Let us read the familiar account from the Gospel according to Luke chapter 2, the first twenty verses. Luke chapter 2, the first twenty verses. And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. And all went to be taxed. everyone into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 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 laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 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 shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 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, goodwill toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherd said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart, and the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them. Amen. The text for this Christmas Day sermon you can find in the passage which we have read together from Luke chapter 2 and verse 10. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Here we have the first words of the Christmas tidings. The first words of the Christmas tidings. And what we hear in it is, first of all, a comforting message. Secondly, a Christian message. Thirdly, a cheering message. And fourthly, a communicated message. So a comforting message, first of all. A Christian message, secondly. A cheering message, thirdly. And a communicated message, fourthly. we may be gathered together to listen to the gospel of the birth of Christ. And then we get to listen to something very special, don't you think? For something very special happened on earth that night there in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago. Something that the world had never known before. The Son of God, born to Mary, laid in a manger. Something special happened on earth. But did you know that something special happened in heaven too? What do you think happened in heaven when the Lord Jesus was born? Do you think that there was rejoicing? Sure, I think there was rejoicing. After all, this is what the Father had planned from all eternity, to give His Son to be born for the salvation of sinners. And when he may look upon his son there in Bethlehem's stable, then he sees his image back for the first time since the fall of Adam and Eve. I'm sure there was rejoicing in heaven. But I mean something else happened in heaven. For one of the angels must bring the message of the birth of Christ to earth. One of the angels must tell citizens on earth, the Savior is born. For if the birth of Christ had taken place, but if it had never been published, if it had never been preached, what then? Luther puts it this way, if Christ had been born twenty times over, but it was not preached to us, then we would still be lost. So it must be published. But which angel will bring these tidings? Imagine for a moment the children at school for a special Christmas program. They've all been practicing songs, memorizing texts, and there the children come, that special Christmas time there at school. And none of the children know who the principal will pick to tell the Christmas story. All the children have learned it. All the children have memorized it. But no one knows who will be picked to tell those who have been gathered together the Christmas story. And then all of a sudden, The finger would be pointed at one of the children, you. It's your task. You have to tell the Christmas story. And what would you say, boys or girls? What would you say was the message of Christmas? Is not something like this, is this not what happened in heaven? There surrounding the throne of God were these holy angels waiting to do His bidding. And then the Father, with all reverence, He looks around and He fixes upon one angel and points His finger and says, You, You must bring the message of the birth of Christ. And what holy joy must the angel have felt that he may go and preach these tidings. To whom will he bring these tidings? May he decide that. What would you decide if you were to pick to whom you had to bring those tidings? Would we have gone to announce it to Rome? and there to Caesar Augustus and to his household there in the palace? Or maybe would we have gone to Jerusalem to the chief priests and the scribes? The angel, he may not decide. God decides. God decides everything. And God decides not only which angel must bring this message, but also to whom this angel must bring this message. To the shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem. To the shepherds in Bethlehem? Yes, to the people that are despised. For that's what shepherds were. They were despised people. Shepherds counted for little to nothing. They were put on the same level as thieves and publicans. They were not trusted. Oh, in the past they were. But at the time of the birth of the Lord Jesus, shepherds were despised people. In the courtroom, their testimony was not accepted. But that's not the only thing that we must say of these shepherds, for these shepherds were devout men. They knew the scriptures. They knew the promises of God. They knew that the Messiah was to come. And these shepherds had been awaiting people, waiting so long for his coming already, so that after the news is brought by the angel, they could