What Would Jesus Say About Christmas?
Rev. 12:1-5
Dec. 25, 2005 FBC, Chester Mike Fogerson, Pastor
Introduction:
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; 2 and she was with child; and she cried* out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. 4 And his tail swept* away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. 5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. Rev 12:1-5 (NASB)
I The great conflict surrounding My birth.
A We see a pregnant woman, clothed in the Sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown with 12 stars.
1 Some believe the woman is either the church or Israel.
a Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." John 8:12 (NASB)
"But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. Mal 4:2 (NASB) Jesus =Son, Sun=Jesus
b And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, 28 then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29 "Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, according to Your word; 30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31 Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, and the glory of Your people Israel." Luke 2:25-32 (NASB)
c Standing on the moon
aa The moon doesn’t give off light, it reflects!
bb "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden Matt 5:14 (NASB)
cc We are not light, but reflectors of Jesus who has shined on us!
d 12 stars (12 tribes-Christ to world; 12 disciples-message of Christ to the world).
2 We also see a dragon in v. 3-4...Satan
a Stars are the angels in heaven 1/3 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Rev 12:9 (NASB)
b What were the devil & his demons doing? 4 And his tail swept* away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
aa They’re doing everything they can to stop the baby from coming to term!
bb Satan did everything he could to stop Jesus’ birth.
3 We think of the Nativity with warmth, joy, & peace, but in the heavens all hell was breaking loose.
a Ever since God promised a Redeemer, Satan had been trying to make sure the promise went unfulfilled.
aa Cain & Abel-Satan was already working
bb Abraham had two sons, Ishmael & Isaac. Shortcut for God’s plan.
cc Isaac had two sons, Esau & Jacob. Wrestled in the womb.
dd Jacob was Jesus’ great-grandpa
ee King Herod was an Edomite-a descendent of Esau!
ff Pharaoh tried to kill Moses, Joseph, David, Solomon, & many others!
b As we celebrate Christmas don’t forget the conflict that was waged in the heavens to get the Savior to earth!
4 Think how vulnerable Christ made Himself.
a Nothing as helpless as a baby-Jesus
b Jesus was lying in the arms of a woman He created!
B (IL) A preacher’s family was putting up a nativity scene in their front yard. All of them were carrying out the little statues to put in the nativity scene. Finally everything was in place-Mary, Joseph, the manger & baby, angels, shepherds, & all the barnyard animals. Then little Scott came out carrying one of his favorite toys, the figure of the fierce Tyrannosaurus Rex, king of the dinosaurs. It was one of those plastic figures that you inflate, & in comparison to the other figures it was an enormous thing, towering over them all, & certainly not something to have in a nativity scene. The dad said, "Scott, you have to take that back because it doesn’t belong there. Dinosaurs existed thousands of years before the baby Jesus, & it just doesn’t belong in a nativity scene." Little Scott insisted, so they finally put it there behind all the other figures-a fierce dinosaur hovering over the manger & everything else. The dad said, "As we stood back & looked at it, we realized that maybe that dinosaur says more than we realized. For over each of us there is this menacing character that threatens to rob us of all our joy, peace, & cheer. But Christmas reminds us that the baby in the manger is stronger than all the dinosaurs in your life or mine. And God has given us the victory through the gift of His Son."
TS: The devil was unsuccessful in: 1) preventing the birth of Christ & 2) he’ll be unsuccessful in preventing Jesus’ rule & reign.
II Jesus would tell us to be aware of the great deception involving His birth.
A The devil’s failure to stop Jesus’ birth compels him to do the next best thing. 5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.
1 Make us doubt
a Satan makes us doubt the virgin birth
b Peace
2 Also deceives us
a Immaculate Conception has deceived a multitude of people
b Immaculate Conception states that Jesus was sinless because Mary was sinless.
aa Lie! Jesus’ sinlessness came from God, not Mary
bb Immaculate Conception gives the credit to Mary (who was no different from you or me), not God
aa And coming in, he said to her, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." Luke 1:28 (NASB) Favored-grace is unmerited favor.
bb And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. Luke 1:47 (NASB) If she was sinless, why Savior.
c Now Mary is a saint, worshiped & prayed to.
3 Distracts
a Virgin birth, peace, Immaculate Conception, maybe he can get us distracted enough to take Jesus out of the center of Christmas.
B Lyrics to Santa Claus is Coming to Town
1 "You better watch out, better not cry, better not pout, I’m telling you why: Santa Claus is coming to town..." What’s up with that?
a Getting ready because Santa’s coming?
b We’d better be getting ready because King Jesus is coming to Chester one day.
2 "He’s making a list, & checking it twice ..."
a The most important list that’s ever been made (& is still being made) is the Lamb’s Book of Life.
b And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Rev 20:15 (NASB)
3 "Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice..." Good or bad? Sleep or awake?
a There’s only one who knows all that!
b Omniscient & all-knowing Savior Jesus Christ
4 "So be good for goodness sake?"
a Jesus said, "There is none good but one, that is God."
b Don’t be good for goodness’ sake, but for God’s.
C (IL) In Coral Spring, FL a substitute teacher went into a kindergarten class last week and was reading them a holiday storybook. The group began discussing the existence of Santa Claus, and she told the class he wasn’t real. Parents want the substitute banned from the classroom and disciplined. One parent was quoted as saying, "I feel like no matter what I do or say now, the seed of doubt has been planted in my daughter’s head. I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to undo it, and Christmas is everything in my family." School officials hired a Santa Claus, complete will a natural full white beard to go into the classroom and make up for what the teacher did.
D I think that’s probably enough of all that, but if you’ve got eyes to see and ears to hear then you ought to realize that although Satan couldn’t destroy the Christ child, he’s done an awfully good job of deceiving the world about him.
Closing:
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Respectfully,
Mike Fogerson
