Well, good evening, everyone.
I'm so glad to have you folks with us again in this second
study in the book of Matthew. If you'd like to turn in your
Bibles tonight to the first chapter of Matthew, we'll be looking
at verses 18 through 25. While you're turning there, just
a short recap on what we studied last week. We considered the
first 17 verses of Matthew chapter one, the introduction to the
birth of Christ, And exactly how Matthew has it, he shows
the generations and what we see in the generations is the promises
of God being manifested in providing us with a deliverer,
a Messiah, a Savior, and this one, and tonight we'll see where
this one is called Savior. But in that first study, we went
through and saw the line in particular, the genealogical line where Christ
would come from. That was the promise of God.
That was the promise of God, that the Savior would come through
the line, through the seed, not seeds, but through the seed of
Abraham. One seed, as we read in last
week's message. And tonight we'll see that even
deeper. Would you join me in Matthew chapter one, verses 18
through 25. Matthew 1, beginning at verse
18, now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, when as his
mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, engaged, before they came together
she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her
husband, verse 19, 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, this is verse 23, behold, this is what the
prophets of old were 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. Verse 24, then
Joseph being raised from the 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. That scripture that it's referring
to there, that scripture would be fulfilled, that's over in
Isaiah chapter seven. We read in verse 14, therefore
the Lord himself shall give you a sign, behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear
a son and shall call his name Immanuel. And as we see here
in Matthew chapter 1 verse 23, this one is Immanuel, which is
being interpreted, God with us. What a mystery. You know, as
such, I'm not ashamed to admit the
simplicity of this mind who sits before you. I cannot comprehend
many of the things that God has given in his word. I comprehend
how God, the creator of everything that is, the creator of worlds,
of all the worlds and all the skies and all the heavens, he
who is above all things, How could he be manifest in the flesh? Well, he shows us right here,
but I may not understand it completely. I know there's only been one
ever recorded as being a virgin birth. What a
mysterious thing. God in human flesh, God with
us. That's what our text is all about
this evening. He who created all that is, manifesting
himself in human form. What a mystery. A thing unknown
of any other woman, to be with child without knowing a man.
A thing we cannot explain of how it came to be, yet the people
of God, we believe, don't we? We believe. We believe this to
be true. How can one explain the mysteries
of godliness? Who can understand the depth
of what the Holy Spirit does? Listen to these words in Ecclesiastes
11 verse 5. As thou knowest not what is the
way of the Spirit, that's what we're talking about here just
a moment ago, who can understand the depths or the ways of the
Holy Spirit? As thou knowest not what is the
way of the Spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of
her that is with child, even so thou knowest not the works
of God who maketh all. 1 Timothy. 316, and without controversy. Great is the mystery of godliness.
Without controversy, without exception, without argument,
we declare, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest
in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached
unto the Gentiles, and believed on, and the world received up
into glory. What a gracious thing for this
truth, this truth of who God is in the flesh, who this one
is, this baby child that we're reading about, this one to be
born of a virgin. What a gracious thing to know
the truth and to have his truth revealed to a cold, spiritually
dead soul. That's what we all were before
the Lord comes to us, before the Lord in his power comes to
his people and says, live, We are cold and spiritually dead. Look over at chapter 16, Matthew
chapter 16. Turn over there if you would
for just a moment. There's just a couple of verses I wanna read there.
