Let's read these first 18 verses
here together. Luke chapter 2. And it came to
pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar
Augustus that all the world should be taxed. and this taxing was
first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria, and all went
to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went
up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the
city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of
the house and lineage of David. to be taxed with marry his espoused
wife, being great with child. 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, wrapped in swaddling clothes,
and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in
the end. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding
in the field, keeping watch over the 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. And the angel said
unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great
joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And
this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising
God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels
were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one
to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this
thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known
to us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and
the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they
made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning
this child. And all they that heard it wondered
at those things which were told them. by the shepherds. Let me
back here in Luke chapter 2. And I want to talk about God's
revelation. God's revelation. Those 18 verses
that I read to you is what I want to deal with today. These 18
verses that I read with you. And what we have here is the
birth of a child. The birth of a child. It says
in verse 7, She brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped him
in swaddling clothes, laid him in a manger. We have here the
birth of a child. The birth of any child is wonderful
or when they're loved they're brought into this world because
they want parents want them and they're loved and cared for and
and the and the wind up birth is wonderful. Any child's birth
is wonderful. A soul is brought into existence.
A soul is brought into existence. But the birth of this child here,
the birth of this child is the most blessed birth of any child
since the world began. It's the greatest birth ever
born, ever had on the face of the whole world. The Lord God
manifest came down. Emmanuel, God with us came. That's
what it's talking about. And it's a miracle. It's a miracle. Jesus, I mean, Joseph, when he
was about to put away Mary, because she was found with child of the
Holy Ghost. He didn't know that. And he was
a just man, didn't want to embarrass her. And the Lord came to him
in a dream and said, Joseph, fear not to take unto thee Mary
thy wife, for she is with child of the Holy Ghost. She's begotten
of God. That's what it says. So it's
a miracle. God was manifest in the flesh. That's what this was.
And how many blessings, how many blessings to man have come through
the birth of this man that was born this child that was born
that day how many blessings untold blessings have come because he
was going to be born and then after he was born we're here
today and enjoy the blessings of God because this man was born
wasn't born on December 25th I'm not saying that at all but
this is a wonderful opportunity to talk about our Lord's coming
and God's revelation concerning him and hey Christ Christ, that's
God's revelation. He's God revealed Himself in
His Son. I want to talk about when He
done it and how He done it. Now this Jesus was born of a
woman. That's the first thing we'll talk about. He was born
of a woman. Look at the time. These first three verses. And
it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree
from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. Everybody
under the rule and reign of Rome should be taxed. And this taxing
was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. And all
went to be taxed, every one, into his own city. And oh, when
was the time when Augustus Caesar, he was the first emperor, the
very first Caesar, and he said to everybody out in the world,
you've got to go someplace and you've got to be taxed. Go to
where your lineage is from, go where you were born and raised,
and go there and pay your taxes. And I tell you what, do you know
when this time was? When the fullness of time was
come. God sent forth his son, made of a woman. and all the
wisdom of God in planning all events to bring past His will.
It says there a decree went out. Caesar made a decree. Before
Caesar ever existed, God made a decree. And that decree was
that His Son would break into time and come through the womb
of a virgin. He said it hundreds of years
before it ever happened, 600 years before Christ was born.
He says, Immanuel, God with us. A virgin shall conceive and bear
a son. oh yeah you see a decree went
out but God's decree went out before this because known unto
God are all his works from the creation and I'll tell you something
beloved and I love this everything happens at God's time God's got
a time for everything in this world He's got a time for everything
there's a time and a season and a purpose for everything under
the heavens And this was God's time. And you know when Caesar
sent out that decree, he didn't have any idea what God was doing.
