| christmas_-_the_4th_greatest_day_in_history__dr._paul_fedena.docx |
CHRISTMAS: THE 4TH GREATEST DAY IN HISTORY!
Dr. Paul Fedena
TEXT: Luke 2:8-20
THESIS: To show the significance of the incarnation of Christ & how it impacted those of His day and all in the future.
INTRO.:
A. If Christmas is only the 4th greatest day in history, what could the 1st, 2nd & 3rd be?! Perhaps the 3rd would be His death on the cross; the 2nd, His resurrection from the dead & the 1st & greatest of all His future reign on earth.
Rev.11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
B. Of course without this 4th greatest event, the other 3 could not be a reality! His death was witnessed primarily by unbelievers; His resurrection only by believers; His reign will be witnessed by the entire universe! His birth was only witnessed by Mary & Joseph, but supernaturally announced first to some lowly shepherds. Angels came from the upper world to make an an announcement to shepherds from the lower world.
ILLUS.: Perhaps this is scripturally significant in that two of the greatest men in the O.T.: Moses, Israel’s heroic prophet, & David, Israel’s heroic King were both called to serve the Lord when they were lowly shepherds. The word “Pastor” means shepherd. David referred to the Lord Himself as “my Shepherd.” Also, Bethlehem is the “City of David” the shepherd-king…
ILLUS.: Jesus’ birth was surrounded by supernatural & significant events: the birth of Jn. the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, announced by Gabriel to Zacharias when he & his wife who was barren, were “well stricken in years.” The announcement by Gabriel to Mary who was a virgin that she would conceive by the Holy Ghost; the announcement to Joseph by Gabriel not to fear taking Mary to be his wife; later the famous star of Bethlehem that guided the wise men to Bethlehem to see the Christ child; and here “the angel of the Lord” appears to these shepherds accompanied by “a multitude of the heavenly host.” Earth may not have been prepared nor impressed w/the birth of our Savior, but heaven was excited, active & participating!
A. The Context of The Revelation: v.8,9
1. The revelation was not made to Herod in the palace nor to the chief priests in the Temple, but to despised shepherds in the fields.
2. Shepherds were outcasts, grouped w/thieves, murderers & tax collectors & were even barred from giving evidence in court.
3. Shepherds were the pariahs of Judaism, but the 1st recipients of the revelation of God on the earth of the birth of the Savior.
4. So awesome was the display from heaven that the shepherds “were sore afraid.”
ILLUS.: The Shekinah glory of God which enveloped the Ark of the Covenant & the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies, now enveloped these lowly shepherds, “the glory of the Lord shone round about them…” As if that were not enough, v.13 says, “a multitude of the heavenly host” joined “the angel of the Lord.” The only other time the words “sore afraid” are used in the N.T. is when Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James & John & they saw His glory IN His resurrected body.!
B. The Content of The Revelation:
1. The allaying of fear: “fear not…great joy” v.10a
2. The announcement of the good news: v.10b,11
a. The angel stresses the relevance of the incarnation to the shepherds “I bring YOU good tidings…”
b. The angel also shows that the incarnation has potential blessings to “all people…”
c. The angel also speaks of the nature of the One Who was born: “a SAVIOR, which is Christ (the Anointed One), the Lord “ (Jehovah)!
3. The attestation of the good news: the 2-fold sign of swaddling clothes & a manger (surely an unusual birthplace, esp. for a King!)
C. The Confirmation of The Revelation: v.13,14 (God didn’t want these shepherds to think they were hallucinating, so He confirms what they had already seen & heard w/more witnesses.)
1. The “host” or army of angels serves to authenticate the witness of the “angel of the Lord,” but this army announces peace, not war!
ILLUS.: Traditionally the angels are portrayed as blond, long-haired, women with flowing robes & wings (none of which is supported in Scripture), and as singing. The Script. doesn’t say whether they sang, chanted or shouted. On 3 occasions in Script., they are seen rejoicing: at creation, here at the incarnation & when sinners get saved.
This is a 3-fold doxology:
🔷 “glory to God” because He is Lord,
🔷 “peace on earth” because He is the Prince of Peace, and
🔷 “good will toward men” because He is the Savior! (Where is this peace associated with His birth? It hasn’t happened and will not happen until He ascends the throne at the outset of the Millennium.)
II. THE ADORATION: (BY LOWLY SHEPHERDS)
A. The Departure of The Angels: v.15a
1. These angels go back home to heaven awaiting God’s next assignment.
2. They are simply servants of God & guardians of believers.
B. The Deliberation of The Shepherds: v.15b
1. If these men were previously unbelievers, they are now believers.
2. What a degree of faith they manifest in such a short period of time.
a. First, they say “let us go see…” obviously believing the message.
b. Then when they arrive, they see only a human baby, no haloes, rays of light, etc., but they nonetheless believe He is Christ! Talk about faith!!
ILLUS.: Note v.16, where it says they “found Mary and Joseph and the babe” …They were only told they would find the baby. But instead found a mother & apparent father with the baby. They accepted by faith that this baby was unique.
III. THE ACTION: (BY HUMBLE PEOPLE)
A. The Shepherds Preach: v.17
1. These shepherds were 1st singled out to be the recipients of the message & now fulfill their divine destiny to be the first preachers of the message.
2. They didn’t invent a message, but only preached what had been revealed!
ILLUS.: They were not schooled in a seminary, nor trained in a Bible college, but they preached about their own personal experience in line w/God’s Word. To those who criticized his preacher boys who sometimes didn’t use good grammar, Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. said: “I’d rather someone say, ‘I seen’ if he had seen something, than to have someone say, “I saw” when he hadn’t seen anything!” Good theology is better than good grammar. (It is even better when you can put the two together.)
B. The People Perplexed: v.18
1. The people “wondered” i.e., they no doubt marveled at this fantastic message.
2. Could it be that the long-awaited Messiah could come in such a humble fashion?
3. The Jews believed that He would be born of a virgin, according to prophecy, but they looked for Him to be a royal Sovereign to sit on David’s throne.
4. Unlike the shepherds they “wondered” rather than just believed.
C. The Mother Ponders: v.19
D. The Shepherds Praise: v.20
1. The shepherds return to work, but they go there rejoicing, praising & glorifying God! Jesus had made the difference!
2. The joy of the angelic host had now been transferred to the hearts of these simple shepherds.
3. Witnessing & worship are the proper responses to having Christ as your Savior!
CONCL.: If CHRISTMAS IS INDEED & IN FACT THE 4TH GREATEST EVENT IN HISTORY, we too ought to witness & worship! The incarnation of Christ is a pivotal point in God’s plan for man. Without the incarnation there could be no Calvary, no resurrection & no reign! Will you too join the shepherds and praise Him for coming into your world?!
Dr. Paul Fedena
TEXT: Luke 2:8-20
THESIS: To show the significance of the incarnation of Christ & how it impacted those of His day and all in the future.
INTRO.:
A. If Christmas is only the 4th greatest day in history, what could the 1st, 2nd & 3rd be?! Perhaps the 3rd would be His death on the cross; the 2nd, His resurrection from the dead & the 1st & greatest of all His future reign on earth.
Rev.11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
B. Of course without this 4th greatest event, the other 3 could not be a reality! His death was witnessed primarily by unbelievers; His resurrection only by believers; His reign will be witnessed by the entire universe! His birth was only witnessed by Mary & Joseph, but supernaturally announced first to some lowly shepherds. Angels came from the upper world to make an an announcement to shepherds from the lower world.
ILLUS.: Perhaps this is scripturally significant in that two of the greatest men in the O.T.: Moses, Israel’s heroic prophet, & David, Israel’s heroic King were both called to serve the Lord when they were lowly shepherds. The word “Pastor” means shepherd. David referred to the Lord Himself as “my Shepherd.” Also, Bethlehem is the “City of David” the shepherd-king…
- THE ANNOUNCEMENT: (BY HEAVENLY MESSENGERS)
ILLUS.: Jesus’ birth was surrounded by supernatural & significant events: the birth of Jn. the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, announced by Gabriel to Zacharias when he & his wife who was barren, were “well stricken in years.” The announcement by Gabriel to Mary who was a virgin that she would conceive by the Holy Ghost; the announcement to Joseph by Gabriel not to fear taking Mary to be his wife; later the famous star of Bethlehem that guided the wise men to Bethlehem to see the Christ child; and here “the angel of the Lord” appears to these shepherds accompanied by “a multitude of the heavenly host.” Earth may not have been prepared nor impressed w/the birth of our Savior, but heaven was excited, active & participating!
A. The Context of The Revelation: v.8,9
1. The revelation was not made to Herod in the palace nor to the chief priests in the Temple, but to despised shepherds in the fields.
2. Shepherds were outcasts, grouped w/thieves, murderers & tax collectors & were even barred from giving evidence in court.
3. Shepherds were the pariahs of Judaism, but the 1st recipients of the revelation of God on the earth of the birth of the Savior.
4. So awesome was the display from heaven that the shepherds “were sore afraid.”
ILLUS.: The Shekinah glory of God which enveloped the Ark of the Covenant & the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies, now enveloped these lowly shepherds, “the glory of the Lord shone round about them…” As if that were not enough, v.13 says, “a multitude of the heavenly host” joined “the angel of the Lord.” The only other time the words “sore afraid” are used in the N.T. is when Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James & John & they saw His glory IN His resurrected body.!
B. The Content of The Revelation:
1. The allaying of fear: “fear not…great joy” v.10a
2. The announcement of the good news: v.10b,11
a. The angel stresses the relevance of the incarnation to the shepherds “I bring YOU good tidings…”
b. The angel also shows that the incarnation has potential blessings to “all people…”
c. The angel also speaks of the nature of the One Who was born: “a SAVIOR, which is Christ (the Anointed One), the Lord “ (Jehovah)!
3. The attestation of the good news: the 2-fold sign of swaddling clothes & a manger (surely an unusual birthplace, esp. for a King!)
C. The Confirmation of The Revelation: v.13,14 (God didn’t want these shepherds to think they were hallucinating, so He confirms what they had already seen & heard w/more witnesses.)
1. The “host” or army of angels serves to authenticate the witness of the “angel of the Lord,” but this army announces peace, not war!
ILLUS.: Traditionally the angels are portrayed as blond, long-haired, women with flowing robes & wings (none of which is supported in Scripture), and as singing. The Script. doesn’t say whether they sang, chanted or shouted. On 3 occasions in Script., they are seen rejoicing: at creation, here at the incarnation & when sinners get saved.
This is a 3-fold doxology:
🔷 “glory to God” because He is Lord,
🔷 “peace on earth” because He is the Prince of Peace, and
🔷 “good will toward men” because He is the Savior! (Where is this peace associated with His birth? It hasn’t happened and will not happen until He ascends the throne at the outset of the Millennium.)
II. THE ADORATION: (BY LOWLY SHEPHERDS)
A. The Departure of The Angels: v.15a
1. These angels go back home to heaven awaiting God’s next assignment.
2. They are simply servants of God & guardians of believers.
B. The Deliberation of The Shepherds: v.15b
1. If these men were previously unbelievers, they are now believers.
2. What a degree of faith they manifest in such a short period of time.
a. First, they say “let us go see…” obviously believing the message.
b. Then when they arrive, they see only a human baby, no haloes, rays of light, etc., but they nonetheless believe He is Christ! Talk about faith!!
ILLUS.: Note v.16, where it says they “found Mary and Joseph and the babe” …They were only told they would find the baby. But instead found a mother & apparent father with the baby. They accepted by faith that this baby was unique.
III. THE ACTION: (BY HUMBLE PEOPLE)
A. The Shepherds Preach: v.17
1. These shepherds were 1st singled out to be the recipients of the message & now fulfill their divine destiny to be the first preachers of the message.
2. They didn’t invent a message, but only preached what had been revealed!
ILLUS.: They were not schooled in a seminary, nor trained in a Bible college, but they preached about their own personal experience in line w/God’s Word. To those who criticized his preacher boys who sometimes didn’t use good grammar, Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. said: “I’d rather someone say, ‘I seen’ if he had seen something, than to have someone say, “I saw” when he hadn’t seen anything!” Good theology is better than good grammar. (It is even better when you can put the two together.)
B. The People Perplexed: v.18
1. The people “wondered” i.e., they no doubt marveled at this fantastic message.
2. Could it be that the long-awaited Messiah could come in such a humble fashion?
3. The Jews believed that He would be born of a virgin, according to prophecy, but they looked for Him to be a royal Sovereign to sit on David’s throne.
4. Unlike the shepherds they “wondered” rather than just believed.
C. The Mother Ponders: v.19
D. The Shepherds Praise: v.20
1. The shepherds return to work, but they go there rejoicing, praising & glorifying God! Jesus had made the difference!
2. The joy of the angelic host had now been transferred to the hearts of these simple shepherds.
3. Witnessing & worship are the proper responses to having Christ as your Savior!
CONCL.: If CHRISTMAS IS INDEED & IN FACT THE 4TH GREATEST EVENT IN HISTORY, we too ought to witness & worship! The incarnation of Christ is a pivotal point in God’s plan for man. Without the incarnation there could be no Calvary, no resurrection & no reign! Will you too join the shepherds and praise Him for coming into your world?!
