Third verse as the last. Stages leap your contemplation,
brighter visions beam afar. Seek the great desire of nations,
ye have seen his true star. Come and worship, come and worship,
worship Christ the newborn King. The sages leave your contemplations. Writer visions beam afar. Meaning
the wise men who came where he was. The writer says you wise
men leave whatever it is you're contemplating or thinking of.
It's something much greater than you've ever seen before. Luke
chapter two is a familiar story, one being dealt with probably
all over the earth at this time, and I hope we'll see something
that others do not see, is glory. That's what this is all about.
Caesar, it says in verse one, Caesar Augustus made a decree
that all the world should be taxed. This man was the most
powerful ruler in the world at this time. King, that's what
Caesar means, king over the then Roman Empire, which was the greatest
kingdom on earth. He made this decree to tax all
the world. You see, when the Scripture says
world that it doesn't always mean every single individual.
Upon the earth. But the then known world. But
this evil king made this decree to tax everyone. And it was a
evil tax for his own evil purposes and gang. Yet the king's heart
is in the hands of the Lord. Scripture says, as the rivers
of water, he turneth it with us, whoever he will. This evil
king made this evil tax upon the people, people who could
not afford it, such as Joseph and Mary. But it was to fulfill
God's eternal decree, God's decree and God's purpose. Why? To bring this man and his wife
to this city. to give birth to this job. Because
Scripture said he would be from there. Otherwise, he would have
been born in Nazareth. You see that and you know, we
think we're. Being taxed unfairly or whatever.
Everything is by God's decree. Everything all powers. All authority
is from our God, and it's all working out his purpose and his
will. Though we don't see it, though
we don't know what it is, it is working out his purpose. Verses three through five, all
went to be taxed, every one into his own city. Joseph went up
from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, the city
of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and
lineage of David. He's from the line of David,
Judah, tribe of Judah, and so is Mary. Mary went also, verse
5, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, who was great
with child. That's where Joseph, that's who
he came from. And as I said, the purpose for
them going there was to fulfill God's purpose, to fulfill God's
will. Their steps are ordered by the
Lord, though this evil king told them where to go and what to
do, and it was a tyranny on that man's part. Yet their steps are
ordered by the Lord, and so are ours. Our God reigns among the
armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. And this was to
fulfill Scripture. fulfill Scripture, and that the
Christ would be born in Bethlehem. Because it is written in Micah
chapter 4, chapter 5, Thou Bethlehem, Ephratah, though thou be little
among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come
forth unto me. That is, to be ruler in Israel,
whose goings forth have been from of old and from of everlasting. Christ is born in Bethlehem. Scripture says so. And Christ
must fulfill all those things. And even before he's born, he's
ruling and reigning and regulating his own birth. We didn't choose
where we would be born, did we? He did. And had his mother go
there to fulfill Scripture. All right, verses 6 and 7. 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 or so they thought it was her
son. She was an instrument used by
God to give birth to his son. The child was born, yes, but
whose son is it? The woman giving birth to this
child is really the child of the one about to be born. Now explain that. That holy thing. 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. Now this was
just as God promised, just as it was written, just as the angel
announced it was so. Christ was born in Bethlehem
in a barn. There was no room for them in
the end, and this was all by God's decree. And yet, by man's
choice, God is sovereign. God is sovereign. God decreed
this and purposed this. We're going to see why in a moment.
Where he would be born and in what manner he was to be born.
