Satan's Attempt To Stop Christmas
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What if Satan had been successful at preventing Jesus’ birth?
No Christmas?
Mt 2:1-15
A few years ago, a small book by John Grishom called “Skipping Christmas” was a hit. About a couple Luther & Nora Krank tired of all the commercialism & stress of Christmas, decided to skip it, no lights, no gifts no celebrations. From that the book tells of all the ramifications with neighbor & friends. Realizing they couldn’t skip Christmas no matter how hard they tried
**Of course we all know the famous book & movie "The Grinch that Stole Christmas"
But I submit to you, That Satan is the Grinch that has tried to
steal or stop Christmas since the beginning & continues to
steal its true meaning,
Our message for today is titled "Satan's Attempt To Stop Christmas"
Our scripture is taken from Matthew 2:1-15 (NLT)
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”
King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:
‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
are not least among the ruling cities of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you
who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’ ”
Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”
After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.
After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”
Let me ask you a hypothetical question. What if Satan had been successful at preventing Jesus’ birth?
Let's think about this a few minutes. Since the first promise of the seed of the woman, the coming Messiah. Satan has made every effort to stop Jesus’ birth.
He tried to destroy Abraham and or his descendants. But that’s another story.
Now it is time for Jesus to come into the world. Do you think that Joseph and Mary would travel a long way hoping for delivery complications. I would say no, but what happened to them? Mary gave birth in filthy, cold, filthy, did I say cold, diseased barn filled with animals
Jesus is born but that evil one can still stop Christmas. How you ask? Get rid of the baby by using Herod the Great, the Awful, Tyrant.
We find three Wise-men/ Kings, seeking to honor the baby Jesus with gifts but their GPS units fail them. So its only natural to come to local leader, and inquire, surely he knows of the about the birth of the King, the Messiah.
But this local leader named Herod, who just happened to be the king of the region at the time, is deeply disturbed by what he hears , or shall I say threatened by this announcement of the birth of a King. He calls together his own peps to learn of this baby that these wise men were in search of.
He asked his advisors in verse 4 through 6: where the Christ was to be born, and they replied:
So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: 6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”
With this newly gained knowledge Herod pointed the way to Bethlehem, asking the wise men to return the with the news so he being Herod could worship the King, yeah, Right! He lied.
We soon find out that after the wise men had left again following the star in the East, and it came to stop over the place where the child was and they rejoiced and worshiped the Messiah.
But God in verse 12 alerts the wise men to King Herod's deception,
12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
So they returned home another route.
However, when they failed to return, this enraged Herod and he had ALL the babies two years and under murdered. But again, we find that God had a plan. In verses 13 and 14 He dispatched an angel to warn Joseph to leave Egypt immediately. As we read from the Holy Scripture …
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” 14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt,
But what would have happened if the Grinch/Satan had succeeded?
What if Jesus was never born or during the Christmas season as a baby, He was murdered?
What if Christmas wasn’t Christmas? Never was or has been?
There would be no Rejoicing: No Glad Tidings Celebrations.
All these years Christmas has developed from a simple recognition of the birth of the Messiah to a mega commercialized, season with things that have little to nothing to do with the birth of the Savior. Yet we celebrate.
Look, But Satan fails in his attempts, therefore we keep stop and get back to the original intent of the season.
We need to keep our focus on the real reason of the season. The birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Christmas is a family time, a joyous time a time for memories, fantasies, giving, visiting, singing & love. Yet if no birth, there is no Christmas, no one would be celebrating, there would be no hope.
It is the Christian holiday of Christmas that has affected all other religious holidays, Hanukkah tries to keep up but it was never the festive occasion that Christmas is. Think about it, no other religion has a holiday on the scale or as festive as Christmas, at least that I know of.
No Christmas would do away with most celebrations in the world, that means we wouldn’t have the on going debates about Religion verses secular ideals or freedom from religion or
Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holiday or Christmas parades or Holiday parades or winter Solstice or Christmas break in school.
