You can turn to Matthew's Gospel,
chapter 1. Matthew, I hope and pray, I sincerely
do, I hope you pray with me that we will wonder and worship as
these wise men, as these shepherds. Fear and yet rejoice. Marvel and be amazed. Christ
the Lord, born here, lived here, came this earth. What is man?
what is man, that they are mindful of him, come and visit him. In
this story, let me give you the facts, the doctrine of the gospel,
perhaps, maybe, hopefully the Lord will bless it, and then
we'll look at the story as it unfolds. A child was born, a
baby, a baby, a flesh and blood baby was born on this earth.
Who was this child? Well, Isaiah prophesied that,
I'll show you a sign, the Lord said, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a child, and his name is Immanuel, God with us. This is no ordinary babe. And in Isaiah's Gospel, Chapter
9, he said, a child is born. infant, a baby, was born. But
the Son is given, the eternal Son of God, who was with the
Father before the world began, was given. God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son. And you call this one, this
Son, wonderful Counselor, the mighty God, Emmanuel, the everlasting
Father. prince of peace and his reign,
his rule, his government, no end. He reigns right now. Born
a king and he's died a king and he ever lives. Reigning and ruling. So this is the son of the Most
High God. Now he was called long before
he was born as a babe, he was called Lord, wasn't he? What'd
they call him? He had no beginning. The Lord
had no beginning. The Christ had no beginning.
He was with the Father, in Proverbs 8, from the beginning, before
there was ever anything. I was with Him, daily His delight. But His rejoicing was with the
sons of men, with the habitable parts of the earth. He was called
Lord then, and He's still Lord, and that's how we are to refer
to Him. He was the Son of God, and that's what we call Him,
the Son of God. not the Son of Mary. He's called the Lord Jesus. Bless His name. Call His name
Jesus. He shall save, like Joshua, His
people from their sins. God our Savior. But He was called
Lord before He was Jesus. And He's still to be called the
Lord Jesus of the Christ. Okay? He's no mere baby. But we rejoice that He did was
made flesh. This is the express image of
God. Why did God become flesh? Why did he take the body of a
human being? Why? Why didn't God speak from
heaven? Why didn't he just speak, reveal
himself to everyone from heaven and just save everybody and bring
everybody up to heaven? Why? Can you answer that? Sure you can. God, number one,
God is Spirit. No man hath seen, nor can see. God is Spirit. God the Father.
Okay? So God became a man. Flesh. To speak to Him. We can see Him. Job said, I'm
going to see God with my eyes. Well, Thomas said, I've seen
Him. His name is Jesus. Christ. Okay. God, whose spirit became
flesh so we could touch him, handle him, see him, hear him. God never spoke except to the
prophets that have in these last days spoken to us by his son. He's called the word. Why did he come? Why did he become
a man? Sin. Sin. Romans 5 says, by one man sin
entered into this world, and death by sin. So what can we
do? Nothing. And every one of us
are born in sin. Our children are born in sin.
Dead in trespassing sin. What can we do? Nothing. What
can be done? One thing. God became a man. Born. He took the likeness of
sinful faith, the likeness that He had no sin. In Him is no sin. Are you with me? This is why
you need to be able to tell people this. You know, most people don't
believe He was born of a virgin, so most people don't see why
He should be. Do you know that? If He's not
God, then He didn't save anybody. He can't help us, can He? If He's just a man like us, He
needs saving. He's not just a man. God was
manifest in the flesh. The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us. So sin, mankind died. He born dead. So God sent another man. We just
sang it. Second Adam, from above, reinstate
us in thy love. Born that man no more may die. Born to give these sons of earth
second birth. He came. He was born. He was born a man. He died that
we should never die. Do you understand that? He died
to sin. He lived He lives, holy, righteous. He condemned sin in the flesh. God demands perfection in us,
in our flesh. In our flesh, there is no good
thing. Right? That which is flesh is
sin. So God became flesh. No sin. And God observed him
for 33 years and said, I am well pleased with this man for his
righteousness sake. Why did he do that, John? You
know why he did it, didn't you? He didn't do it to show us how
to establish a righteousness. He did it to impute that righteousness
to us. You understand that? Sure you
do. You know how blessed you are if you do? Is this important? There's no
gospel without this. There's no point in Christ coming.
