The Lamb and The Light | Christmas Eve | Pastor Scott Thomas

welcome to Free Life Chapel where we

help you discover and live the free life

in Christ my name is cotti and I'm so

glad that you decided to tune in with us

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what's happening at your church there's

an amazing message in store just for you

I hope you're encouraged I want to talk

to you tonight just for a couple of

minutes quite honestly on on a subject

matter all completely related to Jesus

coming to this earth what I would guess

what I would say

98% of Christians do not know about this

story this is going to be for some of

y'all it's going to be a head scratch

you're wait a minute I'm I'm going to

Google that thing well you can Google

that thing all you want to uh it's not

in mainstream Christianity as far as

teaching goes doesn't mean Christianity

is wrong there's just another layer to

the understanding and we're going to

take a look at that tonight in fact I

would put it this way looking at this

story from a Jewish perspective how you

know Jesus was not a

Christian some of y'all are shocked

right now oh my God is this a cult no

it's not a cult you're you're in church

it's okay Jesus was a Jew and the New

Testament the Bible is written by Jewish

writers influenced in a Jewish culture

with the Jewish language Jewish customs

and history and all of that flavors

everything they wrote so there's some

things you and I read across that

doesn't even register with us we think

oh what a just flowery words no no no no

no that word that phrase meant something

specific and it opens up a whole new

meaning and tonight I want to show you

something Luke chap 2 veres 9-12 I know

you got it memorized but for those who

might have snuck in that you don't have

this down yet we're going to throw it on

the screens for you and and read this

together but but but listen listen to

this and you can read the last last line

with me but here's what it says that

night there were shepherds staying in

the fields nearby guarding their flocks

of sheep and suddenly an angel of the

Lord appeared among them and they and

the radiance of the Lord's Glory

surrounded them they were terrified but

the angel reassured them don't be afraid

he said I bring you good news that will

bring great joy to all people the Savior

yes the Messiah the Lord has been born

today in Bethlehem in the city of David

read this with me and you will recognize

him by this sign you will find a baby

wrapped snugly in strips of cloth

lying

five

keys to the

announcement about the birth of Jesus

and his arrival that you may not know I

want you to listen quick because we got

to go Santa's

coming act like you're not excited just

act like you're not excited you're

acting way too adult right now but I

know when you get out of here oh my God

it's okay I I I kind of get that way as

well I'm I'm I'm with you number one the

first thing that people may not know is

are are the guys that are being

addressed the Shepherds we think about

the Shepherds going oh

dto bless bless their heart you know

these these guys you know just out there

just working and they're just they're

just getting it done well I I I get it

but I need you to understand something

about these Shepherds these were not

regular Shepherds right these Shepherds

were actually levitical Shepherds they

were in the priesthood and they had been

trained on how to care for a certain

select group of sheep in fact they were

there for the birthing of the brand new

baby lambs that would be raised for

sacrifice that would take place in

Jerusalem Bethlehem is just outside of

Jerusalem very very close and this field

that they were in was a shepherd's field

specifically for the raising of

sacrifices that would happen morning and

evening every day as well as on

Passover and so many many many many

lambs had to be born and what would

happen is these Priestly Shepherds who

were trained in how to do this very

specifically they would bring the female

sheep into a ritually purified cave for

birthing you you have to understand

because these Lambs were going to be

used for a holy purpose of worship and

sacrifice to God they couldn't just be

anywhere they had to make sure that

everything was pristine and right even

in the birthing of the Lambs to give

glory to God they went the extra mile so

these Priestly Shepherds they had to be

present at the birth of each future

sacrifice a lamb was not just

erroneously born and they found it no

that lamb was born under the care of a

Priestly Shepherd so that that Shepherd

could inspect the newborn lamb Micah

Micah 4:8

4:8 this is in the in the Old Testament

listen to what it says and you oh Tower

of the flock the stronghold of the

daughter of Zion to you shall it come

even the former Dominion shall come the

kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem

what does that mean Scott here's what it

means Micah was addressing something

very specific he says Old Tower of the

flock that's a specific Tower and that's

a specific flock he is speaking he

speaks a couple of verses earlier of the

uh mdal Eder which l Lally means the

tower that is in Bethlehem what tower

the tower that the priests would be in

as they watched over the field to make

sure no wolves came in to eat the Lambs

as it the place was filled with mothers

that were giving birth to Lambs they

weren't ready to defend themselves

they're heavy carrying little lambs and

so they would get in towers and they

would overlook this Valley these

Priestly Shepherds were on guard in that

area and m is speaking prophetically

hundreds of years before we ever get to

the birth of Jesus and he says this you

Old Tower of the flock right there watch

in Bethlehem in Bethlehem to you it

shall come your Dominion is coming back

the kingdom Authority is coming back in

that area speaking to the fact Jesus

will be born

there at the tower of the flock that

that's the place where Jesus will come

it's very interesting because Matthew

Mark and Luke they all talk about Jesus

being being inspected looked over four

days before he is crucified because

everything Jesus did when he was born

and came to us he had to match perfectly

the sacrificial lamb that was going to

come if he was going to match that for

you and I and we see him in this

capacity number

two the male Lambs were inspected by the

Shepherds for

Perfection the land would in order to be

be chosen to be used as sacrific in

order to honor God it it couldn't have a

a lame leg it couldn't have like a patch

of of dark a dark wool coming out here

like the lamb was inspected it had to be

perfect no discoloration in fact if I

can put it the way that the rabbis wrote

it the lamb had to be without spot or

blemish

in order to be qualified for

sacrifice kind of reminds you and I of

First Peter chapter 1 verse 19 which

1 Peter 1:19

says rather the payment that freed you

was the precious blood of

Christ the Lamb with no defects or

imperfections in other words Jesus was

that lamb when this writes the Lamb with

no defects or imperfections it's

literally speaking of he was that lamb

in that field with all of those other

Lambs he was the sacrificial lamb being

born and all the writers use this

language to connect him straight to the

temple

sacrifice number three all the male

Lambs when they were born they had to be

bathed in a saltwater

solution it was just a natural thing

they were bathing this solution uh for

their skins effect it was for for all

kinds of hygiene things but salt was

required for every sacrifice in the

temple in order for a lamb in to be

sacrificed it had to be connected to

salt salt was a part of the Covenant

connection Leviticus chapter 2 that book

Leviticus 2 · chapter mention

that nobody reads Leviticus

Leviticus 2:3

2:3 it states this you are to season

with salt every sacrifice of your grain

offering you are never to allow the salt

of the Covenant of your God to be

lacking from your grain offer offering

read this with me with all your

sacrifices you must offer salt why what

does salt do salt

purifies and it

preserves it purifies whatever it

touches and it preserves it's

interesting in Matthew 5 Jesus told us

in his teaching you are the salt of the

earth you and I as we live our lives

filled with him wherever we go we are to

be people that are purifying the place

should be better because you walked in

right right right when you go to work

they ought to be standing and clapping

and throwing money at you and just

celebrating when woo I mean they it

ought to be that kind like they're

here because you make the place

better would you just look at the person

beside you just smile at them because

you know they got to be blessed to be

sitting beside you right now they they

are so blessed to be hanging out with

you look you must be God's favorite you

must be God's

favorite we are there to purify but

watch this and

preserve and to help hold things

together there there's something about

Christ followers that were to bring a

strength and a peace to the place that

preserves and holds it when everything

seems to be coming apart put a Believer

put a Christ follower in there full of

peace and hope and somehow now we get

through those things that that that salt

if I could put it this way is on our

life that's who we

are Jesus went through this

process number four and this is where

many of you are going to relate

especially he was wrapped in swaddling

cloth you and I think oh that's so

precious I went to Walmart and tried to

buy some but I couldn't find it anywhere

well they don't sell it at

Walmart what is swaddling cloth it's not

what you think swaddling cloth was

actually old Priestly garments that had

been worn and used in the temple but now

they were retiring those clothes they

got soiled they got stained in order to

put new ones on and because those

garments had been utilized in worship to

God they didn't just want to throw them

away what do we do with them they would

cut them into strips and they would use

these strips these long strips and they

would wrap after a lamb from this field

was born they would wash this lamb in

salt and then they would wrap the strips

of cloth around that lamb in order to

number one keep it warm number two it

would help to dry the the lamb number

three that strip it was made of linen it

was a it was a a fabric that would

Breathe so it didn't constrict the lamb

but then Lambs when they were little it

would keep them bound so they couldn't

get up and walk around because early on

if they broke a leg then they would be

no good for sacrifice so it brought

protection there was many many reasons

that they would wrap these these Lambs

in these claws so number one they would

wrap these Lambs in claws in strips from

Priestly garments and number two they

would use these strips of cloth for

which

to go in the manora the candleabra that

burns in the holy of holies just outside

of it they they they used it to bring

light they used it to to open up so they

could see because there was no other

source of light in there other than the

candles burning to do worship before God

and those those strips were used as

wicks in order to bring light the two

reasons for this

cloth this is brings understanding to us

then when in John 8:12 Jesus speaking of

John 8:12

this directly to this he says this when

John 812 when Jesus spoke again to the

people he said I am the light of the

world whoever follows me will never walk

in darkness but will have the light of

Life he's laying there as an infant just

born and he's already already wrapped as

if he is a wick to light the

world when the shepherds are walking in

these these shepherds are not just guys

who keep sheep B these these shepherds

are guys who who hang out but but

they've been trained in this Priestly

understanding of everything that when

