Let's open our Bibles today to Romans chapter 1, and I want to read beginning at verse 14. I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Now let's bow, please, for prayer, if you will. Our Father, we're so grateful that we can be in this house on this Lord's Day, beautiful day you've given us, and we can assemble at this very special time of the year as we commemorate the birth of Christ, the miracle of his coming into this world, born of a virgin, and coming for the express purpose that he might die in our place and die for our sins and provide to us salvation through his precious blood that was shed on the cross of Calvary. We pray that you'd speak to our hearts today. May we glean from the word of God some things that'll be helpful and challenging to us. Perhaps someone today listening by way of radio or sitting in this auditorium might be saved by receiving Christ and coming to know the grace of God in salvation. We would ask your blessing in Jesus' name. Amen. Paul, in verse 16, speaks of the gospel. And he speaks of it with a persuasive passion. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Now, of course, the word gospel means good news. It also means God's story. The German rendition of it, gospel is God's story. Gospel, the word spell is story. Someone said that history is his story, and thus it is. And Paul is speaking about the gospel, and I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. May I say to you today, the gospel is not a man-made religion. It is God's story of infinite love. Lots of religions are man-made. But Paul said in Galatians 1, he said, I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me was not after or not according to man. He said, for I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Christ. And so this story is a divine story. Some years ago, and some of you fellas know a lot about books, remember names better than I do, there was a book written called The Greatest Story Ever Told by Fulton Hoursworth. Is that the name, was it? Okay, I guessed it right. How about that? And I want to say that this, that I'm telling you today, he may have been a New Evangelical, I don't know what he was, but this is the greatest story ever told. The gospel all wrapped up in the person of Jesus Christ. The greatest story ever told. No question about it. Now, as I think about this great story, first of all, let me say the greatest story ever told was conceived in the heart of divine providence. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 1 and verse 18 through 20, know ye not that you're not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world. Remember that. Christ in his coming to be born of a virgin, that was conceived in the heart of God before this world was ever created. Remember that. God in his infinite omniscience, looked down through the cards of history, knowing that one day he would create this world, and create all the creature life, and create man and put him in the Garden of Eden, in that utopia of infinite beauty, and place him there with one prohibition but the power of free will. I said in the midst of that garden is a tree of the knowledge of good and evil, don't eat of it, in the day that you eat of it you will surely die. And God in eternity passed, foresaw that, and God allowed that to come to pass in view of the higher love and morality and beauty of the cross. And so this was conceived in the heart of God. this greatest story ever told, that's where it had its origin. And the Bible tells us in the book of Titus chapter 1 and verse 2, in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. Think of that now. And Ephesians 1, 4 says, according as He has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world. He's not saying there that God arbitrarily looked down at the human race as it was going to become on this world and say, you, I want to choose you to go to heaven, and I want to choose you to go to hell. That's not what he's saying at all. That's not an arbitrary thing that God's doing. God's looking down through the corridor of time, and he knows who's going to accept Christ. There's nothing hidden from the eyes of God with whom we have to do. He knows the end from the beginning, the Bible says. But he chose us in Christ because he knew one day we would believe on him. We would repent of our sin and receive him as our savior. And that choice was made before the foundation of the world, the Bible says. And so this story, the greatest story ever told was conceived in the heart of God. Now, secondly, the greatest story ever told was continued in prophecy. Genesis 3.15. The seed of woman. That's speaking clearly of the virgin birth of Christ. The seed of woman would bruise the serpent's head. That's fatal. And the seed of the serpent would bruise her seed's heel. That's not fatal. Christ is her seed. His seed, of course, is the antichrist. And the Bible tells us that Christ is going to bruise the head of the dynasty of Satan that comes up into the personality of the antichrist and bring it to an end. And the bruising of his heel at Calvary was not fatal because he did not die from Satan's bruising. He died because he voluntarily gave up the ghost. He said, no man takes my life from me. I have power to lay it down, power to take it up again. And when he saw it was all finished, that redemption's work was done, he cried out, it is finished. With thy hands I commend my spirit. Having thus said, he gave up the ghost. That prophecy continues, and I'm not going to cover it all by any means today, but in Genesis 22, Abraham and Isaac went up the mountain. God had told Abraham, I want you to offer your son for sacrifice. Abraham could have questioned because God had already promised him that that boy was the very seed of the nation of Israel. But he didn't question God. He went up to Mount Moriah, told the young men, you stay here while the lad and I go yonder and worship. And they went yonder, and he set up his altar, and he had the fire, and he had the wood, and he had the knife. And Isaac said, Father, he said, we have all these things. Where's the land? He said, God will provide himself a land. And John saw that lamb one day walking down to the river Jordan to be baptized. He said, behold, the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Through prophecy, we see this continuing, unfolding picture. Behold, I show you a sign, Isaiah 7, 14. A virgin shall conceive and shall