No Room at the Inn #2

Welcome to the Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hello again, I'm Bill Wright. It is our joy to continue our commitment to teaching God's people God's Word. Today Don is continuing with the second part of a message we started last time. So let's get right to it. Open your Bible as we join Don now in the Truth Pulpit. So that brings us to our third question. What about the Lord?

And this is what I really want to focus in on for the rest of our time. We said what about the inn? It was probably a room and a house. What about the manger?

We don't really know, but it's an association with animals. But let's now move into a more direct meditation about our Lord Jesus Christ rather than physical structures and straw and hay and things like that. That's certainly going to be a more valuable place for our meditation than anything else. What should we glean from the manger and from the fact that there was no room for them at the inn? Well, beloved, this humble birth prefigured the humble life that he would live. You see, the Lord entered into our world without any human comforts whatsoever.

Herod was not far away in a magnificent palace. The king of the universe was entered into circumstances like this. It was ever thus so for our Lord. In Luke chapter 9 verse 58, again Luke speaking here. Jesus is speaking, but it's in Luke's account. In Luke chapter 9 verse 58, Jesus said, the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.

His birth, where there was no room for them in the inn, gave way to a life where Jesus could truthfully say that as he walked on earth he had nowhere to lay his head. Now, beloved, remember who we're talking about here. You know, sometimes children have to be reminded of who they're talking to when they're getting a little bit sassy with their parents. I've had relatives say, excuse me, I am your mother.

Don't talk to your father that way. You know, and there's this recognition that there is some prerogative and respect and deference and honor that should go to one having authority in your life and that you should not just talk back in a brazen manner in such a way. Well, beloved, here we're considering the Lord of the universe, we're considering Jesus Christ of all people, the eternal second person of the ineffable Godhead, and yet here he is walking on earth with no place to lay his head.

This is completely incongruous. This is not like anything that you would expect from a sovereign to accept as he enters into a world over which he reigns. And what it tells us, beloved, is that our blessed Lord, when he came to earth to save sinners, as Matt read in 1 Timothy 1 verse 15, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. When Jesus Christ came into the world, the sovereign head of the universe, beloved, what I want you to see is that he came into the world without asserting his privileges. And it started right from the very beginning at the circumstances of his birth. John chapter 1 verse 10 says, he was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him.

This just shatters my mind and shatters my thinking. I can't speak for you, but it shatters my mind to think that the sovereign of all creation is in the world, not asserting his privileges, finding a world that doesn't even know him, finding a world that has no place for him. And yet he does this voluntarily. Christ comes into the world gladly, voluntarily accepting these limitations, accepting this humiliation in order to fulfill the mission that God sent him on to save sinners like you and me. John MacArthur said it well in his commentary on Luke. He said this, and I quote, he said, when Jesus came into the world, he was born in the most comfortless conditions, a smelly, filthy, chilly shelter surrounded by noisy animals. His humble birth was appropriate for Jesus, who came to die as a substitute in the place of lowly, humble, wretched sinners, end quote. You see, beloved, the ones who should have been in isolation, rejected, alone, poverty-stricken, is not Christ.

The ones who should have been in that condition are people like you and me. We are the guilty ones. We are the wretched ones. We are the ones who have rejected God and defiled him. And in our pride, which God opposes, as I read from 1 Peter 5 verse 6, in our pride opposing God, here we all, as far as I know, every one of us has a roof over our head, every one of us to one man or another has food to eat. We have all manner of human comforts in our lives, and yet here is Christ without them.

This is a reversal of the expected order. And yet, here we are, while we have these external benefits around us, here we are sinners in poverty, bankrupt, having nothing to offer God by way of our own righteousness that would satisfy what he requires. We are spiritually bankrupt, spiritually unable to do anything for ourselves, not even having the resident capacity within ourselves to believe in Christ without the aid and help of the Holy Spirit. We are wretched, bankrupt, lowly sinners, and Christ comes like this. Don't you see, beloved, that what the sinless Son of God did in the physical circumstances of his existence and his entrance into the world is that he was identifying physically with our spiritual poverty, that in utter brokenness of righteousness we have nothing to offer him. Christ comes in a humble way and identifies with humble sinners just like you and just like me. This speaks to what our Christ is like. This king, this supreme, sovereign king, the maker of heaven and earth, entered into the world with a humble birth. He humbled himself to birth in a manger, and at the end of his three decades of human life, he humbled himself to death on a cross. Look at Philippians chapter 2.

