Well, it's good once again to be able to open our Bibles. Take a little detour this morning from our study in John, and I want to turn to the book of Matthew. I was pretty much ready for continuing in John, and I'm looking forward to that. next section, but the Lord laid this passage on my heart. And so I want to bring out some things the Word of God teaches us about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the coming of the Son of God. I've entitled the message this morning, When God Came Down. Let's stand together and read Matthew chapter 1. And I want to read from verse 1 through verse, excuse me, verse 18 through verse 23. Matthew chapter 1, and good to hear pages turning this morning. Matthew chapter 1 and verses 18 through 23. Come on in. We're just getting ready to start reading. Matthew chapter 1 and verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise when his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together. She was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife. for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost and she shall bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which is spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which being interpreted is God with us. Let's look to the Lord in prayer this morning. Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, we are so thankful this morning to be able to meet together in your house. We thank you, Lord, for those that are of this church and as we recognize that you have made us a people, a house of witness for the glory of your name and of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we ask the Lord today that you would help us to lift up your word and exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, may your word be magnified in our presence, but also Lord, especially that it would be magnified in our hearts, that you would help us to declare the truth and that hearts would be convicted of it. And Lord, that those that are without the Lord Jesus Christ might come to the knowledge of the truth that is in the Lord Jesus Christ and experience the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God upon their soul. We ask these things in your son's blessed name. Amen. Probably one of the most familiar passages in all the scriptures concerning the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love this first verse and I want us to focus our attention on this and then also later when it tells us in relationship in verse 23 in relationship to the fulfillment of the prophecy concerning Him. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Several things I want us to recognize this morning about that, but also keeping in mind this. Verse 23 says, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Now, when we consider the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, we understand, we've studied our Bible a little bit, we understand that as far as the actual time of his birth, we're about three months late. That would have been every scriptural evidence, which the Bible doesn't tell us specifically, but every scriptural evidence points to that Hebrew month that would have been about the end of September and the first part of October. So for the sake of truth, which is what we're here for, that's the reality of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm not going to get into all the reasons why we do this today because I'm not going to promote all the world's ideas. You can find out that if you want to. The world loves them and doesn't have any exception to them at all. But that's beside the point. I want to bring a message this morning focused on the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's not because I'm not preaching this because this was the day that Christ was born because it's not. Neither will be Wednesday be the day that he was born because it's not. Of all the possible times scripturally, that's the least likely time that the Lord Jesus Christ would have been born. As I said, we're more than most likely about three months late. But I know what it is to be late to other things and you can still preach the truth about it. And so I want to do that this morning. In matter of fact, those things and all the things that go with it make it even more necessary to declare the truth. That's why we're here. We're to be a house of witness for God. We're to be a church that preaches the truth of God and the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so that's what I want to do this morning. Now I want you to notice some things about, and I want to get right into this, because I may have more to say than I have time to say it, but I'll try. The first thing I want you to notice is this. And let me, before I even say this, let me say this. If all these points don't have application, then we might honestly say, what good are they? Well, the truth needs to be preached regardless, but the point is, they do all have very important, pertinent application. And so I want us to think about these things this morning, even in concerning what's happening and what has happened in our world. The Word of God says, Mary was found with child. Now that's not just a euphemism. God's the one who gave us this book. I get amused that foolish people, and I'm being as tactful as I can, foolish people They say, well, the Bible just says that because that's the figure of speech that they used