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Christ the Lord (Part 2 of 3)

Luke 2:1–20
Program

“Peace on earth” is a popular theme at Christmastime. But what does a baby in a manger have to do with the peace the angels sang about? Find out what true peace is and how it can change your life when you listen to Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.

From the Sermon

Christ the Lord — Part One

Luke 2:1–20 Sermon Includes Transcript 44:20 ID: 2062

Mercy There Was Great

Mercy There Was Great

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy.

You don’t need a fire brigade to come to your house if your house isn’t on fire; neither would you want a doctor administering an IV drip when you’re perfectly healthy. It’s pointless! Similarly, until we are truly aware of our need for forgiveness, God’s story of grace and mercy doesn’t really mean much to us. We will think it irrelevant.

From time to time, we are all guilty of looking around and recognizing that others are dreadfully in need of forgiveness while turning a blind eye to our own need. “Thankfully,” we say to ourselves (though we don’t like to admit this), “I’m not like them.” By God’s grace, though, we soon realize that we too have been unkind, have said and done things we shouldn’t have, or have failed to do what we should have. In such moments of conviction, we are aware of our need for forgiveness, and we are grateful when it’s extended by those we’ve offended.

We can’t have all the upside of forgiveness, in other words, without the downside of recognizing our sin. First, we need to see ourselves rightly: by nature as lost sheep, rebels against God, empty vessels needing to be filled. We need to accept that however long we go on in the Christian life and however much the Spirit changes us in this life, we never outgrow our need for grace because we never outrun our own sinfulness. We need to realize what we deserve for our sins before we will bow down in wonder at the realization that a perfect Savior died in our place and paid all that we owe so that we might receive God’s forgiveness.

Our great need is to continue to turn to Christ in faith and repentance. Every one of us, no matter where we are in our walk with Christ, needs to pray that God would show us the truth both about ourselves and about our Savior. Then, as we grow in our understanding of all that we deserve, we will adore that very Savior more and more each day. We will stand in awe of God’s love and all that Jesus has done for us.

Pause now, therefore. Ask God, “Show me myself,” and reflect on your own sin. Then ask Him, “Show me my Savior,” and bask in the reality and joy of His mercy. Then His kindness and mercy in saving you will consume your affections so that you joyfully join the chorus:

Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
Pardon there was multiplied to me;
There my burdened soul found liberty
At Calvary.[1]
Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

By Grace Through Faith

1jAnd you were kdead in the trespasses and sins 2lin which you once walked, following the course of this world, following mthe prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in nthe sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in othe passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body1 and the mind, and pwere by nature qchildren of wrath, like the rest of mankind.2 4But3 God, being rrich in mercy, sbecause of the great love with which he loved us, 5even twhen we were dead in our trespasses, umade us alive together with Christ—vby grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and wseated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable xriches of his grace in ykindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For zby grace you have been saved athrough faith. And this is bnot your own doing; cit is the gift of God, 9dnot a result of works, eso that no one may boast. 10For fwe are his workmanship, gcreated in Christ Jesus hfor good works, iwhich God prepared beforehand, jthat we should walk in them.

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Footnotes
1 2:3 Greek flesh
2 2:3 Greek like the rest
3 2:4 Or And
Footnotes
1 William R. Newell, “At Calvary” (1895).

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg, published by The Good Book Company, thegoodbook.com. Used by Truth For Life with permission. Copyright © 2021, 2022, The Good Book Company.

Help Us Understand

Help Us Understand

You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your ear has not been opened.

It is painful to remember that to a certain degree this accusation may be laid at the door of believers, who too often are in some measure spiritually insensitive. We may well bemoan the fact that we do not hear the voice of God as we should: "You have never heard." There are gentle motions of the Holy Spirit in the soul that are unheeded by us: There are whisperings of divine command and of heavenly love that are equally unobserved by our dull minds. Sadly, we have been carelessly ignorant—"You have never known." There are spiritual matters that we ought to have seen, corruptions that have been allowed to develop unnoticed, tender affections that are being harmed like flowers in the frost, untended by us, glimpses of the Lord that we might have perceived if we had not barricaded the windows of our soul.

But we "have never known." As we think of this we are truly and deeply humbled. How we must adore the grace of God as we realize from the context that all of our folly and ignorance was foreknown by God, and notwithstanding that foreknowledge, He has still been pleased to deal with us in mercy! Ponder and admire the marvelous sovereign grace that could have chosen us in the sight of all this! Wonder at the price that was paid for us when Christ knew what we would be!

He who hung upon the cross foresaw us as unbelieving, backsliding, cold of heart, indifferent, careless, lax in prayer, and yet He said, "I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Because you are precious in My eyes and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life." How wonderful and glorious is this redemption when we think how sinful we are! Holy Spirit, give us from now on a hearing ear and an understanding heart!

Devotional material is taken from Morning and Evening, written by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. Copyright © 2003, Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org. Used by Truth For Life with written permission.

Daily Bible Reading for December 16

2 Chronicles 18, Revelation 7, Zechariah 3, John 6

Jehoshaphat Allies with Ahab

1Now Jehoshaphat ahad great riches and honor, band he made a marriage alliance with Ahab. 2cAfter some years he went down to Ahab in Samaria. And Ahab killed an abundance of sheep and oxen for him and for the people who were with him, and induced him to go up against Ramoth-gilead. 3Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead?” He answered him, “I am as you are, my people as your people. We will be with you in the war.”

4And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the Lord.” 5Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king.” 6But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” 7And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” 8Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah.” 9Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes. And they were sitting at the threshing floor dat the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. 10And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’” 11And all the prophets prophesied so and said, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph. The Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”

12And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” 13But Micaiah said, e“As the Lord lives, fwhat my God says, that I will speak.” 14And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?” And he answered, “Go up and triumph; they will be given into your hand.” 15But the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” 16And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, gas sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’” 17And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” 18And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: hI saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. 19And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. 20Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ 21And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be ia lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ 22Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets. The Lord has declared disaster concerning you.”

23Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near jand struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “Which way did the Spirit of the Lord go from me to speak to you?” 24And Micaiah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.” 25And the king of Israel said, “Seize Micaiah and take him back to Amon kthe governor of the city and to Joash the king's son, 26and say, ‘Thus says the king, lPut this fellow in prison and feed him with meager rations of bread and water until I return in peace.’” 27And Micaiah said, “If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, m“Hear, all you peoples!”

The Defeat and Death of Ahab

28So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. 29And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle. 30Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, “Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.” 31As soon as the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him; God drew them away from him. 32For as soon as the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. 33But a certain man drew his bow at random1 and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” 34And the battle continued that day, and the king of Israel was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening. Then at sunset he died.

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Footnotes
1 18:33 Hebrew in his innocence

The 144,000 of Israel Sealed

1After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back uthe four winds of the earth, vthat no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2Then I saw another angel ascending wfrom the rising of the sun, with xthe seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3saying, y“Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God zon their foreheads.” 4And aI heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

512,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,

12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,

12,000 from the tribe of Gad,

612,000 from the tribe of Asher,

12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,

12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,

712,000 from the tribe of Simeon,

12,000 from the tribe of Levi,

12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,

812,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,

12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,

12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

A Great Multitude from Every Nation

9After this I looked, and behold, ba great multitude that no one could number, cfrom every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dclothed in white robes, with epalm branches in their hands, 10and crying out with a loud voice, f“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and gthe four living creatures, and they hfell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12isaying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

13Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, dclothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of jthe great tribulation. kThey have washed their robes and lmade them white min the blood of the Lamb.

15“Therefore they are before the throne of God,

and nserve him day and night in his temple;

and he who sits on the throne owill shelter them with his presence.

16pThey shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;

qthe sun shall not strike them,

nor any scorching heat.

17For the Lamb in the midst of the throne rwill be their shepherd,

and he will guide them to springs of sliving water,

and tGod will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

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A Vision of Joshua the High Priest

1Then he showed me jJoshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and kSatan1 standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2And the Lord said to Satan, l“The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has mchosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this na brand2 plucked from the fire?” 3Now jJoshua was standing before the angel, oclothed with filthy garments. 4And the angel said to pthose who were standing before him, q“Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, rI have taken your iniquity away from you, and sI will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5And I said, t“Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.

