We all could use some encouragement and we'll find it together today in the Bible-based teaching of Dr. Don Wilton here on The Encouraging Word. Now today's topic is called God's Wonderful Person and that'll make more sense in just a minute as we head to the book of Luke chapter 2 with Dr. Wilton. But Dr. Don also wants you to know that as we study God's Word, we're connectable. We can connect on our phone line at 866-899-WORD. Again, that's a number that's available 24 hours a day. If you'll jot it down, store it in your cell, 866-899-9673.
We'll connect with one of us. Happy to pray with you. Also happy to connect with wonderful resources like the daily devotion from Dr. Don.
You can get that in a quarterly version by asking at 866-899-9673 or sign up online at tewonline.org. Now today's teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. I want to read you the story just very briefly and I'm going to show you something just so amazing. Things that God is showing me about God's wonderful person, this baby Jesus.
I'm going to be in Luke chapter 2, so I want to invite you to open your Bibles to Luke chapter 2. What you and I know to be the Christmas story. Just this past week, someone said to me, happy holiday. And I looked at this person and I said, well, I wish you a very, very merry and wonderful and blessed Christmas. And this particular person that I was speaking to just lit up and said, oh, well, you have a wonderful Christmas too. And I thought to myself, I'm in America and we had to give each other permission to wish one another a blessed Christmas.
But just to be safe, just so that perhaps we don't offend somebody, we better rather just say we'll have a happy holiday. Listen what happened on this incredible occasion. Luke chapter 2 and verse 1, in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
Interesting. And all went to be registered each to his own town and Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and the lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth and she gave birth to her firstborn son. And she wrapped him in swaddling cloths and she laid him in a manger because there was found no room for them in the inn. May the Lord write this word upon our hearts.
Next, I want you to think about this setting as we just for a few moments consider God's wonderful person at this wonderful time of Christmas. And so you have someone by the name of Joseph who was just a carpenter and Joseph was a Judean. And the tribal ancestry home of the Judeans was a place called Bethlehem, Bethlehem of Judea. And so it is that according to the edict of Caesar, the elevated one, Augustus, and the Roman Empire, all the world would go and would register in their home town, so to speak. But they very subtly, although not unsuspectingly, inserted a little added flavor to it and decided that everyone who would be registered would go beyond simple serving in the Roman army.
They would register to be taxed and so they began to issue a new poll tax on all those who were being registered. Well, the Jews didn't like that one bit. But they had no option because they lived in a very brutal day and age.
Can you imagine being nine months pregnant and making approximately a 71-mile trip through the mountain pathways with all the treachery of the day and age in which they lived and to arrive worn out to a frazzle in a little village called Bethlehem? And there they came to register and so they went immediately because he was a good man to the Holiday Inn. He was very considerate and the Holiday Inn was full. In fact, all the hotels were full because everybody was coming home. It was a big week.
The hotels were completely booked out and all the restaurants, there wasn't even a seat at Cracker Barrel in Bethlehem. And they had no alternative. And so they got turned down and the innkeeper took one look at this very pregnant, beautiful young lady and took compassion and said, but you know something? I got a place where I keep my cattle and my sheep.
It's just a hole in the wall. But I want you to know that if you'd like to go and bed down there, at least you've got some kind of roof over your head, so to speak. And so they did. And it was there, in the middle of all of this, that Jesus arrived. So what's going on in your life today? I've got such wonderful news for you today. Jesus has arrived. You know, I've come to understand something about this great, wonderful Christmas story about God's wonderful person that nothing, nothing, not of any kind or any description happened in Scripture without some deep and abiding meaning. It was time for Jesus to be born. And there were a number of things that I noticed about his arrival that I just want to share with you. First of all, that God's wonderful person arrived at the same time as a population count.
It's interesting to me. Now, the Bible calls this a census. In fact, what they said was, look, I want you to know that you need to listen up. You need to get out your voter registration card and you need to line up because November is just around the corner.
And actually what we're going to tell you is that what is about to happen is going to be the single most important thing that could ever happen in your world. Except they didn't know that Jesus was about to arrive. He arrived in the middle of a population count. He not only arrived at the same time as this population account, but he arrived in full subjection to the laws of the land.
The laws of the land are somewhat rather interesting. There's a strange tension that is brought to bear on the population here in the scriptures. And particularly when it came to these very religious people. They knew and they understood the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. They knew that.
Somehow they had in mind something very important. A very important person just yesterday in New York City said this to me. He said, you know something, Dr. Wilton? He said, when I think about God, I always remember that story. And I said, what story, sir?
