SCRIP-BITS

MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Matthew 1:21     And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
 
It’s Christmas Day Friends! Hallelujah! The big day’s finally here. Wow! Let’s mark the momentous occasion with song. ‘Hark the herald angels sing. Glory to the new born King. Peace on earth and mercy mild. God and sinners reconciled. Joyful all ye nations rise. Join the triumph of the skies. With angelic hosts proclaim. Christ is born in Bethlehem. Hark the herald angels sing. Glory to the new born King.’ Yes my Friends, that’s how it was one beautiful, starry, moonlit night two thousand years ago, when Christ, our Redeemer was born. A long awaited prophecy of immense proportions came through that night. Around 734 B.C Isaiah warns the ungodly king of Judah, Ahaz, not to form an alliance with Assyria, but to trust the Lord to protect them from their enemies. Ahaz refuses to listen, so the Lord tells him to ask for a sign. Surprisingly, Ahaz piously refuses to tempt the Lord. (Isa.7:10-12) Then Isaiah, on the Lord’s behalf declares: ‘Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.’ (Isa.7:13-15) Yes my people, the Lord took it upon Himself to give them a sign of hope, that a child, a Branch of David’s line would one day rise up and save his people. But before that happened Israel and Judah would be invaded, humiliated, cut down and brought to their knees. (Isa.7:16-25) However Friends, some seven centuries later, on this day, that prophecy came through. Praise God! It took a long time, but remember a thousand days in God’s sight is like one day in ours. That is what makes the Good Book and the Word it contains so remarkable. Just imagine nuh, a lowly prophet in an agrarian society talking about a virgin birth almost three thousand years ago Hn! We can do that now, but it still needs some human manipulation. The conception of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ though, had no human interference whatsoever. What a mighty God is our Lord! And if that sign wasn’t sufficient, Isaiah further declared: ‘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. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.’ (Isa.9:6-7) And all God’s people sang ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ Now Isaiah couldn’t make such big, daring, outlandish predictions without some prescient knowledge, some spiritual insight eh? Friends, that just shows the truth and power of our God and His Word. Finally Immanuel came. God came to us, for Immanuel means, ‘God with us.’ And He not only came in a contrary and unusual manner, but also to places of no renown; Bethlehem and Nazareth. Mary was engaged to Joseph, but found herself with child. What a bam bam that must have been! Not married but pregnant, giving poor Joseph nightmares. But people, our God never does a half-baked job. And while Joseph was contemplating his next move an angel of the Lord appeared and assured him of Mary’s loyalty and new found favour with God, and that he should marry her; ‘for that which is conceived of her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.’ Amen mih people! Joseph wisely heeded the angel’s words. And a new beginning began! As the carol says: ‘Peace on earth and mercy mild. God and sinners reconciled.’ That’s exactly what the virgin birth set in motion. The Prince of Peace came to earth to bring us His peace, pay for our sins and thus reconcile us with His Father, fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy, and the angel’s words to Joseph: ‘for he shall save his people from their sins.’ And our God has a sense of occasion. Look at the night He chose, designed to send His only Son to us; a clear, beautiful night; the heavens alight with stars, possibly a full moon too, and the angel choir just singing out rich, sweet, heavenly music. No wonder the poor shepherds in the fields watching their flocks were somewhat scared. It was a night like no other they had ever witnessed, and only made scarier when the angels informed them of the Saviour’s birth nearby. The Lord even brought three kings from far away to pay obeisance to His Son. They came bearing gifts of frankincense and myrrh, valuable commodities in those days. But where our God outdid Himself was having His Son born in a lowly manger. He could have put Him anywhere, but He chose a poor carpenter and his young fiancé, from a poor part of town. That’s because He came first to help the poor, the sick, the suffering, the lost, the lonely, those without hope. He came to bring hope, peace and a future to a world that was overrun by sin and headed for eternal darkness. But He, being Mr. Wonderful, Counselor, The Prince of Peace, The everlasting Father and The mighty God, would fix it all. And He did Friends, by giving His innocent life to pay for our sins, so that we could once more have a right relationship with the Father, through a new covenant, a new promise, that if we believed and trusted in Him, He would set us free from our sins and receive us at the end of our earthly days to live in eternal light and glory with Him and His Father. ‘Glory Hallelujah! Nothing can beat that mih breddren! And that’s why we celebrate His birth today, cause it was the first real sign of the hope of a better way long promised. The word Jesus means Saviour, so when John the Baptist saw Jesus walking towards him by the Jordan river, he could right proudly say: ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29) My Friends, while we’re celebrating today, let’s not forget the real reason for the celebration: the birth of Jesus, a harbinger of a new way of life, which we now enjoy solely because of Him. So let’s recognize, praise and rejoice in His Holy Name. Amen! Much LOVE!…Christ’s birth…stirs joy in the hearts of believers…joy of a better life to come…