So brothers and sisters, let me invite you to turn with me and your Bibles to Luke chapter 2. We'll continue our study of this section. Luke 2, 1 through 20 is the text. We're going to be looking at verses 10 through 14 this morning and wrapping up that one. And then the next time I am here, we'll do 15 through 20. But this is the inauguration of the kingdom of God on this earth. This is describing that moment when God after, since the fall, he broke back in to the world with the messianic kingdom of Jesus Christ. And it's inaugurated here. And so it is incredible description. that sadly so much of it is missed when all we do is read it during Christmas. This is so much more than just simply that. So, brothers and sisters, let's enjoy time fellowshipping with God around His Word. This is the Word of Almighty God. So let me ask you to stand together with me out of reverence and respect that it's beginning in verse 8. Hear now the word of our King. And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terribly frightened. And the angel said to them, do not be afraid for behold, I bring you good news of a 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. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths, lying in a manger. And suddenly there appeared with that angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is well pleased. That's the Father reading of God's word. Let's pray. Father, we're so grateful for your word. Feed us now. Just as Job said, feed us, O Lord. May we be nourished upon this, your word. But Lord, that only occurs unless your spirit is working in us and through us and through your word. So Lord, take your word and penetrate it deeply within our heart and soul that we might indeed be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. As I just referenced, we're looking at a passage that is detailing, describing the inauguration of God's kingdom, the in-breaking of God's kingdom into the world. And thus, it's not a surprise to discover that the main people involved in this in-breaking on the earth, the main people on the earth involved, were all saved. Listen to some of the characters. Luke 1, 6. Zacharias and Elizabeth. And they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. They were saved. Luke 1, 28. And coming in, he said to her, Mary, hail favored one, one who has received grace. The Lord is with you. That's salvific language. Notice 30, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor in the sight of the Lord. Mary was a child of God. Joseph, Matthew 119, we read in Joseph, her husband was a righteous man. It means Joseph was a man of God who loved Christ and gave himself into his purpose. We read later on, Luke 2, 25b, you can look just ahead in your book. Simeon, who received Christ at his baptism, it says, this man was righteous and devout. And how was that devotion to the Lord expressed? Looking for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him. Then you go forward another couple verses, Luke 2, 37 and 38, speaking of Anna, and she never left a temple. Likewise, she was one who received Christ, serving night and day with fastings and prayer. And just like Simeon, she was a woman of God looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. Brothers and sisters, this is the coming of Christ's kingdom. Malachi 4 verse 2 says, the son of righteousness will rise with healing in his wings and will go forth and you will go forth and skip about like calves. So indeed, when God's kingdom came, Malachi said, many other such verses, it's going to mean salvation, delight and rejoicing for so many. But we also know from John 1 11 that he came to his own and his own did not receive him. It also meant the rejection of him. But that's not the case for the key players and this morning we're looking at the shepherds. And while we saw last week that these shepherds were outcasts, they were the object of ridicule and scorn in the culture in which they lived, these shepherds, well let me back up, they're also characterized by lying and deceit. That's what people thought of them as. Not these shepherds. These shepherds clearly have saving faith. Would you notice verse 15? And it came about when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, and the shepherds began saying to one another, Let us go straight to Bethlehem then and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. What do you call it? That's faith. God comes just like he did to Zacharias and Elizabeth, just like he did to Mary and Joseph. And we read from Mary and Joseph that they were quick to believe that all that God told them. Just like them, what did the shepherds do? They were quick to believe it. God said it, that settles it. Let's go see this thing. They don't, we don't read, let's go see. They don't say, let's go see if this thing's true. That would be doubting. They said, let's go see the child whom the angel just told us about. And then when they saw him, look at verse 17. And when they had seen this, they may known the statement which had been told them about the child. They began sharing this news first with Mary, then Joseph, and then everyone they saw. That's the way this text reads. When they went back to their sheep, And as they went, verse 20, they were glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Clearly, brothers and sisters, this passage describes the successful receiving, not the he came to his own, his own did not receive him. These received him. And from this, we learn characteristics, facets of when the kingdom of God is received by us, whether initially or each and every day of our lives as we grow in grace. Characteristics accompany growth and grace. Characteristics accompany salvation. Last week we looked at the first one, verse 9, and we saw that it comes with reverence. And that's in accord with the purpose we were made. We were made to make much of God. We're made to glorify God. It makes perfect sense that the more we grow in grace, the more effective, the more we will engage and participate in marveling over the greatness of God. Do you understand that, brothers and sisters? As a footnote, the purpose of your salvation is not to make you happy. In the end, in glory, I promise you, we'll be happy. But that is not why God ultimately saved us. He saved us so that we might participate in that which will make us happy. And that is exalting God. And that's the first thing that happens. When the angel appears, these angels are filled with awe, with reverence over what God is doing. Perhaps maybe they heard the news that angels have been seen again. A man, a priest by the name of Zacharias. Angels have been seen again. A man and a woman up in Nazareth. Who knows? But it led them to reverence and awe just like it did Zacharias, just like it did Mary, just like it did Joseph. Reverence and awe. Secondly, would you notice the kingdom of God verse 10 and 11 came with transforming grace. Notice with me verse 10, and the angel said to them, do not be afraid. Now, let me backtrack a second. This is an amazing statement, and you may not realize how amazing a statement that this is. Step back a little bit from scripture and ask, if you did a study, what is God's response to a sinner in his presence? If you look at every passage in scripture where a sinner comes into the presence of God or God condescends into the presence of a sinner, one of two things are going to happen. One will be a declaration of judgment. So on the last day, Matthew 25, then he will say to those on his left, depart from me, O cursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for you, the devils and his angels. So one will be judgment. When a sinner stands in the presence of God, it's judgment. Or secondly, it's the assurance or the imparting of grace. As in Matthew 25, the king would say to those on his right, come you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared. And that's brothers and sisters. In fact, with that, if you do a study of every single time God or a messenger of God says, do not fear, guess what comes afterwards? An assurance of grace. Every time, for example, Genesis 26, 23, Isaac, and the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, I am God, your father Abraham, do not fear for I am with you. It always comes with why they shouldn't fear and what is stated is always a declaration of God's grace for the people. It's incredible. Isaiah 43, But now, says the Lord God, your creator, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel, do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. Another incredible declaration of grace. And you see that, Judges 6, Isaiah 43, 44, Jeremiah 46, Lamentations 3, Daniel 10, Matthew 14, 17, 28, Luke 5, 12, Revelation 1. Again and again, do not fear because God is being gracious to you. And in this case, what's the grace? Notice verse 10, and the angel said to him, do not be afraid for behold, notice not judgment, but grace, amazing grace. I bring you good news. Now, brothers and sisters, stop there for one moment. You is individual. I thought that Christ came to deliver his people from their sin, Matthew 1, 21. That's correct. But look what this text just said. God personalized the birth of Christ as if Jesus Christ was born for the shepherd, every shepherd listening to the angel. That is salvation, brothers and sisters. Yes, we are saved by grace. But when Christ hung on the cross, there's verses like this that lead us to the conclusion, when Christ hung on the cross, He thought of you. He didn't think of the mass of humanity in the words of Machen. He thought of you, his people, his child. This is to save you. Amazing. So he says, I come to bring you. The gospel, uangalizo, which is where we get the word evangelism, good news, the gospel. I give you the gospel, and it's a gospel of great joy, which shall be for all the people. It begins with us, and then with us, through us, it leads to all the people. So I've said, brothers and sisters, at this moment, in this verse, Luke likes contrasts. Notice verse 9, great fear. Verse 10, what do we have? Great joy. He loves speaking in contrasts. So the question is, what is it that leads from reverence, great reverence, to the experiencing of great joy in our walks with God? What is it? fourfold message of grace. Okay? Listen to the message of transforming grace. Verse 11, for today in the city of David, there's been born for you. Once again, individual, but this phrase in the city of David, based on what we've already studied, we know what that means. That's a declaration that the person born is a king. Right? Matthew 1 made a great deal about that. Luke makes a big deal about that. He's a king. He's a king, brother. He's the king of kings. Augustus Caesar, Augustus, you know, means the supreme one, the king of kings. One of the earliest titles that Augustus Caesar held as he was becoming Caesar was the Latin, which I had written somewhere on my notes, I can't find it now, but basically son of God. Okay? Filius Deus. He called himself that. He called himself the Son of God. And then when he became the imperial leader, he was given the title King of Kings. In essence, the supreme leader of the world. But do you know who was born? One who truly is Augustus. Augustus Christ. Augustus Jesus. Do you understand the significance of this? Don't be fearful in this world. Be filled with joy. Why? Because the one who calls the shots is God, is Jesus, this child. No king, no sickness, No bad guy, no trial or tribulation, no tragedy, nothing on this earth calls the shots. The good news is God has become man and that child as God, as the God King, the King who sits in the throne of David, he calls the shots. Be of great joy. Secondly, would you notice, for the day in the city of David has been born for you a Savior. Now without a context, this word means nothing, really. What do you mean, what kind of Savior? Right? Like Mighty Mouse, Mickey Mouse, whatever, right? What kind of Savior? Well, Matthew 1 tells us, she will bear a son, you should call his name Jesus, for as he will save his people from their sins. Oh, wow. Child of God, living in this world, living this world with guilt, with floating guilt that won't go away because of how much you have sinned against God, because of how much you failed Him, how much of a loser you feel that you are. Listen to this passage, for to you has been given a Savior, which means this Savior has come and He has forgiven you all your sin. There is one who walks with you this day. He's within you, beside you, behind you, before you. He holds your hand. And this being, this infinite God-man has forgiven all of your sin. Not just some of them, every one of them, even the ones that right now make you think, God could not bless me because of that. Forgiven. Be filled with joy. That's grace, brother. What grace is ours? Thirdly, for today in the city of David has been born for you a Savior who is Christ. The word Christos, right, is the word for Messiah. And that's what's translated as Messiah. But that's not what the word means. What does the word Messiah mean? Christos. It means anointed one. Well, think with me. Who or what offices in the Bible required the office bearer to be anointed? Three of them. Prophet, priest, king. That's why Westminster Shorter Catechism 23 says, what offices does Christ bear as our Redeemer? It says, Christ as our Redeemer is a prophet, priest, and king, both in his state of humiliation and his... Okay, well think with me on that one. He's a prophet. Are you in need of direction, brothers and sisters in life? Man, we don't like what's happening in the future. It doesn't look good. Politically. It doesn't look good drought-wise. It doesn't look good health-wise. The doctors came back and said, it's cancer. It doesn't look good. You need guidance. You need direction. You need a prophet. Guess what? Jesus Christ is a prophet who walks with you. Well, what about my sin? We just talked about that. You need a priest who not only will sacrifice for you, but pray for you. You've got Jesus. He's a priest. He's the Messiah. Well, brothers and sisters, what about protection and deliverance and someone fighting for us and protecting us when we lie down and sleep that we might dwell in safety? What about that? You've got a king, prophet, priest, king. That's Messiah. So it does cover king. It also covers priest, which is freedom. It also covers prophet. So rejoice, brothers and sisters. You're not alone. You're never alone. You think, I feel abandoned by everybody. I lost my job. People turned their backs on me. My friends, I feel abandoned. I feel betrayed. You're not alone. That's the glorious grace of God. That's why the angels were so thrilled. Rejoice, for in the city of David today has been born for you a Savior who bears the title Messiah. And then the last one, our Lord, the Lord. That word, Lord, is kurios, which, yes, in classical Greek, and even in Koine Greek, it can be used of a person in charge, right? So my professor, my Greek professor in college, he would take people to Greece, and he went one day to the hotel with his people, and he's a believer, and he walked to the desk, and the person said, you're their kurios, and he laughed and said, I know what you mean, but I'm not their Lord. This word, kurios, can mean that, but that's not what it means in the Bible. You see, brothers and sisters, the Old Testament was translated into Greek. It's called the Septuagint. And the word that the translators used to translate the Tetragrammaton, which is Yahweh, was kurios. So we're talking about Jewish people here. How would Jewish people understand the word kurios? Well, it was only used 6,156 times in the Old Testament of Yahweh. So when they read this, Christ the Lord They're saying Christ who's God. This is a title of deity. You say, wait a second, wait a second. Why don't they put Theos instead of Kyrios? Why don't they say he's God? Well, they do eight other times in scripture, right? John 1, 114, John 1, 18, John 20, 28. There's a bunch of passages which actually say Jesus Christ is God. But here, Luke is being very, very wise. because he just referenced at the very beginning Augustus Caesar, who called himself son of God. He viewed himself as a deity. Do you know what he spent the first part of his regency doing? Building a temple for the worship of Julius Caesar. Because the Caesars evidently were all God, all gods. So if Luke turned around and said, he's God, Theos, They live in a culture where God's come cheaply, guys. Right? No one believed that Augustus Caesar was God. I'm not talking about nobody. Most wouldn't have believed that. But it comes easy. If you've got enough money and power, you can call yourself God. You can deify yourself. So we'll just deify Jesus. Another Thoth. Now, he uses a word that meant so much in Judaism in the Old Testament. This is Christ Jesus our Yahweh. Yahweh, God in essence. Yahweh is the one who spoke. The world was created. Yahweh is the one who blew and the seas parted. That's Yahweh. Brothers and sisters, why should you be filled with joy? Because brothers and sisters, the one who goes with you is God. Never to leave you. I think most of us understand God is God and he's up in the heavens and he rules the earth and he upholds all things by the word of his power and all the other verses and passages and credo statements we might make, but it's never personal. Rarely is it personal, is it? Do you really believe that in all of the 200 billion plus galaxies and in our galaxy with the 200 billion plus stars and planets and in our planet with all the billions of people that God is sitting in heaven focused upon you. Do you really believe that? I think most of us don't. just as Dave started with the issue of deism. I think most of us, by default, have a deist view of God. He's in the heavens, yes, there's a God there, and he's more than a deist God because he's a God of love and all this stuff. Of course, I'm not a deist. Neither are you. Okay, good, we feel good. But he's not intimately involved in my life. He's not concerned with me. I'm too insignificant. He can't care about me the way that I wish he did. Brothers and sisters, he cares more about you than you ever could imagine. As God, he knows all things at once. So he's intimately involved in your life in terms of knowing you and knowing your pain, knowing your successes, knowing who you are, where you're going and what you're going to be. Brothers and sisters, the reason why there's joy is because of this transforming grace. Meditate upon this, take it in. So the kingdom of God comes with reverence, with awe. It comes with grace. Grace to be lavished upon us and feasted upon and meditated upon and lived in light of and taken as a diamond and changing in different facets. God is our king. Look at that in different facets. Look at it in different parts of your life. He's our priest. Look at it in different facets. Notice thirdly, it comes with proof. I love this. Notice verse 12, and this will be a sign for you, said the angel to the shepherds. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Signs are an important part of the Bible. God wants us to have intelligent faith. What do you mean? Versus blind faith. He wants us to have intelligent faith, not blind faith. Brothers and sisters, to become a Christian, you do not check your brain at the door. When you become a Christian, you're called to think and learn and reason. That's called a reasonable faith. Josh McDowell, I've shared this with you before. I attended a conference years ago, and he's teaching, and he explained it this way. I think it's a phenomenal metaphor, which is why I keep using it. He had a good friend who was a pilot, and he was flying with that friend that one day, and he showed up and got in the little plane that the man was flying. The man wasn't in that plane. He was checking it out. Look at the wheels and the cables and everything that needed to be checked. The pre-check flight check off, right? And he got in the plane and got ready to start it up and Josh McDowell leaned over him and said, do you have 100% certainty that we're not going to crash? The pilot said, no. He said, well, then why'd you check your plane? You probably say, because I'm not going to fly with blind faith. I fly with reasonable faith. I check everything and I take off with the reasonable belief that we're going to land safely. That's reasonable faith. Brothers and sisters, God gives signs because he wants us to understand that this is not just Mormonism. Hey, get a burning in your heart and just believe something that is completely bizarre. Right? Believe it. And the more you believe, Mormons believe in faith. That's the object of their faith. They don't believe in a God, they believe in faith. Talk to a Mormon, share with them data which just proves what they claim, and this is the response I've gotten every time. Well, that just makes my faith stronger. How can that make your faith stronger? Because you're proving that my faith's wrong. So the more I believe in belief, the better I am. Brothers, that is not Christianity. We do not believe in faith. We believe in God. And God has given us signs to testify that what we've got is true. And hence, in Scripture, throughout you see signs. The most classic passage, the easiest one, is Exodus 20. Right? God's people come to burn it to the mountain Sinai. It's shaking, quaking, thunder, lightning, and they're scared to death. And they say to Moses, speak to us yourself and we will listen, but let God not speak to us lest we die. And therein began the prophetic office. A man speaking in behalf of God. A man replacing the quaking mountain, the scariness, the death. So you got this prophet. But because of that, as wonderful as that is, it's dangerous because now anyone can stand up and say, thus says the Lord. So how do we know that that prophet is from God? Because of the signs that accompany a prophet. Three signs. Deuteronomy 13, you know them. They have to perform miracles. Deuteronomy 13, they have to speak in accordance with God's word. And thirdly, Deuteronomy 18, they have to predict the future with 100% accuracy. If you have a person bearing those signs, they're a prophet. If you have a person claim to be a prophet and they're not 100% accurate, what they say contradicts God's word and they can't do miracles, they're false prophets. They're to be stoned in the Old Testament. Those are signs. You see signs throughout redemptive history. At the flood, you see the sign of the rainbow testifying to a message. With Abraham's salvation, you see circumcision, another sign testifying to the redeeming grace of God. During the Exodus, another sign, you've got Passover. When the temple was built, the priests wore a vest, which was a sign. The New Covenant ratified. Baptism was a sign. During the worship of the New Covenant, the Lord's Supper is a sign. All of these, brothers and sisters, represent stamps of authentication on the part of God saying, this is from me. So what's the sign here? The sign here, brothers and sisters, is the sign of not a baby in swaddling clothes. That's not the sign. The sign is this swaddling clothed baby lying in a manger. Now, brothers and sisters, that's bizarre. If you ever saw Old Brother, Where Art Thou?, right? Homer's Iliad in modern form. Do you remember at the beginning, if you saw it at the beginning of this show, there's this blind prophet on a railroad car, and he says, you're going to have some crazy things in front of you, and one of the things you're going to see is a cow on top of a barn. And they're looking and say, a cow on top of a barn? How would a cow get on top of a barn? That was gonna be a sign, okay? This is as crazy. You're gonna see, go to Bethlehem, and you're gonna find a baby, a newborn baby, lying in a feeding trough. What mom in the right mind would do that? I mean, how far would you have to go down in humiliation in order to view that as a good place to place your newborn baby, right? But that was the sign. So they go to Bethlehem and lo and behold they find a child wrapped in cloths lying in a feeding trough. Wow! They knew instantaneously that. is the Messiah. That is God. That is the king. That is the prophet. That is the priest. That is the Messiah. They knew instantaneously. And the text bears that out. Now just by way of footnote, brothers and sisters, again, the kingdom of God comes with signs. God does not give us the kingdom without the ability to have an intelligent faith. And therefore, there's a bunch that we could study and learn together that demonstrate and prove the validity. And we'll see it as we go through the gospel message. That being said, meditate with me just for one moment on the sign of a baby manger. I've been working on this now for three weeks, consulting commentaries and books. I've probably easily read 25, 30 books on this passage, and not one of them addresses why this sign. You guys curious at all? It really bothers me of all the signs God could have given. right? You're gonna go to Bethlehem and you'll see a pig flying over the city, right? And then they come in and they say, hey, you know, when pigs fly, right, you'll see that, right? That's the sign. It could have been anything. Why this sign? And brothers, this is my, this is a stab. What's a manger? It's a place you put food to feast beasts, to feed beasts, right? cows, bulls, donkeys, goats. It's a place you put food, grain, to feed beasts. Isn't it amazing that in Christ's life he would call himself the bread of life man and he'd call himself, he'd say from John, for example, unless you eat my flesh, John 6.53, calls us to eat him. Isn't it amazing to you? I don't know if it amazes you that God placed his son in the place you put food in to feed beasts. Now let me add a little bit more to it. If you know anything about beekeeping, you know there's the thing called royal jelly. You guys know what royal jelly is? When bees are born, when bees are created, whatever, conceived, when they're put in egg form. pupa form. They're not queens. There's no queens. They're all just drones. Maybe there's male. Ben Springs helped me on that one, but be quiet now. The way you get a queen is by the workers feeding them royal jelly. If you feed a drone a royal jelly, it turns them into a queen. Do you understand what Jesus Christ is? He's royal jelly. He is the food placed in the manger for image bearers who have become beasts because of their sin, that when they eat him, they become people again. Now, am I wrong? Probably. But wow, I've gone miles on that one, thanking God for Jesus Christ and the bread of life that he gives us to transform me from being a beast into a living son of God. Thank you, Lord Jesus. So thirdly signs, or fourthly signs, would you notice that was thirdly. Fourthly, the kingdom of God comes with worship, verse 13. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest. Another amazing statement. Backtrack, verse 9, we read of the angel who comes and the glory of the Lord shone around. The word for shone there is used one of the time in scripture, Acts 26, 12-13, where Paul gives his testimony. He says, I saw on the way a light, that's the same word, from heaven, brighter than the sun shining all around me. This was at midday. So the word shone here is describing a light brighter than the sun at midday. So it's pitch black out there, unless the moon was out. This angel appears and with him the glory of God illumines everything so bright, it would have been brighter than the sun could make it in its full force. And then at that moment we read that with this, suddenly, shockingly, notice the text, a multitude of the heavenly host, walk with me through this quickly, the word for multitude. In Christmas carols and the Christmas cards, we think of, you know, a choir of 30, 40, 50 angels. The word multitude can refer to something uncountable. For example, it's used of God's goodness, of God, sorry, God's love, Psalm 106, 45. His righteousness, Isaiah 63, 7. His majesty and kindness, Exodus 15, 7, Psalm 145, 7. This word, when used of God, refers to that which is uncountable. with no limit. So what appeared to the two, so first this angel's there, and the next thing that happens, instantaneously materializing from thin air, you've got this mass of angels that could have counted in the millions. Now, we in our Christmas cards think of they're up in the sky. They get that from a multitude of the heavenly hosts. Heaven doesn't tell us where they were, it tells us where they're from. So the rest of scripture testifies that angels did not meet with people up in the heavens, up in the air, they met with us on the ground, just like this first angel. So most likely, you can't be definitive here, most likely what occurred was this angel was talking to him and all of a sudden out of thin air materialized hundreds and hundreds of thousands of angels, which would have filled it a lot. And what were these angels? They were the heavenly host. What's that word? You guys know what that word is? Army. They weren't a choir. This is an army. Why an army? Brothers and sisters, this is the same army that will accompany Christ when he comes back to reclaim this earth. This is the army that came when the kingdom of God was inaugurated. Does it make sense that God would send an army to inaugurate his kingdom? And I can't help but to wonder in my own musings, this is nothing from a commentary, my own thought, could this army not have stretched around Bethlehem? Who knows? But it's an army. In fact, Robert Godfrey made this comment. He said, well, let's look at the next one. And they spoke, okay? Or did they sing? Hark the herald angels. Well, you can't say spoke because it doesn't rhyme with king. Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king, right? So you can't say say, but I'll be honest, I'm a rebel. And every time I sing that song, every time I say say, Okay? And all angels say glory, because that's what the text says. Stop this Christmas traditionalism. Brothers and sisters, there's a reason why that song says sing. I'm wrong. The phrase glory to God in the highest on earth, peace among men, that's poetry. We have the Benedictus from Zacharias, after he met the angels, he sang a song, or he stated a song in song form. Mary, she spoke a song, magnificat, it's a song, the song of Mary, the song of Zacharias. This is the song of the angels, and it is a song. Now, Robert Godfrey, in his treatment of this verse, he says this, he goes, we view him as a choir. but they're an army. He goes, if that's true, I can't help but to wonder if rather than singing this, they chanted it. like the Marines who are, right? It wasn't glory to God. It was hundreds of thousands of voices joining all at once, chanting glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men. Wow. And it's a call that for God to be worshiped. The kingdom of God comes with worship. Two commentaries pointed this one out. I love this observation. Jesus Christ could not come with people worshiping. He came to be rejected. We talked about this. Luke is describing a lonely birth. Christ could not have been received in a palace. Why? Because as Matthew 8.20 says, he had nowhere to lay his head. Right? The world, the created world, in receiving the creator, didn't even give him a room. So there couldn't be praising, rejoicing there. Not yet. So the commentator said, but God was not going to allow his son to be born without praise. So the only miracle at the time of Christ's birth was not the virgin birth. The virgin birth is not a miracle, guys. The birth is not a miracle. The virgin conception is a miracle. We already have talked about that. But the birth itself is a birth, like any other child that is born. The only miracle that occurred when Jesus Christ was born was the manifestation of the heavenly army of God on earth, proclaiming the praise and worship of God, which begins in heaven. Glory to God in heaven. And then lastly, let's wrap this up here. The last point, 14b, unto restoration. Notice the second thing, the kingdom of God comes fifthly with restoration. Notice, and the angels cried out, glory to God in the highest and on earth, that's the contrast, and heaven, there's praising God. Right now the heavens are filled with praise because of that birth. and on earth peace among men with whom he's well pleased." Once again, brother and sister, we have two contrasts here. Highest and on earth. Luke loves the contrast, but the greater contrast is this. Think of every earthly army you know. Right before battle, they have some kind of a battle cry. Never before, and I would be willing to say never after, Has an army been assembled to go into battle crying peace? Is that awesome? What a contrast to earthly armies. This army doesn't say, kill. This army says, peace. Now, what kind of peace is this? Ceasefire? Is it peace between men? The way that it reads, it sounds like, oh, God did His redemptive work so that we would live in peace with one another, and that is not why He did ultimately. It can result in peace, Ephesians 2, right? God created a unity of peace at his death. But brothers and sisters, that peace doesn't mean peace for us, right? As Christ said, do not think that I came to bring a peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword, Matthew 10. So what's the peace here? Peace between God and man, right? Romans 5, therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. This army of angels, who no doubt worshipped Jesus Christ before he was incarnate, now comes nine months later to continue the praise that they were doing in eternity past. Glory to God in the