Reading: Matthew chapter 2 verse 21:
“Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord”
• Ill: Our English word “News” is an acrostic.
• The letters stand for “North, East, West & South”
• Christians believe there is no greater news;
• Than what was declared that first Christmas.
• News that transcends social, cultural, and geographical boundaries.
• News that even spans time and will never go out of date!
ill:
• Now although I am only speaking on one line; from one verse of the Bible;
• That doesn’t nescercery mean I haven’t got a lot to say!
• Story told of a long winded preacher, who just went on and on and on.
• People in the congregation kept dropping hints by looking at the clock on the wall,
• By looking rather dramatically at their wrist watches;
• Be still the preacher carried on, ignorant of the congregations desire to go home.
• One man who had just had enough;
• Started waving his watch at the preacher but all to no avail.
• In his anger he threw it,
• But it fell short of the platform and hit somebody sitting on the front row quite hard.
• The person it hit turned round and was heard to say;
• “Hit me again I can still hear him!”
• Well I shall try not to out stay my welcome;
• But I want us to see 3 things from this important statement in Luke chapter 2 verse 11.
(1). A Specific time: “Today”
ill:
• On this day 19th December 1154:
• King Henry II (of England crowned.
• Henry II, first of the Angevin kings,
• And was one of the most effective of all England's monarchs.
• One historian calls him;
• “The very first of that name and race, and the very greatest King that England ever knew,”
Okay, I can see your impressed, so let’s me plod on:
• On this day 19th December 1686:
• Robinson Crusoe leaves his island after 28 years (as per Defoe)
• On this day in 1843
• Charles Dickens published "A Christmas Carol."
• On this day 1941:
• Hitler takes complete command of German Army
• On this day 1955:
• Carl Perkins records "Blue Suede Shoes"
• On this day 1984: Zhao Ziyang & Margaret Thatcher:
• Signs agreement with China to return Hong Kong to China in 1997.
• Each day of our calendars are marked by great events or happenings;
• That took place on the same day but in a previous time period.
WHEN DEALING WITH THE BIBLE:
• We can be confident that we are dealing with real people; in real situations,
• Events that actually happened in a real historical setting!
Ill:
The Bible does not mentioned the date of Jesus' birth:
• Although it provides many details of the circumstances surrounding His birth.
• We know for certain that Jesus was not born on December 25th year 0.
Although this is the date that is seen as the pivot point of history:
• Every event and year before Jesus' birth counts down to it,
• And every event and year after his birth counts up from it.
Ill:
• In the 6th century, The monk Dionysius Exigous (Di-on-ye-sus Ex-I-gous)
• Which sounds impressive and important but it actually means: ‘Dennis the short’.
• Was commissioned by Pope John 1st to set divisions.
• Dennis studied the records and set the divisions
• E.g. BC, Before Christ:
• E.g. And AD, Anno Domini, "the year of the Lord".
His Gregorian calendar was flawed and he apparently missed the birth of Christ by a few years.
• The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus;
• Accurately recorded Herod's death in his writings ‘The antiquities of Josephus’.
• So Christ's birth would appear to have taken place;
• Some four years before the traditional date.
But the New Testament record helps us to fix the year if not the date:
• According to Luke's gospel account, he records two important details:
• He tells us that Quirinius (cir-in-i-us) was governor, and that he took a census.
• Historians can put the different pieces of information puzzle together;
• And they can now fairly accurately place the birth of Christ somewhere around 7 to 6BC.
• So although we may know approximately the year Christ was born;
• There is no way anyone can accurately predict the month or day:
• We simply do not know!
• We do know however that December 25th was chosen simply to hijack a pagan festival.
Ill:
• In A.D. 597 St Augustine landed in Ebbsfleet in Thanet, Kent.
• He had been sent by Pope Gregory to convert pagan England to Christianity.
• The Anglo-Saxon’s celebrated the Winter Solstice as YULE;
• Where they worshiped the rebirth of the sun, s-U-n.
• But Augustine got his converts to use this day to worship the God’s son, s-O-n.
• So December 25th was one of many pagan celebrations that Christians gave new meaning to.
• Constantine had already declared December 25th, the official birthday of Jesus.
• Pope Julius 1, had declared the Nativity of the birth of Jesus as December 25th.
Ill:
• Queen Elizabeth 2nd was actually born on April 21, 1926
• Official Birthday: 3rd Sunday of June (weather! To celebrate ‘Trooping of the Colour’))
I have said all of that to make the simple point:
• We do not know the actual date in history when this unique baby was born;
• What we do know, is that there was such a day.
• And to this actual day;
• The angelic beings share this news with a bunch of shepherds one night.
Application 1: God deals with us on ordinary days!
• There is a thread woven through the Bible;
• Where we see God dealing with people in the present, the now, today!
• This thread woven through the Bible;
• Is seen again and again in verses like:
Quotes:
• Psalm 95 verse 7b:
• “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts….”
• 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 2:
• “Now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation,”
• In other words, we are never promised tomorrow;
• God wants to deal with us in the now!
