The Preacher Was An Angel

Turn back with me now to the
second chapter of Luke. In verse eight of Luke two, the apostle writes, 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. It's certainly fitting that the
first evangelist under the gospel dispensation should be an angel. The one who comes to announce
the birth of the Redeemer is an angel sent from God. And you
know the one who is coming to announce his second coming will
be an angel from the Lord. Turn to 1 Thessalonians, chapter
4, verse 16. That's right. It says in 1 Thessalonians
4, verse 16, that the voice that shall proclaim the return of
Christ will be that of the archangel. Look at it, 1 Thessalonians 4,
verse 16, For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with
a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the voice of
the archangel, and the trump of God and the dead in Christ
shall rise first. Now it's idolatry and heathen
to worship angels. When the angel appeared to John
on the Isle of Patmos, his impulse was to fall down and worship.
But the angel told him to arise. He said, I am a fellow creature,
a fellow servant of the Most High God. Worship God. It's idolatry
and heathen to worship angels, and yet I believe it's proper
to thank God for angels. And I think it's proper for us
to learn from the angels. In Hebrews chapter 1, I'd like
for you to see this scripture, the angels of God. I don't know
a great deal about angels. I don't know a great deal about
the ministry of angels. I do know that the angels are
ministering spirits. They're ministering spirits,
and they're sent by God to minister in some way to me and to you.
and to all who shall be the heirs of salvation." Now, we hear people
talk about guardian angels and things of this nature, and there's
a good possibility that this is part of their ministry. But
this we do know. Listen to verse 14 of Hebrews
1. It's talking about the angels here, and he says, "...are they
not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who
shall be the heirs or shall be heirs of salvation." You follow
the life of our Lord here on the earth. You see the angels
ministering to Him on many occasions, and they also minister to you
and to me. He shall give His angels charge
over thee. That's what the Scripture says,
lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. But this is in reference
to Christ, you say. Yes, and to the people of Christ.
The angels are messengers and ministers, ministering spirits
of the Lord God. And we can be assured of this,
that they are sent to this earth to minister to those who shall
be heirs of salvation. In what way they minister, I
know very little. How they minister, I know little
about it. I just know they do. And it talks
about, Paul talks about in his epistles, the angels being present
in the worship service of believers. He talks about the angels being
present when we worship God Almighty. So I'm confident that I can say
this. The angels of God are certainly
guardians, ministering spirits, keepers, and also witnesses of
the worship of the people of God. But here the angel announces
the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And angels, while they're not
to be worshiped, They are to be loved. We are to learn from them. The first thing I notice about
this angel is how he loved and praised the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ took not on himself the nature of angels.
He did not come to redeem angels, fallen angels, and yet here they
are joyfully announcing his coming to save men. The angels were
free from jealousy. The angels were free from pride. To whom are these angels ministering? They brought the good news to
shepherds. You know, men today, possessed
with pride, think it some grand thing to preach to powerful men
and leaders and kings. Back many years ago, I had a
pastor from Alabama who was holding a meeting for me when I was a
pastor in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and we were talking about his
work in Birmingham. And he said, well, he said, you
know, the Lord has called me to preach to influential people. He's called me to preach to important
people. He's called me to preach to doctors
and lawyers and businessmen, and they make up my congregation.
Well, I don't know about that, but these angels did not come
and bring the good news to kings and powerful and influential
leaders But they came out yonder in the field, where some shepherds
were keeping watch over their flock by night. And here in this
humble, plain country setting, they delivered their message
of good news. The angels were not jealous of
God's mercy upon men. The angels were not proud, but
they ministered to shepherds. What's the next thing here? It
says in verse 9, And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them,
and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were
terribly afraid." I believe that this sentence is a sad commentary
on the nature of fallen man. The angel of the Lord came upon
them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they
were afraid. It says they were terribly afraid. You say, how is that a commentary
on the condition of men by nature and the state of fallen men?
