Let's begin this morning in the
book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 31. There is a prophecy in the 22nd
verse that is not often referred to, but very, very significant. Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 22. How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? For the Lord hath created a new
thing in the earth. A woman shall compass a man. You say, well, Pastor, that's
not a new thing. Most every woman here has compassion
to man, brought forth children. That's not a new thing. Oh, yes,
it is. For this woman never knew a man. Now it has come to pass, God
has created a new thing in the world. A woman, a virgin, has
conceived in her womb a man-child, a woman has come past a man,
and the Son of God has come into this world." Pause for a moment amidst all
the words and expressions and sayings and all the poetic greetings
that you've gotten on greeting cards and Christmas cards, and
give some to what this text declares. He who is the infinite God came
down here in a body about that big. He whom no man hath seen nor
can see came down here for men to look on in human flesh. He who is immortality and life
became immortal to die. He whom the heavens cannot contain
in all his fullness dwells in the body of a man. God Almighty,
he who is of heaven, he who encompasses heaven God came into this world
that he might be a man of the earth and now he's gone back
to heaven that man of the earth that we might be with him forever
in his glory I've read books I've read books
now for 35 years attempting to explain that I read about everything
I can get my hands on, old and new, written by men who give
some attempt to glorify God in what
they say. And you know what? I don't understand
any more about it now than I did the first time I read it in a
book. How on earth can God become a man and yet still be God? How
can a man, how can a man be the infinite God and yet still be
man? I don't know. I don't know. This
is a mystery beyond any human understanding. It is a matter
of pure revelation. But oh, what a blessed matter
it is. This is the wondrous thing God
has done in the earth. This is the great wonderful work
that God has shown to all the nations. God came down here in
human flesh to save his people from their sin. No wonder Watts
wrote, joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive
her king, let every heart prepare him room and heaven and nature
sing. Now this particular season of
the year, most everybody in some way or another acknowledges a
fact that is inescapable, Jesus Christ came into this world in
human flesh. He was born just like any other
man is born of a woman's womb, and yet this man is himself God
Almighty conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit, and the woman
who bore him had never known a man. This man who came at Bethlehem,
this one who was born as a man at Bethlehem, declares himself
to be God the Eternal Son. Now let men say what they will
concerning it. Everybody in the world today
is confronted with the fact that he made that claim. We fully
believe it. But why did he come? Why did
the Son of God come into this world? It is good to know that
he came, but merely knowing that he came, merely knowing that
he is the Son of God come in human flesh, will be of no benefit
to your soul or anyone else's. It is as meaningless and useless
as any other bit of knowledge that doesn't do anything for
you. We must know why he came. We must know what he did while
he was here. The purpose of our Lord's incarnation,
the purpose of Christ coming into the world, is plainly, clearly,
unmistakably revealed in Holy Scripture. It's revealed in the
prophets, and then our Lord, when he walked on this earth
and sent his apostles to declare to us what he had done, tells
us plainly that he had fulfilled what the prophets said. In Psalm
40, the Lord Jesus Christ said, Lo, I come to do thy wills, O
my God. And in Hebrews chapter 10, the
apostle tells us plainly that the will of God he came to do
was the saving of his people. Therefore, thou shall call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. This
one who came into the world 2,000 years ago, God in human flesh,
came on a mission. He came with a commission. He
came on an errand of mercy. He came from the Father to do
the Father's will. And now he's going back to the
Father because he's done what he came to do. He came here to
save his people. Daniel 9 tells us he came to
bring in everlasting righteousness. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
came here to fulfill all righteousness. He declared in Matthew chapter
3 to John the Baptist. Our Lord Jesus brought in righteousness
by his obedience and by his death. He came here to fulfill all the
law's requirements in his holy life, but not for himself as
a representative man. And he came here to die upon
the cursed tree, putting away sin by the sacrifice of himself,
which is what Isaiah 53 is all about. And our Lord Jesus, having
been made to be sin for us, bore in his body the wrath of God
Almighty, and he bore it in his body, in his soul, in his heart,
in the totality of his being, as he poured out his life unto
death, and when he died, when he cried, it is finished. Listen
now, he had put away all the sins of all his people forever. That's what he came here for.
