Now if you will take your Bibles
and turn with me to Luke chapter 2. I want to tell you something
about the true story of Christmas. Now let me begin here. There is only one true saving
revelation of God. Only one. Our Lord said in the
last days false prophets were going to rise and they're going
to say, lo, here is Christ. Lo, over here is Christ. What
they're saying is that we're preaching Christ. Over here we
preach Christ. Over here we know Christ. We
walk with Christ. We're of God. But there's only
one true saving revelation of God given in this world, Jesus
Christ the Lord. There's no other way to know
Him. No other way to know Him in a saving way. Now, you might
know His power in Godhead through creation. And you might know
something of His justice in your guilt through your conscience.
But the only way to savingly know God, did you know that that's
what eternal life is? It's to know God. That's what
it says. It's to know God and Jesus Christ
whom God has sent. Now I'll come back to my text
here in just a minute, but listen to this over in the book of Acts.
He said, Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren,
that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by him, by this man, all
that believe are justified from all things from which you could
not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware, therefore, lest
that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets, Behold, you
despisers and wander in perish. For I work a work in your days,
a work which you shall in no wise believe, though a man tell
you." You are not going to believe it. Through this man. Through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sin. That is Acts chapter 13 verses
38 through 41. Now to the Jews who crucified
Christ, they took John and Peter into custody after healing that
lame man before the temple. You remember Peter said, silver
and gold have I not, but such as I have, give unto thee, rise
up and walk in the name of Jesus Christ. Well, here's what they
took him into custody, and here's what Peter said. He had this
to say. Be it known unto you all and to all the people of
Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you
crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him, does this
man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set
at nought of you builders, which has become the head of the corner.
Neither is there salvation in any other." No other. There is none other name under
heaven given among men whereby you must be saved. That's Acts chapter 4 verses
10 through 12. What am I saying? I'm saying
that the beginning of this story, here's where it begins. There's
only one true, saving revelation of God given to this world. Jesus Christ the Lord. That's
the only way you can know it. Only way you can know it. One
true evidence given to true Israel, one true sign. Here is what he
said way back yonder in Isaiah. He said, The Lord Himself shall
give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel, God with us. In Matthew 1, verse 21, it says,
the angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph, who was troubled
about his wife. She was pregnant. They weren't
married yet. Here's this young maiden, and
she's pregnant. And he's a man of God. He don't
want to make a public example out of her. He doesn't want to
humiliate her or himself. And he's troubled about these
things, and he's praying about these things. And God sent a messenger to him,
an angel, and he said, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife,
for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And
she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
Jesus, Joshua, same name, for he shall save his people from
their sins. And all this was done, that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophets,
saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring
forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which is being
interpreted, God with us." Everything God's ministers have to say to
men about God, about salvation, and about eternal life is based
on the appearance of this tiny baby in Bethlehem. There's no
other way to know God. Had God not sent His Son into
this world, had not the Word, in the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. Through this Word, He created
all things. Creation is a testimony of it.
He is the light. He is the light that lighteth
every man that cometh into the world. There is no other way
to know God. There is no other way to perceive
what goes on. There is no other way to understand
salvation except through this man. Through this man. There is no believing in God
apart from believing both in and on the Lord Jesus Christ. The verse that I read to you
over there in Acts chapter 4 verse 12, it begins with these words,
neither is there salvation in any other. No salvation in any
other. But now look here in Luke chapter
2 beginning with verse 8. And there were in the same country
shepherds abiding in the fields, 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 a babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." Neither is there salvation in
any other. Now, there's four questions proposed
to every man who hears the gospel of Christ. answered by the Holy
Spirit in the hearts of all those given to Him of the Father. There's four questions. Now remember,
I'm just going to keep repeating this. There's only one saving
revelation of God given unto man. The man, Christ Jesus. Here's the first question. Who
is this man? Huh? Who is this man? If there's only one, John, from
all eternity. If there's only one appointed
of God, only one decreed of God, only one in whom I can find a
saving knowledge of God, be able to look to God and be saved,
be able to look to God and understand the mystery. If there is but
one, then the question on my heart ought to be this, who is
this man? Who is this man? I tell you, the angels came down,
no shepherds were sitting out on the hillside. I don't believe
there was anything special these shepherds did to cause God to
come down and give them this revelation. The revelation of
Christ is altogether by the grace of God. They were probably the
least in the world worthy to hear this declaration because
that's what grace does. It reveals itself to the most
unworthy sinner. And here they are, and they're
sitting out there, and they're tending their flocks, and who knows what
their mind was on, and suddenly this angel appears to them. And
they said, this day is born unto you in the city of David, a babe. Christ the Lord. Christ the Lord. Who is this babe? Who is this
babe? I've traveled a good bit, and
I've been all over the United States, and from one end of Canada
to the other, and even down in the remote places in the Yucatan
jungle, and I've yet to find one individual who didn't know
who Jesus was. Have you? You ever met anybody
that didn't know Jesus? If you gave them that term, Jesus,
they knew, oh yeah, I know who you're talking about. Born in
Nazareth, Found him lying in there. Yeah, we know. We know
who that is. Even in the remotest part of the Yucatan jungle, those
natives knew who Jesus of Nazareth was. But they didn't know him. Who is this man? Who is this
man? All those that I met, by comparison,
only a handful actually knew who he was. From the very beginning
of the Word of God, the Holy Spirit of God speaks concerning
a coming Redeemer, calls Him the woman seed, calls Him the
lamb, calls Him a prophet like Moses, a priest after the order
of Melchizedek, on and on and on. It talks about this coming
Redeemer. There's a man coming. Brother Mahan used to say the
Bible says three things. In the Old Testament, it just
keeps telling you somebody's coming, somebody's coming, somebody's
coming. In the four Gospels, it tells
us somebody came. And in the rest of the book,
it keeps telling us somebody's coming back. Who is this man? Well, throughout the Word of
God, from the very beginning, from the time that man fell in
the garden, God has presented to us talking about the Christ,
the Christ, the Christ, this promised Redeemer, this promised
seed, the seed of Abraham, the root of Jesse, son of David,
on and on and on, talking about this coming Messiah, this Christ.
And every time you see this, see what this says up here? Luke
2, verse 11, unto you is born this day. We've been talking
about Him for 1600 years. He's pictured in creation itself. By His own hand, He made the
world. This day, John, today! What if
somebody were to come through that door and tell you, today! Go over and look out on that
field. You're going to see a little
barn. You go up there and look in there. There's Christ the Lord. Ain't that what it says? Christ. This promised One. Born a Savior, which is Christ,
the Promised One. Listen to how Paul speaks to
Timothy about this. II Timothy 1.9, he said, God
hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Given
to us in this Promised One. Everything that he required was
provided in this appointed one, this Christ. But it's now made
manifest by the appearing of our Savior. Ain't that what that
says? It's brought to light now. It's not just a promise anymore.
He's been born. Unto you this day in the city
of David is born one who is Christ the Lord. He's the Savior. He's
the one in whom God purposed and put all things. He's the
one, now he said, but now by the appearing of our Savior Jesus
Christ who has abolished death and brought life and immortality
to life through the Gospel. What is the Gospel? The Gospel
is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the Gospel. The Gospel
is not a thing. The Gospel is not a doctrine.
The Gospel is a person. It's the person. What's the doctrine
without the person? Jesus Christ is the saving revelation
of God. And the Scriptures, both Old
and New Testaments, set forth Christ. He set forth of God as
the propitiation for our sin through faith in His blood to
declare the righteousness of God. The Gospel declares that
this one Christ by whom He made the world and for whom creation
is preserved and of whom He made Him to be the head of the church,
the head of the body, the church, this one man, none other than
Jesus of Nazareth, this virgin-born Son of God. Everything rests
on that, John. Everything rests on that. Who
is this man? It all rests on that. I just don't understand the doctrines
of grace. Well, then, lay them aside and
study him. You find out who he is, the doctrines
of grace will just fall in line. They'll just fall in line. There
it'll be. It's clear as a bell. Clear as
a bell. Who is this man? Whoever he is, everything God
has for sinners is in him. You get him, you got all the
benefits. But you have to have him. This one Christ. This book says Jesus of Nazareth
is that Christ. He is that Christ. preach Jesus. If I just go around here talking
about Jesus, that's what religious folks are saying, talking about
me and Jesus have a good thing going and all that stuff. Jesus
is my co-pilot. If I just run around here trying
to preach Jesus alone, it leads me into all sorts of opinions
and speculations. But to preach Jesus as the Christ
is a whole other ballgame. That makes him synonymous with
all that God declares concerning the Christ and those who put
in the Christ before the world began. If he is the Christ, he must
be God and man in one person. I can't believe in Jesus the
man and not believe that he is overall God-blessed forever.
When I see him, I must see God because he's the saving revelation
of God. He is Emmanuel, God with us. If he be the Christ, then I must
be careful not to believe on him in some other way other than
how he's revealed as the Christ. Otherwise, he's not the Christ. And to do that is to make myself
anti-Christ. That's what it is. In 1 John
4, verse 1, we are warned to believe not every spirit, but
try the spirits whether they be of God. He's talking about
ministers. Because many false prophets are gone out into the
world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ, you follow what that says? Jesus of Nazareth,
whom God says is the Christ, is come into the flesh. Everyone
who says that falls in line with these descriptions of God concerning
that Christ. He's of God. He's of God. And every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come into the flesh, he's not of God.
And this is that spirit of Antichrist whereof you have heard that it
should come into the world. I don't care what it is. You
don't go contrary to the Word of God when it comes to this
Christ. Paul said He's omnipotent. He's sovereign. He's Lord. He's Lord of the dead and the
living to this end. Did He both die and was raised
from the dead that He might be Lord of the dead and the living? to His Messiahship and appointment
of the Father as the Christ that makes His appearance significant
and the work of a saving interest. That's the very heart of the
thing. I John 5.1, listen to this, Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ. You see that? Have you ever read
that before? I don't care who he is. Whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Don't you ask that question
of yourself? I wonder if I've been born of
God. Huh? Well, let me ask you this. Do
you believe that Jesus is the Christ? You're born of God. That's what that says. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ, exactly as God foretold him, in the exact character
God represents him in, accomplishing the work that God decreed for
him to accomplish in all of his offices as prophet, priest, and
king, that man is born of God. Verse 4. Whatsoever is born of
God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh
the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? See, that's what the Christ is.
He's the Son of God. He's the Son of God. He's actually the firstborn of
everything. He's the firstborn of every creature. He's the first
begotten from the dead. He's the first begotten of many
brethren and He's God's first begotten. Listen to this, 1 John 5 and
11. You go all the way through 1 John chapter 5 and it will
tell you just exactly what I'm telling you right now. Listen
to this down in verse 11. And this is the record, the record
of this book and the record of the men who preach this book.
This is the record. that God hath given to us eternal
life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath
life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These
things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the
Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and
that you may believe on the name of the Son of God." Who is this
man? Y'all just over there, y'all
just preach doctrine. You bet we do. You bet we do. The doctrine of Christ. Who is this babe in Bethlehem's
manger? Unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And then
here's the second question. Why did He come? Why must He come? What's so significant about His
coming? Why did He come? Why did the
eternal God of glory send His Son into this world? Why must
the eternal Word of God be made flesh and dwell among us? Well, I tell you this, you could
fill this room full of answers to that question. There's no
end to it. He just tells us over and over
and over again. Actually, just about everything
that is, is because of his coming into this world. And the whole of the book is
filled with reasons and causes and ends, but for the sake of
time, let me just give you a few things. I'd say this first and
foremost, and I believe that these things I'm going to give
you kind of sum up the whole. Everything fits under one of
these categories. But I'd say first and foremost
in the list is the glory of God. That's why He came into this
world. John said, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among
us and we beheld His glory. The glory of God. Everything
He gave to us in the way of spiritual blessings from beginning to the
end of time and by which we've obtained our adoption is to this
end, Ephesians 1.12, that we should be to the praise of God's
glory who first trusted in Christ. Yeah, that's that glory. That's
the first thing He trusted into His hand. Everything that God
has sealed in that seven-sealed book that John wrote about over
in the book of Revelation, that book of His everlasting purposes
of grace, and trusted into the hands of this one appointed,
trusted to do the will of the Father, to the praise of His
glory. He says this, Paul said, God
hath made him to be unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. That, in order that, he that
gloweth, let him glow in the Lord. He came to manifest the glory
of God, and then secondly, He came into this world as a substitute
for sinners. Unto you this day is born in
the city of David a Savior. That's good news, isn't it? It is to a sinner. I don't know
about these self-righteous folk sitting around in that trial,
but to a sinner, to the man who knows what he is, that's good
news. God sent a Savior. It's pretty
obvious by now that man ain't going to save himself, isn't
it? Everything that's required of God in order for them to be
His sons and enjoy the full benefits of their predestinated end was
given over into His hands to fulfill. Listen one more time
to this blessed passage over here in Ephesians 1. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
That's the promised Messiah, isn't it? Heavenly places in
Christ. According as He hath chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love. Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved, in
whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known
unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure
which he purposed in himself. A gathering together, accomplishing
of all that he purposed to do in Christ, the Messiah, the surety
and mediator of the covenant, into whose hands he trusted all
things. All things. The key to understanding
the book of God is to understand Christ as he set forth of God
in his substitutionary work. Until you understand substitution,
this book is going to be a mysterious book. It won't make any sense
to you. It doesn't make any sense. It's just going to be a book
of laws and then you're going to run into things that's contrary
to that and you'll scratch your head. It's going to be a book
of mysterious prophecies. You're going to find yourself
out in the yard one day just staring off into space wondering
about all these dragons and scorpions and beasts and things that's
going to come into the world. You're the beast. We're the scorpions. This book is a book of redemption,
and it's a book that sets Christ forth in His substitutionary
work. All right, here's the third thing we need to know. The second
thing is, why did He come? Huh? Why did He come? He came
to manifest the glory of God, to accomplish the will of God
in the substitutionary work of redemption. and to give light
to a world filled with darkness. In Him is light and no darkness
at all. That's what it says. No darkness. Christ is light, pure light,
gracious light, merciful light, the light of love and kindness
and gentleness and peace. Reformed morality is no light. There's no light in it. Doctrinal
orthodoxy is not a light. Self-righteous legalism is not
light. Duties and ceremonialism is not
light. Knowing the Christ of God is
light. You know Him, you've got light.
You've got light. I was talking with a fellow on
the phone the other night, and he said, boy, he said, I just
don't see sometimes how you look into those mysteries. I said,
it's not me. It's got nothing to do with me. has to do with
Him. He's light. If you can't see into those mysteries,
it's because you've limited the light yourself. The light's there. He's the light. Maybe we're looking
in the wrong place. Maybe that's why we can't find
it. He said, not even the princes of this world could see the eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man the things that God hath prepared for them that
love him. But He hath revealed them unto
us by Spirit. Then what did He say? All things,
yea, even the deep things of God. Huh? What's the problem? The problem is we ain't looking
in the right place. You won't find them study Christ.
That's where they're at. That's where they're at. Oh, this is light. Light has
come into the world. Testified for 1600 years. Verified by miracles and wonders
and signs. Verified by the fulfilling of
the Old Testament prophecies. Manifested in the holy life of
Christ without sin. Manifested in the godly tenderness
and compassion of Christ. Light in permanent union with
flesh. Think of it. Now, here's condemnation. Men
love darkness rather than light. That's it. Because, he said, their deeds
are evil. Let me give you a little English
lesson. That word are, their deeds are evil. That little word
are has reference to their present and permanent state of being.
You think about that. Our evil. What deed? All of it. All of it. Why? Because it's a state of
being. That's what we are. Evil. That's all we can do is
evil. And to approach this light is
to see one's ignorance and foolishness and sinful pride. To approach
this light is to agree with God as to your own condemnation.
To approach this light is to see yourself in all your uncleanness
and even your righteousnesses to be filthy rags. That's why
when the light comes, men run from it. That's why, because
it exposes what they are. And then thirdly, he asked this
question. What did he do? Now we know who
he is. He's the Christ. We know why
he came. He came to manifest the glory
of God. He came to save us from our sins. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. A Savior, and
He's Christ the Lord. All right? What'd this Savior
do? What did He do? You might think I'm oversimplifying
these things. You ask these four questions
to any religionist, I challenge you. Any of them. I don't care
what their denomination. Ask any of them. And I dare say
they won't give you a right answer on any of them. This Christ of God who came to
manifest the Father's glory, save His chosen people, do His
Father's eternal will. He came and appeared in Bethlehem's
manger. He lived 33 1⁄2 years and died
on a cross, was witnessed to have been raised from the dead.
What did He accomplish in those 33 1⁄2 years? What did He do? What did he do that no other
man ever did? I'll tell you what he did. He obeyed the law without one
glitch. John, he was made of a woman.
Made what? Under the law. Why? To redeem them that were under
the law. We can't keep it. We can't keep the first woman.
See, that's where our problem is. I wrote on their church sign
one day, and I read it. I think I told you about it.
And they said, the Ten Commandments is enough for us. That first
commandment's too much for me. Love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, soul, mind, and strength. Now, my friend, I don't care
what else you do. It's a violation of that first
law. And if you violate the first law, you violated the whole law. Ain't that what Christ said?
The whole law hangs on these two commandments. Love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your
neighbor as yourself. If you can do that, you can keep
the law. But you can't do that. But he did. Is that over simple? He kept the law. What did he
do? He kept the law. He did what
no man could ever do. He kept the law. Yeah, but this
is God. Yeah, but this is the representative
of all that was put in Him. He's also the Savior. He's the
Christ. He's our representative. And
as my representative, He obeyed the law on my behalf. You see
what I'm saying? He's my righteousness. What claim
do I have a right then to the things of glory? Can you see
that? That's what this whole thing of propitiation is about. Over in the book of John, he
came unto the world, and the world didn't know him. He came
unto his own, his own received him not. But to as many as received
him, to them gave he power. Ain't that what that says? To
become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Well,
He gives you right to be called a child of God. Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? Man, I tell you, I could
fill three pages right now without even hesitating on things you
could charge me with. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? That's righteousness. He kept
the law. He kept the law. There's two reasons. The believer's
not under the law. He's under grace. Turn with me
over to Romans chapter 3 real quick. According to the scriptures,
he is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that
believes. He's the end. And the believer's
not under the law. He's under grace. And there's
two reasons why this is so. The first reason is because the
law convicted him, condemned him, and put him to death. And the law has done to me everything
it can do. It killed me. It judged me. It
convicted me. And it put me to death. That's
all it can do, John. When that's over, the law leaves.
They dismiss court and the judge goes home. He's dead. Dead. Dead to the law. Ain't that what Scripture said
about the believer? He's dead to the law. When did he die? He died in Christ. Died in Christ. Once in the end of the world
hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And unto the many that look for
Christ shall he appear the second time, watch it now, without sin. Without sin. He's not going to
appear that second time as a sage. He's not going to appear that
second time as a sin offering. When He appears that second time,
it's without sin, unto the full benefits of the reward, unto
salvation. Having died for our sins, the
law has been satisfied and cannot require any further punishment
than that which has already been exhausted on Christ. And the
second reason is because the law has been honored and exalted
as high as it can be honored. Well, you folks, don't you want
to honor the law? Absolutely, I want to honor the
law. But how are you going to do it? Huh? How are you going to do it? You're not going to call that
Sabbath-keeping honoring God's law, are you? Huh? You're going to call your offerings
honoring the law? You're going to call your concerns
about your neighbor, I bet you can't even tell me all their
names. You don't even know who they are. You don't call that
honoring the law. Now, I'll tell you how you're
going to honor the law in His obedience. That's the only way
you can honor it. The only way you can honor it. Look here in Romans chapter 3,
verse 19. Now, we know, all believers know
these things. We know that what thing soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before
God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. When
we going to quit talking about men and women being justified
by stuff they do? The Word of God says no flesh
is going to be justified in His sight by the law, by their own
obedience to it. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. That is all you are going to
learn in the book of the law. Guilty, guilty, guilty. But now,
verse 21, the righteousness of God without the laws manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness
of God which is by faith, That is faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And it's unto all and upon all
that believe. Do you believe? Huh? Then it's yours. Unto all and upon all who believe. For there is no difference, that
is, between Jew and Gentile. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. And therefore, all that believe
on Christ are freely justified through the accomplished redemption
of Jesus Christ, even those who believed before He ever came,
even those in the Old Testament. And then very quickly, where
is He now? Who is this man? Who is this
man born in Bethlehem's manger? Why did He come? What did He
do? Where is he now? Oh, he laid
in a manger on that day, didn't he? And they all came in, and
even in the manger laid treasures down at his feet. Owned him as
king. King. But where is he now? The Scriptures say that Jesus,
who is the Christ, was raised from the dead and seated at the
right hand of God, where he sits, expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool. He's not renting and wringing
his hands. He's not up there crying his
eyes out because folks won't let him do what he wants to do.
He's seated, victorious, glorified at the right hand of God. And
he's sitting there expecting all things to be cast at his
feet. All his enemies are going to
be subdued. Now, if you will, turn with me
to Acts chapter 2. I want to close this message
with this passage in Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2 verse 29. Men and brethren, let me freely
speak unto you of the patriarch David. David is both dead and buried,
and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore, being
a prophet, knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that
of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise
up Christ to sit on his throne. He seeing this before spake of
the resurrection of Christ way back yonder in the book of Psalms.
Spake of the resurrection of Christ that his soul was not
left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus,
This Christ, this one that David talked about as a prophet of
God, talked about his soul, John, not being left in hell, not being
left under the wrath of God. This Jesus hath God raised up,
of we are all witnesses. Therefore being by the right
hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Ghost, He has shed forth this which you see and
hear." That's where it comes from. That's where it comes from. For David's not ascended into
the heavens, but he saith himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou at my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool.
Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that
God hath made that same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord
and Christ." Now, when they heard this, it was pricked in the heart. And you will be, too, if you
ever hear it. You'll be pricked in the heart. You'll see Him
that you crucified, and God raised Him up and set Him at His right
hand. And He's your judge. He's your
judge. And they said, what are we going
to do? What are we going to do? Now this is the first people
to whom the gospel was preached, is these same men and women that
laughed at Him while He died on the cross. These same men
and women that I talked to you about in my Sunday school lesson
this morning, who stood out there and judged Him and mocked Him.
Among them was a people And they first heard this gospel of Christ. And then they said, what are
we going to do? He said, believe. Believe. That's why God sent
him. That's why he appeared here.
That's what he accomplished here. And that's why God raised him
up and set him at his right hand. Trust in him. And then be baptized. Repent and be baptized, every
one of you, in the name of this Christ, in the name of our Savior,
Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you will receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. That is the gift of the Holy
Ghost, isn't it? To believe and have your heart
turned and in full obedience to be baptized. Ain't that what
it is to receive the Holy Ghost? That is the gift of the Holy
Ghost. And at the right hand of God sits Him in whose hands
have been given power over all flesh. And this power was given
to Him as Savior in Christ for this purpose, to give eternal
life to as many as the Father has given Him. And I guarantee
you, every one of them is going to be born again. Every one of
them going to be called to faith in Christ. Every one of them
going to hear the gospel. And every one of them going to
dedicate their lives and commit themselves to the gospel of Christ. I guarantee it. Cannot be any
other way. Why? Because God sent His Son
into this world. That's why. That's the real story
of Christmas. That's the real story.