Once again, with the Lord's help, I'd like to turn with me to the first chapter that we read together, the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 1, and the text you'll find in 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.

Throughout the year, the Christian is to ever focus upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We are told that we are to continue to remember him, his death, by partaking in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. And so the object of the faith of the Christian is always the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. Through the preaching of the gospel, we preach the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we saw On Wednesday, it doesn't just focus upon one aspect of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, for he came into this world to save men from their sins, to save people from their sins. And it wasn't just his death upon the cross, but it was his whole life that was used by God to provide a perfect sacrifice, a perfect salvation by which the believer can rest solely upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are told it's not by works of righteousness which we have done, we are saved by grace through a faith.

And so as we come to this time of year our minds tend to focus upon the birth, the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we look to the Lord Jesus and we always refer to him as the Lord Jesus Christ because that is his name. His name is Jesus. because he shall save his people from their sins.

And as God in his sovereign choice chose to bring the Lord Jesus Christ into this world through Mary and he chose to bring her through, bring Jesus in through Mary as a virgin and her having not been contaminated by her body, was pure in that way. And so God chose this way so that he would be the father conceived of the Holy Spirit of God. The theologians called this special and extraordinary generation. You and I are born through ordinary generation. We are born by natural means but the incarnate, the way by which Christ was to put on flesh was to be born of a virgin. The way into this world He was to be born under the law of God by special and extraordinary generation.

And God, the father, the creator of heaven and earth, names his son Jesus. Normally in their culture, would be the role of the father to name the child. In our culture, husband and wife sit together and they talk together. They go through various names and they choose one that they like. It may remind them of a certain family member. or it may be just a name that they like or it may be a name that they've chosen because they like the meaning of that name or they may like a character in the scripture and they may choose a name from the scriptures and they communicate with each other and they decide upon a name for their child. In some cultures it can be the mother-in-law that chooses the name of the baby and through through the different cultures of the world there are various ways by which names are chosen. But for the Jews it was the father. As we see with John the Baptist they beckoned to Zacharias, what will his name be? And he said his name would be called John.

And so as the Lord Jesus Christ is born into this world his name is chosen by God.

Now the birth in verse 18, now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise or was like this. And his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph. Before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. And Joseph, being a just man, not willing to make her a public example, was going to put her away privately. They'd already entered into a covenant with each other. They were already engaged to be married. But she now is suddenly with child.

But being warned of God, being spoken to by the angel, he is told that this child is not by ordinary generation, this child is not because she has been immoral or unfaithful, this child has come from a God himself. Being implanted in her womb and so he is made aware all his doubts and fears subside as he is spoken to by the angel and he is told that this baby, it is to be given a specific name.

But while he thought on these things, behold, an 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 of her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus.

He couldn't say, well, I don't like that name. It's not my choice. It was to submit to the will of God in this revelation that he had experienced and he was to name the name Jesus.

And we name our children. We can never name them based on what they are going to do. We can only look and discuss those names and choose based on our individual choice. But we can never look down the tunnel of time and say, well, I'm going to name them so and so because this is what he's going to do. Maybe he's going to be a great inventor and he needs to have a great name so that people will delight in saying his name. We can't do that.

because our understanding is limited to the now but not with Jesus Jesus was born into this world for a purpose, what he was going to do. And so his name was chosen by divine appointment by God the Father because of what the Lord Jesus Christ was going to do. He didn't choose it because it was a nice name to have. He chose it because it revealed to us the work that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to do. He shall. save his people from their sins. And so Jesus' name was a divine choice of God because of the work that the Lord Jesus Christ came to do. He was going to save his people. It was a suitable name for the work that he was going to do.

If you think of Isaac, it was God who chose his name. He shall be called Isaac. John the Baptist, it was God. He shall be called John. And with the Lord Jesus Christ, he shall be called Jesus.

