mine. The Lord knows what is best. He often substitutes something that is far better in the long run. True victory comes to the believer when he is willing, like Paul, to be utterly resigned to the will of the Lord and say “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities” (v. 9). Whatever God’s will may be we can always count on His sufficient grace. Helps for the Children A Daring Follower of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 12:8, 9; Phil. 3:8-11; 2 Tim. 4:5-22 Memory Verse: “The Lord stood with me, and strengthened me” (2 Timothy 4:17). God had allowed His great servant, Paul, to have some physical pain or illness which constantly bothered him. Three times Paul asked the Lord to deliver him from this “thorn in the flesh.” The Lord replied, “ My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” From that time on Paul rejoiced in his weakness because that through it Christ was more clearly seen in His life. So great was Paul’s love for the Lord Jesus Christ that he counted all else as trash or rubbish. Paul’s one desire was that he might truly know Christ and live en tirely for Him. During the times when all human friends failed him, Paul re joiced because “ the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me.” God’s Word tells us to rejoice when we have trials, for it is through trials and temptations that we grow to know Him better and to bear a true testimony for Him at all times. Christians living today will perhaps never be burned at the stake nor thrown into a den of lions for their faith in God’s Son. They may have even a more difficult testing than that, for it is often harder to live for the Lord Jesus Christ each day than it would be to die for Him once. What a joy it is to know that we can say, “ The Lord stood with me, and strengthened me.” He never asks us to go through a temptation or a trial without giving us the necessary strength and without praying to the Father that we shall be faithful to Him.
Providential Circumstances Luke 2:1-6
WHERE FELLOW SH IP
It had been foretold by the prophet Micah some 700 years before that'the coming Messiah would be born in Bethle hem of Judea (5:2). But just prior to the birth of Christ, Joseph and Mary were in Nazareth, a long, rugged sixty miles to the north of Bethlehem. Wouldn’t Nazareth do just as well for the birthplace of Christ as Bethlehem? It might seem so but the inspired prophet had said Bethlehem would be the place and so it must be for the Scriptures cannot be broken. In order that Joseph and Mary might be in the proper place at the right time,. God caused a Roman ruler to issue a decree that all his sub jects should be enrolled, every one in his own city. Thus we see God employ ing men of the world as His servants to aid in working out His plans. More of this sort of thing is going on in the world than we realize. Often men are serving God when they are unconscious of it. And so Joseph and Mary found their way to Bethlehem that the Scripture might be fulfilled with respect to the birth of Christ. The Humble Birth vv. 6, 7 The humiliation of Christ is strikingly evident in these verses. He was born in a little town, not in the capital city as you would naturally expect a king to be born (v. 6). His mother had no attendants in this hour of her great need, no doctor, no nurse, no midwife. “ She . . . wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger” (v. 7a). Mary herself did the things that others usually do for women in her condition. Moreover, Christ was born in the low liest of places, in a place where animals were housed and fed. Following His birth He was laid “ in a manger.” In all probability the manger was in a cave for such were used for stables in those days and even today. It seems that He was born outside of all the comforts and facilities usually belonging to in fants such as He. “ There was no room for them in the inn” (v. 7b). Surely He who was rich became poor for our sakes (2 Cor. 8:9). The Angelic Announcement vv. 8-14 It was fitting that shepherds should have been the first to receive the an nouncement of the birth of the Saviour, who was the Shepherd of Israel (w . 8, 9). The announcement was good tid ings which means good news or gospel. Thus the angel came to preach the gospel of the Saviour who at last had come to bless mankind. The message was of concern to all people (v. 10). No wonder the heavenly hosts sounded forth a paean of praise to God because of the Saviour’s birth! The Shepherd’s Response vv. 15, 16 Desire was quickly born in the hearts of the humble shepherds to see the
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Dec. 24, 1950 THE SAVIOUR IS BORN Luke 2:1-16 Pointers on the Lesson
The central fact of Christmas, as the name suggests, is Christ. The Christ of Christmas is a real Christ who wore our human flesh. It is the same Christ who at last gave Himself at Calvary for man’s redemption. Thus there is a vital relationship between the Virgin Birth and the expiatory sacrifice. The two go together. When one is denied usually the: other is also. Bible-loving believers will cling tenaciously in these perilous times to the fact of the Virgin Birth of Christ. It is one of the foun dation stones of the Christian faith.
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