Sunday, December 15, 2024 AM

Sunnyside Baptist Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

01:24

in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day. Thank you for gathering us together.

01:31

Lord, we know of many who are ill, who are sick, and Lord, we ask that you would bless them today, that you would encourage them, and that you would heal them and provide for them all that they need.

01:45

And Lord, we pray that you would bring them to mind, that we may be a blessing to them. Thank you for preparing this time and giving us your word.

01:55

Thank you for sending us your Son and providing us your Holy Spirit. And we pray that as we turn our attention to your word today, that we would rejoice in your truth and that you would conform us to the image of your

02:11

Son, Jesus Christ, the one with whom you are well pleased. We pray these things in his name.

02:18

Amen. I invite you to open your Bibles and turn with me to the

02:23

Gospel of Luke. We'll be reading from Luke 1, verses 26 through 38.

02:30

Luke 1, verses 26 through 38.

02:37

Using the title of the Christmas carol, What Child is This?, and we're thinking about the importance of the virgin conception, the miracle and the mystery, and how it is vital for the good news, for the gospel.

02:55

What child is this who saves, who awes, who leads, and who knows?

03:03

We've looked at the first two, and so this morning we're thinking about the child who leads.

03:09

The virgin conception, which is so vital for the gospel, reveals to us a

03:15

Savior who is glorious, who is wondrous in His incarnate mystery.

03:22

He's exalted in every possible way, as we were thinking about and meditating on last week.

03:29

It only makes sense that He is the King before whom all men must bow.

03:38

He is exalted. He is wondrous. He is marvelous in such a fashion, to such a height, that it only makes sense that all who are made in the image of God should bow to Jesus Christ.

03:54

And this will be the emphasis of this morning as we think about the miracle of the virgin conception.

04:00

I invite you, if you're able, to stand with me as we read God's Word. We're going to read from Luke 1, verses 26 through 38.

04:12

This is the Word of the Lord. Now, in the sixth month, the angel

04:17

Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was

04:26

Joseph of the house of David. The virgin's name was

04:32

Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, Rejoice, highly favored one.

04:37

The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and considered what manner of greeting this was.

04:47

Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name

04:56

Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father

05:03

David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

05:10

Then Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I do not know a man? And the angel answered and said to her,

05:17

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore also that holy one who is to be born will be called the son of God.

05:28

Now indeed, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.

05:37

For with God, nothing will be impossible. Then Mary said, Behold, the maidservant of the

05:43

Lord, let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her.

05:49

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. If you walk away from someone's birthday celebration, and your conversations and contemplations are all about how their birthday made you feel, and all your conversations and contemplations were about how their birthday, what you got out of it, someone who loves you should probably stick a wet finger in your ear and help you wake up.

06:37

You know, when you gather to celebrate somebody else's birthday, it should spark conversations and contemplations about that person thanking

06:45

God for their life, appreciating what God has done in them and for them.

06:51

You know, Christmas being Jesus' birthday celebration and all, it's not really about how

06:57

Advent makes you feel or what you can get out of it. The birthday of a king, now that's the occasion to praise him.

07:05

That's the occasion to show him something about how much you appreciate him. The virgin conception reveals to us the king of all mankind.

07:16

And we are left with no doubts whatsoever as to the meaning of the virgin conception in terms of him being

07:22

Savior, of him being wondrous and worthy of worship, and also being our king.

07:28

This is made very clear to us in the Gospels, in Matthew and in Luke, and, of course, in Isaiah and throughout the rest of Scripture.

07:37

This miracle is meant to manifest to us our king.

07:43

We're going to think about, from the Gospels especially, the commotion that occurs at the birth of the king.

07:51

We're going to think about the character of the king in his day.

07:58

We're going to think about the coronation of the king after his death, and then think about the commands of the king in his reign.

08:11

Christmas is an opportunity for us to feast in fellowship to honor the king, to sing carols to our king, to honor his advent, to praise his name.

08:24

It's our opportunity to honor him by obedience, to confess our need for him, our dependence upon his grace and opportunity to draw from the bottomless well of his wisdom.

08:38

Let's first of all think about the commotion, the commotion of the king at his birth.

