All right, brethren, Luke chapter
two. I love that psalm. Boy, that's
a good psalm. Luke chapter two. Last time we
saw the seed of woman, the promised seed had been born, the Lord
Jesus, up at Bethlehem. And we pick up now in Luke two,
verse eight, and there were in the same country shepherds abiding
in the field, or as I like to read it, they were in the same
country shepherds, abiding in the field, keeping watch over
their flock by night. Now, in God's word, the scripture
uses shadows and types. The spirit of God uses shadows
and types. That's what the Hebrew letter
is, showing how all the old covenant and the tabernacle ceremonies
were pictures, types, shadows of good things to come. The Hebrew
9-8 said, the Holy Ghost, this signifying that the way into
the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while the tabernacle
yet stood. It was a figure for the time
then present. Well, in our text, we have a
shadow. It's a shadow, and it illustrates
here, how the Lord reveals himself, to whom he reveals himself, and
the effect that he accomplishes in those he reveals himself to. That's what I wanna look at.
What I wanna look at, it's who and how God saves. Now, first
of all, the Lord reveals himself to sinners who are unimpressive
to the carnal eye, to carnal men. And he does that on purpose. The very first sinners that the
Lord revealed that Christ had come, the first sinners he revealed
that to were shepherds out in the country keeping in flock.
Verse eight, they were in the same country, shepherds abiding
in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. The Lord
Jesus is the good shepherd. He's the good shepherd. Look
at John 10, since we're close. Look there at John 10. He's the
good shepherd, and those that he saves, God's elect, are the
sheep. They're the sheep. And he says
here in John 10, verse 14, he said, I am the good shepherd.
And ye know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father
knoweth me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life
for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which
are not of this fold, that is, not of the Jewish fold, them
also I must bring, yet some among the Gentiles, and they shall
hear my voice. They shall hear my voice. And
there shall be one foal and one shepherd. He's the shepherd,
and his people are his sheep. That's who he laid down his life
for. But did you know that in those days, men regarded shepherds
as being outcasts? That's how men regarded shepherds.
They regarded them as outcasts. These men were out in the field,
away from everybody, out tending their flocks. That's a good description
of God's people. We're outcasts. We were cast
out in the garden in Adam due to our sin. And when the Lord
saves you, you're an outcast. He makes you go out of the camp.
He makes you go out to Christ and be united to him, separated
from this world. The Jews regarded shepherds as
unreliable. They didn't think shepherds were
reliable. They thought they were thieves who would steal people's
sheep. That's a good description of
us by nature. We're unreliable by nature. We're
thieving sinners by nature, trying to steal God's glory. The Jews
didn't permit a shepherd to be a witness in a court of law.
They considered them liars. That's a good description of
us by nature. supplanting Jacob. That's what
we are by nature. But this was who the Lord revealed
himself to. This is who the Lord revealed
that Christ had come, to shepherds. Why? What's the lesson there?
Go with me to 1 Corinthians 1. Here's the lesson, 1 Corinthians
1. God uses nothing that would naturally
attract men, uses nothing. Those he saves are unimpressive,
they're unattractive to carnal man. Look here, verse 19. For it's written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Verse 25. Because the foolishness
of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger
than men. For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise
men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world. Why? To
confound the wise. And God hath chosen the weak
things of the world. Why? To confound the things which
are mighty. And base things of the world
and things which are despised hath God chosen, and things which
are not, to bring to naught things that are. That no flesh should
glory in his presence, but of him are you in Christ Jesus. who of God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. The Lord uses things, he chooses
people, and he reveals himself to people, and he uses people,
and the gospel, and the cross, and all these things that are
unattractive and unimpressive to carnal man, because God will
not have any flesh glorying in his sight. He will make us to
know salvation is entirely of him, of his grace and of his
power by Christ's works. Go with me to Isaiah 43. We saw
this not long ago, but this declares it right here. He's gonna use
nothing impressive to the carnal eye. He's gonna get the glory
and he makes his people have a new heart and willing, and
we want him to have the glory. We're glad for him to have the
glory. Look here in Isaiah 43, six. I will say to the north,
give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from
far and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even everyone
that's called by my name, for I have created him for my glory. I have formed him, yeah, I have
made him, Bring forth blind people that have eyes and the deaf that
have ears. That's what you are, who God
has called. You're the blind people that
now have eyes. You're the deaf that now hear.
Let the nations be gathered together. Let the people be assembled.
