David [00:00:02]:
For the last five weeks, we’ve been talking about the season of giving. And as we discovered last week, this is not only a season of giving, it is also a season of receiving. There cannot be a giving of gifts if there is not a receiving of gifts. And this is what we call the law of increase, or the law of giving and receiving.
David [00:00:53]:
That is the flow of blessing that God has established. To be a great giver, you must be a great receiver. Now you might be thinking, if receiving is so important, why does Scripture say it is more blessed to give than to receive? Here’s why. Giving is that step of faith that begins the process, the flow. Without a giving, there can be no receiving. Without a giving and receiving, the flow of God’s blessing is stopped. Or actually, it never begins. We see this throughout Scripture.
David [00:01:47]:
If there is no planting of seed, there is no harvest. If there is no sowing, there is no reaping. What we find as we study this principle is that all of life, all of life, is founded on this law of giving and receiving, spiritually and physically, supernaturally and naturally. Genesis 8:22. God is saying this to Noah after the flood, and he says, I’m not going to flood the earth anymore like this. I’m not going to kill all living things and mankind. He said in Genesis 8:22, While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer and day and night shall not cease. Now, everything that I just read there in that Scripture is a flow of life.
David [00:02:58]:
Seed, time and harvest, day and night, cold and heat, summer, winter. All of that is a part of the flow of life. All of it, in one way or another, is a giving and a receiving. And if we had the time, we could drill down into the physics of it and the science of it. Well, we would see that God created the heavens and the earth, all of it, with the idea of giving and receiving. It’s all been created around this principle. And when God created mankind, he wired us to give, to be generous and to receive, to be grateful for those things that come to us. You see, when God spoke over Adam and Eve, telling them to be fruitful and multiply, he was instructing them to implement the law of seedtime and harvest, or giving and receiving in every area of their life.
David [00:04:11]:
This spoke to their relationship with God, their relationship with one another. It spoke to them having children and filling the earth, being fruitful and multiplying. It Spoke to them. Tending the garden, subduing the earth, using all of its vast resources in the service of God and man. It spoke to them. Having dominion, the law of seedtime and harvest, giving and receiving was active in all they did. As we said last week, giving is not just an arbitrary action or just a nice thing to do. Giving is a process governed by a law that brings the flow of God’s blessings to us.
David [00:05:08]:
The flow of life. We see this in the giving of God’s greatest gift to mankind through the birth of his son Jesus. And in Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus. He begins by going all the way back to Abraham and sharing the genealogy of Jesus. So father God promised Abraham that there was a. A one coming. A promised Messiah, a promised Savior. And for 16 verses in the beginning of Matthew chapter one, Matthew details who was the father and the mother of the children born for 42 generations.
David [00:05:59]:
Think about that. From the time the promise was made until Jesus was born was 42 generations. Wow. But nothing stopped our father God. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
David [00:06:21]:
The giving and receiving which began with Abraham and Sarah and all those who followed brought the gift of life to all mankind through Mary, the mother of Jesus. And therein Joseph and Mary received the gift of parenting, the gift of God to all mankind. Wow. Think about that. Think about that. What that must have meant to them. The questions that probably came up in their heart. But they received this gift and walked in it.
David [00:07:05]:
And thereby they gave to the world. They helped the father give to the world. Jesus Christ. The beginning of the promise fulfilled. The promise that was given to Abraham was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ. But that was just the beginning. What I’ve learned is that giving with the giving and receiving of every gift, a new giving begins. As a part of the giving of the gift.
David [00:07:49]:
The the gift began and us receiving the gift. Then the gift begins. Giving to us and through us as a part of this once in a lifetime event, the birth of Jesus. Luke’s account details how others were a part of celebrating the blessing of Jesus birthday. We remember the Shepherd Luke chapter 2, verses 4 through 18. And I’m going to read this to you today. I want you to hear this story. It’s a story of the shepherds and their part in the birth of Christ.
