With Christmas day only hours away I would like to share the following
Christmas sermon by John Piper.

May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/

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CHRISTMAS AND THE CAUSE OF TRUTH

by John Piper

(John 18:37)

According to the Gospel of John, chapter 20, verse 30 and 31,

Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not
written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His
name.

The purpose of all that is written in the gospel of John is to bring people
to trust Christ as God's Son and thus give them eternal life. Therefore,
since my text this morning is taken from John's Gospel, my goal, too, is
that those here who do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God might
be drawn to Jesus by the power of God the Father working through His word,
and that everyone might leave this place today loving the truth of Christ
more deeply and more assured of eternal life.

And let me preface what I have to say with a warning so as to awaken you to
the seriousness of listening to the Word of God. When Jesus spoke and no one
believed, John explains their unbelief like this (John 12:38-40):

It was that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 'Lord,
who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been
revealed?' Therefore, they could not believe. For Isaiah again said, 'He has
blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they should see with their
eyes and perceive with their heart and turn for me to heal them.'

That is from Isaiah 53:1 and 6:10. There is another passage in Isaiah that
helps explain how God blinds the eyes and hardens the heart. It is Isaiah
64:7 where the prophet laments, "There is no one that calls upon Thy name,
that bestirs himself to take hold of Thee; for Thou has hid Thy face from
us, and has delivered us into the hands of our iniquities." Therefore, the
way God blinds and hardens is not by coming into a person's life and making
it evil, but by withdrawing from the person's life and leaving him in his
own sin. Only when we see this will we give God all the glory not only for
providing a way of salvation through the death and resurrection of Christ
but also for effectually applying that salvation to our lives by drawing us
to Christ in faith. "No one can come to me," Jesus said, "unless the Father
who sent me draws him ... No one can come to me unless it is granted him by
my Father (John 6:44, 65).

So the warning is this: Believers, give God all the credit for drawing you
into the Kingdom of Christ, and let the truth of Christ stir you up to
greater reliance on Him; do not boast over the lost sheep as if you did not
have to be carried into the fold yourself. Unbelievers, give heed to the
Word of God and pray that God might open your eyes and soften your heart
lest you be found blind and hardened and without hope. Pray, I say, and
listen, because God has spoken these things that you may believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing have life in His name.

The text that laid hold on me several weeks ago for this last Sunday of
Advent is John 18:37. Here, several hours before His death, Jesus makes a
statement about His birth which I want us to ponder as we enter the last
four days of advent. The situation is that Jesus and Pontius Pilate are
together in the Roman praetorium and Pilate is trying to get Jesus to say
something that will show Him worthy of crucifixion. Verse 33: "Are you the
king of the Jews?" Jesus' answer to this question is what hooked me on this
text, but I think I will talk about it at the end of the message instead of
now. It makes a good conclusion.

Jesus says in verse 36,

'My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world my
servants would fight that I might not be handed over to the Jews, but my
Kingship is not from the world.' Then Pilate said to him, 'So you are a
king?' Jesus answered, 'You say that I am a king. For this I was born and
for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone
who is of the truth hears my voice.'

This is a great Christmas text even though it comes from the end of Jesus'
life on earth, not the beginning. The uniqueness of His birth is implied;
the purpose of His birth is given; and the pre-condition of approving that
purpose is mentioned. The uniqueness of His birth is that He did not
originate at His birth. He existed before He was born in a manger: "For this
I was born and for this I have come into the world..." The purpose of His
birth was to bear witness to the truth: "For This I was born and for this I
have come into the world: to bear witness to the truth." And the
precondition of approving that purpose, that is, the thing that enables a
person to agree that Jesus testifies to the truth is that the person is "of
the truth." "Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice." Let's look at
each of these more closely now so that in seeing Christ and His purpose more
clearly we might approve of Christ's words with all our heart and mind and
soul and strength.

First then, the uniqueness of His birth. "For this I was born and for this I
have come into the world." The personhood, the character, the personality of
Jesus of Nazareth existed before the man Jesus of Nazareth was born. There
is a great mystery here. Sometimes in quiet pensive moments, I look at my
three sons and I observe their uniqueness and their personalities and then I
think of the four years Noël and I were married before we had children. And
it hits me: there was a time when these three persons never existed. Nine
years ago there was no reality to which the names Karsten, Benjamin and
Abraham Piper could correspond. To be sure, the material substance of which
their bodies are made already existed in other forms. But the personhood,
the souls that will go right on existing when their bodies decompose in the
grave -- these were not. But now they are and will be forever and ever. So
all I know to conclude is that God created the personhood, the souls of
these three boys out of nothing, just like He created the souls of Adam and
Eve. This is a great mystery.

But this is not what happened at Jesus' birth. The theological word to
describe this mystery is not creation, but incarnation. The person, not the
body, but the essential personhood of Jesus existed before He was born as a
man. His birth was not a coming into being of a new person, but a coming
into the world of an infinitely old person. Micah 5:2 puts it like this, 700
years before Jesus was born:

But you, O Bethlehem, Ephrathah, who are little to be among the clans of
Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.

