Latest / REZ CHURCH Podcast / The Greatest Gift - The Announcement - December 8, 2024

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The Greatest Gift - The Announcement - December 8, 2024 · REZ CHURCH Podcast

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So they picked me that preached it.
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Now they did it. They they didn't pick me to
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preach, but I do get the honour of welcoming our guest speaker.
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According to his daughter, we are practically twins.
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We look alike. And I'm pretty excited about
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that because he's pretty handsome.
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Dude. This guy, he was able to that
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the associate or the California Southern Baptist Association
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asked this guy to preach at the California Convention Pastors
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Conference this past year. We are so lucky that we're able
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to partner with him and his church plant.
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Pastor Derek is one of my favorite people of all.
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Pastor Derek. Come on up man.
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Guys, this is my twin. We we look just alike.
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Love you man. Love you too.
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Thank you brother. Well, happy Lord's Day.
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What you didn't tell you is at the California Southern Baptist
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Convention where I had the opportunity and the privilege to
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preach. They gave me 7 minutes and I did
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it because they started playing some music so and they had me
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preach on the Trinity for 7 minutes.
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That's crazy. Come on now.
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It's always an honor and a privilege to be before you to
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present God's Word. So if you have your copy of
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God's Word, go ahead and meet me.
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In Luke chapter 1, we'll consider verses 26 through 38.
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Pastor Mark earlier mentioned that you all have been able to
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partner along with the church planner and provide financial
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aid and assistance. And I'm that church planner that
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he mentioned. So thank you all for partnering
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with us. And we're getting going in
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Northwest Pasadena. That's where we're looking to
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plan a church and see what the Lord has in store when He's
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going to do. So thank you all for your
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faithful giving. Luke chapter 1, verses 26
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through 38. If you're there, say I got it.
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Need some more time? Say hello, I got you, I got you,
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I got you. Week 2 of the Advent series that
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you're in. Again, we'll start off by
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reading the Word in its entirety and then we'll dive in.
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Most important part of the sermon will take place at this
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time, the reading of God's Word. So please be attentive.
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Verse 26. In the sixth month, the Angel
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Gabriel, he went from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
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to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the
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House of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.
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And he came to her and said greeting.
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So favored one, the Lord is with you.
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But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern
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what sort of greetings this might be.
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And the Angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you
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have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in
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your womb, and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
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He will be a great, He will be great, and will be called the
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Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to
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him the throne of his Father David, and he will reign over
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the House of Jacob Forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no
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end. And Mary said to the Angel, How
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will this be, since I am a virgin?
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And the Angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
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and the power of the Most High will over shadow you.
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Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of
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God. And behold, your relative
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Elizabeth and her old age has also conceived a son, and this
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is the 6th month with her who is called barren for it.
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Nothing will be impossible with God.
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And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord, let it be
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to me according to your word. And the Angel departed from her,
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The grass Withers, the flowers fade with the word of our God
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endures forever. Amen.
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Amen. Let's pray, ask the Lord for
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some help and dive in. Heavenly Father, we thank you
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for another Lord's Day where we can gather as your people to
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worship you and one Spirit. We praise you for the gift of
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your Son, the Lord Jesus. We praise you for the fact that
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although we were born separated, dead, and sin wanting nothing to
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do with you, the true God of the Bible, you redeemed us.
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Instead of sending wrath upon earth, you sent your Son on
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earth through a virginal conception.
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We praise you for this miraculous truth that has
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transformed us. We praise You for this gospel
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that makes us new. And we pray that we can hear the
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gospel anew this morning and be refreshed by it.
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The same old story. And if there's anyone here who
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does not know you, is not in relationship with you through
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your Son, we pray that you would do what you do best, which is
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draw people unto yourself, make much of your son the Lord Jesus,
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and regenerate and convert where it is needed.
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We pray all these things by the power of the Spirit unto God the
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Father in Jesus mighty name, Amen.
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In the summer of 2016 my wife sat me down and she said she
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wanted to show me a spoof video of a film called Captain America
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Civil War. Now if you know me, you know I
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love Marvel or I loved they kind of they didn't fall fell off
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now. But I love Marvel movies, love
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superhero movies, love movies in general.
