This Shall Be A Sign Unto You

We're going to continue our study in Luke this morning. Verse 12 will be our text for this message. But let's begin reading in verse 1. Luke 2, verse 1, it says, 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, everyone 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 Mary 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, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds 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 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. It came time for Mary to deliver the Christ, the Messiah. And he was born in Bethlehem, as the scripture said he would be. And as soon as he was born, an angel, which is a messenger, an angel came to some shepherds in a field watching their flock at night.

And that angel said to them, I have wonderful news for you. I have such wonderful news for you. The only savior of sinners that there is came into the world today. Can you imagine? The one that was prophesied of for 4,000 years. I can't help but think about on the day he returns, Michael the archangel is going to, I have wonderful news for you. There he is. The one who was prophesied of for 4,000 years, the one who was promised to come, promised to come all the way back in the days of Adam and Eve.

Do you remember the woman's seed after they sinned? And the Lord, you know, Adam said, well, she made me do it. And she said, the serpent made me do it. And he told the serpent, the woman's seed is coming to crush your head. A child that will not come from a man, woman only. No man will be involved in this. The woman's seed, the one that every generation of sinners has looked for up to this point and every generation of sinners will look to after this point. The angel said he came into the world today. Today, he was born exactly as the scripture said he would be today. I have wonderful news for you. Today is the day of salvation. I have incredible news for you. It's today. It's today.

In verse 12, the angel said, this shall be a sign to you. This is how you will know you have found him. This is how you will decipher that it's him from any other baby that you see. And this is so. Latch hold of this right now. Latch hold of this right now.

He said, you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. That will be the key to knowing that you found the Savior sent from God. Please, everyone listen to this. That will be the key to knowing that you found the Savior sent from God. That's the key for us. That was the key for them then. That is the key for us now. Verse 12, this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

Now ever since I read this historical account, and I always tell you that a sister in Christ gave me this. It was Sherry. Now you know. Sherry sent it to me. And ever since I read this, I haven't been able to deal with this particular verse of scripture without reading this to you.

And I especially want to read it to you now because this is the whole point of the message. This is the whole point of the message. This is wonderful to know. As soon as I read it, I thought, man, that is wonderful to know. This is a blessing to hear. If you've never heard this, you're gonna be very glad that you're hearing it right now. Because this is gonna bring all new meaning. This is gonna bring all new understanding to this verse of scripture, okay? This is the common practice in ancient Israel. Mangers were feeding troughs. And in ancient Israel, they were made of stone and very protective.

That is why the priest who lived near Bethlehem, near a hill known for raising sacrificial lambs, would put lambs in them. Not all the lambs, just the ones they thought were without blemish and suitable for the blood sacrifices that took place twice a day. Sacrifices to cover sin. The priests wanted to keep the lambs without bumps and bruises so they would wrap them up tightly They would swaddle them, wrapping them in cloths like precious and terribly fragile bottles of wine, and they would lay them in a manger. There was only a small group of people who would understand this practice and its significance besides the priests, and that was the shepherds. the shepherds of the sacrificial flock. And they were the very ones who heard the words, you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger. Those shepherds knew what the cloths and the manger meant. This will be a sign to you, the angel said. And it was. It wouldn't have been a sign to many, but to them, most definitely. And this sign was staggering. The long expected king wasn't headed to a palace. He was headed to a sacrifice. And they knew what that sacrifice meant. Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled. A blood offering for sin.

God's announcement to these shepherds and to every soul that he purposed to send it to, he's purposed to send this to a great number of people. If you look at verse 10, it says the angel said unto them, fear not for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. He said this announcement is to you and this announcement is to all people. The scripture clarifies all that the Father gave to Christ.

Not just Jews, Gentiles too. Aren't you so thankful for that? We get to sit here and believe in our hearts with God-given faith. He's talking to us. We weren't born in Israel. We're not Jews. We're Gentiles. We're outcasts. We're heathens, strangers from the covenants of promise. And we get to sit here and say, us too. He's talking to us too. And he let people out of every tribe, nation, kindred, and tongue.

Don't you thank God for that verse of Scripture? He said, a man has come into the world to be God's sacrifice. A man, the promised lamb slain for sin is a man. It's a man, a man slain, a man has come to die. This is his purpose. This is the work that he has been sent to accomplish. That is the good news of the gospel. Behold, the Lamb of God who came into this world to die in order to take away the sin of his people. The angel said, I have wonderful news. This is the very reason he came. Death. Death. The sacrifice of himself. That was the very work his father gave him to do.

Turn with me over to Luke chapter 9. Luke 9, look with me at verse 28. And it came to pass, about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistening.

And behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elijah, the Law and the Prophets." The Law and the Prophets witnessed this. And this is just a continuation from the Bible study, isn't it? Verse 30, Behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem."

His decease which he should accomplish. That's what he came to accomplish for his people. Death. That's what he came to accomplish. Turn with me to John 12. John 12 verse 23, And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Glorified for accomplishing the work He was sent to do. The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Spiritually, he was saying, if I do not die, I will remain in glory alone. No one will make it there. But if I die, I will redeem and deliver all of my people to be there with me forever. Verse 25, he that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto eternal life.

