If you'll turn to the book of 2 John, if you're new with us, you go to the book of Revelation, go back a couple books. This will be our fifth and last sermon in this series from the book of 2 John. Lord willing, at the beginning of January, we will go to the book of Ecclesiastes, and we'll be there probably for about 15 weeks. It's a bigger book and an Old Testament book. So if you bump into me at all this month, I'm going to talk to you about Ecclesiastes. If it's your favorite book, I would love to know. I'd love to take you to coffee or to lunch and to hear. You talk about it, and it's just really looking forward to our time together. I want to go ahead and give you the statement. We'll put the outline here on the line. Just one sentence this week, not different points. Just one statement. You read it first to yourself, because I'm going to ask you to read it out loud. So I want you to read it and agree with it in your heart before I ask you to say it with me, okay? So I'll give you a moment there. Now, let's read this together. The eternal Son of God came in the flesh and died as a man so that death itself would die. We're going to anchor ourselves today in the study around the truth that's found there in that passage, and we'll be looking here at 2 John and how incredibly important this is. If you had to name the biggest difference between Christianity and all other religions, it would be this. It would be this, that the Christian faith says that God became a man. He took on humanity. Today we sung it and said frail humanity. He robed himself in flesh and lived a life and he died for all of us. Simple and essential. It's found in history, but it's certainly a mystery, and that's how we'll look at it today as we look at the words of John, not just the second John, but the gospel according to John. Josh Ewing and I, where is Josh in here? I saw him this morning. Josh, as you know, he serves in Indonesia, and his family's in on furlough, and we were in the office this week, and we were talking, and I'm going to confess something that we both said, and I don't think anybody in the room is going to disagree. We are rarely in a room where we think we're the smartest person there, all right? And I said, I'm with you, Josh. I said, here's the problem. There's only two of us in the room though, all right? So we decided we better get out of the room. If the only two of us are in the room, then one of us has to be the smartest in the room. That's a pretty dangerous room. And we talked about that and we sincerely mean this, but then we were in a conversation about this passage, but then Josh, he choked up a little bit. And he said, but I realize that when I'm over in Indonesia, outside of the church services that I'm in or when I'm meeting with believers for prayer, if I'm just on an average day in an average room, I'll know that I'm not the smartest man in the room, but I may be the only one that know that God became man and dwelt among us and died. And it just became so very real what He's doing and what we're to do with our lives and what a knowledge that we know this. And so though it's essential and though it's simple, and you might have heard it if you've grown up in church, you might have heard it many times and you might have heard it in many December messages, I am not going to move on from it today. because we're not just looking to read 2 John, we're not just looking to study 2 John, we are looking to submit our lives to the words of God individually, as a family, and as a church. You know, that truth that I mentioned there, that the eternal Son of God came in flesh, died as a man, so that death itself would die, that is certainly worth all the time, the lyrics, and the gatherings that we can give to it. We cannot put enough songs on that topic. We cannot meet enough times to celebrate that truth. There are not enough flash drives or thumb drives. How many of you call this a flash drive, all right? How many of you call this a thumb drive? Okay, y'all don't call it anything, all right? That's fine, all right. But whatever it is, it seems like whenever I call it, nobody knows what I'm talking about. This external memory square that I have in my pocket here, you cannot get one big enough to hold all that we could say about how essential and wonderful that truth is. And I trust the Word of God. I believe this. You know, as I worked with youth for many years, I would say, without saying, you don't know me, and I would say, okay, the Word of God knows me better than I know myself. Amen? The Word of God knows us better than we know ourselves. It knows man, it knows mankind, it knows social trends, it knows all these things. Well, the Bible tells us that that understanding that Jesus Christ came in the flesh will be under attack, and we will be drawn away from that until His return. And so I trust that this is the Word of God, not by doing a survey of our community, not by watching the news, but I trust the Word of God who says, this is important, stay here, focus on that. And so that's what I wanted to do in that simple statement together. So let's have a review. Some of you have, you've been to all five of the sermons on 2 John or four, now this is the fifth one. So I want to do a kind of quick review as I read through 2 John. It's only 13 verses, and it kind of reminds you of some of the things that we have said together. When we first started, we looked at verse one where it says, the elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth, and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth. And so we ask this question is, when we say that we