Who among them can declare this? Who among all the churches in
this world can say they've ever done what God has done? That's
what he's saying. He says, Who among them can declare
this and show us former things? Let them bring forth their witnesses
that they may be justified, or let them hear and say it's truth.
You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I've
chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that
I am he. Before me there was no God formed,
neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and
beside me there's no savior. I have declared, and I have saved,
and I have showed when there was no strange God among you.
Therefore, you are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God. Yea, before the day was I am,
I am he, and there's none that can deliver out of my hand. I
will work, and who shall let it? And that's what the Lord's
people bear witness of. You see there, God said, I save
the way I do. So that you declare, you bear
witness, that I'm God, I'm the Savior. There is no other. I did it all. That's why God
saves the way he saves. So we bear witness that it is
all of his power and his grace and his glory. So that's first
thing. The first he revealed Christ
to, that Christ had come, was shepherds, who most everybody
in that day despised. They were unimpressive men, the
shepherds. Secondly, through the preaching
of the gospel, or I'm sorry, secondly, he saves
through the preaching of the gospel. That's what he does.
He's gonna do it through preaching. Verse nine, and lo, the angel
of the Lord came upon them, the angel of the Lord came upon them,
and he said, I'm sorry, the glory of the Lord
shone about them, and they were so afraid, and the angel said
to them. The angel came upon them, and
the angel spoke to them. The angel of the Lord, that means
the messenger of the Lord. That's what it means, the messenger
of the Lord. The Lord Jesus is the angel of the covenant. He's
the messenger. And those he sends are his angels. They're his messengers. That's
what they are. Malachi 3. He's speaking here of John the
Baptist, but this is what he does. Every time he arrives in
the heart of a sinner, he sends his messenger first. He said
in Malachi 3.1, Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall
prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek shall
suddenly come to his temple, Even the messenger of the covenant,
whom you delight in, behold, he shall come, saith the Lord
of hosts. That word messenger, in both
places there, is the same word translated angel. It's the Hebrew
word here, but it's translated other places angel. It's the
same word. Go to Revelation 1. The word
messenger, In the Greek here, it means the
same thing. It means angel. Both words could
be translated, they could be re-translated. The one word could
be translated angel or it could be translated messenger. Look
here, Revelation 1.1. The revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which
must shortly come to pass, and he sent and signified it by his
angel unto his servant John, who bear record of the word of
God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ and of all things that
he saw. That's what a witness does. That's
what the Lord's messenger does. We bear record, we bear record,
we bear testimony of the word of God, the testimony, the witness
of Jesus Christ, of all things that we've seen by faith that
the Lord's revealed. Look at Revelation 2. The Lord
delivered these messages to each of the churches, and he did it
by his pastor, the messenger, to each of the churches. Revelation
2, verse 1, he said, unto the angel of the church of Ephesus
write, to the angel, that's the pastor of the church of Ephesus.
These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right
hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.
and unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write. You see that? Verse 12, he says, and to the
angel of the church in Pergamos write. Now go with me back again
to 1 Corinthians 1 and see why the Lord does this way. Why does
he send his preacher, his messenger, his angel preaching the gospel? Why does he do it? 1 Peter 1
and look at verse 17, Paul said, Christ sent me. That's how his true messengers
sent. Christ sent me. Not to baptize. He didn't send
me to try to make converts. That's not my primary mission,
is to try to see people. You know, you ask people what's
the charge of the church, and they'll give the Great Commission,
go into all the world, preach the gospel, make disciples of
men. The number one charge is not to baptize. It's not to make
disciples. That's not the number one charge.
Number one charge is this right here. Preach the gospel. Preach Christ. Not with wisdom
of words, lest the cross of Christ should be none effect. Why is
this the number one charge? If you're just trying to get
numbers, if you're trying to evangelize and make disciples,
men will water down the message to do that. Because you can get
more people if you water it down, take the fence out of the gospel.
But then you failed in your mission. because you failed the first
preeminent thing. But if you preach Christ, that's
the number one thing. And then God does with it what
he will, and you trust him. Look here, verse 21, 1 Corinthians
1, 21. Here's why you do it. For after
that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God.
It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after
wisdom. That's those carnal things you
can see and hear. That's why God doesn't use anything
impressive to the carnal eye, the carnal ear. The Jews require
a sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ
crucified. That's what we do. That's the
one weapon we have, Christ and Him crucified, preaching Him.
