Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] All right, let's get our Bible turned to the book of Luke, chapter two.
[00:00:16] We'll begin reading in verse number eight. Luke two.
[00:00:32] Luke two eight says this. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
[00:00:43] And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them. And the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid.
[00:00:52] And the angel said unto them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
[00:01:20] 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, good will toward men. Let's pray together.
[00:01:37] Our Father, thank you for the chance again to meet as your people. Thank you for the presence of your spirit. Thank you Lord, that you came into this world, that you were worshiped, that you were recognized, that angels spoke of your glory.
[00:01:54] Thank you for coming into this world to save sinners such as we.
[00:01:59] Lord, we thank you for the grace of God as seen so many years later in the hearts and lives of each person that's here, how that they have heard the gospel, responded to the gospel, and have the joy and the peace of forgiveness.
[00:02:15] Lord, thank you for what you're doing in our midst. Lord, we pray. Now as we look at your word, as we look at these truths that have their really have their inception, at least on earth, here in this passage of scripture, the birth of Christ. Lord, help these truths just to be plain before our sight, to encourage us, to strengthen us. Lord, we need you. We want to know more about you, Lord. Lord, there are so many things about you that we don't yet understand and fully know and appreciate. So Lord, help us to see just a little bit more today. Give me wisdom to say the things you'd have me to say to help your people and help all of our hearts, Lord, to be open, ready to receive the word in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:03:02] So these angels come and they announce the Savior's birth. This one particular angel, this individual angel comes and announces the birth of Christ to the shepherds. Just. I'm always amazed if you've. We think of shepherds in, you know, in Ireland or New Zealand, you know, has more shepherd and more sheep than people you know. But you think of these men as Regular people like you and me, they just have a different job. And that is not what a shepherd was in this period. A shepherd was a low, just a loathsome type of person as far as their status. They were not people, middle class people. These were low class people that slept with and followed animals all day long. They stank, their clothes were dirty, they were dark skinned, which in that area meant that you spent a lot of time in the sun. You weren't, you didn't have very much money. That's, that's in a lot of places. That's still the case.
[00:03:59] And just as a result of being out in the elements, weathered, you know, these people were.
[00:04:05] And yet this was the group that the Lord chose to announce the birth of the one who is the greatest of all, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. This was the group that the Lord chose. He chose the lowly group. And I think he did that because he knew that by choosing them in this particular way that he made them, made it so they could approach the Lord Jesus, unlike if it had been announced to Herod or some royal group.
[00:04:39] So the announcement comes to the shepherds. And then after that announcement about the manger and the swaddling clothes, verse number 13 says, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host. So a whole host, a whole army of angels appears to these shepherds and they say, note, they don't sing. I hate to mess up theology, but the Bible does not describe the angels as singing in the Nativity, but as saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.
[00:05:18] Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will toward men. I want to look at that, that one phrase. This is this heavenly host, in unison apparently saying this one statement.
[00:05:33] This is all they said.
[00:05:35] This is, if we might think of it like this, this is an announcement or an announcement of heaven over this event that's happening. This is heaven's perspective of what is happening in Bethlehem at this time.
[00:05:57] Now, notice the first thing they say in verse number 13, 14. I'm sorry, Glory to God in the highest. Now, of course, what is the context of this particular announcement? This is obviously a reference to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. So this is the. And the birth is the incarnation of Christ. This is when Christ came into the world. Now we know that Christ left the world, but we know also that he's coming back in his second Advent. He's coming back to judge and to reign. We know that as well. But the incarnation of Christ is The initial moment in which God came as a man into this world. This is the very beginning. And so the Incarnation not only covers Bethlehem and the cross and the resurrection, but it also covers his second coming because he was incarnated just one time. And that's what. When the angels say, glory to God in the highest, this is what they're referring to, the fact that God became a man and was born into the world.
[00:07:01] Now, what I want you to see from this, this is very simple. We'll look at some other verses, but I want you to see this. The Incarnation of Christ is the. Is the origin, the source, the beginning point of what would be our salvation.
