The virgin birth and the saints communion

1.      I believe in the virgin birth.

1.      Belief in the Virgin Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ biologically, it is violently asserted, such a birth is impossible.

1.     I would absolutely agree but I would also argue that, Matthew 19:26 "With God all things are possible."

2.      Science with it's matchless authority has pronounced against it and who would dare challenge the "all knowing" of such an eminent authority?

1.      Well, God!

3.      This assault on the doctrine of the Virgin Birth is but one phase of a great battle to evacuate the supernatural from Christianity and to reduce it to the plane of natural religion.

1.      These people are out to destroy supernatural Christianity.

2.      It's been going on since creation.

1.      They go through the Bible and tell us there is no supernatural revelation there; they go through the Birth of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural incarnation there; they go through the Person of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural deity there; they go through the Works of Christ an tell us there are no supernatural miracles there; they go through the Words of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural wisdom there; they go through the Death of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural atonement there; they go through the Blood of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural cleansing power there; and they go through the Tomb of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural resurrection there.

4.      Culture, unbelievers, and hell itself try to engage the abandoning of the supernatural from the Gospel altogether.

1.      Merely reducing it to another book, another story of fictitious telling.

2.      As a Christian I believe in a supernatural Christianity which presents a supernatural Christ Who had a supernatural Birth, Who lived a supernatural Life, Who performed the supernatural on a continual basis, Who died a supernatural Death, Who rose in a supernatural Resurrection, and Who is coming again in a supernatural Manner.

1.      Rejection, then, of the Virgin Birth is an attack on the supernaturalness of Christ.

2.      Unbelief always questions, "How can this be?"

3.     Divine inspiration always answers, "With God all things are possible."

3.      God is omnipotent which means He has all power, unlimited power, able to do anything!

1.      Questioning the Virgin Birth challenges the almightiness of God, the nature of Christ and at the very power of God.

4.      Before her marriage Mary was found with child.

1.      Under the Jewish law an espoused woman's vows to her future husband were as binding as the actual marriage vows.

2.      As an engaged woman, if Mary was pregnant by any other act than the act of the Holy Spirit, than she was an adulteress.

Matthew 1:18-25 NLT [18] This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. [19] Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. [20] As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. "Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. [21] And she will have a Son, and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." [22] All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord's message through His prophet: [23] "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.'" [24] When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. [25] But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named Him Jesus."

5.      Think of the ridicule of Mary, the mockery of Joseph, the formulated theories, the creative speculation, the systematic assumptions from enemies, parents, friends, acquaintances, even fellow church members.

1.      I mean this kind of unbelief has been going on for thousands of years.

6.      Joseph is told that Mary would bring forth the Savior of the world.

1.      He was to call His name Jesus, meaning Savior.

1.      When Christ saves people, He saves from their sins; from the guilt of sin by the merit of His death, and from the power of sin by the Spirit of His grace.

1.      In saving them from sin, He saves them from wrath, and the curse, and all misery, here and hereafter.

2.      Christ came to save His people, not in their sins, but from their sins.

2.      Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had instructed him, speedily, without delay, and cheerfully, without dispute.

7.      To reject the Virgin Birth is to imply that our Lord Jesus Christ was an imposter and liar.

Genesis 3:15 NLT "[15] And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel."

1.      The serpent wounds the heel that crushes him; representing Satan being permitted to afflict the humanity of Christ and bring suffering and persecution on His people because of sin.

2.      The serpent's poison is lodged in its head; and a bruise on that part is fatal.

1.      There is no healing that can ever take place.

2.      Snake venom is highly modified saliva containing zoo-toxins that facilitates immobilization, digestion of prey, and defends against a threat.

1.      It is injected by unique fangs after a bite but some species are also able to spit.

2.      When Satan bites you with disbelief or spits his angry lies realize that Christ's death gave a fatal blow to the devil's kingdom of eternal darkness, a wound of epic proportion so his venom is poison-less, destruction-less, and just unmodified saliva.

