Preached Dec 6 PM, 1998 at Faith Baptist Church
By Pastor Steven E. Mays

THE COST AND CONSEQUENCES
OF THE FIRST CHRISTMAS

The Lord Jesus Christ

Tonight I want to take just a second and remind everyone that the first christmas involved great sacrifice… it involved great cost…

Phil. 2: 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Matthew 8:20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

2 Corinthians 8:9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

Hebrews 1:6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

We talk about dec. 25th, as the Birthday of the Saviour, but really we need to go back 9 months… Jesus was mindful of every event of his mother pregnancy…. Can you imagine being in a womb for 9 months and knowing everything that going on?…. Jesus did! It seems like John the Baptist knew what was goin on as well… Luke 1:41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Tonight that is how we ought to be… amen.

Unfortunatly, as humans, we are limited.. we can not begin to fully understand all the cost, of the incarnation… we do not appreciate it.. but maybe we can understand the cost that some others around the saviour paid….

I. Mary

Luke 1: 31 - 35

31* And, behold, THOU shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32* He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33* And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34* Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35* And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

APPLICATION

A. BEAR REPROACH -- NEVER LEFT HER -- We know that for at least 33 years her kids didn't believe her..

Matthew 13:55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

How much has it cost you to be a christian? anything? Testify of being put out of the house…

B. BELIEVE WITHOUT RESERVATIONS -- SHE KNEW A LOT OF SCRIPTURE, SO SHE HAD A LOT OF FAITH.. Ladies, how many times do you have to be told what the word of the lord is before you believe it? If doing a great work for God was dependant on your knowledge of the word of God, what might you get to do?

LUKE 1 : 46 - 55

46* And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
47* And my spirit HATH rejoiced in God my Savior.
48* For he HATH regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
49* For he that is mighty HATH done to me great things; and holy is his name.
50* And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
51* He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52* He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
53* He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
54* He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
55* As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

THIS REMINDS YOU OF HANNAH IN I SAM. 2, OR OF THE PSALMIST IN PSALM 34,

II. Joseph

Matt. 1:19-21

19* Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
20* But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, THOU son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21* And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

APPLICATION

A.) BORE THE REPROACH --- Matthew 16:24 "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

B.) BELIEVED THE REPORT --- Forced to operate by faith… You know why some won't tithe? It's not that they don't believe what God has said… it's that they don't have Faith enough to see God taking care of them if they obey! How sad. Friend, a God that Can't take you of you in the Here and Now, won't take care of You in the Here AFTER!

III. Wise Men

MATT. 2:1-10

1* Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2* Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
3* When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4* And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. (That Crowd had Micah 5:2, they only had some of Daniel)
5* And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6* And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
7* Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8* And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9* When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
10* When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

Where did these wise men come from? How did they know of Christ in the first place? Let me tell you. For over 500 years they had read the writing of Daniel… he for told of the birth of Christ..

Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

Da 2:12* For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
13* And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
14* Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:
18* That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
24* Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.
27* Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
48* Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.

APPLICATION…..

A.) SOLD OUT TO THE PROMISES

B.) SOUGHT OUT THE PROMISED ONE

What promises are you acting upon tonight?

IV. SHEPHERDS

LUKE 2: 8 - 18

8* And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9* And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10* And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11* For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
12* And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13* And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14* Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
15* And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord HATH made known unto us.
16* And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
17* And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
18* And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

It makes sense that God would tell shepherds when a lamb was born amen… I love the response of the shepherds amen.. I love how they leave what they've got and go to where God is…

APPLICATION

TOOK NO THOUGHT FOR THIS WORLD

Rejoiced in the presence of god… people that don't want around god, are showing they there is obviously something real bad wrong..

TESTIFIED ABOUT THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD

So often at Christmas, Believers do what they done all year, think about themselves, forget everyone else, forget about making someone else happy.. that is why they are so miserable… you wanna be miserable continue to be selfish! I read this story and thought it would be a good way to end the message…

A Brother Like That

Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a poor dirty boy out in the street was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it.

"Is this your car, Mister?" he asked.

Paul nodded. "My brother gave it to me for Christmas." The boy was astounded. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you nothing? Boy, I wish..." He hesitated. Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels.

"I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that."

Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then impulsively he added, "Would you like to take a ride in my automobile?"

"Oh yes, I'd love that."

After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes aglow, said, "Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?" Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again.

"Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked. He ran up the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car. "There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm gonna give you one just like it...then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about."

Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride.




Return to Index