bring forth a son. And thou shalt call his name Emmanuel. Which in Matthew 1 says, God with us. For this babe that was born of Mary, wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid in a manger, was very God of very God, laying there in that manger, wrapped in burlap." He told us that in the Old Testament, didn't he, clearly? He said in Micah 5, Paul said, But thou, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, wilt thou be little among the thousands of Judah? Yet out of these shall come he who shall be ruler. whose goings-forth is from everlasting, out of eternity, the eternal Son of God. Prophecy said he would come, born in Bethlehem at the house of bread, to be a ruler, and that was verified by Gabriel in Luke chapter 1. So the greatest story was conceived in the heart of God. It continues through the prophetic scripture to put the pieces together and give us a beautiful picture of the fact that Jesus Christ is truly the Savior. The third thing I want you to see about the greatest story ever told is that it is centered in a person. Matthew 1, Joseph, of course, thinking that Mary had been unfaithful to him and guilty of fornication. In spite of what he thought about her, he loved her. I was minded to put her away privately rather than make her a public example. While he thought about these things, the Lord appeared to him in a dream. He said, Fear not, Joseph, for they come to thee to marry thy wife. That which is conceived of her is of the Holy Ghost, and she is going to bear a son. And you will call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Gabriel said to Mary, he said, Mary, fear not, thou hast found favor with God. He had told her she was going to have a child, she was going to conceive. She said, How can this be, seeing I have never known a man? And the angel said, Thou shalt conceive in thy womb. And he said, That son that is born of thee shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and of his kingdom there shall be no end." The greatest story ever told is centered in a person. He told in John 1, verse 17, The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The truth of our salvation, the truth that magnifies the grace of God and his wonderful experiential relationship to God's people. came by Jesus Christ. The Bible said in Romans 8 what the law could not do because of the weakness of the flesh. God sending his own son in the likeness of sin, in the likeness of sin, not in sin because he was without sin, for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. And so the greatest story ever told centers in a person. That's what Christmas is all about. I don't know when Christ was born. I don't believe he was born December 25th. I believe he was born earlier in the year than this. And I don't know when he was born, so why not celebrate on December 25th? What's wrong with that? Well, you say the Catholics do it. I know everybody else does it too, you know. They say it's a Catholic mass. No, it's not. It's a day we've set aside to commemorate the birth of Christ, and I see nothing wrong with it. I realize it's been abused and over-commercialized, and I realize that there are multitudes of people who have lost the total significance of it. But we that know the Lord, what's wrong with setting aside a day where we focus our love and our adoration on that person who came into this world to die for us? That's what it's all about. We're not going to heaven today because we're Baptist. We're going to heaven today because we're saved by the grace of God. A lot of Baptists want to go to hell. Those never have been saved. Those that are saved want to go to heaven. And so this, the greatest story ever told centers on a person. The Old Testament offered a system. The New Testament offers a son who is our Savior. The entire revelation of the New Testament about our salvation centers in Jesus Christ. That's where it centers, right there. It all focuses on him. Now, the greatest story ever told commends to man the love of God's person. I like That verse is one of my favorite verses in Romans 5, 8. But God commended his love, and the word commended means he's exhibited or put on display. God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God knew exactly what we were when he sent Christ to us. He knew what we were, really in ourselves worthless. But he saw what could be accomplished in our life by his grace if we would only submit the provision he makes for us. Sooner or later somebody's got to learn that Paul was totally right when he said, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. What else is life all about? God commended his love toward us and that love is the love that the Bible scholars call agape love. That is a love that is not a static or a passive love. That is an aggressive love. God aggressively made every provision for us to be saved. He was not static or passive about our lost condition. He gave heaven's best. You know, this love that God gives to every believer, and by the way, let me tell you something. If you're saved, you have it. You may not be exercising it, but you have it. to be saved. And what a shame to have it and not to live it and enjoy it. This love is love that transcends human love. It's the property of every one of us who are saved. Our problem is too often we suppress it with the coldness of our hearts. When you talk about agape love and how wonderfully God demonstrated that in that wonderful verse that was preached the night I got saved, John 3, 16. For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. That's the love of God, wrapped up in that one wonderful little verse. But it permeates the entire Bible, especially the New Testament. When you talk about agape love, let me say first of all, agape love requires obedience. Let me tell you what the Bible says in John chapter 15. If a man love me, he will keep my words. You read that in John 15 and in verse 13. If a man loves... John 14, verse 23, I'll get it right in a minute here. John 14, verse 23, I want you to read it when you go home. He said it'd be, keep my words. If he loves me, he'll keep my words. And he said, my father and I will love him and we will come unto him and make an abode with him. What he's saying is, if you love God and you obey God, you can enjoy communion with God and his son. And by the way, You can come to church and never enjoy Christian communion, you know. Some folks come to church just because they're expected to come, or they're obligated to come. No, no. You can come to church and never have real communion with God, you see. Now, God may love something else with us, it constrains to serve. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 14, he said, For the love of Christ constraineth us. Because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead. There's something about the love of Christ in your heart that constrains you when you're saved. A constraining influence, you see. It's a compelling influence it has. And so the love of Christ, of course, teaches us to obey. You know, we get tough on King Saul sometimes, don't we? King Saul went out and God told him to destroy the Amalekites and he destroyed everything but what was good and wanted to keep it for himself, and King Agag, and we just give him down the country for that, and yet we disobey him, too. That's right. And so the greatest story ever told, the very essence of it, the very substance of it, is the love of God revealed in the person of his Son as he gave him for that hideous death on Calvary for our sins. Now, something else about the greatest story ever told, it cancels the penalty of sin. In Ephesians 1, it says, "...in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to his grace." This man, Jesus, after offering one sacrifice for sin forever, is sent down to the right hand of God. Forever. The sin question is settled and gone. judicially for every believer. You don't ever again have to worry about being condemned. You ought to be concerned about getting chastised, but don't worry about being condemned. The Lord loves these chasteners, doesn't he? That's good for you, it makes you grow spiritually. That's what my stepdad used to tell me when he whipped me, he said, that'll help you make you grow. I was never convinced of that, I was never convinced of that, and probably your kids have heard the same thing. But I will tell you this, whom the Lord loveth, he chastened us, doesn't he? And the wonderful, wonderful truth that our sins are gone. You don't have to worry about being condemned about your sin anymore. There is therefore now no condemnation in which you are in Christ Jesus. But you better be concerned about the chastisement. That comes along, you know. That's part of the package. Now, the Bible says in 1 Peter 124, whose own self bear our sins. in his body on the tree. We being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes we are healed. He tells us very clearly that the greatest story ever told cancels the penalty of sin forever. He said, Now hath he appeared once, Christ, in the end of the world to put away Those two words put into one word mean cancel, to cancel sin by the sacrifice of himself. You give your heart to Christ and you repent of your sin truly and receive him as your Savior, God settles the sin question there for you once and all. Now, he expects you that day on to live for him and to fellowship with him and to serve him, you see. And then if you don't, then that's where the chastisement comes in where he has to deal with us. He does, he loves us, that's why he does it. A lot of parents today don't love their children because they don't correct them, you see. I was in the grocery store the other night, and there was a lady there, and little old boy of hers, about to tear the place apart, she said, Alexander, one, two, three. That's enough. You're not going to have a birthday party. You never even turn around. I walked up and down the aisle, found her and Alexander, all she was saying, one, Two, that guy didn't even turn around. He'd be in jail someday. Or somebody else tell him not to live right and he'd want to be a crook, you see. Do as he pleases. God chastises us because he loves us. And that's why folks correct their children because they love them. In fact, God says if you don't correct your children, you don't love them. That's what God said in the Bible. I get amazed and amused when I Went to public places like grocery stores, something like that. These little old boys, they'd strut around there, like gonna whip their old big daddy, you know. Act like he scared them. You know, I talked about those three kids that they picked up for, two of them nine years old, one ten-year-old, throwing rocks through people's car windows, windshields. I'd like to get a hold of those kids. I could help out with that. I really could. So the greatest story ever told cancels the sin question. When he said it's finished, it was finished. Calvary covers it all. Now, something else about the greatest story ever told, it condemns the person of Satan. The seed of woman would bruise the serpent's head. 1 John 3, 8, the Bible says, For this purpose was the Son of Man manifested. He might destroy the works of the devil. I want you to know the devil is a defeated foe. And by the way, if you want, as a Christian, you can have victory over him, too, you know. Most folks really don't think too much about that, you know. I don't want to disturb him too much, you know. But if you want, you can have victory over him. The Bible says, resist the devil, he'll flee from you. Draw nigh to God, God will draw nigh to you. The Bible teaches that God's taking care of the devil. The Lord Jesus took care of that at Calvary, and the Bible tells us in Hebrews 2.14, For as much then as the children of partakers are flesh and blood, he also took part of the same, that he through death might destroy him that hath the power of death, that is the devil. And so the most powerful person in the universe, next to the Godhead, has been defeated. He's a defeated foe, and we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us. The greatest story ever told. Not only does that story condemn the person of Satan, but it also consummates the purpose of God. In Acts 17, the Bible says, God is appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that And we have to ordain and give witness to all men in that he raised him from the dead, so that you know who he's talking about. This thing, as we think about it today, this situation we're in in this world of ours today, it's out of control. I'm sure that's pretty well the case, it's out of control. Satan's having a heyday because there are multitudes of unsaved people that are heading that same direction. And it's out of control, it really is. We're virtually in a civil war against crime in this country of ours. The present situation has destroyed