December 17, 2025 • 56 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome into the Wednesday Bible Study. My name is Rick Burgess.
I'll be teaching today. We are going to do a
stand along Bible studies. So no matter when you actually
hear or see this, I just want to say Merry Christmas,
because that's what we're going to talk about today. This
is not part of a series. We just finished a
(00:20):
series on the Book of Job. We did one full
year nearly on the Book of Job. So if you
would like to go back and get those archives, you
can do so. You can get those at Themanchurch dot com.
Go there and if you use our media button, you
can either listen to the archives or you can watch
the archives there. So there's also a decade of Bible
(00:42):
studies you can find there too. If you are wondering
about how I don't know how you came across this
Bible study today, but if it's not something normal. Also
host the Rick Burgess Show. It has showed that's been
going for a year. Hosted the Rick and Bubba Show
for thirty plus years. If you'd like to find the
website for the current show, go to Rick burgesshow dot com.
(01:04):
All the information is there and so we are we're
going to be taking a hiatus from the Bible studies
for a couple of weeks. This will be our last
one of twenty twenty five. Our first one will be
in twenty twenty six on the eighth of January, that
first Wednesday, the fifth of bill Monday or the seventh.
Then on January the seventh, that first Wednesday of a
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full week of January. So and then we'll start a
brand new series on Paul's letters from prison. We'll go
through every one of those and we'll work our way
through that for the next year or so. The Manchurch
dot Com is the home for a men's discipleship strategy.
We have so much coming up in twenty twenty six,
including Manchurch gatherings all over the country. You can find
(01:51):
those by going to the manchurch dot com look under events.
We also will start the year with two full weekend
conferences Friday night and half day on Saturday, with multiple
teachers from our team and a few special guests. One
will be in Birmingham, Alabama, on January twenty third and
twenty fourth. The other will be in Startville, Mississippi, on
(02:12):
the thirtieth and thirty first. Those tickets are still available,
but they are going fast, so if you want to
get those, go to the Manchurch dot com while they
are still available. There's a price increase coming in January,
so for the final tickets, so go ahead and get
those that make great Christmas gifts too. And we have
all kinds of resources there that make great Christmas gifts
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in the form of devotions and full books, and of
course we also have six forty week curriculum for your
men to go through in small groups. We have speakers,
we have a full strategy. If you need any help
at all, just go to the Maanchurch dot com and
we are more than willing to help you. So today
we're going to be focusing on what we are actually
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celebrating and remembering out of the Gospel of Luke. We'll
start in chapter one and I'm going I'm gonna skip
around a little bit. We're not gonna read it word
for word, but I'm gonna show you some stuff there,
and then we'll get also into a chapter two as well,
and we'll talk about exactly what we are remembering this
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moment in history when God came to us when we
could not come to him. And hopefully there'll be a
lot of application that we'll carry with us into this
most wonderful time of year. So let's open up in
a word of prayer and we'll jump right into today's
Bible study. Lord, thank you for today. I'm just so
grateful for the men who have attended so diligently week
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after week after week to come in and for their
encouragement and their prayers that they've prayed over me and
over my family, and Lord, I pray for each and
every one of them and all the different things that
they are going through and whatever age of life that
they're at right now. And may may this be a
time that we can all maybe have some time and
rest but worship and reflect on You today. Lord, pray
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for the power of the Holy Spirit as we walk
our way through this historic event. This this that that
actually happened, and what it was all about. Remind us
again today, Lord, and the glorious name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
So let's start with something that that always seems to
be a discussion when when you talk about the Christian
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faith when you get to this time of year, and
that is the person of Mary. Mary Is can be
you know, sometimes put in positions that the Bible simply
does not place her in And this is not a
day to get into theological arguments or anything like that.
But I do want us to look at the earthly
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mother that was chosen by God to carry the the
one human god person of Jesus Christ, when when he
decided to come to us and lower himself to take
on human flesh in the form of this baby, to
these two very poor people, Mary and Joseph. So there's
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no doubt that what Mary is to us. Sometimes, you know,
we can go too far one way or the other.
Was Mary sinless? No, she was not. There's no indication
in scripture of that. Was Mary a virgin for her
entire life? The Bible seems to disagree with that. And
there's nothing sinful about that. She was a married woman
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with a husband. So we'll take some of that on
because what I don't want us to do is to
pretend like that Mary wasn't special. She absolutely was special
because she was chosen by God for this. And you know,
God knows us very well. He created us, He knows
everything about us, and he knows who he can trust
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with certain things, and he knows people that he can't.
So we're going to discover what it was. There's things
about Mary if you have in your mind, because you
can again go two different ways. She's certainly not deity,
and she's certainly not sinless. All that cannot be supported
by scripture. It might can be supported by legend or
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add ons, but not by scripture. But we also need
to be very careful that we don't look at Mary
as if there was she was just kind of some
young girl that just kind of came out of nowhere
and God just randomly looked around and said, that's right
here at work, you're going to discover that Mary. As
far as her devotion to the one and only living God,
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she is quite devoted. Uh. And she is very aware
of the prophecies, extremely aware. So we'll show you some
of that here. Sometimes people look and you know, I
know I do when when I think about Zachariah, who
who who seems to get in trouble with Gabriel, and
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then we see Mary who does not? Uh? And and
why is that? What? What? What? What's the difference in
in all of this? So we'll start in in in
Luke chapter one, and and you see that that Zachariah
who gets his chance to go into the Holy of Holies,
which was very very special. Uh. At this point, remember,
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no one has heard any word from God. Uh in
four hundred years. Okay. So so Zachariah goes into the
Holy of Holies and as we all know, actually hears
from God for the first time in a in a
really really long time. Uh and uh. And then Gabriel
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the Angel begins to begins to kind of explain to
Zachariah what is going on. So go with me to
to chapter one and the start where verse eight. Okay,
because first of all, in the beginning, I want you
to see what it says is in the days of here,
let's sek at five first, and the King of Judea,
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there was a priest named Zachariah. He had a wife
from the daughters of Erin, and her name was Elizabeth,
and they were both righteous before God. I would underline
that walking blamelessly and all the commandments and the statutes
of the Lord. Now we've already learned from from Job
that blameless does not mean sinless. It just means you're
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right with God. It says, but they had no child
because Elizabeth was barren. I'd underline that and we're both
advanced in years, so we got we've got two problems here.
Elizabeth has been bearing her whole life, and now they
would be what we would all consider to be beyond
the ability to, without some help from God, to conceive
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and carry a child. So in verse eight, now, while
he was serving as priest before God, when this division
was on duty, which was a big deal according to
the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot
to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside
at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him
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an angel of the Lord standing on the right side
of the altar of incense. And Zachariah was troubled when
he saw him, in fear fell upon him. This seems
to be the reaction to angels quite often throughout scripture,
so they must be a pretty intimidating thing to see
in their state. But the angel said to him, do
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not be afraid, Zachariah, for your prayer has been heard,
and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and
you shall call his name John. Now this is the prophecy.
John the Baptist is if we did. It won't cover
it today. But when Zachariah does his prayer when John
is born, he knows he's supposed to name him John,
which does restore his ability to speak back to him,
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but which is a beautiful scene. But he is saying,
and we saw this throughout prophecy, he knows that John
the Baptist will be that messenger, will be that voice
in the wilderness, the Elijah that would go before Messiah.
And we know that John did that quite well. But anyway,
he says, you will have joy and gladness, and many
will rejoice at his birth. But he will for he
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will be great before the Lord, and he must not
drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled
with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And
he will turn many of the children of Israel to
the Lord their God, and he will go before them
and the spirit and power of Elijah. That's crucial, because
that's what the prophecy says, right to turn the hearts
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of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to
the wisdom of the just. To make ready underline this,
this was his whole role. Because I want to talk
about us today to make ready for the Lord. A
people prepared. So get them ready, get them ready for Messiah.
You lay down, you do what Prophecy says. You are
the voice. You are the pirate of the power of Elijah.
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And here's where Zachariah gets gets a little bit of trouble.
But Mary says something completely. It's similar. But I'm gonna
show you why it was different. Our white scripture says
it was different. You don't really need my opinion. And
Zachariah said to the Angel, now, how shall I know this?
For I'm an old man and my wife is advanced
in years. And the Angel answered him, I am Gabriel.
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I stand in the presence of God, and I was
sent to speak to you and bring you this good news.
And behold you, you will be silent and unable to
speak until the day that these things take place. And
here's why underline this, because you did not believe my words,
which will be fulfilled in their time. So what happens here,
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Zachariah says to the angel, how shall I know this?
So that's gonna be different what you're gonna see Mary say?
He said, why, how do I know you're telling me
the truth? Is there some sort of proof that what
you're saying is going to happen? And Gabriel says, you realize,
I stand in the presence of the Lord. I came
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here directly from God. He might as well be talking
to you. And you want more proof than me. I
came directly from Him to you. There's nobody else that
I've talked to. So you're going to be silent because
you did not believe my words. Now hang on to that.
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So now, and we know that that Elizabeth was pregnant
and we know what happened. So now let's let's go
over and let's look at Mary. Okay, the birth of
Jesus foretold down here in twenty six in the sixth month.
That tells us Elizabeth has been now with child for
six months. By the way, there's all kinds of people
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because I just know this. I know what you've been
told about December twenty fifth and all this. Do we
know when Jesus was born? We do not. Okay, Now
you've also heard people go the other way, going that's impossible,
it's crazy, it's lunacy. That's not necessarily true either. When
you start looking at this this I was always believe
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until I actually started researching it and reading it and
studying it, that this was that everything to do with
Christmas in twenty fifth it's all paganism. It's from Pagans.
It has no no, it doesn't have any place in
our faith. That's really not true. It really that part
isn't true. I'm not saying that Jesus was born in
the twenty fifth because we don't know that. The Bible
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says doesn't tell us, So that's good enough for me.