He sent out that decree because it was time for God's Son to
be born. And you know where He had to
be born at? He had to be born in Bethlehem. look what it says that's why
david says my times are in thy hands and look in verse four
look at the place the time was when this decree went out god
already had a decree sent out and look in verse four and joseph
also went up from galilee out of the city of nazareth unto
judea under the city of david which is called bethlehem because
he was the house and lineage of david that's why our Lord
Jesus Christ is called the Son of David and you know this is
where David was born and raised this is where David raised the
sheep and took care of the sheep out on the hillsides and it wasn't
in Nazareth he must be born in Bethlehem and I should you know
if you can find Micah if you can find Micah go to Malachi
and just keep going to your left till you find Micah and I want
you to see see what Micah said about this and uh about when
our Lord Jesus Christ Micah chapter 5. I want you to see this the
place was Bethlehem because it was the city of David and our
Lord Jesus Christ had to be a son of David and that's why both
his mother and father both was of the lineage of David and also
here they was and went all the way back to Abraham this is the
promised seed of Abraham you see He must be born in Bethlehem. Look what he said here in Micah
chapter 5 in verse 2. But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah,
though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, just a little
place, yet out of thee shall come forth unto me that is going
to be ruler in Israel. Now listen to what he says here.
Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. So he's been from old and for
everlasting. He's gonna be the ruler and here
he is born in Bethlehem This is the one who's everlasting.
He's from old and so you see beloved So old if he sent this
decree and he's going exactly where God said he's going to
be born. Oh God ordered all things all things to bring Mary and
Joseph to Bethlehem for His Son to be born. And this haughty,
haughty king, his heart was as hard and he didn't think anything
about God, but I tell you something, he was nothing but an instrument
in God's hands, nothing but an instrument in God's hands. I
want you to, I know y'all seen this before, but look in Proverbs
21. I know you've seen this, but this will remind you that
everything God used this, he's just an instrument in God's hand,
that's all. To get the Lord, get Mary and
Joseph into Bethlehem so our Lord Jesus Christ could be born.
He ordered everything that's gonna happen in this world so
Christ could be born in Bethlehem. And look what he says, this king,
he was so hard-hearted but only an instrument in God's hands.
Look what he says here in Proverbs 21.1. The king's heart is in
the hand of the Lord. as the rivers of water, and he
turneth it whithersoever he will. And he turned it to taxes the
people so that our Lord Jesus Christ would be born in Bethlehem.
The king of kings was coming into this world, a king who would
have a kingdom without any end, a dominion from everlasting to
everlasting. And Bethlehem was 70 miles from
Nazareth. And so, beloved, they were 70
miles. She was pregnant. heavy with
child and they had to walk 70 miles to get to Bethlehem and
he sent them there for one reason for her blessed son the Lord
Jesus Christ to be born in Bethlehem and that always confused them
people they said when he lived in Nazareth said how can it is
any good thing ever come out of Nazareth because they didn't
understand that he was born in Bethlehem And oh, he was the
son of David, and he must be born in the city of David. Now
look at the circumstances. Look down here in verse 5. Oh,
they went because he was the house and lineage of David. And
so they went to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife. They
had never... They hadn't even been married,
you know, they had never had any kind of relations because
she's great with child with the Holy Ghost. 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 wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because
there was no room in the inn. This is the circumstances that
it was, what happened when God sent them up there. She was great
with child. I mean, she was, she was big,
really heavy, heavy with child, ready to deliver just any time.
And so she's going all 70 miles, great with child. And watch what
it says, and while they were there, while they were there,
the days were accomplished. And everything's going to be
accomplished. The day that she's going to deliver is accomplished.
Everything has a time to be accomplished. And everything concerning our
Lord Jesus Christ had an accomplishment. Everything concerning Him was
accomplished. And this day was brought to pass,
so on that day when they got there, she was going to have
her child. Drave with child and everything has to be accomplished.
God's not going to let anything go unaccomplished. And he didn't
have to ask the king. He didn't have to ask Mary and
Joseph. He didn't have to ask anybody where there's going to
go and what there's going to do. He had this all planned,
purposed and predestinated before the world ever began. And I'll
tell you something, in his birth, it wasn't at home. It wasn't
at home. A lot of people was born at home
years and years ago. Not many born at home anymore.
But his birth wasn't at home. He wasn't at home in the comfort
of his own home. She wasn't in the comfort of
her own home. No, no. He was at a very strange place.
