Sermon Tone Analysis

12-24-95 \\ \\ THE ANGELS OF THE LORD:  A SINGING ARMY \\ Luke 2:8-20 \\ \\ \\ How many angels did the shepherds encounter that Christmas night?

We know that there was \\ \\ one angel who brought the good news concerning the birth of the Savior.

He is simply \\ \\ identified as "an angel of the Lord."

He made the greatest announcement any angel ever made, \\ \\ "Do not be afraid.

I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.

Today in the \\ \\ City of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord."

\\ \\ Accompanying this angelic messenger was "a great company of the heavenly host."

This \\ \\ unnumbered group was a part of the singing army of heaven.

That they were angels is obvious \\ \\ from the reference in the text, "When the angels had left them and gone into heaven."

The word \\ \\ "host" is the ordinary Greek word for a sizeable army.

It has as its background a Hebrew word \\ \\ that is translated "host" in the Old Testament.

It, too, referred to an angelic army.

Whenever \\ \\ "the host of heaven" made their appearance,  ordinarily they were involved in some struggle on \\ \\ behalf of the people of God or some judgment upon the people of God.

There is no way to over \\ \\ estimate the power and potential of this heavenly army whenever they are involved in a human \\ \\ struggle.

It only took one soldier from that army to devastate the army of Sennacherib and to \\ \\ \\ leave a hundred and eighty-five thousand dead soldiers lying on the field of battle after only one \\ \\ night of struggle.

It only took one such angel to bring devastation upon the nation of Israel when \\ \\ God moved against them in judgment during the reign of King David.

This is the only occasion \\ \\ that the army appears on Earth in their role as a choir.

Their responsibility in heaven \\ \\ ordinarily is to serve as a  choir offering praise to God.

So what we have in the heavenly host is a \\ \\ singing army.

It brings before us one of the basic functions of the angels - they sing the praises \\ \\ of God.    \\ \\ \\ I want us to take this familiar part of the Christmas story to learn something more about the \\ \\ angels and its significant lesson for our lives.

\\ \\ I.  THE SCENE OF THEIR CHRISTMAS SONG.

\\ \\ This is one of the most surprising things in the Christmas story.

Throughout \\ \\ Biblical history every appearance of the heavenly army on the earth had been on some mission \\ \\ of  death and destruction.

This time they are on the earth as the heavenly choir.

Their time in \\ \\ the presence of God in heaven is taken up with the singing of His praises.

We have notable \\ \\ examples of this both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.

This appearance in this \\ \\ particular setting is of great significance.

\\ \\ 1.

The scene is not the temple.

\\ \\ If the singing army is to make an appearance on earth and give a brief concert, is it not logical to \\ \\ expect that they will do this in the temple at Jerusalem?

There was a human choir that sang the \\ \\ praises of God generation after generation in the temple at Jerusalem.

The temple is the place \\ \\ where religious leaders of the land of Israel congregate to do their service to God.

The fact that \\ \\ the singing army did not give its brief concert in the temple at Jerusalem is a judgment on the \\ \\ \\ temple.

It indicates that the God of heaven is by-passing the religious structures of Israel in \\ \\ bringing His Messiah into the world.

He evidently does not consider the religious leaders \\ \\ to be the proper subjects to hear this brief concert.

That the religious leaders of the people \\ \\ of God could slip into such a decadent state that when God is getting ready to do something \\ \\ significant He would by-pass them needs to be a warning to all of us who are involved in the \\ \\ spiritual leadership of our day.

\\ \\ 2.  The scene is in a field with some shepherds.

\\ \\ \\ In many of our Christmas dramas we include the shepherds.

We usually have several shepherds \\ \\ to convey the idea of what happened that night.

There may not have been more than two or three \\ \\ in company that night.

But they are the ones who are allowed to hear the earthly \\ \\ concert of this heavenly choir.

This says something about the purpose of God at this point in \\ \\ history.

\\ \\ \\ \\ The shepherds should be seen as representing the common and ordinary people.

They would \\ \\ have been held in contempt by the leaders of the religious structures in Jerusalem.

Shepherds \\ \\ were considered ceremonially unclean since their life style made it impossible for them to live \\ \\ by all the rules that the religious leaders had put in place.

They would not be welcome in the \\ \\ temple to hear any concert by any choir.

