I invite you to open your Bibles to the first
chapter of Matthew. Just a word about our Tuesday
evening service at 4 .30. There's going to be
an octet playing some traditional carols as a
part of the prayer loop, so I would encourage
you to come a few minutes early before 4 .30
in order to enjoy that special music. An atheist
was talking to a friend of his one time, was
complaining that Christians had their special
days, like Christmas and Easter, and Jews have
special holidays, like Hanukkah, Yom Kippur,
etc. And he was complaining that atheists don't
have any special days. And his friend said to
him, well, then why don't you celebrate April
1st? The record doesn't show his reply. I am
glad that we have special times to celebrate,
though, like Christmas time. Amidst the cappings
of Christmas, though, we ask the question, who
is the Christ of Christmas? Who is this Jesus
of Bethlehem? Is he someone that is a commercial
figure like we often see? Is he an irrelevant
person who belongs to a century 2 ,000 years
ago? It has no meaning today. Who is the Christ
of Christmas? To get an authentic answer to that
question, we have to go back to the biblical
record that tells us about him. We have to go
back to the Gospels. As some of you are aware,
each Gospel writer, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John, presents Jesus Christ with an identity
somewhat peculiar to his own purpose and theme
in writing his Gospels. Matthew, for example,
presents Jesus as the sovereign, as royalty.
That is his theme. Mark presents Jesus as the
servant, the one who fulfills Isaiah's picture,
the servant of the Lord, and his theme is duty,
not royalty. Luke, the beloved physician, presents
Jesus as the son of man. And this scene emphasizes
the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. While
John, in writing his gospel, speaks about Jesus
as the Son of God. He writes these things to
us, he says, that we might believe that Jesus
is the Son of God. He is the Son who's come to
reveal. He is deity come into flesh, says John.
Now in the gospels... Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John, there are three records of Christ's coming.
Each is written, again, from a little bit of
a different perspective. Although the details
vary slightly, there is no contradiction in those
records. In fact, what is said there is complementary.
You put them all together and you have a full
and complete picture of the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It is interesting that Mark...
Gospel does not record any birth narrative. There's
nothing said about Jesus coming into the world,
about Bethlehem. Why is that? Well, it's because
he is writing from the perspective of a servant.
And it is not important where a servant came
from. It is only important what he does. And
that is what Mark records. In our three services
during this Christmas season together, we're
going to study the three gospel accounts of Messiah's
first advent. And together we're going to notice
these themes and how they affect what the writers
say. Matthew, for example, presents in his narrative
in chapters 1 and 2, Jesus coming as a son. Indeed,
Jesus, who comes to reign, remember this theme,
is that of a sovereign. Luke, and we'll look
at this on Tuesday evening, Luke presents Jesus'
coming as the Savior, Christ the Lord, the one
who comes to die. And finally, John, and we'll
look at this next Sunday morning, presents in
his introduction Jesus as the Word, the Logos
of God, who has come to reveal. The Christ of
Christmas, the Jesus of Christmas, according
to Matthew's account, is the Son come to reign.
There are three important truths that are discovered
in the record of Matthew. We will not take time
to read each of these verses in detail. partly
because I'm not sure I could pronounce correctly
all of those names in the first 17 verses. But
I would like you to notice with me that there
are three important truths. One of them is found
in those first 17 verses, the first one. The
first truth is this, that he, the son, comes
from a royal lineage. You will notice that these
verses contain a genealogy. The purpose of genealogies
is to prove relationships. In the Bible, there
are some 50 different genealogies, most of them,
of course, in the Old Testament. The reason that
they are recorded, and remember that they too
are a part of the inspired, inerrant Word of
God, is so that relationships could be traced
and proven. In the introduction, which is verse
1, we see that the Lord Jesus Christ is the son
of David, the son of Abraham. And so immediately
Matthew states his relationship to David and
to Abraham. Why these two? The answer to that
seems to be because to these two men was given
a covenant. To be there were two covenants. In
each covenant there was a promise of a son, a
descendant, or a seed. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment
of those promises. The promise first given to
Abraham, and then the promise secondly given
to David. Turn with me, please, to Genesis chapter
22, where we find the final stating to Abraham
of the covenant between himself and God. Genesis
22, verse 16. By myself I have sworn, declares
the Lord, because you have done this thing, have
not withheld your son, your only son. Indeed,
I will greatly bless you. I will greatly multiply
your seed. as the stars of the heavens and as
the sand which is on the seashore, and your seed
shall possess the gate of their enemies. And
in your seed all the nations of the earth shall
be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.