But yet, men rejected them, refused them lodging in the inn. Why is that? Men did what they
chose to do. Now, you'd think there'd be a
little compassion on a woman pregnant with a child, about
to have a child, wouldn't you? You'd think there'd be a little
compassion. No. You'd think somebody would give
up a room, you know, for this pregnant woman. Why? Because this is a prelude to
the treatment our Lord would receive for the rest of his days. And this is in fulfillment of
Scripture. He was in the world. The world was made by him, and
the world knew him not. He came to his own, but his own
received him not. That is, his own creatures, which
he made. He came into this world made
of a woman, yet they received him not. And the prophet of Isaiah says
he was despised and rejected of men. Our Lord was rejected
even as a child, and for all his days. And man says, we will
not have him come here. We didn't ask for him. We didn't
want him. We will not have him reign over
us, certainly. But God willed it by God's decree. And though
his son should have been born in a palace, the only one truly of royal birth
Though he should have and could have been born in a palace, God
decreed him to be born in a barn as the lowest of the low. To
identify with the lowly, the most common, our Lord was identified
with the lowest of the low. No one has ever been born in
such a lowly fashion as he was, or more lowly. And to fulfill
Scripture, as I said, despised and rejected even from birth,
as he was rejected from entering into the inn. And look at verses
8 and 9. It says there were in the same
country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over
their flock. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon
them. These men sure were in the right
place at the right time, weren't they? How'd they get here? And the Lord in his sovereign
providence had them there and was coming to meet them. 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." Now,
here we have another of many examples of God's sovereign electing
grace in Scripture. Of God passing by some and choosing
others. God, not many wise men at the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. Another account
has the wise man coming from the but not many are just a few. Doesn't say not any. Some in
this room who have some wisdom and worldly things and some education,
but not many. Doesn't say not any. But not
many are called. And these men who were lowly
shepherds, God has chosen to weak things of the world, things
which are not, low things, to exalt them high and so forth.
God hath chosen. It says, lo, and the angel of
the Lord came upon them. They weren't looking for the
Lord. They weren't looking for the Christ worthy. But by God's
mercy and grace, he was looking for them. God, the Holy Spirit,
moves on and works on whom he will. And the angel of the Lord
came upon them, it says. I pray that the angel of God,
the Holy Spirit that is, move and work upon some who have not
yet seen his glory. And it says, the glory of the
Lord shone round about them. Whenever you hear of the Christ,
truly hear of the Christ, who he is, why he came, who he is,
what he did, the glory of the Lord has shone round about you. Christ is the glory of God. We
quote that passage all the time, don't we, from 2 Corinthians
4, as God who caused the light to shine out of darkness has
shined in our heart to give the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God. It's in the person, the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's come to us. This was
a miracle. This was an actual miracle. coming of the angel of the Lord
upon these men. He actually did come upon them,
and He actually does come upon His people still to show us His
glory. And it says, "...the glory of
the Lord shone round about them." When they saw the glory of the
Lord, what happened? When someone really sees the
glory of the Lord, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, what
happens? What's the first thing, the beginning of saving wisdom?
What does the Scripture say? The beginning of wisdom is what?
What? Right. Fear. They were afraid. Fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. The glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they
were afraid. And so it is, everyone who really
hears of Christ's glory and power, who he is. No more of this. You know, it may have before
talked very flippantly and carelessly and familiarly about the Lord
of Glory, only called him by his earthly name. Not anymore.
Not anymore. The fear of the Lord comes upon
us. They were sore afraid. That is,
into the depth of their being, the fear of the Lord. The sun
shined on them, the glory of the Lord. Look over at the chapter
preceding this. Look at this. It says, The glory
of the Lord shone round about them. This is Zechariah's prophecy
concerning his son, John, and the Christ of whom John would
speak. Look at chapter 1, verse 78 and 79. Look at this. He says, verse 77, John would
come to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission
of their sins through the tender mercy of God, whereby the dayspring
from on high hath visited us, the day spring, the bright and
morning star." What is a morning star? Do you see any stars during
the day? Do you ever see any stars? Yes,
you do. How many? One. The sun is a star. That's the
bright and morning star. That's what that is. The day
spring from on high. Verse 79 says, "...to give light
to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to
guide our feet into the way of peace." So these angels, or these
shepherds that is, were sitting in darkness even as others on
the side of a hill, unsuspecting, unlooking, unseeking, unwanted,
unknowing, ignorant of what was about to happen. The angel of
the Lord shone round about them, and they saw the glory of the
Lord. Those who sat in darkness have
seen a great light. The Lord Jesus Christ, who gives
life, life and saving knowledge, and says they were afraid. To all who fear God, truly, He
reveals Himself in the person of His Son. All who fear him,
he sends a messenger of the gospel with glad tidings. Look at it,
verse 10. The angel said unto them, and
you've heard from an angel, haven't you? And the angel said unto
them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy. Good tidings of great joy. The
gospel is called good news, the joyful sound. Blessed are the
people which know the joyful sound. See, the bad news is God is angry
with the wicked every day. God hateth all workers of iniquity.
