Address—C. Hendricks
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Matthew.
22.
We begin there.
And verse 41.
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What thinking of Christ?
Whose son is he?
They say unto him, the son of David.
He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord?
Saying The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand.
Shall I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David, then call him Lord. How is he his son?
And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
I want to speak this evening on the.
Impeccable humanity of the Lord Jesus.
And I thought it would be well to start here. They gave a correct answer when he asked them.
Whose son is he? The Christ? What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? And they say unto him, the Son of David. That was correct. He was the Son of David. That's in his humanity. But then he asked them another question, which they could not answer.
He says, How then did David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, quoting the 110th Psalm?
Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
And the last verse of the chapter says no man was able to.
Answer him a word neither durst any man from that day forth ask him anymore questions. No man, none of the Pharisees, scribes that were round about.
Could answer that they did not really know who the Christ was. They knew that He was truly a man.
The son of David, but when he speaks of himself as.
David's Lord, they did not understand.
They did not realize the truth of His person, the full truth of it, that He was both God and man in one person, God's Son.
Son of God and the Son of Man.
I have spoken on him here.
As the Son of God, his deity.
And tonight I want to speak on his humanity. You see, if we, if the enemy can, he will attack his person, either on the divine side, denying that he's the eternal Son, or on the human side, denying that.
He was a perfect man saying that he could have sinned.
Are other statements such as this, and we'll look at some of them this evening.
Let's begin by turning back to Genesis chapter 3.
Genesis chapter 3.
And this was after the fall.
The Lord God verse 9 called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
And the Lord and he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked.
And I hid myself, and he said, Who told thee that thou was naked?
Hast thou eaten of the tree? Where have I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
And the man said, the woman whom thou gave us to be with me.
She gave me of the tree and I did eat.
And the man said.
And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this.
Thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shalt thou go.
And thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. Now the Lord is speaking to the serpent, and he says, And I will put enmity.
Between thee and the woman.
And between thy seed and her seed.
It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. It that is the seed of the woman.
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Shall bruise thy head, or another translation reads it. Crushed thy head, and thou shalt crush his heel. When did that take place? This is the first promise from God of a coming Redeemer.
And he's called the seed of the woman.
It's striking, isn't it, that God attacked the first human couple?
Adam and Eve by attacking the weaker vessel by questioning her and engaging her in a conversation.
And Adam allowed it. He allowed it.
You might say that one woman brought in sin, but the word of God says by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.
And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Man was placed as the head, and he was the responsible one. If he allowed the woman to take the lead. God holds him responsible.
And so he was, but he says to the woman, he says, thy seed will crush.
He says to the serpent that the woman's seed will crush.
Thy head. So the serpent introduced sin through the woman.
The Lord Jesus will introduce a Savior through the woman the.
Seed of the woman Everyone of us in the room tonight is the seed of man.
Where all the seed of man, the Lord Jesus, was the seed of the woman.
He was.
Seed of the woman who would crush the serpent's head.
And in that process, on the cross, when he defeated him, he had his heel crushed.
He was nailed to a cross and so on.
But that was the defeat of Satan.
By weakness and.
Defeat, apparently. So He won the median crown, trod all our foes beneath his feet by being trodden down. Well, that's the first indication in Scripture. Right after the fall, God comes in and he says I'm going to send a Redeemer and he will be the seed of the woman. Now turn to Isaiah. Isaiah Chapter 7.
Isaiah Chapter 7.
And verse 10 Moreover, the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God.
Ask it either in the depth or in the height above. But Ahas said I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.
And he said, Hear ye now, O House of David, Is it a small thing for you to weary men? But will ye weary my God also?
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign.
Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.
And shall call his name Emmanuelle. There you have the truth of this person.
The woman the virgin conceives and bears a son. That's his humanity.
And his name is called Emmanuel, which means God with us. That's his.
His deity.
It really is literally here. The virgin shall conceive and bear a son. There was one particular virgin that would be suitable and that would meet all the requirements of the Scriptures as to the first coming of the Lord Jesus.
And that woman's name, we know was Mary, and we'll read about her shortly in the New Testament. The seed of the woman, not the seed of man, but the seed of the woman, would destroy the serpent's power.
Now let's turn to Matthew chapter 1, where we have the birth of Christ.
Brought so beautifully before us.
Now I'm going to read this genealogy.
I want you to notice that there is one word that is found almost in every verse. Not in every verse, but almost in every verse.
In this genealogy.
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
So his genealogy is traced back to David the royal line, the king, and then Abraham, the line of faith.
Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob, and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren.
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And Judas begat Pharaohs, and Zerah of Thamar, And Pharaohs begat Esraim. And Esram begat Aram, And Aram begat Himinadab.
And a minute Dad begat Naasin and Naison begat Salman and Salman, Bigot, Boaz of Rakab and Boaz begat obit of Ruth, and obit begat Jesse and Jesse begat David the king, and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias and Solomon begat Robohome and Rebom begat Abaya, and Abaya begat ASA.
And ASA begat Josephat, and Josephat begat Joram, and Joram begat Osaias, and Osaias begat Joatham, and Jotham begat Akaz, and Akaz begat Ezekias.
And Ezekiel begat Manassas, and Manassas begat Ammon, and Ammon begat Josias, and Josias begat Jeconias and his brethren about the time they were carried away to Babylon.
And after they were brought to Babylon, Echinacea begat Salathiel, and Salathiel begat Zerubbabel.
And Zerubbabel began Abayad, and Abayad began Eliakim and Eliachim begat Azor, and Azor begat Sadik, and Sadik begat Akum, and Akum begat Eliah, and Eliah begat Eliezer, and Eliezer begat Matt Fan, and Matt van begat Jacob.
I notice and Jacob begat Joseph.
And it does not say, it cannot say Joseph begat Jesus.
It cannot say that because Joseph was not his biological father.
He had no human father. He was the seed of the woman.
Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
The Scriptures very carefully guards the virgin birth of Christ.
If you do not believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was born of a virgin.
You're not a Christian. You're really not saved at all. You might be a Christian by profession.
But you have rejected a very, very fundamental truth. If it isn't so, then we don't have a savior. Because the one that would crush the serpent's head was the seed of the woman, the very first word from Jehovah God himself after sin had come in. He would be the one that God would send.
God, the enemy attacked the human race through the woman. God would use the woman to destroy.
Satan's power.
Then let's read on South all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations, and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are 14 generations, and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ our 14 generations. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise when as his mother Mary, I want to call your attention to that expression.
Mary is repeatedly called the Lord's mother.
He derived his humanity through his mother.
As to his humanity, he has no human father, only a mother.
As to his deity, he has no mother, only a father.
There are some that call Mary the mother of God. That's absolutely unscriptural.
She was nothing of the kind. She was the mother of the Lord Jesus, Humanity. Oh yes, He was God, but God has no mother but He. The Lord Jesus, as God, has a father, and He is often referred to as such. He was here to glorify his Father.
But as to his humanity, Mary was his mother.
When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph. Here's the guard before they came together.
She was found with Child of the Holy Ghost.
Before they came together, there's the guard.
She was found with child of the Holy Ghost. She was a virgin when she became pregnant with that child of the Holy Ghost.
Man had nothing to do with that pregnancy.
Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
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But while he thought on these things, behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying.
Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife.
For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
Now if you have a margin in your Bible, and I have one in mind, there's a note by conceived and it says the Greek for this word means begotten.
And that's why I read the genealogy. Abraham begat Isaac, who begat Jacob, and so on. Begat, begat, begat, begat until we come to Joseph. And it does not say Joseph begat Jesus. It cannot say that because he was not begotten of a man.
He was begotten of the Holy Ghost, and so it really reads that which is begotten in her is of the Holy Ghost. Matthew talks about the begetting power of the Holy Spirit. Luke, which presents the Lord's humanity, presents Mary conceiving. So the word conceived is proper in Luke, but it's not proper here.
It ought to read that which is begotten in hers of the Holy Ghost.
