I want you to turn in your Bibles
to the book of Luke. Let's read the second chapter
of Luke, two verses, verses 10 and 11. Now, the message today
is on this subject, good tidings of great joy, good tidings of
great joy. 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. Now,
I want you to listen very, very carefully to me for just a few
moments. This is the season of the year when, whether men like
it or not, they're compelled to think of the birth of Jesus
Christ. Christmas is upon us. And Christmas
is celebrated all over the world, especially in America, by believers
and unbelievers. Christmas is celebrated by skeptics
and agnostics and infidels and even atheists. But every man,
whether he likes it or not, at this time of year is compelled
to face this issue. A man called Jesus Christ came
into this world. A man called Jesus of Nazareth
was born into this world and lived here for about 34 years
and died on a cross and was buried. And most believe that he rose
again. Now, I hold it to be one of the
greatest absurdities under heaven to think there's any spiritual
benefit in keeping Christmas or Easter or any other holiday.
It's just absurd to think that there can be any spiritual benefit
to keeping a day. and keeping a holiday such as
Christmas or Easter or any other holiday. My friends, a relationship
with God is not observing a day. A relationship with God is not
keeping a ceremony or a ritual. A relationship with God in Christ
is based upon faith. It's based upon love and a personal
knowledge of the living God. God is a spirit and they that
worship him, worship him in spirit and in truth. And there's no
spiritual benefit to keeping a day, a holiday, Christmas,
Easter, or any other holiday. We actually, if you want the
truth about the matter, actually we have no command in Scripture
anywhere to observe the day that Jesus Christ was born. We have
no command in Scripture anywhere that tells us to remember the
day that I was born. But Christ did give his disciples
the Lord's table. And he said, take eat. This is
my body broken for you. This is my blood shed for you.
As oft as you do it, you show the Lord's death until he comes.
And he said, this do in remembrance of me. We are to remember his
death, his suffering on Calvary, his crucifixion, baptism. Every time a person is baptized,
we're showing the death, the burial, and the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're commanded. Our Lord
told us to go into all the world. and preach the gospel, he that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved." He said, go and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. So we do have, and I'm charging
this religious world with a failure to obey the commandments of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He commanded us. He commanded
us to be baptized. He did not command us to remember
his birthday. He did command us. to observe
the Lord's table. He left the Lord's table. Paul
said to the early church, what I've received of the Lord, I
deliver it unto you. How that the Lord, the same night
in which he was betrayed, took bread and break it and gave it
to his disciples. And he said, this is my body
broken to you. This do in remembrance of me. Now, some of you listening to
me have observed Christmas for many, many years. How many times
have you observed the Lord's table? So I say that there's
no command in Scripture for us to observe a day and call it
the Lord's birthday. Actually, the Lord has no birthday.
He is Alpha and Omega. He is beginning and end. He hath
no beginning of days. He hath no start. God is in the
beginning God. Christ is God. Now, there was
a day when he came into the world. Unto us a child is born, a son
is given. The Son of God was not born.
The Son of God is the only begotten, well-beloved Son of God. And
he is eternal. He is eternal deity. He has no
birthday for us to observe. He is God. He was God. He's the
same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus Christ is the same. So
to talk about bringing a birthday present for Jesus, God has no
birthday. You have a birthday. I have a
birthday. But the God of glory doesn't
have a birthday. Who ever heard of such a thing?
If you claim your God has a birthday, you're dating your God back just
a few years. Who was God before that? So it's
absurd to talk about the birthday of the Lord. There's no command
in Scripture to observe that. But however, however, before
I cause all of you to turn the program off, however, I'm thankful
for the Christmas season for several reasons. Now, first of
all, I'm thankful for the Christmas season. I choose not to ignore
it. And I'm thankful for it, first of all, because there's
enough work in the world, and for the working man and working
woman to have a few days of rest and a few days of relaxation
is fine, and I welcome it. And then I enjoy the generous
and cheerful spirit of people during the Christmas season.
I wish it could last all year. When people, they laugh a lot
during the Christmas season. They're generous during the Christmas
season. We seem to be more aware of each
other at this time. Do you find that to be so? Well,
I'm thankful for the Christmas season for that reason. Then
I'm thankful for the Christmas season because it enables families
to get together. Children come home. And you know
a lot of young people, that's about the only time they visit.