David [00:08:32]:
So Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife who was with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and she wrapped him in swaddling cloth clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the end. 30 now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them. And the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
David [00:09:49]:
For there is born to you this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will toward men. So it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds said to one another, let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. Now, when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
David [00:11:05]:
Wow, you talk about a Christmas program. An angel of the Lord appearing and telling the story of the birth of Jesus the Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And think about this. The glory of the Lord shone all around them. Talking about a light show. The lighting was phenomenal. The glory of the Lord illuminating the sky and the pasture. And then not just any choir, but a multitude of heavenly hosts declaring glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will toward men.
David [00:11:48]:
Think about that. Think about the gift that the shepherds received. What a gift. They received inside information from the host of heaven, it goes on to say, there, let me remind you. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger, just as the angel of the Lord had said. The angel of the Lord gave them the word, and they received the word of the Lord and they acted on it with haste. They didn’t wait till the next day. They didn’t worry about who was going to watch over the sheep in their absence.
David [00:12:37]:
They went. They saw it was so, just as the angel of the Lord had said. But wait, that’s not all. They received another gift. Also, Luke’s account goes on to say, now, when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. They were blessed to be the first messengers to share the good news of the birth of the Savior to all those around Bethlehem. How special is that? How cool is that? How exciting is that? Wow.
David [00:13:32]:
You know, every year as we come together to celebrate Christmas, we have the opportunity to follow the example of the shepherds, to share the good news, the great joy of Jesus Christ, God’s gift to our world. This is one of the reasons we celebrate Christmas. We get to give our community those people we love and live with and around through the Christmas programs, or through celebrations and parties or Christmas cards and devotions, whatever we present, we get to give this gift to them and let them know that God loves them. And the gift of Jesus Christ. Christ is still here today and active. We all during this season are giving and receiving from one another. You know, weeks ago, we began by talking about the way. The first way we express giving during the season of giving is by giving thanks.
David [00:14:51]:
And the second way was knowing, recognizing and acknowledging the greatest gift given to mankind, Jesus Christ. And we looked at John 3:16, which says, for God so loved. He gave. For God so loved the world that he gave. All we’ve talked about the last few weeks up to now brings us to this third way we express giving during the season of giving. And that is the act of giving gifts to one another and receiving gifts from one another. And we see this demonstrated in Matthew’s account of the story of the birth of Christ. Matthew 2:10 and 11 says this.
David [00:15:41]:
This is talking about the wise men who had came from the east. Here they come. And it says, when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshiped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts gold and frankincense and myrrh. Wow. There was our first example of how to celebrate Christmas with one another through the giving of gifts. Let’s look at this.
David [00:16:31]:
Let’s break it down. It says, the wise men came rejoicing. They came with exceeding great joy. I want to challenge you this season to come into the celebration of Christmas. Rejoicing with exceeding great joy. Rejoicing in The Lord God, your Savior. Rejoicing in all this season means I encourage you. Don’t let the craziness all around rob you of the joy of giving and receiving.
David [00:17:12]:
As children of God, this is our time to rejoice in the gift God gave us, to be glad in Jesus, our Lord and Savior. As we’ve heard before, I’m sure you’ve heard this before. He is the reason for the season. So don’t let all the other symbolism, all the other things around distract or distract you from this simple core principle. He is the reason for the season. Let’s focus on him. As we give gifts, exchange gifts to one another, and receive from one another, let’s recognize that we’re doing this, acknowledging Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Just as the wise men did.
David [00:18:07]:
So they came celebrating by giving. And they gave in two ways. The first way they gave was worship. It says there and Matthew that when they were coming to the house, now, see, Joseph and Mary had come back home. They weren’t in the stable anymore. They’d come back home. And when they were coming to the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshiped him. Number one thing here to know, worship is an act of giving.
