I invite you to take the Word of God this morning and turn with me to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2, I'll read verses 1 through 14. Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken for all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. She gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. In the same region, there were some shepherds staying out in the field and keeping watch over their flock by night. An angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be for all the people. For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be the sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest. and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased." I cannot escape the KJV from verse 14. Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth, goodwill toward men. Today is the Sunday before Christmas. Christmas being this Thursday. It's truly the greatest of the holidays that we celebrate. We celebrate Christmas and Easter and Thanksgiving, all of them of great spiritual benefit, but truly the greatest in terms of how it is celebrated in our culture is Christmas. It's characterized by family gatherings and Times in which we eat rich food together, characterized by the exchanging of gifts and memories of all the warmth and tradition of Christmas's past, which is okay. It's fine to have celebrations and festivals. It's fine to have these things that strengthen the family and times that we can gather together as the family. But the season has truly become very secularized. In fact, in our culture, all emphasis is given to the secular aspect of the holiday. There's the lights and the trees and red and green colors. You cannot escape the red and green traditional colors of Christmas. There's shopping and gifts and malls and, of course, good food. But it's also the time of the year in which we celebrate the birth of Christ. We're not commanded in scripture to set a day to celebrate the birth of Christ. But this is the time of the year that is dedicated to him. Christmas is from two words, one Greek meaning Christ, obviously, the other one Latin referring to worship. And so it's truly a time in which we worship Christ. It's a time in which we can gather together to celebrate the wondrous incarnation of our Lord. So this morning, I want to leave the secular aspect of the holiday behind and consider for a moment this passage in Luke chapter 2, pondering the marvel of the birth of our Savior, truly the greatest story ever told It is the marvel that God would take upon himself flesh and blood and become a man. It demonstrates that even in our thoroughly secularized culture that this is a story that's known of all. We all know that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ and It demonstrates our Christian heritage more than any other. We're not celebrating the birth of Mohammed. We're celebrating the birth of Christ. And we're singing Christmas hymns. And a lot of these hymns have become traditional favorites. And they point to the birth of Christ. But while it's the best known of stories, it's also one that is the least understood. It seems there's great confusion in every aspect of the Christmas story. Few understand that this Christ came according to God's perfect plan of redemption to accomplish something for his people. Luke 1, 68, blessed be the God of Israel for he has visited us and accomplished redemption for his people. Or Matthew 1.21, And she shall bear a son, ye shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who will save his people from their sins. Few people understand that this baby in a manger came in accordance with the foreordained plan of God to redeem his elect people from their sins. If you understand that this Christ child, this one laying in a manger, was none other than the living God. He became man, but he did not set aside his deity. He was the perfect God-man. So that this infant laying in the manger was the creator of the world. And this child was the sovereign king of the universe. And even with his arrival to earth in the lowest of conditions, There were still marks of his majesty and glory as his arrival is announced. If you look at verse nine in the text that I read this morning. And the angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were terribly frightened. This was not just a mere human child. He was the perfect God-man, the eternal Son of God, who came to accomplish the will of the Father. Few people understand that as they hear the Christmas story. And there's another part of this passage that is misunderstood. This morning I want to prayerfully set before your attention verse 10 of the passage. that the angel said to them do not be afraid for behold I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people the verse tells us that the angel announced good news of great joy for all people so the question we have to ask ourselves is what is this joy that we say so much about in the Christmas season. Joy has really become a word that's tossed around freely during this season. We sing joy to the world. We receive Christmas cards with joy and peace blazing across the front. Joy is a word. You even get Christmas ornaments with joy written on them. It's a word that goes along with Christmas, but for most people, the season will come and go without experiencing the very nature of true joy. What is this joy that we associate with Christmas? Well, it is great joy and it's inseparably connected to the good news. Verse 10 again, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people. The phrase, I bring you good news, is from one word, euangelizum. Those that understand