3.      Causing him permanent damage, permanent destruction, permanent and eternal death and as the gospel gains ground, Satan falls.

1.      Jesus was "bruised in the heel" when he was murdered, and then resurrected.

2.      His death was temporary; painful though it was, but only a bruise in the heel to comparison.

4.      Now he will bruise Satan in the head, in other words destroy him and his works  forever.

1.      Satan was defeated once and for all at the cross because God had a plan for redemption, and satan could not undo Calvary, therefore Jesus crushed satan's head and his kingdom.

1.      Texas-"You have to crush, destroy and bury the head."

5.      The reference here is to the woman's seed, not to the seed of the man.

1.      This is unique because the common reference is always to the seed of the man "the seed of Abraham", not the seed of Sarah, "the seed of David", not the seed of Bathsheba, and so on.

2.      Something extraordinary is referred to, for only a unique seed, a supernatural seed, could accomplish this supernatural victory eternally bruising the serpent's head.

3.      No son by ordinary generation of Adam's ruined race could accomplish the effect here spoken of.

4.      The only acceptable cause is found in the woman's seed, a Virgin-born Savior.

1.      Our Redeemer from death, hell and sin which Adam's transgression had wrapped us up in.

Luke 2:33-34 NLT [33] "Jesus' parents were amazed at what was being said about Him. [34] Then Simeon blessed them, and He said to Mary, the baby's mother, "This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but He will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose Him."

8.      Every belief requires a degree of faith.

1.      The Bible itself says that Jesus did much more than was actually recorded in the Bible, all of which was designed to reveal Him as the Son of God.

1.      Because these events happened over 2,000 years ago, it is impossible to recount every fact about Jesus’ life.

2.      We do, however, stand on the reliability of the New Testament, with thousands of manuscripts still in existence from 50-150 years after Jesus’ death.

John 20:29-31 NLT [29] "Then Jesus told him, "You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing Me." [30] The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. [31] But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him you will have life by the power of His name."

1.     Jesus asserted Himself as “the way, the truth, and the life.”

1.      He is the definitive source for all truth yet His message is not one of exclusion.

2.      He didn’t intend for those who believe in Him to condemn those that don’t, but rather to extend the grace, love and truth He makes freely available to all.

9.      Popular talk show host Larry King was once asked, if he had the choice to interview one person in all of history, who would he choose?

1.      He replied that he would like to interview Jesus Christ, and that he would ask Him just one question: “Are you indeed virgin born?”

2.      “The answer to that question,” said King, “would explain history to me.”

1.      Comprehending the virgin birth is pivotal.

2.      If Jesus was not supernaturally conceived in the womb of Mary, then He was not God.

3.      And if He was not God, then His death on the cross really meant nothing at all.

1.      Even worse, He would be a fraud, giving false hope, claiming to be God in human form and also claiming to be the only way to a relationship with the Father.

2.      I would go so far as to say that if you don’t believe Jesus was supernaturally conceived in the womb of a virgin named Mary, then you can’t be a Christian!

3.      You might say, “That’s outrageous!” No, it really isn’t.

Jesus said, in John 8:24 “Unless you believe that I AM who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.”

10.The Bible teaches that He was supernaturally conceived in Mary’s womb, fully God yet fully man.

1.      Listen, Christ was God, not because He was virgin born.

2.      He was virgin born because He was God.

1.     He could have chosen to come in any other way but chose to come this way and if you can believe Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

2.     Then believing the rest of the bible should be a cinch.

2.      I believe in the saints communion.

1.      The bond uniting Christians globally with each other and with Jesus Christ, is described as communion.

Acts 10:39-43 NLT [39] "And we apostles are witnesses of all He did throughout Judea and in Jerusalem. They put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross, [40] but God raised Him to life on the third day. Then God allowed Him to appear, [41] not to the general public, but to us whom God had chosen in advance to be His witnesses. We were those who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. [42] And He ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all-the living and the dead. [43] He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in Him will have their sins forgiven through His name."

