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Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually. #tonyevans #tonyevanssermon #Christmas
so the question on the floor is what are
you going to do with Jesus Christ
Christmas the child was born That’s
History the son was given because that
came from eternity through the Virgin
birth God became a man because he’s God
he can meet you as God because he’s a
man he knows exactly how you feel and
what you’re going through the struggle
the stress he became a man so that he
could experience it but as God he can
join you in
[Music]
it
merry Merry Christmas to you all we
celebrate the reason for the season
which is Jesus Christ God become a man
the
Incarnation in order to bring about
salvation the forgiveness of sin and
hope in spite of the circumstances that
we find ourselves in when Jesus was born
things weren’t all well in the world but
yet the Angels still broke out of praise
because in the middle of the madness a
savior has arrived and that means in the
middle of your conflicts and crisis
there is a savior that has arrived I
know that Christmas can be a difficult
time of
loss a difficult time of of conflict a
difficult time of loneliness for many
but this Christmas Jesus wants to meet
you where you are and show you there is
a reason for your season and him being
in the midst of it
so may God Empower and comfort you this
holiday season Merry Christmas and
remember the baby born in a manger is
the king who rules for you
today in the movie
concussion where Will Smith was dealing
with the issue of injuries to
players there’s a riveting statement
that’s
made and the the statement was
that
football had
replaced a day that used to belong to
the
church that had become the
dominant
focus of
Sunday this
ball how could something this
small matters so
much I mean
it’s responsible for $7 billion a year
of Revenue to the
NFL 32 teams whose worth is over
75 billion
doll worship centers called
stadiums are packed to the
brim every week with home
viewers watching it virtually some 400
million
people inside and outside of the United
States
focus on this how
could something so
small how could it matter so much I mean
um think about
it men fight over
it they cry over it
they’re willing to risk their health
over
it they
spend decades developing the skill in
handling
it I
mean each football
game has about 17 minutes of contact 17
minutes of where bodies are actually
clashing against each other that’s part
of a one-hour
game but that 1 hour game is a
three-hour experience so you sit for
three hours to watch one hour because
you’re going to just watch 17
minutes well now if you go to the game
that’s couple more hours by the time you
drive traffic get out
walk 5 hours where you’re sitting three
hours cuz you want to watch one
hour cuz you’re only going to see 17
minutes worth of
action then you got to drive home so you
got to leave the stadium deal with the
crowd get to the park lot work through
the
traffic you get home so
now 7
hours which you said three
hours to watch one hour cuz you’re only
going
to see 17
minutes I mean people tithe to get into
their
service and they don’t mind picking up
the tab because they’ve
decided that this is worth the
inconvenience so I ask you
again how can something so
small matter so
much we are celebrating
Christmas we’re celebrating the
birth of a person not much bigger than
this and I ask you how can something so
small matter so
much I mean he never wrote a song yet
more songs are sung about him than any
other person who has ever
lived he never personally pinned a book
yet his book has been the best
seller since its
Inception he never TR traveled more than
300 miles from the place of his birth
and yet as hardly anywhere on Earth you
can go where they don’t know his
name let’s see what Isaiah
says about this baby born to
rule he says in Isaiah chapter
9:6
for a child will be born to
us and a son will be
given and the government will
rest on his
shoulders and his name will be called
wonderful councel almighty God Eternal
Father Prince of Peace there will be no
end to the increase of his government or
of
Peace on the throne of David and over
his kingdom to establish it and to
uphold it with Justice and righteousness
from then on and forever the Zeal of the
Lord of hosts will accomplish
this he
says a child will be born and a son will
be
given don’t read that too fast so you’ll
miss
it the child was born but the son was
given because the son existed before the
child was
born the son was handed the child was
birthed the big word for that in
Christian theology is the hypostatic
union two Natures in one person unmixed
forever deity being poured into
Humanity the one-of a-kind Son of God
and he says and he’s here to run a
government and to inaugurate a kingdom
this baby was born to
rule it says that the government will be
on his
shoulders Jesus has been smothered by
the secularization of the holiday he’s
been smothered by eggnog he’s been
smothered by gifts he’s been smothered
by trees he been smothered by
lights and he’s also been demonized as
some segments of our society doesn’t
want the nativity
scenes they don’t even want Christ in
Christmas they just want to get off of
work for a
holiday ah but Isaiah says that there
would
be a son that would be handed over and
it would come through a child that would
be born we call that the Virgin
birth God entering into the egg of a
woman
producing the God man Jesus
Christ and it
says his
government will be governed because he
will handle it on his
shoulders in other words this
ruler this baby who was sent to
rule will handle anything that’s on his
shoulders
so if you want your world ruled well you
better be on the shoulders that he’s
carrying because that’s the kind of King
