ISAIAH 9:6 etc.
FIRST CHRISTMAS PRESENTS
Although
the only person a man usually shops for is his wife, the whole experience is a
stressful one. Many a man has felt extreme frigid temperatures for a long
period based on a poor present decision. As a veteran of these wars, I’m still
not sure what to buy my wife, but I’ll pass on what not to buy her:
1.
Don’t buy anything that plugs in. Anything that requires electricity is seen as
utilitarian.
2.
Don’t buy clothing that involves sizes. The chances are one in seven thousand
that you will get her size right, and your wife will be offended the other 6999
times. “Do I look like a size 16?” she’ll say. Too small a size doesn’t cut it
either: “I haven’t worn a size 8 in 20 years!”
3.
Avoid all things useful. The new silver polish advertised to save hundreds of
hours is not going to win you any brownie points.
4.
Don’t buy anything that involves weight loss or self-improvement. She’ll
perceive a six-month membership to a diet center as a suggestion that’s she’s
overweight.
5.
Don’t buy jewelry. The jewelry your wife wants, you can’t afford. And the
jewelry you can afford, she doesn’t want.
6.
And, guys, do not fall into the traditional trap of
buying her frilly underwear. Your idea of the kind your wife should wear and
what she actually wears are light years apart.
7. Finally, don’t spend too much. “How do you think we’re going to afford that?” she’ll ask. But don’t spend too little. She won’t say anything, but she’ll think, “Is that all I’m worth?”
Herb Forst in
http://www.bible.org/illus/g/g-10.htm#TopOfPage
Well it's that time of year again and we are buying
Christmas presents.
Most of us have a good-sized list of those that we
need to buy for. And most of us feel
that Christmas has gotten too commercial and expensive. I think if far-fetched when T.V.
advertisements encourage me to by Dottie a Lexus or an expensive piece of
diamond jewelry.
If you could be in charge of the way Americans give
Christmas presents, how would you change it?
Where do you think the idea of giving gifts at
Christmas came from?
Has it ever occurred to you that Christmas is the
only birthday we celebrate that people give gifts to everybody except the one
who is celebrating the birthday? Have
you ever thought of giving Jesus a gift at Christmas?
Tonight I'd like us think about what to give Jesus
on his birthday, by considering some of the gifts that were given on the first
Christmas. These gifts, for the most
part, are not traditional types of gifts, but what we give to Jesus probably
shouldn't be traditional anyway.
GOD GAVE HIS SON - Isaiah 9:6, John 3:16
Isaiah
9:6 - For unto us a child is born, unto us a son
is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
John 3:16 - For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Please
note the motive behind God's gift of His Son.
God
sent his Son to earth to die for our sins.
The
motive behind God sending His Son to die for us is love.
Romans
5:6 - For when we were yet without strength, in
due time Christ died for the ungodly.
1
John 4:10 -
Herein is love, not that we loved God,
but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
So,
logically, what should be our motive for the gifts that we give to the Lord
Jesus? What we do for the Lord Jesus
should be motivated by love.
1
John 4:11 -
Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought
also to love one another.
God
gave His Son. What can we give back to God of equal value?
Of
course, there is really nothing we have that comes close. Any sacrifice we make
for a gift will in no way compare to what God has given.
The closest thing that we can give is our children
and our grandchildren.
And by giving them, I simply mean this. We should be willing to let God do with our
children and grandchildren whatever he pleases.
Many a Christian parent has resisted the call of God
upon the life of their children or grandchildren.
They fear for the safety of the child.
I think some fear that the child will not be able to
support the parents in the parents' old age.
I think some want their children to have fame and
success that ministry for the Lord does not bring.
But consider this -
The safest place to be is in the center of God's
will.
God is able to support you in your old age without
the support of your children, if that's His will.
Fame and success in a career is not half as
important as Jesus saying to your child or grandchild, "Well done thou
good and faithful servant."
You might remember a Bible character that was
childless. Her name was Hannah. She
prayed for a child and told God that the child would be His all the days of the
child's life. When the child, Samuel,
was born and weaned, Hannah brought the child to the Jewish place of worship
and left him with Eli the priest.
She explained in 1 Samuel 1:27-28, For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath
given me my petition which I asked of him: [28] Therefore also I have lent him
to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he
worshipped the Lord there.
