WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.700 We're going to begin our worship singing in Psalm 98. 00:00:03.580 --> 00:00:08.199 Psalm number 98 from the Sing Psalms version, that's on page 129. 00:00:10.040 --> 00:00:13.099 The tune is Peterson, we're singing verses 1 to 6. 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:17.440 O sing a new song to the Lord, for wonders he has done. 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:20.960 His right hand and his holy arm the victory have won. 00:00:21.660 --> 00:00:24.320 The Lord declared his saving work and made it to be known. 00:00:24.940 --> 00:00:29.500 To all the nations of the world, his righteousness is shown. 00:00:29.500 --> 00:00:35.539 Page 129 on the Psalm books, and it's Psalm 98, verses 1 to 6. 00:00:59.500 --> 00:01:13.540 The Lord declared his saving work and made it to be known. 00:01:13.540 --> 00:01:23.540 To all the nations of the world, his righteousness is shown. 00:01:25.540 --> 00:01:35.540 His steadfast love and faithfulness, he has remembered well. 00:01:35.540 --> 00:01:45.820 The covenant, he made with them the house of Israel. 00:01:47.260 --> 00:01:57.780 And all the nations of the earth have seen what God has done. 00:01:57.780 --> 00:02:07.780 Our God who brings deliverance by his right hand alone. 00:02:08.780 --> 00:02:18.780 Acclaim the Lord of all the earth, shout loudly and rejoice. 00:02:18.780 --> 00:02:30.780 Make music and be jubilant to him, lift up your voice. 00:02:30.780 --> 00:02:40.780 With heart make music to the Lord, with heart his praises sing. 00:02:40.780 --> 00:02:51.780 With trumpet and with heart rejoice before the Lord, the King. 00:02:55.780 --> 00:02:59.759 Let's join together briefly for a word of prayer before the children go through. 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:06.399 Almighty God, we thank you today that we come gathered in your name. 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:08.939 The name that is above every name. 00:03:09.579 --> 00:03:10.500 The name of the Lord. 00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:13.739 We pray today, Lord, for your blessing as we gather. 00:03:14.519 --> 00:03:17.719 And for your blessing upon this day which is so special to your people. 00:03:18.439 --> 00:03:21.299 A day that you have set apart from the time of creation. 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:24.379 So that it will be a day kept holy to the Lord. 00:03:24.379 --> 00:03:27.960 Lord, we ask your blessing today to be with our young people. 00:03:28.819 --> 00:03:30.579 Bless the children here today, O Lord. 00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:34.620 Grant them your blessing as they once again come to meet together. 00:03:34.740 --> 00:03:38.740 And come to enjoy the teaching of your word delivered to them. 00:03:39.259 --> 00:03:40.019 We pray for them. 00:03:40.099 --> 00:03:42.519 We pray that you would keep them safe in the world. 00:03:43.219 --> 00:03:49.500 We pray that you would, Lord, keep them safe from all the evil that is in the world. 00:03:49.500 --> 00:03:54.800 And from the way in which so many influences are brought to be upon young lives. 00:03:54.879 --> 00:03:57.259 To lead them away from the things of God. 00:03:57.780 --> 00:03:59.539 Establish them in your truth, we pray. 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:01.500 And continue to bless them. 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:05.039 Be with us now and pardon our sin for Jesus' sake. 00:04:05.580 --> 00:04:05.920 Amen. 00:04:08.340 --> 00:04:09.139 Okay, children. 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:13.240 I was going to say to you just now. 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:16.199 400 years from now. 00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:17.860 500 years from now even. 00:04:17.860 --> 00:04:22.540 This church will have a certain number of people. 00:04:23.620 --> 00:04:26.439 And then I would tell you the names of each one of those. 00:04:27.020 --> 00:04:30.160 500 years from now that will be sitting in this church. 00:04:31.020 --> 00:04:32.080 Would you believe that? 00:04:33.639 --> 00:04:35.280 Would you find that easy to believe? 00:04:35.500 --> 00:04:36.460 No, of course you wouldn't. 00:04:37.660 --> 00:04:39.660 How do we know how many people will be here? 00:04:40.180 --> 00:04:41.379 500 years from now. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:43.740 How do we even know there will be a building here? 00:04:44.199 --> 00:04:45.560 500 years from now. 00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:50.420 But 500 years before Jesus was born. 00:04:51.319 --> 00:04:52.720 The prophet Zechariah. 00:04:53.079 --> 00:04:55.300 One of the books you find in the Old Testament. 00:04:55.420 --> 00:04:56.639 Near the end of the Old Testament. 00:04:57.519 --> 00:04:59.920 Prophet Zechariah wrote these words. 00:05:00.860 --> 00:05:02.879 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. 00:05:02.939 --> 00:05:05.899 Daughter of Zion was a name for the church in the Old Testament. 00:05:05.899 --> 00:05:08.439 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. 00:05:08.839 --> 00:05:10.899 Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. 00:05:11.620 --> 00:05:13.620 Behold, your king is coming to you. 00:05:14.159 --> 00:05:16.359 Righteous and having salvation is he. 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:19.859 Humble and mounted on a donkey. 00:05:19.860 --> 00:05:26.939 And when Jesus, shortly before he went to the cross to die the death, he died on the cross. 00:05:28.040 --> 00:05:37.660 Matthew chapter 21 tells us that he was on the way to the cross, on the way to Jerusalem. 00:05:37.660 --> 00:05:46.700 And that he gave instructions to the disciples, to two of them, to go into the village to find a donkey and a colt. 00:05:47.060 --> 00:05:47.900 A young donkey. 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:51.300 And to take that and say the Lord needs them. 00:05:52.120 --> 00:05:55.879 And it says this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet saying, 00:05:55.879 --> 00:05:59.659 Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you. 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:01.980 Humble and mounted on a donkey. 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:05.800 And on a colt the foal of a beast of burden. 00:06:06.339 --> 00:06:09.259 And the disciples went and did as Jesus told them. 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:10.779 And they found it exactly like that. 00:06:10.860 --> 00:06:11.579 Now isn't that amazing? 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:19.659 Five hundred years before Jesus did that, the prophet Zechariah told that that would happen. 00:06:20.500 --> 00:06:21.800 He spoke about that event. 00:06:21.800 --> 00:06:28.879 He spoke about it in such detail as fitted exactly with what actually happened five hundred years later. 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:30.819 Why am I saying that? 00:06:30.860 --> 00:06:36.819 Because the coming of Jesus was prophesied throughout the Old Testament years. 00:06:37.939 --> 00:06:45.400 God gave his prophets information about one who was to come to be the savior of his people. 00:06:46.540 --> 00:06:48.920 And today we can come to the Bible. 00:06:48.920 --> 00:06:54.840 And as we look at these details in the Bible, that's one of the things we have as evidence. 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:56.680 This is actually God's word. 00:06:56.860 --> 00:07:06.200 Who else could have actually predicted and told about the coming of Jesus so accurately before he actually came? 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:07.980 Five hundred years before he came. 00:07:08.620 --> 00:07:09.860 But God himself. 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:13.080 And was God who told Zechariah. 00:07:13.079 --> 00:07:20.819 Now I know in your Sunday school classes just now you're going to be looking at some prophecies in the Old Testament about Jesus. 