Address—C. Hendricks
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Let's start by reading a verse from First Timothy.
First Timothy, 316.
And without controversy.
Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh.
Justified in the spirit scene of angels.
Preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
I'd like to talk about the first one.
God was manifest in the flesh.
Tremendous truth.
Let's turn to second John for a verse or two.
Second John.
Verse 7.
For many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
This is a deceiver and an Antichrist.
Verse 9. Whosoever transgresseth.
And abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God?
Very strong statement, isn't it?
Whosoever abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God.
He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father.
And the son. So here John is talking about something that is fundamental truth.
The doctrine of Christ, the truth as to His person, who he is.
And he talks about the deceivers and the Antichrist that have entered into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ coming in the flesh.
He says this is the deceiver and the Antichrist.
The confession of his person.
Most wonderful confession that we can make.
Jesus Christ coming in flesh. The confession of this person, he who came in flesh.
That of course supposes his pre existence before he came in flesh, coming in flashes, his manhood. Jesus Christ who came in the flesh.
Brings before us his deity.
Be the person who came.
Would be senseless to talk of us coming in the flesh because that's the only way we can come. But here was a person that preexisted before he came in the flesh, before he became a man. And this confession that John talks about is the confession as to his deity and as to his humanity.
And he says, he that abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God.
So this is fundamental, isn't it? And he that abideth in the doctrine, he hath both the Father and the Son.
Fundamental truth. I'd like to look at the doctrine of Christ a little bit tonight. Some of it, some of some of that which concerns him. We start with Genesis chapter 3.
Genesis chapter 3.
This is after the fall.
Verse 14 The Lord is speaking to the serpent.
Who had just seduced Eve to take of the forbidden fruit?
Deceived her and she took it and ate and gave it to her husband and he took it in ate.
Verse 14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this.
Thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman.
And between thy seed and her seed.
Now here he talks about the woman's seed, the serpent seed, and the woman seed, her seed.
It that is the woman's seed shall bruise thy head.
And thou shalt bruise his heel. So here we have the 1St.
The first mention sin having come into the world right away, the Lord says to the serpent, who was the one that brought sin in through the weaker vessel, the woman.
He says the seed of the woman.
The very one whom he had deceived and seduced into sin is the very one who would bear the coming Redeemer to destroy and crush the serpent's head.
00:05:07
The seed of the woman, it shall bruise or crush thy head.
And thou shalt bruise or crush his heel.
The seed of the woman.
Now we're going to trace this theme through Scripture and it brings before us.
His humanity, and it also brings before us the one who became that.
That he is God.
Let's turn to the Isaiah Chapter 7.
Isaiah Chapter 7.
Verse 10.
Moreover, the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask the sign of the Lord thy God, Ask it either in the depth or in the height above. But Ahas said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.
And he said, Hear ye now, O House of David, Is it a small thing for you to weary men? But will ye weary my God also?
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign.
Behold, a virgin.
Shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel. Now here we have both his humanity.
The Virgin conceiving and bearing the Sun.
And his name is called Emmanuel. God with us, God manifest in the flesh.
A sign. Now, in some of the modern translations that verse reads, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son. But that wouldn't be a sign because young women bear sons every day. But it's a sign if the virgin, the virgin conceives and bears a son. And we're going to see that. You don't have to get into an argument with anyone about the meaning of this Hebrew word, whether it means virgin or young woman.
It might be able to be rendered both of those ways, depending upon the context.
But here, there's no question about it. It's a sign which would indicate a special, unique, never to be repeated birth of the Messiah.
The seed of the woman. So every one of us in this room tonight is the seed of man. But here was one who was to be the seed of the woman, a most unique and unusual expression which would come and crush the serpent's head, destroy the one that brought in all the the the havoc, the ruin, the sin.
So disturbs us.
Down here in the scene.
A virgin, the Virgin shall conceive.
And bear a son, and shall call his name.
Emmanuel.
Now let's turn to Matthew chapter 1, where we're going to see this wonderful truth guarded by the Spirit of God very carefully in all of Scripture.
You see, if he wasn't the seed of the woman, if he wasn't virgin born, we don't have a savior.
We don't have a savior, and we'll develop that a little bit more. I'm going to read this.
