Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Matthew, the Gospel according
to Matthew, and chapter 1, and reading from our text, verse
21. And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins. Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21. In this chapter, the opening
of the Gospel and the New Testament, it begins with the generation
of Jesus Christ. It traces from Abraham right
through to our Lord or to the husband of Mary, that is Joseph. A wonderful, orderly, divine
plan over many, many generations. Generations divided into fourteens. Abraham to David, fourteen generations. David until the carrying away
into Babylon, fourteen generations. And then from the carrying away
into Babylon unto Christ, fourteen generations. Who would have thought
in the plan and purpose of God, that he should. So order it that
even the carrying away into Babylon should be a significant date
and time in the generations to Jesus Christ. But this is God's
plan, and very clearly it can be seen looking back when we
read through this account. If we have a good knowledge of
the scripture, we can think of many of the events that happened
through this time, many of the things that were done. And yet
here it is summarised, and yet when they were done, who would
have thought that the Lord was bringing about such a plan and
purpose and would so be able to summarise it here in the beginning
of the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Then
we have the portion that we read in Luke which tells of how Mary
was with child of the Holy Ghost and how she had that made known
to her also the name that she was to call him. And then back
in Matthew from verse 18 we have the angels telling to Joseph
a message and telling of the birth of the Lord. And it is
that message to Joseph that we have here, the word that, part
of the word that was said to him, she shall bring forth a
son and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins. And so this morning, this is
what I, desire to set before you. There is three points here,
three people that are mentioned in this verse. The angel says
to Joseph what Mary should do. Mary, she will bring forth a
son. She shall bring forth a son. The angel also says what Joseph
should do, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. And then thirdly, the angel says
what Jesus shall do, and that is to save his people from their
sins. And actually, it is not should,
it is shall that is through this verse. And she shall bring forth
a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save
his people from their sins. So I want to look then briefly
at these three points, these three messages. Firstly, what
a reminder. We have one verse here in scripture. Three people are mentioned in
it. and three things that they are to do. Do we ever consider
that in God's plan and purpose there are those things that we
also are appointed to do? Remember, it was said when God
called Saul of Tarsus on that Damascus road and he asked and
he said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? The Lord said
to him that he was to go into the city and it shall be told
thee what thou shalt do. And so, whereas Saul was asking
what he should do, the Lord reveals to him there already is a plan,
already I have a work for thee to do, already it is determined
and it shall then be told thee what thou shalt do. who know
there is no idle members of Christ's household. This people, the Lord
said, have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise. Not all are eminent preachers,
not all are called to do great works that the world hears of
and goes through the generations what they have done, but all
in some way, some small way, bring forth fruit to the honour
and glory of God. It's a very sad reflection on
us and on our faith and on our profession if we've never asked
ourselves what are we actually called to be doing in the Kingdom
of Jesus Christ. Is it that we just seek to receive
blessings from Him and that there is no fruit, no works, that does
show forth His praise and His honour and glory from us at all. It's like having a lightbulb
and it's having the power going to it, but the light doesn't
show any light at all, doesn't give any glory to the power that
is behind it. Thou only hast wrought all our
works in us. What works has the Lord wrought
in us? The Apostle Paul says, I laboured
more abundantly than them all, yet not I, but the grace of God
which was in me. What effect has the grace of
God had upon us? And what benefit to the Church?
Paul speaks of the Church as a body having a head, having
its arms, its legs, its parts, and every part has a function.
Every part doesn't have the same function. He makes it very clear,
some to honour, some to dishonour. But each part is a part of the
whole. And so when we look at a text
like this, when just in a very small compass an angel comes
and he says, there is something that Mary is doing, Joseph is
doing, Jesus is doing. We may say that everyone, God's
Dear children, there will be something, however small or maybe
insignificant for the world, and yet it is something that
the Lord has appointed that only they could do, only they could
bring about. Well, the first thing that is
set forth here is what Mary should do. and she shall bring forth
a son. There are two things that are
common with all that are born into this world with our Lord.
