The Great Birth Announcement, Part 4

Amen. Let's pray together. Father God, we thank you for this great and glorious day. The opportunity you give us to study your word, to sing praises to your name, to honor and glorify your great person. And we pray that the things you teach us today would enhance our relationship with the living God. That Lord, you would help us to understand where we stand truly with you. And I pray, Father, through your word this morning, you would open our eyes. In Jesus' name, amen. Turn with me in your Bible, if you would, to Luke chapter 2.

Luke chapter 2 is where we're at. This is where we have been for many, many weeks. And we have spent several weeks on the great birth announcement. And today we're, Lord willing, going to finish that great announcement, helping you come to grips with the reality of what was said to the shepherds that night in Bethlehem. The latest Fox News poll in June of this year says that 92% of Americans believe in God. 5% are not sure. 3% believe nothing. But 92% of Americans say they believe in God. That is the highest percentage in the history of our country.

Now think about that. The question comes in what God do they believe? What is the identity of that God? And have they put their faith and trust in the true God of the Bible? That is a question that needs to be asked and answered. While there are 92% of Americans who say they believe in God, there is 100% of the demonic world that believes in God. And yet they tremble before Him. They believe in God. In fact, the demons are probably more theological than any of us are. They have a good grasp of the triune nature of God.

They have a good grasp of end times. They have a good grasp of the resurrection of Christ. They have a good grasp of the death of Christ. They have a firm grasp of God as Creator. They understand all those things. They get it. And yet, yet they tremble before God. And why is that? Because they would refuse to submit to His authority and follow Him unreservedly. And so they were cast out of heaven because of their unbelief in the true and living God. That is their refusal to trust and obey the Lord of the universe.

And so why 92% of Americans say they believe in God, you've got to ask yourself the question what God do they believe in? The Bible says in Hebrews 11, he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

The Bible clearly identifies the Lord God of the universe as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is never called the God of Esau. He is never called the God of Ishmael. He's never called the God of America. He's never called the God of any other ethnic group except the God of Israel. In fact, if you add them up, He's called the God of Israel 203 times, the God of Jacob 28 times, the God of Abraham 17 times, and the God of Isaac 13 times. I counted them all this morning.

So that's who He is. So to embrace Him you must embrace Him as the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. To understand Him is to come to grips with the announcement that was given to the shepherds on that night, which helps us understand the greatness of the birth announcement. It is the great birth announcement because it identifies to us who Jesus is. Mary and Joseph know that the name of the child is Jesus. The shepherds identify the nature of Jesus to the shepherds.

And so when we begin looking at the great birth announcement we begin, of course, with the shepherds, their location. The Bible says very clearly, in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.

Shepherds were doing what shepherds do, tending to their flock, in that same region, that same region of Bethlehem. And what were they doing? More than likely they were tending to the sheep or to the lambs that would one day be slaughtered in Jerusalem on the Day of Atonement. That's why Bethlehem is called Migdal Eder, the Tower of the Flock, Bethlehem Ephrathah, because that is where they raise the sacrificial lambs to be sacrificed. So these shepherds were there. And then we looked at the Shekinah or the shining.

It says in verse number 9, And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened. It was the glory of the Lord that would shine down upon them. The glory of the Lord had departed from Israel back in the Old Testament. And now the glory of the Lord had shone down around them because the glory of the Lord had come back to Israel. The glory of the Lord, of course, is the presence of God revealed in light. And God Himself was manifesting Himself to these angels.

And so we move from the shepherds to the Shekinah to the statement that says, And the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people. This is the gospel, the euangelion. This is the good news. The good news always brings about great joy. Why? Because the good news centers around the person and work of our Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord. And the angel had this great announcement. We've got good news. And the good news is about the greatest of all joy.

So we move from the statement to the Savior. The text says in verse 11, For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. This is who has been born. We looked at His Saviorship. We looked at His Messiahship. And today we're going to look at His Lordship.

So we understand the identity and the nature of Jesus, the One that was born in Bethlehem to understand the greatness of the birth announcement. We looked at His Saviorship because God in essence is a Savior. We studied that in detail. Jesus, Jehovah, saves. Yeshua, Jehovah is salvation. And so this One who was born is the Savior of the world. And not only is He the Savior of the world, He is the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One, the long-awaited Messiah. So we looked at His Saviorship, His Messiahship, and we must understand His Lordship.

