This Saturday will be the day
that marks Christmas, the day set aside to remember the birth of Christ.
And there's a lot that will take place that is tradition, vain
tradition, much that's not true. We don't worship a day, and there's
much that can be said about it, endless arguments and things,
but Scriptures tell us about the birth of Christ. Let's look
into this this morning and see what the Lord says through the
Spirit about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's read
in verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ
was on this wise. When, as his mother Mary was
espoused to Joseph before they came together, she was found
with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being
a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was
minded to put her away privately. But while he thought on these
things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in
a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take
unto thee Mary, thy wife, 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. Now all this was done that it
might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring
forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being
interpreted is God with us. Then Joseph, being raised from
sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took
unto him his wife, and knew her not till she had brought forth
her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus." Now, Mary was a spouse to Joseph. She was betrothed to Joseph. before they came together, she,
meaning Mary, was a virgin, she was found with child of the Holy
Ghost. It was a necessity that one that
was conceived in Mary's womb was of the Holy Ghost, not by
the aid of man. And that was necessary because
he had to be made a man, like unto his brethren, but he was
born of the Spirit of God that he might not be sinful, that
he might not come forth with a nature like every other man
is born with. His thoughts, his words, his
deeds were righteous because he is holy. The opposite is true
of us that there was only one man the first representative
that became a sinner because he sinned. Everybody else sins
because they're a sinner. Come forth from the mother's
womb speaking lies because we're conceived in sin, born of corruption,
conceived of corruption. And the fruit of it is we come
forth speaking lies. But now, when you think about
this, Joseph Her husband, verse 19, being a just man. When Scripture speaks of a just
man, it means a man who's known of God, who knows God, believes
God, trusts God, worships God. Just in and by God, in His surety. And he was a just man. He was
a man who sought to do that which was right and honoring to God. Well, the law of God said he
could marry her. He didn't think he could do that. He was thinking about this. The
law of God, the letter said he could bring her before into public
and they could stone her to death with stones and kill her. But he thought on these things
and his desire was not to make her a public example. It wasn't
his desire. But he was minded. It was his
heart to put her away privately, that is, not to marry her, to
give her, as it were, a bill of divorcement, which he could
do because he thought she had sinned against him. He thought
she had something, she had been with a man. But verse 20 says, while he thought
on those things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto
him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not,
to take unto thee Mary, thy wife, for that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Ghost." Could you believe that? If the Spirit of God tells you,
you can. That's how we believe on Christ,
isn't it? All these things The natural
man can't receive any of these things we're talking about. How
could I receive anything of this sort? How can we receive anything
of this? How could we? Now, we talked
about these extremes that God gives us. We talked about this
Thursday night. Here's another one. You know, in 1 Peter we
saw he said in the midst of a government so cruel and just diabolically
wicked, all under God's control. And the Spirit of God sent Peter
forth saying, submit to every ordinance of man. We see a great
extreme that the Lord shows us in Scripture. He said, servants,
be obedient to your master. Slaves, to your slave owner,
to the good and to the fraud. Extreme example. And yet, in
the midst of that, he said, do so. How could you? Well, in a
lesser extreme now, not believing that your spouse
has something as extreme as this,
has a child and has never known a man. Well, how could you trust
God is in control over the government and over the master and over
the employer and over... How can you? How could you? How
could you put the best construction on anything and really believe
God and really believe what's taking place? How can you? He thought about this and as
he thought about this, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him
and spoke in his heart, spoke in his heart. You know what's going to turn
us from the letter of the law? The grace of God looking at Christ. You know what happened right
here? As he thought on these things, God came to him and said,
Don't say, I'm going to recompense evil. But wait on the Lord. He shall
save thee. Trust in the Lord with all your
heart. Lean not to your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him.
He'll direct your path. And as Joseph sought to cover
this sin, to deal mercifully, to rejoice in mercy and not judgment. The Lord appeared to him and
not only turned him from her and thinking evil of her, and
not only turning him from the letter of the law and what he
could lawfully do. He turned him from all of that.
And he revealed Christ. He revealed who that child in
her womb is. He made him look and see Christ,
is what he did. Look at the next verse. He said,
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.
