About the Author

Thomas Ray Floyd was born in 1953 in Simpson County, Mississippi, the son of Roy Thomas Floyd and Lina Sue Shows Floyd. Thomas Ray's mother was a member of a Primitive Baptist church, and he cut his teeth on the doctrines of distinguishing grace.

When he was a small boy, his father was converted to Christ and became a member of a Missionary Baptist Church. Thomas Ray joined the church of his father when he was 13 years old, and thought of himself as a Christian. The doctrines of grace that he had heard as a child continued to be precious to him and when he became an adult, he joined a Primitive Baptist Church. When he was 27, Thomas Ray made his first effort to preach the gospel in public and was ordained to the full functions of the ministry in 1985. In 1986 he was convinced under the preaching of Rolfe Barnard (by tapes from Mt. Olive Tape Library), the written sermons of Spurgeon, and the ministry of Elder Zack Guess that he had been a false professor and cried out in agony of soul to the Lord Jesus Christ to have mercy and truly save him. And He did! Floyd then began to preach the gospel as he had been taught of the Lord.

Floyd has pastored churches in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee and until recently was pastor of a church plant known as "Particular Baptist Fellowship." He and his wife Brenda presently attend Zion Baptist Church at Polkville, Mississippi, pastored by Elder Glen Hopkins. The pulpit ministry of Zion Baptist Church can be heard at Sermonaudio.com.

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Christ on a Throne, Not in a Manger

(Article for publication week of 12-24- AD 2015)

"The LORD said unto my Lord, 'sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool' " (Psalm 110:1).
We are in that season when "Christendom"  observes the Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no Biblical or historical evidence that our Lord was born on the 25th of December, nor is there any Biblical warrant (much less a command) to have a "holy day" to observe the birth of Christ. The Romish organisation headed by the anti-Christ established the 25th of December as a special "mass" to observe the birth of Christ. They picked the 25th of December because the heathens (including our benighted European ancestors) observed this day as the birth of the sun god. Because of its pagan roots, and the fact that it is called a "mass" (the pope teaches that Christ is "offered" in the mass and that the incantations of the "priests" change the bread and wine into the literal body and blood of Christ), many Christians (including your poor columnist) do not believe we should celebrate this as a "holy day" in the church. Our sincere prayer is that people would celebrate the only true holy day that God has commanded, that is the weekly Sabbath which has been the first day of the week since our Lord's resurrection John 20:19; Acts 20:7). It is most telling of the spiritual condition of our county that people will make more of the "Christ-mass" than the Day that Christ arose from the dead, commanded in the Law (Exodus 20:8-11), and established by God in the creation ordinance (Genesis 2:2-3).
Having said all that, we hasten to add that in the over-ruling Providence of God, many minds will be upon Christ this week. Some will attend Divine Service who have not attended in awhile. Many pastors will preach on the Incarnation this week, and that is always a good thing. Many will attend programs where hymns of praise to Christ will be sung. Handel's Messiah will be performed in many places, and many will attend who never hear the gospel any other time of the year. Many stores (at least in the Bible Belt) still have "Christmas carols" for background music during this season. Many will send and receive "Christmas cards" that will have scriptures on them and other references to the Incarnation and Birth of Christ. The Holy Spirit in His Divine Sovereignty may use such as this to open some elect sinner's heart to believe in Christ to the saving of his or her soul. Others will be left further without excuse and treasure unto themselves greater damnation.
So, my dear kindred, neighbours and friends, I challenge you with my text. I declare unto you that Christ is no longer a babe in a manger, He is a King on His throne! Our Lord quoted our text to the Jews in Matthew 22:44 answering His Own question to one of them, "what think ye of Christ?" That is the question for each of you who have considered the birth of Christ this week- "what think ye of Christ?" Our Lord quoted Psalm 110:1 to declare that He is the Eternal Son of God! "The LORD said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool"! This verse is the covenantal language of the Eternal Father with the Eternal Son. The first "LORD" in the text is in all capitals because it is "Jehovah" , or "Yahweh." The second "Lord" is only with the "L" capitalised, because it is the Hebrew "Adonai." Both Jehovah and Adonai properly mean God. So our text is God the Father speaking to God the Son. And listen what the Father says. He says "sit thou at my right hand until all your enemies are crushed under your holy feet." Christ is not in a manger, He is on a throne at the right hand of the Father. He has finished the work of redemption. He undertook a great humiliation and became a Man (the God-Man) to suffer and die as a substitute for His people. Now He is ruling and reigning from His rightful throne. He is your rightful Monarch to Whom you must submit. It is an awful thing to be an enemy of the One Who was a Babe in Bethlehem but Who is now on the throne of the universe.
None can deny (rationally) that there was a Man named Jesus of Nazereth who lived in Palestine about 2,000 years ago. All the historical data prove the Biblical record (although Bible believers don't need it) that Christ was born and lived and died and that God the Father raised Him from the dead the third day. The civilised world dates its calendar from His Birth. The question for you my friend is whether you will bow to Him now and worship Him, or will you be crushed under the feet of His terrible judgment? I urge you to lay down your arms of rebellion and bow to your rightful Monarch, the Lord Jesus Christ, or you will be his eternal footstool.
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