Title: Manger Heaven
Contents
Whether in the West or the East, the manger is the food barrel for animals.
Animals love mangers because they have food there. For the beasts, the manger is home. A stable place to escape from the cold and cool off from the heat is a comfortable haven. Also, the shepherd goes in and out and takes care of the animals so that they are not uncomfortable.
But no matter how good it is, it is always a dwelling place for animals, not a place for people to dwell. There Jesus was born. Therefore, the manger is heaven.
First, because Jesus, the shepherd, was born there.
There is such a gospel hymn.
"Because Jesus is there, it is heaven. Even if the place where the Lord is is hell, I don't hate it. If it is heaven without the Lord, I don't like it. My Savior comes to the center of me, and I am satisfied with just one person."
It is heaven because it is the place where the Lord resides, and by the grace of Jesus, we have been saved and have life.
Let's read John 5:24.
“Whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life and will not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
And the Lord said, "I am bread, water, light, and salt." Because it is the place where he was born, who rescued us, the children of sin, and made us children of God, it is heaven. So, the manger is valuable.
If you are physically ill, you have to go to the hospital for treatment and injections, but if that doesn't work, you have to have surgery. Surgery, large or small, is a knife to the body. I feel terrible. I hate going to the hospital. If you don't go, you won't be able to cure the disease.
Let's say you stand in front of a doctor and give an injection. The needle goes into the raw flesh. Just thinking about it makes me goosebumps. But only through that process will you get your health back.
In this way, our Jesus came to this earth and did the work of life, washing away all the life polluted by sin and changing it into a new child of God. How hard is it? The place where Jesus was born is a precious place, which means heaven.
It's not that your family is difficult, poor, and exhausted. It's not the problem. It's a poor family, but if you go to bed with the Lord and give thanks for your daily work, that family is heaven. Like others, I can’t turn on the gas stove in the upright kitchen and live with briquettes, but the praise on my lips doesn’t stop. If you rely on it, that place is heaven.
It is heaven because the Lord is present.
If you have the Lord in your heart, your home is heaven, your heart is heaven, and your workplace is heaven. Ladies and gentlemen, even if our homes are shabby like a stable, our workplaces are like a manger, and our circumstances are difficult, don't lose sight of the Lord. If you serve the Lord, please believe that that place is heaven.
second. Because there are saints who worship. Angels worshiped. Shepherds worshiped. Wise men from the East came and worshiped with offerings of gold, brimstone, and myrrh. This is the place where worship is held.
Heaven is the place where you can always see the Father's face. You cannot see the face of God in this world. In religious movies, there is no scene in which the Lord appears directly in the face. It is treated as just rubbing the hem. If a sinful face sees the face of the Lord directly, it will die. But when you go to that country, you can see the face of the Lord directly. Heaven is the place where you can see the face of the Lord directly. Speaking of heaven is worship and worship. I hope that the heavens will be established through worship this Christmas.
Third, there is the praise of angels, so that place is heaven. What is the difference between heaven and hell? In heaven there are people who worship God, in hell there are people who blame God
A hymn cannot come out of resentful lips. Praise is in joy.
Angels rejoice when God is pleased and groan together when God groans. But the devil laughs at the drinking tables and gambling tables. In department stores and pubs that have nothing to do with Christmas, Christmas carols are loud and Christmas decorations are lavish. There the devil's laughter is heard. There is Satan's laughter and on the other side there is the groan of angels. There can be no blessings as long as there is an angel's sigh.
The kingdom of God is a place of praise. It is in a manger, but it is heaven because there is praise there. The saints who believe in the Lord never cease to praise from their lips. There is joy on the lips of praise, and the Christmas of the Lord spreads throughout the room. The lips with praise, the church with praise, the family, and the area are the heavenly places, so I pray that you will create an intimate paradise with the Lord and worship and praise. Amen.
(1991.12.22)