When you turn back to Luke chapter
2, I've entitled this message, The First New Testament Evangelists. The First New Testament Evangelists. I'd never really thought about
this before, but it was the shepherds. The First New Testament Evangelists. I think it is very interesting
to think of these men. They're on midnight shift. They went to work to watch the
flocks by night. Maybe they split it up with somebody
else, and they had no idea what was getting ready to take place. Verse 8, And there were in the same country
where the Lord was born shepherds, poor, simple, uneducated shepherds. I think who the Lord chose to
make this known to is very interesting. Shepherds. Not philosophers,
not the rich, not the mighty, but some insignificant shepherds. What are the ways of the Lord
of Glories, aren't they? The way he does, I'm just so thankful. And they were 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. I was eating lunch with Paul
this afternoon, and he asked me what I was preaching on. I
said, The Shepherds. I'm glad you selected that hymn. 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. That's precisely what I need,
a Savior. which is Christ the Lord. And this should be a sign unto
you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the
angel a multitude, who knows how many, perhaps millions, 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
shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even 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 when they'd seen, here's
the first New Testament evangelist, they made known abroad in a public
manner to everyone they could find the saying which was told
then concerning this child. They let him know exactly what
the angel said to them. And all they that heard it wondered
at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary
kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returning,
glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had
heard and seen as it was told unto them. The first New Testament
evangelists. Now, we don't know anything about
these men. what they were like before the Lord appeared to them.
I don't know if they were believers. Apparently they believed something.
But how can they not respond to the angel coming and telling
them who the Lord is? Unto you is born. I know they
were believers because he said unto you is born this day a Savior. He was going to be their Savior.
He didn't save everybody, but he saved a whole lot of people
and included one of these shepherds. Like I said, I don't know what
kind of men they were that very day, but their life changed forever
as the Lord appeared unto them. The first New Testament evangelist. Now, when this angel appeared,
And the glory of the Lord shone round about them. Of course they
were sore afraid. I would have been afraid too.
The first thing I would think if I saw an angel. Some people
might think, oh boy, he's going to do that. I'm afraid I would
think he's here to smite me. And that's what they were thinking.
They were scared to death. They didn't know what was going
to take place. They were conscious of it. They needed a Savior.
So, you know, they knew they were sinners. He said, unto you
is born a Savior, which is Christ Jesus the Lord. The only people
who need a Savior are sinners. And the angel shines round about
them, the glory of the Lord shines round about them, and they're
scared to death. Verse 10, And the angel said unto them, Fear
not, for behold, I bring you. This isn't a generic message. He's talking to these shepherds
individually. I'm bringing this special message to you. Well, I want the Lord to bring
a message to me, don't you? I want him to speak to me. He
said, I bring a message to you. Fear not, for behold, I bring
you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Now, the message of the gospel
is a message of good news. It's a message of glad tidings. And it's a message of great joy. The word is gospel. Gospel. Beautiful word, isn't it? It
means good news. Now, I want to ask you a question.
Have you heard the gospel as gospel? Have you heard the gospel as
good news? Have you heard the gospel as
glad tidings that brings joy to your heart? Have you heard
the gospel as gospel? Paul said, moreover, brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel. How about it? Christ died for
our sins according to the scripture. Who's the are? Everybody he died
for. Everybody he died for. Everybody
who believes. All the elect. Those are the people he died
for. He died for our sins according to the scriptures. How that he
died for our sins according to the scriptures. Just to say that
Christ died for our sins in a generic way is not the gospel. It's how
that Christ died for our sins according to the gospel. Like
the Passover lamb, without blemish, without spot, slain for Israel. For the people with the blood
over the door. And when God said, and this is one of my favorite
verses, when God said, when I see the blood, that's all God was
looking for. He didn't say, when I see your
faith or your good works or your sincerity, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. Is that good news to you? Is
that gospel? Is it something that creates
joy? Christ died. Why did he die? God purposed
it. Christ died. Why did he die? Because he's
guilty. The sins of God's people became his. He bore our sins
in his own body on the tree. And the wrath of God came down
on him, and he satisfied the wrath and the justice of God.
So when he was raised from the dead, it's because God said,
I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied, I can ask no more. Everybody he died for, and that's... I'm talking about me right now.
I'm talking about every believer, but I'm especially thinking of
me. God says regarding me, I'm satisfied. There's nothing I
could ask more. Is that good news? Everything
that God requires, I have in Christ. That's good news. It's a message of exceeding Now, the gospel is not good news
to everybody. Some treat it with indifference,
others with anger and animosity, but it comes as good news to
some. Who does it come as good news to? I can answer that question
real easily. It comes as good news to sinners.
Everybody who's a sinner, everybody without exception, who's a real
sinner. Somebody who all they do is sin.
All they've done is break God's law. That's... What a horrible description of
somebody, but yet it's the truth, if you know yourself. That message
comes as good news to every sinner. Now, notice how he says in verse
10, The angel said unto them, Fear not, for I, behold, I bring
you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
The gospel's for everybody. You know, I love the word whosoever
will. God's not excluding you. If you're excluded, you've excluded
yourself. Now, it's true. God elected a people. No doubt
about that. He didn't elect everybody. It's
true. Christ died for the elect and accomplished their salvation.
But let me ask you a question. Does that keep anybody from being
saved? No, the Bible also says, him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. God's not trying to keep somebody
from being saved. Anybody who comes to him for
mercy, he receives. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely, without a cause. Gospel's for everybody. Paul put it this way in 1 Timothy
1.15, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
Everybody ought to believe this. Everybody ought to rejoice in
this. Everybody ought to receive this as the best news they've
ever heard, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,
of whom I am the chief. Now, the gospel's not for everybody,
but it's for anybody, isn't it? Anybody who'll come. Anybody
who will bow the knee to Christ, anybody who will look to him
only, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. Now, this message is to all people. This is the message
I preach to everybody. You know, one of the things I
was thinking about, I wonder if somebody would listen to what
these angels preached. Somebody who's listening to me
preach and say, well, he preaches what those angels preach. I tell
you what, if I preach the gospel, I've got the same message they
do. And preach it all the time. If I preach the gospel, this
is this is the gospel. Now, he says in verse 11. For unto you. Unto you. Is born this day in the city
of David. A savior. Which is. Christ. the Lord. Unto you. Now this message is for everybody
who needs it. I'm one of these people. I'm
one of the you's he's speaking of when he says unto you. This message is for every sinner. Every sinner without exception. I tell you, I fear saying, well,
I'm a sinner just by way of knowing it's the right thing to say.
But really believing this regarding myself. Unto you, to every sinner, every
real sinner, is born this day a Savior. Isaiah 9, verse 6,
For unto us a child is born, Unto us a son is given. Now,
that son wasn't born. That son's eternal. But when
he became flesh, he was born. Unto us a child is born. Unto
us a son is given. And the government shall be upon
his shoulders. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He's going to be born in the
city of David. In answer to the ancient prophecy of Micah, chapter
5, verse 2, that told he would be born in that city, unto you
is born a Savior. A Savior. Look in Luke, chapter
2, verse 21. And when the eight days were
accomplished for the circumcision of the child, his name was called
Jesus. What does Jesus mean? Savior. It's the Greek word for
the Old Testament word, Joshua. And I think it's so beautiful.
Moses could not bring the children of Israel into the promised land.
Moses represents the law, and he's not going to be able to
bring the children of Israel into the promised land. But Joshua,
the Savior, does. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Savior. Look back in Matthew chapter 1. You know, this is the name That's
above every name. I love that passage of scripture
where the Lord says that he hath exalted him and given him a name
which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus. I love his name. I love the way
it sounds. I love what it means. I love
who he is. That at the name of Jesus, every
knee should bow. Of things in heaven, things in
earth, things under the earth. And that every tongue, every
tongue, that it is wonderful. Every tongue, people who have
no love for him right now, some right now are confessing willingly,
but everybody's going to be made to confess that he is Lord to
the glory of God the Father. And, you know, no matter how
discouraged I may be in myself, that's something that always
encourages me just to know. Whatever happens to me, everybody's
going to bow the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ. That makes
me happy. The name of Jesus. Look in Matthew
chapter 1, verse 18. Now, the birth of Jesus Christ
was on this wise when, as his mother Mary was a spouse to Joseph,
before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy
Ghost. And we talked about this last
week. You know that when she came up to Joseph and said, I'm
With child of the Holy Ghost, would you believe that? Of course
you wouldn't. You wouldn't believe that. But
he was a fine man. Look what it says about him.
Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, not willing to make
her a public example, was minded to put her away. Divorce her. Private. So nobody would know
anything about it. He thought she's been unfaithful
to me. And of course he thought that. He would have thought the
same thing. I wouldn't have believed anything like that. But while
he thought on these things, I'm sure he was heartbroken. He was
disturbed that his fiancée, the one he was espoused to be married
to, had been unfaithful to him, and then came up and concocted
something like that. I mean, he was thinking on these
things, thinking, man, what in the world has happened? While
he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, 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, Savior. For he shall save his people
from their sins. Now, one of the great problems
of the preaching of our day is that how to live is emphasized
more than how to die. Now let me suggest to you, if
you know how to die, I know you'll know how to live. I know that. If you know how to die, you'll
know how to live. The preaching of this day emphasizes
going to heaven and avoiding hell. It's always been that way.
You want to go to heaven when you die? Of course you do. You
don't want to go to hell when you die. Whereas the emphasis ought to
be sin and grace. Now here's what I need. I need
to be saved from my sins. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. Now this is
precisely what I need. I need to be saved from my sins
because I can't save myself from my sins. I need a Savior. I need
the Lord to do something for me. I need Him to save me. And
you know, this is a prayer I'm praying all the time. Lord, save
me. Save me. I need saved by Your
grace. Lord, save me or I'll perish.
Lord, do something for me. I can't do anything. Do something
for me. I'm asking the Lord to do something for me. Save me.
I should call His name Jesus. For he shall save his people
from their sins. Now, who are his people? That
is stated right in the opening chapter of the New Testament,
Matthew chapter 1. An issue is made of this. It
doesn't say he's going to make salvation available for everybody
or he's going to make salvation possible for everybody. Nothing
like that. It says he shall save his people. Well, who are his
people? He said in John 17 and I, I pray
for them. Speaking of his people, I pray
not for the world, but for them which you've given me. For they
are thine. His people are the elect. The ones the Father gave him
before time began. He came to save his people from
their sins. Now, how can I know if I'm one
of his people? I want to know, don't you? I
want to know desperately. Am I one of his people? I'm not
sitting here by his grace right now. I'm not going to say, well,
it's not fair. But what if I'm not one of his people? I wouldn't be
right. No, no. If I'm not one of his people, if he let me go
to hell, I'd understand. Is that the right
way to say it? He'd be just. He'd be righteous. But I desperately want to be
one of his people. How can I know if I'm one of
his people? If you're a sinner, you're one
of His people. You really are. You're somebody
He died for. Paul said in Romans 5, 6, when
we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. That's who He died for. He died
for His people. You see, in His death, He came
to save His people from their sins. And how does he save his people
from their sins? Well, he did so by his life,
by his death, by his resurrection, by his intercession. Seated at
the right hand of the Father right now as my representative,
he came to save his people from their sins. Now, did he do it?
That's the question. Did he do it? Was he successful?
When he said, it is finished. his people were saved from their
sins. When were you saved? I can't
give you a date as far as that goes. I really don't know. I
mean, I say sometime. And I like what one fellow said
to somebody said, seems like if you were really saved, you'd
know the exact date you were saved. And he replied, well,
I was born, and I don't remember when I was born, but that doesn't
take away from the fact that I was born. I can't remember
it. I can't give you the date. Well,
I could read about the date, but I don't remember it. I can't
tell you when it happened, but it happened. I'm here to tell
you right now. I'm alive. So that, when were you saved? I don't
know as far as in time, but I know when I was saved. When he said,
it is finished. I was saved to the uttermost. Can't be any more saved than
I was right then. I was saved from the penalty
of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus. No penalty for me. I'm never
going to have to pay for my sins. I'm never going to have to be
judged for my sins. Because Christ took that judgment
for me. I've been saved from the power
of sin. And that used to give me trouble, because I'd hear
preachers say, you're saved from the power of sin. I think, well,
it seems awful powerful to me. What's that mean? Well, there
was a time, and I can remember, I tell you what, I can remember
when I couldn't believe. I can remember thinking I would
if I could, but I don't even know what it means. I remember
thinking that. I'd repent if I knew what it
was, but I don't even know what repentance is. I hear come to
Christ, but I don't know how. I don't even know what that means. Meditating. Thinking. Not understanding. And then,
all of a sudden, I found myself believing. I didn't figure out what it meant.
I just was driven to Christ at some time, to where I knew that
the only hope that I had was Him. And I wasn't even sure if
I saved at that time. If you would have said, do you
know for sure that Christ died for you? I'd say, no, I don't.
I can't be sure of that, but I knew this. If I'm saved, the
only way I'll be saved is if He saved me. There was a time
when I believed. I did what I could not do before. I was saved from the dominion
of sin. I was saved. There was a time when I couldn't
love. There was a time when I did not love God. And I consciously
did not love God. I was scared of Him. I was angry
at certain things. I thought it's not fair. I mean,
what if I'm not one of the elect? All that just bothered me. It
made me angry. But I found myself by His grace
loving who He is and loving how He saves. I was saved from the
dominion of sin. I was enabled to do what I formerly
could not do. And bless God, that shall call
His name Jesus, for He saved His people from their sins. I'm
saved from the very presence of sin in two ways. Number one,
I'm in heaven right now in the person of Christ. Ephesians 2,
6 says, He hath made us sit together with Him in the heavenlies in
Christ Jesus. He's up there without sin. I'm in Him. I'm without
sin. I've been saved from the presence
of sin. And one of these days I'm going to experience this.
Like David said, As for me, I'll behold thy face in righteousness.
I'll be satisfied when I awake. in thy likeness. I'll be saved
from the presence of sin then, when I don't sin anymore, and
I may just like the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, back to Luke 2. For unto you, unto you is born
this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the
Lord. Christ, God's anointed. Christ,
God's prophet, bringing the Word of God to me. Christ, God's priest,
bringing me to God. Christ, God's king, and I need
him as a ruling reigning king to reign over me. This is not
so. I need him. I need his grace
to reign in me as a king. That's exactly what I need. I
need him as a prophet. I need him as a priest and I
need him as a king. Christ, the Lord, he's the Lord. I love to say Jesus is Lord,
don't you? Jesus is Lord. I love to say Jesus is God. That's
who He is. Jesus is Lord. That means He
has the power to save. He's the Lord. He's the absolute
dictator. That's who Jesus Christ is. He's
the dictator. He's the controller of all things.
That's what Lord means. The Lord is the one who runs
the show, who is in absolute control. Unto you is born this
day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this, verse 12, shall be
a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, a barn, a stable." And suddenly, suddenly there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising
God. They were amazed by this. The
angels were just amazed that God would become flesh. I don't
even know if they knew what was going on at this time, but they
were just amazed by it, to see that God had provided a Savior.
Now, they knew that God provided no Savior for the fallen angels.
They knew that. And they knew the only reason
they hadn't fallen was because they were elect angels. The Scripture
calls them that. But notice how they praised and glorified God
for sending the Savior. They said, Glory! And suddenly
there is with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising
God and saying, Glory to God in the highest. His salvation
brings glory to God. Glory to God in the highest and
on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. Now salvation is for the glory
of God. That's why I say we're saved
to the praise of the glory of His grace. Now I want to ask
you a question. I want you to answer it honestly in your heart.
Would your personal salvation glorify God's grace? I know this. My salvation would
glorify the freeness of God's grace. I know that so. Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth, peace. Absence of hostility. You see, because of Christ's
coming, because of what he did, because of his death, now God
is at peace with me. He doesn't have a reason to be
mad at me. He looks me over. with the searchlight
of his holiness, and he finds no reason for displeasure. He says, I'm at peace with him.
God's at peace with me. You know, it takes faith to believe
that, doesn't it? Because you look in your heart and you find
all kinds of things that make you think, well, what if, what
if, what if? But by faith, I know that God is at peace with me.
He finds nothing to be angry with me about in Christ. Peace. On earth, peace. God has good will toward men. You know, even when I'm saying
God's at peace with me, there's part of me that says, Are you
sure? Are you sure? And when I hear God has good
will toward me, Part of me says, are you sure? Are you sure? You know what that's called? Unbelief. Unbelief is something that I'm
going to carry until I put down this flesh. You see, the flesh
cannot believe. It never does believe. It's the
new man who believes. And so there's never a time when
I cannot cry, Lord, I believe, because I do. Lord, I believe.
Help thou mine unbelief. It's always there. But here the
Bible tells us peace. Peace. God's at peace. Believe what God says. God's
at peace because of the Savior. He shall save his people from
their sins. God's at peace and God has goodwill toward me. I
know the thoughts that I think of you, sayeth the Lord. Thoughts
of peace. not of evil, to bring you to
an expected end. Verse 15, And it came to pass,
as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds
said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see
this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known
unto us. And they came with haste, What about their sheep? They
had responsibilities. I mean, they were responsible
to take care of those sheep. They just didn't go ahead and
leave them. Yep. Yep. That's exactly what they did.
You see, they didn't reason and debate with themselves who should
keep the wolf from the sheep, but they did as they were commanded
and committed the sheep to the keeping of the Lord. Lord said,
you go and see this great sight. That's what they did. You know,
in coming to Christ, You don't need to worry about anything
else. All the objections you might come up with, forget them. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do what he said to do. Verse 16, And they came with
haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger,
just like the angel told them. And when they'd seen it, they
made known abroad the saying which was told them, concerning
this child. Now, the gospel is a message
that must be made known, isn't it? And may God cause us, may
God remind us, may God enable us for this to be the one purpose
of our life, the one purpose. to make abroad, to make known
this message. Don't you want everybody to hear
the gospel? Don't you want everybody in this city, in this state,
in this country to hear this good news? This glad tidings
of exceeding joy? The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now that is our purpose. It's
not just the preacher's purpose. I remember hearing Henry Mahan
say this. I always loved this statement. He said, my job is
to fill this pulpit. Your job is to fill these pews. And if I make that my job to
fill these pews, this pulpit is going to become a very empty
place. May the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ come forth. from this place. That is our
purpose. And we know what these first
New Testament evangelists preached. They preached what those angels
told them, verse 18. And all they that heard wondered
at those things which were told them by the shepherds. Did they
believe? I don't know. But they were amazed. They were
marveling all the things that were said concerning this baby
in this manger. This is he who is who's going
forth as of old. This is the Savior. This is God's
Christ. This is God's Messiah. They marveled
at what they heard. But I like Mary's response. Verse 19. But Mary kept all these
things. And pondered. Pondered them. It's a good word. She pondered
them. She meditated upon them. She
thought about the implications of what is said. She pondered.
She thought of these things and she pondered them, not just in
her intellect, but in her heart. He's the Savior. I need a Savior. This is good news. It's good
news to me if He's the Savior. He's the Christ. I need him as
my prophet to bring God's word to me. I need him as my priest
to bring me to God. I need him as my king. He's the
Lord. He's absolutely sovereign. This
child is the son of God. He must be able to save. And surely this brings glory
to God. Oh, the peace that there is in him. Perhaps he even thought
of the scripture of Isaiah 9.6. Unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given, and the government should be upon his shoulders,
and he should be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." What a name for our
Lord. He is our peace. He made peace by the blood of
His cross, and He is our peace. And she pondered these things
in her heart. And the shepherds, verse 20,
returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they
had seen and heard as it was told unto them. And thus we have
the first New Testament evangelists, and may you and I be just like
them. get to observe the Lord's table
yet. I don't know whether they were alive by the time the Lord
died. They might have been dead already.
But we get to do something that they didn't get to do. We get
to observe the Lord's table. I love the simplicity of it.
This do in remembrance of me. We take bread, representing his
broken body. We take wine, representing his
shed blood. His broken body represents the
wrath he endured. The wine represents the forgiveness
he secured. And it's so simple. It's so glorious. If the Lord is with us in this,
may the Lord enable us to do this in remembrance of Him. Who
is to take the Lord's table? Everybody who believes the gospel,
that's the one requirement. If you believe the gospel, somebody
says, well, I better wait, I'm not ready. You're not ready to
die then. If you believe the gospel, the
Lord's table is for you, that's the one requirement. Let's pray
together.