Let's pray for God to bless our time now in his Word. Father, thank you for giving us the words of eternal life. May your name be glorified as we read them together as they are exposited here now. May our hearts be nourished and may we receive their truth with faith and love laid up on our hearts and practice it in our lives. In Jesus's name we ask. Amen. Please take your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter two, verses eight through 20 is our scripture reading and sermon passage for this morning. Luke chapter two, verses eight through 20. Luke chapter two, verses eight through 20. This is God's word. In the same region, there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people. For today in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. And the angels had gone away from them into heaven. The shepherds began saying to one another, let us go straight to Bethlehem then and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. So they came in a hurry. and found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby as he lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this child, and all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them. May God bless the reading of this holy word. The shepherds were considered a rather low class of people at the time that this happened. But as we saw last time in our time in 1 Samuel, the shepherds seemed to have always had a special place in God's heart. Moses, David, were both called for being shepherds of sheep to shepherd God's people. Our Lord himself identified himself as the fulfillment of the great shepherd prophecy from Ezekiel. In John chapter 10, he said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays his life down for the sheep. Shepherds like the ones found in the narrative here had to stay awake and alert at all times with their flocks to guard them from thieves and from beasts of prey. It was probably summertime when this happened because that is when they kept their cattle out all night was in the summer. And these shepherds were minding their own business and doing their jobs. And is there anything bad about that? Is there anything mundane or not spiritual enough about that? Many Christians have the mistaken notion that unless they're engaged in some kind of work that directly impacts the kingdom of God in the form of some kind of ministry or church work, that they're not doing anything important. We need to rid ourselves of that way of thinking. Paul told the Thessalonian congregation something that we would all do very well to remember as we live and as we work in the world. In 1 Thessalonians 4, 11, Paul said, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he tells them, aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those that are outside and that you may lack nothing. When we're busily doing the work of the day, whatever that might be, we are standing right in the center of the heart of God's will for our lives. No matter what our vocation is, that is our calling from God in that moment. For so many, we think of what we do as simply a job. It's how I provide for myself, so I've got food, I've got clothes, I've got a place to sleep at night. But the great Protestant Reformation recovered the biblical notion that we don't just have jobs, we have callings from God. And each person has got a whole bunch of different callings. Not only the work that you do to provide for yourself, but your role in your family, your role in your church, as a brother and sister to all the people here, as a husband, as a wife, as a mother, a father, an uncle. Whatever the work is that we do, that is our calling from God to glorify him. Whatever we do, we do it with excellence. If I knew, if I knew that Jesus was coming back on the Monday after next Sunday, you know what I would do all week? I would get up, come to church, pray and study, meet with people, keep my appointments, and try to write a faithful sermon on whatever the passage of God's word is, and then preach it Sunday morning. And I'd do devotions with my wife, with my children, in the evenings. And then I'd go to bed praising Christ that Sunday night for saving my wretched soul, knowing that his blood and righteousness are gonna bring me into an eternity of happiness come Monday morning. What would you do if you knew Jesus was coming back tomorrow? Someone asked Martin Luther that question. He said, if I knew Jesus was coming back tomorrow, I'd plant an apple tree today. In other words, you do your regular calling, you do your regular work, you clean the kitchen, you do the dishes, you change the diapers, you make your bed. Matthew Henry wrote this encouraging sentence on Verse 8, we are not out of the way of divine visits when we are sensibly employed in an honest calling and abide with God in it. Those shepherds were doing exactly what God wanted them to be doing that night, watching over those sheep, taking care of them. They were right in the heart of God's will, doing their regular hardworking job, paying attention, being good shepherds. The most practical way you and I can glorify Christ in this world is by seeing our duties, our simple day in and day out work in our homes, our jobs, our families, our marriage as callings from God. People often think of it as a, well, that was a great reformation slogan, you know, Coram Deo, everything is done before the face of God. You're gonna sweep the porch, you do it for God, you do it in the face of God, Coram Deo. But the thing is, that's what the Bible taught all along. 