The bad news is the wages of sin are death, and all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. But the good news is there's
full, free, eternal forgiveness of those sins through Jesus Christ,
our Lord. He's come to put away our sin.
That's the good news. There's peace with God. God is
angry with the wicked. But yet there's peace with God
for some. To who? Whoever he announces
it to. Whoever he comes to. Whoever
he says peace. We don't say peace, peace to
men and women without, when there is no peace. We can't announce
peace to everybody. Can we? That's why we don't go
around telling everybody God loves them. We don't know that.
We don't tell everybody Jesus loves you. We don't know that.
We don't tell everybody Jesus died for you. No, we don't know
that for sure. But when a person hears who he is and sees his
glory and bows before him in fear and reverence, death, we say in death. Hey, peace unto you. You must
be, God, at peace with God. Christ must be your Savior. Great
joy. This is a message of great joy.
God forbid that I should preach it and we should tell it in any
other way. Great joy. It's something, it's
worthy to be accepted. That's what Paul said. This is
a faithful saying and worthy to be accepted. Good news. You'd think sinners would receive
it. No. And that's the whole problem.
Not sinner, but bless God, he revealed it unto us. He says,
unto you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people,
not all persons, but all people. God has a people out of every
tribe, nation, kindred, and tongue on earth. Unto you, verse 11,
and then he says this personally to these shepherds, unto you
is born this day in the city of David a Savior, a Savior unto you. He was born,
he lived, he died to save his people. That's what the angels
announced. Call his name Jesus because that's
what it means. He shall save his people from
their sins. Savior. I was reading an old
writer the other day. I think it was Thomas Bradbury
I like so much. He said, no, it was William Gadsby
as it was. He said, our, the difference
between our Christ, the one we preach, and what's being, who's
being preached today is our Christ actually saves. And people talk
about salvation. No, he saved, but they don't
really mean it. But our Christ actually saves,
and he actually saves his people. He's called Savior because that's
exactly what he did when he came here. He came here to save his
people from their sin. Save means to rescue somebody
from certain destruction, does it not? To find someone means
that they were lost. They cannot find their way. It
shouldn't need explaining, should it? If a person is lost, they don't
even know the way. If they knew the way, they could
get in it and go there, couldn't they? But they're lost. Somebody
must find them. Well, here's a person who's damned
and doomed and dying, condemned. They need a saving. Can they
save themselves? Can they help save them? Not
if they're doomed. Call his name Savior. That's what he's going to do.
That's what he came to do. Savior, Redeemer, bought with
a price. We didn't contribute a dime. He paid the price that we owed. Deliverer. Deliverer. Scripture says, when he had by
himself. I love that passage, don't you?
When he had by himself. purged our sin. Set man. Substitute. Substitute. Heart and soul of the gospel.
Substitute. A Savior. Unto you is born in
the city of David a Savior. One who actually saves. Which
is Christ. Christ. That means surety. Peter said we believe and are
sure that thou art the Christ. That's what we call him. That's
what we refer to him as. No, that's the title that we
call him by more than any other, except Lord. As a matter of fact,
we call him by all his names to make sure that no one mistakes
who we're talking about. The Lord Jesus Christ. The Christ
means assurity. Assurity. The mediator, the advocate,
the representative, covenant head, all that that means. The
Lord, which is Christ the Lord. Not a lord, the lord, king of
kings and lord of lords. This one being born right there,
amazingly, is actually manipulating this whole situation. The lord,
that means a sovereign ruler over all things. Ruler, ruler. See, this is why we don't worship
a baby. Simeon, in this same chapter,
Simeon doesn't make mention of a babe. He just says, now mine
eyes have seen thy salvation. He didn't say what a cute babe
in my hands. Oh, no. He says, ha, this is
my salvation. I'm in his hands. He was amazed
by this. My, my. Unto you is born
this day in the city of David, Bethlehem, a Savior, actual Savior,
which is Christ, surety, substitute, mediator, the Lord, the one who
reigns and rules. In verse 12, he says to these
unsuspecting, unknowing shepherds, he said, This shall be a sign
unto you. Here's a sign for you. Here's how you know him. You
shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a
manger. Now, before there's mention of a baby,
it's all talk about a Christ and a Lord. You see that? How did they announce
him first? They didn't mention a baby yet.