If righteousness comes by the law or us being good people,
Christ came and died in vain. Why did he come? He came for
this cause, he said, I came into this world to die. He had to
be born. He had to live, be righteous,
give us that righteousness. But he came to die. What's that? The penalty of sin. He became
flesh. He lived flesh and blood like
us. So God made him. He condemned sin in
the flesh, lived a perfect life, but God laid on him, in him,
the iniquity of all of God's people. He's the spotless Lamb
without blemish, without sin, and shall be perfect and excellent. I'm tired of telling you this.
This is why He came. Sounds like doctrine to most
people. This is His glory. This is our salvation. There's
no gospel without Him. We just can't make over a baby
and get all sentimental and all that. No, no, no. We have to
know why He came. We have to believe. Surely shall
one say in the Lord have I what? Say it louder. This is the Lord
our righteousness. His name shall be called Jehovah
Sidkeno. You know what our name is called?
Jehovah Sidkeno. He was made unto us. Righteousness. First He was made sin. Sin. tell what that really means.
He condemned sin into flesh. He had to be made flesh because
we're flesh. He had to be righteous because
we're unrighteous. He had to die because the penalty
of sin is death. And God laid on Him a nickel
for us all. And God took His righteousness
and laid it on us. And that's why we never die.
That's how we get to glory. Accepted in the middle. Now that's
the facts. That's the doctrine. That's the
gospel. Blessed truth. Blessed facts.
Why he came. Call his name Jesus, they said.
Why? He shall save his people. For the transgression of my people
was he stricken. He shall save His people from
what? Why did He come? Sin. Why was
He made flesh? Sin. What did He do on the cross? Sin was paid for. What happened
to it? He took it away. Hallelujah. Alright. Now look at the story
with me. Matthew 1. Look at this story. It begins,
verse 1, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ. You know what
that word generation is? Genesis Genesis Genesis Genesis
Genesis Genesis Genesis Genesis Genesis Genesis Genesis Genesis
Genesis Genesis Genesis Genesis Genesis Genesis Genesis Genesis
Genesis Genesis Genesis Genesis Genesis Christ, without him, was not
anything made which was made. This is not just a baby. This
is God, our creator. Life began with him, and it continues
with him. In him we live and move and have
our being. And it gives this genealogy,
the lineage of Christ, all through chapter 1. Who does it give?
Well, Tamar. Who's that? Harlot. Rahab. Who's that? Harlot. Bathsheba. Who's that? An adulteress. Judah. On and on it goes. Well, who
are these people? Sinners. Every one of them. This
is why He came. To give life to these dead sinners. Did He do it? Call His name Jesus. He did. He came. Alright, look
at verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ
was on this wine. And as his mother. Now scriptures
are written like they're written. As his mother. And I'm sure the
new versions have changed this to say his mother, this woman
who seems to be his mother. Now are you with me? She did not
Give him life. She's as his mother. She's a
borrowed womb. He existed before he came. How was she born? Him. He gave
her life. You see this picture of Mary
cradling the dead Christ in her arms? That didn't happen. I'll
tell you what did happen. He came when she died and cradled
her. This is the one who gave her
life. What do you call your mother?
What do you call your mother? Mother. What do you call your
mother? Mother. What do you call your mother?
Mother. Is there anybody in here that didn't call her mother,
mother? He didn't. Ever. Woman. What have I to do? with thee."
