# A week before Jesus

Category: Special Seasons
Key Passage: Luke 2
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: December 19, 2024

Look over, if you will, in Luke chapter number two tonight. We’re going to leave our normal Wednesday night of the apostles and go over to Christmas. It is just so easy with the busyness of the season to really forget the true meaning of Christmas. I am trying to keep it in front of us. We’re going to talk a little bit about it tonight. Of course, it’s a week away. We know that Christ wasn’t born necessarily on December 25th. It’s the day that has been selected for us to recognize it and celebrate it. But we don’t know. There’s a debate about when it was—March or April, December—and shepherds are out there in the wintertime. There are all kinds of different things about it, and we’ll let them argue about it. When it is, we don’t know as honest truth, but let’s just say it is December the 25th. I say we celebrate it, so it’s a week away. Tonight, we’ll take a little different angle about the Christmas story. Let’s think about Joseph and Mary a week before Christ was born. What was life like for Mary and Joseph a week before? That would be the time frame now. So just a little different angle on it. We’ll talk about that for a minute here and try to draw a couple of truths out of it. I feel like the Lord led me to this, just trying to get our hearts and our minds on the true Christmas and what it’s all about. How many of you have a manger scene? Anybody got a manger scene?

We had one out front, and our dog Dixie really liked it. It was made out of wood, and she liked it really—she kind of started to chew the sheep. She took out a sheep and another sheep it would. And then we got it up before she got to Baby Jesus; we couldn’t allow that, you know. But so we didn’t even put it out this year. It looks pretty bad, put it that way. You know, we’ve been told we’ve got to get a better one next year, you know. But I like manger scenes, trying to keep Christ right in the middle of Christmas. And we’re going to try to get our hearts, our minds, going there a little bit tonight.

Luke chapter number two, we’re going to start in verse number one, Luke 2, verse number one. And would you please stand as we read it tonight, Luke 2 in verse number one of God’s Word?

In Sunday school, we’re mentioning, “What are you doing to keep Christ in Christmas?” A lot of the folks mentioned they read Luke. Our family would always do that Christmas morning, whenever you do it. Luke 2 is just so popular, a great, great passage. We’ll just read through verse number seven, starting in verse number one.

“It came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. This tax was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. And all went to be taxed, everyone into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, 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. 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.”

Let’s just get a little timeline in here. If we go back nine months earlier before December 25th, if that was the exact day, it would be March 25th. And that’s when Gabriel, this angel, one of the high angels, Gabriel, came to Mary and said, “No, Mary, you’re going to be with child.” She didn’t quite understand it. “How can that be? I’m not known a man,” and so on. He explains somewhat to her.

By the way, I don’t know that Mary had access to a lot of Old Testament scripture. That wasn’t maybe as prevalent then. If she knew Isaiah 7:14, she had kind of understand a little bit better: “A virgin shall be with child.” But it seemed like she maybe not had access to some of these things. And so, “How on earth can this be?” And Gabriel somewhat described it to—explained it to her. And she realized, “Hey, I’m going to be the handmaid of the Lord.” And she was so humble about it. And she said, “Be it unto me according to thy word.”

But can you imagine after that? She thinks, “What about Joseph? What about my fiancé? What is he going to say? I don’t want to hurt him. I love him. I have to be married to him. And how is he going to react to this thing?” Just imagine this a little bit. What’s going on in her mind right after that?

Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth. Now, Elizabeth is six months expecting with John the Baptist. And so she visits over there with Elizabeth. I think Elizabeth and Zacharias—remember that really, really technical timeline—they started the Christmas story way back when Zacharias the priest was in the temple there, and he’s seen the vision and he came out and doubted a little bit. He couldn’t talk after that. Maybe Elizabeth had a field day with that. He couldn’t talk for about nine months. Amen, you know. She was like, “Praise the Lord, I can say what I want to say. You can’t say anything back.” What about that, you know?

But anyway, Mary visits over there. And when she comes in and she gives her greetings or salutation, John the Baptist inside his mom’s stomach, Elizabeth’s stomach, he leaps when he just hears that. And Elizabeth says, “Something’s up. This is amazing.” And Elizabeth is so uplifting, encouraging to Mary, and I think it really helped.

Look over in Luke 1. Look in verse number 39. Luke 1 in verse number 39.