That's works and grace. You love works, the works of this flesh down here? It's grace alone. Verse 26, if a man serve me, not if a man serve the law, not if a man serve himself, not if a man serve his morality, if a man serve me, let him follow me, that where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor.

Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this cause came I unto this hour. This is the whole reason I'm here. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. The people therefore that stood by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said an angel spake to him. Jesus answered and said, this voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.

Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all. The word men is in italics. I will draw all. All the father gave to me. I will draw all unto me. This he said signifying what death he should die. Now the fact that Christ died, that tells us something. That truly tells us something. It tells us that he was made sin. The fact that he died tells us that he was made sin. The wages of sin is death. Sin is what brings death. So to say that our Lord came to die means He came to bear sin. He was born into this world for the purpose of bearing sin.

Now the scripture says that He knew no sin. That's what 2 Corinthians 5.21 says. He knew no sin.

Hebrews 7.26, it says he was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. So if that's the case, where did he get the sin that he would die in?

Oh, the angel said that's where the good news comes from. That's where the glorious news comes from. Turn with me over to Isaiah 53. In Matthew 1, the angel said, call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. How? How will he do that? Isaiah 53 verse 1, who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Our griefs, our sorrows.

How will He save His people from their sin? Was it by showing them how to save themselves? Is that how? No. Well, was it by giving them the opportunity to change their ways and straighten up their life? No. He took our sin and our sorrow and He made them His very own.

He bore our burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. Verse four says, surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord had laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth, because we were sheep gone astray. He came into this world to be a bound sheep for his people, laid in waiting to suffer their sacrifice. Verse eight says, he was taken from prison and from judgment and who shall declare his generation for he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people. Was he stricken? I'm not going to go into it and expound on it, but oh, the horrible sight that had to happen to those little lambs.

Christ was our atonement, the scripture says, and the word atonement means bloody victim. Bloody victim. It means covering. But that's what Christ came into this world to be in order to save his people from their sins, their bloody victim, their innocent, innocent, bloody, mutilated victim.

Verse 8 says, He was taken from prison and from judgment. If you have a sinner margin in your Bible, from prison says away by distress. That's what it translates to, taken away by distress. He was taken from prison and from judgment and who shall declare his generation for he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he stricken. There's a sinner reference that says, The stroke was upon him. It was on him. Verse 9, he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

Verse 10 says, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Now I've always read that first line of verse 10 to mean God did this. And that's what it means. That's what it means. God did this. But if we just read the words that are written, it says it pleased the Lord to do this. It pleased the Lord. The Lord was pleased in doing this. Hebrews 12 says the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ brought joy to him. It brought happiness and joy to him. That's amazing. That is amazing. It pleased the Lord to do this for his people.

Verse 10, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, when that time comes, the margin says, his soul shall make an offering, his soul. He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands.

That means Christ shall be victorious over that death. He shall rise from it, never to die again. And every soul who he took their sin from them, dying in their sin, will never die again. Never again. Verse 11, he shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoiled with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bear the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear. You sang because you didn't bear it. You did not bear it.

He came into this world to bear every bit of that for you. When this was written, it wasn't written with a chapter division. That was just the next sentence. He said, Christ did it all. And the only thing that there is left for you to do is rejoice in the fact that Christ did it all. That's it. That angel said, I have such wonderful news for you. Your Savior, Christ the Lord, has entered this world and this is how you will know him. And I'm done. That's my last page, right? Yeah, this is my last page. I'm done, but get ahold of this.

Your Savior has entered this world and this is how you will know him. you will see him as the lamb slain. When you see him, you will see the lamb slain. You will not see some cartoon character with his hands out, like, give me a hug, who needs a hug? No. You know what I'm talking about, don't you? That's what men see. You know what I'm talking about. Absolutely not.

You will see the bloody victim lamb slain. You will see the same blood that God saw. And as he said, when I see the blood, I will be satisfied. When you see the blood, you will be satisfied. You will see all that you need to see. Because you've seen your salvation. That's the truth. You want to know if you've seen Him?

How can I? Well, there's a whole bunch of babies in the world right now. I go look at babies and look at babies. How will I know? There's a whole bunch of Jesuses in the world right now. How can I know I found the Savior? Here's how you know. When you see him as that bloody victim, the moment you lay eyes on his blood, you'll see all you need to see. You'll be satisfied. That's all you'll need. Nope, I'm done.

When those shepherds looked into that manger and saw that little baby wrapped up in those cloths, they saw their salvation. They saw a lamb slain and that's why they worshiped him. That's why they worshiped him. He was their salvation. And that's why we worship him. He's our salvation. He's our salvation.

Turn with me to Isaiah 9. This is the closing. This is it. Isaiah 9. A few weeks ago, Brother William brought a message to us and he read this verse to us and he opened my eyes to it. I used to think the first two lines were the same thing. Isaiah 9 verse 6. It says for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given. I thought that was the same thing said two ways. And he said.

A child was born in a manger. A son was given on a cross. Amen. Amen. The government shall be upon his shoulder. His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. To God be the glory. To God be the glory for this. Great things he has done. Great things he came into the world to do. And great things he did. Amen.

This Shall Be A Sign Unto You

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