Because there are many people, like we talked about in Mark chapter 12, who enjoyed listening to Christ. They enjoyed listening to Him. But they would never embrace Him as Lord of their lives. And to understand salvation is to understand the identity of Jesus, the Savior, who is Christ, the Lord. No one comes to saving faith without understanding the Saviorship, the Messiahship, and the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Now you might not know all that that entails when you're saved. But there comes that ever-increasing knowledge of who He is, what He's done, what He's going to do, and the willingness to obey the Lord of the universe.

It was one author who recorded these words about the Christ. He said, If Christ is not divine, then lay the book away and every blessed faith resign that has so long been yours and mine through many a trying day. Forget the place of bended knee and dream no more of worlds to be. If Christ is not divine, go and seal again the tomb. Take down the cross, redemption sign, quench all the stars of hope that shine, and let us turn and travel on across the night that knows no dawn. If Christ is not divine, if the Messiah is not God in the flesh, there is no hope for humanity.

He is Savior. He is Messiah. And He is Lord. For to you this day in the city of David, has been born a Savior, who is Christ the Messiah, the Lord. Folks, you need to understand the importance of this. Because this is the Lord of the universe. Because the cults will tell you that yes, Jesus is a Lord, but He's only an earthly Lord. Because the word in the Greek is kurios, which designates at many times in the New Testament, an earthly Lord. In fact the Lord would use those words, the word kurios, in many of His parables to talk about an earthly Lord.

But our Savior is more than just an earthly Lord. He is an earthly Lord, but He's more than that. He is the Lord God of the universe. See you must understand that in the Old Testament, when the Jews would translate the Hebrew into Greek, the word in Hebrew for God, Yahweh, the Tetragonaton, which described the Lord God of Israel, was translated into Greek every single time with the word kurios. Every time without exception in the Old Testament. And so therefore when you come to Romans chapter 10 verses 9 and 10, in fact if you have your Bible, turn there with me if you would please.

The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth, that is the word confess, amelegeo, to say the same thing about the Christ that God says about the Christ.

You're saying the same thing. You are agreeing with God. If you confess with your mouth, Jesus as the Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. Listen, Lordship always precedes Saviorship. Always. You can't get saved unless you confess that Jesus is the Lord of the universe. And the Bible says this, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.

For with the heart man believes resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation. So salvation comes because I confess that Jesus is the Lord. That is I say the same thing about Jesus that the Bible says about Him.

And agree with Him that He is the Lord God of the universe. And then Paul would go on to say in verse number 13, for whoever will call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Unless you call upon the name of the Lord, you can't be saved. Now that is a direct quote from Joel chapter 2 verse number 32. And in Joel 2.32 it says this, and it will come about that whoever calls on the name of Yahweh. Okay, so now you understand that Yahweh is Lord. And Paul quoting from Joel 2.32 says, unless you say that Jesus is the Lord God Yahweh, you cannot be saved.

You cannot. That's why the Jehovah's Witnesses are not saved. Because they don't believe that Jesus is God in the flesh. He is the Lord God of the universe. They'll say He's an earthly Lord, but our Lord is, yes He is an earthly Lord, but He's much more than that. He is the Lord God of the universe. And you also begin to realize more about the Lordship of Christ when you realize that Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4 verse number 5, for we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord. Paul says the message is this, Christ Jesus as Lord.

He's the Lord Jesus, the Messiah is Jesus, and Jesus is the Lord of the universe. We preach Christ Jesus as Lord. In fact it says over in Isaiah chapter 45, these words, Who has long since declared it? Is it not I the Lord? And there is no other God besides me, a righteous God and a Savior. There is none except me. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God and there is no other. I have sworn by myself. The word has gone forth from my mouth in righteousness and will not turn back.

That to me every knee will bow and every tongue will swear allegiance. Every rabbi, every rabbi in Judaism teaches that this is the ultimate submission to the Messiah of Israel. Every rabbi will teach you that this verse in Isaiah 45 is the ultimate submission of every person to the Messiah. And in Philippians chapter 2 what does Paul say? At the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Yahweh, is the Lord God of the universe. In fact over in Psalm 2, which of course is a messianic psalm, it is very clear about who you are to worship.

Psalm 2 verse number 10, Now therefore O king, show discernment, take warning O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, lest he become angry with you and perish in the way, for his wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all those who take refuge in him. The Bible says very clearly that you are to worship the Son.

And the Bible says you are only to worship God and Him only. Meaning the Son is God. He is the Lord of the universe. The Bible says in Psalm 24, I'm sorry yeah Psalm 23 verse 7, Lift up your heads O gates and be lifted up O ancient doors.

The king of glory may come in. Who is the king of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads O gates and lift them up O ancient doors, that the king of glory may come in. Who is the king of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the king of glory. The Lord of hosts, Yahweh Sabaoth, the Lord of multitudes, which plays a major part in the great birth announcement as to why there is a heavenly host or a heavenly multitude that surrounds this angel and begins to praise God, saying glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, goodwill to men.

Why is it there is a multitude or a host of angels that gather? It's because the Lord of hosts or the Lord of armies is in a stable in Bethlehem. That's why. When you go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse number 8, Paul identifies to us who the Lord of glory is. He says this, verse number 8, The wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood, for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. So Paul tells us that the king of glory, the Lord of hosts, the Lord of glory as described in Psalm 23 is Jesus Christ the Messiah that they crucified.

You see Jesus Christ is the Lord of the universe. That's why Paul said we preach Jesus Christ as Lord. You see when the angel came and said that there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord, he was telling them that listen, God is in the flesh in Bethlehem. That's the statement. That's what he's saying. And of course the shepherds asked no questions because they would be anticipating the coming of Messiah. They would be anticipating the coming of the one who would save them from their sin, the redemption or the consolation of Israel as Simeon and Anna would speak about later on in Luke chapter 2 which we'll cover in great detail in weeks to come.

The point being is that they understood that the Messiah was the Lord of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They understood that. And yet there are many people, many, there are multitudes of people, there are millions of people who will say Jesus is Savior. Jesus is Christ. And yes Jesus is Lord. And yet they will never enter heaven. Now think about that. Just think about that. Because that might be you today. Look with me if you would to Matthew chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7, these are the words of our Lord in that great sermon on the mount there on the slopes of Galilee, the Sea of Galilee, as he would begin to preach the sermon of great contrast, the contrast of true religion versus false religion.

And he would preach and listen to how our Lord closes out his sermon on the mount, this recorded sermon given to us in great detail. Verse 21, not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles and then I will declare to them I never knew you depart from me you who practice lawlessness.

Now think about that. Here was our Lord speaking to a multitude of people and what he does is destroy everybody who feels religious or who thinks they are right with God. Because the Jews believed that they were right with God. I mean they were circumcised on the eighth day, they were a part of the Jewish heritage, they were of their father Abraham, they were a part of the group that God identified with in their minds because he was their God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And so they saw themselves as right with God.

They saw themselves as going to heaven. And what Jesus did on the Sermon on the Mount was destroy their work space system. In fact he destroyed every avenue of their worship. He destroyed the way they prayed in Matthew chapter 6. He destroyed the way they gave because they gave out of self-righteousness and self-motivation. He destroyed the way they fasted. He just totally obliterated their self-righteous system. And he said on that day many will say to me, not a few, but multitudes of people, millions of people who feel religious, but Lord we did all this for you.

We went to church for you. We taught a Bible study for you. We sang in the choir for you. We went door to door for you. We went to Argentina. We went to Russia. We went to Israel. We went to all kinds of people Lord and we did it for you. And he will say to them, I'm sorry I never knew you. Now you think about that. That is a very scary thing isn't it? It goes to show you how many people are truly deceived into thinking that somehow they're going to make it to heaven. That somehow things are going to turn out okay.

Proverbs 30 verse number 12 says, There is a generation who is pure in their own eyes, yet have not been walked from their filthiness. There is a generation that in their own mind, in their own eyes they are pure, but yet the Bible says they have yet to be washed from their filthiness.

Romans 10 verse number 2 Paul says, There are people who have a zeal for God, yet not according to knowledge. There are a lot of people who are on fire for God, listen, who are on fire for Jesus, yet not according to knowledge. That is a personal knowledge in the Lord God of the universe. You see it's not so much that you know God it's that He know you. Right? Lord we did this for you and he says depart from me I never knew you. We never had a relationship. We never had this kind of intimate relationship where we were one in the same.

