Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth Peace, Good Will Toward Men

The title of my message this night of nights when we come to celebrate the birth of our savior is glory to God in the highest and on earth goodwill toward man. Luke 2.14. Tonight we are gathered together here in God's house to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ according as God the Father has done it. First he sent an angel to announce to the shepherds watching over their sheep by night.

What he said was good tidings of great joy 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. Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. As the angel announced this good news a multitude of angelic hosts I'm sure much bigger than our own church choir here tonight praise God saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill toward men.

So what are we here to do? Are we not here to praise God the Father in the highest? And you ask why did we come to praise God? Yes because God has made a plan by sending his virgin born son Jesus Christ and this plan can bring us peace and goodwill from heaven to earth. But what the world whether Singapore or Perth would make of Christmas is for its own benefit. We have just returned from Perth where they celebrated a pageant of Christmas with how many Santa Clauses? You can never imagine you could see 20 Santa Clauses at least but they have long beards but they look so young.

They jump off the sledges releasing boxes of gifts followed by semi-nude dancing girls announcing the reduction of price because of Christmas. The scene of Santa Clauses and semi-nude girls is shown on the TV. I do not know how many times a day but it is a way to make money out of us because Christmas is money.

Money, money, money have you been buying a lot of things because of Christmas? There they make your money. But to us there are some people, some Christians who say we cannot celebrate Christmas but they do not know a better reason. We celebrate Christmas to pay our respects, to truly worship him.

To us Christmas is God's amnesty to man. The word amnesty means forgiveness. Do we know that every Christmas is a time to forgive? If you will come to him what a wonderful occasion it is tonight.

If you will come and confess Jesus Christ is God's virgin born son. If you don't believe that you cannot be saved. They came to die for your sins and he rose again on the third day and if you believe that you will be saved why don't you do it right now? This is what the angels meant and on earth peace, goodwill toward man.

Saint Paul in Romans 9.10 says the same thing that if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus. Confess what? Confess that they died to pay the penalty of the sins and shall believe in thy heart that God has raised him from the dead. Thou shall be saved.

So many of us are trying to save by doing good, do something that you think will save you but the terms of God are very, very wonderful. If you believe that he is the virgin born son that is the first point. That he will save as the angel said to Joseph that he will save them from their sins and God is so anxious to let men know the way of salvation from the beginning so that in Genesis 3.15 he declares the seed of the woman, not the seed of man, the seed of a woman refers to the virgin birth of Christ who crushed Satan and this is the glad news of the first Christmas.

It's now given to us lost and sinful men at the dawn of history is repeated now every Christmas. I preached in Life Church four or five years ago that it is an amnesty every year announcing the glad news if you will come to him and it is for the year 2005 is once again offered to you and to me. That is why we are so filled with gladness and joy and unspeakable tonight.

Every song, chorus, carol that they sing brings you gladness. I pray indeed you will receive him as your savior tonight.