 Today we're in chapter 2 here in the gospel of Luke. Let's begin reading together at verse 1. I'll read verses 1 through 7, and we'll get into our study. Luke chapter 2, beginning at verse 1, reading to verse 7. Luke writes, and it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. And this census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. And so it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. Now as we've been going through, Luke, I mentioned to you last time we were together, that 400 years, for 400 years, God had remained silent towards the nation of Israel. With the closing of the Old Testament canon, the Book of Malachi, there has been a 400 year period of silence. But God now is ready to break his silence, and he's about to keep his covenant that he has made to his people. He had stated in the Old Testament that he would send Messiah. And in the Old Testament he had said that Messiah would be born in a small village in southern Israel, a village by the name of Bethlehem. 700 years before Christ, a prophet by the name of Micah had written a prophecy. It's found in Micah chapter five verse two. It says, but you, Bethlehem, Ephrata, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting. And so God had stated that Messiah would be born in a small village by the name of Bethlehem. The question has to be asked though, how are you gonna get people, Joseph and Mary, for example, who are living in Nazareth, to make a trip down south into Bethlehem? Well, the way that God does that is he moves a petty ruler to have a census. You know, the Bible makes it very clear that God is in control of all things. If you take notes, Proverbs chapter 21 verse one is a powerful proverb. It says, the king's heart is in the Lord's hand, like rivers of water, he turneth it wither so ever he wills. So God is able to turn the king to do whatever God wills or decrees ought to be done. That's what he did. He moved this petty ruler to have a census. And so what takes place is Joseph, who is an inhabitant of Nazareth, but whose lineage descends from David, David being the one who was born in Bethlehem a thousand years earlier. Well, Joseph is now moved through a decree to have to go down there in order to be registered. Now notice with me that they are to be registered. The word registered speaks of recording the names of men, their property, and their income. And what this is for is to make it easier to levy taxes. And so this is what takes place. They go down into the city of Bethlehem in order that they might be registered. Now in verse four it says, Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife. And so it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end. Joseph made a decision to go down because he needed to. Now Mary didn't have to. By law, Mary was not required to go down. But there are a few reasons why Joseph more than likely encouraged or at least allowed that to be. Let me give you three reasons why he would have her come down there with him. Even though it wasn't necessary. One, more than likely because her time of birth was close at hand, Joseph wouldn't want to leave her. A second reason would be he didn't want to leave her there alone because he knew how she would be treated by the people of the village. You see Mary had become pregnant prior to her consummating a marriage agreement with Joseph and therefore those who knew her knowing that she'd become pregnant considered her to be the kind of person that you could treat with disrespect. Joseph knowing that more than likely would have required or desired his girl to be with him as he went on down to Bethlehem. Then there's a third reason that is because it may be that Joseph is aware of the prophecy there in Micah chapter five and thus knowing that it was her time to give birth would encourage her to go with him in order that it might be fulfilled. Whatever the reason is, they go down there and that's where this is taking place. According to verses six and seven, so it was while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. So in spite of the fact that Mary was obviously pregnant and as they're there now in this particular region, they can't find room in an inn in order for her to be giving birth. Notice it says in verse seven, she brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. And so she's obviously pregnant but nobody will give up the room. The result is they're forced to lodge outside. It says here in verse seven, she brought forth her firstborn son. When it says her firstborn, Jesus is the first child that she gave birth to. The Bible records that she had other sons and daughters though and we need to keep that in mind. If you take notes, Matthew 13 verses 55 and 56. On one occasion, some things were being said about Jesus and they were having a problem with him in Matthew 13, 55. It reads, is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brothers, James, Josie, Simon and Judas and his sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things? We know that Jesus had four brothers. They're named for us in scripture. He also had more than one sister because the word sisters is plural. So we know that Jesus came from a large family. Now what's interesting about all of this is Jesus's brothers did not believe in him. They didn't begin to believe in Jesus Christ until after his resurrection. John chapter seven verses three through five makes it very clear when it says even his brothers did not believe in him. But after