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We read together Luke chapter
2, verses 1 through 20, which is the scripture reading for
this morning. Luke chapter 2, 1 through 20. And it came to pass in those
days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all
the world should be taxed. And this taxing was first made
when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. And all went to be taxed,
every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from
Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, unto the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and
lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary as a spouse-wife, being
great with child. And so it was that while they
were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling
clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for
them in the inn. And they were in the same country
shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock
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. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And
this shall be a sign unto you, he shall find a 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, goodwill toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels
were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherd said one
to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this
thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known
unto us.' And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph
and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they
made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning
this child. and all they that heard it wondered
at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary
kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds
returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they
had heard and seen, as it was told unto them." So far the reading
of God's holy word. The text for the sermon is verse
11. Verse 11, "'For unto you is born this day in the city
of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.'" Beloved congregation,
4,000 years ago, Abraham looked forward, and he looked forward
to see a certain day, the day of the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and from the distance he saw the day of Christ. And he longed for the coming
of Christ, the Savior. And David also looked ahead,
around 3,000 years ago, looked ahead to the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and he sang in one of his psalms, which the
Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it." The prophets,
they also looked ahead. Twenty-seven hundred years ago,
Isaiah spoke of people who were in darkness, but they were going
to see a great light. And then finally the light came. There was a true light, from
a star shining upon Bethlehem, upon one specific location. The wise men from the East saw
that light with great joy. They were seeking the new-born
King. And if you seek the Lord Jesus
Christ, you will find Him. Then the Lord God will shed light
upon his son. And that's what the wise men
experienced. And so there were shepherds watching
their flock outside of Bethlehem. And they were also going to see
a great light. They were people in darkness.
They were going to receive hope. They were people who were outcasts,
these shepherds. They were not even allowed to
testify in court cases. They were considered to be refuse
of society. And they were going to see a
great light, because the Lord Jesus Christ came and His coming
into this world was going to be announced. And so we see this
morning in our text, the coming of Jesus Christ into our world. And we consider first the event,
and secondly the need, and thirdly the person. Well, boys and girls,
I think we know the events. You've been told that at school,
at Sunday school, here in church. You know that Mary and Joseph
had to leave Nazareth And you know why they had to leave Nazareth?
Were they planning to leave Nazareth? Oh, no. They just wanted to stay
there. But the Roman emperor made a
decree, because he thinks he is ruling the whole world, but
he doesn't know that he is a tool in the hand of the Lord. And
the Lord wants a peasant couple from Nazareth to travel down
south to be in Bethlehem at exactly the time when the lady will bring
forth a child. God wants this to happen. And
that's why he lays in the heart of Emperor Augustus to number
all his people. And so Mary and Joseph left. And you know, they came to Bethlehem.
It was very busy. and there's no room for them
anywhere. And so finally they were referred, yes, to a stable,
could have been a shed, could have been a cave where sheep
would be kept. The sheep were now out on the
fields. We only know the word manger, a feeding trough of animals. And that shows us that probably
they were in some stable. And that's where Mary gave birth
to her son. And she wrapped him in swaddling
clothes and laid him in a manger. Joseph and Mary, they must have
looked at this child. And Joseph must have looked at
Mary and said, this is Yeshua, Savior, Yeshua. And they didn't understand how
or what or when No. And for 30 years it seemed as
if nothing was going to happen. He was eventually going to be
raised in Nazareth as a carpenter. And when the Lord Jesus finally
did assume his ministry, Mary still didn't understand it. They
thought he had gone out of his mind. And so they stood outside
the house, Mary and her children, to get Yeshua back. He has to
be a bit more normal." They didn't understand it. But later on they
did. And then their eyes were opened
for the beauty of this Savior, Israel's Messiah. At the time
of the birth of the Lord Jesus, who knew about it? Probably Zacharias
and Elizabeth. Joseph and Mary, of course. And
who else? Well, there was a man in Jerusalem.
He knew that the Messiah was going to come, Simeon, and that
he would see him still before he would die. But that's all. No one there to welcome him.
The King of kings and the Lord of lords is born, and nobody
welcomes him. God is going to make sure that
there will be a welcoming committee. And so he sends Gabriel, an angel,
and where shall that angel go to?
