Born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring. By thine own eternal Spirit,
rule in all our hearts alone. All right, go back with me to Matthew
chapter 1, and then we will go over to the book of Isaiah 7,
Matthew chapter 1. While you're turning, let me
do as I usually do and issue a disclaimer. It's a shame we
have to do this, isn't it? It's always been so that idolatry
pervades the land. But we issue a disclaimer, so
to speak, and by saying we place no significance on this time
of year, none whatsoever. This is not a holy day in the
sense of a time more special or holy than
any other. We are not to observe days and
months and times. Not at all, we're not told to
do that in Scripture. And if you will read Luke's account
of the birth of the Christ child, you will see that he was born
somewhere around May or June, and that figures that man, they
missed him when he came the first time. They didn't believe he
was the true Christ, and now They're all confused as to who
he was, when he came, why he came, and so forth. Christmas, let me just say this
for your information. Christmas began originally, started
in Rome about the fourth century. It was a pagan or a holiday for
the lowly people. a festival to celebrate winter
solstice. December 25th was set aside,
just chosen by some pagan fella to observe this winter solstice. That's how it
all started. Jesus is not the reason for this
season. Money is. Tradition and so forth. And nowhere in God's Word in
the New Testament did the saints set aside a time to observe the
birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nowhere. And we do things, see,
we worship God. We're told that he seeks such
to worship him in spirit and truth. We worship him from the
heart, not with pageantry and all of this tradition And in
truth, spirit and truth, that is, according to his word, we
do things exactly according to his word. And if God says, do
it, commemorate, remember, celebrate something, we'll do it. And the
one thing, what did he tell us to remember? His death. This news often as often you
eat this bread in remembrance of me and you do show forth the
Lord's death until he come. We're to celebrate that. And we do not take part in, as
I say, we try to distance ourself from idolatrous religion today. OK, that's the disclaimer. You
don't need it. Maybe somebody in here does.
I don't know. Maybe it'll be heard on tape or whatever. But now, Spurgeon was a wise
man, and he said, whatever people are thinking on, you need to
address it. Whatever the people's minds are, whatever direction
they're running in, go ahead and address it. And the minds
of many at this time are on the story of the birth of the Christ
child. And it is a wonderful thing,
a glorious thing. And we do indeed, every time
we meet together, we celebrate the fact that God was manifest
in the flesh. Right? If possible, and we might do
well then like in June to have our own, just to go against the
grain, sing these carols in June, May or June, when he was actually
born, and celebrate his birth. Give each other gifts. Yeah,
let's do that. The Apostle quotes Isaiah in
this Matthew's Gospel, verses 22 and 23. All this was done
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the
prophet, that is, through Isaiah, saying, Behold, be amazed at
this, stop and wonder, a virgin shall be with child, and shall
bring forth a son, not her son, a son, and they His name shall
be called Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. All right, go back to Isaiah's
gospel. Gospel of Isaiah, chapter 7. Go back there with me now, and
let's read this prophecy written many, many years before. Isaiah
7. Read with me, beginning with
verse 10 through 14. Moreover, the Lord spake unto
Ahaz. We read that name, didn't we?
The Lord spake through Isaiah unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a
sign of the Lord thy God. Ask it either in the depth, or
that is, ask something deep, or in the height, something high
and lofty, something great. He has said, I will not ask,
neither will I tempt the Lord. Now, hold on a minute. Ahaz was
an evil man, a bad man, a reprobate man. He's putting on a show here. He didn't mean this at all. Or
John Gill said that he's rejecting the what the word Lord said to
do. He's rejected it. I won't do
it. Ask. He said, I won't. A show of piety, though, the
verse 13, and he said that is the Lord through Isaiah. Hear
ye now, O house of David. Ahaz was king of Judah. Is it a small thing for you to
weary men? We weary my God also. Therefore, the Lord himself shall
give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive,
and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Now, this is the word of the
Lord to this man, Ahaz, through his faithful true and faithful
prophet Isaiah. As I said, this man is a wicked
king. If you'll read the story I told
someone yesterday, you need to read 2 Kings chapter 17. 2 Kings
17. Remember that. If you want a
clear picture of today, of religion today, you read that. 2 Kings
17. A little brief history, this
man Ahaz went somewhere on a visit and saw an altar he liked real
well. He liked the looks of it. He
said, I'm going to do that and copied the design, went back
to Israel and had him one made and took all the things of the
Lord out and started worshiping the way he wanted to do it on
his altar. and went on to say that Israel
made the worst and lowest of men priests, said they feared
the Lord and worshipped idols. That is, it was a mixture. Read
that. It's a good picture of now. America and the world today.
