This morning I just want to take
a thought from one of the verses and speak briefly, very briefly,
will not be long, speak about this thought, what it is to have
a Savior. What it is to have a Savior.
Remember when Christ revealed Himself to the woman of Samaria
in John chapter 4, She ran back to town to tell the good news. And many never took her word
for it, but they went out of the city and came to him. They listened to his words. And
then the scripture says that many believed on him for the
saying of the woman. But then many more believed because
of his own word. And here's what they said then
to the woman. Now we believe, not because of
thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves. And know that
this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world. The Savior. Christ is the Savior
of this world, not in the sense that all men shall be saved,
but in the sense that he is the only Savior the world has. He
is the one and only Savior of the world. So Christ the Savior
is born. In verse 11, the angel said to
these shepherds, For unto you, unto you, you shepherds, He didn't
announce this to King Herod. He didn't announce this to the
mayor of Jerusalem or even Bethlehem. He didn't say this to the high
priest of the Jews' religion. But it was to these lowly shepherds
that the angel of the Lord says, for unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior. which is Christ the Lord. I'm glad the announcement was
not that of a potential Savior, but of a certain Savior. I'm
glad the announcement was not of one who would like to be a
Savior if only people would let him. No, the announcement was
of a Savior. A Savior is one who saves. who is able to save, willing
to save, and does save. So the announcement was of a
Savior that is born, which is Christ the Lord. Now what is
it to have a Savior? I just jotted these few thoughts
down and I'll share them with you before we go today. Number
one, it is to have been brought to fear not having a Savior. These shepherds had waited long.
They did not know this announcement would come to them. And when
it did come, verse 9 says, they were sore afraid. They believed
He was coming, but would He be coming for them? Would there
be hope for them? I myself can say this morning,
I've always believed that Christ came and died for sinners. And
I've always known that I am one. But long did I wonder and worry
if I were one for whom he came. It was grace that taught my heart
to fear. If you've never been brought
to fear, perishing without Christ, then you may very well be perishing
without Christ. Fear. This is the first step,
being brought to fear, not having a Savior. When the Holy Spirit of God brings
you to a consciousness of just how holy God is and just how
sinful you are, it brings fear. It does not help when people
tell you you're a good person. It does not help when people
tell you you're all right. The fear in your heart tells
you otherwise. And it's a fear brought by God,
the Holy Spirit. What a blessed, blessed first
step that is. Awful conviction of your sin. How very awful and terrible and
dreadful when you're there. How you'd like to escape it.
How I wanted to escape it so bad. But oh, looking back, what
a great blessing. Conviction of sin. Fear of not having a Savior. Number two, what is it to have
a Savior? It is to have those fears relieved. The old songwriter Newton said,
"'Twas grace that caused my heart to fear, And it's that same grace
my fears relieved. It was God all the way. The angel said here in verse
10, fear not, fear not. Only the Lord can say that affectionately
to a sinful heart. Fear not. In ourselves, knowing how wretched
we are, how sinful we are, knowing that God is infinitely holy. What can we do but fear? Unless
and until God speaks effectually that word in the heart. Fear
not. Fear not. Oh, blessed thought. Three, what it is to have a Savior. It is to be persuaded, fully
persuaded, not just in mind, but in heart, there is a Savior
for such a sinner as I. To know this morning that He
did not come for the best of men, but for the worst of men. That's good news to me. To know that He did not come
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. That's good news
for me. To perceive His words that the
whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. That's good
news for me. For what it is to have a Savior,
it's to be brought as a sin sick soul to cry out to the Lord Jesus
Christ as your only hope of everlasting life. To be brought to that, to cry
to him. Did you ever think of this? The
lifeguard don't dive in the water for everybody. He just dives
in for that one that's drowning. That's all. Until and unless you are brought
of God the Spirit, unless it swells up in your heart, and
until it swells up in your heart, the danger of dying without Christ and how near you may be to perishing, unless you are brought to say
with the psalmist in Psalm 73, my feet were almost gone, my
steps had well nigh slipped, this close to perishing. Until and unless you are brought
to that in your heart, You'll go on being part of this proud,