And it wasn't a man that did that, beginning as it is in all of our normal relationships.
This was a miraculous birth, a miraculous begetting. In fact, it was the begetting that was so miraculous. Not the normal term of pregnancy, which was nine months, not the birth. Those were normal. But it was the conceiving by Mary and the beginning by the Holy Spirit that was.
Unique and miraculous and setting aside.
This person, the Son of God as.
Indeed special.
That which is begotten in hers of the Holy Ghost, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. Jesus means Jehovah the Savior.
For he shall save his people from their sins.
Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying, and now he quotes Isaiah 7, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us.
Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the Angel of the Lord had bidden him.
And took unto him his wife.
And knew her not till she had brought forth her first born son.
And he called his name Jesus.
Notice there are two guards in this chapter guarding the truth of.
His special birth, the first one is in verse 18. I've called your attention to it in the middle of the verse. Before they came together. She was found with child of the Holy Ghost and this last verse tells us something more.
He knew her not till she had brought forth her first born son.
And he called his name Jesus. So when Mary bore him when he was born, she was still a virgin.
She was a virgin when she conceived, and she was a virgin when she.
For him and he came into this scene.
This is guarded by God. Especially the Holy Ghost guards this truth in line with that first indication from Jehovah God to the serpent, the seed of the woman.
He was indeed the seed of the woman, not the seed of man. Now let's go on chapter 2.
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King.
Behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews, For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
When Herod the King had heard these things, he was troubled.
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And all Jerusalem with him, and when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes.
Of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
Herod was troubled, but the sad, sad part of that verse we don't.
Find it too surprising that Harold was that Herod was troubled, but that all Jerusalem with him was trouble.
Here come these wise men from the East. Where is he that is born king of the Jews? They did not know anything about his birth at this point.
And they were troubled. They should have rejoiced.
And they went to the ones that should have known.
And.
He asked, he demanded of them where Christ should be born, and they said, verse 5 unto him.
In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet that the prophet Micah, chapter 5.
And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the Princess of Judah, for out of thee shall come a governor. With that shall rule my people Israel.
Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search diligently for the young child. Now notice that expression. We'll come across it over and over again in this chapter. The young child, the young child. And sometimes it's the young child and his mother. It's never the young child and his father. Never, never does the Spirit of God called Joseph his father.
Men did people of the world.
Did even some of Philip did when he was first told about him. He's called him the son of Joseph. Well, legally he was that, but not genetically, not biologically. Joseph had nothing to do.
Physically with that birth.
He was the son of Mary, as to his humanity.
So he sent them to Bethlehem and said, go search diligently for the young child.
And when you have found him, bring me word again that I may come and worship Him also. Well, we know He wanted to kill it, not to worship Him.
When they had heard the king, they departed, and lo, the star which they saw in the East went before them till it came, and stood over the place where the young child was.
When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
And when they were coming to the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother.
And fell down and worshipped him.
Didn't worship her, they worshipped him.
And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him, yes, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Beautiful the significance of these gifts, Gold speaks of his deity.
Frankincense speaks of his impeccable humanity.
And Myrrh speaks of his atoning sufferings. How do they know?
What to bring that was suitable to that child by the Holy Ghost?
They were led by the Holy Spirit, by that star. It was divine leading all the way through.
For these wise men.
And so they presented unto him gifts, gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod.
They departed into their own country another way.
And when they were departed, behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph.
In a dream saying arise and take the young child and his mother.
And flee into Egypt. Notice the Angel of the Lord doesn't say to Joseph, Take your wife and son and flee into Egypt.
He doesn't say that. What does he say? He says take the young child and his mother.
And flee into Egypt.
Joseph is looked upon as often. Apart from that pair the young child and his mother.
They are put together by the Spirit of God repeatedly in connection with His.
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Holy humanity.
Flee into Egypt and be thou there until I bring thee word, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
When he arose, he took the young child and his mother. That formula is never departed from in this chapter. It's never Joseph. It's never his father and his mother.
It's the young child and his mother.
He departed by night and departed into Egypt, and he was there until the death of Herod. Verse 15 that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying, out of Egypt have I called my son? Now who is that that's speaking? Well, that's God, that's God the Father, and he refers to him as my son.
On the divine side, he was the Son of God. On the human side, he was the Son of Mary.
Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from 2 years old and under. You remember he had diligently inquired when that star first appeared.
He wanted to date the time of his birth.
He wanted to date the time of his birth, and now he goes about in his wicked plan to try to kill that child, thinking he was still at Bethlehem.
It says from 2 years old and under according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Verse 17 then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet saying in Rhema was there a voice heard lamentation and weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeping for her children and would not be comforted because.
They are not. All those male children from 2 years old and under were put to death.
The Lord was not there.
He had been taken to Egypt.
By Joseph. But when Herod was dead, behold, an Angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.
Saying, arise and take the young child and his mother.
And go into the land of Israel, for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
And he arose and took the young child and his mother, and came.
The young child and his mother. The young child and his mother, the young child and his mother. And all of a sudden the light went on and I said yes, what a wonderful truth.
Son of Mary as to his humanity, not the son of Joseph.
Not the son of Joseph.
Wonderful truth.
He arose and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. When he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither, notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the paths of Galilee parts of Galilee.
And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets. He shall be called and Nazarene.
Now the genealogy in Matthew. We read it.
Starts from Abraham. He was the son of Abraham, son of David, his royal line, his line of the line of faith from Abraham, and it works down towards the time of his birth. And that was the genealogy of Joseph.
But in Luke's gospel, and let's turn to that now in Luke chapter.
Chapter 3.
We have the genealogy of the Lord.
It's really on Mary's side.
And Luke presents to us his true and proper humanity.
Now Luke gives us a moral order of things, and let's begin reading here.
In Luke chapter 3.
And verse 21.
Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus.
Also being baptized and praying the heaven was opened.
And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him.
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And a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved son.
In thee I am well pleased.
And here we have the Father declaring his delight in his beloved son, and he addresses him in Matthew and in Mark.
The voice says This is my beloved son. He's talking to those roundabout, but here he's talking to him personally. Thou art my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.
Now notice right next door to this verse, the very next verse.
And Jesus himself began to be about 30 years of age being And here we have the guard in the parentheses being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph. If you leave that parentheses out, then you have destroyed the truth.
Being the son of Joseph. No, Being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph.
Which was the son of Eli, which was the son of Matthew. And you go through this and it starts out with with Joseph and goes back to Adam goes let's look at the last verse 38, which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God. Adam is called here the son of God because he was created directly by God.
And so he was the Son of God by creation.
The Lord Jesus was not that. He was the eternal Son of God. But you might say, well, I thought you said that this was Mary's genealogy. Yes, it is.
Look at verse 23. Jesus himself began to be about 30 years of age, being as was supposed.
The son of Joseph, which was the son-in-law of Hilah. Now in the Hebrew usage, a son-in-law is called a son.
We do that too. So really, Heli was Mary's father.
So Joseph was the son-in-law of Heli.
And so the genealogy, who was the father of Mary? So the genealogy is really Mary's in Luke. And how fitting that is for setting before us his perfect humanity.
Now let's turn back to the first chapter of Luke.
Luke chapter 1.
Verse 26.
And in the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee named Nazareth.
To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph.
Of the House of David, and the Virgin's name was Mary.
And the Angel came in unto her, and said, Hail thou that art highly favored.
The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women.
How many Hebrew women had yearned to bear the Messiah?
It's called the desire of women in Daniels Gospel.
This Antichrist will disregard the desire of women, the desire of women. A Jewish woman was to have a child and like Rachel says to.
Jacob, give me children or I die. But to have the Messiah, to have the Christ of God was a yearning that many, many godly Jewish women had.
Well.
Art thou among women because she was going to bear the Christ?
The Son of God.
And when she saw him verse 29, she was troubled at his saying and cast in her mind.
What manner of salutation this should be?
And the Angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God.
And behold, thou shalt conceive now that's the right word in Luke.
Matthew uses the word begotten, but here we have it. Thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call his name Jesus.
He shall be great, and shall be called the son of the highest.
Now the Son that she conceived and bore was. That's his humanity. And now he's called the Son of the Highest. That's his deity. You get those two truths put together over and over and over again in Scripture.
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He shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his Father David. Again, that's his humanity.
His father.
They asked him, they answered when he said, Whose son is he? The Christ? They said, the son of David. They were right partly, but they didn't know the full truth of this person, that he was not only David's son, he was David's Lord as well.
And he was not only Mary's son, but he was Mary's Lord as well.
Her God, as he is to each one of us.
She does not have any special favors bestowed upon her when it comes to her relationship with God.
In fact, he could say at later we could look at it. My spirit of rejoicing God, my Savior. She needed a Savior just like you and I do. She was a Sinner just like any of us is, but she was so privileged to bear the Christ.
Verse 33 And he shall reign over the House of Jacob Forever, and of his Kingdom there shall be no end.
Then said Mary unto the Angel, How shall this be?
Seeing I know not a man.
She was a virgin she knew, not a man.
How can I possibly have a son? Now here comes the answer.
And the Angel answered, and said unto her, the Holy Ghost.
Shall come upon thee.
And the power of the highest.
Shall over shadow thee.
Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Notice the precision of Scripture. It doesn't say that holy thing we shall be born of thee, shall become the Son of God.
He never became the Son of God. He was always the Son of God, but he was called the Son of God. That just think of that tremendous truth. Here's this little baby born in a stable, laid in a Manger called the Son of God.
The Son of God.
Tremendous truth.
Some years ago. I don't know if I've mentioned this here or not, but it's good to repeat it.
Some years ago I came across a full page, a full page ad in the Los Angeles Times, a great big newspaper, and the whole page was devoted to telling about the next event that's going to happen, which will be the coming of the Lord for his church.
And then it said in there, there were two mistakes in the ad, in that it wasn't an ad in this beautiful setting forth of scriptural truth, but there were two mistakes. One was very minor, the other was very serious.
The minor one which said that after he comes for the church, he will come back with the church to set up the Kingdom 3 1/2 years later.
And I think that's a mistake. That's a minor mistake. I think it's more like 7 years later, but that's not that important. It's just a matter of some time.
But then the author said Joseph had nothing to do with the birth of Christ.
True, he was not biologically the father.
But then he went on to say neither did Mary have anything to do with the birth of Christ.
Absolutely wrong, absolutely false. If that were true, then we wouldn't have a savior. The the view of the author of that paper, and I think I know who put it in in is because because I have read in one of his books since this view that he has that God created a special humanity in the womb of Mary and her womb simply incubated.
Humanity of Christ. So he didn't derive his humanity for Mary, and if that's the case, he has no real connection with the human race.
With you and me, he is not a man like you and I are.
And that's a devastatingly wrong doctrine.
The the Roman Catholic Church has developed a teaching trying to, I think they did it in good faith. I'll give them credit for that. I don't know how far back in their history this came about, but they developed the teaching of the Immaculate Conception. I don't know if you've ever heard of that, but they developed a teaching that Mary was conceived without sin.
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And they realized that the Lord Jesus in his humanity was holy.
And sinless. And so they invented the theory that Mary was.
Conceived without sin.
And therefore her son was without sin. Well, all that does is move the problem one generation back to Mary.
Who couldn't have been conceived without sin because she had a sinful father as well as a sinful mother?
Well, Mary was a Sinner and she had a sin nature, so their theory is not scriptural. It's true that the Lord Jesus was conceived without sin. How did God do that? It didn't. It wasn't because his mother was sinless. She was not. She said my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. She needed a Savior just like you and I do.
How then, did God preserve the humanity of the Son?
From contracting the sin nature of Mary.
Well, this 35th verse gives the answer. Let's read it again carefully.
The Angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee.
And the power of the highest shall over shadow thee, therefore also that holy thing.
It doesn't say Holy 1, and I believe that the reason it doesn't is because.
