I was clothed in the rags of my sin, wretched and poor, lost and lonely within. But with wondrous compassion, the King of all kings, in and love to be under his wings. Oh yes, oh yes. I'm a child of the King. His royal blood Now falls in my veins, and I who was wretched and poor now can sing. Praise God, praise God, I'm a child of the King. Now I'm a child with a heavenly home. My holy father has made me his own, and I'm cleansed by his blood. And I'm clothed in his love And someday I'm gonna sing With the angels above Oh yes, oh yes I'm a child of the King His royal blood now flows in my veins, and I who was wretched and poor now can sing. Praise God, praise God, I'm a child of the King. Amen. Amen. I wound up with two mics, so you should be able to hear me now. That's all right. We got an engineer on the controls back there. I want to say just a word about him. He was here bright and early setting the internet up for us, Christian. He had it running just real quick. And I'd pack around, pack around, back up, back up, finally get it on, but he's doing a good job. He's monitoring our volume up and down, and we appreciate that. And well, we could say more, but better not. I know one happy dad if he knew about it. OK. Luke chapter 2, which is a very long chapter. And as well as you know, we started in Luke a few months ago. I say a few months ago, at least two, because we had several messages now. And it hit right during the time we celebrate the birth of Christ, his first event to come to this earth. And we enjoyed trying to share these scriptures during these times. And we're not quite through yet. And something that I noticed that I want to try to bring to our attention is how Jesus picked up a name that identified him different than other people that was named Jesus. Jesus was a common name, I understand, and in the Spanish world, I think they still use it quite a bit. I run into some, I remember one guy When I was having jail service down here at the county jail, which I don't know what country he's from, but anyhow, he spoke Spanish. Of course, he made like he couldn't understand English. But sometimes you say something, you see how they respond, that they do understand more than they let on. but he said his name was Jesus. And they pronounce it a little different. But anyhow, but we notice here in this 39th verse, and of course last week we tried to point out concerning the purification of Mary and the time that they went to the temple and us notice it again, and when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned unto Galilee in their own city, Nazareth. And the child grew, and waxed strong in the Spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him." Now, we know Luke, Dr. Luke, is the one that we refer to as the writer in which the Holy Spirit used to pen these words. Now, Matthew and Mark and the Apostle John gave us the other copies as we refer to the gospel and it's a gospel we say according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And they recorded some things that others didn't. And we've noticed that right off, that Luke and Matthew's the only ones that even recorded concerning the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, here we find somewhat difference. It's no difference in it, but it just wasn't a part that Matthew recorded that Luke didn't record. Now, it's the same way, and I remember studying through this when we was in the book of Galatians a few months ago, concerning what the Apostle Paul said about his visit to Jerusalem. I don't know if you remember that or not. Now Luke did write, we give him the credit writing the book of Acts. And in the book of Acts, Luke recorded that when the conversion of the Apostle Paul, which is in the ninth chapter of Acts, that after his conversion and going on to Damascus, that he returned back to Jerusalem. And of course, we could accept that. And he did return to Jerusalem at a time. But the way it reads there, it might make us think he did it immediately after he stayed there in Damascus for a period of time. Galatians chapter one, he lets us know it was a period of time. And we will read that text to you. He said, neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which are apostles before me. That's the 17th verse of the first chapter of Galatians. But I went to Arabia and returned again to Damascus. Then after these years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him 15 days. But other apostles saw I none, say James the Lord's brother. Now these things which I write unto you, behold, before God I lie not. So we find that the apostle clarifying that he didn't go to Jerusalem until He returned back from Arabia, where he stayed these three years, and then he went back to Jerusalem, where Luke, in the Book of Acts, had him going there as we would think he would. Now, neither one of them is any different. Luke didn't say that he didn't go, or he went exactly at that time, but we would sometimes think that this is when it took place. In the same way here with the Lord, when he was a babe, concerning going to Nazareth. In Matthew's account, we do have the story of part of the birth of Christ. In some instances, it's happened. And one of them that Luke didn't record is concerning the visit of the Magi, which is referred to as the wise men. So in the second chapter of Matthew, we have this that Matthew recorded. And as they came from the east, now I know you've seen lots of different, programs and things, thinking that the wise men, as we refer to them, came the same time that Jesus, same time as the shepherds did, so to speak, in the early part of the birth of Christ. But the scripture tell us that they was from the east, and going from the east to Jerusalem, it takes a period of time as they traveled in that day. How long it was, we don't know. It could have been weeks, or it could have been even in years. But we do know when they come seeking to see the king of the