Second Kings 17. All this was in this time of
Ahaz, this fella. A time when it was religious,
but idolatrous. OK? At this time is when God
said. God made this announcement God
said. I'm coming. In the midst of all
this horrible pagan idolatrous religion in the name of God but
it's far from it. God said I'm coming. And that
a good prophecy of Christ's second coming are you with me. Man,
you should have had plenty of sleep last night. But this is
a great prophecy, and I don't say all this to fill up time.
This is a clear prophecy. Our Lord said, as in the days
of Noah, prosperous times, but religious times, idolatrous times,
in the name of God, but full of idolatry. Right now, at this
very day, there's more idolatry going on throughout the land
than pageantry and all this goings-on
and everybody's so sentimental and religious and God's not in
it. I'm not here to preach against
Christ. I'm here to declare Emmanuel
to those that look for him. But this is a great prophecy,
a clear prophecy. Everything our Lord did, he wrote
it as precedent. Everything he shall do, as precedent. At this time, it was religious,
but idolatrous. The Lord said, I'm coming. God
is coming. Call his name, this miraculous
child of promise. Call his name, Emmanuel, which
being interpreted is God. With a God manifest in the flesh.
Verse 14 now says that the Lord himself shall give you a sign.
This is the sign. Remember, our Lord said, an evil
and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. That is all this
other stuff. But here's the sign of signs
and the wonder of wonders, isn't it? He said, ask something deep. Ask something high and lofty
that I won't do it. He said, I'll show you one deep,
mysterious, high as the heavens, great mystery. God, manifest
in a flesh. A virgin, a woman who has never
known a man physically, a virgin shall conceive, shall be impregnated
and bear a son. Every word is significant. A
son. Over in chapter 9 of Isaiah,
if you don't know it, look at it. Verse 6 says very clearly,
unto us a child is born. Yes, that girl named Mary, a
young Jewish maiden, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen years old,
something like that, a virgin, never known a man. Yes, she had
a child, but he's not her son. He's someone else's. She's a
surrogate mother. And it says a son is given. The everlasting son with the
father from the beginning. Go back to the text says a virgin
shall conceive a virgin. Now. Is this important that a
virgin. Bear the Christ child. Is it
go with me to Luke's account Luke chapter one is his account
of the birth of the Christ child. Luke chapter one. Born of a virgin,
you know, the Lord God himself. This is God's gospel. Paul wrote
that in Romans one, didn't he? The gospel of God. It's his gospel. He's the architect of it, the
author of it. And he's the first one to preach
it. God Almighty was the first one to declare the gospel. And
how did he declare the gospel in the garden? God was the first
one to preach the gospel, declare the gospel, which is Christ. To declare the coming Christ
to the first two centers that are on this earth, God Almighty
said a virgin shall conceive. Didn't it? Huh, that's the woman's
seed. God Almighty said, the woman's
seed. That's who this virgin is, a
woman's seed, to the first sinner, child of a virgin, without the
seed of man. Without the seed of man, you
see, this child is going to be sinless. Is this important that
this child be born of a virgin that is no man see he's not born
of man of man or by man is this important. If he's not he's a
fraud. He is not God's savior he didn't
save anybody he's a sinner if he's not born of a virgin he's
a sinner like you and me. And there was no egg, the woman's
egg, Mary's egg, so to speak, had no parts in his birth. Where did her egg come from?
Man. No part. Mary contributed nothing
to the creation of this child. Nothing. Is that important? We're going to see in a moment.
Miraculously, amazingly, impossibly, a virgin conceived. Look at chapter
1. How can this be? How can this
be? Look at verse 26 and 27. In the
sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from
God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth. I didn't write it down.