Genealogy quickly.
Matthew 1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren, and Judas begat Ferris, and 0 of themar And Pharaohs begat Esram, And Esram begat Aram, and Aram begat Aminadab, and Aminadab begat Nayasin, and Nayasin begat Salman, and Salman begat Boaz of Recap and Boaz begat Obid.
Of Ruth and Obed begat Jesse and Jesse begat David the king, and David the king begat Solomon. Of her that had been the wife of Urias and Solomon begat Roboem, and Roboem begat Abaya, and Abaya begat Isa and ASA begat Josephat and Josephat Begat Joram, and Joran begat Uzias.
And Isaiah's begat Joatham, and Joatham begat Achas, and Ecz begat Ezekius, and Ezekias begat Manassehs, and Manassas begat Ammon, And Ammon begat Josias, And Josias begat Echonius and his brethren about the time they were carried away to Babylon. And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconias begets Elathiol, and Salathiel begets Zerubbabel, And Zerubbabel begat Abayad, and Abayad begat Iliacum.
And iliacum begatis or an azor begat sedic, and sedic begat acum. And akam begat eliad.
00:10:02
And Eliah begat Eliezer, and Eliezer begat Matt Fan, and Matt Than begat Jacob.
And Jacob begat Joseph. Now notice the change.
It doesn't say. It can't say.
Jacob. Joseph begat Jesus because he had nothing to do with this birth. Nothing.
And Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
Mary is mentioned over and over again in scripture as Jesus Mother, Jesus Mother.
Joseph never by the Spirit of God, is called his Father.
Men called him that legally he was so, but not really. He really had nothing to do with that birth. No, it was miraculous. It was the seed. Christ was the seed of the woman. He was born of the Virgin. And if we don't hold that truth?
We don't hold the doctrine of Christ.
Fundamental truth as to his person, because if he was begotten of a man like all these others, begat, begat, begat.
If it was a man that begat him, we don't have a saviour, because he wasn't the fulfilment of the prophecy that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head, and that the virgin would conceive and bear a son.
Verse 17 so all the generations from Abraham to David are 14 generations and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are 14 generations and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ our 14th generations. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise when as his mother Mary and she's called that over and over again.
The Roman Catholics speak about Mary as the Mother of God.
Well, as to that God has no mother, Jesus.
As to his deity.
Only has a father.
No mother. As to his humanity, he only has a mother. No father.
That is, he has no human father.
The one who did the begetting in connection with the birth of Christ was the Holy Spirit.
He took the place of the man in the normal birth that we're experiencing that all these that's why I read that genealogy because you get the word begat begat begat over and over again. Not so a man be getting.
This one, this unique birth.
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph.
Notice the guard before they came together. She was found with child of the Holy Ghost, then Joseph. Her husband, being a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
But while he thought on these things, behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. Now if you have a margin in your Bible, as I have in mind, conceive, there's a little note too, and it says Greek begotten.
It's not the word for conceived. Matthew doesn't use the word conceived. Luke does. But Matthew uses the word begotten because that's consistent with the genealogy in Matthew. Matthew says that Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, and so on.
But who was the begetter in the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit.
So it should read that which is begotten in her is of the Holy Ghost. Mary conceived, that's Lukes teaching and the Holy Ghost begat, that's Matthews teaching. And so there was no man involved in that begetting process.
He was the seed of the woman.
Born of the Virgin.
And man had nothing to do with it. It's, it's interesting, isn't it, that it was through the woman that Satan introduced sin into the world. And it's through the woman.
That God introduces the destroyer of the serpent.
The seed of the woman who would crush the serpent's head, the very vessel, the weaker vessel that Satan attacked and seduced and deceived, is the very one, the weaker vessel that the Christ of God, the Messiah, Emmanuel, God with us, came into this world through the woman.
00:15:23
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. Oh, that name Jesus, so wonderful. What a wonderful name, the most wonderful name in all the universe. It means Jehovah the Savior.
Goes on to say Jehovah of course is his Godhead and the Savior. It says, for he shall save his people from their sins, his manhood. He couldn't save us had he not become a man, had he not come right to where we were and become one of us in a part.
And she shall bring forth.
