do you you I invite your attention back
to Luke, the second chapter. This is a very familiar story.
If you were raised in any home that professed to be Christian,
I expect this story has been read to you many times. You can
probably quote it almost by heart. But this is the first time that
the gospel from on high is publicly preached. This is the first time
in scripture that the gospel in the New Testament is publicly
preached. And it's preached as good news for poor, wretched
sinners. Now, this takes place sometime
during the middle of October, in the middle of November. For
the shepherds that were abiding with the flock, it was the last
of the grazing season before the month of called March, which
began the rainy season. And we know rain means something
in scripture. Our Lord says, my doctrine shall
distill as the dew, my word shall come down from heaven as the
rain. But there's also a significance
about this season also because there was a place outside Jerusalem
called the Brook Kidron. And the Brook Kidron was a trash
dump. It was where they took the old pieces of sacrifices
and dumped their waste and their food in this dry trough, it's
what it was, almost year-round. But then, when Marsh Javan came
and the rains came, that brook became a raging torrent and washed
all that filth down into the Dead Sea. What a picture that
is of what took place here on this beginning of this rainy
season the doctrine of God, the Lord Jesus Christ was born into
this world and he took away our sins and cast them into outer
darkness of the Dead Sea. Here God ripped open heaven and
physically stepped into this place we call Earth. This took
place about the second watch around midnight, it was the grave
shift. And as these shepherds were quietly going about their
business, the word says, lo. The angel of the Lord appeared
unto them. The word lo carries with the element of surprise,
like a sudden rain. With a sense that it was really
something to see, there's something amazing. The angels, they're
out there watching the flock. And all of a sudden the angel
appears and said, lo. says the angel came upon them.
He suddenly and wonderfully appeared, and the glory of the Lord shone
round about them. The word used for glory is a
word that has to do with great regard or esteem, declaring that
this wondrous occurrence was actually understood for what
it was because they held it in high esteem and regard. This
means that the shepherds knew that they were in the presence
of the glory of God. Now they could only know that
one way, and that is by revelation. But this is the first public
declaration of the gospel. The first public declaration
of the gospel. Until this, Mary and Joseph and
the six-month-old John the Baptist were the only ones who knew about
this. These shepherds were the elect of God, the eternally chosen. And we know this because they
understood what happened For the natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit, they are foolishness to them, neither
can he know them, nor discern them, because they are spiritually
discerned. But the spiritual man discerneth all things. When
they perceived that they were in the presence of God, they
were filled with fear and awe. And this is a reasonable fear,
for no man shall see God and live, Scripture said. But this
glory that was manifest to them, this revelation, does not cause
fear for life, or incite flight or fight. This fear is reverence
for the word of God, reverence for the gospel. This glory is
God shining in a person's heart. This is actually a divine audible
proclamation of the means of grace, the only means that God
employs in the salvation of his people. In both the Old and New
Testaments, the word shepherd is always metaphorically used
for the pastor Here and in every other passage in the New Testament,
the word shepherd and pastor are interchangeable. They're
the same word in the original language. You'll find even the
term angel is accounted as a pastor in the Revelation and for chapter
one. So here out in this meadow, outside Jerusalem are some shepherds,
some pastors. They don't know they're pastors
yet, but they're about to be. They're not the noble, the wise,
but they are the lowest of mankind. mere shepherds appointed to a
singular task, and that singular task is the same for every shepherd
or every pastor today, feed my sheep. That's their task, to
feed and care for the sheep. To care for God's flock. Those
whom Christ made up. His sheep. These shepherds abode
in the wilderness. Now the intimation being that
they were alone and by themselves. They were not part of polite
society. They were not downtown Bethlehem. Their entire job description
was to keep watch over the flock. That's it. That's what a preacher's
to do. He's not a politician. He's not
a counselor. He's a preacher, and he's to
preach the gospel to the children of God. These shepherds abode
in that wilderness alone, not part of society. And to them,
not to the world, to them. There were big cities around. But to them, to them alone. Not to the synagogue, not to
the nameless, faceless multitude, but a few ignoble, inconsequential
people caring for sheep. To them, the angel of the Lord
appeared. Then the angel of the Lord, and
the word angel in Scripture often means messenger from God, He
came upon them. This signifies showing up unannounced
and unexpected. They were surrounded with the
glory of God. Salvation, something like that. The first words that
