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Good evening, everyone. Please 
turn your Bibles to Luke 2, Luke chapter 2. We're going to read verses 1 
to 20, but before we do that, just a note on the Gospels. One 
man has said, and sort of answering the question, why four Gospels? He answered by saying, because 
one was not enough to display the multitudinous glories of 
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And in Luke's gospel, we have 
him disclosing much glorious data concerning Jesus Christ, 
the son of God. And we're going to focus specifically 
on the narrative account of his incarnation in verses one to 
20 of Luke chapter two. So why don't we read that, go 
to the Lord in prayer and then and then meditate upon the words 
in this text. Luke two, beginning in verse 
one. And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from 
Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This 
census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, 
everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee 
out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to the city of David, which 
is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage 
of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who 
was with child. So it was that while they were 
there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And 
she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling 
cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for 
them in the end. Now, there were in the same country 
shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over 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 cloths 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. 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. And they came with 
haste 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. 
But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 
Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for 
all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told 
them. Amen. Well, let's go to God in 
prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you 
so much for this portion of your word to us. We pray that you 
would help us now, preacher and listener, to beatified and strengthened 
and nourished by the word given to us in your amazing condescension 
and loving mercy. We pray that we would gain a 
greater apprehension and joy in our savior, that we would 
tonight would contribute to bring us out of any languor and coldness 
and solemn remembrance and a joyful remembrance of Jesus Christ, 
our blessed redeemer, that help us to focus upon him and upon 
his redeeming work, and that we would just glory in you, and 
we would sing along with these angels, glory to God in the highest, 
and that we would rejoice in our blessed Savior, Jesus Christ. 
And it is in his precious name that we do now pray. Amen. Well, 
we're going to look at verses 1 to 14. We're going to observe 
four things from this portion of Holy Scripture that Luke gives 
us by inspiration. And those four things, before 
we look at them individually, Are the narratives veracity going 
to look at the narratives veracity and we'll define what that means 
in a moment. Secondly, we're going to look 
at the narratives condescension, the narratives condescension. 
Thirdly, the narratives proclamation and fourthly, the narratives 
song, the first hymn of the incarnation given by the angels in verse 
14. But before we get there, we need to start with number 
one, the narrative's veracity. When we use the word veracity, 
we simply mean truthfulness. Although it is more than that, 
as if there can be anything more than true. Truth is truth and 
there is only truth. But the veracity that we speak 
of has to do with the most certain truthfulness, the accuracy, and 
not only that, but the consistent accuracy of something. When we 
come to the holy scriptures, we have that by virtue of they 
being the holy scriptures, by virtue of them being inspired, 
the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments being inspired 
by God and being therefore inerrant and infallible. in all their 
parts, are trustworthy in all that they affirm. And so we come 
to the scriptures and we have something given to us by God 
that are, by virtue of that fact, truth, certainty and a certain 
accuracy of truth given to us. And by virtue of inspiration 
or when we come and we approach the inspired word, what do we 
find? but accuracy and detail and information 
given that bear the attributes of truthfulness. We look at this 
passage and we find something right off the bat. Well, actually, 
before we get there, let's back up to Luke's intention. If you 
back up with me to chapter one, we see the author's intent here. Luke Luke introduces his gospel 
by telling us what he is doing in writing his gospel by inspiration. Luke one beginning at verse one. 
And pay attention to the language here because it's glorious as 
Christians who rest upon a word given to us from on high in as 
much as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of 
those things which have been fulfilled among us. Just as those 
who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered 
them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding 
of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, 
most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of 
those things in which you were instructed. Isn't that a glorious 
introduction to the Gospel of Luke? You see, the inspired word 
doesn't come to us in the form and in the manner of a fairy 
tale or a myth. It doesn't start a long time 
ago in a galaxy far, far away. It doesn't start off with a long 
time ago on a dark and stormy night. It starts with the certain 
veracity and truthfulness of the account that is being delivered. 