And he said this to me. He said, well, you know that story where the people all got together. And they decided that they were going to try and figure out God. And so they built a big building.
And they built it higher and they built it higher and they built it higher and they built it higher. And they said, we are going to not only figure out God, but we're actually going to reach him and we're going to access God. And we're going to show God that we can actually figure him out through our own finite human understanding. And I said to him, well, sir, what does that mean to you?
He said, well, I know one thing. By whatever definition God is, man can never figure God out and God let them know. And so what he did was that he divided them amongst themselves and he gave them the curse of not being able to speak the same languages.
He turned them into a divided people among themselves as a punishment for their poultry effort to try and supersede the almightiness of a great and a wonderful God. And I looked at him and I said to him, but sir, that's why Jesus came. Because Jesus is the only one who can speak every language at the same time and be spoken to and understood by every single person in the world, regardless of who they are. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. His name is Jesus and he was born in Bethlehem of Judea and Jesus Christ has come into my heart. And what Jesus Christ has done for me, he'll do the same thing for you.
Well, number three, he not only arrived at the same time as a population count and arrived subject to the laws of the land, but he arrived as one in the middle of many. I love going to that part of the world and just watching the people. This week I was in New York City. I couldn't get over again the crowds. Steve, you know I remember the times that we've gone with mirror image to the prisons and with our senior adult group, yesterday's teens and the fun and the fellowship and the ministry that we have in New York City. It's hard to be in a place like that and not to be overwhelmed by just the sheer size and the people and the scope and the busyness.
Do you know there's some people that actually live there? One of the most incredible things about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's wonderful person, is that he arrived as just one in the middle of many. You ever felt just lost in the crowd?
Have you felt like nobody knows you? Nobody cares? Have you ever thought about the apparent absolute nothingness of the Lord Jesus, born in a lowly stable? And yet he is the Christ.
Oh how we love Christmas and remembering that this lowly beginning was the life change for each and every one of us that know Jesus as our Savior. Forgive the interruption. Dr. Don's allowed me to interrupt to remind you of two things. One, we're available for you. We'd love to pray with you and for you anytime at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673 or T-E-W online dot O-R-G. That's our website.
T-E-W online dot O-R-G. But also as we wrap up this month, we're here 10 days into December and that means that the last few weeks of December are our opportunity to match a remarkable $200,000 challenge gift if we all do our part. Perhaps you've been listening to Dr. Wilton for just a few days or maybe you've been with us for many years and you realize the power of God's Word, God's encouraging Word to change lives. That's why we're doing what we're doing and that's why this challenge gift is made available for us for $200,000 as we match that with yours and my gift. Our ministry began with individuals giving $2 a week to put this broadcast on the air. Now we need a little more than $2 a week but maybe that's all you can give. Whatever God leads you to give, it will make a difference. $2 a week will make a difference but so would $200 a month or $2,000 or perhaps at the end of the year you have the opportunity to give a substantial catalyst gift that might even take us into more places with the gospel of Jesus Christ. If the Lord leads you to give, we ask you to call 866-899-WORD today and let us know how God's leading you to give.
That's 866-899-9673 or discover more online at www.tewonline.org. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. God's a wonderful person. Not only arrived as one in the middle of many but he arrived after a long and difficult journey. I've traveled that road. Fortunately today there are some good highways. You know to get from Jerusalem to Bethlehem and down to Nazareth doesn't take very long in a nice bus. But not back in Jesus' day. I mean that road just did this and up and down and it wasn't even a road.
And by the way it's very rocky and it's completely treacherous. And do you know that on that pathway between Nazareth and Bethlehem, historians like Josephus remind us of all the crime that took place. People were held up there left and right. They were accosted. They were beaten up.
Murders took place on those paved ways left and right. It was a long and arduous journey and Jesus arrived. You're looking at me right now and right there in your own heart and in your own life you've been on a long journey haven't you? Jesus has arrived.
What scars do you bear? That's why I'm so grateful that we can be together like this. That's what Christmas is all about. It's about Jesus arriving at the same time as a population count right in the middle of a political census. It's about Jesus arriving amongst a people subject to the laws of the land. It's about Jesus arriving as just one, the light of the world in all the darkness. It's about Jesus arriving after a long and difficult journey.
It's about Jesus arriving after nine months of hard labor. You know we mentioned Paul and Stephanie Hughley. Paul of course ministers here among our children and has served the Lord overseas. He and Stephanie are just very precious to us. And you know when Paul arrived in our prayer meeting early this morning.
