HOPE BIBLE FELLOWSHIP
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  • Here For You
  • Jesus Paid It All
  • Holy, Holy, Holy
  • John 1:1–18 ESV
    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
    Introduction Illustration:
    During a lively history class, a teacher narrates the story of Alexander the Great visiting a small village incognito. The villagers had no idea they were hosting a world conqueror! His presence transformed the mundane into the extraordinary, creating a moment that would be remembered. Similarly, when Jesus, the King of Kings, was born in a humble manger, He brought glory to the ordinary. His incarnation reminds us that greatness often emerges in the most unexpected places—even our lives!
    God coming to earth as man, Holy God, wrapping Himself in the flesh of a human baby, and dwelling among us is not only the story of Christmas but was necessary for our very salvation to be accomplished when He gave that perfect life on the cross and rose again.
    This message of God coming Down to Earth is what we are celebrating this season and our series of messages during the advent season are going to look particularly at the incarnation and what the incarnation of the Son of God means for the world and for us. I hope you’ll join us each and every week for service which will culminate on Christmas Eve at 5pm with a candlelight service.
    Intro:
    There is a problem with Christmas. This holiday may strike you as particularly strange if you’ve come to Christ later in life or if you don’t yet follow Jesus. It’s one of the only holidays that is at the same time celebrated religiously and secularly. You are likely to be shopping for a new television in a store where one minute you hear Mariah Carey telling you that you’re all she really wants for Christmas and then the next minute you’re hearing a historic carol containing deep, rich doctrinal truth about the real gospel. It can be a little disorienting to us if we let ourselves get too swept away. Those who are irreligious are uncomfortable with the real Christmas celebration and those of us who love God and follow Christ are uncomfortable when anything other than Jesus is put forth as the reason for the season.
    1 Hark! the herald angels sing,   “Glory to the new-born King; Peace on earth, and mercy mild;   God and sinners reconciled.” Joyful, all ye nations, rise,   Join the triumph of the skies; With angelic hosts proclaim,   “Christ is born in Bethlehem.”
    2 Christ, by highest heav’n adored,   Christ, the everlasting Lord: Late in time behold Him come,   Offspring of a virgin’s womb. Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,   Hail th’ incarnate Deity! Pleased as man with man to dwell,   Jesus our Immanuel.
    3 Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!   Hail the Sun of righteousness! Light and life to all He brings,   Ris’n with healing in His wings: Mild He lays His glory by,   Born that man no more may die; Born to raise the sons of earth;   Born to give them second birth.
    4 Come, Desire of nations, come!   Fix in us Thy humble home: Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring seed,   Bruise in us the serpent’s head; Adam’s likeness now efface,   Stamp Thine image in its place: Final Adam from above,   Reinstate us in Thy love.
    Why does the incarnation and what does it accomplish or do?
    Why does it matter?
    It has been said that the incarnation is the place where hope contends with fear.
    Who is Jesus? Why did Jesus come in the way He did? These are deep questions that get deeper the more you dig into them.
    John’s theological emphasis: The Messianic Mission of Jesus.
    Purpose statement in John 20:30-31
    John 20:30–31 ESV
    Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
    John seems to have evangelism in mind as his purpose for writing this Gospel.
    He starts at the very beginning of the world and moves us along toward the cross and the resurrection of Jesus.
    Mark starts with the gospel message.
    Matthew and Luke have their accounts of Jesus’ birth and the surrounding events. But John takes us all the way back to the beginning. He goes all the way back to the eternal purpose of God.
    John wants us to understand that Jesus is God. He presses in on the divinity of Jesus in very specific ways theologically so that we would understand who this Jesus is.
    Martin Luther stated, “This text is a strong and valid attestation of the divinity of Christ.… Everything depends on this doctrine. It serves to maintain and support all other doctrines of our Christian faith. Therefore the devil assailed it very early in the history of Christendom, and he continues to do so in our day.”
    Martin Luther stated, “This text is a strong and valid attestation of the divinity of Christ.… Everything depends on this doctrine. It serves to maintain and support all other doctrines of our Christian faith. Therefore the devil assailed it very early in the history of Christendom, and he continues to do so in our day.”
    The teaching in the bible about the identity of Jesus is clear. It is inexcusable for us to be slack on this particular point.
    Augustine said of the gospel of John that it is, “deep enough for an elephant to swim and shallow enough for a child not to drown.”

    I. Jesus is the Word.

    John’s prologue to his Gospel follows a pattern of addressing the Word and then the Witness. He follows this twice in the first 18 verses. The word that John uses for “the Word” is logos. This was purposefully done because that particular word would have immediately brought interest from Greek philosophers as well as Jewish people. Of course they would have different understandings of it. Another characteristic of John’s writing is that he often chooses words that can be taken a couple of different ways. Simplistically, logos here is message.
    Jesus reveals God’s mind.
    Jesus expresses God’s will.
    Jesus displays God’s perfections.
    Jesus exposes God’s heart. (A.W. Pink)
    Issues with the JW understanding….. ….
    V. 14 - the Word made flesh
    The central miracle asserted by Christians is the incarnation. They say that God became man.
    C. S. Lewis
    Carson writes, “The Prologue summarizes how “the Word”, which was with God in the very beginning, came into a sphere of time, history, tangibility-in other words, how the Son of God was sent into the world to become the Jesus of history, so that the glory and grace of God might be uniquely and perfectly disclosed.”
    He can make God know to us because He is God. He was in the beginning with God and is God and therefore can exactly show us what God is like.
    Isaiah 9:2 ESV
    2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
    Matthew 4:16 ESV
    16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”

    II. Jesus is the Life bringer.

    Christmas is not first and foremost about families or happiness, or even peace. It’s not about being a better person or giving a gift to someone. It’s the most real thing, the most grounded thing that there can be. It’s about us being dead in our sin and God sending us a way for us to have life. `
    Christ brings order.The grand point is that it is Christ the light, Christ the Creator, who brings order out of the dark chaos of our lives—who brings form to the chaos of our lives.
    R. Kent Hughes
    The new life that Christ brings is expanding.
    R. Kent Hughes

    III. Jesus is the Light Bearer.

    Illustration: couch bed in the dark or raw foot on a Lego
    JTB knew he wasn’t the emphasis but just a messenger
    Remember when Mary visited Elizabeth?
    Olympic torch story
    John was announcing life and light were coming and in fact were there. John was a witness to the true light that was coming and was now there.
    His message was repent and believe.
    The true light is not a religious ritual or tradition but a person. God in the flesh (incarnate)…
    John 8:12 ESV
    12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
    Came to dwell with them. Pitch his tent among them… tabernacle with them
    This matters because: Dying proved He was man and raising from the dead proved He is God.
    Christmas is nothing less than God coming to earth to dwell with His creation for the purpose of defeating darkness, not by political might but by sacrifice.
    Gospel Here.
    If He who called Himself the Light of the World was only a flickering torch, then the darkness that enshrouds the earth is here to stay.1
    A. W. Tozer
    Keller says that, “The emphasis on light in darkness comes from the Christian belief that the world’s hope comes from outside of it.”
    Those who should have rightfully loved Him and received Him instead rejected Him.
    They did not get to be His family.
    But those who do receive and believe get to be His family.
    Conclusion:
    Jesus came to defeat darkness and give life. HOPE.
    Creating a family…
    1449Trust in Christ brings to God greater glory than anything else we can produce.—33.463
    Charles Spurgeon
    You can trust this Savior.
    You can trust this God.
    This Christmas… (will be… a very special Christmas… (song) ) IT can be for you… if you lady down your cares and trust Christ.
    Being in Christ brings:
    Hope
    Life
    Light
    Satisfaction
    Things we desperately need this Christmas season… and every season.
    Do not be a religious person who doesn’t receive Jesus.
    Is your life lit by the true light? Are you illuminated by Jesus?
    Are you holding high the torch of the illuminating light of the gospel so that others in the world around you can see and receive Christ?
    On the seventh day was the consummation of nature, in Christ’s incarnation the consummation of grace, and at the end of the world will be the consummation of glory.
    Saint Thomas Aquinas
    Whatever Christ did, if you belong to those who are in Him, He did for you. So that Christ circumcised or Christ crucified, Christ dead or Christ living, Christ buried or Christ risen, you are a partaker of all that He did and all that He is, for you are reckoned as one with Him. See then, the joy and comfort of the incarnation of Christ. Does Jesus, as man, take manhood up to heaven? He has taken me up there. Father Adam fell, and I fell for I was in him. The Lord Jesus Christ rises, and I rise if I am in Him.
    Charles Spurgeon

      • John 1:1–18ESV

      • John 20:30–31ESV

      • Isaiah 9:2ESV

      • Matthew 4:16ESV

      • John 8:12ESV

  • Hark The Herald Angels Sing

  • Philippians 2:5–11 ESV
    5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
    Introduction:
    When I was six years old, growing up in Winterset, Iowa, we got the opportunity to have a very special visit. During his reelection campaign, President Ronald Regan held an event in my hometown. There is actually video of it on youtube even though it was in 1984. If you look closely, you can even see me sitting on my father’s shoulders in the crowd. The students at my school made a big banner out of that butcher paper and we signed our names on it. Somewhere my dad has a photo of him holding that welcome banner that was given to the President. He’s holding one side and there’s a secret service agent holding the other side so that you can see where I signed my name. As the story goes, dad was trying to take the picture and Regan came in the room. He said, “you get over there and I’ll take the picture.” So we have a photo taken by Regan. Pretty cool.
    It’s always nice when you get to experience someone who by their very position garners respect and honor and yet they don’t act entitled to it and certainly aren’t striving for it or forcing people to recognize it. Today, as we come to week two of advent and have lit the peace candle, we turn our thoughts to our King Jesus who humbled Himself to come down to earth as a human baby in order that He would redeem a people for Himself. This humble attitude of Christ is what the Apostle Paul writes about in Philippians chapter two, verses five through eleven.

    I. The attitude of the humble King. (v.5-6)

    Context: Paul is writing this from prison.
    Verses before/original audience
    the certainty of the blessings that were theirs in Christ.
    the consistency in our unity as a body of believers both externally and internally.
    Cease serving self
    Paul drops this intense explanation of the person and work of Christ right on our heads in this passage.
    Verse five begins by telling us to adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus. I don't want us to blow past that first word too fast. The word "adopt", implies that this is not something we naturally have. We don't already have
    - What does attitude mean here?
    Imitation is a theme of Philippians.
    - Jesus - existing in the form of God
    eternal. He is creator. He is not created. The word Morphe translated, form doesn’t mean external appearance or outward shape but according to Merida, “of the essential attributes and inner nature of Jesus. Fully human and fully divine.
    Church history debates over the nature of Jesus.
    Council of Nicea… story in Merida
    Arius believed Christ was the first of the created but Athanasius argued against it and won the day. There is a legend about St. Nicolas that he was there at the council. As Arius vigorously spouted his false teaching, Nicolas couldn’t take any more and got up, walked over, and slapped Arius.
    - did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited
    The exhortation to be like Jesus is not itself the gospel. Many people out there publicly call for people to be like Jesus but simply being like Jesus is not the gospel. It's not a way to be more accepted by God or to somehow be "more" Christian. Being like Jesus is something we are told to do but without the in working of the Holy Spirit in the life of an already Christian person, they will never be able to take on or adopt the humble attitude of Christ Jesus.
    I really like the way Ligon Duncan laid this out for his flock:
    " If “Be like Jesus” is the gospel, I've got some really bad news for you this morning: You and I are all going to hell. Because nobody can be enough like Jesus to be accepted with God. That is not what Paul is saying. Paul is not saying be like Jesus and you will be saved.
    Paul is talking to believers who realize that the reason they need Jesus is because they aren't like Him. He's talking to believers who have realized their sinfulness, and they've turned in faith to Christ and they've said, ‘Lord Christ, forgive me, because I'm not like You. Forgive me because I've not lived like God wants me to live.’ Paul is talking to believers who know that “Be like Jesus” is not the gospel. But he is giving this exhortation to be like Jesus to those who are trusting in Christ, not in themselves, in order that they might experience the joy and the unity and the fellowship that God intends believers to experience in the world together, facing all kinds of opposition from the world, the flesh, and the devil. And so Paul's message “Be like Jesus” is not his gospel. This is not a passage where he's saying if you’ll do these things, you will be saved. No, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” But having believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are, as the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 1:27, to endeavor to live as is appropriate, or fitting, to a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, to a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. And how do you do that? “Be like Jesus.”

    II. The action of the humble King. (v. 7-8)

    Emptying Himself… what this means
    refusing to hold onto His divine rights...
    He was not at all concerned with making sure He claimed all of His rights. He wasn’t worried about getting what was due Him. He gave that up for others. Ultimately He gave it up for your freedom from your sin and for the glory of His heavenly Father. I am struck by this. I’m convicted by this. This is God in the flesh, Jesus Christ. And here He is in this passage laying down his rights.... laying down what He deserves… And what we discover later in the passage is that He laid down what He deserved because it was His mission and goal to pick up that which He actually did not deserve and claim that so that He could rescue humanity from our sin. Amazing!
    Bryan Chapel tells a story about a tribe in Africa:
    Exalting Jesus in Philippians “Instead He Emptied Himself” (v. 7a)

    In this particular part of Africa the chief is the strongest man in the village. As the chief, he also wears a very large headdress and ceremonial robes. One day a man carrying water out of the shaft of a deep well fell and broke his leg, and lay helpless at the bottom of the well. To get down to the bottom, one would have to climb down, using the alternating slits that go all the way down the deep well, and then climb back up. Because no one could carry the helpless man up like this, the chief was summoned. When he saw the plight of the man, he laid aside his headdress and his robe, climbed all the way to the bottom, put the injured man on himself, and brought him to safety. He did what no other man could do. That’s what Jesus has done for us. He came to rescue us. And He laid aside His heavenly glory, like the chief did with his headdress, in order to save us. Now, did the chief cease being the chief when he laid aside his headdress? Of course not. Did Jesus cease being God when He came to rescue us? Of course not (Chapell, Using Illustrations, 11–12).

    Illustrations for assuming the form of a servant:
    John 13:3–5 ESV
    3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
    Mark 10:45 ESV
    45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
    Crucifixion: Obedient to death - even death on a cross - humiliating

    III. The Exaltation of the Humble King. (v. 9-11)

    Exaltation of Jesus Christ
    What was the name that is above every name that Paul mentions here?
    Biblical scholars and theologians have come up with ideas about this based on cross references from other places in scripture as well as study of what was going on culturally in Philippi. We read that and we would assume that the name Jesus is what He’s talking about here. He’s clearly writing about the person of Christ Jesus but what we may understand is that the name Paul is talking about being above every name is Lord. Now there are many reasons who scholars stand by this understanding and you can read most of those for yourself if interested but I want to give you an explanation that one well known pastor gave. I’ve reworded it here. We have to ask the question about what name did Jesus get after His resurrection that he didn’t have before? It can’t be the name Jesus because we just talked about that the last few weeks that He was to be called Jesus. So he had that name already.
    Acts 2:36 ESV
    36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
    Jesus was the name of He who went to the cross to purchase life and forgiveness of sin for humans. He was going to fulfill the mission of his Messiahship, His messianic lordship. This is the name bestowed on him at his exaltation, post resurrection. Of course He was Messiah even before this. It was not until he had fulfilled his mission as Messiah, died in our place for our sin, and risen to live again that this Messiah lordship was brought to what this pastor calls full actuality. Darkness was defeated. In order to be proclaimed as the one who defeated death and sin and darkness, He had to defeat the enemy and overcome all of those things. I hope this makes sense to you. It’s a little complex but it’s important so we aren’t left with a big question right at this point in the passage. So the name that is above every name is the the name, Lord. The Lord who is victor over all enemies and has bought a people from every tribe and every nation.
    REWORD THIS:
    Exalting Jesus in Philippians A Christ-Centered Mind-Set (Philippians 2:5–11)

    So while Philippians 2:6–11 is filled with theological hot points that we must consider closely, we must remember that Paul’s purpose for penning it isn’t to stimulate debate. It’s not here for argumentation; it’s here for our adoration and emulation.

    Here’s the incredible thing about this exalted Messiah, this Lord Jesus Christ that we are talking about and Paul wrote about:
    We can know HIM. In my preparation I read a story about a guy who worked for the Charlotte Hornets NBA team. So this guy is on a conference call with all of the upper management from the team, and that included a guy named Michael Jordan. At one point in the conversation Jordan says, “Hey (guys name), it’s M.J. The writer said the man’s jaw dropped. He was in awe that M.J. knew him. This hit home for me because I grew up in the eighties and nineties and Michael Jordan WAS basketball. I was a fan. I’m still a Bulls fan and it’s because of M.J. and those teams. So I get it when this guy freaked out a bit because the king of basketball knew his name. Jordan is in a class by himself. It was astounding. But then I think about the fact that I’ve got something better than that. The God of the universe, who created me and thought up the duck billed platypus among other things, came to earth to die in my place for my sins and He knows me. He rose from the grave to show that He defeated death. He beat death and I will be resurrected some day with Him and HE KNOWS ME. Let’s not lose the wonder and amazement and gratitude of this truth. If you have trusted Jesus for salvation, if you have repented of your sins and believed the good news of the gospel then you have a relationship with Jesus and you get to know GOD.
    Conclusion and Response Invitation
    You see, what Paul is truly doing here is trying to get his audience to change their outlook in life. He wants them to change how they see life and adopt Jesus’ attitude about life. Paul is really entreating the Philippians to make Jesus’s death the central mindset for their lives.
    You can adopt this attitude. If you are believer in Jesus Christ, you have the indwelling of the Spirit and you can adopt this humble attitude in all things.
    Gaining a better understanding of and dwelling on Christ’s humility and exaltation should lead us to emulate Christ’s example.
    Memorize this passage. dwell on it.
    Believe it. Jesus is Lord. For people in New Testament times confessing Jesus as Lord meant that Caesar was not Lord. The result of these confessions they made would be persecution and martyrdom. Some would be killed. So what is your level of belief? Do you really believe and are you really surrendered to Him as Lord. Your knee will bow someday either way. Either in joy and reverence or in despair and judgment because you rejected Him. What are you going to do with this today?
    Follow the lifestyle presented in this passage - live with an attitude of selfless service bringing glory to God.
    Tell someone about this passage.

      • Philippians 2:5–11ESV

      • Acts 2:36ESV

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