A very strange place. And they didn't take him, you
know, there was an inn there. He wasn't born in that inn. He
wasn't laid after he was born, laid in a carefully prepared
cradle that somebody built for him. Somebody went to great lengths
to prepare him a wonderful cradle. He wasn't laid in this beautiful
handmade cradle that somebody made. No, no. He wasn't laid
in a beautifully prepared cradle. She took that baby, wiped him
off, cleaned him off, wrapped him up in some clothes after
she swaddled him, and cleaned him up, and took him over, and
laid him on some straw, laid him on some hay in a manger.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory himself, the Lord of
glory, taken out there, wrapped up. You know, and everybody has
these mangers. I'm sure they had them. Some
of you may have them in your barn now, where you throw hay
off your loft, and you throw it down there, and you got this
thing laying out there, you know, and then this wall here, and
you fill that thing up, and they stand there and pick it up. That's
what you brought. And I, Lord Jesus Christ, it's an amazing
thing that that child that was born was God Almighty, born of
a woman, had to be washed off, and his navel had to be cut,
he had to be suckled at his mother's breast, and then after she had
done that, she took him down and she laid him in a manger.
And I, Lord Jesus Christ, slept just like a little infant sleeps.
It's hard to grasp, ain't it? Oh, and I'll tell you what this
was this was there was people coming and going and you know
and at the end and this was people coming and going going these
places to be taxed and there was people coming and going and
nobody knew what was going on nobody but Mary and Joseph had
any idea that what was happening they they was the only two that
knew that she was conceived of the Holy Ghost and and that this
child's name was given to him before he was ever born the name
that God gave to him Jesus Jehovah Savior and God gave him the purpose
to come into this world that he shall and the emphasis on
him he shall that's what he come for he's a baby he ain't 24 hours
old yet he shall save his people from their sin. That child laying
in that manger saved me from my sin, and he was the lamb slain
before the foundation of the world. Then he come here and
was laid in a manger. Bless his name. Oh, God's ways
is past finding out, ain't it? Oh, my. And then let me show
you how God's method of revealing this business. Look at God's
method of revealing His Son. Look what it says now down there
in verse 8. Look what happened. And there were in the same country
shepherds, just like David used to do, abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of
the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round
about them, and they were sure so afraid. Now here's the Good
Shepherd who lays His life down for the sheep. He's the Chief
Shepherd, that's the Lord our Shepherd, and He's the Great
Shepherd that was brought again from the dead, and here He is,
He's the Shepherd of the sheep, and here's this Great Shepherd
of the sheep, and He's going out here and telling shepherds
about His birth. Huh? Oh shepherds and angels
came to him and the time was at night. It was night. They
were watching over their flock at night. David was a shepherd
and oh why was the time of night showing us the darkness and the
ignorance and sin and death and religious darkness was over the
earth at this time and light shined in darkness on this night. Huh? And look what it says there. Oh my, look what it says. And
this is what God does. He chooses the foolish to confound
the wise. He revealed Himself to shepherds.
