Luke 2, excuse me. You know,
we are blessed here to see, and he reads from God's Word, the
birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you know,
it says there in verse 20, and this is what I want to do in
this message today, the shepherds returning Glorifying and praising
God. That's what I want to do. Glorify
and praise God for all the things that they have heard and seen
and that was told unto them. That's my objective in this message
today. To glorify and praise God for
what I've heard, what I've seen, and what's been told me. That's
what I want to do. That's what I want to do. And
here's what happened this night. This is what happened this night.
And we know it wasn't on December 25th. We know that. But listen. What happened this night, the
light of the world, the light of the world, the creator of
the universe, was born here one night in Bethlehem 2,000 years
ago. The light of the world came and
was born at night. He which was born king was wrapped
in swaddling clothes. And when he came into this world
wrapped in those swaddling clothes, the world was wrapped in darkness,
naturally, spiritually. There was an awful darkness of
sin, ceremony, pagan ritualism. But in the midst of all this,
here comes the Lord Jesus Christ, the light of the world, the Savior
of the world, the only hope for a man in this world. And Malachi
said the Son of Righteousness would arise with healing in His
wings, and He did. Now in this night, here outside
there in Bethlehem, and out in the fields around Bethlehem,
there were some shepherds that night. But it was in Bethlehem
where Ruth gleaned in the fields of Boaz, in these same fields
outside of Bethlehem. And that was where she, Jesse,
David's father. And it was in the fields outside
Bethlehem that David was a shepherd and tended the flocks of his
father Jephthah. And just like it was this same
night, years and years and years and centuries after David tended
the flocks and was made king over Israel, Here's the same
Pearson shepherds tipping their clocks at night on the night
the Lord Jesus Christ was born into this world. And here, beloved,
this is a night that will never be forgotten. The glory, the
glory of the invisible God was manifested this night in Bethlehem
when the Lord Jesus Christ was born. Now let's just go through
these verses and see what we can see. First of all, there
was a preparation for our Lord coming into this world. It says
there in verse 1, And it came to pass, and it always does,
it always does. And it came to pass in those
days that went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, he was the Roman
emperor at that time, that all the world, everybody that is
under his dominion should be taxed. And they had to go to
their own city where they were registered at, where they were
polled at, to pay the taxes. And it says in verse 3, And all
went to be taxed, every one into his own city. That's where they
kept letting everybody know where they were. And that's why Joseph
also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into
Judah, into the city of David, Why was it called the City of
David? Because that's where David was born. And what's what it
says? Because he was the house and
lineage of David. Our Lord Jesus Christ was born
to the tribe of Judah. That's how he became king. The
kingly tribe. He is the son of David through
his father Joseph. For as God said, he would be
the son of David, the seed of David. And he came back to Bethlehem
because he was the house and lineage of David. and to be taxed
with Mary, his spouse wife, being graved with child. Now here they
come, they went to Bethlehem to be taxed because they were
descendants of David. Now the decree, look what it
says, the decree went out from Caesar Augustus. Now that's what
the natural man thinks, but to us who believe, to those who
have the believing eye, to those who have the eye of faith, The
decree went out from God before the world ever began that the
Lord Jesus Christ would be born in Bethlehem, that he would be
the son of David, that his mother would be a virgin, that he would
be born in Bethlehem. And they still missed it, said,
can any good thing come out of Galilee? Here's God's predestinating
purpose being brought to pass here. That's why I said, and
it came to pass. And when the days were now to
be accomplished, The days of God's time and decree and purpose
and predestination of Christ coming into this world, it was
time for it to happen. It had been told for centuries
and centuries. Isaiah said about his coming,
700 years, he said, unto us a child is given. Unto us a son is given. Unto us a child is born. And
let me tell you something, beloved. Look over at Micah chapter 2.
Keep Luke. Look over at Micah. Micah chapter
5. Micah chapter 5. Go to Zechariah
and go back a couple of books and you'll find Micah. If I can find it myself. But here in Micah, I want you
to see this. Micah chapter 5. Look what it says about our Lord
Jesus Christ. You see that the decree to tax
by Caesar was God's decree being fulfilled. And this is what he
always does. And this is what confuses people.