back then. They didn't know the science that we know. God is the God of the science. Hello, God made the worm. He created it the way it is. He created reproduction the way it is. He knows how it works. He knows the truth of what it is. Mary was not found. This is an inspired writer. He has just finished the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ from David on down. going back even to Abraham and then coming up from Abraham all the way up to the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And now he proceeds to give an account of his birth, beginning not with his coming into the world. The Bible doesn't start there with his birth. It says, this is how he was born. In other words, it says in verse 18, the birth of Jesus Christ was on this lie. And then it starts with her being with child. And this is not the only passage. The Bible is very clear about this. Nothing less than a human being. From conception, she was with child. She wasn't with a fetus. She wasn't with just something that was part of her body. She was with another human being that she carried. She was with child. If science, if your science doesn't agree with that, you got the wrong science. Verse 23 states specifically She shall bring forth a son. He was conceived as a son. That's why he came forth as a son. God made the chromosomes. You can't teach God about the chromosomes. Understand what I'm saying? It's a fool that says, I'm going to teach God something about science. You're talking to the one that made it that way. He was a son from his conception. Before any of the appendages began to appear, he was a son. And that's what she brought forth. The fulfillment, this is a fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14. There it says, as it's referred to in verse 23, It's one thing. I mean, what she conceived, she conceived a son and brought forth a son. She didn't conceive a question mark. and bring forth the Son. She conceived the Son and brought forth the Son. She brought forth what she conceived. And that doesn't ever change. Men can mutilate what came forth, but you can't change reality. You can live in a dream world You can live delusional, but you can't change reality. Truth is truth. There's no such thing as your truth and my truth. We can both be wrong, but God is never wrong. Let God be true and all men a liar. We've got a world full of liars today. Luke chapter 1 and verse 31 says, Thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son. What she conceived, she brought forth. She brought forth a son and shall call his name Jesus. We'll get back to that. She shall conceive what she brings forth. A son. Now, It tells us then that there's a bigger reason even than life and death and murder of the innocents. Because if Satan can get men to believe the lie that somehow what's conceived is not reality and what comes forth is not reality, then the Word of God means nothing concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. And some of the philosophers of the past, this is not new by the way, some of the philosophers, the so-called scientists of the past, can sit back and go, uh-huh, see? Because genetically, they deny the reality of what happened with Mary. It's because they're unbelieving infidels that don't believe anything in the truth of God. Without faith, it's impossible to please Him. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. By faith, we understand. Meaning, without faith, we don't understand. So it's very easy to understand why some of these people don't understand reality. They don't have the faith to believe truth. Therefore, they're delusional. Now, the second thing I want you to notice about Mary was found with child is this. What was in her was called that holy thing. What was in her was already called that holy thing. That didn't change at his birth. That didn't change after his temptation. Now that matters, by the way, because I've known, I've read people that, matter of fact, one man that used to be well recognized on the radio as being a fundamentalist, and he wasn't, but he believed that Christ could have sinned up until after his temptation. He was just a liar. He could not have sinned. He was that holy thing. You and I are not. We're not conceived in holiness. David said, I was conceived in sin. I was conceived in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. It's not because Mary, now catch this, catch this carefully. This truth is not because of Mary. It's because of His conception that was a miracle. The Bible tells us why this is. I realize The biggest, and that's plural, the biggest religious fake Christianity organizations in the world are wrong about this. But they'll just have to be wrong. The majority in this world never has been right with God. It was a miracle. The Word of God says of the Holy Ghost. You will not understand it until you recognize and you'll never fully conceive it and understand it because it's a work of God. And your brain's too small, too finite, and too sinfully corrupt, and so is mine. God said he was conceived of the Holy Ghost. Luke 1.35 says, And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest. It took the omnipotent, all-powerful God to do this, shall overshadow thee. Therefore, therefore, because the Holy Ghost overshadowed her, therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Because God, the Holy Spirit, caused His Son, that is the Son of God, to be joined with the conception and caused the conception of a man. You say, how can that happen? Will you tell me how God created the universe? Let's start there. You tell me how God created the universe. God told her and us why He was holy. Why was He holy? Because of the Spirit of God. It means that His holiness had nothing to do with the spiritual condition of His mother. In other words, she was still a sinner. I didn't say she was a lost sinner, but she was a sinner. Mary was not immaculate. In other words, as that's described by those who teach that, and I'm quoting, Mary was preserved, exempt from all stain of original sin at the first moment of her animation. That would be her conception. So they attribute what was true with the Lord Jesus Christ only to Mary. And then they go on to say, and sanctifying grace was given to her before sin could have taken effect in her soul. There are some problems with that, aren't there? Jesus told Nicodemus, except a man be born again. That's talking about men, women, and children. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. There's nothing sanctified about him. Or her. The Bible calls her, they say she's full of grace. But the Bible says she's called highly favored. Those are not the same thing. And I'll give you some proof of that from the word of God. She's called highly favored. There's only one other place that this expression is used. It's in Ephesians 1, verse 6, and it's talking about every child of God that's been born again of the Spirit of God, their sins washed away in the blood of Jesus Christ. Verse 6 says, "...to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved." The word accepted means highly favored. It's the same Greek word, and it's the only two places that it's used in the Word of God. She was known more highly favored than you and I, who are a child of God. We also have a place as a child of God to serve God, and we're highly favored of God to be able to do that. and to be called to do that. Mary understood that. Jesus simply said, let it be unto thy maid according as thou hast said. She was a servant. That's what we're supposed to do. It's true of every child of God upon regeneration, we have been highly favored. Highly favored of God, when we're born of the Spirit of God. When God puts us into His service, it's because we're highly favored of God. Mary was not different than any child of God. She was born in sin, spiritually a child of Satan, but born again redeemed by the blood of Christ. That's why her soul, she says, my soul doth rejoice in God my Savior. There's no sanctifying grace in Mary. Christ didn't need it. It's blasphemy to think that she did. He didn't need it. The Spirit of God provided it. Any sanctifying grace is in God alone. Satan has sought to bypass the cross. Listen, when Christ came into this world, The reason he tempted him, eventually it came down to this. It was all to obey Satan rather than God. Cast down yourself from the temple, and I'll give you the kingdoms of this world. Well, he already has those, and he has now purchased them to himself. He has them by creator right, and now he has them by redeemer right. They belong to him. That's why that song, Joy to the World, is so true when he comes back the second time. Because he purchased them. When he came the first time, he hadn't purchased them to himself. Now he has. And that's why every soul, because he is a resurrected Lord, every soul is going to stand before God and be judged. Because Christ has raised from the dead. Satan has sought to bypass the cross And for a woman to be the instrument of sanctifying God's Son is utter blasphemy. It's blasphemy against the Lord Jesus Christ and it tries to bypass the cross and glory. When Paul said, I glory in nothing but the cross of Christ, Saint would rather have you glory in nothing but the crib of Christ. It violates the truth of God. It violates the whole truth of original sin, sin that is passed upon the whole race, the Word of God teaching. Romans chapter 5 and verse 12, you see, this strikes at the very heart of the gospel. It's not a small, oh, they all believe a little bit different. This strikes at the very heart of the gospel. And if it's believed, it will slay every human being that believes it. Look at what the Word of God actually says. Wherefore, by one man, Adam, sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. All the race of men have sinned. That's God's racial distinction right there. One race, all in Adam, all fell. Men, women, and children. Verse 15 says, for if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God and the gift by grace which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. That's verse 15 by the way, not verse 1. But the point is this, the gift by grace which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. Mary nor anyone else can receive the grace of God except through the grace of Christ. No one of the race can bypass the work of Christ on the cross of Calvary. No one of this race can receive the cross except you turn to God from idols to serve the living God. and humbly bow at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot bypass the cross and receive any grace until then. That doctrine that they have, and they're not alone, I said there's more than one, just different variations. It's the result of mongrelizing the truth with pagan mythology from Babylon forward. That's where the Queen of Heaven idea started and it's continued down to this day. Paul calls these doctrines in 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 1 doctrines of demons. That's what they are. I mentioned that to somebody one time a few years back. It's probably been 10 years ago. I mentioned something about He was talking about something that some people believe, and I said, that's doctrines of demons, and he just laughed. But I'm going to tell you something. When I say that today, he says, amen. You know what the difference is? He's been born again since then. He's been born again since then. Now he sees the way God sees it through the Word of God. That's what happens when God saves an individual. That's what the new birth will do for you. Only the Lord Jesus Christ is essentially holy. That is in the very essence of His being. Only He is holy. Only through Him can we be sanctified. To have the ability to impart sanctification to His children, only the Lord Jesus Christ can do that. In John chapter 3 and verse 33, He that hath received His testimony, He's talking about Christ, He that hath received His testimony, that is, the testimony of Christ, has said to his seal that God is true. You must receive the testimony of Christ, the gospel. Then it says, for he whom God has sent speaketh the words of God, for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. And he's the only one of which that's said. Only him. Only the Lord Jesus Christ. Only of the Lord Jesus Christ is it said that the Spirit of God is given without measure unto him. I want you to notice concerning this as well that the response of John shows the reality, that is John the Baptist shows the reality of his personhood at the earliest stages of his conception. In John chapter 1 and verse 41 to 44 And I'm not going to turn and read all of those verses, but I'll just relate this to you only by the illumination of the Holy Spirit of God. That relates how that when Mary came six months after Elizabeth conceived, six months later she conceived, Mary conceived. And at that point is when she came, that is immediately upon the point of her conception is when she came to where Elizabeth was. So John was now six months conceived, that'd be like 24 weeks. Process that when you think about what people are doing, 24 weeks. And so Mary came to where Elizabeth was, and the Word of God says the babe leaped in her womb with joy. That's emotion. That's emotion. At 24 weeks, he had emotion. Now listen, the Spirit of God was involved in that, but he works on living human beings. He doesn't do that to an animal. They don't have joy like people have. It was the Spirit of God, the illumination of the Spirit of God that Elizabeth would know even that Mary had conceived. She just walked in the door. Ever notice that there? If they didn't have phones, she could call her up ahead of time on her iPhone and say, I'm going to have a baby now." She had just conceived and she just walked in the door. And it's Elizabeth that said that she had conceived. The Holy Spirit of God was involved in all of this. These signs were to accompany the coming of the Messiah at both the first and the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is one of those signs. Many others, but this is one of them. Joel 2.28 says, and it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. You see, that's God that does that. It's the fulfillment of Scripture. Now I want you to notice, secondly, this morning, Jesus was born of a woman. to provide a body and a legal person, a legal person under the law. He was born of a woman, the Word of God says, in Galatians 4, verse 8, it says, made of a woman, made under the law. In Hebrews 10, verse 5, wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice an offering that wouldest not But a body hast thou prepared me. Now listen to that a minute. Don't just read over words and go, okay, I got that. No, stop and think about that. A body hast thou prepared me. None of us can say that. We can say, well, God made me the way I am. I mean, God was involved and He was in control and we trust the providence of God and in all of His works and Yes, we can. But this says, and it's quoting from the Old Testament, hundreds of years before it ever happened, quoted in the book of Hebrews though, No, we were made by procreation and the me started with conception. It wasn't that me existed I know it's bad English, but I'm trying to make the point here. It's not that me existed and had a body prepared for us. He made a body. God prepared a body. God prepared a body by the power of the Spirit of God in Mary for the Son of God. He already existed. It was so that He could become a sacrifice for sin. and to be a sacrifice for sin, he had to be tempted in all points, that is, go through the events of life like we go through, yet without sin. He had to go through the whole growth process as a man, yet without sin. Well, that whole growth process starts at conception. But it was not so that we could make idols out of images and worship a baby. or adult. Stop and think a minute. We Baptists are fond of saying, and we should, we should say this. I don't worship a Christ on the cross. I worship the resurrected and ascended Lord. Can we all say amen to that? That's who we worship, a resurrected Lord. Why don't we say the same thing about a baby in a manger? I rejoice that He came in humility. I'm going to talk