Today's message is called Christ's
Incarnation. The incarnation is incredible
when you think that the Word of God himself became a man. We've been studying that beautiful
portion of Philippians chapter 2 about the incarnation of the
God-man, how he's both God and man. It really is a great mystery. Called the mystery of godliness
in the scriptures. The fact that God Almighty himself
became a man. The king of kings became a man. For a specific reason. to save his people from their
sins. To do that which isn't possible
for us. Remember when The disciples questioned the
Lord and said, this is impossible for man, speaking of the save
ourselves. And Christ said, that which is
impossible for man is possible for God. Isn't that wonderful? God himself, beloved, has saved
us from our sins. washed us in His precious, precious
blood. And in order to do that, the
Word of God must leave heaven. And remember this, this is marvelous. He was sent by the Father. And the Holy Spirit was sent
to us by the Lord Jesus Christ. And think of this, this was all
planned and purposed by God in eternity. So before there was
ever a sinner, amen sister, there was a Savior. And His name is the Lord Jesus
Christ, known as the Word of God incarnates. Without the incarnation, there's
no redemption, beloved. Because only Christ can save
us from our sins. And he said, I don't come to
save the righteous. I don't come to save those who
think they don't need to be saved. Came to save sinners, such as we. That's the best news sinners
will ever hear, isn't it? And we don't bar the door, do
we? We say, whosoever will, let him come. As the scripture says, the general
call goes out to all the world, to anyone who will listen to
this message. Whosoever will, let him come. take of the water of life freely,
which is Christ Jesus our Lord." Oh my. It's wonderful, beloved. Turn, if you would, to Galatians
chapter 4. Last week we looked at that verse
in Matthew chapter 1, Verse 21, which says, Thou shalt call His
name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. Did you know that the exact time
that Christ was to come into this world was all ordained by
our great God? Do you know the exact time of
your birth and my birth was all ordained by God? The exact time
when we were conceived, the exact time when we were born, the very
second we've breathed our first breath was all ordained by God. And do you know that the day
that we'll breathe our last breath is all ordained by God. And do you know that as a believer
that God has loved us in Christ from before the foundation of
the world, that there's never been a time that His love was
not set upon us? Isn't that wonderful? What a
glorious God and Savior we have, beloved. And look what it says
here in Galatians chapter 4. our Lord's birth. We'll read
from verses 1 to 7. Verse 1 starts talking about
the heir of God, which is one of God's elect, who you cannot
tell from an unbeliever in their natural state. Did any of us
who are God's redeemed ones, called his elect in scripture.
Did any of us know we were one of his elect before we were saved? We didn't have a clue, did we?
Look at this in Galatians chapter four, that the heir, as long
as he is a child, differ in nothing from a servant, though he be
Lord of all. We had all spiritual blessings
in Christ, and we didn't even know it. We were redeemed 2000
years ago and we didn't even know it. We had all riches in Christ and
we didn't even know it. But that which was planned and
purposed by God has to come to pass in time and space, right? Christ must come into this world
according to the purpose and plan of God to redeem us. We are born into this world heirs
of God without even knowing it. And at the time when we are born
again by the Holy Spirit of God, that's all ordained by God. And we find out that Christ died
for us 2,000 years ago, that he shed his precious blood to
redeem our souls. Isn't that wonderful, Brother
Travis? And we didn't have a clue, did we? We didn't have a clue
we were heir of all. Look at this. It goes on this.
But he's under tutors and governors until the time what? Appointed. of the Father. When it was God's perfect timing,
the time appointed by the Father, you were given, and I was given,
faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that amazing? Appointed of the Father. My daughter asked me, you know,
well, does a believer willingly come to Christ? And I said, absolutely. Our will is part of that, isn't
it? But see, we have a new nature now. We're born again. And that
new nature, doesn't it, sister, makes us want to run to Christ,
doesn't it, Sister Carolyn? And we don't want nothing else,
do we? We want to run to Him. And I said, the unwilling, Vicki
brought this up, we were talking about it that night, and then
I mentioned it to Crystal. the unwilling are made willing. Isn't that wonderful? The heir
who did not know they were an heir, has it revealed to them,
male or female, that Christ redeemed them at Calvary's cross and died
for their sins. In that God-given faith, we fall
in love with Christ, don't we? Oh my, it's the love of God spread
abroad in our hearts. Look at this, it continues. Even
so, so the tutors and governors there too is growing up. The
law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. until the time appointed of the
Father. Even so, when we were children, we're in bondage under
the elements of the world. You could not tell that I was
one of God's elect before the Lord saved me. I was just loving
sin, didn't care about sin. One of the things I asked my
daughter this week, I said, are you a sinner? She goes, well,
I don't know. She answered honestly, didn't
she? I said, well, you are, whether
you believe it or not, you are. And I said, if God shows you
you're a sinner, see, we have to see our need for Christ, right?
God shows you you're a sinner, you run to Christ. Because that's
all we've done, isn't it? We sought refuge in the only
Savior of sinners, the one who shed his precious blood to redeem
our eternal souls. And we did that at the time appointed
by the Father. We were born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. Isn't it beautiful? Salvations
of the Lord, beloved. It's all Him. Look at this. Now
it talks about Christ. So there it was talking about
the believer. Look at this. But when the fullness of time
was come, again, that's basically saying the time appointed by
the Father, the fullness of time. What did God do? He sent forth his son. Do you
notice that? God sent Christ. If you're a
believer, this verse is telling you and I that God sent his son
to save you and to save me. See, it was done on purpose,
wasn't it? We were saved on purpose. not by accident or by something
we decided to do, hey, Brother Travis, but on purpose, God saved
us. Oh, how that makes my heart sing. Oh, isn't it wonderful, beloved?
And when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his
son, made of a woman, right? Made of a woman. The seed of
the woman, as Neil said, long prophesied in the Old Testament.
The seed of the woman will crush the serpent's head. That's speaking
of Christ's humanity. Oh my, look at this. God sent
for his son. Made of a woman. Made under the
law. I was thinking about that this week. The incarnation. It says he was conceived of the
Holy Spirit of God. We know God prepared a body for
him. And he was conceived of the Holy
Spirit. Isn't that wonderful? So we have
a human father. He didn't. He's sinless. He's spotless. He's born of our bone because
of his mom, who was just a vessel, right? a sinner just like us
who need to be saved. In her words, actually, when
we talk to people, her words was, whatever he said, do it. Well, he said, I'm the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Isn't that wonderful? So he's
the only way. Look at this. Made under the
law. Beloved, he fulfilled the law
of God. Each one of us who are believer
can say, for me. He is made under the law. He's sinless,
and yet he subjects himself to his own law. That he might fulfill
all righteousness, which we could never do. This incarnation is incredible.
This is the word of God becoming flesh. This is God incarnate. This is Emmanuel promised in
Isaiah. God with us. This is who he is. Wonder of wonders. God has saved
my soul. God himself did that. And that's what every believer
can testify, can't we? God in the flesh shed his blood
to redeem his church, Acts tells us. Oh my. Look why look it goes in even
depth deeper why he came you remember you've heard me say
We're born to live he was born to die Why did he come look at verse
look at verse 5 to redeem Them that were under the law, that's
you and I beloved That's all the elect of all the ages born
into this world, dead in trespasses and sins, under tutors and governors,
the law, which says guilty to every one of us, right? The law
couldn't justify us in any way, could it? But can the law save
anyone? No. The law condemns, doesn't
it, brother? It shows us guilty. And I'll
tell you what, it does it for every man, woman, and child in
this world. Guilty. And in the scripture
says, the soul that sinneth, it must die. And here's Christ, the sinless,
spotless Lamb of God. Come, according to this text,
to redeem us. How did He redeem us? By the
shedding of His blood and the giving of His life. And He did
it. Every one of us who are redeemed
can say, this scripture is talking about what my King did for me. This is wondrous. What love drove
him to do this, beloved. What grace. This is the, and
this is free grace, right? Did God, think of this. Did we deserve salvation? We
deserve condemnation. We deserve hell, don't we? But marvel, God sent his son. to redeem us, to purchase our
eternal souls with the shedding of his precious blood, to redeem
us, what? Out from under the law that has
a rightful claim upon us, right? Guilty, free, pardoned, forgiven,
washed in the blood of Christ, Look at this. To redeem them
that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons, the forgiveness of all our sins, accepted in the Beloved,
accepted in the Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone. Wonder of wonders. And now look at this. This is
marvelous. It continues. And because ye
are sons, do you notice that? Do you notice the wording there?
And because ye are sons. Not might be if you make a decision. This is talking about, and note
what we're going to see here. We are sons even before we receive
the Holy Spirit of God. Isn't that wonderful? And because
you are sons. Remember Christ said to his disciples,
I'm gonna send you a comforter. I'm gonna send you a comforter.
