Good morning. What a blessing
it is to be here this morning, and we're glad for each one that's
here. We pray you'll receive a blessing. Also, we're thankful
for those who have joined us by Zoom, and we are also thankful
for those who will join us by sermon audio. This morning we're
not going to be going to the book of Acts as we're looking
at that study, but we'd like to bring another message on the
incarnation. And if you would turn with me
in your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter one, Matthew
chapter one and verse 18, we find in this passage of scripture,
now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, when as his
mother Mary was a spouse to Joseph before they came together, she
was found with child of the Holy Ghost. The birth of Jesus Christ
was on this wise. Now for our main passage of scripture
that we're gonna look at this morning, look with me in the
book of Luke chapter two. The book of Luke chapter two,
and I wanna begin with verse one of this. and it tells us
here in Luke chapter two and verse one, and it came to pass
in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus
that all the world should be taxed or enroll for future taxation. That word means to be enrolled.
a decree went out from Caesar Augustus. Now we find in this
thought, in this passage of scripture, this decree from Caesar Augustus
was much what we read in the book of Ezra chapter one and
verse one. And for, just leave your finger
there in that passage for a moment and go back with me to that Old
Testament book, Ezra chapter one, verse one, and it explains
so much about the activity of God in the hearts of great kings,
princes, and his people. It tells us here in Ezra chapter
one, now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the
word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled."
Now, we can go over to the New Testament and say that the word
by the mouth of Micah might be fulfilled. Here it says, the
Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he
made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also
in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord
God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and
he hath charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is
in Judah. So here we have that Cyrus is
a pagan king, he's a king of a great kingdom, Persia. He has
no mind of Christ, no mind of God, and yet it is God that came
and stirred upon him that the word of Jeremiah the Lord's prophet
might be fulfilled. Now, as we go back to the book
of Luke, we find that this same principle is brought out here
with regard to Caesar. Caesar, Rome, is about 2,400
miles away from Nazareth. That's where Joseph and his espoused
wife, Mary, are. They're in the city of Nazareth,
and there's a decree sent out, and this decree was made how
long before it actually got to Nazareth, to the ears of Joseph
and the ears of Mary. We don't know, but there had
to be some time there. There was no telegraph, there
was no phones, there was no postal service, it was done by posts
or men that rode a donkey or a horse or walked fast. But anyway,
whatever happened, God stirred this great Caesar Augustus, this
emperor of Rome, so many miles away, to have an enrollment for
a future taxation sent out. Now it appears in verse two that
this has happened in the past, but at this time it was very
important because we have the birth of Jesus Christ was on
this wise. It tells us in verse three, and
all went to be taxed, everyone to his own city. The Lord had
moved Caesar to provoke, to cause Joseph, as we find here for this
census, for this enrollment for taxation, that he would be moved
to go to Bethlehem. Now, there seems to be no legal
reason Mary should go along. It was not required that the
women go and the wives go. It was the men, property owners,
they were to declare their value, they were to declare their property,
much like the doomsday book of William the Conqueror there in
England. There was an enrollment and it
was used for future taxation. But there seemed to be no purpose
in this, a decree that the wives should go along. But we find
out in this case that it was not Caesar that requested it,
but it was God of heaven that directed it and commanded it.
