♪ He honors the King who diligently believes ♪ ♪ And coming from Jesus, our Lord and Receiver ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪ ♪ And hear His voice ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Let the people rejoice ♪ ♪ O come to the Father, to Jesus the Son ♪ ♪ His righteousness he hath found ♪ ♪ And pray of rejoicing for Jesus the Son ♪ ♪ For you and I and greater will be ♪ ♪ Our wonder, our joy, so let Jesus we sing ♪ ♪ There is love, there is love, on the earth there is peace ♪ ♪ There is hope, there is hope, let the people rejoice ♪ Jesus, the Son of Man, in the glory, great things He hath done. Let's have our kids come up to the book. 292. How's it? ♪ All is calm, all is bright ♪ ♪ Round yon virgin, mother and child ♪ ♪ Holy infant so tender and mild ♪ ♪ Sleep in heavenly peace ♪ ♪ Sacred heavenly peace ♪ ♪ Silent night, holy night ♪ ♪ Darkness flies, all is light ♪ ♪ Shepherds hear the angels sing ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hail the King ♪ Christ the Savior is born ♪ Christ the Savior is born ♪ Silent night, holy night ♪ Guarding star, lit by light See the eastern wise men bring gifts and homage to our King. Christ the Savior is born. Christ the Savior is born. Wondrous star in thy light With the angels let us sing Hallelujah to our King Christ the Saviour is born All right, we'll do 289. Oh, come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant. Oh, come ye. Oh, come ye to Bethlehem. And behold Him, born the King of Angels O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore Sing in exultation, O sing, all ye bright, O sun, Glory in the highest. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. Christ the Lord. On this happy morning, Jesus to Thee be all glory given. Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing, O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. Always such a joy to hear our young people, see them perform and sing the songs of praise. We thank God for that. At this time, I'd like to invite you to turn your Bibles to Luke chapter 2. Once again, as I stated last Sunday, we're going to preach a couple of messages on this. Pray that even today would be a blessing to you. Luke chapter two, and while you're turning there, we'd like to welcome our radio audience. This is Brother John Liebrook, pastor of the Emanuel Missionary Baptist Church at Old Town. That's just the side of Greenup County out of Carter County. You can get to us by taking Route 1 or Route 7. We have a sign on either end of Laurel Road giving you directions to the meeting house known as Emanuel. And I'm thankful today that you've tuned in to WGOH's portion of God's Word. As Brother Jim stated earlier, no doubt all across this land today, you're hearing what many speak of as the Christmas story. Today I want to tell you something about the truth, about the joys that were brought forth there so long ago. In Luke chapter 2 and verse 8, The Bible says, And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in their 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 of great joy, which shall be to all people, not just a few, Not just the select, but God says here that this is going to be to all people. You know, whether you realize it or not, even if you're lost and undone, you're standing in the grace of God today. It's the grace of God today that has allowed you to be in a place where you're going to hear the unadulterated truth of the gospel message. The reason why that Jesus Christ came the way He came. The reason why that He died the way that He died. And all these things are pointing to something that is such great rejoicing. The Bible states this as you go on. 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. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And listen to this verse here, because this is the bulk of our message today. And suddenly there were with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts. A multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill toward men. I want to bring a message today that focuses around that great heavenly host. Now, in the Greek, there's a word here that is used that depicts what this heavenly host actually is. As a matter of fact, it states that it is the angels and the celestial humanaries. saints of old. Child of God, I want you to get a hold of that. All those that are in paradise, the Bible states that they raised their voices in jubilation when Jesus Christ was born. You know, there are three things I want us to focus on today. Why it could be that the heavenly hosts, in other words, the celestial humanaries, the saints of old, the Old Testament saints, why there was such rejoicing. I want you to focus on the fact that those heavenly saints in spirit, just like the New Testament saints today, in spirit, when they die, they're in heaven. They're in that heavenly abode. They're in that place where there shall never be any harm to come to them again. A place where there'll be no more sickness, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more tears will be shed in heaven in that place. So what caused these celestial humanaries to come forth with such rejoicing and jubilation? They are already in the place of bliss, spiritually. Their spirits are already in a place. Their soul has already gone to that place where Paul stated, to be absent from the bodies, to be present with the Lord. So they are in that place even now, and they are there focusing upon one thing, and I want you to think about this now. Because there's a whole lot more to this so-called story. Let's call it