1 Corinthians 10 31, therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, when you clean the bathroom, do it all for the glory of God. So you can eat to the glory of God? Yeah. You can drink to the glory of God? Yes. Doing what God gives us to do each day with excellence, as if Jesus is gonna come and inspect whatever it is that we're doing, that's a great thing. No matter what that job or task is. even watching sheep at night. So let's walk through this glorious passage. You have a two-point outline, but just follow along there in your Bible, verses eight and nine. In the same region, there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night, and an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened. Okay, stop there. These shepherds are keeping watch over their flock by night, so it's dark. And your eyes adjust to the dark. And an angel of the Lord suddenly standing over them in the air. And the glory of God, the glory of the Lord is shining around them, and they are terrified. Most people would likely be just as terrified. at a sight like this one. Notice it says that they were terribly frightened. It says they feared with great fear. It actually uses the Greek word mega. So they had mega fear. An angel appears in the middle of the night and the glory of God is suddenly shining into your face. Yeah, you're gonna have some serious fear. Put yourself in their shoes for a moment. It was dark and then suddenly a huge light, except maybe a little campfire nearby, And the darkness and angel suddenly stands above them. And what accompanies the angel is described in the passages, the glory of the Lord. The glory is shining around the shepherds, we're told. And it startles them, it terrifies them. There's something about seeing the shining glory of the Lord that strikes fear, even to the most pious and godly of people in this world. It's almost as if this holy glory of the Lord seems always at first, no matter who you are, as the coming of judgment or something against you. Everyone who sees the shining of the glory of the creator is always terrified, is always greatly afraid, always trembles. You see it all the way through the Bible. And certainly those who are guilty of sin before God have much to fear when we think about God's judgment. This is why as believers, we rest on the blood and righteousness of Christ, alone, to save us from the wrath of God. But the fact is, if any of one of us received a visit from an angel, or the glory of the Lord was shining all around us, we would be fearful with mega fear ourselves. That's why when I hear people say, yeah, the Holy Spirit really came into the room. Really? Was everybody terrified? Everybody fall to the ground dead? And therefore the first things are always first. When God gives messages to angels to people he loves, what does he always have to tell them first? Don't be afraid. Look at verse 10. But the angel said to them, do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people. Okay, stop there. You see, it's almost like when God draws near, people just assume he's here to kill me. I'm gonna die. You know, even Gideon in the book of Judges thought that because he'd seen the Lord, that the Lord has to encourage him. No, no, no, you're not gonna die, Gideon. He just assumes I'm dead. And so these shepherds are no different. The glory of God comes. They assume they're coming with judgment. They've got an announcement. God's gonna destroy us all. And they say, no, we come with good news for you. Far from having ill news of coming judgment or some calamity upon the shepherds, this angel's got good tidings of great joy. Don't be afraid, be filled with the fullness of joy. In fact, that glorious verb, they use the Greek verb euangelizomai, to speak good news. We're here to preach a good announcement to you. And he tells those poor, terrified men, don't be afraid, rather get ready to hear the greatest announcement ever made. Good news of great joy, which will be for all the people. And this message is not just for you. It's for all the people in the whole world. We're gonna find out. There's a definite article in front of the word people at the end of verse 10. So it's not just people nearby, it's the people of the world. For whom is the announcement of the birth of Christ good news? The people of the world, everybody. Remember what Gabriel said to Joseph in Matthew 1.21, you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins. It's the greatest of joy to those people that he came to save from their sins. But the message of Christ and the perfect salvation from sin found in him will be proclaimed throughout the world since God's elect are scattered everywhere among all the nations. But there's also the sense that the gospel of great joy will go out to every nation on earth for all the people. God's free offer of eternal life is to be preached without distinction, without qualification, to every person in the world, to all the people of the world. Everyone needs to hear. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And God reaches out to you and says, take it. Take this free gift that I've given. There will be a great harvest of souls to be God's worshipers from every corner of the globe, every tribe, every nation. The people of God is not gonna be largely limited to the nation of Israel any longer, although it never was exclusively limited to Israel. There was Ruth, the Moabitess in there. There was the prostitute Rahab from Jericho. She was in there. She was not Jewish or Israelite. The great news of a savior will be brought all the way around the world, even to here. And broken sinners of every color, every language will find in it the greatest of joy. What's wonderful here is that this angel is speaking such wonderful things to these sinful people, these sinful shepherds. And we need to see it that way ourselves. God has taken our sadness away, our deserved sadness away by giving us such good news. We don't deserve to have good news. And God gives us good news, full forgiveness, full pardon of sin, and a peace that endures all the circumstances of life, a perfect righteousness to cover our failures. to be righteous ourselves, a righteousness that has so completely satisfied the demands of God's law that we are actually legally pronounced righteous in God's sight the moment we believe and we can never lose that verdict again. And all who know the child whose birth is being announced by this angel have the greatest treasure imaginable. The angel continues, look at verse 11, still speaking, this is the one angel there. For today, in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Okay, stop there. So much packed into those phrases. It was that very day, someone had been born to you or born for you, a Savior. This is a significant phrase because there are only certain people who will accept this as good news of great joy. Only those who are poor in spirit and mourn over their sinfulness will find joy in a savior being born to them. Only those who stand at a distance from God, who will not so much as look up, but pound on their chest saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. This will be good news for them. to the self-righteous, to the hypocrite, to the religious pretender, they'll find no such joy in him. But when the blind, who know they're blind, are made to see, there's great rejoicing. And when the deaf, who know their spiritual deafness, are made to hear, there is great joy. When the helpless sinner can see himself for the spiritual ruin that he is, and when that helpless sinner is made to see what he truly deserves at the righteous justice of God for his sinfulness, the pronouncement of the birth of a Savior will be good news of great joy indeed. When the lost sinner finally knows and they finally see that they're lost, finally see that they need a Savior, then they're ready for the great joy. to know, and it's God's will that if you're a Christian, it's His will for you to know this, that the legal and judicial charges of sin that God justly has against you have been fully answered and satisfied by this one, this child, the Savior who has been born to you, who is Christ the Lord. He makes our hearts happy eternally, knowing that we're saved from God's judgment, that no sin will ever be brought against me. Although this angel is not going to command the shepherds, he's not gonna tell them to go see the Savior. He does tell them what to look for. And the assumption being, of course, that they will want to go see this for themselves. And the directions they get and the sign that they're told is a rather shocking thing, given what this angel just said about the Savior. Bear in mind, this is a heavenly being, an angel. who came into this field, to this group of shepherds, and had just been in the presence of God Almighty. Heavenly glory is shining in this dark field over this group of men, and they're terrified. And this Savior is identified to them as Christ the Lord. There has been born today For you, a Savior who is Christ the Lord. The Messiah has been born, is what the angel is telling them. The anointed one who is the Lord. God himself has just been born. You see the two natures of Christ right there in that angelic announcement. There has been born. Think about that. Born. Only a human being can be born, right? A Savior who is Christ the Lord, Kurios, the covenant God of Israel, Yahweh, has been born. You see the two natures right there. A child has been born who is Christ the Lord, the covenant God. the seed of David and the son of God, both in one divine person, the Lord Jesus, God and man united into one person. There has been born this day to you a savior who is Christ the Lord, a human child who is also God, a savior. And then verse 12, had to just blow their socks off. Look at verse 12. This will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger." Stop there. Remember the context of this statement. This is an angel speaking who is standing above the shepherds in the air. He's in the air above them shining forth the glory of the presence of God. And he was sent by God the Lord to tell them this. And he's already told them not to be