Despite all the things you say you did. Now folks when you begin to preach and you start preaching like that it's amazing what people begin to say about you and think about you. Now the context of all this is in verse number 13 because this is how Jesus closes a sermon. And I want you to notice what Jesus does.

When Jesus closes a sermon, listen very carefully, He does not give an invitation. A lot of people in years have asked me how can you not give an invitation at the end of your sermons? See whenever you give an invitation you put people at ease. Because you see you give them the freedom to accept or reject an invitation. It's like a wedding invitation. You receive a wedding invitation right? You can either go or not go. Or a 50th anniversary party or a birthday party. You get an invitation. She decides you know what I think I'm not going to go.

Are there any consequences for not going? No. None whatsoever. Because it's an invitation. You can come. You can't come. Choose not to it's okay. But in this scenario it's not an invitation. It is an absolute command by God. Because if you don't obey it you will die in your sins. And you will be separated from God forever. God doesn't give invitations. God gives commands. You ought to close every sermon with a command, repent and believe or perish. Repent and give your life to God or die in your sin.

We would do much better to command people to repent from their sin and get right with God and live for God than to give them an invitation that they can either accept or they can reject. And they go away thinking it's okay. No big deal. But it is a big deal. Because their eternal destiny is at stake. And so Jesus says this.

Enter by the narrow gate. It's a command. It's not an option. That's what you've got to do. You've got to enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide. The way is broad that leads to destruction. And many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life. And few are those who find it. Few. See there are two ways. In this instance there are two ways to heaven. Two possible ways to heaven. The narrow way or the broad way. You see both say heaven. The broad way doesn't say this way to hell.

And the narrow way say this way to heaven. Nobody has to sell you on hell. Hey come join us. We're all going to go to hell. You want to go with us? You don't have to preach that. You don't have to say that. You see this is a sermon of contrast. Of great contrast. And that's what the Lord did. Yes He condemned the Pharisees and the religious establishment for their lack of morality. But yet it's a way of contrast. The whole sermon is either the narrow way or the broad way. Excuse me. Narrow way or the broad way.

Excuse me. I've got my arms mixed up there. It's either through the narrow gate or through the broad gate. It's either the faith way or the flesh way. There's only two ways. The narrow way says you know I can get there. There's something I can do to get there. I can be good. I can do enough good things that God will accept me and I'll finally make it in on the skin of my teeth because God is pleased with me.

That's the flesh way. That's the Judaistic way. That's what they taught. It was a self-righteous way. It was the flesh way. And then there's the faith way that says I can't do anything. I'm not good enough to even behold my God. So I beat upon my breasts as the tax gatherer in Luke 18. God be merciful unto me a sinner. That's how Christ begins His sermon. Matthew 5 verse number 3, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Who gets to go to heaven? The people that realize they're nothing.

They have nothing to give to God because all their righteousness is as filthy rags. They have nothing to give to God so they throw themselves upon Him and His mercy and beg and plead for Him to bestow grace upon them. That's how God saves a man. The Lord says, this is what you've got to do. You need to enter by the narrow gate. Narrow gate. Because the broad gate is full of all kinds of people. Millions of people who affirm the identity of Jesus. Who affirm the fact that Jesus is God in the flesh.

Who affirm the fact that Jesus died on the cross. Who affirm the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. But they'll never ever enter heaven. Because you see the people who enter heaven submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. They obey Him. That's why He says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven. But who? Those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven. Now what is the will of my Father who is in heaven? To enter by the narrow gate. What's the narrow gate? Jesus Christ is the door.

Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus Christ is the only substitute for your sin. There is no other substitute because He is the Redeemer of mankind. He is the Savior. He is the Messiah. He is the Lord. There's only one way and that's God's way. All the other ways, all the other ways are devised by Satan to delude, to deceive, to distort the message, to get you to think you're on your way to heaven. But in reality when you die you'll end up in hell and you will say, but Lord, Lord, we did all these marvelous things for you.

And he says, I'm sorry, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Now can you imagine that? Can you imagine coming to church week after week after week thinking you're going to go to heaven, then die and wake up in hell? Can you imagine that? Can you imagine having been deceived for all these years? Wow, that scares the life out of me. And that's why the Bible says, the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and few are those who find it.

