[Music]
Luke chapter 2, beginning at verse 8. The
familiar story of Christmas and the song of the angels: 8) And
in the same region there were shepherds out in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night. 9) And an angel of the
Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around
them, and they were filled with great fear. 10) And the angel
said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of
great joy that will be for all the people. 11) For unto you is
born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ
the Lord. 12) And this will be a sign for you: you will find a
baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."
13) And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the
heavenly host praising God and saying, 14) Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is
pleased." Now think about these angels who arrived that night
outside of Bethlehem. They were created by the hand of God,
present at creation when God fashioned the heavens and the
earth, when He spoke life into being. But when they saw God...
the God that they had worshiped from eternity past, leave His
throne in heaven and descend and condescend down to earth, to
become an embryo in the womb of a woman, through a birth canal,
to be laid in a... in a manger, a cattle stall... a feed trough,
when the angels saw that, they must have wondered! But no
wonder how they worship the Lord, no wonder they praise God!
The infinite who has become an infant. The sovereign God who is
wrapped in swaddling clothes. No wonder they lifted their voices
in rapturous and rigorous praise to God, shouting, "Glory to God
in the highest, and on earth, peace and goodwill to men." When
you think about it, the angels had nothing to gain from the
birth of God. Nothing! And yet they are excited and they extol
the glory and the greatness, and yes, the grace of God! They are
amazed by this grace that God would become a Man! They're so
excited about this salvation message... so excited that later
Jesus would say, "When a lost person comes to faith in Christ
and comes home spiritually, when a person is saved, that the
angels rejoice in heaven over one person who comes to faith in
Christ. So when the Savior was born... when Jesus came to
earth, God sent the angels to tell the world! Interestingly
enough the announcement was not made in the courts of Caesar
Augustus, the most powerful man on earth. Nor was the
announcement of the birth of Jesus made in the courts of the
high priest or the religious leaders of that day. Nor was the
announcement made to scholars and scribes or the educated
elite of that time. Rather God delivered the Child and then
delivered the message... you know the story... to lowly
shepherds. Shepherds! Now don't romanticize the shepherds. If
you get the role of a shepherd in a Christmas production or
play, that's like the lowest role of all, alright! If you're
a shepherd. "Oh, I thought I was a big deal because I got to be a
shepherd." Not a big deal if you are truly a shepherd, because
the shepherds were viewed in that society as the lowest of
the low, the last rung on the social ladder! But when Jesus
came, the announcement was made to these outcasts. Some would
have called them lowlifes. And yet Jesus came and the
announcement was made to these. It's a prophecy really of the
ministry that Jesus would have. He came for the outcasts and the
irreligious and the least and the last and the lost!
Why? Because
He loved people... all people! And you know the outcasts loved
Jesus. They loved Him because He came for the hurting, He came
for the helpless, He came for the hopeless, the broken and
wounded in life and by life. So much so that Jesus came to be
known as the Friend of sinners. Aren't you glad that Jesus is
the Friend of sinners? These shepherds were chosen by the
grace and mercy and favor of God. It is as though God is
showing us at the outset this message of grace. That none of
us, like shepherds deserve or earn the favor of God. But God
chose these men and favored them. He wanted to say to
everyone from the very beginning that Jesus is a Savior to anyone
and everyone who will believe and trust in Him! That's what
Christmas is all about. That is the ministry of angels. But
let's think about this message of angels. The angels assured
the shepherds that Jesus would bring them great joy and the
world great joy and banish fear. He said, "Fear not for I bring
you good news, good tidings of great joy." That's verse 10. So
many people live in fear and anxiety and depression. You know
fear came into the world because of sin. Sin brought suffering
and misery into the world so the message of "fear not, I bring
you good tidings, good news of great joy" is a message that he
has come to banish fear in our lives and to give us great joy!
Ray Stedman said, "The chief mark of a Christian should be
the absence of fear and the presence of joy." That's so good
I want to say it again. Ray Stedman said, "The chief mark of
a Christian should be the absence of fear and the presence
of joy." We can live without fear and with great joy in our
lives because we have a Savior and His name is Jesus. The
message of this angel... these angels are... is clear. Verse
11: "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a
Savior who is Christ the Lord." Three titles given to Jesus. We
already have been told that His name shall be called Jesus. So
we have His name, but His titles are Savior...Messiah or Christ,
and King or Lord. Jesus came... and here's the message... Jesus
came to destroy, to crush the power of sin and hell! Because
of His great love... God's love for us there's no greater love
than the reconciling, redeeming love of God in Jesus Christ, for
God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself! And our
Lord came on this mission of mercy. And the good news is that
Christ has come to you and me! No wonder there's great joy! We
sing and the world sings that knows the Lord because He has
come! We ask that question: What Child is This?... the great
carol... What Child is This? We don't have to wonder who this is
laid in a manger. He is Savior. He has come to save; deliver us,
rescue us. Now I know the word saved... is... It may seem to
some a little archaic. We don't seem to use the word saved as
much these days regarding what it means to know Jesus Christ.
I've even heard preachers says, "You know, don't tell people
they need to be saved. It's antiquated...". Really! Well,
I'm glad I'm saved because saved is in the Bible! In fact, the
very purpose and mission of Jesus... [Matthew 1:21] "You
shall call His name Jesus for He will save His people from their
sins." To be saved is to be rescued; it is to be delivered,
particularly in the face of some great crisis, even destruction.
If you were drowning and you were crying out for help, and
you were going under, what would you want somebody to do? To come
out there and do what? Save you! If you were trapped in an
automobile in a wreckage and you feel as though you can't
breathe, what would want someone to do? Come to your car and get
those jaws of life and do what? Save you! If you went to the
doctor and the doctor said, You have this terrible disease and
you're probably... you could die from this disease," but the
doctor treats you and you get well, what would you say? That
doctor saved my life! So when you consider that you are on a
path to destruction... you are in the grip of death... you are
facing judgment and hell, that's a crisis! What would you need
someone to do for you? Something that you couldn't do for
yourself, and that is to save you! And that's why God came! He
is Savior! He will deliver you! Are you saved? Because all of us
have sinned and that sin brings death and judgment! And we need
to be delivered from the power and the grip of sin and that is
the message of Christmas. It's not all about the Baby Jesus and
dancing around the manger. This Savior came to deliver us from
our sins! And not only is He Savior, the angel said He is
Christ. Now some people think Jesus Christ... that that's His
last name. That is not His last name. Christ is His title and it
means Messiah! It means King. Someone who is the Christ means
the Anointed One or the One who is anointed. Primarily this
means that Jesus is anointed as King. He is the son of David,
the promised Messiah, and the Child who is born has always
been King. He was King in the cradle as surely as He was King
when crowned in eternity. He is exalted King. That means that
God keeps His promises and just as surely as God promised the
Messiah would come... the anointed King would arrive, God
still keeps His promises to us. And one day Jesus is coming
again as King of kings. But He also says... the angel says that
Christ is Savior, He is King... Messiah, and that He is Lord.
And you'll note in the scriptures that the word Lord
typically is capitalized there because this is Yahweh God. This
is the name for God; the personal holy name of God. I
know we have taken the word Lord and used it in vernacular. If
you watch Downton Abbey you know Lord Grantham, right? And Lord
and Lady and so on. But that was common in the vernacular of
another time period. But the word Lord here means something
beyond leader of the pack or leader of the family. The word
Lord means Master; it means sovereign God. God Himself! Now
listen up! This is the meaning and the message of Christmas,
that Jesus, the Savior-Messiah who is born is God! He is Lord!
Lord of life and Lord of death. When you speak of Lord it speaks
of sovereignty and authority. So Jesus born that day lives as
Lord. The question is is Jesus the Lord of your life? Because
you cannot be saved apart from confessing Jesus and following
Jesus the Savior as your Lord. Romans 10:9-10 says, "If we
confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe in our
heart that God has raised Him from the dead we will be saved.
For with the heart you believe unto righteousness and
confession to salvation is made with the mouth, and whoever
calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved." This is the
great confession of Christmas; it's the great confession of the
Christian faith! Jesus Christ is Lord! And when you believe this
and confess this, that's what makes you a believer and
follower... a Christian. And then to live under the authority
and sovereignty of Christ in our lives. Is Jesus the Lord of your
life? Is He the Lord of your time? What you do with your
time... your schedule... Is Jesus Lord of that? Do you pray
about what to do with your time? Do you seek His will about what
to do with your life? Is He Lord of your time? Is He Lord of your
talents? God has gifted you... He's blessed you with abilities
and skills and talents. You're a Christian if you've confessed
Him as Lord. Now how are you using these gifts that God has
given you to serve Him? To use what God has given you for His
glory. Is He the Lord of your talent? Is He the Lord of your
treasure... your tithe? (Now we're getting down to it, aren't
we?) You say Jesus is my Lord but you don't trust Him one dime
out of a dollar, to tithe your income? You say Jesus is Lord of
my life and He's taking me to heaven, but you don't trust Him
with your finances... with your money to believe and to give as
God has taught us in scriptures? Is Jesus the Lord of your money?