I mean God, when we choose a name for our child, it shows that we have authority over them. We have a love for them. We have chosen this name for this child out of love and it shows our authority to do that. And so with the Lord Jesus Christ, with God the Father choosing the name of Jesus, it shows his authority over Christ. We know that Christ made himself a little lower than the angels. We know that he subjected himself to the will of God the Father, but that in no way makes Christ inferior to God the Father. They are one. I and my Father, we are one.

just with a human marriage. Though it's been abused over the years, because the wife is subject to the father, never makes the wife any less than the father, sorry, less than her husband. As Christ subjected himself to the will of Mary and Joseph, he fell under their authority, recognizing that God had placed them over him for that care. He was subject to them. And so God the Father choosing the name, the Lord Jesus Christ shows the authority that he has. But also the separation, the blessing, the work that he was being given to do. We see that Mary and Joseph, they accepted that choice. In Luke chapter 2 verse 21, after he had been born after eight days, they take him to the temple to circumcise him. So right from the beginning of Christ's life, he is now beginning to fulfil the whole of the law of God. Now he is fulfilling the whole ceremonial law of God. He is the firstborn of Mary, therefore he is to be dedicated unto the Lord and he is to be circumcised.

And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And so they were obedient to the naming of their son. Which means they believed God. They believed, although probably couldn't fully grasp all that was happening as Mary pondered these things in her heart, yet they believed that his name would be called Jesus because of the work that he was going to do. He was going to save people from the consequences of their sin.

But not only was his name to be called Jesus, Matthew explains to us in greater detail who the Lord Jesus Christ is. He goes back to the prophecy, he goes back to the Old Testament to say that the Lord Jesus Christ is now the fulfilment of this prophecy, a virgin shall be with child. and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel. And he interprets that for us again, which means God with us. So his name shall be called Jesus because he is going to save his people from their sins. He's going to be called Jesus because he is God with us, God manifest in the flesh, God stooping down to earth, putting on flesh to bring about a salvation for his dear people.

We look through the scriptures at the names of the Lord Jesus and the titles of the Lord Jesus. They say there's something like 200. 200. And that's because of the way that the Bible seeks to describe by naming the Lord Jesus Christ as say the Lion of the tribe of Judah. It is naming him because of the work that he is to undertake. And so as God the Father names Jesus Christ, Jesus, he names him because of what he is going to do.

Think of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray in the name of Jesus. when we pray we close for Jesus Christ's sake. We ask God to focus his attention away from us, away from our sin, away from our unpure lips and our selfish emotives and we ask him to look directly to his son the Lord Jesus Christ as our high priest and accept us because of him. because of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when the Bible speaks about a name, the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, you shall call his name Jesus, it attaches that name to a person. And so we have the Lord Jesus Christ being born into this world and then God the Father sealing that birth with his authority by naming the child. And that name Jesus is now attached to the person, the man, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that name ever depicts the work that the Lord Jesus Christ has done and is doing. He shall save his people from their sin.

So it's sin is the problem. The reason why the Lord Jesus Christ came was to deal with sin. We've just been singing. He lived above the sky. He came down to be a man and die. And in the Bible, we may see how very good he used to be. And as we've looked at the goodness of Christ and we've seen how kind he was as he dealt with the infirmities of so many different people, dealing with their physical ailments and their sicknesses and their poverty. Yet that was not the reason that he came into this world. That stamped the seal of his message. It authorised his message. It proved to those who were around about him who he really was. But he came down to earth to be a man and die. And so he died and this is why. He came to be a man and die.

The Bible says he came from heaven that men might have their sins forgiven. Thou shalt call his name Jesus because he will save his people from their sin. Wonder how many of us really feel that our sin is an enemy. If Jesus has come to save, that means he's come to deliver us from an enemy. Is our sin really an enemy to us? Does it follow us about like as we saw on Wednesday, Satan as a roaring lion on Sunday evening, as a roaring lion. Do we feel that our sin follows us about like a roaring lion? It's an enemy to us. Do we feel like a predator ever seeking to pounce on us to destroy us or to bring us down? Do we have that spiritual awakeness of our sin?

