Podcasts about How Can It Be

 When I read that Kelli Galyean's novel explores an unwanted abortion and the fallout that follows, I knew I had to read it.  Listen in to discover the twist that cemented that decision. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.  Abortion is such a difficult topic to begin with, but when it's forced on you by parents looking out for their political ambitions... things get a whole new level of painful and complicated. Add to that the grief, the need for Jesus, and the need for forgiveness from many sides, and Kelli has a book I don't think readers will want to miss.   How Can It Be? by Kelli Galyean  As a college student, Mia Browning shared a carefree weekend with drummer Ryan Blackstone. Soon after, Mia learned she was pregnant, a fact her politically-ambitious parents would not allow to stay true. A forced abortion left her broken and alone. Ten years later, Mia has found healing and embraced a new life in Christ. Mia arrives at church one Sunday, to find that the new worship minister is none other than the blue-eyed drummer of her past. Seeing Ryan again after all these years is complicated. Serving at the youth camp means they are often thrown together, creating an unexpected friendship. Growing closer seems inevitable, but will they both have the courage to let go of the past and move forward into something deeper? For those days when life feels complicated, here is a book that invites readers to remember the truest thing about all of us: that we are loved by God and saved by His grace. This book is a warm hug, a lighthearted laugh, and an invitation into joy! Learn more about Kelli on her WEBSITE and follow her on GoodReads. Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at: Apple Castbox Google Play Libsyn RSS Spotify Amazon and more!

How Can It Be?How Do We Look?How is it Working?

Women's stories are important. This is the main message of Kelli Galyean's debut novel How Can It Be. In this episode, join Meagan and Kelli as they chat about favorite hymns, difficult topics in Christian fiction, and the importance of loving others well.

How Can It Be?

The inspirational thoughts of Psalm have brought glory to the Creator for millenia.  They have also inspired modern day hymn writers to declare the Creator's glory--and grace, just as David marveled, "what is Man that Thou dost take thought of him?"  The beloved, How Great Thou Art, and lesser known, How Can It Be are two such hymns.

Today on Gospel in Life we're sharing a special worship service of praise to God for Tim Keller's life and ministry. The memorial took place on August 15, 2023 at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. To access the service program or view a video recording of the full service made available thanks to Redeemer City to City, visit gospelinlife.com/memorial. Order of Service and Timestamps: Opening — Rev. Michael Keller [01:01] Welcome — Cardinal Dolan [01:19] Introduction — Rev. Michael Keller [01:46] Hymn — Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise [07:06] Hymn & Intro — Amazing Love, How Can It Be? [09:11] Scripture Reading — John 14, 1 Corinthians 15 [13:58] Max McLean — Weight of Glory, Mere Christianity [16:50] Hymn & Intro — How Firm a Foundation [19:36] Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 4, Romans 8 [24:12] Graham Howell — Remembrances of Tim Keller [27:15] Glen Kleinknecht — Remembrances of Tim Keller [31:28] Kathy Keller — Remembrances of Tim Keller [38:14] John Keller — Remembrances of Tim Keller [42:54] David Keller — Prayer [45:50] Hymn & Intro — Jesus Lives and So Shall I [47:31] Scripture Reading — Mark 10:35-45 [51:33] Homily — Rev. Sam Allberry [53:32] Hymn & Intro — For All the Saints, Who from their Labor Rest [01:11:01] Closing Sentences and Prayer — Rev Sam Allberry [01:15:33] Benediction — Rev. Michael Keller [01:16:53] Closing Hymn — There Is a Redeemer [01:17:36] Closing Remarks — Rev. Michael Keller [01:21:13] This podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In this episode, Zoe shares highlights from February 6th to February 10th. The Wednesday Game team is glad to be back after the rough weather last week, Mark and Christy chat with artist Leanna Crawford, Isaac shares things we disliked as kids but want now as adults, and Ansen and Kara pray for those in Turkey affected by the devastated earthquake... Link to Donate to the non-profit Antioch Network: https://www.aplos.com/aws/give/AntiochNetworkInc/EarthquakeLink to Leanna Crawford's acoustic rendition of her new song, "How Can It Be" at KLRC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTsMRGNFAUg

Amazing Love, How Can It Be (broadcast date: 07/24/2022)

In this episode (on Whit Monday) we sweep through the new releases of the past two weeks, looking for those CCM music gems that for some reason have not (yet) reached a larger audience. We are featuring the following tracks: Nicholas Jon with Run to the Father; Ricky Bravo with Closest Friend; Trace with Victory; Nik Alevisoz with Antidote; Rose Awuku with How Can It Be; and The Twin Tenors with Imagine (cover)... a virtual duet performed from two continents. Enjoy the episode and we trust that you too will discover new artists/music.

Hey! It's basically my birthday! To celebrate, The Blood Buddies brought along our friend Alyx from the Strange Talk radio show!  Sleepaway Camp (1983) dir. Robert Hiltzik. "Angela Baker, a shy, traumatized young girl, is sent to summer camp with her cousin. Shortly after her arrival, anyone with sinister or less than honorable intentions gets their comeuppance." (Source: IMDB) I mention some articles in the episode, and I do highly recommend checking them out: Going Back to Sleepaway Camp: Revisiting the Problematic Classic by BJ Colangelo https://www.dreadcentral.com/editorials/295274/going-back-to-sleepaway-camp-revisiting-the-problematic-classic/ The Transgender Defense of Angela Baker and Sleepaway Camp by Harmony M. Colangelo https://medium.com/@harmonymoon/the-transgender-defense-of-angela-baker-and-sleepaway-camp-82dd54ddf9cd “How Can It Be? She's a boy.” Transmisogyny in Sleepaway Camp by Willow Maclay http://cleojournal.com/2015/08/10/how-can-it-be-shes-a-boy-transmisogyny-in-sleepaway-camp/

How Can It Be

How Can It Be

Amazing Love, How Can It Be?, Romans 5:6-11 by OEFC Podcast

I felt like we covered most of the material in the CFM assignment for Dec. 23-29 in the Bonus Content: Revelation Roundtable (if you haven't listened to it, go do that now!!!).  And I can't just leave our last episode of 2019 like that! So I picked out some of my favorite moments from this past year's episodes to share with you.  I hope you have grown through the CFM curriculum- I know I have!!! I mention that we're doing a GIVEAWAY of a print of a beautiful piece of art by ArtByGeekGirl!  You can enter the giveaway at https://tinyurl.com/TSS19Giveaway Track Listing: Ep 1 Intro to CFM, who I am, why podcast, what I seek Ep 4: How the scriptures began to increase my understanding Ep 10 Leper- an example of how the scriptures brought my Savior to Life Ep 12 Story info- how Parables stick in our Brain, Christ is the Master Teacher! Ep 15 Mix Tape- Story of Mary at the Tomb (sisters in the Scriptures!) How Can It Be? by Sierra  Lauren Ep 34: Paul and the Hogwarts Houses BC- GRACE Ep 36: Mixtape of Trials and Tribulations- Anxiety and It is Well (Live) by Bethel Music Ep. 40: Kansas Ep 43: Christie Ep 49: Testimony from Christmas episode In Christ Alone by Keith and Kristyn Getty [feat. Alison Krauss] For more fun, visit:  http://www.facebook.com/thesaviorsaid https://www.instagram.com/thesaviorsaid/ http://thesaviorsaid.blogspot.com/

They say kids grow up so quickly-- and it’s true! Today we share stories of realizing our children aren't little kids anymore. We also look at a new shoe design made specifically for nurses & doctors, and we find some hidden tidbits about Lauren Daigle's song "How Can It Be." --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/goodcompanyfst/message

John 11:23-27 Speaker: Trygve Johnson Songs: Only King Forever, How Can It Be

When you let love take control, you will be forgiven of the debt we owe, because of the debt Christ paid! In your brokenness God heals your pains. Don't let the world distract or discourage you from the gifts God has given you. Absorb yourself in scripture and truth, only goodness will come from it! Readings from 09/19 are: 1 TM 4: 12-16 PS 111: 9 LK 7: 36-50 The closing song is How Can It Be by Lauren Daigle!