But I want you to know that this actually started
within the church trying to get the birth and trying
to see if we could not figure it out. And
some of it is Elizabeth in six months, you know,
so when John the Baptist was conceived, she's six months
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in the Jesus is gonna come nine months later. They
actually have tried to put together a calendar. And believe
it or not, this notion that we think Jesus was
born in the spring, absolutely no way he was born
in the winter. We do not know. But I will
tell you I'd always been told it was Christians hiding
for persecution, and we went into the Pagans who worshiped
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the God of the sun during this and the winter's solace,
and we went in there and hid underneath that from persecution,
and it's just a pagan holiday that we kind of
took to ourselves. The more I studied that that actually
doesn't seem to be historically true. The Church has been
debating this for a long time, and the twenty fifth
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was not just some random grap Now, do we know
that Jesus was born on the twenty fifth? No, and
that's all I need to know. And I don't have
to know when Jesus was born, and I'm not going
to obsess over that. But it was interesting that I
actually was proven wrong on why I thought the twenty
fifth was a little more pagan than it actually is.
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It's actually been something that's been debated in the Church
for a long time, so but that's not important. But
we do know that she Elizabeth now has been carrying
John the Baptist for six months. So Gabriel sent from
God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth, that's right
out of prophecy, to a virgin betrothed to a man
whose name was Joseph of the House of David. And
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the virgin's name was Mary, and he came to her
and said, greetings, oh, favored one. I'd underline that what
she's favored, and people go, well, she's favored because she's
going to carry the Christ child. Well, sure, but but
it seems that the Gabriel is indicating, Hey, God's been
watching you and and and the way you have lived
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your life. He has chosen you for this. Okay, So
here's what I would ask us. First takeaway for us,
what an angel come to any of us? Start out saying,
what's up, favored one? God's been watching you, and I
got to tell you you're you? You are? You have God's favor.
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Do any of us feel like we've lived in such
a way that we have God's favor? Like God would
look down at our lives and say to Gabriel, this
guy can handle it, and those of you out there
that are women, this, this woman can handle this. He
knows Mary Camp Okay, so he says, the Lord is
with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying
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and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
What what do you mean that that the that that
that I'm a favor I'm favored by God? And the
Lord is with me. I I this is just total
this is rick speculation. I think when an angel shows
up and says, hey, I'm here with the Lord, one
thought may be I'm about to die. This angel is
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coming to take me to God, you know, So you
might be troubled saying this is the day I'm gone,
because raise your hand. If you know from some pretty
godly people that some of them have seen angels coming
to get them when they were dying on their deathbed.
I know multiple people that have experienced that. So sometimes
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you see an angel, it doesn't mean there's a great
message coming from God. Sometimes it means packing stuff, it's
time to go. So she's troubled at the saying and
try to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
And the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God. And behold, you
will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and
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you shall call his name Jesus. And he will be
great and will be called the Son of the Most High.
And the Lord God will give him the throne of
his father David, and he will reign over the House
of Jacob forever, and his kingdom, and of his kingdom,
there will be no end. Now this is important because
what Gabriel is saying are things that Mary already knew.
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What he's doing is saying, I'm giving you the resume
of Messiah. And you're gonna see when Mary begins to
praise after she visits Elizabeth. She's pretty familiar with prophecy.
She's not some little girl that's still in vacation. Bible scoop. Okay,
she knows, she knows what's going on. She knows. She's
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got great depth, so she said, and Mary said to
the angel, now see if you can find the difference
in this based on Zachariah's question, it's a different question.
Zachariah wants proof that Gabriel has got his act together
and has got a story right. Mary doesn't need that.
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Look what she says next, how will this be? Since
I'm a virgin, She's not questioning it's gonna happen. I'd
like to know how God's gonna overcome the fact that
I've never been with a man. Am I I'm just engaged.
I don't have a husband, so I'm a virgin. And
you know, she's also aware that usually children can see
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between a husband and a wife. And I'm not to
that point yet. And the Angel answered her, the Holy
Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the
most tie will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be
born will be called Holy, the Son of God. And
behold your relative Elizabeth and her old age has also
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conceived a son. And this is the sixth month with
her who was called Baron. And here it comes verse
thirty seven. I have chills, share them with me, for
nothing will be impossible with God. Mary. For God, this
is no big deal. You know, Elizabeth. She's got a baby,
she's been bearing her whole life, and she's old lady.
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She's six months pregnant. This is nothing to God. This
is nothing for him to overcome. Think about this. This is
the second tech takeaway today. We got to stop thinking
there's things in our life that God can't overcome. When
you say nothing is impossible with God, nothing means nothing.
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You can't put anything before God, and God say that's
just too much for me. Now the question is will
he do it? But we must never get to the
point where we think he can't do it, because nothing
is impossible with God. And Gabriel almost is like Mary,
come on, the virgin things nothing okay. I mean God
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created all of y'all. This repuke, the reproduction process is his.
He is not held captive by it. Okay. He creates
life however he wants to. And so here comes Mary. Behold,
I am the sermon of the Lord. Let it be
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done to me according to your word. And you know what,
the angel doesn't say you're in trouble like he did
to Zachariot. He said, okay, I'm out. That's all we
need here. Now think about what she's just hurt. Here's
this young girl, she's a virgin, she's got a fiance.
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This is going to be an issue, and she's just
been told by an angel that she's going to carry
the Christ Child. She doesn't cry, she doesn't say that's
too big a burden. I don't want that on me.
I know the problems this is going to bring me.
I'm surely not the one. She says, Okay, I just
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needed to explain to me. And now that you've explained it,
I'm in So see, this is where I want to
be sure we get this merry thing right. Okay. No,
she's not Deity. She isn't to be worshiped. I do
not think that she prays on my behalf. I have
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not been told to pray to Mary in scripture. I've
been told to pray to God in the name of
Jesus Christ his Son, and with the power of the
Holy Spirit. I have direct access to God through Jesus.
I don't need a preacher. I don't need a priest.
I don't need Mary, I don't need Peter, I don't
need Paul. Wonderful, wonderful examples of devotion to Christ. But
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they are not my Lord, and they are not my Savior,
and they are not God. However, if I'm looking for
an example in the faith, Mary's a good one. She's
a great example of obedience and devotion to the one
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and only living God, and she is to be commended
and look to as an example for that. I'm gonna
go ahead and say, even though we don't find that
much about him, I Joseph takes on a pretty big role.
I think just the random selection of Joseph didn't happen either.
I think God said this is going to be the
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biggest step that he role anybody's ever played, and this
guy can handle it. Now does he have to get
a little help from Gabriel. He does. That makes sense
to me. I would need that help to you know what.
But once he got the word, he also said, I'm
in I'll protect the child, I'll protect Mary. What I love, though,
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is that Joseph was going to protect Mary before the
angel ever came to it. I think that speaks to
his character. He had every right in the world to
throw under the bus and ultimately she could be stoned
and killed for the accusation, and Joseph said that part's
not going to happen, and he hadn't got the Gabriel
dream yet and he still was not going to throw
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under the bus. So God picked the right people, and
that now what goes. What I have to start asking
myself is would he pick me am i Joseph could be.
Would I have handled that role? Would I have the
devotion even though I'm not a woman? Whatever he would
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ask me, that would be similar to what he's asking Mary.
First of all, would I be so prepared as you're
going to see here in a minute that she was
that if an angel came up to me talking about something,
I'm so well versed on it, I'm like, oh, yeah,
I know all about this. Didn't know would be me,
but I knew this was coming. I didn't know how
Messiah was coming. I didn't fully understand that. You've explained
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that I'm going to have to carry this child, and
in her mind she's thinking, well, yeah, me being a
virgin makes a lot of sense because this child can't
be born to the original sin of Adam. If he's
going to be sinless, it has to be a virgin birth.
I was told it would be a virgin birth. I
didn't think i'd be the virgin who was picked, but
I'm in would do we have that kind of devotion
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to whatever God calls us to because I think if
I was a woman, probably my thought would be, hey,
I'm all about this, just not me, because I've seen
we got a lot of that. A lot of us
talk about what needs to be done for the Kingdom
of God, but then we'll put into a little caveat
and I want all that to happen. I'm just not
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gonna do it, right. I hope somebody does it, but
I hope it's not me because it might cost me something.
I know somebody needs to walk away from their life,
right now that they feel real comfortable with Look, I'm
talking to me right here, and I want to do
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what God's called me to do as long as the
the lines with my own plans. I assure you that
Mary and Joseph this was not the plan for their marriage,
and it would have been really easy to farm that
out to somebody else say I'm sorry, Lord, I want
this to happen too, but I'm not willing to pay.
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The price is gone, and they paid the price. They
certainly did. So you say, well, Rick, how do you know?
How do you how do you know that Mary is
all this? She's so she's so well versed in the scriptures.
By the way, you got to give Mary's mom and
daddy some credit. Here is best your daddy, and in
that culture, he has taught this girl about the one
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and only living God. Because look right here, she goes
to see Elizabeth. Okay, in those days, Mary arose and
went with haste into the hill country to a town
in Judah, and she entered the house of Zachariah and
greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary,
the baby in her womb, Okay leaped. The baby leaped
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in her room. John the Baptist is already ready, and
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed
with a loud voice, blessed are you among women? And
blessed is the fruit of your womb? And why is
this granted to me that the mother of my Lord
should come to me? I mean, you realize She immediately shifts,
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you know, from this is some little girl in our
family to hi, am I so blessed, being the older
woman of Mary, that the mother of my Lord would
come and give me a visit. She's not even thought.
We would have been saying, going, well, you got a baby.
I got one pretty special too. The first thing she
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does is she says, I can't believe that I'm blessed
enough to be not just carrying John. She doesn't know
that's his name yet. Zachari is gonna have to get
that right in a minute. But I now have the
mother of my Lord here, so so look what happens here?
She said, For behold, when the sound of your greeting
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came to my ears, the baby in my wound leaped
for joy. And blessed is she who believe that there
would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her
from the Lord, and there it is blessed not look
not blessed are you because you've gotten this role as standard.