[00:07:16] As we saw last week, our salvation is what, or rather is whom. Simeon took that baby up into his arms and he said, mine eyes have seen what thy salvation. So the salvation of God is all wrapped up in a person, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:07:38] But here's the thing I want you to see about this part here. Glory to God in the highest. So the Incarnation of Christ and then flowing from the Incarnation of Christ are all of the blessings that he brought to us, right? All the blessings he brought to us, whether it be forgiveness, whether it be reconciliation to God, whether it be forgiveness of sin, the presence of the Spirit of God, eternal life, whatever peace, joy, and any other blessing regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. It began at the Incarnation, but the purpose of it, the end of it, we might call the chief end.
[00:08:24] This was the glory of God.
[00:08:29] See, oftentimes we look at salvation, we look at the Incarnation of Christ and we say, well, Christ came into the world for me, and there's an element of truth in that. He came into this world because he loved us. And we think of the salvation as Christ died on the cross for me. And of course that is true. But above that, transcending, that is, if we could say a higher truth, which is that even before you and even before me, even before we think of our own, our eternal life hanging in the balance, we go to hell and the lake of fire without a savior, without the Lord Jesus Christ, or with him, we go to heaven, we are forgiven of our sin, and we go to heaven before we even touch on that. The reality is that Jesus came into the world first and foremost, glorify God.
[00:09:24] This was the chief end of Jesus coming.
[00:09:28] This was the chief end of our salvation.
[00:09:33] This was the chief end of everything.
[00:09:36] So you might summarize it like this. It's not about us.
[00:09:42] It never was about us, although the Lord's eye was upon us. His love was upon us. But above that is something that's transcendent. The fact that it was all about his glory, his honor, his praise, that the Lord might be exalted. Look at a few other verses with me. I want to show you this. Isaiah 50:44, rather Isaiah, chapter 44, verse number 23.
[00:10:21] Isaiah 40:4, verse number 23 says this. Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath done it isn't that we could just stop there and think about ourselves. Now of course this is referring to mostly about the deliverance of Israel, but. But kind of overlapping. It is the reality that we can say. We can look at that baby being born in Bethlehem and we can say, the Lord did it. Our salvation was provided. The Lord did it. Not me, not you. The Lord is the one who accomplished it all the way through the cross, the resurrection, our eternal life. All of those things were bought and paid for, secured, provided by the Lord Jesus. We could say, the Lord hath done it. Shout, ye lower parts of the earth, break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein. Now listen to this. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob and glorified himself in Israel. You see that all that God did for Israel, and by extension all that the Lord did for us, was about his own glory.
[00:11:32] It wasn't all about us. See, we've developed a man centered, man focused view of this matter of salvation. That's what has happened. I'll say more about that in just a minute. Look at Ephesians chapter one, Ephesians chapter one, verse number six, or verse number five to.
[00:12:02] Let's just go even further to pick up the context. Verse number four according Ephesians 1, verse four, According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of his will. Now this is just a reference to the. The fact that God has predetermined and ordained that those who are in Christ will without question, absolutely without doubt, end up at this place.
[00:12:34] Now, verse number six, to the praise of the glory of his grace. See that it's not even about our own comfort, our own position. And you know, we rejoice in all that. But listen, there's a higher purpose in that. It is about God's glory. Keep reading. Here, I lost my place. There we go, to the praise of the glory of his grace.
[00:12:59] Not that we be praised, but that God be praised for his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Look down at verse number 10.
[00:13:09] I'm sorry, verse 12. That we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ.
[00:13:18] You see that. That we should. Now, he's. The Lord is looking through time, right? He's looking through time at those that he predestined. I know that scares people. You know, predestinate. This is. These are. God has predestinated those who trust in Christ to end up at this final place, glorified with him. That's what Ephesians1 is talking about. But we're not. Listen, even though we sing songs about streets of gold and, you know, dancing and all, and, you know, the mansions and over the hilltops and all that other stuff, that's not what it's about.
[00:13:50] It's about the glory of God because He took ungodly, untoward. The biblical word is froward, contrary, rebellious sinners. And by his power and by his grace changed them, forgave them, cleaned them, and set them in Christ at His own right hand.
[00:14:20] So that is a display of God's glory. You see, God will look at us, According to Ephesians 1, God will look at us and say, you see what I did?