00:07:22.120 --> 00:07:29.360 And one of the things that that shows us, not just that prophecy I've read in Zechariah, but other prophecies like Isaiah 53, 00:07:30.039 --> 00:07:34.799 which is probably the most detailed and the longest prophecy about Jesus and his death, 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:42.240 tells us how special this person and these events really were. 00:07:43.060 --> 00:07:45.840 They were prophesied of long, long before they happened. 00:07:46.500 --> 00:07:48.699 They happened exactly as these prophets said. 00:07:49.560 --> 00:07:55.220 And that shows us today how special not only the event, but this person is. 00:07:55.220 --> 00:07:59.760 How special he is to his church in every age. 00:08:00.360 --> 00:08:03.100 And how special he is to ourselves as well. 00:08:04.120 --> 00:08:08.120 And what makes Jesus special, we're going to be looking at this in the sermon today, 00:08:08.740 --> 00:08:11.400 is that he came into the world to be our Savior. 00:08:12.260 --> 00:08:15.420 To save us from our sins. 00:08:15.420 --> 00:08:24.660 And all of that was so special to God that he gave these prophets information hundreds of years before it happened, 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:27.360 because it's special to him as well. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:30.939 That we come and place our trust in Jesus. 00:08:31.800 --> 00:08:34.539 That we come and take him as our Savior. 00:08:35.860 --> 00:08:38.680 And so today, it doesn't matter what age we're at, 00:08:38.679 --> 00:08:41.299 but this always will be the case. 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:47.939 That Jesus is the most special person who ever lived, who exists today, 00:08:48.539 --> 00:08:50.339 and that you could ever possibly know. 00:08:51.439 --> 00:09:00.319 He is so special that that happened according to God's Word hundreds of years before. 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:03.759 So I hope he's your Savior today, 00:09:04.459 --> 00:09:07.199 and that he's special to you as well, and to me. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:09.240 I'm going to say the Lord's Prayer now. 00:09:10.460 --> 00:09:11.759 You'll find it on your sheets. 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:15.379 Our Father which art in heaven, 00:09:16.060 --> 00:09:17.540 hallowed be thy name. 00:09:18.160 --> 00:09:19.280 Thy kingdom come. 00:09:19.940 --> 00:09:22.640 Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:25.379 Give us this day our daily bread, 00:09:25.740 --> 00:09:28.900 and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. 00:09:29.560 --> 00:09:31.379 And lead us not into temptation, 00:09:31.940 --> 00:09:33.460 but deliver us from evil. 00:09:33.460 --> 00:09:35.280 For thine is the kingdom, 00:09:35.780 --> 00:09:36.340 and the power, 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:37.180 and the glory, 00:09:37.700 --> 00:09:38.080 forever. 00:09:38.620 --> 00:09:39.139 Amen. 00:09:41.379 --> 00:09:43.300 Now we're going to sing some more verses this time. 00:09:43.379 --> 00:09:44.720 We're singing Psalm 103. 00:09:45.780 --> 00:09:48.139 Psalm 103 in the Scottish Psalter. 00:09:48.980 --> 00:09:49.920 The tune is Kilmarnock. 00:09:50.900 --> 00:09:52.379 And verses 1 to 5. 00:09:52.940 --> 00:09:55.139 That's on page 369. 00:09:55.139 --> 00:09:57.879 O thou, my soul, 00:09:58.000 --> 00:09:59.080 bless God the Lord, 00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:00.179 and all that in me is, 00:10:00.259 --> 00:10:02.460 be stirred up his holy name 00:10:02.460 --> 00:10:03.980 to magnify and bless. 00:10:04.759 --> 00:10:05.840 Bless, O my soul, 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:06.879 the Lord thy God, 00:10:07.319 --> 00:10:08.500 and not forgetful be 00:10:08.500 --> 00:10:10.120 of all his gracious benefits 00:10:10.120 --> 00:10:12.879 he hath bestowed on thee. 00:10:12.939 --> 00:10:14.840 And you can see from the opening words 00:10:14.840 --> 00:10:15.939 of the psalm here 00:10:15.939 --> 00:10:19.080 how the psalmist was stirring up his soul. 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:21.720 And that's something we should do as well. 00:10:21.720 --> 00:10:22.920 Before we come to sing 00:10:22.920 --> 00:10:24.460 the words of the psalms 00:10:24.460 --> 00:10:25.060 that we're singing, 00:10:25.540 --> 00:10:27.240 we should look into our souls 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:29.379 and we should seek to have our souls 00:10:29.379 --> 00:10:30.360 really stirred up 00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:32.019 before and during 00:10:32.019 --> 00:10:35.120 singing such wonderful words as these. 00:10:35.540 --> 00:10:37.000 To give thanks to God 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:39.379 for all his gracious benefits. 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:40.440 So Psalm 103 00:10:40.440 --> 00:10:42.300 and verses 1 to 5. 00:10:42.360 --> 00:10:43.340 Again, we'll stand to sing. 00:10:43.720 --> 00:10:44.120 Amen. 00:10:44.120 --> 00:10:51.679 O thou, my soul, 00:10:51.820 --> 00:10:55.080 bless God the Lord, 00:10:55.360 --> 00:11:01.580 and all that in me is, 00:11:01.580 --> 00:11:08.820 be stirred up his holy name 00:11:08.820 --> 00:11:14.520 to magnify and bless. 00:11:14.520 --> 00:11:19.300 Bless, O my soul, 00:11:19.520 --> 00:11:22.840 the Lord thy God, 00:11:23.240 --> 00:11:29.020 and not forgetful be 00:11:29.020 --> 00:11:37.220 of all his gracious benefits 00:11:37.220 --> 00:11:42.920 he hath been showed on thee. 00:11:42.920 --> 00:11:49.259 All fine and equity 00:11:49.259 --> 00:11:57.420 who doth most graciously forgive 00:11:57.419 --> 00:12:03.120 who thine diseases 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:06.379 fall and pains 00:12:06.379 --> 00:12:11.679 doth ill and ill believe. 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:16.719 He doth redeem 00:12:16.719 --> 00:12:21.039 thy life that thou 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:27.740 to death mayst not go down. 00:12:27.740 --> 00:12:34.740 To thee with loving kindness 00:12:34.740 --> 00:12:40.480 doth and tender mercy 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:42.079 shroud, 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:47.399 who with abundance 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:50.819 and solve good things 00:12:50.819 --> 00:12:57.919 thus satisfy thy mouth. 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:02.360 So that ye last 00:13:02.360 --> 00:13:05.779 the eagles' age 00:13:05.779 --> 00:13:11.939 renew it is thy youth. 00:13:11.940 --> 00:13:17.760 Let's now turn to read God's word. 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:18.780 We're reading today 00:13:18.780 --> 00:13:19.960 in the Gospel of Matthew 00:13:19.960 --> 00:13:22.020 and chapter 1. 00:13:23.460 --> 00:13:24.380 I'm going to read through 00:13:24.380 --> 00:13:26.180 the whole of chapter 1, 00:13:27.020 --> 00:13:29.880 which has a lot of Hebrew names in it, 00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:31.440 but it's there for our reading. 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:35.360 So Matthew, chapter 1, 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:36.040 from the beginning. 00:13:36.039 --> 00:13:39.559 The book of the genealogy 00:13:39.559 --> 00:13:40.579 of Jesus Christ, 00:13:40.679 --> 00:13:41.620 the son of David, 00:13:42.139 --> 00:13:43.000 the son of Abraham. 