about this too. I rejoice in all of that. But I worship a resurrected Lord. I don't stand around and gawk at a doll in a manger and think I'm worshiping. It's reminding me of my Lord. No! If that happened, so many other things could happen. That's not who I worship. We need to be careful that we're not accused of gross hypocrisy when we say, I worship the Lord of glory, not a Savior on a cross. I'm going to worship a risen Lord. and rejoice in all the works of God that brought it to pass. All the works of God, equally. When He says, Thou hast a body, hast thou prepared it. It's a tent in which He dwelt. He became flesh and dwelt, dwelt, dwelt. That Greek word is the same word for tent. He tabernacled. Literally, he became flesh and tabernacled among us. You know why tabernacled? Because he was only among men for about 33 and a half years. His body was a temporary dwelling place in order to accomplish a work and then be glorified. It had to be done, it had to be to accomplish everything. He had to be born the way he was born. Hebrews 2 and verse 14 says this, For as much as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same. We are flesh and blood. Our life started at conception. We went through the whole process of the trials, and I know most of it's with the mother. Some other things, but let me tell you something. The baby had to come out the same way as every other great baby. That's dramatic. What am I saying? He experienced, as a man with a body and a soul, everything we experience. That's why he was born! God could have just put him here in a grown-up body. He could have just put him here as a teenager. He could have just put him here, put a baby in a manger. Well, I heard a Catholic lady one time, I was up in Canada driving a truck, and I heard her on the radio talking, calling in about this time of year, and she was talking about how what she was taught was that, you know, that Mary didn't even have any travail pains. She was just like a pearl landed in the I mean, it's just total mythology, total lie, just a total lie. No, he experienced, he was humble, experienced what we experienced. He says, wherefore in all things, let that sink into you. In all things it behooved to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. And that's why there is no soul that is sanctified or saved or receives any grace except through the Lord Jesus Christ. But in Him we have a Savior that is exactly like us in every aspect. except without sin. No original sin, no practice of sin, no thought of sin. Temptation placed before Him, never was He tempted. There's a difference between those two things. All things includes all things, His conception, His birth. He was humble, the Word of God said. That was not the place of his glorification. That was the place of his humiliation. Word of God says of the Lord Jesus Christ, there's no beauty that we should desire him. Now listen, I have never seen a baby that wasn't a beautiful baby. I've seen some that were more beautiful than others. My brother was born pudgy and round-faced. He was cute, I'm sure. I was born My dad said, I was all wrinkled up, he said, you look like an old man. There was no beauty they desired me. I think I look worse than I do now, believe it or not. If that's possible, it probably is, but I haven't tested it out to prove it. No beauty. Isaiah 53, 2 says, for he shall grow up. Grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. Boy, that's not very pretty. He have no form nor comeliness and we shall see him. There is no beauty that is in the flesh. There is no beauty that we should desire him. The beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ wasn't in its physical appearance. He was experiencing humility. He was being humble. His beauty was in His holiness. Philippians 2 and verse 7 says, but made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant. He wouldn't have taken a trophy for the most beautiful baby in the nursery. He was of no reputation. He was humble. He was made in the likeness of men. The Bible nowhere teaches that at any time people are attracted to his physical beauty. They recognized his character even as a man. They could not find fault with his character. Those who knew him were drawn by his holds. Even the shepherds only found the humblest of situations in And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them." Think about that. That's not there by accident. That's not just there as a historical fact. As it was told unto them. People that receive the truth of Christ receive as it's told in the Word of God, as it's preached from the Word of God. The world saw when he came, the world saw, multitudes saw, miracles! And they believed on the miracles! But only a few believed on him because of the word that he spoke and believed his word and his testimony because of the miracles. It was the word of God by the angels that caused them to glorify God. And then seeing what the angels had told them, the word of God, The deity of the Son of God was veiled by His humble humanity. Thirdly, the purpose. Believe it or not, this is my shortest point. The purpose of the Incarnation is in His name. The purpose of His Incarnation is in His name. What did they name Him? What did they call Him? Thou shalt call His name Jesus. She shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he shall save his people from their sins. He shall. That's a promise. He didn't