- A child is born.
The world is full of darkness right now.
We look around and we see things on the news
that we shouldn't see.
It seems like we live in a particularly evil generation
and that shouldn't surprise us either.
God told us about it in his word, that it would be that way.
But we've got kids shooting kids,
teachers, and administrators because we've removed God
from the classroom and then we wonder why
all this is happening.
Our leaders of our country, they're taking us,
their political brinkmanship is propelling us
toward this fiscal cliff that many think
that if we go over it, it's gonna send this country
into another recession, which is not good for any of us.
But my point is it just seems that
we're constantly bombarded with bad news, with evil.
Would you like to hear some good news today?
- [Congregation] Yes.
- Well, that's the subject of our message today.
A child is born.
Light dispels darkness.
We have a choice.
We can either stand in darkness
and let all this evil and this negative
and this bad news overwhelm us possibly
or even worse, we can let it define us
or we can choose to stand in the light of Jesus Christ.
In which case, then, we can say,
"I rebuke you, evil, I choose to do good."
Let's open our Bibles and begin our study
in Isaiah chapter seven.
We have a promise of that child made
in Isaiah chapter seven.
Ask that word of wisdom in Yeshua's precious name
as we always do here at the chapel.
Isaiah chapter seven verse one,
"And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz
"the son of Jotham," I laid my glasses down.
I better put 'em back on or this is going to be
a very short message.
(congregation laughing)
I realized that when I looked down and the print
in my Bible was really, really small.
But we've got Ahaz, "the son of Jotham,
"the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, and Rezin
"the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah,
"king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem
"to war against it, but could not prevail against it."
Now what we have going on here, Ahaz,
arguably one of the probably worst three kings of Judah,
and it's funny how it always goes.
You have a rotten king, Ahaz, he has a son, Hezekiah,
pretty righteous guy, did a good job.
The he turned around, had Manasay,
without a doubt, the worst king of Judah.
He caused the streets of Jerusalem
to run with innocent blood.
But we've got Ahaz here and the king of Israel,
the ten tribes to the north, obviously the nation is split
already at this point in time,
and Rezin, the king of Syria,
coming up against the people of Judah.
Verse two, "And it was told the house of David,"
this is Judah, "saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim."
They've made allies with each other.
"And his heart was moved," his heart shook in other words,
Judah's heart shook at this news.
"And the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood
"are moved with the wind."
They trembled, Rezin had taken Elath and now,
he's joining with Pekah,
the king of the ten tribes to the north,
making it an even more formidable army
and they're coming against Jerusalem.
Verse three, "Then said the Lord unto Isaiah,
"'Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou,
and Shearjashub thy son,'" that means
the remnants shall return, Isaiah's son's name,
"at the end of the conduit of the upper pool
"in the highway of the fuller's field."
God has something he wants Isaiah and his son
to tell Ahaz, verse four,
"And say unto him," this is to Ahaz, this is a warning,
"Take heed, and be quiet," or be calm, hold still,
listen to what I have, listen more importantly
to what God has to say, "Fear not neither be fainthearted
"for the two tails of these smoking firebrands,"
that's referring to Rezin and Pekah, the king of Syria,
the king of Israel, "and the son of Remaliah."
And that, of course, being Pekah.
A smoking firebrand means that it's capable
of producing smoke but that is all, no fire.
Verse five, "Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah
"have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,
"Let us go up against Judah and vex it,"
let us march on, terrify, and conquer Judah,
"and let us make a breach therein for us,
"and set a king in the midst of it, even the son Tabeal."
Tabeal is an unknown man but obviously a puppet
who they intended to set up as the king of Judah
in Ahaz's place.
Only one problem with their plan, it wasn't God's plan.
Verse seven, "Thus saith the lord GOD,
"'It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass," why?
Because it wasn't God's will.
God wanted Ahaz to trust in him rather than
to go running to the Assyrians
or someone else other than him.
Verse eight, "For the head of Syria is Damascus
"and the head of Damascus is Rezin," he's the king,
"and within threescore and five years
"shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people."
And 65 years, going into captivity.
Ten tribes, still to this day,
most of them don't have a clue who they are
as a result of that.
Verse nine, "And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,"
the capital, "and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son."
That being Pekah, "If you will not believe,
"surely ye shall not be established."
This last phrase probably better translated
do ye not believe it is because you are not stable.
Now, things have really gone south
in Israel in particular at this time.
The ten tribes, it got to the point
where if you wanted to be the king of Israel,
you murdered the previous king and all of his sons
and you were the new king
and that's basically where we're at
with Israel at this point.
