Good morning and welcome to these
services. So good to see everyone and we're
glad for those that are joining us through Zoom and we say greetings
to those who will be listening to us on sermon audio. I want
to wish you the very best of the season. Hope you enjoy a
great family holiday. Last Sunday we spent some time
looking at the Old Testament under the title of Someone is
Coming, and we read a few passages of scripture in the New Testament
about those who had been looking forward to the coming of the
Messiah. Someone is coming is the message of the Old Testament.
And we looked at a number of passages of scripture in the
Old Testament that shared about the prophecies of the Messiah
coming, the Lord Jesus Christ coming, the Savior of his people
coming to this world. Well, today we'd like to spend
some time on the subject of someone is here. Someone has arrived,
the promised one that would take care of the problem that came
upon this earth in the fall of Adam. we uh... look into the scriptures this
morning there are two places that share with us about the
birth of the messiah the birth of the lord jesus and one of
them was found in the book of luke and one of them was found
in the book of matthew we'd like to spend some time in the book
of luke today luke chapter two luke chapter two and we'd like
to begin reading with verse one of luke chapter two it gives
us the the uh... description of why the lord was
where he was at the time the announcement of all the old testament
writers someone is coming was fulfilled at the appropriate
time the appointed time at the appointed place with the appointed
woman the virgin mary with the appointed announcement and we
find that record here in the book of luke and some shared
in the book of matthew so here in the book of luke we have that
God dealt with a pagan ruler by the name of Caesar Augustus
many, many miles away from Jerusalem and many miles away from Nazareth
and many miles away from Bethlehem. And how long it took for that
message to arrive here in the place in Nazareth where Joseph
and Mary were living, I don't know, but it took some time.
And here it is, and it came to pass in those days that there
went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should
be taxed. All the world of Caesar Augustus
should be taxed. The time that the Lord was born
is irrelevant. It's not something that the Lord
wanted us to know. It is not something the Lord
has set out in the scripture for those who were students of
the word of God during the time of the Lord Jesus or prior to
that. There's a prophecy made in the book of Daniel that shared
close to the right time, down to describe the coming of the
Lord when He would come. But it's not our business to
seek that out. In fact, there was no month and
no day that's mentioned in the Scripture. But we do have this,
that it was at the right time. It was at the time the Lord appointed.
It was the time that the Lord had chosen in the covenant of
grace, and that His Son would be born. And it goes on to tell
us here that they should be taxed. Now, this is a different taxation
than we think of today. They were to come and to enter
in public records the names of the men and their property and
their income. This was an enrollment for future
taxation. And it must have been so significant
that when the word got to Joseph and Mary, it was imperative that
they leave even though mary was great with child for goes on
to say there in verse two the taxing was first made when sirenius
was governor of syria now all went to that to be taxed everyone
into his own city now if i was to have this analogy, in my life,
I would have to travel back to Lakeview, Oregon, where I was
born, where my family was, and there I would enroll for taxation. And here we find that Joseph
and Mary both, but specifically Joseph, he is going to go to
this place. Joseph, it tells us in verse
4, Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of nazareth to
judia into the city of david which is called bethlehem this
was the appointed place now mary is very great with child it tells
us that david excuse me that joseph and it for that fact mary
were both related to king david and it is that which brought
out here because he was with of the house and lineage of david
that's where he's appointed place to go to be enrolled for this
future taxation He asked to enroll as a man, he asked to share his
property, an amount of a property, and he asked to share his income
there. Now it tells us that he went,
he took Mary with him. Now, to be taxed with Mary, his
espoused wife, and it gives us this information that she was
great with child. I don't know how long it took
for them to get there. We could probably figure out
the mileage and how far a mule or a donkey could, a mule specifically,
could travel. Whether she walked or whether
she was on a mule, that's insignificant. But she got there, as it tells
us, that they got there at the right time. And so it was that
while they were there, in Bethlehem, the city of David, because they
were of the house and lineage of David, that she brought forth
her firstborn son. Now this is the one that Joseph
had word about. The angel came to him. This is
the one that Mary had word about. She said she doesn't know how
this can happen because she's never been with a man. And the
Lord explained to her exactly how this is going to take place,
that the Holy Spirit God the Father and God the Holy Spirit
were going to come over her. She was going to bear a son.