Why? Well, we find out when the kings,
the magi came to Herod, bearing their gifts. It doesn't tell
us how many there were. It does tell us that they're
from the East. And I think, in my own mind at least, that here
we have some results of Daniel's ministry, or the three Hebrew
children's ministry, there in the Persian Empire, many, many
years later, that the gospel had been preached there by those
people. and that here's some results after generations that
people had heard the gospel and they preached the gospel and
these magi knew something about God, they'd been directed by
God, but they come to Herod, the king, and they request of
him, turn with me to the book of Matthew if you would again,
Matthew chapter two. Matthew chapter two, as we think
about how God directed this whole matter and how he continues to
direct every matter, for his own glory, for his own purpose,
and for the church's salvation. Here it tells us that in Matthew
chapter 2 and verse 1, now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of
Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise
men from east to Jerusalem. saying, where is he that is born
King of the Jews? Now they'd had a revelation given
to them. It's much the same as we hear
with regard to Peter. Flesh and blood hath not revealed
this unto you, but my Father which is in heaven. Where is
he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen a star in the
east and are come to worship him. They had a reason for coming. They wanted to worship the King,
the King of the Jews. When Herod the king had heard
these things, he was troubled, and all Israel with him. And
when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of
the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be
born. Isn't that interesting? He demanded where Christ, where
Christ should be born, where the Messiah should be born. Now,
the Old Testament tells us plainly where it should be, and in the
book of Micah, it's recorded, but let's finish this out here
in verse five. And they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea,
for thus it is written by the prophet, and thou Bethlehem in
the land of Judah art not the least among the princes of Judah,
for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. Now this passage of Scripture
comes from the book of Micah over in chapter five and verse
two. Micah chapter five and verse
two, just travel a little bit into the Old Testament with me
there. Now from a timeline, it's about 700 years between the writings
of Micah and what we read here in the book of Matthew and also
in the book of Luke. about the birth of the King of
the Jews. In the book of Micah, in the
book of Micah chapter 2, we read these words. They're in Micah
chapter 5, verse 2. Micah chapter 5, verse 2, and,
But thou, Bethlehem Epaphtha, Though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto
me, that is, to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been
of old, from everlasting. Notice upon the basis of this
verse of scripture, that those scribes in the days of Herod
and the days of those kings that came seeking the king of the
Jews, those guys reached back to here and read this and said
he's supposed to be born, he will be born in the town of Bethlehem. Now, the reason, from a human
standpoint, that Joseph and his wife Mary, being great with child,
are moved from Nazareth. Now, it's interesting to note
that the distance between Nazareth and Bethlehem is about 90 miles. So this is no small journey that
they are upon, and there must have been something in that decree
that caused Joseph to need to go immediately. and he's ready
to go as he hears it. Within a very short season, he
heads up there to Bethlehem because his family, his registry is there. He's a descendant of David. So he goes up there and it tells
us, going back to the book of Luke, if you would, Luke chapter
two, it tells us here that they were to go up to their own city,
the city that They were to be enrolled and that's where their
ancestors came from. And it says in Matthew, excuse
me, Luke chapter two and verse four, and Joseph also went up
from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the
city of David. So there's going to be some travel
time here. And it tells us that, which was called Bethlehem because
he was of the house and lineage of David. And in verse five,
it tells us to be taxed or enrolled for future taxation with Mary,
his espoused wife, being great with child. She was promised
in marriage. Excuse me. She had been, her attention had
been brought to Joseph, as we read in the book of Matthew,
that he found out that she was with child and he was going to
put her away privately, not willing to put her into an open spectacle. And the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him and said, you are going to take this woman. She is carrying
the holy child, Jesus Christ, the Lord. This is how he's gonna
enter into the world for the purpose Laying down his life
for ransom for many and you shall call his name Jesus for he shall
save his people from their sins so Joseph along with Mary she
is not required by the law to go up there by the decree of
Caesar But God has decreed it that she must be in Bethlehem
at the time appointed that's when she gives birth to this
son this child and not long after they had traveled many miles
and arrived in Bethlehem, which is about 90 miles away, where
Joseph had talked to the Roman representatives or not, whether
he'd enrolled himself already or not, it doesn't tell us, but
it does tell us that, so it was that while they were there, the
days were accomplished that she should be delivered. So the amount
of time that it came from, the very beginning until the birth
of the Lord is the natural time that a mother carries the child,
about nine months, and she's up there in Bethlehem. She went along with her husband.
She's not required by legal or by Caesar's decree, but she is
required by God's decree to go up there And while they're there,
the days of her are accomplished, that she should be delivered,
and we find as we look at this passage of scripture that the
very place that she gives birth to this child is in a stable. Now, it tells us there, verse
seven, because there was no room for them in the inn, You know,
some people might think that they didn't have the money to
buy a room, to rent a room. But I think that Joseph went
up there and he had plenty. Wasn't a rich man, but he had
plenty to take care of his needs. But when he got there, there
were so many other people, his relatives there that had rented
the rooms in that inn. there was no room in the inn
for them. So he was brought forth in a
manger or in a stable and he was brought forth, wrapped him
in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there
was no room for him or them in the inn. And this is really going
to lay the course, mention the course for the rest of the ministry
of the Lord while he's on this earth and even today. By nature,
we do not have room for Christ. We don't have room for Jesus.
