I'd like to bring before you
a message that I brought once before about two years ago. It's
that time of year again where the world is celebrating a baby
in a manger. Many today take this very important
event, and it is an important event, But the world around us doesn't
see it any more than money in the pocket. Oh, what a wonderful way for
us to get some time off of work and go spend some time with our
friends, go skiing, and find all kinds of things
to do. bring upon their minds and make it a time to satisfy
their desires rather than for what this event truly stands
for. Did you know that it doesn't seem to be anywhere
in scripture that we are instructed to remember the birth of Christ? Remember. Doesn't say anywhere in scripture
you remember this. Don't forget this. Keep this
birth, this date of, and we don't know if this is really the date
that Jesus was born. I'm glad, I'm glad that there
is a day set aside for the world to consider something. I really hope and pray that there
are more who do consider the truth of the birth of Jesus,
what it really means. But being one who was once blind
to the truth of who Jesus is, being one who my Lord was long
suffering for at one time, And I thank you, Mike, for bringing
that out. Not only is our Lord long-suffering,
he's an example to us to be long-suffering, to those who have not been called
out of darkness yet. So I'm not speaking in this manner
to put those down, because I was just like that. But by the grace of God. And
this is really what every message that we preach, is it not? By
the grace of God, in his long suffering, because he's loved
us for the foundation of the world, he has called his people
out of darkness to see the truth about Jesus. We do read of instructions to
remember this, the death. of Christ. In the letter to the Corinthians,
our Lord inspired Paul to declare these events at the Last Supper
that our great God had with His disciples, before it was taken
by wicked hands and crucified on that cruel cross. Are you
with me in 1 Corinthians chapter 11? Let's begin at verse 23. Very familiar with these words,
but very rarely do we read them together. So I want to read them
together this morning. I want you to take these words
into your mind. This is our Lord telling us to remember something.
Don't forget. Verse 23, we read, For I have
received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you, that
the Lord Jesus, that same night in which He was betrayed, took
bread. And when he had given thanks,
he break it, and said, take, eat. This is my body, which is
broken for you, this do in remembrance of me. Verse 25, it says, after
that same man also he took the cup, and when he had supped,
saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye, as often
as you drink it, in remembrance of me. Now listen to these next
words. Read along. For as often as you
eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death
till he come. That's pretty plain and simple,
isn't it? Notice the forthcoming of the plainness. Do this in
remembrance of me, for as often as you do this, you do show the
Lord's death. Our Lord came to do His Father's
will and nothing short of it. He had a purpose. There was a
reason why he was born. There was a reason why God humbled
himself and became flesh. Not just so that the world would
have a day of the year to celebrate. No, this is a day that was planned
from before the world was ever created. Our Lord Jesus was known
as the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Is that
not remembering His death? Remembering those words, thinking
about it in that manner. He's talking about Christ before
the world was ever created and His death, not His birth. Oh, there's prophecies of His
birth. I'm not trying to say there's not scripture that talks
about Him. It talks about Him very much
in Isaiah, which we'll look at in a moment. But our Lord came
to do His Father's will. He had a purpose in humbling
Himself and being made in the likeness of flesh. I want to tell you this morning
that there's only one way, one way that man can be reconciled
to God, and that is by the perfect holy blood that was shed upon
that cross just over 2,000 years ago. Our Lord Jesus, 100% God and
100% man, is the way and the truth, is what Scripture says.
It also says that no man cometh to the Father but by Him. You see, the story of this child
is starting to grow, isn't it? It's not just about a baby in
the manger. It's not just about the cuteness.
Did you know the Lord was comely? He wasn't somebody to be looked
at and admired for a reason. Ever since the fall of Adam,
men have been told to give a sacrifice, that a sacrifice must be made,
that blood must be shed, atonement must be made. There is no remission
of sin without blood. Even Adam and Eve had to see
that there was an animal sacrificed in the garden, that the Lord
would clothe them with that animal. Take off the leaves that you
made of your own clothing, your own covering. The only true covering
is the treading of Jesus Christ. The blood of the perfect Lamb.
