And Luke 2, verse 8, And there
were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping
watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord
came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about
them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them,
Fear not, For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people, all nations. For unto you is
born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ
the Lord." Now this is the season. And every year we have this particular
season, and it's the season when, whether a person wishes to or
not, whether they like it or not, whether they agree with
it or not, but it is the season when every person in this country,
and in many countries around the world, every person is compelled
by what's being said and what's being read, what's being sung.
Everyone is compelled to think and to consider the birth of
a man called Jesus of Nazareth. That's what this is all about,
really. That's what it's about. And everyone
during this particular season, by what we hear, by what we read,
by the songs of the Psalms, that this is There is the birth of
a man called Jesus of Nazareth. Now, frankly, I enjoy thinking
about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. I rejoice that God has
revealed to me who He is. And I rejoice that He was born
in Bethlehem. And I truly know what these angels
are saying here. We bring you good tidings of
great joy, great joy. Unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Savior Christ the Lord. I'm so glad You say
well people do not know who he is they didn't then either Oh They don't know who he is I know
that I do You do They didn't and they don't now apart from
Revelation. It's no different No different
now than it was then. Nor are we going to change it. Scripture says, he was in the
world, and he made the world, and the world knew him not. Back
then, when that star hung over Bethlehem's manger, ninety-nine
in forty-four, one hundred percent of the people didn't see it or
know what it meant if they did see it. When those angels stood on the
mountainside and told those shepherds about the birth of Christ, the
majority of the people didn't hear them and wouldn't have believed
them if they had heard them. But they still declared it. He
came to His own, His own nation, His own people, His own temple,
and they didn't receive Him. So it's no new thing. Jesus the child was born to Mary
in Bethlehem. I thought while Bob was reading
that a moment ago. Verse 19, but Mary kept all these
things and pondered them in her heart. If there was any one person
outside of Simeon and Joseph who knew this person born in
Bethlehem to be the Son of God, it was Mary. Mary knew. In her heart and soul and mind,
she had not known a man. She knew that that baby she was
carrying was the Son of God. She knew it. And she pondered
these things in her heart. But when that child was born
to Mary in Bethlehem, they didn't know Him. They didn't receive
Him. They didn't esteem Him. And people
today, We're talking about the birth of Jesus Christ, the birth
of this person today. They don't know Him, nor worship
Him, nor esteem Him. But we do. We do. Some do. Some do and some don't. I was thinking a moment ago,
when Bob read verse 20, 26, when this man Simeon came into the
temple The Holy Ghost led him in there. The Holy Ghost revealed
to him that he should not see death before he had seen the
Lord's Christ. He had seen the Lord's Christ. He didn't see
Christ crucified. He saw Christ the baby. Abraham saw a tithe. Simeon saw
a baby. Zacchaeus saw a man up a tree.
I mean, he was up a tree and saw a man walking under the tree.
The thief saw a mess, marred, so it didn't look like a man. When the Spirit of God is pleased
to reveal God's grace and Savior to a sinner, he needs to see
what God's pleased to reveal to him. God reveals salvation
to Abraham through a type, to Simeon through a babe, Zacchaeus
through a man, the thief through a crucified felon. That's right. How much does a
man have to know to be saved as much as God's pleased to teach
him? That's how much he has to know. And that's all. As much as God's pleased to teach
him. So I'm telling you, there's Simeon. Simeon knew Him. And
while all this is going on, when they're singing, Hark the Herald
the Angels Sing, some people know nothing of it. Some people
rejoice. When they're reading this Christmas
story, as it's being read all over this country now, I know
the majority of the people do not know what it means. They
didn't then, they never have, they never will. But some do,
and it was written for us who do believe. That's right. It was written for us. Written for us. Well, Pastor,
will you answer some questions regarding this Christmas season
and the celebration thereof? Yes? Yes, I will. I'll be the questionnaire, I'll
be the one who answers. The first question is this. Do
you believe, Pastor, that the Lord Jesus Christ was born on
December the 25th? No, I do not. I do not. And most writers do not believe
He was born on December the 25th. It doesn't particularly matter
when He was born. The great matter is, He was born.