afraid. And the very glory of the Lord himself is seen by them shining all around them. These shepherds have just been told a savior has been born who is Christ the Lord, the covenant God of Israel has just been born. And they had to be expecting a little bit more of a grand entrance than this. the very covenant God of Israel, whose glory was enveloping them on the spot and terrifying them on the spot. If the announcement of his birth is glorious, surely his birth itself would be even more glorious, right? And so this statement had to be shocking and odd. We're so used to it. We're so used to this story, this time of year. You're gonna find a baby wrapped in cloths, okay, with you so far, lying in a manger? A manger? This is a truly remarkable thing. This is the beginning of Jesus' state of humiliation. He was born and that in a low condition. He wasn't born in a king's palace on soft cushions or with the material needs to give him a proper bath or to care for his recovering mother. Rather, Christ the Lord, this baby that has been born, was born among the unclean stench of beasts of burden. Shepherds of all people knew exactly what a manger was. I mean, none of them looked and said, what is a manger? They know what that is. What a statement. The Savior whose birth announcement is good news for all the people of the world. A baby wrapped up in cloths, lying in a feeding trough. And I wonder if the shepherds looked at each other and said, what did he just say? Let us also remember the old prophecy from Isaiah. Remember this? Isaiah 53, three, he is despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him. Jesus began his life in this world by being rejected from the inn. I mean, a woman who was obviously nine months pregnant was turned away. There's no room for you here. You can go, all the stuff that people were writing to come here to register, you can go hang out with them. Despised by Herod, who took the lives of countless little boys trying to murder him. Jesus received no favor from the high and mighty of the world. He's rejected. And I wanna say, you can expect the same treatment. If you stand for him, if you love his gospel and are willing to defend it, you'll be rejected too. You'll be hated at times too. The circumstances of Jesus' conception had the appearance of scandal. Think about it. Mary's betrothed to Joseph, not married to him. She's found to be pregnant. before they were married. And she gave birth to this child and then got married to Joseph. And everybody knew this. The circumstances of his birth were lowly and amid people hiding their faces from him. With the appearance of this angel and the glory of the Lord shining around the shepherds, the announcement of this sign had to be perplexing, such mean and dirty and altogether poor and humble circumstances for this Savior, who is Christ the Lord, But what happens next gives us a window into what was happening in the heavenly realms when this quiet birth had taken place on the earth. Look at verses 13 and 14. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. Please stop there. I titled my message to you this morning, An Army Proclaiming Peace. The term that's translated host here, a heavenly host, is the word army. A vast multitude of angels, an army of angels, suddenly appears to the shepherds and they're praising God. The earthly circumstances of Jesus's birth were lowly and they were dirty and mean and had the appearance of scandal. But in the heavenly realms, there was great rejoicing. And these shepherds, lowly themselves and occupying a mean station in life are given something very few people have ever been privileged to see in this life. They see just for a few moments into the glorious spiritual realm where angels were glorifying God and proclaiming peace on earth. and among men with whom he is pleased." Notice that praise goes first to God in the highest, then peace on earth among men with whom he is pleased. The peace that's spoken of there, that glorious, beautiful word, peace, eirene, if you know anyone named Irene, that comes from that great Greek word eirene, it means peace. It's about the peace that the believer has with God. From the Hebrew word shalom, it indicates a wholeness of relationship and fellowship. It signifies security, safety, certainty, wholeness, no worries, perfect assurance that all is right and forever well. Christ came to bring peace between God and his elect people with whom he is justly at war until they believe the gospel. As you know, having peace with God is gonna make you have war with a lot of other people sometimes. Having peace with God is the greatest peace there is, but it's gonna put you at war with those who do not know Christ. This heavenly host, this heavenly army, they've not come to bring the sword of God's just vengeance against these men, against these vessels of mercy, but to proclaim the peace that is coming in this Savior who has been born to you, who is Christ the Lord. It's an army, an army sent to proclaim peace among these men, not war. An army sent to bring forgiveness, not judgment. An army sent to bring justification, not condemnation. An army sent to bring tidings of love, not judgment or wrath. An army sent by the king to bring friendship, not