I don't need to remind us that
we're in that time of the year when the world speaks about the
birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I plan, the Lord willing,
to bring the message this morning and the next two Sundays on the
first coming of Christ, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into
this world. Today, we're going to look at
one of his names. As our Savior, as our Lord, we
know that he has a number of names which are given unto him
in the word of God. But I want us to look and consider
one of his names which was given to him by an Old Testament prophet
about 700 years before he was born. This name is only found in the
scripture three times. And I'm going to speak primarily
from the last passage where it is found, but I want us to look
at the other two passages as well. The name is Immanuel. Immanuel. And let's go back first
of all to Isaiah chapter 7. Isaiah chapter 7. And verse 14, Therefore the Lord himself shall
give you a sign. Now the prophet is speaking to
King Ahaz, a wicked king of Judah, an unbeliever. a king who would
not ask of God a sign, and so God declared that he would give
a sign. This man, this wicked king, had
two enemies, the king of Israel and the king of Assyria, and
they were determined to destroy the nation of Judah and replace
this king with a king of their own making. And so the prophet
says to this king and to the nation of Israel and to you and
I, therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. You would
not ask for a sign, but now I will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin
shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. What's amazing about this is
what's amazing about God. Here's a man who was a wicked
man, had no interest whatsoever in the things of God, a hater,
a despiser of God, if you please. And yet God sent him a message. And aren't you thankful today
that God is such a gracious God that He does send a message of
grace to men and women? You and I, some of us, we can
look back when the message was sent to us, not because we deserved
it. There have been millions of people
who have lived on the face of God's earth who never heard the
name Emmanuel. who never heard the name Jesus
Christ, who never heard of the Savior. And yet God is such a
good God and such a gracious God, and His grace has been manifested
and shown unto us as it was to this king, Ahaz, that God has
sent His word to us. The scripture says, to whom much
is given, much is required. And you and I, all of us here
in this place today, we have been given much. We have been
given much in that we have been given the gospel, the name of
Jesus Christ, Emmanuel. Now the next place is in the
next chapter, chapter 8. So the sign was, let me go back,
let me, the sign was even though this king was threatened, and
he was afraid, and humanly speaking, these two other kings would have
destroyed him and his kingdom. But the sign is this kingdom
is not going to pass away until Shiloh comes, until Immanuel
comes. It would not be possible. All
the armies of the earth, all the superpowers of the earth,
could not destroy the nation of Judah until the virgin conceived
and brought forth a son. Why? Because it had been prophesied
even before. Jacob, the scepter shall not
depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh
come, and listen, And unto him shall the gathering of the people
be. Unto him, unto Shiloh, unto Emmanuel,
this one who was conceived of a virgin. Unto him shall the
gathering of the people be. What people? His people. His people. The scripture says,
in the day of thy power, thy people shall be willing. God saves sinners. It's God's
work. But part of that work is in making
men and women willing to be saved, desirous to be saved, seeking
after a Savior, looking for Christ. No one has ever been saved who
did not wish to be saved. He so works upon the heart. The Scripture says that Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. He said, no man can
come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him. And
he does draw each and every one of his people to Christ. But the sign that was given was
that the nation of Judah, it was not possible that it be destroyed
until Immanuel was born. Now the second place is in chapter
8. One page over. Chapter 8 and
verse 8. And it's a similar situation. It says, And he shall pass through
Judah. He shall overflow and go over. He shall reach even to the neck,
and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth
of thy land, O Immanuel. And this is the king of Assyria.
