Take your Bibles. Turn to Genesis chapter 49. Genesis 49.
So the title of the sermon tonight is Remembering the Birth of Christ.
Remembering the Birth of Christ. We remembered his death not long ago, right?
Sunday evening. Now we're just remembering the birth of Christ.
I had to get the birth of Christ in there somewhere before Christmas.
It's our Thursday night it is. Remembering the birth of Christ.
Genesis 49. Let's read verses 8 to 12.
And you might think, Kevin, this is a weird place to start, but there's a reason behind it.
Verse 8.
He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion who shall rouse him up.
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come,
and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
Binding his foal unto the vine, and his asses' coats unto the choice vine,
he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes.
His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
Now first thing I want to point out to you.
My aim today, you guys are familiar with the birth of Christ.
I mean, I thought of going through the chronology, but you guys are pretty aware of that.
I'm pretty sure we can do that some other time.
But I really wanted to just show you the prophecies in the Old Testament.
The prophecies of the coming of Christ. The birth of Christ.
The prophecies in the Old Testament that spoke about his birth,
and spoke about the events surrounding his birth, just to show you how miraculous his birth was.
Yes, it's a miracle for a virgin to give birth.
For Mary to give birth not knowing a man. That's miraculous.
But it's even more miraculous to me to think that men of old, hundreds of years before Christ,
wrote about his birth, and it came true.
And so we have these fulfilled prophecies which reaffirms to us that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.
First thing I want you to notice in this verse.
Now, just to give you the context here, this is before Isaac passes away.
And his blessing, his 12 sons. He gives a blessing. He gives like prophecies.
And this is the point where he gets to Judah.
And he gives to Judah, and he says these very cryptic words.
A lot of people struggle with what he's saying here. A lot of people struggle with what is he saying?
What does he mean by these words that he refers to Judah?
And I think there's a very cryptic prophecy of Christ, and I'll show you that in a minute.
But the first thing I want you to notice, one of the easiest things to notice in this passage is verse number 10.
So it's talking about Judah, the scepter. What's a scepter?
That's that rod of a king, right? It depicts authority and power.
He says that scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes.
A lot of people have wondered, who is this Shiloh, right?
The Old Testament prophets probably wonder, what is this Shiloh? Who is this Shiloh?
Shiloh means a peace giver. Someone bringing peace. That's what Shiloh means.
And when we talk about Christ, what's one of his titles in Isaiah 9-6?
The Prince of Peace. The Prince of Peace.
This is a reference to Christ coming through the tribe of Judah.
That was one of the prophecies, first of all, that he would come through the tribe of Judah.
And unto him shall be the gathering of the people be, which makes sense when you look at verse number 8,
where it says, thy father's children shall bow down before thee.
Is he referring to Judah, the person that all your brothers are going to bow down to you?
No. But the sentence, this is a prophetic vision given that the people will bow down before Christ.
That people will come and worship Christ. All the children, all the children of God will bow down to Christ.
Just to give you a bit further understanding of this passage, where it says here in verse number 9,
pay attention to this. Judah is a lion's whelp.
Now we don't use that word very much, but it means a cub, a little baby lion.
He's saying Judah, you're just like this little lion cub.
From the prey, and then he goes on, from the prey, so this lion cub now can attack, can feed itself, it has its prey.
Once it grows up, it can attack that prey, my son, thou art gone up.
And then it says he stooped down, he couched as a lion, so this lion now, his couch is laying down as an old lion.
So we go from this lion being this little cub, to being this old lion.
Who shall rouse him up?
If you had seen a lion, and he was just laying there, just sleeping, he's saying who's got the courage to go and wake up that lion?
No one's going to do that, because you get attacked by that lion.
And then it says, that scepter shall not depart from Judah.
See, what it's depicting here is the birth of Christ. Christ coming into this world as the lion of Judah, but first as this cub.
When we talk about the birth of Christ, we talk about the babe in the manger, this lion's cub, innocent, and then he grows up.
He grows up, and what does he ultimately become? This old lion.
No one's able to take that power ray from that lion. That scepter belongs to Christ.
It also depicts here in verse number 11, binding his fowl unto the vine.