Six months, I think, is around August. So, John was born about this
time. About December 25th, John was
born. Anyway, the sixth month, Gabriel
was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to
a virgin, a spouse to a man and is the fiance of a man named
Joseph of the house of David. The Virgin's name was Mary. Virgin Mary. Now, most people
do not believe. That this child was born of a
virgin, most do not believe even. I'm telling you the truth, this
is about gone to the wayside. Even in so-called Christian religion,
many do not see the meaning of or necessity of it. We do. You
and I do. We're most blessed. We're highly
favored. But this virgin was born, or
this child was born of a virgin. Now, it says that Mary and Joseph
were both of the house of David. Is that important? We read there in Matthew one
that is Joseph's lineage. OK. The genealogy of Joseph. Usually when they gave a genealogy
they didn't mention any females. OK. The man was the head since
Joseph was Mary's husband. He is mentioned. All right. But
in Luke's account in chapter three of Luke you will find another
account that begins to differ down toward the end. That's Mary's
genealogy. But both Joseph and Mary both
came from the house of David. Right, David came from Judah. Is this important? Oh, over in Genesis 49, when
Jacob graved that great prophecy, of the Messiah chapter forty
nine verse ten. Says of Judah a lion's well the
lion of the tribe of Judah. The scepter shall not depart
the kingdom the reign the rule shall not depart from Judah till
shallow come the king of peace that is or a lawgiver. From beneath his feet. That's
a prophecy of the Christ child to come from the tribe of Judah. Christ came from the tribe of
Judah, not Levi. John came from Levi. He's a Levitical
priest, Sam. And he paid tithes to Melchizedek. Are you with me? Are you paying
attention? John met this king of Salem. John, are you with me? John the
Baptist, bore witness of him, met this king of Salem, paid
tithes to him, who is the priest forever after the order of Melchizedek,
the tribe of Judah. The lion, the king, the sovereign,
the reigning, ruling, lawgiver, king of peace. And it says she
was a virgin, virgin, as we say it. Christ had no seed
of man in him. None. He was born of God. Spirit, so he's holy, he's without
sin, separate from sinners, undefiled, sinless man, sinless man. All right, look at verse, look
at this whole account here in verse, in these verses of Luke
1. The virgin Gabriel was sent. fiancée of Joseph, whose name
was Mary, verse 28, "...the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail,
thou art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee." The word
highly favoured, if you have a margin, a reference, it says,
graciously accepted. Accepted, why? In the beloved. Anybody accepted by God is accepted
in the beloved, right? You in him and he in you. Christ,
verse 28, highly favored the Lord is with thee. Blessed art
thou among women, not above women. Read that with me. Didn't say
above women, did it? among women. Graciously accepted,
highly favored, the Lord is with thee, you're blessed among women. Mary was a chosen vessel, one
of God's elect. Chosen vessel under the Lord,
but she was a sinner. Is this important? Look at verse
forty-seven, listen to her prayer. Listen to the words of Mary herself.
Mary said, in verse 46, My soul doth magnify the Lord. Mary is
exalting and worshiping and praising the Lord, not herself. Verse
47, My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. Mary, you need a Savior? I sure
do, because I'm a sinner. And I need saving. Why is he
God the Savior? Why did it say he's come? What
has he come to do? Save his people from what? Their
sins. Mary said, God is my Savior. There are millions of people
right now. Why aren't you in the midst of
the millions of people who are worshiping this woman? calling
her the Queen of Heaven and the co-redemptress with Christ. Why? Who made you to differ?
Many whom God hath hid these things from. Oh, but he hath
revealed these things unto us and our children. Even our little
children know this woman was a sinner, saved by the grace
of God, graciously accepted in the Beloved, highly favored Her hap was, it was Mary's hap
to be the womb the Lord borrowed. Her name could have been Margaret,
her name could have been Sarah, her name could have been, but
God chose her. The Lord borrowed that womb just
like he borrowed that tomb. The tomb in which no man lay.
