Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. the founder and perfecter of our faith. Long ago, being a king meant you had total authority over your people. When Israel was under Roman domination, they longed for a king to free them from tyranny, a king with the power to make things happen. It was into that world that Jesus was born, the one we know as the King of Kings.
From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, the King of Kings, made his appearance in humble surroundings, a far cry from the opulence we might expect. Bethlehem became the epicenter of that appearing, a small town that would never be forgotten. And you know, Dave, that is a bit of a surprise, isn't it?
Because Bethlehem is five miles from the great city of Jerusalem. Of course, during that day, you had Rome. You had cities that were huge. But the Bible even predicts that Bethlehem is going to be the place where Jesus was born. And that's of course what happened.
And many of us have visited Bethlehem, and we've thought about the birth of Christ. And all that took place there. You know, we here at Running to Win ask ourselves this question: how can we help you on your spiritual journey?
Well, we have a special resource that we are offering to you. It is actually a daily devotional. 365 daily devotions. and it's entitled Running to Win. Let me give you some contact info because it will be a resource you will want even as you approach the new year.
Imagine every day a verse of scripture, commentary by Dwight L. Moody and myself. Here's what you do. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337.
I'll be giving you that contact info again at the end of this message. But remember this, our desire is that you begin every day with God. Yeah. Um O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars. Go by.
This is a series of messages entitled The King is Born, and today we consider the king's birthplace. Mention the word Bethlehem, and there is warmth within the heart of every single Christian. Whether you've ever been to Bethlehem or not, it doesn't matter. You mentioned Bethlehem, and everyone knows that it is here that the Redeemer was born.
So we're attached to the town with a great deal of sentimentality and love. Back in 1858, there was a man by the name of Phillips Brooks who was the rector of the Trinity. Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. And he was struggling with what they would sing at some Christmas program that they had. He thought back to the time when he had visited.
Bethlehem and was in the church of the Nativity for a service. And as he thought about it, those words came to him: O little town of Bethlehem. And wouldn't you agree with me that O Little Town of Bethlehem and the inspiration of the song and the music is indeed a gift from God?
Some cities are known because of their power. I'm thinking of Washington. Maybe Berlin.
Some cities are known because of its learning. You know, you have Athens, and then, of course, more recently throughout the centuries, you have Oxford.
Some are known for their birthplace. I mean, who ever heard of Hope, Arkansas, until Bill Clinton came along? And I need to say that there's no way that you would have heard of Bethlehem were it not for Jesus to have been born there. It is Jesus Christ's birth that made Bethlehem famous. It was not the place that was used or suggested by travel agents.
By no means. If you have your Bibles, let's speak for a few moments from the book of Micah, chapter 5. We're going to look at the Old Testament prediction. If you find Micah difficult to find, go to the break between the Old Testament and the New Testament, and then go back about 25 pages into the Old Testament, and you should find it there. If you're using the Bible that is in the seat in front of you, it would be 779.
779, you can find it there. It's an ancient prophecy about five centuries before the coming of Jesus. And the prophet says in verse 2 of chapter 5 of Micah, but you, O Bethlehem Ephrata, Who are too little to be among the clans of Judah? From you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, even from ancient days. There are different ways to translate the Hebrew, but that's essentially what the Hebrew text says.
Now the question I want to answer very briefly is why Bethlehem? Of course, we don't know all the reasons that God has for doing what God does, but... There are good reasons why Bethlehem was chosen, and it's obvious. That it was a very appropriate place, and we'll go into some of those reasons right now. Number one, It's because of its history.
Because of its history. Bethlehem originally was called Ephrata. And that word means fruitful, and then later on it was called Bethlehem. And the word Bethlehem means house of bread. Beit in Hebrew means house, and then lechem, beit lechem, Bethlehem, the house of bread.