It's very cryptic words here, it's hard to understand.
And his asses coat unto the choice vine.
I believe this is depicting his entrance into Jerusalem upon that donkey, upon that ass.
And then it says, unto the vine. What's significant about the vine? The grape vine.
Because he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes.
So we're talking about here, Christ, his clothes being stained with the blood of grapes.
His crucifixion, his whipping, his beating.
He was covered within that blood, and of course the Bible many times depicts grapes as blood, being symbolic as blood.
And then in verse 12, his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
Now I believe this is a reference to Revelation 19, I'll just read it to you, Revelation 19,
because I believe this is a reference when he comes back, not the first time, not his first coming as that lion's cub,
but in his second coming, in the book of Revelation 19, you can turn there if you want, Revelation 19 verses 12 to 13.
Look at the words here, verse 12.
His eyes, remember his eyes were red, what did it say exactly?
His eyes shall be red with wine.
And then in chapter 19 verse 12 in Revelation, his eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns,
and he had a name written that no man knew, but he himself.
And then look at this, and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the word of God.
I think it's an amazing similarity there in Revelation to this prophecy of Christ in Genesis.
Not only do we start with him being this little lion of Judah, but then we end with him being this one with the eyes,
red with wine, but he red with the fire, and his vesture being dipped in blood representing his sacrifice that he did for us.
So I wanted to bring you this just to show you first of all that he was going to be a descendant of Judah,
and maybe give you a little bit more light as to what this prophecy is about, because like I said it is quite difficult to understand.
All right now Luke chapter 3, turn to Luke chapter 3. Luke chapter 3 verse 23.
Luke chapter 3 verse 23. Just one of the many references that he was from Judah.
Luke 3, 23.
Now he goes through the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Go to verse 33. We're not going to read the whole genealogy.
Go to verse 33. So you know this is where he starts going, the son of this, the son of that.
And then Luke 33.
So I just want to show you that it was important that he would be from the tribe of Judah.
He was prophesied that Shiloh, the Prince of Peace would come from Judah, and we have that confirmation in the New Testament.
Number 2. So the first prophecy was that he'd be from the tribe of Judah.
The second prophecy is that he would be from the house of David. Remember King David.
In Jeremiah 23 verse 5 to 6 it says,
One of David's descendants would be this righteous branch.
In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is his name.
So are we talking about Christ here, right?
And this is his name, whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness.
This one, this branch, this righteous branch from David would be called the Lord our righteousness.
An amazing thing because it says, I'll just read verse 5 again.
Behold the days come, saith the Lord.
So the Lord's saying hey, there's a day coming where this righteous branch is coming, and his name is the Lord.
His name is the Lord our righteousness.
Just reminding us of the deity of Christ in that passage.
Now if you're in Luke chapter 3, look at verse 31.
Luke 3 31, and again back to that genealogy.
Which was the son of Matathah, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David.
So important that his genealogy was not just from Judah, but that he would follow that line of David.
He would be the house of David, the family of David.
Number 3, that Jesus would be born of a virgin.
We know that one, right?
Jesus would be born of a virgin, important to cover.
Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14 says,
Actually you guys turn to Matthew chapter 1.
Well I read Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14.
The Bible says,
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign, behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
A virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
That's a sign.
That was a sign that they would have the Messiah come.
Now you're in Matthew chapter 1 verse 18.
Matthew chapter 1 verse 18.
The Bible reads,
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, when his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph.
Before they came together, that's important, before they had that marital relationship, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
Now look at verse 21.
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet.
That prophet that I just read to you about from Isaiah, saying,
Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel,
which being interpreted is God with us.
Another proof text of the deity of Christ, God with us, Immanuel, Jesus Christ.
The fourth prophecy surrounding his birth.
You're in Matthew, say Matthew chapter, go to Matthew chapter 2.
I'll read to you Micah 5 verse 2.
But thou, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah,
yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel, whose going forth have been from old, from everlasting.
Now his going forth being from old, from everlasting, obviously his eternal nature.
But he come out of Bethlehem, one of the smallest towns, maybe one of the poorest towns of Judah.
That's where Christ would be from.
Now you're in Matthew chapter 2, look at verse 1.