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So I thought she just wanted to offer some entertainment to me
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and have me watch this spoof video.
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She's right next to me on the couch as we watch it.
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This is when we were still living in Houston.
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Little did I know, at the end of the video, she had her own
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prerecorded video, and at the end, it was her.
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Surprisingly, with our first pregnancy, I figured I'd get
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that response. Yeah, and that was our first
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born Nariah. It was something that we had
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been praying for and hoping for. And she thought that it would be
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appropriate to provide a memorable experience for this
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news. And that's what we get in the
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text this morning. Now, as much as I love me some
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Nariah and I do love me some Nariah, right?
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I got 2 twins. I got Pastor Mark and Nariah,
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that's my other twin. This announcement vastly
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eclipses the announcement that I received on the summer of 2020
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2016. Again, Crystal and I had been
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hoping and praying for about a month or so, and the Lord
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provided. However, this pregnancy was
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promised back in Genesis 3 when the Lord God uttered to a fallen
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people that the seed of the woman will crush the seed of the
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serpent. Now just place yourself in the
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shoes or sandals of the Israelites, right?
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For hundreds and hundreds of years they faced opposition,
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persecution by these Gentile Pagan nations, whether it be
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Babylon or the Persians and the Medes or the Greeks and the
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Romans. They are being stepped upon and
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they're waiting for their Savior to finally rescue them.
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And Mary gets the announcement. The time is now, so we have a
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memorable announcement about the coming of our King, the
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incarnation, God the Son becoming a human being.
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So this morning, as again, as we continue the Advent series,
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we'll consider the virgin birth, or more precisely the virgin
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conception and it's important importance in Christianity.
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So we'll look at some basics this morning.
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Again, I'll just be reminding you of the age-old gospel.
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Last week, Pastor Daniel preached the first 25 verses of
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Luke chapter 1, and it was the story of the Angel Gabriel
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visiting Elizabeth and or it's not Elizabeth Zachariah, excuse
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me, Zechariah, and giving him this news that your wife who has
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advanced in years will give birth.
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Well, if you noticed in our text this morning, there are some
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similarities or some parallels with the story that you read
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last week. For instance, we have Gabriel,
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the Angel. He appears, then you have a
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seemingly impossible pregnancy announced, and then there's a
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promise about a child's future. And then we have a response to
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the Angel. But what I want you to notice is
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that there's an escalation of elements in our passage.
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This morning there was news of a seemingly impossible pregnancy
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given to Zachariah. However, his wife was advanced
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in years. Mary is literally a virgin who
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has not had any sexual relations.
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So this is miraculous. On another level, there's a
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promise about the child's future with John the forerunner, which
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is very important. He's fulfilling prophecy.
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But with Jesus, he's the king, in which his Kingdom will have
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no end. You've noticed the response last
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week, as was a response of doubt or cynicism.
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This week, Mary responds with faith.
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So it's It's almost as if the narrative itself is accentuating
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the depth and the matchlessness of what's taking place with this
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birth, the birth of the Messiah. Now let's examine the virginal
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conception. It seems as if Luke wants us to
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zoom our lens in on this very issue.
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Consider verse 27 right to a virgin betrothed to a man whose
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name was Joseph to the House of David, and the virgin's name was
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Mary. That repetition is is on
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purpose. And then verse 34 and and Mary
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said to the Mary said to the Angel, how will this be since I
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am a virgin? So I'm going to start off with
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this question for you to ponder in your mind quickly.
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Is the doctrine of the virginal conception a tier one essential
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issue? If you know me, you know, I like
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this idea of a theological triage, right where you go into
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the hospital, go into the ER. They have to determine what's
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more important than who they're going to treat first.
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If you treat someone who has a headache like someone who has a
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gunshot wound, that's medical malpractice.
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Someone's going to die. Well, we as Christians have a
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theological triage. We have first tier issues, which
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if you remove these first tier doctrines, then the gospel
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crumbles. We have second tier issues, not
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as important, but still nevertheless important.
