THE PROMISE OF CHRISTMAS

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJV).

As we go through life, there are many promises that might be given to us. Some will be kept but others will be broken. The promises of God are certain and sure. If God said it, you can believe it; His Word and His promises will never change. Here are a couple of aspects about the promises of God:

It is Universal – Many of the promises made in life only apply to certain people or specific circumstances, and the fine print often reveals that certain restrictions apply. However, the promise of God is not that way. This promise is offered to “whosoever.” It is not dependent on our works, our merit, or our worth. God promised that “whosever believes” can come unto Him. 1 Tim. 2:4 reminds that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” And in 2 Peter 3:9, we read, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

It is Eternal – All who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and come to Him for salvation are promised everlasting life. This is a powerful promise. It literally means what it says - we shall never “perish.” We shall never be put away or rejected. We shall live forever in the presence of our blessed Lord and Savior. There is no one else who can make promises like this and keep them. The redeemed are eternally secure in the Lord. We will never wake one day to find that God’s Word and His promises were not true. There has never been a believer who found God to be lacking in His promises. God’s promises are sure and eternal!

(Adapted from Chris Benfield’s Pulpit Pages)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“God never made a promise that was too good to be true!”

Dwight Lyman (D.L.) Moody (1837 – 1899)

English Bible Teacher and Author

Word Study

False

In 2 Peter 2:3 we read, “And in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep” (NASB).

“False” is the Greek word plastós (πλαστός = plas-tos'). The word means molded, formed, as from clay, wax, or stone. Figuratively, it signifies something that is counterfeited or forged, such as a document. We get our English word plastic from this word. Thus, plastós refers to words that are false in view of the fact that they are made-up or fabricated. In other words, these deceivers carefully fabricated and molded words to suit their greedy purposes which was exploitation. False teachers are interested in only one thing: making money. They use their “plastic words” and their religion as “a cloak for covetousness” (cf. 1 Thess. 2:5) to deceive and exploit ignorant people. Yet, God is in control of every situation, and He has assigned them to doom and destruction.

“Fear Nots” Found in the Bible

“And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last” (Rev. 1:17 KJV).

Did You Know…

The prophecy about the Lord’s virgin birth in Isa. 7:14, was given more than 700 years before it happened. Isaiah’s ministry ran from the last year King Uzziah’s rule in 740 B.C., to the end of King Hezekiah’s rule in 686 (cf. Isa. 1:1, 6:1 - 8).

Bible Quiz

What was the name of the prophetess that Mary and Joseph met at the presentation of the Lord Jesus in the temple?

**Answer to last week’s Bible Quiz: What was the first thing David did after he learned of the deaths of Saul and Jonathan? He tore “his own clothes” (2 Sam.  1:11).

Prophecies Fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ

He will bruise Satan’s head

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15 NJKV).

This prophecy is about the Lord Jesus’ ultimate victory over Satan. The Lord Jesus crushed Satan’s head by taking all of man’s sins upon Himself and bore the judgment of God wrath against sin. By His death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus bruised Satan’s head (a fatal blow), i.e. destroyed his power and lordship over mankind (cf. Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8). Consequently, the penalty and punishment for sins has now been paid. Man no longer has to die and be separated from God.

Did You Know – Christian History

John Wycliffe was born around 1328 in the village of Hipswell, Yorkshire, England. He was an English Philosopher, Christian reformer, Catholic priest, and Theology Professor. Wycliffe was heralded as the “Morning star of the Reformation.”

Wycliffe received his formal education at the University of Oxford. He was a leading scholar at Oxford and a chaplain to the King of England. Further, he spoke out against the errors of the popes, the organizational hierarchy of the Roman Church, and the corruption of the clergy. He criticized not only the organization of the medieval church but its theology as well and argued for a return to the Scriptures. In the 1370s, he produced three significant works as countermeasures to the church’s corruption: On Divine Dominion (1373–1374), took aim at papal authority; On Civil Dominion (1375–1376) which targeted the Roman Catholic Church’s assertion of authority over the English crown and English nobility; On the Truth of Sacred Scripture (1378) which further developed the doctrine of the authority of Scripture. These three works were crucial to setting the stage for the Reformation. Martin Luther’s early writings was also influenced by John Wycliffe. Yet, as important as these works are, they pale in comparison to his most important contribution, the Wycliffe Bible. According to Roman Catholic law, translating the Bible into a vulgar, common language was a heresy punishable by death.

With his highly placed political friends deserting him, church authorities had Wycliffe banished from his university teaching post at Oxford. But his exile turned into a kind of freedom. Some of his students joined him at the parish church in Lutterworth. There they undertook the monumental task of translating all the Scriptures into English, working from a handwritten Latin translation that was over 1000 years old. If the people in England were to know the truth, Wycliffe reasoned, they must have the Word of God in their own language. Under his direction, the Bible was translated into English for the first time, although the job was not completed by his associates until 1395, eleven years after his death. Wycliffe died of a stroke on New Year’s Eve in 1384. But his memory and influence continued so strong that he was formally condemned again. In 1415, the Council of Constance, which condemned Jan Hus to death, declared Wycliffe a heretic. His bones were exhumed and burned, and the ashes were thrown into the River Swift. Somehow the Church authorities thought that by burning his remains they might erase his memory. But even such bizarre and extreme actions could not stop the hunger for God’s Word and truth that Wycliffe had uncompromisingly advocated. Repeatedly condemned and burned by church authorities, copies of Wycliffe’s Bible continued in use for over a century, until printed Bibles took their place. This work greatly influenced William Tyndale who made the first printed translation of the New Testament into English.

A Little Humor

Two young boys were spending the night at their grandparents’ house the week before Christmas. At bedtime, the two boys knelt beside their beds to say their prayers. The younger one began praying at the top of his lungs: “I PRAY FOR A NEW BICYCLE”... “I PRAY FOR A NEW NINTENDO...” His older brother leaned over, nudged him and said, “Why are you shouting? God isn’t deaf.” To which the little brother replied, “No, but Grandma is!”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Because God is powerful, change is possible!”