It's a place where there was a great deal of barley sown in the environs of Bethlehem. We learned that from the book of Ruth. And it is here that Bethlehem's history comes into focus. It's the house of bread. How appropriate that the one who is called the bread of life should be born in a town called the house of bread.
You remember, Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, and they said, Moses gave us bread from heaven, and he said, It is God who gave you bread from heaven. And he said, I am the true bread which came down out of heaven and give my life for the world. And then he says, He that eateth this bread shall live forever. You see, what bread is to the body, And it is a very good food, especially if you eat whole wheat bread, by the way. Don't buy that white stuff.
What bread is to the body, Jesus is to the soul. What a tragedy for people to be so interested in their bodies and not interested in their souls. George Mueller was a man who Spent a great deal of time building orphanages by faith in England. Remarkable story of miracles, how God provided. But he said, The first duty of every Christian, your first duty, is to find your soul satisfied with God.
So he never ate breakfast in the morning until he was reading God's word and found his soul satisfied with God. Jesus is the bread that comes down from heaven, the bread for your soul. There's another reason why perhaps Bethlehem was chosen, and that was it was a royal city. Do you remember what the angels said to the shepherds? Very clearly, they said, born unto you today in the city of David.
is a savior. David was born close to Bethlehem. That's why Bethlehem was known as a royal city. It's because David was there, and it was to David that God gave the promises and said that someday you're going to have a son who's going to rule over the house of Jacob forever. You're going to find that prophecy fulfilled.
And so, how appropriate it is that Jesus would be born in the town very close to where David was born. It's a remarkable story that David is actually an ancestor of Jesus. Jesus is a descendant of David, and yet, Jesus created David. Because Jesus is Lord and Jesus is king.
So it only makes sense. That Jesus would be born in a royal city where David was born. That's one reason, it's because of its history. There's another reason, and that is because of its size.
Now, you'll notice here in the text it says, you are too little to be among the clans of Judah. What's going on there? What that means is that if you read the Old Testament book of Joshua, where it lists all the land and all the cities that were conquered, Bethlehem isn't there. It was too small to be mentioned. Nobody talked about Bethlehem being the place.
I mean, after all, Bethlehem is five miles south of Jerusalem.
So Jerusalem's the place with the activity, Jerusalem's the place with the temple. Jerusalem is the one that gets all of the press, so to speak.
Something like being born into a family where you have a very famous brother that everybody talks about and Everybody immediately associates you and your relationship with the brother. The only thing important about Bethlehem is how far it was from Jerusalem. And so we see here that it was a very overlooked city. It's maybe like having a small church close to Willow Creek Church out in Barrington, where all of the activity is over there, and you're over here, and there ain't much going on. Nobody ever bragged that they were from Bethlehem.
No great thinkers there, no great miracles. Jericho we know, Jerusalem we know, Hebron we know, but. Where is Bethlehem and why would it be important? But God loves to do those kinds of things. God loves to take those who are unimportant and choose the most unlikely place to reveal himself.
What an awesome choice God made. And by the way, because the prophets said Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem, Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. No chance that Mary could have had that baby along the way. Because God said Bethlehem, and all of Rome had to agree. Augustus had to agree with Jesus, and Rome had to agree with Bethlehem.
And when Augustus gave that decree, that that couple eventually, because of the enrollment, it was necessary for them to go to Bethlehem, God's will and God's purpose was fulfilled. And God says, it's not going to be Jerusalem, it's not going to be Hebron, it's not going to be famous Jericho, it will be Bethlehem, the overlooked city. I think there's another reason. And that is that its location was close to shepherds. There were shepherds' fields in the area, and in those days, there was plenty of room.
Now if you go to Bethlehem today, you know that it is so spread out that you don't see this as clearly as it would have been seen centuries ago, that in the surrounding hills, and there are surrounding hills around Bethlehem, there was just a lot of grazing fields and the shepherds were there. Because I think that it was within the plan of God, certainly. That the first guests that Jesus Christ would have would be the shepherds. Shepherds were lowly, they were largely despised. They never took a bath for weeks.