David [00:18:52]:
It flows out of your heart to God. They came and fell down and worshiped. The word in the Greek defines this act in several different ways. To worship here, it meant to kiss the hand of one in token of reverence, bowing before the king and kissing his hand. I don’t know if you remember. I remember growing up watching all the movies of the kings and noblemen and coming into the king and he extend his hand and they would bow and kiss his ring. This was one way you honored the king. They came and bowed before him, kissing and reverencing him.
David [00:19:51]:
The second thing, it means. It means to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence. I’ve seen this demonstrated before. Or you would come in before royalty or before the king, and you would bow and put your head down, showing that you reverenced profoundly the king before you. And when the king spoke and said arise, then you stood and addressed the king. They came and fell before him and worshiped him. The third thing, this word worship means here in the Greek, is by kneeling or prostration to do homage to one in order to express respect. They came bowing before the king, showing profound reverence before King Jesus and expressing respect for him.
David [00:21:09]:
The wise men came rejoicing and worshiped Jesus as a King, their prophecies and all that they had studied about his coming told them he was and is a powerful king. They didn’t come into house, into the house and see a baby. They saw a powerful leader, a ruler. They gave him profound reverence and showed him immense respect. They recognized who he was as and knew his kingship would have a significant impact in all the world. I want to encourage you during this time of your Christmas celebration that one of the gifts we bring, one of the givings we bring, is to simply take some time to worship the Lord. Take some time to worship the Lord during Christmas. Worship him with your spouse, with your family, with your friends, your colleagues, your community.
David [00:22:32]:
For worship is one of the greatest gifts we can give our Lord Jesus. Speaking to the lady at the well expressed this and I want to read this to you. John chapter 4, verses 23 and the 24 and I’m reading this from the Passion translation. From now on, worshiping the Father will not be a matter of the right place, but with a right heart. For God is a spirit and he longs to have sincere worshipers who adore him in the realm of the Spirit. And in truth, he longs to have sincere worshipers who adore Him. God loves you and he wants you to love Him. You know, I always refer back in these situations to our grandchildren and our children.
David [00:23:47]:
As much as we love them, we are so filled with joy when they come and express their love to us and they do it sincerely. Think about this. What a gift we can give Jesus and our Father God to satisfy his longing desire when sincere heartfelt worship. And here’s the greatest thing about this, guys. We don’t have to wait till Christmas to give this gift. A friend of mine wrote a song. He said, in this context, it’s Christmas every day. We have the opportunity every day to worship and adore him, to give him praise and glory.
David [00:24:47]:
All of our life in Christ is about giving and receiving. He gives and we receive. We give and he receives. And blessings flow like a river. Again, let me remind you, there must be a receiving when there’s a giving or the flow stops. So don’t let the enemy rob you by telling you you’ve given. You don’t need to receive anything. Yeah you do.
David [00:25:26]:
Because that receiving is God’s love coming to you. And that’s a part of the gift of Christmas to remind you of John 3:16. For God so loved that he gave his only begotten Son so that those who believed in him would not perish but have everlasting life. Hallelujah. This is a flow of life that never stops. It is unending. It is infinite, everlasting, forever. God’s love flows through giving and receiving.
David [00:26:13]:
It goes on to say, and then they presented him gifts. After they had worshiped him, honored him, respected him. It says this. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented under him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. That word treasures. There, when they had opened their treasures, when they had opened the place in which good and precious things are collected, they came. Could have been a box, it could have been a basket, it could have been some. Whatever sort of container it was.
David [00:26:54]:
It came full of good and precious things, which they had collected. And they opened that box of treasures. And from that place of treasure they gave him gifts. And the word gifts simply means good and precious things. They gave him good and precious things. Gold. Gold is a good and precious thing. Frankincense, it’s a good and precious name.
David [00:27:25]:
Myrrh, a good and precious thing. Earlier in this series, we showed how all that God gives flows from his heart of love. We just talked about that again. Sincere giving flows from the heart. And Jesus confirmed this in Luke 4, verse 45. Luke, I said 4. This may be Luke 6:45. I apologize.
