WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.000 It was clearly quite the few days for Joseph. 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:12.339 It started with a thunderbolt from his fiancée in verse 18 of chapter 1 of Matthew's Gospel, 00:00:12.339 --> 00:00:14.000 ! 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:22.740 When Jesus' mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found 00:00:22.739 --> 00:00:26.079 to be with child. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:28.959 Joseph knows how babies are conceived. 00:00:28.959 --> 00:00:34.079 He knows that he hasn't done what's necessary for a baby to be conceived, so there's only 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:40.619 one option, betrayal, infidelity. 00:00:40.619 --> 00:00:50.399 You can imagine the mix of emotions, anger, sadness, humiliation. 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:53.359 So he makes his plans to disengage Mary. 00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:56.019 We're told that they were betrothed. 00:00:56.019 --> 00:00:59.420 Betrothal was a bigger deal back then than engagement is today. 00:00:59.420 --> 00:01:02.079 It's not the same thing. 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:07.359 Betrothal was based on both parties actually making legal binding promises, and so it wasn't 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:17.039 just a case of him going, demanding the ring back, and them going their separate ways. 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:26.000 So verse 19, he resolves to divorce her, but he is a righteous man, so he's going to do 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:26.940 it quietly. 00:01:26.940 --> 00:01:31.380 Even in his hurt, he wants to protect her reputation. 00:01:31.380 --> 00:01:34.000 He wants to be discreet. 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:36.000 That's the first thunderbolt. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:39.380 The poor man's head is spinning. 00:01:39.379 --> 00:01:43.920 The future that he thought was going to map out in front of him is going to take a very 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:45.339 different course. 00:01:45.339 --> 00:01:47.339 What are people going to think? 00:01:47.339 --> 00:01:49.340 How is he going to tell the story? 00:01:49.340 --> 00:01:55.939 But while his head is spinning with all of this that's going on, another thunderbolt comes 00:01:55.939 --> 00:01:56.939 his way. 00:01:56.939 --> 00:02:02.859 I can imagine him lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, hasn't been able to sleep much 00:02:02.859 --> 00:02:09.439 because of all that's been going on, and he does finally manage to drift off, and the 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:16.780 effulgence of heavenly glory flashes across his trembling body and speaks to him. 00:02:16.780 --> 00:02:23.219 Verse 20, Joseph, son of David, have I not got enough to worry about at the minute? 00:02:23.219 --> 00:02:28.000 If I could have not got enough on my mind? 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:36.620 Do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy 00:02:36.620 --> 00:02:37.620 Spirit. 00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:40.120 It is quite a few days. 00:02:40.120 --> 00:02:42.120 Well, we're not told how long it is. 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:47.020 It might have been longer than that, but it's been quite a period for him. 00:02:47.020 --> 00:02:53.020 Initially, he thinks that his fiancé has been unfaithful because there can be no alternative 00:02:53.020 --> 00:02:59.680 and then he gets a visitation from one of the heavenly angels to tell him that it's actually 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:09.939 a miraculous conception in the womb of his fiancé and that God is at work in this whole thing. 00:03:09.939 --> 00:03:16.439 The story of Advent this season that we're in at the moment is the story of the extraordinary 00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:19.379 breaking into the ordinary. 00:03:19.379 --> 00:03:26.139 God the Holy Spirit has acted miraculously in the womb of this girl, Mary of Nazareth. 00:03:26.139 --> 00:03:30.099 But this morning, in what will be a familiar passage to many of us, what I want to do as 00:03:30.099 --> 00:03:36.319 we dig into it is to consider a theme that I think runs through everybody involved, and 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:37.719 the theme is this. 00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:40.879 It is the theme of incredible humility. 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:44.219 The humility that we see all the way through this passage. 00:03:44.219 --> 00:03:47.639 And that starts with, number one, our first point, the humility of God. 00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:51.859 If we can say that, the humility of God. 00:03:51.859 --> 00:03:55.599 What is taking place here is most clearly seen in verse 23. 00:03:55.599 --> 00:03:57.639 Look at verse 23, verse 22. 00:03:57.639 --> 00:04:01.120 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:09.039 Verse 23, behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:15.300 which means God with us. 00:04:15.300 --> 00:04:23.259 The human life growing in Mary's womb is conceived by God in order that God would come and dwell 00:04:23.259 --> 00:04:25.800 among his people. 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:30.860 It was promised centuries earlier by Isaiah the prophet, as we've been hearing in the evenings 00:04:30.860 --> 00:04:32.040 over the last few weeks. 00:04:32.040 --> 00:04:40.980 The heavenly spokesman is telling Joseph that this baby is the divine Son of God. 00:04:40.980 --> 00:04:43.939 Joy to the world! 00:04:43.939 --> 00:04:46.879 The Lord is come! 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:49.680 We sing that theology every Advent season. 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:52.680 We'll sing it at our carol services. 00:04:52.680 --> 00:04:55.459 He's pleased as man with man to dwell. 00:04:55.459 --> 00:04:58.600 Jesus our Emmanuel. 00:04:58.600 --> 00:05:00.840 We sing it, but it washes over us. 00:05:00.840 --> 00:05:02.900 The magnitude of it washes over us. 00:05:02.900 --> 00:05:07.860 Stop for a moment and think of the humility. 00:05:07.860 --> 00:05:18.160 Without any loss of deity, the uncreated, all-powerful creator of the universe took on a human nature, 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:22.620 took on flesh and blood. 00:05:22.620 --> 00:05:25.399 Here's how the theologian J.R. Packer puts it, quote, 00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:27.280 God became man. 00:05:27.280 --> 00:05:30.120 The divine Son became a Jew. 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:35.800 The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:41.860 stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like 00:05:41.860 --> 00:05:43.459 any other child. 00:05:43.459 --> 00:05:46.759 The babyhood of the Son of God was a reality. 00:05:46.759 --> 00:05:50.579 The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. 00:05:50.579 --> 00:05:57.539 Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as the truth of the Incarnation. 00:05:57.539 --> 00:06:02.219 I would suggest that nothing in fiction also or anywhere else for that matter displays greater 00:06:02.219 --> 00:06:04.920 humility than this. 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:12.340 God becoming man in all the weakness and dependence of a baby. 00:06:12.340 --> 00:06:18.200 The supreme miracle of the Incarnation has at its heart infinite condescension. 00:06:18.200 --> 00:06:23.860 From the highest heights to the lowest lows, the humility of God. 00:06:23.860 --> 00:06:26.639 I keep saying it's a miracle, the miraculous, the supernatural. 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:31.080 I keep saying that because that's exactly what it is. 00:06:31.080 --> 00:06:34.900 I want to say if you're here this morning and you're looking into the Christian faith and 00:06:34.900 --> 00:06:40.480 you have difficulties with this concept of miracles, although I will say that's an issue 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:43.680 that I come up against less and less in our day. 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:46.060 We're much more comfortable with the supernatural nowadays. 00:06:46.060 --> 00:06:51.280 We know that the world is a magical place that is beyond our control and things happen that 00:06:51.280 --> 00:06:52.459 we can't explain. 00:06:52.459 --> 00:06:54.360 We know that. 00:06:54.360 --> 00:06:58.879 But if these are issues for you, the fact that you see in the Gospels Jesus walking on 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:05.519 water, healing the sick, raising the dead, well let me encourage you. 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:08.519 Start first of all with the Incarnation. 00:07:08.519 --> 00:07:12.560 Interrogate the Christmas story. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:13.500 Here's Packer again. 00:07:13.500 --> 00:07:18.740 It is from misbelief about the Incarnation that difficulties at other points in the Gospel 00:07:18.740 --> 00:07:21.220 story usually spring. 00:07:21.220 --> 00:07:26.300 But once the Incarnation, that is the theological word that we use to describe God taking on 00:07:26.300 --> 00:07:34.300 human flesh, once the Incarnation is grasped as a reality, these other difficulties dissolve. 00:07:34.300 --> 00:07:40.019 He's saying if there is a God, look, if there's no God, there's no conversation. 00:07:40.019 --> 00:07:41.019 He doesn't exist. 00:07:41.019 --> 00:07:43.379 He couldn't humble himself to be born as a baby. 00:07:43.379 --> 00:07:50.620 But if there is a God, and he has supernaturally taken on human nature, being born that first 00:07:50.620 --> 00:07:55.139 Christmas, why should it be a problem for him to do any of the other miracles that we 00:07:55.139 --> 00:07:56.560 see him do? 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:04.800 If you do have a question about miracles, interrogate the Christmas story. 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:13.800 This story tells us that God the Son took on humanity in Jesus the Son of God. 00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:21.040 God the Son took on humanity in Jesus the Son of God, and he did it in order to come to you 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:22.040 and me. 00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:26.560 Now, there are a few things that necessarily follow from this. 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:27.560 The first is this. 00:08:27.560 --> 00:08:28.800 The first is this. 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:33.799 This means that God is really not far away. 00:08:33.799 --> 00:08:36.799 God is really not far away. 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:46.599 Back in the 80s, which I remember well, my decade, Sting or Police, the band, wrote a song. 00:08:47.439 --> 00:08:48.839 The song was called, Oh My God. 