Incarnation divine proclamations of the incarnation. Of course, we're in Zechariah chapter 3. We'll revisit that in just a bit
Let me just make some introductory statements for tonight
It's always important to take some time to emphasize the doctrine of the incarnation during Christmas
And obviously when we talk about the incarnation of Christ, it's simply referring to what to what john
114 says that the word of god was made flesh right and dwelt among us
We beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth the fact that jesus christ
Took upon himself
The likeness of sinful flesh with the intent to be tempted in all points like as we are but yet without sin
And so it's it's an extremely important doctrine to cover the fact that the word of god jesus christ
The eternal son of god was made flesh 2000 years ago
In fact, you know, it's so important that to be slightly off on this doctrine the doctrine of incarnation to deny
that jesus christ
was coming to flesh is actually
Merits to be called a heretic or a false prophet according to the bible
And in fact according to biblical standards the bible says that a person is a false prophet
If they denied that jesus christ came in the flesh first john chapter 4
You don't have to turn there verse number one says beloved believe not every spirit
But try the spirits whether they are of god because many false prophets are gone out into the world
Hereby know ye the spirit of god
Every spirit that confesses that jesus christ has come in the flesh is of god
And every spirit that confesses not that jesus christ has come in the flesh is not of god
And this is that spirit of antichrist where have you heard that it should come and even now already is in the world
So automatically the bible is telling us here that if any religion any christ any sect of christianity so called
Denies that jesus christ came in the flesh that automatically puts them in the camp of being heretics false prophets
And antichrist the bible says and obviously this would include the jehovah's witnesses for example, right?
And obviously a lot of people would say well, they believe that jesus christ was physically here
Yeah, but they don't believe that he's the son of god
They don't believe that he is god when the bible talks about the son of god coming in the flesh is referring to the fact that
God himself the second person of the trinity took upon himself the form of flesh. He was made in the likeness of men
This is what it's referring to and you know, this should be non-controversial for us, right?
But it's something that we as god's people should emphasize just like any other doctrine
But it should be non-controversial the bible tells us that without controversy
Great is the mystery of godliness god was manifest in the flesh right justified in the spirit seen of angels preach into the gentiles
Believed on in the world and the bible says received up into glory. So this should be something that we should not
Debate over it's not something that is that should be cause for question
We should not navel gaze regarding the doctrine of incarnation just accept what the bible says
Okay, which is that jesus christ from eternity past came to this world 2000 years ago
And became a man. He was born of a woman and became amen this evening
I want to give you some of the divine proclamations of the bible regarding the incarnation of jesus christ
And some of the principles that we can learn from it
And i'm specifically referring to when I say divine i'm referring to angelic celestial beings that declared
The incarnation of christ that declared that first coming of jesus christ
Now we started off in zechariah chapter three
Because that is essentially the first part that we see where an angel proclaims the coming of christ proclamation number one
Is the proclamation of the branch the proclamation of the branch zechariah chapter three look down at your bibles at verse eight
It says here now oh joshua the high priest
Thou and thy fellows that sit before thee
For they are men excuse me for they are men wondered at for behold. I will bring forth my servant
The branch and I want you to notice that the bee there is capitalized indicating that this is referring to deities referring to
Jesus christ is referring to god
He talks about him as referring to him as the branch go to zechariah chapter six
Zechariah chapter six if you would it says in verse 11 of zechariah chapter six
Then take silver and gold and make crowns and set them upon the head of joshua the son of joseph the high priest
And speaking to him saying thus speak at the lord of hosts saying behold the man whose name is the branch
And he shall grow up out of his place
And he shall build the temple of the lord
Even he shall build the temple of the lord and he shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule upon his throne
And he shall be a priest upon his throne and the council of peace shall be between
Them both this is evidently obviously referring to the lord jesus christ and it addresses him as being the branch
Why is that well? He's the branch that springs forth if you think about it out of a kingdom that seemingly was dead
Okay, why is that?