He would come through the land of Judah, but notice it's called
Immanuel's land. Now why is it called Immanuel's
land? Because it was here that he would
be born. Remember the prophet Micah, one
of the minor prophets. He told us, or he told the people
where Christ would be born. He would be born in Bethlehem,
the city of David. Daniel, the prophet, told when
the Messiah would be born. And yes, this land was called
Emmanuel's land because it was here that he would be born. He
would go about doing good, as we read, healing all manner of
diseases. He would, in Emmanuel's land,
honor God's law perfectly, establishing that righteousness that He imputes
unto all who believe. And it was in Emmanuel's land,
that is outside the gates of Jerusalem, that Emmanuel would
die upon the cross. Now the third place is in the
New Testament, if you turn with me to Matthew chapter 1. So these
are the three places in the scripture where we have this name, Emmanuel. Isaiah chapter 7, Isaiah chapter
8, and Matthew chapter 1. And I'll 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 privately. 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 in
her is of the Holy Ghost. What was the sign? A virgin shall
conceive and bring forth a son. And the angel explains in a dream
to Joseph that the one Mary to whom he was, what we would say,
engaged, she was with child. And because she was engaged to
Joseph, he could have had her put away. He could have disgraced
her publicly. But no, her child is the child
conceived by the Holy Spirit. Fear not to take unto thee Mary
thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. A virgin shall bring forth a
child. And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus. And you notice in your
Bible that each of the letters in that name is capitalized,
which tells us this is the name Jehovah. Jehovah. Jehovah is Savior. For he shall save his people.
His people. There we are again. His people. The gathering of the people shall
be unto Him. What people? His people. Those
who were given unto Him by the Father. Those that He came into
this world to save. Those who believe and trust in
Him as Lord and Savior. Now, notice verse 22. Now all this was done that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
we read it just a moment ago, prophet Isaiah, 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. In this place we are given the
meaning, the definition of the name Immanuel. What does it mean? It means God with us. And this morning I want to bring
five truths to us about Immanuel, who is God with us. First, Immanuel,
who is God with us, is the one who is both God and man. Emmanuel, God with us. Emmanuel is the one who is both
God and man. Now the Gospel of John begins
by declaring the eternal Son of God, the Word was with God
and the Word was God. And then it says, and the Word
was made flesh. When you hear the word flesh,
Most commonly, we think about our bodies made of flesh. But
in this instance, when it says the Word was made flesh, it means
that He, the eternal Word, the eternal Son of God, was made
man. That is all that makes up man,
both flesh, yes, body, but also soul. He took into union with
His eternal person, that body and soul which was prepared him
by the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary." The fact that He was made
flesh means really the only difference between, and it's a big difference,
big difference, but the only difference between the Lord Jesus
Christ as far as His humanity is concerned and you and I is
He was without sin. He knew no sin. And it's amazing, truly, the
incarnation when God came into this world as a man. One of the
greatest miracles, and it is beyond our comprehension, I understand
that, how He is both God and man in one person. So much man that the scripture
says that he increased as a boy at 12 years of age. He went with
Mary and Joseph back to Nazareth, and the scripture says that he
increased in wisdom and stature. It's easy for us to understand
how he increased in stature, isn't it? He was born just to
span long just about 20 inches long, I would imagine, and he
increased in stature to a full-grown man. But the fact that he had
a reasonable soul, he increased in wisdom as well. In wisdom
and stature and grew in favor with both God and man. And he experienced in this world
all of the things that are common to you and I, All of those sinless
infirmities that man may experience. You know what it is to grow weary,
don't you? To be working, to be traveling.