Unto the Jews a stumbling block, Because the sign they're looking
for is outward works. They think they're saved by these
outward works, and when you declare Christ Jesus as the righteousness
and holiness of his people, that's a stumbling block to a man trusting
in his works. Unto the Greeks, this is foolishness. They're wanting something to
tickle the ear, you know, intellect. But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom
of God. So Christ Jesus, he's the angel
of the covenant, and he sends his messenger, his angel, with
his word, with his gospel, and we preach Christ crucified. We
declare everything's in Christ, everything's by Christ, everything's
from Christ, and everything's to Christ's glory. Everything
in the gospel. He called us and he made us pleased
with the preaching of Christ, just like it pleased the Father
to save through preaching of Christ. Because we see the glory
of Christ, we want him to have the glory. He's the power of
God, he's the wisdom of God to us. Now, you have to have a spiritual
understanding to know that. He has to give you a new heart
and spiritual, because these are things that you can't see
with the carnal eye, you can't hear with the carnal ear. These
are things that the Lord reveals. And that's my last point. Go
back with me to our text. The way the Lord saves is he
reveals himself. Now, we looked at this not long
ago. We'll see a little different face of the diamond here than
we saw last time, but he saves by revealing Christ in the heart.
Look at verse nine, Luke 2, 9. And lo, the angel of the Lord
came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about
them. The glory, the light of the Lord
shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel
said unto them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings
of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is
born this day in the city of David, a savior, which is Christ
the Lord. That's the gospel. That's what
he preached to him, the gospel. The glory of the Lord shone round
about him. When's a man, when's a dead sinner
gonna hear the gospel? When's he gonna see God's glory? When God shines, when God shines
the light, when he makes his glory known. Paul said in 2 Corinthians
4, 6, he said, God who commanded the light to shine in the darkness.
Just like, that's what creation is, a picture of this new creation
that God works in his child. In the first creation, it was
God who said, let there be light, and the light shined. It shined. And God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness have shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. And he's given us this treasure.
He's given it to his angels, his messengers, you that are
his witnesses. He's given us this treasure.
but we have it in earthen vessels. We have it in a powerless earthen
vessel so that the excellency of the power is of God and not
of us. This is how we know the powers
of God, not of us. God shined in our heart and revealed
Christ. And when you behold his glory,
at first you're afraid. They beheld his glory and they
were sore afraid. Why? because when you see Christ
Jesus the righteous, and God shows you something of why he
went to that cross, that he went to that cross And that's how
righteous God is. God had to save his people by
sending his own son, by God coming in human flesh and satisfying
his own law for himself. And when sin was laid on his
son, he poured out justice on him and he died in place of his
people. When you see that, that's when you see you're the sinner. That's when you know, I can't
stand before God. If that's how righteous God is,
there's nothing I've ever done that's gonna please him. That's
when you know that. That's when you behold that.
Go to Zechariah 12, you don't have to turn there, but you know
Zechariah 12, 10. He said, I'll pour upon the house of Israel
the spirit of grace and supplication. He gives you the spirit. It's
the spirit of grace, makes you supplicate God. And he says,
and they'll look upon me whom they've pierced and they'll mourn
for him. I was talking to a brother yesterday.
We don't mourn now because we're fearful of hell. We're not mourning
because, just simply because we've sinned. We're mourning
our sin because we see Christ bore our sin. We see Christ put
our sin away. We see our sins against the Lord
Jesus. That's what makes you hate sin.
And that's when you first see your sin is you see him and you
mourn for him, your bitterness for him. He said in that day
there should be a great mourning in Jerusalem. But he said this,
he said in that day there should be a fountain open to the house
of David to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness.
He shows you Christ crucified, his glory. And you see your sin
and you're so afraid and when he brings you right there, to
the end of you, the end of your works, the end of your righteousnesses.
And I'm talking about, he shows you your best deeds are sin. You know, we all thought, first,
we only thought sin was in our outward deeds. And we thought
they were only in our immoral deeds. But God shows you, no,
sin's in your heart. It's what you are in your nature.
And it's not just your immoral thoughts. and deeds, it's your
very best things you ever thought was good to God. Those are the
dead works, he turns us from. Those things you thought recommended
you to God, those things you thought was righteousness, he
makes you see it is an iniquity. Does it measure up to God's righteousness? And you're so afraid, but when
he reveals that in you, he shows you Christ is that fountain open
for sin and uncleanness. It's all in Christ. When he keeps
saying, in that day, I'll pour upon them in that day, and in
that day they'll mourn for me, and in that day there'll be a
fountain open. He's talking about in the day
of grace. He's talking about in the day when he reveals Christ
in you and shows you his glory. And it's all behold in Christ.
