Makes the nations prove his righteousness. What's he talking about? Makes
the nations prove his righteousness, his imputed
righteousness. All right, Luke chapter 2. Go
back to Luke chapter two. And every time that this year
I make this disclaimer. Before. I began. We place no significance on this
so-called holiday or holy day. What the word holiday is, you
know. Holy day, we place no significance whatsoever on this so-called
holiday. It's Roman in its origins, it's
pagan. We're not told, there are many
reasons, we're not told to celebrate Christ's birth. Nowhere in the Scriptures will
you find, nowhere in the New Testament will you find them
celebrating the birth of that child. No such We don't worship a baby. Let me just give you right now
one very clear reason. Our Lord had to be a child to
be a man, to be born a woman. He grew up into a man. And then
he ascended the throne of glory. All over the land, people are
making over little babies. I don't carry around a picture
in my wallet of my dad when he was a baby. Do you? Do you have your husband's
picture when he was a baby? It's dishonoring. You don't have
pictures all over. of the people you admire. But
we don't have the president's picture when he was a baby. Huh? How much less our God? Huh? He had to be a baby, but
he's not a baby now. We worship a living Lord on the
throne. Don't sit around some make-believe
doll and get all sentimental. Is that too hard? Is that pretty
plain and clear why we do not worship a baby? Not told to. Our Lord said, do
this, though. He said, remember my death. He
said, do this and remember to me. We celebrate his death at
this table. The early church never celebrated
his birth. And another reason, whatever
the world is doing, we're not to do it. You know, whatever the world
is doing, we're not to do it. He said, don't be conformed to
the world. And this is not the time he was
born. It's amazing to me. The Lord
was born as a man on this earth in June. May or June. It's a fact. Why? Somebody like this time
better. Men are so traditional. My, my. But not us. We worship according
to the prescribed way. But everybody's mind is on the
birth of the man Jesus, aren't they? Everybody's mind. So we're
going to look at it. We're going to look at it. About 35 minutes. All right. In chapter 2 of Luke,
chapter 2, it says in verse 1, it came to pass in those days
that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus. that all
the world should be taxed, a decree by this wicked Roman king. He decreed. He just up and decided,
I'm going to tax everybody. Everybody's going to have to
go to their place of their birth, the town they came from, their
hometown. He just up, Steve, he just up, I'm going to do this
at this particular time in history. He decreed this. Everybody had
to go to where they were. from. Joseph is from Bethlehem. He's living in Nazareth right
now. He's got to go to Bethlehem. This king just decreed this.
Why? People, kings don't decree anything. You know that? Listen to the
proverb. It says, by me, kings reign and decree. God said that,
by himself. He said, by me, king's decree. Whatever's decreed, they decree
it because I decreed it. Romans 13 says there's no power
but of God and no authority but of God. None. Any decree, any
law, this is why we're told to be in subjection to it. Our God,
the true God, far from being an innocent bystander in the
affairs of man is ordering everything concerning everything down to
taxes. Now, next time you complain about
taxes, April 15, don't complain. If this tax hadn't taken place,
well, you'll see. All right, the lot is cast into
the lap, but the whole disposing is of the Lord. Proverbs 16,
33. Caesar decreed this tax. All
the world, did you notice that? It says all the world was to
be taxed. Every human being on the face
of the earth was supposed to be taxed. No, that's not. The
world, Caesar didn't. He had a little sphere over there
in the Middle East, right around Israel and a few places over
in the Italy and a little bit farther east. He didn't. Darn
hell, he couldn't tax the North American people. How they going
to get that? He didn't even think there was a North America. All
the world. You see, the word world rarely
means every single person on the earth. Here's a little lesson
for you. God so loved the world. Every human being? Plainly said
he didn't love Esau. Well, Caesar is going to tax
the whole world. Another place he said, when he
was watching all the people follow Christ, he said, all the world
is gone after. No, not every human being. But
out of every tribe and kindred and nation and known nation that
he knew of, then everybody under his rule was to come to be taxed. All right? Now, this ungodly
pagan ruler decreed an unfair, merciless tax upon the people. It was unfair. It was merciless
to fill up his wicked finances, to do with the
build himself lavish home. You know what they did. Like
our like our congressman. I better be careful. They have
