abortion. Holy Scripture is clear, the church is called to stand up for the poor and speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. And who are poorer or muter than pre-born children? In Divine Heartbeat, listening to God's heartbeat for pre-born children, Pastor Timothy Phan delivers a prophetic call to the contemporary evangelical church to awaken from its apathetic slumber toward the cause of pre-born children. You can get your copy of this clarion call to care for the least of these at www.divineheartbeat.com. That's www.divineheartbeat.com. Our Father in heaven, you are great and you are greatly to be praised, Lord. The angels in the highest heavens praise your name. And all the creation is here to praise you, Father. The stars and the sun and the moon, the oceans and everything that fills the oceans, the dry land and all the things you've created, all the animals in the dry land. the birds of the air, the fish of the sea. It's all for you, Lord. It's all for your praise. And you created us in your image to worship you, to exalt your holy name, to tremble before you and fear you and proclaim your greatness. And Father, you have raised up a horn for your people Israel. You have raised up the Messiah, your Son, Jesus Christ. And by Him, your people come to praise you, to worship you. And Father, we thank you for the meekness and the lowliness of the manger. That even from birth, your Son, who was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, In His meekness, He was glorious. And we pray that You'd grant us that kind of humility, that Your Holy Spirit would give us that kind of humility. Lord, I thank You for every precious person in this room, from the smallest and the youngest to the oldest. I pray that you'd bless each one of them as we open your word together. In Jesus' name, amen. These are very familiar words, Luke chapter 2 verses 8 through 12. This is the word of the Lord. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, guarding. You could say keeping watch over or guarding their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Let's follow the reading of God's holy word. We've been searching the Bible for the shepherds of Christmas, so we'll end with the shepherds of Christmas. God is the shepherd of Israel. which means biblically that God is the guardian of Israel. For shepherds in the Bible are guardians. They guard the sheep. That's what it means to be a shepherd. So Luke 2.8 says, now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, guarding, keeping watch over or guarding their flock by night. So that's what it means to be a shepherd is a guardian. And again, God is Israel's shepherd, and therefore God is Israel's guardian. Jeremiah 31.10, Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He who scattered Israel will gather him and guard him as a shepherd does his flock. So, there it is, shepherds are guardians, and God is the shepherd over Israel, so God is the guardian over Israel. God never sleeps. He neither sleeps nor slumbers. So God can guard His people all the time, day and night. He's always guarding. And so, concerning those who are truly His sheep, the ones who are His true sheep, He's able to guard them. God can guard his sheep and keep them from stumbling and present them spotless and blameless before his throne with great joy. So that's God as the shepherd. He's the guardian. And God as the shepherd guards his little flock called the church. He guards his sheep with a zealous guardianship. There are foxes that are bloodthirsty for little lambs. And there are indeed stealthy mountain lions and slinky wolves that lurk about near the flock. There are dangers around the flock. But God is the good shepherd, and so God guards the flock. He protects the flock. He protects His sheep, and He keeps them warm and safe and well-fed within the fold, within the sheep pen. But God is also appointed under-shepherds. So God's the guardian, the shepherd over his flock, but he has appointed under-shepherds. And in the Bible we call these under-shepherds pastors, and they work underneath, under the authority of the guardian of the sheep, and they are therefore under-guardians. So the under-shepherds are under-guardians of the flock. They guard the flock under the authority of God. And they, the under shepherds, the pastors, are to protect the flock from danger. They are to keep the flock from the bullies of the flock. Ezekiel calls these, he calls them the bullies. Matthew calls them the goats. These are the sheep who are not true sheep. And they hurt the flock. They muddy the waters that the sheep are trying to drink out of. They go into the waters and get them all muddied up with their feet. And they trample down upon the pasture lands that the sheep are trying to feed on. And they bully the flock and they hurt the flock and they even kill some of the flock. And so there are goats mixed in with the sheep. And therefore God's faithful under shepherds, his pastors, have their work cut out for them in trying to protect the flock Be guardians of the flock they have a lot of hard work to do so this is hard work, but it's good work a shepherd This is the work of the shepherd a shepherd holds a little lamb in his arms This is the joy of the shepherd he feels the little lamb cuddling up into his bosom The shepherd holding the little lamb develops an affection for the lamb. And therefore, because he loves the little lamb, he commits himself to be the guardian of that little lamb. It's hard work, but that's the joy of the shepherd. And that's what God does. God loves his little lambs, and therefore he commits himself to guard the little lambs. He's the guardian. So why are there shepherds present at the manger scene in Bethlehem at Christmas time? Well, the shepherds are there because they represent the guardians of Israel. The shepherds are guardians. They are guardians over their flocks, to be sure. I mean, they have sheep and they guard them, but they're guardians over much more than just the flocks. They guard more than just the sheep. Luke 2, 11 through 15. For there is born to you, this is the angel preaching the gospel to the shepherds. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you, you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, probably in song, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. So it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds said to one another, let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass which the Lord has made known to us. The angels preach the gospel to the shepherds, and the shepherds understand the message. The reason why they understand the message is because they're the guardians of the doctrine of Israel, and they understand this. They are guardians. The shepherds are hard-working, middle-class shepherds. They're shepherds, but they're no country bumpkins. They understand the scriptures. The scriptures and the gospel come to the shepherds because the shepherds know the scriptures. And so they immediately respond to it. So for example, you could ask the question, how did the shepherds know to go to Bethlehem? How did they know to go there? Because the angel, when the angel preaches the gospel to them, the angel says, in the city of David, a savior is born. And is it not true that in the Old Testament, Mostly when the Old Testament talks about the city of David, the Old Testament talks about Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the city of David. How did the shepherds know to go to Bethlehem? Well, the shepherds knew to go to Bethlehem and not to Jerusalem because the shepherds know the Bible. They love the Bible, they know it, and they're guardians of it, and so they know to go to Bethlehem. They know the prophecy of Micah 5 too, but you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. The shepherds know that by heart. They don't have to search for it, they just know it. So when the angel says, in the city of David, the Savior has been born, they know to go right to Bethlehem. because they know the Scriptures. In the same way, when the angel preaches the gospel to the shepherds, and the angel says in Luke 2 12, and this will be the sign to you, that there's a biblical sign, here's the sign out of Scripture, this will be a sign to you. You will find a babe There's the sign, the biblical sign. You'll find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger. The shepherds know immediately what the angel is talking about. They're not confused. This is not an enigma or a puzzle for them. This is not this big mystery. Who is this babe whom even the angels are worshiping? The shepherds are not perplexed by this sign. They know immediately what the angels are talking about. When the angels say, this will be a sign to you, you will find a babe. The shepherds are the guardians of the doctrine of Israel because they know their Bible so well. They know that the sign is the sign, the great sign from the prophet Isaiah. They know this is Isaiah 7, 14. Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. This is the sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son. That's the babe that the angels were talking about and shall call his name Emmanuel. That's why the angels were worshiping him. So who are these shepherds? Are they merely guardians of sheep? Are they not much more the guardians of Holy Scripture? Has not God appointed these shepherds, these working class shepherds, to be the guardians of His Holy Word? This is the mystery. Luke 2.17, God gives the gospel not to the scribes and the scholars, but to the shepherds. God entrusts his holy word to the protection of shepherds. Luke 2.17, now when the shepherds had seen him, so now they go and see the sign and the babe, they made widely known the saying, the word. That's the word of God. The gospel preached to them, the saying which was told them concerning this child. So the angel had preached the saying to them, the word, the scripture, the gospel, and God had entrusted it to them. Again, he didn't give it to the PhDs. He did not give it to the professors. And God entrusted the shepherds with the Scripture, with the Gospel and the announcement of the Gospel. And they're the first ones to go out and announce the Gospel that's been entrusted to them. So as shepherds, they guard their sheep. Yet as humble shepherds, as Christian shepherds, God has chosen them to guard His Word. concerning his divine child. So he's taken these men who now know how to guard the flock and guard the sheep, and he said, I want you to be the ones who will guard the word, the gospel, the scriptures. They are the first ones entrusted with the great word about the incarnation of the Son of God, at least in terms of announcing the birth. So shepherds are not only guardians of the flock, they're also guardians of the scriptures. These shepherds, these humble, nobody shepherds have been chosen by God to guard his holy word, to guard his scriptures. And in Deuteronomy 6, one through two, which Tim read so well this morning, the scriptures are to be guarded. God commands all of his children to guard his scriptures. Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, that you may fear the Lord your God to keep or to guard, literally to guard. So they're to be guarded, to guard all his statutes and his commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson. So it's a generational guardianship. all the days of your life and that your days may be prolonged. In the Old Testament, primarily, it was supposed to be the priests. If you look into the roles and the offices in the Old Testament, the priests were to be the ones who were to be the primary guardians of the Word of God, the law of Moses and the Word of God. The priests of Old Testament Israel were to guard the scriptures. Malachi 2, verse 7, for the lips of a priest should guard Knowledge and people should seek the law from his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts Supposed to be the priest, but of course if you read Malachi carefully, they weren't doing a good job guarding guarding the the word so one of the reasons why God has appointed pastors or shepherds to oversee the church is is so that they can be the guardians of Holy Scripture in the church. That's the reason for the appointment of these under-shepherds, these under-guardians. So pastors have been charged by God to be faithful guardians of the Gospel of Christ through their faithful guardianship of the Scriptures. They're shepherds. Pastor means shepherd. And the shepherd is to guard. And what is he to guard? He's to guard the Bible. He's to be a guardian of Scripture. 1 Timothy 6.20, O Timothy, guard, that's a shepherding verb, guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge. Once upon a time, I knew a man who was interested in reading some very old Christian books. He was researching, even went to Illinois to do it. He was researching the life of Miss Hannah Moore. She was the great evangelical abolitionist from the 17th century, working side by side with William Wilberforce to abolish the slave trade. And this man that I knew wanted to read some very old manuscripts that were written by Miss Hannah Moore, and he discovered and trying to find these very, very old documents, you know, yellow-paged manuscripts, that they were very carefully guarded. These were not easily accessible. The particular manuscripts he was looking for were apparently very rare, so they were kept in some special libraries all around the globe, really, one in California and then another in Europe and some in some other places. And to get a hold of these manuscripts, just to look at them and to read them was no easy task. In fact, there's only a very small, select group of historians who are allowed to go into these dark rooms and take out the manuscripts and read them. No one else is allowed to read them. So these specialized libraries had a very extremely careful guardianship over these old, delicate manuscripts that had been entrusted to their care, and rightly so. How much more then should pastors be the guardians of Holy Scripture. Yet the problem is today in our world, things have changed so much in the life of the church over 2,000 years. In our world today, the pastors are no longer the guardians of the Holy Scriptures. In our weird systems of doing things in the modern world, in many ways the seminaries have usurped the guardianship of the Holy Scriptures. In other words, it's no longer the pastors in the church who read Hebrew and Greek. It's now the seminary professors. Or to say it another way, this would be shocking for the ancient church, but this is kind of what we live with in the modern church, it's no longer the pastors who are the theologians. It's now the professors who are the theologians. And speaking from a church historical perspective, that's dangerous. That becomes dangerous. Because in the scriptures themselves, God has appointed the pastors to be the guardians of Holy Scripture. And that's how it was in the ancient church, and that's how it was in scripture, and that's how it should be today. Or to put this another way, if today's pastors in stark contrast with the ancient pastors of the early church, are trained, if the way you train pastors today, if this is how pastors are trained, if they're trained in secular or pagan leadership theories, that's what they get in seminary, but they're not trained, they're no longer trained in the guardianship of Christian doctrine the way they were in the ancient church. then this explains why the scriptures are in so many ways being ransacked and pillaged in the modern world. Why are we making such mischief out of the Bible in the modern world? Well, one of the reasons is because the pastors are no longer trained to be the guardians of Holy Scripture in the church. I say we do not need any more leadership gurus in the church pulpits. We have far too many of them and they're making a mess out of the church. What we need in today's pulpits are guardians of the Holy Scriptures. People who know, men who have been trained to guard the doctrines of the Christian faith as they've been handed down from pastor to pastor to pastor for 2,000 years. But we also need to see Christian homes. individual Christian families as little flocks of Christian lambs. We've lost that too. This used to be such a big part of the ancient church, but it doesn't exist in the modern world as much as it should. There's a big crisis here. The home, the Christian home, is a flock. These flocks need shepherds. And God has appointed Christian fathers to be family shepherds, to be shepherds in their own homes. If you are a Christian father, you are appointed by God to be a spiritual shepherd in your own home, which means you're appointed by God to be the guardian of Holy Scripture in your own home. And so, as a Christian father, you have to cry out, as I do, for incredible grace, for God to make you able to labor hard for, and to give you the grace for having a vast knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. Every Christian father needs to have as much knowledge of the Holy Scriptures as he can and that takes a lot of labor and it takes a lot of grace, but this is what you need. Christian father, if you're a Christian father, you must so memorize and read and reread and pray over the Scriptures with tears of repentance, because you can read it all day if you don't have a good heart, you're not going to get it anyway. You've got to come with the cleansing tears of repentance. You must so read and reread and pray over the Scriptures with tears of repentance that you will be able to bring every situation that arises in your home back to the scriptures. They must go back to the scriptures. You must be like the Berean church of old. The Berean church in the book of Acts. Able to test all things in your home. Everything that happens in your family life according to the scriptures. You must guard your home from evil temptations and evil influences. You must be a guardian at the gate of your home. You must not let ungodly culture Even, I would say, ungodly nominal Christian culture, because there's a lot of ungodly nominal Christian culture out there, into your own home. God charges you as the father to protect the holiness of your home. You're a guardian of holiness according to the scripture, all the scriptures, in your own home. You guard the little ones, the little flock that God has placed in your home. So why are the shepherds chosen to see the Christmas angels and to hear the Christmas chorus? Why did God choose shepherds at Christmastime? And the answer is that shepherds, being humble before God, are appointed as guardians. God wanted that metaphor to be there, the guardian metaphor. They're the guardians of the flock, but they're also the guardians of Scripture. But of course in Luke chapter two, these are specific shepherds. These are very specific shepherds. These are the shepherds of Christmas. They are the ones who went to see the babe in the manger. We're talking about real history here, real shepherds. And they are guardians not just of the scriptures in general. So when you talk about the actual shepherds who went to see the baby Jesus in the manger, they're not just the guardians of scripture in general. They're the guardians of their own witness to the historical event of seeing the babe in the manger. So they're the guardians specifically of the truth of the manger, the lowly manger. Luke 2, 16 through 19, and they came with haste, these shepherds, and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds." So see, the shepherds have been entrusted with this historical event. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds are witnesses. God has brought them to be witnesses. Again, He didn't bring the wise and the lofty and the proud and the rich to be the witnesses. He brought the shepherds. They are the guardians of all the things that they saw, everything that they heard. So this is very specific. They see the babe. They hear the gospel about the babe. Luke 2.15, so it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds said to one another, let us now go to Bethlehem and see. So this is eyewitness stuff, the things that have come to pass. And then verse 17, now when they had seen him, they witness it, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child. So they're the guardians of what they have seen and what they have heard. Luke 2 20, then the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told them. What did the shepherds hear? Well, they heard the scriptures, they heard the gospel, they heard the angel proclaiming the word of God to them. That's what they heard. What did they see? Well, they saw the babe lying in a manger. And this is what they're guardians of. They're guardians of what they heard, the scriptures, but they're also guardians of what they saw. They are entrusted with the guardianship of this historical witness of getting to see the babe in the lowly manger. And the manger is lowly. The king of kings came in a manger. Poor. Outcast and in the manger this is they guard this truth Isaiah talks about a manger Isaiah 1 3 the ox knows its owner and The donkey its master's crib, but literally its master's manger But Israel does not know and my people do not consider Why why is Jesus born in the manger? Why is he born surrounded by donkeys and calves and lambs? Well, it's because the manger is a lowly place. It's a nobody place. It's a humble place. Zechariah 9, 9, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you. He is just and having salvation. Lowly. He's a lowly king. Lowly and riding on a donkey. Why is he surrounded by donkeys and cult and lambs and calves because this is lowliness. He's a lowly king. But there's more to it, I think. The manger is also a sign of sacrifice. Jesus is surrounded by animals, probably young animals, lambs, young donkey, young calves. Why? Because in the Old Testament, when the firstborn son came into the world, he was to be dedicated to God, that is, he was to be killed, but he could be redeemed with a young animal. All these kinds of young animals that the baby Jesus is surrounded by in the manger. Exodus 13, 11 through 16. And it shall be when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and your fathers, and gives it to you, that you shall set apart to the Lord all that opens the womb. That is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have. All the males shall be the Lord's. Then you get the kind of animals that may have been there at the manger. But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. So it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, What is this? That you shall say to him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the Lord killed all the firstborn, in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast, so all the animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem. It shall be a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt. So the manger is certainly a sign of lowliness, but I think it's also a sign of sacrifice. Why is Jesus surrounded by sacrificial animals at his birth? It's because Jesus is the firstborn. He's the babe in the manger surrounded by all