save anybody as a baby. It qualified him. In his humiliation, he experienced humiliation throughout all of his humanity unto the humiliation of the cross. And to the humiliation of the cross, Jesus wasn't a new name in Israel. It wasn't. Joshua is the same thing. The Hebrew name Joshua is exactly the same name in Hebrew, the other in Greek. Secular history records, and there was more than one of those, Hosea means the same thing, There's a secular history records one Jesus Sirach who wrote before the time of Daniel. And we have his writings. But he was not an inspired writer by any means. He wasn't an inspired writer. But he's a real person. But Joshua, it's the shortened form of Joshua. which means Jehovah saves. Jehovah saves. Joshua, the deliverer that the book of Joshua is about, he delivered them from their enemies as far as the nation and their natural enemies that were already in the land and the enemies of God. He did that, but he did not provide any internal deliverance. He provided no deliverance from their sin. You look at the last chapter, the last two chapters of Joshua, and you see Joshua talking to them about the idolatry that was already present in the nation. As for me and my family, we will serve my house, we will serve the Lord. And yet he said, you cannot. Why? Because they already had idols that they had taken from the heathen that they were conquering. He didn't save them from their sins. This time, it's Jesus, for He, this Jesus. When you come later, you'll find the disciples never hesitated to clarify which Jesus they were talking about. It was Jesus of Nazareth. It's this Jesus whom God has raised from the dead. All the rest of them are dead. Mary's dead, and her sepulchre is where it is to this day, if you can find it. And I mean that seriously. Don't go buy the relics and things that people build, little shacks. Why? Because there's only one worthy of our worship. There is only one worthy to save us from our sin. There's only one who can. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. for he shall save his people from their sins." The Bible teaches the Lord Jesus Christ warns that there are going to be many Christs. There have been many Jesus before and since, but there's only one that God raised from the dead. There's only one that was God manifest in the flesh. There's only one that came in and experienced the humility of being a baby. conceived in a womb of a mother, being born as a son, living as a son, subjecting himself to his parents perfectly, subjecting himself to the spite and the scorn and the rebuke and the ridicule of lost wicked men. Only one who suffered that unto the death of the cross and then won the victory over sin and over death through the resurrection. There's only one of those. There's only one. The purpose of the immutable God, the unchangeable God, was not to make salvation possible. You hear me this morning? He didn't make salvation possible. He said, He shall save His people from their sins. And He did. And He makes that effectual by the new birth yet today. God grants repentance and faith by the preaching of the gospel to a lot of sinners, turns them from their idols to serve the true and living God. You say, well, that's pagan people who have those idols. Everybody has idols in their life. Before they're saved, every person has things they worship and they serve. They serve that, they serve themselves. Every humanist serves himself. They worship themselves. The Son of God made salvation sure for all that call upon Him in faith. For all that call upon Him in faith, salvation is made sure by the Lord Jesus Christ. He secured the salvation of His people by the work of the cross and the triumph of His resurrection. He secured it. The path to victory began in the humiliation of His birth. all things like as ours. And that path led to ultimate humiliation of the cross, where sin and death were destroyed. But what about you this morning, if you die right now? I'm going to tell you something according to the Word of God. If you're not born again of the Spirit of God, unless you're born again of the Spirit of God, you died dead in sins, you will die the second death. for all eternity in hell, because that's what sin deserves. That's what the holiness of God requires. Have you been born again of the Spirit of God? Turn from your idols, turn from yourself, turn from your sin to desire the righteousness that is in Christ alone so that you can then say, my righteousness is of Him. My righteousness is of Christ. and Him alone. Let's stand and have a word of prayer this morning. Gracious God and Heavenly Father, we thank You today. I want to thank You for the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to thank You for Your eternal purpose in Christ. The willingness of Your Son to come and take upon Him the humiliation of everything related to this earthly life, a world full of sinners, a creation created by Him and now under the curse of sin. But to live a perfect life, do nothing but good, and suffer for it at the hands of wicked men, rise from the dead victorious to give us eternal life. And we thank you, dear God, today that eternal life is in the Lord Jesus Christ and in Him alone. And in Him alone is our hope for eternal life in the future. So we thank you for Him and ask your God today that you make the truth of Christ, the truth of your Word, and the truth of eternity real to a soul.