the Greek language know that word very well. Euangelizum. It literally means, I bring good news. I bring the gospel. I preach the gospel. Sometimes in the New Testament, it's actually translated preach. It means to bring glad tidings. It is this joy that we're speaking about is inseparably tied to the gospel. Cannot separate it. And verse 11 further explains this good news of great joy. For today in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. So it's good news and it's great joy and it involves the Savior. In the new members class this morning, remember our new members class right now is occupied by two young men, one of whom is 10 years old and the other one is 12 years old and At the very beginning of the class, I asked them the question, so let me ask you again, what is the gospel? That's something that every Christian should have a firm handle on. If you're a Christian, I should be able to come to any one of you and ask you, well tell me, what is the gospel? And you should be able to spout it out without really thinking. The gospel, you're saved by believing the gospel. What is the gospel? What is this good news that is so intimately connected or this joy that's so intimately connected to the gospel? Well, what is then this good news, this joy that we celebrate on Christmas? Well, I bring this sermon In the midst of a series of sermons that I've been preaching on Sunday mornings from Ephesians chapter four, we've been looking at the wonderful unity shared by the church of Christ. Ephesians four, beginning with verse three, Paul says, being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. And then he goes on using the word one. There is one body, one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. This word one describes the very uniqueness of our union. One body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. In the midst of this Christmas season, I want to add one more element that unites us together as Christians. One joy. That's the title of the sermon this morning. One joy that we share together as the body of Christ. So, joy. What is it? Well, it's one of those One of those words that's difficult to define. As soon as you begin to reflect upon feelings that affect the soul, it becomes very difficult to define them. Sometimes we try to define them using an antonym, the opposite. So we say, well, love, which is another word that's difficult to define. Love is the opposite of hate. Well, yes, but what is love? And we say, and peace. Well, peace. Well, peace is the absence of war. Fine, I agree. But what is peace? And joy. Well, joy. Oh, that's the opposite of sorrow. Well, yes. But what is joy? Joy is a true joy. It's that which fills our hearts with contentment. It fills our hearts with a sense of fulfillment, fills us with all manner of satisfaction and delight. It is happiness in its greatest expression. These are merely words to describe the dictionary definition of joy. But only the Christian, just as with love and with peace and with joy, Only the Christian truly has a comprehension of these things. They are wonderful expressions of the Spirit of God dwelling in us. In Galatians chapter 5, Paul tells us the fruits of the Spirit. In other words, what is the evidence of the Spirit of God dwelling in you? And he says, well, the fruit of the Spirit is love. So here's this word that it is the opposite of hate. But in terms of the Christian, it is a word that truly only the Christian has a full understanding of it and still Paul says in Ephesians chapter 3 that it's beyond knowledge. It's beyond our ability to fully comprehend. We speak of peace and peace is that which Paul says in Philippians is it passes all understanding. It's beyond our ability to comprehend fully. And such is the nature of all of these fruits of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, beyond knowledge. Joy, truly beyond our ability to fully comprehend it and explain it. Yet, we who are Christians experience it continually. Peace, the same thing. Patience or long-suffering. Gentleness, goodness, faith, neatness and temperance. All these things are beyond the ability to fully explain, but yet they are a part of the experience of the Christian life. And so the Christian understands these elements. They are beyond comprehension. They are really beyond and outside the realm of anything that elicits them. And so we love, apart from anything that draws us to love so we can love our enemies and the same thing with peace and the same thing with joy and he even mentions faith while that's true that love for the Christian exists completely outside the realm of circumstance so that you can love outside the realm of whether or not the person is lovely you may have a mate that you've been married to for thirty years and you're having a very rocky time. But Christians, on the other hand, can love in spite of differences, in spite of the weaknesses of the other person, in spite of the sinfulness of the other person. That's the nature of love. And joy, also, is that which exists within us apart from external circumstances. So then, I often use as the example, Paul and Silas in jail at midnight, suffering under being beaten and singing for the glory of God, singing hymns at midnight with joy. Although they were not in a joyous situation. That said, there is an object in all of these. So that for, you know, we have faith. And faith is that which is unseen. Hebrews says, well, we know that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And so our faith is not built upon that which we can feel and touch. We haven't seen Christ, yet we love Him. But on the other hand, our