Glory, Peace & Goodwill

Q: What does the Bible say about the purpose of Christ's birth?

The Bible states that Christ's birth was part of God's eternal purpose to redeem His people. The birth of Christ, as captured in the Gospel of Luke, is significant for its theological implications. It was decreed by God to fulfill His purposes concerning salvation. Specifically, Luke 2 emphasizes that the decree from Caesar Augustus to tax all the world was orchestrated by God, demonstrating that even the actions of worldly rulers are subject to His sovereign will. This act of taxation served to fulfill prophecy, directing Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, thus ensuring that the Messiah was born in the city foretold in Scripture. Ephesians 1 further highlights God's eternal purpose, wherein He predestined all things, including Christ’s coming, to bring about the salvation of His chosen people.

Q: How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

God's sovereignty is demonstrated through the orchestration of events leading to Christ's birth as foretold in Scripture. The biblical narrative consistently affirms God's sovereignty over all creation, particularly in the orchestration of events surrounding Christ's birth. In Luke 2, we see Caesar Augustus issuing a decree that serves a larger divine purpose, revealing that even the most powerful leaders are ultimately under God's control. Proverbs 21:1 says, 'The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.' This exemplifies how God uses even the actions of rulers to fulfill His will. Furthermore, Paul's declaration in Ephesians 1 about the predestination of all things underscores that God's sovereignty is not merely an abstract doctrine but a core reality of salvation history, influencing every detail down to the specific location of Christ’s birth.

Q: Why is seeing the glory of God important for Christians?

Seeing the glory of God is essential for Christians as it reveals His holiness, sovereignty, and grace. The glory of God is fundamental to the Christian faith because it encompasses His holiness, righteousness, and authority over creation. In the sermon based on Luke 2, the shepherds saw the glory of the Lord before they encountered the newborn Christ, signifying that an understanding of God's glory is pivotal to recognizing the significance of Jesus' incarnation. The fear that the shepherds experienced highlights the first step in true conversion: recognizing God's majesty and our own sinful state. The revelation of God's glory aligns with the teachings of 2 Corinthians 4:6, where it is explained that God shines the light of the knowledge of His glory into our hearts through the gospel of Christ. Thus, understanding and experiencing this glory confirms our faith and shapes our worship.

Q: How is Christ our peace according to the Bible?

Christ is described as our peace, referring to His role in reconciling us to God through His sacrifice. The Bible portrays Christ as the embodiment of peace, fundamentally reconciling sinners to God. In the message, it is noted that 'on earth, peace' refers not to the absence of conflict but to the peace that Christ provides through His blood (Colossians 1:20). While the world might seek peace through various means, true peace is found solely in Jesus Christ. This peace is a relational aspect of salvation, wherein Christ acts as our mediator, having borne the wrath of God on our behalf. Ephesians 2 similarly states that He is our peace, who has broken down the dividing wall of hostility between God and man, thus offering us a harmonious relationship with the Father by faith.

