The verse that we read together
this morning from John chapter 14 and verse 27 said this. Peace I leave with you, my peace
I give unto you, nor as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let
not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. The Lord Jesus Christ's birth
and incarnation was marked by several amazing and miraculous
events. And by no means the least of
these was the angelic announcement to the shepherds of the birth
of the newborn infant. I like this. I like this. I like that it was the common
people that the angels came to speak to. I like that the first
announcement of the birth of Christ came not to kings or nobles
or presidents or princes but to shepherds, shepherds as they
were doing their work out in the fields, protecting their
flocks. And first there was the angel
of the Lord. Perhaps that was Gabriel, perhaps
not. The angel of the Lord that came
to these shepherds. And then the glory of the Lord,
the angel of the Lord, then the glory of the Lord shining round
about them. And then suddenly, 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. Now I want to think for a few
minutes this morning with you, particularly about this phrase
that the angels, the angelic host declared, glory to God in
the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. I guess if I had asked you what
the angels said, many of you would have been able to repeat
that. Without thinking, you would be able to repeat it because
we have heard it so many times. It's that phrase which characterises
so much of the celebration that goes on at this time of year. the fact of the Christ child
coming, the fact of the incarnation, the many ways in which lots and
lots of organisations, whether they be educational or whether
they be commercial, take this phrase and front it as far as
their activities at this time of year are concerned. Glory
to God in the highest. and on earth peace, goodwill
toward men. We talk about that Christmas
feeling and probably this little phrase encapsulates that Christmas,
the idea of peace on earth. But I want particularly to think
about this phrase because I believe that there is some misunderstanding
about the meaning. And there are three messages
Three things are said in this sentence that the angels speak. These words that are attributed
to the heavenly host, they contain three messages which I think
if we think about them individually rather than running them all
together as one as it were, united statement, which is simply given
to us as a general summary of all the things that go on in
the name of the incarnation. If we do that, I think we will
be wiser for it. The first thing that the angels
say is this. They sang to God's highest glory. They sang to God's highest glory. Glory to God in the highest. What was happening here, in this
field, in this dark night, in this meeting together with the
angels, the heavenly host, and these shepherds, was that the
angels were singing, they were sending forth their praise to
God's highest glory. This had great significance to
the angels. What was happening here was sufficient
to thrill angels. The highest glory of God was
being revealed on earth. The highest glory of God was
being manifested here and now at this time on earth. The highest glory of God. And
the highest glory of God is being revealed to us here as the salvation
of sinners. God's highest glory is revealed
in the salvation of sinners. There is no higher glory to God
than the salvation of sinners. Now you who are believers, you
who have a testimony of salvation. You ought to think about that
for a moment. Your salvation has glorified God to the highest. It's a wonderful thing that happens
in the life of an individual when they come into a knowledge
of Jesus Christ as their saviour. A wonder, a transformation. We call it a conversion and rightly
so. It's such an alteration, such
a change, such a transformation that the very angels sing about
this. And I love the fact that the
free sovereign grace of God in the salvation of sinners itself
magnifies, enlarges, enhances the glory of God. God's glory
is magnified in the salvation of sinners. These angels sang. to the glory of God in the highest. It was a superlative. It was
right at the peak and the pinnacle of the glory of God that he had
come to earth. The apostle writes to Timothy,
great is the mystery of godliness because God came as a man for
the salvation of sinners like you and like me. Psalm 79 verse 9 says this, Help
us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name, and deliver
us and purge away our sins for thy name's glory. I think there's something as
well in this little thought that will also help us and maybe help
us keep our feet on the ground in the context of what we've
just said about God's glory being magnified in the salvation of
sinners. It is for His name's glory that
He saves men and women. It is for the glory of His own
name. It is He who is exalted, not
us, We are the beneficiaries, we are the passive ones in this
great transaction. It's nothing to do with how good
we are, nothing to do with what we can give to Him, what we can
offer Him. He does this in the lives of
men and women for His own glory and well might that be the case.
It's how it should be, for we are nothing. We are less than
nothing if such a thing is possible. We are mean, we are sinful, we
are self-centered, we are self-righteous. We have our ideas about our own
esteem and our own importance. And the Lord tells us that even
the very gifts of heaven towards us are for His glory. And that's why the angels rejoice
in heaven today. They're still singing. They're
still singing 2,000 years later over one sinner that repented. The angels sing to the praise
of God's name for the highest glory of God is magnified in
the salvation of an individual sinner. God's glory, His love,
His grace, His mercy is enhanced with each convert and the angels
praise His name still. They have a new song every morning
as God brings His elect people from the long night of darkness
into the day spring of life eternal. Glory to God in the highest is
what the angels sang. And then they said something
else. They said, glory to God in the highest, peace on earth. But this isn't the airy fairy
aspiration that everyone wants, but no one can deliver. You know,
you see the interview and the girl comes up onto the stage
and they say, tell us what you would wish for. World peace. Well, dear, you ain't gonna get
it. But that's not what the angels
were talking about. If it was, you would have it.
