The Adoration of the Angelic Host

Recap of Previous Sermons: Setting and Substance of the Good News

0:04 This sermon was based on Sunday morning, December 27th, 1981, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. I encourage you to turn in your Bibles with me to the second chapter of Luke's Gospel, the Gospel of Luke and the second chapter.

0:29 And I shall read in your hearing the very familiar verses, verses 1 through 14. But as I suggested last Lord's Day, so I would do again, try to listen and follow the reading of these words as though you were hearing them for the first time. Luke's Gospel, chapter 2.

0:56 Now it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to enroll themselves, everyone to his own city. And 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 family of David, to enroll himself with Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great with childhood.

1:36 And it came to pass while they were there. The days were fulfilled that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field and keeping watch by night over their flock.

2:03 And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them. And they were sore afraid, and the angel said unto them, Be not afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the peoples. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this is the sign unto you, you shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

2:42 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men, in whom he is well pleased. We come this morning to our third meditation in this marvelous portion of God's own infallible word. And although I take no carnally...

3:14 ...delight in destroying myths and bursting the bubbles of unbiblical tradition, I do delight in seeking to open up what God has deposited in his own word.

3:28 And this I attempted to do last Lord's Day morning and evening. And for the benefit of those who were not with us, I do want to take just a few minutes to give in capsule form what we discovered in our careful examination...

3:44 ...of the first thirteen verses of this chapter.

3:49 We began by asserting that the central focus of this entire portion of Luke's narrative is to be found in the good news brought by the angels sent from heaven to the shepherds on a Judean hillside. The focal point of attention is not the narrative of the journey from one place...

4:14 to another, nor is it the peculiar circumstances surrounding the shepherds, but the focal point of this passage is the good news, the verbal proclamation which the angel brought, by which the events recorded are interpreted. They are not self-interpreting events, and we could have stared at those factors until our eyes grew weary in their sockets and never understood the significance of this babe lying in a feeding trough in a cave somewhere in Bethlehem. And

4:56 because the emphasis in the passage falls upon the good news which the angel brought, I have chosen in our study of the passage to make that the organizing principle. And so last Lord's Day we looked at the setting of the good news of the angel, and that setting is given to us in verses 1 through 9, the trip to Jerusalem and the birth of Jesus in an animal shelter in verses 1 to 7, and then this strange visitation of an angel and the manifestation of the Shekinah glory to these shepherds. Then we concentrated our attention on the substance of the good news. And so last Lord's Day we looked at the setting of the good news of the angel,

5:40 that the angel brought. From the setting we moved on to an examination of the substance, verses 10 through 12. And we discovered in our careful study of the passage that it was good news announcing that a unique person had been born in a special place to accomplish a glorious task. It was Christ the Lord. It was Jehovah incarnate, a unique person.

6:10 Born in a specific place, the city of David, identifying him as the promised one of Micah 5 and verse 2. And then he was born to accomplish a glorious task. He was born a savior, a deliverer, a deliverer from sin and its consequences. And then we noted that in the second place, the substance of the good news was this. It was good news,

6:39 calculated to remove all dread of God. The first words of the angel were, stop being afraid. And in the light of the following announcement, all necessity for the dread of God is removed for those who will embrace the Savior, who has died for sinners and has risen from the dead, the Savior born that first Christmas morning. And then we know that in the third place, that it was good news intended for all mankind. The angel said to the

7:16 shepherds, unto you, and then to all the peoples. And then in verse 14, the generic term for mankind is used, goodwill among men or peace upon earth among men. And then finally we noted it was good news confirmed by an unlikely sign. This shall be the sign of the good news. And then we

7:39 noted that in the third place, that it was good news intended for all mankind. The angel said to you, you shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a feeding trough. And in that sign, God reveals the great principle by which the salvation of Christ will be brought to pass. God making known his mighty power in the midst of weakness. Now, if you desire to have the full

8:05 dose of what I've given you in about four minutes, tapes of last week, I've given you a full day of the Lord's Day's ministry, are available. And you can see Mr. Philbrook about obtaining them. But now this morning, we want to move on in our consideration of this passage from the setting of the good news of the angel, the substance of the good news of the angel, to the sequel to the good news of the angel. And that's found in verses 14 through 20. And all we're going to do this morning

The Identity of the Angelic Host: Army of Heaven

8:38 is to look at the first and final passage of the Lord's Day's ministry. And I'll be coming back aspect of that sequel to the good news of the angel, namely the adoration of the angelic host, verses 13 and 14. 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 among men in whom he is well pleased. Consider with me, first of all, as we seek to open up now this first dimension of the sequel to the good news of the angel, the adoration of the