“And Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste into the city of Judah.” By the way, it’s an interesting hill country. Remember John the Baptist, he’s in the wilderness until the day of his showing. They probably lived out in the country. It says it here, hill country, out in the mountains, a little bit of hills. “And entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass, and when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb.” By the way, that’s a wonderful phrase to tell people that believe it’s a fetus and not a child. The Bible says the babe leaped in the womb. Thirty-six times, I remember right, the Bible says a child, a child in the womb. But the babe leaped in her womb. Didn’t say the fetus. The babe leaped in her womb. “And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and she spake out with a loud voice”—because her husband couldn’t speak back, so she could talk with a loud voice. No, it doesn’t say that—“with a loud voice and said, ‘Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed, for there should be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.’”

They spent three months together. It’s interesting. It was the last three months of Elizabeth, you know, giving birth; it was her first child, the last three months. But it’s also Mary’s first three months, and that’s when you tend to be sick a lot. So that was probably an interesting combination. I mean, you know, the last three months, ladies, you know better than I, but you can’t sleep, your back hurts, you got the water walk, the duck walk going and all that, you know. That’s where Elizabeth was. And Mary’s over there, you know, hopefully not, but who knows, maybe puking her guts up, you know. It’s just the first trimester; she’s sick. That was a wonderful combination right there.

But they spent three months together, and I think Elizabeth was a great help. And I remember Zacharias, her husband, was a priest who had access to the scriptures much more. And he couldn’t talk, but can you imagine him maybe trying to describe, or maybe he brought back the Isaiah Scrolls or something, and maybe him showing Mary Isaiah 7:14? “See, there it’s going to be a virgin.” That’s what the Old Testament, that’s the prophets I prophesied about. And other things. I think that helped with it, but just a wonderful thing how God provided. Probably Mary, and of course, it was an encouragement, Zacharias and Elizabeth was also, and they bonded them together. Of course, John the Baptist, their son, was to be the forerunner of Jesus Christ. And so just a wonderful thing God did there.

And when Mary is three months into the pregnancy, she goes back home. She goes back to Nazareth, out of the hill country, back to Nazareth. And it’s interesting what the Bible says. Look over in Matthew 1. And look in verse number 18. I always think it’s a little interesting the way the Bible words this. And it’s when she comes back. And look at what it says, Matthew 1 and verse number 18, verse number 18.

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” Now the next verse: “Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man,” and so on.

But I think it’s interesting: “was found with child.” I’m not sure at all, but maybe Mary said, “I just can’t find it in my heart to tell Joseph. I just can’t do it. I mean, I don’t know how he’s going to react. Probably going to hurt him. He legally could have me killed if he really goes to the extreme.” I don’t know what’s going on, but after three months, maybe she’s starting to show a little bit. I’m not sure what’s going on, but she’s found, which can’t be hid anymore. And she’s back there, and boy, Joseph, he don’t know what in the world to do with it. And he’s trying to figure it out; his head is spinning. And he’s contemplating about it. And that’s when Gabriel shows up there with Joseph. And Gabriel says, “Hey, Joseph, take it easy. She’s not lying to you, if you will. This is what’s been prophesied about. She’s going to bring forth the Messiah. She’s highly favored, Joseph. And don’t worry about this. You’re going to call his name Jesus.”

And Joseph is a just man, but he really didn’t know what to do. And God told him, “Hey, this is God’s plan here.” And so Joseph says, “Okay, if you will, you know.” And Joseph, all right, God says it’s a miracle from God.

And then she’s very close to delivery, and they traveled down to Bethlehem. We just read that over in Luke chapter 2, this taxation. And now, from Nazareth down to Bethlehem is about 80 miles. That’s a good way. We don’t know this—all the Christmas movies and everything pretty much has a donkey in there. But the Bible never tells us that. We don’t—maybe there was a donkey, maybe the one they say. Probably not a camel because that would be really hard for an expecting mother, you know, and the bouncing way up there and all these things. But we’re not sure. Sometimes they would have carts. Typically, they’re very wealthy people; they have carts. Joseph wasn’t wealthy, but it’d be a long way for her to walk, that’s for sure, being very great with child, very far along in the pregnancy. We don’t know exactly, but they travel as 80 miles. They say a healthy person can travel about 20 miles a day. And so that would be what? 80 miles? That takes four days, but then you got a lady that’s great with child. So it may have taken them a week and a half, two weeks. We don’t know. But they’re traveling all the way from Nazareth down here to Bethlehem. That’s a long way, and they didn’t have their SUVs and all the rest of that, you know. And so they’re traveling down.