Matthew chapter 16. And we see there in Matthew chapter
16, verses 13 through 18, and when Jesus came into the coast
of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, whom do
men say that I am? Whom do men say that I, the Son
of Man, am? And they said, some say that
thou art John the Baptist, some say Elijah's, and others, Jeremiah's,
or maybe one of the prophets. He said unto them, but whom say
ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus
answered and said unto him, now we're talking here, my last statement
was, what a gracious thing for this truth, this truth of who
that baby child is. And this is telling us here right
now why this is gracious. It's because not everybody knows,
not everybody receives the word of men, but everybody who is
given the word of God. through the Spirit of God, by
the power of God, shall receive it." Listen to these words. And
Jesus answered and said, "'Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for
flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven.'" What a gracious thing for this truth to be revealed
to a cold, dead, spiritually dead soul. Page two. In Galatians 4, we read these
words, but when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth
his son, made of a woman, made under the law. This is exactly
what the first 17 verses were all about, the fullness of time. That's what it was giving us
there, the fullness of time. From the time of Abraham, when
the promise was made, to the time that that promise came into
this world was the fullness of that time, the appointed day,
the day when the genealogy prophesied of would be fulfilled. God became
flesh. This one we see in our text came
not with Adam's nature, the nature of sin, for he came from the
Holy Ghost. For that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Ghost is what we read in verse 20. And to have
the true understanding of whom this is, we must be taught of
God, because flesh and blood cannot speak to the heart. In
John 6, verse 44 through 45, we read this, no man can come
unto me except the Father which has sent me draw him, and I will
raise him up the last day. It is written in the prophets
in the Old Testament, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. You say, why John? It's no big deal. Everyone knows
this child as Jesus of Nazareth. That may be true, but not everyone
knows him as their personal savior. They do not know him in truth. They may know of him, but they
do not know him as their personal savior. He's the God-man. He's perfect and holy in every
way. He's all-powerful. He's all-knowing. He's creator of everything it
was. He created it. He created all that is by himself,
for himself, and through himself. This is God's graciousness to
his people, where we read, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for
flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. Folks, if not for Christ Jesus,
God in human form, none could be saved. Sin must be dealt with. A price must be paid. Justice
must be met. Flesh must die for God to save
his people, a people loved by him from before the foundation
of the world. His justice must be met. Sin must be punished. Page three. Turn over to Hebrews
chapter 10. Look with me over there in Hebrews
chapter 10. Let's go over there. Hebrews
chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10, look with
me if you would over there in chapter 10 verse 1, for the law
having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image
of the things can never with those sacrifices which they offered,
now remember the sacrifices were introduced to the people of God
there at Mount Sinai by Moses. So this is thousands of
years after Abraham, but Abraham knew of the same sacrifices to
God. God taught him just as he teaches each and every one of
his people. These sacrifices are the law that God has written
on every man's heart. Every man, all the way back to
Adam. Law having a shadow of good things to come, and then
it speaks of the sacrifices, not that the very image of the
things can never, with those sacrifices, which they offered
year by year, continually make the comers there unto perfect.
All of those sacrifices of the law never, never made the comers
there unto perfect, for then would they not have cause to
be offered, because the, because that the worshippers once purged,
once cleansed, should have had no more conscience of sin. If your sins have been purged,
then it's no longer part of that conscience, part
of that awareness. But in those sacrifices, there
is a remembrance again made of the sins every year. For it is
not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away
sins, wherefore when he hath come into the world, he sayeth,
sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared
me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Verse seven, then said I, lo,
I come in the volume of the book, it is written of me to do thy
will, O God. Above when he said sacrifice
and offering, and burnt offerings, and offerings for sin, thou wouldst
not, neither has pleasure therein, which were offered by the law.
Then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, that he may establish the second, by the witch will.
He takes away the first to establish the second by the witch will,
by his will, by that that he had done, we are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Man, it goes on to explain why.
And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices which can never take away sin, but this
man. Now remember, Jesus Christ only
had to do that sacrifice once and it was a sacrifice of himself.
So here's why, here's why. But this man, or here's the result,
this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever
sat down on the right hand of God. Why? Because he's God Almighty, that's
why. He's perfect in every way. The
justice of God was satisfied. As I mentioned a moment ago,
sin had to be justified. Verse 13, from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool, for by one offering
he hath perfected, past tense, forever, them that are sanctified,
them that are set apart. A body, it says, thou hast prepared,
a sacrifice, a kinsman-redeemer, I think of Boaz being the kinsman-redeemer
of Ruth, even though Ruth was a Moabitess. She had married
an Israelite, putting her in the kinsmanship of the Israelites. And Bo had redeemed her to the
men, redeemed her in that day according
to the law. He, our Lord, prepared himself,
thou hast prepared a body, he provided himself a sacrifice
for his people, for you and I. For a people out of every tongue,
every tribe, throughout time itself. Listen to the words of
Revelation 13, eight, and all that dwell upon the earth shall
worship him, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
We will see here in our following studies, the whole earth bows
to the one that created it. Don Fortner wrote these words
about our text. He says, we who believe that
which is recorded here, we adore it. We rejoice in it, we proclaim
it, and we sing about it, but we will not try to prove it.
How can one expect to understand and explain the virgin birth
of Jesus Christ? It is enough for the believing
heart to know that nothing is impossible with God. It's enough
for us. We know that nothing is impossible
with him. A virgin birth, he created the
virgin. He created everything that we
see before us. Why would being a virgin birth,
coming from a virgin birth, why would that be difficult for him?
It's not. We believe that. We declare it. We understand
that as God, nothing is too difficult or impossible for him. It's not
enough for us to simply be informed, though, that we may admire the
wonderful works of God. No, like Moses of old, as he
stood before the burning bush, We read in Matthew 1, 18 through 25. Wait, no, I'm sorry. Misunderstood there.
