him so we'll just remain seated as we sing this one. Thank you. How to be sent but to serve. And if your life can be not in love teaches. By any hope he chose to bear, his heart with sorrow was torn. In the me. He knows what's right to follow Him. To bring our lives as the baby of our dreams. I'll worship Him. Let's worship Him. ♪ He holds us down ♪ Okay, let's pray. Dear Lord, we thank you for this season of Christmas, Lord, how we take time out just to remember especially you coming to this earth, Lord, and you didn't just come as a baby in a manger, Lord, but you came as the servant king to serve others and to give the ultimate sacrifice of dying on the cross for us, Lord. And we thank you for that. We give you all the thanks and praise, Lord, that you give us this hope for the future, Lord, that if we just put our trust in you, that we can go to you in heaven, Lord, and just help us, Lord, just to live like you, to serve others and put others before us, Lord. Lord, we just pray that you will bless this offering now and just use it for the furtherance of your kingdom, Lord. Amen. Okay, and the last song we're gonna sing is Jesus All for Jesus. So if you want to stand and join this and just really think about the words as you sing it as we head into a new year. We always think about New Year's resolutions and what we're going to do differing, but maybe it's a good challenge for each of us just to put Jesus first in each of our New Year's resolutions and everything that we do, just to try and live for him. Just stand and sing. Yeah. It's still Boradá, Boradá in Wales. Siomai, don't worry, you haven't left Northern Ireland. It's all right. When people in Wales hear me speaking in Welsh, like, I say, are you fluent in Welsh? Nope. I can use a few phrases, like, nadolig clawen, bloithin niweth iar. That means Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. If you say that in the summertime, you're in trouble. It's just the best time of the year to be able to use that phrase. But it's lovely to be with you, and if you don't know who I am, I'm Darren, Darren Dowie, and I was brought up in this church. Some of you will remember me or have the pleasure of me tearing around this place and the halls and all sorts of things, but I grew up and out. And we are ministering in Wales, in South Wales, just not so far from Newport, the Newport that was on the news where they were using machetes on the street. Yeah, it's about 10 minutes from Newport in South Wales. In a church there, Ebenezer Evangelical Congregational Church in Pontnewydd. We're about 50 people and we're serving the Lord in various ways. But the one is, we preach the word of God. And last summer, I was here for six weeks, where I took a three-month sabbatical. And in the first nine weeks, I visited nine churches all around Cwmbran. And I don't think we love the Bible. I don't think people in church love the Bible. Do you love the Bible? It doesn't get read from the front. It doesn't get spoken about. It's just a nice time, a nice social club. And actually church isn't a social club, it's worship of God. And we're gonna come to the pinnacle of our worship as we read, publicly read God's word, and then we're gonna hear it explained. That's why we come, we wanna hear from him. And that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna have a word of prayer first of all, and then we're gonna read from 1 John chapter one. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we thank You, Lord, that we can gather in Your name, we can gather to worship and to adore You. And we thank You, Lord, we've done that with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. But now, Lord, we pray that Your Word, Your living and active Word, will come, Lord, and speak and penetrate our hearts, right even down to the joints and the marrow. right into the very intentions and attitudes of our hearts. For, Lord, Your Word comes and lays us open and naked before You, to whom we'll give an account. And so, Father, search our hearts and see if there's any wicked way in us. Have us, Lord, to confess our sin, Lord, honestly. Lord, to say to You, Lord, that yes, we aren't perfect. And yet, Lord, we are being conformed day after day into the image of the Son of God. And so we pray this morning that you'll be with us by your Spirit. You'll help us, Lord, to think. Lord, even over this Christmas time where we've had a little rest, that, Lord, we'll put our minds back into gear. Lord, that you'll move, Lord, our hearts, that our wills may be conformed to the will of God, and that we may, Lord, live for you together. Lord, as the people of God. Father, have us to pray. Have us to be a praying people. Have us to be a people of the book, the Bible, the living Word of God, that Lord, we may know of you. But Lord, more than that, that we may know you. Lord, personally, every single day, every time we open the Bible, that Lord, we'll hear your voice speak. For Lord, that is how you speak to us. And so have us to know you, and to love you, and then to serve you with all of our heart, and mind, and soul, and strength. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. I wonder, do you remember what you were doing on Christmas Day at three o'clock? Sometimes people have a tradition where they would listen to the Queen's speech. It's now the King's speech. You have to get used to that. After all of those years saying, we're going to listen to the Queen's speech, it's the King's speech. And the King, after he spoke about going to see the Pope, will not say anything about that. He talked about pilgrimage, but after he talked about pilgrimage, he talked about how Joseph and Mary made a pilgrimage to Bethlehem, and then how we are on a journey, and he says Christ came into the world for a purpose, and then he stopped. He didn't go on to say the rest of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The bit that was missing in what he said was that Jesus came with a purpose to take on human flesh, to live amongst us, to live a perfect life, to then go and to be a sacrifice for many, to die on that cross for our sins, and to rise again the third day. He missed the vital bit out. He missed the part that Christ dies for our sin and rises for our justification. Christ came with a purpose. If that's all you're gonna say about what Christmas is, He just came. No, there's more. There's far more, because as we think about the Bible this morning, we're gonna see that. Let's turn to 1 John 1, and we're gonna read these 10 verses together. Let's hear God's Word, and think about the real purpose of why Jesus came. 1 John 1, verse 1. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled concerning the word of life. The life was made manifested and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, and you also may have fellowship with us. And truly, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. This is the message which we have heard from him and declare to you that God is light, And in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. Amen. And this morning, as we think about the incarnation and the glory of the incarnation, maybe it's something that you've never thought about. When I grew up in this church, and I confess this at another church, by the way, I didn't know this word incarnation. Oh, we celebrated Christmas, but I never really came in contact with that word incarnation, incarnae. And you all know, because you're good Northern Irish folk, that you have Chile con carne. Chili and meat. This is the easiest way to remember that Christ came, He enfleshed Himself. God becoming what He was not in order to make us what we are not. That truly Christ came in human flesh. He enfleshed Himself. And He dwelt among us and He lived. And we read it, don't we, in John chapter 1, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. We have seen something of God. And here is John in his gospel saying that, and here is John saying the same thing in his letters, saying, I want you to know this real Jesus. He's not a myth, he's not a legend, he has come in human flesh. There's a group of people called the Dosatists, and what they believe is that Jesus was some sort of ghostly figure. He floated along above the ground and didn't have his feet on the ground at all. No, no, we reject that. He was God and He was truly human. On the other side, we reject what the Aryans believe, that He wasn't God, that He had no divinity at all. And if they knock your door, you know who they are. First letter's J, second letter's W. They come and here are these two errors that we mustn't run into, that Jesus was truly God and He was truly human in the one person. He had two natures that weren't, that didn't divide or weren't watered down. And at times we get to see His divinity when He does something of His godness. And at other times we see when He gets tired and hungry and when He gets weary and He weeps, you see His humanity. And here is God's way of redeeming men and women and boys and girls. He sent his son to a body he prepared for him. And as John comes to us, he wants us to see the reality, that this isn't just a make-believe. This isn't just something you trot out every Christmas for three or four weeks. This matters. Because if Christ didn't come in human flesh, he couldn't represent us before God. He couldn't die for us on the cross. He couldn't give us this eternal salvation that we love. If he wasn't enfleshed, he couldn't go and die on a cross because God cannot die. And those first four verses that we read, John comes and tells us that he's really seen this Jesus. In verses 5 to 7, he tells us this Jesus, this God who is light and there's no darkness in Him, you need to know Him. And then in those last few verses, he says, you need to know what to do with Him. You see, this is the message that he says. In John 1, it says, in Him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness doesn't comprehend it or overcome it. Again, this is the condemnation, John chapter 3, that light has come into the world, and men have loved darkness rather than light. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and doesn't come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth, are you someone who does the truth? They come to the light that his deeds may be clearly seen that they've been done in God. And so this morning, as we get to think about the glory of the incarnation, you need to know you're gonna come face to face with Jesus Christ through his word, that truly you're going to see the eyewitness accounts, you're gonna see fully that here is the God-man, that one mediator between God and man. And so this morning, let's think about this passage. But more than that, if you don't know Him, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Know that this God came from heaven, from glory. Imagine. I tried to think about that, you know. That Christ Jesus, the eternal Son of God, was in glory with the Father, was there with the Spirit. And we find this, that He leaves heaven's glory. The place where there's no sin and there's everything's worship and glory. And He enters this dark world where men would reject Him. They would spit on Him. They would call Him Beelzebub. They would do all sorts of things. They would mock Him and then crucify Him. And yet this is the predetermined will of God. God's will to see of. " Now, let's look at these verses together. Firstly, let's see in those first four verses the eyewitnesses of the incarnation. Because this morning, we all like good eyewitnesses, don't we? This morning, we like it when that truly we can say, I was there. Were you there? Were you there on Christmas Day around the TV set? Or the big massive screen that they have now that you say, I can see that from here. But, you know, you get a, oh, King Charles is looking the best that he is. Where were you? Were you there? Ah, but did other people see you? You see, we all love to spin a good yarn, don't we? But we need to verify the story. And we love those stories, but we're very suspicious. We need eyewitness accounts. We need people who would sign the statement that says, this actually did happen. And look what John says. He doesn't say, I John. He doesn't say, I John was with Jesus. He wasn't going with the rumor mill. He says, we, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard. We have seen, we have looked upon, our hands have handled. This is the One who was eternal, who was from the beginning. This is the One who has come to us and entered time and space. This is the Word of life. We have seen Him. And here is John anchoring all that he's saying back in those eyewitness accounts. You know them, Matthew and Mark. Luke and John, Matthew who wrote to a more of a Jewish audience, Mark who wrote to the Gentiles so they could understand that Jesus came as the King, Luke who was a doctor who wrote with all the detail and thinking about how people, who the people were who came in contact with Christ, and John, this guy who wrote this letter. How he writes in a way where we see something deeper. We see something of the theology of God. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. And here he is saying that you can go and you can read these things for yourself. There are eyewitness accounts. There are things that you can go back and verify. Do you know what a Jewish court of law, you needed to have more than one witness? Or else it was just a rumor mill. Do you ever hear some rumors, mind? They're so crazy and some people have a big G on their forehead called gullible. But how can you not see it when you read the Bible and you see the eyewitness accounts from different angles, all talking about this man, Jesus, who did things that were of God? He is the God-man. I don't need to remind you that John isn't a lone visionary. He walked with Jesus for those three and a half years. He's seen Jesus teach about the kingdom of heaven. He saw Jesus healing people. He saw Jesus walking on the water. He saw Jesus die on a cross. You see, there are eyewitnesses of the incarnation. Jesus just didn't float. He walked. He talked. He got tired. He ate. He offered them bread and wine. He celebrated the Passover. This Jesus is truly God with us. Emmanuel, we can see him in all of his godnessness, if there is such a word, and in all of his humanity. We get to see truly who he is. Are you an eyewitness of the incarnation? Have you seen who Jesus is? Well, we need to read the Bible. We need to go and see that here is the one who has been displayed for us. Do you know there are two things that we can know? That there is general revelation, where God reveals Himself in creation. He reveals Himself in our hearts, for God has placed eternity in our hearts. But there is special revelation. We've got His Word, but we've also got Jesus Christ, where we have been shown exactly who God is. And this morning, as we see and think about who Jesus Christ really is. and glory in the incarnation. God came to us and God still speaks to us through His Word. He comes to you this morning and says, why not pick up the Scriptures for yourself? Why not come and read them? Do you not remember the day where actually the Bible was chained to the pulpits? Do you remember the day where it was in Latin and