proceed from the mouth of the angel are words of comfort and
peace. Peace to the elect. Our Lord said in Isaiah 40, Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people. Tell them their warfare is ended
and they pay double for their sin. They came with what is called
good tidings. And we know what good tidings
mean. of good things means the gospel. The word gospel means
good news, good spiel, good spell. The gospel is what they came
with. The message is not the message of fear and despair,
or Armageddon's coming, or work yet to be done, but rather a
message of great joy. Great joy. Joy, what is joy? Joy is the inward disposition
of the new heart and mind, the mind touched by God's sovereign
grace in Christ. It's a calm and a peace for the
soul. The message is said to be to all people, yet it was
revealed to only these few. Perhaps this is a reference to
what the preaching of the gospel is, for we preach the gospel
to the entire world. It is, however, delivered in
person by Christ. to his people. The thing to be considered is
the kind of people to whom the glory of the Lord was revealed
and whom the gospel is preached. The glory of the Lord was not
revealed to Herod. When he heard about this, he
said, I have to kill Jesus Christ. It was not revealed to the Pharisees,
for they received him not. Not revealed to Caesar or Augustus
or Pilate. Not revealed even to the city
of David. where it took place. It was revealed to an illiterate,
common, poor laborer of the world. Blessed of the poor. Blessed
of the poor. It was revealed to the uneducated
and undesired and unkempt of the world and the gospel was
personally delivered. You think about that. There's
a whole world out there. And here's some shepherds out
in a field, minding their flock on the midnight shift, on the
grave shift, and all of a sudden the heaven opens up and there's
a message for these men, for these men alone. But the angel
says, for unto you, for unto you, not the masses, not the
religious, not the righteous, not the good, not the noble,
Unto you, now we understand what Isaiah said in Isaiah chapter
six when he said, for unto us, a child is born and unto us a
son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder. Unto
you, born in the city of David. What is the city of David? Micah
five, chapter five and verse two speaks of Bethlehem. It says, but thou Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of
thee shall come forth unto me that is the ruler of Israel,
whose goings forth have been from old and from everlasting.
For unto you is born in the city of David a Savior. A Savior. How sweet and precious the language
of God is. Who would be interested in such
a message? A Savior. People talk about the Savior
all the time. People say we need a Savior.
Well, some people need a Savior. Those who are in captivity, those
who are in shackles and chains, those who are bound up in prison,
those who are held captive by Satan, they need a Savior. They
need a Savior if they know they're in that situation. The Gospel
is for sinners. Preachers have lamented for years
to search this world to find somebody who's really a sinner.
Not like people call themselves sinners. They freely admit that
they're not perfect, but you talk to them long enough, they'll
tell you somebody who's less perfect than they are. But I'm
talking about a sinner. Talking about a person who knows
in his heart that if God don't intervene on his behalf, He's
going to rightfully and justly perish in an eternal hell. Who would be interested in such
a message? A sinner would. The gospel is for sinners. To
them and them alone it is good news. The Savior that was born
unto you is the one promised and anointed and sent by God.
He is the Christ, the theme and song of scriptures, the Christ
whom God will set as a king on Zion's holy hill, the Christ
who will finish the transgression and make an end of sins and make
reconciliation for iniquity and bring in everlasting righteousness.
He will do it and complete it because He is the Lord. He cannot
fail. What intrigued me about this
passage was the phrase in verse 15, It came to pass as the angels
were gone away unto them, 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 unto us. The Lord hath made this known
unto us. Think about that. Old Barnard
used to get in a lot of trouble because he'd say salvation is
by revelation. And it is. It's by revelation. The Lord hath made known this
to us. There are two things here that
are paramount importance. First of all, though they heard
these words from an angel, from that messenger, they did not
attribute the words to the messenger. They didn't say these are the
messages that the messenger hath told us. They attributed the
words to the Lord. Though they saw the messenger
in the midst of the brightness of the glory of God, yet they
attributed the words to the Lord. This is what happens when the
gospel is preached and God's people hear it. In 1 Thessalonians
chapter two and verse 13, it says, for this cause, Paul says,
also we thank God without ceasing, because when ye received the
word of God, which ye heard from us, ye received it not as the
word of men, but as in truth, the word of God which is officially
within you. That's what happens. That's how
Paul knew that the people of God were elect. He said, I know
your election, brethren, because the gospel came to you not only
in word, what I said, but in power and much assurance of the
Holy Ghost. It's not the messenger, you see.
It is never the messenger. It's the message. The woman at
the well told everybody about Christ. She run into that town
a-hollering, I've seen the Messiah, this is not the Messiah. And
he calls people to come out. He said, come and see. Come and
see, this is the Messiah. And they all followed her out.
And then the Messiah spoke to them, and here's what their response
was. Well, we heard that you will hear from her, and all these
things. But we believe because you said
it. That's why we believe, because you said it. Secondly, with the
words made known, the shepherds declared that what they now knew,
they knew by revelation. The Lord hath made this known
to us. If they are to know anything,
if you and I are to know anything, it must be by revelation because
God has hid these things from some people. Scripture says this. He's hidden. Our Lord even prayed
a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord for doing that. My Father,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I thank Thee that Thou
hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent and revealed
them unto babe. No man knoweth the Father but
the Son, and no man knoweth the Son but the Father, and to whomsoever
the Son will reveal Him. This is what the Lord said. If
you know Christ, if you know Christ, it's by revelation. If
you know anything, it's by revelation. We know the Gospel. We do not
know it by overwhelming human reason, or our inflated deductive
skills, or our years of study. If we know it, all glory is to
God, because He sent it to us like a sudden shower, in a moment,
in a twinkling of an eye. When God opened your ears and
eyes to hear the Gospel, you knew everything. You were a big
know-it-all. All of a sudden, Because God
revealed it to you, planted His Word in your heart so you'd understand
when the gospel is preached. We know the truth. All glory
is to God because He sent it to us in the preached Word. He revealed it to us. He revealed
it to us. They that walk in darkness, have
seen a great light, have seen a great light. But what is the
thing that the Lord made known to these shepherds, these pastors? It was the gospel preached by
the messenger of God. Our God in his great wisdom never
uses words for filler. When he has something to say,
he says it and says it plainly. Over and over in the message
which his angel preached is the principle of how God has revealed
how men come to know God. The words of the messenger are
wonderful. Behold, I bring, he said. I bring. And what that word bring is,
first used in Genesis 3.15. first described in Genesis 3.15
when the Lord said that you're going to bruise the serpent's
head and you're going to bruise his heel. It's called the Proto-Evangelium,
the first message, the first preached message concerning Jesus
Christ. This word bring here is euaggelizo
in the Greek. It means to preach or evangelize. That's what it means, to preach.
Behold, the angel said, I preach. I preach. I preach unto you good
tidings. There it is again, same word,
same word. Euagalizo, preach. There is no
preaching that is not gospel, and the gospel is that which
is always preached. Indeed, if you know the gospel,
it's because it's preached unto you. And it ain't preaching unless
it's the gospel. That's how the gospel comes,
only one way. We are born not of corruptible
seed, but incorruptible seed, even the word of God, which liveth
and abideth therein. And this is the word of God,
which by the gospel, is preached unto you, 1 Peter 1.25. It pleased the Father, Scripture
says, through the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. How shall they hear without a preacher? The preached
gospel brings with it great joy, for it speaks of the greatest
of all things, the greatest of all knowledge, and the greatest
of all persons. Paul said, we rejoice in Jesus
Christ. This is one of the three things
he said. Makes him the true circumcision. These glad tidings are to all
people. This phrase all people means something other than a
general statement. It means out of a great part
of the population gathered together somewhere. A people who have
the same father and the same language. A people who are gathered
out of great population. A stock of people. Hebrews chapter
2 and verse 11, 13 said the Lord said, I the children that thou
hast given me. The people of the same language.
Zephaniah 3, I'll turn them to a new language and they shall
all know me. Hebrews chapter 1, God who at
sundry times and in diverse manners spoke to the fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken to us in a different language.
That language is the Lord Jesus Christ. Gathered, they're gathered
it said. That was the promise to Judah. from his daddy, unto thee shall
the gathering of the people be. In Ephesians chapter one, it
says, in dispensation of the fullness of time, God will gather
all things in the Lord Jesus Christ. Who's this for? Who's
this for? The gospel is a person, a particular
person, particularly described for a stock of people of the
same language gathered into Jesus Christ. The person of Jesus Christ
is born to you. Who is he born into? A people
that have the same father, same language, a people who have gathered
out of a great population. Particularly to these shepherds,
these pastors, unto us a child is born and a son is given. This
child is born in particular, purpose, place. Defined in Micah
chapter five in verse two, it's old Bethlehem of Ephrathah. The
infant of days is the ancient of days. This child is the savior.
He is born with a title. Why call him that? Because he
shall save his people from their sin. He already has a name, a
name given him by the omnipotent God. Call his name Jesus. for
he shall save his people from their sins. Old Simeon found
that out. He was a holy man and a just
man and looked for the Messiah. When they brought the Lord Jesus
Christ in, probably about six weeks after his birth for a ritual,
they brought him into the temple and old Simeon had asked, pray
to the Lord, Lord, don't let me die till I see the consolation
of Israel. Just let me see. And they came
in, and he took that baby in my arms. He said, well, I'm in
his arms. He said, now I'm ready to die. I have seen thy salvation. There's a woman with him there,
old Hannah. She was 80-some years old. She was a prophetess. And
this was recorded of her. After she heard Simeon say that,
she said, she spake of Jesus Christ to all who looked for
redemption in Jerusalem. If you're looking for redemption,
I speak to you Jesus Christ. This child is the Christ, the
Messiah, the anointed one, anointed for the task of saving his people,
and that by his substitutionary work. The greatest of all is
that the one who has undertaken our salvation is also the same
one who possesses all power to accomplish what he's come to
do, a Savior, which is Christ, the Lord, the Lord. He is Lord over all forever,
amen, Peter said. He is Emmanuel, God with us,
having total and absolute rule and reign over all the universe
and the heavens thereof. He runs the show, having all
authority over all flesh. Why? That He might give eternal
life to as many as God has given Him. That's what He has. He's the Lord. He's the Lord. He's the Lord God. This babe
wrapped in a manger, laying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling
clothes. Lying there among the cattle with his mom and dad by
his side, because there was no room in an inn, so he's in a
stable. Born in an ignominious place. This same babe is ruling and reigning the universe.
They don't know. He's a baby. He's a human being.
He needs all things. He's God. He needs nothing. Those
cattle that are lowing, He's given them the moo upon their
breath. Joseph and Mary, as they look at their child, He's given
them breath of life and given them the heartbeat. The star
that was hung in the east, He's guided that to that place. The
universe is His and all that is therein. He shall not fail. He's Jesus Christ, the Lord. The Lord, though he is God, yea,
very God, he is a man of humble birth, meek and lowly. And he uses that as he calls
those who are labored and heavy laden with sin to come to him.
Meek and lowly. Told the shepherds, you'll find
him in a stable wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a cattle trough.
And he is meek and lowly, and in him you shall find rest of
your soul. But you know where you'll find him? They told the shepherds that
He was in a manger. They don't tell you He's in a manger. They tell you He's on the throne,
ruling and reigning, holding sway over all things. If you
meet Christ, you're not going to see Him in a manger. You're
not going to see Him on the cross. You're going to see Him on the
throne, where He rules and commands you to believe, commands you
to repent, And if you don't, it's not just a matter of opinion.
You're in rebellion against the Lord, the one who owns your soul, and will do with it as he sees
fit. But he says, come unto me, all
ye that lever and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Take my yoke
upon ye. My burden is light, my yoke is
easy. You shall find rest to your soul.
Well, I'll tell you what, when the gospel comes to his people,
you can ask this question, who in the world could be quiet about
such a thing? Not the hosts of heaven, they
couldn't be quiet. Verse 13, they were shouting glory to God
in the highest, praising God and saying, by Him therefore
shall let us, by Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of
praise God continue that is the fruit of our lips and thanksgiving
in His name, praising God Almighty. Now I'm not talking about you
use it at a punctuation mark at the end of your religious
prattle. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking
around saying, praise Jesus, praise Jesus. Ask somebody what
they say, for what? What are you praising Him for?
Most of them have no idea, but they like the language. Like
those little signs around here, thank you Jesus, all over the
place. For what? We praise Jesus for what he's done, for what
he did, what he came to this world to do. Glory to God in
the highest. And what is the message? Glory.
What's that? Splendor, brightness, magnificence,
excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace, majesty, all those things.
particular to one, to God. He's the one that gets the glory.
This is the chief end of man and the sole purpose of all that
exists and breathes in this universe. This is the reason that this
child was born in Bethlehem. This Savior was born there who
is Lord. He came, He lived, He gave His
life a ransom for many. He died, rose, and ascended that
God might be glorified. Who's getting the glory here?
Is it God? It is if you believe the gospel.
God is glorified only one way, fully, and that is a substitutionary
sacrifice whereby he saves his people. The result of this great
doing is that on earth there is peace. Peace on earth. You say, well
that don't sound like it. Everybody's fighting. Everybody's
got an opinion. Their opinion is the only opinion there is.
If you don't agree with their opinion, they don't talk to you anymore.
Husbands and wives getting divorced over opinions. Can you imagine
that? Peace. This is the promise. He is the Prince of Peace. My
peace I give you. Not that the world gives. My
peace I give you. What peace is that? It is the
peace established on the cross by His blood whereby we are reconciled
to God. Not among nations, not even among
neighbors, but among the people of God there is peace. Peace
with God. read an article by Joe Terrell
this week where he recalled one of the conferences he came
to here at Sequoia Baptist Church. We had for years, for 28 of them
as a matter of fact, talked about some of the sweetest memories
he has in his whole life of being here among our people, hearing
the gospel, playing the piano, singing, hearing people's voices
he hadn't heard in a long time, seeing faces that he met. It
was sweet. I cried when I read it. It was
so sweet. Why? Because there's peace. There wasn't no fist fighting,
no arguing, no debating going on. People were happy to see
each other, happy to be in each other's company. Peace with God
peace among his people, purchased by the blood of the cross, and
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, bought by the cross. These words
relate to the message of the gospel, election, love, propitiation. Glory to God in the highest. And it says, they came with haste
and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. Where'd
they go? Where Christ was. When you come seeking the one
whom God has promised in the place where God has said that
you'll find Him, described as God has described Him, you'll
find the salvation of your soul. Look at verse 17, and when they
had seen it, They made known abroad the saying which was told
them concerning the child. When they had seen, perceived,
and understood, they made known abroad, they published this truth. They repeated the words that
had been said to them. Isaiah 52.7 says that this gospel
is to be published. It is published, preached, revealed. They told it out. concerning
this child, because that's what the gospel concerns, is the Lord
Jesus Christ. It says in Romans chapter one
and verse six that the gospel concerns the Lord Jesus Christ. They preached what they had been
preached to them. This is what we do. I ain't got nothing new
to say to you. I'm just a parrot up here repeating
what God has said over 3,000 years. Now I'm just saying it
again. Why in the world you show up here? I don't know. I guess
you must be believers. Because only a believing fool
would stay with the same guy for 40 years and hear him repeat
himself. That's what it is though, you
see. When we find out about it, we just got to talk about it. They repeated the saying which
was told them, which was taught them, which was preached to them,
which was revealed to them. They preached what had been preached
to them. They preached all that they heard. And all that heard
them, who were given ears to hear, wondered, marveled in admiration
at those things which were told and preached to them by the shepherds,
the pastors. And this is the first New Testament
preaching of the gospel on earth. The first came from heaven with
the angels, now the shepherds are going out and running their
mouth. preaching the gospel and it only sets forth when they
told him what they had heard about the Lord. Not about themselves. Not about the requirements of
the law. Not about this and that. It has to do with religion. Told
him about what the Lord had done. This is the message. Why? Because I don't understand it
and I don't think I ever will. And maybe it's good that I don't.
That when a preacher of God's gospel stands up and declares
God's Word, things happen. To some it's a saver of life
and others a saver of death, but it always does something.
Because it's the Word of God that gives us birth. I don't
know how that works. Through the Spirit, He takes
that Word and we become alive to God. of his own will begat
he us with the word of truth you believed after you heard
the word of truth what the scripture said the gospel of your salvation
this is what happened that night two thousand years ago on a hillside
outside Jerusalem the shepherds watching the sheep God broke
open heaven and preached the gospel to them and as soon as
they heard it they went out and preached it again This is what
the gospel is. Lord, glory, glory. Father, bless us to understand
and pray in Christ's name.