The origin of the Messiah who appears in Bethlehem is from eternity.
Therefore, the mystery of the birth of Jesus is not merely that He was born
of a virgin. That miracle was intended by God to witness to an even greater
one -- namely, that the child born at Christmas was a person who existed
"from of old, from ancient days." He was not merely born, as John 18:37
says; He came into the world. Listen to how Jesus puts it in John 8:56-59.
He says to the Jews:

'Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was
glad.' The Jews then said to Him, 'You are not fifty years old, and have you
seen Abraham?' Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before
Abraham was, I am.' So they took up stones to throw at Him...

What Christ was before Abraham, indeed before all creation, John and Paul
and the writer to the Hebrews make clear for us. John says in chapter one
verse one: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God" (and don't let any Jehovah's Witness convince you that the
proper translation is "the Word was a God." The argument that they use is
not grammatically compelling and it flies in the face of the rest of John's
witness; for example, Thomas' confession, "My Lord and my God." Almost all
scholars of antiquity, even those who think he was wrong, agree that John
meant to say, the pre-existent Christ was God.) Verse 2: "He was in the
beginning with God; all things were made through Him. And without Him was
not anything made that was made." (Christ Himself was not a creature, but
was involved in creating all that was created.) Verse 14: "And the Word
became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld His
glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father." Christ existed before
Abraham, indeed, before all creation because He was Himself one with the
creator God.

The apostle Paul teaches the same general truth in Philippians 2:5-8:

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who though He was in
the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but
emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of
men. And being found in human form He humbled Himself and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross.

Before He was born in the likeness of men, He had the form of God, He was
equal with God.

And the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, whose name we don't know, began
his letter with the same truth in different words. He said,

In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets;
but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom He appointed the
heir of all things, through whom also He created the world. He reflects the
glory of God and bears the very stamp of His nature, upholding the universe
by His word of power.

These passages have helped me to draw a sketch in my mind of how the Son and
the Father are one and yet different within the Trinity. I can conceive,
though it stretches me to the limit, of a Being who never had a beginning,
but has a particular character. And further yet, I can imagine that this God
has always been conscious of Himself. That is, He has always had His own
image before Him to contemplate and enjoy because of His greatness and His
moral beauty. And could it not be that this image, this form, is so clear
and so real in God that it, too, is God, the image of God, the form of God,
the Son of God? The advantage of such a picture is that it helps us see that
the Son, who is the very image and glory of God, is indeed begotten by the
Father and yet is not created. There never was a time when God the Father
did not have this perfect, real and living image of Himself. They are
co-eternal. The Son is eternally begotten, not created.

I won't push the picture any further now. Perhaps we have already crossed
over the Biblical bounds of speculation. But I feel so strongly that among
those of us who have grown up in church and who can recite the great
doctrines of our faith in our sleep and who yawn through the Apostles'
Creed -- that among us something must be done to help us once more feel the
awe, the fear, the astonishment, the wonder of the Son of God, begotten by
the Father from all eternity, reflecting all the glory of God, being the
very image of His person, through whom all things were created, upholding
the universe by the word of His power. You can read every fairy tale that
was ever written, every mystery thriller, every ghost story, and you will
never find anything so shocking, so strange, so weird and spellbinding as
the story of the incarnation of the Son of God. God, how dead we are! How
callous and unfeeling to Your glory and Your story! How often have I had to
repent and say, "God, I am sorry that the stories men have made up stir my
emotions, my awe and wonder and admiration and joy more than your own true
story." The space thrillers of our day, like Star Wars and The Empire
Strikes Back can do this great good for us: they can humble us and bring us
to repentance by showing us that we really are capable of some of the wonder
and awe and amazement that we so seldom feel when we contemplate the eternal
God and the cosmic Christ and a real living contact between them and us in
Jesus of Nazareth. When Jesus said, "For this I have come into the world,"
He said something as crazy and weird and strange and eerie as any statement
in science fiction that you have ever read.

O, how I pray for a breaking forth of the Spirit of God upon me and upon
you; for the Holy Ghost to break into my experience in a frightening way, to
wake me up to the unimaginable reality of God. One of these days lightning
is going to fill the sky from the rising of the sun to its setting and there
is going to appear in the clouds one like a son of man with His mighty
angels in flaming fire. And we will see Him as clearly as we see the IDS
building. And whether from terror or sheer excitement we will tremble and we
will wonder how, how we ever lived so long with such a domesticated,
harmless Christ. These things are spoken this morning that you might believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came into the world. Really believe.

The second phrase of our text in John 18:37 gives the purpose of Christ's
birth: "For this I was born and for this I have come into the world to bear
witness to the truth." The connection between this and what we have said
'till now is that the Christ who came into the world to bear witness to the
truth is God and no one can more reliably present the truth than God. For
God is the author of all truth and wills to make it known reliably.