enmity. Why is this? Why can peace be proclaimed to these vessels of mercy, these men with whom God is pleased and upon whom he has cast his undeserved favor? Listen, the reason that this is a proclamation of peace is because the war against their sins would be laid upon the Savior who was born to them who is Christ the Lord. Because the judgment for their transgressions would be poured out on this baby. on this Savior, because the eternal condemnation for their sins will be laid upon Him, because the fullness of divine wrath and anger would be concentrated upon Him, body and soul, on the cross. Isaiah 53.10 says about God the Father's relationship with God the Son, it pleased the Lord to bruise Him. Because He's the one who's crushed, is bruised. We won't be crushed or bruised. That's the good news. That's how we have peace with God. That's why these are such good tidings. God is absolutely free. And now He chooses to glorify Himself. And we can bless His name. He chose to crush, to bruise Him, the suffering servant. Not us, not His people. The Father puts His Son to grief. He lays the chastisement for our peace on him upon this baby in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger, who grew up to become a man, who carried our griefs and our sorrows and our sins up that hill where he died for them all. Our peace comes from his agony. Our riches come from his poverty. The good news of great joy that we have in our hearts and souls this day was at the expense of his humiliation. This humiliation of the Lord of glory himself. It was because of the great love of God for his lost people, that unstoppable love that he has. You know someone really loves you when they pursue you, when they sacrifice for you, when they keep trying and trying to show you that it's real. You know, it's a rare thing. It's a rare thing for people to have anyone in their life like that, another person. Someone who really loves you, the way the Bible describes love. A love that believes all things, bears all things, hopes all things. A love that does not lie, does not rejoice in iniquity, but in the truth. A love that is patient and kind, that does not seek its own. A love that never fails. I wanna encourage you right now, think of one person who has loved you the most in your life. Think about that person, there's gotta be one, probably more. Someone that you know, no question about it, they loved you. To be loved by God is something entirely different. When you think about that person that you know, that always loved you, always persevered with you, always prayed for you, to be loved by God is something entirely different. This baby, who is Christ the Lord, lying in a manger, walking on water later, resisting temptation in the wilderness, raising the dead, healing the sick, cleansing the temple, preaching, forgiving repentant prostitutes, lifting the most shameful dregs of society out of their sin, and giving them eternal life and reconciliation with God, carrying the cross, enduring the shame, giving up his spirit, and dying. being buried, rising again, imputing his personal righteousness to the account of all believing sinners, he showed love in the greatest way possible. He said it to them on the night before his crucifixion, John 15, verse 13. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You know, my whole life I was blessed, my whole life, to have a father that loved me. And my dad on a regular basis would take me by both sides of my cheeks and look at me in the eyes and say, son, I love you, and I would kill and die for you. What a blessing to have a father that loved me like that. But his love is a shadowy reflection of the love that God has had for me. What a blessing beyond comprehension and beyond description. Sinners could actually become friends with God Abraham was called the friend of God. He talked with God throughout the day. Do you talk with God throughout the day? Do you pray with him and praise him and thank him and ask him for wisdom before you speak? Everyone reconciled to God through Christ is also the friend of God. You know, at this point in redemptive history, when this angelic announcement is made there in the fields, there was a lot that was yet to be revealed about Jesus. Jesus's life in ministry, his mighty miracles, his unsurpassed teaching, his cross, burial, resurrection. That's all still in the future when this announcement's being made. He's just a baby laying there in a manger. But the angels of God here are already rejoicing at the peace that Jesus would bring to his people through all the ages of history, future, through his great work and through the preaching of the gospel. They're already rejoicing because they know the plan. They know what is coming. There was much that these shepherds would not have understood about this, but it was right on the horizon, it was coming. The next phase of God's plan to save his people was right at hand, right under their nose. Now look at verse 15. When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, let us go to Bethlehem then and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. Okay, stop there. Notice their excitement and their zeal. They went immediately to Bethlehem. Well, let's go see it. They