He said this one is of the Holy Ghost, conceived of the Holy
Ghost, and this one is your Savior, Joseph, and this one's her Savior,
and this one is the Savior of His people. Jesus Christ, He
shall save His people from their sins. Joseph, everything you've
heard about how God has a people chosen from before the foundation
of the world and blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places according as He chose us in Him. This is what Abraham
was telling you all along, Joseph. He was saying all along, God
promised me that in my seed, His people from among all the
inhabitants of the earth were going to be blessed. And the
angel of the Lord said, This is Him. This is that seed. This is Christ. This is the One. This is the Son of Promise. This
is Him. This is God with us. He shall
save His people from their sin because they've been entrusted
to Him. These people have. The Lord Jesus
Christ said, He said, other sheep I have which are not of this
fold, them I must bring. Why? The very glory of God is
at stake. I must bring them. And they shall
hear my voice. And they shall be one fold. And
there shall be one shepherd. Joseph, this is him. This is
him. For his name is Jesus. Call his
name Jesus. He not only told him... Now listen. He not only told him, Mary, as
the child Christ, the Messiah, God formed in her of the Holy
Ghost. He told this man, here's what
you're going to name Him. You're going to name Him Jesus,
Savior. Can you be told what to name
your child? If God's speaking, if God's speaking, He's going
to save them from their guilt from the penalty of sin? God
has sent him forth satisfaction, appreciation through faith in
his blood. Who first trusted him? Who first
put faith in his blood? God the Father. The triune God
of glory, the very glory of the triune God of glory is entrusted
to the second person in the Trinity, to God the Son, to come in the
person of a man, Christ Jesus, And through that blood, uphold the name of God. Why?
Because no other man could do it. He couldn't look anywhere
to anybody else to do it. God had to do it. God had to
do it. And He came to save His people
from the dominion of sin in their hearts. from looking to the Word
of God and saying, ah, I'm going to slay that wicked woman. God's
got to save us from that, don't He? Got to save us from that. Oh, how often when we're cutting
off the skirt of the garment, God's cutting us in the heart. That's a work of grace. It wouldn't
be any other way. He has to come and save us from
the dominion of what we are by nature. What our chief desire
is. To be God. To be right. And those sins still in our members
and those sin is still what we are. When He comes in, He takes
dominion and He causes us to serve Him and worship Him and
follow him in the inward man. And at last, we're going to find
out where my dear brother Tommy Robbins is. He wrote that article
in the bulletin just not very long ago. And when we're where
he is, we're going to find out all the hope we got, all our
hope always has been, He's going to raise these bodies incorruptible.
He's going to raise them to be with Him. He's going to raise
them from everything that sin has affected in us. He's done it. He's done it in
spirit. He's going to do it in these
bodies too. And we're going to say thanks
be unto God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ. We're going to know then, aren't
we? And He does it. Well, He says that's who He is.
That's who this One is. That's why His name must be called
this. This first name. This One that's
born is of the Holy Ghost. This One that's born is Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. And now I want
you to see this, brethren. This is wonderful, wonderful.
Everything that came to pass, concerning the Lord's birth was
according to what He forearranged, what He ordained before to happen. Everything came about according
as He declared before it would come to pass through Isaiah and
his prophets and all that he sent before. And everything came
to pass right there as it was coming to pass because He brought
it to pass. The one we're talking about brought
it to pass. Look at verse 22, Now all this was done, that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring
forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being
interpreted is God with us. The Lord Himself said this. All this was done, that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord. The Lord said this,
by the prophet Isaiah, back in Isaiah 7, 14, and in chapter
8, He said, Emmanuel is coming. God with us is coming. And everything
else that's recorded here came to pass. because of the same
reason. He forearranged it, He declared
it would, and He brought it to pass. Look down at Matthew 2
and look at verse 1. Let's read this chapter. I want to read this chapter,
but I want you to hear this. Now, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem
of Judea in the days of Herod the king, there came wise men
from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born king
of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and we
have come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard,
he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Why? Because he thought
he was the king. He heard the king had come. And
it says, and when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes
of the people together, this was the wisest of the wise, he
got everybody he could get together, and he demanded of them, where
Christ should be born? And they said unto him, in Bethlehem
of Judea, for thus it's written by the prophet. It's written
by the prophet. And thou Bethlehem in the land
of Judah are not thou the least among the princes of Judah for
out of thee shall come a governor. Governor. This is him. Well,
he had to wait till he got grown to govern, didn't he? No, he's
doing it. He is doing it. He's doing it. He's the governor. And that shall
rule my people Israel. Then Herod, when he privately
called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time
the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem.
