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~ C 1+fiu.r,.c.o,y SUBJECT CHRISTMAS @ f (lf.c.'{.ij~c.

DELIVERIES: F.B.C. F.B. C. f._2, c. SfROZ.5 P.c Date 1:. 8-85 12-9 -90 J;;.

1 ~ C 1+fiu.r,.c.o,y SUBJECT f (lf.c.'{.ij~c. -e, TEXT John 1:1-5 TITLE WHAT ABOUT CHRIST BEFORE CHRISTMAS? SCRIPTURE READING, E.F. '7CJ CLASSIFICATION: _LEXPOSITORY --BIOGRAPHICAL --TEXTUAL --TOPICAL ---DEVOTIONAL DELIVERIES: F.B.C. F.B. C. f._2, c. SfROZ.5 P.c Date 1: J;;. -JO- f5"" I i-t,-o({ Hour a.m. a.m.,1111 -,+'"1 Place San Angelo, T: : San Angelo, TX 5;"' A-:JJ/P/ 7/ -w~1 wr Results and Comments: (XXX+++); 1 Red. ( XXX+++) 1B; 4B; (j X ><+tt+) 'f-l. I BIBLIOGRAPHY

~~/o{i FA~ - ''WHAT ABOUT CHRIST trf. Xn,..,,1, - BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

ON THIS SPECIAL DAY WE CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF A SPECIAL PERSON. THE DAY WE CALL "CHRISTMAS" COMMEMORATES THE EVENT OF THE COMING OF CHRIST INTO OUR WORLD.

THE PERSON CHRIST WAS BEFORE CHRISTMAS MADE POSSIBLE THE PERSON. HE BECAME AFTER CHRISTMAS.

2 ~~/o{i FA~ - ''WHAT ABOUT CHRIST trf. Xn,..,,1, - BEFORE CHRISTMAS.- SCRIPTURE: John 1:1--S Pew g,-1:/4 41 C// g INTRO: WE SING OUR CAROLS, WRAP OUR GIFTS AND TRIM OUR TREES, ALL IN ANTICIPATION OF CHRISTMAS. ON THIS SPECIAL DAY WE CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF A SPECIAL PERSON. THE DAY WE CALL "CHRISTMAS" COMMEMORATES THE EVENT OF THE COMING OF CHRIST INTO OUR WORLD. BUT HAS IT EVER DAWNED ON YOU THAT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST WOULD BE NO MORE THAN THE BIRTH OF ANY OTHER PERSON IF IT WERE NOT FOR WHO CHRIST WAS BEFORE CHRISTMAS? THE PERSON CHRIST WAS BEFORE CHRISTMAS MADE POSSIBLE THE PERSON. HE BECAME AFTER CHRISTMAS. THE OPENING 5 VERSES OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN INTRODUCE US TO THE PRE-EXISTENT CHRIST, THE CHRIST BEFORE CHRISTMAS. Christ Before Christmas: I. IS AN ETERNAL CHRIST - John 1: la --NOTE: "Tell me about the origin of Christ," you may ask. And I can answer your question in four brief words, "He had no origin!" ~ "In the BEGINNING was the Word." There never was a time when Christ was not. / In the first six WQrQs of his gospel, John affirms that Christ was already existing at the time referred to in Genesis 1: :l!. "In the BEGINNING God created the heavens and the earth.' His existence ; therefore, is without beginning--"christ Before Christmas" is an ETERNAL CHRIST! J' chapters later in verse 58, John quotes Chri st as saying, "Before ABraham was, I am." And as Christ prayed to the Father ~n John 17:24, He said, "You loved me before the foundation of the world~--before there II. \ I

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3 d:qw~ was anything laie1,1 upon which to build the world. And that's a l ong, long time ago! He i s an, ETERNAL CHRIST! --ILLUS: An actor existence before coming on stage in our Christmas Pageant... \ le r:,o,:;. Had Christ heen -jnything less than divin ~ v h~ A-n'( +lt t btt,,,.,.,ri,,_,,. ofl«t?. -JI\,-,, "' t H 1,11:,,r(/ w-,ts GcJD 1-2 -

..r.. IX! f/k.j.s/ - ""'',-~,----"... -....::.;; :...;;; II. A i)'ivi.ale CHUS i ''/la11> Th> l,t,ra;id W-i>~,, his75irlh, his life and his death would be of no consequence. - - 2And the Word was God.