you couldn't read it for yourself? You've got a Bible and so have I. You can read the eyewitness accounts and see how great God has been to you. I often think about Acts chapter four. Do you remember Acts chapter four? Where the man, and we used to sing the little song, don't we? He went leaping and jumping and praising God. The man who was by the gate beautiful. And now Peter and John says, silver and gold have I none. But such as I have, I give thee. In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk. And he went walking and leaping and praising God. See, I remember the singing of that song. Do you remember singing that song? I'm sure you do. But it's just after that when Peter and John, they get arrested by the Sanhedrin, those who supposedly know God. You ever find people like that, who supposedly know God? And here they were, dragged before the Sanhedrin, and the Sanhedrin marveled at the fact that they had no formal education, that they were simple fishermen and other people, and we see that actually they had seen something of who they were. Listen to what it says. For they saw that they had been with Jesus. These eyewitnesses, they had been with Jesus. They had handled him and touched him and seen him. They had seen the Word of Life up close. And today, as we read the Bible, we get to see who Jesus is. We get to have what is called fellowship. Has anyone ever asked you, come and have fellowship with me? And what they meant was, come and have a cup of tea. Having a cup of tea is good. Come back this evening and have a cup of tea, but have fellowship beforehand. Partner together with brothers and sisters in Christ to worship God together. Partner together in standing for the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what real kanonia is. It's not just a wee cup of tea. It's saying you and I are going to have fellowship together. And you see what happens when we know this Jesus? It says that we have seen and heard Him and declare Him to you that you also may have fellowship with us. We have come to believe in this Jesus and so can you. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And it comes by the help of the Spirit of God, by the way, just in case you didn't know that. That the Spirit of God sheds light on the whole of Scripture and says, behold the glory of Jesus. Come and see who He truly is. Pick up the Bible and read it. I wonder, are you an eyewitness? I was reading this morning just in the gospel of John. Can you say that? I was reading all about this Jesus, the one who prays for his followers, the one who teaches them, the one who rebukes them. You see, reading the Bible isn't an intellectual exercise. It isn't an exercise just to tick the box, but it's to have real fellowship, real fellowship with heaven. And you know what church is supposed to be? And church is the people, by the way. is to be a little bit of heaven on earth, that you partner with me and with everyone else, and we say we're gonna praise God. Doesn't matter what the world's gonna do. We're gonna tell people about this Jesus who lived and died and who rose again the third day, the very central parts of Christianity. We are gonna be eyewitnesses of this incarnation. But there's more, there's more, there's always more in the Bible. We just don't have enough time. But at least a second lead to something else. The actual truth of the incarnation. Well, what on earth is it? Well, John tells us this is the message that we have heard from Him. So, this is the good thing that happens. John doesn't keep his little message all to himself. He shares it. He says, this is the message I want you to tell. Tell everybody that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. What is that supposed to tell you? Light, darkness. Men hate the light, you know. You see, most crimes, I wouldn't know by the way, I haven't been, most, I don't commit many crimes. I just break the speed limit once, never go under it. But most crimes happen at night under the cover of darkness because people don't want to be recognized and to be seen. Little back alleys where people plot things happen in the darkness. And here is the thing, that actually God is light, and there's no hiding place from God. There's no hiding of your sin from God. Dear Christian, you can't hide your sin from the God who is omnipresent. the God who knows your very heart. You see, Hebrews 4, 12, and 13 tells us that the Word of God is living and active. It's sharper than any double-edged sword. It pierces right down into the joints and marrows. It reveals the attitudes and the intentions of the heart. And you just need to know that Jesus Christ, through His Word and by His Spirit, comes to search your heart even this morning. Maybe that's why people don't come to church. Because they know that as soon as the Bible is open, the Bible is reading you and saying to you, what are you really like before a God who is holy? In Him is no darkness at all. And I get it all the time. Oh, I'm going to go and I'm going to get to heaven, and I'm going to talk, talk to God, and God's going to let me