Open your Bibles, please, to Luke chapter 2. And while you're turning there, just wanted to say again, wonderful, absolutely wonderful singing this morning from the children and also the choir. That was the choir's audition. They're hired. We expect you back every week in 2024. That was great. Thank you guys very, very much. I enjoyed it tremendously. Luke chapter 2. I'm going to be starting in verse 8. I'll be reading through verse 20, though principally we're looking at verses 8-14 this morning. Luke writes, 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 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 has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And 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 it happened that when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing which has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. So they went in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the manger. And when they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this child. and all who heard it marveled at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary was treasuring all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as was told them." Let's pray. Father, this morning we rejoice in this story about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ And Father, as so many have looked at this over the years and seen this as only a story, it is so much more than a story. It is a truthful, accurate account of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. His coming to earth. The beginning of His perfect life. The beginning of His redemptive work on our behalf. So Father, as we look at this this morning, open our eyes to see this through the shepherd's eyes, this unsuspecting group of men that in no other circumstance would have ever received a message like this. And the angels who brought it to them, we thank you for it in Jesus' name. Amen. If you had good news, and I mean really good news, and that was also not just good news, but it was big news, how would you announce it? How would you go about it? All the big events that unfold in the world stage are always covered by mass media. ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, you name it, they're on the stage whenever something big happens. That's how all great announcements always are heralded in our world today, isn't it? The moon landing was carried on TV around the world. The presidential elections that we see every four years are covered nonstop until a winner is announced and we watch on TV as each state, we see the results come in for each individual state. That's a pretty big deal. Recently, the UK crowned a new king that was broadcast on every channel all around the world as everyone watched his coronation. Major manufacturers release new products to much media fanfare all the time. New foods, new medicine for either cures or treatments or to combat all manner of illnesses, fill the airwaves. The same is true of the beginning of wars, the developments of wars, the ends of wars. Terrorist attacks, terrorist organizations wanting to take responsibility so the world can see them on the biggest stage. For their purpose is to be feared. All of that is big news. And we follow suit in our own personal lives as well, don't we? I mean, think about that. Marriages, births, deaths, family reunions, holiday parties, Christmas parties, church events, community events, the list goes on and on. And when we have one of those, we want to make sure that everybody who's supposed to hear does hear. But what about one of the grandest days in history? I mean, this day ranks right up there with the creation of the universe, the crucifixion of Christ, the second coming of Christ. What about the birth of God's own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ? How was that heralded? How would we expect it to be heralded? And that is especially true when you begin to understand how long the anticipation of Christ's coming had been building. I mean, they'd been waiting for this for millennia. Literally thousands of years. It was first announced by God all the way back in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3, verse 15. The one born of the woman would crush the serpent's head. The one who was born of the woman would come to deal with the problem of sin. Then it was announced again to Abraham in Genesis 12, verse 3, and also chapter 15, verse 18, when God made a covenant with Abraham, that through him all people would be blessed by his seed. And the text is very specific. It's singular. It doesn't say seeds as if to... It's talking about many people. It says, and to seed as if one, meaning specifically the Lord Jesus Christ. Moses. the great leader and prophet of Israel, told the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 18, verse 15, that God would one day raise up a prophet like him, and Moses said this about the Lord Jesus Christ, quote, you shall listen to him. You shall. God told David in 2 Samuel, chapter 7, that one of his descendants will arise to be king over God's kingdom forever. And we have many announcements throughout the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 7, verse 14. It says, "...therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will be with child." That's quite a sign, isn't it? Have you ever seen anything like that? I don't think so. "...The Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." Which of course means God with us. Isaiah 9, verses 6 and 7, we read it earlier in the call to worship of our service. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, the government will rest on his shoulders, his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace. and on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore, the zeal of Yahweh of hosts will accomplish this. I included that last one because that announces not only his birth, but his coming to reign and his second coming as well. So there are massive announcements about the Lord Jesus Christ all over the Old Testament, heralded through the prophets, heralded throughout the text of Scripture. Israel was looking. And then after the last prophet of the Old Testament fell silent, there was 400 years with no new revelation from God. 400 years. But when it came time for the grand event How did God decide to announce the birth of his own son? What did this announcement look like? What was its content? And what does it mean for you and me? I'm gonna show you this this morning in three headings. Three headings. Number one. Number one, very simply, good news publicized. Good news publicized. Look again at verse eight. 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 stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terribly frightened. The angel said to them, do not be afraid. Behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people. It's familiar territory for us, isn't it? Especially for those who maybe only make it out to church a couple times a year, Christmas and Easter. We've heard this text a lot. And as you've seen, if you have big news, you let as many people know as possible. You blast it, don't you? With the biggest megaphone that you can, to the largest audience that you possibly can. And so you would think that nobody would have a bigger megaphone than God, right? And surely he would bring it to the largest audience that he possibly could bring it to. Yeah, except that's not quite what God had in mind. He had something very different in mind. In fact, the first people He told this to were people in the same region. We're not talking about a worldwide announcement. We're talking about people who are in the same region. And understand, Bethlehem is this tiny little hamlet just a few miles away from Jerusalem. And these are shepherds who are out in the hill country in the middle of nowhere outside of the hamlet. So you have the main city of Jerusalem. You have the tiny little hamlet of Bethlehem. And then you have the guys who are out stranded in the fields with nobody else around. That's the setting, that's where we're at. And in verse eight it tells us they were shepherds. You've heard this many times, I wanna ask you this morning to look at this text with new eyes as if you've never seen it before. Because that is actually a shocking statement. That these were shepherds. I mean, these are not the people to whom you want to get the news. Shepherds at this time were insignificant. They were nobodies. They were generally disliked within the nation of Israel. They were the bottom rung of the social ladder as far as people were concerned then. In fact, for most people, they would consider shepherds just barely better than tax collectors and prostitutes. Shepherds weren't allowed to testify in court, they were viewed as dishonest, they were viewed as disloyal, and quite frankly they had received a pretty bad rap. In a great twist of irony, the sheep who were kept in this region by the shepherds were often used for sacrifice in the Temple in Jerusalem. But because the sheep required 24-7 care, the shepherds were considered unfit and unclean to worship at the Temple. That's not by the regulation of God, that's by the man-made regulations added by the Scribes and Pharisees. So to be clear, the sheep that they tended could go to the temple. The sheep that they tended could be a picture of Messiah that was going to come and the salvation that he was going to bring. The sheep were considered spotless and unblemished and clean. But the shepherds, they're outcasts. They weren't allowed even to go to the temple to worship. In fact, the religious leadership of Israel today probably would have thought that the shepherds were likely bound for hell. That's not God's perspective, is it? Because in just a moment, they're going to receive the greatest announcement in all of history. In fact, for God to pick them indicates that these are those who are most likely to believe the message that God had for them. You don't send your grandest announcement to people who are not going to believe you. You send it to those who will. And in this case, God picked shepherds. It was God's practice to exalt the humble. That's what He does all throughout the Scriptures. He exalts the humble, not the proud. It is God's habit to be near to the humble. And as we said before, the shepherds couldn't even go to the temple to sacrifice. because they weren't allowed by men. But they could have a contrite heart before God. And it was David, a shepherd, who had turned king, who wrote this in Psalm 51, verse 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. It was David again who wrote Psalm 138, verse 