God uses means to bring to pass His will. He used the Pharisees
and the priests of his day to condemn Christ to death, though
he had decreed that Christ should be crucified on a cross before
he ever came into this world, because he stood as the Lamb
slain before the foundation of the world. He was delivered by
the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God. There's nothing comes
to pass in this world but what God already decreed it to come
to pass. We talk about God's decrees,
but it's one decree. God declared the end from when
He ever started anything. And He talked about His Son coming.
Look here in Matthew, excuse me, Micah chapter 5 and verse
2. But thou Bethlehem, Micah 5, 2, but thou Bethlehem, Ephrata. Little town in Bethlehem, though
thou be little among the thousands of Judah, all these cities of
Judah, all the places where Judah got their lot given to them,
yet out of thee, among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall
he come forth unto me that's going to be ruler in Israel,
whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting." You know, and I tell you, this
is a blessed thing to me. As just as Caesar decreed this,
God decreed for him to decree that they be taxed at this time.
That Christ was going to be in Bethlehem at this time. that
Christ was going to be born at this time. God decreed every
bit of that, and He used men to cause it to come to pass.
And that tells us this, that everything, everything in our...
We talk about our circumstances this way and that way. We know
our circumstances are in God's hands. He orders our lives for
us. And there in Bethlehem, and beloved,
we're here, and everything that happens in our lives is God's
purpose being brought to pass. And ain't you grateful that it's
like that? And then look what happened when he arrived. That
was the preparation. God prepared Christ to be born
at this time. Went ahead of him. Oh, and that's
why this decree went out. And then look what it says in
verse 6 and 7. And so it was that while they
were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. You know, the angel came and
told her, shall be conceived." You know, you don't have a son.
How can it be? I've never known a man. He said, the Holy Ghost
will come upon you, and that holy thing that shall be conceived
in your womb is of the Holy Ghost, shall be called the Son of the
Highest. And look what happens. Well, the time came to pass that
she should be delivered. And all beloved, I tell you,
look what it says here. As she brought forth her firstborn
son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, laid him in a manger,
because there was no room in it. And so she brought forth
her firstborn son. And you know, when you have a
baby, first thing they do, you know, and everyone's had them,
and they take and put stuff in their eyes, clean them out, measure
them, all that stuff, you know, fingerprints, toe prints, and
make sure you look them over, top to bottom, and turn them
inside and out, and just make sure everything's all there.
Well, when this baby was born, This baby was born. This was
a miraculous birth. And when this baby came into
this world, this is the king of glory. And why was he laid
in a manger? Why would he? If a king's born
into this world now, they say, oh, listen, the man that's going
to inherit the throne of England is born. And they say, oh, we
got a mankind going here, but here's the king of Israel. This
is the king of kings and Lord of lords. And when he comes forth
from this womb, why did they lay him in a manger? And you
know what a manger is? That's where you put hay in to
feed cattle. And she wracked him in what clothes
she had, she washed him up, she cleaned him up, and she laid
him in a manger. And no doubt there was hay in
that manger, put fresh hay in it, and she laid that baby. Why
would you lay the King of Glory, the Son of God, the Eternal God,
born of a virgin, why would you lay him in a manger? Huh? I'll tell you why. Because
our Lord Jesus Christ made Himself of no reputation. He was born
poor, he lived poor, and he died as a poor man and a poor man's
son. You see, it shows his humiliation. He took upon himself, when he
came into this world, he took upon himself the form of a serpent.
He was despised and rejected. And when people looked at him,
they saw no former comeliness about him. He was a root out
of dry ground. He was a man acquainted with
grief and sorrow. And here's the thing about it,
God uses things like this. He uses foolish things like this,
the Savior of the world, King of kings and Lord of lords, the
King of Israel. Laid in a manger, wrapped in
swaddling clothes, He uses the foolish things like that to confound
the wise. And He uses the weak things,
Christ being laid in a manger, to confound the mighty. Yeah,
he can't be nobody. He and his parents ain't nobody. He was born, what, they didn't
even, they didn't even care enough about him to let him get this
pregnant woman fixing to have a baby. Didn't care enough about
him to even somebody said, I'll give up my room. Come on in here,
dear lady, you take the, you take the, you come in here and
you take this room. You're going to have a baby. You're nobody going out there
in the stable, going out there in the barn. He's nobody. Just let him be born in a barn.
Let him be born in a stable. Let him be laid in a manger.