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And it may even cause us to fellowship in different
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churches, like the mode of baptism.
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And then you have tertiary issues.
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Where would you place the virginal conception and the
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virgin of birth? Is it a Tier 1 issue?
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If we remove it, does the gospel crumble?
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Or is it just a Tier 2 issue? Is it something that we can
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agree to disagree on and yet still fellowship with one
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another? Well, Rob Bell, if you're
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familiar with that name, suggests that it would be no big
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deal if we found out that Jesus had an earthly father named
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Larry. His words, His words, not mine.
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According to Bail, this wouldn't be catastrophic to the Christian
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faith. A person could still love God
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and be a genuine, authentic Christian without believing in
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the virginal conception. Based on how I framed it, you
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probably wouldn't be surprised to say I disagree emphatically.
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The virgin conception is absolutely a tier one gospel
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issue. And that's what I'll be here to
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argue. And for centuries this is been
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widely understood as an essential doctrine within many
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churches. Jay Greshamation concluded that
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there could be no doubt that at the close of the 2nd century,
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the virgin birth of Christ was regarded an absolutely essential
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part of the Christian belief by the Christian Church and all
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parts of the known world. Now, that's not scripture, so
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it's not authoritative, as the church can get things wrong, and
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the church has gotten things wrong even for a long time.
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However, if Christians of every ilk in every place have
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professed this doctrine, we should be hesitant to view it as
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inconsequential. It wasn't until roughly a
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century ago that influential theologians began to doubt
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whether or not this was actually true.
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They claimed that it was the stuff of fairy tales and
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superstition, and that intelligent modern folk would
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never accept a story about a virginal conception or a virgin
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birth. So their thinking was, if
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Christianity is to flourish in the scientific era, we must
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scrap these ideas of myth. And that's how we get the birth
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of theological liberalism, and that is theological liberalism.
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And that's what it always does. That's how it works, and that's
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how the devil works. It looks out at the culture, it
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surveys the landscape, and it says, how can we modify or alter
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the message of the gospel or the message of Christianity so that
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it could be more palatable to the masses?
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And that's why today there are so many quote UN quote,
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Christians who are denying A biblical sexual ethic.
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This is the birth of theological liberalism.
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This is where it came from. And you know, interestingly
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enough, they would argue that they had good reasoning or
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motive behind it. We want this was in Germany.
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We want Germans to become Christians.
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We don't want them to reject the gospel.
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Let's so let's modify it so that they would accept it.
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The problem is they're accepting a gospel that cannot save and
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you're giving them a God that doesn't look like the God of the
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Bible, the God that they want created in their image.
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So I'm arguing this morning for the that the virgin conception,
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that the virgin birth is essential.
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And I'm going to argue with three points and then give two
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applications. That's how I messaged this
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morning. So three points, why the
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virginal conception is important and essential in Christianity,
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why we should celebrate it, and then two applications.
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And that's it #1 the virgin birth fulfills Old Testament
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prophecy. We'll start here.
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The virgin birth fulfills Old Testament prophecy.
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You all probably knew I was going here.
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Isaiah 714 Yahweh speaking to Ahaz says this.
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Therefore Yahweh himself will give you a sign speaking through
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the prophet Isaiah. Behold, the virgin shall
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conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel,
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which means God with us. Now you have some who object to
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this as biblical proof of the prophesied virgin birth because
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there are two different Hebrew words for virgin, and they would
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argue that the technical word for virgin is not being employed
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here, rather another word that can simply mean a young woman of
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marital age. While it's true there are two
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different Hebrew words being used, and the word that's
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employed here has a wider semantic range, there are no
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explicit references in the Old Testament where this term
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doesn't mean virgin as you and I understand it, but more
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importantly in the Septuagint, which is just the Greek version
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of the Old Testament. So in this, the Greek word that
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we find here in Luke chapter 1 is the word that's employed in
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Isaiah 714 and the Greek version which tells us it indicates that
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the Israelites understood this prophecy to be a actual virgin,
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not just a young woman of marital age, but a virgin who
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has not had relations as you and I would understand this.