You will notice the term seed used there at least
three times. You say, well, to whom does that
refer? Well, in a general sense, of course, it
refers to his descendants through his son Isaac
and his grandson Jacob. The Jewish people are
said to be as the stars of the heavens that stand
at the seashore. And there's a sense, of course,
in which it also includes his descendants through
Ishmael. Primarily, though, it refers to his
descendants through Isaac. However, we find in
the New Testament in Galatians chapter 3 and
verse 8 and then in verse 16 for sure, there
is New Testament confirmation that God in saying
this to Abraham on this occasion had one particular
descendant in mind. And Paul puts it this way
by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that
seed is Christ. Galatians 3, 16. And so Jesus
Christ is the fulfillment of the seed that was
promised to Abraham. In your seed, all the nations
of the earth shall be blessed. Meaning, of course,
that the Lord Jesus Christ would provide a salvation
available to Jew and Gentile alike. All the nations
of the earth may partake of the salvation that
he has provided. Now go with me to 2 Samuel chapter
7. Here we find a covenant between God and David.
We'll pick out two verses in this chapter to
make the point. Verse 12 of 2 Samuel 7. God says,
When your days are complete and you lie down
with your fathers, I will raise up your descendants
after you, who will come forth from you, and
I will establish his kingdom. Verse 16. And your
house and your kingdom shall endure before me
forever. Your throne shall be established forever.
Once more, who is in mind here? Well, Solomon
directly is in mind. He is the one that was raised
up to reign after David. death, but in the language
of this passage, one greater than Solomon has
to be in view. Because the kingdom of this descendant
is said to be forever. So once more, the descendant
or the seed or the son that is spoken about here
to David is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now that is why Matthew begins his gospel as
he does. commenting about the Lord Jesus Christ.
And now you may go back there. In Matthew chapter
1, verse 1, he says, The book of the genealogy
of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of
Abraham. Now the covenant that God made with
David did not guarantee that David's descendants
would always rule without interruption. Rather,
what God's covenant with David said was that
the right or the authority to rule would always
be in his family line. The Lord Jesus Christ
inherited that right to rule. Again, we have
a New Testament confirmation of that fact in
the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1, verse 32. You
will notice the genealogy then is developed beginning
in verse 2. There are really three divisions
of 14 names each. That is by design, according
to verse 17. It says, therefore, all of the generations
from Abraham to David are 14 generations. And
from David to the deportation to Babylon, 14
generations. And from the deportation to Babylon
to the time of Christ, 14 generations. Now the
question is, why? Did Matthew select 14? Because
he did select certain people. He did not list
every son and father throughout those ages. This
is a selective genealogy. And why 14? For the
answer is in the ancient practice of the Hebrews
in assigning numerical value to the letters of
names. or actually to any letters of the alphabet,
and here to the name David. According to this
practice, which is called genotria, the name
David had a numerical equivalent of 14. And so
in his design of the genealogy, emphasizing that
Jesus is the son of Abraham, the son of David,
the king, as he points out in his genealogy.
He decides to use that number 14 from David's
name and then list 14 generations in three time
periods. You will notice that the genealogy includes
four women. That is rare in a Jewish genealogy
because women were not considered to be important.
You can tell they didn't live in the 20th century.
It is especially rare considering the four women
that are chosen for mention. The first one is
Tamar. Tamar was the daughter -in -law of Judah
that made herself a prostitute, according to
the record of Genesis. And then mentioned is
Rahab, who was a Gentile who lived in the city
of Jericho. And who also was a prostitute. The
third woman to be mentioned is Ruth. Her moral
record is clean. But she was a Gentile. And by
birth, she was a Moabitess. That is, she was
a descendant of Moab. For those of you who have
studied the Bible and the book of Genesis know
who Moab was. Moab was the grandson of Lot. a
grandson produced through incest. And so the
Moabites carried that record and that reputation.
