The Birth of Jesus
by Raymond Sloan
December 4, 2024 · Cornerstone Apostolic Church (Chattanooga, TN)
Kind: teaching
Scripture: Matthew 6:33, Matthew 18:23-27, Matthew 18:26, Romans 5:1-8

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/raymond-sloan--the-birth-of-jesus
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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if you have a Bible let's open our Bibles I do welcome our guests those who join us online those who join us in the building we're so honored you've come amen it's so good to have you with us to go to the word of the Lord December 2024 wow does anybody here remember January 2024 it was almost like I don't know 11 months or so ago wasn't it man time just moves right along our kids are growing up our old folks are getting not younger all of those things happening but we are in the month of December and the last several years I have talked about of course in the month of December we celebrate the birth of our savior Messiah has come Jehovah has become salvation we celebrate Jesus amen but throughout this year allow me just a couple moments here at the beginning since this is the final month of our sessions for 2024 this entire year our foundational scripture has been Matthew 633 probably all of us at this point we can quote it if if we can put that on the screen we're going to see how on the Fly these guys are back there Matthew 6:33 can can we use our outside voice for just a moment can we together quote this verse are you ready for it Matthew 6:33 but seek ye first hold on hold on we don't have precipitation from everybody I mean participation from everybody you ready for it but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you looking for God first that okay if we seek Him First righteousness his doing things the right way doing things the way God would want us to do it if we will put him first in all of our Lives choices decisions daily walk everything that happens in your life if you'll let God be number one he will add he will give direction and he will give guidance amen how many's found that to be true from the Lord I mean honestly so what we that motto that theme has driven us this whole year first of all beginning of the year we talked about about Matthew 25 there's the foolish virgins five wise five foolish preparing yourself to be ready for when the master returns then we went from that transition Matthew 13 we SED seed good seed falling on different types of ground how that the Kingdom of Heaven is like the sewer that goes and swws Seed we then transitioned and March to the remedy of a broken heart that the Kingdom of Heaven is like healing a broken heart from there we transitioned into Matthew 5:10 there are persecutions that happen in the church and the persecutions the Bible specifically says it is such as the kingdom of heaven and then we went into we learned the value of soul-winning in Matthew 13 that's like the Kingdom of Heaven again when we're back to Matthew 25 from there we talked about we see that how the seeds that are sown can actually bring a good harvest listen to me you don't have to sew all bad stuff that all right you can actually do good and then we transitioned and we studied on Matthew in Matthew 20 the Kingdom of Heaven is like Ministry involvement doing your part finding your place in the kingdom of God and doing what is your call to do and then we went into the how children are important in the Kingdom of God and how that kids need to be involved in in the ministry and how I don't know if anybody's noticed it but in the last several weeks we baptized several children in our church that's a generation that's coming that's exciting right okay and then we went how that you and I we can make a difference in our world through our families how that our families can connect and actually be vital citizens family units and so forth in our world world the family is so important that we spend a whole month just talking about how we find our place last month of course brother Rob took us through the treasures the the blessings of the treasure the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure tonight I'm going to continue in that vein about the kingdom of heaven and we're going to we're going to go into the the birth of Christ is that okay now if the Lord's if the Lord will help me I've got a a topic that we're going to talk about but I'm going to try my best to break it down into 13 or 14 lessons I'll just teach them all tonight but anyway uh Matthew chapter 18 you have a Bible Matthew chapter 18 there's a story here notice therefore is the Kingdom of Heaven this is what we've been talking about every month the kingdom of heaven somebody say heaven somebody say heaven do anybody want to go I know I Do Matthew 18 and 23 that's where we'll begin reading who's got a big old loud voice in here can read that for me Matthew 18 somebody begin reading please at verse 23 we'll just kind of let everybody get a chance verse 23 of Matthew 18 somebody start 24 someone 25 somebody wow 26 someone 27 someone thank you this is where we're going to do our our our Launchpad for this month and especially tonight we're going to we're going to talk about therefore is the Kingdom of Heaven likened un a certain King now a king we and we I think we all understand this but in our American culture if you will a king is not something that we're really really familiar with because we don't have kings in the United States of America we have people who think they're kings but we have uh information from other monarchs other dynasties other places where we can even through history that we can understand the position of a king here's a couple quick questions does a