2.      Our coming together is a powerful demonstration of our faith, our belief, our confidence in our rescuing Savior.

3.      The Church is the Communion of Saints.

Acts 4:32-37 32 "All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. 33 The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God's great blessing was upon them all. 34 There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them 35 and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need."

4.      The word communion means “an act or instance of sharing.”

1.      When the Apostles’ Creed speaks of the “communion of the saints,” it is not just specifically referring to the Lord's Supper/Communion in which believers come together to remember Jesus’ sacrifice through the bread and the wine.

1.      The communion of the saints is much deeper than this imperative ordinance.

5.      The communion of the saints refers to believers in the past, believers in the present, and believers in the years to come sharing a common eternal salvation in our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

1.      It's our commonality.

1.      We have been forgiven through His death and saved by His life, set free from the law of sin and death, and passed from spiritual death to eternal life.

2.      Permanently adopted as children of God by the will of God.

3.      We have become God's handiwork to do good works that He has prepared for us, and we have all been given an eternal home in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Lamb, our Temple, and our Light.

4.      Just a few of the blessings we have in common with every believer.

6.      The church is called together and empowered by Jesus to carry on His ministry in the world.

1.      Called to unite in our efforts, our service, our discipleship and our evangelism to the world.

2.      We do this through our example of freely sharing all we have with whomever has need, demonstrating that Christianity is a way of living, and discipleship our eternal mission.

the creed-Baptism

It's interesting how some of the best and biggest opportunities in your life will come at a time and in a way you didn't expect. You ever notice that?

1. Simple steps, very simple steps.

a. When David killed Goliath, the only reason he was even there that day was because his dad sent him to run an errand, and it was just by obeying his father that he ended up there to kill Goliath.

i. He went on to become the greatest king Israel would ever know.

ii. He was the hero of the nation when he went to bed that night, but he didn't know that when he woke up that morning.

b. Moses, who delivered Israel from Egyptian slavery.

i. The whole thing started when he was working in his father-in-law's sheep shop.

ii. A bush caught on fire, he turned aside to look, God spoke to him, called him, and he obeyed.

iii.                He took a step.

iv.                 He went on to become a deliverer and a leader of millions.

c.One of my favorites is in the New Testament, how Peter and his boys were fishing and caught nothing all night.

i. Jesus showed up, told them to do it a different way, and when they did, they had such a large catch they couldn't even haul in the nets.

ii. Then Jesus said, "I want you to leave your nets and follow Me."

iii.                When they got up to go fishing that day, they had no idea they were about to be drafted into the service of Jesus and would end up writing parts of the Bible.

iv.                 Unexpected and very simple.

d. Some of the greatest moments, experiences, and seasons of your life will come when you least expect it, through a simple step.

i. Take TK for instance she can tell you this about the day I asked her to marry me.

1. The greatest thing that ever happened to her in her life, and she had no idea it was coming.

2. I asked her father’s permission…and boom she’s stuck(blessed) with me forever!

2. Jesus has been doing some great things in His ministry, and a lot of people are following Him.

a. He's feeding thousands, He's healing blind and sick people, teaching great stuff, and He has a lot of followers.

b. Then in Mark 8:31, He shifts the focus of His teaching and starts talking about what He really came to do and what it really means to follow Him.

i. He lays down the challenge, Follow Me.

Mark 8:31 “Then Jesus”…(after all these great things He had done) began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later He would rise from the dead.”

c.That's not what they wanted to hear.

i. They wanted to hear that He was going to kick out the Romans who had been oppressing them, and lead in a great military conquest.

ii. But Jesus, for the first time, is letting them know that it's not going to be all about free food for the multitudes, it's not all going to be just about needs getting met physically; it's going to be about Him giving His life in order that the world might be saved through Him.

Mark 8:32 As “He talked about this openly” (plainly) with His disciples, Peter took Him aside and began to reprimand Him for saying such things.”

d. To rebuke someone means to correct strongly.

e. Peter starts giving Jesus his opinion and his advice.

i. Any of you ever argued with God about something in your life before?

ii. You know, just mentally or through your actions?

iii.                Go ahead raise your hand.

iv.                 Now, if you have ever won that argument? Keep your hand up. That's what I thought.

Verse 33 “Jesus turned around and looked at His disciples, then reprimanded Peter. "Get away from me, Satan!" He said. "You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's."

f. God's way; man’s way.

g. You have to do it God's way, not man's way.

Verse 34-38, key verse: 34 Then, calling the crowd to join His disciples, He said, "If any of you wants to be My Follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow Me. 35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.” 36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of Me and My message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when He returns in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."

3. Over and over again in Scripture Jesus calls people to follow Him.

a. He calls prostitutes and tax collectors, wicked, unclean, irreligious people to follow Him.

b. He calls religious people who thought they had their act together to drop their pose and follow Him.

c.He calls us all to follow Him over and over and over.

d. It's one of the most frequent commands in Scripture. "Follow Me."

i. This is probably the most famous incident of that command.

e. It's a powerful image to think about following Jesus.

i. It's profound and it's simple.

ii. That's really what it's all about: following Christ.

iii.                But I'm concerned that for so many of us who know a lot about the Bible, "follow Me" no longer means to us what it meant when Jesus said it.

f. They might read what He says; they might not.

g. I'm fearful that a lot of people when they say, "I'm a follower of Jesus," they're following Jesus the same way their following Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashain, or their favorite sports team.

i. Which is to say, Okay, I've clicked the button.

1. Jesus, I'll listen to what You have to say, but I'm going to pick and choose what parts I want to pay attention to.

a. So if it works for me, I'll do it.

b. Or if I feel like it, I'll do it.

4. Jesus is not to be clicked on and followed.

a. He's to be worshipped, He's to be obeyed, He's to be revered, He's to be respected, He's to be honored, and He is not one among many; He's the one and only God!

b. To follow Him means no other options, no other gods.

i. I'm doing what You say, I'm going where You lead, I'm denying myself, taking up my cross, and I'm following You and only You!

ii. What in the world do we mean by "I'm a Christian, I follow Jesus"?

5. The first step Jesus calls us to take if we are really following Him, is to be baptized, and baptism is so much more than clicking on a button or doing a ceremony.

a. When the early church would be baptized, a lot of them would be killed because of their faith in Christ.

i.  Their belief transformed their actions and their actions transformed others.

b. Just like we've emptied a lot of the meaning out of following Jesus, for so many of us (and this was certainly true of my own life for a long time), we've emptied the meaning of baptism and made it a whole lot less important to us than it is to Jesus.

i. I guess you could say, we've watered it down.

ii. There are a lot of people who have decided to follow Jesus, but here's the question…How can you claim to be a follower of Christ if you're not willing to take the first step He has called you to take through baptism?

a. Baptism is simple, yet it's so deep.

c.So Jesus says, "After you place your faith in Christ, I want you to let the world know you belong to Me by being baptized."

i. We take a very literal view of baptism.

ii. We take them down into the water because the original word for baptize means to dunk, dip, or submerge.

1. It was used to talk about a battleship that completely went under.

d. Why?

Romans 6:1 "Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. 5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin."

i. Baptism represents that Jesus Christ was in the grave for three days.

ii. He died for our sins so we're buried with Him.

iii.                Then we bring them up out of the water, as the water drips from their head, they celebrate, we cheer, we celebrate that we are raised to new life in Christ and our sins are washed away.

e. In Romania they ask the question “How long are you going to follow Christ?” their answer, “To the death.”

f. In China they break through ice to baptize new converts in the night to keep from being killed and we're nervous about a heated baptistry in front of our peers and family in complete freedom?

i. What's important to God must be important to us.

1. We have to get past the ways of the religions of men, embrace God's ways, because if I think one thing about a certain subject, and God says another thing, I'm wrong and He's right, because He's the leader; I'm the follower.

