Would you turn with me to Matthew
chapter one? Matthew chapter one, I'd like
to begin reading 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, divorce her privily. 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." Savior, 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 Immanuel, which being
interpreted is God with us. 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. I've entitled this message, Call
His Name Jesus. Call His Name Jesus. Thou shalt call his name Jesus
is what the angel commanded Joseph to name him. Now, I want you
to put yourself in the place of Joseph at this time. Would
you have believed Mary if she said, I'm pregnant, but I promise
I'm still a virgin? Would you believe her? An angel
told me I was going to bear the Christ. Would you believe her? Of course not. You would think,
I don't believe that for a second. Well, Joseph didn't either. As
a matter of fact, he was getting ready to divorce her. That's
what put her away means. He was going to put her away
privately. He thought she was unfaithful
to him. But the scripture points out that Joseph was a just man.
Joseph was a just man. He was a kind man. And we find
a real lesson in character with this man, Joseph. He still didn't
want her to be publicly shamed or disgraced. Even though in
his mind, she'd done him wrong. She'd been unfaithful to him.
He did not want this woman to be publicly shamed or disgraced. Now, this is how we should handle
every situation. Never put somebody on the spot.
He didn't want her put on the spot. He didn't want her shamed.
He didn't want her humiliated publicly, even though in his
own mind, she was guilty of these things. But He didn't want this
to take place. Verse 20. But while he thought
on these things, trying to figure out what to do. 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,
thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he shall save his people
from their sins." This is an answer to that Passage
of scripture we just read in Isaiah chapter seven that was
written 700 years before the birth of Christ, behold, a virgin. Someone who's never known a man
shall conceive and bring forth a son. Mary was a surrogate to
the Son of God. She was a virgin. She'd never
known a man. And it had to be that way. You
see, the Son of God could not have the seed of a human being,
a fallen, sinful human being. He had to be born of a virgin.
If he wasn't born of a virgin, that means he'd have a sinful
nature like you and I. That can't be. He was born of
a virgin, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. Would you turn
to Isaiah chapter 9? Verse six. Here's another prophecy concerning
this one called Jesus, verse six, for unto us, a child is
born. Remember, the virgin shall conceive
and bring forth a son for unto us, a child is born unto us,
a son, the eternal son is given. Now, this son wasn't born. This
Son is the Eternal Son who was given. Such is the glory and
greatness of this Son that He didn't come out of eternity. Eternity came out of Him. The Eternal Son of God. Unto us a child is born, but
unto us a Son is given. The uncreated Son of God and
the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall
be called Wonderful, Jesus. Counselor, Jesus. The Mighty God, Jesus. The Everlasting Father, Jesus. The Prince of Peace, Jesus. And if the increase of his government
and peace, there shall be no end upon the throne of David
and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment
and with justice from henceforth even forever, the zeal of the
Lord of hosts will perform this. Thou shalt call his name Jesus. Jesus is the Greek translation
of the Hebrew word Joshua. Joshua. It means Jehovah saves. That's his name. Joshua. Jehovah saves. That is the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Now you will remember that Moses
could not lead the children of Israel into the promised land.
You know why? Because Moses represented the
law. And no one can ever be saved
by their law keeping, by their doing, by their works. It is
absolutely, utterly impossible. Somebody says, well, I've done
my best, but your best isn't good enough, for one thing. And for
another thing, when you say you've done your best, that's a lie.
You have not. You have not. You can't be saved. I can't be
saved by my works in any measure to any degree. Moses can't bring
anybody into the promised land. He's the law. Only Joshua, only
the Savior can bring God's people into the promised land. Thou
shalt call his name Jesus. Now, this is the name that was
given to him from heaven. This is the name The Father gave
to him, Jesus, Joshua. You know, when the angel told
Joseph, thou shalt call his name Jesus, he was acting in obedience
to God's command. This is what God commanded that
angel to say to Joseph, thou shalt call his name Jesus. This is his best name. He has
many names, but this name is his best name. Jesus. Jehovah saves. Now, it's his most appropriate
name. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
Savior, for he shall save his people from their sins. The name speaks of the person
behind the name. All that God has been pleased
to make himself known to us is found in His Son and His salvation. What a name for our Lord Jesus
Christ. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save. All that God is pleased to make
known about Himself is found in the salvation of the Lord
Jesus Christ. If you want to know who God is,
you'll only know Him through Christ and His salvation that
He accomplished on Calvary's tree. Now, picture in your mind
this one who was born. who lived for 33 years in perfect
righteousness, who never sinned, and is nailed to a cross at the
end of his life and put to death. All that God is, is seen in that
transaction. Now, do you want to know who
God is? Do you want to know what He's really like? You look at
that one nailed to a cross. First of all, I see God's eternal
purpose. You know, before there was ever
a sinner, there was a savior. That's his name. He's called
the lamb slain from the foundation of the world when there was nothing
but God, when there was no creation. Even then, he was the lamb slain
from the very foundation of the world. This is God's purpose.
