So I think Luke chapter 2 might
be a good place for us to take our reading and our text for
this morning, the second chapter of the gospel according to Luke. And our primary subject is the
fact that Jesus Christ is Lord. As far as Christ and the gospel
is concerned, Christmas Day is pretty much entirely pagan. People
who know far more than I believe that it is no way possible that
Christ was born on the 12th. But we're not here to debate
that fact or to try to set you straight on that. It ain't worth
the time and effort it takes. We want to talk to you today
about this person who was born in Bethlehem, what date I do
not know, And this man is Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. That reminds
me of way back in the 80s, that back pew was packed. He had everything under the sun
to get them characters from off that bench. Put a reserve thing
on the end of it. Nobody sits there. Oh my. We're in Luke chapter 2, about
to read beginning at verse 1. And it came to pass in those
days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, the head
of the Roman Empire, under whose heel the nation of Israel was
now in bondage, that all the world, this decree decreed, that
all the Roman world, of whatever nationality or nation, does not
matter, should be taxed. And you thought we invented taxes.
We've got a bunch more than they had, I'm sure. And this taxing
was first made when Caius was governor of Syria. Now Syria
encompassed Israel and other territories in that region that
were under this governor. And the rule of thumb was that
you had to go to the town where you were born. So in verse 3,
all went to be taxed, every one to his own city. And Joseph also
went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea. Nazareth is in Galilee. Bethlehem
is in Judea. Into Judea under the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem. Because Joseph, as far as that
matters, so was Mary, were both of the house and lineage of David,
to be taxed with Mary his espoused or engaged wife being great with
child. And so it was that while they
were there, the days were accomplished that Mary should be delivered
of that child. Now way back in the Old Testament,
Some 700 or 800 years before this event ever took place, God
revealed through the Old Testament prophets that his son, the Lord
Jesus, would be born in Bethlehem. Now look at the intricate details
that brought this to pass. Mary and Joseph would have never
been in Bethlehem, particularly with her almost to the time of
delivering this child. What a journey that was, riding
on a donkey for hundreds of miles. And she brought forth her firstborn
son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger,
in a contraption in a barn where cows eat hay, or horses either
one, because there was no room for them in the inn. This event
must unfold precisely in this manner. When God wills and purposes
that which is His doing, it is with utter and absolute exactness. It's not just a general purpose.
It's detailed. All of these things are included.
Every day that takes place on this earth, God rules with the
same precision. There ain't nothing that happens
anywhere in this world that God is not the author of. It is His
purpose for these things to come to be or they could never be. And this is wonderful when we
think of it in terms of our saviors. All right, verse 8. And there
were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, In the
same country now, these are not the ones that came from a further
distance. These are shepherds, and they
are remaining wherever their sheep are grazing. They're staying
there 24-7, which is one of the main reasons
why the objection is made that December 25th cannot be the time
of Christ's birth because the shepherds in Israel in that time
of the year brought their sheep into the village and turned it
over to someone to look after. And the next morning, they'd
go there and call their sheep by name, and they would be the
only ones to come out. 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 shined
round about them, and they were very 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." Christ
the Lord. This shall be a sign unto you. you shall find the baby 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, goodwill toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels
were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherd said one
to another, let us go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing
which has come to pass. which the Lord has made known
unto us. And they came with haste and
found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they
made known abroad, they told Joseph and Mary and whomever
else was in that place, the saying which was told them concerning
the child by the message from the angels. And all they that
heard it wondered, they're amazed at the things which were told
them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things
and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned to
their sheep, glorifying God, glorifying and praising God for
all the things which they had heard and seen as it was told
unto them. And when eight days were accomplished
for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus." That
word literally means Jehovah is salvation. Notice it says
eight days, not seven, not nine, eight. I forget the author that
I was reading behind some of yours that says that Medical
science has proven that the clotting agent in a child's blood reaches
its height on the 8th day. Wonder how Abraham knew when
to circumcise his children. God declared to him the 8th day. And this name, Jesus, is the
name which was so named of the angel before the Lord Jesus was
in the womb. Now we have another time period
in verse 22, and when the days of her purification according
to the law. That is, Mary was virtually quarantined
for 40 days and then was allowed to resume normal human life. When the days of her purification
according to the law of Moses were accomplished, They brought
him, the Lord Jesus, to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, which
was also required by the law. And at this early point, we can
see that the Lord Jesus came into this world to fulfill and
keep God's law in every detail and aspect in order to earn for
his people a perfect righteousness and impute it to them in the
power of his grace and spirit. Verse 23, as it is written in
the law of the Lord, every male that opens the womb shall be
called holy to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to
that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves
or two young pigeons. These were the offerings designated
for the poorest people. namely Joseph and Mary in this
case. There's another little detail.