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.
So the fourth prophecy surrounding his birth is that he would be born in Bethlehem.
I mean these things, how can people deny Christ?
How can people, I don't understand how, well I do understand, but how Judaism, the Jews that believe in the Old Testament, believe the writings of the prophets, can miss these prophecies of Jesus Christ.
What's the likelihood that four out of four prophecies will take place for this one person?
And we know there's many more prophecies throughout his life.
Let's look at prophecy number 5, which ties into what we just read.
Remember there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.
That was prophesied.
Turn to Matthew chapter 2, look at verse 11, just the first part of verse 11.
And when they were come into the house, talking about the wise men, they saw the young child with Mary his mother and fell down and worshipped him.
So these wise men come into the house, this is after they've gone from the manger, they're now in the house, they saw the young child, he had grown, some time had taken place here with Mary his mother and fell down and worshipped him.
Worshipping this child, worshipping Jesus Christ, worshipping the Lord our righteousness.
These wise men knew, right, they had some learning from these old scriptures that this was going to take place.
Now let me read to you Isaiah chapter 60 verse 3.
The Bible says this, now some of you guys might be familiar with this song,
You guys know that one? One of the Christmas songs?
People say well hold on, they weren't kings, they were wise men, the New Testament doesn't refer to them as kings.
Now that's true, but we get the idea of them being kings from the Old Testament.
And also if you've ever seen a nativity, now these nativity sets aren't accurate because they show the wise men come into the manger.
Or maybe cartoon shows or movies of Christ's birth, often these kings are riding on camels.
That's not mentioned in the New Testament, but again they get this from the Old Testament.
Isaiah chapter 60 verse 3 says,
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
So these Gentiles would come, these kings weren't Jews, they weren't from Israel, they were from the East.
So these Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Now you might say well Kevin, is that really about the wise men? I'll show you that in a minute.
So that's Isaiah 60 verse 3.
But the sixth prophecy that I want to talk about right now is that Jesus was given gifts of gold and incense.
Jesus was given gifts of gold and incense.
Now you're still in Matthew chapter 2 verse 11, let's read the second part.
And when they had opened their treasures, so these wise men had opened their treasures,
they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Now I'm going back to Isaiah 60 where I read that from, I'm going to look at verse number 6.
Look at this.
The multitude of camels shall cover thee.
So this is a depiction now of these camels being there for the birth of Christ.
The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah,
all they from Sheba shall come, they shall bring gold and incense,
and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord.
So this Old Testament prophecy of these kings, of these Gentiles travelling and bringing gifts of gold and incense.
It doesn't mention myrrh in this part, but myrrh is a type of incense.
Now frankincense, you've got the word incense in frankincense.
So frankincense is a perfume, so is myrrh.
A type of incense, and incense is just an overall depiction of these specific things.
But not only do we have that he was visited by these kings, but these kings would bring these gifts of gold and incense.
That's in the book of Isaiah 60 verse 6.
3 to 6, you can read that in your old time.
That's six prophecies so far, surrounding the birth of Christ.
Prophecy number 7, you're in Matthew chapter 2, let's look at verse number 12. 12 to 15.
Remember they were escaping from Herod.
Herod wanted to find where these wise men had gone, and wanted to kill Jesus Christ.
Verse 14.
Remember what I said on Sunday morning, the death of Herod was about 4 BC.
So until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying,
Out of Egypt have I called my son.
So there's a prophet that prophesied that out of Egypt have I called my son.
Does anyone know what that prophet was?
It was the prophet Hosea.
I'll read to you Hosea chapter 11 verse 1.
Pay attention to this now.
The Bible says, when Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
We know that's a reference, that's what we just read.
Out of Egypt have I called my son, and called my son out of Egypt.
Hosea chapter 11 verse 1.
I'm going to read verse 2, which says,
And they called them, so they went from them.
They sacrificed unto Balaam, and burned incense to graven images.
So when we read Hosea, we know that the prophet Hosea is looking backwards to the time when Israel came out of Egypt.
When they were delivered out of Egypt.
Because then they go on and worship the false gods, you know all about that.
You know, pretty much soon after they start worshipping these false gods.