9:21 heavenly host, consider with me their identity. The text as it stands before us in the 1901 edition says, Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, and a multitude of the heavenly host. A more literal rendering would be this, a multitude of the army of heaven. That is a very crassly literal rendering. But I give it to you because

9:55 there is great significance in the description of this great host of angelic beings described to us as a multitude of the heavenly host. The army of heaven. Now we know that this army of heaven was comprised of angels, for verse 15 says, And it came to pass when the angels, plural, went away from them. An angel was there speaking. The angel, singular, brought the message, Don't be afraid, a Savior is

10:32 born. Now Luke says, There was a multitude of the army of heaven. And then later on he says, The angels. So this multitude of the army of heaven are indeed angels. But they are angels described as a large segment of the

10:54 vast army of heaven. You see, the angels could have been described as the chorus of heaven, but they are not so described. They are described as part of the army of heaven. And that is not without purpose. And perhaps the most wonderful summary statement

11:16 of this aspect of the function and identity of angels is given to us in the 103rd Psalm. Turn there for a moment, if you will, please. Psalm 103. In this Psalm in which David is calling upon all of created reality to praise God.

11:38 It says in verse 20, Bless the Lord, you his angels that are mighty in strength, that fulfill his word, hearkening to the voice of his word. Bless the Lord, all you his hosts, you ministers of his that do his pleasure. Now notice as David calls upon the angels to bless God. He describes them as that host who are mighty in strength, who exist to fulfill and hearken

12:18 to his words, who minister to him in the accomplishment of his pleasure or his will. Now as I said earlier, I have no great delight in bursting bubbles, but I do delight in destroying myths that keep the power of the word alive. I have no great delight in destroying the power of the word of God from impinging upon our consciousness. And when we read that in the sequel to the angels' glorious good news that there was appearing with this particular angel singular

12:55 a multitude of the army of heaven, we must forever erase from our minds this notion of rather effeminate looking winged creatures who would be the very same as the angels. And when we read that in the sequel to the angels' glorious good news that there was appearing with this particular angel singular, we must forever erase from our minds this notion of rather effeminate looking winged creatures who would be the very same as the angels. This was a multitude of the army of God who are mighty in strength, who wait upon the will and word of God, and accomplish his purposes. And throughout redemption history, angels were often called upon to accomplish some

13:36 of the most frightening missions of judgment upon men. It was angels that went forth from forth and brought destruction to the entire camp of the Syrians by the thousands. It was an angel who came and brought judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah, or at least announced that coming judgment. And you'll remember in 2 Kings, when the prophet Elisha is going out and facing the camp of the Syrians, and his servant with him is fearful. He says, O Lord, open his eyes. And when

14:12 the eyes of the servant of Elisha were opened, this is recorded in 2 Kings chapter 6, what did he see? He saw the angels in the form of mighty warriors in chariots of fire. He didn't see these effeminate creatures with wings who wouldn't hurt a flea. He saw the mighty armies of God in chariots of fire. And so as we seek to identify those who are engaged in worship,

14:42 in this passage, we must think of the angels in biblical terms. You'll remember Jesus described them in military terms as well. In Matthew 26 and verse 53, when they came to apprehend our Lord, he said, don't you think that I could even now ask my father and he would send me what? Twelve legions of angels, a legion being 6,000. He said, if my word, 72,000 angels would come to do what?

15:12 To fan your faces with their wings? And to smile sweet little, sweet little smiles? No, no. He said I could send them to rescue and deliver me. They would come as mighty conquerors. So that picture

15:30 of the angels that is given to us according to the word of God is that they come a great multitude out of the vast army of God, a vast army deeply committed to the glory of God. That ancient conflict begun in the Garden of Eden, when God said, I will put warfare between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, and angels have been an integral part of that ongoing warfare. And now, when the great champion in that warfare is born to crush the head of the serpent, the angels come forth to stand with the angel and to make a glorious announcement concerning the glory of God. And when the great champion in that warfare is born to crush the

16:14 head of the serpent, what the champion will bring to pass by his mighty work. And so in the book of the Revelation, we read in chapter 5, verses 11 and 12, that the angels, though they do not partake personally of the redemptive work of Christ in the sense that they are sinners who need a divine substitute, yet they are deeply involved in that work. For we find them in Revelation 5, entering into the praise of God. And we find them in the praise of God. And we find them in the praise of

