May it please God to bless us
together as we meditate for a little while in his word. Let's turn
to the first chapter we read, the first chapter in the Gospel
of Matthew, and we'll read verse 21. The Gospel of Matthew, the first
chapter, and reading 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. And really I want to speak this
morning about the 23rd verse, which reads this. 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 Bible is a very wonderful
book, I'm sure we all believe that. And it is a very complete
book. And it tells us everything that
we need for our natural life and also for our spiritual life. And also there are so many confirmations
in the Word of God. And this particular 23rd verse
is a wonderful confirmation of prophecy which was spoken some
500 or so years ago by the prophet Isaiah. In the seventh chapter
of Isaiah in the 14th verse, we read very, very similar words
to these. 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. So we can recognize there was
this prophecy given by God and yet God's people would have been
waiting and watching and wondering perhaps precisely what this meant
for so many years and indeed we have to go back don't we really
to the beginning in the world when Adam and Eve lived upon
it and God spoke to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden about
the seed of the woman that would be raised up to squash really
the head of the serpent, the evil one. And so for so many,
many years These things were couched really in darkness. You and I can read them today
and can understand how wonderful they are. But you think of the
Church of God through all those many years pondering such words
as this, and especially perhaps a consideration. A virgin shall
be with child and shall bring forth a son. People must have
wondered however that could have come about. a natural impossibility. And yet what we prove is all
things are possible with God. And we know therefore that in
this case, Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Ghost and conceived. And that conception was none
less than the Lord Jesus Christ. And so in due time, this babe
was born. What a wonderful thing it is
to realize this truth, and shall bring forth a son, and shall
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Right from that day of original
sin in the Garden of Eden, there was the need for sin to be forgiven. People today treat sin very lightly
and yet we're told all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God and all need forgiveness, everyone. And all need to know
that the Lord Jesus Christ has taken away all our sin. so that we are cleansed, we are
complete. And so we have this statement
here, that this 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. Now this is a very wonderful
statement because what it means is that God himself as the Lord Jesus Christ who
had always existed always existed the eternal God and now he was willing to come
and to be born into this sinful world with the one purpose and
the one great and glorious purpose. And that was to redeem his church,
to pay the price required to take away their sins. And it was indeed the ordained
purpose of almighty God that this should be fulfilled. And
it was fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ because he became
man. He was indeed Still God, but
he was indeed man. You know, the apostle Paul really
summarizes this very beautifully in the first epistle to Timothy
and the third chapter and the 16th verse. We read this as the
last verse in the third chapter of the first epistle to Timothy.
And without controversy, No argument about it. 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 into glory. I think that's a very beautiful
summary of the goodness and greatness and kindness of Almighty God
to unworthy sinners, to know that God, in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ, He was still God, but He was also man. And He was manifest in the flesh. What a wonderful blessing for
us today. Surely we have reason, do we
not, to praise God? Surely we have reason today to
bless God, that we have this wonderful Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we should not forget, really,
the great and wonderful sacrifice it was, that here was the second
person in the Trinity, the one who created the heavens and the
earth, was willing to take on our form, our human form, in
order that he might be our wonderful and glorious substitute, stand
in our place, bear the punishment due to us. Wonderful mercy, isn't
it? Surely then we should have reason
to praise God today and to glorify Him for this wonderful, wonderful
Savior. And to think then that He was
manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles. You see, the Old Testament generally
The preaching, the prophesying was to the Jewish nation only,
with just a few exceptions. But the Lord Jesus Christ came,
and he was to be preached also, not only to the Jews, but also
unto the Gentiles. And so today, I hope we can all
truly thank God that the Lord Jesus Christ was willing to come
into this sinful world and to die that sin, atoning death,
so that you and I might indeed be eternally saved. What a great blessing it was. We read that in Timothy, Paul's
words, but also we can read the words of the Apostle John. Again, it's good just to refer
to these things to confirm us in the truth of God. These are
not just the words of man, these are the words of God. And in
the first chapter of the Gospel of John, in verse 14, this is
what we're told. Verse 14. And the Word. Now, the Word is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we're told that in the first
verse. In the beginning was the Word, And the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. The Word is the Lord Jesus Christ. And so verse 14 tells us, And
the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. And, says John,
we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth. And you may remember, that Peter,
James and John went up on that Mount of Transfiguration, where
the Lord Jesus was indeed transfigured before them, and they saw something
of His glory. And they never forgot it. Peter
never forgot it. John and James never forgot it.
