Good News of Great Joy Luke 2:8-20

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On November 22nd, 1963, the American people were shocked to hear the news that the president had been shot in Dallas, Texas.
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Shortly after the initial reports of the shooting, news anchor Walter Cronkite came on the air and delivered this news.
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From Dallas, Texas, the flash, apparently official,
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President Kennedy died. At 1 p .m. Central Standard Time, 2 o 'clock
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Eastern Standard Time, some 38 minutes ago. The American people were stunned to hear this news.
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When they woke up that morning, they had no idea that they were going to be delivered the most horrible news imaginable.
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Some of you remember that day. Today is also about news, but it is not about bad news, but good news, the greatest news that this world has ever heard.
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Today on this Christmas Eve, we are going to look at the story where great news was delivered to the shepherds in Israel.
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The text we are going to be looking at is Luke chapter 2, verses 8 through 20, and what we are going to see today is the news of a
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Savior King coming into the world. This news was delivered to the shepherds, to you and me, and it's been delivered to the whole world.
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And I encourage you to open your Bibles with me as we look at this text in Luke chapter 2, verses 8 through 20, and if you're using a
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Red Pew Bible, it's on pages 1018 and 1019. And what this sermon is calling you to do today is to set your mind on the most important news of all this
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Christmas. To set your mind on the most important news of all this Christmas. And we're going to see three reasons why.
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The first reason is the King was born to offer salvation to all people.
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Earlier in the service, the birth of Jesus Christ was read in our call to worship in verses 1 through 7, and that's at the stage for the text we're looking at right now.
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In the verses following, we will see that the news gets out that Jesus was born, and this is how it happened.
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In verses 8 through 10. And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night, and an angel of the
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Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.
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And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
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In verse 8, we see Jewish shepherds are watching over their flock in close proximity to where Jesus was born.
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Of course, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, so they were somewhere within that region.
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Then, in verse 9, these shepherds get the surprise of a lifetime. A messenger from heaven, an angel appears to them.
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Could you imagine that? You're just going through your day, going through your business, and all of a sudden, an angel appears to you.
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As a messenger from the Lord, this angel brings the glory of God along with him. And what happens when humans see the glory of God with their eyes?
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As you read the Bible, this is a common theme. When humans see the glory of God with their eyes, they are frightened.
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This is why all throughout scripture, angels say when they appear to a human, Do not be afraid.
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The angel's words to them are no different in verse 10. This brings us to the main focus of our sermon today.
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The angel comes to share news. This is not the bad news that Walter Cronkite shared to the
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American people in 1963. This is so much different. This is very good news.
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In the second half of verse 10, the angel says, I bring you good news of great joy.
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The angel does not just say, I bring you good news, as if that were enough. He says,
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I bring you good news of great joy. This is the best possible news the shepherds could have heard that the
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Christ, the long -awaited Messiah that Israel had hoped for was finally coming in to the world.
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And at this point, you have to put yourself in the shoes of these people, the shoes of an
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Israelite. You have to understand how significant this news was for them.
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Throughout the Old Testament, there are numerous prophecies that predicted that the
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Messiah was going to come into the world. The word Messiah means anointed one.
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The word Christ is the Greek translation of that word. And the
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New Testament is written in Greek, and this is why he is called Jesus Christ. Christ is not his last name.
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Christ is a title that is attached to his name. Now the question we must ask ourselves, is this great news of great joy only for Israel, or is it for everyone?
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The end of verse 10 gives us this answer. It says here,
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I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
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The angel says that this news, this great news, is for everyone. Not just for Israel, but for Gentiles also.
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Gentiles are non -Jews, so this news is for the whole world. Then the angel tells us what this news is in verses 11 and 12.
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For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the
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Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
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The angel reports the news that happened not too long before. The one that all
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Israel had hoped for, that he would come into the world. These shepherds find out that he is not only the
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Messiah, but also God. And this was quite a revelation to them.
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In verse 11, the angel calls him Christ the Lord. Now I already mentioned that Christ means
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Messiah. And the Lord, or Yahweh, is the name for God in the
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Old Testament. The Old Testament was completed in about 400 B .C.
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with the book of Malachi. And the New Testament was written in about the first century A .D. There was an in -between period, known as the intertestamental period, where a lot of the
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Jews didn't know the Hebrew language anymore. They knew the Greek language. And so there needed to be a translation of the
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Old Testament. And so the Old Testament was translated into Greek. And this was known as the Septuagint.
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And in that translation, the name Yahweh, which appears throughout the
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Old Testament, was translated into the word LORD. And so if you read your Old Testament, you will see the word
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LORD in all caps. That is the name for God. That is Yahweh. And so here in the
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New Testament, when this word LORD is used here in this account in Luke 2, it has the name of Yahweh attached to it.
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So this is not... He's not just the Messiah. He's not just the king.
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He is God. He is Christ the Lord. This is the great wonder of this day,
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Christmas Day. God becomes man. This is known as the incarnation. And we should ponder this wonderful reality constantly, that God became man.
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And this is something we can never think about too much. Now this news that the angel reported, why does this matter?
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You might be here today and you might wonder, why does this matter to me? Why is the birth of Jesus Christ so important?
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After all, aren't other holidays celebrated as we honor great people from history?
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Is Jesus just one of those people? The answer is no. Jesus is so much more important than anyone else.
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He's the most significant person in the history of the world. Because what you do with him determines where you will spend forever.
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This recognition of the birth of Jesus Christ is so important because this baby is the only hope for the world.
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And that is a big statement, but it is a true statement. When Mary was pregnant, an angel of the
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Lord appeared to Joseph and told him, in Matthew 121, she will bear a son and you shall call his name
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Jesus. For he will save his people from their sins. He is the
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Savior, not just for Israel, but for all the people, as the end of verse 10 says.
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He is called Savior because he delivers people from their bondage to sin and brings them to God.
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And that's when you see the word Savior here, the Israelites, what they thought was that this Messiah was going to deliver them from their enemies.
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What you have to understand is that for hundreds of years, the Israelites were under captivity.
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They were under captivity from Babylon and Persia and Greco -Macedonia and now the
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Roman Empire. And they're under captivity and they want to be delivered from their enemies. They had enemies from the west, enemies from the north, enemies from the east.
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And they wanted to be delivered and they thought this Messiah is going to come and he's going to save us, he's going to deliver us.
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What this text is telling us is that he's not just going to save his people from their enemies, he's going to save his people from their sins.
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And that's what Jesus accomplished in his first coming, is he saved people from their sins.
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Now, 40 days after the birth of Jesus, he was presented at the temple. And this is what Simeon said of Jesus as he held him in his arms.
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He said, my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the
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Gentiles. And the rest of the New Testament gives this big picture of this savior for the whole world.
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Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins. John 3 .16 says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
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Acts 4 .12 says, there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
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God sent his son into the world to become a man to save sinners and also to be the king.
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As I already mentioned, Israel wanted him, this Messiah, to deliver them from their enemies.
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And you know what, he's going to do that. He's going to come again. And what he's going to do when he comes again is he's going to establish a forever kingdom.
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And he will in that way deliver his people from their enemies. But first and foremost, he's delivering people from their sins, from their bondage to sin.
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He is not just a savior, but also a king, a savior king. And the people whom
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Jesus saves will be the ones who populate his kingdom that will go on forever and ever and ever.
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When the angel Gabriel foretold the birth of Jesus, this is what he said in Luke 1 .32.
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He said, he will be great and will be called son of the most high. And the
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Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.
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And of his kingdom there will be no end. The king of the world is also the savior of the world.
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When he came to this world, the first time he humbled himself by dying on the cross for sinners. And when he returns, he will come in power to establish his kingdom forever.
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John 3 .17 tells us why he came the first time. It says, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
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So that's what he accomplished in his first coming. The New Testament later tells us what will happen at his second coming.
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In Hebrews 9 .28, the author of Hebrews writes, so Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time.
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Not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
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If you believe in Jesus, if you sincerely believe in Jesus, your sins will be forgiven and you will be with him in his kingdom forever.
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What wonderful news this is. This is what Christmas is all about. It's about Jesus and what he's done and who he is.
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This is the first reason you must set your mind on the most important news of all this Christmas. The king was born to offer salvation to all people, including you.
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The second reason you must set your mind on the most important news of all this Christmas is peace comes only to those who believe.
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Verses 13 and 14. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising
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God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.
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So as the shepherds are still standing outside, they went from seeing one angel to numerous. And verse 13 tells us that there's a host of angels.
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That appear to them. So not just one, but a host. And a host of angels is literally thousands of angels.
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If you could see people in a stadium, there's thousands of people in a stadium. Imagine if that were all angels.
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Could you imagine that? What that would have been like for these shepherds? And these angels are praising
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God for sending Jesus to the world as the long awaited Messiah and the savior of the world.
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And they praise God and they say in verse 14, glory to God in the highest.
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Do you ever wonder what angels do or what is their purpose?
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Hebrews 1 .14 tells us that they are ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.
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So angels are put here to serve those who belong to Jesus Christ.
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So if you are here today, they minister to you if you belong to Jesus. And what's fascinating is that we are so interested in angels.
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And you know what? Angels are interested in us. Angels are in this room right now.
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They are very interested in what is happening here as God's people gather together in worship.
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This is really a wonderful supernatural experience when you think about it. We can't see them, but they're here.
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And they're observing what is happening in this place. So one of their roles is to serve you, to serve the redeemed.
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And they also proclaim praises to God nonstop. Do you remember the account in Isaiah 6 where Isaiah is standing before the throne?
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One angel called to another, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. And in Revelation 4 and 5, we see angels worshiping
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God as they say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.
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So you get the picture. Angels worship God continuously. And this is what they are doing here.
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They are worshiping God. And this is the model that we must follow.
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And that's, you have to ask yourself that question. Do you praise God continuously?
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This is something we must do. God alone is worthy of our worship. No one else in the universe is worthy of our worship.
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But God is. And that's what we must do. We should praise him continually. And God is worthy of all of our praise, all the honor and all the glory.
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Now in verse 14b, the angels address humanity.
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And what they say here is, On earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased.
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This is a verse that many have interpreted wrongly over the years. The wrong way to interpret this is,
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Peace on earth and goodwill toward men. Meaning that Christ brings goodwill to all humanity.
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Some manuscripts say this. But what the ESV says, which is the Bible that we're using here.
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But what the ESV says is what many other manuscripts say. And it is correct because it fits the theology of the
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New Testament. That only believers have peace with God. You have probably heard peace on earth and goodwill toward men.
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In a Christmas song or a Christmas play. One of the reasons it has been interpreted wrongly.
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Is because of the universal statement in verse 10. That the good news that Jesus brings is to all the people.
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Now Jesus coming into the world is good news. Because the offer of salvation is for everyone.
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That is what the all statement in verse 10 is getting at. That people all over the world, Jews and Gentiles, will be saved.
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But it only benefits those who believe. The offer is to the whole world.
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But salvation is only given to those who receive it. So there is only one group that has peace on earth.
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It is those whom Jesus has saved. These are those on earth that God is pleased with.
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As Romans 5 .1 says, Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God. Through our
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Lord Jesus Christ. God is only pleased with you if you are united to Christ.
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And belong to the family of God. And you get there by believing that Jesus earned your salvation for you.
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When he went to the cross and paid the penalty for your sins. And he bore the wrath of God.
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The wrath that you deserve. And then he was raised from the dead victoriously. If you believe that, then you have peace with God.
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You are saved. God is not pleased with you if you do not have a relationship with Jesus.
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Romans 8 .8 says that those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Those in the flesh are describing unbelievers.
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So I ask you today, do you have peace with God? Do you believe that Jesus died in your place and paid the penalty that you deserve for your sins?
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If you sincerely believe this, then God is pleased with you. And if not, you do not have peace with God.
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I say this honestly because this is what you need to hear. This is the message of scripture.
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This is the message to the whole world. This Christmas, I plead with you to make sure that you have peace with God through Jesus Christ.
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And I know that many of you in this room have this peace with the Lord. But in a room this size, there are some who do not.
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What will you do with the most important news you have ever heard? C .S.
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Lewis once said that the Christian faith is either of greatest importance or of no importance.
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And I'm here to tell you today that it is of great importance so that what you do with Jesus determines where you will spend forever.
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This news stares you right in the face and you either receive it or you reject it.
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But either way, there's consequences. Either good consequences, eternal life, or eternal hell, separation from God.
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You cannot be indifferent to it because what you do with it will determine where you spend forever. Jesus is the gift that God has offered to the world.
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Will you receive him and have eternal life? My prayer and my hope is that you will. This is the second reason you must set your mind on the most important news of all this
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Christmas. Peace comes only to those who believe. The third reason you must set your mind on the most important news of all this
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Christmas is God's people treasure this news. God's people treasure this news.
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After the shepherds heard this world -changing news and the angels praising God for it, they desired to go and see him.
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And this is what verse 15 says. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the
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Lord has made known to us. So this is what they did in verses 16 and 17.
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And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
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So the shepherds found him and we see that there were others there along with Mary and Joseph.
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Okay, so there's Mary and Joseph. There's the shepherds, the shepherds that came from the field. Obviously, baby
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Jesus in the manger. And then there are also these other people who are there.
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And we're going to look at who these people, who these are the response of these people here. As the shepherds were standing in the manger, they reported the wonderful things that the angels had told them about this baby, that he was the long -awaited
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Messiah and the savior of the world. Verse 18 tells us that those who are also present heard the shepherds share this news.
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And it says that those who heard this incredible news about the Messiah wondered what the shepherds said.
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So these people, not Mary and Joseph, but these people who are also there, they wondered what they said.
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The people reflected on the news they heard and saw with their eyes. But this text hints that they may not have believed it.
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All it says is they wondered at what the shepherds said.
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The text leaves you hanging about whether or not they received it or rejected it. It may have had an impact as they considered its importance, but their immediate response to this news is not what it should have been.
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We know this because Mary's response is shown in contrast to theirs. And her response is the correct one.
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In verse 19, it says that Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
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So Mary believes this news about Jesus with all of her heart. Mary had already heard who this child was going to be.
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And as these shepherds are sharing this news about these angels appearing to them and telling them about this good news, she is agreeing with what they're saying.
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And she's treasuring it because she knows that it's true. And she loves it.
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She does not just ponder its significance like the people who were there that did. She fully embraces this news about Jesus.
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And in verse 20, the shepherds had a similar response as Mary. And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising
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God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them. So they also treasure this news about Jesus.
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And we know that because they praised God as they went away. Do you know what true belief in Christ is according to scripture?
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This is very important. In our culture, belief has been reduced to merely intellectually agreeing with something.
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You know, people say, yes, they believe there's a God. This is, and this is part of true belief, but it is not the whole thing.
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If we stop here, we have missed it. True to believe is not only to think that God is there and that Jesus died and rose again to save you.
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But it is also to treasure Christ or value or love or count him as precious.
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It's to love Jesus more than anything. The apostle Paul, who wrote 13 letters in the
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New Testament, you can see his sincere love for Christ. But what he says in Philippians 2, sorry,
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Philippians 3, he says, I consider everything as loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing
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Jesus Christ, my Lord. He says, I consider them rubbish that I may gain
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Christ. Paul treasured Jesus above all things.
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And what Jesus said in Matthew 13, when he talked about finding the kingdom of heaven, he said, it's like finding a treasure in the field and selling everything that you have because you're so satisfied with that treasure that you've found.
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And that treasure is him. It's him and his kingdom. So to believe is not only to think that God is there and that Jesus died and rose again, but also to treasure
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Christ and to value him above all. My old pastor used to say, not everyone who professes
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Christ possesses Christ. So do you possess Christ?
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Do you treasure him above all else? Because if you do, that means you're born again. That means you truly have a relationship with Christ.
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That means you truly have peace with God. So have you embraced this news with joy?
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God's people ought to treasure this news, this Christmas, about the savior king who will reign forever.
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Do you treasure the thought of who Jesus is and what he has done? True belief is like that of Mary and the shepherds.
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They treasure this news. They praise God for it. You believe it and you also rejoice over this good news.
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That's what true faith is. The third reason you must set your mind on the most important news of all this
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Christmas is that God, God's people treasure this news and we ought to treasure Jesus more and more in our lives.
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So this sermon this morning has called you to set your mind on the most important news of all this
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Christmas. And we have seen three reasons why. The first is the king was born to offer salvation to all people.
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The second was peace comes only to those who believe. The third reason is God's people treasure this news.
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54 years ago, Walter Cronkite delivered the worst imaginable news to the
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American people. The president had been assassinated. 2 ,000 years ago, an angel from heaven delivered the best imaginable news to the world.
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The savior king has come to save those who will one day reign with him.
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This news has already changed many of your lives forever. Those of you who know Christ, but to those, and to those of us who have been changed by this news, we must ponder this and treasure
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Jesus in our hearts more and more. We can never treasure him too much. We should always aim to treasure him more and more.
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And for some of you today, this may be the beginning for you to have a relationship with Jesus, the treasure of the universe.
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And my prayer is that you would receive him. How will you respond to this news that has been delivered to you?
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This news that you don't have the option to be indifferent towards.
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What you do with Jesus is the most important thing that you face in your life.
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You need Christ. And my prayer is that everyone in this room would know Christ as Lord and savior and treasure.
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Let's pray. Father in heaven, that is my prayer, is that those,
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Lord, who have heard this sermon would treasure Christ above all else.
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This Christmas, with all the distractions that are around it, that Jesus would be at the forefront.
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Satan has done a masterful job of distracting people about the wonder of the incarnation and how important it is,
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Lord, for us to ponder this. And so may we do that this Christmas. And may we treasure
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Christ, the savior king above all else. In Jesus name, amen.