6, where he writes, for Yahweh is high, Yet he sees the lowly, but the one who exalts himself, he knows him from afar. In other words, God is near, he is close to the one who is humble, to the one who is proud, to the one who has a hard heart. They must be humbled, they must be humbled. In fact, we know all throughout Jesus' earthly ministry that He often sought out those who were humble in heart. He often sought out the outcast intentionally. He sought out the lame. He sought out the sick. Those whom the world rejected. Those whom the world thought were cursed of God. Why? Because those are the ones who believe. See, it's rare that the powerful actually believe. And again, why? Because those who are destitute know they cannot trust in themselves. They can't. His ministry was not to the self-righteous. It was to the ones who knew they were sinners. Jesus' ministry was to the ones who knew they needed a Savior. See, when it comes to salvation, God is not looking for you to try to prove yourself to Him. The Scripture never says that. He knows who you are. He knows the thoughts of your heart. He knows you far more intimately than you know yourself. He knows that we're sinners. And He knows just how bad we are. He knows all the secret thoughts that you think no one knows. In fact, Isaiah chapter 64 verse six says, for all of us have become like one who is unclean. Notice Isaiah says all of us. All our righteous deeds. Everything that you and I think is a righteous deed. All our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment. And all of us wither like a leaf and our iniquities like the wind carry us away. Do you hear those words this morning? This is every single one of us. Everything you think is righteous and everything you think will commend you to God, everything that you think will earn you favor and salvation will not. I mean, think about this for a moment. If you are good enough to save yourself, if you are good enough to do enough good deeds to outweigh your bad, if you're good enough to be able to save yourself, then why in the world did God need to send a Savior? Why? I mean, it's a fool's errand at that point, if you're good enough to save yourself. And so then the question becomes this morning, and I'm going to ask this, and everybody's going to go, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Who do you think you are? Now I ask that with all respect, but I ask it with all seriousness. Do you think you're good enough to save yourself? Do you think you're perfect enough? For God? I mean, there's a lot of people who think they can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and save themselves. Or that, well, I know the first part of my life has been tough, but I'm a good finisher. I'm going to finish strong. Look, I know you're not an evil person, at least not by man's standards. But man's standards are not what gets you into heaven. They're not. God is the One who oversees that. And to get in, you must be perfect. In fact, you must be as perfect as God, and I wanna show you that. You say, oh, I don't believe that, pastor. There's no way that God could require somebody to be perfect to get into heaven. Okay, Matthew chapter five. Jesus is preaching in the Sermon on the Mount, and he says this. Matthew chapter five, verse 20. He says, for I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees. Now listen, folks, the most righteous people, the most good people, of Jesus' day were scribes and Pharisees. Hear now the full statement that he says. For I say to you, unless your righteousness surpasses, that means you must be better than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. He's standing there and preaching this in front of a massive crowd of thousands of people, and he just told that entire crowd that the scribes and Pharisees aren't getting in and neither are you. That's what He just said to them. That's not a secret sensitive message. That's not great public relations, is it? That's not how you build a following. Jesus wasn't interested in a following. Then in that same sermon, he goes on to show them that everyone is a sinner and no one is perfect in God's eyes. And then at the end of chapter five, he concludes chapter five with this. Therefore, you must be perfect as your heavenly Father. He doesn't say you must be perfect in the eyes of men. Oh no. He raises this far beyond. Anything that anybody could possibly imagine therefore you are to be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect Jesus is saying to this crowd you want heaven. That's great. Then you must be perfect That's fine to be as perfect as God. Can you do that? And you say, probably the same thing in your head right now that this entire crowd was saying that Jesus was preaching to you. You say, well, wait a minute, pastor, that's impossible. You're right, and that's exactly Jesus' point. You can't. And you say then, well, how do I get in? Answer, you must humble yourself, and you must do what seems completely counterintuitive. You must admit before God that you are not able, and you must throw yourself on the mercy of God. You must trust in the only Savior that God has provided to save you from your sin. So you don't enter heaven by your pride. You don't enter heaven by pleading your case. You don't enter heaven by proving that you're good