in our Bibles now, if you will, to Luke chapter 2. I appreciate that hymn so much. For the last two weeks, we have looked at the promise of the Savior's birth, which was found in the announcement that Gabriel, the angel Gabriel, brought first of all to Zacharias about his son's birth, John the Baptist. And then last time the angel came to Mary and spoke to her about her son's birth. Now this morning we want to look at the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. as it is recorded here in Luke chapter 2.

And we're going to divide our attention into three parts, three divisions. We'll look at the first 20 verses all together. But the first division, I want us to consider God's all-encompassing providence. Let's read the first seven verses. And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the city of David. which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. because there was no room for them in the end.

God's all-encompassing providence. What is God's providence? You hear about providence, many times politicians will use that word and they talk about good providence, but we know it is God's providence. That's what the Bible teaches. That's what I believe in. God's providence. And it is good providence, but it's God's providence. And what does it mean? It is the accomplishment of God's eternal purpose. In other words, what God determined, what he purposed from before the foundation of the world, when only God existed, There was no earth, there were no stars, there were no people, there were no angels. God, and God alone, who is eternal, he purposed what he would accomplish in time. And we know that his purpose is his glory.

Now, if we don't start there, And if we don't accept that, we're going to run into a lot of trouble as we read the Bible and we hear of things that the flesh, that the natural man, does not like, does not agree with, and will not accept. But let's begin here that God has purposed everything that comes to pass for His glory. That must be first and that's essential that we accept that. That's what the scriptures reveal. God, why did He create man? For His glory. Why did He allow sin to enter into this world? For His glory. Everything that comes to pass in time is according to God's eternal purpose.

For instance, in Isaiah chapter 14 and verse 24, these are the words of God. You say, I don't like this God. It doesn't matter whether you like Him or not. I'm being flatly honest, as honest as I can be with everyone here today. Whether you like this God or not, you are going to meet Him, and I'm going to meet Him. It's not with, if, it's a matter of time that every one of us here in this room are going to stand before God Almighty. No question about it. But this is what God declared. Surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass. And as I have purposed, so shall it stand. You know the story about King Nebuchadnezzar. He was a great king, king of Babylon, the most powerful man, I suppose, on the face of God's earth at that time. But God taught him, and God taught him a very hard lesson, sent him out to live like an animal for seven years. And when his mind returned to him, he confessed that God is God Almighty and that he does his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and no one can stay his hand. As he is purposed, so shall it come to pass.

The Apostle James, in Acts chapter 15, when the church was dealing with the matter of the Gentiles' relationship to the law of Moses, he quoted a verse where David, where it had been foretold, rather, that the tabernacle of David would be built up by the inclusion of Gentiles. And then James made this statement, known unto God are all his works. from the beginning of the world.

I said, I want us to think firstly about God's all-encompassing providence. This means that everything, everything, the Lord Jesus said it like this, as only he could teach and illustrate. and bring these great truths down on a level that someone like myself, someone like a child, can understand.

Are not two sparrows, two birds sold for a farthing, the lowest piece of money they had? And if you bought four birds, I understand they'd throw in a fifth. Are not two birds The world would think worthless as far as money was concerned. Are they not sold for two farthings? And yet, he said, I say unto you, not one of them. How many billions of birds? Have you ever looked that up? Have you ever tried to determine how many birds? You can look it up. Of course, it's just an estimate, I'm sure. But billions of birds. all over the world, all around the world. Not one of them falls to the ground. And we usually think of that as meaning not one of them dies and falls to the ground. But many believe it means, you know how birds eat, they move their head down, peck. Not one of them shall fall to the ground without your father.

We're here today, not by accident. God's all-encompassing providence. God purposed before the foundation of the world where the Lord Jesus Christ would be born. When He sent His Son into this world, where He would be born. He would be born in Bethlehem, Ephrathah. And this was foretold by the prophet Micah in Micah chapter 5 and verse 2, 700 years before the birth of Christ. And think about the names of those two places. Bethlehem, the town, means house of bread. Isn't it fitting that he who is the bread of life would be born in the house of bread? And then Ephrata means pastures. And we see as we go on in this history this morning how these shepherds were out and they had their sheep out where there was pasture.

God determined, God purposed. And so here we have this emperor, Caesar Augustus. That wasn't his name. Augustus wasn't his name. Really, it was given unto him by the Senate of Rome. But it means great, august. An august person, a powerful person, and a wise person. He was a wise ruler, evidently. That doesn't mean that he was a kind ruler, but he was a wise ruler. But the scripture says that the casting of the lots, the casting of the lots in the lap is of the Lord. And in his heart, here he is, he has a number of provinces and countries he's an emperor over, and he decides he wants to have a census or an enrollment made. And it was Every family had to go back to their home where their family originated. And so we see Joseph and Mary are brought back to Bethlehem, some 70 miles. Here she is expecting very near the term of her pregnancy. They travel 70 miles to get to Bethlehem. God ordered that. God purposed that. and not only the place where he would be born, but the time of his birth. God foretold that, especially in the prophecy of Daniel.

Nebuchadnezzar, one of his dreams, he saw that great statue and the head was of gold and then the breast was of silver and the thighs were of brass, I believe it was, and the feet of clay of clay. And Daniel interpreted that dream for him. And of course, the head of gold represented Nebuchadnezzar. But the point I want to make is God foretold that during the reigns, during the kingdoms rather, of those four kingdoms, during the time of those four kingdoms, there would come a stone And this stone would be cut out of the mountain without hands. In other words, without the work of a man. And here we have the stone, the Lord Jesus Christ, who's going to be born in this world without the work of a man. Because he's going to be born of a virgin. the Holy Spirit would come upon Mary so that that holy thing which should be born of her should be called the Son of God.

Not only that in Daniel, but we're told from the time that the decree was given, well, how did God know there would be a decree given? Well, God just happened to raise up Cyrus to be king of Persia, and he He gave a decree that all the Jews could return to rebuild Jerusalem after 70 years captivity in Babylon. And he said this, or the prophet, the angel told Daniel, 49 years, 49 weeks, and each day represented a year. 490 years from the time that the decree to rebuild Jerusalem as issued Messiah would come. How anyone could doubt the inspiration of this book? Blind man, dead sinful man, doubt, question, the inspiration of this book that we have in our hands.

The dates of the books cannot be doubted. The historians, the archaeologists and anthropologists, they've studied into these things. There's no question when these books were written, written 600 Isaiah, 600 years before the birth of Christ. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son when he would be born, where he would be born.

Aren't you thankful today that you have the Bible? I mentioned in that statement I put in the bulletin about the memorial service that we, the Lord willing, will have in January for Cliff and Marty Heller. Our church, we've almost been here 50 years, not quite. But in my mind, one of the greatest blessings God ever bestowed upon us as a church is when we were enabled not to pay for all of it, but to help pay for the printing of God's word in the language of the tribe where Cliff worked that he had translated. What a blessing. God's blessed you. He blessed me to have a part in that.

Aren't you thankful today? I just get overwhelmed sometimes when I think about these things. The providence of God. all-encompassing providence. This truth, you say, why do you bring this up? I bring this out to us this morning because this should quiet all of our anxious fears. I'm talking about you who know Christ as your Lord and Savior. This should quiet all your anxious fear, my anxious fears. God's in control. God's in control. God's purpose is going to be accomplished. And He has promised you, He's promised me, I will never leave thee. Take that, take that, put your name there, whatever your name is this morning, I promise thee, Ken Streeter, I will never leave thee, no, never leave thee. Could we ask for more than that?

He promised us, this is one of our favorite promises in the Old Testament in Isaiah, when you pass through the waters, now he doesn't promise us that we will not go through the waters. In fact, we know we will and have. But notice he said when you pass through, You don't stay in the waters. In God's providence, you pass through the waters. I will be with thee. And through the rivers, you don't stay in the river. You go through the river. They shall not overflow you. And when you walk through the fire, and you're not going to stay in the fire either. You're going to walk through the fire. You shall not be burned.

You say, how's that possible? Ask Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When you see them in glory one day, ask them how. How it is that that wicked king could heat that furnace seven times hotter and throw you in it and you come out with not even your hair cinched. Ask him how it is that you can go or be in the fire and not be burned. Yes, God's all-encompassing providence. You can lay your head down upon this pillow, my friends, and go to sleep and rest, though all around you be in a turmoil. God is still in control. He's still working all things after the counsel of His own will.

The second part, I want us to consider the angel's message to the shepherds. Let's read verses 8 through 14.

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. The angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you, you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men.

I want you to notice that first of all, in these verses I just read, we have the message of one angel. We're not told this was Gabriel. It was Gabriel that appeared to Zacharias. It was Gabriel who appeared to the Virgin Mary. But here, we're not told it was Gabriel, just the angel of the Lord. And he delivers a message, and then there's a multitude of the heavenly host, that is of angels, that will be praising God.

I want you to look at these verses here. And I want us to say three truths in the message that the angel gave to the shepherds. First of all, it is a message of good tidings of great joy. The gospel is good news. It's good news. The gospel is the answer to the age-old question that man has. How can man be just with God? Surely, Job asked that. And I said, the age-old question of man. He's in the world and he has to see in nature. There has to have been a creator. This didn't just happen. He looks at his own body, what little he may know about the anatomy of the body and the way the body works, and this just couldn't happen. Yes, I have a creator, and I also have a conscience. And I do things sometimes, and my conscience tells me. I don't care where a person lives. whether he has the Word of God, the written Word of God or not, he has a conscience, she has a conscience. And my conscience tells me, I shouldn't have done that. I feel guilty. I feel guilty because I am guilty.

How? Seeing there is a God who is my Creator, And one day I will answer to him, and here I am, guilty? How? How? How can I be just with God? Well, here's the answer, right? The only answer. How may God be, and He is, a just God and a Savior? Well, through the birth of this baby, through the coming and the living and the dying of this child, Mary's son, the answer to that age old question is answered.

God's holy law. Yes, I have a creator and he has a law. And I've broken that law. And God's law must be satisfied. You see, Someone has to satisfy that law. And either this person that was born this night satisfies that law for me, or I spend eternity in hell never, ever, ever satisfying God's law. It's good news, isn't it? The gospel. I bring you glad tidings of great joy. Amen. It's good news. Brother Scott Richardson said one time, I ain't heard no bad news since I heard the good news. Oh man.

The second thing about this message, it's a message for all people. I bring you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Now the Jews, they thought, well, the gospel's going to come to us, no doubt. We're the physical descendants of Abraham. It's going to come to us. No, the gospel comes to all people. It's for all people. Jews and Gentiles, poor and rich, learned and unlearned, to all people. Go ye, the Lord Jesus, the resurrected Christ, told his church, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned. It's a message to all people.

And the third thing about this message of the angel is it concerned a person. A person. This message that was spoken to these shepherds concerned a person. You see, salvation is not in a decision. Although we make a decision, it's not in a decision. It's not in the active baptism, though God's people should be baptized. It's not in going through catechism class as a child and learning all the important proofs about our creed and our confession, whatever that might be. You can go through all those things and do all those things, but salvation is not in anyone other than Jesus Christ. It's knowing Him.

Isn't that what the Apostle Paul, even after he had been saved for many years, said, oh, that I might know Him. He met Him one day. Christ revealed Himself unto Saul of Tarsus. But he is such a one, such a being, that after years of study and preaching and serving the Lord, he still knew that that the Lord Jesus Christ is such a one that I just have to know. I must know Him.

Look further down in this chapter. I said salvation is not in a decision or a plan. It's not going down the Roman road. No, no. It's in Christ. It's knowing Christ. It's being in union. Because He lives. We live. And if we're not in union with Him, we have no life. He is the way, the truth, and the life. There is no life apart from Christ. He gives all men natural life. We live and move and have our being in Him. And He gives to His chosen people eternal life. Martha, he that believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Here's an old man further down in the chapter, an old man, his name is Simeon. Look down to verse 28. God had revealed to him, God had revealed to this old man who was a servant of the Lord, before you die, Simeon, you're going to see my Savior, the Savior, the consolation of Israel. Well, happened, happened, oh no. It didn't just happen that he was in the temple that day and Mary and Joseph come bringing the babe Jesus into the temple and so that their paths cross know that had been determined before there ever was a star shining in the sky. I'm talking about a God who is worthy to be worshipped this morning. I'm not talking about some wannabe God, some pygmy God. I'm talking about the God of the Bible. And that's the God that every one of us have to do with.

And Simeon came into the temple that day, and he sees Mary and Joseph carrying the baby. And he took him up, look in verse 28. Then took he him up in his arms and blessed God. Bless the Lord. I can just say this old man, can't you? Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. I have seen thy salvation. And where did he see him? Not in a plan. Not in a decision. In the face of this babe. The Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that what it says? Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace. I'm ready to die. I'm ready to go home. Oh, I'm ready to go and be with the Lord. Yeah.

Well, back up in our text, the angels gave the shepherds a sign. You know, they gave them one sign. The angel did, rather. He gave the shepherds one sign. There may have been many babies born that night in Bethlehem. Who knows? God knows. But the angel told these shepherds, this is the way you will know this babe. He's going to be lying in a feeding trough. The king of glory, the king of angels, the king of kings, and lord of lords, he's going to be lying in a feeding trough. This is how you will know him.

When we look in our mind's eye into that trough and see that babe there, what do we see? I'll tell you one thing we see, we see love. Love like this world doesn't know that God so loved the world. If you're one of his children today, now think about it. You're one of his creatures, I know that, we all are. But if you're one of his children, God so loved you that he spared not his only begotten son." I see love when I think about that babe in that manger.

But then we see not only did this angel bring this announcement to the shepherds, but then they didn't have time to doubt or to question because immediately The heavens were filled with a host of angels, and they were all praising God. Glory to God in the highest. In other words, this babe that they would find lying in a manger, he will glorify God. That's the reason he comes. Glory to God in the highest. This babe will glorify God. All of His life, every word, every thought, every action, He will do all for the glory of God. And that's what it would take for Him to be our Savior.

You know, some translations, I read different translations from time to time, and they translate verse 14 like this. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men of pleasure. Peace among men of pleasure. And the difference between that translation and the translation we use is because of using different text. And the word, the Greek word that different in different manuscripts, has one letter extra. The word itself simply means of good pleasure. I like this other translation because it's more in line with the doctrine of the Word of God, the teaching of the Word of God. Peace. Peace among men. This peace means reconciliation. And this reconciliation is only true of those whom God graciously chose in Christ before the foundation of the world. Because God clearly says there is no peace to the wicked. The wicked are like the troubled sea casting up mire. No, this peace that this child who would be a man would bring is reconciling sinful men to a holy God.

Well, here's the last, my third division, verses 15 through 20. Let me read them. 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 has 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 had seen, they made known abroad the same which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard 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 returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them.

" The shepherds' response. You know, there are only two responses when the truth is proclaimed. When the gospel is preached, there's only two responses. When we leave this room this morning, every one of us here are going to respond in one way or the other. We are either responding by believing the message or we will respond by not believing the message.

These shepherds, they believed the message. You say, how do you know that? Well, look, look at what they said. Let us now go. Let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see if Does your Bible say if? Mine doesn't. They didn't go to see if this came to pass, what they were told. They came to see what was told them. They believed it. And every person who hears the gospel either believes or doesn't believe. That's one reason it's so important to hear the gospel preached. You may be here today. I don't take for granted that we're all saved in this building. Oh, I wish it were true. I wish it were so. I pray it's so. But I do know this, that we must believe in Christ to be saved. You must believe in him. And I know that faith comes by hearing. You don't have faith. You're not born with faith. Faith comes. And it comes to God's people as we hear the gospel. It's a miracle. It's a miracle. Can't explain it. But God's people believe. Our Lord said, blessed are they who having not seen, believe. We didn't see that babe, like the shepherds did. But we believe, don't we? I do. I know you do.

Well, let me just close by saying this. You see what it says about Mary? This is a good example of how to profit from hearing a message, from hearing a sermon. Take these things with you. Ponder them. You've heard me. You've heard what I've got to say. I believe I've said everything that I can support from the Bible. I really do. You may not agree with that. Prove me wrong. Prove me wrong. Take your Bible. You've heard what I've said. Take your Bible and see what God says. And don't pin your faith, don't base your faith on what some man says. You'll be able to look death in the face and say, I'm ready. Why? Because God said, believe. and thou shalt be saved. And I believe.

May God bless his word to all of us here today. And I do want to say Merry Christmas.