December 18, 2011 God Make You Merry
12.18.11
Luke 2:1-20 verses 10-11
“gospel of great joy”
hymnal #211
400+ year old British carol (published 1700s) — sang and danced to this (not allowed in church)
“God rest you merry, gentlemen”
(not God give rest to you merry gentlemen, not about rest)
God make you or keep you in your heart joyful/cheerful: you gentlemen (and gentlewomen of course)
What is there to be merry about?
“A Savior has been born to you” (Lk 2:11)
“Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day
to save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray”
(“to free all those who trust in him from Satan’s power and might”)
many say “keep Christ in Christmas”
let’s keep Satan in Christmas as well
new figure in the Nativity scene: big dragon
Revelation 12:1-10
Luke 13:10-17
10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
Acts 10
37 You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
Today in this world
do you see Satan’s power?
do you see Satan’s tyranny?
the horrors of this world show us that human beings desperately need to be saved
men who have lost to death the person they were closest to in the world
parents who have lost little children
children born with terrible illness and lived a few years and died
children who were physically abused by cruel adults
families who had members raped and shot by soldiers
families whose homes were destroyed and members killed by storms
people who live in a prison of their own minds– mentally handicapped, mentally ill
people who are sold into slavery as children and beaten to death
people who are imprisoned and die in prison
this is the power of Satan
this is his rule and tyranny
people look at the horrors of this world
and say “there can’t be a God”
we should look at the horrors
and say “there must be a Savior” because if there is not there is nothing else for all these people only misery and early death
1. Merry because this is the Savior who will end the horrors of this world
Hebrews 2
14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
My son, Jack, has Down Syndrome and Autism, mind in shackles
but that is not the last word on him
that is not all he gets
Why? because Jesus Christ was born and he shall save us all from Satan’s power
Jesus came to save those whose lives are short and miserable and imprisoned
he will set us free from the horrors of this world– under Satan’s tyranny/ power
some have sought a human salvation
through reason and technology and education
we have gone far with that
but we have not been saved from misery and death, we have not conquered
For those of you going through bitter suffering now– rejoice in your Savior.
Your Savior will save you and give back.
1 Peter 5
8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
Do not be overcome by the suffering and give in to Satan– instead continue in faith and obedience– God will make you strong and mighty again
2 Corinthians 12
7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
his suffering comes from Satan
Christ’s grace and power make us strong when we are weak in sufferings
2. Merry because Jesus has set us free from slavery to Satan to live a new life.
John 13:2
The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.
Acts 26:15-18
15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
1 John 3:8
8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
set free from living as a slave to Satan and living rather in love for God and Christ
now you can have a merry life in the present
even with all the pain of this life
as people pursue what they want
they find neither happiness
nor meaning
isn’t it strange? they find only slavery
Ephesians 6
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
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