Seeking for the help of the Lord, I direct your prayerful attention to the passage that we read, Luke chapter 2. And we'll read for our text, verses 10 through to 14. We'll read those verses again. And the angel said unto them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy. which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

Luke 2 verses 10 through to 14, the tidings of Christ's birth.

Before coming to six points that I want to emphasize before you this morning, I want to just set the scene to visualize what we have here when these tidings were given. We're told here, and maybe you remember, this is God himself, inspired word, and God himself bringing out the plan of hell. He would bring forth His only begotten Son into this world. And so really every aspect, every word, every part of this account is of significance. God does not do things just as well without a purpose and without a cause. And so we're told here that this was in a night season, it's a night time that this was done, that Christ was born and Christ's birth was made known.

And you know, many times it is, that it is either at night time, that the Lord blesses His people, or it is in times of trial, of tribulation, where it is at night with their soul, that the Saviour is revealed. Many of us who have been blessed in our souls can testify of this. If we were to speak to you of the blessing of Christ being made precious, we would do it in the backdrop of a darkness, of a night, of a trouble, of a tribulation, and that is where the Lord has put the blessing. And so we are told specifically that it was of a night season. We think of the Passover, that was also a night season. We think of our Lord going out into the Garden of Gethsemane and it was night. Those times that are very significant in the life of our Lord, it was a night season.

But also we have the choice of the shepherds. God did not choose to reveal it to a king or to the chief of the religious leaders of the day, but to humble shepherds. And right through the word of God, in our Lord's coming, how he came, his whole life, those that were blessed, it is always to those that are lowly, We think of the Apostles' writings that God had hidden these things from the wise and prudent, but revealed them unto babes, one of the chief sins of fallen man's pride. And our Lord's coming dealt a blow to that, and it shows us that our Lord would set before even the Apostles the need for humility, He said to a child before them, whosoever shall become like this little child, if he does not receive the kingdom like this, he will not receive it at all. And we have a reminder of this right here with coming to the shepherds.

Another thing is here, our Lord Jesus Christ is spoken of as the chief shepherd. It would have been upon these mountains that David also kept his father's sheep. And it was then, we have a beautiful picture as well, that the shepherd in those days, a bit different than today, you might go to a farm, we know some farmers, and you might go to their house, their sheep are out in the field, and they're in their nice warm house. But here we have the picture of the shepherds actually with the sheep. And that's a beautiful picture for us, that when the Lord puts forth his sheep, we read in John 10, he goeth before them, he is with them. The Lord is with his people. He's not some distant place, but in the trials they are, with these sheep, with these shepherds, whatever the sheep went through, whether it was darkness, whether it was the rain, the hail, the snow, whatever it was, The shepherd was there with those sheep. The Lord is with His people. And this is the scene that is pictured here.

We think of the angels that are the ones that bring this message and these tidings. But the angels do not need saving. This was not for them. This is for men. This is for sinners. But the angels from heaven they are bringing these tidings. And may just that be as well a point of emphasis because when the tidings of salvation is to be proclaimed, yes, here is the coming of the Saviour. Here is the sign from heaven of the coming and the promised Messiah. But when the actual death and sufferings and the benefits and blessings of that are made known to sinners, an angel comes to Cornelius and he tells him to get Peter, a sinner, to proclaim it. And as we preach the word, we preach it as those that need the Savior. We need saving as well as you.

But with these angels, They were proclaiming the One that was coming from Heaven to be a Saviour and to be for men. It is no wonder that these shepherds going about their calling were so fearful and afraid at such a vision, such an appearance in Heaven, so sudden. This is the setting, this is the picture where we come with these tidings being brought. And immediately the angels say, fear not, and then they speak to them of these tidings.

Well I want to speak of six things, I'll name them quickly to you and then go through these and I hope even the children maybe would be able to understand a little bit of what I have to bring before you this morning.

Firstly, the nature of the tidings. What were they like? What were they good? What were they bad?
Then the tidings themselves in verse 11.
And then we have the sign in verse 12.
In fourth point, verses 13 and 14, we have the joy in heaven.
And then in the fifth place, verse 17, the shepherds were publishing the message.
And then lastly, how the tidings were received by those that actually heard it, verses 18 through to 20.

Firstly, the nature of the tidings. Were they good tidings? Were they bad tidings? Were they something that would bring terror or would it bring peace? It's a good thing for us to really think of this What is the nature of the tidings? The tidings that are to be brought here, and we may say the tidings of the gospel as well. Our Lord was very clear on this, that I came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. Light is coming to the world, not darkness, but men. They rather love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. But He has come in as a light into the world. When our Lord told of the parables, and He speaks of the man that found a treasure in the field, and He went and sold all that he had, that he might buy that field for the joy of the treasure that he'd found. We have one that found the pearl of great price and the reaction was the same. They viewed it as something of great price, something of great joy, of great value, something that would really have the echo of here what is said that they bring, I bring you good tidings of great joy. It's a solemn thing, isn't it? So many in this world, so many even in our street, we long to share the Gospel with them and speak to them, some that are quite afflicted, and they shake their head and say, I don't want to know, don't tell me, I'd rather be ignorant, I don't want to tell. And you think, but this is not a bad thing to tell you, it is a good thing, it is good tidings, it is the Gospel.

But they've got some idea that this is a bad thing, and of course sinners that want to remain in sin, want to go on in their lives, that is a bad thing for them, they don't want it. But for sinners who know that they need a saviour, that feel the hell within, these are good tidings, and it ever is meant like that.

Never come into the house of God and think, well here we're going to hear Everything that is bad, yes, we have to set forth that we are sinners and that you each are sinners, and that there is a judgment to come and the wrath to come. There is that, which is the truth that is set forth. But the tidings of the gospel are good tidings. They are blessings for sinners. May we always remember this.

When Philip, in Acts chapter 8, Verse 8 actually, he went and preached to those in Samaria. We read that there was great joy in that city. And I believe you know, everyone that has truly been blessed by the Lord and has had Christ revealed, they have great joy. Often that joy will be mingled with tears, with sorrow, because they view the Lord's suffering in their place, But there is joy, the heart lifts, it sings. Those times I have been blessed, I want to sing, I want to praise. And really it's a measure of what you have actually seen in the Lord Jesus Christ and how precious He is. May we be like those Samaritans and be great joy.

But then part of the nature of the tidings was that it was to all people, Now, of course, our Lord came not to save the writers, or not to call the writers, but sinners to repentance. And He came for His people. But it is out of every nation, kindred, and tongue. It is Gentiles as well as Jews. That is what is spoken about to all people. Not as is erroneously taught that Christ came to save every man, woman and child, but we must know that none is excluded who hear the word of the Lord. We are not to say, well because I'm of this nation or that nation or this old or this young, that the word is not to me. No, never shut yourselves out from the word of God. go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and this is in the very beginning of our Lord coming, which in a way must have seemed strange to the Jews. What? All people? We are the Jewish nation, we are the Israel of God. No, to all people, this is the nature of the tidings. They're good tidings, they're tidings of great joy, and they're tidings to all people.

But secondly we have the tidings themselves. And those tidings you might say are very short. Verse 11, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. And there's four things that are specifically said in this verse. Firstly, there is a birth. Tidings of a birth. You know right from the first promise in the Garden of Eden, it was the seed of the woman that should bruise the serpent's head. Vital that there should be a birth, a bring forth according to the promise. We know that our Lord was made under the law and born of a woman. This was part of the title, a very important aspect that He truly was born. He was of David's line and from David you can picture through to Joseph who was the husband of Mary and then to Mary. Through Solomon he goes through to the kingship line to Joseph. Through Nathan he goes through to Mary. And in Luke here, if you were to go to chapter 3, we trace back from Mary right down to Adam. and to our Lord, vital that it is, a real human, a real seed of Abraham. Yes, it goes right through Abraham, body and soul. Not like the angels which are spirit only, or like the beasts which are flesh only, but seed of Abraham, because what is to be redeemed is body and soul.

And so the tidings of birth first, where? Is there a second point? Where is he? In the city of Bethlehem. They were in Bethlehem but they were out in the fields. Of course it was prophesied in Micah that Bethlehem was perhaps a little amongst the cities of Judah and yet to him, to that place, was to come the Saviour born. And so they were told where was he?

Now thinking of this in gospel days, may we really be knowledgeable as to where the Lord is to be found. You won't find him, yes the Lord is everywhere. But if we are to seek the Lord, we seek Him where His people are, where His Word is, where Christ is preached and lifted up and set forth, He won't be amongst the wicked. But God is greatly feared in the assembly of the saints, where two or three are gathered together in my name. There am I in the midst, not just in a disciplinary situation, but where there is a gathering of the people, Jesus in the midst. Unto him shall the gathering of the people be."

So this message, they were told where, and then they were told what. What is this baby? The message, the tidings was that He was a Saviour, a Saviour. His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. How vital we remember this. We cannot save ourselves, but here is the Saviour that is set forth. He saves, He delivers, He is the Redeemer. And this is the first message, this babe, this one that is born, he is the saviour. He is the one that shall save his people from their sins.

And then the fourth part of the message, who is he? He is a saviour, but who is he? He is Christ the Lord. He is the Messiah. that was to come, the Anointed One, this is who He is, which is Christ the Lord, that long looked for and longed for over all the generations, the One that should come, Emmanuel God with us, the One that Solomon said, Will God in verity dwell upon the earth? The heaven of the heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house that I have built. This is He.

So in a gospel day, do we know, do we know these four things? That there was a baby born in Bethlehem, that He is the Saviour, the only name given among men, whereby we must be saved, that he is the Christ, the anointed one from heaven. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Remember what we said at the beginning. It is God himself who has chosen out this tidings, and what is actually said and what is not said. And of course in each one of these points in the tidings, There is a lot that can be expanded out right through the Scriptures of Christ, His birth, where He was born, that He is the Saviour, that He is the Christ.

But then thirdly, they were given a sign. And this shall be a sign unto you, verse 12, you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." There may have been many that were born at that time, or many babies, but they were given a sign. A sign that they would know that this message was true, and that they had found the right babe, the right place. distinguishing the Saviour from others. I hope that's always a mark with us, that the Saviour always has a mark and separate from sinners, separate from all others. This is what was said to these shepherds. This babe is not any ordinary babe, but you will have a sign. So when you go and when you see this, We know the message is true and that this is Him.

There's another aspect of this sign as well. He prepared these shepherds to see the Lord as He was. You know, many are offended. Many were offended in Christ's day. They said, but this is Jesus, the son of Joseph, the carpenter's son. And they were offended at Him. We read in Isaiah that he is a root out of dry ground, there's no form or comeliness that we should desire. But the Lord kindly used this message to forewarn these shepherds, don't be alarmed, don't be ashamed that you find him in such mean circumstances, in a manger and like this. He's not in a palace, he's not amongst the mighty of the world. And we do need to be prepared to receive the Lord and to see Him as He really is and not like so many that were offended at Him.

Verse 16, we are told, they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. It came to pass, the sign was brought to pass, Many things in scripture, many prophecies, they were given signs. They were given things so that they could clearly know when things were being fulfilled. And do notice this. Notice this in your own experience in the pathway of life and of grace. The apostles, they were able to recognize that the day of Pentecost, this was fulfilling what Joel had prophesied they were able to see in Christ's sufferings and death, and point back to Psalm 22, Psalm 69, they could show that the Scriptures were being fulfilled. Signs had been told thousands of years before. Psalm 22, a thousand years before Christ, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And these things all show forth the truth of the word of God. The truth of the message and the fulfilment of what God had said would happen and would come to pass.

And the fourth thing was that there is joy in heaven and praise. And suddenly, in verse 13, suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace. Goodwill toward men. What an example. They're not to be saved, but we are. And they give that first song of praise and adoration.

We should always remember this. Yes, we come and we have a service. We have a service in the week, today, on the Lord's Day. But dear friends, we come to worship God. We come to praise God. That is why we come.

Sometimes we can be so inward looking as if we only think it's for me, what am I to get? Yes, we do know like the Canaanitish woman, she came and worshipped him saying, Lord help me. We can worship God in that way, that's true worship. But these angels, they show forth the praise and the glory, a little bit of an insight of what goes on in heaven, of praising God even though they're not praising him as their saviour, their redeemer, they still praise him for who he is. they still glorify Him.

How much more recent have we, as sinners, who have the Saviour revealed and shown, have cause to praise and thank and glorify God. Glory to God in the highest. It is said of the people of God, These people have I formed for Myself, they shall show forth My praise.

Very often this verse 14 is misquoted, it is spoken of as if our Lord came to send peace on earth. Our Lord was very clear, think not that I came to send peace on earth, but rather division. And he says, from this time there shall be father against son, and son against father division. Where the Lord calls one by grace, There is a separation from this world. There is a division. Come ye out from among them and touch not the unclean thing. I will receive you. You shall be my sons and my daughters.

But what it does say, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace. Good will toward men. Peace on earth. No, on earth peace. And each one of us that have been blessed by the Lord and known the peace of God that passeth understanding, we have not had to wait to get to heaven to know that. The Lord has given us sometimes peace in the middle of tribulation, in the middle of trials, in the middle of troubles. We have Daniel in the lion's den and Daniel has peace and God has shut the lion's mouths. The people of God. on this earth, know this peace, and bless God if you know this peace.

Goodwill toward men, again this same emphasis as to what the beginning was, the nature of the message, goodwill toward men, not coming to destroy but to save. Right through the Psalms, many places we have this joy expressed. We have when the Lord told the parables in Luke 15 of one that had lost the sheep, one that had lost the coin, and then we have the prodigal son. And in each time there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth rather than 99 just persons which in their own eyes have no need of repentance. There is a looking, a regarding from heaven what happens on earth.

Why do you women wear a head covering? You show just tradition. But it's set forth because of the angels. The angels in the Garden of Eden, they saw though Adam was the head of Eve, They saw Eve taking Adam's position and speaking on his behalf to Satan, and so Eve was deceived and in transgression. They see even a rebellion in what Eve did. But in the Church of God in 1 Corinthians 11, you have the headship order God and Christ and man and the woman and the man and the woman one in the Lord, but the order is that the man is the head of the wife, and the sign of that is the head covering, only because of the angel. The angels look at the church of God and they say, do we see this willing submission? How tragic today that there are so many churches and the women are leading And in that passage, it has the long hair for women, short for men. It is all about headship and order, but we emphasize the angels are looking. These are sent to minister to them, which are heirs of salvation. And so we have this joy that is in heaven.

But then going from the angels we have the shepherds, and in verse 17 they then bring the message. They don't keep it to themselves, they're not ministers, but they are those that have seen, those that have heard, and they have something to say. I wonder how many of you here have seen something in the Gospel, you've heard the Gospel, you've received it yourself, and you have something to tell others. Come and hear all you that fear God and I will tell what He has done for my soul." And we'll see in the next point again a difference. But you have these that weren't silent. They came, they came to speak of what they had. seeing and what they had heard. Our Lord said of those that came, sing hosanna to him that came in the name of the Lord. If these should hold their peace, the very stones would cry out.

The effect of those who had seen when the Lord healed, when He healed the mad gathering, when He gave sight to the blind, they had to speak of what the Lord had done for them. And these shepherds, they had to speak of what the Lord had showed them. And it is an example to us as well. When we have those things that we have seen, others haven't, that we are to speak of those things. We are to share what the Lord has shown us.

Well, the last thing is how the tidings were received. It's one thing that They would bring the tidings, but what of those that heard those tidings? And you might think here, well each one of you are hearing the Word this morning, so this applies to you, isn't it? We bring the tidings, we bring the Word of God here, but how are you hearing? How am I hearing the Word of God?

In verse 18 we read, And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. That is one result, one effect, they wondered at those things. Strange things, amazing things, but at this point all they do is wonder at it. And then we have Mary in verse 19, I think it's a beautiful verse, that Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. I hope those of you this morning, you keep these things and keep the things you hear in the house of God and you ponder them in your heart, you think of them, you go over them. How easy it is to forget as soon as we leave the house of God what we've heard. and not think about it anymore through the day.

But Mary, she pondered, she thought, 12 years later we read the same thing when our Lord was in the temple, he'd been lost for three days, and he was hearing the doctors and lawyers, he was asking them questions and answering their questions. She said, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing And our Lord said that, how is it that he sought me? Wist he not that I must be about my Father's business? And again, that was not Joseph, that was his Heavenly Father.

But Mary is spoken of, she again kept these things. She laid these things up in her heart, and in one sense, By from this time she had to lay them up until it came to the crucifixion, until it came to the resurrection, and then she would have known fully. There might be some of you, you've got things you lay up in your heart, things that you pondered over, thought over, and it may be years until the Lord opens it and shows it to you and reveals it to you.

But bless the Lord if he has laid his word in your heart so you cannot forget it. And you often lay before the Lord a hope in prayer and to ponder these things. This is what Mary did.

But what did the shepherds do? We read in verse 20, and the shepherds returned. Remember they had heard first hand and then they had conveyed those things to Mary and to all that heard them, that they returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told them.

" They weren't just bright messengers, were they? They were part of the message. I feel trite about that often. As a minister of the Gospel, we are part of the message. Do we rejoice? Do we praise God? Do we know those things? But may we be like those shepherds. They imitated, you might say, or took their lead from the angels, and they glorified, and they praised God as well.

Whenever the Gospel is preached, whenever the Word is set forth, there is a response, there must be an effect, whether it is a rejoicing, whether it is of being cut down as a sinner, whether it is being brought into concern for the first time, or whether it is, well, that's just another message, and out we go from the house of God, just as a door upon its hinges.

May you go forth today and ask yourself, lay it before the Lord, What does the preaching of the gospel mean to me? What has the effect been on my soul, on my life? The message you've heard this morning, what effect has it had, if at all? You might have to say it hasn't had any effect. And may that be a concern to you. may be concerned to me.

Here is these tidings that the nature of them is spoken of as being such good tidings of great joy that shall be to all people, and may that spring out from our heart, Lord, that that might be me, that that be my soul, and these tidings be to me.

He that hath an ear, our Lord said, let him hear. He that hath an ear, let him hear. what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

For may these tidings be to us good tidings, and tidings to us the honour and glory of God. May we know what the Lord said, for this cause came I into this world. And that was when he came to lay down his life to suffer, bleed and die. This was the cause as a Saviour. to pay the debt his people owe, to suffer in their place, to rise again, and to appear in the presence of God for them.

May we bless the Lord, for our Saviour, for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.