That's how you see your sin, and that's how you see how your
sin's put away. It's all looking to Christ. He's
that fountain. The message of God to his child
is Christ. It is Christ. He's the good news. Verse 10, and the angel said
to them, fear not. We're not sent to try to make
God's people fearful and afraid. I got a brother that's pastor
in a church right now, and he keeps telling me about a man
that's in the congregation that keeps telling him, you need to
preach the law. You need to make these people
scared of hell. No, you don't. That's not what
we're sent to preach. God said, comfort my people.
Tell them their warfare's accomplished. Look what the angel said. Fear
not, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall
be to all people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord. There's
the gospel. Only the voice of God can make
his child fear not. Just like only the voice of God
can make you fear and see your sin and know you're the sinner,
Making you behold Christ? See, when a man's saying, you
need to preach the law, and you need to make them afraid, that's
a man that thinks he can do that by what he's doing, by what he's
saying, by what he's doing. We can't make a man fear the
law, and see himself the sinner, and know he needs Christ. Only
Christ does that. But he does it by his voice,
and soon as he does that, he's the one that can make you fear
not. He's the only one that can turn you to see Christ Jesus. He says, good tidings of great
joy. I bring you good tidings of great
joy. And what does he say they are?
It's Christ the Savior, Christ the Lord. Good tidings is the
gospel, the good news. It's Christ the Lord. Here's
the good news. Christ didn't come to save Jew
only. He came to save all people. That means God has an elect people
among every people throughout this world. Every nation in this
world, Christ laid down his life for them. Listen to Revelation
5, 9. They sung a new song saying thou art worthy to take the book
and to open the seals thereof. And Christ alone is worthy to
take that book and open the seals. And here's why he's worthy. Because
thou was slain and you have redeemed us to God by thy blood out of
every kindred and tongue and people and nation. That's what
all people mean. Every kindred, tongue, and people,
and nation. All people doesn't mean Christ
died for everybody. All people means this. He said, Revelation 7, 9, I beheld,
lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations,
and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne
and before the Lamb clothed with white robes and palms in their
hands. The gospel, the good tiding is Christ himself. It's Christ
himself and what he's accomplished. Unto you is born this day in
the city of David a savior which is Christ the Lord. Unto you
is born. Being God, the Lord Jesus is
the son of God given. God gave his only son. He's the
son of God given. As a man, he is the son of man
born. He's the son of David. That means
he's the God man, there's one mediator. You just look at, just
looking at Christ's person, the God man, you see what he came
to do and what he accomplished. Just looking at his person. He's
God, here's holy God, and Christ is man, here's his sinful people.
And in that one person, he brings God, holy God, and his sinful
people, and makes us one, at one mint in Christ. That's what
he accomplished. He's the Savior. He's the Savior. What's born to you? A Savior.
In Matthew 121, he said, now listen to this. Here's the all
people right here, here it is. He said, thou shalt call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. That's what he came to do and
that's what he did. Not he shall try, not he shall make salvation
possible, he shall save. He shall save. He shall save
his people, those chosen of God and given to Christ. He said
in John 10, 15, I lay down my life for the sheep. He's told
the Pharisees, you don't believe me because you are not my sheep. Here's what happens to his sheep.
He said, my sheep, hear my voice. How do you hear his voice? He
said, I know them. I know them. That's something
far more than just knowing who you are. That's a work of grace.
I know them. I shine my glory into their hearts,
and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand, my father which gave them me. He's greater than
all and no man will pluck him out of his hand. I and my father
are one. He's the Christ. He's born to you a savior, the
Christ. What does that mean? It means
God chose him, God anointed him to be the prophet, priest, and
king of his people. God chose him. He said, behold
my servant whom I have chosen. This is God's anointing. This
is Christ and he's the Lord. That means he's the sovereign
savior. That means he don't ask for permission
to save you. That means he comes and saves
you. Well, no, God, he wouldn't save me against my will. No,
he wouldn't. He does something better than
that. He gives you an entirely new will. And you're happy for
him to save you when he works his work. He's the Lord. He can
send his gospel to where his child is. He can send the Spirit
and give you a new heart. He can give you faith. He can
give you a new will. He can draw you to himself, and
he never fails to do it. He's the Lord. He's the Lord. God said, in Isaiah 42, when
he said, Behold my servant, whom I've chosen, and whom my soul
delight, he said, He shall not fail till he has set judgment
in the earth. The Gentiles, his people scattered
everywhere, they're gonna wait for his word. They're gonna be
saved by his word. And he's the only sign given.
