As I mentioned to you this morning,
I felt led to look at Luke chapter two tonight, before I felt led
to look at Luke chapter one this morning. This chapter is a very
precious chapter in the word of God. This is a sweet, sweet,
precious chapter. Every chapter is precious in
God's word, and this one is no different. The things that are
written here, the subject matter that's written here, it's so
peaceful, it's so restful, it's so hopeful. There's so much hope
in this chapter. And I can't help but agree with
the song that we hear a lot of at this time of year. This was
a holy night. Oh, holy night. The stars are
brightly shining. It is the night of our dear Savior's
birth. It was not the night that He
began. It was not the night that He began,
but it was the night that He came to us. As one of us, our Lord came many
times in the Old Testament. He came to Adam and Eve in the
garden. He came to the habitable parts of the earth. He appeared
to many. But this is the first time that
He came to us as one of us. It was the night that He tabernacled
among men, numbered Himself with us. It was the night that He
proved that he was not ashamed to call us brethren. Proved it. He did not take upon himself
the nature of the fallen angels. But on this night, it did behoove
him, he was moved, to be made like unto his brethren, that
he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining
to God so he could make reconciliation for the sins of his people. That's
special. That is holy. That's so holy.
All of the Old Testament prophesied of this night. All of the Old
Testament prophesied of him coming to us and what would be accomplished
as a result of him coming to us. Every prophet in the Old
Testament spoke of His coming. Some figuratively, some literally. Some figuratively, some literally,
but all of them spoke of His coming. Malachi spoke of Him
literally. The Son of Righteousness is coming.
Zechariah spoke of him literally. He said, this is how you'll know
him. He will come riding triumphantly into Jerusalem on the colt of
a donkey. Daniel spoke of him literally. He said, at this exact time,
Messiah is coming. Isaiah spoke of him literally. He said, behold, a virgin shall
conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.
He said, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,
and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall
be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. Isaiah wrote Isaiah 53. Talk about speaking of Him literally.
He's gonna be wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and
by His stripes, we're gonna be healed. David spoke his words
literally. He said, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Job spoke of him literally. He said, I know that my redeemer
liveth and that he shall stand on the earth at the latter day. And he said, that's why I'm gonna
be delivered from the pit. It's because through him, God
has found a ransom. God has found a payment for all
my sin. All of the Old Testament prophesied
of him coming to us, all the way back to the very first man
and woman that ever stood on this earth. Right after Adam
and Eve sinned, God sent the hope of the gospel to them. In
Genesis 3.15, he said to the adversary, the author and the
inflictor of sin, the enemy of God's people, he said, I'm going
to send the woman's seed. The man who will not be born
of a man. The virgin born man, the woman's
seed. And God said to the adversary,
he's going to crush your head. And He's going to do that by
suffering the bruising that His people are owed for all their
sin. But in His suffering, through His suffering, He's going to
put an end to you. And He's going to put an end
to sin. He's going to put an absolute
end to sin. So everything in the Old Testament
pointed to the moment that the hope of earth and joy of heaven,
Christ the Lord would come to be the savior of his people.
And here it is. This is that moment. Just like
we did this morning, a little shorter. This morning, chapter
one was 80 verses. We're going to look at 20. But
just like we did this morning, we're gonna read through what
God has written to us, and I pray we will greatly enjoy it and
glory in it. Luke two, verse one, it says,
and it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree
from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. Thank God. Thank God. Aren't you so glad all the world
had to be taxed? Thank God for the fact that all
the world, taxed means registered. It means publicly recorded. Thank God for the fact that all
the world had to be taxed. It's the very thing that God
used to bring the Messiah to the very place that He said He
would be born. Isn't it so glorious that every
word of God holds true? Isn't that glorious? Every word,
not one word. There's so many things in here
that sometimes we just skip over or we don't understand or we
think it's an idle word. There's not one idle word in
the word of God. Every word of it will eternally
hold true. It was prophesied that the Messiah
would be a Nazarene born in Bethlehem. And that's
exactly what happened. Verse one says, and it came to
pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar
Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And this taxing was
first made when Cyrenius was governor in Syria. And all went
to be taxed, everyone into his own city. And Joseph also went
up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth. He was a Nazarene. into Judea, unto the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and
lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife,
being great with child. Oh, the sovereignty of God. Oh, the predestinating power
and authority of God. Here's a glorious truth that
we can see through His coming. God uses all things and all means to accomplish His will and His
purpose and His word. He uses all things and He uses
all means. Everything is at His disposal. Everything serves Him, and everyone
is under the direct order of His command. This world is always
so torn up. You know, you got politics. This
side is always torn up about this side, and this side's always
torn up about this side. Everything and everyone serves
Him. Nobody has any power at any moment
in time. And they are all under the direct
order of His command. These politicians thought they
were using their power to get these people to do what they
wanted to do. We're going to register. I want everybody to
come register. What they were really doing was
they were accomplishing the will and purpose of God at His appointed
time. And isn't that just so relieving,
so glorious to know that God does not change at this exact
moment. That's only whatever happens. Can you imagine how discouraged
they were when they heard that they were going to have to endure
this journey at this moment in time? It says she was great with
child. if they had known what we now
know through this God revealed hindsight that He's
given us. We see what they did not see. Had they seen that, do you think
they would have changed anything about that news? You're gonna
have to travel, you're gonna be taxed. Absolutely not. If
we could see everything now with these same eyes, with this same
God-given hindsight, neither would we. We would not change
anything. Every, what we think is a bad
thing, you know, all things work together for good, but everything
that we think is a bad thing, every single thing is just another
piece in this perfect means of God's order for us and predestination
for us. He's using all these things to
bring us to our end and bring all His people to Christ, our
security, our salvation. I love that song or poem that
William Cooper wrote, God moves in a mysterious way. And He does. He said, God moves in a mysterious
way, His wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the
sea and rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable minds of
never failing skill, he fashions up his bright designs and works
his sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his
grace. Behind a frowning providence,
he hides a smiling face. Now, can that be said about this?
Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face. His
purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour. The bud may have
a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief
is sure to err and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter,
and he will make it plain." And oh, did he make it plain. We
now see that the whole world being taxed was the greatest
thing that could have ever happened to the whole world. And the reason
is because by that, God's word held true. God's Word held true. It brought the Messiah to Bethlehem
to be born according to the Scriptures, according to the Word of Almighty
God. So verse three says, all went
to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went
up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the
city of David, which is called Bethlehem. because he was of
the house and lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused
wife, being great with child. They were espoused, just like
we mentioned this morning, not married yet, which to the natural
eye has such a scandalous look about it. Our Lord truly did
come to represent us. He came to represent us. He came
in the likeness, the likeness of sinful flesh. The way that
He chose to enter this world, every aspect of it is truly amazing. It is truly amazing, the humility
of it, the lowliness of it, the sacrifice of it. This is the
Prince of Heaven. This is the King of heaven, the
God of heaven. And not only did he not come
into a palace, he didn't even come into a house. That's amazing,
isn't it? He didn't even come into a home.
Verse six says, so it was that while they were there, the days
were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought
forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and
laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in
the inn. When I was a kid, I used to think
that a manger was a special place. I thought it was a glorified
place. They laid him in a manger. It
wasn't until I was an adult that I realized it's really just a
slop trough. That's all it is. It's just a
place for hogs to eat slop. God came there for us. He came there for us. You know why God chose to be
born there? He hand selected that place. You know why God chose to be
there? It's because that's where we deserve to be born. We all deserved to be cast out
in our loathing. We all deserved for no eye to
pity us. No eye to have compassion on
us. But even though we didn't deserve
it, someone's eye did pity us. Someone's eye did have compassion
on us. Whose eye was it? The eye of
God himself. As poor wretched sinners, no
God and no hope, it seemed there was no one to help. But God in
his mercy, salvation supplied, emptied heaven and came down
himself, and a ransom was found. Our Lord came to us right where
we were. He didn't come part of the way. He came all the way, right where
we were. And where were we? In the slop
trough. That's where we were. Verse six,
it says, And so it was that while they were there, the days were
accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought
forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes,
and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in
the inn. And there were in the same country
shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock
by night. And these shepherds represent
all of God's sinners who are saved by his grace. We can see
a sinner salvation right here in these shepherds. They were
just sitting there. They weren't doing anything.
They were just sitting there. They were sitting there in their
darkness. It was at night. They're just
sitting there in their darkness. And that's where we are by nature,
in the darkness of our sin. And when God's grace comes to
us, it's a completely unexpected thing. I love how when sinners
come in and God opens their eyes and brings that message to them,
they don't know they need to have their eyes opened. They
thought their eyes were opened. They didn't see that coming at
all. Their eyes were closed. They couldn't see it coming. And these men, they're just sitting
there in their darkness. And God comes to them and they
have no idea that the glory of the Lord is about to overtake
them. And that's a glorious thing. They had no idea that they were
about to be compelled. There they are with all their
sheep. Probably sitting on a piece of land they purchased. They had no idea that they're
about to be compelled to leave everything and go seek this Savior. They're gonna be compelled to
leave everything and go worship this Savior and cast their all
on this Savior. They had no idea that God was
about to do that. But God did it. And isn't that
the message? But God. But God, in spite of
their ignorance, in spite of their darkness, verse 8 says,
there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of
the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round
about them, and they were sore afraid. This is what happens
when the Spirit of God overtakes a sinner. The glory of the Lord is revealed
to a sinner and immediately fear comes. Immediately the fear of
the Lord comes. The flippancy goes away. The
foolishness goes away and holy reverence and fear comes. Fear for the sovereignty and
the power that's before us. Never seen sovereignty like this. Never known power like this.