16:44 and worship of the crucified Redeemer as he is manifested in glory in that vision of Revelation chapter 5. Listen to the language. And I saw and I heard a voice of many angels round about the throne and the living creatures and the elders. And the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands, saying with a great voice, Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain. And so they are deeply involved. And the scripture says

17:24 that when we come to Christ and partake of his salvation, we come into a communion with the very angels of God. In Hebrews chapter 12, verse 22, ye are come unto Mount Zion and unto a company of angels. Now then, so much for the identity of those who bring this glorious word. It was a multitude of the army of God, angels, these spirit beings who assume for divine purposes and to accomplish the divine will,

18:05 physical appearance on certain occasions. Angels who, though not sinful and personally partaking of the substitutionary death of Christ, are not sinners. And so they are deeply involved in the work of Christ, are nonetheless deeply involved in the indirect benefactors and the constant assistance of God in the accomplishment of the work of redemption. So much then for their identity. Now what does the text say about their

The Activity of the Angelic Host: Appearance and Proclamation

18:32 activity? Look at the text. Three things. It says they appear, secondly they speak, and thirdly they return to heaven. First of all, they appear. They appear. They appear. They appear. They appear. They appear. They appear. They appear.

18:46 And the text is very clear that this appearance was marked by suddenness. And suddenly, one modern paraphraser has rendered it, and quick as a flash, suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the army of heaven. They appear with shocking suddenness. And what does that mean? It means they appear. They appear. They appear. They appear. They appear. They appear.

19:18 And one almost gets the picture of a multitude of angels surrounding the throne of God as they wait for the bidding of his own word to them. And it's as though they're chomping at the bit, straining to join in that announcement that the one angel is made, and no sooner has his word been completed, there is born a Savior, Christ the Lord,

19:47 in the city of David, when quick as a flash, suddenly this multitude of the army of God appears in all of its brilliance. That word suddenly is the same word used to describe the appearance of that brilliant light in conjunction with the conversion of the Apostle Paul in Acts 9.3 and in Acts 22 and verse 6. Now what's the significance?

20:17 The significance of that sudden appearance. Well, I certainly don't want to read in anything that is not in the text, nor take out of it something God has not put there, but it does seem to me that at least this much can be said with some degree of certainty. The suddenness was intended to underscore the sovereignty of this revelation of God. Heaven was coming down.

20:47 Heaven was coming down to earth with a ruthless graciousness. You see, in all of man's efforts to pick himself up by his own bootstraps and, as it were, to elevate himself into the world of spiritual reality, the element of gradualness and the length of time it takes for a man to get into the proper frame where he is susceptible to the spirit world, that's the emphasis. That's the emphasis. That's the emphasis.

21:19 That's the emphasis. In all Eastern religions, mind cults, meditation cults, you see, that world is there, but only those who shut out this present world to the degree that is necessary can penetrate into the mystery world of spiritual reality. But that's not the emphasis here. These shepherds weren't out on a hillside meditating.

21:42 It's as they were watching sheep. All of their faculties were concentrated upon looking for the presence of a world. Looking for the shadowy movements of someone who might come to steal one of the lambs out of the flock. Their minds were engaged with very earthly and mundane but God-glorifying tasks when suddenly, out of heaven, God breaks into their consciousness.

22:10 And you see, the emphasis falls then upon the gracious sovereignty of God intruding upon their world with the world. And you see, the emphasis falls then upon the gracious sovereignty of God intruding upon their world with the world. Of spiritual reality.

22:25 And then the second thing that is said about their activity, not only that they appeared, but that they spoke. Now, two verbal forms are used to describe this activity of speaking. Look at the text. Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the army of God, army of heaven, praising God.

22:48 Now, I'm sorry to burst another bubble. It doesn't say, and singing. Look at your Bibles. It says, praising God and saying.

23:00 Now, the word for praising is a word only used with reference to praise rendered to the Almighty in Holy Scripture. So, it always refers to bringing to God homage and adoration. And then the word for saying is the standard word in the New Testament for verbal communication. Whether oral or written.

23:26 And it's used literally several hundred times. And as I have checked the references, at least to this point, to my knowledge, there are only two instances in all of the New Testament where it's found in conjunction with singing. And there the word singing is used. And that's in Revelation chapter 5 and verse 9.

23:49 And Revelation 15 and verse 3. It says, And they said, So that we can say in a musical form. That's a possibility. But there is nothing in the text to assert that they sang.

