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well good morning welcome to freebase Baptist Church if you're visiting with us special and a warm welcome to you and through the regulars of course the week before Christmas a few people perhaps away traveling or on vacation but it's all it's certainly good for for those of us who aren't away to to be in the house the Lord once again to worship our great God well by way of announcements just once again it's with rejoicing that we look forward to Peter Fisher being baptized on January 5th and on the same Sunday Peter and his wife Elizabeth who's already been baptized will come into membership on January the 5th there's no Bible study this week and also Pastor Mike Kirkpatrick from the Surrey Church will be here next Lord's Day and pastor Butler will be preaching in the cirrie Church that's just next next Lord's Day well let's let's begin by turning in our Bibles begin worship to prepare for worship let's begin in Isaiah chapter 9 Isaiah chapter 9 and we will read the first seven verses Isaiah chapter 9 beginning verse 1 nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed as when at first he lightly esteemed the the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali and afterward more heavily oppressed her by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan in Galilee of the Gentiles the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death upon them a light has shined you have multiplied the nation and increased its joy they rejoice before you according to the joy of harvest as men rejoice when they divide the spoil for you have broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder the rod of his oppressor as in the day of Midian for every warrior sandal from the noisy battle and garments rolled in blood will be used for burning and fuel of fire 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 wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father Prince of Peace of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward even forever the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this amen well please turn with me in your hymn books to respond with singing hymn number 299 299 I'll ask you to stand please [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] maybe see let's go to God in prayer ask his blessing our gracious and our loving Heavenly Father we come into your holy presence this morning through your son the Lord Jesus Christ we are grateful father for such a such a great God such a glorious got a holy God I majestic God a God who in Thrones that the whole the whole universe both heaven and earth and we praise you Father that you have been pleased to give to us a knowledge of yourself we thank you and praise you Father that we don't just have a general knowledge through the creation but you've given to us a knowledge of you through the Word of God so we so that we might know you in truth and that we might understand the the workings of our great God how we praise you father for the fact that you've given to us these 66 books whereby we can we can know you whereby we can worship you in proper in proper mode and we praise you Father that you've given to us these many blessings in the in the fact that we have that word how we pray Lord that you would be pleased to bless that word this day both here in this place and all around the world as people stop to give you glory and give you worship Lord this day we pray as you would receive our worship that you would that you would receive all of our adoration of such a great God we praise YouTube given to us the person of your son the Lord Jesus Christ and how grateful we are Father for the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ took upon himself man manhood upon himself humanity that he might be like one of us and how we praise you follow that he lives perfectly according to that law and how we praise you that those who are in Christ Jesus have been imputed that that perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ that one who lived obedient to every aspect of the law and how we praise you Father for the fact that you have forgiven us our sins you've you've cleansed us you've taken our sins and remove them from us and put them into the deepest part of the ocean and and you've separated us from our sins as far as the east is from the west and should we lord these are these are these are encouragement to a people who yet are sinful a people who do not hold hold your holy law but we praise You Father for the grace of God that you that you that you do do you do forgive us and you cleanse us even our sins even of this day father yea we are we are able to be cleansed through that precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for that acacia sness of the blood of Christ and the fact that it does forgive sin we do not look to the blood of bulls and goats for that could never forgive sin yet it looked forward to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and and in Christ we have complete forgiveness and where we worship you this day if we have nothing else in this world but forgiveness of sins truly we are a prize people we are we are people who have much to rejoice in so Lord we pray that you would cause us this day to to be worshippers of you as we gather together we thank you for this church we thank you for the fact that we get together we get to gather together here in this place you've given the giving us these these four walls this building in order to meet together as the Church of Christ locally here in Chilliwack we pray Lord that is the Word of God goes forward from this pulpit that you would be well pleased to bless it and other other churches throughout the throughout Chilliwack and throughout the Lower Mainland and across our nation we pray Lord that you would be pleased to cause that word to find its mark and in hearts and and lives and minds this day father that they might say that they might confess the Lord Jesus Christ to be their Lord and their Savior we know Lord that there are there is much enmity between man and you there's me there's much opposition and we know like that that that opposing force of the devil is even here in this place father seeking to take that good word that that would not fall upon upon fertile soil but we know Lord that graters he lives in us then he is in the world and father you are able to save and we are evidences we are trophies of your of your grace and we praise you for that we pray Lord that as we rejoice in you this day that you truly would be pleased to even call other sinners to a knowledge of you and may they confess of the Lord Jesus Christ before they leave this place this day Lord we do ask your blessing to be upon the young people leader of this church the children of this church those who come faithfully and they hear the word of God preached at home they hear the word of God preached here from this pole puttan we pray Lord that you would give to them the the gift of faith those seen and believing eyes of faith that they would look upon the Lord Jesus Christ and they would that they would acknowledge their sin and come to a knowledge of the Savior we do pray Lord your blessing to be upon those in in in foreign countries who are under great persecution and we pray Lord that you would be pleased to give relief there we know Lord that your ways are perfectly but yet your ways are above our ways we would not always design things the way they are yet follow me acknowledge that you are sovereign that you are that you send what is what is necessary and what is required in order to accomplish your will so Lord we do pray that you would give grace to those who are suffering we pray Lord that you would give them a joy in the gospel I go in in the fact that you have called them to that to that life of persecution and difficulty and we pray that even in these things father you would be pleased to to give to them that grace that is required to carry on and to continue we pray for those those missionaries in the Far East that we love and and pray for regular and we pray Lord for that work that continues there throughout throughout the the Asian countries we pray lo that it would continue to make progress and that your word would go forward and it's your word would be would would be that which would would would would cause individuals so come to a knowledge of the Savior that we would see in here of the Church of Christ marching forward marching marching onward in those places and and supplanting those those those government said that would seek to to suppress it and keep it under under under under lock and key we pray Lord that you would be