Verse 10, the word of the Lord from Isaiah to Ahaz,
"Moreover, the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
"'ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God;
"'ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.'"
In other words, in heaven or in hell,
make your petition deep.
"But Ahaz said, 'I will not ask,
"'neither will I tempt the LORD."
Ahaz is hiding behind Deteuronomy 6:16,
which indeed says, "Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God."
But the Lord was offering to show a sign,
so for him to say, "Yeah, I've got an idea.
"I want this for a sign,"
he's hiding behind Deuteronomy 6:16, saying,
"No, not me, I'm not gonna tempt the Lord."
I don't think he wants to hear what the Lord has to say.
He's going to, verse 13, "And he said, 'Hear ye now,
"'O house of David; Is it a small thing
"'for you to weary men,'" so is it a small thing
for you to weary Isaiah and his son?
"'But will ye weary my God also?'"
They will not believe without seeing a sign.
And when the signs were offered for them to see,
in order that they might believe, they wouldn't look.
God said, "You name it, I'll show you a sign."
Here's the sign, 14, "Therefore the Lord himself
"shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive
"and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
King of kings, Lord of lords,
Immanuel, of course, means God with us.
Salvation would be available to the world.
That's the good news, my friends.
That's what gospel means, is good news.
That's the good news of this child that would be born,
was that he knows the difference between evil and good
and he always does that which is good.
Verse 15, "Butter and honey shall he eat,
"that he may know to refuse the evil,
"and to choose the good."
That's why I encourage all of you to do
when you flip on the TV and you see that evening news
and it seems like the sky is falling,
that nothing is going right in the world,
I want you to remember that verse, to refuse the evil
and choose the good.
Turn over with me now to Isaiah, same book,
chapter nine verse one.
God always keeps his promises.
Isaiah 9:1, "Nevertheless," the subject, by the way,
of chapter nine continues right on from eight,
"Nevertheless the dimness," or darkness,
"shall not be such as was in her vexation,
"when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulam
"and the land of Naphtali and afterward
"did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea
"beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations."
Hold your place there and flip over
to Matthew chapter four with me.
Hold your place, we're just gonna read a couple verses there
in Matthew chapter four.
Isaiah, being the book in the Old Testament
that's more quoted in the New Testament
than any other book in the Old Testament.
Matthew chapter four verse 14,
"That it might be fulfilled which was spoken
"by Esaias," that's Isaiah, "the prophet, saying,
verse 15, "'The land of Zabulon,'"
that's Zebulon that we just read about,
"'and the land of Nephthalim,'" that's Naphthali
in the Hebrew, "'by the way of the sea,
"'beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.'"
Verse 16, "The people which sat in darkness
"saw great light; and to them which sat in the region
"and shadow of death light is sprung up."
What is death?
Death is Satan, so you know, when something happens
in Connecticut last Friday happens,
you can see Satan at work in that and again,
I encourage you, don't let that control you.
Don't let it make you bitter.
Refuse the evil and choose the good.
Back to chapter nine verse two,
that prophesy being fulfilled in the scripture
we just read there in Matthew chapter four, 14, 15, and 16.
Verse two, "The people that walked in darkness
"have seen a great light," and of course that light,
the light of the world, Jesus Christ,
"they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death,"
that's Satan, "upon them hath the light shined."
And of course, that light being
our lord and savior, Jesus Christ.
Verse three, "Thou has multiplied the nation,"
probably better translated exultation,
"and not increased the joy: they joy before thee
"according to the joy in harvest,
"and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil."
Happy days, it'll be happy days for those who wait
on the true messiah to return
as those at harvest time, a time of happiness and joy
and also when the spoil of a victory is divided.
Verse four, "For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden,
"and the staff of his shoulder,
"the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian."
This, in reference to Gideon,
when he went up against Midan,
he had 10,000 of Israel at his disposal.
They were still outnumbered by Midan
but do you know how many God took it down to for Gideon?
Do you remember that?
Where in Judges, where Gideon said,
"Okay Lord, I got these 10,000 here.
"We're gonna go get 'em."
The Lord said, "Not so fast, Gideon.
"You've got too many with you."
Gideon said, "Oh, well let's knock it down to 3,000.
"Got 3,000 Lord, let's go get 'em."
Lord said, "Not so fast, Gideon, that's too many."
Oh, you remember that then?
And he said, "You tell your men to go up to this water
"and whoever kneels down to take a drink out of the water,
"they're not to go with you.
"Only those who reach down and take up a scoop of water,"
living water, maybe, can you think about?
"And lap that up, those take with you."