the moral character of this country. Our vice president stands up, you know, and talks about homosexuals and lauds them, you know, and said you were created that way and all that kind of business, you know. And, you know, that's the society we're living in. And now they have a parade, a gay parade, and everybody in the country turns out to watch it, you know. Oh, it's great. Well, it's not. It's not. And we're in a mess. As a nation, we're in a mess. The greatest nation in the history of the world, I'm sure I can say that. But God's gonna have to judge it. And He will. And as they were talking in Sunday School Hour, If God doesn't judge America, he'll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. The Bible said in Ephesians 1 10, In the dispensation of the fulness of times, he, God, will gather all things together in one in Christ, which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Christ. You know, he said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. He said the father judges no man, he's committed all judgment to the son. And the world that crucified Christ and rejected him, and treated him as an imposter, and treated him as an illegitimate child, and blasphemed him, and lied against him, and spat on him, they're all gonna take it back one of these days. Because every knee's gonna bow, and every tongue's gonna confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God. And so you be sure of one thing, this thing will be wrapped up by God the Son, the Lord Jesus, the virgin-born Son of God, who lived on this earth for thirty-three and a half years, and ascended back to heaven after his glorious resurrection, he's going to wrap this thing up. He's going to do it single-handed. You read about his revelation in Revelation 19, and we're going to come back with him He wants us to ride along, that's all. Because He's going to take care of the whole thing single-handed, you see. He wants us to come along for the ride. Come back for a honeymoon, you know, for a thousand years, but we're just coming along for the ride because He's going to take care of the whole thing by Himself. God's going to wrap it all up in the person of Christ. The Bible says, Then come to the end when He shall have delivered up the kingdom of God even to the Father. when he, Jesus, shall have put down all rule, all authority, and all power. The name has been blasphemed from the lips and tongues of vast multitudes, and cursed, and rejected, and made fun of. The whole world's got to answer to him one day. Greatest story ever told. Well, something else about the greatest story ever told, it gives a compassionate appeal to sinners. Senator, Jesus, I'll never forget the words. When they laid him on that cross, that rugged, bloody, Roman-given shame, and they nailed those hands with spikes, those feet with spikes, already his head was torn from the crown of thorns, his beard plucked out, and laid him naked on that cross. Naked, I said. and raised that cross and dropped it in that socket of stone with pain, excruciating pain to every fiber of his body. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Isn't that amazing? And yet men will curse him. Men will reject him. Men will trample his blood under feet. Men will make fun of his precious name. He said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Well, I'm glad for that prayer, because that was not only for the Roman soldiers and for those religious Jews that rejected him, that was for me, too. That was for me, too. I was included in that. He said in Matthew 11, he said, Come unto me. All ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your soul. And I want to tell you something. You'll never ever find real peace and real rest in your soul until you find it in a right relationship with Jesus Christ. That world out there is the most restful thing you've ever seen. It is. He makes that call. He said, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man will open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with me. Isn't it amazing that he was looking for you before you were looking for him? That's the love of God. Christ was looking for me before I was looking for him. He was standing outside the door knocking. I didn't have enough sense to hear him. The greatest story ever told. And the greatest story ever told also offers comfort to the people of God. Christian, there is no temptation taken you by such as is common to man. For God is faithful. We will not allow you to be tempted about that which you're able, but with that temptation make a way to escape it, you may be able to bear it. You know, sometimes you get weary of this old world, don't you? He said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. My wife and I was talking going down the valley the other day, down to that funeral for Brother Cutler's wife. She said, what is a mansion? I said, well, just before we get into Harrisonburg, look up on the left there on the hill where the buffalo used to be down in the meadow. You'll see the mansion up there. That's a mansion. Now, I don't know how big a mansion ought to be, really. I don't know how many rooms it ought to have. I don't know if it ought to have a spa in it or a tennis court or just what it's all about. But I know it's something better than I've ever owned. I know that. how many bedrooms I ought to have, or how I want to worry about the cooking because I get my food from the tree of life up there, you see. And there's 12 fruits, you know, that line the river. And I won't need to worry about electricity or the heating system or those things, you see, because everything is right up there. But Jesus said, in my Father's house are many mansions. And above all, I want to pay no Cecil County property taxes. They're killers. They're killers. He said, My father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I believe that. He said, I go and prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. Dr. Hitch has been talking about that here in Sunday School Hour. And that's the delight of every person's heart, to say, we say with John even so, come Lord Jesus. And I'll tell you, in a world that seems to become part of the seams, it's good to have this comfort, isn't it? In a world that's filled with strife and heartache and bloodshed and unrest, it's good to have this comfort, this blessed assurance. And they will say, even so, come, Lord Jesus. The greatest story ever told. Let's pray.