He would be in the flesh, but he would not have the strain,
the DNA. He would not have that of Adam.
He would not have that sinful nature. So he was brought forth
there and delivered. And he was wrapped in swaddling
clothes and laid in a manger because there was no room for
him in the inn. Now I'm convinced that Mary and Joseph both knew
who this was. It was no surprise to them when
this baby was born to them because they'd both been informed by
the angel of the Lord to know exactly who this was and the
name that he would be given. In the book of Matthew it says
to Joseph, thou shalt call his name Joseph, forgive me, thou
shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from
their sins." And that word Jesus is the Greek word that we find
in the Old Testament for Joshua. Joshua and Jesus are the same
name in different languages, and they have the same meaning,
Savior. Now he was also, it tells us
in the book of Matthew, that he would be called Emmanuel,
which being interpreted is God with us. These folks, Joseph
and Mary, understood that this, their firstborn son, that Joseph
had nothing to do with bringing into this world. He was going
to be a faithful husband. He was going to be a faithful
father to the Lord Jesus. From a human standpoint, he was
going to be a wonderful person in his life. But he was not his
father. His father was God Almighty. Wrapped him in swaddling clothes.
Now there was no reason to announce to Mary and Joseph what we find
out is announced in the next few verses. They already knew. They knew where he was going
to be born. They're with him. They know when he was going to
be born. They're with him. They know how he was going to
be born. They're with him. And the announcement had already
been made to them. That announcement had not been
spread to very many people. We do know that Mary's cousin
Elizabeth, when she stepped into his presence, that babe in her
womb jumped and leaped and she knew that this was the Messiah
coming. But as we follow this out, we
find that the first report of the birth that someone is here,
the birth of the Messiah, the birth of the promised seed, the
one that would fulfill Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 And every
other passage throughout every book of the Old Testament, even
as the Lord himself said during his ministry, I'm here, he is
here. As he said, Moses wrote of me,
Moses spoke of me. Well, here it tells us that there
were some shepherds. In Luke chapter two and verse
eight, there were in the same country shepherds abiding in
the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. Now they
were not prepared for this message, just like you and I are not prepared
for the message of grace. We're not interested in it, but
it came. And here the message of the gospel
came to these shepherds that were keeping watch over the flock
by night. They may have been believers
at this time, but it was such a shock to them to see this heavenly
host, and particularly, as we notice in verse nine, and lo,
the angel of the Lord came upon them And the glory of the Lord
shone round about them, and they were greatly afraid." Now, to
me, it is more the fear that they had. Yes, it was a great
sight, and it was a powerful sight, and it was a majestic
sight to see this angel of the Lord. But also, it shares with
us that under the Old Testament economy, there was great fear
under the law. People could not meet the law. It was a fearful thing to come
into the hands of the law. It was a fearful thing to have
the law brought, because it was a declaration about the holiness
of God. And we cannot keep that holiness.
Great fear there. And the angel of the Lord came
and said, shares with us in verse 10, the angel said unto them,
fear not. For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.
Now here we have a great difference between law and grace. There
was grace in the Old Testament, the message of grace, the message
of God's sovereign grace in the Old Testament, just like we find
it throughout the New Testament. It was delivered in types and
shadows and pictures and in messages. And yet, under that Old Testament
economy, those who had that brought and presented to them daily and
weekly as they went to the synagogue, it could only produce fear. I can't keep this. I cannot keep
this. And we find that that was the
reason it was given. It was not to be kept. There
was not going to be any salvation in trying to keep it. But it
was to share with us our desperate need of someone who could take
care of the problem. And here we have announced in
the book of Luke, someone is here. The promised one is here. Someone is here among us. And
for the book of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we're gonna be
reading about this one that is here, the promised one is among
us. Well, it goes on to tell us here
that this angel of the Lord says, I bring you good tidings of great
joy. That's the gospel. We have good
tidings of great joy presented as we speak through the services,
as we speak on Zoom, as we speak to Sermon Audio. We have a message
of great joy It is a glad tidings to hear the gospel. Now, our
natural man does not want to hear it. We have no place for
this good news in our natural estate. But when God redeems
us or God regenerates us and allows us to know that we've
been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, There is great rejoicing. We rejoice in that message that
the work was done by the Lord Jesus, and it's not expected
out of us. Now, we'll be servants of the
Most High God, and that's our pleasure to do that. But we're
not doing it for reward, and we're not doing it for payment.
So the angel said, I bring you good tidings of great joy. And
every gospel preacher, every time they preach, this is the
message. to comfort, comfort, comfort God's people and to bring
a comfort message. I bring you good tidings of great
joy shall which shall be to all people. And we find that all
the nations of the earth would be blessed through Abraham and
that every nation, kindred, people and tongue would hear the gospel.
Now not everybody in every country and every kindred and every tongue
will pay attention to it, but God has sent the gospel out,
and he will have it meet with his people wherever they are.
And this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. And suddenly there
was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God,
and saying, Glory to God in the highest. Now before we get too
far here, did you notice with me what it says there in verse
11? For unto you is born this day in the city of David. Here
is the importance, a Savior. David is an important man. He
was a great king. He's a man after God's own heart.
But this is the one that descended from him. This is the Christ. This is the Savior, which is
Christ the Lord. The Messiah mentioned throughout
the Old Testament, all of those types and shadows and pictures
that he is coming, that he is coming. He's going to come at
the appointed time. He's going to have the appointed
message brought about him. This message is now here. it is someone is here the lord
is here this is the savior which is christ the lord is here among
you the one that god had promised in the covenant of grace the
one that god had promised in the garden of eden the one that
god promised throughout the old testament writers he is here
now when this message is announced i can just see in my mind's eye
that all the old testament writers moses down to malachi all those
in between. And all the saints, the Old Testament
saints, gathered around the throne of grace in heaven. They've all
passed on. They've been absent from the
bodies to be present with the Lord. They're in the very presence
of God, just like anybody else that's ever saved and passes
from this life to the next. They're there worshiping the
Most High God, the Lord Jesus Christ. there in His presence,
at the throne of grace, when they heard that glorious announcement,
said, Praise be to the Lord God Almighty. Our salvation in God
has come in the flesh. The fulfillment of all those
Old Testament prophecies and Old Testament pictures and Old
Testament shadows is now among us. How glorious that was! Now, it doesn't say that in the
scriptures, but I'm just thinking about what would go through their
minds when they were privy to the knowledge that the Messiah
had come. We find in the book of Matthew
chapter 1 there in verse 21, the name should be given, thou
shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from
their sin. What a glorious name. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord. He is the Sovereign.
He is the Absolute Sovereign. Capital L. Capital O, capital
R, capital D, we find that so often in the Old Testament, and
that's Jehovah. We have the Sovereign Lord, Lord
Jesus, the Savior, and Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah,
as we find Him throughout the Old Testament. It tells us in
the book of John, chapter one and verse 14, would you turn
there? As we think about someone is here, the message, the statements
that are brought out in scripture, here in John chapter one and
verse 14, and the word was made flesh. What a glorious union. God and the flesh united in one
person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Someone is here. The promised
one is here. The one that came to die for
his people is here. The one that's written by Isaiah
in Isaiah 53, he's here. He's among us. He's going to perform many miracles.
He's going to raise some people from the dead. He's going to
have many times. He's going to be preaching the
gospel. He's going to be sharing the word. He's going to be presenting
the difference between law and grace. He's going to bring attention
to the Pharisees and the lawyers on how wrong they are in interpretation
of the scripture. And most of them didn't interpret
the scripture, but they lived by the tradition of the fathers,
their tradition added to the scriptures like so often happens
today. What a statement it makes about
there in the book of Romans where it says we're enmity against
the Lord, enmity against God and that is never so apparent
as when people start talking about the word and adding to
the word or taking away from the word or changing the word
to please them enmity against the very Word of God, how declarative
that is of the natural man's heart. The Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. God
in our nature, yet without sin, He's here, He's here, and the
gospel message that those angels brought out that angel angel
of the lord and then the rest of the heavenly host declared
the gospel message i bring you good tidings of great joy It
is not a message of fear, but it is a message of great joy.
We are not presenting you the necessity of the law again. We
are telling you that there is the gospel message of Jesus Christ
the Savior that will lay down His life a ransom for many. There
is great reason to fear the law, for it is the holiness of God
declared. We are unable to meet God's standard
of perfection, but there is one who did keep everything, every
standard, and every word of the law. There is reason to have
great joy in the gospel. Sinners are made clean by the
shed blood of Christ. The reason for this great joy
we find unto you is born this day a Savior. Would you join
me over in the book of Isaiah for just a moment? In the book
of Isaiah, chapter 9, we have this wonderful prophet who had
so much to say about someone's coming, and then we read here
in Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 16 that the one who would come
the one who is here now as we just read about it here in in
Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6 Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6 the scripture
says for unto us a child is born and unto us a son is given now
there is speaks about the flesh the body that the Lord would
inhabit, but it also tells us that the one who was indwelling
that body was far more ancient, the Ancient of Days. The Son
is given. The Son of God is given. He's
the Ancient of Days. He's the Eternal Son of God.
But here, for a season, he would have indwell the body that was
prepared for him, the body that God gave him, and grew in the
womb of the Virgin Mary. This one, this child, it goes
on to say, the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his
name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Oh, just to meditate
upon those names that are brought out in that passage of Scripture.
In fact, really, they should be hyphenated. This is not many
names, but this is His name that shares about His birth and about
His coming. He's the Savior that was to come. And it tells us here also, looking
in the book of Isaiah, in chapter 43. Isaiah chapter 43, as we
just think about For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior, and this is declared in the Old
Testament many times, but we're just going to stop by here in
the book of Isaiah for three or four readings about Him being
the Savior. Here in the book of Isaiah, chapter
43, and there in verse 3 it says, For I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. What a declaration that is. And
now, as we read the book of Matthew, the book of Mark, the book of
Luke, and the book of John, we have someone is here. The Lord
Jesus has come. The birth has brought him into
the world. He's going to grow up. He's going
to be circumcised the eighth day. We're going to find him
in the temple at age 12. We're going to find him later
coming down about 30 years of age when he was baptized by John.
And then he has that three and a half year ministry declaring
to all that he came in contact with that he is the son of God. Many people found great fault
with that. But the apostle Peter sums it
up for the church, thou art the Christ, the son of the living
God. You're here right now. We have
found him who Moses wrote about. It's what we find in another
place. Here it tells us in Isaiah chapter 43 and verse 3, for I
am the Lord thy God. the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Sheba for thee." The very valuable ransom that
we have is the Lord Jesus Christ. And in the book of Isaiah, verse
11 of that same chapter, chapter 43, we have here in verse 11,
it says, I even I am the Lord that that's
Jehovah and beside me there is no Savior besides this one that
it was announced someone is coming Old Testament someone is coming
here we have him in and among us here on this earth Jesus Christ
the righteous we have him saying And beside me there is no Savior. That angel announced, Behold,
I bring you great tidings of great joy. For unto you is given
in the city, born in the city of David is the Savior. The Savior is here. And in Isaiah
45, just a couple of chapters more here, in the book of Isaiah
chapter 45, We hear this prophecy made about the Lord and truly
it is a statement about His saviorship, that He is the Savior and no
other Savior. In the book of Isaiah chapter
45 and verse 15, Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself,
O God of Israel the Savior. Oh, this one that is a Savior. It is so important that we know
Him as Savior. He is the one that liberates
us. He's the one that saves us. He's the one that delivers us.
He is the victorious Savior. He delivers His people from their
sin. And He gives us the great victory
in Himself, in His person, in His salvation. In Isaiah chapter
45, again in verse 21, the Scripture says, Tell ye, and bring them
near. Let them take counsel together,
who hath declared this from ancient time, who hath told it from that
time. Have not I the Lord, and there
is no God else beside me, a just God and a Saviour, and there
is none beside me? There is no other Saviour. All
of the gods of Israel that they worshipped, all the gods of all
of the other countries put together, couldn't have an ounce of salvation
in them, but there is only one savior, and that is the one that
came. He was announced in the Old Testament
that he's coming, and now he's here. He's been on this earth.
He's done exactly what he said he would do while he was here.
And then in Isaiah 49, would you turn there with me to Isaiah
49, and we read this other wonderful passage of scripture, Isaiah
49 and verse 26, this prophet again was led by the Holy Spirit,
and I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh, and
they shall be drunken with their own blood as the sweet wine. and all flesh shall know that
I, the Lord, am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One
of Jacob. He is so mighty He can save. He is a Saviour that can save
and He's a Redeemer that can redeem. There it tells us that
the Lord am thy Saviour and only Saviour and thy Redeemer. And
you know the church Absolutely, without reservation, trust Him
for all their salvation. Nothing else. No church membership,
no observance of communion or baptism. Enter into it. We do
that thing to be obedient to the Lord, but it doesn't change
our position with God one iota. He is the Savior, He is the Redeemer,
and He is the Mighty One of Israel. who had come to the earth before,
but not as a savior. When he came to Abraham, he spoke
to him. He came to Noah, he spoke to
him. He came to Moses, he spoke to him. He came and spoke to
Adam in the garden and other instances that he came to this
earth. But now he's been announced in
his coming to be the savior. He's the one, the promised one.
He's always been a savior. He's an eternal savior. But when
he came and visited those folks in the Old Testament, It was
nothing like He came in the days that we read about there in the
book of Luke. He came incarnate. He came as God-man, Emmanuel,
God with us. And He had a mission to carry
out in the short time He was upon this earth. He is God's
chosen Savior. He's God's ordained Savior. And
He's God's anointed Savior. So we have Him as the only Savior. Certain of God's writers of the
New Testament were impressed by uh to write some blessed things
about someone is here and we direct your attention over to
the book of acts at this moment in the book of acts chapter 13
and we're going to read several verses of this chapter because
it's so valuable it shares with us as the apostle paul was preaching
by invitation by Providence, by God's decree. He's preaching
here in Acts chapter 13. And let's go there to Acts chapter
13 and we want to start reading with verse 14. And it tells us
here that Paul and his group had left Pergia and came to Antioch
and Pisidia and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day
and sat down. And after the reading of the
law and the prophets Notice here what's read, and it's going to
be brought out later in this chapter. After the reading of
the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent
unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word
of exhortation for the people, say on. So here we have these
men invited by God's divine providence we have the apostle paul invited
by divine providence and these people are bring it out if you
have something to say to us please say it and then it tells us in
verse sixteen and paul stood up and beckoning with his hand
said men of israel and ye that fear god give audience you know
all those guys that were there said they feared god And Paul
brings that out. But we're going to find out they
didn't fear God. They were afraid of God. They
were afraid of His law. They didn't know grace. And it
says here that in verse 17, and the God of this people of Israel
chose our fathers. He brings up the wonderful subject
of election. It is so apparent as he talked
with Noah, as he talked to able as he talked in giving what needed
to be as a sacrifice is so apparent as we look through the scriptures
that the Bible teaches us so much about election and if it
wasn't for God dealing with us in the covenant of grace and
determining to save a people no one would be saved because
We are so dead and trespasses and sin that we just never come
to him. We need that outside brought
to us. We need God brought to us. We
need that salvation from above that birth from above. God chose
our fathers and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers
in the land of Egypt and with a high hand brought he them out
of it. How glorious this is. It is the
Lord that brought them out. It was not them. And then it
tells us in verse 18, in about the time of 40 years, suffered
he their manners in the wilderness. Oh, we just look at that experience
as brought out in the book of Numbers, the experience of Israel,
national Israel in the wilderness, how many died in the wilderness
in unbelief, their bad manners. And then verse 19, and when he
had destroyed seven nations, God again comes out and declares
what he's in charge of. He's in charge of this. in the
land of Canaan. He divided their land to them
by law. And after that, he gave unto
them judges. God gave them judges. It's God
that did that. And for 450 years, until Samuel
the prophet. And afterward, they desired a
king. And God gave them unto them Saul,
the son of Sis, the man of the tribe of Benjamin, for the space
of 40 years. And when he had removed him,
God removed him. He raised up unto them David
to be their king, whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have
found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, which
shall fulfill all my will. Of this man's seed, someone's
coming. Someone's coming. Of this man's
seed hath God, according to promise, raised unto Israel a Savior.
Someone's coming. Now someone is here. He has been
brought. He's a Savior and he gives us
his name. I can just see a bunch of those
Jews, those people so important in religion, sucking in their
breath when he mentioned the name of the Savior, Jesus. They knew exactly who he was
talking about, Jesus of Nazareth. Well, when John had first preached
before his coming and baptism of repentance and all the people
of Israel, to all the people of Israel, and as John fulfilled
his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. I am not him. I am not the Messiah. I am one to announce him. But
behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes on his feet I
am not worthy to lose. Someone is here. I'm going to
tell you, someone is here. Men and brethren, children of
the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, To you
is the word of this salvation sent. For they that dwell at
Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor
yet the voices of the prophets, which were read every Sabbath
day, what had just taken place in this synagogue before the
floor was turned over to Paul, they had read the prophets, they
had read the law and the prophets, And here it is bringing it up.
They read every Sabbath day. They have fulfilled them in condemning
him. And though they found no cause
of death in him yet desire they pilot that he should be slain.
Someone is coming. Someone is here. Now he's going
to fulfill exactly what he came to do. He did not come to this
earth to set up an earthly kingdom. He spoke out against that a number
of times. His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. It's in our hearts. He had no
interest. He had no intention of setting
up an earthly kingdom. That is man-made religion. That's man's interpretation.
But the Lord never said that. He never brought that subject
up. None of the other prophets of the New Testament, none of
the other preachers of the New Testament, none of the other
apostles of the New Testament, ever brought that subject up.
It's just man-made fiction. Oh, to just have the plain view
of the Scriptures is that someone's coming, someone's here, and someone's
coming back. Well, here, He raised Him from
the dead. This One that came accomplished
His exact purpose, and that was He redeemed His people, He laid
down His life for ransom for many, and went to the grave. He was in the tomb for three
days and three nights, that glorious day he came out of the tomb as
promised because he had fulfilled all the scripture and he'd also
Taken care all the sin of all his people none was left behind
None was with with even a tent or tinge of sin. He'd taken care
of it And we declare unto you glad tidings, and how that promise
which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto
us, their children. Then he raised up Jesus again,
as it was also written in the second psalm, Thou art my son,
this day have I begotten thee. As Paul looks at the Old Testament,
that's all he had to read from in that day and that time. He
went back there and says, someone's coming, but someone is here,
and this is what he's gonna do when he's here. And as concerning
that, he raised him up from the dead, verse 34, now no more to
return to the corruption. He said, on this wise, I will
give you the sure mercies of David. everything that God had
ever declared in the Old Testament. Remember what David said in his
last words? He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant. And God does that when he quickens
us, shares us the gospel. And it took place in the Old
Testament. It's continuing to take place under the New Testament
economy. It is having great joy in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore, he saith also in another
psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thy holy one to see corruption."
I take stock sometimes in a verse of scripture like this because
sometimes I just can't remember where a passage of scripture
is and I can say, in another psalm, that's what Paul did. In verse 36 and 34, David, after
he had served his own generation, and that's all he could do. serve
his own generation that's all you can do serve your generation
serve it the best you can and it says serve his own generation
by the will of God fell in sleep and was laid into his father's
and saw corruption by the will of God fell on sleep that's what's
going to happen when God calls his home but he whom God raised
again saw no corruption but it Be it known unto you, therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins. O, I bring you good tidings of
great joy, which shall be to all people. This good tidings
of great joy, what is it? He preached unto you the forgiveness
of sins. How could God forgive sin? How can He be a just and justifier? Someone had to pay for that sin,
and we find that God promised His only begotten Son to take
care of that problem. And His Son came. As we read
about in Luke chapter 2, His Son came, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and at the appointed time His Son went to the cross, and in
His death on the cross He bore our sins completely away. Beware,
therefore, lest ye come unto this which is spoken of the prophets.
Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish. For I work a work
in your days, a work which ye shall no wise believe, though
a man declare it unto you. Isn't that our natural state?
If we don't have the Holy Spirit come to us after the gospel is
brought to us, it just goes off of us like water on a duck's
back. And the Jews, when they had gone out of the synagogue,
the Gentiles besought these words might be preached to them the
next Sabbath. Now, when the congregation was
broken up, many of the Jews and the religious proselytes followed
Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue
in the grace of God. Don't get hung up on the law.
It's been done away in Christ. Continue in the grace of God. Now we find that the Apostle
Paul was led by the Holy Spirit. to write to those churches in
Galatia and bring up the point, you've fallen from grace. You're
not having grace. Grace is so much in importance
here. We're saved by grace through
faith and that not of ourselves. It's a gift of God. And the next
Sabbath, they come almost the whole city together to hear the
word of God. The Jews, the religious leaders,
they have a problem with this. They envy and spake against those
things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said, It was necessary
that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, but
seeing you put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of
everlasting life, lo, we turned to the Gentiles. For so hath
the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light
of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends
of the earth. What is that message that Paul
was going to bring? Behold, I bring you. good tidings
of great joy he has taken care of the sin issue he has brought
forgiveness of sin now in verse 48 and when the gentiles heard
this they were glad and glorified the word of the lord oh they
realized as the holy spirit revealed it to them in this regeneration
that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one that is here, the promised
seed that would come and take care of the problem. And as many
as were ordained to eternal life believe Oh, thank God for that
wonderful statement that is brought out there in verse 48. It was
not up to these people to come up with enough belief. It is
in our faith. It's where our faith is placed.
It's placed in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the only way that
can happen is that God had to be involved before the foundation
of the world. In the book of 1 Timothy chapter
3 and verse 16, we read a wonderful passage without controversy. great is the mystery of godliness
let's read the rest of that as it's found in first timothy chapter
three first timothy chapter three and verse sixteen these wonderful
words are brought out it's just shares with us there is there
is no way that we can wrap our whole head around all that this
passage means but it does cause us to rejoice And we find such
peace and such hope in the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ not
only was promised to come, someone is coming, but he was promised
and came. He came to this earth without
controversy. Great is the mystery of godliness.
It is a mystery revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. God was manifest
in the flesh. He's here. He is here. He came to fulfill his purpose
and that was to lay down his life, a ransom for many on the
cross. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory,
without controversy. Who is this Savior? Jesus Christ, the Lord, united
with Jesus the man. But we see Jesus who was made
a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. Hebrews
chapter 2 and verse 9 and also in the book of Revelation it
tells us about in the book of life of the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. He is the promised one, the one
that was promised to come. The gospel, good tidings of great
joy. The Savior, Christ the Lord. I bring you good tidings of great
joy. The Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
has put away sin. The promised one that is able
to deal with the problem, we are in the fall. The fall is
the problem, and we cannot take care of it. We're dead in trespasses
and sin. Our final reading, would you
join me in the book of Hebrews? Someone has come. Someone has
come. He came and did exactly what
He had purpose to do. He did die on the cross. He did take upon our sin. Our sin was imputed to Him and
His righteousness is imputed to us. Oh, the very transaction
that was fulfilled on the cross is so glorious, and yet we as
men and women, boys and girls, were not able to comprehend all
that was there. in fact God the Father shut off
the daylight for that season while he was there as he had
all our sin placed upon him what what a condition he was in and
then he died died for our sin well here in the book of Hebrews
chapter 9 Hebrews chapter 9 Hebrews chapter 9 and there in
verse 24 Hebrews 9, verse 24, it says, for Christ is not entered
into the holy places made with hands. Now this Christ in the
New Testament is the Messiah in the Old Testament, the Anointed
One. And that's Jesus, that's the Lord Jesus, made with hands,
which are a figure of the true, but in heaven itself now to appear
in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often as the high priest entered into the holy place every
year with blood of others. Oh, it's an ongoing, never settled
business that we find that the priests in the Old Testament,
we mentioned this in the past, but it's so apparent as we read
passages of scripture like this, that there was no place for those
priests to rest. It was never done. But our savior,
when he went to the cross, he put away sin as it goes on to
tell us. For then must he often have suffered since the foundation
of the world. But now, once in the end of the
world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. He did what no priest in the
Old Testament could do. He did what no Pharisee in the
New Testament could do. He died to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself. And as It is appointed unto men
once to die, but after that the judgment. So Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many, and to them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Now that just leads us into next
Sunday's message. The Lord willing, if He gives
us strength to do it, We'd like to finish this three-part series
with this message, someone's coming back. The Old Testament,
someone's coming. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
someone's here. And look what he did. Look how
he saved his people. He went back to glory victorious.
And then from Acts to Revelation, someone's coming back. We're
gonna look at this looking only at the scriptures we don't want
any preconceived ideas here we want to look at the scriptures
and see what the scriptures have to say but here we have in Hebrews
chapter 9 and verse 28 he shall appear shall he appear the second
time without sin unto salvation God bless you until next time
we're able to gather together may he look after us guide us
and direct us. It's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.