You know how many reached down with their hand
and lapped up the water?
300, and they're going up against thousands.
You know Gideon's got to be going, "Are you sure?"
(congregation laughing)
You know, that's faith there, to believe in God
that okay, 300 of us are gonna take on thousands.
Anyway, back to what we came for.
Verse five, "For every battle of the warrior
"is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood;
"but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire."
Their weapons, in other words, will be consumed by God
in his consuming fire.
Fuel could also be translated meat.
Verse six, the reason we came here.
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
"and the government shall be upon his shoulder
"and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
"The mighty God, The everlasting Father,
"The Prince of Peace."
And of course, you have a star, most of you in your Bible
indicating that is speaking of messiah.
That government, the politics of the universe
are gonna be on his shoulders.
This is at the second advent, now, of course,
when he returns as King of kings and Lord of lords,
that's when things are gonna get straightened out, beloved.
You know, you look at our government today
and you think goodness,
what are these people doing up there?
And they're all interested in only one thing, basically,
and that's themselves, they're not doing
what they were elected to do, representing the people.
When this one, Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,
The Prince of Peace is controlling the politics,
that's when things are gonna get straightened out.
That's the politics, and I'm not discouraging anybody
from being a participator, we should participate
in elections, we should express our feelings, our vote.
That's the way we keep our rights the best we can
but that's when things are gonna get straightened out.
That virgin that we talked about back in Isaiah
chapter seven, she's about to get a visit
from the archangel, Gabriel.
Let's go to Luke chapter one verse 26.
I know this is scripture that all of you are familiar with
but it's a good thing to review this time of the year.
Luke chapter one, we're gonna pick it up with verse 26.
And it reads, "And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel
"was sent from God unto the city of Galilee named Nazareth."
The sixth month, what we're talking about
is the angel had just visited Zacharius,
who's very old, he was serving, he was a priest,
and he was serving him a course of abia.
In other words, he was in Jerusalem for one full week,
from sabbath to sabbath serving the course of abia.
And an angel visited him and said, "You're gonna have a son
"and you're gonna call his name John."
Of course, he was gonna be John the Baptist
and from the time that that course of abia ended
until he got home and knew his wife
and she conceived is what this is talking about.
All that happened and then six months later,
which is the difference in age between John the Baptist
and Christ, as most of you know.
27, "To a virgin," this is the one we were talking about
back in Isaiah chapter seven, "espoused to a man
"whose name was Joseph, of the house of David;
"and the virgin's name was Mary."
Espoused does not mean married, it means engaged.
We're gonna see that he had not ever known her before
when we get to the book of Matthew but indeed,
Joseph was of the house of David
but he was a descendant of Solomon, not of Nathan,
so Nathan was the line through which Jesus Christ would come
and of course, Joseph, the stepfather of Jesus
had nothing to do, his genealogy had nothing to do
with the genealogy of Christ.
Verse 28, "And the angel came unto her and said,
"'Hail thou that art highly favoured,"
you're much graced, "the Lord is with thee:
"blessed art thou among women."
And blessed are we because of that woman
and the child that she would bear.
29, "And when she saw him," this is Gabriel,
"she was troubled at his saying and cast in her mind
"what manner of salutation this should be."
What possibly could all this mean?
You know, that would be troubling, wouldn't it?
Just out of the blue,
you were approached by an angel of God?
I think that possibly many of us will be visited
by angels of God as we approach that time
that the anti-Christ is here on Earth
and particularly while he is here.
We know we'll have the two witnesses
pumping truth into that seven branched candlestick
of Zachariah chapter four but I wouldn't be a bit surprised.
It happened every time that something really big
was about to come down, God sent an angel
to communicate to the people, to let them know
this is what's gonna happen.
I wouldn't be at all surprised
if the elect aren't visited as we approach that time.
Verse 31, "And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb,
"and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS."
From the Hebrew word, Yeshua, meaning Yahaveh's savior.
"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."
That promise of 2 Samuel chapter seven verse 13 to David
that when David wanted to build God a house,
do you remember that?
He said, "Lord, you know, here I am in this nice house
"of cedars, let me build you a nice temple."
And God said, "Not since the time of the judges
"have I asked anybody to build me a house
"but I'm gonna build you a house,"
and that referring of course to David's family,
that promise that it would be all the way through
to the birth of messiah, King of kings and Lord of lords,
one to sit on David's throne forever.
"And he shall rein over the house of Jacob for ever."
That's all 12 tribes,
"and of his kingdom there shall be no end."
We're talking second advent, there is no end to eternity.
Verse 34, "Then said Mary unto the angel,
"'How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?"