wait no longer. But they went with haste to see the things that had been told unto them. Well, the shepherds are in the fields. Come, let's go and see them. I know it's dark. Maybe a fire is lit so that the shepherds can keep themselves warm. But the sheep are resting and they can sleep. And the shepherds are taking turns watching their flock. Maybe a few shepherds are talking with one another, but it is dark and quiet. Nothing is out of the ordinary until suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by them, and the shepherds see him. And they know that this angel has come from heaven. That is clear to them, for they see the glory of the Lord shining round about him. And they know God is present here in the fields of Bethlehem. And there is this visible manifestation of His majesty. The shepherds know what this is. The glory of the Lord shone round about them. For it was something that Moses saw when he met the Lord there on the Mount Sinai. It was something which Isaiah saw when he saw the Lord. And what Isaiah felt, these shepherds feel too. They feel their sinfulness over against the holiness of God. And they're afraid. And they think maybe now it's over. Must die. For who can stand in the presence of God and live? They're afraid. Sore afraid. Literally mega afraid. And these shepherds were not so easily afraid. They were used to danger. They had the task of keeping watch over their flock. They had encountered wild animals before. They had encountered robbers. And they had been out in the fields when storms would come across the fields. They were not so easily afraid. But now, the glory of the Lord shines round about them. They are sore afraid. You see, when heaven is opened, the man is afraid. What are you afraid of? Are you not afraid sometimes? Boys and girls, Maybe you're afraid of the dark. Maybe you're afraid to get sick. Or maybe fathers and mothers, you're afraid what will happen if the economy gets worse. Maybe afraid of getting a disease, an incurable disease. Afraid of dying, maybe. Have you ever become afraid of God? Have you ever been filled with alarm? There you sat maybe under the Word of God. Were you relying on your bet? And you were afraid because you're a sinner. That's something that the Lord has convinced you of. And you know He is holy, and you have to meet Him. Have you ever become afraid so that you have come to bow before the Lord, too, and say, Lord, Thou art holy, and Thou seest me? And it's as if the shepherds there in the fields of Ephrata, they feel x-rays. It's as if a spotlight of heaven is shining upon them, Everything is naked and open before Him with whom we have to do that they feel themselves undone. That's what the shepherds feel. But then the angel has a comforting message for them. Fear not. Do you see what this says of the Lord? For the angel who brings the message, he brings the message that the Lord in heaven would have him bring. And then the Lord has seen to it that he must also include these two words, fear not. Do you see what it says of the Lord? It says he is compassionate. He is tender. He is good and kind. In the words of one of our Psalters, the tender love a father has for all his children dear, such love the Lord bestows on them who worship Him in fear. Another Psalter, mindful of our human frailty, is the God in whom we trust. He whose years are everlasting. He remembers we are dust. Do you see what it says of the Lord? And do you see what it says of His people? It says of His people, they are a weak people. They are dust. They are fearful people. They are trembling people. Is that maybe how you sit here this morning? Your sins rise up against you. and you've been troubled, maybe lately, and you don't know how you can meet God. You cannot do without Him. You need Him, but you're afraid at times. God's people need to hear this. And the Lord has seen fit to let this be part of the Christmas message so that you can hear it also this Christmas Day. Fear not. It is a comforting message. Secondly, it is a Christian message. I bring you good tidings. And all those words that we have in the English, I bring you good tidings, that's all one word in the Greek. Literally, I evangelize. Let me use the Greek word for a moment. Euangelion. Euangelion. And you see, when a prince was born in the palace of an emperor in those days, then in those days they didn't have telephones, they didn't have radios or internet or televisions to tell all the news. There were only heralds sent out from the palace. And then those heralds went out throughout all the regions of the Roman Empire and they came to the regions and they announced, Euangelion! Euangelion! There's good news! A prince has been born! And that meant to the people who heard it, There's a new period being ushered in, and the people might wonder what now will become of this prince, and what kind of a ruler will he be, and what does the Lord have in store for us now under this prince? Well, here the angel comes, Evangelion! Good news! Here, glad tidings! What do you think actually would be the best news you could imagine? What would you say? The best news that you could hear these days, maybe someone says, the best news is if I would hear that the economic woes would be over. Mortgage crisis would be over, that there would be money in abundance. And that's what people seek after. That poverty would be ended. Still others, they want to hear that war is ended. And who doesn't want to hear war is ended? And that terrorism has been stopped and the terrorists have handed over their weapons and no one is going to walk into a marketplace with a bomb on his belt and blow himself up and the people there. An earthly peace is then what they want. But if there would be money in abundance for everyone and if war would cease Would all them be well? For then you can be rich, and then there may be no more war, but then you would still become sick. Ah, but then we would want the best possible medicines. Suppose we had the best possible medicines, and maybe we could postpone death as long as possible still you have to die still you have to meet God and you see that's the greatest problem because we are sinners man is unholy and God is holy in his being There's no imperfection in him. That holiness is felt there in the fields in Bethlehem. Man cannot stand in the presence of God. Man cannot go to heaven the way he is. He is not right with God. It's all wrong with him and it cannot go well with him unless there is a way of escape from his hopeless situation. unless there is a way of escape from the wrath to come. And if that way of escape is told him, that would be good news. If you knew how you could be delivered from eternal ruin and be restored to the favor of God, that would be hearing good news. Well, listen carefully then to the angel. Evangelion. There's good news. A prince is born. And then not just any prince. The Savior is born, he'll say in verse 11. The Savior who has been born to save from the greatest evil, sin, to bring a people unto the supreme good, communion with God. That's who has come. That's for what he would live. That's for what he would die. He would live the sinless life. He would die the substitutionary death. Someone says, but that is still not enough for me. I don't only need to hear, I don't only need Him to do something for me to live my life over again, to die for my sins. I need Him not only to do something for me, I need Him to do something in me. Because I need my heart changed. I need a new heart. I need faith. I need repentance. Without that, I cannot be saved. And I'm so old already. Or maybe I'm a young boy or a girl, but I have such a bad heart. And then I need someone to give me a new heart. But that belongs to the Good News. This is what the Lord is willing to do. This is what the Lord is able to do. That's why he was born, you see, so that we might be born again. He came to bear the wrath of God so that sinners might escape the wrath of God and be made right with God. And he is able to work faith there in our hearts. And if you've come to feel something of your lost condition, if you've come to see that you are a miserable wretch as long as you are without God, here is good news. And when you hear this from the lips of the angel brought today to your hearing from the lips of his servant, does that not give expectation? Does this not stir up hope within your heart? There's no other message that will do, will there? Every other message of every other religion will not do. Every other message says, to get in favor with God, it depends on you. And the Christian message says, to get in favor with God, it depends on Him. He is the Savior. He does it all. Shall you then not go on your knees and ask the Lord to do that all also in you? So it is secondly a Christian message, but thirdly it is also a cheering message. I bring you good tidings of great joy. You see, We lost so much in the fall into sin. We lost God. And because we lost God, one of the things we lost was joy. True joy. You never felt that? I miss true joy. Other than man still wants joy. It's true. He wants happiness. Boys and girls want happiness. When do we seek for it by nature? We don't seek for it in God. We seek for this happiness in the creature, or in the pleasures of the world, or in the fun that the world holds out before you, or in friends, or in possessions. That's where the prodigal son sought it, the parable that the Lord Jesus will tell us in Luke 15. When he was at home, the prodigal son, he didn't love his father. Oh, the father was so good to him, but he didn't love his father. The father had given rules to him, but he didn't care for those rules. His father was too strict in his mind, and he felt irritated by his father and by his father's rules. And so he began to seek for his happiness in the world, the ways of sin. And that's what many do. Then it can be that we don't run away with the prodigal son, but we stay close to home, like the elder brother. But the elder brother didn't have joy in the father either. There was no love to his father, though he stayed home. You see, it becomes clear when he tells to his father, here I've been serving you all these times, and you never gave me a kid so that I could celebrate with my friends. You see what he wanted? He wanted to celebrate with his friends. He didn't really care for his father. He didn't really want his father. That's man. But what misery and what sadness he feels, he may never say it. Even if he goes out, he seeks for all the pleasures in the world. Yet there is deep down misery. He may feel all he may be all alone. there on his bed at night and he feels miserable. Or he may be in a crowd of friends and he's not alone, but deep down he feels misery. He's without true happiness. Ah, and that's why Christ comes to be born in Bethlehem, to restore sinners to the favor of God. to restore to them, in the words of David in Psalm 51, to restore to them the joy of thy salvation. And so that message that the Lord gives is a cheering message. It's a gospel of great joy, or literally of mega joy. We have that word again. Mega joy to you! Is it always Received with joy? No, not always. There are many people who hear this gospel who still continue to seek for their happiness in the creature, who still continue to seek for their happiness without Christ. Think of the elder brother again, of the prodigal son. He didn't want to join into the gospel feast when the prodigal son returned home. His father pled with him. He still sought for happiness without his father. Is that how it is with you? Here you may be Christmas morning 2008, but you still seek your happiness without God. I shall you not take to heart then what the psalmist says, all they that wander far from thee shall perish in their misery. All they that wander far from thee, however far you go into the world, However far you go from God, however far you wander from Him, they shall perish in their misery. But for whom then is this gospel of great joy? To someone who has come to sorrow. Why? Why has he come to sorrow? Because he has seen that everything else doesn't give him peace. doesn't give him happiness, just like the prodigal son. You see, it's something of it. And who sees also that what you've done over against a good doing God and a holy God, and that brings distress, that brings pain in the heart. But then you may also hear of a savior, which is Christ the Lord. And when you may hear of a Savior who is able to save from the greatest misery unto the supreme good, and that brings joy to your heart, there comes wonder in your heart. There is a Savior! And the more that you hear of Him, the more you are convinced that He is perfectly suited to your case. and then you seek for salvation in Him. But when does the sinner then rejoice? Shall I put it this way? When the sinner has a glimpse of Him. Or shall I put it this way? When the Lord comes to commune with Him. Or shall I put it a third way? When the Savior comes with His tokens of love and of His favor. Shall I put it a fourth way? When He speaks to your soul, I am thy salvation. Do you know this joy? Where do you look for joy? Do you go on your knees? Do you seek for this joy in God? through the Lord Jesus Christ. Good tidings of great joy. You see, the angel, he does not say good tidings of joy, or good tidings of some joy, but good tidings of great joy. But that is not always experienced, is it? And then someone may say here, as far as I'm concerned, some of the most somber people are Christians. They're often the most discouraged and sad-hearted people that can be. Do you know why? It's because God's people Now, there are times when they may know the gracious presence of the Lord, and there are times when His Word brings them rich comfort. But when that comfort is taken away, when they're taken up with other things, when they're taken away from the Lord and they're taken up with the things of the world, then it's true they become sad and they become disappointed. But this is nonetheless what the Lord wants to give. Great joy! Is that not something to seek after? Will not the Lord Jesus Himself not say in John 16 verse 24, hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name? Ask, and ye shall receive that your joy might be full. The joy, it's true, that joy in God is interrupted Here below. And a Christian goes back on his knees when he sees he has lost his Lord and he's lost his Savior. He can't find Him. He goes on his knees to seek Him. And till he finds Him, there is no true joy. That joy is interrupted here below. But one day it will be a full joy. There joy shall then unbounded be who seek God's face eternally, their hearts desire receiving. Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy might be full. A cheering message, thirdly. And fourthly, a communicated message. For after all, that's what I've already said. The angel had to come from heaven to bring the message. The birth of the Lord Jesus Christ had to be announced, for as Luther said, if He had been born twenty times over, but it would never have been preached and published, we would all be lost. So the birth of Christ is announced. But it must not only be communicated to these shepherds there in the fields of Bethlehem, it must be communicated to all people, which shall be to all people And the shepherds hear up front that there are no people excluded from hearing this message. And they understand it very well when after they have seen what they have seen and gone to Bethlehem and seen the child there in the stable, that they make known the things that were told, the things that they had seen. They make it known. It's not something they keep to themselves. It must be spread. And then no one must be excluded from hearing it, not even the Jews in Bethlehem. even those who have no room for Him. The lost sheep of the house of Israel must hear it. But then not only the Jews must hear it, also the Gentiles need to hear it. After all, that's what the Lord promised. And He promised to Abram, in thee shall all the nations of the world be blessed. And Simeon, he foresaw it too, as we read later in this chapter, when he took the Lord Jesus in his arms. And he said, A light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. So to lighten the Gentiles and also the glory of Israel. Do you see here how this message foresees the gospel reaching Samaria and the Lord Jesus must pass through Samaria and he must meet the Samaritan woman. And when the Gospel must go into Philippi, and it must impact the Philippian jailer, it must impact Lydia, and it must go further, all throughout Asia Minor, and also into Rome, and into Spain, and reaching also the people of Holland, so that they could hear about it, and we could hear about it, and it must go into China, and it must go to South America, it must go to all people. And that means then that the despised of the world, They need to hear it, too. They're not excluded from hearing it. God does not pass them by. Prisoners in prison cells, the poor in far and distant places. In fact, the Lord sees to it that this message is first brought to the despised. The despised shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem. Do you think of that sometimes when you see someone walking down the street, and you can tell they don't know the Lord. Do you then think so highly of yourself? Or are you ever filled with compassion for this lost soul? Let you say, there's something you need to know. There's a Savior of sinners. Let you say, Come with me to church sometime. This message must be communicated. It must be heard. But is that enough? No. It is a great privilege to hear this message. If the shepherds, if we don't read anything else but that this message was communicated to them and they heard the angels singing there over the fields of Ephrata, and if that's all they heard, that would have been Great privilege. But that was not enough for the shepherds. And it is not enough for us just to hear the message of the birth of Christ. We need to do with this message just as the shepherds did with it. What did they do? Well, they listened, first of all. They received this Word from heaven. Ah, they listened attentively. They listened in faith. Let us do the same. Let us listen to the gospel in faith. Let us come to listen with a prayer on our lips, Lord, grant me faith to embrace also the message that we preach today. They listened. Secondly, they went. They urged one another. Let us now even go unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known to us. And they urged one another, shall we not do the same? Parents with their children, boys and girls, we must go to the Lord Jesus. We must kneel at Bethlehem's stable. We must worship Jesus. Let us go to Bethlehem. And the shepherds didn't delay. They didn't raise up excuses, objections. And they said, but the sheep, they went. And they went in faith. And thirdly, they saw. They came and found the babe lying in the manger. And when they looked at this child in the manger, then they looked with spiritual eyes. They looked in faith. And you know who they saw? The Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Shall we now do the same? enabled by the Holy Spirit, listen, come, and see. Come, then, with all your disappointments, with all your thoughts in this past year. I'd hoped that it would be so different. Come with the disappointments. Come with the discouragements. Come with all the sorrow that you have in your heart. Come with all your needs. Children, you can come, too. There's room in the stable. And you can look into the manger, too, if you look with spiritual eyes. There's room for boys and girls to stand and see, too. Look. Look closely. Look believingly. He is the Savior. He restores sinners to the favor of God. He is the joy giver. Glad tidings come as a fruit of His work. And for that to be the case, He had to experience so much sadness and sorrow and agony of heart and soul and body, even being forsaken of the Father. Oh, what grief that was to the Son. But He did it so that a people who would ask, ask that you might receive, that your joy might be full. And then I know the time comes that you have to leave. And you have to return to your daily tasks and to your life. And then nothing has changed in society. Nothing has maybe changed in your home. It's still the same home. Maybe still the same trials. Still the same burdens as before. And you're taken away. And then your joy can be interrupted. Ah, but as I said before, their joy shall then unbounded be who see God's face eternally. their heart's desire receiving, it shall come. Hope in the Lord for the sake of this child. Amen.