If you all got Bibles, turn in your Bibles with me to Psalm 87. The shepherds were out in the fields on the mountains, but I wanted to read this song about the foundation of the Lord. The whole world is contemplating in some form or way the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into this world and I trust that we can rejoice in why he came in the flesh.

And that's what we preach, a coming, a Lord Jesus Christ who came in the volume of the book and he came to his people and he came to that nation Israel. And that same Lord Jesus, that resurrected Lord Jesus reigns in heaven right now and he's ruling and reigning over all things and he's coming back. As Acts chapter one says, the angel said, this same Jesus is coming back.

Psalm 87. It's a psalm or a song for the sons of Korah. His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah. Selah is just a musical punctuation. It says stop and ponder it. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God.

I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me. Behold Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia. This man was born there. And of Zion, it shall be said, this and that man was born in her. And the highest shall establish her. "'The Lord shall count when he writeth up the people "'that this man was born there.'" Selah. This man was born there. We are the children of the mother that is above, the Jerusalem in the heavens.

"'As well as the singers, "'as the players on instruments shall be there, All my springs are in thee. All of the springs of my faith, all of the springs of my forgiveness, all of the springs of my love to the Lord Jesus Christ, all of my springs of love towards my brethren, they're all in him.

And if you have your Bible open there, if you turn back to the last verse, the last few verses of Psalm 85, I just love this verse in verse 10. It's just a glorious description of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ and what happened on the cross. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth, that's the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good, and our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go before him, and he shall set us in the way of his steps. What will he do? All our springs are in him. All of our steps are in him. He shall set us. in the way of his steps, the way of mercy, the way of truth, the way of righteousness, the way of peace, they kissed each other on the cross of Calvary.

Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank you for this day. We do thank you for this time that you have ordained to gather your people that we might look to the Lord Jesus Christ yet again and be reminded, Heavenly Father, that all the springs of our faith and our love And all of your dealings with us are in you.

And Heavenly Father, we praise you that you set your people in the way of your steps. The Lord Jesus Christ is the way and we pray, Heavenly Father, as we gather and those who can't be with us gather In that way, with us this morning, Heavenly Father, that you would bless our meditations, you would bless your words to the heart of your people, and that they would be reminded yet again, Heavenly Father, that without the Lord Jesus Christ, we can do nothing. But nothing is impossible without God. And we pray for your mercy upon us, Heavenly Father, today. We pray that we might find ourselves Yet again, going to the throne of grace, the Lord Jesus Christ, to find help in our hour of need.

Heavenly Father, we can't worship you unless you work so in our hearts. We can't love you unless you first love us. We can't walk in your ways unless you set us in those ways. We thank you, Heavenly Father, for your mercy and your grace and your love in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We do pray for those who are ailing. We pray especially for Jenny and Simon and Maddie, and pray for your healing hand upon them and for wisdom with those who care for them, Heavenly Father. And we pray that they would know that we love them, we miss them, we care for them, and we thank you, Heavenly Father, that we can come into your presence and bring our brothers and sisters who we love so very much.

For many others, Heavenly Father, at this time of the year there are many interruptions to life, but we thank You, Heavenly Father, for this time of fellowship, for this time of peace, for this time in Your Word. We pray, Heavenly Father, that You would speak to us yet again and that we would hear the voice of the Shepherd calling us to Himself. for we pray in the name of your dear and precious son, our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

We're gonna sing some carols. Norm's given you a sheet. I don't have one. I did have one. Which one do you wanna sing first? Okay, we can start at the start.

Well, I pray that you might have opportunity over this time of the year when all the Christian religious world is making a big noise about the Lord Jesus Christ and giving presents. And I'm, you know, we don't make a big deal about those sorts of things in our church, but this is an opportunity for us to talk about the Lord Jesus Christ when He's on the minds of so many.

I wanted to just give us five or six things about why the Lord Jesus Christ came in the flesh. Because it's just so important that he did come in the flesh, and it's so incredibly important that he still is a man in glory right now.

Psalm 37 says, Behold, mark the perfect man. And that's what we do in church. We mark the perfect man. We mark him out. We describe him as he is. And we ask and plead with the Lord that we might behold him.