In the Lord's Word, marvelous. All right. Mary was kept a virgin
by God. God Almighty, it wasn't her virtue
that kept her pure, that is, physically speaking. God Almighty
kept her a virgin, kept her pure. Mary's sovereign Lord kept her
for the purpose of God. to show forth clearly that the
child born of this woman, made of a woman, that is, seemingly,
is not of man nor by man, but of the Holy Ghost, the son of
promise. She said, how can this be? Joseph
said, how can this be? God said, this is how it will
be. The power of the highest Holy Ghost hath overshadowed
thee. This is going to be the only
begotten. That holy thing in her shall
be called Son of the Highest. Verse, look at this. He said,
Blessed art thou among women. Verse 29, When she saw him, she
was troubled at his saying. Cast in her mind what manner
of salutation this should be. The angel said, Fear not, Mary,
for thou hast found favor with God. Thou shalt conceive in thy
womb, and bring forth a son." When a woman conceives, she receives
something from her husband. She doesn't give life. Women don't give life. They receive
it. The man sires it, begets it. You understand that? Sure you
do. That's the seed. The life is in the seed, right?
She conceived, she received this from God. This seed. The seed of God. Amazing. Amazing. And God said to her in verse
31, Thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son. Not
your son, but a son. And thou shalt call his name,"
God says, I've already named him, Jesus, which is the New Testament
name, Joshua, means Savior. For he shall say,
not Mary and him, he shall say, Christ is the only begotten That
is bodily offspring, image of the invisible God. In Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. When God in the beginning
said, let us make man in our own image, who's that? That's Jesus Christ. Image of God. And what happened
to Mary? You've looked at this with me.
What happened to Mary is a figure of what happens to every child
of God whom God sends his angel to, whom God sends the preacher,
the messenger of the gospel, the good news to declare unto
you. An angel comes to you and says,
you're highly favored, highly favored, graciously accepted. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord, and so hath Barbara. found grace in the eyes of the
Lord, not by virtue of her purity, but by virtue of His mercy and
grace. The Lord is with thee. Oh, Barbara, thou art blessed among
women. Christ in you is the hope of
glory. I'm sending my seed to regenerate
to recreate, to put a new creature in you. This is exactly what
happens to every one of God's people. And that holy thing,
born of God, cannot stay. It's not of man or man. Marvelous. God said it. Marvelous. A son. Verse 29 and 30 through
31. A son. Call his name Jesus. Verse 32. Not your son, but God's
son. And he shall be great. Not you,
Mary. He shall be great. Over in Matthew's
Gospel, it says the wise men, if you'll read on a little further
the account, it says the wise men, those who are wise, the
fear of the Lord is a beginning of wisdom, isn't it? Those wise
men who came looking for the Christ. Those who are truly wise,
given this wisdom from above, they seek the Lord. But those
wise men came into the house, it says. Can you hear me? Are
you listening? Listen to every word, okay? It says those wise
men came into the house. You're wise, you've come into
this house. God's brought you. You've seen his star. The light
of knowledge of the glory of God has shined in your heart.
Give you the light knowledge and you come into the house.
It says those wise men came into the house and when they saw the
young child with Mary, we're looking at it, we're reading
this story of the young child with Mary, his mother, his supposed
mother. Listen to this. It says the wise
men fell down and worshiped. Him. Not her. Him. It's like she wasn't even there.
And it says, and they gave their gifts of frankincense and myrrh
and costly stones and silvers to who? Showered with praise
and worship and adoration and gifts and to who? Not her, Him. The story of Simeon in the temple
waiting on the consolation of Israel. In comes a young woman
named Mary, has a baby in her arms. And Simeon, it's like that
woman didn't exist, went over and got that child
out of her arms, took his eyes off of her, looked at that blessed child
and said, Now, I can depart in peace. I can die. I've beheld
thy salvation. Right here, this child is set. for the rise and the fall of
many. He'll be spoken against, yes,
but He's set. Set forth. It's settled. God
has set it. He set it in the beginning. He
set it in the middle. And here He is, just like He
promised. Many shall fall. Many shall rise and fall because
of this God's salvation. If you beheld His salvation,
if you worship the Christ and Him only, you're highly favored. Now favor accepted by God. He shall be great. He shall be
great, not him and her, but he. And presented, you know, Romans
chapter one is the story of now. How religion became corrupt. Because man wasn't thankful therefore
made images, idolatrous things, and God, it says, gave him over
to a reprobate mind. And it goes on to say that in
his religion he worships and serves the creature rather than the Creator, who
is God bless you, amen. The creature, who's that? Mary.
