This morning if you'll turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 2. I'm going to be reading to you the first 14 verses of Luke 2 and then this afternoon I will be preaching to you from verses 15 to 20. I'm attempting to go through Luke 1 and Luke 2 as preparation for Christmas and to open up the scriptures in relation to the incarnation of our Lord and show you the many prophecies that there are here in Luke 1 and Luke 2 that are fulfilled and have reference particularly to our Lord Jesus Christ. This morning I want to talk to you about how the glory of the Lord shone that night when the shepherds were watching their sheep. Let's bow together for prayer. Father we thank you that your glory, your presence, your power are here this morning in our midst. And we thank you that we can, as we draw near to you, know that you will draw near to us and that you will be here present at the preaching of your word to establish each and every truth that would be of benefit to your dear people. And so we pray that you will come and feed us these good things of truth and allow us to see the greatness of your glory in perhaps ways that we've never thought of before in relation to your incarnation lord jesus we pray it in your dear name amen luke chapter 2 beginning in verse 1 and it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered or taxed. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, do not be afraid for behold i bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people for there is born to you this day in the city of david a savior who is christ the lord and this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. The birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, God the Father's only begotten Son, coming into this world in his incarnation was, I believe, one of the greatest events in all of human history. I think that all Christians ought to give Christ's incarnation the highest place in their worshipful regard alongside, that is, all the great actions of His earthly ministry and the culmination of it in His death and His resurrection from the dead and His ascension to sit at the right hand of the Father. All of these events have been crowned with glory by God. the Father. But in this particular incident of the angel coming to the shepherds, we find that the glory which was revealed also excelled. It shone all around the angels and the shepherds. The glory of God was revealed here at this time in certain particular ways which are nowhere else found in the scriptures except in the transfiguration of our Lord. The shining of God's glory excelled in that more of God the Father's infinite and eternal purposes concerning our salvation are revealed to us by the angel and the other angels with him. And so here in these verses, God shines forth in His glory in some very amazing ways so that all men will understand His goodwill to them in the giving of His Son. There are, I believe, three particular ways that the glory of the Lord shone forth at this time of the birth of our Savior. First of all, God's glory was shining forth in the obscurity of his son's birth. Verses 1 to 7, the decree here was that the whole world should be taxed or registered. The whole world here means the whole land or the whole region of Palestine, not Judea only, but also Galilee, where Joseph and Mary lived. Now you'll notice that God accomplished his will concerning where our Lord would be born through this decree by Augustus Caesar that all the world should be registered or taxed. His purpose in having the whole world be registered may have been pride on his part if it was numbering the people or it may have been covetousness and greed if it was taxing the people. These were probably some of his sins in his heart and in his actions, but we learn from the free actions of this man that God uses the thoughts and actions of men like Augustus Caesar to accomplish his purposes. None of God's purposes shall ever be thwarted. Christ would be born at Bethlehem. Now I hope that you can see the glory of this even though Christ was born in obscurity. Let's think of this in terms of how God thinks of it. He is sovereign over men without at all violating their decision-making processes. And God's motives in everything that he ordains are the very best of motives for all of his elect people's welfare he would overrule and oversee everything, every political action of this earthly ruler, so that the prophecy of Micah chapter 5 verse 2 would be fulfilled. But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one who shall be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting." So this was a census where everyone had to be registered. Everyone had to go to their own city. And so Joseph and Mary also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth and into Judea. They had to go to Bethlehem because Joseph was of the house and lineage of David. And so even though Mary was great with child, they still had to go personally to Bethlehem. And I want you to see that God's timing in this was perfect. God's timing, we should understand, is always perfect. And even though it was very inconvenient for Mary, yet it would bring glory to God to have His Son born in these difficult circumstances and conditions. You see, God's ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts. our thoughts. And Joseph and Mary may have not even thought about this prophecy when they were forced to go to Bethlehem, Ephrathah, at this very inconvenient time when she was great with child. This decree of Caesar showed something else in regard to prophecy. It showed that the scepter was just at this point in time departing from Judah. And because of this, the time of the advent of the heavenly Shiloh had come. Genesis 49.10 is the text that I'm thinking of, where this prophecy is found. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the people." So here we find the beginnings of the glory of the Lord Jesus' birth. The earthly glory of the house of David's political right to rule in Israel was symbolized by the scepter, and it was departing. But the only reason that this was so was because Shiloh was coming. The greater King had arrived. The glory of Christ is what makes him our Shiloh. The word Shiloh means he that is sent. or the seed, or the peaceable and prosperous one. It is Messiah Jesus who is intended in that prophecy, and His glory excels all earthly kings by an infinite magnitude. And so He would be sent by God into this world to redeem men to bring them back out of their bondage to sin and out of their darkness and into his marvelous light. And so since this was so, his glory being shown to a world of sinful people would not be seen in his being born in a palace, the palace of an earthly Jewish king, but in a stable. where he would be placed in a manger, which is the feeding trough for cattle. So all of Christ's glory is, first of all, an infinite spiritual glory of his being God and becoming a man. No one but believers who realize themselves to be sinners can receive this and worship him as Lord. The glory of the Lord was displayed by means of