I haven't been with a man, I'm a virgin.
How can it be that I have a child?
"And the angel answered and said unto her,
"The Holy Spirit 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."
The only begotten son.
36, "And behold, thy cousin Elisabeth,
"she hath also conceived a son in her old age:
"and this is the sixth month with her,
"who was called barron."
And all of you have been through the study of Christmas
and you know that December 25th
is not the birthdate of Christ
but the conception date of Christ.
Think about it.
Who came to the manger?
The shepherds.
They were in the fields.
Shepherds aren't in the fields in December, beloved.
Shepherds are in the fields in September,
which was the birthdate of Christ.
He was conceived December 25,
born approximately September 29th.
37, "For with God nothing shall be impossible."
Not even a virgin to conceive through The Holy Spirit.
Nothing is impossible.
38, "And Mary said, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord;
"be it unto me according to thy word.
"And the angel departed from her."
Message delivered, The Holy Spirit with her,
and she was with child.
Let's go to Matthew chapter one verse 18.
And as most of you know, the genealogy of Joseph,
the father in law of Christ,
is found in the first few verses of chapter one of Matthew.
However, the genealogy of Mary, who that is the
true genealogy of Christ that you really wanna focus on
is listed in Luke chapter three.
So let's pick it up, Matthew chapter one verse 18.
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise:
"When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph,"
again, engaged or promised, "before they came together,
"she was found with child of the Holy Spirit."
"Then Joseph her husband, being a just man,"
he was a good man, "and not willing
"to make her a public example,
"was minded to put her away privily," or in secret."
He didn't wanna ruin Mary's reputation.
I mean, you know what you'd think if somebody's daughter
suddenly becomes with child, you know what you think.
You think, well, that bad girl.
And that's what Joseph was trying to avoid.
"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 Spirit.'"
Explaining not only to Mary to Gabriel,
here the Lord is sending an angel to explain to Joseph,
here's what happens, you know?
This is very unusual, yes I understand that
but I want you to know this is of The Holy Spirit.
"And she shall bring forth a son,
"and thou shalt call his name JESUS:" Yeshua,
"for he shall save his people from their sins,"
only one salvation, that is the Lord's salvation,
that's for all, including us.
Verse 22, "Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled
"which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying," 23,
"Behold, a virgin shall be with child,
"and shall bring forth a son,
"and they shall call his name Emmanuel," God with us,
"which being interpreted is God with us."
That's from Isaiah 7:14 where we began today.
"Then Joseph being raised from sleep
"did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him,
"and took unto him his wife."
Joseph knew the scriptures of the Old Testament
and knew prophecies were being fulfilled
right before his very eyes.
25, "And knew her not til she had brought forth
"her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS."
Following instructions, chapter two verse one,
we'll continue on, "Now when Jesus was born
"in Bethlehem," Bethlehem means the house of bread.
He was the bread of life.
"Of Judeah in the days of Herod the king,
"behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem."
Now, there are more than one, Herod, you need to know,
was a family of people.
There were several Herods.
If you have a Smith's Bible Dictionary,
check it out, they do a real good job
of breaking down which one was which.
Historically, this Herod was known as Herod the Great.
Verse two, he was great in his own eyes was about it.
Verse two, "Saying, 'Where is he
"'that is born King of the Jews?'"
Or king of Judah, "'For we have seen his star
"'in the east, and are come to worship him.'"
Verse three, "When Herod the king had heard these things,
"he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him."
Herod was troubled because he was an authority
in Jerusalem and when they started saying
here's the king of Judah, what does that mean?
That's threatening his authority and his power,
so that's what he's worried.
The star, too, that the wise men saw,
make a note of Numbers chapter 24 verse 17
where it states that there shall come a star out of Jacob
and that star, of course, our lord and savior, Jesus Christ.
Verse four, "And when he had gathered all the chief priests
"and scribes," this is Herod, "of the people together,
"he demanded of them where Christ should be born."
And the priests and scribes should know.
I mean, we've been calling off scripture after scripture
in the Old Testament of prophecies of Christ's coming
and it always tickles me when I hear churches that say,
"Nope, we shouldn't be studying that in the Old Testament.
"Since Christ was born,
"all that doesn't matter at all anymore."
And the Old Testament spoke over and over and over and over
of messiah, I don't understand the logic but,
so here, you've got Herod calling all these priests
and scribes together, they should know
when and where he's gonna be born, why?
Because it was prophesied in the Old Testament.
Verse five, "And they said unto him,
"'In Bethlehem of Judaea:
"'for thus it is written of the prophet."