[00:14:32] And we look at ourselves and we think, yeah, God did it. Just like if, you know, we just read in Isaiah, right? Look at Philippians, chapter 2, Philippians chapter 2, verse, just one book over, verse number 11, Philippians 2, verse number 11 says this. Of course, this is in the context of the Incarnation as well. It's the summary of the coming of Christ and how he came into the world. And he says in verse number 11 at the end of it all, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. See, we look at those little phrases, to the glory of God the Father, and we kind of pass over them because they're, you know, to us, they're not super significant in the context of what we're reading, but it's there for a reason.
[00:15:22] All of this is about God.
[00:15:26] This whole thing is about God.
[00:15:28] Look at one more in Revelation, chapter four. I know we're going to a lot of verses, but hang with me.
[00:15:34] Revelation, chapter four.
[00:15:47] You just see this over and over. The scene in Revelation 4 is in heaven. Verse number four says this.
[00:15:56] And round about the throne were four and twenty seats.
[00:16:01] And upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting clothed in white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
[00:16:10] Drop down to verse number 10 through these 24 elders. And the 4 and 20 elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and worship him that liveth forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne. This is where we get that, the songs, everything that's in it. This is the only place in Scripture where it's described.
[00:16:29] And notice what they say in verse 11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. For Thou hast created all things and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. So let me say this. God gets glory and honor because of his power and because of his creation. And you see this scene in heaven. These 24 elders are shouting praise to God, right? Because of his glory. And think about glory as the idea that it is no one in the universe is like God. No one is even similar.
[00:17:04] He by his own power and wisdom made everything that is.
[00:17:09] No one is similar.
[00:17:11] There's not a person, there's not a man created God anywhere that's ever been envisioned that was this anything like God. This is God's glory. None. He stands absolutely alone.
[00:17:24] He has no peer.
[00:17:29] And they praise him because of that. In verse 11. Because of His. Because he created all things and for his pleasure they are and were created. Let's keep going. Chapter five. Look at chapter five, verse number nine.
[00:17:43] Now, in verse eight, we're still talking about the elders.
[00:17:47] Notice what verse nine says.
[00:17:50] And they sung a new song saying, thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof. For thou wast slain and hast redeemed us. The elder speaking to God by thy blood out of every kindred and every tongue and people and nation. Now, what's interesting, just as a little side note, this is how we identify who the elders are.
[00:18:19] The 24 elders are identified. They're not intended to be understood as 24 individuals, but because of verse number nine, it tells us that they represent people of every kindred and tribe and nation and tongue. Not just Jews, both Jew and Gentile, who have been redeemed to God by the blood of Jesus.
[00:18:42] So the 24 elders represent the church. This is how they're identified. And listen, this is a scene in heaven before there is the first judgment that falls upon the earth in the tribulation. The church identified here is this group. Now, here's what I want you to see. So the church is in heaven. What are they saying?
[00:19:04] Lord, I thank you. I'm in heaven. I really like my mansion.
[00:19:08] I love these streets of gold. No, all they're saying is God it is all about you. There is nothing else, no beauty, no thing that exists in this place, in this paradise has any comparison to you. You get all the glory, all the attention, all the focus. Even though they describe how that Christ was slain and. But notice they're not saying. They're not talking about what they did, they're talking about what Christ did for them. All the focus is on Christ.
[00:19:46] Then you go down to verse number 13.
[00:19:51] And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, and as such as are in the sea and all that are in them heard I saying, blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever. What is the focus in heaven?
[00:20:12] All eyes are on the Lord. See that? So when the angels come and they say, glory to God in the highest, you can understand why they're saying that they just left that realm briefly to come give this announcement to these lowly shepherds, right?
[00:20:29] They're just reiterating and repeating what they had been hearing in heaven. All the glory goes to God. But notice they say back in Luke. We can go back to Luke now, chapter two. Notice they say, glory to God in the highest. Now, it's not exactly. There's no way to know exactly what is meant by highest. Some people think highest refers to heaven, the highest place, and that's one way to think about it. Some people think highest refers to the highest amount of praise, and that's one way to think it. What I tend to think is this. When they say glory to God in the highest, I think they're likely saying this. Of all the glories of God, his creation, his power, his wisdom, his benevolence, as seen in his interaction with humankind of all people, of all time, there is one thing that stands out and above all of the other things.