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And if we just use logic, by the way, if you look at verse 34,
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based on her question, Mary said to the Angel, how will this be
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since I am a virgin? The question itself assumes that
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this is something miraculous that God is doing.
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So the first reason this is essential is because it is
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prophesied and God is not a liar #1 #2 it's three.
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Like I said, three points. I'll be honest with you all the
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points won't be that short. Just in case you were.
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I don't want to get your hopes up, you know.
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Second point, I saw somebody said, darn.
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Second point, the virgin birth assures A spotless savior.
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The virgin birth assures A spotless savior.
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Now, this is closely associated with the Third Point we'll
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consider this morning, but I think it's distinct enough for
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it to be separate. So we need a savior King who's
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untouched by the curse of depravity that was brought about
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by Adam, sinned, and that's passed down to all of his
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descendants. In case you're unfamiliar with
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what happened in the garden when human beings first sinned, Paul
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summarized it like this in Romans 512.
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Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and
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death through sin, and notice what he says here.
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And so death spread to all men because all sinned.
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Now Adam was our federal head, meaning he represented us.
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When Adam made the decision, he represented all of us, and we
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are now feeling the aftershock or the effects of his decision.
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But I also think Paul is teaching something else in this
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text that everyone who was born through natural means since Adam
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and Eve in some way, shape or form mysteriously existed in
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Adam. So when Adam sinned, it's not as
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if we can make the argument now. If that was me, I would have
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done the right thing. Because we all, I think what
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Paul is getting at when he says so death spread to all men
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because all sinned. I don't think he's saying all
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men sin, but rather all sinned when Adam sinned.
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So in some mysterious way, we made the choice, along with
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Adam, to rebel against our God. One of my favorite preachers,
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John Piper, says it like this. The problem with the human race
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is not that everybody does various kinds of sins.
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Behind all of our depravity, behind all of our guilt, behind
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all of our personal sinning, there is this mysterious
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connection or union with Adam, our Father, who sinned, and we
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being in him in some mysterious way, also sinned and died and
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are condemned. So then every human father has
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produced a son or a daughter with a sinful nature.
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In other words, sinners begets sinners.
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So if Joseph was the real father of the Lord Jesus, or if, as Rob
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Bell would suggest, Mary was sleeping around and they came up
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with this with this story to hot to cover that up.
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And there was her. His father was someone named
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Larry. If that was the case, Jesus
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would have inherited the same sinful nature that you and I
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have. And that is not inconsequential
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because a Sinner can't stand in the place of other sinners.
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Imagine the hubris like, like you're in a courtroom where
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murderer is on trial and someone's valiantly steps in and
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says, I'll stand in their place. But it's like Jeffrey Dahmer,
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like another murderer. And it's like, no, you have to
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pay for your crimes. How are you going to step in
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someone else's place when the same way we need a
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substitutionary sacrifice that is sinless, who has no sins to
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pay for, and it's the virginal conception that makes that
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possible. To make this point even more
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clear, without a sinless Savior, there be no righteousness to be
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imputed on your account. I want you to just think about
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this. Contemplate for a moment you
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need more than just forgiveness to get into heaven to be made
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right with God. I don't know if you ever
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consider that. I want to give you a quick
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example I thought of. Imagine you're at the airport
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and you're at your gate. You're trying to get into your
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to your to make your flight. And the person who beeps you in,
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I don't know what they're called, but you know the person
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who beeps in your boarding pass. Let's say you get into it with
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them, get into a huge argument and they say, well, I'm not
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going to let you on this plane because of how you're acting.
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And then, you know, you cool off, although you ruffle the
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feathers, there's some reconciliation.
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You apologize and they genuinely accept your apology, said, OK,
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I'll let you in. I believe you're the contrition
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that you're offering up. I believe that it's authentic.
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Boom. But then you say, I don't have a
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boarding pass. I lost my boarding pass.
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They say, well, I do genuinely forgive you, but without a
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boarding pass, you cannot get on this plane and I cannot make an
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exception. Our boarding pass into heaven or
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to be made right with God is perfection, righteousness.
