Hope From the Word

Bill Luebkemann: Like it or not, we've all got to serve somebody. Even Bob Dylan agrees with that. Here's Pastor Bill Luebkemann with his thoughts on the matter. Joshua says you have to choose who you're going to serve. I read this passage at my wedding. I stood right there and I said, I have a few things to share and all my relatives said, uh-oh.

We didn't know we were going to get into this. He's going to speak at his own wedding? And I told everybody there, I was going to be serving the God. And so it's a choice that we have to make. You must choose who you will serve. Some will choose Christ, some will not. That's why Jesus said, I've come to bring division. Make up your mind. You have to make a choice here. The time is short, the hour is late. You must choose and you have to do it soon.

Music: Give me one pure and holy passion. Give me one magnificent obsession. Give me one glorious ambition for my life to know and follow hard after you.

Bill Luebkemann: Calvary Chapel of Marlton brings you another Hope from the Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann. We're glad you could join us today as we continue a series of very special Christmas messages. Understanding why Jesus came to Earth is important all year long. So today, Pastor Bill will not only address the question of why Jesus came in the first place, but he'll also challenge us to consider why we're here. Here's Pastor Bill with Christmas Time, Hope from the Word.

Today we are going to look at why Jesus came. We were looking at who Jesus was and we looked mostly at 1 John and John 1. Kind of companion passages there. Kind of neat the way God labeled them 1 John and John 1. And but now that we saw who Jesus was, I thought today, well, we'll look at why He came. Primarily taken from His own words, looking through the various gospels at different things that Jesus said.

And one of the reasons why he came can be found in Matthew 5, verses 17 and 18. And this is what he said. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished. When Jesus here speaks about the law and the prophets, he's speaking about the Old Testament. And he tells us that he did not come to abolish the law and the prophets. He came to fulfill them. There are many scriptures that foretell the birth of Christ.

But his birth was not the only thing foretold. Many, many, many things about who he was and why he came and what he was to do and different things that were going to happen in his life. Many things were foretold about him. One of them was that he would come to fulfill the law. In Romans 3:31, it says, do we then nullify the law by this faith? Not at all.

Rather, we uphold the law. Jesus did not come to speak against the law. He came to speak against the legalism of the Pharisees perhaps. They believed in scrupulously keeping the letter of the law, but only on the outside, to be seen by others. They wanted everybody to see what great law keepers they were. They followed all the rules by the books, always drove at the speed limit.

But inside, their hearts were rotten to the core. They were as wicked as they could get. And somehow they must have thought to themselves, God wouldn't notice the inside. He was only looking at the outside. But the Bible says, man looks at the outside, God looks on the heart. The inside, what's in a man.

They were confused about that perhaps. Maybe they just didn't care. Maybe they didn't believe in God at all. In any case, Jesus said, I'm not coming to abolish the law. I'm not coming to abolish the prophets. I'm not here to get rid of the Old Testament. He was here to fulfill it. And he emphasized in his ministry the meaning of the scriptures.

The deep meaning, often the hidden meaning. Often he stressed the underlying principles. He said, hey, if you're angry at someone, it's the same as murder. If you've lusted in your heart, it's the same as adultery. He was more interested in what happened in the heart, than what happened on the outside. He was interested in the spirit of the law, where the Pharisees were interested in pretending.

They wanted to fool anyone they could, including themselves, their friends, people that were around them. They wanted to impress folks. And perhaps they thought they were impressing God. A few more scriptures about God's word, Psalm 119:89. Your word, oh Lord, is eternal. It stands firm in the heavens. That's another reason why Jesus couldn't come to abolish it. How could you abolish something that's eternal?

That never ends. Remember, eternal means it's not only going to always exist in the future, but that it always existed in the past. It's a good reminder of God's word that hasn't changed. It hasn't been added to or subtracted from. It's always been the same. It stands firm in the universe. And as big as the heavens are, God's word is bigger.

It's bigger than our little planet here in the solar system, and 30 years ago, even more, 32 years ago, we launched that satellite called Voyager. Veeger on Star Trek the movie. Um, and uh, that thing is out past Pluto. It hasn't even left our solar system yet. And it's in when we all die, another 100 years from now, it'll still be in our solar system.

That's how big it is. Even beyond Pluto, by the time you figure in all the rocks and whatever the Cooper belt is and heliosphere and and by the time you get to the perimeter of the solar system, we're all going to be long gone. And that thing wouldn't have even left this little, this little neck of the universe where we live in. And God's word is bigger, bigger than all that. Bigger than the universe.

Isaiah 48 says, that's 40 in verse 8, the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever. That's what God's word is. Grass and flowers, the things of the earth, they pass away. God's word has lasted forever and will always last forever. And Isaiah 55:11, so is my word that goes out from my mouth, it will not return to me empty.

But will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. So it's not only eternal, God's word, it doesn't only last forever, it's not just never failing and fulfilled, but we also say, it'll accomplish its purpose. There's a purpose for it. There's a reason for it. And the reason is going to be accomplished.

Matthew 24:35 says, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. So this is one of the reasons why Jesus came, to fulfill the law. The law that is eternal, the law that has no beginning or no end, his word of God, that is without, without beginning or end, he came to fulfill it, not to end it. And another reason why Jesus came, that was just the first one.

Matthew 20, most of these, a lot of these come from Matthew anyway. Chapter 20, verses 25 to 28. Jesus called them together and said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.

And whoever wants to be first must be your slave. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. And to give his life as a ransom for many. This was certainly different. From the way the Gentiles saw things back at this time. And it was also different from the ways of the Pharisees. They liked to be in charge. They always wanted to be looked up to.

Not only did they want it to appear that they had all under control, that they were following God's law perfectly. But they also wanted to be looked up to, like they were the big kahunas. And I know they weren't because we met with the big kahunas at the FCC a month ago. And those those were really the big kahunas. Here's, here's about the Pharisees here. In chapter 23 of Matthew, then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.

So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. It seems that the Pharisees were more interested in making the load heavier for others.

They wanted to palm more weight on. And Jesus is saying here that he came to do the opposite. He came to make the work easier. He has come to serve. He came to serve us and he wants us to be servants to serve others and to serve him. And that's really different than what the world says. And the world, you know, the thing to do is to rise to the top, climb to the climb the ladder, you know.

Kick and push and get everybody out of the way. Stand on the back of someone else if you need to. Rise to the top, get as much as you can, save it up. Build a bigger barn, build a bigger silo. Get a storage place. Now they're popping up all over the place. Storage, get a storage place to store more stuff. You have all this stuff. Why even have it if if you just have it stored in some storage place?

I don't get that, but those people, they're popping up everywhere. Big business, I wish I had thought about that. That's really different than what the world says. And Jesus tells us, we are not to lord it over. We are not to be bossy. We are not to try to be in charge. We are called to be servants. We need to be looking for ways to serve him and to serve others.

Mark 9:35, sitting down, Jesus called the 12 and said, if anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last and the servant of all. Again, a reminder, we are to serve. In Luke 12:37, it will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.

And this scripture reminds us that he served, he is serving us. Even when he returns. We're going to sit at a table and be served. Serving is not something he just did when he came to Earth in person. It's something he's going to continue to do. And he wants us to imitate him by doing likewise and serving others. Luke 22:27, for who is greater?

The one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves. Jesus said, clearly, the guy sitting at the table being waited on, he's the greater guy. But wait a minute, he said, I'm not the one doing that. I'm the one serving you. And and he just in case you're confused, or anybody's confused, he clarifies he is greater.

He doesn't have any problem with the definition of who he is. Don't be confused, he is greater. He's the greatest. But he's telling us here that God calls us to live a life of service. And that's what that service is does not matter as much as whether it's what God called us to do. It doesn't matter what kind of service he called you to do.

It may have something to do with the church. It may have something to do with the community. It may have something to do with your family. Somebody here was telling me they had to get up at 5:00 this morning and take their aunt, drive all the way to their aunt's house to take her to the hospital. That's serving. And God calls us to serve in different ways. And it doesn't have to be in front of a church or in a position that's noticed.

Maybe it's just ministering to a friend or someone in need or being there for them. John 13, verse 12. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. Do you understand what I have done for you, he asked them? I don't think any of them knew what that what was going on. You call me teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am.

Now that I, your teacher, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Want to get blessed? Be a servant. That's what he's telling us here. Here was Jesus doing the lowliest of all tasks. This was as low as you could get. And he tells us to do the same. If there's a task, if there's any task that you consider to be below you, you should get off that kick because Jesus Christ was God himself. And he came from the highest possible place and he did the lowest possible task, what a slave would do.

Washing feet. And they were dirty, smelly feet. And if you don't believe me, just use your imagination. They didn't have showers like we have today. And they walked around in sandals and their feet picked up the dirt from the road. It was, it was not a fun job to do. But here he was, coming from the highest place to the lowest place and demonstrating how to be a servant of all.

So how could any of us say that any task is below us? Jesus was not below that task. He came and he served and he wants us to follow in his example. Here's a third reason why he came, Luke 4, verses 42 to 44. At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them.

But he said, I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also because that is why I was sent. And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea. Another reason we see here for his coming was to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. And throughout the Bible, the kingdom of God is used to represent the eternal kingship of God, the presence of the kingdom in in Jesus, the approaching spiritual kingdom in our hearts, and also the future, future kingdom, us in heaven.

The kingdom of God. It's what's coming in the future, but it's also what's in our heart now, and it's what was in Jesus when he was here. Jesus is called to preach this good news to many towns and many places. He doesn't just give the good news to a select few. You know, some cults today, they say, of course, only the people that know the real truth are the innermost circle in their cult.

God's only revealed it to us, 28 people here. And uh, you know, we'll share with you for a fee or something. He didn't do that. He doesn't give it out to the best people, only his friends, the ones that can pay the upfront fee or anything like that. He is called to preach the good news to the lost sheep of Israel, and ultimately to all of Judea. And because of what he did, here we are 2,000 years later, and we can hear it as well.

He came to preach the good news that his kingdom is eternal. It existed before, it exists now, and it'll always exist, and there was never a time when it didn't exist. It was present in him. It's present in our hearts if we accept him. And in the future, we'll be with him in Paradise forever. In Luke chapter 12, verse 49, this is what it says, I have come to bring fire on the earth.

And how I wish it were already kindled. But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed. Do you think I come to bring peace on Earth? No, I tell you, but division. I came from now on, there will be five in one family divided against each other. Three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son, and son against father.

Mother against daughter, and daughter against mother. Mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. He's come, he says, to bring fire on the earth, not to bring peace, but to bring division. He says he has this baptism to undergo, and he's referring to the death on the cross. You look over in Mark, a funny thing, these these brothers here, the sons of thunder, in Mark chapter 10, verse 35 to 40.

I love this story here. Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. Teacher, they said. We want you to do for us whatever we ask. Doesn't that just sound like a little kid, you haven't asked for anything yet. Oh, we're not going to tell you until you tell us if you'll do it or not. We want you to promise to do it. That sounds like what your little kid would tell you.

What do you want me to do for you, he asked. They replied, let one of us sit at your right hand, at your right, and the other at your left in your glory. You don't know what you're asking, Jesus said. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with? We can, they answered. Jesus said to them, you will, you will drink, you will drink the cup I drink.

And be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with. But to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared. This is a funny story here. He says to the sons of Zebedee, James and John, if they can undergo the same baptism he will undergo. He asked them, and he's referring to his death on the cross. They probably don't know that.

And they say, oh yeah, we can do that. We can do that. Whatever whatever you want us to. We can do it. We're strong. We can do it. And we know from Acts at least one of them died a martyr not too long afterwards. I'm not sure that's what he had in mind. And Jesus said, he is distressed until this baptism is over with. John 19:30, when he had when he had received the drink, Jesus said, it is finished.

With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. That's when it was over. And Jesus was distressed before it happened. He was happy here, I'm sure, when it was over. When it was finished, when it was completed. Because this is what Jesus was looking forward to and referring to when he said he had a baptism to undergo. The theme of division may sound odd at this time of peace on Earth, goodwill towards men.

My peace I leave unto you. But there's a strong theme of division in the scriptures. Matthew 10. Let's look over there for a second. We don't normally jump around quite this much. Just making sure you know all know how to flip pages. Verse 34 in Matthew 10. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother.

A daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it. And whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Jesus did come to bring peace, by the way. He came to bring peace between man and God. And he came to bring peace between believers. But he also brings division. There's division between the Christ and the Antichrist, between light and darkness, between good and evil, between right and wrong, between God's children and the world's children, the devil's children. And you can see all this at Christmas. This time of, you know, tiding and good joy.

It seems to be when more of the anti-God, anti-Christian people come out of the woodwork and want to protest things. We better not sing, joy to the world at the kids' holiday concert. We better not even play it without the words. You know, unbelievable. But it is division here. It's division. Joshua spoke about it back in the book of Joshua. One of the verses I really like in Joshua.

Joshua 24, verses 14 and 15. Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. This is Joshua speaking. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the river and in Egypt and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. Whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.

But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. Joshua says, you have to choose who you're going to serve. I read this passage at my wedding. I stood right there and I said, I have a few things to share and all my relatives said, uh-oh. We didn't know we were going to get into this. He's going to speak at his own wedding? And this is this is one of the things that I read.

And I and I told everybody there, I was going to be serving the God. And so there it's a choice that we have to make. And it's a choice between right and wrong. It's just personified it's becomes as you read the news, or watch the news, however you get your news or listen to it. You see the constant battle between the God and the world, the Christ and the Antichrist. Right and wrong, good and bad, pro and con.

Whatever. You have to choose who you're going to serve. Will you serve God or will you serve the world, the devil? Will you serve the true Lord and Savior? Or will you follow the world, the flesh, and the devil? Will you live your life for Christ so you can spend eternity with him? Or will you live for yourself? The few short years that are allotted to you here on Earth.

And then spend eternity without him. This is the message Joshua was speaking. You must choose who you will serve. Some will choose Christ, some will not. That's why Jesus said, I've come to bring division. Make up your mind. You have to make a choice here. The time is short, the hour is late. You must choose and you have to do it soon.

Bill Luebkemann: We're going through a Christmas series here on Hope from the Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann. For a CD copy of the message, call 856-983-1662. That's 856-983-1662. You can also replay today's program and catch what you may have missed at CCMarlton.org. Another great way to listen to a program you enjoy or access other teachings from Pastor Bill is through the Hope FM app. Go to CCMarlton.org to download the Hope FM app today. It's available on all platforms and it's free. We want to invite you to join us here at Calvary Chapel of Marlton. We have a Sunday morning service which begins at 10. We also have a midweek service as well on Wednesdays at 7. It would be great to have you here with us. Look for our directions and more information about the church online at CCMarlton.org. And would you please send us an email sometime today? It would be nice to hear from you and learn how the Lord is using the program in your life this Christmas season. You can also email Pastor Bill from our website at CCMarlton.org, or just call us if that's preferred. 856-983-1662. We'll have more Hope from the Word from Pastor Bill's Christmas Series next time. We'll see you then.