The Come Follow Me lesson this week was very vague, so I decided to make a mixtape for my Savior. Included are scriptures from His life, words of the General Authorities, and songs that remind me of my Savior.   Track listing: He Sent His Son John 1:1-4, 14 “The Mission and Ministry of Jesus Christ” by Russell M. Nelson, Devotional address given August 18, 1998, at Brigham Young University www.lds.org/study/liahona/2013/04/the-mission-and-ministry-of-jesus-christ He Sent His Son, performed by The Orchestra and Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square from their album Called to Serve.  You can purchase this song at www.amazon.com/He-Sent-His-Son/dp/B07KPLVHKH Master The Tempest Is Raging Mark 4: 35-41 “An High Priest of Good Things to Come” by Jeffrey R. Holland, October 1999 General Conference  www.lds.org/general-conference/1999/10/an-high-priest-of-good-things-to-come Master the Tempest is Raging, performed by Laurel Blair (featuring Sarah Seidt) on the album My Constant Hope.  You can purchase this song at: www.amazon.com/Master-Tempest-Raging-feat-Sarah/dp/B002XOPM9U Come Thou Fount Luke 15: 4-7 “Shepherding Souls” by Gary E. Stevenson, October 2018 General Conference www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/10/shepherding-souls   Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Arr. Keith McKay Evans), performed by BYU Vocal Point, on their album Lead Thou Me On: Hymns and Inspiration.  You can purchase this song at: www.amazon.com/Fount-Every-Blessing-Keith-McKay/dp/B00W4M1WA4 Gethsemane Luke 22: 39-46 “The Atonement” by Russell M. Nelson, October 1996 General Conference www.lds.org/general-conference/1996/10/the-atonement Gethsemane, performed by Reese Oliveira.  You can purchase this song at   www.amazon.com/Gethsemane/dp/B00X99HI0E Forever Luke 23: 27-56 “Behold the Man!” by Dieter F. Uchtdorf, April 2018 General Conference www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/04/behold-the-man Forever by Nathan Pacheco, from his album Higher.  You can purchase this song at: www.amazon.com/Forever/dp/B0774T8H2Y How Can It Be? John 20: 1- 16 “The Resurrection of Jesus Christ” by D. Todd. Christofferson, April 2014 General Conference www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/the-resurrection-of-jesus-christ How Can it Be? By Sierra Lauren, from the album Worth of Souls.  You can purchase this song at: www.amazon.com/How-Can-It-Be/dp/B079SWGCX7 Hallelujah! “This Glorious Easter Morn” by Gordon B. Hinckley, April 1996 General Conference www.lds.org/general-conference/1996/04/this-glorious-easter-morn D&C 76:  22 Hallelujah Chorus, performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra & London Philharmonic Choir, from the album Handel's Messiah.  You can purchase this song at: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017F6434

OK peo­ple, you best be ready to have some fun, crack a smile and get to your feet because this week is filled with real­ly cool con­nec­tions and fun, good time music. Get into it! Please like the Face­book page here: face​book​.com/​o​n​t​a​r​g​e​t​p​o​d​cast/ ------------------------------------------------- The Playlist Is: "Mama Loocie" Harvey & The Moonglows - Chess "Lets Boogaloo" The Magics - R.F.A. "The Boston Monkey" The Manhattans - Carnival "You" Marvin Gaye - Tamla-Motown "Uh Hum" Joy Lovejoy - Checker "Run One Flight Of Stairs" Gloria Jones - Uptown "Knock Knock" Boys And Girls Together - Intrepid "Pickin' Up Sticks" Kasenetz & Katz Fighter Squadron - AZ "Humpty Dumpty" The Vogues - Co and Ce "Storm Warning" The Volcanos - Arctic "Give The Man A Chance" The Soul Twins - Karen "Wait For Another Day" Junior Parker - Duke "Oo Wee Baby, I Love You" Roscoe Robinson - Atlantic "Back in Your Arms" Clarence Carter - Fame "Everybody Needs Somebody (To Love In The End)" The Flirtations - Deram "Understanding" P.P. and The Primes - Nice "Have Some More Tea" The Smoke - Island "How Can It Be" The Birds - Decca "Zig-Zaggin'" The Capitols - Atco "I Got To Handle It" The Capitols - Atco "Do It" Burgess Gardner & The Soul Crusaders - More Soul

Amazing Love, How Can It Be? by Harmony Bible Church

This is the sermon from our Sunday morning service on 10/22/2017 titled "How Can It Be? " on John 3:8-21 with Pastor Jeff Gill.

In this first podcast edition of NSAI Presents: Coffee Break, Contemporary Christian artist/songwriter Lauren Daigle discusses what led her to the realization that music was her ultimate calling. About this podcast: NSAI Coffee Break is a series featuring legendary and modern-day songwriters, artists and music industry executives. Each episode highlights their creative journeys, including the successes and the in-betweens, and where they are headed to next! About Lauren Daigle: Daigle is the fastest selling new artist in Contemporary Christian music in the past decade. In addition to this year’s Billboard Music Awards and GRAMMY® nominations, Lauren has won three Dove Awards (nominated for four) -- “New Artist of the Year,” “Song of the Year” (“How Can It Be”) and “Contemporary Song of the Year (“How Can It Be”),and won the 2015 K-LOVE Fan Award for “Worship Song of the Year.” Her debut album reached #1 on the iTunes Christian Gospel Top Albums Chart with more than 270,000 album sales and 730,000 track sales. Her singles “How Can It Be” and “First” both reached #1 on the iTunes Christian Songs Chart and #1 on the Christian Digital Tracks Chart with “First” also reaching #1 on the NCA radio chart. She has had almost 50 million YouTube and Vevo views, with approximately 200,000 subscribers. For “How Can It Be” alone, she has had more than 14 million views. The HOW CAN IT BE DELUXE EDITION, can be purchased on Itunes and Amazon. Visit laurendaigle.com for upcoming tour dates and more!

This week, Grammy-nominated singer Lauren Daigle stops by to perform songs off of her album “How Can It Be.” We also talk with Senior Daily Show correspondent and comedian--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/relevant-podcast/messageSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/relevant-podcast/support See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Grammy-nominated singer Lauren Daigle stops by to perform songs off of her album “How Can It Be.” We also talk with Senior Daily Show correspondent and comedian

Lauren Daigle joins Nancy to talk about the meaning behind her music, trip to the Grammys, and hit album How Can It Be. Listen to the highlights and read more in Nancy’s online column Showbiz Analysis for Parade Magazine.

Grammy nominated and Dove Award winning artist Lauren Daigle speaks to JOY about her songs and upcoming concert in Toronto! Lauren is set to embark on the Hillsong UNITED Empires tour beginning April 28 in Baltimore. The Empires tour comes to Toronto on Monday May 2 at the Air Canada Centre. A few days later Centricity Music will be releasing the Deluxe Edition of Lauren Daigle’s debut album "How Can It Be" on May 6! Stay Connected: Online: www.joyradio.ca Facebook: www.facebook.com/myjoyradio Twitter: www.twitter.com/myjoyradio Instagram: www.instagram.com/myjoyradio

1 John 4:7-19 - Amazing Love, How Can It Be?Preacher: Guest: Hunter BrewerDate: 29th November 2015Passage: 1 John 4:7-19

Kelly Ervin sings "How Can It Be" for special music.

Kelly Ervin sings "How Can It Be" for special music.

If we truly take the time to process our own sinful nature and then pair that with a time of meditation on all that Christ is and has done for us, we too will proclaim, "How Can It Be?" like Lauren Daigle in this week's song. However, the conviction of our guilt should not lead us to a place of shame, but to repentance. On this episode I discuss: The story behind the song from New Release Tuesday The story of the adulterous woman found in John 8:1-11 Where my unfiltered writing took me this week God's answer to the prayer found at the end of Psalm 139 Conviction leading us to repentance not shame How we "hide" from God 1 John 2:1-2 teaching us not to sin, but reminding us that if we do, we have an Advocate My experience as a Court Appointed Special Advocate The awe-filled conclusion when considering God's grace...how...can...it...be? 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 This Week's Challenge Read John 8 for yourself and then pull out your journal or a notepad and list the characters in the story. Underline key words or phrases in the text itself in your Bible. List out the challenges given by Christ to the various characters in this story. List out the challenges the Holy Spirit may be giving you.  

Its our commentary track for our song of the week from 1/19/09. And we have something special coming later this week... so stay tuned or whatever the internet equivalent is.