were not commanded to do this, but the angel told them what to go look for. Look for a baby in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. So they had to go to Bethlehem looking for where would we find animals feeding drops. What a strange quest. Did they talk to anybody? Where are the animals being fed? We've come to see Jesus, the savior of the world. After seeing an angel and then a whole multitude of angels praising God for the birth of this child, they're moved. We want to go see it. And how could we blame them? What about their sheep? What about the thieves? What about the wild beasts that might get the sheep? Well, first things first. They wanted to see this amazing sign and see what it was these angels were praising God for. They wanna see this baby in a manger for themselves. There's a lesson there for us. You see the knowledge that these shepherds had of the gospel, it was far less information than we have. They were privileged to see an amazing sight indeed, but what we have in our New Testaments together with the Old Testament is the fulfillment of what all of God's people from the beginning have been looking forward to. You know, when the 70 came back after Jesus sent them out, remember he says, I give you authority to cast out demons and heal the sick, and I want you to go to all the cities and preach. And they came back to Jesus, the 70 come back to Jesus. And they say, Jesus, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And Jesus gives them a long discourse after they say that, and he's trying to point them to something far, far greater that they still don't get yet. And he says to them after they come back saying, even the demons are subject to us. And we healed the sick and we raised the dead and we cast out demons and it was incredible. But Jesus then tries to get them focused on what's really important. He says to them in Luke 10, 23, blessed are the eyes which see the things you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings desire to see what you see and have not seen it. and to hear what you hear and have not heard it. You hear what he's saying? David looked forward to my coming. Many prophets, Abraham was a prophet, Isaiah, Ezekiel were looking forward to this. They desired to see what you guys see right now in me and they didn't get to see it and they wanted to hear what you've heard and they have not heard it. You see what I'm saying is, dear congregation, God has favored us more than these shepherds. Don't find yourself saying, oh, I'd love to have been there at that time and to see that. No, no, no. God has favored you far more. You have everything in your Bible. You have more than Moses, more than Abraham, more than Israel, more than those shepherds. Sorry. That was not in my manuscript. It's a divine accident. So wake up if you're sleeping. and God has favored us more. So what do the shepherds do? They run. They run off to Bethlehem. Well, let's go see it. They want a glimpse of what the Lord had made known to them. But think about how much more he's made known to us. What would they have done if they'd been handed the book of Romans instead? Let's sit in the fields and use the glory of the Lord to illuminate the page so we can read Romans together. Notice as well what the shepherds know. They know exactly who has made this known to them. They knew it was an angel. But they said what the Lord has made known to us. Evidently when the glory of the Lord shining, there's no doubt about it, you know it's the Lord. And although the angel and the heavenly army were the ones speaking and not God directly, they know, let's go see what the Lord, what the covenant God of Israel just told us. Notice also the speed with which they act upon what they were shown. Listen folks, how desperately do we need to heed that example? When God's Word teaches us to act, and it's clear what He would have us do, why do we hesitate? Why do we ponder it? Why do we drag our feet? Why do we postpone and put off? A message from the Lord God is given through the mouth of one angel, and that an army of angels, the Lord had spoken to them, and as soon as the angels had gone away from them into heaven, they went right then to Bethlehem to see it. So I want to say to all of you, God's heartfelt call to repent and his free offer of the gospel of free and full grace, it goes out to you. God is commanding you. He's ordering you. He's not saying go to Bethlehem and go look for a baby lying in swaddling cloths. He's saying, come to him now. His work's been accomplished. You know what it is. What are you waiting for? Take hold of him. Lay hold of eternal life. Let go of the darkness and the sadness and the wickedness. Discard it all. Be done with it. Take hold of Jesus and his cross, his righteousness, that gift of righteousness. Pray for a soft and teachable heart. We who know Christ have been delivered from our own Egyptian bondage, not by Moses, but by the one that Moses pointed forward to, to the Savior. Why do we imitate the hardened heart of Pharaoh in the face of direct teaching from our Lord instead of reckoning our hearts to be beating hearts of flesh that love holiness and hate sin and desire to be sanctified by God's truth? If God has made something known