But it's not what they were talking about. Peace isn't a thing, a
concept, an idea. Peace is a person. It was the
personification of God, the incarnation of God that was happening here.
This is peace on earth. Christ had come to earth. Peace
had arrived. He was here. Glory to God in
the highest. Peace on earth. The Lord Jesus
Christ had been born in Bethlehem. He is Emmanuel, God with us. The Lord Jesus Christ is called
in the prophetic writings, the Prince of Peace. And now the
angels say, this Prince of Peace, long desired, long hoped for,
long anticipated, has come. This was the thrust of their
message, that Christ had come onto the earth. Peace had arrived
on earth. God is become a man. Isaiah, in that famous passage
in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6, he tells us there shouldn't be
any confusion here. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his
shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful. This is
his name. or His names, wonderful, counsellor,
the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. So when the angels were saying,
peace on earth, they're not talking about some reconciliation between
the nations, some peace that goes on between you and your
neighbour. They were talking about the fact
that Christ, the Prince of Peace, had come to earth. And I want
to just emphasize that for a moment because so far removed from this
earthly, worldly peace and reconciliation between man and man is the true
meaning of this phrase that the Lord Jesus Christ went out of
His way to emphasize that it was specifically excluded that
there would be peace on earth because of his coming in that
general sense of the word. He says in Matthew chapter 10
verse 34, think not that I am come to send peace on earth. Don't be confused about this.
Think not that I've come to send peace on earth. I came not to
send peace, but a sword. That's contrary. The truth is, from the coming
of Christ and Herod's massacre of the innocents, the slaughter
of the infants, More blood has been spilled in the name of Christ
than in any other name on this earth. And yet, and yet, the Apostle
Paul declares that this one who is called the Prince of Peace
in Ephesians 2 verse 14 is called our peace. Paul says it, he is
our peace. Now how am I going to reconcile
this apparent contradiction? Well, the answer's in part three
of what the angels said. They said, glory to God in the
highest because peace has come to earth. The Prince of Peace
is now with us. And the angels' tribute to God
in all of his glory, the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
was this, goodwill toward men. Glory to God in the highest,
peace on earth, goodwill toward men. Three separate statements,
each gathering together the thought and the theme of the salvation,
the reconciliation, the peace which God now was forging between
heaven and earth. God's glory magnified in the
salvation of sinners. Christ, the peace on earth, come
to forge that reconciliation. But the blessings of these two
phrases flow only upon those whom God's good will is fixed. And here is the truth that men
don't like to hear. Here is the truth that will set
against us pretty much all of the religions of this world. God's will, God's will to do
men good, saving good, is His grace towards us in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And it is particular grace. It is discriminating grace. It is limited to those upon whom
His sovereign mercy falls. Men dislike that teaching. They
assume that God should deal with all men alike, show no partiality,
possess no favorites. Well, let them assume that. You
can assume what you like as far as God is concerned. The matter
of the fact is, what saith the word of God? What has God revealed? And let me tell you what he revealed
to the Old Testament prophets. He says this in Jeremiah 29,
32. Behold, watch, watch, behold. the good that I will do for my
people, saith the Lord. Behold the good that I will do
for my people. If you want to look at that verse,
Jeremiah 29, 32 sometime, not just now, sometime later, you'll
actually see that that statement, that instruction to behold is
given to those whom God was pushing away from himself. And he was
saying, you'll never get to behold the good that I will do to my
people, because I'm going to separate you so far away that
you will never even see the good that I am going to do to my people.
And that's the reality of salvation. If we have the salvation of God
in our lives, if we have that relationship with Him through
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, that blood that
was shed, the world understands it not. It can't even see it. It looks at the church of Jesus
Christ and it sees simply a ragtag and bobtail of individuals Like
we are. And it says, well, why are they
any different to anyone else? In fact, if the truth be told,
we're probably a lot worse than the best of them. But what we have, what we have
is a God given gift. and it glorifies his name, for
peace has come to earth and the goodwill of God upon his elect
people has been manifested. Paul says to the Philippians,
for it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of
his good pleasure. That's his goodwill towards us.
