What a hymn that is. We could
sing that, and we have before sung it in the middle of the
year. There's more gospel in that hymn and the one before
it than all the so-called modern gospel hymns put together. You're
blessed if you sang that with the understanding. A woman's
conquering seed brews in us the serpent's head. Hail the Son of Righteousness,
risen with healing in His way. What a hymn. What a hymn. This is the time of year the
whole world, willingly or unwillingly, is thinking about the one born
on this earth 2,000 years ago named Jesus. A child born in
Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. It's called a holiday or holy. day, Christmas, I don't like
to refer to it as that. It's a Catholic origins, Christ
mass, but he was born and we're so thankful, so grateful, so
grateful. Maybe some, there are some in
here who have not been with us before at this time of the year,
this particular time. And let me say this, we place
absolutely no significance on any particular day as being a
holy day. And the worship of, or the celebration
of the birth of Jesus Christ is not in the Bible. But we celebrate,
we are glad, we are thankful. And we're going to deal with
this morning that Jesus Christ was born on this earth. And we're
so grateful, so grateful. He came to earth. He came here
born as a man. He lived on this earth for a
reason. And he died. The purpose why
he came here, the reason he was born, is to die on a cross on
Golgotha's hill. That's why he came. So we must
get to that. His crucifixion. The fact that
He came the way He came is a miracle. It's a miracle. It's a mystery.
It's a marvel. It's amazing. Amazing. It's the first thing I want you
to see with me. First Timothy. Go over to First Timothy. This
is a verse of Scripture you need to commit to memory. Most people
know John 3, 16. I've told you before, you need
to know 1 Timothy 3, 16. This is amazing. A mystery that
God became flesh. A miracle. Amazing. I wonder. We're going to see
why. 1 Timothy 3, 16. It says, without controversy. It is a controversy among men.
Most don't think he was born of a virgin. Most don't think
he was God. But with God and his people,
no controversy. Read it. Without controversy.
Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. God became a man. Justified the
Spirit. Proved to be God by the Holy
Spirit. scene of angels, we just read
about, I'm going to, preached unto the Gentiles. This is what
I'm preaching to you bunch of heathen, Gentiles. Believed on. I believe, you believe, don't
you, that that one who came is God and received up unto glory. So this is a mystery, a great
mystery. Though in the volume of the book
it is written of him. Every line, every page, every
word of this book was written concerning the Christ to come,
beginning in Genesis 1 all the way to Malachi 4 and into the
end of Revelation. This book is about Jesus Christ. The Old Testament says someone
is coming. It's not Jewish history. It's
His story. Someone's coming. The gospels
say, He's here. That's what the angels are now.
He's here. And then the epistles and the revelations say, He's
coming again. He came the first time. He's coming again. The second time. The Jews, though,
in the volume of the book that's written of Him, prophesied, typified,
picture exact details. Exact details. concerning him,
his birth, his life, his character, everything he would do, to the
fact that he would die on a cross and rise again. It was all prophesied,
pictured, typified, written about in the scriptures. But the Jews,
when he came, the Jews didn't believe it was him. They still
don't. They're still waiting on a Christ
to come, aren't they? So this is a mystery. Great is the mystery.
God was manifest in the flesh. Do you believe? He's made known unto you, you
see, the mystery. Brother Mike Anderson back there
and I were talking after Wednesday night service how that God is a person. Christ is a
person. And in order to know a person,
that person must reveal himself to you. Right? You know about
him. You hear others talk about him.
But you don't know him unless he says, I am. He speaks to you. He's made known unto us who he
is. God manifested in the flesh.
He's a man. He was a man. And that's what
they said when he came. They said, you're just a man.