in. He's not going to let you in, by the way, unless you're in Christ Jesus. You see, when you start to read this, it says, if we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. How many people is there who look good, who go to the right places like church, and yet their lives are in darkness? You cannot walk in darkness and be a child of God. You cannot be a son of the light and be a child of the devil. Two things that can't mix. You see, when Jesus came, it was like the light was there. It was turned on. Maybe you think about that before people got into church this morning. All the lights were off, and you find this, that it might have been harder to walk down the aisle this morning when it was dark than when the lights are on. But if we were to put even just one little candle and light it at the front, you get to see that everyone can see the light. And either we are attracted to the light, like when Jesus was in Galilee, people came from all over the place, or we're repelled from Him. Now, which is it for you? It can't be both. You see, the thing is, when the light came into the world, we see what Christ came. He came to heal the brokenhearted. He came to open the eyes of the blind. He came to set the captive free. He came to take away the oppression of many. He came to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Isaiah 61, Luke chapter four. He came to actually save people from their sins so that we can have fellowship with him and with each other. The truth is that when we live in darkness, we de-fellowship. That's another reason why people stay away from church. They know they're rotten. See, Romans 3 tells us that there's no one righteous, not even one. We're all rotten, by the way. It's not great for a Sunday morning to be told you're rotten, by the way. That's a good way of winning friends and influencing people. But when the light of Christ comes, He exposes everything that's in our lives that needs to be removed. And some people don't like that. Remember the Sanhedrin? They were the religious body that ruled in Israel, and they thought they were the boys. They were the leaders. They were the holy people. And look what the Sanhedrin chose to do. They turned away from the light. In fact, they plotted to destroy Him. They plotted and plotted and plotted, and then we remember what happened on that Good Friday, that they crucified Him. And if they had of known that He was the Lord of glory, they wouldn't have crucified Him. That's what Paul said in Corinthians. And yet here they were in the darkness, and in the darkness we don't want anything to do with Jesus. That's why when you invited people to come along, maybe to Christmas carol services or to come along to church, they say, no, that's not for me. We've got to pray first. Lord, open their eyes to the truth of Jesus. Because there are so many people who think God is an ogre. There are so many Christians who think God is an ogre. God isn't an ogre. God is merciful and kind. God is the God who sent Jesus Christ into the world to redeem us, to save us from our sins because He knew that light and darkness don't mix. Holiness and sinners can't dwell in the same place. That He came to make peace between God and man through the blood of His cross. You see, ladies and gentlemen, the truth of the incarnation is we need Him. And we need to walk in the light. Do you see what it says in verse 7? But if we, Christian, if we walk in the light as He is in the light, what does it say? We have kanonia, fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. You see, the big thing that God wants is not just people to come and to be all alone. And have you ever heard people, when you knock on their door and they say, I'm a Christian, but I don't go to church. You ever heard that? I have never heard so much nonsense in my life. Because look what it's saying in this verse. If we walk in the light, you will want to be where the light is. Why did you come to church this morning? Did you come because you knew it was gonna be full of darkness? Did you come to church this morning because you knew that you were gonna get depressed for the guy at the front who called you so many names and talked about crime? No, you came to church this morning because you knew you were going to hear of the One who says, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. You came to hear about the King of kings to raise your eyes and to say, I want to be like Him. I want to walk in the light. I don't want to fall over. I don't want to fall in the ditch. I don't want to be lost. I want to walk in the light, and I want to be with people who walk in the light. But if we walk in the light, we have fellowship. That means I got here this morning and you thought, oh, he's only coming to preach. No, I've come to have fellowship with you. My heart united with your heart to say we are the children of God, to say actually we've come here for a purpose, to worship and to adore Him, to love Him, and to serve Him. to worship the King of Kings, to know that I have brothers and sisters here who have been cleansed from