Title: Prepare For Christmas
Text: Matthew 3:1-6
December 2, 2007
New Hope Community Chapel
Goal: Changed Lives. Changing from preparing for a Holiday to preparing for the coming of the Savior
Main Point: What is the one thing I want my audience to know? They need to be prepared for the Savior to come.
Application: What do I want them to do about it? Confess your sin and turn to God.
Introduction:
Are you prepared for Christmas?
I would have to say I am not, although, the snow we received on Saturday is helping me get into the spirit.
I haven’t hung a single Christmas light outside yet – not sure I will…
I haven’t even bought any Christmas gifts yet.
I thought about it a bit.
I don’t really have to buy many presents – just for Laura.
And I really don’t know what to get her.
The way I see it, we both have everything we need.
If I buy her something for the kitchen – that implies work.
If I buy her clothes – I could get into a lot of trouble trying to guess on the size – better leave that alone until after the pregnancy is done.
One Christmas I bought a few things for Laura.
Among them was a Jean skirt from Old Navy.
I liked it – and I knew her size – so I bought it.
Christmas came and Laura opened her presents – including the box with the skirt.
I told her to try on her new clothes and to both our surprise the skirt must have been big enough to go around Laura 2xs.
Something happened and the skirt was accidentally labeled (her size), but on the inside it had it’s right size and that was a few sizes too large.
I got into trouble for that – you know.
“Do you see me as being that big?”
So I am not ready for Christmas just yet.
Sure, Wal-Mart was ready for Christmas in September.
It won’t be long until you walk in there to buy sparklers on July 4 and you’ll have to walk past the giant inflatable snow globe to get them.
I really don’t start getting ready for Christmas until after Thanksgiving.
I like to take one holiday at a time.
I am not holding anything against those who have been ready for months, but you may have a problem.
You may be addicted to Christmas which can result in Christmasitis.
I have a little test which can help you determine if you have contracted this disease.
Give yourself a point for every question you answer yes to.
1. Do you have more than five giant inflatable lawn decorations?
2. Did you buy any of this year’s Christmas presents at the after Christmas sales last year?
3. Do you leave your Christmas lights up all year and try to pass them off as lights to celebrate other holidays?
4. Have you ever bought an artificial tree because real ones don’t last for three months?
5. Do you rent or own a shed or storage unit because you have more decorations than your house can hold?
Problem:
On a more serious note, I ask you again: Are you prepared for Christmas?
We can point to a number of things to gauge our readiness.
Do we have our tree decorated? decorations and lights hung? shopping completed? Christmas cards sent? presents wrapped?
Do you ever go through the season checking off everything as you get it done?
But that’s not what I am referring to when I ask the question, “Are you ready for Christmas?”
I am referring to the spiritual aspects of the season.
In all the gospels, we are given a glimpse into the life of John the Baptist.
He came before Jesus and gave the people the message, “Get ready for the coming Messiah.”
Let’s take a look at his message in Matthew 3:1-10
In those days John the Baptist began preaching in the Judean wilderness. His message was, 2 "Turn from your sins and turn to God, because the Kingdom of Heaven is near." 3 Isaiah had spoken of John when he said,
"He is a voice shouting in the wilderness: ’Prepare a pathway for the Lord’s coming! Make a straight road for him!’ "
4 John’s clothes were woven from camel hair, and he wore a leather belt; his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People from Jerusalem and from every section of Judea and from all over the Jordan Valley went out to the wilderness to hear him preach. 6 And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. NLT
I want to take a look at what John told the people of Israel to do to Prepare for the coming of the Lord.
If we want to be prepared for Christ this Christmas we need to listen.
Prepare
When we think of getting ready for Christmas we immediately think about putting up the tree, hanging the lights, and shopping but there is one thing that should have been done before anything else.
You must prepare your house to receive these things.
Chances are, the places in your house where you put your snowman knick knacks, your snow globes, and your Christmas tree are occupied by other things throughout the rest of the year.
So, in order to make room for your Christmas stuff, you have to put some things away.
John the Baptist is the one whom Isaiah spoke about when he prophesied that there would be a voice calling in the desert.
Let’s take a quick look back to Isaiah to see what was said about John in Isaiah 40:3-5
Listen! I hear the voice of someone shouting, "Make a highway for the LORD through the wilderness. Make a straight, smooth road through the desert for our God. 4 Fill the valleys and level the hills. Straighten out the curves and smooth off the rough spots. 5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The LORD has spoken!" NLT
When we look at the word “prepare” in the Hebrew, we find that it refers to a clearing out.
We are to clear out a way for the Lord in the wilderness and make a smooth highway in the desert for our God.
There was a custom in the ancient Near East of sending representatives ahead to prepare the way for the visit of a monarch.
Sometimes, they would even do work on the road to make it worthy of their King, and sometimes, that involved removing fallen trees or filling in holes.
But, what is Isaiah referring to by telling us to make our paths straight?
We get that answer a few chapters earlier.
In Isaiah 26:7, we’re told, “But for those who are righteous, the path is not steep and rough. You are a God of justice, and you smooth out the road ahead of them.” NLT
So, in order to prepare a smooth path for the Lord, we must be righteous.
This means that we must clear out the sin and the stumbling blocks in our lives that make it impossible for Jesus to come in.
By telling us to prepare, John the Baptist is saying that the King is coming, so we must make sure we are ready to receive Him.
How do we do this?
We must confess our sins and turn to God.
Confession sometimes seems like a one time thing to us.
We know we need to come to Him and confess our sin, but that should cover it then right?
After all God is all-knowing, and He knows everything we do, so why is there any need to confess?
