But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people.And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.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 people:
10 sermons cite this verse
… Actually, this is what the angel said. Behold, I bring you good news of great joy for all people. Not just for some, not just for the special ones. I bring you good news of great joy for all people. For unto you this day in the city of David is born a Savior who is Christ, the Lord. And this will be a sign to you. You'll find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in an animal's feeding trough. Wow. That's how the Messiah, the Savior, the Lord is coming? All right. So just to remind you, these titles are important. Savior and Lord are used of God in the Old Testament, but they're also used of kings. They were used in the time of Jesus of the Emperor Augustus. He took on the title of Savior of the Empire in the world and of Lord of the world. And kings would take on the title of Lord as well. And Christ means, well, it's the Greek version of Messiah. It means anointed one. It means, it's shorthand for king. And so Jesus was the savior, the rescuer, the deliverer. He was the king, the anointed king, and he was the Lord, the highest authority, born in a stable, sleeping in an animal's feeding trough. All right. So I just want to remind you, that's giving you clues as to what this king was like. And you remember, of course in Matthew's gospel, King Herod the Great is so terrified hearing that there was a …
And the messenger says, behold, I bring you good news of great joy for all people, not just some, but for all people. For unto you this day in the city of David is born a savior who is Christ the Lord. Savior was a term that was used both of God and of kings and warriors. It meant deliverer, rescuer. And the emperor took on that title himself. He was the savior of the world, he thought, when the Romans said. And then there's the title Christ. Christ is the Greek version of the Hebrew Messiah, which means anointed one, one in a sort of shorthand usually for king. It could mean prophet too, but generally for king. And then there is Lord. And Lord is master, sovereign, ruler, the highest authority in a given realm. The emperor was Lord of the earth. King Herod the Great was Lord of his little kingdom in Judea. But Jesus was the Lord, the Lord of the cosmos. So those three titles are pointing to the fact that this baby who was born wasn't just an ordinary baby, and he is for us, those who believe in him, our Savior, our Messiah, and our Lord. Now, this humble birth for him is so remarkable, and it then sets the pace for everything else he does. So when he begins his ministry, his ministry is with the down and out, the outcast, the lowly, the broken, the mentally ill, the demon-possessed, the people who were, you know, who were considered outsiders to the church. They were called the …
… It's amazing. Behold, I bring you good news of great joy for all the people. All the people. For unto you this day in the city of David is born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign to you, he says. you'll find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. In a manger? Our Savior, the Christ, the Lord? By the way, those three titles are really important. Savior is a term that's used of God and also of other earthly kings and warriors. It means deliverer, rescuer. The Emperor Augustus, who ordered the census, he took on the title of Savior of the world. And Christ is a word, it's not Jesus' last name. It means in Hebrew, Messiah is the, Mashiach is the Hebrew, means anointed one. It typically was shorthand for king. So he is the savior, he is the king. And then he's the Lord. And the Lord is the highest authority in a given realm. …
… An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. All the people at 515 today. All the people at Cumberland today. All the people in church online today. All the people in the whole world. This is going to be good news of great joy today. In the town of David, a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. There's our word. A Savior has been born to you. The 12 words of Christmas. A Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you, the angel continued. You'll find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest. …
… a star will come out of Israel, Jacob. That announces, Luke chapter two, verses 10 and 11, I bring you good news that will cause great joy. People sometimes ask me, what's the Bible about? Very, very simple. Bad news, worse news, good news, great news. That's the Bible. bad news it says that we have a problem sin i have a problem so do you worst news is because of my sin god's holy i'm not he's perfect i'm imperfect there's a cosmic chasm between myself and god well the bible doesn't stop there good news what's the good news what i'm talking about now the redemption the fact that jesus did what he did on the cross rose again just for you and me and the great news is we can make that choice. I cannot force you or coerce you to make this decision. It's up to you. Go back to our magi. The star was in the sky. They either received it or not. So remember, a star is a sign that announces what? Redemption. What's redemption? The price has been paid for our sins. Romans 3, 24, all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Redemption, redemption. Christ's redemptive work was sufficient for all of mankind, but it only can be applied to those of us who bow the knee and receive Christ. …
… Christmas Eve celebration. Elbow the person next to you and tell them, I'll see you on Christmas Eve, 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. It says this in Luke chapter 2, verse 10, but the angel, but the angel said to them, do not be afraid. You know, the most known and consistent statement throughout the Bible is do not be afraid. Why does God keep saying do not be afraid? Because it's clear, if God is for you, who can be against you? Even if you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, in other words, hell on earth, you don't have to be afraid. Why? He's with us. Do not be afraid. If you're dealing with fear today, welcome to the club. We all have fear, but we've got to put our faith over our feelings. Am I preaching at Zoe Church or another? Come on, we a loud church now. Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. …
… and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, do not be afraid. One more of the 365 do not be afraids in the Bible, one for every day of the calendar year. I bring you, he says, behold, I bring you good tidings, of great joy, if you underline things, underline this next phrase, which will be to all people. How many of the people is this joy for? This joy that's not just regular joy, but great joy full of good tidings for all people. For there is born, and I love this, you can say this about yourself this Christmas, there is born to you. Who's this present for, right? In my family, my dad never could label presents right. I can't tell you how many presents I opened in my life, and he's like, oh, it's not for you, and he would, you know, and then hand it to your sister, hand it to your brother. And then you get yours half open from your sister, right? …
… and they were greatly afraid. And the angel said, Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be to all the people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. and this will be a sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. I love verse 13. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest. On earth, peace. Peace, not worry. peace and goodwill toward men. Isn't that beautiful? That never gets old. One day closer to a miracle. The Bible said in Proverbs 27 in verse 1, boast not yourself of tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring forth. sometimes the greatest accomplishment for a child of God is just weathering the day getting through the day making it through 24 hours of one of the worst days of your life it's not the years that are the great accomplishments it's not the days that everything is beautiful and miracles are happening it's not even the decades or the lifetime It's the days that we complete. …
… Great joy. Luke 2.10. The apostle Paul wrote the Thessalonians and reminded them that they had received the gospel with joy. John writes in his first epistle, these things I write unto you, that your joy may be full. Joy is clearly the benchmark of a truly converted person. Why? Because your eternity is settled. You have nothing to fear. in the life to come. Now you can experience diminished joy when sin comes into your life. Your joy can fade away, because assurance is a gift of the Holy Spirit to an obedient believer. You remember in Psalm 51, in David's great sin, he prayed to God and asked God to wash wash Him, make Him clean, and restore to Him the joy of His salvation. But salvation in its essence has built in joy. What do you care what happens in this life? We're only here for a moment, for a breath, compared to eternity. No matter how difficult life is, Jesus in Matthew 5, 11 and 12 says, blessed are you when all men speak evil of you, when they persecute you. …
… Somebody say at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were terrified. But the angel of the Lord said to them, do not be afraid, for I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people. Today in the town of David, a savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Suddenly a great company of the heavenly hosts appeared with the angel praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth, peace to those on whom his favor rests. When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby who was lying in the manger. …