Today on Growing Through Grace If you got directing the story, was this the place you would pick to bring your son? He could have forced somebody out of the end, but he didn't because this is the way he wanted to introduce his son to the world. So that you and I would never feel like we can't approach Jesus. I love growing in your grace. You are your end of me. And all that I do, love will keep me strong. I love growing in your grace. You're listening to Growing Through Grace with Pastor Jacob Ilan, a Morning Star Christian chapel in Whittier, California. Peace on Earth and goodwill toward men. That was the angel's message as they announced the birth of the long-awaited Messiah, who did not come as a full-grown conquering king, but as a vulnerable baby. So let's join our teacher as he finishes up this account of Jesus' birth, taken from Luke chapter 2 verses 1 through 20. Here's Pastor Jack. Here's a pretty good glimpse for you and for me on how God rules and the affairs of men. Unnotized by all except who had spiritualized and said, "Well, the Lord's in charge." I don't know what God is up to, but I know he does all things well. Nothing slips through his hands. He'll do what's right. And to be honest with you, looking at our society today, that's my only hope. That God knows what he's up to, because God knows I don't know what he's up to. But he does all things well. And so it is good to leave my hands and my life and my future and my hopes in his hands, because he is capable of doing what I don't understand. From a vertical standpoint, this was a heartless, wicked man who ordered everyone around and slaughtered them at will from a vertical standpoint. We have an awesome God who will have his way even in horrible room where the Caesar thinks he's called of the gods. Nothing else would have moved Joseph and Mary except for this. I don't know what might have done that otherwise, but don't lose sight of God's sovereignty over your life. Because although it doesn't always look so clear, he certainly has not left his charge to someone else. Just imagine if this decree had been made three months earlier. Joseph and Mary went registered and bailed. Or if it had come just a week later, Mary would not have had their child in Bethlehem. So there's nothing like moving the whole world to get one couple to one place in the nick of time, so every part of God's word could be fulfilled completely. God will be sure that he does what he said. Well, we are told in verse 6 that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered, and so she brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling claws, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. Pregnant teenager, no midwife, no mom to hold her hand, no friends to stand by her. Joseph and Mary on their own, I suspect they flew of angels standing by out of the picture. I imagine this was a terribly frightening situation for her away from home and all. I suspect that when they left home on this journey, they suspected this might be the case, that they would have to run into this. But needless to say, Mary gives birth to her firstborn, underline that word, if you're a Catholic son. I grew up Catholic. Mary and Joseph had lots of other kids, you can read some of their names in Matthew 13, and she wrapped them in these large pieces of cloth torn from some garment to have that baby kind of wrapped height, and she laid them in a manger. I don't know what your picture in your head is of a manger. Usually it's that wood-framed beautiful little painted thing with clean hay hanging off both sides on a nice Christmas card. If you go with this to Israel in McGetto where Solomon kept his horses, there are thousands of these mangers that have been unearthed in their diggings and all, because that's how the horses were fed. But the word for manger is "fatne." And "fatne" is a Greek word for a stone trough, a stone that has been hollowed out in the middle so it can hold food or water, and is about the right size to put a baby in, if you will. But that's what this word is, "fatne." There was no room for them at the inn, not the holiday inn, or any other inn for that matter. The Greek word for inn here is "cataluma." Cataluma was a place outside with a fence around it, and usually a well in the middle that kept the wind off you, protected you from animals that might be running wild, or some marauders that would come in your direction, it could be guarded, and it wouldn't give you privacy, but it would keep you together. And it was into the "cataluma" that Joseph and pregnant Mary were not allowed to come. There was no room for them to squeeze in with all of these folks, so instead they had to go where the animals were kept, which is usually in a hollowed out cave, if you will, sometimes a shelter, sometimes not, but it is where all of the people living in the "cataluma" would leave their animals. So there was no room for them in that place, even for this pregnant woman against the elements. So it would have been an extremely unsanitary place, if you will, no Christmas lights, no glow-in-the-dark light, no, there wouldn't be anything there that would lend itself to say, "Well, this is nice." No, this is where people parked their animals. And because the font-name was the place to eat from, it was also the place you'd usually find the animal waste as well. And so, if not, you at least find a bowl of stone covered in animal slobber. I mean, the whole thing doesn't lend itself to desire. You can see Joseph hunting for some clean straw and a loan and in the dark, and it's a good thing they don't make scratch and sniff Christmas cards of this scene. I don't think it'd be very good. But to this place, Jesus was