And he was born this day in the city of David, Savior, Christ
the Lord. But there's no dismissing, and
this is amazing, that God was manifest in the flesh. That's
what Paul wrote to Timothy. He said, Great is the mystery
of God. God became a man. God. became a babe in arms, nursed
from a woman's breast. Amazing, isn't it? God in whose
hands we live and move and have our being, God in whose hands
all our breath is and all our ways, in whom we live and move
and have our being, yet had his being through the instrument
of a woman. Why? Why? Why did this happen? Why did
he become a babe? Why was he born of a woman? Why?
Why did he just appear a full grown man? Why? Because God decreed
it this way. God prophesied this back in the
garden. When the first sinner sinned,
God's the one that made this pronouncement. See, by man, and
Paul wrote a whole book of Romans about this, by man came sin. And my man will come right. In
Adam all seeing in Christ. And all that and in Christ all
be made alive all in Christ. The woman's seed. Of whom the
Lord spoke of in Genesis three the woman's seed. A woman to
have a seed. Woman doesn't have a seed. The
man's a sperm. That's the word impregnates a
woman. Or else she cannot be. Then Mary said, how can these
things be when the angel said, you're you have a child within
you? She said, how can this be seen?
I've never known a man. Oh, that's right, there's no
seed of man in you, there's no sinful seed of man in you, but
that which is conceived in you is of the Holy Ghost. This is
a holy thing, a holy child. This is the son of God, the seed
of God, seed of woman, seed of God, incorruptible seed, sinless
seed. Christ, which is Christ, born
of a woman, had to, made under the law. Man, sin. A man's got to glorify God in
a sinless life. That's why he came. That's why
he was born that way. He came forth, but we come forth
from the womb speaking lies. Is that true, Hannah Hart? Already? Come forth from the womb speaking
lies. If it's going to improve our situation, we're going to
lie about it from an early age because we're sinful. We're born
sinners, not this one. Born a woman, made under the
law. Made in the likeness of sinful
flesh, but without sin. Without sin. Now look at this. He said, You'll find a babe.
Yes, you will. You'll find a baby. You'll find
much more than that. But here's a sign. You'll see
him wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Swaddling
clothes in a manger. It's a sign to you. What he's
wearing and what he appears to be what he's wearing. They saw and
knew the Christ first by what he was wearing, this swaddling
cloth. And you know, when Christ left
this earth, what did they do? They stripped him naked. He hung naked when he died. When
he was born, he was clothed. When he died, he was stripped.
Where did his clothes go? We're that child in Ezekiel's
field that lie in there naked. None swaddled us. That's what
it said. Nobody swaddled you or tied your
navel or had pity upon you. But Christ did. And we received
his clothing. We see him as our clothing, as
our swaddling clothes. Swaddle a baby and wrap it up
tight. Wrap it up tight. Make it warm.
And this is Christ. We see Christ as our righteousness.
Our swaddling clothes. Lying in a manger. What's a manger?
What's a manger? It's a hay bin. That's what it
is. It's a place where cattle and
sheep eat from. So what you'll see, they say
this is a sign of the youth. You'll see him in his clothing
and you'll see him He appears to be like food, sheep food. And that's what we see in Christ.
We see him as our food, our very necessary food. Christ said,
except you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part in
me. He is food indeed for his sheep. Verse 13, and suddenly,
I don't want to get to this, suddenly there was with the angel
a multitude of the heavenly host praising God. Suddenly a multitude. Praising God, after these shepherds
saw God's glory and heard of the cry, they found themselves
in the midst of a multitude of them that were praising Him.
They hadn't done this before. But God, rich in mercy, for His
great love wherewith He loved these shepherds, came and appeared
to them and revealed Himself to them. Glory shone around about
them, and He gathered them to where Christ was, and suddenly
with them was a multitude of them. And when Christ comes to you,
when the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ comes to you in the
gospel, you'll find yourselves in the midst of a multitude worshiping
Him with the people of God. And here's the message. Verse 14, praising God and saying,
Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward
men. Glory to God in the highest.
