Why the Shepherds - Part 2

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Dr. Jeremiah returns to the ship whose natural response to the news of Christ's birth was to Joyce as he ethically and continuously is the conclusion of his message. Why should thank you for joining us. You know there's something about the shepherd out amongst his flock with only his dog and the sheep for his companions that seems well it seems picturesque and inviting.

And you can sense the quiet of the hillside as the sheep quietly gaze and the shepherds eyes carefully watch over each one in his care.

This is not a picture of someone who craves attention or notoriety but it is someone whom God chose to participate in the birth of Christ. We call them shepherds. It's the most amazing story, and if you know the background of that particular time in the culture.

It is twice amazing that God would do what he did in the way he did it. This could only have been a script written by our father in heaven. Well, let's get back to our lesson why the shepherds when Jesus came and was presented first to the shepherds. He came as a helpless Savior lying in a manger, but he was also humble Savior. Verse 12 says lying in a manger.

The humblest of cribs. Actually, the word manger means trough is first visitors were shepherds. The humblest of people and you know that defies every one of us is this. We were to write the story we would have written it this way. And yet it is so important that we come to grips with why this is the way Jesus came to this earth.

Second Corinthians 8, nine, says of our Lord, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. If Jesus had come as the Jews expected him as culture addicted. He would come as a king.

If he come in Majesty. Then as the Savior of the world.

All of those who felt themselves beneath that status would have felt disqualified and never would have come to receive him, my friends, Jesus came in the lowest possible way became humbly and helplessly so that there would be no one who would ever say I am too sinful for him.

I am too insignificant for him.

I am too inconsequential for him.

He's opened the door for us all, no matter who we may be the poet put it this way.

They were all looking for a king to slay their phones and lift them high volcano list a little baby thing that made a woman cry. How different is the coming of the Savior. From what we would've expected. And yet, how wonderful is this truth at the Savior, about whom the shepherds were told by the Angels was the very Savior.

We read about here in the Scripture helpless and humble as if to set the tone for his entire life, as if to set the tone for his entire message God brought a delegation of shepherds to be the first to worship and to celebrate. Someone said Jesus was only a few minutes old but he would've liked the fact that the shepherds were there.

This was the one who would enter the homes later on of the despised tax collectors and known sinners. This was the teacher was so little time allotted to him to minister on this earth no more than just three years that he always had time for pressing crowds touched lepers to heal the sick, he took away the blindness from the eyes of those who had not yet seen light there was nothing too insignificant for him to deal with and he tells us that story in the very nature of his birth spoke of the greatness of servant hood.

They said that for anyone who served the least of these, it would be counted as if they had served Jesus himself looked at him, look at him in the manger watching him in his life, and you will see this incredible dichotomy between the power of God and the humanity and humbleness of the Savior began his ministry by being hungry yet he is the bread of life he ended his earthly ministry by being thirsty, yet he is the living water. He was wearing yet he is our rest be paid tribute yet he is arcane he was accused of having a demon, yet he cast demons out of others left. Yet he wipes away our tears.

He was sold for 30 pieces of silver that he redeemed the world. He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter. Yet he himself is the good Shepherd, Jesus died, but by his death he destroyed death for everyone you see it from the weakness of a child to the greatness of the king wrapped up together in the person of our Savior, the Lord Jesus, and it was the shepherds who first got that revelation. This was the humble Savior. The shepherds came to worship. He was a helpless Savior and a humble Savior.

And thirdly, he was a heavenly Savior. Versus 1314 says that the message about this one who came was presented by those who themselves had come from heaven.

The Lord Jesus came down from heaven to be one of us in the book of Philippians said that he thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and he came down to this earth from heaven and he took upon himself the form of a man and he became obedient, even unto death coming from heaven all the way here because you see it was impossible for any of us to go up there. We don't have what it takes to do that he came down because we could go up, but ultimately he came down so that we could go up the heavenly Savior. While the shepherds received the message, and then notice here's a good example for all of us.

They responded to the message. Verses 15 and 16 so it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, but the shepherds said one to another, let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us and they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. The shepherds responded to the message.

These unassuming men followed the simple instructions that the Angels gave them they made their way to Bethlehem and they took part in an experience that countless generations of Christians have envied these were without question. The first converts to Christianity and the gospel recorded in the Bible who were the first people to receive Christ as their Savior surely they were the shepherds.

They received the message of Christ and though Christ had not yet gone to the cross, the content of their faith was what they obeyed and what they followed. It was not enough.

You see for the shepherds, just to hear the message.

I mean I do know about you, but if I'd been with them out on the hillside and and had such an amazing revelation and I was told to do something I might be so stunned and so taken back by the whole thing. I would sit there and not do anything but the shepherds believed in human women. That's an important thing for us to remember.