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:54.639 They say this, Everyone I know is lonely, and God is so far away, and my heart belongs to no one. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:09:01.600 So now, sometimes I pray, please take the space between us and fill it up some way. 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:05.220 Take the space between us and fill it up some way. 00:09:06.440 --> 00:09:07.519 Do you know that feeling? 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:14.259 Especially when our culture is as turbulent as it is at the minute. 00:09:14.259 --> 00:09:20.340 Especially when our lives are such a struggle, and in many cases our pain is so real. 00:09:22.340 --> 00:09:30.980 When life is hard, we are at least tempted to ask the question, Where are you, God? 00:09:34.659 --> 00:09:36.500 You seem so far away. 00:09:37.340 --> 00:09:39.840 There is this vast space between us. 00:09:39.939 --> 00:09:40.840 Where are you? 00:09:40.840 --> 00:09:47.300 Christmas tells us that He isn't far away. 00:09:47.300 --> 00:09:49.180 In fact, the opposite is true. 00:09:50.460 --> 00:09:54.920 In the one born at Christmas, the infinite became finite. 00:09:56.040 --> 00:09:58.300 The invisible became visible. 00:09:58.660 --> 00:10:02.580 Emmanuel is God with us. 00:10:05.700 --> 00:10:07.400 God is really not far away. 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:11.759 The second implication is that God then can be really known. 00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:14.439 You can really know God. 00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:20.819 Of all the things that God gives us, of the benefits that come to us from our relationship with Him, 00:10:20.860 --> 00:10:24.879 and there are many, and we'll hear about some of those a bit further on in the passage, 00:10:25.620 --> 00:10:29.840 here we see that supremely above all of that, God gives us Himself. 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:33.080 We get God. 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:39.139 So often we talk about God, we talk about the benefits that He brings into our lives. 00:10:39.740 --> 00:10:42.160 A bit like He's something of a service provider. 00:10:43.100 --> 00:10:47.460 With Vodafone, you get extra this, and you get super-duper that. 00:10:48.019 --> 00:10:51.160 Well, with God, you get all these great life-changing things. 00:10:51.399 --> 00:10:52.220 And that's true. 00:10:52.220 --> 00:10:53.259 That is true. 00:10:53.500 --> 00:10:54.860 We'll see that in a moment. 00:10:55.480 --> 00:11:00.440 But above all of the things that God gives, God gives Himself. 00:11:02.500 --> 00:11:03.580 It's like marriage. 00:11:05.180 --> 00:11:12.740 When my wife Louisa married me, she got care and affection, and she got protection, she got a provider, 00:11:12.899 --> 00:11:15.700 she got a long list of great things. 00:11:15.700 --> 00:11:21.280 But above all of that, she got me. 00:11:23.060 --> 00:11:25.020 And she's very, very thankful. 00:11:26.580 --> 00:11:28.160 She reminds me all the time. 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:31.180 But that's true in marriage, isn't it? 00:11:31.180 --> 00:11:32.840 In marriage, ultimately, you get the person. 00:11:33.340 --> 00:11:34.980 You get the things, but you get the person. 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:37.120 And that's actually what you want. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:47.379 Well, in Jesus, the ineffable, unapproachable God becomes a human being who can be known and loved. 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:51.100 And through faith, we can know His love. 00:11:52.460 --> 00:11:53.659 Because we can know Him. 00:11:55.139 --> 00:12:00.700 If you're not a Christian, putting your faith in Jesus Christ, yes, you will get forgiveness for sin. 00:12:00.779 --> 00:12:01.840 You will get eternal life. 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:03.000 You will get peace with God. 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:03.039 You will get God. 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:07.879 Astonishing, life-changing things, but above everything else, you get God. 00:12:10.019 --> 00:12:14.139 And if you're a Christian, God has given Himself to you. 00:12:16.500 --> 00:12:20.899 In Christ and by His Holy Spirit, God has given Himself to you. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:24.279 The incarnation means that you can really know God. 00:12:26.820 --> 00:12:32.879 By the way, in setting aside the glory of heaven to become human means that true godliness follows that same pattern. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:44.940 Whatever our situation, however privileged or ambitious you might be, Christmas tells you to go to the people without power, without money, the unlovely and the ordinary people like Mary and to serve them. 00:12:45.779 --> 00:12:50.639 The humility of God should be visibly reflected in the lives of His people. 00:12:53.019 --> 00:12:54.600 God is really not far away. 00:12:54.759 --> 00:12:56.620 God can be really known. 00:12:56.620 --> 00:12:57.620 God gives you hope. 00:12:57.620 --> 00:13:01.820 God gives you real hope. 00:13:02.659 --> 00:13:04.560 Because of this, God gives you real hope. 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:06.279 We see this hope in the name. 00:13:06.379 --> 00:13:07.080 Verse 23. 00:13:07.620 --> 00:13:12.060 We heard this in Isaiah 7 a couple of evenings ago, but it's worth repeating. 00:13:12.259 --> 00:13:12.740 Emmanuel. 00:13:13.980 --> 00:13:15.580 God enters our world. 