The involvement of angels in the affairs of this life is a remarkable reality. Ever from the creation period, when we're told that the morning star sang for joy and the sons of God shouted for joy, right through from that particular time, We think of them in the history of Jacob when he was coming back from Syria to Bethel at a place called Mahanehim. The angels of God met him, and he observed them. He saw them. Right throughout the time on earth, right throughout the times when they ministered to Christ and were associated with Christ and his life, right until the time that he comes back, and right at the time that he comes back when the Bible says that his holy angels will be with him. There is a work for angels to do. In fact, in Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 14, we are told that those angels are sent forth to minister to them who should be the heirs of salvation. People who are Christians have angels working on their behalf, is what the Word of God teaches very plainly. But tonight, as we have read this portion in Luke chapter 2, we're reading of angelic involvement as the shepherds who were outminding their flock at nighttime were receiving intimation. They were getting word of a tremendous event. the incarnation and birth of the Lord Jesus, one who was appointed by God the Father to send forth his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him, that he might be the Savior of the world. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. So it's this angelic involvement, this angelic visitation that I want us to consider for the remainder of our meeting tonight. I want you to notice a number of things about it from this particular part of God's Word that we have read. First of all, the place in which it was located. was Bethlehem, or near to Bethlehem. Notice verse 4, And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. Verse 6, And so it was that while They were there. The days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and led him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. That was at Bethlehem. And the shepherds were watching over their flocks here in the fields not too far away. So the place that received this visit was Bethlehem. What a history Bethlehem has. Great sorrow associated with it. It was there that Rachel died, almost at Bethlehem, in the way that she died in giving birth to Joseph. And Joseph, or Jacob, would have made mention of that when he was speaking to Joseph in Genesis 48. He could remember it. The passing of the years, and there were many years, didn't dim the memory of what had happened. whenever Jacob was obeying the Lord to go back to Bethel again. But around the Bethlehem area, Rachel died in giving birth to Joseph. It was a place of great history, one of sorrow and one of joy. That's where Boaz came from in the book of Ruth, and what joy there was for him, and what joy there was for the widow Ruth, as they came together in marriage, and a child was born there, the forerunner, one of the forerunners of King David, and of course, in the ancestral line of the Lord Jesus Christ. Place of history. A place of dignity. Called the city of David. Now David was revered by the Jewish people. The greatest of all the kings. And there were several great kings in Judah. But the greatest of them all was David. And this is where the angels came to visit that night. The city of David. Little Bethlehem. Great dignity there. But that city had a destiny as well. It had the destiny of being the place where the Lord Jesus Christ would be born. Now, I always feel I have to make the point that the Lord didn't have his beginning at Bethlehem. It was only his humanity that began there, but the real person subsisted way back before he was manifest in the flesh at Bethlehem. He was the eternal Son of God, in at the creation of the world, as John chapter 1 and other places tell us. But the destiny was that this was the city, according to the prophecy of Micah chapter 5 and verse 2, out of which would come forth a ruler whose goings would be of old from everlasting. What a dignity this city had. And just let me say one other matter about it, and that is the glory of this city. The creator of the world was born here with regard to his humanity. And this was the place that the angel Gabriel came to inform Mary. Or rather, when she was at Nazareth, it was angel Gabriel came to inform her. that would turn out to be eventually the city of David, Bethany, where she would give birth to the child that she was told she would be carrying. Let me say one other thing about it, and that is, in Micah chapter 5, verse 2, The Word of God says, Am thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth unto me he that will be ruler in Israel. It was a city of, I suppose, some measure of inferiority, little among the thousands of Judah. But that did not stop the angels coming to Bethlehem. That did not stop the Lord being born there according to the decree of God. And while we've looked at this city in its glory and dignity and destiny and history, Yet it was the place that might have been looked upon by others as a mean place. And you know, there's great hope for you and me. The Lord was not born in Jerusalem, the capital city. The angels did not come to visit the city of the great king, as Jerusalem was called. No, it was lowly Bethlehem. And you might say, well, I'm not one of the great ones in the earth. But the point is, the Lord Jesus Christ can come to you. And if you're a child of God, there is a ministry of angels in your life as the Word of God takes place. We'll probably never know when we get home to glory how much the angels of God protected us and watched over us as they were sent forth. You remember the psalm, the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them, fear him." So you can see the place in which this angelic visitation took place. There's no life too lowly, and there's no life too grand, but heaven cannot come down and fill the soul with its presence. notice secondly, not only the place in which this angelic visitation was located, but I want you to notice the people by whom it was received. The people were shepherds. Notice verse 8, And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people." Notice, first of all, the occupation of these men, in which they were engaged. They were shepherds. This was a useful occupation. Shepherds were employed in order for their own livelihood and also for the blessing of others. The animals would have been used for food as well as for sacrifices. The clean animals among them would have been used for sacrifices, typifying the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a useful employment. It was a noble employment. Didn't Mrs. Graham speak a lot about that this morning when she talked about the relationship of the Lord Jesus Christ to the sheep, as that, a shepherd to the flock. And in the Old Testament, God very often, God the Father, very often is viewed in the relationship as a shepherd to the sheep. Psalm 100, all people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice. We are his sheep. takes us for his flock. Didn't David write the psalm, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want? And he goes on to show the tremendous metaphorical language used to indicate the relationship between God, our heavenly Father, and his people. the occupation in which they were engaged, and men and women they were occupied. And here's another point I want to make, that whenever we receive visitations of the Lord, whenever heaven comes down to touch our souls, it usually happens whenever we're just involved in the daily round and common task. Like Moses when he was at the backside of the desert keeping the flock, He saw the strange sight of the bush that was burning and yet not consuming away. And the Lord told him, out of that bush the voice spake. and said, I've remembered my people in Egypt on the hard time they're going through. Come now, I'm sending you to Pharaoh to be their deliverer. It was then that Moses received the call of God for his life's work, just beginning when he was 80 years of age, but 40 years in the preparing for it. It was whenever Gideon was threshing wheat in the days when the Midianites were the adversaries to Israel in the country that God called him and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt deliver Israel. It was whenever David was away from the seven other brothers whom Samuel had come looking for a king among. And Samuel said, is there nobody else here in your family, Jesse? And Jesse says, oh yes, there's just a lad and sent one of the servants to bring him in. But he wasn't counted among the seven as being someone who was capable and strong and fit to be anointed. But God called him to this work. while he was looking after the sheep as a shepherd. And it was whenever Andrew and Peter and James and John were both casting their nets in one instance and mending their nets in another instance, while they were occupied, that the Lord called them to follow him. and he would make them fishers of men. Oh, my dear hearer, do your work diligently, even if it's not anything that's sensational. If it's just plain, ordinary, day-to-day work, do it! That's whenever God can come and reveal himself to you. The occupation they had. But notice the emotion they experienced. Whenever this august visitor, whoever he was, this angelic being, came suddenly upon them, the Bible says they were afraid. And not only afraid, they were sore afraid. Their fear was intense and paralyzing. My dear friend, we need to keep in mind that God is a holy God. God is to be greatly feared in the assembly of the saints and to be had in reverence by all them that are about him. And if these shepherds feared at the sight of a messenger from heaven who was sent with good news, as we'll see, What's it going to be like for men and women who are alive on the earth whenever the Lord Jesus Christ comes back again to judge this world? You have every right to fear of that thought. The Bible says in different places that men's heart will feel them for fear, and they'll cry for the mountains and rocks to fall upon them, and to hide them from the face of the Lamb, and from him that sitteth on the throne. For the great day of his wrath has come, and who shall be able to stand? Fear that gripped them. It was the same with Zacharias whenever Gabriel appeared. It was the same with Mary whenever Gabriel appeared. They were concerned, why this august being coming to them? And these shepherds were like that. Their occupation their emotion. But notice their consolation in verse 10. Oh, this is tremendous. The