08:45

There was quite a commotion in the lives of Mary and Joseph, a commotion even prior to the message to Mary and Joseph in the lives of Zacharias and Elizabeth, a commotion amongst angels, a commotion amongst shepherds, a commotion amongst kings, foreign and domestic, quite a commotion.

09:06

The arrival of a baby into a family is a wonderful and welcome commotion.

09:14

The arrival of babies and the presence of children in general are a welcome commotion, always a commotion, but welcome and wonderful.

09:26

Well, the arrival of the second Adam, the son of David, the word become flesh into the world, is just that, a wonderful and welcome commotion.

09:38

Things get stirred up. Think of all, first of all, the promised son of David.

09:45

We're going to come back to Luke 1 here in a moment because I think this is where it's most clearly connected, the virgin conception and the king of all mankind.

09:55

But to get a little bit of background, let's go to Matthew 1, and you'll see how the gospel of Matthew begins.

10:04

Remember that the term gospel is, when these books were written by Matthew and by Luke and by Mark and by John, when these were written, the term gospel was already in use.

10:18

It was already understood what the term gospel meant. It was good news. It was good news proclaimed far and wide.

10:24

It was good news pertaining to a king. It was good news pertaining to authority and a true change in the world.

10:32

It was most often used at the arrival of a new emperor in the empire of Rome.

10:39

When the new emperor arrived, the gospel would go forth. Here's all the good things that will happen for you.

10:45

Well, there's a new king. There's a new king of kings.

10:50

There's a new lord of lords, and he has been manifested in his birth, in his life, in his death, in his resurrection.

10:59

He is king in his ascension. He is reigning now, and that is the message of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These are gospels because they are proclaiming to us the king and how he has the authority and how everything now has changed.

11:14

And so it makes sense that some of the gospels begin with genealogy, tracing the royal lineage of this king.

11:23

So in verse 1 of Matthew 1, we read the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

11:31

And in those three names, Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham, those three names, you have the three sections in the coming genealogy, three sections of 14 generations each.

11:50

And so we read through, but as we read through, there's one name that pops up more often than any other name, and that's the name of David.

11:57

David shows up five times in one genealogy. Now, if you're doing the generally, the name should show up probably once.

12:05

So there seems to be an emphasis on David. And indeed, God's promise to David was that he would have a son who would reign on an eternal throne.

12:14

So right out of the box, Matthew is talking about the king. He's talking about royal lineage.

12:20

So let's pay attention to Jesus because he is the promised son of David. And this, of course, is emphasized in verse 17 after the whole genealogy is given.

12:31

So all the generations from Abraham to David are 14 generations. From David until the captivity in Babylon are 14 generations.

12:39

And from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are 14 generations.

12:45

And if this is not enough emphasis, then in verse 20, the angel says, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take

12:53

Mary as your wife. And so the emphasis time and again is that this promised son of David is none other than Jesus of Nazareth, who was born of Mary, whose earthly adopted father was

13:07

Joseph. This had been long promised, this son of David, this man of peace named

13:15

Shiloh of the tribe of Judah. And what was David's son's name who reigned upon the throne?

13:22

Shiloh Solomon, the man of peace who reigned upon the throne and built the temple as was promised.

13:29

But this son of David was not actually the son of David. And the promise was fulfilled ultimately in Jesus Christ.

13:39

So we see this emphasis on kingship, on royal lineage. This one who was born of a virgin, conceived by the

13:48

Holy Spirit, this one is born of David, the promised one.

13:54

Now let's turn the page and look at Matthew chapter 2. Just how vital is this message of being a king?

14:02

Well, after the initial genealogy and the initial interaction between the angel and Joseph and the announcement that Jesus would be born and that he would be

14:12

Immanuel God with us, we come to Matthew chapter 2. And let's think about how clearly the theme comes through that this one who was conceived of a virgin by the power of the

14:25

Holy Spirit is indeed our king. So chapter 2 verse 1. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men or magi, these are royal men from the east, came to Jerusalem saying, where is he who has been born king of the

14:46

Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him.

14:52

This does not please Herod at all. Not only does he have emissaries from foreign nations coming to give honor and allegiance to someone other than him, but the heavens themselves are saying something about how

15:09

Herod is not the real king of the Jews. This is not pleasant news for him. Verse 3, when

15:14

Herod the king heard this, he was troubled in all Jerusalem with him. It's a commotion, a commotion of the king at his birth.