In fact, actually, these man-made holidays, such as Christmas and
Easter, aren't authentic anyway. Easter's not on the day of Christ's
resurrection. Christmas is not on the day of
His birth. I know that. Well, are we, Pastor, second
question, are we commanded anywhere in the Scripture, anywhere in
the Word of God, to celebrate His birth. Are we commanded anywhere
in the Word of God to celebrate His birth? No. We're commanded to remember
His birth. There's plenty of Scripture informing
us of His birth. Isaiah said in Isaiah 7, Behold,
the Lord Himself will give you a sign. A sign. He'll give you a sign. a virgin
shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and call his name
Immanuel, God with us." That's a sign God's going to give you.
So we're to think on that. We're to consider that. That's
a sign. And then he said in Isaiah 6,
he said, Isaiah 9, verse 6, "...under us a child is born, under us
a son is given, And the government shall be on his shoulders, and
his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor of the Mighty God,
Everlasting Father. And Micah wrote over here, in
the book of Micah, chapter 5, verse 2, But thou Bethlehem,
thou Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands
of Judah, Yet out of these shall he come forth unto me That is
to be the ruler in israel whose goings forth have been from of
old from everlasting god Whose goings forth have been from old
from everlasting. He'll come forth unto me the
father said He'll be born in bethlehem a ruler in israel the
prophet priest and king 1 Timothy 3, verse 16 says, Great is the
mystery of godliness. Without controversy, God was
manifest in the flesh. So, we are to certainly remember
His birth. We're certainly to consider His
birth. We're certainly to think upon His birth. We're certainly
to rejoice in His birth. We're certainly to give thanks
for His birth. God, he was born in Bethlehem.
I rejoice. But it's the death of Christ
we're to celebrate. It's his death that the church
is to celebrate. It's his death. The Lord's table,
when our Lord met with his disciples before he went to the cross,
and when he kept the Passover, you know about the Passover,
And it was kept every year, and our Lord kept the Passover, the
last one, the very last Passover, as far as the church is concerned,
as far as believers. And our Lord ate that Passover
with His disciples. And then He took the bread, and
He break it, and He blessed it, and He gave it to them. He said,
this, take, eat. This is my body broken for you.
This do in remembrance of me. This do. That's what you want
to celebrate. That's what you want to remember
that he died for us. His body was broken. Then he
took the cup. After he had sucked, he gave
it to them and said, This is my blood in the new covenant
given for the remission of your sins. This do, as often as you
eat this bread and drink this cup, you show the Lord's death,
till he comes. See, it's not the birth of Christ
that puts away our sins, it's the death of Christ, it's the
blood of Christ, it's Christ crucified. But he never would
have died if he hadn't been born. He never would, He never could
have, if you prayed, kept that law and become our righteousness
had He not been born in Bethlehem. Had He not been born of the Virgin?
Had He not been conceived by the Holy Ghost? So when I'm remembering
His death, I'm remembering the death of a man who was made a
woman under the law that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. Baptism shows the death of Christ. So while we're not commanded
anywhere in the scripture to celebrate as such his birth, we're commanded to celebrate
and remember his death. But remember this, he was made
of a woman, made under the law as a man, and that's how he died,
the second Adam, the Lord from heaven. The third question, Pastor, do
you attach any spiritual significance, spiritual significance to Christmas
or the celebration of Christmas? Or do you feel that it can be
used as a means to bring people to faith in Christ? Well, I don't
feel that there's any particular spiritual profit to the celebration
of this season because it's so perverted. and so commercialized,
and so pagan. These people talk about the birth
of an example, and the birth of a prophet, and the birth of
a holy man, or the birth of a babe in the manger, but they don't
talk about the birth of a Redeemer. That's what I want them to talk
about. The birth of the Redeemer. For the gospel is Christ crucified,
but however, The other night, I went to one of these Christmas
celebrations, Christmas play. And there were about 350 people
there. I think that's what the auditorium
seated, and there was that many people there. And I sat and listened
to the children singing, a choir of children singing, children
and young people. And they were singing what you
were singing tonight. They were singing, heart the
herald the angels sing, glory to the newborn king, peace on
earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled. That's the
gospel. And I sat there and my heart
fluttered and I rejoiced. I could have taken the stand
as a religious Scrooge. I said, this is all pagan. Let's
go home. No, I enjoyed it. And I heard
them sing, Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see. Hail the incarnate
deity. You said, I don't know what they're
singing. I did! And I tell you, if you didn't
know what they're singing, it's your own fault, because there
it is. Hail the incarnate deity. Did you know men will be held
accountable for what they could have heard and what they did
hear? It's time. And then they sang,
pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel. What is Emmanuel? God with us. They were singing
that from a public platform. Would I have stopped them? Not
on your life. Not on your life. Mild He lays His glory by. Born that men no more should
die. Born to raise the sons of earth. Born to give us second birth. Listen, friend, that's the gospel. That's the gospel. Noel, Noel, born the King of
Israel. They sang. Isn't that something? That's something. It leads me
to the fourth question. Do you feel that we should take
part in these holiday festivities and the exchanging of gifts and
the singing of these carols? Yes, I do. I really do. Because actually, if you believe
he was born, if you believe the words of these great hymns, written
by Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts and William Cowper and the rest
of them, if you believe this blessed story Bob just got through
reading, you can't object to the world hearing it, no matter
from whom they hear it. Am I telling the truth? I sure
am, Cesar. You cannot object to the world
hearing it, no matter the source. Because it's His Word. It's His
Word. And I'll tell you four or five
things. Number one, I'm glad for this
season. I'm glad that at least once a
year there's some kindness and generosity and happiness prevailing
here and there and yonder. I like the attitude people have
during this season. I wish it could last all year.