To the priests in Jerusalem? Or to Levites? Or to those who
are of royalty? Maybe to the Sanhedrin. No. God chooses the lowest of the
lowest shepherds. What a blessing. Because now
there's hope for you and for me. Because we also belong to
the lowest. Maybe we don't feel that. Maybe
we don't see that. But when God's Spirit opens your
eyes, you realize that you belong to the lowest. Paul said, I belong
to the lowest. He says, I'm the chief of sinners. I'm the worst one. And that's
how the Holy Spirit works. It's not to make a person depressed
or make a person morbid, but to make a person humble and lowly,
and to realize the greatness of what God has done to come
down to a sinner like me. The Lord seeks the lowest, and
those who accuse themselves of being the lowest, shepherds. That's where the angel appears
to. And they were in the same country, shepherds abiding in
the field, keeping watch over their flock by night, And suddenly,
look, behold, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and
the glory of the Lord shone round about them. There was light everywhere
around them. There was no shadow. All light
in the middle of the night. The glory, the Shekinah, Where
was the Shekinah, the glory of the Lord in the Old Testament?
It was in the Holy of Holies. No one was allowed to go there.
That was the holy part. And that glory is now revealed
to shepherds. That's the miracle. God has come to dwell with men,
to dwell in men. But the shepherds, how do they
respond? We find it repeatedly in Scripture that when a mortal
human being is confronted to the radiant light of heaven,
he fears and trembles. Because we are unholy people,
and God is holy, and God is just, and we are defiled, like vermin
underneath a log that you may kick over when you're in the
forest, and you see all that vermin, the little bugs and worms
crawling out, they go away. Cockroaches, they go away, they
can't stand the light, they want to hide themselves. That's how
man is. We don't want to be under God's
light. We want to do our own thing. We want to pretend that
we are God. That we can determine what is right and wrong and we
will do things ourselves. It's pride. That's our heart. That's our life. That's how man is towards God.
And so when they are exposed to His holiness and His majesty,
then you fear. And there they stood, those shepherds,
wondering, what is this? And they shielded their eyes.
We can imagine all that light. And then they hear a voice. Fear
not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people. You don't have to be afraid.
There is joy, good tidings. Your King cometh unto you, you
shepherds. And it's a message not only to
you, but to all people. All who are under the gospel
must hear this blessed proclamation of salvation. There is joy. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." That's
why you don't have to be afraid. Our translation has a Savior,
but in the original it just says, Soter, Savior, with no a in front
of it. Unto you is born Savior. He is
the Savior. Outside of Him, there's no Savior.
In the most absolute sense, in the most perfect sense, He is
Savior. And that's a cause of great joy.
The shepherds were filled with joy, heavenly joy. And they believed the words,
and in verse 16, they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph
and a babe lying in a manger. And when they saw him, then they
went out. And what did those shepherds
do who were not allowed to testify in public? They went around to
everyone who wanted to hear it. Their faces were shining. There
was joy upon them. The King has been born. Messiah
has been born. And the people, they asked, where? What? Yeah, there, in that little
hovel over there, in Bethlehem, just outside Bethlehem. Beside those big rocks, there's
a cave, there you will find it. But they didn't believe them.
No one came to look. No one came to see. But the Lord
had his proclamation made among those people of Bethlehem and
the surrounding area. The people wondered. But the
shepherds, they had joy, and it could not be quenched by anything. When God meets you, you become
humble, There's a sense of awe in your heart because of the
presence of God. There's awe. You become small. You also become joyful, very
joyful, that God looks down upon you, liberating you, delivering
you, pouring something of heavenly love in your heart. And that's
how the Lord draws a sinner behind himself to follow Him. You experience something of what
the shepherds did, joy, awe. And you have to speak about it.
You can't contain it. You want to talk to others about
it. What you've seen, what you have
heard, Because the Lord is so good, that's what God's Spirit
works, how He works. And the shepherds returned, glorifying
and praising God for all the things that they had heard and
seen as it was told unto them. And the heart of what happened
to the shepherds we find in the words of our text. For unto you
is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is
Christ the Lord." So that's the events of this gospel. But now we also go a bit deeper
into the need for this gospel, because shepherds, they needed
this gospel. They were despised, they were
rejected of men, and Israel was in spiritual darkness. because
of the bondage and the legalism of the Pharisees that put upon
the people, there was no joy. And the people were also in bondage
by Roman oppressors. The royal throne of David had
been overthrown 500 years earlier already, while the Lord had promised
that there would always be a descendant from the line of David upon the
throne, That didn't happen. It didn't
happen. And all Israel was in darkness,
but all mankind was in darkness. They all followed their pantheons
of gods and with lewd practices. It was darkness covering the
earth. They were all alienated from
God. And now the time had come that God would bring salvation
into this world. He did it. For unto you is born
this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the
Lord. The shepherds heard these words.
