(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Okay, we're going to do chapter 2, of course, we're in the Christian season here, and I think it's fitting just to talk about the Christian story of this. And so this morning we're speaking on the subject of the Christian story of 42, the Gospel of Luke. And if you remember, I was working for once, and it came to pass in those days, but there were no out of the streets of New York, I think. But all the world's impact was actually the first wave of the government in New York. And all of the impact that we have in New York City, those of all coming up from the valley, out of the city of Madison, to New York. I was in the city of Davis, which is called Madison, where we were the house and lineage of David. All of Luke chapter 2 and Matthew chapter 2 are the time passes of dealing with the Christian story. What do you think of Luke chapter 2? Because Matthew chapter 2, although we've been thinking about it, we've talked about the wise men coming to Jesus with gold from Jesus and nerves, actually it eventually takes about two years after Jesus was born. So the shepherds were actually there when Jesus was born, at least during that time frame, whereas the wise men usually see Matthew and Matthew here at this time. But the things are still wise, and it's still a matter of the wise men coming to Bethlehem, because they have heard or read about the prayer of Jesus. So it's still dealing with that. But this morning we're going to be in Luke chapter 2, and I'm going to mainly focus on the shepherds and the role that they played in the nativity of Jesus. What are some of the principles that we've learned from these shepherds? First and foremost, before I get into that, by way of introduction, I want to talk about God's influence on world affairs. Because sometimes Christians can often say, well, when it comes to the things of God and the church and the affairs of ministry and whatnot, God is involved in that, but we're not necessarily involved outside of those matters. But the reality is this is that God is involved in world affairs. He is orchestrating certain events in order to lead up to specific prophecies and individual bills. And we see that here in Luke chapter 2. There's a reason why Caesar Augustus and the governor of Syria are being mentioned, and the taxes that are being mentioned there. That's all for a purpose. It's not just to kind of fill in chapter 2 with a bunch of information, right? Obviously we understand that the book of Luke, more than all the gospels, has a lot more information, a lot more of the story of the fact than other gospels. But in particular chapter 2 is letting us know why the fact should be played, and historically it did take place, but Caesar Augustus did impose a past attention on the people. And why is that? Well, let's do that again where number one is that the people passed on those days, that there went on a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be passed under the northern sun, right? And this taxi was first made with Irene as the governor of Syria, and all went to be taxed, everyone, into its own city. Now, what is the purpose of God telling us this? He's putting this information in here to help us not to feel bad, because we're paying so much money on gas or something today, and we knew that was going to happen. So, you know, misery left the company, and we don't go back 2,000 years ago, and it's like the same thing. No, not necessarily. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, until the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he lived on the house of the name of David's wife, to be taxed with Mary, his spouse's wife, being great with child. And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. So notice this, that God is involved in world affairs in such a way that He was beheaded by the Romans. How many of you have ever heard something like that before, like the Apostle Paul died a martyr, he was beheaded by the Romans, but the Bible doesn't record that. Not only does it not record it, it actually records the Apostle Paul dying basically at an old age, just kind of of natural causes. He finished his days serving the Lord with no complications and no conflict. And in fact, what we actually see is the Romans assisting him, and allowing him to have visitors, to preach the word of God. I mean, what a great way to end your life. Just kind of like, hey, you're on house arrest, but you can invite anybody you want to come to your place, and you can give them the word of God. Because in reality, the Romans didn't really care about Christianity. They didn't persecute them, but they didn't really care for them. They were just kind of like, whatever about them. The only time they really would persecute, quote unquote, Christians is when they were being instigated by the Jews, okay? That's why Jesus Christ was crucified, you understand? By the Romans, because of the fact that the Jews instigated that crucifixion. And then, so we see there that the Roman influence actually helped fulfill Bible prophecy, so by Caesar Augustus putting out this decree of taxes, a census, it forced Mary and Joseph to go back to Bethlehem in order to fulfill this biblical prophecy. Look at Micah chapter 5 in verse number 1, it says, Now gather thyself in troops, O daughters of troops. He hath laid siege against us, they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. But thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, 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 goings forth have been from old, from everlasting, the Bible says. So this is the prophetic statement telling us that Jesus Christ was going to come from Bethlehem. And