He made Christ known to shepherds, not priests, not rabbis, not
scribes and Pharisees, not to the doctors and lawyers. He went
to shepherds, working people, people that knew what it was
to take care of sheep, people who knew what it was to labor
at night. and this is to whom the angel
came and look what it says the angel the lord came upon them
they were just out there sitting watching the sheep all the sheep
may have been laying down i don't know but here they were just
watching the sheep it was up in the night and the angel and
look what it says came upon them and the lord the glory of the
lord shone upon them You know how many centuries had passed
since anybody had seen the glory of the Lord? You know the last
person who saw the glory of the Lord was Malachi, and before
that it was Isaiah. They didn't see the glory of
the Lord, and so nobody hadn't seen the glory of the Lord for
centuries and centuries and centuries. But all this and God's glory
is manifested in his blessed son and the glory of the Lord
shone on them. That's the shekinah glory and
all the glory of the God. That's the that's that cloud
that descends upon people. Isaiah and this says here they
were sore afraid so afraid. You see these people carrying
on just, you know, say the Lord's in this place and then go to
whooping and hollering and shouting wherever they saw the glory of
the Lord. Every place you find where the glory of God came down,
that man either covered their heads and got on their faces
or they cried out, woe is me when God's glory came down in
the in the in the camp of Israel all those fellows went back in
their tents they didn't want they said oh we can't bear this
and I tell you what when I tell you they were so afraid and I
tell you what I remember one time years and years and years
ago Jack Chase came down here to preach and he brought a message
and it was out of Micah too he says the Lord is good has his
way in the whirlwind and he went through all the things that happened
to all the people in the scriptures and all the things that happened
to the lord's people and every time he would tell something
he would say and the lord is good And God came down in that
place. I remember it so vividly. I didn't
even get up when he got done. The Lord was in that place. I
was afraid to move. God came down in such a way that
I felt like that God's glory descended on us and not one of
us moved. Because he honored God in such
a way, talking about, listen, when Christ, this is the best,
this is the goodest news that you ever heard. When Christ hung
on the cross, smitten and afflicted of God, bruised for our iniquities,
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, men mocking Him
and scourging Him and ridiculing Him and deriding Him. The Lord
was good. The Lord is good. Huh? Oh, the
Lord is good. Whatever happens to you, the
Lord is good. John Davis, I know all of y'all know John Davis.
His wife, Irene. Her mother got killed two days,
her mother got killed two days ago. Her and her sister were
going somewhere. She's 81 years old. They hit
a tree. She died instantly just like that. Irene's mother. You
know what they said? God is sovereign and will be
thanked. The Lord is good. And oh, they were so afraid.
They were so afraid. Next time you see somebody running
in the aisles and everything because the glory of God's there,
no, no, wherever God comes down, people get on their faces. They
say, woe is me. Yeah, that's what happens. And
then look what a message they gave. And then down in verse
10. And the angel said unto them,
fear not. Oh my, what a message. Don't
be afraid. Don't be afraid. Oh, I'm bringing
you some good tidings. How blessed are the feet of them
that publishes good tidings of great things, great joy. And that's what they come, they
brought good tidings. And they brought good tidings.
What good tidings? Oh, this was good tidings. oh
listen and it's going to bring you great joy what a message
he said it's going to this going to bring great joy to going to
bring great joy to a multitude of people not only to you but
to people oh the joy that's going to come and this is what he said
and this joy is going to be to all people Good tidings of great
joy that's to everybody, to all people. Not everybody, but to
all people. What do you mean all people?
Well, the Jews is going to hear it. These were Jews. Gentiles
going to hear it. I heard it. A fellow that's in
bondage, he hears it. A fellow that is free, he hears
it. Men that hate God, they hear
it. Oh, this is great. Good tidings and great joy to
all people. I'm certainly glad it came to
me one day. And an angel didn't bring the
message. You know what brought the message? A man just like
me. A man just like me. And then look what he said there
in verse 11. For unto you, for unto you, you
shepherds, you shepherds, and all people to whom he's gonna
make himself known. Unto you is born this day, today,
this day. This is the day of the Lord.
This is the day that Abraham looked forward to and rejoiced
to see. Unto you is born this day in the city of David. What's
this? A savior. Savior oh my a Savior and all
what does this say he's Christ he's the Lord he's Jehovah come
down look down here in verse 20 25 with me down here in verse
25 here's what we're talking about oh there's one born who
is a Savior and that's what we need we need saving And behold,
there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and the
same man was just, and the same man was just and devout, waiting
for the consolation of Israel. He's waiting for Christ to come,
and the Holy Ghost come upon him. And here's just another
revelation. And it was revealed unto him
by the Holy Ghost. And that's the only way in the
world you're ever gonna learn anything, that he should not
see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came
by the power of the Spirit, came by the Holy Spirit into the temple.
