Turn in our Bibles to the gospel according to Luke. We'll read chapter 2, Luke chapter 2. Script reading will be verses 1 through 21. Luke 2, beginning at verse 1. It came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. This taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. It all went to be taxed, everyone into his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. She brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not. For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. This shall be a sign unto you. shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, 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, good will toward men. They came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. They came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them. And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. The Word of God thus far in our text is going to be verses 13 and 14. I'll read those words again. Luke 2, 13 and 14. 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, good will toward men. This chapter in the Word of God, beloved as we well know and as some of you children know too from memorizing parts of this chapter for your Christmas program recently, perhaps for other occasions as well, is a chapter in Scripture that records for us very plainly the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. And if we read just the first part of the chapter, verses 1 through 7, then we might be left with the impression that there was nothing too extraordinary about the birth of Christ. It is spoken of in those opening verses of this chapter in a very natural and earthly manner. could easily happen. Yes, it is true there were some unusual elements to it, but nevertheless it is possible for this to happen, and we can imagine this happening. Caesar makes a decree, Joseph and Mary must travel to Bethlehem because they are of the family of David. Hundreds of others also travel there with them, and the city of Bethlehem is filled with people. Mary is close to giving birth to the child that she is expecting, but there is no room for them anywhere, no room for them in the end. Eventually, they find a place. where Jesus can be born. And there Mary gives birth to her firstborn son, born in lowly and humble circumstances and laid in a manger. A very natural and earthly event takes place. With verse 8, however, there is a significant change in the narrative that we are given here in Luke chapter 2. In verse 8, an angel appeared, and the angel brought an announcement from heaven, and his announcement was accompanied by the shining of the bright light of the glory of God. And then, according to the words of our text, more angels appeared, a multitude of them, a heavenly choir that sang praises to God in the hearing of the shepherds at the time of the birth of Jesus. Therefore, in contrast to the earthly account given in verses 1-7, our text is giving to us a very heavenly account, a heavenly perspective concerning the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. What we learn, first of all through this, is that The angels were fully aware of Jesus' birth, and they were very much involved, and they were also very interested. We know, of course, that the angels are interested in all of the works of God, and Job chapter 38 verse 7 points out to us that when God created the heavens and the earth, The angels were there praising and rejoicing and glorifying God as His work of creation was being accomplished by Him. Of all of the events that have happened in world history, and of all the works of God that God has done, it is especially this work of God in sending His Son into the world. that draws the attention of the angels and produces from them a song of praise to God. They observed God performing this great wonder of sending his son, born of a virgin in Bethlehem and laid in a manger there. And they were delighted and joyful. and they sang for joy to God. This event was so important to them, as it obviously was, and so important to them who did not fall into sin as we have, to them who remained perfect To them who do not need and did not need, except perhaps for their corporate responsibility for the fall of the angels in heaven, but otherwise do not need the salvation from sin and death and hell that we need, if for them this was an occasion for rejoicing and thanksgiving to God. How much more for us? Consider then angelic praise at the birth of Jesus. Angelic praise at the birth of Jesus. Praise for the wonder and praise for the peace. When the Lord Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, it was God's purpose that this ought to be known and must be known. It must be known by His people that His Son has been born into this world. The elect remnant must be informed of the birth of God's Son. So God sent an angel to make it known. And he sent that angel to make it known not to the kings and rulers and nobles of this world, not to the leaders in the church of that day, the Pharisees and the scribes and the elders of the people, and not to the Jewish people as a nation so that multitudes might gather in the streets and celebrate the birth of Christ, though they would not have done so. But he made it known to some humble shepherds, lowly men, men who lived, as it were, on the fringes of society. Suddenly, in the darkness of night, the angel brought good tidings of great joy to those shepherds, announcing to them, in the city of David today, your Savior, Christ the Lord, has been born. God told some of the elect remnant concerning the birth of Jesus Christ. And then suddenly, with that initial angel who announced that to the shepherd, suddenly more angels appeared. A multitude of the heavenly host appeared. The Bible tells us elsewhere that when it comes to the number of angels that there are thousands of thousands of angels and even 10,000 times 10,000 of angels. This