notice that he chooses the smallest of all cities, right? Of Judah. And this shows us that Jesus Christ came as a lowly servant. I mean, he was born in a manger, there was no room for him in the inn, and even aside from that, he was born in Bethlehem, which is a small little town in Judah. And so what we're looking at here is the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. And this goes to show us that, you know, even though there's wicked rulers out there, there are wicked presidents, you know, there are wicked prime ministers and wicked kings, God can use them for his fulfillment. Because here's the thing, if that weren't the case, then he would just kill them right off the bat. I mean, I'm sure there's a lot of people thinking, why is God permitting Biden to live? He's such a wicked idiot, you know, he says so many stupid things, he's leading our country down the toilet, why is God permitting it? I'll tell you why, because of the fact that I'm sure there's a purpose behind it. And the reality is this, is that God's judging the United States of America, and Biden is proof of that. You know, one of the greatest judgments that we can get is to get a wicked leader ruling over us. I mean, that's exactly what he did to his people in the Old Testament, is that when they were straying away from God and disobeying God or being rebellious towards God, he would allow a foreign oppressor to come and oppress them and afflict them as a means of a punishment. He said, well, what can we do to change that? Do we have to vote in the right person? No, you've got to turn from your wicked ways. The nation needs to turn from its wicked ways and seek after the Lord and serve God, and God would heal our land. But obviously, that's not going to happen. It's already too late for that. Well, this is a Christmas sermon. What am I... Christmas is wonderful, and it's beautiful, but this is fact. But you know, you know, Caesar Augustus, even though he's burning in hell today, was used by God to put forth that decree in order to force Joseph to go back to Bethlehem and fulfill Bible prophecy. And Caesar Augustus didn't even know that. He's like, I'm about to make more money. You know, he's worried about his political things and what he's doing and fulfilling that, whereas God used that little action that he took in order to fulfill Bible prophecy. The Bible says in Psalm 75 or 6, you don't have to turn there, For promotion cometh neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south, but God is the judge. He putteth down one and setteth up another, the Bible says. And the reality is this, is that God can easily take one ruler away and add another ruler according to his purposes. And when you study like Roman history, for example, Julius Caesar, which is obviously, you know, he was a dictator, he made himself a dictator, you know, you kind of wonder why did God permit this man to do these exploits and do these crazy things that he did, but there's a purpose behind it. There's always a purpose behind it. God was always looking towards the future and how even an administration such as big as that, he can use one element or one factor of that administration to fulfill some sort of biblical prophecy. Even if it means just to build a road to get missionaries to go preach the gospel to someone. That's how important that is to God, okay. So let them have their glory, you know. Julius Caesar had a glorious life, so to speak, here on this earth. I mean he did a lot of great exploits, won a lot of wars, you know, had a lot of accomplishments, but it's obviously, you know, what shall the prophet man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul, right? So I want you to notice that God has, he's involved in world affairs, but he's involved in it not to save a nation, not to make a nation, you know, the greatest nation in the world. He does it for the purpose of propagating the gospel, okay. The second thing I want you to notice, go back to Luke chapter 2, is that the world rejected Christ from the very start. I mean he was just a not, he was not a popular person from the very beginning. I mean think of baby, a baby! How can you like turn away a woman with child, right? But yet Jesus Christ and his mother were turned away, look what it says in verse 7, and she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. What is a manger? It's basically an animal trough, it's where animals eat, right? Laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. So Mary and Joseph are going to these hotels to try to find lodging and, you know, because she's great with child and every single one of them are turning her away. I mean it's crazy but it goes to show us that the Bible tells us he was in the world, the world was made by him and the world knew him not. He came into his own and his own received him not. And I think that's important to note just for the fact that we as Christians are going to be rejected throughout our life. Throughout our Christian life people are going to hate us, they're going to reject us, they're going to separate us from their company and we need to be reminded that Jesus, even prior to his birth, right, was already being rejected, was being rejected by the world and hated even to the point where he didn't even have a proper birthing place to be in. I mean he was birthed where animals eat from. Think about that. The King of Kings, Lord of Lords having that type of start here in this world. But this morning as I mentioned I'm going to talk about the shepherds and some of the principles that we can learn from them. First and foremost I want you to notice that the shepherds were just common people and the reason I'm focusing on the shepherds is