Jesus's resurrection, he appeared before one of his brothers, the man named James, James being his brother. It's recorded in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse seven. Judas is also known as Jude. And so Jude, a brother of the Lord Jesus Christ also gets saved. And what's interesting about James and Jude is that both of them were used by the Lord in a mighty way. Both of them wrote books that are recorded in the New Testament epistles. We have the book of James as well as the book of Jude. So James and Jude, though they didn't believe in Jesus prior to his death, burial and resurrection, ultimately became followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so first when the scripture says here that she brought forth her firstborn son, it gives us understanding that Jesus Christ was the first of several brothers and sisters, several children that Mary had. Now obviously he was born of God. Joseph consummated his natural relationship with Mary, his wife, and produced at least six other children, four of them being boys, two of them being girls, two of them we know as writers of the New Testament book. And so what we have here is we have the Lord Jesus Christ, his brother, Sonal, and one he's firstborn. Secondly, when it says here that he's a firstborn, that word firstborn speaks of preeminence. It speaks that Jesus Christ is preeminent over all things. That gives to us insight into his greatness as well as his glory. In Colossians 1.15 it says that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, meaning he is the preeminent one. And so Jesus not only is the firstborn of Mary, but also is the preeminent one. Now secondly, notice it says that she wrapped him in swaddling cloths. And we know that she personally laid him in a manger. Swaddling cloths were wrapped around a baby and would become its clothing for up to a year. There were two different ways that swaddling cloths would be applied. Sometimes they were just strips. They would cause the child, they would stretch the child out and like a mummy they would wrap him with these swaddling cloths in order that the baby would be able to have a straight spine and all. That's one way. The second way is it might be just a large square of cloth where they placed the baby in the center and made a little burrito out of them. You know, they put it over and folded them over very nicely. And a lot of us do that and have done that with our own children. But that's what they would wear normally. And so that's how she prepared him. Notice it also says here in verse seven that she laid him in a manger. A manger is the trough where animals would feed. So that tells us at least one thing about that, that it was filthy. Because the animals as they would eat obviously would salivate, so that's dirty. And secondly, as they would eat very often they would relieve themselves all around that manger. The early church fathers when they were reading this kind of passage though saw in that a picture of the humility of Jesus Christ. That Jesus Christ though he is God took upon himself human flesh and dwelt amongst men and came in the lowest of ways. He wasn't born in a private home and he wasn't born in a palace. Jesus Christ was born outdoors in a place that was outside in front of full view of a variety of people. Anybody who would want to walk by and see him. Mary being a virgin was going through a tremendous place of humiliation herself in that as she's giving birth and she's doing so outdoors there are people who would note her or could see her if they so wanted to. And so this is a picture of the humility of Jesus Christ is to remind us of what took place there. The area was filled with dung and it reminds us of the humility of Jesus Christ. In second Corinthians chapter eight verse nine Paul said you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that you through his poverty might become rich. There is no room for them in the inn. I mentioned just this last week that there are two basic Greek words that are translated by the single word inn. One word we'll speak of what we call a hotel or a hostel. But the other one is an enclosure where travelers would drive their cattle for the night. It had hot water rather it had water but it had no host and no food and no ordinary comforts. What it was was a hotel outside of a stable in reality. It was like a stable and that's where Jesus was being born. There was not room for Jesus even in a stable. So Mary gave birth to Jesus outside there in a stable area just outside of the stable. Now as this is all taking place we'll begin at verse eight here and pick it up. There were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night. Behold an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were greatly afraid. 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. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. These shepherds were more than likely taking care of the sheep that would be used as offerings in the Jewish temple. The fact that Jesus Christ's birth is announced to shepherds awakens us to the fact that Jesus Christ the Lamb of God who take away the sin of the world is immediately being presented in scripture as a sin offering to God. It's interesting to note that this angelic birth announcement was made to shepherds because shepherds were a despised group of people in ancient Israel. They were despised one for one reason because they did not normally keep the kosher laws and therefore they were regarded as being unclean. Secondly, there were people who did not spend time studying the scriptures thoroughly therefore were regarded as ignorant. And so it's interesting to note that the Lord Jesus Christ's announcement is made to people who really are not of the upper class but rather were a despised class and because that is true, it helps us to understand that Jesus Christ is available to anybody who comes to him in faith. Jesus in other words came for all mankind not just a certain segment or class of mankind. Jesus Christ's death is for all. His birth and death is for all of us and that's the point that would be made here. These are people who are not influential at all. As a matter of fact these were people that were not regarded by the society that they lived amongst. Paul when he was writing in 1 Corinthians in chapter one verses 26 through 29 said this. He said, brothers think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards. Not many were influential. Not many were of noble birth but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world that despise things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before him. He didn't call the noble the rich the powerful he called the average. And so when Jesus Christ's announcement is being made to the shepherds it's to awaken us to the fact that that announcement is good for them and it's good for us too. Because the Lord Jesus Christ in his birth as well as his life and unto his death was doing that in order that he might retrieve us in order that he might save us. It's another thing that I'm noticing here and that is in the ordinary events of their lives and as they're going about their daily affairs the Lord God breaks into their daily affairs in order to give to them insight. He invades the ordinary and brings something to them that is extraordinary which is the good news of his son Jesus Christ. Notice in verse nine how it says behold an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them they were greatly afraid. So as they're going about their ordinary task God's glory is revealed. His glory is now revealed to them what is called the Shekinah glory of God. This glory of God had appeared to Moses. This glory of God had appeared to the children of Israel as God was leading the children of Israel through the wilderness and the glory of God appeared when the tabernacle and the temple were dedicated to God. It's the presence of God and they see this Shekinah glory of God and as they see this radiance of God their hearts begin to tremble in fear as they have encountered something that they had heard about but had never seen. They had read the Old Testament I'm sure at least heard stories of it. They knew of the miracles. The angels who visited legendary leaders like Abraham, Gideon and Daniel but now the book is coming alive to them and now an angel is standing over them and as this is taking place they're fearing for their lives and that's why in verse 10 the angel says to them do not be afraid, behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. Do not be afraid. He has to tell them that because it's natural for them to be afraid but what happens is their fear will be transformed into joy because the hope of centuries past is now being fulfilled. Messiah is born. He says in verse 11 there is born to you this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this is a sign to you. You will find a raptant swaddling class lying in a manger. So there is born to you this day. Now I want you to notice how it says in verse 11 there is born to you this day. This day is a signal. It's a dawn of a brand new day. Man has been living in darkness but now that darkness has been driven away by the light of God. Remember in chapter one verses 76 following how Zacharias had said this. He had said you child will be called the prophet of the highest. You will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins through the tender mercy of our God with which the day spring from on high has visited us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. That would be appropriate for people who are desert dwellers. They would understand when he said that there's gonna be a light that is shining in the dark places because their existence was much routed in darkness much at the time. And the light is now shining. The day spring has arrived and Jesus Christ has been born. And that's why he's saying in verse 11 for there is born to you this day in the city of David a savior. Jesus Christ has been born in order that he might save. He's the one who is gonna confront and conquer all the sin of the world. And this one has been born to you. This is the one who will one day conquer Satan and will rule. Now this is the savior Jesus Christ who is Christ the Lord. Now Gabriel had told Mary that his name would be Jesus. He had told Joseph that he would call his name Jesus because he would save his people from their sins. So the Messiah has come in order that he might save. He would save all who believe. Isaiah 5210 says the Lord has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. I am so blessed to be able to report to you that he's still saving people through all the ends of the earth. Thank God that on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on the 120 who were waiting there in the seat of Jerusalem in an upper room and baptized them in the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank God that as they were filled with the spirit and issued out of that room into that area began to magnify God with languages that they had never heard or learned. As they were speaking in tongues magnifying God that powerful Holy Spirit that had baptized them then began to motivate them to take the good news throughout the world. And so it began in the city of Jerusalem on Pentecost. It moved on into the area of Samaria and Judea and then went to the uttermost parts of the earth. And so here we are in the 21st century still repeating the events of something that took place 2000 years ago. Now that a savior has been born, Jesus Christ who is Christ the Lord. The word Christ there it means the anointed one. He is the one who has been anointed to be the savior. Only sinners need saviors and therefore as Christ the Lord we also recognize him as Christ our savior. He is the one that we will bow our knee to. You see every human being born that has ever born is born with a sin nature. That sin nature is derived all the way back from our father Adam, Adam who fell and gave to us his nature. We all fell in Adam and we all do what is natural for us to do, which is to rebel against God. And so for centuries, man had been living with the desire for salvation. God had given to them a way that they could have relationship with him through the Old Testament law that came through Moses. But ultimately because the law was burdensome and it really was not, we were not capable of being able to obey it completely. God did something that man couldn't. He completely obeyed his own law on our behalf and then took upon ourselves, himself, the penalty that was really our own. He died in our behalf in other words. And in doing so gave to us through his powerful Holy Spirit the ability to live a life that is pleasing to him. And so he has stretched out his arm. And in doing so he has saved man. And that's what they're saying there. They're saying, listen, you need to know that today in the city of David, in Bethlehem, a Savior has been born and he is Christ and he is the Lord. This will be verse 12, the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger. Now, as this is taking place in verse 13, suddenly there was at the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. There is no peace on earth except among those with whom God is well pleased. Man is in a state of hostility with heaven and one another but God has provided a way of peace and that comes through his son, Jesus Christ. I don't know, I was sharing this this last week and I'll take a moment just to share a bit with you now. I don't know how many people in this room can remember exactly where you were right about this time, eight o'clock, 36 years ago, but I can tell you, I can remember where I was. 36 years ago, I was in my parents' home and I had just returned home from the Hollywood Palladium 36 years ago today, right around four o'clock in the afternoon or so, an invitation had been given to receive Christ's Lord and Savior and that's the day I stood up and gave my heart to Jesus 36 years ago today. I'm so overjoyed to be able to be standing here in a pulpit 36 years later. You can't imagine, you can't imagine. You can't imagine the journey of 36 years of 36 years, that God has done such incredible things. So much so, that old life, it's been gone for so long, it's hard to remember anymore and I was thinking of it today, I was thinking of it this morning as I awakened, December 27th, 1970, 20 years old, Arthur blessed that the evangelist given an invitation and as I'm sitting there amongst 4,000 young people in the Hollywood Palladium as I'm seated there and he says, if you wanna give your heart to Jesus Christ, stand to your feet and as I'm thinking, God, I need to get right with you, I know that I'm not saved but I can't stand up, I'm shy, I'm unable to stand in front of people and so I said, but if somebody would stand with me, I would stand and that's when Arthur blessed said, perhaps you're afraid to stand by yourself but if somebody would stand with you, would you stand? And my friend George Adams reaches over and touches my right shoulder and says, David, if you wanna stand, I'll stand with you and I'll always be grateful to God for people who hear the voice of the Lord when God is speaking and who love their friends enough to say, listen, if you're afraid to stand by yourself, I'll stand there with you. You know, I went home that day, the first thing I did is I went across the street and I went to the house of the people that I was gonna be partying with that day and I wanted to share with them that I've given my heart to Jesus Christ and my life is gonna change from this day forward. They weren't home but their mom was home and smaller brothers and sisters and the first thing I did is I went in there and I said, I want you to know something, I gave my heart to Christ and I shared my testimony with the mom, the mom knew who I was, she'd known me since I was a little boy, they'd lived across the street from us since we were little and so she knew me and I shared for the very first time that Jesus Christ can transform lives and then I went home and I remember going in the side door there and my parents' home and walking into the den and I remember mom and dad and my sisters were there watching TV and I stood there at the door and it was dark except for the glow of the TV and I said, mom, dad and you know, Madeline, Rebecca, I said, I love you and I turned in, I walked out of the room, I said, praise the Lord and I walked out and my mom freaks out. My mom thought that I had gone crazy and my mom went into her room to do a rosary for me because she was sure that I had lost my mind and I began to live a different life, I began to grow up, I began to read the Bible on a daily basis and began to pray and began to have fellowship with people and I've been asked in the past, when did you know that you were called to pastor a church and my answer's always been the same since I began giving that answer to that question and my answer's always been the same from the day I got saved. I couldn't imagine ever doing anything else except talking about Jesus Christ to people. I started doing it the day I got saved, didn't know very much, once I was blind, now I see, once I was lost, but now I've been found, that's all I knew, but God will take the little things that you know and use them for glorying to glorify himself, there's no doubt about that. I don't know if I've told you this before, but that within two weeks of being saved, I was trying to give Bible studies, I would invite people to my house, at my parents' house and what I did is I began to memorize the messages that I was hearing, that I was receiving from other teachers that I trusted and I would open the passage up to what I had been taught and I would simply repeat what the ministers had been saying to me and I started doing that almost immediately, within three months I was in the military, I went and spent two years in the army, got out, ultimately went to Biola College, began a home Bible study at my parents' house in September of 1973. My mom and my dad had come to Christ through my testimony and my brother ultimately gave his heart to Christ in 1974 and he needed a Bible study and I started to drive from Norwalk out to Ontario and I started to do so every Monday, started in September of 1974 and November of 1974 a young lady showed up by the name of Marie Lopez, Marie got saved within three weeks of coming to the Bible study and needed to be discipled so I married her. It was because the Lord had used Marie, just because of Marie that I began to come out from Norwalk after we got married, I started coming out to the area, ultimately got involved, Marie and I got involved in a Calvary Chapel in 1977 I believe it was, got ordained into the ministry in 1979, served as an assistant pastor for two years and then planted this church in 1981. If you'd have told me back in December 27th, 1970, you know, the kind of life that I was living and the kind of things that I was doing, if you'd have told me that one day God would place me exactly where I'm at right now at this moment, doing exactly what I'm doing, I would have thought you had lost your mind. I would have thought you've got to be kidding that I'm gonna stand before thousands of people on a weekly basis and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, you've got to be kidding. You see, I used to live just up the block from here about three blocks up the street, just up on Philadelphia, just past East End. There's a little stone house there. I used to live in that house and Marie and I before we got married would drive by this plot of land here in the mid-70s we would drive by here quite often and I can remember driving by and seeing the church, the chapel that we call our chapel now, seeing it and telling Marie on one occasion, boy that looks like a sweet little place for a church. I never realized that that was a place that God had prepared for me one day to pastor. Can you imagine that? That I would drive by that well over 30 years ago and I would look at it and I'd say that little building, boy that looks like a sweet place to have a church. Little did I know that God was preparing for us to move here years, years later and here we are, here we are on a Wednesday night, December 27th, 2000 and not 19 anymore, 2006. Just enjoying the Lord. I just, I'm just, I'm so blown away. God gave to us a son, a son who saves sinners of whom like Paul would say, I am chief. I've heard a lot of testimonies over the years and some of them are pretty, pretty heavy but when I consider what God has done in my own life, I just, well it takes everything in me not to break into tears when I'm telling you. Sometimes I just, I wake up and I'll just reach over and I'll put my hand on my wife's head and I'll just touch her head. And I thank God, I thank God. I say, God, you have given to me such an incredible woman who loves me, imagine that, thank you Lord. I see my kids and I'm one of these dodying fathers always has been, you know, just adore them. My grandson, I have all thanksgiving and praise to give to God because he has done things that are wonderful for me. He is blessed in every way that you can imagine my life and the testify of his goodness, his grace is sufficient, his goodness is unmatched, his love overflowing, his mercy beyond comprehension and I am grateful, I am grateful to God for the savior Jesus Christ who's not just a fictional character in a book but has become my friend for 36 years and I took him at his word when he said, I will never, never, never leave you nor forsake you. On one occasion the Lord Jesus was praying and he said, and Father, now I am alone and yet I'm not alone for you are with me and that has been a heart verse of mine for many, many years because as a young man and as a little boy, I felt alone quite a bit but now that I have had a relationship with Jesus Christ, I have never been alone and he is the one who is worthy of all my praise and