Jews, as they said that they came. And by the way, this star that they refer to, I heard years ago, and I have that persuasion, this was the Shekinah glory that God gave them to lead them to Christ, where he was. The message was, and they knew that Christ was gonna be born, they had that knowledge, and some said, well, how did they know about that? Well, remember, the children of Israel was carried in bondage to Babylon one time. And Daniel was even left there. And how much of the word concerning God and his word was left and even spread further east than even Babylon. But that's still a great distance. Persia and all the places east of there. So they knew. And, of course, they are referred to wise men, and certainly wise men do seek the Lord. But they come, and you remember the story, I'm sure, that they thought he would be around the king's palace, and they come to Herod, which was a very wicked, one of the weakest kings. And, of course, he was just setting in for Rome at the time, but he was afraid somebody was gonna take his throne. it was told and recorded that he would even have members of his family executed to keep them from taking his throne. But anyhow, he asked them, of course they inquired about where he should be born, got the priest and the prophets, the priest and the ones that he had under his control, to find out, and of course they came back, said it's written in the prophets that it would be born in Bethlehem. I'm sure we are familiar with that, and gave the reference to the scriptures. So Pilate asked them to bring him word, of course, He said that I can go and worship him, in which he had other plans, we know. He was wanting to have the opportunity to take the life of the infant son of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the Lord revealed to the Magi's that they was not to go back, and the scripture said they went Another way to their own country. Then, how the Lord has spoke and gave knowledge to Joseph from the very beginning, again appeared to him in a dream, not to take the young child and his mother and flee to Egypt. And this is what he did. And then he was told even at that time when Herod is dead, you would get word that you can return back. So after the death of Herod was fulfilled, and as the word came that he could return, well, he brought Mary and the babe back to Galilee, or back towards Jerusalem, but found out that his son, was instead, as being a governor or the king, went on to Galilee and stayed and dwelt in Nazareth. So then we find that it was a period of time there that, and of course, this is where the sad thing came about, the slaughters of the babies. Here knew that he was mocked by the wise men And he was so angry that he had all the children from two years old and under killed in Bethlehem and the regions about. So that was certainly a sad thing. We think about how awful it would have been to be a parent and for this to happen. Well, it's nothing new. Satan's always trying to kill babies. We see this in Moses' day when he was born. And then we certainly see it today even in our country. I said that it's been down in the years past of babies being murdered even before they was born. So that was really a sad time. But we're told here in this second chapter, Matthew, and it came to pass, and he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, he shall be called a Nazarene. So this is where they dwelt. Now, as I said earlier, how old he was, We are not told all of those details, but we do know that he lived in Nazareth. And this is where we find where he came to be known as Jesus of Nazareth. And this is how he was referred to. You remember when Philip found Nathanael and told him, said, we found the one, the Lord, we found the Christ, the anointed one. And he said, asked for him, he said, who is he? And he said, Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, can any good thing come from Nazareth? So we find Nazareth was a small place, but yet that was the home that Jesus grew up in. And of course, we have records where he, Jesus, returned back to Nazareth just shortly after he was baptized by John the Baptist. And we have the records where he stood up and read the scriptures and told them, this day, this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. And so this is where he picked that name up. Now, what really Bless my heart as I was trying to seek and study every scripture I could find that had reference to it. And this is what was so great thing to me to find out that this is how the apostles preached concerning the Lord Jesus. How they identified who he was. So we find here in the book of, well, in the second chapter of Acts, as well as on over, you can find many, many references. And I wished I had all of them I was going to bring out, but I'm going to give you a few of them. Here, I remember Peter's first sermon he preached on the Day of Pentecost. Notice how he addressed his congregation. Ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by many miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you as ye yourself also know, and him being delivered by the determined counsel and the foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked hands has crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. And of course, then he goes on concerning David, speaking of this way. But did you notice there that when he started and got their attention as being the man of Israel, that this, want them to listen to the words that Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God, as he said, by the miracles and all the wonders and the signs and He said, now you know this, you know the one I'm talking about, it's Jesus of Nazareth. And then when Peter and John was going into the temple, you remember the time that he healed the lame man, where Peter said, silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up. and walk. So he was identified by the town that he lived in, or the village, Nazareth. And of course, he took him by the right hand and picked him up, and certainly he received strength and leaped, and praise God, went on into the temple with Peter and John. Now, when They was accused and arrested, of course, Peter and John, and of course, we know Paul and all the apostles, as they preached. And here, this man that was slain, they had to give, they was arrested and had to stir up, and Peter, in his defense, I want us to notice here what he said as he began to speak in the defense there before the trial he was going through. This is in the fourth chapter of Acts. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if ye this day If we this day be examined of the good deed done to this imminent man, by what means he was made whole, be it known unto you and all that the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even him doeth this man stand here before you whole. Now notice, he didn't stop there. He identified it was in the name of Jesus this man was made whole. This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which has become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, only by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. So this is how the Lord was identified all through the preaching of the apostles as being the one that was the one that was from Nazareth. But not only then, but we see even when it come time for the Lord to lay his life down as a ransom for our sins, and of course we hear the mob and time that Judas betrayed him come and Jesus asked the question, whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And of course, he said, I'm he. And in the time he said that I'm he, the scripture tells us that they just fell backwards, just by the power of his word. And of course, he said now, knowing that all things was fulfilled, knowing that he'd come to give his life for us sinners. And he said, take me and let these go, talking about his disciples. Then while he was mocked and tried in the courts there in the time that evening, the next morning, what was put on his cross? What was it that piled? They had to name the ones that was being crucified. And Pilate had a plaque put over his head, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. And the ones that mocked said, no, don't say he's the king. He just claimed to be king. Pilate said, what I've written, I've written. That name followed him. all the way through. So it was a necessity for Jesus to be reared up in Nazareth. Of course, we could find other scriptures here that makes us wonder where he was, and probably we can always have questions and wondering when was Jesus carried to Nazareth, whether Mary and Joseph were staying in Jerusalem or Bethlehem, or were, but the scripture does tell us that the star appeared, this shekinah light, I would call it, of God that led them on to the place, and the scripture said, to the house. They found the babe and Mary, and they gave their gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And this is a strange thing of those three gifts, especially the last one. Of course, gold, we are familiar, and God was probably allowed this to happen for Joseph and them to take their trip home to Egypt. I don't know how it was used, but anyhow, it was a gift come from the Maggites. And then frankincense was used for sweet odor to be used. They used it quite a bit in the temple. And I can imagine the need for it with all the sacrifices and the blood and the animals and things being slaughtered and offered to God. And that frankincense was used as a sweet odor that could be given, but mirth was to be used in a barrel. as they would use it kind of like an embalming fluid or embalming means as they had in that day. Of course, we know Jesus was born that he might die there on the cross, but thank the Lord he's not dead. He's alive forevermore. So we are thankful that whether we will bow and call him Jesus of Nazareth, that's history. That's how he was identified while he was here on the earth. But I'm thankful he will be identified as Lord of Lords and King of Kings from now on. But that's how I come to this. Now, one thing we do understand that the scripture tells us that that Luke recorded that every year Mary and Joseph and Christ would be carried back to Jerusalem for the Passover. Did this happen at the Passover time when the wise men came or not? I don't know, but we do have record of that. They would make that trip. So whether they went to Nazareth, and then the wise men visited in Nazareth, and that's how that they departed into Egypt from there, or was they still around Jerusalem and just Bethlehem, just a few miles south of Jerusalem? We don't know. But the one thing we do know, he was identified as Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And I'm thankful that we have record, that the people there knew who he was. And most of all, that we have record today. So it doesn't really matter so much when he went to Nazareth as it is that he did go and he was identified. And he went through his ministry all the way through as being Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Father, we thank you that we have records, that we may know these things. Lord, how precious it is to hear those apostles preach that there's no other name given under heaven whereby men must be saved. And Father, we do pray for those that's not saved, that Lord, they may realize he's the one that they must look to, must trust, and believe on, and repent of their sins, and rest in his finished work on Calvary. to have eternal life and to have salvation. Thank you, Lord. You called this old boy out one day and revealed your son to us. And, Lord, we are so thankful that we know you and free parting of sin. So, Father, we pray, take thy word and use it for your honor and your glory. And, Lord, we will bow unworthy heads and say, thank you, Lord. what you've done for us. In Jesus' name we do pray, amen. Trust that you will have a safe