Although
I certainly don't want everyone dropping their children at the parsonage so
Dottie and I can raise them, there is a principle here to follow. As far as
Hannah was concerned, Samuel belonged to the Lord.
As
far as we are concerned, we should yield our children and grandchildren to God
as His property. He should be allowed to
use them and do with them whatever He pleases.
We
should train them to know the Lord and to follow the Lord's leading.
Then,
we should let go, and let the Lord lead them.
One of my favorite Missions Hymns is O Zion Haste by
Mary A. Thompson.
Two of the two verses are:
O
Zion, haste, thy mission high fulfilling,
To tell to all the world that God is light,
That He who made all nations is not willing
One soul should perish, lost in shades of night.
Behold
how many thousands still are lying
Bound in the darksome prison house of sin,
With none to tell them of the Savior’s dying,
Or of the life He died for them to win.
In a later verse appear these key words:
Give of thy sons to bear the message
glorious;
Give of thy wealth to speed them on their way;
Pour out thy soul for them in prayer victorious;
O Zion, haste to bring the brighter day.
God gave his very best for us. Let us give our very
best for Him.
GOD GAVE HIS SON
JESUS GAVE HIMSELF - Philippians 2:5-11
READ AND COMMENT ON THE TEXT.
Jesus willing gave of Himself.
I think you know where I'm going with this.
If Jesus gave Himself for us, we should give
ourselves for Him.
We get wrapped up in our own little worlds, looking
to please ourselves, looking to be happy, looking to be appreciated. Instead we should be showing our appreciation
by giving ourselves to Him.
Romans
12:1 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
John
12:24-26 - Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it
abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. [25] He that loveth
his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it
unto life eternal. [26] If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am,
there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
CONSIDER
THESE QUOTES:
·
When the will of God crosses the will of man, somebody has to die.
Addison Leitch, quoted
in Passion and Purity, Elizabeth Elliot, Revell, 1984, p. 72
·
What hindereth thee more than thine affections not fully mortified to
the will of God? - Thomas a Kempis, Imitation of Christ
·
God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded
to Him. - Andrew Murray http://www.bible.org/illus/s/s-207.htm#TopOfPage
.
Jesus
gave Himself for you. Have you given yourself back to Him?
MARY AND JOSEPH GAVE SERVICE
Last week in our evening message we talked about
Hushai having a special assignment as a spy for King David. He was there to
thwart the counsel of another great counselor, Ahithophel.
Mary and Joseph had a special assignment from God.
They were to raise God's son.
They were the humans responsible for taking care of
Jesus.
They were servants.
One of the things that struck me about Mary was her
effort to understand the situation and her son.
On the first Christmas night, shepherds were visited
by Angels. Subsequently, the shepherds went to visit the baby Jesus.
The shepherds told Mary and Joseph about the angels.
Luke 2:19 - But Mary
kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
Mary
was such a good servant because she tried to understand what God was
doing. We will be good servants, if we
try to understand what God is doing and act accordingly.
Joseph
was a good servant because he was obedient.
He simply did as we was told.
·
He was told to marry Mary and he did.
·
He was told to flee to
·
He was told to return to
·
He was told not to go to
Matthew
2:23 - And he came and dwelt in a city
called
If
we give ourselves to Jesus, it follows that we will give our service to Jesus
as well.
If
we strive to understand what God's will is for our lives on a daily basis we
will be good servants.
If
we strive to obey God's will and God's Word, we will be good servants.
Mary and Joseph gave service to God.
We should give service to our Lord Jesus.
THE ANGELS AND SHEPHERDS GAVE TESTIMONIES - Luke 2:8-20
The greatest birth in history was the birth of the
Lord Jesus.
To think that God sent his very Son to earth for us!
When my children were born, I loved to announce to
anyone who would listen.
When the very Son of God was born, the Father wanted
it known. He wanted someone to testify
to the birth of His Son and let people know.
There was no better people
to testify than the angels.
They knew who He was.
They had witnessed His glory.
Luke 2:8-14 - READ
AND COMMENT
After the shepherds had heard the message of the
Angels, they went to see the child.
And then, when they had seen the child, they too
told the good news.
Luke
2:17-18 - And when they had seen it, they made known
abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. [18] And all they
that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
We
give testimonies all the time.
We
tell people where the good food is.
We
tell people what the good products are.
We
tell people who the good doctors are.
We
serve restaurants, manufacturers and doctors with our testimonies.