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We need a righteous, A righteous robe of life to cover us to be
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in the presence of God. So the question is, how do we
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obtain not just forgiveness? So we want to ask that question.
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We don't want to just ask how can I be forgiven by God,
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although that is an important question.
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We also want to ask, how can I possess the righteousness,
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righteousness required to for me to be made right with the holy
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God. I'll give you the answer.
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It's for you to live sinlessly. That's how.
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It's one way. Never break the law, any of
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them, not even once. Word, thought or deed.
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You do that, you got a righteousness and you can stand
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before God. I got a problem.
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None of you can do that. None of you have done that.
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None of you will do that. You need someone else to do it
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on your behalf. It's not just the death of
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Christ that's offered up to us. That's why Jesus didn't, you
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know, Notice He didn't come as a baby and then just die as a
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baby. Why he had to live a life of
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righteousness. That's why the author of Hebrews
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says he learned obedience to a life of submission to the
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Father. So now at the end of his life,
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30 plus years, 33 ish, he has a righteousness to offer all those
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who respond to the gospel message with repentance and
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faith. So the answer is a sinless
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Savior offering himself as a substitute for punishment, and
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subsequently he offers up his robe of righteousness to his
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people. Hopefully you're getting that
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the virgin birth is essential to Christianity.
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But to that point, who can be perfectly righteous and sinless
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except for God alone? Which gets us to our Third
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Point. The virgin birth demonstrates
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that Jesus was truly human and truly divine.
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The virgin birth demonstrates that Jesus was truly human and
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truly divine. In theology, this is called the
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hypostatic union. The fact that Jesus is 100% God,
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100% man, Fully God, fully man. Not 5050.
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He was God and he took on the nature of humanity.
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Now I already dressed why our Savior had to be spotless, but I
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want to ask another genuine question.
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Now, I believe I've posed this question here before and I like
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posing it because I think it brings up our understanding of
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the gospel or like thereof. If someone were to ask you
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rhetorical, don't answer out loud.
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But if someone were to ask you if the devil could be redeemed,
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if he was genuinely sorry, if he truly repented, I wonder what
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your answer would be. Because if it's yes, that shows
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either you just haven't thought through it enough or you don't
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truly understand the gospel. Because as we just talked about,
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you're not right with God simply because you OfferUp an apology
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that he accepts. That's not the gospel.
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The gospel is that God has become one of us outside of sin
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and has become our sacrifice on our behalf.
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So for the devil or the demons to be redeemed, God would have
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to become an Angel and die as an Angel to redeem angels.
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But the gospel says this to angels.
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Your fate was sealed when you sinned.
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You're done. All the you know, the the Satan
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and his demons, one sin, they cannot be made right with him
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ever again. Just think about that anytime
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you think that your sin is not that serious.
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Righteous angels, Paul calls the elect angels.
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They're right with God, not because of grace, but because
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they're sinless. They did what remember I said
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like the way you can have a righteousness and be in his
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presence is if you fulfill the law, you never sin.
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Well, these angels, they have this, and This is why I think
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the authors of the New Testament talk about the angels looking
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into the church because we're experiencing something they
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never will, which is grace. Experientially, they have no
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idea what that's like. So the angels are just peeping
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like that. I'm like.
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What is this? Hear about it, hear the prophets
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preaching. Peeping just means, you know,
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they're checking it out and they're reading the scriptures
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like this. This idea of grace, it just
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seems so rich. I'll never experience it ever.
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But God has created the people in his image whom he desires to
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be in a relationship with, whom he loves, so that when they sin
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and sin and sin and sin over and over again, there's grace that's
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offered. This is impossible without the
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virgin birth and our God becoming a man.
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So he's fully God, the Lord Jesus.
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There's never been a time where he didn't exist.
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Another Tier 1 issue. So although he was born of a
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human, if he had been born like any other human through the
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union of a man and woman, we would question his full
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divinity. So in theology, this is called
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again the incarnation, God taking on human flesh.
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And we'll take a little bit of time to consider that at the
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end, but let's just reread verse 35 to see how our Lord's birth
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was different. And the Angel answered her.