6. So we water down the idea of baptism.

a. A lot of times we make it about a denomination or church tradition rather than a biblical command.

i. It's not about joining a church.

ii. Some people are like, I don't know if I want to be baptized here at CWC.

iii.                I don't know if I want to be a member yet.

1. Well you know what?

2. We're not sure if we want you yet either.

3. You're not being joined with or baptized into a church but being joined with Him.

b. Another thing we do, we make it about our parents' decision rather than our own initiative.

i. I was baptized as a child in a Pentecostal church.

ii. My peers were doing it, my parents said something about my peers being baptized and they had such a love for God so I decided to do it.

iii.                Baptized, but when I gave my life to Christ at age 19, I started studying the Bible and realized I needed to be baptized as an adult because this has to be my decision.

1. My faith can't be a family heirloom or a peer-pressured event.

7. In baptism you're saying, "This is my faith. I'm owning this." We call it "believer's baptism," because 27 times in the book of Acts someone was baptized, and every single time first they believed, then they were baptized.

Ephesians 2:8 “God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God.”

a. There was a thief on the cross who worshipped and put his faith in Jesus in his dying moment.

b. He didn't have time to get down, change clothes, and be baptized, but Jesus said to him, "Today, you'll be with me in paradise."

c.Why? We're saved by grace through faith.

d. No work can save you, not giving, not serving, not being baptized.

i. Baptism isn't about salvation; it's about identification, saying, "I belong to You, Jesus.

ii. My sins are washed away and I'm going to take this next step You told me to take, whether I've been a Christian for two days, or whether I've been a Christian for 22 years.

e. We have to do it God's way, not man's way.

i. Man makes it optional.

ii. "It's a good thing to do. It's a good spiritual experience."

f. But to be a follower of Jesus (hear me) is to fully obey His clear instructions empowered by His grace.

i. A lot of us make the mistake of waiting until we're worthy to be baptized.

ii. Well I'd like to be baptized but I want to get my life together first because I have this thing, I have this issue.

iii.                If you could forgive sin, you wouldn't need Jesus, and that's what the waters of baptism are all about, saying, "I trust in You, Lord. I want You to change my life. Here's my declaration."

1. I’m so fired up that our 707Kidz are learning about baptism this morning!

8. I hope that those of you who have already been baptized and you know this already, aren't sitting there bored.

a. I hope you're praying for somebody who is here who needs to get baptized, that they could have the courage to do it.

b. Or at least be agreeing with me for this city that needs Christ.

i. Well don't I need to like go through training or something?

Acts 2:41 “Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day-about 3,000 in all.”

ii. That day!

iii.                All right, you want to accept the message?

1. Be baptized!

9. Sunday morning September 28^th morning worship there will be water, there will be a celebration waiting for you, your family, and there's a church that wants to support you, so what's to stop you?

a. Well I want to pray about it. 

i. You don't pray about things God has clearly told you; you obey them.

b. I just want to take some time.

c.Or I think I know a better way.

i. Okay Peter, with your arguing spirit, the right time to do the right thing is right now.

ii. Baptism is for people who say, "I'm not perfect and I can never be perfect, but I want to follow Christ.”

1. No excuses.

2. Are you in or not?

3. Decide today.

4. Some of you are sitting on the fence.

a. Are you with Jesus or not?

b. Are you ashamed of Him?

c.Do you want to just follow Him when He's giving out free food and neat stuff?

d. Or are you going to say, "I'm with You, Jesus.”

i. From this day forward I'm with You.

ii. I'm going to stand with You.

iii.                I belong to You.

d. Lord, may the decision be made, may the die be cast, may the line be drawn right now, that people are putting their full faith in You.

i. This is it, your opportunity.

ii. You know God is calling you, and if you feel that in your heart, let me assure you, that is the Holy Spirit of God calling you.

iii.                It's not emotional manipulation, it's the presence of God drawing you, calling you, and requesting you follow Him.