He's nobody. Ain't that the way folks think
about the Lord Jesus Christ? Oh, as long as you keep him in
a manger, you're fine. But he ain't going to stay in
that manger. Should he who is going to die
naked on a cross Be born to luxury? Born in a cow shed? Buried in
a borrowed tomb? And here you have the manger
at its beginning and the cross at the end? Two extremes in our
Lord's holy life. Dressed in poor garments. Identified
with poor people. And as He was born, that's the
way He lived. He says, foxes have holes, birds
of the air have nests, but I ain't got no place to lay my head tonight.
No place to lay my head tonight. And so, beloved, look, it says,
no room in the air. Ain't this always been the lot
of our master? Isn't this the reception he gets
wherever his name is mentioned, his gospel is preached? As long
as you keep him in a manger, As long as you keep Him as nobody,
there'll never be any room. And here's the way people are.
Other persons and other things always come first. Always come
first. Other persons and other things
always come first. People say there's a place for
everything. You ladies, some of you, you
know the way you are, the way you're made. Everything has a
place for everything, and you want everything in its place.
That's the way a lot... And out there, people say there's
a place for everything. Well, let me ask you, what place
does the Lord Jesus Christ have in politics? What place does He have in business? What place does He have in society?
What place does He have in the home? What place does He have
right now in your heart? What place does He have? What
place does He have? And oh, look over here in John
with me. You keep Luke 2. Look in John just a moment. I'll
show you what I'm talking about. John chapter 2. You know, there's a verse of
scripture I preached on years and years ago, where the scripture
says there was no place for the Word in their hearts. No place for the Word in their
hearts. No place for the Word manifested in the flesh and the
heart. No place for the Word of God. No place for the Lord
Jesus Christ. And look what it said here in
John 7, verse 53. Look what it says here. And every man went unto his own
house, Jesus went under the Mount of
Olives. Nobody said, won't you come spend
the night with me? My wife will fix supper for you. Got a nice place for you to stay
tonight. And all those folks gathered
around to listen to what He had to say. When they got tired of
listening to Him, everybody went home. The Lord Jesus Christ went
on the Mount and spent the night. Surely, surely you wouldn't treat
the Lord Jesus that way, would you? Surely you ain't got anybody
more important than Christ. Surely you haven't got any other
person or other interest that would keep you from trusting
Christ and looking to Christ. Surely you'd say, well, you know, I'd really like to,
I'd really like to go. I'd really like to, I'd really
like to trust Christ, but I just don't know. I just don't know.
I don't know how I'd be convinced. I don't know what they'd think
about me on the job. I don't know what they'd think about me in
my home. I don't know what my wife or my kids would think.
I don't know what my brothers and sisters would think. What does God think? To be accepted of God? To be
accepted of Christ? To be able to take Christ and
embrace Him and say, Lord, Lord, what could I possibly ever put
before You? Who could I possibly ever put
before You? Nobody put away my sin. Nobody
loved me like You did. Nobody shed His blood and died
for me. Nobody made me acceptable to
God like You did. Nobody's got a righteousness
like yours. Nobody's got a holy life like
yours. Nobody knows me like you do. Let's not go to our house. Let's do like that gas up that
tree. I must advise you, come on, Lord,
let's go. Yes, I'm going to go to your
house today. That's fine with me. That's wonderful.
That's wonderful. Well, let's go back over to our
text. Oh, I want so, I want so to see
people trust the Lord Jesus. Oh, I want so. If you know what
it was like, how peaceful and how joyful and how wonderful,
blessed it is. Oh my, it's a wonder this place
ain't lined up outside to hear a gospel that don't require anything,
just everything's done for you. And oh my, look what we have,
a declaration down here in verse 8 and 9. And oh, that same night
there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night. And oh, here comes
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 I behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. And so who makes the declaration
of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ this night? An angel of
the Lord did. God sent an angel. You know,
He sent an angel to tell Mary. He sent an angel to tell Joseph.
He sent an angel before Israel. And I tell you what, what did
this angel, he come and give a declaration of the birth of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, it wasn't an eloquent sermon.
You think of an angel, he's going to do some preaching, going to
do some declaration. You would think that he'd speak
with a voice of angels, and I mean he would just, oh, he'd just
be a flowery, flowery, eloquent, eloquent sermon. But it wasn't
eloquent at all. It was brilliant in its simplicity.