a narrative, okay? There's so much more to this narrative than just what we see on the topic, on the top end of it. Now, I want your focus to be upon Jesus Christ today. But I also want your focus to be upon the reason for the great heavenly host and their jubilation at the time of the Savior's birth. The angel stated that it is a time that should bring great tidings of good things. Our most gracious and divine Heavenly Father, Lord, as we bow before your throne today, we do so with thankful heart. We're thankful, O God, today for your great salvation. We thank you, dear God, today that you sent your Son born of a virgin, lived among us in a perfect life, died the perfect death that satisfied your very will. Dear God, today we're not just thankful for our salvation, but we're thankful for the fact that you illuminated our eyes and our minds that we may see the need of that salvation. that we would see the cause that brought us to where we are at today. Father, I pray for this congregation. Lord, I'm asking today that you would fill the hearts of thy people with joy and jubilation. Lord, may this be a time when thy people rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Oh, Father, today I pray that your power would rest in this house Lord, that thy glory would fill this house, that thy very spirit would overwhelm the inhabitants of this place to such a degree that we too can rejoice with great jubilation for the fact that our Savior has come. Lord, I pray for this congregation. I pray for the lost, O God, that you would save them by your grace. Lord, that you would make them to know and to realize the great need that they have even now as they live in this world of darkness. Lord, they need the light as Brother Jamie brought forth this morning. And Father, I pray that that light may illuminate the lost souls that are gathered here today, that you might save them by your grace. Call them unto thy side, O Father. Bless, Lord, forgive us our sin in Christ's name. Amen. My title today is simply, What Caused This Great Jubilation? Emmanuel to our visiting friends and our radio audience. As we look to our text reading this Lord's Day, what besides the obvious, which is the virgin-born child, could bring such joy? Today, we will dig a little deeper than the so-called Christmas story. We will behold what the holy angels and the heavenly host of heaven were so joyous about. Now, I really want you to really focus upon some of these words. You know, like I said, in order to get the full depth of the meaning of a scripture or of a word, you have to go into the Greek or the Hebrew, whichever one that you're in, whether it's Old Testament or New Testament, and find out the meaning of some of these words and why it is that they are so important. You see, it's more than just the angels of heaven were rejoicing this day. The angels of heaven were rejoicing. They were without a shadow of a doubt. They were rejoicing, and I'll tell you somebody else that was rejoicing. It is the fact that John the Baptist, even while he was in his mother's womb, leaped for joy when he heard that Jesus was going to be born. John the Baptist was the forerunner. He was the one who was going to come and bring the glorious message of salvation to a lost and dying world to begin with. And I want you to focus today not just on John the Baptist and his joy, while he was yet in the womb way before Jesus Christ was even born, but I want you to go back and I want you to think about this heavenly host again. The heavenly host as it reads in the Greek is not just the angels but the celestial humanaries. It is the Old Testament saints of God. These Old Testament saints of God were rejoicing for several different reasons, and I can imagine that I could bring forth a whole list of reasons why they could be rejoicing, but I'll tell you, there's three in particular that I want to speak on today that really touched my heart as I began to study this out. You know one thing about it, you know, God does set leaders in the church to guide the church, to lead the church, and that church is to follow those leaders, just like it was in the Old Testament days. In the book of Exodus, when God led, He led by a pillar of fire by night, and the cloud by day but I want you to know something else he also had that human instrument there as Moses as he led the people of God as Moses followed God they followed the man of God and therefore they were led out of this troublesome place but I want you to focus upon this now I want you to focus upon these Old Testament saints again what joy what joy had to be going on here First of all today, this virgin birth would provide the resurrection of these old bodies. You know, as I stated here just a moment ago, Paul stated, to be absent from the bodies, to be present with the Lord, that's all because Jesus Christ came, born of a virgin, lived here among us, and then he died for us. Now listen, that's the reason why today that we can boldly say and proclaim that to be absent from the bodies, to be present with the Lord. To leave this body in death means that we're gonna be present with the Almighty God. Now there's joy there, folks. Great joy in realizing that one day when we lay these bodies down, if you're saved by God's amazing grace, listen, the very moment that the last breath leaves this body, and you close your eyes in death, you're awake in heaven, and you're going to be by the Savior's side forevermore, for all eternity. That is a promise from God. That's a promise from God. In John chapter 3, you know this again, and I know I use this