[0:01] I greet you in the name of Jesus this morning. It's good to be here. You know, we missed last Sunday.
[0:20] Did you miss not being here? Well, so at least some of this message was supposed to be last Sunday.
[0:39] Seeing that we probably were going to cancel church, I didn't really get it all ready. And I'm not sure would it have been the same as this or not.
[0:55] That doesn't matter. But, you know, last Sunday was Christmas Day. And I want to talk about Jesus.
[1:15] And, you know, in 1 John, he said, talking about Antichrist spirits, he said, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God.
[1:38] Because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.
[1:54] And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. You know, so we just came through that time of year that we remember the birth of our Lord and Savior.
[2:14] And I believe that it has been the devil's goal in all these centuries to bring this to the place that people do not realize that Jesus Christ was God incarnate.
[2:35] God himself came to this earth and lived here. He was born as a baby and he lived here and died, gave his life as a man.
[2:54] He lived here as a man, but he was God incarnate in flesh. And so, I want to look at this this morning.
[3:08] And briefly, we will start in Luke chapter 1 and 2. In Luke chapter 1, hopefully you all went through this in the last couple weeks.
[3:23] And we will read part of it here this morning. In Luke chapter 1 and verse 30.
[3:34] And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shalt call his name Jesus.
[3:48] He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever.
[4:02] 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 her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee.
[4:20] Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age.
[4:33] And this is the sixth month with her who is called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
[4:46] Be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. You know, Jesus, the promised one that had been promised way back in the Garden of Eden.
[5:02] God had promised a Redeemer. God had promised and prophesied to Adam and Eve that someday there will be one that will again restore the human race.
[5:18] And so here we have the angel coming and making this announcement. And I just want to look at verse 32. He's talking about Jesus and he says, He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest.
[5:39] And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. You know, and we'll read probably, we'll read the verse in just a couple minutes here.
[5:53] But in Isaiah, God prophesied. And he said that the government shall be upon his shoulders. The government will be upon the shoulders of Jesus Christ.
[6:05] And here the angel told Mary that God will give unto him the throne of his father David. And just as I was thinking of this and thinking of how things are today in our day.
[6:23] And how the Antichrist spirit has worked in this world. And there's a great, how would I say, the Antichrist spirit, the devil, Satan has raised up a strong movement, a strong government against the government of Jesus Christ.
[6:50] And it is his goal to rule the world. God said Jesus will rule the world. God said Jesus that the government will be upon his shoulder.
[7:05] And so, here we have the two running side by side. And someday, someday the armies of the Antichrist will be defeated.
[7:18] We know that. Jesus, on the throne of his father David. In Luke chapter 2, in verse 7, we have here where Jesus was born.
[7:38] The promise came and there was no room. She said she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.
[7:51] Because there was no room for them in the inn. Now, I want to read some verses.
[8:03] So, in Micah 5, verse 2.
[8:14] But thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting.
[8:37] You know, here is a prophecy of Jesus. But it links him back. And Jesus, we know Jesus was there in creation.
[8:48] And we'll read some of those verses. But Jesus, by him and for him were all things created. He is the creator.
[9:00] He is God. You know, I see this is not here anymore that we had Wednesday night. But that was a great demonstration of the Trinity.
[9:12] And how God, the Father, and God, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, how the three, they're all three God. And they work together. They are one God.
[9:23] They're not three divided, but they are three together. As one. As one.
[9:34] And they always work together. In John 8, 58, Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
[9:52] You know, Jesus, the words of Jesus. You know, you don't find Jesus going out and saying, I am the Son of God. You'd better listen to what I have to say, Because I am the Son of God.
[10:08] But he left these nuggets like this. That if people were listening, And if people were believing what he was saying, And seeing what he was doing and believing, They would have known that he is the Messiah, The Holy One.
[10:28] God himself. Come to this earth. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You know, in John 17, 5, In Jesus' prayer, Notice verse 5, And now, O Father, Glorify thou me with thine own self, With the glory which I had with thee Before the world was.
[11:06] You know, You know, Occasionally, Occasionally we hear things, And we come across writings, Or statements that people make, And they want to bring Jesus into, The same realm as us humans.
[11:27] You know, He did come as a man, But he was also God, Even when he was here. He wasn't just a man that decided to dedicate his life to God, And walk with God, And be a good teacher.
[11:43] No, But he was God. He was God. He was God. He was God. He was God. He was God. Born as a baby. Raised in a home. Raised in a carpenter's shop.
[11:55] He learned to work, Just like all of us. And then, When the time came, He started his ministry. Galatians 4.4, But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, Made of a woman, Made under the law.
[12:39] You know, God had all this planned out. It didn't just happen that one day God said, Well, Let's see.