But boy, when you come to what it means, there's no bottom to
it. Look what he says, and here's what he said. He says, they got
scared. I mean, if an angel appeared
to you, most folks say, well, you know, God speaks to me, and
the Lord talked to me, and I've seen this vision, and an angel
comes here, and an angel comes there. Oh, my. When the angel
of the Lord or God appeared to somebody in the Scriptures, it
scared them to death. But now everybody jumps up and
claps their hands. Oh, an angel appeared to me last
night. There ain't never no time in the Scriptures where God or
an angel or Lord Jesus appeared to somebody where it didn't shake
them up. Scared them to death. These folks
were afraid. What's this angel doing here?
He going to destroy me? And oh, look what happens now.
And the first thing he says, well, don't be afraid. Don't
fear not. Oh, why shouldn't you fear? Because
I'm bringing you some good, good, good, good news. And it's good news, and it's
going to bring joy when you hear it. And when you see it, you're
going to have some joy about it. And it's going to be to all
people. And all will be lovingly listening.
And here's the news they said. For under you is born in the
city of David, Now watch this, there's three
things he says here. First of all, Christ the Lord. That's who brings the news. The
angel of the Lord comes and brings the news of Christ the Lord.
Christ the Lord, Christ Jehovah. And then secondly, the news is
brought by an angel of the Lord. And then you know what happens? And the glory of God, down in
verse 14, and the glory of God, excuse me, in verse 13, and the
glory of God fell all around them. Three things, they talked
about Christ the Lord, they talked about bought by an angel of the
Lord, and accompanied by the glory of the Lord. And that's
the way all sermons should be, that simple, that plain. Christ
the Lord, brought by a messenger of the Lord, and accompanying
with the glory of the Lord, plain, pointed, practical, and powerful.
And so, beloved men, look what it says. Look at, so they brought,
the angel brought this good news, fear not. And these are the ones
that hear us. Here's this message. They're
in the shepherds in verse 8. The shepherds. Shepherds. It's shepherds that witness the
coming of who? Ain't it appropriate? The shepherds. would be the first witnesses
of the coming of the Good Shepherd, who should lay down his life
for the sheep. He said, I'll lay down my life for the sheep.
No man takes it from me. I've got the power to lay it
down. I've got the power to take it up again. And then they saw
the witness, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, who ratified the
everlasting covenant with His own blood. And thirdly, they
get to witness the Chief Shepherd, who will appear again one of
these days and give crowns of glory unto all them that wait
for him and look for him." And this messenger, look what he
brought. He brought the gospel. He says there in verse 10 again,
I bring you good tidings. Behold, I bring you good tidings.
What is these good tidings? In verse 11, for unto you is
born this day in the city of David Christ the Lord. Now, let me hear you talking
about mysterious. Under you is born Christ the
Lord? Born? The Christ is born? Who, by searching, can find this
out? Here is the Lord of glory, the Lord of glory, that the Scripture
tells us that He was the eternal Word, He was always with God
the Father. He dwelt in eternity, daily with
the delight of His Father. When the hills were brought forth,
Christ brought them forth. When He put the stars in the
heavens, Christ is the one who put them there. And here He is,
born in a manger. The Lord of glory born and lying
in a manger. The Lord of glory stripped of
His majesty and outward glory wrapped in swaddling clothes,
because that's what He said. In verse 12, shall be a sign
unto you. You'll find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes lying in the manger. Huh? Oh, a sign. What sign is it for us? It's
a sign of grace. Grace manifested in Christ. Grace came by Jesus Christ. Sign of compassion. That God's
going to have compassion on us, on the human race? It's a sign
of pity because we're a pitiful people. It's a sign of poverty
that he whose rich became poor, that we through his riches might
be made wealthy. And that sign of hope? There,
those who have no hope, now will have hope. And hell, a sign of
mercy manifested to the very lowest. No wonder the apostle
says, great, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest
in the flesh. This is God born this night. That's the greatest mystery in
this universe. People want to find out the origins
of life. I know where life originated
at. God created a man. breathed into his muscles the
breath of life and he became a living soul. You ain't going
to find the origin of life out on Mars. You're not going to
find the origin of life in some rock someplace. You're not going
to find it by digging down and finding old men's bones and old
animals' bones. Christ is the one. His life manifested. John said it like this, that
life that was manifested we have seen. We heard with our own ears,
seen with our own eyes, handled with our own hands the life that
was manifested. And this is the life that we
declare unto you. This is life. And this life,
this golden mystery, that the eternal God, who has no beginning
and end, come down here and put himself in the womb of a virgin,
And he was conceived of the Holy Ghost, and when he come forth,
that infant that was raised in his mother's arms and had been
swaddled and clothed in that manger was the Ancient of Days
that Daniel saw sitting on the throne. How can that be? I don't know,
but I know it's so. That's, you know, that's the... People do not grasp this. If
there's anything that people miss, it's missing the greatness
of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you ever understand
who He is, you'll never ever have a problem with what He did
and who He did it for. If you understand the greatness
of His person, the glory of His person, He was as much God when
He was in His mother's womb In fact, when Elizabeth conceived
John the Baptist in her womb, his first cousin, when Mary told,
I'm going to have a child, and then she understood that it was
the Lord Jesus Christ in her womb, you know what the Scripture
said? It said, John leaped in his womb, in her womb, when he
heard that news. The Holy Ghost quickened him
when he heard about Christ. I'm telling you, that baby that's
stuck in her womb was the very one that gave her the life. The one that sustained her life.
