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Let's open our Bibles to Luke chapter one, Luke chapter one. and since we are close to the Christmas celebration, I thought we would look at a portion in, uh, Luke's gospel that reminds us again of the person and work of our Savior. Now, this time of year, as you know, the world celebrates. Someone made a comment earlier in the, uh, previous meeting that, uh, there are such, uh, superficial, uh, celebrations of this time of year, this holiday. You can't help but think of the Lord's word to the woman at the well, you worship what you know not. And, uh, there are celebrations, uh, for the Christmas season, so-called. But we want to focus, of course, on the person and the work of our wonderful Savior, what he has accomplished for us.
And, uh, the enemy of our souls has a desire to mask the issues, to cloud the issues, get people involved in various things that would deflect them from the truth. And so this time of year is a great opportunity for us as believers to emphasize the reason for the season, as it's been stated, and to really highlight the person and work of our Savior. And in Luke chapter one, uh, in verses twenty six through thirty three, we have the annunciation of the Lord's birth. But what I'd like to focus on are three verses in particular, but let's read that whole portion to get the context. Beginning then at verse twenty six. now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.
The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. But when he saw him, she was troubled at his saying and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And these are the verses that we'll be focusing on this morning, verses thirty one through thirty three. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus, and he will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
Now, I grew up on the King James Version. King James Version is in the hearts, and, uh, I can't help but, uh, as a matter of fact, you might have heard me read this morning some verses, and I have a tendency to, to insert the King James in there, which is a great thing. Uh, in the King James Version, you'll see there are seven shalls in this portion, verses thirty one through thirty three. Some have called it the seven shalls of Messianic prophecy. Uh, I have just read from the New King James Version, and it, uh, is replaced with the words will instead of shall in most cases. And so you can, uh, say in the same way, these are seven certainties of events dealing with the birth of our Savior, the person and work of Christ.
The seven certainties. That's what I'd like to take a look at. The seven certainties of Messianic prophecy, or the seven certainties of the person and work of our Savior. And it covers two advents, both advents of the Lord. His first, uh, advent when he came to this earth, came as a lamb to take away the sin of the world. It will involve also his second advent when he comes back as the lion of the tribe of Judah, so the two advents of Christ. And it covers three phases of his work. Uh, the first is his incarnation in verses thir- in verse thirty one, his incarnation, and then it covers his earthly ministry, different aspects of his earthly ministry, and then it finishes with his kingdom. And so it talks about his coming again, his reign, his millennial reign, uh, when he comes back and rules over this world.
And so different aspects of the person and work of Christ. And, uh, in it we have a very clear presentation of the gospel, and also has a clear presentation of prophecy and of future events. I know Gary, when, uh, he was here back in January, I believe it is, or February, whenever it was, uh, spoke on some prophetic themes. I enjoy the study of, uh, the prophecy of scripture, and, uh, there's so many things that come out when we study the prophetic passages. Even with the birth of Christ. You know, whenever I travel around, I always ask myself at this time of year, what should I preach on? Should I just preach on a, uh, any general passage of scripture as the Lord leads, or should I spoke- speak and focus on the prophecies of Christ?
And when you think about it, you put all the prophe- prophecies together of the Lord Jesus, you have how he was born, virgin born, referred to here, a reference to Isaiah chapter seven, and where he would be born, in Bethlehem of Ephrata, it says in Micah chapter five verse two. Uh, all these different prophecies, the purpose of it, Genesis chapter three, the, the, uh, the judgment that came down to the serpent in Genesis chapter three, and the fact that, uh, the woman would have the seed, a biological improbability or impossibility, speaking about the future redeemer. Uh, that's another prophecy of Christ. And so, so many prophecies of Christ that, uh, tell us the who, why, what, where, and when.