[00:21:34] What is the occasion of this particular announcement of God's glory?
[00:21:40] That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners?
[00:21:47] Maybe it means the highest expression of God's glory is that God sent His Son to save dirty rotten sinners.
[00:21:59] Maybe that means even above his creative glories and his creative power and the glory of his wisdom and all of those things we know that God also has.
[00:22:10] Remember, the whole Bible comes to a crescendo at this point, does it not?
[00:22:16] It comes to a climactic point when Christ comes into the world. Everything in the Old Testament points to it.
[00:22:23] Everything after his incarnation flows down from it.
[00:22:29] So maybe that's what glory to God in The highest means. But here's what I want you to see in Luke 2 as well.
[00:22:42] You notice how many of you are familiar with the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow or Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.
[00:22:51] What does it say in the refrain? Every time, you know, he laments the fact there's no peace, you know, and that kind of thing. It's written during the time of the Civil War. And he says of peace on earth and good will toward men.
[00:23:05] He skips something, didn't he? He skipped the glory to God part.
[00:23:12] This verse.
[00:23:13] The angels opened what they wanted to say. Not with peace on earth, not with good will toward men, but with the glory of God.
[00:23:26] Again, the focus is placed on God's honor, God's glory. Here's what's happened in our world.
[00:23:37] Remember, we're talking about the incarnation of Christ. This is our salvation right here. This is it.
[00:23:43] In modern times, salvation from sin has been distorted into a man focused self esteem driven evaluation.
[00:24:00] Mankind. In other words. It's almost as if it's described as if God is glorious because he's made man glorious.
[00:24:14] And this is how people describe it. In fact, some of the self esteem.
[00:24:19] There are people who take the text of scripture and teach ideas of self esteem. Mankind has no problems with self esteem. That is, that comes perfectly natural. That comes perfectly natural. And oftentimes things that are described as problems of self esteem are actually problems of pride. But I digress.
[00:24:39] People say things like think about how valuable you must be if God sent Jesus into the world to save you. You are important, you are significant.
[00:24:50] But the problem is the focus is all wrong.
[00:24:53] It's not about you and me. It never was.
[00:24:56] Does God highly value us enough to give his Son for us? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean we're significant.
[00:25:04] God is significant. And in fact, when you realize, you realize, if I say, well, I must be significant if God counts me significant, right? Well, that means I'm big and God is big.
[00:25:17] The reality is very different. The reality is I am a trifle, a nothing, a dirty, unclean sinner. You say, well, I'm not that. That is exactly what the Lord describes you and me as.
[00:25:33] Nothing better.
[00:25:35] That's it.
[00:25:37] And so the focus becomes. The focus turns to the Lord, who condescended unimaginably right to we who are the lowest of the low, the dirtiest of the dirty.
[00:25:55] So it's not about our significance at all.
[00:26:01] It's about what the Lord did.
[00:26:04] Man is not glorious. God is not glorious because man is glorious.
[00:26:12] It was God who Condescended.
[00:26:15] It was not that we were valuable, but that God's grace and his love was immeasurable.
[00:26:27] The only value that we have was because of God's goodness and grace.
[00:26:34] Outside of that, we have none.
[00:26:38] This is what the glory of God in the highest means, right?
[00:26:42] Second phrase is this. If you'll look at verse number 14 again.
[00:26:46] And on earth, peace, good will toward men, this peace on earth. You know, I was talking to Sister Lynn before the service about the trouble with this thing happening in Syria. We think, oh, yeah, Bashar al Assad is out of power and he's been replaced with basically terrorists.
[00:27:10] We talk about, you know, world peace. You could think about the European Union, and you think about the different. You know, you got NATO and you've got the UN and you got these different groups. Listen, and they all, ostensibly, they all want world peace. You know, they want no war, no killing. But look at their values.
[00:27:32] They embrace these groups as bodies, embrace the most vile, the most vile and ungodly principles.
[00:27:45] They are, I dare not even say atheistic. They're not. They're actually antagonistic toward God.
[00:27:55] There is not going to be peace from any of that. But this is.
[00:27:59] When the world reads this, they get a warm, fuzzy feeling in their heart. They think, peace on earth, on earth, peace. Oh, that's what we want. Jesus has come to give us peace.
[00:28:10] But here's the problem.
[00:28:12] Man wants sin and peace at the same time.
[00:28:17] But before you even get to peace on earth, there's the glory of God. You, you see, there can be no peace on earth until there's first glory for God.
[00:28:27] And what this world thinks is if we can just stop arguing and disagreeing and just accept everybody, tolerate everything, there will be peace. If we could just get rid of those intolerant bigots, there would be tranquility. If we could just rid our society of people who tell us, nay, people who say, well, this isn't right, or we shouldn't do that.
[00:28:50] There would be peace. And what they really want. And this is a just. This is man. This is just. This is me, you, this is everybody. This is man. What man really wants is they want to sin in peace.
[00:29:03] They want to indulge their wickedness in peace. They want the evil without the evil's effect, which is, of course, the opposite of peace, turmoil and trouble. They want wickedness and peace at the same time.
[00:29:20] And they think the reason we don't have any peace is because people are telling us something we shouldn't do something. Think about this. Well, let's look at Isaiah 57 real quick.
[00:29:32] Isaiah, chapter 57. Notice this.
[00:29:42] Verse 19.
[00:29:55] See, everybody. Everybody thinks. Mankind thinks that their trouble and their turmoil comes from outside of them.
[00:30:04] They think the reason they don't have peace is because of some external force that's being brought to bear upon them. And that's not the case.
[00:30:11] Verse 19 of Isaiah 57. Look what the Lord says. I create the fruit of the lips. Peace. Peace to him that is afar off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord, and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God to the wicked. See that? Why isn't there peace? You know why?
[00:30:38] Because of the wickedness.
[00:30:40] But see, that's exactly what this world wants. It wants the wickedness and the peace.
[00:30:46] But the reality is, in God's word, the wickedness is what causes and stirs that troubled sea, causes the turmoil and the trouble.
[00:31:00] So they're looking for the cures in the wrong places. The reason they are not at peace is because of that very wickedness. They think it's something outside. And God says, no, it is because of that wickedness. But that's the thing they love and cherish. That's the thing we love and cherish.
[00:31:20] We want the peace, the wickedness.
[00:31:25] But the reality is that peace comes by righteousness. Let me show you a verse to prove this.
[00:31:37] Let me get to my verse here.
[00:31:41] We'll get to that verse in just a minute, because there's another point I want to give. I do want to show you 1. In Luke 19. Look at that, if you would.
[00:31:49] Luke 19:12, the Lord Jesus gives a parable.
[00:32:09] I just want you to notice one thing in this parable. Luke 19, verse 12, he said, Therefore a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.
[00:32:20] And he called his ten servants and delivered them ten pounds. Now notice, these men are his servants and said unto them, occupy till I come. Verse 14. This is the key. But his citizens hated him and sent a message after him, saying, we will not have this man to reign over us.
[00:32:46] Everybody listen. Mankind wants peace.
[00:32:51] They want to sin in peace. They don't want anything to disturb the tranquility of their indulgence in that which God says is wicked.
[00:33:04] But there can be no peace as long as mankind is at war with God. You say, well, I'm not at war with God. Of course, nobody thinks they're at war with God.
[00:33:15] But the minute the Lord says, you shouldn't do that.
[00:33:19] That's wicked. That's evil.
[00:33:24] That very moment, one of two things happens. That man says, I don't care what you say the Bible says, or, that's not what my God says.
[00:33:40] They either remake God in their own image to support whatever thing they want to indulge in and reject what the Lord says, or they say, we will not have this man reign over us. And we say, we're not at war with God. Absolutely, we're at war with God. We're in a state of. Of continual warfare with the Almighty because we. Listen, I'm speaking of us as mankind, because we will not have him reign over us.
[00:34:10] What would you do if you were in a company and there was someone in the company who said, I'm not going to do what the CEO tells me to do. I am not going to do it.
[00:34:23] Well, you got a problem. You know what? You're at war in that company. Can that CEO abide you remaining in that company?
[00:34:32] How would your boss react if you say, you know what? I'm not going to do payroll anymore? I'm not.