But we read about Matthew. Folks, you and I, have been brought
into, we have entered upon holy ground as we go into the word
of the Lord. Let us put off our shoes of carnal curiosity, writes
Don, and seek to hear what God the Lord will say. Now, we read
again, back in our text, Matthew 1, verse 18. Now the birth of
Jesus was on this life, when as his mother Mary was espoused
to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the
Holy Ghost. God the Holy Spirit prepared
in the womb of the Virgin Mary a body for the Son of God. That's what we read about back
there in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 5. His human nature was conceived
in the womb of the chosen virgin by the Holy Spirit. Listen to
the way Luke puts it over in Luke chapter one, verse 35. And
the angel answered and said unto her, speaking to Mary, the Holy
Ghost shall come upon you, 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. That's the way Luke puts it there,
for page four. There is no other way for the
Christ to come into this world. He must be born of a virgin,
conceived of the Holy Spirit. He had to be conceived by the
seed of, had he been conceived by the seed of a fallen sinful
father, he could not have been sinless. He could not have been
the sinless substitute for sinners. He was born of a virgin, born
of a woman, that he might be human, but not by man, that he
might be sinful. That's according to Charles Spurgeon.
Folks, our Lord Jesus was born of a virgin that he might be
brought into this world as one made of a woman, as it says in
Galatians 4.4. But of an espoused woman, a lawfully
betrothed virgin, so that he might both show the sanctity
of marriage and protect the honor of his mother's name. Imagine
that. It says in Hebrews 13, 14, folks,
marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled. Only those
who teach the doctrine of devils prohibit men from marriage. Listen
to 1 Timothy 4 verses 1 through 4. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly
that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking
lies and hypocrisies. in hypocrisy, having their conscience
seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain
from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving
from them, which believe and know the truth. At the same time,
folks, the Lord took care to protect Mary's name. Though he
was born of a virgin, she was a married virgin. Mary's son
was also her savior and he took care. Now, I say that responsibly. Not only was he her son, he was
her savior. Think about that for just a moment.
As the savior of this woman, he's gotta take care of her,
being a virgin, otherwise the world would think the less of
her, would they not? He took care of her. He was her
savior. yet he took care to protect her
reputation, justifying her pregnancy in the eyes of the world. Matthew
Henry suggests there are three lessons that we can draw from
these verses. First, those in whom Christ is
formed will show it, and it will be found to be a work of God,
which he will own Now, look with me and I'll show this to you.
Look with me over Colossians 1, verse 27. Turn to the left
of Hebrews, Colossians. It's just a couple of pages right
before the Thessalonians letters. Colossians chapter one. Look
at one verse with me over there, if you would, please. Verse 27,
to whom God would make known what is the riches of his glory,
of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope
of glory. Our Lord teaches us through those
words that the work found in us is
of Christ and it'll be owned by Him. Secondly, Matthew Henry
suggests that after great and high advancements, lest we be
puffed up with them, we must expect something or the other
to humble us. Something of a reproach, as Paul
put it, as a thorn in the flesh to humble us and keep us from
being puffed up. And then thirdly, he suggests the lesson that those
who take care to keep a good conscience may cheerfully trust
God with the keeping of their good names and have reason to
hope that he will clear up not only their integrity, but their
honor as the sun at noonday. I thought about Joseph. We all know the story of Joseph.
one of the 12 sons of Jacob. His brethren were jealous of
him, and because of their jealousy, they made claims about him. At
one point, they sold him into slavery, who took him down into
Egypt. He was accused by Potiphar's
wife, the jailer's wife of something. The Lord went about clearing
Jacob's name up, and look at how Jacob is looked at in the
end. He's looked at as one who God
was with. There were many who made claims
to Joseph, and they were lies about him, but in the end, everyone
who reads the story of Joseph sees this. They see that he was
a man whom God was present with. And the Lord
took him from where he was and raised him up that he would save
the souls of Israel. Isn't that what the Lord Jesus
Christ was done? The Lord kept his name. And in
the end of the story, we see where he sits on his throne right
now. Everything he did was for the salvation of his people.
Can you imagine what a problem that must have been for Joseph? the fact that Mary was pregnant.
Could you imagine the problem her pregnancy presented for him?
Here he was engaged to a woman who was pregnant and he knew
with certainty that he was not the father of this child. What would you do? What would
you do? Says in Matthew 119, as we read,
then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, not willing to make
her a public example, was minded to put her away privately. He
was not willing to make her an example. Consider this wonderful
example that God has given you and I. When we face those who
may sin against us, Joseph's behavior exemplifies godliness,
it exemplifies wisdom, and most of all, it exemplifies compassion. He saw in Mary what appeared
to be a horrible, evil sin, but he did not behave rashly. Oh, how I pray my God will give
me the ability to not act in a rash way? Think about that. Have I behaved in a rash way? Joseph did not. No, he patiently
weighed his options. As a man who sought to glorify
God, he stopped. and thought about what different
options he had to act to this situation. And he thought, what
could I do? How could I go about glorifying
my God in this incident of sin against me? According to the law, Joseph could have done three
things. any of these three things. He
could have privately given her a bill of divorce, as we saw,
he thought about privately putting her away, and he could have done
that before two or three witnesses. You can read about that in the
law of God in chapter 24, Deuteronomy 24 verse 1. Or secondly, he could
have made a public example of her and stoned her to death. Yes, that was legal at that time. You know, it may be legal for us to act rashly against
somebody, for us to declare unto them, hey, you can't do that.