The Creator, who's that? Don't worship the one. Worship
the one who borrowed it. We don't worship the creature,
but rather the creator. Well, look at it here in verse
32. He shall be great and shall be called not the son of Mary. Remember that? We've looked at
this before. Never. I don't know. He's not
called the son of Mary by design. She brought forth her firstborn
son, but he's never called by God the son of Mary. Here's faith that overcomes.
We believe he's the son of God. Son of the highest, that's who. And the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne. He doesn't share it with anybody.
Beside him there is no other. There's one reigning in heaven,
it's a king, and there's not a queen sitting beside him. Lord God gives him the throne
of his father David, the son of David, and he shall reign,
he alone. Well, back in our text, in Isaiah
7, look at it. It says, "...a virgin shall conceive,"
and she did, as written. And that she bore a son, whose
son? God's son. And though a son,
Paul wrote in the Philippians, he said, though he were a son,
yet thought it not robbery, the equal of God. Right? Though a son, he is in fact,
and this is what you call it, he's a son, but here's what you
call it, Emmanuel. You call Him God at the name
of Jesus. When you hear that name, here's
what you call Him. Here's what you address Him as.
And everyone whom God Almighty reveals who He is to, this is
how they address Him. At the name of Jesus, you call
Him, Sir. That means Lord. Lord? Oh, but there's one Lord, Jehovah. That's right. Call his name Jehovah. Oh, it
can't be. How can these things be? That's
what Mary said, didn't she? He is indeed God manifest in
the flesh, not less than God, not just the Son of God. Verse
6, look at it, Isaiah 7, verse 6, I'm sorry, chapter 9, verse
6. Isaiah 9, look at that, verse
6. Under us a child is born, a son is given. The government,
that is the reign, the rules, shall be upon his shoulder. No
one else. The reign, the rules. He rules
in the armies of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth.
None can stay his hand or say other than him, what doest thou?
He will work, and who will let it, prevent it? He won't try
to do anything. He'll do according to his will
in the armies of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth. He has free will, sovereign will. He's the sovereign. And the end
of this, there's no end. Increase of his government, no
end. Verse 6 says, His name shall be called Wonderful. Wonderful. The mighty God. The everlasting
Father. Call His name Immanuel. The mighty
God. Would you look with me quickly
at Isaiah 25? Isaiah 25. Look at this with me. Who is
this? This is God Almighty. Why? Why is it necessary that he be
God? As we said, most people don't
believe in the virgin birth of Christ, because that would make
him something other than a man, wouldn't it? And most do not
believe that Jesus Christ is God Almighty. Do you? The world doesn't believe it.
The unbelieving world doesn't believe this. The so-called Russellites, that's
the Jehovah's Witnesses, they do not believe this. That's why
they go door to door to try to dispel this rumor they think it is right
and if you know you know the same. The Smithites. Joseph Smithite sets the Mormons. See let a man come in his own
name and they'll receive him. And they'll believe him. Christ
said I'm coming my father's name and you reject me. They don't
believe it and people to Southern Baptists don't believe he's got The Methodists don't. Presbyterian,
Episcopalian, they don't believe it. They say it with their lips. Their hearts are far from believing
that Jesus Christ is very God, a very God, doing as he... See,
whoever has free will is God. Right? God means you reign, you
rule, you control, you have all things in your power and none
can... Whoever is God has all power. And I don't believe that. Do
you? Huh? And everything, listen,
everything we believe depends upon Him being God. Everything
He said, He said, come unto Me. The same one, Isaiah 55 says,
come unto Me. Oh, you that label. Oh, everyone
at first, the same one stood on this earth one day and said,
come unto Me. Well, who do we come to? God. He that cometh to God. Must believe
he is. Christ said, come unto me. Who?
God. I'll give you rest. I'm the Lord
your Sabbath. Come unto me. Everything he said depends on
who he is. Everything he did, that woman
who was caught in the act of adultery, was brought at the
feet of this man named Jesus, and he said, I absolve you of
all your sins. I forgive you. I justify you.
Your sins and iniquities I'll remember no more. I'm blotting
out all things that are held against you. I'm wiping the slate
clean. All your past, present, and future
is gone because I say so. Who? You're just a man who can
forgive sins but God. Right. You're clean. And all the rest of you self-righteous
ones are condemned. You can't do that. I just did. Who is he that condemns? God
did justify it. Who justified it? Jesus Christ. He's God. We worship God, the Lord our
God. Here, O Israel, true Israel. Here, the Lord our God is one
God. Who is he? Jesus Christ. But how can they? I don't understand.
I don't either. But that's how it is. And every knee shall bow and
every tongue will confess that he's Lord God, Jehovah. Look at Isaiah 25. Oh, this is
my favorite chapter in all the Bible, at least right now. Isaiah
25, verse 1 says, Lord, oh Lord, that's Jehovah, thou art my God. Jehovah is my God. Isn't he,
Ed Berry? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob is my God. There is no other. His name is
Jehovah. He's revealed himself to us,
his people, through Israel. He's my God. I will exalt him.
I'll praise his name. Verse nine, it shall be said,
Lo, this is our God, this one who came. This is our God. Who? Jehovah. We've waited for him. He will
save us. Who? God. Jehovah. That's what his name means. This
is the Lord. We've waited for him. He, we
will be glad and rejoice in his salvation, his salvation. Call his name Jesus. Why? It
means savior for he. Salvation belongs under the Lord.
David wrote over and over. And those that know thy name
will rejoice in his salvation. He shall save his people. He's
the sin offering. He's the substitute. He's the
satisfier. He's the savior. He's the Lord
I write he he and he alone is one their salvation and no other.
This one called his name Jesus. What does it mean? Savior? We've
waited on him. Here he is. He shall say he he
shall say. Who his people? His people. Foundation of God
stands sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are
His, for whom He did foreknow. Who?
Jesus Christ, God. He shall save His people from
what? Their sins. That's it. Their sins. Call His name Jesus. Call His name wonderful. Wonderful, full of wonder, full
of power, full of glory, says the disciple. Everything he did,
they wondered. It was a wonder to him. Every day, every hour, every
step he took, every gesture he made, every word he spoke, everything
he did was full of amazement and wonder. You remember that
story where it says Christ went before them and they followed
and they were amazed. They didn't know where he was
going. He did. He honed unto God all his works from the beginning.
They didn't know why he was going. He did. He said, I've come to
seek my own. I am the great shepherd over
Ezekiel. Everything he did was a marvel
and a wonder. And even his enemies said, no
man can do these things except God be with him. That's who I
am. God's here. All his name, Counselor. He whose counsels were of old,
as Scripture says, are faithfulness and truth, faithfulness and truth. Counselor, his name, who works
all things after the counsel. Call his name the mighty God. Thomas did. Oh, we had our doubts,
didn't we, about Thomas? I won't believe until he showed
me, he said, Thomas, reach hither thy finger. Until I see this,
I saw him killed. I saw a man made a little lower
than the angels for the suffering of death. I saw him killed and
laid in a grave. Thomas, now behold, I am he that
was dead and I am alive forevermore. Reach hither thy finger and touch
my ribbon side. and my snail-scarred hands and
feet. I'm alive forevermore, Thomas. I told you. This is my testimony. Kelly,
this is my confession. My Lord and my God. Call his name the Everlasting
Father. The Everlasting Father. That babe in the child of the
mother. The child was the father of the
mother. Isn't that a mystery? Call his name the Everlasting
Father. He said to his chosen disciple. He didn't say this to everybody.
He said this to his chosen disciple. He had his disciple together,
twelve of them, chosen disciple, just like you. Had his twelve
disciples together and they said, show us the Father. Remember that? If we could just
see God. Just a little glimpse of God.
They had. God, which is a consuming fire,
God, which dwelleth in light, that no man can… God, they took…
How short is our memory, Sherry? Huh? Peter, James, and John were
just up on the mountain with Him, and He peeled back that
covering, didn't He? God is light. John wrote later
on, John said, I see now, I see now, I know now, He's light.
He that dwelleth in darkness, that is, that doesn't know that
this One who came is God. And they said, show us the father.
We know you're the son, but show us the father. What did he say? Philip, Sarah, John, I've been so long time
with you, yet you have not known me. This people have I chosen
for myself, Isaiah 43, that thou might know Me, the only true
God. God was manifest in the flesh.
Have I been so long time with you, yet you haven't known Me?
He that hath seen Me hath seen who? Call His name the Everlasting
Father. That's why He said, You don't
call any man Father. You have one father. Who is it?
Christ said it's me. Thy maker is thy husband. Your father is also your husband. Hmm? I'm done. You see, We're the only true worshippers
of God. God's people who believe, all that we've been looking at,
are the only true worshippers of God the Father. Because God,
that's a mystery. But it's without controversy. Let the wise men, where is the
scribe? Bring him on. John said bring
him on, or Paul said bring him on. God was manifesting that. It's
a mystery, yes. And whatever God does is a mystery
to man until he reveals it. And we still don't understand
it and believe it. Call his name the Everlasting
Father. Call his name the Prince of Peace. The Prince of Peace, born king. A prince is one that's born.
A child is born. When a young son is born to a
king, he's born a prince. But he grows up to be a what? He's the prince of peace, king
of Salem, same thing. King of kings. Call his name
Emmanuel. God was with us. And God is still
with us. God is still with us. He's now
exalted. This is why we just don't carry
on about a baby. That story of Simeon in the temple,
he never talked about a baby. He never mentioned a word. People, you see, like babies,
don't they? Babies are so cute. Christ grew up to be a man and
not beautiful. There was no form or company,
had no beauty that we should desire, and the most horrible,
his figure in the end, his visage was marred more than any man.
Christ crucified. That's the one we worship in.
We worship a scarred man. Don't we? Now, how do you explain
this? He's without blemish, but he
has scars. How do you explain this? He's
altogether lovely, but he's scarred. Those scars and the marks are
the circumcision of God, not made with hand. Isn't this marvelous? If we stay here another hour,
we might worship. But Simeon didn't mention a baby. He didn't make over a baby. Babies
are helpless, aren't they? People love helpless little things.
Oh, little Jesus, isn't He sweet? Look at that wonderful woman
holding Him. Oh, she's sustaining His life.
He depends on her. No, He doesn't. No, He doesn't. She got her life from Him. She
right there, even this great is the mystery. This child in
her arms really has her in His arms. Explain that. You can't, but God did. God said
it. This is God. This is the everlasting Father.
Immanuel. Call his name. Immanuel. Oh, no human being should ever
have that name, should. People do, ignorantly. God forgives
some. There's a man in the Dominican
Republic, Immanuel. Immanuel. God is with us. This Jesus, this
once babe, became a child, is now exalted. We don't worship
a baby anymore. We exalt the risen, seated, sovereign
King on a throne right now, reigning in Ruth. Our God, who is with
us still. God with us. He said where two
or three are gathered. See, God is omnipresent. person of his holy spirit spirit
of Christ spirit of God spirit of Christ which is yes. He said I'm with you even to
the ends of the earth and say God is with us call his name
Emmanuel we should name this Emmanuel grace church. Like that. But. call his name Emmanuel and if
I don't do I need to remind you of Romans eight thirty one. You
see if God be for us. God is with us. Here's the consolation
of Israel if God is with us. We believe he is. Let the whole world go on. Call his name and name. Now we
know a little bit more than we did when we came up with who
this is. Why? Why'd he come? It all depends
on who he is. Okay, but Gabe, come. We're going
to sing, in closing, number, what number is it? Ninety-eight?
Ninety-three, Hark the Herald. ninety three number ninety three
saying the first two verses second verse which says Jesus our man. Thank you very much.