I want to thank all of those who have ministered to us in the service thus far. We appreciate their dedication, their talents, their preparation, and their presentation. And we're glad that you're here today. It is possible that we have some visitors as I look across the auditorium. And we'd love for you to sign one of the visitor's cards in the pew. We're out in the foyer of the church. become acquainted with you, perhaps some communication. So we don't take your presence for granted. We're glad you're here. And as well as for our own people. Well, let's take our Bible, shall we please? And I want to speak today on Love Came Down at Christmas. Now, that's a different title than the message that I had prepared, so I'll use that message title next week. But Love Came Down at Christmas. And you say immediately, Terry, what do you mean? Well, God is love. And when I think of the nativity, the first advent of our Savior, the Lord Jesus, I realize the love of God. Love, God himself, came down and became flesh. There are several biblical passages that emphasize love. And these passages are all translated love from the Greek agape. Therefore, I'm not talking about romantic love, nor brotherly love. I'm talking about God who is love. And what is agape love? Beautifully demonstrated and declared to us at Calvary. Greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends. Agape love is undeserved. It is gracious and sacrificial. Think with me of that verse that probably all of us could quote from memory, John 3.16. Some have described that as the gospel in a nutshell. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Or we could turn to Romans chapter five, and the latter part of that fifth verse. Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. We're looking at just a few of those multiple passages in the divine revelation that give attention, significance, and emphasis on agape. Think of Galatians 5.22, and what do we have there in that 22nd verse? You know it, the fruit of the Spirit. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, first of all. Joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. 1 John chapter 4 in verse 8, He that loveth not knoweth not God. Examine your own heart as I need to this morning. Do we have that love, agape love, given to us by the Holy Spirit? If we lack it, if we love not God, then we know not God. Why? For God is love. In verse 19 of that identical chapter, we love Him. Why? Because He first loved us. He took the initiative in love and our response. necessity must be in love revelation the last book of the Bible chapter 1 in verse 5 you have these words unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood by prompted the shedding of blood to cleanse us from our sin his love Or Revelation 2.4, thou, letter to the church in Ephesus, thou hast left thy first love. Now with these few verses taken from the multiple passages in the divine revelation, I want us to consider at least three things today. First of all, our love for the scripture. Our love for the scripture. In 2 Timothy chapter three, turn there with me, will you please? Now, Chip told me there was water up here. And I know from years of preaching that you don't want a dry preacher, right? Let's go to 2 Timothy. Chapter 3 and verse 16. Let's look at it, shall we, together? All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. If I look at it, I see four things. For doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction. And I remember that Pastor Turner, just a few weeks ago, gave attention to this verse. And you know how these four things are described by Warren Wiersbe in his commentary on this text? He says, first of all, it says, for doctrine, for what is right. Now follow me, for what is right. For reproof, for what is not right. For correction, to make what is not right, right. and for instruction to stay right. Now that's a simple commentary on that verse, but it's accurate and it's memorable. So all Scripture is given by inspiration. Watch that little phrase, given by inspiration, in the English KJV. Well, it means God breathed. But it means more than that. It means to be breathed out, to exhale. God's doing something miraculous. Now there's difference between revelation and inspiration. Because revelation is the content. That's the message. You understand that, correct? And inspiration is the method or the means that this revelation is communicated to you and me. The Spirit of God prepared the men of God to write the Word of God. And notice something. These men communicated this life-changing message through their own personalities and with respect and exercise of their vocabulary. Notice the superintendency of the Holy Spirit in this whole enterprise. They composed and recorded without error God's Word to man. And if I understand Matthew chapter 5 and verse 18, inspiration extends to the very words of the sacred text. the jot and the tittle. Just like, the jot would be like a, just a marking, if you will. And the other would be just a protrusion or an identification from one word to another. The smallest, if you will. All right. May I say to you then today, I believe in the verbal Plenary, infallible, inerrant inspiration of the Bible. And immediately you say, well, hey, they sound like really great theological terms. But when I say the verbal, I mean the words. The words. When I'm talking about plenary, I'm talking about the words in the entire scripture. from Genesis to Revelation. Therefore, it's incumbent upon me, is it not, and upon you, that we do not add nor subtract from the Holy Scriptures. We're warned of that. And the consequences are emphatically and clearly, succinctly stated in the book of the Revelation. I'm not declaring it as our church or me. It's coming from the Word of God, the mind of the Lord, to the mind of man. Furthermore, 2 Peter 1.21 says, For prophecy came not in old time by the will of men, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Now someone here today is saying, Terry, what's this got to do with Christmas? Well, it's got much to do with it. Have any of you ever heard of Jeffress, who pastors the large First Baptist Church of Dallas, which takes one whole city block in downtown? And he has written, and I read it just probably a week or two ago. He said, the first coming, the first advent of Jesus Christ fulfilled over 3,000 prophecies contained in the Old Covenant. You've heard me say from this very pulpit that the golden thread woven throughout the divine tapestry from the first book to the end is what? The Lord Jesus Christ. And in prayer meeting one night, I quoted one of the television pastors who has taken the reference to Jesus in every book of the Bible, 66, and has given a descriptive title as Christ is presented in that book. So the Bible, the scripture, has much to do with the Lord Jesus and his first advent. For if we had not the fulfillment of those prophecies that pertain to his first coming, we would not have an inspired, verbal, Plenary, infallible, inerrant inspiration of scripture. He cannot break his word. His promises are kept true. Now, what do I mean as I go on? I talked about verbal, plenary. Now, the next was what? Infallible. It is incapable, impossible for it to make a mistake. Therefore, it is trustworthy. It is reliable. It is authoritative. It is forever settled in heaven. And furthermore, it says inerrant. That means that it has no error. It's different than any book that you have ever read or ever known. different than any book you could have in the most massive library of the world. When you pick up this book, I want to ask you on this Christmas Sunday, do you have a love for the scriptures? Not just intellectually, not just academically, not with a spirit of investigation and inquisitive drive. I'm asking you, have you fallen in love with the book? This is the written revelation. I'm asking you today, how do you know your sin? How do you know the Savior? How do you understand and experience salvation? How do you enjoy the advanced growth known in the life of the believer as sanctification? And what propels you to serve him with all your heart? I'm telling you, you find it in this book. And without it, we would be destitute and lost. Well, let's go on, shall we? So Psalm 119, 97, oh how love I thy law, it is my meditation all the day, summarizes our love of the scripture. But now what about the love of the Savior? That's another one, isn't it? 1 John 4, 19, we love him because he first loved us. And pastor's been talking about the predictions of the incarnation. Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6. You with me? That speaks of his humanity and his deity. Think of it. You know, I was thinking of my childhood on the farm, because now and then I hear somebody say he was born in a manger. Well, that's a dead giveaway. I know they never were on a farm. It would be difficult for Mary, the mother of Jesus, to got in the manger and have given birth to Jesus. I think of going out to the barn where we had the horses and there were mangers. And hay was put into the manger for them to eat. I would say this, as many know, and most, if not all here, he was born in a stable, but laid in a manger. So, look, let's look at the manger, the one little one in the manger. How can the infinite be comprehended by the finite? There's mystery here, is there not? Absolutely. Can you fully explain and understand how deity in the fullness of time came and clothed in flesh, humanity, became the God-man? Let's take a look at that baby in the manger, in Bethlehem, humble, Surroundings, crude if you will. Probably some of the farmhands were moving to and fro and caring somewhat for the cattle. Unimpressed, probably annoyed because of the intrusion or what they considered the interruption. But I'm telling you, eternity had entered into time. And it has changed your life and mine as we have embraced the gift of his love and grace. Aren't you glad he came? Talk to me. Are you glad he came? Amen. Praise God. Why? If he had not come, the prophecies would have not been fulfilled. But I got other things to tell you. If he had not come, there would be no salvation. You and I would be lost in our sin. condemned and bound for an eternal hell, separated forever from the God of love and grace and mercy and truth. I'm glad He came, and so are you. So He came to fulfill the promises. But let me tell you something else. What were the purposes of the Incarnation? Well, number one, he came to reveal God. Remember, Nathanael was interested in knowing something about God. Remember that passage there in the New Testament? And what was the answer? It was a gracious answer. He wasn't rebuked, criticized, no. Jesus said to Philip, have I been such a long time with you, and thou hast not known me, Philip? For he that hath seen me hath seen the Father. Believest thou this?" So one of the reasons Jesus came was to give us a clear picture of God. Question, what would you know of God if it weren't for the Lord Jesus Christ? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. In that high priestly prayer of Christ in John, where? 17? He said, the Father and I are one. Never forget that Jesus is God manifested in the flesh. So at this Christmas, I'm inviting you to join with me and countless others to get a good look, a good understanding, a good appreciation, spiritual insight and illumination by the ministry of the Holy Spirit so I have a clear understanding of God. Yes, He came to reveal the invisible God. John chapter 1 verses 1-3 and 1-14, remember? How He became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And then, He not only came to reveal the invisible God, but He came to redeem men from sin. That was to make a sacrifice. And we see that in Hebrews 10, verses 4 and 5, and verses 10 through 12. He came to sacrifice himself. And as I was thinking about this, love the Savior. It begins at the manger. But let's follow him. Because the Bible tells me he went about teaching, preaching, and healing. He had come to die. We had a nativity setting at the Heights Church when I was pastor. And we had real babies from the congregation brought by parents, and they would be in the cradle just so long, and then they were replaced. But over that manger scene was a sign, born to die. And that really is true, isn't it? It's scriptural. So we follow him. He grew up in Nazareth. He was a carpenter for a while, but he said, I have come to do the will of the Father. What a testimony. Do you ever think about the will of God for you? I need to ask myself, do I for myself? The believer out of the will of God is unhappy. Grieves and quenches the spirit. It's the worst place for a believer to be out of the will of God, but the best place, the place of blessing and joy and victory and peace is right in the center of God's will. So I follow the Lord Jesus, and He's going about teaching, preaching, and healing. And then I read too that one day, one day he looked up when he saw the multitude and he was moved with compassion and saw them as sheep without a shepherd. So he recognized that he had something to offer them that they desperately needed. What was it? Forgiveness and newness of life. And so we follow his footsteps, don't we? All through his ministry. And what a ministry. He spoke not as the Pharisees and the scribes, but as one having authority. And then Oh, let's follow him. Let's follow him from the judgment hall, the dusty trail, to the place of the skull called Calvary. When I visited there years back, the Holy Lands, those scenes, brought me to tears. To realize the price that this little baby in the manger took my sins and bore them in his own body on the tree. And then listening, Father forgive them for they know not what they do. And then In quietness, listen carefully. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. May I remind you, no man tooketh his life from him. I have power to take it up and to lay it down. I could call 10, thousand legions of angels and have bypassed the cross, but he was born to die. The one born that historic day that we now call Christmas. It's not the day, it's the event, is now suspended. He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Therefore, we follow him. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus take down his body and place it in that new yom tomb where nobody had ever laid. And three days later, he comes forth from the grave, the first of those who ever slept, alive forevermore. I ask you, love the scriptures, do you? Love the Savior. Have you embraced him? Do you love him? Do you realize who he is and what he's done? and how much he means to us. For he makes the difference where you and I will spend eternity. With him, we're heaven bound, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by his mercy hath he saved us. We're hell bound. He makes the difference. Some of you here today may remember Oliver Greene, the evangelist of the past, and he used to talk about those who were helpless, hopeless, and hellbound. Remember that phrase? How true it is. Without Christ, you're helpless. You're hopeless, and we're all hellbound. But I'm glad that Calvary covers it all. And when you fall in love with the lover of your soul, the Lord Jesus, there's forgiveness of sin. They're buried in the deepest part of the sea. You are adopted and accepted in the beloved. You're a part of that eternal family. And when you breathe your last, you're escorted in through the pearly gates into heaven itself and in the presence of Jesus. So I encourage you to love the scriptures, to love the Savior, and thirdly, love the sinner. You know, there's a difference. I think sometimes, and I've found it myself, I have to be careful that I don't hate the sinner when I hate the sin. Do you ever have that trouble? Yeah, I'm confessing to you today. Some of you are nodding your heads with me. Yeah, we have a tendency when we criticize and hate the sin to hate the sinner. And quite honestly, folks, that's not Scripture. Oh my, we need to detest sin. We need to hate it. We need to despise it. We need to kill it, if you will. But we need to love the sinner for whom Jesus died. Do you remember before you were saved? You weren't so nice yourself, were you? And we've all got a common problem here. Some of us have been forgiven and accepted in Christ, but we still sin. And that's why it's important for us to keep short sin accounts. Rather than what? Ignore the prompting of the Spirit and yield to the flesh. Love the sinner. Think of this verse with me, will you? Luke chapter 15 and the first part of verse 7. Likewise, joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. So if I were to give a little quiz today in a Sunday school class, what brings great joy to heaven, what would your answer be? Well, if you remember that verse, you'd say, when a sinner God sorry for his sin. Not that he got caught. I think that happens with some folks. Over years of ministry, I've seen that happen. Some folks, they were sorry they got caught. That's not Bible. I'm talking about being sorry for your sin. And then, turning with a change of mind and a change of heart to put your complete confidence and faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus. We need more yearning for the spiritual welfare of the lost and dying who are hopeless, helpless, and hellbound. The harvest is plenteous. You know, there's a man that I've come to know by the name of Ray. I won't give his last name. And he's one of the prominent leaders of a church where I've preached several times. And we have a family from that very community who've joined our church and are faithful. I have Will Ward that many of you people know personally. He was a member here. He was a deacon here. Now in South Dakota. Both of those men have talked to me about, hey, do you know a pastor for a church? We're looking for a pastor. And we have been in touch with this college and this organization and good schools and good organizations. And they've had very little response. And my answer to them is this, do you people realize it? Many of you do, I'm sure, that there is a tremendous shortage of men for the pastorate. Christian school teachers, missionaries, we are retiring more missionaries