So we won't have dinner next
Sunday. But it is also the last, no, it's not the last Sunday
of the month. Last Sunday's the 31st, isn't it? 30 days past September. Last
Sunday of the month will be New Year's Eve. We will have dinner
that day. And we will have the Lord's table
on that day also. But next Sunday, just 11 o'clock
service, so you can go back home and talk about politics and government. around your kitchen table and
avoid all fistfights, avoid fistfights at all costs, so. Exactly, exactly. Okay, other
than that, I can't think of any announcements. I think that's it. All right, let's
begin our worship service with hymn number 42, All Hail the
Power of Jesus' Name. Hail the power of Jesus' name. Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem
and crown him Lord of all. ? Bring forth the royal diadem
? ? And crown him Lord of all ? ? Ye chosen seed of Israel's
race ? ? Ye ransom from the fall ? ? Hail him who saves you by
his grace ? ? And crown him Lord of all ? Lord of all, hail him
who saved you by his grace and crowned him Lord of all. Let every kindred, every tribe,
on this terrestrial fall. To Him, O Majesty, ascribe and
crown Him Lord. Lord of all, to him all majesty
ascribe, and crown him Lord of all. Oh, that with yonder sacred
throne we at his feet may fall, We'll join the everlasting song
and crown him Lord of all. We'll join the everlasting song
and crown him Lord of all. After scripture reading and prayer,
we'll sing hymn number 212, Nothing But the Blood of Jesus. If you
have your Bibles, turn with me to the gospel according to Luke
chapter 2. The title of my message this morning
is Heaven's Gospel. Luke chapter 2, begin reading
with verse 15. And it came to pass, as the angels
were going away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one
to another, Let us now go even to Bethlehem, and see this thing
which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto
us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and
the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they
made known abroad, saying, which was told them concerning this
child. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven,
blessed Lord over all, King of kings, full of grace and truth,
we are thankful that you have done what you have done for your
children, fully accomplished what they could never do, accepting
them in the beloved all to the praise of the glory of your grace.
We ask, Lord, this morning that you might be pleased to meet
with us in your spirit, to take the things of Christ and show
them unto us. We pray for those who are sick,
those who are going to trial, those who've lost loved ones.
We pray you to undergird them and strengthen them, touch their
heart and move them to look to Christ in all things. And help
us this day Help us this day to worship you. To attribute to you all glory
for all things that are done. Help us, Father, to hear. Help
me to preach the gospel. May the Holy Spirit take the
things of Christ and show them unto us. Make it known to us. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Hymn number 212. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. All my pardon this I see, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. For my cleansing, this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow That
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. ? Nothing can for sin atone ?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus ? Not of good that I have done
? Nothing but the blood of Jesus ? Oh, precious is the flow ?
That makes me white as snow No other fount I know, nothing but
the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. ? Oh, precious is the flow ?
That makes me white as snow ? No other fount I know ? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus That's Steve and Sam, if they'd
receive the honor this morning, please. Let us pray. Father, again, we
approach in the name that is above every name, the only name
under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. We
thank you, Father, for all you've done for us. We know you have
done all things that pertain to godliness in life, that pertain
to salvation. We were hopeless, and in ourselves
still are hopeless, but you have shown us grace and mercy. freely
giving us all things in Jesus Christ. Let us return to Thee
that which You've given us with joy and thanksgiving, for we
know where we got it. We pray in Christ's name, amen. Okay. Write your attention back to
Luke chapter 2 This is the story Now we've probably
read a thousand times this year in a thousand different homes
that and the account of this in Matthew the birth of the Lord
Jesus Christ the incarnation of God into this sinful world And I love this particular account
of it because it sets forth the gospel in no uncertain terms
in the most beautiful and wonderful way. Century upon century, the
Old Testament prophets have declared the coming and the effectual
work of the Messiah, saying things like, for unto
us a child is born, and unto us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulder, His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor of the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. Another place in Isaiah, for
a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call
his name Emmanuel." God with us. Wasn't God always with His
people? God was always separate from
His people. He was out there controlling all things, but they
had no personal relationship with Him. All they knew about
Him was through the prophets and the priests. The words he
had written were on a table of stone that could not be bent,
could only be broken. But now, something amazing, wonderful
and miraculous has taken place. The report recorded here, or
recorded in type and shadow, is recorded here in fulfillment.
The truth is shrouded in poetry and metaphor in the Old Testament.