You see, not just any blood will do, but it must be a perfect
Lamb. And our Lord Jesus is the only
blood that God will accept in satisfying His justice. Everything
else is no more than a picture of that holy, blameless, spotless
Lamb of God. The birth of Christ, the Christ
child is a significant event indeed, for He was the seed of
the Holy Ghost, not of the seed of man. Look over at Luke chapter
1. Luke chapter 1. Look with me, if you would, at
verse 26 through 35 of Luke chapter 1. And in the sixth month, the
angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee named
Nazareth to a virgin, exposed 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 art
highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed
art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was
troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation
this should be. And the angel said unto her,
Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold,
thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt
call his name Jesus, He shall be great, and shall be called
the Son of the Highest. And 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, and there shall
be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel,
How shall this be, seeing I know not man? And here's what I want
you to see in these words. And the angel answered and said
unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and 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. Now, the holy perfect nature
of God ran through the veins of this baby. for He is God. Yet He came to us as a servant." Does that not boggle your mind? I just, I can't, I can't even
wrap my mind around the depth of what that means. God Almighty left His glory in heaven to become
a servant on this sin-cursed earth walking among the very sinful
people that God the Father can't even be in the presence of. The
only way this could happen was for God to become the flesh. Wow! Think about that. Think about how deep that goes.
God loved you so much that He gave His only begotten Son that
whosoever believed it would have everlasting life. Boy, the world sure lets us take
that verse and run away with it, don't they? To whosoever. Grace, grace, grace. The holy perfect nature of God
ran through the veins of this man, yet he came to serve a people. To commit himself for the people
of God, chosen from the foundation of the world. He came to be our
kinsman redeemer. to make peace between all for
whom the Father hath given him. This child was the only one who
could do this, for he came from the Holy Spirit. Therefore also,
that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called
the Son of God. No man of Adam's loins could
ever satisfy the justice of God. From the blood of Adam flows
the nature of sin. From the blood of Adam flows
spiritual death, and you cannot mix the two natures. In the 22nd
chapter of Genesis, we read about Abraham and his son Isaac. Some
of you know that story. Abraham went up to the mountain.
The Lord told him, he said, take your son, some fire and a knife,
and go up there onto the mountain. I want you to sacrifice your
son. He didn't hesitate at all, did he? Did you know? That the faith
you and I have right now, you may sit there this morning and
say, I couldn't do that. There's just no way. But the
very faith that you and I have this morning to believe who God
is, what he's done, where he is now is the exact same faith
Abraham had. We believe God. We believe who
he is. He works everything out according
to his own purpose. That's the peace that God's people
have. That's the only peace we have
in this crazy world we live in. They got up there on that mountain. Isaac got the altar all put together,
put the wood on there, got ready to start the fire, and he turns
to his dad and he goes, wait a minute, where's the sacrifice? Abraham says, After he began
to put his son on the altar, he says, God will provide himself
a sacrifice. And then he did. He's called
the Lord Jesus Christ. God will provide Himself a sacrifice. The Father promised a people
to God the Son. God the Son promised that He
would redeem those people. And God the Spirit promised that
He would go about revealing the Son to those who were promised
to through the preaching of His word. A covenant, a pact was
made between the great three and one. Three distinct persons,
yet one God, a mystery, yes, but it is so nonetheless. There
have always been three in heaven. God has always been three, yet
one. Listen to the words of Genesis
1, 26. And God said, let us. Isn't that
what he says in Genesis? Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness. Now notice the word there, our.
Is that not plural? We also see in the book of John,
he says, I and my father are one. In the first chapter of
John we also see in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God, and the Word was made flesh. One who sees this Christ Child
for who He truly is has seen the face of God. For in this
person, this God-man dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead.
