Well, I talked to several pastors
this week and I told them that it's official. I'm bona fide. I got my own desk and my own
chair in my own office. So I'm very thankful. If you
need to use the restroom after the service, be sure to use the
one in the office back there. We'll have the doors on hopefully
Sunday. Let's turn to Luke chapter 2.
Luke chapter 2. It came to pass, verse 1, it
came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from
Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And this taxing was first made
when Cyrenus was governor of Syria. And all went to be taxed,
everyone into his own city. And Joseph also went up from
Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem. They traveled about six to eight
miles by foot or by wagon. And Mary was great with childs. She was very, very close to going
into labor. And it says they did this because
he was of the house and lineage of David. Every word of this
was ordained by God and everything that took place here was by God's
sovereign hand. God had said Christ would be
born in Bethlehem. And so He brought them there. He arranged everything to bring
them there. Verse 5 says, and He came there
to be taxed with Mary, His espoused wife. Most likely He had married
her by now. She is called espoused because
He had not known her. She was still a virgin. But this
is what caught my eye on this passage right here. Mary was
great with child. It means she was big. She was ready to domino. She was great with child. We know that December 25th is
not the day our Lord Jesus was born. If God had intended for
us to know the day, that Christ was born, He would have given
us that in the Scriptures, and the Scriptures are silent on
that. But suppose December 25th was
the day Christ was born, Sunday. I want you to go back now 2,000
years ago, over 2,000 years ago, and put yourself in Mary's place.
Here you are Thursday night, great with child, About two and
a half days away from having this child. What are the kind
of things that you'd be thinking about? Every father and mother
here remembers what it was like when you were within two and
a half days of having your first child, and this was their first
child. What would be in your mind? Do
you remember what was going on in your mind, things you were
thinking about? Now try to imagine what must
have been on Joseph and Mary's mind. At nine months, most mothers
wouldn't want to walk six to eight miles or ride in a wagon
six to eight miles to go be taxed. But God's sovereign hand brought
them there, so she went. And when Melinda was two and
a half days from having Emma, All I could think about was I
hope I get her to the hospital in time because I don't want
to be delivering no babies. That's all I had on my mind.
And Melinda was, and most mothers are thinking about things like
the nursery and where they'll bring the child home to and is
everything ready and prepared, you know. Just think how Joseph
felt when he went to that inn and he couldn't get a room. And think how Mary felt when
she didn't even know where she was going to have her child,
much less where she'd lay him. But more than all that, I think,
I can't help but think that Mary must have had on her mind what
God had revealed to her concerning who this child was that was in
her womb. And that's what I want us to
look at. Let's go back up to verse 26 of chapter 1. Luke 1, 26. In the sixth month, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the
house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel
came in unto her and said, Hail thou that are highly favored. God on high has given you free
grace. That's what it means. Highly
favored. The Lord is with thee. What a
promise that is. The Lord is with thee. Blessed
art thou among women. She was chosen by God to do something
no other woman had done. and that no other woman would
do since. Verse 29, And when she saw him, she was troubled
at this saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation
this should be. Can't you imagine how troubled
you'd be at this? And the angel said unto her,
Fear not, Mary, God always comforts His child. Fear not, Mary. He is the only one that can truly
comfort spiritually His child. For thou hast found favor with
God. And that is our comfort. Favor
means grace. It means you did not do anything
to merit this favor. God was pleased to show you this
favor. You found grace in the eyes of
God. And that is our comfort. That's
our comfort. God's freely chosen to show us
grace. And that won't change because
God didn't base that on anything in you. And God will not alter
that and it can't be altered. Those that God's gracious to,
He'll always be gracious to. That's the good news. But in
Mary's case, it was a special favor that no other woman had
experienced. Verse 31, And behold, Thou shalt
conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his
name Jesus." It means Savior. We're told in Matthew, it's Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. Now, here is
the first thing I was thinking about. Two and a half days from
the birth of our first child, most of us were taking up with
some temporal things we were thinking about. Making preparation
and so on. But Mary must have been thinking
about one thing. She must have been thinking about
this unborn child in my womb is God in human flesh. Verse 32 says, He shall be called
Great and He shall be called the Son of the Highest. Now every
mother would love if God told her that her unborn child shall
be great. But there is none so great as
this one. He is the Son of the Highest. He is the Son of God. That is
who was in Mary's womb. God in human flesh. Just imagine, Mary knew this. She knew that this one in her
womb was the Son of God who created all things. By knowing He's the
Son of God, she knows He's the one that created all things.