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The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most
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High will over shadow you. Therefore, the child to be born
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will be called holy, the Son of God. 1st.
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I just want you to see that. I think it's neat that we see
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the full Godhead in verse 35, the Triune God.
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We see the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in verse 35 in that
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text. And if you read the Bible,
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you'll find that there are various monumental moments in
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the Scriptures where the Triune God shows up, right?
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Creation. We have the Father, we have the
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Spirit hovering over the waters of the deep, and then we have
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the Son, the Word, the Lagos baptism where it's like the
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recreation that Jesus is bringing.
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We have the Father offering up an affirming word to the Son,
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and we have the Holy Spirit coming down Great Commission.
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There are so many texts that we can look at where the full
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Triune God is on display. Ephesians 1, verses 3 through
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14. We see the Father electing, we
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see the Son redeeming. We see the Spirit stealing us.
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So in this text, that's just a side note, we see the Triune God
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working out our salvation. 2nd it's important to note that
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Gabriel is not saying that God will impregnate Mary as some,
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you know, Muslims would slanderously say about
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believers. You know that's a blasphemous
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thought. That's not what he's saying to
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come upon. Brings to mind what we find in
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Genesis 1/2 as I just mentioned with a spirit hovered over the
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face of the deep in creation. So it's what Jesus is quoted
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saying in Hebrews 10/5 when he says sacrifice, sacrifices and
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offerings you have not desired, but a body you've prepared for
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me. So by the power of the Holy
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Spirit and the will of God the Father, a body for God the Son
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was prepared in which Mary would bring forth.
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And because Jesus is God, he can supply the salvation to his
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people that no man can. So hopefully with all this you
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grasp the beauty and the importance of the virgin birth.
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Perhaps you know someone who categorizes Christianity as a
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myth, as a fable, as a fairy tale due to the supernatural
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elements that we find, particularly the virgin birth.
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And perhaps you're here and you would be one who categorizes
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Christianity as a fairy tale. I still remember an undergrad,
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my sociology class, one of my professors, my sociology
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professor, she asked the class in a very mocking tone, like,
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and this guy came out of nowhere.
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We weren't even talking about this, but she said, is it
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possible for a woman to give birth without having, you know,
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a sexual intercourse? Does that even make sense?
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You know? And in the class erupted with
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laughter and she was mocking Christianity.
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But what I think she missed was verse 37.
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If she had read verse 37, perhaps she would understand
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that this is not as far fetched as you may think.
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What does verse 37 says? For nothing will be impossible
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with God. I like what the BD said.
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He's a pastor in DC. He said the moment you admit the
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existence of God, you must deny the impossible.
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That's good, right? He said the moment you admit the
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existence of God, you must deny the impossible.
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I'm like man, you have a problem with the virgin birth.
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I mean just read Genesis 1, God spoke all things into existence
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so surely he can cause miraculous events such as a
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virginal conception. Moving to the application here
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again said there'd be two applications.
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One is do you believe this? Do you believe that with God
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nothing is impossible? Do you believe it within your
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local church? Look at, you know, 3 contexts or
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instances, your local church, your own family, and just your
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individual life. Pastor Mark earlier talked about
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all that the Lord has been doing within this church the past
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year, this past year or the past couple of years.
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Many of you wouldn't have guessed that the Lord would have
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done that or could have done that.
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My question is, now that you've seen it or even prior to seeing
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it, do you believe that he can continue to do miraculous things
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within your local church? And if so, if you carry this
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disposition, how does this impact the way or how does this
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impact your approach to the local church, your local church?
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How does it impact the way you financially give expecting God
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to move in ways that you would never imagine?
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How does it affect affect the way that you pray for the Lord's
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work within your local church? How does it impact the way you
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serve your local church? And that's not to say there will
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always be the same harvest. I think that's an unrealistic
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expectation, right? But we should be faithful in and
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out of season. There will be some days where
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3000 are saved in one day, but that didn't look like that every
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every chapter in the book Acts. So that's that's not what I'm
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saying. But the question is, do you
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believe that it's possible that God has the power to do so even
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if he chooses not to? But do you approach church life
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in that way is my question. So it's a question of faith.
