Go with me, if you would, back
to Matthew chapter one. Matthew one, you know, when the
queen of Sheba came to Solomon. I'm sure she came. I'm sure she
traveled to him thinking that she was coming to just another
man. I'm sure she had a certain amount of respect for him. She
was a queen. He was a king. She brought him
gifts. She desired to hear from him.
But it says when she saw him. When she saw who this man was
and when she watched him ascend, there was no more spirit in her.
And I can relate to that just a little bit through this text.
As I was finishing studying this, preparing this, and dwelling
on this. I just, this kept rolling through
my mind. Holy, holy, holy. This is so holy. Let's read from
verse 21 to the end of the chapter. It says, 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 last Wednesday
night, we ended the text in verse 21. And the subject that we focused
on was his people. That was the name of the message.
Through the genealogy that's given in chapter one, we saw
who his people were and are. They're sinners. They're all
sinners, every single one of them. Christ came to save sinners. Well, tonight we're going to
begin our text in verse 21, the same verse. And what I want us
to look at, what I want us to dwell on tonight is this. God
sent two messengers to declare what the name of the Savior would
be to his people. He'll save his people. He sent
two messengers to him. He sent an angel and he sent
a prophet. Through the angel, God Almighty
said adamantly, write this down. Tell the whole world I want you
to call his name Jesus. Through the prophet, God said
adamantly, I want you to write this down Isaiah. Tell the whole
world, I want you to call his name Emmanuel. Now tonight, we're going to look
at why God said he had to be called by two names. These two names, call him Jesus. Call Him Emmanuel. If I had to summarize the Gospel
in a few thousand words, if somebody said, I want you to, within a
few thousand words, summarize the Gospel. If I had to do that,
I would preach this message. If I only had two words, this
has been passed down. Men have said this for years
and said this for years and it's so true. If there were only two
words that described the Gospel, it would be these two words.
Substitution and satisfaction. All right. Why two names? Substitution
and satisfaction. That's the answer. That's the
answer to the whole thing. Verse 21, it says, 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,
spoken before by the prophet. All this was done that that might
be fulfilled. saying verse 23 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 now God sent Isaiah first So I want to look at Isaiah's
message first, but then we are going to consider these two names
in the order they're given to us here in our text. Verse 23
is quoting Isaiah 7. Turn with me if you would over
there to Isaiah chapter 7. Isaiah 7 verse 14 says. Therefore. The Lord himself shall
give you a sign. Behold. A virgin shall conceive. This is going to be done in such
a way that man takes no part in it. Every bit of this is going
to be of God. He said, behold, a virgin shall
conceive. and bear a son, and shall call
his name Immanuel. Immanuel is coming. What does
that mean? Look at chapter 8, Isaiah 8,
the end of verse 8 says, O Immanuel, this is talking about Immanuel.
Verse 10 says, take counsel together and it shall come to naught.
Speak the word and it shall not stand for God is with us. Now, here's what we must understand
about the virgin birth. This amazing virgin birth. God is three persons. Anytime we talk about God, God
is three persons. But there are not three gods. All right, God is three persons,
but there are not three gods. There is only one God. This is so vital to understanding
the gospel. There is only one God. There
is only one God. If God came, we just read God
with us. If God came, the only God there
is came. There's only one God. Now, was
the father in heaven while the son was on earth? Yes. Yes, he was. But if any man or
woman saw the Son, they saw the Father. Look at Isaiah 9 verse 6. It says, For unto us a child
is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon
his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor
Thee. Thee. not one of, the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Great is
the mystery of godliness. The one and only God that is,
was manifest in the flesh. The Word was God, the one and
only God that there is, and the Word was made flesh. He that
honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father that sent him.
The reason is because he and his Father are one. All the fullness
of the Godhead, these three persons, all the fullness of the Godhead,
all three persons, are they three individual persons? Yes. All three of them dwell in the
Son. The only God there is, the only one who has no beginning,
no end, created everything, will reign forever, the only God there
is, was born of a virgin. That's amazing. That's amazing. When he was born, God said concerning
Emmanuel, this is what God said, call his name Jesus. Why Jesus? It's because Emmanuel
is going to save his people from their sins. Now, how is he going
to do that? Here's the answer. He is going
to be their substitute. He's going to be their substitute.
Emmanuel came to be their substitute, the substitute for sinners, the
substitute for particular sinners called his people. Now, let's
see what this one and only God did as our substitute. And this is just this is amazing. This is so amazing. Look with
me at Luke two. Luke 2 verse 1 says, It came
to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar
Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And this taxing was
first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria, and all went
to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went
up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth unto Judea, unto
the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of
the house and lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused
wife, being great with child. And so it was that while they
were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling
clothes and laid him in a manger." Now that sounds like a special
little place, doesn't it? A manger. You know what that
was in reality? That was a feeding trough in
a barn for farm animals. Cows, horses, pigs, that's where
they threw the slop. Why would she lay him there? Verse 7 says, because there was
no room for them in the inn. No room for Emmanuel. Why is that? No room. What do you mean no room? What
do you mean send him out to the barn? No, put him out in the
barn. Don't we know who this is? Yes,
we do. We know exactly who this is. This is our substitute. This
is our substitute. Being our substitute from the
very moment he entered this world, he was cast out. Cast him out. An outcast. In order to die for
the outcast, he had to be outcast. Had to be. This is the one and only God
that there is. Cast him out. The moment Adam
sinned, God said, cast him out. Sinned in the garden, God said,
cast him out. Cast every one of his sons out with him. Cast
them all out. So Christ entered this world
as a son of Adam, the son of man. That's how he came, the
son of man. Outcast. Not only was he born
outcast, he died outcast. His entire life on this earth
was spent rejected, despised, outcast. That's how he spent
his entire life, outcast. When it came time for him to
die on the cross of Calvary as the substitute for his people,
he died an outcast. He was not allowed to be born
in Bethlehem. He was not allowed to die in
Jerusalem. Cast him out. Hold your place right here and
look with me at Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13 verse 11. For the bodies of those beasts
whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest
for sin are burned without the camp." Those filthy, vile, dead
carcasses, with all their stench and with all their rot, they
say, get them out of here. Cast them out of here. Get them
without the camp. Verse 12 says, Wherefore, Jesus
also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered
without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto
him without the camp bearing his reproach. He took that reproach for himself. That was his reproach outcast. He was outcast. That's what God
meant when he said call his name Jesus. Call Him Jesus. He is going to save His people
in the only way they can be saved. As their substitute. It's the
only way. Their substitute. Look with me
at Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2 verse 16 says, For
verily, He took not on Him the nature of angels. When He came
into this world, He did not take upon Himself the nature of angels,
but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. He was born into the
likeness of sinful flesh. Verse 17 says, Wherefore in all
things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren. that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people. That means he made himself in
all points to be our substitute. All right, now let's continue
seeing that. Go back to Luke 2. Luke chapter 2 verse 21 says, And when eight days were accomplished
for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which
was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Now just think about this. They cut something off of him
and threw it away. Isn't that amazing? He was perfect. He was spotless. Circumcision was given to Abraham
as a token. It was a remembrance of the mercy
that God was going to show to Abraham. Abraham and his children
needed mercy and God said, I'm going to show it to you. That's
my covenant with you. And that covenant is going to
be remembered. It's going to be acknowledged. It's going to
be cried out for through this token of circumcision. God said,
Abraham, I want you to circumcise every male in your house. In that circumcision, they were
crying out to God. I need mercy. And you promised
to show mercy. All right. Well, Christ didn't
need mercy. Why was he circumcised? It's because he was our substitute. As our substitute, he was going
to take upon himself all of our sin. He was going to bear all
of our sin. He fulfilled every jot and tittle
of the law when he did that. And as our substitute, he was
going to take all of our sin upon himself. He was going to
be judged of God as a man bearing our sin. And his hope before
God, this was his hope. He went to the cross in faith. And this was his hope. It was
that God would not leave his soul in hell. So as our substitute,
he remembered God's promise. And he pled the covenant of that
sinless blood that was going to be shed. Call his name Jesus. He's going to be born of a woman.
He's going to be born immediately cast out. And he's going to plead
God's covenant of mercy right here in Luke 2 verse 51 says
he's going to be subject to his parents. Can you believe that? Subject to his parents. He obeyed
whatever they told him to do. Look at verse 51. He went down
with them, came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them. But
his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased
in wisdom and stature. Now how many gods are there? How is this even possible? He humbled not only His body,
but He humbled His mind. He increased in wisdom, in stature. He increased in favor with God
and man. There's no way I could understand
that. No way I could explain that. Call His name Jesus. That's all
you can say about it. Luke 3, look at verse 21 here
in Luke chapter 3. Now when all the people were
baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized. He was baptized. Why was he baptized? If I read
the scripture correctly, Every person who came to John the Baptist
to be baptized was confessing two things Matthew 3 is one of
the places many places that tell us they were confessing their
sins confessing their own sins and If you'll look with me at
Luke 7 go over a few more chapters to Luke 7 verse 29 tells us they
were justifying God Luke 7 29 it says And all the people that heard
him and the publicans justified God being baptized with the baptism
of John. They confessed their own sins
and they justified God. They said, you are right. They all lined up and said, I
want to be baptized. I want to confess. You are right
in your judgment and your punishment of me in my sins. What they were
saying was I deserve to die. I deserve to die. Isn't that
what we're saying? I deserve to die. I deserve to
be buried in the ground because of my own sin. Well, then why was Christ baptized? He didn't have any sins of his
own to confess. I'm going to pause until we get that. Call his name Jesus. Because He is going to confess
their sins. Call His name Jesus. He was baptized
confessing our sins. Never did He commit one sin.
Never. He was spotless, but He made
our sins His very own. In Psalm 40, He said, My iniquities
have taken hold on Me. My iniquity. And He was baptized
justifying God in what God was doing to Him. He said, I deserve
to die. I deserve to be buried in the
ground. Honestly, why would He say that? is because he was our substitute.
He was our substitute. I had to say that. You have to
say that. And he was our substitute. Throughout
our Lord's life, he never performed one miracle to ease his own suffering. That's amazing. We would if we
could. He didn't. Not one miracle. He was tempted in all points
like as we are. Tempted by the adversary to perform
miracles. He was hungry and the adversary
said, turn that rock into a loaf of bread. He never did it. Never did it. He did it for everybody
else, never for himself. The reason is because I can't
do it for myself. All the sufferings that we endure,
I cannot just... He never did it. He was our substitute. He did not do it. If we can't
do it for ourselves, he didn't do it for himself. Go with me
over to Luke 22. Luke 22, verse 39. And he came out and went as he
was want to the Mount of Olives. And his disciples also followed
him. And when he was at the place,
he said unto them, Pray that you enter not into temptation.
And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled
down and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this
cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done. And there appeared an angel unto
him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony, he prayed
more earnestly, and his sweat was as it were great drops of
blood falling down to the ground. He did not just pay the price
for the sin of his people. He did not only pay the price. He bore the agony. He suffered
the punishment. He shall save his people, not
just by delivering them out, but by standing in their place. the true substitute. Call his
name Jesus, because he will make everything that is theirs, his. Everything that they have coming
to them, he'll make it his. Everything. Colossians 2 says,
he blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us. which was contrary to us and took it out of the way, nailing
it to his cross. His cross, not, not mine, not
ours. Yes. Call his name, Jesus. He's going to make everything
that was theirs. Yes. That's what it means. All right. Now God said, call his name,
Emmanuel, because he's going to make everything that was his
theirs. Now go back to our text, and
we're going to close with this, okay? We're not halfway through,
we're closing. Go back to our text, Matthew
1, verse 23. Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his
name Immanuel. which being interpreted is, and
this is the amazing, look at these three words, God with us. God with us. The word with translates
to God to us, and it also translates in. God in us. Christ came to secure a union
with his people. And here is that union. And think
about this. Us in him. Call his name Jesus. Him in us. Call his name Emmanuel. What that means is he hath made
him to be sin for us who knew no sin. Call his name Jesus.
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Call His name Emmanuel. God with
us. If I have a true substitute,
if I have a true substitute in everything that that means, it
means when He took my place, I took His. That's amazing. When he took
my place, I took his. If God was satisfied with Christ,
if God said I'm well pleased with him, and then through him
being my substitute, he took my place. He traded places with
me. If God said I'm completely against
all that sin and iniquity in them, and I am with my Son, I'm
for my Son. And then if Christ traded places
with me. If that's the case, if God did
that for His people, then it means God is with His people. He is with His people. Verse 24 says, 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."
And that's when all the angels broke out, crying glory to God
in the highest. The substitute and the satisfiers
here. I adore this moment. It's a wonderful moment. The
Lord will and will. see more of it maybe Sunday. All right, let's all stand together.