he
is and so over and over he says in these
verses that this child born and Son
given is about government and government
is about Rule and that’s why he says
it’s a kingdom
issue and his kingdom shall never end
so let me ask you a question today this
Christmas Christmas where I’m sure
you’ll get your full of football and
you’ll see how this one thing can matter
so
much what
about this one who was born to
rule when Jesus Christ
governs Isaiah says this is what you’ll
get
the first thing he
says is that his name will be called
wonderful
counselor Chief
advisor in other
words you don’t have to live a confused
life because he’s not a counselor he’s
the best at it he’s a wonderful
counselor means he makes no mistakes in
his advice you can Bank on what he says
to be true on anything he says because
he cannot be incorrect on any matter as
Colossians chapter 2:3 says all the
Hidden Treasures of wisdom and knowledge
are located in Jesus Christ so if you
allow him to be your ruler your
government and your
king and you rest on his governmental
shoulders then the conf Fusion of your
life can be now
ordered the problem with human
counseling is that it is
limited by flawed people who give
it and even the best and the most
well-meaning
cannot dive into the inner circle of all
of your being but I know
somebody who if you allow his government
to put you on his
shoulders can erase the confusion of
your life
bring Clarity to your
existence he can take the lack of
clarity the bad
decisions the frustrated
history reorient it reorganize
it so that it makes
sense because he’s a mighty
counselor awesome
counselor he says his name will also be
called Mighty
God
H remember this baby is deity and
diapers he’s a king in a
crib he is mighty God Emmanuel God With
Us I said it last time let me say it
again he’s the God man one minute he can
get hungry hry the next minute he can
feed 5,000 with a Moby Dick
Sandwich one minute he can get thirsty
because he’s humid the next minute he
can walk on water because he’s
Divine one minute he’s tired and he has
to
sleep the next minute he can raise
somebody else from the
dead one minute because he’s a man he
can die the next minute three days later
he can get
up
because he’s Mighty God now let’s
collect that with wonderful counselor
when you go to a good counselor who
gives you good
advice they typically don’t have the
ability to pull off what they’ve advised
you to do but this Mighty God can assist
with the counsel he gives so he doesn’t
just give wonderful counseling he’s the
Mighty God that can enable the
counseling to have the effect it’s
designed to have that is if if you’re
situated on his
shoulders if he’s your
government because uh after
all he was born to
rule you know the wonderful thing about
this Mighty God he can overrule what is
overruling
you Satan has been overruling you
circumstances have been overruling you
people have been over overruling you
problems have been overruling you but
this is mighty
God and he can overrule the over rulers
so the beautiful thing about having
Jesus who was born to rule ruling you is
he can overrule the things that you
don’t want ruling you
anymore that addiction that problem that
person that circumstance that need that
is dictating Your
Existence how can something so small be
this big oh cuz he’s Mighty
God but not only that
he goes on to
say his name will be
called
Eternal
Father in other words the originator of
time he’s the father of
time book of Hebrews chapter 1 says that
Jesus originated time he’s the author of
History in the beginning was the
word John 1:1 says Jesus is the word
so he brought about the beginning so if
you bring about the beginning you
existed before it
began he is the father of
time which
means if you’re in charge of time you’re
not
complex because if you own
time and you manage
history then the complexity of our time
and our history does not belong to him
so you better be letting him rule since
he’s got time in his hands he’s the
originator sustainer and will be the
culminates ruling the time in your
hands our time is limited our time is
finite and our time is
uncertain but this one who was born to
rule
see he is the manager owner originator
of
time so that means somebody else’s clock
doesn’t have to control your
clock somebody else’s existence doesn’t
have to control your existence because
he is in charge of time he is the father
of
it so there’s there’s no complexity with
him but not only that
that he goes on to
say he’s the Prince of
Peace three hours every Sunday there’s a
conflict isn’t it teams are at war with
one another they are
fighting but he’s called The Prince of
Peace in other words he knows how to
bring order out of a chaotic
situation today we are are living in
chaos we have personal chaos where
people can’t live with
themselves and if you can’t live with
you anybody around you is in
trouble we’ve got family chaos don’t
we conflict brutality child
abuse
divorce
abandonment we’ve got ecclesiastical
conflict
where even Christians are at each
other’s throats or divided
illegitimately over class or
race then we have cultural conflict oh
and that’s
everywhere political conflict social
conflict group against
group Nation against Nation communities
against
communities this
conflict
you know why that’s conflict cuz we’re
not on his
shoulders he’s carrying it on his
shoulders and if you don’t want to be on
his shoulders then you can expect to be
living in Conflict starting with
conflict with
you have you ever seen
a an orchestra before they begin and
they’re warming up their
instruments they’re warming up the
instruments and all you hear is
Discord cuz everybody’s warming up their
own instrument so you Discord all over
the place this Discord all over the
place nothing is making sense they’re