Do you understand that? He didn't
come from her. She came from Him. What are you
saying, preacher? I'm saying this holy thing is God. She's not the mother of God. She's the child of the Son. Explain
it. I can't. He does not owe his
life to Mary. She owes her life to him. Do
you understand that? That you and I don't even depend
on our mothers. You and I really didn't get life
from our mother or my father. God gives life. Our mothers didn't
sustain our lives. God did. Their children cast
out from birth with no mother to nurse them. Who nursed them? God did. He gets all the glory. We don't worship the creature. We worship the creator. I had
a preacher get mad at me over this. I did. He had a grace preacher. Remember him? He took issue with
that. He said he depended on Mary. No, he didn't. He said
that, woman, what have I to do with that? I don't dwell too long on that, but this
is His glory He said. And this is your peace and your
comfort if your mother forsake you. Who gave you life? Who gave you life? Who sustains
your life? Who takes your life? Who gives
you eternal life? Mary doesn't give anybody eternal
life. And Mary didn't give Jesus Christ his life. He gave her
his life. She was alive because Christ
was in her. His life! His life. Did I overstate that? I understated
it. This world needs to hear this.
That woman is just a borrowed vessel. born of a woman, not
by the woman. She did not give him his life.
This holy things of God. God had to have a receptacle
for his seed, his incorruptible seed, for the Holy Spirit to
plant this child that existed before, this son that existed
before the world began. He didn't have his beginning
right there. But this flesh and blood human
being, and I'm speaking things way over my head, But I'm telling
you the truth. This is his glory. Mary, now look at this. And she
was a virgin. We saw why. The virgin. And he told her, the angel, Gabriel,
told her what to call him, Jesus. Because Joshua, that's his name,
Joshua, God our Savior. He shall save His elect, His
chosen people, from their sin. He shall, not try, not attempt
to, He shall save. Did He? Yes, He did. That's why He came. Sent by God.
He shall not fail. Isaiah said, He shall not fail.
He won't even be discouraged. And so He did. And on the cross,
He cried that great cry. It's finished. I saved my people
from their sin. This one man. This one man. Born a woman in the fullness
of time, God sent forth His Son, made a woman, made under the
law to do what? Louder. Redeem. He's a redeemer. Mary is not. I said I wasn't
going to preach against Christmas. You know how many people call
her the co-redemptress with Christ? Mother of God. You know how many
people do that? That's anti-Christ. That's all I'm going to say. Alright, He came to her. He said,
you call His name Jesus, His earthly name, because He's the
Savior, but His name is Emmanuel, God with Him. And He's to be
called, the angels, did you notice, He's to be called, this one is
to be called, not the Son of Mary, the Son of the Highest,
the Son of God. That's what you call Him. Nowhere
in this Bible is He called the Son of Mary. Nowhere. Look at
that. He's called the Son of God, the
Son of the High. All right? OK. Chapter 1, look at chapter 2. Go over to chapter 2. All right? Verse 1. Now when he was born
in Bethlehem, Judea, the days of Herod the king, there came
wise men from the east to Jerusalem. Where is he, this born King of
the Jews? We've seen his star in the east.
There came wise men. Now why were they wise? Where
were they from? From the East. Where were they from? India?
China? Those civilizations existed many,
many years ago. Are there any wise men over there?
Huh? Is there any wisdom in this world? Natural born wisdom? Is anybody
in this world wise that doesn't know God? No. Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? Why were these men wise? Why
did God call them wise? They're seeking Him who is wisdom. Why? Why will anybody seek the Lord?
Because he sought them first. He said, I'm sought of them that
didn't look for me. I'm found of them that sought
me not. Why are they wise? Because He's made unto us wisdom. Let me make this statement right. They didn't seek Him because
they were wise. They were wise because they sought
Him. They weren't wise before this. I've read enough Confucius
and Mohammed and Hinduism Buddha and all that. It's foolishness. It's idolatry. Wise men. So that's why they're
wise. And they came. Where'd they come
looking for them? Verse 1, Bethlehem of Judea. They came to Jerusalem first.