rejoice because people are walking in truth, what is it that we're rejoicing in? Those four weeks ago, we had just lost our, we didn't lose, but our brother graduated the heaven Lamar had. And I just thought about how proud he was of Greg. I also thought about how, I was by his life and testimony. We kind of paused and just said, what is it about walking in truth that really does something in our hearts? And so we had four things there, is that when you walk in truth, you're able to experience true love. I know that if my children do not walk in the truth, God's truth, then they will not ever know true love. And then they also buy into many counterfeit truth and many counterfeit love. And so that excites me when people are walking in truth. We also know if they walk in truth, then they get to know other people that walk in truth, right? Just like anything else, if you're going to associate with people that love the things that you love, and I've made some wonderful friends through the years about walking in truth, and I thank the Lord for it. And then those that walk in the truth demonstrate this eternal abiding presence of truth in their lives. Verse 2 says, for the truth's sake which dwelleth in us and shall be with us forever. And so that truth that abides in us will abide with us forever. The Bible tells us, Ephesians, that we've been sealed by the Holy Spirit. So by belief there in Jesus Christ, there's the presence of God that's now in our lives, the welcoming of truth into our lives that will abide forever. So it encourages me. See somebody walking in truth, I'll know, ow, that person who's walking in truth today will walk in truth for all eternity. And then lastly, the truth comes to us by our heavenly Father. That's verse four. I rejoice greatly that I found that our children walking in truth as we have received the commandment from the Father. So we didn't decide the truth. There's no councils in history that made this decision on the truth. The truth that we love, celebrate, live in, and embrace came to us by God our Father, and we rejoice in that. And I love this, and I love getting to watch people walk in truth. I love watching you walk in truth. I love watching my children walk in truth. Then we get to verses 3 through 6, and I want to read that. Go ahead and put that up on the screen, if you will. 2 John 3-6, say, Grace be with you, mercy and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I rejoice greatly that I found my children walking in truth, as we have received the commandment from the Father. And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk after his commandment. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you shall walk in it. Truth and love are codependent upon one another. If you are going to be obedient to the truth, then you're going to be loving. You cannot be loving unless you're truthful. So we said this, truth seeks to convey love, not just facts. When we love somebody and we want to express that, we don't do that simply through facts, but we do that through the truth. Love welcomes truth into every discussion. If you have a loving relationship, you welcome honesty into it. So truth is going to shape our expression of love, and then love is going to shape our expression of truth. There's a way in which we communicate truth, and so they complete each other. They're not to be balanced out, right? They are completing of one another, and the ultimate example that we see is that of the cross. In Psalm where holiness has kissed mercy there, love and truth are not competing, but they complete one another. which led us to this portion where it said, now there's some guidelines that you need to have upon what you welcome in our lives. So you can take a very literal approach, which would be helpful, which is, who am I going to welcome into my life? Who am I going to help wish Godspeed and say, get behind and welcome into my home? But we know that there's many ways to allow things into your life other than just having somebody sign a guest book inside of your home. But through technology, through media, through many different ways, we welcome people to a seat at the table of our lives. And so then in these verses here, so in verse 7, we were given some cautions for it. So it says, for as many deceivers are entered into the world, not a few but many, who confess not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves that we lose not the things which have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God, but he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any of you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed. For he that biddeth him Godspeed is a partaker of his evil deeds. Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink, but I trust to come to you and speak face to face that our joy might be fool. So we gave some guidelines. So when we walk in truth together, we're able to discern lies and the deception that is there. And we can recognize the lie and we can resist the messengers of it. We can resist those that are lying to us and identifying false messengers to avoid in aiding them. And this is something we take very seriously as a church and as family, we do not want to help a false message be propagated in this world. On Friday night, there was a couple hundred people, I believe, that were here, and I don't know, I'm the pastor, so I always exaggerate the numbers, I guess, all right? There was at least a hundred people here, and from the Indian community, and James of the group did such a wonderful job, and I wanted to stay, and we stayed late into the night. And I wanted to thank them for being such great guests, and they vacuumed every part of the church, and just were incredible guests here for us, and we partnered with them in ministry. But I wanted to tell them that as a church, we believe what it says here in 2 John, that you as people that are sharing the gospel, we are for you, and we want to be hospitable to you and help. But if you were not sharing the gospel, then we would have no place for you, you would have no ability, because we want to live it out. As I said, we don't just read studies, think of John, we want to live it out in our lives. So we have an application that can be seen inside of the church and our facilities, but you have an application to make in your own home, in your own lives. Which brought us to last week was verse eight, which was stay the course. Look to yourselves that you lose not the things which have wrought, that you may receive a full reward. So we live our lives with a full reward and view. I relate it in the fact that I say, I get it. I'll just be happy to be anywhere in heaven. You can put me over near the gates. I don't need anything special. Just being in heaven is enough for me. I don't care about all those other things. And though it's logical and I understand, or the logic that you have in saying that, it's not a biblical thought. The biblical thought is that you want to arrive there and say, I wanna live in obedience, fulfill the assignments God has for me. I wanna do all that God had for me in this world that I'd live so that there'd be things that are now eternal, that I didn't spend my life in the temporary, but I spent my life in the eternal, knowing that one day I will stand before the Lord and I'll have an opportunity there, be rewarded for that that I've done faithfully for Him, and that be able to worship him in those moments. So we remind, be mindful of the investment we've already made, and then we said, take care of yourself, yourself, for the sake of the work we're doing together. And so look to yourself that we lose not those things. So we're in this together, so we challenge one another. And when our friends go astray, when our friends either go astray doctrinally, when our friends go away from these things, or our friends just go into living life on the temporary, we call them back to the gospel. We call them back to life here where we live with the full reward and view. All right. Give me a second to catch my breath. That's our review. They bring us back to where we're at today, which is this statement that we said, that the eternal Son of God came in the flesh died as a man so that death itself would die. Jesus Christ has come in the flesh." That is the statement that's in the center of this book that John is writing to us, and something that is very important to him, and I trust is important to you. Christmas Eve in 2006 was a Sunday, and I remember that service very specifically. I can remember when Christmases are on Sundays, or that was a Christmas Eve, and I remember having a special service that day. And one of the reasons I'll never forget that is that we had asked Miss Carolyn Gardner, we set up a rocking chair on here, and the kids gathered around. This is our first year as a church, so there wasn't a ton of kids, but they all sat around, and she was gonna tell the Christmas story. And so you normally think of the counts of Matthew and Luke, of the virgin birth of the Magi, or Gabriel's visit to Mary, or there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world would be taxed, or announcing of the peace, or the shepherds, or other things that you would see maybe in a play in the nativity scene. And so we expected something like that, something short, something sweet. And we had something very sweet, a very good, but it definitely wasn't short. She said, please open your Bible to the book of Genesis. For you to understand this, we're going to have to start all the way at the beginning. And we all realized we are going to be here a minute. And we were. And so that service went a little longer that day. And you might think that we don't need to go that far back, but all the way from Adam and Eve, the hope of God's people rested on a coming. We're waiting people, we're yearning people, people who know we need rescued and know that it's only going to come by the coming one. the Anointed One, the coming Messiah, the Christ that we're looking for. So I believe John, the writer of the Gospel of John and the epistles that we see at the end of John, he would say that she didn't start far enough back, all right, that we can go even farther than starting in Genesis. And so with our time remaining together, two questions that I believe should be answered today is, what do we mean What did John mean? What did the Holy Spirit, who gave to John the right, that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, what does that mean, and why does it matter so much? Why does it matter so much? It's the truth we know, it's the message to be reconciled to God, and so we don't want to take it for granted. And just because Josh is in a room today where he's not the only man who knows this, it doesn't mean that it isn't any less important that every one of you understand it and embrace it and you're able to pass it down to the next generation. John, the beloved, who refers to himself, as we said, there's different nicknames that are given of him, and doesn't refer to himself by his own name, but it is neat, and I read in John 1 already, when he refers to John the Baptist, there was a man sent by God whose name was John. I'm like, that's an introduction, right? That's how you introduce somebody. And so, John, not John the Baptist, but John the disciple that had been with Jesus, that writes these here, he lays his head upon the chest of Christ. I don't know, but could you imagine hearing the heartbeat of the Creator of the universe? How special that was, that Him knowing completely that I'm going to break bread with Jesus, I am going to walk with Jesus, I'm going to sit down and be with Him. It's incredible. These eyewitness accounts that we have to us are very special today of those people that were with Jesus. One of the songs that we sing every year, we have for 19 years, it says this, isn't it amazing, the way he came, no crown, no throne, no big parade, there was no fanfares played, no jubilant display, isn't amazing how he came? And it is amazing how he came or the way he came. A lowly manger, born of a young virgin, Jewish girl, that is amazing. the how or the way he came. It's also amazing when he came in the fullness of time as prophesied in every way possible that it was given to us. When he came, what was going on historically at the time, every part of it is absolutely amazing. Every one of us should never get over this, the why he came. He said, I did not come to be served, but to serve and to lay, and to be a ransom for many, to lay my life down. He came here to die, to be born in a manger, to be born among men so that he could die for us. And so that leads us to this last one here that's amazing, is what he became. That is amazing. Emmanuel, God with us, God for us, God as us. Athanasius, somebody that gave his life contending for the faith, he said, if he became what we are, that he might make us what he is. He became what we are, so we can become what he is, and now we can be reconciled to the Father. So the Pharisees in the scripture They often, in their fighting against something, made the best arguments for something. Alright? So the Pharisees, on an occasion, they make a strong argument for the deity of Christ. This is, in Luke chapter 5, you're probably thinking of many stories, they do this. But I think especially in Luke chapter number 5, where there's these men, they bring their paralyzed friend, they bring him upon a rooftop, they cut a hole in the roof, and they let their friend come down, and their friend comes down, and there's Jesus, and in Luke 5, 20, it says, and when Jesus saw their faith and said to them, man, thy sins are forgiven, The scribes and the Pharisees, verse 21, begin to reason, and they were thinking here, all right? You can see the wheels moving, as Chuck Littlefield and I always say, always thinking, all right? Something Luke, his son, told us when he was a teenager, he was always thinking, all right? And so those Pharisees were just always thinking, and so they had that moment, and they said, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" They say, you can't forgive sin because only God alone can forgive sin. Are you saying that you are God? That's exactly what he was not just saying, but he was demonstrating. See, if God needed to send somebody to bring healing, He would not need to send His Son. God allowed the prophets of the Old Testament times to bring healing. If God was to send somebody just for the oppressive economic and political structures, there's other people that could have done that, and we see that throughout history. Even if God was to send somebody that was to heal the dead or to bring back the dead, we have seen that before. But the fact that God sent his son to address the great issue we have in life of sin, then God had to come. The word, the full expression of God became flesh and He came to forgive sin because that's our problem. Our problem is a sin problem. That paralyzed man who's totally dependent on his four friends to get him everywhere, that was not ultimately his problem. Throughout the New Testament, we meet lepers, we meet tax collectors, we meet parents and children with dying children on the pages, and none of that is ultimately the greatest problem But Jesus looks at this man, he knows immediately what is true about the problem that he came to solve, and he addressed the problem of sin. God came fully a man to address the sin problem that we have. So the Pharisees get it right, they rarely do, but they do here. Who is this who speaks blasphemies, who forgives sin alone? God alone can do that. Did they know that they were making a case for the deity of Christ, that Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus senses what is going on here and says, why do you question in your hearts? What's easier to say? Your sins are forgiven or rise up and walk. His humanity was not in question there. They knew this was Jesus. They knew that this was man. He's standing there in front of them, and they question His deity. So Jesus Christ is the Word who was in the beginning with God and who was God. John 1 that we've already read. I think of this, the book of John is the book that we distribute the most. Churches distribute John and Romans. We've done that as a church, and there's portions of Scripture. We say it has a smaller vocabulary than Luke. Luke has a way bigger vocabulary, and we say it's a simpler book to read. And you give it to somebody, and they say, where should I start in the Bible? Say, read the book of John. Well, they go to John 1, 1. It says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. They're like, this is the simplest book that you can give me? It starts off a little more challenging, doesn't it, than the rest of the book. But there's this understanding that John knew, and the audience, he's giving to a simple in this. In the beginning was the Word, Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God, and the same in the beginning with God. Jesus is the Word. John 1 tells you that. It gives you that understanding of what is going on. And so then you say He was there in the beginning. What do you mean by that? Verse 3, it says, and things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. He was there at the beginning. He was there in the Genesis 1 account that we read Christmas Eve 2006. He was there. He was there as the co-eternal Son of God. And it says in verse 3, without Him was not anything made that was made. Jesus, the Word, did not come into being. All that He did came into being, all that came into being came after Him. He always existed. We also see here that He is not the Father because He was with God the Father, but He is equal with God the Father because He was the Word of God. So much wonderful truth right there expressed. So Jesus the Word became flesh, that is God was united with human nature in one person and was truly man and truly God who lived in history as Jesus Christ. John 1.14, you've seen the day on at least a couple occasions up on the screen. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. We beheld His glory. He was seen, lived among us. Historically, we know that He was there. In the early five years, ten years after the resurrection of Christ, we have creeds that you read in 1 Corinthians 15 that said, He has seen a man, that Jesus Christ has died, and that has been our message since the time of Christ. We beheld His glory. We have seen Him. And John was intent on sharing this message. And so he goes on in John 1 17, if you haven't gathered by now that the word is Jesus there from before creation, he'll tell you in verse 17, for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus. So simply, if you do not worship Jesus, then you don't worship God. And so John says in the Epistle in 2 John verse 9, if you transgress or go over and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, you have not God. And he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son. Jesus Christ lived in the flesh upon this earth. So first of all, we say the eternal Son of God, He came in the flesh so that He could die for man. Jesus was born in the flesh so that He could die in flesh for our sins. The biblical text that we read tells of a true humanity. He was born of a woman, he was hungry, he was thirsty, at times exhausted physically, and of course he died. And Jesus became flesh more than so that he could just get us, but so that he could die for us. You see, sin demands remedy that is far stronger than just sympathy. Sin calls for God's judgment, and by taking on all aspects of our humanity except for sin, Jesus became the perfect substitute. Hebrews 4.15, For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Why? Because Jesus Christ came in the flesh, but was at all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Jesus becomes the propitiation of our sins, a sacrifice, a satisfactory atonement. 1 John 4, 10, here in His love that we have loved God, not that we love God, but that He loved us, and He sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins. Jesus Christ, because He came in the flesh, could be the satisfactory atoning sacrifice for us, and we praise the Lord. Came in the flesh without sin. See, without this truth, there is no good news. The gospel is good news because it addresses the most serious problem that we have as human beings. The problem is simply this. God is holy, and He is just, and I am not. And at the end of my life, I'm going to stand before a just and holy God, and I'll be judged. And I'll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness, or better said, by the lack of my own righteousness. And the good news of the Gospel is that Jesus lived a life, that He did come in the flesh, and a life of perfect righteousness, a perfect doing rightness, if you will, a life of always doing what was pleasing to the Father, perfectly obedient to God, Not that his own well-being, but for us. He loved us. And it was done for me what I possibly couldn't do for myself. But not only has he lived that perfect life of obedience, he offered himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and righteousness of God. And so it matters tremendously. It matters tremendously that I believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. Let's share it on Wednesday in our core seminar. We've been talking about social media. We've been talking about social media and hospitality, two things that I believe are kind of postscript of what we're looking at in 2 John, how you welcome people into your life. And I told you on Wednesday that I am a skeptic about a Whataburger on Highway 9, okay? There's a few people. There was just one. Now there's two. I hear the cherries are involved. but they tell us that there was a Whataburger burger joint here in Alpharetta in the 90s, and that the current Whataburger corporation, who tells us that they're just coming to Atlanta for the first time, is hiding something from us, okay? Big conspiracy, I have to get a whiteboard in my office, I'll explain it all to you, okay? And I said, I'm a denier, all right? I'm a denier, I don't think it happened, all right? You saw something, you put some things together, but this is not what's going on, and we talked about being a denier of something that is there. And you're familiar with that expression to be a denier, a Whataburger denier. There's those that deny all kinds of things historically. Well, there are groups of people in this world, there's groups of people in your life that are a Jesus came in the flesh denier. they deny that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. There's many deceivers that have entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, and this is a deceiver and an anti-Christ, anti the way of Christ. And so this matters to us so importantly, so importantly. So there's four times in 1 John And then one time here in 2 John, three times in 1 John, and then one time in 2 John where it speaks about this Antichrist. You have heard that the Antichrist will come, or the Antichrist denies the Father and the Son, or 4, 2, and 3, it says, and every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ the Son has come into the flesh is not of God, and that is the spirit of the Antichrist. The Holy Spirit testifies one another of the reality of God in our lives by causing us to confess that Jesus has come in the flesh. Jesus Christ. Jesus the Christ. I've already said it, but that means the Anointed One, the Messiah. That wasn't His whole name, it wasn't Jesus' first name, Christ's last name. We're making a statement. when we say that Jesus has come in the flesh. And so we bear testimony one to another that I believe that Jesus historically came, took on a robe of flesh, and died in my place, and you do as well. And so there's a reality there, there's a relationship that's established as we both admit this. But then it speaks here of the Spirit of the Antichrist. This time of year, people like the stories about people trying to steal Christmas. It's the Grinch or somebody else, that somebody is trying to take away the spirit of Christmas and steal it for themselves. But when we talk about the spirit of Christmas, there's something that is so much more important, and it's the spirit of Christ. It's the spirit of incarnation. It is the opposite of the spirit of the Antichrist. Jesus was born of the Sinner to come in the flesh. Jesus has come in the flesh. And it seems like this time of year, when I drive through Alpharetta like I did last night, and there's a beautiful tree, and there's a star up top of that tree, and everything around us could lull us to sleep, as a fact, as Christians, that only a fringe group of people don't believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. But that's not the case. So let me give you four groups right here that deny that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. Those that deny that Mary was a sinner deny that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. Those that say that Mary is God or that Mary was perfect without sin, then they deny that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. Those that deny the historical account of Jesus, deny that Jesus came in the flesh. That He didn't truly live among us, that He didn't truly walk among us, that He didn't truly bodily die and bodily resurrect again. They deny that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. Those who believe that Jesus is a prophet, but not the Son of God, deny that the Word came in flesh. because the Word was with Him at the beginning, the Word was with Him before the beginning. So if you say that He's just the prophet and that He's not the Son of God, then you deny that the Word has come in flesh. Those that believe that the Messiah has not yet come, deny that the Word has come in flesh. Now I'm talking about the vast majority of this world. Not a fringe group, but the vast majority of the world. And so that's one group, but I want to tell you this. Those of us who celebrate family and friends and good food and all the things that we have together, but with no consideration of the significance of the incarnation, we are people that are being influenced by the spirit of the Antichrist, and it's pulling us away. So no, you're not part of that first four group of people that I mentioned. You said, that's not me, that's not me, that's not me. I believe that, but we say, as God's people, that we do not want to be pulled away by that spirit of the Antichrist or be drawn away. The eternal Son of God came in flesh and died as a man, all so that death itself would die. The truth is 100% true, it's our basis of good news, and it is the minority opinion which is constantly under attack from the spirit of this world. So I'll say it like this. We have a much greater problem in this world than the fact that the cashier at Target will not wish us a Merry Christmas. We have the fact that when Josh Ewing sits in a room in Indonesia, he is the only man that knows that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. We have the fact that you, with your family, may be the only person who recognizes that not just any man came named Jesus, but Jesus Christ came in the flesh. And whosoever transgresseth or abideth not in this doctrine of Christ, he has not God. If you do not have the Son, then you do not have the Father. And so lastly here, that statement is so that death itself would die. Why did the Word come into this world? And it says in verse 12 of John 1, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, not of the will of flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. Not of blood, not of some heritage, not of the will of the flesh, not by hard work, but by God's plan, the word came here, Jesus Christ, and he dwelt among us. So, we love that word, Emmanuel. And Matthew, we're told what it is and what it means, and we'll sing about it. And so, how important is this to John? It's so very important. He says that if you don't believe these things, you have been deceived. If you don't believe these things, you become a deceiver. Christmas is a time of year where many churches will sing better than they understand. There's a time of year when we'll sing just such wonderful songs, and I want to make sure that these musicians do not preach better than I do, all right? I want to make sure that we are all ready when we sing these songs together that we understand how vitally important it is. It's not decoration, it's not garnish. It is the most important aspect of our lives that we want to celebrate right now that he came for us. And so he says here that we do not be deceived. The message that God has not come in the world and was born and died in flesh is the most dangerous message in this world. And so we with Christians of past, we hold to the fact that we say together that God the Son took on flesh and died as a man so that death itself would die. I'm going to have you read here in a moment 1 Timothy 3.16. We're going to end the way we started the day with this passage and we're going to say that together. A few weeks ago I explained to you that that was a song that would have been sung by early churches and it's one today that we confess and that we love. But let me talk about that last statement just for a moment. So that death itself would die. Here's the logic. Death is the penalty of sin. It's the wage of sin. The wage of sin is death. It's separation from God for all eternity. And so God the Son lived a sinless life in order that He could then die according to His human nature on our behalf, the death that you and I deserve. And because He has taken that penalty on our behalf, we no longer have to take it ourselves, because we've been united to Him by faith. His death is effectively our death. It is effectively our death, all right? Sometimes teenagers take good words and make them wrong, right? Like literally, they don't usually mean literally. And so when we say effectively, you mean like, what does that mean, like kind of? No, that's not what it means. It is efficiently our death. It has become our death. His resurrection will one day be our resurrection. So in John's telling of Christmas, he doesn't focus on the history, but on the mystery. Christmas is not just about Jesus' birth, but about the eternal Word taking on flesh to redeem humanity. And so one of those hymns of the early church is saying, 1 Timothy, believers met at dawn on Sunday, the first day of the week, as the sun would rise together, and they would sing this together. And that's what I'd like to do with you today here. Would you read this for me together, 1 Timothy 3.16, as we continue in our celebration of the fact that we gather today in a room full of people who know that Jesus Christ came in the flesh and that he died as a man so that death itself would die. 1 Timothy 3.16, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on him in the world, received up in the world. There's so many implications of the incarnation, one of them being the self-emptying humility and servanthood of what God the incarnate Son looks like. And if that's what a perfect human looks like, then that is our example to follow. And Lord willing, that's what we'll look together next week. Would you join me in a time of prayer? With heads bowed and eyes closed, I'd like to speak to you here for a moment. And I just want to speak to you today, first of all, as believers in here. This is a busy time of year. This may be a busy season of life. And there's so many things I want to pull you away. And I want you to, right now at this time, to renew that commitment, say double down, that I want to behold the wondrous mystery. No matter how good things are going for you, or maybe how bad things are going for you, none of that is going to overshadow this wonderful truth that you know. See, by God's grace, you're not in that room that Josh Ewing's in. You're not a man or woman who sits in there who does not know that God left the glory of heaven and came down here and died for you, that you know that story. And so believer, let's rejoice in that today. Jesus Christ came in the flesh and we thank the Lord for that. But as you're praying, I just speak to you here today, either somebody in this room, maybe somebody that watches online today or somebody that watches in the future, I want to I tell you today that today is the day of salvation, the day you could put your faith and trust in this Son of God who has come and He's died in your place. And you should rejoice that in His love and kindness, before you yet love Him, He already loved you and He brought to you a place where this message, which is not my message, which is not the church's message, but is the message of a holy God unto a world that needs redeemed. You've heard it today. And he invites you into a relationship. What I would like to offer for you is let's meet together today, this afternoon. Let's meet together for coffee. Let's get together. I'd love to show you from the word of God, how you begin a relationship with this creator of the universe, Emmanuel, who was with us. Heavenly Father, Lord, I thank you for the truth, Lord, of the songs that we have sung today, the truth of the songs that we will sing throughout this year. But Father, it takes more than singing songs at a church building with other believers for us to be people, Lord, who really worship you daily. So, Father, I pray that this truth will be taken from this room in the family devotions, taken in this room, Lord, to conversate from this room, the conversations with believers and unbelievers. Lord, we behold the wondrous mystery and we praise your most precious holy name.