So it may have been—it may have been a week before Christmas they were traveling. Not sure. By the way, a lot of times, y’all still out there tonight, we’re just kind of talking about Christmas. A lot of times in the movies and everything, they show up, they got there, and that night Jesus was born. I don’t tend to believe that. The reason why—the Bible says, where is it? We’re in Luke 2 there. Luke 2 and, oh, verse number 6. Verse number 6. “And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.” I think they’re there for a couple days; people would argue about that. But according to that right there, it sounds to me that while they were there, the days were accomplished, so probably not the first night they were there it happened, you know, probably a little bit while they were there the days were accomplished. But that…

So I don’t know exactly. We’re a week before Christmas, a week before. Where were Joseph and Mary? I’m not exactly sure. Maybe they were already in Jerusalem looking for a place to be at. The manger makes you think they may have actually ended up in a cave. We’re not exactly sure. There was no room in the inn, so they’re looking for a place. The taxation was going on. Maybe they were still on the road traveling, you know? I mean, if it took them two weeks, we don’t know how long, but that’s so long. And by the way, trips can be exhausting, but can you imagine traveling without a vehicle, and you’re nine months along? Ms. Giselle, of course, she’s probably the youngest mother as far as, you know, how old her child—not the child’s, the youngest of what I’m trying to say. She’s like shaking her head. No, I can’t imagine that. But just where were they at a week before Jesus was born?

Now, just for that thought, let me give you a couple of things that I thought maybe we’d try to glean and learn from it. Try to gather some jewels out of that thought for just a minute and that. And we’ll give you three thoughts here.

Number one, praise the Lord, Joseph and Mary stayed together. And he said, “Well, no duh, they did.” But wait a second, put yourself in their shoes. Many times I’ve studied this out, and there’s no definite answer on this. I was really Christmas or two ago; I really was studying on it, couldn’t find any definite thing. But many think that taxation was just on the man; he was the one to get into; his wife wasn’t. We’re not exactly sure there. But if that be true, then Joseph is the only one who had to travel down there. Not only that, but often if they both were taxed, the man would be the one that has to show up and pay for it. By the way, you realize if they’re from different families, they had to travel in different places, and that would be very difficult. So you would think at least one has to really appear and go pay the taxes. And so Joseph could have gone down to Bethlehem by himself. But they didn’t do that.

Now, maybe the reason why they didn’t do that is because they had already been over, or Mary had been over to Elizabeth and Zacharias’ house, and maybe they got out that they had the Old Testament. He’s a priest. They had a lot of the prophets, and maybe got out Micah 5:2, where the Old Testament tells us he’s going to be born in Bethlehem. So they’re like, “We’ve got to go together because that’s where the baby is prophesied.” We don’t know, but I’m just saying they stuck together.

With all the problems, by the way, they were only espoused. That’s stronger than engagement, but they weren’t to be together physically. And typically, they weren’t living together at this point. But, of course, Mary’s a virgin. And Gabriel told Joseph, “No, no, it’s all right. Take your wife, and y’all be together”—not physically together until the baby’s born—“but you’ll be together.” So a little bit of exception there. But can you imagine all the rumors? They went down to Nazareth, all the way from Nazareth, all the way from Nazareth down to Bethlehem together, just them two, and they’re just espoused. Can you imagine all the talk? I imagine there were some relatives that didn’t like it. Imagine there was an old man saying, “Wow, that God, he ought to be took out back and beat to death,” you know. And imagine some old ladies that ain’t right. You just kind of put yourself—you understand where I’m coming from. But they stayed together. So, “No, we’re in this together.”

Not only that, but can you imagine? Someone said, “Well, if they’re going to go all the way down there, they should have traveled a couple months ago. She’s nine months along, right? What are they thinking?” Can you hear that? She’s great with child. She’s traveling down. I’m just talking about all that was going on in this thing here. And then on the trip, and maybe they did walk—we don’t know—maybe they walked there, too, and Mary started having those false labor pains. What do you call them things? I always call them Briggs and Stratton. You know, that’s a lot more. But anyway, maybe she starts having those. So they said, “Well, we can’t travel for a couple days.” Maybe that’s why I think they ended up in Bethlehem when she was great with child. We don’t know. But can you imagine the temptation to be at each other and to blame each other and to be mad at each other and kind of just… I mean, just praise the Lord, this young couple. They stayed together in the midst of all this. So much was going on, but they didn’t separate. They stayed together.