The friendliness and the warmth and the attitude. I'm glad, secondly, when working
people can have some off days. and get some bonuses and some
attention and some relaxation. That's good for everybody, isn't
it? I'm glad when the children come
home. Don't you like to see the children come home? At least
once a year. I'm glad when the children come
home and families get together and spend some time trying to
figure out what they can get one another, you know, to make
them happy. and sit around and exchange gifts and have a good
time. I wish that could last all the
year. I really do. I enjoy it. And I tell you this mainly, what
brought this message, gave me the desire to preach it. I just
rejoice when this nation has to face the fact, at least once
a year, that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. Aren't you? At least once a year. And like
you say, I know people come back to me with this sort of thing,
well they don't know Him. They never did. They didn't know
Him back then, but God still sent the angels down here to
declare He was born. And God hung a star over the
manger. That night, 2,000 years ago,
God hung a star over the manger and told the whole world, my
son has come. And there is a sense in which
with all that goes on, commercialized or not, at least once a year, God uses Every human instrument is pleased
to use to declare that Jesus Christ is born better. Right. And I'll take that. I'm glad
it happens. It is now and it always has been
the business of God's preachers to define these things for the
people. These songs, it's the business of the pastor to define
these songs. These scriptures, it's the business
of the pastor to define these scriptures. This particular season,
it's the business of the preacher to define these things and tell
the people the meaning of these promises and prophecies and the
fulfillment of it. There's another verse to those
hymns that I didn't read a moment ago. Hark the herald angels sing,
glory to the newborn King! Rise the woman's promised seed,
bruise in us the serpent's head. Isn't that good? Now what's this? Adam's likeness now erased. That's erase, eradicate. Adam's
likeness now erased. Stamp thine image in its place. Second Adam from above, reinstate
us in thy love. That is the gospel. And I'm saying
let's take the good and the profitable and the things that magnify and
exalt our Lord and define them for people. And capitalize on
this opportunity to declare unto the people who He is. Who is this man? Who is this
child? The Lord Jesus Christ. Let's
look at our text for just a few minutes. Over here, the angels,
someone called this the first Christmas carol. And that word Christmas, I know
it's offensive to many, but for lack of a better term, I'll use
it. Verse 10, it says, And the angel
said to them, don't be afraid, fear not. For behold, I bring
you good tidings of great joy." The angel is saying here, this
is good news. Good news. We bring you good
news. That's the gospel. It's good news. Turn to Isaiah
52 and listen to Isaiah. Isaiah 52 verse 7. Good news, unto you is born a
Savior. In Isaiah 52, verse 7, how beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of Him that brings good news,
good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings
of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith undesigned, Thy God
reigneth. Oh, this is good news. Good news. The angel said, don't be afraid,
we bring you good news. And then he says, which shall
be to all people, Jew and Gentile, male or female, rich or poor,
learned or ignorant. The angel said, this message
shall be unto all people, preached it, preached around the world,
this good news of Christ. And look at the next line. For
unto you is born this day." Now, that's not a natural day. That's
the reason you... I say, somebody says, well, he
wasn't born on December the 25th. Well, the angels aren't referring
to that particular natural day. The angels are referring to the
day of the Lord, the day of His coming. This day has been planned
and purposed and prophesied for years. This day. Not natural
day. But the day of God. In other
words, this is the fullness of time. In the fullness of time,
God sent forth His Son. So don't be afraid. We bring
you good news. Unto you is born this day. This
day. A day set in the covenant. A
day sent in the mercy of God. A day set from all eternity.