all of my gratitude and all of my thanks and I am simply standing here amazed after 36 years, I can look back over 36 years now and I can say that he has been faithful every day, every minute, every second because he is faithful and so these shepherds, I can identify with them, outcasts, ignorant people, unclean people actually become the first evangelists because I want you to see this, it says in verse 15, it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherd said to one another, let us go, let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass which the Lord has made known to us and they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lion in a manger. Now when they had seen him, they made widely known the same which was told them concerning this child and all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds but Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart then the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen as it was told them. So they said in verse 15, let us now go and see this thing, they took the angel's word and they moved on it. That's what happens, you know, when you take the word of God and you move on it, God blesses and so that's all they did is they obeyed and what did they do while they found and notice in verse 16, they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph. It's interesting to me that he didn't give them an exact location, did you notice that? He didn't say they're gonna be at 12205 North Pipeline. I mean, there was no exact location there. He simply said you're gonna find him in this condition. So as I read this, I realized that one, God will give to me direction but two, I need to make an effort to seek. The gospel of Jesus Christ gives to me the directions to heaven but I need to seek out God. In Jeremiah 29, 13, God said you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all of your heart. And so there's this, not just the information, there's the acting on it. Isaiah 55, 6 says seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. And so there is the seeking that we do. God had given to them directions. This is where he's gonna be. You're gonna need to find him in this condition but as they went into Bethlehem, remember with me that he's crowded with pilgrims and they begin to move from place to place looking for him until they ultimately encounter him and then when they encounter him, they see that it's exactly as the angel had said and they begin to praise God and not only that, they begin to share. It says in verse 17, when they had seen him, they made widely known the same which is told them concerning the Christ. And what they did is this child, what they did is they began to say this is what happened to us tonight. That's your testimony. That's what happened to me tonight. You know, as I began to share the gospel with people, my dad got saved within about three weeks after I got saved. I'm reading the Bible. I was taught to read the Bible. I began to read the Bible. I'm reading through the New Testament. Every day I'm reading chapters of the Bible until I finally get to the book of Revelation. As I read that, I discovered that there are certain things that are gonna happen that sounded extremely frightening. I walk into the kitchen, mom and dad are there. I open up the Bible, read Revelation chapter nine, give my first message I've ever given. And I say, mom and dad, this is the word of God. And listen to what it says, and I read it. And then I said, I don't know what this means, but I do know this. This does not apply to me, this applies to you. And as I looked at my dad, that's when I said, daddy, you're a good man. You're the best man that I'll ever know. But if you don't give your heart to Jesus Christ, you will be the best man in hell. And that's a pretty strong statement for a 20-year-old ex-druggy, somebody with a wild-eyed long hair, barefooted, holding a Bible in a kitchen, talking to a man who was a faithful husband and father and a hard-working man all of his life. And here I am, a kid who had shamed him for five years with drugs and alcohol, suddenly telling him that he's not as good as me. At least that's the way he could have taken that. But I said, you're a good man, dad. You're the best man that I'll ever know. But you will be the best man in hell if you don't give your heart to Jesus Christ. And I said, daddy, I love you and I don't wanna go to heaven without you. And I said, you need to bow your head and pray you're gonna receive Christ as your Lord and your Savior right now. You see, these shepherds basically just said what they knew. The angels spoke to us, told us what to see, what we would encounter, we encountered it. This is what happened, and they began to glorify as the first evangelists. They had been told what to do and they obeyed. Even as the Lord Jesus Christ says to us, if you come unto me I will in no wise cast you out or come and learn of me. Come and take my yoke upon you. Seek for me, find me. And that's what they did, they simply obeyed. And as they did so, they began to publish widely what they were told. Verse 18 says, all those who heard it marveled at these things which were told them by the shepherd. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told them. God made a difference and God still does. God broke into human history, took upon himself human flesh and called people to worship him. And that's what we've been doing as believers ever since we obeyed the word that was spoken to us.