[00:34:37] You're an enemy at that point. You're an enemy of the company because you are rebelling against his very place. And that's where the Lord. The Lord is the Lord of all. And we say, no, I will not have him rule over me.
[00:34:52] We're at war with him. This is what the Bible says. This is what it describes when it describes the enmity that we have with God. Take a peek at Jeremiah chapter six, if you would.
[00:35:04] Jeremiah, chapter six.
[00:35:17] This is an amazing period in the history of Israel. If you know anything about Jeremiah. If not, you pick up a chronological Bible Bible reading plan. And after a while, you'll get to it. This is right before the Lord destroys Jerusalem using the Babylonians. Jeremiah, he lived through that. Okay? He's right at the very end.
[00:35:37] An amazing time in history.
[00:35:40] Jeremiah 6:14. Look at what it says. Wherefore, thus saith the Lord God of hosts, because you speak this word. Behold, I will make my words. I'm reading chapter five. Excuse me. Chapter six, verse 14. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people, saying, slightly saying, peace, peace when there is no peace. Now, in verse 13, he's referring to the false prophets. Here's what's happening in Israel at this time. Is this these people in Judah? It's actually Judah. Israel's already gone into captivity. Judah is faking service to God. That's what's happening at. This is they have religion. And yet in the very temple of God, they have the worship of BAAL. In the temple, they have built altars to sacrifice their children in the valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is just south of Jerusalem.
[00:36:34] All the while they're going about saying, oh, no, we love the Lord. We're turning to the Lord. Oh, the Lord this and the Lord that. That's what Jeremiah describes in chapter seven especially.
[00:36:43] So this is what's happening. I mean, it's our world right here. Everybody's a Christian, everybody loves God, everybody's religious, everybody's spiritual, and yet wholly throwing ourselves at sin.
[00:36:58] And the prophets are saying, peace, peace.
[00:37:03] How can there be peace when there's wickedness? That's the whole point. And here Jeremiah, the bearer of bad news, comes along with God's message and says, there is no peace.
[00:37:17] There is no peace. Look at you. Look at what you're doing. You know why? Because peace is a product of righteousness.
[00:37:30] Leave us alone. We want to hear the prophets tell us everything's great.
[00:37:36] Look at Isaiah, chapter nine real quick.
[00:37:42] I know we're reading a lot of verses. Hang in there. Once again.
[00:37:47] Isaiah, chapter 9, verse 6.
[00:38:09] Very familiar passage around this time of year. Look what it says. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father. What's it say? The Prince of Peace.
[00:38:31] This is referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Prince of peace. You might say the King of peace. The one who brings peace. Like Melchizedek, right? King of Salem, King of peace.
[00:38:43] He brings peace with him. Why?
[00:38:48] Verse 7. The increase of his government and peace. There shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth, even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. You see that? So the King comes. He's called the King of peace. But to establish peace, he establishes peace. Righteousness. You see that? Now look at one more. In Isaiah, chapter. This is our last verse. Isaiah 32.
[00:39:23] Isaiah 32.
[00:39:38] Now, this chapter is a little bit confusing as far as the context, but we'll look at the very beginning.
[00:39:44] Verse one says this. Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.
[00:39:50] So that's kind of picking up the context here. And we'll go toward the latter half of the chapter at verse number 16.
[00:40:02] Then judgment shall dwell in the Wilderness and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
[00:40:08] And the work of righteousness shall be peace.
[00:40:12] And the effect of righteousness? Quiet. Quietness and assurance forever. You see that? That's why I didn't pull out of thin air.
[00:40:22] The reason why there's no peace is because there's no righteousness.
[00:40:28] And the product of righteousness is peace. So before you can have peace, you have to have righteousness.
[00:40:38] So we talk about peace on earth. Please hear me. We're almost done. I promise.
[00:40:43] We talk about peace on earth. Please hear me.
[00:40:46] We just read how that unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. It says he'll be the prince of peace. The government will be upon his shoulder. That is, he will rule. He will establish right by law, righteousness. I'm looking forward to that day when Jesus rules physically on this earth. That's going to happen. That's prophesied. It will happen.