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Blessed are are you? She he everybody who believed that
there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to
her from the Lord. You know, it's one thing to say.
I keep hearing this about the Lord. God's made these promises.
God's made these covenants, and I've heard about them, and
you know what, it doesn't seem to be happening on
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my timeline. You know what Elizabeth is saying. I tell you,
the people that are blessed are the ones who believe
what the Lord said that it's gonna get done. Now,
I'm gonna get to how that applies to us, because
we're looking back on the birth of Christ right now,
but we're gonna look ahead before we get out of here. Now,
listen to Marry's song of Praise. I want you to
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listen to it, and it'll tell you everything I've been
trying to tell you about this girl. My soul magnifies
the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior,
for he looked on the humble estate of his servant,
for behold. From now on, all generations will call me blessed,
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for he who is mighty has done great things for me.
And holy is his name, and his mercy is for
those who fear him. My goodness, look at that underline
that right there in verse fifty. This fear of the
Lord thing has been around, hadn't it. I sure wish
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we would get it, because we seem to fear everything,
but God and his mercy is for who those who
fear him. So God's mercy in for everybody. We're gonna
get to that here in a minute too. So it's
not for everybody. Universalism, isn't right, which is starting this
new thing that God's just gone Phaesua just gonna forgive everybody.
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But that's not what the Bible says. There's gonna be
a big adjustment coming up here in a minute, and
it's gonna cost some controversy. And I'm glad I'll be
gone for two weeks, but ill, and you know, I'm
glad that some of y'all in here are willing to
take my emails while I'm gone. But listen to this
and his mercies for those who fear him. From generation
to generation, he has shown strength with his arm. God
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talked about that. What in the resume to joke? Do
you remember that? And he has scattered the proud in
the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the
mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humblest state.
What does she mean by that? I'm not what everybody expected.
Everybody would have thought that God would have had the
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Christ child be carried by some queen, be carried by
somebody really really important, that the earthly Father would be
some king, not to poor young people that are of
no standing in society. But what is this showing you.
It's not about who carries the child, It's about the
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child they carry. Can I say that again? It's not
about who's carrying the child, It's about the child that
that person carries. And she said, and he comes down
to me in my humble estate, And this has brought
down the mighty from their thrones. I actually carry the
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King of kings and the Lord of lords. Look at this.
He has filled the hungry with good things, and the
rich he has sent away empty. They didn't get this opportunity.
You know. Christ talks about this a lot. He has
helped his servant Israel. So she's not even talking about herself.
She is celebrating her people. Have Messiah coming now in
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remembrance of what his mercy my people. Here's that covenant
he made with Abraham. Look as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever. This is what
Abraham was waiting on. And I'm gonna see it. Mercy
has finally come to my people once again. She's not
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even talking about it just coming to her. It's coming
to my people. It's coming to the world. Now when
you see this, these words flowing from this little teenage girl,
does anybody believe that she's just some run of the
middle teenage girl. No. Now, she's not God, she's not Deity,
she's not our intercessor. That's Jesus. But I'll tell you
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one thing. She's a great example of obedience, and she's
a great example of being devoted to the Lord. And
that's what I take away from Mary, and I think
that's what we're supposed to take away from Mary. She's
a great example of obedience, she's a great example of
the faith. Now let me take a few things away.
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You hear about Mary, and then we're gonna move on
to the bigger point. You're gonna hear some things about
Mary that are what they require a lot of imagination,
and that is that she remained a perpetual virgin. She
never never consummated her marriage. Scripture does not tell us that.
As a matter of fact. Scripture Goes gets pretty straightforward
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about that, because we are told in Matthew one, twenty
four and twenty five tells us that Joseph did not
consummate his marriage until after Jesus was born. What does
that tell you? It was consummated. It just wasn't until
the baby was born, which wasn't uncommon, especially if your
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virgin wife is carrying Messiah. You're gonna wait till all
that's done. But then he went, and you know why,
you know why we don't have to be concerned about
this and Mary consummating her marriage where her husband is
not a sin. It's not a sin. And then you
look and you see in Matthew thirteen, fifty five and
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fifty six, this is when they're all making fun of Jesus.
And what's one of the things they used to make
fun of him? This is Joseph's son. And we know
his other brothers, and we know his sisters, and it
even names four of his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, Judas.
We think Jude also is one of his earthly brothers
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who didn't get named here. So the Bible even tells
us what four of his siblings their names were, and
throws in and his sisters. And so some people say, oh, no,
wait a minute, now, the original Greek rick. No, no,
that's not going to stand up either, because when you
look at this, the Greek word that is used, you
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know a lot of times if you go back to it,
you're going to see people say, well, the Greek word
it's used here can also be used for cousins or
or step siblings. That's another one of the outlandis theories
that Joseph was married before Mary and and Mary has
now become a step mom. Uh and and and Joseph.
There's there's no no. One of the Bible tells us
(35:16):
that Joseph had been married before. It's nowhere in scripture. Okay,
And again, this is not sinful for Mary to go
on to have other children with their husband. And it
was very common for the Jewish family to grow with
as many kids as you possibly could, especially sons, and
and so the word that that that kind kind of
seems to be up for grabs. Here is is a
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word that people say it does stand for sons and
daughters and brothers and sisters, but can also stands for cousins.
But here's the problem. The Greek word is called an epsios.
Uh an epsios is the word for cousin, and the
Bible doesn't use it. It can actually go get a
word that would tell us they were cousins, but it doesn't.
(36:04):
It stays with a word that stands for brothers and sisters,
which they said, but it can also be cousins. Yeah, right,
but there's a cousin word, and they don't use the
cousin word. So most biblical scholars saying that this notion
that Mary stated a perpetual virgin does not hold up biblically.
(36:26):
And the literal brothers and sisters here is the one
that has stood the test of scrutiny. The best John
two twelve implies that his brothers and sisters were there
and that they were a very close family, not cousins.
So so also Mark six' three is another one that
talks about the. Siblings so Perpetual virgin has a really
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tough time biblically standing. Up but is she an example of?
Obedience and the answer there is, yes and should she
be held in high? Regard. Yes so let's move on
to the actual, birth because this is the one that's
really gonna upset. People and you know how CONCERNED i
(37:11):
get about. That so so we get to the birth Of,
Jesus john The baptist has been, born and then and
now we're getting To jesus And john does get TO i,
Mean zacharidas get to talk again because he names Him
john like he's supposed, to and he goes back into the.
Celebration so let's look at verse verse eight about we've
(37:34):
gone for The you, know we know That mary And
joseph have got to go for the. Census they're going
back To, BIRTHLEHEM i Mean, Bethlehem, Berthlehem bethlehem Or birthlehem
AS i call. It we know in verse seven she
gave birth to her firstborn, son wrapped him in swaddling,
clothes laid him in a manger because there was no
place for them at the. End we're all very familiar with.
That so look at verse eight and in that same,
(37:56):
region there were shepherds out in the field keeping white
over their flock by. Night here Goes god. Again see
we try to Take god and we, go, well definitely
not some little poor girl and some little poor boy
from a nothing family and a nothing. Place And god's, like,
no that's exactly WHAT i want to. Do and, also
(38:17):
let me tell you, this if you were going to
announce the coming of The king Of kings and The
lord of, lords you would not start with. Shepherds shepherds
Were it'd be like me when of y'all called me
off to the side and, go, Hey, Rick i'm sorry
to hear about that. Way and one of you boys
is a. Shepherd, yeah well we had bigger plans for.
Him shepherds were not exactly elevated in. Society they were considered,
(38:42):
dirty they were considered an undesirable. Job they Were they
really kind of had a reputation for you better watch.
Them sometimes they tended to be thieves and not wonderful.
People so here comes the announcement of The king of
king just, shepherds which in all this is showing what
(39:05):
none of us will be denied. Redemption it doesn't matter
where you are in, society there's no one that cannot Have.
Jesus he comes to the lowest of the low and,
Says i'm here to redeem you. Too i'm not just
here to redeem the. Important and by the, way the
(39:25):
way the world deems important and the way my father deems,
important they're not the. Same i'm gonna announce through angels
and multitudes to a bunch of shepherds to go, out
and you know what do we? See also When jesus,
resurrects he sends women to tell everybody in. Society that's
not even a reliable. Source the s why the disciples
(39:47):
didn't believe it to begin. With it's just a bunch
of women telling us. This he's always turning our view
of people upside. Down so he starts with, Shepherds so
listen to. This and An angel of The lord appeared to,
them and the glory of The lord shone around, them
and they were filled with great. Fear there's that. Again
and The angel said to, them fear, not for, BEHOLD
(40:10):
i bring you good news of great joy that will
be underline for all. People, now does that mean that
everybody is going to be? Redeemed, no because we're about
to throw that out here in just a. Minute this
means That messiah and redemption is available to the lowest
of the, low the poorest of the. Poor and you,
(40:30):
Know jesus said many times to, us the poor kind
of understand that that that that they are in. Need
it's it's those of you that think you don't need.
Anything those are the ONES i struggle with the. Most
and so the it says so for for all, people
meaning he's available to all who are willing to repent
and follow. Him for until, you unto you is born
(40:52):
this day in The city Of, david a savior who
Is christ The. Lord and this will be a sign to.
You you will find a baby be wrapped in swaddling,
clothes lying in a. Manger and suddenly there was with
The angel a multitude of the heavenly host Praising. God
and here it comes glory To god in the highest
(41:14):
and on earth peace among those with Whom he is.
Pleased wait a, minute that's not What Charlie brown. Said
that's not what lin has. Said you've changed what they. Said,
well it's interesting if you know what we mean, here
(41:35):
because if you go To Charlie, Brown linus is in
The King james, version which says peace goodwill to. Men,
well and here it, goes boy vacation cannot get here quick.
