This morning, we consider together Article 18 of the Belgic Confession, found on page 77, bottom half of page 77 in the back of the Psalter Hymnal, if you would turn there, please. Article 18 of the Belgic Confession, dealing with the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Connection we want to read from Hebrews chapters 2 and 4, spilling over a little bit into chapter 5. Hebrews chapter 2, 5 to 18, and then chapter 4, verse 14, through the third verse of chapter 5. So we hear now the Word of God, beginning at Hebrews 2, verse 5. It is not to angels that He has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified, what is man that you are mindful of him? The son of man that you care for him. You made him a little lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet. In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present, we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says, I will declare your name to my brothers. In the presence of the congregation, I will sing your praises. And again, I will put my trust in Him. And again, He says, Here am I and the children God has given Me. Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death, He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels He helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason, he had to be made like his brothers in every way in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people because he himself suffered when he was tempted. He is able to help those who are being tempted. In chapter 4, verse 14, Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray since he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as for the sins of the people. The writer goes on then as well in the chapters to follow to say that but our great high priest does not offer sacrifice for his own sin because he is sinless. He is in the order of Melchizedek. Article 18, I'd like to read that at this time if you would follow along. Article 18, page 77. The incarnation of Jesus Christ. We confess, therefore, that God has fulfilled the promise which He made to the fathers by the mouth of His holy prophets when He sent into the world at the time appointed by Him His own only begotten and eternal Son, who took upon him the form of a servant and became like unto man, really assuming the true human nature with all its infirmities, sin excepted, being conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit without the means of man, and did not only assume human nature as to the body, but also a true human soul, that he might be a real man. For since the soul was lost as well as the body, it was necessary that he should take both upon him to save both. Therefore we confess, in opposition to the heresy of the Anabaptists who deny that Christ assumed human flesh of his mother, that Christ partook of the flesh and blood of the children, that he is the fruit of the loins of David after the flesh, born of the seed of David according to the flesh, a fruit of the womb of Mary, Born of a woman, a branch of David, a shoot of the root of Jesse, sprung from the tribe of Judah, descended from the Jews according to the flesh of the seed of Abraham, since he took on him the seed of Abraham, and was made like unto his brethren in all things sin excepted, so that in truth he is our Emmanuel, that is to say, God with us. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, a little less than two months ago, we celebrated a particular event, an event that we celebrate each and every year. It's called Christmas. In fact, we know, of course, that much of the world along with us celebrates Christmas. Believers and unbelievers alike participate in common activities during the Christmas season. There are school breaks, Christmas vacation for the students. There are Christmas parties. There is gift giving. There is holiday music, many other things that we enjoy in common as both believers and unbelievers alike. Yet there is something very different about what Christians celebrate from that which the world celebrates at Christmastime, isn't there? Or at least there should be. We celebrate the Incarnation. The Incarnation. We sing of it. God with man is now residing. Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see. Hail the incarnate deity. Boys and girls, John 1 verse 14 speaks of the incarnation. Defines the incarnation. The Word, talking about Jesus Christ, became flesh and made His dwelling among us. And actually at Christmas time, many unbelievers, if you think about it, they join in singing some of the Christmas carols. And whether they know it or not, they are singing of the Savior. Yet they don't understand that the true message of the season, which they too call the season of joy and peace and love, that the true message of that season is an indictment against them. It's an indictment with regard to man's great need. It is an accusation, you see. The incarnation of God's Son, Jesus Christ, come in the flesh as a man. The incarnation was God's answer to the desperate predicament of man lost in sin. Sometimes we treat Christmas and Christ's birth as a warm and a fuzzy and a sentimental event. And maybe that's why it's good that we consider it a couple months later. We get caught up, you know, in the holiday spirit of things. And we tend to, even as believers, we tend to treat it as that warm and fuzzy and sentimental sort of thing. While His death and resurrection, you see, those are the events that are the really important events in the history of redemption. And indeed, congregation, His coming would be nothing apart from His death and resurrection. But at the same time, in order to die and rise again and redeem His people, the eternal Son of God had to