Peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. It's wonderful to be worshiping with you this morning. As we sang the beautiful words that we just heard from one another, fall on your knees. Hear the angels proclaim. And this should prepare us for the text at hand.
We have been traversing through the gospel of Luke, and we are in Luke chapter two. We had a wonderful Christmas Eve service. I know those of you that were here, and so we were in Luke two, one to seven, and so if you're wondering what happened to that, that's where we were, and now we are starting in verse eight. It was great to be with all of you. In fact, I wanted to extend my sincere thankfulness as well for the letters that were sent, that were given to us for our pastoral appreciation. It was very heartfelt and received with much praise to God as I read those. Thank you.
I guess I shouldn't have started there. Let's read the text this morning. And I'll start in verse 1 of chapter 2, and we will concentrate on verse 8 to 20. You might be able to hear the contrast in verse one as it starts, and in verse eight as it starts. Be thinking about that.
Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census was to be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee to the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. And she wrapped him in clothes, cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for him in the inn.
In the same region, there were some shepherds, staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened. And the angel said to them, do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people. For today in the city of David, there has been born to you a savior who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying,
glory to God in the highest
and on earth, peace among men
with whom he is well pleased.
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. So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby as he lay in the manger. When they had seen this, They made known the statement which had been told them about this child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all of these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them. Amen. This is the word of God. Pray that you will receive it as such. Let's pray.
Father, we thank you for this narrated, historical event that your evangelist Luke has recorded for us. Lord, we are ever so thankful that you have given us your inerrant Holy Word, sufficient for all we need. And Lord, may it be that today. May it be felt in our hearts today. May the Holy Spirit work in each of us as you speak to us through your Word of your great Son. In Christ's name we pray, amen.
Savior, Christ the Lord. This is who was born, this is who came, this is who was announced. The birth we saw last Christmas Eve, or a few days ago, Christmas Eve. And now we see this glorious announcement, this glorious announcement from on high.
I want you to take note of who the announcement was to. We might pass over this and not think much of it. It's such a familiar text to us, but recall in verse one, a prominent name, Caesar Augustus, ruler of all, one who all knew who he was and were made to bow before Caesar. In fact, people would say, Caesar is Lord. And Christians would be crucified because they said Christ is Lord. But this emperor, this king is listed by name, and then notice it says, and in the same region there were some shepherds.
We might think highly of shepherds. Christ is our great shepherd. But in this day, shepherds were thought of as the lowliest of low. I mean, the scoundrels, the, you know, here come the cowboys into town, you know, button up the hatches. These guys are dirty and speak foul and everything else. And in this time, they would have not even been able to be witnesses in a court. They were thought of as so lowly that they were, you know, cheats and liars and everything else.
I've known a few keepers of livestock. I've done a lot. A few of them might've fit the bill of that. Scoundrels, but not all of them. But here, these shepherds, these outcasts, this is whom God chose to come to, to give the most incredible announcement to these lowly shepherds, tending sheep in the night, still in the darkness of the night. They were at the night watch. For those of you that never kept livestock, there would be someone there to watch over the night, to watch over the animals as they were bedded down and to make sure that predators didn't come, to make sure they weren't straying around. And so you would have a night watch, and then someone else would come and relieve you.
Well, it was at this time in the dark of night. It reminds me of Isaiah 9, as Isaiah prophesied, the people who walk in darkness will see a great light. Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them. We know that light to be the Lord God. But here is the glory coming about them. And let's look at this text as we see this good news that has been brought. And here they're staying out in the fields, keeping watch over the flock.
These shepherds, that's where we get the word pastor, by the way, poiemon. These shepherds are watching the sheep. And it says, suddenly, The night is still, the night is dark. It's usually quite difficult to keep your eyes open sometimes. There's not a whole lot happening on the night watch. But my goodness, what's happening here? An angel. How many of you have just seen an angel? I mean, you might have not known it, but this was an angel that suddenly appeared before them and the glory of the Lord. This is the Shekinah glory. This would have been the glory that filled the temple. This would have been the glory that caused the Israelites not to be able to even look upon Moses for his face shone. This glory, the glory of the fire that went before and the cloud that covered the tabernacle and the glory of the Lord shown all around them. Can you imagine that kind of light? In the darkness of light and then to have that. It would probably take you to the ground.
And it might have these shepherds, these young shepherds, these young shepherds might have been not much older than Gabriel or William, might've been young men that were out watching, tending the sheep. Remember David was a young man and Saul and the older brothers were out fighting wars, but David, he's tending the sheep. Don't mind him, he's just tending the sheep. Lowly work, and all of a sudden, the glory shone all around them.
Did they say, like some mockers say today, wait till I see God, I've got some things to talk to him about. Really? No. They were frightened. In fact, it says they were terribly frightened. Shaking in their boots or sandals. Unable to get words out, I imagine. Terrified. Woe is me, for I am undone. Depart from me, for I am a man of unclean lips." Who knows what was going through their minds, but they were terrified from this announcement on high.
And what does the angel say? The angel says this, at each encounter with a sinful human, do not be afraid. Very first words. It seemed like they must have needed to say that before anything else was said, because they wouldn't have registered. Do not be afraid. For behold, that is, listen up, I bring you good news of great joy. In fact, the Greek, eulangelion, where we get the gospel, eulangelion you, I am bringing the good news, I am gospelizing you, is what the angel said. I'm gospelizing you with great joy.
How many times have we seen, as I read back in chapter one through chapter two of Luke, of fear and joy? It seems a common theme. Fear, the scariest you could be, frightened to your core, and then joy. And this is what he says, for joy, great joy of good news will be for all the people. This means the gospel is spread, the good news of Jesus Christ and salvation is given to all, not just to the kings, not just to the priests, not just to the lowliest of shepherds, but everything in between. All types of people. Ethnicities, if you will, all ages, the wealthy and the poor, the outcast and the popular, all the people.
And he tells them why. Because for today, this would have been the day of Christ's birth. For today, in the city of David, this would be Bethlehem. In the city of David, there's been born to you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. As if to say, come and see. Notice he didn't say, born. He could have said, this would have made sense. I mean, we have some mothers in our midst. We could have said, it's been born to Miss Rachel, born to Caleb. But no, he says, born to you, shepherds. That's interesting. Born to you, all people. A savior. Not born a, a great scientist that'll help you with all your problems, not born a great politician that'll bring in this joyous time in life for you, but a savior. Highlighting the need of all mankind, the greatest need of every man, woman, and child, every boy and girl listening here, is to be saved from your sins. That's your greatest need. It's not to make an A on the next test, although that would be great. It's that you would be saved from your sins. It's that you would be forgiven, that you would be made right before a holy God. That you could stand before Him as the glory of the Lord will shine upon you when you stand before Him and you will either be clothed in the righteousness of Christ and declared justified right before God or you will be in your sins for all to see to your very core as if there be a screen on the wall of all of your life and all of the everything you've thought and everything you've done and everything you wish you'd have done. Exposed, naked and bare before God who sees all, who's already seen all.
But he says, there's been a Savior born to you. A Savior, Christ the Lord. And he tells them, how will they know? I mean, all these people were in Bethlehem for the census. I'm sure others had small children. How would we know? Well, I'll tell you. Here's a sign, the angel says. There you will find a baby wrapped in cloths. Remember how Mary said she wrapped it in cloths. And lying in a fitrof, a manger. An interesting point for these shepherds, you mean where we put the hay for the sheep? The Savior, Christ, Messiah, God is where we feed our sheep. Yes, that's how you'll know.
Okay. The news was received. The news was heard. But it goes on even more. It would have been enough for one angel. It would have been enough for the glory of the Lord to shine around them. But suddenly, again, suddenly, they don't see them coming from afar and they're getting bigger and bigger. Suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts. Multitude. This is a great army. of hosts and not just a platoon, not just a brigade, not just a small troop, but an army. Myriads and myriads of angels leaving from the throne on high and coming and attending to this other angel. You think the shepherds weren't mesmerized already, weren't awed already, and they are praising God at this point. They are praising God because Christ the Lord, the Savior has been born.
And they cry out and they say, here are the words, they say, and we've sang them even earlier in our first hymn, glory to God in the highest. And on earth, peace among men with whom he is pleased. Glory to God in the highest. The words we sing, Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Latin word for glory to God in the highest. How wonderful this must have been to hear the angels sing. The angels who were singing in the presence of God and now they are down upon this night hillside in Judea and they're praising God for all the shepherds to hear. Can you imagine the sound? Can you imagine what this doxology from heaven would have been like? Brought down from heaven itself in the ears of God and now in the ears of these lowly men.
One preacher said, heaven's choir came down to sing. when heaven's king came down to save. And here they were witnessing this joyous praise. Joyous praise of the angels. Angels, these ministering saints, angels who were not given the gospel to themselves. Those who fell had no chance of redemption. They're locked away now in chains until they would be brought before the judgment, and they will be punished for eternity, as well as all those who are outside of Christ. But here they are, glorying to God at salvation, which is not offered to them, but is offered to you and I, offered to all people who have ears to hear, who have hearts to see, who have a desire to no God, who have been called. Jesus is the one who was born, and it says on earth, peace among men. This is what they said, peace among men, for all of us, we're at war with God. We come into this world under his wrath. All who are outside of Christ are enemies. And Christ comes to be our peace. To make peace, but to be our peace. To reconcile God to man and man to God. To reconcile men to men.