the Father's choosing the place and the time of his son's birth and having the prophecies in the Old Testament Scriptures be specifically fulfilled in relation to it. The place would be Bethlehem, which means house of bread. Christ would be the bread of life to a fallen world of sinners. Sinners would feed upon him by faith even as he lay in a cattle's feeding trough. They would feed upon him by faith, these shepherds would, and they would be satisfied that they had seen the Lord's Christ. So the time for the entrance of God's Son into this dark world to become a man who would become the light of the world had come and nothing of human greatness or even of God's glory would be perceived in his being born at that stable in Bethlehem at the inn where there was no room. What was there of glory in a very tired woman in labor having ridden 90 miles on a donkey, finally arriving at Bethlehem and realizing that there was no room for them at the inn. What glory is there in this, that she would have to give birth to the Savior of the world in such a place. It was the glory of God's love for fallen mankind, which could only be seen with eyes of faith. The Lord of glory was in Mary's womb. But men do not, by nature, see the glory of the virgin birth. They do not, by nature, like to believe that they must have a Savior. And by nature, they do not like to think that God has a purpose for their life. And to see that purpose fulfilled, they must understand their need to be saved. And so, in the case of every person being saved, God must take the initiative. In the fullness of time, God sent forth His only begotten Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that He might redeem those who were born under the law. Now, the Lord Jesus will come forth into the world to do this great and glorious work of redemption. He was born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth. Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king. Let us never think that God's glory is not really there when we look and when we cannot see it visibly with our physical eyes. No, it is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and it is the glory of kings to search it out. It says in Proverbs 25, 2. The glory of Christ's birth in a stable at Bethlehem is the glory of joy. The joy of discovering the greatness of the Father's love in his gift of Christ. Now to know Christ, you must personally search for him then. You must search for him. You hear the gospel and you actually go and seek. And you find him for yourself. even as the wise men did, as the shepherds here did. And in finding him by faith, then you come to realize that you will indeed receive all that he came to bring to you as a sinner. Do you realize that? All that he would live for, all that he would come to die for, to bring to you, will be realized by you. If you will look to Him in faith, you will have found the meaning of life, and you will have entered into eternal life, in this life. It's a life of the greatest possible reality. That is of experiencing God's love, the purity of His thoughts, and His intentions toward you. When you behold Christ's glory by faith, you come to understand better your continual need of His grace. You begin to pursue peace with all men, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. And so God concealed, I'm saying, His glory in Christ, when He had Him to be born in the stable at Bethlehem, He did it so that His glory in His giving of His Son would be searched out and honored by every person who would know Him and understand His ways with themselves and with all men. Let me ask this question. What is the joy of your giving presence to your children? at Christmas, giving gifts to your relatives, and friends, and loved ones. What is the joy of your giving? Is it not to see the delight of their wondering what the present is that you have wrapped so carefully to give to them, that you have concealed from them for a time, so that they have to think about it? They have to wonder about it? And when the present is opened, there is great delight that comes to you watching them open it, just as much as they're having that same delight themselves in opening it. The same is true of God. He would have you to experience the delight of His glory. in Christ. Now second, God was shining forth his glory that night to bring joy to these shepherds and to the whole world. Verses 8 to 12, there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. And then the angel said to them, do not be afraid, For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people, for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, and this will be the sign to you. you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger." So this visitation of angels, which is described for us here, is of immense significance to every believer in Christ. You see, here these men were, just some ordinary men who were shepherding sheep, and their names are not even given to us. They didn't go down in history. because they weren't named they went down in history because they saw the Lord's glory and heard the gospel from an angel. See there wasn't anything outstanding about these shepherds but it seems evident to me that they were men who knew the Lord and the Lord had set his love upon them and he would give them this tremendous privilege of beholding the immediate presence of his glory. Now they weren't so much baffled by the appearance of the angel or his words, but they were astounded and amazed by the glory of the Lord that shone around them and the angel who was speaking to them such kind words, such good words. It appears to me that they were pious men. They were God-fearing men. They were men of prayer, and they were men of faith before this angel visited them. They probably had the expectation that someday God would send his promised Messiah. And perhaps they may have even had conversation with each other about the possibility that someday they might even get to see him. But out of the complete darkness, glorious light suddenly shone all around them, and then this angel is suddenly standing there, before them and it says they were greatly afraid. This reaction of fear, we should understand, is something that all men naturally feel when an angel makes his presence known to men. It's a natural reaction to feel fear. when the glory of God suddenly invades your space, when you are suddenly surrounded by awesome feelings of the divine perfections. For this is what the divine glory is, by the way. It is the emanation of divine perfections, and it is something that the angels live in continually. The angels live continually, beholding the glory of God in His immediate presence. They are continually beholding the infinite power of God, and the infinite wisdom of God, and the all-pervading feeling of the holiness of God. They are continually beholding the very real and tangible impress and effects of God's presence. That is the excellence of His infinitely perfect being. They know of His greatness, the greatness of His wrath against sinners. Sometimes they're even sent on missions of judgment. against