And so obviously at that point, verse number 2, that's not referring to Christ.
But Hosea is talking about a past event, and yet God's saying, hey that prophecy was of Jesus Christ.
When I would call my son out of Egypt.
Okay, this is a double fulfillment.
Fulfilled in the past, fulfilled in the future.
Also a type, a foreshadowing of Christ.
When Israel left Egypt, that was a foreshadowing, a picture, a type of Christ coming out of Egypt after having escaped.
So Israel had all these images, all these depictions of Christ, but sometimes they weren't all that familiar with them.
Until we have the revelation of the New Testament to enlighten our eyes to that truth.
Prophecy number 8.
So after Herod, we read a little bit about it, but after Herod tried to kill Jesus, what was his plan?
To kill Jesus.
You're in Matthew chapter 2, let's read 16 to 18.
So he had worked out, Jesus must be under two years old.
He must be a little older than a baby, but coming two years old.
So he kills all these babies from two years old and under.
And then verse 17.
Rachel weeping for her children and would not be comforted because they are not.
So these mothers weeping for their children, not comforted because they are not.
They don't live, they're dead.
And of course Jeremy is a reference to Jeremiah, I'll read it to you, Jeremiah 31 verse 15.
Thus saith the Lord, a voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel weeping for her children, refused to be comforted for her children because they were not.
Now, all of these prophecies so far, I've been able to go back to the Old Testament and show you.
I've been able to show you where they are in the Old Testament.
But prophecy number 9 is a little bit challenging.
And I've got a theory behind this, but let's read it, you're in Matthew 2 verse 22 to 23.
Matthew 2, 22.
So Jesus would be called a Nazarene. Why?
Because he wasn't born in Nazareth, he was born in Bethlehem, but he was raised, he grew up in Nazareth.
So he would become a Nazarene.
Now it says that might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets.
Now here's the thing, you cannot go to the Old Testament and find this at all.
You will never find a reference that Christ would be called a Nazarene.
Some people have gone to saying that Samson would be called a Nazarite.
And they go, oh that's what it means.
But no, Nazarene and Nazarite only sound similar in English.
And it's not even the same thing.
Nazarite was that person that made a vow, they weren't allowed to eat any grapes.
They were to grow their hair and not to cut it and many other things.
But a Nazarene is someone that grew up in Nazareth.
So they're not even related.
Now here's my theory, and I've said it to a few of you guys before.
I believe that the Old Testament prophets spoke many more things than what is actually recorded for us in the Old Testament.
I believe that they had much more knowledge of Jesus Christ than what was referred to.
We can see here, because this was spoken by the prophets.
The prophets said, hey Messiah is going to be a Nazarene.
Prophets, plural, not just one prophet, many prophets said this.
But you will not find that in the written record in the Old Testament.
Is it Enoch that we have what he preached in the New Testament but it's not covered in the Old Testament?
Same thing, right?
So we do know what they said.
We do know that they said that he was a Nazarene.
But they were quoting Matthew chapter 2 verse 23 before that was written down.
I just thought that was an interesting thing.
But we have these nine prophecies surrounding his birth.
Now the next question is, and this comes up every now and again.
And even I've thought about this, because here's the thing.
Growing up in a Christian home, we celebrated Christmas.
We had the decorations, the Christmas trees, the Christmas cards, the presents, all that.
And as a child, I grew up thinking, now I don't know if my parents put this in my mind or I can't remember.
But I just grew up thinking that December 25th was Jesus' birthday.
I actually really believe, factually, he was born on December 25.
And so I would say, hey we're celebrating the birth of Christ.
Not just remembering the birth of Christ, but I actually thought that was his birthday, literally.
And I always found it confusing. Why am I giving gifts? Why am I receiving gifts?
When it's Jesus' birthday, I should be giving him gifts.
And I did some research and then I found that obviously it's very unlikely that he was born on December 25th.
He was probably born sometime closer to summer in, well our summer is December 25th, but summer in the northern hemisphere.
So that would be somewhere in the middle of the year.
And it's more likely that happened because the shepherds were out looking after the sheep.
They weren't freezing, but they were out at night.
But anyway, my point is this. I got to a point where I started to look into Christmas
and I found all this pagan history surrounding Christmas, a lot of decorations, a lot of the lights,
a lot of the different practices of Christmas, having pagan roots.
And I got to the point where I was like, wow, I can't believe this. This whole time.
So the question comes up, should we set aside a day to remember his birth? Should we be doing that?
Turn to Romans 14. Romans 14. And I'm sure you already know where I'm going with this.
But Romans 14 verse 5. Well, the adults probably know where I'm going with this. Romans 14 verse 5 and 6.
Romans 14 verse 5. Okay, let's read it.
One man esteemeth one day above another.
So someone that wants to set aside December 25th, celebrate the birth of Christ,
esteem it higher than any other day, that's this person that it's referring to.
He esteemeth one day above another.
Another, so someone else, esteemeth every day alike.
He says, well, December 25th, just any other day.
Just like any other day, you know, not any special, like it's not extra special to me whatsoever.
It's just any other day.
Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
He that regardeth the day, so the one that makes it special, regardeth it unto the Lord.
Okay?
And he that regardeth not the day, so the one that doesn't think it's a special day,
to the Lord he doth not regard it.
Both of it's to the Lord.
You know, both have the day and regard, it's to the Lord, it doesn't matter.
If it's a day alike, or if it's a special day, it's to the Lord.
He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, and he giveth God thanks,
and he that eateth not to the Lord, he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
We can be thankful on that day, whether you esteem it above others, or whether you keep it alike.
That's the teaching, right?
And then look at verse 14.
What does Paul say?
Okay?
Now there's many more things covered in this chapter, but I just want to cover the days.
The days being esteemed one above another.
Okay?
Now, here's the thing.
There are certain things that I found out that had pagan roots.
That makes me uncomfortable, okay, to have in my house.
Okay? Some of the lights and some of the things.
Right? So I don't do it.
We don't really make a big deal of Christmas.
Okay?
But what does Paul say?
I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself.
Okay?
So, in of itself there's nothing unclean.
Is having lights unclean?
Is it sinful?
No.
In of itself is not.
Just lights.
Decorations.
It's not sinful.
It's not unclean.
In of itself.
Right?
Christmas trees.
Is it wrong to have a tree in your house?
Is it wrong to decorate a tree?
No. I mean, it's not unclean.
But for me, when I found out the pagan roots, I was uncomfortable with it.
Alright?
I was uncomfortable.
And I'll tell you why in a minute.
But the key thing that I want you to keep in mind in verse number 5.
Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
Okay?
There's no right or wrong here.
Allow every family to celebrate Christmas the way they want to celebrate it.
Or if they don't want to celebrate it, let them not celebrate it.
And don't make it a judgement call.
Don't say, oh look at these Christians out there with the lights and decoration.
Don't they know there's all this paganism and there's all this stuff.
Why are you doing that?
Hey, they receive it to the Lord.
They're doing it to the Lord.
There's nothing unclean with what they're doing.
Hey, but if you have problems with it, if you think it's unclean and it's unclean to you.
You know, just don't.
One thing that I don't like about Christmas is how many times people fight over Christmas.
I mean families are always fighting during Christmas.
It's a time of joy.
It must be a time of joy.
Of peace, getting together, loving one another.
There's always fighting.
There's always something going on in Christmas.
You hear about it from all kinds of people.
Alright?
Look, let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
Let me just say that.
Let me just say, let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
And so to me, I don't make it a big deal.
Someone makes a big deal on Christmas, thank God for them.
You know, they're doing it to the Lord.
Someone says, you know Kevin, I really don't really care.
That's fine.
You know, we're not commanded to celebrate Christmas in the Bible.
Okay?
But if someone does it, praise God.
Praise God, they do it.
You know?
And I have nothing wrong.
If someone invites me over their house and family or friends.
Hey, let's have a Christmas lunch.
Great!
Because there's nothing unclean of itself.
Nothing unclean with going on that day and having and partaking of a lunch together.
Celebrating together.
What's unclean about giving gifts?
Right?
You know, there's nothing.
So, you know, remembering Christ.
People remembering Christ on that day, perfectly fine.
Hey, if you want to remember Christ on December 26th, perfectly fine.