00:13:15.899 --> 00:13:19.279 He breaks into the ordinary and the broken with a goal in view. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:22.100 And that goal is that He has come to put things right. 00:13:24.819 --> 00:13:29.579 Across this city, as we are gathering here, children are suffering. 00:13:30.079 --> 00:13:31.179 Marriages are crumbling. 00:13:31.779 --> 00:13:33.919 Lives are being lost to terminal diseases. 00:13:34.419 --> 00:13:38.379 Dementia is robbing loved ones of the family members they once knew. 00:13:38.919 --> 00:13:42.199 Livelihoods are being ruined by addiction or exploitation. 00:13:42.679 --> 00:13:46.879 And all the rest, even as we gather here, those things are going on. 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:49.139 Life is hard. 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:52.320 Expressions of that are true in all of our lives. 00:13:52.439 --> 00:13:53.439 Life is hard. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:59.200 When I see an addict in the street, zonked on whatever it is they take, I get why they do it. 00:13:59.480 --> 00:14:00.039 I get it. 00:14:00.460 --> 00:14:02.740 Just get me out of this mess for a moment. 00:14:04.519 --> 00:14:07.480 This time of year, Christmas parties that get out of hand. 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:10.720 I can see why people blow out the way they do. 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:14.740 Just let me forget my complicated life just for one night. 00:14:14.740 --> 00:14:20.899 Even something as banal and trite as Christmas playlists. 00:14:21.639 --> 00:14:23.080 I can see why we do it. 00:14:23.460 --> 00:14:25.220 Just distract me for a while. 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:32.820 Let me go off into this fantasy land of trite Christmas songs just so that I can forget about 00:14:32.820 --> 00:14:35.740 this harsh and difficult life for a moment. 00:14:35.740 --> 00:14:39.379 The Christmas story changes all of that. 00:14:40.419 --> 00:14:47.700 The Christmas story completely reorients our perspective because God has come down to put all of that right. 00:14:49.259 --> 00:14:51.659 And that gives us all real hope. 00:14:52.019 --> 00:14:52.840 Real hope. 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:56.580 Not just cross your fingers, hope for the best, but real hope. 00:14:56.580 --> 00:15:01.360 And the way he does this then flows from our next point. 00:15:01.460 --> 00:15:03.480 The second expression of humility in the passage. 00:15:04.360 --> 00:15:05.900 Point number one, the humility of God. 00:15:06.020 --> 00:15:07.480 Second point, the humility of Jesus. 00:15:07.639 --> 00:15:08.240 Verse 21. 00:15:10.040 --> 00:15:15.660 It would have been humble and astonishing enough if the Son of God had come to us. 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:18.040 If he'd lived for a while and then left. 00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:21.200 Perhaps leaving us a set of teaching to follow. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:24.860 Perhaps here is a moral code that I've brought you from heaven. 00:15:25.220 --> 00:15:25.879 Follow this. 00:15:28.340 --> 00:15:29.900 But his plans were far bigger. 00:15:31.040 --> 00:15:33.259 And this is where the child's name is significant. 00:15:33.400 --> 00:15:33.900 Verse 21. 00:15:34.140 --> 00:15:42.620 She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:47.220 Jesus means the Lord saves. 00:15:47.220 --> 00:16:17.200 Jesus means the Lord saves. 00:16:17.220 --> 00:16:21.860 Jesus means the Savior that you think you need from the hell that you fear. 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:29.660 What you value is the Savior that you think you need to save you from the hell that you fear. 00:16:31.180 --> 00:16:32.259 Retailers know this. 00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:35.660 That's why they spend so much on advertising. 00:16:35.820 --> 00:16:41.920 Because what they're doing is trying to convince us that their product will save us from our perceived hell. 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:55.019 Now whether that hell is just being ordinary or lonely or poor or uneducated or badly dressed or unemployed or low self-esteem or whatever it is, 00:16:55.059 --> 00:16:56.120 you can take your pick. 00:16:56.419 --> 00:16:58.979 That's the hell and their product is the Savior. 00:16:58.980 --> 00:17:02.060 That's what they're selling us. 00:17:02.620 --> 00:17:08.559 Here is the thing that will rescue you from the very thing that you fear more than anything else. 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:16.759 Christmas has better news for us than that, but it starts with worse news. 00:17:17.799 --> 00:17:19.359 The worst news is this. 00:17:19.980 --> 00:17:21.879 Those things aren't our biggest problem. 00:17:22.639 --> 00:17:24.359 We have a much bigger problem. 00:17:24.359 --> 00:17:33.599 The bad news is that whatever we think our perceived hell is, we can't get the Savior ourselves. 00:17:34.659 --> 00:17:37.179 And our biggest problem is our sin. 00:17:38.659 --> 00:17:43.839 And by sin, we're not saying being like the bad guys. 00:17:43.939 --> 00:17:47.519 Whoever your version of the bad guys are, you know the people that you point at and say, 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:48.819 those people, they're sinners. 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:50.259 That's not it. 00:17:50.980 --> 00:17:56.559 Nor are we saying, as people tend to at this time of year, that sin is a bit of a sinful pleasure. 00:17:56.619 --> 00:17:57.599 Oh, that was a bit naughty. 00:17:57.900 --> 00:17:59.839 Oh, you know, a bit of a sinful pleasure. 00:17:59.940 --> 00:18:00.740 We're not saying that. 00:18:00.859 --> 00:18:01.019 No. 00:18:01.420 --> 00:18:04.819 Sin is rejecting God in the world that He has made. 00:18:05.559 --> 00:18:08.920 Sin is taking God's good things and using them for ourselves. 00:18:09.960 --> 00:18:13.779 Sin is making us the center of the world. 00:18:13.779 --> 00:18:13.859 Sin is making us the center of the world. 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:21.160 And living like that leads to all the problems that we face. 00:18:22.139 --> 00:18:26.480 You see, if we can go back a stage and recognize that our problem is deeper, 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:31.660 and be honest with ourselves and recognize that if God defines the problem, 00:18:32.220 --> 00:18:37.019 the biggest problem that all of us have is that we have lived according to our rules in His world, 00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:38.700 and He is angry about that. 00:18:38.700 --> 00:18:43.799 If we can admit that, well, then all of a sudden, we're open to the good news. 00:18:45.460 --> 00:18:49.539 Sin isn't just that our lives get messed up. 00:18:49.580 --> 00:18:51.860 It is that we have rejected God and His world. 00:18:53.319 --> 00:18:57.779 In fact, when you think of anything sad or bad or messy or difficult in your life, 00:18:57.819 --> 00:19:03.420 it can be traced back to the selfishness that lies at the heart of the problem of sin. 00:19:03.420 --> 00:19:09.120 But Jesus then comes to fix that. 00:19:09.840 --> 00:19:10.820 That's the good news. 00:19:12.420 --> 00:19:19.600 Christmas is God breaking into the world so that He, in the person of His Son, 00:19:20.980 --> 00:19:23.660 can live the life that we should have lived but didn't, 00:19:25.160 --> 00:19:28.200 can die the death then that our sin deserves, 00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:35.759 and can rise again in vindication and victory, defeating death for His people. 00:19:37.420 --> 00:19:40.519 See, God doesn't just humble Himself by becoming a man, 00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:43.720 but in Christ He goes further. 00:19:44.259 --> 00:19:49.080 He humbles Himself to the lowest point, to death, 00:19:49.900 --> 00:19:54.680 and the lowest form of death, death by crucifixion. 00:19:54.680 --> 00:20:01.580 He lays down His life to save us from our greatest enemy, our sin. 00:20:01.900 --> 00:20:06.420 The news about us, by nature, is far worse than we want to admit. 00:20:08.779 --> 00:20:13.660 It is, we cannot fix ourselves according to our own efforts. 00:20:14.140 --> 00:20:15.560 No one else can do it for us. 00:20:15.660 --> 00:20:17.400 No other human being can do it for us. 00:20:17.539 --> 00:20:19.480 We can't buy our way out of our problem. 00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:21.720 We can't influence our way out of our problem. 00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:27.940 No, we need God to fix it for us, and He has come at Christmas with that goal in mind. 00:20:29.100 --> 00:20:34.400 The One who is born in the manger has come to save us from our sin. 00:20:34.519 --> 00:20:35.440 And here's the thing. 00:20:36.059 --> 00:20:39.620 Because of that, you can be forgiven, and so can I. 00:20:40.140 --> 00:20:44.299 You can know peace with God, and so can I. 00:20:44.500 --> 00:20:46.779 You can be redeemed from the power of sin. 00:20:47.059 --> 00:20:49.100 You can be cleansed and made new. 00:20:49.099 --> 00:20:56.319 You can experience joy even through the hardest times because you have been given new life for eternity. 00:20:56.959 --> 00:21:00.719 The worst that can happen to you in this life is that you die. 00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:05.159 And death for the Christian is no longer a problem. 00:21:05.379 --> 00:21:07.740 It is a bump in the road for eternity. 00:21:08.039 --> 00:21:14.699 However long we get here, whether it is moments, days, weeks, or a long life. 00:21:14.700 --> 00:21:16.000 What would we call a long life? 00:21:16.059 --> 00:21:16.480 A hundred? 00:21:16.779 --> 00:21:17.700 A hundred and five? 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:19.680 How old is the oldest person in the world? 00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:20.080 I don't know. 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:21.460 Not much more than a hundred. 00:21:22.600 --> 00:21:29.360 It's just a tiny little flash in respect to eternity. 00:21:30.740 --> 00:21:34.940 And so however long we get, when we cross that line, when our physical life dies, 00:21:34.940 --> 00:21:40.920 for the Christian, we have an eternity open before us because God came at Christmas, 00:21:41.160 --> 00:21:46.680 and Christ humbled himself to die for our sins and to rise victorious. 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:50.880 In the Old Testament, God visited his people in a pillar of fire, 00:21:51.259 --> 00:21:53.720 or he came as a hurricane in the book of Job. 00:21:54.039 --> 00:21:57.740 When Moses asked to see God, he was told that he could only see his back 00:21:57.740 --> 00:22:02.759 because he was so holy it would have killed Moses to see God face to face. 00:22:04.339 --> 00:22:08.700 But in the incarnation, God visits us as a person. 00:22:08.980 --> 00:22:09.799 Why does he do it? 