Believing is not hearing.

Believing is responding to what you hear believing in obedience are kind of twin words. So if the shepherds had only heard and they had not responded they would not have believed they would've not exercise their faith.

Many of you come to church every week and you hear the message and maybe you even are blessed by the message.

Sometimes we can get a vicarious blessing about hearing how others have been changed by the gospel, but if you have never responded to the message yourself and you have not believed you might say I understand I comprehend. I know what you have not believed until you have responded at the shepherds stayed on the hill outside of Bethlehem, they would've missed Christ, they would've missed the whole blessing we would be reading about them in the Scripture, but they responded they obeyed when the Angels told him what to do. They did it, and in their obedience and response. They express their faith and then thirdly, the shepherds not only receive the message and responded to it, but they were told it. They repeated it. They rehearsed it.

Verse 17 says and when they had seen him. They made widely known the saying which was told them concerning the Christ. Think about it. Now the shepherds of had quite a night visitation from heaven by the Angels and then the discovery that what the Angels of told him was true. Jesus was probably born in a humble cave, a stable and as they left that stable on that first Christmas as they left the manger. They couldn't keep quiet about what they'd seen the told everybody their lives would never again be the same sky would never again seem so dark they would know that just as they had kept watch over their flocks. There was now somebody keeping watch over them.

The shepherds didn't just talk about what they saw.

What about the changing of their own lives because of what they saw everywhere they went. They told people about what it happened.

Could I pause for just a moment for a practical admonition. We have an awful lot of information floating around out there about how we should witness to others and share our faith for many Christians I know that is one of the most terrifying thoughts that ever entered their head to tell somebody else how they feel about Christ and part of it is because we have misunderstood what it means to be a witness witness doesn't necessarily mean you have to know the four spiritual laws or the evangelism explosion presentation the gospel of the Roman road or any of the other methods that have been created to put the gospel in some sort of format witnessing simply means you tell somebody else what's happened to you that's all that's what it means you tell somebody else what Jesus has done for you, and there's not a person. I don't care who you are and that is incapable of doing that. In fact, if you really knew how much fun it was you be doing it all the time. What is it about you that makes you different. They ask, let me just tell you it's Jesus. Jesus is changed my life is transforming his made me new and every time you get a chance you want to do what the shepherds did you tell people what's happened to you if you did that if we did that as a church there wouldn't be buildings big enough to contain all that God would do in bringing people to himself. It's not our persuasive ability or our ability to argue it's not our apologetic finesse. It simply our telling others what the Savior has done for us as he done anything for you today. France has a yes he has or how can you keep it to yourself. How do you dare keep it to yourself when there are so many who need to hear. I daresay that is the shepherds left that seem at night, walking out of there. They were on a wholly high like the Angels they probably floated through the air because of what they had seen in people know there was something different about them everywhere they went.

They told folks what it happened. They responded to the message and then they were told the message and then finally, I want you to notice that they rejoiced at the message and this is a really significant point for us to make it the season of year, and one that I love to make because falls right in line with what I believe about Christmas and I love Christmas. It's the best time of the year. I don't know who wrote those lines, but is true and isn't it interesting that even people who don't believe in Jesus celebrate Christmas. Would you celebrate somebody's birthday. If you didn't know who they were. I doubted what you want. That's the nature of the impact of Jesus. He's made such an impact in this world that even people who deny him. People don't know people who don't ever understand a word about him. Gather together every year during the season to celebrate the birthday of Christ, and it is a joyous occasion. It fills you with the kind of mystery and romance that you can hardly describe to anyone and I'm caught up in it right up to the top of my head. The bottom line is we we serve a God and we are serious about our faith is so mentally long time ago. The best way to get through life is take God seriously, but don't take yourself too seriously and we take God very seriously around here and we know that if you know God there's a joy that cannot be contained in once in a while we let it all out and people respond to that and they say what is this it's the joy of God in our hearts and Christmas is the great outlet for all of that joy and has been since the beginning. By the way, did you know the Bible says the shepherds returned, and they were glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them in the book of Luke, beginning in the first chapter and going through the second chapter there are six different songs recorded.

Did you know that first of all, there's the beatitude of Elizabeth when she was visited by Mary.

In chapter 1 verses 42 through 45. Then there's the Magnificat of Mary.