Enough THE, sv THE, niv and The New american standard
(41:57):
they don't say. That why why is? That why has
it been changed to peace among those with Whom he's? Pleased,
well if you go back to The Byzantine english, interpretation
which is The King james, version we had not found
some of the more ancient manuscripts and there was a
(42:19):
problem with The greek word. There so in The King
james version the text Was they thought it was eu
d k i a without the s, u'dokia which means
(42:40):
goodwill to all. People, well the Later english translations much
older and more reliable than The, byzantine The, alexandrian for. Example,
well they're going back to the original people who wrote
it down the first, time more reliable, text and they
noticed that The byzantines had dropped the. S but all
(43:05):
the way back in the more ancient, manuscripts closer to the,
original the s was. There, well that changes it slightly.
Different so if you go to you do key us
now the Correct english translation would be Meaning god's pleasure
(43:26):
is favored to people that he approves. Of, well now
that's that's a little bit. Different AND i know The
King james. Version, PEOPLE i just, please my email is not.
Working i've changed. It, uh it's Now adler at rickburgesshow dot. Com,
(43:49):
No so this is important listen because this is it
says that it's Now god's pleasure is to people he,
favors not to, everybody available to. Everybody but remember what
we said About, messiah that is not very. Popular When
(44:11):
jesus comes on the, scene when he find his, ministry
starts those three years of his, ministry what's the first
thing he hits the ground saying repent for The kingdom
Of god is at. Hand john The baptist was, saying
there he goes. Repent he's on the. Ground it's time to.
Repent Jesus christ is either here to redeem you or condemn.
(44:33):
You he's not here to redeem, you no matter whether
you're willing to repent or. Not jesus himself, said repent or.
Perish i'm. HERE i now provide for. FORGIVENESS i have.
It i'm. Here i'm going to go and pay the.
Price but if you reject, ME i won't redeem. You
(44:54):
i'll actually condemn. You, Yeah i'm. Here this explains what
he was talking abou In matthew ten thirty. Four don't
Think i've come to bring. Peace i'm bringing a, sword
meaning the peace is available to those of you that,
redeem that are willing to. Repent and if you reject my,
repentance and the sword's gonna be dislaughter. You so what
(45:18):
even the angels were saying is this is great news
to everybody who's willing to. Repent and for those of
you that are not willing to repent and you are
not In god's, favor this is actually going to be
bad news for you because the sacrificial system is over
and there's only one way to be redeemed from this point.
(45:39):
Forward when this child goes to the cross and he
says it is, finished the sacrificial system is complete in,
him and redemption is only found In. Jesus and if
you reject, That god's favor isn't with. You and this
isn't good news of, peace it's actually news to you
(46:01):
Of god's. Wrath everybody's not, UNFORTUNATELY i wish that everybody was,
going but there will be people if we understand scripture
who will reject this gift From god that we. Celebrate
(46:21):
SO i guess the answer to the question, Is, RICK
i don't know whether this is good news for me or.
NOT i see that it has the potential to be good.
News but IF i reject what this child, completed THEN
(46:47):
i don't have the good news of great, joy and
that piece isn't for me Because i've rejected. It look
At romans eight twenty, eight which is often you, know
we grab that just like everything the whole wide world's
gonna work out just. Fine don't you worry about? It,
(47:09):
well you know, what if you're, redeemed that is, true
but if you're, not it. Isn't look At romans eight twenty.
Eight is there a more well known? Verse people will,
say If i'm you, know If i'm an, ATHLETE i
gotta sign it and put that. Underneath and you, know
If i'm A christian and all, that everything's gonna work out.
Great but here's What paul actually, said and it's very
similar to what the angels. Said and we know that
(47:31):
for those who Love, god all things work together for.
Good for those who are called according To his, purpose
it ain't gonna work out for. Everybody only the ones
that Love god and have been called By god to
fulfill his. Purpose it's, hey it's not gonna work out
for the. Unredeemed it's not good news of great joy
(47:56):
for the. Unredeemed it's only good news and great joy
for those who have repents. It it is not good
news for those of you that have, not because he's
here to condemn. You so then what are we supposed to? Do,
(48:17):
well let me tell you. This as wonderful as this,
is and it, is it moves. Me it moves. ME
i do want you to know. This the can we
there we, go so let's still. Go h, So so
the the thing THAT i want you to understand, though
(48:40):
is you see how Much satan hates this is? Distraction
just there we. Go we got. It so we just
had a phone going off. Here but it's. Fine listen to.
This this is that we're going to close. On Baby
jesus is. Over it's. Over we don't Worship Baby. JESUS
(49:01):
i would never tell anybody ever to watch this. Movie
and it's a stupid movie and it's got a lot
of stuff in it we don't need to be seeing or.
Hearing and UNFORTUNATELY i DID i watched. IT i wouldn't
watch it, again BUT i will tell you. Something When
Will ferrell played in this goofy Ricky bobby, character he's
trying to be, disrespectful he's tried to be, blasphemous but
(49:23):
what he said is actually has a lot of truth to.
It he's saying the blessing and he, SAYS i pray
to the Baby. Jesus and he, said because that's my Favorite.
Jesus so WHEN i, PRAY i pray to Baby, Jesus,
well there's a lot of us still praying the Baby
jesus because that's our Favorite. Jesus and then we like
(49:45):
we like, it or we might pray to the Servant.
Jesus he's lowered. Himself he's he doesn't even know where
he's gonna. Sleep he goes and gets beat and scourged
and mutilated on the, cross and oh just just look
at his lowly. State, well That jesus is over. Too
(50:05):
Baby jesus is. Over Servant jesus is. Over would y'
all like to know what the current situation is Of.
Jesus we studied this in the, revelation and what does
the revelation tell? Us it Is, ultimately it's a lot of,
things but it is the revelation Of Jesus christ in
(50:28):
his current. State right in his current, State john, SAID
i was in the spirit on The Lord's, day AND
i heard behind me a loud, voice like a, trumpet,
saying write what you see in a book and send
it to the seven churches verse. Twelve THEN i turned
(50:51):
to see the voice that was speaking to, Me and
on TURNING i saw seven gold lamp. Stands in the
midst of the lamp stands was one like the son Of,
man clothed with a long robe and with a white
with a golden sash around his. Chest the hairs of
his head were, white like white, wool like. Snow his
eyes were like the flame of. Fire his feet were
(51:11):
like burnished, bronze refined in a, furnish and his voice
was like the roar of many. Waters and his right
hand he held seven. Stars from his mouth came a shop,
sharp two edged, sword and his face was like the
sun shining in full. Strength and WHEN i saw, HIM
(51:34):
i fell at his feet THOUGH i were. Dead nobody
fell at their feet like they were dead when they
saw the Baby. Jesus nobody fell at their feet like
they were dead when they saw the Crucified. Jesus but
The jesus were gonna see, Next we're going to follow
(52:01):
his feet like we're. Dead and all that was prophesied
For jesus to come as this. Baby all of those
had their job to do to tell the world that
he was coming the first, time and they did their.
(52:22):
Job john The baptist did his. Job jesus said that
go Tell john did his. Job he quotes the prophecies to,
him everything that was. Prophesied, John i'm Doing i'm. Him
And john did his. Job mary did her. Job joseph
(52:42):
did his, Job the shepherds did their, job the angels
did their. Job, annow it's time for us to do our.
Job and what is our, Job, Well paul tells, us
we're in bass For, christ and we've got to make
(53:04):
people understand that the first time that he came is
over and we must prepare them for his second. Coming
that's our. Job, see it's not complete yet because we're
still in the falling creation and fallen, bodies but we're,
(53:25):
redeemed and the job of the redeemed is to now
tell the world he's coming, back and you're gonna meet
the Glorified, jesus not the Baby, jesus not the Crucified.
Jesus you're gonna meet the Glorified, jesus The king of
kings and The lord of, lords who is, holy, Holy.
(53:46):
Holy and when you meet, him he's either going to
welcome you as a redeemed person who repented and left
faith in yourself and put your faith in. Him and
you confessed, him not, yourself as Your lord and your,
savior and you believed in your. Heart you've confessed with
your mouth that he Is. Lord because with your heart
only you, know you, believed and you have been. Saved
(54:09):
and now with your mouth you are confessing him As.
Lord you're, saved you're. Justified, well if that's the, case
then go tell others so they can experience the same.
Thing because just as he was born of a, virgin
and just as he went to the, cross all that was,
(54:32):
prophesied and just as he rose from the, dead all.
Prophesies they got it right on his, Birth they got
it right on his, crucifixion they got it right on his.
Resurrection and guess, what they're going to get it right
on his. Return and the question, is are you? Ready
(54:54):
has this gift changed your life good, well just as
a good meal at a restaurant is something you can't
wait to talk, about something much more. Important the redeemer
of the world has changed, you and you might want
to tell. Somebody go tell it on the. Mountain not
(55:20):
just that he was, born not just that he was,
Crucified tell him that he rose and he's coming back
to call his church to him and destroy all those
who oppose. Him Merry. Christmas let's Pray, lord thank you for,
today thank you for this incredible, message thank you for
(55:43):
this powerful, reminder and thank you for all that you've already.
Done and may we show you that we mean what
we say through our. Obedience and we go and tell
the world that you're coming again to take us to
(56:04):
you and to destroy all those who oppose. You in
the glorious name Of, jesus The lord Of lord and
The king Of, kings who Is, Holy, Holy, holy we Pray,
Amen thank, You Merry. Christmas
Welcome into the Wednesday Bible Study. My name is Rick Burgess.
I'll be teaching today. We are going to do a
stand along Bible studies. So no matter when you actually
hear or see this, I just want to say Merry Christmas,
because that's what we're going to talk about today. This
is not part of a series. We just finished a
(00:20):
series on the Book of Job. We did one full
year nearly on the Book of Job. So if you
would like to go back and get those archives, you
can do so. You can get those at Themanchurch dot com.
