WEBVTT 00:00:00.780 --> 00:00:05.400 A challenge in any group discussion is to draw 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:09.960 out the normally quiet ones. The danger, of course, 00:00:10.099 --> 00:00:14.439 is that the more vocal participants will dominate 00:00:14.439 --> 00:00:18.120 and preclude others from joining in. But let's 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:21.739 face it, by personality, some of us are more 00:00:21.739 --> 00:00:25.239 naturally reticent about opening up in group 00:00:25.239 --> 00:00:29.570 situations than others. and yet what those who 00:00:29.570 --> 00:00:33.990 are more quiet think or feel is just as important 00:00:33.990 --> 00:00:38.390 as what anyone else thinks or feels. Perhaps 00:00:38.390 --> 00:00:43.109 you're that kind of a person. Today in our study 00:00:43.109 --> 00:00:45.509 of God's Word and our look at the meaning of 00:00:45.509 --> 00:00:49.409 Christmas, we want to look at it from the perspective 00:00:49.409 --> 00:00:53.689 of the quiet member of the Trinity, the one who 00:00:53.689 --> 00:00:59.929 is active and involved in the story and yet who 00:00:59.929 --> 00:01:04.109 is not as talked about often as God the Father 00:01:04.109 --> 00:01:09.010 and God the Son. The Holy Spirit is seldom considered 00:01:09.010 --> 00:01:12.670 in the Christmas story. We're going to begin 00:01:12.670 --> 00:01:15.390 today with a text we have partially read earlier 00:01:15.390 --> 00:01:17.870 in the service, but we'll read it again in Matthew 00:01:17.870 --> 00:01:24.230 chapter 1, beginning in verse 18. Now the birth 00:01:24.230 --> 00:01:28.599 of Jesus Christ was as follows. When his mother 00:01:28.599 --> 00:01:33.239 Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they 00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:36.219 came together she was found to be with child 00:01:36.219 --> 00:01:41.219 by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph, her husband, 00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:44.480 being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:49.159 her, desired to put her away secretly. In other 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:53.200 words, he desired to end their legal engagement 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:57.859 quietly rather than publicly. as he might have, 00:01:58.340 --> 00:02:02.280 which could have resulted, by the law, in her 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:07.519 stoning. She could have been killed. Rather, 00:02:07.540 --> 00:02:10.360 he decided to do it in a quiet way because of 00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:14.020 his great love yet for Mary. But when he had 00:02:14.020 --> 00:02:16.819 considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord 00:02:16.819 --> 00:02:20.759 appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son 00:02:20.759 --> 00:02:24.259 of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your 00:02:24.259 --> 00:02:27.740 wife. For that which has been conceived in her 00:02:27.740 --> 00:02:31.120 is of the Holy Spirit, and she shall bear a son, 00:02:31.219 --> 00:02:33.560 and you shall call his name Jesus, for it is 00:02:33.560 --> 00:02:36.319 he who will save his people from their sins. 00:02:37.539 --> 00:02:40.800 Now all this took place that what was spoken 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:43.840 by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, 00:02:44.199 --> 00:02:47.740 saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:51.379 and shall bear a son, and they shall call his 00:02:51.379 --> 00:02:55.009 name Emmanuel. which translated means God with 00:02:55.009 --> 00:02:58.650 us. And Joseph arose from his sleep and did as 00:02:58.650 --> 00:03:01.590 the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took 00:03:01.590 --> 00:03:05.969 her as his wife, and kept her a virgin, until 00:03:05.969 --> 00:03:09.830 she gave birth to a son. And he called his name 00:03:09.830 --> 00:03:15.169 Jesus. The meaning of Christmas to God the Holy 00:03:15.169 --> 00:03:19.229 Spirit would include at least three aspects. 