For our scripture reading this morning, we turn to the epistle to the Philippians. We'll begin reading with chapter one, Philippians 1, verse 21. Philippians 1, verse 21, and we'll read through verse 11 of chapter two. Philippians 1, verse 21. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. Yet what I shall choose, I want or know not, for I am in a strait, betwixt or between two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith, that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel, and in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation in that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now here to be in me. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded. Having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. But in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, Wherefore, God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. We read that far in God's holy word. We consider this evening, or this morning, the instruction of the Heidelberg Catechism in Lord's Day 14. Questions and answers 35 and 36. What is the meaning of these words? He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, that God's eternal Son who is and continueth true and eternal God, took upon him the very nature of man, of the flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, that he might also be the true seed of David, like unto his brethren in all things sin accepted. What prophet dost thou receive by Christ's holy conception and nativity, that he is our mediator, and with his innocence and perfect holiness covers in the sight of God my sins, wherein I was conceived and brought forth. Beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Heidelberg Catechism at this point in its explanation of the person and work of Jesus Christ following the Apostles' Creed changes from treating the names of Jesus Christ to now treating what we call His states. the states of the mediator. This has a long tradition in the church. Of course, following the very example set forth by the Apostles' Creed. That is the order in which the Apostles' Creed itself treats the subject of the Son of God. Treating first the names and then what we call the states of the mediator. The states of the mediator are two. Those states and the teaching of them is found throughout the Holy Scripture, but it is especially in Philippians 2, and the latter verses of that chapter or that section that we read where this doctrine and truth is especially set forth. There we read in verses six through eight of the state of humiliation, wherein the Son of God, who was equal with God, did not rob God at all by making himself equal with God, is God out of God, made himself of no reputation. And he did that by taking upon him the form of a servant, taking upon him our human nature, the likeness of men. In doing so, we read in verse eight, he humbled himself. There is the first state of the mediator, the state of humiliation. The second follows in verses nine through 11, And that state is the state of exaltation. In the Apostles' Creed, the state of humiliation begins with this Lord's Day, Lord's Day 14. He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born the Virgin Mary. It continues with He suffered. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. All that is the covering of the state of humiliation and every one of the main points of that. Then there's the resurrection. There begins the state of exaltation. He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. There's the state of exaltation. And those two states are taught, especially in Philippians 2. were incorporated by the Holy Spirit into the Apostles' Creed, and we teach through them annually in the Heidelberg Catechism. The explanation for those two states is sin. That is the ultimate explanation of those two states. For when Jesus is born into the world, He's born into the world with our sin. He takes our sin with Him when He takes upon Him that human nature. And He will carry that sin all the way through to the cross. And it's the fact that although He Himself is perfect and sinless as the Son of God, the fact that He has our sins upon Him explains that humiliation for God is humbling Him. God visits Him with the judgment and justice, including humiliation, that we deserve by our sin. The result of the cross, of course, is that he goes into the grave. But now, after the cross, he has paid for those sins. Those sins are no longer on him. They are paid in full. They are gone. They are covered. God's people are redeemed. And thus begins the state of exaltation. God now visits him according to that which he has done, having paid the price for our sins, our sins no longer being upon him. He is highly exalted. He is raised from the dead. He ascends into heaven and sits at God's right hand and shall come again to judge the quick and the dead, exactly because of that fact. Now that's what's going to be taught beginning with Lord's Day 14 and all the way through the Lord's Days until 19, through 19. This morning, we're going to look at this Lord's Day, however, from a slightly different point of view. We're going to use this transition as an opportunity to consider one other name of Christ that