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:12.220 Why does he do it like that? 00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:14.680 Well, because on this occasion, he hasn't come to bring judgment, 00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:19.140 but to bear it, to pay for our sins as a human. 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:22.259 That was the only way he could do it for humans. 00:22:22.259 --> 00:22:27.440 He could bear that sin as a human in our place and reconcile us to God. 00:22:27.700 --> 00:22:31.180 Jesus' humility brings us near to the God who has come near. 00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:38.839 Because Jesus was humble, we can experience all of those implications of God coming to us. 00:22:39.900 --> 00:22:40.759 Do you know this? 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:42.839 Do you know this? 00:22:43.940 --> 00:22:45.480 Do you believe it for yourself? 00:22:45.480 --> 00:22:52.200 Imagine if Moses was here today and he was listening to this. 00:22:52.539 --> 00:22:55.299 I can imagine that if he heard what I'd said earlier, 00:22:55.400 --> 00:23:00.460 the Christmas story tells us that Jesus is God and Jesus is human and Jesus has come to us, 00:23:00.740 --> 00:23:03.380 he would be amazed at how reserved we all are. 00:23:05.799 --> 00:23:08.559 I could see him say, are you listening to this? 00:23:09.339 --> 00:23:11.000 Do you realize what this means? 00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:14.339 This is the very thing that I wanted and I was denied. 00:23:14.339 --> 00:23:18.439 You can know God and you can know his forgiveness. 00:23:18.659 --> 00:23:21.919 You can come right into his presence without terror. 00:23:23.019 --> 00:23:25.740 I think he would say to us, where is your joy? 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:29.059 Where is the wonder? 00:23:32.339 --> 00:23:34.019 Yes, Moses, I know what you mean. 00:23:34.659 --> 00:23:39.720 It is all very good, but what is all of that if I can't have the things that I want in this life? 00:23:40.379 --> 00:23:41.740 If I can't have them now? 00:23:41.740 --> 00:23:50.000 How many of us have lost the wonder of what this is because we don't have perhaps the life that we want, 00:23:50.240 --> 00:23:53.299 or worse, the life that we feel we deserve? 00:23:55.700 --> 00:23:58.339 Christmas tells us that we can have God. 00:24:00.059 --> 00:24:01.359 We can have God, 00:24:02.059 --> 00:24:05.779 and we need to repent if we think that's not enough. 00:24:05.779 --> 00:24:16.339 If everything is taken from you, everything, whatever, career, health, spouse, children, money, 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:20.440 if all of that is taken from you, but you still have God, 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:22.240 you have enough, 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:24.500 and you have enough for eternity. 00:24:24.500 --> 00:24:30.099 This time, this brief little sojourn that we have, 00:24:30.140 --> 00:24:33.539 it might be painful, hard, a struggle, 00:24:34.059 --> 00:24:35.859 but you have eternity, 00:24:36.220 --> 00:24:38.660 and all of that struggle is on a timer, 00:24:39.779 --> 00:24:42.339 and when you cross the line into eternity and its fullness, 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:43.240 they're gone. 00:24:43.240 --> 00:24:49.000 Well, what about those of us who aren't convinced? 00:24:49.720 --> 00:24:51.539 Perhaps you're here, and you're looking into Jesus, 00:24:51.779 --> 00:24:54.259 and you're drawn to Him, but you're keeping Him at arm's length, 00:24:54.299 --> 00:24:55.460 because, well, let's be honest, 00:24:55.940 --> 00:24:57.859 I've thought about this, I've seen what He says, 00:24:57.980 --> 00:25:00.099 and truth be told, it's inconvenient. 00:25:01.500 --> 00:25:03.220 Because He is God, He has all authority, 00:25:03.319 --> 00:25:04.740 and so you're obliged to obey Him. 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:06.980 That's awkward, if I'm honest. 00:25:07.299 --> 00:25:08.160 It's awkward socially, 00:25:08.380 --> 00:25:09.440 it's awkward culturally, 00:25:09.559 --> 00:25:10.480 it's awkward personally. 00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:14.380 Secondly, well, this is where we need our third example of humility. 00:25:15.559 --> 00:25:17.200 Humility of God, the humility of Jesus, 00:25:17.339 --> 00:25:19.440 and then thirdly, we have the humility of Joseph. 00:25:20.920 --> 00:25:22.059 We're back where he started. 00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:26.299 Think what this is going to mean for him. 00:25:27.099 --> 00:25:28.420 Thunderbolt or no thunderbolt. 00:25:29.380 --> 00:25:31.539 Even though he's convinced by the word of the angel, 00:25:31.640 --> 00:25:33.120 the way ahead isn't going to be easy. 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:35.039 It's a shame and honor culture, 00:25:35.640 --> 00:25:38.440 and, well, people will know that this child 00:25:38.440 --> 00:25:39.920 was not conceived by Joseph, 00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:43.920 when it's born less than nine months after they marry. 00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:46.160 People will start to think, 00:25:46.300 --> 00:25:48.279 hmm, okay, well, either 00:25:48.279 --> 00:25:50.880 she was unfaithful to him, 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:53.100 that would be shameful, 00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:55.980 or they were 00:25:55.980 --> 00:25:58.480 immoral before they were married, 00:25:58.539 --> 00:25:59.800 that would be shameful as well. 00:26:00.860 --> 00:26:01.680 Either way, 00:26:01.900 --> 00:26:03.080 they're going to be excluded, 00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:04.220 and they're going to be rejected. 