Well, here these shepherds were sitting out there on a hillside
at night, and they were not afraid of the darkness, the darkness
that covers the wickedness of men. hides thieves and robbers,
the darkness about them that contains spirits of evil and
darkness of sin, they were probably just sleeping. They were sitting
there on the hillside watching their sheep, and it was dark.
And no telling what was in that darkness. There could have been
thieves creeping up the side of the hill. There could have
been robbers coming to do them harm, and yet they weren't afraid.
But when the glory of God, when the presence of the Lord and
the glory of God shone round about them, suddenly they were
terribly frightened. We ought to be afraid of the
conditions of darkness. We ought not to be afraid of
the God of light, and yet we are. Over in the book of Genesis,
before Adam fell, before he sinned, he knew no fear. The glory of
God was about him all the time, and he walked with God, and he
talked with God, and he did not fear God. And yet when he fell,
we find these three things entered into his life. A sense of guilt. He never knew guilt before, and
here he is hiding from God. He never knew fear before, and
here he is saying to the Lord God with whom he walked and with
whom he talked, I was afraid. He never knew shame before, and
he said, I was naked. These shepherds were sitting
on the hillside, and all of the fearful probabilities of the
world and darkness about them, and they weren't afraid. But
suddenly they encountered the glory of God, the presence of
the Lord, and they're afraid. Well, the angel said to them
in verse 10, don't be afraid. Fear not. Now, sinful men have
a right to fear God. The Scripture says it's a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of a living God. We have a right,
if we're in sin and rebellion, to fear God Almighty. Our Lord
said, if you die and you sin, you cannot come where I am. You
have every right to fear God if you're walking in rebellion
against God. And self-righteous men have a
right to fear God. For the scripture says they're
weighed in the balances and found wanting, they've sinned and come
short of the glory of God. And unbelievers have a right
to fear God. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God abideth on him. But to those who believe,
the message is fear not. Fear not. The time of slavish
fear is over. The day of hope and joy has dawned. The enmity through Christ is
removed. Stand no more to distance. Come
to me, Christ said. The word is made flesh. God has
come to earth. God has tabernacled among men.
And we bring you good tidings of great joy. Look at the next
verse. The angel said, Fear not, for
I bring you good news. I bring you good tidings of great
joy. A hymn writer many years ago
wrote these words, "'Til God in human flesh I see, my thoughts
no comfort find. The holy, just, and sacred three
are terrors to my mind. But if Emmanuel's face appear,
my hope, my joy begins. His name drives away my slavish
fear. His grace removes my sin." The
angel was the preacher, and he brought four points in his message,
and I want you for the next few moments to look at these four
points. First of all, the angel said in verse ten, I bring you
good tidings of great joy. Now, I don't know whether all
of the outward emotionalism and enthusiasm of present-day religion
is genuine joy or not, I can't tell. We cannot see into the
hearts of men. Man looks on the outward countenance
and God looks on the heart, and I don't know. I see a great deal
of joy and a great deal of enthusiasm and a great deal of emotionalism
connected with present-day religion, and I can't say. I don't know
whether it's genuine joy over the mercy of God in Christ or
whether men and women are just finding a reason and a way to
release the excitement of the flesh. But I do know this, people
who really understand the gospel of God's grace certainly have
every reason to rejoice. I do know this, I don't know,
like I'm saying, I don't know whether present-day emotionalism
and present-day enthusiasm, I see a lot of this, well, praise the
Lord and hallelujah and glory to God And I just don't know.
Maybe it's giving vent to the flesh or to the excitements of
the flesh. Maybe it's releasing emotions,
pent-up emotions that we aren't able to release in other fashions.
But I do know this. A person who understands what
this angel is saying has every reason to be, his cup to be overflowing
with joy. and his heart to be overflowing
with enthusiasm. I bring you good news, he said. I bring you glad tidings of great
joy. Now the scripture tells us about
three falls. There was the fall of Lucifer.
Let's turn over here to the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 14. The book of Isaiah chapter 14.