pleased to cause your church to move forward and we know it will accomplish all that your word will accomplish all that it's intended to accomplish Lord we do pray your blessing upon all here in this place this day we pray Lord for those who are ill who are sick amongst this either here presently or perhaps not able to be with us this day because of illness we pray that you'd bless and strengthen each one and we do pray that they might know that that aid and that help that does come from your Holy Spirit and from your word and we pray Lord they would be comforted they would be blessed and that you would be pleased to to cause them to return to health and strength in due time we do pray your rich blessing to be upon the churches in in in in Syrian to one in Vernon as well those that we know and and love and and do pray for a regularity we pray Allah they might know your strength and your help your aid this day as they as they sit under the Word of God as well and we prayed you'd make that word a powerful word from those pulpits in those places this day as well so where we do we do desire and to to written to raise our our praises our adoration towards you cause us Lord to to just forget the things of the week past or the week forward and may our concentration may our focus be upon your upon the worship of your great name of your holy name father and may we may we do that with great delight this day here in this place and we pray these things in Jesus precious name Amen well please turn with me in your hymn books again to just a few pages back to him number 293 293 in Alaska stand please [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] amen you may be seated and please turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 13 as we continue to read through the New Testament in the same chapter that pastor Butler has been preaching through and we see the Word of God continue to grow and flourish and be multiplied from the last chapter into chapter 13 so I'll read the first 25 verses verses 1 through 25 of Acts chapter 13 now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers Barnabas Simeon who was called Niger Lucius of Cyrene Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch and Saul as they ministered to the Lord and fasted the Holy Spirit said now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I've called them then having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them they sent them away so being sent out excuse me so being sent out by the Holy Spirit they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus and when they arrived in Salamis they preached the Word of God in the synagogue's of the Jews they also had John as their assistant now when they had gone through the island to Paphos they found a certain sorcerer a false prophet prophet a Jew whose name was Bar Jesus who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus an intelligent man this man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the Word of God by Elemis the sorcerer for so his name is translated withstood them seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith then saul who also is called paul filled with the holy spirit looked intently at him and said Oh full of all deceit and all fraud you son of the devil you enemy of all righteousness will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord and now indeed the hand of the Lord is upon you and you shall be blind not seeing the son for a time and immediately a dark mist fell on him and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand then the proconsul believed when he saw what had been done being astonished at the teaching of the Lord now when Paul and his party set sail for Paphos they came to Peugot in Pamphylia and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem but when they departed from purga they came to Antioch in Pacita or Presidio and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down and after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent to them saying men and brethren if you have any word of exhortation for the people say on then Paul stood up and motioning with his hand said men of Israel and you who fear God listen the god of this people Israel shows our fathers and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt and with an uplifted arm they brought them out of it now for a time of about forty years he put up with their ways in the wilderness and when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan they distributed their land to them by laughlin after you after that he gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years until samuel the prophet and afterward they asked for a king so God gave him Saul the son of Kish a man of the tribe of Benjamin for forty years and when he had removed him he raised up for them David as king to whom also he gave testimony and said I have found David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart who will do all I will from this man's seed according to the promise God raised up Israel Israel a savior Jesus after John had preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel and as John was finishing his course he said who do you think I am I'm not he but behold there comes one after me the sandals of whose feet I'm not worthy to loose and obviously the application of that sermon is going to come next week when we reach out from 26 and in the chapter the application being the fact that salvation has come through the Messiah who was promised throughout the whole Old Testament we see that the the land promise was fulfilled Paul tells us and the seed promise was fulfilled and ultimately the Messiah the the promise of the Messiah the true application of the whole Testament would be fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ and for that we give much praise well let's pray our gracious and our loving Heavenly Father we which we do truly praise you for that that Messiah who came it's a it's into this world to save sinners and truly Lord we do not worship a small baby this day we do not worship one who was was in an innocent manger in a place where there's no room and in as much as that is part of the biblical narrative yet father we gathered together here as the people of God has saved people as the Elector Chand father we worship the king of kings and Lord of lords that one who was promised throughout the whole Old Testament and has come to save a people for himself and how we praise it we are amongst that people that amongst that that elect we praise you Father that you have been pleased to to to give to us a knowledge of that Savior the Lord Jesus Christ and Lord as we celebrate these things as we truly revel in our salvation we pray Lord that you would be pleased to present yourself here in our midst this day we do pray your rich blessing be upon pastor Butler as he brings the word in a few minutes we pray that he would be possessed and know that that help and that aid of the Holy Spirit and the Lord you'd be pleased to to cause us to to leave here worshiping you and and having having a greater knowledge of the things of God and that we might that we might benefit much from this time spent in your word so let me praise you give to us that spirit of living God to bless your word and make it applicable to each each and every person here this day and we pray these things in Jesus precious name Amen well please turn with me in your hymn books once again to the last him before we do listen the preaching and that is him number 311 311 August and please [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] well please turn with me in your Bibles to John's Gospel John chapter 1 John chapter one I'll read verses 1 to 18 John 1 beginning in verse 1 in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God he was in the beginning with God all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made in him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it there was a man sent from God whose name was John this man came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe he was not that light but was sent to bear witness of that light that was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world he was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him he came to his own and his own did not receive him but as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of God to those who believed in his name who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth John bore witness of him and cried out saying this was he of whom I said he who comes after me is preferred before me for he was before me and of his fullness we have all received and grace for grace for