Christmas: Teaching Us To Give – Dr. Charles Stanley

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Charles Stanley, celebrating 45 years of God’s faithfulness in sharing the gospel worldwide.
Next on in touch, Christmas teaching us to give.
Would you consider yourself a giver or receiver?
I don’t expect you to answer that.
Would you consider yourself a giver or receiver? Put it this way?
Would you consider yourself a joyous giver a happy giver or would you prefer to be the receiver?
Now, how many of you were receivers when you were Children?
We all were, we have to learn to be givers. I think. Yet here’s what I’ve noticed.
I’ve noticed the happiest people I know are people who are givers.
The reason is because they’re always giving of themselves and it’s just not something that they have to give, but they’re giving of themselves.
And when a person is giving of themselves, it’s, it’s less of thinking about themselves and thinking about others and his followers of Jesus.
The pattern is that you and I be happy joyous givers because that’s what he was.
That’s what he did his entire life on the face of this earth.
And when we come to this Christmas season, people think, well, now all this buying and selling and all this traveling and all these things are all terrible.
And somebody says, well, I just don’t believe all this is biblical.
Well, I want to show you this message. Oh, yes, it is.
That doesn’t mean go take your credit card and fill it up, doesn’t mean that. But it is.
I want you to turn to Luke chapter two if you will.
And I want us just to read the first few verses and then we’ll go from there.
Now, in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.
This was the first census taken while he was governor of Syria.
And everyone was on his way to register for the census each to his own city.
Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house of the family of David in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was with child while they were there.
The days were completed for her to give birth and she gave birth to her first born son and she wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end.
That’s not just a story that was an event that changed your life, my life and would be changing people’s lives for all eternity.
Now, here’s the question, what would cause me to believe that giving at Christmas time uh is scripture is biblical because if you look at this event, for example, everything about it was giving.
Let’s start with Mary, Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ gave two things.
First of all, she gave her body to be impregnated by the Holy Spirit and to carry the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
She gave her body a second thing she gave that most people don’t realize is that she gave her reputation because when the angel announced to her that a child would be born, conceived of the Holy Spirit, the first thing that had come, had to come to her mind besides the mystery of it all.
And I’m sure there was a mystery to it, to some degree was the idea of how am I gonna respond if I here I am pregnant and I’ve not been married, she and Joseph were engaged and in those days and engagement, it was like equal to marriage except it wasn’t Consummated until after a period of time.
And so therefore, if she was found with child and they weren’t fully married, that meant that she had committed adultery, and therefore the penalty was stoning to death.
So what would happen is the elders of the city would find out about the fact that she was pregnant and therefore they would arrange to have her stoned to death.
So Mary gave far more than most people realize because as soon as the angel said that her, everything just didn’t get peaceful.
All of a sudden, she had to begin to deal with telling Joseph about what was going to happen and his response and the response of the people, the response of her parents, she gave her body, she gave her reputation a second person in this event that gave was Caesar Augustus.
Now he thought that he had made a decision to tax everybody, which meant that everybody had to go back to their family, original home and uh sign up register and pay taxes.
He thought that was his idea.
What he didn’t realize is that it was almighty God who put that idea in his mind and his heart though he was a Roman emperor.
And what he said went and I mean, you can take, you could take your life just like that whatever he chose.
So he made this decree. What he didn’t realize is that God Almighty was using him this pagan emperor to fulfill one of the purposes of God because the scripture says that the birth of Jesus was prophesying in Micah, for example, that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem.
Well, they lived in Nazareth. He was moving that wonderful couple from Nazareth down to Bethlehem where the Messiah was to be born.
So if you think about it. Mary gave her body.
Caesar Augustus gave his decree that he thought was from him to accomplish his purpose.
It accomplished his purpose, but it also accomplished the purpose of Almighty God.
Now someone else gave something on their way from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Pretty long journey.
What happens when they got to Bethlehem?
There was no place to stay because people were just crowded everywhere and they went from one place to the other trying to find some place that Jesus could be born.
She could give birth to this baby and everywhere she went and they went, uh there was no room until finally.
And innkeeper said we don’t have any room here, but I do have a barn out here or stable.
It would be in those days, I guess a stable and you’re welcome to use that if you can.
The innkeeper didn’t have one thing to give, but he gave that and he gave that’s stable where Jesus Christ was born.
And we look at that and think how awesome that God would let the second person of the Trinity sovereign of the universe be born in a barn and laid in the manger in those early days of his life.
Then of course, something happened.
The Bible says, the angel of the Lord began to speak to the shepherds and he began to talk about a child is born a savior and he’ll bring joy to the world.
And so the angel had something to give.
That is the announcement that he gave and that whole heavenly host gave to those shepherds that Jesus Christ was born, the savior of the world.
And you say, well, you know, why, why wouldn’t this is the way humans say?
Why wouldn’t God have announced that? And an angel had spoken to Caesar Augustus, maybe he would have believed.
No, God had the angel speak to shepherds. So what did they do?