That prophet they just quoted
was Micah chapter five verse two in the Minor Prophets.
"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."
That's when the politics
are gonna be straightened out, beloved.
That's when good will prevail over evil.
"Then Herod, when he had privily," or secretly,
"called the wise men, inquired of them diligently
"what time the star appeared."
Herod's thinking here,
"How much time do I have to work with?"
"How much time do I have?"
"And he sent them to Bethlehem and said,
"'Go and search diligently."
I want you to spy this out for me.
"For the young child, and when you have found him,
"bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also."
Do you think Herod had any intention
of going and worshiping that child that would be born?
He wanted to kill him, eliminate the threat.
Satan at work.
Verse nine, "When they had heard the king, they departed."
They're not gonna obey what Herod asked them to do.
"And lo, the star which they saw in the east
"went before them, till it came and stood over
"where the young child was."
Divine intervention leading these wise men
to the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
"When they saw the star,
"they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."
They knew they had found the child that had been prophesied
in Isaiah, "And when they were come into the house,
"they saw the young child with Mary his mother:
"and fell down, and worshiped him:
"and when they had opened their treasures,
"they presented," or offered, "unto him gifts;
"gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."
And that's where, probably, the idea
that there were three wise men came from
and that there were three separate gifts listed.
Verse 12, "And being warned of God in a dream
"that they should not return to Herod,
"they departed into their own country another way."
God takes care of his own.
Again, divine intervention telling these three wise men
don't go back to Herod, go on home
if you've accomplished your mission.
"And when they were departed, behold,
"the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream,
"saying, 'Arise, and take the young child and his mother,
"'and flee into Egypt, and be thou there
"'until I bring thee word:
"'for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.'"
Divine guidance leading Joseph
to bring Jesus into Egypt to protect him.
Verse 14, "When he arose, he," this is Joseph,
"took the young child and his mother by night,
"and departed into Egypt," following God's instructions,
"and was there until the death of Herod:
"that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord
"by the prophet, saying,
"'Out of Egypt have I called my son.'"
Hosea chapter 11 verse one, God protecting Yeshua.
Satan wanted, Herod wasn't the only one
that wanted this child destroyed.
Satan wanted this child destroyed as well.
Verse 16, "Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked,"
and this means when he saw that the three wise men
didn't come back and report to him
what was going on with Jesus, "of the wise men,
"was exceeding wroth, and sent forth,
"and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem,
"and in all the coasts," all the borders,
"thereof, from two years old and under,
"according to the time which he had diligently inquired
"of the wise men," in verse seven in other words.
So the wise men didn't come and tell Herod
where Jesus was, what was going on,
so Herod says, "Okay, in that case,
"I'm gonna send my troops into Bethlehem
"and kill every child that's two years old or younger."
Nice guy, what?
Verse 17, "Then was fulfilled that which was spoken
"by Jeremy the prophet, saying," Jeremiah, of course,
31:15, "In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation,
"and weeping, and great mourning,
"Rachel weeping for her children,
"and would not be comforted, because they are not."
But they are.
Satan cannot destroy God's children.
That's one thing he does not have the power to do.
There's only one that has the power of the second death.
That's our Heavenly Father.
Verse 19, "But when Herod was dead,
"behold an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream
"to Joseph in Egypt," time to go home.
Herod was such a nice guy that he erected
all kinds of monuments around Jerusalem
to honor his magnificence.
When he died, he died of a very serious illness.
I wonder who brought that upon him.
Do you know that he called all of his nobles
to his deathbed and he put out the order
that as soon as he died,
he wanted all of his nobles executed as well
so it would add to the grieving and the mourning
of the nation, nice guy.
Verse 19, we got that, let's go to 20.
"Saying, 'Arisee, and take the young child and his mother,
"'and go into the land of Israel:
"'for they are dead which sought the young child's life.'"
Herod is gone, the threat is gone, it's time to go home.
Verse 21, "And he arose, and took the young child
"and his mother, and came into the land of Israel."
22, "But when he heard that Archelaus,"
this is also known as Herod Antipos,
"did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod,
"he was afraid to go thither:" this Herod
would be the one that would order the beheading
of John the Baptist.
"Notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream,
"he turned aside into the parts of Galilee."
Another prophesy going to be fulfilled.
"And he came and he dwelt in the city called Nazareth:
"that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
"by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene."
A Nazarite, and note that says it was spoken by the prophet.
That's been a question a lot of people ask,
"Well, where is that written?"
It's not written, it was spoken by the prophet.
In conclusion, turn with me to Luke chapter two verse 39.