Just look around in our own congregation. We have all of us who God has brought in, in Christ, and many of us would not be acquaintances or brought into relation in this way. But by Christ He has. He's brought peace with men. I pray there's peace in the church. There ought to be. If a church is following Christ, there's peace. There's not the turmoil of the world. There's not warring. habitual quarreling. No, there's peace. Jesus has brought this peace.
It says, peace on earth among men with whom he is pleased. Do you remember when Christ came out of the waters at the baptism and Jesus said, or God said from heaven, this is my son with whom I am well pleased. God is well pleased with any who are in his son. If you are in his son and you've received this grace, if you have received this gospel news and have believed upon Christ, he is well pleased with you. And the news has been received. He is not well pleased with those who reject this word. No, he is pleased with those who have received it. And that's where we go next as we see the reception of this.
The shepherds, what is the shepherd's reaction? Did they just say, well, that was interesting. Never had a night like that before. Let's go back to the sheep. No, they're changed. They've seen something they can't unsee. They've heard something they can't unhear. They have come to awe in the highest. Awe, they are awestruck. They are mesmerized. They are conformed. They are transformed. In fact, the transformation is seen in what they do. And the transformation in you is seen in what you do.
What do they do? When the angel had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began to say to one another, let us go straight to Bethlehem right now. Don't go tend to the things at the house. Don't go get everything, other things in order. Let's don't go talk about it. Let's go. Let's go to Jesus now. Right now. There's no hesitation. There's no procrastination. There's no, let's go first do this. No, it is an immediate with haste. Let's go now. And that's what Christ is calling all of us. When he calls with his message of the gospel, of message of salvation, he says, come now, young man, come now, young woman, come now, older man and older woman, don't wait, don't procrastinate, make haste. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the one you must receive this eulongelion, this good news of great joy, salvation.
And so they go in a hurry. They go in haste. He said, let us see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known. Notice that. They had this angelic visitation, the angels on high. They didn't say which the angels told us about, which those weird beings told us about. No, the Lord. This is a messenger. In fact, Angelos, the angel, means messenger. The word is used for preacher sometimes too. A message. Carrying a message from the Lord. And so the one who received it by faith realizes that this is from the Lord. Let us go and make haste because this is what the Lord has made known to us.
You might have heard the gospel many times before. You might have sat in church as young people and heard the same old story. But when God makes it alive in your heart, when he awakens you, you realize that God has made this known to me, known in the in-depth inner being of myself, that I've heard it before, but I've never heard it like that. Not because the preacher had a great inflection, or some voice, or he had a funny voice, or whatever. No, it's because the Spirit of God took that word, as feeble as it was, and made it come to life within you, because you are made in the image of God. And God communicates with his image bearers. And the Holy Spirit awakens, regenerates, for you to realize that he has made this known.
There's a lot of things we can know. There's a lot of things you can learn. I'm reminded of one young man, and he had heard about this scholar. This scholar was renowned for his knowledge. and the depth of his learning. And he goes and he travels a long distance to see this man. And as he comes into his study and he sees books from floor to ceiling and just stacked, you know, wide and high. He says, I imagine all these books you've read have caused you great learning and caused you to know so much and brought to such a well-renowned of yourself and such news to everyone how smart you were and how intelligent. And all of these books that you've written yourself show the vast learning, all the people you know, all these wise people who you have close contact with. It's amazing, I'm just awed. I want to know the things that you know. He says, what is the one, the one thing of all of this that you can say is the one thing you must know? And that scholar went over and he placed his hand on that young man. He says, there's two things. Two things worthy of knowing, really just two, is this. I am a great sinner. And Jesus is a great savior. That's it.
The Savior is Christ the Lord. The Savior come down to earth in the incarnation so that he could live the life that you and I could not live and die the death that we should have died, to pay for our sins upon the cross, to go in a hurry the shepherds, and when they come and they see the baby laying in the manger, they proclaim. It was announced to them and proclaimed to them the good news. But when they had seen this, they made known the statement that had been told them about the Christ. about the Messiah, that the Lord had revealed. They are telling and communicating to Mary and Joseph and the child who was there and whoever else was in the hearing, all the things that the Lord had revealed to them, that this was the Christ, that this is the sign, that He will be wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger, that He is the Savior, Christ the Lord. that the glory of the Lord was shining around them. And they go, they go to this place and they see, they go and see, and then they tell.
I'm reminded of the hymn that we sang, I believe, last week, Tell Out My Soul. And they tell out their soul. They are awestruck with wonder and amazement. And this is their response. It is worship. praise, proclamation, they tell, they communicate the gospel, they speak what they have heard. Oh, they tell out their soul. That's the option. There's two options to receiving this message. The one is demonstrated in the shepherds. The other is to just go away. The other is just to stay as you are, to do nothing. to stay under the wrath of God.
I love when Luke always tells us about Mary. And Mary, she treasured all these things. Mary was a ponderer. She pondered them in her heart. I love that. She just considered and really a meditation. Think of all that she heard from the angel Gabriel that she experienced in her own life with the Holy Spirit overshadowing her, with her bringing in the Savior of the world into the world. And then hearing the shepherds of their account of what they heard. And she ponders, she treasures, she stores it.
And then in verse 20, the shepherds went back. You who come to Christ, you go back to what you're doing, but you're changed. They didn't say, well, we can't shepherd anymore. No, they continued to shepherd, but they glorified and praised God at all they had heard and seen. They were full of zeal. They were full of exuberance. No doubt, whenever they went anywhere, whenever they watered their sheep, whenever they moved lands, let me tell you about the Savior who is Christ the Lord. I saw Him. I saw the glory of the Lord. I heard the angels sing, glory to God in the highest. And I can't help but praise God.
And so these were messengers who were shepherds. The shepherds were the first preachers of the gospel. They were the first receivers of the gospel. And here they were there on that day one of Christ coming into this world. They had no theology to speak of that we're told about, but they saw, they heard, they came and saw, and they worshiped. Full of doxology, praise, and proclamation.
Notice, just as they had been told them, in verse 20, the word, just as they had been told them, the word that has been told you, just as you have been told them. All the word up until this, all the prophecies, just as they have been told. The gospel of the salvation, how it is announced, it is prophesied, it is announced, it is given to all. And then it must be received. Meaning you must choose. I believe, or you stay in unbelief. When it is received by faith, there is the freely sharing of it. It doesn't just stay with you, it goes on. The shepherds, it didn't stay with them, it went on. It didn't stay with Mary, it went on. All who heard were communicating this same gospel to all who would hear. They couldn't help but tell.
Remember the woman at the well? Come and see, a man who knew all about me. Don't you imagine those shepherds were the same? They didn't have scholarly knowledge, but come and see. Let me tell you about what I have seen with my own eyes, eyewitnesses. Luke tells us they were eyewitnesses. The Savior has come.
And here we are in a world full of darkness, like the dark of night those shepherds were in. And we who have received the gospel have the light of that. And we can take that light and share the good news of great joy to the darkness. And see that light spread. See people come to saving faith.
We ought to take guidance from these shepherds. These first hearers were the first believers and the first worshipers and the first preachers, at least in the new covenant of Christ's coming. But think about this. They didn't even know all that Christ was going to do and they worshipped. They worshipped God coming into creation. You and I have seen and testified and witnessed to Christ's life through the Word, and how He came all the way to the cross, and not only that, how He died, and three days later, how He rose, and then how He ascended into heaven. We have a vast more communicated to us, revealed to us in the Word, than even these shepherds did. But it didn't stop them from glorifying God. to announce this great message that God has come in the flesh, that God is here. And they forsook all and followed him. They continued to return to their task, praising and glorifying God. Do you praise and glorify God where he has you? Are you saying, well, I'll wait until I get to a better spot? As soon as I get that better job, I'll start praising them.
You've been forgiven much. You remember the woman who, washing the feet of Jesus in her tears? She who has sinned much has been forgiven much. You, my friend, been forgiven much. Glorify God, praise Him for who He is, for His saving work. Christ the Lord, the Messiah, the Anointed One. We are able to witness that. It has been revealed to us in the scriptures. And so we can rejoice.
When we sing praises to Him, we can rejoice. When we pray to Him, we can rejoice. When we tell others and witness to others, we can rejoice. We are worshiping and praising God in that. When you study with the family, when you have your family worship, when you're reading on your individual time, all of these things give God glory.
Let's pray. Father, I thank you for this good news. This good news, the light come into the darkness, the greatest need for all mankind is the Savior. Lord, may we celebrate salvation. May we respond to this good news with faith, not in doing something or trying to merit something, but in belief. Trust that we can go and see, that we can come to Jesus, that we can come and see Jesus, that we can taste and see, receive that gospel by faith.
Lord, I thank you for many who have received this gospel. But there are some here who have not. who have yet to taste and see, who have yet to come to Jesus. They know about Jesus. They've heard. But they've never come. I pray that you would lead them to yourself, that they would run to Jesus. The gospel has been proclaimed. Lord, may we be those who take that same gospel and proclaim it to a lost world. That we be those who praise God for the gospel.
Lord, help us to persevere by the gospel. It's all about the gospel of Christ. It's all about our Savior, who is Christ the Lord. May you be glorified this day. And may you be glorified and praised for all eternity. It's in your son's name that we pray. Amen.