the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ no one has seen God at any time the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father he has declared him Amen well let us pray father in heaven we thank you for this blessed Sabbath we thank you for the Lord's Day for the opportunity to gather together to come to the Father through the son and the power of the Holy Spirit and we pray that God would be all in all in this place that she would be worshiped and glorified that you would be exalted and adored and that God as we sing and as we pray and as we look at Holy Scripture we would take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ and even now as we come to John's Gospel specifically verse 14 we pray that you would bless us with the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit that we may appreciate that we may stand in awe that the word became flesh that Jesus came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation and may these things encourage us to to worship you to express gratitude and thankfulness to you for your loving kindness and your grace and your mercy forgive us now for all sin and transgression and lord god we pray that your Holy Spirit would work in the hearts of those who've yet to come to the Lord Jesus we pray that they would see this one who is full of grace and truth as one who is altogether lovely in chief among 10,000 and the one in whom is salvation and we ask this through Christ Jesus our Lord amen well we just sang a particular stanza in the hymn book that is most excellent and I think rightly reflects what we're going to look at today in verse 14 we sang Christ by highest heav'n adored Christ the everlasting Lord late and time behold him come offspring of the Virgin's womb veiled in flesh the Godhead see hail the Incarnate deity pleased his man with men to dwell Jesus our Emmanuel a most excellent sort of summary statement concerning the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ John Calvin said with reference to the Incarnation at least it's been ascribed to him I've also heard a describe 2 agust ed I'm not quite sure who said it but somebody said it and it goes like this the son of God became the son of man so that the sons of men could become the sons of God and I think that is a great explanation of verse 14 as well and this morning I want to at verse 14 under two considerations first the incarnation of the word and secondly the glory of the word now the word incarnation simply means coming into flesh and that is precisely what John says happens with reference to the second person of the Blessed Trinity namely the Word of God so in the first place let us look at the Incarnation according to verse 14 John says and the word became flesh now we ought not to be puzzled as to the identity of the word because John's already talked about the word in the preceding verses notice in verse 1 the word was in the beginning with God and the Word was God it is most important that we identify John's theology in verse 1 the Bible teaches there is but one true and living God who exists eternally as Father Son and Holy Spirit we need to maintain not only the oneness of God in terms of essence or substance but we need to maintain carefully the distinction between the persons of the Godhead there is that distinction on the one hand we want to avoid the air of what's called menarche anism to see the father as God and then the Son and the spirit and subordinate to him but on the other hand we want to avoid what's been called modalism it is not the case that there's this one God who's appeared his father and then saw it in then spirit there are three distinct persons Father Son and Holy Spirit and in John 1:1 John not only identifies the word with God but he also divided enta Faiz the word as God and so John's theology is robustly Trinitarian and he is presenting to us the glory of the Incarnation specifically in verse 14 so in the beginning according to verse 1 was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God the word was the agent of creation the reason that I bring this up is because John does in verse 3 but as well to say this that John speaks of Jesus as the word the greek word for word there is lagos and the word cos has a very intricate history in philosophical use that I'm simply not going to get into but I do want us to appreciate some of the Old Testament contacts with reference to this in the Genesis account in Genesis chapter 1 it's God said or God spoke it was by the word of his power that he called creation into being now scripture identifies that word here and tells us that he was the responsible agent for the creation account we see that in Colossians 1 and as well in Hebrews chapter 1 Hebrews chapter 1 so we have this word that was in the beginning with God and was God the word was the agent of creation and then as well continuing in John's prologue here the word was in the world the world was made through him and the world did not know him according to verse 10 and then in verse 11 he came to his own but his own did not receive it so Christ was the Messiah as Steve read there the history of Israel testified concerning this coming one concerning this champion concerning this beloved that would come and save his people from their sins well that's Jesus he came to his own but his own received him not but then in verses 12 and 13 as many as do receive him they are given the right to become the children of God Almighty so the word of verse 14 is the second person of the Trinity who was in the beginning with God and was in fact God this word is also referred to by that terminology in 1st John 1:1 and then again in Revelation 19:13 so when we read verse 14 and it says the word became flesh we need to understand the identity of the word it's Jesus Christ our Lord Jesus the second person of the Trinity left heaven above to come into this world and as John stipulates here in verse 14 he became flesh and that is the incarnation of the word so the Apostle moves from the beginning verse 1 to the Sun or to the second person of the Trinity or to the word coming in and living amongst men we might ask the question well house how could such a thing ever occur he is in the beginning with God and He is God and now he comes to his own and his own received him not what happened such that the second person of the Trinity comes down now and occupies the same space the same history the same time with his contemporaries well that's the emphasis of verse 14 the word became flesh again the word incarnation both in Greek and in Latin means coming into the flesh and noticed the language that John utilizes in verse 14 the word became flesh so he was always as the second person of the Trinity there never was a time when the Sun was not he's always been from everlasting to everlasting thou art God he never stopped being what he was essentially but he became flesh he took on our humanity and in the language of our confession of faith it says he did take upon him man's nature with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof yet without sin and when John says the word became flesh were supposed to understand everything that his true love man was true of the word it's not just a part of flesh not just a bit of our humanity but Christ in fact assumed true humanity in the language of the Geneva Bible it says that is with reference to flesh man so that the part is taken for the whole for he took upon him all our whole nature that is to say a true body and a true soul now the Apostle Paul does something similar in 2nd Corinthians 8:9 he tells us you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich again according to his assess according to his position as the second person of the Trinity yet for our sakes or your sakes he became poor he became poor through taking on our humanity and as the confession of faith says all the essential properties and the common infirmities thereof and yet without sin it really is an incredible reality the Incarnation of our Lord is glorious most wondrous and most excellent and it's something that we ought to occupy ourselves with because if we're wrong here were wrong with reference to salvation Jesus taught in John a if you do not believe that I am you will die in your sins in other words we need to get Christology right we need to understand that what John is talking about here is what later would be called the hypostatic Union you have the one person of our Lord Jesus Christ in two natures both human and divine and as we look at this particular passage again it's important for us to understand that he never stopped being the word he didn't temporarily suspend his privileges as deity