That's what this is all about. That's why Christ came. That's
what salvation's all about. Glory to God in the highest. has rebelled against his Creator,
sinned against his Creator. God, who should have destroyed man from the very outset,
is this God rich in mercy and love and grace. For his love and his mercy and
his grace toward us, his people, sent his Son to be a substitute
And the first thing Jesus Christ must do, and the reason He came,
is glorify God. As a man, glorify God. God's
glory. It's all for His glory. Christ
lived for the glory of God. He was like those sacrifices
we see and read about and study about throughout the Scripture,
unto the Lord. It was all unto the Lord. that
the bank offering was unto the law the same offering was unto
the law. Everything was unto the law and
Jesus Christ the God man came and live unto the law. Not to
show us how to live though he did though he is our example
if that's not the chief primary reason why he came he came to
do it as unto the law. And he did it perfectly. He glorifies
God in thought, in word, and in deed. He had clean hands,
a pure heart, never lifted up his soul unto vanity or swore
deceitfully. He glorified God as a man. God
is well pleased for his righteousness sake, not ours, but we're accepted
in him. This is imputed to our account.
God's glory. Christ came for God's glory.
Glory to God in the highest. God in the highest, God is to
be exalted. You that make mention of the
Lord, make mention His name is exalted high above the earth. Christ said, I am from above,
you're from beneath. He taught us to pray. Pray this
way, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed, means high,
holy, above us. The word holy, here's a good,
great translation of the word holy. God's scripture says holy,
holy, holy. God is holy. It means other than. It's something
other than, completely. Not like us at all, other than.
Glory to God in the highest, the highest God. Thus saith the
high and lofty One who inhabiteth eternity. to this man will I look. He dwelleth with the poor and
the contrite of heart. He became a man, the lowest of
the low." This is great glory to God in that the high God became
a lowly child. Glory to God in the highest. And on earth, peace. It doesn't
say peace in earth, peace in the earth. I was just reading
the news this morning. that over in Bethlehem, there's
peace. There's been a truce, a ceasefire, that there's no
fighting going on. Palestinians and Jews and so-called
Christians who are over there, everybody's at peace with one
another right now. How long's it going to last? Maybe 24 hours. Then they'll go back to killing
one another. Our Lord, He said, didn't He say over there, we
just read it, didn't He? I didn't come to bring peace. That is to establish peace upon
this earth, peace between all people, no soul. He said, I've
come to bring soul, divisions. This is the sword of variance.
It separates, division. We read, you read the article,
division because of him. The Christ, the Christ who came
brought division. And Christ was not exempt from
his very words because Brother Roy, his own brethren didn't,
didn't receive it. They didn't believe in it. in
his own earthly family. They didn't believe him. If you
have brothers and sisters and you confess the Christ, they
don't believe him. You're Christ. But you do. Why? The angel of God has come upon
you. Glory has shone around about you. You've seen his glory. You
say he's God in the highest. I said, peace on earth. What's
this mean? On earth. Peace on earth. Peace. Glory to God in the highest and
on earth. Peace. What are they talking
about? They're talking about what? They're talking about who? They're
talking about a person. This whole thing is about a person.
The glory of God. The salvation of the people,
everything they're saying, all of this pronouncement, all of
this declaration, all of this glory to God, is all about this
person. They're looking at this person
on earth. Peace. What? A general feeling of peace? No,
no, no. A person. This is peace personified. Peace with God. God is angry
with the wicked every day. Are you wicked? Do you feel wicked? God who hates
all workers of iniquity. Have you committed iniquity?