born. There is a church in Bethlehem built by Constantine and his wife, Elena, in the fourth century that they will tell you it's on the spot where Jesus was born. If you go down into the basement, they have this big star. Anyway, it's a disaster, so we never go there. We just avoid the place like a plague, and we go out to the fields in Bethlehem where these things would have taken place. Again, because we talk about, you know, standing in the story, God directing the picture, and whether Joseph and Mary were aware of that or not, if they were aware of Micah 5, for example. But if you were God directing the story, is this the place you would pick to bring your son? In your infinite wisdom as the Lord, would this be the place that you'd choose? He could have forced somebody out of the end. He is God. He could have kicked a couple of folks out of their made room. But he didn't, because this is the way he wanted to introduce his son to the world, not to Caesar and Rome, but amongst the animals, and probably the most difficult of circumstances. And I suspect it so that you and I would never feel like, you know, we can't approach Jesus, because he came in the most humble of ways. There's that story and no story. In 2 Corinthians 8, I think it's verse 9 that says, "We're thankful for the grace of God that we have found in Christ, because though he was rich for your sake, he became poor, so that in his poverty, you could be made rich." And there's nothing to be desired here. I mean, this is about as humble as a come. Nobody would want to put their child in that kind of a situation, and that yet this is the way the Lord has decided he would introduce us to his son. And it may be along with the story, if you read the Gospels, one of the things you discover about Jesus is he's always looking for some place to live, or to be invited in. You know, he said to the disciples in chapter, I think 9 of Luke, that foxes have holes, and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man is no place to lay his head. Even in his burial, you know, he had to borrow a tomb. Well, he just needed it for the weekend, but he borrowed it nonetheless. So the Lord is interested in getting close, right, in drawing near. When Jesus wrote that letter to the church in Lea to see it, he said to them in chapter 3, verse 20, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, and the man will open the door and invite me in. I'll come in and sup with him, and he can sup with me." That's really God's desire. He wants your life, right? But he's not forcing his way in. He didn't force his way in with Mary either. There was no room at the end. It's almost prophetic. The Lord was willing, but there's no room. And you find a lot of people like that even today. You know, you read the story and you say to yourself, what kind of man would force a little pregnant girl outside while he's inside? Who wouldn't let her in, you know, and you get mad almost. What kind of men are these who would be so self-preoccupied, self-interested that they wouldn't even notice her? But if you turn that around, you know, the Lord's still knocking on people's hearts, and there's still a lot of hosts going on. I'm pretty busy. My life's kind of up to you here with stuff. You know, I'd love to give you some time, but I don't have much time for you. It's hard to get to church on Sunday mornings. That's what I got for you. So if there's room for him in your heart, that's what God's interested in. Always so. It's a simple story. But you want to miss the heavenly view of God's complete oversight every step of the way, both in terms of getting hurt to this place. And yet then saying nobody wanted to take her in, but God took care of her and how much of a picture is that for us today. That's the extent of the information about his birth. I wish someone would have written a book. I would have wanted to know how Joseph felt, what Mary was doing, how they get through. It seemed like stuff you'd want to know. But this is what the Lord wanted you to know. It's all they wanted. Here, go with this. All you'll need. We're told in verse 8 that there was in that same area, some shepherds living out in the fields. They were keeping their flocks by night. These were probably temple shepherds. Because this was the feast days and feast days required sacrificed, history counted historically, that on this year, as many as 20,000 lambs a day were being killed. As the people came to atone for their sins before the Lord of the temple. The temple literally was going almost 24 hours a day. The interesting was to the Jewish community, shepherds were despised. They were ignorant. They were untrustworthy. They weren't allowed to give testimony in court. I always thought that was very ironic because these are the guys that were given the important task of raising and caring for animals who were supposed to be without spottered blemish. That would provide the opportunity for those who would come to have communion with God through the sacrifice. Another simple man could come and get as near to God as they could through the sacrifice. So they hated the very people that held in their hands the vehicle through which they would be able to approach God. Always an interesting picture to me. So while the respectable people slept, these simple men guarded the lambs for the guilty who would soon be coming to seek them to draw near to the Lord. It's a beautiful picture. Who better though to give the announcement to than these guys? That the lamb that was going to be slain had been born. From the shepherds we learned that there is greater blessing to be found in the fields of Bethlehem than in the courts of Caesar. These guys were being rejected by the