That's wrong. That might be legal for you and
I to do it, but is that always the way to glorify our Lord? Is that the way we should act
upon that situation in glorifying our Lord? or he could have gone ahead with
his plans and marry her as we see he did. We see clearly that
Joseph weighed the matter carefully with prayer before the Lord. We see that he was a just man
according to God, a man who sought always to do what was right.
Joseph chose not to expose what he thought to be a sin of his
espoused wife. And though he felt he could not
marry her, he chose to put her away quietly. What compassion. Do we not pray ourselves that
the Lord would give us this compassion? Charles Spurgeon wrote this,
he says, when we have to do a severe thing, listen to this, listen
to this, when we have to make a severe call, against somebody
who sinned against us or a loved one. Let us choose the tenderest
manner we can think. Maybe we won't even have to do
it at all. What an example Joseph is to
you and I with his behavior. Having been forgiven, he was
willing to forgive. Do you know that's what drove
me to the Lord? That's what drew me to the Lord
those first days, in the days that I heard the gospel preached
for the first time. The Lord taught me to be forgiving
because he was forgiving to me. Joseph teaches us much in his
behavior, having a reason to suspect the worst of Mary, yet
his love for her compelled him to cover it up and refuse to
expose what he thought to be sin in her. Listen, you remember
the story of Shem and Joseph, or Japheth? They're the sons
of Noah. They had another brother by the
name of Ham. Noah had grown an orchard of grapes. And he had made wine and drank
that wine and became drunken. And he was uncovered, it says,
naked in his tent. And Ham had come in and seen
his father naked, and he had gone out and broadcast it to
everyone. See the sin? See the sin that
is in my father is what he did? See what sin my father has done? Oh, how embarrassing. Was Ham
legal to do that? Absolutely. What an embarrassment
his dad had become to him in drinking himself to drunkenness. But his other two sons, Shem
and Shepheth covered their father's sin. It says in Genesis 9, verse
23, and Shem and Shepheth took a garment and laid it upon both
their shoulders. Now notice this. This is what
they did. They didn't have to do this. They could have done
it as their brother. What an embarrassment my father
is. Yet they laid the garment, a garment, upon their shoulders
and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father
instead of broadcasting his nakedness and telling them, you're wrong. What you're doing is wrong against
me. They covered his nakedness. They
covered his sin. They acted with the compassion
a son has for a loved one. They acted with compassion. May God give you and I the grace to behave like Joseph
in our dealings with others, especially in our dealings with
each other, the people of God. Folks, in all things, be as lenient
as possible with others. Always be ready to forgive the
faults of others as we read in Matthew 6 verse 14, for if ye
forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. And seek what's best for the
fallen, the erring brother or sister in Christ. No matter the fault, Seek restoration,
not retribution. Look over at Galatians chapter
six, and then I'll bring this to a close. You're there, Colossians,
just turn to the left a couple of chapters, a couple of books,
Ephesians and then Galatians, and look at chapter six, the
last chapter of Galatians. The last chapter. I just wanna
read a few verses here from chapter six. Brethren, if a man be overtaken
in fault, Ye which are spiritual, restore such in one in the spirit
of meekness. Considering thyself, lest thou
also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens,
and so fulfill the law of Christ. What is the law of Christ? It's
the law of love. The law of works. shines the sinfulness that is
within our own heart. We're no longer under that law.
Christ has put that law away for us. And now we're under the
law of Christ, the law of love. Verse three, for if a man think
of himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. Verse four, but let every man
prove his own work. and then shall he have rejoicing
in himself alone and not in another. In all things show love and grace,
not judgment and condemnation. Is that not what God has done
for you and I? What a wonderful, gracious God
we serve. He humbled himself He left his
glory for just a moment. That's what we read in John 17,
5. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self,
with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. He left his glory for a moment.
Heaven came down. It never ceases to amaze me that
all God requires of me he has provided in his Son, the Lord
Jesus. Listen to Ephesians chapter 1,
verses 3 through 4. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath
chosen us in him, in his Son, in the one who has loved us and
gave himself for us before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before Him. Hebrews chapter
10, 14, we read these words, for by one offering, not one offering plus what you
can do, but by one offering, the offering of the body of the
Son of God, He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. To God be the glory. Great things
He hath done.