And she herself says that this is my Redeemer, this is my Savior,
my soul rejoices in God, my health, my soul rejoices in Christ, my
Redeemer. Mary said that about her own
son. My Redeemer. Oh, this lonely handmaid, she
said, oh, that God would consider this lonely handmaid, that my Redeemer would come,
my Savior's come, my soul rejoices in Him. Read Mary's song one
of these times. Oh, beloved, she said, you know, Mary needed the same salvation. That you and I did. And God did
it the same way you and I did. Huh? And oh, look what happens
here. Now go back over in our text.
Oh, but I bring you good tidings. Good news. Good news. And oh, how good it is. The boys
on the mount, when God spoke on the mount and gave the law,
there was fear and quaking. The whole mountain shook and
the people had to stand apart. You see, when the law was proclaimed,
though it was just, holy, and good, but that was not good tidings
to sinful men. It brought guilt and it brought
condemnation. But, boy, the gospel brings good
tidings because it declares, what does it say? A Savior is
born. You see how that's capitalized,
Savior? Now, you know the very name tells us that He's going
to save. Now, isn't that right? If it
would have said, there's a Savior coming into this world to make
salvation possible, we hope, you know, we're bringing somebody
into this world to help you save yourself. Somebody's going to
be brought into this world, and if you do the best you can, you
cooperate with him, and you let him help you out, he'll save
you. No, no, unto you is born this
day in the city of David a Savior. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people, his works in his name." He said
he's a Savior. Do you reckon he will save? Will
he try to save? Will he hope to save? Will he
make an effort to save? No, it said he is born a Savior. Oh, without the birth of the
Son of God, no son of them could be born of God and become a son
of God. Now, if He hadn't have been born,
we couldn't have been born the second time. And, oh, this is
He who's going to bring many sons to glory, and He must be
made perfect through suffering. And He was born a Savior, and
as a Savior, He's able to save to the uttermost. And then not
only does it say bring good tidings, but look what else it says there
in that verse. In verse 10. Good tidings, good news, of great
joy. Joyful news. Joyful singing. Good tidings of great joy. Here's
a verse of Scripture. I couldn't find it this morning.
It says, Blessed are they that know the joyful sound. You know, you hear that joyful
sound. Blessed are those who know the joyful sound. Oh my,
this news brings that, you know, it's joyful to hear the Savior's
power. Joyful to hear that Christ has
come into this world. Joyful to hear that the Lord
has come into this world. Joyful to hear. Fear not. I'll tell you, I got a lot of
things to fear until Christ came and saved me by His grace. I
fear sin. I feared sin. I feared the depth
of my sinfulness. Now I don't fear it. You know
why? Christ put it away by the sacrifice Himself. I used to
have a multitude of sins that no man can number. Now, as far
as Christ is concerned, God's concerned, I have no sin whatsoever,
no condemnation of them that are in Christ. I fear my own
weakness, but He says, fear not. I have enemies of my soul, within
and without. Why not fear? Because unto you
is born a Savior. God has laid help on one who
is mighty, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look in Romans 5.11. Let me show you this real quick. Talking about joy. Blessed are
they who hear and know that joyful sound. This bunch up the road up there,
you know, they took sleigh rides to Bethlehem every night for
a long time. Tractors took them all the way
to Bethlehem. Tractors in front of all them wagons and had the
things on them and all that, and they all went to Bethlehem.
