The Ghost of Christmas Past
Matthew 1:18-24 (King James Version) Pastor Ken Crow
18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
20But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
22Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
This morning as we move into the Christmas season let’s allow ourselves to reflect on the real reasons for the celebration that we so enjoy. I invite you this morning to get excited about Christmas. On that first Christmas the Word of God says that even the Heavenly Host were excited. The shepherds, the wise men , the three kings Mary and Joseph , oh I love it all! But the main reason for our excitement can be found in verse 21of our text.
21And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
The Christmas season many times brings out the best in people. The first Christmas brought out the best in God as he sent his only begotten Son to save all who will call upon his name and receive him into their heart.
This morning if some of us have lost the excitement, the feeling, the special spirit this time of year then I invite those to listen closely as over the next three Sunday mornings, God willing, as we look into three areas of our heart, The past, the present and the future. Like in Charles Dickens story The Christmas Carol a man named Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the ghost of Christmas past and that is where we are going to start this morning.
Unlike the fictional character of Ebenezer Scrooge if we have been saved by the grace of Jesus Christ and are walking in his ways our past does not have a right to trespass on our mind and soul.
1. What does God think considering my past?
Micah 7:19 (King James Version)
19He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Corinthians 5:17-18 (King James Version)
17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
18And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
Jesus Christ came to save us from our past. Our past is wiped out in the sight of God when we confess our sins to him. To think that God is dealing with us because of something we done before salvation or before we confessed it to him is just simply wrong. There may be natural consequences that occur because of our actions or some chastisement from the Lord but God is not holding our past against us. God don’t hold grudges against his people.
God is not punishing us today because of something that we did in our past if we have put it under the blood of Jesus.
If we have not confessed it to him and ask for forgiveness then we need to do that today and move on in our spiritual life.
Psalm 103:10-12 (King James Version)
10He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
12As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Thessalonians 5:9 (King James Version)
9For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
I am not saying there is no consequences to sin, I am saying this:
1 John 1:8-10 (King James Version)
8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
2. The ghost of past hurts.
One thing that I have found out that helps me this time of year is to send everyone that has gotten angry with me this past year a little card just saying “I am thinking of you, I am praying for you and I love you in the Lord”.
It does not matter where the blame is. It does not matter who is at fault.
In order to run this race this is one thing I must do. Look how Paul puts it.
Philippians 3:13-15 (King James Version)
13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
15Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Notice Paul says “this one thing I do”.
Notice what Jesus says about this:
Matthew 5:23-24 (King James Version)
23Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
24Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
We can be set free from the thing that holds many back this Christmas by releasing our past hurts to God and allowing him to heal them. As long as we are holding on to that it will continually come up and prevent us from being as blessed as we should be. God has made provision for this and few take his way. Holding on to past hurts is the single largest problem Christians face today. We may not find adultery in a church. We may not find theft in a church. We may not find unbelief in a church but we will find people being held back by past hurts in every church.
It is my responsibility to give my past hurts to God and move ahead.
It is not the person who hurt me who is responsible for my healing.
It is mine. If they have done wrong believe me God will deal with them but the responsibility to get over it belongs to me and I will not move ahead according to Paul until I forget it!
3. I must forgive myself for coming up short sometimes in my walk with Jesus.
We must strive for perfection as a Christian, but we must understand that at the best we will do sometimes we will fail.
Romans 3:23 (King James Version)
23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
There may be something in our past that we just know we really blew it!
There are things that we wished we had handled differently.
There are things that if we just cold go back and change.
We cannot.
We all have this in common.
It comes to visit not just at Christmas but time after time as we lay our head upon the pillow. It visits us almost daily and consumes our visions for the future. We begin to think what is the use? Why strive for anything now? I blew it along time ago!
I know Jesus and God have forgiven me. But I just can’t forgive myself!
The best example in the Word of God pertaining to this is Peter.
Mark 14:67-72 (King James Version)
67And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth.
68But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew.
69And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them.
70And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto.
71But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.
72And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.
Peter really blew it here big time!
But the thing about Peter was that he was a come back guy.
Peter was the original come back kid!
He was always getting knocked down but he always got up because his love for Jesus out weighed his sense of fail.
The only people who never fall are the people who never try to climb.
I remember when my granddaughter was first starting to learn the new found ability of running. She would scare me to death! She would fall sometimes. But she would just get back up and after the hurting subsided she was at it again.
It is time my friend this Sunday morning that we start running again. Oh yes there will be times we stumble. There will be times we fail and fall but we cannot fail to run! To much is at stake!
Let’s go acts and see what the original comeback kid is doing there!
Acts 2:12-16 (King James Version)
12And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?
13Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.
14But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
15For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
16But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel
And so on…..Peter is boldly standing to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ despite his past failures.
Jesus came to make our past just what it is our past. We need to stop reliving that bad water under the bridge and this Christmas allow Jesus Christ to be glorified through us.
God Bless . Pastor Ken Crow
