Well, it's my pleasure to just
speak to you for a few moments on part of those things that
we've read about this afternoon. And really the two verses I'm
going to speak on are in Luke's Gospel, the second chapter, and
verses 10 and 11. And I'll just read them to you. 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.' Now
the picture is there were a group of shepherds looking after their
sheep one night. Quite a normal situation. Shepherds
in those days had to look after their sheep day and night. There weren't big fields and
lots of fences. The sheep could wander around
and therefore they had to be looked after very carefully. Hence the reason why the shepherds
were looking after the sheep quite a normal night. And then
suddenly this angel appeared. Now they'd never seen an angel
before. We've never seen an angel. physically, have we? And so it
was a great shock to them. And they were afraid. Afraid
of this angel that had come into their midst. And we would be
the same, wouldn't we, if an angel was to come down in the
middle of this chapel this evening. We would all wonder what the
reason was. And we would be surprised. And we would be afraid. And so
they came and they said, fear not. because they were frightened
and he said fear not that just to make them calm fear not and
then he told them he gave them some wonderful news 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. Now, the truth is that people
had been looking forward for this Saviour to come for something
like about 4,000 years. Many years they'd been waiting
for this Saviour to come. And it was needful that a Saviour
should come right from that time 4,000 years ago when Adam and
Eve were living in the Garden of Eden and they sinned, they
disobeyed God and because of that sin entered into the world
and their sin needed to be taken away. Now you may say well why
is that? Well we believe that when we
die God's people go to heaven. And heaven is a place where there
is no sin. So therefore everybody that goes
to heaven needs their sin taken away. And of course you and I
cannot take our sins away. We need someone to take away
our sins. And it's exactly the same as
these shepherds, exactly the same as all the people that have
lived before this occasion and still come into the world today. We all need our sins to be taken
away. And that's something that we
cannot do ourselves. And therefore, all the people
up to that time have been looking for that great day when a Saviour
would come. And now this is wonderful news,
wonderful news to hear that the Saviour had been born and how
wonderful it was for these shepherds. And we read part of this chapter
and just reading on in this second chapter, because after the angel
had said this and he said this 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 angels and there was
one angel and now there was a multitude of angels of the heavenly host
praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on
earth peace, goodwill toward men. What a wonderful occasion
that was, you can imagine. There was this good news which
these angels said and sung and said, glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. And it came to pass
as the angels were gone away from them into heaven the shepherds
said one to another let us now see this thing which has come
to pass which the lord hath made known unto us and they came with
haste they didn't want to stop they wanted to see this wonderful
truth that jesus the savior had been born and so they didn't
just go slowly we're told they went with haste quickly and found
Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger, just as the
angel had said. Well, that was wonderful, wasn't
it? You can imagine, can you not, looking and seeing and waiting,
and suddenly you see face to face this baby, Jesus, that was
the one that God had sent. And he wasn't just an ordinary
baby, he was the Son of God. What a wonderful blessing that
was and how good for us today to know that Jesus came into
this world to take away our sins and what a great blessing that
is. Well this is a very simple account
and we won't go on but it's important that we understand why we celebrate
Christmas. Many people don't understand,
but it's good to remember we celebrate Christmas because it
was a birth of Jesus who was the savior of mankind. He was the one that God sent,
the only one that could take away the sins of his people.
And you may remember that, of course, when we come to Easter,
we then remember the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he
had to die. Jesus, think of that, the Son
of God, had to die. That was the price that God required
to take away our sins. Jesus gave his life so that you
and I might be, it's a word which we use, it's redeemed. That means that you and I have
been freed from our sins. What a blessing then, if you
and I have the evidence that we're sinners and we need our
sins to be taken away and we can come to Jesus and we can
plead His mercy and His favour. We read together in that Gospel
of John, as James said, such well-known verses, but they're
really very wonderful verses, and just to read them again.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,
he only had one Son, Jesus, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not his Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through
him might be saved. Well, this evening, what a blessing
it is if you and I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as our
Saviour, believe that he is the one that can take away all our
sin and make us clean and therefore be ready to go and to be with
him in glory. You know, it's a great blessing
for every true believer, to look ahead. When we finished our life
on this earth, it's not as some people think, that's the end
of everything. Well, to God's people, it's the
beginning of a glorious life in heaven. And so may each one
of us be found, first of all, praying that our sins might be
taken away and then blessed with the knowledge that our sins are
taken away, and then look forward to that time when we shall be
forever with the Lord. Well, it's good news, my friends,
to remember. And may we indeed truly thank
God that we have a record in the Bible of these great and
wonderful truths. And as we celebrate Christmas,
may we celebrate it