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Show Notes for Grains from Gutteridge
#6: “This Shall Be A Sign Unto You” (a Christmas message by Pastor Percy Gutteridge)
Key Bible passage: Luke 2:1-20
The Key Theme of Advent Season: What Is the Sign?
Background and Setting:
- Caesar Augustus was the emperor — the “golden age” or “Augustan age” of the Roman Empire
- Quirinius was governor of Syria
- The birth of Christ pinpointed with historical accuracy
The Sovereignty of God:
- Prophecy: the Messiah to be born in Bethlehem — Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:4-6
- God acted sovereignly through Augustus to fulfill the prophecy — Proverbs 21:1; Philippians 2:13
Three Simple but Profound Truths:
- From the stable to the cross: foolishness to the wise, a stumbling block to the religious. (See 1 Corinthians 1:22-31.)
- Lying in a manger (mentioned three times). Why a manger? Truly God and truly Man — Isaiah 9:6
- The creatures of the stable
- The grumbling camel
- The runaway horse
- The stubborn mule
- The sickly sheep
- The smelly he-goat
- The fax ox
- The cooing, moaning dove
The Manger — The Only Clean Place in the Stable
- A heart cleansed and purified by God — the only place for Christ to dwell
- The Great Commandment and Promise — Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37
- Create in me a clean heart, O God! Psalm 51:10
Hymns, Carols & Poems Quoted (click titles for the complete text of each):
- Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne by Emily Elliott
- When Jesus Came to Golgotha (or Indifference) by Geoffrey Studdert-Kennedy
- Cradled in a Manger, Meanly by George Rowe
More Teaching by Percy Gutteridge:
Other free audio messages by Pastor Gutteridge are available on an audio directory on his Finest of the Wheat page, while a growing collection of his books and pamphlets, and message transcriptions, is available on a similar directory on the same page.
We thank Fellowship member Brian Fettes for providing the digitization of the original cassette tape through the services of Audioanalogy Musicworks of Canada.