We’ve got this. My wife’s got it. One of my rooms is kind of decorated a little bit like a sea or beach type thing. And she’s got it in there, this little plaque. It’s got two fish together, but it says, “The best thing to hold on to in life is each other,” apart from the Lord. I love it. And Mary and Joseph, in the midst of all this fussed—and well, I don’t know, it could have been fussed and fighting—all the potential for that, and all the problems, they decided, “We’re going to stay together.” I like that. I mean, it wasn’t the typical: everybody gets married, got some problems, you know? Two people coming together—that’s just part of it. But I remember one couple said, “Well, we never fight.” And a little bit later on, they said, “Okay, we fight.” That’s part of it. But it was more than just that; all the things were going against them, and they stayed together.

Yeah, I don’t get this. Sometimes when we treat other people so kindly and respectful, and then the people we’re close to, we treat them so bad. I don’t get that. It’s like if we’re close to them, when we have the right to go off on them. That just doesn’t make sense. If you’re going to go off on anybody, go off on somebody else that you don’t have to live with. You’re going to spend the rest of your life with them. Besides, if you go off on somebody at work, they’re going home, and you’re going home. You’d be happy, but you’re going to live with that person. By the way, not just your spouse I’m talking about, but just people you’re close to. It doesn’t make sense. Why? I unload on someone that’s there for me, that helps me, that’s good to me. That’s sometimes just her temptation. We hurt those that we’re close to. Maybe it’s going to be good to anybody—it’d be good to family and people you’re close to. I like it. Old Joseph and Mary, they stay close. They’re together. Don’t turn on those that have stuck it out with you.

Look over in Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter four—Ezekiel chapter four—you’ll probably know this, but it’s a wonderful passage. I was talking to someone before service, and they were asking about something. I said, “Boy, the old devil, I just know him.” You know, the devil, he’s kind of like military tactics: divide and conquer. He’s always trying to divide people that are close. We watched it for a while. When we were about to have a big day at church, the devil would come up either that Friday or that Saturday before, he would come up behind me and slap me, and then he would blame it on my wife. Then he’d go there and slap her and hit; he’d blame it on me. And we’re watching; it’s just amazing. Every time before a big day, the devil was trying to get us fighting. That’s what he does. And, of course, I was always right, she was always right, and the devil just started another fight with that right here, right? But that’s what he does. But praise the Lord, they—Joseph and Mary—they stayed together.

Look at this great, great verse here. Please ask these four—and look at verse number nine. Verse number nine: “Two are better than one.” Praise the Lord, Joseph and Mary, they stayed together because they have a good reward for their labor. You know, somebody—some people—they’ve got, they’ve got all the houses and cars and everything else, and they got no one to enjoy it with. They’re alone. You heard about the preacher who got backslidden one Sunday, and he said—he told everybody in the congregation he was sick, but really he wasn’t sick. He was just—he was just backslidden, you know—and he went fishing. And he caught the biggest fish of his life, and he couldn’t tell anyone about it. That’s kind of what he’s saying right there: Man, what good is a reward? You know, whether it’s in marriage or just close friendships, two are better than one. I keep reading here: What does it say? “For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him that is alone when he’s fallen, for he hath not another to help him. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat, but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a three-fold cord is not quickly broken.”

By the way, you get—whether it be a marriage, a husband and a wife, or just friends—and then you put the Lord in the middle of the Lord, a three-fold cord. I like this little old saying I read it recently, but it says, “Marriage takes three to complete. It is not enough for two people to meet. They must be united in love by the love’s creator, God above. A marriage that follows God’s plan takes more than a woman and a man. It needs oneness that can be only from Christ. Marriage takes three.” It’s so true for you. I think about this young couple; they stayed together. They stayed together. I like that.

Then one other thing about it, or two other things about it, excuse me, two other things. Number one, they stuck it out. They stayed together. Mary and Joseph stayed together a week before Christmas. Then I think this, and I don’t know if I could actually prove it—I can somewhat—but they had someone in their corner kind of on their side.