You must worship the Son in spirit and in truth. If not, then you
do not worship the Father. Now look over at John chapter
5 with me. Turn over to John chapter 5 to
the right, just a few pages. John chapter 5, and look with
me at verse 19 if you would. And then answered Jesus, and
said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do
nothing of himself, but what he seeth of the Father do. For
what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son,
and showeth him all things that himself doeth, and he will show
him greater works than these that ye may marvel. For as the
Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the
Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judges no man,
but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth
not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth
on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from life unto death. Now look over,
turn over to Isaiah chapter 9. This Jesus, this Jesus who was
born in a manger, This one who is born of a virgin,
this one who had the blood of God running through his veins,
for he was God himself, is spoken of in the Old Testament in the
same manner. As I mentioned, we'll see here
in Isaiah chapter 9. Look at verses 6 through 7 with
me. Isaiah chapter 9, verses 6 through 7. For unto us a child
is born, unto us a son is given, Now that's about all it's going
to say about a little baby. Look what it says next. And the
government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall
be called Wonderful Counselor. See how it's talking about what
our Lord Jesus is going to become? Now he's already these things
laying in that manger, but as he grows, he will exercise that.
He'll become. All of the government shall be
upon his shoulder. His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. of the increase of his government
and the peace, there shall be no end upon the throne of David
and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment
and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the
Lord of hosts will perform this." Now, go back to John, if you would,
please. The Lord Jesus is ruling over
all things as He has from all eternity. The difference now
is that He is doing it in the flesh sitting on His throne. This is the way to remember Him.
There is a God-man right now sitting on the throne of glory
working all things out according to His own counsel. You see,
God provided himself a sacrifice for sin for his people, but all
the world sees is the precious child, the innocent little one
laying in the manger and loving and pretty and appealing to the
heart. They are blinded to the truth, just as you and I were
once blind, walking in our sins, dead in trespasses and sin. They
are blinded to this truth. Now, does that mean that we're
to hate them for it? No. We were just like them. We're
to see the grace of God that we are no longer walking like
that. That's why we want to go out and preach this Word to the
whole world. We want more to know. But how
are they going to know unless one preaches the truth of who
God is? There's a whole bunch of Jesuses
being preached out there, folks. And you all know this. You've
seen it. Go down the street here. There's
at least five between here and the stoplight. No, one, two,
three. Three. Out in Tennessee, you can't go
that far without seeing five or six. Why is it? Think back. Go back to the time
before the Lord had called you out of darkness and shined his
light and showed you who that baby truly is. Go back and think
about that for just a moment. What was Christmas to you? Why
was it such a thing to cherish this child in the manger? I wrote a note that completely
got me lost. So I'm just going to skip over
that note for just a moment. Folks, I'm a man. That's all you got before you.
Just a man. I guess it was written for the
time when I very first gave it two years ago. That must be it.
I thought I'd caught all those, but not so. So we go back to
a time before the Lord saved us, and we think about what was
it that brought so much joy to our hearts in this time? Now,
I'm going to speak to you on one who is not religious. As
you all know, I didn't start going to church. Well, actually,
I was raised in a church, but I never paid any attention to
anything. As soon as I got out of the house, that was the last
of church for me. Except for once a year, for my
mom's sake, I would go. So speaking for my sake, what
was it that caught my eye so much? We got gifts. We got gifts. Or we made really
good money if we worked on that day. All the things of the world,
the glitter of the lights. I used to have a house that was
all lit up. And it's not because the Lord
called me out of darkness that I don't do it anymore. It's because
I just got tired of doing it and taking it back down again
after all the years that I did it. And I don't have children
anymore, so it's not so much fun for them either. But all
the things of the world. would twinkle in my eyes and
catch my eyes and take my eyes off of what the true meaning
was is that the baby was in the manger and who that baby was.