00:03:20.129 --> 00:03:24.120 It would include his prophecies, His power and 00:03:24.120 --> 00:03:27.120 His person. Those are the three lines of thought 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:28.939 we're going to follow this morning, and I invite 00:03:28.939 --> 00:03:31.520 you to write down those key words so that you 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:35.439 can follow along more easily with me. The meaning 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:37.960 of Christmas to God the Holy Spirit would in 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:42.719 the first place include the thought of His prophecies, 00:03:42.979 --> 00:03:47.080 for His prophecies were fulfilled. Excuse me. 00:03:48.419 --> 00:03:51.199 In calling the Holy Spirit, as I did earlier, 00:03:51.469 --> 00:03:55.810 the quiet member of the Trinity. I am not at 00:03:55.810 --> 00:03:59.849 all suggesting that he has had nothing to do 00:03:59.849 --> 00:04:05.289 or to say in ages past. Indeed, the Holy Spirit, 00:04:05.490 --> 00:04:07.930 like each member of the Trinity, has been deeply 00:04:07.930 --> 00:04:11.569 involved in every aspect of creation and redemption. 00:04:14.030 --> 00:04:17.389 But I'm thinking today particularly of the Holy 00:04:17.389 --> 00:04:22.629 Spirit in his role as the author of Scripture. 00:04:26.610 --> 00:04:29.050 Human vessels were employed by the Holy Spirit 00:04:29.050 --> 00:04:34.750 as his instruments or his channels by which to 00:04:34.750 --> 00:04:41.089 reveal the mind of God. Peter says that holy 00:04:41.089 --> 00:04:47.870 men spoke for God as they were born along by 00:04:47.870 --> 00:04:52.129 the Holy Spirit. As they were carried along, 00:04:52.129 --> 00:04:54.910 is another way to say it, by the Holy Spirit. 00:04:55.910 --> 00:04:59.990 That gives us a hint, at least, as to that work 00:04:59.990 --> 00:05:03.209 of the Holy Spirit that we call the work of inspiration. 00:05:05.389 --> 00:05:10.889 The Holy Spirit did not dictate God's mind into 00:05:10.889 --> 00:05:14.350 the minds of people, so that what they wrote 00:05:14.350 --> 00:05:17.449 was dictated to them as the Word of God, like 00:05:17.550 --> 00:05:21.110 an employer might dictate a letter through his 00:05:21.110 --> 00:05:25.389 secretary. That is not how he did it. But rather 00:05:25.389 --> 00:05:29.149 the Holy Spirit, through the gracious work of 00:05:29.149 --> 00:05:34.949 superintendency, oversaw the human authors so 00:05:34.949 --> 00:05:38.009 that as they wrote what they wrote out of the 00:05:38.009 --> 00:05:42.350 context of their own personalities, what they 00:05:42.350 --> 00:05:47.000 wrote were the very thoughts and the very words 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:52.100 that God wanted them to use. He guided and guarded 00:05:52.100 --> 00:05:55.819 the writers of Scripture so that what you and 00:05:55.819 --> 00:05:58.319 I have in our hands today in which we call the 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:02.800 Bible contains propositional statements that 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:07.860 reveal God Himself to us. The Holy Spirit is 00:06:07.860 --> 00:06:12.509 the author of the Scriptures. Now, in the Bible, 00:06:12.589 --> 00:06:14.889 there are different kinds of literature, as you 00:06:14.889 --> 00:06:19.250 may know. There is history, for example. A great 00:06:19.250 --> 00:06:22.870 deal of the Bible is historical. There is also 00:06:22.870 --> 00:06:28.769 poetry. There are epistles. And there is prophecy. 00:06:31.110 --> 00:06:34.209 Prophecy, in the sense that I'm using the term, 00:06:34.430 --> 00:06:41.439 is the prediction of events or persons. Yet future 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:45.079 from the time of the writer. In other words, 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:48.560 some prophecy has been fulfilled from our perspective, 00:06:49.379 --> 00:06:52.939 but prophecy to be prophecy was yet future to 00:06:52.939 --> 00:06:57.399 the writer as he penned the words. All of these 00:06:57.399 --> 00:07:01.800 prophecies are related in some way to God's program 00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:06.519 in Christ, revealing to us the person or the 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:11.620 work of Messiah. Prophecy actually is one of 00:07:11.620 --> 00:07:15.519 the great evidences of the Bible's supernatural 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:19.959 