Well, you think about the fact that jesus christ came from the tribe of juda and obviously he is of israel in a general sense
But we know that those two kingdoms were divided northern kingdom and southern kingdom that southern kingdom being primarily of made up of juda
Well, he is of juda. And of course we know that juda to a certain degree
Lost its kingdom, right by the time we get to the new testament
And this is why if you go to go to isaiah chapter 11 if you would isaiah chapter 11
This is why jesus christ is referred to as
The branch that shall grow out of the roots of david look at isaiah chapter 11 and verse number one
It says there shall come forth a rod
Out of the stem of jesse now the stem another way of saying stem is the stump
Why because judah like israel eventually was cut down, right? They were sent forth into captivity
They were essentially a tree that was supposed to grow
And proclaim the glory of god and feed the nations with the knowledge of god
But eventually they became a stem they were cut down. They were taken into captivity and even later on they lost their glory
And in fact, this is one of the reasons why jesus christ said in matthew 21 that the kingdom of god shall be taken from you
Given to a nation bringing forth and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof
But we have a prophetic statement in isaiah 11 that says that there shall come forth a rod
A branch so to speak out of the stem of jesse jesse, of course is the father of david
And a branch shall grow out of his roots
And the spirit of the lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom understanding the spirit of counsel and might spirit of knowledge
And of the fear of the lord so jesse is david's father
The stem implies the tree that was cut down the branch proves that god is essentially using the nation of juda
To produce the messiah the christ which is jesus
And so this is a beautiful picture here that the stem essentially pictures that old covenant
Why because the old covenant represents what death a stem or a stump is a tree that died right well out of that old covenant
Jesus christ is that raw that springs out of it. He is life that comes out of that old covenant
Out of that stump out of that stem jeremiah chapter 23
You don't have to turn there go with me if you would to ezekiel 37
Ezekiel 37 jeremiah 23
And verse 5 says behold the days come say the lord that I will raise unto david a righteous branch
And a king shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth
So if you picture that stump jesus christ is that new life that came out of that stump
And of course, there's a lot of new testament
Uh symbolic representations that we can pull out of that the point being
Is what we're saying here is that jesus christ that the the old testament is prophesying is foretelling through the angel
Regarding this branch that shall come out of juda. Micah chapter 5 verse 2 says be but thou bethlehem effrata
Though there'll be little among the thousands of juda
Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in israel
Who's going forth has been from of old from everlasting
So we have him being proclaimed as that branch that comes out of juda
Look at ezekiel 37 obviously ezekiel 37 is the famous passage of scripture dealing with the valley of dry bones
Probably one of my favorite stories in the old testament and it's essentially referring to
We see the imagery within ezekiel 37 of the valley of dry bones and god comes to ezekiel and he says can these bones live?
And he says lord thou knowest and of course he preaches unto the bones
They find one another the sinews connect with one another the muscle connects with one another you have the skin coming upon
The bones and the sinews there and the muscle and then it's a living army, right?
And then he breathes life into this army and he essentially uses that to represent the fact that one day god
Will restore israel and juda into their rightful place now people have misinterpreted this passage to mean
That this is referring to 1948 right or the fact that this is prophetically going to come
To flourish in that the modern state of israel will inherit the land because ezekiel 37 says so
But later on in the chapter we see that god tells ezekiel that he's going to bring juda up out of the graves
Right just as he did with that army and when does that take place? Well, it takes place at the resurrection, right?
You know behold the dead in christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain
Shall be caught up together with them in the clouds and so shall we ever be with the lord
This is referring to the resurrection and no one is denying the fact that israel and juda will inherit the land
In the millennial reign the difference is just not the modern state of israel. It's referring to those who are currently in the grave
Those who believed on the lord well in this same passage
We have another miracle that takes place obviously the first one was a vision this I believe to be a legitimate miracle
That happened physically says in verse 15 the word of the lord came again into me saying moreover thou son of man
Take thee one stick and write upon it for juda and for the children of israel his companions
Then take another stick and write upon it for joseph the stick of ephraim and for all the house of israel his companions
And join them one to another into one stick and they shall become one in thine hand
Verse 18 says and when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee saying will thou not show unto us
What thou meanest by these saying to them thus sayeth the lord god behold
I will take the stick of joseph which is in the hand of ephraim and the tribes of israel his fellows
And we'll put them with put them with him even with the stick of juda and make them one stick
And they shall be one in mine hand go to ephesians chapter 2 if you would ephesians chapter 2
Here in ezekiel 7 we have an evident miracle of ezekiel taking two sticks putting them together and they miraculously
Become one stick right and obviously there's a picture of israel and juda coming together being
One nation once again in that millennial reign
But it's also a picture of salvation and it's a picture of both jew and gentile
Becoming one man because of the branch, right?
