A Christmas Message – Putting Out The Welcome Mat – Galatians 4:4-5 – Bible study
CHRISTMAS – PUTTING OUT THE WELCOME MAT
Galatians 4:4-5
by Cooper Abrams – Based on a message by J. Vernon McGee
Introduction:
INTRODUCTION: Christmas is the greatest holiday of the all.
1. Christmas is a time of gift giving. Tradition say it began whenthe wise men brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
2. I was watching a news report and reporters were interviewingpeople about their thoughts on Christmas. The one major problemthat people mentioned over and over was what kind of gift to give.
a. Often it people try to discount the truth that folks thinkthat the value of the gift shows how much you think of that person. The fact is to some degree this is true. You would not give a reallyexpensive gift to someone who you was not close to, yet you try togive nice things to people you love and care about. We might notbe financially able to as expensive a gift as we would like but we willgive the best we can.
b. There is always a problem when money is tight and youhave a lot of relatives and friends. You want to give them allsomething really nice, but you do not have the funds, so you do thebest you can.
I. WHAT WAS THE GREATEST GIFT THAT WAS EVERGIVEN?
ILLUS: A while back, on “Good Morning, America,” Joan Lundenfeatured some gift ideas. They were extraordinary gifts that someof you might want to include on your Christmas gift list.
One of them was a Jaguar automobile, the Jaguar 220. If youcare to order one of these, go to your Jaguar dealer & put downyour $80,000 deposit. Then when the automobile is delivered, youare expected to pay the balance of $507,000. The Jaguar 220 is a$587,000 automobile, & they only make 250 of them a year.
Joan Lunden also mentioned that if you were to purchasesuch an automobile, you might also be interested in a new car waxthat promises to give it the ultimate shine. It retails for $3,400 foran 8 ounce can. I guess if you can afford a half million dollarautomobile, why not spend $3,400 for car wax?
A third item she mentioned was a $18,000 frisbee, a $10,000yoyo, a $12,000 mousetrap, & even a $27,000 pair of sunglasses.And for the proud grandparent who is wondering what to buy thenew grandbaby, how about a $28,000 pacifier?
However, none of these gifts or any gift in the worldcompares with the gift the God gave to the world.
A. Of all the gifts that was ever given one stands out clearlyas the absolute best and most precious gift given for all time.
That was when God, our Creator, whose name the angelproclaimed was Emmanuel, meaning “God with us,” came to earthas a man, the Lord Jesus Christ, and He sacrificed Himself for thesins of all the world that man might have eternal life and heaven.
God gave Himself for His creation man. This is the greatestdemonstration of love the world has ever seen.
B. This gift was desperately needed. Rom. 5:12.
1. When Adam and Eve, trusted Satan rather thanGod and sinned in the Garden of Eden sin came into the world andwith it brought the penalty of sin which is death. It separated manfrom God.
2. Death and sin has since ruled in the world and allmen like their fathers are born sinners.
3. Sin caused man to come under the judgment ofGod. A holy and righteous God must condemn sin and He cannotallow sin in heaven which is a perfect and sinless place. Thus manis faced with the surety of death and the certainty of condemnationbecause of sin.
4. Therefore mankind after Adam and Eve sinnedwas in a dilemma. Man was separated from God who is holy andrighteous. Man had no way to save himself from death or restorefellowship or be reconciled to God.
C. But the gloomy picture has a bright side.
1. God in Genesis 3:15 promised He would do forman what man could not do for himself and promised He wouldsend a Messiah, a Savior who would undo the work of Satan.
2. As Romans 5:15 states God’s free gift wasredemption from sin and death. Please note that redemption isstated as being a gift. A gift is something someone gives youbecause they want you to have it. A gift is not earned or merited.I worked for a company and each year I would receive a Christmasbonus. It was called a bonus….it was earned because of my beingemployed there…it was not a gift.
There are several Greek words in our English Bible that aretranslated “gift.”
• One is “doron” and means an honor presented tosomeone. Matt. 2:11…the wise men brought“doron” and present them to Jesus. Because wasthe new born King and desired honor. This is notthe word used in Romans 5:15-16, 6:23 or 11:29.
• Another word is “dorsis” which refers to matter ofcrediting an account for because of a debt. This isnot the word used here.
• The Greek word used translated “gift” is “dorea”meaning a something that is freely bestowed onanother. In other words God the donor isgratuitously given grace to those who will receiveit.
3. In verse 18 the Word of God says by therighteousness of One, meaning the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s freegift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Note it was by the righteous of Christ, not man’srighteousness or good works justification came to men. It was a“dorea” a free gift offered by God.
