Our Journey With Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Doxology:
This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart, that I might not sin against God. Amen!
Scriptural Reference: Luke 2:8-20
For those of you joining us today, we started a journey at the beginning of this year going through the Gospels in Chronological order, which simply means that we are taking all 4 Gospel accounts, blending them together into one, seamless story, and preaching straight through the life of Jesus.
Today, we have made it to the account of the shepherds, being divinely told by God, visiting Jesus in Bethlehem.
Let’s get straight into the text:
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”
16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.
18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
Context
Context
As I read through this account of Scripture, I couldn’t help but notice the progression that takes place within it. It is as if God divinely placed within this text the natural progression of one’s journey with Jesus. That is our message title for today: Our Journey With Jesus.
It starts with the shepherds hearing the message of Jesus, while out in the fields. Then, they hurry to Jesus, so that they can meet Him face to face. After meeting Him, they begin to herald to everyone they see about what had just happened.
So that is the outline we are going to follow today: We Hear of Jesus, We Hurry To Jesus, & We Herald Jesus To All.
Content
Content
We Hear Of Jesus
We Hear Of Jesus
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
Notice with me first of all the nature of their visit. The text told us that these shepherds were “living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Then all of a sudden, “an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them...”
Now think through that with me for just a second. These shepherds were out in the field, during the night. That means it must have been pretty dark, right?
Then all of a sudden, the glory of God shone around them. Do you see it?
As humans, we are all born unto darkness. We inherit that awful sin-nature from our parents, that has been passed down from one generation to the next, all the way back to Adam and Eve.
This means that we are not only born into darkness, but that we continue to dwell in that darkness. How could it be any other way? We cannot save ourselves. We cannot abolish the sin in our own lives. We cannot free ourselves from the desire of sin that this sin-nature produces within us. We have no other option, but to dwell in this darkness.
Unless.....there is One, who is outside of the darkness, who is also willing to save us who are trapped within the darkness. This is the message of Jesus we hear!!
Jesus said it best in John 6.44
John 6:44 (NKJV)
44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;
See, we are born into darkness. Therefore, because of the amount of time we dwell in that darkness, we learn to traverse it. We do a very poor job at it, but we learn to navigate the darkness well enough, that we even get comfortable with it. We get comfortable with it, because we don’t even realize that there is another possibility.
It is not until God shines His light into the midst of our darkness, that we even know we are in darkness to start with. He has to move first. When we come to this realization, we now have a choice: we can either choose to continue dwelling in the darkness that we have become accustomed to, or we can choose to follow the light of God, which will bring us out of the darkness and open up a whole new world that we never knew existed.
Notice that for the shepherds, it was the hearing of Jesus that started their journey with Jesus.
Listen to what Romans 10:17
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
God uses his divinely inspired Word to speak to those who are in darkness. Sometimes, it comes through a message, like this. Sometimes, it comes from people just like you, who take the message of God they have heard and share it with others.
Either way, the message is of Christ, from Christ, and to those who dwell in darkness.
You might say, “Wait a minute. These shepherds did not hear a message.” Ohh, but they did!!!
What was it the angels said?
11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
A Savior.....what do I need to be saved from? From the darkness that you currently dwell in. There is something better, something more. He has come to shine light into the midst of your darkness. He has come to set you free!!
Who were they referring to? The prophesied Messiah of the OT, which was written in the Word of God.
They then clarified this by saying:
12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
They were given a sign that the events prophesied in God’s Word had now come to pass.
The first step of our journey is to hear the message of Jesus, our Savior and our Lord.
We Hurry To Jesus
We Hurry To Jesus
15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”
16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
After the angels had told the shepherds of Jesus’ coming, it said “they came with haste.”
As we said before, once you have been made aware of Jesus, you now have a choice before you: You can choose to remain in the darkness, or you can choose to come to the light.
It is so important that you make haste, and come to the light.
Let me explain:
When God reveals Himself unto you, you gain a new awareness of who He is.
You realize in that moment:
That there is a God.
That this God is perfect in His being. He is perfectly righteous, perfectly holy, all powerful, and full of love.
Once you gain a new awareness of who He is, you also gain a new awareness of who you are.
You realize in that moment:
That you are exactly the opposite of who He is.
That this amazing God, even though He is so much above and beyond what you are, loves you unconditionally. Otherwise, why would He shine His glory into the midst of your darkness? Why would He approach you and show you a way out?
That you need Him. He is the only one that can save you. He is the only one who can rescue you.
After you gain a new awareness of who God is and who you are, then something called conviction sets in.
Conviction is a sense of guilt and shame that wells up inside you when you see the darkness of your sin in contrast to the light of His love and perfection.
Conviction takes place when you realize that your life has not been lived in a worthy manner of a God who loves you that much and designed you for better things.
Conviction takes place when you survey your life in light of the cross of Calvary.
It is adamant that you run to Jesus.
You need to see Him.....face to face.
When you see Jesus face to face, His love overwhelms your fear and doubt. It washes away every reserve that you hold on to that is keeping you from getting saved.
Your conviction will not last forever.
Conviction comes in a moment, but can be swayed by the forces of evil. The Bible refers to this act as the hardening of the heart.
14 Happy is the man who is always reverent, But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.
15 while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
If we deal with conviction in a prideful sense, being unwilling to answer the calling of the Lord, then our hearts are hardened. Having a hardened heart makes it that much more difficult to feel conviction the next time. It hardens your heart to the love of God. It hardens your heart to the council of God. It hardens your heart to the Holy Spirit.
If this happens enough times, you get to a point to where you cannot feel God anymore. You cannot feel His presence. You cannot hear Him speak. When you get to this point, you may never feel the conviction of God again.
After hearing the message of Jesus, we must run to Him, acknowledge Him, and thank Him for His love.
We Herald Jesus To All
We Herald Jesus To All
17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.
The shepherds heard the message of Jesus. After hearing it, they ran to Jesus. After meeting with Jesus, they told everyone they came into contact with about what had happened.
This is the last step of our journey. We are to herald Jesus to everyone we know.
Herald:
To give news or tidings of; announce; proclaim
To indicate or signal the coming of: usher in.
To herald Jesus simply means that we are to tell others about Him. We are to spread the same message that was given unto us.
The message of Jesus is for all people. It actually says that right here in the text:
10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
“Which will be to all people.” Do you see it. Everyone is born into darkness. Your family needs Jesus. Your friends need Jesus. Your co-workers need Jesus. The waiter or waitress at Casa needs Jesus.
You might say, “Listen pastor. I know that they all need Jesus, but how do I show Jesus to those people? I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to say it.”
You give the same message that was given to you. Let’s look at the message that was given to the shepherds:
10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
First off, it is the good news. “I bring you good tidings...” they said. Why is it good? Because it is about God, and God is good.
It is news of great joy. “....good tidings of great joy....”. Do you know that all people, who have yet to come to Christ, are missing out on the joy of God. They may have happiness, but they do not have joy. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit and can only come from God. Happiness comes and goes based on the current circumstances, but joy comes in the morning,
4 Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.
As a child of God, I am allowed to tap into the person of God. He is a God of joy, so I get to enjoy that joy in my life.
“What is so good about this news and why does it bring such joy,” you might ask. Because it is the news of a Savior, who has come to set us free.
11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
This Savior is above and beyond the darkness. He has the power to abolish the darkness in our life and bring us into the light.
Not only is He able to do so, He wants to do so. He chose to come here for us. He is “Christ the Lord.” it said.
He could have stayed in heaven and let us figure this thing on our own, but He didn’t. He came to make a way, where there was no way. He came to set us free from the sin in our lives and give us a life that is worth living.
It is also a message of peace.
14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
“Peace on earth”. Do you know what that means? Naturally speaking, as sinners born separated from God, there is enmity between us and God.
6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
Because God is just and righteous and holy, He cannot overlook sin. He must punish those who do evil. While we dwell in the darkness, we are those people. Carnal simply means worldly. A worldly mind cannot perceive the things of God. The things of God are spiritually discerned. It takes God to know God.
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Jesus truly is our Savior. He did what we could not. He accomplished what we failed to accomplish. He restored mankind back to God through His willing sacrifice on Calvary’s cross. His shed blood became the atonement for our sin. The atonement is the price of reconciliation. That was the price God demanded in order for mankind to be restored. Christ gladly paid it so that we could be set free from the law of sin and death.
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Have you ever considered why they put a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head?
Listen to this verse:
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.
Thorns were the curse of God upon the ground for man’s sake. In the garden, there were no thorns. The soil was rich and weeds were non-existent. When Adam and Eve sinned against God, this was the curse against mankind.
Jesus, though He lived a perfect life, had a crown of thorns placed upon His head. Who wears the crown? A king wears the crown. Jesus became the king of sin, so that we might become slaves unto righteousness. That is the meaning of the crown of thorns. He did it for you.
All of those who choose to bow before Jesus receive a crown of righteousness.
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
Commitment
Commitment
As we come to a close, I ask you this question: “Where are you at on your journey with Jesus?”
Has God ever broke through the cloud of darkness and shined the light of His glory into your life? Maybe He did that today.
Maybe you have trusted Christ as Savior, but you are struggling when it comes to heralding the message of Christ to others.
Maybe God has been leading you to join the Church. Maybe God has been leading you to get involved in some kind of ministry at the church so that you can be a blessing to others.
Where are you on your spiritual journey? What is your next step? Will you allow the conviction of God to lead you into that next step today? Remember what the Scriptures said:
15 while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
I am going to ask the men to leave that verse up on the screen today as we go into invitation. If God has convicted you, would you join me up here so that we can go to God in prayer? I would love to help you take that next step!!!