First of this is that He was born of a woman. That is, born
into this world in the same way as you and I, through being carried
in the womb and then being brought forth into this world. born of
a woman. It was the promised seed of the
woman, the promise given in the Garden of Eden, that it should
be Mary's seed that was brought forth, not Joseph's seed, but
Mary's seed. The second thing of common with
all is that he was born under the law. We have in Luke 2 and
verse 22, where when our Lord was born and the days of the
purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished,
they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. And all that was done there in
the offering of the sacrifices for a male, as it is written
in the law of the Lord, every male that openeth the womb shall
be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according
to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle
doves or two young pigeons. And so it's emphasized in the
Holy Word of God that our Lord Jesus Christ was subject to that
same law that you and I are under and everyone that was born in
Israel were under. Of course, those laws were unique
to Israel. We're not under those same laws
in a natural way now. We are under the law. We're under
the Ten Commandments. We're under the law of God. We
are under a duty of obedience to that law, and to obey it on
pain of death. We cannot obey it, or have sinned
to come short of the glory of God. But our Lord was brought
forth under that law, and a reason for it as well, that he should
obey it fully, that he should make it honourable, that he should
show it is a just, a right law, and able to be obeyed. by one
that is sinless and spotless. And that is the third thing that
is different now to all men that are born. We are told in the
portion that we read in the first of Luke, 1 Luke and chapter and
verse 31. Behold, thou shalt conceive in
thy womb and bring forth a son and call his name Jesus. And how shall it be? It should
be that it should be by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost. And Mary, she's asking, how can
this be? Verse 34, how shall this be? Seeing I know not a man. And
the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee.
Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall
be called the Son of God. There is a part and we read in
another place regarding Joseph as it was supposed that he was
the son of Joseph but his father was in heaven when he was 12
years of age. He stayed behind in the temple
and his father and mother sought him sorrowing, Mary said that
to him, and he responded by saying, how is it that thou sought me?
Wist thou not that I must be about my father's business? But
she had said, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
And so our Lord is clearly saying that his father is not Joseph,
but his father is God. He is the son of God. And yet
the line in Matthew is a very clear kingship line. It is a
line that points to the Lord Jesus Christ as the King of Israel. In the word of our text we have
that Mary shall bring forth a son. And In the concluding part, following
the text, he refers back to the prophets. In Micah, we have his
goings forth have been of old, but here we are told that he
is to be Immanuel, that is, God with us, shall bring forth a
son. And there's something very sacred
in that. that the Lord Jesus Christ is
the eternal Son of God. Manifest in the flesh, God with
us, Emmanuel. If there's ever a text, a word,
that so clearly sets forth that the Lord Jesus Christ is truly
God and truly man, it is this, Emmanuel, God with us. God manifest in the flesh, the
same as Solomon in dedicating the temple but will God in very
deed dwell upon the earth? And indeed he has dwelt upon
this earth and he is brought forth through Mary. Mary was so humbled to realise
this, to be told, she says, henceforth shall all generations call me
blessed. This was a part appointed for
her that no other woman in the whole world ever was appointed
to do. Something that only she was called
to do, and she had to walk through that path. And as we said concerning
the generations before, it's a very different thing looking
back than to walking through it. When we think of what Mary
was going through, what great things that she was to see and
endure when her Lord was born, and right through to his death,
his sufferings. But here, this was what was appointed
to her at this time, that she shall bring forth a son. That was her appointed work,
and that is what she did. the very true incarnation of
our Lord, the true coming of the Messiah, Christ Jesus the
Lord. But then we have a word from
the angel concerning Joseph, what he was to do. Now really the first thing that
was said was before our text, and Joseph was told to not fear
to take unto him Mary his wife. He had heard, he knew, that she
was with child. And we're told in verse 18, with
child of the Holy Ghost, but he didn't know that. He only
knew that she was with child. And so the angel then appeared
to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, our son of David, fear not to
take unto thee, marry thy wife. Now he is told that, for that
which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall
bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. So he was told first to not fear,
and then to take Mary as his wife, and then to name him. And the name given was the same
that was given to Mary, that she should name him. It must
have been a wonderful confirmation that both of them had the same
name that was given, confirmed to them both. How remarkable that is. Sometimes
we can easily overlook that. But we think of the normal way
that they would have taken some of their families, like in the
case of Zacharias and John the Baptist. Zacharias was told his
name shall be called John. All the people wanted to name
him after his father, but his mother said not so, and his father
confirmed it. His name shall be called John.