No parties at work or school, No gift exchange,
No hassles shopping at the mall, finding the perfect gift or getting that gift for the person who already has everything.
Well, I guess there is something good
No searching for the perfect Christmas tree
No decorating the tree or the house
No Christmas specials on tv
No Christmas songs on the radio
No annual “It’s a Wonderful Life”
Hummm, after thinking about it, things would be rather drab and dull.
We wouldn’t have this holiday to look forward to all year, we only have to look forward to Tax Day or April Fools Day or Halloween
I submit to you there wouldn’t be a “Thanksgiving Day’
No Redeemer, No God, No one to give thanks to
You know even with all the stress, hoopla, hassles of Christmas I am glad we have it.
But let me give some more consequences of No Christmas
II. No Redemption: Gospel/ Gift
Romans 6:23 says For the wages of sin is death;
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Galatians 3:10 says For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”
Revelation 21:8 reads But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
But on the brighter side, there is hope for us all.
Romans 6:23 also says …. but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 3:15 reminds us … That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:17 shows us God's love for us …. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
1 John 5:11 says … And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
Oh, we really did need a gift from God.
The Word says that Man is sinful, is a fallen creature, racked by the disease of sin, condemned lost for ever. Man lives in this fallen condition and we see the results everyday around us in our world and in our own life.
If we would just be honest for just on moment, there are things we don’t like in our lives, our cities, our states, our country, our world.
Unfortunately, Our Holy Creator sees more in us than He intended. He sees our Sin nature, our rebelliousness, our Pride, our greed, our selfishness, our Uncontrolled passions, rage, anger, lusts,
We commit sin each day of our life and cannot work a remedy for
our self. As humans who are sinners. It is that human flaw that condemns us and reveals itself in our conduct, behavior, habits and choices
Each person is Lost, separated from God, hopeless and hell bound
Eternity doomed, we need mercy, we need help from God
Christmas is the beginning of that Help. God’s gift to mankind started in Bethlehem. Picture this …
The hurried, hassled Christmas shoppers crush into the elevator the door closes. Silence…. A lady with 2 kids hanging on arms loaded with bags frustrated with everything, exasperated says, Whoever thought of the Christmas thing should be hung.
From the back of the elevator some body said, They already did, they hung Him on a cross.
The Gift of God is eternal life through a Savior willing to take away Sin’s curse;
A Redeemer who pays our debt
A God who forgives us of OUR Transgressions
A Cleansing Agent that washes away our sin, with His Blood
It's not something we can afford, because we are bankrupt. Man can’t buy himself out of his predicament
1 Peter 1:18-19 says
18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
Listen, Man can’t work it off, if we could start today and be perfect for the rest of our life, how would that solve our past sin debt. If we are spiritually dead how can we do spiritually good works at all?
If we can work our way to heaven, why Christmas, why Jesus and the cross?
Ephesians 2:8-9 says
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
God’s Grace is greater than our sin
Finally, without Christmas there would be no Easter
1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
It has been said Easter is more important to the Christian Believer.
But if there is no Virgin Birth, if there is no baby Jesus. Therefore there is no Cross of Calvary or a Savior to die and raise from the grave on that third day, for our hope
We are wasting our time, we are a miserable people without
Christmas
Matthew 13:31-32 reads
31 Here is another illustration Jesus used: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field.
32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.”
Before that first Christmas the world was a cruel, and dark in
the depravity of man but everything Jesus touched , He utterly Transformed
Revelation 21:5 says “..Behold, I make all things new.”
(DON'T READ)
5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 reads this way …
17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
From the individual to families to cities, cultures, nations…
Our world is better off because of Christmas, because Jesus was born
Finally, if the evil Grinch had succeeded in his mission to kill, steal and destroy, there would be No Christmas, No Gift, No Good news, No Salvation, no HOPE in tomorrow.
BUT GOD HAD A PLAN ….
{{PRAY}}