4. V17 Adam sinned and brought on all mankind
condemnation…yet when Christ came He brought life.
I do not wish to bore everyone by references to the Greek,but here in verse 15 the phrase “much more” gives a greaterunderstanding that the English does. The thought here is not thatby the offense of one (Adam) many die and like wise the grace ofGod is greater than death. That is true and is expressed in verse 20.
But here the phrase means even as we have the certainty of death.. . . much more we have the certainty of gift of God’s grace by JesusChrist.
Do you notice that everywhere the Bible speaks of salvationthrough Jesus Christ….it is always a total work of Christ…not thework of man.
Verse 17 says those that receive the abundance of grace andof the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by “one”….JesusChrist!
Two things are seen here. One grace is something that isreceived and second the gift of grace and righteous is by JesusChrist alone. Grace is not given based on merit only on one’sbelieve and willingness to place their faith and trust in the work ofJesus Christ.
5. V20, Where sin abounded, Grace abounded more!!
II. SALVATION MUST BE RECEIVED.
A. The Bible tells us clearly that this is a gift thateveryone can receive freely. There is a stipulation however, aswith any gift that you are offered you must receive it.
1. Eph. 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been savedthrough faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,No of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:9)
God says grace is received by faith.
2. John 3:16, “For God so loved the World….he
that believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”
God says that the one who believe shall not perish, but haveeverlasting life.
3. Rom 10:9-10, “That if thou shalt confess withthy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart thatGod hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Forwith the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with themouth confession is made unto salvation.”
God says that the one who not only confesses with hismouth that there Lord is Jesus Christ…but the one who believes sincerely in their heart, thereby receiving God grace is the onewho is saved.
It is not receiving or being inclined toward some newphilosophy. It involves one realizing that they are a sinner andknowing that sin brings death, they turn to God who freely offerstotally forgiveness, eternal life and heaven. There is not conjecturein God offer….not conditions other than to receive it.
B. What then is true faith? If I can receive the free giftof God, which is Salvation…what is true believer or faith?
1. There is a catchy phrase that says, “If God said it Ibelieve it, and that settles it.” If that is your attitude of trusttowards God’s and God’s Word, then you are obeying the Lord, andbringing Him honor and glory.
2. On the other hand, some express a different attitude. They may read the Bible, know that is what God has said and yetrespond by saying, “God, you have a good thought, I appreciate it,but you don’t understand my circumstances.” Or one may say“God that really sounds good, I would like you forgive me and letme go to heaven, but I do not want to get all carried away with thisreligion business. I want to live my life as I please and do notwant to be changing it.”
The true faith of many is tested when they are told they areto believe the Bible, God’s word and follow it
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says about the Bible, “All scripture isgiven by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, forreproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: Thatthe man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto allgood works.”
You see God’s plan for man is for him to live the best lifepossible and that means a life of righteous obeying God. However,some want heaven but want nothing to do with righteousness asJesus stated in John 3:19.
C. Saving faith is faith that puts Jesus Christ as the headof one’s life. Saving faith says yes, God is my Creator and Saviorand He is right….so I will do what He says because He is God andwants the best for them.
The lost man or the false Christians says, give me heaven butlet me live my life as I want too.
III. WHAT THEN IS TRUE BIBLICAL FAITH?
A. Life is full of the unreal, the sham, the make believe,the counterfeit, the substitute and the fictitious, or pretended.
1. 2 Tim. 1:5 Paul refers to Timothy’s faith as being”unfeigned.” It means true faith without hypocrisy. Feigned meanspretended, simulated, or imagined. (“un-fain-ed”)
2. What does it mean to feign? Look at a little girl playingwith her doll. What ever the doll may look like whether it be onethat walks, talks and drinks and wets, OR one that is made of ragsto that little girl it is her baby.
She rocks it to sleep, talks baby talk to it; she may evenscold it. A young boy, plays policeman, fireman or air plane pilot.
He pretends to be a soldier, superman, ninja turtle. But is he whathe pretends to be? How can you know?
3. All of us know that the world is full of sham, make believeand the unreal.
a. The fact that Paul says Timothy’s faith wasunfeigned implies that some folks may have “feigned” faith or faiththat is not real.
b. Folks try and substitute a lot of things for faith,and they place their faith in a lot of things that are not real.
c. Faith is not a leap into the dark. True faith mustbe based on something that is true. Biblical faith is faith thatbelieves God’s and accepts Him at His word.
