Running To Win 15 Minute Version

Guest (Male): Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Angels had a joyous task some 2,000 years ago, announcing the good news of the Savior's birth. The skies over Bethlehem were ablaze with light as poor shepherds cowered in fear. Today, we'll take a look at what angels celebrate. Stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. In a series he's calling a flurry of wings, Erwin Lutzer comes now with a Christmas message on what angels celebrate.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: The Bible does say great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. And I believe that God is honored when we contemplate the mystery, when we wonder how it can be that God can stoop so low and become a man to redeem us. We've been talking about angels. This is a third in a series of messages on angels, particularly because they are making a comeback. Again and again, I am impressed whether on the news or in bookstores that there are so many stories about angels and sometimes it may be difficult for us to know whether they are authentic stories.

And if they are authentic, what kind of angels are we talking about? Good ones or bad ones? Because if we begin to initiate trying to probe into the spirit world, we may not be able to tell the difference. Zacharias received an angel, as we noticed in the first message, and he was not expecting it. If God wants to send an angel, let him take the initiative and do it. Mary was not expecting an angel, and neither were the shepherds on the outskirts of Bethlehem. What I'd like you to do to help us to understand this this morning is to turn to Luke chapter two.

Luke chapter two, where we have the most familiar passage probably in the entire Bible. I don't know how it is at your house, but we always open gifts on Christmas Eve. We do not wait until Christmas day. You should have already picked that up by the tie that I'm wearing this morning, noting that we already opened our gifts last night. But whenever we do that, always beforehand we read Luke chapter two because that's what was done in our home, my home that I grew up in. Luke chapter two was always read in the German Bible, so we now read it in English as a family, and then we pray together, and then we open our gifts.

Luke chapter two. It's a very beautiful story, and I want us to think about the angels bringing the good news of Jesus Christ almost as if this were a Christmas concert. Now, we don't know whether or not angels actually sang or whether they chanted this message, but possibly they sang. And I want us first of all to look at the audience to whom they were singing. We pick up the story in Luke chapter two, verse eight. And in the same region, there were some shepherds staying out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

The audience was the shepherds. Now, why did God choose shepherds to whom this good news should be first revealed? He had so many different options. Why the shepherds? Well, there may be several reasons why it is that the shepherds were the recipients of this angelic message. First of all, because they were outcasts. They were considered to be on the lower rung of society. Shepherds were an abomination unto the Egyptians, it says in the book of Genesis, but also they were considered even in Israel to be kind of second class because presumably almost anyone could take care of sheep, and it was a job that a lot of people didn't want.

It meant that you were away from home for a long time, and it was very smelly. As a matter of fact, some of those men blessed them, apparently lived in the fields for a couple of weeks without taking a bath. And then you have also the smell of sheep and sometimes of goats, and you can have quite a combination there. When a shepherd was anywhere near you, you knew it even if you were blind, assuming that all the other faculties of your body were working perfectly. What was it said in ancient times? 300 yards downwind, 50 yards upwind, and you can tell a shepherd.

You notice what Jesus was doing? God was bypassing all of the universities, so to speak, the rabbinical schools. He was bypassing the philosophers of Athens, and he was saying, I am going to go to people who are generally considered low class, and I will reveal the good news to them. Was revealed to the shepherds because they were outcasts. There may be another reason why it is that the angels went to the shepherds first. It is because they were shepherds. They were shepherds. And even though their profession may have been looked down upon, God knew that his beloved son would be a shepherd.

Now, Jesus was a king, Jesus was a teacher, but he was a shepherd. That's the way in which he functioned. He said, I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and I am known of mine, and the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. And elsewhere he says that there are bad shepherds, hirelings, who when they see the wolf come, they begin to run, and they mislead the sheep. Jesus said, I'm not one of those shepherds. I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd not only gives his life, but he gives you life, and he does it more abundantly, said Jesus.

And so it almost seems to me as if God said to the angels, angels, find some shepherds because my son is going to be one. And so the angels went and found some shepherds on the outskirts of Bethlehem. There may be another reason why it is that the audience was the shepherds that day. First of all, because they were outcasts. Secondly, because they were shepherds. Thirdly, because of the flocks. It is generally believed that the flocks that they were taking care of were flocks that were used in sacrifices. And so so many sacrifices were needed almost every day.