highest. And may peace, may there be peace, redemptive peace between God and his people. Now, in that context, you've got to ask yourself, who are his people? And I'm almost done. Who are his people? You might go, oh, those people who had the wisdom to choose him. His people are the ones who had the, you know, read God's word, had the intelligence and the wisdom and the wherewithal to say, you know what? I'm a sinner. I can't save myself. I need a savior. I choose Jesus as my savior. We tend to think that way. This text doesn't say that. This text is peace between God and man because it pleases the Lord. That's how you read this. The next time this verse is used or this phrase is used in Luke 10, 21, listen to this important verse because it helps us understand. This is hotly debated. What does this phrase mean? Peace among men of whom he's well pleased. What does that mean? Right? And Luke 10 is the definitive passage to the argument. It's the next time Luke uses this. Luke uses this word, this phrase again. Luke, who wrote his, wrote 10. Notice. At that very time, Christ rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit and said, I praise the old father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes. Yes, Father, for thus it was well pleasing, same word, in thy sight. Why did God hide it and reveal it? Because it pleased the Lord. Paul says the same thing in Ephesians 1. In love, God predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the kind intention of his will. So brothers and sisters, this is the question. Why are you here today and not someone else? Why are you saved? Why were you saved from the mother's womb? Why are you a covenant child? Why were you converted after a life of sinning? Why are you here today? And the answer is, has nothing to do with you. Has everything to do with the good pleasure of God. Think about that. And I'll tell you, brothers and sisters, and maybe you say the same testimony, if I was God, I would not save me. Because I am a wretched sinner. I'm a horrible person. You know, man, if you're a horrible person, you shouldn't be preaching to me. Well, I'm preaching to horrible people too, I'm sure. Okay, I love you all, but we're sinners. And as sinners, we are horrible people. Who would save me? And why would they save me? My answer to you, why did God save you, Greg? I would say, I have no idea other than it pleased Him to do it. Now, brothers and sisters, run with me a couple miles with this one. If that's why you're saved, if it pleased God to save you, us in our wretchedness, is there any sin or any activity you could do that can make you odious, hateful, ugly, or somehow tainted before God this very moment? No. That's the joy of this day. That's the joy of the coming. That's how the kingdom of God is received. It's received with reverence. We're subject to an awesome, omnipotent God. It's received with transforming grace. It results in great joy when sorrows like sea billows row. It's received with proof. It's a reasonable faith. We're never called to check our brains at the door. It's received with worship, which means life is not about us, but about God. Glory be to Jesus. And lastly, it's received unto restoration, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Brothers and sisters, that is how the kingdom of God was received when you were saved, and that is how the kingdom of God, if you grow in your grace, in the grace of God, will continue, those elements will continue to be there. Worship, praise, adoration, intelligent faith, et cetera, et cetera. Brothers and sisters, I close with the final thought. Jesus Christ is the food by which we live that transforms us from being a beast to being a child of the living God. In the words of Paul, from glory to glory is from the Lord, the Spirit. Let's pray. Father, we are so grateful for this passage. What an incredible treasure trove that is ours in this passage. God, I pray you would use what we have studied today to feed us in our souls, to encourage us, to convict us of doubting your goodness, convict us of choosing sin over Christ. But Lord, use us to transform us into children of the living God more and more, where the hooves slowly but surely turn back into hands, and the hard hearts become hearts of flesh, and Lord, where the snow melts and the ice turns into water, and Lord, we emerge. Day in and day out, in the process of that difficult process of sanctification, we emerge as your blood-bought children. God, I pray you give us grace, therefore, to trust you, to take to heart what we have studied today. Mary took it to heart. God is an example for every one of us. God, give us the grace to take this to heart and thereby be filled with joy Repentance, brokenness. And the confession of Christ. As Savior and Lord, we pray this in Jesus name, Amen.