The Christmas Story – Luke 2:1-20

“And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

“So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.’

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’ So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.’

“And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.”

I once heard a sermon that asked the question ‘Why did the Jews miss the arrival of Jesus?’ One of the answers was that they were too familiar with the story. The preacher used the example of how the Magi, about 1-2 years after Jesus’ birth, came and asked at the palace for the newborn king; and the Jewish religious leaders did not even hesitate. They knew that Micah 5:2 told that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Yet, not one of them went with the Magi, as far as we can tell, to see for themselves.

So, they missed the arrival of the Saviour because they knew but simply did not care. We in the New Testament church can get the same way. We hear the account over and over again, we sing the same carols, celebrate the same Christmas dinners, spend money on presents and attend ‘special’ services with songs and readings each year, and sometimes we simply fall for the tradition and forget the reason for the tradition.

In a similar way, the world around us keeps calling for peace, but without Jesus. Songs like ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon imagines a world without religion. This means Jesus as well. The song ‘We are the world’ sees man as the solution to the world’s problems, making the death of Jesus of none effect to them since they are the solution. This is the same garbage that Lucifer thought in his head and mind, ‘I can be god.’ No, you can’t and you never will. We cannot ever solve our own problems.

One of the best examples of the way man succeeds at winning against man’s nature is the ‘War on Drugs’ that started in the 1980s. How did that work out? We now have more drugs than ever available. Often, the very people that are entrusted to solve the problem are shown to be the problem. Mankind will not ever solve his problems. The main problem is SIN – the very nature that corrupts every way that we think and behave.

Jesus came to do for man what we cannot do for ourselves—fix us on the inside. Jesus is not calling us to be better men and women; this is not a ‘get well’ scheme. He is calling us to die to self and be Born Again in Him, by Him and through Him. He is not looking to fix you up; He is looking to tear you down to the very foundations and rebuild you afresh. This is the idea of being born again.

Too many of the Lord’s churches have this idea of Jesus being the great “Fixer-Upper.” He is not. A fixer- upper house or table has some good traits that you can build around. In man’s case, we are sinners, rotten to the core and hopeless.

This is why the Christmas story is so amazing. Jesus did not come to help us because we were good; He came to save us from our sinfulness. We had NOTHING good to offer Him. Yet, He willingly took on the form of a man, was born, grew up, lived a perfectly sinless life and died as an innocent man for you and me, the wretches that we are. God became a Man so He could save us from ourselves and our sins.

In Hebrews 12:2, we see these encouraging words: “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Please see this; Jesus came joyfully to the cross. He did not begrudge us the salvation that He purchased with His blood. He came joyfully to redeem us knowing the cost, the pain, the suffering and the death He had to endure for us. All too often we miss this in the Christmas story. We miss the deliberateness in it. God sent His Son at the right time, to the right place to do the right thing for a people, you and me, that could not be right without Him.

One of my dear friends, a great pastor, recently wrote these words:

“Joseph and Mary were distant relatives. Both of them were in the lineage of King David. According to Matthew 1.16, Joseph’s father was Jacob. Luke 3.23 says Joseph was the “son” of Heli (Eli). He was actually the “son-in-law” of Heli. This would make Heli the father of Mary. Boaz was the great-great grandfather of David. Mary was in the lineage of Boaz. According to Jewish law, all inheritances had to pass through the male line. Mary had no brothers so she, by law, could inherit her father’s estate, if she married within her own tribe. Joseph became Heli’s heir (son) by right of marriage to his daughter. So, Joseph owned property in Bethlehem through his marriage to Mary.

“The “taxing” was actually a census Rome took every 14 years. Citizens had to go to the city in which they owned property. Boaz owned a home and a threshing floor in Bethlehem which passed down through the lineage. This property was the homestead of Jesse, David’s father. 700 years after David was born here, Jesus was born in the “tower of the flock” (Micah 4.8) located on this site. This tower was a birthing center for sacrificial lambs, which when born, were wrapped in swaddling cloth and placed in a stone manger for safekeeping. Jesse’s house was this birthing tower! It appears that David and Jesus were born in the same house.”

God was so deliberate in His plan, so deliberate in even where Jesus was born and when Jesus was born. Our salvation is no happenstance; no detail was left to chance. God superintended the whole thing because He loves us and He loves His Son.

So, this year, don’t miss the real story of Christmas because of familiarity. Humble yourself and understand that without Jesus there is NO HOPE ever. There are so many who cannot or, more often, will not see this because of pride and stubbornness; and they will miss the greatest gift ever given, that of the Holy Son of God, Jesus the Messiah, who came to die for our sins, to pay for our iniquities and to conquer death for us all.

Have you missed Jesus? Have you missed the gift of eternal life? Then today, call on Him and He will save you.