Is He the Master of your money? It's an important question to
ask and for all of us to answer. Is Jesus the Lord of your
thoughts? Is He the Master of your mind? The way you look at
life, the way you think about life, your thought life... is He
the Lord of that? How about your temperament? You have no right
or reason to be an old grump if you're a Christian. Did you know
that Jesus transforms personalities? He wants to take
your negativity and your complaints and all that so many
people have... so people think that they have the right to
complain just because they show up! Is Jesus the Lord of your
temperament? When people think of you do they think of the joy
of Jesus living in your life? Is Jesus the Lord of your
testimony? Are you sharing your faith as He has told us... all
Christians are to go as His witnesses. So ask yourself is
Jesus my Lord? Have I confessed Him as my Savior and Lord? And
if I have, than is He the Lord of my time; is He the Lord of my
talent; is He the Lord of my treasure, my tithe; is He the
Lord of my temperament; is He the Lord of my testimony? Is
Jesus the Lord of your life? I guarantee you one day "every
knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God!" That's Philippians chapter 2
[2:10-11]. The only question is... You're going to bow before
King Jesus. The only question is will you bow before Him now in
faith and commitment and follow Him in obedience? Or will you
bow before Him in judgment because you have walked away
without faith in Christ, because you've never confessed Him as
your Lord and Savior? Is He your Lord? What matters is that you
confess Him now. The angels sang "Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to all men and women of goodwill." You know
what that means? You might look at that and say, hmm... were the
angels wrong? What about the peace part? There's so much war
and fear and terror in the world! And we look at our own
country. There's so much division and hatred and strife!
Lord, were the angels wrong when they promised peace, goodwill to
all men? What the angel said that night outside of
Bethlehem... what they sang in Gloria to God was peace to all
people of goodwill who have received God's grace. This is
not teaching that we're saved because we have goodwill in our
hearts, but because God has given us His goodwill, and we
have received His grace which is God's gift of eternal life. So
this is salvation peace... salvation peace because we have
peace with God and we have peace within, because the Savior has
come, and we can make peace and be peacemakers in the world
because of what Christ has done for us. But one day the Christ
who came to that cradle is coming with a crown as King of
kings and Lord of lords, and when He does He's bringing with
Him His kingdom and there will be ultimate and final peace on
earth. Would you bow your heads with me in prayer, every head
bowed and every eye closed? Are you saved? Are you sure you're
saved? Do you know for certain that if you were to die today
that you would go to heaven? Are you forgiven of your sin, is
Christ living in your life? That's what it means to be
saved, are you saved? Is Jesus Christ your Lord, have you
confessed him and followed him as your Savior, Messiah, Lord?
Savior, King and Lord? Is he your King? Is he your Savior? Is
he your Lord? If he is then tell the world. Do what these
shepherds did, they ran as fast as they could to see the Christ
child and when they did they went everywhere telling what
they'd seen, what they had heard that Christ was born. If you're
saved tell the nations, we get to tell the nations, we get to
tell our neighbors of the Savior, King, Lord who has come.
If you've not trusted in Christ and Christ alone as your Savior
then pray this simple prayer right now: Lord Jesus, I have
sinned and broken your commandments. Thank you for
coming to earth to die on the cross for my sins, to rise
again, I believe. And right now I invite you to be my Lord, my
Savior, my King. I confess you as my Lord, I receive you as my
King, I trust you as my Savior. And if you will do that right
now, watching online, on television, right here in this
room today, if you will receive Christ and confess him I promise
you according to the authority of God's word that he will
banish fear in your life, that he will give you joy, doesn't
mean there won't be problems and difficulties and suffering but
even in the midst of adversity, heartache and pain you have a
Savior who came and lived and died and rose again so that we
have the promise of eternal life.
[Music]
I'm here at the
Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. and this is an
incredible room because it is a tribute to the Bibles throughout
history. And when you see these ancient and rare manuscripts of
the Bible you realize all that God did to preserve his word, to
protect his word. So many have given their lives to protect the
Bible, to transcribe the Bible and when we have so many copies
of God's word in our generation it just reminds us how important
it is because of the sacrifice of our God and those who obeyed
him through the years to make sure that we have an accurate,
clear copy of the scripture, that we actually read the Bible.
That we are involved in growing our Christian life because if
you want to grow your faith, if you want to grow as a Christian,
"Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God."
God's word is a faith believing, faith building book and it's our
prayer at PowerPoint that we could help get this message of
Jesus to the world, we're doing that. And I want to encourage
you, if you could help us declare the message of Jesus to
the nations, for your generous gift, we would send you "The
Daily Reading Bible." Now this Bible's a great Bible because it
breaks up the scripture into daily reading and enables you to
read through the Bible and then we also want to send you
"Lifebook," which is my book regarding the nature of
scripture, the authority of scripture, what God's word is
and what it will do in our lives. The word of God, the
testimony of Jesus Christ is the heartbeat of our ministry. And I
want to thank you for your prayers and your participation
in helping us get the gospel, the word of God to the nations.
The day surrounding the birth of Jesus was filled with angels,
the angel Gabriel speaks to Mary and an angel assured Joseph of
the birth of Christ and of course when the shepherds were
tending their flocks outside of Bethlehem the angels were there.
Imagine sitting in the darkness and the sky exploding in light
and the sounds of Gloria! The angels brought praise and news
of redemption, salvation, "For unto you is born this day in the
city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord." That's a
message, THE message that the world needs to hear.
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