king have anything anyone anybody to answer to it's a question okay depends on the structure can a king make any decision that he wants yeah pretty much I mean who's going to who's going to say oh whoa whoa whoa back up there you know at the risk of dying okay so we understand that a king has a whole lot of power a whole lot of influence a whole lot of basically they they are the ones that call the shots for their Kingdom we okay with that now in this particular account the Bible says that this certain King this is again an example therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is lik UN to a certain King he wanted to take account of his servants in other words he wanted to meet with his servants to find out where they stood in their homage to him the money that perhaps that they had borrowed from the kingdom their position all of the the pertinent details of the servants that worked for the king according to this story here the Bible says that when he began to reckon he was one to another he would look at them what is your position I'm the okay how much and who do you have okay he's given this day you know some of us we might would hear this for an examp Seth Seth would come in and the king would say okay you're the court J and you you know stuff like that and and and and from that the king would be able to establish the value that person brought to the kingdom we okay now this is what the Bible says though there was one brought to him that owed the king 10,000 talents 10,000 talents somebody say dollars 10 let's say in in in Spanish doares somebody say in Span doares do you know that dois in in in Spanish is dollars but doloris is pain anyway um I got that mixed up so many times you owe me 500 pains anyway um the Bible says here sorry that I digressed it says here that he owed him 10 thou anybody have even an inkling of an idea how much 10,000 talents in that Bible day would value today in 2020 plus anyone at all yes how many millions how many millions 10 million what else 10,000 talents in that day was equal today 200 26 m291 7250 I don't make that much in a month and it's close I just moved my DOT you know this way or that yeah okay listen to me one one servant owed the king 226 m291 72 he might even said we're we going to round that off and just leave it at 702 I I'll take a check credit card certainly you get points with it right imagine the dire situation this servant was in when it came to the king $226 million was owed now I have a few questions about this The Story Goes Like This the man couldn't pay the debt well here's a question does anybody here have a mortgage on your house come on don't be ashamed it's a great American Dream yeah anybody okay anybody here got a credit card can I borrow them I'm joking yeah you we understand owing somebody couple hundred dollars couple, yeah I can't even imagine 226 million what is this guy eating what's he d driving where is he living isn't this a story in your Bible this guy some way shape or form has run up a bill he owes the king listen the king now is making Reckoning is what he's calling it the accounts of the PO the servants that's working for him man I'm sitting there going is what is this guy doing man it ain't even skimming if he's skimming off the top how much has the king got listen to me it was so dire that the king says you know what I need you to pay this debt and we read the story this portion of it we read it and what we decided through the story was this that the man says to the king the servant says to the king he has the audacity to Simply look at the king and beg please give me some time to pay this debt huh now here again may I this I know this is 2024 and we don't understand all this but listen to me how many of you would ask for another week to get the money together H come on somebody you know if you'd ask me tomorrow I got it as is I mean my what happened well my check didn't get deposited you know how they are in the ma give me tomorrow I mean this guy's saying give me some extra time and I'll pay the debt does that make even any a little bit of sense dude you can't pay it now what makes me think next week you're going to be able to are you with me do you understand the dire situation so this what the man the king says to the guy you know what you your wife your children and your stuff are going to be sold until you can pay off this debt you my servant you're going to be taken and everything you have going to be applied to this debt now here's here's my again I'm reading this story and I'm saying Lord help me understand how in a world could anybody expect to get $226 million off their kit says over running number carry the two times four boom $200 he got $226 million debt and they G to sell wife children everything he has and that's going to go into slavery until the debt can be zeroed out listen to how dire this is this doesn't even enter my brain this doesn't even come to me I I cannot expect for my college tuition debt to be forgiven because I had a debt of about5 6,000 $10,000 and I thought wow I just going to make payments on it and be done 226 million stay with me just for a little while I cannot fathom the feeling of desperation this man his wife and his kids had here listen to me there is no way out of this situation none anybody here ever met your Rich uncle y I pray for that I wait I can't wait for my rich Uncle to get out of the Poor House anybody my grandpa youed say all the time I said we got one of them he said no we got a poor house we don't have a rich Uncle here here listen I cannot that the selling of wife and children and stuff is somehow going to recompense the debt that this guy has has brought up now I don't know why the debt was so high I don't I I I am certain that for some reason he had faulted on on certain things and he had to borrow money here I mean you can't even technically say that this guy drank coffee every day at five bucks a cup to run this number up you you can't technically say that this guy was a gambler I mean how can you God has 226 million do but this is the situation it appears that the king has determined within himself to zero this debt I will sell you and your wife and your children and your stuff and then you're going to stay in that position until somehow some way you can come up with the money to give to me so if this man and his wife and his children are enslaver now how are they going to make money to pay off the debt do you understand this situation is ding can I ask y'all a question how would you feel if it were you can I go a step further how would you feel if you were the wife of the husband and it wasn't even your debt can I get closer if you were one of the children of this man and you didn't have the debt but because of of what your father did the debt is astronomical there is no way to cancel it or move it because unless the man pays it back you're going to be so why because we've already established when the king opens his mouth and makes a decree