Jerusalem, where's that? It's the city of David, the city
of peace. Going to be, that's where he's
going to come, that's where he's going to die. He's going to be born somewhere
according to the scriptures. Where's that? Bethlehem. Why
Bethlehem? Because Micah 5.2 says it. Sentimental song, Old Little
Town of Bethlehem is actually a very good song. Taken from
Micah 5, 2, thou Bethlehem, though thou be little among the cities,
out of thee shall he come, whose goings forth shall be of old. Came to Bethlehem, because that's
where Christ was to be born, according to scripture. That's
where David was born. It shall be said, do you remember
the Psalm said, it shall be said of her, this man was born there,
that man was born there, oh it shall be said, Jesus Christ was
born there. Bethlehem. What's Bethlehem named? House of Bread. I'm the bread that came down
from heaven. That's where the bread has to
be. The house of bread. So he came. to Jerusalem first,
salvation of the Jews. And Jerusalem where the temple
was, wasn't it? The Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come
to this temple. Salvation of the Jews, you know why? Temple,
high priest, the sacrifice. Same today. You've got to have
these three to worship God. Where are these three found?
In one, Jesus Christ. So verse 9, now look at this.
They heard The king, and I could say so much about Herod killing
all those children. Every child, not just male, male
and female, died because Christ was born. You know that? What a picture that is. All His
people die in Him. When He's born, many died. When He died, Many were born. Right? When he was born, many
were put in their graves. When he died, they came out of
the graves. I could keep going with this.
He was taxed. Why? Unfair. It's not right. Hold on now. These poor people came. Who did
they bring? The payments that God required for their debts
to sin. They had him right there. Jesus
Christ. Are you with me? This is God. This is too glorious
to be preached. Everything bears witness of Him. God said, do this, do that, do
this, do this, Herod, do this, Pilate, do this, do this, do
this, do this. It must be according to the scriptures,
everything. This is the Christ. Verse 9, they heard the king,
Herod, they departed lo, a star. A star appeared in the sky. They
saw in the east, came where they were and led them. It led them
a long way. Where is it leading them? Where
is this light, this bright shining light? This all took place in
the night time. Where is this star leading these
wise men? To Christ. What could this star
be? Holy Spirit of God, if you come
to Christ, if you find where He is, if you're seeking Him,
the Holy Spirit brought you to Him, has led you. He'll take the things of mine,
Christ said, and show them unto you. He'll bring you where I
am, the house of bread. And what you'll do is you'll
see Him. What you'll do is you'll fall
down and worship Him. That's what the Holy Spirit does.
He led them to Christ. And as I said, this was all night.
Why didn't everyone else see this star? Why didn't everybody
in Bethlehem see this star? Why didn't everybody along the
way see this star? Why didn't everybody see this
star and say, what's that star? Where's it going? Why didn't
they get in line with these wise men? Why didn't they go where
they went? and come and find the Christ
and rejoice and worship Him. Why? Hidden. Blind. Asleep. He woke these men up. Wake up. Let us not sleep as
do others. Arise, shine, for the light has
shone upon thee. Why are you here? Are you really
here to worship Jesus Christ? Are you really? Are you here
not because it's Christmas Day, but you're here to worship the
Christ? Are you really? Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you, but the Father in heaven, the Spirit of the Most
High God. You're here led by the Spirit of God. And they were rejoicing. Verse
10, they saw the star. What I just told you ought to
make somebody say, shalom, Luke. They did. This star, man, has
appeared to you. And the whole heaven erupted
and said to these shepherds, this is for you. Us? Yes, you. We've all come to tell
you, Irene Davis, from Gundy, Virginia. Who? Kelly Finney from North Carolina. Me? You've come to tell me? Everybody hasn't heard it. Most
people don't care. Somebody say amen. Glory to God in the highest.
Oh, and I could keep going with it. They said peace on earth.