This is his eternal purpose to save. And all of his attributes
are manifested in his salvation. Now, I see God's sovereignty. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people. It doesn't say he came to save
everybody. He didn't come to save everybody.
He came to save his people. And you look at the three crosses
at that time, Christ, there was one who died in his sins. He
wasn't one of his people. There was one, another one, who
said, today you'll be with me in paradise. That's one of his
people. He shall save His people from their sins. We see God's
justice and holiness when sin is found on the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's a terrible thing to
think about. The sin was actually found on Him. The sins of His
people became His sins. He became guilty of them. That's
why He died, because He was guilty. God is so holy. God is so just
that even when sin is found on His Son, He's going to God hates
sin, and all sin must be punished. And we see that in the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ. But oh, how we see the love of
God, that He would be pleased to give His Son. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have eternal life." Oh, does God really love
sinners? You look at the cross and you'll see. I see the wisdom
of God. How that God made a way, He's
so wise that He made a way to justify somebody like me when
I'm unjust, sinful, in a way that glorifies His justice, where
I deserve to be saved. I mean, God saved me because
I had no guilt. Now, only God can do that. Here
I am sinful in and of myself, but God's made a way in His glorious
wisdom to be just and justify that one who believes on the
Lord Jesus Christ. I see His power. How do I see His power in the
cross? On the cross, He made the sins
of everybody He died for to not be. That means if I'm in Christ,
I have no sin. None at all. He put it away. You see, all that God is in all
of his glorious attributes is revealed in the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And, you know, it's as a savior
that he manifests himself to us. First Timothy 1 15 says Christ
Jesus came into the world to save. Sinners of whom Paul said,
I am the chief. Thou shalt call his name Jesus.
This is the name men called him by. I love it when he's left
Gethsemane's garden and the soldiers come to arrest him and he says,
Whom seek ye? And they say, Jesus of Nazareth. There's his name. What happens?
They fall backwards. They're driven back by an irresistible
power in that name. And He's letting them know at
that time that I'm no victim. I'm in control of this. You're
all not doing anything but My will. I'm in absolute sovereign
control. Oh, the name of Jesus. He was called Jesus by His mother
and His father, His brothers, His sisters, His neighbors, and
His relatives. But listen to this. But not by
His disciples. What do you mean by that? Oh,
they would use His name in speaking of Him to men, but when they
addressed Him personally, it was as Master and Lord. He said, You call Me Master and
Lord, and You say, Well, for so I am. Now, with regard to
the name of Jesus, be reverent and be fearful. In how you use
his name, do not take his name in vain by using his name casually
or flippantly. Use his name with caution. Reverence. Respect and the fear
do his holy name. Every time I use his name, Jesus,
it is to be with trembling and with fear because of the greatness
and excellency of his person. Jesus is the name of his humanity. Thou shalt call his name Jesus. This is the name that identifies
him with his people. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save, who? His people. This is the name
that most clearly identifies him with his people. Thou shalt
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now, notice carefully, his people. Christ didn't come to save everybody.
If He came to save everybody, you know what? Everybody would
be saved, wouldn't they? But the Scripture points out, He
came to save His people. Who are His people? Well, everybody
He came to save. You know, not everybody is His
people. He said to one, Christ said, you're of your father,
the devil, and the lusts of your father you'll do. You know, there's
sheep. And they're goats, they're his
people, and they're those who are not his people. Turn with
me to Matthew 25 for a moment. Verse 31. And when the Son of
Man shall come in his glory. And all the holy angels with
him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. I love thinking
about this and before him shall be gathered all nations. And
he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth
his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, but the goats on his left." They're sheep and
they're goats. Then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you. from the foundation of the world. That's his sheep. Not everybody
is a sheep. Turn to John chapter 10. I want
you to see this. John chapter 10. Verse 24. Then came the Jews
round about him and said unto him, How long dost thou make
us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered
them, I told you, and you believe not. The works that I do in my
Father's name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not because
you're not of my sheep." Notice he didn't say, you're not my
sheep because you don't believe. He said, you don't believe because
you're not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
Hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto
them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man can pluck them out of my Father's
hand." Now, who are his people? The ones the Father gave him. The ones for whom he died. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. But listen,
this is the part I like best about this. He identifies his people in a
most comforting manner in this passage of Scripture. You can
see if you're one of them by this. Thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. His people are people who need
to be saved from their sins. Now, would that be you? Someone
who needs, someone who needs to be saved from their sins. You know you can't save yourself. And you know if He doesn't save
you, you won't be saved. You know that. Now this I know.