00:26:05.220 --> 00:26:06.580 How do you think it's going to go down 00:26:06.579 --> 00:26:08.139 with Joseph's friends and family 00:26:08.139 --> 00:26:08.960 when he says, 00:26:09.079 --> 00:26:10.759 no, guys, actually, 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:12.359 she's pregnant by the Holy Spirit? 00:26:13.699 --> 00:26:14.980 People won't fall for that. 00:26:15.939 --> 00:26:17.079 Think he's either gullible, 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:18.879 he's believed her story, 00:26:18.919 --> 00:26:19.599 or he's mad. 00:26:21.939 --> 00:26:23.159 So they're going to suffer, 00:26:23.379 --> 00:26:24.819 socially, culturally, personally. 00:26:24.819 --> 00:26:25.859 But verse 24, 00:26:26.200 --> 00:26:27.119 look at verse 24. 00:26:27.220 --> 00:26:28.419 When Joseph woke from sleep, 00:26:29.599 --> 00:26:31.679 he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. 00:26:32.179 --> 00:26:32.960 He took his wife, 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:34.899 but knew her not 00:26:34.899 --> 00:26:36.500 until she had given birth to a son, 00:26:37.019 --> 00:26:38.779 and he called his name Jesus. 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:41.579 Joseph was humble 00:26:41.579 --> 00:26:42.599 because he understood 00:26:42.599 --> 00:26:44.319 that the stakes were too high 00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:46.220 for him to do anything else. 00:26:46.220 --> 00:26:49.660 You see, here's the thing. 00:26:51.420 --> 00:26:53.700 When you truly grasp 00:26:53.700 --> 00:26:55.360 who Jesus is, 00:26:55.799 --> 00:26:57.460 and when you let the truth 00:26:57.460 --> 00:26:58.559 of what he has done 00:26:58.559 --> 00:27:00.079 get hold of your heart, 00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:02.460 you will humble yourself 00:27:02.460 --> 00:27:03.360 before him. 00:27:04.299 --> 00:27:05.700 Yes, it takes courage 00:27:05.700 --> 00:27:07.100 to follow Christ. 00:27:07.539 --> 00:27:08.360 It takes courage 00:27:08.360 --> 00:27:09.539 to relinquish control, 00:27:09.740 --> 00:27:11.059 to hand over the keys 00:27:11.059 --> 00:27:12.160 of your life. 00:27:13.220 --> 00:27:14.559 And this is especially the case 00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:15.019 in our day 00:27:15.019 --> 00:27:15.980 when the culture is pushing 00:27:15.980 --> 00:27:16.639 the other way. 00:27:16.839 --> 00:27:17.720 It takes courage 00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:19.279 to accept opposition. 00:27:20.460 --> 00:27:21.759 Following Jesus necessarily 00:27:21.759 --> 00:27:23.099 means you need to change. 00:27:23.500 --> 00:27:24.139 It's going to mean 00:27:24.139 --> 00:27:25.160 that you will inevitably 00:27:25.160 --> 00:27:26.819 be unpopular with some people 00:27:26.819 --> 00:27:28.859 because of who he is, 00:27:28.900 --> 00:27:30.440 though you cannot come to Christ 00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:32.240 with any demands or conditions. 00:27:32.539 --> 00:27:33.279 You can't say, 00:27:33.579 --> 00:27:34.339 I will obey you, 00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:35.359 I will follow you, 00:27:35.400 --> 00:27:35.759 if, 00:27:36.639 --> 00:27:37.759 and after the if, 00:27:37.839 --> 00:27:38.859 whatever you put in there 00:27:38.859 --> 00:27:39.480 is not allowed. 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:41.240 You can't do that. 00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:41.960 It doesn't work. 00:27:43.539 --> 00:27:44.839 And it's also the case 00:27:44.839 --> 00:27:45.879 it's also fair to say 00:27:45.879 --> 00:27:46.559 that in our day 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:48.179 the idea of self-denial 00:27:48.179 --> 00:27:49.299 is perhaps 00:27:49.299 --> 00:27:51.119 an act of treachery 00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:53.240 as much as anything else 00:27:53.240 --> 00:27:55.259 is in our culture. 00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:56.559 But that is what we're called to. 00:27:57.699 --> 00:27:58.939 And nothing less than that. 00:28:00.859 --> 00:28:01.659 Above all, though, 00:28:01.659 --> 00:28:02.399 it takes courage 00:28:02.399 --> 00:28:03.839 to admit that you are a sinner. 00:28:06.159 --> 00:28:07.139 When you look yourself 00:28:07.139 --> 00:28:07.639 in the eye, 00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:08.699 are you prepared to say, 00:28:08.839 --> 00:28:09.939 I am a moral failure? 00:28:10.679 --> 00:28:12.339 I do not love God. 00:28:12.339 --> 00:28:13.559 I do not love my neighbor 00:28:13.559 --> 00:28:14.279 as I should. 00:28:14.500 --> 00:28:15.099 I am guilty 00:28:15.099 --> 00:28:16.059 and I need forgiveness 00:28:16.059 --> 00:28:17.720 before I need anything else in life. 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:19.859 Top of the list of my needs 00:28:19.859 --> 00:28:20.539 is forgiveness 00:28:20.539 --> 00:28:21.459 from a holy God 00:28:21.459 --> 00:28:22.539 for living on my terms 00:28:22.539 --> 00:28:23.199 in his world. 00:28:24.119 --> 00:28:25.559 It takes courage to do that. 00:28:26.199 --> 00:28:27.599 It takes courage to do that 00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:28.240 because it means 00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:29.679 giving up your old identity 00:28:29.679 --> 00:28:30.439 and self-image 00:28:30.439 --> 00:28:31.980 and it means being willing 00:28:31.980 --> 00:28:33.319 to receive a new one 00:28:33.319 --> 00:28:34.859 in the Lord Jesus. 00:28:36.199 --> 00:28:37.559 But that is the foundation 00:28:37.559 --> 00:28:39.279 of absolutely everything else 00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:40.919 that Jesus gives us. 00:28:40.920 --> 00:28:42.720 all of the comfort, 00:28:43.580 --> 00:28:44.720 all of the joy, 00:28:45.560 --> 00:28:46.539 all of the hope, 00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:49.340 even the humility 00:28:49.340 --> 00:28:50.480 that we're called to 00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:53.400 as we are to emulate him. 00:28:54.120 --> 00:28:55.560 All of that starts 00:28:55.560 --> 00:28:58.640 with being in Christ, 00:28:59.900 --> 00:29:01.620 being defined by him 00:29:01.620 --> 00:29:03.200 and not by anything else. 00:29:04.039 --> 00:29:05.060 And the truth is, 00:29:05.100 --> 00:29:05.759 all of us, 00:29:06.080 --> 00:29:06.800 wherever we are, 00:29:06.860 --> 00:29:07.720 whether we're considering 00:29:07.720 --> 00:29:08.720 coming to Christ 00:29:08.720 --> 00:29:09.779 or we've been a Christian 00:29:09.779 --> 00:29:10.500 for a long time, 00:29:10.579 --> 00:29:12.480 all of us need this courage 00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:14.039 at one level or another 00:29:14.039 --> 00:29:15.200 and you get the courage 00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:15.859 that we need 00:29:15.859 --> 00:29:17.220 by looking to Jesus. 00:29:19.619 --> 00:29:20.200 You see, 00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:21.180 he is the foundation 00:29:21.180 --> 00:29:22.099 of all of this. 00:29:25.240 --> 00:29:26.960 But it is only by going to him 00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:27.660 in the first place 00:29:27.660 --> 00:29:28.599 that we get the courage, 00:29:29.359 --> 00:29:31.500 looking into his face. 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:33.700 Don't get distracted 00:29:33.700 --> 00:29:35.840 from that this Advent season. 00:29:36.700 --> 00:29:38.440 Whatever busyness is going on, 00:29:38.519 --> 00:29:40.039 whatever celebrations we have, 00:29:40.120 --> 00:29:41.519 yes, enjoy them. 00:29:42.019 --> 00:29:43.380 Yes, we do celebrate. 00:29:43.500 --> 00:29:44.440 Christians should celebrate 00:29:44.440 --> 00:29:45.240 this time of year 00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:46.420 like no one else. 00:29:47.299 --> 00:29:48.180 Light your lights. 00:29:50.539 --> 00:29:51.920 Eat and drink and celebrate, 00:29:52.080 --> 00:29:53.420 but do not lose sight 00:29:53.420 --> 00:29:54.000 of the fact 00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:55.120 that the center of it all 00:29:55.120 --> 00:29:55.920 is the Lord Jesus. 00:29:56.259 --> 00:29:57.360 And if you want to live 00:29:57.360 --> 00:29:58.440 faithfully for him 00:29:58.440 --> 00:29:59.819 in this world, 00:29:59.940 --> 00:30:00.460 go to him. 00:30:00.779 --> 00:30:01.740 Go to him again 00:30:01.740 --> 00:30:03.039 and again and again. 00:30:03.259 --> 00:30:04.160 Always Jesus. 00:30:04.460 --> 00:30:05.319 Only Jesus. 00:30:05.579 --> 00:30:07.000 It is in the face of Jesus 00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:08.299 that we are transformed 00:30:08.299 --> 00:30:10.200 and we get the courage 00:30:10.200 --> 00:30:10.859 and the humility 00:30:10.859 --> 00:30:11.640 that we need. 00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:14.620 When you see who he is, 00:30:14.680 --> 00:30:15.279 when you ponder 00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:16.500 all that he has done for you, 00:30:16.519 --> 00:30:17.299 it changes you. 00:30:17.759 --> 00:30:18.700 It changes your heart. 00:30:19.640 --> 00:30:21.279 It grows in you confidence 00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:22.839 to set aside your sin, 00:30:22.920 --> 00:30:24.180 to stop playing around 00:30:24.180 --> 00:30:25.480 with the Christian life, 00:30:25.480 --> 00:30:27.359 but to go full force 00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:28.120 after Jesus. 00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:30.900 Look to Jesus. 00:30:31.740 --> 00:30:33.000 As you look to him, 00:30:33.079 --> 00:30:35.079 it draws out your love for him. 00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:36.880 It draws out your love for others 00:30:36.880 --> 00:30:38.079 and it enables you 00:30:38.079 --> 00:30:39.000 to put him at the center 00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:39.539 of your life, 00:30:39.620 --> 00:30:41.400 right where he belongs. 00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:43.559 And the more you do that, 00:30:44.460 --> 00:30:46.920 the more you go always to Jesus 00:30:46.920 --> 00:30:48.359 and only to Jesus, 00:30:48.740 --> 00:30:50.200 the more that he is pushed 00:30:50.200 --> 00:30:53.059 by faith into the center 00:30:53.059 --> 00:30:53.700 of your life 00:30:53.700 --> 00:30:55.660 and your sin is squeezed 00:30:55.660 --> 00:30:56.519 out to the sides, 00:30:56.579 --> 00:30:57.480 the more you do that, 00:30:57.539 --> 00:30:58.900 the siren calls of the culture 00:30:58.900 --> 00:30:59.880 won't turn your head. 00:30:59.880 --> 00:31:01.440 In fact, 00:31:01.500 --> 00:31:02.840 you'll be able to sail past 00:31:02.840 --> 00:31:03.980 to safety. 00:31:04.140 --> 00:31:05.160 He will bring you through 00:31:05.160 --> 00:31:06.920 all the way 00:31:06.920 --> 00:31:08.220 to glory. 00:31:08.800 --> 00:31:09.440 Let's pray. 00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:09.480 Let's pray.