multitude of angels wasn't necessarily the whole host of the angels of God that are in heaven and that do His will, but nevertheless a great an innumerable multitude of angels gathered. This was the first time that such a company of angels appeared on earth. Heaven came to earth that day. Heaven came to earth that day, we could say, in two ways. The most significant way was Heaven came to earth through the Son of God coming to earth, but heaven also came to earth through this host of angels. And this majestic heavenly choir sang, and the shepherds were the chosen audience. What a song they must have heard. But what is important, beloved, is not simply that they sang. What is important and significant for us is what they sang. Their song, the song they sang to accompany the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ was this, glory to God, in the highest, that first of all. And that song and those words of the angel are really for us a window into heaven, an insight into the heavenly response to the birth of Jesus Christ. They are declaring by their song that the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ was a glorious and that God must be glorified for this great event. From an earthly viewpoint, there was nothing glorious about the birth of Christ. There was no glory in the stable. There was no glory in being born under such lowly circumstances and laid in a manger, a cattle trough. And man living upon earth would not find that to be glorious and would not find reason in that to glorify God. If men had seen the birth of Jesus in this cattle shed laid in a manger, they would have despised Him. But everyone in heaven understood the wonder and saw the glory of God shine through in the birth of His Son in Bethlehem. And they revealed that with their song, the angels did. All glory and all praise and all honor to God in the highest heaven. because his son has been born in a stable in Bethlehem. Glory to God. The angels came to earth at that time and did upon earth what the angels of God constantly do in heaven, they glorify God. Psalm 103, bless the Lord, ye his angels, bless the Lord, all ye his hosts. Psalm 148, which we sang, praise ye him, all his angels, praise ye him, all his hosts. The angels in heaven glorify God and they came to earth, as I said, to do on earth what they constantly do in heaven. They glorified God. By doing so, they taught the shepherds and they teach us how to respond to the works of God, how to respond to any of the works of God, and how specifically now to respond to this work of God, that God's Son was born upon this earth. The message of the angels through their song, the message of the angels to the shepherds, and the message and instruction of the angels to us too, is God sent his Son to you upon earth. The chief reason that God did so is that he might be glorified. That's why he does all things, that's why he does anything at all, for the glory of of His own name. Glorify Him. Give all praise and honor to Him for this wonderful work of God, the giving of His Son. It is, of course, a good reminder to us. Sometimes in life we can lose sight of that truth that is expressed by the angels, namely that everything is for the glory of God. We lose sight of that because we think of ourselves, we think of our desires, we think of our wishes and purposes and pleasures and all the rest. But it's exactly, beloved, when we forget God and forget God's glory, and forget that all things are for the purpose of the glory of God, that we struggle all the more with what God does to us and sends upon us. We're reminded here through this Song of the Angels, however, that in the end the only thing that should matter is God's glory. That's what they sang. They sang praise and glory to God. They sang that for others to hear, the shepherds. They sang that for us to hear and to know as well. God glorified. They glorified God for the wonders He performed at that time. They glorified God for the wonder of the virgin birth that took place. They glorified God for the wonder of God giving His own Son. They glorified God for the wonder of the Son of God being willing to come to this earth and to condescend to us. They glorified God for the great salvation that God accomplished and would accomplish through His Son. The angels saw in all of that a marvelous display of the power and of the grace of God. They understood that God had done and would do great things through Christ his son, would do what is humanly impossible, to save sinners from hell. And they said, we will glorify and praise God for it. How can we not do so? They set us an example. By what they did, the angels teach all God's people in every age and say to all God's people in every age, join us in glorifying and praising God. The shepherds understood that. We read of that in verse 20. The shepherds learned from the example of those angels that heavenly host. Verse 20, and the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them. May we likewise learn and do. But that wasn't all. The angels also glorified God, and here we get at really the reason why they did it, the main reason they did it. They glorified God for the blessing of peace that God gives to his people through Christ. Really, their song could be understood this way. They said, glory to God in the highest for the peace that his son brings upon earth. At this time of year, as we know, there are many who are interested in that part of our text. On earth peace, good will toward men. Many are very interested in those words. That's their focus with regard to hearing of the birth of Christ. So they talk and they sing about peace on earth and goodwill toward all men. But, of course, they think of, and they are only thinking of, earthly peace. Peace between all nations, an end to all warfare, friendly relations between all people, everyone getting along with each other. And you