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Do you believe that it's possible for the gospel to go
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forth from this church to transform communities and
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regenerate hearts all around you?
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And what would it look like if you actually believe that?
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How would that change the way that you serve or you approach
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your local church? Do you believe that nothing is
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impossible with God, with your family, with your spouse, with
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your kids, with your parents, with your siblings?
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Perhaps you're here, parents, and you're praying for the
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salvation of your kids or praying for some type of freedom
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from addiction and things are looking bleak.
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Have you stopped to consider that you're praying to a God who
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made a virgin birth possible? What's a broken marriage to Him?
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What's an addiction to Him? What's a financial hardship to
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Him when we have a God who makes the impossible possible?
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God is able to work all these situations that seem on the
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surface impossible for his glory and for your good because he's a
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miracle working God to do you believe it when you pray again,
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this isn't a believe it enough and it'll happen.
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Consider the Lord Jesus in the garden.
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He says, Lord, you could cause this cup to pass from me.
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It's not as if he doubted the Father's ability, but
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nevertheless, nevertheless, he prayed humbly saying, if you
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choose for me to receive it, which he did, you will be done.
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So we pray both humbly, knowing God is the one in in control,
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right? And we can't demand his hand to
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move the way we want it, but we also pray with great faith and
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expectation. That is the the line that we
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thread and even again, teenagers here, perhaps you're praying for
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lost parents. Continue to pray.
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When I was a when I was 16, I believe 16 or 17, I was a member
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of a local church and the pastor said, think of 1 unbeliever in
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your life who's even hostile to the things of God and begin to
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pray for that person one time every single day.
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I thought of a guy who I knew I was just in class with him and
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he mocked Christianity, mocked Jesus, he mocked God began to
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pray for him every and I'm sure I missed days.
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So I'm not going to make it seem like I pray for him every day,
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but I did pray for him consistently.
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And four years later when we turned 20, God saved him, right?
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Because there's a belief knowing that God can break down a hard
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heart. That's something only He can do.
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Do you believe that, brethren and cistern?
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James 16 says this? But let him ask in faith with no
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doubting. For the one who doubts is like a
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wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
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So again, this is not us praying thinking we can control the hand
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of God, but us praying knowing that He has the power to answer
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our prayers and the affirmative. And on the individual level,
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perhaps you're dealing with a certain sin struggle that you
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feel you'll never be free from. Maybe it's an addiction that
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you've dealt with since it was introduced to you as a kid.
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With you it's impossible to gain freedom, but with God, nothing
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is impossible. Verse 37.
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So that's number one. Second application this morning.
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Consider the vessel chosen for this great task of birthing the
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Messiah. Little old Mary from Nazareth.
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Have you ever felt like your life was too small or too
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insignificant for God to even notice you or to see you or care
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for you? Perhaps Mary thought that way.
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It wouldn't make sense for her to think that way as she's
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living in Nazareth. Notice in verse 26 the scene
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switches 6 month and the 6th month.
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The Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named.
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Nazareth. Nazareth was a non place.
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It wasn't mentioned in the Old Testament and Josephus's
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writings or any rabbinical writings.
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No one was taking vacations to Nazareth.
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People were trying to get out of Nazareth.
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People were passing through Nazareth.
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As one author said, it was a shoddy, corrupt halfway stop
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between 2 port cities and Gentiles and Roman soldiers
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overran it. And This is why in John 1,
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Nathaniel says, can anything good come out of Nazareth?
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That's where the Messiah comes from.
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I'm good. And yet it was Nazareth that the
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Angel Gabriel visited the poor teenager.
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From all indicators, life was not extraordinary, and yet you
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see how the Lord uses her. Perhaps you're here and you're
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dreaming of leaving Bakersfield, moving to New York and Miami, or
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if you try to come to the North Pasadena, that's actually good.
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That's from God. Sorry.
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Now, there's nothing wrong with having those ambitions to to
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leave and to move, as long as the motives are godly.