hearted, self-sufficient society that we're mingling with every
day that we live. But all the blessedness of being
brought by God to cry out to Him. I want to say this morning,
if you can make it on your own, Christ will not come for you. If there's hope left in you,
there's no hope for you in Him. What blessed, blessed news this
is for those needing a Savior, needing a friend that will never
leave you nor forsake you. Christmas time is a joyous time
for many. It's also a very sorrowful time
for others. those who have lost loved ones,
those who have no one to share love with, those who seemingly
have much to grieve about and little to rejoice about. Can
I say to you this morning, Christ is the answer. Religion is not
the answer. Even church attendance is not
the answer. But knowing you're lost, Knowing
you'll perish if Christ does not rescue you. And crying out
to Him for mercy. That's your hope. Knowing that
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. And believing
that you are one of those sinners. Knowing that Christ came to seek
and to save that which was lost. and believing that He came to
save you. John 6, 37, all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me. And you say, well, what if I'm
not one of them? Then you'll not come to Him. But do you want to come to Him? If you do, you can. If there's desire to belong to
Him, That desire is from Him. If you have no desire this morning
to know Christ, I have not much hope for you because all our
hope is in Christ. If you don't need Him, He certainly
don't need you. Jesus said in John 10, 27, My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them. That is, I work intimately
and affectionately in their hearts, and they follow me. Do you long
to follow Him this morning? If you do, you can. If you don't,
you can't. Five, what it is to have a Savior.
It is to give up on yourself, on ever being good enough, on
ever doing enough, and rest in Christ alone. Mr. Spurgeon said, you may work your
fingers to the bone, but you can never weave a righteousness
that shall cover your nakedness before God. Never. Never. So go ahead and confess it. If Christ is not for me, I must
perish. I have no other hope. It's me
in Christ and Christ in me or I perish. Reach for him and never quit
reaching for him. Rely on Him and never quit relying
on Him. Rejoice in Him and never quit
rejoicing in Him. These shepherds found Him and
worshipped Him and left rejoicing. I want to tell you, we're not
just talking about playing church here. Jeremiah 29, 13 said, and
ye shall seek Me and find Me when ye shall search for Me with
all your heart. But if you're never brought by
God to search for Him with all your heart, you'll never find
Him. Oh, if you could but trust in
the Lord this morning and go on your way rejoicing in Him.
Never stop trusting Him and never stop rejoicing. And until that day when he says,
you've sought me in vain, you've trusted in vain, you believed
in vain, you must perish. But that day will never come.
You cannot truly seek him in vain. You cannot truly trust
him in vain. You cannot truly rely on him
in vain. You cannot truly rest in Him
in vain. You cannot perish in Him. All that the Father giveth shall
come to me. What then? And him that cometh
to me I will in no wise cast out. I will never under any circumstance,
in no case, in no wise will I ever cast out one sinner who truly
comes to me and cries to me for mercy. The dear old hymn writer Fannie
Crosby wrote, Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry. Hear my feeble cry. While on
others thou art calling, please, please, Lord, do not pass me by. Many will
go out into eternity this holiday season. You know that and I know
that. We don't know who they'll be.
If it should be one or more than one in our midst this morning,
my prayer is that you'll take your final breath, trusting Him who was born of
a virgin but born to die, who lived sinless, who died on a
cross, who rose again, who ascended and is seated at the right hand
of the majesty on high right now. Oh, the angel said to the shepherds
that night, for unto you is born this day in the city of David,
a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. That's when the Savior
was born. But then he died on a cross. And then he rose and ascended
and is given a name above every name, highly exalted, seated
at the right hand of the majesty on high. And this morning, except your
hope be in him, You have no hope. And my prayer is that I'll see
you all again at our next appointed gathering. But if it be not so,
if there be one that never returns, if there be one that leaves this
world during these days, I'll shine that thing at you for a
while. If there be one of us, if there be one of us, to leave
this life, I repeat my prayer is that you leave this world
trusting in Him, the Savior, the Savior. Not the one who could if you
let Him, not the one who'd love to be a Savior, but the one who
is, the one that saves, the one that dives in and rescues drowning
folk. Thank God that He brought me
to see myself that bad off and that much in need, and He came
to my rescue. Bless His holy name.