The significance of Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus, highlighting its initially inglorious reputation as a picture of the world and individual hearts in need of salvation. It details how both the humble shepherds and the wise men, representing different societal strata, sought and found Jesus, illustrating that Christ brings light and dispels fear. The message emphasizes that finding Christ, whether through simple faith or intellectual seeking, leads to a transformed life and a new way of living, urging listeners to investigate and personally discover Jesus as their Savior.
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Hello, everyone. This is Lester Logan speaking, and I want to speak to you today on the Little Town of Bethlehem to begin with. Of all these lovely pals we hear this time of the year, I love that one about Bethlehem. Old little town of Bethlehem, how still we see the lie above by deep and dreamlessly, the silent star goodbye. Yet in thy dark street shine as the everlasting light The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight. Where is he, the question is asked in Matthew two and one and two, for we read these words, Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Judea and the days of Herod, the king behold, there came wise men, from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born, King of the Jews, who we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him?
Notice those three words, Where is he? And then over in First John, chapter one, and verse forty-five, we read an answer to that. We have found him. Where is he? We have found him. Now let us look at Bethlehem. What a town it was. It had a very inglorious reputation in the past. Death and mourning were there when Rachel, the wife of Jacob, died. And there was a lot of mourning going on, and that's where Rachel was buried, as you read in Genesis thirty-five and nineteen. And there was a great famine in Bethlehem.
You read that in the book of Ruth. And in Judges seventeen, you'll find there was a lot of idolatry there. And that was an abomination in the sight of God. And also in Judges nineteen and twenty-one, a terrible case of immorality and strife is seen in Bethlehem. And in Bethlehem, Benjamin, the tribe of Benjamin, was almost exterminated by the other tribes. Only six hundred were left. out of the tribe of Benjamin. This happened at the little town of Bethlehem. And so it's quite a little town with a bad reputation.
What a picture of this world. The things I've mentioned that were going on in Bethlehem are going on in this world today and going on in your heart and my heart, unless we're saved by the grace of God. And God singled out this little town. This little town Bethlehem was selected by God for this great event, the birth of his son, as you find in verse six. And now Bethlehem and the land of Judah art not the least among the princes of Judah, but out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. And so we see the little town of Bethlehem visited by God and the person of his son.
He was born a savior, according to Luke two, eleven. He was every inch a savior. It was natural for him to save. He was born a king, according to Matthew two and two. He was every inch a king, natural for him to reign. Born to save, lived to save, died to save, he'll come again to save. all his beloved people out of this poor wicked world. Yet, where is he? The days at God's right hand. I wonder, friend, if you know that living Christ, that living Savior.
Now let's get back to our story. You find these wise men, and they found him. He had been revealed to the toilers, first of all, the shepherds were the ones who saw him before, even the wise men. And these shepherds, these toilers, representing the working class, there they were in the dark, full of fear. all of a sudden they heard the gospel by angels. Glory to God in the highest on earth, peace, good will toward men. And behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord. Just think of those shepherds hearing the gospel from the angels. What happened? They were in the dark. They were full of fear. But the message from the angels brought light, for the glory of God shone round about them, and their fear was dispelled. So it is, when Christ comes into a human heart, the heart is in a state of darkness and full of fear. But the message of the Christ child, the message of the gospel, brings light into the heart, and fear is dispelled.
And also these shepherds rejoiced. Yes, and so does everyone who received the Savior and passers from death unto life, they rejoiced. And these shepherds enjoyed a rest. They obeyed true when they were told to go with that message. And they said one to another, come, let us go to Bethlehem and see this great thing that has come to pass. Yes, friend, they obeyed the message of the angels. I wonder if you'll obey the message of the gospel today. Not only did the shepherds find him, but the wise men found him.
The position of the wise men, there's no real mention of their nationality or occupation. Tradition says that they came from Persia. They were philosophers, astrologers. That's why the word Magi is used as a Persian origin. They were men of rank, obtained courteous reception from King Herod, so they must have had some education, some position or station in life for Herod to give them the attention he did. They were men of wisdom, men of wealth. They were the thinkers, the intellectuals, the educated of that day, but they did not know the Christ like many today.
Nevertheless, you see them searching for him. Here you have the action of the wise men. They were in the far country and they came to the right place. They came to the city of Jerusalem first, as you have in verse one of chapter two. It was the city of the great king. It was here where they got in touch with the scribes to inform them about this coming personality and that he was to arise out of Judah and that he was to be led to by a star. And there's where they picked up the star and the star led them to Bethlehem. We understand that at that time the Gentile world was expecting the appearance of some great personage.
And these wise men were Gentiles, they weren't Jews, the Shepherd were Jews. And likely this is the motive of the wise men. They sought truth, and so they came from the east. And they came to Jerusalem, and there Jerusalem. They far picked them up, and led them to Bethlehem. It was quite a journey, and yet these wise men they were seeking for the truth of God, notwithstanding the long journey, the distance, the expense, and the difficulty. They were seeking... that one who was to come. They knew so little about him, yet they knew that someone was going to come, a great personage, and their hope was in him.
The wise of every age must seek if they would find. I wonder, friend, if you are seeking right now, seeking like the shepherd, the working class, the toilers, or are you seeking like an intellectual, an educated person, seeking Christ? Wise men are in an attitude of worship you'll find in this story. Yes, they were quite reverent. They didn't come to criticize or to argue, as intellectuals often do, no, they came in search of something for their soul. The wise men were satisfied. Why? They sought and they found a person.
led by the star, which is a picture of the Spirit, and by the Scriptures, as we notice, they found a person, Christ the King. That's what the world needs today, and that's what you need, and that's what I need, and thank God I have. They saw a child, and that child was a King, a child mighty, yet meek, lowly, yet lofty. They followed the star. They found what the star led them to. And that was a person. And they worshiped him. They presented gold, silver, precious stones.
What can you present to the Lord Jesus today? He wants you to present a repentant, empty, hungry heart. And he will save, fill, and satisfy your heart. You'll notice these wise men went back another way. They didn't return the same way. They returned another way. And when you come to Christ, your life and the future will be different. It'll be another way. You'll be going up instead of going down. It'll be the glory road. The road leads to heaven and to home. I wonder if you will receive Christ right now.
And like the second verse of that lovely carol, O little child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray, cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell, O come to us. Abide with us, O Lord, Emmanuel. This is Lester Wilson speaking. Now back to your announcer. Mr. Lester Wilson speaking, and I want to go back to those verses we read yesterday morning.
We spoke on Matthew two and two. Where is he? And that was asked in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, and we mentioned the fact that the shepherds found him, and so did the wise men find him. But now we have one referred to over in the first chapter of the Gospel by John. And verse forty-five, and this is what we read. Philip findeth Nathaniel, and saith unto him, We have found him of whom Moses is in the law, and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. What a wonderful thing to be able to say.
I have found him. I have found the Lord Jesus Christ. On this occasion, it was Nathaniel. who found the Lord Jesus. He was under the fig tree. And of course, here comes Philip, and he sees Nathaniel, and he tells them, but the Lord Jesus, we have found him, the one Moses speak of, and the prophets also wrote about. And of course here, poor Nathaniel, he said unto him, can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Well, he didn't think anything good to come out of that town. But something good did come out of that town.
So here you see the sincerity of Nathaniel. He was sincere, it says he was without guile, but that doesn't mean he was without guilt. He wasn't sinless. He was a very sincere man. And he showed that in the conversation that followed, you notice that he heard Philip make that remark. We have found him. And friend, that's what God wants. He wants your ear. He wants you to hear something. The shepherds heard the message of the angels concerning the coming of Christ. Now here's a message that God wants you to hear, too, about the Lord Jesus, his beloved son.
And Nathaniel heard when Philip speak of Christ on this occasion. But then... Nathaniel questions. He says, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Friend, nothing good can come out of the human heart. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? But something good and clean must be put in you before anything good can come out of you. We are poor sinners, and our hearts are deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. And the Bible asks the question, who can know it? The one under conviction of sin knows what a heart he has, and God knows what your heart is like, and no good can come out of it.
The only good that can come out of a human heart is after Christ is received into that heart. And then after Christ comes in, some good can come out. And until Christ comes into your heart and receives a new nature in Christ Jesus, nothing good can come out. That's what the Bible teaches. A lot of people are trying to get some good out of their heart. They cannot do it. Friend, God wants the Lord Jesus to be born into your heart just like he was born in the manger. And so here is Nathaniel's questioning that any good thing come out of men.
One thing about Nathaniel, he investigated. He's going to find out about what he had just heard from Philip. And I wish men and women today would investigate when they hear something. Investigate it. Go to your Bible and see whether it's in the book. I'm happy when men and women investigate what I say or they come to the chapel to hear what I've got to preach. I'm happy when they investigate because I've tried to give them nothing but the Word of God. And if you investigate, you'll find that out for yourself. You ought to hear enough over this program to see that we're fundamental, and we preach the old-fashioned gospel.
We preach the Word of God as it is, and we welcome investigation. You notice how Nathaniel was amazed in verse twenty-eight. Nathaniel said unto him, for Christ whence knowest thou me Jesus answered and said unto him before that Philip called thee when thou wast under the fig tree I saw thee this is amazing how could the Lord Jesus see Nathaniel under the fig tree if he had even only about a hundred feet or a hundred yards away that could be possible but there was a lot of buildings between the spot where Christ stood where Nathaniel was under the fig tree and a lot of land was there and a hill was there.
It was humanly impossible for Christ to see Nathaniel under the fig tree physically. But Christ being what it was, the Son of God, he saw Nathaniel there. And this is what amazed Nathaniel. Why, he said, how could you see me? He found out why the Lord Jesus saw him, because he was God manifest in the flesh. And that brought out something to Nathaniel. And he confessed what he now believed in verse twenty-nine. Thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel. That was something for a Jew to say.
There are the very two things they denied and refused to believe that Jesus was the Son of God, and he was the true King of Israel. So here is Nathaniel. He believed it. He confessed it. and result was he was saved. And he gets a little picture of the coming glories of Christ in the millennium in the next verse, verse fifty-one. And he said unto Nathaniel very early, I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see, heaven open, the angel of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. And so Nathaniel found the Lord Jesus Christ. This portion of Scripture in First John has been called The found chapter.
Andrew found Christ. Then Andrew also found Peter. And Christ then finds Philip. And Philip, he found Nathaniel. Here you have found, mentioned four times. Friend, let me ask you a personal question right now. Have you found the Lord Jesus Christ? You're not happy, you're not saved, you're not going to heaven until you have found him. You know there are five ways you could win a soul to Christ. Andrew was won to Christ by John's preaching. Peter was won to Christ by a personal testimony and that of his own brother.
Philip was won to Christ by a direct call. How wonderful that was. A direct call, the Apostle Paul, was also one to Christ by a direct call from heaven, no instrument was used. Also, you think of Simeon, he was spoken to directly by the Lord and the Spirit of God, no human instrument used there either. God does call us by His Spirit, through the Word of God, and through circumstances, He's calling sinners unto Himself, and He wants you to find Him. You know, Nathaniel was won by a friend. And how wonder, just a word of a friend won Nathaniel.
It's nice when we speak a word for the Lord, isn't it? And of John, too, he was won by the very life of Christ, looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, behold, the Lamb of God. Here you have a sermon in his shoes. All must find Christ to be saved. Professor Sir J.Y. Simpson, Edinburgh, Scotland, the discoverer of chloroform and many other great finds in medical fields was asked, what was his greatest discovery? Well, he said, I'll tell you. My greatest discovery was when I found out I was lost.
And then following that, my next great discovery was I discovered the Savior's. I found the Lord Jesus Christ. Friend, have you made the discovery? It's an important discovery that you're a lost, helpless sinner. But God so loved the world, he so loved you that he sent his beloved Son into this world, and he went to that cruel cross that you might find him there as your personal Savior, the one who bore your sins in his own body on the tree. He suffered the just one for you, the unjust, that you might be brought to God. All your sins were laid upon him. Jesus bore them on the tree, and God who knew them laid them on him, now believing you may be free.
Will you, this morning, find Christ who is sitting at God's right hand, and all is excellent, glory with all the power necessary to save you, to keep you, and come for you, and take you home to be forever with himself? Will you be one who will find Christ this Christmas or this moment that will be the happiest Christmas of your life?