Luke's Gospel Chapter 2, and we talked about Wednesday
night and last Sunday, and ever since we started in the Gospel
of Luke, how every word of God is has
a spiritual meaning, spiritual application. These things aren't
written just for history. They're not written just for
information. They're not written, like I said, just for history.
But these things have spiritual meaning, and some would accuse
us, and I mean me and other men who do this, would accuse us
of what they say over-spiritualizing. That is, not staying with the
literal meaning of the passage. But like I just quoted from the
scriptures, Christ said, My word is spirit, and it's life. Paul said in 1 Corinthians, They
which are spiritual do understand all things. How? In a spiritual
life. These things would mean nothing
to us if they didn't apply to us. Right? We would be merely reading the
account of the birth of the Christ child, which is marvelous, which
is miraculous, but it's meant to create faith, not
just that he lived, but saving faith. All right? OK. I hope thatâ€”well, you'll see. I hope you'll see. I hope we'll
all see how these things have a spiritual meaning. All right. John the Baptist had
just been born. And now we come to the birth
of Jesus Christ. Some stranger off the street
might come in here and say, Why in the world are you dealing
with the Christmas story in August? Well, we saw recently how that
Christ was not even born in December at all, born somewhere between
June and in July, or May and July, somewhere around there.
However, like I said, there is more to this than just the birth
of Christ. We'll see the new birth here.
All right. Verse 1. And it came to pass in those
days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all
the world should be taxed. The most powerful ruler in the
world at this time. He was the emperor of the Roman
Empire, king, or another word, king, emperor of the Roman Empire. He made a decree to tax all the
world. Now, could he do that? Could
he tax the whole world? Well, he taxed the world that
he knew. The word world, if I'm not careful, I'll get hung up
right here. The word world in scripture, wherever you see it,
like John 3.16, has a spiritual application,
has a meaning, all right? Not just Jews, but Gentiles,
all right? But not the whole world. Caesar wasn't aware of North
America, all right? but the world that he knew of
Jews and Gentiles. He made a decree to tax the known
world. And this taxing was first made
when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. These historical facts are written
to authenticate the time, to tell us for sure the time, to
tell us for sure the exact time. All right? And verse 3, And all
went to be taxed, every one into his own city, or the city of
his family, or his hometown, in other words.
All right? Now, this wicked king, this most
powerful ruler in the world at this time, made a decree to tax
everyone. And it was a cruel decree. There
were very many poor people. And he made this decree out of
the wickedness of his own heart, along with other cruel and wicked
rulers. He made it out of greed to support
that corrupt Roman government. All right? made this decree,
and everybody had to pay up. All right? But listen to the
Proverbs. Listen. The king's heart is in
the hands of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he, the
Lord, turneth it. That is, the king's heart Turneth
it makes him do whatever he will. Turneth it whithersoever he will.
This king made a decree, and it was a cruel one, a tyrannical
one, a greedy decree to tax everybody, and nobody was exempt from it.
And he did it out of the cruelness of his own heart, but he did
it because God told him to do it. God determined for him to do
it. Why? Why? And why am I spending a
little time on this? Because God had a purpose in
this, an all-wise, unchangeable, eternal purpose which he purposed
in Christ Jesus, concerning Christ Jesus, everything concerning
him, before the world began. And this fellow was a pawn in
God's purpose. He taxed the whole world. He
taxed the whole world to work it out where two of his
people would be someplace at a particular time. I'm talking he taxed the whole
world, every human being. in order to work out his purpose
concerning this poor little fellow named Joseph and his little wife
named Mary. You see that all things work
together according to this purpose of God, to them that love God,
who are called according to his purpose. What were they called
to do? To have the hope of glory found
in them. to be found in him and him in
them. The whole purpose of God. He
taxed the whole world. He made the whole world have
this happen just so these two little Jews could end up in a
certain little town, so something big could take place. Look at verses 3 through 5. It
all went to be taxed. Everyone in his own city. Joseph
went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea.
