We're looking at Luke chapter
2, and notice verse 14. Luke chapter 2, verse 14. And this is the title of the
message. Glory to God in the highest. Glory to God in the
highest. On earth, peace. Peace. Goodwill. God's will toward men. This is the theme and narrative
of the gospel of Christ. Glory to God. Glory to God in
the highest. The grand design of all that
our God does is His glory. That's the grand design. That's
the bottom line of everything that God does is His glory. Creation, God created all things
by the word of His power. Why? For His glory. In providence,
all things work together for good according to His purpose
for His glory. And the salvation that is of
the Lord, what's that all about? His glory. We read in the book
of Ephesians chapter 1, to the praise of the glory of His grace,
the Father choosing a people, electing a people, predestinating
them to be just like Christ, Christ coming and redeeming those
people all to the praise of the glory of His grace, and the Lord
Jesus Christ having finished that work all to the praise of
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. The same is true in the incarnation
of God in human flesh. It's all about His glory, isn't
it? The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld
His glory. The glory of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. We had a Message on
the radio this morning, taken from 2 Corinthians 1.20, where
it talks about all the promises of God in him are yes, and in
him, amen, unto the glory of God. unto the glory of God."
God is jealous of His glory. And certainly it's true the grand
design of redemption is the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. We read this in Romans 11, "...of
Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things to whom be
glory, both now and forever." The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is called the blessed gospel of the glory of God. The apostle put it this way,
God forbid I should glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see the gospel of Christ
gives him all the honor and glory for salvation that is of the
Lord. And that's what we see in these
verses here. In Luke chapter 2 verse 8 down
through verse 20, we see four plain, simple, powerful gospel
statements made that are true, that are certain, that are sure.
Four powerful, plain gospel statements. Here's the first one found in
verse 8. And there were in the same country
shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock. And lo, the angel of the Lord
came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about
them, and they were terrified, sore afraid. And the angel said
unto them, You have no need to fear, 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 Savior,
which is Christ the Lord." God was pleased to make his birth
announcement to these lowly shepherds. out in the field. These shepherds
were nobodies. I mean they were nobodies. This
was the midnight shift on the shepherd's watch. They were nobodies
out in the desolate field. The Lord made a sovereign choice
who would hear this glorious news first. Simple plain working
men, shepherds, shepherds, shepherds out in the field, shepherds on
the job, shepherds tending the flock, tending the sheep. And
notice, notice this, this angel dispatched from the throne, probably
Gabriel, probably the same one that appeared to Joseph and Mary
and Zacharias. Notice the angel wasn't sent
to the palace of Herod, Notice the angel was not sent to the
Pharisees in the temple, nor to Pontius Pilate, the governor,
nor to the educated priest. This message was sent of God,
revealed and made known to the weak. to the uneducated, to the
despised shepherds that were there and God sent them a message. It says down here in the last
part of verse 15, which the Lord had made known unto us. Lack of ability, lack of education
are no barriers to the grace of God. My sinfulness, my wickedness
are no barriers to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
apostles were simple men. They were fishermen. Fishermen,
laboring men. The apostles were simple men.
A lowly tax collector named Matthew. A despised Pharisee named Saul
of Tarsus. The weak of the world are often
called before the mighty. The last are often first, and
the first made last. We read in Matthew 11, He hid
these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto
Babe, even so, Father, for so it seems good in your sight. You see the story here? The sovereignty
of God sent this messenger with a message to the lowly shepherd
chosen of God. Not to the temple, not to the
priest, not to the palace, out in the field. The Lord is showing
us and teaching us that He will use whom He will, when He will,
how He will, to accomplish His own eternal purpose. If you turn
over here to 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, He chooses the most
unlikely vessels to be vessels of His mercy. In 1 Corinthians
chapter 1, Verse 22, the Jews require a
sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified
unto the Jews a stumbling block, unto the Greeks foolishness.