is not included in the Apostles' Creed. That is the name, the Son of Man. We consider other important names, of course, the Son of God, Lord, Christ, Jesus. This one, the Son of Man, is equally important, but often forgotten exactly because it is not included explicitly in the Apostles' Creed, and yet it is there. And now is the time to treat it. And it fits because the truth of that name, Son of Man, is precisely that which is taught here in this particular Lord's Day. The meaning is basically the same as this truth. It incorporates the truth of a few other names also. So we're going to look at this Lord's Day under the theme, Faith in Jesus, the Son of Man. Jesus, the Son of Man. Of course, doing so in light of the conception and nativity of Christ that is brought out here. We'll notice first the reality, secondly the significance, and finally the grace of the fact that Jesus is the Son of Man. The name Son of Man is common in Scripture and common in the Gospels for Jesus. Yet, it's not unique to Jesus either. God was already teaching the importance of that name in the Old Testament through the types and shadows. And that's really its original source. You will find that name, for example, in Psalm 8. Psalm 8, verses 4 through 6, where we read, What is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For Thou hast made Him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned Him with glory and honor. Thou madest Him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands. Thou hast put all things under His feet." Now take note that the psalm there is talking about man, and at the same time, one understands by faith it's talking about someone other than man. The Son of Man. that whom we know to be the Christ or the Messiah. If you go to Psalm 80, verse 17, there's another reference to it. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself. Similar, Psalm 146, verse three. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the Son of Man." There we can see it can't possibly be talking about Christ, because we put our trust in Christ. It's talking about something related to man, though. Put not your trust in the Son of Man, in whom there is no help. If you go to the prophecy of Ezekiel, that phrase, Son of Man, that name is used to refer to the prophet himself, Ezekiel, over 90 times. showing that that name, that title, is related to office. Office, not Ezekiel personally as such, but to the office that he holds. You could look up other prophecies such as Daniel 7, where Daniel sees one like unto the Son of Man. And then you see the carryover into the New Testament. You will find that name often in the Gospels. And the reference, for example, of Daniel 7 is picked up by Jesus in the eschatological chapter 24 of Matthew. Matthew 24 about the signs. There that phrase, Son of Man from Daniel shows up in reference to the Christ. You'll find it in Matthew 25 and Matthew 26 prominently. And it shows up especially in the Gospels because it is one of, if not the most favorite name of Jesus for Himself. Though He be the Son of God, though He be the Christ, though He be God in our flesh, the name that He takes upon His lips the most is the Son of Man. That is the name for which He is convicted and crucified according to Matthew 25. That's one of the interesting things about that passage, or 26 rather, especially in the latter verses. 34, 35, 36, it's emphasizing that Jesus is crucified in part because he claimed to be the Son of Man. And the Jewish leaders knew exactly what he was claiming to be. If you take the biblical revelation of that name and its various uses at meetings, what you come up with is this, that name, with reference now to Jesus, reveals in the first place that he is a genuine, real human being. It's not simply in the likeness or fashion of man, as Philippians 2 puts it, but it shows that what Philippians 2 means by being in the likeness or fashion of a man is that he truly has a human nature. He is completely and truly human. and he received that human nature out of man. Doesn't simply resemble man, act like a man, look like a man, but he possesses a human nature that comes out of man. A human nature can in fact be traced all the way back to the original and first man, Adam. That name also is messianic. It's a name that's closely related to the title Christ that we consider. It emphasizes His office. It emphasizes that Christ is one who does not simply make Himself Son of Man, does not seize that title, does not take that position in place, but God appoints Him to it. God gives Him to be the Son of Man. God says, out of all men, Out of all the human race that shall ever live and shall ever be, this one is the appointed man, the son of man, the man out of men. It's a name that indicates the eschatological idea of Christ. Not only is he one appointed by God, to be the Son of Man, but He is appointed to that end or that goal that He is the culmination, the goal or the end of the whole human race. The whole human race finds its fulfillment, its perfection, its ideal in the reality of Jesus Christ. That's the idea. And I said, if you understand that, then you will find it all over Scripture. In Jesus calling Himself