city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of
the house of David and the lineage of David. And Joseph went to
be taxed with Mary, his wife, who was great with child, who
was expecting a child, ready to deliver any time. And here's
another point I want you to see, is that all of God's people are
subject to the whims, the evil edicts or mandates or laws of
wicked and corrupt governments. You see why we're not out to
change governments. We're not out to change society
and all. The king's heart's in the hands
of the Lord. And though this whole thing,
he meant it for evil, oh, did God work it and mean it for goodness.
And, Stan, they were poor. They didn't have money to give
to the Roman government. They weren't exempt from it,
though. They had to give. They had to pay. They were not
exempt. God's people are not exempt from the cruelties of
corrupt nations and rulers and so forth. It says Joseph had
to leave, had to pick up his family. His wife was nine months
pregnant, or close. Had to take her on a donkey or
a horseback or whatever. How terrible! How wonderful! He had to. He had to leave Nazareth. Why? Why? Why do you think he
had to leave Nazareth? He had to go to Bethlehem. Why?
Why do you think he had to go to Bethlehem? Because Scripture says so. Because the Scripture must be
fulfilled. Because God's purpose must be
fulfilled, because the scripture says, Thou Bethlehem, not Nazareth,
Bethlehem, Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands
of Judah. That was a tribe, a place in
Judah. All the kings, Shiloh was going
to come from Judah. The tribe of Judah, the line
of the tribe of Judah. The Christ, Micah is talking
about, out of Bethlehem, yet out of thee shall come forth
unto me, he that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth
have been from of old, from everlasting." Joseph had to take his poor little
wife and travel a long ways to get to Bethlehem. Why? Christ
must be born in Bethlehem to fulfill God's purpose, to fulfill
scripture. Let the Christ be born there.
All right, verses 6 and 7. And Paul said in Ephesians 1,
listen to this, Paul said that God has predestinated all things. He predestinated us under the
adoption of children. Before the foundation of the
world, he had chosen us in Christ, predestinated us under the adoption
of children. You're not looking, but listen.
He said in verse 9 of Ephesians 1, He's made known unto us the
mystery of his will, his purpose, according to his good pleasure
which he purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the
fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, in heaven and earth, in Christ, that we might have
an inheritance. You see, this whole planet, everything,
everything on this ball of dirt is working together according
to God's eternal, immutable purpose concerning Jesus Christ and his
people. And God is controlling things
over in the darkest, deepest heart of Africa as they concern
me right here, and my relationship with Christ. You see, I don't understand that.
That's God. That's God's purpose. That man
over in wherever it was, over in some far, remote place in
the Roman kingdom that was being taxed, he's, why is he doing
this to me? Because of something happening
over in Bethlehem. What's that got to do with me? You're part
of it. Well, you see, our God is God
of purpose. Learn something about the purpose
of God as it relates to Jesus Christ, and you'll learn something
of the gospel. It all relates to Christ. Everybody
and everything. I'll never forget the time I
first heard a man say this, and it shocked me. He said, God
uses people. He didn't mean it the way some
say, well, God's using me for a great thing. No, he means that
God uses people. I mean, he uses them like soda. Scripture said, For this purpose
have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee. To do
what? Vapor him in the river. Why? For his people. Is that hard? The people said that to Christ
in various places. These are hard things. Who can
hear them? God's people do, and they rejoice.
They rejoice. That's God. That's the way he
does things. All right, look at verses 6 and 7. Now, he was in that day. It was
so that while they were there in Bethlehem, the days were accomplished
that she should be delivered in the fulness of time. God sent
forth his Son, made of woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law. In the fullness of time, she
brought forth her son, verse 7, her firstborn son. But it really wasn't her son
at all. Oh, no. The child was born, Isaiah 9,
verse 6 says, but the Son was given. This wasn't Mary's son. This was God's son. God's son. Read on. "...and the firstborn
son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger."
Because there was no room for them in the inn. No room. All right. Just as God had promised.
Just as it was written. Just as the angel had announced.
It was so. It happened. Christ was born