A day called the fullness of time. And the angel didn't say,
unto us is born a Savior. Ah, sons of Adam. These old shepherds, they weren't
the most brilliant fellows on earth, you know. They were working
for somebody else. They weren't particularly intellectual
types because they were out here, the intellectual types were home
in bed asleep. These old boys were out there
on the hillside watching another fellow's sheep. They were a bunch
of rough fellows, a bunch of rough characters, a bunch of
shepherds. They didn't have on fine clothing,
they had on whatever they could find or somebody had given them.
And they were out there probably grumbling and griping about their
situation. And suddenly, the angel of the Lord came down,
and a multitude of the heavenly hosts, and said to these common,
ordinary, hard-working, everyday sons of Adam, in all of their
sin and guilt, unto you." Not unto us. Here were angels in
their immaculate holiness, messengers of God. Angels, creatures that
frequented the throne room. But He didn't take on Himself
the nature of angels. He took on Himself the seed of
Abraham. And these heavenly beings are
saying, we've got good news for you, old fellows, unto you is
born a Savior. I think the world ought to celebrate
that. I think folks ought to get excited about that. I think
the choirs ought to sing. I think the lights ought to shine.
I think the horns ought to blow. I think the bells ought to ring.
I heard the bells ringing. Ring them! That's good news. Good news unto you! You no count
sons of Adam, unto you is born this day! Oh, I tell you, that's... You
reckon the world would ever read that if it wasn't for this season? I got some friends that would
close shop if they could, but I just don't feel like doing
it. I have some friends that wouldn't
let this go on. They'd shut her down. But at
least once a year, And I tell you, when he came, the Lord God
didn't slip him in unnoticed. The Lord God put a star up there
so bright you could see it in other countries. Sent down a
heavenly host and sang glory to God. And brought wise men
from the far country. Upset kings. And announced that
his son was born. Unto you. Unto you. And then
watch this. Unto you, this is the good news,
is born, born, like an ordinary human being. This day in the
city of David, did you notice when Bob was reading while ago
that in verse 3, And all went to be taxed, every one to his
own city? Joseph went up from Galilee out
of the city of Nazareth unto Judea What did what did? What did Jacob say when he was
blessing his sons to Judah? He said Judah unto thee shall
thy brethren come and shall worship For the scepter shall not depart
from Judea Judah till shallow comes the shallow Joseph had
to go to Bethlehem because he was registered of the tribe of
Judah. He was of the house and lineage
of David. So was Mary. And he had to go
there to be registered and to be taxed. His name was written
in the books as a grandson of David. Great, great, great, great,
great. And the Messiah has to come through
David. If you read In Luke, Luke 3, you'll have
the house and lineage of Mary going back to David. And in Matthew
1, the house and lineage of Joseph going back to David. And these
two people, Mary and Joseph, Mary being great with child,
had to come all the way to Bethlehem to be taxed. This old king didn't
know. Caesar Augustus didn't know why
he suddenly decided to tax everybody. He didn't know. He said, I'm
going to tax all these Jews. Make them come to their home
cities to be... Mary would not have been there if he hadn't
decreed that the whole world be taxed. She had to be in Bethlehem. That's what the Word of God said.
House and lineage of David. You see, Romans 1 said he was
made of the seed of David. He was declared to be the son
of God. Made to be the seed of David,
under your child is born. Declared to be the son of God,
under your son is given. The Messiah had to be born in
Bethlehem. He's Abraham's seed. He's Judah's
son. He's the root of Jesse. He's
the lion of the tribe of Judah. He's the son of David. And then
he says, under you is born in the city of David, where he had
to be born, a Savior. A Savior. Christ the Lord. There you have it, right there.
The Savior, the man. Christ, the Messiah. The Lord, the Master. Our Savior had to be a man, and
He had to be God. You see, God cannot bear sin,
but man can. God cannot suffer, but a man
can. God cannot die, but a man can
and must. Man can obey the law, but God
can't. Man cannot satisfy God's justice
by dying a thousand deaths, but God can. So the God-man, God
bore sin in human flesh. God suffered in human flesh. God died in human flesh. And this man perfectly obeyed
God's holy law as the God-man. And this man perfectly satisfied
all the justice of God for all the people of God and bore all
the sins of his sheep in one day. By one offering he hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. That's what this
angel said. Fear not, don't be afraid. I
bring you good news, great joy. It's going to be broadcast to
the whole world unto you. God's gift to you is born this
day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Messiah and
the Lord. Now watch, and this will be a
sign. Be patient with me, I'm quitting. This will be a sign. You'll find Him. Where are you
going to find Him? Well, you're going to find this
Savior Christ the Lord. Well, you won't find Him in the
temples of religion. And sad to say you won't find
Him there today in too many places. That's just, you say, well, don't
talk that way. It's just so. It's just so. You won't find Him in the temple. You won't find Him in the palaces
of rulers. That's unfortunate. But when
you go down there now, these angels said to these shepherds,
when you go down there now, you'll find this babe. You know, naturally, they would
have gone to the temple if he hadn't given them directions.
Or they're looking for a king, where would you go? To the palace.
You won't find them in the halls of human learning, or they might
have gone to the local scribes and Pharisees. But those fellows
didn't know him. Tell you where you'll find him.
You'll find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in
a manger. Down there in Bethlehem, out
there in the field, there's a little building, a stable. And in that stable, surrounded
by the horses and cows, you'll find a mother and a child, and
a foster father. And that child you'll find lying
in a I guess a manger is where the cow eats his hay in, with
the hay fluffed around him, wrapped in swaddling clothes, just born,
lying there in the manger. If the angel had not given these
specific directions, they never would have looked for the king
in such a humble, degrading place. And that's why most of the world
is missing him right now. They're looking for him in the
wrong place. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took upon himself
the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of sinful
flesh, and laid in a manger. If the angel had not been specific
with these particular directions, they would never have found him.
You'll find him in a manger. And I tell you this, if they
had gone down there without these directions from the angel, and
if they had found this new babe, and found him as he was, they
would have said, this can't be the Son of God. That's right. This can't be. Nothing good can
come out of Nazareth. Nothing of any influence of power
can come out of a carpenter's shop. No Lord or God will be
lying in a haystack. That's the reason we've got to
have the Word of God. Got to have the message. If men
follow their natural inclinations, they will not find the way to
God. Won't do it. Because our way
is not His way. Of course, not himself. So the
angels were specific. They said, don't be afraid. We
bring you, we got our orders from him. We came down and brought
you good tidings of great joy. Unto you is born in the city
of David, the Savior, Christ the Lord. And you'll find him
wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying a manger and then it says
and suddenly there was with that angel a multitude of the heavenly
hosts praising God and saying glory to God in the house glory
to God I tell you God is glorified in the heavens but the things
that are made and God is glorified in creation by the song of every
bird that sings. And God is glorified in every
drop of dew that sparkles in the morning sun. And God is glorified
in all that He does and all that He's made. But there is no place
or way or time in which God is glorified quite like He is when
He shows mercy to sinners by giving His Son. That's my greatest glory, he
said, my goodness. Glory to God. That's the reason
that, I don't know, even in this pagan day, even in the commercialization
of this event in this time, somehow, someway, I can rejoice. Can't you? I can rejoice. in the good news that Christ
has come. Born in Bethlehem. Born in Bethlehem. Born in Bethlehem. Glory to God. In the highest. And on earth,
peace. From the time that Adam fell, there's been no peace on
this earth. And I tell you the reason there's
no peace on this earth is because there's no peace between men
and God. If peace is ever made, and He
made peace for us through the blood of His cross, but if peace
is ever made between men and God, if men are reconciled to
God by the death of His Son, there'll be peace with one another. That's just, that's the sum and
substance of it. And our, every time we elect
a president, I guess I've lived through, I don't know, Herbert
Hoover was president when I first, and I remember, and that's a
long time ago. Herbert who? Somebody said that was a long
time. Every one of them promised to bring peace to the world.
We're going to have peace in our time. It's funny. We're not
going to have peace in anybody's time but his time. Because he's
the prince of peace. But I'll tell you this peace
he's talking about here is the peace of God that passes under
stone. Therefore being justified by
faith, We have peace with God. And if you have peace with Him,
you'll be at peace with others. Follow peace with all men. That's
right. And goodwill. Whose will? His will. His will. Goodwill. Isn't that good news?
Glory to God. And on earth peace. The Prince
of Peace has come. And God's will He said, Lo, I
come, and the volume of the book is written of me to do thy will.
That's the good will of God. By the which will we're sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
I hope that's a blessing. I hope God will use it for your
profit. Let's sing a closing hymn now, number 84. Come, thou
long-expected Jesus.