The preaching of Christ crucified unto those who are perishing
is foolishness, verse 18. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse
24, but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greek, Christ the
power of God, and Christ the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness
of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger
than men, for you see your calling brethren." Now look at this carefully,
how that not many, didn't say any, It says, not many wise men
after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. God hath chosen, now it says
this three times here, read it carefully. God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise, God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things that are
mighty, and the base things of the world and the things which
are despised hath God chosen. They in all, and yea, and things
which are not, to bring to naught the things that are, that no
flesh should glory in his presence." You see the bottom line here?
Read on. But of him are you in Christ,
Christ Jesus, who of God is made known to us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written,
he that would glory Let him glory only in the Lord. And that's
given to us from Jeremiah 9 verse 23. Let us glory only in the
Lord. The Lord uses the most unlikely
vessel. Turn over here to Romans 9. Sovereignly
called out these shepherds, made himself known unto them, and
revealed the Savior unto them. In Romans 9. Verse 15, For he
saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I
will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then
it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. Of God that showeth mercy. For
he saith, For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same
purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in
thee, that my name might be declared to all the earth. Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and on whom he will He'll
harden. He hardened Pilate and Herod
and these men, and He revealed Himself to these simple shepherds
out in the field. He chooses the most unlikely
vessels to be vessels of His mercy, object of His love, object
of His grace. Here's the second point. In verse
9 down through verse 12, the angel of the Lord was sent to
announce The Savior's birth and lo, the angel came upon them,
the glory of God shone round about them, and the angel said,
Do not fear, I bring you good news, good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. For unto you this day, unto you
is born this day in the city of David the Savior, which is
Christ the Lord. Fear not, fear not, I bring you good news. which shall be to all people."
Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is by the grace of
God. Salvation that was promised, now no longer concealed in types
and pictures and prophecy. Now is the time when the fulfillment
of Scripture has come. The Messiah, He's here. The Christ
of God, He's manifest in the flesh. To Him give all the prophets
witness. Now He's come. He's here. In
the fullness of the time, God sent forth His Son, made of a
woman, made under the law to redeem them. The long-awaited
Savior is here. The promised Prince of Peace
is here. The King of Righteousness is
here who has come to accomplish all of salvation and to perform
salvation for us. The Savior, notice it says there,
verse 11, the Savior is the Christ of God. What does the Christ
of God mean? He's the anointed of God. He's
anointed in all of His offices, prophet to reveal, as priest
to make atonement, and as king to rule and reign over us. He
is the Christ of God. Peter put it this way at Pentecost,
this same Jesus whom you crucified, He's both Lord and Christ. He is Lord and Christ. Unto you
is born, unto you is given. You remember a child is born,
a son is given. This day in the city of David,
He's the Christ, He's Lord. Every knee is going to bow and
every tongue is going to confess that He is Lord. But let us never
forget, my friend, He's our Savior. He's our Savior who has manifested
to put away our sin and to save us by His grace. This indeed
is good news. Christ the Savior is here. The
Savior who is the Christ the Lord. This is joy unspeakable
and full of good news, isn't it? Christ has come. The gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ is not good advice. I'm not going to
give you good advice. I'm going to preach unto you
good news. It's good news. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. It says in Matthew chapter 9,
the Lord didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentant. It says in Romans 5 that the
Lord Jesus Christ died for the ungodly. And notice this, the
Lord Jesus Christ, the messenger from heaven, said, this is the
Savior. Call His name Jesus, He shall
save. Savior, He shall save His people
from their sins. Now, make sure you get this,
He's the only one, Son of God, to save His people. Not Mohammed,
not Buddha, not Confucius. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only Savior of sinners. The Apostle put it this way in
Acts chapter 4, neither is there salvation in any other. For there
is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must
be saved. He is the only Savior. The Lord
said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No man come to the
Father, but by and through me." The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Savior. Now give a hold of this. Does
the Lord Jesus Christ, we hear this in religious circles today,
they say, well, the Lord Jesus Christ is trying to save you,
but you won't let him. This book knows nothing about
a Savior who tries and can't. The Savior of the Lord Jesus
Christ, he prayed this way, Father, you've given me power over all
flesh that I should give eternal life to as many as the Father
hath given to me. He said, all power is given to
me in heaven and in earth. The Savior of the Lord Jesus
Christ, let us not forget He is God our Savior. who has all
power, all authority to save. The Scripture says He is the
Savior that saves. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him. Because my sin is so terrible
and so many, I need a great Savior. And we have that in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is our great God. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the Savior who saves alone by Himself. He alone
is the Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Redeemer who really put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He doesn't attempt to do anything.