and become a man he never ceased to be the second person of the Trinity when he takes on our humanity again that hypostatic Union our confession of faith and I'm leaning on this because throughout the church the history of the church you see littered Christological heresies you see people messing up at this particular point some would suggest that the Lord Jesus took on a human body as if it was a flesh suit that there wasn't really a true humanity it was just sort of a suit that he wore and he functioned as God in a body that's not true he took on our humanity he assumed our flesh not only our flesh but that reasonable soul as well the scripture declares for us that he was in fact holy man and that's something that we need to maintain and with reference to this union of the nature's and the one person we want to make sure that we understand with the confession rightly reflecting the history of the church in her better moments it says so that two whole perfect and distinct natures were inseparably joined together in one person without conversion composition or confusion which person is very God and very man yet one Christ the only mediator between God and men again you can't be wrong here the history of the church is filled with all kinds of persons that missed it with reference to the person of Lord Jesus Christ that's not what we want here you need to understand who he is you need to understand this union of the nature's in the 1% you need to understand the glory of the Incarnation the reality that he dis does come down for us men and for our salvation on this point the word remaining the word while he assumes our humanity Cyril of Alexandria said he came forth a man of a woman not casting aside his being as God and the fact of his having been been begotten by the father even in the assumption of our flesh he remained what he was so he doesn't divest himself or empty himself or or set aside or lay aside his essential glory his deity his power his magnificence but rather he in the incarnate incarnation becomes flesh the word became flesh and then in terms of the significance of this I can do no better than the Nicene great he came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation what is the demand of God with reference to enter and entering into the presence of God its holiness its righteousness its obedience to the law that's perpetual that's perfect it's exact its entire that is God's demand and God's requirement but we failed in Adam all died and as positionally in Adam it's from that vantage point that all of our actual transgressions proceed we sin against God we rebel against God we transgress his law we lack conformity unto it there is nothing about God that is that is drawing us there is no fear of God before our eyes we don't seek Him we don't want him we don't we don't delight in him as we were created to do so Christ comes down for us men and for our salvation he assumes our humanity so that he can live in light of that law he can obey the father every jot and tittle of God's law he does it he fulfills it and then he goes to that cross on our behalf and there is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world we need that perfect one we need that spotless one we need that holy one that harmless one in order to save us from our sins in fact the great contender for the Christian faith Athanasius use this as a proof concerning the deity of Jesus Christ he says that only God Himself could say fallen humanity that is a great statement concerning the reality of what we have in the word became flesh and dwelt among us he became flesh in order to render perfect obedience both active and passive to the Father he came in ssam to save us men and to produce that eternal life now in terms of the true humanity of Jesus Christ we could literally be here all day turning page after page after page to display the true humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ but we will just consider a few things he's born of a woman the the birth narratives record that for us he's in the womb of the Virgin Mary and he is born Galatians 4 the Apostle Paul says in the fullness of the time God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law and we see that with reference to Mary she's found to be with child and then they bear she bears this child and Joseph does what he's been commanded by the angel and he names him Jesus for Anna's he who will save his people from their sins we see in Luke's Gospel that he increased in knowledge and understanding of knowledge and wisdom among men and that's not specified concerning the second person of the Trinity there's no need for growth or maturation in terms of who God is we are not Mormons with reference to a progressive God but that's with reference to his humanity that's according to his humanity the fact that the word became flesh and dwelt among us as well he ate he drank he worked he dignified work next time we don't want to go to work we ought to consider our blessed Savior at work he rested remember that instance where he's on the boat with the disciples and he takes a pillow and he lays down and he has snap well that's not according to his deity because God doesn't slumber God doesn't rest God doesn't weary God doesn't need naps but according to his humanity the son of man rested we know as well that he suffered we know as well that he died we know as well that he was resurrected from the dead this one became flesh he didn't just add it to his deity but he assumed our humanity everything that is unique to man was unique to this god man again he never ceased being the second person of the Trinity he never divested himself of his deity but rather with reference to our salvation he became incarnate Cyril of Jerusalem made this comment he said he did not pass through the virgin as through a channel but truly took flesh and was truly fed with milk from her he truly ate as we eat and drank as we drink for if the Incarnation was a figment then our salvation was a figment that's important whatever is not assumed does not redeem if Christ did not take on true humanity then you and I are dead in our trespasses and sins the reality is is that the word became flesh the word was incarnate the word came down for us men and for our salvation the word did this in order to render that perfect obedience to the written law and to render that sacrifice at Calvary he did what we wouldn't do and what we couldn't do and that's the beauty and the glory of the Incarnation now let's look secondly at what John says concerning his glory he's moving in his passage or in verse 14 he says the word became flesh and then he says and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth the first place he says that he was present among us he dwelt among us and I think the first thing we ought to consider is how Jesus fulfills what the tabernacle and later temple stood for what was the tabernacle in the temple about it was about the dwelling place of God with men veiled in flesh the Godhead see hail the Incarnate deity pleased as man with men to dwell Jesus our Emmanuel this is the glorious reality that he became flesh and dwelt among us the particular verb there is very clear to live in a tent to settle and I think the presence of the word among us as John relates it means that we ought to think Tabernacle temple fulfilled in our Lord you say well that's a step you're not authorized to make oh yeah certainly John chapter 2 destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up well subsequent to his death and resurrection his theological interpreters understood that he was talking about the temple of his body revelation 21 and 22 that that new heavens in that new earth what's it all about it's about Christ it's about dwelling it's about presence it's about being in the midst of our great and our glorious God that is the summation the consummation if you will of the Covenant promises of God what's always stipulated when God covenants in the Old Testament I will be your God and you shall be my people that's realized in the New Jerusalem that's realized in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus he is the temple of God he is the one in whom we have communion with our gracious Father so the presence of the word among us is reminiscent of Tabernacle in Temple but as well the presence of the word among us is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy when he says the word became flesh and dwelt among us the prophet Isaiah spoke to that Isaiah 9:6 and seven the prophet Micah 5:2 it's out of Bethlehem Ephrathah that this ruler will come forth whose origins are from of old from everlasting so what we have in verse 14 