That's what he came here for. The Lord Jesus did not come here
merely for men and women to, one time a year, honor the fact
that he was born of a virgin and talk about wise men and angels
and have Christmas plays and cantatas and all the nonsense
that's going on all over the religious world in our day, at
this particular, at this hour. He didn't come here so that men
and women might entertain themselves with a little religious notion
on December the 25th. He came here. to save sinners
from their sins, and he did. Now this is a very, very old
message. Turn back to Genesis chapter three, if you will, Genesis
three, and put your hand in Galatians four. I want you to see these
two texts. This message that I'm preaching
to you this morning is a message of hope arising from the incarnation
of Christ, but it's nothing new. It sounds new in our day. Folks,
they hear the gospel of God's grace in Baptist churches all
around this country. I go and preach in Baptist churches,
Presbyterian. It doesn't matter. It doesn't
matter. Folks hear me on the radio. I've never heard anything
like that before. Been going to church all their lives. Never
heard anything like that before. Where did you get that? Well,
this is nothing new. This is nothing new. This is
the message of the whole book. Back here in Genesis 3 in verse
15, just before God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden, the
Lord God pronounced the curse upon the man and upon the woman
and upon the serpent and upon the ground. And then he said
to the woman in verse 15, I will put enmity between thee and the
woman. I said to the serpent, between
thy seed and her seed. shall bruise thy head, and thou
shalt bruise his heel." Well, what's he talking about? The
serpent seed and the woman seed. The seed of the woman is that
one who comes into the world without the aid of a man. Well,
that's biologically impossible. I'm not talking about biological
things. I'm talking about divine things. Well, that just can't
be. Let's look in Galatians 4 and
see. This is what God promised before every group of Adam and
Eve out of the garden. Now in Galatians 4, verse 4,
when the fullness of time was come, God said, this is what
I want to do. This is what I'm going to do.
And then 42 generations later, man, life has a long time. Has
a long time. It is with us, but not with God. When the time had been fulfilled,
when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son,
look at it now, made of a woman, made under the law, He came here
made of a woman, a man, but a man who was born the seed of a woman,
made under and subject to God's holy law for this purpose, to
redeem them that were under the law that we, who are God's adopted
sons, who are God's elect, might receive in the experience of
his grace the adoption of sons. Now today I want to bring my
message to you from another of the ancient prophecies of If
you will, just turn to Isaiah chapter 7, verses 14 and 15. Now here's a prophecy that was
made hundreds of years before our Lord Jesus came into the
world. Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14. Therefore, the Lord himself shall
give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son. And thou shalt call his name
Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat,
that he may know to refuse the evil and to choose the good. God sent his son and called his
name Immanuel. And thus supplied our need. If our need had been information,
he would have sent us an educator. If our need had been technology,
he may have sent us a scientist. If our need had been money, he
might have sent an economist. If our soul's need had been pleasure,
he might have sent an entertainer. But because our soul's great
need is mercy, grace, forgiveness, salvation, eternal life, he sent
us a savior, and his name is Emmanuel. Now, the scholars tell
me that Isaiah 714 is one of the most difficult texts in the
Word of God to interpret. And I was a little surprised
by that. I would have never guessed that if I hadn't read what the
scholars say about the text. Because I recall reading the
text for the first time when I was just a boy. I'm talking
about reading it. It's been 33, 34, maybe 35 years
ago. I read this verse of Scripture
and I thought, well, this is talking about my seed. This is
talking about Christ. This is talking about the Son
of God. And then I looked in the margin, checked cross-reference,
and found it referred over to Matthew 1.23. Now, we read that
earlier, but look, if you will, again. Hold your hands here in
Isaiah 7, and look at Matthew 1.22. When the Holy Spirit here gives
us, by the pen of Matthew, the summary of what took place when
the Lord Jesus came into this world. This is what it says,
verse 22. Now, all this was done that it
might be fulfilled. How can you see that in scriptures?
All this was done. Things that seem so improbable,
things that seem altogether impossible, things that seem to have just
been brought to pass by so many accidental lucky chance circumstances. Oh no, this was done, all of
it, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord
by the prophets saying, behold a virgin shall be with child
and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel,
which being interpreted is God with us. So you'll forgive me
if I ignore the scholars and just tell you what the text says.
Look at this passage here in Isaiah 7 in the context for a
moment. The Lord God had called his people
to repentance, and he has that with the king would not believe.
Because he would not believe God, he would not obey God's
voice. You see, obedience to God arises
from faith. And those who do not believe,
no matter how much they pretend to obey, do not obey God. Oh, Ahaz would not obey God's
word because he did not believe God. The Lord God said in verses
11 and 12, he told Isaiah, he said, you tell Ahaz, ask thee
a sign of the Lord. But Ahaz, that godless wretch,
said with an air of self-righteous indignation, Now here's a man
who's, he just, he had no interest in God, his glory, the things
of God, no interest in anything. But this wretch speaks like this
to God's prophet. He says, I will not ask, neither
will I tempt the Lord. How dare you say that to me?
To that Isaiah replies, therefore, the Lord himself shall give you
a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and
honey shall he eat, and he may know to refuse the evil and choose
the good. Now the first thing spoken of
here is our Lord's virgin birth. Now none of us knows the date
of our Savior's birth. God has wisely hidden that from
us. Everybody talks about it being
December 25th. That's the one day of the year
it could not have been. It just could not have happened
then. No possibility. None of the circumstances described
in the gospel would fit that time of the year. This matter
of Christmas celebration is purely pagan. It is purely pagan with
regard to anything connected with spiritual things. We recognize
that and understand that. Purely pagan. It is a pagan religious
festivity. But having said that, we recognize
nothing spiritual, nothing holy about this particular day. or one of the carols, Silent
Night, Holy Night. Even if it were talking about
the right night, it's not anything more holy about that night than
any other night. Let us never attach holy spiritual connotations
to carnal, material, earthly things. Don't allow that. Don't
do that. We worship God in spirit and
in truth, and we have no regard for the religious nonsense of
the day around us. This text, however, does speak
of a glorious, glorious birth. It is true Mary's child was born
in a stable. He was laid in a manger. He was
born in humility. He was born in poverty. But never
was there a birthday like this birthday. This birthday had been
anticipated by saints and prophets for 4,000 years. All the Old
Testament pointed to Emmanuel's advent. God, when the occasion
came, hung a fresh hat to mark the place of his birth. The angels
came down from heaven and a great host to sing his praise, and
shepherds and wise men came bringing their presents to worship him.
Isaiah 7, 14 announces this glorious birthday. It announces the birth
of a man, but more than that, it announces the birth of a man
who is God Almighty. No, no, God was not born in the
earth 2,000 years ago, but God came in a man, and that man who
was born 2,000 years ago is himself God. Look here in Isaiah 9, verse
6. If you want to read these chapters
7, 8, and 9 before this evening's message, the Lord willing, I'll
be preaching to you tonight from this verse. For unto us a child
is born. Unto us a son is given, and the
government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God. Do you see that?
The Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, of the increase of
his government and peace, there shall be no end upon the throne
of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish
it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. All right. Now, first, let me say something
about our Lord's supernatural conception in the Virgin's womb.
Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. Our Savior was born as a man. He was born the seed of the woman. He was conceived in the womb
of the Virgin Mary. He was conceived in her womb
by miraculous work, by the work of God's own hand. Now, we insist
on this, and we make a great deal of this, but why? Not to
honor Mary. Mary was a sinner. Anytime you
should happen to write to someone and you mention them about the
virgin birth, don't capitalize virgin. Mary was a sinner. There's
nothing saintly about this woman except the fact that she'd been
saved by God's grace, just like you and me. She was a sinner,
chosen, redeemed, called, saved by the same grace you and I are.
And she was a sinner while she carried the Lord Jesus Christ
in her womb. She was a sinner while she nursed
him at her breast. She was a sinner when she saw
him dying in her step. She was a sinner when he arose
on high. She was a sinner saved by grace,
just exactly as you and I are. There's nothing unusual about
Mary in that regard. But we insist and make a great
deal about it, our Lord's virgin birth, for this reason. His holy
body was particularly and distinctly prepared in the Virgin's womb
that he might have something wherewith to sanctify, to redeem,
and to save his people. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10, I'll
show you this. You see, if our Lord Jesus had not been a man,
he could not have saved us. Had he not been a man, he could
not have redeemed us. Had he not been a man, we could
never have been reconciled to God. Look here in Hebrews chapter
10, verse 4. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin. No human sacrifice
can put away sin. It can't be done. Wherefore,
when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering
thou wouldst not but a body. hast thou prepared me, O God. A body particularly prepared
for him, a body prepared for the Son of God to come into this
world in which he should obey God and obey God with infinite
merit, because joined to his humanity is his everlasting deity. And thus all that he does is
of infinite worth. Our text also describes our Lord's
humiliation. All that's said about Mary is
that she's a virgin, nothing else. Her highest honor was her
virginity. Now, you young ladies, that is
a high, high honor. Prize it, protect it, keep it. But there was nothing any more
honorable about Mary than that, just her virginity. Oh yes, but
she was She was of David's royal line. She was indeed. Her husband
Joseph was also of the royal line. He was indeed. But you
know how much that meant in those days? I heard a news report the
other day. The former president of Afghanistan
was giving his approval to what was going on over there. I thought,
who cares? I didn't know they had one before.
What difference does that make? Who would want him if he could
be, not president, but former king? Who would want to be king
of Afghanistan? I mean, what's the significance
of that? Nothing. That's exactly the point. Mary
and Joseph, though in the royal line of David's family, and though
their son has rightful claim of heirship to the throne of
Israel, Israel was nothing. And these people were in utter
abject poverty. Our Savior was born in poverty
and lived in poverty all the days of his life by choice. Oh, what an example he gave us
throughout his life, teaching us to despise the froth of the
world, its riches, its treasures, its position, its recognition. Our Lord is They push that aside
all the time. Put it on the table, push it
away from them. All the time. I don't want it.
I don't want it. I don't want it. God teach us
some of this. Our Lord Jesus Christ taught
us to walk in this world, eating our daily bread, looking to God
for it. Wearing our clothes, looking
to God to provide them. Living under our shelter, whatever
it is, looking to God to give it. Recognizing that everything
here is temporary and everything temporary is vanity! What you
gonna give in exchange for your soul if you got it all? There's
much encouragement in our Lord's example too. He who was born
in poverty came to save and will visit the poor in spirit. He
who was laid in a rock manger. I can just picture that manger.
The best these folks can do in these idolatrous religious scenes,
you know, that have scenes of the manger scene and the shepherd
and the baby laying the crib, they sure do make that, they
make that stable look right pretty. It's just a rock, just a trough,
that's all. Just a rock put together, trough
for cattle, and our Lord Jesus Christ came here. to break our
stony hearts and he will lay his self in them. The son of
God who humbled himself will be the free and the bright, brokenhearted
before him. Our text displays something also
of God's marvelous election. A virgin shall conceive. Well, where do you get election
in that picture? I suspect there was more than one. I suspect
there's a bunch of them around. There were many virgins in the
world in those days, but God chose one. Only one to be the
agent through whom he would bring his son into this world. And
Mary rejoiced in that. Turn to Luke chapter one. Luke
chapter one. We won't try to read this whole
section here, but the angel Gabriel came to Mary and this is what
the angel said. The angels came in unto her and said,
Hail, thou art highly favored of the Lord. 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 to her, Fear
not, Mary. For thou hast found favor with
God. Now hold your hands here and
listen just a minute. Mary was freely chosen of God. That's
how God chooses sinners. Mary was highly favored of God. So are all who are saved by his
grace. Matter of fact, the apostle Paul
uses this very same word to describe us in God's elective purpose
in Ephesians 1. He says we're accepted in the
beloved. Highly favored. Highly favored. Turn to Luke
chapter 11. Hold your hand here in Luke 1
and turn to Luke chapter 11. Our Lord had been preaching, teaching,
and it came to pass in verse 27, as he spoke these things,
a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice and said
unto him, Blessed is the room that beareth thee, and the paths
which thou hast sucked. Oh, let us generate Mary. Let's build statues to Mary.
Let's put crosses around Mary. Let's make Mary to be the mother
of God and pray to Mary. Let's pray, I hail Mary. And
our Lord said, yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of
God and keep on it. What's he telling us? Mary's
blessedness was exactly the same as ours if we're in Christ. Far
more blessed is it to have the Son of God in your heart than
in your womb. And Mary understood this when
she carried him in her womb. Look in chapter 1 of Luke, verse
46. This woman was visited by God as he visits us in grace.
Christ was formed in her as he's formed in us by the grace of
God. This woman was blessed of God because of the one who was
in her, Jesus Christ the Lord. And she rejoiced in him as her
Savior. Look at verse 46. Mary said,
my soul doth magnify the Lord. My spirit hath rejoiced, look
at this now, in God my Savior. For he hath regarded the low
estate of his handmaid. For behold, from henceforth,
all generations shall call me blessed. Oh, now there's where
you get it. Listen now, listen. You see Bobby
Esty sitting there? Sitting man right there? Sitting
right there. That fellow right there with gray hair and glasses.
Sitting right there. That fellow sitting there with that jacket
on. Sitting right there. When God gets done, the whole
world gonna call him blessed. You see that? She's not talking
about some special thing because of her virginity. Oh, no, no,
no. She's talking about some special
thing because of free grace. Christ is in her. And she's in
Christ. And everybody's going to know
she's blessed to God. Listen to me now. Christ is in
me. I'm in Christ. And when God gets
done, the whole world is going to see I'm blessed to God. For
he hath He that is mighty hath done to me great things and holy
is his name. What's he talking about? Look
at verse 50. And his mercy is on them that
fear him from generation to generation. Now, look back in Isaiah 7, verse
50. Here's a description of our Lord's
humanity. Butter and honey shall he eat. that he may know to refuse the
evil and to choose the good. Now I told you a little bit ago
the word that in this 15th verse ought to be translated and or
when or but anything but that. If you can figure out a way to
make a fella know to choose good and know to refuse evil by getting
him to eat butter and honey, you can make a bunch of money.
That's not what it's talking about. It's not saying that our
Lord's going to eat butter and honey, that's going to make him
know to do good and to refuse evil. The text ought to read,
butter and honey shall he eat, and he shall know to refuse the
evil and choose the good. Our Lord's eating butter and
honey simply suggests these things. Number one, He's going to be
born at a time of relative peace. Now, Jerusalem and Israel were
in bondage to Rome. That's acknowledged. But they
lived in peace. There was no turmoil, strife,
difficulty in the land. Wasn't like the things are today.
Wasn't like things normally were during their history. It was
a time of peace. You see, normally, normally, If folks are at war,
if they're having to watch out for somebody to invade their
land day and night, they don't go rob beehives and put up honey,
and they don't sit around and churn butter. Those things are
done during times of either absolute necessity or times of peace when
there's some leisure to do it. Eating butter and honey is also
a declaration of our Lord's real humanity. It does my heart good to read
in the scripture of the Lord Jesus Christ being hungry, of
him being thirsty, of him getting tired. He wasn't just hungry and thirsty,
not tired, just like me. Sometime you were broken hearted, had a heavy heart. trouble. He felt things. He had struggles. No sin, but all man. Our Lord Jesus Christ was and
is a real man. Listen now. That man who sits
on the throne of glory is just as much man now as I am or you
are. Wesley's hymn, Jesus weeps and
loves me still, the last line of the hymn ought never be sung.
Even as heretical as Wesley was, he didn't write it that way.
He wrote it, Jesus pleads and loves me still. His days of sorrow,
his days of weeping are all gone. That ended at Calvary. But he's
still touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He's still moved by what moves
us. He's a real man. Spiritually, turn back to Psalm
45. The butter and honey may have
reference to this, may have reference to the grace that's poured into
our Savior's lips for his people. Butter and honey are often prepared
that way. I kind of like it. I don't care
much for stuff they mix up and serve to you in restaurants,
but I like real butter and good honey mixed up on a hot dish.
That's good. It's often referred to in such
a way as speaking of grace. Here's a song of love concerning
our king. Psalm 45 verse 1. My heart is
indicting a good manner. I speak of the things which I
have made touching the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready
writer. Thou art fairer than the children
of men. Grace is poured into your lips. Therefore, God has blessed you
forever. Back before the world was, Jesus
Christ stood as our surety and covenant grace and pledged himself
to redeem and save his people. By the sacrifice of himself,
all grace was poured into him. And now it flows from him to
us. Covenant grace, redeeming grace, saving grace, calling
grace, keeping grace, everlasting grace. All poured into his lips
before the world and constantly flow into us according to his
intercession. The next sentence describes our
Lord's perfect holiness. Butter and honey shall he eat.
That tells us of his humanity. And he shall know to refuse the
evil and choose the good. That's what he did all the days
of his life. when he was in the wilderness
of temptation. Tempted, yes. Oh, how he was tempted. I used to try to preach on that
a little. I got a place in him where I
could kind of mention it and pause and let you roll it over.
I've got no idea what he went through, Bob. No idea. But he was Just like you and me. And he
said no. Because he knew what evil was. You and I tempted and often don't
even know we're being tempted. You and I choose the evil to
think we're choosing good. But he knew the evil and refused
it. And always chose the good. Always. Satan, when he came to
examine him, found nothing in him, nothing. This Lamb of God
had no defilement of sin. He chose the good all the days
of his life, and he did so for us. Now then, one last thing. Back here in Isaiah 7, verse
14, the prophet of God proclaims
our Savior's glorious name. thou shalt call his name, Emmanuel. Wow. God with us. Oh, oh, spirit of God, teach
me to know something about this. The Lord Jesus Christ is God. God with us by incarnation to
redeem us. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. God came down here in human flesh. Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. God is with us. God is with us
by his spirit to protect, guide, and comfort us. God is with us
in our assemblies as we come to worship him to bless us. God
is with us. That's hell's terror. God is
with us, that's the encouragement and strength of his servant.
God is with us. Oh, for the suffering believer,
that's consolation. When the fire roars around you
and the waters seem to be overflowing you, when it seems that all hell
is about you and you can't do anything, the Lord said, God's with me. It'll be all right.
God's with me. It'll be good. God's with me.
No flame's gonna burn me. No water's gonna overflow me.
All hell's not gonna destroy me. This is the believer's blessed
hope in dying. God's with me. This is the glory
of heaven. The name of that city is called
Jehovah Shema. The Lord is there. us forever. Hard to know which is the greater
statement of blessedness. We shall forever be with the
Lord or the Lord is forever with us. Emmanuel, God with us. God is with us. That means darkness has passed,
for the sun of righteousness has risen with healing in his
wings. God with us is a wall of fire about us. God with us
means old things are passed away and all things become new. God
with us. That means Sinai's thunders and
Sinai's darkness and Sinai's lightning and Sinai's fire and
Sinai's terror are all gone forever. A new day has dawned. God with
us. That means that Aaron has been
replaced by another priest. We have a priest now whose name
is Melchizedek. He's without beginning and without
end, without father and without mother. This Melchizedek, as
God the eternal son, is without a mother. This Melchizedek, as
God the man, Christ Jesus our Lord, is without father. The
laws of nature are upset. The world's confused, the heavens
rejoice and sing because God's with us. Oh, then let us clap
our hands and rejoice and sing his praise. He who is pure spirit, he who
is God has become a man. And yet he's still God, perfectly
and fully God. He who is the same yesterday,
today and forever. The immutable God is Jesus Christ,
the God-man. who died was buried and rose
again. So if we can't say these things
in this politically correct society, let me tell you what, let the
Jews be offended. Let the Muslims take up swords.
Let the wise acres of this world deride as they will. Let heretics
everywhere yak and yak and yak until they wear their tongues
out on their jaws. Jesus Christ is Emmanuel. God with us. God come to save
and there is no other. He is our Savior. We will rejoice and sing. No wonder the hymn writers at
Hark the Herald Angels sing, glory to this newborn King. Amen.