The scripture says God turned everything over to Christ, His
Son, in eternity. And Christ created everything.
He created the world that He would come into and save His
people. And she knows this one that's
in her womb created her. The Scripture says, by Him were
all things created. Mary knew this one. You just
think about this. The one in her womb. This one
she's going to wrap in swaddling clothes. This one she's going
to nurse on her breast. This is the one she had read
about in Scripture. The one that Isaiah spoke of
when he said in Isaiah 40.11, he shall feed his flock like
a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those
that are with young. And then he said of this one,
who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand? Talking
about all the waters that would ever be poured out on this earth.
That's a big hand. And she, in about two and a half
days, is going to hold that hand and it's going to be a little
infant's hand. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his
hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and comprehended the
dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in
scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit
of the Lord, or been His counselor, hath taught Him? With whom took
He counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path
of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and showed to Him the way of
understanding? And yet in two and a half days, she and Joseph
are going to begin a process of teaching this child wisdom
and knowledge. like every other child is raised
up. This is the one of whom it said,
when He created all things, when He chose His people, when He
determined the infinite beginning of how His people would be saved,
who did He counsel with? Who taught Him knowledge and
understanding? Do you see how low Christ condescended, the
Son of God condescended to come into this earth to save His people?
He didn't come high and mighty so that we would be all impressed.
He came as one now who is going to be raised up and grow in wisdom
and stature as a man like every other child. That is who this
one is. Look here. He said, Behold, the
nations are a drop of a bucket that are counted as the small
dust of the balance. He taketh up the isles as a very
little thing, and Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the
beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations
before Him are as nothing. They are counted to Him less
than nothing in vanity. It's He that sits upon the circle
of the earth and the inhabitants thereof are His grasshoppers.
It's Him that stretches out the heavens as a curtain and spread
them out as a tent to dwell in, that brings princes to nothing
and makes judges of the earth as vanity. To whom will you liken
me or shall I be equal, saith the Holy One? That's the one
she knows She's read those scriptures. She's heard those scriptures
preached. And she knows by what the Spirit of God is teaching
her, that's the one she has in her womb. Wouldn't that be amazing? Mary knew this child in her womb
was the one that every woman in Israel had hoped she would
have since the beginning of time. Since the fall. Because after
they fell, God came and He declared to the serpent, He declared to
the devil. He said, I shall put enmity between
thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. This is the woman's seed. This
is Christ. And he shall bruise thy head
and thou shalt bruise his heel. This is the one who was born
to go to the cross to have his heel bruised by the devil. That
cruel cross and in the process crush Satan's head. But he is the seed of woman.
And they did not know what that meant. They all hoped that their
child was the seed of woman when he had been conceived of corruption. But now she is beginning to be
taught what it means that he is the seed of woman. A woman
don't have a seat. This one did. He was put in her
by the Holy Spirit. Here's another thing that she
must have thought about on a night like this. Sitting there two
and a half days from that day, as we sit here two and a half
days from this Sunday. And you know, being great with
child, you've seen this. and you ladies have experienced
it, you know she was struggling every way she could to get physically
comfortable. But she had to have her mind
on that one who was all her spiritual comfort. That one she just heard
about. Verse 32, Luke 1, 32. The Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be
no end. He said to her, This is the king
of kings. This is the king of whom David
was just a picture and a type. This is the king whose kingdom,
David's kingdom, was just a picture of it to come. And she knew this
is the King of Kings. And not only that, this is our
Savior. This is our King and our Savior. He shall reign over the house
of Jacob. That house of Jacob is all God's
chosen people who Christ came to save and who He shall save.
He shall reign over that house because He is the King over that
house. And He is going to save every member of that house. Think
about the years when she had read this. Look at Jeremiah 23. She had read this scripture.
She knew this scripture. Jeremiah 23. This was a prophecy that God
declared. Christ is the only one who can
fulfill it. She knew the Messiah is the one who is going to fulfill
this. That is who this is spoken about. Jeremiah 23 and verse
5, she had read this, Behold the days come, saith the Lord,
that I will raise unto David a righteous branch. A righteous
branch, a root out of a dry ground, a branch of David. It came out
of his family tree. And a king shall reign and prosper. He'll reign and prosper. He'll
reign and he'll prosper his people. and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. He does that for His people.