concerning the incarnation of the word is the fulfillment of the prophetic witness concerning the word and then the presence of the word among us demonstrates that Jesus Christ is in fact Emanuel back turn to John's Gospel right Matthew's Gospel where you see that threefold emphasis on Emmanuel God with us that's precisely what Emmanuel means Jesus our Emmanuel means God with us you see that in Matthew's Gospel at verse will go verse 18 now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows after his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Spirit then Joseph her husband being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example was minded to put her away secretly but while he thought about these things behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying Joseph son of David do not be afraid to take to you marry your wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit and she will bring forth a son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins you see that threefold emphasis there well not the one I'm speaking about but sure her task is to bring forth the son that's her chosen role in her role as a chosen vessel in the Church of Christ sometimes Roman Catholic theology sort of represents her as being sinless herself no she she was a sinner in her rejoicing over the realities that would obtain with reference to her role she rejoices in God my Savior according to Luke's Gospel she was not without sin she was not a perpetual virgin all of that sort of mythology that has developed around her is it's not biblical it's it's without warrant but nevertheless she was blessed among women she was chosen as the chosen is the vessel to bring forth Messiah and that's her particular calling and that's what Matthew 1:21 tells us Joseph has a task in the Incarnation as well he's supposed to name the boy he's supposed to give him that title Jesus which literally means Yahweh is salvation it's the Greek equivalent to Joshua that is the Hebrew word Yahweh is salvation so you've you've got Mary's job give birth to the child you got Joseph's job which is to name the child but then you have the child's job specified for he will save his people from their sins again that's the significant of the significance of the incarnation he came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation that's what is absolutely crucial to get your minds wrapped around if you're not a Christian this morning you might be operating under the faulty assumption that you know God really doesn't want to save God only hit grabs a handful of people when we get to that New Jerusalem there's gonna be like five or six or or maybe eight if that's your conception you've misread or misunderstood the Incarnation why does he come down for us men and for our salvation if the word who was in the beginning with God and the word who was God comes into this world takes on our humanity identifies with us body and soul and is not received by his own and ultimately suffers and dies and is risen again the third day why does he do this for the salvation of sinners let that be a great enticement or a great encouragement or a great provocation for you to flee to the Savior to flee to the one who dies all that the scripture declares concerning him and as we look at Matthew's Gospel notice in verse 22 so all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the Prophet saying behold the Virgin shall be with child and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which has translated God with us you see the emphasis there the Blessed title terms word rather for our Lord Emmanuel but Matthew's Gospel doesn't let us forget that reality Christ is with his people notice in Matthew 18 again the name Immanuel is absent but the concept of his presence is present Matthew 18:20 well verse 19 again I say to you that if two two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask it will be done for them by My Father in heaven for where two or three are gathered together in my name I am there in the midst of them he is our Emmanuel as we gather together as the people of God and then of course that great statement in Matthew's Gospel at the end chapter 28 the Great Commission verse 18 all Authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age jesus is our emmanuel he is our God with us he is president he is among us he is the reason for or the anti-type of both tabernacle and temple it is where God and sinners meet together and that is the significance of John's statement he dwelt among us the Incarnation sorry the presence of the word among us demonstrates that Jesus Christ is in fact Emmanuel to his people but then notice he speaks specifically concerning the glory of this word verse 14 the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth now Ritter vos explains the significance here with reference to the word glory he says the Greek word doxa glory is a translation of the Old Testament word kavod and refers to a visible and powerful manifestation of God that's what John's saying we beheld his glory he goes on to say the point here is not a single sensational event a lot of people say well it's the Mount of Transfiguration that's when as it were Christ sorta peels back the flesh and I speak in the manner of men to show us his essential glory but what Ritter boss is suggesting is that's not the point the point is not a single sensational event but that glory that is attendant on the dwelling in other words when you looked at the tabernacle or temple and God was present there was a word for that it was called the Shekinah luring the manifestation and presence of God you see it clearly in exodus 40 the tabernacle is constructed the glory of God comes down and the persons of Israel Moses included could not enter in because of that glory because of that presence because of that Majesty that's why the Book of Leviticus prescribed sacrifice as the means by which the sinners can enter into the tabernacle and temple I think he's on the right point the pointer is not a single sensational event but that glory that is attendant on the dwelling just as in the Old Testament there is a persistent connection between God's presence and tabernacle and temple and the divine glory revealing itself there see this is what John is said we beheld his glory we saw it was there it was present this is why pictures of Jesus are wrong you can't capture that into an image you can't capture that by art or devising you can't put that on paper it's not to suggest or say he wasn't truly flash he was truly flash but also truly God and in order to convey the Savior on paper you only capture part of him you only give us the physicality and not the glory of deity and so what John is saying we beheld his glory and as we ponder we can honestly say all that Christ did was in fact Laureus they saw his miracles they saw the Mount of Transfiguration they saw the fact that he suffered that he died that he was raised again John says the word became flesh in he and he dwelt among us and we we beheld it we saw it we witnessed it we testified concerning it this isn't a cunningly devised fables this isn't mythology this isn't something pagan that we baptised and tried to make a nice Christian story with no this is the glorious truth that the second person of the Trinity called in this context the word of the living and true God comes down for us men and for our salvation he takes on our humanity he becomes flesh for us and John says we beheld his glory we saw it this is why the Apostles were were with him her or mesmerised by him not in some weird fanatical way but a beholding of his glory and then he goes on to explain this glory that that is revealed notice what he says we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father I want to tell you something right off the bat I think this is a reference to the fact of the glory as of the only begotten of the father is a reference to his deity it's a reference to his essential glory as the word who was in the beginning with God and who was with God that next statement full of grace and truth I think John is speaking according to his humanity I want to unpack that just to try and see if in fact that is the case notice the explanation of his glory we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father that's with reference to his relation to the father as the word we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father the word as there is not a comparison there's not comparison the word comparing the words glory with the father's glory but rather it is an explanation it is an explanation of that glory we could translate in keeping with his nature as the only begotten