Go there and if you use our media button, you
can either listen to the archives or you can watch
the archives there. So there's also a decade of Bible
(00:42):
studies you can find there too. If you are wondering
about how I don't know how you came across this
Bible study today, but if it's not something normal. Also
host the Rick Burgess Show. It has showed that's been
going for a year. Hosted the Rick and Bubba Show
for thirty plus years. If you'd like to find the
website for the current show, go to Rick burgesshow dot com.
(01:04):
All the information is there and so we are we're
going to be taking a hiatus from the Bible studies
for a couple of weeks. This will be our last
one of twenty twenty five. Our first one will be
in twenty twenty six on the eighth of January, that
first Wednesday, the fifth of bill Monday or the seventh.
Then on January the seventh, that first Wednesday of a
(01:28):
full week of January. So and then we'll start a
brand new series on Paul's letters from prison. We'll go
through every one of those and we'll work our way
through that for the next year or so. The Manchurch
dot Com is the home for a men's discipleship strategy.
We have so much coming up in twenty twenty six,
including Manchurch gatherings all over the country. You can find
(01:51):
those by going to the manchurch dot com look under events.
We also will start the year with two full weekend
conferences Friday night and half day on Saturday, with multiple
teachers from our team and a few special guests. One
will be in Birmingham, Alabama, on January twenty third and
twenty fourth. The other will be in Startville, Mississippi, on
(02:12):
the thirtieth and thirty first. Those tickets are still available,
but they are going fast, so if you want to
get those, go to the Manchurch dot com while they
are still available. There's a price increase coming in January,
so for the final tickets, so go ahead and get
those that make great Christmas gifts too. And we have
all kinds of resources there that make great Christmas gifts
(02:35):
in the form of devotions and full books, and of
course we also have six forty week curriculum for your
men to go through in small groups. We have speakers,
we have a full strategy. If you need any help
at all, just go to the Maanchurch dot com and
we are more than willing to help you. So today
we're going to be focusing on what we are actually
(02:58):
celebrating and remembering out of the Gospel of Luke. We'll
start in chapter one and I'm going I'm gonna skip
around a little bit. We're not gonna read it word
for word, but I'm gonna show you some stuff there,
and then we'll get also into a chapter two as well,
and we'll talk about exactly what we are remembering this
(03:21):
moment in history when God came to us when we
could not come to him. And hopefully there'll be a
lot of application that we'll carry with us into this
most wonderful time of year. So let's open up in
a word of prayer and we'll jump right into today's
Bible study. Lord, thank you for today. I'm just so
grateful for the men who have attended so diligently week
(03:47):
after week after week to come in and for their
encouragement and their prayers that they've prayed over me and
over my family, and Lord, I pray for each and
every one of them and all the different things that
they are going through and whatever age of life that
they're at right now. And may may this be a
time that we can all maybe have some time and
rest but worship and reflect on You today. Lord, pray
(04:10):
for the power of the Holy Spirit as we walk
our way through this historic event. This this that that
actually happened, and what it was all about. Remind us
again today, Lord, and the glorious name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
So let's start with something that that always seems to
be a discussion when when you talk about the Christian
(04:34):
faith when you get to this time of year, and
that is the person of Mary. Mary Is can be
you know, sometimes put in positions that the Bible simply
does not place her in And this is not a
day to get into theological arguments or anything like that.
But I do want us to look at the earthly
(04:55):
mother that was chosen by God to carry the the
one human god person of Jesus Christ, when when he
decided to come to us and lower himself to take
on human flesh in the form of this baby, to
these two very poor people, Mary and Joseph. So there's
(05:19):
no doubt that what Mary is to us. Sometimes, you know,
we can go too far one way or the other.
Was Mary sinless? No, she was not. There's no indication
in scripture of that. Was Mary a virgin for her
entire life? The Bible seems to disagree with that. And
there's nothing sinful about that. She was a married woman
(05:40):
with a husband. So we'll take some of that on
because what I don't want us to do is to
pretend like that Mary wasn't special. She absolutely was special
because she was chosen by God for this. And you know,
God knows us very well. He created us, He knows
everything about us, and he knows who he can trust
(06:02):
with certain things, and he knows people that he can't.
So we're going to discover what it was. There's things
about Mary if you have in your mind, because you
can again go two different ways. She's certainly not deity,
and she's certainly not sinless. All that cannot be supported
by scripture. It might can be supported by legend or
(06:23):
add ons, but not by scripture. But we also need
to be very careful that we don't look at Mary
as if there was she was just kind of some
young girl that just kind of came out of nowhere
and God just randomly looked around and said, that's right
here at work, you're going to discover that Mary. As
far as her devotion to the one and only living God,
(06:45):
she is quite devoted. Uh. And she is very aware
of the prophecies, extremely aware. So we'll show you some
of that here. Sometimes people look and you know, I
know I do when when I think about Zachariah, who
who who seems to get in trouble with Gabriel, and
(07:05):
then we see Mary who does not? Uh? And and
why is that? What? What? What? What's the difference in
in all of this? So we'll start in in in
Luke chapter one, and and you see that that Zachariah
who gets his chance to go into the Holy of Holies,
which was very very special. Uh. At this point, remember,
(07:28):
no one has heard any word from God. Uh in
four hundred years. Okay. So so Zachariah goes into the
Holy of Holies and as we all know, actually hears
from God for the first time in a in a
really really long time. Uh and uh. And then Gabriel
(07:48):
the Angel begins to begins to kind of explain to
Zachariah what is going on. So go with me to
to chapter one and the start where verse eight. Okay,
because first of all, in the beginning, I want you
to see what it says is in the days of here,
let's sek at five first, and the King of Judea,
(08:10):
there was a priest named Zachariah. He had a wife
from the daughters of Erin, and her name was Elizabeth,
and they were both righteous before God. I would underline
that walking blamelessly and all the commandments and the statutes
of the Lord. Now we've already learned from from Job
that blameless does not mean sinless. It just means you're
(08:31):
right with God. It says, but they had no child
because Elizabeth was barren. I'd underline that and we're both
advanced in years, so we got we've got two problems here.
Elizabeth has been bearing her whole life, and now they
would be what we would all consider to be beyond
the ability to, without some help from God, to conceive
(08:51):
and carry a child. So in verse eight, now, while
he was serving as priest before God, when this division
was on duty, which was a big deal according to
the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot
to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside
at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him
(09:12):
an angel of the Lord standing on the right side
of the altar of incense. And Zachariah was troubled when
he saw him, in fear fell upon him. This seems
to be the reaction to angels quite often throughout scripture,
so they must be a pretty intimidating thing to see
in their state. But the angel said to him, do
(09:32):
not be afraid, Zachariah, for your prayer has been heard,
and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and
you shall call his name John. Now this is the prophecy.
John the Baptist is if we did. It won't cover
it today. But when Zachariah does his prayer when John
is born, he knows he's supposed to name him John,
which does restore his ability to speak back to him,
(09:53):
but which is a beautiful scene. But he is saying,
and we saw this throughout prophecy, he knows that John
the Baptist will be that messenger, will be that voice
in the wilderness, the Elijah that would go before Messiah.
And we know that John did that quite well. But anyway,
he says, you will have joy and gladness, and many
will rejoice at his birth. But he will for he
(10:16):
will be great before the Lord, and he must not
drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled
with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And
he will turn many of the children of Israel to
the Lord their God, and he will go before them
and the spirit and power of Elijah. That's crucial, because
that's what the prophecy says, right to turn the hearts
(10:37):
of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to
the wisdom of the just. To make ready underline this,
this was his whole role. Because I want to talk
about us today to make ready for the Lord. A
people prepared. So get them ready, get them ready for Messiah.
You lay down, you do what Prophecy says. You are
the voice. You are the pirate of the power of Elijah.
(11:01):
And here's where Zachariah gets gets a little bit of trouble.
But Mary says something completely. It's similar. But I'm gonna
show you why it was different. Our white scripture says
it was different. You don't really need my opinion. And
Zachariah said to the Angel, now, how shall I know this?
For I'm an old man and my wife is advanced
in years. And the Angel answered him, I am Gabriel.
(11:25):
I stand in the presence of God, and I was
sent to speak to you and bring you this good news.
And behold you, you will be silent and unable to
speak until the day that these things take place. And
here's why underline this, because you did not believe my words,
which will be fulfilled in their time. So what happens here,
(11:47):
Zachariah says to the angel, how shall I know this?
So that's gonna be different what you're gonna see Mary say?
He said, why, how do I know you're telling me
the truth? Is there some sort of proof that what
you're saying is going to happen? And Gabriel says, you realize,
I stand in the presence of the Lord. I came
(12:09):
here directly from God. He might as well be talking
to you. And you want more proof than me. I
came directly from Him to you. There's nobody else that
I've talked to. So you're going to be silent because
you did not believe my words. Now hang on to that.
(12:31):
So now, and we know that that Elizabeth was pregnant
and we know what happened. So now let's let's go
over and let's look at Mary. Okay, the birth of
Jesus foretold down here in twenty six in the sixth month.
That tells us Elizabeth has been now with child for
six months. By the way, there's all kinds of people
(12:55):
because I just know this. I know what you've been
told about December twenty fifth and all this. Do we
know when Jesus was born? We do not. Okay, Now
you've also heard people go the other way, going that's impossible,
it's crazy, it's lunacy. That's not necessarily true either. When
you start looking at this this I was always believe
(13:17):
until I actually started researching it and reading it and
studying it, that this was that everything to do with
Christmas in twenty fifth it's all paganism. It's from Pagans.
It has no no, it doesn't have any place in
our faith. That's really not true. It really that part
isn't true. I'm not saying that Jesus was born in
the twenty fifth because we don't know that. The Bible
(13:37):
says doesn't tell us, So that's good enough for me.