origin and the existence of a living, personal 00:07:19.959 --> 00:07:25.079 God who transcends time. God is able to reveal 00:07:25.079 --> 00:07:28.040 to a prophet living here what will happen there, 00:07:28.459 --> 00:07:31.300 because God Himself transcends time. He is apart 00:07:31.300 --> 00:07:36.699 from time. If you are interested in prophecy, 00:07:36.699 --> 00:07:41.230 by the way, and how It gives evidence to the 00:07:41.230 --> 00:07:43.449 authenticity and the authority of the Word of 00:07:43.449 --> 00:07:45.889 God. One of the fine reference works you might 00:07:45.889 --> 00:07:47.850 want to get your hands on, if you haven't seen 00:07:47.850 --> 00:07:51.009 it, is the book by Josh McDowell, out now a number 00:07:51.009 --> 00:07:53.490 of years, called Evidence That Demands a Verdict. 00:07:53.970 --> 00:07:56.709 In fact, there are two volumes to that. And if 00:07:56.709 --> 00:07:58.110 you're interested in this sort of thing, you 00:07:58.110 --> 00:08:04.389 will find compelling evidence regarding the authority 00:08:04.389 --> 00:08:10.100 that prophecy gives to the Bible. A good deal 00:08:10.100 --> 00:08:12.759 of prophecy, all of which came by the Holy Spirit, 00:08:12.899 --> 00:08:17.199 I remind you, deals with the Christmas event 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:21.279 that is Christ's first coming. In fact, there 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:27.120 are over 300 specific prophecies from the Old 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:31.720 Testament that were fulfilled in Christ's first 00:08:31.720 --> 00:08:36.059 coming. Peter Stoner, who wrote a book called 00:08:36.059 --> 00:08:41.330 Science Speaks, dealt with only eight of them 00:08:41.330 --> 00:08:44.669 in some research that he did. One of the eight 00:08:44.669 --> 00:08:49.909 included Christ's birth at Bethlehem. He calculated, 00:08:49.970 --> 00:08:54.429 based upon these eight specific prophecies, the 00:08:54.429 --> 00:08:59.029 odds that these eight prophecies could be fulfilled 00:08:59.029 --> 00:09:06.549 in one person. Are you with me? He calculated 00:09:06.549 --> 00:09:11.409 the probabilities that only eight of the three 00:09:11.409 --> 00:09:15.850 hundred, but only eight of the prophecies, could 00:09:15.850 --> 00:09:21.970 be fulfilled in one person. And the results of 00:09:21.970 --> 00:09:26.090 his research indicate that the probability is 00:09:26.090 --> 00:09:32.950 one in one hundred quadrillion. That just these 00:09:32.950 --> 00:09:37.720 eight prophecies could be fulfilled in one person. 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:44.019 You say, how much is a quadrillion? That's about 00:09:44.019 --> 00:09:48.600 half of our national debt. No. We haven't gotten 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:50.980 quite that far yet, but we're learning all these 00:09:50.980 --> 00:09:55.340 new terms like trillions and quadrillions is 00:09:55.340 --> 00:09:59.200 what comes next. It's hard to visualize what 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:03.850 a quadrillion is. It's a lot of zeros. But perhaps 00:10:03.850 --> 00:10:07.110 we can illustrate it the way he does by saying 00:10:07.110 --> 00:10:11.690 that if you were to place silver dollars across 00:10:11.690 --> 00:10:18.090 the whole state of Texas, two feet deep, that 00:10:18.090 --> 00:10:25.610 would be about 100 quadrillion. Then let's suppose 00:10:25.610 --> 00:10:27.730 that you took one of those silver dollars and 00:10:27.730 --> 00:10:32.590 marked it and hit it. somewhere out there in 00:10:32.590 --> 00:10:34.210 the middle of the state of Texas and all those 00:10:34.210 --> 00:10:37.629 silver dollars. And you sent a blindfolded man 00:10:37.629 --> 00:10:41.389 out to find it. The chances that he would pick 00:10:41.389 --> 00:10:46.990 that one are the same that those eight prophecies 00:10:46.990 --> 00:10:48.929 from the Old Testament could be fulfilled in 00:10:48.929 --> 00:10:54.710 one person. It could not be manufactured. It 00:10:54.710 --> 00:10:59.179 had to be supernaturally overseen. And so, as 00:10:59.179 --> 00:11:02.980 we think about the meaning of Christmas to God 00:11:02.980 --> 00:11:05.539 the Holy Spirit, we have to start here. His prophecies 00:11:05.539 --> 00:11:07.899 were fulfilled. That's what it means