And he's gonna tell you all, he's gonna teach you the things
of me. And that's the Holy Spirit of God, isn't it? And look at
this, because we are sons. How long have we been heirs for? From eternity, hey, amen. When God chose us in Christ, and because you are sons, because
we are the people of God, because we are the redeemed of God, because
Christ has already redeemed us 2,000 years ago. Look at this. God, that's Christ, right? He
said, I'll send you a comforter. God has sent forth the spirit
of his son into your hearts. Now, what do we cry? What do
we cry to God now? Abba, Father. Oh, Father, Father, thank thee. Thank you for Christ Jesus, my
Savior. Thank you for sending him into
this world to save me from all my sins. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Praise be to the Father for sending
you into this world, Lord Jesus, to redeem us with thy precious
blood. And thank you, Holy Spirit, for
coming into our hearts and regenerating us. And we're born again, given
faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. See, but all this
has happened because of the incarnation, hasn't it? Because God had planned
and purposed that there would be a Redeemer. And when the fullness of time
was come, he came into this world at the exact second. Isn't that amazing? Oh my. Look at this. Wherefore thou
art no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then what? An heir
of God through Christ. Beloved, we're heirs already. We are living in, this is why
I keep telling us that we are far richer, you know, there's
that Basil guy and you've got Gates and all these, they've
got so much money, they don't know, they never spend it in
a lifetime. Do you know we're even richer than them? Because
we're heirs of God. See, their wealth, they're going
to die, aren't they, Travis? And they're going to leave every
cent behind, aren't they? They can't take nothing with them. And if
they don't know Christ, they're going to go straight to hell,
to a Christless eternity. We are already, before we're
in heaven, heirs. We have all spiritual blessings
right now, Sister Carolyn, in Christ. He's redeemed us. He's justified us. We're sanctified
in Him. Right now. And you know what
else, too? We can't mess it up. Isn't that wonderful? It's an
inheritance that's already in heaven because it's in Christ. Now, do we struggle through this
world? Of course. Every one of us are
beset by different things. That which might trip you up
might not trip your brother or sister up. But I tell you what,
if we got together, we struggle with similar things. You might
be strong, Sister Carolyn, where I'm weak, and vice versa. But who are we clinging to? Sister Barb, we're clinging to
Christ, aren't we? We're clinging to our Savior, aren't we, Kevin?
We hold on to Him who holds on to us. And if we're in His grip,
we're eternally secure. Eternally secure. Think of this, Sister Barb. Before
you even knew Christ, you were in error. You were in His hands. before
I even knew Christ. Isn't it wonderful? That's what
this is bringing forth, beloved. And because he redeemed us, because
God chose us in eternity, and remember this, none of us would
have chosen Christ. Left to ourselves, not one of
us would have chosen Christ. And God chose us in Christ. And
because we're sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into
our hearts, whereby we now cry, I'm a father. Oh, thank you,
Father. Thank you, Father, for saving my soul. Ain't it wonderful? It's wonderful. Do you know something
that I want to share with you? We are so valuable to Christ. Sometimes we don't think much
of ourselves, right? It's not a bad thing, is it?
Because we're nothing without Christ. I was trying to explain
that to my daughter. We're nothing without Christ. But you know we're valuable? In Christ's eyes. You know that
scripture says precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death
of his saints. Precious there in the Hebrew
is valuable. We're like precious gems, like
a precious stone to Christ. and think of how valuable we
are to Him. We're so valuable to Him that
He came to this earth, sent by the Father, to redeem us from
all our sins by the shedding of His blood, the giving of His
life. In the shedding of His blood,
live in that perfect life, despised and rejected by man, a man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief, And yet it was his eternal love
for us that drove him to do that. Oh my. He's wondrous. And without the incarnation,
there would be no redemption. If he hadn't come into this world,
none of us would be saved. Do you see how vital the incarnation
is? And then we know the resurrection
is absolutely vital too, because he was raised for our justification,
wasn't he? And we know the greatest manifestation
of love was at Calvary's cross when he shed his blood for us
and died on Calvary's cross in our room and place. Oh, how magnificent
is the Savior. How magnificent is the Lord Jesus
Christ, God incarnate in the flesh. Wherefore, thou art no
more a servant but a son, and if a son, an heir of God through
Christ. That's just my introduction. Do you notice the words in that
text there? Look at verse four in Galatians. when the fullness of time was
come. This is a fixed time by God. Just like our birth is a fixed
time. Just like it says in verse 2, We were dead in trespasses and
sins until the time appointed of the Father. Scripture, I think
it was Henry or Scott preached a message called the time of
love. That's our time of love. That's the time when Christ is
revealed to us. Ain't it wonderful? It's absolutely
wonderful. All this does is give glory to
God. So we see that the time of Christ's
birth was fixed and set by God in eternal predestination. Our God is absolutely sovereign. We were talking, sister, about
how things-we don't understand things that happen in our lives.
Our two sisters were talking. We don't understand. But somehow,
the Scripture declares they work for our good. Even the-even a
water may break it. They work for our good and for
God's glory, and we don't have any clue how that all happens.
But it does, doesn't it? It's amazing. But it does. Remember, not even
those little wee birds flying out here, those sparrows? Insignificant,
someone might say. I think they're wonderful. They're so significant that not
a sparrow falls to the ground without our king knowing. And
think of that all around the world. That's just wildlife,
birds. That's just one kind of bird. Let alone all the sea creatures
and all the land creatures and the things under the earth and
the microscopic all things working, the worms and all that, all working
for our good and for God's glory. Isn't that amazing? Oh my. So everything, there's
a time set by God in his eternal purpose for all things that come
to pass in this world. There will come a time when this
world will burn up. It will burn up. It will be all
over. and there be a new heaven and
a new earth wherein dwells righteousness. But that time is fixed by the
Father. There will be a time when Christ
will return. I do not know the time, you do
not know the time, but we can say this, today we are a day
closer to his return. Aren't we? But it's a time set
and fixed by the Father. by him alone, by God alone. And
everything is accomplished according, exactly according to God's purpose,
precisely at his appointed time. Nothing comes to pass before
its time, and nothing comes to pass after
its time. So think of that when we're going
through trials and tribulations and troubles in this life. It
will end at the exact time that God has appointed. And think of this, our God is
never in a hurry. We get busy, don't we? We get
in a hurry, don't we? We want to fix things now. Let's do this now before we forget
or let's do this. We got time now and we're in
a hurry. Do you know God's never in a hurry? God's never in a hurry. Do you
know we were saved at the exact time that God ordained? Isn't that wonderful? Keep praying
for your kids and my kids. Keep praying for our kids, beloved.
Keep lifting them up. Never stop until they're not
breathing anymore. Because if it's God's will to
save them, he will at his appointed time. Ain't that wonderful? So God's
never in a hurry. And he also never comes too late.
You ever had an appointment, you're like, man, I'm late already,
get in the car, you jump in the car, you're racing, you're praying
you don't get a ticket while you're running down the road
in the car, right? And you get somewhere, you're,
oh, I'm five minutes late, or 10 minutes late, or 15 minutes
late. God's never late. Never. Never late. I'm amazed at how At his fixed
and appointed time, he raises up leaders. We had an election,
right? He raised up a new leader. Think
of this, Syria. The one who was running Syria,
he fled all the way to Russia. But it was time for him to fall. Isn't that amazing? That Gaddafi,
for years, when we were younger, he ran Libya. But there came
a time when he died. And that power was taken from
him. And God raised up a new leader, right? Oh my. And remember, these leaders,
they're just pawns in the hands of our king. That's why I love
it when you guys pray for our nation, because it's our God
who gives us the liberty that we have right now. to preach
and proclaim the gospel, to gather together. There's places they
don't have this freedom that we have. And what a gift it is. What a gift. I know places there's
people wanting a preacher, they got no preacher. And here we
are gathering together, worshiping the Lord together. Or they don't
have a place to meet. We have a beautiful building.
God's provided it. Isn't it wonderful? Oh my. And our great and glorious God
works all things according to his own timetable. Therefore
the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world at the time appointed
and agreed upon in eternity by the Father, Son, and the Holy
Spirit. He was sent into this world to accomplish a mission. to save his people from their
sins. And what did he do? He cried,
it is finished. My, oh my. Brother Neil, we rejoice
in a finished work. We rest in a work finished and
done 2,000 years ago. by the Lord Jesus Christ, who
is our rest, who is our Savior, who is our Redeemer. And think of this, a brief look
at history will show us God's sovereignty. As I mentioned last
week, there's been several empires, Greeks, Romans, they're all gone. But Christ is still King, isn't
He? He still reigns. His word's still going forth
with power through the preaching of the gospel. And God just takes that messages
and uses it for His glory and His honor and His praise. That's
why I love sermon audio. It goes out into the world, beloved.
And God uses it for His glory and honor and praise. Isn't that amazing? My oh my. It's all for God's
glory. Think of this too. God was sovereignly arranging
all things to happen before Christ was born, that he might be born
in Bethlehem. Remember Caesar Augustus taxed
the empire? And Mary and Joseph had to go
back to their hometown, Joseph's hometown, which was Bethlehem. And Christ was born there. And then the wise man came and
gave gifts to the Lord. And that was used for them to
flee to Egypt. And when Herod died, remember
Herod set out and killed all the kids from two years old? Two years old and younger. Just wiped them all out, trying
to kill he who was king of the Jews. Not knowing that Christ's
kingdom is spiritual kingdom. Oh my. But all that happened, all that
was arranged. for the coming of the Son of
God. Think of this, the Jews were carried into Babylonian
captivity. Did they understand why when
that was occurring? They had no idea, did they, Brother
Travis? Oh, but they were delivered by
the hand of God out of that captivity later on, weren't they? They
went into Egypt, became slaves. and they were delivered from
that captivity. Ezra and the scribes compiled
the scriptures and taught them, and the synagogues were established
in various places for the teaching of the scriptures throughout
the known world. And all these things prepared the way for Christ's
entrance into the world. And we're seeing in our study
in the book of Acts that by them going and establishing all these
synagogues in different places, and even in land owned by the
Greeks and land owned by the Romans and in Babylon, that synagogues
were established in all these places. And where did Paul and
Barnabas go and preach the gospel? They went right to the synagogues,
didn't they? All providentially prepared by God. And then the
Greeks come in and they conquer this vast swath of land all the
way to India. And then the Romans come in.
The Roman Empire rise. They take over all of Greece.
They take over all the empire of Greece. And they expand it even
further into Britain. And down in the Carthage. And Spain. Vast, huge empire. And they keep the Greek language. And the New Testament is written
in Greek. And that gospel spreads like
wildfire. The Romans built all these beautiful
roads, didn't they? for their legions to march on,
thinking, well, we can use this to conquer different places.
And the Lord uses that, sending his messengers into various cities,
preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And remember, we've
been reading in Acts, that one city, I can't remember what that
one city was, half the city the Lord saved, and Tom looked up
and was like, 30,000 people, 15,000 people. Oh, shusker, ushered
into the kingdom of God. Oh my! And remember, the Gentiles,
that was the Gentiles, they're rejoicing! This is for us too! This salvation is for us too!
All prepared and purposed by God. And God sent his messengers to
where his sheep were. You know what Norm Wells told
me? He said, you're going to Almont
because God's got sheep there. Here we are, gathered together,
our hearts knit together in love. Isn't it amazing? Oh my. Again, Alexander the Great. The
Greek language became a universal language. Then God raised up
the Romans, built roads for fast and easy travel, keeping the
Greek language in lookout. Isn't that amazing when you think
about that? Those Romans had no clue they were building roads
that God would use to send his messengers on. As a matter of
fact, they didn't worship the true and living God. He's using
a bunch of pagans to build roads. Ain't that amazing? He even uses
the wicked, doesn't he? Oh my. That's amazing. It's absolutely
amazing. Well, our God is so glorious
and so good. He's absolutely wonderful. Turn
if you would to Matthew chapter two. We're just gonna look at
something here quick. Matthew chapter two. Matthew chapter two. Look at
verse one. Now, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem
of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came
wise man from the east to Jerusalem, saying, where is he that is born
king of the Jews? Look at that statement. Christ
is born king of the Jews. Beloved, we're spiritual Israel.