And he said, Go, search diligently for the young child. And when
he found him, bring me word again that I may come and worship him
also. And when they had heard the king, they departed, and
lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them,
till it came and stood over where the young child was. And when
they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And
when they were coming to the house, they saw the young child
with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him." A little
child? They fell down and worshipped
him? They saw who? They saw him. He's the governor.
He's the king. He's God who was before. And
they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to
Herod, they departed into their own country another way. And when they were departed,
behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream,
saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee
into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word. For
Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. And when he arose,
he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed
into Egypt." That's how it really appeared, if you and I looked
at it. But really, he was being taken into Egypt. Joseph was. by the one in his arms, by the
king, by the child. And was there until the death
of Herod that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord
by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. Everything
that was transpiring here, it was all entrusted into his hand.
And He said all along how He's going to bring it to pass. And
everything that was done came to pass exactly as He declared
it would come to pass. And He's bringing everything
to pass that's happening. Right according to His Word,
exactly as He said He would. Alright, look down at verse 16
here. Then Herod, when he saw that
he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wrath, and sent
forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in
all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according
to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. And
then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet. saying, in Rhema was there a
voice heard, lamentation and weeping in great mourning, Rachel
weeping for her children would not be comforted because they
are not. You mean He brought that to pass? He's God. And whom He's chosen
and becomes surety for them, even if they're elect children
of God. He brought it to pass to bring
them to Himself. Every bit of it. But when Herod
was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream
to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise, take the young
child and his mother and go into the land of Israel, for they
are dead and which sought the young child's life. And he arose
and took the young child and his mother and came into the
land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus
did reign in Judah in the room of his father Herod. He was afraid
to go thither. Notwithstanding, being warned
of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee,
and he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, he shall be
called a Nazarene." Everything that happened, he brought it
to pass. Every bit of it. Exactly as He
said He would, that it might be fulfilled. All for His glory,
to honor Him. Now, all we see here is an infant
born. All we see here when we look
at this is a child, a little child being carried about. This
little child is the one who's holding that one in whose womb
He was, bringing her to the place He'd be born. He's the one who's
carrying them down into Egypt that it might be said, my son
was called out of Egypt. He's the one that came forth
so that it might be said he's called a Nazarene. He did everything. He said he would before and he
brought everything to pass exactly as he said he would. And he did
that ruling in the hearts of those who knew him and believed
him and trusted him. and in the hearts of those who
didn't believe Him and love Him and trust Him. He ruled both of them. And He
did the same even unto His death, even the death of the cross.
Princes and and rulers and everybody did exactly what God foreordained,
foredetermined according to His determinate counsel and foreknowledge. What He foreordained to come
to pass. They did exactly that. He has
never ever been out of control of anything. What are you saying?
What does that tell us? This one is God. There was God-man in the womb
of that virgin. There was God-man that came forth
in infinite days. There was God-man ruling everything
as it was coming to pass. There was God-man, the king over
all, the governor on whose shoulder the government rests, doing everything
right there. Don't just see a child. See,
this is the God-man. This is God working. This is
the God, the man. All God and all man. He's the spotless Lamb of God
without sin. Fit to bear the sin of His people
because He's spotless. Fit to bear their sin in His
own body. In His own body. On a cursed
tree. And yet at the same time, be
the ever-living God. I can't explain that. Nobody
said to explain it. Faith don't explain anything.
Faith says, that's true. That's true. That's true. Without controversy. Great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in the glory.