to him. 00:11:08.940 --> 00:11:11.240 Now, what prophecies were fulfilled? Well, we 00:11:11.240 --> 00:11:13.879 see one of them here in the text we read. The 00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:18.659 virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 7 -14 is 00:11:18.659 --> 00:11:22.559 quoted. Behold, the virgin shall be with child 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:25.840 and shall bear a son, and they shall call his 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:30.120 name Emmanuel. That specific prophecy regarding 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:34.299 the Messiah, says Matthew, is fulfilled in Jesus 00:11:34.299 --> 00:11:38.480 Christ. If you let your eyes rest on chapter 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:42.080 2, you notice again in verse 6 a quotation from 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:46.320 the Old Testament. Hear from Micah, the book 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:49.340 of Micah, chapter 5, verse 2, where it says, 00:11:49.460 --> 00:11:54.159 In you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:56.929 least among the leaders of Judah. For out of 00:11:56.929 --> 00:11:59.450 you shall come forth a ruler who will shepherd 00:11:59.450 --> 00:12:04.610 my people Israel." In other words, the prophecy 00:12:04.610 --> 00:12:07.149 was given hundreds of years before Jesus was 00:12:07.149 --> 00:12:10.809 born that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem 00:12:10.809 --> 00:12:15.230 of Judah. And Matthew accurately records that 00:12:15.230 --> 00:12:19.309 was fulfilled. And again at the end of chapter 00:12:19.309 --> 00:12:22.409 2, you see another prophecy, this time from Jeremiah 00:12:22.409 --> 00:12:27.500 31 and 15. regarding the death of the young in 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:31.600 Bethlehem. A voice was heard in Ramah weeping 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:34.860 in great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children. 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:37.940 And she refused to be comforted because they 00:12:37.940 --> 00:12:43.299 were no more. And Matthew says this was the fulfillment 00:12:43.299 --> 00:12:46.480 of Jeremiah's prophecy. What happened when Herod 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:48.980 commanded the death of the young in the city 00:12:48.980 --> 00:12:55.220 of Bethlehem? And so we see wonderfully the fulfillment 00:12:55.220 --> 00:12:57.779 of prophecy in the coming of Jesus Christ. And 00:12:57.779 --> 00:13:00.159 we've only looked at three here in this immediate 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:07.200 context, but there are over 300 of them. A hundred 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:09.759 times more prophecies than we've looked at this 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:12.580 morning that are fulfilled in the first coming 00:13:12.580 --> 00:13:15.639 of Jesus Christ. And so when the Holy Spirit 00:13:15.639 --> 00:13:17.500 celebrates Christmas, one of the things that 00:13:17.500 --> 00:13:20.179 He celebrates is the fulfillment of prophecy. 00:13:20.919 --> 00:13:25.259 And you and I can do the same. And then I believe 00:13:25.259 --> 00:13:28.179 the Holy Spirit, in regard to the meaning of 00:13:28.179 --> 00:13:33.580 Christmas to him, rejoices in that his power, 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:38.240 his power was manifested. And we see this in 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:40.840 the virgin birth, which again is mentioned in 00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:43.940 the text that we've looked at. The virgin birth 00:13:43.940 --> 00:13:47.059 of Jesus Christ. Let me say a word about this 00:13:47.059 --> 00:13:50.899 matter of virginity. That is a word that is actually 00:13:50.899 --> 00:13:58.070 looked upon in our day with disdain If someone 00:13:58.070 --> 00:14:05.789 is a virgin That is a disgrace to a lot of people 00:14:05.789 --> 00:14:10.730 in our world They would say a person who claimed 00:14:10.730 --> 00:14:14.009 to be a virgin and may I remind you that that 00:14:14.009 --> 00:14:18.750 is not a feminine word That is as masculine as 00:14:18.750 --> 00:14:23.580 it is feminine That when a person claims to be 00:14:23.580 --> 00:14:28.080 a virgin, there's unbelief in our world. Why? 00:14:28.120 --> 00:14:32.899 How? Well, that's unhealthy. It's impossible, 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:40.580 they say. But I remind you that virginity was, 00:14:41.620 --> 00:14:48.679 is, and always will be God's standard for the 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:55.350 unmarried. We're talking about sexual abstinence. 