the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. This notion of Jesus being the Son of Man also combines in it, therefore, the conception of the humiliation and exaltation of the Christ. That is, one can find that reality in the title, The Son of Man. The idea is that he is the man whom God has appointed to show what man is in and of himself and also to show what man is and shall be in God. He reveals those realities in his humiliation, something Jesus was very conscious about. He was revealing himself as the Son of Man. That's why he used that phrase so often on the earth. He was the man who exposed the foolishness of man apart from God, showed the foolishness of man in his ideals and in his ideas of what ought to be the greatest and the best of mankind. He is the one who exposes all the notions and efforts and work of men as absolute vanity apart from God. He shows that in all kinds of ways. He can simply go through the state of humiliation and consider not only his humble and lowly birth, what man was expecting that, what man was looking for that, even when it was discovered and found. Much unbelief about it. But in His ministry, He was rejected, not simply as God's Son, but as the Son of Man. Everywhere men said, if this is the ideal and the reality of man, I want nothing to do about it. I do not want the kingdom that He is the agent of and the king of. I do not like the words that come out of this Son of Man. He exposes all that. Man takes Him, who is the Son of Man, and crucifies Him, kills Him. Man rejects Him. All the while, He is in fact representing man. He bears the sins of man on His shoulders. He's carrying our iniquities. He's headed to the cross on our behalf. And even more wonderful when you think about it, that it's those for whom He dies who are the real humanity Then you see His exaltation. And what you have to see in His exaltation is not simply that God comes out of the grave. One expects God to come out of the grave. Not that God ascends into heaven. One expects God to ascend into heaven. Not that God sits at God's right hand. One expects God to be up there reigning on the throne. It's not that God returns to judge the quick and the dead. One expects that. But it's that the Son of Man Man comes forth out of the grave, a new creature. The Son of Man ascends into heaven and sits at God's right hand. And it's the Son of Man that shall judge men. That's exaltation. Now, we have to connect this, you see, with the incarnation, with the conception and nativity of Jesus Christ. Because that's how this occurs. What ties it all together is God doesn't simply take His Son and place Him on the earth and say, now, pretend you're the Son of Man. Act like the Son of Man. Look like the Son of Man as angels did. Angels would appear on earth as men. Perfectly able to do that. Well, Jesus does not come to earth as the angel of the Lord like that. It happens by mean of what we call the incarnation. And the meaning is exactly that of the title, Son of Man, the phrase, the name. Notice the Catechism gives us the meaning. What does it mean? We could ask, what does it mean? Not simply that He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, but what does it mean that Jesus is the Son of Man? I gave you a definition. I gave you an explanation. Now consider this one from the Heidelberg Catechism, that God's eternal Son, who is and continueth true and eternal God, took upon him the very nature of man, of the flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary, that is a man, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, that he might be the true seed of David, like unto his brethren, men every one of them, in all things, sin excepted. There you have what it means that Jesus is the Son of Man, The Heidelberg Catechism and the Scriptures make clear, of course, this is accomplished by means of the virgin conception of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. The result of that is He is a real human offspring of a real human being. I have to tie that now to the understanding that Mary was a virgin, a woman. She understood the significance of the announcement, what the angel was saying. which is why she asked the question she did, pointing out the wonder of it all. How could this be? Seeing I know not a man, the word no there is the typical biblical euphemism for sex with a man. How shall this be? Seeing I'm not married to a man, have not had sexual relations with a man. How can this be without a human father, in other words? And the response of the angel is, That man is excluded in this great act. Is anything impossible for God? God accomplishes it. God accomplishes it through the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit shall overshadow thee. It will occur not by the agency of a human father, but by the divine agency of the third person of the Holy Trinity, by the power of the Godhead, by the power of God Himself. so that that child of God is also called the Son of God, that holy thing. So it's an act of God, this is. God makes His Son, the Son of Man, in an act of God alone. Oh, it involves a human being, all right. It involves Mary. The result is the birth, the conception and birth of a human being. But it's an act of God, an act