It's good to be back among, I was going to say former friends and family, but I think most continue to be my friends. But it is good to be back in the land of the American Puritans. One of the continuing American Puritans is Brad Evans, and that's why I think he asked me, in typical Puritan fashion, if I could bring a 68-minute message. He may have said six to eight. But either way, I better get started in Luke chapter two. One angel came to bring a message to the shepherds. And having delivered his message to the shepherds, suddenly the veil of heaven, almost as it were, was torn and thousands of angels appeared and they sang. We read that in Luke chapter two, which is just 13 and 14, and suddenly there appeared with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. Why is it that bad news is so popular and good news is so rarely heard? Andy Rooney and his whole profession was accused of that once and he decided, well, what would you think of a newscast like this? Yesterday, thousands upon thousands of airplanes, they took off and they landed safely. And last night in Florida, there was another night of average weather and the oranges just hung there and grew normally. or in Detroit yesterday, General Motors announced that 174,000 Buicks would not be recalled because everything is working just fine. The angel and the angels behind him, they were giving the greatest news ever told. But it is difficult for many people to hear good news, perhaps even the incarnation Even though it is good news, it is difficult to hear. It is difficult to receive. It is difficult to understand because it is so domesticated. It has become common and familiar like a like a Hallmark card or a Precious Moments figurine or a Thomas Kinkade painting. We are acclimated to the message and we don't take the same joy, the same thrill perhaps in the message as the angels did. And why is that? Most people don't know how or how the good news applies to them. They don't take the news personally. Again, if the news were to say a plane went down in Arizona yesterday, you would receive that as news because it's bad news. But if your sister was on that plane, you would take a more personal interest in it. But how much more if you were on that plane? The incarnation, the message that the angels brought is meant to be personal. You are meant to be involved and you are meant to receive it with joy, even as the angels did. Well, because most people don't have, most people in our culture anyway, don't have a personal connection. They don't know how the message applies to them. They don't realize how badly they need a savior, how badly they needed God to come in the flesh and to do what he did. So because they can't understand the message of the incarnation, they sentimentalize the incarnation, or we commercialize it, because sentiments and commercial things we can understand. One theologian said this, the sober truth is that without full disclosure on sin, the gospel of grace becomes impertinent, unnecessary, and finally, uninteresting. Paul knew better. When he wrote in First Timothy, it is a trustworthy saying and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Paul knew that he needed this message, Paul knew that he was involved in this message, Paul knew that the message was for him, and so he embraced the message. But why did the angels sing? Why did the angels sing? They didn't need a Savior. Why did the angels sing? The unfallen angels sing. They didn't sing because they had a personal interest in the message. They weren't on the plane, as it were. But it was still news to them. It was still good news to them. But why did they sing? The fallen angels don't get a Savior. And the unfallen angels, they don't need a Savior. But still they sang, they sort of, it almost appears to be bursting forth in spontaneous praise, even though they weren't directly or immediately involved. But why did they sing? They sang because they could see something about the character of the God that they ceaselessly serve. They could see something of the love of the heart of their God. And that's why they sang. They learned something about the character of God. That doesn't sound very enticing, but If you know this God, it really is. They learned that God was faithful. That God was faithful to His Word, to His promise, to His people. The things that He said in the past, He was faithful to that Word. The seed of the woman was revealed. The seed of Abraham is now revealed. The branch of David is now revealed. The hope of the people of God from all ages past was found in this seed of the woman. And the seed of the woman was now finally revealed. And the angels, even though they are not directly involved in these things, we read in 1 Peter that they greatly desire to look into these things. They long to look at these things because they learned something about the character of their God. They also learned about God's secret plan to save lost mankind. Not just about the plan, but exactly how He would do it. He would send His own Son in the flesh to save lost mankind. God would become a man, the divine and the human natures would be combined. And after the incarnation, Christ was now qualified to win salvation for fallen man. And he was now not just qualified, but he was committed to it. And he was even beginning the work. The angels sang and they learned because they learned of the character of God, they learned of God's love and the depth of his commitment to lost mankind. God didn't send an angel to die for us. God sent his own son, the son that he loved to die for us. They also learned something more perhaps about the compassion of their God. My sister was at the veterinary with her cat and she was just waiting in line in the waiting area and next to her was a dog, an older dog that was trembling beside his master. And my sister tried to comfort the animal, the dog, the family that she had never met. And the owner of the dog leaned over to my sister and she said, well, I think he knows this is the last time he's coming to the vet. And my sister started to cry. She didn't know this dog and she didn't know this family, but why did she cry? She cried because she had compassion on another creature. Perhaps that's why the angels could sing because they were witnessing God having compassion upon lost mankind. I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. they saw demonstrated the compassion of the God that they ceaselessly served. That's why the angels sang. God is great and God is greatly to be praised. And so they sang his praise for the depth of his love and the depth of his compassion for lost mankind. But that's for the angels, the angels who weren't directly or immediately involved in this message. How much more ought we to get the message, to praise this God for what He has done, not just in general so we could learn about His character, but what He has done specifically for us. We ought to praise God even more, perhaps, than the angels did because Jesus, Emmanuel, He came for us. We are immediately involved in the message. His message, this good news, concerns us even more than the angels. There ought to be times when we sort of spontaneously burst out in praise when we understand the message. And we can cause the angels joy by repenting and embracing this truth. But God was showing us something of his character, and God is even using us, if I could use it that way, using us to display his character. We read in Ephesians chapter two, God raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. But why did he do that? So that in the ages to come, he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. So God is using us to bring glory to Himself. But how? He is using us to bring glory to Himself by showing to the ages to come His exceeding kindness, the riches of His grace in His kindness toward us. We are trophies of God's free grace. Perhaps we, as these trophies, these emblems of God's compassion, of His love, of His faithfulness, we are what cause the angels to sing. God has raised us up to display the exceeding riches of His grace, showing continually His kindness toward undeserving sinners. It really is all about grace, free grace. We are the testimony of God's undying love, or perhaps we could say His dying love. Both work. are the evidence of his power to raise dead sinners to new life in Christ. God is displaying the glories of his love in our salvation. That's why we ought to spontaneously burst forth in praise like the angels did over the message that the one angel brought. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. Therefore, dear people of God, praise him. You have greater reason to praise him than even the angels in heaven above. Amen. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for grace. We thank you for your son. We thank you for the message. We thank you, Lord, for using us for your glory. for displaying in the ages to come Your kindness. We thank You, Lord, for grace. We thank You for Your Son. We thank You, Lord, for Your faithfulness and for Your dying and for Your undying love for Your people. Therefore, Lord, we do ask that You would teach us to praise from the heart and even in song as the angels did. For we ask this in Jesus' name.