THREE GIFTS FOR CHRISTMAS
Luke 1:68
Each Christmas we give and exchange gifts and cards. Today I wish to offer to you the original and only genuine Christmas gifts in the world. There are three of them but they are not...gold, frankincense, and myhrr.
I. I PRAY THAT YOU WILL KNOW THE GLADNESS OF CHRISTMAS - WHICH IS HOPE.
A. We remember and observe Christmas because of the hope it offers us. Both Christians and non-Christians see in this day the Hope of the World.
1. Unfortunately, while the hope of Christmas is offered to all men, not all men will accept it.
a. John. 5:39-40 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
b. Jeremiah 17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
2. All of us possess some kind of hope.
a. Hope for a better job, life, health, a good old age and almost all hold out some hidden hope for a life after death.
b. Because God came to earth in the form of a man on the very first Christmas. I have the blessed assurance of seeing my loved ones again. Because their hope and mine is found in Jesus Christ.
B. This is why I wish for you, the hope of Salvation.
1. Without this hope all else is valueless.
a. We are told in Roman 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
b. I Tim. 1:1 - and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;
2. Christians are no different from other people in that they too suffer setbacks, common colds, heart failure, and ultimately death. But they have a hope others do not have and that hope sustains them.
Romans 5:1-5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
C. It is my wish that this Christmas you may come to possess the hope of Heaven. Proverbs 14:32 The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.
1. The apostle Paul said that all Christians look for a great hope that can only come AFTER death.
2. So, the first gift is HOPE. In life, in death.
II. I PRAY THAT YOU WILL KNOW THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS - WHICH IS PEACE.
A. Jesus, the Prince of Peace said in John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
B. Men seek peace with all their hearts but few find it. The peace offered here today is phony peace of wealth, power and prestige but rather it is …
C. Peace in your heart. Philippians 4:6-7 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
1. Most would say that this is unrealistic. But isn’t this just what the whole world is searching for? Wasn’t this the promise of the angel to the shepherds outside of Bethlehem 2,000 years ago? "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth PEACE, good will toward men."
2. But peace among men can only happen when all men have peace in their hearts and that can only come as a gift from God.
D. Peace in your home. How can men and women live in peace when one or the other ... or both ... do not know the God of Peace? Many marriages and homes could be saved if they only knew the God of Peace.
E. All peace is dependant on peace with God. My prayer is that you are in perfect communion with God. And how can that be? (Rom. 5:1) -- "being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
III. I PRAY THAT YOU WILL KNOW THE HEART OF CHRISTMAS - WHICH IS LOVE.
A. In Christmas we can see the fulfillment of real love. John 3:16
B. Christians are bound together by love. Jesus said, "By this shall all men know you are my disciples, if ye have love one for another."
C. The very heart of Christmas is that thing that most of those who celebrate Christmas do not have. LOVE.
1. They talk of Jesus but do not know him. They sing of His birth but are not aware of why He was born. They praise the birth of Jesus and sing with gusto, "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing," but they don’t know the essence of their song.
2. It is LOVE. It is all LOVE. Without LOVE there would be no Christmas at all.....For God so loved...
CONCLUSION. Do you now, have you ever...possessed these three gifts of Christmas, Hope, Peace, Love. Without them your Christmas is a fake. I think the whole message of hope, peace, and love is found in one passage of scripture John 14:1-6
