MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
TEXT: Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:21-23, 2:1-15; Luke 2:8-20
Last Tuesday I turned on our TV to a Fox Network program, to find a panel celebrating the 3rd Annual lighting of their 50’ Christmas tree.
As some of you may know, it is a metal tree, & last year its decoration, beside its many colored lights, were made of brightly painted cardboard. Then during the week, somebody climbed up & set the cardboard decorations on fire.
Well, this year their tree is adorned with fireproof decorations. And they were also pleased that for the 3rd year they had set up & deco-rated their tree before the more famous & taller tree in Rockefeller Center. The Rockefeller Center tree this year will be 80’ tall & will be set up this Wednesday.
The TV panel then turned their conversation to the question, “When should Christmas music & advertising start – before Thanksgiving or after?” One panelist answered, “On the Sunday after Thanksgiving.” Another said, “During the first full week of Dec.” There were several other ideas, & then one panelist said, “On Dec.15th.”
Personally, I was surprised that nobody mentioned that some stores have “Christmas in July” sales.
And I’m sure that as you look around this week you will see more & more signs of Christmas. That is what I want us to consider this morning – “Signs of Christmas.”
God was in the business of providing signs from the very beginning. After the flood, when the rainbow appeared, God told Noah it was a sign that He would not flood the entire earth like that again. So whenever we see a rainbow, that sign reminds us of His promise.
Through Moses & Aaron God gave very dramatic signs to Pharaoh to force him to set the Israelites free. And in the wilderness during the next 40 years God provided multiple signs of His power & guidance & of His love for His people.
I. PROPHECY
A. He gave the Prophets (& later the Apostles) the ability to perform signs & wonders. Since God is in the business of giving people signs, it makes sense that he would give a sign when it came to the most important birth in human history.
Isaiah 7:14 says, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child & will give birth to a son, & will call him Immanuel."
A prophecy is a foretelling of a future event. A Prophet was given insight regarding something previously unknown. The fulfillment of prophecy would be proof & a sign that God could be believed & trusted.
Sometimes a prophecy was fulfilled soon after it was made. Sometimes the fulfillment was hundreds of years later, like this one. This prophecy was written 700 years before it was fulfilled.
B. We are familiar with the angel telling Mary what was going to happen, & her response. But when Joseph found out Mary was pregnant, he thought she had been unfaithful to him. Then an angel appeared to him, assuring him that Mary had done no wrong.
Matt. 1:21-23 tells us the angel told Joseph, "She will give birth to a son, & you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins”
“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child & will give birth to a son, & they will call him Immanuel” - which means, “God with us”. So both Mary & Joseph received signs that confirmed what they were told.
There are other prophecies concerning the birth of Jesus. When the Magi came to King Herod, they told him they were there to worship the newborn king. This disturbed Herod, so he asked the chief priests & teachers of the law where the Christ was to be born.
Matt. 2:5-6, “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: ‘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.’”
This prophecy is from Micah 5:2. Interestingly, there's an added line at the end of this verse in Micah that reads, "whose origins are from old, from ancient times." Some translations have, 'from eternity' or 'from everlasting' which raises the question, “How could there be someone coming in the future who has ancient origins?”
But it makes sense when you're talking about Jesus. His birth was not his beginning. It was his beginning in human form, but Jesus existed long prior - from the very beginning.
John 1:1-2 says, "In the beginning was the Word, & the Word was with God, & the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” Okay, but how do we know that Jesus is the Word?
John goes on to say in vs. 14, "The Word became flesh & made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One & Only, who came from the Father, full of grace & truth” Another sign that Jesus is the promised Christ.
C. How about one more birth prophecy? Herod told the Wise Men to come back & tell him where Jesus was so he could go & worship him. But that was a trick & the Wise Men were told in a dream not to go back to Herod, so they left another way.
When Herod found this out he was furious & ordered that all males two years old & under in Bethlehem be killed, hoping to get rid of this 'rival king'.
But before that happened, an angel came to Joseph in a dream & told him to take Mary & Jesus to Egypt & stay there until he was told to come back.
Matt. 2:14-15, "So he got up, took the child & his mother during the night & left for Egypt, 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.” This prophecy is found in Hosea 11:1.
D. There are many more Messianic prophecies. Bible scholars say there are at least 300 prophecies in the O.T. concerning Jesus & he fulfilled them all. That's a lot of signs; that's a lot of proof. These fulfilled prophecies would be signs of confirmation that Jesus was the one the Jews had been waiting for all these years.
And anyone who would accuse Jesus of orchestrating events to coincide with prophecy would be silenced when it came to the birth prophecies. Obviously Jesus couldn't control where he would be born or that he would end up in Egypt not long thereafter.
Yet there were plenty of people, mainly the religious leaders, who would not allow themselves to see the signs for what they were. They had plenty of reasons to believe that Jesus was the Savior who was to come into the world.
What about us? Will you be convinced by the signs that Jesus is truly the one & only Savior?
ILL. A number of years ago, Peter W. Stoner & Robert C. Newman wrote a book entitled Science Speaks. It was based on the science of probability & vouched for by the American Scientific Affiliation.
It set out the odds of any one man in history fulfilling even 8 of the 60 major prophecies (& 270 details in them) fulfilled by the life of Jesus. The probability that Jesus could have fulfilled even 8 such prophecies would be 1 in 100 quadrillions (100,000,000,000,000,000). That's 1 with 17 zeros after it.
Stoner claims that if you had that many silver dollars it would be enough to cover the face of the entire state of Texas two feet deep.
The author of the article wrote, "I've been to Texas. Who in his right mind would suppose that a blindfolded man, heading out of Dallas by foot in any direction, would be able, on his very first attempt, to pick up one specifically marked silver dollar out of that many?"
SUM. I think that would confirm it. The signs are there to provide the evidence that Jesus is the only one who could be the fulfillment of prophecy.
II. THE BABY IN THE MANGER
Luke 2:8-20 says, "There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, & the glory of the Lord shone around them, & they were terrified.
“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
“This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths & lying in a manger” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God & saying, “Glory to God in the highest, & on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
“When the angels had left them & gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem & see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off & found Mary & Joseph, & the baby, who was lying in the manger.
“When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, & all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things & pondered them in her heart.
“The shepherds returned, glorifying & praising God for all the things they had heard & seen, which were just as they had been told."
A. We see their first reaction was fear. Not fear over the announcement but fear over the angels appearing. In fact, it says the shepherds were terrified. The way the Greek reads it signifies being seized with a mixture of reverent fear & awe.
And who wouldn't be? it's not like angelic appearances were commonplace. In fact, God had pretty much been silent for the previous 400 years, so I'm sure this came as quite a shock to them.
Not only because of what they were seeing but also because it was happening to them. Shepherds were certainly not considered to be in the upper echelon of society.
An angelic appearance would've been expected to happen to the religious leaders but not to a bunch of shepherds. This was the greatest announcement in the history of mankind, & it was given to those least likely to receive it.
The angel calms them down & tells them not to be afraid. He gives them the good news. "A Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."
That's the good news that will turn our fear - fear of trouble, fear of the unknown, fear of death into joy - joy of salvation, joy of the presence & power of the Lord, joy of a future inheritance in heaven.
B. Then we see that the angels gave the shepherds a sign. They would find a baby wrapped in cloths & lying in a manger. That would be a distinct sign. You wouldn't normally find a newborn in a smelly stable. So this sign would be unmistakable.
God is in the business of providing unmistakable signs. Unfortunately, some people pass God's signs off as just some weird coincidence.
But the shepherds didn't do that. They believed & were excited. "Let's go to Bethlehem & see this thing that has happened ". Notice they didn't say, 'let's go see if it's true'. They said, 'this thing that has happened'.
They didn't need the sign to believe. The sign was a confirmation. You'll see this principle in other places. When the disciples asked Jesus for a sign, it was to understand something, or to know what to look for regarding what they would experience.
The religious leaders asked for signs out of skepticism & unbelief. Asking for a sign when we need clarification is one thing, but demanding a sign in order for God to prove Himself is not good.
The shepherds believed the angel, followed the sign & saw the evidence. Because they did this, they experienced a joyous event that undoubtedly changed their lives forever. Those who ignore the signs miss out on the joy that would change their lives forever too.
ILL. Alan Perkins said, “Although there is truly nothing more desirable than knowing Christ, many people just can’t see it. Their eyes haven’t been opened. They look into the manger, & they don’t see a king. They don’t see the Savior of the World. They don’t see “the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace”.
All they can see is a baby, an ordinary human being. And so, they pass by the child in the manger & instead seek after the presents.
INVITATION: Which do you value more, the toys & trinkets of this life that will eventually crumble into dust, or a relationship with Jesus Christ that will last forever?
Do you want to find what you're looking for? Follow the signs to Jesus.
(This message has been adapted from an excellent message, “Christmas Signs”, contributed by Derrick Tuper to Sermon Central.)