Get the language there. Things which have been fulfilled 
among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses, 
ministers of the word, delivering them to us. It seemed good to 
me also, Luke writes concerning himself, having had perfect understanding 
of all things. And then he closes that portion 
by writing verse four, that you may know the certainty of those 
things in which you were instructed. You see, that song that was read 
at the beginning is most certainly true. We do not put our trust 
in princes. We don't hang on the words of 
rhetoricians and politicians. We hang on every word that comes 
from the Lord. We hang on every word that God 
has given to us in his inspired scriptures. And so we saw we 
see here, Luke, his intent is to give an orderly account of 
all those things which have been fulfilled so that the recipients 
of this gospel might know the certainty of the things that 
have taken place. in the life and in the ministry 
of Jesus Christ. So we come to Luke 2 and we see 
Luke very precise and very detail oriented in his giving this account 
of the incarnation of Jesus Christ, our precious Redeemer. Look at 
just the beginning verse 1 of Luke 2. And it came to pass in 
those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that 
all the world should be registered. Luke gives us political leaders 
and he gives us political events to disclose the time when this 
Christ was born of a virgin. He gives us geographical information. Joseph went up from Galilee, 
verse four, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to the city 
of David, which is called Bethlehem. gives us geographical information. 
If anybody wants to test this letter after it's written, wants 
to test the information given by Luke, who had perfect understanding 
of all of these things, if they dealt with Luke's proclamation 
that I had perfect understanding of all things. They could test 
these things. Caesar Augustus, the taxation 
or the census for the purpose of taxation. Quirinius governing 
Syria. And again, the geography that 
we see here. He appeals to personal names, 
Joseph, Mary. He appeals to genealogical legality 
and legitimacy. Speaking of Joseph, he says, 
because he was of the house and lineage of David. This is very 
important with regards to Jesus being the fulfillment of Davidic 
covenant and Davidic promises. He appeals or he uses again, 
he uses personal names and he discloses great detail. You see, 
if a religion was founded upon lies or if someone writing a 
religious document is trying to trying to dupe the public 
and the recipients, they're not going to be as detailed as Luke, 
who was under inspiration, providing great detail. Notice verses six 
and seven. So it was that while they were 
there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And 
she brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling 
cloths and laid him in a manger. because there was no room for 
them in the inn. You see, the account of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, or the life and the ministry and the goings on 
of our blessed Savior, were people cast their eyes upon the events, 
the life and the times of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as Luke 
brought out. So if the veracity of this account 
was questioned, if the truthfulness of this account was questioned, 
they need only ask and they need only read. And they need only 
approach the various things that Luke sets forth in his narrative. So we have the certain veracity 
or the narratives veracity. It is true. And what does that 
mean for us? Well, first off, what does it 
mean for the unbeliever? For the unbeliever or the unbeliever 
ought to be very afraid. And what I mean by that is if 
scripture is true and it is, then their lot is a bad one. 
because outside of Jesus Christ, the wrath of God abides on them. 
There is no wiggle room. John 3.36, He who believes the 
Son has life. He who does not believe the Son 
shall not see life. The wrath of God abides on him. 
We come to the Scriptures and we see this account given for 
the purpose of disclosing that old covenant promises are true 
and they are now being fulfilled. See, that's a very easy way of 
looking at the Holy Scriptures. We have promises made, promises 
kept. Luke is writing here to disclose 
to us that God's promises are being kept. Old Testament promises 
made, New Testament promises kept. We have that in here and 
we'll get to that in a moment. But this is certainly true. The account of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, who is coming for the purposes of redemption and redemption 
presupposes that there is a problem. That there are people in slavery, 
in bondage, and they need divine and saving release. And so the 
sinner ought to be afraid when they come with the fact that 
Holy Scripture is most certainly true in all that it affirms. 
And one of the things it affirms is that all those outside of 
Christ have the wrath of God abiding on them. So flee to the 
Savior. And the believer finds in the 
verity, the veracity of Holy Scripture, great blessing. impenetrable 
hope, the greatest account in the history of documents. We 
can use that language. It was said of Paul by Spurgeon 
that Christ upon the cross working out the salvation of sinners 
was more to him than all the sayings of the sages. You see, 
Paul had at his fingertips the Epicurean philosophers, the writings 
of the Stoics, the writings of the Greco-Romans of the era, 
the greatest minds. you will. But you see, the Holy 
Scriptures, Luke, along with that hymn writer, says, sages, 
leave your contemplations and behold the wisdom from God. Behold 
the wisdom and the power from the triune God of Holy Scripture. We see the narratives condescension. We see the narratives condescension. 