And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for
him after the custom of the law, then took him up in his arms
and blessed God and said, Lord, Lord, now, now, right now, let
your servant go in peace. Let me just depart. Let me just
leave this world. Let me depart in peace. Why? Mine eyes. mine eyes looking
holding a baby now holding a baby said mine eyes have seen thy
salvation oh and i tell you there's one who's born a savior you know
it's so hard to find somebody that needs to be saved people's
not in trouble they're not in trouble But if the Holy Ghost
ever gets a man in trouble, he's got to get him in trouble. You
got to make him understand that he's got a problem with sin,
got a problem with sin. I was talking to a dear, dear
preacher yesterday. Oh, he was, he was, he was hurt
and he was so down. And when we're in need, that's
when we need a Savior. We need a Savior. I need a Savior.
I needed a Savior yesterday. I need a Savior tomorrow. I needed
a Savior when I was 25. Needed a Savior when I was 26.
Needed a Savior when I was 27. I need a Savior. I need Him today.
Gotta have a Savior. You know why? Because I've got
sin in me. I got sin in my nature. I got
sin in my nature. I got sin in my mind. I got sin
in my thoughts. I don't live my life completely
and absolutely to the glory of God. And that's why I need a
Savior. Oh, because I don't, my heart
don't go out and love Him like it should. I need a Savior. Because
things that come out of my mind should never come out of my mind.
I need a Savior. Because my eyes see things and
my hear things that they ought not never see and never hear.
I need a Savior. I need a Savior. Well, one was
born. He was born to do what? Do you
need saving? Oh, I'd love to find somebody
needs saving. I'd love to see somebody. I'd love to see somebody
say, oh, preacher, preacher. Oh, brother Donnie. Oh, you just
don't know how. Oh God, may he have mercy on
me. I need saving. Oh my. Well, look
what else he says here in verse 12. And this is how you gonna
tell who this Savior is. This is how you're going to find
out and find where this Savior that's born in the city of David.
This One that's going to be salvation to all people. And He said, this
will be a sign and this is how you'll recognize Him. You'll
find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. Lying
in a manger. You'll find Him not in a palace.
You won't find Him in a palace. You won't find Him in a cradle.
But you'll find him laying in a manger, not in fine, beautiful
baby clothes the way we bring them home from the hospitals
and dress them all the days of their life, but swaddling clothes. Oh, the grace that our Lord condescended
to. The Lord of glory, the Lord of
glory, who is daily the delight of his Father, come down here
and was born and laid in a manger. You're talking about condescension,
condescension. Man, we ain't even begun to know
what humility is, what condescension. And He come down. The angels
sang glory to God in the highest concern in Him. They praised
Him and worshipped Him and adored Him. And all the angels of God
worshipped Him. He had a scepter of righteousness.
And He left the throne. He left the glory of heaven and
all the angels that worshipped Him and adored Him. And His Father
loved Him and adored Him. He was in the bosom of the Father.
And here He come. wrapped in swaddling clothes
and laid in a manger. Oh, what grace. And then look
what happens when God reveals this to him. Look what he says
in verse 13. And suddenly, suddenly, boy, when God's ready to do something,
it happens right now. Lord, wait, wait, wait. No, no,
God don't wait. The Lord's waiting on you to
make your move. The Lord's waiting on you to make your decision.
God don't wait. God don't wait. We wait. We wait
on the Lord. We'll be still and know that
He's the Lord. But God ain't gonna wait. God
ain't gonna wait. And look what He said here. And
suddenly, suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude. I wonder how many there was.
And them shepherds saw this. There was an angel, one angel,
and then all of a sudden a great multitude of heavenly hosts.
And a host is an army. He's the Lord of hosts, the Lord
of the armies. And this great company, this
great host. And look what they were doing.
Praising God. Praising God. And look what they
said. This is what they were saying.
Glory to God. Glory to God. Ain't that what
we say, glory be to God. To God be the glory, great things
he hath done. Oh, listen. glory to God that's
the first thing they say glory to God he's the highest and all
may God get the glory in the highest way in the highest way
most possible by all the angels and every human being oh glory
to God in the highest and look what he said and on earth peace
not for everybody people say oh what do you want what do you
want morning i want peace on earth that ain't gonna happen
but he said on earth peace Where's peace going to be established
at? In the heart? In the mind? In the will? He
didn't come to bring peace. He said, I didn't come to bring
peace. I come to bring a sword to set
at various mother and father and sons and daughters. And here
He come. He said, there'll be peace. But
it'll be only for those that the Lord Jesus Christ come for.
Only peace for those who has been saved by His blessed grace.
And look what He says here now. In good will, toward man. Oh,
how good is the will of God to send his son in such a manner. And goodwill. Oh, God's got a
goodwill towards his people. And oh, look what a goodwill
toward man. God's got a goodwill. You know
what? He says the goodness of God leads
us to repentance. God's got a goodwill. And his
goodwill's toward man. How? Through this child that
was born. Through this infant that was
born. Through this... You know, he's called the He's called the
way, so we'll follow Him. He's called the truth, so we'll
believe Him. He's called the life, so we'll
rejoice in Him and find rest in Him. And look how these shepherds
reacted now. Look how these shepherds reacted.
And it came to pass in verse 15. And it came to pass as the
angels were gone away from them back into heaven, they left and
waved back into glory, they went. Ah, you can't imagine how, you
can't imagine. And it came to pass as the angels
were going away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one
to another. They talked about this thing
to one another. They said, oh my, you know what we need to
do? Let's go now even unto Bethlehem.
Let's leave these sheep and let's go down to Bethlehem. and see
this thing which is come to pass. And look what it says here. I
love this right here. That's why I call it the Lord's
Revelation. And it came to pass of that this which has come to
pass which the Lord hath made known unto us. The Lord hath
made known unto us. Oh, Arthur W. Pink said, I don't,
we only know what God taught us, only have what God gave us.
We have nothing except what God gave us, what God taught us.
And the Lord made known. The Lord made known. Ain't you
so thankful the Lord made known? The Lord made known. And if you
ever know anything, the Lord's got to be the one to make it
known. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about that. He's got
to make it known. And look what it says. It said that they talked
among themselves. They talked among themselves
and they said, let's go. And they believed the message.
They believed the message that the angel gave them, what the
Lord made known unto them. That's what they said these angels
gave. And they made known unto us what the Lord hath done. What's
made known unto us what's happened. And they believed what that,
the message that was given to them. They believed that a savior
was born this day in the city of David. They believed he was
in Bethlehem. And they believed that when they
got there, they had find him. Just exactly where the Lord said
he'd be. and i can tell you without a
shadow of a doubt i can tell you where christ is right now
and if you believe the message you can go to him right now and
you know how long it'll take you to get there just as long
as it takes you to say i'm coming you say i'm coming and you're
there you know where he is now he's not in a manger he's at
the right hand of god sitting at the right hand of god with
all power and majesty vested in him and that's why you could
get to him just like that If you go to Him in your heart,
the minute you go to Him, you've arrived. Ain't that the mystery
of the gospel? These angels had to, these shepherds
had to go someplace. And look what it says now. In
verse 16, the Lord, let's go see what the Lord's made known
to us. They talked about it. And then it says in verse 16,
and they came, they came with haste. They said, well, we got
to, Ben, let's get down there quick. The Lord made this known
to us. Let's go see, let's go see. And
they made haste. I'm telling you what, they wasn't
lollygagging. They wasn't just dragging their
feet. They wasn't just trying to just wander around. No, no,
they made haste. And look what it says. See, they
were interested. Let us go now. And look what
happens. And they found Mary and Joseph
and the babe lying in a manger. They found just exactly what
the Lord said they'd find. You find it just exactly the
way the Lord said it'd be. Oh, my. They found just like
they had been told. Oh, they came and they fell.
I don't know how long they stayed there. But I know, you know,
this is just speculation. I'm going to quit preaching and
tell you, I'm going to speculate a little. I believe when those
shepherds went in there, when they looked at the Lord Jesus
Christ, that infant in that manger, The angels already told him that
this is the Savior. That this is the Christ. This
is the Messiah. This is the Lord. This is Jehovah.