can understand the natural desire that one has for that, for who can deny that things are very unstable in the world because of war, because of hatred, because of crime, because of great wickedness in the world that makes peace, earthly peace, even sound very attractive. But we know what God says about that. God says this, there is no peace saith my God to the wicked. It is impossible for the wicked, impossible for the world of the ungodly to have peace. War and fighting and disunity and unrest will simply continue and will even increase. It is impossible for the world to have peace because the world is not at peace with God. They are at enmity with God. The ungodly, therefore, have turned this song of the angels into a carnal song concerning earthly peace. But that's not what the text is speaking of. That's not what God promises, and that's not what God gives through Jesus Christ. First of all, in that connection, we ought to note that the literal words of the angelic song are, peace on earth to men of good will. The peace that the Lord Jesus Christ that gives, therefore, is not intended and is not promised to all men. Yes, there is peace on earth for some, and we don't have to wait until we get to heaven to have that peace and to experience that peace. We can have it now already by faith. But this peace is not for everyone on earth. This is peace that is only intended by God and promised by God to men of goodwill, that is, to men of God's goodwill. This is a reference to the goodwill of God, God's eternal goodwill, God's good pleasure, God's counsel. It is a reference to his counsel of election. And the text is speaking of the men and women in this earth who are eternally the chosen of God and the beloved of God. Peace for them and for them only. The song of the angels, therefore, is glory to God in the highest. for the peace that he gives in and through Jesus his Son to his chosen people. God's purpose in sending Jesus was to give us peace through him. One of the names given to him in Isaiah 9.6 is well known to us, Prince of Peace. He gives us peace that is very precious and that is very valuable and that is very necessary for us. The peace he gives is peace with God. the peace of salvation, the rest and peace in our souls and in our hearts, the peace of the forgiveness of sins, the peace of knowing that we are right with God, the peace of experiencing His favor and His fellowship. And He came into this world, Jesus did, in order to attain that peace for us, and that was why His beginning in this world was such a lowly beginning, a lowly beginning because He came into this world carrying the burden of our sin and the guilt of our sin and the punishment that our sins deserve. He came in our likeness. He took upon Himself all of our sins. such a lowly and a shameful birth because of all of our sins upon Him, but that with a view to removing those sins as the wall of separation, the barrier between us and our God, that with a view to doing that by suffering for those sins and being punished for all of those sins and removing them from the sight of God so that now the light of the favor of God can shine upon us instead, so that we can be at peace with God. We are blessed to have that peace in our hearts, because then gone is the unrest and turmoil and anxiety because of our sin, the fear because on account of sin we deserve the wrath of God. Gone. And in its place, the calmness and quietness in our souls because our sins have been forgiven and we have been reconciled to God and we are now one with Him through Christ His Son and His favor shines upon us. That's the peace that the Lord Jesus Christ provides and attained for those who are, according to the eternal good pleasure and goodwill of God, his chosen and his beloved. A peace that passes all understanding. We have it by faith in Christ. And not only is it that We have that peace now, but we anticipate having perfect peace one day, perfect peace forever and forever. The Lord Jesus Christ came once. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming again. He's coming again in order to destroy forever the powers of darkness and all the evil forces of Satan and all the wicked who war against the people of God and disturb our peace, including all the forces of temptation and sin. He is coming to destroy them, and to destroy them completely and forever, and to establish the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness will dwell. Then we will enjoy perfect peace with God, with nothing to disrupt or to disturb our peace, the eternal blessings of covenant life with God our Father and with Jesus Christ our Brother. And then we will join the angels in singing this song and sing it like never before. Glory to God in the highest. All praise for the blessed peace that we have with God through Jesus Christ His Son. The world and the ungodly around us are silent today as regards giving glory and praise to God. They do not and they cannot truly praise Him. They cannot and do not truly praise Him for the gift of His Son. And even if it is with words, that's all it is. The angels were not silent. And we must not be either, for we, after all, are the ones who need Jesus and for whom he was sent into this world. The angels, who did not personally need him, glorified and praised God for our sake. all the more ought we to do so. And trusting and believing in Jesus, let us hope for His return and for the perfect peace that is surely coming when He does. We thank God for His unspeakable gift. Amen. Our Father and our God in heaven, we thank Thee for Thy Word, we thank Thee for Thy Son, we thank Thee for blessed salvation through Him, for the peace that is ours with Thee, for the hope also of perfect peace in the day of His second coming. We look forward to that especially. We know on account of his first coming it is certain and it is sure. In his name we pray. Amen.