00:14:55.870 --> 00:15:00.590 Virginity is very positive because virginity 00:15:00.590 --> 00:15:05.470 produces freedom from guilt, which a lot of people 00:15:05.470 --> 00:15:08.570 have to carry around with them. Furthermore, 00:15:08.649 --> 00:15:13.350 it is healthy because virginity gives freedom 00:15:13.350 --> 00:15:17.950 from anxiety about disease, not the least of 00:15:17.950 --> 00:15:26.220 which is AIDS. With regard to virginity, once 00:15:26.220 --> 00:15:32.580 it is given away, it cannot be reclaimed. It 00:15:32.580 --> 00:15:37.759 is impossible. Now I say that gently because 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:41.799 I know that that can be devastating to someone 00:15:41.799 --> 00:15:46.320 who has improperly, prematurely given that gift 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:49.879 away. To understand that it is something that 00:15:49.879 --> 00:15:52.379 cannot be brought back, that cannot be reclaimed, 00:15:52.740 --> 00:15:58.360 can be devastating. But I want you to know that 00:15:58.360 --> 00:16:03.299 Jesus Christ forgives. He forgives sexual sin 00:16:03.299 --> 00:16:09.639 like He forgives any other sin. He cannot restore 00:16:09.639 --> 00:16:14.580 virginity, but He can restore purity based upon 00:16:14.580 --> 00:16:19.169 His cleansing and forgiveness. And so if you 00:16:19.169 --> 00:16:24.309 are one of those today who cannot claim virginity, 00:16:25.350 --> 00:16:31.210 let me exhort you to claim purity by the confession 00:16:31.210 --> 00:16:36.549 and repentance of your sin sexually and claiming 00:16:36.549 --> 00:16:40.149 the forgiveness of Jesus Christ and determining 00:16:40.149 --> 00:16:45.129 by His grace in your life to live from this point 00:16:45.129 --> 00:16:51.990 on purely. The engagement ring, by the way, does 00:16:51.990 --> 00:16:57.429 not give license to sexual intimacy. Some couples 00:16:57.429 --> 00:16:59.830 assume that that is the case, but it is not so, 00:16:59.889 --> 00:17:02.769 and Joseph and Mary are good examples that prove 00:17:02.769 --> 00:17:07.230 that that is not so. For they were legally engaged 00:17:07.230 --> 00:17:10.609 and yet had never come together until there was 00:17:10.609 --> 00:17:14.910 the public ceremony, setting them apart as husband 00:17:14.910 --> 00:17:19.559 and wife. And that is God's plan. Sexual intimacy 00:17:19.559 --> 00:17:23.680 is to be reserved for marriage. Now it is in 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:28.660 that context of virginity that we come here to 00:17:28.660 --> 00:17:32.500 this second work of the Holy Spirit as we think 00:17:32.500 --> 00:17:35.299 about the meaning of Christmas to him. His power 00:17:35.299 --> 00:17:38.740 is manifested in the virgin birth, a miracle. 00:17:40.339 --> 00:17:44.099 The virgin birth was essential to Christ's coming 00:17:44.099 --> 00:17:50.039 as genuine man. but one who was free from imputed 00:17:50.039 --> 00:17:55.099 sin and a sinful nature. The virgin birth was 00:17:55.099 --> 00:18:00.019 essential. He had to be human in every respect 00:18:00.019 --> 00:18:04.279 that he might empathize, identify, and finally 00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:09.470 sacrifice himself for the human race. But he 00:18:09.470 --> 00:18:12.650 of necessity had to be born by a means other 00:18:12.650 --> 00:18:16.069 than the natural means involving a man and a 00:18:16.069 --> 00:18:21.390 woman. Because there is sin transmitted in that, 00:18:21.410 --> 00:18:26.009 in God's eyes. David said, in sin my mother conceived 00:18:26.009 --> 00:18:31.529 me. Not that he was born sinfully in a manner 00:18:31.529 --> 00:18:34.309 that involved some kind of sexual looseness. 