And when they looked at him, that's what they believed he
was. They said, this is my Savior. This is the Messiah that we've
been looking for. This is Jehovah come down. Now
whether they touched him, I don't know. But I believe with all
my heart that they understood clearly who he was. I believe
they clearly, because that's what the angels told him. What
did the angels say? A Savior's born. a Savior. And He's the Messiah. He's the
Christ. And He's the Lord. He's Jehovah. Isn't that little
baby? That's who it is. And they made,
I mean, they made haste to get down there. And then look what
else happened now. And then verse 17, and when they
had seen it, and when they had seen it, oh my, what a sight
they saw. And when they had seen it, you
know what they did? They went telling men and women
and everybody that listened to them, they made known abroad
the saying which was told them concerning this child. They went
and told everybody, said, you know what they told us today?
And we went and saw it. They told us that there's a Savior
born over in Bethlehem. And they said, He's the Messiah.
And they said, He's the Lord. He's Jehovah. And they came and
made them know that everything that was told them concerning
this child. And that's what we do. We only tell what we've seen
and heard for ourselves. And that's all a preacher can
do. All that a preacher can do and all the witnessing you can
do is just tell what the Lord's done for you. What the Lord means
to you. That's all you can do. You can't
do any more than that. And then look what happens in
verse 18. And all they that heard it wondered,
wondered at those things. Oh my goodness, they, in this
vernacular around here, they say they studied it. They studied
about it. They thought about it. They wondered
about it. Oh, they, oh my, they heard these things, they began
to wonder. Oh my, ain't this something? And they wondered
at those things which were told them by the shepherds. They began
to wonder. Their minds stood in wonder and
they wondered about it and they pondered it and they thought
about it. And oh my. And I tell you what, the thing
about it is, beloved, and I'm still in wonder. I'm still in
wonder over the Lord Jesus Christ and the angels that came and
revealed the Lord Jesus to these shepherds know nothing of redemption. Know nothing of redemption. They
know nothing about salvation other than who needs it and why
Christ came into this world. They don't need to be redeemed.
They don't need to be saved. There's no bloodshed for them.
They didn't need salvation. And yet they were faithful messengers.
They told who Christ was. And the shepherds were working
when God revealed to them the birth of His Son. And I'll tell
you something, God breaks in souls at the most unlikely time.
At the most unlikely time. They were out tending sheep and
the Lord broke in them. He didn't run up to Jerusalem
and tell everybody up at Jerusalem. No, he found some fellow standing
sheep because he's the great shepherd of the sheep. And look,
let me close up with 19 and 20. And look what happens. But Mary
kept all these things when those shepherds came, when the angels
came and she'd been told she's going to have this child and
all the things that she had been told. She kept all these things
and pondered them in her heart. She kept all the things that
God had told her and all the things that God revealed to her.
She kept all these things and pondered in them in her heart.
And we keep the things of Christ and we ponder them in our heart.
We love the things of Christ and how many times do we ponder
these things in our heart? And look what happens now. And
the shepherds returned, went back out to take care of the
sheep, glorifying and praising God. What were you doing that
for? For all the things. that they had heard and seen
as it was told unto them. Somebody told them and they said,
what they told us we heard, what they told us we see. They had
to be told and you have to be told. For when you hear it and
see it, you know what you'll do? You'll glorify. Our Father, in the blessed name
of Christ our Lord, thank you for the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Thank you for the power of the
Holy Spirit. Thank you for the truth as it is in our Savior.
And Lord, I pray that you'd cause this gospel to find a lodging
place, that you'd cause the seed to be sown, bring forth fruit
to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. that you and your sovereign
mercy would open hearts, open minds, open wills, and open understanding,
and bring men and women, and especially me, to your feet,
where we can worship you, adore you, praise you, glorify you,
and tell what we've seen and what we've heard when we get
the opportunity. Lord, we bless you. Bless you
for this congregation of believers. And Lord, we pray for every home,
every child, every mother, every father, ever-grandmother, ever-grandchild. Lord, that you would save the
children, that you would strengthen the grandmothers and the grandfathers,
bless the mothers and the dads, and help us live to your glory.
Help us, oh Lord, to always honor you. And Lord, I know we fail
in a thousand ways, I do, but I'm so thankful you gave me a
Savior, so thankful you gave me a Savior. Lord, we bless you
in Christ's name. Amen.