guess what it is done take him and his wife and his kids sell them take his house his cars all the stuff he's got sell it let's see how much we can get for all of that let me know what the balance is and then we're going to make him work towards that to get it paid off why he's the one who acquired the debt now stay with me how would you feel if that were you in that situation No Way Out literally no Escape what would be your attitude towards your dad or your husband if the debt owed affected your future huh do you understand this situation now again believe it or not it's December we're talking about Christmas stuff the fact remains is every single one of us in here we consider that our lives have vow you agreed have you ever messed up in your life have you ever just kind of I mean literally just fell apart made a bad choice took a wrong turn decided on the wrong thing come on some of y'all are sitting there going yeah he barely I got an amen corner all of a sudden it's just yeah I'm with you I'm with you I'm with you you know yeah whoa it's me oh come on he it you know why because we understand the misery of mistakes this story is in your Bible in the Book of Matthew to give us an explanation and an understanding on The King The King has the ability to say or not say to drop the gavel to point the finger to declare situation to make sure the change is made why because he is the one who calls the shots now here's a question I'll ask you I would dare say that all of the mess ups and bad choices that you and I have made as individuals as as families as situ I'll say it this way you got into a mess that you didn't cause that's those kids something had to change so I'll ask it this way how many of you sitting here right now under the sound of my voice maybe watching online you have somehow someway you've got a debt that you owe somebody of $226 million anybody here we need counseling right now don't we some of y'all getting close right you're right there at that 200 million just not sure if that you know if you want that car or not right the reason for the debt is not the issue in the story it's not even talked about it is simply a debt the reason that it's there is not even mentioned because it's of no importance when you owe a debt to a king you are at the word and the beckoning of the king you realize that if the king points his finger at the man and declares you're going to be sold you're going to your stuff and all that that nobody in that kingom can stop that from happening this is not a court of law you cannot bring a lawyer in to stand and plead your case with a king it doesn't work that way the King has the final say are you with me in this dire situation and listen what would you do how would you respond to the king if it were you now we have a story here Matthew 18 but I'm asking you how would you respond to the king anybody okay anybody have a Hollywood version of how you would respond snow globe that you know okay a weeping and wailing why beg what for what why is that the only thing that could save you I mean I could what you might could do Horton thank you for answering just turn around there and ask sister Bonita if you can borrow it oh see is it true oh no okay wow we're in okay what how would you respond anybody else beg yeah what else bargain negot neate okay what would be your negotiations what is it how would you negotiate I mean that's a I mean come on all of us are good at that you know what listen I got chickens I'll give you all the eggs you want boy take a take a bunch right are you do you understand here I can't in my mind even consider how this servant got into this position and how he's ever ever going to get out of it h me ask you 2024 lifestyle if you had a debt you could not pay what would you do Deb reduction. payday $3,000 today you can have it tomorrow 3,226 million okay every day 30 times a day for the next 4,000 days you see them okay what would what if you had a debt that you could not pay what would you do pray anyone else bankruptcy now that includes law yeah let's see how that goes with the King right heyy listen I had file back here H file what bring out laer that judge now the judge is going I ain't do nothing what would you do move run we don't have an answer I I can tell you this this is what transpired the Bible specifically says that the man knew that he had had a Deb he couldn't pay he knew something was going to have to happen because the Reckoning was happening with everyone not just that one servant but everybody that was a servant to the king had that same action and attitude right they were all coming to the king to see about their account the Bible says it notice what this man says the Bible Bible says that he fell down in front of the king he cried out to the king and then the scripture is very very specific here he says Lord have patience with me I will pray or I will pay the all verse 26 is is anybody can anybody go there for me verse 26 somebody read that out loud the servant fell down and did what now okay now see now we got a whole another we now have a king looking at simply one servant that's got 10,000 Talent debt he's basically just just trying to go through the books okay that's just one way to say it but this man when he knew that he was going it was going to be required of him the story says here that the man fell down and worshiped and he begged the king have patience with me now several months ago in one of our W midweek Bible studies here midweek University we talked about worship and praise anybody remember the differences what is worship what what is the position of worship flat of your face flat of your body as low as you can go to humble yourself to a place of zero I'm nothing this man has a debt he cannot pay and the very first action is as he cries out and he falls down and he worships and he simply asks one thing would you have patience with me I don't know how I'm going to get past this I don't know how that I'm going to make this right I'm not sure what's going to happen but please King give me some opportunity here to make this right now stay with me for one moment long I am certain that when the King was standing there in front of this servant there was more than likely an entire group of other servants that were gathered in the same vicinity because they all had to stand in front of the king to give an

