If you have never done that, then this is a great season in which to believe on Him. Dont Despair: A Reminder From Anne Graham Lotz. Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. The angel said, "Do not be afraid. Will you turn your focus toward Christevery day. You can tell if you do by attempting to rehearse God's attributes. If these four means of celebrating Christmas are new to you and if you are now desiring to put them into practice, I suggest that you begin not with the first verse, verse 17 of Luke 2, but with verses 18, 19, and 20. Christmas is always a special time for most everyone but especially followers of Jesus. But our time is poorly spent if we allow the bustle of Christmas to eclipse our times of Bible study and of pondering upon God's Word. A concordance soon gives the answer. Pondering is work. It was a sad world in their time. Finally, in chapter 1, verse 7, Paul indicates that the only solution to the problem lies in receiving peace from God: "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." If man could save himself, then there would have been no need for Jesus Christ to be born. But what does the Bible specifically say about your day of birth? But then, suddenly, an angel appeared with the message: After the angel spoke a host of angels appeared, all praising God and saying. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Four Reasons Christmas Is Not a Christian Holiday - Life, Hope & Truth For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. Y The Bible says that when Jesus was born, a multitude of angels appeared suddenly and erupted in joyful praise to God, saying: "Glory in the heights above to God, and upon earth peace among men of goodwill." ( Luke 2:13, 14) However, it is noteworthy that nowhere in the Bible is there even a suggestion that Jesus' birthday should be celebrated. Come to Him now! After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. And, of course, this is the sense in which we glorify God. How do you celebrate Christmas? When Was Jesus' Birth? Was Jesus Born on December 25? | What the Bible Says For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. In other words, what they had been told coincided with their own experience, and they could not resist speaking of such things. Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Just as we celebrate our childrens birthdays every year, I believe its entirely appropriate for us to celebrate the birth of Gods own Son, Jesus Christ, every 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. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. We need to think about each of these ways. There is a sense in which the world will never know even one of these three types of peace until the return of Jesus Christ. Christ the Lord. The smoke from her goes up forever and ever. And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, Amen. 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. I know, of course, that Jesus was probably not born on December 25 at least there is no real evidence that He was. In early fall. It is clearly God's transformation and control of the emotions. In all that he does, he prospers. It is important because man's problems stem from the fact that in his natural state, he is not at peace with God. What Every Christian Should Know about the Protestant Reformation. O Bible Verses About Celebrating Birthdays - KING JAMES BIBLE ONLINE You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end. There are a few Bible verses that seem to suggest that Jesus did not want people to celebrate his birth. This is the perfect combination a knowledge of the Good News and men who need to hear it. For from him and through him and to him are all things. Music: Pax Tecum, George T. Caldbeck and Charles J. Vincent, 1876. And he called out with a mighty voice, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! 6. Did Jesus Celebrate His Birthday?. Jesus is eternal Son of God He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Happiness is a wonderful thing at Christmas shopping, decorating, entertaining, mailing cards but it is the world's virtue, and like all the world's virtues, it quite easily passes away. I know that Christmas is a busy time. 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? This is exactly what we have in Christianity. We see His grace. 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 Imitate the shepherds in spreading the word concerning what you know about the Christ child. In the book of Philippians, Paul speaks of this peace when he says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. First of all, the Bible tells us that Jesus was born on Christmas day. But how should a Christian celebrate Christmas? Some even contain good emphases. To do so is to participate in the Christmas story. Can we doubt that the shepherds had something worth telling? (Philadelphia: Evangelical Foundation), 1961, pages 12-13. You can remember the moment in which they became real for you personally. It is unfortunate that these great words "savior" and "salvation" have been watered down so much as they have been in our day. What Does the Bible Say About Celebration? "He was born like us as well as died like us. His birth was necessary. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. When circumstances are right, there is happiness; but when the source of happiness departs, happiness goes with it. Is the Celebration of Christmas Biblical? - Owlcation We cannot understand it but it is true, and we should marvel at it. Systematic Theology Volume 2: Existence and the Christ. Keiper, Ralph L. Peace in Storm. 12. Bible verses related to Celebrating Birthdays from the King James Version (KJV) by Relevance. It comes from a verb which means "to reconcile" or "to bring back into harmony." When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures" (James 4:1-3). For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life. Jesus Christ does not thus become some magical wand which causes all our troubles to disappear. These words mean "a right opinion," "a wrong opinion," and "a contradictory opinion" respectively. In this hymn, known as the "Benedictus," the aged priest exclaims: "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. Nevertheless, this is the day that most people, Christians and non-Christians alike, observe as His birthday, and if we are to mark it at all, this seems to be the only realistic time to do it. Privacy And when he had eaten, his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. Moreover, the Bible teaches that if you will believe that that is, if you will believe that you are not at peace with God naturally but that He has made peace through the death of His Son for your sin - then God will enter into the kind of eternal relationship with you in which you can be called His son or daughter. A complete edition was edited in 1904 for the Cambridge University Press as Richard Crashaw: Steps To The Temple, Delights of the Muses and Other Poems by A. R. Waller. But of all these things, the incarnation of the Son of God is the most amazing. After this type of amazement has run its course nobody gives the cause of it a second thought. King Solomon offered as a sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. Music: Beecher, John Zundel, Christian Heart Songs, 1870. He would have simply thought her unfaithful. Now it is true that this new line is less likely to be misinterpreted. W On the other hand, if man cannot save himself spiritually if he is headed for an eternity without God and is unable to reverse his condition then Jesus Christ had to come. December 26, 2015 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. The trouble lies with men. Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. Peter tells us that God delays only long enough to call to repentance all whom He has before determined should believe ("He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" see 2 Peter 3:9). Joyful and triumphant, He would say that He was the way for a world that was lost. Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! I would like you to have the experience of entering into the kind of joy that Mary and Joseph and the shepherds had on that first Christmas morning. L Let Us Celebrate Jesus Christ's Death Not His Birth Gaebelein, Frank. I am not referring to activity, of course. It is selfishness and pride, plus the lack of individual peace and contentment. It is a result of the Christian's first having entered into a relationship of peace with God. But this is all there will be - until the angels appear with their message. Ponder on its meaning. Anybody who knows good news is authorized to tell it, particularly when it is news that will be the means of salvation of others. Taken together, therefore, the Greek and Latin definitions imply, first, that peace is not primarily a state of mind or an individual virtue but rather a state existing between two or more persons. The first of these important appearances was to Mary. Music: In Dulci Jubilo, 14th Century German melody; harmony from Christmas Carols Old and New, 1871. To the choirmaster. It is not just brooding or getting into a pious frame of mind. There is much activity but many go through these activities in a joyless way. Jesus was born to be our Savior as the carol says: Christ was born to save! And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them. So he told them this parable: What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? These celebrations are inadequate to say the least. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Its genesis is not merely on the intellectual level; it goes down into the vast emotional reservoir of life and conduct that underlies the intellectual. Finally, by an obvious extension, glory meant a person's true "worth." 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. Topics: Jesus Christ. Christ was born to save! But that is not what the Bible is talking about when it talks about salvation. Christmas time is a few days away. Salem Media Group. If anyone would argue in this way, he should notice that the shepherds had the most important authorization of all possession of good news which had been revealed to them by God. 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. It was lost because it lacked direction, primarily spiritual direction. Born the King of angels; Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 8 Interesting Facts about the Birth of Jesus - Crosswalk.com Crashaw wrote of this wonder: This is why the wonder of children seems so appropriate at Christmastime. 10. Things seem to go as they have been going from the beginning, and you want something better. On the day of the firstfruits, when you offer a grain offering of new grain to the Lord at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. What does the Bible say about Christmas? - Becoming Christians Moreover, since acknowledging His true worth is the essential meaning of worship it means to acknowledge God's worth to glorify God is to worship Him by words. Amen. The development of Christmas was a kind of affirmation of God's interest in the world and in human lifebirth as well as death." He added this. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. 1. He would say that He was the truth for a world that was dreadfully confused. The birth of Jesus Christ is traditionally celebrated on December 25, although "around 37% of Orthodox Christians, mainly in Egypt and Russia, celebrate the Nativity of Christ on January 7th," owing to a difference in how their calendars were devised. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago)" (Luke 1:68-70). Where does God say not to celebrate Jesus' birth? We learn of His mercy. "Come unto me and I will give you rest." The third message is of the outcome, which is joy for man and glory for God. Rather, He enables us to face them with a quietness, a calmness and confidence, which makes it possible to find a solution" 10 This is the peace that Edward Bickersteth wrote about in the late nineteenth century, in a verse which has since become one of our great hymns: The first way in which we find this peace, then, is by learning of Jesus. 8. 52 Bible Verses about Celebration Verse Concepts They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness. First, you need to learn about Jesus. He then assured the professor that the reason why the Christmas message was an apparent farce to him was not God's fault. 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. This, of course, is monstrous. And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holythe Son of God. It says, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men the testimony given in its proper time" (1 Timothy 2:5,6). Looking at the verse closely, we find that it uses the word "rest" twice. Joy is of God. J And they kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the people of Israel did. Continue by pondering these things. May God give you grace to do that. It was confused because it lacked revelation and, therefore, also an awareness of truth. And the herald proclaimed aloud, You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 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. O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem; Come and behold Him That is the question. "Joy to the World" Words: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David, 1719. Matthew 1:18-25 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. Tillich developed his understanding of salvation from the meaning of the Latin word salvus, which underlies it. You cannot tell that which you have not first felt and experienced. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Grosart. Therefore encourage one another with these words. What Does the Bible Say About Rejoice At A Death Cry At A Birth? "The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology" explains that the earliest Christians did not have a time when they regularly observed Christ's birth. But over against this dying world was Jesus. 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. Let me illustrate this by a story from the life of Dr. Ralph L. Keiper, who was a professor of English Bible at Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado, and who was for many years associated with Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse in his ministry. Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. It is before his own master that he stands or falls. Music: Adeste Fideles, attributed variously to John Wade, John Reading or Simao Portogallo. That is, men are not men of peace. 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. Volume I, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951), page 146. On December 25th people the world over will celebrate the birth of Lord Jesus Christ. To what did they return? 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). But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. There is one kind of amazement which is merely a tickling of the fancy. Notice that this verse does not say, "In everything present your requests to God. Then out of the darkness we hear God speaking to call forth life and order. 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. Of course they did! 7. you are asking. Let your prayer be the cry of the publican: "God be merciful to me, a sinner!" To do this is to glorify Him, an act which is, as the Catechism states, one aspect of man's chief end. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it? And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. Will Graham Devotion: The Criminal on the Cross.