Amen.
All right, well, we're there in Luke, chapter number 2, and the kids did a great job.
Good job to the kids, and I think they earned a coloring book, so praise the Lord for that,
and we'll make sure to get that to them.
They did a great, wonderful job.
We're there in Luke, chapter 2, and if you've been with us over the last several weeks,
you know that we've been working our way through the Christmas story.
We've been in a sermon series called Celebrating Christ, and we started in Luke, chapter 1,
and we've been looking at all of the different events that led up to what we know, or what
we call, referred to as the Christmas story, or the birth of Christ, and this morning,
we hit the climax of that, and we're looking at the passage in regards to the birth of
Christ, what we are celebrating on Christmas Day, and what I'd like to do, as quickly as
possible this morning, is give you four thoughts, or four lessons that we can learn from the
Christmas story, and from this very well-known passage.
Of course, you're there in Luke, chapter 2, if you look at verse 1, the Bible says this,
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, everyone, 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.
I want you to notice here that, of course, the Bible tells us, and the Bible teaches
us that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and Jesus needed to be born in Bethlehem, we'll talk
about that here in a minute, but Jesus was not from Bethlehem, or his family was not
living in Bethlehem, Jesus was actually known, if you're familiar with the Gospels, you'll
know that the most common title given to Jesus was Jesus of Nazareth, and Jesus, though he
was born in Bethlehem, he was raised in Nazareth, and just by way of introduction, and to help
you kind of understand the context a little bit, if you understand the nation of Israel,
the land of Israel, and you'll understand that there is a northern part, and a southern
part of Israel, Jesus was from a city called Nazareth, which is near Galilee, in the northern
part of Israel, in fact, most of, or not most of, but many of, much of the ministry of the
Lord Jesus Christ, when we fast forward from this story, 30 years into his life, takes
place around that northern part of Israel, around the Sea of Galilee, however, Jerusalem
and the temple are in the southern part of Israel, which is Judah, and Bethlehem is a
small town just right outside of Jerusalem, we are told that the distance between Nazareth
and Bethlehem would be something like 90 to 95 miles, several years ago, we went on a
trip to Jordan to see the Holy Land, we were doing a documentary up there, and we spent
some time in Bethlehem, and spent some time in these areas that the Bible talks about,
and the distance would be a 90 to 95 mile distance, now, today, in our modern society,
to travel that is not a problem, you get in a vehicle, and an hour and a half later,
you can travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and many people do that as they tour the Holy
Land, in those days, however, this was a trip, this was a bit of a sacrifice, 95 miles from
Nazareth to Bethlehem, most people in the ancient world would travel by foot, we're
told that the average person in those days was able to travel, when they were traveling,
they could travel 20 miles a day, however, the Bible tells us here that for Joseph and
Mary, the story was a little different, if you look at verse 4, again, it says, and Joseph
also went up from Galilee, again, this is the northern part of Israel, out of the city
of Nazareth, into Judea, this is the southern part of Israel, unto the city of David, which
is called Bethlehem, they had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, 90, 95 miles, something
like that, notice verse 5, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, again, the average
person in that day could, when they were traveling, if they were traveling, could travel about
20 miles a day, that would make this a 5 to 7 day trip for them normally, however, once
you notice there in verse 5, notice again, the last part of the verse, it says, being
great with child, Mary was, the Bible tells us, great with child, meaning she was very
far along in her pregnancy, she was showing in her pregnancy, and of course, with her
being great with child, we would imagine that this would slow them down a little bit, this
would be maybe, instead of traveling 20 miles a day, maybe they would travel 10 miles a
day or 15 miles a day, and we don't know for sure, but that would make the trip somewhere
between 5 to 7 days to something more like 7 to 10 days, and I'm telling you all this
to kind of build up the understanding of the first lesson here from the Christmas story,
and it is this, that the Christmas story begins with what I like to refer to, and if you're
taking notes this morning, I would encourage you to write these down, it begins with a
holy disruption, we see that God decides to intervene, we see this divine disruption from
God, here we have Mary, who is great with child, ready to give birth here soon, and
we're going to read about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, and at a time when a woman
would be in what we call nesting mode, my wife has given birth to 6 children, or 6 children
of course, and there's this time right before the birth of a child when it's just kind of
this instinct in a woman to begin to prepare, clean the house, get everything ready, make
sure everything is good to go, get all the projects out of the way, make sure everything
is ready for the birth of this child, we would imagine that that's what Mary is feeling like,
being great with child, she wants to be ready, she wants everything clean, we want everything
sanitized, we want to make sure we're ready for the birth of a child, not only a child,
but her first child, not only her first child, but the Son of God, and what we're told is
that instead, instead of Mary spending her time preparing a nursery, instead of Mary
spending her time doing what maybe the average first mom would be doing, which would be picking
out decorations, and putting up curtains, and getting matching blankets, and picking
out baby clothes, and picking out the first outfit, and getting it all ready, instead
of Mary being allowed to do all those things, the Bible tells us that God designed this
holy disruption, look at verse 1 again, and it came to pass in those days that there went
out a decree from Caesar Augustus, notice, that all the world should be taxed, we know
of course that Caesar was the emperor of Rome, which was the empire that ruled the world
at the time, and here he decides to tax his empire, and virtually that all the world should
be taxed, and this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria, verse 3, and
all went to be taxed, everyone into his own city, we're told that not only were they to
be taxed, but there was some sort of a census that had to go with this tax, they all had
to go back to the city of their birth in order to be accounted for, notice verse 4, and Joseph
also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the city of David,
which is called Bethlehem, both Mary and Joseph were from Bethlehem, so at a very inconvenient
time in their life, at a very inconvenient time in the time of the birth of this child,
they were told, you have to go back to Bethlehem, you have to pay taxes, you have to be accounted
for, there's a census that needs to be done, you have to take a 95 mile trip, you're going
to have to do it while you're great with child, it's going to be a lot of inconvenience, it's
going to be a lot of expense, it's not going to be what you want, and what we see at the
beginning of the Christmas story is a holy disruption, it's a divine disruption from
God, where God decides to come in and disrupt the lives of Joseph, and I would say especially
Mary.
I want you to notice, keep your place there in Luke if you would, that's our text for
this morning, and go with me if you would to the Old Testament book of Micah, in the
Old Testament, if you find the last books in the Old Testament, you have what is known
as the Minor Prophets, right after the Major Prophets, the Major Prophets are those big
books of the Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and then you have the Minor Prophets,
Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah,
Micah, Micah chapter number 5, and look at verse 2, I want to show you why it is that
God had to get Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem.
In Micah chapter 5 and verse 2, and I want you to understand, the book of Micah, and
what we're going to read right now is a prophecy, an Old Testament prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And though you are simply turning pages, you need to understand that the prophecy of Micah
was given 700 years before the birth of Christ, 700 years before Jesus, before the Old Testament
had closed and the New Testament had begun.
In Micah chapter 5 and verse 2, we have this prophecy, it says,
Bet thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, and referring to the small city of Bethlehem,
though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, though it's a small town, though
it's a small population, among the big cities and the big towns and the big populations
of Judah, the Bible says, yet out of thee shall come forth unto me, that is to be a
ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from old.
Notice, from everlasting.
Once you notice here, we have a prophecy of the coming Messiah.
The Bible says that he was to come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel.
The Bible tells us that he was to come from everlasting.
We know that this is a reference to the Messiah because the one, the ruler that was to be
born in Bethlehem, if you notice the last part of verse 2 there, it says from everlasting.
This is deity.
This is the fact that his beginning was not in Jerusalem, was not in Bethlehem, but he
has been from everlasting.
This is the prophecy that had to be fulfilled.
The Messiah, if somebody could help me out, I feel like there's an echo, could you help
me with that?
Maybe let somebody know.
Turn that down or something, maybe there's a screen on.
The Messiah needed to be born in Bethlehem.
The problem is that Joseph and Mary are in Nazareth, and God had to bring Joseph and
Mary down to Bethlehem in order to fulfill his will, in order to fulfill his purpose.
Go to Genesis if you would, just real quickly.
First book in the Bible, Genesis chapter number 50, you say, what's the lesson we can learn
from this story?
What can we learn from this holy disruption?
And here's the lesson in application for you in regards to this, and it is this, that God
is able and God is willing to disrupt our lives in order to accomplish his will.
A lesson that we learn and we find this lesson all throughout the Bible is this, that when
God's will comes face to face with our will, that when God's agenda comes face to face
with our agenda, that when God's plan comes face to face with our plan, God is not only
able but God is willing and God has no problem with interrupting your plans, interrupting
your thoughts, interrupting your ideas.
I would imagine Joseph and Mary, they've been visited by Gabriel the angel, they've been
told that they're going to give birth to the Messiah.
They probably have taken this task very seriously, realizing that the Son of God is going to
be born into their life.
We know that Joseph is a carpenter, I'm sure he's spent the last nine months building a
crib, preparing the house, getting things ready.
They've been preparing for the birth of the Son of God, and now they get the news that
Caesar Augustus has decided that there is a tax of the whole world and they're going
to have to get up and they're going to have to leave.
And the text seems to indicate that this was kind of an abrupt thing, there was no preparation,
they have to go.
We know because when they get there, they've not prepared for where to stay, they've not
prepared for where to go.
This was something that kind of just came upon them and I'm here to tell you that God
sometimes will allow these divine disruptions into our lives in order to fulfill His will.
In order to fulfill what it is that He wants, and we see this theme all throughout the Bible.
Let me give you a couple of examples.
The first one of course is a well-known example of that of Joseph, remember Joseph in the
Old Testament?
The Bible tells us that Joseph as a 17-year-old kid was sold into slavery by his brothers
as a result of envy.
When he gets sold into slavery, he's bought, he's purchased into the house of a man named
Potiphar, he does a good job there and gets raised up in station, but because of his wife
lying about Joseph, trying to get Joseph to do something wicked and wrong with her and
his refusal, she lies about him and gets him thrown in prison.
When he's in prison, the Bible tells us that he is promoted even there, the Bible tells
us that God through revelation gives him a couple of, allows him to interpret a couple
of dreams and gets him some connections that should be able to help him while in prison,
but we're told that even after all of that he's forgotten about.
And I would say, and when we meet up with Joseph, once he finally comes out of prison,
he's no longer a 17-year-old kid, he's now a man in his thirties, and I would say that
God definitely brought in some disruption into the life of Joseph, some what we would
maybe call wasted years into the life of Joseph, and Joseph could have got angry, Joseph could
have got upset, Joseph could have asked why, Joseph could have said, God, why did you do
this, why did you allow this, why didn't you stop this, but we see that Joseph had a different
attitude, see Joseph understood the providence of God and that God sometimes allows these
holy disruptions into our life, I'd like you to notice what Joseph says there in Genesis
chapter 50 and verse 20, this is towards the end of his life, once he's gone through all
these trials, in Genesis 50 and verse 20, the Bible says this, Joseph says to his brothers
who told them into slavery, who disrupted his life, he says, but as for you, he says,
ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass as it is this
day, notice, to save much people alive, see God had a plan, God had a will, God had a
desire and it required the disruption of Joseph's life, God had a plan for Jesus and it required
the disruption of Mary's life and Joseph's life and we can spend the entire morning talking
about this and I won't do that, but let me just share a verse with you, go to Romans
if you would, in the New Testament, Romans chapter 8, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts,
Romans, Romans 8, while you turn there, let me give you another example, how about Job?
Job was a man whose life was very much disrupted, the Bible tells us he was a rich man, he was
a godly man, he was a spiritual man, he was a good father, the Bible tells us that he
prayed for his children and he had a good relationship with his children, yet we learn
in the life of Job that he not only loses all of his money, he not only loses his health,
all of his children die and his wife turns on him and his friends turn on him and all
of that is done as a result of God's plan.
God's plan for Job was to show Job in such a way to show us that God is in control and
to show us how to go through trials, that Job would not curse God and would not accuse
God of wrongdoing, in Job 23, you go to Romans 8 and in Job 23 and verse 10, the Bible says
this, Job said this, he says, but he knoweth the way that I take, he says, when he hath
tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
Job here, and we're on time to develop it, we recently went through the book of Job,
but Job, throughout the book of Job, talks about the confusion that he's in and the complexity
that he's in and the fact that he doesn't understand what God is doing and sometimes
he's not even sure that God is listening and he doesn't know where God is and he says,
I'm not sure what God's plan is and what God's trying to do and why God is allowing this,
but he didn't know this, he said, I know that he knoweth the way that I take.
When we don't know what God is doing, we can take comfort in knowing that God knows where
we are and he knoweth the way that I take.
When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
Romans 8 and verse 28, if you would, I want you to notice these words.
Romans 8, 28, the Bible says this, and we know.
We like to focus on the other part of this verse, which I'm going to show to you in a
minute, but I think the emphasis really should be on these words, and we know, because when
we don't know what God is doing and we don't know why God is doing it and we don't understand
why God is allowing it, and we don't understand why God doesn't just stop it, and we don't
understand why God doesn't just make Caesar pick another time, another day.
Why does it have to be now?
Why does it have to be now, Joseph might say.
Why do I have to spend two years in prison?
Why do I have to lose my children, Job might say.
When we don't know why God is doing what he's doing, what God is doing, we know this, and
we see here in Romans 8, 28 that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose.
So what we see here in this Christmas story is this holy disruption, the fact that God
is able and willing to disrupt our lives, and look, please understand this, we don't
like this.
We don't pray oftentimes like Jesus prayed, not my will but thine be done.
We pray, God, my will be done.
Not your kingdom come, my kingdom come.
I have a plan.
There's something I'm trying to accomplish here, God.
There's something I'm trying to do.
And you've now came in and kind of messed that up, but please understand that God has
no problem with disrupting our lives if it means doing his will, if it means accomplishing
his task, if it means getting done what it is that he wants done.
And our proper response to God should always be that we know that all things work together
for good.
That we know that God is at work.
That we know that a 95-mile trip for a woman that is very far along in her pregnancy is
very inconvenient and maybe very difficult and maybe kind of hard, and we don't understand
why it has to happen, but we know that God is in control.
Just yesterday my wife and I were talking about some things and praying about some things
and things that we kind of feel like we don't have control over, and as we were talking
I was telling her, something I have to tell myself is that I'm not God, and I don't get
to make the decisions that God makes, and if I were God I might do things different
and I might make other decisions and I wouldn't necessarily pick certain things, but we know
that what God is doing is good because God is good and God is right, and though at the
moment and at the time the disruption may seem hard and difficult, we have to believe
like Joseph did, that what others have meant for evil, God has meant for good.
God has a plan and God has a purpose.
So we see this holy disruption in the Christmas story, but I want you to notice secondly this
morning not only do we see a holy disruption.
Go back to Luke chapter 2 if you would.
We see a holy disruption, but secondly I want you to notice we see a humbled deity.
Of course when we look at the Christmas story the overwhelming theme and arch of the Christmas
story is this, that God became a man.
That God became man without ceasing to be God.
That God became the God-man, the second member of the God-head.
The Son of God came down to this earth and was robed in flesh, but I want you to notice
that when that happened, when that happened we have a deity.
Deity is a reference to God and to what makes God God.
We are humanity and He is deity, but when Jesus came down to this earth, when God came
down to this earth we had a humbled deity.
Now it would have been enough, it would have been enough of humility for God the creator
of the universe, the one that is referred to as the Almighty, the one that is referred
to as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the He which is and which was
and which is to come.
It would have been enough for God in heaven to come down to the greatest throne on earth.
That would have been humbling enough to come down to the richest empire on earth, to come
down to the most powerful position on earth.
That would have been enough humility from God, but God used the Christmas story to really
show us how humbled deity was.
Look at verse 6, Luke chapter 2 and verse 6.
And so it was that while they were there, this is in reference to Bethlehem, the days
were accomplished that she should be delivered and she brought forth her firstborn son.
And I'm not preaching about Mary this morning, we've done that in the past, but let me highlight
for you there that it says her firstborn.
It says firstborn because she had other children after that.
Mary was not a perpetual virgin, the Bible does not teach that.
And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes.
And I want you to notice these words, it says, and laid him in a manger because there was
no room for them in the inn.
Now as part of the Christmas story, we've kind of romanticized these things, often times
many people will have nativity scenes and the nativity scenes seem very nice and very
beautiful.
But I want you to understand when the Bible says there that he was laid in a manger, the
word manger is just a word that today we don't necessarily use the word manger, but the idea
is that a manger is a feeding trough.
It is an area where food gets put for animals, for cattle, for horses and cows and things
like that.
And though we can look back at a lot of things from the first century in history and I won't
take the time to go into all those details, I can tell you this, from the story we are
told from the text, we are told that there was no room in the inn, that there was nowhere
for them to stay.
And as a result, when Jesus was born, he was wrapped in clothes and laid in a manger, laid
in a feeding trough.
This gives us the impression that because there was no room in the inn, Mary and Joseph
were staying where the animals stay.
They were sleeping where the animals sleep.
When she gave birth, this is not what you would plan.
My wife and I, we do home births.
We have a midwife and all those things and as a result, as a part of a home birth, what
you do is you write out a birth plan and you plan out all the things that you would like
your birth to be like and things that you want done and things that you don't want done
and you know, I don't want to vaccinate and I don't want this and I don't want, you write
your whole birth plan.
I doubt this was in Mary's birth plan.
I want to give birth between the cows and the horses and when Jesus was born, we'll
lay him in a feeding trough.
Yet this is what happened.
This is, as a result of this holy disruption, they had to make this trip down to Bethlehem
and it highlights for us the amount of humility that it took for Jesus to come, that Jesus,
think about it, Jesus the Lord of glory, Jesus the Son of God, Jesus the King of kings,
Jesus the Lord of lords was born somewhere around animals and to the point where he was
laid in a feeding trough, in a manger and it teaches us about the fact that he was a
humble deity.
He was humble, the Bible tells us, even to the point of death.
If you would go to Philippians real quickly, Philippians chapter 2, you're there in Luke,
you have John, Acts, Romans, 1st, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Philippians
chapter 2, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1st, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians.
Philippians chapter 2, this is something that's highlighted for us in scripture, the fact
that Jesus humbled himself to come to this earth to pay for the sins of man Christ, of
mankind.
Philippians 2, look at verse 5, notice what the Bible says.
It says, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.
The Bible tells us that Jesus was God in the flesh, he thought it not robbery to be equal
with God, notice verse 7, but made himself of no reputation.
That phrase made himself of no reputation means that Jesus did not like, we often, he
never put out his chest, he never walked into somewhere and said, you know who I am?
He never walked into a restaurant and said, give me the best table, you know who I am,
I'm the son of God.
He made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made
in the likeness of men and being found in the fashion as a man, notice these words,
he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
The second member of the Godhead, the son of God, the word of God, humbled himself
to the point of death.
Go to John chapter 1 if you would, John chapter 1, you've got Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, right
after Luke you have the book of John, John chapter 1, when you go there put your ribbon
or a bookmark or something there and because we're going to come back to it, while you
go there, let me read to you 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 9, the Bible says this, for ye
know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, notice these words, that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
I don't know about you, but I'm thankful that God humbled himself for me, that he came down
to this earth and it would have been enough for deity to become man is humbling enough,
that he came and even humbled himself in the presence of men, born next to animals,
maybe a stable or out in the field, laid in a manger, laid in a feeding trough, he humbled
himself in the Christmas story, highlights the fact that not only do we see this holy
disruption, but we see this humble deity, that God became a man.
Let me just take a moment to talk about this, recently I had somebody ask me this question,
I thought it was a very good question, I thought I'd share it with the class.
When the Bible teaches us about the virgin birth, about the birth of Christ, the second
member of the Godhead, I want you to understand that the second member of the Godhead, we
obviously believe in the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost.
The second member of the Godhead is also referred to as the Word of God.
The second member of the Godhead, the Word, at the virgin birth, the second member of
the Godhead did not become a person, this is a misconception that often people have.
He did not become a person, he was already a person.
In John chapter 1 and verse 1, the Bible says this, in the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And like I said, I was recently asked about this and I thought it was a great question
and I thought I'd like to share this with everybody.
When the Bible tells us here that in the beginning was the Word, a misconception that people
often have is that before the birth of Christ, that the second member of the Godhead was
simply just the words that came out of God's mouth.
But I want you to understand, when the Bible says here, in the beginning was the Word,
you see the capital W there?
That's a proper name, that's a title of a person.
It's not a reference to just the words that are coming out of the mouth of God, because
notice it says in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
So it's not that, you know, the words that are, it's not like I'm with the words that
are coming out of my mouth and God was with the words that are coming out of his mouth.
Notice verse 2, the same was in the beginning with God.
Notice verse 3, all things were made by him.
By who?
The Word.
Him.
It's a person, and without him was not anything made that was made.
The word, word, is not simply referring to the words that came out of God's mouth.
The second member of the Godhead, the Word of God, is a person, and I won't take the
time to run the verses, but if you go to Revelation 19 and you see the Lord Jesus Christ coming
on a white horse at the Battle of Armageddon, the Bible says he's called the Word of God.
But yet it is a person, the second member of the Godhead, riding that horse when at
the creation, when God said, let us make man in our image.
He was speaking to somebody.
And the reason I want to bring this up is because I want to understand, I want to make
sure you understand this.
What we do is we often we see these verses where it says, the Word was made flesh.
And what people think is, oh, the Word became a person.
But that's incorrect.
The Word was already a person.
The second member of the Godhead has always been the Son of God.
He's always had a relationship with the Father.
It's not that the Word became a person, he's always been a person.
The Word became flesh.
The Word became a human being.
The second person of the Godhead did not come into existence.
This is what the Jehovah's Witnesses and other cults will teach.
They'll say, oh, at the virgin birth, the second member of the Godhead came into existence.
No, the Bible does not say the Word became a person.
It says the Word became flesh.
The Bible says that God was manifest in the flesh.
So what we have at the virgin birth is not the second member of the Godhead becoming
a person.
It's not even the second member of the Godhead becoming the Son of God.
He's always been the Son of God.
It's the second member of the Godhead, the Son of God becoming flesh, becoming human.
The miracle is not that the Son of God was born.
The miracle is that the Son of Man came to this earth being also the Son of God.
That God became man without ceasing to be God.
That it's not that the Word became a person, it's that the Word became flesh.
Are you there in John 1?
Look at verse 14.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory as of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
But the Word was him who all things were made by him.
First Timothy 3, 16, you don't have to turn there.
The Bible says, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh.
You'll never find a verse of the incarnation of Christ that tells us that the Word or the
second member of the Godhead became a person.
The emphasis is always on the fact that he became flesh, because he became a human.
He became a human being.
He became the God-man, humbled himself, and came to this earth.
Go back to Luke chapter 2 if you would, we see this humbled deity.
I want you to notice that this deity, just a little by the way there, was not only humbled,
but was rejected.
Look at verse 7.
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swollen clothes, and laid him
in a manger.
Notice these words, because there was no room for them in the end.
How sad that the Son of God would come to this earth, and there would be no room.
But I would argue the fact that today for many, in fact for most, there still is no
room for Jesus in their lives.
Verse 8 says this, and there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping
watch over their flocks 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.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings.
The word good tidings means good news.
It's the same idea as the word gospel, the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He says, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
He says, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ
the Lord.
I want you to notice that in this Christmas story, not only do we see a holy disruption,
not only do we see a humble deity, but we also see a heavenly declaration.
We see that at this birth time of Christ, the angels show up.
And first, we're told that the angel of the Lord came upon them.
And he comes with a message.
Verse 11, he comes to the shepherds, we'll talk about that in a minute, but he comes
with this message in verse 11.
He says, for unto you is born this day in the city of David.
I want you to notice three different titles or positions that he tells us about he who
is born in Bethlehem.
He says, in the city of David, number one, a Savior.
If you ever ask yourself the question, who is Jesus?
The answer is this, he is the Savior.
You say, why is he the Savior?
Because he came to save us from our sins.
Bible says he came to seek and to save that which was lost.
And let me just make the point, if you could be saved, because what religion teaches is
that you and I can be saved.
What false religion teaches is that we can be saved by our good works, we can be saved
by doing good things, that I could go to the confessional booth, that I could get baptized,
that I could speak in tongues, that I can repent of my sins, that there's all these
sort of religious tasks that I could do and that I need to do in order to be saved.
And the question that I often ask people is this, if I could be saved by going to church,
by getting baptized, by going to a confessional booth, by getting catechized, by doing these
religious acts, if I could be saved by doing those things, then why did Jesus come?
What's the point of a Savior if I can save myself?
The truth is this, that I'm a sinner and I can't save myself.
No matter how many good things I do, I'll never be good enough, because in order to
be good enough, you have to be without sin, and only Jesus was without sin.
So we have the Savior, that He came.
Why did He come?
Because you cannot save yourself, because I cannot save myself.
I would encourage you this morning, if you're here this morning and you say, I don't know
about this salvation thing, hey, if you're trusting in anything other than Jesus, you
say, well, I'm trusting in those things and Jesus.
You can't play it that way.
It's Jesus or nothing.
Either He paid for all of your sins as the Savior, or you're going to be your own Savior.
But I have to warn you, if you want to be your own Savior, you will come up short.
So we see that He's the Savior.
Then we're told, which is Christ.
The word Christ means Messiah.
It means the chosen one, the anointed one, the one that has been prophesied.
It means that the Son of God, that God would come to this earth.
And then we're told, notice thirdly there in verse 11, the Lord.
He's the Savior, He's the Christ, and He's the Lord.
The Lord means He's the boss, He's in charge, He's the King.
And the only idea that I really have for this world is to say this, Jesus is Lord, whether
you like it or not.
Jesus is Lord whether you want to admit it or not.
Philippians chapter 2, you don't have to turn there, I'll just read to you.
The Bible says that there is coming a day.
The Bible says, wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him.
See God humbled Him, but one day He humbled Him at His first coming.
He humbled Him at His first advent.
He humbled Him and made Him flesh and brought Him to this earth.
He was born and put in a manger.
He died for the sins of mankind.
But let me tell you something, that's just the first coming.
There's a second coming when He will be highly exalted.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every
name.
That at the name of Jesus, the Bible says, every knee should bow of things in heaven
and of things on earth and things under the earth.
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father.
Do you know there's coming a day, the Bible says, when every tongue, the Bible says, every
knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
There's coming a day when everybody, it doesn't matter who you are, saved, not saved.
The devil himself, the Bible tells us, there's coming a day when he will take a knee and
he will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Now you get a choice whether you want to admit that by your own choice or whether you be
forced to admit it later.
But if you admit it now, you can be saved.
When you're forced to admit it later, it'll be right before you get thrown into hell.
Whether you like it or not, Jesus is Lord, period.
Every atheist will admit it one day.
Every unbeliever will admit it one day.
Every person at some point will bow their knee to Jesus and confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
So we see this heavenly declaration, the angel of the Lord tells us who it is that was born
in Bethlehem.
He's a Savior.
He's the Christ and he is the Lord.
Why don't you notice, not only is there an angel Lord, but there's also a heavenly host.
Look at verse 12, Luke chapter 2 and verse 12, and this shall be a sign unto you.
Why don't you notice the angel, he's talking to the shepherds and he emphasizes this.
We saw it earlier in the story.
The Bible says that Mary wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, in a feeding trough.
Now the angel of the Lord has told the shepherds that unto you is born this day in the city
of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
And then he says in verse 12, and this shall be a sign unto you.
He says, let me tell you how you'll know who he is.
Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And it's almost like the angel has to emphasize.
He says, look, I know I just told you that the Christ, the chosen one, the anointed one,
the Son of God was born, the Savior was born, the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings.
But I just don't want you to be confused.
When you find him, he'll be in a feeding trough.
It's a humble deity.
And this shall be a sign unto you.
Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
But notice, when the angel of the Lord gets done speaking, then we have this multitude
of heavenly hosts.
Verse 13, and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising
God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.
I want you to notice that every time the Bible talks about peace and goodwill on earth, it's
always connected to the Lord Jesus Christ.
This world will never have peace without the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The UN can do whatever they want.
They can pass as many resolutions as they want.
They can sign as many contracts as they want.
Every president of the United States can decide to make it a goal of theirs to bring peace
to the Middle East.
But there will never be peace on this earth until the Lord Jesus Christ because peace
can only be connected to Jesus.
So here we have the announcement of Jesus and then it can be pronounced on earth peace,
goodwill towards men.
Why?
Because of Jesus.
The only way you can have peace in your life is through Jesus.
The only way that you and I can have peace with God is through the Lord Jesus Christ.
So we see in this Christmas story a holy disruption.
Sometimes God, he doesn't ask permission.
He doesn't ask to look at your schedule.
He doesn't say, when will this trial be good for you?
Let's look at, show me your calendar.
What week do you have open?
Well, sometimes God decides to just disrupt your life.
And God expects us to align ourselves to his will.
To put ourselves on his agenda.
And to say, Lord, I don't know what you're doing.
I don't know why you're doing it.
And if it were me, I wouldn't be doing that, but I'm not God.
So if this is what you want, God.
I don't know a lot, but I know this, all things work together for good.
We see this holy disruption and we see this humble deity that the second member of the
Godhead did not become a person, but he became flesh and he dwelt among us and we beheld
his glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
And we see this heavenly declaration that Jesus is Savior and that Jesus is Christ and
that Jesus is Lord.
And that the only way to have peace on earth and to have peace with God and to have goodwill
towards man is through the Lord Jesus Christ.
I'd like you to notice lastly this morning, we see a humiliating delegation.
In verse eight, if you go back to verse eight, the Bible says this, and there were in the
same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
It's interesting to me because if you wrote the story or if I wrote the story, this is
not how the story would go.
We wouldn't go to blue-collar workers, we'd go to the blue-bloods, we'd go to the Emperor
of Rome, we'd go to kings, rich men, powerful men.
If we were going to bring the message that God's Son was brought into this earth, we
would go to people of power, of authority, of wealth, of importance, but that's not who
the angels went to.
Why don't you notice the recipients of this message were the shepherds.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their
flock by night.
And you might say, well, but the three kings, they came eventually.
And I hate to mess up your nativity scene, but if you study the Bible, you'll notice
that they didn't come to two years later.
If you actually study the scriptures, you'll notice that it was a couple of years later
before the wise men showed up.
The recipients of the story of the birth of Christ were these lowly shepherds.
That is not who I would have gone to, that is not who you would have gone to.
That's who God went to.
And by the way, I think it's fitting.
By the way, Jesus himself is the great shepherd.
It makes sense that you would let the shepherds know.
Jesus himself is the lamb of God.
It would make sense that you would let the shepherds know.
They told the shepherds, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
The recipients of the message of the story of Christmas was not a great delegation, was
not an authoritative and important and impressive, but it was more of a humiliating delegation.
Who came to the birth of the Son of God?
Shepherds who were abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
But I wonder, I wonder if the reason that God chose the shepherds was not necessarily
because they were shepherds, and I think there's connections there.
Jesus is the Lord.
Jesus is the great shepherd.
Jesus is the lamb of God.
But I wonder if the reason that the angels came to the shepherds, the reason that he
came to these recipients was because of their response.
Look at verse 15.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds
said one to another, let us, notice this word, let us now.
Not, we should check that out next week.
We should check that out tomorrow.
I mean, they're abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
It's the middle of the night.
They didn't say, well, tomorrow when the sun comes up, we'll go check it out.
No, no.
They said, let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass,
which the Lord has made known unto us.
I wonder if it was the response of the shepherds, the fact that God knew that the shepherds
would not waste any time, that they would go now, that they would go to look at this
thing that was done.
Now, notice verse 16, and they came with, notice the word, haste.
That's not the name of a shepherd.
We're here with Bob and haste.
No, they came with haste means they came with excessive speed, with hurry, with urgency.
I have to tell young people, they're asked to do something and they're, you know, moving
slow.
Sense of urgency.
Wake up.
Do it to purpose.
Here are the shepherds, the Bible tells us, they came with haste.
They said, let us now go even to Bethlehem to see this thing which has come to pass.
Notice the last part of verse 15, which the Lord has made known unto us.
Let me ask you a question.
Whenever God makes something known to you, how quickly do you respond?
Whenever the word of God is revealed, maybe in your personal Bible reading, you're at
home, you're reading the Bible, and God speaks to you through the reading of the word of
God, and you realize, wow, I've been doing that, and I shouldn't be doing that, or I'm
not doing that, and I should be doing that.
Or maybe through the preaching of the word of God, the word of God is preached and proclaimed
and applied, and the Holy Spirit works in your heart and says, man, that's something
that God's dealing with me.
Well, look, when God has made something known unto you, do you respond with haste, or do
you take your time?
I'm reminded of the story of Abraham.
When Abraham was told of his son Isaac, the only son Abraham in his old age had this promised
child, this miraculous child, Isaac, and then God said, I want you to sacrifice Isaac on
the altar.
And the Bible says that Abraham rose up early in the morning to obey.
How do you respond to God?
See, the recipients were shepherds, but the response was swift.
The recipients were shepherds, but the response was with haste.
The response was, let us now go.
God said it, let's do it.
I think God chose the shepherds because of their response, and we should have the same
response.
When God has made known something to us, we should now go with haste.
Why don't you notice, lastly, the report of these shepherds, look at verse 17, and when
they had seen it.
They go and check it out.
Don't miss it, please.
Somebody told them, hey, go check out Jesus.
They go with haste.
And when they had seen it, then they turn around, notice, they made known abroad the
saying, which was told them concerning this child.
And all they that heard it wandered at those things which were told them by the shepherds,
and Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Why don't you notice that the proper response to receiving something is to then give it
back.
The proper response, the shepherds, they said, wow, this is amazing.
They said, wow, this is amazing.
Let's tell somebody.
You know what these shepherds were?
Not only were the recipients shepherds, not only was the response swift, but I want you
to notice, their report was soul winning.
They decided that they needed to make known abroad the saying, and I'm here to tell you,
I'm glad you're here this morning.
I hope you're saved.
I hope you're a Christian.
I hope you're celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ this week, and we should be celebrating
the birth of Christ, the fact that God became man without ceasing to be God, that deity
was humbled, that this holy disruption brought God into the world to save us from our sins.
But let's make sure we tell somebody else about it.
Let's make sure that we make known the thing abroad, and that we, like the shepherds, say,
let's tell somebody about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 19, but Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
I haven't emphasized this as we've been moving through the Christmas story, maybe I should
have, but you'll notice as you read Luke chapter one, Luke chapter two, there's an emphasis
about Mary, and one emphasis is that she's a thinking girl.
This phrase is used about her in other places where it says that she kept all these things
and pondered them in her heart.
She thought about these things.
She wasn't just kind of going through life.
She wasn't just going through life, but as these things would happen, when Gabriel showed
up and told her that she would be with a child, and she said, how can this be, seeing I know
not a man, and he explains to her that the Holy Ghost would come upon her, and that that
thing which was conceived in her would be called the Son of God, the Bible says that
she pondered those things in her heart.
She thought about those things.
Verse 20 says, and the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things
that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them.
I want to encourage you this Christmas season to take some time like Mary and the shepherds
to ponder these things in your heart.
Since God brings holy disruptions into our lives, and we would say God, why are you doing
this?
We were doing fine, Lord.
Everything was moving forward, God.
Everything was going just as planned, God.
Mary had this holy disruption, but you know what the Bible tells us?
She pondered these things in her heart.
She didn't get bitter about it.
She didn't say, God, you messed up all my plans.
I had a crib already made and the nursery was already decorated.
As she traveled down to Bethlehem, she pondered these things in her heart.
When the baby was born, she pondered these things in her heart.
When the shepherds showed up, she pondered these things in her heart.
And as a result, the Bible tells us that there was glorifying and praising of God.
Let's make sure this Christmas season we're pondering Christ and we're praising God.
Even when we don't understand what He's doing or why He's doing it or why He's allowing
certain things, even when we are confused and complexed, we can know that the Lord of
Lords is now highly exalted, that God is in charge and God knows what He's up to.
And the shepherds return glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard
and seen as it was told unto them.
Let's bow our heads in that word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word and thank you for the story.
And, of course, the beginning of the greatest story, the life of Christ.
And there's so many things even in this story that we can learn and I pray you'd help us
to learn them.
Lord, I pray you'd help each and every one of us this week to ponder Christ, to ponder
the things that He has done for us, what He did for us.
And Lord, that we would return the favor.
Somebody shared the story of Jesus with us.
Help us to be like these shepherds to make known abroad the story as well.
We thank you for sending Jesus to die on the cross.
We thank you that the Word, the second person of the Godhead, the eternal Son of God who
always existed, became flesh, that we might be saved.
In the matchless name of Christ, we pray, amen.