A son.
And thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying, and here we clearly now he quotes Isaiah 714. Now there's no question about the word in Greek it means virgin. But the teaching of the Spirit of God, the way he guards this truth, there's no question about the teaching of the Scriptures.
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 here in this verse we have the doctrine of Christ. He is very man.
Born of the virgin and very God, Emmanuel, God with us.
Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the Angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife.
And he knew her not till she had brought forth her first born son, and he called his name Jesus. Notice these two guards in verse 18 it says when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost, so before they came together.
She was.
Found with child of the Holy Ghost in verse 25 adds the truth that he knew her not till she had brought forth her first born son. So during the nine months of development of the child and the womb of the virgin, there was no marital relations between them.
He knew her not till she had brought forth her first born son and he called his name Jesus.
So God preserved the truth that Joseph had nothing, nothing, nothing to do with this birth.
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the King, behold, there 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 Herod the King had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
And they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea. For thus it is written by the prophet.
And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the Princess of Judah, for out of these shall come a governor.
That shall rule my people, Israel.
This one that is coming.
As the seed of the woman virgin born is to be the governor, he's God.
Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared and he sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search diligently for the young child. Now notice this expression here, the young child, it's going to, we're going to come across it a number of times. And it's, it's an expression which sets him apart, sets him apart from the the other one that is mentioned. Certainly there was a distance between Herod and the young child.
And Herod says, then he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child, for when you have found him, bring me word again that I may come and worship him also. He wanted to destroy him, of course, in his hatred.
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. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
And notice, and when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother. They are often mentioned together, the young child, Mary his mother, never the young child, and Joseph his father, never, never. Do you have that expression? They saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshiped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense. And.
00:20:25
The gold symbolizing His deity, the frankincense His holy humanity, and the myrrh, His sufferings by which we are saved.
And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. And when they were departed, behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph.
Again, notice the precision of the language of the Holy Spirit in a dream, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother.
Notice how that expression removes Joseph from the young child and his mother. He doesn't say take.
Your wife and son.
No, he doesn't say that. It says take the young child and his mother. Joseph is is spoken of as though he is distant and apart from the young child and his mother.
That is the language of the Holy Spirit. Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word. For Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt, and he was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying out of Egypt have I called my son? Now who's speaking? It's the Lord, that's it's the.
The Lord that is speaking, that says out of Egypt have I called my son? The father says that.
And he was indeed the son of the father, not the son of Joseph.
Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem.
And in all the coasts thereof from 2 years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled, at which was spoken by Jeremy the Prophet saying in Rhema was there a voice heard lamentation and weeping, and great morning. Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted.
Because they are not.
But when Herod was dead, behold, an Angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. Notice again saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother.
And go into the land of Egypt.
The language is almost as though Joseph.
Was.
Apart from the young child and his mother, and indeed in connection with that birth, he certainly was.
Take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for they are dead which sought the young child's life. And he arose and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither, notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee, and he came and dwelt in the city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets.
I should be called a Nazarene, A Nazarene A despised one. Shall any good thing come out of Nazareth?
Now let's turn to Lukes Gospel Chapter 3.
You will see the language is somewhat different.
The genealogy is different.
Matthew talks about begetting.
The man begetting in all of the births except the last one mentioned, where it says Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who was called Christ.
But in Luke chapter 3 we read in verse 19, Fork, we'll just start there. But Herod the tetrarch being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, added this. Yet above all that he shut up John in prison. Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized and praying, the heaven was opened.
And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him.
And a voice came from heaven which said, Thou art my beloved son, in thee. I am well pleased. Now we've been often told that Luke gives a moral order of things, and here we have a beautiful moral order. God the Father speaks from heaven. Thou art my beloved son, in thee. I am well pleased, son of the Father.
00:25:17
And the next verse says in moral connection. And Jesus himself began to be about 30 years of age being and now the guard in the parenthesis, as was supposed the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, which was the son of Matt Fat, which was the son of Levi, and so on.
Notice the genealogy. And Luke doesn't use the word begat, it uses it in Matthew. And Matthew speaks of the Holy Ghost begetting, and Luke speaks of the Virgin conceiving.
But we have the guard being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph. Now let's turn back to Luke chapter 1.
And we look at a number of scriptures here.
Verse 24 and after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived and hid herself five months saying.
Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men. And in the sixth month the Angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man, whose name was Joseph of the House of David, and virgins name was Mary. And the Angel came in unto her, and said.
Hail thou that art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women.
And indeed she was.
It says in Matthew, it says in Daniels prophet prophecy, I think it's Chapter 11, it says about the the Antichrist, it says he shall regard the God of forces and he shall not regard the desire of women. What was the desire of women? What was the desire of a godly Jewish woman? It was to bear the Christ, to bear the Messiah. And here now is this Jewish maiden the virgin.
I believe that when we read of it of the the word virgin, it shouldn't be a virgin shall conceive as though anyone.
Would do. But the Virgin, There was one specific virgin, and she had to conceive and bear the sun according to Daniels prophecy, so that the Messiah was born at that precise moment in history, and the only one that could create that exactly was God himself, the Holy Ghost, the beginner.
And then she conceived. The Holy Spirit begat Mary conceived.
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 unto her, Fear not, Mary.
For thou hast found favour with God, and behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb. Now there the word conceive is proper, not in Matthew, in Matthew it should be begotten, but here it is conceived. Thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son.
And shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great.
And shall be called the Son of the Highest. The highest, of course, is a title of deity.
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.
Now notice Mary's words. Then said Mary unto the Angel, How shall this be?
Seeing I know not a man.
There again we have the truth established. She had no relations with a man whatsoever.
She was truly the virgin.
And the Angel answered and said unto her, This is one of the most tremendous verses in all Scripture. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall over shadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Now, by this overshadowing of the highest.
The power of God overshadowing her. The Holy Ghost coming upon her.
The result of that be getting and her conceiving was the Son of God come into this world preserved by the power of the Holy Ghost from all taint of sin.
00:30:02
That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. What Adam was created? He was created in innocence. The state of humanity in Adam before the fall was innocence.
After the fall, the state of humanity changed.
Sinful. That's what we partake of.
But here we have a third condition or state of humanity, holy.
Holiness. And what is holiness? Holiness is abhorrence of evil and delight in what is good.
And here we have the holy humanity of the Lord Jesus spoken of, as that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
So Christ, humanity is holy.
Now we partake of that in the new creation. When we are born of God, we have His life and nature. John tells us that that which is born of God cannot sin, for his seed remaineth in US, and he cannot sin, for he is born of God. Now that was a life of Christ, That was His holy humanity.
Adam, innocent, was sinless but capable of sinning.
Christ in holiness is sinless, incapable of sinning, incapable of sinning.
Holiness of horrors, Evil. It has no nothing in it that would respond to it. In fact, it is. It repels. It repels evil.
And that there we have the holy humanity of Christ. Some when they're asked the question, could the Lord Jesus have sinned, they say, well, if he couldn't have sinned because he was God, well, that's true. God united to to humanity is incapable of sinning, of course, but there's more to it than that. His humanity was holy, incapable of sinning as to the very essence of his humanity.
Holy, that holy thing.
Which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God. Why does it say thing? Why is the word holy in the neuter instead of the masculine that holy? 1 I believe it's because it's bringing before us the holy nature that Christ has.
As he came into this world.
And when we partake of that, when we're born again, we partake of that holy nature which is incapable of sinning.
Behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she had also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the 6th month with her who was called Baron. For with God, nothing shall be impossible. Now all of these points that we are looking at, the way the Lord came into this scene, you know, even as to His humanity, it wasn't created. Nowhere does the Word of God use the word created in connection even with His humanity.
He was the Creator and when he entered his own creation.
He came through the instrument of the woman when Adam was created from the dust of the ground, and God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
He came directly from the hand of God, and he's called the Son of God by creation. But here is the Son of God from all eternity, the one who was with the Father from all eternity. He enters his own creation, the Creator. And it says in Hebrews 10A Body, hast thou prepared me? But nowhere does it say.
Created. That's a quote from Psalm 40, and Psalm 40 says my ears hast thou digged.
Again, the word created is not mentioned in connection with the holy humanity of Christ.
He chose upon coming into this world.
To enter it through the weaker vessel, the woman whom Satan used to bring in sin, and he's going to put sin away by the one that came through that very vessel, the seed of the woman.
Nothing shall be impossible. Elizabeth had been barren, and now she's going to have a son. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me, according to thy word. And the Angel departed from her.
Beautiful.
Mary, that godly, lowly, humble Jewish maiden, so pure.
So subject to the Lord, not a word. I'm not worthy, Lord, not a word. She just says, Be it unto me according to thy word. Complete submission to the word of God and to the will of God. She accepted that she was going to be that one.
00:35:07
Through whom the Messiah came.
And Mary arose in those days, and went into the Hill Country with haste into a city of Judah.
And entered into the House of Zacharias and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary.
The babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and she spake out with a loud voice and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For Lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
And blessed is she that believed, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. And Mary said, And we want to read this.
I love to hear Mary's words.
And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. Now how deeply she entered into the words she was uttering here. God my Savior was to be the very one that she was going to bear.
God my Savior, my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, which the Roman Catholics erroneously teach, was that Mary was preserved from original sin. Now that's impossible because she had an earthly father. She had a man that begat her. The only way that could be preserved was by the begetting power of the Holy Ghost, and that was only true of the birth.
Christ and she speaks of God my Savior. She was a Sinner just like you and I, and she needed a Savior just like we do. And she says my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. And the one that was to become that was her own son, the seed of the woman.
For he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed, and blessed indeed to us.
For he that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is His name, and His mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath showed strength with his arm. He hath scattered the proud and the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent away.
Empty away, He hath hope in His servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy.
As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seat forever.
And Mary abode with her about 3 months and returned to her own house.
I would like to read these last these last verses, but in the interest of time.
I think I'll Passover them.
And we start with Chapter 2.
When he came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
And this taxing was first made when Serenius was governor of Syria.
And all went to be taxed everyone into his own city.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and Lange of David, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her first born son.
And wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a Manger, because there was number room for them in the inn.
When the Lord entered his own creation, think of it. Just think of it. When he entered his own creation, he enters through the weaker vassal, the woman seed of the woman.
And in the very lowliest of circumstances.
Into a family that was very poor.
And of no account as far as man would say.
And he's born in a stable, laid in a Manger.
There was number room for him in the inn.
There hasn't been any room in the heart of man for the Lord Jesus ever.
It's only when God works upon us by grace.
That we come to know him.
And they were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And lo, it says in it says in Genesis that a shepherd was an abomination to the Egyptians.
00:40:08
The Egyptians speak of the world.
Egypt's the world, the Egyptians, those who are, who are living according to it.
And.
He uses that which was despised by the world to come and to announce his birth.
They were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night and low. The Angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them.
And they were sore afraid.
And the Angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. This wasn't at Jerusalem, this was at Bethlehem.
A very lowly place.
It wasn't that the divine center where he came, but he came into.
The circumstances and in a way that speaks of weakness.
And nothingness that was in keeping with his first coming. And this should be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Lying in a Manger.
And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying glory to God in the highest.
And on earth, peace, goodwill toward men.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven. The shepherd said, one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a Manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
And all they that heard it.
Who wandered at those things which were told them by the shepherds?
But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. We read that expression several times. Mary pondered these things in her heart.
There are only two humans here that knew that Jesus.
Didn't come.
The normal way.
That he wasn't conceived the normal way. I think his birth was normal, ever. Everything down from the conception. It was the conception, it was the beginning by the Holy Ghost that was miraculous.
The birth was normal.
The development in the womb was normal.
And they knew when he would be born and.
God ordained it that it was at Bethlehem.
Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. They came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a Manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
Just how deeply she entered into who this one was.
We cannot say we know how slowly we apprehend divine truth.
And it's taken us quite a while at times to come into the full knowledge of who he is.
But if you don't know who he is, you're not saved.
The doctrine of Christ is essential truth. He that believeth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son, and he who doesn't believe it hath not God.
So not talking about something that is secondary here, we are talking about something that is absolutely essential.
And the shepherd's return, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them.
And when 8 days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus.
Jehovah the Savior.
Which was so named of the Angel before he was conceived in the womb.