because think about this, why didn't God choose Caesar Augustus to reveal this to? I mean isn't he the man of the land? Isn't he the important person during that time? Isn't he the king? Or you know, why not go to the governor? Why not go to some political high leader with a lot of influence? I'll tell you why, because God is concerned with those who are lowly and contrite of spirit, that's why. That's who he's concerned with. In fact, that's who he is steams as being highly exalted in his eyes. So instead of going to the governor, instead of going to the king, instead of going to the Caesar of that day, the richest person in the world, you know, he goes to the lowly shepherds of the field. Think about that. They're nameless. They're no-namers. No one knows what their names are. They're just lowly shepherds, common people whom he chose to go to. Verse 8 says, and they were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field. Now I personally believe that there's certain qualities of the shepherds that basically made them worthy of God choosing them. And one of them is the fact that they were workers. The Bible says that they were abiding in the field. What does that mean? It doesn't mean they were just sleeping on the grass or something like that, just hanging out, having a bonfire. Abiding in the field means they were working. Okay? You know, people say, well, I live at my job. You know, they're basically saying they're constantly working, right? Well, here we see that the shepherds were abiding in the field, they're working, and God chose them. Now, it doesn't matter what their names are, it doesn't matter where they're from, what matters to God is the humility, right, of being a shepherd. And it kind of reminds me of the verse where the Bible talks about in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. And this should be an encouragement to you and I because of the fact that the Bible tells us that we're made to offscouring of this world. You know, we're hated by people and people don't really esteem Christians as having any type of valuable position here in this world. We're not really famous in the eyes of the world. In fact, we're like the scum of this world. I mean, people literally, they hate what we believe, they hate us, they hate what we do. And, but here's the thing, that makes us qualified to be chosen of God for a particular task because that's exactly who God wants. He says, but God has chosen the foolish things of this world. So hey, if you don't have any smarts, it's okay. That low IQ, it's okay, I'm not saying stay that way, but hey, you know, if you have a low IQ, you don't have a lot of knowledge, God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of this world to confound the things that are mighty. He says, and base things of this world, the lowest things of this world, and things that are despised have God chosen, yea, things that are not, to bring to not the things that are, listen to this, that no flesh should glory in his presence. So why would God choose the shepherds? Because when we look at the story, we focus on God more than the shepherds. It's like, why didn't God tell us the name of the shepherds? Because it doesn't matter. Who cares what their names are, right? Whereas if it was like, he came to Caesar Augustus, it's like, oh yeah, we know Caesar Augustus. Oh man, God used Caesar Augustus in such a great way, he's such a godly man. You know, who would get all the credit? Caesar Augustus. And here's the problem with Christians sometimes, is that we want credit, we like credit. There's nothing wrong with getting a pat on the back for doing a good job, or you know, whatever it may be, but I'm saying, in general, we should seek to reflect praise, right? And recognize, you know, that whatever good thing comes from us, whatever talent that we have, or gifts that we have, or good job, or accomplishments that we did, were it not by the grace of God, we wouldn't have been able to do it. God enabled us to do the things that we do, or have done, or that we will do. And it's important that when you get thanked or praised, you reflect the praise. My father-in-law used to say, humility is recognizing that you are the sum total of other people's investment in your life. You know, we are the sum total of someone else's investment, our parents' investment, our spiritual leaders' investment, other church members' investment in us. And so when people praise you for doing a great job, reflect the praise and say, well praise God. And I'm not saying be a phony about it either, like, praise the Lord, brother, I'm just a servant, you know. You know, be sincere about it, obviously. But I believe that's one of the reasons why he chose these shepherds, because they were common people. And let's just be honest, the common people are those who hear the Lord gladly. You know, this is why we don't have campaigns to go win movie stars to the Lord. Or famous people, right? We're not going to have some sowing marathon in Hollywood, because none of us would come back alive. You know, you got fags and Jews in Hollywood, no thank you, okay. You know, there's no campaign to win, oh what about those, you know, what's that football star's name? Tim Tebow. The worldiest guy here knows exactly what I'm talking about. Isn't he a Christian though? Can he be used of God? He has so much influence. He has so many followers and so many subscribers and so many whatever, followers on his Twitter. You know, if we could just get that guy saved, if we could just get him to believe the gospel, if we could get him to believe the word of God, he would make such a big impact. Wrong. Wrong. It doesn't work that way. Because once he gets, I mean