Immanuel Action Figure (Mark 4:35-41)

Christmas time evokes the question – “who is this child”
The recurring question that Mark is driving at in the first half of the Gospel is “Who is this man?”
Immanuel is the ultimate expression of Lordship!
Our text shows us 3 actions of Jesus that demonstrate his active lordship.

I JESUS LEADS INTO STORMS: (vv.35-37 )
1. Jesus is the Master we are the disciple:
2. Jesus is with us in whatever storm:
3. Jesus as the ‘Liberals’ assume, does not exist in the Bible:

II JESUS TESTS US FOR OUR GOOD: (vv.38, 40)
1. Faith Concerning Jesus’ Love:
2. Faith Concerning our Trust in His Word: – Ferguson points out that “they allowed the voice of the storm to silence the voice of the LORD”

III JESUS SHOWS HIS GLORY THROUGH TRIALS: (v.39, 41)
1. His power comes from His person: (they took him as he was… v.36)
2. His Glory elicits This question: (who is this man?)
3. The answer is the Gospel in a person (God/man together …Immanuel)
Conclusion:
Jesus asleep on the boat is much like Him asleep in the manger, all is serene – yet we are in a death squall which only He can deliver us from – but its His presence that is needed!

Serious Joy (Mark 2:18-22)

This Passage is about the religious devotion of the disciples of Jesus. It is connected to the previous story by the negative of feasting=fasting. Celebration and Joy characterized the followers of Jesus and those have never been taken as the marks of serious religiosity.
“God doesn’t want you to be happy he wants you to be holy” – is a denial of true holiness, yet this is all we know of holiness.
The problem comes from external religiosity

True Repentance (Zechariah 12:10-13:1)

You will not know the benefit of God’s grace until you know yourself to be God’s enemy!
As Calvin says, “it is a true conversion when men seriously acknowledge that they are at war with God, and that he is their enemy until they are reconciled; for except a sinner sets himself in a manner before God’s tribunal, he is never touched by a true feeling of repentance.”

Zechariah teaches us 5 important aspects of True Repentance.

I) The Source of True Repentance: (v.10a) – the Holy Spirit
1) The Holy Spirit is the Initiator – 2 Co 3:6 (the law convicts but the Spirit converts)
2) The Holy Spirit is the Supplicator – (Rom 8:26) This makes prayer a good barometer of Spiritual activity in your life. Where there is the Spirit of Grace there is the Spirit of prayer.

II) The Cause/Means of True Repentance: (v.10b ) – looking unto God whom you pierced. True repentance sees that your own sin nailed Jesus to the cross!

III) The Effect of True Repentance: (v.10c) – weeping [the order is important here!!]

IV) The Scope of True Repentance (vv.12-14) – Everyone individually. Before the protection of God on Judah’s enemies speaks of our strength corporately – but our repentance speaks to our walk individually. Repentance must get down to the very morrow of our soul. There is no general repentance without deep and specific repentance! — No Piggybacking!! (not even in the family)
– Also NOTE: The Scope covers all classes (King/Prophet/Priest/People… Land)

V)The Benefit of True Repentance (v. 13:1)

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Transcendent Unity (Zechariah 12:1-9)

Ever since the fall in the Garden the story of man is a story of conflict and disunity.
Only a miraculous work of God could bring together the people of God – let alone humanity. Israel’s whole history proves this again and again: Moses was rejected as leader; Rehaboam and the house of David rejected etc. By starting Zechariah’s final oracle with this creation – language and the repeated use of the “in that day” formula as the people of God endure a final universal conflict, commentators see this as a hymn expressing: “the final act of salvation is to be an act of re-creation of a cosmic renewal”. Showing us that in the end…

The Glory of the LORD will be Manifested Through the Unity of the Church!
Zechariah’s burden demonstrates this in 2 divine actions.

1. In How God Sets up the nations for Judgment: (v.1-5) through 3 stages of symbolic judgment
a. Cup of Staggering:
b. Stone of Stumbling:
c. The Open Eye: Crazy Blindness & God’s careful eye

2. By Sharing His Glorious Image with Us (v.6-8)

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