The Miracles of Christmas
by Darrell W. Johns
December 7, 2022 · Atlanta West Pentecostal Church (Lithia Springs, GA)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 46, Genesis 12:2, Acts 3:25-26, Genesis 17:19, Romans 9:7, Genesis 28:14, Luke 3:34, Genesis 49:10, Luke 3:33, 2 Samuel 7:12, Matthew 1:1, Luke 1:35, Hosea 11:1, Matthew 2:14-15, Micah 5:2, Matthew 2, Luke 2:1-5, Exodus 4:21, Exodus 14:17-18, Daniel 4:17, Daniel 4:34-35, Proverbs 21:1, Acts 2:23, Acts 4:27, 1 Corinthians 2:8, Revelation 17:17, Luke 2:9, Luke 2:10-12, Luke 2:13-14, Luke 2:25, Matthew 2:23, Genesis 3:15, Luke 1:26-38, Matthew 1:22-23

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/darrell-w-johns--the-miracles-of-christmas
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
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well Isaiah 7 14. therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign Behold a virgin not just a young girl but a young pure girl a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel I want to speak to you tonight on the Miracles of Christmas God bless you please be seated the theme of this coming Sunday is wonderful our Christmas concert slash service He is wonderful counselor the Mighty God the Everlasting father the Prince of Peace that's who Jesus is he embodied all those roles in his flesh his government shall continue forever and ever the Hebrew word translated wonderful and indicates something that is uncommon that is out of the ordinary a phenomenon that lies outside the realm of human explanation it is miraculous the name of Jesus Christ something that cannot be explained by human reasoning that's who Jesus is he is the wonderful counselor He is wonderful amen so wonderful is not just snow and slays or Santa or surprise gifts wonderful as Jesus amen this season of the year I've seen lately a lot about Advent heard about Advent and I just wanted to throw this in kind of as an extra idea of God's plan Advent showing up in church language seems like this year more than normal it means coming it can mean the first coming or the second coming and in in the New Testament it referred to the second coming of Jesus Christ the porosia the catching away of the Saints but his first Advent was Christmas season the beginning of this year for many Christian churches this month and the three Wednesdays that we have before Christmas it is my intention to speak tonight on the Miracles of Christmas next Wednesday night the message of Christmas and the third Wednesday night on the mission of Christmas we'll see how that unfolds amen if we can get it right tonight I want to talk to you about out the Miracles of Christmas and I'm not going to deal with these events in order I'm going to save I hope the best for last but I want to talk about the Miracles of Prophecy the census that was given the Angelic announcement the Zachariah in Elizabeth's story Simeon and Anna the wise men the provision and protection of God and the Virgin birth so please put on your mental tennis shoes running shoes and I may summarize some of these stories that are all amazing you could preach on each one of them I want to start with a miracle of Prophecy prophecy is God's way of preparing us for the future by predicting the future according to Isaiah 46 God knows the end from the beginning he calls those things that are not that have not yet taken place as though they already were God can write history Tree in advance before it ever happens he can write about it with the accuracy of it being in the past Jay Barton Payne in his Encyclopedia of biblical prophecy he lists 1239 prophecies in the Old Testament 578 prophecies in the new a total of 1817 prophecies it depends on how you break them down and there could be various ideas about that but that would be pretty close it encompasses eight thousand three hundred fifty two verses in your Bible scholars have said that there are maybe 300 prophecies that relate to Jesus Christ in the Old Testament and someone wanted to figure out the mathematic probability of those prophecies coming true so Peter Stoner who's the chairman who was the chairman of Department of mathematics and astronomy Pasadena College years ago was passionate about biblical prophecies he had 600 students and they looked at eight not 80 or 800 but eight specific prophecies about Jesus and they wanted to calculate mathematical probabilities of those eight prophecies coming true in any one man so they decided that after all their work that that would be equal to 1 in 10 to the 17th power of coming true that could happen by probability not by Divine Providence in other words God did not orchestrate it it just happened by random selection as they would say right so he said it would be like this take ten tickets mark one of them place them in a hat stir them up blindfold the men have him pick one of those out randomly it would be one in ten but imagine 10 to the 17th power he said take that many silver dollars and lay them on the face of tech taxes they will cover the state two feet deep then Mark one of those silver dollars and stir that mass up all