We'll have room for a Jesus, and we'll have a room for a Christ,
but we will not have room for the Jesus or the Christ, the
glory of the Lord. So while they're there, he's
born in a stable, and it tells us he's wrapped in swaddling
clothes. This is gonna be used a little bit later in this chapter
as a sign, as some way that the shepherds could find this babe
lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes. And if you
would turn with me back to the book of Ezekiel, I think we can
get some insight here. about why this is mentioned here
in the book of Luke, why he was wrapped in swaddling clothes.
In the book of Ezekiel, we find the God of heaven is describing
his bride and how he found her and where he found her, knowing
full well all the time where she was. In the book of Ezekiel
chapter 16, beginning with verse one, chapter 16 and verse one,
we're gonna find out As we read this, that the natural state
of man, whether it be Israel, or whether it be the Hittites,
whether it be Judah, or whether it be the Brits, or English,
or wherever, we're gonna find out that there's a problem with
them that came as a result of the fall of Adam. And they're
not in a beautiful state if we have God looking at us. Now we
may compare ourselves with other people, the Bible even tells
us when we do that we're not wise. but we may compare ourself
with other people and say we're better than other people. I'm
not as bad as Hitler. I'm not as bad as Pharaoh. But
here we have a description of the whole church of the living
God before him as he views them. In Ezekiel chapter 16, verse
one, again the word of the Lord came unto me saying, now this
is the word of Jehovah, came to Ezekiel. How many times in
this book do we find those thoughts, Again, the word of the Lord.
So if it's the word of the Lord, we should perk our ears up, make
attention. It says, son of man, cause Jerusalem
to know her abominations and say, thus saith the Lord God
of Jerusalem, thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan. Thy father was an Amorite and
thy mother was a Hittite. Now, a good way to earn popularity
is to go to the Jews and tell them that their family, their
mother and their father, were of this sort, because they would
instantly tell us, as they did Jesus during his ministry, they
would instantly say, we be of our father Abraham. Well, Jeremiah
goes, he's not a popular preacher, but he's one that's giving them
the truth. He said, you have a poor beginning. You have a
poor beginning. And we find that that's exactly
what we have, we have a poor beginning in Adam. He was made
upright, he fell, disobeyed God, and God fulfilled his very word
to Adam, and that was, the day you eat, you shall surely die.
And this is gonna bring a catastrophic degradation in Adam's race. He says in verse 4 of this passage
of Scripture, And as for thy nativity in the day that thou
wast born, thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed
in water to supple thee, thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled
at all. You were not taken care of. You
were not taken care of as a baby. Now we read with regard to the
Lord Jesus that his mother swaddled him. And I think we see in this
a picture of his own righteousness, that he was impeccable, that
he was without fault, he was without sin. But those he came
to save, they are not impeccable. They are full of sin. They are
in fact, they were never taken care of. And there's no, medicine. There's no righteousness that
can be given to them except the righteousness of Christ. He is
the great physician and he takes care of that problem. Excuse
me. Verse five of this passage of
scripture says, none I pitted thee to do any of these unto
thee, to have compassion upon thee, but thou was cast out into
an open field to the loathing of thy person the day thou was
born. What an explanation that God
gives to the prophet Ezekiel of our natural state. There's
nothing good about it. We're born into sin, we're sinners,
birth we come forth from our mother's womb speaking lies and
the scriptures are so full of different descriptions of what
natural man is like here's just another one as it's brought out
by the Prophet Ezekiel and when I pass by thee and saw thee polluted
in thine own blood I sat into the thee when thou wast in thy
blood live. So we have this great command
that God uses to live. He commands his people to live. What a blessing that is. And
then it tells us there in verse eight, and when I passed by thee,
I looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love. So
Here we have, in the book of Luke, chapter two, God's demonstration
of the time of love. What does that say? It says,
in the fullness of time, Jesus Christ came at the right time,
when it pleased God. All of those things. And then
here it says, with regard to his church, everyone that's ever
saved, it is the time of love. I will overcome all your problems. I'll overcome all your sin. I'll
make you whole. And so he says, I'll spread my
skirt over thee and cover thy nakedness, yea, I'll swear unto
thee and enter into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God,
and thou becamest mine. So as it tells us here that in
our natural state, we were not swaddled at all. We are not taken
care of in our birth. We had no, there was nothing
in our birth, in our parents, in our children that could make
things any better. It's not of him that willeth
or him that runneth, but God that showeth mercy. All right,
as we go back to the book of Luke, turn with me back to the
book of Luke, we find that as a result of this birth in Bethlehem,
God had some more things in mind. He had purposed others to know
about this instance, about the birth of the Christ child, the
birth of the king of the Jews there in Bethlehem. It was from
Nazareth to Bethlehem that God moved Joseph and Mary so that
they'd be in the right place at the right time to give birth
to the Christ, the King of the Jews. And here we have the announcement
made. In the book of Luke, it says in chapter two
and verse eight, now this is by no mistake, this is on God's
purpose. There's some shepherds out there
watching their flocks by night. Verse eight, and there were in
the same country, in the same area of Bethlehem, surrounding
that place, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock
by night. They're very attentive to the flock that they have been
given the responsibility of. Now, whether these shepherds
own the sheep or whether they're taking care of them for someone
else, they are responsible shepherds. You know, this is an avocation.
This is something we find throughout the scriptures of people that
were known of God, that knew God, that had this responsibility
put upon them. You know, we read about Abel.
Abel was a keeper of the sheep. He's a shepherd, and he demonstrates
that responsibility. And when God imposed upon him,
gave to him, called him, placed him, put him in a position to
give a sacrifice, he went to the firstling of his flock. and
separate out a lamb without spot and without blemish and offered
that lamb as a sacrifice. And we read that by faith, he
offered it and his offering, his sacrifice was acceptable
unto God. It was a representative of what
the Lord Jesus Christ, this babe that's born in Bethlehem is going
to do in 33 and a half years. The shepherd is someone, that
has great responsibility. So there's shepherds out there,
and it's by no mistake that we find this principle, this job
mentioned a number of times in the scriptures. Would you turn
with me to one of my favorite places over in the Old Testament?
And that's in the book of 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel. in 1 Samuel chapter 16, 1 Samuel
chapter 16. Now, Samuel was led by God to
anoint Saul as king, and he proved unworthy of that position, and
we find out that God knew it all along, he'd purposed it all
along, there was going to be someone of the tribe of Judah. That's the promise. The tribe
of Judah is going to be the king. So here we have in 1 Samuel chapter
16, after Saul has been declared by God unworthy to be king, he
sends Samuel to the house of... Jesse, here in the book of 1
Samuel, chapter 16, he goes, he's sent to the house of Jesse,
and he, Jesse has some very important sons. They're, as Samuel looks
at them, boy, this is him, he's tall, he's broad shoulders, he's
very strong. And he, no, I haven't chosen
him. Man looks on the outward appearance,
but God looks on the heart. And so he goes through all the
sons of Jesse. And finally in verse 11, and
Samuel said unto Jesse, are here all thy children? And he said,
there remaineth yet the youngest and behold, he keepeth the sheep. What a statement about David
and what we read about the son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ.
We'll get to that in just a moment. But out there, the representative
of the whole purpose of the Lord Jesus Christ coming, shepherds
are the first people to hear this great message of the birth
of the Christ, the birth of the Lord Jesus. "'Yes, he's keeping
the sheep.' And Samuel said unto Jesse, "'Send and fetch him,
for we will not sit down "'till he come hither.' And he sent
and brought him, and now he was ready, "'and with all his beautiful
countenance and goodly to look at. "'And the Lord said, Arise,
anoint him, for this is he.'" Isn't that almost the same message
that those shepherds were shared? Arise, go to Bethlehem, for this
is he. This is the king. You know, as
we look into the scriptures, we find that Abel was a shepherd,
Abraham was a shepherd, Isaac was a shepherd, Jacob was a shepherd,
Joseph was a shepherd, Moses, David, here we read about it.
We also find that a number of the prophets were shepherds.
How illustrative it is of the great position that the Lord
would be for us. You know, the scriptures tell
us in three different places about him being a shepherd. He
himself took upon, he said about himself, I am the good shepherd. And then we find out written
about him, he is the great shepherd. There in the book of Hebrews
chapter 13 and verse 20. And then in first Peter chapter
five and verse four, he's the chief shepherd. So he is declared
the shepherd. He's the shepherd of the sheep.
He's the shepherd of the church. He's the shepherd and bishop
of our souls. So as we go back there to the
book of Luke, we find that the first people that were given
this great message were shepherds abiding in the field. Now we
might say this at this time, there is no historical evidence,
there's no biblical evidence of the day or the month that
Jesus was born. That's not important. He was
born, he was born King of the Jews. We do find that he went
to the cross, and we do find that he came out of the tomb
after he'd been placed there three days, he came out of the
tomb, and it was on the first day of the week that they announced
that he came out. That's when he rose from the
dead. So when we meet on the first day of the week, we are
commemorating that great event of his resurrection. But we also
do it on Monday, and we do it on Tuesday, and we do it on Thursday,
and we do it all the week long. We celebrate the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. But we have the privilege of
coming together with brothers and sisters in Christ in our
places, and some by Zoom do that. But here we are, we come together
and we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, the birth
of Christ was important. That's how he got into this world. He's the God-man. He is God come
in the flesh. He is Immanuel, which being interpreted,
is God with us. But as his birth takes place
here in the book of Luke, we find that the announcement is
given to a group of shepherds. They're in the field, keeping
their flock by night. And it says, and lo, verse nine
of Luke chapter two, and lo, the angel of the Lord came unto
them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they
were sore afraid. Two different things here that
mentions about the Lord, the angel of the Lord and the glory
of the Lord. And then verse 10, the angel
said unto them, fear not, for behold, we bring you good tidings
of great joy, which shall be to all people. Now in many, many
places in the New Testament, those two words, good tidings,
The original word is translated gospel, good news. They are bringing
good news. How thankful we are that in the
process of time, God brought us good news. We are separate
from God, but He has purposed for all those whose names are
written in the Lamb's Book of Life that He would approach them
with good news. Now, it may not have sounded
as good news to begin with, but it's the best news we've ever
heard when the Lord gives us the new birth and we see Him
as He is. Fear not, we bring you the gospel. We bring you great tidings which
shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Now
that is just a mouthful. For unto you. is born, how God
could come in the flesh, how the God-man, how the unity of
the God-man, how man and God brought together in one person.
Now this one person, as we know as the Lord Jesus Christ, this
one person had no sin. He did not have Joseph's blood. He did not have Joseph's seed.
He was born from above. He was given to Mary by the Holy
Spirit. And this exempted him from all
the problems that came as a result of the fall. He is absolutely
sinless. He could not commit sin. There
was not a sin that went through his head, through his body, through
his mind. He was not touched by sin as
we are. He was imperfect in all his capacities. Now to demonstrate that he was
human, he did get tired and he did get thirsty and he did get
hungry. And we find those characteristics
about him to demonstrate that truly he is a man. But at the
same time, he's God, the very God. In the beginning was the
Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God. And a little
bit later there in the first chapter of the book of John,
it says, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and
we beheld his glory. What a statement. These angels,
they feared a great fear, but the angel said, fear not, fear
not. We bring you good tidings. We
bring you good tidings. And then in verse 10 or verse
11, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior,
which is Christ the Lord. The world had been waiting for
this event since Genesis 3.15, this great event. How long in between there? We
don't know exactly, but we know that they'd been waiting. There
had been those in the Old Testament, those between the Testaments,
and those in the New Testament that realized there was one coming
to take care of the problem, and they look forward to that.
A savior which is Christ the Lord. The word was made flesh.
This is the Messiah. He's the promised one, declared
by every prophet. He is here. This word savior
means a deliverer, preserver. And also, we find that he is
called the Christ, the Messiah. And this shall be a sign unto
you, it tells us in verse 12. This shall be a sign unto you.
You will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in
a manger. This is a sign. Turn with me,
if you would, to the book of Isaiah, Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53, verses one and two. Isaiah 53, verses one and two. Who hath believed our report,
and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow
up before him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground,
he hath no form, no comeliness. And when we shall see him, there
is no beauty that we should desire him." Now that's a statement
about ourselves in our natural state. There's nothing about
this Christ child that we would appreciate. He is not beautiful. There's no comeliness. There's
no desire to be around him. And yet these shepherds are given
the grace of God to go. and see the king of the Jews.
What a statement is made here about God's revelation to his
people. It tells us there in verse one of Isaiah chapter 53,
to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? It's revealed to the
church. And these shepherds are headed
for Bethlehem with great haste. What did they leave? What did
they do with their sheep? They left them in the care of
the Lord. They're not gonna lose their position. They're not gonna
lose their place. The sheep will stay there because
the Lord is shepherding over them. In verse 14, going back
to the book of Luke, if you'd join me there again, the book
of Luke, verse 14, the glory of the Lord, the glory of God
in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. Among
men in whom he is well pleased. Is that a much better translation? His peace is not to everybody.
His peace is to those he's well pleased, those that will be touched
by his great grace. And verse 15, and it came to
pass as the angels were gone away into heaven, the shepherds
said one to another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see
this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made
known unto us. Isn't that an interesting statement?
The Lord had given them some information, but the Lord had
also given them faith to believe that information. The message
of Christ is throughout the scriptures and it is preached in places
that hold forth the word of truth, the gospel according to the Lord
Jesus Christ, to the great gospel every Sunday and every service
he has declared. But there's many times no interest
by anybody to heed that gospel message. What made these shepherds
different? Why did they want to go and see
if this was true? Well, the Holy Spirit had revealed
unto them, go and see, for this has taken place in Bethlehem.
The birth of the Christ is there. It came to pass when they were
gone, the shepherds said one to another, let us now go even
to Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which
the Lord hath made known unto us. There's been a revelation.
God has let them know something. Go to Bethlehem, just as the
good news shared by those angels. Go to Bethlehem. And it says,
they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe
lying in a manger. What a statement. The shepherd's
response, how they were blessed with faith to go to Bethlehem.
This was not a cunningly devised fable. This was not a message
of grace to those who would not respond. They were drawn to Christ. The Lord had made known that
they'd find it exactly as He said. And isn't that the truth? That we find the Word of God
exactly as He said. We find the message of grace
exactly as He said. We find the gospel exactly as
He said. And everyone that flees to Christ
will find Him exactly as it said. He will be their Savior. He will
save them from their sins. The same is true today. What
He said is carried out. What He said about grace is carried
out. And then it tells us in verse 17, and when they had seen
it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning
the child. Their message, we have seen him. We have found the Messiah. You
know that message is brought out. Turn with me to the book
of John, if you would. John chapter one. John chapter
one, verse 41. John 1, 41. John 1, verse 41. Let's back up to verse 40. One
of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew,
Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother,
Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah, which
is being interpreted the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus,
and when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon, the son
of Jonah, Now, she'll be called Cephas, which is, by interpretation,
a little stone. We have found the Messiah. What
a statement is brought out there in that verse 41 by Andrew. We have found him, we have found
the Messiah, which is being interpreted to Christ. And another place,
as we follow this down, It says he brought him to Jesus, verse
43, the day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee and findeth
Philip and said unto him, follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida,
the city of Andrew and Peter, and Philip findeth Nathanael
and said unto him, we have found him of whom Moses and the law
and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
we have found him of whom Moses and the law and the prophets
did write. This they wrote of the Messiah, they wrote of Christ,
they wrote of him that would come. And so as we look at this
great account in the book of Luke, and it goes on and tells
us more in this chapter, one of the blessings is there is
a man by the name of Simeon, when the Lord was taken to the
temple when he was eight days old, Simeon picked him up and
he says, now I can depart in peace for my eyes have seen thy
salvation. What a statement. This great
incident, we don't celebrate today, but we certainly do celebrate
God come in the flesh. He came to save his people from
their sins. He came into seeking to save
that which is lost. So here we have the great way
that God purposed to bring his son into the world, the God man,
the Messiah, the Christ. And so, for unto us is born,
for unto us is born, what a statement that God would come, born of
a virgin, start out life in this world as an infant, as a baby,
grow up And we find a very little said about him until he's about
age 30, few little incidents along the way. But when he's
about 30, he goes to John and is baptized, says, this will
fulfill all righteousness. And then his ministry and his
preaching and all that he did. But He came for one purpose.
He set His face as a flint to Jerusalem. He came for the purpose
of going to the cross to lay down His life, a ransom for many.
He became sin for us. Sin was imputed to Him. Sin was
placed upon Him. He was not a sinner, but sin
was placed upon Him. And in that state, God the Father
bruised Him. God the Father took out His wrath
upon Him. And Jesus Christ, was able to
say, finally, it is finished. And so the great transaction
of our salvation was finished in Christ Jesus, the Lord, the
great transaction of our sins being placed upon him and his
righteousness placed upon us had taken place. He began as
the God-man and he finished his life here on this earth as the
God-man. And now he ever liveth to make
intercession for us. Well, Lord willing, next week
we will go on with our study of the book of Acts. So if you'd
like to prepare, read the third chapter of the book of Acts,
and we'll look at that next time. Thank you for being with us today.
God bless you.