You can't be God. He can't be God. But he was. He was God before he became a
man. He was God and manifest in the
flesh, made himself to be a man. He must become a man. Do you
know why God had to become a man? Do you? It's written all the
way back in Genesis chapter 3. The woman's seed, we just sang
about it. Rise the woman's conquering seed. Our Lord announced that. seed shall bruise the serpent's
head and he shall bruise his heel. That's Christ crucified. A woman's seed and then the virgin
born son in Isaiah 7 verse 14. Here's the reason. A virgin shall
conceive and bear a child, a son, and his name shall be called
Immanuel, God with us. It's a mystery. A mystery. The Creator, and people don't
believe it, but we do, don't we? The Creator who made all
things is Jesus Christ. That's what John 1 said. That's
what Colossians 1 said. That's what Genesis 1 said. God
said, let there be light. That's Christ. The Word made
flesh. The One who created the world made Himself a body. That's what the Scripture said.
Abide hast thou prepared me. Meaning, he was before he came. He was. He was. He is. He ever shall be. The
I am. God manifested. He made himself
a body. It's a mystery. It's a mystery.
The eternal God, ancient of days, who had no beginning of days. Mystery of mysteries. became
a baby in a mother's womb, a child born. I love thinking about that
12-year-old boy in the temple. If somebody would say, right
there, that's God right there, 12 years old. That's Max's age. Max. Look, Max, a young man. There was a young boy named Jesus,
12 years old. God. Do you believe that? No, that's not possible. With
man it's not. No, God is. He must be. Luke chapter 1. Go over to Luke
chapter 1. It's a miracle. It's a miracle, but it's so.
The incarnation. That means God became flesh. Made flesh. Carnate flesh. Luke
chapter 1. With man, you see, You can't
give birth to yourself. You can't give life to yourself. You can't give eternal life to
yourself. But God made himself a body. God chose to be born as a man.
God became flesh. Chose his parents. His parents
didn't have him. He had them. It's a mystery. A great mystery. But he's revealed
it unto us and our children, at least in our head. But look
at Luke chapter 1. Mary, when the angel, the angel
Gabriel came to her and came to Joseph and came to the shepherds
and came to the wise men, the same angel told them all the
same story. And you know that a preacher
is called an angel? It means messenger. I don't have wings, but I'm getting
ready to mount up on them one of these days. Do you know that
the ladies who saw the stone rolled back and they came to
the tomb, they saw a young man? They didn't see an angel. He was an angel. But they thought
it was just a young man. They saw two men. They thought
they were men. Then when Mary saw Christ, she
thought it was a gardener. He's a man. This is the messenger. He's the angel of the covenant,
he said. If you're going to hear from God, you're going to hear
through an angel. And what you're going to hear is about Jesus
Christ. In Luke chapter 1, the angel came to her and announced
the birth of the Christ child. that she was the one chosen to
give birth to that child. But no, the Son, Son of God,
was before Mary, long before Mary. He was given. Okay? She said in verse 34, Mary said,
How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? I can't have a baby
without a man. A man's seed, that's how a child
is conceived, not this child. There's no seed of man in this
child. No, no. With man it's impossible to give
life. With God, no, nothing's impossible. And this is the impossible with
man, is that God became a man. And man can't become a son of
God by any efforts of man. He has to be of God, born of
God. And verse 35, the angel answered
and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, the power
of the highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God. You know, nowhere in this book
is he called the Son of Mary. No, no, she bring forth her firstborn
son, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel, not the son of
Mary. He shall be called, look at verse
32, he shall be great and he shall be called the son of the
highest, not the son of Mary. He didn't owe his existence to
Mary. She owed her existence to him. You see? And the Lord God, verse 32, shall
give unto him the throne of his father David. There's one seated
on the throne, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. Mary is a chosen, we're going
to see this, honored, earthly vessel, and so are we. That's
what we're going to see. But Mary said, how can this be?