Luke chapter two verse 39,
"And when they had performed all things
"according to the law of the Lord,
"they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth."
And this is talking about after Christ was eight days old,
they took him to the temple,
that all that the law required that he would be circumcised
in other words, be taken care of.
While there, too, they ran into a prophet of the Lord,
or a man that loved the Lord dearly, Simeon,
and also a prophetess named Anna,
in the earlier scriptures there.
But, and then verse 40, "And the child,"
this of course is Christ, "grew and waxed strong in spirit,"
oh, how strong in spirit, "filled with wisdom,
"and the grace of God was upon him."
The living word was with us.
"Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year
"at the feast of the passover.
Little did they know that this son of theirs
would become the passover.
"And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem
"after the custom of the feast," the seven day feast
of unleavened bread, which followed
immediately after the passover.
"And when they had fulfilled the days as they returned,"
the feast was over, "the child Jesus tarried behind
"in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother,"
that being Mary of course, "knew not of it."
They didn't know that he stayed behind in Jerusalem.
They're headed home.
"But they, supposing him to have been in the company,"
in other words, in their group, "went a day's journey;
"and they sought him among their kinsfolk
"and acquaintance," quite a group traveling together
and they thought he was just with an uncle
or something else.
"And when they found him not,
"they turned back again to Jerusalem seeking him."
They were concerned about him, he's only 12 years old.
"And it came to pass, that after three days
"they found him in the temple,
"sitting in the midst of the doctors," scripture lawyers,
"both hearing them and asking them questions."
And they were amazed by him.
"And all that heard him were astonished
"at his understanding and answers."
The living word was right there with them.
"And when they saw him, they were amazed:
"and his mother said unto him,
"'Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us?
"'Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.'"
We've been worried sick about you these three days.
"And he said unto them, 'How is it that ye sought me?
"'Wist ye not," or know ye not,
"that I must be about my Father's business?'"
And he was in his Father's house, the temple.
"And they understood not the saying
"which he spake unto them."
By the way, verse 49 were the first words of Christ
written and his last in the same city
were, "It is finished."
"And he went down with them,
"and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them:
"but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart."
Contemplating what all this meant.
"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature,
"and in favour with God and man."
It's important to be in good favor with God
and if you can do that and be in good favor with man as well
that's a great thing but if you've got your choice
of pleasing God or pleasing man, always go with God.
So, a child is born.
That good news that we can hang on to today, all of us,
because he allows us to refuse evil
and to choose to do good.
I encourage you, when you see things such as
occurred in our country last Friday happened,
keep that scripture in mind and always choose,
don't let it make you bitter.
Don't let it bring you down to their level.
You're above that because you have the good news
with you, that is in your heart, Jesus Christ
and The Holy Spirit.
Let's go to His throne.
Yahaveh, heavenly Father, we come to you today, Father,
we thank you for the written word.
We thank you for your promises, Lord.
We thank you for the spirit that visited that virgin,
Father, that we might all be blessed through
what would come forth from her womb,
her son, Jesus Christ, Father.
Be with all of us, Father.
There are members of the congregation who are ill,
we ask you to reach down, touch, heal, be with us all.
We lift up our military troops who are in harm's way,
especially this time of the year, this season, Father.
Watch over, guide, direct, we're always careful
to give you the praise in Yeshua,
Jesus' precious name, Amen.
The Mark of the Beast on CD
is our free introductory offer to you.
What is The Mark of the Beast?
Many false teachers would have you believe
it will be a tattoo on your forehead
or a computer chip implanted under your skin.
It is getting late in the game.
You need to know what The Mark of the Beast is.
As it's written in Revelation chapter 13 verse eight,
many will be deceived.
There is no need for you to be deceived.
Christ said in Mark 13:23,
"Behold, I have foretold you all things."
Jesus indeed told us how not to be deceived
and Pastor Arnold Murray takes you on a step-by-step
study of God's word concerning this critical subject,
The Mark of the Beast.
The telephone call is free, the CD is free,
we don't even ask for the shipping and handling,
it is free as well.
All you need to do is call 800-643-4645
to request your one-time, one-per-household copy
of The Mark of the Beast.
You may also request your free CD by mailing your request
to Shepherd's Chapel, Post Office Box 416
Gravette, Arkansas 72736.
Don't be deceived by Satan.
Words ill-gotten gains, the best scripture
that talks about what you're wanting to get at, Jed,
is Matthew chapter 19 verse 24 and the following verses
where Jesus is teaching and he says,
"It's easier for a camel to enter through
"the eye of a needle than for a rich man
"to enter the kingdom of God."
And by rich, he's talking about someone who is rich
with ill-gotten gains and to understand that parable
if you will, that figure of speech,
you have to understand that at the time,
large cities had a main gate
that was open throughout the day.
People came and went as they wished
but at night, to secure the city,
they closed the main gates and off to the side,
you had a little gate that had a pointed top on it,
thus, the name, the needle.
And what happened was if someone came in with a camel
loaded down after dark, they would have to get them
unloaded first and then they could lower down
and go through the needle gate
and the thought is you have to get rid of your load
of ill-gotten gains before you can enter the kingdom of God.
That's what that meaning of that is.
Debbie from Kentucky, "My name is Deborah,
"I live in Kentucky, I have been learning from God
"through you for the past 20 years or thereabout.
"I am 62 years of age.
"My question: I wish to be baptized in a local church.
"I know I was baptized as an infant
"but now that I am adult, I would like to publicly
"let God know that I truly love him by doing this.
"Is this wrong?"
Well, if you were baptized at an age
before you even had a clue what was going on
and it was no commitment on your part
but your parents deciding
that you were going to be baptized,
you said as an infant, I'm gonna take that to mean
that you didn't know what you were doing,
that your parents decided to do it.
In that case, I don't think there would be any question
that, you know, you could consider being baptized again.
The problem with being baptized though, for older folks,
if you were older when you were baptized the first time,
you'll find in Hebrews chapter six
verses four, five, and six it states there
that once we come to truth, in other words,
once we're saved and then we fall back away in sin again,
you shouldn't be saved again.
That's like re-crucifying Christ.
That's why we have repentance,
so there's only one baptism.
If you knew what you were doing, you were old enough to know
what baptism is and were stating that publicly,
your belief, then you wouldn't want to re-crucify Christ
again by being baptized,
you would want to repent and be forgiven.
Phyllis in South Carolina, and thank you
for your kind comments, "My question:
"my grandson is attending school to become a minister
"and I am really very proud of him."
Well, good for you and good for him as well.
"However, he believes in the rapture
"and is being taught that way.
"I feel he truly loves God and is sincere in his beliefs.
"I know that he thinks that I am wrong
"so what are some passages that I can give him
"to prove the obvious or should I just keep out of it?
"It hurts my heart to think he will eventually
"be preaching the rapture theory to a congregation."
Well, I'd suggest, Phyllis, that if you're not familiar
with the scripture that are so obvious, as you said,
you might want to order Pastor Arnold Murray's work,
Rapture Theory, which is a set of two cassette tapes
or three CDs and he'll take you through a Bible Study
and even uses the scripture that those who support
the rapture theory use and show you
what those verses actually mean.
So, feel free to order that and then all you can do
is share that information with your grandson
and if he accepts that, that's great.
If he doesn't, let it go.
You know, it's not up to you.
God has closed some people's eyes.
Isaiah chapter 29 verse 10.
Romans chapter 11 along about verse seven
it states that if God has closed someone's eyes to truth,
there's no way you're gonna open them, believe me.
So at that point, it's time to plant that seed,
share the truth, but then let it go.
Carol from Florida, "In Revelation 6:13,
"when the fig tree casteth her untimely figs,
"when she is shaken of a mighty wind,
"could this mean the anti-Christ could be kicked to Earth
"out of season?"
"The word untimely in this verse, what is the mighty wind?
"Maybe Michael the archangel."
Well, the mighty wind is the ruak,
the holy spirit if you will.
Untimely is not ripe.
It means harvested out of season and it's not
anti-Christ that is going to be kicked out
out of season.
When he is kicked out, many of God's children
are going to be harvested out of season
by believing on anti-Christ, not realizing
that he is the false Christ.
The sixth seal is the subject there.
That's when anti-Christ is here on Earth.
Tabiatha from Arkansas, "The phrase used
"in 1 Samuel 25:34 and 1 Kings 16:11,
"urinating against the wall.
"Does this mean male offspring?"
You've got it, it refers to males.
"Also, 1 Kings 16:34, what is this referring to?
"Where can I reference this, I guess I missed it
"or it is worded elsewhere."
And there, it states that Haiel rebuilt Jericho
and the point is that is an example
of how bad things had become because all the way back
in Joshua chapter six verse 26,
it states, and you remember what happened,
God brought the walls of Jericho down,
and Joshua made the statement in chapter 6 verse 26,
"Cursed be the man that rebuilds Jericho."
So the fact that Haiel was rebuilding Jericho
meant that there was some cursing about to happen.
Shirley in Florida, "I have a friend that said
"if you don't keep telling Jesus you're sorry
"for all your sins everyday, we're not right with God.