millions of dollars people in retirement funds set aside for
themselves. Millions. This is what corrupt men do. They make do things for themselves. You say, well, he did. But now
wait a minute. God decreed this to happen. Though
it was merciless and unfair, everybody had to do it. It was
to fulfill God's purpose. Why? To fulfill God's Word. Now,
God's purpose, everything's working together, good and evil. Taxes? Yes, it is. We're going to see
this. Everything is going to give Him, His purpose is His
glory. The glory of His Son, saving of the people to the glory
of God and the glory of His Son. That's what the whole purpose
of God is. That's why He created this planet, Nancy Park. For
His glory, the glory of His Son, saving of the people to the praise
of His glory. That's what it's all about. That's
what this tax was about. Verse two and three. Now, this
taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. This is
given as confirmation of the exact time. We do know the exact
time. We have dated our calendar in
accordance with God's word in events like this. We're not in
the darkness. God's telling us what time this
is. All right. Verse three. And all
went to be taxed, everyone to his own city. The place of birth,
verse four and five, Joseph, Mary's husband, went up from
Galilee out of the city of Nazareth, that's where he was at the time,
into Judea, Judah. He left Galilee and went to the
area, the tribe of Judah. Why? He had to. Why? The king said so. Yes, he
did, but not that little earthly king. Joseph's got to go to Judah now,
right now. It's time. All right, read on. Judea, that's
where Judah is. He had to go to the city of David,
which is called Bethlehem. Why? That's where he's from.
That was his birthplace. house. He's of the house and
lineage of David. So is Mary. He's to be taxed
with Mary, his espoused wife. She's great with child. She's
eight months pregnant. They've got to make, isn't this
awful? They've got to travel on foot seventy miles and she's
eight months pregnant. This is terrible. It's unreasonable. this wicked king do so? Taxes? Hardships? They went on foot sixty-five
or seventy miles. Why? Why did they have to go
to Bethlehem? Turn to the little book of Micah.
All right? Little prophet. That is, a little
book of Micah. Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum. The Book of Micah. You've got
to turn there. Daniel, Joel, Amos, Obadiah,
Jonah, Micah, Nahum. You got it? You've got to see
this. Why did they have to go to Bethlehem? This woman, this
pregnant woman and her husband had to go back to Bethlehem to
be taxed. Because, look at this, verse 5, verse 2, 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, from everlasting. Verse 3, He'll give them up until
the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth. The Christ was prophesied to
be born in Bethlehem. Mary is carrying that child.
She's got to go to Bethlehem. She's got to go to Judah. He's
the Lion of the tribe of Judah, John. He's shallow. He's the Lion of the tribe of
Judah. Mary's got to go there. He's got to be from Judah. He's
got to be from Judah. The Christ child. Got to be from
Bethlehem. Why Bethlehem? Why not another
city? It's the city of David. David who? David the king. Prophesied
numerous times. The son of David, the Christ,
is to be the son of David of the house and lineage of David
the king. Why? He's going to be born king. He's going to be rightful heir
to the throne, even according to the law. He's got to be from
David's house to sit on David's throne. So you see here, this wicked
king decided, we need money. Let's tax everybody. Everybody
go to their birth at just such and such a point in time. This
woman's about to have a baby. She's in Nazareth. Verse 6. Now, back in our text, Luke 2,
verse 6. And so it was that while they
were there, the days were accomplished. Everything in God's Word is accomplished. It speaks of being accomplished.
God doesn't try anything. God purposes things and accomplishes
them. You know what? God purposes things and accomplishes
what He purposes. Even Christ's death, especially
Christ's death, was called an accomplishment. The days were accomplished. The
purpose of God, that in the fullness of time, Paul wrote, God sent
forth His Son, made of a woman. Right? This little gal named
Mary. She's a virgin. She's a virgin. Why? Why is it necessary? that she be a virgin, because
the scripture says that. And Isaiah, the virgin shall
conceive and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
Immanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. It's God's son, not the woman's
son. But from the woman's seed, you
remember that? Genesis 3, the woman's seed,
we sang of it, shall bruise the serpent's head. The virgin son,
he's to be born of a virgin. Why? Because he doesn't have
anything of man in him. He doesn't have the sin of man
in him. He's not born a sinner. Karen,
he's not born a sinner. This is the Son of God. He's
born holy. He's the Holy One of Israel.