enough. And you certainly don't enter heaven by proving that your good works outweigh your bad. Let's be clear. You won't find that anywhere in the Bible. Ever. But what you will find is that you get in by humbly admitting that you are not good enough. You get in by knowing that your sin must be punished. You get in by understanding that God sent Christ to take your punishment as your substitute. And on the cross, he punished Jesus. in the place of everyone who would ever believe. He embraced, he took the hell that you and I deserve. That's why Jesus came to earth. You can't be perfect, so Jesus was perfect in your place. You can't pay for your sin, so Jesus paid for it in your place. if you'll trust in him alone for your salvation. So the only person who gets in is the one who embraces that message and who trusts in that alone. John chapter 14 verse 6, Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life. Meaning, the way that that's written in the original language, it means I am the only way, the only truth, and the only life. No one comes to the Father but through me. In John 3.16, another well-trod verse, he said, for God so loved the world, this is Jesus speaking, God so loved the world, and by the world he means not just the Jews, he means everybody everywhere. Keep in mind as he's saying this, he's speaking to the foremost teacher of the nation of Israel at the time. This was a shocking statement to him. Jesus said, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him... To believe in Him doesn't just mean, oh yeah, I believe He exists. I believe He came to earth. No, it means you're trusting in Him. The Greek word for belief is the Greek word pisos. It means faith or belief. To trust. To place all of your trust in Him. He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. There it is from the mouth of Jesus. All of that to say the only way to get in is by humble trust in the Savior that God has provided. So my question for you this morning is will you do that? Pastor, I just came here to get a feel-good message and to have you tell me good things about myself. I have to preach the word of God. So the question before you this morning is will you do that? Will you trust in Christ alone to save you? And do you understand this morning that is why Jesus came? We just demonstrated that from the words of Christ himself, didn't we? Listen friends, Christmas is not about the good feels. It's not about presents or family time, all of that is nice, it's good to do, we enjoy it, it's great, all of that is very pleasant. Christmas is about Christ being sent to earth to live a perfect sinless life that you couldn't live, to die in the place of all who would ever trust in him. And if you would be saved, you must believe and trust in that alone. Now, that's who God made the announcement to, the shepherds. But what else does the text tell us? Well, the shepherds are watching their sheep on what likely really was truly a silent night near this little hamlet of Bethlehem. It was probably a night just about like every other night at that time of the year until verse 9. And an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened." Now, this is not something you see every day. This is stunning. This is dramatic. It is shocking. It is utterly unexpected for these shepherds. I mean, think about where they're at. We talked about this earlier. They're in the bottom rung. They're the social outcasts. This is not something they have ever seen. This is not something anybody had ever seen before. or ever would again. And remember, sometimes the angels have a message that's good. Sometimes they deliver a message that's bad. And you have to wait to hear what the message was until you know whether it's good or bad. And so these shepherds right now are scared to death. And so these are Yahweh's messengers, God's message, and what's the message of the sovereign of the universe? What message could He possibly have for a bunch of shepherds in the middle of nowhere? And often in the Bible, when angels do appear, they appear in glory, but it's their own glory. And even with angelic glory, you see people fall on their faces in terror in front of them. And sometimes people will even try to worship the angels themselves because their glory is so great. And even the Apostle John himself had to be reminded not to do that. Revelation chapter 19 verse 10, there an angel rebukes John for trying to worship him. But in this case, these angels don't just have angelic glory. No, that'd be enough. That would be enough to shock the daylights out of these shepherds. God sent this angel, and when he appears, it says, the glory of God himself, the glory of the Lord shown around them. Can you imagine the peaceful night sky? You've got these guys that are out on the hillside. They've got their sheep in the sheepfold for the evening, and they're just gazing over the horizon. If you grew up in the country, you know this, or if you've ever been out in the middle of nowhere when there's no lights, no artificial lights, The stars are actually bright enough. And you can see a lot once your eyes adjust to the dark. And so they're scanning the horizon for wolves. They're looking around trying to keep watch so that no thieves break into their pen and steal their sheep. You'd see thousands of stars on that night. And in an instant, They are confronted with an angel and the blinding, brilliant glory of God breaks the sky wide open. Now what does the Bible tell us when people see the glory of God in Scripture? Well, we understand that His glory is the visible representation of His perfection. Every time somebody sees this, they don't yawn. They don't fall asleep. They're terrified. They're quaking in their boots. In Exodus 33, verse 18, Moses there begged God to show him his glory. In the very next chapter, chapter 34, verses six and seven, Yahweh God passes by him and proclaims his greatness while displaying his overpowering glory. What is Moses' response? Exodus 34, verse eight, and Moses made haste. That means he got down on his face fast. Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. He's awestruck. He can't believe what he's seeing. It's beyond his ability to imagine or comprehend. Moses is not alone in this awestruck shock. In Isaiah chapter 6, we see how Isaiah responds when he sees God's glory in that text. In Isaiah chapter 6, verse 5, Isaiah sees Christ's glory in verses 1 through 4. Verse 5, Isaiah says this, Woe is me, that word woe, it means condemned, it means damned. I deserve hell, Isaiah says. Woe is me, for I am ruined. Why? For I am a man of unclean lips, I live among a people of unclean lips. How do you know that, Isaiah? For my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts. I've just seen him, I've seen his glory, I've seen his perfection, and because I've seen that perfection, I know my sin. And interestingly enough, in the Greek here, in Luke chapter two, what did these shepherds do? The end of verse nine, it says, they were terribly frightened. The Greek text literally, translated bone literally, it says, and they were made to fear a mega fear. Shaking, terrified. Why? Because they're beholding the glory of God, this perfect, pure, clean, holy glory. And in response to that, they can see their sin. But look what the angel does immediately. He tells them, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Why? This is not a message of judgment. Shepherds, we're not here to give a message of judgment. And you can understand, if you're the shepherds, if you're at the bottom rung of society, if you're people that others look down upon, you're probably guessing, well, this is it. The glory of God's here and the first time I see it, he's taking me out, I'm done. Oh no. That's not what's happening here. The glory of God is here not to condemn, it's here for a message of peace. Peace. V. 10, it says, "...but the angels said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people." This is good news. And in fact, we're going to find that it's the best news conceivable. And good news is one word in the original. It's the Greek word euangelizo, and it means to proclaim, to announce, to herald good news. The angels came to make an announcement, and here's their announcement. The Son of God has come to earth. Oh, that's good news. That's the best news possible. and it brings the greatest joy possible. Why? Because all the promises that God has made for thousands of years, all the announcements that have taken place and been given throughout all of the Old Testament about the coming of Christ, in fact, all of the revelation of God from all of the Old Testament is pointing forward to one thing, one person, and it's Christ. And all of the promises that God has made for thousands of years, about the one who is going to come and be his king and be the one who takes care of sin, that's now. And for those who trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, for those who believe in the one that God has provided for their salvation, you no longer need to fear the judgment of God. That fear's gone if you're trusting in Christ alone for your salvation. If you're not, you still have that fear. If you hold to Christ as Savior and Lord, there is no judgment for you. Why? Because that same Son of God took your judgment in your place. The one that the Father promised to send, His Messiah, is finally here. He's going to finally deal with sin. He's going to finally provide salvation. And this is for, the angel says, all people. Not just salvation for the Jews, but salvation for everyone who will believe in God's Messiah. In Isaiah, God the Father is speaking to Christ and he says this in Isaiah 49 verse six. This is the Father speaking, quote, it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to cause the preserved one of Israel to return. It's too small a thing for you, Jesus, the Father is saying. It's too small a thing for you to just be Savior and Messiah of the nation of Israel. And he goes on, I will also give you as a light to the nations, that's talking about the Gentiles, everybody else outside of Israel, so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. Israel's not enough. It's not enough for you, the father says. He wants to give the son everyone who will believe from all over the entire world. That's the promise. For those who trust in Christ, you are literally then the Father's gift from Him to the Son. No matter who you are or where you come from or what you've done, if you'll trust in Christ alone to save you. That is good news publicized. Second this morning, I want you to see good news personified. Look at verse 11. The angel continues