Fear for the sin that we know we've committed against Him.
Fear of being judged in that sin. That overtakes a sinner. Verse 9 says, The glory of the
Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And
the angel said unto them, the messenger, this heralder of glorious
news. The angel said unto them, fear
not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy. And that's what the gospel is.
Good tidings of great joy. He said, which shall be to all
people. Who are all people? Does he mean that Christ came
to save everybody? Matthew 1 21 says he came to
save his people. Call his name Jesus for he shall
save his people. Revelation 5 verse 9 says they're
out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation on this earth,
scattered all over this world. He himself said he did not come
to save the righteous, but he did come to save sinners. Verse 11 says, For unto you is
born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ
the Lord. He didn't say an attempter. He's
going to give his best attempt. He didn't say all these silly
things that people think Christ came to do and be. He didn't
say a co-pilot. He said a Savior. A Savior. And what is His name? Christ
the Lord. That's who the Messiah is. That's
who the only mediator between God and man is. I think about
that sometimes. It seems so obvious to say, that's
who God is. That's who the Savior is. That's
who the Messiah is. But men don't know. They don't
know that's who God manifest in the flesh is. That's who our
only hope is, Christ the Lord. Verse 12 says, and this shall
be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising
God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth,
peace, goodwill toward men. I've thought about that event
so much. The host of heaven, you think
about that. We can't, you'd have to see that
to enter into that. But the host of heaven, has the
ability to worship Him perfectly. I don't have that ability. My
worship is not even close. But they have, one day we will
have that ability. They, the host of heaven right
now, every soul that's there, is and can worship Him perfectly. And they have the ability to
praise Him perfectly and sing to Him perfectly. That is God's
choir. That's God's choir. Can you imagine
what it sounded like? If all of heaven rejoices over
one sinner that repents, Can you imagine the elation of the
angels when Christ came to literally, in one fatal swoop, redeem every sinner that glory
would ever receive? All of His people. Can you imagine what that sounded
like? Especially after the Father told them, this is for my son. Give it all you've got. Like whenever the Lord sent Gabriel
to Daniel, he said, you fly as hard as you can. It says, Gabriel was weary with
flight. He flew so hard. He was weary
with flight. Well, he told them, you go down
and you sing with everything that's in you. Think about the song they were
singing. This is what they said in their song. Glory to God in
the highest. Wouldn't you love to hear the
whole host of heaven sing that? All glory be to God. And on earth, peace and goodwill
has come to men. That's the message of the gospel. All of the glory goes to God
for bringing peace and goodwill to man. Salvation is of the Lord. He is the one who brought mercy
and grace to man. Well, after the announcement
was done, verse 15, it came to pass As the angels were gone
away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another,
let us now, right now. Has that ever happened to you?
I'm ready to go right now. I was told this a long time ago.
I think my facts are right. If I'm not, everybody can forgive
me. Brother Henry was preaching. I'm almost positive it was in
Pikeville. And many years ago, and the Lord greatly, greatly
blessed the message. And after he was finished during
the last song, a dear brother came up behind brother Tom and
whispered in his ear, I want to be baptized and I want to
be baptized right now. and they were gonna have a lunch,
and Tom said, okay, I'll fill the water, I'll fill the baptistery.
I mean right now. Can you imagine what they saw
and what they heard in the glory of the Lord? Heaven opened to
them. Heaven, the host of heaven. They
were looking straight into heaven. They said, let's go right now. Leave it all and go right now. They saw the glory of God in
the highest and how peace and goodwill had come to man. in
the person of this Savior. And they said right now, verse
15, it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into
heaven, the shepherds said one to another, let us now go even
unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which
the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste. and found Mary and Joseph and
the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen, it is
in italics. When they had seen, they made
known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this
child. And every soul who has seen will
never be able to keep it in. If the Spirit of Christ enters
a person, everybody will know it. They told everybody. Verse 18, and all they that heard,
it is in italics. All they that heard wondered
at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary
kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And all who
love Christ will do the exact same thing. They will keep these
things. They will cling to and cherish
these things. And they will ponder these glorious
things in their heart. They'll dwell on them. They'll
hope in this glorious declaration of Christ. You won't have to
convince them to keep coming. They'll keep coming. They'll
need him, they'll look to him, they'll feed on him. Verse 18,
it says, all they that heard wondered at those things which
were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things
and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying
and praising God for all the things that they had heard and
seen as it was told unto them. And so do we. So do we. They saw Christ. And by faith,
so have we. Praise God. for the things that
we've heard and seen concerning the glory of Christ Jesus our
Lord. Thank God he came. Thank God
he came. And thank God he's revealed these
things to us and not left us in that darkness. Just like Manoah's
wife said, she said, if he intended on killing us, he would have
never shown us all these things. Thank God. All right, let's all
stand together.