Sermon Prepared by James McCullen
Email Preach Him with Dr. Jim

What A Baby
Luke 1:39-45 and Others

39 Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 "But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 "For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 "Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord." 46 And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord, (NKJV)

Introduction
As A young minister my pastor told me when you visit a man and wife with a new baby they expect you to say something special. He said "sometimes the baby really is not pretty so what you can say is; "What A Baby"." The parents will think it is a compliment and appreciate it. :) :)

When we look at the birth of Jesus we can easily say in a majestic way "What A Baby".
 

What A Baby As Recognized . . by Elizabeth.

What A Baby As Recognized . . by Shepherds.

What A Baby As Recognized . . by Simeon and Anna.

What A Baby As Recognized . . by The Wise Men.

What A Baby As Recognized . . by Millions Today.
 
 

A.    What A Baby Recognized from the . . Witness of the Womb. v 41 a
        ". . . that the babe leaped in her womb; . . . "

        1.    John the Baptist in the Womb recognized Jesus.
 

B.    What A Baby Recognized from the . . Witness of the Spirit. v 41 b
        ". . . and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

        1.    The Holy Spirit Recognized the unborn Jesus.
 

C,    What A Baby Recognized from the . . Witness of Elizabeth.. v 43-46
        43 "But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 "For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 "Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord." 46 And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord,

        1.    Elizabeth Recognized Jesus as Lord.  v 43
        2.    Elizabeth Recognized Mary's Obedience.  v 45

Illustration
I love the illustration about a man named Jack Eckerd. A few years ago I was on the Bill Buckley television program, talking about restitution (one of my favorite subjects) and criminal justice. Bill Buckley agreed with me. A few days later I got a call from Jack Eckerd, a businessman from Florida, the founder of the Eckerd Drug chain, the second largest drug chain in America. He saw me on television and asked me to come to Florida. He agreed Florida had a criminal justice crisis, would I come down and do something about it? And we did. We got the attorney general of the state, the president of the senate; we got on Jack Eckerd's Lear jet; we went around the State of Florida advocating criminal justice reforms, and everywhere we would go Jack Eckerd would introduce me to the crowds and say, "This is Chuck Colson, my friend; I met him on Bill Buckley's television program. He's born again, I'm not. I wish I were." And then he'd sit down.

We'd get on the airplane and I'd tell him about Jesus. We'd get off at the next stop, he'd repeat it, we'd do the same thing again, and I'd talk to him about Jesus. When we left I gave him some of R. C. Sproul's books and I gave him C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, which had such an impact on me. I sent him my books. About a year went by and I kept pestering Jack Eckerd. And eventually one day he read some things including the story of Watergate and the Resurrection out of my book, Loving God, and decided that Jesus was, in fact, resurrected from the dead. He called me up to tell me he believed that, and I asked him some other things. When he got through telling me what he believed I said, "You're born again!" He said, "No, I'm not, I haven't felt anything." I said, "Yes, you are! Pray with me right now." After we prayed he said, "I am? Marvelous!"

The first thing he did was to walk into one of his drugstores and walked down through the book shelves and he saw Playboy and Penthouse. And he'd seen it there many times before, but it never bothered him before. Now he saw them with new eyes. He'd become a Christian.

He went back to his office. He called in his president. He said, "Take Playboy and Penthouse out of my stores. The president said, "You can't mean that, Mr. Eckerd. We make three million dollars a year on those books." He said, "Take 'em out of my stores." And in 1,700 stores across America, by one man's decision, those magazines and smut were removed from the shelves because a man had given his life to Christ.

I called Jack Eckerd up. I said, "I want to use that story. Did you do that because of your commitment to Christ?" He said, "Why else would I give away three million dollars? The Lord wouldn't let me off the hook."

Isn't that marvelous? God wouldn't let me off the hook. I don't know any theologian who's better defined the Lordship of Christ than that. And what happened after that is a wonderful sequel and a wonderful demonstration of what happens in our culture today.
 

Application

What evidence is there in our lives that Jesus makes a difference?

When this Baby was recognized as Lord a difference occurred.
 
 

A. What A Baby As They . . Hear about the Baby. v 12-14
        12 "And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths,
lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

        1.    Note the . . Details of this Seeing the Baby. V 12-14
        2.    How will we know it is you Lord?
                a.    The cloths etc. are different.

B. What A Baby As They . . See the Baby. v 15-16
        15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds
said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us." 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.

        1. Note the . . Decision about this Seeing the Baby. v 15
            a.    An urgency about the Decision.

C.    What A Baby As They . . Share about the Baby. v 17-18
        17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told
them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

        1.    I find it interesting . . When they share. v 17
            a.    After they have heard and seen.
            b.    There is a Missouri (show me) Quality in these Shepherds.

        2.    I find it interesting . . What they share. v 18
            a.    Just the simple story of Jesus.
 
 

A.    What A Baby Simeon Saw As The . . Spirit Led. v 27 a
        " So he came by the Spirit into the temple. . . . "

        1.    This is not the usual experience at this time.
        2.    The Spirit drew him to Jesus.
        3.    All who ever came to Jesus for Salvation have been drawn by the Spirit
        4.    Today if you sense a tugging on your heart it is the Spirit of God.

B. What A Baby Simeon Saw As the . . Savior. v 28=30
        28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:   29 "Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; 30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation

        1.    How does Simeon see Salvation in A Baby?
        2.    The leading of God's Spirit

C. What A Baby Anna Saw As the . . Redeemer of All. v 27
    38 At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Illustration
Thursday I visited my Mother in St. Louis. I also went by to visit Frank McNabb who was saved in this church many years ago. He is a delightful person to visit with. He told of working at Missouri Baptist Hospital and having a desire to share Christ with others. He remembers Burnell Lewis. He also is an elderly man who has seen Jesus.
 
 

A.    Recognized In Their . . Travels.

        1.    They were from the east; perhaps hundreds of miles,
        2.    All this for a Baby?

B.    Recognized In Their . . Tribute.

        1.    They Bow before a Baby?

C.    Recognized In Their . . Treasure.

        1.    They Bring Valuable Gifts for a Baby?
 
 

A.    The Testimony of Jesus Changes lives.
 

Illustration
Last Monday Nights Football game closed with Eric Dickerson interviewing Aeneas Williams of the Rams players. Williams had been hurt in the game and came back to play anyway.
 

Dickerson wanted to ask him about his injury and Williams just wanted to praise God for all he has done.
 

Many will remember Curt Warner being interviewed after the Super Bowl victory. The announcer said "lets get right to the main thing" and he asked him a question. Curt Warner said "if you want to get to the main thing that is my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He made it all happen."
 

Illustration
A girl of ten years went with a group of family and friends to see the Christmas light displays at various locations throughout the city. At one church, they stopped and got out to look more closely at a beautifully done nativity scene. "Isn't that beautiful?" said the little girl's grandmother. "Look at all the animals, Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus." "Yes, Grandma," replied the granddaughter. "It is really nice. But there is only one thing that bothers me. Isn't baby Jesus ever going to grow up... he's the same size he was last year."
 

Conclusion

The testimony of many in the most strategic places of service in our world; Is "Jesus is Lord" .
 

The song of old says "Joy to the Lord has come

Let earth receive her King
 

Lk. 2:11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.