Introduction As we come to Isaiah 15 and 16, I acknowledge here before you the challenge of expositional preaching. It is quite possible that there’s no congregation on the face of the earth that has had Isaiah 16:4 projected up on the walls as we did this morning, talking about fugitives from Moab and finding refuge in Christ. That’s the challenge of exposition and the joy as well. “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” (2 Tim 3:16) Amen. Jesus said, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Mt 4:4) Now, my brother and good friend, Andy Winn, had John 3:16 last Sunday. I get Isaiah 15 and 16. He did a wonderful job and I was greatly encouraged. But frankly, the more I studied these two chapters that we’re looking at today, the more relevancy I saw in my own personal life. I don’t know that this is something where you’re necessarily going to take a verse from it and memorize it, or something like that. Yet, it is the word of the Lord to us today. And I pray that God will enable me to preach it with power and with conviction so that our lives might be transformed. I’ll never forget the summer of 1987, when I had the privilege of ministering to refugees who had fled from the invading Russians in Afghanistan. They were across the border in Pakistan, and we went to the city of Peshawar and we ministered to them. They were the most miserable and destitute people I’d ever seen in my life. And it’s still the case. I’ve seen some poverty in Asia, in India, in Haiti, but I’ve never seen the kind of misery and pain that I saw etched on the faces of these people that had run for their lives from Russian helicopter gunships. Many of them had seen relatives and friends killed before their very eyes. Their prospects were limited. They were not incredibly welcome in Pakistan. They were safe, at least for the time being, but their prospects economically were dim. Very few people were ministering to them. They had a hard time eating and caring for themselves. And again, the future looked dim. What a joy and privilege it is to go into a situation like that and minister the gospel of Jesus Christ! Amen! To be able to bring hope where, other than the ministry of the Gospel, there would be no hope. But the 20th century really was a century of refugees. Look at World War I. Look at World War II. Look at grainy old black and white photos from World War I and footage of German dive bombers, strafing columns of refugees that are fleeing from Belgium, or fleeing from Poland, or fleeing from Russia or Ukraine. You can see a picture in your mind of what it is to be a refugee. It’s a terrifying situation to be in, to lose everything that you have except what you can carry with you. I remember a picture of an elderly French woman. She’s got a mink stole on and she’s got an evening gown and a valuable painting. She’s got it in a baby buggy and she’s pushing it down a muddy road. It’s all she has left of a former way of life. Everything that she has, she’s carrying with her. You get the sense that it won’t be much longer and she won’t even be pushing that baby buggy. She’ll be stripped of everything. So it is to be a refugee. The more I meditated on Isaiah 15 and 16, the more I saw the relevance to our lives. I don’t know that any of us will ever be refugees. I do know that the United Nations High Commission on Refugees said there were sixty-five million displaced persons in 2007. So there’s a lot of refugees around the world. There’s an opportunity for us as a church of Jesus Christ to minister. We had an opportunity to minister to some refugees who came to us from Vietnam. What a great privilege that was! We may well have a practical ministry to refugees. It could be that, if we are in fact the final generation, and some of the events that are recorded in the Book of Revelation take place, then we will actually know what it means to flee for our lives and to dwell in caves, and to look for a place of refuge from an encroaching terror that’s coming to hunt us down. We may know that. If the Lord tarries, we may never know that. But there are people, even brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Sudan and other places in the world, that are actually going through this right now. So at the physical level, I think there’s a relevance to this text. But I also see a spiritual connection. I don’t think it’s hard to find because what happens in this text is a judgment on Moab. Some unnamed invader comes into their country and the people of Moab have to run for their lives. Their military strength is gone. They have nothing left. Their religious strength is gone and they run for their lives. They actually turn, at that point, to their former enemies in Judah, the Jews. They want to see if it’s possible that they might take them in. As a matter of fact, Isaiah the prophet says that it’s the only refuge they’re going to have. I’m going to talk about who the invader could be. We don’t really know who it is. But if in fact the invader was Assyria, and if they came in during a certain time, it could be that, literally, physically, the only refuge there could be would be in Zion, in Jerusalem, with godly King Hezekiah. This, in the end, becomes a picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus, the descendant of David, the King, the Davidic King, mentioned in the middle of Isaiah 16, is in fact the only refuge there is from the coming judgment. So there is a beautiful spiritual picture of the gospel as well. The Bible does this over and over. Oh, how the Lord wants us to flee to Christ! How many different ways does it give us incentive so that we would run for our lives, run to the only refuge there is, the refuge of Jesus Christ? There are pictures again and again in the Old Testament of a place of refuge. If you go there, you are going to be safe from the coming judgment and the coming wrath. But, if you go outside of it, you’re going to be killed. You’re going to perish. Noah’s ark is a picture of that. If you’re on the ark, you’re safe. If you’re outside the ark, you are lost. Also, during the time of Passover when the Jews painted the blood of the sacrificial lamb over the door posts, the angel of death passed over. If he saw the blood on the house, everyone inside the house was safe. But if you were outside the house, your blood was on your own head. That meant you were going to die. So there’s a place of refuge, a place of security and safety, and outside there is none. Or again, we have Rahab’s house nestled in the walls of Jericho. The promise of a scarlet cord hanging down was that she and all of her relatives would be safe if they stayed in the house. But if they went outside the house, their blood would be on their own heads. They would die. It is also a picture of a place of refuge, which you have to be inside. That’s where the refuge is. Outside there is none. In the Law of Moses, there is a provision for cities of refuge where, if you accidentally kill somebody, you can run for your life. If you get there before the avenger of blood comes, you’ll be safe. They’ll protect you and keep you safe until the death of the high priest. It was a picture, again, of a place of refuge. Don’t you see how all of these are pictures of Jesus Christ? Don’t you see Christ in all of this? Don’t you see the need to run for your life? Don’t you see that there is a judgment coming, worse than the flood of Noah? It’s an eternal judgment, an eternal fire. What we stand to lose is not just our mortal lives, but our souls. We are encouraged again and again and again to run for our lives to the place of refuge, and that is Jesus Christ. So there you have it. There’s the sermon in a nutshell. What we have is a current event that’s not so current. Moabite Refugees Fleeing in Terror Prophecies Against the Nations We have, in this section of Isaiah, the oracles against the nations. Isaiah the prophet is giving an oracle, or a saying, a prophecy concerning Moab. From Isaiah 13 through 23, one nation after another is addressed through the prophetic voice. Isaiah the prophet is speaking here to the little country of Moab. We’ve had oracles against great nations like Assyria and Babylon. Last time, we looked at an oracle against the Philistines, a smaller nation. Here, the Moabites were even smaller. The Sovereign God who rules over all the earth is orchestrating the events of all the earth. He speaks an oracle through his prophet to the people of Moab, the Moabites. Who are the Moabites? Now, who were the Moabites? They were descended from Lot, Abraham’s nephew. When, in another picture of refuge, Lot fled from Sodom and Gomorrah to the little town of Zoar, he was able to survive the fire and brimstone. This is a picture, again, of refuge, fleeing for your life. But then, thinking that it was the end of the world, they took up refuge in a cave. Lot was there with his two daughters. And the daughters, thinking that they wouldn’t know any more people on the face of the earth, perhaps with the memory of the flood still very fresh in their minds, induced their father through wine to lay with them. Each of them had a son by their own father and from this came two peoples, the Moabites and the Ammonites. The Moabites took up residence on a tiny piece of land east of the Dead Sea, stretching from the Arnon River, which dumps into the Dead Sea, to the Zered River, on the border with Edom. It’s a small piece of land, thirty miles by thirty miles. It’s really small. The Moabites were not a mighty and significant people. They were usually enemies of Israel, usually in opposition to the people of God. They would fight against them. For example, during the Exodus, they would not allow the Israelites to pass through their territory, they had to go around. They hired Balaam to curse Israel, and you remember what happened with that. The Moabite women seduced the Israelite men to worship Baal of Peor through sexual immorality. It was the Moabite women that did that. As a result of all of these things, the Law of Moses forbad any of them to enter the assembly of the Lord down to the tenth generation. They were forbidden to enter. During the time of the Judges, God gave Israel over to a Moabite king, Eglon, the fat man. Eglon was murdered by one of the judges, Ehud, a left-handed man. These were the Moabites. They were the enemies of the people of God. It was Moabite wives that seduced King Solomon to worship foreign gods, to worship Chemosh, their detestable god. They occasionally organized armies to fight against the Jews, and they usually lost. They were the enemies of God’s people. By the end of Kings and Chronicles, Moabite raiders were still plundering Israel. Yet, for all of that, it was a godly Moabite woman, Ruth, who said to Naomi, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God… May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” (Ru 1:16-17) From Ruth came David, and through David, ultimately, came our savior Jesus Christ. Therefore, we see the grace of God in dealing with pagan people. We also see God’s saving intentions to the Gentiles and to every tribe and language and people and nation, everyone on the face of the earth. Why are They Fleeing? These are the people, the Moabites, who are running for their lives in these two chapters. It’s the Moabites who are running now. Why are they fleeing? Look at Isaiah 15:1, “Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night!” By the way, if you see Keith Pendergraff, thank him for that reading. There’s something like twenty proper nouns in that. He did a phenomenal job. I don’t know that I’m going to do as well. I was adjusting my pronunciation as I listened to him read the scripture. So thank you, Keith. We thought about that at our staff meeting, “Now, who’s going to do this reading? Please urge them to practice ahead of time.” But what is going on in Isaiah 15:1? Well, these are two cities in Moab, Ar and Kir, and both of them are destroyed in a night. They’re gone. These are their