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But I want you to the Lord has not forgotten about Bakersfield
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as many people have. He doesn't view this city with
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the same disdain that others others do.
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And I would just encourage you to love the city that you're in.
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God has called you here for a season or, you know, permanently
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to serve. I remember living here and man,
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Bakersfield would catch a lot of slugs, meaning people would talk
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bad about Bakersfield, like all the time.
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I'm like, Dad, I mean, I get it from, you know, people in the
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world, but for Christians, this is your Nazareth.
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This is where people are driving through and have forgotten
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about. Do you view your Nazareth at
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Bakersfield the way that God views it, or do you view it the
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way the world around you views it?
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Again, the norm is for the Lord to use ordinary folks outside of
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the glitz and glam for Him to receive His glory from.
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First Corinthians 2631 says this.
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For consider your calling, brothers.
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Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards.
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Not many of you were powerful. Not many were of noble birth,
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but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.
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God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.
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God chose what is loved and despised in the world, even
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things that are not to bring nothing, things that are things
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that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of
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God. And because of him you're in
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Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness
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and sanctification and redemption, so that it is
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written, Let those who boast, boast in the Lord.
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So God, he's into using the unlikely for his glory.
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Love the city you're in, serve the city you're in for his
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glory. Just want to close with just
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thinking about the incarnation because that's Advent.
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That's what Advent is about. That's what the Christmas is
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about. It's all about us considering
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God becoming a man. So I want to read a quote, and
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I'm going to end with this, but let me say this.
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Now consider Mary, who although this news that she receives may
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cause her to be shamed by her family, divorced by Joseph, who
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doesn't believe, who may not have believed her and just
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become desolate, she accepts with faith, counting the cost of
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what she may lose. And that's what it means to
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positively respond to the gospel.
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So if you're here this morning, you don't know the Lord.
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Respond to the gospel by turning from your sin and placing faith
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in the finished work of Jesus. This is the God that Christians
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worship. I'm going to read this and close
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with that closing prayer and imagine the great and glorious
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Kingdom that is ruled by a strong and wealthy king.
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This is from a book called The Man Christ Jesus.
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The King has every privilege one can imagine and the finest of
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everything money can buy. But one day while walking the
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streets of his Kingdom, he takes notice of beggars and begins to
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wonder what it would be like to live as a beggar.
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So he decides to move out of his world palace and live on the
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streets. He exchanges his fine clothes
45:14
for tattered and smelly garments, and every way he
45:16
could, he acquired the day-to-day life and limitations
45:19
of a beggar. Now having taken on the
45:21
restrictions of beggarly life when the king was hungry,
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although he could have called for the royal chefs to bring him
45:27
a choice meal in order to live life as a beggar, he instead
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learned what it's like to be hungry and to beg for food.
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When he grew ill from disease, he could have consulted his
45:37
highly trained doctors, but he accepted the full life of a
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beggar as he allowed himself to be sick with little if any help
45:44
for his illnesses. When mistreated by mean spirited
45:47
passerby's, instead of calling his rogue guard to defend him
45:51
and bring justice to bear against cruelty in order to live
45:55
as a beggar, he accepted with no retaliation the mistreatment and
45:59
insults foisted upon him. So while all the qualities of
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his kingship were retained fully by this king become beggar, the
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expression or manifestation of many of the rights and
46:11
privileges he had as king could not be made since he had chosen
46:16
to live life as a beggar. So we accepted the restriction
46:20
and limitation of the expression of his rights and prerogatives
46:24
as king. Although he is a king and hence
46:27
he continues to possess everything, as he's king now
46:30
he's also beggar. So he must accept the fact that
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many of his kingly rights and prerogatives can no longer be
46:36
utilized or expressed. In other words, he's fully king
46:41
and fully beggar. That's what our God has done.
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God, the One who created it all, limit willingly limited himself
46:53
to human flesh so that He can take our place on the cross.
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Let's respond as believers in all, and if you don't know him,
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through faith and repentance. Heavenly Father, we thank you
47:05
for your gospel. We pray you change our hearts.
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Do what only you can do.