How many will be celebrating the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ who have no idea why the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world, have no idea who the Lord Jesus Christ really is, who have no understanding that they are a sinner before a holy God? How many millions and millions of people will be celebrating a birth of someone that they don't even know? For Jesus came into this world to save sinners. He came to save them from their sins. Those who see their sin as an enemy, ever haunting them, they need a saviour. They need to be saved. Those who see their sin like a disease that is infecting them, they need to be delivered. They need to be saved.

You could say about a doctor who who examines us and sees that we have some awful disease. And he's able to prescribe to us that right medication, that right treatment. And we can acknowledge, we can say, well, he saved my life. He saw that I was infected, had this terrible infection and he gave me this and he saved my life. And so it is with the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to save people who were infected with sin. And there is no other remedy to get rid of that sin other than Jesus. Other than the Jesus Christ, the physician of the soul.

We look around us and we see the effects of sin. that he was saying this morning that there's been a mass shooting somewhere in Australia or New Zealand. It was the effects of sin. People killing people. In America, again yesterday, another shooting. We don't have to go far to hear of the manifestation of sin in people's lives and the death and destruction, the sadness and the hurt that that brings. But the Lord Jesus Christ came to save people from the consequences of their sins. He came to save them now. that sin may be dealt with in their life, that great predator, that great disease may be dealt with and put to death.

But that's his name. His name is Jesus. He shall save. Not that he might, not that he could, not that he would fail but he shall save his people. Why? Well it's written in his name. Written in his name. Some people when they're born they're named by their parents and then they grow up and they decide that they don't like their name and so they go through the process of changing their name. The Lord Jesus Christ was named Jesus for he should deliver their people from their sin and his name never changes and it's still the same today. Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father. And so the work of the Lord Jesus Christ was to save and to deliver. We know that in the original language that Jesus is pronounced as Yeshua. If we go back to the Hebrew, that is a translation of what we would call Joshua. And so they're the same name, Jesus and Joshua.

And so God the Father chose the perfect name for his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, because he was going to do the same work as the type and shadow Joshua was. As Joshua brought the children of Israel from the wilderness through the Red Sea into the promised land. So the Lord Jesus Christ as he dealt with sin upon the cross was going to make a way by which the sinner is able to be saved and enter into the true promised land. not a promised land where they would have to go to war, not a promised land where they'd have to toil and labour day by day to provide for themselves, but the true promised land, which is heaven itself. where they will be with Christ forever and ever. A settled rest for all eternity.

Joshua had the privilege of leading the people of Israel as he took over from Moses, as he is told, as I will be with Moses, so I will be with thee. Have I not commanded thee, be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee, with us wherever thou goest. And so he had that great promise. As Christ is named by God the Father and as Christ is baptized in the river Jordan and the Spirit of God descends upon him like a dove and says, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased, hear him. Joshua gets to bring the people of Israel through the river Jordan. The water stands up in a heap. And they walked through on dry ground. See the similarity? They all went through the water or they all went through the dry riverbed and the water stacked up in a heap and they were brought safely into the promised land and the great testimony was given. the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon a heap very far from the city of Adam that is beside Zeratan. He tells us there that the water stood up as a heap.

The Lord Jesus Christ going into those same waters to be baptised in that water and rose again and then is anointed with the spirit above measure. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And so just as Joshua delivers the people of Israel to the promised land, so the Lord Jesus Christ delivers his people from the wilderness of this world, the struggles of sin and Satan, and he delivers them to the kingdom of light and for that eternal kingdom, the kingdom of Christ. And he won't lose any. He says in John chapter six, verse 37,

all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out, for I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the will of him that sent me, that of all those which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

He should lose none. Do not think that the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to save people from their sins and some are going to fall out of his net. do not think that they're going to fall out of his clutches if he has saved his people from their sin it is a work that is done none of those are able to to fall out of his catch net none of those sheep that are gathered into his fold are able to wander off to destruction ever again for he came to save his people And it's in his very name that Jehovah saves. Jehovah is salvation. The Lord chose that specific name because of the perfect work that Christ was going to do. And he would lose none of them.

As I was thinking about this, you know, the perfect work of Christ and that all his sheep will be safely gathered into that eternal fold. I thought of Amy Carmichael. She was a missionary to China. And as she was there, the Chinese went to war with Japan, I think. And the city where she was was inundated and bombed. And so she had to take 100 children across the mountain ranges on a many days journey to safety. A perilous journey which affected her health for the rest of her life. Yet those children, they all made it safely through. She lost none of them. on that perilous journey that affected her so much, yet she lost none of those children.

And just as the Lord Jesus Christ, his perilous journey on earth affected him so much, despised and rejected a man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, crucified upon the cross. It affected him so much, yet He never lost any of his children. He never lost any of those that God had given him to live and to die for. They all were saved.

And some people struggle, don't they, with assurance. And some people say, you know, you don't want to be presumptuous. You don't want to presume. But presumption is based upon no evidence. It's like saying, I presume they are my friend. And you may say, well, what evidence is there? I presume it. Well, they said that they are my friend once, but now they don't have anything to do with me. They don't come and visit me. They don't do this. They don't do that. And so from that evidence, you can say that they're not your friend. You don't have to presume it. You can say that they're not. and people are worried about having assurance. People are worried and say I don't want to presume. What evidence do you have that Christ is your friend? If you have no evidence then it would be sinful for you even to presume that he is your friend. But if you do have evidence If you have evidence of his work in your life revealing to you your sin and revealing to you your love to him, then that is evidence enough. If you govern your life by seeking divine direction and love to Christ, then that is enough. To presume is doubt.

Now you don't want to be presumptuous. Well look at the evidence. The evidence is in his name. His name never changes. His name shall be called Jesus. And that name will never change because he will save his people from their sin. You see if he has begun that work in you, if he has revealed to you your sin and you have a love to him, then you are his. He doesn't deal with people that he doesn't love. He doesn't deal with people that he doesn't care about. He cares about his sheep and his sheep hear his voice and they know him and they have that desire to follow him. And his name shall be called Jesus.

Do you have faith in Christ? Is your hope for heaven in Christ Jesus? That is the work that he came to do, to save people from the consequences of their sin, to save them from hell and to bring them onto the narrow way that leads to life, that leads to eternal glory where all his people will be there. They've been saved from their sin.

A name can bring fear into people's hearts or it can bring joy. At the name of Jesus the devils tremble but at the name of Jesus the saints rejoice.

If we were to go into a school and we were to say, you know, Taylor Swift is coming tomorrow, there would be an uproar. There would be cheering. People would be overjoyed at that news. Just at the name, just at her name being mentioned would bring joy. But if you were to say Jesus is coming, there wouldn't be that joy. There would be of no effect.

But just that the very name mentioned can change people's emotions. It can make them filled with terror or it can excite them to be overwhelmed with joy.

If you remember when Lazarus died and Jesus came to Mary and Martha. I can't remember which one it was. One of the ladies ran back and said, The master calleth for thee. The master. That filled her with joy. She knew who the master was. The master was Jesus. And because of her love to the Lord Jesus Christ she was excited and she desired to run to meet him.

Does the name of Jesus excite us? Does it stir in our memory all that he has done for us? Does it stir in our excitement, within our hearts an excitement? Does it stir any emotion of love towards him?

If you've ever seen, some of you may not have done, but on YouTube there are sometimes videos of of soldiers coming home from battle or on tour. And they're secretly filmed as they reunite with their wives and families. And obviously, the families know that they are coming. And so they're waiting there for their husband to come back or their father to come back. And as they are reunited, there's so much joy, so much excitement. Because of the love that is there between the two, between the families, there's so much joy. And sometimes they even video the animal, they may have a pet dog. And as the soldier comes back, the dog looks and looks again and then suddenly it's overwhelmed and it realizes who it is that has come home and it runs up to its old master.