religious but not by the Lord. Now I'm going to venture out on a limb a little bit because this isn't in the Bible so it's not in the Bible. But I suspect that Gabriel when he was done with all of the births done wanted to tell somebody. I don't know that to be sure but it says that there was a fire in the field and over there and I suspect Gabriel went well the baby's born. That's it. I'm going back to heaven. I'm done. Hey, somebody should know and some guy is awake over there with a fire. I'm going to go over there. You do with that what you want but that's what I think happened. So we read there that there were some people out in the field and they had the fire gone and the angel verse nine of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were greatly afraid and the angels said don't be afraid. Look, I'm bringing you good news or good tidings of great joy for everyone. I've got good news that'll just bring great joy to everyone who will hear it. I suspect it's Gabriel because he's kind of the guy that's been in charge of the whole birth, right? He had the announcement to John the Baptist, an announcement to Mary, an announcement to Joseph. You know, he got the couple safely to Bethlehem. He watched over the birth job. Well done. Way to go. Greatest event in history. Nobody knows it. I think he had to tell somebody. So scares the death, these poor shepherds, lights on, glory, you know, one angel. Don't worry. Don't freak out. I got good news and it'll be a great joy for everyone. Great news. The Lord has come. Verse 11, "There is born to you today in the city of David." In Bethlehem, "A Savior Christ the Lord." 700 years earlier, a contemporary of Micah's Isaiah had written, "On to you a child is born." That's the human elephant. And on to you a son is given. That's the divine portion. Government will be upon his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his government peace will be no until he'll establish it forevermore. Isaiah and Micah declaring, Micah declared where? Isaiah declared his person who he was, both human and eternal and divine. On the horizontal plane, a baby born in a very dirty place. On a divine perspective, a son had been given. God so loved the world he gave us only begotten Son. So Isaiah's 700-year declaration had come to pass. In fact, they said there in verse 12, "Here's your sign. You'll find that baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, laying in a fatne, in a stone feeding trap." And with that, the heavens broke open and there were a bunch of angels, a multitude of them, singing and praising God, saying, "Glory to God in the high as an unearth peace and good will towards men." Now notice verse 11, because there are no articles in the original Greek, so it literally reads, if you will, there is born in the city of David, a Savior Christ, the Lord. And it really just kind of bounces off one to the other Savior. That's his mission. Luke 19, verse 10 says, "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save those that are lost." The word Christ is from the Hebrew word "Mashiach," which literally is the pointing to the long-awaited promise of God to come and save us, to send a Savior. The word "Lord" is a title, not a name. It really describes his position over us. He's the Lord, we're not. In fact, you don't make Jesus Lord. He is the Lord. You are obligated to recognize Him as such, and to receive Him as your Savior, as the promised Messiah, and follow Him as the Lord. Jesus will say, and I think it's, Matthew chapter 7 of the Sermon on the Mount, there will be some in that day saying to me, "Lord, Lord," using that as a title. Didn't we do these great things? And the Lord will say, I don't know who you are, because though they had the word, they didn't have the relationship. God wasn't their Lord at all, or in the least. So, I got to tell you, verse 11, got to bring good news for everybody. He's here. And here's a sign, he's laying in a feeding truck, back there in 10. Go find. And no sooner does he get those words out, then I think all the angels with them that were hiding couldn't he shut their mouths. And so, you know, the symphony starts. It's not in your mind. So, I'm just reading it right here, okay? I'm assuming. I'm standing in the picture with you. I have no idea. But what a place. No place for a baby. What a good sign. He's leaving, laying where in a feeding truck. I'll go find out what that's all about. So, breaking into song, Gabriel, and the rest, raising the Lord, and, you know, glory to God in the highest. Give God all the honor, why? Because God had promised a Savior, and he's here. He'd been faithfully promised to save us. He was doing that now. From a human perspective, you need peace. God has come to bring you peace between him and the Lord. And as you come to have peace with God, you can then have good will towards others. God is interested in changing lives. This peace between you and God was broken when Adam and Eve sinned. You became an enemy of God. You were at war with God. You did what you wanted, and he wanted something different. Yet, when you come to Jesus and are saved, that sin of separation is removed, and you're at peace. God gives you peace. There's no more war. There's no more struggle. And as a result, you are then given the peace of God. You begin to look at life through his eyes and what upsets everyone around you. He doesn't upset you because he's in charge of your life, and he's made wonderful promises. So as you submit to his lordship, he gives you peace and rest. I was watching news the other night, which is, I would recommend you never watch the news. It was terrible. I haven't drank for years. I thought about starting up again. It was bloody awful. But there was, in one 30 minute news subject, and it wasn't even American news, it was Australian news. But I couldn't do the American news at all. In one 30 minute deal, there was two peace treaties. There was one at peace conference. There were some peace talks. And no one's got any peace. There's trials and unrest and violence and suicide and tension. How can you find peace? You don't. You go to the Lord. You give him your life. He gives you peace. There's only any peace in the world till Jesus comes back. But there can certainly be peace in your life. So with that, the angels gone. They've told everyone they're going to. Their jobs are over. Well, then we read in verse 15. When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds looked at one another and said, "We should go back to heaven." See if the things which have come to pass, which the Lord has made known us. They were sure this was the Lord that had sparked them, spoke to them. And that puts them well ahead of Zachariah, who hadn't had a hard time with it earlier. And so this is the great verse 16. They came with haste. They didn't dilly-dally. The Lord had showed them something. They wanted to check it out. I don't know how long they had to look for Mary and Joseph. But they found him. And they found him because that baby was lying in the fachne. It was laying in that cued out stone, if you will. And so when they saw him or when they'd seen him, they left making him widely known and telling everyone who would listen about this child, those who heard it marveled. What they were told by the shepherd Mary on the other hand, just another thing that she hid in her heart and pondered her heart and kept to herself. And so the shepherds came back to work, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they'd heard and seen and what had been told to them. So faithful hearers, eager doers, the Lord had revealed something, let's go check it out quickly. And rather than dragging their feet, they went to find, and I don't know how, like I said, how big the city was or how many people were there. A lot of people, small city. But they found him. And when they saw that it was so, they left for 17 to tell anyone that would listen. We found them aside. He's come. But God's promise, when told to us by an angel, when revealed to us by the Lord. And so they went to everyone. Kind of what happens when you get saved. You're ready to tell anybody what God has done for you. And so this amazing picture of Jesus' birth, far removed from Caesar's world of power. And I thought about that. You know, God kind of does his work despite the world. You know, you're in church this morning. We're here worshiping Jesus. The world around is falling apart. It's the craziest thing I've ever seen. I don't know if you feel the same way. But I shake my head every time. You get what? You're doing what? You're voting for whom? I can't even. But the Lord's in charge. Isn't that good to know? And he's got a perfect reason, and I don't get it. I could drive myself nuts trying to fight against it, or I can just rest and let the Lord be in charge. And then I read that verse, and what is it? First Corinthians chapter one where it says, "You see brethren that there's not many wise among you that the Lord has chosen." I think, oh, that's perfect. You know, he's chosen us. The foolish things, the weak things, the base things, the despised things, those things which are not as if they are. And look around here. There you go. The world's going nuts and we're just worshiping the Lord. You know? Thank you, Jesus. But in the meantime, we're supposed to go and tell everyone we can as the disciples of the Lord and as the shepherds did as well. Hey, this is what the Lord told us. This is what he's shown us. Let's deliver the good news because there is hope for man. Deliverance has come. The Savior is here. His name is Jesus. He can still do that in your life. And not only do we have peace because of Jesus, but we are to tell the world about him so that peace will reign. We've been listening to a study taken from Luke chapter 2 verses 1 through 20. This has been the third part of a three-part study, taught by Pastor Jacobeland. If you'd like to get the entire message, we do have that available for you. All you need to do to order? Simply contact us and ask for study number 42-39. When you get a hold of us, be sure to mention the call letters of the radio station that you're listening to. And in the day and age that we live in, I'm sure that all of us struggle one way or another with our finances. But what does the Bible say about money? Well, the world says that money brings power and freedom. Yet God's Word tells us that the love of money can lead to destruction. Now, we're promised blessing as a result of our right attitude about money, along with the promise that God Himself will provide for every one of our needs. Pastor Jack has written a book that's titled "God's View of Money," which really details all of the Bible's perspective on the believer and his money. So if you'd like to order God's View of Money by Pastor Jack, or to get today's study, just dial our toll-free phone number at 866-88-Grace. That's 866-884-7223. Again, 866-884-7223. Or you could find this in all of our resources online at growingthroughgrace.com. That's growingthroughgrace.com. And that will bring things to a close for us today. We do appreciate you tuning in. So until next time, as you daily walk with our Lord Jesus Christ, may you continue to grow in His grace. Growing Through Grace is a listener-supported ministry brought to you by Morningstar Christian Chapel in Whittier, California, the Calvary Chapel Outreach. [MUSIC PLAYING]