account for their relationship their connection their commitment their debt their value to the king so you got this guy now who simply has $226 million debt falls down flat of his face calls cries screams out to the king everybody's standing there watching why do you think this word the next phrase out of the king's mouth is so important anybody and would that so do you understand the predicament now listen to that worship puts back on the king how am I going to respond now to that because the way I respond to that is going to be seen by all the servants again in our Hollywood State of Mind he takes out a whip and take him and fog him 40 times in all the Serv or or or any of the things that he could say any of the things that he could identify that this this servant owed him he is literally the king is watching the servant his wife and his children and he the next words out of his mouth are going to carry so much weight so so much potential so much influence the servant fell down worshiped him saying Lord have patience with me and I will pay the all and in the position of worship in the position of humility the king looks and the Bible says verse 27 the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion and did what loosed him and forgave him of the dead now the beauty of that story is simply this the King has the a potential to make or break you to change you to rearrange you to sell you to buy you back to redeem you to remit you to kick you from the kingdom the King has the power for all of that this story says when the man fell down knowing it was his debt knowing it was his rightful place to pay back the 10,000 talents the Bible simply says that the Lord looked at him the king looked at him and he set the tongue with this one for all of the rest of them stay with me 738 we okay this King has just set the tone and now all the others are expecting this King to treat them equally you and I right now are in that position you and I have a debt we cannot pay see here's the beauty of Heaven as you didn't build it your influence is not there your color preference is not there your room selection's not there the size of your bed the size of your dresser not there the type kitchen you're going to have the type car you're going to drive the type place the type job the type clothes none of that is in heaven you realize that nothing that you have here will appear there except what God gave you and that is your wife and your children that's all listen to me in this event where we're reading here in Matthew chapter 18 when we talk about the birth of the Christ child we talk about Jesus coming into this world you got to understand something that there is a debt you cannot pay but the Lord God said I will make a way to pay the debt but it requires worship see we live in a in a society we live in a society that people want to have forgiveness they want to be clean but they don't want to ask for forgiveness and ask to be clean they want to claim that they're Christian but they don't even know the story of the Christ child they want to claim to be good folk but they don't want to follow the laws and the requirements that the king is given here here's the thing I I've said this multiple times I'll say it again tonight so I'm not misunderstood good people don't go to heaven save people do it takes the spirit of God to get you from point A to B you can't get there on your own accord you've already tried and you didn't do it because you remember that time you messed up and guilt and shame just swept over you and you said from your own mouth God if you'll get me out of this mess I'll love and serve you and I'll do everything right and I'll never mess up again how'd that turn out for you how long did it take for you to mess up again huh how long did it take for you to fall stumble make the wrong choice again moments in the scheme of things so you can't pay this debt what you're going to have to depend on is a king that will look at you and see your worship and say to you I forgive the debt we're all Sinners and we can't pay our dead we can't Romans says it this way the book of Romans chapter 5 verse one therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice and hope the glory of God listen verse three and not only so but we glory in Tribulation also knowing here's here's the lesson tribulation worketh patience patience verse four says experience experience hope hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us verse six for when we were yet without Strength In Due Time Christ died for the ungodly verse seven for scarcely for a righteous man will one die yet per adventure for a good man some would even dare to die but God commendeth his love toward us in that what's it say while we were yet sinners Christ died for us he paid the debt now this letter that was written to the Roman Church we are still recipients of this today the letters for the church whether the churches in Rome in Corinth and Chattanooga or in timbuk 2 it's for the church the fact Still Remains the wonderful power to forgive sins is not yours to have it's his to give and we have a debt it might as well be pillions of dollars if that were such a number in this story in the Book of Matthew 18 the Bible is very specific 10,000 talents $226 million is what this guy owed and the fact remains as astronomical as that is you and I are in that position oh I can't pay this debt and let let me I I see my clock let let me explain something real quick there are a whole bunch of folk that simply want to look at the king in the eye and lie the mercy of the king says y'all listen to me the mercy of the king simply says this I would rather see you in the position of worship than face to face some of us listen to me some of us in our world today we want to boldly come come before the