look folks, isn't he, don't people consider him to be a Christian? Doesn't he call himself a Christian? Well I don't see thousands of people getting saved through his ministry. I see him winning people to himself. Oh? Not necessary to the Lord. So what do we see there? We see that he gets the glory, not God. So the reason God's not going to use Tim Tebow, in spite of what those liberal, limp-rusted Christians say, the reason he's not going to use him is because he's not going to get anybody saved. The guy's probably not even saved himself. Don't get confused, you know, don't get all mad or whatever, when you hear me or others say that these movie stars who claim to be Christians are not saved, but they say they're Christian. Well you don't want to accept that answer at the door. Why do you accept that answer from some Hollywood star? Oh man, but he said God in his speech though. He said the Bible in his speech. Yeah, Trump brought up a different version of the Bible. I don't know, what was it, an RSV or something like that? All of a sudden he's a Christian? I thought you were King James only! You know, don't lower your standard of what it is to be a Christian when it comes to the movie stars. Well, you know, he did say something about Yeshua. You're like, I'm not for Yeshua, but at least he said something about Yeshua. That makes him even worse. That makes that person even worse, folks. You know, I mean, what about Denzel Washington though? You know, he has a video out there called God First! You know, doesn't he have a lot of influence? Actually, those people are more dangerous. Because they do have a lot of influence and they put forth this fake Christianity. You know, they put forth this fake Christianity. And I guarantee you, those who claim to be saved, you see how I'm saved? If you really pin them down, pin them in a corner and say, what must I do to be saved? I guarantee you, they'll bring a repent of your sins, nonsense doctrine to you. I turn from a, Justin Bieber though! Justin Bieber's a queer. Don't come to me and tell me that he's a saved person. Folks, God is not interested in using movie stars and singers and famous people to do the work of God. If that were the case, why did he come to the shepherds? There's a lot of famous people during this time. There's people who were of renown, people who had influence, people who were rich, who had money, who at the drop of a hat created a decree to say everyone shall worship the Lord. Right? But he didn't because that's not who he's interested in winning because of the fact that he knows that they would get all the glory and he doesn't share his glory with anybody. Well, yeah, but he should be able to share it with Tim Tebow a little bit though. I mean, what a great guy, just to say God. Or the man upstairs or something, you know? They can make such an impact. Well, let me read you a verse here of what God thinks about those people. Jesus said in Luke 16, 15, and he said unto him, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts. Listen to this, for that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. What does God think about Tim Tebow? He's an abomination in the sight of God. Why? Because Jesus is better than Tim Tebow. I mean, the shepherds are better than Tim Tebow. Shepherds aren't better than Tim Tebow. The shepherds are in the Bible. He brought a host of heavenly angels to the shepherds. There ain't no host of heavenly angels coming to Tim Tebow. There might be a host of fallen angels. No, the Bible tells us in 2 Chronicles 16, verse 9, For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them, listen to this, whose heart is perfect toward him. So what is God looking for? He's looking for people who are humble of heart, who love the Lord, who are seeking the Lord, who are not perfect, but they have a perfect heart towards him. In other words, a complete, sincere heart that they do love the Lord. So God's not expecting perfection from you. He's not expecting a multitude of gifts or talents. He wants you to be sincere. He wants you to love the Lord. He wants you to love his word. He wants you to have a perfect heart towards him. And those are the people who he uses to do a great work. The Bible says in Isaiah 66, in verse number 1, Jesus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord, but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and listen to this, and trembleth at my word. Because I'm looking for people who actually fear the word of God. Then when they hear the word of God being preached, they're not on their phones looking at Tim Tebow's tweet today, saying, Merry Christmas. Like, oh man, this guy is so, look it, he said Merry Christmas. It has Christ in there. Oh look, he put Luke chapter 2, you know. Oh man, he put a picture of some long-haired Jesus on Instagram or something like that. No, who does he look to? He looks towards the person who is of a poor and contrite spirit and trembleth at his word. I just offended a bunch of people who love Tim Tebow. Well, good riddance. You need to be offended if you like a person like that. Okay, you know who our hero should be? Men in the Bible. Men of God who are alive today proclaiming God's word. You know, my hero is like David. Hey, my hero is like Ehud. My hero is like Jehu. That's my hero. Hey, when I go to heaven, I'm not going to be looking for Tim Tebow because I know he ain't going to be there. I'm looking for Jehu. You know, if someone comes to me like, Tim Tebow, I'm going to be like, yeah, I saw him get... I'm going to look for Jehu and talk about how, you know, he killed all those prophets at that banquet and how that's like one of my favorite stories and how he inspired me to drive furiously. He