Quote: Gloria Pitzer has written this clever little poem:
“Procrastination is my sin
It brings me naught but sorrow.
I know that I should stop it
In fact, I will…tomorrow.”
• Procrastination is something that God does not like;
• He prefers to settle matters today, he wants us to know him now!
• And so we are never promised tomorrow;
• God deals with us in the now! Principle is ‘day by day’.
Ill:
• The organist at St Paul's Cathedral (London);
• Caught sight of Felix Mendelssohn (German composer, 1809-47) in the congregation.
• He sent the great composer a note inviting him to play the organ after the service.
• Mendelssohn agreed,
• The congregation, already shuffling out of the pews to go home,
• Suddenly stopped and sat down again to listen entranced.
• Suddenly in the middle of a glorious crescendo the music died away & the organ went silent.
• Why, because the organ blower had gone home for lunch!
• What could have been one of the great highlights of his life,
• He threw away for something to eat.
Question:
• How many of us do that with God?
• We consider other things more important!
“Room for pleasure, room for business; But for Christ the crucified –
not a place that he can enter
in the heart for which he died”
(2). A specific place: “In the town of David”.
Ill:
• Trivia question does anybody know which is the smallest town in England.
• Answer is Manningtree. (It can be found on the River Stour which borders Essex & Suffolk).
• It may be the smallest town in England with a population of 709.
• But to most people in England it is totally insignificant, most of us never even heard of it!
By contrast:
• Sitting on a hillside about five miles south of Jerusalem.
• Is another small town, one that has become well known all around the world!
• Yet had it not been for the fact that Bethlehem is the birth-place of Jesus Christ,
• Like Manningtree, it would for most of the world be a place of little prominence.
• Today Bethlehem is an Arab town of about 35,000 residents;
• Made up of both Jewish, Christian and Moslem inhabitants.
BUT UP UNTIL THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST:
• Bethlehem’s claim to fame was that;
• It was the birthplace and home of one of Israel’s greatest kings and heroes David .
There were actually two ‘Bethlehem’s’ in Palestine.
• And to make sure that everyone knew exactly where God’s son would be born;
• God pinpoints the place.
• 700 years before the birth of Jesus lived a man called Micah;
• He was a prophet of God and he wrote a book in the Old Testament.
• In that book he wrote these words;
• Quote: Micah chapter 5 verse 2:
2”But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
• Notice his prophecy is detailed not vague "Bethlehem Ephrathah of Judah",
• Which means; ‘belonging to the tribe of Judah’.
• This is to distinguish it from the other Bethlehem which was in Galilee in the North,
• In the territory of Zebulon (12km from Nazareth).
ill:
• Consider these 8 prophecies concerning the Messiah the
• Lord Jesus Christ:
(1). The place of his birth.
(2). His being preceded by a messenger.
(3). How he was to enter Jerusalem.
(4). His betrayal by a friend.
(5). How he would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver.
(6). The money would be thrown in God's house.
(7). He would be silent before his accusers.
(8). He would be crucified.
In his book 'Science speaks' by Peter W. Stoner proves that coincidence is ruled out by the science of probability:
• The chance, odds, law of probability for one man fulfilling those 8 prophecies are:
• 1 in 10 to the power of 17 (Or 1 in 100, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000.)
ill:
Stoner illustrates this for us like this:
• Cover the face of Texas (Bigger than British Isles).
• Two feet deep with silver coins.
• Mark one silver dollar.
• And hide it thoroughly among the others.
• Blind fold a man.
• Allow him to travel wherever he wants.
• But he can only pick up one silver dollar.
• And say this is the marked one !
• The same chance, odds, law of mathematical probability;
• Of one man fulfilling any 8 prophecies:
• Jesus fulfilled 33 different prophecies.
• On the day he was crucified alone!
(3). A specific claim “Saviour, Christ, Lord”
ill:
• The 200-year-old church was being readied for an anniversary celebration;
• When calamity struck: the bell ringer was called out of town.
• The sexton immediately advertised for another.
• And somebody from another county saw the advert and was willing to fill the void.
• When the replacement arrived,
• The sexton led him up the steep, winding steps that lead to the bell tower,
• It was a long climb, some 150 feet above them.
• Round and round they went, huffing and puffing all the way.
• Just as they reached the landing,
• The bell ringer tripped and fell face-first into the biggest bell of all. Bo-o-o-o-ong!
• Dazed by the blow, the bell ringer stumbled backward onto the landing.
• The railing broke loose and he fell to the ground.
• Miraculously, he was unhurt—only stunned—
• But the sexton thought it best to call an ambulance.
• “Do you know this man’s name?” asked the doctor when he arrived.
• “No,” the sexton replied, “but his face sure rings a bell.”
ill:
Prince Charles has a number of names and titles:
• Charles Philip Arthur George
• Mountbatten-Windsor [Von Saksen-Coburg-Gotha] [Von Sak-sen Co-burg-Go-tha]
• Prince of Wales.
• Duke of Cornwall
• Duke of Rothesay
• Earl of Carrick
• Baron Renfrew
• Lord of the Isles
• Prince and Great Steward of Scotland
• Earl of Chester
Jesus has a number of names and titles in the Bible:
• According to my book of useless information;
• At least 117 scriptural names and titles (some say 250).