You know how they responded? They did not say, Are these words
really for us? Are these words not too high
and far-fetched? They didn't say, well, these
words are too wonderful. No. They realized these words
are suitable for them. And so they wanted to find out
the truth of these words. They want to go and see what
the angel had said. And so these shepherds were overcome
by the power of God. And that's what happens when
the gospel enters your heart. You become overcome by the power
of the gospel. You cannot continue on in your
life anymore. The Lord Jesus becomes too strong
for you. It's what Psalm 110 says, His
people shall be very willing in the day of His power. Then
the Lord enters your heart. And then you need Him. And that's what happened to these
shepherds. Their soul was trembling when
they heard the voice. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Unto
you? Us? We? Outcasts? Has the Messiah come for us?
It's this word, you, congregation, that makes this text so beautiful. If you leave these two words,
unto you, out of this text, the text loses all its flavor, all
its beauty, and its attraction, if we only hear about a Savior
born somewhere. Well, that may be interesting,
but the text says, And the angels are speaking, as it were, to
us this morning, unto you is born the Savior. And then you who are wondering,
how can I ever be converted? You who are wondering, how can
I ever be reconciled to God? You who are trying to fulfill
all kinds of conditions and to meet a certain standard so that
you will be acceptable to God according to your own thinking. You who see the power of sin
in you, and you hate it, you can't stop it, you're struggling
with addiction, and you can't stop it, and you hate it, you're
a prisoner. You who cannot deliver yourself
And you're wondering, what must I do? Well, to you all, this
blessed news comes, for unto you is born the Savior. What love! What love! He comes down to save you. The Savior who can save you from
all your sins. He has come to ransom a people
who are stuck in sin, to deliver them from the powers of bondage. He enters their lives with His
love, and then miracles happen. Sinners start to confess their
sins and their unworthiness, and God's love and peace enter
their heart. Then joy and life are realities. Unto you, Well, then you're amazed. And to me, yes, and to you, whoever
you are, the Savior who can save you from every misery, in absolute
sense, the Savior who saves from sins, from guilt, from defilement, who renews your life, who will
renew your body, who will bring you into the presence of God
Himself in utmost peace and joy and love and happiness is there. There's nothing more to be desired. This is the Savior. There are
many saviors in this world. Economists, teachers, professors,
they claim to be saviors. Philosophers, follow me and I
will teach you how to live. Saviors, who say, just live it
up and enjoy as much as you can, for life is short. They call
themselves saviors. They are nothing. They're all
fake. They all will end up in darkness,
because they don't tackle the big problem, and that is sin. But here is one who tackles the
problem, sin. It will cost him his life, but
he will do it, because he is motivated by love to his people,
and he enters hearts of people. And then questions you may have
and certain problems you may have, oh, they evaporate. They're not a problem anymore.
and the things that tie you down, the things that keep you busy,
keep you awake at night, they're removed. There's peace. He is mine, and I am his. Before the Lord Jesus enters
your heart, everything is dull in your life. You don't have
really anything to live for. You just live and exist and try
to enjoy something you hope for the best. That's how people live. But when the Lord Jesus enters
your heart, then that changes. Then you have fulfillment. Then your lives are no longer
dry and barren and meaningless. Then you're no longer under the
power of death, or of sin, or of misery. Or you will still
die, but there will be a translation into glory. Death has lost its
sting, because life is Christ, and my death will be gained,
and I long to depart to be with Christ, because He is the Savior,
blessed Savior. Unto you is born this Savior. Unto you. Are we paying attention unto
you? The shepherds went to inquire,
what do you do? What do I do? We are to be at
the foot feet of the Lord Jesus. We are to be, so to speak, at
the manger, and we are to look in. And when you see that child,
the Lord causes golden rays of light to shine into the darkness
of your existence. That's what the Lord does in
His way, at His time, in His manner. because He is the light
of the world, and those who follow Him will never more walk in darkness."