Why do the people relish in a child in a manger? It's because the
world does not want a God who rules. They don't want a God who rules
over them. The people of Israel, the most
religious people on Earth at that time, When they heard Jesus
Christ declare that he was God, they hated him for it. They hated him. I'll not have
a man rule over me, especially one who looks like you, one who's
going around washing the feet of everybody and doesn't have
a nice robe on like me. They didn't want a man to rule
over them. They wanted a God that they could
manipulate. One to be that they thought God should be. Mankind
refuses by nature the true and living God. We will not have
this man rule over us is what they cried. It's what I cried. Are you with me in John chapter
1 verse 10? He was in the world, and the
world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. That's the title for this morning's
message, folks. All mankind are born dead spiritually. Not only did the religious people
of that time, His own people, Israel, not know Him, no mankind
know Him. We come into this world dead
in trespasses and sin. were spiritually dead. When Adam
sinned, the whole world died in him, spiritually. And then
men began to consider themselves as gods. Devil had that one right,
didn't he? It's called my will. It's called
my decision. My, my, my, my, I, I, I, I. What can I do to be saved is
what man cries. In Matthew 19.24 we read this,
and again I say unto you, it is easier for the camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into
the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it,
they exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus
beheld them, and he said unto them, With men this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible. Folks, it is God that showeth
mercy and He is merciful to whom He will be merciful to. He is
the potter, we are the clay. He does what seems good to Him.
Some are created to be vessels of mercy and others fitted for
destruction. Pharaoh of Egypt was raised up
and then destroyed that the power of God would be manifested throughout
time. This is why those who have been
given life, those who were chosen before the foundation of the
world for God to show his mercy to, see this child who he is. We are thankful for his birth,
but his death is our salvation. We remember God's death because
that's what saved us. It is by His sacrifice, His perfect
blood being shed on that cross for our sins that we remember. I'm thankful for the baby, but
I'm more thankful for the death. All throughout the New Testament,
Christ went about healing the blind, the lame, raising the
dead. These are all pictures of what
He came to accomplish. He came to heal me, a sinner
condemned unclean. He came to heal you, to give
eyes to you so that you could see His truths, to give ears
to your heart, so you could see the truth and hear the truth
of who He is. He came to accomplish what He
came to do, providing Himself a sacrifice for the sins of His
people. We who were dead in our sins, by the mercy of God, have
been given life, born again, not of the flesh, but of the
Spirit with God, with God had given faith to, to see our Lord
God in the face of His Son, Jesus Christ. He, the Spirit, came to us when
we were but dead, spiritually dead. And through the preaching
of His Word, He gave us life that we would come to Him. We hear the Word of God for what
it is, and it is a hymn book. They say, some say that you don't
see the Lord Jesus in the Old Testament, folks. The entire
book, everything from Genesis to the last part of Revelation,
is about our Savior. We hear the Word of God for what
it is. It's a hymn book and we see Him for who He is. He's Sovereign
Ruler over everything. He's Creator of all things. He's
the King of Kings. One who is rightfully called
God. We see Him for what He's done.
He has saved His people, plain and simple. There is no ifs,
there's no maybes, there's no if you'll come down to the front
of the aisle. There's no if you'll get into
the baptism. It is done. He says it is finished. Salvation is of the Lord. There's nothing for us to do,
nothing that we can do. We have no righteousness of our
own. How can one who has no righteousness of his own offer anything to
God who is a righteous God? We see Him for what He's doing
right now, and what He shall do. He's sitting on the throne
of glory, and He will not share that throne with anyone. What
do you mean, John? What do you mean by that? Well,
I mean by this, that if salvation is by the Lord, anything you
say you've done, you've taken away God's glory. Had a young man come to the house
the other day, and he says, well, I've dedicated my life to God,
but I think I've missed a step. What do you mean by that? Well, I didn't get baptized,
so I don't know if it's worked. I had to tell him. I said, brother,
that's not what's going to save you. Did you know that Christ was
baptized and that he had to be baptized? Why? For the man who
died on the cross who was never baptized hung right next to him. That thief on the cross was never
baptized. But Jesus Christ was baptized
for him just as he is baptized. I'm not telling you not to get
baptized. That's not what I'm saying at all. Our Lord tells
us to get baptized, and I'm thankful that we do. But that's not going to save
you. Christ saved us, right? He's sitting on a throne of glory,
and he will not share with another. The world speaks of a child in
a manger. Have you seen this child for
who he is? Have you seen this child for what he will do? Have
you seen this child for what he would accomplish? Have you
seen this man for what he is doing right now? Look at verses
25 through 32 of Luke, chapter 2. Go backwards to the left,
Luke, chapter 22. Just a couple of pages. Luke chapter 2, and look with me at verse 25
through 32. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose
name was Simeon, And the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost
was upon him. And it was revealed unto him
by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple. And when the parents brought
in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law,
then took he him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord,
now let us now thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
which thou hast prepared before the face of all the people. and
a light to lighten the Gentiles in the glory of thy people Israel."