You're not going to believe this but he walked in there and he just had a whole lot of pictures. That little boy Solomon just a precious little fellow and Paul's eyes just light up and he is just so very excited. But do you know a week ago we were saying is the baby here? Is the baby here?
Is the baby here? That last day that I saw Stephanie before she went into the hospital and I say this with so much love and professional. She just looked seriously uncomfortable. I mean she looked like she was ready to pop you know.
It was time. Do you know that I'm told now I just want to reiterate I've never experienced this myself. But I've heard from mothers that when that little baby arrives it's the strangest thing. All the nine months of carrying, all the labor, all the sacrifice.
All of a sudden just seems to disappear when you look into the face of that beautiful little baby. I want to invite you to look into the face of the Lord Jesus today. God's wonderful person. He arrived following nine months of hard labor but I want to give you one more point to think about.
This wonderful person, this little baby, arrived having been shut out of the Holiday Inn. I've asked myself why and I've come to the conclusion that God's wonderful person was born in Bethlehem of Judea. So that in the middle of a population count we can see Jesus. So that when the burdens of life threatened to swallow us up we can see Jesus. So that after many years of failure we can see Jesus. I've become convinced that God's wonderful person was born in Bethlehem. So that despite the downward spiral of a nation spiritually we can still see Jesus. That following months and even years of hard labor, of difficulties, of addictions, of bad choices, that you can still see Jesus. I've become absolutely convinced in my heart that this Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea.
So that even though you and I are shut so many times out of the Holiday Inn of our lives, we can still see Jesus. And when it comes down to it, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God. He's the one. He transcends all human understanding. He rises above every political party. He's the one who makes sense because He is the Christ. He's the only one who can forgive you for your sin. He's the only one who can enable you to become reconciled to a holy and a righteous God. He's the only one who can give you meaning in life. And I want to invite you today to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's really as simple as that. That's what Christmas is all about. It is what Christmas is all about, and perhaps this Christmas it's about coming home to God. Our prayer is that as you've heard Dr. Wilton teach that the Lord has used His encouraging word to remind you that He loves you and has a plan for your life. You've heard Dr. Wilton as he's been teaching and preaching.
Now as he steps into the studio, open your heart to what he wants to share next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much. And I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today, I repent of my sin.
I confess my sin to you. And I invite you to come into my heart and into my life by faith. In Jesus' name I pray. If you've prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.
This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey. If you just gave your life to Christ, praying along with Dr. Wilton moments ago, or rededicated your life, or perhaps you still have questions, call us right now at 866-899-WORD and let us speak with you, pray with you. And if you made those decisions for Jesus, let us put some free resources in your hands that Dr. Wilton wants you to have. Our number again is 866-899-9673.
Again, that's 866-899-9673. We'd love to put those free resources in your hands and connect you with a growing opportunity to see God work in your life. To see you gain greater structure in your roots and then begin to stretch your branches and bear more fruit for Christ. As we do that throughout this coming year, one of the great ways is with this special opportunity to study God's word every day. It's our 52-week devotional.
Many people have endured a lot of changes, loss, and hardships over the past two years. As you reflect upon your life this season, think about giving a gift of hope and encouragement to your friends and family this Christmas. This season, Dr. Wilton wants to encourage you to make a commitment to meet Jesus every day.
So you can not only learn more about him, but be able to live a life of absolute trust and not fear in anticipation of his return. With your gift of $25 or more support to the encouraging word this month, you will receive Heaven, Life, and the Resurrection. A beautiful 52-week leather-bound devotional written by 52 trusted pastors and church leaders, including Dr. Wilton. You will find blessings upon blessings as you read uplifting scripture verses, daily devotions, and prayers. Call us today at 866-899-WORD to request the new devotional.
That's 866-899-9673. This will make great Christmas gifts of hope and encouragement to those who need it so desperately right now. Thank you for your continued partnership. Merry Christmas to you from all of us here at The Encouraging Word. Now that's just one of many great resources available on our website at www.tewonline.org. That devotional is a great Christmas gift, as is Dr. Wilton's book called Saturdays with Billy about his time being the pastor of Dr. Billy Graham. All of that is online at www.tewonline.org. And as I mentioned, it's a remarkable time to get involved and see your investment in the ministry doubled if you'll consider giving to the encouraging word. Details at www.tewonline.org. Until next time, take care and God bless.
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