This can't be. I can't have a baby without the
aid of a man. Well, Christ had to be born of
a virgin, and Christ had to be born without the seed of Adam
in Him, because in Adam all die. When Adam sinned, sin entered
in the bloodstream. The hearts, the minds, man died. He was dead in sin. You understand
me? I'm sure you did. In Adam all
died. Well, Christ didn't have the
seed of Adam in Him. He had no sin. The wages of sin
is what? Death. He had no sin in Him. He didn't have to die. He would
not have died if He had not chosen to die, to lay down His life. Why? As a substitute. I'm already getting to it. I
hadn't planned on it. But this is the reason He came. He had
to be born, yes, a man, a man, a man child. Man sinned. Man dishonored God, rebelled
against God. So for man to be justified of
God, man has to glorify God. Man has to live a perfect life. You understand? So God became
a man. He said, I am come that they
might have what? life. In Adam all died, but in Christ,
all in Christ are what? Made alive. He said, I am come
that they might have life. By one man, sin entered the world. And what? Death by sin. Even so, by one man, life entered
the world. And life by that man. By his
righteousness. By his life. by his perfect obedience
to God, by him glorifying God as a man, and became a substitute
on Calvary's tree. God made him sin for his people,
he who knew no sin, that they might be made the righteousness
of God in him. She said, hey, this can't be.
I don't know a man. That's right. Salvation is not
of man. It's of the Lord. I wanted to preach a couple of
weeks ago on Hagar, Sarah and Hagar, and Ishmael and Isaac. Okay? I'm going to do it now.
All right? God came to Abraham and said,
there's a son, a miracle child going to be born of you and Sarah. Abraham said, I'm an old, I can't
do this. That's right. Sarah sat and laughed
and said, I can't have a baby. My wound is dead. That's right. This child is going to be from
God, the promised seed, a picture of Jesus Christ, Isaac, the chosen
of God, the real heir, okay? The seed of Abraham, which is
Christ. Well, Abraham, they waited 15
years, and Sarah thought, we've got to do something. Maybe God
meant for us to take matters in our own hands. Here's what
we'll do. Here's what we've decided to do. We'll have a baby. We'll
have a baby. And so she got this bondwoman,
this slave, and said, you go into Abraham, and we'll have
a child, and that'll be this child. No, it won't either. They
decided. They made a decision. And by
their efforts, in the seed of Abraham entered a woman, and
this child was born named Ishmael. And God said, kick him out. Kick him out. There's no one
going to be in the kingdom of heaven who is there because of
a decision they made. Because they were won by a soul
winner. Because they dedicated and rededicated
and let Jesus in their heart and made Him Lord over their
life and made this decision and decided to... It's not your decision. You must be born of God. Born from above. That way he gets all the glory.
And everybody who gives life to themselves by decision is
going to be kicked out. Because he's not going to share
his glory with others. Abraham said, I can't have a
child. Sarah said, I can't have a child. And no, you can't. And
you can't give life to yourself. You can't get born again. You have to be born again. All right, now here's the picture.
But let me say this. I've preached on this so many
times. In Matthew 1, 21, they said, call his name Jesus, to
Mary. This is his earthly name. The
name is Joshua, isn't it? Do you know anything about Joshua?
Huh? Did people let Joshua into their
city? Did anybody say, Joshua, I decided to let you be? Oh,
no. What did he do, brother? He came
conquering. He didn't ask anybody for anything.
He came and said, I'm taking this place. And if God in mercy
caused some to hit their knees and cry for mercy unto Joshua,
his name is Jesus, Then He had mercy on them. But He didn't
ask anybody to let Him do anything. He came, He took. He saw, He
conquered. And that's Jesus Christ. God
sent Him. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's God. He's the Savior, yes. And they said, call His name
Jesus, for He shall, not try, but shall save. Who? Everybody
lets Him. No! His people given to Him in a
covenant. This is the second Adam from
above who made a covenant with God the Father to save all of
God's chosen elect people. And He came to do that. Did He
do it? He shall save His people. Why did He come? What did He
come to do? One thing. From their sins. To put away
sin. by the sacrifice of himself.
That's why there was a baby born. That's why there was a man that
lived here. Man. God can't die. Man must. So God
became a man. Man can't satisfy God. Man can't
be holy. Man can't get himself to glory.
So God became a man. It's a mystery. It's a miracle.