faith is not merely credulity. It's not merely that which does not have substance. Our faith has substance, and it is fixed upon the person of Christ. And our peace is not without substance. It is fixed upon the person of Christ. And our joy is not without substance. It is fixed upon the person of Christ. It is apart from worldly conditions and worldly situations so that a person in the hospital bed suffering greatly without any expectation of being healed can still smile with joy at the nurses when they come in because our joy is not fixed upon whether we're healthy or whether we're wealthy or other external circumstances. It is fixed upon Christ. And so for the Christian, joy is a wonderful work of God within us, fixed upon the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, this inner work of the Holy Spirit, so that the Christian can experience true joy. For us, we have found the source of true delight. So we find here in verse 10, that Luke gives us this expression, this phrase, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people. It speaks of universal joy to all people. So this morning, I want to look further at this joy that's universal for Christians. But there's a sense in which is universal to all men. Again, verse 10 says, the angel says, Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people. In what way is it joyful for all people that Christ has been born? Well, we can't take it in an absolute sense. Because we truly understand that for most people, the birth of Christ is not an event worth celebrating. For most people, they find no joy in Christ. In fact, the object of their delight, for the Christian, the object of our delight and the object of our joy is Christ. For the lost person, the object of delight is not Christ. The object of delight is fixed and founded upon this world. The things of this world, the desires of the flesh, the pleasures of life, the hope and expectation of something I can do greater tomorrow, but it's not fixed upon Christ. John 1, 4, In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Christ is far from the sight and hearts of lost people. John 3.19 This is the judgment that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light for their deeds were evil. The Apostle Paul speaks of a promise of a reward for all who love the appearing of Christ. 2 Timothy 4.8 Paul says In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day, but not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing." Or for the lost person, they're not rejoicing in the birth of Christ. In fact, they despised it. They would rather it not be so. Because Christ is the judge. They stand guilty, and they know they're guilty. Christ stands forth as the judge, and they despise Him! Remove Him from our midst! They don't mind thinking about a baby in a manger. Babies are non-threatening. But the King of Kings coming with flaming fire, bringing justice upon all of humanity, a flaming sword, which is the Word of God, the Law, being pressed upon every human being, and they will all be standing before Him to give account. The Bible tells us, and every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. For most, they are exactly as those that stood with Pontius Pilate, When he says in Mark 15, Pilate said to them, What then shall I do with him whom you call the king of the Jews? And they shouted back, Crucify him! Pilate said, Why? What evil has he done? But they shouted all the more, Crucify him! Get him out of the way! The reason people will not receive the gospel, do not want to contemplate it, do not want to consider the issues of their own soul, is because they stand condemned and they do not want Christ. They do not want to bow before Him. And so in their heart it is, away with Him! Remove Him! I find no joy in Him. I find nothing of delight in Him and surely He is not worthy of my life. So, the angel says, I bring you good news of great joy. I bring you the gospel. I bring you the Euangelism. I bring you good news of great joy. Well, if this is good news, then why is it that all men do not embrace it? Because the angel says, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people. Why then do not all people embrace Christ? This gospel, good news. Why not? Because Christ will only be good news of great joy to those who feel their need of Him. And most people do not feel their need of Him. Revelation 22, verse 17. The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. That's the charge of the gospel. Come! It goes forth to all men. Come! The Spirit and the Bride say, Come! Let the one who hears say, Come! Let the one who is thirsty, Come! Let the one who wishes to take water of life without cost. So here's the Gospel. It is offered freely to all. The water of life without cost. Come! But you've got to be thirsty. A person well satisfied who's been drinking water all day doesn't have a sense in which more water is his delight. The person who's been in the desert and has gone a whole day without anything to drink, that water is a source of delight. The gospel says, come to those who are thirsty. The reason that the gospel is not great joy to most people is they are not thirsty. For those who die without Christ, they will stand before Him without joy. There will be nothing but mourning and weeping and gnashing of teeth. So when we say the gospel or the coming of Christ is great joy universally to all men We cannot say it in an absolute sense. However, there is a sense in which we can say it regarding all men. There is a sense in which the birth of Christ should be a source of joy for all men. Because even the lost man should understand