$Hence the Evangelist ronounces the pre-existent trictly and _fully DIVINE. 'A ~ I, p' ~ ~----- - ~~------ So rig e beginning of Gospel John it down that (11. I S A CREATIVE CHRIST ofin 1 : -- \.$

4 ..r.. IX! f/k.j.s/ - ""'',-~,----" ::.;; :...;;; II. A i)'ivi.ale CHUS i ''/la11> Th> l,t,ra;id W-i>~,, his75irlh, his life and his death would be of no consequence And the Word was God.. 'ti:, I e,, - ---~,...,+- t-r;;in~ I _ ~5 accordi~ g to the 1aws of the Greek language, the emphasis falls upon the term God. Hence the Evangelist ronounces the pre-existent trictly and _fully DIVINE. 'A ~ I, p' ~ ~ ~~ So rig e beginning of Gospel John it down that (11. I S A CREATIVE CHRIST ofin 1 : -- \. ll Things" (Panta) means every object in the universe; not the universe as a great whole, made up of numberless parts, but all the parts, however numerous and dissimi!ar, that ~xist in the wide universe. Through ffi113"~they came to be. j - - The le' osition' aia) representsa,the Word, as the mediating cause of the existence of all things. --NOTE: In the time of John there was a kind of heresy called Gnosticism. The characteristic of Gnosticism was that it was an intellectual and philosophical approach to Christianity. To the Gnostics the simple beliefs of the ordinary Christian were not enough. -3-

The Gnostics tried to construct a philosophic I system out of Christianity. The theory was this. In the beginning two t hings existed--the one was God and the other was ' matter.

That is to say, from the beginnin~ the material out of which the world was made was imperfect.~ To put it in modern language. th~ world got off to a bad start.

5 The Gnostics tried to construct a philosophic I system out of Christianity. The theory was this. In the beginning two t hings existed--the one was God and the other was ' matter. The Gnostics held that matter was always there. Matter was the raw material out of which the world was made and formed and moulded. The Gnostic held that this original matter was flawed and imperfect. That is to say, from the beginnin~ the material out of which the world was made was imperfect.~ To put it in modern language. th~ world got off to a bad start. It was made of material which had the seeds and germs of evil y and corruption in it. Gad they sai d. i s pure spirit, and pure spirit is so pure that it can never touch matter at all. Still less can it touch matter which is essentially flawed and imperfect. Therefore it lwas not possible for God to carry out the work of creation Himself. So, according to the Gnostics, what God did was tbi~ God put out from Himself a series of~~anatio Finally in the series there was an emanation which was so distant from God that it was totally ignorant of God and tqtally hostile to God--and that emanation was the ~ower which created the wo r ld. -- CHRIST, BIRTH OF /90.13 In his portrayal of the ~ativity scene, Rei:nbr~ndt fo~u~ed attention entirely on the Babe m the man~er. He did this b~ pam~ng a shaft of light so that it falls exclusively on the ~hnst-child. Although he included other figures, they are shrouded m shadows. Rembrandt wanted,, ~ti-,_,,,.,,, fr;, t:lrsf~-k-t fn,,.., -icji-e., Ce,tl,u/;~y ""'"' f/.q l)ei'ry O 1- lloa dtttts-f cu, It!

_,,;: I Mt v :.,....u... U~ V..HVI:..+,.. 1..,r,,1-y/1...-v,_ TV WAl,:TE ~ C (OV~11! - l'l. lr/, nothing other than Oman's sin.pl./.,.~~ r ~ CM'l<-e, -....'ffi,s-t)-"'y f:,_.,, lfq [V.

.. ~T~h~e= w~o~r ~d~ J~o~h~n~ u~s~e~s=-=-~f or eternal is aiobios Now clearly whatever else eternal life Ts;'"'" it is not simply life which lasts for e ver.

/In eternal life there must be more than duration of life; there must be a certain } quality of life. Life is not desirable unless i t i s a c ertain kind of l i f e. Now here we have the clue.