Now you listen please, real carefully. This I know. There is absolutely,
positively, nothing that I can do to save myself from my sins
in any measure, to any degree. I'm utterly and completely dependent
upon Him to save me. His people are those who need
to be saved from their sins. They know they're powerless to
save themselves from their sins, and they know they're utterly
dependent upon Him to save them from their sins. I'm utterly
dependent on Him to save me from my sins. I can't save myself.
I know that. I know if He leaves me with myself,
I'll go to hell. I know you will, too. The only
way I can be saved is for Him. Save me from my sins. Now, I love a verse of Scripture
in Luke 9-11 where it says, He healed them that had need of
healing. I'm one of them. I need healing. And He healed
them that had need of healing. Do you need saved from your sins?
Now, the question that comes to my mind is, well, how? How
does he save his people from their sins? Well, would you turn
with me to Isaiah chapter 53? Here's how he saves his people
from their sins, by their sins becoming his sins. And by his
righteousness becoming their righteousness. It's called substitution. And if somebody wanted to ask
me, what is the cross of Christ all about? Why did Christ die
on a cross? I'd want to turn to Isaiah chapter
53. Now, let's look at this passage
of scripture together. This is how he saved his people from
their sins. Beginning in verse one. Isaiah says, who had believed
our report? Huh? Isaiah almost speaks in frustration
at this time. It seems like so little people
believe. Who had believed our report, and to whom is the arm
of the Lord revealed? Well, the only people who believe
the report are those to whom the arm of the Lord is revealed. Salvation by revelation. Then
it speaks of His person, for He, the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus,
Emmanuel, He shall grow up before Him, as a tender plant and as
a root out of dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness,
not what the world would call beautiful. And when we shall
see him, there's no beauty that we should desire him. Nobody
was impressed with him. You know, I've thought before,
well, I want this. I want people to see Christ in
me and I do. But, you know, they didn't see Christ in Christ.
They really didn't. The world was not impressed with
him. There's no form or comeliness
in him, no beauty that we should desire him. Here's his life. He is despised and rejected of
men. A man of sorrows. And acquainted
with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him. If we
would have seen him, we would have turned the other way to
not be identified with him. He was despised. And we esteemed
Him not." That's one of the saddest statements in all the Word of
God. The glorious Son of God, and
we esteemed Him not. What guilt! Verse 4, Surely He hath borne our griefs, This
is why he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with death. Surely
he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did
esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he
was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. When Peter speaks in the New
Testament of this and quotes it, he says, by whose stripes
you were healed. Look at this confession of sin,
verse six, all we like sheep have gone astray, we've turned
everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He's brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before shears is done, so he opened
on his mouth. Why didn't he open his mouth?
Because he's guilty. He didn't try to defend himself
because he was guilty. My sin became his sin. And he
didn't try to defend himself because he was guilty. Verse
8, he was taken from prison and from judgment. Who shall declare
his generation? For he was cut off out of the
land of the living for the transgression of my people. His people. Was he stricken? And he made
his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death because
he'd done no violence. Neither was any deceit in his
mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Why did Christ
die? Because it pleased the Lord to
crush him. It pleased the Lord. God's will. He hath put him to grief. It
wasn't men who did this. Yes, men were used. But they
were doing nothing but the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of
God had determined. It was God who bruised him. He
had put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin. Now see that word offering for
sin? It's translated two other ways in the Old Testament. It's
also translated guiltiness. When thou shalt make his soul
guiltiness. And the other way it's translated
is just plain old sin. When thou shalt make his soul
sin. And that's what Paul said in
2 Corinthians 5 21. For he hath made him to be sin.
For us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. When thou shalt make his soul
sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He's going to be
successful. He can't die for somebody and then not end up
being saved. That's impossible because of who he is. He shall
see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he
shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoiled with
the strong, because he poured out his soul unto death. He was
numbered with the transgressors, he bared the sin of many, and
made intercession for the transgressors." Now that's what they call his
name, Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now. Saved from sin through his substitutionary
death. For him taking my place. Now,
what all does that mean? What does it mean to be saved
from your sins? Beloved, if Jesus Christ died
for you and the evidence that he died for you is you believe
on him, that's the evidence you believe on him. You're relying
on him only as everything in your salvation. If he died for
you first, You've been saved from the penalty of sin. You will never bear God's judgment
and wrath. Can't be done. You see, He bore
it for you. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. There's nothing to condemn me
for. I stand before God without guilt. I'll not be condemned
for my sin. Thank God for that. I'm saved from the penalty of
sin, but I've also been saved from the power of sin. Sin shall
not have dominion over you, for you're not under law, but under
grace. Now, that's the promise, salvation
from the power of sin. Now, what all does that mean? Does that mean I've been empowered
to live above sin? Anybody? Raise your hand if that
describes you. I hope nobody dared do it. That'd
have been embarrassing. What do I have to say? Well,
you might as well get out of here. You don't have any interest
in what's going on here. But saved from the power of sin. Here's exactly what this means.
