Paul's letter to the churches at Philipi reveal a yearning for them to experience the Joy that he felt.  Joy is often the missing ingredient in our lives and we all could use a little more joy.  

Philippians 1:

³ I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

As a Christian who is serious about a relationship with Jesus we should be exuberant in our joy.  We should not let the worries of this world get us down no matter what.  A hard road to follow... but as Paul explains all throughout the book of Philippians, our joy should be complete if we know and follow Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Continuing in the series on the full armor of God we hear about the breastplate of Righteousness.  Following closely on the heels of the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness is the second in the lineup of extremely important weaponry the Christian needs in their life.  Without this righteousness that comes only from faith in Jesus Christ our armor is incomplete. This armor is our outward actions and inward attitudes that support our beliefs.  It isn't just proper Christian etiquette, like being kind to one another, it is much more.  When the Bible says put on the full armor of God and we don't, we are being disobedient to Christ.  We are in shorts and flip-flops on our own.  Not in the battle gear that Christ requires us to be in.  But we can't find this gear on our own, it comes only from Biblical truth, which is the word, and Faith.

 

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,which is the word of God.

Christmas Eve Morning.  Oh Worship the King!

In the pages of the Christmas story we see God's act of grace and mercy.  We see His display of providence and blessing.  We see in the devine baby, the giver of life and love.  The author and finisher of our faith, the author and finisher of our salvation.  And to do that, God could have entered human history in all His subline divinity, majesty and glory and yet He chose to do so with the poverty and humility of a servant.  Though there were indisputable signs that preceded and accomplished Christ's birth, preparing the world for the majestic and kingly appearance, yet the birth of Jesus itself was of the humblest, peasant patronage.  In an unimportant town in the roughest and meagerest of surroundings, everything about Him spoke of servitude.  Jesus didn't come to rule over us or oppress us as human rulers so often do.  Rather, He, the king of glory, the great "I AM" came to be the servant of all.  Matthew 20:28 informs us  ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  So therein is the glad tidings of great joy.  Therein is the good news, the gospel complete in Jesus Christ.  The good news of our salvation.  God loves us and has provided salvation and it is complete and expressed fully in Jesus Christ.  The king who came as a baby in the manger.  God's love gift to us.  He only seeks faithful, committed individuals to love Him in return.

Are you here today wishing and hoping and longing for good feelings of peace and joy and comfort this Christmas, and you just can't find them and you're angry and you don't know what to do and Christmas comes and goes and you’re the same?   Let me assure you, you won’t find them in anything except in salvation.  That's why we preach Christ, because we all need to be saved. We need salvation,  and Acts 4:12 declares “and there is salvation in no-one else and there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.”   And the name Jesus means what? Saviour.  Just as the angel announced over 2000 years ago "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord."  

I don't want you to go through another Christmas and say “yeah now I have to put on my happy face, it's Christmas”  I want you to experience Christmas because Jesus came to save you!

The Righteousness of God revealed through the total depravity of man:

 

The theme of Paul's letters to the Romans was to emphasize how good and great God is compared to how sinful man is.  It carries on throughout the chapters of Romans.  The subject of how depraved man can be is an uncomfortable one but, once we understand how amazing God and His grace to us is, it is totally liberating.  Shall we go on sinning to show God's goodness?  NO!  

 

 

 

 Have faith and try to be good.