Looking Unto Jesus by Isaac Ambrose The Transaction of Jesus and His Birth Some things we must propound before and some things after His birth, so that we shall continue this period till the time of John's baptism or the exercise of His ministry upon earth. The first passage in relation to His birth is the Tidings of Christ, Disappears from Luke 1, 26-28. And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God. I shall a little insist on some of these words. One. The messenger is an angel. Man was too mean to carry the news of the conception of God. Never any business was conceived in heaven that did so much concern the earth as the conception of the God of heaven and the womb of earth. No less, therefore, than an angel was worthy to bear these tidings, and never angel received a greater honor than of this embassage. 2. This angel salutes a virgin, Hell, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women. Many men and women have been and are the spiritual temples of God, but never was any the material temple of God but only Mary, and therefore blessed art thou amongst women. And yet we cannot say that she was so blessed in bearing Christ as she was in believing in Christ. Her bearing was more miraculous, but her believing was more beneficial to her soul. 3. This virgin is troubled at this salute. She might well be troubled, for if it had been but a man that had come in so suddenly, when she expected none, or so secretly, when she had no other company, or so strongly, the doors being probably shut, she had cause to be troubled. How much more when the glory of the angel heightened the astonishment. Her sex was more subject to fear. If Zachary was amazed with the sight of this angel, how much more the virgin. But the angel comforts her. Fear not, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Here is the foundation of her comfort and our happiness. Behold, you shall conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus. Never was mortal creature thus honored that her womb should yield that flesh which was personally united to the Godhead, that she should bear him that upholds the world. There is one wonder in the conception, another in the fruit. Both are marvelous, but the latter is more mysterious and fuller of admiration. The fruit of the womb is Jesus, the Savior, the Son of the Highest, a King. God shall give him a throne, and he shall reign forever, for of his kingdom there shall be no end. Here was a son, and such a son as the world never had before. And here was the ground of Mary's joy. How could she but rejoice to hear what her son should be before he was. Surely never was any mother so glad of her son born as this virgin was of her son before he was conceived. The ground of this joy lay more especially in that name of Jesus, dear Christians, is the object that you are to look unto. The first title that the angel gives our Savior is Jesus, Savior. Oh, come, let us dwell a little here. Without Jesus we had never known God our friend, and without Jesus God had never known us for any other than his enemies. This name Jesus is better to us than all the titles of God. Indeed, there is goodness and greatness in the name Jehovah, but we merited so little good and demerited so much evil that in it alone there had been small comfort for us. But in the name of Jesus there is comfort. And with the name of Jesus there is comfort in the name of God. In old times, God was known by His names of power and of majesty, but His name of mercy was reserved till now, when God did purpose to pour out the whole treasure of His mercy by the mediation of His Son. And as His name is exalted above all names, so are we to exalt His mercy above all His works. Oh, it is a useful name. All depths, distresses, miseries, perplexities, we beseech God by the name of Jesus to make good His own name, not to bear it for naught, but as He is the Savior to save us. And this is our comfort that God will never so remember our sins as to forget His own blessed name, and especially this name, Jesus. It is the highest, the dearest, the sweetest name to us of all the names of God. The reason of this name was given by the angel to Joseph. You shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. But why from their sins? We seem rather willing to be saved from poverty, ignominy, prison, death, hell. Sin is a thing that troubles but few. Alas, sin! If we understand it, it's the very worst of evils. There is no poverty but sin. There is no shame but sin. There is no prison but that prison is a paradise without sin. There is no death that has any sting in it. But for sin, the sting of death is sin. Take out the sting and you may put the serpent in your bosom. Nay, I'll say more, there would be no hell were it not for sin. Sin first kindled the fire of hell. Sin fuels it. Take away sin and that tormenting flame goes out. Had it not been for sin, the devil had no business in the world. Were it not for sin, he could never hurt a soul. What abundance of benefits are here in one word! He shall save his people from their sins. There is no evil incident to man, but it ceases to be evil when sin is gone. If Jesus takes away sin, he does bless our very blessings and sanctify our afflictions. He fetches peace out of trouble, riches out of poverty, honor out of contempt, liberty out of bondage. He pulls out the sting of death, puts out the fire of hell, as all evils are wrapped up in sin, so that he saves us from sin, saves us from all evils whatsoever. This is that Jesus, the Son of God's love, the author of our salvation, in whom alone God is well pleased, and whom the angel published before he was conceived. You shall conceive and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus. Secondly, of the conception of Christ. The conception of Christ was the conclusion of the angel's message. No sooner had the Virgin said, Be it to me according to your word, but according to that word it was, immediately the Holy Ghost overshadowed her and forms our Savior in her womb. Now, brethren, now is the time of life. Well, may we say, now was it that the day broke up, that the sun arose, that darkness vanished, that wrath gave place to favor and salvation. Now was it that free grace came down from heaven, thousands of angels waiting on her, the very clouds part as they were to give her way, the earth springs to welcome her, the floods clap their hands for joy, the heavenly hosts sing as she goes along, glory to God in the highest. Peace upon earth, goodwill towards man. Truth and righteousness go before her, peace and prosperity follow after her. Pity and mercy wait on either hand, and when she first sets her foot on the earth she cries, A Jesus, a Savior, here ye sons of men. The Lord has sent me down to bring you news of Jesus. Grace and peace be unto you. I will live with you in this world, and you shall live with me in the world to come. Here was blessed news. This is gospel, pure gospel. This is glad tidings, free grace, proclaims Jesus. And Jesus is made up, as it were all, of free grace. What eternal thanks do we owe to the eternal God. How may we say with the angel's glory to God for Jesus Christ? But in this conception of Christ are so many wonders that ere we begin to speak them we stand amazed. Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh. Say, is it not a wonder, a mystery, a great mystery, that the Son of God should be made of a woman, even made of that woman which was made by Himself? Is it not a wonder that our womb then, and that the heavens now, should contain Him whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain? Concerning this conception of Christ I shall speak but a little, but man can conceive much of this. Our greatest light we borrow from the angel who describes it thus. The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you. Out of these words observe, number one, the agent, and number two, the effect. The agent or efficient cause of Christ's conception as the Holy Ghost disagrees with that speech of the angel to Joseph that which is conceived in her as of the Holy Ghost. His conception of Christ was by the operation or virtue of the Holy Ghost. or by the energetical command and ordination of the Holy Ghost, whereby that part of the Virgin's blood or seed whereof the body of Christ was to be framed, was so cleansed and sanctified, that in it there should be neither spot nor stain of original pollution. 2. The effect was the framing of Christ's manhood, in which we may observe the matter and manner. Manter, observe we, the manter of the body and of the soul of Christ. The manter of the body of Christ was the very flesh and blood of the virgin. It was made of a woman, saith the apostle. In other words, of the flesh and blood and substance of the woman. And he was made of the seed of David, saith the apostle, according to flesh. Otherwise he could not have been the son of David according to the flesh. Number two, the soul of Christ is not derived from the soul of the virgin, but it was made as the souls of other men be, of nothing but by the power of God, and so infused into the body by the hand of God. For the manner of forming Christ's human nature, it was miraculous. The angel describes two actions to the Holy Ghost in this great work. The one to come upon the Virgin. the other to overshadow her. But the first is signified the extraordinary work of the Holy Ghost in fashioning the human nature of Christ. The second action ascribed to the Holy Ghost is overshadowing of the Virgin. This teaches us that we should not search over much into this great mystery. Alas, it is too high for us. If the course of ordinary generation be a secret, How past all comprehension is this extraordinary operation? I know the word was made flesh, saith Chrysostom, but how he was made I do not know.