on in his announcement. He says, for today in the city of David, that's Bethlehem, for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Now the nature of the announcement changes a bit, doesn't it? The angel is describing the one who is going to be given to them or who has been given to them. He's born in David's city, in the city of Bethlehem. That just means that's the place where David was born. This is the place from which David's royal offspring would come, the Old Testament tells us. And like any royal announcement, because that's what this really is, it's a royal announcement at the birth of Christ, the angel lists this newborn king's royal titles and he gives us three. He gives us three. The first one is Savior. Savior. This is what Jesus came to be. Savior. Meaning, obviously, the one who saves. And if God is sending a Savior, that implies one is needed, doesn't it? God doesn't do pointless things. He doesn't do needless things. And inherent in this reality is the fact then that if you need a savior, you are not capable of saving yourself. Why, again, I ask you the question, why would God send a savior if you don't need one? God didn't send Jesus as a life coach. He didn't send Jesus as someone who had some good ideas that he wanted to get across to you. He didn't send Jesus as somebody that was this really wise guy who was gonna give sage advice. He didn't send Him to be a way for you to get everything out of life that you wanted. He sent Jesus for the real need that many have and do not even know they have. He sent Him because first, the first need that people have is that they're sinners. And that their sin has offended a holy God. And the just punishment for their sin is an eternal hell. And that's all of us, every single one of us. Everyone who has ever lived, that's what we deserve. And this is the good news because God sent a Savior who would save us from that sin and from the punishment of that sin. And this is what you need. And so again, I ask you this morning, will you embrace that Savior or will you look at God in the face and say, no, God, you're mistaken. I can do it myself. I got this one. I can be as good as you. I mean, can you even imagine yourself saying those words? Do you really believe that? To match, that you're good enough to match God's standard of perfection. Or, some think, some think that God makes an exception in their case. I know that's true of everybody else, but I've got to deal with God. I got a deal, it's my deal, and we've got a deal, and he understands me and I understand him, and I've talked to him about it. Oh, really? Did you hear a voice back? If you do, maybe you should go see the doctor. Do you remember what we read in Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount earlier? He didn't make an exception in the case of that entire crowd, did he? Why would he make an exception for you? Your only hope is to trust in the Savior that God has provided. And by the way this morning, I would ask you to ponder this. If you decide to reject Jesus and go it alone, why in the world would you ever think God would be kindly inclined toward you? after he has sent Christ to this earth, after Jesus endured every temptation without sin, after he remained perfectly holy, after he endured all the world and Satan had to throw at him and the horrible mistreatment he received before going to the cross, and then he went to the cross and he endured all of the Father's wrath there for the sin of everyone who would ever believe, all of that just for you to say, nah, I'm good. I reject that, I don't need it. Why would you ever think that God would look on you kindly on your rejecting of his son like that? It is stunning that anybody could ever even think that. But that's what you say when you reject Jesus Christ. First, he is Savior. Second, he's Christ. He's Christ. That title simply means God's anointed one, Kings, prophets, priests, those are the ones who get anointed. Jesus is all three, by the way. He's a prophet, a priest, and a king. Christ is the Greek word for Messiah. Both mean the same thing, Christ and Messiah. It's just one language's translation for another. The one that God has anointed is king and the great high priest. and his greatest prophet. He is king of God's kingdom who will sit on David's throne, and he will reign there forever, the scripture tells us. He is the one who mediated salvation between God and his people. He is the priest who provided the sacrifice, and he's not just the priest who provided the sacrifice, he is the only priest who became the sacrifice for all of those who would be in his kingdom. And he's also the greatest prophet through whom God spoke to us. And so again, why would you think that you could be a part of God's kingdom if you reject the one who is God's king, God's high priest, God's great prophet? He's prophet, or I'm sorry, rather, he is Christ, He is Lord, no, that's the third one. He is Savior, he is Christ, and third, he is Lord. In this context, that's a title of divinity. It is the New Testament equivalent of the Hebrew name Yahweh. That's just God's proper name. My name's Jeremy, God's is Yahweh. That's what that means. And to say that Jesus is Lord is to confess his deity. He is Lord in command of everything. Nothing escapes His purview, nothing escapes His sovereignty, and nothing escapes His decrees. Nothing is over Him. He is Lord of all that there is. In fact, you cannot deny Christ as Lord and be saved. You can't. To trust in Him as Savior is to embrace Him as Lord. In Romans 10, verse 9, it says that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. The word behind the English word confess, the Greek word for that just means to agree. In other words, I agree. It's making the statement that yes, I agree, Jesus is Lord. It's the acknowledgement that Christ is Lord of all to you. It is submission to His Lordship. You can't embrace Him as Savior and then reject His authority over you and your life. For Him to be your Savior means that you obey His call as Lord to believe His gospel. And the Bible is very clear that the gospel is a command to be obeyed. It is not something that we offer in hopes that someone will believe. It's something that we give to them as a command to obey. In 2 Thessalonians 1, verse 8, the Apostle Paul is writing there and he says, speaking about God, executing vengeance on those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And what he's telling you there is in order for Jesus to be your Savior, you must obey his gospel command by which he has just become your Lord. The king who is worthy of the throne of God's kingdom, to find him in a manger is shocking. That tells us immediately that this one who is Lord of all, who calls for humility from his people, is also humble in heart himself. The Lord of all is the one who is content to be the most humble of all. And although he is worthy of all of the glory that we've talked about, he emptied himself of all concern for himself to obey the Father for your benefit. What does that say to us? If that's what our King is willing to do, how much more should that be true of us? This is the one whom the angels announced. That's good news personified. Third and finally this morning, I want you to see good news magnified. Good news magnified. Look at verse 13. Suddenly, don't miss the impact of that word. 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. Now if you're in the shepherds, just when you think this can't get any better, the inconceivable happens. A multitude of the heavenly host appeared. That just means, whenever you see that expression, heavenly host in scripture, that means the armies of heaven. These aren't cute little cherubs strumming a harp. These are the armies of heaven. That's a really bad picture of what an angel is. That is not what an angel is. Not a cherub strumming a harp. He's a messenger of God and a warrior. And how many were there? Well, there was a multitude, which means a lot. An incalculable number. That's why they use that specific word. And this is what God's plan of salvation signified by Christ's arrival is it is glory to God. And then there is this moment where the angels literally cut loose in glorifying God for Christ coming to earth. And why wouldn't they? It's the beginning of Messiah's work. It's God moving to save his people. It's the advancement of the kingdom of heaven. And this army of heaven in uncontainable joy is shouting the glory of Christ. No one has ever seen anything like this. Ever. It has never happened before. Nor has it happened since. And the angels here, the text specifically tells us, are praising God in two realms. Number one is he says, glory to God which is due him in the highest, that is the heaven where he dwells. Heaven is where God always receives the glory which He is due, and there is nothing that does not ascribe God glory in heaven. Nothing. He gets all the glory that's due Him there. And if you're a Christian this morning, if you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, isn't that what you want your life to be? A life that brings Him all the glory He deserves? Second, he's described glory on earth. Second, this is peace between God and the people with whom he is pleased. Now, understand this morning, this is not the angels ascribing glory, rather, a peace between God and all humanity. That's impossible because there are many who are unsaved. There are many who are destined for hell. There are many who have heard this message this morning, perhaps even in this room, and will not trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. That is a tragedy. So what are they proclaiming? They're proclaiming peace with God, that is peace between Him and the people with whom He is pleased. Remember, we said before that Jesus came to do what? Die on the cross. What's He doing when He's dying on the cross? He's taking the wrath of God in the place of everyone who would place their faith and trust in Him, which when He's done that, once God has poured out His wrath for my sin and for the sin of everyone who's ever believed upon the person of Christ, guess what wrath is left for me or for those who believe? None. None. None is left for them. So this is peace between God and the people with whom He is pleased, those who have come and will come to faith in Christ, His chosen ones. And so the message is God is sending Christ to fulfill His plan of salvation, His plan of redemption. And it is reason for heaven to shout. It is reason for men to rejoice. And these angels are glorying in the salvation that God has provided. Do you do that this morning? Or is your salvation something that you've become used to? For those of you who know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, have you come to a point in your life where, yeah, I'm saved and I've been saved for 10 years, 20 years, 30 years. and you forget the wonder of it and the joy of it and what He saved you from. Every day is a day by which to proclaim the glory that God deserves for the salvation He's given you. And that is something that once you come to faith in Christ can never be taken away, ever. It's eternal. It's not something you have in the future, it's something you have right now. So we sing glory to God in the highest. And we thank him continually for the peace that he has given between us and him through the work of Christ. And then as those who are his children, as those who have been bought by the death of Christ, as those who exult in what God has done, What do we do? We boast in who God is. If you're gonna brag, brag about Him. That's what Romans 5 verse 11 says. Not only this, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. What's that mean? Peace between God and man, doesn't it? How does this end? What's the rest of the story? Well, this could easily be a two-part message, but we're just gonna give you the cliff notes verses 15 through 20. And it happened that 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 which has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. So they went in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. Even as you're reading those words, you should pick up the pace in your mind. You can hear these guys almost running the four mile walk. Well, not a walk, but the four mile run into Bethlehem. And when they had seen this, verse 17, they made known the statement which had been told them about this child. And all who heard it marveled at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary was treasuring all these things, pondering them. She's thinking them through in her heart. And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as was told them. How did the shepherds respond to the news they heard? I mean, do you think they believed what the angels said? The angels went away and the shepherds went, nah, I don't buy it. No, we're going to Bethlehem, we're going right now because what they told us is true and we're going to go find this Jesus. And we're going to find him and we're going to tell his parents what we saw and heard. And we're going to tell everybody between here and there about that. This is a shocking, inconceivable announcement. And it's made to shepherds, which makes it even more stunning. They didn't doubt the word of God from these angels for a second. They went, they saw exactly what the angels said they would see. And the shepherds head back to their fields. glorifying and praising God. That is a celebration of joy. That's the joy of Christmas, that God has sent a Savior. That's the joy of Christmas. And as you think of that first Christmas celebration, I want to leave you with four applications. Have you embraced the Lord Jesus Christ by faith to be your savior? Are you trusting him alone to save you? Second, for those of you who have, are you praising God? Is your life a never-ending stream of thanksgiving for all that God has done in Christ for you? Third, do you believe the word of God without reservation like these shepherds did? I mean, did they stand there and go, yeah, we'd like that proof. No, we don't buy it, no. They heard what the shepherd said and they believed it. That's what faith in God is. He speaks, you believe. That's what defines it. And fourth, are you telling others about the marvelous news of the Lord Jesus Christ? So many Christians are content to hear the gospel, get saved, and come to church week after week and learn, and that's great, and you need that, and you need to grow in Christ in that way. But let me tell you what else you need to do. You need to tell the rest of the world about the Lord Jesus Christ who has saved you. You need to tell them about Him who is the only way of salvation. In fact, if you care about people, you will tell them. Because why would you take the only message of salvation, now that you know it and are saved yourself, and say, you know what, I'm just gonna keep this to myself. No. You tell the world. You go and do exactly what these shepherds did. glorify and praise God and tell the world about the Lord Jesus Christ and his gospel. That's the message of Christmas. That's the joy of Christmas. Father God, this morning we want to thank you for this message that you've given us from the Word of God. We want to thank you for your announcement to this just absolutely unlikely, unseeming group that we would never expect. But Father, you and your wisdom knew exactly how to announce this to exactly the right people at exactly the right time. Father, help us to have the faith that the shepherds had. to believe the Word of God when it's spoken to us. To simply hear it and believe it and obey it. Father, we thank you this morning for the birth of Christ. We thank you for the life of Christ. We thank you for the death of Christ. We thank you for the resurrection of Christ. And because of that, we have joy and peace with you and hope for all who know you as our Lord and Savior. Thank you for it this morning. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.