every year than there are men and women called to replace them. There's a dearth of personality. Now that leads me to say this, the harvest is ripe, but the laborers are few. So if you and I are interested in evangelism, we should be doing what? Oh, I know you're gonna say, Terry, you're gonna say, I need to go right today. No, I'm saying you need to begin to pray for laborers. Are you praying that way? Am I? Are you praying, Lord? Lord, will you lift up men and women to go to the mission field, to teach Christian school, pastors, men to become pastors of churches that are true to the scripture and loyal to Christ and have a heart and love for people? That's what the Bible tells us, doesn't it? Now, some of us should go. No doubt about it. But let me say this. Don't go until you are called and sent. Because one of the tragedies today is that we have a lot of dropout. A lot of dropout. Something comes along and somebody gets discouraged and they quit. And you've heard me say, I took my first church to carry on. I took a church for just a few months in 1955, but my first church, 1956, and I've been at it ever since. Has it always been easy? Have there been disappointments? Have there been those who didn't necessarily appreciate me? It's not always smooth sailing. But I've come to tell you, as I've told you before, I'm as convinced today as I was at 13 years of age that God called me to ministry. And for me to have done anything else, I would have been out of His will and disobedient to that call. I don't understand it. It has nothing to do with me. It's all of Him. What I'm saying to you today is that we need to love the sinners. Psalm 126 verses 5 and 6, they that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and reapeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him. And let me say this, love is indispensable in our witnessing. Now remember, I remember Robbie Robertson, who was head of the Isle and at Word of Life way back in the dark ages, teaching a course on witnessing. He said, you can win an argument and lose a soul. And isn't that true? Yeah, win an argument and lose a soul. Better to lose the argument and win the soul. Absolutely. So there are various types of evangelism. Let me name just a few as we close. There's friendship evangelism. You become somebody's friend. Maybe you take them to lunch. Maybe at work, at lunchtime, you have a good chat. Maybe invite them to your home. Various ways and means to exercise witnessing in the friendship mode. Then there is what we call the cold turkey. This is not as popular today because people are suspicious. And that's understandable with the climate of our culture. But there are times when you can go two by two in some areas and have a reception and an open door. And then there's the soft approach and the hard approach. Now, some are better with a hard approach, you know, you sort of knock them in the head, and if you're not careful, you knock them, I don't mean literally, you understand. But then there are others who prefer a soft, gracious, kind approach. And also, we need to recognize that whatever, we need to bathe it in prayer. Let me ask this, are you in love with Scripture? Are you in love with the Savior? Are you loving the sinner? And furthermore, do you love them in such a way that you're sharing the good news? Do you feel right here in this church this morning, if you're saved, do you feel that you're a good witness? Maybe a card with a little note. Maybe a telephone call. Maybe just a gracious smile and a warm handshake will give you entree. But my question is, are you really about the Father's business? Sharing the good news, telling the story, lifting high the banner of the cross, forgiveness and victory in Him. Oh, can you imagine if all of us were set on fire in this area of evangelism, I believe we could fill this church and more for the glory of God and the honor of His name. But if you're here this morning and you know not Christ as your Savior, oh, you can be religious. You can have all the ceremony and all the ritual. You could have the lingo, the vocabulary, the nuances. But I'm asking you, are you here this morning and you don't have a personal, intimate relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ? And you're either here today as a redeemed sinner where you're here unredeemed. You're either saved or lost. And I would invite you today to make your seat an altar. Make it a closet of prayer. Ask the Lord to forgive your sin. Accept Him as your Savior. Tell us about it. And then, Christmas. 2023 will be a significant time and event in your life. Oh, God loves you. Jesus Christ desires to save you and keep you by his grace for all eternity. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank thee today for the truth of thy words. and for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We thank thee for every believer who's here, brothers and sisters in Christ. And Father, we're very grateful for all who have come, but it's possible that there may be some among us, loved ones, friends, visitors, perhaps even a stranger that we have never met, but they have no personal relationship with you. As her heads are bowed and her eyes are closed, I wonder if there's anyone here this morning who would say, Terry, I'm not sure of my salvation. Or I absolutely know that I've never invited Christ into my life to be my Savior. I'd like for you to pray for me because today God has spoken to my heart and I want to trust Jesus Christ is my personal Savior. Heads are bowed, eyes are closed. Is there anyone who would just raise his or her hand and say, Pastor, pray for me? Today, I want to become a new person in Jesus Christ. Anyone at all will take just a moment. Across the auditorium, if God spoke into your heart, and encourage you to respond. Father, we pray that you would seal your word to every heart and send us forth as your people as ambassadors of the cross. And may those who yet are without Christ, I pray that you would cause them to ponder the truth of your word and trust Christ before it's forever too late in his name.