00:18:34.509 --> 00:18:36.930 But he was simply indicating the fact that even 00:18:36.930 --> 00:18:40.630 in his mother's womb he had inherited a sinful 00:18:40.630 --> 00:18:45.250 nature. Therefore, Jesus Christ had to be born 00:18:45.250 --> 00:18:52.329 uniquely to avoid that. Now, his name, Emmanuel, 00:18:53.390 --> 00:18:55.589 and by the way, that's not so much a name as 00:18:55.589 --> 00:18:58.730 we think of that term, but a description or a 00:18:58.730 --> 00:19:01.809 characterization of him, because the name means 00:19:01.809 --> 00:19:07.099 God with us. Emmanuel stresses the deity of this 00:19:07.099 --> 00:19:12.420 one who is involved in the birth. We ask the 00:19:12.420 --> 00:19:15.259 question, how was the virgin birth accomplished? 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:20.779 Well, we do not know how, and we cannot say how 00:19:20.779 --> 00:19:23.160 it was accomplished because God has not told 00:19:23.160 --> 00:19:27.779 us, except that she was with child of the Holy 00:19:27.779 --> 00:19:33.859 Spirit. That is impossible apart from a miracle. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:41.339 Now it is true in some lore forms of life, reproduction 00:19:41.339 --> 00:19:45.539 is possible without the participation of the 00:19:45.539 --> 00:19:53.319 male. But it is impossible in humans, whether 00:19:53.319 --> 00:20:00.730 naturally or artificially. Jesus Christ was supernaturally 00:20:00.730 --> 00:20:07.950 conceived within Mary's womb. Now there are some 00:20:07.950 --> 00:20:12.410 who say that God created the egg, the embryo, 00:20:13.509 --> 00:20:16.690 and supernaturally put it into Mary. I disagree 00:20:16.690 --> 00:20:19.170 with that because that again separates him from 00:20:19.170 --> 00:20:23.309 her humanity, which was very important. He had 00:20:23.309 --> 00:20:30.430 to be truly her child. And so he was conceived 00:20:30.430 --> 00:20:35.769 within her womb. But then there was another miracle 00:20:35.769 --> 00:20:38.289 that took place by the Holy Spirit. For the Holy 00:20:38.289 --> 00:20:42.490 Spirit protected the humanity of the Lord Jesus 00:20:42.490 --> 00:20:48.490 from Mary's sin. So he was conceived without 00:20:48.490 --> 00:20:51.690 father and then protected within his mother's 00:20:51.690 --> 00:20:55.569 womb by the Holy Spirit. So that that holy thing 00:20:55.569 --> 00:20:57.789 that would be born of her would be called the 00:20:57.789 --> 00:21:02.130 Son of God As the angel told Mary and recorded 00:21:02.130 --> 00:21:06.569 in Luke chapter 2 So when the Holy Spirit thinks 00:21:06.569 --> 00:21:10.609 of Christmas, he thinks of his power being manifested 00:21:10.609 --> 00:21:17.549 and it was it was But then the Holy Spirit as 00:21:17.549 --> 00:21:20.109 he thinks of Christmas and its meaning to him 00:21:22.029 --> 00:21:26.990 would surely realize this too, that in Christmas 00:21:26.990 --> 00:21:32.930 we see His person hidden. The person of the Holy 00:21:32.930 --> 00:21:37.589 Spirit is hidden. Always, even in these Christmas 00:21:37.589 --> 00:21:39.890 texts that we're dealing with in this season, 00:21:40.509 --> 00:21:44.509 the central person is Jesus Christ. The Holy 00:21:44.509 --> 00:21:49.230 Spirit never seeks to promote Himself. He only 00:21:49.230 --> 00:21:55.779 seeks to lift up Christ. The Holy Spirit is modest. 00:21:56.940 --> 00:22:02.119 He is unpretentious. He is unassuming. He keeps 00:22:02.119 --> 00:22:07.640 Himself always in the background and puts Jesus 00:22:07.640 --> 00:22:12.920 in the foreground. And Jesus said the Holy Spirit 00:22:12.920 --> 00:22:16.440 would come after His ascension back to heaven. 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:22.000 And would He speak of Himself? No. Jesus said, 00:22:22.140 --> 00:22:26.319 He will speak of me. He will continue to reveal 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:30.240 me to you. You see, the Holy Spirit is always 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:35.279 in the role of an implementer, an executor, an 00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:40.359 equipper, an enabler. But He is never the headliner. 00:22:41.740 --> 00:22:45.980 He is never the principle. He is never the center 00:22:45.980 --> 00:22:51.539 of attention. He seeks to glorify Christ but 00:22:51.539 --> 00:22:57.480 shuns attention to himself. And so as we look 00:22:57.480 --> 00:23:00.700 at the beautiful Christmas story, we observe 00:23:00.700 --> 00:23:04.400 that while the Holy Spirit is quietly doing his 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:08.400 miraculous work, he is nonetheless hiding himself 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:12.420 in the narrative so that nothing will detract 00:23:12.420 --> 00:23:18.470 from the Son of God who came to save. As we think 00:23:18.470 --> 00:23:20.549 of the meaning of Christmas to the Holy Spirit, 00:23:20.730 --> 00:23:22.650 there are some wonderful observations we can 00:23:22.650 --> 00:23:26.430 make that apply to our lives. First observation 00:23:26.430 --> 00:23:29.730 is this, that our faith is rooted in the supernatural. 00:23:30.970 --> 00:23:32.890 Whether you are talking about the production 00:23:32.890 --> 00:23:36.150 of this book, or you're talking about the virgin 00:23:36.150 --> 00:23:39.430 birth, our faith is rooted in the supernatural. 00:23:40.109 --> 00:23:45.730 If it is not, our faith is meaningless. We are 00:23:45.730 --> 00:23:51.089 not the followers of some legendary hero or a 00:23:51.089 --> 00:23:56.750 cunning myth or a superior ethic, but rather 00:23:56.750 --> 00:24:00.250 we who claim the name of Jesus Christ are followers 00:24:00.250 --> 00:24:06.710 of the one living God. Wilbur Smith, who went 00:24:06.710 --> 00:24:08.849 home to be with Christ a number of years ago 00:24:08.849 --> 00:24:13.289 now, said the supernaturalism of Christianity 00:24:14.169 --> 00:24:18.049 rests distinctly and solidly upon the supernaturalism 00:24:18.049 --> 00:24:25.049 of its founder, Jesus Christ." Our faith rests 00:24:25.049 --> 00:24:29.130 upon the supernatural. And so let us never hesitate 00:24:29.130 --> 00:24:33.829 to identify with a savior such as Jesus. We do 00:24:33.829 --> 00:24:36.369 not need to apologize for him. We do not need 00:24:36.369 --> 00:24:39.549 to be embarrassed about him because he is the 00:24:39.549 --> 00:24:44.990 supernatural God come into time. Our faith is 00:24:44.990 --> 00:24:51.789 rooted in the supernatural. A second observation 00:24:51.789 --> 00:24:56.470 I make is this, that our power comes from a supernatural 00:24:56.470 --> 00:25:00.190 source, and that is the Holy Spirit. The same 00:25:00.190 --> 00:25:03.890 Holy Spirit who was active back then in the birth 00:25:03.890 --> 00:25:07.130 of Jesus is the Holy Spirit that is active in 00:25:07.130 --> 00:25:09.890 your life and mine today if we are Jesus Christ. 00:25:11.070 --> 00:25:14.750 As He worked in Mary, so He works in all of God's 00:25:14.750 --> 00:25:17.769 servants, with different actions of course, but 00:25:17.769 --> 00:25:21.470 it's the same supernatural energy or force that 00:25:21.470 --> 00:25:25.450 is involved in us. And so we have to ask the 00:25:25.450 --> 00:25:29.710 question, are you living in the fullness of His 00:25:29.710 --> 00:25:35.210 power or in the futility of your own weakness? 00:25:38.309 --> 00:25:41.130 the servants of God throughout the generations, 00:25:43.569 --> 00:25:45.970 have been men and women who have known the meaning 00:25:45.970 --> 00:25:49.250 of living life in the power of the supernatural. 00:25:53.950 --> 00:25:56.750 We can weakly make our way through the years 00:25:56.750 --> 00:26:03.529 of life and merely exist as Christians because 00:26:03.529 --> 00:26:07.710 we are living it in our own strength. where we 00:26:07.710 --> 00:26:10.410 can learn what it means to appropriate the power 00:26:10.410 --> 00:26:13.910 of God and begin experiencing supernatural life, 00:26:14.470 --> 00:26:19.069 abundant life, here and now. Does He live through 00:26:19.069 --> 00:26:26.029 you, my fellow Christian? What proof is there 00:26:26.029 --> 00:26:30.609 in your life that the supernatural Christ lives 00:26:30.609 --> 00:26:37.299 in you? Can it be that there would be nothing 00:26:37.299 --> 00:26:41.980 about us that sets us apart from the unsaved 00:26:41.980 --> 00:26:46.420 person in the world who lives merely on a natural 00:26:46.420 --> 00:26:51.099 level because that's all he is? Is it possible 00:26:51.099 --> 00:26:54.960 that a person whose life source is rooted in 00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:57.700 the supernatural can live merely on that plane? 00:27:01.390 --> 00:27:04.410 If we profess the name of Christ today, let us 00:27:04.410 --> 00:27:08.809 begin living in the power of His Spirit and allowing 00:27:08.809 --> 00:27:15.769 His life to flow through us unimpeded and freely. 00:27:18.990 --> 00:27:21.369 A third observation I make is that our witness 00:27:21.369 --> 00:27:27.529 should imitate that of the Holy Spirit. Our business 00:27:27.529 --> 00:27:30.529 is to lift up Jesus Christ and not ourselves. 00:27:35.269 --> 00:27:42.690 My stepfather often prays at the table before 00:27:42.690 --> 00:27:45.190 a meal using a little phrase that I remember 00:27:45.190 --> 00:27:47.029 from the time that he married my mother when 00:27:47.029 --> 00:27:53.130 I was 15. And he says, hide us behind the cross. 00:27:55.730 --> 00:27:58.170 Now I'm not sure all that he means in that, but 00:27:58.170 --> 00:28:02.700 I like that phrase. We are so prone to want to 00:28:02.700 --> 00:28:07.220 be center stage. We want to promote ourselves. 00:28:08.359 --> 00:28:13.200 We want to enjoy the limelight. Our humanity 00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:17.259 wants to be noticed. We crave the applause and 00:28:17.259 --> 00:28:22.119 the approval of others. But beloved, let us be 00:28:22.119 --> 00:28:26.000 like the Holy Spirit as we think of Christmas 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:31.299 this year. Let us be content. Yes, let us desire 00:28:31.299 --> 00:28:37.039 to live in the background and with meekness and 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:42.660 humility to put Jesus forth. There's an old adage 00:28:42.660 --> 00:28:45.180 that says, he that tooteth not his own horn shall 00:28:45.180 --> 00:28:49.819 not have his horn tooted. Hey, let's just blow 00:28:49.819 --> 00:28:56.539 one trumpet. And that's Jesus Christ. The Holy 00:28:56.539 --> 00:29:02.680 Spirit. is unassuming, unpretentious, hides himself. 00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:07.819 Let's do the same and live seeking to exalt Jesus 00:29:07.819 --> 00:29:15.000 Christ and then others and then ourselves. And 00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:17.700 to those who may be here without Jesus Christ, 00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:21.160 may I reinforce in your mind this morning that 00:29:21.160 --> 00:29:24.019 the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit in causing 00:29:24.019 --> 00:29:28.940 Christ's birth had but one purpose? And that 00:29:28.940 --> 00:29:33.279 is that he might, the Savior, Jesus Christ, might 00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:37.140 be qualified to die for your sins and thus glorify 00:29:37.140 --> 00:29:40.259 God. That's why he was active. That's why he 00:29:40.259 --> 00:29:42.720 was doing what he was doing. That's why he caused 00:29:42.720 --> 00:29:47.599 the conception within Mary that he might do his 00:29:47.599 --> 00:29:53.599 part in producing the Son of God who is Son of 00:29:53.599 --> 00:30:01.000 Man. and able to die for you and your sins. I 00:30:01.000 --> 00:30:03.039 was listening to the radio earlier this morning 00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:07.380 and the announcer mentioned an evangelist who's 00:30:07.380 --> 00:30:09.079 been home with the Lord now a number of years, 00:30:09.259 --> 00:30:12.960 John R. Rice, who made this statement, you can 00:30:12.960 --> 00:30:17.119 never truly enjoy Christmas until you look up 00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:21.339 in the Father's face and tell Him you have received 00:30:21.339 --> 00:30:27.000 His Christmas gift. My friend, can you look up 00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:32.119 into the Father's face and say, I have received 00:30:32.119 --> 00:30:35.720 your gift? Or are you still putting off that 00:30:35.720 --> 00:30:41.539 decision? Will you make it today? Will you decide 00:30:41.539 --> 00:30:46.240 today to receive that gift? He's waiting. He's 00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:49.220 holding it out to you, offering it graciously, 00:30:49.779 --> 00:30:54.539 appealing to you to come to Him. Will you? Let's 00:30:54.539 --> 00:30:59.539 bow together. Lord Jesus, I pray that in the 00:30:59.539 --> 00:31:02.700 closing minutes of this service you will accomplish 00:31:02.700 --> 00:31:04.839 your perfect will in the heart of every one of 00:31:04.839 --> 00:31:06.680 us. Amen.