in Bethlehem. He was born in a barn. Born in a barn. It says there's
no room for them in the inn. This was by God's decree. This
was by God's decree that he be born in this stable. And you
will rejoice in a moment at God's decree in this. This was, though,
by man's wicked by man's wickedness, by man's will. Henry, it said
there was no room for them. You'd think, wouldn't you think
that some Jewish, so-called God-fearing Jewish man who owned an inn in
the city of Bethlehem, here this man and his wife, who was nine
months pregnant, he said, Joseph may have told you, I'm son of
David, this is my hometown, you know. And wouldn't you think
that the man had a little compassion? on him and make a little room
so here have my room you know my wife and I move we'll sleep
on the couch here you have she's expected let me call her doctor
no no room for them in here. Why? Because God purposed that that's
why God purposed that Well, this is because the scripture fulfilled.
He was in the world, and the world was made by him. The world
knew him not. He came unto his own. His own
received him not. This was a prelude. This was
a picture. This was a prelude of all the
treatment that Christ was to receive all the days of his life.
The scripture says he was despised and what? Rejected of men. Who? Everybody. Don't want you. No room. just like wherever he
went. Like, remember when he healed
the man in the tomb of the Gadarenes? Remember when the people came?
The pig owners, the swine owners came and said, Get out of here.
Depart out of our coast. We don't want you around here.
And the scripture says a natural man does not receive him either. A man does not like to retain
God in his knowledge. There's no room for God in man's
thoughts and man's so-called life and all. All this is by
God's decree, though. God's Son should have been born
in a palace, shouldn't he? The Son of God, the only begotten,
well-beloved Son of God should have been born in a palace, unlike
any other. But he wasn't born in a barn.
Why? Because the Scripture said he's
going to be low. He's going to be low. How low? How low? He's going to be common. How common? Well, the most common
people are going to hear him gladly. They're going to relate
to him. Lowly, lowly. He was lowest of the low to identify
with the lowly. You had poor upbringing? You
had poor beginnings? He poorer. You have a poor beginning,
Henry? I know you did. I've seen that
school you went to. It's since been condemned, you
know. A little one-room schoolhouse, and they condemned it right after
Henry left. They didn't want any more like
him. It was a little one-room school shack, isn't it? My mother
has a picture of her childhood home where she was born and raised
down in South Alabama. Oh, they were poor, dirt poor,
as they would say. You ought to see that picture.
It's a shack. He wasn't born in a barn, though. He was born
in a featherbed, in that shack. But the Lord God of glory was
born in a barn. He was rejected. He was rejected. He was rejected. Look at verse
8 and 9. But he came to some certain people. rejected by most,
but received by a few. Verse 8 and 9, there was in the
same country shepherds, all right? These fellows, Joe, were sitting
out on the hillside at nighttime, sitting out on the hill watching
a bunch of sheep. Who are these fellows? Shepherds. Shepherds. Just farmers, you
know. old common shepherds, abiding
in a 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." Here is another
picture in God's Word of sovereign electing grace, sovereign revelation
of Christ, of God choosing particular people and passing by others.
Another example of the many in all of Scripture. This is exactly
how God saves all whom he saves. He chooses them. He comes to
them. They don't come to him. He comes
to them. He chooses them. They don't choose him. He chooses
them. And he passes by other people
to do it. He came to these particular shepherds. and sitting on a particular
hill at a particular time for a particular reason, to tell
in a particular redemption. It could go on, couldn't it? As a particular Savior in a particular
place, according to God's particular purpose. And he came to them,
he chose them over others. The angel came upon them, it
says. The angel came upon them. God, the Holy Spirit, Christ
said to them, everyone that's born of the Spirit is born this
way." What way? Well, the wind bloweth where
it listeth. You hear the sound thereof, but cannot tell from
which it cometh. The wind bloweth where it listeth. So is everyone that is born of
the Spirit. He blows on, he moves on, he
comes to whoever he decides, whoever God sent him to. That's
it. That's it. And look at what happened
to these fellows. the glory of the Lord shone round
about them. And the angel of the Lord came
to them, these particular fellows. They weren't looking for him.
They weren't asking for him, sitting on a hill in the dark,