the sacrificial animals of Israel. And this is appropriate because he's the firstborn son, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus came not to be redeemed. In Israel, you could take your firstborn son and instead of killing him, you could redeem him and allow an animal to die in his place, a young lamb, a young calf. But Jesus came not to be redeemed, but to die himself as a sacrifice for our redemption. He, the firstborn, was slaughtered, was sacrificed like a lamb for our sins. But of course, this is lowliness. It's sacrifice and it's lowliness. Jesus, the creator of all things, comes and is born in a manger surrounded by animals, donkeys and lambs. He enters into his own creation. He's born not into a rich palace, but into an impoverished manger. His is a lowly birth. It's a humble birth. And the shepherds are there. The reason why God brings the shepherds is because He wants them, because they're lowly people. They're not high and mighty people, they're lowly people. He wants these lowly people. God wants the lowly ones to be the guardians of the truth of the lowly manger. That Miss Hannah Moore, that great, English abolitionist who worked with William Wilberforce, Ms. Hannah Moore, she wrote a story for children. It was written specifically for children. She called it The Shepherd on Salisbury Plain. It was about a shepherd. And the story's about this shepherd man who's very poor. He's a lowly man. He has no status in society. No one thinks he's great or wants to hear anything from him. He's poor. He's got patches all over his clothes because he doesn't have the money to buy new clothes. And he can barely feed his large family. And yet he's joyful and happy because he has the scriptures. He's a guardian of the scriptures in his home. He teaches the scriptures to his children. And he knows more of the Bible than the parish priest or the city gentleman who comes to visit him. The shepherd is the one, this lowly shepherd, is the one who knows the Bible. That's the point of the story, is that he's the one who knows the Bible, not the big fancy priest. So why did Miss Hannah Moore choose to write about him as a shepherd? Why did she entitle the story The Shepherd on Salisbury Plain? I'm pretty sure she did this because she knew that the shepherds of Christmas were not just the guardians of Holy Scripture itself, but they were guardians of this very precious scriptural truth, which is that the manger of Jesus was lowly. It's a lowly manger. They saw it. They bore witness to the lowliness of the manger. So God appointed the lowly shepherds to guard the truth of the lowly manger. Do you know people of high status? Do you know people your own age whom the world applauds for having already accomplished great things? Cannot these people tell other people about all their tremendous feats that they've already done and all the large and tremendous results that they've already produced? And when you're around these great and mighty people in the eyes of the world, do you feel kind of lowly and unfruitful and fairly insignificant in light of the big picture of things? Christian brother or sister, if you are faithful to the witness of the gospel of Christ Jesus, and yet you feel unfruitful and insignificant in a big wide world, Remember that it was a very lowly manger. God opposes the proud and successful. He sets his attention on the meek and the lowly. The Son of God, think about it, the Son of God entered into a lowly Seemingly completely insignificant manger Is it not the case then that you feel lowly Precisely because he has chosen you to be a guardian of the lowly truth of the gospel, the truth that the gospel came in lowliness, that Jesus came in lowliness. If Jesus was lowly and humble and meek, should not your life be lowly too? And if the manger was lowly, should not your guardianship of the truth include a very strong witness to the lowliness of the manger? If you will submit yourself to a lowly status, if you will humble yourself to a lowly status, God will in time raise you up to glory. That's the gospel. If you will give glad witness to the lowliness of the manger with all humility, then one day you will see the glory of Christ Jesus come with power. God loves the lowly ones. If you are lowly, then he loves you. more than a shepherd loves his own sheep. He loves you as his own child. So why shepherds? Why are the shepherds there? Well, shepherds are guardians. Shepherds guard the sheep. And the shepherds of Christmas are appointed by God to guard both the scriptures, because they're the ones who know the scriptures, and the truth of the lowly manger. That's why God brings them. Yet the point of all of this in Luke chapter two is worship. This is all about worship. It's not the focus of the whole thing about worship. That's why Luke 2.20 says, then the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God. So this is, the whole point is worship. Then the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God. for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told them. This phrase, praising God, apparently is a phrase that Dr. Luke really liked because in six out of its seven occurrences in the New Testament, they're all from Luke. They're all either from the gospel of Luke or from the book of Acts. And of course, Luke wrote both the gospel and the book of Acts. So this is Luke's phrase, praising God. And it's a worshipful praise. This is about the worship of God. The center of this is worship. Acts 3, 8 through 9, Luke wrote this. So he, which is the man who had been lame from his mother's womb, and of course, Peter and John came and healed the lame man. So he, the lame man, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking, leaping, and here's our phrase, praising God. and the people saw him walking and praising God. This is a humble man who praises God. This is about worship. So the shepherds of Christmas are guardians of scripture and of lowliness, the doctrine of lowliness, Christian lowliness, but most importantly, of worship. This is really about worship. So Luke 2.20 says they glorify God. Then the shepherds return glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen as it was told them. The focus is worship. This is all about worship. They praise God and they glorify God. They glorify Him because Jesus, of whose gospel they are now guardians, is the true guardian of the sheep. The Shepherd has come in a manger the Shepherd of Israel the God of Israel has come to guard his people But he's come as a as a weak and vulnerable, baby Jesus is the Guardian Jesus is the Shepherd He says in John 17 12. He's praying to his father Jesus praying to the father while I was with him in the world I I Guarded as the shepherd verb I guarded them in your name. He's the Good Shepherd Those whom you gave me I have guarded I have shepherded I have guarded and none of them is lost except the son of perdition Judas that the scripture might be fulfilled So Jesus is the Good Shepherd He is the guardian of the sheep, but this is all about worship because in this when Jesus guards his sheep. He is glorified John 17 10 and all are all mine are yours and and yours are mine, Father, and I am glorified in them." So the center of all of this is worship. This is really about worship. The shepherds are appointed as guardians of true worship. The job of a shepherd is to guard the worship of the church and to keep it from idolatry. The guardianship of the gospel in the church is really at the heart of the matter because it is nothing less than the guardianship of true and right worship in the church. So if you don't guard the gospel well, you don't guard worship well. If you don't worship well, you worship an idol. You're not worshiping the God of Scripture. Luke 2.14, this is why the angels cry out, glory to God in the highest. This is about worship. And on earth peace goodwill toward men. This is about the glory of God. This is about worship How carefully do you guard your own holiness and your own doctrine? How do you know if you're giving right worship Not just any worship, but right worship to the Most High God Giving glory to Him in the highest without introducing elements of idolatry into your worship. Whom do you worship? Who is this God in the highest whom you worship? The shepherds They guard this. They guard the worship of God. They give witness to the only perfect and unblemished guardian of the glory of God. There is a perfect guardian of God's glory. He is the only one who can guard God's glory without any flaw. And yet he comes, the shepherds see him in the form of a babe. He's a little baby boy. He's lying in a lowly manger and he and only he is able to guard the worship of God with a perfect guardianship. So when you ask the question, who is the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob? Who is the King of Glory? The answer is you cannot know him apart from knowing and worshiping. this baby boy in the manger. The glory of God is perfectly contained within this little baby boy. The Son of God of the highest heavens has condescended to the lowest of human births. He lies in a manger The glory of God is seen in the face of a poor and despised Jewish boy. Little baby boy. God has come to us in the flesh of a babe. So who guards the glory of God? Who is the shepherd that really guards God's glory perfectly? Well, the answer is this lowly babe lying in a manger is at the same time the perfect guardian, the perfect shepherd of the Father's glory. Who purifies the worship of the church? Well, the good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. When Jesus dies on the cross, he dies to purify the worship of the church. Who is it? that guards right worship in the church? Well, the glory of this babe in the manger is the one who guards it. This little babe guards it. A meek and vulnerable babe guards for us the glory of the Father. He guards us from ever thinking that we can know God without knowing His only begotten Son. He's the guardian of the truth. He's also the guardian of love. And He guards God's glory with a fierce jealousy. He says, I've come not to baptize with water, but with fire. And He shall purify the worship of His church. Jesus is the guardian of His sheep. And He shall guard our souls from the evil one He shall save us from falling as unbelievers fall into the everlasting fires of hell. Jesus purifies the worship of the Father. Jesus guards the worship of the Father. He alone is the perfect guardian of the sheep, and He shall guard us as our shepherd. The babe shall become our shepherd, and He shall guard us and guide us even unto the very end of the age. So this Christmas season, we come one last time to the table of the Good Shepherd. This is His table. He guards it with His Holy Spirit and His zeal. Before we come to the table together, here's the doxology. Praise be to God our Father, who zealously guards His own glory. Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ, who knows his sheep and guards his sheep. Praise be to the Holy Spirit, who shall guard the deposit of faith that is in our hearts, keeping us from stumbling all the way until that great day when we shall be with the Lord in glory. Thank you for joining us for the preaching of the Holy Scriptures. You can find more resources at our website, www.godcentereduniverse.org. You may also send correspondence to us at the following address, PO Box 461978, Aurora, Colorado 80046. God-Centered Universe is a faith-driven ministry that exists to encourage the Church in family-based discipleship and to call the Church to continue trembling joyfully at God's Word.