That's very true. Few are those who find it. You can go, let's say in a 50 mile radius of this church and go to every church in a 50 mile radius or to any holy place in a 50 mile radius until you finally, ultimately hear the way of salvation.

We have found people that have come to our church over the years and said, you know we've been looking for a church for months, for weeks, for years that preaches the truth, that teaches the truth, that stands on the truth. Few there be that find it. There are a lot of places that are called churches, that are called holy places that never preach the gospel. And all those people sit there Sunday after Sunday after Sunday thinking, you know what, this is a good thing. I'm so glad I'm here. This is the right place to be.

I feel good about being here every week. And they'll die and go to hell, feeling good about where they were every week. That's tragic. See, I'll be honest with you. There are times I wish I was a good storyteller. I wish I could tell a story. And I wish I could be the kind of pastor that made you laugh. You know, you'd leave, you know, belly laughing out there, you know. Man, our pastor is so funny, man, he's really good. He's just hilarious. I wish I could tell a story and get people to laugh. You know, the only time I'm really funny is when I mean to be serious, you know.

And then it just comes off as funny every once in a while. I can't tell a joke. I can't tell a story. I wish I could. And over the past couple of weeks on vacation, I was thinking, you know, if I could just say it to draw, so people could sometimes cry at the story or be emotionally entrenched in the story so I could have them at my fingertips week after week. Oh, that would be so, I wish that was that way. But then I realized every week I tell the greatest story ever told. The greatest story ever told to man is the story about Jesus becoming man, that God becoming flesh and that's the greatest story ever told.

And as I begin to think about, man, this is the greatest story ever told, but not everybody likes the greatest story ever told. Because it means that you embrace Jesus as Lord. That is, you do what He says. Folks, that's the thing. Folks, this is so important because 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse number 8 says that when Jesus Christ returns, He will deal out retribution on those who do not know Him and to those, listen, who do not obey the gospel. That's why Jesus said in Luke 6, 46, why do you call me Lord and yet refuse to do the things that I say?

You can't call me Lord and refuse to do the things that I say because if I'm truly your Lord, you will obey what I have said. And that's why Jesus demands you enter by the narrow gate. You've got to enter alone. You've got to enter by yourself. You can't come in with your family. You can't come in with the group. We spend all our lives trying to be a part of the group, trying to be a part of the popular person, trying to be a part of the crowd, trying to be like everybody else. And when it comes to, when push comes to shove, when it comes to salvation, you've got to enter all alone by yourself because when you stand before the great white throne judgment, when you stand before the throne of God, guess who you stand with?

Nobody. Your family won't be there. Your friends won't be there. You're going to be all by your lonesome to give an account of all the things that you have ever said or done. All by yourself. That's why Jesus says you need to enter by the narrow gate because see the crowd is going the other way.

It's going the other way. And it grieves me as a pastor to listen to what some of these people say on, in their books, on TV, even on the radio about what it means to be saved and yet never preach the true gospel as the Word of God says.

And that's a terrible thing. And so we need to understand the identity of Jesus, His saviorship, His Messiahship, His Lordship. If He is Lord, and He is, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess, every tongue will swear allegiance to Him because He is the Lord God of the universe. You either do it now or you do it later, but everybody does it. Everybody does. And I ask you, have you done that? Have you come to the point in your life where you have sworn allegiance to the Lord God of the universe, where you have bowed your knee before Him and said, Lord, I know that You are the Savior.

I know that I am steeped in my sin. I cannot save myself. There's nothing I can do to gain standing and rightness with You. Therefore I throw myself upon You for Your mercy because You are the Messiah of Israel and therefore You are the Lord of the universe, making You the Lord of my life, and I bow in submission to You as the King of all. He is King of all kings. He is Lord of all lords. That's who He is. He's King of kings. He is Lord of lords. That's why when He comes back in Revelation 19, He's got it strapped on His thigh, King of kings down one side, Lord of lords down the other side.

And that's why in Revelation 17 it talks about how the kings of the world come against Him. But He is the King of all those kings. He is the Lord of all those lords. He won't lose because He rules over all. There are three more things I need to cover in my outline. One good thing about preaching first, I can preach as long as I want.

Go back with me if you would to Luke chapter 2 and let me talk to you about the sign for a moment. Verse number 12, when this will be a sign for you, you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Did the shepherds ask for a sign? How will we know who the Messiah is? How will we know? Did they ask for a sign? No. But they received a sign. You notice the specifics of the sign and the significance of the sign.