over the state of Texas not quite as big as Alaska but a giant State blindfold that same man and tell him that he can travel throughout the state of Texas as much as he wants he can take as long as he wants but eventually he has to reach down and pick up that one silver dollar that has been marked and the probability of him picking up that one coin would be one in 10 to the 17th power but when God orchestrates the future there is no probability there is only certainty amen in the Old Testament was prophesied that the Messiah would come through the lineage of Abraham Genesis 12 and 2. it was fulfilled in Jesus Christ Acts 3 25 and 26 speaks of this there is the prophecy that God's covenant would come through Isaac's ancestors Genesis 17 19. it came to pass in Jesus as Romans 9 and 7 says the Bible said that the nations would be blessed through The Offspring of Jacob prophesied in Genesis 28 14 fulfilled in Jesus in the genealogy that Luke recorded in Luke 3 34. the scepter would come through Judah the tribe of Judah prophesied in Genesis 49 10 it came to pass in Jesus Luke 3 33 in the genealogies David would have an eternal Kingdom through his office Offspring prophesied in second Samuel 7 and 12 came to pass in Jesus as recorded in Matthew 1 and 1. a virgin would give birth he would be called Emmanuel prophesied in Isaiah 7 14 our text it came to pass in Jesus according to Luke 1 35. the Messiah would spend some time in Egypt prophesied in Hosea 11-1 out of Egypt have I brought my son fulfilled in Jesus in Matthew 2 14 and 15. Jesus Christ would be born or the Messiah in Bethlehem prophesied in Micah 5 and 2 fulfilled in the birth of Jesus according to Matthew Chapter 2 he was born in Bethlehem and confirmed also in Luke Jesus Christ was born of the seed of Abraham through David in Bethlehem fulfilled Bible prophecies is only one of the many miracles of Christmas the second miracle I want to discuss is the senses taken by the most important or most powerful man in the world Luke 2 1. and it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed what's the probability that this would happen in the time of Mary conceiving and bringing Jesus into the world this taxing was first made when cyrenius was governor Syria and all went to be taxed everyone to his own City and Joseph also went up From Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the city of David which is called Bethlehem because he and also Mary were of the house and lineage of David so they make this 90 to 100 mile trip Mary we know is great with child verse 5 to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife and we can read it now being great with child she's at least in the last trimester and so it was that while they were there maybe not on the first night but while they were there the days were accomplished that she should be delivered and she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in squadly clothes and laid him in a Manger because there was no room for them in the end Matthew confirms that it was Bethlehem where Jesus was born as I mentioned earlier in those prophecies and I have all those scriptures in my notes now the Bible is clear I'm talking about Caesar Augustus mandating a worldwide census and Taxation for the Bible is very clear that God rules in government amen Exodus 4 21 God hardened Pharaoh's heart there are many many scriptures about Pharaoh's heart being hardened Exodus 4 21 Exodus 14 17 and 18. God allowed Pharaoh's heart to be hardened so Israel would be delivered and in Egypt that Army would be destroyed in Daniel chapter 4 17 speaking about God's rule that the most high rules in the Kingdom of men he gives it to whomever he will and settles it over the basis of men I've seen some base men and women in politics sometimes God does that the Lord in Daniel chapter 4 excuse me Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar get some time in the Bible a pagan King of Babylon at the end of time I Nebuchadnezzar lifted my eyes to heaven and my understanding returned to me and I blessed Pagan King Nebuchadnezzar blessed the most high and praise and honored him who lives forever for his Dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom is from generation to Generation all the inhabitants of the Earth are reputed as nothing he does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth no one can restrain or stay his hand or say to him what have you done he does not answer to anyone and that God moved on Caesar Augustus to call for a worldwide census and Taxation Proverbs 21 1 said that the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord like the rivers of water he turns it wherever he wishes in Acts 2 23 about the crucifixion of Jesus Peter's preaching that it was by the determinate Council and for knowledge of God in other words God called this shot long before it ever happened acts 4 27 again the preaching of the Apostle Peter Herod Pontius Pilate the Gentiles the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand this is their prayer and thy counsel determined before to be done they're just doing what God said they would