David [00:28:00]:
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good. And an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. What are you filling your heart with? Are you filling your heart with good and precious things, as the writer of Proverbs 4 said, Proverbs 4 20:23. My son, give attention to my words. Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart, for they are life to those who find them, and help to all their flesh.
David [00:28:49]:
Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Another way that could be said, for out of your heart flows all of life, Filling your heart with the gift of God’s word. Jesus Christ will give life and health to all your flesh. Life springs from the treasure chest of your heart, where all those good and precious things reside. God is giving to us every day in some way are we receiving, filling the treasury of our heart with good and precious things. For then from the good treasure of our heart we can give back to God, but we also can give to all those around us. The law of giving and receiving never stops. Now this brings us to the closing thought for today this comes from the account of Matthew 1.
David [00:30:12]:
Matthew 1:22, 23 says this. So all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet saying, behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name. Immanuel. Which is translated God with us. Know this. As we celebrate our Lord and Savior and his birthday and Christmas this year, Know this. God is with us. He’s right there with us in all of our festivities during the season of giving and receiving.
David [00:31:06]:
Remember, God is with us. The gift of life in Jesus Christ isn’t a one and done gift. It is ongoing. It is never ending. It is everlasting. It is forever. It is an infinite, eternal gift. As a writer of Hebrews said in Hebrews 13, 5, 6, let your conduct be without covetousness.
David [00:31:37]:
Be content with such things as you have. For he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me? Hallelujah. Hallelujah. What a great promise in this season of giving gifts to one a number. Remember, he never leaves us or forsakes us.
David [00:32:07]:
He was always with us, giving to us. And as we receive from him and give ourselves to him in worship, he receives us and he receives from us. Jesus is our gift from the Father, and we are his gift to the Father. Think about that. The Father gave us the gift of Jesus Christ and in that eternal life. And when we receive Him, Jesus says, here, Father, your children, your son, your daughter. Hallelujah. Which takes us back to James, chapter one, verses 17 and 18.
David [00:32:56]:
We looked at this a few weeks ago, but every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning of his own will. He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures of his own will, his choice. He brought us forth by the word of truth. And the word of truth is simply Jesus Christ. He is the Word. He is truth. God chose you. Paul said he chose us before the foundation of the world.
David [00:33:50]:
There not first chapter of Ephesians this week I choose. I chose. I was pretty excited about this, guys. So let me say this. This week I chose one of my Christmas gifts. I got to pick it out. And then my wife, God bless her, she is so good at this. She ordered it.
David [00:34:13]:
We don’t even have to go get it. It’s coming to us here in a couple days. I am so excited because I know my gift is on its way. It has been shipped. And my heart, I’ve already received it. It’s mine. That’s the way God feels about you. Before you were.
David [00:34:42]:
He chose you. He loves you so much. He gave the gift of his son, Jesus for you so you could come into his presence and be with him for all eternity. What a gift we have in Christ Jesus. What a celebration of life. Christmas is truly about celebrating life. If you haven’t received the gift of life in Jesus Christ, I want to invite you to repeat this simple prayer prayer after me. Just bow your heads.
David [00:35:22]:
Everyone repeat this simple prayer after me. Father God, I believe you love me and you have given me the gift of life eternal in your son, Jesus Christ. I believe Jesus died for my sin and was resurrected to be my Lord and Savior. I ask you, Lord, to forgive me of my sins and I receive you today as my Lord and Savior. Thank you for receiving me into the family of God. Amen. Hallelujah. If you just said that simple prayer, we want to welcome you into the family of God.
David [00:36:23]:
What a gift. My gosh. Merry Christmas. Merry, merry, merry Christmas. Hallelujah. Blessed be the name of the Lord God. To all of our members and everyone listening today, we want to say from Emerge International Church, Merry Christmas. We pray you have a blessed week celebrating the season of giving and receiving.
David [00:36:48]:
Now remember, as I said before, he is the reason for the season. Go share that with someone else. Pastor Conia is coming with a closing word and a prayer. God bless.
