Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14 says
therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign behold a virgin
shall conceive and bear a son and now shall call his name Emmanuel. In our text that we read Matthew
1 I'll read it again verses 18 to 25 now the birth of Jesus
was on the wise when his mother Mary was a spouse to Joseph before
they came together she found she was found with child of the
Holy Ghost and Joseph her husband being a just man not willing
to make her a public example was minded to put her away privately
but while he thought on those these things behold the angel
of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream saying Joseph thou
son of David fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife For that
which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall
bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. Oh, hallelujah. Now all this
was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord
by the prophets, saying, Behold, a virgin. Here we go again. Here's
what's said in Isaiah 714. Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a son. And they shall call his
name Immanuel, what's being interpreted as God with us, God with us,
God in the flesh. My, then Joseph being raised
from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him and
took unto him his wife. He knew her not until she bought
forth her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus, just
as the angel said. Now turn to Luke chapter 2, if
you would. Luke chapter 2, but keep your finger there in Matthew
chapter 1, because we'll be going back there. Luke chapter 2. Brother Travis spoke wonderfully
on this text last week. Man, I love what he said, the
greatest birth, the greatest birth that ever occurred is the
birth of Christ. The greatest birth that ever
occurred in this world is the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at verses 1 to 7. It came to pass in those days
that there was a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the
world should be taxed. And this taxing was first made
when Cyrenus was governor of Syria. It all went to be taxed,
everyone into his own city. And Joseph also went up from
Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was the house and
the lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife,
being great with child. And so it was that while they
were there, two days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she bought forth her firstborn son. and wrapped them in swallowing
clothes and laid them in the manger because there was no room
for them in the inn. Now, think upon this. On that day when Christ was born,
there was no doubt thousands of other children born on that
day in the world. through the known world at that
time, which the Romans called the known world, and through
all over the place. Many children born that day.
But none who were born were like this child. This child is God with us. This
child is Emmanuel. This is the child that was promised
way back in Genesis chapter 3. The seed of the woman. Conceived by the Holy Spirit
of God. Born without sin. And why did he come here? That's
exactly right. To save us from our sins. That's
the whole reason, the whole reason Christ came was to save sinners. That's the whole reason he came. My brother and sister who are
sinners like me, aren't you thankful? Aren't you grateful? Oh my. What a Savior, what a Redeemer. Listen to 1 Timothy 3.16, and
without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. This
is a mystery that we can't understand. God was manifest in the flesh. God himself, manifest in the
flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto
the Gentiles, believed in the world, and received up the glory. And do you know that our son,
he was, our son, like I was looking at my son at that time. Our savior
was born king. King of kings and Lord of lords.
And do you know he was king before he even came? And you know he was king while
he was on this earth? And do you know he's king right now
in glory? He's never ceased to be king.
ever. He's never abdicated his throne,
and he never was. That's our Savior, God. The Word
became flesh and dwelt among us. The Word of God. The second person of the Trinity
became a man. Well, why? Go back to Matthew
121 again. And this is not my opinion, and
this is what the scriptures say. This is wonderful. For sinners,
this is the greatest news that a sinner could ever hear. Look
at this. And notice the word, now Dave,
we've been giving praise to God over the word shall. Look at how many times the word
shall is used here. And shall is definitive. It shall
come to pass. There's no doubt. The scripture says in Isaiah
about the Messiah, he shall not fail. He's come to accomplish
a mission. And we have the mission right
here in this verse, and this is wonderful. And she shall bring
forth a son. There's no doubt about it. This
is going to happen. God prophesied it was going to happen. God planned
and purposed that this was going to happen. Christ is the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. He must come into
time and space where we dwell, right? See, God can't die so
he becomes a man so he can die for the sins of his people. And
now he enters into heaven as the God-man mediator for us.
He's still fully God as he's on this earth. And yet he's fully
man. Look at this. And she shall bring
forth a son. There's no doubt it was gonna
happen. And thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he what? Shall say. Not maybe, not if man makes a
decision, not if, not if, this shall is before I was even born. Now again, you've heard me say,
we're made willing in the day of God's power. I'm not saying
that we don't exercise our will, but we're made willing. Otherwise,
we're unwilling to come to God. And it says here, he shall save
his people from their sins. It is finished. I preach a finished work. It's
already done. There's nothing for us to do.
God acts upon us, regenerates us, we're born again in the Holy
Spirit of God, and we run to Christ after we've been given
faith and repentance before God. And he gets all the glory, doesn't
he? Like Sister Kathy saying, oh, how merciful God's been to
me. Has he been merciful to you?
Oh, let us praise his mighty name. It's wonderful. Wonderful. Turn, if you would, to Micah.
Micah chapter 5. It was prophesied that the Messiah
would be born in Bethlehem. Oh my, Micah chapter 5, verse
2. Remember how we saw in Luke that, and think of this, how
God in His sovereignty ordained, moved the Roman emperor at that
time to tax a people? at the exact time that Mary was
heavy with child, right? Almost ready to give birth. But
the Lord couldn't be born in Nazareth. He couldn't be born
in Galilee. Because the scripture says, is
prophesized, he'd be born in Bethlehem. So because of that
tax, people say, well, that just happened by chance. No, it didn't.
God is the orchestrator of all things that way. Right? And here
we go. Look at this. Micah 5, 2. But
thou, Bethlehem of Phrada, though thou be little among thousands
of Judah, yet of these shall come forth unto me, that is to
be ruler in Israel, whose going forth have been from old, from
everlasting. Who is Christ? He's God. He's God in the flesh. He is
the ancient of days. And he became a man. He humbled. You talk about humility. People
talk about humility. That person's so humble. You
talk about humility. Angels are bowing down before
him and worshiping and praising his mighty name. And he comes
down to this sin-cursed world. And people hate him. And they
spit on him. And they mock him. And here he
is, all he has to do is say a word and they can die just like that. And yet he's so merciful, isn't
he? What mercy he had on us before
we were saved. Oh, he's so merciful. Grace goes
before grace. See, he knows who his sheep are.
We don't, but he knows. And all through our unsaved days,
even he's taking care of us, watching over us, keeping us
from being, just keeping us from destroying ourselves, which is
what we would have done. Isn't it amazing? Isn't God's
grace so wonderful? My, it's absolutely incredible. So this child was of humble beginnings. There was no room in the inn.
The world had no room for him. Nope. No room for him. And here he is. He who's born
king. He who is the ruler of all. He
who had the tree grow that he would be crucified upon. He who
had the rock mined that the nails would be made of, that would pierce his hands and
his feet. He who had spoken the world into
existence, here he is lying in the manger
and there's no room for him. The world says we got no room
for you. And you know by nature we would
say the same thing. if God hadn't done a mighty work
in us? Isn't he so merciful? That song
fit right in, didn't it? I didn't even notice you couldn't
sing that. Isn't he so merciful? Oh, he's so merciful, isn't he?
Oh my, I'll tell you, our Lord is incredible. Let's read Matthew
1, verses 20 and 21 again. And he was called Jesus. The
whole reason he was named Jesus, well, because God had ordained
that name for him. But he was called Jesus because
the angel commanded Mary and Joseph that his name would be
Jesus. Look at Matthew 1, 20 and 21. Well, he thought on these things.
Behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream.
Saint Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary
thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
Jesus, Messiah, for he shall save his people from their sins.
You know, the Lord Jesus Christ is an incredible title. He's
the Messiah. He's the anointed one. He's the
Savior sent from God, like we saw in the study in John 17.
Sent. Sent by the Father. You know, the Father sent Him
here to save us from our sins. That's amazing in itself. Who
did we sin against? The Father. And yet here He is in His mercy
and His grace. Oh, how merciful God's been to us, eh? Oh, how
merciful He's been to us. Let us praise His mighty name.
And He grew up in the despised village of Nazareth. And at the
age of 30, he publicly entered his divine mission. Remember,
it was all set, all planned and purposed by God, all ordained
by God, even his death, even his death. Everything is all
planned and purposed according to God's calendar. And he completed his divine mission
because he was on a mission. He was sent for one thing. to
save his people from their sins. Live that perfect life we never
could, right? And to save us from our sins. My. And he did it. His crowning glorious
success in his death at Calvary Street. In his glorious resurrection
into glory in heaven. Where is he right now? Oh, he's
seated at the right hand of the Father, beloved. Has his mercy
ceased? No, it's still. We're receivers
of his mercy and grace, aren't we? Oh my, he's being so merciful
to us. And you know, Jesus never traveled
beyond the small country where he was born. You know, he never
wrote a book. Don't get me wrong, right? But
I don't know how many religious books there are where people
are like, oh, can you read my book? Right? He never wrote a
book. He never wrote a book. More books, but think of this,
more books been written about him, haven't there? Than any
other person in the world. He never invented anything, yet
all inventions are dated by his birth and his death. You ever
think that? A.D. and B.C. Oh my. All the patents. are dated according
to his birth and death. He never owned anything and yet
every man and woman is eternally poor without him. That's amazing. He was poor and
yet he made many rich and I'm not talking wealth, I'm talking
spiritual blessings. Justification. Justification. To be able to stand in the presence
of God. Justified. Because we're clothed in His
righteousness. Redemption. To be saved from our sins. We
couldn't pay for one of our sins, and He says it's finished. Pays
for them all. Sanctification. We're holy in
Christ. Right? Wisdom. You know, I'm looking
at people who are wise. Not of our own making, but God's
made us wise unto salvation, hasn't He? through Christ Jesus
our Lord. Everything we know, whether it
be, you've heard, I'm gonna keep saying this too, everything we
know, whether it be in the worldly knowledge and everything we know
spiritually, is being given to us by God. Isn't that wonderful? That's amazing. My. My oh my. Listen to this. And
it was about the sixth hour and there was darkness over all the
earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was dark and the
veil of the temple was rent in the midst from the top to the
bottom. And when Jesus cried with a loud voice, he said, Father,
into thy hands I commend my spirit. And heaven said this, he gave
up the ghost. He gave his own life. He willingly came into
this world to save sinners who shaked their fist at him. Right? I was one of those rebels who
used to curse his name and now I praise his name. Dave, we've
talked about that many times. He's turned us into ones who
now praise his name. It's amazing. Only God can do
that. I'll tell you. Only God can do
that. That's a miracle. And then he
willingly gave his life up, didn't he? Willingly. Says he gave up the ghost. Spurgeon,
I think it was, said he could have hung up there for as long
as he wanted to. He's God. He willingly gives
up the ghost. And then they come to break his
bones and he's already dead. So that not a bone, as the prophet
said, shall be broken in his body. Oh my. As I mentioned earlier, the birth
of Jesus was unique. It was different from all other
births that night. First, it was unique in its nature.
Look at verse 18 of Matthew chapter one. It says, now the birth of
Jesus Christ was on the wise when his Mary was espoused to
Joseph before they came together. She was found with child of the
Holy Ghost. So this birth is unique in its
nature. This is nothing that no one's
science can explain. But see, God is above all those
things, isn't he? Oh, my. This is supernatural. Just as Isaac's birth was supernatural,
right? Sarah was past her time to have
children. And God said to Isaac, you're
going to have a son, child of promise. Well, Sarah got a little
ahead with Hagar, didn't she? Tried to force it to happen,
and God said, no, Sarah's going to have the baby, and not Hagar. And even despite that situation,
God still blessed Hagar and her son, didn't he? My, oh my. So this was a supernatural birth,
just as Sarah's having Isaac was a supernatural birth. But
Jesus had no human father. He had no human father. We all
have human fathers. My children are sinners because
I'm a sinner, right? And I'm a sinner because my dad
was a sinner and my mom was a sinner. And they were sinners because
their parents were sinners. Sinners beget sinners, don't
we? But Christ was the seed of the woman. We see here that he was conceived
by the Holy Spirit of God. The eternal Son of God is born
as a man in a body that was prepared for him by God. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 5 says,
Wherefore, when he came into this world, he sayeth, Sacrifice
an offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared
me. Oh my! Turn, if you would, to
Luke, chapter 1. Luke, chapter 1. Luke, chapter 1. We'll read verses
26 to 35. Now, babies with a human father
are born wicked. Folks often recoil at that. But
the scripture, this is not my opinion. Listen to what the scripture
says. The wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon as they
be born, speaking lies. That's what the scripture says. Born sinners. Scripture says
we were conceived in sin. Look at this in Luke chapter
1. Oh how merciful God is to us.
Look at this Luke chapter 1 verses 26 to 35. And in the sixth month
the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named
Nazareth to a virgin espoused to him to a man whose name was
Joseph of the house of David and the virgin's name was Mary.
And the angel came unto her, and said, Hail, thou art highly
favoured. The Lord is with thee. Blessed
art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was
troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation
this should be. And the angel said, Here, look
at these two words. Oh, look at these two words. These two
words. Remember David with Mephibosheth? And do you know God says this
to us in Christ? Fear not. Fear not. Isn't that wonderful? Fear not,
Mary, for thou has found favor with God. Do you know God's people
have found favor with God? That's the only thing that made
us to differ. We're no different than anybody else. The only one
who's made us to differ is God. Not ourselves, it's God. It's
amazing. And behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb and bring forth There's that little word again. And thou
shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and thou shalt
call his name Jesus. He shall be great. Oh, he's great,
isn't he? Greatly to be praised, right?
He shall be called the Son of the Highest. You remember those
demons? They said, we know who thou art,
thou Holy One of God. They knew who he was. He's the
Holy One of God. Oh my. and the Lord God shall
give unto him the throne of his father David and he shall, look
at those words, that little word is amazing, and he shall reign
over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall
be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel
how shall this be seeing I know not a man. And the angel answered
and said unto him, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the
power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that thing
which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Miracle. A virgin shall give birth. So
Christ was born sinless. He was conceived without sin.
were conceived with sin because the seed and the father's seed
and the mother's egg come together and form a child. But that child
is conceived in sin. Not this one. Not this one. He's the seed of the woman. Oh
my. Turn if you would to Luke chapter
2. Christ never sinned in his life. You know He died sinless
too? When He hung on that cross, He
died absolutely sinless. Our sins were imputed to Him.
Right? He was made sin for us, but He
was still sinless. He offered Himself, the scripture
says in Hebrews, without spot and blemish. He's perfect. He's the perfect Lamb of God. And our sins were imputed to
him and his perfect righteousness is imputed to us. What an exchange. I like to call that the great
transaction. Oh my. It's incredible. And he's born
sinless, never sinned in his life because he's God. God can't
sin, can he? God can't sin. I preached a sermon
once called The Impeccability of Christ. He could not sin.
He's God. He's tempted like us, but he
can't sin. He's perfect. He's sinless. John
the Baptist even said, behold the Lamb of God. Now the Passover
Lamb had to be perfect, didn't he? In order to be accepted.
Had to be absolutely perfect. There he is. Behold God's Lamb. Behold God's sacrifice for sin.
Oh my. And then he said this, I'm the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me." He never lied. He never lied. He never even,
he didn't even bring attention to himself, did he? Oh my, he's wonderful. Look at
this in Luke chapter 2. Oh, look at this. The birth of
the great peacemaker, which is what Christ is. He's the great
peacemaker, right? We have peace with God through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Man's always searching for peace
in this world, and it always gets broken because we're a bunch
of sinners. But if God himself makes peace
with God for us, guess what? We have peace with God now. Isn't
that beautiful? It's wonderful. Oh, how merciful
he's being to us. Oh, I could get Kathy to sing
that song again for us. That was amazing. My, oh my. Oops. I just called 911 and didn't
even know it. Okay. Got too excited there. Yeah, hopefully not. Oh my. Amen. Luke chapter 2 verses 8 to 14.
Here we go. And they were in the same country,
shepherds. Now think of this. Here's the
king of kings and the Lord of lords. He didn't come in pomp
and circumstance, did he? Sometimes when kings enter into
a land, they come in pomp and circumstance, don't they? Look
at this. Look at our king. This is the
king of kings and the Lord of lords. Look how he comes into
this world. And there were in that same country shepherds abiding
in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo,
the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord
shone round about them. And they were so afraid. Oh my, they were
afraid. And look at what the angel says
to them. Look at what the angel says to them shepherds. Two words
again that we keep seeing popping up. And the angel said unto them,
fear not. Oh, isn't God so merciful? He
says to us in Christ, sinner friend, fear not. Oh, it's wonderful. Fear not. Behold, I bring you good tidings
of great joy, which shall be to all people. God has a people
in every tribe, kindred, tongue and nation, doesn't he? This
is wonderful. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David, a savior. which is Christ the Lord, the
Messiah. And this shall be a sign unto
you, you shall find the babe wrapped in swelling clothes,
lying in a manger. And suddenly there were, look
at this, could you imagine, here the angel Lord appears, and then
all of a sudden the shepherds are already freaking, they're
just shaking, right? And then a multitude of angels shows up. This will be the story they're
going to tell their grandkids, and it's going to get passed
down through generations. Oh, and suddenly there was a
multitude of heavenly hosts. What are they doing? What do
the angels of heaven do? They praise God, don't they?
Oh, look at that. What are we going to do when
we get to heaven? We're going to praise God, aren't we? We're
going to praise. If we praise Him here, we're
going to praise Him there. I'll tell you why. And we're
going to praise him perfectly. Amen, brother. Amen. The way
they say, glory to God in the highest. Oh, my. And on earth,
peace, goodwill toward men. Do you know it's the goodness
of God that leads man to repentance, the scripture says? Every one
of us who's a saved sinner can say, God's been so good to me.
He's been good to us, brother Brian, hasn't he? Oh, he's been
so good to us, brother. My, oh, my. I'll tell you why.
Oh! And notice, there's no announcement
to the high priest of Israel. There's no announcement to the
royalty of Israel. There's no announcement to the
royalty of Rome. Look at this. Lowly shepherds
are the first ones to hear of the news of the Messiah. Oh, it's wonderful! My! So this birth was a unique birth.
As Brother Travis mentioned last week, it was the greatest birth
that ever occurred in this world. The next point is the birth of
Christ was prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures. It
was prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures. And again, Isaiah
714 says, Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign.
Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and thou shall
call his name Immanuel. A virgin shall give birth. And our Lord's birth was a fulfillment
of that. Listen to this in Genesis chapter
three. When our first parents fell,
God announced that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's
head. My, my, and the serpent would
bruise his heel. That's speaking of the humanity of Christ. He
crushed Satan at the cross. He crushed Satan at the cross.
You hear some Christians, some professing Christians, and you
think that Satan has more power than God. No, he doesn't. As Henry Meehan used to say,
he's God's devil. He can only do what God allows,
period. We see that in the book. If you
ever have any doubt, just read the book of Job. He can only
do what God allowed him to do to Job. my oh my and what what
satan does he casts doubt on the word of god that's his that's his that's
his master trick is he makes he start making people think
well the word of god don't really say that or i think You ever
hear those words? I think it means this. I had
a fellow just this week, he's like, well, I think, I said,
number one, the scriptures is not a private interpretation.
What I think or what you think doesn't matter. What does the
word of God say? Right? That's what matters. Doesn't matter what I think about
it, doesn't matter what you think about it. What does it say? And like Norm Wells says, if
we'd only believe what it says. They wouldn't fight against it.
My, oh my. My, oh my. Turn a few words to
Genesis, chapter 22. Do you know God promised Abraham
that one of his descendants would be a blessing to all nations?
Speaking of Christ. So he was prophesied of in the
Old Testament. Again, I'll read Genesis 3, 15.
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between
thy seed and her seed. And it shall bruise thy head,
and thou shalt bruise his heel. Now notice that. Notice he said
to him, he said to him, between thy seed. Well, that's us born
dead in trespasses and sins. And God said, I'll put enmity
between your children and the seed of the woman. Who do men hate? The seed of the woman. By nature
we hate Christ. Oh, there's a natural enmity
there, isn't there? Between the seed of Adam and
Eve and the seed of the woman. My oh my, look at this in Genesis
chapter 22 verses 15 to 18. And look at this, look at the
mercy flowing from these words, right? Oh how merciful is our
dear sister saying God's been to us. Oh how merciful. Look
at the mercy flowing from these words. And the angel of the Lord
called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time. Verse 15 of
Genesis 22. And said, by myself I have sworn,
saith the Lord, Now if the Lord swears something, it's going
to come pass, isn't it? Oh my. Sayeth the Lord, Jehovah, for
because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son,
thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying
I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand
of the sea, sand which is upon the seashore. And thy seed shall
possess the gate of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice. That seed there is not the nation
of Israel. That seed there is Christ. Blessings
only come to God's people through Christ, out of a tribe, tongue,
kindred, and nation. How do we know that? How do we
know that that speaks of Christ? We'll turn,
if you would, quickly to Galatians. Galatians chapter 3. And this is the scripture
saying this. It's not my opinion, it's what
the scripture says. And we bow our knee to it, right?
Look at this. This is wonderful. This is amazing. Look at this. Galatians chapter
3. We're starting verse 26. For
you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For
as many as you have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
There's neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither bond nor free.
There's neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ
Jesus. Now he's writing to the church
in Galatia, right? And he's speaking this of the
body of Christ. all the elect of all the ages.
Look what it says, and if ye be Christ, because he's the seed
spoken of over there in Genesis chapter 22, look at this. And
if ye be Christ, then you are Abraham's seed. What? Yeah. That's what the scriptures
say, isn't that wonderful? Then you're Abraham's seed and
heirs according to the promise. Now does God have a people still
all over the world? Yeah, in every country in the
world. We don't know who they are. Gospel goes out, we pray
for God to use it for His glory and honor and praise and He will
draw in those for whom Christ died. So what this is saying
then, take all those Old Testament prophets, you know who they're
for? God's people, His elect. That's amazing. That's amazing,
isn't it? He's so good. He's so merciful. Now, do we pray for peace around
the world? Absolutely. Absolutely. We pray God will draw his people
in? Absolutely. Yeah. Don't stop praying. Don't
stop praying for your family members as long as they're breathing
breath. Right? There's still hope for them.
Till they breathe their last breath. Oh my. Look at this in Genesis chapter
28 verses 13 and 14. I know I've got us turning around
a lot here. Genesis chapter 28 verses 13
and 14. And behold, the Lord stood above
it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the
God of Isaac, the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give
it, into thy seed. Now listen to this in Galatians
chapter 3, verse 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He said, not to seeds, as of
many, but as of one, into thy seed, which is Christ. And then we just saw, if you're
in Christ, then you're of Abraham's. You're the children of promise. Oh my. Isn't God good? Isn't he wonderful? Oh, he's so merciful to us. I'll
tell you what, he's so merciful. My, oh my. So the Jewish people,
they were looking for some great person to come. They were looking
for a long-promised Messiah. They lost their freedom because
of their sin, right? Oh, they're just as bound up
as we are, dead in trespasses and sins. They lost their freedom.
They were looking for a deliverer who would rule over them. They
didn't expect one that would come who was lowly, And they
did not even know him. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. They didn't even know him. We saw that in John chapter 12
this week on Wednesday night. He did all these miracles among
them, and it says they didn't believe. My. You ever hear people say,
I just want, I just want, I just want people to see Jesus in me.
You ever hear people say that? They didn't even know Jesus when
he was sitting in front of them. The only way we will know Jesus
or anyone else will know Jesus is by the power of God, the Holy
Spirit, in his mercy and in his grace, regenerating us and giving
us faith to believe on Christ and rest in him and trust in
him. My oh my, do you see that little
note in here? Look at this. In the bold and
Christ is everything. There will be little else we
will want in heaven besides Jesus Christ. He will be our bread,
our food, our beauty, and our glorious garment. The atmosphere
of heaven will be Christ. Everything in heaven will be
Christ like. Yes, Christ is the heaven of his people. Oh my! What a gem from Spurgeon! My! He's everything. If He's everything
to you here, He's going to be everything to you in glory. My, oh, my. Isn't that wonderful?
Okay, the third point. I got to get going here. The
third point is the uniqueness in the purpose of the birth of
Christ. Why was Christ born into this
world? Why did the Ancient of Days become
an infant and become a man? The Ancient of Days, that's who
He is. He's God. Well, the purpose of the birth
of Christ was different from the purpose of any other birth
that day. See, we're born to live, aren't
we? Right? He was born to die. That was His whole purpose. to live the perfect life for
us, to fulfill all the law, all righteousness in our own place
as our substitute, and then to die as our substitute. His birth
was so unique in its purpose, because look at verse 21 of Matthew
chapter 1, this is the whole reason he came, and this is the
most wonderful news for sinners. Oh my! He came to die as our
substitute. Our text proclaims this. And
she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. How will
Christ save his people from their sins? He lives a perfect life,
and then he dies on Calvary's cross as our substitute. Totally fulfilling everything
so that God looks at us in Christ and sees us in Christ. And what
does he say about his son? He says, this is my beloved son
in whom I'm well pleased, right? If we're in Christ, what does
that mean about us? Oh my. You know, and this is one for
hard, that's this one for hard for us, because we're still sinners.
We still commit sin. We still, to our shame, struggle
with sin all the time. But you know, when Christ saved
us, He saved us from all our sins. And he saved us from my
past sins, my present sins, and my future sins. But I ask you
this, beloved of God, how many of our sins were future at Calvary's
Cross? Amen. Every one of them. So what, now does that give us
a license to go out there and go crazy? No, we won't want to,
we won't want to. The love of Christ now constrains
us from sin. Now we know what sin is. But
beloved, I preach a complete forgiveness in Christ Jesus our
Lord, fully covered. The blood of Christ cleanses
us from what? All sins, amen, all sins. Every one of them. They had nothing
left. And aren't you thankful? Aren't
you thankful that God says, your sins and iniquities will I remember
no more? This is the one who doesn't forget.
But of our sins, he says, I don't remember them. You ever contemplated that? He
doesn't forget nothing, but he says of our sins, I don't remember
them. The blood. When I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. Because we've already been judged
in Christ. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus. In the Greek, again, that's no
judgment. There will not be a judgment
for believers ever again. That's good news, isn't it? That's
good news. I'll tell you why. Oh my. Oh
my. Think of this. Moses was born
to bring, to lead the people out of Israel. Elijah is remembered
as the prophet of God, to call sinful nation to repentance.
David was God's choice to be king. He was born for that. Cyrus,
he was a heathen ruler, but God used him to rebuild the temple
at Jerusalem. Alexander the Great, another
heathen ruler, was used by God to spread the Greek language.
Everywhere Alexander conquered, he brought in the Greek language,
right? Before Christ was even born. And then here comes the Romans.
Oh, we're gonna build a bunch of roads all over. We speak Latin,
but we're gonna keep Greek as the universal language for some
reason. Right? And then here comes the New Testament,
and it's written in Greek. And what does it do? It spreads
like wildfire. Isn't God amazing? Do you see
how he moved? My, but Christ came into this
world. He came into this world for a
greater work than any other man. His mission was different from
any other man. Jesus was born to die. He was
born to die. The purpose, again, of birth
is to give life. And for us to fill our little
niche in human affairs, right? And then die in death? You know,
we relinquish everything we have in death. We don't take nothing
with us, do we? I always say, Brother Neil was
talking one time, He said, Brother Wayne, I was thinking about buying
a new chainsaw. He said, but then I thought at
my age, he's 60 something now, he said, but then I thought at
my age, if I buy that, someone else is just going to use it.
So I'm just going to fix my old ones. I thought that's awesome,
Neil. Oh my. Oh. John 10, 17 says, therefore doth
my father love me because I lay down my life. See, he came to
lay down his life. That I might take it again. No man taketh it from me. Remember,
he gave up the ghost. We saw or heard in the text.
He gave up the ghost. No man took Christ's life. He
laid it. He says, but I lay it down on
myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take
it again. This commandment have I received of my father. He is
born to die. He came, you know why he came
to? He came to give eternal life to sinners. Oh my, how merciful is our great
God. The great peacemaker came to
die to make peace with God for his people. We could never make
peace with God for one sin. And they say if we lived, Augustus
Toplater, who wrote Rock of Ages, he liked to play with math numbers,
and he said, If we live till we're 82 or 83, we will commit
over a billion sins in a lifetime. And we can't pay for one. Not one. And Christ paid for all our sins.
For all the sins of all his people, right? He shall save his people
from their sins. Doesn't say here, save everybody.
But He will save His people, won't He? We don't know who they
are, so we just keep putting the gospel. I can't save anyone,
can you? We can't even save ourselves,
can we? But God can save all who come to Him in Christ Jesus.
Oh, that's why we say, come, flee to Christ. He's the only
hope for sinners. He's the only hope for sinners.
And I'm just a saved sinner standing before you, one beggar telling
other beggars where to find bread. Right? It's in Christ. It's the
only place. It's the only place. Neither
is there salvation in any other, that's being Christ, for there's
none of the name under heaven given among men whereby we must
be saved. Oh my. Christ is the most indispensable
man of all history. Salvation's only in him. Only
in him. Other men have come and been
a blessing to this world, but Jesus Christ is the necessity
that sinners need to be saved. There's no salvation outside
of Christ. I don't care what religion it
is. I don't care what people say. There's no salvation outside
of Christ. None. None at all. And the God-man
himself said that. Listen to this. This is the Father's
will which is sent me, that of all which he hath given me. When
were God's people given to Christ? Amen. Before the world began. Do we have anything to do with
our salvation if we were given to Christ before the foundation
of the world? You see? You see how amazing
God is? You see how merciful God is?
And this is the Father's will which is sent me, that of all
he hath given me, I should lose nothing. He will not lose one
of his people. Not one. But should raise it
up again at the last day. And then he says this in John
17 too. As thou has given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
has given him. Do you have eternal life in Christ?
Christ gave you that. By his power. and by the Father's
choice. Woo! I'll tell you what. That's
amazing grace, isn't it? That's amazing grace. That's
incredible. My oh my. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. Listen to this. Let's turn there.
John 6, 37. Folks say, well, well, You can
resist Christ. Yeah, we can resist the Holy
Spirit, but not when he brings us with his invincible power.
Men resist God for a season. I resisted God for a season until
his invincible grace drew me to him. Right? And did I come dragging and screaming?
No, I come running then. Did you? Oh my! I'll tell ya,
if we'd only believe what the scriptures say, right? Look at
this, John 6, 37, 40. Look at this. All that the Father give me shall. Not maybe if they make a decision,
not maybe if they pray a prayer, not maybe if they do this, not
maybe if they do that. Shall! Shall! Look at that, shall come to me.
And him that cometh to me, I will no wise cast out. Oh my, that's
wonderful. That's eternal security right
there, beloved. No wise cast out. For I come down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will, which has sent me, that of all
which he hath given me, I should lose nothing. Nothing. but you'd raise it up again at
the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that
everyone which seeth the son and believeth on him may have
everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
See, our God, our God, he's God. He's all-powerful. And that's
eternal security right there, beloved. And it has nothing to
do with us. We're receivers of mercy and
grace, aren't we? We're receivers. People are going
to give all kinds of gifts tomorrow, right? All kinds of gifts. And they'll say, well, if I don't
like this one, I'll take it back. Oh, this is a gift we didn't
earn. This is a gift we didn't even deserve. Right? This is a gift from the Father.
in heaven. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus, ordained to good works. And he has purposed all those
things. And the good works follow salvation. We are not saved by anything
we do. We are saved by the pure, free, sovereign grace of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Period. Period. And that's what the Word of God
says. Oh, how merciful God has been to us. Brother Brian, can
you close us in prayer?