angel said unto them, Fear not. Very quickly did that angel react to their fear. For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. I'm not here to grieve you. I'm not here to vex you. I'm not here to annoy you. I am here to cheer your heart. I have something mighty to tell you the good news it is called. Great tidings. This is what Christmas is all about, ladies and gentlemen. It's not about supper or the lack of it at a family night service. It's not about festivity and indulging for the next couple of weeks or so. It's not about that. It's not about all the merriment. It's not about all the revelry. Although there are many happy things, family times associated with Christmas, but that's not the main reason of why Christmas is supposed to be. Those things are not the reason for the season. Rather, there's better news than all of that put together. It's about a person. It's about the Lord Jesus. And that brings me to the third thing I want you to notice about this angelic visitation. Not only the place in which it was located and the people by whom it was received, but the purpose for which it occurred. Notice verse 11. We'll just read verse 10 again to get the link. 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 Savior, which is Christ the Lord." Oh, there are three tremendous things in that. want you to notice the substance that this purpose reveals or that it contains. It's got to do with the birth, the never-the-like-of-it that took place. You get some of the detail in Matthew chapter 1, and then here in Luke chapter 1 and 2. Never a birth like it. God manifest in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's called. And we're told that he was sent forth, man of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that are under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Whenever Mary was puzzled at how she was going to be the bearer of the Christ child, I want you to notice the answer that the angel Gabriel gave her in chapter 1, verse 34 and verse 35. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be? Saying, I know not a man, And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore shall that holy thing which shall be born of thee be called the Son of God." What a birth, the birth of the Son of God with regard to his humanity, a Savior he's called. In Matthew's account of this, The angel said to Joseph, thou shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. This is what Christmas is about. This is what brought the angel to Bethlehem, to the shepherd's fields, to tell them of a Savior. One who would save souls from their sins, and the punishment of those sins would bring them down eventually to hell, where they would never have any reprieve or respite. But the Savior, the angel said, has come. He's a Savior to save them from their sins, to pardon them. to give them everlasting life through his atoning death on the cross that would take place about 33 years later. That's what Christmas is about. This is the purpose of the angelic visit to the shepherds, to tell them of a Savior, and the Savior's name was Jesus. A Savior, Christ. That word's terrible when it's taken in a blasphemy by people when they're acting it out in films or cursing and swearing. Do they know the terrible sin they're committing? The word Christ means Messiah, God's anointed one, God's chosen one, the one whom God would commission to be the Messiah of His people and the Savior of the world. And then He's Lord. That tells us that the Lord Jesus, the Savior, who is the Messiah, the Christ, is also the Lord of glory. The Lord Jesus Christ is God, as the Father is God, and as the Holy Spirit is God. What a message came that night to the shepherds and to us. That's the substance of it. Savior, Christ. Lord. But notice the evidence that it discloses. Notice the next verse, verse 12. And this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Now, it's not written here, and we can't speculate, but it may well have been that, though it's not recorded, not everything's recorded that happens, but the angel might have said, go to such and such a place in Bethlehem, Do you ever think of how, if the angel had not said that, how these shepherds were going to find… Now remember, it was crowded. There was the taxation. There was the census. Everybody had to be enrolled. There was no room in that inn. They had to go to Bethlehem. How could they find a place where a baby was born and lying in a manger? I think, and I'm only giving you what I think that the angel must have told him were in the city to go. But here's the evidence. When you do what I say and go there, you'll find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, in a stable, in a crib, something perhaps out of which the animals feed it. And that did not put those shepherds off either. They went as the narrative shows. And no doubt, again, I'm speculating, but no doubt in my mind, that they told Mary and Joseph of the visit from the angels. That's why we're here. And then Mary and Joseph, I'm equally sure, would have told them of the information that they got some months previous as well. But the point is, my dear friend, this was the purpose of the angelic visitation, to tell them that a Savior who is Christ the Lord was born in Bethlehem. And my dear friend, I want to tell you tonight again, this is what it's all about. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. The Lord Jesus said Himself that I'm not come to destroy men's lives, but to save men, to save them. He said on another occasion, He said, The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. He also said, The thief cometh not but for to kill and to destroy. I am come that ye might have life, and that ye might have it more abundantly. Does that not mean anything to you? The same message that was proclaimed around about 2,000 years ago, is proclaimed again today that a Savior Christ the Lord has come, has been born, he's gone to the cross at Calvary, he has died, he has risen again, he's gone to heaven, he's able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him. And if you tonight would turn from your sin and put your faith in him, he'll receive you. Is it going to be, in your case, as it was long ago, no room in the inn? Is your heart closed to the Savior? Is your life shut to Him? I would urge you, swing the heart's door widely open and bid Him enter while you may. there's one other thing about this angelic visitation, the place where it was located, Bethlehem, the city of David, the people by whom it was received, these shepherds doing their duty, their task as shepherds, and the purpose for which this visit occurred, to let them know and to let the world know that a Savior, Christ the Lord, had come you notice finally the praise with which this visit, this visitation concluded. Notice verse 13, 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 and goodwill toward men. And it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven. The visit was over. That event that night had come to a close as far as the revelatory aspect of it was concerned. But before that, angel come back. And when the glory of the Lord, the shekinah glory, appeared with him, that angel was joined by another crowd of angels. What a choir that rendered this praise, a multitude of the heavenly host, they were happy to be identified with the shepherds. They were happy to be identified with the birth of the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord, even though not one of them was chosen, but fallen humanity was chosen to receive the message. to receive the news of the intervention of God in the affairs of the world by sending the Savior. The angels were happy to identify with it. Not only the choir that rendered this praise, but notice the content of this praise. Notice again that fourteenth verse. Glory to God in the highest. That's always the case. The Lord must always have the glory. Our catechism asks and answers in the first question, what is man's chief end? And the answer is, man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. First of all, to glorify God. That's what the heavenly hosts are doing. Glory to God. In the highest, you can't go any higher than the highest. And God is often called in the Word, the Most High God. So these angels are extolling the Lord here, and there's a multitude of them. And notice, they appeared suddenly. You might say, out of the blue. It happened to be out of the lack of the night. But they came suddenly. That angel, enough caused fear in the hearts of the shepherds. But then the crescendo of praise, when the multitude of angels descended and began to extol God and glorify Him who is the Most High in the heavens. And then they turned their thought to the earth. Notice what we are told they said in verse 14. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. It's peace from God to man. It's the goodwill of God to earth. That's what this means in its primary meaning. You remember in Deuteronomy chapter 33 verse 16, we are told of the goodwill of him that dwelt in the bush. This is God's goodwill to fallen mankind in sending a Savior, desiring that they will lay down their arms of rebellion and trust this Messiah, this Savior, this Lord who has been sent, that they'll receive him into their hearts and lives. Oh, it all happened so suddenly. Suddenly, the multitude of the heavenly hosts brought their anthems of praise." That word suddenly is important, friend. He that being often reproved, the Bible says, and hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. I was preaching in Mulloch Glass Church last Sunday morning, and the folk there were telling me, that there was one of their beloved members, he was out at the prayer meeting on a Tuesday night, healthy, fit, a man of God, held in high esteem in the congregation, died in his sleep that night. It affected that church immensely. It happened suddenly. We read in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 3, of people in the world preceding the coming of Christ who will say, peace and safety, but not know that it's sudden destruction. You might have your plans made for this week. But remember this, the Bible says, boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Oh, there's a message for you tonight. A Savior has come. We've seen the suddenness of that angelic announcement and visitation. But death could come as suddenly. Would you be ready for it? Would you not turn from your sin tonight? Turn from your Christ-rejection and shut him out in life for so long? Whatever's left of your life, would you not hand it over to him and receive him as your Lord and Savior tonight?