He's our king. He's our king. For we have seen his star in
the east and are come to worship him. God set a star to guide
them. To guide them. Now some people
think, where did these folks come from? Remember Daniel and
his fellows were taken into captivity in Babylon? And remember he wouldn't
bow to the statue? Some believe that the Magi were
Christians. We're followers because who are
they looking for? Who are they proclaiming Christ
is? King of the Jews. That's one of his messianic titles. That's one of his messianic titles,
beloved. He's King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Some believe that
these were men who were of high standing who the Lord had saved. Oh my. Because we know that Daniel
wasn't quiet about his God, was he? And about our God. And we
know that Nebuchadnezzar declared that Daniel's God was the one
and true living God. Oh my. When Herod the king had
heard these things, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. Now
notice those words there. Why would all of Jerusalem be
troubled about these wise men? Now notice the scripture doesn't
tell us how many there were. First. There could have been
four, five, there could have been three, there could have
been a hundred. We're not told the number. But do you notice
it says all of Jerusalem was trouble? Do you know why? These
wise men would have traveled with an entourage. They would
have had men with them and servants with them, but they also would
have had soldiers with them. Because in those days there was
many bandits. So when you traveled from one
place, and it says they came from the east, it doesn't say
where, but they traveled a ways. And in traveling, they would
have to have protection, beloved. And so here comes these wise
men into Jerusalem, along with their entourage and with a bunch
of soldiers. And the people in Jerusalem are
going, they coming to wipe us out? They were troubled. Oh my. And again, I would imagine
they had quite a few soldiers with them, because they would
have to. They're carrying gold and frankincense
and myrrh, precious items during that time. And when he had gathered all
the chief priests and the scribes and the people together, he demanded
of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him
in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet,
And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, art not the least among
the princes of Judea, for out of thee shall come a governor
that shall rule my people. Again, that's the prophecy Neil
spoke about. Then Herod, when he had privately
called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time
the star had appeared. The star appeared. And he sent
them to Bethlehem and said, go and search diligently for the
young child. Look at this. Look at this snake.
Look at this snake. And when you have found him,
bring him me word that I may come and worship him also. Now,
he doesn't want to worship him. He wants to kill him. Because
he's thinking, what he's thinking, this is someone who's going to
challenge me for my kingship. He's probably thinking, well,
he's from the lineage of David. The rightful king. The rightful king. Remember Herod
just placed in there by the Romans. He's a puppet. Oh, my. And when they had heard the king,
they departed. And lo, the star. which they saw in the east, went
before them till it came and stood over where, look at this,
the young child was. He's not a babe in a manger. Look at this. And when they saw
the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when
they were come into the house, he's not in the manger anymore,
he's at a house. And he's a young child. They saw the young child with
Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshipped him when they
had opened the treasures. They're worshipping him as king.
And they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Look at this. Now here we're going to see quickly,
and then I'll close, how God prepared by giving, by using
those men's gifts for Mary and Joseph to be able
to afford to go to Egypt. He's already providing. Beloved,
He's already provided for us everything we need. We may not
be rich, but we got everything we need in this world, don't
we? Right? We got everything. I'll tell
you what, you got someone to love you, number one, you got
Christ to love you, you got everything. But if we got a roof over our
head, clothes on our back, people who love us, we are rich. And we're rich in Christ beyond
measure. Look at this. And being warned
of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed
into their own country another way. And when they were departed,
behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream,
saying, look at this, before this even happens, arise and
take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt, and
be thou there until I bring thee word, for Herod will seek the
young child to destroy him. See, Satan wants, and he uses, he
uses wicked men. He wants to destroy the Messiah. You know, when he stirred that
crowd up, For them to cry, crucify him, crucify him. Little did
he know that God's will was being fulfilled. Because his son must die to redeem
us from all our sins. Look at this. when he arose and
took the young child and his mother by night and departed
unto Egypt. It was there until the death
of Herod that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord
by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. So
another prophecy had to be fulfilled. He had to go to Egypt. Then Herod,
look at now, look at natural man's response here. Then Herod,
when he saw that he was mocked of the wise man, was exceedingly
wroth, Sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem
and look at this and in all the coasts He didn't just kill he
didn't just kill the kids that were in Bethlehem He had he had
all the children who were to and under slaughtered in Bethlehem
and all the coasts He's trying to kill that King, isn't he?
That's God's King That's God in the flesh he will not destroy
him will he Because the scripture says, he shall not fail. He must
go to Calvary to redeem us from all our sins. He must. Oh my. And look at this, was
exceedingly wroth and sent forth and slew all the children that
were in Bethlehem and in all the coasts thereof from two years
old and under, according to the time which he had diligently
inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which
was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Ramah was there a
voice heard lamentation and weeping. In great mourning Rachel, weeping
for her children, and would not be comforted because they are
not. Oh my. And if you read further on, they go into Nazarene. They go into Nazareth. Oh my,
isn't God amazing? Do you see how he providentially
protected, how the Father providentially protected Christ as a young child? Beloved, he protects us and watches
over us from conception to the grave, and then he takes us home. Praise his mighty, mighty name. Brother Travis, can you close
the