And first off, what do we or how do we see that or where do 
we see that? Well, we see that generally in the fact that we 
have it. What I mean by that, brethren, 
and it's said often, I believe, from this pulpit, the very fact 
that we hold in our hands a Bible is great condescension. The fact 
that the creator of the heaven and earth, the one who upholds 
all things by the word of his power, sought it wise and deemed 
it in the wisdom of his own counsel to give to us the revelation 
of his will and his plan and his promises is a great loving 
kindness towards us. We should never count it a small 
thing that we that we have a Bible. We should never count it a small 
thing and just something that's a reality that we can hold God's 
revelation in our hands, the very word of God. Our Bibles 
ought not to collect dust. Our Bibles ought not to be cast 
into a closet and boxed up with duct tape, but ought to be heavily 
used. We ought to go through a Bible 
a year if we could. We ought to be heavily indicted 
by not appreciating and not owning and not apprehending on a daily 
basis the glory of having revelation in our hands. It is great condescension 
that our triune God revealed himself to us. But in the context, 
in the narrative, we see condescension in that fact of revelation coming 
by way of the angelic messenger to the shepherds. Notice in verse 
8, now there were in the same country shepherds living out 
in the fields, keeping watch over 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. 
You see, these shepherds living in the flock or tending their 
flock by night, keeping watch over their flock by night. are 
the recipients of great divine condescension. The angel of the 
Lord comes to declare the Savior to these shepherds watching their 
flock. And isn't this the style? Isn't this how our God operates? See, He doesn't come to the religious 
leaders. He doesn't, excuse me, I apologize 
for the visual. He doesn't come to the leaders 
of the country. He doesn't come to prominent 
men and prominent women, but He comes to shepherds. watching 
their flock by night. Some of the first people to receive 
this announcement of the coming Jesus are shepherds. The first people to hear the 
coming of the great and greatest shepherd are shepherds themselves. The ones who keep watch over 
literal sheep get to see the one who will come and be the 
master and owner and caretaker of figurative sheep. It's a blessed 
reality and it's a blessed condescension. This angelic minister comes and 
delivers this message of a savior to shepherds watching their sheep 
at night. But of course, the greatest condescension, 
if we can say that revelation, of course, great condescension. 
But the condescension primarily in view in Luke chapter two is 
God manifested in the flesh. God in a feed trough, brethren, 
God in a feed trough. You've got to roll that around 
in our heads for a moment. The creator of heaven and earth. 
The one who is eternal and immutable, unchangeable. The one who fashioned 
the universe in the space of six days and all very good. Is 
found in a feed trough. The one who made the wood that 
constituted the trough. The one who made the hay that 
was in the trough, if that was the case, is found in the trough 
as a babe. You see, we understand Scripture. 
The Holy Spirit helps us to comprehend. He illuminates us. We have renewed 
minds in Christ Jesus. But I confess and I submit that 
we cannot fully, of course, contemplate the glory and the amazing reality 
of God in a feed trough. Spurgeon, in his sermon on Luke 
2, 14 specifically, uses these words and he speaks these words 
after noting that the angels had been witnesses to many amazing 
things that their creator and their God had made and done throughout 
the centuries before Christ came. And he's talking about how how 
the creating power and the work of God and specifically the angels 
song and praise in response to that work builds as a crescendo 
to the redemption that Christ brings and specifically his incarnation. And he writes these words. But 
this time when Christ is found in a manger, but this time when 
they saw God stoop from his throne and become a babe hanging upon 
a woman's breast, They lifted their notes higher still and 
reaching to the uttermost stretch of angelic music. They gained 
the highest notes of the divine scale of praise and they sung 
glory to God in the highest for higher and goodness. They felt 
God could not go thus their highest praise. They gave to him in the 
highest act of his Godhead. Isn't that amazing? The highest 
act of his Godhead is inaugurated, if you will, by God in a feed 
trough. By God coming and lying in a 
place that men normally wouldn't think God would do, or a place 
that God would come. We think about religious documents 
and religions of the world. If we think of the Greco-Roman histories and 
classical Greek literature, you're not going to find anything that 
approaches Holy Scripture. Of course you're not. But if 
we were to start our own new religion, let's just say today 
we were to start it, men were to start it, we're not going 
to have the hero coming and being born in a feed trough, helpless, 
hanging upon his mother's breast. It would be trumpets blasting. 
It would be coming out of the heavens with a multitude of stallions 
pulling some sort of a gold trailer. It would be this miraculous event. 