that the advent of Christ is the very source of God's mercy upon all men. We are living in an age of mercy that is only possible because Christ was born. When Adam sinned, God could have destroyed all flesh. He could have justly destroyed all flesh, but instead of instant death, God made a covering for Adam as a token and foreshadow of his atoning mercy in Christ. The birth of Christ is testimony to God's mercy upon all of humanity. We are living in an age of mercy, a temporary reprieve from death. The sad thing is most people say, that's okay, I don't want it. Temporary reprieve, that's okay, I'll just continue to hate God. God's wrath could have at once commenced. He could have deprived creation of every blessing, every comfort, and every pleasure. But we're living in an age of mercy. In the days of Noah, the same thing. We read in Genesis 6, the Lord was sorry he had made man on the earth, and he was grieved in his heart. The Lord said, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things to birds of the sky for I am sorry that I have made them. But then verse 8 of Genesis 6 says, But Noah found favor in the eyes of God. Noah found grace because of the redemptive purpose of God in Christ Jesus. The fact that all men today are not in hell is because of God's redemptive grace in Christ Jesus. It is a temporary reprieve. It is a time of mercy. It is temporary. The mercy will not endure. But it is in this life that God has given mercy, a temporary grace. But not only are we living in an age of mercy, we're also living in an age where God displays His glory through His goodness. And that too is through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, His first advent. God richly provides for both the wicked and the righteous. Matthew 5.45, He causes the sun, He causes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good. Sins reign on the righteous and the unrighteous. Or Psalm 145.15, The eyes of all look to you. And you give them their food in due time. You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. God preserves the earth because of His goodness. And it's only because of His redemptive purpose in Christ. So that He not only gives us food to enable us to exist, but He gives us food that is tantalizing to our palate. so that we're not eating the same bland food from the same tree every day, every day. But my goodness, if your house is like my house during the Christmas time, it's amazing what ladies can do with a few ingredients. When we have our feast upstairs in a few moments, our Thanksgiving or our Christmas banquet, The things that ladies can put together with some flour and some lard. I don't guess they really want to call it lard. Some shortening, sugar, and a few other wonderful ingredients. And oh my goodness, God is a good God. Gives us good things to eat. It gives us wonderful things, aromas to smell. Our five senses are nothing more than receptacles or the means of receiving the goodness of God. So we're able to touch and we're able to taste and we're able to smell the aromas that God has provided, the flowers in the field and the aromas that rise up when good food is prepared. things to feast our eyes upon, beauties that are breathtaking, beautiful sunrise. When I was at the ARCA-GA this past April, early in the morning I was at the Phoenix airport preparing to catch the flight, and through the window was one of the most stunning sunrises I've ever seen. I pulled my phone out and started snapping some pictures. It was stunning. Ask me and I'll show it to you. But I glanced around and most people were sitting there. Oh hum, so what? God's displaying his glory before us. People unstirred. Well, God has given us all these things. The gift of hearing, to be able to hear the sounds of birds chirping in the early dawn. Wonderful things that God has provided all from his goodness And all because God was pleased to send forth His Son to redeem His people from their sins. And while we are living in this age of mercy, He continues to bestow His goodness. Should that not be cause for all men to rise up on Christmas morn and say, Oh God, how wonderful You are in displaying Your goodness to the children of men. Indeed, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all people." Well, truly, all people should rejoice in the birth of Christ. And the greatest rejoicing should be because of the Gospel. It's glad tidings. Because God could have left us in our sin. He sent forth Christ. And I know that there are people in here right now who have never received Christ as their Savior. And this good tidings of great joy is set before you and it is good news. It is offered to all, the wonders of John 3.16. For God so loved the world I know sometimes as Calvinists we really get twisted out of shape because of that word, world. I say, well it can't mean the whole world, can it? I think it can. God so loved the world, all human beings. He loved His creation. and he loved his creation to the extent the gospel goes forth to all. It's not just, we're not hyper-Calvinist that says, you know, the gospel just goes forth to their legs. You don't need to bring the gospel to anyone else. No, we bring the gospel to all men. And all who repent and turn from their sins will be saved. There's great rejoicing in the reality of the universal offer of grace to all men through the gospel. But the joy of verse 10 is really a particular joy. And that's why I titled this morning's sermon, One Joy. Because it's truly only the Christian that understands true love. Only the Christian has the capacity. Only the Christian knows peace. Only the Christian. Only we know what it means