to you that requires action, be courageous and act. Be like the shepherds here who acted on that which the Lord made known to us, they said. God has made known to you. There is a day of judgment. Lay hold of Jesus and live. Why should these glad tidings of great joy not be for you? Why should they not be for you? Why should they only be to cheer the hearts of others? Why not you? I counseled an individual about 20 years ago, very zealous about talking to people about Jesus and giving out tracts and was out there telling people that there's a savior and you need to believe in him to be saved. And this person had no assurance they were going to heaven. I used to say to them, why do you think Jesus can save everyone but you? Never seen anything like it. You are convinced the way that you witness, you preach him as if he can actually save people, but for some reason you don't think he'll save you, why? Why should everyone else only have joy? Why not you? That call in your heart of hearts, you know it's telling you don't die in your sins, listen to it. Listen to the Lord eternal life is free for the taking Why will you not take hold of Jesus and embrace him? And hurry up look at verse 16 see verse 16 so they came in a hurry and Found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby as he lay in the manger Okay, stop They didn't just, okay guys, let's just take a stroll over there. They hurried, I think they ran. The faith of these shepherds, it rose above the very lowly circumstance because of what they'd been told by the angel and what they'd heard from the heavenly army's words of praise to God and the proclamation of peace on earth among men upon whom God's favor rests. Most would look at such a circumstance and be shocked and horrified. A baby in a manger in an animal's trough? How many would look at this baby and say, this is the hope of all mankind? This child in a manger, this is what I'm being asked to believe in? Yeah, yes. What looked lowly and despicable to everyone else was glorious to these shepherds. When they found him, it wasn't just a baby laying in a manger. It was Christ the Lord, a savior. God had revealed that to them. They knew who he was. They looked at this child through the eyes of belief. We have a certain and faithful testimony from heaven that is given to us to bear us through all of life's trials and hardships. Let us learn to see through the eyes of simple childlike trust in the goodness of God too. These shepherds saw the one who was the Savior, Christ the Lord, lying in a manger where almost everyone else on earth, everyone else on earth, everyone back in Nazareth would have seen a scandalous couple having their illegitimate baby in a place they and that baby deserved for it. But what's going on in heaven is worship of God for his glorious plan to bring great tidings of joy to everyone in the world. Let God's glory occupy your minds so that you see life through the lens of His eternal goodness. What looks to be nothing, what looks to be weak, is the very power of God. If we believe and act on God's word, we, like the shepherds, will find it to be perfectly and infallibly true every time. So they came in a hurry, verse 16, and found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby as he lay in the manger. It was exactly as the Lord told them. Now look at verse 17 and 18. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. Do you know shepherds were considered to be so dirty, so lowly in their occupation that their testimony was no good in court. But God would not allow their testimony to what they had seen and heard go unheeded. and be rejected, it would be forever recorded in divine scripture right here for us. Isn't it interesting? Shepherds are the ones that are telling people, we just saw angels. They're like, yeah, right. We know you guys lose a lot of sleep. Who were the first people to see the resurrected Christ? A bunch of women. All who heard it wondered, marveled at the things that the shepherds told them. Isn't that, it's actually sad if you reflect on it. It's not that they believed it or were saved. They just wondered. I mean, it's not every day a whole group of shepherds leaves their sheep in the field to come tell you they just saw a bunch of angels that told them that the savior of the world's in an animal's feeding trough nearby. They wondered at it. They were like, what in the world are they talking about? And herein we see another problem with mankind in general. They just marveled. They wondered. None of them apparently inquired or sought after this child in Bethlehem. They just wondered about it. That was all. Think about what they wondered at. Really? So an angel appeared to you and said, don't be afraid. I bring you good tidings of great joy. For today in the city of David has been born for you a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this is gonna be the sign. You're gonna find a baby wrapped in cloth lying in a feeding trough. Wow. Then a whole army of angels appears in heaven and they're all praising God. Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among men with whom he is pleased. The shepherds went and told that story to everybody. They told these things to the people in that area, and they marveled, but apparently didn't act. Matthew Henry wrote this, oh, the amazing stupidity of the men of that generation. Justly were the things which belong to their peace hid from their eyes when they thus willfully shut their eyes against them, end quote. It's one thing to wonder and to marvel at the things that God has revealed in his word, It's quite another when an individual takes hold of Jesus as not something, not a curiosity, but as their savior, as the one who brings good tidings of great joy to their heart by forgiving them of all their sins. It's one thing to find fascinating the scriptural revelation of God's dealings with man. It's another thing entirely when a person sees the gospel and sees what this baby would grow up to do when he was nailed to the cross and died and rose again as their salvation from their sins. May these wonderful narrations of these real events in history, may they not be lost on us. May our hearts not be followed. where these seeds are being sown. May Jesus give the increase in this room that not a single one who hears would die in their sins and be lost. And look at verse 19 and 20. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. You know, that's not the only time it says that. When Jesus was brought into the temple to be circumcised, remember the old man Simeon? takes Jesus in his arms. It had been revealed to him, you're not gonna die until you see the Lord's Christ. And there he is holding him. And he says to Mary, he says, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel as he's holding him. I feel almost certain he looked at Mary and said, and a sword is gonna pierce your soul. Mary was blessed beyond measure to have the role she had, but you know something? Her personal anguish in that she would be an eyewitness of her son's crucifixion and death. Think about that. She stood there at the foot of his cross, this child that she nursed and brought up and raised. Everything she heard about her son leading up to the cross where she stood and watched him die, she contemplated all of it. An angel told her, An angel told her, you are going to be with child. And she said, how can that be? I'm not married. I've never known a man. The Holy Spirit will come upon you. And the highest will overshadow you. And the child that will be born to you will be holy, who is Christ the Lord. An angel told Joseph, you will give him the name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. What a blessing that Mary had, what joy she had. This is in remembrance of the promise that God made to Abraham. This child that I'm carrying is gonna bring to pass everything God promised our fathers, but it would also be the most painful thing she would ever see as he was nailed to a cross for her sins and all his people's. And look at verse 20. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them. Okay, my concluding thoughts to you. Normally when a king sends an army, it's either to show their overwhelming power to intimidate to an enemy, to cause them to back down or to bring war and destruction. But God sent an angel. to a group of lowly shepherds to announce the birth of the world's savior. And once that angel had calmed the fear of the shepherds, heaven opened, and the rest of the army of angels that God had dispatched were praising God in the presence of those shepherds and told them exactly where to go and what to look for. The baby in Swalling Clawson, a manger. We're a world of sinners who deserves for God to send an army to wipe us out. But instead he sent an army to proclaim good news. Isn't God so wonderful? He could have just left us in our sins. He could have done that. I hope you think about that sometimes. Life's really hard and you're tempted to fret a little bit against God. Just remember, he could have left you in your sins. He could have left me in my sins and it would have been just and righteous and good for him to do that. Instead, he sends an army of angels. He sent me my parents. He sent others to them to bring the gospel to them and then down to me. Glory to God in the highest on earth, peace among men. What wondrous love is this? Standing before the altogether holy and righteous God is this stubborn, rebellious world. And God gives us good news. Good news. There is born to you a Savior this day who is Christ the Lord. And this savior would go on to remove our war with God and brought us peace and wholeness and righteousness and forgiveness and assurance and purpose. And his blessed pledge that he will give us eternal life and that we will never perish and not be in judgment. May we be like the shepherds and follow the example of the heavenly army and with all the saints. who have gone before us and say glory to God in the highest, now and forever, as we ourselves take hold of Jesus, believing that he is our savior. Let's pray. Father, we bless you and praise you for this great passage. Thank you for sending an army of angels, not to proclaim war on rebellious people, but to bring good news of great joy, which is for all the people. May we see all the people in our lives, as those that need to hear the gospel, these good tidings, and may they all come to know you. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.