So God sends the singing army to give their brief \\ \\ concert to a place outside of the temple.

The concert is shared with people of the ordinary \\ \\ way of life.

It is a reminder to us that the mission of Jesus into the world was not to save the \\ \\ religious structures of the day, but it was rather to save sinners.

We must not forget that this \\ \\ aspect of His mission has not changed.

He is more likely to have a heart for someone who \\ \\ \\ would be considered outcast by us than He is for those of us who have worked so hard at \\ \\ achieving a certain level of respectability.

\\ \\ The scene for this brief concert is in itself a part of the good news.

Christmas is bringing joy to \\ \\ those who have had very little earthly opportunity to ever know joy.

\\ \\ II.

THE SUBJECT OF THEIR CHRISTMAS SONG.

\\ \\ Their anthem was rather brief.

"Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rest."

\\ What were they singing?

What is the essence or the theme of their anthem?

It obviously divides itself into two \\ statements.

The first is concerned with God in heaven; the second is concerned with man on earth.

\\ \\ 1.

The glory of God in heaven.

\\ We should see in this brief anthem sung by the singing army a statement concerning what is to be accomplished by \\ the mission of the Messiah.

As a result of the coming of the Baby born in Bethlehem, there is to be "glory to God in \\ the highest."

The primary result of the mission of Jesus in the earth will be to reveal to humankind the essence of \\ the Divine Being and to bring great glory to God in the highest.

In this statement we are to understand "in the \\ highest" as referring to heaven itself.

Because the Messiah, the Son of God, came to earth, there will be great \\ praise and honor and glory given to God in heaven.

This singing army is sensitive to who God is and what God \\ has done and they are prepared to acknowledge who God is and the glory of what He has done in their Christmas \\ song.

\\ \\ 2.  Peace to man on earth.

\\ \\ The second statement in the Christmas song indicates that something is to take place on earth.

We should see \\ earth standing in contrast to the highest.

The thing that is to take place involves men and this is to be seen in \\ contrast to God.

Something is to happen in heaven in reference to God and then something is to happen on earth \\ with reference to man.

The thing that is to happen on earth with reference to man is "peace."

\\ \\ The inclusion of peace in their Christmas song refers to peace in a comprehensive sense.

The mission of Jesus is \\ to bring peace with God to men.

His mission is to reconcile God and sinful man.

Because of His mission to earth, \\ lost human beings will now be able to draw nigh to God and enter into a relationship with God that is best described \\ as "peace."

\\ When man knows peace with God, then he begins to know the peace of God.

The peace of God includes a man \\ coming to peace with himself.

This is the experiential side of peace.

When through the Lord Jesus we are \\ reconciled to God, it removes those destructive and negative thoughts we have about ourselves and replaces them \\ with a sense of acceptance, even being under the favor of God.   \\ The peace even goes a step further for when men are at peace with God and at peace with themselves, then it \\ becomes possible for them to be at peace with others.

The family and the home benefits from us being at peace \\ with God.

The business and market place benefit from us being at peace with God.

The community benefits from \\ us being at peace with God.

The world benefits from us being at peace with God.

When we are not a peace with \\ God, we tend to be at war with ourselves and with others.

\\ \\ \\ Those who are to know this peace on earth are those "on whom His favor rests."

The old version translated this, \\ "Goodwill toward men."

This new translation gives emphasis to the fact that the good will is God's good will.

Those \\ who know the peace of God are those upon whom God has set His heart and to whom He has extended His grace.

\\ It is when we come under the grace of God, even the favor of God through the Lord Jesus Christ, that we know the \\ peace with God.   \\ \\ We must never forget that even though our world only dreams about peace, peace is still a possibility through the \\ Lord Jesus Christ.

In their Christmas anthem the singing army celebrated this accomplishment on the part of the \\ Messiah that was born that day.

He was born to be "The Prince of Peace."

Because of His mission into the world \\ our God is now known as "the God of peace."

Peace is a possibility for you personally because Jesus came.

\\ Peace is a possibility in our world because Jesus came.

\\ \\ So the subject of their Christmas song related to God and man,  heaven and earth, glory and peace.

\\ \\ III.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CHRISTMAS SONG.

\\ What significance are we to see in this brief concert given by the singing army on the hills just outside of \\ Bethlehem.