00:13:43.860 --> 00:13:45.500 Abraham was the father of Isaac, 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:47.360 and Isaac the father of Jacob, 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:49.399 and Jacob the father of Judah 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:50.360 and his brothers, 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:52.679 and Judah the father of Perez, 00:13:53.019 --> 00:13:54.419 and Zerah by Tamar, 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:56.779 and Perez the father of Hezron, 00:13:57.299 --> 00:13:58.740 and Hezron the father of Ram, 00:13:59.199 --> 00:14:00.959 and Ram the father of Amminadab, 00:14:01.419 --> 00:14:03.279 and Amminadab the father of Nashon, 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:05.459 and Nashon the father of Salmon, 00:14:05.540 --> 00:14:08.379 and Solomon the father of Boaz by Rahab, 00:14:08.900 --> 00:14:11.460 and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, 00:14:12.120 --> 00:14:13.519 and Obed the father of Jesse, 00:14:14.180 --> 00:14:16.320 and Jesse the father of David, the king. 00:14:17.180 --> 00:14:19.019 And David was the father of Solomon 00:14:19.019 --> 00:14:20.660 by the wife of Uriah, 00:14:21.220 --> 00:14:22.980 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, 00:14:23.560 --> 00:14:25.400 and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, 00:14:26.040 --> 00:14:27.960 and Abijah the father of Asaph, 00:14:28.540 --> 00:14:30.440 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:32.860 and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:35.320 and Joram the father of Uzziah, 00:14:35.460 --> 00:14:42.379 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 00:14:43.060 --> 00:14:49.700 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, 00:14:50.200 --> 00:14:56.480 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon. 00:14:57.340 --> 00:15:03.560 And after the deportation to Babylon, Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the 00:15:03.559 --> 00:15:09.419 father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, 00:15:09.899 --> 00:15:15.959 and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, 00:15:16.539 --> 00:15:22.779 and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matan, 00:15:23.359 --> 00:15:30.500 Matan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was 00:15:30.500 --> 00:15:32.799 born, who is called Christ. 00:15:33.559 --> 00:15:48.059 So all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon, 14 generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ, 14 generations. 00:15:48.959 --> 00:15:52.159 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. 00:15:53.079 --> 00:15:59.819 When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 00:15:59.820 --> 00:16:07.460 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 00:16:08.379 --> 00:16:13.480 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 00:16:14.100 --> 00:16:20.879 Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 00:16:21.680 --> 00:16:28.500 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. 00:16:28.500 --> 00:16:33.100 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. 00:16:33.899 --> 00:16:40.779 Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. 00:16:41.700 --> 00:16:45.840 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:51.179 He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:54.500 And he called his name Jesus. 00:16:54.500 --> 00:17:00.259 Amen, and may God bless again our reading of his word. 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:02.399 Let's again call upon him in prayer. 00:17:05.700 --> 00:17:12.079 O Lord, our gracious God, we thank you for all the evidence we have in your word, 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:15.319 of your own existence and of your works, 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:20.380 and of the wonder of your arrangement of the course of history. 00:17:20.380 --> 00:17:27.100 We thank you, O Lord, today that your word brings us, infallibly, that record that we have read, 00:17:28.100 --> 00:17:30.720 that has been carefully recorded down through the years. 00:17:31.580 --> 00:17:35.300 We bless you, O Lord, that that itself is a testimony 00:17:35.300 --> 00:17:40.880 to the way in which we should regard your word as inspired by your Holy Spirit. 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:47.960 We thank you today that we have this great record of your word in its entirety for our benefit. 00:17:49.080 --> 00:17:52.760 We bless you, O Lord, for the way that it reveals to us so much about you, 00:17:53.420 --> 00:17:56.160 so much that we could never find out for ourselves, 00:17:57.300 --> 00:17:59.520 that it reveals to us your great attributes, 00:18:00.300 --> 00:18:01.520 your works of redemption, 00:18:02.380 --> 00:18:05.520 the way in which you have dealt with your people down through the centuries, 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:09.019 the way in which you continue to be a God to your people, 00:18:09.180 --> 00:18:10.200 even to us today. 00:18:11.139 --> 00:18:15.379 We thank you, too, for all that your word reveals is yet to take place, 00:18:16.420 --> 00:18:20.480 and for the events that will mark the end of the age of the coming of the Lord. 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:25.039 We thank you, Lord, that these things are recorded for us, 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:27.680 for our benefit, that we might believe, 00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:31.059 and that we might come believingly to worship you today. 00:18:31.059 --> 00:18:35.700 We thank you, too, for all that your word tells us about ourselves, 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:37.720 our need of a Savior, 00:18:38.599 --> 00:18:39.419 our sinfulness, 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:41.659 our rebellion against you, 00:18:42.460 --> 00:18:43.419 our reluctance, 00:18:43.659 --> 00:18:46.059 and all that is true of us by nature, 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:48.299 as we find ourselves, Lord, 00:18:48.399 --> 00:18:51.299 seeking to live independently of God. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:53.619 We thank you for the provision 00:18:53.619 --> 00:18:56.319 that you have made for us through Jesus Christ, 00:18:57.159 --> 00:18:59.559 that in him you have sent a Savior to us, 00:18:59.559 --> 00:19:02.059 one who is now Lord of all, 00:19:02.759 --> 00:19:03.799 crowned in heaven. 00:19:04.599 --> 00:19:05.700 We bless you that, 00:19:06.539 --> 00:19:08.099 in accordance with your own will 00:19:08.099 --> 00:19:10.240 and your own word, 00:19:10.379 --> 00:19:14.220 he came and took to himself the sin of his people 00:19:14.220 --> 00:19:17.039 and died the death that we deserved. 00:19:18.099 --> 00:19:19.259 We thank you today, Lord, 00:19:19.319 --> 00:19:20.960 that the victory remains with you, 00:19:21.700 --> 00:19:23.659 and that through him you have come to accomplish 00:19:23.659 --> 00:19:26.339 that triumph over death 00:19:26.339 --> 00:19:28.539 which is so evident in him. 00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:32.039 O Lord, bless your word to us, we pray today. 00:19:32.940 --> 00:19:35.679 May your Holy Spirit take it and lay it upon our hearts. 00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:38.359 May our minds newly be enlightened. 00:19:39.399 --> 00:19:42.759 May we come, O Lord, anew to marvel at the grace 00:19:42.759 --> 00:19:45.619 and the mercy that has provided this for us. 00:19:45.619 --> 00:19:48.439 May we come to worship you with our hearts, 00:19:48.899 --> 00:19:50.899 truly lifted up like the psalmist was, 00:19:51.500 --> 00:19:55.019 to be stirred up, to magnify and praise the Lord. 00:19:55.839 --> 00:19:57.979 Bless us then, we pray today as a congregation. 00:19:58.979 --> 00:20:00.099 Bless us in the week ahead 00:20:00.099 --> 00:20:02.639 and all the activities that we anticipate by your will. 00:20:03.479 --> 00:20:05.959 We ask, O Lord, that you would be with us 00:20:05.959 --> 00:20:07.259 in all of these activities, 00:20:07.939 --> 00:20:09.559 in all the services of worship, 00:20:09.939 --> 00:20:10.759 times of prayer. 00:20:10.759 --> 00:20:14.480 We pray that you would be present in them all to bless, 00:20:15.379 --> 00:20:16.759 that we may come, Lord, 00:20:16.859 --> 00:20:19.160 both adults and children alike 00:20:19.160 --> 00:20:21.119 to benefit from the gospel 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:24.619 and from the service of those who teach us 00:20:24.619 --> 00:20:27.039 and those who lead us in these activities. 00:20:27.859 --> 00:20:29.240 We ask your blessing, Lord, 00:20:29.319 --> 00:20:32.339 to be with all today who cannot be present with us. 00:20:33.140 --> 00:20:34.400 Remember them where they are, 00:20:34.460 --> 00:20:36.500 at home or in hospital or in care homes. 