Do you? Have you? Do you? Will you? God
who's going to destroy this planet by fire someday. Really? Really? Boy, nobody's talking about that
on this day, are they? Like Malachi said, where's the
God of judgment? God who's going to destroy this
world by fire someday. Why? Because he's angry with
the wicked. Because the wrath of God abides
upon the ungodly and the unbelievers. Wrath! They don't say to people who
haven't closed with Christ, who don't know Christ, who don't
worship Christ, who don't love Christ, they don't say to them,
God loves you. Paul, in his last chapter of
his letter to the Romans, he said, Cursed is everyone that
loveth not the Lord Jesus Christ. By loving means worshiping him. He is your life, your love, your
longing, your glory, your person. Oh man, God's not at peace with
man, and man's not at peace with God. The carnal mind is enmity
against God. All over this world right now,
people are talking about peace who are under the wrath of God,
and people are talking about Jesus who hate the Christ of
Scripture. But blessed are you. Blessed are you, John Bar-Keesley. Flesh and blood have not revealed
this unto you, but the Father, the angel of the Lord, the Holy
Spirit of God has revealed unto you that your peace with God
is at a person. You didn't make your peace with
God, did you? You didn't even know you needed
peace with God. But God came with this peace offering. He made, not to you, but to himself. You understand what I'm saying
right now, don't you? Not one in a million know this.
This is the peace of God. He made peace. Christ came to
make peace. Not offer peace, make peace for
his people. Why? How? By the sacrifice of
himself. The chastisement, the whipping
that we deserve was laid on him, of our peace was laid on him. And now we have peace with God
through the blood of his cross. God is not angry with us. Never
has been, that's the reason. He never has been because Christ
was a lamb slain before the foundation of the world for his people,
for his people. God has never been angry with.
We've never been under God's people. He says, I've loved you with
an everlasting love, eternal. And we don't. Tell everybody
that, because we don't know who they are. But once we find out
who they are, believers, then we tell them that. Good news,
God's not angry with you. Never has been. Isn't that amazing?
Isn't that amazing? A God who is angry with many
should be angry with you. He's not angry with you. You've
been reconciled to God. That means made peace, peaceable. You've been reconciled to God.
How? Because you straightened your life? No, no, no, no. Because
Christ laid down His life. Peace personified. God's way
of peace. Glory to God. Glory to God in
the highest for sending His Son. Peace. That peace was on this
earth. Goodwill. Goodwill toward men. You know, I see second, I believe
second Peter three nine. I love that passage of Scripture.
God is not willing that any should perish. Aren't you glad? Don't you love that passage of
Scripture? I love it. There was a time I did not love
it because I didn't fully understand it. And I, like others, would
just look at it out of context. I actually thought, I wish that
wasn't in the Scripture. God is not willing. What does
it say before that? God is long suffering to us.
We're talking about his people, brethren, beloved of the Lord.
They're not ignorant of this one thing. A day is a thousand
year, a thousand years is a day. Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, but his long suffering to us. We're not willing that
any should perish. None of his people are going
to perish. He said, I give unto them eternal life and they shall
never perish. Who's the they? His sheep. They
shall never perish. I'm not willing that they should
perish, and they won't. Isn't that good news? Goodwill. Goodwill. God's goodwill and
purpose is toward His people. Men. We need to read the Scripture
exactly as they're written. Toward men. It doesn't say man,
does it? It doesn't say man. Men. Men. Not mankind, but men. Persons
chosen by Him. Goodwill. God's goodwill is toward
men. Became Him in bringing many sons
unto glory. Goodwill. Oh, thank God for His
goodwill toward us. It's the goodness of God. Will
God have mercy? Will God have mercy? He said
He would, didn't He? Back there we read it in Exodus.
I will. I'll make my goodness pass before
you, my good will. Here's my good will toward men. I'll proclaim the name of the
Lord." Well, he just did. You see, all this is a fulfillment
there of Exodus 33. I'm going to make my goodness
pass before you. A person. I'll proclaim the name
of the Lord. He just did, didn't he? Christ
the Lord. All his name's Jesus. Who is Christ the Lord? And I
will have mercy. Will God have mercy? There he
is. How do I know God will have mercy?
There he is. That's the mercy seat. That person is the mercy seat. Will God be gracious? There he
is. This is the grace of God. Will
God give me salvation? Here he is, the gift of God.
Will God save sinners? There is the goodwill of God. The glory of God, the peace of
God, the goodwill of God is in Christ Jesus. Now look at this
in closing. All of this applies to us. It
says in verse 15, after the shepherds heard this, it came to pass,
as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, The shepherd
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. Hurry, let's go. We've got to
see this, what the Lord has revealed unto us. You see that, Dan? They weren't looking before.