[00:41:11] And when that happens, the law of the land will be righteousness. Not kind of righteousness like we have here at best. Right? But it will be absolute righteousness. Men will be held to that standard. And you know what the effect will be? World peace.
[00:41:30] I'm looking forward to that. But let me tell you something else that can be you right now.
[00:41:41] The reason why, if you do not have peace and you are yet outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, the reason you don't have peace is because you don't have righteousness.
[00:41:51] You're not right with God.
[00:41:55] That's why. Because.
[00:41:57] And those of you that do know the Lord Jesus and have put your faith in him, you're not righteous, of course, by your own merit, by your own goodness. Our focus is on God, right? God did it.
[00:42:10] But when God forgave you and when he gave you his own righteousness, the effect of that was peace.
[00:42:20] Peace with God, peace with your brother and peace in your heart.
[00:42:30] Because you know you're clean.
[00:42:35] You know that you're right with God.
[00:42:39] And we talk about the kingdom to come, where Jesus will reign and he will.
[00:42:45] The government on his shoulder. And it will be. He'll establish justice. He will. There'll be peace. There will be. But you, here and now, you can have listen. Peace on earth right now.
[00:42:57] And the reason you don't. The problem is righteousness. The problem is not all the things that are around you, not the external forces. The reason you and I don't have peace is one reason and one. One reason only is because we are not right with God.
[00:43:13] You can't control all these things, but you can absolutely have peace on earth right now.
[00:43:22] That's what people want. The nations, they want all the war to stop. They want the sin to continue as an individual. It can't be. They're mutually exclusive, one or the other.
[00:43:36] You can have wickedness. Listen, you can have wickedness, but you will not have peace. There is no peace, saith my God of the wicked. But if you come to the One who is the Prince of peace, he will give you peace as an effect of righteousness. He'll forgive you and make you righteous. The last thing in Luke 2 will not spend long. I wish I could. But in Luke 2, look at what it says.
[00:44:05] Verse 14.
[00:44:10] Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace. And the angels conclude their statement with their announcement with this good will toward men.
[00:44:24] These are the same men who are at war with God, who will not have this man reign over us. But even though they are at war with God, God's disposition toward mankind is kind.
[00:44:45] He's not kind to the righteous, kind to the good, kind to the holy. He's kind to those who are at war with him. When Jesus appeared on the scene, and this is the context now, when Jesus appeared on the scene, mankind was already at war with him. But that didn't stop him. God in his heart had good will toward man.
[00:45:04] And this goodwill extends to all. It says goodwill toward man. But look at verse number 10, the end of verse 10. He says, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
[00:45:18] So this goodness, this goodwill, some people like I'm not joking. Some people actually truly believe that God only has good will toward the elect and doesn't have goodwill toward everyone. No, no, no, no. It says all people. He has goodwill to man. You understand? Mankind as a whole.
[00:45:40] His good will is not limited to those who he has chosen. Verse 10. All people.
[00:45:47] And furthermore, this goodwill is spoken in what context? In the context of the demonstration of his will. The goodwill in Christ's coming.
[00:46:01] God's goodwill was demonstrated even to those that would ultimately reject his goodwill. And we're not talking about warm, fuzzy feelings. We're talking about a demonstration.
[00:46:14] Listen to these verses. I don't want you to turn to them, just listen to them. John 3:17. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. This is God's disposition.
[00:46:28] Acts 3:26 Unto you first, God, having raised up His Son, Jesus sent him to bless you. You see, that's what God wants. That's his will toward them in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. 1st John 4:9.
[00:46:45] In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. Let no person ever doubt God's thoughts toward Him.
[00:47:03] There's no room for doubt. He didn't just say it. He didn't just feel it. He demonstrated his goodwill in this announcement.
[00:47:15] Now, one day, this goodwill, the door to God's goodwill, is going to close.
[00:47:24] You know that.
[00:47:26] And the fire of judgment is going to come up in the eyes of the same one who was born in Bethlehem.
[00:47:33] There will be no more goodwill. The time will be passed.
[00:47:38] God's disposition at that point will be judgment.
[00:47:43] So let me say, run to the Lord Jesus Christ now.
[00:47:51] Run to him now.
[00:47:53] Let's pray.