6 _,,;: I Mt v :.,....u... U~ V..HVI:..+,.. 1..,r,,1-y/1...-v,_ TV WAl,:TE ~ C (OV~11! - l'l. lr/, nothing other than Oman's sin.pl./.,.~~ r ~ CM'l<-e, -....'ffi,s-t)-"'y f:,_.,, lfq [V. IS A LIFE-G ING CHRIST --Jonn 1:4 --"Life"--life in t ual l i f e, like e highest sense, spiri -=...,~of living water i nto e r lasting lif e" Life. 7~ 3; t~ ~... ~T~h~e= w~o~r ~d~ J~o~h~n~ u~s~e~s=-=-~f or eternal is aiobios Now clearly whatever else eternal life Ts;'"'" it is not simply life which lasts for e ver. 1 It is obvious that a life which lasted for ever could be a most terri ble curse. Often the one thing for which men have longed is release from lif e. /In eternal life there must be more than duration of life; there must be a certain } quality of life. Life is not desirable unless i t i s a c ertain kind of l i f e. Now here we have the clue. Aigpjgs i s the adjective which is repeatedl y us ed to describe God. In the true sense of the word only God is aionios, eternal ; J therefore eternal life is that life which God lives. What Jesus offers us from God is God ' s own life. 3. "How Can We Recei ve This 'L '?" hat l ife by _believing in ~ Christ. ni I t is Jesus' c laim that He came that men might have ife and that they ~ight have it ore abundant ly (10:10)./'It is Bis c Jaim that He i s fne W&y the Truth and the Li fe (14:6). In the Gospel the word life {zoe l occurs more than thirty-five times, and the verb t o live or t o have Jife lzen) more than 'fifteen times.,w1_at tbeo does,iabo roeao, by Ji e? 1. Quite simply he means that life is the oonosite of destruction condemnation and deat Jo 3 : 17 For God sent not his Son t mto the world to condemn th i;: world; but that the world through him might _be ~a".~ _ - 5- ~ his is my Father's world 0 l e t me ne ' er f or get ' ~hda t _though t he wrong seems oft s o strong o is t he Ruler yet. ' ~ hen we do tbat 3top existing and begin living. We know t Lif e, with a capital L, really means., occurs twent -one times i n J ohn. us, as John says here, is the light of men. The function of John the Bapti st was to point men to that light which was in Chr ist. ~ ~esus calls Himself the Light of t he world - 6 -

8:12 9:5.. A~~~~~~;; 1. ight whidb- es 1ngs is the light,.-,which uts chaos to fligtt.

The new-created light of God routed the -e~pty chaos int,p, which it came.~'~~~~~ ~ 2. The light wnicn ~sus brings is a revealin li ht.

..Ji~ The light which Jesus brings is something which shows things as the are. It strips away the disguises and the concealm Jlts. It shows things in all their nakedness.

7 8:12 9:5.. A~~~~~~;; 1. ight whidb- es 1ngs is the light,.-,which uts chaos to fligtt. In the crea- 5 t ion sto~y God moved upon the dark, formless chaos which was before the world began and said : "Let there be light" (Genesi s 1:3). The new-created light of God routed the -e~pty chaos int,p, which it came.~'~~~~~ ~ 2. The light wnicn ~sus brings is a revealin li ht. It i~he condemnation of they lov~d the darkness rather than the light; and they did so because their deeds were evil; and they hated the light lest their deeds should be reproved ~-4.J...Ji~ The light which Jesus brings is something which shows things as the are. It strips away the disguises and the concealm Jlts. It shows things in all their nakedness. It shows them in their true character and their true values. 3. The light which Jesus brings is a guiding li9ht. If a man does not possess that light he walks in darkness and he does not know where he is going tj., Id< When Jesus comes into life the time of guessing and of groping is ended, the time of doubt and uncertainty and vacillation i s gone. ' ~- - _ _ 1,o -.., ~ ~ ~ a.d~- v~ 1 T-k4 ~t~ ~~ ;n-a I~, With Him the way is clear. MSl-tlf&,,p/ Wr-.R..._, VICTORIOUS CHR ST =..- L:..5 [ Phillips J "The light still shines in the darkness, and the darkness HA NEVER -7-

-,_, ere on proc aims that Christ is victorious over hostile darkness. This word darkness -accprs seven times in the gospel. 'l'9 John there was a darkness in the world that was as real as the Light.

He is victorious over the darkness that stands for all those who hate the good. It is men whose deed s are evil who fear the light(3:19, 10.

8 -,_, ere on proc aims that Christ is victorious over hostile darkness. This word darkness -accprs seven times in the gospel. 'l'9 John there was a darkness in the world that was as real as the Light. 1. He is victorious over the darkness that is hostile to the light. The l i ght shines in the darkness, but, however hard the darkness tries, it cannot extinguish it. 2. He is victorious over the darkness that stands for all those who hate the good. It is men whose deed s are evil who fear the light(3:19, 10. The man who has something to hide hates the light and loves the dark; 3. He is victorious over the darkness of ignor ance. Jesus said: "I am the light of the 1 ~tworld; he that followeth me shall not walk in "~ ~ dar;:;s",~:..:..,~f,~ Vf;'~" ~ - e '1'AdtAlft-.:, " ~. Le-1&, i/ _ltne_ ~ ~ ~. f.,. - t thoug men ave one a ey guish the Light, they have failed! In every generation the Light of Christ still shines. otjlb., - He contj.nues to_ ne the "Light of the Worl. " ~, - ~ ~. w,+s.. ~ #6AII - '4'J --CON. During this Christmas season, may God grant that we" akin the Light as He is in the light. and have ellowship with one another." Thank God that we live in the day in which Isaiah's prophecy of Christ's birth has been fulfilled. For the prophet said, "The p, ople that walked in darkness have seen a great light: -8-

$The entire scene was transformed into a vision of c fot:t..and ch~er. Cikewise, the birth of Christ brought f ho - tb this dark world. - ~ -,{ \V~ ')( -~~ ~ 'I-.~ I~~. '' T.$

9 the that dwell in the land of the shadow of death upon them hath the light shined." ( Isaiah 9:2) Has the "Light" yet shined on you? CHRIST, BIRTH OF /90/11 An artist once made a sketch of a wintry twilight. The trees were laden with snow; and a drearydooking house. lonely and desolate, stood in the midst of the drined field. It was a blea and depwsing icture. Then the artist took some yellow challumd""'with a few qulc strokes put a light in one window of that home. The effect was almost magical. The entire scene was transformed into a vision of c fot:t..and ch~er. Cikewise, the birth of Christ brought f ho - tb this dark world. - ~ -,{ \V~ ')( -~~ ~ 'I-.~ I~~. '' T./4_ ~ 't t ~ If ~~ ~~ ~~~~lfe-t~r On this Christmas Day l~t us rejoice tha :Jesus the true I.:ight visited this sin-smitten plane 2,000 years ago to cast the joyous rays of His salvation upon our pathway. -9-

10 "WHAT ABOUT CHRIST BEFORE CHRISTMAS?"

11 3 WHAT ABOUT CHRIST BEFORE CHRISTMAS? Matthew 1:18-23 Sunday, December 2, 2007 Christ Before Christmas: I. II. III. IV. Is an -----Christ - John 1: 1 a Is a Christ- John 1:lb-2 Is a Christ - John 1 : Christianity has always believed in what is called creation out of 2. Christianity has always believed that this is world. Is a Christ - John 1: Life is the opposite of destruction, condemnation and 2. "Life" means life. 3. We enter into this life by believing in >The light Christ brings is: (1) A light (2) A light (3) A light V. Is a Christ - John 1 :

Christianity has always believed that this is world. IV. Is a Christ - John 1 :4 1.

12 WHAT ABOUT CHRIST BEFORE CHRISTMAS? Sunday, December 2, 2007 Christ Before Christmas: I. Is an Christ - John 1:la II. Is a Christ - John 1: 1 b-2 III. Is a Christ - John 1:3 1. Christianity has always believed in what is called creation out of 2. Christianity has always believed that this is world. IV. Is a Christ - John 1 :4 1. Life is the opposite of destruction, condemnation and 2. "Life" means life. 3.. We enter into this life by believing in >The light Christ brings is: (l)a light (2)A light (3) A light V. Is a Christ - John 1 :5

13 WHAT ABOUT CHRIST BEFORE CHRISTMAS? Matthew 1:18-23 Sunday,December6,2009 Sardis Baptist Church Christ Before Christmas: I. Is an Eternal Christ - John 1: la II. Is a Divine Christ - John 1: 1 b-2 III. Is a Creative Christ - John 1:3 1. Christianity has always believed in what is called creation out of nothing. 2. Christianity has always believed that this is God's world. IV. Is a Life-Giving Christ - John 1 :4 1. Life is the opposite of destruction, condemnation and death. 2. "Life" means eternal life. 3. We enter into this life by believing in Jesus Christ >The light Christ brings is: (1) A cleansing light (2) A revealing light (3) A guiding light V. Is a Victorious Christ - John l :5

14 WHAT ABOUT CHRIST BEFORE CHRISTMAS? Matthew 1: Sunday, December 6, 2009 Sardis Baptist Church Christ Before Christmas: I. Is an Eternal Christ - John 1: la II. Is a Divine Christ - John 1: 1 b-2 III. Is a Creative Christ - John 1 :3 1. Christianity has always believed in what is called creation out of nothing. 2. Christianity has always believed that this is God's world. IV. Is a Life-Giving Christ - John 1:4 1. Life is the opposite of destruction, condemnation and death. 2. "Life" means eternal life. 3. We enter into this life by believing in Jesus Christ >The light Christ brings is: (1) A cleansing light (2) A revealing light (3) A guiding light V. Is a Victorious Christ - John 1 :5

w~/h-1 l1 F. B.C. Crestwood, St. L uis(mo) San Angelo, TX 1 L; 2-3~~-88 A.M. F.B.C. F.B.C. E.F CLASSIFICATION:

w~/h-1 l1 F. B.C. Crestwood, St. L uis(mo) San Angelo, TX 1 L; 2-3~~-88 A.M. F.B.C. F.B.C. E.F CLASSIFICATION: TEXT Gent sis 37:23-28;40:15 & 50:20a (L.B.) TITLE "WHEN THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE" SCRIPTURE READING ---------------- DELIVERIES: Date Hour Place E.F I CLASSIFICATION: - - EXPOSITORY --BIOGRAPHICAL