of the father the glory as of the only begotten of the father in keeping with the nature of his position as that a begotten of the father and that whole idea of the begotten asur the father we just dealt with this in acts 13 Steve read acts 13 he stopped at 25 well in verse 33 remember what Paul does he appeals to this doctrine of the eternal generation of the Sun because Psalm 2 teaches this proverbs 8 teaches this first John teaches this John's gospel teaches this the tire T of the Bible teaches that Christ is the only begotten son of the Father now the sort of desire on the part of many is just to say well that just means he's unique that just means he's not like others well it does mean that but it also speaks concerning the eternal generation of the son the relation that obtains between the father and the son in Trinitarian theology we look at the particular persons and we identify things that are unique to that the father is unbegotten the son is begotten and the spirit proceeds from the father and the son now we often think well I don't know or I can't convey or I can't conceive of how that all works these are given so that we maintain the distinction between the person's remember at the very beginning of the service I said we need to not only highlight the oneness of God in terms of his essence or substance but we need to as well highlight the distinction between the person's that's heresy to to deny that it's heresy to sort of say that Jesus is subordinate to the Father in terms of who he is that's not right that's not good theology that is a denial of John 8:24 if you do not believe that I am you will die in your sins it's not saying I am but a little bit less it is these things these properties unbegotten begotten and spy raishin that distinguish the persons from one another and that is absolutely crucial and this language the glory as of the only begotten of the Father one modern author that teaches this truth says that athenais shoes and all the Nicene theologians saw clearly that to speak of the Son of God as eternally begotten not only safeguarded his full divinity but also indelibly distinguished him from the father now it's at this point that some of you might know well you know that's not really important it is important we look back in church history and as I said it's littered with people that have messed up with Jesus they have messed up big-time you can mess up on some things in the Bible I don't recommend this but you can be wrong on eschatology you could be wrong about the particular events associated with the second coming of Jesus Christ and still go to heaven in fact the early creeds and confessions in the church was called or they were called ecumenical Creed's and the idea behind ecumenism is to to bring believers together to rejoice in the truth but there ecumenism was not like the ecumenism today the ecumenism today says let's sacrifice truth let's just put up a big tent and it really doesn't matter who you are or what you believe if you can say the name Jesus well then you're in well these aren't interestingly these acute achill creeds typically ended with the pronouncements of anathema Oh as if you deny this truth concerning Jesus then let him be anathema a condemnation to hell is how these ecumenical Creed's function in the early church it wasn't to try and bring in the most people with the least amount of truth but it was rather to secure a proper confession of the faith which was once for all delivered to the Saints there's a big difference in terms of ecumenism now and ecumenism then and when it comes to not with referred to the God Almighty it is not only absolutely crucial to maintain his oneness but as well his three nests if we deny that then we have set up an idol and we have bowed instead of to God so this idea of the eternal generation of the son is what John is saying we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father he could have easily have said the glory as of the word the one it was with God in the word who was God it is this glory that we beheld it is this beauty this Majesty this excellence that we saw and witnessed our confession of faith takes the same tact when it describes the relation between the persons and again this is crucial because you must maintain the three nosov God along with the oneness one in one sense three in another sense for a jehovah's witness to say well that's just contradiction evidence is that they don't have a clue what they're talking about we do not maintain three in one sense and one in the same sense he's one in one sense essence substance and three in another sense according to distinction according to subsistence or person and our confession takes pains to make that clear in Chapter two not chapter eight but chapter two with reference to God and the Holy Trinity it says in this divine and infinite being there are three subsistence as the Westminster has person same sort of idea subsistence is probably better the father the word or son and the holy spirit of one substance power and eternity each having the whole divine essence yet the essence undivided see why it's wrong for Protestant and Catholic I don't know if Catholics are doing this but Protestant certainly are to teach the eternal subordination and the son is that the confession says is Jesus eternally subordinate no one doubts that Jesus subordinated himself to the Father according to his humanity in the Incarnation the Son of God says my meat is to do the will of him who sent me I always do the things that please my father he's speaking there according to his humanity the idea that the son is eternally subordinate to the Father is not biblical and it's not confessional and it should concern us that theologians within the Protestant fold are engaged in this sort of rhetoric and you know one of the ways they got there was by a denial of the eternal generation of the son it is crucial that we maintain those doctrines and those concepts less we peak or end up as Jehovah's Witnesses the confession goes on to say the father is of none neither begotten nor preceded I said earlier we caught we friend of the father as unbegotten the son is eternally begotten of the father the Holy Spirit pros meaning from the father and the son all infinite without beginning therefore but one God who is not to be divided in nature and being and here it is but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations it is this which distinguishes the father from the Sun the Sun from the spirit the father from the spirit this language is crucial to maintain biblical orthodoxy if we sacrifice the language we sacrifice the dogma and we end up being idolaters it really is that important and that essential now the couple of weeks ago when we were in Acts 1333 I quoted gregory of nazi on said with reference to the eternal generation of the son you say well we just heard it a few weeks ago well you should always try to get Gregory into a sermon so I'm gonna go ahead and quote him again he says the begetting of God because we're using language in the manner of men right we here into eternal generation of the son and we think human generation we just go there we move from creature and then we go to creator we say well it's the case that you know I'm a father and I generated this son at a certain point that son hadn't been and then we imposed that upon the Godhead we're not supposed to do that we're not supposed to reason from the creature to the Creator that is an unauthorized movement you cannot do that in theology and and still maintain fidelity and orthodoxy you'll end up being those who who teach the eternal subjection or subordination of the son but with reference to not Gregory and he has a great quote if I had a thought about it I would have given that one about doing that very thing moving from the creature to the Creator but in terms of eternal generation there's there's something that we can lay hold of we know that with reference to the father and the son there is a nun begotten his father there is a begotten instead aside the fact that it's eternal should indicate to us that there would never was a time when the Sun was not there's always been the Sun how does this eternal generation work in the realm of God the Creator that we don't know and that's what Gregory reminds us the beginning of God must be honored by silence it is a great thing for you to learn that he was begotten but the manner of his generation we will not admit that even angels can be conceived much less you see it's just not the case brethren that we're ever going to be able to exhaust God we'll never be able to fully plummet the depths of God he is creator we are creature