And so, tremendous thing that we see in the scriptures, how precise the scriptures are. Well, here in verse thirty one, the angel Gabriel said to Mary, behold, you will conceive in your womb. And so the first thing that we see here is the miracle of his birth, the miracle of his birth, and of course it's the fact that he was virgin born. Now, the fact that it says you will conceive in your womb, that's not a miracle, that happens all the time. There's no miracle with that. But the fact that she would still have that designation of virgin after she had conceived is the miracle. It's not the immaculate conception. Some people have used that term and heard that term, and they apply it to Christ.
That has no application to the person of Christ. Actually, that is an application to about Mary. That was made up, uh, some one hundred and fifty years ago or so, uh, regarding Mary. Immaculate conception does not refer to the Lord Jesus, but he was indeed virgin born, and, uh, these scriptures remind us of the fact that he was the perfect person to be the perfect sacrifice for sin. And so that's why it's significant. Uh, liberal Protestant Christianity, uh, there is and has been always a movement to try to get away from the importance of the virgin birth. But, uh, that is so important because that means that he, the Lord Jesus, did not have the seed of sin in him.
And so that's so significant to understand that. Now, the virgin birth of Christ is referred to in, uh, a number of different places, even in the gospel accounts. Just turn a page or two over in, uh, Luke, Luke's gospel, and follow with me in chapter three. Look with me in chapter three. how important this is, especially for young people, even in this audience here this morning, to understand the very clear teaching of scripture about the virgin birth of Christ. There are two genealogies in the gospel accounts, Matthew and Luke, and Luke probably follows Mary's line, and uh, we read in verse three twenty three, it says Jesus himself began his ministry about thirty years of age, right in line with the priesthood, along the lines of Aaron.
Everyone going into the priesthood in the Old Testament went in thirty and they got out at fifty. It was a twenty-year span. They figured fifty, that's you've served long enough. Time for you to step out of the way and let someone else, uh, come into the picture. And so, uh, people entering the priesthood came in at the age of thirty. So he followed the lines of the Aaronic priesthood. But then it says, notice what it says carefully. It says, being as was supposed the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, son of Methat, and further. As was supposed. And so there is a real clear picture. It wasn't that Joseph was the Lord's father, it was as was supposed.
The Pharisees, you remember in John's gospel, were carrying on a discussion with the Lord Jesus, and the Lord Jesus was saying, before Abraham was, I am. And it was an I am statement. And the Pharisees were incensed with that statement. And they said to the Lord Jesus, who at that time, of course, was at least thirty years, maybe thirty one years of age, and they said, we were not born of fornication. And a very clear inference was there that carried on, had been carrying on for some thirty years, was that the Lord was illegitimate. And it's very clear that the Pharisees are trying to point that out and making that inference about the Lord Jesus.
And here the scripture is telling us in verse twenty three, as was supposed, well, was that the case? No, that was not the case. It was indeed that he was virgin born, and the scriptures are clear on that. Now, keep your finger in Matthew chapter, I mean, Luke chapter one, where we're looking at those verses, and go with me to Matthew chapter one. Matthew covers another aspect of the genealogy of Christ. A great story there with the different personalities that are in the line of Christ, the Messianic line. Those who had dubious backgrounds. Tamar in verse three of chapter one, Matthew chapter one verse three, Tamar, and in verse five, Rahab, and then Ruth and Moabites, also in verse five.
And then verse six, a reference there, by inference, David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. That was Bathsheba, an adulterous affair. Four different people. Then notice over in verse eleven, Josiah begot Jeconiah. Jeconiah was a wicked king, and God had said, no one shall get on the throne who follows in your line, Jeconiah. And so all the rest would not really be on the throne of the, of their father David. God had promised David that there would be one who would be on the throne, that kingdom would last forever, but it wouldn't be through these individuals because Jeconiah was an error, he tainted the, the line. But it says in verse sixteen, there's all these references to begot, begot, begot.
Verse sixteen, Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. A deliberate skipping over that word begot to point out that Mary was the mother, but Joseph was not the father. And so someone, I read this, it was amazing one time I read this portion, said, had everything been right in Israel, Joseph would have been the king of Israel. I read that, and I was stunned by that statement. But he was in the messianic line, Joseph was. But it skipped over because of the curse of Jeconiah. But the Lord wasn't born of Joseph. And so, all that came to pass just as God had prophesied.
And so again, the scripture, Matthew chapter one verse sixteen, very precise to point out that Joseph was not the father of the Lord Jesus. He was a foster father. So here you have fostering in the New Testament. Very interesting. Acts chapter thirteen talks about fostering that person who had been brought up with Herod. He was a foster child of Herod. So the scripture te- teaches some of these other things as, uh, in some ways incidental- in- incidentals. Going back to Luke chapter one then, though, how important it is to understand the miracle of his birth, the virgin birth of Christ. And so that's is pointed out here.
And as we mentioned before, in Genesis chapter three, the scripture says very clear, I will put enmity, the serpent was told, between your seed, Satan's seed, and her seed, the woman's seed. A biological impossibility could never happen. And so right back in the opening pages of scripture in Genesis chapter three, is a very clear declaration that there would be a redeemer that would come, that would not be tainted with the sin that was introduced into the human race all way back there in the book of Genesis. So we think of the scriptures that are in second Corinthians. So he that knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
And Christ was absolutely sinless, and he was sinless, and so because he was the perfect son, he was the perfect sacrifice for sin. So when he went on the cross there at Calvary, God looked upon him, the blameless one, the one who knew no sin, did no sin, committed no sin at all. He took our sin upon himself so that you and I have the right to go to heaven because of his wonderful, precious work at Calvary. And so that's the meaning of his name, and uh, rather the um, miracle of his birth, followed by the meaning of his name, Jesus. That's what comes next. If you notice with me in, uh, that same verse, verse thirty one, behold, a- uh, Gabriel said, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus.
That's the next Messianic certainty, the next, uh, prophetic certainty that we have here when Gabriel said this. Gabriel, of course, was the angel that always came and delivered news. He did in the book of Daniel, seen here as in the Old Testament, of course, and here in the New Testament, he's bringing the wonderful declaration about the Savior, and he tells Mary that you will call his name Jesus, and so that was his name, Jesus. Now, in the Old Testament, we have Joshua, who led the children of Israel around the city of Jericho and into the Promised Land, a wonderful picture of Christ entering into their inheritance, the nation of Israel.
And Joshua means Jehovah saves. It's the Old Testament equivalent of the New Testament Jesus. You have to make sure you have that right when you're reading through the book of Hebrews, don't you? Make sure you understand that, uh, the reference in the Old King James of Joshua is really a reference to Jesus in the book of Hebrews. And Jesus is indeed the one who would save his people from their sins. John chapter one verse twelve, he came unto his own, and his own received him not. Came unto his own, his own creation, that which he made himself. We look at Genesis chapter one, Genesis chapter two, we think of God in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. But further along, other scriptures reminds us that he framed the world.
Hebrews chapter eleven tells us that. And so the Lord Jesus there is involved in all creation. So he came unto his own creation, and his own people, the nation of Israel, received him not. It's an amazing thing when you think about it. All that the Lord Jesus did. If I came here this morning, and I brought gifts for each one of you, and I said, this is what I, this is how I care about you, and I brought physical gifts, groceries, could be anything, and I brought them to you, and you pushed them away and said, I have no interest in this.
That's what the Lord Jesus did with his own people, the nation of Israel. Acts chapter ten verse thirty eight says, he went about doing good and healing all those who are oppressed of the devil. All those things, he healed the people with withered hands and blind eyes and those who could not hear. Raising Lazarus from the dead, performing miracles in the presence of the nation of Israel there in Capernaum. You know, there's only two times the Lord marveled. Did you realize that? Only two times in the scriptures that the Lord marveled. He marveled when that centurion came up to him and said, you know, I know that if you just speak the word, my servant will be healed from a distance.
