If you would open your Bibles
now with me to Isaiah chapter nine. I'm sure by this point
everybody has figured out the subject of our message this morning
will be the birth of Christ. And I've titled the message A
Child Born, A Son Given. At this time of the year, most
of all the world is thinking about Mary's firstborn son, who
was born in Bethlehem, around 2,000 years ago. As we read in
the book of Luke, I always like to think about this, that the
Lord said way back there in the Old Testament that the Savior's
gonna be born in Bethlehem. Here's Mary pregnant with the
Savior, but she lives in Nazareth. Now how's that baby gonna be
born in Bethlehem? And the Lord moved the whole world so she'd
go to Bethlehem and have that child. Isn't that something?
He was born in Bethlehem about 2,000 years ago, And really,
you just almost can't help at this time of year, but think
about the birth of this child. Religious people talk all about
it, and I know they say a lot of wrong things, but they're
talking about it. They hold special services to
tell the story, the birth of this child. People put on plays,
reenacting it as best they figure that they can, or they set up
plastic figurines in their yards to show what they think that
scene might have looked like. and songs about the Lord's birth.
They're on the radio right now. They're in the loudspeakers of
every single store you go in. You just almost cannot help but
think about the birth of the Lord Jesus at this time. And
I know people are saying and doing, you know, a lot of wrong
things. And I saw one of them little plastic figurine things
the other day, and I thought, that's just an idea. Frank wouldn't
be such a grump, you know. It is, it is. But I'm glad. people are at least forced to
think about the birth of the Lord Jesus at this time, that's
a good thing. Now I know I say this every year,
I'm convinced of this, people love baby Jesus because he looks
like a baby and it deceives you into thinking that he's in your
hands, you hold a baby in your hands, that baby's dependent
on you and it deceives you into thinking that the Lord Jesus,
when he was a baby, was in your hands. They like that, they like
that story, you know, but they don't wanna hear about the king,
who holds them in his hand, and they're completely dependent
upon him. And I know people like baby Jesus, because he looks
all so helpless and dependent, and gosh, he needs somebody,
but they don't wanna hear, they're the helpless ones. They're the
needy ones, they need Christ. And I know people make a big
religious issue of Christmas and they make a big religious
issue of the Lord's birth. But let me tell you this. Never
one time does scripture tell us to celebrate the Lord's birth.
Not one time ever. We're told to celebrate and to
remember his death and his resurrection, but never his birth. However,
all that being true, the birth of Christ is a wonder. It's a wonder. It's a wonderful
thing for us to look at. And I sure am glad that the Lord
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, that he was born as a baby. The
Lord's birth is such a miracle. The only greater miracle that
I can think of is his death, that life himself died. God himself
was born as a man. Those are two just the greatest
miracles that you can think of. Now since the world is talking
about it so much, it's on everybody's mind to hear about the birth
of Jesus. I thought it would be very good for us to look at
scripture and see what does scripture tell us? Who is it that was born
that night? And I want us to see who it is
that was born on this night so that we worship him, so that
we're thankful that almighty God in his mercy and his grace
would send such a savior to sinful men and women like us. So here's
the first thing I see. That night in Bethlehem, a real
man was born. Look at verse six of Isaiah chapter
nine. For unto us a child is born. Now the Lord Jesus Christ was
a real man. He was born as a real baby, the
same way you and I are. He was born with a human body
and a human soul. Now look over at Romans chapter
five. This is so important. that the Lord Jesus be a real
man. You see, since by man came sin,
by man must come righteousness. Man sinned. When Adam sinned
in the garden, it was man that brought in sin, and he brought
death on the whole human race. Romans 5 verse 12 tells us that.
Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death
by sin, so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned,
all sin in him. Adam brought death and sin upon
all men. Well, since sin came by man,
righteousness has to come by another man. Since disobedience
came by one man, obedience has to come by another man. Since
death came by one man, life has to come by another man. And that
second man, second Adam, is the Lord Jesus Christ, the very one
who was born of Mary on that night in Bethlehem. Romans chapter
five, verse 17. For as by one man's offense,
death reigned by one, much more, they which receive abundance
of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so
by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men
unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. And the Lord Jesus never could
have accomplished that, bringing life and righteousness to his
people, unless he was first born as a man. So he could be our
substitute, so he could take our place. And I know that religion
makes a mockery and says so many false things about this thing
of the birth of Jesus, but I'm gonna tell you what, I sure am
glad he was born as the second Adam to be my representative.
I sure am glad. Number two, who was born that
night? Isaiah tells us that the son
was given. He says in verse six, for unto
us a child is born and unto us a son is given. Now here's a
mystery. I can tell you what the mystery
is, but I cannot explain it. A child was born, a real baby
boy was born, but the Son of God was given. The Apostle Paul,
who's way smarter than all of us put together, had this to
say about the person of Jesus Christ. He said, great is the
mystery of godliness, that God was manifested in the flesh.
That's a great mystery. He is both 100% man, and 100%
God. The prophet said, Isaiah said
back just a couple pages earlier, his name is Immanuel, God with
us. The name of this baby boy laying
there in swaddling clothes in a manger is Almighty God with
us. And the apostle said in him,
in that baby. The baby's gonna grow into a
man But God's not gonna change, he's always gonna be God. In
him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. All the fullness
of the Godhead dwells in a human body, that baby. That's a mystery. I mean, that's
a mystery. You gets thinking about that,
you're gonna get so lost, you're not gonna know which ends up.
The eternal God is contained in that baby. The heavens cannot
contain him, but he's contained in that baby. The Lord Jesus
Christ is God. He is God. He is everything that
God is. He's eternal. He's omnipotent. He's omnipresent. He's holy.
He's gracious. He is God. And that's, I love
to think about that. I love to say that. I want us
to know that the Lord Jesus Christ is God. I'll tell you what that
means. The savior that God sent to save
sinners is God. So since he's God, he cannot
fail to save anyone that he came to save. Isn't that wonderful? He is God. The son was given. Now the baby was born, but the
son of God wasn't born, was he? No, he was born of a virgin. The Lord Jesus was not born of
the seed of Adam, because if he was, he'd be partaker in Adam's
sin. If he was born of man's seed,
his roots would go back to Adam and he would have been in Adam
sinning when Adam sinned. The man who would bring in righteousness
by obeying God, the man who would put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself, can't be of the sinful seed of Adam. That's why he's
the seed of woman. The Lord Jesus was born of a
virgin, without the seed of man. so that he didn't partake in
Adam's sin. And that's why Isaiah says the son is given. The son of God is given. Now
the child is born, but the son is not born, he's given. He was
born as a real baby boy who never existed before. That's how he
was born. But he came as what he always is, the eternal son
of God. Now what a mystery. Isn't that
a mystery? But it's a wonderful mystery,
the Savior is wonderful mystery in his nature, that he's both
God and man. Mary's baby boy, he's 100% God
and 100% man, both. Mary's baby boy was completely
dependent on his mother to take care of him, just like we were
when we were babies. But Mary was completely dependent
on that baby to give her the strength and the wisdom to take
care of him. Mary's baby boy was completely dependent on the
milk from his mother's breast, or he'd starve to death. He was
completely dependent on her. Yet Mary was completely dependent
on her baby to give her the milk to feed him. The God man. The Lord Jesus Christ, he's a
real man, and he's truly God. See, he must be. He must be God
so he can be holy. He must be God so he can be righteous.
He must be God who can obey the law. Only God can put away sin. Only God can forgive sin. So
the Lord Jesus Christ must be God. But he also must be a real
man. He must be a real man to be our
representative. God can't be our representative.
God can't bear our sin, but another man can. So God became a man. God's not under the law. He's not born under the law.
He's not made under the law. So Christ was given. He was born
as a man made under the law so he could obey the law for his
people. So he could be our substitute. So he could be the sacrifice
for our sin. God became a man to be the second
Adam. The second representative who
would undo for his people everything Adam did to him. And I like how
Isaiah says this, the son was given, was given. You know something else is on
everybody's mind at this time of year? Gift giving, gift giving. I spend all year thinking of
the things that I can get Janet for Christmas. I just spend all
year thinking about it. And Christmas gets close, I'm
so excited to give it to her. We're thinking about gift giving.
Almighty God, gave what the Apostle Paul calls the unspeakable gift. The gift of his son. It's unspeakable. You can't tell the value of it.
You can't tell the glory of it. You can't tell the depths of
this free gift of God's grace given to sinners who would save
us from our sin. It's unspeakable. And here's
another thing that makes it unspeakable. The son wasn't given to good
folks. The son wasn't given just to the Jews. The son wasn't given
to religious people. Isaiah said the son was given
to us. Us. Us. Us sinners who need a
savior. The us is God's elect. It's the
same us in Romans five, verse eight. But God committed his
love toward us. And that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. He didn't die for every son of
Adam, he died for us. the people that God gave him
to save. Romans 8, 31, this is the same us. What shall we say
then to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who is he that condemned him?
It is Christ that died, yea, rather than is risen again, who
is even at the right hand of God. Well, what's he doing there?
Making intercession for us. 2 Corinthians 5, 21. For he hath
made him sin, for who? Us. Him who knew no sin that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Galatians 3, 13. This is the same us, he's given
us, this gift to us. Christ hath redeemed us. All
those people that the Father gave him to save, Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us. Look at Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians one. Verse three. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Paul's writing about
the same us that Isaiah wrote about. He's given us, blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,
according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children,
by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made
us accepted in the beloved. Now that is an amazing gift.
Any gift from God that can make sinners like you and me righteous,
holy, our sin forgiven, and make us accepted in God's presence.
Accepted, not acceptable, accepted. in the beloved, that's a gift. And to think that God gave that
gift to unworthy sinners like you and me. The son was given. All right, thirdly, this child
who was born is the ruler of the whole earth. For unto us
a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulder. Now, Isaiah says the government
should be on his shoulder. This is what he means. This baby's
king. He's king. The wise man said,
where is he? He's born king, king of the Jews. But he's not
just king of the Jews, is he? He's king of all of creation.
This baby is responsible for ruling all of God's creation. And I love this, it's on his
shoulder. He's so mighty, he carries the whole weight on his
shoulder. Not shoulders, on his shoulder. Oh, he's a mighty king,
a mighty savior. And since the Lord Jesus Christ,
he's born king, he's born the sovereign. What else do we know
about him? He was born to save his people
from their sin. He's the king and he's the savior.
Now I tell you what, he's the sovereign. He's gonna save whom
he will, when he will, how he will. He's the sovereign savior.
And I ask you, what else would God in human flesh be? except
the sovereign. The government's on his shoulder.
He's the sovereign king. He's a sovereign potentate over
everything. Now the baby was born, but he's
born as who he is. He's king. The father has given
all things into the hand of the son. He's king of it all because
the father gave it to him and he disposes of it as he will.
The father's given all judgment to the king. The father's not
gonna judge anybody. The son is gonna be the judge. He's king
over all. And I tell you what that means.
This poor little Jesus, he ain't in your hands for you to do with
as you will. No, he's the king, and we're
in his hands, and he will do with us what he will. and he'll
be right to do it. If he damns us, it'll be right
and not one of us can argue against it. Just think about the sin
we've committed in the last two seconds. Not one of us can argue
against it. And if he's merciful and gracious
and saves us in this child who is born and the son who's given,
he's gonna be right to do it. Now I wanna stress that. The
Lord Jesus Christ is sovereign. It's not up to us to decide if
we'll accept him or not. No, sir. The question is, will
he accept us? Will he accept you? Will he accept
me? That's the question. Whatever
he does with us, it'll be right. Nobody can argue against it.
Then where does that leave you and me? We can't do anything
to get him to save us. We can't do anything to obligate
him to save us. We can't manipulate him into
saving us. Then where does that leave you
and me? It leaves us begging at his feet,
begging for mercy. It leaves us crying, Lord, have
mercy on me. Lord, I see you're gonna choose
who you will. Lord, choose me. I see you'll
have mercy on who you will have mercy. Lord, have mercy on me.
Lord, accept me for Christ's sake. I stress that the Savior,
God Almighty, is the sovereign. He does as he pleases for this
reason. Nobody will ever beg until we
find ourselves at the feet of the sovereign. If there's something
we think we can do to manipulate the situation, we'll do it. We
will, won't we? But I'll tell you when we'll
beg, when we find ourselves at the feet of the sovereign. And
here's another reason I want to stress to us this morning.
Our Savior's sovereign. Our God is sovereign. Because
no one can rest in the Savior. I mean completely rest. Leave
all the saving up to him. Leave all the governing of this
world up to him. Leave all the governing of my
life, whatever happens to me, leave it all up to him. Nobody
can rest in him unless I believe he's the sovereign over all. If the Lord Jesus Christ is who
this book says he is, he's the sovereign over all, then he cannot
fail to save his people. And that gives us complete rest
in him. He can't fail. He cannot fail. I'm thankful. I know people wanna,
they sometimes present God and his sovereignty as a way to whack
people over the head, and I'm trying not to do that. I want
to present God's sovereignty because I'm thankful. I'm thankful
that there is a sovereign savior who I can beg for mercy and who
I can rest from all my works of the law and rest in him. I'm
thankful, this one who was born, this one who was given is a king
who's born to rule and rule over me. All right, here's the fourth thing,
Isaiah says, the name of this child who's born, son is given,
his name is wonderful. And boy, that's a good name for
him because everything he is is wonderful. His person, he's
both God and man, that's wonderful. Everything he does is wonderful. His perfect life is wonderful
because his perfect life is our only hope of righteousness. He
had to obey the law for us. His perfect life is our only
hope of righteousness. His death is wonderful. Who he
died for is wonderful. He died for sinners. And his
death is wonderful in what it accomplished. It accomplished
the eternal redemption of his people. His resurrection is wonderful. His resurrection is the proof
that his death justified his people. His ascension back to
glory is wonderful because what did he do when he got there?
He sat down ever living to make intercession for sinners, for
his people like you and me. That's wonderful. Look back at
Psalm 119. God has given us a book. that
tells of everything about him. It's all written about him, and
this book, its testimonies, they're wonderful. Psalm 119, verse 129. Thy testimonies are wonderful. Therefore doth my soul keep them.
The entrance of thy word giveth light. It giveth understanding
unto the simple. or something that gives understanding
to somebody as simple as me has got to be wonderful. His testimony,
his word is wonderful. It's wonderful that God sent
his son, that this baby was born, the son was given, so he could
come to earth and testify to men of who God is and how God
saves sinners. He came to testify where righteousness
is found. It's not found in our works on
the wall. It's found in him. Christ came to tell us where
salvation is found. It's found in Him. He came to
give light to the world, light so that we see, light so that
we understand. That's wonderful because we'd
never know who Christ is unless He revealed Himself to us. We'd
never know how God saves sinners unless the Son of God came to
testify and tell us that it's in Him. Christ came to testify. Oh, I'm so thankful for this.
Salvation is not by the works of the law. It's by grace. That's wonderful. Isn't it a
wonderful message to hear? Quit your works and rest in Christ. Quit trying to make God happy
with you by what you do and rest in Christ. Come to Christ. And you work, you work to serve
him, you work to serve his people and help his people. but it's
not grievous, it's a joy. Quit your words. Just quit them.
Trust Christ. Christ came to testify that salvation
is in his obedience, not mine. Isn't that wonderful? It just takes all the pressure
off. Christ is wonderful. He came to show that his grace
is for the worst of sinners. Christ is wonderful in his love. He loves sinners. He loves sinners. You and I don't love sinners,
but the holy son of God who was given, he loved sinners. How
do you know that? He gave himself as a propitiation
for their sin. He suffered and died for sinners
like you and me. I don't think you'll find anything
more wonderful than that. and the name of Christ. His very
name is so wonderful, there's salvation in trusting him. There's
none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must
be saved. If you trust Christ, he's so
wonderful, if you trust him, you must be saved. You must be,
because he's so wonderful, he saved you. He gave you faith
in him, you're gonna be saved. Oh, he's wonderful. And then fifthly, Isaiah says
his name is Counselor. Now a counselor gives instruction. And boy, we need that. We need
a good, wise counselor. We've needed it 6,000 years or
more. Remember when Satan came to Eve? He gave her bad counsel, didn't
he? He gave her evil counsel. And men have been in trouble
ever since. When man takes counsel, when we take counsel amongst
ourselves, what do we do? We take counsel together against
the Lord and against his amendment. So you're still following that
council that Satan gave Eve 6,000 years ago. So Christ has come
as the counselor, the counselor. And his counsel is wise because
it comes from him whose name is wisdom. Just listen to some
of the counsel of our Lord. Come unto me that you might have
life. Come to me. Are you weary? This is the Lord's counsel to
us. Are you weary? Are you tired of trying to keep the law and
failing? He says, come to me and rest. Are you thirsty? I mean spiritually thirsty. You're
thirsty for righteousness that you cannot produce and you don't
have it in you. You know, when our bodies are thirsty, that's
our body's way of telling us you don't have enough water in
you. If we thirst spiritually, that's the spirit's way of telling
us I don't have any righteousness. I don't have a righteousness
that God requires in me. You know what the Lord's counsel
to you is if you're thirsty? Come unto me and drink. And I'll
make rivers of living water flow from your belly. Are you hungry? Are you spiritually hungry? Are
you starving that you need something for your soul that will sustain
you? Don't feed on the husk of religion.
Don't be like that prodigal son, be sitting in a pigsty trying
to suck something out of that old dry corn cob. Our Savior's
counsel is if you're hungry, come unto me and eat. Come unto
me and eat. That's wise counsel, isn't it?
And I'll tell you another thing about his name as counselor.
Isn't that a term that they give an attorney, a counselor? Look
at 1 John 2. 1 John 2. The Lord Jesus Christ
came as the counselor, the advocate of his people before the Father.
Here's what the Apostle John writes in 1 John 2 verse 1. My little children, These things
write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, when
any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins. And
not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Christ is our advocate. He's
the counselor before the Father. And here's the thing about this
counselor, this advocate. He'll only take our case if he
knows we're guilty. If he knows we're guilty. I used
to do some work with an attorney, and he would take care of legal
matters and stuff for the business that we had. And he said, I quit
a long time ago doing any kind of defense work. I just will
not do it. I'll just do anything else, but
I will not do that. He said, I started out thinking, well,
I'll be the defense attorney if I just know that people are
not guilty. Then I will. And he said, people
fooled me. Guilty people fooled me into
thinking that they're not guilty when they're guilty. He said,
I just quit that. Well, he started out, well, he would only take
the case if you're not guilty. This advocate, this counselor,
will only take your case if you're guilty. He'll only take your
case if your only plea is I'm guilty and I'm throwing myself
on the mercy of the court. If that's you, he'll take your
case. And let me tell you what this
advocate does. He makes all of his guilty, sinful clients to
be not guilty. That's what John means when he
says he is the propitiation for our sins. This advocate does
not get his people off on a technicality. I mean, you see that in a court
of law. You see somebody you know is guilty. They've been
caught red-handed, and they get off on a technicality. Doesn't
that just burn you up? This advocate never gets his
people off on a technicality. He doesn't get them off by bribing
the judge. This advocate is so great, he makes his guilty clients
to be not guilty. by being the propitiation for
their sin. By washing their sin away, by
covering their sin with the blood of his sacrifice and making it
so they have no sin. Now if you've got a counselor
that can make you appear before the judge with no sin, you're
innocent and you'll be accepted. Now aren't you thankful? This
one was born, this son was given to be the counselor for guilty
sinners like you and me. Then, number six, this child
is God. His name is the mighty God. He's the mighty God. Now you
can't read the accounts of our Lord's earthly ministry and think
that this man is anything, anyone other than God in the flesh.
This man controlled the weather. This man created matter. Remember
he took that boy's lunch and he broke it, he created enough
food to feed 5,000 people and there'd be 12 baskets left over.
He created matter. He healed sicknesses that had
no human cure. Sometimes he would touch the
person to heal them and you know other times, he'd just speak.
They wouldn't even be there, but he'd just speak. And however
many ever miles away they were, they were healed instantly. This
man, raised the dead back to life. That's pretty amazing, but get
a hold of your seed. This man forgives sin. Remember that time they brought
that lame man to him and he looked at him and everybody knows what
they wanted the Lord to do. They wanted the Lord to heal
him so he could walk. I mean, he's completely paralyzed. He
can't move his arms or his legs. Everybody knows they wanted the
Lord to heal him. But what did the Lord say to
him? Son, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Now those people that were there,
they thought, oh, this man's speaking blasphemy. He didn't
forgive sin. Our Lord knew what they were
thinking. He said, now what is it harder to do? Is it harder to
say your sins be forgiven or take up your bed and walk? But
so that you'll know I'm the son of God. He told the man, take
up your bed and walk. Suddenly he could move his arms
and his legs, he took up his bed and he walked. He had the
power to tell that man, your sin be forgiven you, and it was
forgiven. It was forgiven. Now only God
can do that. Now this I know about God, he's
gonna keep his word. God will do what he promised
to do. He promised he's gonna save his
people by the obedience and by the sacrifice of his son, and
he's got the power to do it. Christ came to save his people
from their sin, and he's gonna do it because he's God who's
got the power to do it. To think that your sin is forgiven
because your savior is God. Oh, what a gift. That makes you
wanna worship, doesn't it? Now here's another thing our
pea brains can't understand. This baby is the eternal father. His name is the everlasting father. The ancient of days became a
baby of days. He who has no beginning was born
as a man, Bethlehem, in a horse stall. But you know why his name
is the everlasting father? Because he said, I and my father
are one. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
they're three persons, but one God. They're one God with one
purpose. It's the redemption of all of
God's elect so that Christ gets all the glory for doing it. This
is the mystery of godliness. It's the mystery of the Trinity. Three, yet one. The God-man. The Son who was given is the
eternal Father, is so far beyond human comprehension, he can't
be understood. I mean, I don't care how smart
you are, there's a lot of smart people in this room. I don't
care how smart you are, you cannot understand how this baby is the
eternal, everlasting father. But he can be believed by the
most simple person, by a small child, if God gives him faith
to believe. Then Isaiah says this baby is
the prince of peace. He's the prince of peace. He's
the fountain of peace. He's the giver of peace. He himself
personally is our peace. He is our peace. He made peace
with God by the blood of his cross. The blood of Christ took
away the sin that made God angry. God's not angry anymore. There's
no reason for him to be. The sin of his people's gone.
And the blood of Christ, when it's applied to the heart of
a rebel, will make them not angry with God anymore. make them submit,
submit to him and have peace with God. Would you have peace
with God? I mean, people would give anything
for peace of mind. If your mind is tortured with
guilt or trouble or illness or whatever, you would give anything
for peace. Would you have peace with God?
It's in this child who's born, the son who was given. Then last,
this baby is the mighty, successful savior of sinners. Verse seven
says, of the increase of his government and peace, there should
be no end. Upon the throne of David and
upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment
and justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord
of hosts will perform this. Isaiah says, of the increase
of his government and peace, there'll be no end. There'll
be no end because Christ is always going to reign over it. See, this baby has a kingdom. It's a successful kingdom. It's
a powerful kingdom. It's a kingdom of peace. There
is no trying to say with this baby, there's no trying. Jan
told me the other day, I was running out, she told me not
to forget something. And I said, well, I'll try. And she said,
there's no trying. I need this done. There's no
trying. I said, well, I mean, I often
try and fail, but I promise you, yeah, I'll try. There's no trying
with this baby. He's always successful. There's
no dying for someone with this baby and then them going to hell
anyway. This child is the successful savior of sinners. He's going to die to purchase
it. and he's gonna rise again and sit on the throne to ensure
their salvation, to ensure that they're never lost, to ensure
that ultimately they're glorified together with him. You who believe
on Christ, now you take heart. Your soul dwells in absolute
safety because you're in the kingdom. He's translated you
from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear
son and our salvation cannot be lost because our savior is
the king. He's the mighty conqueror. Well, how can you be so sure
all this is gonna happen? How do you know this child who's
born, his son is given, is gonna accomplish all of this? Isaiah
says the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform it. Christ
in his zeal to please his father He's gonna perform a perfect
salvation. That zeal that consumed him caused him to suffer and
die for his people so that his father was pleased. It's the
zeal of God that performed that. It's the zeal of his love for
his people. His zeal what moved him to save
them by his own sacrifice and his zeal will move him to keep
them, to keep them forever. Now that's who was born that
day, that night in Bethlehem. I hope hearing who he is will
make you trust him and make us thankful, also thankful for the
child who was born and the son who was given. Let's bow in prayer. Our father, how can we begin
to thank you for your unspeakable gift, the gift of your son, the
son given and this child who was born? and what he came to
do to save sinful men and women like we are. Oh, how we thank
you. And Father, I pray that you give each one of us here
this morning the faith to believe him, to believe Christ crucified,
to see Christ lifted up on the cross as one who was born, grew
to a full grown man, crucified for the sin of his people. Father,
let us look to him and find salvation forgiveness of our sin, righteousness,
a good hope, eternal life in him. Father, bless us for Christ's
sake, we pray. And Father, I ask that you do
this for the glory of Christ. It is for our good. We're empty
mercy beggars begging you. It is for our good. But Father,
we ask that you do it for your glory. Show us the redemptive
glory of your son. in redeeming your people from
their sin and calling them out by the preaching of the gospel.
Father, it's in Christ's name. For his sake we pray, amen. I want to take this minute to
tell you all I hope you have a Merry Christmas. We'll see
you again for Christmas. I hope you have a Merry Christmas
and great time with your families and just the best one ever. And
I tell you how much I thank you and appreciate you. How dear,
dear to my heart, every one of you are. And I'm not just saying
Merry Christmas like you say to somebody when you pass them
on the street and don't mean it. No, I mean it. I hope you
have a very, very Merry Christmas. And I'm not going to try to not
give you a gift. I think I'm coming down with a cold, so I'm
not going to go to the door so I don't give anybody the gift
of a cold. You don't need that this time of year. But that don't
mean I don't love you. It means I do love you. Just
try not to give you this cold, OK? So Sean, you come lead us
in closing him, if you would.