• 3 of those 117 names and titles are given us inn this verse:
• “Saviour, Christ, Lord”
(A). Saviour or rescuer:
• If you are in trouble;
• Then it is good to be rescued;
Ill:
• G.K. Chesterton was once asked;
• What single book he would most like to have if he were stranded on a desert island.
• With typical wit, he replied
• “Thomas’ Guide to Practical Shipbuilding”.
Ill:
The Pit Poem
(B. Christ or Messiah
ill:
• Up until the time of William the Conqueror (A.D. 1066).
• Christian names were basically all that we had in this country to define a person.
• And even if they had been given one;
• 99% of the population could not have written or spelt them.
Many people think that ‘Christ’ was the surname of Jesus:
• It was not;
• Had he had any surname; Jesus would have been simply known as:
• Jesus the son of Joseph, or Jesus of Nazareth.
• ‘Christ’ is a title not a surname!
Quote:
• Christ is the Greek (N.T.) word translated into English.
• Messiah is the Hebrew (O.T,) word translated into English.
• Both have the same meaning: ‘The anointed one’.
Ill:
• In the Old Testament days God anointed people for special service,
• Especially the king and the priests.
• To show that they had been chosen for this special role;
• They were anointed, so someone poured olive oil onto their heads (to marked them out).
Eventually the understanding developed among the Jews that one-day an outstanding “anointed one” would appear,
• Who would do God’s will in a very special way.
• This great One is often referred to as the Messiah or the Christ.
CHRISTIANS BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THAT MESSIAH / CHRIST:
• He is not one of many good teachers or prophets from God.
• He is distinctive, matchless, unrivalled, unparalleled, a one off:
Quote:
“Jesus did not just tell the truth – he is the truth,
Jesus did not point out the way to God – he is the way,
Jesus did not simply talk about life – he imparts life,
Jesus did not just preach righteousness – he embodied holiness,
Each characteristic and attribute of God is made visible in Jesus Christ!
He began His ministry by being hungry, yet He is the Bread of Life.
Jesus ended His earthly ministry by being thirsty, yet He is the Living Water.
Jesus was weary, yet He is our rest. Jesus paid tribute, yet He is the King.
Jesus was accused of having a demon, yet He cast out demons.
Jesus wept, yet He wipes away our tears.
Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet He redeemed the world.
Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, yet He is the Good Shepherd.
Jesus died, yet by His death He destroyed the power of death.”
Christians believe he is the only one to deal with the one problem that separates us from God – sin:
Ill:
An elderly gentleman was out walking with his young grandson.
• "How far are we from Home?" he asked the grandson.
• The boy answered, "Grandpa, I don't know."
• The grandfather asked, "Well, where are you?"
• Again the boy answered, "I don't know."
• Then the grandfather said good-naturedly,
• "Sounds to me as if you are lost."
• The young boy looked up at his grandfather and said,
• "Nope, I can't be lost. I'm with you."
• Ultimately, that is the answer to mankind’s lost ness.
• We can't be lost if Jesus the Christ is with us!
Quote: Jesus himself said in John Chapter 14 verse 6:
“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”.
(c). Lord.
• This is the title given to God the Father throughout the Old Testament.
• It is saying that there is no greater authority or rank.
Ill:
• Shortly after joining the Navy,
• The new recruit asked his officer for a pass so he could attend a wedding.
• The officer gave him the pass,
• But informed the young man he would have to be back by 7 p.m. Sunday.
• “You don’t understand, sir,” said the recruit. “I’m in the wedding.”
• “No, you don’t understand,” the officer shot back. “You’re in the Navy!”
• That recruit found his life governed by a higher authority;
• For each Christian the same is true!
• But the Christian is not governed by an organisation made up of fallible individuals;
• He is governed by a caring heavenly Father, the great Shepherd who cares for his sheep!
Ill:
• Jesus on one occasion taught his disciples;
• In fact he rebuked them.
• “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, but you do not do the things I say?”
• The very name requires obedience or he is not Lord!
Quote:
“Ye call Me Master and obey me not,
Ye call Me Light and see me not,
Ye call Me way and follow me not
Ye call Me Life and desire me not,
Ye call Me wise and acknowledge me not,
Ye call Me fair and love me not,
Ye call Me rich and ask me not,
Ye call Me eternal and seek me not,
Ye call Me gracious and trust me not,
Ye call Me Noble and serve me not,
Ye call Me mighty and honour me not,
Ye call Me just and fear me not,
If I condemn you,
blame me not!”
As we reflect again on this Christmas story:
• My prayer is that you will discover Jesus as saviour;
• The one who can forgive the past.
• As the Christ;
• The only one (mediator) who can bring us in touch with the Living God.
• And as the Lord:
• The one who made us and wants what’s best for us in life!
Ill:
• Certain toys and gifts this Christmas we will read these words;
• “For best results follow the makers instructions!”
• Christians believe when it comes to life, death and the life that follows:
• “For best results follow the makers instructions!”