strongholds, their high places, their walled fortresses. They are nothing to the unnamed invader. In a single night, they are gone, both of them have fallen. Furthermore, their religion has proven to be empty. They turn to their high places. Verse 2 says, “Dibon goes up to its temple, to its high places to weep.” If you look all the way over to Chapter 16:12, it says, “When Moab appears at her high place, she only wears herself out; when she goes to her shrine to pray, it is to no avail.” Chemosh cannot help them. You know why? Because Chemosh does not exist. He’s an idol of their own imagination and Chemosh cannot save them. So they are running for their lives. They are fugitives. Look at Isaiah 15:5, “Her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the way to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction.” You see a picture of a train of refugees, crying, running, leaving possessions behind, stuff strewn along the roads. That’s what’s going on. The Moabites are running for their lives. Like all refugees, they try to carry whatever they can of their possessions. Verse 7 says, “So the wealth they have acquired and stored up they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.” They’re going to carry their gold and silver with them. Well, how long is that going to last? It’s heavy. There comes a point where they will leave it behind. The army that’s going to come after them will pick it up and plunder them. So that’s what is happening. These are refugees leaving behind their old way of life, and the slaughter is terrible. Look at Isaiah 15:9, “Dimon’s waters are full of blood, but I will bring still more upon Dimon – a lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon those who remain in the land.” Whether it’s a literal lion or it’s just more military conquest coming on this straggling line of refugees, it doesn’t matter. The fact of the matter is, it’s just a miserable, horrible time for these Moabites. The rivers are filled with blood. You see the image of their women in 16:2, “like fluttering birds, pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of Arnon.” As they’re trying to cross this river, they are panicking and weak and defenseless, a picture of the refugee. Turning to Judah for Help At this point, they turn to Judah for help. This is the only place they can turn. Frankly, this is what Isaiah wants them to do. If you look at Isaiah 16:1, it says, “send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela, across the desert.” Where? “to the daughter of Zion.” Reach out to the Jews. Why? Because salvation is from the Jews, your ancient enemies. Reach out to the daughter of Zion. That’s the advice that Isaiah’s giving. It’s really that God is giving it. Reach out to the Jews in your moment of distress. Historical Details Now, I have no idea, historically, what this is referring to. Nobody really knows. I have a sense of what’s going on, but nobody really knows. Of course, the big bully of the time was Assyria. It could be that in 715 BC, the Assyrians were coming down and dealing with some Arabian raiders that were making commerce difficult. As they did, they passed through little Moab. And what do the Assyrians do when they pass through somebody’s land? They do this kind of thing, this kind of conquest, this kind of bloodshed, this kind of plundering and pillaging. It could be that’s exactly what was going. The end for Moab is quite near. The End is Near Look at the end of our reading for today. Isaiah 16:13-14 says, “This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. But now the Lord says: ‘Within three years, as a servant bound by contract would count them, Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble.” It’s a time table, three years as for a servant bound by a contract, meaning counting the hours. It’s going to be very accurate. Within that time, three years, Moab will be finished. That’s what’s going on. Look at Isaiah’s reaction, weeping for the refugees. Weeping for the Refugees God Does Not Willingly Afflict People I find it fascinating, the emotional response of Isaiah to these, who are supposedly his enemies. I tell you that God does not willingly afflict anyone. He doesn’t willingly bring suffering on anybody. So says Lamentations 3:32-33, “Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.” The consistent teaching of scripture is that it is, in fact, God that brings these disasters. There’s not a subset of disaster that didn’t come from God and had nothing to do with God. He does everything. He’s King of the Universe, but He doesn’t delight in bringing suffering. That’s not what He’s doing. It’s called in Isaiah 28:21, “His strange work” and “His alien task.” It’s not his home base. He does it for a reason, for a purpose. I believe He afflicts the nations to get them up out of their self-satisfied, self-worshipping rut, and to cause them to seek a Savior, who they would never seek if God didn’t afflict them. As King Hezekiah says as he is recovering from his illness, “Surely it was good for me to have been afflicted.” It’s a good thing, then, to be afflicted if, in the end, it means salvation for your soul. And I think that’s what’s going on here. God brings these kinds of afflictions because there is no way the Moabites will seek a Savior from the descendants of David, unless they are desperate and running for their lives. Isaiah Weeps for the Nations God brings this kind of affliction into lives, but you see the emotion, you see the compassion of God through His spokesman Isaiah. You see Him weeping for them, and it’s really quite surprising. Look at Isaiah 15:5. He says “My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the way to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction.” He’s weeping for them. He has compassion for them. In chapter 16:9-11, it says, “So I weep, as Jazer weeps… the shouts of joy… are stilled. Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards; no one treads out the wine at the presses, for I have put an end to the shouting. My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth.” This is Isaiah. Isaiah is speaking. He is a man. He is reacting to his own prophecies. He’s reacting emotionally to what he is writing. But in so doing, he is God’s mouthpiece, and it is really God’s own reaction to what the Moabites are going through. That’s quite remarkable. You have to look carefully, but look at verse 10, and then on into verse 11 of Chapter 16. It says, “Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards; no one treads out wine at the presses.” Why? “For I have put an end to the shouting.” Do you see that? The word “I?” Isaiah didn’t do that. It’s not Isaiah’s work that put an end to anything. He’s an announcer. He’s a messenger. This is God speaking. Therefore, the very next verse is God speaking as well. “My heart laments for Moab.” This is the nature of our God. He brings the affliction, but He weeps at the effects. Surely, God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. They are so infinitely high above us, what God is doing in the world. But I believe He does it out of compassion. I believe He does it so that people will turn from their sins and cry out to a Jewish Savior, cry out to Christ and be saved. That’s why He does it. And unless some harsh treatment comes in most of our lives, if not all, we will never do it. We will never do it. Christ Wept for His Enemies Christ wept for His enemies, didn’t He? Didn’t Christ stand over Jerusalem and weep for the coming judgment that would come on that city? Didn’t He say, concerning the men that were murdering Him, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34) Do you see His heart there? The Apostle Paul Wept for His Enemies Do you see the Apostle Paul, in Romans 9, testifying that he has a great sorrow and unceasing anguish over the Jews who are making his life utterly miserable and who would love to kill him as well? He testifies solemnly that he would trade his salvation for theirs, if he could. Amazing compassion! Do We? What about us? What about me? Every time I come to the issue of my level of compassion for the lost, I’m brought up short and convicted. I realize that I have to cry out against the stoniness of my own heart and I realize that I just don’t care enough about fugitives, refugees. I don’t care enough about the lost, the idolaters around me. I don’t care enough. And I have to fan a little ember into a flame, by a biblical meditation on what hell is actually going to be like. I have to do it. The scholarly pastor Andrew Bonar, in Scotland, lay on his bed Saturday nights. Down in the street, below his window, he could hear revelers tramping back and forth, going to the bars and the shows, an empty searching for something. He used to get out of his bed and weep over their souls and cry out, “Oh, they perish, they perish!” He would weep for them. Oswald J Smith, who brought the Gospel to over 50 countries, this is what he said, “Can we travail for a drowning child, but not for a perishing soul? It is not hard to weep when we realize that our little one is sinking below the surface for the last time. Anguish is spontaneous then. Nor is it hard to agonize when we see the little casket containing all that we love on earth borne out of the home. Ah, no; tears are natural at such a time! But oh, to realize and to know that souls, precious, never-dying souls are perishing all around us, going out into the blackness of darkness and despair, eternally lost, and yet to feel no anguish, shed no tears, know no travail! How cold are our hearts! How little do we know of the compassion of Jesus!” I take solace from the fact that you can even see that Oswald J Smith, who brought the gospel to over 50 countries, saw that weakness in his own heart. It’s not natural for us, but we ought to weep over the kind of judgments that come on the lost. We ought to travail for their souls. We see the sorrow of Isaiah and, really, the sorrow of God over the affliction necessary to save them. The Great Advantage of Refugees Advantage? How Can It Be? We also see the great advantage for these refugees. Now, you might say what advantage can there be in being a refugee? Well, on an earthly basis, at a purely secular level, I can’t possibly see any advantage. As I said, these were the most miserable people I’d ever seen on the face of the earth. I don’t mean that in terms of their emotional state. I just mean in terms of their circumstances. As I look at the hierarchy of suffering, the only think that I think is worse than running for your life before an invading army is being captured and held by a malicious tyrant who loves to torture you, with no escape or death. I think that’s probably the worst earthly circumstance you could be in. Of course, none of this compares to hell, because there is always some escape from any misery here on earth. But there is no escape from hell. Still, I think being a refugee is a horrible situation. Yet there is an advantage if, in the end, you come to your senses and come to faith in Christ, if you realize you’re really running for your life. And by that, I mean your eternal life. If you realize that your ordinary way of life was only going to lead you to hell, and something caused you to get out of that rut that was drawing you right down into hell, to get up out of that and say, “Where am I going?” If you then come to your senses and say, “I need a savior,” then it’s worthwhile. Foundations Removed There’s some advantage, then, in being a refugee. Foundations are removed. All the things you counted on and relied on are taken away. You have to think about everything anew and afresh. Everything’s been tossed up for grabs. Pride Removed Pride has been removed. Oh, that’s important. Look at Isaiah 16:6. It’s mentioned right there, “We have heard of Moab’s pride – her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and her insolence – but her boasts are empty.” Oh, they’re empty now! Now whoever it is has come in, the Assyrians, let’s say. Oh, there’s nothing left to be proud of now! Now they’re beggars looking for some place of refuge. Actually, that’s good, because Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:3) It’s good to get to the point where you realize you have nothing in your hands to give to the king. You’re just begging for a place of refuge. That’s a good thing. Pride has been destroyed. It’s amazing how proud we are, isn’t it? But what do we have to be proud of, really? We’re just created beings. Everything we have we receive from God. What do we have to boast about? Yet it’s in there, that worm of pride. It’s so ugly when you see it in someone else, isn’t it? It’s so ugly when you see it in another person, but it’s ugly if you can see it in yourself too. I was reading a quote by the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. I can scarcely read this without feeling a curdling effect in my stomach. He said openly what most people would never parade. Pride is just oozing from this paragraph. Listen to what he said: “What could your miseries have in common with mine? My situation is unique, unheard of since the beginning of time. The person who can love me as I can love is still yet to be born. No one has ever had more talent for loving. I was born to be the best friend that ever existed. Show me a better man than me, a heart more loving, more tender, more sensitive. Posterity will honor me because it is my due. I rejoice in myself. My consolation lies in my self-esteem. If there were a single enlightened government in Europe, it would have erected statues to me.” Wow! Listen, bro. Let’s sit down and have a conversation. Let’s get the scripture and find out what the truth really is. What’s so sad is that we’re like this, though we don’t admit it. We’re not going to bring it this far, but we think, “Has anybody ever suffered like me? Nobody loves like I love. If I really got what I deserved, they’d be erecting a statue.” I don’t know if we carry it that far, but the pride, it’s really laughable. It’s actually good to laugh at yourself. But, you know, to actually get cured from it, sometimes it takes this level of affliction. To run for your life strips you of pride. What do you have left? Where then is your resume? Where then are your possessions? Where then is your glorious future? You’re running for your life, and that’s what it’s done. So there’s a great advantage to being a refugee. The Only Safe Refuge: Christ An Invitation for Refuge It’s good if you know the refuge. Amen? If you know where to run to, now that’s a benefit. And I say to you, the only safe refuge is Jesus Christ. He’s mentioned in the text, though indirectly. With their pride stripped, the Moabite refugees have nowhere to turn but to Judah. As we already mentioned in Chapter 16:1, they’re urged to “send lambs as tribute to the… mount of the Daughter of Zion.” That’s Jerusalem. They begged for help from the Jews. Verses 2-4 of Chapter 16 say, “Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon. ‘Give us counsel, render a decision. Make your shadow like night – at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees. Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer.’ The oppressor will come to an and, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land.” A Stunning Prophecy: A Ruler from the House of David Here we have a stunning and beautiful prophecy: a ruler from the house of David. Look at verse 16:5, “In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it – one from the house of David – one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.” Oh, how sweet is that promise of Jesus Christ! This isn’t any one of the Davidic kings. Yes, Hezekiah was a godly man, but he was no final refuge. He’s a picture of A refuge, but he’s not The final refuge. Oh no. The final refuge is Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. He’s the refuge. Therefore, Isaiah predicts the establishment of a Davidic throne that will reign in righteousness. This Davidic king will bring justice to the nations. It is Jesus Christ then at last, who is every refugee’s place of safety. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run to it and find refuge. Jesus is the name of the Lord. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. You run to Him and you find refuge. What refuge is there? The foot of the cross, where Jesus shed His blood for sin. The real danger is not the Assyrian army or any army. The real danger is the wrath of God. “’Do not fear those who kill the body and after that can do nothing to you. I’ll tell you the one to fear,’ said Jesus, ‘fear the one who has the power to destroy both soul and body in hell.’” We need a refuge from hell. We need a refuge from the judgment of an all-seeing God. We need a refuge from judgment and wrath. That’s what we need. Jesus Christ is the place of refuge, amen? We can flee to Him and find safety. There is no other, there’s no other place. God didn’t ordain that Noah and five other people each build an ark. There was one ark, there was one place of refuge. And so it is with Christ. In the Old Covenant, the Moabites were excluded to the tenth generation. Oh, but praise God for the New covenant, Amen? In the New Covenant, anyone who repents and believes is welcome. “All that the Father gives me will come to me,” said Jesus, “and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” (Jn 6:37) There is your welcome. There is your place of refuge. Jesus Christ is saying, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11:28) So He is the place of refuge mentioned right here in Isaiah 16:5. Someday the Whole World Will Become Refugees What’s the connection to our lives? Are we ever going to be refugees? Well, I can’t say. I cannot say. I do know, though, there will come a time when every nation on earth will run for their lives. If you’re alive at that time, you’ll run too. You will run too. That’s all you can do. This is what the Lord says in Isaiah 13:13-14, “Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the Lord Almighty, in the day of his burning anger. Like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.” Haggai 2:6-7 says, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations.’” Isaiah 30:27-28 says, “See, the name of the Lord comes from afar, with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke; his lips are full of wrath, and his tongue is a consuming fire. His breath is like a rushing torrent, rising up to the neck. He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction.” Hebrews 12:26-27 says, “At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ The words “once more” indicate the removal of what can be shaken – that is, created things – so that what cannot be shaken may remain.” God himself is going to shake the nations in a sieve of destruction. All the nations that live at that time will run for their lives. So you will be a fugitive if you live in the final generation. It is your future and mine if the Lord tarries. It is a terrifying thing. The prediction is plain in Revelation 6:12-17, “I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” Run for your lives! It’s going to be literal at that point. But the real danger is nothing on earth, friend. No, the real danger is Judgment Day. That’s the real danger. When you stand before Him who knows everything you ever said, everything you ever did, who knows the inclinations of your heart, who remembers everything perfectly, that’s the danger. As John the Baptist said to his Jewish enemies, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” Has anybody warned you to do that, to be a refugee from the coming wrath? Have you learned to do that? To flee from the wrath to come? Christ is the Only Refuge for Spiritual Refugees Jesus Christ is the only refuge from that wrath to come. It says in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, “Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” Amen? He is a safe refuge from the coming wrath. It says in 1 Thessalonians 5:9, “God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” So run for your lives! In the beginning of Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian realizes that he actually lived in a place called the City of Destruction. He started to be worried about the future. Wouldn’t you if you lived in a place called the City of Destruction? He’s reading about it in the book, in the Scriptures, and he has a terrible burden on his back, a sense of guilt for his own sins that are going to press him down to hell. He talks to his wife, but she doesn’t believe. She thinks he’s crazy. The children don’t believe, they think he’s crazy. His neighbors think he’s crazy. Then Evangelist tells him to go to a wicket gate and to a flashing light, and he begins to run there. He’s running, and he’s got his fingers in his ears so he doesn’t listen to the cries of his unbelieving family and his mocking neighbors. He runs and runs for the distant salvation, running for that gate, so that his soul can be saved. Run for your lives. Do you live in the City of Destruction? Yes, you do. So do I. So we’re called on to run this race with endurance, to keep running until we’re done, to run for our lives spiritually. Applications Nothing Here is Eternal… So Flee Every Day to Christ What application do we take from this? First, nothing you see around you is eternal. Don’t be deceived. Did you say, “What? We heard a strange sermon today on being a refugee for Christ. I don’t think that’s going to happen to me.” Well, be careful, friend. Be careful, because someday you’re going to lose it all anyway. You are. And it’s good to know it. I don’t know the specific political and military situations, or earthquake, or hurricane that will cause you to be a displaced person. I don’t know whether that will ever happen to you. But I do know this, you ought to live with that kind of mentality. Live as an alien and a stranger on earth, looking ahead to a city with foundations whose builder and maker is God. Run for that place, the celestial city. Nothing will ever remove that. It cannot be shaken. Run for that. Live a Holy Life Worthy of Our Future Home… Personal Holiness Hold on to your possessions loosely. Live a holy life worthy of that final day, since is says in 2 Peter 3:11-13, “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” So live a holy and godly life. 1 Peter 2:11 says, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in this world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.” Cry Out Over Our Hardness of Heart Thirdly, I would urge you to cry out over your own hardness of heart, as I do over mine. Cry out that you don’t care about the plight of the lost. Be like God. Be like Paul. Be like Andrew Bonar and Oswald J Smith. Be like these men and women who learned to weep over the condition of lost friends and relatives and co-workers. If you don’t care much, know that God knows you don’t care. He knows, however, if you’re a believer, that you want to care. You want to be healed from your hardness of heart. You want to care about the poor and the needy. Go to Him and ask Him for it. Be a spiritual beggar for that, too. Say, “Lord, change my heart. Give me tears to cry over lost people.” And stay there until He does. Meditate in depth on passages about hell. That might help you. Consider Ministry to Refugees Finally, consider in a practical way a ministry to refugees. We’ve already had some in this church that have sacrificially given to refugees from Vietnam. It’s been a sweet experience for them and for the church. You can give money to Persecution Project, which ministers to Christian refugees in the Sudan, especially in Darfur. You can minister to refugees that are non-Christians, as we did in Pakistan. Those were Muslim refugees. Perhaps God might call you to that kind of a practical ministry. In any case, whatever God calls you to do, live your life as a refugee here on Earth until God takes you to heaven. Close with me in prayer.