His mouth was opened. He was able to speak, though
he'd been dumb all through her pregnancy. But here with our
Lord, the name is given not by, not to one and then passed on
to the other as it would have been with Zacharias, but here
it is given to them both. But Joseph, as the husband of
Mary, he was charged with this to call his name Jesus. There's a very prominent place
in scripture that is given to the name of our Lord, and it
is of course bound up with his work, his death, and that which
he has accomplished. We think of Paul writing to the
Philippians in chapter 2. Then we have the work of our
Lord and that which he did, though being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, made himself of no reputation,
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. And so when we think of His name
being called Jesus, this is the name that the Father hath highly
exalted. It is pleased Him that in Him,
it is pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. And that this name is not just
a name like any other name. It is a name above every other
name. And when Paul writes to the Ephesians,
he also tells them in the first chapter that he has wrought in
Christ and raised Him up, set Him on His right hand, far above
all principality and power and might and dominion, and every
name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that
which is to come. And I believe it should always
be in the Church of God that His name should be used. It should
be used in singing, in song, in praise, and in all the Church
of God. It is a name God has said is
above every name, a name that in the Old Testament was kept
hidden, was never told, was never revealed, a name even when our
Lord in His pre-incarnation appearances appeared to Manoah and his wife,
to Gideon, to Jacob, To Abraham never was his name given, though
it was asked. But here it is given, and Joseph
is to name him. And we read in the last verse
there, I knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn
son, and he called his name Jesus. So he did, as he was appointed. You might think, well, It's in
quite a small part, a role, that Joseph played in the bringing
into this world of the eternal Son of God. He was the husband of Mary. But he couldn't be called the
father of our Lord. His father, our Lord's father,
was in heaven. But as the husband of Mary, then
his was given the part to take her to be wife and to name the
child. Openly seen rightly, many of
them, many of those that saw the Lord, they supposed in a
natural way that Joseph was the father. But those that truly
were given faith, that truly knew what is recorded here, knew
that great and blessed truth, that the Lord Jesus Christ is
Emmanuel, is the Eternal God, and that this name then is a
precious name, not only because given by God, not only because
of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done, but what the name itself
signifies, which is in the latter part of our text, I want to look
at under this heading of what the Lord Jesus then was to do. To name Jesus, for he shall save
his people from their sins. So the angel tells Joseph, tells
Mary first, or Joseph, it tells Joseph what Mary should do, and
then what he should do, and then what Jesus should do. He shall
save his people from their sins. There's three things that are
very evident from just this short sentence. Firstly, that he has
a people. It's easy for us to overlook
in thinking of this, here is a baby that is to be born in
the womb at the moment. And yet the angel says that he
has a people. You might say, well, does that
mean the Jews, his people, like his generations, his parentage? Very evident from the scriptures
that It is not just the Jews but the Gentiles. Our Lord says
in John 10, that other sheep I have which are not of this
fold, that is the Jews, them also I must bring. And Paul is
very clear writing to the Ephesians that the people of God are in
every nation and kindred and tongue. So it says before us
a people, a people that were chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world a people that were given him by his father, thine
they were and thou gavest them me, a people that were given
him to redeem and to save and to do as what is set forth here. But the people already existed,
already they were known of God, chosen of God, appointed to salvation,
already they were in Christ. and yet they must in their time
away be born, in their time away be converted and called. But He has a people, and may
our concern and desire be that we might know that we are His
people, that we are numbered in this text. For He shall save
His people from their sins, none other. This should be our concern
and desire that we be His people. The second thing that is said,
that these people are sinners, because He shall save them from
their sins. They are sinners. We never think
that God's people are brought into this world any different
than any other. They are sinners and lost and
ruined in the fall, Just as all others, there is no difference.
We all come forth from the womb speaking lies. We've all gone
astray. We've all gone our own way. The
Lord had laid on Him the iniquity of us all. The difference is
not in our purity or what we are, but in the choice of what
we are to Christ and what Christ is to us. What a message that
this is. Those that know themselves as
sinners will find Christ precious. The natural man does not like
the idea that he is a sinner. And yet the Word of God sets
forth in no uncertain terms that man is fallen. He is wicked,
he is evil in his thoughts, in his heart, Though he may do good
one to another, yet even in those good works there is sin mixed
with everything. Sin is the transgression of the
law of God. All our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. That's all our good works, as
filthy rags. We are all under the sentence
of death. We all come forth from the womb
speaking lies. We are all under condemnation
already. We are sinners by birth, we are
sinners by practice, we are sinners under condemnation. We are sinners
that are governed by our corrupt evil nature to bring forth sinful
and evil fruits. And we are sinners that must
one day stand before God and to give an account And those
sins must be dealt with. They must be paid for. Without
the shedding of blood, there is no remission, either our own
blood or another's on our behalf. And so this text is very, very
clear that God's children are sinners. Are we sinners in our
own sign? Do we feel and know our sins
day by day? Have we ever been brought face
to face with them and do it as our daily experience of our sin
makes us anew to desire a right relationship with the Lord and
to know what this third thing is said that He shall do for
His people. He shall save His people from
their sins. and you and I know our sins.