15:24

And when he gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the

15:31

Christ was to be born. So they said to him, in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet, prophet

15:38

Micah, but you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah are not the least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people

15:48

Israel from the house of bread the shepherd will come. Well, when you think about that passage from Micah, chapter 5, there's a little bit more to it.

16:02

It says, but you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, now listen to this, whose goings forth are from old from everlasting.

16:20

This is an affirmation of the incarnation. This is an affirmation of the full divinity of Christ as well as the full humanity.

16:30

He's born in Bethlehem, but his goings forth are from everlasting. Therefore, he shall give them up until the time that she who was in labor has given birth.

16:40

Then the remnant of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel. Remember Matthew's genealogy from the

16:47

Babylonian captivity until the Christ. They were given up. They are in exile.

16:53

They're without leadership. They have no king on the throne. There's no real direction in their life until finally the hope comes in the form of Messiah.

17:04

Then the remnant of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel and he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the

17:09

Lord. In the majesty of the name of the Lord his God and they shall abide for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth."

17:17

So now we begin to hear the king of the Jews is not just the king of the Jews only, but his position as the promised king who comes is actually good news for all the earth, not just a sliver of land and a selection of tribes.

17:37

So the one born king of the Jews, this is a genuine challenge to Herod who had royal authority by the pleasure of Rome as he was king of the

17:48

Jews, even though he was an Edomite, and he is feeling very insecure, commotion of the king at his birth.

17:56

This theme is also emphasized, of course, in Luke chapter 1 as we have already read.

18:03

If you go back to look at verses 32 and 33, you hear this theme most strongly and you're going to hear

18:10

Mary not really doubting but just overwhelmed and wondering how this possibly could be.

18:17

Then I want you to see the answer that is given to her. How could it be that she would have a son and that this son would be of this majesty and this royalty and this authority?

18:31

So verses 32 and 33, we read, "...he

18:36

will be great," the one that he will call Jesus, "...he will be great, and he will be called the son of the highest, and the

18:44

Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

18:54

Now, there are five things said here about her son, and all of them have to do with his authority as king.

19:05

The first is that he will be great.

19:14

The term for great in the Greek, you'll recognize it, is megas. We got our word mega from that, but it has the idea that it's so large that it dominates your horizon no matter where you look, like the sky.

19:32

It just completely occupies the entirety of your horizon. That is what is there.

19:39

That's how big, he will be great. We also see that he will be the son of the highest, the son of the highest.

19:51

We have the idea here that he is the God -man, that he is the son of God, and later on this will actually be said clearly.

20:02

The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, so he's going to be a king, and he's going to be reigning on David's throne as promised, and this kingdom will be forever.

20:15

This time it won't stop. Solomon died, and his throne went to Rehoboam.

20:21

Rehoboam lost most of the kingdom to Jeroboam in his folly, and Rehoboam also died, and the kingdom passed on to the next king, to the next king, to the next king, until finally the kings were taken away into exile, and there was no one left on the throne, which has been vacant all this time until Messiah.

20:44

So we are told that this is the great king, the Davidic king, the son of God. He's going to reign forever, and then

20:50

Mary says, I don't know how that's going to work. Not married yet. How is this going to work?

20:55

I know not a man. How is this going to work? And then the angel says to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the highest will overshadow you.

21:04

Therefore, so the virgin conception, the miracle of the Holy Spirit creating life, hovering over the face of the deep like He did in Genesis 1, verse 2, so He hovers over the womb of Mary and creates life,

21:21

Jesus of Mary, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. And so she says, behold, the maidservant of the

21:30

Lord. So the answer to how this one, her son, is going to be this amazing, eternal king of his father

21:38

David and descendant, not only from David, but also fully divine, how is it even possible?

21:44

The answer that is given is the virgin conception. That's how. That's how he's king.

21:51

That's how he's king, and promised a forever throne that never ends. Well, what's the impact of that?

21:57

Well, what did the angel say to the shepherds? Luke 2, verses 8 through 11.

22:04

So after she gave birth, after Jesus was born and laid in a manger, verse 8 of Luke 2, now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

22:16

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.

22:23

Then the angel said to them, do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people.

22:33

For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the

22:39

Lord. So all of the angels give him glory. The angels are announcing him.

22:45

Heaven is saying he is king and it's time for earth to say amen. He is king.

22:51

He is the one who rules. So he is for all men. And this is emphasized by verse 14, when the angels sing their carol glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men.

23:10

So here is mankind's hope. Here is David's son who was also declared from his birth, emperor of the earth.

23:24

We use the language we have so often, Christ is Lord. Sorry, what did we just say?

23:30

We just said Christ is emperor. That's what we just said. When we say he is

23:35

Lord, we don't mean that he has a significant place in my affections. The biblical confession is not

23:42

Caesar is Lord, Jesus is Lord. For this confession, Christians died at the hands of Romans.

23:51

When we say Christ is Lord, we're saying Christ is king, but the Bible says what?

23:57

King of kings. That means emperor. Lord of lords, that means emperor.

24:04

He's the emperor over all of the earth. He's the emperor over all creation. He is the one who inherits it all.

24:13

And so David's son is the earth's emperor. This is what the angels declare to Joseph and Mary, and the magi get it from heaven and Herod is all upset.

24:24

And now the shepherds hear, we don't understand kings very well.

24:34

That's not just an American problem, though it is that. We don't like kings around here.

24:43

It is woven into the American psyche to have a rambunctious antipathy to all monarchies.

24:53

And yes, it is true. A sinful king makes for a despot, an uncaring tyrant, and Adam all die.

25:02

But there is another Adam. There is another Adam. And while our jealous, man -fearing heart often cautions, well,

25:13

I wouldn't be so effusive with praise. I wouldn't be so impressed with all of this language about Jesus being king.

25:20

Let's make it something that's manageable. He's king of my heart. If I go around and say something like, well, not only is he king of my heart, but also king of my body, then there's implications.

25:35

Is he king of my bank account, and my car, and my house, and my relationship with others? Does he get to say how I relate to others?

25:43

King of my family, king of how I work? Well, what if I say to my neighbor, you know, he's king of your household, too.

25:52

How's my neighbor going to look at me now? What if I say, well, you know, he's actually king of everything, including what happens in Washington, D .C.,

26:02

and in Moscow. King of all that goes on. There's not a square inch on the face of this planet, or a cubic inch anywhere in all of the universe over which he's not lord.

26:15

Now, all of a sudden, there are lots of implications that are unsettling, but it makes sense that there's a commotion of the king at his birth.

26:27

When we recognize Christ as our king, that he was conceived and born as God's son, crucified and raised as our savior, ascended and reigning as our shepherd, we rightly rejoice and say, what a king we have.

26:40

Oh, what a king. He has given himself for us. He's delivered us from the dominion of darkness.

26:47

He brought us into his light. He doesn't have to demand my loyalty. He doesn't have to compel my obedience because his father is my father and his spirit indwells me.

27:00

And I delight in him because he's worthy. He's that kind of king. He's that kind of king.

27:07

Consider his character, the character of the king in his day.

27:12

This was long promised. In the Scriptures, heaven long anticipated this day upon earth, that there would be glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

27:27

And we have these promises in the Old Testament, in Isaiah 9 and Isaiah 11. And when we read these passages, we are reminded from the prophecies of the power of our king and also the peace that he brings.

27:45

In Isaiah 9, verses 6 through 7, I want you to listen to these royal titles that are given.

27:54

Yes, it's a wondrous thing. Yes, the affections of our heart are warmed.

28:03

We are not left unchanged when we consider the gift of Jesus Christ as God's only begotten

28:09

Son, our Savior, born of the Virgin Mary, a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid in a manger.

28:18

We are warmly affected by this. And when the Bible describes the coming of this child, we are receiving a description of, here's your new emperor, here's your new

28:32

Lord and Master. That's the emphasis and the thrust of the Scripture. So listen to these royal titles that are given in this familiar

28:41

Christmas passage, Isaiah 9, verses 6 through 7. For unto us a child is born.

28:47

You know this part. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called

29:02

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father.

29:10

Just a note here, how is the son called the father? The term father was a royal title used of any king.

29:18

When you became king, you became the father of the nation. So it's a kingly title. Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

29:27

Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end.

29:34

Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward and even forever, the zeal of the

29:46

Lord of hosts will perform this. So we start off with that familiar Christmas passage in Isaiah.

29:53

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And that's usually where the Christmas cards stop.

30:01

Right? That's on the front or on the inside. That's all you get. But when you move on, in the same passage, you discover that this child, this one born, this son, reigns upon the throne of David and reigns over all the earth.

30:19

These are royal titles. And the type of ruling that he brings, the type of government that he has, is a righteous government.

30:33

We instinctively distrust people in power because we recognize all manner of abuse and sin.

30:40

As soon as some politician or someone with a lot of authority gets put under the microscope of the public eye, we detect all manner of depravities, all kinds of problems, all these scandals being exposed.

30:59

But you know, when the attention is put upon Christ, we find righteousness, we find faithfulness, we find holiness, we find purity, we find glory.

31:16

He is worthy of all this power and authority. He is thoroughly righteous.

31:23

He is perfect in every possible way. He orders it and establishes it with judgment and justice.

31:34

Folks rightly have a sense that the governments of men get it wrong.

31:42

Yes, that's right. They get it wrong and they get it really wrong and they get it wrong all the time.

31:49

But our hope is not in men. Our hope is not in the government of men. Our hope is in the

31:55

King of all the kings and the Lord of all the lords. And He is King over all the rules of the earth. And there's going to come a day when

32:02

He's going to sift everything and everyone and put it all right. That's where our hope is, in this wonderful King.

32:10

So we notice the title, so we notice the type, but also the timing. He rules from that time forward even forever.

32:17

What time? The child was born. He came into the world. Now, Jesus Christ has not stopped ruling as King of kings and Lord of lords since He took

32:25

His throne. He has not taken the day off, a year off, seven years off, a thousand years off.

32:31

He's ruling and reigning today. He has all the authority that the Father promised to Him.

32:36

He has all the glory the Father has honored Him with. And so He is ruling and reigning even today.

32:42

We don't see everyone yet in submission to Him. That day is a coming. But He is ruling and reigning today, and He has not taken any time off, and we can rejoice in that power.

32:53

And what does He do? He brings peace. He brings peace. In Isaiah chapter 11, verses 1 through 6, we have some other passages, some other

33:04

Scripture verses that we also sometimes refer to at Christmas. In Isaiah chapter 11, verse 1, it says, "...there

33:14

shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse..." Remember Jesse, the

33:20

Bethlehemite who had eight sons, the youngest of whom was David.

33:26

"...there shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots."

33:34

There's a son of Jesse. That our attention should be upon. Since this is Isaiah 11, we're probably supposed to be thinking about the child of Isaiah 9, just following along with the thread.

33:47

So we're thinking about the promised child, the ruler, the one who will reign upon the throne of David.

33:54

He is here being described as the stem of Jesse, the branch coming out of Jesse.

34:02

Now isn't that a little bit odd? I thought he was the son of David. He is the son of David.

34:08

But did you know that not even David is David? How often do we read in the

34:15

Old Testament, in the latter prophets, as they say, and I will raise up David, and he will rule and reign.

34:23

You see, everything in the life of David was really about Jesus Christ. "...and the

34:28

Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the

34:33

Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." So the Spirit is the one who brings everything together in peace.

34:42

The Spirit is the one who brings shalom. "...and his delight is in the fear of the Lord, and he shall not judge with the sight of his eyes, nor decide by the hearing of his ears."

34:51

Why? Because man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks upon the heart. "...but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.

35:01

He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his loins, and faithfulness the belt of his waist."

35:09

Listen to this, "...the wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them."

35:22

Peace. Shalom, the son of David, David himself,

35:27

Shiloh, the man of peace. How do we achieve peace? How do we know peace?

35:33

How do we know peace with God? How do we know peace with each other? Only when we bow the knee to Christ.

35:40

The more submitted your family is to Jesus Christ, the more peace is in your household. The more submitted a neighborhood is to Jesus Christ, the more at peace those neighbors are.

35:51

The more submitted to the authority of Jesus Christ a church is, the more peace there is in that local church.

35:58

It's that way all the time, everywhere, it never changes. The more submitted we are to Jesus Christ, the more we are bowing the knee to him, exalting him over ourselves, not thinking of ourselves first, not walking away from celebrating

36:14

Christ thinking, what did I get out of that and what's in it for me, but walking away rejoicing in him and exalting him and making him first and foremost in our lives, that's when peace shows up.

36:25

That's when peace shows up in our relationships, that's when peace shows up in our churches, that's when peace shows up in our world.

36:32

Now this king, he was born a king, but his coronation was not until after his death, not until after his death.

36:41

He was a king and yet he was not yet enthroned. He was royal and yet not crowned.

36:48

His incarnation by the virgin conception was God's sovereign arrangement for the

36:53

Christ to live and to suffer and to die on the cross and be raised from the dead the third day, thus winning his kingdom glory.

37:02

And we know this from Luke 2. We are reminded of this when Joseph and Mary take

37:08

Jesus after circumcising him the eighth day and they bring him to Jerusalem there to offer up the sacrifices as was lawful concerning the firstborn son.

37:19

And they get there and they meet a man named Simeon. And Simeon has some things to say, praising

37:26

God for the gift of the Christ child. And he says in verse 34 to Mary.

37:37

Then Simeon blessed him and said to Mary, his mother, behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, the commotion of the king and his birth.

37:49

And for a sign which will be spoken against, yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

37:58

He's saying sorrow is coming. What was that sorrow that Mary herself saw her son crucified upon the cross?

38:10

Sorrow was coming. Simeon said it was coming from the very beginning. The Old Testament prophets said that's the way it was going to be, that he would be pierced for our transgressions.

38:23

The reason why God did not send his son already 33 years old, reigning already as king, was because he was sending to us more than merely a sovereign.

38:40

He was sending to us a savior. He's sending to us a shepherd, someone who is in every possible sense our savior, who would live and die and be raised again.

38:55

God sent us his son as a baby to live and to grow and to be as human as we are, yet without sin, and then to die in our place and be raised from the dead the third day that he might truly indeed be our king.

39:10

This emphasis is made to us in the preaching of the gospel.

39:17

So in, for example, in Acts chapter 2, beginning in verse 29,

39:22

Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost, explaining what it means, what has just happened, as he's saying, you know, welcome to the new covenant.

39:33

Here's how this is all going to work. In Acts chapter 2, verse 29, he says, men and brethren, he's speaking to Jews who have witnessed the arrival of the

39:43

Holy Spirit and are trying to make sense of it, and he's preaching the gospel to them, and he's basically inviting the

39:50

Jews to flee from old covenant Jerusalem to new covenant Jerusalem. Jacob, it's time to come to Zion.

39:58

So verse 29, men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

40:09

He said, you can go check. You can go check out the tomb. His bones are still there. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body according to the flesh he would raise up to Christ to sit on his throne, this same

40:25

David, he foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the

40:30

Christ, that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. So Peter's saying, so David prophesied of this.

40:39

He told us about this in the Psalms that he wrote as a prophet. This Jesus that David spoke of, this

40:48

Jesus God has raised up of which we are all witnesses. They all knew that Jesus of Nazareth was raised the third day.

40:57

Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the

41:03

Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this which you now see in here.

41:13

So he's saying David prophesied that his son would reign upon his throne.

41:19

This is it, folks. Jesus of Nazareth has been raised from the dead, and he's ascended to the right hand of the

41:24

Father. That's where he's reigning. That's David's throne fulfilled. And Jesus is reigning from there.

41:31

And how do you know it? Because the Holy Spirit has arrived. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, the

41:38

Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.

41:44

Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both

41:51

Lord and Christ, both Emperor and Messiah. Hey, that's the

41:57

Christmas story. That's why the angels were in choir. That's why

42:02

God made the stars shine the way they did. That's why there was such a commotion at the birth of Jesus by the virgin conception in the power of the

42:12

Holy Spirit with Mary. This is our Emperor. This is our King of Kings. That he would not receive that crown and that glory until after his death and resurrection was all part of God's glorious plan.

42:27

It's told to us in many places, not just Acts 2, but also Philippians 2. He took on the form of a bondservant even unto death, death upon the cross, that he might be highly exalted and receive for himself a name which is above every name.

42:40

So this incarnation, the way in which Jesus was born, the way in which he lived and suffered and died and was raised from the dead is vitally connected to his exaltation as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

42:53

So the coronation of the King happens after his death. Truly, truly, he was the King at his birth, but his coronation after his death and resurrection and ascension.

43:05

Now this all leads us to consider what we've already been talking about. Since Jesus Christ is in charge, it's his commands that we're to follow.

43:18

You know, there are a lot of candidates in the world today that people would say, why don't you pay attention to this person and their 12 rules, or pay attention to this person and their five steps.

43:31

The same was true in the days of Jesus Christ. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter was ready to make

43:37

Moses and Elijah and Jesus all three different options to listen to. And then God shut that down and said, this is my beloved son, hear him.

43:47

Hear him. So he's the one who gives us the commands to follow.

43:55

The virgin conception reveals to us a wondrous Savior, and in beholding his glory, we must serve him.

44:02

He's the King. He has many commands, but they're all good, and none of them are burdensome because we're in communion with God by Christ.

44:13

We're simply following the Lamb wherever he goes. Now, this is an interesting moment in Matthew 22, verses 41 through 46.

44:25

Because Jesus came and was teaching and proclaiming God and bringing an authority that was a direct challenge to the unfaithful stewards of the old covenant, the scribes and Pharisees tried to challenge him.

44:38

The Sadducees tried to challenge him, tried to push him back and shut him down. And Jesus answered all of their skeptical questions and got out of all of their verbal traps, and then he asked them a question.

44:53

So it was after that he showed them that he was the master teacher, it was after that he showed them that he had mastered all there was to know about old covenant law, that he then asks them this question, meaning, let's get beyond what to what you need to know.

45:13

Matthew 22, verses 41 through 46, while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, what do you think about the

45:21

Christ? Whose son is he? Well, that's an easy question. They said to him, the son of David.

45:29

He said to them, how then does David in the Spirit call him

45:35

Lord? Saying, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.

45:46

So David is calling his son his Lord. If David then calls him

45:52

Lord, how is he his son? And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare question him anymore.

46:06

Now, they were certainly stumped, but he was also pointing at a higher authority, proving something.

46:15

When we are confronted with our incarnate Lord, we stop questioning him.

46:24

If Job put his hand over his mouth after meeting the Lord in the whirlwind, stop questioning him.

46:32

Surely we should cover our mouths and stop questioning our Lord in his ascension, in his glorious reign.

46:39

Christmas is about honoring Christ as our King, submitting to Christ as our King. It should be a festival of fidelity.

46:47

It should be a celebration of our submission to Him. I want to be counted as someone sitting at the table of my

46:56

King, loyal without reservation. Do you remember that story of jealous

47:04

Saul and how he wanted all of his nobles at his table and David was absent? And Saul took it as a sign that David was not loyal.

47:16

And in jealousy, he even lashed out against his own son because he was jealous. Saul was self -centered.

47:24

He's like, they're not at my table. They're not loyal to me. If we were to shift it around a little bit, maybe we shouldn't be so concerned about who is at our table or not at our table, who is loyal to me or not loyal to me, who is doing enough for me or not doing enough for me, always the question at the holidays.

47:45

Maybe we should be thinking about, I want to be at my Lord's table, loyal without reservation, rejoicing in Him.

47:55

Oh, the beauty and liberty of humility. Behold the

48:00

Christ, conceived and born of a virgin. He is the promised ruling child, sought and found by shepherds and magi, welcomed by an unborn cousin, hunted by baby -killing

48:14

Herod, heralded by angels, murdered by men, filled up a manger, emptied out a tomb, manifest by the stars, still marked by His scars.

48:28

He invaded our world. He routed Satan, death, and hell. He is my

48:34

King. He is your King. He rules over all. When you kiss the

48:39

Son, you find Him your brother. When you do homage to your glorious Lord, you find

48:46

Him to be your good shepherd. Yes and amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for the time

48:52

You've given us in Your Word. We thank You for giving us Your Son. And thank

48:59

You for an opportunity to rejoice in You, to celebrate the authority of Jesus.

49:08

I pray that You would help us to do that together in love for one another and in love for You.