What about the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? A name above every name. Greater than the return of a soldier from Tours. Greater than any reconciliation because he came to save his people from their sin. He has given us the greatest gift that ever there was. The redemption of our soul. The delivery of our soul and body from hell. and he has brought us into a covenant relationship with himself and his name shall be called Jesus.

In Philippians it tells us there that because of the work that Christ came to do as he made himself lower than the angels as he born into this world and named the Lord Jesus Christ because of his completed work He's been given a name above every name.

Philippians 2 verse 5. 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 which was made in the likeness of men. and being found fashioned as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also has 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, of things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father.

tells us there that Christ, because of his finished work, has now been elevated to a name above every name. That name of the Lord Jesus Christ is attached to the person of God's beloved son. And God's beloved son has been elevated to such a high place that his name is above every name. and that his very name mentioned is worthy to be worshipped.

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. If you think that God has lifted his son as he humbled himself, died upon the cross, rose again upon the third day, but now he is seated at the right hand of the Father. You think before Christ was incarnated or became flesh, what he was, then what he became. after he rose again from the grave he is housed in a glorified body and we're told that the believer will have a body like unto his body that Christ still at the right hand of the father housed in the glorified body with hands and feet still bearing the marks of the cross the choice that Christ made to redeem his people is always for all eternity to be reminded by the imprints in his hand, the hole in his side and the marks in his feet.

He's always changed now from his birth He will never go back to the state that he was in prior to his carnation. He was made a little lower. But now, in a glorified body at the right hand of the Father, ever lives to intercede for his people. His name has been exalted. And at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow.

You think of those who blaspheme the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes, well often, you can't go anywhere, can you, without hearing somebody say, oh my God. Taking the name of God out of context and using it as a curse word. But something seems to grate even more when you hear someone take the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in vain. And I think that's right, I think that should grate on us. It should be horrific to us that someone takes the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and uses it as a curse word when his name has been elevated to such a high degree by God the Father because of his perfect work.

that instead of cursing Christ we should be falling upon our knees and worshipping Christ for what He has done. None of us deserve salvation and the only reason we can claim salvation is because of Jesus. He came to save His people from their sin. It was undeserved love that brought Him to earth. And then people use His name as a curse word.

I hope none of you young children, you may mix with friends, you may even watch things and as you hear what is being said don't let it sear your conscience. Have a tender conscience to words because words enter into the heart and they corrupt the soul and you will become hardened.

to blasphemy and cursing. The name of Jesus taken out of context, sorry, is not cursing, it's blasphemy. And we are told in the Ten Commandments to not blaspheme the name of the Lord, to take his name in vain. His name, Christ Jesus, has been elevated to the highest degree. And if we are privileged to see who Christ is and to bow down and to worship him today, having our hearts humbled, but what will it be on that great terrible day when the Lord Jesus Christ does come again?

And every mouth will have to confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord. and they will have to fall down and worship him as Lord, Sovereign God and Judge. But then it will be too late. It will be too late for them because they rejected him as Lord and Saviour while on earth and now they are forced to do it upon that great day of judgement and they will be told, depart from me for I never knew you.

He came to save his people from their sins. His name shall be called Jesus. And from that moment that his name was called Jesus, that will be his name for all eternity. He will save, and he did save, and he has saved his people from all of their sin. His name shall be called Emmanuel, God. with us. Amen.

Blessing our final hymn this morning from hymns for worship, 160. 160. fight with all thy might. Christ is thy strength, and Christ is thy right. Lay hold on life, and it shall be thy joy and crown eternally. Hymns 416 to 326. with all thy might. Christ is the truth, and Christ thy light. Day out of night, and it shall be, thy joy and crown

O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, His proud prosperity will provide. Trust in thy trust, it's so true. Christ is its Lord. ? Let our arms appear ? ? Which angels brought at Calvary ? ? Early they believe and then shall see ? ? That Christ is all in all true glory ?

And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit to be with you each now and forevermore. Amen.