not harmonized they’re not getting along
because they are doing their own thing
and then in the midst of all of
that the conductor comes out with the
wand
and and all of a sudden things become
orderly Harmony is now
replacing discontinuity and
Discord because now the conductor has
come out and when he shows up he changes
the atmosphere and now things that
weren’t binding and blending are now
being harmonized because they’re focused
on the central
Authority because the conductor is going
to rule the
orchestra Jesus said in John 16:33 in
this world you will have tribulation but
be of good cheer I have overcome the
world and I leave my peace with
you peace is not the fact that there are
no conflicts peace is God showing up in
the midst of the
conflict and calming the storms of your
life
because how can something this small be
this big because he is the wonderful
counselor Mighty God Everlasting father
and he is the prince of
peace and if one day he’s going to
govern the whole world don’t you think
he can govern your
world if one day he’s going to rule the
whole world don’t you think he can rule
you the Bible says when he physically
returns to Earth from coast to coast ker
to kiver pillar to pillar post to post
he is is going to run the whole show and
there will be no
choices he’s offering that to you and me
and us
now because he was born to
rule he is the unifier the
emulsifier emulsification is that
process of bringing things together that
typically can’t get along like oil and
water whenever I eat my sandwiches that
will always be with mayonnaise I’m not a
mustard guy I’m a mayonnaise guy but
mayonnaise is made of substance that
really doesn’t get along or there’s a
lot of oil and water in mayonnaise and
no matter how much you try to force them
to be harmonized they just not going to
get along they going to go back to their
own Corners that is until you introduce
egg cuz once you introduce egg egg grabs
water egg grabs oil and pulls the two
together so I can get my
mayonnaise
Jesus Christ is the emulsifier for the
conflicts in our world in our families
and in your life and if you let him
rule if you let him be the government on
Whose shoulders you
sit he can be the one to bring things
together in you and for you that you
have not been able to fix on your own
but he’s got to be the
ruler he’s not just the person you show
up to he the person who wants to set the
agenda so the question on the floor
is what are you going to do with Jesus
Christ
Christmas the child was born That’s
History the son was given because that
came from eternity and through the
Virgin birth God became a man because
he’s God he can meet you as God because
he’s a man he knows exactly how you feel
and what you’re going
through God became a man so that he
could know the pain without sin yes but
not without
circumstances and he became a man so
that he could experience it but as God
he can join you in
it but he wants to
rule so where do we
start we start with a personal
relationship
he can’t rule you if he doesn’t have
you you must enter the kingdom before
you can be ruled by the
king and that comes by placing personal
faith in Jesus Christ for the
Forgiveness of your sins and the free
gift of eternal life a gift he offers to
anyone who comes to him and believes in
him for it you can’t earn it you can’t
buy it but he is giving salvation away
the Bible declares all have sinned and
fallen short of the glory of
God everybody hadn’t sinned to the same
degree but everybody is a
sinner you know this this
ball you can be one inch from the first
down marker or 10 yards from the first
down marker but if you didn’t hit the
marker you fell
short and if it’s Fourth Down you have
to turn the ball
over you may not be as bad as your
neighbor but you fall
short because all have sinned and fallen
short of the glory of God we have not
met God’s standard and that’s why God
demands all men everywhere to come to
Christ not come to church you could be
born in the church your mother and
father could raise you in the church
they could bring your meals and feed you
in the church they can bring a cotton
you can go to sleep in the church they
can bring you your desk your work out of
the church but if you never given your
life to Jesus Christ you’ll die in the
church and not wake up in
heaven this comes to a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ not
religion a personal relationship it is
where you say to God I recognize I’m a
sinner I know I need a savior I believe
you died on the cross for me in my place
as my substitute and I am now trusting
you with my eternal Destiny as my
personal sin Bearer when you go in faith
believing God Christ to be your savior
he forgives your sins and Begins the
Journey of a new life where then he can
begin to
rule so first of all you have to enter
the Kingdom so he can be the king once
you enter the kingdom you must surrender
to the king you must say what is your
desires what is your goal what is your
way what is your guidance governance
guidelines I want to follow you that’s
called discipleship
discipleship that’s
where you leave the stands and get on
the
field because one of the problems today
is we’ve got folks who come into the
stadium oh they they belong to God but
they don’t want to be ruled by him they
want to be fans Not
followers but if you want order in your
life counsel for your direction a mighty
God to
Empower and assist you and peace in the
conflicts of your existence this baby
was born to rule to save you from for
heaven and to rule you on
Earth Christmas should not be just a
holiday it should
be where you are being
reminded Jesus came to rule your life
and to be the the government of your
existence first by Saving you and then
by getting you to follow
him