I got this from another dear pastor friend. See “The Bible Way to Heaven” at this link. It is clear and a great tool to use.

Share the Christmas story. Jesus came to save the sinner of whom I am chief, and so are you and your friends.

Merry Christmas.

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

 

Revelation Chapter 12: 13-17

“Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

Wow! I keep getting some challenging questions from these articles. Thank you and keep them coming. It makes me have to research more. I began reading the book of Job for the umpteenth time again today. It is a reminder that Satan is truly our enemy, always looking for ways to get to us. He observes us very closely and is always looking for ways to attack us, trip us up, and shake us up to see if we will curse God.

Far too often there has not been systematic teaching in the Lord’s churches about the kingdom of darkness. But all through the Bible, beginning with the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden, there has been a systematic fight against God and His Word. Not to glorify Satan, but he is a skilled and highly intelligent angel, one who has vast power, is able to amass armies, and even call fire down from Heaven (see in Job 1); and he can cause disease in your bodies and mine (see Job 2).

Satan can only go as far as God will allow; and as intelligent as he is, he does not know the future. He did not know that Job would behave the way he did and become a champion to the downtrodden and spiritually afflicted for the last 4,000 years. If he did, he would never have asked for the fight with Job. What he intended for evil, God intended for good.

Sadly, many do not understand that we are in a very vicious fight. Yes, angels may not be able to be killed and die, but many human servants of the Lord, like Job, have lost people, things and health in the fight. It is real. It is violent and it is way beyond what we mere humans could handle were it not for the grace, power and protection of the Loving God that we serve.

When we ended the last article, Satan had been permanently evicted from Heaven by Michael, one of the Arch Angels, and was now confined to the earth. This must be a slap in the face when this happens. Satan will know for sure that his end is near. Maybe he can feel the flames of Hell burning already, and in his wrath, he turns on the Jews.

Over the past 2,000 or so years since Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, Satan has launched many attacks on the Jews using various characters in history. Beginning with the Romans in 70 AD when they sacked the city of Jerusalem and scattered the Jews to the very corners of the known world; in 1492 all Jews were expelled from Spain; and under the Tsars of Russia in the 1880s, the Jews lived under great peril and in fear of their lives There is a prophecy from Moses in the Torah that says this:

“Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart” (Deuteronomy 28:65).

This has been proven to be true. In the countries where the Jews have had relative peace, like in the UK and then now in the West like Canada and the USA, there is still anti-Semitism. They are safe for the most part but still at times subject to ridicule and even death as we saw just a few weeks ago.

Satan has hunted the Jews for a long time; and as he is evicted from heaven, he sees a settled nation with millions of Jews looking like sitting ducks. But, as usual, he cannot see the Great God, even though he knows God is ready to defend them and kill their adversaries. There are none so blind as those who choose not to see. Satan is the ‘poster boy’ for these people.

Israel, the woman who gave birth to the Son, Jesus (Revelation 12:13)

A few weeks ago when we began to look at this chapter, someone asked me if the ‘Child’ mentioned in the early verses could refer to the New Testament church. I think we can clearly say no to that. Here we are specifically told that Satan persecutes the woman who gave birth to the “male Child,” obviously a reference to Jesus.

Satan is evicted from entering Heaven, and he immediately turns his wrath on the nation of Israel and the Chosen People who are living there. We are in the very middle of the Tribulation, and this persecution, this war on Israel, is going to last for 3.5 years. In this passage, Satan is called the dragon, the serpent (vs. 15), and earlier he is called Devil and Satan.

Each name offers a different look at the nature of Satan. As the Devil, the root meaning is accuser – he is always accusing the saints; as Satan, meaning one who plots against or opposes; as the Dragon, he is a dangerous and fierce adversary; and as the Serpent, he is sly and cunning. This is why we are warned to be vigilant when dealing with evil. We are to avoid it whenever possible and to be fully armed and prepared spiritually in the event that we have to fight it.

Satan, the Dragon, launches an attack or series of very aggressive attacks on the nation of Israel. The root meaning of persecute is to oppress and also to hunt down. Satan is going to do both here. He will oppress Israel but he will also hunt them down.

He hates Israel; they are the earthly vessel that brought salvation to the world. The birth, life, ministry, death and the resurrection of Jesus, followed by the empowerment that He gave to the New Testament Jews to evangelize the world, has been a pain in the posterior of Satan since the days of Abraham. If he could just eradicate Israel, just wipe them out and stop the redemptive plan of God, then maybe, just maybe there was hope for him, Satan, to win.

Unfortunately for Satan, Israel has God as their protector; He has protected them in Egypt, in an amongst the various peoples who have tried to kill them in the Old Testament, He preserved them in Assyria and Babylon, He protected them under the Romans, found a way to preserve them under Hitler and kept enough of them hidden around the world to repopulate the nation once it was re-established in May 1948. Since you cannot beat God, it is impossible to beat Israel. Those who love the Lord God understand this; those who worship Satan will never get it.