In His days, Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is the name whereby
He shall be called the Lord our righteousness. We don't have
a thing to do with making ourselves righteous. This one who came
forth who is the righteous judge, the righteous king who reigns
and who works justice and judgment in the earth, he did that for
us when he walked this earth and fulfilled all the law for
his people and upheld the justice of God by dying in the room instead
of his people. Did you hear that? He upheld
justice and fulfilled the law for everybody
for whom He died. Because by bearing their sin,
He satisfied justice for them. They died when He died. So they
must be saved. And that's why He came to show
them mercy. That's why God declared way back there. He didn't say
there's any maybes to this. He said this is what He shall
be and what He shall do. Because He's the Lord, our righteousness. This is how we come to hear the
gospel. We think in our minds, when we
are lost, we think we are doing things to make ourselves go somewhere
where we can hear the message preached. And God is working
everything to bring us under the sound of the gospel. This
one is doing it. And then He makes us to hear
that word and believe that word. This one. That's what he's talking
about by reigning and prospering and working judgment and justice
in earth. It wouldn't be justice for a man to think he died for
everybody and failed, even those that are in hell. If justice
was satisfied, that would be injustice to send them to hell.
But he satisfied justice. And he comes and makes you know
that in your heart. And he makes you know if he's
done it for you. So that judgment and justice
is settled in the earth. He has worked it in the earth.
And not only that, everything that is happening in this earth
right now. You and I look at some things in this earth and
we say, that looks like that is injustice. That does not look
like there is any justice to that. And in a lot of it, it
is not. Because men are unjust in their dealings with one another.
But you know this, that righteous king is working all of that together
reigning and prospering His people and He is doing it justly. He
is doing it justly. She had to have been thinking
about that. Every time He kicked, I bet she thought, this is the
King of Kings and Lord of Lords. My King, my Savior, my Righteousness. And then thirdly, I thought that
at two and a half days from giving birth, Mary probably thought
how foolish she had been to doubt God when He revealed this to
her. You know, it's one thing back there, she hadn't conceived
when the Holy Ghost appeared to her and told her these things.
Now she's two and a half days from having this child. And now
she knows it wasn't foolishness at all. Everything He told me
has come true. Look at verse 34. Then said Mary
unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
Isn't that just like us? Isn't that exactly like us? Because
we don't see how something can come to pass. We don't see how
something can go against the laws of nature and can happen. We think it's impossible. That's just how we are. But do
you realize this? God is the laws of nature. God is the law of nature. He
upholds all things by the word of His power. That's who He is. He made an axe head swim one
time in the water. He's in control of gravity. He
can do what He wants. He's God. He's the law giver
and the law does what He bids no matter what law it is. He's the law of nature and He's
able to change the laws of nature. He's able to make this virgin
right here conceive and bear a child. We imagine that because
we can't do something that it's impossible with God. That's what
we imagine because we can't do it and we've never seen any other
man do it. We think, well that's impossible. God can't do that. You know, there's a great many
temporal things that you and I cannot do. We can't do anything
but what God has foreordained to come to pass. That's why James
said we shouldn't say tomorrow I'll go into this city or that
city and I'll do this or that. We should say if it's the Lord's
will, I'll do this or that. Because you're not going to do
it. How many times have you thought I'll do this or that? You tried
to do it and you gave every effort to do it and God brought it to
nothing. That didn't happen by accident.
There are no accidents in this world. We're not just lucky. God's working everything that
comes to pass. And it's all according to His
good pleasure. He works, Ephesians 1 said, He
works everything after the pleasure of His will. Whatever His purpose,
that's what He's doing. And then when it comes to spiritual
things, we can't accomplish anything. Scripture says we come into this
world spiritually dead in trespasses and in sin. Romans 3, Paul is
quoting Old Testament Scripture. He says there is none that understands
God and there is none that seeks after God. So spiritually we
can't accomplish anything. You see we came into this world
already guilty before God because God in His good pleasure set
up one one head in the beginning named Adam to represent all his
people. And when we died, when Adam sinned,
we died and we became guilty before God. That's why God charged
us with sin. We really sinned when Adam sinned. And then we were born with his
corrupt nature so that we don't understand God and we don't seek
God. We seek the God of our imagination that can't do anything but what
we allow him to do. That's the definition of an idol.
We make Him with our hands, carve Him out in our imagination. We
cannot accomplish anything spiritually. The Lord has to come to us and
He has to teach us and give us a heart to believe Him and rest
in Him and trust the works that He has accomplished for His people.