Now all they have spoken has come to pass in a sudden glorious
moment on a hillside outside Jerusalem. Emmanuel has come. God is with us. This is the account
of God rending the heavens and condescending And oh, what
a condescension it was for God Almighty, pure and perfect, all
strength and power, to reduce himself somehow to a spermatozoa
and unite with the egg of a virgin and to be born in this world
with all the frailties of humanity. He got tired. and to sleep, got angry, all those things, for God to
do that, just to save a bunch of clowns like us. This is the record of the Son
of God being born of a woman. Born of a woman, what does that
mean? That means he was untainted by Adam's seed. He was not born
of Adam. He's not like us. He was not
a son of Adam. He's the son of God. So he didn't
inherit Adam's sin. He came to this world without
sin. He was born under the law, scripture says. In what aspect
and how was he born under the law? People said he kept the
law perfectly. Actually, he did. But the law
had nothing to do with him because he kept it perfectly. You see,
the law was added because of transgressions. Paul told Timothy
that the law is not for the righteous man but for the ungodly. So the
keeping of the Ten Commandments does not enter into that equation.
He was born under the law. What law was he born under? He
was born under the law of Eden. And the day you eat of that fruit,
you shall surely die. The soul that sinneth, it will
die. That's the law he was born under. And so what did he do? He lived in this world righteously,
perfectly, never sinning, never having an unholy thought, doing
all he did for someone else and for the glory of his father.
And then he fulfilled the law and kept the law. How? He died. When he was made to be sin for
his people, He paid the price of sin. He was no sinner. He was the Lamb of God without
spot or blemish. But He was made to be sin, and
before God, God punished Him for our sins, and the only way
to pay for that sin was for Him to die, the soul that sinneth.
This is how Jesus Christ kept the law. We're not saved by His
life and death. We're saved by His death and
life. Saved by His death and life. This is the story of the wondrous
birth of the Savior who shall save His people from their sin. One man said, Jesus belongs to
heaven because He came down from heaven. The Son of God belongs
to us because He was born in our world. He is as much ours
as He is heaven's. Earth shut its doors against
the Savior, denied him and his deity, and sought to slay him
and his humanity. But because of him and in him,
heaven has opened its doors to humanity. In Christ, heaven and
many of the fallen world are reconciled to God. This is the story of Jesus Christ's
birth. called the Incarnation, the coming
of God Almighty in human form into the world. And the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as
the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth. In both the Old and New Testaments,
the word that speaks of a pastor is the word shepherd. The word
shepherd. the shepherd of the sheep, and
this is to whom the Lord revealed himself. Out in a meadow somewhere
outside Jerusalem were some shepherds, some pastors, if you will, and
they weren't noble and wise. They were the lowest of society,
mere shepherds. Their entire occupation and existence
in this world was dedicated to one thing. Feeding and caring
for the sheep. That was their existence. That
was their vocation, their avocation, and their vacation. It was all
spent right there with the sheep. Says these sheep, these shepherds
abode in the wilderness. What does that mean? When no
crowds around. They were alone. They were not
in great halls or fine homes, not in polite society or the
temples of religion. They were out yonder, away from
town, out in a meadow somewhere, feeding the flock and watching
over them. And here's the thing. It wasn't to the metropolises
that surrounded them. from the fine homes of the educated
it was unto them that the word the first time in the New Testament
the actual gospel was preached to this group of men to them
the angel of the Lord appeared it says in this story For you see your calling, brethren,
Paul said to the Corinthian church. Not many mighty, not many noble
are called. God has chosen the foolish things
of this world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty and
the base things of the world. And things which are despised
hath God chosen Yea, and things which are not, nothings, are
not. Why would he do that? Why would
he choose the ignoble? Why would he choose the despised?
Why would he choose the weak? Why would he choose the foolish
and the stupid? Why would he choose the dregs
of society? One reason is given that no flesh
should have a glory in his presence. We can't glory because look who
God chose, look what kind of people He chose. In verse 9 it says, 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 of the
Lord, who was that? I don't know. Was it an angel? We know that an angel, the word
angel in scripture means messenger. And we know that the messenger
of the covenant is Jesus Christ, but he's laying in a manger somewhere. Can't be two places at one time,
can he? He is. Remember what he said to Nicodemus? He who's speaking to you now
is in heaven. That's what he said. How can
that be? Just like you. You're on this
earth with your feet planted firmly in the sod. And even now
as a child of God, you sit in heavenly places in Jesus Christ.
I don't begin to understand that thing, things like that, but
I tell you what, when I think about them, it tickles me to
death. It makes me a happy person. The angel of the Lord, the messenger
from the Lord God came down upon them, it says. It reads just
like it happened. It came upon them signifies showing
up unexpected. They weren't looking for anything.
They hadn't had a Holy Ghost meeting to call things down from
heaven. This phrase was often used in
reference to a sudden shower. A sudden shower. We know that
rain is often synonymous with doctrine in Scripture. My doctrine shall distill as
the dew. My word shall come forth as the
rain, saith the Scripture. And they were surrounded suddenly
with the glory of God. What is that? That's the outshining,
effulgent brightness of God. That is the glory of God in the
face of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the glory of God described
in Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3. They are greatly alarmed and
afraid and filled with dread because the angel has showed
up and all of a sudden the sky is lit up. Stars can be seen
no more. It's like the noonday sun is
shining. But this is not a bad thing.
This is a good thing. The best of things. The finest
thing you'll ever know when you live on this earth. Verse 15
declares that what they heard was a divine revelation. It says,
And they came to pass as the angels were gone, away from them
from heaven. The shepherds said one to another,
let us now go even to Bethlehem and see this thing which has
come to pass, which the Lord hath made known to us." It's
a revelation. After the angel, the messenger
of God had spoken to them, their report was this thing that the
Lord made known. They didn't know it before and
they could have only known it had it been made known to them.
There are two things here of cardinal importance. First, though
these shepherds heard these words from an angel, from that heavenly
messenger, they did not attribute the words to the messenger. They
attributed the words to the Lord, the thing that the Lord has made
known unto us. Though they saw the messenger
in the midst of the brightness of the glory of God, they yet
attributed the words of God to the Lord. This is what Paul said
of the church Thessalonica in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 or
chapter 2 in verse 13. When he talked about the Thessalonians
receiving the gospel, he said, For this cause also we thank
God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of
God, which we heard of us, ye received it not as the word of
men, but as in the truth the word of God, which effectually
work also in you that believe. You have received it as the word
of God. Men are nothing. We're mouthpieces. We're messengers.
We're pastors. We're shepherds. That's all we
are. Low and ignoble and not wise
and unlearned and uneducated. But the Word of God, if you hear
it from one whom God has sent, you hear it as if God Himself
said it. As if God Himself, that's what
they said, they saw the messenger, they saw the angel, they saw
the glory, they heard the angel speak. They said, God told us
that. God told us that. This is the
revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. If such a thing happened
today, like this glory shining, the
messenger would be the subject of conversation. The messenger
would be. And the measure would be the
exaltation, the emphasis of exaltation. But it's not the messenger. It's
the message. Paul said, Who is Apollos and
who is Paul? They just plant some seed and
water it with the Word. It's God that gives the increase.
He said, We are nothing. We are nothing. Paul said in
Galatians, If anyone comes, whether it be somebody from an angel
from heaven this is an angel from heaven if an angel from
heaven or anybody upon the earth or from anywhere else comes and
preaches any other gospel than that which has been preached
unto you let him be accursed let him be accursed secondly
with the words made known the shepherds declare that what they
now know they knew only one way by revelation and this is the
thing that stirs men's minds and causes them to get all kinds
of crazy. These men, these shepherds, were
not in a seminary. They had not scaled the ethereal
heights of theological academe. They were not educated men. They
were unlearned, unskilled, and they were a lower class of society.
If they're going to know anything, it must be by revelation. It must be by revelation. Our Lord said that. as he divided
the world into two classes of people, the wise and the prudent
and babes. He thanked God. He said, I thank Thee, Lord,
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. Even
so, it seemed good in Thy sight. No man knoweth the Father, but
the Son. And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. And he to
whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. By revelation. Don't count that if you know
the gospel of God's sovereign grace it's because you're special.
It's a proof that you're not. It's a proof that you would have
laid in darkness and in ignorance for the remainder of your days
until you were casted to hell had not God somehow reached down
and cut a light on in your head. It's God who reveals men. reveals
it to men. He said to the disciples when
they couldn't understand why he had offended Pharisees, he
said, well it's for you to know the mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven, not for them. They don't get to know it. Why?
Because it's not been revealed to them. We who are privileged
to know the gospel do not know it by our lofty human reason
or our deductive skills or our hours of dedicated study. We
do not, after having been supposedly saved under some false preaching,
come to the knowledge of the truth through study. If we know
the truth, and this is our salvation, friends,
if we know the truth, all glory belongs to God because He sent
His Son like a sudden shower in the message of the gospel.
He poured the dew of doctrine on our heads. That's our salvation,
my friends. Anything else won't work. People
don't come into grace. Grace comes into people. Big
deal. Big difference. Years of preaching and three
baptisms to find that out. And finally the Lord revealed
himself to me. What was the thing that the Lord made known to these
shepherds, these pastors? Pure and simple. It was the gospel. It was the gospel. Further, it
was the singular way in which you received the gospel. It was
the gospel preached by God's messenger. Our God, in His great
wisdom, never uses words just to fill up a page. It never does. When He said something, it's
because He had something to say and that thing needs to be spoken
if He said it. Over and over in the message,
which the angel-priest is the principle of how the Gospel is
revealed. Words mean something in Scripture. We ought to pay
attention to that. That's all we have, you know.
We can't show anybody anything. We can't produce evidence that
we're a child of God. All you can say is, I believe,
and people say, well, I can do that. No, they can't, but they
think they can. I remember one time after I preached something
along this line, a girl came up, a young woman, a very attractive
young woman, looked at the flowers here, and she said, I can believe
those flowers are God. I said, go ahead. Go ahead. No, you can't. When
people are unbelievers, it's because they're not the sheep
of God. And that's as simple as it gets.
Because His sheep hear His voice and they follow Him and He gives
to them eternal life. One word is used so many times
in this passage. In the Greek it's euaggelizo,
it's evangelize. And evangelize in the scripture
is to preach. is to preach. This word is used
three or four times right here in this passage of scripture.
The word preach, behold I bring he said and what that word bring
is? Behold I, Euaggelizo. Behold I preach. I preach to
you good tidings know that the word gospel means good tidings.
Do you know what the phrase good tidings is in the original language?
You ought to believe so. Preaching. I preach preaching. Good tidings of good things. Could it be that there is no
preaching that is not gospel preaching?
And the gospel is that which is always preached if actual
preaching is going on? I think so. You see, if you have
the gospel, it's because it was preached unto you, and it ain't
preaching unless it's the gospel. And Peter made that clear. You're not born of corruptible
seed, but incorruptible seed. Even the Word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever, and this is the word which by the gospel
is preached unto you. How does it come? It does not
come any other way. Now, men can use this Bible as
a book of mottos, as a self-help book. They can use it for all
kinds of things. They can quote scripture the devil did for his
purpose. They can quote out of context
and in context. They can do all sorts of things.
But they have not preached this Bible Whether it be from Genesis
through all the prophets all the way to the revelation of
the Lord Jesus Christ, they have not preached this Bible if they
have not preached the Gospel. The Gospel of Jesus Christ and
His Substitutionary Sacrifice on Calvary Street. Our Lord said
it pleased the Father in light, in reference to the WISDOM OF
THE WORLD in 1 Corinthians. In reference to what all the
wise things that the world does. And I was thinking this week,
I was pondering this. And I do that sometimes, it don't
usually amount to much, but I do it anyway. I was pondering all
the things that have come into this world that have been helpful. Penicillin, now they've overused
it, and now it doesn't hardly work. And I think there's only
one actual drug that's a mycin drug that actually works against
bacterial infections now. Nothing works against the virus,
no matter what anybody says. But only one mycin drug works
against penicillin. None of that works because we
overused it. What a wonderful invention that was. When I was
a boy, you got flu or something like that, you bent over the
doctor's desk. My doctor painted a target on my rear end and then
he had a mirror and made me look in the mirror while he shot me
in the rear end with a needle. He was a funny guy. Great doctor. Washing machines. Automobiles. Airplanes. The internet. You know what these
things are going to amount to? Nothing. They're all going to
go away. Have they improved humanity?
In some sense, yes. But in many ways, not at all. What's going to last? The gospel. Because in heaven, the angels
will be preaching the everlasting gospel, it says. It's the gospel. The angel said, These are good
tidings of great joy. Paul said, We are the circumcision
who worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. These are glad tidings to all
people. The phrase all people is specific
actually. It means a people or a group
of people, a tribe, a nation, all those who are of the same
stock and language. Ooh, language, words. or they are a great part of the
population gathered together anywhere, gathered of people
who have the same father and the same language. That's who
all the people or all the world is spoken of here. This is what
it is, language, you see, makes us create cultures and tribes
separates from others. One language. One language brings
all the children of God together. Now the Lord separated languages
and infused the tongues back in the days of the tyrant, Babel. And that way He populated the
earth all over because they were still hanging around where they
were at one place. He filled them up and set them
on. And people couldn't understand each other, but the ones they
could understand, if I talked to Clora and she was the same
language, then we had something going on. We could communicate.
If we found others like us, we could create a community and
a culture. Because we had a language. But all the languages are confused.
Well, one's not. Zephaniah 3 says, I will bring
them to a pure language. And that language is one language.
It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's our language. And I have
received letters that I can't even read, written in languages
I don't even know. Five brothers and sisters in
Christ who one day I'll meet. You know why? Even though we
don't understand our natural languages, we got one language
we understand. past times our Lord spoke to
the fathers by the prophets, various and sundry matters, but
in these last days He has spoken to us in Son, this is the language
of God, Son language, Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, gathered people,
to Him shall the gathering of the people be, it says in Genesis
chapter 49, speaking of Judah, speaking of Christ, They're all
gathered together in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 10 in Jesus
Christ. What a gathering that is. An
innumerable company of saved sinners all gathered and all
speaking the same language. What if they're from Afghanistan?
They still speak the gospel. They still speak the gospel.
That's our language. That's our community. That's
our culture. The gospel is a person. You see,
a particular person, particularly and precisely described, first
the person is born unto you, he said, born unto you in the
city of David. Who? A people who have the same
father, the same language, a people who are gathered out of a great
population, the elect race. Particularly these shepherds,
these pastors, unto you the child is born and son given is born
This child was born in a particular place, a proposed purpose place
that defines who He is. Micah 5, verse 2 says, O Bethlehem
of Ephratah, the Son of God is going to be born in you. The
Ancient of Days is going to become an Infinite Days. This Infinite Days is the Ancient
of Days. This child is a Savior, THE Savior. Why call him that? Why? Because
he'll save. You can't call him that unless
he does. There's no such thing as a savior of unsaved people. No such thing. He already has
a name given him by Jesus, given him by the angel by the omnipotent
God. Call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sins. Old Simeon and Anna knew that.
Simeon said, I can die now. I've seen thy salvation. And old Anna, the prophetess,
80-some years old, widowed, stood in that temple. And everybody
come by and says, you looking for redemption? You looking for
redemption in Israel? There he is, that baby. That's the Son of God. That's the Son of God. The Child
is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, anointed for the
completion of the task of saving His people. When the Messiah
comes, He shall put an end to transgressions, put away sin,
seal up the prophecy, and He'll be cut off but not for Himself.
It is the greatest of all that the One who has undertaken your
salvation He's also the same One who possesses all power.
He's omnipotent. He's the only High Potentate. He's Lord over all. Having total and absolute rule
and reign over the universe and all the inhabitants thereof,
having all authority over all flesh to give eternal life to
as many as the Lord has given Him, He is Lord. And Scripture
says, He shall not fail. Though He is God, yea, very God,
He is a man of humble birth, Here it speaks of him meek and
lowly. You'll find him in a stable, wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a feeding trough. He is meek and lowly in heart,
and in him you shall find rest, eternal rest for your soul. What is the message of the host
of heaven? Glory to God. splendor, brightness, magnificence,
excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace, majesty, glory to God. The old catechism says this is
the chief end of man, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. This is the reason that this
child was born in Bethlehem, this Savior who is Lord, that's
what it says, this Savior who is Lord. A Lord Savior. He came, He lived,
He gave His life a ransom for many. He died, He rose, and He
ascended to God that God might be glorified. That's what He
said in John 17. Glorify me now with the glory
that I had with thee before the world began. And in John 12,
the Lord said, I have glorified you and I will glorify you. Christ
said, glorify me. So I can glorify you. That's
what he said in John 17. Under the declaration of these good
tidings, the host of heaven could no longer contain itself. Verse
13, it says, 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 and goodwill toward men. by him therefore let us offer
the sacrifice of praise to God continually that is the fruit
of our lips giving thanks to his name glory to God in the
highest glory to God the result of that
is that on this earth on this crazy mad earth wild earth full
of crazy people There is peace. There is peace, not among nations,
not even among families and neighbors, but among people of God. Peace
with God purchased by the blood of the cross of Jesus Christ.
Goodwill toward men. This phrase goodwill is full
of gospel import. It means God's choice toward
men, His good pleasure toward men, His delight toward men.
and his satisfaction toward men. These are words that relate the
message of the gospel, election, love, propitiation, glory to
God in the highest. And it says in verse 16 that
they came with haste. They came with haste and found
Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And here's
the truth of the fact, when you come seeking the one whom God
has promised to the place where God has said, that you will find
him. Described as God has described
him, you will find the salvation of your soul. Where you gonna
find that? Where Christ is preached. You ain't gonna find it at Walmart.
You'll find where Christ is preached. Zacchaeus. Vertically challenged
little guy. Heard that Jesus Christ was coming
to town. He said, I gotta see him. What's available to him? Well, everybody's told what he
is. The crowd is strong, it's packed together. He can't crawl
between their legs. What's he got? What's available to him?
The only thing available to him was a sycamore tree. And so short
little Zacchaeus climbed up that sycamore tree, looked out, and there he saw
the Savior. More than that, the Savior saw him. He said, come
down to that tree. Our son of Abraham is going to
your house today and dine with you. What did he do? He made use of the means that
was available to him. What means is available to you
and me? A church where the gospel is
preached. If that's not available, get online. There's tons of preachers
preaching the gospel of grace right now. what's available to
you. If you won't use the means God
has given you, he said, I'll take the candlestick out of you.
He said, I'll remove the candlestick. He said to that servant that
hid the money rather than using it, he said, I'm going to take
what you got and give it to them that has. Not that they have
not. I'm going to take what you got
and give it to them that have the gospel. What means these fellows here?
What were they told? Well, there's a stable down there in Bethlehem.
There's a fellow named Joseph there, and a woman named Mary,
and they got a little baby. And there's sheep and cattle hanging
around probably. It's a stable. And he said, go there. There
is the Son of God. There is the Son of God. You'll
find Him there. What'd they do? They go to First Baptist down
on Main Street. Where'd they go? They went where they were
told that He was. Here is where Christ is. He's in His Gospel. And if you're
going to have Him, you're going to have to go to where the Gospel
is preached and hear the Word of God. Don't fool yourself. There ain't no other way. Back
in our text in verse 17, And when they had seen it, they made
known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this
child. They couldn't shut up about it. They couldn't shut
about it. When they perceived it and understood
it, they'd seen. All they saw was a baby wrapped
in swaddling clothes. God must have given them some
kind of strange faith to believe that that was the Son of God
the Savior of the world, but He gave it to them, and they
believed it. What did they do? They made known
abroad. They went out and told everybody.
They published it. You see, that's what the gospel
is. It's a published thing. It's news. What does that mean? It's already happened, and now
we report it. That's what news is. It's not
something you wait on. It's something that's already
happened, and now it's being reported. What's happened? God has redeemed His people by
the blood of Jesus Christ through His substitutionary sacrifice.
He's done it all. That's the news. That's the news. And all I can do is tell it.
I can't affect it. I can't change it. I can't make
it affect you. Because it's already done. You
see, it's news. All I can do is tell about it.
In Isaiah chapter 52, which Paul uses in reference
to the preaching of the gospel in Romans chapter 10. In verse 7 he says, How beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings. What did the angel say? We bring
you good tidings. Preaching twice. Bringeth good
tidings of good that publisheth salvation. Telling it out. and saith unto Zion thy God reigneth
thy God reigneth Paul equated that to preaching the gospel
in Romans chapter 10 they made it known abroad they
taught and preached everything they learned concerning this
child what is it concerns Jesus Christ the gospel
concerns him that's what Paul said I'm going to preach everything
to you the gospel concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, Romans
chapter 1 and verse 6. They preached what they had heard
from heaven. They were parrots. They repeated
it. And all that heard were given ears to hear. It says in verse
18, And they that heard it wondered at those things which were told
them by the shepherds. by the shepherds, they wondered,
they marveled in admiration at those things which are told or
preached to them by the shepherds, the pastors. This is the first
New Testament preaching of the gospel right here and it comes
straight down from heaven. And not only sets forth the message
but also the means by which the message is delivered to the messenger
also. The means by which men believe.
How do you believe? Of his own will. with the Word of Truth. That's how it happens. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then
shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how
shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how
shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent So, faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes
by the word of God. Glory to God in the highest. There's a Savior born, which
is Christ the Lord. Father, bless us to understand
and pray in Christ's name.