Now the scripture talks about three falls. There were really
only two, but I think it's better to sum it up, or to talk about
it in this way, three. There was the fall of Lucifer
and the angels. We don't know a great deal about
this, but we do know this much. We do know that before God made
Adam, God made the angels. How many angels there were, nobody
knows. A multitude, legions of angels. Heaven was populated with angels,
and as far as I know in the Scripture, only three are named, Gabriel,
Michael, and Lucifer. I'm sure they all have names,
but these seem to be the leaders. These seem to be the outstanding
angels. These seem to be those into whose
hands God put great power and authority. And many of us believe
that this Lucifer, Lucifer was perhaps the greatest. Lucifer
was perhaps the leader. It seems to me from the scripture
that Lucifer had dominion over this earth in its original creation. Now, there's no way in the world
for any preacher to speak with authority on this point, but
it seems to us that Genesis chapter 1, verse 1, and Genesis chapter
1, verse 2, it seems to us that something happened in between
those verses. It says, in the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth. That's verse one. And verse two
says, and the earth became. Was is the word in the King James,
but the word became is the right word. And the earth became without
form and void. And darkness was upon the face
of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the waters. God
never created anything without form and void. God never created
anything with darkness upon it and around it and in it and over
it. So it seems that the original creation, and when scientists
say the fundamentalist or the Bible preacher is a fool saying
the earth is 6,000 years old, the earth is millions of years
old, he's probably right. He's not right in saying the
fundamentalist or Bible preacher is a fool. Because when the Bible
preacher says the earth is 6,000 years old, he's talking about
the earth as we know it now. The original creation, when God
made the earth and made the world, it was inhabited. This earth
was inhabited before man was ever made, because when God spoke
to Adam and Eve, He created the world and He created man and
put him in the garden, and He said to Adam and Eve, listen
to these words, multiply and replenish the earth. I'm like that colored preacher,
you know, he was sitting around the table one time eating, and
the little boy said, pass the lasses. And the preacher said,
that's molasses, son. He said, you can't have molasses,
you ain't had no lasses. And you can't replenish something
that hasn't been replenished. God Almighty said to Adam, there's
something happened here. And God hadn't seen fit to reveal
it, and that's all right. The secret things belong to God.
We'll leave that like it is and reveal things to us. But we don't
have to go on in blindness. We can ask God to reveal more
to us. And he says, God created the
earth. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
And something, a catastrophe happened. Something tremendous
happened. Something happened that plunged
this earth into a condition of darkness. without form and void. You know what it was? It's right
here in Isaiah 14, verse 12. It was the fall of Lucifer, who
was the dominating power of this earth, who was the inhabitant
of this earth, who was the king of this earth. That's right. Isaiah 14, 12. How art thou fallen
from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut
down to the ground, which did weaken the nation? For you sit
in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my
throne above the stars of God, I will sit also upon the mount
of the congregation in the sides of the north, I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High, yet thou
shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." Now,
we believe that when God first made this world, that He made
it as God makes everything good. And over this earth, and over
this world, with access to heaven, the third heaven, or whatever
heavens there are, was this Lucifer and multitude of angels, multitude
of angels. And they followed Lucifer in
his rebellion. We don't know how many. Somebody
said one time a third of the heavenly host. That may be so.
But they followed Lucifer And they failed. Well, now, what
did God do about it? Well, turn to Jude, chapter 1.
There's only one chapter in Jude. And look at verse 6. What did
God do about it? When Lucifer fell, and all of
these angels fell with him, and they rejected the sovereign right
of God to govern his universe. And they would share in his glory,
or even supersede His glory and exalt their throne above the
stars of God. They must have known a great
deal of power to even consider such a thing. They must have
known a great deal of personal glory to even consider such a
thing, but they did. And it says in Jude, verse 6,
And the angels, plural, which kept not their first estate,
their principality, their position They're a place of power. They
didn't keep it. But they left their own habitation.
They left their own principality. They left their own place. They
left it trying to climb higher than God. All right? He hath reserved in everlasting
chains under darkness, under the judgment of the great day.
They're fallen. And they're reserved under chains. That's what the Scripture says,
in darkness. until that great day of judgment. There is no
Savior for them. There is no redemption provided
for them. There is no gospel preached to
them. There is no possibility of any of them ever being redeemed
or being rescued. How do you know that, preacher?