Our minds always contemplate our heroes as these amazing... I'm not saying that Jesus Christ 
isn't amazing. I think you know where I'm going 
with this. But we like to have pomp. We like to have circumstance. 
We like to have confetti and trumpets blasting. The God of 
heaven and earth comes and he's found where livestock eat food 
and drink water. Amazing, amazing condescension. And not only it doesn't terminate 
here, it doesn't terminate upon or rest upon and end at a babe 
wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger. Yes, God manifested 
in the flesh comes and he's hanging upon his mother's breast as Jesus 
Christ, the second of the blessed triune. But you see, this same 
one who fixed the stars in place, who was hung upon his mother's 
breast and feeding was eventually hung upon a Roman cross. You 
see, that's the point. That's the point of this disclosure, 
is to highlight this one, not to terminate upon a babe wrapped 
in swaddling cloths, as amazing that is, as that incarnation 
reality, but that this babe wrapped in swaddling cloths would one 
day have to give greater and larger cloths to the Roman soldiers, 
and he would be put to death naked upon a Roman tree. Amazing 
condescension. Amazing condescension. And brethren, 
in the outside world, in the world of men, In the world of 
men, familiarity breeds contempt. Familiarity breeds indifference. 
Familiarity breeds maybe languor and coldness. But in the Christian 
church, and in the hearts of her congregants, familiarity, 
brethren, ought to breed rejoicing. Familiarity with the incarnation 
of the second of the Blessed Trinity. Coming in time and in 
history to this lower world. And let's follow a progression. 
Some of it real, some of it hypothetical. But let's follow a progression. Jesus Christ, the recipient of 
the praises of angels, divine prerogatives, the angels flying 
about heaven not able to cast their eyes upon him, comes into 
our lower shame and our lower mess of a world. And you see, 
it would have been, again, I've said this many times, it would 
have been an amazing act of blessed condescension for Jesus Christ 
to come in the similitude of a man, not a baby, the likeness 
of a man and dwell in a mansion on the hills of Jerusalem. That 
wouldn't have been pretension. It's Jesus Christ. It's verily 
and truly God. That would have been amazing 
condescension, dwelling in a gold palace. Condescension. Condescension, kids, means coming 
from a position of splendor and glory, if I can define it this 
way, and coming to be equal with inferiors. So Jesus Christ, far 
superior to human beings, kids, and he comes condescending and 
finds himself equal with men. He takes on their form, takes 
on the form of a bond servant or a man, and he comes in the 
likeness of men and lives as men. In fact, not as good as 
men, his countrymen that he came to. As the scriptures say, the 
foxes had their holes and the The birds of the air had their 
nests, but our Christ did not have anywhere to lay his head. 
But you see, it would have been condescension, Christ in a mansion. 
But he comes further than that, doesn't he? He doesn't just come 
in the similitude of a man, but then live a life of shame and 
ignominy, rejected by his countrymen and those who he came to save. 
No, he comes first as a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, 
lying in a feed trough. glorious condescension by Jesus 
Christ, the Son of God. And again, and we're going to 
get there now with the narrative's proclamation, the point of his 
incarnation, the point of the condescension, the point of this 
glorious dropping down and loving eternal kindness is for redemption, 
is for the cross. You see, the narrative in Luke 
turns just just under halfway through where Jesus Christ is 
seen as setting his eyes upon the cross, looking steadfastly 
and diligently to that reason for his coming into the world. 
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. to give 
his life a ransom for many. So the narrative's proclamation 
then, what is it? Well, first off, we have the 
message given, verses 10 and 11. The message given, verses 
10 and 11. 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. We see the message that the angel 
is bringing is good news. Again, an act of loving kindness. 
You see, God could have sent an angel to really rip into man 
for the fact of his law breaking, his breach of all 10 words of 
God's holy decalogue. But the angel comes and he says, 
do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great 
joy, which will be to all people. We could translate that, or not 
translate that, but we could paraphrase, I bring you the gospel. 
I bring you the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is not just going 
to be for the Jewish nation, but this will be to all people. 
This Savior, yes, comes as a light to the Jews, but he comes as 
a light to the Gentiles also. And so this message that comes 
is good news. And what are the constituent 
elements? What makes up this message of 
good news, this gospel? Verse 11, For there is born to 
you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. So this is good news, but the 
good news is, of course, specific. It concerns a Savior. It concerns 
a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And not only is this a message 
of gospel, this is a message declaring prophetic fulfillment. 
We ought to see in the language here of verse 11 much of much 
of the Old Testament in it. For there is born to you this 
day. Pastor Butler preached last week 
from Isaiah 9 6 unto us, a child is born unto us, a son is given. We see that fulfilled here. The angel comes and proclaims 
this message. Promises were made and now promises 
are kept in this one being born to us. He's born in the city 
of David. Born in the city of David. Back 
up again to Micah 5.2. Pastor Butler read that for us 
this morning. Micah 5.2. We read there that 
the prophecy is made to concerning Bethlehem, Ephrathah. But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, 
though you are little among the nations of Judah or among the 
inhabitants of Judah, yet unto you will come forth to me the 
one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from old, from 
everlasting." Again, Bethlehem, the city of David. the city of 
Jesus Christ. So there is one born to you this 
day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And isn't that amazing? Because 
it brings into view the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. There 
is born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior who is 
Christ the Lord. You see, you don't just throw 
out that biblical name for God to anyone under the sun. You 
throw it out concerning and representing one who is God. That title and 
that name is reserved for one only, and that is Yahweh of hosts. The angel announces that this 
one lying in a feed trough will be and is a Savior who is Christ 
the Lord. The whole point of this passage, 
to be sure, is and hovers around the word Savior. See, again, 
our thoughts and our our contemplations and all that we dwell upon concerning 
this passage of Holy Scripture doesn't terminate. That means 
it doesn't end and stop at this babe wrapped in swaddling cloths. 
Because the reason for this, and in fact, the babe wrapped 
in swaddling cloths lying in a manger, the angel says, is 
simply the sign to you. That is the sign to you, the 
sign of a glorious reality, that the redemptive plan of the triune 
God is coming to fruition. Now the fullness of the times 
have come and Jesus Christ has been born. He will live and he 
will die as promised. The sins of his people, he will 
rise again three days later in fulfillment of biblical prophecy. So the promise is kept. The message 
is given. And the promise is kept and. This this brethren is something. The fact and the reality of Jesus 
Christ as Savior is something that needs to be proclaimed, 
we proclaim it from this pulpit, but more and more brethren, I 
believe we need to grasp the reality and grasp the the opportunities 
when and where they are given to proclaim to anyone who's with 
us, anyone who's near us. I think we can, as Christians, 
look back upon our lives as such and realize that sometimes it's 
hard to figure out when to interject, when to jump in and when to speak. You see, we don't want to negatively 
come off as wackos. But we don't want to not proclaim 
the riches and the excellencies of Jesus Christ. Brethren, the 
reason that Christ came into the world was to save sinners. There's sinners out there to 
be saved. Daily indicted we ought to be or weekly indicted we ought 
to be or monthly indicted we ought to be when we haven't spoken, 
whether it's simply to a child, not simply, but to a child, our 
children. a family member or someone in 
the workplace, the riches and the excellencies of Jesus Christ, 
our blessed Redeemer. Because the reality is, if a 
Savior is given, the Savior was born in the city of David on 
that day, there was a need for a Savior. There was a need for 
a Savior. Sin. The holiness of God. The need for a Savior. These 
glorious gospel realities that we ought to proclaim. We ought 
to pray to God that we would have many an opportunity given 
to us, that we could speak of those facts. We could speak of 
a lawgiver, divine, holy, triune lawgiver. We speak concerning 
the lawbreaker, man. The fact that all are guilty 
before a holy and a righteous and a just God. We got lawgiver, 
we got lawbreaker, and then we got the blessed Christ, the lawkeeper. Those three law words, lawgiver, 
lawbreaker, and glorious law keeper. God is holy. Man isn't. We've breached his 
decalogue, his holy precepts. But there is one who came in 
the fullness of the times, born of a woman, born under the law 
to redeem those who are under its curse. And that one and only 
Savior is Jesus the Lord, God in a feed trough. We have the narrative song to 
close the narrative song. It's a wonderful declaration, 
the angels here picking up at verse 13. 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. You see, well, first off, just 
to observe. Glory is to be given to God. It's a very simple thing. Very simple thing. And we know 
this. But brethren, glory is to be 
given to God. We don't give glory, we don't 
give praise, we don't render homage and worship unto angels 
and men, unto creatures of any kind. Glory is to be given to 
God. You see, this portion of the 
narrative follows a biblical pattern. We have truths given. We have the reasons for those 
truths, and then we have praise given to God. We see this in 
the epistles. We see this everywhere, but we 
see this in the epistles. Truths are given. Reasons for 
the truths, generally speaking, reasons for those truths are 
given. Praise is given to God. We think of the epistles, the 
epistles of Paul, the epistles in the New Testament. We have 
doctrinal truths given. We have the application of those 
things. And then we have very often benedictions 
and doxologies given to close those epistles. Jude is a perfect 
example. Now to him who is able to keep 
you from stumbling. And to present you faultless 
before his presence with great joy. You see, glory to God in 
the high. And it's an amazing thing. It's 
an amazing thing, the fact that angels are singing this. Think 
about this for a moment, the fact that angels are singing 
glory to God in the highest and on earth. Well, just for a moment, 
that is one of the reasons angels were created, the elect angels, 
the elect angels to sing the praises of the triune God. Another reason, obviously, angels 
were created, we find in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews 114, 
that angels are ministering spirits sent to minister to those who 
will inherit salvation. So we see it only right and proper 
for angels to do what they're created and to render praise 
to God, in a sense, for vindicating the reason for their very creation, 
which was to minister to those who will inherit salvation. But 
we ought to come to this passage and as Christians who can, You 
can tell me later if you're wrong, who can be found to engage in 
a languor and a coldness with regards to remembering Jesus. 
That's why Spurgeon wrote or preached the sermon, Remembering 
Jesus, on First Corinthians 11, the giving of the Lord's Supper, 
the inauguration of the Lord's Supper, because he said, even 
as Christians, we're very often prone, we are prone to give or 
to remember, give attention to everything else, save for Christ 
in a day. Save for Christ in a day. You 
see the angels. Why are we indicted by the angels 
singing? Because the shed blood of Jesus 
Christ, the Savior, the shed blood of this Christ, the Lord, 
the shed blood of this one who was once a babe wrapped in swaddling 
cloths, lying in a manger, was not efficacious for the salvation 
of angels. They did not take upon themselves 
or Jesus did not take upon himself the nature of an angel. He took 
upon himself the nature, the form of the sons of Abraham, 
the sons of men, that he might redeem men from their sins, that 
he came in the fullness of the times to redeem those men who 
were under. The curse of the law, the angels 
who find who find themselves the non recipients of the redemptive 
blessings of the triune God, nevertheless, sing the praises 
of that self-same God, because the glory, the glory of God would 
be seen and was shown as God manifested in the flesh. God 
in a feed trough. The glory of God would be seen 
as this babe grows to be a man and marches that march of ignominy 
to the cross, put to death upon that cross, nails, Roman nails 
hammered into his hands, a crown of mockery pounded into his head. The angels knew the glory disclosed 
in the gospel, the glory disclosed in the good tidings of great 
joy, which would be to all people. And their hymn ought to be glorious 
to us, but it ought to be indicting also. When have we sang or when 
have we in any form or how often have we in any form rendered 
this honor and this singing of majesty and praise to the triune 
God of Holy Scripture? And it's for a specific reason. 
honor of peace, goodwill toward men. Very often this saying and 
this text is hijacked and popularized and generalized to mean, you 
know, translated into fuzzy feelings between December 7th and December 
or January 2nd. And after that, you know what? 
Nah, no more good tidings and no more, you know, honor of peace 
because it's not that time of year anymore. And that doesn't 
mean, to these people who popularize it and generalize it, redemptive 
things and the glories of God's redemptive plan being fulfilled 
in the person and the work. Perfect person in the work of 
Jesus Christ. But just a fuzzy feeling when you give somebody 
red rose tea or whatever it might be. You gift them with something 
at this particular time of year. On earth peace, the angels are 
praising God for Jesus Christ. They're praising God for Jesus 
Christ coming in the flesh. Often Gil makes a note here, 
and other theologians do also, that this certainly doesn't mean 
national peace, though national peace is a great thing. Political 
peace is a great thing. We ought not to seek to be at 
war with one another as a general rule. I'd like to get along. 
It's a good thing. Contentions are a negative thing. But that's not what's in view 
here. He says what he says, actually, what's not specifically in view 
is the peace that Jesus Christ brings, even Gil says. But specifically, 
Jesus Christ is in view. Peace manifested in the flesh. This is spoken of in that passage 
in Micah, the prophet five, two. If we were to read on, it says 
in this one will be peace to you. This one will be peace. The Apostle Paul picks up this 
glorious truth in Ephesians 2, for he himself is our peace. The passage in Isaiah 9. He's 
the prince of peace. Glory to God in the highest for 
Jesus Christ and goodwill towards men. Most likely, this has to 
do with the redemptive blessings that God brings to his elect 
through Jesus Christ, who is peace. So the angels here aren't 
singing about national peace and buying your neighbor red 
rose tea. They're singing the glory and the majesty and the 
splendor of the triune God in fulfilling perfectly their redemptive 
plan in Jesus Christ. And we ought to sing along with 
these angels. Glory to God in the highest. Glory to God in 
the highest, because on earth, peace came. And in him, God expressed 
his divine and perfect goodwill to his people, to the praise 
of his glory and to the praise of his grace. So in closing, 
brethren, one of the things we ought to know is our faith in 
our preaching is not futile. Why? Our faith in our preaching 
is not futile. Why? Because of the veracity, 
the certain truthfulness, the perfect, consistent accuracy 
of God's holy word. Our faith is not futile. It's 
full. Our preaching is not futile, it's full, because Jesus Christ 
really and truly came in time and in history to fulfill the 
promises made. And he did make it so that the 
promises were kept. We ought to stand amazed at the 
condescension of our Savior. God in a feed trough. Think about 
that. God in a feed trough. The incarnation is not something 
that we find familiar. We set it aside. Let's move on 
to greater doctrines, whatever those may be. Let's get into 
trivial rabbit trails of eschatology. Rejoice in those things familiar. 
The ABCs of Christianity. We ought to come back to those 
frequently, daily, hourly. We come back to those ABCs of 
Christianity. God is in Christ reconciling 
the world to himself. Ensure we have the proper focus. We ought to ensure we have the 
proper focus. We don't have our thoughts terminating 
upon the babe-wrapped and swaddling cloths lying in a manger, but 
rather upon the content, the glorious constituent elements 
of the gospel, Jesus Christ upon the cross, working out the salvation 
of sinners, rising again the third day for our justification. And then lastly, we ought to 
be stirred to praise our God. How do we do that? Well, we have 
this, these 66 books that are sure, that are veritable, that 
are true, that are consistent, consistently, not just consistently, 
consistently. But you see, some people like 
to think that the word of God, that the Bible isn't the word 
of God, but it contains the word of God. You see, there might 
be some errors in there, but those things that pertain to 
salvation, Jesus Christ, those are true. But you see, it just 
contains, no, it is the word of God, infallible. and inerrant 
in all its parts, and therefore trustworthy in all it affirms. 
We ought to praise our God for the glorious salvation by Jesus 
Christ and pray, God, that we would have opportunity to speak 
to others of his glories, his riches, and his excellencies. 
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you 
for our Savior. We thank you for this disclosure 
of our blessed Redeemer in Holy Scripture. And we thank you, 
Lord, that you condescended to reveal yourself to us. We thank 
you, Lord Jesus Christ, that you came in the fullness of the 
times, born of a woman, born under the law, that you might 
redeem your elect. And we just praise you, Lord 
Jesus, for doing all of this, for enduring and steadfastly 
marching to the shame of the cross. on behalf of guilty sinners. And we thank you that your work 
is perfect. And we just we just pray that 
you would help us not to be found in a languor and in a coldness 
concerning the blessed things of gospel truth, but that you 
would daily stir us up to glorious apprehensions of your redemptive 
work. We thank you, Holy Spirit, for applying the benefits of 
Christ's perfect cross work. We do pray that you'd be with 
us We know that you promised to be so, and we do ask that 
you would help us to be illumined by the scriptures, that you would 
come as that infallible teacher and impress the words of holiest 
scripture upon our hearts, that we might daily glory in you. 
We might daily glory in our triune God, and that we would have occasion 
to speak to others concerning the gospel of our blessed Savior. 
We pray that you'd go with each and every one of us now. We just 
pray that you'd help us to in light of all these glorious truths 
of Jesus Christ, that we would go into this world living in 
a manner consistent with that, living in a manner worthy of 
our profession. We pray all of these things in 
the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.