And the Lord listened to the words of that centurion, he turned to the crowd, he says, there's been not such so great a faith in all of Israel than that. He understood the chain of command, this centurion, the Lord Jesus said. And that time the Lord marveled in a positive way. The other time he marveled was because of the unbelief of the inhabitants of Capernaum. He did a few works, it says, in that city, because he did had done a number of significant works, and the people didn't believe in him. It's an amazing thing. He came unto his own creation and his own people, and his own people received him not.
But he, to as many as believed, to them gave he the right to become the children of God. And that's why you're sitting here this morning, and I'm standing here as well. Because by faith, we have understood the message of the cross and the claims of Christ, and because of the goodness and grace and mercy of our wonderful Savior, we are here this morning. That's something to be thankful for and grateful for. Oh, that men might praise the Lord and, uh, praise him for his wonderful works to the children of men, it says in Psalm one o seven. You look at that portion in Psalm one o seven, you see how it's split into four different sections. Each one has a little description of a problem that people go through, and it speaks of different ways that God, uh, ministers to people, helps them out.
And the first portrayal, uh, in that portion, Psalm one o seven, talks about those who are in solitary, uh, a solitary way and, uh, how they were depressed and discouraged. Some people come to know the Lord because they're, they're strung out on life and they have problems with issues, uh, in, in their experience, and they don't know how to get that fixed. They don't know who to turn to. Finally, on their back, so to speak, they look to the Lord, and the Lord helps them. And that's how it's portrayed in Psalm one o seven. Other people are rebellious and stubborn, and it says that God brought them down their hearts with hard labor, and in the midst of that problem, they, in their predicament, they call out to the Lord, and the Lord heals them and helps them.
And some people find the Lord that way. For a number of years, I worked in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in New Jersey, White New Jersey, called America's Keswick, and I'm still involved with that. As a matter of fact, we have an event to go back to, as I mentioned, uh, tomorrow night. And to hear the wonderful message of redemption that people have gone through, uh, because of call out to the Lord. I've heard story after story. One time I was amazed in a group of two or three hundred people. A fella got up there and gave his testimony. They like to emphasize the testimonies there and victorious life, and this fella explained, I was spellbound as I listened to his testimony. There was, he had been consigned to a insane asylum because of his chemical addiction, substance abuse, losing everything, and in perfect articulation gave praise to the Lord Jesus Christ for saving him in front of a large crowd, worthy enough to be a conference speaker, if you will.
One who had been assigned to a mental institution because he couldn't think correctly because of drugs and alcohol and all the influences that have been part of his life. Wonderfully and marvelously delivered by the blood of Christ and the mercy of God. Y- you have to see it and hear it to believe it. So many testimonies I've heard along those lines, not just in that place, but all over, and many of you perhaps have that same type of testimony. Where would we be without the Lord? The wonder of his love should never cease to be, uh, singing praises to the Father because of the work of the Son. And so he saves his people from their sins, and that's what the meaning of his name is, Jesus.
And when Gabriel came that and brought that message to Mary, it was a wonderful message. That was the same message that was given to the shepherds when they were in the field. Unto you this day is born in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Good tidings to all people, not just a few, but to all. And so it's a wonderful message, the prophecies of the Messiah. So that deals with his incarnation. These two certainties, the miracle of his birth, the meaning of his name, deal with his first advent and his incarnation. Now, the next one is found in the next verse, verse thirty two, and it says, in verse thirty two, he will be great.
He will be great. And so this emphasizes the magnitude of his work. He will be great. Well, how was he great? Speaking again of his earthly ministry now, another segment of the work of Christ. Well, he's great in his deeds, all the things that he did. He could stand in the boats, Mark chapter four, stand up in the midst of the waves and the wind and say, peace be still. Now, that's a different account. Mark chapter four is a different account than Matthew chapter fourteen when he was also on the Sea of Galilee with his disciples. In that account, Matthew chapter fourteen, he came from the mountain.