Had a couple of little shacks built out back and folks would
ride around. And I'm sure they probably had a little old doll
in a manger there. Had some stuff laying around
so when folks would say, this is where Jesus was born, and
he was born, you know, probably told them all about that. Beloved,
if God don't take you to Bethlehem, if God don't let you see Christ,
if God don't let you see, and I'll get to that in a minute,
but if God don't take you to Bethlehem and let you see the
Lord Jesus Christ, and he was born there that day, You just
well go up there and get on those tractors and ride around in that
parking lot, because that's all the closest you'll ever get to
Bethlehem. Ain't that right? And oh, look what he says here
in Romans 5, 11, talking about joyful sound. And look what it
says in verse 11. Not only so, but we also joy
in God. Why? Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom we have now received the atonement. That's why we
rejoice. That's why we have joy. And then
I want you to see this back over here in our text. He said in verse 10, look how
personal it is, this gospel that comes, this gospel that the angel
brought, this good tidings of great joy, that is born a Savior,
born the Christ the Lord, a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes
in the manger. And look what he says, for behold
I bring, now watch how personal it is, I bring you, you, good
tidings. You. Now let me tell you something. Everybody didn't hear this news
that night. Everybody in this building ain't going to hear
that news today. Behold I bring you, you, good tidings. See how personal that is? And
look what else it says, for unto you, in verse 11. is born. You is born in the city of David,
a Savior. Huh? You. Are you one of them
you's? Are you a you? Do you want to see this
Savior? Do you want to know this Savior?
Do you want to behold this Savior? Do you suppose, let me ask you
this, do you suppose for one moment that God would not see
anyone who heard this message and believed it? You reckon God
would say, no, don't come? Do you reckon God would say,
Christ would say, no, I don't want you to come to me? No, I don't want you to trust
me. You don't. Oh, listen. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world, and I tell you what, the only way in the world can
you know Him, He brought good tidings and great joy to you,
and unto you is born a Savior. It's for you to say in your heart,
Yes! I believe He did for me. I didn't know He was my Savior
until He made Himself known to me. I didn't know He was God
manifest in the flesh until He revealed it to me. I didn't know
He was Christ the Lord until He made it known to me. And oh,
and that's what they said there in verse 15. And it came to pass as the angels
were going away from them into heaven, the shepherds said unto
one another, Let's go! Let's go right now! Let us go right now to Bethlehem. Let's get up and go. I've heard the news. There's
a Savior born over there. That's the Lord being born of
God. Let's go over there. Let's go. Let's go see. Let's
go. Let's go. The angel told us, I want to
go see. And that's what they said. And,
oh, they let us go even now. Let's go right now. And let me
tell you something. I don't want to say personal,
but it's also universal. Look back up there in verse 10.
For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy. Watch this
now. Which shall be to all people. Now what does that mean, we shall
be to all people? Well, it was only the shepherds
who heard that message that night. But let me tell you something,
when he says we shall be to all people, it means two things. First of all, it would be all
for whom Christ died, that God gave to him in a covenant of
grace. For those that he suffered from the manger to the cross, I mean, it's for those, beloved,
that from his swaddling clothes till he was stripped of his clothes
at Calvary, all for whom Christ came shall be saved, all of them
shall be blessed. And the second thing is, not
only all for whom he died and he came into this world and stripped
at Calvary and hung there naked, all of them shall be saved. But
when it says all people, it means all types of people, all classes
of people. all tongues of people, all kindred
of people, all tribes. Before, salvation was of the
Jews. Now, it's for everybody and anybody. You say, I'm a lawyer. Christ
saves lawyers, too. I'm a doctor. Christ saves doctors,
too. I'm poor and ignorant. Christ saves the poor and ignorant,
too. I'm a Ph.D. Christ saves Ph.D.s. I can hardly
write my name. Christ died for folks who didn't
even know their name. That's what he's talking about.
And then it was confirmed. Look at verse 13. I've got to
hurry on. Oh, God Himself confirmed this.
