And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. This combination, when truly grasped, produces witnesses. It struck me, as I began to read this story once again, that apart from the angels, no one would have understood what the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ meant not the shepherds, not Joseph, not even Mary. These words mean "a right opinion," "a wrong opinion," and "a contradictory opinion" respectively. He was born to die. O And yet this is what we often do with Jesus. In other words, James is saying that war begins with men's emotions. Music: Mendelssohn, Felix in his cantata Festgesang an die Kunstler, 1840. Crashaw, Richard (1612?-1649). Anyone can understand Christmas in just three sentences: I am a sinner. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Wesley was praying for the second of these rests, the peace of God that Paul was writing about to the Philippians. The world of the shepherds' day was much like our world today, in which the lamps of knowledge and culture seem to be slowly flickering out. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. When a person is at peace with God judicially and is experiencing increasingly in his own life that peace of God which transforms him and gives him tranquility even in the midst of great emotional turmoil and misunderstanding, then there is a firm foundation on which to overcome those interpersonal tensions that upset families, churches, cities, governments and the world. Where Does The Bible Say Not To Celebrate Christmas And he called out with a mighty voice, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! We see His disposition to use little things, to exalt the humble and to subdue the proud. Oh, it would have been quite a puzzle to Mary! Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? There are five appearances of an angel, or angels, in the Christmas story, and another appearance of an angel to Joseph later to tell him to return to Israel from Egypt. A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. Come to Him now! Nothing destroys joy except sin. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. But now, for over four hundred years, the prophetic voice had been silent. In Luke 2:8-20, it says: "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. Topics: Jesus Christ. The meaning of His name is "He will save His people from their sins" A concordance soon gives the answer. When Was Jesus Born? | Bible Questions - JW.ORG In chapter 2, verse 10, Paul writes of God's fairness in granting "glory, honor and peace, for everyone who does good.". 52 Bible verses about Celebration - Knowing Jesus 11. The Herald Angels Sing" Words: Charles Wesley, Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1739. Easter Easter is another holiday that is celebrated by Christians. We find peace by praying. The Bible tells us that the birth of Jesus was unlike all other births in that Jesus existed before birth as the second person of the Godhead and He became man, not to provide us with a sweet story to tell children each winter or even as a theme for our greatest musical compositions, but in order to grow to maturity and then to die for our sin as Clap your hands, all peoples! pages 24-25. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Colossians 2:16 Verse Concepts Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day Psalm 95:2 Verse Concepts There is much activity but many go through these activities in a joyless way. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. Beyond any question, the gospel of Jesus Christ has important social implications. TopicalBible She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. Come to Him! But their amazement is fitting to Christmas - it's a sample of what Christmas amazement should be for those who understand the Christmas story. Jesus is called God-man. 9. He became a man in His incarnation. 2023 BGEA One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. In this verse the word "learn" is a Greek word from which we have derived our word mathematics. 2. ( Egypt Today .) On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.. Others celebrate it by getting drunk, some beginning at the office party on the last working day before Christmas and not sobering up until sometime after the twenty-fifth or even after New Year's. In fact, the Bible would not even support the view that the world is capable of being redeemed socially apart from the supernatural intervention of God in history. Ralph L. Keiper once said, "When we know Christ, not as a doctrine or a theory, but as Savior and Friend in our daily experience, we gain a confidence in Him which brings peace to our hearts. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. There are a few Bible verses that seem to suggest that Jesus did not want people to celebrate his birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. And we need to understand exactly what the biblical meaning of these words is if we are to understand this part of the angel's announcement. You can sharpen up your affections; indeed, you must, for it is a terrible thing to have your love for the One who is the Lord of love grow cold. Perhaps you are anxious to be delivered from some tenacious sin, but you do not seem to have deliverance. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. But at the same time, the one who will come to Jesus Christ will know a great peace even in a world that denies it. Verse 17 suggests that we are to tell others what we have seen and heard; but we can hardly do that effectively until we have first been amazed at Christ's birth, pondered its meaning, and glorified and praised God for it. When I return to these wonderful chapters of Matthew and Luke in order to prepare my Christmas messages, I always seem to find a detail that I had overlooked before and which therefore speaks to me in a new way. Born the King of angels; The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end" (Luke 1:30-33). Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? Why not join every year with the shepherds on that first Christmas, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen (Luke 2:20)? And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Christians are to be active in many efforts to achieve social justice, improve the life of the poor, minister to the needy. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. But if that is true, why do we not see peace today? Jesus was born to be our Savior as the carol says: Christ was born to save! To do so is to worship God both by words and in song. To the choirmaster. What is the solution? It is a time where they remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For praising God is essentially an act of glorifying God with the whole being and, in this, music quite naturally takes a part. Of course they did! Keiper, Ralph L. Peace in Storm. But not once in the Bible does God tell us to celebrate Christmas" (1). When men seek to have their own way, it becomes a mighty farce. So, you see, if Christmas means anything, it at least means this that God has not forgotten His people. Malachi, who lived in the fifth century before Christ, was the last of the prophets. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Because of the gospel, Christians understand that the peace of God is only for those who acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. If you have, then you understand your need of a Savior and are at the place where you can receive Jesus as the One who died to save you. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. Three sentences! Christmas time is a few days away. We had made a raid against the Negeb of the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire. And David said to him, Will you take me down to this band? And he said, Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band. And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. When the angels had departed, the shepherds decided to go to Bethlehem. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. This holy amazement is closely melded to adoration. Come to the wedding feast. But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. It also teaches us of God's power, for an incarnation is beyond our ability even to conceive, let alone to bring into being. There is peace with God. In the birth we see God's wisdom. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. The trouble lies with men. They would readily tell you that the Bible commands us to celebrate Jesus' birth - that it is a time of rejoicing for the coming of the Savior of the world. Second, there is the strong possibility that the persons may not be in harmony but that they will want to make a pact between themselves in order to settle their differences. After all, just because we celebrate our childrens birthdays doesnt mean we forget them or ignore them the rest of the year! I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. For there are many references to salvation as deliverance from disease (Matthew 9:21; Luke 6:19; 18:42; James 5:15), captivity (Philippians 1:13,19), or physical death (Mark 13:20; John 12:27; Hebrews 5:7).
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