He made atonement for our sin with His own blood. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the Priest of God, who obtained eternal redemption
for us with His own blood. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only Mediator we have between God and us. And that's Christ,
the God-Man Mediator. There's only one Advocate. My
little children, these things I write unto you, that you sin
not, but when you do, we have an Advocate with the Father,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the only Savior,
Son of God, who appeared in the end of the age to put away sin
by the sacrifice of Himself. You see the message here, unto
you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, and He's Christ,
and He's Lord, and He is God Almighty. Now notice this, what
it says here in verse 10, the last part. I bring you good tidings,
good news of great joy, which shall be to all people, all sorts
of people, all kinds of people, black, white, red, yellow, young,
old, bond, free, rich, poor, wise, ignorant, keep on naming
it, to all people. The gospel of Christ does not
bring joy to all people without exception. That's not true, is
it? The Pharisees They hated him, didn't they? You're a winebibber.
You're a gluttonous man. The Sadducees railed on him. You be the Christ, come down
and deliver yourself. To the reprobate, to the unbeliever,
like Pilate, they will mock the Lord Jesus Christ. And to the
reprobate, to the unbeliever, the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is not good news. It's a savor of death unto death.
But to those needy sinners, Those in need of mercy to the elect
of God gathered throughout all the world, who are in desperate
and urgent need of pardon, forgiveness, the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the power of God and the salvation to everyone that
believes and looks to the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, good news,
glad tiding, the gospel to those who believe the gospel is the
power of God, the wisdom of God, the glory of God. It's a saver
of life under life. Turn over to Luke chapter 4,
look at this verse, verse 18. Luke 4, 18. You see, the gospel
is not good news if the Lord Jesus Christ tries to save, and
can't, and wants to, but you won't let Him. That's not good
news. I don't need a Savior that's weak and impotent. I need a Savior
that's almighty. I need a Savior that's Son of
God. Look what He says right here in Luke 4, 18. The Spirit
of the Lord is upon me. because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor." He's anointed me, that's the
Christ of God. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted. Now who can heal a broken heart?
Christ! He sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to who? The captives, those who are held
in bondage by their sin. He set us free. Recovering of
sight to the blind, who can give sight to a blind man? To set
at liberty those that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year
of the Lord." And he closed the book. gave it to the minister
and sat down, and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue
were fastened on him, and he said unto them, This day is the
scripture fulfilled in your ears." You see, He's the fulfillment.
He is the Savior who saves, the Redeemer who redeems, the Mediator
who can alone make intercession for us, reconcile us unto God. He's the Savior that we need.
How should we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Now here's
the center of it. Here's the centerpiece of it.
Verse 13 and 14. Here's the third thing. The hymn
of praise which the heavenly host sung in the hearing of the
shepherds. Luke 2 verse 13. And suddenly
there was with the angel a multitude of a heavenly host saying, singing,
Glory to God in the highest. You talk about a choir. On earth
peace, good will toward men. Now three things are mentioned
there. It seems the most amazing sight here, the heavenly holy
angels could not keep silence while this great event was unfolding
The angel desired to look into these things. They started singing
this glorious song, and it's the song of the eternal song,
the song of redemption. Turn to Revelation chapter 5.