I don't know that it's highly significant, but it might help
us to understand her. In verse 23, it says, every male
that opens the womb. Technically speaking, the Lord
Jesus is the only male child ever to be born that opened the
womb. In all other cases and instances, the womb was opened
at conception. not at the birth of the child.
Verse 24, And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said
in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. And behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem, in this same temple where Mary and Joseph are, to
offer this sacrifice that we've just read about. This man's name
was Simeon. Verse 25, and the same man was
just or righteous and devout, waiting, looking, longing for
the consolation, the hope of Israel. And that hope is none
other than the Lord Jesus. And the Holy Spirit or the Holy
Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto Simeon
by the Holy Ghost, which is simply another name for the Holy Spirit,
that he should not see death. He could not die until he had
seen the Lord's Christ, God's Christ. And Simeon came by the
Spirit, this time just the Word Spirit, not the Holy Ghost, not
even the Holy Spirit, though it is the same member of the
Divine Trinity. He came by the Spirit. The Spirit
of God saw to it that Simeon was in that place at that specific
time. And when the parents brought
in the child Jesus, who is now 48 days old, To do for him after the custom
or requirement of the law, Simeon then took the Lord Jesus up in
his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now let your servant
depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen
your salvation in an infant. God's salvation, which you have prepared before
the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and
the glory of your people Israel." And Joseph and his mother. It doesn't say his father and
his mother. Joseph is not his child's father.
Mary conceived by the miraculous work of God the Holy Spirit. Joseph and his mother marveled
at those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them
and said unto Mary his mother, behold, this child is set for
the fall and rising again of many in Israel. And indeed, that
is the case. Have you ever read the four Gospels
to any degree and paid any attention to what you're reading? The Lord
Jesus wasn't well received by most folks in most places. And if you can't read that, and
when you read this book, you've got some kind of special glasses
on that means you don't want to see it. My soul, if you just
take one tiny little passage in Luke chapter 4 when our Lord
went back to Nazareth and the synagogue not long after He left
to begin His public life and ministry at the age of 30. He
so incensed those people that they grabbed Him and took Him
to the brow of the mountain on which their town sat and were
going to throw Him down headlong, get rid of Him forever. And those
were people that knew Him virtually the time of his birth until he
was 30 years old. And then Simeon in verse 35 says,
Yea, a sword shall pierce through your own soul also that the thoughts
of many hearts. Wherever the gospel of Christ
goes, it reveals what's in our heart. And that ain't necessarily
good. All right, we'll come back to
that and work on just one of those verses. Luke chapter 2. My text is verse 11. You thought I was going to preach
on all the verses in this chapter. Well, it might seem like it,
but I don't plan to. Verse 11, let's read that again. He is born this day, whatever
day it was, in the city of David, namely Bethlehem, a Savior, which
or who? He was Christ the Lord before
He was ever conceived. He is Thee, but I don't want
Him to be my Lord. A Savior? Christ? the Lord. This is one of the
most fundamental, necessary truths of the whole Bible. Jesus Christ
is Lord. And it is imperative because
primarily of the time in which we live, religion, and I'm talking
about supposedly Christian has left the truth about God, the
truth about ourselves, the truth about Christ, and the truth about
God changed everything. They tell you that God cannot
do anything unless you let Him. I don't know who they're talking
about, but it ain't God. This book says as plain as letters
can put it, God does according to His will among the armies
of heaven, among the inhabitants of the earth, for that matter,
in hell itself. God does as He pleases. And it
is illustrated, we've given umpteen examples throughout the whole
of our Bibles in regard to this matter. So when we say that Jesus
Christ is Lord, what do we mean? What do we mean by? Now don't
get me wrong, people sing these same songs all over the world.
How many years did we sing them before we found out what they
meant? That's the rub. And now in our generation and
prior to our generation, songbooks are being rewritten but no mention
of it. They tell you this hymn is by
so and so and sometimes they give you the date, tell you who
wrote the tune, They don't say now we're going to change some
words in here, but they do to try to take the sting out of
the truth of God, make Jesus a beggar and make us a prince. There's something wrong with
that scenario. So what does it mean? He has
all authority and all power. He tells this to the disciples
in Matthew 28, when he gives to them what is called a great
commission. He said, I have power over heaven and earth. And he
commissions them to preach that gospel concerning himself and
his sacrificial death on Calvary's tree. How about turning to one
or two references with me this morning? You took too long to
sing, so I'm going to be behind. John chapter 17, just one verse. John 17, verse 2. John 17. Hear our Savior's own
word. Speaking to His Father in what
is called His high priestly prayer, Christ is our prophet, our priest,
and our king. He says to the Father, as You
have given Him, referring to Himself, as You have given to
the Christ, Power over all flesh. Every kind of flesh, including
human beings. All flesh. If there's any on
Mars, them too. All of them. What does He need
such power for? That He might give eternal life. as the Father gave Him in old
eternity in that everlasting covenant of grace. The Lord Jesus
did not die for everybody and He's not trying to save everybody.