It's a wonder. And it's true. He's true. He shall save his people from
their sin by the sacrifice of himself. Every single person
Jesus Christ died for is and forever shall be saved from their
sin. Sin gone. Now we could go home right now.
But what I want you to see here, and perhaps someone has not seen
it in this way, but it's amazing. See, the miracle is that Christ
came into this world. Luke chapter 1, are you there?
The miracle is that Christ came into this world to give life,
give hope, peace on earth. Not if you let Him. No, no, no.
To make peace by the blood of His cross. To make peace for
God's people. Peace with God by the blood of
Jesus Christ Christ. That's it. A Jew, a religious man, a religious
leader, named Nicodemus, came to Jesus by night. He was very popular. Everyone
followed him, even those that didn't believe he was God. This
man came, and he didn't believe he was God either, but he said,
no man can do what you do except God be with him. He didn't know
who he was talking to. And all our Lord said to that
man was this, you must be born again. And Nicodemus, what are you talking
about? I'm a grown man. Can I enter
my mother's womb a second time? Christ said, marvel not that
I said unto you, you must be born again. Like the wind that bloweth where
it listeth. So is everyone that's born of the Spirit. You can't
get born, you must be born. And this is God's work. It's
a miracle, it's a mystery, this new birth. It's equally a mystery
and a miracle as the birth of Jesus Christ as a man. Are you
with me? I hope you'll be with me. Because
what I want you to think about is, has this happened to you? what happened to Mary. You know,
the miracle of life, the mystery, the miracle, Christ came to give
life. If Christ hadn't come, God would
have killed Adam and Eve right there. And there would be no
life on earth. You know why there's still life
on this earth? You know why this earth still
spins and there's billions of people still on this earth because
Jesus Christ came to this earth. And because Jesus Christ lives
and upholds all things by the Word of His power. Because He
has a people out of every kindred, nation, and tongue under heaven
that He came to live for and die for. And those people shall
hear this message. They shall be born of God. And
when the last elect child of God that Christ died for is born
on this earth, then Christ is coming again. And it's over. And life on earth is over. There's no reason for it. The
reason for it is the reason God continued life after Adam is
Christ must come. And the reason it continues now
is because his people must be brought into the kingdom by this
new birth. And when that's over, it's all
over. God's going to fold this thing up. It's over. No use,
no need for this planet Earth anymore. And it is an eternal
kingdom forever, wherein dwelleth righteousness, all at the throne
of Jesus Christ, worshiping Him forever. That's a fact. So this must be
done to you, just like Mary. This must be done in you. Marvel
not that I said unto you, you must be born again. You must
be. Christ in this world is the hope of salvation. Christ in
you is your hope of glory. Christ in you is your hope of
being with God someday. Okay? Let's look at it. Look
at Luke 1, verse 26. In the sixth month, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God unto the city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
to a virgin espoused to a man named Joseph. We know an angel
named Gabriel, don't we? He preached here last November,
didn't he? Well, he's just a man. You say, that's
not a name. Yes, it is. Yes, he is. No less than this
man. One time, John at the Isle of
Patmos fell at the feet of an angel and was going to worship
him. He said, don't do this, worship God. He said, I'm one
of your brethren, you just can't recognize me. An angel, we don't
worship angels, we're not all taken up with angels. Angels
were created beings. And that just means messenger.
That's all an angel means, is messenger. We don't worship the
messenger. We worship the one whom the angel,
the message is concerning, the Christ. Worship Christ. I'm your angel. I'm sorry. I'm not tall, dark, and handsome,
but neither was the Lord Jesus Christ. But He's the angel of
the covenant and He cried. He's the messenger of the covenant.
And the angels to all the churches in Revelation, there were seven
of them. And there's angels to every church sent, and that's
preachers, that's the pastors. You are not going to hear from
God except through a preacher. Oh, a preacher, I don't believe
that. Well, okay then. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. You're just a man. I know that.
A man with a message. And you must
hear this, and this is the only way you'll be born again. God sent this angel to this particular
woman, his spouse, to a particular man to marry him. Who's that?