The fourth woman to be mentioned is Uriah's wife.
Her name is not given. Of course, it is Bathsheba.
She is the one who, with David, committed adultery.
Is it not interesting that four women... with
this kind of a record and reputation were chosen
by the Holy Spirit to be included in the genealogy
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, why is that?
I'm not sure of the full reason, but this much
I can tell you. There is evidence of two things.
First, the humility of the Son of God in coming
into the world and identifying with sinners like
them and like us. And secondly, it is evidence
of the grace of God in allowing women like this
to be a part of the line of the Messiah. Now,
there's a second thing that I want to take time
to note this morning, and that is that there
is a name, Jeconiah, recorded in verse 11. This
was the final king, as they counted it at least,
of Judah before they went into captivity to Babylon.
Jeremiah prophesied in his day, and in the 22nd
chapter of Jeremiah, as we record the book, there
is a curse placed upon this king and upon his
descendants. And what Jeremiah says by the word
of the Lord is that no descendant of Jeconiah
would prosper on the throne. It was impossible
from that time on for one of his descendants
to prosper on the throne. So had Jesus been the
physical descendant of that king, he could not
have come as the son to reign. He would have
been disqualified because of that God -ordained
curse upon the line of Jeconiah, who was in the
ancestry. of Joseph as it is presented here.
The genealogy that is here, as I have just said,
is that of Joseph. It is a record of the legal
descent of the Lord Jesus Christ, how it passed
from Abraham to David to Jeconiah and finally
to Joseph. He was the legal firstborn of Joseph
and therefore inherited the rights of the firstborn.
But he was not the natural son of Joseph, as
verse 16 makes it exceedingly clear. It says
unto Jacob was born Joseph, the husband of Mary,
by whom was born Jesus. The whom that you see
there in the Greek language is singular and feminine.
And of course, therefore, could not apply to
Joseph and Mary. Or to Joseph, it can apply only
to Mary herself, by whom, by Mary, was born Jesus,
who is called Christ. So Jesus Christ is the
legal descendant of Abraham and of David, even
more importantly in this context. He comes from
royal lineage. As the legal son of Joseph, he
inherits the right to rule. and who reigns. He
is qualified completely to do that. If I may
just take a moment here, I would like to say
I fail to understand how anyone can call himself
a Christian and be anti -Semitic. There are those
who try to call themselves that strange hybrid,
and yet it seems to me it is entirely contradictory.
Because one who is a Christian, He's one who
is a disciple of the Christ of Israel. He is
one who follows the Lord Jesus, who was a Jew
and a descendant of David and of Abraham. He
comes as the son of David to take up the throne
that belonged to his father. The second truth
that we see in the record of Matthew is this,
that he comes through a miraculous birth. Now,
it was important for Matthew to say something
about that because of the strange way that he
said the fact in verse 16. But he said there
needed explanation, and so now he begins to explain
that. The first thing that he does is tell us
about the relationship between Mary and Joseph.
Basically, two words summarize it. The first
one is the probe. He uses that word in verse
18. Epophel was a legal engagement. Epophel,
according to the Jewish tradition, was arranged
by the parents of the man and the woman involved.
A legal contract was drawn up between them. That
began the period of Epophel, a legal period in
which they were counted as married. and yet they
did not exercise the rights of marriage. There
was a waiting period, up to a year in length,
to prove the purity of the bride. If, in fact,
during those months in purity were found, the
marriage would be annulled. After the waiting
period was fulfilled, the groom then would come
to receive his bride at her house. and would
return with her to his own home. It was in this
waiting period, this period of disposal, that
Mary was found with child. Now there's a second
word that describes the relationship between
Mary and Joseph. It is the word cure. It is a
word that ought to describe the relationship
of every engaged couple. They reserved themselves.
until the time that their marriage was officially
approved by the community. You see, legally the
contract had already been signed by the parents.