throne of grace and obtain Mercy in our time of need is that not biblical but we'll stand on our own two feet we'll look him dead in the eye and say give it to me ain't a person and a soul ever lived in this creation all put together that's ever stood before a king and said give it to me except it were another king trying to throw that King off his kingdom and you're not going to do that to him so here in lies the problem my Bible says I can boldly come before the throne of grace and I can get mercy and obtain it and get it when I have a need and here's how a lot of folk W give it God I need got to have it now because I got a debt I gotta pay got a bookie on my tail here I got a big debt to pay because I got a big old appetite for stuff and the fact is this is you have no say in this except Lord have mercy I can't pay this debt I I don't even know how I know it's mine and I know that I deserve whatever happens but I'm asking you would you please please help me in that position the Lord God sees you now as he should see you humbled before him Brother Don would you come see here's here's the thing about this particular Story the Bible is very clear and specific in fact in the apostolic church in Church in general we talk a whole lot about this thing that at the name of Jesus what's it say every what every knee will bow and every tongue confess there will be a bowing and there will be a confession and we want to stand on that because it's biblical that is true but do you realize what that is saying is simply this when it comes down to it the choice will be removed from you but you will still have to fulfill it now I'm standing here today somewhat in my right mind somewhat with strength in my body and I choose to look to the king and ask ask him to forgive my debt I don't I don't I I don't know what to do with it Lord see Lord I I was born a sinner I was shaped in iniquity that's how I was conceived I have this nature about me that's a mess and I know that through all the junk that I go through daily I want to have faith to believe and trust you God but my My Flesh gets in the way and I would but I can't and I know what I should but I don't and there a quandry here Pastor what's this got to do with Christmas I'll tell you Jesus died for you because he wants to pay your debt he wants to forgive you your debt I I do know that all of us understand that but some of us our actions say that's because of who I am am it's because of my name it's because of what I own it's because of what I possess do you recognize the fact that when the king looked at the servant with 10,000 Talent debt he did not did not even address the Calamity that this man was in he simply said this pay me right now pay me pay me the guy in front of him made may have owed five bucks pay me very good the guy behind this one 10 bucks pay me but this one's 10,000 226 million I want you to understand something in December it's the holidays It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year the reason for that is is because you get to spend money on purpose and hang on to your receipts and take it all back joking it's because kindness and and Goodwill and things happen between people I want you to remember the greatest gift that you'll ever receive is salvation but it will cost you you will have to submit all that you have to the king now for those of you wondering where this is going to head you know what we're going to do next week we're going to continue the story in Matthew 18 because this story is so cool would you stand with me tonight please I I believe tonight that as a church we're mind minded the goodness of the Lord the blessings of the Lord the mercies of the Lord because at this time of year for some odd reason for some odd reason we we feel like that this is a good time just to invest in others and man we anybody notice anybody notice the mall worshippers at at this time of year they're everywhere uh my wife and I went to the mall a week or so ago we were Mall worshippers yeah we came out of the department store Dakota and there's 40,000 cars so I became a mall worshipper trying to find my car or I looked at Michelle I said look that woman over there is worshiping her hands up boy some me I went and I'm like look we come to the mall this time of year CU I don't know where my car is at this poor lady standing there going she y'all all love your pastor's wife she's so sweet honey you need help lce up trying to find car tell that ever happened to you do you know what she does honey help her find her car all right you know what the lady said lady said it's the little black car she said baby can you find it I went I bet there's only one there's only one listen to me listen I'm sorry my mind fell apart on that one but this this is what I noticed Lord what if she was actually reaching for you and I had the answer the king can get rid of all that stuff all of that heartache and pain and suffering your life does not have to become the complete disaster and mess before you understand the value of the altar would you slip your hands in the air right now and just love the Lord Lord thank you for coming to this earth and changing my life I had a debt I could not pay You Paid a Debt that you did not owe my life Lord is nothing without you in fact all of my righteousness is there as filthy rags they have no value but Jesus if you'll forgive me the debt that I owe you if you'll Wash Me Lord I know that I can become a new creature in you old things can pass away behold all things can become new I can walk in the newness of Life Lord I can make sound choices and right decisions I can reprioritize my life life Lord and and I can put you first and my life can grow and multiply Lord by the blessings of the King come on somebody you need to love the Lord because he's been so good to you oh come on you need to love Jesus he's been good to you yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah come on somebody he's been good to you come on you should have you should have died there in that place or in that sin but the Lord's been good to you when you worship him he sees your humility he works in your life come on would you love him it's a Wednesday night it's cold outside but in here come on you can touch the throne room right now I love you Jesus and I believe in you I know that the answer is you Jesus the answer is you Jesus come on lift your voice to the Lord we're going to sing a song together and worship come on lift your voice to the Lord right now