So often when we go to God in prayer, we either skip confession completely or we give some generic statement such as, “Lord, forgive me if there is any sin in my life.”
That’s not really a confession.
Confession means acknowledging or admitting that you have done something wrong.
We like to think we have confessed without ever admitting or acknowledging any sin.
We need to be specific.
Let’s say you commit a crime and go down to the police station to turn yourself in.
If the cop comes to talk to you and all you say is, “I confess, I did it”, you are going to be met with another question right away.
“Ok, what did you do?”
It’s not just good enough to be general in our confession.
Confession, by its very definition is direct and specific.
So, why do we need to be specific in our confession and confess at all if God already knows everything?
Well, first of all, it’s Biblical.
Solution:
God designed this from the very beginning as found in 1 John 1:9.
It says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
God’s forgiveness is held back unless we will truly confess all our sin.
It goes back to even farther to the tabernacle back in Moses’ time.
Before you could enter the holy part of the temple, you had to be washed and cleansed.
But, before that could happen, you had to offer a sin offering at the altar.
This was an admission before God and the whole community that there was sin in your life.
And, their offering differed according to the sin that was committed.
So, the Israelites got specific about their sins and confessed them before the Lord in public in order to be cleansed so they could enter into the holy place of the temple.
What I find to be fascinating about this is that their confession was done in public.
What if I said to you this morning, “If you sinned this week, raise your hand,” how many of you would do it?
But how many of you are willing to tell us all what sin you committed?
“But Pastor, that’s getting personal and I would be uncomfortable doing that. After all, that is between me and God.”
But, is it?
James tells us otherwise.
James 5:16 tells us, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”
That tells me that confession is to be more public than we make it out to be.
Application:
I am not suggesting that we broadcast all over the church our every sin.
But we need to find someone that we can confide in and confess and pray with them about our sin.
It’s only then that true healing can come.
Confession is very freeing and it brings healing to the soul.
We can learn from the law of the Israelites.
As they stood in line to offer their sacrifice, they could get a good idea of what the people around them had done just by looking at their sacrifice.
It was a confession to God that they had committed a certain sin, but it also acted as a confession to those around them.
And, to a certain extent, I think it was very encouraging to the other Israelites.
They could see that others dealt with the same things they did, and they could find comfort in the fact that they were not alone in their sin.
I know this is not an easy teaching.
It’s hard to be specific in confession, and it is even harder to confess to each other.
But, it is incredibly freeing when it happens, and the devil will do all that he can to keep you locked up in the prison of unconfessed sin.
He knows the power of confession, and it is time we understand its importance.
After all, every great revival starts with prayer, and the very next step is always public confession of sin.
Revival will not come without confession – that’s how important this is.
How many of you have kids that always obey what you say?
Let’s say you have a son who always hits his younger brother.
You have told him numerous times that it is wrong and that he needs to stop it, but it still is a problem from time to time.
One day, you catch him in the act, and you say, “How many times have I told you not to hit your brother?”
Then, the child comes to you with a tear in his eye and says, “I’m sorry I hit my brother, mommy.”
You immediately forgive him, but then, before you know it, the boy goes over and smacks his brother again.
How does that make you feel?
Is the child going to be in trouble again? You bet he is.
This shows us the difference between confession and turning from sin.
This child confessed his sin, but the next step is turning from it.
To repent means to turn or to change.
It means that you see that you are doing something wrong, but you actually do something to make a difference in your behavior.
Sometimes we confess our sins to the Lord but then fail to do anything to change our behavior.
We confess and go back to the way we have always done things and are surprised and disgusted when we fall back into the same sins.
Why do you think so many prisoners end up back in prison only a few months after they are released?
Many of them will tell you that they are sorry for what they have done, but when they get out, they go right back to their old circle of friends and old behaviors.
Then they end up back in jail, usually for an offense very similar to the original.
I wonder if God sees us the way we see our kids who say they are sorry and then go and repeat the same.
We say, “I’m sorry I did that, Lord,” and then we go out and do the same thing we just confessed.
That must be frustrating to Him.
That’s why, I believe, that heaven gets so excited over repentance.
Jesus said in Luke 15:7, “I tell you that in the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
You see, confession is not enough.
All of Heaven gets excited when repentance happens.
Confession is the first step and repentance shows that we truly want to change.
So again I ask you: “Are you prepared for Christmas?”
Are you ready for the coming of the Savior?
Vision:
If you have never confessed your sin to God and to another person, you have no idea what a relief that is.
Imagine how it would feel to have the guilt of your sin lifted.
It really isn’t lifted as much as it is transferred.
It is transferred to Jesus who willingly took it for you.
The Bible says you can be a new creature – a new person – you can have a fresh start and a clean slate.
Wouldn’t that be the best Christmas present you could ask for?
You need to confess that you are a sinner.
After all the Bible tells us that all have sinned and come short of God’s plan for them.
By confessing, you are really just admitting what the Bible already has to say about you is true.
The next step in preparing for the Savior is to turn from your sin.
You have to make the choice.
You can stop going there.
You can stop doing that.
If it were not possible, God wouldn’t expect it.
It is possible.
You can break that habit, or addiction.
The Holy Spirit wants to help you with that.
Will you turn from it?
Wouldn’t that be a great Christmas present to yourself, your loved ones, and the Jesus?
If this Christmas, 2007, you decided to turn from a sin.
Invitation: Mostly Ad Lib.
I want to invite you to confess… and to turn.
Job 42:8-9
8 Now take seven young bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not been right in what you said about me, as my servant Job was."
9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite did as the LORD commanded them, and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer. NLT
Be baptized…