By that, I’m talking about Elizabeth and Zacharias. Look back over there. You’re already there. But look back over there in Luke 1 in verse number 39. Luke 1 in verse number 39. These are the first words that Elizabeth said to Mary. We’ll start in verse number 42. Forty-two. “And she spake out with a loud voice and said, ‘Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?’” And so on. Can you imagine Mary, when things got bad, people around town were talking about her, and she don’t know how her father, her husband—her espoused husband—would take it? They’re traveling all this way, and they think, “What in the world are we doing? Traveling 80 miles, and I’m about to have a baby, the first-born child.” Imagine those words that Elizabeth said to her ringing in her ears: “The mother of my Lord, you’re blessed.” I don’t know, but maybe Zacharias wrote out some things and said, “Hey, Mary, when you see Joseph, tell Joseph, ‘Joseph, you’re doing a good job. You’ve been honored by God for a specific, special position.’” Just imagine this couple traveling all the way. I’m sure they went through hard times, both of them, Joseph and Mary both. And imagine him. And yet they had another couple, an older couple, Zacharias and Elizabeth, that were, if you will, in their corner. Hey.

I tend to think there were—there was, man, Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2, Isaiah 9:6—and they were teaching about what all the role was, if you will. You know, it matters if you have someone cheering for you. I think that when we often talk about the times when we got out of Bible College, youth pastor, and we left that ministry for a bit—we were in Florida for a couple years there. And during that time, everything I touched turned to mud. If it was gold, I touched it, it would just wilt, you know, and it wasn’t melting down gold; it would turn to mud. I mean, just car wrecks and layoffs and sickness, and you just name it. My wife says a lot of times, “Well, I really needed to go through that time to learn to live by faith.” We could go start a church. God was teaching me and growing me. But that was our time of testing. I mean, just everything was bad and just not good. But there was a young couple in that church. We didn’t really know anyone who moved there. We just thought it was a good church to find a place to go. We didn’t want to cause trouble where we were at, and we moved there. But there was a young couple in that church that believed in us. And, you know, sometimes you see someone just going through everything that touches turns to mud, and some people start talking about, “Oh, you know, what was it? Job’s friends? Boy, if you have friends like that, who needs enemies?” you know? But that young couple, they believed in us, and they let us know that. Well, that meant so much to us. And imagine Joseph and Mary as they’re traveling and they’re going through this hard time, they had, you know what? Zacharias, that priest, and Elizabeth, that godly lady, they believed in us. They encouraged us. They’ve taught us. Just think of the comfort it was.

I wouldn’t be shocked if Zacharias didn’t get out—look over there in Matthew—excuse me, Micah 5:2. I keep mentioning it, but Micah 5:2, look over there. Uh, in that—I wouldn’t be surprised if Zacharias didn’t get that out when Mary was there for those three months, or maybe Elizabeth—maybe Elizabeth did. I don’t know. Maybe Elizabeth said, “Hey, Zacharias, bring that scroll home, and I want to—I want to teach Mary a little bit about it.” Zacharias getting talked—but I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t get this Old Testament prophecy, or prophecy, the scroll out and show it to Mary when she was there at their house. Micah 5:2. Look at that real quickly here. Micah 5, if you found that, that’s good because that’s a hard one to find. You did good. Amen. You did good. Amen. You there? Amen. Some of you didn’t say amen; you’re being honest. Amen. Look at Micah. I cheated; I got it here earlier. Micah 5, look at verse number two. “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting.”

Well, a couple of things about that. He talks about there in that passage, that prophecy, how small Bethlehem was—the humble beginnings of Jesus. He wasn’t born in the capital city. He wasn’t born in some big palace, just a little bit of old shepherd’s town. That’s what it was. And maybe Elizabeth was able to tell Mary, “He’s coming humbly, the Messiah, and he was to be born in this little bit of town, little shepherd town.” Not only that, but Bethlehem means “House of Bread.” And maybe Elizabeth or Zacharias said, “Hey, Mary, you’re going to give birth to the Messiah. He is the Bread of Life. He’s the one that’ll give us everlasting life, those that take that Bread of Life.” And so he’s to be born in Bethlehem because it’s the House of Bread. And every person that’s fed for all eternity will be fed because he’s born there in that House of Bread in Bethlehem. Not only that, but maybe they said, “Hey, now, you’re of the seed of David, and the seed of David. That little town of Bethlehem is David’s city. It’s David’s town.” And that’s why the Messiah has to be born there.