take upon Himself a human nature. He had to become real and true man. This was necessary in order for the Son of God to be our great High Priest. The book of Hebrews teaches the truth that He alone is our great High Priest. And in order for Him to be this, Jesus had to be like us. And at the same time, unlike us. And these two details of Him being like us and unlike us come together in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now indeed, this is a mystery. Paul says in 1 Timothy 3, verse 16, Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great. He, that is God, appeared in a body. Or as it's also translated, He was manifested in the flesh. As we said last week in connection with Article 17 and the recovery of fallen man, as that title says, God made the first move to save man and included in that mother promise that the seed of the woman would bruise or crush the head of the seed of the serpent is the promise of Emmanuel. God with us. Oh, in shadowy form, to be sure. All throughout the history of the Old Testament, this was quite a mystery. But you see, in the garden, God in essence said, I will produce that which is necessary for the salvation of your souls. I will do it. That is the promise of God. And that mother promise, you see, was behind all of the religious customs and requirements of Old Testament Israel. All of the prophets, priests, and kings of God's people pointed forward to the Messiah, and so did the sacrifices. And that mother promise gave birth to the teaching of the holy prophets, as Article 18 says. You see, beloved, Article 18 wants us to remember the unbreakable unity of prophecy and fulfillment. The unbreakable unity between the Old Testament and the New Testament, it all centers on, focuses on, the Lord Jesus Christ. And God used a whole parade of characters on the stage of redemptive history to unfold this mother promise so that as Paul says in Galatians 4, verse 4, but when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law to redeem those under law that we might receive the full rights of sons. Article 18 defines this fullness of time very simply as the time appointed by Him. And of course, there are those who have said throughout history that there are certain reasons, earthly reasons, why it was the fullness of time. Roman rule, roads were prepared, the gospel could spread. And that all may be true, but still, if it is, it's because God appointed those things to be ready at that time appointed by Him. But until that time was full, God unfolded this mystery little by little through His prophets and the saints of all. Jacob spoke of the coming of Shiloh. Moses spoke of a great prophet to come. Israel was told of the Messiah to come over and over again. He would be the seed of Abraham, the son of David. Isaiah said that He would be born of the Virgin and that the Son would be called the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Micah even tells of his birthplace, Bethlehem. The Psalms point to the Lord Jesus Christ. Many of the Psalms that are included as well in Hebrews chapter 2. And also some of the Psalms, along with Isaiah 53, talk about his suffering. And Jesus himself was telling the truth when he told the Jews in John chapter 5, You diligently study the Scriptures, the Old Testament Scriptures at that time, because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about who? He said, me. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, sang of the fulfillment of prophecy when he sang in Luke chapter 1, Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and has redeemed His people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He said through His holy prophets of long ago. Beloved, the incarnation of the Son of God was nothing short of an amazing, climactic event of redemptive history. The climax of prophecy. And at the very same time, it was the beginning of the Son's work on this earth to be our great high priest. We also said, in connection with Article 17, that when man broke the covenantal relationship, God did not remove the threat. He did not remove the judgment, but placed the mediator between himself and mankind for the salvation of many. And what was the task of the mediator? We know that a mediator is a go-between, One who goes between two parties that are at odds with the goal of bringing the two sides together. The task of this mediator, the Messiah, was to make things right. To pay for sin. To satisfy God's wrath. To remove the curse and the guilt of sin from man. Indeed, to bring, not to hopefully bring, but to bring the two sides together. That was the work of the high priest in the Old Testament as well, as he pointed forward to the great high priest. He approached God on behalf of the people. The high priest, as we read in chapter 5, offered gifts and sacrifices for sin to God on behalf of God's people. Because of sin, God's judgment was upon the people, and the high priest would then stand before God in the place of the people, offering sacrifices that satisfied God's justice and at the very same time demonstrated His mercy by punishing an innocent animal in the place of a guilty human being. The message of the cross, isn't it? The justice and the mercy of God coming together. And we know, of course, that the blood of animals could not truly pay for sin. that blood pointed forward to the true blood needed, the blood of our great high priest. Man sinned, as the catechism says. Therefore, man had to pay. The human nature offended God, violated God, sinned against God. And that's why the great high priest had to be like us. In sin, both the body and the soul are lost. And therefore, our Savior needed to have both a human flesh and blood body and a