Only one ever been born holy. He's not of man, though he is
a man. And listen, as in his birth,
so in his life and death and his ascension and everything,
Christ accomplished salvation by himself. There's no seed of
man in him. And he went to the cross. There
was no man with him to perform that work. He's by himself. He's alone. He's separate. All
right? Now, read on. It says, though,
here in the text, verse 7, she brought forth her firstborn son. Now, this is a narrative. She's
talking to us human beings and calls him her son. Why? Because
this woman had a child. It doesn't say child. Some of
the perversions say that. some of these liberal feminist
versions, which don't like any reference to man at all, have
removed it. I'm serious. They've removed
it, where it says son. Instead, it says child. He's
the son. Why? Is that important? Why couldn't
he have been a woman? Because the Lamb, which every
house must have, is a male. after the first year. Mary brought forth a son, her
firstborn, a first begotten, that's what, of the first year,
a male, a lamb, after the first year, a man-child. For man, Genesis 3 again, by man, sin
entered into the world. So by man, we have a federal
head and a man. You remember my pastor dealing
with that? Was it the woman? We come from the seed of Adam.
Man passes his seed down. Woman doesn't have a seed. The
man's seed is what impregnates the woman and so forth. We come
from the seed of Adam. Well, there's another federal
head. There's another Adam, a second Adam from above, which is the
Lord of glory. And his seed, from his seed,
he has a people, a generation like him. God's son. God's firstborn, only begotten,
well-beloved son. He's a man-child, a male. All right? Verse seven, and it
says, He wrapped him in swaddling clothes. Swaddling clothes. And this was
to be and laid him in a manger because there was no room for
them in the end. They came into Bethlehem and
it was time for her to have this child. And and unbelievably,
all of the ends, all of the hotels and motels turned her and him
away. So that's incredible, isn't it?
Incredible. He's a pregnant woman, nine months
pregnant, and they won't let her in. Well, what kind of barbie? That was decreed by God. That was decreed by God. But they don't let her in, and
the only place they could find is a stable. A stable where,
you know, you find sheep. And so Joseph and Mary go into
this stable and there's no comfortable bed. He didn't have anywhere
to lay a bed to lay his head. You remember him saying that? So they found a manger, that
is a trough that feeds where you feed animals. And she brought
forth that child and put him in that manger and wrapped him
up in his swaddling clothes. All right, turn with me to Ezekiel
chapter 16. Ezekiel 16. All right? You're going to like
this. We've looked at it before, but it's been a long time. Jeremiah,
Lamentations, Ezekiel chapter 16. Ezekiel 16. And over in verse twelve of Luke,
it says that this was the sign. The angels told the shepherds
who were going to go looking for him. The angels said, this
will be a sign to you. You'll know him. You'll know
it's him. Seeking him, you'll find him,
and you'll know it's him because you'll find him wrapped in swaddling
clothes, lying in a manger. They had to look in a barn, so
I guess they looked in about every barn in Israel, or in Bethlehem. Till they finally came in, they
found a child swaddled in his clothes and lying on a mat. That's
him. God said, that'll be a sign to
you. It's a sign to us, too. You know, that's how we know
him. All right. What are these swaddling
clothes? This swaddling clothes with baby.
You swaddled your baby. Every one of you had it. You
swaddle them. It can be in August. And you'll just... Where is he? He's in there. Taking him out. Gotta swaddle
him up. He'll get a cold. Why? It's 89
degrees outside. Ain't there? That's what mothers
do. Swaddle him up. Cover him up.