And when they told these angels, these shepherds, this great good
news that Christ the Savior is born, and you find Him in a manger
wrapped in swaddling clothes, and suddenly, Suddenly there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host. I don't
know what that means. It just says a multitude of the
heavenly host. I mean all of a sudden there
was this great multitude. I don't know if there's angels
or seraphims, cherubims. It just says a heavenly host
praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace, goodwill toward men. Oh, my. That's what they've done. If
the heavenly hosts do that, don't you reckon us old sorry sinners
ought to do it? And, oh, beloved, that's what
he means. This wasn't done in a corner. This is glory to God
in the highest. God's going to bring glory to
Himself through His Son. And He'll bring glory to His
Son through us. And then He says, peace. Peace. Christ made peace by the blood
of His cross. Christ is our peace. You want
peace with God, you only gonna get it through Christ. He's already
established peace. I remember one preacher in particular,
he'd always say, at the end of the service, he'd always say,
make your peace with God. Make your calling and election
sure and your peace with God. I've got news for you. Christ
made peace 2,000 years ago on the cross. Peace has already
been established with the enmity that's in you. And God's got
to slay that enmity that's in you. Peace has already been made.
Now, will you lay down your weapons and say, I'm coming, Lord. I don't want to be met. I'm coming. And then look at the testimony. And it came to pass, as the angels
were going into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us go
even now, let us go even now unto Bethlehem, and see this
thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known
unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and
the babe lying in a manger. And then look what it says, And
when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which
was told them concerning this child. When they had seen it,
you know what it says there in verse 18? It's verse 17. When they had seen it, when they
had seen for themselves, they heard about it, now they saw
it for themselves. They went out and told everybody that they
could what they seen, what they heard, what they seen for themselves. And went out and started telling.
And oh, they only made known that which was told them concerning
the child. And that's all we can do, is tell what we know,
which the Lord hath made known to us. And then look what it
says, they rejoiced him. Rejoiced him. Oh, what happens
here? Verse 20. And the shepherds returned,
glorifying God and praising God for all the things that they
had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. You see, they
returned, glorifying and praising God. And they blessed the name
of the Lord for what they had heard, what they had seen, and
for what they had been told. And I want you to notice there
in the last part of verse 15. They went to Bethlehem to see
the things which came to pass. Something that God had already
done. They had just come to see something that had already been
done. And that's all in the world. You can see what's already been
done. All you can hear is whatever. They just heard what had already
been accomplished. And they just went to see whether
it's true or not. They wanted to see it for themselves.
And look what it had. They see this thing which had
come to pass. Now watch what it says here. Which the Lord,
which the Lord hath made known unto us. That's the Lord made
known unto us. That's the message in itself,
ain't it? Which the Lord hath made known unto us. And, oh beloved,
let me tell you why. Bless the name of the Lord that
we have heard, that we've seen, and we've been told. Let me tell
you something about these shepherds and see if you can identify with
them. First of all, the shepherds heard. Have you heard? Have you
heard the gospel? Have you heard of Christ? Have
you believed? They believed. How do we know they believed?
They said, you'll see that baby grow up younger and you'll see.
They went up there and they obeyed. They received the testimony of
God, and they went and seen for themselves, and then they went
and testified. They went and told everybody
what they had seen and heard. And they went off rejoicing.
Instead of that, they went off praising God. I thought, I've
heard. I believe. I've come to see Christ. I've received the testimony of
God, and I'm telling you about Him right now. And I've rejoiced
about Him, and I've praised Him. Can you do the same? Huh? And they returned. And it says,
and they returned. In verse 20, and they returned.
You know what that means? They went back to the lives they
were living before. They went back to being shepherds.
Went right back to going up there and taking care of sheep. Went
right back to the job they had, the things they were doing. Living
their lives just like you and I have to do. But they went back
with a different heart. with a different thing. They
went back knowing the Savior. They went back with a new life.
They went back with new hope. They went back with a new message. They went back with faith. They
went back knowing that they had a Savior. They went back knowing
that Christ in you is the hope of glory. And that's what we'll
do. We'll go on with our lives. But
I'll tell you why. I know who I believe. I know
who I believe. Our Father, gracious, blessed
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for allowing us to
meet you this morning to speak of our Lord. I know that I don't
begin and no man begins to have the voice of an angel. And we
can never, never speak of our Lord Jesus Christ the way he's
worthy of being spoken of. We can't love him the way he's
worthy of being loved, but we do love him. We can't acknowledge
our need as great as it is, the way it is, but yet we need you. And we can't obey as much as
you ought to be obeyed, the Lord we do obey you. We can't praise
you the way you ought to be praised, but, O Lord Jesus, we do praise
your holy name. And we rejoice, rejoice in our
hearts for what you've made known unto us concerning your Son,
the Savior, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. God bless it to
the hearts and minds and understanding of those gathered out here today.
Make the gospel fruitful and effectual for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen.