Sunday, December 25, 2016

The Supernatural Birth of Jesus

Like Him, love Him, deny Him, or hate Him Jesus was real! He was either a liar, a lunatic. or truly Lord and Savior. The following is from Dr. John MacArthur and puts us in a position to decide what we believe about the man from Galilee who DID claim equality with God the Father!

The Supernatural Birth of Jesus

Selected Scriptures December 4, 2016 81-4
     I’m always glad when Christmas comes around, because I finally have the opportunity to sing one of my favorite hymns, and it’s only sung around Christmas. That hymn is “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” It is not only my favorite Christmas Carol, but it is one of my very favorite hymns, and I’m not alone. In 1872 the Church of England selected the four greatest hymns in the English language, and “Hark the Herald Angels” was one of those hymns. I wait all year to sing this hymn, and then I find myself singing it and humming it to myself all through the season. It is a tribute to our Savior, our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is one of the greatest treasures that the church has musically, and it is a treasure to the mind and soul of everyone who has memorized the incredible words to this hymn.
     It was originally written in 1739 by Charles Wesley who wrote it as a Christmas day hymn. Fifteen years later, along came George Whitefield, the great preacher, great evangelist, and he felt that the words needed a little bit of editing, so he Calvinized it. And fifteen years after the original work of Wesley, Whitefield brought its lyrics into the familiar form that we sing today. It needed a tune, and the years went by, and Wesley had always said it needs a kind of a somber, slow tune. But it never really caught on with that kind of tune.
     And then about a hundred years after Whitefield in the mid 1800s there was a famous German Jew who was baptized a Christian, baptized into the Christian faith. This German Jew wrote a cantata in the honor of Johannes Gutenberg who invented the printing press, and in that Cantata there was an amazing tune, and that is the tune that since about 1850 has been associated with “Hard the Herald Angels Sing,” and that German Jew who converted to Christ was Felix Mendelssohn. So when you get a song that has Wesley, Whitefield, and Mendelssohn, it’s going to be good; and it is good. It is the best.
     I know you know it, but I can’t go any further really without reminding you of the words: “Hark! The herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the newborn King. Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!’ Joyful, all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies; with the angelic host proclaim, ‘Christ is born in Bethlehem!’ Hark! The herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the newborn King!’
     “Christ, by highest heaven adored; Christ the everlasting Lord; late in time, behold Him come, offspring of the virgin’s womb. Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail the incarnate Deity, pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel. Hark! The herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the newborn King!’
     “Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Son of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings, risen with healing in His wings. Mild He lays His glory by, born that man no more may die; born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth. Hark! The herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the newborn King!’” And there are at least three other verses that are not in the hymnal. Great hymn. Just an incomparable hymn, and every verse ends with, “Glory to the newborn King!”
     Wesley and Whitefield instruct us concerning the person of Jesus Christ in this hymn. He is the newborn King, but He is also identified as the Prince of Peace, the Son of Righteousness, the Everlasting Lord, the Incarnate Deity, and most of all Emmanuel, God with us. It’s an almost breath-taking Christology in this magnificent tribute.
     And, by the way, this is Christianity. Christianity is that God, the Eternal Son, left heaven, came to earth as a baby born to a woman miraculously without a human father; born to save the sons of earth, born to give them second birth. That is Christianity, and that birth is how the New Testament begins. So let’s go to the beginning in the book of Matthew and the very first chapter. Over the next four weeks we’re going to look at Matthew’s account of the birth of the King.
     Jesus asked the Jewish leaders about Messiah one day, recorded in Matthew 22. “He said, ‘Whose son is Messiah to be?’ And they replied immediately, ‘Son of David. Son of David.’” Royalty. They saw Him as a man born in the line of David. That is exactly what the Old Testament declared back in 2 Samuel, chapter 7. We are told that the greater son of David, the Messiah who will establish God’s kingdom will come through the royal line of David.
     Whoever is the Messiah, whoever is God’s anointed king must be a descendent of David. That is why Matthew begins the way he does, verse 1: “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David.” And then you have a detailed genealogy coming all the way down to “Joseph” – in verse 16 – “the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.” The Messiah, verse 1, must be a son of David. Messiah is, in David’s line, the royal right, passing through Joseph.
     Let me hasten to say this: Jesus was not related to Joseph by blood, but in Luke, chapter 1, there is a genealogy of Mary, and Mary also came from David’s line. Mary gave Jesus the royal blood, Joseph gave Him the royal right, because the royal right always came from the father.
     But it’s more than just the son of David that Messiah must be. He must be the son of David. He must have the blood of the line of David coursing through His veins, and He did through Mary. He must have the right to the throne, which He received through the fact that Joseph was His legal father in the earthly sense. But He had to be more than just the son of David, He had also to be the Son of God. And that is the message that Matthew gives us, starting in verse 18. Not only was He in the line of David, but He is divine. Not just man, not just royal, but He is divine, He is the Son of God.
     Verse 18: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall His name Immanuel,’ which translated means, ‘God with us.’ And Joseph awake from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.”
     Mary’s Son is God with us. Mary’s Son is Immanuel. We are thus introduced to the incarnate God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here, this account of His birth is a very critical identifying mark that sets Him apart from any and every human being who has ever been born. He is the only one born of a virgin, conceived by God in the womb, the God-man: fully divine, fully human.
     But Matthew focuses particularly on His kingship, on the royal right that He has to the throne as God’s Anointed. That’s why he gives the royal genealogy at the very beginning. And then he gives this remarkable birth that adds to His human royal line: divinity. Matthew presents to us all through his gospel Jesus as King. Let me just give you a little bit of a look at that.
     First of all, Matthew shows us the King revealed. The person of Jesus Christ is always painted in royal colors. His ancestry, as we saw, is traced through a royal line. His birth is dreaded by a rival king. Wise men offer Him royal gifts. His herald, John the Baptist, declared that He is a king and that His kingdom is at hand. His temptation reaches its climax when He is justly offered the kingdoms of this entire world. His great Sermon on the Mount is the manifesto of the King, setting forth the standards of His kingdom. His miracles are His royal credentials. His parables are called the mysteries of the kingdom.
     He is hailed as son of David, but also as Son of God. He claims freedom from paying tribute to earthly kings, because He Himself is the Son of the Great King, and is Himself a King. He makes a royal entry into Jerusalem where He declares Himself to be the King. And while facing the cross He predicts that He will rise again and He will establish His future reign. He proclaims sovereign power to command angels. Even His last words are a kingly claim and a royal command: “All authority has been given unto Me in heaven and earth. Go therefore.” So Matthew presents Him as royalty, as God’s Anointed King, the revealed King.
     But Matthew also presents Him as the rejected King. The rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ is emphasized by Matthew all the way through. Before He was born His mother was in danger of being rejected by Joseph. At His birth, Jesus faced the possibility of death. Jerusalem was troubled by His birth. Herod sought His life. In Matthew’s account, on the plains of Bethlehem, no angel choir sings. But in Matthew’s account, mothers weep as their baby sons are slaughtered in an attempt to kill the true King.
     Even as a child He is hurried away into obscurity in Egypt for awhile, and then He’s hurried back up to Nazareth, and obscure town where He stays in obscurity until He’s 30 years of age. His forerunner and cousin John the Baptist is arrested, imprisoned, and beheaded. During the time of His ministry He has no home of His own, nowhere to lay His head. He is a wanderer. His parables demonstrate the character of His kingdom age, and they are rejected by His people.
     In His death, He is forsaken by His people, He is forsaken by God. In Matthew, there’s no penitent thief praying. There’s no word of human sympathy recorded by Matthew as He faces death. But Matthew does describe the reviling, the mocking, and the bribing of the soldiers to lie about His resurrection. No other gospel so chronicles the bitterness of the rejection of the King.
     But, finally, Matthew’s focus is not only on the revealing of the King and the rejection of the King, but on the return of the King. No other gospel says as much about the second coming of Christ as does Matthew. It is a gospel of triumph. The King is to be revealed, He is to be rejected, but He is to return and establish His promised kingdom and reign there forever and ever. Matthew begins at the very beginning with His birth.
     Just a note about the genealogy. In the genealogy you have many men listed. But tucked into the genealogy are the names of four women in the first seventeen versus of Matthew 1. Interesting women. There is Tamar, guilty of prostitution and incest. There is Rahab, a prostitute and idolatress. There is Ruth from Moab whose whole line was cursed because it descended from incest. And there is Bathsheba who was an adulterous woman, and whose husband was murdered out of that adultery. Those are the four women in the genealogy, which is a declaration by God that the King is a gracious King, and the King has come to identify with sinners.
     The greatest credential for the King is not His genealogy, as wonderful as it is, it tells us in the royal line, it tells us He will be a gracious King. He will identify with sinners. But the greatest credential is His birth, and that’s what I read you in verses 18 to 25. This identifies Him as having come from heaven.
     Now the facts are clear, you saw them there. Joseph and Mary were engaged, betrothed, not yet officially married, not yet having consummated that union. Joseph knew Mary was pregnant, and he knew that was not his child. We are then told the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary. And then Joseph is commanded to marry her and name the child, who is God with us, with the name Jesus. Those are the simple facts of this very understated massive divine work of the virgin conception and birth of the Son of God. Now let’s look a little more deeply.
     First of all the virgin birth conceived – and we’ll look at verse 18. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.” This is just such a simple explanation of a staggering, incomprehensible, divine miracle. The Bible does that a lot, simply states things that are beyond our comprehension.
     We don’t know anything about Mary really. John 19:25 mentions her sister, who was also one who followed Jesus. That’s really all we know. We look at Luke 1 and we get her genealogy, so we know the name of the family behind her. We know she was related to Elizabeth, who was the wife of Zacharias the priest, and they were the parents of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus. We know she lived in Nazareth, which was a town in the north of Israel up in the Galilee area, a nondescript town of which it was said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” A blue collar down, insignificant religiously, insignificant historically. That’s all we know about her in terms of biography, in terms of earthly background. We know nothing about her family, what they did.
     But we do know about her character, which is what is most important, because in Luke, chapter 1, in verse 38, Mary says in response to being told by Gabriel the archangel that she’s going to be the mother of the Most Holy Child, the Son of God. She says, “Behold, the slave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” This is a 13-year-old girl or so who sees herself as a slave of the Lord, a willing, loving slave of the Lord who wants only to do whatever the Lord asks her to do.
     She is a worshiper. Over in verse 46, in response to this, she says, “My soul exalts the Lord, my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, for He has had regard for the humble state of His slave; for behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name.” And she goes on to quote Old Testament passages in that beautiful Magnificat.
     She is theologically astute. She knows God, she knows the attributes of God, she knows the Old Testament. All that she says is drawn right out of the Old Testament. She is a righteous young girl, a slave of the Lord who believes what the Lord says and wants only to do what He asks her to do. She’s a godly young girl.
     Now she is, it says in verse 18, betrothed to Joseph. You have to understand Jewish marriage contracts were a little different than we have today. People get engaged and disengaged, then engaged, then disengaged, and we’ve all become pretty used to that happening. In the Jewish plan of marriage, when you were engaged or betrothed, that was a binding legal covenant. You literally bound yourself for life to the one that you had desired to marry.
     You can find that back in Deuteronomy 20 in verse 7. Betrothal was a legal contract demanding, defining two people as committed to one another for life. Betrothal was a trial period. There was no consummation during betrothal. That came after the actual marriage ceremony. There were usually several months during the betrothal period.
     What was that for? Well, in some ways, the husband needed to make preparations for the wedding. That would be an extensive responsibility that he would have. But even more than that, it was a trial time to see if the person that you had committed to would be faithful to that covenant. It was a time to prove your holiness, your virtue, and your righteousness. It was clearly before they came together that they had been betrothed. So they were set by covenant, by legal contract for a marriage. But this was the trial period to find out if the person would be faithful.
     And, back to verse 18, before they came together, before they were actually married, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. The worst possible scenario was that a betrothed woman would become pregnant. That’s why you had the trial period to prove her integrity, her virtue. She was pregnant. She was about three months pregnant, if you calculate what the New Testament says, at this time when Joseph gets the information.
     And by the way, she knew she was pregnant. How did she know? Luke 1:26, because the angel Gabriel came to her when they were back in Nazareth and said, “Behold, don’t be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God” – verse 30, 31 – “Behold, you will conceive in your womb, bear a son; you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. He will reign over the throne of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” He’s the King.
     “Mary said, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angle answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the Holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” Nothing will be impossible with God. So she knew, she knew. But apparently she knew before Joseph knew. Maybe she was just trying to figure out how to explain that since that had never happened.
     Now Joseph found out that she was pregnant. I can’t imagine the shock and devastation, because this is a virtuous girl that he knows and loves and is committed to for life, and he finds out that she is pregnant. And according to Deuteronomy 22, verses 23 and 24, if a betrothed woman became pregnant, she was to be stoned to death. So a cloud of suspicion and shame and scandal is hanging over her head, because she doesn’t know how to explain this.
     There’s really no precedent for this, there’s no way to explain it. In all human history there’s never been a virgin birth. And now Joseph is in shock because he’s found out that she is pregnant, and he can’t understand it. And so in verse 19, “Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.” Righteousness is a wonderful word, It embodies holiness, virtue, morality; but it also embodies compassion. Part of being righteous is being compassionate. This is a righteous man.
     You might say, “Well, if he was a righteous man, he’d make a public display out of her. A righteous man would uphold righteousness, and a righteous man would make this public and say, ‘She has been unfaithful; I want to declare her unfaithfulness. We’re going to bring her before the appropriate witnesses and we’re going to deal with thing publicly, because she needs to be a warning sign concerning this kind of sin.’” But there is inherently within true righteousness compassion and deep affection and love. He loves her, he cares for her. He doesn’t understand what has happened, he has no explanation for it, but his heart is compassionate toward her.
     And so we saw the virgin birth conceived in verse 18, and now the virgin birth is confronted in verses 19 and 20. It’s confronted by Joseph. They’re betrothed. He’s a righteous man, that is he desires to do what is pleasing to God. You could even say that he has been declared righteous by faith in God in the same way that Old Testament saints had. Certainly Mary was one of them. He is a true Old Testament saint justified before God by faith. The justification of that man and even the transformation of that man’s heart is evidenced in his obedience to God, his desire to obey God, to marry a godly, virtuous woman.
     And to also demonstrate compassion. Mary was precious to him, the girl of his hopes. But he had to do what was right. But he doesn’t want to disgrace her – back to verse 19 – wanting not to disgrace her. There’s no bitterness. There’s no anger. There’s no hostility. There’s no desire to make a display out of her, just confusion and compassion.
     Two courses are really open to him at this point. The harshest would be to make a public example of her. And even though capital punishment as a punishment for sin had disappeared in the history of Israel, there was still the threat of a public divorce, a bill of divorce, a public lawsuit against her; and she would be brought into some kind of court, and there would be witnesses coming into the court to testify against her that she was pregnant and that Joseph was not the father.
     In ancient times she would have been stoned to death. But in more recent times, during the time of their life, divorce had taken the place of stoning. He could have had a public divorce and sort of exonerated himself, but he doesn’t want to do that. “So he decided to” – it says at the end of verse 19 – “send her away secretly.”