And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.
As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. There's never been a male that's opened the womb that was so holy as this one.
00:45:00
That holy thing that was born was called the Son of God.
And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. A provision made in the law of Moses for the poor of the flock. The poor of the flock. And when he, the Creator of the universe, entered his own creation, he enters it in the poorest of conditions.
It speaks to us of the of the lowly place that he took when he came the first time. When he comes the second time, it will be in power and great glory, not the first time.
The first time he came to die.
And so he begins in this very world, rejected from the very outset.
Rejected. No room for him in the inn.
And they offered just what they could afford, the very the very minimum, because they couldn't afford anymore. They were poor pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost was upon him, and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents.
Notice the expression, the parents no problem with that expression. They were that legally, when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law, then took him up to in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now let us thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.
Which thou was prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory.
Of thy people, Israel. Just think of it. The glory of Israel had come.
And what did they do to him?
Notice verse 33. Notice the language of the Holy Spirit.
And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him. Now I'm going to come back to this verse and make some more comments on it, but we'll go on.
And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother. Notice Joseph and his mother. Verse 33. Marry his mother. Verse 34. Behold, this child is set for the fall, and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against, Yeah, a sword shall Pierce through thine own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
And there was 1 Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Faneuil.
Of the tribe of Astra. Now we'll Passover that and start with verse 40.
And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover, and when he was 12 years old they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.
And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem. Notice again, and Joseph and his mother.
Knew not of it.
But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.
And he came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions.
And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed. And his mother said unto him, Notice what she says, son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father, and I have sought thee sorrowing.
True legally, and that's probably the only way she could have said it.
But he corrects her very gently. Notice the next verse.
And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me, wish ye not that I must be about my father's business? And he wasn't talking about Joseph, was he? He was talking about God, his father's business.
And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. Here he was, a boy of 12, possibly, they thought. And both of them, they're the only ones that knew that his birth was different.
Mary knew she conceived as a virgin man had nothing to do with that. Joseph knew the same thing.
00:50:01
They both knew this and they may not have understood.
As we are so slow to apprehend the truth that he knew who he was.
That he knew from whence he came, and here he says to them as a boy of 12.
How is it that she sought me? Wish ye not that I must be about my father's business and they understood not?
The things which he spake unto them.
So slow are we to apprehend these deep truths of God.
And he went down with them and came to Nazareth.
And was subject unto them, but Mary kept, But his mother kept all these sayings.
In her heart.
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man now wherever we read of him, increasing.
And growing and changing. Growing weary, growing tired.
Growing hungry, thirsty. It's his manhood. I remember talking to a young man who professed to be a Christian. He had been raised as a Hindu, his parents were Hindus. And the one verse that really he had trouble with was the verse in Marks Gospel where the Lord says of that day and hour knoweth no man, neither the angels nor the Son, but my Father only.
And he said to me, how could he be God and still not know the hour?
When he would come.
Well, how could he?
Mark presents him as the perfect servant.
Now in the modern translations which use a different Greek text from this one that this King James is translated from, they have that appearing in Matthews Gospel. Also, that the Son doesn't know the hour. It doesn't belong in Matthew, that's wrong. Belongs in Mark. Mark is the perfect servant and as the servant he doesn't know the hour. Servant knoweth not what his master doeth. That's in keeping with the character of the Gospel.
And all of these expressions that speak of the Lord growing and increasing and being hungry and tired and sleeping, and so on, refer to His perfect humanity. How can we put those two things together that He increased in wisdom, and yet He knows everything, says in 147th Psalm. As to His deity, His understanding is infinite. He can never know anything more than.
Knows as God because he knows everything, and he can never know any less than he knows because he's the same. He never changes.
But as man, he learned.
He grew, He increased. How can you put those two things together? How can he not know the hour and yet know everything? Because he is man and because he is God.
The mystery of this person, we can't fathom it. It's beyond us.
That we can believe it. I love the hymn writer that says tis darkness to my intellect.
To sunshine to my heart what I can enjoy and believe in. My heart cannot understand. It cannot grasp. None of us can grasp God and man in one person.
That's the mystery of Christ. That's the doctrine of Christ.