do long before it happened and I just want you to know that there are some discouraging things that happen in our lives and in our world but one of the Miracles of Christmas is that God would move on the heart of a pagan Emperor and say make everyone go back to their Homeland to their home City and everybody went back to the city of their origin of their lineage including Joseph and Mary and it got married back to Bethlehem so Jesus could be born there and the Bible is very clear that it was to fulfill the scripture the Apostle Paul in First Corinthians 2 8 wrote about the mystery that God ordained and none of the princes of this world knew if they would have known Paul says they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory they were working against God but for God's ultimate plan Revelation 17 16 about the End of Time the Bible said for God hath put in their hearts Pagan rulers to fulfill his will so I just want you to know that there's a lot of miracles about Christmas that we can celebrate in the past and expect to happen again in the present and in the future the Lord engineered a census for the entire world to move Mary to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus Christ and then there was this miraculous Angelic announcement there were shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their flocks by night there's a lot of fascinating things I'm going to kind of peruse this section of my notes I have way too many notes tonight everybody that's seen them agrees if you're going to announce your arrival on planet your almighty God who would you announce it to you're going to send an angel to announce it maybe King Herod the religious leaders famous and rich people Twitter Facebook Tick Tock CNN MSNBC Fox News who would you tell you're coming now that story might get suppressed if you tell the wrong people but almighty God appear to Blue Collar Shepherds who are actually looked down upon they were what we would have considered to be low-class people but to them there is an angel that appeared on that lonely Night Luke 2 9 and lo the angel of the Lord Came Upon them and the glory of the Lord Shone round about them and they were so afraid the same Glory appeared to Abraham while he would dwelt in her of the Chaldeans it's the same Glory that appeared in the Tabernacle the same Glory that appeared in Solomon's Temple the same Glory that Ezekiel Saw when he was in the temple it's the same Glory because God's glory is from Everlasting to Everlasting and now that Glory Appears in the field to Shepherds shining glory of God and they were scared out of their mind the angel analysis to them this is now Luke chapter 2 verse 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 that's the message of Christmas for unto you is Born This Day in the city of David a savior which is Christ the lord and this shall be a sign unto you you're going to have a sign you shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes strips of cloth maybe for poor kids maybe not it's debatable lying in a Manger you're going to see this sign so these Shepherds hear this Angelic announcement then verse 13 Luke 2 13 and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God and saying can you imagine an angel and then thousands of angels it's pretty incredible if you've ever been somewhere I had something pop in my mind just now the most stars I've ever seen in my lifetime that you felt like you could reach up and grab them amen happened to be in the southern hemispheres unbelievable but now it's not Stars it's angels and they're saying glory to God in the highest and now on Earth peace Good Will toward men this powerful message was glory to God in the highest on Earth peace Good Will toward men the Shepherds they leave and they go to Bethlehem to see what the Lord said and after they saw baby Jesus they went and told they were the first human Witnesses of the birth of the Messiah Jesus Christ and everybody that heard their message wondered at the tremendous insights but there was this Supernatural there was this miraculous announcement and miraculous we call it an Angelic choir but the Bible doesn't say they were singing they were saying maybe it was to music and anyway the Shepherds come and they go that is an amazing story now I told you I wasn't going to go in order but there is the miracle of Zechariah in Elizabeth this is an old couple she's always been bare and now they're too old to have a baby he's a priest and he gets the once in a lifetime opportunity to offer incense he goes in before the Lord the Lord tells Zechariah that he and Elizabeth are going to have a baby and he can't believe it he doesn't believe it and he doesn't get to speak for at least nine months but Zachariah and Elizabeth part of maybe 20 000 Priests of that time and 24 teams or courses of priests and they're both priests kids and they're very special people they're righteous walking in all the Commandments and the ordinances of God their lives were blameless before the Lord this is one of my favorite all their favorite Christmas stories depends on which one you're reading right but what's amazing about this story is that their names are very significant Gabriel speaks to him Gabriel's really busy by the way this particular time in human history and he tells Zechariah the baby's name is going to be John you may remember when he's born all the neighbors are trying to name him Zachariah or Daryl Wesley or some family name but I know his name is going to be John just do what God says right and you know Zachariah is healed and this is an amazing story that God does through them but here here's a couple things that I want to mention to you that zechariah's name means the Lord remembers and Elizabeth's name means the oath or Covenant of our God so in Zechariah and Elizabeth got named as little kids little babies they had no idea that through their life through their barrenness through their unanswered prayer the Lord says the Angels Gabriel says the Lord's heard your prayer they'd prayed about this but the Lord is saying to them the Lord remembers the oath or Covenant of God that God never forgets his promises and this miracle of the birth of John the Baptist who Zachariah and Elizabeth is one of the Amazing Stories and it is John who breaks 400 years of Silence who introduces Jesus Christ Behold the Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world who brings the nation to repentance after Jesus is born on the eighth day is circumcised on the 40th Day he's presented him presented in the temple and we would we would call this baby dedication right while they are there there is this old man named Simeon Luke 2 25 and he's devout he's waiting on the consolation of Israel which means the Messiah and God had promised him that he would not die until he saw the Lord's Christ so this day the 40th Day that Jesus is on this Earth Joseph and Mary are in the temple and Simeon led by the Holy Ghost walks in the temple and when he sees them he knows and he takes 40 day old Jesus up in his arms and He blesses him and says Lord now your servant can depart in peace for I have seen thy salvation he prophesies over baby Jesus and Mary that a sword will pierce through her own soul also Jesus will be set for the fall and Rising again of many in Israel he's going to be the decision point of history for all people this is an amazing story right after Simeon makes his entrance and exit Anna who's a lady who was married for a few years and widowed for many many years she's perhaps she's been widowed for 84 years she let's just say she got married at about 16 but she could have been 107 years old but let's just say she's a very old lady Anna well she spends her life praying and fasting and seeking God and she comes in and she recognizes who Jesus is that is an amazing miracle then there's the miracle of the wise men I told you we're not going in order because they come probably two years after Jesus is born he's not an infant in a Manger he's a young child in a house they're still in Bethlehem but I want to talk about them because Matthew portrays Jesus Christ as the king of the Jews the king of the world so it's fitting that these wise men bring gifts Fit For A King the Matthew 2 speaks of this there are wise men Magi from the East they come to Jerusalem and they're asking where is he that has been born King of the Jews we've seen his star in the east and we have come to worship Him now when Herod and all Jerusalem heard this they were very worried because they thought Herod was King and now they say there's a baby that's been born King of the Jews you may or may not know the story of the wise men we're not sure how they knew they might have known from Jews of the dispersion who lived in the East where they were from they may have been from Persia Arabia Babylonia we don't know but they're from the East the Messiah was known in Prophecy and taught in every synagogue that he would come the Jews still pray today that the Messiah would come unfortunately many of them missed him by a couple of millennium but they come to worship him you know Herod is super upset about this and he's very insecure he's killed some of his own family members and so he will try to kill the infant the toddler Jesus Christ now there's a lot of speculation about what this star was was an alignment of Planet an alignment of stars but I have always maintained by the Bible that this star was a supernatural light because the star that they saw in the East when they left Herod to go to Bethlehem because Herod gets his Scholars to go get a Bible to find out where he's going to be born and they say Bethlehem they find out from Micah that it is Bethlehem so the wise men leave Bethlehem to go excuse me leave Jerusalem to go to Bethlehem and the same star they saw in the East reappeared and it guided them to Bethlehem and that star stood over the house where the young child and his mother were Joseph must have been out working that day there's no mention of him at that point but he's still alive he probably died before Jesus began his ministry perhaps but he's still around so this is an amazing thing that this star appears disappears reappears guides him to the very house and then they would give him Gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh gifts Fit For A King that would allow the next thing I'll talk about the provision that God gave through them there is the miracle of the star and the wise men a Christmas miracle but then through them there is the miracle of provision when Joseph and Mary give their offering they give two turtle doves and if you study out those offerings it was a gift of poor people when they go to Bethlehem they're moving he's a carpenter they don't have a lot of means but now they have a little money and when Herod threatens them and God Appears to Joseph in a dream when they've got to flee Bethlehem to go down to Egypt now they've got some money to make a journey and they flee there because God provided in advance I want to refer back to the message of brother Tess Stewart I was out of town I told you I watched it online it was an amazing message we say he's Jehovah Jireh the provider but it means the Lord who sees he sees ahead it's provisioned vision of what is needed in advance what a great Insight in his message so here is God who is providing in advance for Joseph and Mary it is miraculous provision it is also miraculous protection because God will get Joseph and Mary and two-year-old perhaps Jesus out of Bethlehem out of the country into a foreign country but it will fulfill scripture out of Egypt have I brought my son now there's multiple things God can do many things at the same time he's not like us who are you know just happy if we can do one thing at a time God orchestrates the events of human history and he gives protection provision first and then protection when the infants in Bethlehem were slaughtered they returned to Nazareth they're going to go to Bethlehem but another dream and Joseph is warmed warned they go back to Bethlehem but that also according to Matthew 2 23 that it fulfills a prophecy of the Old Testament this is one of the Miracles of Christmas and then there is the miracle that is the reason for every other miracle that is that God would look for an intercessor he would find none there is none righteous no not one all have sinned and come short of the glory of God but all the way back into Genesis in the garden where the Lord said a descendant of the woman will bruise the head of the serpent he is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world this is not God reacting this is God acting in advance amen so this is Jesus Christ being born in Bethlehem amen so I want to talk about this miraculous appearance to to Mary Gabriel as I mentioned is very busy in this season of his life and um so now I have touched my screen and we are somewhere just far far away we're going to get right back maybe maybe maybe maybe if you're watching online pray for me like comment and share so this is six months after Gabriel has appeared to Zacharias this is the Angel who stands in the presence of God and he comes to Nazareth this beautiful Town nestled in the Hills of Galilee fishing and agriculture not all the religiosity of Judea and Jerusalem and he appears to marry this young woman Luke 1 26. on the screens Luke 1 26 and in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin a spouse to a man whose name was Joseph of the House of David and the virgin's name was Mary so we learn a lot don't we and those verses we learn a lot that Joseph and Mary are betrayal it's more serious and engagement is contractual there's no consummation of the marriage Mary is a virgin Joseph we learn is a just man he's a godly man this is a Godly young couple and Gabriel speaks to her verse 28 and the angel came in unto her and said hail thou that are highly favored the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women now there are many many insights in this verse Mary now verse 29 is afraid when she saw him she's troubled at his saying and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be now most of the time if God is going to appear to you speak to you an angel appears to you in the Bible you know people are usually afraid right I mean read your Bible they're afraid it's not a ghost this is not a devil this is an angel of the Lord but it doesn't happen every day and maybe like us we kind of fear that we're not really up to par and that if God appeared to us it'd be because we're in a lot of trouble he might be surprised how proud he is of you that you're favored of the Lord because of your Godly life so even Mary Virgin Mary Godly Mary finding favor with God Mary found favor not just because she's of the lineage of David but by her moral life Mary knows the Bible in her her song that's called The Magnificat she will quote scripture she will have she'll demonstrate incredible spiritual insight Mary is amazing and the angel has to kind of calm her down that she's favored and blessed it's an overwhelming greeting for her this virtuous woman now they say that Jewish girls you know wanted to be married wanted to have children wanted to have sons and maybe a long shot dream would be to to be the mother of the Messiah wow one person in human history would get to be that person and it was Mary but this is an incredible thing about Mary she's found verse 30. the angel said unto her fear not Mary for thou Hast found favor with God finding favor to me indicates that she did something more than the luck of the draw to find favor from the Lord I've already mentioned this but a virgin humble a pondering Soul one of my favorite words and knows the Bible and all of that highly favored of the Lord verse 31. and behold Thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus his name for the first time he shall be great it should be called the son of the highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne this Jewish girl not royalty is going to have a baby and God is going to give her baby the throne of his father David he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever that's heaven that's eternity and of his kingdom there shall be no end now the name Jesus comes from the Old Testament name Jehovah hoshia Jehovah savior Joshua saved Israel from their enemies Jesus will save us from our sins the Lord saves Jesus Christ the lord saves his kingdom is eternal he is a king over his kingdom verse 34 is Mary's response then said Mary to the angel how shall this be this is the Miracle of Miracles of Christmas how shall this be seeing I know not a man I'm not planning to compromise that by the way Mary would not say but she's implying this she's engaged betrothed but not married compromise is not a consideration for her and then the angel has to explain verse 35. 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 now one is Apostolic people one is Pentecostal people we have no question about God With Us the Holy Ghost overshadowing you we don't see a second third person in a non-biblical concept of a Triune God overshadowing Mary is the Son of God and overshadowed by the Holy Ghost we understand the holy spirit is the agent of God it's God at work God reducing himself to a single cell Mary is not just an incubator as some Heretics believe that God did it all in her womb like she had no contribution of DNA or Humanity he is God man he is there is one God in one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus he's the Lamb of God he had to have Flesh and Blood and Bone he had to be a man he had to be tempted in all points like as us yet without sin to be a merciful high priest so many things about who he would be Gabriel lets her know that this will be a miracle this will be what some people call the Immaculate Conception it has never happened before it will never happen again it is the miracle of the Miracles of Christmas that brought salvation to this world and then the angel Gabriel wants to really assure Mary verse 36. and behold thy cousin Elizabeth she hath also conceived a son in her old age it's not a virgin birth but it is a miraculous conception and I would think all the way through for this old woman to conceive and carry a child is an amazing miracle and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren now I love this because it does not matter how impossible your predicament may seem amen she was called Barren but she's gonna have a baby [Applause] and the angel Gabriel says to Mary for with God nothing shall be impossible not Elizabeth conceiving a son in her old age not you Mary conceiving a child by the Holy Ghost nothing shall be impossible with God this is the miracle of Christmas I'm amazed that throughout the Bible God often worked his greatest works through impossibilities through barrenness Sarah the barren wife of Abraham Rachel the barren wife of Jacob Hannah the barren wife of elkana Elizabeth the barren wife of Zechariah the mother of John the Baptist and when God wants to do something really great he always begins with an impossibility that is what Miracles are all about it is when God suspends the laws of nature to let us know that he is almighty God and there is nothing too hard for him amen verse 38. and Mary said behold the handmaid of the Lord be it unto me according to Thy Word and the angel departed from her no matter how powerful God is and what he chooses to do he does rely on our cooperation on our consent and you could say that the Incarnation God in flesh this all hinges or Mary saying be it unto me according to Thy word Mary said yes to the miracle so tonight I wanted to just give an overview of the Christmas miracles of Prophecy of the census of the Angelic announcement of Zechariah and Elizabeth of Simeon and Anna of the wise men of the provision and protection of God and of the Virgin birth the focal point of this miracle and our text tonight came from a prophecy spoken by the prophet Isaiah 700 years before the birth of Christ Isaiah 7 14 on the screens therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shalt call his name Emmanuel it was fulfilled in Matthew 1 22 and 23 quoting Isaiah Matthew 1 22. now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying Behold a virgin shall be with child and bring forth a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel Isaiah doesn't Define it but Matthew does which being interpreted is God With Us