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Preparing for the Kingdom (Christ the Redeemer)
Christ Church on April 15, 2025
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A Christmas Kingdom (CC Troy)

Christ Church on

MATTHEW 2:1-18

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, “In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, ‘And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.’” Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.   And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.” When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.   And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.” When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt have I called my son.” Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.”

 

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Immovable Christians (CC Troy)

Joshua Edgren on

INTRODUCTION

How can man stand solid and immovable, like a stone wall? How can a young man go off to college and not get sidetracked from his mission by loose friends, pretty girls, and beer? How can a young mother roll up her sleeves and accomplish her to do list for the day without getting distracted by a million different needs? Paul tells the Corinthians in 1 Cor 15:58 to “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” We must understand how to obey this command to become a rock, like Christ is a rock.

TEXT

 1 Chron 21:1-20: “Now Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel. So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring the number of them to me that I may know it.” And Joab answered, “May the Lord make His people a hundred times more than they are. But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why then does my lord require this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?” Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab….

SURVEY OF THE TEXT

In verse one we see Satan scheming a deceitful plan to move David to number the Israelite armies. David is deceived, verse two, and in his pride tells Joab to go and number all of Israel. Joab is wise enough to know that this is a bad idea and tries to persuade David not to do it, verse three. But in verse four we see that David does not listen. Joab gives way and counts the people and reports back to David in verse five, but he only puts in half effort because he knew the command was wicked.

In verse seven the text tells us plainly that this was displeasing to God and He strikes Israel. David recognizes the judgement from God, and he immediately repents in verse eight.

In verse nine God speaks through Gad the seer and tells David he has three choices. God will send either three years of famine, three months of defeat in battle or three days of plague with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout the land of Israel. David chooses the third option, for he would rather be judged directly by God then fall into the hands of his enemies.

So, in verse 14 we see the Lord sends a plague on Israel and seventy-thousand men of Israel fall. God sends His angel to destroy Jerusalem. But it was then that the Lord relented and ended the plague. The angel stops at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

David can see the angel of the Lord, and he and the other elders fall down in sackcloth and pray for mercy. David takes full responsibility for the great evil and supplicates on behalf of his nation. In humility David prays for God to strike him, and not his people.

The angel of the lord commanded Gad, the seer, to tell David to get up and erect an altar to the Lord there on the threshing floor of Ornan where the Angel had stopped. David obeys in verse 19. And in verse 20 we are introduced to Ornan the Jebusite. We are told that Ornan turned and there in front of him was the angel of the Lord, the angel of death. His sons do the natural thing and get out of there as fast as the can and go hide. But remarkably Ornan turns continues with his work threshing wheat.

That is when David shows up. David asks for the threshing floor for a place to build an altar. And in verse 23 Ornan offers it all to him free of charge, his oxen for the sacrifice, his threshing tools for the fire, and his wheat for the grain offering. He gives it all.

David takes it for the sacrifice but insists that he pays for it all rather than offer something that costs him nothing.

MOVEABLE DAVID AND IMMOVABLE ORNAN

At the start of this passage David was moved by Satan to do a wicked deed. He is blinded by his pride and falls easy prey to Satan’s temptation. We don’t see any pushback from David to the initial temptation, and even when Joab tries to speak reason to him, David is already set in his sin and will not listen. Joab knows it is wrong, but nevertheless he also gives in. Both David and then Joab were moved wickedness. The Lord’s anointed and his right-hand man, and they fell easily.

Fast-forward in the story to Ornan. Ornan is a Jebusite. The Jebusites were a tribe in the land of Canaan that Joshua couldn’t quite wipe out. Their capital city was Jebus, which was a fortress city with high ground and strong walls. David finally defeats the remaining Jebusites by taking Jebus (1 Chron 11:4-9), which becomes the city of David. So Ornan, from a pagan nation, appears in our story and he is the first person to not be moved. He stands firm in the face of almost certain death. In fact, he does more than stand, he get’s back to work.

BUILDING ON THE ROCK

Everybody knows the story at the end of the sermon on the mount in Matt 7:24-27. There were two men, one wise and one foolish. The wise man built his house on the rock, and when the storms came, his house stood firm. The foolish man built his house on the sand, and when the storms came, his house fell. What is the moral of this parable? Verse 24: “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, is like a wise man who built his house on the rock….But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.” The difference is in what you do with God’s words.

LEARNING TO DIE

Paul tells the Corinthians to be steadfast and immovable in 1 Cor 15:58. But that command starts with a “Therefore”. Paul is finishing off an argument about death in Christ. Christ really died and Christ really rose again (1 Cor 15 1-11). If Christ didn’t rise then there is no hope, you might as well go any way the wind moves you, “eat drink and be merry” for you have no hope in life and life has no point. But Christ really did rise, and when He did, He changed everything. For now, death is not the end, death is the beginning. You and I will rise with Christ. So how can you fear death any longer. In fact, so far from fearing death, Paul says that he dies every single day (v 31). “Foolish ones”, don’t you know you have to die in order to be raised? Death was defeated by Christ’s death, but it is not yet fully destroyed, it will be the final enemy (v 26). But every time a Christian dies on this earth, death is destroyed further. For when you die, death loses all power. Death has no power over those raised in Christ.

ABOUNDING IN THE WORK OF THE LORD

1 Cor 15:58b “…always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord”. A man does not stand immovable by holding really still.  God has called each one of us to a mission. You have daily missions, short term missions, and a life mission. God gave you this life, and He will take it away from you. That is not your worry. Focus your attention on what work He has put before you. You are not doing this on your own or without example. Christ too had a mission. He set his face steadfast, like flint. He saw the joy before Him and He got after it, enabling you to do the same.

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