00:20:36.500 --> 00:20:38.980 We thank you that they are able to, 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:43.519 most of them able to participate in watching the service 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:46.240 and feeling to be part of it themselves 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:49.099 as they find it live streamed into their homes. 00:20:49.500 --> 00:20:52.019 And, O Lord, we give thanks for that facility 00:20:52.019 --> 00:20:55.319 and we pray that as it is used 00:20:55.319 --> 00:20:56.740 so that you would bless it, O Lord, 00:20:56.819 --> 00:20:58.839 not only in our own locality 00:20:58.839 --> 00:21:01.900 but wherever else people come to hear the gospel 00:21:01.900 --> 00:21:03.819 through the services held here 00:21:03.819 --> 00:21:04.980 and in many other places. 00:21:04.980 --> 00:21:07.700 We ask that your kingdom will advance. 00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:10.180 We pray that your will be done on earth 00:21:10.180 --> 00:21:11.059 as it is in heaven. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:12.839 And we ask, O Lord, 00:21:12.900 --> 00:21:15.400 as we find ourselves coming so soon 00:21:15.400 --> 00:21:17.500 towards the end of another year, 00:21:18.140 --> 00:21:20.339 we pray that you would grant us 00:21:20.339 --> 00:21:21.519 not only thankful hearts 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:22.740 but dependent hearts. 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:25.400 For it is truly in you we live 00:21:25.400 --> 00:21:27.220 and move and have our being. 00:21:27.960 --> 00:21:29.599 We cannot live without you. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:33.480 Lord, we need you at every step of our way through life. 00:21:33.480 --> 00:21:35.579 Bless today those who are ill, 00:21:36.339 --> 00:21:39.299 those who are experiencing various types of illness, 00:21:39.420 --> 00:21:40.380 of body or mind. 00:21:41.120 --> 00:21:42.200 We commend them to you 00:21:42.200 --> 00:21:45.819 and ask that you bless any treatment they receive, O Lord, 00:21:45.900 --> 00:21:48.259 from those who are skilled in your kindness 00:21:48.259 --> 00:21:52.640 to carry out these skills when we require them. 00:21:53.480 --> 00:21:57.460 Bless those too who today mourn the passing of loved ones. 00:21:57.460 --> 00:21:58.840 Again, Lord, in this coming week, 00:21:58.900 --> 00:22:01.519 we anticipate having funeral services 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:03.279 connected to us as a congregation. 00:22:04.019 --> 00:22:05.059 We pray, O Lord, 00:22:05.120 --> 00:22:06.460 that you bless those who mourn. 00:22:07.220 --> 00:22:08.680 We pray that you would comfort them. 00:22:09.340 --> 00:22:11.460 We pray that the visitation of death itself 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:15.259 might prove to be a means of blessing to them. 00:22:15.819 --> 00:22:17.539 Lord, we know that you are able to 00:22:17.539 --> 00:22:19.460 take even out of the darkest experiences 00:22:19.460 --> 00:22:23.559 the light of your truth and the light of salvation. 00:22:24.340 --> 00:22:26.840 And we pray that all of our experiences in life, 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:29.259 whatever they may be of whatever type, 00:22:29.900 --> 00:22:31.160 may lead us to yourself 00:22:31.160 --> 00:22:34.160 and may come to be a means by which your blessing 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:36.059 reaches into our lives. 00:22:36.860 --> 00:22:38.600 Remember the world in which we live, Lord, 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:39.500 with all its troubles. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:42.680 Lord, we know as we hear 00:22:42.680 --> 00:22:45.000 and see so much on our news. 00:22:45.840 --> 00:22:47.620 We know that the world is full of 00:22:47.620 --> 00:22:51.120 warfare, violence, hatred, death. 00:22:52.180 --> 00:22:53.200 We know that these, Lord, 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:55.620 are the result of our sin and fallenness. 00:22:56.700 --> 00:22:58.060 We pray that as a Savior 00:22:58.060 --> 00:22:59.940 has already come into this world 00:22:59.940 --> 00:23:02.900 and given His life to the death of the cross 00:23:02.900 --> 00:23:03.960 and risen from the dead, 00:23:04.740 --> 00:23:06.340 Lord, that the message of the gospel 00:23:06.340 --> 00:23:09.220 would truly come to penetrate hearts 00:23:09.220 --> 00:23:10.080 throughout the world 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:12.759 who at this moment are closed to you 00:23:12.759 --> 00:23:16.579 or follow other types of beliefs and ideologies 00:23:16.579 --> 00:23:19.000 that can never bring us salvation. 00:23:19.960 --> 00:23:21.419 Be merciful to us, we pray. 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:23.519 Throughout the whole world, 00:23:23.639 --> 00:23:25.619 let your glory spread abroad 00:23:25.619 --> 00:23:26.500 throughout the world. 00:23:27.319 --> 00:23:28.419 Let your people, O Lord, 00:23:28.500 --> 00:23:29.619 be encouraged in you 00:23:29.619 --> 00:23:32.939 even as we find so many reasons 00:23:32.939 --> 00:23:34.399 why we could be discouraged. 00:23:35.159 --> 00:23:36.899 Nevertheless, help us, Lord, we pray, 00:23:37.319 --> 00:23:39.079 to keep looking to you 00:23:39.079 --> 00:23:40.460 and to look to Jesus, 00:23:40.639 --> 00:23:41.699 the author and finisher 00:23:41.699 --> 00:23:43.559 of the faith of His people. 00:23:44.379 --> 00:23:45.740 Bless us then now, we pray here 00:23:45.740 --> 00:23:46.939 in our prayer. 00:23:47.720 --> 00:23:48.759 Forgive our many sins 00:23:48.759 --> 00:23:49.599 and cleanse us 00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:51.099 for Jesus' sake. 00:23:51.339 --> 00:23:51.699 Amen. 00:23:53.799 --> 00:23:54.899 I'm going to sing once again 00:23:54.899 --> 00:23:55.639 to God's praise. 00:23:55.720 --> 00:23:57.159 This time we're singing in Psalm 40. 00:23:58.939 --> 00:24:01.339 Psalm 40 and sing Psalms, page 51. 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:03.679 The tune is rocking him. 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:07.360 And we're singing verses 5 to 10. 00:24:09.240 --> 00:24:11.640 Words again that are prophetic about the Lord 00:24:11.640 --> 00:24:12.560 and the Lord's coming, 00:24:13.259 --> 00:24:14.220 about the incarnation, 00:24:15.180 --> 00:24:17.900 the Son of God being born into the world 00:24:17.900 --> 00:24:19.320 in our human nature. 00:24:20.360 --> 00:24:22.000 So we'll sing from verse 5. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:23.000 The Lord's coming. 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:24.000 The Lord's coming. 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:25.980 How many and how great they are. 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:28.539 Your plans for us are far beyond 00:24:28.539 --> 00:24:31.099 our power to number or declare. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:33.799 You did not ask that calves or goats 00:24:33.799 --> 00:24:35.579 be brought a sacrifice for sin, 00:24:35.779 --> 00:24:37.799 but you have opened up my ears. 00:24:37.900 --> 00:24:39.980 You did not seek burnt offering. 00:24:40.599 --> 00:24:41.519 Then I declared, 00:24:42.220 --> 00:24:43.279 Lord, I have come. 00:24:43.779 --> 00:24:45.460 It's written of me in the scroll. 00:24:46.019 --> 00:24:48.099 I want to do your will, my God. 00:24:48.099 --> 00:24:52.000 Your law is in my heart and soul. 00:24:52.099 --> 00:24:52.980 Down to verse 10. 00:24:53.419 --> 00:24:55.659 The wonders you have done, O Lord. 00:25:00.659 --> 00:25:08.359 The wonders you have done, O Lord. 00:25:08.779 --> 00:25:17.199 How many and how great they are. 00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:25.960 Your plans for us are far beyond 00:25:25.960 --> 00:25:33.920 our power to number or declare. 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:43.819 You did not ask that calves or goats 00:25:43.819 --> 00:25:53.200 be brought a sacrifice for sin, 00:25:53.200 --> 00:26:01.899 but you have opened up my ears. 00:26:02.399 --> 00:26:09.700 You did not seek burnt offering. 00:26:09.700 --> 00:26:19.080 Then I declared, 00:26:19.080 --> 00:26:19.980 Lord, I have come. 00:26:19.980 --> 00:26:28.460 It's written of me in the scroll. 00:26:28.460 --> 00:26:37.840 I want to do your will, my God. 00:26:37.840 --> 00:26:46.840 Your law is in my heart and soul. 00:26:46.839 --> 00:26:59.220 In the assembly, when it met your justice, 00:26:59.220 --> 00:27:05.220 I proclaimed abroad. 00:27:05.220 --> 00:27:14.600 I did not see you, Lord. 00:27:14.600 --> 00:27:23.600 You know all else about me, Lord. 00:27:23.599 --> 00:27:32.980 I did not hide within my heart 00:27:32.980 --> 00:27:42.360 your saving grace and righteousness. 00:27:42.360 --> 00:27:59.980 In the assembly, I proclaim your steadfast love and faithfulness. 00:27:59.980 --> 00:28:06.059 Well, let's turn together for a short time to Matthew chapter 1. 00:28:07.400 --> 00:28:08.640 Matthew chapter 1. 00:28:08.740 --> 00:28:11.160 We can read again from verse 20. 00:28:11.160 --> 00:28:20.540 Matthew chapter 1. 00:28:20.539 --> 00:28:27.639 Matthew chapter 2. 00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:50.159 He says, 00:28:50.160 --> 00:28:57.940 Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Well, as you know, very often throughout 00:28:57.940 --> 00:29:04.800 the Bible, you find that names have significance. And names, especially in the Old Testament, 00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:11.680 contain elements of God's own truth in them. Sometimes they were just reminders to the people 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:20.060 at the time, such as in the prophecy of Hosea. But words that contain el or ya, which are names 00:29:20.059 --> 00:29:25.779 or shortened names for God, you'll find there's a significance in these names because they carry 00:29:25.779 --> 00:29:32.740 a certain meaning of things that have to do with God. For example, the word Elijah, the prophet, 00:29:33.679 --> 00:29:42.899 Elijah, el-a-ya means my God is Yahweh or Jehovah. And so that obviously fitted into his own ministry 00:29:42.899 --> 00:29:49.240 at the time, where he was called by God to be a prophet, to seek to call the people back to God 00:29:49.240 --> 00:29:57.019 from their disobedience, from their idolatry. My God is Yahweh, fitted his mission. The word Joshua 00:29:57.019 --> 00:30:05.680 in the Old Testament means Yahweh or Jehovah saves or is Savior. And that's really the Old Testament 00:30:05.680 --> 00:30:14.859 equivalent of the word Jesus. Jesus is the Aramaic for Joshua. And so the same thing applies 00:30:14.859 --> 00:30:24.179 in that instance as well. The word meaning Yahweh or God, the Lord saves. And when you come to verse 21 00:30:24.179 --> 00:30:32.379 here in Matthew chapter 1, she will bear a son, you will call his name Jesus. Following on from the Old 00:30:32.379 --> 00:30:40.500 Testament, Joshua, the Lord saves. This child was to be called Jesus. And Joseph was told not only what to 00:30:40.500 --> 00:30:45.180 name the child, but why he was to be called Jesus, but why he was to be called Jesus. What was going to 00:30:45.180 --> 00:30:50.819 be the significance of his name? What was going to be the meaning of his name? Why was it to be 00:30:50.819 --> 00:30:56.960 important? Why was it to be called Jesus? For he said he will save his people from their sins. And 00:30:56.960 --> 00:31:07.819 there you see the content of the name, if you like, Joshua, Jesus, Yeshua. It is salvation or the Lord saves. 00:31:07.819 --> 00:31:13.439 You will call his name Jesus. You will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their 00:31:13.439 --> 00:31:21.039 sins. Three things, really, to look at from this verse today. First of all, Jesus the Savior. 00:31:22.500 --> 00:31:29.339 Secondly, Jesus the only Savior. And thirdly, although it's not in the verse, it's important 00:31:29.339 --> 00:31:37.480 nevertheless to us, not only is Jesus the Savior and Jesus the only Savior, Jesus is the returning Savior 00:31:37.480 --> 00:31:43.079 Savior or will be the returning Savior when he returns as promised in the Scriptures. 00:31:44.299 --> 00:31:51.900 So first of all, Jesus the Savior. You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their 00:31:51.900 --> 00:32:00.640 sins. Jesus came into the world specifically to deal with sin, to deal with our sins, to deal with 00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:06.060 all that the Bible. All that the Bible calls sin in different ways throughout the Bible. In fact, 00:32:06.120 --> 00:32:12.340 in Romans chapter 8, where Paul is dealing with the importance of Christ coming into the world, 00:32:12.640 --> 00:32:20.500 one of the things he says there is that he came for sin. Romans 8 and verse 3, what the law could not 00:32:20.500 --> 00:32:29.700 do weakened by the flesh? God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. 00:32:30.440 --> 00:32:35.460 He condemned sin in the flesh. And these three words there are important. He came into the world 00:32:35.460 --> 00:32:43.019 for sin and for sin. It was to deal with sin. It was to grapple with sin. It was to overcome sin. 00:32:43.019 --> 00:32:50.299 It was to deal with us as sinners that Jesus came into the world. Ephesians chapter 2, you well know 00:32:50.299 --> 00:32:57.639 that I'm sure, tells us that we are dead in trespasses and sins as we come into the world, as we're born 00:32:57.639 --> 00:33:03.639 into the world, as we are by native human beings. We are sinful human beings. We're fallen human beings. 00:33:03.960 --> 00:33:11.559 We come into the world as those who are already under the condemnation of God because of our sin and 00:33:11.559 --> 00:33:18.379 sinfulness, of rebellion against Him. So, we need rescued from that condition. We need rescued 00:33:18.379 --> 00:33:25.720 from our position as sinners. That's why Jesus came to deal with sin. 1 Timothy 1.15, this is a faithful 00:33:25.720 --> 00:33:32.379 saying, says Paul, and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. 00:33:33.279 --> 00:33:41.019 And then he said, of whom I am chief. But that's specifically why he came. Some people would say, 00:33:41.019 --> 00:33:47.599 why do you have to mention sin? Why do you people always have to mention at Christmastime a time of 00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:53.240 joy and happiness and celebration and all that sort of stuff? Why do you have… Surely that's really 00:33:53.240 --> 00:33:58.559 spoiling the whole thing about the Christmas story. Why do you have to bring sin into it? Why do you have 00:33:58.559 --> 00:34:04.099 to emphasize sin as you're doing? And does that not spoil the Christmas story? Does that not… Is that 00:34:04.099 --> 00:34:09.659 something you should just leave out for a few weeks at least of the year? Well, this is the Christmas 00:34:09.659 --> 00:34:18.359 story. There is no Christmas story without taking account of sin. Your sin and my sin. Human sin. 00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:25.940 It doesn't spoil the Christmas story. It is, in fact, the Christmas story. Why can we sing joy to the 00:34:25.940 --> 00:34:32.019 world? As one of our Christmas carols, why can we sing joy to the world? Well, because sin has been 00:34:32.019 --> 00:34:42.139 dealt with, the Lord has come. As we mentioned in Zechariah chapter 9 and verse 9, the king comes 00:34:42.139 --> 00:34:48.940 riding upon this donkey. The king has arrived. The king has come into this world, and he's come into 00:34:48.940 --> 00:34:56.739 this world specifically to deal with sin. That's what his name signifies. He will save his people from 00:34:56.739 --> 00:35:03.559 their sins. And however much we may be accused of being rather negative and gloomy and dull 00:35:03.559 --> 00:35:10.799 by emphasizing sin, we're only doing what the Bible does. We're only doing what the Bible itself sets 00:35:10.799 --> 00:35:22.119 out for us. There is no meaning to the name Jesus if you detach it from the concept of sin. He came to 00:35:22.119 --> 00:35:29.859 deal with sin. He came to actually take the sin of his people to himself and therefore die the death 00:35:29.859 --> 00:35:37.159 that they deserved. You will call his name Jesus. He will save his people from their sins. And that's 00:35:37.159 --> 00:35:47.859 the next thing. Jesus, the Savior, is a Savior because he saves his people from their sins. And these words 00:35:47.860 --> 00:35:54.360 are also important. It doesn't tell us here that he came into the world to make salvation probable or to make 00:35:54.360 --> 00:36:04.660 salvation possible or to have a potential for salvation. He came to save, and that's what he does. He didn't 00:36:04.660 --> 00:36:12.260 come into the world in such a way that would just help us to educate ourselves, if you like, out of our position 00:36:12.260 --> 00:36:18.800 as sinners and somehow achieve salvation or get rid of sin and overcome sin. He came into the world to 00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:27.180 save us from our sins, to deliver us, to rescue us from our sins. Because when you think of sin in the 00:36:27.180 --> 00:36:34.600 way that the Bible teaches us, sin is more than just a concept in some sort of ideological sense. Sin 00:36:34.600 --> 00:36:42.180 carries guilt, carries defilement, carries power. And when Jesus came into the world to 00:36:42.179 --> 00:36:47.719 save his people from their sins, it's to save them from all of these aspects of sin and others we 00:36:47.719 --> 00:36:53.799 could mention. He came to save us from the guilt of sin so that it would no longer lie on our record. 