[12:50] Let's see if we can find, Let's see if we can find a virgin somewhere, And we'll get this on the road, And we'll get this show on the road, And we'll get this done. No.
[13:01] When the fullness of time was come, God had it all planned out. And when the fullness of time come, He had raised up Mary, And prepared her for this.
[13:14] I believe that. And Joseph, And He had set it all up. And when the time was come, Jesus was born.
[13:25] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. A couple verses out of Isaiah.
[13:43] Isaiah 7, 14. Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive, And bear a son, And shall call His name Emmanuel, God with us.
[14:00] It's what that word Emmanuel means. God with us. Isaiah 9, verse 6, 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, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
[14:31] The government shall be upon his shoulder. We already talked about that. But Jesus, you know, it's good for us, I think, to know what's going on in this world and in our government and so on and in our land.
[14:58] But we must always keep it in mind and keep it in view that our God is in control.
[15:11] And the things that go on here in this world, he allows them. But ultimately, he is in control. Romans 8, 3, For what the law could not do.
[15:34] And, you know, so this is Romans 8, verse 3. Romans 7 talks a lot about the law and the old man and the failures of it and how we cannot serve God in that old covenant, in the old man.
[15:55] But what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh. And that's why humanity could not live a perfect life under the law.
[16:08] It's because they were trying to live for God in the power of the flesh. And it does not work. It does not work.
[16:20] God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.
[16:31] So God sent his son. God sent his son, Jesus. And so it was God himself coming to this earth.
[16:46] And when Mary became pregnant, she was impregnated by the Holy Ghost with the life of our Lord Jesus.
[16:59] And when he was born, he was born the Son of God. And so here, God sent his son, his only son, Jesus.
[17:12] He sent him to live here in this earth, to live in the flesh just like us, but to live a holy, pure life.
[17:27] And by doing that, he showed to us that by the power of God, we can live a life above sin.
[17:40] We can live a life that is pleasing to God. Not in our own strength, no. Jesus didn't just do it in the power of the flesh.
[17:51] He did it by the power of God. And when we are born again, we have the power of God within us that we can also live a holy life.
[18:08] We're not holy because of how we live, but we live how we do because God has made us holy. And yes, if he has made us holy, we will desire to live a holy life.
[18:30] God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. Amen. Philippians 2, 7.
[18:52] We might go there and read more of that portion later. But this one verse. But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.
[19:11] Jesus, he took on him. You know, he could have come to earth He could have been born in a way, in a time, in a place that he would have been an earthly king.
[19:26] But that wasn't what he came for. So he came as a servant. He was born as a servant, the lowliest of all humanity.
[19:47] Let's turn to 1 Timothy 3. 1 Timothy 3.
[20:09] Verse 15 and 16. 1 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy 3. But if I tarry long that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
[20:27] And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
[20:51] Great is the mystery of godliness, the mystery that God has been working since creation and is manifested through Jesus Christ.
[21:04] Great is the mystery of godliness. And then notice what he says here. God was manifest in the flesh.
[21:18] God himself came to this earth, manifested as Jesus, the baby Jesus, justified in the spirit, seen of angels.
[21:32] Now back. You know, verse 15. Talking about the house of God and the church of the living God, which is the pillar and ground of the truth.
[21:48] The truth. The pillar and ground of the truth. You know what the pillar and ground, the very foundation of everything is that Jesus came.
[22:07] Jesus came. The son of God. A very, a very part of God came to this earth as a man.
[22:21] Why did he have to come as a man? Why believe? Why believe? That this great mystery of godliness, the great mystery that it's all revealed here in this word, but this great mystery that humanity is still trying to see into, that we're still trying and we're still learning and we're still experiencing and we're walking in it, but we're ever learning more is the mystery of God in us, the hope of glory.
[23:01] God had to come. He had to come to earth in this way. And he had to live a sinless life that he might qualify to lay down his life for us, humanity.
[23:26] You know, the blood of bulls and of goats and heifers was not sufficient to take away the sin of humanity. But God, coming and living a sinless life and then laying down his life for us that sufficed, that paid the penalty.
[23:50] Thank you.
[24:20] In Luke 22. In Luke 22, here we have Christ before the consul, before the elders and the chief priests and the scribes.
[24:43] And in verse 67, they asked him, Art thou the Christ, tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe.
[24:56] And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go. Hereafter shall the Son of Man sit on the right hand of the power of God.
[25:08] Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, ye say that I am. You know, here we have the Jews at the end of Jesus' life.
[25:22] And they were still asking the question, Are you the Son of God? Are you then the Son of God? They had seen all his miracles.
[25:35] They had heard all the stories about him. They had heard about him walking on water. They had heard about him feeding the 7,000. They had heard about him feeding the 5,000.
[25:47] They had seen him raise the dead. They had seen all these things. And yet they were asking the question, Are you the Son of God? Let me ask you this morning, Is that question settled in your heart?
[26:07] Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Do you believe that he came to this earth and he gave his life for us?
[26:18] That he lived here as a man? He grew up in a home and he was taught and he learned to work and he lived here as all of us did, as all of us do.
[26:34] But do you believe that Jesus was the Son of God? And do you believe that he came and he was born of the Virgin Mary?
[26:51] You know, it was a miracle. It was a miracle for Jesus to be born. And Mary said, How can this be? Seeing I know not a man.
[27:04] But the angel explained to her and she said, Be it unto me according to thy word. You know, today, we need that birth, that new birth, which, what it is, is the Holy Ghost coming upon us and birthing us anew.
[27:28] And we become partakers of the divine nature, the very nature of Jesus Christ, the very nature of God, birthed within us, a new birth.
[27:42] God living within us. God living within us. You know, humanity and false prophets and false teachers, they have so much tried to bring this Christian life down to the level of humanity.
[28:03] But I'll tell you today, the Christian life is a supernatural life without the supernatural.
[28:14] You're not a Christian. You can't be born again without a supernatural work in your heart. And you can't live a victorious life in the power of your flesh.
[28:28] You need the power of God, the power of the Holy Ghost within you to live, to live a victorious life. And that is what happens when we're born again.
[28:44] We become partakers of the divine nature, the nature that cannot be corrupted, the nature that cannot sin, the nature that will live for God.
[28:59] God was manifest in the flesh.
[29:11] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You know, you know, we probably heard these things all our life. But I'll tell you what, this year's been a good year for me so far.
[29:26] getting ready to preach this morning. I'll tell you what, God is real. And He's in my heart. And He wants to go with us this year.
[29:42] He wants to walk with us. He wants to direct us. He wants to use us. He wants to control us. He wants to bless us.
[29:52] He wants to pour out His Spirit upon us. He wants to empower us for our work. I don't know what this year will bring.
[30:06] But might God increase our vision of what He has for us, of the work He has for us, of the possibilities, of open doors, of whatever He has for us, not by might nor by power, but by His Spirit, saith the Lord.
[30:38] Is this question settled in your heart? Are you still like the Jews were that day, asking, are you the Son of God?
[30:52] Let's turn to Philippians chapter 2.
[31:14] I don't know why today. Amen.
[31:32] Amen. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
[32:21] Even the death of the cross, the lowliest death that a man could die. God had said, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree, and Jesus was put on that tree, and he bore the curse, and he bore our sin, and he bore all of that, and all of our failures, and all of our distresses, and all of it, he took it with him to the cross at Calvary.
[32:52] Hallelujah. He said, Let this mind be in you. So he admonishes us to have the same mind, the same mind of humility, the same mind that Christ had as he humbled himself.
[33:11] You know, he's the King of kings and Lord of lords. He's the creator God. But he humbled himself to become a man, and not only to become a man, but to become a servant, and then to die and to give his life.
[33:32] Jesus, our perfect example of humility. Verse 3, Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves.
[33:54] Lowliness of mind. Humility. Humility. You know, I believe that this is a mark of the people of God, is humility.
[34:08] You know, we are called to be kings and priests. We are called to intercede and to rule, to be rulers in this earth, and to have dominion over.
[34:26] But we are called to do that in humility. Jesus did not come and say, look at me.
[34:40] Look at who I am. No. He came in humility, and he taught, and you know, he had crowds following him.
[34:52] But he was a humble man. Lowliness of mind. Let each esteem other better than themselves.
[35:05] How is it? How is it? Do I think myself higher than others? Do I think I'm better than others?
[35:16] At best, we're but a sinner saved by grace. Yes. And at the foot of the cross, the ground is level.
[35:31] The ground is level. Yes. We're all here because of the grace of God. And whatever he uses us is only because of the grace of God.
[35:45] He will never use you because of how smart you are. He will never use you because of your abilities. But he will use you as he can fill you with his spirit and direct you and lead you.
[36:03] What is that verse? As many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. They are the sons of God.
[36:17] If God can lead you with his spirit, then you can be a son of God. But if you're proud and he can't lead you, if you want to go your own way and he can't lead you, he can't use you, you're not his son.
[36:44] Colossians, chapter 1, verse 10, that ye might walk worthy of the Lord and all pleasing.
[36:57] That we would walk worthy of the Lord. You know, we have such a great and awesome Lord. He's the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
[37:08] He's the creator. And there's, all things are under him. All things are under his feet. All things are under his control.
[37:21] Are we walking worthy? Now that we have this King of kings in our hearts, we have the spirit of the living God in us, partakers of the divine nature.
[37:37] Are we walking worthy? Yes, we must walk in humility, but we must also know who we are. And we must know how. We must allow him to manifest himself through us and to use us for his honor and for his glory.
[37:59] That we, ye might walk worthy of the Lord and all pleasing. Being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.
[38:13] This, as we go through this, you know, and there's other places where the wording might be different, but we're here today. But notice, what he, how we will walk worthy is by being fruitful in every good work.
[38:33] Being fruitful in every good work. How will we do that? I believe it is. You know, it's not just in finding something to do and going and doing it.
[38:47] No. But as the Lord leads us in the things that we do and we are fruitful in it, him working through us.
[39:01] Hallelujah. Being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Increasing in our relationship with him.
[39:13] Increasing in what we know and in learning to know him more and more. And the more we know him, the more we will trust him. You know, you know, that's a little phrase that the Lord has been working in my heart.
[39:39] The more we know him, the more we will trust him. In other words, if we have a problem trusting him, it means that we don't know him well enough.
[39:51] Verse 11.
[40:05] Strengthened with all might according to his glorious power. Strengthened with all might.
[40:15] What might? The power of his spirit. That's what strengthened with all might. And what is, what is the deciding factor of his power and of his might?
[40:31] It's according to his glorious power. The power of God. That's the limiting factor. Okay.
[40:41] So where is God limited? Hallelujah. He's not. Unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness.
[40:56] Patience. We run into trouble with that one, don't we? I do. Long suffering goes right along with patience.
[41:09] with joyfulness. Joyfulness. You know, can we joyfully go through trials at the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perishes?
[41:25] Hallelujah. Giving diligence, giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.
[41:43] Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.
[42:02] For by him were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
[42:17] All things were created by him and for him. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
[42:29] And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.
[42:41] Jesus Christ, that he would have all preeminence in all things, that he would have preeminence in the church, that he would have preeminence in this church, that he would have preeminence in your life, in my life.
[42:59] He wants to have the preeminence. What's that word mean? It means that he is the most important, that he is on that seat of authority, he's on that throne, in your life, in my life.
[43:17] He has a preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell, and having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself.
[43:39] You know, so God had to come to earth and live here and give his life and die as a criminal.
[43:52] He had to die to buy us back, to pay for our redemption. But he made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself.
[44:13] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. What an awesome salvation. What an awesome Savior. What an awesome God.
[44:33] Made peace. He made that way that we can have peace with God. by him I say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven and you that were sometime alienated.
[44:50] That's all humanity. We were all alienated. We were all alienated and we were all enemies in our minds by wicked works. Yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present us holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight.
[45:13] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. He is able He is able to present us faultless before his presence.
[45:31] Hallelujah. If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel if we will continue if we will keep on if we will serve him faithfully oh yes allow him to have the preeminence in your life every day every day yes chapter 2 verse 9 for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily ye are complete in him we are complete in him yes well it's I'm going to read
[46:37] I'm going to get a few verses out of Peter the 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 3 he according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust partakers of the divine nature we quoted this over and over but there it is partakers of the very nature of Jesus Christ partakers of the very nature of God when we're born again we become partakers that nature of God is birthed within us that's the new birth you know
[47:47] Nicodemus asked how can this be must I go return and be born again out of my mother's womb no it's a spiritual birth birthed by God himself by the spirit of God hallelujah the very nature of God oh hallelujah you know in 2nd Corinthians I believe it's chapter 5 2nd Corinthians 5 14 for the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if one died for all then we're all dead that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose again you know
[48:49] Jesus died for us that we can have life what less can we do but live for him hallelujah if any man be in Christ verse 17 he is a new creature all things are passed away behold all things are become new amplified says the previous moral and spiritual condition has passed away our old man that previous old moral condition of immorality that we lived in and that old spiritual condition of rebellion against God and going our own way it's gone it passed away and now we're a new man in Christ hallelujah a new man in Christ yes hallelujah let's start the new year off right full of the Holy
[49:59] Ghost full of the Spirit of God full of him hallelujah hallelujah the government shall be upon his shoulder one more verse here out of 2nd Peter he says here in verse 10 wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure for if you do these things you shall never fall for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ give diligence you know if we will enter the kingdom of God if we will enter heaven it won't be by just living a mediocre life no it will be because we were diligent to make our calling and election sure and in this time in this time that we find ourselves in 2023 where the gates of hell are rising against the church but our
[51:28] Savior promised they will not prevail they will not prevail against the church but they are rising and they are trying and they are fighting against Jesus and against his called and against his chosen against his church but he wants us to make to give diligence to make our calling and election sure and knowing that if we will walk with him we will never fall and if we will walk with him and if we will allow him to fill us with his spirit and we can be led by him and we can fulfill his calling on our lives he has to work for us much more than we know will we be faithful will we allow him will we allow him to have his way in our hearts in our lives this year and every year let's pray
[52:44] Thank you.