"I asked her what if I did not say sorry every day,
"if I would go to hell.
"She said she did not know.
"I believe if I am a child of God,
"I do not always know if what I did,
"I should not keep doing it and keep saying I am sorry.
"I do love God and I do make mistakes.
"Tell Him I am sorry only because I hurt Him
"but do I have to say I am sorry all the time?
"I do believe Jesus Christ died for me.
"God bless and love, Shirley."
Well, you know, after you repent of a sin,
then you should forget about it 'cause it's over.
God doesn't wanna hear about it anymore.
To keep bringing it up and saying you're sorry
over and over and over is doubting
that He has the power to forgive.
Now, if you commit another sin, that's another story.
You do need to repent of all of your sins
and if you have sins that you have not repented of,
they're in the book and you will be judged
according to your works, as it's written
in Revelation chapter 20.
Effy in Tennessee, "I didn't catch how much
"the CD was about creating the different races.
"I want to show my minister.
"I already told him that one race
"doesn't morph into another race.
"Hope all is well with you,"
and it is and we hope all is well with you as well, Effy.
I believe you're probably referring to
Pastor Arnold's teaching on the first six chapters
of Genesis, which go into the creation of the races,
what happened in the Garden of Eden,
and the fact that the Nephilim, the fallen angels
came to Earth, seduced women, and giants were born
in Genesis chapter six.
That's a three CD set, Item 30146 and our CDs
are all a $5 donation each, making that set,
of course, $15.
Alexa from Arizona, "Hi, my name is Alexa.
"I am six years old," and you write pretty good
for six years old, Alexa.
"How old is Jesus and how did Jesus create the world?
"Love, Alexa."
Okay, well, that's a good question, Alexa,
and Jesus was with God in His spiritual body
from the very beginning.
And Colossians chapter one verse 16
states that by all things, by Jesus Christ
were all things created, so to put an age on Jesus
would be like trying to put an age
on our Heavenly Father, on God.
He's been there from the beginning
and He will be there into the eternity
and I know at the age of six, and the fact is
maybe at the age of 66, all of that's kind of hard for us
to fathom and understand but someday, we will.
Catherine, and keep studying and we're glad
you're studying with us, Alexa.
Catherine in Utah, and thank you for your kind words.
"Are there modern-day prophets on Earth?"
And you'll have a lot of people in the flesh
who will claim to be prophets and sent of God.
Be weary of them.
We do have prophets today.
They're the ones you'll find in God's word.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, all the Minor Prophets
and you know what?
Their words are just as important
or maybe even more important today
because of the prophecies that are coming to pass.
I mean, like dominoes falling,
faster and faster and faster.
I'm so glad that we have those prophets
that told us so that we know what the future holds.
Anna from Kentucky,
"Does it say in the Bible that when priests
"went into the holy place,
"that they had a rope tied around the waist
"to pull them out if they had not done right?"
Well no, it doesn't say anything about
a rope around their waist
but they did have little bells
that were sewed into the hems of their robes
so that the people outside
could hear the little bells tinkling
as the priest made his way around
inside the holy of holies.
I'm out of time.
I wanna tell you that I love you a great deal
because you enjoy studying our Father's word.
He loves you because of it.
We are brought to you by your tithes and offerings.
If we've helped you, help us keep coming to you.
Won't you do that?
And to reach out to others of our brothers and sisters
who are lost in this world of darkness.
Most important, this though.
You stay in His word every day.
Every day in our Father's word, the letter He wrote to you
is a good day, even with trouble.
Do you know why?
It's because Jesus, Yeshua, He is the living word.
(uplifting accordion music) Hearing God's word
with understanding will change your life.
We hope you have enjoyed studying God's word
here on the Shepherd's Chapel Family Bible Study Hour
with Pastor Arnold Murray.
If you would like to receive more information
concerning Shepherd's Chapel,
you may request our free introductory offer.
Our introductory offer contains
The Mark of the Beast audio tape,
our monthly newsletter with a written Bible Study,
a tape catalog, and a list of written reference works
available through Shepherd's Chapel.
To request our free introductory offer by telephone,
call 800-643-4645, 24 hours a day.
You may also request our introductory offer
by writing to Shepherd's Chapel Post Office Box 416
Gravette, Arkansas 72736.
Once again, that's Shepherd's Chapel Post Office Box 416
Gravette, Arkansas 72736.
We invite you to join us for the next in-depth Bible Study
each weekday at this same time.
Thank you for watching today's program and God bless you.
♪ He's got the whole world in His hands ♪
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