Don’t Miss Your Miracles Hebrews 1:1-9
Sermon by: Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church Dec. 21, 2005
*Christmas is a time for miracles...
-Gabriel’s announcement to Mary...
-Joseph’s dream of guidance to take Mary as his wife...
-The virgin birth...
-Angels appearing to the shepherds...
-The Bethlehem star...
*Christmas is a time of miracles...
-And our God still works miracles today.
*Think about it...
-A miracle may be a 1 in a million thing...
*But there are over 6 billion people in the world today
-And if only 1 in a million received a miracle today...
--There still would have been over 6,000 miracles!
*Take a look at this video clip from our Lottie Moon materials this year...
-It tells of a miracle that happened during the Tsunami last December.
-(IMB 2005 video clip...)
*Our God is a miracle worker...
-And He surely has some miracles for you...
--We can find them here in the WoG.
1. God wants to give you a miraculous revelation.
-(And we see this in vs. 1-2...)
*God speaks to us... -Now that’s a miracle!
1-And vs. 1 tells us that He speaks to us in many ways...
-God can speak to us through His creation...
A. As Psalm 19:1-3 says:
-The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork.
-Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night shows knowledge...
-There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
B. God can speak through nature, through His prophets,
*And even through people like you & me...
BI. This morning I was visiting Betty Sawyer...
And she said,
-It’s amazing how many people here at the hospital want to talk about God.
*But you see, she was the one starting the conversations...
-As she talked to people about the Lord, her Sunday School class & our church.
C. God can speak through people like me & you...
2-But the greatest way God has ever spoken is through His Son, Jesus Christ.
A. As vs. 2 says:
-He has spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds...
B. What a miracle! *God became a man!
-The One who made the worlds...
-In vs. 3, the brightness of the Father’s glory...
-The One who holds all creation together by the word of His power.
C. This is the One who came down to reveal God to us...
*God wrapped up in human flesh to speak to us...
-That’s the miracle of revelation...
D. And He still speaks today!
*Because His words have been recorded in this Book...
-And His Holy Spirit is here with us.
DI. Alexander Rostovzev is a great example of God’s revelation...
*Years ago, he was a famous actor in atheistic, Communist Russia.
-Alexander once played the role of Jesus in Moscow...
*It was a very sacrilegious play called Christ in a Tuxedo...
-He was supposed to read 2 verses from the Sermon on the Mount...
--Then take off his robe & shout,
-Give me my tuxedo & top hat!
*But as Alexander read the words,
-Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
-Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted...
--He began to tremble.
*Instead of following the script, he kept reading from Matthew 5...
-Ignoring the coughs, yells & foot-stomping from the other actors.
*Finally, Alexander remembered a verse he learned as a child & he cried out,
-Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom!
E. Before the curtain could be lowered, Alexander had trusted Jesus Christ as his Lord & Savior.
*It was a miraculous revelation! (1)
2. God wants to give you a miraculous revelation.
*And a miraculous salvation.
-(We also see this in vs. 3...)
A. Jesus purged, cleansed, washed away all of our sins...
*And notice that He did it by Himself...
-Nobody else could have done that!
--It took an absolute miracle...
B. Jesus Christ worked that miracle when He died on the Cross...
*And this miracle of salvation is for you!
-You just have to receive it by receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior & Lord.
BI. When I was getting ready for the funeral the other day...
*I came across a story that Bro. Savoie told me one time
*I am a little vague on the details...
-But it happened when Bro. Savoie was a little boy.
*There was some kind of big storage container near their house...
-I think it was probably for rice:
-Like a big metal box with a hole on top.
*One hot summer day Preacher got curious about it...
-And he dropped into the hole.
--It only took a few seconds to realize there was no way out!
*The hole was too high to reach & he was trapped...
-No one knew where he was.
*He was scared to death...
-He tried to jump up...
--But it was no use...
*And it was unbearably hot as the sun beat down on that oven.
*Bro. Savoie began to grow weak and faint...
-And he most likely would have died in that container...
*But just as he was about to black out...
-Something or someone mysteriously, miraculously lifted him out of that box.
*He had no idea how it happened...
-He only knew that God saved him...
C. Without Jesus Christ, we were just like Bro. Savoie in that container...
-Trapped, helpless, alone... --Doomed in our sins...
*But Jesus came down to rescue us!
-When He died on cross for our sins...
--He reached down to pull us to safety.
D. As Romans 5:6 says...
-When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
*And it was a miracle!
3. God wants to give you a miraculous salvation...
*And a miraculous habitation.
-(We get a glimpse of it in vs. 3)
A. Where did Jesus sit down after He died on the Cross?
*On the right hand of the Majesty on high!
-This reminds us that Jesus Christ rose again from the dead...
--And He ascended back into Heaven.
*As Phil 2:8-11 says
-Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
-Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
-That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
-And that every tongue should confess that JC is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
B. Vs. 4-6 are along the same line, because they remind us that Jesus is far above the angels...
*And vs. 8 reminds us that His Kingdom is forever!
-Then vs. 9 tells us about His overflowing joy...
C. But notice that Jesus is not alone in His Kingdom...
-He’s got some fellows...
-He’s got some companions...
-He’s got some friends...
D. And Christians, that’s us!
*We have an everlasting habitation...
-We have an eternal home in Heaven.
*That’s why in 2 Cor 5:8, Paul says:
-We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
E. What a miracle!
*Our faith in Jesus Christ takes us to a radically different destination!
EI. James Moore told the story of a Dutch pastor & his family who got into big trouble with the Nazis during WW2.
-They had been hiding Jewish people in their home to keep them safe from the Nazis...
--But eventually, they were caught & loaded into a cattle car to be taken to 1 of the horrible death camps.
*All night long, the pastor & his family rode in heartbreaking anguish...
-Jostling against one another & the other prisoners jammed in that railroad car.
--They were absolutely terrified.
*They knew they would be taken to 1 of Hitler’s death camps...
-But which one? --Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau?
*Finally, the long night ended & the train stopped...
-The doors were opened & light streamed into that tragic scene.
*They were marched out & lined up beside the railroad tracks...
-Waiting for the unspeakable pain of separation, torture & murder.
*But they discovered some amazing good news...
-Good news beyond belief!
*They discovered, in the bright morning light, that they were not in a death camp at all...
-Not in Germany at all...
--But in Switzerland!
*During the night a brave, daring soul flipped a switch...
-And sent the train to freedom in Switzerland...
--So, instead of being marched to death, they were welcomed to new life. (2)
F. Imagine their great joy!
*And that is just a tiny taste of what Jesus Christ has done for us.
-It’s a miracle!
Conclu:
*And this miracle is for you.
-God wants you to have it...
--If you will only receive it by faith in Jesus Christ.
*God wants to give you:
-A miraculous revelation.
-A miraculous salvation.
-And a miraculous habitation.
1. Adapted illustration from sermonillustrations.com - Bible, power of - J.K. Johnston, Why Christians Sin, Discovery House, 1992, p. 121.
2. Adapted illustration from sermonillustrations.com - James W. Moore, Sermon: What Do You Do With Such A Gift?