They were now in a waiting period. And at the
end of that waiting period, publicly, the vows
would be taken. And that was important. Their
relationship was pure. They had not experienced
any sexual relationship as is made very clear
by the language. But then Matthew records for
us the crisis. Mary was found with child. Now
he tells us, of course, that it was of the Holy
Spirit. This was a miraculous conception, which
precluded, and this is the importance of the
virgin birth, which precluded the inheritance
of sin and guilt which comes from the natural
father. Because the Lord Jesus Christ had no
natural father, he did not inherit the sin and
guilt from Adam. Furthermore, the Lord Jesus
was protected from Mary's sin by the Holy Spirit
working within her womb. So the Lord Jesus Christ
did not inherit sin legally. He did not inherit
the guilt from Adam and Joseph, of course. because
he was not his father. Nor did he inherit the
sin of Mary, for he was protected from that within
Mary's womb. Now, there may be some who say,
well, I thought Mary was sinning. Was she not
immaculately conceived? The answer to that is,
of course, no. She was not conceived in such
a way. Indeed, Mary herself said that she needed
a Savior. In her words after the announcement
of her birth, or her conception, rather, the
perception within her of the Lord Jesus. She
praises God, her Savior, and she rejoices in
the grace that God has showed to her. Mary was
not conceived without sin, nor was she sinless.
She was God's instrument to bring his Son into
the world, and what a privileged position she
had. Matthew also makes it clear in verses 22
and 23 that this is all the fulfillment of Isaiah
7 .14. Behold, the virgin shall be with child,
and shall bear a son, and they shall call his
name Emmanuel. I heard a very enlightening discussion
of this last Sunday night on a television talk
program, which involved a... professor from Trinity
Evangelical Seminary, and a Jewish scholar. It
was interesting to hear the Jewish scholar trying
to worm his way around this verse in Isaiah.
The Holy Spirit makes it clear in the New Testament
that that verse does indeed apply to the conception
of the Messiah, the Christ, the Lord Jesus. Mary
is the virgin. The word in the Old Testament,
as he argued last week, can indeed refer to a
young woman of marriageable age. It can refer,
technically, to other than a virgin in Isaiah.
But when you come into the New Testament, as
the Holy Spirit writes this now in Greek, there
is another word that is used which emphasizes
the virginity. of the young lady involved. So
there can be no mistake about this whole doctrine,
if one is a student of the Word of God and is
faithful to what it says. The crisis was that
Mary was a child, that it was indeed the fulfillment
of prophecy in the work of God the Holy Spirit,
that it wasn't still a crisis for Joseph and
Mary. We see the love of Joseph and Mary. Joseph
is called in verse 19 a righteous man. And yet
he is a compulsive man as well. Now why was he
called here a righteous man? Well, because he
was an upright person. He was morally pure. He
had kept himself. And initially it appeared that
his loved one had not kept himself in such a
way. Had he gone ahead and married her? That
marriage would have implicated him as guilty.
And yet he desired to treat her with kindness.
And therefore, he desired to quietly divorce
her, according to the last divorce law of that
day. You see the point? He felt that if he married
her, it would be an acknowledgement on his part
of something he had not done. He was a righteous
man. And yet he loved her, and instead of bringing
her before the public in a scandalous sort of
manner, he desired to quietly divorce her with
a broken heart on his part, and to protect her
from public scandal. It was in the midst of this
battle within himself that he received revelation
from an angel. The angel basically told him three
things. The cause of her pregnancy. what he was
to do about it, and then the good news of what
it meant. The angel said to Joseph that this
child would come to save his people from their
sin. Joseph immediately obeyed what the angel
said. He said to him, verse 24, Joseph arose
from his sleep and did. as the angel of the Lord
commanded him and took her as his wife and kept
her a virgin until she gave birth to a son. Basically,
what Joseph did here was a violation of all of
the questions. He immediately took her instead
of waiting for the period of because of the people
killed. And he refrained after their... coming
together from the miracle relationship. Undoubtedly,
what he did here caused him to suffer with her
gossip and rumors of the community at large.