The specifics are very clear. You know it. This will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Lying in a feeding trough. That's it. Now you think that if this was the Lord of the universe, right? Here would be the sign. When you get to Bethlehem the king will be there. When you get to Bethlehem the chief priests will be there. When you get to Bethlehem the Sadducees will be there. The Pharisees. Everybody who is of any consequence will be there because the king has been born.

And there is going to be a parade for the king. You will know him because he will be in the head of the parade. Everybody will see him. That's how you know who the king is. Now the Lord can do any kind of sign He wants, right? I mean He made the sun stand still. He turned the water into blood. I mean He can do any kind of sign He wants to do. But here's going to be a sign for you. I mean this is not spectacular. This is just kind of normal. Run of the mill. Vanilla. This is a vanilla sign. See a baby wrapped in cloths lying in a feeding trough.

Now you'd think that the Lord of the universe would think of something a little bit more exciting. Something a little bit more that would grab people's attention. That would get other people excited about the birth of the king. But you see God is just not that way, is He? He's just not that way. Because you see it was the Jews who always asked for a sign. Remember John 2? Show us a sign. You come into our temple. You turn over the money changers. You turn over the tables. You crack a whip. Who do you think you are?

Give us a sign. Who are you? The question is the only sign I'm going to give you is the sign of the resurrection. That's it. Destroy this body in three days. Destroy this temple in three days. I'll raise it up again. They thought well He was talking about Herod's temple. It took 46 years to build. How is He going to destroy it in one day and then raise it up again? How is He going to do that? They didn't understand. But you see the Jews always sought for a sign. They always looked for the spectacular.

A lot of people in Christianity today, right? They're always looking for the spectacular. Oh, we go to your church. No, you don't sing the hymns, man. It's not very exciting at your church. Not much excitement at your church. I mean you preach for 45, 55 minutes every Sunday. Got a few songs here to go. There's nothing exciting about your church. There was nothing exciting about the great birth of Jesus. Nothing at all. Run of the mill, vanilla kind of operation. This is the way it is. But we have bought into the Hollywood mentality that everything every week must be bigger.

It must be better. It must be more spectacular. It must be more incredible. Thinking that somehow it's going to win the people. It's like the man in Luke chapter 16, which we'll cover in a couple of years, Luke 16, the man who was the rich man who died and went to hell. Send somebody back from the dead. Because you see if someone comes back from the grave my family will believe. And what was he told? Oh no. They have Moses and the prophets. They've got all the vanilla writings. That's all they've got.

Just the vanilla writings. The words of Moses. The words in the law. The words of the prophets. If they don't believe just the vanilla writings they won't be persuaded the one will be raised from the dead. They're not going to believe the spectacular. Because you see the Word of God in itself is supernatural. And this is what saves a man. It's the sign. Very significant. Why? Remember what Christ said in Matthew chapter 8 the very first time He said it?

He gave Himself a title while on earth it was called the Son of Man. He was Son of God but He also was Son of Man. He said the birds of the air have nests and the foxes have holes but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head. See this sign was very symbolic. See when they got to Bethlehem what young woman would have their baby in open air in a feeding trough except the Messiah of the universe who had no place to lay His head. It symbolized His whole humility and His condescension to us because the very first time the phrase Son of Man is used it's used in Matthew chapter 8 verse number 20 in relation to the fact that He has no place to lay His head.

And the very last time that phrase is used is of course you know the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 14 verse number 14 it says this. And they looked and behold a white cloud and sitting on the cloud was one like a Son of Man having golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. The very first time the phrase Son of Man was used it was used in conjunction with His humiliation where He had no place to lay His head.

And the very last time the phrase Son of Man is used it's used in conjunction with His coronation, His glorification as the King of the world when He comes back to take that which is His very own the world. It's His and all that's in it. That's the significance of the sign. Then comes the symphony. Then comes the symphony. You know this one very well. It says very clearly. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.

Two things I want you to notice. One is the praise that was orchestrated and number two the peace that was offered.