they walk in and they see Jesus there

was like a thousand And1 messages

running through their head as soon as

they laid eyes on him and by the way

then they they also put Jesus the fifth

one he was found in a Manger a

Manger he was he was laying in Jesus was

laying in one of the birthing

caves where when a lamb was about to

give birth they would take the lamb into

this cave that had been ceremonially

cleaned and the lamb would give birth

the the mother would give birth to that

lamb the lamb was taken was was

inspected was washed in that salt water

and then was wrapped in these strips of

cloth and it was laid there for

protection it was young so that no wolf

could come and get it so it didn't hurt

or damage itself but it was laid there

many times in a Manger a Manger was not

a wooden crib sorry I know I'm just

destroying a lot of imagery it was

actually a piece of stone that had been

carved out because these were caves

there was Rock everywhere in Jerusalem

when you go with us next November to

Israel you can see it for yourself I

will show you what a Manger actually is

in fact there's so much rock that Jesus

didn't even even refer to trees he said

if you don't praise me the very rocks

will cry

out this manger was carved out of a out

of a rock and would Jesus would have

been laid in that which is where the

animals were so understand this he was

placed and prepped

for sacrifice just as the Lambs would be

Jesus is fulfilling every piece and part

of all the imagery that is required in

order to get to the place that he could

be the sacrifice the lamb for you and I

when you when we come and we sing these

stories and we talk about the king is

here yes he is that king that's what

Micah declared that a king that

Authority that Dominion is coming back

to Jerusalem but he's going to come

through a Manger he's going to come

through this field heal he's going to be

born like a sacrificial lamb he's going

to be inspected by the priests who were

there he's going to be washed in salt

water it's a part of the Covenant he

can't be a sacrifice if salt is not

connected they're going to wrap him in

strips of cloth yes they are because the

priesthood is wrapped around him and he

will be the light of the world all of

these things are coming together all of

this imagery every one of the Shepherds

saw it when they walked in they knew

exactly what they were looking at

and they saw Jesus lying in a

Manger wrapped in Old Priestly

garments that were cut and

used to wrap the sacrificial lamb and to

light the temple all of that they they

actually saw the savior they got it who

would be both watch this the Lamb of God

and the light of the world

the lamb and the light say that with me

the lamb and the

light John chap 1 verse 29 it says this

look the Lamb of God who takes away the

sin of the

world there he is Jesus was walking on

the street and John the Baptist is the

one who saw him coming and he's the one

that proclaimed there's that lamb the

one that was born in the shepherd's

field where the where the Sheep are

they're going to sacrifice yeah he was

born there he's been through all that he

fit every type and Shadow everything

required of an actual lamb to become a

part of the sacrificial system Jesus

fulfilled it even the animal parts of it

to reach and become the sacrifice for

you and I nothing was left out so he is

the

lamb and then he is the light John

John 8:12

8:12 Jesus said this I am the light of

the world whoever follows me will never

walk in darkness but will have the light

of

life you know the interesting thing

about a

candle is I could blow out every one of

these candles up

here and just have one left burning

and even with just one burning the one

that's burning would be destroying the

darkness that is around that one

candle it'd be destroying it and then if

I took another Cal C candle and I put it

beside

it the one candle that's burning if it

gave its flame to a another

candle the original candle doesn't lose

anything right it's still just as strong

but it

multiplied it increased and now more

darkness is destroyed have you noticed

that you cannot have enough dark to

destroy

light light always wins somebody shout

always light always wins Darkness cannot

overcome light light always defeats dark

you can flick a bick in the middle of

the night and I promise you that big

lighter is going to be brighter than any

Darkness

around I know what it is to be walking

through some hunting Woods early in the

morning at 4:00 in the morning I got my

backpack on I got my boots on I've got I

got a weapon with me I got all that

going on and I got this little pin

flashlight and I'm walking through the

woods I look like Elmer fud going out

there I'm going to go get a wabbit and

here I go walking out there and I'm

looking for my certain tree and when I

one of the times I was out there and I'm

going like I'm I'm I got you know I'm

I'm a dude I'm I'm a Hunter Alpha Mufasa

all this stuff

right and and my and my light went

out now I'm a seven-year-old little girl

in the dark and I'm on the ground and

I'm I'm trying to find where my try like

I I was not a happy

camper cuz when the lights go out

nobody's having fun

everything you thought you knew is gone

when the lights go

out direction is gone I don't care how

good you know the place you ever tried

to walk through your house in the middle

of the night thinking you could get

somewhere you don't need to turn the

lights on only to catch that one toe you

caught that one toe on that and now here

you are like like who moved that like

you I'm just telling you now you're not

as good in the dark as you think you

are we all need the light

what am I telling you I'm telling you

this you need Jesus like I need Jesus

like your neighbor needs Jesus we all

need Jesus because without him it's just

dark what is it that allows him to be

the

light he he's also the

lamb it's the fact that he is God

incarnate right here with us paid the

price went through everything to legally

pay for our sins

every lamb before Jesus could only cover

sin when Jesus came he removed

it there's no record of your

sin I've got great news for everybody in

here that scorecard that other people

have about you heaven doesn't have it

yes sir Heaven has no memory that's why

the Bible says where sin abounds Grace

does that much more down Grace has got

you covered this is the good news we

live with so Heaven's not throwing

elbows on you Heaven's not jacked up

with you people might be your in-laws

might be hey but but Jesus is not but

Heaven is not you got a reason to smile

you got a reason to breathe and as long

as you got this light glowing and now

the the Bible tells us now we go and we

share that light with other Jesus is the

light the Bible tell Jesus told us I

want you to be salt blocks and

flashlights that that's what you do you

go out you make people thirsty and then

you turn on the light and you show them

the way it's the Light of Christ in us

he lit my lamp and that's why I'm alive

and that light destroys darkness my

light might not be very bright and my

light might not impress anybody but it's

enough to show me the next step he will

be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto

my path I don't need to know every step

I just need to know the next step

there's nothing like knowing that Jesus

is shining in our lives and that's why

he came folks and that's why he had to

go through every piece and part the

things written in your Bible are not

just erroneously there they're not just

flowery all of it is essential and

critical from the Shepherds who the

Shepherds were which field it is that

the angels went to visit what the this

will be a sign to you you will find him

wrapped in the Priestly garments though

those that are right from the temple but

that go around the Lambs that are going

to die that are going to be sacrificed

in honor to God but also the same ones

that light up God's presence he's going

to be wrapped in both of those and when

those levitical Shepherds saw him just

the way that they said realizing he's

both the lamb and he is the light and

the Son of God that's why they went back

celebrating they've seen a lot of lambs

they've been through a lot of these

process but they'd never they'd never

seen a human boy wrapped like that

fulfilling that when it was prophesied

hundreds of years before that he would

be that and today we celebrate that

aren't you glad that you know the lamb

and the light isn't that good news that

we don't have to walk in the

dark but he

shines and shows us the way and this is

why I love doing life with all all of

you you'll never know how your light

blesses me your smile your story what

God has done in you I want my light to

bless you I I don't want to be when you

walk up with your light I don't want to

be the guy

going we got plenty of those folks in

our life right you ever been around

people trying to blow your light

out you know what you do with them back

Excuse me while I go back to the '90s

talk to the hand you know and you like

you you got to step you got to

walk you got to you got to

step today we're we're in a room where

we're celebrating the light the light of

Heaven I want you to do me a favor I

want you to stand to your feet if you

would and I want to ask you to get your

phones

out and I want you to yes turn your

flashlight

on and they're going to kill the lights

in this room just bring them right on

down guys I know they're nervous just

bring them right on down there you

go that's not baby

Jesus Oh

come let us

adore him oh come let us

adore hear him

cry the Lord sing that

again oh come let us

adore him

oh come let us

adore him oh come let us

[Music]

adore

him

Christ the lord can you sing we'll give

him all the glory sing this we'll give

him all the

Glory that means I'm going to live my

life to serve him we'll give him come on

all will give him all the

glory

Christ the

lord Jesus we honor you tonight we

celebrate you for being the lamb that

came to pay a price that we owed but you

paid the price thank you for taking our

place and not covering our sin but

removing it as far as the East is from

the West it's gone there's no memory of

it in heaven thank you but we also thank

you not just be for being the lamb but

also for being our light that as long as

you're alive in us there's never a

lonely day of our life because you're

there

your word says you come close to us in

our time of need that you're a present

help in the time of trouble that you

stick closer than a

brother today God I'm I'm grateful that

you walk through every season of life

with us but even those that are with us

tonight that this may be a difficult

season that they're in a challenging

time that you understand and you're

there and that you comfort and you bring

strength and you bring peace and you do

show us the next step in life that we're

not doing this alone without you it's

totally

Darkness but with you we can see what

the next step is and as we stand

together we can be like a city on a hill

that cannot be denied that we shine

bright for you help us to be a witness

and a light to those around us in in our

culture what it means to know serve and

to love Jesus with all of our heart God

thank you for this time of coming

together and being reminded of the price

that your son paid Jesus thank you for

doing all that you did for for matching

everything needed for doing everything

necessary to be that lamb the lamb that

would take away the sin of the world we

love you we honor you we celebrate you

tonight let your light burn in us and

let us light up our world so that others

will see you in us we worship you in

this night in Jesus name amen amen I

told you the message would encourage you

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until then I hope you have an amazing

day