Now if you read verse 43 in one of the modern translations.
You'll read the end of the verse instead of in Joseph and his mother. You'll read and his parents knew not of it.
And this is simply a Greek text difference Greek manuscripts, some of them say his parents there instead of Joseph and his mother, his parents is in verse 41. That's not a different, that's not anything that causes me a problem. But there is a verse that seems to, well, it's causing a big problem and it's 33.
Verse 33 I was reading a critique.
On the NIV once and the author was comparing it with the King James.
And instead of doing that, I compared every passage with Mr. Darby's translation.
And the first verse that he presented, Mr. Darby agreed with the King James, the next one he agreed with the King James, the next one with the King James, the next one he agreed with the NIV and several with the NIV, and so on. And when he does, it's because of the Greek text, because of translation.
Because of the Greek manuscripts.
Verse 33 reads in some manuscripts.
00:55:02
His father and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him.
I am convinced in my own soul that that is not the right reading, and the right reading is what we have in our King James Joseph and his mother, because this maintains the distinction between Joseph and.
The mother of the Lord Jesus. But if you adopt the reading, his Father and his mother.
Which the modern translations have done. Then you have this problem of the Holy Ghost calling.
Joseph, his father.
That's the one verse that I know of that I have discovered where I believe Mr. Darby chose the wrong reading because he reads his father and his mother. If you have the Stow Hill of Mr. Darby's, you won't see a note, but if you have the Moorish edition, you'll notice a note right there.
And then he'll at the bottom in the note, he'll say Joseph and his mother.
And then he gives the Greek manuscripts that support that reading, and he gives the manuscripts that support his father and his mother. I'm convinced that the whole internal testimony of the Word of God is against the reading his father and his mother. It should read as it does in the King James, Joseph and his mother.
One more comment on that and then I'll close.
I was at a Christian bookstore, I think it was in Rome, GA, and I was asking for the United Bible Society's Greek New Testament, and the man didn't have that. He said, but I've got this and he showed it to me and it was the Greek text of the New Testament based upon the majority of the manuscripts. The King James is based on the Textus Receptus, which is only 5 manuscripts that Erasmus, a Roman Catholic monk, used.
Put together a Greek text for the New Testament, and that's called the received text or the Textus Receptus. That's only built on five manuscripts, but I got a hold of this New Testament in Greek that is built upon the majority of the manuscripts. There are hundreds of them. Now it's very anxious to look at verse 33 of Luke 2 and it reads Joseph and his mother.
I was happy to see that I also have a Syriac translation of the New Testament of the Bible, which goes way back, I believe even to the 2nd century.
Older even than the Sani, Atticus and the Vaticanus manuscripts and.
It reads Joseph and his mother.
Well, in the in the light of internal evidence that we have been looking at the truth of this person, I believe that's the right reading.
How glorious a person he is.
How wondrous that he chose that way was the only way. It wasn't just a way, but it's the only way.
The serpent seduced the woman introduced sin. The destroyer of the serpent enters through. The woman becomes.
That Immaculate Conception sin apart.
Begotten of the Holy Ghost, conceived in the womb of the Virgin.
And it was that holy thing.
Which entered this scene.
Is he your savior?
Do you know who Jesus really is? You might say, Well that can all the gathered Saints know that?
On my trip last.
Winter I was out east and I heard of a.
A fairly young nun. He wasn't really young, he was middle-aged.
That.
His brother said he he denies that Jesus is the creator.
And he is at the Lord's Table, breaking bread.
So I phoned ahead and I was going to that assembly and I asked the leading brother there to for he and I, for him and me to visit with this this man.
And I asked him, is Jesus the Creator?
And he said, well, God created everything through him.
Well, that didn't satisfy me. You know, Jehovah's Witnesses believe that. They believe that God created Jesus and then created everything through him.
And finally I asked him, and I said he's Jesus, God.
01:00:01
He looked at me and he said I'll answer that question later, but he never did.
He never did.
He never made a clear confession.
And it became evident to us, though he was at the table, that he did not really know who Jesus is.
If you don't know that, you're not saved.
And you don't have a place at the table.
If you don't know that, that's absolutely essential. If you believe not that I am, he shall die in your sins, the Lord Jesus said.