00:36:55.000 --> 00:37:01.679 And so the record in the presence of God would not have condemned at the bottom of it, but saved. 00:37:03.139 --> 00:37:08.480 Of course, you need to come and know Jesus for yourself before that is true of us personally. 00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:16.659 But he came to save us from our sins, from the guilt of sin. Sin also defiles us. God sees us as 00:37:16.659 --> 00:37:24.019 polluted by sin, in need of being spiritually washed. We are morally defiled and polluted. It doesn't seem 00:37:24.019 --> 00:37:31.179 like that to us as we look at ourselves till God opens our eyes. That's why we find it so often in the 00:37:31.179 --> 00:37:38.980 gospel that from the gospel being declared to us. We have a reaction to that sinner that says, well, 00:37:39.059 --> 00:37:44.940 I don't see myself really in that sort of defiled condition. I think I'm quite upright. I think I'm 00:37:44.940 --> 00:37:51.839 quite a decent person. I don't see my need of being washed. I don't see my need of, I don't feel guilty. 00:37:51.960 --> 00:37:56.859 I don't feel unwashed. I don't feel dirty in that sense. Well, this is what God is telling us. 00:37:56.860 --> 00:38:06.740 His eye, that purest eye of God, looks upon us in our sinfulness and says, you need washed. 00:38:08.400 --> 00:38:12.280 You need to be cleansed from your condition. 00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:23.120 And the power of sin holds us until Jesus breaks it. So, in all of these aspects of sin and our 00:38:23.120 --> 00:38:31.180 sinfulness, the name of Jesus, the name Jesus, has a bearing upon all of that. He came into the world, 00:38:31.460 --> 00:38:40.240 He was born into the world to save His people from their sins, to save us out of our sins, to deliver us 00:38:40.239 --> 00:38:50.099 from our sins, to rescue us from our sins and our sinfulness. But you notice, it's their sins. 00:38:51.739 --> 00:38:58.859 Sin is not something that's abstract. Sin is not something that exists as a concept outside of our 00:38:58.859 --> 00:39:05.419 persons. Yes, you might describe sin as if it were personified, and the Bible does that. 00:39:05.420 --> 00:39:12.000 But it never actually suggests for a moment to us that we can really look at sin properly as if it's 00:39:12.000 --> 00:39:17.920 just outside of ourselves, and Jesus came to deal with something that's very important, that God finds 00:39:17.920 --> 00:39:28.240 offensive, but it's detached from me. It's not. It's you and I who are sinners. He came so that He would 00:39:28.239 --> 00:39:40.059 save His people from their sins, their sins, their personal sins. That means me, the sinner, you, the sinner, 00:39:41.179 --> 00:39:52.739 every one of us, the sinner. He came to save us from our sins. And that means Jesus is for you. 00:39:52.739 --> 00:40:04.799 Jesus is for me. Jesus as Savior, as His name contains that great message, that great meaning. Jesus is for 00:40:04.799 --> 00:40:15.259 sinners. That means He's for you, and it means He's for me. So that's why we need Him, to have Him for 00:40:15.260 --> 00:40:24.720 ourselves. The fact that He came to save sinners, and that is a fact. It will not save me if I don't 00:40:24.720 --> 00:40:31.840 come to Him, and if I don't receive Him. It will not save me if I don't put my trust in Him, if I don't 00:40:31.840 --> 00:40:39.200 hand over my life to Him, if I don't repent of my sin before God, if I don't seek to actually come and 00:40:39.199 --> 00:40:45.500 have the righteousness of Jesus applied to my life. The fact that I know He came into the world to save 00:40:45.500 --> 00:40:53.960 sinners is not going to save me if I haven't myself taken this Jesus as my Savior. So there's the great 00:40:53.960 --> 00:41:01.039 question today for you. You know that Jesus came into the world to save His people from their sins. 00:41:01.039 --> 00:41:13.900 But is He your Savior? Have you received Him? Have you put your trust in Him? Is He just still a name to 00:41:13.900 --> 00:41:22.340 you? Or is He the most precious name in the world because He's your own Savior too? He will save His 00:41:22.340 --> 00:41:30.739 people from their sins. Not only Jesus the Savior, but Jesus the only Savior as well. It's implied, 00:41:30.739 --> 00:41:36.199 it's maybe not specified in the verse, but it's certainly specified elsewhere in the Bible. In 00:41:36.199 --> 00:41:42.579 fact, this really just follows on from what you have in the Old Testament. Jesus, of course, is God, 00:41:42.839 --> 00:41:48.479 Emmanuel, God with us, as Matthew here records. And go back to the likes of Isaiah chapter 43, 00:41:48.619 --> 00:41:56.379 for example, where the Lord says, I, I am the Lord. Before me no God was formed, 00:41:56.380 --> 00:42:04.220 nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no Savior. 00:42:05.880 --> 00:42:11.800 I am He. There is none who can deliver from my hand. I work and who can turn it back. You see, 00:42:11.860 --> 00:42:18.760 there's the exclusiveness of God, not only as God, but as Savior. And God having come in the flesh, 00:42:18.980 --> 00:42:24.079 in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, this is what it's saying to us today, there is salvation 00:42:24.079 --> 00:42:31.699 in none other. Remember in Acts chapter 4, how in the challenge to Peter and the apostles, 00:42:32.559 --> 00:42:39.099 by what name have you done this? This man who was healed, you recall how that was in Acts chapter 4, 00:42:40.659 --> 00:42:46.159 and at verse 7 especially, where Peter replied, here is the challenge to Peter. 00:42:46.159 --> 00:42:54.059 Peter, on the next day, the rulers gathered and they said, by what power or by what name did you do this? 00:42:54.899 --> 00:42:57.879 And Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said, rulers of the people and elders, 00:42:59.460 --> 00:43:04.639 let it be known to you that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, 00:43:05.259 --> 00:43:10.319 whom God raised from the dead, by him, this man is standing before you well. 00:43:10.320 --> 00:43:16.820 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone, 00:43:17.320 --> 00:43:24.660 and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men 00:43:24.660 --> 00:43:33.320 by which we must be saved. See, Peter is again divulging the meaning or the name of Jesus to be 00:43:33.320 --> 00:43:40.260 exclusively the name applied to the Savior, that there is salvation in no one else. That's just in 00:43:40.260 --> 00:43:45.960 line with what Jesus himself said. In John chapter 14, for example, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 00:43:46.380 --> 00:43:54.620 No one comes to the Father except through me. Or again, you can find similar in 1 Timothy chapter 2, 00:43:54.619 --> 00:44:03.019 verse 5, there is but one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. 