It says in galatians 3 28 you're in ephesians 2 galatians 3 28 says there is neither jew nor greek
There's neither bond nor free for there's neither male nor female for ye are all one
In christ jesus just as those two sticks became one
Right in the hand of the prophet. Well in like manner jew and gentile is made one in the branch, which is jesus christ
Ephesians chapter 2 in verse 13 says but now in christ jesus
Ye and obviously he's addressing
Ephesians the ephesian believers gentile believers
Ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of christ for he is our peace
Who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall partition between us
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity even the law of commandments contain in ordinances for to make it himself of twain
one new man
So making peace so we see here that in the new testament the bible teaches us that both jew and gentile
Is made out of twain is made one new man that one new man being because of the branch, right?
So we see a fulfillment here of these old testament prophetic statements that when jesus christ comes he's crucified on the cross
He's able to engraft obviously the gentiles in but also preserve those who have believed on the lord and they both become
One new man not one man and then a separate people of god, right? There's no two people of gods
There's only one stick and it's joined together
Through the branch which is jesus christ so the significance of jesus being the branch out of the stem
Is the fact that the branch becomes in the new testament the true vine, right?
So you have juda being a stump, but it's cut down obviously it's cut down because of their unbelief because of the rejection of god
But out of juda springs forth jesus christ that that rod
That branch and in the new testament becomes the true vine the true vine grows out of that stem
The stamp picturing the old covenant the true vine picturing the life in the new and of course he says in john 15
I am the true vine my father is the husband man now obviously if the bible's saying here that jesus is the true vine
That means there's a fake vine, right?
That means there is a false vine that means there is a branch or a tree out there that is corrupt
That is not uh of god
It's that which has been plucked up by the roots because god has not planted it and that's actually something
that jesus tells the pharisees who were the
Uh the the adherence to judaism and so we see here that when zechariah chapter 3 and zechariah chapter 6
The angel proclaims the branch we see the fulfillment of that in the new testament
Uh, go with me if you would to go to luke chapter 1 if you would luke chapter number 1 luke chapter 1
We see also in revelation 22 verse 16 that it says jesus says i am the root and the offspring
Of david and the bright and morning star so the divine proclamation in zechariah 3 and zechariah 6
Is the fact that the branch will come in the new testament to make of twain one new man
He is that offshoot. He is that that branch
He is that rod that comes forth out of the stem of jesse the proclamation number two
Is regarding his name so we have an angel proclaiming to zechariah regarding the branch
And the second point I want to give is the fact that the proclamation is given of his specific name
now throughout the bible we see various forms of god's name, right being
Revealed into god's people. There's a variety of different ways that he expresses himself
But the most important name now in the new testament is jesus, right?
And that's very specific and we'll get into that in just a bit. Let me reach you from isaiah chapter 7
And verse 14 the bible says therefore the lord himself shall give you a sign behold the virgin shall conceive and bear his son
And shall call his name emmanuel now. I believe this really happened
Where a virgin conceived obviously not in a miraculous way, but there is a child that was born unto a woman who was previously a virgin
She became impregnated and then had a child and actually called his name emmanuel in the old testament, right?
But this is obviously figuring also. It's a prophetic statement regarding mary
Who was who essentially gave a miraculous birth of jesus christ without a physical man being involved, right?
He was born of the holy ghost
And so we see here that his name is called emmanuel and matthew chapter 1 verse 23 expounds unto us
That emmanuel means what god with us lu chapter 1 look at verse 30. It says and the angel said it to her
Fear not mary for thou has found favor with god and behold thou shall conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son
And shall call his name yeshua. No, it says jesus, okay
And that's important to note there because you know this yeshua
Trend is something that has been around for the last couple of years. Maybe a decade or so
And this is something that is trending amongst christianity
And isn't biblical. Okay now people could say well, that's how you say it in hebrew
Yeah, but hold on a second the way the name was revealed in the new testament
The way god designated it for it to be revealed is isis which is jesus
Okay
And so that's important to know and you know, there's a lot of false teaching goings out there going out there regarding the name of jesus
People saying well, you know mary and joseph chose that name, but that was that name wasn't chosen by god
But here we literally see the angel telling mary his name shall be called jesus
And obviously the angel is not autonomous. He's not operating on his own will
He's proclaiming what god told him to say right that his name shall be called jesus
And you know now more than ever we need to make sure
That we don't muddy the waters regarding the name of jesus christ. We need to call him jesus
Okay in english. It's jesus and obviously
Whatever it is in whatever other language you speak the point that i'm making is that in english
Which by the way, this yeshua thing is more of an english phenomenon
Okay, it's more of a phenomenon that you see in america where they're seeking to change that name
And it is a movement that is designated to infiltrate
You know through the hebrew roots movement to judae's churches
And to esteeming hebrew and the old testament and things of that nature
But we need to stick with jesus because that's actually what his name is
Okay, he says verse 32 and 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
And of his kingdom there shall be no end. He said why is it important to call him jesus and not yeshua?