What was it he saw? Did he see just this little baby?
He saw what you and I see. He saw our salvation. Christ and Him crucified. Grace,
grace, grace. Do you see your salvation in
this baby Jesus? Do you see your salvation in
the One who's sitting on His throne right now? Then praise
our Lord, for He came into this world, and the world knew Him
not. There was a time when you and
I knew Him not. Was there? Wasn't there? Let
me get these two pages apart here. But through His mercy,
through His grace, As he states in Romans 9.16, so then it is
not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy. We see him for who he truly is. Folks, this child the world is
celebrating is no longer a child, but a risen Savior. What does
that mean to you? Well, if you're a sinner, that
means that all of your sins have been laid upon Him. If He has
made you to see what you are. You know, Brother Mike made a
really, he's opening to his Bible study. Mike, we're going to start
recording your Bible studies. Just going to have to. So people
will understand when I talk about this. It was so wonderful. He
brought out, you know, if the Lord saved the whole world and
sent you to hell for your sins, how would you feel about that?
He said, well, I'd say the Lord is just in what he did. But then
he brought out this. He goes, but before the Lord
saved me, I wouldn't have said that. To know that we are sinners.
To know that we deserve nothing but God's wrath is by the grace
of God. The world doesn't know that.
That's why they look on that baby and they just see something
cute, something worth celebrating, something worth coming to the
family and talking about love. The Gospel is not just about
love, because the love of God is definitely in that, but you
have to talk about what the love of God is, and it's giving His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come and die for our sins, of
which we deserve the death that we deserve. Do you see Him for
who He truly is? He's no longer a child, but He's
sitting on His throne in glory. He is the one who is interceding
for you and I as we walk through this valley of the shadow of
death. I've already paid that sin. This
one is mine. You can't condemn them with anything,
for I have taken their condemnation on Me. That's what He's doing
right now. This is what children of God, the true living God,
celebrate. We celebrate that we have a Savior who saved us,
who is saving us, and who will save us. No ifs, ands, or buts. God's people will come to heaven.
All that the Father has given me shall come to me. He is the
one who intercedes for his elect. Our great God prayed for all
of those who will be brought to know him. You know, let's look at that,
shall we? Turn back again to the book of
John. I want you to see this with your
own eyes. We've got a few minutes left
here. Turn to the 17th chapter of John. Look with your own eyes
here. This is the Lord, God Almighty,
sitting. Well, He's not on His throne
yet where we're reading at here, but He's just as well there. Read along with me on John chapter
17. As I stated, our Lord prays for
all of those who will be brought to know Him. Listen to these
words. These words spake Jesus, verse 1 of chapter 17, and lifted
up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour is come. Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son
may also glorify Thee, as Thou hast given Him power over all
flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given him, and this is life eternal, that they might know thee the
only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. I have glorified
thee on earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me
to do, and now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self,
with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they
were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word.
Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given
me are of thee, for I have given unto them the words which thou
gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that
I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst
send me. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me." Now I want you to go over
to verse 20. Take your time. Mark this chapter. Go home and read the rest of
it all together in your privacy of your own home. But I want
you to jump over to verse 20 for just a moment. Neither pray
I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me
through their word. That's what we go about declaring,
folks. Everything that I have just read to you points to our
God as sovereign over everything. Every little detail. The world would love to admit
that that's true, but up until it comes to them. Oh yeah, he's
given me a free will to make a decision. I can choose over
God. That's not what he just said. This is the words of John chapter
4 verse 23, But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father
seeketh such to worship Him. God is a spirit, and they that
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. I ask
you this morning, do you see Him in His truth, or do you just
see Him in a manger? I'm so thankful that the day
came when the Lord, in His love, called me out of that darkness
that I walked around in for some time, worshiping John Reeves. Are you not thankful? But for
the grace of God, there go we. Amen. Would you stand with me?