himself, God the father through an angel to these shepherds as a foreshadowing of his ministry that he would appear to those that are common and ordinary. He comes in swaddling cloths to one day be wrapped in burial cloths.

He comes so silently, but when he comes again, it will be so triumphant, so glorious. It won't be a secret. That's for sure. And the very reasons why he came as he declared those truths to be a ransom, to be one who would seek the lost, to be one who would bring division in order to make a new family, to be the expression of God's love is the same reason, is the same purpose he has today. And we have to take it so seriously to realize that there are people just like the shepherds initially who failed to realize that he is so close, that he's at hand's reach, that he's just a confession away from entering in.

And it's true. The inn was full. And many of us in here have realized that we wanna open ourselves to Jesus. But that same principle is for those who also have Jesus. That in order for us to grow in Jesus, there is always a sacrifice that needs to be made.

If you want more of him, if you want to grow in him, if you want to experience him through his word and in prayer, something always has to be sacrificed. You come closer, that means you have to pull away from somebody else. You wanna spend time with him, that means spending less time with other things. There's always a sacrifice. It's true of salvation, it's true of sanctification.

If we wanna grow in our relationship with this glorious God, things have to be rearranged or things even have to go. And we have to determine within ourselves if it's worth it. I cannot believe, or we can believe it, that this amazing God chose to be born in a manger. Filthy, vile, dirty, disgusting. No place for anybody to give birth.

But he associates with filthy, vile, dirty people as well. Not to keep them that way, but to transform them by his love. And if you're in this place this morning, in this short simple message, Jesus Christ came for you. People don't like to hear this because it sounds humanistic and it sounds like we rob God of his glory, but this is scripture. He came for you and me personally having determined allotted periods in the boundaries of the dwelling place that they should seek God.

New Year's is coming up. I'm speaking to two different types of people today. For those like the Pharisees, you have a knowledge of Jesus but you did not seek him. You did not you haven't even worshiped him. You did not acknowledge the fact that he came for you.

It's just stored up there. It's it's highlighted here, but it's not highlighted in the heart. Give your life to him. Surrender. Repent.

Realize that he's come to give you grace and a new chance. And not just those who have never given their lives, if you're backslidden this morning. If you're walking in a direction that you know you should not be walking in. If you're living in the dark knowing that you should be walking and fellowshipping in the light. Listen, he's the same God that wants to offer you repentance as well and a second chance.

Don't keep walking into that direction. Listen, the more darkness that you allow into your life, the more you will realize that there's gonna be confusion, frustration, anger, fear, conf all these things are part of the package. I'm talking about those that are backsliding. You're fellowshipping with those in the dark. You're being in places that Jesus would not be in.

You're drifting away from your first love. And he stands here in the midst of all of us to reassure you through his word that he does not condemn you, but he invites you to come back. So this new year will either be a new opportunity with Christ or it'll be just another new year. And you'll find yourself this time next year hearing the very same story and just adding more notes to what you know about the Messiah and failing to seek him and worship him as you ought. And for those, once again, that are walking with the Lord, take these verses, Press them upon your heart.

Say, Lord, don't let me get used to it. Soften me. Let me be enamored. Let me be enthralled. Let me come to the place where I join heaven at the revelation that Jesus has come in the flesh.

That Jesus has grown into a human body in the prime of his life only to take my punishment, only to take my pain, only to take the wrath of God on my behalf. And that's something that the Holy Spirit's willing to do, soften our hearts. Let's pray and ask the Lord for that.