From head to toe covering. You'll know him, he has this
covering all over him, swaddling clothes. They knew him by what
he wore. Now listen, this is significant. Our Lord, when he was born, was
wrapped, was covered from head to toe. When he died, he was
naked. Do you understand the significance
of that? When he was born, he had these
swaddling clothes. When he died, he was naked. There
wasn't a little loincloth on him like you see these perverted
pictures of him. No, sir, he was naked. Where
did his clothes go? Look at it, Ezekiel 16. I love
this story. I'm going to preach from it someday.
Well, right now. Verse 2, Ezekiel 16. This blessed
story. Son of man, cause Jerusalem to
know her abominations. Who is this son of man? Christ. Cause Jerusalem. Go down to them
and cause them to know what? The love of God? No, sir. Her
abominations. Cause her to know what she was
when I found her. Cause her to know what she is.
Look at it. Look at the picture. 3, or verse 4, "...your nativity,
and the day you were born, your navel was not cut, neither were
you washed in water. To supple thee, thou wast not
salted at all, nor swaddled at all." Not swaddled. This story here is of back old
days, and still in some of these Arabic countries, they didn't
want a female child. They didn't want them. They wanted
male children to perpetuate the family, you know. And quite often,
this is a fact, if a female child was born, brutal as they were,
they would throw them out in the field. Just take that newborn
female baby and throw it in the field like a piece of garbage. Isn't that awful? Didn't cut
its navel, didn't wash it up, didn't want it. It's an unwanted
child. God says, that's you. By nature. Naked, out in the
field, in its blood, look at it. Verse 5, not swaddled, no
covering, naked. Know I pitied thee to do any
of these things unto you. Have compassion on you. You cast
into the field of the loathing of thy person in the day thou
was born." Folks, that's the first thing God shows us. That's
the first thing that God, the Son of Man, shows unto His Jerusalem,
His Israel, is cause them to know their abominations. The
depth of their depravity and their sin and their iniquity
cause them to know that they're an Wanted child. Not that God doesn't need them. No, sir. But there is this child
laying helpless, hopeless, damned, doomed until somebody passes
by. Would somebody look on my helpless,
rotten, no good, sinful estate? Somebody, is there anybody that
will have such a one as me? That's what every child of God
first said. How could anybody have anything
to do with me, let alone God? There's one. There's one. When I, verse six,
passed by thee, Christ comes to all of his own. I saw you
polluted, not as a valuable part, no, polluted. I said unto thee,
When I saw thee in thy blood, live. Yea, I said unto thee, when thou..."
Who said it? He said it twice. "...when I said unto thee, when
thou wast polluted in thy blood, live." Live. Thou hast the words of
life. Oh, look down at verse 8. When
I passed by thee and looked upon you, behold, thy time was a time
of love. I loved you. I said, now how
could you love a child like that? He set his love on that child.
He didn't need that child. But he set his love on that child.
That is a time of love. What did he do? What's the first
thing he did, John? First thing he did? Swaddle that
baby. Somebody's listening. They're
laughing. That's good. We, Dan, we got
His clothes. He was born with a righteous
robe on from head to toe. You see, Isaiah 1 says, from
the crown of our head to the sole of our feet, there's no
soundness in us, no goodness in us. But when Christ came to
His own, He saw us. He had this covering. These swaddling
clothes, even from a child, saw us in our nakedness and our pollution.
He wrapped us in it. He took it off. He became naked
and got killed in it. Isn't that glorious? Huh? Well,
swaddling clothes. Our gospel is in swaddling clothes.
Our only hope is found, Barbara, in swaddling clothes. Well, look at the next thing.
It said they laid him in a manger. This would be a sign. When you
see him, when you look for him, what you're going to find is
swaddling clothes. If you ever see the true Christ,
what you'll find is the one that swaddles you. And the next thing, it says in
our text, go back to Luke 2, everything is vital. This is
how you know it's God's Word. Man didn't write this story.
This is God's glorious story. Verse 7, You'll find him laid
in a manger. Look down at verse 12. It says,
You'll find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in
a manger. God said it twice. You'll find him lying in a manger.
Now what do you find lying in a manger? But Steve, you've got
a manger in your old barn there, don't you? A crib. corn crib,
hay crib. What's that for? Feed. I'll say it again. What's that
for? Nobody heard you. Feed. Who eats? Cattle. Sheep. What you'll find
laying in a manger is sheep food. sheep food. He's going to be
there covering. You can't live without Him. Somebody laid Him there. Yeah,
God did. You'll find sheep food. You'll
find the bread from heaven lying in a manger. I provided Him. Oh, you just go eat. Go eat. Well, there was no room for Him
in the end. Isn't that terrible? No, it's marvelous. It's marvelous. It's God's design. No room for
Him in the end. You know what an end is? Place
where you pay, provide your own place. That's where everybody
stays. Everybody stays in the inn. Not only was Christ born the
poorest of the poor, no doubt he was born this way to identify
with the very lowest of the low, the poorest of the poor on this
earth. Son of man hath not where to
lay his head, the scripture says. He said. There's no poor person
on this earth that can say, the Lord cannot, doesn't the Lord
see my lowest state? Yes, he does. He was born literally
dirt poorer than you. My mother has a, there's a picture
on our wall at home of my mother's birthplace. You wouldn't believe
that. Abraham Lincoln's home looked like a palace. Honestly,
you wouldn't believe that. It's awful, no shack. They had, at least they had a
shack. The Lord didn't. Well, no poor sinner, no poor
sinner that he does not identify with. But now here's the reason
he was, nobody, nobody wanted him. There's a reason for that. Nobody had to have him. Nobody
in the world wanted him. That's right. He's despised and
rejected. He came under His own and His
own received Him not. From the cradle to the grave,
He's got to be born, not in the inn, but outside the camp, John.
He's got to be born there and die there. The world wasn't looking for
Him. His own word, His chosen Well,
let's see who it was. Let's see who it was that he
revealed himself to. All right? Are you with me? Verse
8, it says, They were in the same country, shepherds abiding
in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. Shepherd.
Just plain old, common, ordinary shepherds. Not many wise men
after the flesh. Not many mighty. There were a
few wise men. You know that story from the
East. Verse 9, it says, The angel of
the Lord came upon them. Folks, this is the picture of
salvation. Every word, every phrase. God comes to a common
old joke. And the angel of the Lord, that's
the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to reveal
Christ's freedom. The angel of the Lord came upon
them and the glory of the Lord, this is the first thing you see,
the glory of the Lord. God's glory. That's what it's
all about, isn't it? A whole shooting match is about
the glory of the Lord. That's the first thing we see.
Every old common sinner whom the Lord reveals himself to,
reveals his son to, is going to see the glory of the Lord. God as God. Christ as Christ,
and themselves for what they are, and salvation for what it
is, glorious. Not an offer of glorious, bestowed
mercy on a hell-deserving, polluted sinner. Not an offer. It's a crown of
glory. I wish I could preach that like
it ought to be preached. Oh, salvation is not a thing
to try. It's glory bestowed on the sons
of men to behold His Son in all His
glory. It's a glorious thing. Salvation
is a glorious thing. It's called a high and a heavenly
calling, not an overt to be. Do they even have it or not? No, sir. And the ones you bestow it upon
are the least worthy, common old shepherds, common old truck
drivers, common old truck mechanics, common old truck filler-uppers,
common old window-makers. Common old tellers. Old. Common people. Here of an uncommon
salvation. Revealed to them by God Himself. Like these shepherds, the glory
of the Lord shone around about them. And what happened? Verse
9. What was their reaction? They were afraid. The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It always has been, it
always will be, the reaction of every sinner whom God reveals
His glory to is fear, especially the preacher. He fears
not glorifying God. He fears saying anything that's
not totally one hundred percent the glory of God, the exaltation
of His person. to the complete glory of His
person and work and salvation from start to finish. If you ain't hearing about a
baby in a manger this morning, folks, you're hearing glory.
I know preachers are saying it all over the land right now,
glory, this glory, that people are jumping and shouting. I hope
your heart is because we're talking about somebody here. All glory belongs to this one.
They were afraid, and the angel said unto them, Now to all who
fear him, to all that look for him and
fear him, shall the son of righteousness appear with healing in his wings.