God sent this particular man to you all, hopefully, I believe
it is, who are a spouse to your husband, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Okay? With a message. He sent me to
tell you, you're highly favored. I love this. Don't you love this?
Verse 28, the angel said, came in under her and said, Hail!
Hey! Hello there. Hey. Hail. You know, when our Lord
rose from the grave, He said, Hail! to the women. First appeared
to the women, didn't He? He said, Hail! Has He hailed
you? Has He woken you up from your
sleep? Sleep of death? And He said, verse 28, and here's
what I'm here to tell some of you men and women that espouse
the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou art highly favored. Do you see the margin? Look in
the margin. Thou art graciously accepted. Read on. Highly favored. Blessed
art thou among women. We're sent to you to tell you
this message. Thou art highly favored. You've
found grace in the eyes of the Lord. You've been blessed with
the blessing of all blessings among other women. You were chosen,
not them. You. Are you with me? Does this not sound like Ephesians
1? It is. Blessed be God and the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with all spiritual
blessings. Where are they? In heavenly things
in Christ. This message the angel came to
her about was about Christ, her Savior. We're going to hear her
confession in a minute. We're going to hear her song
about God, her Savior. Blessed be God, according as
yet we have chosen us. You say, you're preaching a Christmas
message talking about elections. Yes! That's where it all started.
Go to this particular woman. Tell her this particular message
about this great Savior that's going to be born in her, revealed
to her, who came to save her from her sin. Highly favored
to hear this message. You know what the world is hearing
right now? getting all sentimental and emotional and all choked
up about the baby. Oh, look at little Jimmy dressed
up like Joseph. Look at little Molly. She looks
like Mary. And they've got this little rubber
baby in a manger. Oh, the cantata. No, we're not
hearing a cantata. We're hearing Christ preached. God hath chosen you, she said. And God had chosen a people before
the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love, having predestinated us. Was this all
predestinated? Yeah, it was spoken of in Isaiah
long before Mary was born. A virgin, a particular woman,
at a particular time, in the fullness of time, God sent forth
His Son to be made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the curse. We sang about that curse. Curse,
curse, curse. The blessing of blessing is not
a car, not a house, not long life. It's eternal life in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed, blessed, blessed Mary.
Blessed, blessed, blessed. John, John, Mindy, Sarah, Sarah. If Christ has been revealed to
you and in you, oh, you're blessed among men and women. Highly favored
of God to hear this message. Do you know how few people are
hearing what you're hearing right now? Listen, he said, you're graciously
accepted. See, He's predestinated us under
the adoption of children. That is, He's chosen us to be
His family by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good
pleasure of whose will? His will. To the praise of the
glory of His grace. And all these angels are going
to be shouting from high heaven, to God be the glory. Wherein
He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. You're graciously accepted
in the Beloved. Not anything you've done, Mary.
It's not anything you've done, Sally Ann. It's not anything
you've done, Kelly, Thomas. It's not anything you've done.
You've been graciously accepted in the Beloved. That's why He
came. That's where I come from. Read
on. Look at the tape. Luke chapter
1. And she was troubled. Verse 29. She saw him. She was troubled. She was afraid.
You can't be talking about me. Oh, no. Me? She was afraid. You know, the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I've said this so
many times. Nobody feared Jesus while he
was on his earth. They didn't fear him. It's the
fear of the Lord Jesus. People don't fear him today.
You do. Don't you? And to all that fear him, the
angel said unto her and says unto us, Fear not. Verse 30,
Thou hast found favor with God. Behold, thou shalt conceive in
thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
He shall be great." Now listen to that language here. He shall
be great. He shall be called the son, not
Mary. Mary's not to be great. She's
just a recipient of God's grace, no greater than you are a recipient
of God's grace. You understand that? Mary's no
more blessed, no more highly favored of God than you are.
