From: Francis Harper
wbfrmsup@iowatelecom.net
Francis Harper Message for 12/21/2018
Dear Ones,
We believe in miracles. We believe in the ministry of angels. Moroni asked: “. . . my beloved brethren hath miracles ceased? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men . . . for it is by faith, that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men” (Moroni 7:29-30, 41).
As we approach the Christmas Season we will be faced with a mixture of truth and fables such as Santa, Rudolph and the elves. Surely Satan loves this confusion. Perhaps it should be noted that the letters spelling Santa also spell Satan. We need to remember the words of Peter: “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty” (2 Peter 1:16).
We rely heavily upon Luke’s account for the miraculous details of the birth of the Christ child. Luke did not rely upon traditions in his writing of the Lord’s birth. He stated his record was based upon the testimonies of “eye-witnesses and ministers of the word . . . that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed” (Luke 1:2-4). He assures us from the beginning of his writing that it is a credible, believable account of the things that actually happened at the time of the Lord’s nativity and beyond. We can accept Luke’s record of the visitation of angels and the miracles that transpired thereafter with full confidence and certainty.
It was our privilege to visit Ain Karem in mid January 1990. This is the birth place of John the Baptist; a cousin of Jesus. It was of miracles that happened in this suburb of Jerusalem, that Luke began to relate the chain of miraculous events that accompanied the births of Jesus and his cousin. John’s parents “were both well stricken in years and they had no child” (Luke 1:7). Zacharias had diligently prayed that his wife Elizabeth would give birth to a child, but she “was barren” (Luke 1:7). Then one day while he was serving as a priest at the temple, the angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias and said: “your prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son and thou shalt call his name John” (Luke 1:13). The angel promised Zacharias that his son John “shall go before the Lord in the Spirit and power of Elias” (Luke 1:17).
Good news travels fast. Surely members of Elizabeth’s family who lived in Nazareth had heard of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. And in her “sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto Nazareth, to a virgin [a cousin] espoused [engaged] to a man named Joseph, and the virgin’s name was Mary” (Luke 1:26-27). Gabriel’s message to Mary was “. . . thou shalt conceive and bring forth a Son, and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be called the Son of the Highest; . . .” Mary responded “. . . be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:31, 38).
Now what would Mary tell Joseph; or her parents? What would they think if she told them she was pregnant? Perhaps her cousin Elizabeth would understand. She went “with haste . . . [70-80 miles] and entered the house of Zacharias” (Luke 1:39-40). Mary’s greeting caused Elizabeth’s unborn son to leap in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she said to Mary: “Those things told thee by the angel of the Lord shall be fulfilled” (Luke 1:44 IV).
Mary stayed with Elizabeth “about three months [or until the time of John’s birth] and she returned to her own house” (Luke 1:56). Perhaps it was during the absence of Mary that an angel appeared to her espoused husband, Joseph, in a vision and he was told “that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 2:3 IV; 1:20 KJV). Surely Joseph was greatly blessed by this knowledge. Now for the rest of the story turn to Luke 2.
Merry Christmas to All,
Francis Harper
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“A virgin shall conceive and shall bear a Son . . .”
(Isaiah 7:14)
A few days before Christmas of 1992, I thought of six friends I wanted to add to our Christmas card list. I asked Iris if she had some cards expressing the real message of the season, to which I could add a personal note. I was not satisfied with the cards she had on hand. So I told her I would pick up the ones I needed at the local Hallmark shop. I was surprised when from the hundreds of cards on display, I could not find a single one that satisfied me.
I returned to our store discouraged and frustrated. To my secretary I expounded and exhorted about the atheistic, unbelieving society in which we live. She listened patiently, then searched our files and found a few generic cards, obviously designed not to offend anyone except the believers.
I sat down with a feeling of heaviness in my heart. I had not realized how little the people of this world seem to care about the real message of Christmas. I wanted to shout, “Doesn’t anyone know, or appreciate, how much God loves us, sending his Son that ‘we might have life and have it more abundantly?’ ”
Suddenly the phone rang. It was after five and closing time. It was cousin Tom. He asked if I could stay at the store a little longer. He explained he had found some things he wanted to show me.
I was not certain about the urgency of his request, but I promised to wait. As I waited, I recalled that earlier that day I had tried to discourage him from going to the orchard warehouse to continue cleaning it. I felt the weather was too cold. My words had not discouraged him.
He soon arrived with a box he had found at the warehouse. The box was filled with a few of my father’s keepsakes. Among these things were my father’s eighth grade diploma, some musty old letters, A Big Chief Tablet with minutes of the “Brush Hollow Pig and Chick Club,” a Saint’s Hearld from the year 1897, and six unused Christmas cards, complete with envelopes! I thanked him for bringing the mementos and we both returned to our homes.
The significance of this experience soon began to dawn upon me. Tom had brought me the exact number of cards I wanted, each with the message I had been looking for, complete with envelopes, in perfect condition, preserved in a larger envelope, all in perfect timing. I had no doubt this was the work of God! It was a miracle.
Pictured on the cards was a painting by the seventeenth century artist, Esteban Murillo, entitled The Adoration of the Shepherds. The cards were beautiful, and so appropriate.
I wrote my Christmas messages that day, rejoicing and pondering: Jesus was born of a virgin just as it was prophesied. God, who sent his only Son two thousand years ago is still revealing his love today.
After this testimony was given to me, do you suppose I will ever doubt any of the miraculous details of the nativity of Jesus? “Where is room for doubt? No where!”
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