Did peace happen when he slew all those babies? He said, I'm
not come to bring peace, but a sword. Zechariah said, a sword shall
pierce... No, Simeon, when he saw his Lord,
said to Mary, a sword's going to pierce your soul. This child
is set for the fall and the rising of many. Sword? No, a fire, a
hammer. But he did bring peace, peace
on earth, goodwill to not all men, but some. The goodwill,
the good news, the peace of God that's Where is it found? It's
in Christ. How is it found? By a baby being
born? A man dying on the cross. Peace by his blood. You know that. You know that,
don't you? You're not all taken up with
this sentimental story. It's glorious, it's wonderful,
it's marvelous, but it means nothing if he didn't hang on
that cross. You cannot preach this without
telling Him why He came, and what He did, and where He is
now, because of what He did. God gave Him a name above every
name because of what He did. Because He condescended to be
born, and He lived a holy life, and He hung on that cross, and
He made a curse for His people, gave them His righteousness,
went back to glory, and now He's just waiting on all of them to
be brought back to Him. That's why He came. Now they came, verse 11. In verse
11, they came, Matthew 2, they saw the young child with Mary,
his mother, and they fell down and worshipped who? Him. As Romans 1 says, so many worshipped
the creature, not the Creator. And look at this, verse 11, they
opened their treasures. They presented unto Him gifts,
gold, and frankincense. They opened their treasures.
You know where your heart is? That's where your treasure is.
Where your treasure is, that's where your heart is. Where your
heart is, that's where your treasure is. What do you treasure above
everything else? God knows. They opened their treasure. You
know what they did? They gave it to him. They came
for him. They gave everything to him.
Where'd they get all this? From him. They got it from him. They're bringing back to him
what he gave them. What? Gold. They bought gold. Their hearts
were open. You know, those who have their heart open to receive
Christ in them. And, you know, Mary is one of
the greatest types of a sinner saved in all of Scripture. She
was a sinner. That was her prayer. God, my Savior, my soul rejoiceth
in God, my Savior. Mary, they call her sinless. She wasn't sinless. She said
she's my Savior from sin. And she's a type of salvation,
how that every sinner God chooses. He chose Mary. And it came to
her, and the Holy Spirit overshadowed her. It came upon her and said,
that holy thing in you is of God, born of God, this new creature
in you. You had nothing to do with it,
Mary. God did this. And she rejoiced. That's us,
every one of us. Mary, he chose his mother. He chose his father, Joseph.
He chose his father to be named Joseph. Joseph is the greatest type of
Christ in all of scripture. You know what? You want to hear
the story of Joseph again? Anybody? I'm telling it to you
right now. This is our Joseph. Jesus Christ. Hated. No room for him. No, the
world doesn't have any room for him. And you didn't either. Hmm. Good God. So they opened up their
treasures and they gave him gold. Gold. You know everything in
the tabernacle concerning Christ was made of gold. Everything. Wood overlaid with gold. Man but God. The ark and the
mercy seat covered with gold. A crown of gold. Ark and mercy
seat. The table of showbread was covered
with gold. The candlestick that brought
light was gold. Bring him gold. Why? Because
that's who he is. The breastplate that the high
priest wore was gold. Deity. God. The heart of gold. Don't ever say that about anybody
but Jesus Christ. Frankincense. Myrrh. I googled this. Alexa. And God makes man say
the truth sometimes. And this is how it wrote, how
it read. Since ancient times, these incense
have been used and have been helped to heal both body, mind,
and soul. True words. That's Christ. His cheeks, song of Solomon,
are a bed of spices. Spices, frankincense, myrrh.
You know where these two incenses come from? An evergreen tree
wounded and the blood comes out of it. The sap of an evergreen
tree is for the healing. The balm of Gilead. That's what
it is. That's great. Bring him these
things. Why? Because that's who he is.
He's the balm. Myrrh that came at his death.
And myrrh is the principal first spice mentioned in the holy anointing
oil that was to be put on the high priest's head that flowed
down his face, his beard, and the skirts of his garment. Myrrh. When the song of Solomon writes
of him coming to that door to come in to arrest that sleeping
wife of his, it says he left on that knob sweet smelling myrrh. He came for me. I was asleep. So what'd she do? She went looking. What happened? She found him. Never lost him again. Man, somebody
save me. Somebody save me. Brother, this is too good for
us to listen to. It's too good for me to put it.