rational soul in order to save both. And this is what we believe and confess because this is the teaching of Scripture. Again, Hebrews 2, verse 14, Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death that is the devil. Verse 17, For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people. The writer goes on, because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted. And then chapter 4, verse 15 again, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. Now, article 18 says, He really assumed, He really assumed the true human nature with all its infirmities, sin accepted. Paul says in Philippians 2, Christ Jesus made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Our Lord Jesus Christ received his humanity, his human nature, from his mother, Mary. The body of Jesus, conceived in the Virgin Mary, grew in her womb, was nourished by her, was born like you and me, grew from a baby to a toddler to a full-grown man. And when Scripture talks about Christ's temptations and when the Confession talks about His infirmities, it's not just the temptations of Satan in the wilderness or the temptations that our Lord endured in the Garden of Gethsemane or even the temptations that He underwent on the cross. It's not just those temptations that are in view. He suffered the limitations that we all suffer as human beings. He became hungry, thirsty, tired. He slept. He experienced pain. He died. As we have said again, and as the article says, he had a soul. We know God made Adam a body and soul. He crafted the body and breathed into that body. The breath of life. That soul is that immaterial part of us that really gives to us our being and our personality. It makes us who we are as individuals. We are reminded of that every time we see a body in a casket. It's just the shell. It's not the life that that shell once enjoyed. And we know that Jesus had a soul because Scripture teaches us that He experienced different emotions for example, anger, disgust, disappointment, distress, sorrow. As well, He showed affection, compassion, and sympathy. Jesus did not come in the full luster and beauty of the perfect created nature that Adam enjoyed before the fall. That's not the human nature He took upon Himself, but the human nature He took upon Himself was the sin-affected human nature that was open to suffering and to death. And that's why the truth of him, beloved, was unrecognizable to the sinful eye, even to his own family. So that even those around him said, isn't this the son of Joseph? The carpenter? Big deal. Nothing special about him. And along with this, as Hebrews 4, verse 15 says, he has been tempted in every way, just as we are. It's hard to fully understand this, and at the same time, we certainly don't want to trivialize it. But as a child, maybe he was tempted to take a cookie, even when his mom said, no, dinner's almost ready. Maybe he was tempted to take something else that didn't belong to him. Maybe he was tempted to strike a brother when he was hit. Maybe he was tempted to lie. As he grew in wisdom and stature, he faced the same temptations that we do. Again, we know, of course, that he faced them differently. And the thoughts that he had while he faced them are so far different from ours. Very simply, our Lord Jesus Christ lived as a human being and experienced the things that we experience. And that's why Hebrews 4.15 can also rightly say, we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. John Owen, in his commentary on this very verse, verse 15, says, Christ's sympathy with us means three things. First of all, it means that He is concerned for us. Christ is concerned for us when we are hungry. He is concerned for us when we are in trouble. He is concerned for us when we are tempted. Secondly, Christ's sympathy with us means that He can relieve our suffering. He can provide for our daily needs. He can save us when we are in trouble. He can help us avoid engaging in sin. And thirdly, Christ's sympathy with us means that He can experience what we feel emotionally insofar as our emotions are not sinful. He rejoices with us when we rejoice for good and godly things. He mourns with us when we mourn over the loss of good and godly things. And beloved, all of that is true because our great high priest is like us, but also because he is unlike us. Yet he was without sin. Again, this we simply cannot comprehend. He lived a life like ours, yet not one bit of his experience was tainted or stained with sin. Never, even in the midst of temptation, did he ever entertain a sinful thought. he never gave in to temptation. Yes, man sinned, therefore man must pay. But along with being fully and truly human, he had to be fully and truly and a perfect human. How could he be sinless? Boys and girls, you know, don't you? Because he is also God. He always has been God. When He took upon Himself the human nature, when He became one of us, He didn't give up being God. Oh, His glory was veiled by the flesh for a time. But He did not give up being God. How could He be without sin as a man? We confess it in our creeds like the Apostles' Creed. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Again, a mystery to us, but not to God. Not to God. As the angel matter-of-factly told both Mary and Joseph, that which is conceived in her is of God the Holy Spirit, will be called the Son of God. True, perfect, holy, and sinless God come in the flesh as also true man. We confess and believe that Jesus Christ is two natures, divine and human, come together in one person. And only in this way could he become, as Hebrews 2.17 says, a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God. As a merciful high priest, Jesus demonstrates the mercy of God and at the same time, He mercifully represents man before God, taking our place, thereby propitiating, that is pacifying God's wrath, and expiating, that is removing our guilt, healing the brokenhearted, lifting up those who are weary and heavy laden, and ministering to the needs of His people. And as a faithful high priest on our behalf, He faithfully served and obeyed God. Through His active obedience, He perfectly kept and fulfilled the law that we could not keep. And through His passive obedience, He suffered all His life long, to be sure, but especially at the end, He suffered the cruel treatment leading to and on the cross as well as the wrath and punishment of God against sin. Why? Paul says in Romans 5, verse 1, Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That we might have peace with God. That things would be made right. As our great high priest, that's what the Son of God accomplished for us in His humanity. the blood that was needed to satisfy God had to be perfect, unblemished, as Peter describes the blood of Christ. The Old Testament high priests were sinners too, as we read in chapter 5. Their blood couldn't pay for their own sins, let alone anyone else's. Only the blood of the incarnate Christ would do. The writer of Hebrews says in chapter 9, beginning of verse 11, when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here. He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the most holy place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more then will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God. Article 21 of the Belcher Confession will talk more about Christ's satisfaction, the beauty of that truth of Christ's satisfaction as the high priest, and we'll deal with that more later on. But beloved Satan, throughout Old Testament history, As we said last week, Satan tried to stop the line of Christ, bruising his heel. He failed. Instead, his head was crushed by Christ on the cross. And Jesus took the weapon of death out of Satan's hand and took away the fear of death for you and me. Yet Satan is still active. He's on a short leash, if you will. Yet, as Peter says, he is still prowling around looking to do damage. He was not able to stop the Messiah from coming, but he has worked hard throughout the history of the New Testament church to stop the church from believing the truth of Christ, whether it be with regard to His holy conception and virgin birth, sinless birth, or the fact that He is 100% God and 100% man. The true church has faced these struggles as she has done battle against heretics and error for ages. Article 18 mentions just one erroneous teaching, the Anabaptists who deny that Christ assumed human flesh of his mother. In fact, they say he couldn't assume the human flesh of any one of us, any human being, because that would be assuming the human flesh of one who is sinful. And he would have to be sinful. In other words, you see, Mary was more like just an incubator for the Son of God. But in no way did her flesh have anything to do with the nurture and growth of the child conceived in her of the Holy Spirit. And if that is true, and if any of the Christological heresies, the heresies dealing with false teachings concerning the person of Christ, If any of those are true, then the revelation of God in Holy Scripture regarding His holy conception of the Holy Spirit and virgin birth is false. And not only that, but if any of those are true, then not only the reality of salvation, but even the possibility of it, as some would like to talk about, is wiped out. According to Hebrews 2, verse 14. All throughout the history of the church, the two natures and one person of Christ have been attacked and I suspect will continue to be until he comes again. Some have said that either he was only divine and not human or only human and not divine. Some have said that the divine only adopted a human body, borrowed a body to use, or that Jesus only appeared to be human. All kinds of twists and turns and confusions you see. The bottom line is this is a mystery. How is it possible that two distinct natures, divine and human, come together in one person? I don't know. I don't know. And the truth is we cannot understand it. We can only go by what God has revealed to us in His Word. Article 19 of the Confession explains what we believe Scripture teaches about this. Article 19, I'd like to read that because I don't know what else could be said beyond that, really. You could spend time in a sermon talking about it, but I'd like to read it now. Article 19, the union and distinction of the two natures in the person of Christ. In theological jargon, talking about the hypostatic union of the natures of Christ. We believe that by this conception, the person of the Son is inseparably united and connected with the human nature, so that there are not two sons of God, nor two persons, but two natures united in one single person. Yet each nature retains its own distinct properties. As then the divine nature has always remained uncreated, without beginning of days or end of life, filling heaven and earth, So also has the human nature not lost its properties, but remained a creature, having beginning of days, being a finite nature, and retaining all the properties of a real body. And though he has, by his resurrection, given immortality to the same, nevertheless he has not changed the reality of his human nature, for as much as our salvation and resurrection also depend on the reality of his body. But these two natures are so closely united in one person that they were not separated even by his death. Therefore, that which he, when dying, commended into the hands of his father was a real human spirit, departing from his body. But