He traveled by foot, didn't he? By walking from one place to
another and becoming weary. Can you imagine this? This is
God. This is God who upholds all things
by the word of His power and yet as man. The scripture says
he sat on the well, on the side of the well there in Sychar,
being weary with his journey. We know that when he was in the
desert being tested by Satan, he became hungry. That's something
that we experience. And also on the cross, he said,
I thirst. So the things that are common,
sinless things that are common to humanity, the Lord Jesus Christ
experienced. This is Emmanuel, God with us,
the one who is both God and man. Secondly, Emmanuel, who is God
with us, is the one mediator between God and men. Now, I think all men recognize
what the Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians when he said, now a
mediator is not of one. In other words, you, by yourself,
you don't need a mediator. You don't need a mediator with
yourself because you are, you are yourself. A mediator is only
necessary when there are at least two persons, at least two parties. And the Lord Jesus Christ, Emmanuel,
who is God with us, is the one mediator between God and man. You know, the Old Testament saint,
the Old Testament saint named Job, in the midst of all of his
suffering, in the midst of his trial, he recognized that he
needed a daisman, what he called a daisman, which is a mediator. And the only way this daisman
would serve, this mediator would serve, was that he might lay
his hand upon us both. In other words, we need a mediator
who can lay his hand upon God and lay his hand upon us. Emmanuel, who is God with us,
is the one and only mediator between God and man. As man,
the scripture declares that we have all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Now we need a mediator. We need
a go-between. We need someone who, yes, has
a ear of God and also can sympathize with us. We know that the Lord
Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, is that one person. You know the Apostle
Paul, he declared, for there's one God and one mediator between
God and man. And then he emphasized this fact,
the man Christ Jesus. The man Christ Jesus, this Emmanuel
who is God with us. He's the one mediator between
God and men. All of the blessings that God
has for sinners, and that's what we all are. All of the blessings
such as forgiveness of sins, such as pardon, such as adoption
into the family of God. All of the blessings that we
need as sinners and that God has for sinners, they are all
mediated to us through the man, the God-man, Emmanuel, God with
us. As someone said, and this is
so, God will not speak to us, or be spoken to us by us, except
through a Mediator. Let me say that again. God will
not speak to us, or be spoken to us by us, except through the
one Mediator. The fact that He is both God
and man. He is the daisman who lays his
hand upon us both, that is, upon God and men. Now the church, the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ is called His bride. I would never say
anything to speak bad about the church, but the church is not
the mediator between God and men. The church cannot mediate
forgiveness of sins. There's only one who is able
to do that. The Virgin Mary, I would not
say anything evil or derogatory toward her, but she cannot mediate
between God and men. There's one mediator. between
God and man, the man, Christ Jesus. Emmanuel, God with us. Baptism, we know that's an ordinance. The Lord's Supper, we know that's
another ordinance that God has given to His church, but these
are ordinances. They cannot mediate. They cannot
impart grace. That's the reason we do not refer
to the Lord's table as a sacrament. There's one and only one that
is able to impart grace to a sinner, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ,
Him alone. Third, Emmanuel, who is God with
us, is the one sin-atoning sacrifice. Emmanuel, who is God with us,
is the one sin-atoning sacrifice. Did you know the word atone literally
means to cover? To cover. And it is the blood
of Him who is both God and man. It is His blood, His blood alone,
that effectually covers the sins of His people. That was pictured
in the tabernacle in the Old Testament by the mercy seat. Now the mercy seat was pure gold,
but the mercy seat upon it, rather, was sprinkled the blood. It was
a bloody mercy seat that covered, covered what? It covered the
law. The Ten Commandments of God was
in that Ark of the Covenant. But think of this, that was the
law that you and I have broken. And the Scripture says to be
guilty in one point is to be guilty of all. You and I have
broken every commandment of God. And the only way that is covered
is by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Mercy Seat. God told the
nation of Israel that he would meet with them at the mercy seat,
and only at the mercy seat. In the New Testament, Christ
is declared to be our mercy seat. The word atone. Emmanuel, who
is God with us, is the one sin atoning sacrifice. As I said,
the word atone means to cover. In the prophecy of Isaiah, God
declared, I have blotted out, I have blotted out as a thick
cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins. Return unto
me, for I have redeemed thee. Sing, O you heavens, for the
Lord hath done it. you lower parts of the earth,
break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every
tree therein. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob
and glorified himself in Israel." God in Christ, the one sin-atoning
sacrifice, Emmanuel, he has redeemed Israel, that is, his chosen people. He has redeemed Jacob, and in
doing so, He glorified Himself. When the Lord Jesus Christ died
upon the cross, He glorified God. He satisfied God in our stead
and in our place. The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter
3 declared, God, God with us, Emmanuel, Emmanuel,
God has set forth to be the propitiation for our sins. The word propitiation
means to appease. And make no mistake about it,
God is holy and God hates sin. God cannot abide sin. And you and I are guilty of sin. And Emmanuel, God with us, God
set forth to be the propitiation for our sins. That is to appease
God on our behalf. Fourth, Emmanuel, who is God
with us, is the one advocate with the Father. If you will
look with me in 1st John just a moment. 1st John chapter 2. 1st John chapter 2. My little
children, these things write unto you that you sin not. And
if any man sin, any man, there's no man that doeth good and sinneth
not. Even those who are justified,
even those who are redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
there's no living as long as we are in this body without sin. Now what happens when a believer
sins? Does he lose his salvation? Must
he be saved again? Must Christ come again into this
world and die for him? Of course not. John says if any
man sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ,
the righteous, who is the propitiation for our sins. Now when we think
of Emmanuel, who is God with us, as the one advocate with
the Father, we recognize today where he is. Where he is, he's
at the Father's right hand. And he's there as the advocate
for his people. What does that mean, as the advocate
for his people? When you sin, if you are a child
of God, and I know you're not proud of that, and as John said
in his exhortation, these things write unto you that you sin not. Don't sin. Flee from sin. Turn away from sin. Run from
sin. Yes, that's what the scriptures
teach us to do. But we're not always successful,
are we? And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ, Emmanuel,
is our advocate. When one of His children, when
one of the believers sins, He doesn't deny that we have sinned. He's not an advocate for sins,
but for sinners. And I point this out, John, the
Apostle John, who's known as the Apostle of Love, he said,
we, we, if any man sin, we. You never go to the point spiritually
in this world where you may not fall into sin, do not fall into
sin. But when you do, we have an advocate
with the Father. He does not advocate for sins,
but for sinners. For sinners who believe and trust
in Him as their Lord and Savior. You know, I've met people over
the years, they make an issue out of this. Well, you shouldn't
call God's people sinners. We're saints. Well, we are saints. But I don't know about you. I
think I do. But we're still sinners. As far
as our practice is concerned. Before God, we're saints. But
in our practice, we know that we do sin. But if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father. And He does not plead
or does not deny our sins, but He pleads that they have been
laid upon Him. When you sin, when I sin, That
sin, those sins, were laid upon Christ at Calvary. And His advocacy is, He pleads
that they were laid upon Him, that He has borne those sins
in His own body on the tree, making satisfaction for them. And now, in justice, they should
not be charged to them. They should not be put to their
account. They should be forgiven, that
they might be comforted. And when you sin, you have distress
in your conscience, yes. And He is our advocate and would
have us to be comforted in remembering that when we confess our sins,
He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. One other thing. Number five,
Emmanuel, who is God with us, is the one great high priest. He's the one great high priest. It's necessary to approach God
that you have a priest. And he is the one great high
priest who is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. You know that word uttermost?
Seeing he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by him. I've heard preachers over the
years play on that word and say guttermost. He's able to save
them to the gutter most. Those who are in the deepest
gutter of sin. That's true. That's true. There's no sinner in this world
that has gone so deep into sin that He is not able to save. You may be here this morning.
I don't know, but you may be here and you might think, well,
my sins are too many. My sin's too great. I've made
such a mess out of my life. There's no hope for me. You're
wrong. You're wrong. We have a great high priest who
is able to save, yes, to the gutter most and to the uttermost,
all as long as we are in this world. He has the power and he
continues. to make intercession for all
who come unto God by Him. Emmanuel, which being interpreted
means God with us. He's not only God with us, but
He's God for us. And when you trust Him as your
Lord and Savior, He's God in you, Christ in you, the hope
of glory. Let's sing a hymn before we're
dismissed in prayer.