That's the second song, versus 46 to 55. Then there's the Benedictus of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. That's the third song and then in chapter 2 verses 29 and 32 is the song of Simeon when he was presented with the Christ child at the temple, and in chapter 2, verses 10 through 12 is the evangelist song of the angel of the Lord who came first to announce his coming, and then finally the song which were celebrating in the verses that we've read today, but Gloria of the angelic host chapter 2 verses 13 to 14, but Gloria of the angelic host Missy let me say this to men, women, Christianity is a religion of music its religion of song you say what are in all religions, religions of song hold no I know some religions have what they call music, but they moan and groan and that's not music but Christianity has a corner on the music of the world because Almighty God has put that music in our hearts, and it begin fundamentally for the church at Bethlehem when the Angels broke into the silence of the night with their message of joy for the shepherds and we have been singing the courses of Christmas ever since. How many of you have said something like this to someone already. Oh I just love the music of Christmas. I wish we could do it all year long.

I have a car now. Scott XM radio in it. If you know what that is on tell me what does the most wonderful thing that ever been created because his every cover things got all the NBA games on its got all the major league games on this coming wherever you are, whatever you want, but the most important thing is it's got always is animals and at Christmas time. About 1 November. They have the Holly channel which is wonderful music and then they say at the end of that now by Thanksgiving will be three more channels of music. So now from 103107 there's four channels of Christmas music. If you listen one you like it, just turn the knob and got another one right here if you like a ton Melanie. They would have one with classical Christmas music.

Four channels of music just for one holiday kidney normal because Christmas promotes the joy of your heart. Even the people who don't know why get joyous at Christmas. Almost as a new salute to the Savior was born and that something I'll tell you what I love the music of Christmas, my friends, is it any wonder that the world wants to take the celebration away from us. They don't know what to do with it.

They don't know how to explain it. Why don't they let you celebrate Christmas anymore from a friend that is happening all over the world today primarily in our country where we at one time were the leaders in the celebration of the birth of Christ. We are now having our way through it doesn't belong to the world. It belongs to us a wonderful celebration because the message of hope, the message of peace.

The message of love is wrapped up in the baby was born in Bethlehem to the worshiping eyes of the shepherds I read a story about the commercial venture of one of the largest department stores in our nation proved to be a very disastrous promotion.

Their idea was they had a doll in the form of the baby Jesus. It was advertised as being unbreakable washable and cuddly. It was packaged in straw with a satin crib and a plastic surrounding an appropriate Bible text added here and there to make the scene complete. Well it didn't sell the manager. One of the stores in the department chain panic and carried out a last-ditch promotion to get rid of those dolls. He brandished a huge sign outside his store that red Jesus Christ marked down 50% get him while you can on telling friends. Jesus Christ didn't come to be packaged and offered for half-price became as God himself close within the robes of human flesh. And while the world and its commercialism and cynicism is almost ruined that picture, he nonetheless still offers himself to those who will receive him as their own personal savior.

The same message that was declared to the shepherds that night is continuing to be declared year after year generation after generation in men and women who receive that message and except the Savior into their life find that just as Jesus was born in Bethlehem so many years ago he gets born in their hearts, and they become followers of Christ. John and I visited Bethlehem one of the members we have in one of the reasons we want to go back in Bethlehem there is a church called the church of the Nativity. The building is only 100' x 70' in size. And there's only one way to get into the church.

The single door is not much higher than a child and it's only a couple of feet wide and to get into the church people have to come one at a time kind of stooped down and walk through the door and I remember thinking back then loaded interesting reminder to all of us that entering the kingdom of God is not something you do in a group. It's not something you do with others you have to do it yourself is an individual experience knowing Christ is like getting into that church. We have to humble ourselves and one at a time. We have to walk through the door so all of the celebration about Christmas comes down to this one major question. Have you done that you walk through the door.

Have you accepted the message of Christ in your heart. Have you allowed him to come and forgive your sin and give you the gift of eternal life which he left heaven and brought to you the person of his son Jesus Christ. Once again, it's not enough to know about it.

It's not enough to hear it. You have to respond to it. So the question is, what will you do with Christ. What would you do with her and will you accept in your heart tomorrow morning to talk about why the gifts of the wisemen. What were the gifts they brought in.

Why did they bring them were going to talk about that tomorrow and Thursday and then on Friday why there is so much music and Christmas was here right here tomorrow is message to you from Shadow Mountain Community Church insignia pasta Dr. David Jeremiah would love to hear your story of Turning Points impact on your life.

Please write to us at Turning Point PO Box 3830 I San Diego, CA 92163 or visit our website if the Jeremiah.old/radio Moscow company driver 365 day devotional for 2021 scope string. It's filled truthful each day of the gift of any amount to keep your spirits bright through the holiday season. Visit the home for Christmas, channel, and turn important.tv.

It's your free souls for Christmas music messages and the harmful Christmas generally Turning Point.tv Gary hopefully please join us tomorrow as we continue the series why the Nativity tear on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah taking time to listen to find a nice trim piece in question