Suddenly the angels appear, first to Zechariah and then to Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds, and the word is out: God has not forgotten! It is unfortunate that these great words "savior" and "salvation" have been watered down so much as they have been in our day. God told us everything needed for life and godliness ( II Peter 1:2-4 ). There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. We also can celebrate Christmas by being amazed at it "And all who heard it were amazed" (Luke 2:18). To understand what God has to say about peace, we need to recognize that there are different types of peace spoken about in the Bible and that of all of these, the most important is the peace we have with God as the result of justification. Judging from the Christmas cards I get every year, I suspect that this is the phrase from the Christmas story that is most popular with people in our day. Unless our way of talking about salvation makes distinctions here, our interpretations inevitably fall short of the biblical conceptions. Moreover, you can do it in song. She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. 5. However, God does promise to give us what we need (Philippians 4:19), and He promises to keep our minds in His peace, if we will pray to Him. Happiness is a wonderful thing at Christmas shopping, decorating, entertaining, mailing cards but it is the world's virtue, and like all the world's virtues, it quite easily passes away. Well, peace with one another results from having peace with God and with finding the peace of God personally. The birth of Jesus Christ is traditionally celebrated on December 25, although "around 37% of Orthodox Christians, mainly in Egypt and Russia, celebrate the Nativity of Christ on January 7th," owing to a difference in how their calendars were devised. But at the same time, the one who will come to Jesus Christ will know a great peace even in a world that denies it. I am not referring to activity, of course. Is December 25 Really the Day Jesus Was Born? What the Bible Says About So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. So everyone who knows of Christ and has become a Christian can tell others of Him. There had been revelations from God in the past. His birth was necessary. Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. In the New Covenant, he has given us the Lord's Supper and baptism. But the writer of this epistle had a deeper insight into humanity. The passage begins by speaking of the shepherds. "Has God forgotten me?" I believe that I can illustrate the fact that two kinds of peace are involved here by the wording of one of Charles Wesley's great hymns, in which the same contrast is found, although the actual word used is different. In this verse, Simeon says to Mary, "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a . Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. On December 25th people the world over will celebrate the birth of Lord Jesus Christ. And where are you from? He said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. How do you celebrate Christmas? There is much activity but many go through these activities in a joyless way. you are asking. It is in this sense a doxology, which means to express a right opinion of God verbally. You do not have, because you do not ask God. Christmas time is a few days away. And they kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the people of Israel did. We can estimate when Jesus was born by counting backward from his death on Passover, Nisan 14 in the spring of the year 33 C.E. L And, of course, this is the sense in which we glorify God. Answer: Your question is backward. 1. cit. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. One theory is that the early church decided to celebrate Christmas on December 25th in order to oppose the pagan celebration of Sol Invictus. In this verse the word "learn" is a Greek word from which we have derived our word mathematics. 4. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It is not just brooding or getting into a pious frame of mind. So, you see, if Christmas means anything, it at least means this that God has not forgotten His people. Labs U If anyone would argue in this way, he should notice that the shepherds had the most important authorization of all possession of good news which had been revealed to them by God. This is a cause for amazement. That is the Christmas story God became man! Although there is no mention of Jesus specifically mentioning to celebrate Christmas, the Bible does say that he was born on December 25th. What Does The King James Bible Say About Celebrating Christmas We see His disposition to use little things, to exalt the humble and to subdue the proud. They had seen the angels and had come to worship the angels' King. To do this is to glorify Him, an act which is, as the Catechism states, one aspect of man's chief end. But they have. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. It was lost, confused, dying. This is what the shepherds did. Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Amen. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.. If you have, then you understand your need of a Savior and are at the place where you can receive Jesus as the One who died to save you. From beginning to end, God's dealings with our race are cause for amazement. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord., For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.. How could their tongues be silent when they had heard such music? Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. And yet this is what we often do with Jesus. "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" Words: Charles Wesley, Hymns for Those That Seek and Those That Have Redemption in the Blood of Jesus Christ, 1747. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Why We Celebrate The Birth Of Jesus | Hearinnh By Billy Graham As a sinner I need a Savior. Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Others celebrate it by getting drunk, some beginning at the office party on the last working day before Christmas and not sobering up until sometime after the twenty-fifth or even after New Year's. (Great Neck, NY: Doniger & Raughley, 1955). The world treats the message of Christmas as wishful thinking because the world is not right with God and it does not wish to assume its own spiritual responsibility before Him. N You can tell if you do by attempting to rehearse God's attributes. Second, there is the strong possibility that the persons may not be in harmony but that they will want to make a pact between themselves in order to settle their differences. Three sentences! Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (Revelation 22:17). "A Hymn to the Nativity." Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals Inc, 1716 Spruce St. Philadelphia, PA 19103 Perhaps you are anxious to be delivered from some tenacious sin, but you do not seem to have deliverance. Where Does The Bible Say Not To Celebrate Christmas It was confused because it lacked revelation and, therefore, also an awareness of truth. F 9. Mary and Joseph were far from home, in a strange town without even a room to themselves in which Mary could give birth to the Child. The messages of the angels do not reinforce our secular views of Christmas. This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. There are five appearances of an angel, or angels, in the Christmas story, and another appearance of an angel to Joseph later to tell him to return to Israel from Egypt. We Should Celebrate Jesus Every Day - Billy Graham Evangelistic Association This article may be printed and distributed with this notice attached for personal use such as small groups and local Bible study groups. O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem; Come and behold Him When circumstances are right, there is happiness; but when the source of happiness departs, happiness goes with it. J Praise the Lord! This is why Jesus came. Moreover, the Bible teaches that if you will believe that that is, if you will believe that you are not at peace with God naturally but that He has made peace through the death of His Son for your sin - then God will enter into the kind of eternal relationship with you in which you can be called His son or daughter. He answered, "I have heard that message preached from the pulpit every Christmas since I was a little boy. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Reprinted by Moody Press, 1969. What Every Christian Should Know about the Protestant Reformation. This holy amazement is closely melded to adoration. When Was Jesus' Birth? Was Jesus Born on December 25? | What the Bible Says On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. S The professor replied that he thought he had. Its genesis is not merely on the intellectual level; it goes down into the vast emotional reservoir of life and conduct that underlies the intellectual. Pondering is work. Have you confessed them to God and to others? For praising God is essentially an act of glorifying God with the whole being and, in this, music quite naturally takes a part. You say, "How does this come about?" Would she have guessed what was happening because of her familiarity with the Old Testament prophecies, such as Isaiah's prophecy that "the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son" (Isaiah 7:14)? It struck me, as I began to read this story once again, that apart from the angels, no one would have understood what the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ meant not the shepherds, not Joseph, not even Mary. The answer is in chapter 3, verse 17: "And the way of peace they do not know." Why? BGEA is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It is the kind of amazement we associate with special effects in a movie or with an Olympic gold medal winner. Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. "Joy to the World" Words: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David, 1719. One day just before Christmas vacation, the professor said, "Well, Keiper, are you going to preach that old Christmas farce again?" Nevertheless, this is the day that most people, Christians and non-Christians alike, observe as His birthday, and if we are to mark it at all, this seems to be the only realistic time to do it. The Scriptures say, "And let him who hears say, Come!" You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Jesus Christ is that Savior. He came to earth and became a man but kept fully the divine nature in Himself. Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Will anyone argue that they were uneducated? Let your prayer be the cry of the publican: "God be merciful to me, a sinner!" And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord's house. It is not this way with joy. But of all these things, the incarnation of the Son of God is the most amazing. We are told of them that they "returned glorifying and praising God." But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! P But our time is poorly spent if we allow the bustle of Christmas to eclipse our times of Bible study and of pondering upon God's Word. There are two kinds of amazement. And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end" (Luke 1:30-33). If we are honest, we must admit that many persons, even Christians, celebrate it most by buying presents, decorating their houses, visiting relatives and friends, or watching football games on television. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Many of you might have heard that the wise men did not appear during the night of Jesus' birth, no matter what nativity scenes may try to tell you. Then glorify and praise God for what you know. Second, it involved her affection, for she treasured these things in her heart. Amen. But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod.
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