It's this new song here. They sing the same song, glory
to God in the highest. Look what it says here in Revelation
5. This is the new song of the covenant of grace. Revelation
5 verse 9, And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy
to take the book, to open the seals thereof. For thou wast
slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, and of every
kindred, tribe, kindred, tongue, people, and nation. It's talking
about blood-washed believers. And hast made us kings and priests
unto our God, and we shall reign on the earth, And I beheld and
heard the voice of many angels," there they are again, "...angels
round about the throne, and the beasts and the elders, and the
number of them, ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands
and thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that
was slain to receive power, to receive power, riches, wisdom,
strength, honor, glory, and blessing. You see, it's the same song,
isn't it? Every creature which is in heaven,
on the earth, under the earth, such as are in the sea, and all
that are in them, heard I saying, blessing, and honor, and glory,
and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb
forever. And the four beasts, Said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders,
representing the church, fell down and worshipped Him that
liveth forever and ever. You see, it's all about His glory. Now, let's look at these three
things here that said in verse fourteen. Number one, glory to
God, glory to God in the highest. He's the most high God. On earth,
peace. goodwill toward men. Now these
three things, glory and honor and praise and adoration to our
God, for He is the Most High God. Is there any higher than
He? Isaiah the prophet writes many times, where God says through
him, I am God, beside me there is no other. He's the only just
God and Savior. Now has come the highest degree
of the glory of God by the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ among
men. The Lord Jesus Christ by His
life, by His death on the cross, will glorify all the attributes
of God. His justice, His holiness, His
love, His mercy, His wisdom, never before glorified as they
were upon the cross, where righteousness and peace have kissed each other
at the cross, to enable God to be both a just God and Savior,
just and the justifier. Creation glorified God, but not
so much as redemption, not so much as salvation in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Every knee is going to bow. We
read in Philippians 2. Every tongue is going to confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the bottom line. And everything
God does is His glory. All to the praise of the glory
of His grace. Glory to God! Now, does anybody
else deserve any glory and any honor? God forbid! I can sing
this song with the angels. I can. I can just wiggle my way
right into that choir and sing with the angels. Glory to God
in the highest. And then the second line goes,
on earth, peace, peace, peace. Now we don't see much peace among
men, do we? I mean, you turn on the news
and it's just I mean, it's just no good news there. I mean, it's
just murder this, and terrorists here, and this calamity, and
this calamity, and that going on. This is not talking about
civil peace, carnal peace, or political peace among men. There
never will be peace among men. Not after sin entered in. Abel brought that blood sacrifice
and his brother hated God, Cain, and rose up and killed Abel.
No peace among men. But thank God the peace that's
spoken of here is gospel peace that the Lord Jesus Christ has
accomplished for us by His own blood. We read in Colossians
chapter 1 this morning in our study, He made peace by the blood
of His cross. He reconciled us unto God. We have peace with Him. Find
Ephesians 2, let's turn over there. Peace, peace, peace. Peace with God. Being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Did I tell you Ephesians chapter
2? Turn over there. Ephesians chapter
2. Christ, He is our peace. People say, well, I'm trying
to make peace with God. Forget it. You can't satisfy
a thrice holy God. But look how peace is made. Ephesians
chapter 2 verse 12. that at that time you were without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God.
That's us by nature. But now, in Christ Jesus, you
who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ,
for He is our peace. He is our peace, who hath made
both one, and hath broken down the middle wall partitioned between
us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity even the law of commandments
contained in ordinance, for to make in himself of two one new
man, so making peace. Who made peace? That he might
reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain
the enmity thereby. And he came and preached peace
to you which were far off, and to them that were nigh. For through
Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." God
was in Christ, God was in Christ reconciling us unto Himself. In the Gospel of Christ, He made
peace for us with His own blood. And here's the third thing, glory
to God in the highest, on earth peace, and then goodwill. The gospel is good news because
it involves a good will. And you know what? It's not yours. God's people need to be made
willing in the day of his power. This will here, this good will,
is God's will. God's will. Of his own will begat
he us with the word of truth. Good will. He worketh all things
after the counsel of His own will. Man's will is not free. Did you know that? People want
to preach up the will of man. Why do they do that? Why do they
promote that? Because they want glory in the
flesh. You see, man's will is not free. It's in bondage to
his nature. That's why the Lord said, No
man can come to Me except the Father which sent Me draw him.