00:44:04.380 --> 00:44:09.880 He is exclusively the Savior. He alone is the Savior. And of course, the church, as it went out 00:44:09.880 --> 00:44:15.219 with the gospel in the days of the apostle, and they then came into contact with the pagan nations 00:44:15.219 --> 00:44:20.900 around them as the gospel penetrated into these nations that you find in the book of Acts described, 00:44:20.900 --> 00:44:28.019 these great cities and places that were filled with pagan practices, with idolatry. This is something 00:44:28.019 --> 00:44:34.119 the apostles had to keep coming back to and insisting upon. And when you read, for example, in Acts 17 00:44:34.119 --> 00:44:42.559 about Athens crammed full of idols, this is something they kept bringing up and needed to bring up, that 00:44:42.559 --> 00:44:50.539 there is salvation in no one else. But Jesus alone is the Savior. He alone is 00:44:50.539 --> 00:45:02.059 God saving. Now that's important today for us in our multi-faith society as well. Because you well 00:45:02.059 --> 00:45:08.440 know that around you there are all these kinds of ideologies and views and faiths so-called, where you 00:45:08.440 --> 00:45:14.619 find equality and tolerance and all of these things emphasized, and indeed emphasized to the point 00:45:14.619 --> 00:45:21.900 where Jesus is no longer regarded as exclusively the Savior if He's regarded as a Savior at all. 00:45:23.579 --> 00:45:30.659 And we're accused very often of being somewhat arrogant, intolerant even if we say that there is 00:45:30.659 --> 00:45:37.539 salvation in no one else but in Jesus, that He is exclusively the Savior of sinners. If you try and 00:45:37.539 --> 00:45:43.599 insist on that, you'll get this reaction all too often. That's surely being very intolerant. That's being 00:45:43.599 --> 00:45:49.980 somewhat ignorant. Why should you actually insist on that when there are so many other views and when 00:45:49.980 --> 00:45:55.839 you should actually have tolerance towards other views? Well, what is tolerance? What is tolerance 00:45:55.839 --> 00:46:03.739 for the Christian who insists that Jesus is alone the Savior? What kind of meaning do you give to the word 00:46:03.739 --> 00:46:11.199 tolerance? Well, not the kind of meaning the world gives it all too often. Being tolerant is accepting 00:46:11.199 --> 00:46:18.339 other people's views that they have a right to hold without necessarily accepting the views themselves. 00:46:20.919 --> 00:46:30.419 I can accept quite frankly, quite easily the right, the liberty of a Muslim to hold the views that they 00:46:30.419 --> 00:46:37.679 have. I have no intention of accepting them as the truth because the truth is in Jesus alone. 00:46:37.679 --> 00:46:48.500 So that's tolerance. But tolerance is redefined in our society so often as every view, whether it's 00:46:48.500 --> 00:46:55.179 religious or moral or secular or whatever, is of equal validity and can equally be said to be the 00:46:55.179 --> 00:46:59.379 truth. If it's the truth for you, then it's the truth and it's as good as any other kind of truth. 00:47:00.139 --> 00:47:05.419 Well, that's not what the Bible is saying. While you have to be tolerant in the sense that I've mentioned, 00:47:05.420 --> 00:47:12.960 it doesn't mean that the Christian standpoint, our insistence that Jesus is alone the Savior, 00:47:13.460 --> 00:47:20.519 it doesn't mean that you actually give that up in such a way as to place any other so-called Savior 00:47:20.519 --> 00:47:29.240 on an equal footing. That isn't tolerance at all. And it's the same when you come to equality 00:47:29.239 --> 00:47:36.539 and all these other words. Tolerance is not insisting that all views are actually true 00:47:36.539 --> 00:47:44.559 and on the same level of truth. And we're also told you have to make the gospel relevant. 00:47:45.639 --> 00:47:52.059 You have to make the gospel relevant to the age in which we live in our age, in our society as it is 00:47:52.059 --> 00:48:01.820 today. Well, what does that mean? Is making the gospel relevant, taking out all the bits that people 00:48:01.820 --> 00:48:08.460 don't like, so that you're removing that which people find offensive, and then some over earth 00:48:08.460 --> 00:48:13.320 think that you've got something left that you can meaningfully actually set before people and say, 00:48:13.659 --> 00:48:17.219 well, that's going to be enough for you. If you follow that, you'll be all right. 00:48:17.219 --> 00:48:23.279 Of course it isn't. You can't actually come to the Bible or to the gospel and say, well, 00:48:23.519 --> 00:48:27.919 you know, people are not going to find that nowadays very happy with you presenting Jesus 00:48:27.919 --> 00:48:33.259 as the only Savior. So you've got to actually take out the bits that really, in the Bible, 00:48:33.379 --> 00:48:38.679 that actually deal with them exclusively as the Savior to make this gospel relevant to today's world. 00:48:38.980 --> 00:48:40.879 You've simply got to do that sort of thing. 00:48:40.880 --> 00:48:49.039 Well, making the gospel relevant is not removing the bits people don't like. Relevance is not 00:48:49.039 --> 00:48:55.480 making the gospel fit the ideology of the world. That's not making it relevant. As a matter of fact, 00:48:56.280 --> 00:49:02.340 you don't make the gospel relevant anyway. The gospel is relevant. The gospel is always relevant 00:49:02.340 --> 00:49:10.380 because it's the gospel that presents Jesus exclusively as the Savior of sinners. That makes it relevant. 00:49:10.880 --> 00:49:18.940 And it will always be relevant as the gospel of Christ, as the gospel of salvation. We don't have 00:49:18.940 --> 00:49:25.780 to make it relevant. We have to certainly watch how we present it. We have to do that with tact, 00:49:25.940 --> 00:49:33.900 with love, with patience, believingly, all of those things. But it's not up to us to make it relevant. 00:49:34.300 --> 00:49:40.039 God has already made it relevant because of what the gospel is and because of the need of sinners is what 00:49:40.039 --> 00:49:49.559 it is. You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. 00:49:51.739 --> 00:49:58.380 There is no other Savior but Jesus because there is no one else qualified to be so. 00:49:58.380 --> 00:50:08.760 There is no one else qualified to be the Savior of sinners apart from Jesus himself. He has all the 00:50:08.760 --> 00:50:15.980 qualifications. He has all the elements, the attributes. Everything that's needed for salvation 00:50:15.980 --> 00:50:22.519 is already there in him, which is why the apostles could so confidently go out and say, 00:50:22.519 --> 00:50:28.860 there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved but the name of Jesus. You shall call 00:50:28.860 --> 00:50:37.119 his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. It's a gospel for today's world. 00:50:38.259 --> 00:50:44.139 It's a gospel that's relevant to today's world because it's a gospel that contains Jesus, the exclusive 00:50:44.139 --> 00:50:53.299 Savior, the almighty Savior, the holy Savior, the loving Savior, the authoritative Savior, everything you can say 00:50:53.299 --> 00:51:02.659 about him as an attribute or quality is his as the Savior. And we need no other because everything there 00:51:02.659 --> 00:51:13.960 in him is provided already. Isn't that why you are concerned that he is your Savior? 00:51:14.139 --> 00:51:22.960 Why should you look anywhere else for the need of your soul when everything you need is already in Jesus? 00:51:24.440 --> 00:51:31.400 Why should you listen to any other ideology that calls into question the reliability of the Bible, 00:51:31.639 --> 00:51:38.420 of the gospel? Why should you listen to the voice that tells you you can't possibly be serious when 00:51:38.420 --> 00:51:43.599 you're saying that all of these other world religions and secularism and everything else that people hold 00:51:43.599 --> 00:51:50.460 dear, that you're going to actually place this ahead of them? Well, why not? 00:51:52.239 --> 00:51:58.699 If this is what God has provided, as it is, why should you look anywhere else? 00:51:58.699 --> 00:52:06.960 Why should any other point of view be equivalent to the gospel in which Jesus is the Savior? 00:52:07.960 --> 00:52:14.619 You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. 00:52:14.619 --> 00:52:20.119 Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Jesus is the Savior. Jesus is the Savior, 00:52:20.119 --> 00:52:26.719 and finally, Jesus is the returning Savior. It's not in the text, as I've said at the beginning, 00:52:27.259 --> 00:52:34.659 but we're just taking Jesus, the person, as the Savior in the sense in which he is yet to return to 00:52:34.659 --> 00:52:41.980 this world at the last day. He is the returning Savior. That's the Savior we expect. It seems that there 00:52:41.980 --> 00:52:49.599 was an old Christian tradition where on the first day of Advent, the days coming leading up to Christmas, 00:52:50.240 --> 00:52:59.360 but on the first day of Advent, a church focused on not only the first coming of Christ, but also the 00:52:59.360 --> 00:53:06.619 second coming of Christ. And something perhaps we've lost from our thoughts, that that's really 00:53:06.619 --> 00:53:14.000 something that we need to think of at Advent time. Advent means Christ's coming, but Christ has a 00:53:14.000 --> 00:53:20.019 second coming. He will return at the end of the age. He will return as the judge of the world. 00:53:21.239 --> 00:53:28.659 He will return visibly and in glory to judge the world and to bring his people home to heaven. 00:53:28.659 --> 00:53:40.259 In other words, Jesus' birth begins the new age. It's not the end of the new age when Jesus is born, 00:53:40.739 --> 00:53:49.039 or even when Jesus dies and rises from the dead and is ascended to heaven, goes to sit at the right 00:53:49.039 --> 00:53:56.239 hand of God, exalted. That's not the end of the new age. The new age begins with his birth, 00:53:56.239 --> 00:54:03.919 and the new age will be completed with its return, with the second coming of Jesus. That's why 00:54:03.919 --> 00:54:11.159 throughout the New Testament you find the apostles and others so excited about the return of Jesus, 00:54:11.279 --> 00:54:17.619 the prospect of the King coming back, and the King coming back in His glory. Think of Philippians 00:54:17.619 --> 00:54:25.359 chapter 3, there in verses 20, around verse 20 there. Our citizenship or place of citizenship is in 00:54:25.360 --> 00:54:37.360 heaven, the apostle says, from which we eagerly expect a Savior who is Christ. We're eagerly expecting 00:54:37.360 --> 00:54:45.500 a Savior. He's already come, but we're expecting Him to return, and we're expecting Him to return to 00:54:45.500 --> 00:54:52.360 take His people home. He will transform the body of our humiliation to be like the body of His own 00:54:52.360 --> 00:55:00.079 glory. These verses go on to say. And then Philippians 2 verse 10 will be a reality. What does 00:55:00.079 --> 00:55:06.800 Philippians 2 verse 10 say? It talks about Jesus being exalted by God the Father, raised Him from 00:55:06.800 --> 00:55:17.460 the dead, and exalted Him to glory. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue 00:55:17.460 --> 00:55:29.740 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That will be a reality when this Savior 00:55:29.740 --> 00:55:38.099 returns. The Savior who saves, the Savior who's the only Savior, the Savior who will return as the 00:55:38.099 --> 00:55:45.860 Scripture promises. Then that will be brought to pass. Every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess, 00:55:46.779 --> 00:55:57.019 reluctantly or willingly, that He is Lord and Lord of all. We sing these words, don't we, very often at 00:55:57.019 --> 00:56:05.960 Christmas time? Who is He in yonder stall? The carol or the hymn has that verse. Well, what does it say? Who is He 00:56:05.960 --> 00:56:15.420 in yonder stall? At whose feet the shepherds fall? Who is He in deep distress, fasting in the wilderness? 00:56:16.639 --> 00:56:25.780 Tis the Lord, oh wondrous story. Tis the Lord, the King of glory. At His feet we humbly fall. 00:56:26.900 --> 00:56:33.740 Crown Him, crown Him, Lord of all. Have you done that? 00:56:33.739 --> 00:56:43.779 Have you crowned Him, in your heart, in your life? This Savior, this exclusive Savior, 00:56:44.559 --> 00:56:53.219 this returning Savior. Crown Him, crown Him, Lord of all. Let's pray. 00:56:53.219 --> 00:57:06.980 Our gracious God, you have provided for us salvation in your Son. You have provided us with a Savior 00:57:06.980 --> 00:57:17.459 who alone is adequate and endowed to be our Savior. And Lord, we thank you today that you came into this 00:57:17.460 --> 00:57:24.440 world, not only in accordance with ancient prophecies, but also by your own will and purpose. 00:57:25.639 --> 00:57:32.840 We thank you for your willingness, of which we sang, O Lord, in the psalm, when you said, 00:57:33.679 --> 00:57:41.340 Now I come. I come to do your will, O my God. We thank you today, O Lord, for the accomplishment 00:57:41.340 --> 00:57:49.240 of all that you came to do in this world. We thank you, Lord, in anticipation of your coming again. 00:57:50.300 --> 00:57:57.440 May we be ready against that coming. May we have you crowned in our hearts already. May we anticipate 00:57:57.440 --> 00:58:04.260 that second coming of the Lord as the judge of all the earth. Lord, enable us, we pray, by your grace 00:58:04.260 --> 00:58:12.940 and through faith in your name, to anticipate that expectantly, eagerly and excitedly, rather than 00:58:12.940 --> 00:58:17.900 with dread. Hear us, we pray, for your glory's sake. Amen. 00:58:21.620 --> 00:58:28.180 We're going to sing now in conclusion Psalm 118. That's in the Scottish Psalter, page 399. 00:58:28.179 --> 00:58:41.119 From verse 24 down to the end of the psalm, which speaks about the one who came to save us 00:58:41.119 --> 00:58:48.059 and God who made light to arise, all of which are fulfilled through the coming and the death of Jesus. 00:58:48.299 --> 00:58:54.659 This is the day God made. In it will joy triumphantly. Save now, I pray thee, Lord. I pray, 00:58:54.659 --> 00:59:02.239 send now prosperity. Blessed is he in God's great name that cometh us to save. We from the house 00:59:02.239 --> 00:59:09.500 which to the Lord pertains, you blessed have. The Tunis, Prince Edward, Ireland. This is the day God made. 00:59:09.500 --> 00:59:09.539 Amen. 00:59:24.659 --> 00:59:26.659 Amen. 00:59:26.659 --> 00:59:28.359 Amen. 00:59:28.359 --> 00:59:28.699 Amen. 00:59:28.699 --> 00:59:28.839 Amen. 00:59:30.359 --> 00:59:30.899 Amen. 00:59:30.899 --> 00:59:32.500 Remember the Lord? 00:59:32.500 --> 00:59:33.699 Amen. 00:59:33.699 --> 00:59:34.699 Amen. 00:59:34.699 --> 00:59:36.179 Amen. 00:59:36.179 --> 00:59:38.619 Amen. 00:59:38.940 --> 00:59:40.199 Amen. 00:59:40.699 --> 00:59:42.980 Amen. 00:59:42.980 --> 00:59:44.759 Amen. 00:59:44.759 --> 00:59:47.039 Amen. 00:59:47.039 --> 00:59:49.779 Amen. 00:59:49.779 --> 00:59:50.899 Amen. 00:59:50.899 --> 00:59:52.239 Amen. 00:59:52.239 --> 00:59:52.859 Amen. 00:59:52.859 --> 00:59:54.039 Amen. 00:59:54.039 --> 01:00:02.400 I pray thee, Lord, I pray, send out prosperity. 01:00:04.500 --> 01:00:15.279 Blessed is he in God's great name that cometh us to save. 01:00:15.280 --> 01:00:28.480 We from the house which to the Lord pertains you, blessed have. 01:00:29.040 --> 01:00:34.940 Pertains you, blessed have. 01:00:34.940 --> 01:00:40.940 Pertains you, blessed have. 01:00:40.940 --> 01:00:52.700 We from the house which to the Lord pertains you, blessed have. 01:00:53.960 --> 01:01:04.940 God is the Lord who unto us hath made light to our eyes. 01:01:04.940 --> 01:01:16.960 Bind ye unto the altar's hearts, with hath the sacrifice. 01:01:16.960 --> 01:01:28.960 With hath the sacrifice, with hath the sacrifice. 01:01:30.539 --> 01:01:40.780 Bind ye unto the altar's hearts, with hath the sacrifice. 01:01:40.780 --> 01:01:49.000 Thou art my God, I'll be exiled. 01:01:49.420 --> 01:01:53.780 My God, I will be praised. 01:01:55.220 --> 01:02:01.060 Give thanks to God for it is good. 01:02:01.059 --> 01:02:06.059 His mercy lasts always. 01:02:06.059 --> 01:02:15.059 His mercy lasts always. 01:02:15.059 --> 01:02:18.059 His mercy lasts always. 01:02:18.059 --> 01:02:25.139 Yes, I do not for he is good. 01:02:25.139 --> 01:02:30.139 His mercy lasts always. 01:02:32.139 --> 01:02:35.599 After the benediction, if you allow me please to go to the main door, I'll greet you there. 01:02:37.139 --> 01:02:44.139 Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you now and evermore. 01:02:45.139 --> 01:02:45.460 Amen. 01:02:55.139 --> 01:03:09.139 Thank you. 01:03:09.139 --> 01:03:10.139 Thank you.