But look down at verse 37. With God nothing shall be impossible. You see that? Even though we
don't think it's possible, is there anybody sitting here right
now and you find this gospel hard to believe? If God hadn't
taught you in the heart, I know you do. Because you sit here
and even if God's taught you in the heart, there's a part
of you that says, this just seems unbelievable. It's just because
we can't do it. But you know, God is sovereign.
God is holy. God's omnipotent. He's all powerful. And we're just a little finite
creature with a little finite mind. And get this now, don't
forget this, get this. God never calls a sinner to faith
requiring us to be able to explain God and understand and explain
everything that He does. If you could, you'd be God. God
calls His child to faith to believe God and to believe God's able. to do everything He's promised
He'll do in His Word. That's what faith believes. There's
a lot I can't explain. Can I explain how the Son of
God was made flesh? Great is the mystery of God,
godliness. God was made flesh. Can I explain
that? No way. Can I tell you how He
could possibly be born of a virgin? I can show you what the Scriptures
say. Can I tell you how Christ was
made sin? I don't know. God made Him sin. And yet in His heart He'd be
holy and faithful and never turn from trusting God. And yet at
the same time, because He's made sin, God's just to charge Him
with being guilty in the room instead of His people. That's
between God and God. But faith says, I believe God.
I believe God. I believe Him. And yet, look
at this, in the face of our unbelief, God is so gracious to us. Look
at this answer, verse 35, And the angel answered and said unto
her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee. Here is how it can
happen. The Holy Ghost, God the Spirit,
shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest, God Almighty,
shall overshadow thee, and therefore also that holy thing which shall
be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold, thy
cousin Elizabeth, she has also conceived a son, John the Baptist,
in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her, who was
called barren. For with God nothing shall be
impossible." Well, if you and I are true believers, if we are
true believers, You sit here and you read this and you think,
I just, that's amazing that the Lord our righteousness could
be formed inside of her. But if you're a true believer,
that's exactly what's happened to you. That's exactly what's
happened to you. This is a beautiful picture of
what happens in regeneration. The only reason dead, barren
sinners have life and have faith is because the Spirit of God
overshadowed us within us and the power of God worked in us
to cause you and I to believe God, to have life and to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe the Word that is spoken,
to believe that all things are possible with God. And it is
because He sent His Son to fully establish the law for us. and
then to send this gospel to us. That's how come we are made alive
and believe. We have spiritual and eternal
life abiding in us because the Spirit of God did that. Just
as real as a body was formed within her womb and Christ, the
Son of God came down and took that body, just as real as that
physically and spiritually had happened within her, it spiritually
happened within His people by the Spirit of God. Just as true. Just as true. We wouldn't believe
if it was any other way, unless it had happened. And now, through
faith in Christ, we are taught that because Christ, by His obedience,
made us righteous, being the last Adam, now God has imputed
to us, through faith, that righteousness of Christ. And we are righteous.
We are not guilty. Our sins are purged. And God
accepts us. God did that. Wherefore, in all
things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren,
that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of his people."
He had to be made flesh because we were ruined and none of God's
people could save us. I mean, have you ever sat and
thought, why was the Son of God made flesh? Why did He come? Would He have come if there was
any way you and I could do anything to save ourselves? No. That shows by Him coming we could
not do one thing. We could not make ourselves not
guilty because we were already guilty. We couldn't make ourselves
just because we were already unjust. We couldn't please God
in the heart, worship Him because we were already fallen in the
heart. It was a requirement that Christ
come and work this work. But if he'd been born of Adam,
he'd been a sinner like you and me. Corrupt. So we couldn't be
born of Adam. We're all unqualified to do anything
to save ourselves. So he comes forth the Son of
God and he had to be born of a virgin. He had to be born of
a virgin. This was a necessity that he
had to be born of a virgin. If it wasn't a necessity for
him, he had to have a body to be made sin. Because that had
to be, that had to happen for God to be just. He came to declare
the righteousness of God. But if that wasn't necessary,
then it wouldn't have been necessary for him to be made of flesh either. That's the whole reason he did
it. Because we could not work out that righteousness and God
is going to manifest His righteousness to His people. That's the gospel.
God's going to show that He's righteous and just and at the
same time merciful. And loves His people to the end.
And so He made... Here's what I'm saying to you. There's two Adams. There's the
first Adam. And scripture says, Romans 5.12,
by His disobedience we were made sinners. And then there's Christ,
the last Adam. And by His obedience We are made
righteous. And all are going to be made
alive that He represented. That is it. We are going to be
found in Adam or we are going to be found in Christ. And if
we are found in Christ, resting in Him and trusting in Him, we
are going to be saying with all the Scriptures, God alone is
to be praised. He did it. He did it. Let me
get you to this last point. What will be the sure result
when Christ is formed in the heart? What is the sure result
when Christ is formed in the heart? We see it right here.