such sinners, but just as much they also know the warmth and the blessedness of the glory of God's infinite love and goodness and kindness, his tender mercies and his continual favor shown towards those whom he's pleased to bless. This was the case with these shepherds, that suddenly the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid, it says in the King James translation. But the angel immediately said to them, do not be afraid, for I bring you tidings of great joy, which will be to all people, for there is born to you this day in the city of David a savior. who is Christ the Lord." Now this angel meant to bring joyous news and thus allay their fears about their own sinfulness or that they had done something terribly wrong that an angel should suddenly come upon them in this way. The words in the Greek are this, Umen, Charon, Megalon, I evangelize unto you great joy. Did you know that sometimes the things that you are afraid of, that God has providentially ordered these things in such a way that the glory of his love in Christ and his care for you, he's ordered them that way so that can be seen by you. The things you're afraid of I'm talking about. the things that you were afraid of. A little later on, you find out we're intended to bring you great comfort, like the message of this angel did with these shepherds. Now, let me ask you if you will follow these shepherds' lead. If you are afraid, you should realize that God can deliver you. from all your fears. Now, even as a believer, you may fear the Lord's disciplinary judgment over some aspect of your life, but do you not realize that he comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found? As the hymn writer says, you and I, we sometimes forget that he rules the world with truth and grace. and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and the wonders of His love, as it says in the hymn that we sing. Well, if He can do that, then can He not help you to understand the depths of His love and His grace? And this is why we sing joy to the world. The Lord has come. Let earth receive her King. Let every heart receive him, bear him room, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing. Christ is born for you this day, dear ones, not only in the city of David so long ago, but for you right here today in the gospel. I believe that the angel was evangelizing these shepherds, not as unsaved men, but as saved men, as believers. Because they were afraid of him, and the glory of the Lord came upon them suddenly. But he would take away their fears by speaking to them of the good tidings of great joy, which are for all people, not just for the shepherds, and for the people of Bethlehem, Ephrathah of that day, but for all people everywhere. The gospel is to be preached to every creature, and all the world is to hear the glad tidings that their sins can be forgiven, they can be given a new heart, that God can give them a new heart, and faith in the Lord Jesus. That's good tidings. that you and I should spread as far and wide as we can. And indeed, thirdly, God was shining forth in his glory that night to let us know better from the angels how to preach the gospel because verses 12 to 14 say, and this will be the sign to you that you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men." Now, can you imagine? This started with one angel and great glory shining, and now in that glory that's still shining, there is a multitude of the heavenly host. praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. The sign given to the shepherds by the angel was that if they went to see Christ for themselves, they would find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. Now surely this was the greatest of signs, that the King of glory could be found by them. How many babes just born would be found in a manger in Bethlehem? But they went and found him that night, not in a palace, but in a stable and lying in a manger. And yet a multitude of the heavenly host is praising God and saying to them, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace. goodwill toward men. You see, you and I, we need to understand something about the Lord Jesus in his incarnation. There was a great humbling of himself that took place when he became a little child in Mary's womb and was born there in the stable at Bethlehem as it says in Philippians chapter 2 verse 8, and being found in appearance as a man. Can you imagine the God of infinite glory finds himself in appearance as a man? And not a full-grown man either, a little baby who has to cry to make his needs known. the son of the highest who became Mary's son and a little babe. He would humble himself and become obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross. Now surely the Lord Jesus did nothing from pride and everything out of love for his father God and for all the sinners which the father would give to him. In His earthly ministry, He would even love His enemies, and He would pray for those persons to be forgiven from the cross. Well, how do we respond to the Father's goodwill in the gift of Christ to sinners everywhere? Well, first of all, we should receive Him as our personal Savior. Children or anyone else here today who has never received Christ, will you not receive him this day into your heart and mind to do the work of salvation, to take away your sins, take away your reproach, to deliver you from all your fears, to give you a righteousness which is better than your own, to give you a new heart? Will you not receive him as your personal Savior and Lord. And then we need to also learn from the multitude of the angels who praise Christ at His birth to praise Him ourselves now. You remember what it says in Psalm 34, at all times I will bless the Lord. His praise my mouth will employ. My soul shall in Jehovah boast, the meek shall hear with joy. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and he delivered me from all my fears. Well, beloved, are you a person of praise today for the birth of the Savior? You ought to be if you are not. Oh, how you ought to praise him. How I ought to praise him too. How we ought to praise him together. for these good tidings of great joy by which we have found Christ in the gospel, the one who loved us and gave himself for us. I'm trying to say you and I at this season of the year should have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. First Timothy 3.16 should be in our heart and our mind for without controversy great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory. It all began this night, so long ago. Let's pray together. Our Father, we do have great joy this morning in realizing the greatness of the gift, Father, that you have given us in Christ. Help us to be full of joy and gladness. Help us to magnify your name for this greatest of gifts, your own dear son, the only begotten of the Father, being formed in Mary's womb and delivered on that night so long ago in a stable and placed in a manger so that we could feed upon him by faith. Help us to think upon these things sweetly. Help us to tell many other people about them. In Jesus' name, amen.