Well, like I said, we're wrapping up today where we began last week in this episode with
angels and shepherds.
Of course, in the first installment last week in verses 8 to 14, some shepherds were the
surprising recipients of an angelic announcement that a child had been born in Bethlehem, was
a message of salvation because the newborn baby was the long-awaited Savior, Christ,
and Lord.
That's actually what the angel said.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord, which
means that this good news of great joy, as they called it, that would be for all people,
was good news because it related to their salvation, the forgiveness of their sins, eternal life
and peace with God.
In other words, this was a gospel message.
And what made it gospel or good news was the baby, Jesus, whom the announcement was all about.
And we were reminded last week that Jesus is the good news.
Jesus brings great joy.
And salvation is for all people who will trust him alone for it.
And this is the real Christmas message.
When we think about it, and we remarked on that some last week, the Christmas message is
not a message of peace in the sense of peace with one another.
It's not a message of Christmas spirit.
That is, that along this time of year, because Jesus was a good guy, that we're all good guys
this time of year too, and that we do nice things for one another.
That's not what Christmas is about.
The Christmas message, the gospel message, the only saving message, is Jesus himself, God
in the flesh, come to take away our sins.
It says Kent Hughes, the Holy Spirit included this story in the scriptures so we would not
miss the point, which is the real savior of the world was not Caesar Augustus, nor will
it be any great world leader.
The savior of the world is Jesus, the son of God who came to earth veiled in Mary's flesh,
was born in human flesh, lived in the flesh, died in the flesh, was resurrected in that flesh,
and now lives in the same glorified flesh at the right hand of the Father.
This message of salvation, this message of Christmas and of the gospel has everything to do
with Jesus as God.
This is an incarnation message, and we need not forget that as we get into
so many of these really unique elements of the nativity story, we might begin to lose
sight of the fact that what this is all about, what all of this is pointing toward, is incarnation.
God is with us.
God has taken on humanity.
And so we've thought a lot about, over the last few weeks, about what the gospel is.
But in today's text, as we wrap up this story with the shepherds, I want us to focus in particularly
on what the gospel does.
We've talked about what it is.
Now we want to see what it does.
Because the birth of Jesus is not just a tale on which we muse, think about, or ponder.
It's a divine message to which we must respond, to which the people that we take this message
must respond.
And it doesn't allow for indifference.
People, I think, honestly, I think people that don't really understand the gospel and
they don't really understand the word of God, even though they may identify as Christian,
and culturally speaking, I think one of the big things that they miss here is that you can't,
there is no allowance for indifference.
In fact, indifference itself is a denial.
You either come to the message of Christ and you see the person in the work of Christ,
and that either drives you to fall before Him as Lord and Savior,
or it drives you away in rejection of Him, or at least in what the Bible says about Him.
There's no place in there for us to just kind of read the story or hear the message
and kind of move on with our lives not thinking anything about it.
That's not actually possible in this situation,
because the gospel isn't just something that we study and understand intellectually.
The gospel is actually something to which we must respond.
And so let's consider for a few moments this morning, using this story of the shepherds,
let's consider what the gospel does and how we must respond,
and how we're looking for people to respond when we share the truth with them.
Okay? Four things. The first one is this.
The gospel beckons us to come and see.
Now look with me at verse 15.
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 Lord has made known to us.
And they went with haste, and they found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.
And so it's very simple.
The angel appears to the men, he scares them to death,
and then he clarifies, he calms them down, he clarifies the message.
I have good news for all people. It will bring great joy.
It's about a baby.
This baby's in Bethlehem, just down the road from where you are now.
And what will distinguish this baby from every other baby that's in Bethlehem
is this baby is lying in a feeding trough for animals.
It's in a manger.
And so the implication being,
if you go there to see if this is true,
that this Messiah has come,
it will be the one that you find in this stable in the manger.
That's the sense of what happens.
The angels go away,
and then the men look at one another and they say,
Well, what are we doing here?
We must go and see this thing.
Let's go see if what the angel says is actually true.
And they make haste,
and they run,
and they go to Bethlehem,
and they found Jesus exactly as the angel said that he was.
And whenever a piece of news is conveyed to us,
we process that on the basis of its direct impact on our lives.
Now think about all of the headlines you read in a day.
Whether you get your news from social media,
or if you like the newspaper,
or maybe it comes through an email,
or you watch it on the television,
or whatever it is you do.
Whenever you see the headlines,
and whenever you hear the news briefings,
you process each story based on its value to you personally.
Now you may be moved in a particular way by a story,
but if it's not really directly affecting you,
or our world in general,
it's pretty easy to acknowledge it,
even give some sympathy,
and then kind of move on from it, right?
But there is a type of news
that comes to us from time to time
that so grips us that we cannot help but pursue it further.
Or maybe it takes some type of emotional hold on us
to where we can't easily get it out of our minds.
We're pursuing it.
We are thinking on it.
We are trying to figure it out.
We're trying to learn more.
And such was this news that the angel brought to the shepherds.
Can you imagine?
This supernatural thing,
this angel appears to you suddenly in the middle of the night,
is something on its own that you're going to want to share.
But even after that,
the dynamic of this message that the angel brings,
that salvation has come,
and it's coming a baby,
and this news so grips the shepherds
that they could not quickly process and move on.
They immediately took action.
They pursued it.
They went to see.
If this was true,
let us go and see this thing,
they said to one another.
And Luke says they make haste.
Now think about that.
This is the middle of the night.
We've already been told
that the angel appeared to them at night
while they were in the fields with their sheep by night.
It's just the middle of the night.
We don't know how many of them there were.
We don't know how big their herds were.
But we know they made haste to go to Bethlehem.
Maybe a couple of miles they had to go
to actually get to where the proper village was.
Now think about that.
You can't take a herd of sheep with you
if you're making haste in the middle of the night.
It doesn't make sense.
So one of two things had to happen.
Either they looked at each other and they said,
all right, you guys are the lowest on the totem pole.
You got to stay here.
We're going to go see the thing that the angel said.
Or they collectively look at each other and they say,
this is too big for us to care about these sheep right now.
We're going to leave the sheep
and we're going to go see this child.
We're going to go see this baby.
And I think that's probably what they did.
Maybe they had a makeshift pen for them.
I don't know.
We don't know what they did or how they did it.
But the implication, I think, of the scripture
is that they are so impacted by this news
that they are so enamored by this idea of salvation
and Messiah that they leave everything behind
to go to Jesus.
And the gospel is that kind of news, isn't it?
You can't just simply acknowledge it and dismiss it.
It beckons us to come and see,
to come and see if these things are true.
And if you leave your herd, whatever that may be,
and you will have to leave something to come to Christ.
You'll leave your sin.
It may require you to leave a career.
It may require you to leave social standing.
It may require you to even sever certain relationships
that you have in order to do this.
But whatever it is that your herd is,
if you will leave that herd and pursue this Christ,
you will find him as the shepherds did
to be exactly as God has said,
exactly what the message claims him to be.
You see, though faith in Christ
is necessary for salvation,
it is not a blind faith.
And this is something for which I'm thankful
because some of you more naturally
are given to be trusting by nature.
And then there are natural cynics like me
who want to blow a hole
in everything that any type of information
is actually conveyed to you.
And what's so helpful about the call of faith
in the gospel
is that God does not say with this gospel,
close your eyes,
shut off your brains,
and just do what I say.
He could do that, but he doesn't.
He doesn't do that.
With the gospel, he says,
no, here's my message.
Come and see.
There's a lot of people that
they just simply don't come and see.
It was Chesterton, I think,
that said that it's not that people
have read the gospels or the scriptures
and found them wanting or lacking.
It's that they have never actually come
to the scriptures to actually see
if there is verifiable data there.
And the fact is that there is.
And the question is,
will you come and see it?
The question we must ask the people
to which we take the gospel
is, will you come and see?
And you may say,
well, am I supposed to go to Bethlehem?
Is that what this is about?
Like, is this some kind of pilgrimage?
Of course not.
There's no manger for us to see.
God's given us something
actually far better than that.
He's given us his own revelation.
He's given us everything we need
in the pages of the Bible.
And we can come and see right here.
We can see that the Bible
is not only historically reliable
as a historical document.
Even secular historians
will at least agree to that.
It's reliable because it is
the very word of God.
He has sent his messengers
with his revelation.
That's what we have in the Bible.
And he beckons us to come and see.
And so we read the Bible.
We study it.
We study it to see
if these things are true.
And what you will find
as you do that
is that Jesus is exactly
as we say he is.
He's a wonderful Savior.
He's the only Savior.
You just need only come and see.
Well, that brings us
to the second thing here.
And that is that the gospel
invites us to hear and believe.
It invites us or beckons us
to come and see.
It invites us to hear and believe.
Now, it would be one thing
for the shepherds to act out of
just sheer intrigue
to see what was going on with this.
But I do think that Luke
intends to communicate here
that they were fully convinced.
They believed that Jesus
was indeed this Messiah
and Son of God.
And their faith, I think,
is demonstrated in the fact
that they immediately
began to share the news
and they went back
to their sheepfolds
worshiping the Lord.
This was a life-transforming event
because they believed
the gospel message.
And again, Kent Hughes
is helpful here.
He says it is not enough
to hear about Jesus.
It's not enough
to peek in the manger
and say,
oh, how nice.
What a lovely scene.
It gives me such good feelings.
The Christ who was born
into the world
must be born into your heart.
Religious sentiment,
even at Christmas,
without the living Christ,
he says,
is a yellow brick road
to darkness.
And there's a clear distinction
as we think about these things.
There's a clear distinction
between those who are intrigued
by the stories of Jesus
and those who actually
acknowledge him as Lord
and receive him as Savior.
Those who are merely intrigued
are gripped by religious sentiment,
maybe.
Maybe it's just the,
there's something attracted to them
about the story
or the narrative
or the romance, perhaps,
of what unfolds here.
But those who actually receive him
are true disciples.
And the gospel message
not only beckons us
to come and see,
it invites us to hear this truth
and believe it for salvation.
In fact, invitation
is the best possible word for it
because it is a divine invitation
from God to believe.
Now think about this, kids.
Remember what Jesus said
in Matthew 11.
Remember he says,
come to me,
all who labor
and are heavy laden
and I will give you rest.
It's an invitation from Christ.
He says, come to me.
You're labored.
You're heavy laden in your sins.
You're laboring
in your efforts at goodness
to try to be as good as you can
and to try to earn maybe salvation
or earn God's blessing
in the best way that you can
and I mean,
you even go to church
on Christmas morning
for goodness sake.
And Jesus says
to all of those people,
the religious people
and the people
who are working so hard
to gain some kind of favor
with God
and Jesus says,
no, you need to come to me.
You're laboring.
You're heavy laden.
Come to me
and from me,
you'll actually find true rest.
True spiritual rest,
he says.
Because the story of the Bible
is about God making a way
for sinners
to be reconciled to him
with everlasting peace.
And this story of Jesus' birth
is just the beginning
of how God brought his plan
to fruition.
Jesus, God's sinless son,
came to pay the penalty
for our sins
by dying on the cross.
Then God raised him from the dead.
We just sang about that, right?
We just sang about it.
God raised him from the dead,
showing that Christ's sacrifice
was effective,
that it did what it was supposed to do.
It satisfied God's wrath
against our sin.
And this is the only way
for our sins to be forgiven.
It's the only way
for us to be at peace with God.
And what's so wonderful
about the whole thing
is not only that God does it,
but then God extends
this invitation,
just like you may get
an invitation to a birthday party,
or just like you may give
an invitation to go on a date
one of these days,
or whatever it is,
just like you may get
an invitation to go
and visit with someone
this Christmas day.
So God extends an invitation,
and he says,
all who will come to me,
all who will come
and trust in Christ alone,
will receive rest.
I sung a song with the girls
earlier this week.
I don't know if they knew it.
It was one that we came across
looking for a different song,
actually,
but it's an old hymn
that I remember singing
growing up.
And at the end of it,
it says,
oh, come to the Father
through Jesus the Son.
You remember the Fanny Crosby song,
to God be the glory?
Oh, come to the Father
through Jesus the Son
and give him the glory.
Great things he has done.
Because you can only come to God
through his Son.
You can come no other way,
only through him.
So the gospel says,
come and see.
And then it says,
hear and believe.
Receive it.
Thirdly,
the gospel motivates us
to go and tell.
So there's come and see.
There's hear and believe.
Now there's go and tell.
Look at verse 17.
And when they saw it,
that is the shepherds,
when they saw it,
they made known the saying
that had been told them
concerning this child.
So they hear the call
to come and see.
They go to Bethlehem.
They see the child.
They receive the invitation
to hear and believe.
That's the implication
of the text.
And then they immediately
go and start telling everybody
they can possibly tell.
Thus, MacArthur says,
they become the very first
New Testament evangelist.
Now, I don't know
how they did this.
This is the middle of the night.
We already have established
that fact.
I don't know if they just go
and start waking people up.
I don't know if they stick around
for the night
and once the sun comes up
and before they go back out
to the fields
to check on the sheep,
they find whoever is out
and about in Bethlehem
or whoever's on the road
as they're making their way back.
All we know is that everyone,
they began to come across,
they began to share
this good news of great joy
that had been delivered to them.
And for those who would
think of Luke's gospel
as some kind of fabrication
or invention in Luke's mind,
special note I think
should be taken
of the shepherds
being responsible
for sharing this good news.
Remember last week,
we talked about this
with shepherds.
They had a necessary occupation
for a flourishing life in Israel,
but they were not respected people.
They were religiously,
the religious people
according to the Mishnah
had actually banned them.
They were considered
perpetually unclean,
which meant that
they couldn't participate
in the ceremonial things
of Jewish life.
They weren't allowed to do that.
Most people considered them
as if they just assumed
that they were thieves,
that they were the lowest part
of society.
They weren't even allowed
to testify in court
and in legal proceedings.
Their testimony
would not be accepted
because of the way
that the culture
viewed them as shepherds.
And yet God chooses
these people
as the people
that are going to be
the first evangelists
to share this news
that the Messiah has come.
And there are people
that would say,
well, these gospels
are just the work of man.
It's fabrication.
It's mythology.
It's fiction.
It's not real.
Well, if Luke was trying
to do that,
why did he pick shepherds?
Why did he say shepherds
were the ones?
He would get no historic
reliability whatsoever
from that on its own.
This is not a work of fiction.
This has the marks
of history on it.
Now, Ashlyn is the one
in our family
that loves to share news
with people,
aren't you, sweetheart?
The better the news
or the more exciting the news
or the more dramatic the news,
maybe we would say,
right, Ashlyn?
The more eager she is
to share it with someone else.
And she comes about it honest.
Her dad's really the same way.
Whenever something's going on,
she just can't wait
to tell somebody.
In fact, there are many times
that driving down the road,
we might have to look at Ashlyn
and she's heard this many times
and me and Julie would say,
now Ashlyn,
this is not your story to tell.
You got to let them tell it.
Let Harper say
what's going on with her.
Let Chelsea say what's going on
with her or whatever it is.
And her favorite way
to lead off a conversation
is with what?
Two words.
Guess what, right?
That's how she leads
every conversation.
We're alike in that way.
I think that's really
what's happening
with the shepherds here.
This is such awesome news.
It's dramatic news.
It's good news.
It's wonderful.
Everything about it
is fantastic
that they are motivated
by the gospel message itself
to actually go
and share it
and to say to everybody
that come across,
guess what?
You're not going to believe it.
The Messiah has come.
The Savior is here.
We saw him
and we know it's him
because this angel appeared to us
and then we saw
a whole bunch of angels
and then it was exactly
as they said
and his mom's a virgin.
I don't even know
how it's possible
but it is
and he's got to be
the son of God.
He's come to save us
from our sins.
That's what they begin to do.
The truth is
we don't need someone
twisting our arms
to go and share the gospel.
If you find yourself
in a particular funk
as far as evangelism is concerned,
your personal evangelism,
the solution for that
is not to just try harder
because it just doesn't work.
The solution for that
is to immerse yourself
all over again
in the gospel
because the gospel itself
is what actually
motivates us
to do this.
The gospel itself,
the message of Christ itself
is what pushed these men
to share this news
and there were two responses
to their news
that I want to point out to you.
Look at verse 18 first.
All who heard it
wondered
at what the shepherds
told them.
They wondered.
This word for wondered,
falmazo.
Say that with me kids.
Ready?
Thaumatso.
That's the Greek word here.
You know what it means?
It means to be amazed.
Now when we think
to be in wonder,
the way we typically
use that in English
is we are conveying
the idea of being perplexed.
Like this is a unique thing.
This is an unusual thing.
And I'm kind of curious
and maybe even a little bit
confused about it.
But that's not exactly,
kiddos,
that's not exactly
how Luke intended
this word to be used.
It's one of his favorites.
He uses it over
and over and over
in his gospel.
Because this was the response
that people most often
had to Jesus.
When Jesus would come
into these villages
and these towns
and he would teach
and he would perform
these miracles,
Luke would say
their response
would be falmazo.
They would be amazed
at what they saw.
Perhaps perplexity
is a minor note here.
But the bigger note here
is amazement.
Like wow!
That's amazing!
And then he says here
that as the shepherds
went and shared this news
that most of the people
they wondered,
they falmazo'd,
they were amazed
at what the shepherds
were saying.
But here's the thing
that we need to remember
about this.
Most of the people
that were so amazed
by Jesus in his ministry
through his teaching
and through his miracles
never ended up following
him as Savior
because he didn't match
what they wanted him to be.
He wasn't a wealthy,
strong military leader.
That's what they wanted,
wasn't it?
They were amazed
at what he could do
but they weren't very impressed
by who he was.
And especially when he starts
talking about things like
if you're going to come
after me,
you're going to have
to deny yourself
and take up your cross
and follow me.
Well, they didn't like
that stuff very much either.
And then when he comes
into the temple
and he starts to cleanse
the temple
and then when he goes
so far as he's put
under trial
and he's crucified
on a cross,
that's the point
that most of them said,
no way,
there's no way.
It's amazing what he can do
but there's no way
he's the Messiah.
And they walked away
unbelieving.
That's what's happening
I think here
with the shepherds.
They're running
and they're telling people
and they're thalmazo'd.
They're amazed
that something like this,
if it happened,
that it would happen
to shepherds.
They're so amazed
at the story of it
but that doesn't
actually mean
that they believed.
Many people are intrigued
by the stories
of Jesus at Christmas.
There's actually
very few
who actually trust him.
Now I know that's true
because Jesus said
it was true.
Remember in the
Sermon on the Mount,
enter by the narrow gate,
he says,
for the gate is wide
and the way is easy
that leads to destruction
and those who enter by it
are many.
But he says,
for the gate is narrow
and the way is hard
that leads to life
and those who find it
are few.
And the evidence
that we have
in the Gospels
is that lots of people
were intrigued by Jesus.
Not too many people
followed Jesus
and wondered.
But that brings us
to the second response.
That's in verse 19.
Look, but Mary
treasured up
all these things
pondering them
in her heart.
She treasured
these things.
Her response
is a bit different.
We've seen
in earlier passages
that Mary was full of faith.
She embraced
the Gospel message
but here we see
she treasured.
She didn't wonder
at the truths.
She treasured them.
There's a difference.
Says MacArthur,
Mary's deep meditation
on the Savior
illustrates another aspect
of what it means
to embrace Christ.
Salvation's initial euphoria
and excitement
deepens.
It deepens into richer,
fuller,
more profound
understanding
of the person
and work of Christ.
The truth is
that the nature
of God's work
through the Gospel
means that one
who truly believes it
will grow
in faith.
They will grow
in love.
They will grow
in obedience
to Jesus.
The Bible says
that's what happens.
That may be slow growth.
Some of us,
it was,
I think I was
in the eighth grade
before I broke
four feet tall
and a hundred pounds
or something like that.
Some of us
grow slower than others.
That's the same thing
that's true
in the Christian life.
Some of us
grow slower than others.
We mature
at different rates
and that's God's work.
That's God's business
to do in us.
But growth will be there
nonetheless.
A wanderer
is intrigued by Jesus
but the Gospel
ultimately has no real effect
on their lives.
There's no real transformation
of worship.
There's no real transformation
of devotion.
There's no real transformation
of love for God
and love for Christ.
There's no real transformation
to continually repent
from sin
and press on.
They're just intrigued.
They're just religious.
But the one who truly
comes to Christ in faith
will inevitably demonstrate
the life transforming power
of the Gospel.
And the question is
when it comes to the Gospel,
when it comes to Jesus,
are you a wanderer
or are you a treasurer?
Remember.
Number four,
this would be the final thing.
The Gospel prompts us
to return and worship.
So we've got come and see,
hear and believe,
go and tell,
and here's this fourth point
which is so good.
It's so helpful.
Return and worship.
Verse 20,
and the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen
as it had been told them.
They couldn't stay
in Bethlehem forever.
Joseph and Mary
would have found it weird
for these shepherds
just to camp out for a while.
That's not what they did.
What did they have to do?
They had to get back
to their lives.
They had to go back
to the sheep.
They had to get back
and do all the things
that they were supposed to do.
They had to probably
eventually get back
to their families,
all those things.
And what's the difference?
When they returned,
how did they return?
Luke says that
when they returned,
they were glorifying
and praising God
because the gospel prompts us
to do just that.
We go about our lives.
We can't camp out
at the church gathering
all week long
as much as some of us
would love to do that.
We can't do that.
We got to get back
to our lives.
We have to go to school.
We have to go to work.
We have to do the things
that we do.
And what's the difference
for us versus those
who are merely intrigued
by the things of Jesus
and merely pay lip service
to a religious practice
on a Sunday morning?
Well, the difference is
as we return,
we return glorifying,
praising God,
produces worship,
genuine worship.
And it's the gospel message
that does this.
When a person realizes
they're lost in sin
and destined for eternal hell,
and then they hear
the message of salvation,
it radically transforms
their worship.
It transforms our prayers.
It transforms our songs.
Psalm 1 or Psalm 86 says,
I give thanks to you,
O Lord my God,
with my whole heart.
I will glorify your name forever.
Why?
For great is your steadfast love.
You have delivered my soul
from the depths of death,
from the depths of hell.
It's radical transformation
of worship.
And if worship is missing
in your life,
or if corporate worship
in the context
of the Sunday gathering
feels forced,
almost like you have to fake it,
it might be that you haven't
really understood
the gospel message yet.
Or it could just be
that it's been a long time
since you let yourself
really ruminate
on the wonder of the gospel.
And the solution for that
is the same as the solution
for a lack of evangelism.
It's not to come
a little earlier on a Sunday
and really just try to
work really hard
at meaning the things
that you sing.
That won't last very long.
The solution is
immerse yourself
in the gospel.
Use this Christmas day
to immerse yourself
in the wonder
of the incarnation.
Christian Getty wrote,
The peace of Christ
makes fresh my heart,
a fountain ever springing.
All things are mine
since I am His.
How can I keep from singing?
That's what Christmas time
should produce.
Worship.
That's what the incarnation
should produce.
Worship.
So this Christmas morning,
will you hear
the call of the gospel?
Don't just look
at the baby in the manger.
Accept God's invitation
to receive salvation
in the name of Christ.
He sent His Son
to save you
from your sins.
So don't wait.
Believe.
Follow Him.
He invites you to come.
And Jesus said,
Not a single one
who comes to Him
in faith
will He ever cast away.
And if you're a believer,
if evangelism or worship
has grown cold
or callous,
look to Jesus afresh.
Just gaze at the gospel.
Think of the wonder of it.
But move on from wonder.
And begin to treasure it again.
Treasure it again.