Rumors that were still present 30 years later
in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. What
we see in this text at the end of chapter 1 is
But he comes to a miraculous birth this time.
He comes to reign. He had to. One of my favorite
contemporary Christmas songs is the song by Paul
Sandberg. Asking the question, how should a king
come? Have you heard it? After describing all
the flair and announcement that could be a part
of the coming of a king. He simply said that
the king came in the virgin's womb, and there
in the manger was God incarnate. That is how
the king came. He came through a miraculous birth.
He came in a manner that people might not have
expected, but which indeed is prophesied in the
Old Testament. Now, in the next 12 verses of
our study this morning in chapter 2, we'll see
a third truth. about the son who comes to reign.
We see that he comes to a troubled world. Law
and order of the Roman government was enforced
by a terrible oppression which was despised by
the Jews. There was nothing that they longed
for anymore than deliverance from Rome. There
was a troubled time in Palestine. And there was
a despotic ruler on the throne of Israel by the
name of Herod. It is important for you to notice
that what occurs here in the coming of the Magi
occurred several months after the manger scene.
In most of our films, as well as our picture
books about the Nativity, We see the shepherds
coming, and right on their heels come the wise
men. But according to the biblical record, that
is not so. Several months transpired. Probably
a trip back to Nazareth, and then back to Bethlehem.
And there they stayed in a house. And Jesus is
not a baby anymore. He is called a child in this
part of the text. The text gives a composite
picture of what happens in these 12 verses, a
composite picture of the world as it was then
and as it still is today. Well, you see, there
are four different heart conditions that are
exposed in this narrative. The first one I would
point out is that of the Magi. A word about them
first. The Magi were Gentiles. They were likely
astrologers. They were powerful men from the
East, perhaps Parthians, which was a rival of
the Roman Empire. It was a part of the world
that Rome never quite conquered and was always
a threat to Rome. The Magi, however many there
were we do not know, were intellectuals of their
day. They were schooled in all of the science
and the religion and the philosophy of the East.
They were the ones who claimed the kings of that
day. They chose, indeed, the kings in their land.
The Magi, because part of their science involved
the study of the heavens, observed an unusual
event, what is called by Matthew a star. Now,
exactly what it was, we do not know. There have
been many guesses, but that's all any of them
are, is, rather, guesses. But there was an unusual
heavenly display of some sort that led them to
Jerusalem. It is suggested, and this seems reasonable
to me, that whatever it was that happened occurred
in the constellation of Pisces in the heavens.
That constellation... by astrologers, was often
connected with Israel. And so when this, whatever
it was, occurred in the heavens, probably in
that section of the heavens, we immediately felt
that this was a sign regarding Israel and the
arrival of a king, which was often noted by some
heavenly display, according to ancient theories.
They had knowledge of what Numbers 24, 17 records
regarding a star coming out of Jacob. So how
might they have known that? Well, you'll recall
that Daniel was taken to Babylon and was made
a member of the Magi. He was a part of the same
group in Babylon and was well respected by them
eventually, as you recall, made even the prime
minister of the land. perhaps from Daniel or
from other traveling Jewish scholars. These people
learned regarding the prophecies of the Old Testament,
and undoubtedly God led them to make the connection
so that they then went to Jerusalem in search
of the king of the Jews. Now remember in the
first place that Rome had little use for Parthia.
Now here are some of the kingmakers from Parthia
arrived. And they're seeking for the king. And
not just the king, but they're coming for the
king of the Jews. And Herod is quite upset about
that. He inquires about this. And ultimately,
the Magi arrive in Bethlehem and find the house
where Joseph and Mary and the young child were.
Indeed, once again, there was a supernatural
direction provided by God to that place. It is
with joy that they arrived in Bethlehem and with
gifts rather that were fit for a king, gold,
frankincense, and myrrh. We see in the Magi now
the heart condition of worship. They worship
the king. And so today there are those whose
hearts are led sovereignly by God to perceive
the meaning of all of these things. and are led,
therefore, to worship the king who has come to
reign. Indeed, I trust that you are among those
today who have been led by God to understand
who Jesus Christ is and why he is. He came as
a king to reign. He was rejected by his people.