6And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured jJoshua, 7“Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and ukeep my charge, then you shall vrule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among wthose who are standing here. 8Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for xthey are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring ymy servant zthe Branch. 9For behold, on athe stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with bseven eyes,3 I will cengrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and dI will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come eunder his vine and under his fig tree.”

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Footnotes
1 3:1 Hebrew the Accuser or the Adversary
2 3:2 That is, a burning stick
3 3:9 Or facets

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

1After this jJesus went away to the other side of kthe Sea of Galilee, which is lthe Sea of Tiberias. 2And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3Jesus went up on mthe mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4Now nthe Passover, the ofeast of the Jews, was at hand. 5pLifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to qPhilip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7rPhilip answered him, “Two hundred denarii1 worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8One of his disciples, sAndrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, 9“There is a boy here who has five tbarley loaves and two fish, but twhat are they for so many?” 10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” uNow there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11Jesus then took the loaves, and vwhen he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, w“This is indeed xthe Prophet ywho is to come into the world!”

15zPerceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus awithdrew again to bthe mountain by himself.

Jesus Walks on Water

16When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19When they had rowed about three or four miles,2 they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20cBut he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

I Am the Bread of Life

22On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only done boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord ehad given thanks. 24fSo when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and gwent to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

25When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, h“Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, iyou are seeking me, not because you saw jsigns, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27kDo not work for the food that perishes, but for lthe food that endures to eternal life, which mthe Son of Man will give to you. For on nhim God the Father has oset his seal.” 28Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing pthe works of God?” 29Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, qthat you believe in him whom rhe has sent.” 30So they said to him, s“Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31tOur fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, u‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is vhe who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34They said to him, w“Sir, give us this bread always.”

35Jesus said to them, x“I am the bread of life; ywhoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37zAll that athe Father gives me will come to me, and bwhoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38For cI have come down from heaven, not to do dmy own will but dthe will of him ewho sent me. 39And fthis is the will of him who sent me, gthat I should lose nothing of hall that he has given me, but iraise it up on the last day. 40For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who jlooks on the Son and kbelieves in him lshould have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

41So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, m“I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42They said, n“Is not this Jesus, othe son of Joseph, whose father and mother pwe know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me qdraws him. And rI will raise him up on the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets, s‘And they will all be ttaught by God.’ uEveryone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46vnot that anyone has seen the Father except whe who is from God; he xhas seen the Father. 47Truly, truly, I say to you, ywhoever believes has eternal life. 48zI am the bread of life. 49aYour fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and bthey died. 50cThis is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it dand not die. 51I am the living bread ethat came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give ffor the life of the world is gmy flesh.”

52The Jews then hdisputed among themselves, saying, i“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of jthe Son of Man and drink his blood, you khave no life in you. 54Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood lhas eternal life, and mI will raise him up on the last day. 55For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood nabides in me, and I in him. 57As othe living Father psent me, and qI live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58rThis is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread3 the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59Jesus4 said these things in the synagogue, as he taught sat Capernaum.

The Words of Eternal Life

60tWhen many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61But Jesus, vknowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62Then what if you were to see wthe Son of Man xascending to ywhere he was before? 63zIt is the Spirit who gives life; athe flesh is no help at all. bThe words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But cthere are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus vknew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and dwho it was who would betray him.) 65And he said, “This is why I told you ethat no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

66fAfter this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67So Jesus said to gthe twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have hthe words of eternal life, 69and iwe have believed, and have come to know, that jyou are kthe Holy One of God.” 70Jesus answered them, l“Did I not choose you, gthe twelve? And yet one of you is ma devil.” 71He spoke of Judas nthe son of Simon Iscariot, for ohe, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.

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Footnotes
1 6:7 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer
2 6:19 Greek twenty-five or thirty stadia; a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters
3 6:58 Greek lacks the bread
4 6:59 Greek He
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.

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