scripture, I reckon every sermon, and I have for twenty-some years, but I want you to think about this now. In John chapter 3, verse 15 and 16, the Bible says that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have what? Eternal life. Eternal. What's that mean? it means never ending okay now the next verse says for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have what everlasting life now what does that mean it means life never ending folks in order to have that Jesus Christ had to come He had to come and He was born of a virgin. Listen, you're not talking a regular birth here. You're not talking an ordinary child birthing here. You're talking about one that came from the womb of a virgin. And that is so important because the bloodline, my friend, is what's important here. The bloodline comes from God the Father. Now I want you to focus on this for just a moment. This is what made it so joyously. This is what made it so joyful is when the heavenly host of heaven, those angels and those celestial humanaries, those saints of old, when they saw Jesus Christ come, they no longer were resting in those bodies of spirit. One day they're going to have their bodies back and they're going to have bodies that shall not be sick anymore. Now, that speaks joy to me. Now, you know, I don't know what it's like in heaven right now with the spirit world. You know, I know that the Bible states that even in our worship, we have to worship in what? Spirit and truth. But I want you to know something. I cannot wait to the time when my old body is going to be changed in that resurrection period, when that body is going to be changed, made incorruptible, made without sin, and not able to ever feel the effects of Satan again. I'm looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to the fact that I'll be seen and known as I am known, as the Bible says. So these old saints of old, these historical Old Testament saints that we speak of all the time, when you go back and you think about Abraham, You think about Isaac, you think about all these Old Testament saints that were living the life, that were dying the life, that were focused upon the Messiah to come. Listen, they were looking forward. Today we look back. The Old Testament saints were looking forward to the time when Jesus Christ would come. And the New Testament saints are looking back to when He did come. Folks, I'll tell you what it all means is this, that one day we're going to have a new body. We're going to have a new body. The scripture, as you look in verse 15 or 16 of John chapter 3, in order for it to come true, lesson it necessitated the bodily resurrection from the grave. In order for us to have eternal life, it necessitates that these old bodies are going to be raised once again because now they're dead. These old bodies are laying in the ground. These old bodies are going back to the dust of the earth from which it was taken. And listen, but there's coming a day, regardless of where these bodies have been strewn, regardless of how far and how wide, And regardless of how many oceans and ashes have been put in, listen, know this, that time in the day when all that's going to be changed and it's all going to be brought back together, every molecule, every atom, everything that makes up you, every cell that made you up, listen, it's going to come together. And but one thing about it, it's going to be different. It's going to be a time, listen, as these Old Testament saints had gone through some hard times in their lives, through slavery. You think about the children of Israel as they were in the Exodus. You know what? These old children of Israel, while they were there held slavery and captive. Listen, I want you to know that they suffered under hard hardships. They were beaten. They were even murdered. I want you to know today that all of those pains of the former years are all going to be gone. Already the Old Testament saints have been placed in the tombs of the dead. Yet they look for something better. Amen? What did Abraham say back in the book of Hebrews? I want you to notice in Hebrews chapter 11 what it states here. This is the hall of faith so to speak. But I want you to look at this in Hebrews 11 beginning at verse 8. The Bible says, By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receiving an inheritance, obeyed and went out not knowing whether he went. By faith he sojourned in a land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. But now look at what it says here. before you look for a city. Amen, I want you to know something. Abraham wasn't just passing through this land without any attention given to something else. He was looking for something special, amen? He was looking for something that which had foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Folks, I want you to know something. That's what he looked forward to. You read on down through verse 16, and the Bible shows you right there that this man was not worried about when he got placed in the ground. Listen, he knew that he was going to a continuing city, a city not made with hands, and one day that dead old body of his was going to come up out of the grave. All because of that virgin-born Son of God. All because of that. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, we see here the resurrection chapter. And I want you to notice what it says beginning at verse 42. The Bible says, so also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. These bodies, when we lay them in the grave, listen, they go back to the dust of the earth. That's the reason why today that it's so important for us to get a hold of this one thing. It is sown in corruption. The Bible says of those that are redeemed, those that are saved by the grace of God, they are raised in incorruption. You see, there's a resurrection day coming. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown in natural body. It is raised in spiritual body. Folks, I want you to think about that. These old bodies are going to be changed. They're going to be like it was before the fall. When God created man, he created him in his own image and in his own likeness. You're gonna see something very spectacular here. And this is what the old celestial humanaries were so joyful about, I believe. Listen, the Bible states that there's coming a day when these old bodies are gonna be changed and given a spiritual body, a body that can never die, a body that will never sin, a body that will never know any pain. Folks, that's what we're looking forward to. Today, we live in these old bodies of heartache. These old bodies are breaking down. These old bodies, they have to be shored up from time to time with artificial joints. And we have our glasses. We have our hearing aids. We have all those things. Some people even have artificial hearts. Artificial kidneys. Not necessarily artificial, but they're pig kidneys. But you know what there's coming today when all that's going to be done away with. Now, of course, they didn't have all these luxuries, so-called, in the Old Testament days. Sometimes I think we'd be better off without all those special luxuries. But the Old Testament saints, they had no such thing. They had to suffer through everything that they lived in life. They walked everywhere they went, or rode camels or horses, and listen, they had no way No way to experience what we experienced today, but you know what? There's coming a day when those Old Testament saints, those bodies are gonna be raised incorruptible. The Bible states this. Let me look at this real quick here. In verse 51, behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. In other words, we shall not all be dead, when God sends His Son to reclaim His children. The Bible says there's going to be a great resurrection and a great day of rapture when God says to His Son, go call your children home. They're going to be called home one day, folks. We're all going to be called home if you know the Lord is your Savior. One day, Jesus is going to step out on the clouds in the eastern sky and He's going to tell you, come up hither. And you know the reason why? That there's going to be such joy and jubilation around the throne as it talks of in Revelation 5 and verse 9 where all the singing and jubilation is going on. It's because we have been redeemed once and for all. Saved by God's amazing grace. Taken to heaven. He says this, we should not all sleep but we shall all be changed. The Bible says in a moment the twinkling of an eye, one third of one second is what the twinkling of an eye measures. It's awful fast, isn't it? That's how fast that change is going to be in your life. That's how fast that body is going to be changed from a body of sin to a spiritual body, to a body that will know no sin, a body that will have no sin, a body that will be fit for the heavenly abode above. You see the reason why today that when we die our souls go on to heaven, it's because our souls have been washed and our souls have been made clean. And that's the reason why today that Paul was able to say, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Now for just a moment, look at this with me. He states this, in a moment and twinkling of an eye at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised, what incorruptible, and ye shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. Folks, I want you to know something. Those Old Testament saints that were rejoicing at the time when Jesus was born were rejoicing for the fact that one day those old bodies that they planted in the ground all over the Middle East, listen, one day those old bodies are going to come forth regardless of who they are and where they were at. Oh, this no doubt would cause much jubilation. This child would be the one to provide the blessed, lively hope that 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 3 down through about verse 8 or 9 speaks of there. Listen, these which were mentioned here could have been the sainted spirits of old. The multitude of heavenly hosts. rejoicing in the fact that those bodies would be reunited with that Spirit which left it. In 1 Thessalonians, if you go over here with me in 1 Thessalonians in chapter 4, look at verse 13 with me. Bible states, so I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren. And that word ignorant there, don't be offended at that. It simply means unknowing. Don't be unknowing. He says, I got something I want to tell you. I got something I want to encourage you with. He says, concerning them which are asleep, that you shall not even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. In other words, we're not going to go before those that are asleep in the ground. For the Lord himself shall descend with a shout with the voice of the archangel with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, he said, comfort yourselves with these words. Folks, I want you to know something today. This is so important for us to get a hold of. Listen. one day these old bodies are going to be changed and it all started with the fact that God had sent before the foundation of the world had sent his son to die to pay the debt to pay our sin debt so that we might have