If there were two deities - two gods - equally powerful and opposed to each
other in conflict for the rule of the world, neither of these deities could
be counted on to reveal truth. If their goal were to rule the world and they
were threatened by each other, we might well expect that they would use
deceit to gain an advantage. And so truth would not be a priority. Not so
with the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. He is the one and only
God and there is none besides Him. He is threatened by no one. Even Satan,
His archenemy, is completely subordinate with his bounds fixed. Therefore,
God has no fault, no weakness, no finitude that He ever needs to hide by
deceit. God is so sovereign, so perfect and glorious that the truth will
always redound to His honor. Therefore, God is committed to revealing the
truth reliably because He wills to be known and glorified for who He really
is.

And how better to reveal the truth about God, that we might glorify and love
Him, than to send the Son, the very image and reflection of God, into the
world? One time Thomas said to Jesus,

'Lord, we don't know where you are going. How can we know the way?' Jesus
said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the
Father but by me. If you had known me you would have known my Father;
henceforth you know Him and have seen Him.' And Philip said to Him, 'Lord,
show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.' Jesus said to him, 'Have I
been with you so long and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me
has seen the Father.'

Jesus is the truth because He is the image of the true God. He is the way to
the Father because as 1 John 2:23 says, "No one who denies the Son has the
Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also." You can't have the
Father if you reject the Son. If our heart does not go out in love to Jesus,
then we cannot say that we know God. And that would mean that there is no
life within us. Because Jesus says in John 17:3, "This is eternal life, that
they know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent."

So there are two wonderful things implied in the statement "I have come into
the world to bear witness to the truth." One is that in revealing God, the
origin of all truth, Jesus glorified His Father. This is exactly what He
says in His prayer in John 17:4, "I glorified Thee on earth, having
accomplished the work Thou gavest me to do." The work God gave Him to do was
to testify to the truth, and in doing that God was shown to be very
glorious; sovereign in His freedom, marvelous in His power and beautiful in
His moral perfections, especially His mercy to us sinners.

The other wonderful thing implied in Christ's coming to testify to the truth
is eternal life. If, as Jesus said in John 17:3, "This is eternal life, to
know Thee, the only true God" then the purpose of Jesus to bear witness to
the truth of God must mean that His purpose is to give eternal life. Which
is what John 3:17 says: "God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the
world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

So, the purpose of Christ's coming into the world is to testify to the truth
of God so that man might glorify God for who He is and might thereby come to
have eternal life.

But not everyone hears the testimony of Christ to God. Not everyone
believes. Which brings us to the third part of our text: "Everyone who is of
the truth hears my voice." He does not mean that only a certain group of
people come within the sound of His voice. He means, among those who are
within the sound of His voice, only some hear His words as true. Only some
believe and give glory to God and gain eternal life. And this group He
describes as those who are "of the truth." What does this mean?

You recall the question Pilate asked Jesus in John 18:33 which I said I
would come back to? "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you
say this of your own accord or did others say this to you about me?" This is
a remarkable answer. What matters first in the interchange with Pilate is
not that his question be answered but that the root of his question be
exposed. Pilate, does your question about who I am come from a true hunger
in your own heart? Is there a real soul thirst in you that you are seeking
to genuinely satisfy? Are you longing for the truth and yearning in yourself
to find it? Or are you like so many others: mouthing the words that others
have put into your head? Are you just a second-hander who only knows to ask
the questions others have taught you? Do you care in yourself whether I am
King? Or are you just echoing like a hollow cave somebody else's script? Are
you an actor, or are you "of the truth"?

I think to be "of the truth" means to love the truth (2 Thessalonians
2:10,12), to hunger for it and rejoice in it (1 Corinthians 13:6), and to be
humbly surrendered to following it no matter where it leads. Jesus said in
John 7:17, "If any man's will is to do God's will, he shall know whether the
teaching is from God." The will of God is simply an expression of what is
true. Therefore, Jesus is saying: "If your will is humble enough to follow
truth you will hear and know the words of truth.

And who are these people who are open and humble enough to hear and love the
words of Christ? They are His sheep. Jesus says in John 10:26,27, "You do
not believe because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice
and I know them and they follow me." To be "of the truth" means to belong to
Christ's sheep. Or to put it still another way, Jesus says in John 8:47, "He
who is of God hears the words of God; the reason why you do not hear them is
that you are not of God." So to be "of the truth" means to have God at work
within us enabling us to renounce our own private, proud will and to love
and come to the truth. No one comes to me, to the truth, unless it is
granted to him by the Father (John 6:65).

So, the sum of the matter is this: Jesus Christ existed before He was born -
indeed, from all eternity,as the perfect reflection of God's glory and exact
image of His nature. Therefore, He was perfectly suited to come into the
world and bear witness to the truth that we might know God, glorify Him
through faith and gain eternal life. But even though He came that we might
have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10), nevertheless,

this is the judgment, that light has come into the world and men loved
darkness (and falsehood) rather than light (and truth) because their deeds
were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to
the light lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true (he
who is "of the truth") comes to the light that it may be clearly seen that
his deeds have been wrought by God. (John 3:19-21)

O, that everyone here would prove to be "of the truth" by coming to the
light this Christmas.

With Christmas day only hours away I would like to share the following
Christmas sermon by John Piper.

May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/