24:09 And the overriding use of the word for communication, praising God and saying, would indicate that they did not sing. That this was some kind of a verbal chant or expression. That it came not in a musical form. Now, does that disappoint you?

24:31 If it does, my friend, your attachment to the passage may be predominantly sentimental. Because the significance is not the form in which the words came, but the substance of the words themselves. And if the substance could not be appreciated without musical form, God would have made sure that the angels sang and that Luke told us that they sang. But it doesn't tell us that.

The Substance of the Angelic Proclamation: Glory and Peace

24:58 It says they were praising God and saying. Now, what was the substance of what they said? And that's the core of what the passage sets before us. Now, immediately we have a problem.

25:15 Because if you have the old authorized version, commonly called the King James Version, then you are familiar with the words that are perhaps most well known by most people in conjunction with the so-called Christmas story. And they go like this. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace or peace on earth goodwill towards men. Now, if that's what the angels said, then you have three distinct ideas.

25:50 Glory is ascribed to God in the highest places. Peace is said to come upon the earth. And, goodwill is said now to be dispensed or manifested among men. Three distinct ideas then.

26:09 One with reference to God directly. Glory to God in the highest places. Peace upon the earth. And that peace coming as it were as an expression of the goodwill which God now manifests to men.

26:25 But if you have a modern version starting with the 1901 edition, from which I have read, you have not three distinct ideas, but only two. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased. The RSV renders it. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men in whom he is pleased.

26:53 The New International Version. Glory to God in the highest. They're all agreed on that and I'm so thankful for that. Glory to God in the highest and on earth to men on whom his favor rests.

27:07 Well you say, how in the world do you get this diversity? Well I've often told the men in the academy classes on preaching never turn the sanctuary into a Greek classroom or a classroom on Greek. But I must break my own canon very briefly this morning. And it all hinges on the presence or absence of one letter.

27:28 The word translated goodwill will in the old authorized version, good will towards men. And the word translated in the more modern versions as men on whom God's good pleasure rests or men in whom he is well pleased, the word is udakia. And if you don't have an S on the end, then it's speaking of good will that is being shown among men. But if you have an S on the end, udakia, S on the end, then it means of good will. As though we had the preposition in front of it. Of

28:11 good will or of good pleasure. And then you have to ask, of whose good pleasure? And because of its overriding use in scripture, it most often refers to the good pleasure of God in setting his love upon men. Upon a particular people with a view to saving them, they have rendered it glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men of whom he is pleased. Or on men on whom his

28:41 favor rests. And it's all hinging on whether or not the angel sang or spoke udakia or udakias. When you say, how come we don't know? Well, in the transcription of one manuscript after another, sometimes, through various reasons, there was a change made, a letter added, a letter dropped off. And when we look at all the manuscripts, the evidence is about evenly

29:14 divided between them. You see, often it can be determined by the manuscript evidence. And if that's about evenly divided, then you look and say, well, what does one option do theologically or in the teaching of the rest of scripture? Does it come up with a doctrine that's so far out that that could not be the teaching of the word of God? Then you call that the internal evidence. Well,

29:37 both the external and the internal, you come up about 50-50 on this thing. So I frankly have to say, I can't assert with certainty whether the angels said, goodwill towards men, or whether they said, peace on earth among men upon whom his favor rests. But you see, nothing is lost in either case. If the message is a threefold message, then it makes sense. Glory

30:07 to God in the highest, peace upon the earth, goodwill towards men, all with reference to the coming of the Savior, who is Christ the Lord. If the other is what they said, then God is indeed glorified, peace has indeed come upon the earth, but not indiscriminately or generically, but specifically among men upon whom God's good pleasure rests, even upon those whom he has loved from eternity. Now then, let's look at the components of this great burst of praise to God, having tried to set before you the possibilities

Ascription of Glory to God: Redemption as God's Most Brilliant Manifestation

30:51 of the language of the substance. Now let's look at the meaning. First of all, and on this there is no question. There is an ascription of glory to God. Glory in the highest places to God would be a literal

31:09 rendering. God's glory is the outshining of his perfections, the manifestation of his excellence. And when people receive that manifestation of his excellence, when they become the intelligent recipients of the glory of God, then they are glorified. And when people receive that manifestation of a perception of the glory of God, what are they to do? They in turn

31:35 are to render glory to God. They are to acknowledge that they see him to be what he has manifested himself to be in his glory, that is, a glorious, praiseworthy God. And so when this multitude of the army of heaven joins that singular angel, the first, the first of all, the first first thing they do as they see what has come to pass, there has been the enfleshment of the second person of the Godhead. He has come on a distinct mission to save His people from

32:16 their sins, and the great end to be realized in all of this, the supreme end, the pinnacle end is this, glory in the highest places to God and to God alone. The wonder loop says that this multitude of the army of heaven were found praising God. They are taken up with what God has manifested of Himself in this amazing event, which is just about to happen. It is the end of the world. It is the end of the world. It is the end of the

32:55 just transpired and bound up in those words. Glory to God is the idea. Glory is being rendered to God. Glory ought to be. Glory shall be. There are no verbs in these descriptions of

33:11 praise. The understood verb is one of assertion, one in a sense of prophecy as well. It's as though we have both the indicative, the subjunctive, and the future all bound up. There is glory to God. Let there be glory to God. There shall be glory to God. Now, why did they say that?

33:33 Why is that the first part of their praise? Well, here's the simple reason, and may God help us to lay hold of it, that the acts of God in redemption are the most brilliant manifestation of His glory. The acts of God in redemption are the most brilliant manifestation of His glory. Now, the work of God in creation shows His glory. Psalm 19, the heavens declare the glory of

34:09 God, and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth forth knowledge. And we have heard that put to that magnificent musical composition. The heavens declare the glory of God.

34:25 And that's true. But in redemption, God has brought forth the most brilliant manifestation of His glory. The original creation surely shows the power of God. He speaks and it is done.

34:44 Worlds, galaxies come into being out of the womb of nothing when God speaks. You talk about power. You talk about wisdom. We heard in the earlier hour something of the wisdom of God manifested in the microcosm.

35:01 The more men are able with modern technology and modern electronic means to penetrate the mystery of the cell and of the atom, the more they stand back amazed at the complexity and the intricacy. And if we look at the macrocosm, the more we're able now to penetrate the heavens that are out there, the more we stand. We stand amazed at the vastness, the complexity, the intricacy, the wisdom of God shown in creation. But, my friend, there is no manifestation in creation of the wisdom and power of God to rival that of the incarnation.

35:40 Who would have ever thought of conceiving a way of rescuing sinful man, the rebel, a way in which God, the offended judge, becomes one with mankind? The guilty criminal.

35:57 Infinity becomes joined to humanity in the womb of a little Hebrew maid. You talk about wisdom, to contrive a plan that would result in the incarnation. Wisdom that would involve one of the persons of the Godhead being the mediator between God and man, himself man, Christ Jesus. You talk about wisdom.

36:28 You talk of power. Every time I read the previous chapter, in which Mary, in her simple faith, when the angel is announced that she will become the vehicle through which the Son of God will be born, she says, how shall this be? And God's answer is, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. What kind of power was operative to enflesh deity?

37:00 What kind of power to constitute the theanthropic person so that there was true, whole humanity joined to true, undiminished deity, so as to constitute one person, but in two nations?

37:21 And I have to bow my face before such a mystery and cry out, Oh God, what a display of the glory of your wisdom and of your power. And you can take every one of the attributes of God, his grace. Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says that though being rich, he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

37:48 You take the holiness and the justice of God, and where do they find their truest expression? In all of those specific acts of redemption identified with the incarnation, the life, the death, and the resurrection of the Lord. And I have to bow my face before Jesus so that Paul can summarize and call him in Corinthians Christ, the wisdom of God and the power of God. All we need to know of the glory of divine wisdom is in Christ.

38:17 Divine power is in Christ. No wonder, no wonder, this great host of the army of heaven exclaimed glory to God in the highest places where those beings, whose eyes have never been stained by sin, look upon these mysteries. And they do look upon them. Peter says, which things angels desire to look into.

38:46 And the very verb for look into is the one used in Luke and in John, where they came and stooped down to look into the empty grave. What a beautiful picture. Peter says, angels desire to down and peek into these. They desire to.

39:07 And in that highest place where God dwells in his peculiar presence, there his glory is appreciated. Angels have beheld these events. And when they are given the opportunity, they come forth in a mighty host and they shout glory to God in the highest places.

39:33 That's the great message of the incarnation. God is supremely glorious. God is glorified in this unique act. Let God be glorified for having brought it to pass.

Declaration of Peace on Earth Among Men: Cessation of Enmity

39:47 God shall be glorified as a result of what he has done. But then I must hasten on, for there is not only an ascription of glory to God, there is a declaration of peace on earth among men.

40:03 A declaration of peace on earth among men. Now what is the meaning of peace in this setting? Well, peace is the cessation of warfare. And the enmity which produces warfare.

40:15 For a Hebrew mind, peace or shalom was the verbal shorthand for all the glorious blessings of the God of covenant mercy and faithfulness. And when you met a fellow Hebrew and said shalom, you just weren't saying peace, brother, peace.

40:35 No, no.

40:38 And I don't mean to caricature, but it was far more than that. When you said peace, you meant may all the blessings of the covenant God, rest upon your life. Now bring that to the passage. These were Hebrew shepherds.

40:54 And so when the message came, peace upon earth among men of his good pleasure, or peace on earth, goodwill towards men. What did it mean? It meant that in the birth of the Savior Christ the Lord, there would be a cessation of warfare. And a destruction of the enmity that produces it.

41:21 There would be a conferral of all the gracious blessings of the God of covenant mercy and faithfulness. And that had at least three dimensions to it. God was at warfare with man, the sinful creature. The Bible clearly teaches that human sin has made God our enemy.

41:44 It has made God our enemy. That's why the scripture says, He is angry with the wicked every day. And though in His love and benevolence He brings rain upon just and unjust, and shows His kindness that men might be ashamed of the way they treat Him, the Bible teaches that human sin has made God our enemy. If you don't believe it, read Genesis 3 and see what God did when man sinned.

42:12 He didn't snuggle up to him and embrace him and say, now let's just forget the whole thing, you goofs, or what. Genesis 3 ends with God driving man out of the garden and posting cherubim to guard the entrance to that sacred place. There's enmity between God and man. And then there's enmity between man and God.

42:36 Sin has so perverted our concepts of God that by nature we hate it. Romans 8, 7, The carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. Now that's not pleasant, but that's the truth.

42:49 Every one of us by nature is a hater of God. Now that doesn't mean we stand on a hillside somewhere and bare our teeth and clench our fist and damn God and call on God to send thunderbolts if He dare do it. No, no. But at the bottom line, we love ourselves in our own way, and we do not love God supremely.

43:10 And then that enmity creeps out in the direction of our fellow image bearers. Man's relationship to his fellow man is marked by enmity. Envy, strife, murder, debate, suspicion, envy, all of those cursed sins. Now that's the ugly world scene into which the Lord Jesus came.

43:33 And now the angels cry out, Peace upon earth, the very place where there are creatures against whom God has a controversy or with whom God has a controversy. Creatures who have a controversy with God. And controversies with one another. But in the person and work of the Lord Jesus, all three dimensions of that enmity are dealt with.

44:00 And the Bible tells us that when the Lord Jesus, in the fullness of time, came, it was with a view that He might live under the law of God and die under its curse, and thereby, in the language of 2 Corinthians 5.19, that we, that we might be reconciled. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. God was removing that which stood as the terrible barrier between His unfettered outpouring of conferred love and sympathy and approval upon the creature.

44:42 As long as sin is there, sin is an enemy of God. And therefore the sinner in his state of sin is God's enemy. And yet the Scripture tells us we've been reconciled by the death of His Son. And then as the Holy Spirit applies the virtue of that death, the enmity of our hearts is taken away.

45:04 And we find that no longer do we have harsh thoughts of God, but beholding His face, His glory in the face of Christ, we see Him to be a gracious and a merciful God. And when the Holy Spirit comes to indwell us, He then implants those, those principles of love and joy and peace and longsuffering, and there is then peace with our fellow men. And so this declaration of peace is not just some kind of wishful thinking that the angels were indulging. And they were talking about a peace that would deal with the real problem of God's enmity to man, man's enmity to God, and man's enmity to his fellow man.

45:48 And upon whom will this peace come? Well, if we accept, accept the rendering among men on whom His good pleasure rests, or in whom He delights, then the emphasis is falling not upon all men indiscriminately, but Christ has come to bring His peace to those who have been marked out in the good pleasure of God to be His own. And here we have then in seed form or expressed in different terminology the glorious biblical doctrine of God's free, sovereign election of His people. And it's interesting.

46:24 Many of those who engaged in the translation of such versions as the RSV and other new translations are certainly not people who have any sympathy for the biblical doctrine of election, and yet they translated the verse this way. Because if the angels said, then that's what they were saying. That this peace upon earth will be found among men on whom? God has set His good pleasure those whom He has marked out for Himself.

46:57 Now if the angels said, goodwill towards men, then the emphasis falls upon the fact that in the coming of Christ the goodwill of God to mankind in general is being shown because Christ as the incarnate God and the Savior of sinners is freely offered to all men as the Lord of all men. And so, as the Lord of all men, as the Lord of all men, as the Lord of all men, as the Lord of all men, as the Lord of all men, as the Lord of all men, as He is freely preached in the gospel to all mankind wherever the gospel comes. So either way, it's a glorious truth. It's a glorious truth.

The Angels' Return to Heaven

47:33 And then the third part of their activity, and we can touch on that in just 30 seconds. They returned to heaven. They appeared. They spoke.

47:42 Now look at the text. Verse 15, And it came to pass when the angels went away from them into heaven. And the sense of the passagement seems to be that though they appeared suddenly, they receded gradually up, up, and then out of sight.

48:03 And that's the end of the angels.

Fundamental Instruction: God's Glory is the Great End

48:07 But now, what does all that say to us? And in the moments that remain to us this morning, I want to bring home to your conscience several applications from this passage. May the Lord be pleased to give us hearts to receive them. First of all, there is a word of fundamental instruction in this passage.

48:25 In this message of the host of the army of heaven,

48:31 a word of fundamental instruction. And you know what that word is? The word is this, that the most important thing in all the works of God is the securing of the glory of God. You see the order?

48:46 Glory to God and on earth peace. The peace will not come in any way to detract from God's glory. The peace will not be secured at the expense of God's glory. It is man's peace only in a category and framework in which God's glory is secured.

49:10 Now I say that's a fundamental principle of the word of God. If you kids don't learn the difference between an A and an O, you'll never be able to read or spell or write. That's a fundamental principle that you must learn the difference between an A and an O. Now one of the most fundamental principles in the Bible often overlooked in our day is that God's glory is the great end in all His works, even the work of redemption.

49:42 And so when God would save sinners it must be in a way that does not stain the glory of His holiness. He doesn't just reach out arms of unprincipled pity and draw a sinful man to himself and say, alright, you all goofed, you all blew it, but let's forget it. I love you, you steal, no, no. He must send His own Son and that Son must live in a condition of abject poverty.

50:09 He must live as the sin bearer until the day comes when He goes to the cross and our sins are put to His account and He is punished under the wrath of God until He cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He who was never forsaken by the Lord, by His young mother, who tenderly held Him, nursed Him, cared for Him, He was destined to be forsaken of God. Why? God's glory demanded it.

50:40 If God were to forgive sin without punishing sin, He would stain the glory of His justice and He will not stain His glory.

50:51 We need to receive that fundamental word of instruction. It applies across the board with respect to every aspect of life. It applies to every aspect of God's dealings. Let me take just one more to underscore it.

51:05 When God applies the salvation that Jesus purchased, He applies it in a way that secures His glory. Now, does it glorify God for a sinner to say, oh, well, I'm pardoned, I'm forgiven, and then go on living to please Himself? To trample underfoot God's law with no fear of punishment? Does that glorify God?

51:24 No. It shames God. It turns the gospel into license. Any notion that man can have peace through the blood of the cross who does not come under the government of Christ to live for His praise, such a notion cannot be of God for it's glory to God in the highest and on earth peace.

51:47 And if you have peace in a way that doesn't result in your life glorifying God, my friend, you have a peace from the father of lies, the devil himself.

Necessary Admonition: Beware of Humanistic Peace

51:58 But then there is in the second place not only a word of fundamental instruction, notice in the passage a word of necessary admonition. A word of necessary admonition. And the admonition is this. Beware of the notion so prevalent in our day that the Christmas message is a message in which we have this vast host all flashing their peace sign saying to the world, let's all get our act together and live in peace.

52:28 When people talk in their sentimental way about the Christmas spirit, that's what they're talking about. They've turned these angels into heralds of humanism. Now you people have got it in you. You just don't stop and work at it enough.

52:45 Now if we could only capture the Christmas spirit, don't you hear people saying that? When we just forget our differences and we agree to be civil and nice and decent, if only we could capture the Christmas spirit, live in peace. Isn't that what the angels said? Peace.

52:59 That's as far removed from this passage as night from day. The angels said, glory to God in the highest places. Peace dedicated upon the message of the angel. That's why they held back until he got his message delivered.

53:23 Unto you is born a Savior and only in the person of that Savior is there any true peace.

53:35 And deny that Savior his uniqueness of person, Christ, the Lord. Deny him the uniqueness of his work as a substitute for sinners. Deny all the great fundamental realities of the Christian faith and still want peace and then try to justify it by the words of the angels. No.

53:57 They were no heralds of a humanistic peace. They were no prophets of self-help. They proclaimed that peace can only be had through the blood of his Christ. And in the application of that kind of peace, Jesus brings non-peace.

54:17 Matthew 10.34 He said, think not that I came to bring peace on the earth. I came not to bring peace but a sword. Jesus said that.

54:26 You say, how do you reconcile that? Glory to God. Peace on earth. And yet Jesus said I didn't come to bring peace.

54:35 Well, what he was saying is I didn't come to bring an indiscriminate peace. I came to bring peace to those who are not peace. To those who will see in me all that I claim to be and so give themselves to me that I will be the object of supreme attachment, devotion, and love. And in that attachment others will not see the same glory in my person nor the need for my work.

54:58 And they will turn away from me. And in turning away from me they will turn away from you. And he says that division will occur in households. I'll set a man against his father, the daughter against her mother, the daughter, and the son against her mother-in-law and a man's foe shall be they of his own household.

55:15 I didn't make up those words. Some of you here today are perhaps not familiar with the Bible. I'm quoting directly from St. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 10.

55:25 The Prince of Peace said, I came to bring a sword.

55:30 I came to bring a sword. And you need to be admonished, my friend. You are doing no service to God and to his Son to have lovely, humanistic, sentimental feelings of sweetness and peace at Christmas. I'm the great issue is this.

55:46 What are you doing with the one who is Christ the Lord born to be a Savior? That's the issue. What are you doing with him? What are you doing with him?

55:55 With him? He claims to be God. He demands that you embrace him as God. He claims to be the only Savior of sinners.

56:04 He says if you don't believe him you'll die in your sins. What are you doing with him? That's the great issue. And then of course there is not only a word of fundamental instruction of necessary admonition but of earnest exhortation.

Earnest Exhortation: Embrace the Savior

56:22 And that exhortation is, my friend, don't let another Christmas season pass and miss the very heart of what God did when he sent his Son. He sent a Savior. He sent a Savior. Don't let another Christmas season pass while you're a stranger to his grace.

Solid Consolation: Peace for the Unrestful Heart

56:42 And to his saving power. And then because time is gone I must just touch for a moment on the final word. A word of solid consolation. Am I speaking to someone whose heart is full of the unrest which sin brings?

57:00 And inward peace is as far removed from your experience as it ever could be. You know nothing of it. In fact, another Christmas season has brought you to a state of almost unrecoverable cynicism. You say all this language about peace, peace, peace and all I've got is a raging warfare in my heart.

57:24 My conscience affirms that I sin, that I'm answerable to God and I know God's got a controversy with me and I've tried religion and I've tried doing good and I've tried this and I can't get relief. Is there any relief? Oh, my friend, hear. Hear what these angels said.

57:42 There is a way in which God is supremely glorified in the securing of the peace of sinners and it's been the manifestation of his goodwill in the Lord Jesus. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life for God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him should be saved. That's the language of John 3. Oh, my friend, there is goodwill in the Lord Jesus Christ.

58:24 He's set before you in the gospel. You have a basis of solid consolation. God is pleased with the work of his son. It's interesting that that word in the verbal form is the very word used of the Lord Jesus when the Father spoke from heaven.

58:41 He said, This is my deliverance. Beloved son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have good pleasure. And my friend, if you will get into Christ, then God will have good pleasure in you. And there's only one way to be in Christ and that's by faith, to embrace him.

59:02 And having embraced him, oh, rejoice, Christian, rejoice today in the face of all of your failures and shortcomings that you are accepted, in the beloved, in the one who is. Come to God and in that confidence rejoice and join the army of the heavenly host in praising this great God and Savior, even our Lord Jesus. Let us pray.

Closing Prayer

59:44 Our Father, we are so thankful that you have come in the person of your Son with a gracious intrusion upon human history. We thank you that when our, when our backs were turned against you and everything in us wanted nothing to do with you, you came in grace and in mercy. We thank you for this record of this great expression of praise by this host of heaven. And we pray that their words will come home with power to our hearts this morning, bringing comfort, correction, rebuke,

60:29 exhortation, admonition. Oh, Lord, you know what we need. May your Spirit apply the word with power in terms of what you know to be our deepest need. Hear then our prayer and receive our thanks as we offer our prayers and our praises in the name of the Lord Jesus.

60:50 Amen.