But in John chapter 1 verse 14, he says, The word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

If you turn with me in your Bibles to 1 John, there's an extraordinarily important passage of scripture in 1 John, where we hear about why it's so important that we believe that the Lord Jesus Christ came in the flesh, and how false religion denies that he came in the flesh. And that's the issue, isn't it?

1 John 4, verse 1. Beloved, Believe not every spirit. A spirit is someone who's speaking to you, claiming to speak to you on behalf of God. That's what a spirit is. You're hearing a spirit now. But try the spirits, test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world, many.

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Now to confess is just a simple Greek word made up of two words, to say the same. To confess is just to say what God says. It's just to say what God has written about his dear and precious son. And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of Antichrist. It's quite simple, isn't it? Antichrist is denying what the Lord Jesus Christ did when he came in the flesh. Wherever you have heard that it should come, so this is no accident from God, and even now already is in the world.

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them. All the little children of God have overcome them, not because they're strong, but because they're the children of God, and God is strong. Little children have overcome them. Because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Greater is God in you. Christ in you is the hope of glory.

And it doesn't matter who the he is, but it's Satan he's speaking of here, and all anti-Christ false religion. They are of the world, and they speak of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth us. And so, what's the testimony? What's the confession? You hear what the apostles said about the Lord Jesus Christ. And the apostles said exactly the same things about the Lord Jesus Christ that the prophets said about the Lord Jesus Christ. Starting in Revelation 1.1, finishing in Genesis 1.1, and finishing in Revelation 22. They just had one message. They all just had one message. The Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

But don't you love that? He that knoweth God, heareth us. We hear the apostolic testimony. He that is not of God, heareth not us. Hereby we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love. Not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. That sacrifice that absorbed and took away the wrath of Almighty God. That's why He came. That's why He came.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us. And His love is perfected in us. Isn't that the most remarkable statement? God dwells in us and His love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, God dwells in us, and we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

Every time you come across that word world in relation to the death and the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, it needs to be seen in its context. If the Lord Jesus Christ is a propitiation for all the sins of all of humanity, then all of humanity is saved, and this book in front of you is just a lie. If God loves everyone, The mere fact that he hated Esau means that he cannot love everyone. He loved his people.

There are many deceivers entered into the world and this is a deceiver and an antichrist. They confess, they do not confess that Jesus has come in the flesh. So I just wanted to give a few things so that you might, if you're talking, we can maybe use this opportunity to talk to people that we love and care for.

The Lord Jesus Christ came in the flesh and it's a reflection of the fact that He is God Almighty in human flesh. You saw the Lord Jesus Christ, you saw God. all of God, the fullness of God, dwelt in a body. It was necessary for the Lord Jesus Christ, secondly, to take on flesh, to be in union with His Bride, to suffer. God cannot suffer or die, and man cannot satisfy or produce righteousness. God and man can do both. It was necessary. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. He came in the flesh to show the sufficiency of his accomplishments as the God-man.

There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. A man stands between God and men. A man reconciles God to man, and a man reconciles man to God. All things are of God, 2 Corinthians 5.18, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. God must be reconciled, and He was reconciled in His Son.

Fourthly, His resurrection and His exaltation and His dominion as the conquering King of glory is the firstborn from the dead, is a King. Sitting on the throne of glory is a King. There is a man in glory. There is a man who is in his resurrection glory. He talked, and he walked, and he ate, and he drank, and he showed himself to 500 of his brethren at one time. That man is sitting in heaven right now.

One of the things, I was talking to someone this week, having a chat to someone, and I was amazed by the fact that when he was on the cross of Calvary, every time you see a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, just tell yourself instantly, that's a lie. That's a lie. Every time you see a picture of him on the cross, that's a lie. That's a lie. He was nothing like that. His face was marred beyond recognition as a human being, and his body was so marred that it was beyond recognition as a human being. And by his stripes we are healed. The man in glory just has the wounds on his hands and the wound in his side and the wounds on his feet. He bears the emblems forever of the redemption of his people. That's why he came. That man is in glory right now and he's displaying the sufficiency and the exaltation and His dominion.

