[0:00] As he'd stand there and say there once was a blind man. The Lord gave him sight. Had to tell somebody. Couldn't keep it quiet. Do you remember that?
[0:11] And well he told me he'd be here Wednesday. You pray for him. God would help him. He'd get back where he longs to be.
[0:23] He said, told me today that things hadn't been right since he got out of the house of God. Guarantee it. Guarantee it.
[0:34] You think it's rough here. You get out of the will of God. And you'll find out what tough is all about. Well it's good to be here. I'm glad you're here.
[0:45] Do I look good? All fixed up here and ready for preaching? Uh huh. That make me take up a collection. You fool with me. Call me a TV preacher.
[0:58] Amen. Amen. Friend, I'll sell you this holy water here. Just send in an offer of $10,000.
[1:10] We'll just do that once. Then we won't need to get it no more. I was reading this. I thought this was a good place to preach from. Second chapter of the book of Luke.
[1:22] The Gospel of St. Luke chapter 2. Have your Bibles. If you'd like to read along with us. Please pray for my voice. I'm having problems. Again, coughing.
[1:33] I can't sing. I can't do well to talk. But this is good. The last time we were here we talked about Caesar Augustus and how he sent out that decree that all the world would be taxed.
[1:50] And he thought he was doing that for his own benefit. But Micah the prophet told many years before that they couldn't be in Nazareth.
[2:02] They had to be in Bethlehem. And so Joseph, since he was of the house and lineage of David, he had journeyed from Nazareth in back to Bethlehem that the Christ child could be born.
[2:14] And just like the Bible had prophesied that it would happen. And while she was there, no room at the end, had brought forth her firstborn son.
[2:26] Her firstborn son. Just the very fact implies there were others. Right? The firstborn son.
[2:38] But there were other sons. And of course, there were none like him. Because he was the only begotten son of God. And so then the rejoicing of the angels and the shepherds.
[2:55] And let's look in here then at verse 15. I think that's where we stopped this morning, isn't it? Glory to God in the highest is what the 14th verse said.
[3:08] And in 15 it says, It came to pass, as the angels were going away from them into heaven. The shepherds 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.
[3:27] 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.
[3:41] 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.
[4:00] And when the eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
[4:12] And when the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.
[4:23] As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.
[4:38] And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.
[4:50] And the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple.
[5:04] And when the parents brought in the child, Jesus, to do after him, after the custom of the law, then took he him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now let us now, thou servant, depart in peace according to thy word.
[5:24] For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people. A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
[5:37] And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed him and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against.
[5:56] Yea, and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. And there was one Anna, a prophetess of the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
[6:10] And she was of great age and lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow of about four score and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
[6:28] And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee to their own city, Nazareth.
[6:50] Now I want to preach this time on the subject of the presentation of the Lord Jesus Christ. The dedication and the presentation of him in Jerusalem.
[7:04] Not in Bethlehem, but in Jerusalem. We'll see the things that befell him there, and the things that he has done just to fulfill the law so that no person could bring accusation against him and say that he hadn't did what he was supposed to do.
[7:28] He did it all, friend. He did every jot and every tittle of the law. He fulfilled it to the letter. He didn't kill the law. He fulfilled the law.
[7:40] And the requirement of the law on you and I is met in him. And we who are unperfect, imperfect, can be made perfect because of the obedience of him who took our place and did everything that the law required a man to do.
[8:03] Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this privilege to pray, for this hour of service, for the songs that we've heard sang, and for the testimonies, and for you dear people that are gathered here this evening.
[8:17] God, I pray that you would help me to speak to them, speak to those fathers that are watched by the way of the television or however that they would hear this message.
[8:31] God, may the Spirit of God speak to their heart. My prayer in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, first speak of the shepherds of the field of Bethlehem that carry the glad news that Jesus is born.
[8:54] They departed after the angelic visitation. And we spoke this morning, and I kind of got excited in my soul about those myriads of angels.
[9:07] And the 10,000 times 10,000 that were just filled with the glory of God. But can I say that that one person in that manger was more glorious than all of the angels put together.
[9:28] That one proceeding from that manger was the Son of God. The book of Philippians said, He made Himself of no reputation and took upon Himself the form of a servant.
[9:46] And being found that fashion, He exchanged His glorious apparel for swaddling clothes, heaven's finery for earth's poverty.
[9:57] And the shepherds kept watch over that special sheep destined to be slaughtered in the service of the temple. But I want you to look at verse 15 and see what it tells about the faith of those shepherds.
[10:15] It said there, it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, let us now go unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass.
[10:33] Notice the faith of the shepherd. He didn't say let's go see if this thing has come to pass. It's come to pass. Let's go get on it.
[10:43] Let's go get in on it. Let's go see it. It's done. It's finished according to the word of Almighty God. They already believed it before they saw it.
[10:54] That's what faith is about. We may not be able to see it but we believe it because God told us that. They saw that and they were full of faith.
[11:07] You wonder as they left their sheep there nobody to guard them. What about the wolves that would come in and try to destroy the flock, kill the sheep? God said, well, you need to go over there.
[11:20] I'll give you this sign and you'll find the babe wrapped. It said in swaddling clothes. Now, that is wrapped real tightly.
[11:31] I guess the best thing that I could, best way that I could illustrate that is tucked in. Did mama ever come when you was a little child and you'd be laying in the bed with a, back in those days, heat, what are you talking about?
[11:51] You wake up with snow on the floor. But mom come in there and all of us, that's what's wrong with some people's feet right now. They broke them, all them covers on top of them.
[12:03] But anyway, mom would come in and she would tuck you in. That's the idea I want here that Mary was concerned about him and wrapped him in those swaddling clothes.
[12:16] And those shepherds, they came in there. They came for the purpose of seeing that. But the faith of the shepherds will gain attention from Almighty God.
[12:28] Whenever we exercise faith, a poor man's faith is better than a rich man's castle. The rich men may have had all of the rooms in Bethlehem that night.
[12:42] But the poor shepherd got to see the Lord. Faith is more valuable than money. God doesn't need money. In heaven, the street's made out of gold.
[12:54] Why does God need money? God wants faith from His people. No question, no doubt. Let's go see it. They were anxious to see it. And so they went there to Bethlehem.
[13:06] And I think about the chief priests and the scribes. They knew their Bible. They knew where He was supposed to be born. When they were asked the question, they told them immediately, He's born in Bethlehem.
[13:21] That's what the prophet said. But none of those chief priests, none of those scribes, none of those elders, none of the Pharisees, none of the Sadducees, none of the Herodians, none of the elite of Israel would get up and walk that six to ten miles to Jerusalem, from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to see if it was true.
[13:47] The shepherds didn't go to see if it was true. They went because they knew it was true. Everybody else was uninterested. Herod, the only thing he was interested in, maybe a challenge to his throne, and he'd want to kill him as a threat to his position.
[14:04] But the shepherds, the Bible said, came with haste. It's in a herd. There's something to me, it seems like, that whenever we come to the Lord, we won't come real quick.
[14:17] I remember that night I came to the altar. I didn't come bouncing and jumping. I come real quick to the altar. I made haste. You remember the story of Zacchaeus?
[14:29] The Bible said that he went and run before, and he got up in that tree, and when the Lord come by, he looked up at him and said, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today, salvation, today I'm going to abide at your house.
[14:46] And he did that. Paul likened the Christian life to a race. We need to run. Amen. Unless we get weary and faint by the way.
[14:59] In verse 17, the shepherds made it known abroad what they had saw. And I notice that about people. Whenever you meet Jesus, you won't tell somebody else about it.
[15:15] Isn't that a real mark that you've been to the house of God? Whenever you get right with God, you want everybody to know the good news. Hey, today, the Savior came to my house.
[15:28] Today, He came to visit me. He will come and visit you. Today is the day of salvation. The shepherds wondered, but then in verse 19, the Bible said that his mother Mary kept in her heart and pondered all these things.
[15:48] I wonder about that little Jewish girl that night. What was she thinking about? What did she keep in her heart? Maybe she remembered back to the time when the angel visited her.
[16:03] Or maybe she remembered back to the time when she visited Elizabeth and John the Baptist over there jumping John was carrying on.
[16:13] Maybe she was pondering in her heart about the near loss of her fiancé whenever they found that she was expecting and they thought there was something wrong and Joseph, being a just man, was minded to put her away privily when it was discovered that there would be no room for them in the inn.
[16:36] Can you imagine somebody that knew that this was the Son of God and thought surely the world will make a place for Him but she thought in her heart wonder why they don't even have a room for Him at the inn.
[16:54] And then why He has to be born in a stable and why I have to use a manger without controversy tonight. Great is the mystery of godliness.
[17:05] God was manifested in the flesh and God was seen of angels and God was believed on in the world. God was preached to the Gentiles and God went back to the glory land.
[17:18] Now there's much left to tell. Much left to tell as the story of Jesus unfolds. The chapter verifies what Paul would later write.
[17:29] He was born under the law. Born to redeem them that are under the law. that you and I could have the adoption of sons. That we could be called the sons of God.
[17:43] When Molly was rewriting the little Christmas play one thing I noticed and I had heard her change the words of the play it said there God gave His only son.
[17:56] That's a new version. That's not His only son. I'm His son. His only begotten son. There's a difference.
[18:06] Are you understanding? The only begotten son. The only one that He ever gave birth to in the person of a virgin born son of God.
[18:17] The only one that way. He came under the law to redeem them that were under the law. Now as you read your Bible it appears that things happen at the same time.
[18:30] but a lot of times there'll be much distance between the times that we and for instance in verses 21 and 22 it says that He was circumcised the eighth day and then in verse 22 it said when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished that's 40 days.
[18:53] That went from 8 days to 40 days without even mentioning a difference in the scripture. I can show you where it'll go for thousands of years from one verse of scripture to the next but the day that He was circumcised made Him and made every Jew accountable to the covenant and made them accountable to the law of God and an heir to the promises and a debtor to do the whole law.
[19:21] Not just part of it but they were obligated to do it all like baptism is today. It is an identifying ceremony to fulfill all righteousness.
[19:33] Now Jesus had been named of the angel long before He was born but He's officially brought to Jerusalem and given that name Jesus there at His circumcision whenever He became debtor and responsible to the kingdom of God and that official name that was declared on Him at the temple was Jesus which means the Savior.
[20:10] Jesus is the Savior. That's His official name. Jehovah is not the Savior. Jesus is the Savior.
[20:21] How you like that Mr. Jehovah's Witness? Amen. Jesus is the Savior. There's no other name given among men whereby we must be saved.
[20:32] God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name that's above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. His parents submit themselves to be sinners by the offering that they bring and they thank God for His mercy and giving them a child.
[20:52] In Romans 11 5 God had left to Israel just an election of grace and if He had not left them a remnant, if God hadn't sought to it they were somebody around to keep preaching, they'd have been just like Sodom and Gomorrah.
[21:12] I think that kind of verifies with America tonight. If God didn't have a few preachers around, still believe the book, still preach the book, still stood on the same old doctrines they had when He was ordained all those years ago, still believe if God hadn't sought to it that they were there, our nation would be like Sodom and Gomorrah.
[21:35] Romans 9 29, it says that they would have been that way. But at the time of the birth of Christ, there were people in Israel who were aware that Israel was a failure.
[21:48] Some folks think, you know, that everybody was into the failure, but not so. There were some people who were aware of the ruin and the misery and the grief of their heart that had been brought about by the failure of their nation.
[22:04] And they had sat down in Isaiah 40 and verse 31. The only thing they could do was just wait on the Lord and the Lord would do something about it.
[22:15] Perhaps that oppressed remnant would cry out, Lord, how long? Revelation chapter 6 and 10. The days were dark, but this remnant of Israel, they decided to brighten the corner where they were.
[22:32] Bloom where you plant. Amen. That's what we need to do. Rather than worrying about being in the rose garden of the White House, we need to bloom on the hillside where God plants us.
[22:46] We need to be faithful to God wherever we are. Now, Joseph and Mary brought baby Jesus to be presented before the Lord. And their poverty is significant in that they're shut out from the possibility of even offering a lamb.
[23:05] But bring the pair of doves, the pair of pigeons, the poorest of the poor. Not worth much. But they brought that and they brought their firstborn to the Lord and a requirement for their redemption.
[23:22] Every firstborn was to be redeemed. You remember that time when Levi had taken the place of the firstborn? All of Israel had failed there at the bottom of Sinai and Levi standing on the Lord's side took the place of the firstborn and Levi then was the one that the redemption money was brought to.
[23:49] All of the other tribes would pay their redemption money to the priest, to Levi. Someone was asking me about the principles of God's word.
[24:05] I'm going to give it to you really simple. I'm going to try to give it to you like the shape of a Christmas tree, if you will. The top of the tree hangs two commandments.
[24:20] Those two commandments, everything else springs from those two. Commandment number one was to love God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, and all your strength.
[24:35] And commandment number two was to love your neighbor as yourself. If you'll fulfill those two commandments, then everything else in the Bible comes down from there.
[24:49] After those two commandments, I'll give you ten. You'll find those ten in, say, in the book of Exodus chapter 20. And I want to just, I'm going to use this one because we're talking about paying the preacher.
[25:03] I want to use commandment number eight. Thou shalt not steal. Now remember that you can actually break both of those commandments of loving God and loving your neighbor by steal.
[25:19] You understand? Are you listening where I'm going to go? When it said thou shalt not steal, if you fail to bring your tithes and offerings into the storehouse of God, you are stealing from God.
[25:33] Now you get mad and fuss up at me if you want to, but when you will not give to the work of God, you're a robber, and you're not robbing man, you're robbing God.
[25:45] Now keeping this Christmas tree going, let's look at the Apostle Paul over in the book of Corinthians. He said, love the Lord, love the neighbor, thou shalt not steal.
[25:58] And then Malachi said, don't rob God. But the Apostle Paul said, don't muzzle the ox that treads out the corn. Am I telling that right?
[26:09] So if you put a muzzle on the ox that's working out there in the field, then you're actually stealing from an animal. You're stealing from that ox because God said it was perfectly legitimate if he wanted to bite the corn to get a bite.
[26:27] Amen. Then Paul turned around and said, do you think God just cares about oxen? Or do you think he's talking about the preacher? Stay with me.
[26:40] We're talking about Jesus being presented in the temple to fulfill the law. And if Jesus saw his need, are you listening?
[26:51] If he saw his need of not stealing from Levi, if he saw his need of not stealing from God, surely we could see our need of not stealing from each other. The laborer is worthy of his hire.
[27:05] That's what I always thought. Amen. There are folks who didn't think that. There are folks thought you're supposed to work somebody, work them to death and not pay them. You steal from your preacher?
[27:20] You do if you don't pay him. Amen. I ain't talking to my people. My people pays me. Pays me well. I'm a rich man. Hallelujah. Well, maybe that's stressing a little bit.
[27:32] But what I'm saying is there are people in this county that are too tight to pay their preacher. They'll say, let him work. What you're doing is muzzling the ox that treads out the corn.
[27:48] Redemption money, numbers 18, was five shekels. That wasn't a whole lot that they had to pay. But they would take that and they would pay that to the priests there at Jerusalem.
[28:03] The scribes and the Pharisees and the priests, they were standing there. They had to be when Jesus came in. And whenever they brought baby Jesus in there, they brought the redemption money just like they were supposed to bring.
[28:21] And the big wheels didn't pay any attention. But there was one man there that paid attention. His name was Simeon, an old man.
[28:35] Verse 27, watch this. He came by the Spirit to the temple. It's just a happenstance. It's just a coincidence that that day he came to the temple, he came the very same day that they brought Jesus to the temple.
[28:55] It said he came by the Spirit. And when they brought Jesus that hour, providence will guide those who seek the Lord to be where they're supposed to be, when they're supposed to be there.
[29:10] Amen. A lot of people that complain and gripe around about they can't live for God won't go to the temple when they're supposed to be. church comes and they got more energy than things to do.
[29:23] They don't feel like going to church. I'm sure Simeon was old and didn't feel like making the trip, but he made the trip. Amen. Are you where you should be?
[29:34] Preach on, preacher. Okay. Let me wipe my mouth and we'll go on something else. The sun of this old man's life was going down, but he'd been faithful to go to that temple.
[29:50] He was one of the remnant of Israel that was waiting on the salvation of God. And whenever they brought that little baby Jesus in there, look at verse 26, it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
[30:11] And he came by the Spirit into the temple when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law. Then took he up him in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now let us thou servant depart in peace according to thy word.
[30:32] For mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Simeon equated salvation with Jesus. He didn't equate salvation with anything but Jesus.
[30:48] John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. If you've got Jesus, you've got it. If you don't have Jesus, you don't have it.
[31:00] You might have religion, but you don't have salvation because salvation is wrapped up in Jesus. This old man was able to see it. And verse 34, the old man declared that he set for the rising and fall of many people in Israel.
[31:19] He's like a rock. He's either a stepping stone or a stumbling stone. He either, amen, you either accept him and rise or you reject him and fall.
[31:32] That's what the Bible teaches. Many, verse 4, in there 34, many speak against him. They do today. They today, they say, well, we don't want no, we don't want no Christmas scenes on our Capitol lawn.
[31:47] We don't want no Christmas scenes in our public school. We don't want it even in your yard. And we're not going to be satisfied until we've got Jesus clear out of the country.
[32:01] Abbot is to their own peril that they do that. Now, after that old man had made his pronouncement, it was time for grandma to come in.
[32:14] This old woman, a prophetess, not a preacher, a prophetess. Thank you. Somebody ought to say amen there. Her name, her name is not Anna.
[32:29] You say, but preacher, let me help you. How many, how many of you have ever saw Elias in the New Testament? That's the way it says it.
[32:43] E-L-I-A-S, Elias. Because the translators were looking at a Greek word. But the Hebrew word was Elijah.
[32:55] Did you ever read about Esaias, the prophet? They were looking at a Greek word. The Hebrew word was Isaiah, the prophet.
[33:06] This lady's name has got an H on the front of it. It's not Anna. It's Anna in Greek, but it's Hannah in Hebrew.
[33:19] Y'all remember Hannah? Now I'm not saying this is the same lady, but I'm saying it's her namesake. A lady that hangs around the temple waiting on God to do something for her.
[33:33] Hallelujah. The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. And this poor old lady was, the way I understand it, she was married seven years and then it's been 84 years since her husband died.
[33:49] So I don't know how old she could have been when she got married. Say she's 15. Well, I'm not good at math. Say she's 20. So she was 20 when she got married.
[33:59] She's married seven years. That made her 27 and then 84 years of being a widow. Help me, Clinton. Is that 91 or 101? 116.
[34:12] Hey, this Hannah had hung around a long time. I imagine the priest had came in and saw her mouth moving and thinking that this old lady was drunk.
[34:24] She stayed at the temple. Quietly she waited. She held to the unchanging hand. Many a year she'd been mocked by other people for being a Christian.
[34:37] But just like her Old Testament namesake, her patience was rewarded that day whenever she came there and there is the salvation of the world right there for her to see.
[34:51] She'd waited on it and God showed it to her. She was from an outcast tribe. She was a widow many, many years but she spent that time fasting and praying.
[35:03] Thank God for the salvation of Israel is here and I get to see them. Amen. Now some of us preachers have been preaching the rapture for quite a while now.
[35:16] Amen. I'd like to get to see it. I don't know that I will but I keep waiting. Amen. And whenever she was waiting, this dear lady, I'm sure she spake often to them about the coming of the Lord.
[35:33] And God took notes whenever she was talking about the coming of the Lord. And God said there's going to be a day whenever I make up my jewels. And whenever I make up those jewels, I'm going to keep in mind those people that didn't follow the crowd but stayed right there at the temple asking and praying.
[35:56] It's interesting to me that the first people with the good news were old people. Young people think they got it all but this was old people.
[36:09] You know after we get so old and I'm only 63 but I can feel it and I talk to you and you can feel it and you're not what you used to be. When we get a little older we feel like we may be laid aside from service.
[36:25] We can't do what we used to do. Can't run like we used to run. Can't go like we used to go. But like this dear old lady you can pray. And she prayed.
[36:36] And she served God all those years. I believe that when you serve God for 50 years 116 years 111 years I believe that she knew how God thought.
[36:53] I believe she was close enough contact with him to say not only does he belong to me but I belong to him. You're never too old to serve the Lord.
[37:06] Amen. You might get too old to ride bulls in the road you got. You might get too old to play professional football or even bowling or even put your socks on but you don't get too old to serve God.
[37:22] This dear lady was sitting there all those years in that temple. Verse 39 after opportunity of service was fulfilled Jesus went back to Galilee to attend to those other matters but I'm saying when he was presented in there in that temple those old foes they said that's the man I'm looking for.
[37:46] You remember that song out here a few years ago and if you see a man named Jesus send him down my way that's the one I'm looking for.
[38:00] Are you looking for him? Unto them that look for him shall he appear a second time without sin and the salvation. Let's bow for prayer.
[38:13] The shepherd saw him the old man saw him the old woman saw him what an opportunity for the chief priests and the Pharisees that they couldn't see him.
[38:27] They're like us today with our modern Christmas. We can see all of the decorations and all of the store-bought goodies but we can't see what Christmas is all about.
[38:40] Christmas is about Jesus. His birthday. Happy birthday. Jesus.
[38:51] Jesus. Thank you.