They weren't even, they were ignorant. They were in darkness
even as others. But suddenly came upon them the
angel of the Lord. Revealed unto them the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what they want, says they
made haste. Verse 16. They came with haste. Today, that day was the day of
salvation to them. And they were in a hurry. He
that believeth shall make haste. Meaning, they'll get to Christ
as soon as they can. Oh, what the Lord has revealed
unto us. One of the sisters was talking
the other day about worship. What we do is we come to see
Christ. That's why we come here. And she was saying that. Someone
was asking her about going to church, she said, I have to.
Meaning that she explained herself, she said. You you breathe, don't
you? Don't you have to breathe? You
have to live, you breathe, you eat. I have to go worship. I mean, it's you don't live with
me. We eat, we drink, we breathe,
don't we? It's like, what a silly question.
If you love Christ, you worship Christ. They made haste. He didn't
believe this. Well, make haste in a hurry.
Where are you going? Going to the house of the Lord.
I'm glad you said that. Let's go. Let's go. Glad when they said unto me,
let's go unto the house of the Lord. My, my, we don't meet here
today because it's Christmas. My, my. natural Barnardite tendency
is to cancel service today. I'm from the old school of Barnard. It's shock treatment, but like
I said, that doesn't work. It didn't work with him. Let's go. We don't meet here
because it's a certain time of the year. We meet here because
this is what we want to do. Let's go. Let's go now. And see
this that the Lord has made known unto us. And they came with faith.
And what did they find? Then they came. What did they
find? They found exactly what the Lord said they'd find. They
saw him who was revealed to them. They saw him just as exactly
as he was revealed to them by the angel through the word. And
now they saw him as he is. You get that? Someday. You know
we believe we live by faith. We have not seen him. We have
seen this child. We haven't seen the man. We haven't
seen him. We believe him. Why? How? Through
the word. We live by faith. Faith meaning
we believe in something we haven't seen before. Haven't actually
laid hold on it physically. Someday we're going to come where
he is and see him as he is. Scripture says we'll see a lamb
as it has been slain. We're going to see a lamb. A
man with the face of a lion, face of an eagle, face of a man,
the face of a lamb. I don't know. He's the eye of the sea. We don't
know. I can't explain that, but we're going to see him. We're
going to see the person. of the Lord Jesus Christ, a man
in glory. We're going to see him as he
has been revealed to us. And it says, when they'd seen
it, verse 17, it, I like that, when they'd seen it, that holy
thing, they wondered, oh, they wondered at those things that
were told them. That is Mary and Joseph. Verse 17, they made known abroad,
that's it. They couldn't help but tell the
things they'd seen and heard. They witnessed. What did they
witness now? What were they talking about? They weren't talking about the
vision they saw. They were talking about a person. A person. Concerning this child and all
that heard it, wondered at those things which were told them by
the shepherd. And Mary kept all these things and pondered them
in her heart. And so will everyone who comes
from Christ, whose One with Christ. Mary, as it was, as it were,
was one with Christ. And as Christ was in her, Christ
was in us. The hope of glory. And keep these
things. Ponder in our heart. Verse 20,
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God, whence, for
all the things that they had heard and seen, just like it
was told unto them. And that's what we'll be doing
throughout eternity. Someday. These songs we sing
so poorly now. In vain we tune our formal songs. In vain we strive to rise. Hosannas
languish on our tongue, and our devotion quickly dies. Someday
it won't die. And it won't languish. It'll
come. It'll come out. Glory to God in the highest.
Glory to God in the highest. Amen. Okay. Let's sing that hymn in
closing. What was it at? Number 100. 100.
Hymn number 100. And maybe this hymn will mean
a little more to you after that message. Sing all three verses
of hymn number 100. Let's sing it. O come, all ye faithful, joyful
and triumphant. Come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem. Come and behold Him, O come,
let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us
adore Him, Christ the Lord. Sing, choirs of angels, sing
in exultation. Sing, all ye bright hosts of
heaven above. Glory to God, oh, glory in the
highest. Oh, come let us adore Him. Oh, come let us adore Him. Oh, come let us adore Him, Christ
the Lord. Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, Born
this happy morning, Jesus, to Thee be all glory given. Bird of the Father, now in flesh
appearing, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. you.