Only then will we bow to the Lord as servants serving our
Master. Look here, verse 38, And Mary
said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord. She bowed to the Lord. She said, I am a servant of the
Lord. I am a handmaid of my Lord. We are going to have to be made
servants to the Lord our Master. To follow Him, obey Him, to do
what He tells us to do. Believe on Him alone, look nowhere
else but to Him for all our acceptance with God and go through this
life loving and forgiving one another and bearing one another's
burdens. And anytime it comes between
strict being strict in doctrine and strict in the law and strict
in all those things. Like I told you Sunday, we saw
that Sunday. It comes between that and it
comes between showing mercy. Always show mercy. Our Lord said
that. That's how come He gave that
illustration about David taking that showbread that wasn't lawful
for him to do it. A legalist would have said, you
can't have it, David. But one who knew the spirit of
that law He did what that law was teaching. He showed mercy
to His hungry men by taking that bread and feeding them. Always
choose mercy. We got to be made His servants
to obey Him and do that. And then secondly, when Christ
is formed in us by the Holy Spirit, we are going to bow to the Word
of God. Not only bow to God, we are going to bow to His Word.
Verse 38, Be it unto me according to thy Word. And the angel departed. And there is one other thing
you do when you are born of God. Look down at verse 46. You are
going to give God all the glory. Verse 46, Mary said, My soul
doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my
Savior, for He hath regarded the lowest state of His handmaid.
For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Now get what she's saying. She's
not wanting for everybody to worship her like the so-called
Catholic Church does. She's declaring the glory of
her God. And she's saying the reason they're
going to call me blessed is the same reason all those God saves
are called blessed. It's because God did it in sovereign
grace, choosing whom He wills. God sent His Son to redeem us
and make us righteous. And He sent His Spirit to give
us life. It is all of God. She said, they are going to call
me blessed. I call you, this point of view, blessed, just
like her. Because the same things happen
to you by His grace. That is what she declared. Look
at verse 49. For He that is mighty hath done
to me great things. He that is mighty hath done to
me great things. And holy is whose name? Holy is His name. Holy is His
name. And His mercy is on them that
fear Him from generation to generation. His mercy is not on them because
they fear Him. His mercy is what makes them
fear Him. When you find somebody that believes
God, you know it is because God had mercy to them. His mercy
is on them. That's the only way they would
believe Him. See, she's given Him all the glory. And He doesn't
show this grace to all sinners. He shows it to His people, who
He brings down off a high horse and makes low. Look at this,
verse 51, He showed strength with His arm. He hath scattered
the proud in the imagination of their hearts. That man who
says, I don't believe God saves that way. I don't believe that's
who Christ died for. I don't believe. I don't believe.
Well, who are you? What's it matter what you believe?
This is what God says. See, that's offensive to a man.
Well, the proud will be scattered in the imagination of their heart.
Look at this. He put down the mighty from their
seats and exalted them of low degree. He made them of low degree. He made them have a broken and
contrite heart. He made us to know we're incapable,
helpless sinners. We don't know that until He teaches
us that. Look at verse 53. He hath filled the hungry with
good things, and the rich, rich in their own works, and rich
in their own knowledge, and rich in their own doing, He hath sent
empty away. He hath helped His servant Israel
in remembrance of His mercy, as He spake to our fathers, to
Abraham, and to his seed, the true chosen seed forever. Romans 9 says they are not all
the seed of Abraham just because they are born of the flesh from
Abraham. But those sons of promise, those
God chose, those are the seeds of Abraham, the children of Abraham. Galatians tells us you are the
children of Abraham if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That
is the evidence you are a child of Abraham. But you see there,
she gave God all the glory. And you know how all this is
manifest in his child? When he forms Christ in the heart,
like he formed Christ in her womb, you know how all this will
be manifest? That now she bows to God as her servant, as her
master, and she the servant, and that she bows to the Word
of God, and that she wants to give God all the glory now. You
know how this will be manifest? You'll start declaring Christ
and God's wonderful works and our Savior. You know what the
first thing Mary did after this happened? She took off as fast
as she could to Elizabeth, her cousin's house, to tell her cousin
what God had done for her. That's what a child of God would
do. You want to tell somebody. You want to see his people saved.