Murr. They came to anoint him with
myrrh at his death. Remember they brought these principal
spices? They never did. They never did
anoint him. They came to anoint a dead body.
He wasn't there. John, he didn't need that. He himself is this myrrh. Very quickly, Luke 2, and I close. How is Christ known? Well, they
came to his place of birth, this barn. He was born in the barn,
lowest of the low. No room for him. Neither was
there any room for Mary or Joseph. Why? Because we're in him, he,
and us. We're in the world. We're not of it. And the world
wants us out. No room for us here. Boy, he's prepared a place
for us then. God prepared him a place, and
that's where he is. And Sister Sarah, that's where
we're going to. Egypt wants us gone. And our
Lord, may I say it, wants us home. And that's where we're
going. Well, they came, Luke chapter
2. How is Christ known? He's wise men as shepherds. I
love this, shepherds. Pastors. Shepherd means pastor. You can't be a pastor and not
know Him. You can't be a pastor and not preach Him. What did
they go telling everybody? Him! What did they say? Him! What did they say? Him! Come see Him! That's what pastors
sent by God do. That's all they do. That's all
they do. He's the great shepherd. The other shepherd. And they
tell of the great shepherd. Verse 7. Mary brought forth her son, wrapped
him in swaddling clothes, laid him in a manger, no room for
them in it. And the shepherds came, watching over their flock.
The angel of the Lord came upon them, same way as the wise men,
like Mary. Same thing. What's he telling
them? Same thing. Same one. Same glad
tiding. Same story, John. It doesn't
differ one jot or tittle. It's all about who. And they were so afraid. Mary was afraid. They were afraid. The angel said, verse 10, Fear
not all who fear him. He says, Fear not. I bring you.
This is for you, pastors. This is for you, wise men. This
is for you, Mary, Joseph. Simeon, good tidings of great
joy. Yes, it will be to all people,
every kindred, nation, and tongue under heaven, but it's his particular
people, his chosen people. Unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this
shall be a sign. Here's how you know it. Stay
with me, please. This shall be the sign how you'll
know it's the crime. You're going to find this babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Why? And they came and you know
what they found? It was just like they told him.
He was lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes. The angel was specific. You're
going to know him. This is how you'll know it's
the Christ child. He's wrapped in swaddling clothes. Lying in a manger. Don't shout it. I'm trying to
get this through your head. I want you to listen to this
now. What are swaddling clothes? And when they came, every single
one of them, angels saw them in swaddling clothes. The wise
men saw them in swaddling clothes. The shepherds saw them in swaddling
clothes in that manger. Mary and Joseph and the sheep
and the cattle and pigs and everything that had been saw this Son of
God in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. What's that all
about? Swaddling clothes are garments
of cloth, rent, rags. He's wrapped in rags. Why? Because all our righteousness
are filthy rags. This is how you know he is the
Christ. He left his throne of glory,
wrapped in glory and splendor, glorious garments, took upon
himself the form of a man in the likeness of sinful flesh,
stripped of his robe, wrapped in our rags. and gave us his glorious golden
garment and robe to wear without seeing the wedding garment while
he took rags. That's how you know him. Lie in a manger. What do you put in a manger? Food for sheep. Food for cattle. You're going to find the Christ
to be your food and your raiment. Having food and raiment, what
are you? Content. They all saw Christ
as their all, all they need. What? Food. I never really saw this until
now. You're going to know him. You're
going to see him. Everybody, the angels, the shepherds, who
all he comes to and brings them through his star to see the Christ
born. That's what they're all going
to see as their all and in all, the thing they need most of all,
food and raiment. Christ said, my body is meat
indeed. My blood is drink indeed. You're
going to live off of me. And you've got to have a covering.
You've got to have a robe. Your sins got to be paid for
and got to be covered. You've got to have this wedding
garment to get into glory. And every one of God's people
see Christ as the holiest thing. Yeah, we're highly favored. Blessed
among women are you. Oh, you bride of Christ, you
found grace in the eyes of the Lord, like Mary.