in the meantime, the divine nature always remained united with the human even when he lay in the grave, and the Godhead did not cease to be in him any more than it did when he was an infant, though it did not so clearly manifest itself for a while. Therefore, we confess that He is very God and very man, very God by His power to conquer death, and very man that He might die for us according to the infirmity of His flesh. This is what we confess in summary form in our creeds, the Apostles, the Nicene, the Athanasian, but also other Orthodox creeds, for example, the Chalcedonian Creed, a creed which is clear about this insofar as we are able to understand it. That creed answers a number, if not all, the different Christological heresies by affirming that Christ's two natures exist in one person without confusion, without change, without division, and without separation. That's what the heretical teachings have tried to do, is either confuse or change or divide or separate Christ. And beloved, our comfort, even though we may not be able to fully understand or scientifically figure out how, our comfort is that God became man to be like us and unlike us in order to be our great high priest, in order to do that which was necessary for us and our salvation. As article 19 says at the very end, Wherefore we confess that He is very God and very man, very God by His power to conquer death. and very man, that He might die for us according to the infirmity of His flesh. And that means that as God's people, we don't live in an uncertain kind of hope of salvation. Our hope is living and real. It is certain. It is confident. It is done. As true and perfect man, Jesus did what man had to do. And as true God, He did what only God could do. And therefore, beloved, there is no reason to look anywhere else because He is the One. He is the only One we need. It is finished. Salvation is accomplished. And that is to give us comfort for the life to come. But our Lord Jesus Christ also gives us comfort for this life. For the here and now. You see, we are faced with different trials, temptations, hurts, and sorrows. They're different depending on whether you are young or older or depending upon the particular situations of life or circumstances that you might find yourself in. Yet, there is nothing that we cannot take to the Lord in prayer. We can and we must take everything to Him in prayer because He knows, He understands, He sympathizes with us, and He delivers, protects, and keeps His people under the shadow of His wings. You see, beloved, we do not face the situations of this life alone. Sometimes we feel like it. Again, I think as the Footprints poem says correctly, it's not because our Lord left us. It's because we have turned our back for a time on Him. But we do not face them alone. He has gone before us. He has done battle with and conquered every foe on our behalf. Sometimes, sometimes if we're trying to console each other or provide comfort and support for one another because one is going through a particular situation, that one might say, well, you don't know. You can't know what I'm going through. And in a sense, that's true. Because each one of us is different. Each one of us responds to these differences differently. But Jesus does. He does. And He gives strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. I think I've told you before what one of the cards that I received after I was diagnosed said. It said, God is not unaware of what you are going through. He is not unaware. And as I thought about that, I had to smile and say, yes, He is fully aware and I will endure. Why? Because I am more than a conqueror through Him who loves me and gave His life for me. All things do indeed work together for the good of God's people because Jesus Christ is victorious over sin, temptation, and death. He is a merciful high priest mercifully watching over those for whom He died. Watching over us in every situation of life. And He is a faithful High Priest in whom we have confidence. Confidence that because He lived a perfectly righteous life in our place and paid for our sins, we can be confident that when we do fall to temptation, He restores us. And our sins are forgiven for His sake. And we can confidently, humbly, Yet confidently go forward and stand up for Jesus. That's what we're going to consider tonight, the Lord willing, as we consider 1 Peter again. Stand up for Jesus. We can go forward and stand up for Him, standing firm, standing ready, standing faithful. In a way, beloved, we are to celebrate Christmas every day of the year. We are to celebrate Emmanuel, God with us, rejoicing that He became poor, that through Him we might become eternally rich. He humbled Himself becoming a servant that He might make us reign with Him forever and ever. Indeed, as Scripture says, there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we might be saved. Indeed, there is no other. Yet, praise God, He has given us one. Jesus Christ, our brother, our Savior, Amen. Shall we pray? Father, again in Jesus' name, we bow before You with joy in our hearts. Indeed, hearts that are filled with humility. Because we recognize our inability, O Lord, to completely understand these things. These things which are deep mysteries. Things that belong to you alone. Father, give to each one of us a renewed sense of that childlike faith to accept your word for what it says, for the truth of what it says. Jesus Christ, God and man. Thank you, O Lord, for that great salvation that he did that which only he could do, Being God, that which needed to be done, being man. Fill us with that joy, O Lord, and lead us in your way everlasting. That we might exalt your name forever and ever. Amen.