There was a time. In my own experience, when I
tried to believe, and I couldn't. I tried to repent, and I couldn't. I tried to love God, and I couldn't. It was beyond my ability. I could not believe the gospel. Let me say this, you've never
believed until you first find out you can't. If you can believe,
if you have the faith, if you think, well, I can believe any
time I want to, all I've got to do is decide to believe and
I'll believe, you don't have a clue what faith is. You're
clueless. There was a time when I found
out I could not believe. And then he gave me faith. And
I can now believe. I was under the dominion of sin.
I couldn't believe. I was under the complete control
of sin. I couldn't believe any more than I could create the
universe. But when He gave me faith, I believed. I've been delivered from the
dominion, the power of sin. There was a time when I didn't
love God. I love Him now. I love Him as He is. I love Him
as He's revealed in His Word. There was a time when I couldn't,
but I do now. And that's because I've been
delivered from the dominion of sin. It doesn't mean I don't
sin anymore. Doesn't mean that at all. Somebody
that makes a claim like that is a liar. Well, I've got power
over this sin. Just let the Lord take his hand
off of you. We'll find out what kind of power you've got over
that sin. But I have been. Every believer is delivered from
the dominion of sin. I believe the gospel. Not only
Am I delivered from the penalty of sin? Not only am I delivered
from the power of sin, but I'm delivered from the presence of
sin. Now, how do you say that? Well,
we know it by faith. But the scripture says, Whom
he justified, then he also glorified. Past tense. In Christ Jesus,
I've been delivered from the very presence of sin, and I'm
not going to experience that, I realize, until glory. But it's
something that is right now through the Lord Jesus Christ. His name, Jesus, Savior, indicates
that this is his main work. Saving. Saving. Oh, his name is so precious to
him. Creation was a great work. It was he who created the universe.
He willed the universe into existence. There was a time when there was
nothing but God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
No universe, no stars, no planets, no space, no matter. All there was was God and he
willed everything into the universe. That was a great work. His work
of providence is great. That's him controlling everything
that happens in time everything that happens in time he's in
control of this is going to seem trite and
I don't want it to be trite but I hear people you know about
ballgames and people praying about ballgames and so on somebody
says don't you think the Lord's not you know he's got bigger
fists to pry he's got more great things to worry about than ballgames
now That sounds good, I suppose. And I don't think the Lord cares
anything about wins and losses and ballgames. But I tell you
what, whoever wins a ballgame is the one he decided to win
because he's in control of everything. He's in control of everything.
The Scripture says not a sparrow falls to the ground without your
father. He controls everything. The very hairs of your head are
numbered. He controls everything. There's
no event that he isn't in control of. And it's easy for Him. He's
God. That's a great work. The work
of providence, Him controlling everything and working out everything. That's a great work. But He does
that by His will. But let me tell you what His
greatest work is. His greatest work is saving His people from
their sins. You see, these other works, the
work of creation, He did by His will. The work of providence,
He controls by His mighty will. But for me or you to be saved,
He had to die. If it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done for me or you to be saved. He had to die. Salvation is his greatest work,
and his name is justified by the facts. What do I mean by
that? Well, some people never live
up to their name. I read this week about some parents who named
their son Methuselah. Does anybody know who Methuselah
is? He's the oldest man in the Bible. 969 years old. Methuselah. And Methuselah died
at six weeks. He didn't live up to his name,
did he? But the Lord Jesus Christ utterly
lives up to his name. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. And when He
said, It is finished, He came to save His people from their
sins. He did it. When He died, every single one
of His people were saved from their sins. When were you saved? When he said it is finished,
my salvation was accomplished. The Savior lived up to his name. Now, would you turn with me to
Philippians, Chapter two? This is the name at which every
knee is going to bow. The name of Jesus. Philippians,
Chapter two. Verse five, let this mind. 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,
not thought it not a thing to be grasped for unjust, to be
equal with God. But he made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant. and was made in the
likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. Wherefore, God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. What name? The name of Jesus. Every knee
is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now, this name,
Savior, that's his name, Savior. That's his most important name
to his father. He's the Savior. That's his most
important name to himself. He's the Savior. And that's his
most important name to me. I love Peter's prayer when he's
sinking under the water, he cries out, Lord, save me. That's not a one time prayer.
Lord, Save me. Now, the only way you and I'll
be saved is if He's pleased to save us. And here's my prayer. Lord, save me. Save me from my sins. I can't
save myself in any measure, to any degree. There's not one thing
I can do to save myself. Lord, save me. And let me tell you this, anybody
who prays that prayer, Lord saves. Let's pray.