     Send away is the word apoluĊ. It’s the New Testament word for divorce. But not publicly, not with witnesses testifying against her to justify his action, but a very quiet, very private divorce. He wasn’t going to go through with the marriage to a woman who was unfaithful. He is devastated, he is crushed. It is all unthinkable to him, unimaginable. But he loves her, he cares for her, and so he decides that he is going to just do this very secretly.
     However, verse 20 says, “When he had considered this,” – he was in the middle of considering it, meditating on it; apparently he falls asleep, mulling over in his mind what he’s going to do with this love of his life – “behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.” I don’t understand the reality of that; I don’t know how to define that. It says a dream, and yet it says an angel of the Lord actually appeared to him in a dream. This is a supernatural experience, that’s all we can say, that’s all we need to know.
     “An angle of the Lord appears to him in a dream and says, ‘Joseph, son of David,’ – again reiterating that he is in the royal line – ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.’”
     What an unbelievably shocking dream. You know, he probably felt like most men feel, “I’m really not good enough for her.” And then he might have thought for a moment, “Maybe she’s not good enough for me.” And now he hears from an angel that God Himself has planted a life in her womb, something that has never happened to any woman. And now he goes back to saying, “If I thought I wasn’t worthy of her before, I’m sure not worthy of her now if out of all the world God has chosen her to be the mother of His incarnate Son.”
     We think about people being engaged having a difficult time waiting until they’re married to display their affection. I think Joseph must have felt like he needed to stay away from her, because he was some kind of transcendent person beyond anything he could ever imagine himself to be worthy of. He is told that the child in her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity. He would know the Holy Spirit from the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit coming on people for all kinds of reasons in the Old Testament, bringing God’s power and God’s presence into a life.
     This is stunning, shocking. It’s the same message that Mary heard back in Luke 1: “The child will be produced by the Holy Spirit. This will be a Holy Child. This will be the Son of God.” So Joseph is now trying to figure out just exactly, “How do I fit into that?” Little wonder then that when the angel said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.”
     Fear was the first reaction of Joseph. “Stop being afraid. You can take her as your wife. She is not so transcendent, she is not so holy, she is not elevated that she cannot be your wife. What has been conceived in her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit.”
     Verse 21: “She will bear a Son; and you shall call his name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” She will bear a Son. It doesn’t say, “She will bear you a son.” Never says that.
     In Luke 1:13, the Lord said to Zacharias, “Elizabeth will bear you a son, because you are a participating father.” That is never said to Joseph. It’s just, “She will bear a Son.” This is Mary’s Son and this is God’s Son. This is not Joseph’s Son.
     By the way, throughout the 2nd chapter of Matthew, Mary is identified as His mother and Joseph is never stated as His father, never. “Arise, take the young Child and His mother and flee into Egypt. Take your Child. Arise, take the young Child and His mother, go into the Land of Israel.”
     This is not Joseph’s Son; this is God’s Son, this is Mary’s Son. In fact, in the 2nd chapter of Matthew, God says, “Out of Egypt have I called My Son.” Jesus was God’s Son and Mary’s Son, never Joseph’s Son.
     The mystery of all of this is profound and confounding, and when it says down in verse 25 that he kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son, I can fully understand that, that he wouldn’t want to do anything to touch her. It was not legal to do that anyway, just because they hadn’t had the marriage ceremony. But I think it would have been hard to imagine himself even putting a hand on such a set apart and anointed life chosen by God for such singular calling.
     But Joseph, you do have a role to play. Father gives the name, so verse 21, “You shall call His name Jesus Yeshua” – Old Testament Joshua – “for He will have His people from their sins.” Yeshua means Jehovah saves, Jehovah saves. That’s His name, Jesus, Jehovah saves, for He will save His people from their sins.”
     There are a lot of names that are given to Jesus in the Old Testament, you’re familiar with them: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity – Isaiah 9, Servant of Jehovah, Yahweh – lots of names of Jesus. But here is a new name. His name is to be Yeshua, Jehovah saves. That’s remarkable.
     Back in the 43rd chapter of Isaiah, God claims some singular characteristics. He says, verse 11, “I, even I, am the Lord,” and yet in the New Testament Jesus is declared Lord. God says in the same verse, “There is no Savior besides Me,” and yet Jesus is to be named Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins. God is a Savior; Jesus is a Savior.
     In that same chapter, verse 13, God says, “Even from eternity I am He.” John 1:1 says that Jesus was in eternity with the Father. Verse 14 says, “The Lord is your Redeemer.” In the New Testament, Jesus is the Redeemer. The Lord is the Holy One; in the New Testament, Jesus is the Holy Child. Things that God declares for Himself alone are also declared of Christ, which is to say that He is therefore God.
     Chapter 42 of Isaiah, verse 8, “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another.” That’s true. But He gives His glory to Christ, because glory to Christ is not giving glory to another. Christ is one with God.
     So He is the Savior. He’s the only Savior; He’s the Savior of the world. There is no other Savior, it is God and God alone who saves His people, and He does it through the work of His Son Jesus. “There’s no salvation in any other” – Acts 4:12. Who is able to save? Who is mighty to save? Only the virgin-born God-man, Son of David, Son of Mary.
     And then in verses 22 and 23 you have the virgin birth connected, connected. We saw it conceived and confronted, clarified in regard to the name as the message came to Joseph. But here it’s connected, and it’s connected to an Old Testament prophecy: “Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which translated means, ‘God with us.’” That is a direct quote from Isaiah 7:14Isaiah 7:14.
     Here Matthew shows us that the virgin birth was promised, was promised. And if you go back to Isaiah 7:14 that’s exactly what you read with the addition of just an opening statement: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and will call His name Immanuel. The Lord will give you a sign.”
     The word here “virgin” in verse 23 is parthenos in Greek, and it always means virgin and only means virgin. It’s used about 12 or 13 times in the New Testament. It always and only means virgin.
     The text of Isaiah 700 years before uses the word almah, and some people say, “Well, almahcan mean a young girl. A young girl doesn’t have to mean a virgin.” Although it is used nine times in the Old Testament, eight of them, it has to mean a virgin. One time it may be just a reference to a young girl. But clearly the intent of almah in Isaiah 7:14 is to be used at virgin, because that’s what the Holy Spirit inspires Matthew to write. The New Testament writer under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is interpreting the word almah in the Old Testament as parthenos in the New, which is virgin. And that’s the only thing that makes sense.
     Critics like to say, “Well, no, Isaiah 7:14 should simply be stated, ‘A young woman will be with child and bear a son.’” There’s something missing in that. And what is it? The opening statement: “The Lord Himself will show you a sign.”
     If I say to you, “A young woman is going to become pregnant and have a son,” what sign in that? That’s not a sign of anything, that happens every day. That’s not a sign of anything. But a virgin becoming pregnant and bearing a son, that’s a sign. That’s the sign of Isaiah 7:14. “Look for a miracle. Look for a virgin becoming pregnant and bearing a son.” Even from the scientific standpoint, critics love to tamper with this, and some have suggested that Mary had a sort of spontaneous generation, a kind of parthenogenesis on her own and produced Jesus on her own without God intervening, that there is a scientific natural explanation to this.
     And if you read any science, any of that – I’m reading a big long book on the history of genes; and in studying that, it’s fascinating to say that you can go back into history in the nineteenth century, and even back before that, and people were trying to reproduce life. There were all kinds of very fine insects, and there were sea urchins, and they were trying to see if they could generate without the normal male-female coming together. And there had been some indications in history where this could happen, and then there was Pincus and his rabbits, and there’s some machinations done with animals like that.
     But the problem is this: even in those cases where you have that, you have a problem. Mary, if she spontaneously generated Jesus, could only have a daughter, because there’s no Y chromosome. Y chromosome comes from the man. That’s what’s so important about, “She will bear a son, she will bear a son.”
     And this son will be the one prophesized in Isaiah 7:14, “And the sign will be that she will be a virgin bearing a son, and you shall call His name Immanuel, which translates into God with us. She will have the Son of God.”
     You know, the rabbis kind of hovered around this notion that Messiah would have a unique birth. They said Messiah may not have an earthly father. Some rabbis said Messiah will be born without defect. One rabbi said Messiah’s birth will not be like the birth of other men. One other rabbi, one other rabbi said that Messiah’s birth will be like the dew of the Lord as drops on the grass without the action of man. The book of Enoch 150 years before Christ says, “Of the Messiah, He appears by the side of the Ancient of Days.” In other words, they even seem to acknowledge Messiah’s pre-incarnate existence.
     But they really didn’t understand it and they rejected, they rejected Him. “He came to His own, His own received Him not.” But the prophecy was fulfilled. The coming of the King, the virgin-born Son of God, son of David, fulfills the sign prophecy of Isaiah 7:14Galatians 4:4, Paul puts it this way: “In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman,” – born of a woman, but the Son of God.
     A final word, the virgin birth completed in the last two verses: “Joseph awoke from his sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, took Mary as his wife.” They had the wedding ceremony. Kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.” He got the message, believed it, and named her Son, Yeshua, Jehovah saves, because He came to save His people from their sins.
     He kept her a virgin, by the way, until she gave birth to a Son, which means that He didn’t keep her a virgin after that, and that’s clear in the New Testament, because Jesus had brothers and sisters born to Joseph and Mary, and they’re named and referred to. She was not a perpetual virgin, and she was not immaculately conceived without sin. Those are fantasies of the Roman Catholic system. She had many other children, but not until after Jesus was born did Joseph come near her. So that’s the story. That’s the story from Matthew.
     Paul looks at that same story in these words: “He, the Lord Jesus Christ, existed in the form of God. Did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave and being made in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man. He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason God highly exalted Him, bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, those in heaven and earth, under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”
     The supernatural birth of Jesus is the only way you can account for His life. An unbeliever once said to a Christian, “If I told you that a child had been born without a father, would you believe it?” The Christian answered, “Yes, if he lived as Jesus lived.”
     The King is revealed. His birth proves who He is. In Christ, God came to dwell with us – with the sick, to heal them; with the demonized, to liberate them; with the poor in spirit, to bless them; with the meek, to lift them up to His kingdom; with the fearful and guilty, to free them from care and dread; with the lepers, to cleanse them; with the diseased, to cure them; with the hungry, to feed them; but most of all, with the lost, to seek and save them. Through His poverty we are made rich. The King is born. Next week, we’re going to see who and why the wise men were.
     Father, thank You again this morning for an incredibly wonderful, rich time in fellowship and beautiful music and worship. Fill our hearts with joy and thanksgiving through this season as we contemplate the wonderful gift of Jesus Christ who came to save His people from their sins. We are His people by grace, through faith, and we rejoice. May that joy be unbounded and demonstrate itself in our faithfulness to You, we pray in His name. Amen.

Monday, October 31, 2016

By Faith Alone Romans 3-5

 Justification is the act of God whereby He declares that when a sinner believes in Jesus, that sinner is righteous in the eyes of God. Note four things about justification from Romans 3-5. It is . . .

          1.  Based on God's grace (Romans 3:24).
          2.  Grounded in the blood of Christ (Romans 5:9).
          3.  Not according to our works (Romans 4:5).
          4.  Through faith (Romans 3:28).

Sometimes people talk about justification and forgiveness as if they were the same thing. They are not. It is true that they happen at the same time and are inseparable. No one is forgiven who is not also justified. No one is justified who is not also forgiven. But they are not identical.

Forgiveness is the subtraction of that which is sinful from your record.
Justification is the addition of that which is righteous to your record.

Let’s suppose I have obtained a copy of your transcript with your “official” grades. No, not your high school grades. I’m thinking of something more serious than that. Somehow I have gotten a copy of your “permanent record” from the “Principal’s Office” in heaven. Unfortunately, the news is not good. Your grade in every course is the same:

Seeking God — F
Doing Good — F
Obeying God — F
Keeping the Law — F
Being Perfect as Jesus was Perfect — F
Not a pretty picture. How would you like it if we changed your grades? I’ve got some good news to share with you. The valedictorian of the class is quite willing to switch grades. His name is Jesus Christ, and He made an A in each class. Here is your final grade from God:

God’s Honor Roll — A

The lesson is simple. If God gave you a report card on your life without Jesus Christ, it would be covered with black marks for all the sins you have committed. Indeed, God gives you and the whole human race an F. You flunk every test. But when you come to Jesus, your F is washed away and your sins are gone forever!

Thank you Ray. There are many that will take this as easy believeism, but in fact, it is the truth of what Jesus procured for us alone on a hill called Golgotha! There is no other name by which one can be saved! He did it all. It is not about us, it is about God's love for his creation even when we are unlovable. Because of Jesus you and I are redeemed from the wrath of sin that I justly deserve.




By Faith Alone
Romans 3-5
by Pastor Ray Pritchard

I still remember when I learned to justify my margins.

It happened many years ago, in the early days of the computer revolution, when we purchased some new computers for the church office. Back then, long before cell phones and even before the Internet, a big, boxy desktop computer seemed like a magic machine. I took every chance I could get to sit down and see what I could make those computers do.

I discovered you could do some amazing things. You could make boxes and squares, or you could draw a diagram and put it anywhere you wanted on the page. You could pick out your font and make it larger or smaller with the click of a button. For those of us raised on an IBM Selectric typewriter with interchangeable font balls, it seemed miraculous.

Along the way I learned how to justify my margins. Some of you will smile at hearing such a trivial piece of information, but to me it was a big discovery.

Your margins are justified when the computer arranges the letters in such a way that all the lines of text end up at the same place. That means the right margin is straight all the way down the page. There's an easy way to put it.  Simply run your eye down the right side of a page:

—If the right-hand edge is straight, the margin is justified.
—If the right-hand edge is crooked, it isn't.

It's simple, really. To justify margins means to make them straight. If they are crooked, they are unjustified.

Made Straight with God


Now take that same concept and transfer it over to the Bible, and you will discover something very helpful. To justify something means to make it straight. If it is left crooked, it is unjustified. When someone asks, "How can I be justified?" they are really asking, "How can I be made straight with God?"

This year Reformation Sunday falls on October 30. It is always celebrated in Protestant churches on the Sunday closest to October 31, the day in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany, striking the spark that ignited the Protestant Reformation.

Martin Luther was a Roman Catholic monk who struggled to find acceptance with God. Day after day in his cloistered room, he would pray and seek God and try to find peace in his soul. But the harder he tried, the more he despaired because he knew the greatness of his sin. He went to Mass, did penance, crawled on his knees up the holy stairs in Rome, kept every decree of his religion, and still he found no peace.

Until one day he read in the Bible, "The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). Then he saw that a right standing with God is not based on merit or good works but wholly on what Jesus accomplished when he died on the cross. Luther put his trust in Christ alone for his salvation, and the Reformation was born.

As the message spread across Europe, men began to write it on placards and on walls where everyone could read it. The great truth of the Reformation finally came down to two Latin words—Sola Fide, by faith alone. It was written everywhere.

How can I be justified? Sola Fide! By Faith Alone!
How can I be made right with God? Sola Fide! By Faith Alone!

The Cornerstone of Christianity


Keep these three words together in your mind: Just, Justify, Justification. They all come from the same root word in Greek. To justify means to “declare righteous." Justification is the act of being righteous in God’s eyes. Just is what you are when you've been declared righteous by God. To say it another way, to be justified means you are no longer crooked in the eyes of the Lord.

The doctrine of justification is central to our faith. Martin Luther called it "the cornerstone of Christianity." J.I. Packer said, "A church that lapses from justification by faith can scarcely be called Christian." This doctrine answers the question, "How can a man be made right with God?"

When you turn to the New Testament, you find the Greek words for Justification, Justify, Just, and Righteousness (which comes from the same Greek root) are used over 100 times. Nobody can read the New Testament and miss this concept. We can see this clearly in Romans 4:5,

“To the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”

The shock is always in the first part of the verse. It is not to the man who works, not to the religious man, not to the church member, but to the man who trusts God who justifies the wicked. This is the heart of evangelical Christianity, that our God justifies the wicked. Many people won’t come to Christ because they think they aren’t good enough. They are lost in sexual sin, lost in addiction to alcohol and drugs, lost in anger or bitterness, lost in a terrible, destructive way of life.

Someone may say, “You don’t know how I have been living.” No, I don’t, but God is not in the business of justifying the good. He is in the business of justifying the bad. He doesn’t justify the righteous. God justifies the wicked while they are still wicked. He justifies the sinner while he is still a sinner. God never said to anybody, “Clean up your act and then I’ll save you. Get yourself in better shape and then I’ll forgive your sins.” No, no, no! Maybe we in the church have said that. Maybe in our relationships we have unconsciously said that to lost people. Maybe we have told them they are too dirty to be saved. But God never said that. God says, “Run to the cross, embrace Jesus Christ, trust in him, and you will be justified even while you are still in a wicked state.”

The Verdict: "Not Guilty"


What does it mean to be justified? It helps to know Paul is borrowing a term from the courtroom that refers to the final verdict in a trial. It's what happens when the jury has returned, and the judge says, "Have you reached a verdict?" and the foreman says, "Yes, we have."  The judge says, "What is your verdict?" and the foreman replies, "We the jury find the defendant not guilty."

To justify someone means to find them "Not Guilty." But it means more than that. If someone is "Not Guilty," they are declared to be innocent of the charges brought against them. When you justify a person, you declare publicly they are not guilty and are in fact innocent in the eyes of the law.

If you are justified, it means in the record books by your name there are no black marks. If you are justified, it means your record is clear and clean. It means the charges are dropped. There is no guilt, no penalty, no condemnation. Every demand of the law has been met in full.

Go to the Head of the Class


Here's a definition that will help us. Justification is the act of God whereby he declares that when a sinner believes in Jesus, that sinner is righteous in the eyes of God. Note four things about justification from Romans 3-5. It is . . .

          1.  Based on God's grace (Romans 3:24).
          2.  Grounded in the blood of Christ (Romans 5:9).
          3.  Not according to our works (Romans 4:5).
          4.  Through faith (Romans 3:28).

Sometimes people talk about justification and forgiveness as if they were the same thing. They are not. It is true that they happen at the same time and are inseparable. No one is forgiven who is not also justified. No one is justified who is not also forgiven. But they are not identical.

Forgiveness is the subtraction of that which is sinful from your record.
Justification is the addition of that which is righteous to your record.

Let’s suppose I have obtained a copy of your transcript with your “official” grades. No, not your high school grades. I’m thinking of something more serious than that. Somehow I have gotten a copy of your “permanent record” from the “Principal’s Office” in heaven. Unfortunately, the news is not good. Your grade in every course is the same:

Seeking God — F
Doing Good — F
Obeying God — F
Keeping the Law — F
Being Perfect — F
Not a pretty picture. How would you like it if we changed your grades? I’ve got some good news to share with you. The valedictorian of the class is quite willing to switch grades. His name is Jesus Christ, and He made an A in each class. Here is your final grade from God:

God’s Honor Roll — A

The lesson is simple. If God gave you a report card on your life without Jesus Christ, it would be covered with black marks for all the sins you have committed. Indeed, God gives you and the whole human race an F. You flunk every test. But when you come to Jesus, your F is washed away and your sins are gone forever.

What grade would God give you? You get the grade Christ earned because he finished his course at the top of the class. You don’t squeak by with God. You make the honor roll. You go to the head of the class. Why? Because you are so good? No. Left to yourself you would still flunk every course. If you have trusted Jesus Christ, you get an A because you are united with Him.

The same righteousness that once required you get an F now requires you get an A. You are not half-justified and half-condemned. You are not partially forgiven and partially punished. You are altogether forgiven. Your record is wiped clean. You are declared righteous in the eyes of God. That’s what justification is all about.

Do Versus Done


You can see why this changed Martin Luther's life. This doctrine of Justification by faith alone sparked the Protestant Reformation. It is the central doctrine of our faith and the one doctrine that sets Christianity apart from the religions of the world.

Religion is spelled with two letters: D-O. Religion is a list of things people think they must do to be accepted by God—go to church, give money, keep the Ten Commandments, be baptized, pray every day, and do good works. The list is endless. It’s always   Do . . . Do . . . Do. If you want to go to heaven, you must do something and keep on doing it until the day you die.

Christianity is spelled with four letters—D-O-N-E. Christianity is not based on what we do, but upon what Jesus Christ has already done. If you want to go to heaven, you don’t have to do anything; you simply trust in what Jesus Christ has already done for you.

That’s the whole difference—Do versus Done. Either you do it yourself, or you believe Jesus Christ has already done it for you.

What Justification Means


Here are three important personal implications of this truth for the believer. If you are justified, then . . .

 1. Your standing with God couldn't be improved because God sees you in Christ.  When God looks at you, he sees his Son. Therefore, your standing before God could not be better. Through faith, you are united with Jesus Christ and his righteousness covers you both. When God looks at you, he doesn't see your sin; he sees the righteousness of his own Son.

2. Your salvation is secure and certain because it rests on what Jesus did for you. This is the great truth of eternal security. Justification means you are righteous in the eyes of God because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

He is right; therefore you are right.
He is holy; therefore you are holy.
He is accepted by God; therefore you are accepted by God.
He is seated in heaven; therefore you are seated in heaven with him.

Your salvation is secure because it does not rest on you in any way, shape or form. It doesn't rest on your works because you are justified by faith. But it doesn't even rest on your faith because your salvation is based not on your faith but on what Jesus Christ did on the cross.

In the words of Jack Wyrtzen, because you have believed in Jesus Christ, you are as sure of heaven as if you had already been there for 10,000 years.

3. Your self-image is healthy because you know God accepts you just the way you are. You don't have to justify yourself. God has already justified you. You don't have to clean up your act so God will accept you.  He has already accepted you on the basis of what Jesus Christ did on the cross. Nothing you can do or could ever do can add to the value of the death of Jesus Christ. It is fully sufficient.

A familiar hymn says it this way:

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come."

You come to God just as you are. It's the only way you can ever come to God.  You come because of the blood of Christ. You come because he bids you to come. That's what saving faith is all about. It is coming to Jesus Christ just the way you are.

Who Will Condemn Me?


A few chapters later in the book of Romans, Paul comes to a triumphant conclusion about the security of those who are in Jesus Christ. This is how he puts it:

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us (Romans 8:33-34).

Will my enemies condemn me? No, God justified me.
   Will my friends condemn me? No, God justified me.
      Will the demons condemn me? No, God justified me.
         Will Satan himself condemn me? No, God justified me.
            Will Jesus turn against me? No, he died for me.

Will my conscience condemn me and guilt overwhelm me? Maybe on earth, but not in heaven. Up there the record is clear forever. I'm justified. I am declared righteous in the eyes of God. I am acceptable to him because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Wholly apart from my works.
Only through faith in Jesus Christ.

Best of all . . . God is not confused by my confusion. He does not doubt because I doubt. He is fully satisfied with Jesus.  Because I have put my faith in Jesus, God is satisfied with me. I'm justified.

Ruth Bell Graham


Ruth Bell Graham, the late wife of Billy Graham, wrote a wonderful book entitledIt's My Turn. In one of her chapters she quotes from her journal, on a day when she was burdened with many cares and she felt totally inadequate as a mother and wife. These are her words:

I am a weak, lazy, indifferent character; casual when I should be concerned, concerned when I should be carefree; self-indulgent, hypocritical, begging God to help me when I am hardly willing to lift a finger for myself; quarrelsome where I should be silent, silent where I should be outspoken; vacillating, easily distracted and sidetracked.

             Thou knowest how soon my mind
             from Heavenly things to earthly
             is drawn aside.
             How oft I fail and fall.

I have found tremendous comfort in this old hymn:

             Come ye sinners, poor and needy,
             Weak and wounded,
             Sick and sore;
             Jesus, waiting, stands to help you,
             Full of mercy, love and power . . .


             Let not conscience bid you linger,
             Nor of fitness fondly dream;
             All the fitness he requireth
             Is to feel your need of Him.

                          Joseph Hart

"What would I do," wrote Chalmers, "if God did not justify the ungodly?"

And "What would I do," said Thomas Boston of Scotland, "but for the imputed righteousness?"

There it is.  All that I am not, He is; all that I am and should not be, He forgives and covers.  (pp. 104-105)

Here is the doctrine of justification in one simple question: "What would I do if God did not justify the ungodly?" Ask yourself that question. What would you do? Where would you go? Where would you be if God were not willing to justify the ungodly?

The answer is, you would be where Martin Luther was—crawling on your knees, praying desperately to God, sinking ever deeper under the crushing load of unforgiven sin. But I have some good news for you. God does indeed justify the ungodly. And he does it by faith alone.

Let me put it to you directly. Where do you stand with God today? Are you straight with him or is your life still one big crooked mess? Have you been justified by faith alone?

Let your mind pause to consider the phrase Ruth Bell Graham quoted from that old hymn: "All the fitness he requireth is to feel your need of Him." Think of it. The only requirement is that you admit you need Jesus. Do you need him? If the answer is yes, then come to Jesus and you will discover he will take you just the way you are.

Our Father, we thank you that you can straighten what is crooked and make right what has gone wrong. Some of us have struggled under such a load of guilt for so many years that we hardly believe that anyone—even you!—could ever take it away. Grant us faith to believe your word, and in believing, to find rest for our souls. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

COMING EVENTS


Nov 1-4
Word of Life Bible Institute, Hudson FL

Nov 11-13
Grandparenting conference, Cannon Beach Conference Center, Cannon Beach, OR

Nov 18
Men's Ministry, Prestonwood Baptist Church, Plano, TX

MY WEBLOG

You can also subscribe to my blog here, where I post shorter devotionals, comment on current events, personal news and more.

VIDEO

Did you know that we have a number ofvideos on our website? I answer frequently asked questions - and even less frequent, but important questions, like “What do I do when my pastor strays from the truth?”. We also have sermons, sermon summaries and illustrations on video as well.
Follow on Twitter | Friend on Facebook | Forward to Friend 
Copyright © 2016 Keep Believing Ministries, All rights reserved. 
Taken from Jeremiah 17...

5Thus says the LORD:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,a
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
6He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
7“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose trust is the LORD.
8He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
9The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
10“I the LORD search the heart
and test the mind,b
to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”
11Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch,
so is he who gets riches but not by justice;
in the midst of his days they will leave him,
and at his end he will be a fool.
12A glorious throne set on high from the beginning
is the place of our sanctuary.
13LORD, the hope of Israel,
all who forsake you shall be put to shame;
those who turn away from youc shall be written in the earth,
for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.
Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance

14Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed;
save me, and I shall be saved,
for you are my praise.


In His love,
Ted

Depend Fully On Jesus

 https://info.truthforlife.org/private-worship-1?ecid=ACsprvts0k5VftayoMvIszLlZmJur8gvo_lfsYjM0mXix61w9WSYAQ_QiPX9R46CaoW8LXho-uf3&utm_c...