watching sheep, nobodies from nowhere. And the angel of the Lord came
to them. God sent the angel of the Lord to these particular
men on this hill, and it says, Glory of the Lord shone around
them. The glory of the Lord shone around about them. What happened? Sun shined. They were sitting
in the dark, and all of a sudden the sun shined. Look back at
chapter 1. This is exactly what Zechariah
said, didn't it? Chapter 1, look at verse 78 and
79, "...all through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the
day spring, sun rising from on high, hath visited us, to give
light to them that sit in darkness." The sun started shining on these
shepherds sitting on a hill in the dark. The sun shone. Yes, it did. The glory of the
Lord, which is the sun. Not the S-U-N, but the S-O-N. And doesn't the scripture say?
And 2 Corinthians 4, that God, who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, the heart of every
believer, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ. When the gospel came to you,
when you were first in the darkness of sin and of ignorance and religious
tradition and so on and so forth, when the gospel came to you,
wasn't it like a light turned on? What did you see? When the
gospel came to you, what did you see there? Christ! The Son! How that he's all! The doctrine of Christ we saw
in Hebrews this morning. You saw him! And once he is revealed
to you, you see him everywhere, don't you? If you ever look at
the Son, if you ever looked at the Son by accident or just Looked
at the sun briefly, what happened? You look away, what happened?
What do you see? What? Spots! Sunspots, don't you? Everywhere you look, you see
sunspots. If you ever see Jesus Christ,
really, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, you see sunspots
all through the scripture. You see him in everything. Why?
He's all over you. Christ is all and in all. Those disciples who were walking
on the road to Emmaus, they were ignorant. They were in darkness
and ignorance and superstition. We trusted that he'd been this,
he'd been that. And he restored the kingdom of Israel. He set
up a temple over there, and he'd sit on the throne of David and
all that. And Christ got the Scripture and opened their understanding
that they might know him. In all the scriptures it says,
beginning in Moses and the Psalms and the Prophets, in all the
scriptures, things concerning himself. And they saw him, the
glory of the Lord. He did all things for his glory. Whose glory? The glory of Christ. He wrote this book for his glory.
Whose glory? The glory of his Son. This is
like a photo album made by God concerning his Son. You have
any photo albums at home? I know you do. You've got 111.
That's four million pictures of your children in them. I know.
Four million pictures of your children in these photo albums.
That's about all you've got in those photos. Your children,
your children. God is well pleased with his son, as he should be. And that's what this book is,
that you might see the son. not see the Jews and not see
Abraham, be impressed with him, not see Moses and be impressed
with him, see the law and be impressed with him. Christ. Where am I? All right, look at
Luke chapter 2 again. But glory to the Lord shone round
about them, everybody whom God sends his angel to, everybody
whom God chooses, everybody whom God elects. He sends his messenger
to and reveals the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the
first thing they see. Before they saw a baby, Joe,
they saw the glory of the Lord. They didn't even know there was
a baby, but they saw the glory of the Lord. Seeing a baby won't
save you, but seeing the glory of the Lord sitting on the throne
will. See that? Oh, boy. And look what happened
here. And what happened to them? They
were so afraid. What happened? When they saw
the glory of the Lord. What is the glory of the Lord?
His holiness, His sovereignty, His justice. This is the essential
glory or attributes or character of God. Without it, He would
not be God. He's first holy, holy, holy. Christ, holy God. It's the glory
of the Lord, more so than any other attribute. Holy, holy,
holy. They saw this holy and this sovereign
God, all right? What happened? They were afraid. And this is what happens to everyone
whom God really saves. The first thing he creates in
them is the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of understanding
of wisdom. That's what's wrong with preaching
today. That's what's wrong with all these so-called professions
going on today. Preachers standing up, telling
everybody God loves them. Well, perfect love casts out
fear, doesn't it? Isn't that what the Scripture
says? The man stands up and tells everybody,
without exception, God loves them, that there's nothing to
fear. Incidentally, that's what he said they'd say in Jeremiah
23. said those false prophets would say unto them that despise
me, no evil shall befall you. Why, God loves you and has a
