If Jesus Had Not Come

there would be many a vacant lot where spires now reach toward Heaven. The world's libraries would be noticeably smaller and of poorer selections. Tyrannies would exist where democracies now prevail.

The Bible's message would end with Malachi and the condemnation of the Law with no hope of salvation, no comfort for the bereaved, no word of glorious resurrection, no open door to Heaven—only despair, weeping and sadness.

No single event has left a deeper impression on the soul of man than the indisputable fact of Jesus' birth!

The angelic host said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

The shepherds heeded the message and went to Bethlehem to see the Christ and found Him lying in a manger. Simeon saw the Christ. Living in the temple, Anna waited for Christ.

Do you see beyond the distractions at Christmas the love of God in Christ? Do you see Christ's sacrifice on the cross for your sins providing a passport to Heaven?

Acts 16:31 invites all to come to Christ:
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."

Did You Miss Christmas?

Jesus. The True Story of Christmas.

"And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
"To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
"And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
"And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."
—Luke 2:4-11

The Remarkably High Cost of Christmas

While the time of year may be off, the reason of the season, Jesus, is very much true. 

He was born and laid in a manger. 

But what did it cost?

• It cost Mary and Joseph the comforts of home during a long period of exile in Egypt to protect Jesus.
• It cost the mothers, in and around Bethlehem, the massacre of their babies by the cruel order of Herod.
• It cost the wise men a long journey and expensive gifts and changed lives.
• It cost the early apostles and the early church persecution and sometimes death.
• It cost missionaries untold suffering and privation to spread the good news.
• It cost Christian martyrs–in all ages–their lives for Christ's sake.

More than all this, it cost God the Father His own Son–for He sent Him to the earth to save men.

• It cost Jesus a life of sacrifice and service, a death cruel and unmatched in history.

So let me ask, Is Christmas Too Costly? 

• It is, if all that it means is gift exchanges.
• It is if all it means is tinsel and millions spent in commercialization of Christmas.
• It is, if all that it means is a holiday.

It Isn't Too Costly

• If it means the hope of the world.
• If it means the forgiveness of sin.
• If it means peace among men.
• If it means joyous singing.

Seven vs. Seven

There is a series of seven characters mentioned by name in the first two chapters of Luke and another series of seven in the first two verses of chapter 3. The first includes Zacharias, Elisabeth, Mary, Joseph, Simeon, Anna, and John the Baptist; while those in the second are Tibrias Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip, Lysanias, Annas, Caiaphas.

The first seven are representative of the few, despised faithful among the people of God. Them the world did not know and did not care whether it knew them.

The other seven was the whole world in its might and glory—the Roman emperor and the empire over which he ruled, the Roman governor and all Judea, Herod and all his court, Annas and Caiaphas and with them the apostate nation that was ere long to crucify its Lord.

Of the first seven the world took no notice, but they were precious to God.

Of the other seven the world filled its books with their history, their exploits, their achievements. But God in His Word gives them just one and one-half verses while the other despised seven rate one hundred thirty-two verses.

The first seven are dear to God's heart because of their attitude to His beloved Son. The second seven are ignored because whosoever does not know and love Christ is of no account in God's sight.

-The angels praise God.
-The shepherds made known what was told them concerning the Child, and men wondered at the things told them by the shepherds.
-Mary pondered all these things in her heart.
-Simeon waited for the consolation of Israel
-Joseph marveled at the things spoken of the Babe
-Anna gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of Him to all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

Those are the men and women God knows. Do you belong to them?
—August Van Ryn

Who Cares, Anyway? Part Five

"I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul."—Psalm 142:1-4

Do You Care Enough Not To Quit?

Thanks be unto God for the many through the ages that have cared enough for you and me. Our history tells us of those great men and women that have cared enough. In our present day and time there are those who still care. We need to care enough to go to the lost.

A young couple that had gotten saved brought their elderly grandmother to Christ. Afterward, the couple couldn't find her, so they looked through the village but couldn't find her anywhere. They went to village after village, but they couldn't find her. Days went by and they had not located her.

Finally, somebody in one of the villages was heard to cry, "There's Granny!"

The entire village went out to see her and asked where she had been. She said, "Well, you know after I found out that Jesus is alive and that He's coming back for all those who prayed to Him and is going to take them with Him, I thought about all of my old friends on the other side of the mountain. 

"I told them, 'He's alive. He's up there above the clouds, and one of these days He's going to come back for every one that prays to Him and take them up there with Him."

When Granny was asked if any of them prayed, she said, "I can't count, so I put down a straw for everyone that prayed. Here's my bundle." Tied together with a piece of lambskin were sixty-nine straws.

You have your opportunity to care enough right now. Do you care enough to go over to the other side of the mountain like Granny did?

I know you care, but do you care enough to help people get saved? Don't be indifferent. Do business with God and get it settled, because He wants to do business with you.

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Who Cares, Anyway? Part Four

"I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul."—Psalm 142:1-4

Do You Care Enough to Allow the Holy Spirit to Move You?

Their sin and backsliding won't let some care like they ought to care. They've gotten away from the Lord and taken control at the helm of things in their lives. Their hearts have grown cold and hard, and they've become unfaithful to the point that they've become unmovable.

There was a time when messages from the Word of God could touch their hearts and even bring them to the altar. Their backsliding and sin have gotten them away from the Word of God and the influence of the church.

They've gotten away from a faithful walk with God, and no longer do they have personal time with God. Their hearts have gotten cold and complacent, and they're at the place where they're not moved.

The child of God needs an old-fashioned moving of the Holy Spirit of God until he takes down the fences. We ought to be emotionally stirred and care enough to reach those around the world who are trapped in darkness. Their lives are ebbing out, and they are going to die and go to Hell. If we could get emotional and stirred up enough to pray and give whatever is needed to reach the unsaved of this world, we would see more people saved and in Glory!

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Who Cares, Anyway? Part One

"I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul."—Psalm 142:1-4

We say that we care about many things, but it is not enough just to care. We must care enough!

If I asked church members, "Do you care about your church?" they would say, "That's a foolish question. Sure, I care about my church."

If I asked parents, "Do you care about your home and what happens to it?" they would answer, "Sure! That's a foolish and superfluous question to ask."

If I asked the man of the house, "Do you care about your wife? Your children and how they turn out?" he would answer, "Why ask that dumb question? Sure, I care about my wife and children."

If I asked a wife, "Do you care about your husband and your home?" she would say, "What a foolish question. Sure I care about my husband and my home."

If I asked children, "Do you care about your parents?" they would answer, "Sure I care about my parents."

If I asked the church, "Do you care about all the little children in your church?" the answer would be, "Sure we care about them."

We say we care about many, many things; but the question comes back to us: Do we care enough?"

Do You Care Enough About Your Family?
Husbands and wives, do you care enough about your spouse to be true to each other? To tell each other you care? To live right for each other? Do you care enough to tell each other every day, "I love you"?

I hear some husbands say, "She knows that. I told her that a long time ago!" Don't you think she'd like to hear it again? Don't you like to hear that God loves you?

Husband, do you care enough to take the leadership role, or do you leave that up to her or someone else?

You say you care about your spouse, but do you care enough to live a godly life before each other and do the things that you ought to be doing for each other?

You say that you care about children, but do you care enough to live the kind of life you should before them? Do you care enough to take them to church and to hold the church and preacher in high esteem?

It's not enough just to care; you have to care enough!

Wonderful Jesus!

by Dr. Robert Billings 
adapted for The Sword of the Lord blog, ©

"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, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."—Isaiah 9:6

Wonderful is a word that is greatly overused today. We talk about having a wonderful time, meeting a wonderful person, having a wonderful trip. That word gets almost threadbare.

But no place is it ever used more adequately and perhaps very inadequately as when it describes the Lord Jesus Christ: "His name shall be called Wonderful."

Wonderful in the Way He Fulfilled Prophecy
These words written about Jesus were spoken by Isaiah nearly eight hundred years before His birth; yet when Jesus was born, He literally fulfilled dozens and dozens of prophecies about His first coming.

Wonderful in His Birth
Jesus was the earthly Child of a Heavenly Father and the Heavenly Child of an earthly mother. If we could have arranged the birth of Jesus, I'm sure we would have done some things differently.

Jesus became what He was not: sin; that we might become what we are not or were not: saved, righteous people having o the righteousness of Christ. (II Cor. 5:21). The amazing thing to me is that He who was so rich became so poor, and yet we who are so poor often pretend to be so rich. As a Man, He was despised by men; as God, He was worshiped by angels.

Jesus Was Wonderful in His Life
He could talk to multitudes at a time, or He could talk to a man on a rooftop or a woman at the side of a well. He wrote no books, but the presses of this world continue to grind out libraries about Christ.

Jesus Was Wonderful in His Death
He was murdered by unjust men. Even nature revolted when Jesus died. The sun put sackcloth, as it were, across its face and refused to shine. The earth convulsed and belched up the dead that were in it.

Ignorance was there when Jesus died, for they knew not what they did. Insolence passed by and wagged its head. Irreverence was there as they taunted Jesus.

Though the crown that He wore and the cross that He bore were His own, they should have been mine.

Jesus Was Wonderful in His Resurrection
Pilate tried to make the grave sure and set the Roman seal upon the stone, yet up from the grave He arose.

Jesus is Wonderful in His Present Ministry
"Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20).

Jesus is Wonderful in His Power to Save
When a man or woman finds Jesus Christ, he who has been blind can see. All of us can say, "Wonderful Wonderful!" because "his name shall be called Wonderful."

From the Editor:
If you have seen your need as a sinner, can you also see what a wonderful Saviour Jesus is? Please, take a moment and click this link to read more about how you can be sure you're going to Heaven.


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Mall Marked Jesus Down

A few years back a nine-inch model of Jesus as a baby appeared in many stores. The doll was "packaged in a straw and satin crib with a picture of the Bethlehem manger and appropriate biblical texts."

But the doll was not a success—people probably felt that to merchandise such a thing was carrying the commercialism of Christmas to a new low—and at least one store, in an effort to unload its supply of the dolls, cut the price rather drastically.

One woman who was comparing prices in various stores excitedly reported to a neighbor, "The mall has marked Jesus Christ down fifty percent."

Strangely enough, this is quite similar to what is happening today. This sounds all too familiar: moral corruption in high places; legalized abortion; prayer taken out of schools and replaced with drugs and guns; displaying manger scenes in public places forbidden; the word blood taken from many hymnals—"too gory"; new Bible versions omitting "virgin" from the Old Testament and "begotten" and "Propitiation" from the New; worldly music in the pulpit on Sunday; preachers who have gone soft; churches catering to the culture—anything to play down Christ, the Bible and the old-time Faith.

Yes, Christ has been marked down drastically—even more than fifty-percent!

So it behooves us who believe in the old-time religion to proclaim it this Christmas with clarity and conviction!
- taken from December 4, 2015 issue of the Sword of the Lord Newspaper

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