eternal life and this is why it is so important that eternal life means not just spirit but body as well spirit and body are going to be eternal Listen, regardless of what you believe, spirit and body are eternal, period, whether you're saved or lost. Now I want you to focus upon this fact. Now listen to me. If you're here today and you don't know the Lord your Savior, there's a resurrection day for you too. If you die without the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, there is also a resurrection of the damned. the resurrection of the dead who will suffer after the consequence of a great judgment of the great white throne judgment seat of God Jesus came to die on the cross to pay sin debt and you continually refused that blessed salvation until the point of your death and now you await the resurrection of the damned with the resurrection of the dead. What is that going to bring forth? What's it going to entail? You're standing before the great white throne judgment seat of God. You've been judged and found guilty and then cast into the lake of fire that was created for the devil and the fallen angels. And the Bible speaks of that it engulfs itself It widens its mouth even more to receive those that are coming in. Listen, narrow is the way to life. Narrow, straight and narrow is the way into life. But the broad road, it leadeth to destruction. Jesus came to die for sinners. He came to die, to set the captive free. But in order to do that, he had to be born of a virgin. Folks, I want you to get a hold of this today now. Yes, there was much jubilation in heaven. Those old resurrected saints of God, listen, those old saints of God who were looking forward to the resurrection were looking forward to that body being changed and given a new body. Now secondly, why were they so jubilant? The virgin-born Son of God would ensure a new heaven and a new earth. You know, as you look at those old saints of old, listen, I go back and I wonder, before sin completely wrecked and ruined this world, you know, Adam and Eve were the only two that knew what it was like to live in a perfect world. And then they sinned. Now, as time goes on, the Bible says men are watching worse and worse as days go further. Can you imagine what it was like? You think about Enoch, you think about some of those Old Testament saints of old. Now listen, it was bad in those days. But can you imagine what they saw versus what we see today? The Bible says that times are going to wax worse and worse. Men are going to become more evil and more evil. So the second thing that I want us to think of, that there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth one day. There'll be no more briars. There'll be no more thistles to have to grub off the hillsides. There'll be no more sickness. There'll be no more sorrow. The Bible says in Revelation, if you want to go back there for just a moment, in Revelation 21, we'll also say pray for little red i think he just left sick to pray for him revelation twenty one the bible states this now i want you to look at john's vision i want you to see what john saw and i saw a new heaven and a new earth all my friend today a new heaven and a new earth Today we're filling the heavens up with all kinds of junk. Today the heavens are filled up with all kinds of man-made junk and satellites and everything, but there's coming a day when those heavens are going to be made pure and clean again. You know, as far as you can see, we have those telescopes now, and they brought forth a new picture just the other day, one of the most beautiful sights I believe I've ever seen. It's as far away, I can't even remember how far it is, but it's so far away, we'll never see it in a lifetime. But it was such beauty. And it was like it had never been touched except by the hand of God. There was so much beauty in that place, I couldn't imagine. But then, we come back to the reality. We come back to this old earth. This old earth today is filled up with sin and corruption. This old earth today is wreaking the havoc of the devil as he has wreaked havoc upon this world. that there's coming a day because of that virgin-born Son of God that this old earth is going to be changed as well. Think about it. The Bible says that the lion is going to graze like an oxen. Think about it, when the baby lays upon the den of an ass, one of the most poisonous snakes there is, and the wolf grazes with the lamb. or lays with the land. You know, the Bible tells us about this wonderful time. In verse 3 it says, And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. There shall be no more death, Neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. For the former things are all passed away. That's what we have to look forward to. And that's what the Old Testament saints were rejoicing about. Listen, no more will they have to worry about the death of a loved one. No more will they have to worry about their own demise. Listen, they're in the heavenly abode and now those bodies are going to be changed and they're going to be placed in a new heaven and a new earth. Well, there's no corruption. Not even the chance of corruption coming forth. I've had men to question me before, why did God allow Adam and Eve to sin in the Garden of Eden? I have no answer for that except for the fact that one day He will be glorified through it. And we see how that is taking place through the virgin-born Son of God. He's come to change everything, folks. To change our lives. To change our position. To change our situation. To take away our sin. To make us as though we had never sinned