You remember that old line about if you see it in Israel today, by the way, you can Bedouins living in a tent, and sometimes you see goats in the tent. And somebody said to a Bedouin, you know, how do you put up with it? He said, No problem, the goats get used to it.
So you can understand that you could know that a shepherd was in the area if you were downwind by 500 yards. And Jesus said, these are the people that I want to be special guests.
So, the first ones really to see the Christ child are going to be the shepherds. God again confounds human wisdom, and He goes to the lowly. He goes to those who are not included within his program for the most part. And he says, they are the ones that I want to have come there. And so you have shepherds.
You also have... Sheep, needless to say. And isn't it appropriate that Jesus would be born in a place that was known for its shepherds and known for its sheep? And there's evidence that these were temple sheep. By temple sheep, we mean that they would be the ones that would be sacrificed in Jerusalem when many people.
Would bring their sacrifices. They would have to buy sheep.
Sometimes sheep were.
sold and sacrificed by the hundreds. And they had to grow somewhere. They had to have fields for them. And so the shepherds are shepherding sheep that most probably were scheduled to be put to death in Jerusalem as a sacrifice. What happened in Old Testament times?
is that a priest would put his hand on the sheep. and then the sheep would be killed as a sacrifice.
Now, those sheep never really did permanently take away sin. They were symbolic of the coming of Jesus who is going to take away sin. But think of the change that happens. Whereby in the Old Testament times the priest offered a sacrifice. When Jesus came, he came and he offered himself as a sacrifice.
Jesus becomes the sacrifice. Jesus gives himself for his sheep. And he says, I am the good shepherd and know my sheep, and I am known of mine. What a wonderful thing. And so, right there in the middle.
Of the area where Bethlehem is, there are sheep and there are shepherds, reminding us that the good shepherd is going to be born there and give his life for the sheep. As we think of the bottom line regarding all of this, I'd like to just bring out two lessons. First of all, we see here the unpredictability of God. The unpredictability of God, maybe I could say He's the God of surprises, the God of surprises. Who would have dreamed that it would be Bethlehem?
But as I've mentioned, God enjoys taking that which is least and most unlikely and using it for his glory. I had a seminary professor who said long ago, after 30 or 40 years of teaching. He said, long ago he stopped predicting whom God might mightily use. You know, you have somebody in the classroom. He's very bright, he has so much potential, and years later, You know?
He's just off on the sidelines somewhere. And then you have somebody. where nobody really thought that they would amount to much. And in the midst of that, you see them perhaps having a great ministry or an impact in the lives of their families that you would have never really guessed. I say to you today who feel marginalized, You feel out as if You're always the one who is left behind.
You are willing to do any part, and then when everybody else gets a part in the play. The teacher says, you're going to have a part. Really, what is it? You have been chosen to applaud. That's your responsibility and privilege.
Do you feel that way? Understand that God's grace God's grace overcomes barriers. God's grace extends to the lowly, to the broken. Yesterday here at the church, the women had a brunch, and it's been my privilege to attend with Rebecca all of the brunches that we've ever had since almost the beginning of time, right, Mary? I mean, it's been so long.
And um We had two marvelous testimonies of women really sold into sexual slavery. In many respects, terrible stories, but true stories, but redeeming stories. The fact that in the midst of their need, in the midst of brokenness and helplessness, God came to them and they became open to the grace of God. And God is saying there in Bethlehem, all deal with the lowly. You remember it says in 1 Corinthians that God chooses the foolish and God chooses the weak to confound the wise and to confound the strong.
When God wants to shake up Europe, and bring it out of traditions that had been entrenched in centuries. What does he do? He doesn't begin in Athens or the larger cities of Germany. He begins in a town called Wittenberg. And he begins there.
and a reformation begins that changes the map of Europe. and really changes the world and still affects us today. Always remember, God is the God of surprises. If you feel overlooked, Recognize that God is there with you. And he can choose you just like he chose Bethlehem.
And then, of course, and it's very obvious, I also see in all of this, in the larger picture, the grace of God, the grace of God. It's not possible for us to even visualize how far Jesus came to redeem us. In heaven, nobody had to ask who's Jesus. In heaven, the angels sang one song of praise after another. Not just holy, holy, holy, but other songs of gratitude.
In heaven, Jesus was recognized to be the king.
Now he comes to Bethlehem in the form of a baby. And there, in the midst of that situation, he grows up and he is spit upon and he is shouted at. Move it over there, Jew boy. Get with it. Any He takes on the form of a servant.
He's unrecognized. He has to show his ID, so to speak. Nobody knows that they're dealing with the king of glory. For the most part, they don't catch on. And Jesus coming from that kind of adoration.
To this world shows, if I might put it this way in quotes, the great humility of God. And yet, man remains proud. Man remains proud. Man is. determined to have his own way.
And God says, I'm coming to you in grace. I'm coming to you with forgiveness and hope. and transformation. And that's the way in which the Lord God comes to us. The word Christopher, the name Christopher means Christ-bearer.
Christopher Hitchens was a very famous atheist and loved to debate people about his atheism. In the process, he debated many Christians, and if you listen to those debates, I'm convinced that the Christians won. But nonetheless, Hitchens liked the publicity his books sold well, like God Is Not Great and others that he wrote. And before he died and he was diagnosed with cancer, And so, in many interviews, he feared lest people would say that he had a deathbed conversion or that he might actually be. Before he died, Indicate that he was interested in conversion or belief in God.
So he already, ahead of time, gave us a narrative. He said, if you hear that I have converted, just understand it must be because of the chemotherapy and the drugs, consider me already dead. He asked Christians not to pray for him. He said, why would you bother praying to the deaf ears of a God? that doesn't exist.
There's something else that Christopher Hitchens said. He said that he didn't expect to meet anything on the other side, but. He did like surprises. That's a quote. Between you and me.
I think he got his wish. But it's not the kind of surprise. that any of us would like to have. But here's what I want to say. When Christopher Hitchens was on his deathbed, if he had called out to God and said, God, I believe in your existence, that would not have changed his destiny.
You don't have a different destiny just because you believe in God. Tons of people who believe in God. are going to find themselves on the wrong side of the barrier when they die. If Christopher Hitchens were to have been in heaven, evidently he isn't, though God is his final judge. It would be because of Jesus.
Because of the coming of Jesus Christ to this earth in a huge redemption project, a huge rescue mission to rescue us from our sins and from ourselves. And as you've heard me say so many times from this pulpit, there is nobody else out there who can do what Jesus can do. Nobody else, no prophet, no guru. He's the only one who is able to take away sin. Have you trusted Him today?
Do you know him as your Savior? O holy child of Bethlehem, Descend to us, we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in. Be born. in us.
Today Yes, of course, and that's why we rejoice in Bethlehem, the coming of Jesus Christ to redeem us as sinners, coming in humility, being laid in a manger. We know the story. but may it never get old. You know, even as we anticipate the brand new year, we have a resource that we think will be of special benefit to you every single day of the new year. I've written a 365 daily devotional, pairing it with the writings of our founder, D.
L. Moody.
So every single day of the new year, you can read a verse of scripture. Then you can hear a commentary from Moody. Then I come along also and expand what he has said. I think you're going to be blessed. And by the way, at the end of each reading, you have the opportunity to respond in prayer and also to act on what you have learned.
Well, very quickly, I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy because here's how it can be yours. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-888. 218-9337. For a gift of any amount, this book can be yours.
Once again, go to rtwoffer.com. or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running2Win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. They came out of nowhere. The skies were suddenly ablaze with light as thousands upon thousands of angels hovered over the tiny town of Bethlehem.
Next time, a further look at the king's birthplace in our series, A King is Born. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