He nonetheless today has a kingdom, a kingdom
in the heart of those who believe on him. at
the hands of his own people. His resurrection
from the dead by the power of God was all a part
of what God had planned to provide redemption
for mankind. The Gentiles, of course, who came
on this occasion did not recognize all of that,
but they recognized that here was one worthy
of their worship, their gold speaks of his royalty,
their frankincense of deity. Frankincense was
a sweet perfume. And then the myrrh, a spice,
a rare spice of that day, often used in embalming.
And as a number of people have pointed out, it
was interesting that even there on that occasion,
they offered him something that was symbolic
of the death that he was to die. There's a second
heart condition that we see on the narrative,
and that is of Herod. A word regarding Herod.
He was a gifted administrator. He was a powerful
orator. He was a keen ruler. But in addition
to these other positive things about him, he
was also paranoid. And his paranoia became increasingly
prominent as he got older. He was cruel and murderous,
killing some of his own children, killing his
own wife. that they should somehow usurp his
throne even after his death. He arranged in advance
so that on the day that he would die, there would
be scores and scores of Jewish leaders who would
also die. That's the kind of a man that Herod
was. And we see that revealed in his plot to
kill the infant in Bethlehem. Herod was loosely
identified with the Jews, but his real descent...
is from Esau. He was an Edomite. Now, if you
know anything about biblical history, you know
that Esau and Jacob and their descendants had
problems throughout history. So what we see here
is another example of a descendant of Esau attacking
the descendant of Jacob. But beyond that, of
course, it was a satanic plot to kill the Christ.
The heart condition that we see here is hostility.
Ted was threatened by the king of the Jews, and
he sought to kill Jesus. He would have nothing
to do with this one. Indeed, it was not just
that he ignored him, but that he sought with
anger to strike out and to kill him. And so today,
there are those who rage against the Christ.
There are those today who call themselves his
enemies and curse him and refuse, as an act of
their will, to submit to him. They're simply
following the train today of Herod. There's a
third group, a third heart condition that we
see, and this is the religious leaders. Herod
inquired of them, where is the Christ to be born?
They replied, quoting from Micah, that it would
be Bethlehem. of the land of Judah. You say,
what is wrong with that? Well, they were biblically
correct. They pointed to the right prophecy and
came up with the right answer. But their heart
condition was that of indifference. You see,
here was a group of people who knew the prophecy,
who knew the Old Testament scriptures, and yet
they did not even bother to investigate whether
this scripture was coming to pass. in their day.
How descriptive this is of so many today, who
know the story, who can tell you about the season,
but it doesn't really make any difference in
their lives. Because whatever the affairs are,
their temporal concerns have caught them up,
and they too have a hard attitude of indifference.
Perhaps that would describe you. I trust not.
There is a fourth and final group that is not
actually mentioned, but which is suggested by
the text, and in it we say a four -part attitude.
It is the mass of the people outside of Jerusalem.
The people who lived around the city, Judea.
The heart condition that I see here is that of
ignorance. It is interesting that only a few
thousand in Judea had any knowledge of the events
that were taking place. Most of the people were
ignorant of what was taking place in their very
midst. But I suggest to you today that there
are so very many who could be identified as these
four students. There are so very many whose heart
condition is that of ignorance. They do not have
knowledge. of these things they have a cultural
knowledge of christmas but that is all in a recent
letter alan george who is the president child
of angels and fellowship tells about shana who
is seven years of age and anthony they live on
the tenth floor of a project in new york city
Compared to some of their neighbors, Anthony
and Shauna are privileged. They have a father
who can pay the rent and buy a pizza once in
a while because he's a cocaine dealer. Anthony
and Shauna have other privileges. They're never
disciplined, except when they get on their parents'
nerves. Then they're beaten or thrown against
the wall. They can use foul language and drink
beer. Like all children, they see their parents
as role models. That's why they get sick from
sniffing baby powder up their noses. After all,
mom and dad's cocaine looks like that. Anthony
and Shauna know nothing about the true meaning
of sickness. Do you realize that there are boys
and girls all over the Twin Cities who are just
like Anthony and Shauna? Their social conditions
may be different, but their spiritual heart conditions
are the same. They're ignorant of the truth.
There are men and women likewise, the same way.
That's why, folks, we have a job to do at Christmas
time. That's why we reach out to our neighbors
and share the truth with them. We invite them
to come with us to church. So that by the grace
of God, they may be able to break through that
shell of cultural Christmas and see what it's
really, really all about. Jesus, for Christmas
is the sun come to rain. Someone has written,
Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem be born.
If he's not born within your heart, your life
is still forlorn. What about your heart, my friend?
Is it a nativity scene today? Has Jesus Christ
been born in your heart with faith? Your faith
in Him? You say, you don't understand what my
heart is like. It's not fit for the pure baby.
It's not fit for the Holy Savior, the risen Lord.
Neither was a manger. Do you want a manger's
life? Do you want a stable's life? Whatever the
conditions in your heart today, He would enter
in. if you have room for him. A couple weeks
ago, I heard about a fellow named Don Juan. Yes,
there really is a Don Juan. His nickname is Magic.
A year ago right now, Magic was the number one
pimp in the United States. He got between $75
,000 and $100 ,000 a week from the girls who
worked for him. He did not know what to do with
his money. He spent it on lavish jewelry. I saw
a picture of him. He had a ring of solid gold
that stood on his finger but went across his
whole hand. It said magic. He had jewels embedded
in his teeth. Do you know what else he did with
his money? He had a green and yellow Cadillac
and a green and yellow Rolls Royce. Knowing that,
the magic was involved in drugs. He took a very
powerful drug, which is often used as an animal
tranquilizer. It's becoming more and more popular
today. unfortunately it's the kind of a drug
which is used regularly will burn out a person's
brain in a matter of months magic used it for
17 years just about a year ago while he was on
one of his drug trips he had some kind of a religious
experience which he identified as being saved
he thought he had been born again Now, being
in the area of Chicago last February, he drove
up to the front of Moody Bible Institute and
got out of the arch, even if he had been there,
got out of his green and yellow Rolls Royce with
a prostitute on each arm and a full -length mint
coat that he was wearing, as well as the other
kinds of clothing. Go with that little gaudy
type of lifestyle. You have to appreciate the
conservative... ...arts at Moody Bible Institute
to understand how out of place this person looks.
But he asked for someone. He said, I have been
saved and I want to talk to somebody. So they
called... And then Dr. Raskin came down and talked
to him. Took him up to the office and began to
probe and find out what had brought him. He got
the story. And he opened the Bible to him and
led him truly to Jesus Christ. And the two prostitutes
were with him as well. Magic was immediately
concerned for the girls who worked for him. There
were 45 of them at that moment. He slammed his
fist down and said, there's the other 45 of my
girls passing here back there. He said, I'll
have them here tomorrow night in a row, right
out here for you. Dr. Asher said, no, that's
not how we do things. Since that time, Magic
has led 25 other people to Jesus Christ, almost
all of them in the profession that they call
it either way. He has memorized between 200 and
300 Bible verses. He's studying in the evening
school there and is looking forward to being
a street teacher so he can reach people like
himself. Every week he and Dr. Dicey conduct
a Bible study for a group of pimps and prostitutes
in the Chicago area, numbering between 45 and
75 people. You see my friend Jesus Christ can
be born in your heart too. And when he's born
there to reign, he'll make a difference. That's
right. Heavenly Father, I thank you for the coming
of the Son. I thank you that he came to reign,
and that he will reign today in the heart of
anyone who receives him. Father, if there be
some stranger today who does not know the meaning
of that, I pray that the Lord Jesus today would
be revealed to that one within the heart. And
may there be a reaching out by faith and a trust
in Christ that would allow him to be born within
that heart and allow that one to be born again
truly into your family. In Jesus' name.