Christmas
It goes w/out saying that w/out Christ there would be no Christmas. Today & tomorrow millions of people will be remembering t birth of Jesus. But my desire & prayer is that they would remember Jesus, But even much more, that they would ask Jesus into their hearts.
I. V 7 says (read it)
A. I ministered a message several years ago for t Christmas time, a sermon entitled, “What Have You Wrapped Him In & Where Have You Laid Him?”
1. More often than not, people wrap Jesus up in tradition.
a. Thru there doctrine & traditions they give us a list of things that Jesus can't do.
b. They have wrapped him & laid him t same way that Lazarus was wrapped & laid.
2. JOHN 11:34-44
a. Some times we have Jesus so bound w/ tradition and doctrine that He can no longer move in our lives.
b. We have limited Jesus in moving in our mist.
c. A person who is bound in grave clothes can hardly move.
3. (LUKE 2:7) Says that Jesus was laid in a manger.
a. But some still have Him laying in that tomb, just like t place where they laid Lazarus.
b. JOHN 11:34,38 Some still see Jesus as a dead Lord, still on t cross, still in t grave.
B. In (REV 1:18) JC said, I {am} he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. (KJV)
1. (JOH 11:25) Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
2. My question for you is, What have you wrapped Him in?
a. Have you wrapped him in t tradition of men which keep Him bound & unable to move in your life.
b. Or have you wrapped Him in all of His glory, All of his power, all of His might. Do you realize that with God nothing is impossible to those who believe? Do you realize that we serve EL SHADI, The God who is more than enough.
3. And where have you laid Him?
b. Is he still in His tomb.
a. Or have you placed Him on His throne in heaven, is He in your heart, is He on t throne of your life.
C. What have you wrapped him in & where have you laid him?
1. Have we put Him in a box & only allow him to move t way we think he should, or do we let Him be t Lord of Lords who He is.
II. Turn back to LUKE 2:8-16
A. In V 16 it says that they came w/ haste.
1. There's a phrase that says, ‘Haste makes waste.’
a. Generally that's true, but there is a few exceptions.
b. We should make haste to find Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
c. We should make haste to repent of our sins.
B. These shepherds knew from scripture that there was a Savior coming to t Jews, but they didn't know when.
1. His birth was promised. (ISA 9:6) Says, 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, Counselor, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (KJV)
a. I like that 1st part that says, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.
b. A baby was born that day, & it was t baby Jesus.
c. But also that day a son was given.
i. (JOHN 3:16) Says, ‘For God so loved the world, that he GAVE his only begotten Son’.
ii. Jesus didn't just begin to exists on t day He was born in t manger, He always was.
2. We even have in t O.T. that t birth of Jesus would be thru a virgin. (ISA 7:14) Says. “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (KJV)
a. Do you know what t name `Immanuel' means?
b. Some have said that it means that God is w/ us.
c. But it has a little stronger meaning, t Strong's concordance says that it means, ‘With us is God’. In other words, ‘we are in t presence of God’.
3. Isn't that amazing to think that that little baby is God.
III. I'm going to end with reading t word to a song.
A. It's a song that everyone knows, but I want you to listen to it like never before.
B. T name of it is ‘HARK T HERALD ANGELS SING’
HARK T HERALD ANGELS SING, GLORY TO T NEW BORN KING;
PEACE ON EARTH, & MERCY MILD; GOD & SINNERS RECONCILED.
JOYFUL, ALL YE NATIONS, RISE, JOIN T TRIUMPH OF T SKIES;
W/ ANGELIC HOSTS PROCLAIM, CHRIST IS BORN IN BETHLEHEM.
CHRIST, BY HIGHEST HEAV'N ADORED, CHRIST, T EVERLASTING LORD:
LATE IN TIME BEHOLD HIM COME, OFF-SPRING OF A VIRGIN'S WOMB.
VEILED IN FLESH T GOD-HEAD SEE, HAIL T INCARNATE DEITY! (Incarnate means
given a human body)
PLEASED AS MAN W/ MAN TO DWELL, JESUS OUR IMMANUEL.
HAIL T HEAV'N-BORN PRINCE OF PEACE, HAIL T SON OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!
LIGHT & LIFE TO ALL HE BRINGS, RIS'N W/ HEALING IN HIS WINGS:
MILD HE LAYS HIS GLORY BY, BORN THAT NO MAN MORE MAY DIE;
BORN TO RAISE T SONS OF EARTH, BORN TO GIVE THEM SECOND BIRTH.
COME, DESIRE OF NATIONS, COME! FIX IN US THY HUMBLE HOME:
RISE, T WOMAN'S CONQUERING SEED, BRUISE IN US T SERPENT'S HEAD;
ADAM'S LIKENESS NOW EFFACE, STAMP T IMAGE IN ITS PLACE:
SECOND ADAM FROM ABOVE, REINSTATE US IN THY LOVE.
December 23, 1989