That Mary right there is the same, blessed the same way as
Mary, the former virgin. She didn't remain a virgin. Right? Mary was a sinner, saved by grace. Mary was chosen of God, elect
of God, redeemed by Christ's blood, saved from her sins by
the one that she gave birth to. And that Mary right there is
just as holy and just as righteous and just as accepted and just
as saved and highly favored and graciously accepted by God as
Mary the former virgin. That's right. Mary the former
virgin sat there at the feet of Jesus Christ with Mary Magdalene,
a harlot. And they were both saved the
same way by the blood of that man hanging on that cross. Is
that what you believe, Mary? You know how few Marys in this
world believe that? That their sinner is saved by
grace. You do, don't you? You know it's so. He shall be
great, he said. He shall be called the Son of
the Highest, not the Son of Mary. The Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David. He's the one seated on
the throne. And he's seated there by himself.
He gets all the glory. He shall reign over the house
of Jacob forever. What they're telling her is,
This angel is telling, this chosen woman is, this one born in you
is God. And he's reigning and ruling.
He always did. He ever shall be. And he came
to save you from your sin. And he's going to reign forever
in this world and in your heart. You belong to him. Isn't that
wonderful news? Helen, you have hope, don't you? Hope. You have hope. If this
Christ has been revealed, not just to you. Paul said, when
it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me. Mary didn't do anything. Is Mary
doing anything right here? Is Mary saying, well, I don't
know if I'll let Him. Oh! This angel didn't say, Mary,
He wants to... No! He's come for you. He's chosen you. He's your Lord forever. Amen. He came to tell
her who Christ is and why He came and what He was going to
do and do it for her and didn't ask her anything. He shall reign. Not, you let
him be Lord. Oh, no, no. He was Lord before
he came. He was Lord when he got here.
And he ever shall be Lord. God made him Lord. Over the house
of who? Jacob. Forever. And his kingdom, his reign, his
rule. Have you ever heard that before?
That's Isaiah 9. Same message. Forever. And that's when Mary said, how
could I, I don't know, and they said, the power, verse 35, of
the highest shall overshadow thee. What is the power of God?
The gospel's the power of God. It's the Word of His power. And
God is, it's a mystery that God has chosen what I'm doing right
now. or rather who I'm declaring right
now, what I'm declaring, the Word of God, just repeating,
just the Lord's remembrance, just repeating these things.
And maybe the Holy Spirit will overshadow one of our young ladies
or young men or old man or woman or whoever. It must happen. When? Overshadow and reveal Christ
in you. Boy, if you do, you'll go out
with joy and the trees will clatter. So this is the message, and this
is the miracle, and this is the wonder that Christ came, born
of a virgin man, God manifest in flesh. Why did He do that?
He came to live. He came to die. He came to put
away sin. He came to give life. And Christ must be formed in
you through the preaching of the gospel. And here's Mary's Psalm, verse 46, and I quote,
and Mary said, My soul doth magnify thee, Lord. My spirit hath rejoiced
in God my Savior. Mary, are you a sinner? Yes,
I am. The only reason I remained a virgin before I got here is
God restrained me. But I'm still a sinner. No less
so than Mary Magdalene, a sinner. He's God my Savior. He came to
save me from my sin. For He hath... Look at the language.
He's my Savior. He hath regarded the lowest state
of His handmaid. Behold, from henceforth all generations
shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done
to me a great thing. Holy is His name. His mercy. He's had mercy on me, on them
that fear Him from generation to generation. He hath showed
strength with His arm. He hath scattered the proud in
the imagination of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from
their seats and exalted them of low degree. He hath The preacher quit saying that.
No! This message is about what He
hath done. Not Mary, not you, not anybody.
It's what He hath done. The One who came, the One who
lived, the One that died, the One that put away sin by Himself
and went back to the majesty on high, sat down and is coming
again for His people. And everybody throughout eternity
is going to be singing unto Him. Who hath washed us from our sins
in His own blood? He hath. He hath. It's all about
Him. Has Christ revealed Himself in
you? I hope so. I believe He has for
many in this room. And I continue to pray that He'll
do it for others. Okay. John, you come lead us.
This number 89.