There is a man in glory, and this is just so incredibly important, there is a man in glory who exercises all power and all authority over all that is necessary for his witness to be maintained in the hearts and lives of his chosen people for the honour of glory. He's working all things right now, everything. Everything in the providence of God is good, spiritually good, and good, and it will be seen to be good. We are more than conquerors because He loved us and He rules and reigns. Where he rules, his word is his command. He constrains his people by love. And he distributes gifts. That resurrected Lord Jesus Christ is distributing gifts to his church. You can read about it in Psalm 68 and Ephesians 4.

This man, this man who came, this man who died, this man who rose, this man who sits in glory is the gospel. The gospel is a person. The declaration of God is a person. Our gospel is a person. He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. He is the scriptures. He is the covenant. He is the covenant of God. He's a person. All the promises of God are wrapped up in this person. There's much more to say about it and we'll never get to the end of it and we'll never get to the end of it in eternity. We'll be talking about Him and looking at Him and gazing upon Him forever and ever. The man of Christ Jesus. That's why I came.

We're going to sing again, Norm, and then we'll turn to the book of Jude. Thank you. That'll be fine.

I'd like you to turn in your Bibles with me to the book of Jude once more. Last book, last letter in the Old Testament before the book of Revelation, so it's easy to find and I pray that you'll follow along with me as we study what Jude is saying about the Lord Jesus Christ and about how he cares for and protects and reveals to his people how that he saves them and keeps them from being deceived as the rest of this world and particularly the religious world is deceived.

I'm sure you'll see all sorts of editorials and articles and things about the Lord Jesus Christ. over this next little while, and some of it, much of it, is just absolute rubbish written by people who are sincere, but are sincerely, sincerely deceived.

Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James, to them that are sanctified completed work by God the Father, he set them apart for himself, and preserved in Jesus Christ and called, mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied.

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints, entrusted into the hands of the saints. Those people we read about in 1 John 4, the apostles and those who wrote the scriptures and those who followed them.

For, and this is a reason for his writing, this is a reason for the change. Jude wanted to write about all of that and then he was led by the Holy Spirit to preach to his brothers and write to us about the certain men.

For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation." They're creeping in as a condemnation from God. They're not aware of it. They're ordained to this judgment as a result of it.

Ungodly men, that means men without any reverence for God, without any awe of God, without any worship of God. They are religious people because they crept in, but they were natural men and not those with the Spirit of God.

And what they do is they're turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness. This is, that word turning is a translation. They translate grace and what they are saying is that if you preach the Lord Jesus Christ and you preach eternal, electing, sovereign, redeeming, calling, saving, sanctifying grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you just tell them about the Lord Jesus Christ and don't put them under a set of rules and obligations to do this and not do that and make themselves better by their activities, you're actually just going to lead men into sin. That's what they're saying. That's what false teaching is all saying. It's saying ultimately that the Lord Jesus Christ is not sufficient. He's not a sufficient Savior. He's not a sufficient sanctifier. He's not sufficient wisdom. He's not sufficient redemption. You must do something.

Have you ever heard that before? It's all very well, don't you? I've been told so many times, it's all very well for you to talk about grace and all very well for you to talk about the Lord Jesus Christ. But there is something that we have to do. There's something that we must do. Yes, there will be. God will work in the hearts of His people. And they won't be aware of it. They, according to Matthew 25, they won't be aware of it and yet he's led them and he's moved their hearts to cry out to him that these things will happen. Anyway, let's read on.

They turned the grace of our God into lasciviousness, denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterwards destroyed them that believed not, and the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he has reserved in everlasting change under darkness, under the judgment of the great day.

Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise, in the same way, these filthy dreamers, he likens the filthy dreamers to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet, and this is a verse I want us to spend some time looking at briefly this morning. Yet Michael the archangel. Michael the Archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him, dare not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, the Lord rebuke thee, the Lord rebuke thee.

We might sing one more hymn, Norman, and then we can move on to come back and look at that. So hold your Bibles open there in Jude. I've lost my sheets. We can do that, we can do another one, yeah. That would be good.

I have seen heaven and earth, I have seen heaven and earth, It's pretty hot. Why don't we just have a break for a few minutes and walk around. Simon brought us some cherries so we can share the cherries around. We just have five minutes to stretch our legs.