He's the only sign given. He said that. He told them. They
said, give us a sign. The Jews want a sign. They want
to show us some work. But the sad thing is, a carnal
man, Christ did a bunch of works. A carnal man can't see that.
He can't believe God. He can't trust God. But he told
them, he said, there's no sign that's gonna be given. He said,
it's an adulterous and sinful generation seeking a sign. He
said, the only sign that's gonna be given is a sign of the prophet
Jonah. Just like Jonah was three days, three nights in a whale's
belly, he said, in a fish's belly, he said, so shall the son of
man be three days and nights in the earth, and he's gonna
come out victorious. He's the sign given. Behold,
they said, there's a sign shall be unto you, you shall find the
babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. It's not just
that he's there wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger, he's the
sign. Ahaz, Isaiah, Ahaz is trying
to act all holy, and oh, I won't dare ask a sign. And Isaiah said,
thus saith the Lord. You gonna tempt God by acting
like you're holy, Ahaz? He said, God's gonna give you
the sign. Here it is. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and be with child, and his name shall be called Emmanuel, God
with us. He's the sign. He is the sign. We made to know that that babe,
I listened to a man this morning. My mother sent me a video of
showing some ancient foods they ate during the first year of
AD. And this guy kept referring to
the Lord as the baby Jesus. When he gives you this light
of his glory in your heart, he makes you know that babe is not
the baby Jesus. That's God. That's God. That's the one that created you
and is holding your breath in you right now. You couldn't bat
your eye without him giving you the ability to do it. That's
God, and he's the savior, and you bow. I wanna show you one
more thing. What do we do when he reveals
this? And I'm gonna be very brief here.
I'm just gonna read it, but I'll show you. What does he do when
he's revealed Christ in your heart? What do you do? First
of all, we're given discernment, and we begin to behold and hear
and understand spiritual things. Look what happened, verse 13.
There was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising
God and saying, glory to God in the highest on earth, peace,
goodwill toward men. You see that? These, just imagine
these shepherds out there. And they're given this glory
of God and given this faith to believe, and all of a sudden,
they see this great host, heavenly host that they couldn't see before.
And what that's given us a shadow of is when you're given faith
by the Lord, you see spiritual things and hear spiritual things
and understand spiritual things that you could not see and hear
and understand before. Now you see the Lord, now you
know the Lord and you couldn't before. And then what do we do? We flee with haste to Christ. You run to Christ. Look at verse
15. It says, and when the angels
went away, the serpents said to one another, let's now go
even to Bethlehem. That was a pretty good haul for
them. It was a long ways. They said, let's go there and
see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath
made known to us. Who's that angel that spoke to
them? The Lord made this known to us. And they came with haste
and found Mary and Joseph and a babe lying in a manger. They
came with haste. They came, where'd they go? They
went to Christ. That's where they went. When
he's revealed himself in us, we made witnesses. We start talking
about him. What did they talk about when
they got there? Verse 17, when they had seen, they made known
abroad the saying which was told them concerning the child. They
went forth telling everybody that this is the Christ, this
is the Savior, this is the Lord, this is God with us, this is
Him. And all that heard wondered at
these things told by the shepherds. Mary kept them in her heart,
pondered them in her heart. That's what else you do. You
keep these things in your heart. You ponder these things in your
heart. What'd we see Thursday night? David was brought to that
place of suffering and he had no hope and he was cast down,
his spirit was overwhelmed, and the Lord turned to him and he
said, I'm amused on all your works. I begin to think on you,
Lord. She pondered all these things
in her heart. And from that day on, You give
God all the glory and all the praise. Verse 20, the shepherds
returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had
heard and seen as it was told unto them. I will tell you something
now. When you read in the scripture
and God talks about you obeying God, it ain't what this vain
world is telling you to do. You take the commandments of
God and turn them into the commandments of men by telling you you can
be holy or righteous by keeping those commandments. You get what
I just said? They're the commandments of the
Lord, but they turn them into the commandments of men by making
you think you can be saved by them. Here's obedience. You begin
to declare, and Christ is my Savior. You glory, you tell others
about it, you begin to glory in him and declare what he's
revealed to you, what he's done, and you glory and praise the
Lord. You give him the glory. That's
the obedience of faith. That's to be, only the Lord can
work that. Only the Lord can work it. All
right, Brother Greg.