In fact, every day a lamb was killed on the altar. On special days, more than one lamb, sometimes many animals were slain, and people often purchased lambs from priests to make sure that they had one that qualified so that they would have something to offer. And so these flocks that they were looking after were sacrificial or temple sheep. And it may well be that the angels came to the shepherds because they wanted to remind themselves and the shepherds that in 300 years time these kind of sheep will not be needed. Because Jesus Christ is going to come as the lamb of God and give himself as a sacrifice, and he will be the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

And so that whole sacrificial system will no longer be necessary. And so despite all the scribes and the Pharisees that existed in Jerusalem and all the possibilities in the larger cities of the world, God says tell some shepherds, tell some shepherds. And I'm reminded that God said that because it says in the book of Corinthians, first Corinthians chapter one verse 26, that not many wise are chosen, a few wise, but not many. Not many noble are chosen, a few noble are chosen, but not many. Not many who are wealthy are chosen, but a few. But God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the things which are wise, that no flesh would glory in his presence.

God says I want to reveal myself to the most lowly to shepherds so that everyone will know that he is included in the good news. There is a story of a man who was drunk. He didn't know where he was, but he wandered around, and soon he came across something warm and decided that that would be a good place to spend the night, and so he slept there. And when he awoke, he heard Christmas bells and discovered that he had spent the night sleeping next to a cow. Was rather humiliating, but then he was reminded that Christ himself was born in a manger, and that gave him hope.

And the reminder of Christmas gave him the hope that he needed to come to a generous, forgiving God. And if you are here today thinking that you have fallen too far or that you are somehow on the outskirts of God's blessing, I want you to know that you are a special candidate for it because God loves to take the lowly. He likes to do unlikely things that no flesh will glory in his presence. Well, that is the congregation to whom the angels sang. Let's look at the angels themselves. It says in verse nine, and an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were terribly frightened.

We don't know who that angel is, possibly Gabriel, who broke the good news to Mary, as recorded in the previous chapter, but the Bible doesn't tell us. But here is an angel of the Lord who suddenly stands strong, brilliant, and holy, and the glory of the Lord that flashes around these shepherds, and they are terribly frightened, the Bible says. Once again, it is so interesting today that appearances of angels seem to be very unfrightening to people. They just kind of accept it, but these revelations were so startling that they were terribly frightened even in those days, and we generally think that they were very primitive, believing in superstitious things.

That may not be true that they believed easily in superstitious things, and we know that this particular account, of course, is not superstition, but nevertheless they were terribly frightened, and an angel appears, glorious, strong, powerful. And then along with the angel, there is an entire choir that chimes in. It says, the angel said in verse 10, do not be afraid for behold I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all the people. For today in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be a sign for you. You will find the baby wrapped in clothes lying in a manger. That's the good message, and then you'll notice there appears with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host. They all begin to chime in and praise God saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. Notice this angelic choir participating in this event on earth. Will you remember that there is nothing of greater interest to heaven than the sorrows and joys that people experience here. And we may think that something is happening on earth that is inconsequential, but all of heaven is taking note.

You've heard me say that Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer used to say that a secret sin is an open scandal in heaven. That which we do secretly is known to the angels, it is known to demons, it is known to God. It is a big deal. And even though this event seemed to be so silent and so unannounced, the angels know about it because they know that the focal point of all of God's prophecies have pointed towards it.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Well, my friend, this is Pastor Lutzer, and of course we're beginning to think about Christmas. What gifts are you going to give? I'm holding in my hands a book that you ought to give so that you can give it to a child. It's entitled One Two Three Jesus Loves Me. What it does is it ties together the numbers one to 10 and 10 stories from the New Testament. For a gift of any amount, we're making it available for you. By the way, it is very beautiful, it is hard back, wonderfully illustrated. It'll be an opportunity for you to in one way pass on your faith to the next generation.

Hope to hear from you.

Guest (Male): Today, Erwin Lutzer brought part one of What Angels Celebrate, the third in a series of messages on a Flurry of Wings, a study of angels. Next time on Running to Win, the story of Luke chapter two continues. Our children need to know who Jesus is. Rebecca Lutzer has written a book with 10 stories from the life of Jesus, and it's called One Two Three Jesus Loves Me. We'd like you and your kids to have this hard cover book as our thank you for your gift of any amount to support Running to Win. For details, call 1-800-215-5001.

Online, go to offer rtw.com. That's offer rtw.com or write to us at Running to Win, Moody Church, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. Ask about One Two Three Jesus Loves Me. Running to Win is a ministry of the Moody Church.