Why the Incarnation: Paul Harvey’s “The Man & The Birds”

Posted on 2014/12/25 by Shawn Thomas

I have used Paul Harvey’s “The Man & The Birds” over the years as a favorite story to illustrate the meaning and necessity of the doctrine of the Incarnation, that God became Man in the Person of Jesus Christ. Following is the story:

The man to whom I’m going to introduce you was not a scrooge, he was a kind decent, mostly good man. Generous to his family, upright in his dealings with other men. But he just didn’t believe all that incarnation stuff which the churches proclaim at Christmas Time. It just didn’t make sense and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just couldn’t swallow the Jesus Story, about God coming to Earth as a man.

“I’m truly sorry to distress you,” he told his wife, “but I’m not going with you to church this Christmas Eve.” He said he’d feel like a hypocrite. That he’d much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. And so he stayed and they went to the midnight service. Continue reading →

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“Yachidati”: God’s Great Christmas Gift!

Posted on 2014/12/25 by Shawn Thomas

We understand more about God’s gift to us at Christmas from a Hebrew word used in Psalm 22:20. There the Psalmist asks God to deliver “yachidati” from the power of the dog (the enemy). The Hebrew word “yachid” means “only one”, “solitary” — as in “only son” (as it is translated several times in the Old Testament). The “i” ending indicates 1st person possession in Hebrew: “MY” only/solitary one. It is often translated in Psalm 22 as referring to one’s only “self” or “soul.” “Yachidati” is an unusual word which expresses a special love. One might imagine one calling an only child, a beloved grandchild, or special love, “Yachidati”, “my only special beloved”. What is even more enlightening is another place this same word is used in scripture: Continue reading →

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His Humiliation — And Our Response

Posted on 2014/12/24 by Shawn Thomas

“Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown when Thou camest to earth for me …” the Christmas hymn says. Psalm 22:18 continues the idea of the humility — and even humiliation — that Jesus underwent for us: “They divide my garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.” Continue reading →

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The Mediator

Posted on 2014/12/23 by Shawn Thomas

Sometimes two estranged parties need a third person, sympathetic to both, who can bring them together. Job lamented in 9:33 of his relationship with God: “There is no umpire between us who may lay his hand upon us both.” In other words, he didn’t have a mediator! Continue reading →

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“Your Response to Christmas” (Matthew 2:1-12 Sermon)

Posted on 2014/12/22 by Shawn Thomas

(Preached at FBC Pauls Valley, OK 12-21-14)

They asked some kindergarteners in Great Britain about the Christmas story of the visit of the Magi, and they had some interesting insights on it: one young boy said that the three wise men brought Jesus some gold stuff “but Legos would have been better”!

Of course it’s not only children who have missed some things in the story of the visit of the Magi in Matthew 2. There have been a few ideas “passed along” as truth which in fact the Bible does not specifically assert, such as:
— There were 3 wise men. The Bible does not indicate that. It says there were 3 gifts, but it does not say how many magi there were.
— They visited the “baby” Jesus in the manger – many “manger scenes” portray this, but :16 says Herod killed all the children 2 and younger, according to the time magi gave him, so Jesus was not a newborn baby when He was visited by the magi
— Then :11 says the magi came into the “house” (oikos) to worship Jesus – so it was not the manger the magi visited, but a house, some time after Jesus’ birth in the manger.

But despite all this, perhaps the most important thing a study of this passage reveals to us is not the details surrounding Jesus’ birth, but the difference between those who really worship Jesus and those who do not. Christmas is typically the second biggest season of worship attendance in churches, just behind Easter. But it is important to understand that just because you go to church, it does not mean that you are really worshipping Jesus. This morning we find in this passage at least 3 distinct responses to the birth of Jesus, and people today are still responding in the same ways. As we look at these responses today, see if you can find yourself reflected in one of the characters here: what is YOUR response to Christmas? Continue reading →

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Job’s God And Ours

Posted on 2014/12/22 by Shawn Thomas

How big is your God? In Job 9:4-10 Job gives us an idea of his view of God. He says, among other things:
— “It is God who removes the mountains, they know not how …” (:5)
— “Who shakes the earth out of its place; its pillars tremble” (:6)
— “Who commands the sun not to shine, and sets a seal upon the stars” (:7)
— “Who alone stretches out the heavens …” (:8)
— “Who makes the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades …” (:9)
— “Who does great things, unfathomable, and wondrous works without number.” (:10) Continue reading →

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A Friend Indeed

Posted on 2014/12/18 by Shawn Thomas

Who can advise you as to how you should respond to a friend who is going through a difficult trial? Who better than the Biblical character Job, who knew something about it? In Job 6:14 he speaks a word for those of us who would be comforters to our friends: Continue reading →

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What God Brags About

Posted on 2014/12/17 by Shawn Thomas

When Satan appeared before God in Job 1 & 2, the Lord had a word for him. Both in 1:8 and 2:3, He asked him, “Have you considered My servant Job?” This is a living example of what Psalm 147:10-11 says, “He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man. YHWH favors those who fear Him, those who wait for His lovingkindness.”

Continue reading →

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A Friend Who Is Near

Posted on 2014/12/16 by Shawn Thomas

When distress is near, you need God to be nearer still. This was David’s desire in Psalm 22:11, where he prays: “Be not far from me, for trouble is near.” Notice the parallel: the “trouble” (the Hebrew word can mean “distress”) is near, so he also needs God to be near! He asks Him not to be aloof or distant.

Continue reading →

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“He Will Save His People From Their Sins” (Matthew 1:21 Sermon)

Posted on 2014/12/15 by Shawn Thomas

(Preached at Mt. Home Baptist, Morganton, NC, and FBC Pauls Valley, OK, December 2014)

C.S. Lewis wrote of an interesting experience that his brother had one Christmas season. He said Warnie was riding on a big English double-decker bus one day, and they passed a church with a manger scene outside of it. Warnie overhead an English lady exclaim: “’Lor’, they’re dragging religion into everything these days: look, they’re even dragging it into Christmas now!”

Well, as you and I know, we’re not “dragging” religion into Christmas; the true meaning of Christmas is about what God did for us in Jesus Christ, that baby in the manger. What did He come to do? We get the answer to that in our passage for this morning, Matthew 1:21, where the angel told Joseph: “You shall call His name ‘Jesus’, for He will save His people from their sins.”
What is the significance of this saying? The name “Jesus” (or “Yeshua”) means “Yahweh is salvation”; so in calling the baby “Jesus” they were saying that God was saving His people through Him. But the angel specifically said that He would save His people “from their sins.” What does this mean, “He will save His people from their sins”? All of us have sinned, the Bible says (Romans 3:23). We have done things that were wrong, said things that were wrong, thought things that were wrong, and had attitudes that were wrong. Sin has numerous destructive effects in our lives. Sin makes us guilty before God for the wrongs we have committed. Sin enslaves us in its power. And sin would separate us from God and His holy heaven forever. But when Jesus came “to save His people from their sins”, these things were reversed! Let’s look at what it means that Jesus came “to save His people from their sins”:

Continue reading →

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