Here's whom He saves. We can love this or hate it.
It won't change one bit. As many as you, the Father, have
given Him. Religion today has blotted that
verse completely and have no explanation for it. and never
mention it. But I'm telling you the truth.
Christ is Lord. God has given Him power. That
word could also be translated authority over all flesh that
He should give eternal life to as many as the fullness of heaven.
How about turning to Romans chapter 14? That's almost to the end
of Romans. It seems like there are 16 chapters
in Romans. I honestly don't know if that's
But I just need you to get to chapter 14. Now you all are going
to embarrass me if you get there before I do. I forgot to mark
mine this time. Let's see, verses 8 and 9 in
the 14th chapter of the book of Romans. For whether we live,
we live unto the Lord. And whether we die, we die unto
the Lord. Whether we live therefore or
die, we are the Lord. He owns everything and everybody. Me and you. Look at verse 9. For this end, to this end, to
this person, Christ both died and rose and revived that he
might be Lord both of the dead and the living." Now let me explain
that dead and living. It means the physically dead
and the physically alive. But it also means the spiritually
dead and the spiritually alive. A man can die two ways. This
Bible talks in several places about a second death, and that's
the one you do not want to be in. That death is for unbelievers,
people who leave this world in a lost condition. And you're
a fool if you fall for this notion that you can do some kind of
religious deed or give all the money you can scrape up and you're
going to help somebody else Help somebody that's already on the
other side. You can't do it. When we leave this world, whatever
state we're in, we're confirmed in that state for eternity. Third
thing about our Savior being Lord, He has no rivals. He has no competition. He's not
competing. to see if He can get His people
to receive Him. If you're without food for a
week, you think your wife's got to beg you to eat your supper?
It's like God can't do anything. We have to do everything for
Him. That is foolish. Psalm 76.10 says, speaking about
God, "...even the wrath of man shall perish." and the remainder
of wrath, whatever men would do that is evil and wicked and
harmful. He responds. Some people believe
that God only has power over those that love Him and follow
Him. Well, man, we're in a fix because we're in a vast minority
in this world. And if people can do to us whatever
they want, We're in a dangerous state, a dangerous state, but
that ain't the case. God guards us every moment of
every day and you can't die until it's your time. He has no rivals. Philippians 2 says that at the
name of the Lord Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue
confess. Jesus Christ is Lord. Now some people say that the
Lordship of Christ is a future thing, that He's not Lord now,
but He will be later. That's utterly unacceptable. That is simply not true. You
tell me when He was here in the flesh, walking this earth, and
He still has that flesh today, He sits on His throne in glory
wearing a human body without sin. But you tell me that when
He walked this earth, no matter how many opponents there were
or any other condition of any kind never fazed Him or stopped
Him, not one single iota. And we're to tell people that
Christ is trying to do something that He can't do. That is a flat
lie and nothing else. I don't care who says it. The
Pope can say it. Billy Graham can say it. It doesn't
matter. All the preachers in the world
can say it and it won't make it so. Christ rules right now
and reigns. He is Lord now. Now. Let me quote you a statement
from Brother Mahan, Henry Mahan. Speaking about Christ being Lord
now, not ought to be, not should be, not even will be, He is Lord. This is a truth that is understood
by friend as well as foe. We hear people exhort their congregations
to make Jesus Christ Lord. Men do not make Christ Lord.
He is Lord. The Father made Him Lord. He's
committed all things into the hand of His Son, including judgment
day. Goodness me, this is absurd to
even think these things. All right? Here's the first major... Oh, that's introduction. Now,
this is the first major point, and I'm not going to keep you
late. Not after 2 o'clock anyway. All right, the first thing is
this. There's no way of salvation for anybody at any time, apart
from an unconditional surrender to Christ as Lord. That's the
only grounds. Unconditional surrender. We bow to Christ in regard to
this book. This is His Word. We bow to His
will. We bow to His Lordship. is not a way of looking at life. It is our life because Christ
is our life. Colossians says that with absolute
clarity and plainness. Christianity is not a philosophy. It is a living principle in the
heart of a sinner when God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit give life
to the soul. Christianity is not a moral code. The church today is all about
keeping, and then they want to add a few of their own. They
want you to tithe. They want you to straighten up and act
right. They don't want you missing church.
You know, on and on and on. It ain't a thing in the world
but getting people to do what, you know, to keep an organization
alive. My Lord, if God ain't in this place, I wished it'd
fall to the ground. It's a detriment to the souls
of men if Christ is not preached in the truth of the gospel. Christianity is not a moral code. It is a nature of godliness. And that is the gift of grace.
You'll find these two expressions in your Bible. Christ in you,
the hope of glory. Colossians 1.27. When Christ,
who is our life, shall appear. Colossians 3 and verse 4. These
are plain. These are not ambiguous statements
in the least. The second point is that The
apostles' preaching, if you look at the preaching done by the
apostles of Christ, Judas Iscariot, of course, no longer being around,
you understand. And though they added one to
that band, in my mind, the Apostle Paul was that missing apostle. He says of himself that he thinks
of himself as one born out of due time. For as far as we know,
he never saw the Lord Jesus face to face. until he met him on
the road to Damascus after our Savior had already been crucified,
resurrected, ascended, and seated in glory. Let's look at Acts
chapter 2 just for a second. Let me shorten this a bit. Let's
go to verse 32, Acts chapter 2. Acts 2.32. Jesus has God raised up, whereof
we all are witnesses. Therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost, He has shed forth this
which you now see and hear." What were they hearing? The apostles
were preaching in different languages. It was not different tongues. It was not gibberish. It was
actually a language spoken by people who were in Jerusalem
for this required visit to the temple in the Jewish religion. I'd have lost everything. Let
me see if I can find it. Verse 34, For David is not ascended,
This is literal David, one of the kings of Israel. David is
not ascended into the heavens, but he said himself, David said
himself, the Lord, look at the capital letters in that word
Lord, the Lord God Jehovah said unto my Lord, the Lord Jesus,
One capital letter, this is in Psalm 110 about verse 3, God
the Father said to God the Son, sit you on my right hand until
I make your foes your footstools. And that's what's happening right
now. Every day that rolls by, God's bringing people to rest,
to believe, to trust. The apostles' favorite term when
it came to referring to themselves, they call themselves Christ's
servants. See if you can get a TV preacher
to use that. Not only servants, they said,
we're your bond slave. And even went so far when they
were in prison to say that they were Christ's prisoners. If Christ did not purpose for
them to be in prison, So they're Christ's prisoners. My soul,
I'd rather be His prisoner than Caesar Augustus, wouldn't you? Their favorite position was at
the feet of Christ. Their favorite occupation to
glorify Christ. Their favorite pastime was to
serve Christ. That ought to be ours. Third
thing is this, the second coming of Christ, the full visible manifestation
of Christ's glory. In what character will he come
back? King of kings and Lord of lords. He came the first time
in obscurity, in poverty, in lowliness, in condescension,
treated wickedly and vilely by a great many people. some peons
and some of them kings and leaders. But the next time when He comes
back, and He will, He comes back to sit on a throne of judgment
and every man who's ever lived, dead or alive, is going to stand
before Him. In what character did the Roman
soldiers mock our Savior? They put on His head a crown
of thorns. They put on purple robe. They bowed their knee to him
in mockery. But he's coming back. They despised
him in every other kind of way for that matter. When he appeared
before Pilate, Pilate asked our Lord, Are you a king? Our Lord
said, Well, you said so. He didn't deny that he was. And
when he put Christ on the tree, What did the sign over the top
of the cross say? Jesus of Nazareth, the King of
the Jews. And the Jews were livid. Oh no,
don't leave that up. They went to Pilate and begged
and begged and begged. They say, at least say he said
he was the King of the Jews. And as wicked as Pilate was,
what did he say? What I have written I have written."
And the same character, he'll come again as king. One more
scripture. I've got one minute until 12
o'clock. John chapter 18. Now you know,
of course, because we have been brainwashed, that all the apostles
of Christ were virtually angels. You knew that, didn't you? Our Lord appeared to His apostles.
I'm in John 18 now, if you're still looking. And Thomas was absent. And when
he came back to be with the others, they told him what had happened.
He didn't believe it. Look what he said. Let me find
my verse here. I've got it written down somewhere.
Verse 28. Ah, that's not the verse I wanted. Right on. Thank you, Craig. Thomas, verse 24, chapter 20
in the book of John, Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus,
which means twin, was not with them when Jesus came. The other
disciples therefore said unto him, We've seen the Lord. But
Thomas said, except I shall see in his hands the print of the
nails, and put my finger into the print of his nails, and thrust
my hand into his side, which was pierced by a Roman soldier,
I will not believe." That is, not believe that Christ is raised
from the dead. And after eight days, again,
the disciples were within, and Thomas, this time, is with them. Now the Lord was not present
with them when Thomas gave the conditions upon which he will
believe that Christ is raised from the dead. Then came Jesus,
the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, right in the middle
of them. They didn't open the door to let him in. He's not
hindered by such things. And he said, Peace be unto you. Then our Lord said to Thomas,
O my, How did he know? Thomas, reach here your finger
to hold my hands, and reach here your hand and thrust it into
my side, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered
and said unto him, My Lord, whoever is our God is our Lord. Jesus said to Thomas, Because
you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are they that have not
seen.