December 24th, perfectly fine.
January 1st, perfectly fine.
July 16th, perfectly fine if you want to remember Christ during that time.
You don't need to necessarily keep it on December 25th.
But I understand why people make it a big deal.
And feel uncomfortable doing it because of the pagan history.
Because they think it's a worship to some sun god or what have you.
Fine.
You know, it's unclean to you.
But, you know, don't ruin the joy and the party that other people want to have remembering the birth of Christ.
That's fine.
But here's the key thing.
Turn to John chapter 4.
Here's the key thing to all of this.
John chapter 4 verse 20.
Jesus is speaking to the Samaritan woman.
Okay?
She says to Jesus,
Our fathers worshipped in this mountain,
and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Jesus saith unto her,
Woman, believe me,
the hour cometh,
when ye shall neither in this mountain,
nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father.
So there's a coming of time
where it's not about Jerusalem,
it's not about the mountains where you worship the Father.
Ye worship ye know not what,
we know what we worship,
for salvation is of the Jews.
But,
but the hour cometh,
not only cometh, and now is,
when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.
For the Father seeketh such to worship Him.
God is the Spirit,
and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
In truth.
Now here's the thing.
Here's where you draw the line.
God receives worship if you worship Him in spirit and in truth.
If you worship Him just in spirit,
but not in truth,
that's not acceptable worship.
If you worship Him in truth,
but not in spirit,
you do it in the flesh,
that's not acceptable worship to the Lord.
My point is this.
I think it's important to educate yourself on Christmas.
I do.
I do think it's important to educate yourself,
where do these practices come from?
Should we do these things?
Don't be ignorant of it,
because you want the truth.
Don't lie to your kids and tell them,
Jesus was born December 25th.
Because they're thinking they're worshipping Christ.
They think they're worshipping God.
But actually they're not doing that in truth.
So the key thing is,
no matter how you celebrate Christmas,
make sure it's in spirit and in truth.
That's the thing that I want you to think about.
Any kind of worship you do to the Lord
must be in spirit and in truth.
It cannot be in the flesh, and it cannot be a lie.
Otherwise it is not acceptable worship to the Father.
Now in conclusion, please turn to Luke chapter 2.
Luke chapter 2.
Whether you celebrate it or not,
you know,
Christmas as it traditionally is celebrated,
December 25th.
Luke chapter 2 verse 8.
I think we've got the key thing here though.
Luke 2, 8 to 20.
And there were in the same country shepherds,
abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night.
And lo,
so these shepherds, they're nobodies,
you know, they're just,
they're nobodies.
And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them,
Fear not, for behold,
I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people,
for unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Saviour,
which is Christ the Lord.
I personally believe these shepherds were saved
for this angel to come to them,
specifically to tell them about this Saviour being born.
And this shall be a sign unto you,
ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger,
and suddenly there was with the angel
a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God and saying,
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace,
good will toward men.
And it came to pass,
as the angels were gone away
from them into heaven,
the shepherds said one to another,
Let us now go even unto Bethlehem,
and see this thing which is to come to pass,
which the Lord hath made known unto us.
So these shepherds feel,
wow, let's go find out,
let's go see this Jesus Christ,
let's see this babe,
the Lord's revealed that to us.
And they came with haste,
and found Mary and Joseph
and the babe lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it,
this is the key part,
and when they had seen it,
they made known abroad
the saying which was told them
concerning this child.
They found Christ,
they went everywhere proclaiming
what they heard,
that Christ was born,
the Saviour was born.
So went in,
they went so went in,
the Saviour is here,
let me tell you about the Saviour.
And all they that heard it wondered
at those things which were told them
by the shepherds.
These nobodies,
the angels came to nobodies,
but they came
preaching Christ,
and they wondered.
Verse 19, but Mary kept all these things
and pondered them in her heart,
glorifying and praising God
for all the things which they had heard
and seen as it was taught unto them.
Hey, it's fine to praise
and worship the Lord
and remember His birth.
It's fine. Even more important,
let's go out and
proclaim this truth.
Proclaim that Christ is coming to the world.
The Saviour is here,
so people can know Christ
as their personal Saviour.
Let's pray.