The “Weakness of God”? How Can It Be? I would like to ask, if you would, to take your Scriptures and open to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. This morning we are going to be looking at Christmas as a demonstration of the weakness of God. We get this from 1 Corinthians 1:25, which Wiley just read for us: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom and the weakness of God stronger than man’s strength.” And anyone who’s familiar with the Scriptures, who knows the God of the Bible, should just in a way buck or stumble at that concept of the weakness of God. For the God that we worship is an omnipotent God. He is powerful, he can do all things. He displayed his omnipotence, his power when he created the universe. There was a time that he was alone: Father, Son, and Spirit. And he simply spoke the universe into existence. He spoke in worlds, his command obeyed. He said, “Let there be light” and there was light. He said, “Let there be an earth, let there be a sky, let there be oceans, and let them be gathered in one place,” and they were. And the oceans, they rule where they’re supposed to be, but they will not cross that thin band of sand that he establishes their boundary because he rules the waves. He’s the omnipotent creator, and he created all things by the word of his power and for his glory. The Omnipotence of God This is the one that we speak of when we speak of the weakness of God, how can it be? We also see the omnipotence of God, the providential ruler. Not only did he create the universe, but he also rules over it moment by moment. We are not Deists who believe that God created the world and then just sits back and lets it run as a clockmaker lets a clock run that he has designed. But no, we worship an interfering God, a God who gets involved in history, he is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. No one can take a throne of earthly power unless by his will and his permission. Every throne is established by him, and he raises one up and he lowers another. And just as it is true that a sparrow cannot fall to the ground apart from the will of our providential ruler (Matthew 10:29), neither can the Roman Empire fall to the barbarian hordes except that God says so. Now, this is the God that we roll. “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision comes from the Lord” (Prov 16:33). Every roll of the dice that comes up the way he says. Every happenstance meeting between people and Asian cities, all of it ruled by God. Every event recorded on page 36 of your local newspaper, God rules over all these things. This is the one that we’re speaking of when we speak of the weakness of God, how can it be? And then there is God, the miracle worker. God established physical laws of the universe, and it’s been our delight as a human race to try to discover what they are, to try to find out what God has done in creation, and we have. We have accomplished great things, and we’ve seen the laws that he has made, but God breaks them any time he chooses. Any time he wants, he can make an ax head float in water. Any time he wants, he can have a staff turn into a serpent, and then back again; a hand can become leprous and then be healed again instantly; plagues can come on a nation, a whole river can turn to blood, even water in a pitcher on a table, clean and ready to drink a moment ago suddenly turns to blood. Our God is a miracle-working God. He can do anything. He can make an ocean separate and two million people walk through safe and sound with water walling up left and right, and then he can give the word and that same water comes crashing down on the pursuing army. Our God is a miracle-working God. He’s an interfering, sovereign miracle-working God, and this is the one that we’re speaking of when we talk about the weakness of God, how can it be? He dwells on a throne that’s unapproachable. The Scripture says, he alone dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim 6:16). He speaks and it is so. His hand is stretched out and no one can turn it back (Isa 14:27). No one can turn his mind, he’s very strong-willed. You may think you know people that are strong-willed, no one has a stronger will than God. Nobody can resist his will. Well, this is the God that we serve. He is king, he has absolute character, no one can sully his character, no one can come in and change him in any way. All of his interactions with the sinful human race have not left him any less holy for our God never changes. This is the God of the Bible. And were it not for 1 Corinthians 1:25, I would think it’s almost blasphemy to speak of the weakness of God, because our God is an omnipotent, a powerful Creator. The Ultimate Question of Christmas: How Can Such a Being Be “Weak”? Now, the question of Christmas, I think is, how can such a God become so weak? How can such a God become so weak? Look at 1 Corinthians 1:23-25. The Apostle Paul says there, “We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God stronger than man’s strength.” So here, this concept is introduced to us with the apostolic seal of approval. We are allowed to contemplate this morning, the weakness of God. Christ: the “Weakness of God” Now, Paul, when he brought up that phrase, was thinking about Calvary, wasn’t he? He was thinking about the cross of Jesus Christ. I am going to bring it right down to the manger at Bethlehem and show that the whole life was cut from the same cloth. All of it could be demonstrated to be what Paul will call the weakness of God, and I’m going to show that he lived a consistent life from the manger in Bethlehem right to the cross. It was all cut from the same cloth: the weakness of God, Paul would call it. And I’m going to show that it is in fact stronger than the mightiest power of man. The weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. That tiny baby in that manger in Bethlehem became weak so that we might become mighty and powerful through Christ, that we might have eternal life. He became poor so that we might become rich. This is the mystery of Bethlehem. Corinthian Context Now, I can’t preach on 1 Corinthians 1:25 without giving you some context. This is the closest I am going to come to a topical sermon. This happens every Christmas, and so I preach a topical sermon on Christmas. But even so, I want this passage to flower in its context because I think in understanding the Corinthian context, we are going to see how it would apply to our lives today. You see, the Corinthian church, I don’t think was very different from our church or any other church that you could attend, it was a gifted church. They had everything they need, they didn’t lack any spiritual gift, they had all advantages, but they had nothing but troubles, nothing but problems because they were weak and immature spiritually. They didn’t understand the Christian life properly. They didn’t understand the weakness of God. They were endowed with spiritual gifts but they were bloated with pride. There were factions and there were divisions among them. They were living, some of them, carnal lifestyles, sinful even. They needed to come to Bethlehem and learn the lesson there of that baby lying in that feeding through. They needed to come again to Calvary and understand what it meant that God’s Son was dead on a cross. They needed to see again the weakness of God. Now, when Paul came to preach, he had just gotten off of a mission trip to Athens and it hadn’t gone well, humanly speaking. He had been there in the Areopagus, and all of those philosophers that do nothing but sit around all day long and talk about wisdom and they talk about the wisdom of Plato and Aristotle, and all of these great philosophers, along comes this Jewish man, and he’s babbling about some man, some carpenter who died and rose again. It didn’t go well, and I think they spurned the message as being weak and foolish. The foolishness of his preaching message was foolish. And they spurned the cross, they despised it, they called it foolishness that a dead man could do anything for anybody at all. And so, he was rejected, and he went from Athens and came to Corinth. And he came there, he says, with weakness and fear and much trembling, and he preached the gospel, and God raised up some people to believe, and he met with them and he discipled them and trained them, and so a church grew up there and it’s to that church that he wrote. But they had some problems because after he left, some false teachers came in, began to question his authority, began to point to a new kind of life, a victorious life, a triumphant life, a life ever upward, ever higher and higher all the time. And Paul said, “You know, I don’t think you understand. You’re going one direction, I as an apostle, and the rest of his apostles, we seemed to be going the other way. You always want to get wealthier and have a better reputation and be more comfortable and have the people think well of you. You’re going up, you’re becoming like kings, but we are like the offscouring at the end of a procession, we are despised and rejected. And you know what, so is Jesus. You don’t seem to understand the very journey that Jesus took leaving heaven and coming down to Bethlehem, and then the kind of life that he lived, and then how he died. The weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. You need to understand the Christian life differently.” And so he gives them in the first chapter, three different aspects of God’s weakness, or his foolishness. First of all, the very idea of a dead Messiah, a crucified Christ up on the cross, that’s foolishness, and yet it saves our souls. And then he says, “Look at yourselves, you know you’re not the pick of the litter actually, you’re not the first prize at the fair. There were not many among you that were influential, not many of noble birth, but God chose the weak, and the lowly, and the despised among you. So look at yourselves. What is God doing among you? Lest you forget your humble origins.” And then he says, “Look at me, God chose me, someone like me, to bring you the gospel.” Chapter 2, he says, “When I was with you, I was with you in weakness and fear and much trembling. I didn’t come with a display of human power and prowess, and reasoning, and articulation, I came relying only on this… the cross of Jesus Christ, Jesus dead on the cross, that’s what I came to preach. I had no other message and look what happened as a result.” And so he’s portraying before them the weakness and the foolishness of God. The Weakness of Christ Now what I’m doing is I’m taking that main concept and I’m bringing it back to Bethlehem, and I’m showing you that the whole life was done this way. Do you realize that God didn’t have to do it this way? I believe we needed a flesh and blood savior to come and take our place on the cross. He needed real red blood coursing through his veins because without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness (Heb 9:22). But he didn’t have to do it this way. I believe that God was accomplishing more than one thing here, and one of the things he was accomplishing by the manner in which Jesus entered the world is teaching us what he esteems, teaching us the way we should be. He was our role model, and his journey was downward in this world. Now in the next… nothing but upward because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). “Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place,” it says (Philippians 2:9). So, if you were willing to live this kind of life, the meek life, the lowly life, the manger life, the cross life, then unlimited blessings come to you through the omnipotent God that we talked about at the beginning. Christ’s Lowly Incarnation Now, if we look at the weakness of Christ, we see first the weakness in his lowly incarnation. Jesus was weak when he was conceived. Now, you stop and think about that. Jesus was conceived, he was at one point an embryo, what some people disparage as a mass of cells. Jesus was an embryo. He was what some people disparage as a fetus, which means in Latin a young one, little one. He was inside his mother’s womb. Mary couldn’t understand that, she didn’t know how it could be because she had never known a man, and so she said in Luke 1:34-35, “’How will this be?’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I’m a virgin.’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And so, the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.’” And so in a mysterious way, Jesus was formed physically inside Mary. Psalm 139 says, “You created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I’m fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my uniformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book, before one of them came to be.” Now, David was writing that about himself, but Jesus was the Son of David, was he not? According to the flesh? And so, in the same way, Jesus could speak these words to his Heavenly Father: “You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” And so, what that means is, if Jesus developed physically inside his mother the way you did inside your mother, at 21 days, Jesus’s heart began to beat. Why did God give Jesus a physical heart? Why the blood? Well, that heart would not stop beating until Jesus said the words, “It is finished.” And the blood that flowed through his veins inside his mother’s womb would eventually flow out of his body as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. This is the purpose. And yet at 21 days, his body could have been ripped to shreds by a little needle, that’s the weakness of God, the weakness of God, the omnipotent creator, down to that tiny, small level, and so Jesus was weak when he was conceived. This is a great mystery, isn’t it? Michael Card, one of my favorite lyricists wrote this, “When the Father long to show a love he wanted us to know, he sent his only Son and so became a holy embryo. No fiction,” listen to this now, “No fiction as fantastic and wild, a mother made by her own child.” Wow! Mary was made by Christ, yeah, Colossians 1 teaches that, and then she became the mother of his physical body. The hopeless babe who cried was God incarnate and man deified. That is the mystery, more than you can see, give up your pondering and fall down on your knees. Jesus was weak when he was conceived, he was weak as a conquered Jew. He didn’t come into the world as a son of Caesar; he could have. God could have chosen that way, but he came into the world as a conquered Jew. Now, he could have come into the world as a triumphant Jew. God had the power to make David the emperor of the universe if he wanted to, and then have one series of Jewish kings after another, just ruling the whole place. It wasn’t that way. When Jesus was born, he was born into a conquered race. And so as a result, in order to fulfill prophecy that he would be born in Bethlehem, Jesus’s parents, human parents, Joseph and Mary, had to obey a decree from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world and they had to travel down to Bethlehem. And so Jesus was inside his mother and traveled a long, weak, obedient to Caesar’s command, a conquered Jew. He was weak also when he was born a baby, the very passage that Mac and Eulene read this morning. Luke 2:6-7, “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn son.” And it says, “She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger.” And you know the difference between an active and a passive verb. Active verb does the actions. Passive verb receives the action. Jesus is passive. He’s a baby, he’s wrapped, he’s placed, he’s weak. Joseph, would you clean out that manger? Maybe we can use that as a bassinet. An incredible thing. He could barely move the straw that was around him, the very picture of weakness. And Jesus was weak through poverty. He was not born to a wealthy Jewish family—there were wealthy Jewish families at the time. There were, but Jesus was born into poverty. How do we know that? Well, the offering that Mary made after Jesus was born in Luke Chapter 2, it says, “When the time of their purification according to the law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” Now, you remember the two turtle doves? Twelve Days of Christmas? Two turtle doves. What is that? You know what that is? It’s an offering for poor people. It’s an offering for poor people. Leviticus 12:8 says, “If the woman cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons as a burnt offering.” She can’t afford a lamb, they couldn’t afford to lamb. Couldn’t afford it. And so she offered up the two doves because Jesus was poor. I would think to myself about the gifts that the Magi brought. I’m imagining perhaps they were hawked in the streets of Alexandria, Egypt in order to pay for food while they were living there. I have no idea. But they were poor people. They’re born into poverty. 2 Corinthians 8:9 says, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” That is the weakness of God. He was also weak before angels. Hebrews 1:6 says, “Again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all of God’s angels worship him.’” And so, we know that the great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace to men on whom his favor rests.” We’re not used to the word “host,” but that’s like an army, is what it is. It’s a multitude of warriors, powerful army there, and they’re there worshipping. So who’s got the power that night? Is it Christ or the angels? Jesus is laid, he’s wrapped in a manger and laid into the manger. There are the angels looking mighty and powerful, and the shepherds are trembling with fear. Incredible. The angels had the power that night. Jesus was also weak as a hunted infant refugee. Most of you were born into security, most of you were born into safety, but I’ve seen refugee families. In 1987, I saw the Afghans who are fleeing from the Russian helicopter gunships—the look of terror on their face, I will never forget. And we saw little infants that had been born sometime in the last few months, thinking what kind of life would it be to be born into a refugee family? Fleeing for your life. Not fleeing because of famine, but fleeing because some human being is hunting you down and wants to kill you, and that’s exactly what Jesus was born into. King Herod, jealous of his power, sent bloodthirsty, vicious, wicked soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all the babies that were born two years old and under and so Jesus had to flee. Now, this is interesting. Think about it this way. There’s this mighty angelic army, and they’re singing praise songs. Pretty soon, a human army goes to kill Jesus, where are the angels? Where is the pillar of fire separating Herod’s men from this baby that God wanted to protect? There is none. He didn’t dispatch an army of angels, not at all. God dispatched one angel to tell Joseph, get up in the middle of the night and run for his life. That’s the weakness of God, it’s the way he chose to do things in this world. And so Jesus and his mother and father, they had to flee for their lives. Hunted infant refugee. Christ’s Servant Lifestyle Jesus was also in one sense, understand me, weak before the devil. Revelation chapter 12 says, “That the dragon, the ancient dragon, stood before the pregnant woman waiting to devour her baby as soon as it was born, and she gave birth to a male Son who will rule the nations with an iron scepter.” This is the depiction of Jesus in his birth. And so, it wasn’t just Herod, but it was demonic forces surrounding Jesus, Jesus lying there, gurgling, happy in the manger, not realizing the demonic evil that surrounds him and would have consumed him had God permitted it. Jesus was the very picture of weakness in his birth narratives, but this is the point I want to make, this was not unusual. You ever read these stories, for example, up from slavery or some of these other Horatio Alger kinds of stories where you start weak and low, but then little by little, you go up and up until you reach some great level in society? That didn’t happen with Jesus. His whole life, as I said, was cut from the same cloth. From there he went into a weak, humble servant lifestyle, and that’s how he lived his whole life, he was weak and that he was born under the law, obeyed all of the regulations of the law. Do you realize he had little tassels on his garment because the law said so? The law commanded that he have these little tassels and he had them. The woman that had been bleeding all those years (Matthew 9:18-22), she wanted to just grab those tassels, that was the word used. Jesus obeyed every jot and tittle of the law. He was weak before the law, humble. Did not fight it, he was weak as submissive to his parents. It says in Luke 2:51, “He went down to Nazareth with his parents and was obedient to them.” He was submissively weak and waiting for God’s timing. For 30 years, he was an apprentice in Joseph’s shop and then a carpenter, working on furniture, waiting on God’s timing. Waiting until God said, “Now is the time,” when he was over 30 years old, waiting for God’s timing. Weak when he was baptized. John the Baptist said, “What are you doing here? I need to be baptized by you and you come to me?” (Matt 3:14) He humbled himself to take a baptism that he did not have to take. It was not required by the law of Moses, but he did it. He said, “We must fulfill all righteousness” (Matt 3:15). And immediately after he was baptized, he was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. So he submitted to the process of temptation, but never once submitted to temptation itself. Never once did he sin, he was blameless and holy, but he submitted to the process of pain, of spiritual temptation, of physical hunger, and he would not lift his miracle working finger to save himself in any way, he would not turn those stones into bread. He was weak before the hunger, he was weak when persecuted, he was opposed every step of his life, every day people stood in his face and opposed him. Do you ever read a time where Jesus defends himself? Where does he try to shine up his reputation? Any time he refers to himself, it’s for the salvation of those there, that they would know who he is and that they might have life, but he never once tries to defend himself. He says, “Actually, all manner of sin and blasphemy against the Son of Man will be forgiven” (Matt 12:31). He said that, very gracious. And he was weak when poverty-stricken in life. He said, “Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, the Son of Man has what? He has no place to lay his head” (Matt 8:20). The disciples are going through the grain fields on the Sabbath, picking heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands and eating them (Luke 6:1). You know what that was? That was Jewish welfare. It was for the poor people who didn’t have fields to their own, so that they would go through and be able to eat as much as they could carry, but no bushels or baskets can be taking in, but just pluck the heads and eat them right there. Jesus was living off whatever somebody would give him, a group of women supported him out of their means. The weakness of Christ. He was weak when humbly meeting needs. Do you ever see somebody come to Jesus with a need and he doesn’t get up and humbly go with him to meet the need? It’s incredible. In Luke 22:27, he says, “Who is greater? The one who’s at the table or the one who serves. Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves, you’re all sitting down and eating, I’m here with the towel over my arm and I’m serving you.” That’s who I am. I’m among you as one who serves. And he was weak when resisting people who came to try to make him King. After he fed the 5,000, a group of men surrounded him and said, “We’re going to make you king,” and he hid himself, slipped off into the hills and prayed, he would not be king in their way and in their time (John 6:1-21). And even when he rode into Jerusalem, did he ride in on a white charger in front of a huge army? No, he rode in on a donkey. Have you ever wondered why donkeys aren’t used in battle? They’re really quite low and they’re really quite slow. Low and slow. You will die if you ride a donkey into battle. “Get up there.” You are not going to get there. An arrow will cut you down, very slow moving target, right across. Easy to hit. Jesus came in on the donkey because he was coming in as a Prince of Peace. Christ’s Humiliating Crucifixion Now, next time, he’s on a charger for war. Next time, but we’re talking about Jesus’s incarnation life. A life of weakness, a life of humility. And he came in meek, humble and lowly on a donkey. But that was just the beginning wasn’t it, folks? Now, it’s time to die. It’s time to die on the cross, and it began in Gethsemane. And if you came to Gethsemane, what would you see a picture of power and strength and might? No, you’d see a man down on the ground with blood pouring out of his pores, wrestling as no man has ever wrestled in prayer before, the angels had to come strengthen him, that’s how exhausting that battle was. And he got up from there and was arrested and meekly led through the entire arrest and arraignment trial process. Never once did he resist, never once did he raise a voice to defend himself, and why? Because through all of that, Isaiah 53 says, “He did not open his mouth before his shearers. As a lamb before his shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” And why? Because he was bearing our sin, he was carrying our sin even at that point, and he was behaving before his judge the way a guilty person should behave. I cannot answer you once in a thousand times, and so he kept his mouth shut because he was the sin bearer. In himself, don’t misunderstand, no sin at all, but having taken our sins upon himself, he kept his mouth shut and said nothing before his accusers. What could he say? He was guilty. Again, not in himself, but as our sin bearer, guilty. “God made him who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God, the exchange” (2 Corinthians 5:21). So, he took on our sin and was quiet and humble, and he received his beatings and he received discouragings, and he received his mockings and his spittings, and he received the bar across his shoulders, the cross, and he carried it up that hill, meekly and humbly, and he allowed himself to be nailed to the cross. His blood flowed and he was weak as he hung there under the wrath and curse of God. The very picture of weakness. And there it is, 1 Corinthians 1:25, the weakness of God is Jesus Christ dead on the cross as our sin bearer. Do you see that Jesus’s life is all cut from the same cloth, his weak beginning became his weak servant lifestyle became his weak sin bearing? The Power of Christ Demonstrated in Weakness Powerful Atonement Satisfies God’s Law, Quenches God’s Wrath How can I call it weak, though? I can’t do it anymore, because the very weakness of God is stronger than the most powerful strength that man has ever shown. All of that weakness added up to salvation for you and me, because it really wasn’t weakness, but it was righteousness. It was holiness, it was perfection, the most perfect life that’s ever been lived, and all of that, like a robe, he offers to give you free if you’ll just put it on. That robe of righteousness. You can stand before God on Judgment Day and you will survive. You will survive the scrutiny of the eternal God, and why because all of your guilt has been taken off of you if you have faith in Christ and you have received his righteousness. So, the weakness of God, the weakness of Christ actually, turn aside the wrath of God. Now, that is mighty, isn’t it? That is mighty, the weakness of Christ into death turns aside my fear of death, I’m not afraid of death anymore, and no child of God should ever be afraid of death anymore. This is the power of the weakness of Jesus Christ. Powerful Message Overthrows Human Pride And this gospel message, and it’s the only one in the world that does, has the power to slay your pride and mind, it has the power to bring us low, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it make you feel ashamed of any boasting you would do about your life? Doesn’t it make you want to not go up and up and up with the Corinthians, but down and down and down with the apostles, and even more with Christ? The downward journey, I want it. I don’t want up, up, up, up, up, anymore in this world, it’s not good enough. I want to go down with Christ, then I may go up. The weakness of this Gospel message has power to slay your pride and mind. Powerful Messengers Advance Through Weakness Now, what kind of application can we take from this? Well, more than anything, I want you to realize the Gospel makes its advance, its powerful advance through your life when you are weak under it. You see what I’m saying? How do you enter the kingdom of heaven? You enter through the narrow gate, you enter humbly, you enter meekly. Blessed are the spiritual beggars for theirs and theirs alone is the Kingdom of Heaven. And so, you enter, you become a Christian by admitting that your own wisdom, your own strength, your own achievements will never get you to Heaven. Can I speak directly? I don’t know your spiritual state. I don’t know whether you’re believers or not, I don’t know how you walked in here, I don’t know how God sees you, that’s what really matters. It doesn’t matter what your reputation among men is, I don’t know how God sees you. If you walked in here without Christ, you’re under the wrath and condemnation of God even now, but Jesus Christ offers you freedom forever from that. He offers you his righteousness as a gift. He offers you forgiveness of sins. Now, what do you have to do? You have to become weak. Just like Jesus, you have to admit that you’re a sinner. You have to admit that you need Christ. You have to humble yourself before the cross. Now, some of you haven’t done that, you remember distinctly, and you know that you cannot save yourselves and your good deeds will never be good enough for you, you know that, some of you. What I’m going to say to you is that the Gospel makes progress in your life the exact same way, the exact same way. You continue to grow in Christ as you continue to humble yourself under his mighty hand, you continue to be weak in the world’s eyes and lowly. The gospel then makes progress through you. The Apostle Paul was wrestling with a weakness, we don’t know what it was, but he called it a thorn in his flesh, a thorn in the flesh, and he said it was a messenger from Satan to torment him, but he came to this conclusion. Christ said to him, “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” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Did you hear that? If you are boasting about your strength, Christ’s power does not rest on you, but if instead you come to him in weakness with need; now, that is a different story. If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. If anyone is hungry, let him come to me and eat, he specializes in meeting needs for weak people, but it is nothing for the complete… It’s not the healthy who need a doctor, it’s the sick (Mark 2:17). And so, he says, “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” (2 Corinthians 12:10). I think you could add the words, “when I am weak in my own eyes, when I stop thinking highly about myself and I cast myself on Christ, then I’m at my strongest, I can’t be any more powerful.” And finally, the Gospel advances through you, if you’re a Christian, when you’re willing to die like Jesus. Maybe physically, we’ve been talking about that in Matthew 10, but I mean just die to yourself to take the gospel to somebody to open your mouth. Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, becomes weak, it remains only a single seed, but if it dies, it bears many seeds. Are you willing to become weak in front of the eyes of a neighbor, co-worker, family member? Maybe even this week, you are going to go to Christmas, you are going to be in a room with people and you know that some of those folks are not Christians. Would you be willing to go and pull one of them aside and talk to them and say, “You need the Lord, you need Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Can we talk about that?” Oh, but that might ruin our celebration. Are you willing to trade your celebration for somebody’s eternal soul? Are you willing?