The Spirit of God here is talking about His holy human nature.
That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
The nature of man has existed in three distinct states.
When God created Adam, he created him with a.
An innocent nature without sin. He had no sin as created of God.
He was innocent, but he was capable of sinning. Innocence is not the same as holiness.
And after he sinned, the state of his humanity went from innocency.
To sin sinfulness, and you and I partake of a sin nature. And so we're all sinners by nature and by practice.
But Adam was not a Sinner by nature when he was created of God. He fell by listening to the voice of Satan, and Eve did. And then they both took of the fruit, and they disobeyed God, and sin came into the world. But the Lord Jesus neither partook of an innocent nature, nor of course not of a sin nature. And yet, horror of horrors, there are true Christians that say the Lord Jesus could have sinned.
And they don't understand holiness.
That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. The Lord's nature was holy. His human nature was holy. That means it was sinless and incapable of sinning. Holiness cannot sin. We understood what holiness is. What is holiness? Holiness is delight in what is good and abhorrence of evil according to God, abhorrence of evil.
Every suggestion to him to sin or to do anything.
Independently of the Father's will was painful to the Lord Jesus.
And it was rejected with holy horror.
There was only one time I could think of it was in the garden. When the Lord expressed his will, He said, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.
But then in the perfection that was always his, he said.
Not my will, but thine be done.
He submitted always to the perfect will of him that had sent him that was proper to him in his humanity. I come to do thy will, O God.
It was a man on earth that was absolutely, impeccably perfect. No sin, no propensity to sin, no possibility of sin.
The best illustration I've ever come across is a man brings in two pieces of gold. He suspects one of them is real and the other one is false. Is is an imitation, but he wants to get it tested. So he brings it to the jeweler and the jeweler puts it through. I think it's nitric acid. It may be another acid, it doesn't matter, but it's the acid they use to test. And he immerses the gold ring in the nitric acid.
And it's not attacked by the gold and he pulls it out. He says that's true gold.
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The acid cannot attack it, does not attack it, cannot attack it. Then he took the other one and immersed it in the acid, and it was eaten up by the acid, he said. That's fool's gold. That's not real.
Now I ask you, was the ring that was consumed by the acid the only one that was subjected to a real genuine test? Was not the other ring that was pure gold submitted to a real genuine test, though it could not be attacked by the acid? Of course it was, they were both tested. But the testing that the Lord Jesus went through was to prove that He was pure gold in His human.
Could not sin.
I'm going to make a very strong statement, but.
Anyone that thinks the Lord could have sinned does not really know who he is.
Does not really understand him.
The Holy One of God, that holy thing which shall be born of thee.
Shall be called the Son of God.
I was speaking on this once at Gresham, and afterward a young man came to me and he said, Why do you emphasize so strongly that?
His humanity had to be that of Mary.
What's wrong with the idea that God created a special humanity? Is there anything in the Old Testament that would indicate that? And I didn't have the answer then. But as I lay in bed that night and meditated upon it right away the book of Ruth came before me. Boaz was the kinsman Redeemer, and the thought of being our kinsman is the answer to that question. He had to be.
One of us, His humanity, had to be the same humanity as ours is in order for him to be our Redeemer. If he had a different kind of uniquely created, independent sort of humanity, couldn't have been our Redeemer.
He had to have his humanity derived from a human mother, and that was Mary.
Not a human father, no. The Spirit of God was the beginner in that, and the Spirit of God prevented.
The overshadowing power of the Holy Ghost prevented any sin nature from Mary being transferred to that child.
The Holy Spirit maintained that Son in his humanity.
Holy, holy without the taint of sin.
And so these other inventions trying to protect the Lord's holy humanity.
Failed. And what really explains it is that 35th verse. I'll read it once more.
The Angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power.
Of the Highest shall over shadow thee. Therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Tremendous, wonderful truth.
Let's turn to the second chapter.
Verse 25.
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.
And the same man was just and devout, waiting for the reconciliation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him, and that it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus.
To do for him after the custom of the law, then took him up in his arms and blessed God, and said.
Lord, now let us, thou thy servant, depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people.
A light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people, Israel. Notice verse 33 and Joseph and his mother. Again there is the distinction between Joseph and Mary called. His mother doesn't say Joseph and Mary, but Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him.
Now if you read that verse in most of our modern translations, it reads.
His father and his mother.
This is the one instance where I believe Mr. Darby chose the wrong.
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Manuscript because there are some manuscripts that read his father and his mother.
But the vast majority of the manuscripts read Joseph and his mother, maintaining that wonderful distinction between Joseph and Mary.
Now notice the very next verse reinforces that truth. And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, not Joseph his father.
But Mary his mother, behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against.
And in.
They would Passover to verse 40.
And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
Now his parents and that slit, that's correct, that's correct rendering his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover.
When he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast, and when they had fulfilled the days as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem. Now here it is, and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.
The other translations read his parents knew not of it. Well, I don't object to the expression his parents so much, but I believe that Joseph and his mother expresses as we have it in our King James, the truth that we've been looking at all through Scripture, which the Spirit of God guards carefully that.
He had no earthly father, so it should read in those two passages. Joseph and his mother knew not of it. And then this following account.
Reinforces that, but they supposing him to have been in the company.
When a day's journey and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.
And it came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors.
Both hearing them and asking them questions. Here he was a boy of 12.
Wouldn't have been proper for him to be teaching them at that young age, but he was hearing them and asking them questions.
And all that hurt him were astonished at his understanding and answers.
And when they saw him, they were amazed.
And his mother said unto him, Son.
And I detect a bit of irritation in Mary here.
Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold thy Father and I.
And sought thee sorrowing. I don't know how else she could have said it. Because Joseph was indeed.
His father legally, but notice how he corrects that.
And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me?
Wished ye not that I must be about my father's business.
Is first recorded utterance in Scripture. I must be about my father's business. That wasn't Joseph he was talking about. That was God his father.
And Mary?
It says they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.
You know it is. We are slow in arriving at the truth of who he is.
Whether we're talking about his deity or his humanity.
You can attack either side of his person, and if you succeed under the influence of Satan, if you succeed, you've lost Christ, you've lost a Savior.
Because if he wasn't a virgin born son of God, he's not our Savior. If his humanity was a different kind of humanity than yours and mine, he wasn't truly the son of Mary. We know he wasn't the son of Joseph, but he was the son of Mary. And if that stands then.
You've lost a savior.
So these other doctrines.
I remember talking to a young brother that was with us in fellowship at the table at the time who was insisting on this teaching. He was not the son of Joseph. He was not the son of Mary.
I said, Oh yes, he was the son of Mary, absolutely.
And he had the idea that he had a special humanity created especially of God.
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And that is not what Scripture teaches. He was the kinsman Redeemer.
And he was one of us. Let's just look at Hebrews 2 on that point, and then we'll close Hebrews 2.
Hebrews 2.
Verse 14 For as much then as the children.
Our partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise.
Took part of the same.
That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them.
Who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to *******.
Verse 17 In all things. Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren.
That he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God.
In all things, and He gives the one exception is in chapter 4, and that is verse 15. We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted as we are.
Yet without sin, or literally sin apart.
He had no sin. Nature, and the temptations that were hurled at him came from without.
He had no inner temptations from within because he did not have to grapple with an evil nature. He was the Holy One of God.
So many is settled the question could Jesus have sinned by saying of course not, he was God? Well those that say that he could have sinned will admit he couldn't have sinned as God, but he they say he could have sinned as man and that denies his holy humanity.
Touch either side of the impeccable person of Christ, his deity.
His divine side or his human side? Touch either one of those and you have lost.
The true Christ of God, as presented in the Word of God, the seed of the woman, shall.
Crushed the serpent's head, and he did that at the cross.
Let's sing #7 in closing.
Thou Son of God, the woman seed, who didst for us on Calvary bleed and bear our heavy load, spoiler of deaths orwhelming power, or come by thee in that dread hour, thou Holy One of God.