chose the shepherds, folks. Think about that. He chose these lowly shepherds who were in the field and they were laboring. They were in the field working, right? They were just minding their own business, just serving God by leading these sheep and just taking care of a lowly job and that's who God chose to roll out the red carpet for and do this amazing show of hosts of heavenly angels and every year, everyone always talks about them. It's awesome. Look at verse 8. So they were lowly shepherds, they were common people, but I want you to notice also that they were vigilant. Look what it says in verse 8. And they were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field. Look what it says. Keeping watch over their flock by night. So what does that mean? They weren't sleeping at the wheel. They were being vigilant, they were being watchful and therefore, they were able to know the coming of the Lord. You understand? And you know what? Same goes for the second coming, right? So for the first coming, these shepherds were vigilant, they were sober, they were watchful and therefore, they were there when the angels came. I wonder if there's some other shepherds. I'm a little tired. Lord, just protect these sheep and just go to bed. Go to sleep or something, right? These men were watchful, they were vigilant and they were able to see the angels proclaiming the first coming of Christ. Well, in like manner, this is a principle that we see for the second coming of Christ as well. The Bible says in Matthew 24 verse 42, Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come, and ye know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched and would have not suffered that his house to be broken up. Therefore, be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh, who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his Lord hath made a ruler over his household to give them meat in due season. Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. They were vigilant. They stayed up late at night doing the work of the Lord and he said, well, they were taking care of sheep. That's still the work of the Lord. Because whatever we do, we should do it as unto the Lord, right? But they were sober. They were vigilant. They were watching. And you know, especially in the day and age in which we live, we can't afford to be asleep spiritually. You know, don't get caught up in all the media hype and all the omicron and the lambda and the alpha. Yeah, I'm concerned about the alpha and the omega. Not the omicron. Who cares about the betas? About the omicron and the coronavirus and all these other Greek letters. Hey, who cares about the omicron and the alpha and the omega? That's what I'm concerned with, amen? Don't worry about, you know, things that are taking place out there that you can't control. What you should be vigilant about is your walk with God. Reading the Bible. You should know more about the Bible than what's going on in the news. Right? We should be more in the word of God. Because why? Because that will bring you buoyancy in your Christian life. Folks, the people who know more about the news are the ones who are the most fearful, the most upset. They're annoying to be around. Just kind of always mad. They're always fearful. You know, when Jose says, who would fear, it's easy to point them out. You know? I don't think there's anybody like that in our church. I'm just saying Christians can get caught up in stuff like that. You know? And that's not being awake or vigilant. Oh, we have to know what's going on. No, you don't have to know what's going on. The shepherds didn't know. They knew what was going on with the sheep. You know, what we need to know is what's going on with the sheep, with the word of God, be vigilant in prayer. Make sure that you have a good, stable walk with God. You know, instead of wondering, oh man, you know, what's going to happen with the gas prices, you should take account of your treasures in heaven. You know, like how's my walk with God? How's my Bible reading? How's my prayer life? You know, do I love my wife as Christ loved the church? Am I under authority? Do I esteem the word of God? Am I getting involved in church? You know, am I being a blessing to others? This is the important thing. We still got three more stinking years of Biden's administration. Yeah, but then what? You see, when you have a walk with God, who cares who's president? Who cares what laws are being changed because when we're walking with God, that's the safest place to be. You're being vigilant in those areas. And I've learned personally that some of the most peaceful people are those who just walk with God and have no idea what's going on. You know, sometimes I find out what's going on and I mention it to someone, they're like, I don't know what you're talking about. And they're happy. They're happy. In that case, ignorance sometimes is bliss. But if you're ignorant of God's word, it's not bliss. You know, these shepherds were simply vigilant. They were watching and the similarities between those who saw the Lord at his first coming and those who will see him at his second was that they're both watching. They're both being vigilant. They're paying attention to spiritual matters because the angels were spiritual beings. Celestial spiritual beings. Look at verse nine. By the way, notice that on both of his comings, he sends forth his angels, right? The second one, he sends them together his elect, but this time he gathers, he sends forth his angels to gather these shepherds to announce the coming of Christ. Verse nine, not only that, but there are people of faith that says in verse nine, the angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone around about them and they were sore afraid. Yeah, I bet they were. This is a terrible sight. And the angel said unto them, Fear not for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. I would have my son come and repeat this but he'd blow everyone's ears out if he did. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord 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 heavenly hosts praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. What is the goodwill that salvation is born? Amen. You know, this is not your hallmark card, do goodwill, go bring some cookies to someone. I'm not against cookies. Okay? But the context is referring to the fact that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance through Jesus Christ. Verse 15, and it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, excuse me, the shepherd said one to another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass. So notice the wording. They don't say let us go unto Bethlehem and see if this thing is really real. Let's go see if we were really real. Let's go see if we were just not, we were just sleep deprived or something. Maybe we just saw this in a vision. No, he says to see these things which are come to pass. What does that mean? They have faith. There's no doubt in their mind that this actually took place. They said and see this thing which has come to pass which the Lord hath made known unto us. And folks, let me just say this. One of the best ways to increase your faith is that when you go to the church, when you read the Bible, when you hear something that's biblical, you just believe it. I mean if it's in the Bible, just believe it. I don't know man, I just still have some doubts. No, see these things which have come to pass. If God said it, that settles it, right? I'm not saying don't investigate, don't study it out, but obviously if it's in the Bible, if it's already in the word of God, if God has said it, we believe it. And this is one of the best ways, this is one of the best tips that you'll get because people can read the Bible and they come across a passage and it's difficult for them to understand. You run into some obscure passages that obviously we know you can't lose your salvation but maybe it's worded in such a way that maybe a person could twist it into saying that you could lose your salvation. Read it and say, well I know you can't lose your salvation but I don't know how to make sense of this passage but I'm just gonna believe whatever God says and then when he chooses to reveal it unto me, when I'm mature enough spiritually, I'm just gonna believe it. But I remember, I had a friend who, this is years ago, probably when I was 17, 18 years old, and my friend, he just started to go on a spiritual pilgrimage type of a thing where he was just like, I need to seek after God and he bought himself a Bible and he was a Catholic so he didn't know anything unnecessary about salvation but he bought a Bible and he started reading it. Started reading it and then it became like a holier than thou. He's telling me, you gotta read your Bible. And I'm like, I don't even have a Bible. And I wasn't really interested in spiritual matters at that time, you know what I mean? I was just kinda like, yeah that's cool for you dude but me, I'm just kinda doing my thing, you know what I mean? But I support you man, just kinda be nice to him and he was really getting into it. He was reading the Bible every single day and then one day I remember he came to pick me up and we were gonna go eat and he's like, I got a problem. He's like, something's wrong with the Bible. I was like, what? And here's the thing, I wasn't even an agnostic. I just was too lazy to seek after God. I just didn't really care. I was just kinda living like a selfish life. But I believed in God. And I obviously, I had some sort of reference towards God and I believed the Bible even though I never really read it. I just know if we were talking about the Bible it's like, well that's God's word. Can't prove why, I just know that that's God's word. And I'm like, what do you mean? He's like, there's something wrong with the Bible. He's like, look at this. And he pulled up this passage in the Old Testament and I'm like, okay. Not God, gad. And he said, why does it say gad and not God? There's something wrong with the Bible. And he goes, look, it says it over here too. It says gad. And I'm not a theologian. I wasn't even saved. I'm like, I don't know, maybe that's how they called him back then or something. I didn't really know what the answer to give him. I was just kinda like, I don't know but I don't think that's like a mistake. Or I think I told my, maybe it says like a misprint or something like that. He goes, no, it's right here too. And he's like, I can't believe this Bible. I can't believe it. For that little thing. And you know what? Today he's part of la luz del mundo. I mean, that led him down a dark path, folks. And obviously that's an extreme, you know, example. That's a, I mean, if that shakes your face, you know, you need to study a little more or, you know, it's crazy. And I remember walking away from there, I'm like, it must be like that for a reason though. That's the Bible. How's it gonna have mistakes? That's weird. And I just kinda like went back to living my selfish life. But he, his like faith was shaken. He couldn't believe it, you know? And obviously, again, that's an extreme example but what I'm saying is that, you know, obviously that's not gonna happen to you, all right? It better not happen to you. You go to church, you're saved, you know God's word. You know, but you know, you're gonna come across, I've come across passages in my lifetime, even