to have this inner tranquility, knowing that we are right with God and right with our fellow man. That's peace for us, and you cannot understand it outside of Christ. You cannot. The best you can do is say, well, peace is not being in conflict. With them, it's the John Lennon understanding of Christmas. How's it go? And I'm drawing a blank. And not any fear. I think, how's that go? Well, you don't need to hear John Lennon's account of Christmas. But for him, peace is nothing but the absence of war. No fear. And well, no. Peace is far more than that. And joy. Joy is that which the Christian understands. It's rich and full and fixed upon an object. And that object is an object of delight. And we rejoice in our greatest delight. And for us, it is Christ. So, how is it then that the Christian shares uniquely in this joy that only Christians can appreciate. So what is this unique joy that we have? Well, first of all, we have joy because Christ has come for us particularly. We find great joy in Christmas. I hope in the hustle and bustle of the season you can stop for a moment to consider Christ has come for us. Matthew 1.21 again, She shall bear a son, ye shall call his name Jesus, which means Savior, for he will save, he will save his people from their sins. That's joyful for us. We are the beloved bride of Christ. He has loved us from all eternity. And He has come to redeem us. I love the Ephesians 5 passage. I'm looking forward to preaching it in a few weeks or a few months. Ephesians 5.25, the charge is given to husbands. It says, Husbands, love your wives. And then our attention is turned to Christ, our Bridegroom. So if you want to know what a husband should look like, look to the Bridegroom. But just as Christ also loved the church, a particular love for us. He loved the church and gave himself up for her, so that he might sanctify her and cleanse her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that she should be holy and blameless. Picture these wretched ones, the bride of Christ covered in filth and shame, in all manner of abomination. And here she is, polluted in sin, filthy, and he comes for her, she is his bride, he comes and lifts her up out of the mire. cleanses her and washes her with His own blood, and raises her up, so that in that day He might receive us unto Himself, bring us to the joyous wedding feast. We are the virgins awaiting the coming of the bridegroom, and we are remaining faithful, looking to Him. That should bring us great joy. Second of all, because we have tasted of the heavenly gift, We are the partakers of Christ. We have found the treasure that exceeds all treasures. The people of this world, they cannot see it. So for them, the treasure is a new car, a new house, new clothes, a new trip, new this, experience this, new job, promotion, a raise. And these are the things they strive for. It's the objects of their delight. You can always tell what the object of someone's delight is. You can see it in how they worship. You can see it in how they direct the priorities of their life. But for us, well, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls. And upon finding the one pearl of great value, He wouldn't have sold all that he had and bought it. That's joy. The object of delight in which we find nothing else brings the same joy that we find now in Christ. There's a new hymn by Keith and Kristen Getty. It's going to be in our supplement. We'll have to learn it. Perhaps some of you have already discovered it. It's titled, My Worth is Not in What I Own. And in the refrain, I rejoice in my Redeemer, greatest treasure, wellspring of my soul. I will trust in Him, no other. My soul is satisfied in Him alone. Is that your heart? I will rejoice in my Redeemer. He is my greatest treasure. My soul rests on Him alone. Do you find great joy? He has come and He's come for me and I have a relationship with Him. We have fallen in love. It's one reason I enjoy reading Song of Solomon. Now Song of Solomon, it's a love story and I don't think it's a prophecy and I don't think it's necessarily meant to be taken as an allegory of Christ and the church. But we can surely see the nature of true love. It should be the nature of you and your wife and you and your husband. It should be the nature of our relationship with Christ and Him with us. Song of Solomon 510. My beloved is wide and ruddy, chiefest among ten thousand. Can you say that about your spouse, your husband or your wife? The chiefest of ten thousand. If she or he is the chiefest of 10,000, you won't have roaming thoughts and roving eyes seeking someone else to bring you pleasure because you have found the chiefest. Is that the nature of your relationship with Christ? You won't find yourself seeking in an adulterous eye to look to some other source of delight because after all, He's the chiefest of 10,000. Yea, verse 16 of Song of Solomon 5. He is altogether lovely. This is my beloved and this is my friend. Or 1 Peter 1.8. And though you have not seen him, you love him. And though you do not see him now, but believe in him, you greatly rejoice with joy. Inexpressible and full of glory. That's the joy that we know because it's fixed upon the object of Christ. Christianity is a relationship. We are in a living relationship with the living Christ. It's about a relationship with a person, an object of delight. Have you found him as the object of delight? And does it fill your heart with joy? I know that this world is filled with sorrow, disappointments, difficulties, Sometimes when we get caught up in the difficulty and in the responsibilities and in all the things that garner our attention in this