There's several ways that we would be mindful of how the Lord
shall save us from our sins. The first is by his death. The
Lord says, when he came before Pilate, for this cause came I
into the world. It was that he should die in
the place of his people. He was the Paschal Lamb He is
the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. It is the
Lord Jesus Christ, instead of us, that should bear the sentence
of death and the wrath of God in our place, a substitutionary
offering. This is the reason why the Lord
came, why He had to be made a man, so that He could die, so that
He could lay down His life for his people. I lay down my life
for the sheep. I lay it down, not of myself,
I lay it down that I might take it again. This commandment have
I received of my father. Also he shall save them from
their sins by his life. We mentioned that he was born
under the law. to fulfill the law, to live a
life we could not live, to obey a law we could not obey, to work
out a righteousness for us that shall be given to us that believe,
that we might stand before God. You know, usually, if we come
before anyone, even on earth, and they might ask us, well,
what's your life been like? How have you lived? What have
you done? You might give them a history
of your life. How will it be to come into heaven
and you say, what's your life been? And all there is, is this
long list of sins. What a righteousness that is. We cannot stand before God with
that. But to be given to stand in Christ's
righteousness, Him says, in Christ's obedient clothe and wash me in
his blood, so shall I lift up my head before the sons of God. And he's lifted up with joy.
Says by his death, by his life, by his preaching and the preaching
of those that he commissioned to preach. He doth please God
through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And
what was His preaching? The same preaching as the Apostle
Paul, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The same preaching as He preached
to the two on the way to Emmaus in all the Scriptures, the things
concerning Himself. The setting forth of that one
ransom The one way of salvation. Our Lord said, if you believe
not that I am He, you shall perish in your sins. And it's to those that believe
that salvation is. So the commission is, go into
all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned. That is the commission of our
Lord, and it is through preaching that He shall save His people
from their sins. It is also through the gift of
the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is given to convict
of sin. It is given to apply the Word
with divine power. It is God's presence with us. Lo, I am with you always, even
unto the end of the world. And His presence especially Through
the powerful preaching of the gospel, tarry at Jerusalem, the
disciples were told, until ye be endued with power from on
high. And so under the preaching through
the Holy Spirit, men, women are called by God, they partake of
the new birth, they're given then that willingness to depart
from sin, to hate sin, and to seek the Lord and to seek His
righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ, having
died and ascended again from the dead and ascended into heaven,
He makes intercession for His people. He speaks for them on
their behalf, appearing in the presence of God for us. And in
all our lives, it is the Lord that shall save us from the power
and dominion of sin here below and shall save us from eternal
condemnation. He saves from sin by bringing
through this world safely and bringing to heaven and then publicly
justifying his people before the judgment throne and saying
before all, I own this people, I I have chosen this people. I
have died for this people. I have brought them to faith. And they have walked in my fear. They have trusted in my salvation. And I own them. They are my people. And before all of the worlds,
before those who have condemned them, before those who have ridiculed
them, they shall be exonerated. They shall be shown to be. the people of the Lord. The Lord
pictured a most solemn situation where there were those that said
they were the Lord's, but the Lord didn't own them. He said,
depart from me, I never knew you. How vital it is for us here
below to have those visits and blessings from the Lord from
heaven that are very, very clearly not manufactured by ourselves,
We're not relying on another's ascent, but the witness is from
heaven. In Romans 8, we're told that
it is to have the witness, our spirit bearing witness with his
spirit, or his spirit bearing witness with our spirit, the
spirit of adoption, that we are the children of God. It is to be. and peace, and not carnally minded,
which is death. The carnal mind, it comes from
below and is very, very, very strong. And the only way it can
ever be overcome is by the Holy Spirit of God and the blessing
of the Lord in our souls. God's people will have a constant
battle with the old nature, but greater is He that is with us,
than that is in the world. And may we always be encouraged
that we always remain and feel to be sinners, yet we have in
the Lord Jesus Christ, one that is able to save unto the uttermost
all that come unto God by him. And he's right at the very first,
before he is ever brought forth into the world, there's this
beautiful word given His name shall be called, thou shalt call
His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. We mentioned the word shall.
How vital that that is. Not maybe, not might, but shall. Salvation, sure. The responsibility,
the accountability, the honour, the glory of saving a people
from their sins. belongs to the Lord and the Lord
alone. And it is our blessing if we
know his saving work in our hearts, saving faith in him and her deliverance
daily through the Lord Jesus Christ from our sins and our
blessed prospect and hope beyond this world, beyond the grave, to be with the Lord forever in
heaven. He prays in John 17, Father I
will, that they whom thou hast given me, this same people here,
be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory. And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins. The Lord had his blessing and
may it be that there is a fourth one in this text.