And this is what they hear. After you see the glory of the
Lord, after this fear is begotten in you, verse 10, he says, Fear
not. Behold, Good news, good news,
good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people, not persons,
not all persons, not every single person. You know grammar, English
grammar? When you say all persons, you
mean every single person. When you say people, you don't
mean every single person. You mean every tribe, nation,
kindred, tongue and people under heaven? Out of! There's not going
to be a people, or that is a kindred, on the top side of the earth
that's not going to hear this good news. Not all persons, but
people. Listen and learn. All right,
read on. Unto you is born this day in
the city of David. Now, who's he talking to? Talking to those shepherds right
there. Talking to those shepherds, those
common shepherds. And he says, unto you. Pretend that was you,
Roberta, one of those shepherds. And the angel said, unto you is born. Unto the world
is born. Unto you is born. And this is
what the angel, the Spirit of God, reveals to every one of
his people. You need a Savior. Unto you is
born this day. Read on. A Savior in the city
of David is a king first. In the city of David, a Savior. You need a Savior. That's why
He reveals every trembling sinner. You need a Savior. Well, you've
got one. Who is it? Christ. Christ means representative. It means Messiah. It means intercessor. It means mediator. It means the
go-between. It means the covenant head. It
means the surety. It means that Christ means everything.
Christ means salvation, John. You need a Savior. You need somebody
to save you. You can't save yourself. Well,
you've got one. Who is it? It's the Christ, the Chosen One,
God's elect, my servant to bring forth justice, righteousness. He's got swaddling clothes. He's
going to wrap you in. Who is He? He's none other than
the Lord Himself. Yes, He saw that there was no
man. So he came down, the Lord himself
came down, his right hand, his holy arm brought him the victory. The Lord, this is none other
than God. Yes, that holy thing shall be
none other than God, Emmanuel, God with us. And this shall be
a sign. You'll find him wrapped in swaddling
clothes, lying in a manger, and suddenly there was with the angel
a multitude of heavenly hosts. What are they doing? praising
God and saying, Glory to God in the highest. And on earth,
now listen, every word is significant. On earth, peace, not peace in
the earth. Our Lord said there won't be
peace in the earth. There will be wars and rumors Peace on earth is in a person. He's called the Prince of Peace. It says he made peace. He's the one that made peace.
He is peace. God's peace offering, if you
will. Not to us, but to himself. He's the peace offering of which
the law speaks of so much. The sin offering, the peace offering,
the trespass offering is it. Peace is on earth. Finally, the
way to peace with God is on earth. Read on. And goodwill. Goodwill
toward men. It doesn't say unto men. There's
a place down the road here, another one of these places in Boone's
Mill, that says on their sign, goodwill unto all. That's a perversion. Goodwill toward not man. Tracy doesn't say man. Says men. God's goodwill, God's peace,
God's gospel, God's salvation is not for everyone. It's for
men, his chosen ones, like these shepherds of old, who were chosen
by God. And this multitude of hosts sit
under them, those chosen ones, as he says, under all his chosen
ones. Peace. Peace between you and
God is in a person. And the good news is, is goodwill
of God. How do I know God will have mercy? There he is in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger, goodwill toward Toward, not unto. You say, unto, I want
to offer something unto you. No, sir. Toward. Every word. Toward, man. Toward, Henry. Toward. Goodwill, the gospel
toward you. Not your brother or sister after you. Glory to God. That's what
these shepherds, they looked. Are you talking to me? The angel
didn't go into town in Jerusalem until it's kings. Common shepherds. Me? Who am
I? What does my have? Well, you
heard glory this morning. All right, let's sing and close
in number 16. Is that it, John? Number 16. Where is he, this born king?
Well, he's on his throne now. He's not in a manger. Number
16. Let's sing first and last verses,
all right? Stand with us. Number 16. First
and last. From world to world the joy shall
reign, For He alone is God and King. From side to side in banners
we'll sing, Sing His praise, sing His praise. The Lord is King, throughout
His vast domain, All in all, all in all, the Lord,
your hope forever of your way. A rising saint, the blue-eyed
king. you