We'll get there soon enough on Sunday mornings. Philippians chapter 2 in verse 5. Philippians 2 verse 5 says, Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Jesus Christ is the king of kings.

He is the savior of the world. And yet there was no room for him at the inn. The place where the world found room for Christ was on a cross when they crucified him. That's where they wanted him. That's where they found room for him. They nailed him to a cross because he was despised and rejected of men.

They never wanted him. And his entrance into the world where there was no room for him at the inn is simply an indication that the world never wanted him and at the inn they called for his death. Look at 1 Peter chapter 2, if you will. 1 Peter chapter 2 in verse 21. The Bible says that you have been called for this purpose since Christ also suffered for you. We talked about suffering on Sunday, didn't we? Since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps. Then speaking of Christ, it says, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth.

And while being reviled, he did not revile in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. And he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by his wounds you were healed. And in chapter 3 verse 18, it says, for Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God.

Do you see it, beloved? Do you see the manifestation of the unspeakable humility of our Lord in these things of which we're discussing here? He enters the world into a place where there's no room for him at the inn. He gladly accepts and embraces a humble birth, though he is a king. He accepts the utter degradation of being associated with animals in his birth, and in all of these things that carry on throughout his life, where there's no place for him to lay his head, where he is despised and rejected of men, where even at the height of his popularity in John chapter 6, he says a few words to the crowds, and they all leave because they didn't want to hear what he had to say at that point.

Later on, when it came to his crucifixion, the disciples who had stayed around him, that circle of 12, Scripture tells us, they all abandoned him and fled. And so here is Christ, alone in his birth, coming into the world and at his death alone, alone in between, where he has no place to lay his head. What manner of a savior is this? How great and how magnificent is his essence expressed in the depths to which he is willing to humble himself, because this is what was necessary for him to do in order to achieve your redemption. He identified with you in the humble nature of your broken spiritual condition, and he takes on a life that identifies him completely with humiliation, isolation, and rejection.

Now, let's take this just a little bit further, if we will. Matthew chapter 20, verse 26 through 28. Matthew chapter 20, if you'd turn back there. Matthew chapter 20, beginning in verse 26.

And I actually will start in verse 25. Jesus called his disciples to himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.

This is the pattern for Christian living, he says. And then he makes himself the parallel, the example, the epitome of what he is talking about, as he refers to himself as the son of man in verse 28. Just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. The king came as a servant.

The king came and humbled himself. The king came, and rather than asserting authority over his disciples, he serves them. Serves them with his life, serves them in the upper room by washing their feet, and serves them in the ultimate manner when he goes to the cross and lays down his life for them in order to give it as a ransom for their salvation.

This is what he did for you as well, if you are in Christ, my friend. Now, let's just step back, and as we're thinking about this, let's turn over to Ephesians chapter 2, just because this is where my mind goes. We could go to John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he sent his son. But in Ephesians chapter 2, we might ask the question, what motivates a sovereign to act like this? Why would a king humble himself to those great depths?

Ephesians chapter 2, verse 4. But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come, he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Beloved, when you contemplate the fact that there was no room at the inn, when you contemplate the whole manner of the earthly career of Christ, and realize that it culminated in a cross, where he was bloodied, beaten, crucified, and died on our behalf, see a king who is willing to humble himself to the uttermost in order to achieve our redemption. And wedded to that, on the same side of the coin, what motivates a king to humble himself like that is the reality that he has a great love for sinners. He has a great love for sinners just like you, so much so that he would humble himself to the uttermost depths in order to identify with you in your sin, while being sinless himself, to identify with sinners to the uttermost so that he might be a savior to the most humble sinner that approaches him, the most unworthy sinner calling out to him, the humble prostitute who weeps over his feet and washes his feet with her tears and her hair, that such a one as that, so humbled by the recognition of their guilt, could find that in Christ, one who humbled himself like that could receive even a humble sinner who comes to him. That's who Christ is. That's how great his humility is, so that no room at the inn ultimately tells us about the humble depths of redemptive love in a way that should melt our hearts toward the one who saved us in gratitude, in like manner of service, and in believing faith and in believing trust. You know, I've said many, many times, and I probably keep saying it over and over again as long as the Lord gives me breath.

And I wish I would remember this more consciously because I should say it almost every single time that I step into a pulpit. One of the most difficult things that you have in the carnal remnants of your heart is to believe that God actually loves you and cares for you. We're quick to believe that God is a God of wrath and judgment. We're slow to believe in our carnal mind and our enmity toward God, that he actually is a loving, gracious God to those who come to him in humble, repentant faith.