of God alone. An act of God alone because it's an act impossible for man to perform. In fact, it's impossible for man to even conceive it. The spirit must conceive of Jesus the Christ. Keep in mind the double meaning of the word conceive. Conceive means to beget, to produce. But conceive also means, in our English language, even the idea of understanding, thinking of. Man can't even think. can't even conceive, understand, comprehend the notion of God being the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit of a human son, the nature taken from a virgin. The Heidelberg Catechism also closely ties the conception and nativity of Christ, something worth considering. We often consider only nativity of Christ, often when we consider around the Christmas season what we call the Advent. What we often overlook is what the Heidelberg Catechism emphasizes here, and that is the conception. It doesn't just simply talk about the birth, but rightly according to the Apostles' Creed, that he was conceived by the Holy Ghost, then born of the Virgin Mary. There's a connection there. The idea is that the conception of Jesus is both the means and the sign of the nativity. Don't have time to get into it too much, but look very carefully at Luke 2, perhaps this afternoon, and you will notice that it's a sign, the conception itself, but it's also the means. Of course, the means part is obvious, right? In order for Jesus to have a human nature, as He must, we learned in LDS 4 and 5, He must have a human nature. He must come from an actual real human mother. And the Catechism emphasizes, rightly so, that not only must He have a real human mother, but that mother must be related to David, because He must be of the seed of David, because God had made a promise concerning that. You can find out that he also goes back to Abraham because God had promised that, that God would deliver his people by his seed. The covenant promise was made with his seed, that's Christ, but also back to Adam. And if he's to be God, and he must, then God must be his father. But often overlooked is that this conception is a visible sign that reveals, as all signs do, an otherwise hidden reality. The idea is that when a virgin conceives and bears a son, the whole world must react in astonishment. What in the world is going on? What is happening? What is this? And the reason is because this is the miracle of God. The. I wish there was a way to adequately emphasize that word, the. When I say it's the miracle of God, I mean it's the most outstanding display of God's grace and power that has ever happened and will ever happen. I mean by that, that apart from that miracle, all the other miracles are worthless. They have no meaning. That's how important this is. That's what that angel meant when he asked, is anything impossible for God? The idea is that if there is anything impossible for God, it's this. It's this very thing, that a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and that son shall be Jesus the Savior, Son of God and Son of Man. That's the miracle. The miracle is exactly as the Heidelberg Catechism puts it, that God's eternal Son, who is and continue with true and eternal God, took upon Him the very nature of man of the flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary. The miracle is that He's God, God out of God, God's eternal Son, the second person of the Trinity. God Himself does this, and God Himself now is that child born by that conception of the Holy Spirit. That is astounding. Just ask yourself, God, who's ever seen God? Who can contain God? God whose power is infinite, whose glory is more glorious than a thousand suns, whose vastness is greater than that of the creation itself, which is measured in billions of light years, is there in the manger. was there in the womb of the Virgin Mary, was born just like you and me. That this God in our flesh now is going to go to the cross, crucified, killed, enter into the grave. I can't explain that other than what I just said. But if that is not the miracle of God, then there isn't any. The miracle is that the same God is our flesh, takes our flesh, becomes our flesh, a real human being with a real human soul and a real human body and a real human mind, a real human in everything except one. He had no sin. A human being capable of suffering, a human being capable of dying, a human being who cried A human being who enjoyed human company. A human being subject to every misery and trouble and affliction. Was even tempted like as we are, yet without sin. That's a miracle. The miracle. Consider this, this too buried in the idea of Son of Man. This is equally astounding. He has history. God promises him in such a way that he's the only one that can fit the description. Think of all the providence. Think of all the mighty acts of God throughout time and history beginning with Adam and Eve that must come about for Him and only Him to be the Son of Man. How Mary has to be that daughter of David. Read his lineage. In his lineage is a prostitute, is a Moabite, are scores of unbelieving, wicked men and women. Consider that. The line of David was not a pure line, and yet there he is. Today we'd say if you could take a DNA test, you could trace