This is the free favor of God, the good will, the sovereign
will of God, the free grace of God, the good pleasure of God
toward His elect. He indeed is not willing that
any of His elect should perish, and they won't. It wouldn't be
good news if they perished, would it? The gospel message is not
a general message of God's willingness to show mercy to all mankind
without exception. That's not so. His goodwill of
salvation is only toward his elect, only toward his chosen. He sends his word out with power
unto his people, and he makes the gospel of Christ, the Savior
of life, unto life. Now, here's the last thing, verse
15 down through verse 20. What's going to happen now? Here
are these lowly shepherds out in the field, dark, and the glory
of God shines about them. They hear the messenger from
the throne of glory declaring to them that the Savior is born,
He's the Christ, He's the Lord. They hear the multitude as the
heavenly host praising God, saying, Glory to God in the highest.
You reckon it's going to have any effect upon them? You reckon
they'll just ignore that? Oh, no. It came to pass as the
angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said
one to another, Boy, let us go to Bethlehem. Let us go and see
the Savior. Let us go and worship Him. Let
all the angels of God worship Him. Let us go even unto Bethlehem
and see this thing which has come to pass. It just didn't
happen, did it? God brought it to pass. "...which
the Lord hath made known unto us." Sovereign revelation. And
they came with haste. I mean, they didn't wait until
the morning light. They came with haste. They came right now. It reminded me of this story.
Hold your place there and find Luke 19. They came with haste. You remember there was a tax
collector up a tree. His name was Zacchaeus. Remember
what the Lord said to him? Luke 19, verse 5. And when Jesus came to the place,
he looked up and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make
haste. Make haste. Right now. Zacchaeus,
make haste. Come down. For today I must abide
at thy house. Come down." There's the command.
What's going to happen? I think I'll just stay up in
this sycamore tree. He couldn't stay there. Why? He was commanded
to make haste and come down. And he received him jointly.
And when they saw it, they all murmured saying that he was going
to be a guest with a man that's a sinner. These Pharisees said,
oh, how terrible. And Zacchaeus stood and said
unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I'll give
to the poor. And if I take anything from any by false accusation,
I'll restore to him fourfold. And the Lord said, This day is
salvation come to this house for as much as he also is the
son of Abraham." There's the covenant seed. His elect, for
the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost."
They made haste, those shepherds did. They didn't wait, delay. They came to Bethlehem and they
made haste and they found Mary and Joseph. You reckon how long
they searched? I don't know how big a town Bethlehem was. But
they were given some directions. You'll find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. They probably checked
every barn. They probably checked every barn
to find the baby laying in the cow trough. And they searched
and searched and searched. There he is. This is he. And they came with haste and
found Mary and Joseph and the babe. And when they'd seen it,
They made known abroad the saying which is told them concerning
this child." They didn't talk about the vision, the angel. They didn't go around talking
about the angel. It's concerning this child. The gospel is all
about Christ. And all they that heard it wondered.
at those sayings which were told them by the shepherd. Mary kept
all these sayings, pondered them in her heart, and the shepherds
returned. They went back to the field.
They went back to work. They returned back to the sheepfold,
but they went back home glorifying and praising God for all things
that they heard, and seeing the babe as it was told them." The
shepherds, here we see the obedience of faith. The shepherds heard
the message of the angel and were obedient to the word of
the Lord. You see, it's just not the hearing
of the word, it's the doing of the word, being obedient unto
the Lord. We see them with no doubts or
questioning or hesitation, strange and unusual as the tidings were
at night. They acted upon God's Word at
once. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the Word of the Lord. They went to Bethlehem in haste.
They found everything exactly as it was told them. Their simple
faith received a rich reward, didn't it? For they were rewarded,
the Savior. They looked upon the Savior,
I think they picked Him up face to face. This is God's salvation. Like Simeon, Lord I'm ready to
die, my eyes have seen Thy salvation. And the shepherds went home,
verse 20, They went home not downcast, not dejected or rejected. They went home with happy hearts,
glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard, all
that they had seen. As David said, bless the Lord,
O my soul, all that is within me, bless His holy name. May we too act with obedient,
simple heart faith upon the message of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Having heard the gospel, may
God give us grace in our heart to go home, believing and rejoicing
and praising the Lord in our heart. Wouldn't that be something?
Some old writer said, the journey that's begun in faith will end
in praise, won't it? What begins in grace always ends
in glory. Being confident of this very
thing that God who has begun a good work in you, He will perform
it. He will perfect it in the day
of Christ.