It would do me no good to have faith in my ability tofly….why? I am not a bird! I could believe I could…but my beliefwould be in vain. To believe or have faith in something that is notreal is worthless.
d. I met a Muslin on an airplane trip back East whowas a very likeable fellow. He believes he will go to heavenbecause he is working at becoming a good person. He believes inAllah…however Allah is the figment of Muhammad imagination. He is not real and faith in a god that is not real is of no value.
We could use a lot of examples of false gods peoplesincerely believe in. A native in the jungle worships a snake. Amissionary I heard speak while in a missions class at school said inthe village in South America where he worked they worshiped thepython. One came into the village and took a young child and thepeople cried and begged it not to kill and eat the child, but theywould do nothing to stop the snake because they believed it was agod. It ate the child. What a tragedy to have faith in a false godthat cannot hear nor can he save.
B. Folks truth faith Must be based on TRUTH.
1. There are lots of reasons some folks have afeigned faith:
Some are afraid of Hell. Some joined churches hoping toavoid hell, or it may be a popular thing to do in one’s family and itpleases one’s family or friends. A person may want to go toheaven, because they may have love ones there. There can be manyreasons for wanting to go to heaven.
Yet, joining a church does not save, nor doing even manygreat works, or being kind, or even showing love. All these thingsare greatly needed, but they are not God’s plan of salvation.
A feigned faith is not real no matter how sincere the person may be. In time feigned faith is exposed as not being real becauseit does not a change in one’s life. It does not bring inward peace,satisfaction and assurance because God is not in it and only truesalvation brings peace and joy to a ones soul. It never brings apersonal and comforting relationship with God.
3. There really is no other kind of Biblical faith but”unfeigned.”.
C. Have you ever wondered why the Bible has so muchto say about what is true faith? Did you even consider whypreachers who are true the Bible preach so much about true andfalse faith?
The answer is simple: True faith saves…Itappropriates the gift of God…Salvation… forgiveness of sin andEternal life.
False faith, is false hope…it leaves one empty,abandoned and helplessly lost. It does not fill the void in our lives.
False faith is worse that no faith, because it luresfolks into thinking that they have the real thing when they don’t.
Folks who have real biblical faith are saved and knowthey will go to heaven! Folks who have a feigned faith are lost andon their way to hell!
D. Biblical faith is more than giving mental assent toTruth.
1. What does True faith do?
”But as many as received him, to them gave he power tobecome the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name”(John 1:12).
2. Note the verse says “to all or as many as receive Him”.
It means when there is true Biblical faith, Christ isreceived into one’s life and He becomes the one’s MASTER. Itmeans a person’s life is changed. He begins to live a life with Christ.
We are married to Christ. How many husbands and wivesdid not have their lives changed when they began to live with theirspouses? The answer is none.
3. It a person truly believes it means he accepts trueBiblical doctrine and that is evidenced by growing more and morelike Christ. True faith produces holy living.
False faith does not change ones life.
D. You can know a lot about Christ and the Bible. Thatknowledge can be acquired from books, Sunday School teachers and evenpreaching or growing up in church.
Superficial faith or feigned faith says: “I believe in God”but many times sees God as the “old man upstairs” with no influenceor their lives. A feigned faith sees no responsibility to God, but theyreally do not believe in God. Feigned faith sees God by and throughthe a man’s eyes.
However, Biblical or unfeigned faith knows God bythe heart. It is a personal relationship and knowing who He isloves, worships and obeys Him.
God’s promise to those who believe is simple and absolute:
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from thedead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth untorighteousness; and with the mouth confession is made untosalvation” (Romans 10:9-10).
CONCLUSION:
1. Folks God has a wonderful and eternal gift He offers toall. It is not just offered a Christmas but throughout the year.
It is the most wonderful gift a man can obtain and that giftis eternal life.
That is the true Christmas message that God sent HisSon the Lord Jesus Christ to pay our sin debt and then to offer usthe offer of grace free to all will believe and receive it
2. The person who believes will have his life is changed.
”Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: oldthings are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor.5:17).
3. Receiving God’s gift of Salvation is receiving Jesus Christinto one’s life. Any other kind of expressed faith is false.
4. It is Christmas time, a time to be thankful for the comingof the Savior. It is a time to accept God’s precious gift offorgiveness of sin and eternal life.
It should be a time when all men examine their hearts anddetermine once for all if they have truly received Jesus as theirSavior.
Second it is a time when those who are saved should sharethe greatest gift on earth…that is the Gospel with those around us.
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