The scripture says, they immediately went and found Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus.
And I love what the scripture says here because it reminds me of something that goes on today. Listen.
So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby as he lay in a manger.
And when they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about Christ, now watch this.
So they told them what they had seen and heard and all who heard it wondered at all the things which were told them by the shepherds.
So what did they give? They gave a testimony. They said, look, the angel spoke to us.
We found him just exactly as the angel said, this must be the Messiah.
So the Shepherds gave their testimony.
Then of course, after the testimony, um the wise men came and they came all the way from Persia.
God chose three men to do what watch this, not watch this given not just wonder about a star they saw but to do something about it, it was so brilliant.
It got their attention, they packed their bags and their stuff and they said, uh we, we have to follow this.
And so they made that traveling time as best they could.
They came and they found the Lord Jesus Christ just where that star had led them.
And they gave gold frankincense and myrrh and worshiped him.
And the Bible says they went home another way because Herod was trying to kill all the small Children.
So every single person around the birth of Jesus gave something from Mary all the way to the wise men.
So when people say, well, all this giving it, Christmas hasn’t got nothing to do with Christmas. Yes, it does.
The very spirit of Christmas is the spirit of giving. Think about it. It’s a spirit of giving.
It’s a wonderful time to express their love and appreciation for the people and also our love and devotion to almighty God for giving us the greatest gift there was.
And that’s his son, our savior. Because here also God gave something he gave Jesus his only begotten son.
They come into this world and dies, a living sacrifice for your sins and mind.
He was the sin bearer.
He was the lamb of God that Jesus came into this world for the purpose of dying was the greatest news.
The world could possibly hear everything around the birth of Jesus Christ.
Somebody is giving something, But I want you to notice something else here when he comes to Christmas time being a time to give him.
That is Jesus not only gave him himself, this scripture says he, every event in his life is characterized by giving and think about it for a moment when he came into this world.
Um after he reached about 30 years of age and he departed from being, being a carpenter. Um what happened?
One of the ways he gave of himself is he gave of himself in teaching the truth.
When did he start? He started when he was about 12 years of age in the temple?
You recall that he was talking to the Pharisees and sad disease and asking questions and answering questions when his family found him and they wanted to Reprimand him a little bit and he said, I must be about my father’s business.
So if he began that at that early age, just think about it For the next years till he became 30 years of age.
He was studying the word of God, reading the words, studying the word listening.
Terrence parents teach him listening into synagogues what they were teaching.
So when the time came for him to begin the ministry, he was fully equipped, he gave of himself in healing the sick.
And um you remember Barnum was sitting on the highway side out of Jericho and he just heard that Jesus was coming and heard that Jesus had healed a lot of people.
And so the scripture says that uh he called out to Jesus and they told him to be quiet.
So he just started hollering out loudly, Jesus son of David have mercy upon me.
And the Bible says, Jesus stopped and I love in the King James version when that one little phrase, the Bible says, and Jesus stood still and that’s been a blessing to me through the years that Jesus would stand still on his way, would never pass that way again because he was going to the cross.
Jesus stood still for poor blind beggar who was useless and absolutely no value in the eyes of the world of his day.
And he stood still and healed him, Jesus was always giving.
And that’s why as a believer, a true follower of Jesus is gonna be a giver.
And so it can’t be just giving it Christmas, it’s giving a year round.
But I just want to say that giving it Christmas is nothing wrong with that.
It is the spirit in which Christians Ought to live 365 days of the year.
And when it comes down to it, God, the father gave his son the Lord Jesus Christ.
God has listen, God’s been giving to you and me watch this.
He was giving to you before you were ever born.
And so to be a true follower of Jesus giving ought to be a lifestyle and you see, giving to him isn’t because he needs it.
It’s because we need to be continually aware and recognized that he’s the source of every single thing that we need.
That’s why the giving is so important and to get the gospel around the world.
And so Jesus taught it. He said, he said, given that she’ll be given to you good measure, pressed down, shaken together, it’ll be returned to you.
Now, what does that mean? Give money? Not necessarily giving anything?
You give love, you give truth, you give finances, you, you give companionship.
In other words, giving is a part of the life of the believer.
And so that’s what Jesus taught and, and not only that, that’s what the New Testament church practice that says in, in acts chapter four that they were selling their goods and giving to one another so that there were no needs in that early church.
And then of course, in Second Corinthians 96, Paul reminds us, if we give generously, will reap generously, if we give sparingly, will reap sparingly.
It depends upon how we choose to live it out in their lives.
And so as a follow up Jesus, how can I do anything but be a giver?
Think about the most valuable material thing somebody’s ever given you think for just a second.
Do you still have it? Did you outgrow it?
Did you wreck it? Did you sell it.
You know, what’s the most valuable thing or do you still polish it?
What’s the most valuable thing somebody’s ever given you compare that to the gift of eternal life?
There is no comparison.
And when you trusted Jesus Christ as your personal savior, he forgave your sin wrote your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
He says he’s preparing a place in heaven for you.
But until he calls you, he’s called you to live a Godly life.
And he’s in dwelt you with the Holy Spirit to make it possible for you to live a Godly life and not only live a Godly life, but you’re to tell it, we sing that chorus.
Go tell it on the mountain. What about going, telling it next door?
In other words, you work with people who need to hear it.
You live with people who need to hear it.
The world around us needs to hear the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
If you didn’t give anybody anything this Christmas, but to say something, I wanna, I wanna share with you and you just told them what Jesus Christ has done in your life.
You see the truth is somebody says, well, I, I can’t give a testimony. Yes, you can.
Well, I don’t, I don’t have a testimony. Yes, you do.
The question is when Christ is in your life and you’re walking in obedience to him, how can you keep it to yourself.
You don’t have any idea the impact you can have in somebody’s life.
Because remember this, watch this carefully, the same Holy Spirit that in dwelt Peter James John Thomas.
And the whole crowd is the same holy spirit that dwells you and that’s the same holy spirit.
God equipped them with. In order to evangelize the whole world, you don’t have any idea who is within you, what you can do whose life can be changed.
Let me ask you a question.
Can you name anybody that you have explained the gospel to trust in Jesus Christ as his savior?
Can you just name one person? Think about this?
The greatest gift ever given has been given to you as a believer.
Can you not name one other person to whom you have given the same gift?
The gift of eternal life through Christ.
How can we keep that to ourselves?
Everything about jesus’ birth is giving everything about his life, giving everything about that New Testament Church was giving and everything about our life ought to be the same.
Do you realize how rich you are? How wealthy you are?
You think about how much Gospel truth that you know that most of the world has never heard the first single time you’ve been to church for years and years and years now, a lot of it you don’t recall but in your subconscious mind because that’s the way God built it.
Everything you have ever heard of the truth of the gospel is still in there.
One of these days that they had invent some way that you can recall everything you’ve ever heard.
Wouldn’t that be fantastic? Well, it would be, if you’ve been living, right, it wouldn’t be if you weren’t living, right.
But what I want you to see is look, look at, look at the potential you have.
If this Christmas season, you just decided this Christmas season, I am going to deliberately willfully choose to explain the gospel to somebody.
I know who is lost. Just one person.
You say, well, they won’t listen to me.
You don’t know where they will or not.
One person give that gift to one person.
This Christmas, they might not make a decision. Listen, you’re not responsible for how they respond.
You’re just responsible for telling him. And you say, well, how would I do that?
Ask God to make you sensitive to the people around you?
And then when he opens the door, you’ll have the courage to step through and speak to them.
You don’t have to, you don’t have to quote a lot of scripture. You just have to say to them.
I just want you to know that one day in my life, Jesus Christ came into my life and change my life and I’ve never been the same since.
Oh, I go through heartaches and troubles like everybody else, but there’s nothing like having him In less than 30 seconds, you can give them a testimony.
Watch this. They may not say a word to you then, but they won’t forget it.
You know, the reason I know that Almighty God won’t let them.
You can’t beat that for a great gift.
And if you’ve never trusted Jesus Christ as your personal savior, we’re not trying to be religious or build big churches.
We just want to get the gospel message to you because it’s the only message that’s gonna take you to heaven.
The only message that can give you the strength to bear the things in life that oftentimes come your way that you don’t expect, don’t anticipate and you’ve not planned for if you will ask the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins, not based on how good you are or that you deserve it.
But based on the fact that when he went to the cross, he died for your sins, my sins, the sins, look at this, the sins of the whole world.
That’s how powerful that cross was.
If you’re willing to ask him to forgive you and surrender your life to him, he will forgive your sins.
Write your name in the lamb’s book of Life, prepare your place in heaven.
And from that point on and well you with the Holy Spirit so that you can do for others, what somebody has done for you, you will not receive a greater gift at Christmas than this nor will you give a greater Christmas present than the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I trust you’ll do it. And father how grateful we are for that message transformed our lives and the message that can transform the life of any person on the face of this earth.
Thank you for all those people who work in areas of translation, translating the gospel of Jesus Christ into every single language on the face of this earth so that everyone you have created and placed here would be able to hear the truth.
We love you father. And we all now love to be expressed the way Jesus expressed, his, giving it away to other people in jesus’ name.
Amen. Well, if you’ve never trusted image of Savior, I want to encourage you to do that today.
I don’t know, I don’t know how anybody lives Christmas after Christmas without Jesus.
I can tell you this. I can tell you how it is to live with him.
Christmas after Christmas, I’ve been living with him, Christmas after Christmas for 68 christmases.
And there’s no life like the Christian life and there’s no giving, like joyful giving, generous giving.
And I would just simply say to you if you want life at its best, Jesus, is it his way?
Is it? He has a calling on your life.
He said, I never heard that you have a calling on your life and he is calling you to come to him, give yourself to him so that everything he’s planned for you you’re capable of receiving.