Peter refers to it in his epistle. It was a wonderful revelation
a revelation that this indeed was the Son of God. There were
many, many miracles which Jesus did, but that wonderful occasion
on that Mount of Transfiguration, as it were, gave them a little
view of the glory which is to come. What a mercy then that
the Lord has given us little glimpses in the Word of God of
the truth of those things which are to come and to be able then
to rejoice in it and so we have this statement Emmanuel which
is being interpreted God with us so God it's hard for us to
really grasp and to comprehend that God nonetheless came down
into this world and was born of the Virgin Mary, God himself,
the one who had no beginning and has no end, the great God,
the almighty God, the ruler of the universe. came down and was
born of the Virgin Mary for this great and wonderful purpose,
to redeem us and to save us from all our sins. What a great and
glorious subject it is and well, let us never lose sight of it. It is really so wonderful and
so glorious. And it will be a blessing if,
therefore, the Holy Spirit shines light into our hearts. Because by nature we walk in
darkness. What a glorious truth it is when
that light shines. And John, in his first epistle,
he just tells us a little about that. And this is what he says,
in the first chapter, in the seventh verse. But if we walk
in the light, as He is in the light, that means walking in
the light of the Saviour, we have fellowship, one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all
sin. Let us be clear. If we do not
walk in the light, if the light of the glorious gospel has not
shone into our hearts, then we will not be one of those who
are blessed with this cleansing power of the blood of Christ. So many things you and I read
of in the word of God. so many times we just pass over
it but we were born into this world into darkness and we remain
in that dark state until the light of the glorious Gospel
as we view it in the face of Jesus Christ shines into our
heart And when that light shines, what a change there is. What
a change. What we then observe is this.
We realize that as that light shines in the face of Jesus Christ,
we as unworthy sinners have passed from darkness to light. The eternal light of the glorious
gospel has shone into our hearts. Now this morning, on this Christmas
morning, what a wonderful thing, if we can find in our hearts,
in our minds, the blessed evidence, the light has shone. There's
been a wonderful change within us. And the change is really
set before us When the Saviour spoke to Nicodemus with those
wonderful words, you must be born again. We were born naturally
into this world. We all need to be born spiritually
into that spiritual world, that world of light. Oh, then may
we indeed bless God today. If the Lord Jesus Christ has
come into this world and has come into this world, he has
been made sin for us. He's taken our sin. It's a wonderful
thing, isn't it? To think that God. God has taken
our sin upon himself. It's hard for us to realise,
isn't it? We walk by faith and not by sight. What a blessing it is, though,
when the glorious faith given to us reveals to us the wonderful
truths of the Gospel, so that we can praise God and bless Him
for it. The last verse. In the fifth
chapter of the second epistle of Paul to the Corinthians is
a very grand and glorious statement. So the second of Corinthians
and the fifth chapter and the last verse. For he hath made
him, the Lord Jesus, to be sin for us, who knew no sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. We will not receive his righteousness
unless he's taken away our sin. To think, and the glorious truth
it is, that the Lord gives us his righteousness that spotless robe and in exchange
he takes away all our sin he who knew no sin of himself takes
our sin it'll be a great day today in our spiritual life if we have
the personal evidence that Christ has taken away our sin. Remember, the blood of Jesus
Christ cleanseth us from all sin. And in order for that to
be accomplished, the Lord Jesus Christ had to be made flesh. He had to be God with us. He had to walk on this earth
as God and yet as man, taking upon him our nature, our human
nature. Remember, he was tempted in all
points, like as we are, yet Without sin. Again, you and I
can't really comprehend such an amazing truth. Because sin
is in us. Sin clings to us. We sin. We think sinful things. We speak sinful things. We act
sinful things. We need that continual cleansing.
continue purifying to realize that we indeed are clean in the
blood of the Lamb. What a wonderful truth then,
as John tells us again in that first chapter, when he spoke
to the multitude and he said this, Behold the Lamb of God,
behold the Lord Jesus Christ, that taketh away all sin. You may say, why did John the
Baptist use that illustration? It was because the Lord Jesus
Christ was typified as a Lamb, the Lamb of God. Well today,
may our thoughts be directed, be attractive to the blessed
Saviour and indeed rejoice in what He's done And not only that,
but also to rejoice in what he's doing today. He's in heaven and
his father's right hand there to intercede for us. What a wonderful blessing. And
the apostle tells us in the second chapter of the Colossians and
the ninth verse, for in him dwelleth or the fullness of the Godhead
bodily, and ye are complete in Him. Outside of Christ, no completeness. In Christ, completeness, perfection. It's a wonderful consideration,
isn't it, to think. You and I, as unworthy sinners,
are complete in him. And they shall call his name
Immanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. Well, this was a wonderful statement. And what a blessing it is today
if we have the evidence that God is with us. in us the hope of glory. My friends, we must have Christ. Without Christ, we are eternally
lost. With Christ, we are eternally
safe. What a wonderful blessing that
is then, to be found in Christ and to realise therefore that
God is with us, with us today, with us every day of our life,
and to realise that one day we shall be with him eternally. Well, may the Lord enable us
on this Christmas day to ponder these things, and to bless God
for the glorious gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
to go on our way rejoicing and truly to praise God from whom
all blessings flow. Amen.