God rescues Israel, as usual, Revelation 12:14-15

I have heard some say that the eagle’s wings may represent a military rescue for the nation of Israel. A few have inferred that the USA may be the help that comes, as the eagle is a symbol of the USA. Surely God can use the military of any nation if He chooses. He sent the armies of Babylon to punish the Southern Kingdom, He sent the Medes to destroy Babylon and resettle the Jews in Israel, He used the Roman government and their meticulous record-taking as well as their professional soldiers to sacrifice Jesus, and then used the roads built for the military to export the Gospel as far as the shores of modern western Europe. God has anything and anyone at His disposal. But in Exodus 19:4 we see this verse,

“You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.”

God did not need a military, whether from the USA or otherwise to deliver Israel from Egypt, and it is unlikely that He will need one now. God knows how to deliver His people. He has resources that we have not even thought of yet with which to make it clear to the nation of Israel – she who is now disillusioned with the rebellious and defiant anti-Christ – that it is Yahweh who delivers them as He has from their very birth at the end of Genesis 11.

God has been and always will be the eagle’s wings for Israel. The final betrayal by the anti-Christ, his desecration of the Temple, and his war against them will finally take the scales from their eyes; and they will long for their true Messiah. God will show up to rescue them. He will hide them in the wilderness, and there He will nourish them; does this sound familiar?

Go and read the books of 1 & 2 Chronicles and see the amazing ways that God used to destroy the enemies of Israel. He used light reflecting off water to confuse an invading army, He once sent hail stones, and He even used the woods around the nation of Israel to help kill off invading armies. Sometimes God just sends a death angel to kill them off while they sleep. Other times He just turns them on each other, and they kill each other. No matter what way He uses, God has ways to kill the enemies of Israel that even the most cunning and shrewd military minds on earth have not come up with yet. God does not need our ‘two-cents’ input to defend Israel.

On August 3^rd, 2014, this quote was published in the magazine, Israel Today:

“We do aim [our rockets], but their God changes their path in mid-air,” a Hamas commander was said to have told someone who wondered why Gaza-based militants can’t seem to hit their targets.

Even the enemies of Israel know that God fights for them. There is simply no other explanation. Sadly, due to their disobedience and spiritual adultery, God has allowed His Jews to be hurt and killed in horrendous ways, but never to the point of extinction.

Satan will send some kind of flood, and God will absorb it.

Isaiah 59:19 “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.”

Kill them all, Revelation 12:6-17

With this attack thwarted, Satan turns on the rest of the world. Satan cannot annihilate Israel so he turns to her offspring. These could be other Jews who are not in Israel or these could also be those who have turned to God in the Tribulation. All believers are the offspring of Israel. Abraham, we are told in Romans 4, is the father of those who believe. Paul calls us a wild olive branch that is grafted into the original vine (Romans 11:17).

The New Testament church is not here at this time; it has been raptured, so the people that Satan attacks are Jews from all around the world and with them those Gentiles that will not submit to the anti-Christ. They will not accept his ‘lordship’ or that he is anything more than just a mere man, not a God to be worshipped. Satan, now filled with rage, will begin to exterminate the redeemed of the Tribulation age. We see in Revelation 6:9-11 and 7:9-17 vast assemblies of those that had been killed in the Tribulation period for not obeying the anti-Christ, and they worshipped the Lord God.

The death toll will be extensive. Satan will execute a vast attempt at the extinction of those that still believe in the God of Israel. This will be a bloodbath probably not ever witnessed by the world before. The loss of life will be extensive and the cost of faith in the Lord will be paid with your life.

We live in a time when the tides are turning on Christianity; there is an ever-broadening hatred for THE TRUTH. People just don’t want to hear it anymore; it is offensive to those who deny the existence of God and defy His absolutes. But we have not seen anything yet. The coming Tribulation will literally be the bloodiest time that Christians have ever walked on the earth, and this is taking into account the death at the hands of the Catholic church over many centuries.

A quote from The Trail of Blood by Dr. J.M Carroll:

“Cardinal Hosius (Catholic, 1524), President of the Council of Trent: ‘Were it not that the Baptists have been grievously tormented and cut off with the knife during the past twelve hundred years, they would swarm in greater number than all the Reformers.” (Hosius, Letters, Apud Opera, pp. 112, 113.)

Today is the day of Salvation. Come to Jesus and be saved. He is the only Way of Salvation that the Bible tells us is available to all men. The Day of the Lord is soon upon us. Even now, obedience to the Lord will cost you a job, soon maybe imprisonment, maybe your family and then your life. Even with the risks, death in this life is nothing compared to an eternity without Jesus.

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca