Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
The Majesty of Christmas (Micah 5:1-5a)
64 Plays3 years ago
The Majesty of Christmas (Micah 5:1-5a)
--
Sunday Message recorded 12 December 2021
by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Welcome
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milan Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message. If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, fbccolumbustx.org. And now take your copy of God's timeless word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
Reflecting on the Gift of Jesus
00:00:44
Speaker
Good morning. Boy, have I enjoyed the time of worship today. Thank you so much. Appreciate each song that we have enjoyed together. That's what we want to do as we go into the message today. I want us to continue to just adore our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Christmas is all about Him. You know, whenever someone asks you,
00:01:07
Speaker
What are you going to get for Christmas, you should say. It's what I already received for Christmas. It's what I already got for Christmas. He is so good to
Reading from Micah and Prayer
00:01:16
Speaker
me. I want you to see who the Lord Jesus is as we look at Micah chapter 5. It's in the Old Testament. I'll give you 30 minutes or so to find it. So would you stand in honor of God's word, stand in honor of this king that we're about to read about?
00:01:36
Speaker
Micah five verse one begins like this. Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops. Siege is laid against us. With a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. But you, O Bethlehem, Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah from you, shall come forth for me, one.
00:02:05
Speaker
who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth. Then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel, and he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord in
00:02:34
Speaker
the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they shall dwell secure. For now he shall be great to the ends of the earth, and he shall be their peace." Let's just stop right there. Would you pray with me? And let's ask God to speak to us from his word. Let's ask God, remind me what the Son of God looks like. Oh Lord,
00:03:01
Speaker
Would you bless your word this morning? I thank you that there's a promise about your word that it will not return to your void. It will accomplish what you send it forth to accomplish. Lord, if I understand correctly, the purpose of this passage is that we would see Jesus high and lifted up, that we would adore you, that we would come to worship you like the wise men of old.
00:03:27
Speaker
So Lord, what we need is we need the assistance of your Holy Spirit. You had these words pinned, but now we ask that your Holy Spirit would make them come alive. Lord, pour the holy oil upon the fire and let us see Jesus like we've never seen him before, because there are so many things at Christmas that can distract us from what it's really all about. May we be reminded of the true majesty
00:03:56
Speaker
of Christmas. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated. Paul said in Ephesians 3, 14 through 21 that we need to pray and ask God to show us the breadth, the length, the height, the depth.
00:04:17
Speaker
of the love of Christ. And he said, I'm going to go ahead and prepare you. It's beyond knowledge. You can't figure this out. It surpasses knowledge. And so what I want you to do is look with me at the revelation that God has given us in his word, because this can tell us exactly who our savior is.
Significance of Jesus' Birth Location
00:04:37
Speaker
Have you considered the majesty, for example, of his position? Look with me at verse two.
00:04:44
Speaker
You know, Christmas gatherings and Christmas preparations can feel somewhat shallow and stressful if we overlook the depth and the joy.
00:04:57
Speaker
of the majesty of Christ's position. Just who is our Savior? I want us to look closely at this verse. I remember that there were times when Jody and I were in Canada and we would stand there and we couldn't believe in the night sky, when the northern lights would swirl
00:05:16
Speaker
And we would stand there in awe, and we would think, what kind of God can do something like that? It was so majestic and so beautiful, so awe-inspiring. It must have been that kind of feeling that Micah, when here He stands, 700 years before Christ's birth.
00:05:37
Speaker
And the Spirit of God is saying, this is what my son is going to be like. This is where my son is going to come from. Notice that the prophet does anchor Christ's position in humanity. I think that's really significant. Have you ever read in Philippians chapter 2, where it says that he did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped?
00:06:04
Speaker
But he gave it up when it came his time to leave the councils of eternity, to leave heaven, and to come down here and to be born as a man, to be born as a baby, to die as a man. And I'm thinking, wow, Lord, thank you so much for what you gave up. But then it's interesting because it says in that passage in Philippians, because he did that,
00:06:29
Speaker
The Father is gonna say, everybody of all time, all places, all races, everybody's gonna bow their knee and everybody's gonna confess with their tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord because he did that. And I'm thinking, it's so significant that it says, but you, O Bethlehem, Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
00:06:55
Speaker
Did you notice how specific that God was 700 years before Jesus was born? He said, he's gonna be born in a place. It's not gonna be Rome. It's not gonna be Jerusalem. It's gonna be Bethlehem. Bethlehem means house of bread. If you notice, it's so small. It's like insignificant almost, it's so small, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah.
00:07:25
Speaker
So it's just amazing to me that of all the places that the father could have chosen to introduce his son, he chose a small community, a small village. And I'm thinking, he's out there. God is out there because anybody can relate to him. He chose shepherds to reveal that he had just given his son to be born. The shepherds sang about it in the night sky.
00:07:55
Speaker
The prophet anchors Christ's position in humanity, yes, but he also anticipates Christ's position of royalty. So who is it that's being born in Bethlehem, as small as it is? Well, he says, from you shall come forth for me.
00:08:14
Speaker
one who is to be ruler in Israel. Listen, when Jesus comes back to this earth, we're gonna know he's not a baby. He's not in a manger. We're gonna be saying King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That's who he is. And so I thought to myself, this is really amazing that there's
Exploring Jesus' Character and God’s Patience
00:08:36
Speaker
this reference to his
00:08:38
Speaker
His rulership. You see, it's like He was born as a baby. He became a child. He went to the cross. He was placed in a tomb. He was raised from the dead. He ascended back to the father, but I'm telling you.
00:08:55
Speaker
One day he's coming back, and when he comes back, he's coming back for a crown. He's going to rule and reign. And if you just read chapter 4 of Micah, you'll see what happens when he begins to do that. But lastly, he announces Christ's position with regard not just to his humanity and his royalty, but also his deity, his deity.
00:09:20
Speaker
Don't skip over the significance of the last part of verse 2, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Wait a minute, I thought he was just born. Yeah, you see what he's trying to say is, Jesus, he didn't just start in Bethlehem. His life didn't begin in the manger.
00:09:45
Speaker
He's always been. John couldn't think of how to say it, and the Holy Spirit said, why don't you say it like this, John? In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. And a little later he says, and the word became flesh. So don't think that Jesus was just born in terms of just starting his life. Oh no, the majesty of his position required so much more.
00:10:13
Speaker
Let's move to something else. In addition to his crown, his majesty can also be seen in a second thing, his character. How would you describe the character of Jesus Christ? Would you say he's gracious?
00:10:29
Speaker
Would you say He's merciful? Would you say He's faithful? Would you say He's good? Would you say He's holy? Would you say He's righteous? Would you say He's kind? Would you say He's compassionate? Would you say He's truthful? All of those things, they're all right. You would be 100% right.
00:10:48
Speaker
But one other thing I'd put in there, I'd say he's patient. He is so patient. You see, consider the majesty of his patience. The Lord revealed to Moses long before Micah was ever born. Back in Exodus chapter 34, verses six and seven, God reveals to Moses something about who God is.
00:11:13
Speaker
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Paul acknowledged the same thing. Way later, after Micah, Paul acknowledged God's patience expressed toward him. And he said, you know what? I'm the chief of sinners. I'm the foremost of sinners. And he said, I'll tell you what God is doing with my life. 1 Timothy 1, 16.
00:11:38
Speaker
He said, God is making an example of His patience whenever He saved me. Because, you see, Paul wasn't always following Christ. He was resisting. Maybe that's your story. Maybe you've been resisting the Lord all this time. But I want to tell you He's patiently waiting for you. It could be that this will be the day that you're going to say, you know what? I'm so glad He's been waiting on me.
00:12:07
Speaker
There was a skeptic from long ago named Robert Ingersoll. He was actually called the great agnostic. He challenged God one time. He was so defiant. He said, you know what? If there really is a God, then I'm going to blaspheme against him right in front of all of you. And I'm going to ask him to kill me within five minutes. So he blasphemes God and the people are like,
00:12:32
Speaker
And so then the clock started. The clock is ticking and everybody's nervous and they're thinking, man, that guy's going to drop dead. So three minutes go by, four minutes go by. They say like two or three ladies fainted in the group because they thought, I don't want to see it when God strikes him. But after five minutes, you know what happened? Nothing. God didn't strike him. And so you know what he said? He said, see, I told you there is no God. I blasphemed and he didn't strike me.
00:13:01
Speaker
And there was a pastor there named Charles Parker. And Charles Parker said, dude, he didn't say dude, but we would say that today. But he said, you can't exhaust the patience of Almighty God in just five minutes. God still loves you. God's still waiting for you.
00:13:20
Speaker
You know, it depends on who you challenge. Thank God for, you know, Pastor Parker that day. But somebody said something similar to D.L. Moody one time. Somebody walks up to D.L. Moody and he says, you know what? If God is really God, I want him to knock me to the ground in 60 seconds.
00:13:39
Speaker
So D.O. Moody took off his jacket, punched him right in the jaw, and the dude fell down on the ground. And he said, sir, I'm sorry for hitting you, but I never expect something from Almighty God that his humble servant could do. So then he walks away. So just be careful who it is you're challenging. But you know, God's patience allows for three things. Let me point it out real quickly. I think that they're all found in verse three. Therefore he shall give them up.
00:14:10
Speaker
She'll give them up. You know, I think God's patience allows for some release, don't you? You see, God gave you a great gift, young man, young woman, senior adult, child. God gave you a gift of free will.
00:14:27
Speaker
And he's going to release. He's going to say, I'm waiting, but I'm going to release you. But you know what? In addition to the release, there's something else that his patience allows for. Maybe we don't want to admit it, but his patience allows for restraint, because there came a time until the time when she who is in labor has given birth. And then, you see, there's a time whenever God says, you know what? We've waited long enough.
00:14:57
Speaker
And we're not going to wait any longer. There will be accountability when we stand before Almighty God and give account. But there's also not only the release and the restraint. This is what really gets me. The return.
00:15:15
Speaker
He allows us to return. You see, I grew up in a Baptist church. And so all my life, I heard that God loved me. All my life, I heard that Jesus died on the cross for me. But you know what? When I got in high school, when I was in my first year of university, I just ran the opposite way. I didn't care. But you know what? I am so glad that even though I was so rebellious and defiant and disinterested, indifferent,
00:15:45
Speaker
that God waited for me. Because when I was in my freshman year at university, the University of Memphis, that's when finally I went to church. And on that first Sunday, the first time in the door, the love of God just drew me and I wept and I wept and I wept as I repented of my sin. And I realized I'd been so rebellious to a God who's been so patient.
00:16:13
Speaker
His patience is majestic when you think about it. Just like the prodigal son there, the father stood waiting until the day that he would come down that road. And when he did, the father couldn't wait any longer. When he saw his son top the hill, he ran and closed the distance and he hugged him. That's exactly what you'll find with God today. I wanna move to the third thing that I think we should contemplate.
Jesus' Power and Strength
00:16:43
Speaker
contemplate the majesty also of his power. I remember back in June of this year, I was trying to find some kind of sports to watch. And I ran across something in June called the World's Strongest Man Competition. And I saw these guys lifting. They said on the program, it was called the Atlas Stones. But there were five stones that they had to lift. And I thought, man, those things look huge.
00:17:10
Speaker
They weigh anywhere from 220 to 350 pounds, but you have to move five of them. There was a man from Britain named Tom Staltman. I thought they said Tom Stallman. I thought, he lives down the street. He's a member of our church. But anyway, it wasn't Tom Stallman. It was Tom Staltman of Great Britain. They called him the Albatross. That guy's a horse. He deadlifted 1,185 pounds. Incredible strength.
00:17:39
Speaker
Okay, but here's the thing. What can Jesus lift? What can He do? I'll tell you a good verse. Colossians 1 16 says, by Him, by Jesus, all things were created in heaven on earth. It's one thing to lift an Atlas stone. That's impressive for me.
00:17:56
Speaker
But what about to lift the earth? What about to lift Jupiter? What about to lift the sun? What about to tell them, you stay up there and don't you fall? He can hang it on nothing and it stays there. I'm thinking to myself, I can't think of anybody stronger than that.
00:18:14
Speaker
There's something astonishing about the power of the Son of God in this verse, though. I don't want you to miss it. There's two things that just astounded me. His power is majestic because of what He uses His power to do. He uses His power to serve, and He uses His power to shepherd.
00:18:35
Speaker
You know, think about how if God wanted to, He could crush you. He could just take the whole planet of earth, wad it up just like a piece of paper, and throw it in the garbage, and we're gone. All of us. That's what He could do, but He doesn't do that. You know why Mark quoted Jesus in Mark 10.45, and he says, Jesus said this, I didn't come to be served, but I came to serve.
00:19:04
Speaker
and to give my life a ransom for many." You may say, where do you get serving out of that verse? Well, it says that he'll stand. He will stand. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth. And then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel and he shall stand. You see in scripture, kings are not pictured as standing. Kings are pictured as seated.
00:19:34
Speaker
but here Jesus gets up. Kind of reminds you a little bit of John 13, doesn't it? When he's spending the last supper with his men, his 12 disciples. And yet it says he got up from the table and he washed the feet of each one of those disciples. You know, there was another time when Luke recorded something and he said, I couldn't believe this. We were all, the guys were all arguing over who was gonna be the greatest.
00:20:04
Speaker
And Jesus said, you know what? Whose greatest, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? He said, I'm not sitting at the table. I'm serving you. I'm the one who came to serve. No wonder he said in Matthew 11, 28 to 30, he said, you know, are you feel tired?
00:20:24
Speaker
You feel weary? Do you think that we can earn God's love? We can't earn salvation. All we can do is get in the yoke with Jesus. You see, because He can pull. He can pull much more than me or you, all of us put together. And so that's why He says, if you want rest, spiritual rest, come get in the yoke with me. I'll take care of you. I got you.
00:20:50
Speaker
Fourthly, let's reflect upon the majesty of his protection.
Security and Protection in Christ
00:20:54
Speaker
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth." You know, before we talk about security, we might need to go back to verse 1, right? Because security is promised in verse 4, but verse 1 does have a prophecy.
00:21:15
Speaker
And it says, now muster your troops, O daughter of troops. Siege is laid against us. With a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. You see, Bible scholars say it was either the Assyrians or it was the Babylonians. The Assyrians, they don't think it was them because what happened with the Assyrians
00:21:38
Speaker
There was a king named Hezekiah and Hezekiah said, you know, we need to strengthen the wall. We need to get all the weapons ready. We got to prepare because we know that these Assyrians are coming. He got with a prophet named Isaiah and he said, let's get down on our knees and pray. And they got down and prayed. And you know what happened? The Lord took care of all the Assyrians. They left. They went away in 701 BC.
00:22:05
Speaker
The Lord saved them is what it says in 2 Chronicles 32, 22. But that didn't take place when the Babylonians came. When the Babylonians came 115 years later in 586 BC, 2 Kings 25 verses 1 through 11 describes it. Hezekiah wasn't on the throne. Zedekiah was on the throne. And the chapter before that says this of Zedekiah, he did what was evil.
00:22:34
Speaker
in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord became angry. And so we can't skip over other principles when it comes to God's protection, because He will keep us secure as long as we're moving in one direction. Let's read that verse again. And they shall dwell secure
00:22:54
Speaker
For now He shall be great to the ends of the earth." As long as any people, a church, a nation, a family, as long as any people wants to make the greatness of the Son of God their priority, then that's when security comes. If you, if you will personally
00:23:14
Speaker
Say, you know what? I'm tired of sin. I'm going to turn from sin. I'm going to place my faith and trust in Jesus Christ. I'm going to put my trust in Him. If you will make Jesus great in your life, you will have eternal security. Does it mean you'll never get sick? Does it mean nothing bad will ever happen in your life? No. But it means in eternity, you will have eternal security of the believer. It's assurance that it's all going to be OK in Christ.
Peace through Jesus
00:23:44
Speaker
I want you to think upon the majesty of his peace in closing. Verse five says, and he shall be their peace. Remember the angels said peace on earth. Remember in James 3 17, in James 3 17,
00:24:00
Speaker
It says that wisdom from above is first pure and then peaceable. Wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable. You know why a lot of people don't have peace? Because they're not going to Christ for purity.
00:24:18
Speaker
You see, God doesn't say, oh, it's okay. Any morality you want is fine with me. Any faith system you want to believe in is fine with me. Let's just be at peace. That's not the way it works.
00:24:35
Speaker
See, Jesus is the only peace. The Prince of Peace is what Isaiah says in Isaiah chapter nine. And so I wanna close with giving you these five rapid fire ways that God gives peace to people.
00:24:51
Speaker
First one's the most important. Romans 5.1 talks about spiritual peace that we can have with God the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ. So we're not gonna have spiritual peace unless we go through Christ, because that's where peace is found. But once we do trust Christ as our Lord and Savior, then we could have situations in life that make us nervous, that make us fearful.
00:25:19
Speaker
And so Philippians 4 verses 6 and 7 is not just talking about spiritual peace with God, it's talking about this peace, internal peace of God. And it says, if instead of being anxious, I will turn over all of my burdens to God in prayer, then he said, you're going to have a peace that surpasses all comprehension.
00:25:44
Speaker
That's the second kind of peace. There's spiritual peace through Christ with God the Father. There's internal peace of God once we've trusted Christ, when we lay down our burdens, our fears to Him. But Romans 14, 19 reminds us that once we've been forgiven by Christ, we should forgive others. We should forgive others. And so there's this possible relational peace
00:26:09
Speaker
As long as we don't stuff bitterness, as long as we don't hang on to unforgiveness, as long as we say, you know what? He forgave me of so much, I believe I can forgive others. And so there's this relational piece that's mentioned in Romans 14, 19, where it says, as much as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. As much as it depends on you. Are you doing your part? There's a fourth type of piece that's mentioned in Ephesians 2, 13 through 18.
00:26:40
Speaker
He talks about how Jesus, when he died on the cross, when he gave his life as an atonement for our sin, he did something amazing. He brought together the Jew and the Gentile.
00:26:54
Speaker
People of all these different races suddenly came together and they came together in Christ. And I'm thinking, that's the only place that we can come together. This is my Christmas challenge to you. It's a resolve. Will you resolve? Will you say, I'm not gonna let circumstance tell me how I'm gonna celebrate Christmas. Here's what I'm gonna ask you to do. Take time this Christmas season to meditate upon the majesty
00:27:25
Speaker
upon the splendor, upon the wonder of who Jesus Christ is. May a passage like Psalm 145 verse five be like a north star. You know those wise men follow the star. May this passage be like a north star for you spiritually and emotionally with your time. It says, on the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works,
00:27:53
Speaker
I will meditate, that's determination, that's resolve. Will you take time this Christmas season to do that? To think upon the majesty of Christ's position, to ponder the majesty of his character, to contemplate the majesty of his strength and power, to reflect upon the majesty of his assurance and security and protection, to meditate on the majesty of the peace that he gives.
Scripture's Guidance to Jesus
00:28:21
Speaker
You know, the wise men said this. They said, we have come to worship him, but you know what they didn't know? They didn't know where to find him. Maybe that's why you came today. You'd say, man, I want God. If he's really out there, I want him. I just don't know where to find him. You know how the wise men were able to go right to where Jesus was? Scripture.
00:28:48
Speaker
Scripture will guide you exactly where Jesus is. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Him. So I'm encouraging you. Don't miss out on the majesty of Christmas. I want us to have an opportunity for any who are here who don't know Christ to come to know Him today. You could.
00:29:10
Speaker
So as we pray, I'm gonna ask the musicians to come to get ready. And we're gonna stand, we're gonna sing a song together that is gonna remind us of what child this is. Would you stand with me and let's pray. I'll be standing down front if you wanna talk to me or you wanna talk to Josh or someone else that's in our church family. That's great. But just don't miss the majesty of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He went to the cross for you.
00:29:41
Speaker
He's risen from the dead. He's not dead and gone. No, he's alive and he's coming back and we need to be ready for him. Lord, thank you so much for this passage. It does remind us of who you are. We forget sometimes and we tend to think you're still in a manger. You're not in a manger. You're not still on a cross. You're not laying in a tomb. Lord, you are alive. You're at the father's right hand and at his
00:30:11
Speaker
bidding, you're going to return to this earth. And we're excited. We don't want anybody to be left out. And so Lord, I pray if there's anyone here that doesn't have a personal relationship with Christ, that they would come to know you personally. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.