The Reason for the Season
Keeping Christ in Christmas
Part 1 – Prophecy
I. Introduction
A. There are a couple of things that really bothered me when I was first introduced to Faith Christian Church back when Erin and I were dating. The first thing was communion every Sunday. This was such a foreign concept to me! The church culture that I was raised in made a big production out of Communion Sunday. The deacons all wore suits that day and the paraded down the center aisle together. One of them was asked to pray for the bread and then they passed out the bread. Then the pastor would read from the LAST SUPPER passage about Jesus taking the bread. Then another was asked to pray for the cup and then they would pass out the cup. The pastor would then return to the LAST SUPPER and Jesus talking about the cup. We would all eat at the same time and drink at the same time. When I came to FCC and experienced communion that way it was foreign to me and it was a little hard to get used to. Now I love it!
B. The second thing that was different than I was used to was this whole idea of Advent. To me, advent was something I had only heard of from more “Liturgical” churches (Catholic, Lutheran, etc.). I grew up in a church culture that really only talked about the reason for Christmas on the Sunday before Christmas. The rest of the season was sort of left for us to do with what we wanted as long as we focused on Christ on Christmas Day. Now I love Advent as well!
C. It is my desire to use the next 4 weeks to keep our minds focused on Christmas. The sermons will be based on the particular advent candle that we are lighting. Today’s candle (lit by the Inman’s) is the prophecy candle. When we think of prophecy, we usually think of end times issues focused around the return of Christ. The Left Behind series, the book of Revelation, the rapture and the war in
1 He would be born of a woman
2 He would be born of a virgin
3 He would be a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
4 He would be from the tribe of
5 He would be of the house of David
6 He would be born in
7 He would enter
8 He would die on a cross
9 He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver
10 That money would be thrown into the temple
11 It would be used to buy a potter’s field
12 He would be crucified between two thieves, buried in a rich man’s grave and returned to life
13 His side would be pierced
14 His bones would not be broken
15 His clothes would be parted and won by casting lots
16 There would be a total eclipse at His death
D. All of these were fulfilled in the life of Jesus. God gives prophecy for a number of reasons I’m sure, but one of the results of prophecy being fulfilled is that we have a confidence that God knows what is going to happen and what He is going to do about it. God only has actions, no reactions! Today we are going to look at three prophecies about the birth of Jesus that were fulfilled.
II. The Prophecy of His Flight to
E. Herod’s deception did not catch God off guard. (Mt. 2:13)
1. We read in the first twelve verses of Matthew 2 that the Magi were coming in search of the “King of the Jews” and asked Herod for directions. This upset Herod since he was technically the King of the Jews and so he tried to trick the Magi by telling them that they must return and report to Herod as soon as they find Jesus so that Herod himself may go and worship the child.
2. This, of course, was a lie. Herod had no intention of worshiping Jesus, in fact he planned on murdering him (vs. 16).
3. The following is an excerpt from one of Pastor Glen’s Advent Sermons that is very helpful:
One of our struggles in trying to understand the real Christmas story is removing our thoughts from the celebration of the American Christmas story. In our cultural Christmas story, Mary and Joseph arrive in
4. That isn’t quite the way it went down. The stable would not have been a very welcoming place. In our vernacular it was more like a barn. It would have had livestock and all the things that accompany livestock, such as feed and waste. Luke tells us that the shepherds showed up shortly after the birth, probably the same night or early the next day. But, Matthew 2:11 gives us a hint that the arrival of the wise men was much later.
a. We don’t know where this house came from but we know that they were still in
b. We do not know the reason, but Mary and Joseph stayed in
5. Back to the wise men now. We’re not told why the wise men gave the gifts that they did. We know that Joseph was told to take his family and flee to
6. Did you notice Matthew’s commentary on this trip to
a. He lets us know that this trip to
b. However, this does create a bit of difficulty in Biblical interpretation because the original context of that verse in Hosea is clearly about
(1.) This may cause you, as it did me, to ask when we can know that passages are prophecy and when they simply apply to the original passage.
(a) I have developed a system that works well for me. If the New Testament relates something to the Old Testament then I make the deduction that it was prophecy. If the New Testament doesn’t refer to it then I am not comfortable making that connection.
III. The Prophecy of Murdered Children (Matthew -18; Jeremiah 31:15)
F. Evil is used by God to fulfill His plan.
1. Herod was an evil man. He was a very unpopular king and was intent on eliminating his competition. In fact, history tells us that Herod had several of his own children executed for fear that they were plotting his death. One of those executions occurred five days before he died. That’s why it upset him so much that the wise men said the Christ child had been born King of the Jews.
2. Herod was a butcher. There is not clearer example of this than in Matthew 2:16-18. I don’t know if there is anything that disgusts me more and gets my blood boiling any hotter than when children are abused or mistreated. Pedophiles, murderers of children, and any other heinous activity that includes children move my soul to want the perpetrators punished to the full extent of the law!
3. Again, the fact that Herod orders the children two years and younger give us some indication of the time frame from the birth of Jesus to this atrocious event.
4. This does, or should, create some questions in your mind. One of those questions probably goes something like this. If God could warn Joseph to get his family out of there why didn’t He warn the other parents as well?
a. Unfortunately, God doesn’t answer this question for us. Let me offer some guidance from the Word, however.
b. Romans tells us that God works all things together for the good for those who love God. God is working only good. If we keep this in mind then as Christians there is no such thing as a bad day. God is working it out for your good!
(1.) It is out tendency to want God to eliminate and stop all evil. The reality is that if he decided to stop all evil it would be the end of the human race. We’d all be wiped out.
(2.) Instead, God chooses to restrain Himself, for now. He will act and eliminate evil one day, but for now He chooses to restrain Himself.
(3.) When the culture rejects God’s manual, chaos ensues. Herod’s rise to power was a direct result of decisions made years ago on the part of the people to reject the authority of God and demand a king like the other nations.
(a) Tragedies that occur in your life are not always a direct result of your sin, but they are a result of sin somewhere.
(b) God never answers the why question, because it will never satisfy. We should not be asking God why, rather we should be asking what now?
IV. The Prophecy of His Life In
G. God’s protection leads to a safe place.
1. It appears that Joseph and Mary wanted to return to
2. In a dream, God reveals that Herod’s son is even more evil than his father was and thus diverts Joseph to the district of Galilee where they settled in
3. God used the evil king to fulfill another prophecy about His son.
(a) The interesting thing is that we cannot find an Old Testament reference to this prophecy. The first one was from Hosea, the second was from Jeremiah, but there is no direct quote from the Old Testament in regards to Jesus being a Nazarene.
(b) The simple explanation is that not everything that was prophesied was written down for us. We do know that this was a prophecy, however, based on Matthew . It was spoken by multiple prophets just not recorded for us in the Old Testament.
V. Conclusion
H. If there is one phrase that I want you to take with you from this message it is this. God only acts, never reacts. He is in control. We have just experienced an election that didn’t go the way that most of us would have hoped. I woke up on November 5 and my lungs still worked, my heart was still beating and everything was pretty much the same as it was on November 4. God is in control. He puts rulers in their place and he controls their hearts. God used a negative political situation in the birth of His Son to move Joseph where he needed to be to fulfill God’s plan.
I. It may be that you have found yourself in a situation that is outside of your control. GREAT! What a wonderful place to be. Now you get to see Rom. 8:28 worked out in your life. When things are bleak and seemingly stacked against you, you have the trump card…GOD!
J. He will often direct you in ways that are impossible to explain other than God’s involvement. This is the type of life that God had planned for His Son. It is also the type of life He has planned for you.