his DNA back through all of those people. That's what it means that he's the son of man. The miracle is that when He takes that human flesh, when He becomes human flesh, He does not cease to be God. Explain that one. That's what the Catechism says. Who is and continueth true and eternal God. The truth is not that once upon a time God was God and then He became a man and He set aside His Godhead. Then He laid all that down and just became a man. No, He's still God. And He continueth and will ever be God. That was a permanent union. What happened there in an instant of that conception of the Holy Spirit was not something that was only while he was on earth or until he ascended into heaven and then he went back to being God again. No. Was God. He continues to be God. And then consider that he's the only real image of God that we will ever see and know. When we see Him in heaven, we will not simply see a man, but God, the perfect image of God, be able to embrace God in a way that we cannot do now and can now only by faith. Think about that. Is that not the miracle of miracles? Now, this was all with a view to work. That's the significance. The significance is that He is God's representative. He represents God's elect people. The significance is that He works as the Christ on behalf of men and mankind as the Son of Man. Remember, that's His messianic name. Now, not all mankind head for head. Not all human beings head for head. It cannot be. But those whom God has chosen, like God has chosen Him to be the Christ, and God has chosen Him to be the Son of Man, so there are men that God has chosen to give unto Him and to unite unto Him by faith, so that they belong to Him. Even more amazing, you add to the miracle, so much is this true, that we were crucified with Him. We were buried with Him, the Scriptures say. But what was that work as the Son of Man? Well, His work as the Son of Man is, as the Catechism points out, redemption. It was the atonement. In other words, in establishing the ground and the basis for all of our salvation. The Son of Man, here's the emphasis upon mediator, but I'm not going to emphasize that because we dealt with that earlier in Lords days 4 and 5. The Son of Man as the mediator covers all our filth, all our iniquity. That's what it says. With His holiness. With His perfect holiness. Only one that could do that. Doesn't happen in the Incarnation, of course, but on the cross. But the cross is not possible without the conception and nativity of Jesus as the Son of Man. And then consider how fitting that is. Notice how the catechism here ties these two things together. Where did your sin come from? Where did you get your sin? Well, it's inherited. Belgium Confession says you received your sin as a hereditary disease that you got from your parents. They passed it on to you by conception, your conception in nativity, so that you're conceived and born in sin, we learn. Now consider that the mediator who dies on the cross must not simply die on the cross, but he too must be conceived and born in sin, our sin. I'll tie that to the redemption and the atonement. It's His work as the Son of Man, preserving us in that salvation He has purchased for us. He has one great task. after the atonement and redemption, to preserve us in that salvation, to bring that salvation to us consciously, that we know of it, we understand it, we embrace it, we inceive it, and then preserve us in it, again, as the Son of Man. We'll get to the importance of Him being at the right hand of God the Father, His ascension, and is sitting at God's right hand. There's the emphasis of that. As the exalted Son of Man. It's the work of the Son of Man bringing us bringing us who belong to Him, who are made a part of that Son of Man, those whom He represents and works for, to the highest possible glory. You say, how high? How great? Will we become God? No. But it will be the same glory and honor. Not to the degree, of course, given to Christ as the man. Jesus brings us to a glory and honor that Adam never could, even in our imaginations. It was really part of the offense of Christ. are envious of him with regard to that. He raises the creation to the highest glory and honor. That's the significance that man was appointed everlastingly the king of the creation, even though he was made a little lower than the angels, and to see the fulfillment of that in Christ, as it were. Consider finally the grace of it all. There's a lot I could say here, but the idea of the exaltation and then the glorification of Christ's exaltation from His humiliation is that of emphasizing the grace of it all. That's the purpose of the sermon this morning. It means simply to teach some bare facts perhaps even what seems to be obscure facts regarding the union of the two natures in Jesus Christ, how the Son of God, who is and continues to be a God, takes a human nature, and that human nature and divine nature are perfectly united, an amazing thing all in and of itself. One is asked, one must ask, how can that be? And the answer, of course, is God. And a God now who did not have to do this, God who was not obligated to do this, except that He decided to do it, and swore an oath to do it, and has the power to