wonderful plan for your life if you just let him. And there's
no fear. Men don't fear. Is there any
fear of God before men's eyes today? No. Paul said it in his
day, and it's worse now. But those that know him fear
him, and they fear him first. they've seen the glory of the
Lord, this holy and righteous and sovereign God. Before they
hear of Christ, before they hear of Christ, they hear of this
holy God, else sharing Christ doesn't mean
a thing to them. Isn't that right? You don't need
a Savior unless you're guilty before a holy God. Isn't that
right? You don't need a Redeemer if
you can do it yourself. Don't need to be justified by
faith if you feel like you're all right. Oh, but guilty sinners,
they fear God. And look at this, verse 10, And
the angel said unto them. Now, here's the first thing.
After they feared the Lord, the angel said unto them. The messenger
said, Fear not. First thing. He began to allay
their fear. Fear not! And then he gives good
tidings. He gives them the gospel. See that? Then he gives them
the gospel. Good tiding. I bring you good
tiding. You fear the Lord? You ought
to. God's angry with the wicked every
day. God hateth all workers of iniquity. God doesn't need anybody. Sinners sure need him. Need a
Savior, don't you? You fear him? Yes, I do. Are
you guilty? Yes, I am guilty. Fear not. I've got good news for you, for
unto you. Who's he talking to? Look at
verse 11. For unto you is born this day. Who's he talking to? The shepherds. Wasn't he a jerk? He wasn't even
embarrassed to write on there. Unto you, who fear God, who've
seen the glory of the Lord. Oh, good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. You see why I talked about the
world in the beginning? All people, not just Jews. This
angel was speaking to a couple of Jewish shepherds. God has a people out of every
tribe, kindred, nation, tongue, under heaven. The world. Yes,
the world. God so loved not just Jews, but
a world of people, that he gave his only begotten Son to all
his people, all his people. Read on. And to you is born this
day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord, a Savior,
a Redeemer, a Deliverer, which is a Savior, not a try-to-save,
a Savior. a redeemer. You heard that little
girl's definition of a redeemer, didn't you? That little four-year-old
girl, didn't I tell you that? I'll tell you again. It'll be
written down somewhere. A four-year-old girl, her teacher
asked her what a redeemer was. She said, someone who redeems. That's exactly right. Now, go
down here and ask your seminary professor and ask him. Is Christ
a redeemer? Well, he tried. He made a down
payment, and you make the rent. Well, he attempted. He did all
he could do, and now it's up to you. He paid part of it, and
you pay. Then he's not a redeemer, is
he? Call him what you will, but he's
not a redeemer. A redeemer is someone who redeems. Is he a
Savior? The angel said, Call his name
something. Jesus! What's his name? Ask the average person, did Jesus
Christ save? Well, he did what was necessary
to be saved, and you make it, well, don't call his name Jesus
then, because that's what it means. Don't call him Savior,
because he didn't call him, don't call him the Atonement, call
him the Attemptment. Don't call him Redeemer, call
him the one who tried, the down payment. He's a Redeemer. Unto you is born this day a Savior. which is Christ." That means
the Messiah, the only representative, the only substitute, the only
mediator, the only advocate, the only go-between, the only
daysman, the only umpire between God and men. The Lord unto you
is born this day a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Not a Lord,
but the Lord, and not one when you make him so. He's the Lord.
He is right now, and always has been, the Lord, whether men acknowledge
it or not. The Lord. All power. That's what Lord means. All power
over all things. Read on. Now here, this is good.
You'll like this. Now the angel is still talking
to these shepherds in the desert. He said, Now this shall be a
sign unto you, you shepherds. This shall be a sign unto you. the bay, wrapped in swaddling
clothes, lying in a manger." It's going to be a sign, the
angel said. He's going to find him. He's
going to find him. Now, remember, they heard and
saw many things before they saw this baby in his hands. They
saw the glory of the Lord before they saw the baby. And I cannot labor this point
enough. Only the preaching of Christ,
high and lifted up, that will save people. He said, if I be
lifted up, I'll draw all men. It's not Christmas pageants and
the preaching of some baby and sentimental this and that and
the other. It's seeing the glory of the
Lord sitting at the right hand of God. Well, they saw and heard many
things before they saw this baby. They saw the glory of the Lord.
They feared him. They heard who he was. Didn't