we have much more in common with with a worm than we do with the living and true God we're part of the whole creaturely sort of existence that worms and cats and dogs and humans all occupied but God is creator he's in a category all by himself that's why the confession highlights that he's he's incomprehensible that doesn't mean we can't know anything God's given us in His grace and mercy 31,000 I think 107 propositions verses in the Bible that tell us or teach us about God but we'll never fully explore we'll never fully understand you may just as easily go and fetch the Pacific Ocean and put it in a coffee cup before you can exhaust who God is if we get that it will hopefully go a long way to helping us with humility in the theological enterprise anybody who thinks they've got it all figured out doesn't so back to Gregory he says but the manner of his generation we will not admit that even angels can conceive much less you shall I tell you how it was it was in a manner known to the Father who begat and to the son who was begotten anything more than this is hidden by a cloud and escapes your dim sight I think that's great counsel from Gregory and I think we ought to abide by it that there it was an eternal generation of the son the Bible teaches all of the particulars and the logistics and the details of that as Gregory said not even angels can conceive that and we are a lot dimmer than they so that's what I think he's saying the word the wondered identified in verse one became flesh incarnation and he dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father other words when we look at Jesus and when we saw Jesus it was just like that the tabernacle the temple where that the the presence and the glory and the power and the manifestation of God was there we saw that but when he moves to this statement full of grace and truth I think he's speaking about the suitability of Christ as the savior he is speaking about his ability he is speaking about his work as mediator in fact our confession uses this text to highlight Christ's suitability for the work of mediation says he might be thoroughly furnished to execute the office of a mediator and surety and I think this is a great place to end before we move to some thoughts on application but look at what John is saying if you're not a Christian this morning you're not a believer think about what John's saying the second person of the triune God the word who was in the beginning with God the word who was God became flesh and dwelt among us and he did that in order to live in obedience to the law he did that in order to die as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world he did that to be raised the third day for us men and for our salvation it says he's full of grace and truth isn't that a pleasant way to describe it if I were to say I'd like you to come over today because we have a pot full of wonderful stew that that's a nice way to entice you I could say come over and eat and that's okay come over and eat but I could say we have this big pot it's full it's overflowing though I've put in extra mean it's gorgeous it's wonderful here's what John is saying this mediator this prophet priest and King he's full of grace and truth I don't know where this preaching ever arose were men stand before the living and true God who's revealed himself in these 66 books and they've become the nezer Scrooge meet you know measly doling out the grace of God he is full of grace and truth that ought to be an enticement to every Center to run to him for that grace and truth he is abundant he is profuse he is most glorious he is most suited for the task of mediation in terms of his ability to save us man to bring us life to bring us joy to bring us happiness to bring us right connection to God and notice in the very context the Incarnation the son of God this one equipped with all grace and truth is in fact the mediator of a better covenant look at verse 17 for the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ do you know what John doesn't mean there John does not mean there was no grace and truth in the Old Testament there's no grace and truth in the old tech thats not what John means John is speaking of Moses as the mediator of the Old Covenant what kind of thing characterized that Old Covenant whoa he's speaking covenantal categories cannot say there was no grace and there was no truth in the Old Covenant there's a lot of Grace and a lot of truth but the identifying marker with reference to Moses mediation over Old Covenant Israel was it was a law covenant it was a covenant of works but notice what he says concerning Jesus in verse 17 he says for the law was given through Moses but but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ he's not saying there's no law in the New Covenant he's not saying do whatever it is just live our know he's talking in terms of covenantal categories Old Covenant Moses mediator law New Covenant Jesus mediator grace truth blessedness profuse Ness kindness mercy goodness love don't say I don't want to come to Jesus because I've been taught that God's only going to save a handful no the word goes out today believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved what's John P Jesus say later in John 6:37 all that the father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out if your theology has taught you that he will cast you out get rid of that theology cast it out because a sinner coming to Christ and faith is received by Christ that's what the Bible tells us that's what it testifies concerning so he is the mediator of a better covenant and notice in verse 18 he is the one that exegetes the father verse 18 says no one has seen God at any time the only begotten Son which is the better reading if you have only begotten God there I'd cross it out and put begotten son the only begotten son who is in the bosom of the Father he has literally exegete at him if you've ever talked to Isaac who's sick this morning so keep pray for him when you go home but if you ever talk to him he uses the word exegesis a lot doesn't he he loves exegesis sometimes before a sermon I'm waiting for the exegesis that's what it is it's a leading out of the tax the meaning that God intended for us it's like the word exit it means to go out of exegesis is to take out of the message or out of the the tax what the meaning the Spirit intended this is what it says declare it is it's a good accurate translation this literally the Sun is exegete at the father the son can say later to the disciples in John 14 if you've seen me then you've seen the father he declares him he demonstrates him he exegetes him he expounds him he shows him he declares for us who God is and he is in fact and I've already alluded to this the true temple of God John - John - the cleansing of the temple verse 18 the Lord Jesus or the Jews rather answered and said to him what sign do you show to us since you do these things jesus ant's answered and said to them destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up then the Jews said it has taken forty-six years to build this temple and will you raise it up in three days but he was speaking of the temple of his body therefore when he had risen from the dead his disciples remembered that he had said this to them and they believed the scripture the word which Jesus had said so they beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father and this one is full of grace and truth it's John's way to highlight that this one that I'm going to talk about and the rest of my gospel is a gone and so is the word who is full of grace and truth evidenced by the fact that he saves sinners to the uttermost well brethren in conclusion with reference to the glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ we need to appreciate we need to embrace what scripture teaches the word became flesh and dwelt among us I'd love to give everybody a quiz right now and say what was that word I said earlier the sort of theological word that designates that reality the one person in the two natures if you're thinking hypostatic Union you win you get a gold star for today hypostatic Union sometimes people say well I don't want all those big words I don't want a brethren we need those big words if I were to go see a lawyer or a doctor I said don't don't think you don't give me big words well those words carry the information that we need to understand there's a movement in theology to just dumb it down as much as we can I think and I'm committed to try and explain things to try to make big words simpler so that we can get our minds wrapped around but may I encourage each and every one of us to sacrifice the big words