Signs From God

TEXT: Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:21-23, 2:1-15; Luke 2:8-20

This time of year brings the question : WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR?
We ask children, grandchildren, spouses, and friends to give us a list of items they might like for Christmas.
I would like to start my lesson this morning by asking you ….
if you could ask for just one thing this year …
no matter the cost…
what would it be?

I decided to look on the internet for some “EXPENSIVE” gift ideas
and this is some of the things I came up with…

• Your Own Private Islands
• A Luxurious London Mansion
• A Trip To Near Space
• A NEW CAR of your choice
• 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO
• All Expense Paid Vacation All Around the World
• Neiman Marcus Limited Edition Motorcycle
• Viktor&Rolf Perfume
• Lange 1 Tourbillon 25th Anniversary Watch
• The World’s Most Expensive Bottle Of Wine
• ETC

I WILL GIVE YOU MY ANSWER AT THE CONCLUSION OF TODAY’s LESSON 😊

I’m sure that as you look around this week
you will see more & more signs of Christmas rapidly approaching.
And what I want us to consider this morning is–
“Signs sent by God.”

The Bible contains numerous passages that are signs from God. These signs can take various forms and are often seen as a means through which God communicates with humanity.
Here are some examples:

1. Natural Phenomena: The Bible describes instances where God uses natural events to convey messages.
For example, the parting of the Red Sea during the exodus of the Israelites is seen as a miraculous sign
(Exodus 14:21-22).
2. Dreams and Visions: God communicates with individuals through dreams and visions.
In the Old Testament, Joseph and Daniel are known for interpreting dreams,
and in the New Testament, Joseph (the husband of Mary) receives messages from God in dreams.
3. Miracles: Miracles, such as the healing of the sick,
raising the dead, and turning water into wine,
are often considered signs of God's intervention
and there were miracles performed by Jesus in the New
Testament).
4. Prophecy: The fulfillment of prophecies is often seen as a sign of God's guidance and involvement.
The Old Testament contains numerous prophecies that were fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ.
5. Symbolic Acts: God sometimes instructs individuals to perform symbolic acts to communicate a message.
For example, the prophet Hosea marrying a prostitute is considered a symbolic act representing God's relationship with an unfaithful Israel (Hosea 1:2-3).
6. Burning Bush: In the book of Exodus, God appears to Moses in the form of a burning bush, which is not consumed by the fire. This is considered a significant sign, and God speaks to Moses from the bush (Exodus 3:1-4).
7. Pillar of Cloud and Fire: During the exodus, God led the Israelites with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, symbolizing His presence and guidance (Exodus 13:21-22).

God was in the business of providing signs from the very beginning.
After the flood, when the rainbow appeared,
God told Noah it was a sign that He would not flood the entire earth like that again.
So, whenever we see a rainbow, that sign reminds us of His promise.
Through Moses & Aaron
God gave very dramatic signs to Pharaoh to force him to set the Israelites free.
And in the wilderness during the next 40 years God provided multiple signs of His power
and His guidance
& of His love for His people.

I. PROPHECY
A. He gave the Prophets (& later the Apostles) the ability to perform signs & wonders.
Since God is in the business of giving people signs,
it makes sense that he would give a sign when it came to the most important birth in human history.

Isaiah 7:14 says, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child & will give birth to a son, & will call him Immanuel."

A prophecy is a foretelling of a future event.
The Prophet was given insight regarding something previously unknown.
The fulfillment of prophecy would be proof & a sign that God could be believed & trusted.
Sometimes a prophecy was fulfilled soon after it was made.

Sometimes the fulfillment was hundreds of years later,
like this one. This prophecy was written 700 years before it was fulfilled.

B. We are familiar with the angel telling Mary what was going to happen, & her response.
But when Joseph found out Mary was pregnant,
he thought she had been unfaithful to him.
Then an angel appeared to him, assuring him that Mary had done no wrong.

Matt. 1:21-23 tells us the angel told Joseph, "She will give birth to a son, & you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins”“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child & will give birth to a son, & they will call him Immanuel” – which means, “God with us”.

So, both Mary & Joseph received signs that confirmed what they were told.
There are other prophecies concerning the birth of Jesus.
When the Magi came to King Herod,
they told him they were there to worship the newborn king.
This disturbed Herod, so he asked the chief priests & teachers of the law where the Christ was to be born.
Matt. 2:5-6, “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied,
“for this is what the prophet has written:
‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’”
This prophecy is from Micah 5:2.

Interestingly, there's an added line at the end of this verse in Micah that reads, "whose origins are from old, from ancient times."
Some translations have, 'from eternity' or 'from everlasting' which raises the question,
“How could there be someone coming in the future who has ancient origins?”

But it makes sense when you're talking about Jesus.
His birth was not his beginning.
It was his beginning in human form,
but Jesus existed long prior - from the very beginning.

It set out the odds of any one man in history fulfilling even 8 of the 60 major prophecies fulfilled by the life of Jesus.
The probability that Jesus could have fulfilled even 8 such prophecies would be 1 in 100 quadrillions (100,000,000,000,000,000).
That's 1 with 17 zeros after it.
It has been estimated that if you had that many silver dollars it would be enough to cover the face of the entire state of Texas two feet deep.

A mathematician satated, "I've been to Texas. Who in his right mind would suppose that a blindfolded man, heading out of Dallas by foot in any direction, would be able,
on his very first attempt, to pick up one specifically marked silver dollar out of that many?"