they? They heard who he was. He's Savior. He's Christ. He's Lord. Before
they saw a baby. You see how significant this
is? All right? And then the angel said, this
is going to be a sign to you. You're going to see him in a
certain way. You're going to find him. When
you find him, when you find the Christ, you'll know it's the
Christ because he'll be in swaddling clothes, lying in the manger. What's, you know, what's important
about that? Swaddling, you know, I see him
now in this way. Where's swaddling clothes? Huh? You ladies that had children,
they swaddled your baby. They still do it. They take their
long blanket or some sort of cloth, and they absolutely wrap
up that child and cover it until nothing but his little pink face
is showing, you know. Covered that child up in a room! If you see him, when you see
the Christ, you'll see him as your swaddling clothes. You got
me? You see the Christ, you'll see
him as your robe of righteousness, your covering, not only his righteousness
which he imputed to your account, which swaddles your naked soul,
but his blood which covers all your sins. The child and Ezekiel. The only other time the word
is used. It says, the child and Ezekiel. He found the child. He said, nobody has swaddled
you. But he said, I'll pass by you
and spread my skirt on you, swaddle you. When you see the Christ, you'll
see him as the Lord, my righteousness. Swaddle me, cover my naked soul. See, it's not just, well, you'll
see his baby, and he'll be dressed in some rags and lying in a trough. It's more than that. You'll see
the Christ, and you'll know him as the Lord,
your righteousness. Am I over-spiritualizing here?
Well, look at the next thing. It says you'll see a lion in
a manger. A lion in a manger. All right? I see Christ as my covering.
He covers my soul. A lion in a manger. What's a manger? Steve, you've
got a manger, don't you? In your barn. I've seen it. A
manger. It's this thing. It's in his barn. made of wood,
and you've seen pictures of them, if not, the slats of wood where
they put hay and fodder, food for sheep, food for sheep in
this manger, food for sheep in this manger. You'll see him and
you'll know him as Christ. swaddling clothes lying in a
manger. Christ said, Except you eat my flesh and drink my blood,
you have no part in me. Have you eaten? Do you see Christ
as your soul, the bread from heaven? If you're one of his
sheep, he's your food. He's your green pasture. He's
your fodder. In a manger, and I've got to
quit. All right, my time's up. And verse 13 says, Then suddenly
are at these shepherds, and saw the glory of the Lord, the glory
of the Lord. They were sitting in darkness,
and an angel came to them, and shone on them, and they saw the
glory of the Lord, and shined round about them. They feared
the Lord, and he said, Well, you've got good news for you,
you've got the gospel for you. And he is, not it is, he is Savior,
Christ the Lord. And you'll see him as swaddling
clothes, lying in a manger, and then suddenly they were found
with a whole bunch of people. Suddenly they were in a crowd
of people. God has no solitary sheep. Sheep are gregarious creatures. What's that name, creature? You
trying to impress us? No, you'll get the word congregate
from gregarious. That means they flock together. They have to. It's the nature
of the animal. Goats can just stand on a hillside
all day by themselves, can't they stand? And chew on ten cans
of bark. Well, sheep like green pasture
and like lots of other sheep around them. And when these shepherds
heard and saw and all this, Suddenly, they were in the midst of a whole
bunch of people doing what they wanted to do. Glorify God. Praise God. You see that? You
see what I'm saying? Sheep have to find other sheep,
and they will. They will. God will put them
right in the midst of a congregation. Doing what? What are they doing?
What are they doing, verse 13? Praising God, not on praise, not leading the choir
praising God. That's what the Church is all
about. That's what sheep do. Talk about the shepherd. That's
what the Church does. It's all about Him. Raising God,
read on, and saving. What is that? What's the first
thing out of their mouths? Glory to God. See that, Ron? They realize, when they've seen
the glory of God, they realize it's all about His glory. It's
all to the praise of the glory of His grace. It's all to the
praise of the glory of His sovereign mercy. It's all to the praise
of His Son. Glory to God! And let me even
tell you this. They still haven't seen the baby
yet. They still haven't seen this
baby. But they are saying, Glory to God. And you know, before
it, and read on. This is supposed to be my text,
and I'm already out of time. Verse 14, And on earth peace,
goodwill toward men. Before there is a word to man,
there are words of glory to God. Before you even start talking
about man. You begin with God. You see that? The gospel, everything, everything,
redounds unto his glory before man is even mentioned. Today's
so-called gospel is a man-centered gospel. It's all about men. It's
all appealing to men. It's all man, man, man. The gospel
begins with the glory of God before you ever even mention
men. The glory of God. And on earth,
though, peace, goodwill toward men. Peace! It doesn't say peace
in earth, does it? It doesn't say that. It doesn't
say peace in earth. In other words, it's not saying
there's going to be peace throughout all the earth. On earth, peace. You catch that, don't you, Jeanette?
Glory to God! Who's the glory of God? On earth,
peace! On earth, man is peace! He is our peace, the prince of
peace, who hath obtained peace by the blood of his cross. See, God's way of peace is not
us doing anything, it's Christ. God who's angry with the wicked,
it's not us trying to appease him, it's Christ. It took the
blood, the bloody death of God's Son, to obtain peace for me. He is my peace with this holy
God. You see that? On earth, peace,
a person. is person, not a thing. Just
like the gospel, not a doctrine, it's a person. Goodwill toward
man? Goodwill. What's the goodwill
of God? What's the goodwill of God? Moses said to the Lord,
Show me your glory. God said, I will. Make all my
goodness pass before you." Good will! What is it? It ain't a
what, it's a who. You see, listen, if I can make
one thing clear, let me make this clear. Will God have mercy? Yes, there is. That's our Lord, you see. Christ. Will God be gracious? Yes, there
he is. Will God save sinners? Yes, there
he is. You see there? Will God have
peace with some sinner? Yes, there he is. You understand that? Rebecca,
you see that? person. Goodwill. Christ is the goodwill
of God. Christ is the peace of God. Christ
is the glory of God. Christ is all. And so the shepherd said this,
and I quit. I said, I know I said that. Well,
all men are liars. But I'll quit. And it came to
pass, verse 15, as the angels were gone away from them into
heaven, and the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go,
even unto Bethlehem." Now, right now! Well, let's wait a little
bit, let's eat a little bite, let's have a little bite. No,
now! Today is the day of salvation. And verse 16, it came with haste. If you ever see and hear Christ
in the gospel, you've got to go where it is. You won't tarry
any longer. Did you notice that? They went
to where he was. When they first heard the gospel,
it came to them, didn't it? But then once they heard and
seen his glory and God had worked in their heart, they had to go
where the gospel was, where Christ is found. Where is he found?
With his people. Not found everywhere, either.
You have to go where he is. Wherever the gospel is preached
is where you're going to have to go. You see that, Henry, don't
you? I saw a smile on your face. I know you do. You go where he
is. And they did. And they came with
haste, and what did they find? They found the babe just like
God said they found it, lying in a manger. And when they had
seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them.
They told everybody all they knew and all they had heard,
all they had heard, wondering at those things which were told
them by the shepherd. And Mary kept all these things,
pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying
and praising God. They still were glorifying God,
praising God for all the things they had seen. What things? The
glory of the Lord, the Christ child, and heard and seen as
it was told according to the word of God. You see, they had
faith. They believed. as it was told unto them, as
he was revealed to them by the word of God, they saw Christ
and glorified him and praised him. Well, I hope you got something
out of that. I enjoyed it. I'm glad they waited to make that
noise. That's the way he ever has. Am
I over spiritualizing? Not to God's people. Not at all. You can't preach Christ. You
can't exalt him enough. And this is the gospel story
for everyone who sings. All right, Joe, what song? 252. 252 standing. And a couple of verses. 252. First and the second stanza.
First and the second. The. He will save you, He will save
you now. For Jesus, with His precious blood, He led you to His side. He will save you. He will save you. Thank you and
your dismay.

Glory, Peace & Goodwill

What does the Bible say about the purpose of Christ's birth?

How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

Why is seeing the glory of God important for Christians?

How is Christ our peace according to the Bible?

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Glory, Peace & Goodwill

What does the Bible say about the purpose of Christ's birth?

How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

Why is seeing the glory of God important for Christians?

How is Christ our peace according to the Bible?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

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