It is God that worketh in you. It is God that initiates. It
is God that labors. It is God that effects. This
work of creation, this new life, this being born again, this new
beginning, this conversion that we've talked about, this transformation,
it's not worked by the will of man from the outside inward,
it's worked by the will of God from the inside out. It's a transformation
that takes place by God's initiative and he comes to his people and
he bestows by his own will that good upon their souls. that is
demonstrated in the gracious goodness and the mercy that he
gives to them. The psalmist could say, surely
goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life because
God's goodwill had been his portion. Isaiah 53, tells us how the Lord God accomplishes
this goodness to the hearts and lives of sinners. How does God
make peace with a sinner? How does God show them his goodness,
show them his grace, and yet be honest to himself, be a true
judge of the sin and the wickedness that we have enacted and perpetrated
in our own life's experience. He does it by sending his son
to earth, by judging him in our place, and thereby making peace
with us. So in the fifth verse of Isaiah
53, we read, he was wounded for our transgressions, not his own
transgressions, not his own inequities. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our inequities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. and with his stripes we are healed. What did I say Paul said about
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace? He is our peace. You who are parents, I guess
you know a little bit about chastisement. We don't use the word too often. We rarely say to the children,
I'm going to chastise you. Usually it's, I'm going to belt
you around the ear. Maybe we don't do that in these
enlightened days anymore. Chastisement is punishment. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him. He is our peace
and God punished our peace. God punished Christ. in order
to show his goodwill to us. Paul writing to the Colossians
says, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him
to reconcile all things unto himself. By him I say, whether
they be things in earth, that's us, or things in heaven, that's
God. God reconciled with men. through the chastisement of peace,
the chastisement of the Lord Jesus Christ, the punishment
of Christ for the sins that we have committed. Let's conclude
our thoughts here on this matter. I want to ask you a question.
Do you know anything in your own life's experience of that
great salvation? Do you know that peace with God? Is it just some nebulous thought
of, wouldn't it be great if there was peace in the world? Well,
yes, it would be, no doubt. Wouldn't it be great if there
were peace with our neighbours? Yes, that would be good as well.
But listen, friend, you don't have peace in your own soul.
You don't have peace in your own heart. You don't have peace
in your own family. You don't have peace with your
own spouse. You don't have peace with your own children. What
are you talking about peace for? If you would know peace, you
need to know peace with God. then all these things will fall
into their proper place. It's not going to be an easy
life, but if you haven't got peace with God, if you haven't
tasted that great salvation, you've got nothing. And you never
will have because the same contentiousness that drives this sinful world
and the motivations of men's hearts in this world is going
to continue until God wraps the whole thing up. and judges it
on the last day. Flee the wrath that is to come. To know God's salvation in Christ
is a wonderful thing. It is to possess eternal life
and to know everlasting peace with God through His Son. John
chapter 17 verse 3, the Lord Jesus Christ himself says these
words to us. This is life eternal, that they
might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou
hast sent. That was what the angels were
singing about. that they might know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Glory to
God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Paul writes to the Corinthians,
now we have received not the spirit of this world, but the
spirit which is of God. that we might know the things
that are freely given to us of God. That's the message of free
grace. That's the message of God's gift
to men and women. Some say that when we believe,
God blesses us as a kind of divine thank you. The Bible says that faith Trust
in him is God's gift to us and it teaches us what we already
have, what we already possess in the Lord Jesus Christ because
of what he has accomplished. Paul says to the Romans 5 verse
1, therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. That gift of faith that justifies
us, that teaches us what it is to have that reconciliation with
God. Faith, belief, trust is the vehicle
which teaches us what God has done for us. being justified
by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein
we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. One final thought and then we're
done this morning. The peace that we have in Christ
is peace with God. It's not peace with this world. It's not peace even necessarily
with each other. Some of you I know have bitter
personal experiences of trauma and trouble and trial in your
lives. You're not the epitome of peace. And if I were to say that you
were, you would rightly shake your heads and say, well, he
doesn't know my life. What's the old guy saying? Nobody
knows the trouble I've seen. The Lord says, These things I
have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation. There's the contrast. In me ye
might have peace. In the world ye will have tribulation. These lips These words fell from
the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the world ye shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. The peace that we have in Christ
supersedes the tribulation we will have in this world. And
that is the testimony of those who trust in him. Peace I leave
with you. My peace I give unto you, not
as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled. Paul says in his concluding,
his conclusion to the letter to the Philippians, be careful
for nothing. But in everything by prayer and
supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known unto
God. And the peace of God, which passeth
all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. Lord, grant us thy peace. which passeth all understanding. And keep our hearts and minds
upon the Lord Jesus Christ, this day and every day. Amen.