But I want you to know that this actually started
within the church trying to get the birth and trying
to see if we could not figure it out. And
some of it is Elizabeth in six months, you know,
so when John the Baptist was conceived, she's six months
(13:58):
in the Jesus is gonna come nine months later. They
actually have tried to put together a calendar. And believe
it or not, this notion that we think Jesus was
born in the spring, absolutely no way he was born
in the winter. We do not know. But I will
tell you I'd always been told it was Christians hiding
for persecution, and we went into the Pagans who worshiped
(14:20):
the God of the sun during this and the winter's solace,
and we went in there and hid underneath that from persecution,
and it's just a pagan holiday that we kind of
took to ourselves. The more I studied that that actually
doesn't seem to be historically true. The Church has been
debating this for a long time, and the twenty fifth
(14:40):
was not just some random grap Now, do we know
that Jesus was born on the twenty fifth? No, and
that's all I need to know. And I don't have
to know when Jesus was born, and I'm not going
to obsess over that. But it was interesting that I
actually was proven wrong on why I thought the twenty
fifth was a little more pagan than it actually is.
(15:02):
It's actually been something that's been debated in the Church
for a long time, so but that's not important. But
we do know that she Elizabeth now has been carrying
John the Baptist for six months. So Gabriel sent from
God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth, that's right
out of prophecy, to a virgin betrothed to a man
whose name was Joseph of the House of David. And
(15:25):
the virgin's name was Mary, and he came to her
and said, greetings, oh, favored one. I'd underline that what
she's favored, and people go, well, she's favored because she's
going to carry the Christ child. Well, sure, but but
it seems that the Gabriel is indicating, Hey, God's been
watching you and and and the way you have lived
(15:48):
your life. He has chosen you for this. Okay, So
here's what I would ask us. First takeaway for us,
what an angel come to any of us? Start out saying,
what's up, favored one? God's been watching you, and I
got to tell you you're you? You are? You have God's favor.
(16:09):
Do any of us feel like we've lived in such
a way that we have God's favor? Like God would
look down at our lives and say to Gabriel, this
guy can handle it, and those of you out there
that are women, this, this woman can handle this. He
knows Mary Camp Okay, so he says, the Lord is
with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying
(16:32):
and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
What what do you mean that that the that that
that I'm a favor I'm favored by God? And the
Lord is with me. I I this is just total
this is rick speculation. I think when an angel shows
up and says, hey, I'm here with the Lord, one
thought may be I'm about to die. This angel is
(16:54):
coming to take me to God, you know, So you
might be troubled saying this is the day I'm gone,
because raise your hand. If you know from some pretty
godly people that some of them have seen angels coming
to get them when they were dying on their deathbed.
I know multiple people that have experienced that. So sometimes
(17:16):
you see an angel, it doesn't mean there's a great
message coming from God. Sometimes it means packing stuff, it's
time to go. So she's troubled at the saying and
try to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
And the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God. And behold, you
will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and
(17:38):
you shall call his name Jesus. And he will be
great and will be called the Son of the Most High.
And the Lord God will give him the throne of
his father David, and he will reign over the House
of Jacob forever, and his kingdom, and of his kingdom,
there will be no end. Now this is important because
what Gabriel is saying are things that Mary already knew.
(18:04):
What he's doing is saying, I'm giving you the resume
of Messiah. And you're gonna see when Mary begins to
praise after she visits Elizabeth. She's pretty familiar with prophecy.
She's not some little girl that's still in vacation. Bible scoop. Okay,
she knows, she knows what's going on. She knows. She's
(18:25):
got great depth, so she said, and Mary said to
the angel, now see if you can find the difference
in this based on Zachariah's question, it's a different question.
Zachariah wants proof that Gabriel has got his act together
and has got a story right. Mary doesn't need that.
(18:46):
Look what she says next, how will this be? Since
I'm a virgin, She's not questioning it's gonna happen. I'd
like to know how God's gonna overcome the fact that
I've never been with a man. Am I I'm just engaged.
I don't have a husband, so I'm a virgin. And
you know, she's also aware that usually children can see
(19:08):
between a husband and a wife. And I'm not to
that point yet. And the Angel answered her, the Holy
Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the
most tie will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be
born will be called Holy, the Son of God. And
behold your relative Elizabeth and her old age has also
(19:28):
conceived a son. And this is the sixth month with
her who was called Baron. And here it comes verse
thirty seven. I have chills, share them with me, for
nothing will be impossible with God. Mary. For God, this
is no big deal. You know, Elizabeth. She's got a baby,
she's been bearing her whole life, and she's old lady.
(19:51):
She's six months pregnant. This is nothing to God. This
is nothing for him to overcome. Think about this. This is
the second tech takeaway today. We got to stop thinking
there's things in our life that God can't overcome. When
you say nothing is impossible with God, nothing means nothing.
(20:14):
You can't put anything before God, and God say that's
just too much for me. Now the question is will
he do it? But we must never get to the
point where we think he can't do it, because nothing
is impossible with God. And Gabriel almost is like Mary,
come on, the virgin things nothing okay. I mean God
(20:36):
created all of y'all. This repuke, the reproduction process is his.
He is not held captive by it. Okay. He creates
life however he wants to. And so here comes Mary. Behold,
I am the sermon of the Lord. Let it be
(20:56):
done to me according to your word. And you know what,
the angel doesn't say you're in trouble like he did
to Zachariot. He said, okay, I'm out. That's all we
need here. Now think about what she's just hurt. Here's
this young girl, she's a virgin, she's got a fiance.
(21:17):
This is going to be an issue, and she's just
been told by an angel that she's going to carry
the Christ Child. She doesn't cry, she doesn't say that's
too big a burden. I don't want that on me.
I know the problems this is going to bring me.
I'm surely not the one. She says, Okay, I just
(21:41):
needed to explain to me. And now that you've explained it,
I'm in So see, this is where I want to
be sure we get this merry thing right. Okay. No,
she's not Deity. She isn't to be worshiped. I do
not think that she prays on my behalf. I have
(22:03):
not been told to pray to Mary in scripture. I've
been told to pray to God in the name of
Jesus Christ his Son, and with the power of the
Holy Spirit. I have direct access to God through Jesus.
I don't need a preacher. I don't need a priest.
I don't need Mary, I don't need Peter, I don't
need Paul. Wonderful, wonderful examples of devotion to Christ. But
(22:28):
they are not my Lord, and they are not my Savior,
and they are not God. However, if I'm looking for
an example in the faith, Mary's a good one. She's
a great example of obedience and devotion to the one
(22:48):
and only living God, and she is to be commended
and look to as an example for that. I'm gonna
go ahead and say, even though we don't find that
much about him, I Joseph takes on a pretty big role.
I think just the random selection of Joseph didn't happen either.
I think God said this is going to be the
(23:09):
biggest step that he role anybody's ever played, and this
guy can handle it. Now does he have to get
a little help from Gabriel. He does. That makes sense
to me. I would need that help to you know what.
But once he got the word, he also said, I'm
in I'll protect the child, I'll protect Mary. What I love, though,
(23:33):
is that Joseph was going to protect Mary before the
angel ever came to it. I think that speaks to
his character. He had every right in the world to
throw under the bus and ultimately she could be stoned
and killed for the accusation, and Joseph said that part's
not going to happen, and he hadn't got the Gabriel
dream yet and he still was not going to throw
(23:53):
under the bus. So God picked the right people, and
that now what goes. What I have to start asking
myself is would he pick me am i Joseph could be.
Would I have handled that role? Would I have the
devotion even though I'm not a woman? Whatever he would
(24:16):
ask me, that would be similar to what he's asking Mary.
First of all, would I be so prepared as you're
going to see here in a minute that she was
that if an angel came up to me talking about something,
I'm so well versed on it, I'm like, oh, yeah,
I know all about this. Didn't know would be me,
but I knew this was coming. I didn't know how
Messiah was coming. I didn't fully understand that. You've explained
(24:40):
that I'm going to have to carry this child, and
in her mind she's thinking, well, yeah, me being a
virgin makes a lot of sense because this child can't
be born to the original sin of Adam. If he's
going to be sinless, it has to be a virgin birth.
I was told it would be a virgin birth. I
didn't think i'd be the virgin who was picked, but
I'm in would do we have that kind of devotion
(25:01):
to whatever God calls us to because I think if
I was a woman, probably my thought would be, hey,
I'm all about this, just not me, because I've seen
we got a lot of that. A lot of us
talk about what needs to be done for the Kingdom
of God, but then we'll put into a little caveat
and I want all that to happen. I'm just not
(25:22):
gonna do it, right. I hope somebody does it, but
I hope it's not me because it might cost me something.
I know somebody needs to walk away from their life,
right now that they feel real comfortable with Look, I'm
talking to me right here, and I want to do
(25:43):
what God's called me to do as long as the
the lines with my own plans. I assure you that
Mary and Joseph this was not the plan for their marriage,
and it would have been really easy to farm that
out to somebody else say I'm sorry, Lord, I want
this to happen too, but I'm not willing to pay.
(26:04):
The price is gone, and they paid the price. They
certainly did. So you say, well, Rick, how do you know?
How do you how do you know that Mary is
all this? She's so she's so well versed in the scriptures.
By the way, you got to give Mary's mom and
daddy some credit. Here is best your daddy, and in
that culture, he has taught this girl about the one
(26:28):
and only living God. Because look right here, she goes
to see Elizabeth. Okay, in those days, Mary arose and
went with haste into the hill country to a town
in Judah, and she entered the house of Zachariah and
greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary,
the baby in her womb, Okay leaped. The baby leaped
(26:50):
in her room. John the Baptist is already ready, and
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed
with a loud voice, blessed are you among women? And
blessed is the fruit of your womb? And why is
this granted to me that the mother of my Lord
should come to me? I mean, you realize She immediately shifts,
(27:15):
you know, from this is some little girl in our
family to hi, am I so blessed, being the older
woman of Mary, that the mother of my Lord would
come and give me a visit. She's not even thought.
We would have been saying, going, well, you got a baby.
I got one pretty special too. The first thing she
(27:36):
does is she says, I can't believe that I'm blessed
enough to be not just carrying John. She doesn't know
that's his name yet. Zachari is gonna have to get
that right in a minute. But I now have the
mother of my Lord here, so so look what happens here?
She said, For behold, when the sound of your greeting
(27:58):
came to my ears, the baby in my wound leaped
for joy. And blessed is she who believe that there
would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her
from the Lord, and there it is blessed not look
not blessed are you because you've gotten this role as standard.
(28:20):
Blessed are are you? She he everybody who believed that
there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to
her from the Lord. You know, it's one thing to say.
I keep hearing this about the Lord. God's made these promises.
God's made these covenants, and I've heard about them, and
you know what, it doesn't seem to be happening on
(28:40):
my timeline. You know what Elizabeth is saying. I tell you,
the people that are blessed are the ones who believe
what the Lord said that it's gonna get done. Now,
I'm gonna get to how that applies to us, because
we're looking back on the birth of Christ right now,
but we're gonna look ahead before we get out of here. Now,
listen to Marry's song of Praise. I want you to
(29:04):
listen to it, and it'll tell you everything I've been
trying to tell you about this girl. My soul magnifies
the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior,
for he looked on the humble estate of his servant,
for behold. From now on, all generations will call me blessed,
(29:25):
for he who is mighty has done great things for me.
And holy is his name, and his mercy is for
those who fear him. My goodness, look at that underline
that right there in verse fifty. This fear of the
Lord thing has been around, hadn't it. I sure wish
(29:46):
we would get it, because we seem to fear everything,
but God and his mercy is for who those who
fear him. So God's mercy in for everybody. We're gonna
get to that here in a minute too. So it's
not for everybody. Universalism, isn't right, which is starting this
new thing that God's just gone Phaesua just gonna forgive everybody.
(30:09):
But that's not what the Bible says. There's gonna be
a big adjustment coming up here in a minute, and
it's gonna cost some controversy. And I'm glad I'll be
gone for two weeks, but ill, and you know, I'm
glad that some of y'all in here are willing to
take my emails while I'm gone. But listen to this
and his mercies for those who fear him. From generation
to generation, he has shown strength with his arm. God
(30:32):
talked about that. What in the resume to joke? Do
you remember that? And he has scattered the proud in
the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the
mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humblest state.
What does she mean by that? I'm not what everybody expected.
Everybody would have thought that God would have had the
(30:54):
Christ child be carried by some queen, be carried by
somebody really really important, that the earthly Father would be
some king, not to poor young people that are of
no standing in society. But what is this showing you.
It's not about who carries the child, It's about the
(31:14):
child they carry. Can I say that again? It's not
about who's carrying the child, It's about the child that
that person carries. And she said, and he comes down
to me in my humble estate, And this has brought
down the mighty from their thrones. I actually carry the
(31:36):
King of kings and the Lord of lords. Look at this.
He has filled the hungry with good things, and the
rich he has sent away empty. They didn't get this opportunity.
You know. Christ talks about this a lot. He has
helped his servant Israel. So she's not even talking about herself.
She is celebrating her people. Have Messiah coming now in
(31:57):
remembrance of what his mercy my people. Here's that covenant
he made with Abraham. Look as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever. This is what
Abraham was waiting on. And I'm gonna see it. Mercy
has finally come to my people once again. She's not
(32:18):
even talking about it just coming to her. It's coming
to my people. It's coming to the world. Now when
you see this, these words flowing from this little teenage girl,
does anybody believe that she's just some run of the
middle teenage girl. No. Now, she's not God, she's not Deity,
she's not our intercessor. That's Jesus. But I'll tell you
(32:42):
one thing. She's a great example of obedience, and she's
a great example of being devoted to the Lord. And
that's what I take away from Mary, and I think
that's what we're supposed to take away from Mary. She's
a great example of obedience, she's a great example of
the faith. Now let me take a few things away.
(33:02):
You hear about Mary, and then we're gonna move on
to the bigger point. You're gonna hear some things about
Mary that are what they require a lot of imagination,
and that is that she remained a perpetual virgin. She
never never consummated her marriage. Scripture does not tell us that.
As a matter of fact. Scripture Goes gets pretty straightforward
(33:28):
about that, because we are told in Matthew one, twenty
four and twenty five tells us that Joseph did not
consummate his marriage until after Jesus was born. What does
that tell you? It was consummated. It just wasn't until
the baby was born, which wasn't uncommon, especially if your
(33:50):
virgin wife is carrying Messiah. You're gonna wait till all
that's done. But then he went, and you know why,
you know why we don't have to be concerned about
this and Mary consummating her marriage where her husband is
not a sin. It's not a sin. And then you
look and you see in Matthew thirteen, fifty five and
(34:12):
fifty six, this is when they're all making fun of Jesus.
And what's one of the things they used to make
fun of him? This is Joseph's son. And we know
his other brothers, and we know his sisters, and it
even names four of his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, Judas.
We think Jude also is one of his earthly brothers
(34:32):
who didn't get named here. So the Bible even tells
us what four of his siblings their names were, and
throws in and his sisters. And so some people say, oh, no,
wait a minute, now, the original Greek rick. No, no,
that's not going to stand up either, because when you
look at this, the Greek word that is used, you
(34:55):
know a lot of times if you go back to it,
you're going to see people say, well, the Greek word
it's used here can also be used for cousins or
or step siblings. That's another one of the outlandis theories
that Joseph was married before Mary and and Mary has
now become a step mom. Uh and and and Joseph.
There's there's no no. One of the Bible tells us
(35:16):
that Joseph had been married before. It's nowhere in scripture. Okay,
And again, this is not sinful for Mary to go
on to have other children with their husband. And it
was very common for the Jewish family to grow with
as many kids as you possibly could, especially sons, and
and so the word that that that kind kind of
seems to be up for grabs. Here is is a
(35:40):
word that people say it does stand for sons and
daughters and brothers and sisters, but can also stands for cousins.
But here's the problem. The Greek word is called an epsios.
Uh an epsios is the word for cousin, and the
Bible doesn't use it. It can actually go get a
word that would tell us they were cousins, but it doesn't.
(36:04):
It stays with a word that stands for brothers and sisters,
which they said, but it can also be cousins. Yeah, right,
but there's a cousin word, and they don't use the
cousin word. So most biblical scholars saying that this notion
that Mary stated a perpetual virgin does not hold up biblically.
(36:26):
And the literal brothers and sisters here is the one
that has stood the test of scrutiny. The best John
two twelve implies that his brothers and sisters were there
and that they were a very close family, not cousins.
So so also Mark six' three is another one that
talks about the. Siblings so Perpetual virgin has a really
(36:50):
tough time biblically standing. Up but is she an example of?
Obedience and the answer there is, yes and should she
be held in high? Regard. Yes so let's move on
to the actual, birth because this is the one that's
really gonna upset. People and you know how CONCERNED i
(37:11):
get about. That so so we get to the birth Of,
Jesus john The baptist has been, born and then and
now we're getting To jesus And john does get TO i,
Mean zacharidas get to talk again because he names Him
john like he's supposed, to and he goes back into the.
Celebration so let's look at verse verse eight about we've
(37:34):
gone for The you, know we know That mary And
joseph have got to go for the. Census they're going
back To, BIRTHLEHEM i Mean, Bethlehem, Berthlehem bethlehem Or birthlehem
AS i call. It we know in verse seven she
gave birth to her firstborn, son wrapped him in swaddling,
clothes laid him in a manger because there was no
place for them at the. End we're all very familiar with.
That so look at verse eight and in that same,
(37:56):
region there were shepherds out in the field keeping white
over their flock by. Night here Goes god. Again see
we try to Take god and we, go, well definitely
not some little poor girl and some little poor boy
from a nothing family and a nothing. Place And god's, like,
no that's exactly WHAT i want to. Do and, also
(38:17):
let me tell you, this if you were going to
announce the coming of The king Of kings and The
lord of, lords you would not start with. Shepherds shepherds
Were it'd be like me when of y'all called me
off to the side and, go, Hey, Rick i'm sorry
to hear about that. Way and one of you boys
is a. Shepherd, yeah well we had bigger plans for.
Him shepherds were not exactly elevated in. Society they were considered,
(38:42):
dirty they were considered an undesirable. Job they Were they
really kind of had a reputation for you better watch.
Them sometimes they tended to be thieves and not wonderful.
People so here comes the announcement of The king of
king just, shepherds which in all this is showing what
(39:05):
none of us will be denied. Redemption it doesn't matter
where you are in, society there's no one that cannot Have.
Jesus he comes to the lowest of the low and,
Says i'm here to redeem you. Too i'm not just
here to redeem the. Important and by the, way the
(39:25):
way the world deems important and the way my father deems,
important they're not the. Same i'm gonna announce through angels
and multitudes to a bunch of shepherds to go, out
and you know what do we? See also When jesus,
resurrects he sends women to tell everybody in. Society that's
not even a reliable. Source the s why the disciples
(39:47):
didn't believe it to begin. With it's just a bunch
of women telling us. This he's always turning our view
of people upside. Down so he starts with, Shepherds so
listen to. This and An angel of The lord appeared to,
them and the glory of The lord shone around, them
and they were filled with great. Fear there's that. Again
and The angel said to, them fear, not for, BEHOLD
(40:10):
i bring you good news of great joy that will
be underline for all. People, now does that mean that
everybody is going to be? Redeemed, no because we're about
to throw that out here in just a. Minute this
means That messiah and redemption is available to the lowest
of the, low the poorest of the. Poor and you,
(40:30):
Know jesus said many times to, us the poor kind
of understand that that that that they are in. Need
it's it's those of you that think you don't need.
Anything those are the ONES i struggle with the. Most
and so the it says so for for all, people
meaning he's available to all who are willing to repent
and follow. Him for until, you unto you is born
(40:52):
this day in The city Of, david a savior who
Is christ The. Lord and this will be a sign to.
You you will find a baby be wrapped in swaddling,
clothes lying in a. Manger and suddenly there was with
The angel a multitude of the heavenly host Praising. God
and here it comes glory To god in the highest
(41:14):
and on earth peace among those with Whom he is.
Pleased wait a, minute that's not What Charlie brown. Said
that's not what lin has. Said you've changed what they. Said,
well it's interesting if you know what we mean, here
(41:35):
because if you go To Charlie, Brown linus is in
The King james, version which says peace goodwill to. Men,
well and here it, goes boy vacation cannot get here quick.
Enough THE, sv THE, niv and The New american standard
(41:57):
they don't say. That why why is? That why has
it been changed to peace among those with Whom he's? Pleased,
well if you go back to The Byzantine english, interpretation
which is The King james, version we had not found
some of the more ancient manuscripts and there was a
(42:19):
problem with The greek word. There so in The King
james version the text Was they thought it was eu
d k i a without the s, u'dokia which means
(42:40):
goodwill to all. People, well the Later english translations much
older and more reliable than The, byzantine The, alexandrian for. Example,
well they're going back to the original people who wrote
it down the first, time more reliable, text and they
noticed that The byzantines had dropped the. S but all
(43:05):
the way back in the more ancient, manuscripts closer to the,
original the s was. There, well that changes it slightly.
Different so if you go to you do key us
now the Correct english translation would be Meaning god's pleasure
(43:26):
is favored to people that he approves. Of, well now
that's that's a little bit. Different AND i know The
King james. Version, PEOPLE i just, please my email is not.
Working i've changed. It, uh it's Now adler at rickburgesshow dot. Com,
(43:49):
No so this is important listen because this is it
says that it's Now god's pleasure is to people he,
favors not to, everybody available to. Everybody but remember what
we said About, messiah that is not very. Popular When
(44:11):
jesus comes on the, scene when he find his, ministry
starts those three years of his, ministry what's the first
thing he hits the ground saying repent for The kingdom
Of god is at. Hand john The baptist was, saying
there he goes. Repent he's on the. Ground it's time to.
Repent Jesus christ is either here to redeem you or condemn.
(44:33):
You he's not here to redeem, you no matter whether
you're willing to repent or. Not jesus himself, said repent or.
Perish i'm. HERE i now provide for. FORGIVENESS i have.
It i'm. Here i'm going to go and pay the.
Price but if you reject, ME i won't redeem. You
(44:54):
i'll actually condemn. You, Yeah i'm. Here this explains what
he was talking abou In matthew ten thirty. Four don't
Think i've come to bring. Peace i'm bringing a, sword
meaning the peace is available to those of you that,
redeem that are willing to. Repent and if you reject my,
repentance and the sword's gonna be dislaughter. You so what
(45:18):
even the angels were saying is this is great news
to everybody who's willing to. Repent and for those of
you that are not willing to repent and you are
not In god's, favor this is actually going to be
bad news for you because the sacrificial system is over
and there's only one way to be redeemed from this point.
(45:39):
Forward when this child goes to the cross and he
says it is, finished the sacrificial system is complete in,
him and redemption is only found In. Jesus and if
you reject, That god's favor isn't with. You and this
isn't good news of, peace it's actually news to you
(46:01):
Of god's. Wrath everybody's not, UNFORTUNATELY i wish that everybody was,
going but there will be people if we understand scripture
who will reject this gift From god that we. Celebrate
(46:21):
SO i guess the answer to the question, Is, RICK
i don't know whether this is good news for me or.
NOT i see that it has the potential to be good.
News but IF i reject what this child, completed THEN
(46:47):
i don't have the good news of great, joy and
that piece isn't for me Because i've rejected. It look
At romans eight twenty, eight which is often you, know
we grab that just like everything the whole wide world's
gonna work out just. Fine don't you worry about? It,
(47:09):
well you know, what if you're, redeemed that is, true
but if you're, not it. Isn't look At romans eight twenty.
Eight is there a more well known? Verse people will,
say If i'm you, know If i'm an, ATHLETE i
gotta sign it and put that. Underneath and you, know
If i'm A christian and all, that everything's gonna work out.
Great but here's What paul actually, said and it's very
similar to what the angels. Said and we know that
(47:31):
for those who Love, god all things work together for.
Good for those who are called according To his, purpose
it ain't gonna work out for. Everybody only the ones
that Love god and have been called By god to
fulfill his. Purpose it's, hey it's not gonna work out
for the. Unredeemed it's not good news of great joy
(47:56):
for the. Unredeemed it's only good news and great joy
for those who have repents. It it is not good
news for those of you that have, not because he's
here to condemn. You so then what are we supposed to? Do,
(48:17):
well let me tell you. This as wonderful as this,
is and it, is it moves. Me it moves. ME
i do want you to know. This the can we
there we, go so let's still. Go h, So so
the the thing THAT i want you to understand, though
(48:40):
is you see how Much satan hates this is? Distraction
just there we. Go we got. It so we just
had a phone going off. Here but it's. Fine listen to.
This this is that we're going to close. On Baby
jesus is. Over it's. Over we don't Worship Baby. JESUS
(49:01):
i would never tell anybody ever to watch this. Movie
and it's a stupid movie and it's got a lot
of stuff in it we don't need to be seeing or.
Hearing and UNFORTUNATELY i DID i watched. IT i wouldn't
watch it, again BUT i will tell you. Something When
Will ferrell played in this goofy Ricky bobby, character he's
trying to be, disrespectful he's tried to be, blasphemous but
(49:23):
what he said is actually has a lot of truth to.
It he's saying the blessing and he, SAYS i pray
to the Baby. Jesus and he, said because that's my Favorite.
Jesus so WHEN i, PRAY i pray to Baby, Jesus,
well there's a lot of us still praying the Baby
jesus because that's our Favorite. Jesus and then we like
(49:45):
we like, it or we might pray to the Servant.
Jesus he's lowered. Himself he's he doesn't even know where
he's gonna. Sleep he goes and gets beat and scourged
and mutilated on the, cross and oh just just look
at his lowly. State, well That jesus is over. Too
(50:05):
Baby jesus is. Over Servant jesus is. Over would y'
all like to know what the current situation is Of.
Jesus we studied this in the, revelation and what does
the revelation tell? Us it Is, ultimately it's a lot of,
things but it is the revelation Of Jesus christ in
(50:28):
his current. State right in his current, State john, SAID
i was in the spirit on The Lord's, day AND
i heard behind me a loud, voice like a, trumpet,
saying write what you see in a book and send
it to the seven churches verse. Twelve THEN i turned
(50:51):
to see the voice that was speaking to, Me and
on TURNING i saw seven gold lamp. Stands in the
midst of the lamp stands was one like the son Of,
man clothed with a long robe and with a white
with a golden sash around his. Chest the hairs of
his head were, white like white, wool like. Snow his
eyes were like the flame of. Fire his feet were
(51:11):
like burnished, bronze refined in a, furnish and his voice
was like the roar of many. Waters and his right
hand he held seven. Stars from his mouth came a shop,
sharp two edged, sword and his face was like the
sun shining in full. Strength and WHEN i saw, HIM
(51:34):
i fell at his feet THOUGH i were. Dead nobody
fell at their feet like they were dead when they
saw the Baby. Jesus nobody fell at their feet like
they were dead when they saw the Crucified. Jesus but
The jesus were gonna see, Next we're going to follow
(52:01):
his feet like we're. Dead and all that was prophesied
For jesus to come as this. Baby all of those
had their job to do to tell the world that
he was coming the first, time and they did their.
(52:22):
Job john The baptist did his. Job jesus said that
go Tell john did his. Job he quotes the prophecies to,
him everything that was. Prophesied, John i'm Doing i'm. Him
And john did his. Job mary did her. Job joseph
(52:42):
did his, Job the shepherds did their, job the angels
did their. Job, annow it's time for us to do our.
Job and what is our, Job, Well paul tells, us
we're in bass For, christ and we've got to make
(53:04):
people understand that the first time that he came is
over and we must prepare them for his second. Coming
that's our. Job, see it's not complete yet because we're
still in the falling creation and fallen, bodies but we're,
(53:25):
redeemed and the job of the redeemed is to now
tell the world he's coming, back and you're gonna meet
the Glorified, jesus not the Baby, jesus not the Crucified.
Jesus you're gonna meet the Glorified, jesus The king of
kings and The lord of, lords who is, holy, Holy.
(53:46):
Holy and when you meet, him he's either going to
welcome you as a redeemed person who repented and left
faith in yourself and put your faith in. Him and
you confessed, him not, yourself as Your lord and your,
savior and you believed in your. Heart you've confessed with
your mouth that he Is. Lord because with your heart
only you, know you, believed and you have been. Saved
(54:09):
and now with your mouth you are confessing him As.
Lord you're, saved you're. Justified, well if that's the, case
then go tell others so they can experience the same.
Thing because just as he was born of a, virgin
and just as he went to the, cross all that was,
(54:32):
prophesied and just as he rose from the, dead all.
Prophesies they got it right on his, Birth they got
it right on his, crucifixion they got it right on his.
Resurrection and guess, what they're going to get it right
on his. Return and the question, is are you? Ready
(54:54):
has this gift changed your life good, well just as
a good meal at a restaurant is something you can't
wait to talk, about something much more. Important the redeemer
of the world has changed, you and you might want
to tell. Somebody go tell it on the. Mountain not
(55:20):
just that he was, born not just that he was,
Crucified tell him that he rose and he's coming back
to call his church to him and destroy all those
who oppose. Him Merry. Christmas let's Pray, lord thank you for,
today thank you for this incredible, message thank you for
(55:43):
this powerful, reminder and thank you for all that you've already.
Done and may we show you that we mean what
we say through our. Obedience and we go and tell
the world that you're coming again to take us to
(56:04):
you and to destroy all those who oppose. You in
the glorious name Of, jesus The lord Of lord and
The king Of, kings who Is, Holy, Holy, holy we Pray,
Amen thank, You Merry. Christmas
Host
Rick Burgess
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