Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Show Notes for Grains from Gutteridge
#6: “This Shall Be A Sign Unto You” (a Christmas message by Pastor Percy Gutteridge)
'The Adoration of the Shepherds' by Gustav Doré (Click for a larger image.)
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.
Subscribe to the Grains from Gutteridge monthly podcast: 