So, I think that would confirm it. The signs are there to provide the evidence that Jesus is the only one who could be the fulfillment of prophecy.

II. THE BABY IN THE MANGER
Luke 2:8-20 says, "There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
An angel of the Lord appeared to them,
& the glory of the Lord shone around them,
& they were terrified.

“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.
I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you;
he is Christ the Lord.
“This will be a sign to you:
You will find a baby wrapped in cloths & lying in a manger” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God & saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
& on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

“When the angels had left them & gone into heaven,
the shepherds said to one another,
“Let’s go to Bethlehem & see this thing that has happened,
which the Lord has told us about.”
So they hurried off & found Mary & Joseph, & the baby,
who was lying in the manger.
“When they had seen him,
they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, & all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
But Mary treasured up all these things & pondered them in her heart.

“The shepherds returned, glorifying & praising God for all the things they had heard & seen, which were just as they had been told."

A. We see their first reaction was fear. Not fear over the announcement but fear over the angels appearing.
In fact, it says the shepherds were terrified. The way the Greek reads it signifies being seized with a mixture of reverent fear & awe.
And who wouldn't be?
it's not like angelic appearances were commonplace.
In fact, God had pretty much been silent for the previous 400 years, so I'm sure this came as quite a shock to them.

Not only because of what they were seeing but also because it was happening to them.
Shepherds were certainly not considered to be in the upper echelon of society.
An angelic appearance would've been expected to happen to the religious leaders but not to a bunch of shepherds.
This was the greatest announcement in the history of mankind, & it was given to those least likely to receive it.

The angel calms them down & tells them not to be afraid.
He gives them the good news.
"A Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."

That's the good news that will turn our fear - fear of trouble,
fear of the unknown, fear of death into joy –
joy of salvation, joy of the presence & power of the Lord,
joy of a future inheritance in heaven.

B. Then we see that the angels gave the shepherds a sign.
They would find a baby wrapped in cloths & lying in a manger. That would be a distinct sign.
You wouldn't normally find a newborn in a smelly stable.
So this sign would be unmistakable.

God is in the business of providing unmistakable signs. Unfortunately, some people pass God's signs off as just some weird coincidence.
But the shepherds didn't do that.
They believed & were excited.
"Let's go to Bethlehem & see this thing that has happened ".

Notice they didn't say, 'let's go see if it's true'.
They said, 'this thing that has happened'.
They didn't need the sign to believe.
The sign was a confirmation.
You'll see this principle in other places.
When the disciples asked Jesus for a sign,
it was to understand something,
or to know what to look for regarding what they would experience.

The religious leaders asked for signs out of skepticism & unbelief. Asking for a sign when we need clarification is one thing,
but demanding a sign in order for God to prove Himself is not good.
There are many examples of religious leaders who asked for signs out of skepticism and unbelief,
but here are some of the most prominent ones:

• Pharisees and Sadducees: These were two rival sects of Judaism in the first century AD.
They often challenged Jesus with questions that tested his authority and knowledge of God’s will.
For example, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven, to interpret the law, to predict the future, and to reveal his relationship with God .
They did not believe in Jesus as the Messiah or the Son of God,
but rather as a clever teacher or a false prophet.

• Satan: He is the enemy of God and his people, and he tries to deceive them with lies and temptations.
  He is also called the accuser, the deceiver, the dragon, and the devil.
  He asked Jesus for a sign when he tempted him in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11).

• Judas Iscariot: He was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, but he betrayed him for thirty pieces of silver.
He was motivated by greed and hypocrisy, rather than by love or faith.
He asked Jesus for a sign when he agreed to hand him over to the Jewish authorities (Matthew 26:14-16).
He did not care about Jesus’ mission or message, but only about his own gain.

These are just some examples of biblical religious leaders who asked for signs out of skepticism and unbelief.

They all faced different consequences for their actions:
some were rebuked by Jesus (Matthew 16:6),
Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

some were rejected by God (Matthew 26:24),
The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”

and some were destroyed by Satan (Revelation 12:10).
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day and night.

We can learn from their mistakes and avoid falling into their traps.
We can trust in Jesus’ words and deeds as sufficient signs of his identity and authority.
We can also examine our own hearts and motives when we ask for signs or doubt God’s promises.
Do we seek God out of love or fear?
Do we believe in Jesus as the Son of God?
Do we follow him with faithfulness or disobedience?

The shepherds believed the angel,
followed the sign & saw the evidence.
Because they did this,
they experienced a joyous event
that undoubtedly changed their lives forever.
Those who ignore the signs miss out on the joy that would change their lives forever too.

ILL. Someone once said, “Although there is truly nothing more desirable than knowing Christ, many people just can’t see it. Their eyes haven’t been opened.
They look into the manger, & they don’t see a king.
They don’t see the Savior of the World.
They don’t see “the Mighty God,
the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace”.

All they can see is a baby, an ordinary human being.
And so, they pass by the child in the manger
& instead seek after the presents.

Going back to the question asked in the beginning of the lesson today…
What one gift would ask from GOD?

INVITATION: Which do you value more,
the toys & trinkets of this life
that will eventually crumble into dust,
or a relationship with Jesus Christ that will last forever?
Do you want to find what you're looking for?
Follow the signs to Jesus.