A multitude. How much is a multitude of heavenly hosts? We don't know. Revelation 5 says that there was thousands and thousands and ten thousands of thousands praising God around the throne. Did they all come? Remember the Lord of hosts is the Lord God of Israel who is Jesus Christ our Messiah. And so the Lord of hosts is there. And so the heavenly hosts come around Him to give Him glory. Listen because the ultimate purpose of the good news is to give glory to God. You say well wait a minute I thought the purpose of the good news was to save man's soul.

No. The purpose of the good news is to give glory to God and the only way you can give glory to God is if your soul has been saved from sin. So what you have is the ultimate purpose in life. That is to give glory to Almighty God. And so the multitude of angels would gather around and they would give praise to God. Glory to God in the highest. Why are they giving glory? Because now redemption plan has been accomplished. You think the angels knew about man's iniquity? You think the angels knew about man when he fell into sin?

You think they knew about the plan of God to save him from his sin? Of course they did. They knew. And now it's all coming to be right in front of their eyes and all they can do is praise God because redemption plan has been accomplished. The Savior has been born. He will live. He will die. He will rise again. He will accomplish redemption for His people. They can't help but give Him glory from the praise orchestrated to the peace that was offered. It's not peace of mind that's being offered. It's not a cessation of war that's being offered.

It's the peace that God gives because of His own pleasure. The Bible literally translates the phrase, goodwill toward men with whom He is pleased. And at the outset you think, well God's going to offer peace and goodwill to the people that He's pleased with. No. That's not what the phrase says. It says, peace among men of His good pleasure. That's a literal translation. Peace among men of His good pleasure. One author said it this way, there are some to whom God sovereignly gives the peace of a salvation.

The multitude of angels was not rejoicing for what people had done or would do to merit salvation. Rather the heavenly host was glorifying God because though none can merit salvation, God is delighted to give it to a vast number of sinners solely by His own good pleasure. That's our God. It's because of His good pleasure we are saved. It's because of His good pleasure we can have peace with God. Romans 5.1, having been justified by faith we have what? Peace with God. How do you know you are an object of God's divine favor and divine pleasure?

It's because you are at peace with God. You are no longer His enemy. And if you are at peace with God, Galatians 5 talks about the fruit of the Spirit which is peace. You have peace in your life. Why? Because Ephesians 2.14 calls our Lord the God of peace. And when the God of peace takes up residence in the life of His people you experience the peace of God. That's why Paul said in Colossians 3.15, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Let the peace of God rule in your hearts. Let the fact that you are no longer enemy of God but you are now on God's side and at peace with Him, let Him be the ruler of every decision that you make.

And our God came to offer peace to those of His own good pleasure. And what's the sequel? Well, that's next week's sermon. Listen to what it says. Very interesting. And it came about when 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. You see the compulsion that's there? It wasn't, hmm, how could Jesus be Savior and Messiah and Lord too? How could He be all that things?

I don't get it. How is it that He would come to us and not somebody else? What makes us special? Did you hear what they said? There was no discussion among themselves. It was, let's get going. Let us go in haste to Bethlehem. Let us see this thing which was spoken to us. Let us go now.

Let us not wait any longer. You see when you experience salvation in God there is a compulsion that drives you to tell others about the good news that brings great joy. Notice what they said.

Listen to this. Let us go straight to Bethlehem then and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us. They are affirming the fact that when the glory of the Lord shone around them that was the presence of God among them. And yet the one born in Bethlehem was the Lord. See that? The Lord has made this known to us and yet the Lord is in Bethlehem. That's where Isaiah 44 verse 6 comes to light. Where the King of Israel and His Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, both are true because they are one in the same.

Did you get that? And there was this compulsion. There was this motivation. There was this inner drive that moved them to speak. What happened when they got there? They began to share about the statement. And it brought great joy to those who heard it. It was all said and done. Listen to what it says in verse 20. And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen just as had been told to them. The purpose of the great birth announcement is to give glory to God in Him only.

Let's pray. Most gracious heavenly Father on this day we want to thank You for the truth of Your Word. We want to thank You Lord that we can spend a few moments on this day looking once again at how You explained to these shepherds the identity of Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. As a result of explaining it to them You moved them. They were moved with great passion. And I pray Father that for us as people, because of Your presence in our lives, we too would be moved with great passion. And if there be one person here today, just one, who has refused to enter by the narrow gates, who's refused to repent of their sin and get right with God, Lord today convict them of their sin, and may today be the day of their salvation.

In Jesus' name. Amen.