world, we can be distracted from our chief joy. But He really is the object of our delight. And we can rejoice in the birth of Christ. Thirdly, because our sins have been forgiven, our sin is our greatest sorrow. It's mine. and it's yours I am continually disgusted at myself all the time our sin is our greatest sorrow but isn't it wonderful that in Christ our sins have been forgiven we will never ever know condemnation Romans 8.1 there is now for no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So though we weep at our sin because it's displeasing to our Lord, whom we love and He's the object of our delight, and we're brought to great sorrow when we disappoint Him, we know we will never ever experience His condemnation. We will never know His anger. Never experience His wrath. Romans 5.11 We also exult. It's an unusual word. Exult. ESV translates it rejoice. King James translates it joy. We also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we now have received reconciliation. It's a great source of joy. Reconciliation. Fourthly, because we have the privilege of adoption. We are able to look to the God of glory, the infinite, eternal God and call him Father. Can you imagine such a thing? That we can look to the Creator and say, Father, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. We understand he's holy, but the fact that this transcendent God allows us to come before him and he says, my beloved child, welcome. And the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. brings us unspeakable joy knowing that we are a part of a family like no other. That we are surrounded by brothers and sisters who also love the Lord Jesus Christ and we will spend eternity as a family together before Christ. Joy that brings. Fifth, we find great joy in His providential care. Paul reminds us in Romans 8, he says, for we know that. We know it. It's an experience for us. We know that. All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. He's working out his providence for us, for the ongoing work of conforming us to Christ. And then finally, and I suppose we could go on and on, but finally we rejoice in his return. Paul again, speaking of that crown of righteousness, and it's in the context of him saying, you know, I've fought a good fight, he says, I've finished the race, or I've finished the course, I've kept the faith. He says, henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, but not unto me only, but to all who have loved his appearing. That's a two-sided edge, or a two-sided corn. One is birth. How many people in this world rejoice in the birth of Christ, which is what we're talking about this morning. But there's another appearing of Christ. It's yet to come. And we are looking with expectation and with joy. We should go to bed at night and at times say, wait a minute, do I hear the trumpet? Because we know that the Lord shall descend with a shout and the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God. I don't know what it will be like. I know it's going to be loud, boisterous. You know, the voice of the archangel. It's like the voice coming here saying, I bring you glad tidings. This voice will sound forth. The trumpet of God. It's like the shofar. You know, I can't even imagine the sound. But you ever, you go, hark, do I hear the sound of the trumpet? As we live in continual expectation of the return of our Savior. And does it bring you fear and trembling to go hide under a rock? Or does it bring you joy that the bridegroom is coming to receive his bride to himself? All of our joy is in Christ. Who can leave Christ out of Christmas, because He is Christmas. And we have found the highest gift, the greatest treasure. We no longer find our chief joy in the things of the earth. We stand along Israel as we are the ultimate fulfillment of Israel. And Isaiah 51, 11 says, So the ransomed of the Lord will return. and come with joyful shouting to Zion. And everlasting joy will be on their heads. And they will obtain gladness and joy. And sorrow and sighing will flee away. May God fill us with joy unspeakable as we ponder the birth of His Son. Or may the words be continually on our heart. Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her King. joy to the world indeed. May that joy be upon our hearts as we fix our joy upon the object of our delight, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, indeed as we contemplate the joy of Christmas, indeed our joy is fixed upon our treasure, the wellspring of our joy, the wellspring of our delight, the one before whom we look and find the source of all things. We thank you, Father, for the privilege and pleasure of Christ Jesus our Lord, the peace and comfort of knowing that our sins are no longer held against us. He has redeemed us to the utmost, and we are awaiting the return of our Savior. Father, help us to live each day with joy unspeakable, Indeed, he has come that our joy may be made full. So we rejoice in him, Father. We thank you for your goodness, for you indeed so loved the world that you gave your only begotten Son. Now, Father, as we contemplate this feast that we're about to partake of, a banquet, it is testimony to your mercy. a testimony to your goodness as you display your glory before us. So we receive it with thanksgiving. We thank you for the wonderful savers that you set before us in this world. Not the sole object of our delight for this is in Christ alone. Father, we thank you that you give us other delights upon this earth, joys to experience because you're a good God. Father, we pray that you bless our time together. Bless the food to our nourishment. In Jesus' name we pray.