do it. And you see the grace in it when you see even the union of those natures in Christ. There's something about that. even considering Christ and His sinless human nature. Consider that in Him, God and man are perfectly united, without mixture, without confusion, without one becoming the other, as we put it in our creeds. That's an amazing thing. For man, who was made this creature, even lower than the angels, that is, with substance, physical substance, unlike the angels. There's grace even in that. But now consider also then all of his work. He does what we cannot do. He exposes even not only what we cannot do, but what we would not do. That's why Christ is always an offense to man, the natural man, you understand. You have to think about that, meditate upon that. Man has its sons of men, doesn't it? We call them heroes, we call them stars. Man throughout history has always had a man that is exalted. Sometimes man even glories in the fact that it was a man who started out with humble beginnings, who had virtually nothing and came from this background and with that education and now is exalted highly above men. But who are those men? Mighty kings, kings who have perhaps conquered large swaths of the earth, so that way we say they ruled over the earth. The Nimrods, and the Nebuchadnezzars, and the Xerxes, and the Caesars, and many of them are even chosen by men. They're set up by men for their positions. Look at the scientists. And the politicians, who are the stars, who are the sons of men today, those on TV and in the movies, those with great scientific accomplishments, those who have discovered certain laws in the world, certain formulas and equations, those who have built great things and done great things, God sweeps it all to the side and says, no, here's the son of man. This is the one. Look how he condemns all the other sons of, where are they? Where's Nebuchadnezzar? Where's Julius Caesar? Where's Pontius Pilate? Where's Albert Einstein? We are the great architects. What about those great athletes and stars that we all praise and honor and spend millions of dollars to watch and cheer? They're either dead, or soon will be dead, Many of them can't make it past their twenties without killing themselves in one way or another. So much for the sons of men. Here comes God's son of man. He's going to take care of the fundamental problem. Oh yes, he will be the man among men, the hero, the star. He will indeed make a new creation that will put to shame anything man has ever done in this earth. But when you look at him, what do you see? There's nothing there. There's nothing desirable. There's a reason why the Jews rejected him. There wasn't much to Christ. Couldn't see much. Didn't look like much. We probably would have looked at him and said, what an ugly creature. What a weak and frail thing. But he conquers sin. He conquers the greatest angel, the devil. Conquers the grave. You see, that's what he's doing all the time. He's pointing out the grace of it all. God brings him about in a way that we can't even imagine. I can't even adequately explain it to you this morning. I can't set forth exactly how God does this. God does this in a way that's far beyond what we can comprehend. And then what he has to bring about, what lies ahead in the future, what is yet to be accomplished. The Bible even says that explicitly. Who's ever thought of such a thing? Eyes have not seen, nor ears heard, nor has it entered into the imagination of men. What lies ahead? What is in store for those who belong to the Son of Man? Grace, grace, grace, and more grace. That's what it's all about, you see. Now my question to you this morning is, do you believe Him? Do you believe in Him? And I mean that now in contrast to every other man, including yourself. Are you still trusting men to save you? Still cheering after the heroes of the world? Promoting the stars? looking to those sons of men. If you do, you'll end up crucifying the Christ anew, I can assure you that. If you have faith, you believe in Him. That means you'll put all your trust in Him. You rely on Him for all of your troubles. Yes. Yes, doctors are a great thing, aren't they? It is a lot of fun to watch a wonderful athlete, isn't it? We can stand amazed at some of the discoveries of man and what he's made and built. But when we do so, don't we give glory to God and show what God has put into this creation? But don't trust in them, don't rely on them, don't give them your allegiance, don't worship and praise them, and certainly do not do that with regard to yourself, then we're lost. Believe, have faith, as the title of the sermon is in Jesus, the Son of Man. Amen, let us pray. Our Father which art in heaven, we thank thee for the glories of the Holy Gospel, for the wonders that thou hast wrought, for thy mighty arm, and that infinite mind and wisdom that has gotten thee the victory. who has obtained our salvation, who has worked out such a wonderful salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ, and who has such wonderful things in store for us yet to come. O Lord, give us faith to believe, to not doubt, to trust in Thee, our God and Savior, in Thy grace. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.