Christmas Thoughts on Immanuel

The God of Genesis 1...

NKJ Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth

was the babe in the Gospel of Matthew.

NKJ Matthew 1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."

NKJ Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

Praise the Lord.

NKJ Psalm 30:4 Sing praise to the LORD, You saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

I hope that my readers and friends have a Merry Christmas, as you remember and think about the significance of our Lord's wonderful and everlasting incarnation!

Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892) on a Reason for Thanksgiving and Thanks-Living

NKJ Psalm 119:65 You have dealt well with Your servant, O LORD, according to Your word.

65. 'Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word.' This is the summary of his life, and assuredly it is the sum of ours. The Psalmist tells the Lord the verdict of his heart; he cannot be silent, he must speak his gratitude in the presence of Jehovah, his God. From the universal goodness of God in nature, in verse 64, it is an easy and pleasant step to a confession of the Lord's uniform goodness to ourselves personally. It is something that God has dealt at all with such insignificant and undeserving beings as we are, and it is far more that he has dealt well with us, and so well, so wondrously well. He hath done all things well: the rule has no exception. In providence and in grace, in giving prosperity and sending adversity, in everything Jehovah hath dealt well with us. It is dealing well on our part to tell the Lord that we feel that he hath dealt well with us; for praise of this kind is specially fitting and comely. This kindness of the Lord is, however, no chance matter: he promised to do so, and he has done it according to his word. It is very precious to see the word of the Lord fulfilled in our happy experience; it endears the Scripture to us, and makes us love the Lord of the Scripture. The book of providence tallies with the book of promise: what we read in the page of inspiration we meet with again in the leaves of our life-story. We may not have thought that it would be so, but our unbelief is repented of now that we see the mercy of the Lord to us, and his faithfulness to his word; henceforth we are bound to display a firmer faith both in God and in his promise. He has spoken well, and he has dealt well. He is the best of Masters; for it is to a very unworthy and incapable servant that he has acted thus blessedly: does not this cause us to delight in his service more and more? We cannot say that we have dealt well with our Master; for when we have done all, we are unprofitable servants; but as for our Lord, he has given us light work, large maintenance, loving encouragement, and liberal wages. It is a wonder that he has not long ago discharged us, or at least reduced our allowances, or handled us roughly; yet we have had no hard dealings, all has been ordered with as much consideration as if we had rendered perfect obedience. We have had bread enough and to spare, our livery has been duly supplied, and his service has ennobled us and made us happy as kings. Complaints we have none. We lose ourselves in adoring thanksgiving, and find ourselves again in careful thanks-living.

Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, 6 vols. (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1882), 6:162–63.

Bio:

Wiki

Three Resurrection Quotes

"We are more sure to arise out of our graves than out of our beds." Thomas Watson

"Christ, like the sun eclipsed by the moon, got Himself out by His resurrection; and, as the sun by the moon, He was darkened by them to whom He gave light. His death did justify us, His resurrection did justify His death. He buried the law with Himself, and both with honour; He raised up the Gospel with Himself, and both with glory. His resurrection was the first stone of the foundation, "In Christ shall all be made alive," and the last stone of the roof, for God assures us that all come to judgment by this token, that He raised Him up from the dead (Acts 17:31). Satan danced on His grave for joy; when he had Him there once, he thought Him sure enough; but He rose again and trampled on the devil's throne with triumph. This is the faith peculiar to Christians. . . . His resurrection is not only the object of our faith, but the example of our hope." Thomas Adams

"The divinity of Christ finds its surest proof in his resurrection (Rom. 1:4). Christ's sovereignty also depends on his resurrection (Rom. 14:9). Again, our justification hangs on Christ's resurrection (Rom. 4:25). Our very regeneration depends on his resurrection (1 Peter 1:3). And most certainly our ultimate resurrection rests here (Rom. 8:11). The silver thread of resurrection runs through all the blessings, from regeneration onward to our eternal glory, and binds them together." Charles Spurgeon

Gratitude, God's Revealed Will and a Prayer

Give thanks with a grateful heart,

Give thanks to the Holy One,

Give thanks because He's given
Jesus Christ His Son.

This Thanksgiving I will be with my mom, my brother and his family who live nearby. They have not yet trusted Christ. However, I am glad I can come to them with the good news of the gospel and freely tell them that God gave his Son to die to save them. I can honestly look them in the eye and tell them that God is good to all because he wishes to save all, therefore he grants food, rain, sunshine, a free society and clothes etc. with a view to stimulating them to repentance (see Rom. 2:4). This is the point of common grace and all mankind receives this grace, to one degree or another. Everyone is enjoying these common bounties of providence because of God's benevolent will (Matt. 5:45).

Instead of merely looking at the world through the secret will of God this Thanksgiving (and how Christ came to especially save you as one of the elect), try looking at it through God's revealed will as well, and think about what the death of Christ means for all mankind, particularly for those lost family members that you love and desire to be saved. If you desire them to be saved, it's because the Holy Spirit is at work in you to desire such a thing. It's not as if your will to see them saved is out of harmony with God's will, as if you merely desire such a thing because you're ignorant about who is elect and who is not. Christ, as the Godman, wished the same thing for his lost family members.

Since my family knows that I am a student of theology, they may ask me to pray before the meal, as if I am to function as a kind of family priest (we were raised Roman Catholic). If I am asked to pray, I suppose I will say something like this:

Heavenly Father, Your Son taught us to first hallow your name when we pray. I am grateful that you are holy, just and good. You are also patient and full of generosity, so much so that you gave your only begotten Son to die for the salvation of the whole human race. I thank you for bringing my heart to know that fact and to trust in him. May you do this for those I love as well. May we all give thanks for your constant generosity this Thanksgiving in such a way that we come to your Son for forgiveness and healing, for it is in Him that you accept our prayers and thanks. Amen.

Now that's a Calvinistic prayer! :-) More importantly, it's a biblical prayer.

A Few Quotes on Gratitude

"In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

"The heart must be alive with gracious gratitude, or the leaf cannot long be green with living holiness."

"Thou that hast given so much to me,

Give one thing more - a grateful heart;

Not thankful when it pleaseth me,

As if thy blessings had spare days;

But such a heart, whose pulse may be

Thy praise."

"We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory."

"Though right it is to give thanks, True gratitude will live thanks!"

"The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank."

"O Lord, that lends me life, Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness."