“No room for Christ”
Pastor Allan Kircher
Luke 2:7
December 18, 2011
Introduction
Isn’t it needful for us to know that beyond all dispute, that our Lord sprang out of Judah?
Spoken/words/prophet Micah.
It was necessary/be born in Bethlehem/Ephratah
But how could public recognition/lineage/obscure carpenter and an unknown maiden be procured?
• Mary lived in Nazareth, in Galilee.
• Didn’t it seem probable that the birth take place there?
• How could she make/long journey so late/her condition?
• How are these two matters to be arranged?
It can be done! It shall be done!
A little tyrant named Herod offends a greater tyrant Augustus.
Augustus shows/displeasure/orders/census/taken/allJewish people.
It was done in readiness for a contemplated taxation mind you…
Which, however, was not carried out till some 10 years later.
Our Lord our God has a bit/wildest war horse, a hook for the most terrible Goliath.
You see, Autocratical Caesars are but puppets moved with invisible strings, mere drudges to the King of kings.
So Mary is brought to Bethlehem
Jesus Christ is born as appointed.
So all/people/house of David are driven to Bethlehem.
The minute accommodations/little town/exhausted.
Friends entertained/friend’s till/houses were full, but Joseph had no such willing kinsmen in the town.
o All rooms occupied, there remained no better lodging
o Not even for a woman in travail.
o The stall of a donkey, the only place where/child could/born.
Hanging a curtain in the front and tethering the animal on the other side to block the passage, the only seclusion that could be obtained.
• In that stable, the King of Glory born, in the manger/he laid.
My hope this morning is to lead your meditations to the stable at Bethlehem, that night, that you may see this great sight—
• The Savior in the manger
• To think over and reason this lowly phase—
• “Because there was no room for them in the inn.”
I. There were other reasons why Christ was born in the manger.
1. I think it was intended to show forth his humiliation.
He came, according to prophecy
to be “despised and rejected of men
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”
Would it be fitting that Jesus who died naked on the cross be robed in purple at his birth?
• Jesus is to wear peasant’s cloths throughout his life;
• He is to associate with fisherman;
• the fishermen are to be His disciples;
• the cold mountains are often to be his only bed;
Jesus said, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head”
Nothing, therefore, could be more fitting than in the state of humiliation,
• he laid aside all His glory
• took upon Himself the form of a servant
• and lay in a manger.
2. By being in the manger, He was declared to be the king of the poor.
I believe it excited feelings of the lowly shepherds when the angel said—
“This shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the child wrapped in swaddling-clothes and lying in a manger.”
o In the eyes of the poor, imperial robes excite no affection in their hearts.
o But a man in their own clothes attracts their confidence.
With what pertinacity will working men cleave to a leader when he gets dirty with them?
• They will believe in him because he knows their toils,
• sympathizes in their sorrows
• And feels an interest in all their concerns.
You see, the King of Men, born in Bethlehem,
Was not exempt to the common calamities of the poor
He was even worse in condition for our cause.
I can hear the shepherds talking of the manger birth.
Saying to another,
o “He will not be like Herod the tyrant;
o He will remember the manger and feel for the poor,
o The oppressed, the lowly.
o He will save the children of the needy.”
3. Being born in the manger, He gives an invitation to the most humble to come to Him.
o We might tremble to approach a throne
o But we cannot fear to approach a manger!
If we would have first saw our Master riding through the streets of Jerusalem with garments laid in the way, and the palm-branches stretched out, and people crying, “Hosanna!” we might have thought He was not approachable.
But even there He was so meek and lowly, that children clustered about Him with their boyish “Hosanna!”
o Never could there be a being more approachable/Christ.
o No body guards pushed away poor sinners from Him.
No array of officious friends stopped the man who clamored to Jesus that his son might be restored of his life.
• The hem of His garment/always trailing/sick folks/reach it
• His hand always ready to touch the disease
• His ear to catch the faintest accents of misery.
By being born/manger He proved Himself a priest taken from among men,
He has suffered like His Brothers
He is touched with a feeling for our sins.
Even as an infant, by being laid in the manger
He was set forth as a sinner’s friend.
Come to Him, you that are broken in spirit.
o Those that are lowly and drained in spirit.
o For the guidance and hope in your life.
o The restorer of life.
There He lays in the manger, unguarded from your touch and unshielded from your gaze.
There He lays waiting on you to accept Him.
Bow the knee, and kiss the Son of God laying in the manger.
Accept Him as your Savior, for He puts Himself into that manger so you can approach Him.
4. I think there is another mystery in the prophecies.
You remember, that this place was free to all.
o And this inn in the stable was free.
Our Lord Jesus was born in the stable of the inn to show how free He is to all who come.
The Gospel is preached to every creature/shuts out none.
Wealthy exclusions are unknown here
Society status is not acknowledged.
No forms of etiquette are required in entering the stable.
So if you desire Christ, you may enter just as you are.
Whoever among you has the desire in his heart to trust Christ is free to do it.
• Jesus is free to you; He will receive you;
• He will welcome you with gladness,
• To show this, I think, the young child/cradled in a manger.
Sinners often imagine that they are shut out.
Oftentimes the convicted conscience will write bitter things against itself and deny its part in the mercy of God.
o Brothers and sisters, if God has not shut you out
o Don’t shut yourself out.
5. We have not yet exhausted the reasons why the Son of Man was born in a manger.
o Isn’t this a mystery here?
o The King of Kings laid His head where the animals were fed.
There are some men, who have become so brutal through their sin,
So utterly depraved by their lusts that their consciences have departed.
We read of men who are called incorrigible, defiled,
These men should be treated with unmingled severity.
But the remedy is Jesus.
The Great physician who will accept the down hearted,
The outcast dregs of society.
Beware, Shell Point, beware of restoring the old idea that men can sin beyond hope of reformation.
o No man is too low for Prince of Peace, the restorer of life.
o Jesus says, the old is gone and the new is here…
o Go and sin no more….
o You who have no sin, cast the first stone…
I believe our Lord was born in the manger where the beasts were fed, to show that even beast-like men may come to him and live.
• No creature can be so degraded that Christ cannot lift it up.
• You may fall, and seem to fall most certainly to hell,
• But the long and strong arm of Christ can reach you
• And he can reach the most desperate degradation.
• He can bring you up from apparently hopeless ruin.
If there is someone who has strolled in here this morning who is spiraling down by the wayside,
(My Master of the stable with the beasts) presents Himself as able to save the vilest of the vile.
Believe on Him and He will make you a new creature.
6. As Christ was born where beasts were fed, you will remember that after He was gone beasts fed there again.
o It was only His presence which could glorify the manger.
And here we learn that if Christ were taken away/the world would go back to its former heathen darkness.
o Civilization itself would die out,
o At least the part of it which really civilizes man.
o The manger would be a manger for beasts still, if the Lord of Glory were withdrawn.
And we would go back to our sins and lusts.
For these reasons, I think, Christ was born in the manger.
II. There were other places besides the Inn which had no room for Christ.
The palaces of emperors and the halls of kings afforded the royal stranger no refuge?
1. Seldom is there room for Christ in palaces or high society!
• How could the kings of earth receive the Lord?
• He is the Prince of Peace, and they delight in war!
• He breaks their bows and cuts their spears in sunder;
• He burns their war-chariots in the fire.
How could kings accept the humble Savior?
o They love grandeur/pomp, He is simplicity and meekness.
o He is a carpenter’s son, and the fisherman’s companion.
o How can princes find room for the new-born monarch?
He teaches us to do to others as we would have them do to us.
o The kings of the earth would have a hard time with this.
o There is no room for Christ with the kings.
Look throughout the kingdoms of the earth now.
It is still true…
How few today, state-cabinets/government seats are frequented little by Christ in their speech and actions.
There is no more room for Christ in stately affairs.
In the forums/political discussion/places where representatives of the people make the laws, there is no room for Christ there?
Of course State-religion
if it will consent to be a poor/powerless thing,
Then it can make room for Christ.
Who pleads for Jesus in the Senate?
Is not his religion under the name of sectarianism?
Who quotes His golden rule as a direction for our country?
Or preaches Christ-like forgiveness as a rule for national policy?
• One or two will give Him a good word,
• but if it be put it to a popular vote
• whether the Lord Jesus should be obeyed or not,
• It will be a long time if ever that the ayes have it.
Parties, policies, and pleasure-seekers exclude the representative of Heaven from a place among the representatives of Earth.
2. Might there be room for Christ in our good society?
Were there not in Bethlehem some people who were very respectable?
Who kept themselves from the common multitude?
Persons of reputation and standing?
Could they not find room for Christ?
Is it too much today to find room for Christ in our so called good society?
There is plenty of room for all the silly things we do today.
There is plenty of room/vanity,
room/etiquettes/worldly things.
There is plenty of room for frivolous conversation,
room for adoration of the body,
There is plenty of room this and that idol in our lives.
But there is little room for Christ, and few and far between who follow the Lord fully.
The advent of Christ would be the last thing which our society would desire;
• First cheer, then the refinements of joy,
• Then presents, then Christmas, then Christ.
The very mention of His name may cause a strange sensation to our lips.
o Fun and finery, rank and honor,
o Jewels and glitter, frivolity and fashion,
o All report that there is no room for Christ.
3. Surely one place he could go—the Sanhedrin?
Where the elders sit?
Could He be housed in the priestly chamber where the priests assemble with the Levites?
Was there not room for Him in the temple or the synagogue?
• No, He found no shelter there;
• it was there, his whole life long, that he found his most ferocious enemies.
Not the common multitude, but the priests were the instigators of His death.
The priests moved the people to say,
“Not this man, but Barabbas.”
They paid out their shekels to bribe the popular voice,
And then Christ was hounded to His death.
Surely they ought to have room for Him in the Church, His own people, but there was not.
• Take the whole sweep of Christendom,
• Isn’t it strange when/Lord comes to His own/His own receives him not.
The most accursed enemies of true religion have been the men who pretended to be its advocates.
III. The Inn itself had no room for Him:
This was the reason He laid in the manger.
What is it in modern times that stands in the place of the inn?
The Public sentiment free to all.
In this free land, men speak of what they like,
and there is a public opinion upon every subject
There is free toleration in this country to everything
Permit me to say, toleration to everything but Christ.
• God’s Word is true, every atom of it.
• And we should act upon it.
• Whatever the Lord commands, we should diligently keep and obey.
Remember our Lord tells us if we break one of the least of His commandments and teach men so, we shall be least in His kingdom.
We ought to be very jealous, very precise, and very anxious, that even the minute of our Savior’s laws are obeyed having our eyes on Him.
Now if you do this,
You will find you are not tolerated,
And you will get the cold shoulder in society.
A zealous Christian will find the cross he carries today is the same as the cross in the day of Simon the Cyrenian.
If you will hold your tongue professing Christ,
if you will leave sinners to perish,
If you will never endeavor to propagate your faith,
If you will silence all witnessing for truth,
If you will renounce all the attributes of a Christian,
If you will cease to be what a Christian must be, then the world will say,
“That is right, this is the religion we like.”
But if you will believe, believe firmly, and if you let your belief actuate your life
If your belief is so precious that you feel compelled to spread it,
Then at once you will find that there is no room for Christ even in the inn of the public sentiment.
Where everything else is received.
Be an infidel, and none will treat you contemptuously;
but be a Christian, and many will despise you.
“There is no room for Him in the inn.”
1. How little room is there for Christ in conversation?
We talk about many things;
We talk of any subject that pleases us.
No one can stop them and say, “there is a spy catching your words reporting them to higher authority.”
Speech is very free in this land;
How little room is there for Christ in general talk!
Even on Sunday afternoon how little room there is for Christ in some professed Christian houses?
They may talk about the pastor, or Sunday School, or some other agency of the church, or of the people,
But how little do they say about Christ!
a. Allow me to address you who are working men.
Do you not find—I know you do—
That there is very little room for Christ in the work place.
There is room there for swearing; ANGER
there is room there for drunkenness,
there is room for lewd conversations,
there is room for politics, slanders, or infidelities;
But there is no room for Christ.
• The house of God is too dreary for them.
• The world is elbowing and pushing for more room,
• There is nothing but a scarce corner left where the Babe of Bethlehem can be laid.
This brings me to my next point, which is most pertinent, and the most necessary to meditate upon for a moment.
IV. Have you room for Christ?
Can we, will we say today,
“I have room for Christ, but I am not worthy that he should come to me.”
I didn’t ask about worthiness, have you room for Him?
• But my heart is so foul, despicable.
• So was the manger the Savoir was born.
My heart is not a place at all fit for Christ!
Nor was the manger a place fit for Him, and yet He laid there.
o But I have been such a sinner; I feel as if my heart had been a den of devils!
o Well, the manger had been a place where beasts had fed.
Have you room for Him?
Never mind what the past has been; He can forget and forgive.
It matters not what even the present state may be if you mourn it.
If you have room for Christ, He will come and be your guest.
Today is the accepted time; today is the day of salvation.
Room for Jesus! Room for Jesus now!
You say, I have room for Him, but will He come?
He will come indeed!
Set the door of your heart open, say,
“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.
He will transform it into a golden throne,
and there He will sit and reign forever and forever.
I have such a free Christ to preach this morning.
• I have such a loving Jesus to preach,
• He is willing to find a home in humble hearts.
• Are there no hearts here this morning who will take Him in?
Must I glance over the house of God and look at many of you who are still without Him?
• Are there none who will say, “Come in, come in?”
It will be a happy day for you to enable Him to take your arms and receive Him as your own.
You may then look forward even to death with joy,
and with Simon say—
“Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for my eyes have seen thy salvation.”
My Master wants room!
Room for Him, Room for Him.
I , his herald, cry aloud, Room for the Savior! Room!
o Here is my royal Master—have room for Him?
o Here is the Son of God made flesh—have room for Him?
o Here is the one who forgives all sin—have room for Him?
Here is the one who can take you up out of the horrible pit and out of the miry clay—have room for Him?
• Here is He who comes in and will never go out again,
• But abide with you forever and make your heart a heaven of joy and bliss for you—have you room for Him?
All I ask. Your emptiness, your nothingness, your want of feeling, your want of goodness, your want of grace—all these will be but room for Him.
Have you room for Him?
Oh! Spirit of God, lead many to say, “Yes, my heart is ready.”
Then He will come and dwell with you.
And finally,
V. The world has no room for you:
There was no room for them:
o no room for Joseph, nor for Mary
o no room for the blessed virgin
o no room for the reputed father
Remember, there is no room for any true follower of Christ.
There is no room for you to take your ease.
• You are a soldier of the cross
• You will find no ease in all your life-warfare.
No room for you to sit down contented with your accomplishments.
• You are a traveler
• You are to forget the things that are behind, and press forward to that which is before.
There is no room for you to hide your treasure in.
• Where moth and rust eats away and corrupts.
No room for you to put your confidence.
• For “Cursed is he that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm.”
From this day forward let there be no room for you in the world’s good opinion.
• They will count you to be an outcast.
No room for you in the world’s polite society.
• You must go without the camp, bearing his reproach.
There is no room for you in the world’s love.
• If you expect that everybody will praise you
• That your good actions will be applauded
• You will be quite mistaken.
From this day forward, if you have room for Christ, the world will hardly find room for you.
• You must now be laughed at.
• Now you must wear the fool’s cap in men’s esteem.
• Your song must be at the very beginning of your pilgrimage.
The world has no room for the man who has room for Christ.
• If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
“Woe unto you when all men speak well of you.”
“You are not of the world, even as Christ is not of the world.”
You are hurrying through this world as a stranger through a foreign land,
o You rejoice/know that you are an alien and a foreigner here;
o you are a fellow citizen with the saints, and of the household of God.
Soldiers of Christ, will you enlist on these terms?
Will you give room/Christ when there is to be no room for you?
Are you willing to receive the traveler in?
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You see, He swapped a spotless castle for a lowly stable.
He exchanged/worship/angels for the company of killers.
He could hold the universe in His palm
but gave it up to float in the womb of a maiden.
He humbled Himself.
• He went from commanding angels to sleeping/straw.
• From holding stars to clutching Mary’s finger.
The palm that held the universe took the nail of a soldier.
Why?
Because that’s what love does.
o Your soul was more important than His blood.
o Your eternal life/more important than His earthly life.
o Your place in heaven/important/him than his place/heaven.
So He gave up his life, so you could have yours.
Do you have room for Him? Do you have room for today?