But can you imagine as you’re traveling? And boy, they say, you know, “Praise God for Zacharias and Elizabeth.” It wouldn’t be good if somebody says, “Hey, praise the Lord for old Brother Glenn or whoever, they believe in me.” You know, people need that. You know, there are in time there’s so much negativity and pointing out the bad in everybody. And sometimes it’s just good: “Hey, you know what? So-and-so, they’ve encouraged me along the way. I can believe I can be something for the Lord.” You know, it’s just so important that we’re loyal to people who are close to us, especially when they’re going through a tough time. We’re kind of losing that in our day and time. Second Timothy over there talking about in the latter days, last days, perilous times shall come. It lists off, I think, 18 different things, things there. But one of those is just “traitors.” Just, no, in time, the loyalty’s out the window. I’m not talking about supporting someone in sin, but whatever happened to loyalty? You know, sometimes you’re on the bottom, you find out who your friends really are. And, you know, when somebody’s on the bottom, it sure is good to be just—just to be there to encourage. But I imagine how much—how much Mary and Joseph said, “You know, one of the things that helped us make it is just Zacharias and Elizabeth has really encouraged them.” That’s very important. People need that. And just someone that’s there with them, you know, through the thick and the thin. Sometimes we get it—we get it almost their guilt until proven innocent, you know. But good friends aren’t like that. And I wanted this 80-mile trip. How many times they thought about Elizabeth and Zacharias?

Three thoughts. Number one, they stayed together. Number two, they had someone in their corner, it seems to me. Then number three: They talked about Joseph and Mary, a week before Christmas, before Jesus was born. They made… They did the best, I should say, with what they had. They didn’t have that much, but they made—they did the best with what they could.

That is such a kind of thing you see throughout Scripture. They had so many things that were tough. She was great with child. I wonder how much Jesus weighed when he was born, you know, great with child. I wonder, you know, when I read that, I think, “Boy, he may be—he may be a big boy when he was born,” great with child, you know. And then, but they were traveling, and well, that’s so tough, 80 miles without modern-day, you know, vehicles and all that. And yet it just seems they did the best they could with what they had.

Uh, by the way, that’s not the best way to start off a marriage, you know, starting off a marriage and she’s already expecting. And, uh, you know, that first year of marriage, in premarital counseling, I always try to emphasize that first year of marriage is so important. You’re kind of establishing things, and so very, very important. Well, that’s not the best way to start off a marriage with a little one right there, boom, you know, off the bat. But they did the best they could with what they had.

You know, they didn’t have a nice place for Jesus to be born, and they didn’t have the fancy place and all that, but they made it in a cave, maybe. But they did the best they could with what they had. The Bible says, “laid in a manger in swaddling clothes.” We don’t know everything about those swaddling clothes, but it’s a practice that’s been done, and nowadays are really finding out how healthy it is. Our daughter-in-law, McKinna, has been very good about that. Baby’s born, she’s got a swaddling cloth. It’s just kind of, you know, because they’re used to being very, very tight in the womb of the mother, and so you put something on that child when it’s born to kind of keep it where it feels secure. And Mary, she was being a good mother; she put them in swaddling clothes. We don’t know exactly what they were; there’s different descriptions of it, maybe strips of clothes. We don’t know that. But also, I think it’s a wonderful prophecy of the Passover lamb. That Passover lamb could not have any blemishes. Sometimes when the lamb was first born and just kind of reckless and trying to get up and walk and whatnot and brushed itself against something and cut it and put marks, and that Passover lamb couldn’t have any blemishes, so they would wrap it—that Passover lamb—in swaddling clothes. Mary did that, but maybe it was just strips of clothes, but they did the best they could with what they had.

They laid him in a manger. How many of you—how many of you put one of your babies, one of your—when they’re little bitty, maybe you’re traveling or maybe you didn’t have a baby bed—a bassinet, whatever at that time—but you pulled out a dresser drawer and you put some clothes, you made a little nest, and you put your baby in the dresser? How many of you did that? Come on, be honest. Yeah, we’ve got—we’ve done that. And I know we’ve done it a night or two maybe when we were traveling or something. Tammy shakes her head, “No, maybe not.” I thought we did. We need that recall thing where they drop. I thought we had. Maybe we hadn’t. I don’t know. But yeah, it’s somewhat like that, but they just found them a manger, and they were doing the best they could with what they had.

By the way, isn’t that fitting? The Lamb of God. Isn’t that fitting? He is the Bread of Life, and he’s going to supply the food for the world and salvation, if you will, and he’s laid in a manger. But I’m just saying they did the best they could with what they had. You know? You know, nowhere in Scripture doesn’t say you have to have a certain amount of talent. You just don’t find that scripture. But you find in scripture God blessing when people do the best they can with what they have. The Bible talks a lot. You think about the parables over there of the talents, and it wasn’t the one that had the most; it was just the guys that did the best they could with what they had, and God gave them more. That’s God’s plan typically; that’s what God works. The widow and the two mites: He gave more. She didn’t have a whole lot of time, if you would, but what she had, she gave it to the Lord. It’s really all about what you do with what you have. We get stuck so much on, “I got to have that.” You know, it really what matters is what are you doing with what you have. That’s key. And this young couple, Mary and Joseph, just seemed like they didn’t have a whole lot at that point, but they did the best with what they had.

Let me read for you a couple of verses. Psalm 37:16: “A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.” Proverbs 15:16: “Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasures and trouble therewith.” Proverbs 16:8: “Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.” This young couple, they didn’t have much, but it just seems they did the best they could with what they had, and God blessed and used them. Through Mary, the Messiah would come. Were they struggling? I guarantee you they were struggling. I guarantee they were. They’re just flesh and blood like you and I. But they stayed together. And not only that, but praise the Lord, I think they had a couple that was kind of in their corner cheering them on. And then not only that, but they… They just did the best they could with what they had.

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes please? Heads bowed, eyes closed.

I’m not going to have you raise your hand tonight, but would you just think about it, let the Holy Spirit speak to your hearts? Maybe there’s—maybe you say, “You know, I’m so prone to maybe turn on those I’m close to when the going gets tough.” I don’t do that. I want to stay close. I want to treat them just as good as I treat anybody else, if not better. And I want to stay close, even in difficult times. I want to stay close to that person, those ones that I’m close to. I want to stay close to them during tough times. Maybe you’re there tonight. You say, “I like to be an encourager. I want to see those that are going through a tough time, and I want to encourage them. They come to my door like Mary came to Elizabeth’s door. I want to be like Elizabeth, encourage them. I’m going to be there for them.” Maybe you say, “You know, I need to stop worrying about what I don’t have. Help me just do the best I can with what I have.” Well, prone, “I wish I knew the Bible like Brother Patterson.” I’d be his old winner. No, just do the best you can with what God’s given you. God blesses that.

Would you please stand? Would you please stand? We’re going to have word of prayer. You’d just be obedient to the Lord. Father, thank you for your goodness. Thank you, Lord, for the Christmas story. Lord, let us glean and learn and grow from it, Father. And you speak to hearts as you see fit. And we’ll thank you for what you do, Lord Jesus, and we pray. Amen.

I want to stay close to those. All of us, all of us go through tough times. I want to stay close to my—most people are going through tough times. I want to be an encouragement or someone. I want them to feel like they have someone in their corner. I want to stop focusing on what I don’t have and focus on what I’m doing with what I do have. I hope it kind of gets our heart and our minds going more towards the Christmas story and what Christmas is all about. And I hope you do that.

Oh, let’s see here. Does anybody—we have a birthday cake in the refrigerator. We were going to use it in Masters Club, but they didn’t get to have their party tonight. So if we had had a lady or two, maybe get that ready, anybody—would you get a piece of birthday cake on your way out? Anybody would be interested in that? Anybody? We’ve got some. Okay, good, good, good. This stairs, going back, maybe somebody will go back to a helper. We’ll get that out, and we’ll use that. We might as well use it. We didn’t have Masters Club, so we’ll use that. Stay a little bit, get your piece. No calories, no sugar in there at all, I promise you. And Ruth’s about to cave in on me. Amen, for sure, you know, but if he liked to do that, just get yourself one of the pieces of that on the way out and enjoy it. And praise the Lord for Jesus coming. Amen. And I’m so thankful that—oh, Mary and Joseph, they were awesome. They were awesome. Praise the Lord for them. And Christmas program tomorrow. And, oh, this is one of the Sunday nights, the Christmas concert. And a lot of our folks are just going to sing and whatnot. It’ll be special. Make sure you’re here Sunday night for that. That’d be a great, great thing.

Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar ＂1 week before Jesus＂- Wednesday PM 12⧸18⧸2024 [9TlweG8uSk0]