What happens? What happens when he reveals
himself in somebody? What happens? When He moves in
Spirit upon the hearts of His children, what happens? Christ is formed in you just
exactly as real as He was formed in Mary. He's formed in us. There's a new man born within. Christ in you, the hope of glory.
And what happens when that happens? We're made willing to obey His
voice, just like Mary and just like Joseph did. Look at verse
24. All this had taken place. All
this was revealed in Joseph while he was asleep. And here we have
a very good picture of an unregenerate child of God that's dead in trespasses
and sin. And he's in sleep. All this is
revealed in him. And he awakes. This is the light. This is the light. He awakes. He awakes. And being raised from sleep. Not just waking up himself. Being raised from sleep. He did as the angel of the Lord
had bidden Him. And He took unto Him His wife. That would take grace, wouldn't
it? It's going to all take grace.
This salvation is all of grace. It's all of grace. Verse 25,
And He knew her not, He married her. But he didn't know her in a conjugal
sense. Why? Because he's obeying the
voice of God. Did he have the right to? Well,
yeah. But now what we're seeing here
is what it is to be under the dominion and power of the Spirit
of God. You got the right to? You're
going to just go to the letter and hammer it out? Not anymore. Not when I'm under the fire and
dominion of the Spirit of God. Used to, I would have. Used to,
I would have. Not anymore. If you love the
baby, you don't want to see it sown in dew. And he knew her not till she
brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name. Well,
this is my boy. I call him what I want to. Not
anymore. Not anymore. This is God's son. I'm going to call him what God
said to call him. Have a father. Yes, sir, father.
Yes, sir. Not my will, but your will be
done. His name's Jesus. He's my salvation. He's my God. He's God in me. God with me. God in my midst. That's who He
is. What happened to those wise men?
Look at the end of chapter 2, verse 12. They were warned. They had this work in them. What'd
they do? They departed into their own country another way. Didn't
go back the way they was going to go. The way they thought they'd
go. When God spoke to them, what'd
they do? They went another way. They went God's way. Look at verse 14. He told him, told Joseph, go
down into Egypt. When he arose, he took the young
child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt. He did what the Lord told him.
He did what the Lord told him. Look at verse 15. And he was
there until the death of Herod. He stayed there. He stayed there. Why? God's working in his heart. God's directing him in the heart. Verse 21. Well, when all that
was over, the Lord appeared to him in a dream, told him to now
go. What did he do? Verse 21, he arose and took the
young child and his mother and came into the land of Israel.
Why? God ruled in his heart. God told
him to. Well, what's his will for me
to do? What's his will for me to do? Well, God overshadows
you. He overshadows you right now.
And He speaks out of the cloud. He'll say this, This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased. Here ye am. And you know what
He says? He says, I am the living He says that it's the Father's
will, that all that He's given me, I should lose nothing but
to raise it up again in the last day. Everyone who believes on
Me shall have everlasting life. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. That's what He said. That's what He said. Believe on Christ. An everlasting life is yours. And then what? Then what? Everything He bids you to do
from the day He makes, He speaks this life into your heart. He
informs Christ in you. Everything He bids you to do, you'll do it. You'll stop doing
things by the letter. And you'll see, this is the spirit
of this prayer. Follow Him. Keep my eye on Him. And you'll rejoice in His mercy
and His grace. And you'll do exactly what He
bids you to do. Everything He bids me to do.
everything He bid you to do. Well, get specific. You'll love. You'll be merciful. You'll be long-suffering. You'll rejoice in mercy and not
judgment. You mean I won't ever, ever sin
against Him again? Every day of your life, constantly,
continually, you'll sin against Him. And He'll constantly, continually
make you look to Him. And constantly, continually keep
you, even when you're not looking to Him, to show you It's His
faith that saves. That's what God-given faith is.
It's trusting and it's by His grace. Keeping me when I'm... When I'm looking at my bride
and saying, You know, I got every lawful right to stone you to
death. Not anymore. Not anymore. Why? She's free. She's free. She's free in Him. That's the good news of the gospel.
It's a good news to me. It's a good news to you. That's what's going to make us
be knit together. Just like Joseph and his bride. Just like those wise men that
came there and kneeled down and worshipped. All knit together by his grace. All right.