in His sight. Oh, but we know that we have sinned. We know that we have come short of His glory. But yet, in that, He is able to make us purely clean and white. There's coming a day when these old minds are no longer going to be contemplating the sin of our past. There's not a man in this house can tell me that his sin of his past does not haunt him. Maybe you've not been where I've been. Maybe you've not done what I've done, but listen to this. I know every day that I wake up, I thank God as I look back and I remember what I was saved from. And I'm thankful to God today that I was saved out of my sin. And I look forward to the time when that memory, you see the former things of Revelation 21 forward, you know what the former things are? It's the past memories of our past. And all of those things are going to be done away with. You know those former things. They're all going to be done away with. That's rejoiceful. That's something to rejoice in. The fact that although we have sinned, and yes, those sins lay back of our mind, and listen, but I'm not held by those sins any longer. I have peace knowing that I've been forgiven, but yet I find in myself a time when I feel guilty over my sin. And if you've never done that, you've never been humbled. Now I want you to focus upon this for just a moment. Those Old Testament saints were rejoicing in the fact that the former things were all done away with. Now think about Moses. I imagine that Moses had some regrets. Especially when God told him to do one thing and he done another. God told him to speak to the rock and he took a rod and he struck it. I would dare say without a shadow of a doubt that Moses had regrets. Noah had regrets. Hey, I'm telling you, Noah had regrets, folks. I ain't even going there. I go back and I think about David. David had regrets. As a matter of fact, he speaks about it in the book of Psalms. He regretted the things that he'd done. But now, The Old Testament saints, I think about maybe King David. I think about David as he may be around the throne of God even now. When Jesus was born, I imagine that brought him much, much joy because Revelation 21 forward is going to come through for him. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. David wept when his son died. David understood that his son's death was a direct correlation with his life. He was broken hearted over it. And it broke him. But now David sees the promise that that's all going to be done away with. David sees the promise that those awful, horrible sins that he committed were all going to be done away with, remembered no more. The former things are all passed away. The former things, the lives that we lived, the things that we did, they're all going to be done away with. That's what the rejoicing was all about in those heavenly celestial bodies. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. Folks, there'll be no more sickness. For the former things are all passed away. Everything that made our life miserable here is all going to be done away with, folks. Yes, that's because of that virgin-born Son of God. Not just his birth. But remember, he lived a life that you and I would never be able to live. And he died a death that you and I could never die. And it paid our sin debts. Now, lastly, I want you to think about this. I was going to take you to Zachariah and Ezekiel here, but I've not got time on the radio to get this covered. But Zachariah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah talks about that heavenly host. and what rejoicing that there is going to be rejoicing over the fact that sins effects are going to be abolished once and for all now lastly I want you to look at this why were they so jubilant why was the heavenly host rejoicing the virgin born son of God will provide salvation to any and all who will come unto him there it is folks This is what the saints of old were looking toward. New Testament saints are now looking back nearly 2,000 years. But hope is there, and it brings us much joy and a great deal of peace in our text of Luke chapter 2, if you go back there for just a moment. Luke chapter 2. verse 10 down through verse 14, the angel said unto them, fear not. Now, if all of a sudden an angel appeared unto me, I believe I'd be a little bit afraid, folks. I don't know about you. If I knew it was an angel, I mean, if he's there and he's just hovering in the air and he's looking at me and he's bright and illuminated and he's looking at me and I would think, what do you mean, fear not? He said, fear not. He said, 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 what? A Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts, doing what? Praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill toward men. Yes. This little babe in the manger was the very one who has come to save lost sinners like you and I. As a matter of fact, He came to save any who would come unto Him. Would you come unto Him today? You weary? You burdened down? Notice what it says in Matthew 11 and 28. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Are you looking for rest today? Listen, I want you to know that there's rest can be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, don't keep Him in the manger, but watch Him live as He lived and walked among us, and watch Him as He died for us. He said, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly. and you shall find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Yes, this is exactly what the saints of old were looking for. This is one that they called the Messiah that one day they said would surely come. Brother Jim spoke of it this morning in the book of Isaiah. Listen, I want you to know something. Although Bethlehem, Euphrates, was just a small little blip on the map, it brought forth the greatest blessing known to mankind, Jesus Christ, the sovereign Savior of all that is. Listen, where's your hope today? I go back and I think about what it says in 1 Peter. Chapter 1, the Bible says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again into a what? A lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time, wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto him, unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. whom having not seen you love, in whom though now you see him not yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." That's us today. That's you today if you know the Lord is your Savior. You have the ability and the right to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. These Old Testament saints, they looked out they saw these little shepherd men and what did they do? they rejoiced because there were some of their family there were some of their kinsmen that was going to see what was going to be revealed simeon said listen now he could lay down in death because his eyes had seen the salvation of the lord oh yes my friend great joy in the heavens. It wasn't just the angels that were rejoicing. According to the Greek, according to the Greek, the Bible says there were celestial humanaries that were rejoicing. Think about it. Old Testament saints. Saints of God that we have placed in the ground right here. They were rejoicing. They are rejoicing today. You see, there is within these walls a heavenly host that are even now witnessing what's going on in this house. They listen to the gospel message. The heavenly host, I'm talking about the angels, don't quite get a grasp of the heavenly message that I'm speaking of because God didn't send His Son to die for the angels. God sent His Son to die for you so that you might have life and have it more abundantly. So that you could have that eternal life, the everlasting life that John 3, 15 and 16 speaks of. Oh, child of God today, rejoice. You have much to rejoice in. You have much to be happy for. Listen, He is coming. He's coming. You see, He's already come once. He came as that babe in the manger. He came through the streets of Jerusalem. He came through the streets of that wonderful city where they laid out the palms for Him. But now He's getting ready to come back as the conquering King. But first of all, He's going to call His children home in the first phase of His second coming. Everyone that's saved by God's amazing grace, those that have been saved and have died in the Lord, listen, He's going to bring all of them home with Him in heaven one day. But then in that second phase of His second coming, He's coming as conquering King. He's coming to take vengeance on all those who would not come unto Him. Would you not today just simply come unto the Lord? You need rest for your souls. Matthew chapter 11 told us what that word that can be found. It can be found at the feet of Jesus. We sang about our Redeemer this morning. We sang about the one who went to the cross of Calvary so that you and I might have life and have it more abundantly. Yes, that's the one we need to come to. Listen, I love Christmas. I love celebrating the birth of Christ. I do so because of everything that it affords me. Salvation, forgiveness of sin, the fact that I'm no longer condemned. I'm free. All of that's because of Jesus Christ. But don't leave Him in a manger, folks. Watch Him as He walked. among us and lived among us. But not only that, watch Him as He died for us. Died to take our place, to pay our sin debt. And any who will come unto Him, He says, I will save. You call upon the name of the Lord, you shall be saved. That's Bible. You cannot deny it. It's there. Romans chapter 10 verse 8 speaks about the fact that the word is neither even in thy heart nor in thy mouth. That is the word of truth which we have spoke to you today. That Jesus Christ came to die for lost sinners. Yes, he came as a babe in a manger. Ah, it's a spectacular birth. It was a virgin birth. Never has happened since and never will happen again and never happened before. Oh, may God help us to see the joys that we have in our salvation. May God help us to rejoice today. Let's all stand, please. Our most gracious and divine Heavenly Father, Lord, as we bow before your throne today, we do so with thankful heart. We thank you, O God, for your great salvation. Thank you for sending your Son the way you did. that it may cause us to grab our attention. How can this thing be, as Mary said? But with thee all things are possible. And Lord, I pray today that since all things are possible with you, you would open the eyes of the blind. You would touch the ears of the deaf. You would help the crippled to walk once more. And Lord, that you would give life and light to those that need it right now. Save souls and save lives. Father, forgive us our sin, in Christ's name, amen. Have our song leader and pianist to come. Go 112, 112. ♪ Hail to you, merciful Savior ♪ ♪ All we feel praise ♪ ♪ All we every favor ♪ ♪ Glad to be in grace ♪ ♪ From the Lord who carried me ♪ ♪ I am born again ♪ ♪ Bring me everywhere, bring me everywhere ♪ ♪ Come unto me ♪ ♪ I will give you rest ♪ ♪ Take my yoke upon you ♪ ♪ Give me and be blessed ♪ ♪ Oh, my hope is easy to find ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ Life will give me rest, day will go on ♪ ♪ Here give me rest, my beacon holding ♪ Come over.