as a pastor, I'm like, I can't really explain this. But it's okay, I'm gonna read it a hundred times over because I've read the Bible every single year and I read it throughout the year, I read the New Testament multiple times, I've read these passages multiple times. And you know what? If I don't understand it now, I will one day open down mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. But one thought that doesn't arise in my heart is like, you know? No, let's be like the shepherds which basically said, well, let's just go to Bethlehem to see these things which are come to pass because God said it, therefore I know that it's true, okay? He says in verse 16, and they came with haste. So they didn't wait till the morning. Soon as they got the word, it came to them, they're like, now let's just forsake the sheep. Let's go with haste. What does that mean? With urgency. So this is a great principle when it comes to obeying God's word, obey it with urgency. Make haste, right? You know, and by the way, this is a great way to apply biblical preaching when it applies to you, make haste to keep those commandments. The Bible says in Psalm 119 verse 60, I made haste and delayed not to keep the commandments. So once you know something that you're supposed to do or something that you should stop doing, don't say, well, I'll wait till next week. Well, that'll be my New Year's resolution on January 1st. No, make haste. Do it right away. You hear a sermon on soul winning, don't say, well, next week. For sure, for sure, for sure, for sure, for sure. I'll go next week. No, just go right after the service. Go in a group, and it doesn't mean that the gospel opened your mouth boldly, but you can be a silent partner. And guess what? You still get a reward for that. Yes, you still get a reward just for being a silent partner for like six months. I don't think you're going to be a silent partner for six months, but let's just say you go out there for six months and there's a silent partner, you still get a reward. God still counts that as you going out and preaching the gospel because you're assisting those who are preaching the gospel. If you don't do something, if you don't apply something that you heard within the 72 hour period, you're probably not going to do it at all. Because a lot of times people put it off and they keep putting it off, but statistically they say if you wait more than 72 hours, you're probably not going to do it ever again. So, you know, you're like, oh, man, tomorrow I'm going to hit the gym. You better hit it because you're not going to do it. You're not going to do it. You're not going to do it. Because tomorrow comes and you're like, well, Tuesday, Tuesday for sure. Because Monday, you know, I got so many things to do, you know. I don't feel that good. My hair hurts or something, you know. It's like, do it right away. Or say, you know, well, I won't work out this week, but I will do it next week, though, for sure. Because this week is like Christmas and stuff and we're going to be eating. Hit the gym anyways. I mean, your endurance won't probably be that good, but at least you go. At least you went. Go slip a disc. No, I'm just kidding. You know. What I'm saying is make haste. Whatever decision you decide to make, make haste to keep those commandments. And obviously, more importantly is God's word. Okay, when you look into the perfect law of liberty, you see what needs to change, make that change immediately. Amen. So they had a sense of urgency. And then lastly, look at verse number 17. This is probably one of my favorite part of this story regarding the shepherds. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. Now, what does that mean? So they went there, they saw the baby, and what did they do? They published it, right? They went and started preaching the gospel. But notice what it says. It says they made known abroad the saying that was told them. So let me ask you, did they let them talk about their personal testimony? Is that what it says? Did they talk about their experience, that feeling they got? Is that what it says? No, it says they made known abroad the saying that was told them. So they saw it and they're like, well, let's go talk about what God's word said unto us. And this is a great example of men who went out to preach the gospel and they weren't preaching themselves, but they preached Christ crucified. Right? What is soul winning? Soul winning is talking about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's not talking about how you overcame alcohol. How you were just saved from a life of sin. You know, this, what's that church called? Victory outreach type. Let me tell you about my testimony, brother. I don't care about your testimony. I want to hear the testimony of the Lord. Because let God be true and every man a liar. And your experience and your testimony, I'm not saying it means nothing, but in comparison to the gospel, it is nothing. And unless your testimony is, this is how I got saved by believing on Jesus Christ, we don't care what kind of lifestyle you came from. The world doesn't care what kind of lifestyle you came from and you don't get people saved that way. I preached a sermon called Vainglory of Testimony and it ticked off a lot of people, particularly from that type of church. How dare you? I don't do cocaine anymore. Yeah, but now you struggle with pride, so what's up now? Hey, the shepherds, and let me say this, I mean, didn't the shepherds experience something awesome? I mean, they got the angel there, one angel, they're just like, and then all the hosts, they're just like, they're just like, a host? And they're terrified? I mean, this is a glorious sight. They could have gone and just said, you won't believe what I just saw. You know, I saw a host of heavenly angels, they said glory to God in the highest and all these things, and all this light, and then they went, but they didn't say any of that. What were they publishing abroad? Unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior. Because far more glorious than the host of heavenly angels, far more glorious is Jesus Christ. They may not have brought the saying that was told them concerning the child. That is awesome. And this is a good soul winning principle that when you go out there, you know, nothing wrong with giving a little bit of your testimony of how you got saved, but you know what, you should be preaching Christ and him crucified. Because here's the thing, or you may not even have a pretty crazy background. You're like, yeah, when I was like six, I stole a candy bar. God saved me from stealing, you know, snickers, and I struggle with that. And you know, to this day, you know, I still, I'm tempted, but God can save you from that too. It's like, I don't steal candy bars. How about people who are just clean cut people? Who are just like righteous, but in the eyes of the world righteous where they're just clean people. They're, you know, just regular law abiding citizens of this world. They've never been divorced or they don't commit adultery, they don't drink, they don't smoke, they don't run with those who do. They're just not safe. How's that gonna help them? They're like, oh man, I struggle with heroin. You don't do that anymore, you know. He's gonna think, I don't need Jesus to not do heroin. I don't do heroin already. That's why, folks, your testimony does not matter. And I'm not trying to be insensitive. Someone in here struggles with that. I'm not talking about you. I'm just saying in general that the testimony of a person really does not matter unless it's referring to this is as far as my testimony goes. If I ever give my testimony, I'll say, you know, I remember I used to believe the same thing. I believed it was by works. I thought I had to keep God's commandments to be a good person. I believed the same exact thing until someone showed me from the Bible that I don't have to do those things. There's only one thing I have to do. Can I share that with you? That's as far as my testimony goes. David said, thy testimonies are my delight to my counselors. Oh, you know, you don't believe reparations can be saved. I know this one reprobate. He's a Christian. He works in the children's ministry. He does all these things. You know, what about his testimony? Well, I believe God's testimony. I don't care how convincing someone's testimony is, how involved they are. They can even say the right things. But if it goes against what God says, then you know what? Thy testimonies are my delight and if I look at two categories of testimonies, I go to seek counsel from the testimonies of the Lord. Is this correct? No? Okay, you're a liar. That person's a liar because God said it. Are you just going to write off this person's experience? Yes. Are you just not going to believe what they said but they're so sincere? Nope, not going to believe it because God said it. My soul, Psalm 119 verse 167, my soul hath kept thy testimonies and I love them exceedingly. So the shepherds were awesome people even though they're nameless, even though we don't know necessarily how many there were, but there are some pretty awesome people because of the fact that they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning the child. They started preaching the word of God, telling people about Jesus Christ, preaching the word of God, telling them about baby Jesus and it's recorded in the word of God. We can learn from their example and if you get anything from this sermon, get this, is that people during Christmas have a tendency to be a little selfish. They can be, right? You know, there's certain things that we want for Christmas. If we don't get them, we throw a fit or something like that. I have a list of things that I want for Christmas and this is what I want. This is what I want to happen and these are examples of these shepherds who were selfless. That's really what they teach us, is to be selfless. They didn't say, hey God, are you going to write our names down? Are you going to remember us? Did we get a part in the Bible or something? They were just felt like it was privileged just to be a part of this glorious event and to be able to preach God's word and get other people saved. They left their priorities to make other people a priority. Right? And that's really what we should think about during Christmas is, you know, being a blessing to others. How about this? Get another person what they've always wanted and that person who's receiving everything that they've ever wanted, you should also seek to be a blessing to someone else and get someone else something they've always wanted. Esteem another better than yourself. Think about Christmas as an opportunity to hit a reset button on the selfless virtue, to be a blessing to other people. We thank you so much for the Christmas story. We're so thankful for the birth of Christ and what it means to us, Lord. And just as the song goes from last night, He came down to earth, to this world of tiny baby, and you left the splinters of heaven for us, Lord, to come and reach us. And we're so thankful for that, Lord. And as our display of gratitude, Lord, I pray that you'd help us to continue to win people to Christ, see people saved, talk about Jesus, testify of His death, prayer, and resurrection. And bless our service tonight, Lord, our week, and be with us, Lord, that we may think upon these things and ponder them in our hearts.