their sin just like I have. That's what church is all about. That's what the incarnation is all about, that actually Jesus Christ takes lost, hell-deserving sinners and rescues them. by his blood that was shed on the cross. You see, true salvation is found in no one else apart from this Jesus. There is no other name under heaven by which man must be saved. And so why do we keep on talking about the darkness? Let's talk about Jesus, the light of the world. Let's talk about the one who cleansed us. Let's talk about the one who died for us and lived for us and was risen again the third day for us. We need more light, don't we? We need more of Jesus. Jesus the Christ, the one who saves, the one who's anointed. And I want to ask you this morning, where do you dwell? I'm not talking about your address, by the way. I don't want your name and address and your bank card details. No, I don't want that. Where do you dwell in the darkness or in the light? Where do you dwell? Because you can't have one foot in and one foot out, either you're part of the bride of Christ and you're a child of God, or you're a child of wrath and a child of the devil. You can't be both. You can't. It's impossible. And so do you walk in the light as he's in the light? And do you remember what was said in the book of Isaiah and also in Matthew? The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them light has shined. Hey, this incarnation, this is the moment where we see the light. I'm not gonna sing that song, I saw the light. I saw the light. No more darkness, no more night. Here's the truth, Christ came for us to know Him and to walk in this light. Now thirdly and finally, not only have we seen that the eyewitnesses who walk with Jesus and knew Him and heard Him and seen that He is the one who is light and there's no darkness at all, we have fellowship with Him, not only do we see the truth, that there's only two ways, either to be in the light or to live in the darkness, but there's the call. There's the call of the incarnation. It's calling to men and women and boys and girls all over the world, that truly, that truly we need to do something. In fact, it's more that we need to believe something, because we cannot save ourselves. Every preacher knows, by the way, and I'm sure will bear testimony to that, that we cannot leave the Bible in the past. We need to come and apply God's word to your life, Right now here in this space, there's a call. There's a call to leave your sin behind. There's a call to come and be conformed to the image of the Son. And we get this by the time we get to verses 8 to 11. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourself and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just, and He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, We make him out to be a liar and his word of truth is not in us. You see, the call is to be real. To be real before God. To actually see that there's no denial. To actually admit who you are. Do you like being called a sinner? It's not very nice, is it? But it's true. You and I are sinners. I was watching a video the other day And it was from this church. And I'm gonna read my notes, because I'm gonna be very careful. And this so-called church said, we don't go with the Bible. We don't really believe that people are bad. We don't really believe that people are born in sin. We just meet together. Can I tell you something? That church is not a church. It's a social club. for people just to get together. There's a difference, isn't there, that truly this morning that we open the Bible and we see the reality of who we are before a holy God, that we get the reality of why Christ came into the world to rescue us from our sins, that truly that we were born in sin and shaped in iniquity. Oh, we know this, we know this, but do you really know it, that actually when we were as black as we could be, with no hope of rescue, God God did something to rescue my soul. God sent the Lord Jesus Christ into the world so that I'm not deceived, that I know the truth, that surely I am lost and in need of a Savior. Are you lost in need of a Savior, or are you a Christian who needs to be reminded of the great lengths that God has gone to to rescue your soul? This plan was from eternity. That unless we have the Lord Jesus Christ, we are lost and guilty. We are under God's judgment and condemnation. No one likes being called a sinner, but that's what we are. I wonder, I wonder have you given God all the attention that he should have? Have you put him first? You haven't put any gods before him. Have you had any other idols before God? In fact, have you thought about this a little bit further and have you ever used God's name in the wrong way? Have you truly been someone who has told the truth all the time? There's no such thing as white lies, they're just lies. Have you looked at someone It was for me to look at a woman in a lustful way. Have you looked at someone else at Christmas time in particular and said, oh, I wish I had that present? Coveted. You see, when we put our lives in front of the law of God, even those 10 commandments, it shows us our guilt. The law is the schoolmaster that brings us to Christ that says, you have not perfectly kept my law. You are guilty and you deserve the full wrath of the law. The full justice should pour on you. And ladies and gentlemen, the call is this, to flee to Christ and to know that he bore on his body on the cross my sin and my judgment and my condemnation. The death that I should have died, he died. And the call of the incarnation is to believe, to repent and believe, and to know this, that He's faithful and He's just. And if He has paid for your sins, they're paid for. Don't go and visit them a second time. They're covered in the blood of Christ. If the payment has been paid, you don't have to go and pay the bill twice. Praise God, you don't have to go back and pay a bill a second time, because the price of living is shocking. But the price of your sin is shocking. And it took your Savior to go and die on a tree, on a cross, outside the walls of Jerusalem. It took him to put on human flesh. Does that not make you want to sing out to God and praise Him and glory in Him and say, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for saving my soul. Thank you for making me whole. Thank you, Lord. You see, this is where the preaching of God's Word reaches right into your heart. where it should have a response that I want to worship Him more. I want to be in the light with God's people. I want to serve Him. I need Him. Because if I don't have Him, then I'm living a pack of lies. If I don't have Him, I'm living in sin. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to challenge you and ask you the question, are you deceiving yourself like the Sanhedrin? thinking they were in the right place, thinking they were the holy Joes and they knew everything. And yet they didn't have Christ in their hearts, in their lives. They had something intellectual. But we need to know that truly that we should have some information, but we should have transformation in the heart, something that bends our wills toward God. And this morning, we see the eyewitness accounts. We can read them all day. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you can see these people definitely spent time with Jesus, and they kneeled their colors to the mast. I follow him. As Peter said, he says, Lord, we've left everything for you. I follow him. I yield my life to him. The truth of the incarnation, that Christ Jesus comes and he exposes the darkness in your heart and says, you need me. Do you see your need today? And so then we call on the Savior and we make no delay. We call to him and say, Lord, I need you. I need you. I need thee. Every hour, I need thee. This morning, in this moment in God's presence, is God calling you apart, apart from your sin, apart from from the darkness to say, I'm living for Jesus. And that means you can come back this evening. You can come back next week. You can come at seven o'clock on, what day was that, Billy? You can make your plan to say, I'm putting Jesus first. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. everything else will fall away. Put him first. Hear the call that Christ came to save you and redeem you. And sometimes we treat him as a third class citizen. Oh, I'll just do it whenever I want to. That's not what a Christian is. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. And don't forget, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. The whole most important purpose that King Charles forgot about was Christ took on human flesh to live a perfect life, to die a sacrificial death, and to rise again the third day so that you and I can know him, and in knowing him, We know the light of life, eternal life, and he alone is the giver. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for your word, and we pray, Lord, we will love your word, that, Lord, we'll take it into our hearts. It's not just an intellectual exercise, but, Lord, you want to transform us from inward to out. That, Lord, we would love you and confess our sin to you. That we would come, Lord, to have a personal relationship with God, the Father and the Son, and by the help of the Spirit of God. And so this morning, Lord, we pray that we would glory in the incarnation that this is what God has done to redeem precious sinners from being lost and condemned. forever. And so, Lord, have us to be real with you. Not to pretend. For, Lord, we can all remember. Let's pretend. But we want to be real. Lord, be with us. Have us to walk in the light. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We are going to sing together. We're going to stand together if we can. You're the Word of God, the Father, from before the world began. Oh say can you see, Silently he suffered, and then he died. Father, part us now with your blessing. Keep us in your fear and in your favor. Lord, this morning may be a morning where we've turned to you and live for you and honor you and glory you. And now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To God, our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.