His Grace is Enough – Ps 121, Matt 2:1-23.
Gladstone Baptist Church – 31/12/06 am
1. Last year we have seen God Grace – he provided for & protected us.
We serve a wonderfully kind and gracious God. Do you agree with me. He is a God who cares for us immensely. He is there when we need him. And when we don’t think we need Him, He still is providing and protecting us though we don’t give him credit. He is a gracious provider and a gracious giver of all good things
God is our shield and our strength – “The name of the Lord is a strong Tower – the righteous run to it and are safe” Prov 18:10. His grace is enough for us. Do you agree with that?
I want to read you a Psalm about God’s wonderful protection and while I am reading it, I want you to think about some ways you have seen God’s provision and protection this past year. How has he helped you? How has he proved himself faithful? Tell me about His grace in your life. After the Psalm, I’m going to come down and give a few of you an opportunity to share how you have seen God be gracious to you this last year.
Psalm 121…
I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
How has God provided for you or helped you this last year?
God is a wonderful God who cares so much for us.
2. God always is gracious to those who love and follow Him. He will do the same for you in 2007.
You know, God is always gracious to those who love and follow Him. The Bible gives one account after another of how God provides for his people.
Adam & Eve – even when they sinned, God provided clothes for them
Noah & his family – God gave them a boat
Abraham – he gave an heir and a land.
Jacob – God gave prosperity
Joseph – God gave a position and power that could save his family
The Israelites – God gave a leader in Moses to lead them to the promised land
God gave Joshua victory
God gave David forgiveness
God gave Daniel a safe nights sleep
God gave Jonah a free ride back to shore
God gave Esther safety as she approached the king
God gives us what we need and it was great to hear some of you testify to that this morning.
As a church, we have had the opportunity several times this year to look back and give thanks for what God has done for us corporately. We’ve celebrated our 40th birthday and we can say thanks to God for everything He has done. As Roger & Wendy left us, we were able to look back over their time and say thank you to them for what they have contributed to this place. Perhaps there are too many good things in our church history to remember or too many people who have contributed to it to say thankyou to them all, but we can never the less say thank you for everything God has done.
And if there is one thing I know about God, it is that he doesn’t change. He will always be gracious to those who love him, because he always has been.
Today as we prepare to enter a new year, I want to spend some time and look at an example of God’s grace that happened when Jesus was born. I pray that we will take heart as we recognise that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
3. God’s grace that first Christmas
The Magi visit Herod for information and Herod plots Jesus’ destruction - But God tells the Magi to return via another route
The Visit of the Magi
Matt 2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 ”‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
We know this story – in fact we have read it a couple of times over the past week. But in the final sentence, we see evidence of God’s incredible grace. He provided protection for Mary & Joseph & for His son Jesus. Herod wanted nothing more than complete power (as complete as it can be under a Roman occupation) Another king was a threat that Herod could do without. He was so ruthless that he killed any rival – even 3 of his own sons. So he plots to use the Magi as his researchers – to find where this baby was so he could go and kill him.
But God intervenes and warns the Magi to go home via another route and not stop off at Herod’s place. I find this incredible, because, God was revealing himself here to pagans. I don’t know what these Magi knew about God, but it is unlikely they knew too much about YHWH. Whether they were converted while on their pilgrimage is also unknown. It is a fair bet that they had been pagans up until this time. But God used them to accomplish his purposes. Well talk more about that soon.
But God in his graciousness protected Mary, Joseph & Jesus. Some of you in this past year may have faced off against some unsavory character who wanted to bring you down, who was hostile to all that you stood for and believed in.
I’m dealing with one of those situations now. A referral letter I wrote for an abuse victim to help them get out of the abusive situation has somehow gotten into the hands of the abuser. The abuser in this case is now seeking legal advise and threatening to sue me for defamation because of the details of the letter. This has given me quite a bit of consternation this last week – a nice Christmas present, hey. And I will be on tender hooks for the next week until they meet with their solicitor. I’d appreciate your prayers in this matter that God would use the solicitors for His purposes instead of for Satan’s schemes. Satan is on the prowl – I’m sure of that. But you know, As I have prepared this sermon, I have found comfort in the fact that God is a God who cares for us and who will protect us from our enemies. Satan is seeking to destroy our witness and our service for God in any way he can – sometimes that involves people like Herod – trying to destroy you.
But I’ve got news for you – we are all still here and that is proof that God is protecting and preserving us. Remember what we read in Ps 121:7 - “The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life.” Nothing is going to happen to us that God doesn’t know about and he will bring you through. Somehow, you survived the opposition you faced last year. God has and maybe still is bringing you through that experience – He is faithful and He will continue to be so, because He is the same God he has always been and His Grace is enough. .
Herod seeks to destroy Jesus by a baby slaughter - But God delivers Mary & Joseph & takes them to a safe place. He provided for their needs
Though Herod was outwitted by the Magi, he didn’t give up easily though. When he discovered that the Magi had not returned to him, he set out to slaughter all the babies born in the last 2 years in Bethlehem. He tried to eliminate the threat. We often mistakenly think that this was thousands – but notice that it was only in the region of Bethlehem and its vicinity. If there were a 1000 people in Bethlehem (and some suggest it was no where near this big) this would have been no more than 20 babies. It wasn’t a huge blood bath, but it was still a horrific event – especially for those caught up in it. But again God was incredibly gracious. Lets read again from Matt 2:13
The Escape to Egypt
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
The angel of God appeared this time to Joseph and warned them of their impending danger. You see Joseph feared God and God showed his grace and mercy to Him and his family. God knew what was coming and so he sent an angel to warn Joseph. Joseph was able to pack up his family and escape to Egypt. That was a huge move for them. They moved away from their families and support structures. They moved away from the security of their job and income. But that didn’t matter, because they were following God’s instructions and he provided for them. In fact he provided just what they needed – a safe place to rear their child and what is more amazing I believe is that he provided ahead of time the financial resources they needed for the trip. Though we are not told anywhere, I believe that God in his wonderful provision provided enough Gold, frankincense and Myrrh to support Joseph, Mary & Jesus while in Egypt. See God provided for his Son even before there was apparently a need and this is what God often does for us.
How often, have you got to a situation and been confronted by a need, only to then realise that God had got there first and had provided for you before you even realised your need. Deanna and I experienced this at the beginning of this last year. As most of you know, we had been trying to have a child for many years but were unsuccessful. We couldn’t understand why and believe me, there were many, many tears shed over it. At the end of 2004, the expressions of interest list for adoption reopened in Queensland for 4 weeks after being shut for several years and we put our names down. There was something like 800 couples put their names on that list. And we were chosen to be among the first group of 50 to go through their education sessions. They only were planning on putting about 200 couples through the education sessions in 2005 and so we felt incredibly blessed to be selected for this. We worked on our application all of 2005 and finally gained approval to be considered to adopt up to 2 children from Taiwan and our file was sent over to Taiwan on the 6th January this year. We had requested a sibling group as we didn’t want to have to go through the long process again. When we did this we knew that asking for siblings would work for us or against us. We settled in for the long wait, anyway as we’d been regularly told of stories of couples waiting upto 18 months to be allocated a child. However, just 2 weeks later – did you hear that – 2 weeks later, we got a call from our social worker to come up to Rocky and see her. We did so and she laid out on the table an offer for not 2 but 3 children. And not 3 babies, but 3 under 3. We later learned when we went to pick up Daniel, Katie & Elise, that the nursery had become aware in the middle of the year that they were possibly going to have a family of 3 children to place, but they didn’t know where on earth they were going to find a couple suitable enough and stupid enough to take on 3 children at once. They didn’t have a clue, so they began to pray about it and after a little while, they heard some rumours that there might be this couple from Queensland who were considering adopting a sibling group. God looked down and saw 3 little children who needed a home. He saw a need. He also saw a couple who desperately wanted children. And he worked everything together perfectly so that our file arrived in Taiwan 4 days before Elise was born and we were able to be offered the chance to adopt these children just 2 weeks later. How is that for perfect timing??? God answers our prayers – even sometimes before we know what needs to be prayed for.
God is like that – he knows the future and loves to provide for us. He provided for Deanna & myself, Daniel, Katie & Elise this last year in incredible ways and he will continue to do this in 2007. Ps 121:4-6 says “He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night”.
He knows what you are going to be facing in 2007 and he is likely preparing you right now for the situations you find yourself in this coming year. We just need to keep the faith and trust that God will be gracious to us.
Herod dies but his Son is in power - But God directs Mary & Joseph to a new safe home - Nazareth
So Joseph, Mary & Jesus escaped from Herod. After a time Herod died – we don’t know exactly how long they were in Egypt, but Herod died in 4BC and obviously Jesus was born before that. Whether the period in Egypt was long or short, we know that when he died, the angel appeared again to Joseph … Matt 2:19 …
The Return to Nazareth
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”
21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
The threat from Herod had ended and they could return to Judea, but there was still some concern about his son, Archelaus, who reigned in the Southern part of the kingdom. His son was much like Herod. So instead of going to Bethlehem which was just 9 km from Jerusalem and which was ruled by Archelaus, Mary & Joseph were led to Galilee – to Nazareth. The north of the country was ruled by Herod’s half brother – Herod Antipas. It was not as dangerous for the promised Messiah to grow up there.
This was where Mary & Joseph had lived before their couple of years in Bethlehem and so they were essentially returning home. God had protected them and cared for them yet again and led them back to their support structures and friends. We don’t know for sure, but some speculate that Joseph died while Jesus was a teenager because you never hear about him after their visit to the temple when Jesus was 12.. If this was the case, it is wonderful that God placed Mary in the town where she had family and friends. She would have needed them to raise a son on her own. God cares for us in the most amazing ways – he is concerned about our social lives, our emotional lives, our health and wellbeing.
Deanna and I have been overwhelmed by the support and generosity of so many of you this past year. We have been blessed with so many donations of toys and children’s clothes and equipment that we have hardly had to buy anything. God has placed us in a place where we have some wonderful support structures and I hope that in this past year, you too have seen God provide for you through your spiritual brothers and sisters as you also in turn provide support for others in need. Mary & Joseph were led back to a place where they would be cared for and I pray that you would find that Gladstone Baptist Church is a place where you are cared for also. God watched over Joseph & Mary when they left Nazareth originally and as they returned . Ps 121:8 says the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. May we find this true in our lives also.
4. God’s grace in 2007
I wonder what we will see God do for us in 2007? We may face opposition from people who would seek to destroy us. We may need resources to do what God asks us to do. We may need people to gather round us and love us and support us in difficult times. What ever we will face, I know that we will find that God is gracious and will care for us in everything we do. His grace is enough - always
In this amazing chapter, we see God provide physical protection, financial support as well as social and emotional support. This is recorded for us as fact and we should take heart, because God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
I want us to read together Ps 121 as we close. – I’ve personalized it – so let’s read it as our closing prayer. Let’s praise God for his grace shown to us in 2006 and take courage from it again that God’s grace is enough – no matter what is around the corner in 2007.
Psalm 121…
I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let my foot slip— he who watches over me will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD watches over me— the LORD is my shade at my right hand;
the sun will not harm me by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep me from all harm— he will watch over my life;
the LORD will watch over my coming and going both now and forevermore.