The incarnation shows us what that is like. And as you look to the manger, as you look to the cross, you should be able to see how great the love of God is for sinners like you. This is how far down he will step. He will step down to a manger. He will step down to death, even death on a cross, in order to redeem a sinner like you.

And why would he do this? Ephesians 2, 4, But God, being great in love, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, he is showing the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. He would accept the uttermost rejection and humiliation from the hands of the world in order to do the work that was necessary to save a sinner just like you. Beloved, don't you think that it's time for us to cast out our unworthy thoughts of the love of God? Isn't it time for us to stop thinking that God is a stingy, unwilling God who's unwilling to receive us, who's slow to forgive?

Actually, it's just the opposite. We're slow to confess. God is swift to forgive. And so, Christ came to a world that did not know him, a world that did not want him, a world that found its place for him on a cross. Well, beloved, we need to wrap this up this evening and ask the question, well, what about you? What about you? Forget what the world did in the first century now, we're presented with this magnificent, humble Christ who is presented to all of us as being the savior of sinners. And the question is, what about you?

Will you go with the world and say, I don't have time for him, I don't want him, I'm not interested in him? I know that some of you are living that way, even though you're here this evening. And, oh, how it breaks my heart, but that really doesn't matter how much it must grieve the Spirit of God, that you could see things like this in the Scripture and be hard-hearted toward him when his love goes out to you in immeasurable ways, when his love goes out to you in the proclamation of the gospel to you, when it goes out to you and says, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And Jesus invites you to come and says, the one who comes to me I'll never cast away. There's this universal offer that goes out to sinners everywhere, including everyone in this room and everyone over the live stream, everyone hearing this on subsequent media, that there is an invitation from a gracious, humble, humble Christ who says, I will save you, I will cleanse you, I gave my life for sinners just like you. Come to me in faith and I will make you my own. This is a loving, gracious appeal. And so we come to a point where sooner or later we have to answer the question, will you have the world or will you have Christ?

Charles Spurgeon said this. Someone says, I have room for him, but will he come, meaning will Christ come? Will he come indeed?

Set the door of your heart open. Say to him, Jesus, Master, all unworthy and unclean, I look to you. Come, lodge within my heart. He will come to you. He will cleanse the manger of your heart and transform it into a golden throne.

And there he will sit and reign forever and ever, end quote. My friend, my dear friend, this humble Christ calls you in humble love to find salvation in him. Have you responded in a humble, repentant faith?

Will you? Let's pray together. We come, O Christ, to thee and honor you. We worship you. We bow before every aspect of your magnificent existence, your pre-incarnate glory, your humble place in a manger, that rejected place on the cross. We worship you at the empty tomb. We worship you ascended on high by faith. We worship you in anticipation of your second coming to receive your own. O great Christ, one day every knee will bow before you and you will receive the glory, the open, confessed glory that you have always reserved. For now, as we contemplate this birth narrative from Luke chapter 2, Father, we realize that we are seeing your Christ veiled in flesh.

But veiled in flesh, the Godhead see, we hail the incarnate deity. Father, I ask you for the souls that are here that are apart from Christ. Father, by faith I ask you to manifest the love of God in their heart, to shed it abroad, to diffuse that quickening ray of which we sang earlier, to awaken them that they might come out of the dungeon of sin, leave the chains behind and exercise repentance and faith in Christ, that they might be forgiven. Father, that you would work by your Spirit in their heart to bring them safely into your heavenly kingdom.

No room at the inn? Father, yes, in the day when Christ came. Here in our hearts, Father, we make room. We invite you to reign over us as Lord and King. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. On the west side of Cincinnati, Ohio, we're easy to find, easy to get to. We have services at 9 a.m. on Sunday and 7 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday evening for our midweek study. You can also find us on our live stream at thetruthpulpit.com.

That's thetruthpulpit.com. But we would love to see you. And if you do happen to be able to visit us in person, do this if you would. Come and introduce yourself to me personally. Fight your way through the people and tell me that you listen on The Truth Pulpit and that you're here visiting. I would love to give you a word of personal greeting. So hopefully we'll see you one day in person at Truth Community Church.

You can find our location and service times at thetruthpulpit.com. That's Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Thank you so much for listening to The Truth Pulpit. Join us next time for more as we continue teaching God's people God's word.