All right, Hebrews 2. Turn to Hebrews chapter 2, verse
16. Hebrews 2, verse 16. And here
it tells us, talking about our Lord who came to this earth,
he was pleased to take on himself the form of a man, the nature
of a man, made in the likeness of flesh, bone of our bone and
flesh of our flesh. Now we'll look at verse 16 of
Hebrews 2. Verily, he took not on him the nature of angels,
if he had That would have been bad news for us. He would have
redeemed angels and passed by the sons of Adam. If he had been
pleased to take on himself the nature of angels, that would
have been glad tidings to every angel in chains of darkness.
But he took not on himself the nature of angels, but he took
on him the seed of Abraham. Now that's what the angel is
saying here in Luke 2, verse 10. Don't be afraid. I've not
come to judge. I've not come to cast you into
the bottomless pit. I've come to bring you good news.
I've come to bring you good news. For unto you is born in the city
of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. God in His wisdom and
God in His justice has seen fit to provide a way of life for
sinners, not for angels. but for sinners. And he said
it's a sure and infallible sign and sure and infallible way,
for that Savior is none other than God himself. Now somebody
said one time, God gave to man the work of prophecy, to preach
the gospel. God gave to man the work of picturing
the gospel. He told Moses, make a tabernacle
God gave to man the work of typifying the gospel. Abel brought a lamb.
Moses lifted up a serpent. The high priest Abel brought
an atonement. He gave to man the work of announcing
as the forerunner the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God that
taketh away the sin of the world. But to Christ, and Christ only,
he gave the work of accomplishing that salvation. I bring you good
news. So my friends, this is good news.
If we have a praise the Lord, let it be for His grace. If we
have a hallelujah, glory to God, let it be because of His mercy
to sinners. Behold, the angel said. Behold,
don't be afraid. I've got good news. Good news. Almighty God in the person of
His Son has come to this earth to redeem, not the angels, but
the sons of Adam. That's good news. Left to ourselves,
we could never be redeemed. All the strength and the power
and the works of all men of all ages of all generations put together
could not redeem one soul. But the good news is that Christ,
because of God's mercy and God's love and God's grace, Christ
has come to this earth to save sinners. Notice the second point
in the angel's message. First of all, he says it's good
news. It's glad tidings of great joy. And the second thing he
says, it shall be to all people. Now this is significant. Here
the angels are, out there on the hillside, and they're talking
to a group of shepherds. Just think about this. Think
of the setting here. The announcement was not made
in the halls of Caesar. The announcement was not made
there in the Roman Forum, surrounded by the senators and the politicians. The announcement was not made
in the temple. It wasn't made on the porch of
Solomon's temple. It wasn't made from the Holy
of Holies. It wasn't made in Gamaliel's
class of theology. It was not made in the marketplace
where the businessmen were going about their business. But the
angels of God were sent down here to a group of humble, unknown,
poor, ragged, unrecognized, unlettered shepherds taking care of their
sheep. I hear people say, well, the
Lord doesn't want me. I'm poor, so were the shepherds. The Lord's not interested in
me, I'm a nobody, so were the shepherds. When the Lord has
nothing for me, I'm a simple person, so were the shepherds. When the Lord has nothing for
me, I'm unknown, so were the shepherds. But I'm such a sinful
man, so were the shepherds. Our Lord is saying here that
he regardeth not the greatness of men. They wouldn't have gone to a
temple, but they felt at home in a stable. There's not a shepherd
in the country that doesn't feel at home in a cow stable or a
sheep stable. And so the angel said to these
shepherds, we bring you good news. unto you is born a Savior,
Christ the Lord, and this shall be a sign to you, you shall find
the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."
No pot, no religious parade, no ceremony, no burning of candles. We add more pot and ceremony
to what we call the birth of Christ with all of our little
silly Christmas celebrations than the angels of God and the
And the Heavenly Father himself put on it, and there was no pop,
no ceremony, there was no wealth surrounding that stable. There was no superstitious practices,
there was no philosophers, it was just the simple surroundings
of a poor stable. And that's where you'll find
him. That's where you'll find him. And he said, this good news
is unto you. Outcome, Christ said, to preach
the gospel to the poor. I know that's poor in spirit.
But it shall be to all people, Jew and Gentile, white and black,
to the far corners of the globe, it shall be preached to all people.
Christ is the Savior, as Ronnie prayed in his prayer, of a world
of sinners. What's the third point now? The
angel said to the shepherds, Don't be afraid. I know that, you know, we go
through the scriptures, we find when Job saw the Lord, he was
filled with fear. When Isaiah saw the Lord, he
was filled with fear. When John saw the Lord on Patmos,
he was filled with fear and felt like a dead man. When Daniel
saw the Lord, he said, I was so afraid. And if God's glory
was manifested in a mighty way here tonight. I'm sure that we
would be filled with fear, but it doesn't make it right. It's
still a sad commentary on the human race. It's still a revelation
of our evil hearts, that we can walk through a world of iniquity
and demons and evil spirits and evil men and not be afraid. And
yet, when the glory of our Father is shown round about us, we begin
to tremble. We're afraid of that to which
we ought to flee, and we're not afraid of that from which we
ought to flee. That's a sad commentary on human nature, isn't it? But
the angel says, don't be afraid. We've got good news. Oh, my! Our comrades are rotting in chains
of darkness, and there's no hope for them. Those who fell before
you, greater than you, Lucifer, a third of the heavenly host,
as it is said. But Adam fell, committing the
same sin, the same transgression, the same rebellion, and yet God
is pleased to save men. I've got good news unto you,
the lowest of the low, the poorest of the poor, the most unknown,
unrecognized. God is showing that this gospel
is for all men by sending His angels to announce it to the
lowest of men. And he's showing that this Savior
provides a redemption for any man by sending him not to the
silk and satin of the palace, or to the robes of judicial courthouses,
but he put his son in a straw manger. You couldn't get any
poorer than that. You couldn't get any lower than
that. You couldn't get any more simple than that. And that's
what God says. It's to all people. To all people. Under you is born, listen to
this, a Savior. Now, first of all, I see the
word born. Under you is born. Now, you've
got to be careful here. Turn to Isaiah 9. You've got
to be careful. You've got to be real careful
here. If we're not careful here, we'll
intimate that Jesus Christ began His existence in that manger. The church here in town had a
birthday party for Jesus. Now, actually, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lord of Glory, as we know
Him, never did have a birthday. He's without beginning or end.
He's without beginning of days or end of days. He has no mother
or father. He's eternal. He's God. There was a day He came to this
earth. But as far as the day when Jesus Christ was born, there
is no such thing. And we have no superstitions
regarding this time of Christmas. If Jesus Christ, if the date
of his birth could be firmly established, you could bet your
bottom dollar it wouldn't be December 25th. The Church never celebrated what
they called the birthday of Christ at all until about the third
century. It was unheard of. There's no command anywhere from
Genesis to Revolutions that we are at all to remember the birthday
of our Lord. We are to remember his death
day. He gave us two ordinances. Baptism is one, to show forth
his death. The Lord's table is another,
to show forth his death until he comes. But nowhere, under
any circumstances, are we commanded or taught or urged to have what
we're having right now and connect it with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, as a man, he was born. But as the Son of God, he wasn't
born, he was given. Look at Isaiah 9. Here are two
words here. For under us a child is born. That's right. Jesus Christ became
a man. He became a child. He was born
a woman. But under us a son is given. That little baby in Bethlehem's
manger that was carried about for nine months in the womb of
Mary, that little infant born of the
Virgin Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit, is the body in which
the Lord of glory came and took up his abode. But he already
lived. He already lived. He's the same
yesterday, today, and forever. And so really, when we talk about
the Christmas season, when we talk about this celebration that
we're having right now, it is really, it gives the wrong impression.
It leads men to believe that Jesus Christ has a birthday,
that he had a day of beginning, that he'd had a day of birth,
that he had a day of when he was made like you and I are made.
I never existed before August the 19th, 1926. That's the day
I was born. I had a birthday. I had a beginning. Before then, I didn't exist except
in the mind of God, in the purpose of God, on the books of God,
as a child of God. in the eternal grace and company
of God. But Jesus Christ, the Lord, He
made the heavens and the earth. By Him were all things made that
are made. So really and truly, He just left His throne for thirty-three
and a half years. He left His glory. He left His
place in heaven and came down here and entered the body of
that infant, limiting Himself to human flesh bone of our bone
and flesh of our flesh, being identified with us, and actually
more identified with us, Charlie, than Adam was, because Adam was
never a baby. Adam was created a full-grown
man. I am really closely, more closely identified with Jesus
Christ than I was with Adam. In Adam I died, in Adam I sinned,
in Adam death and judgment and condemnation came upon me, But
Jesus Christ is more closely identified with my flesh than
Adam was, because he became an infant. And he grew through infancy
to boyhood, to adolescent, to teenage, to young man, just like
I do. He was tempted in all points
as I am, yet without sin. And he met the law of God, and
as my representative, as the second Adam, the Lord from heaven,
He gave me a perfect righteousness by what He performed, by what
He carried out, by what He fulfilled, by what He perfected. So this,
we need really, and like I said in the little paper that we put
out some time ago, there are some reasons for which to be
thankful for this season. At least people are more generous
than at most times, and they're most of the time a little more
affectionate and a little more warm-hearted. And at least the
world recognizes that such a person as Jesus Christ did come into
the world, but it gives a wrong impression. It leads the world
to believe that that infant that was born over there was sort
of a Reformation leader, or some religious leader, some great
prophet that was born like Mohammed, or Buddha, or Confucius, or somebody
else, or about even like Moses. to lead a people into the things
of God. But that infant was simply a
human body prepared. Christ said that, a body thou
hast prepared me. That infant was a body prepared
by God in which his son, who already lived, who already reigned,
who already had all authority, dwelt for thirty-three and a
half years. in order to fulfill a perfect righteousness for folks
like you and me. He became a man. Unto you is
born, all right, let's read on, a Savior. Here are His divine
office. Here is His divine office. He's
a Savior. He's a Savior. He is a prophet
to reveal God to us. He's a priest to atone for our
sins. He's a King to reign over us.
You know what the word Jesus means? It's the Old Testament
word Joshua. And it means Savior. God is my
Savior. Jehovah God. Savior God. God is merciful. In other words,
the angel came to Joseph and said, don't be afraid to take
Mary to be your wife. That's no ordinary infant she's
carrying in her womb. She hasn't been unfaithful to
you. That's not another man's child. That holy thing which
is conceived in her is the Son of God. And when he comes forth,
thou shalt call his name Jesus, Joshua, for he shall save his
people from their sin. That's what it's all about. He's
the Savior. Christ didn't come down here
to set an example. He came to save. Christ didn't
come down here to impress the world with a new law of piety. He came to save. He didn't come
down here to impress us with his morality or just to set an
example. He came to save. That's what
he says. We bring you good news. Unto
you is born a Savior. And the way Christ saved is by
representation and by satisfaction and substitution. He represented
us before the law. God told Adam to walk in the
law and live. But Adam disobeyed and died.
And God Almighty sent his son as our federal head and representative.
And his son walked in the law. He did all things pleasing to
the Father. He lived a perfect life. He was
tested in every point and yet without sin. And thereby imputing
unto us a perfect standing and restoring us to a perfect position
in God's grace. A Savior who is, look at this,
Christ. What does that word mean? It
means the Messiah, the Anointed, Christ the Anointed. He is the
Christ. He is the fulfillment of every
promise. This infant born in Bethlehem's
manger is the woman's seed. Turn to Genesis 3.15. Genesis
3.15. I want you to look at this with
your own eyes now. Adam fell, Adam sinned, Adam
transgressed the law of God, and by his sin, death passed
upon all men. And right after Adam's sin, right
in the following moments after Adam fell, and the darkness of
sin settled over this earth, and Eden's garden was invaded
by the forces of evil, and Adam, afraid, filled with guilt and
shame, ran and hid in the bushes, and God spoke. And God announced,
listen, He announced the birth or the coming of Christ in Bethlehem's
manger right then. Look at Genesis 3, 15. And He
said to the serpent, I'll put enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed. And it shall bruise thy head,
and I shall bruise his heel. He said, Preacher, where on earth
do you see Christ at? Where do you see the virgins?
Virgin-born Son of God. Where do you see Christ then?
Her seed. It's very clear. You're not the
seed of woman, you're the seed of man. Woman doesn't have a
seed. Man has the seed. And everybody here is born by
natural generation of the seed of man. Here is God talking about
a woman's seed. A woman's seed. You see, when Satan bruised his
heel, that's the lowest part of my human body, my heel. If
I'm going to get bruised, I don't want to get bruised up here,
because if you bruise me here, I'll die. But you can bruise
my heel. In fact, you can cut my legs
off and I'll still survive. I won't survive if you cut my
head. Here's where the power, the government control center
is here. And God said, I'm going to send
woman's seed to this earth, Satan, Lucifer. If you bruise his heel,
he'll be nailed to a cross. His body will be whipped and
brutally mistreated. His blood will be shed, even
to suffering of death. But when he dies, that's the
end of your power. He destroys the power of Satan.
The prince of this world is judged, Christ said. He's cast out. His
power is gone. That's right. There it is right
there. When you come on to Isaiah 7.14,
he said, the Lord himself shall give you a sign, a virgin shall
be with child. Isaiah 9.6, unto us a child is
born, a son is given. That's the virgin born son. All
the way through the Old Testament, the coming of this one is announced. It's pictured, it's prophesied,
it's announced, it's typified, it's set forth. And glory, the
angel came down here and said, he's here. He said, Behold, I
bring you good news, unto you is born in the city of David
a Savior, who is none other than Christ. That's who it is. It's the Messiah. It's the Anointed. But watch this, who is Christ
the Lord. The Lord. Now listen to me. Jesus
Christ the Lord. There's the man in all of his
humility, humiliation, in all of his likeness of sinful flesh,
in all of his limitations. There's a man. Jesus Christ,
the Lord, is a man. Jesus. He's the son of Mary and
Joseph. He's the carpenter. He's the
man who thirsted, the man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.
He's the man. He's the seed of David according
to the flesh. Christ. There's his office. He's that prophet that Moses
talked about. He's that seed of woman that
God talked about. He's that priest typified in
the Old Testament. He's that king of which David
is a type. That's it, Jesus Christ, the
Lord, that's God. That's God. Now, listen to me
carefully. This is summing up this message.
It's not good news to me that a prophet's been born. If all
those angels had to say, a prophet's been born, those shepherds would
have went right home. Move over, sheep. There have
been a lot of prophets, Elijah, Jeremiah, another prophet. We don't need another prophet.
If that's all the angels said, unto you is born a prophet. It's
not good news that a great leader is born. There have been great
leaders before. Moses was a great leader. Solomon was a great leader. It wouldn't have been good news
that a king was born. There had been kings before.
David was a king. But this angel said, under you
is born in the city of David a Savior who is none other than
Christ the Lord. The Lord. God has come to earth. Tell me not that only a prophet's
been born. Tell me not that only a leader's
been born. Tell me not that only a king's
been born, but tell me that God has come to earth in human flesh
to be identified with me in my sin and to take my obligations
before the law and my place before God's justice. Now you're telling
me good news. That's good And that's what the
angels say. And then he closes with this
in verse 12. And he said, this shall be a
sign unto you. Now God knows our frame. I know
we're not supposed to need signs. I know we're not supposed to
put out the fleece. I know that we're not supposed
to expect God to prove anything to us. All God has, I hear people
say, prove there's a God. Just how big do you think you
are that God has to prove Himself to you? Prove to me the Bible is the
Word of God. Just who do you think you are? God, the King of the universe,
does not have to stop in His great work and purpose to look
at some silly worm, some maggot watering in a pile of dung and
explain anything to him. That's right, that's tough, but
that's so. He's God. And our Lord Jesus
Christ didn't go around explaining Himself. He went around proclaiming
Himself. And I think preachers need to
quit bringing God down here and trying to put Him on a level
with human flesh. Leave God where He is. the king
on his throne. And don't call God to explain
himself, call on men to explain themselves. Why do you act like
you act? Why do you do what you do? Why
do you hate? Why are you filled with envy
and thievery, corruption, jealousy, lust, and malice? Explain that
for me. God doesn't have to explain himself
to you. Just be thankful that God looked in your direction,
that God is pleased to do what He did here, to send a messenger
from glory and say to you in your darkness and in your depravity,
I've taken notice of you, and I'll send a Savior. And that
ought to have been enough, but he said, no, God's going to give
you a sign. God's going to give you a sign.
You'll find this baby. And you'll know it's the one
I'm talking about because you'll find him wrapped in swaddling
clothes, lying in a manger. And when you see that, you'll
know that's the one. Now let me tell you, God's given
you a sign. Turn to John chapter 5. God's given you a sign. John chapter 5. So you'll recognize
the Savior. So you'll recognize the Messiah.
So you'll recognize the Christ. In John chapter 5, our Lord said
in John 5, verse 33, John, he'd been talking in verse 31, he
said, If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. If I'm
the only one who knows who I am. But there's another that bears
witness of me. I know that the witness which he witnesses of
me is true, and his name is John the Baptist. That's the first
one. And verse 36 is a second witness,
but I have greater witness than that of John. The works which
the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, they
bear witness of me. John the Baptist sent two of
his disciples over there and asked the Lord, Are you the Christ?
And he said, Now you go back and tell John how the blind see,
and the lame walk, and the dead live, and tell him not to be
in doubt, but believe. Well, the works that our Lord
did bear witness. And then the third one, he said,
verse 37, And the Father himself which hath sent me hath borne
witness of me. The Father says, This is my Son,
in whom I am well pleased. But then the fourth witness,
he said, verse 39, Ye search the scriptures, for in them ye
think ye have eternal life. They are they which testify of
me. You want to know if this Jesus
of Nazareth is the Christ? You want to know? How can you
tell? See if he fulfills that which is written. Is he the rock? Is he the priest? Is he the Passover
lamb? Is he the brazen serpent lifted
up? Is he the atonement? You see, 1 Corinthians 15 says
this. You turn over there with me just
a moment. 1 Corinthians 15. And this is an important statement
here. Most important, it says in 1 Corinthians 15, 3, Paul
is talking about the gospel, and he said, I deliver unto you
first of all that which I received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures. And that he was buried and rose
again the third day according to the Scriptures. Here is the
witness, the Word, the Word of God. the Word of God, beareth
witness that he is the Christ. Behold, I bring you good tidings
that ought to bring forth from your heart the greatest joy unto
you, the simplest shepherd on a Judean hillside, the most unknown,
unlettered, unrecognized, ragged shepherd of all, unto you and
unto all the In the city of David, for he shall be of the house
of David, is born a Savior, a Redeemer, who is none other than Christ,
the Messiah and the Lord, God in human flesh. Our Father, we thank Thee for
the good news. We pray that You would give us
greater power and liberty with which to deliver it. If we could
only preach from the deepest part of our hearts, if we could
only proclaim in powerful words like this angel, but we're limited
by human flesh, by the frailty of the flesh, that, O Lord God,
able to take the fumbling words of men and make them like arrows
to pierce the hearts of sinners. Thou art able to glorify Christ
and to feed sinners even with an earthen vessel, the simplest
of vessels, in order that you might have all the glory. So
if it be pleasing in thy sight and glorifying to thy Son, grant
that some person in this congregation shall be given ears to hear and
eyes to see. and a heart to rejoice over the
message of the angels, unto you is born a Savior, which is Christ
the Lord. In his name we pray, amen.

The Preacher Was An Angel

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

The Preacher Was An Angel

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book