Satisfied customers make the best advertisements.
If you are a satisfied "customer", you
should be the best advertisement for the Lord Jesus.
Others should want what we have.
A great gift that we can give to the Lord Jesus is
to tell other people about him.
Isaiah
43:10 - Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my
servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand
that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after
me.
Psalm
107:2 - Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he
hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
THE WISE MEN GAVE THEIR WORSHIP, TIME AND POSSESSIONS - Matthew 2:1-11
Vs.
1 - The Wise Men or the Magi came to
Vs.
2 - These wise men were coming to Jesus as King. It is likely that these men were somewhat
exposed to Old Testament Scriptures which talked of the coming Messiah.
God
used what these men knew, astronomy, to place a star in the sky that signified
Jesus' birth. We do not know much about
the star, bet we know that God used it to speak to these men.
Vss.
3-8 - Read
and comment.
Vss.
9-11 -
Notice the gifts that the Wise Men gave.
Two of them were not monetary.
·
THE WISE MEN GAVE OF THEIR TIME
They
came a great distance over many days in order to get to Jesus.
Other
priorities and interests had to be set aside.
One
of the great things that we can give Jesus no matter how rich or poor we are is
our time.
We
can give Him our time in prayer.
We
can give Him our time in praise.
We
can give Him our time in His word.
We
can give Him our time by serving others in His name.
We
will find the time to do whatever we really want to do.
Let's
put Jesus high on the list.
Ephesians 5:16 - Redeeming
the time, because the days are evil.
·
THE WISE MEN GAVE OF THEIR WORSHIP
The
first thing they did was to worship Him.
I
believe that worship was more important and more precious to God than the
expensive gifts that they brought with them.
If
we are under the control of God's Holy Spirit, we will indeed know what it is
to worship.
Ephesians
5:18-19 - And be not drunk with wine, wherein is
excess; but be filled with the Spirit; [19] Speaking to yourselves in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the
Lord;
Hebrews
13:15 - By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice
of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to
his name.
A.
W. Tozer - "Worship is to feel in your heart and express in some
appropriate manner a humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe and
astonished wonder and overpowering love in the presence of that most ancient
Mystery, that Majesty which philosophers call the First Cause, but which we
call Our Father Which Are in Heaven."
A. W.
Tozer, quoted in D. J. Fant, A. W. Tozer, Christian Publications, 1964, p. 90
How
much time do you spend in actual worship of God?
·
THE WISE MEN GAVE OF THEIR POSSESSIONS.
Vs.
11 - It is
very likely that the gold, incense, and myrrh, were symbolic gifts, perhaps
pointing to Christ's royalty, deity and death.
However, whether the gifts were symbolic or not, they do remind us that
the worship of God should cost us something.
We
should be willing to part with our money as part of our worship of God.
When
Paul received a gift of support from the Philippians he said this in Philip.
4:18 - But I have all, and abound: I am
full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an
odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.
John
Allan Lavender - It happened one time after a pastor had made an appeal in
church for a great and worthy cause, that a certain woman, a member of the
church, came to him and handed him a check for $50, asking at the same time if
her gift was satisfactory. The pastor immediately replied, "If it
represents you."
There was a moment of soul-searching thought
and she asked to have the check returned to her. She left with it and a day or
two later she returned handing the pastor a check for $5,000 and again asked
the same question, "Is my gift satisfactory?" The pastor gave the
same answer as before, "If it represents you." As before, a truth
seemed to be driving deeply. After a few moments of hesitation she took back
the check and left.
Later in the week she came again with a
check. That time it was for $50,000. As she placed it in the pastor's hand, she
said, "After earnest, prayerful thought, I have come to the conclusion
that this gift does represent me and I am happy to give it."
Perhaps in this light the words from 1
Corinthians 16:2, "as God hath prospered him," may take on new meaning.
--James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited
(Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988), p. 462.
FIRST
CHRISTMAS PRESENTS:
GOD
GAVE HIS SON - Isaiah 9:6, John 3:16
JESUS
GAVE HIMSELF - Philippians 2:5-11
MARY
AND JOSEPH GAVE SERVICE
THE
ANGELS AND SHEPHERDS GAVE TESTIMONIES - Luke 2:8-20
THE
WISE MEN GAVE THEIR WORSHIP, TIME AND POSSESSIONS - Matthew 2:1-11
WHAT WILL YOU GIVE?