Well, because you know the bible tells us in act chapter 4 verse 12 neither is there salvation in any other?
For there's none other none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved
And one thing you'll notice is that when people are promoting the name of yeshua
It's often associated with the false gospel. In fact, i've never run into anybody who preaches yeshua that has the right gospel
Okay
The right gospel is that you have to believe on the lord jesus christ in order to be saved
I've literally never heard anybody say you have to believe on the lord
You know yeshua christ to be saved they're often talking about repenting of your sin doing works
Keeping the old testament commandments and so forth. Whereas the name of jesus is associated with the right gospel
Okay, the bible also says in philippians go to romans chapter 10 if you would philippians chapter 2
And verse number 9 says wherefore god also has highly exalted him and giving him a name
Which is above every name that at the name of jesus every knee should bow
Of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that jesus christ is lord
To the glory of god the father
And so it's important for us to recognize that we should use the name of jesus now the name of jesus christ being introduced into the new testament
Is an interesting subject is it not because in the old testament he god was known through various names jehovah lord god
God almighty
We have the tetragrammaton of the old testament and so forth and you know, we have the lord right which is the tetragrammaton
But here's the thing is that once we transition into the new testament god had the expectation that everyone should confess
Jesus christ, right?
And in fact one of the major messages of the disciples and the apostles in the new testament
Is to go preach that jesus was the christ that jesus is the christ
You see this throughout the book of acts where disciples were going into various synagogues
Preaching the word of god and a lot of it was them, you know debating with people
And proclaiming that jesus was the christ so what they were doing is kind of like a a litmus test for who was saved
Because if you had people in the synagogues
Reading the law of moses reading the old testament, you know proclaiming to be believers in the true god of the bible
Well, then they should fall in line with the name of jesus
In other words when an apostle came to them and said hey jesus is the christ if they denied that
That was an indication that they were not saved. Okay, because the way god revealed himself
In the new testament is through the name of jesus
And so, you know, you have a variety of people in the new testament that believed right they were already saved
You have for example apollos who was preaching christ, but he didn't know the name of jesus
And then you had the disciples come to him and show him the way of god more perfectly
And what that's referring to is the fact that they talked about
Jesus being the christ and then he just automatically believed that that doesn't mean that he got saved at that moment
He was already saved as indicated by the fact that he embraced the name of jesus christ, right?
If he denied that jesus was the christ, then that would be an indication that he's not saved. Okay
But as we see here, you know, the name of jesus is important. Look at romans chapter 10 verse 5
It says for moses described the righteousness which is of the law
That the man which doeth those things shall live by them
But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise say not in thine heart who shall ascend into heaven
That is to bring christ down from above this is of course is quoting
The old testament in the book of deuteronomy or who shall descend into the deep that is to bring up christ again from the dead
But what sayeth it the word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thine heart
That is the word of faith which we preach that if thou shall confess with thy mouth the lord jesus
And shall believe in thine heart that god has raised him from the dead thou shall be safe
And i'm a strong believer that when we evangelize when we're preaching the gospel when we're out there sowning
That we specifically address the fact that jesus is the christ, right?
Not yeshua not yahweh not believing on yahweh. We need to use the name of jesus when we're preaching
Okay
And so the bible places a major emphasis on this especially in the new testament, of course
And that's important matthew chapter 1 go back to luke if you would luke chapter 2 i'm going to reach you for matthew chapter 1
It says but while he thought on these things behold the angel the lord appeared at him in a dream saint joseph
Thou son of david fear not to take unto thee marry thy wife for that which is conceived in her is of the holy ghost
This is obviously indicating the fact that jesus christ is sinless because he is begotten of god, right?
It says and and and she shall bring forth a son and thou shall call his name jesus
For he shall save his people from their sin the bible says now another thing
I want to mention here regarding the proclamations of jesus christ the divine proclamations
Is the fact that the proclamation of jesus is to indicate that he's coming to sacrifice himself
He's coming to save people from their sins meaning that he without the shedding of blood is no remission of sin
He's going to sacrifice his body to pay for the sins of the whole world
And this is important because of the fact that when he says his people he's referring to believers, right?
He's obviously not referring to
the physical nation of israel because of the fact that they still have sin during that first century ad
And in fact, they became exceedingly sinful by rejecting jesus christ when it prophesies of him saving the people from their sins
It's referring to the fact that they believe on him and he forgives them through his blood of their past present
And future sin and that in itself is an important doctrine
Is it not a lot of people are confused regarding forgiveness of sins?
And they often think well if i'm saved aren't I just forgiven of my past sins, right?
Uh, not my future sins, but the bible makes it very clear
We're forgiven of all sins past present and future and that all our sins respected toward jesus christ was crucified on the cross our future
Okay, and when we say all sins, we're not just referring to small sins
Referring to big sins as well. Okay, and yes that even includes for example blasphemy not blasphemy the holy ghost
That's that's a phenomenon that I believe
Uh took place in during the time of christ, but just blasphemy in general the bible says you're forgiven of that
Right at the moment of salvation
There is no sin too big or too small that cannot be forgiven by the blood of jesus christ
Okay, he forgives of all sin and it's crazy to think about you know that people would surmise and say well
Yeah, but you know if you commit murder, you know, you'll lose your salvation. Well murder is a sin. It's a crime
Worthy of death, but it's a it's a sin that jesus christ paid for okay
And you know, I love the fact that the bible is filled with godly men who just made a lot of stupid mistakes
Committed a lot of grievous sins, right? I mean think about king david king david is a man after god's own heart
I mean, he's one of the most powerful representations of jesus christ in the old testament
I mean jesus calls himself the son of david. I mean talk about a lofty position there
Right. He is one of the most powerful representations of jesus christ
He wrote so many psalms so many prophetic psalms of jesus christ yet. He was an adulterer and a murderer
The man had a hit put out on uriah committed adultery with his wife
But you know what the bible tells us in roman chapter 4 david describes the blessedness of the man to whom the lord will not impute
Sin, right? He forgives of sin. He cleanses of sin. He covers the sin. Why because the blood of jesus covers everything
small sins big sins
Past sins future sins the sins you committed today. It's all under the blood
You know a lot of times people will say well
That's giving people a reason to commit sin if you say those things
And what they're often promoting is that if you teach that you can lose your salvation
You're going to cause people to fear their way into holiness, right?
understand what i'm saying though like you know if you want people to live rights
You got to teach you're going to lose your salvation because that keeps people on the straight and narrow
But you know often the people that I meet who teach that are some of the most wicked people
Doesn't seem to be working for them now, does it? They're often the ones who are involved in drunkenness
fornication adultery
Extortion committing some of the most heinous of sins
Even though they claim to believe this and in fact most people who condemn me on social media
I don't do it often, but sometimes I do just to confirm the point, you know when they're condemning me about
Preaching and teaching one saved always saved I'll click on their profile. They have some of the most wicked things on their profile
It's just like you're gonna tell me that I'm the promoting wickedness. Like what are you promoting?
You're like brazen. You can't blush why because a person who preaches you can lose your salvation
It's pretty it's preaching a false gospel and the natural man receive it not the things of the Spirit of God and look folks in
My experience and obviously, you know, this is anecdotal so to speak
But it's still true that you know people who preach one saved always saved are often the ones who preach against sin the most
And are often the ones who are producing
Godly people and holy living why because we're not preaching it to keep you in the way of salvation
We're preaching it because of the fact that we love the Lord and let me just remind you the only people that can love God
Are safe people unsafe people cannot love God. There's no
Capability within the individual who's unsafe to love God. It's impossible, right?
Why because of the fact that love comes from the spirit that in dwells the believer, right?
It's the fruit of the spirit love is the fruit of the spirit and it's only produced within safe people
So people who claim to be saved but they believe in a false gospel can't love God. That's a that's a fact
They don't have the capability to do so point that I'm making here is the fact that when Jesus Christ died on the cross
Resurrected when we believe on him. Guess what? We're forgiven of all sins past present and future
You could read Romans chapter 4 that explicitly teaches that and it's nonsensical to believe well
It only covers a couple sins, but not all sins then then Jesus Christ is in Christ
Then Jesus is not God because you know, he didn't pay it in full now
Did he when he said it is finished? I guess it really wasn't right when he says
That he shall save people from their sins
I guess he should have put in parentheses just a couple of them the rest of them
You're on your own or something. You understand crazy, but you know what?
This is the kind of gospel that false prophets will come
The conclusion that false prophets will come to because they don't have the Spirit of God
It says you shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins
We're being saved from hell
But we're also being saved from our sins that would take us to hell right and quite frankly, you know
He sanctifies us as well through salvation
We are set apart through salvation
But one of the greatest things that we receive at salvation is the forgiveness of sins the remission of all of our sins
Proclamation number three is the proclamation of good tidings and humility look at Luke chapter 2
Of course, this is where we find the Christmas story. Let's go to verse 10
It says the angel said unto them fear not for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy
Which shall be to all people now? What is good tidings mean it means good news
And in fact, this is where we derive the term gospel from gospel means good news good tidings
This is what it's referring to and what is the good news?
the good news is that the word of God was made flesh and you know, we celebrate Jesus Christ on
Christmas on the 25th and you know people will often condemn me for this. They're like show me in the Bible
You know, we're Christmas where you should be celebrating Christmas or you know
Show me Christmas in the Bible and I was just one with like show you in the Bible where Jesus Christ was born
Because Jesus Christ was born. I mean, what's what's what's yeah. Yeah, but why are you doing on the 25th?
Well, because there's like a one in 365 chance that he was born on the 25th, right?
I mean he was born on a day. He came into existence. What's wrong with choosing the 25th, you know, and it's just like
Oh, that's so pagan
You're celebrating a pagan holiday and when people tell me that I always respond with
Do you observe Monday Tuesday Wednesday as being legitimate days of the week? Do you observe them as being well?
Yeah, well, those are those are named after pagan gods same thing with some of the months of the year
You schedule your entire life around pagan
Ideologies, you know and let's just pretend for a second that you know that Christmas has pagan origins. Okay, let's just pretend
I don't believe it does but let's just pretend it does if it legitimately had pagan origins
We just took it and made it better. We just we just gave it unto Christ
Right. We took this day that pagans would use for a false god and we're gonna we're gonna commemorate it unto the Lord
You know
The Lord is knowing is known for taking things that belong to the heathen and giving it unto the righteous
But you know think about when when the children of Israel went into the promised land, right?
Did the children of Israel say we can't live here. These are pagan houses. These are pagan wells
These are pagan houses and wells and vineyards God said take it you didn't dig it you didn't build it
But I'm giving it to you now. It's yours. You know, this is Canaan land. Now. It's the promised land, right?
And I don't believe it even you know, there's a Saturday and all this nonsense
You know, I'm all for celebrating the birthday and you can celebrate any day of the year, but I just prefer to celebrate it
It's you got the vibe going on. You know, it's cold and everyone's singing Christmas songs. Look folks
I love the fact that I can walk into a Starbucks
That's very liberal and they have to listen to Oh Holy Night playing in the background
You know what I mean?
I I like the fact that you can walk into stores where maybe you have atheists
And and wicked individuals walking and they just have to hear about Jesus Christ being born
Yeah, but you know, it's a holiday. It's being used to promote, you know
consumerism
Yeah, but christ is preach and I dare and do rejoice though, you know
And quite frankly make maybe it makes people more receptive to the gospel. I don't really care, you know
I like the fact that the entire nation, you know celebrate and that's why i'm for saint. Merry christmas, by the way christmas, right?
Yeah, but that's catholic. We took it from the catholics, too. We just take it from anybody. You know, I don't care
Merry christmas, right point that i'm making here is the fact that christmas. I don't even know where I was going with that
Actually, I don't remember but the good tidings the gospel right people talking about the great news
What's the great news that jesus christ came to this world?
He was born of a virgin with the intent to die to pay for the sins of the world to resurrect and to give us salvation
That is the proclamation that's being made and it's it says which shall be to all people
Why because salvation is available to all people. It's the greatest gift
That god has given to humanity is the gift of salvation through jesus christ
He says in verse 11 front to you is born this day in the city of david a savior, which is christ the lord
And this shall be a sign until you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger
Of course, this is signifying the humility in which he came
Okay, you know the fact that he's wrapped in swaddling clothes is a picture of the fact that when jesus christ was born
He took upon himself sinful flesh right the likeness of sinful flesh. He wrapped himself
in mortality
Okay, because he was going to die for us and so a very humble picture here
And by the way, let me just veer off again and just talk about something else
Regarding the so-called paganism. This is not pagan. Okay, this is a fake tree. Okay, but even the real deal is not pagan
You know, it's crazy that you have plants in your house, too
By the way, you know, I guess that's pagan, you know, it's nonsensical to to to think like oh man
Yeah, but there's a scripture in jeremiah 10. Yeah, the jeremiah 10 has nothing to do with christmas trees
It literally has to do with the carved idol. Okay
You know people hating on christmas is ridiculous to think that people would be against celebrating any doctrine of the faith
Okay, and you know, i'm not i'm not trying to encourage you to be cute and just start celebrating
You know the rapture or something like that, you know, just create a holiday for the rapture
I'm just saying, you know, we esteem this day as unto christ, right?
The birth of jesus christ you could do this on july 4th if you wanted to if you you know
But the vibe is not quite the same though. You know what I mean? And so
Amen to that proclamation number four go to luke or you're in luke chapter two
Is a proclamation of reconciliation. Of course, we're referring to the proclamations of angels
And one that we see here is a proclamation of reconciliation look at verse 13
It says and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising god and saying glory to god in the highest
and on earth peace good will toward men now
Obviously the world
Misuses this right like oh christmas should be a time where we all just have peace with one another
Well, the piece that it's this is referring to is not peace with one another but peace with god
Because the world needs to be reconciled back to god. That's what reconciliation means is to have peace with god
Okay, what is the good will toward men?
The fact that god wants to have peace with you his will god is not willing that any should perish
But that all should come to repentance
And so he wants peace on earth
But it's not peace on earth like we all hold hands and see if we can cover the entire world or something like that
By holding hands. It's not like oh peace with false religions
Peace with you know pagans and heathens and just you know tolerating false doctrine
And let's just put our doctrinal differences aside. It means having peace with god
We need to be on the same page with god, right?
That's what it's referring to he says in a game to pass as the angels were gone away
Uh from them into heaven the shepherd said one to another
Let us now go even into bethahem and see the thing which has come to pass
Which the lord hath made known unto us go to second corinthians chapter 5 if you would hold your place there
In the gospels we're going to come we're going to go to matthew 2 after second corinthians
Romans chapter 5 and verse number 1 says therefore being justified by faith
We have peace with god through our lord. Jesus christ
And you know this peace isn't referring to like oh, I just feel like i'm i tranquility, you know yoga
And this this peace of mind my mind is just empty
This is referring to the fact that when we are saved god is no longer our enemy and we're no longer enemies of god, right?
We're no longer just in the flesh. We have the spirit dwelling within us now
We become children of god and it says that we have peace with god through our lord. Jesus christ
Let me just make it very clear if you're not saved you don't have peace
It doesn't matter how much money you have in your bank account no matter how many possessions you have
No matter how successful you've been this side of eternity. You don't really have peace
Because folks let me just remind you what the bible says
There is no peace to the wicked because if you were to die at this moment
Your soul would split hell wide open and you know what would happen
You would burn for all of eternity and there would be no peace for you there. Okay, if you want true peace
True everlasting peace believe in the lord jesus christ
Receive the free gift of eternal life 2nd corinthians chapter 5 verse 18 says and all things are of god
Who hath reconciled what does reconciled mean to be at peace with reconciled us to himself?
By jesus christ and hath given into us the ministry of reconciliation
Now, you know the vast majority of you have already been reconciled to god
Now it's our job to reconcile others back into god too, right? He says to wit that god was in christ
Reconciled the world into himself not impugning their trespasses unto them and that's committed unto us the word of reconciliation
So the bible says that he's given to us the ministry of reconciliation
And how do we minister to others to reconcile them back to god through the word of reconciliation?
So it's not just a matter of like talking about we need to preach the word of god into them
We need to preach the gospel and let them know they can be reconciled back to god through jesus
It says in verse 20 now then we are ambassadors for christ as though god did beseech you by us
We pray you in christ's stead be reconciled to god now. We obviously know that after we've received the peace of god
Referring to that salvation that justification
Now we have access to the peace of god like that inner peace
That inner peace that relinquishes
you know turmoil
and anxiety
And stress and discouragement and worry why because the peace of god can rule in our hearts, right?
Bible tells us to be careful for nothing
But in all things by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known into god and the peace of god
The path of understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through jesus christ our lord
The bible says that will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on me
And so we already have peace with god if we've got saved if you've already believed on jesus christ you have peace with god
You're no longer his enemy. However, you're still susceptible to being filled with anxiety and stress and worry
If you don't have the peace of god referring to that inner peace that comes through the holy spirit
That comes through reading the scriptures and comes through knowing what the bible says about the end, right?
Fixating your mind on jesus christ that helps you to have the peace of god
What am I saying here? I'm talking about the proclamations that are being given by angels
We see a proclamation of good tidings and of humility a proclamation of reconciliation
That is the good tidings that are being proclaimed go to matthew chapter 1 matthew chapter 1 and we're done
Yes, you heard right. We are done
Okay, i'm preaching an old ifb style sermon tonight because i'm hungry. We're gonna have a potluck after
Obviously we see a proclamation of the king
Okay, a lot of proclamations being given by angels the fact that he's the branch the the proclamation of good tidings and of humility
proclamations of
Reconciliation the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins
We also see lastly as a proclamation of a king matthew 2 verse number one says now when jesus was born in bethlehem of judaea
In the days of harry the king beholder came wise men from the east to jerusalem
Saying where is he that is born king of the jews for we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship
Him when harry the king had heard these things
He was troubled in all jerusalem with him when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together
He demanded them where christ should be born born skip down to verse 9
When they had heard the king they departed and lo the star which they saw in the east went before them
Till it came and stood over where the young child was now matthew 2
And luke chapter 2 are often conflated, but they're actually events that take place years apart and it's actually generally agreed
That matthew chapter 2
Jesus was potentially about two years old at this point
So even though it's referring it addresses the fact that he was born by the time the wise men get to jesus
He's already basically like a toddler. Okay, and what we see here is that these wise men
Which we would say it are kings, you know
We sing we three kings of oriental and it's possible that it's referring to kings
But I think that when it says wise men is simply referring to the fact that they're preachers
I think that's referring to the fact that they're they're evangelists. They're preachers of the gospel
Why because you know the bible tells us?
That he that win its souls is wise and jesus later on talks about the fact that he sent to jerusalem
wise men, right
Prophets and wise men and scribes it's possibly referring to the fact that these are men who knew the bible and were preachers of the word of god
And when it talks about the star them following the star
This the star is referring to an an angelic being in my opinion. Okay
And of course the sermon is the divine proclamations of the incarnation
Here's the last one is the star
Leading the wise men into christ who is the king look at verse 10
It says when they saw the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy
And when they're coming to the house, they saw the young child with mary his mother and fell down and worshiped her
Is that what it says?
They said hail mary unto her
No, I said they worshiped him. Okay when they had opened their treasures. They presented unto him
Gifts gold and frankincense and myrrh. So we see here that these men knew the word of god
They were led of the angel to come to the man and they came to jesus
as
Him being the king of israel the king of kings and the lord of lords and so it's a great story here
And that's pretty much it
You know take some time today take some time tomorrow morning to thank god for the incarnation of christ
You know the fact that jesus christ was born, you know, it's a very
Touching day to think upon, you know the fact that jesus christ came with a specific purpose to die
Right, there's that wonderful song born to die. Okay, and you know, we love to celebrate easter in the resurrection
But it starts here right starts with the birth of jesus christ. And so let's pray father
We thank you so much for your word. We're so thankful for the incarnation lord the fact that the word of god was made flesh
And all hail king jesus. We're so thankful for our lord jesus christ who came 2 000 years ago
And that uh, you set your glory aside
You took upon yourself the likeness of sinful flesh you were born of a woman you're tempted in all points like as we are
Yet without sin lord and we're so thankful for it and may we slow down these next couple days
And obviously we're going to be spending time with family and giving gifts one to another
But I pray lord that you'd help us as your people, uh to just think upon and meditate to ruminate
Upon the word of god being made flesh. Thank you so much for coming for us
And I pray that lord you'd help us to take that thought
And to participate in the ministry of reconciliation to tell others the good tidings of great joy
That they can be reconciled back to you through jesus christ. We love you. We thank you pray this things in jesus name. Amen