Darkness. Where did that come from? Because
we wanted to be as God. That's where it came from. And
then we plunge ourselves in darkness. But in the Lord Jesus, God became
man. We wanted to be as God. But God
chose as a response to become man. And so the Lord Jesus brought
life and joy back into this dying world. The shepherds had no perspective. They only hoped to take care
of their sheep and nothing to life in life for them. No expectation
for salvation, no hope. No joy, no blessedness, no ray
of light. And modern man comes with some artificial light.
And you, in your desolate condition, whoever you may be, you go on. You don't want life to stop,
but your sins press upon you. You have no peace. Your heart
is empty. You see no light. You have no
righteousness before God, because you don't really care about God. But behold, unto you is born
the Savior. The Savior was born. He was not
created. It had to be like this. He had
to become one with mankind. If the Lord Jesus had been created,
He would not have been a part of mankind. He had to be one
of us, and then He could bear the punishment for us. That's
why He had to be God in human flesh, born, not created. And so the Lord Jesus had to
do our lives, repeat our lives all over again. Born, that's
where our lives start. And from our very beginning we
are corrupt. A so-called innocent little baby
doesn't exist. There's only one innocent baby
in the history of mankind and we find that this morning in
the manger. Because we are all conceived
and born in sin, But the Lord Jesus was born in purity, and
He remained pure His whole life, and He ended His life in purity,
because we were called to be pure, and we are not pure. And
so the Lord lays His purity upon His people, so that they are
reckoned pure in the sight of God. He was born in purity, but
we were conceived and born in sin. And what a beautiful reality
it is that He was born in purity. He is our substitute. And then we also see in the third
place the Savior of this gospel. Because we read here the word
Savior, not salvation. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David Salvation, no, a Savior, which is Christ
the Lord. And the emphasis is laid upon
Savior. You know, you and I can be more
concerned about heaven than about the God of heaven. We can be more concerned about
salvation than upon the Savior. We can often think about the
question, how can I be saved? Now, that's a good question.
But there is more. There is a higher question. And
that is, how shall God be glorified in my life? God must be glorified. That's
the heart issue. And that's why the angels sang
glory to God in the highest. And that's also the case when
the Holy Spirit lays the Lord Jesus into your heart. Then it's
not some sentimental, emotional feelings you have, but you become
uncovered to your corrupt condition. You realize there's nothing good
in me. You become so small that you don't daydream about heaven,
but you acknowledge God is just. I deserve to be cast out. And then it becomes a miracle,
God's unspeakable gift of His Son. You have a godly sorrow
because of sins you've done, and you bow for God's goodness,
and you need this Savior to stop that fountain of iniquity within
you. You need Him, the only Savior. And then you need to be incorporated. into Him. There needs to be a
living bond between the Lord Jesus Christ and your soul. You need a living person who
can save you. You need one who understands
you, who understands your struggles and your plight and your difficulties
and your pain, and who knows how to soothe you
and to lead you. He knows what you need to learn.