the very language that theology has used successfully for 20 centuries getting rid of those words often ends up in getting rid of the doctrine those words that help us to protect the doctrine of Scripture in the early church in the in the medieval and in the Reformation period all the good theologians recognize this the people that oppose this sort of thing people like Sicilians and some anabaptists and others would well you've got to use words that are only found in the Bible what John Calvin and the rest of them said no we need to use words outside of the Bible at times to protect the words they're inside the Bible the word Trinity go home do a search in your concordance and see if you find the word Trinity or go out and talk to a job as witnesses and tell Tellem Yubel the trainer well the word Trinity's not in the Bible but the doctorate is the reality is one true and living God who exists eternally his Father Son and Holy Spirit and that word Trinity helps us to protect the reality do not jettison these things the hypostatic union is crucial Thomas Watson speaking concerning the word became flesh he says that man should be made in God's image was a wonder but that God should be made in man's image is a greater wonder that the Ancient of Days should be born that he who thunders in the heavens should cry in the cradle that he who rules the Stars should sock the breasts that a virgin should conceive that Christ should be made of a woman and of that woman which himself made that the branch should bear the vine that the mother should be younger than the child she bear and the child in the womb bigger than the mother that the human nature should not be God yet one with God it is a glorious and a wonderful truth and that affirmation is required with reference to the People of God Almighty we believe in these things we hold dear to these things and we will never relinquish them nor will we let them go I mentioned those Creed's of the early church just one of them the Athanasian Creed the very end I'd read you the bit dealing with what we've discussed but we don't have time but it says at the end this is the Catholic faith I don't think Roman Catholic Catholic means universal this is what Christians throughout the ages Christians throughout the world must affirm this is the Catholic faith it says this is the Catholic faith which except a man shall have believed faithfully and firmly he cannot be in a state of salvation you can be wrong in eschatology and be in a state of salvation you can't be wrong with reference to the Trinity you can't be wrong with reference to Christology brethren we ought to have more and more sermons on the Incarnation we ought to sing these hymns more and more throughout the year it ought not to just be located in December that idea veiled in flesh the Godhead see hail the Incarnate deity pleased as man with men to dwell Jesus our Emmanuel doesn't that make a heart soar the thought the reality behind what John is saying the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth secondly in terms of the purpose of the Incarnation for us men and for our salvation he took on the nature of man to redeem man Hebrews two he doesn't take on angels he takes on man he assumes our humanity if it is not assumed it's not redeemed he was touched by our weakness as a man isn't that glorious as well isn't it wonderful to know that your Savior had the various things that we face in this world yet without sin but certainly understood temptation certainly when he's driven out by the spirit into the wilderness in tempted by the spirit of the devil rather for forty days he understood something about humanity in that context in that construct he obeys perfectly the law of God again we cannot underestimate that that was what we emphasized last Sunday in the Acts 13 they're not only the forgiveness of sins but justification from all things that you could not be justified by the law of Moses we need an obedience we need a righteousness we need a champion we need a victor we need a Savior and Christ fulfills that he died in our place and he was raised for our justification Romans 4:25 he was delivered up because of our offenses and he was raised for our justification Watson again says he was poor that he might make us rich he was born of a virgin that we might be born of God he took our flesh that he might give us his spirit he lay in the manger that we might lie in paradise he came down from heaven that he might bring us to heaven and what was all this but love if our hearts be not rocks this love of Christ should affect us behold love that passes knowledge beautiful beautiful beautiful and I don't want to end without reminding you how John ends if you look at John's Gospel this is prologue verses 1 to 18 it sets the stage it's the first word it's the consideration of the word that is going to be revealed from the rest of chapter 1 all the way up to chapter 20 chapter 21 functions as an epilogue chapter 20 is probably the formal end 21 is still written by John under the inspiration of the Spirit but that's functioning as epilogue well in John chapter 20 we have Thomas the very end say my Lord and my god he affirms what John writes here in John 1:1 in the beginning was the word the Word was with God and the Word was God Thomas that doubter Thomas that skeptic Thomas that guy who said I will not believe unless I touch and unless I see sees Christ and says my Lord and my god well John then gives us the purpose for which he wrote his gospel in verses 30 and 31 he says and truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book but these are written why why did John write so you could continue in this mindset that God doesn't save God only saves a small handful is that why God all right why John wrote I want you to see God as a sort of divine evidence or Scrooged I want you to see him as a malicious miserly figure that only doles out a little bit of His grace and only bills out a little bit of his that's not what John says John says these things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing you may have life in his name us an apostle given the Spirit of God to move him to write this book wrote for the purpose of sinners being saved so if you think God doesn't really say if God's not really in the business of saving you need to rethink your life you need to reorient yourself to the truth of holy scripture John wrote so that you may believe and that believing you may have life I'll end with Edward Payson Payson with reference to isaiah 9 and isaiah 9:6 you have a description of the redeemer now Isaiah 9:7 you have a description of his kingdom that's how 6 & 7 function there in Isaiah the prophet chapter 9 but with reference to those titles given by the Prophet under inspiration of the Holy Spirit concerning our Lord Jesus Christ Payson says admire him as wonderful consult him as counselor adore him as God be born of him as your everlasting father and submit to him as the Prince of Peace amen well let us pray my father we thank you for your word we thank you for the Incarnate Word who became flesh how we praise you for this one this blessed one who came down for us men and for our salvation and God our heartfelt desire and earnest plea to you is that this gospel would be preached throughout the world and that sinners by grace would believe they would repent they would know the joy of being found in him and God in a special sense we pray that for our own meeting here we pray God that you would be gracious and merciful to open hearts to the truth of the sin and wretchedness and rebellion and to the truth of the great Savior a great champion who did what we couldn't do who lived for us who died for us and who was raised for us and God be merciful and apply these things by the power of your Holy Spirit and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well we'll close our service by singing the doxology and praise to God that is number five or a version of a doxology 564 564 when you find that you can stand and we will sing together [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all amen God thank you for your glory thank you for your majesty thank you for your power your works of creation and Providence and redemption thank you for who you are Father Son and Holy Spirit give us grace today to celebrate and rejoice in the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ to rejoice in the reality that through him we have received every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ and God made these things draw from our hearts worship praise and adoration to you our great God and we ask these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen you