(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) And Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, we're in first chapter number three this morning and This morning we actually conclude our miniseries entitled miraculous nativity is a survey through unlikely births in the Bible and of course nativity simply means birth and really is strongly associated with the birth of Christ and the last two weeks we covered the miraculous births of Isaac Samson and John the Baptist and we covered why these births were miraculous and how they pictured the most extraordinary birth in the Bible which is the birth of Jesus Christ and We want to talk about that this morning As far as why is this a miraculous birth now before I get into the core of the sermon Let me make some introductory statements about our church. Well, let's read first Timothy 3 16 first and foremost it says and without controversy Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh Justified in the spirit scene of angels preached into the Gentiles and believed on in the world received up into glory Now keep in mind that we are a independent fundamental Baptist Church, right? And if you look at the sign outside of the church, it says first works Baptist Church and it says independent fundamental now I didn't put that there because I think it just sounds cool. Although it sounds cool. Okay? We Are independent because of the fact that we are an autonomous church and what that means is that we're self-governing We don't answer to a convention. We don't answer to a mother church. We're solely independent I'm the pastor of this church and the person who's over me is Jesus Christ This is how churches are supposed to operate there. There should be independent autonomous churches, but not only that we are fundamental Baptists okay, and what that means is that we believe in the fundamentals of the faith now if you're to look that up You know various people will tell you there's five fundamentals or six fundamentals Well anything that the Bible teaches that is basic and foundation is a fundamental of the faith, right? Now obviously if we were to break that down into a category of five fundamentals, we would say okay the inerrancy of Scripture Which is the fact that we believe that the King James Bible is the inspired and preserved Word of God Jesus Christ's blood atonement is a fundamental of the faith the resurrection or the rapture right is a fundamental of the faith Someone say the authenticity of miracles is a fundamental of the faith but for sure the fifth one that they mention is the virgin birth of Jesus Christ and this is a Fundamental of the faith. This is a very important doctrine. Okay, and In fact the Bible tells us in Ephesians you don't have to turn to stay there in 1st Timothy chapter 3 Ephesians 2 verse 19 says now therefore you're no more strangers and foreigners But fellow fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone Psalms 11 verse 3 says if the foundations be destroyed What can the righteous do isn't it interesting that when false prophets arise when false churches arise? What do they do? What kind of doctrines do they attack the fundamentals the fundamentals of salvation the fundamentals of the virgin birth The fundamentals of the Word of God why because if the foundations be destroyed what can the righteous do? Everything that we believe relies on These foundational teachings, okay So we need to make sure that we have the foundational teachings Right, and if now we're gonna be off on a lot of other areas now The Bible teaches us that the virgin birth is a fundamental of the faith And in fact, look at 1st Timothy chapter 3 in verse 14 It says here these things write on to you hoping to come into these shortly But if I tarry long that thou mayest know how to the oddest to behave thyself in the house of God Which is the church of the Living God look what it says the pillar and ground of truth So what is the Bible telling us here that the church the local New Testament Church is the pillar and ground of truth In other words, it is the place where truth should be expounded It's a place where people can come and listen to the truth of God's Word. It is the ground of truth Why well because the pastor who's preaching the Word of God should be giving that foundational truth, right? So the church by the way, not Fox News not social media Not Facebook not Instagram not some YouTube channel some kook and you know who's in you know in the middle of the woods somewhere In a cabin making videos trying to tell you what the Word of God says. No, the church is the pillar and ground of truth Okay We need to be reminded of the importance of the local New Testament Church now Here's the thing look what it goes on to say verse 16 and without controversy Great is the mystery of godliness. God was made was manifest in the flesh. So what is he telling us? This is a foundational teaching The fact that God was manifest in the flesh shows us that this is a foundational teaching That is the pillar and ground of truth, which is the virgin birth of Jesus Christ Very important the Bible says in 1st Peter 1 in verse number 9 receiving the end of your faith even the salvation of your souls of Which salvation the prophets have it inquired and searched diligently who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify When it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow So what do we see throughout the Bible? Well in the Old Testament one of the major themes of the Old Testament is the prophesying of the coming Christ right the prophesying in the birth of Jesus Christ God was going to visit his people and This is the moment that everyone basically anticipated which is the coming of Jesus Christ the virgin birth, okay Now I'm going to give you some of the elements of the birth of Christ from first Timothy chapter number three We'll get into his birth and why it's important number one Let me say let me start off by saying this is that the virgin birth or God be made manifest in the flesh is without controversy Look what it says and without controversy Controversy greater the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. What does that mean? It's not up for debate It's not up for debate the fact that Jesus Christ came was born of a virgin that the Word of God was made flesh and Dwelled among us that Jesus Christ came to this earth 2,000 years ago. That is not controversial at all amongst Christians Now obviously the unsaved world they come up with some weird teachings Obviously they don't believe the Bible and they have the wisdom of this world and it's foolishness with God and it's nonsense and we shouldn't Adhere to that type of teaching but amongst churches Bible believing churches people who claim to be Christians. This should be not controversial, right? Not up for debate not up for dispute. This is something that is foundational We believe that God was made flesh 2,000 years ago that he came to this world Was born of a virgin lived a perfect life died on the cross was buried and resurrected the third day This is not controversial at all. At least it shouldn't be right, okay So it's not up for debate the Bible tells us say there in first Timothy says in Genesis 3 15 and I will put enmity Between thee and the woman between thy seed and her seed and it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his healed Isaiah 7 14 says therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign Behold the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel that is later reiterated in Matthew 1 23 where it says behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth the son And they shall call his name Emmanuel which being interpreted is God with us now There is no dispute in the fact that these prophecies of old who are foretold by these prophets was true everyone in the Bible believed these things who were studying the Word of God and You even have some of the Pharisees who were not wicked people. These people were sincere in their worship They got saved because they understood what the Word of God said now go with me If you would to hold your place on first Timothy go to Matthew chapter 2 Matthew chapter number 2 You see this was not only believed in those days amongst prophets and Believers and the wise men, but it was also even believed amongst the secular people as well Look what it says in Matthew 2 verse 1 now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea and 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 a 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 now Why would he be troubled if he didn't believe it? Right. He understood that the scriptures were true. King Herod was not a Bible believer and a sense of he wasn't a Christian He wasn't saved right this person In fact didn't like the fact that Jesus Christ was gonna come because he didn't want to be replaced But yet when he hears of this prophecy, what did he do? He was troubled the Bible says why because it was without controversy that he knew this thing was gonna take place Verse 4 says and when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together He demanded of them where Christ should be born. He's not saying hey validate if this is even true If God is even gonna visit his people if he's gonna be made manifest in the flesh No, he said find out where he's gonna 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 Are not that are not the least among the princes of Judah for out of thee shall come a governor That shall rule my people Israel Then Herod when he had privately called the wise men and inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared I mean he's searching diligently now He's a wicked individual But even this guy understood this is not controversial and he sent them to Bethlehem and said go and search Diligently for the young child and when yet when ye have found him bring me word again that I may come and worship him Also now obviously he's lying. What does he want to do? He wants to kill Jesus He wants to kill Jesus because he doesn't want Jesus to replace him as king so he has guile He's guile some and he's saying well I want to worship him also what he really wants to do is put him to death verse 9 when they had heard the king They departed and lo the star which they saw in the east Went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was when they saw the star they rejoiced with exceeding Great joy so on and so forth. So this is not a controversial subject, right? And in fact, it is a controversial subject amongst Pentecostals one is Pentecostals They will claim that well, you know, Jesus Christ is not the eternal Son of God He became the Son of God when he was born. No, he's the eternal Son of God. God was made manifest in the flesh folks and Look when he was born He was a hundred percent man and a hundred percent God Now it's almost ridiculous that I have to say something like that as though there's people out there that don't believe that You know, they don't believe that but it's true people out there want to attack the deity of Jesus Christ They want to make this thing a controversial subject and say well Jesus Christ is human part or his physical part was the human part and then his spirit is the is the God part You know, he's just 50 50. He's 50% God 50% man folks That's blasphemy It's a blasphemous teaching to say. Oh, well, his flesh was not Divine his flesh was not godly It was a spirit then really explained to me why the Bible says that God was made manifest in the flesh Only says that God was manifest in the spirit. He was manifest in the flesh and This is without controversy with us You see when we got saved someone thought that taught this doctrine to us we received it readily It's not controversial to us. I was like, yeah, that makes sense The word was made flesh and dwelt among us. It wasn't sinful He was a human being but he was a perfect human being Because he was 100% God 100% man 1 Timothy 3 16, let's read it again 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 now We think to ourselves. Well, you know in those days. They should have known that also Was this controversial back then? Well, let's look at chapter 4 verse number 1 because the clock continues Now the spirit speaketh expressly That in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils so what does God consider to be a seducing spirit or departing from the faith when you depart from the fact that God was made manifest in the flesh So when you start teaching things that are opposite to that and say God was 50 50 When you start teaching things that are opposite to that and say well God did not die At that point you're giving heat to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils you've departed from the faith Okay, where these pastors want to come up with these hypothetical scenarios? Well, you know if God is eternal and God, you know, if God the Father is eternal we understand that, you know He's he's the beginning in the end. How is it that Jesus Christ died if he's God, so obviously the answer is he didn't die That's nonsense folks Jesus said I am he that liveth and was dead He was dead. He said well, I thought hell though is like eternal death Yeah, except for Jesus He's the only exception to that rule I Don't know about that. How can that be exception to the rule? Well, you tell me who else has the keys of hell and of death Except for Jesus he's the exception to that rule why because he's God 100% man 100% God this should be something that is not controversial to us It wasn't controversial to the Apostle Paul to the churches at the church at Ephesus to the churches that are found in the region of Galatia He says without controversy Great is the mystery of godliness Now turn with me you stay right there in 1st Timothy go to Judges chapter 13 hold your place there in 1st Timothy What is he going to go on to say he says without controversy great is the mystery of godliness you see in this verse there's a lot of Phrases that are being used that can sometimes confuse people for example It goes on to say that he was justified in the spirit Some people wonder what does that mean to be justified in the spirit? I'm explaining to what that means in just a bit. But here it says that he that great is the mystery of Godliness what does it mean by the mystery of godliness? Well a Mystery obviously is any truth that is unknowable except by divine revelation and you see Jesus Christ the Son of God in the Old Testament Manifested himself, right? It's what people will refer to as a pre-incarnate Christ, but he never revealed himself to be Jesus Christ People in the Old Testament got saved the same way people today get safe Salvation has never changed. They just believe on the Lord and they're justified by faith. They believed on the Christ The only thing that wasn't revealed the only thing that was a mystery was what his name? Jesus the name Jesus was a mystery to those in the Old Testament There's a mystery The Bible tells us you're in there and judges look at I'm sorry. I'm gonna read to you from Ephesians stay there in Judges Ephesians 6 18 says praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching there unto with all perseverance and supplication for all the Saints and For me that utterance may be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel So what is the mystery that he is pronouncing to the world that you should believe on Jesus Christ? And in fact, we're studying through the book of Acts on Thursday nights And one thing that we see is that the apostles are constantly or Paul is going to these different regions and synagogues and Telling them that Jesus is this Christ. He's telling them. Hey, we have found the Christ and his name is Jesus believe on Jesus Christ but to further prove that look what judges 13 says I think we need to turn up the AC brother Elisa It's getting kind of warming here Where's brother Elise is that? To further prove this look what it says in Judges 13 again if you remember Jesus Christ manifested himself many times in the Old Testament as a pre-incarnate Christ this was often referred to as the angel of the Lord right the messenger of God and Here's one Scenario where he did where he appeared himself to Manoah, which is the father of Samson We talked about him last week look what it says in verse 17 and Manoah 7 to the angel of the Lord. What is thy name? That when thy sayings come to pass we may do they honor Verse 18 and the angel of the Lord said unto him why askest thou thus after my name seen it is a secret What is the same it's a mystery and the mystery was not yet to be revealed in the Old Testament So he's like why you guys gonna aim for? That's a mystery right now, it's a secret and you can't know of that secret you can't know of that name until he's born Until Jesus Christ is born and then his name shall be proclaimed throughout all nations. See a lot of people get confused and Much of the reason why is because of dispensation lists Because obviously the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed and So people think well if they didn't have the information that we have today in the New Testament if it's further expanded How is it that they have the same salvation? Well, because the Bible tells us that all you have to do is believe on the Lord It's the same God The difference now the New Testament is that his name Jesus Christ Jesus is revealed And by the way, Christ is not his last name Because everyone believed in the Christ in the Old Testament Christ means anointed one the Messiah the Savior So if we were to say, you know, Jesus Christ we're saying Jesus the Savior Jesus the anointed one Jesus the Messiah that's what we're talking about there And so throughout the Old Testament people believed on the Lord They believed on the Christ To him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins But That mystery was revealed by divine revelation when he was born Because at that point they placed the name upon that child that child being Jesus. Okay, and Look, there's people throughout that period of time when he was born that were saved that did not know of his name And this is one of the reasons why? Jesus Christ commanded his apostles to go out into all the world and preach Jesus Okay to clarify and show them Hey, this is the Christ and this Christ is Jesus Christ if you remember Apollo's for example was saved and the Bible tells us that The couple I'm the name is fleeing me right now. What's the couple's name? Priscilla and Aquila that they came and they showed Apollo's the way of the Lord more perfectly Okay, they showed the way of the Lord more perfectly They showed him the way of the Lord more perfectly and what did he do? He returned to Ephesus and basically show mightily from the scriptures that Jesus Christ. He is the Christ. He is the Messiah the Savior So he was confirming he was telling him that hey, the mystery has been revealed. His name is Jesus Okay, and look you said well, what if there's people there who said well, we don't believe it's Jesus It's someone else and they weren't safe They were not safe because anybody who testifies of the Sun and If they're really saved the spirit bears witness with our spirit where the children of God It's gonna validate the fact that yes, that is the Christ that is Jesus, okay Go to go to Deuteronomy chapter 30 if you would Deuteronomy chapter 30 I'm gonna read to you from Colossians 4 verse 2 continue in prayer watching the same with Thanksgiving With all praying also for us that God would open unto us a door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ For which all I am also in bonds that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak so two things that the apostles were doing when they're going and preaching is they were getting people who have never heard the name of Christ getting them saved and then getting The people who did were already say who believed on Christ helping them to understand that that Christ is his name is Jesus Okay, that's what he was doing now people think well That's kind of a dangerous teaching, isn't it? Because what if what if people today say well they believe on the Lord they just don't believe in Jesus Well, here's the thing during this transitional period when the name of Christ when the name of Jesus was being revealed God winked at the ignorance of the fact that they didn't know his name was Jesus You understand and I guarantee you that every single individual who believed on Christ had someone tell him that it was Jesus God's not gonna just tell some people and not tell others you understand but today the name of Jesus has been proclaimed throughout the whole world So people are without excuse. We have a canonized Bible And you know this teaching of well, you know There's parts in Southeast Asia and the 1040 window and all these areas that they've never heard the name of Jesus once That is a fallacy. It's a farce. It's not true Because you have Muslims there Right, I mean I think of Cambodia for example They have tons of Muslims there You know what Muslims they adhere to the Quran and you know what the Quran has the name of Jesus in there Obviously, there's a lot of false teaching within the Quran, but you can't tell me. Well, they've never heard the name of Jesus false Because even the Quran has the name of Jesus and in fact the Quran validates the Gospels and says that it's the Word of God believe that or not In the Quran it says it validates the Gospels as being the Word of God that people should adhere to it So this teaching that all these people in Southeast Asia have never heard the name of Jesus, you know, it's not true It's false and you know people always want to come up with this hypothetical scenario of the black guy who's in the jungles in Africa What's gonna happen to him? You know if he dies and he's never heard the name of Jesus folks people have what's called the light And As they respond to the light God gives them more light and yeah, obviously when an individual is born into this world You know, they don't know the name of Jesus, but you know, the Bible says he lied with every man that cometh into the world So he gives him a conscience he gives him understanding that there is a God and if that individual seeks after that God God will make himself manifest unto him through a soul winner through a preacher of the gospel Through a missionary to come to him and preach unto him Jesus And that guy says well, that's not the one we're looking for then. You know what God does he takes away light It says okay that you know, you don't really want the light It's like these truthers right these truthers online. They claim to love the truth They want the truth, but when you give them the truth of hey don't use that stupid version of the Bible You need to use the King James Version Which is the Word of God and they're like, oh no, I'm sticking with this. Oh, then you don't really want the truth then Or hey, I know you love the truth But you know you're saying that you have to repent of your sins in order to be saved That's false. The Bible says all you have to do is faith alone. It's by faith in Jesus They and they say no, I don't believe that. Okay, then you don't really love the truth. They remove truth or from your bio Because you really don't love the truth because Jesus is the way the truth and the life He's a source of all truth and anytime someone seeks out the truth. They will end up at the feet of Christ If they really want the truth Deuteronomy 30 verse 11 look what it says for this command which I command thee this day is not hidden from thee neither is it Far off It is not in heaven that thou shouldst say who shall go up for us to heaven and bring it unto us that we may Hear it and do it Neither is it beyond the sea that thou shouldst say who shall go over the sea for us and bring it unto us that we May hear it and do it for the word is nigh unto thee Even excuse me nigh unto thee in thy mouth and in thy heart that thou mayest do it. That sounds familiar This is later reiterated in Romans chapter 10, but what's what's revealed? Jesus It tells us in Romans chapter 10, but the righteousness which is a faith speaketh on this Why say not in thine heart who shall ascend into heaven that is to prove to bring Christ down? From above or who shall descend into the deep that is to bring up Christ again from the dead Oh from where? from the dead But what say that the word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart that is the word of faith Which we preach that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus And believe in thy heart that God has raised them from the dead thou shalt be saved so we see that The great mystery of godliness was the fact that God prophesied that one day he would visit his people And we know that every any individual is born into this world has a name They just didn't know what that name was right? Okay go back to 1st Timothy chapter 3 First Timothy chapter 3 16 says and without controversy great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh God was manifest in the flesh Now You know, I do want to encourage you to take time throughout Christmas to think about this Obviously, this is something that we believe It's part of our core values as part of the fundamentals of our faith But it's good to just every once in a while take a truth like this and just meditate upon it Because sometimes we do take things for granted, right? Oh, yeah, he was manifest in the flesh. Well say that a little slower And like slow down a little bit and think upon that the fact that the king of the universe the creator Became a baby I Mean when the wise men came to see Jesus he was about two years old I was thinking myself my daughter's two years old Jesus Christ at one time became a human being and had to go through all the difficulties and all of the You know the trials that a human being goes through while they're in this world 2,000 years ago, by the way Not 2020. Although there's some trials in 2020, you know He was a child and he Learned he grew in wisdom and the Bible tells us that he himself became poor that for your sakes. He might be made rich think about that and It kind of accentuates the love of God Does it not it shows us how much God loved us the fact that he was willing to be made manifest in the flesh to put on the Bible says the likeness of simple flesh To live for 33 years and at the end of that life be completely betrayed by those whom he came to To die for us resurrect and to give us eternal life. Don't breeze over that You know, obviously in our church we like to go down deep on a lot of stuff and This isn't necessarily a deep truth, but it's good to think deeply upon them To tenderize your heart to think upon those things to create a heart of gratitude in you over the fact that Jesus Christ was born Okay, that's what that's what Christmas is all about He was manifest in the flesh Galatians 4 forces But when the fullness of the time was come God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law to redeem them That were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons What an amazing truth and look at if you're thinking to yourself. Well, yeah, I already know that, you know, nothing new Yeah, it's like whatever, you know, I already get that teach me something else. Let's talk about something else well You know often it's the most basic things that are the most extraordinary things And the virgin birth is a very basic teaching but when you really sit down and think about it's very extraordinary Okay, and look when we talk about the virgin birth, we're not focusing on Mary You know because Catholics want to focus on Mary oh there's a virgin birth is the Virgin Mary She didn't remain a virgin after she had Jesus He had brothers and sisters there after folks, right? You know the Bible tells us that Joseph knew her not until after Jesus was born Okay, she did not remain a virgin Regardless of what the Catholics say no. Yeah, when we talk about the virgin birth of Christ We are focusing on the fact that Jesus did not have an earthly father He had an earthly mother which made him 100% human, but he had a divine father which made him 100% God as well So every aspect every cell in his body was divine Okay, no God part human part. It was all Coagulated it's all intermingled It was all in there his DNA his the fluids in his body. Yeah, even his blood Right Look, this is so nonsensical about this teaching that all the physical part of Jesus was not divine Okay, so are you saying that the blood doesn't take? Because the blood is the physical aspect of his body And I don't know. I think there's someone else who teaches that doc. Oh, yeah, John MacArthur Teaches that the blood does not save us False heresy blasphemy wicked evil We are redeemed through his blood and look we never want to get to this point And I don't believe safe people can where we just want to focus on one aspect of God's salvation Well, it was only the death on the cross That's the most important thing and notice that well, no, it's the virgin birth. That was the most important thing Well, no, it was his resurrection. That's the most important thing. Oh, no, it's the fact that he went it's all of it It is all of it folks It's like saying this You know When we get saved The only thing that happens is that we get eternal life Is that the only thing that happens? Folks there the Bible talks about things that accompany salvation There's many things that take place when we get saved now obviously eternal life is the most important thing But along with that we become sons of God the Spirit Comes within us and he lives within us. We're sealed unto the day of redemption You know, there's a list of things that happens when we get saved. We can't say one is more important than the other We just say it's all encompassing. It's all important and in like manner, you know when Jesus Christ died Was buried and resurrected it's all important. In fact, even previous to that his perfect life was necessary for our salvation Him keeping the law and the commandments was necessary for our salvation To say was only his death. Well, it's only you know, his death on the cross That's the only thing false because Romans chapter 4 tells us that he was raised again for our justification It's all important, okay But his blood saves us The Bible says in Romans chapter 8 verse 3 for what the law could not do and that I was weak through the flesh God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin Condemned sin in the flesh Philippians 2 6 says who being in the form of God thought in our robbery to be equal with God But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men Now think about this You know any religious leader who wants to claim that Jesus Christ Was Not divine or there's an aspect about about him that was not divine is a false teacher And let me prove that to you the Pharisees. What did they say of Jesus? We'd be not born of fornication What's the insinuation you are? So the Pharisees were insinuating that Jesus Christ was not his God. His father was not God, but rather that Mary fornicated with Joseph and Therefore that's why he was born, you know, because there's a whole controversy in the very beginning where Joseph thought Oh, man, she you know, she might have fornicated therefore I'm gonna put her away privately because he didn't know that basically she was she had God in her womb understand and Then of course the angel came to him and explained to him like that's not the case. She's still a virgin You know, she has God in her. Okay But what are the Pharisees say? Well, we be not born of fornication. What is he saying? What are they saying? He's not divine Only wicked people teach that folks Only evil wicked people unsaved people teach such a damnable heresy God was made manifest in the flesh go back to 1st Timothy chapter 3 So we see that this is without controversy The greater the mystery was the mystery of godliness, which is the fact that his name was revealed to us in the New Testament He was manifest in the flesh 2,000 years ago Look what it goes on to say it says without controversy greatest the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh justified in the spirit Justified in the spirit now This can confuse a lot of people because of the fact that the connotation that we have with Justified in the spirit or to be justified as what? Salvation, right? We automatically think well that's referring to salvation and And Rightly, so, you know, that's a term that's commonly used in the Bible to to describe salvation But you know what? There's times in the Bible where a word is used Generally to mean one thing but there's other portions of Scripture where in different contexts It means something completely different right like for example salvation is a great example of that Salvation we have the association that that's referring to eternal life But there's times in the Bible when salvation has nothing to do with eternal life It has to do with the the rescuing of someone's flesh delivering someone right Well to justify simply means to declare something is right or just So what happened when Jesus Christ was born? He was justified of the spirit The spirit bore witness that this is the Son of God Right, and in fact, what did John the Baptist say? I saw the Spirit descending upon him as a dove and God told him upon whom you see the Spirit descended upon This is him So the Spirit Justified Jesus by declaring who Jesus was Go to John chapter 15 if you would John chapter 15 I'm gonna read to you from John 1 33 says that I knew him not But he that sent me to baptize with water The same said unto me upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit Descending and remaining on him the same as he which baptize it with the Holy Ghost now do you remember last week we talked about John the Baptist and John the Baptist Identified the Christ when he was in the womb of his mother Elizabeth you remember that you know Jesus came and he was doing parkour and his mother's womb and he's like leaping and Then she was filled with the spirit the Bible says right and that feeling of the Spirit caused them to be able to identify This is the Christ Well the same thing with John the Baptist later on in his ministry because of the fact that it tells us that he knew him not So he didn't know even though it was his cousin. He didn't know who Jesus was Until he came out he saw the Spirit descending and then he was able to identify This is the Christ now people wonder like well, how is it that he didn't know if they're cousins? Well folks Cousins back in those days were not like your cousins who live around the corner who come out Every Saturday to come eat with you and play with you and stuff You understand Cousins in those days they you know family sometimes lived very far and Moses, you know, he gave a great example He asked me he's like, what about like your family Guatemala? When's the last time you saw your family Guatemala's like? 15 20 years ago or something It's been a while so if I saw a lot of them today, I probably wouldn't recognize them because they live very far right Well in like manner he probably didn't see Jesus for a really long time because they live in different regions Therefore he knew him not but that's okay because the Spirit justified him the Spirit identified him He identified him when he was in the womb He identified him when he was here as well Look what it says in John 15 verse 26 one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit says But when the comforters come whom I was sent unto you from the Father even the Spirit of truth which proceeded from the Father He shall testify of me What does that mean? He's gonna justify Jesus He's gonna say this is the one he's not gonna he's not gonna speak of himself He's gonna speak of Jesus Christ go to Luke chapter 2 if you would Luke chapter number 2 Look at verse 25 of Luke chapter 2 it says 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. So it didn't say they he was waiting for Jesus He said he was waiting for the consolation of Israel because he didn't know His name, right? One of his names or one of his titles would be the consolation of Israel It says in verse 26 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 brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law Then took he him up into his arms and blessed God and said Lord now let us thou thy servant depart in peace According to thy word from mine eyes have seen thy salvation Which thou has prepared before the face of all people Alight to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel folks You know what we do when we go out there so many we're justifying Jesus in the spirit We're testifying of the Sun We are justifying in the fact that yes, Jesus Christ is the way the truth in the life. He's the only manner of salvation He's the only one you have to believe on to be saved that's exactly what we're doing And so really what first Timothy 3 is it's just a summary of the life of Jesus Christ Before he was born Because he was you know, the mystery of godliness When he was born, which is being made manifest in the flesh He's being justified in the spirit throughout his ministry. We see that he's also seen of angels, right? Go to Luke chapter 2 Luke chapter 2 Verse 1 it says and it came to pass in those days that there were went out of decree from Caesar Augustus that all the World should be taxed This taxing came first was first made when Cyrenius 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 lineage of David To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife being great with child and so was that while they were there The days were accomplished that she should be delivered And she brought forth her first firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end and There were in that same country shepherds abiding in the field Keeping watch over their flock by night and lo the angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord Shown round about them and they were sore afraid now I do want to mention this because it's pretty interesting. In fact, Brother Carey is actually the one who brought this to my attention and When he when he told me I was just like I'll consider the of this matter But he was telling me he said hey, I think the star of Bethlehem is actually an angel, okay You think you are Chris Carey, you know And he was just he kind of like briefly told me I'm just joking about that You know, he briefly told me give me some reasons why and then he told me goes I know somewhere in the hymns it said something like that, too so I went back and I and I and I studied the matter further and I believe that that's the case and The reason why is because of the fact that the star of Beth first of all Angels in the Bible often referred to as stars You think of Satan, you know taking the third of stars from heaven referring to angels You know, they're wandering stars The Bible talks about that the stars sang together right in job 38 Many many references of angels being referred to as stars, but not only that the star of Bethlehem went before The the wise men in other words, it's mobile So it's moving around you understand and then the the parallel passage here shows that the angel the Lord came upon them And the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid and in fact when the angel comes, right? To be over the child. It's accompanied by a host of heavenly angels Understand when the stars there it's accompanied by a host of heavenly angels. They're singing unto the Lord Etc. But you know, this isn't obviously it's not does doesn't change the price in tea in China I feel like that's just an interesting point and I was looking through the hymns and I found the hymn that he was referring to which is the first Noel and whoever wrote that song believed that same doctor because it says you know the first Noel the angel did say was to certain poor shepherds and fields where they lay and Then the second verse it says in the light of that same star Referring to the angel in verse number one. So it's just an interesting thought there Referring to the angel possibly being a star Or the star being an angel, excuse me Look what it goes on to say there and if you don't like that then blame Chris Carey. Okay. No, I'm just kidding. I Thought I believe that's what it is I think that's an interesting point there And by the way, isn't the Star of Bethlehem supposed to show up this this Tuesday, right where the planets aligned together? You know and then they that's that's considered the Star of Bethlehem. It comes it comes around every 800 years or so I don't personally believe that that's actually referring to the Star of Bethlehem that we see in the Bible Star of Bethlehem in my opinion is an actual angel who was Leading the the wise men there verse 10 says and the angel said unto them fear not for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy Which shall be to all people by the way, this is awesome right here when the angels come to Declare Jesus Christ does he go to Kings? Does he go to these governors? Does he go to the you know, does he try to get the mayor involved? Who does he go to shepherds? Why because shepherds were the common people, right? And you know what the Bible says that the common people hurt him gladly You see when we are out there preaching the gospel rarely if any Time actually ever will we ever go to like Beverly Hills or something like that, right? And I don't say those people don't need the gospel But I will say this that's last priority You know in comparison to right across the street the ghetto Why because in the ghetto there's common people and the common people hear him gladly the shepherds People who work hard. They're just living a normal life and you know, and they have faith. They're rich in faith Cuz look they told Harriet and here it's like go go look for that thing. You know, he's like trying to send other people The shepherds on the other hand is like let's go see this site I Bring you good tidings a great joy Which shall be to all people for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior Which is Christ the Lord and this shall be a sign unto you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth On earth peace good will 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 wondered that those things which are told by them by the shepherds I like these shepherds, you know why because when they get information they go tell someone else If they would have told these scholars, you know, the scholars would have done and wrote a book about it Let's write an article about let's write a book about it. Let's see how much money we can make off of this Whereas the shepherds are like we got the info. Let's go tell another human being about this great site and Another principle we can learn there this is folks is is that you know, God is more interested in using Common people You know instead of these higher ups because of the fact that he knows that Common people are willing to go out there put themselves out there to go preach the gospel get people saved and speak the truth. Okay So be a common person It says in verse number 18 all they that heard it wondered at those things which are told by them by the shepherds But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart and the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen and It was told unto them. So what do we see here? We see that there that he was seen of Angels and then ultimately he was preached unto the Gentiles and believed on in the world and that's where we're here today so the virgin birth of Christ is An essential doctrine and it's a miracle Because it's proof that Jesus Christ is divine But you know what also is wonderful about that is that he because he was born of a virgin because he lived this sinless life Because he died in the cross and because he was buried and resurrected on the third day Therefore we're able to partake of that second birth Right, which is a miracle in and of itself as well You see we're not a charismatic Pentecostal church Where people have to just see miracles and speak in tongues and Prophesy of future events, you know, the greatest miracle that we can see every on a day-to-day basis is the salvation of a person When they're born again That's a miracle It's a miracle with an individual who's on their way to hell recognizes their condition before God Recognizes that it's only by faith in Christ and they make that decision to get saved. They're born again It's a miracle that that person will never die That's a miracle I'm not interested in I'm not even interested in seeing the Star of Bethlehem so-called Although I am gonna look at it You know, I'm not really interested I'm not dismayed at the signs of heaven These miraculous things and social media like the world's coming to an end. I'm not interested in those things Now look folks when the moon is turned into blood You know and then you have the four horsemen of the apocalypse and you have the day of the Lord coming at that point I'm interested. You know why because I'm running from the Antichrist at that point He's trying to kill me So I'm looking for that sign at that point, but today not today Today the only miraculous thing that I'm seeking after is a salvation of a lost individual And when they get saved It's one of the greatest of all miracles They'll never die. Amen and look folks Are you broke this Christmas season? You can't buy any gifts Don't worry. You have like the greatest gift that you can give an individual Which is salvation Or how about this? Do you have no one who wants to give you presents? No one loves me no one wants to send me presents. Well if you're lost You can receive the greatest gift that a human being could ever receive in history, which is salvation It's priceless You can't put a price on you can't buy it it's the most it's the most expensive gift in History That no individual can ever purchase except for Jesus Christ with his own blood And thank God Let's pray father. We thank you so much for this day. Thank you for the birth of Christ and Lord I love Christmas and I pray God that Lord that you'd continue to instill within us a heart of gratitude Regarding the the manifestation of God in the flesh We never lose sight of that and also Lord may we defend it against wicked people who want to teach contrary to that Teach contrary to sound doctrine and teach damnable heresy regarding our Savior But we defend it ardently Lord and I just pray God that you bless this Christmas season Lord I pray that we get more people saved and impart the gift of salvation unto them so they can never die We love you so much. Lord everything