He can instruct you. You need one who will take your
place as the substitute, that He does everything right on your
behalf, that He pays the penalty of sin on your behalf. You need
Him who gives life, who strengthens you. And this is the Savior who does
all that. He conquers death. Sinners sinking
away into the night of everlasting death. They are brought into
everlasting light. This is the truth of what the
text means that the Lord Jesus Christ has come. If we look at
our text, we have to read Scripture carefully and listen to every
word. We believe in the verbal inspiration
of the Scriptures. And you see here, Christ, the
Lord. He is Christ. It's one title,
name given to Him. He is Christ. And Christ, that
means the Anointed One. That means Messiah. He is the Promised One. He will
cause all God's promises to be fulfilled. He is the King whose
kingdom will never end. He is the priest who can only
pay for all your sins. He is the prophet who can personally
instruct you in God's way of salvation. He is the Christ. He is the fulfillment of all
God's promises. He came. The Lord had promised,
and He came. He didn't seem to come. It seemed
as if He would never come. But He came. And now the Lord
has promised to return with the clouds of heaven to judge the
living and the dead, and an end will be made to this world, and
then justice will be done It doesn't seem to happen. It
seems as if nothing happens. But He will come. Not one word
that He has spoken will fall idle to the ground. He has spoken. He is Christ. But He is also
Christ, the Lord, the Lord, the Kurios, Lord God Himself. This colors the fact. that He
is Savior. He is the Savior who is the Lord,
who is all-powerful. He has so much power to enter
sinners' hearts. He is the Lord God in human flesh. And here we see shepherds bowing
before Him. In a little while, wise men from
the east will fall down before Him. adoring Him and offering
Him gold, frankincense, his myrrh. He is the Lord, and He calls
us also to bow before Him. You, young man, the Lord is calling
you to get out of bed, and to get on your knees, and to fold
your hands, and to cry out to this Savior, Lord, I need Thee
in my life, and I don't know Thee. I'm a stranger to Thee. I hear of light shining in hearts,
and I don't have it. I need Thee, O Lord. And so you
learn to lay down your life down before Him, and you see something
of your shortcomings and sins. But He is the Lord who can take
away all your sins. With the Lord there is much forgiveness. Therefore, consider. what the
angel said from heaven, Christ the Lord. And so there's expectation
for you and me. The things you're wrestling with,
the Lord knows how to deal with that. So there's so much joy
in this threefold name of this child. He is the Savior. He is
Christ. He is the Lord. And when you
see that, then the miracle is not that you start to love God. That's also a miracle. That Holy
Spirit works out in your life. But the miracle is really that
God loved you. You. in your sins, in your unwillingness,
and that He went into outer darkness in order to save you. That's
God's grace. That's what Christmas is all
about. And what a trade-off! What a
trade-off! Jesus a manger, and you a crown. Jesus in a stable, and you in
a heavenly palace. Jesus lost, you have found. The Lord Jesus in judgment, and
you are acquitted. The Lord Jesus in death, and
you in life. Would you not now be willing
to deny all and everything for this Savior? The angel speaks. We better listen. It's a heavenly
message. Today, this day, the Savior is
born. Today. That's the only day upon
which you can be saved. It's today. You don't know what
tomorrow will bring. What you do know is that at the
time of the birth of the Lord Jesus, the whole world was in
motion because of the Roman censure. The people had to be numbered.
And what we also know is that again that will happen. The whole
world will be in motion, following the beast, following pure secularism
and paganism. There'll be great movement. That's not today, but that's
tomorrow. Great movement, great unrest
among the people before the Lord Jesus returns. That's tomorrow. And tomorrow is the day when
the Lord shall right the nations, those who belong to Him, They
will enjoy glory, be forever with Him. And those who do not
belong to Him, they will be cast out into outer darkness. Their day of separation is coming. It's tomorrow. But today, there
is still grace. Today has been born unto you
the Savior. The Lord Christ. Don't bypass this salvation. You've heard it many a time,
haven't you? I've preached it many a time. I think nearly 40
times. Nearly. But every time it's new. Let's not downplay it, but let
us uphold it and respond today. Amen. O good doing and blessed
Lord, we humbly thank Thee for Thy coming into this world. And
how can we thank Thee, Lord? It is not that Thou art looking
for our thanksgiving, but Thou art looking for our devotion
and our self-denial and our surrender O Lord, the shepherds are a good
example. They went to find out the things
they had heard and seen, and they wanted to see this child.
May that desire be awakened in hearts of those who are still
outside of thee. Will thou convert them? And when that desire to see more
of Thee is awakened in the hearts of Thy children, wilt Thou lead
them that they may behold more and more of the unsearchable
riches of Christ? Wilt Thou lay hold upon us and
renew our lives that they may reflect Thee, Lord Jesus, Christ,
Savior? Today is the day still of salvation. Lord, may we not wait till tomorrow,
for tomorrow the day will come when thou will judge the living
and the dead, and then there's no more time for repentance.
And it can be that desires we may have now, we have been awakened,
will be gone tomorrow. They may never come back. O Lord,
bless the congregation. Be with us this day and bring
us back again this afternoon. We pray it all in Jesus' name.
Amen.
The Coming of the Jesus Christ into our World
Series Christmas Day
The Coming of the Jesus Christ into
our World
- The Event
- The Need
- The Person
| Sermon ID | 1227222124336693 |
| Duration | 47:08 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | Luke 2:11 |
| Language | English |
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