You want to see him get to glory. And you do it not changing the
Word of God and twisting the Word of God and denying the Word
of God. You do it giving God all the glory, bowing to the
Word of God and believing God. That is what God has worked in
the heart. Now, you and I right now, here
we sit. I am saying, you know, we are
supposing Sunday would be the real day Christ was born. Here
we are two and a half days from that day. Now, we're not in the
place Mary was when she was two and a half days from giving birth.
Not physically, but spiritually we are. We're in the exact same
place. Every person here that believes
God is in the exact same shoes Mary was in. You've got Christ
formed in you because God was gracious to you and He's made
you righteous and He's done for you what He did for her. So,
with that in mind, brethren, throughout this long weekend
that we've got now. We're going to be with our family
and friends throughout this long weekend. Number one, let our
minds be on Christ. Think about Him. I don't care if people get upset. Some people believe in sovereign
grace so much they get mad at you and reject you. say you like
Christmas. I like Christmas. I know it's
a pagan holiday and I don't put any religious significance on
it. We don't worship days. But I like it and it reminds
me of Christ. Anything that reminds me of Christ,
I like it. So let our minds be on Christ. Number two, if the
doors open by God, let us declare to them what great things God's
done for us. You know, when you preach the
gospel to somebody, don't just go and try to convince them that
election is true, or particular redemption is true, or God's
sovereignty thing. Tell them how God sovereignly
chose you. By telling them, I'm nothing.
I've got nothing to come to God with. I didn't even know God,
I didn't believe God. I didn't call on God, I wasn't
seeking God. And the only reason I was made
to seek Him is because He sought me first. He did it first. And when He brought me to behold
Him, I found out that Christ, when He died, He did not try
to put away sin. He did not do it just so that
now if I believe it will be made to have real power. He did it
in power and put away my sin. And the Scripture says He purged
my sin. He did that before he ever sat
down at the right hand of God. My sins were purged before I
was ever even born. And so because He is a just God,
He had to come to me and reveal it to me. And I am so thankful
He did. I would have never believed Him otherwise. But He did. He
came and told me. He came and made me hear the
Gospel. And now He is preserving me and keeping me. and I'm still
a sinner, I still turn, I still fall and stumble, but He won't
let me fall. He's got me planted on this rock.
And for whatever reason, all these years it's passed, all
I know is this, when I look at myself, I get so depressed, and
I look back on my life and I think, how could I have been a child
of God? But I know this, right now, this moment, I still believe
Him. And that's only because He preserved
me. and keeps me believing in him. And he's going to carry
me home. And he won't lose any of his people. Just tell him
what God's done for you. That's what he told that demoniac. He said, you go tell what great
things God's done for you. That's what he said. So what
if you convince somebody an election is true or that God is sovereign? I don't want to argue. We're
not the weapons of our warfare, our colonel. We want to, he said,
tell them what God's done for you. And then thirdly, As we
do this, thank Him, thank Him and glorify Christ because He
came here where we are, this lowest part of the earth, in
the womb of this virgin. He came forth. You think about
how helpless He was when He came forth. There is a man submitting
himself to be the servant of God. He is totally dependent
on God to keep him and to use Mary and Joseph to take care
of him. I know he's God. He can do anything he's pleased,
even as an infant. But what I'm saying is he put
himself in the lowest part of the earth that he might put his
people in the highest part of the earth, in the glory. So let
us thank him. Let us glorify him. And I pray
God will make this a good weekend with our time off and our rest
we have. All right. Let's pray to our God. Lord,
we thank You for Your mercy. We thank You for Your grace.
We thank You for sending Your only begotten Son. We stand amazed
that He was made flesh and dwelt among us. Everybody He touched
was a sinner. And He is the only holy righteous
one. We thank You, Lord, that You
sent Him to be the sin bearer to bear our sins away to a land
not inhabited, to take them away by death like that scapegoat
pictured. We thank you, Lord, that you
sent him to make us righteous so that no spot or blemish can
be found in your people anymore by your all-seeing eye. Lord,
make this, make some sinner here know this and rejoice in this
and delight to see that you've done these great things for them.
We pray that that would be the case, that some sinner here would
be one for whom that you everlastingly love, that you call by your grace.
And Lord, we pray this weekend that you'd keep us safe, keep
your people safe. Pray you'll give us a good weekend
with family and friends. As we receive gifts and give
gifts, let us ever remember the unsearchable gift, your son. keep our minds on Him. We thank
You, Lord, and ask You to forgive us our sins. In Christ's name,
Amen.