The Ohio Independent Baptist, December 1955

Fag Four THE OHi INDEPENDENT BAPTIST ~--~----------'Decemb r 1955 THE PR TICAL APPROACH TO THE CHRISTMAS STORY H." HI•: \ '. <1L l~X:\' 11. l)A \ ' I S, l 'aslor B /11/ clu,11 B ((p/is/ ( 'l,urch . ( 'lct•c /a11d, Oh io l'hrist11H1s 19,'i."i ! '!'h r Y('Hr of 011r Lord rn.'i.'i is almost hist'on·. \ \' ith t hr .' '('11 1·:-; 110\\' past, 19.'i,'i 0 lrns !we' ll 11 .\'\'Hr () f :-;pi ri t IIH I i11d i fl'('l'l'II('(': i11diffc'l'('lH'(' i11 tlH' din'l'tio11 of thi11µ-s spiritual. the Hi hk ancl t lw things of Uod. It is fol' this l'l'H– son that ,n, frel eo nstn1i11 r d to tit lP this Christmas nH'ssaµ·r t he •· f> rac– tical . I J>p1·oach lo tl,c (' l,risf 111as 8 tory. · · l<'o r in da."s of spi ri tual d Pdension. Uod ·s p('oplr must takr a pnidil'al as \\'ell as a s piri tua l approaeh to th\' Book of C: ocl a ncl th e' things of Clocl. 0lll' rnrssaµc is a ckn'lopmr nt of th(' well kno"·n slwphr rcl stol'.,· of 1, uk <' :Z: 0 -20: "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fi eld, k eeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they wer e sore afraid. And the angel said unto them. F ear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you ; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a man– ger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let u s now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto u s. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they h ad seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that h eard it won– dered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in h er heart. And the shepherds returned , glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them." Th e Occupation . \'e rsr " And thrrr " ·er P in the samr country shrphercls ahic1ing· in thr fi eld, krrpin!.!' wat<-h oYer thril' flo ck hY nir.d1t. ·' Th ese shephe rd . were ~– bout theil' normal occ:upation at a time " ·hen thry \\' er e most need ed Ol enn II. Davis a lso t h e~· wer e in th e place wh er e they \\'C'l'E' most needed. Even · tl'11 e br lir vc r kno\\·s t hat we, a chii– clrr n of l ig ht, arc living· in t h e nig ht , Rom a ns B: l :2-" rrhe nigh t is fa r spr n t. t he day is at hand : let u. t he refo r e cast off th e " ·ork of darkness, and let us put on the ar mour of li ght. '' \ Ve also kn o" · " tlw fi r lcl is th e " ·o rlcl ," ~latthew H ::38a. \,.nd ev– l' l'Y tr ue l' hilcl of Ood s hou ld kno"· that hr shou ld be o<·<:u pi ed " ·ith hi s Lo rcl in t he fi ('lcl in t he night. a ncl that, until H r c:omc, L111ke 19 :H '' O<;c:np,r t ill I <:omr." 13e loved. as \\'C t hink of t he birth of our lovely l jonl ,re s hou ld be r r mind ecl of om r rspo n. ihi l it ,· to he oc– <· upi ed with l l im, a ncl those t hings that most <·0 11 <:e l'n 11 im , unti l l Le c·o111rs again and l'rl'e ivrs us unto 11 irn sr l f'. 'l'li c Hc1• elalion, Vr rsrs 9-1.J.. '' 1\ ncl , lo, t hr a ngrl of thr l,o rcl c·ame upon th em . . \ ncl t hr a ngel said un to th r rn , F'ear not: fo r br hold. I bring you good t idin gs of gl'rat jo,,·, which sha ll hr to all prop le. F'or unto ~·ou is ho rn t hi s da~· in th r c: ity of David a . 'avio11r , " ·hi ch i · C IHi t t h e Lo rd ." A wr are occu pi ed as " ·er e th r . h r pherd., " ·r ca n br C'o nfide nt that the Lo rd wil l r evr a l himself to us. Thi. is rx pres l.,· " ·hat P a ul trst ifi ecl to " ·h en he wrote t hat his mini try in the Oo ·p el (occupat ion ) ,rn the r esult of "the ReYelatio n of .Jen Christ" ( Gal. l :11 & 1:2 ) . Today's ( 'hri. tian can exp ect to meet the revealed Chri st as h e bu ie him– self in thr \Yorcl, and p erforms tho e ervi c:es which hi. Lord r e– quires of him . Th e I 111·es tiyatio11 , Vrrse 15 and 16. '· Ancl it came to pa.. , a the a ngel ,rer e gone away from th em into heaven. th e sheph e rd. said on e to a nothe r , Let u now g·o ev r n unto B ethl eh r m, a nd . ee t hi. t hin g whi c:h is c·orne to pa , " ·hic:h the L or cl hath macle known unto u . " Th e shr ph e rcl, a they wer e occn– piecl. ex pr l'i r nc:ing r ewlation anc1 illuminat ion d ete rmin ed to i1westi– gate fu rth e r . Beloved, " ·e ar e liv– in g in cl a r s " ·h en thi d e ·ire and determin ation i mu ch lacking in th e liws of Uod ' people. B ecau e t hi s is so olw iou. ly true, it goe " ·it hout S1:l )'in g i t i somethin g mu c:h n eecl ed in this clay. Om· ljord ha. assu r ed us that the Bibl r i.- God's r velation of Himself to man. Ile has fu r thrr as. nred u , that the H o l.,· pirit " ·ill illnrnillE' t he pages of the Book. B11t H r . a nd those t hrough wh om H e h a spoken han' urged that wr, thr peo– ple of ,ocl, g iYe Oll i'. elYe, to in– vest igation . rl'hi. j aCC'Omplishecl by a thorou g:h tuclr of th e \Vorel. .John -:39, "Sean: h th e crip– t nres," J[ Timothy 2 :15, " Study to how thyself app r oved un to Uod," Act. 17 :11. '' The e (Be– reans ) \\' er e more n oble than tho r in Th cssaloniC'a, in that t hey r e– C'r ived t hr \\'Ord " ·ith a ll r eadin e s of rnincl , a nd searched th e crip– tur r. daily, wh rthrr those things wr r e o. '' Cert a inly, the bi rth of our L or d s honld r emind u s, not only of our l'espon . i hi l ity to be ccu pied, bu t