Wonderful picture of the Lord up on high and his intercessory work for us as our great high priest coming down and helping us out. Remember the disciples in that account, Matthew chapter fourteen. it says they were rowing, and it was in the, they were in the midst of the sea, the Sea of Galilee, and they were getting nowhere. Can be a picture of the church, can be a picture of us personally in our own walk with the Lord. If we're not getting his help or even calling out for his help, we can be rowing and getting nowhere. Until he comes by, and the parallel account in John chapter six of that passage, again in Mark fourteen, says the Lord would have passed them by just to give the assurance that he was there in the midst of trials.
As we go through our trials, our difficulties, our problems in life, we often will say, like John the Baptist, are, is it you, or should we look for another? The great John the Baptist related to the Lord, even had his doubts in the nadir of his trial and the low point of his life. When we're going through trials and difficulties, we wonder, Lord, are you there? It's just like the psalmist said in Psalm thirteen, O Lord, how long, how long, how long? Four times. He says, how long? We want to get to the end of that trial as quick as possible. The Lord says, I'll give you the grace to get through the trial. I'll be with you through the trial.
The floods won't overflow, the fire won't burn you. The Lord helps us through those trials, but we still sometimes need to go through them to experience the grace and goodness in a way we haven't experienced before. And again, whether it's Mark four, when he was in the hull of the ship sleeping with the disciples up on the, the top, and he's in the hull of the ship, or he comes from the mountain to come to their aid, doesn't matter either way. He gives us that strength to get through it. And then when we get through it, like it says there in Mark fourteen, when they got to the shore, they said, now we know you are the Son of God. Well, they knew that already ahead of time. But now there is an experiential depth to their words.
You know, you can tell when somebody has been walking close to the Lord. There's a depth to their words, there's a conviction. You can sense it, you can see it, you can feel it, you can hear it when someone has been trusting in the Lord rather than their own strength. Believers I'm talking about. And so he helps us out. And so he, he shall be great. So he was great in his deeds. He was also great in his declarations. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. That's a great declaration. Can't get greater than that. People say, well, there's many ways to God.
Well, no, there's not many ways to God. There's many ways to Christ. I heard that statement one time, and right when I heard someone say that statement or read that, whatever it was, whatever it was, I think it was a reading that I heard, that I saw, and they said there are many ways to Christ. I said, oh no, that's not right. But then I thought about it. There's only one way to God, through Christ. But there's many ways to Christ. Some find him in the gutter, which is low down, but there's also gutters up on tops of the roofs, aren't there? So someone says, my life was in a gutter. He was a Wall Street executive, a millionaire, but his life was in the gutter.
He was high up. And there's those who are low down. And so the Lord is great in his declarations. He says, I am mighty to save. I can help. So there's no one beyond the scope of God's forgiveness and God's help. Behold, my hand is not shortened that I cannot save, neither is my ear heavy that I cannot hear. So the Lord can grasp anybody. Take a look at the life of King Manasseh, perhaps the worst king that there ever was in the nation of Israel. You can find his account in two Chronicles chapter thirty three. the worst king there was. Interestingly, he had the best father there was, probably ever was, Hezekiah. And when Hezekiah was looking at the possibility of a terminal illness, he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord gave him fifteen more years.
And in that interim, in that fifteen-year period, he had his son Manasseh. And Manasseh was the most wicked king there ever was. When Hezekiah did die, Manasseh came to the throne. And it says in that account and other parallel accounts that he seduced Judah and his habitants to do worse than the nations that were around him. And he passed his children through the fire, that fire, that's child sacrifice. And he did soothsaying and worshiped the host of heaven, it says. Took out all the things in the temple of God. Worst king there ever was. And because of that, God brought upon him the Assyrians who took him away and led him forth with, it says, nosehooks, like a barnyard animal, took him away to their empire.
And there he was in the dungeon, in a foreign land, and it says in the scripture that he humbled himself, and he prayed to the God of heaven, and God forgave him. Isn't that a wonderful thing that God can do? Somebody that low, God could restore him back to his kingdom. And that's what happened with Manasseh. And he came back to his kingdom, and everything that he erected that was against the things of God, he tore down and restored Judah to where it had been before he was there.
That's a marvelous grace and greatness of our God. God can do anything. There is no one beyond his scope of God's forgiveness. Don't forget that message of Manasseh, Second Chronicles chapter thirty three. And the Lord Jesus can do that because he's great in his deeds, he's great in his declarations, and he was great in his death. In Matthew chapter seventeen, when they went up to the Mount of Transfiguration, uh, to count, some have said it this way, it's a count of three men, two men, and one man. There's three men, James, John, Peter, Three of those, Peter, James, and John, and Moses and Elijah, and the Lord Jesus.
And Peter, as he often does, gets things mixed up, right? Oh Lord, this is a great place. Let's commemorate this place. Let's put booths here, one for Moses, one for Elijah, let's put one for you too, and you're all part of the big group that we revere. Nothing doing. Jesus commands the highest station, is what the song says. A cloud overtook them, it says, as they were in that mount. And when it was all finished, the Lord was standing alone, like he should. But what were Moses and Elijah doing? They were speaking of his decease. Now, when we think of somebody on a deathbed, we don't think of them accomplishing their death.
But Moses and Elijah were speaking about the accomplishing of the Lord's death, the work that he came to do. And the Lord Jesus would say, I finished the work that you gave me to do, John seventeen. So he accomplished his death. He was great in his death, and in his death he glorified God. For people, that's the great thing to be able to do, to glorify God, even in their death. In their life, they glorify him, in their death. I heard Billy Graham one time give a testimony of his own mother, who was a godly Christian, who had gone into a coma the last couple weeks of her life. And on the day she died, that afternoon, she sat up in bed after being in a coma, quoted Psalm, I think it's one forty nine— the saints shall sit up there in bed and give God the glory.
And then she died. That's glorifying God in your death. And that's what the Lord Jesus did as well. He glorified God in his death. He said, Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. What other person, what other religious figure in this world could ever do that or say that? No one. But the Lord Jesus could because he shall be great. And that's what's Gabriel brought this message to Mary about. The magnitude of his work, he shall be great. He's great in all that he does. He saves us from the penalty of sin. That's instantly.
He, as soon as you trust the Lord, that's justification. That's an instant, uh, forgiveness of sin, from the penalty of sin. There's gradual, uh, work that he does in our life over the power of sin. That's sanctification. And then ultimately, he saves us from the presence of sin. That's glorification, justification, sanctification, glorification. And that's the great work that our Savior does. And so because he shall be great, he is called our great high priest. He's called our great, the great shepherd of our sheep. Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every work.
And that's the greatness of our God through Christ. Well, there's a few more. The next phrase speaks about the majesty of his work. He shall be called the Son of the Highest. That's the majesty of his person. John the Prof- John the Baptist was called the Prophet of the Highest, but the Lord Jesus is the Son of the Highest. The contrast between the two. John the Baptist still had his doubts, still had his worries, his fears, whatever, still had his problems. He's the prophet of the highest, but the Lord Jesus is the son of the highest.
The son means the same substance. Father and sons often share the same similarities, and so because he's called the son of the highest means he is like his father. And so Matthew three verse seventeen, the beginning of his ministry, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Halfway through his ministry, this is my beloved son, hear him. This, uh, just before the cross, you have glorified me, and you will glorify me again. And the Lord Jesus certainly did that at Calvary. And so he is the son of the highest. The disciples called him that way, the father called him this.
The disciples said it in Matthew chapter sixteen and verse fourteen, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. The demons referred to him, what I have to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God. His detractors at the cross said it, if you're the Son of God, come down from the cross. And so everyone gave testimony, whether they were on this side or that side of the line, they gave testimony to the greatest one. The Son of the Highest, and that's the majesty of his person. And so we say the Lord has done great things for us because he is indeed the Son of the Highest. There's a fifth one. We have to scurry along here. The fifth one is the moment of his glory.
Now, this deals with his second advent, when he comes again. All those first four apply to his first advent, both at his incarnation and his during his earthly ministry. But now these last three refer to his second advent, when he'll come again. And the fifth one is the moment of his glory. And we read that when it says, the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. Oh, we'd love to spend the time to go over that from a portion in second Samuel chapter seven. When God said to David, I'll give you a throne, there'll be a throne there, it'll go on forever, and this will be the throne that'll finish everything. This will be the final throne there is.
And we can talk much about this, but in Revelation chapter three verse twenty one, just as I overcame, the Lord Jesus said, I sat down with my Father on his throne. So right now, the Fa- the Lord Jesus is in glory sitting at the Father. Hosea chapter five and verse fifteen says he'll come out of his place, the Lord Jesus, until they acknowledge their, uh, their offense, the nation of Israel. And in the midst of their tribulation, in the midst of their trial, in the midst of their affliction, as it says, they will acknowledge him whom they have pierced, the nation of Israel. That's Zechariah chapter twelve also.
The Lord Jesus will come at the end of that seven-year tribulation period, something that is not taught that much out in Christian circles these days. But it's the moment of his glory when the Lord will come and every eye shall see him. Right now we're waiting for him to return. And we have our hearts focused on him, as we were doing this morning, waiting for his return. We sang these songs, we sang the hymns just before taking the platform. All the expectation is for to wait for the Son from heaven. He comes and brings his church to himself, and that at that point they'll forever be with the Lord.
Isn't that a glorious thing? Forever with the Lord, never ever have to worry about being separated from him. Romans chapter eight, never separated from all these things, the seven different things that are there. Seven is a prominent number, as you can gather. But then he'll come back, and every eye shall see him, Roman, uh, Revelation chapter one. And they'll acknowledge him. The tribes of the earth will mourn, nation of Israel referred to, and, uh, every eye will see him. And he comes back and vanquishes his foe. There's a whole long series we could give on prophecy and on the events that are yet to come, the things that are yet to come.
But for now, suffice it to say, it's the moment of his glory. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. But there's something more in verse, in that same verse. It says he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. That's the manner of his rule. The house of Jacob. Why not the house of Israel? I mean, when Jacob was on the run, God had said to Jacob, get back to Bethel. Remember, Bethel was the place where he found the Lord. I don't think Jacob was a believer before he left for, uh, Laban, his uncle Laban's home. I think he understood the basics of spiritual things, but I don't think he really truly understood the gravity of it and understood it and really grasped it.
Well, then when he was on the run, he stopped at a place called Bethel. It was named Bethel. It was first called Luz, it says in the scripture, and then he, it was named Bethel, a house of God. Put a rock down there, used that as a pillow. It was symbolic of the hard way he had made for himself. And there he had a dream, vision, whatever, and it was a ladder from heaven down to earth. The angels of God ascending and descending upon that ladder. Now, when the Lord Jesus came into the picture in John chapter one, Nathaniel talked about the Lord, and the Lord said, from here on out, you shall see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.
Same phrases, John chapter one verse fifty one. Same phrase, exactly the same phrase that was used of Jacob when the angels of God ascended and descended upon that ladder. And what was that ladder? That ladder was the means of communication from God to earth, from heaven to earth. And Christ is the means of commun- he's not on the ladder, he is the ladder. He's the means of communication where God can reconcile man to himself through his son, the Lord Jesus. And Jacob is a little picture of Israel. Jacob was on the run, he was told to get back to Bethel, get back to your spiritual roots, get back, get back, get back, and Jacob took his old time, dilly-dallied, ran into all sorts of problems.
Finally, when he got the report that Esau was on his way and four hundred men were coming with him, then he said, okay, I better s- get my plan together, and that's what we all do at sometimes, don't we? We get our plan together, fix it all up, and then we pray over that. God doesn't want it that way. He wants us to pray first, and then we do our planning as he leads us and guides us. And God had to touch Jacob in the area of his strength, his legs. Anytime Jacob got into a problem, he used his best assets, his best resources, and that were, that was his legs. And he would run from this problem and run from that. Finally, God said, that's enough.
And he touched him in the hollow of his thigh and made that man limp. But it was the best thing that happened in his life. Hebrews, turn the pages of scripture, come out to Hebrews chapter eleven, the great faith chapter, and what do we read? Jacob was leaning upon his staff, worshiping the Lord. Why was he leaning? You an old man? Yeah, he was an old man. He might have been leaning for that reason. He also might have been re- leaning because his... what, lumbago or whatever you want to call it, was acting up. He had stiff legs because of maybe that incident at Peniel. And so God, the Lord Jesus rather, is demonstrating through this phrase, he will reign over the house of not Israel, but Jacob, the wandering Jacob, the Jacob that needs the mercy and grace of God all the time, like you and like me.
It shows the manner of his love. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. It's the manner of his love, the greatness of his love, the greatness of his goodness, a message to tell the nations the love of God. People are thinking that God is the one who is angry and ready to strike them down. We have a different message. That message is the love of God through Christ. That's the message that draws people to himself. He's a merciful and faithful high priest. Even though he's the rejected one, he is the Prince of Peace, the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.
And he gives that peace to whoever receives that gift. Finally, there's a magnificence of his kingdom. It says, of his kingdom there shall be no end. That's what the verse says, no more kingdom after it. Daniel chapter two, we have the description of four great kingdoms of this world and world history. But the final kingdom comes in like a torpedo and shatters that last kingdom, breaks it into pieces. It's the rock that smites, it's the smiting stone. Christ again referred to us in seven different ways as the rock, the living stone, the capstone, the foundation stone, the stumbling stone, the rock of offense, on and on about the Lord Jesus and all his great work.
And every one of those has a unique application to the nation of Israel and to the church and to, uh, individuals and to the world, Gentiles. And that final rock comes in and smashes all the other kingdoms, and is a mountain that fills everything. Of his kingdom there shall be no end. And that's the kingdom that you and I belong to if we've trusted Christ as Savior. And when David, King David, was being conspired against by his own son Absalom, he took him out over the, David took his own disciples, if you will, and took them over the brook Kidron, the rejected king, leaving the kingdom behind, so to speak, and going out into the wilderness with his small band of people who are following him, knowing one day that he would come back, and he would get that throne and come back, and those people that were obedient to him would follow him and be rewarded for their allegiance to the great king, even though he was rejected.
And so we turn again to the pages of scripture in John chapter fifteen, and there is the Lord Jesus with his disciples, and what is he doing? He's taking the same path over the brook Kidron that David did some eight hundred years before with his disciples. And the Lord Jesus had already said to that disciples, this temple will be taken down stone by stone, but there'll be a greater temple that will be put in its place, the church, far greater temple, habitation of God through the Spirit, says in Ephesians chapter two. The great picture that we have of the Lord Jesus with his minority band coming back in New Kingdom and rewarded for their allegiance and obedience to him.
It's a great message. It's a great, uh, message that Gabriel has given to Mary. And there are, these are certainties. There's no doubt about it. Seven certainties about the person and work of Christ. If you've trusted him as your savior, you're part of that kingdom, and the best is yet to come. Praise the Lord for that. And so we trust that each one here has a full knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and have bowed their heart and their head to him, and that they are part of that kingdom as well. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, thank you for your precious word, which indeed is full of assurance for those who love the Lord Jesus.
We thank you for that. We pray, Father, that if there are any here in this audience that never bowed the knee to him, that they do that even today. And so we give you the thanks and the praise in Christ's glorious and precious name. Amen. Amen.