Daddy and Mama's at Christmas time, and that's one good purpose
that Christmas serves. It brings the families together,
and friends get together, and they sit around the fireside
and have some good fellowship, and I suppose that's good. And
I'm thankful for that. But the cheap reason why I'm
thankful for the Christmas season is this. Even with all of its
undesirable qualities, even with all of its making merchandise
of of the Bible and spiritual things, even of its great compromise,
at least once a year, at least once a year, men and women are
brought face-to-face with the fact that Jesus Christ came into
this world, at least once a year. Everybody in this world, in this
United States, is brought face-to-face, brought to grips with this fact,
Jesus Christ came into this world. It says in Isaiah chapter 9,
verse 6, Who is this man, Jesus Christ? Under us a child is born,
under 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.
Isaiah prophesied of his coming, and he says that's who he is.
He's the Everlasting Father. And then in Isaiah 7, 14, the
Prophet said again, the Lord himself shall give you a sign. A virgin shall conceive and bring
forth a child, and thou shalt call the name of that child,
Emmanuel, which is being interpreted, God with us." God with us. God in human flesh. He was in
the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew
Him not. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.
for the Christmas season. I choose not to ignore it, because
at least once a year, every man and woman, boy and girl, is brought
to grips with this truth. Whoever he is, Jesus Christ came
into this world. Whatever purpose he served, he
was in this world. And then it says in Matthew 121,
when the angel appeared to Joseph to tell him that the woman to
whom he was engaged, Mary, was with child, the angel said, Fear
not, for I have taken unto thee Mary to be thy wife. That holy
thing which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost and is called
the Son of God. And thou shalt call his name
Jesus, Jesus. That's the Old Testament word
Joshua, which means God, our Savior, Joshua, Jesus. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sin. And then the
text I read a few moments ago, the first Christmas carol, The
first great announcement of this momentous event was sung by the
angels of God. Listen to the angels. They're
God's messengers. They're God's messengers, and they're sent
of God to attend and to announce his ministry. Everything almost
that Christ did, the angels attended his ministry. You remember even
when he stood in the Garden of Gethsemane and Peter drew his
sword to defend the Savior, and Christ told him, said, put away
your sword. Don't you know that my father, I could call my father,
and he would send me 12 legions of angels? You know how many
angels in a legion? According to the Roman legion,
6,000. That's 72,000 angels. And one angel destroyed a whole
nation one time, so what could 72,000 angels do? Well, the angels
attended his ministry. They announced his birth. They
announced his resurrection. When the women came to the tomb
that Sunday morning, And he said, the angel said, he's not here.
Why do you seek the living among the dead? He's not here. He's
risen. And when the disciples stood on the Mount of Ascension
and watched Christ go up into heaven when the cloud received
him out of their sight, the angels said, ye men of Galilee, this
same Jesus that is taken up from you into heaven shall so come
in like manner as you've seen him go. And then the scripture
says in 1 Thessalonians 4, that the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel. The
angels announce the coming of Christ, the resurrection of Christ,
the return of Christ, all concerning the ministry of our Lord. And
at his birth, they said something that men can't understand and
ought to understand, and if they do understand, it'll change their
lives. Listen to this Christmas carol, this first Christmas carol.
The angel said to the shepherds, unto you, unto you, that's the
first thing that I noted in this carol, unto you, unto you is
born. The message of good tidings of
great joy, the message of redemption and forgiveness of sin, the message
of salvation is unto you, unto you. And it doesn't matter who
you are, whether you're Jew or Gentile, whether you're old or
young, whether you're rich or poor, whether you're You're educated
or uneducated. The Lord God has been pleased
to redeem a people, what does he say in his word, out of every
tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue under heaven. It distresses me
when certain denominations or certain preachers seem to insinuate
that they're the only ones who are saved. My friends, that's
ridiculous. That's utterly ridiculous. I
hear somebody talking about 144,000 are going to be in heaven and
nobody else. That's the most ridiculous figure I've ever heard
in my life. Why, God told Abraham, your seed
shall be as the stars of heaven and the sands of the seashore.
There's a whole lot more than 144,000 sands on the seashore.
And our God shall have a people out of every tribe, kindred,
nation, and tongue unto heaven. There are going to be more people
in heaven than there are in hell. Why, absolutely. Do you know
that according to the records of this world, more people have
died in infancy than have ever lived? I know in the last 100
or 200 years babies are living now, but back many years ago,
back to the time of our forefathers, every family had two or three
dead children. Some of the heathen countries
that a mother's given birth to eight or ten children only has
one living a missionary told me He he was a missionary in
one part of the world where they didn't name a child till he was
six years old They didn't want to waste a name Every infant
who dies in infancy goes to be with the Lord That's the reason
he said I'll have a people out of every tribe Every kindred
every tongue and I might add every family Our God has a people. It's unto you. It's unto you. And I'm telling you this, my
friend. It says in the Word of God, Ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come to the water. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden. I'll give you rest. Whosoever will, let
him take the water of life. This gospel is unto you. And
it's to all men. And not only is it addressed
to all men, but this gospel is addressed to men as they are.
This is what I like. This is why I call it good tidings.
This is why we call it good news. It's addressed to us just like
we are. The only thing that keeps you
from God's mercy is your unwillingness to come. That's right. Our Lord
Jesus said, you will not come to me that you might have life.
That's why you don't have life. You won't come to the source
of life. You won't come to the giver of life. You won't come
to him who is life. The only thing that keeps a man
from Christ is a man's unwillingness to come. We have to be made willing
to come to Christ. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. And the only thing that recommends
me to Christ is not my merit, but my need. That's what recommends
me to Christ, not my merit, but my need. The hymn writer put
it this way, let not conscience make you linger, nor fitness
fondly dream. all the fitness that he required
to feel your need of him. It's good news. To whom? Unto
you. Unto you. Are you interested?
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Are you qualified? That's the term that qualifies
you. Christ died for the ungodly. Are you qualified? Our Lord Jesus
Christ came not to call the righteous but sinners. Are you qualified?
That's what the scripture says. He says, though your sins be
as scarlet, I'll make them white as snow. Are your sins as scarlet? Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. Are you qualified? The only thing
that qualifies you to be a child of God is to need Him, to need
Him. The lost will be found, the guilty
will be cleansed, and those who need mercy will receive it. Now
watch this as we go on. Unto you is born This day in
the city of David, now this is very significant, in the city
of David, most significant. You see, my friends, the Old
Testament was written before the Messiah came. Christ is the
Messiah. Christ is the Christ. He's the
Redeemer. And the Old Testament, Genesis
through Malachi, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,
Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, all of this was written before Christ
came. And the Old Testament was written
about his coming. He said, Moses wrote of me. He said in the Psalms and the
Prophets and in the writings of Moses, these things are concerning
me. He said to the Pharisees, you
search the Scriptures, they are they which testify of me. So
the Old Testament was written about Christ. In the Old Testament,
the Messiah is prophesied, he's promised, and he's pictured.
all the way through the Old Testament. He is the seed of woman, talked
about in Genesis 3. He is to be from the tribe of
Judah. That's what the Old Testament
said. The scepter shall not depart from Judah till Shiloh, the king
of peace, comes. He has to be from the tribe of
Judah, according to the Old Testament. He has to be from the family
of Jesse. He has to be from the family of David. And Mary and
Joseph both were of the house and lineage of David. That's
why they went to Bethlehem to be taxed. You see, the Old Testament
is very clear on who the Messiah is and from whence he comes.
And he must be born in Bethlehem. That's what it says in the Word,
in Bethlehem, Bethlehem. That's where he has to be born.
And he has to be, David's Lord has to be David's son. Romans
1, verse 3 says, he was made of the seed of David. and declared
to be the Son of God. You see, Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures. What scriptures are we talking
about? The Old Testament. You see, the New Testament was
written after he came, looking back toward his death on the
cross, his redemptive work. The Old Testament was written
before Christ came, and all of these types and pictures and
ceremonies and sacrifices are pictures of Christ. And you have
in the Old Testament the prophecies and promises of his coming. He
has to be of the tribe of Judah, the family of Jesse and of David.
He has to be born in Bethlehem. He has to be that prophet of
whom Moses wrote. He has to be that priest of whom
Aaron is the type. He has to be that sacrifice,
that Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. He has
to be a picture of Jonah three days and three nights in the
belly of the fish. He has to be a picture of the
Old Testament priest going under the veil, putting his blood on
the mercy seat for the sins of his people. You see those things?
And this is what the angels said when they came down to the shepherds,
this Christmas announcement and Christmas carol, as we call it.
They said, under you, under you is born in the city of David. You see that? In the city of
David. And that's so significant. He was born, he lived, he died,
he rose again, he ascended according to the Scriptures. Let me tell
you this. If you've got a Messiah you're
worshiping, if you've got a way of salvation you're trusting,
it better be according to the Scriptures. And Jesus Christ
was born, lived, and died, and rose again according to the Scriptures.
You find in the Old Testament scriptures every prophecy fulfilled,
them casting lots for his garment, plucking out his beard, piercing
his hands and feet, hanging on a cross, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? All of these words in the Old
Testament, all of these prophecies, even Judah selling him for 30
pieces of silver and the money being used to purchase a potter's
field, all of that's in the Old Testament. It's all there. Moses
wrote of me. He was born in the city of David.
Now what's the next word? Unto you. Unto you. And this announcement wasn't
made in the synagogue. It was made out there on the
top of a hill. It wasn't made to a bunch of
religious ceremonialists and legalists. This announcement
was made to some shepherds. It wasn't made to the intellectuals
or the rulers in Rome. It was made to a group of shepherds
on the hillside, poor men, weary men, working men, sinful men. Unto you. He is born this day. in the city of David, most significant,
a Savior. That's what I need. I need a
Savior. I don't need an example, especially, though he is an example.
I need a Savior. I don't need a little help. I need a Savior, a complete,
sufficient Savior. I don't need a little assistance.
A little assistance won't help me. I've got to have a Savior. And the angel said to Joseph,
I shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save, he shall save
his people from their sins." Now, if words can mean anything,
anything at all, the very purpose for Christ coming into this world
was to what? Now, I know you hear a lot of
preachers and they seem to indicate that Christ came down here into
this world and died on the cross. to heal our bodies and to make
us healthy. I hear that so much, and they
seem to indicate that Christ came down here and lived on this
earth and died on the cross to make me wealthy. We wear big
diamond rings and drive long automobiles and live in huge
mansions and give a tenth of our income and get rich, you
know, and that's what God wants you to be rich. That's why he
came. Well, let me tell you something. I don't care how many times God
heals me, I'm going to die. This body is going to the dust.
And I've got to stand in the judgment, and that's where it
is. That's what I need. I need a savior. I don't need
good help, but I do need a heart of grace. I do need my sins forgiven. I don't need money. I can't wear
but one suit and can't drive but one car, can't live in but
one room at a time, can't eat but one meal. But I do need salvation. I need a Savior. And Christ came
down here not to reform the world, not to heal the world, not just
to set an example. He came to save you. He came
that our sins might be forgiven. He came that we might have eternal
life, that we might have life and have it more abundantly.
That's why Christ came. Man of sorrows, what a name for
the Son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah. what a Savior, guilty, vile,
helpless, we, spotless, Lamb of God was He, full atonement. Can it be? Hallelujah, what a
Savior. That's what I need. I need a
Savior. And that's the good tidings of
great joy that these angels brought to the shepherds under you, under
you. He is born this day. He is born,
God incarnate. God was made flesh and dwelt
among us this day in the city of David. He's the fulfillment
of every promise. a Savior, a Savior from sin,
a Savior from sin, a Savior from sin, which is Christ the Lord.
Oh, my friend, what think ye of Christ? Whose Son is he? Well, he said, I and my Father
are one. And Thomas said, my Lord and
my God. And the centurion says, surely
this man was the Son of God. And Peter said, God hath made
this same Jesus both Lord and Christ. And Paul said, God was
in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. Who is he? What
think ye of Jesus Christ? Well, I tell you, he's no ordinary
man. He's no ordinary man. He said, he that hath seen me
hath seen my Father. I and my Father are one. If ye
had known me, ye should have known my Father. He's no ordinary
man. He's the God-man. And as the
God-man, he can redeem. You see, man can't satisfy God's
holy law. And man can't satisfy God's divine
justice. No way. Because God's law is
a perfect law. And you and I can never attain
unto any measure of perfection. And God's justice is an infinite
justice because he's an infinite God. So there's no way we can
satisfy. We can face the law forever.
We can face his justice. We can be under the wrath of
God forever and still would never satisfy. We would never come
up to that measure of glory. We would never come up to that
fullness of justice. We'd always be lacking. So we
can never satisfy. But we can suffer. Well, you
see, God can't suffer. God can satisfy. Jesus Christ
can satisfy the law. He is perfect in his every thought. He knew no sin. He could honor
the perfect law. He could satisfy justice. Justice
lay one hand on Christ, and he could fully satisfy it because
he's an infinite person, the infinite character of Christ.
So in order to redeem us, God, who can satisfy but can't suffer,
became a man who could suffer. So the God-man both suffered
under the judgment of God, he both suffered under the wrath
of God, and he satisfied the law, the holiness, the righteousness
and justice of God, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord, Christ
the Lord. Jesus is his name of humanity,
humanity. Christ is his office. Lord is
his Godhood. All right, notice the last thing
the angel said. They cried, a multitude of heavenly hosts joined that
angel and said, glory to God, glory to God. A lesson that we
need to learn from this angel song is this, salvation is God's
greatest glory. That's right, God's greatest
glory. Somebody said God is glorified in every drop of dew that sparkles
in the morning sun. God is glorified in every bird
that sings. God is glorified in every flower
that blooms. God is glorified in every drop
of snow or rain. But God is glorified in his greatest
glory in the salvation of sinners through the blood of his Son.
Nowhere to go.