WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.940 Do sit and turn to Matthew chapter 1. 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:03.800 Matthew 1. 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:11.779 We're going to look at this really, really famous part of God's word from Matthew 1, 18 to 25. 00:00:14.419 --> 00:00:14.939 ! 00:00:14.939 --> 00:00:16.199 No introduction, four points. 00:00:16.740 --> 00:00:17.920 Four points. 00:00:18.900 --> 00:00:20.800 You know the story, don't you? 00:00:20.820 --> 00:00:22.839 You're familiar with the story of Jesus' birth. 00:00:24.620 --> 00:00:29.039 As we look at this passage, I want us to see four things that are revealed to us. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:30.839 The first is this. 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:35.439 Jesus' birth reveals to us the turmoil of God's ways. 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:38.880 The turmoil of God's way. 00:00:38.939 --> 00:00:40.280 Can you see it there in verse 18? 00:00:41.179 --> 00:00:43.560 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:52.920 When his mother, Mary, had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 00:00:52.920 --> 00:01:00.880 Two words that are going through Joseph's mind that seem completely incompatible. 00:01:01.020 --> 00:01:03.679 The words Mary and pregnant. 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:13.019 You can imagine him holding his head in his hands as he paced around his carpenter's shop, trying to make head nor tail of the situation. 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:14.299 Mary. 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:17.280 Pregnant. 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:24.620 Somehow Mary and adultery didn't fit together in the slightest. 00:01:26.299 --> 00:01:28.120 It would be adultery. 00:01:28.320 --> 00:01:32.320 So if you think of Jewish marriage, there was a betrothal. 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:34.460 That's what it talks about in verse 18. 00:01:35.460 --> 00:01:37.540 And the betrothal was as good as marriage. 00:01:37.540 --> 00:01:42.800 So when a couple is betrothed or pledged to be married, that was the commitment. 00:01:43.060 --> 00:01:44.080 The commitment's been made. 00:01:44.620 --> 00:01:53.660 The consummation of the marriage, the physical sexual union, might be as much as a year later, when the groom took the bride back to his home. 00:01:54.439 --> 00:01:59.800 But if in that intervening period, from the commitment to the sexual union, 00:01:59.799 --> 00:02:10.800 if after that commitment had been made, even though they weren't living together, if there was infidelity on the part of one of them, 00:02:11.060 --> 00:02:13.800 it was adultery, not fornication. 00:02:15.180 --> 00:02:18.539 And therefore that marriage could be subject to a divorce. 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:25.039 And you had to divorce if you wanted to separate as a result of an infidelity. 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:31.680 If one of the spouses died in between the commitment and the oneness of sexual union, 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:36.159 the one who was left would be called a widow or a widower. 00:02:36.899 --> 00:02:40.479 Even though the marriage hadn't been consummated yet by a sexual union. 00:02:41.459 --> 00:02:44.459 So it was before that time that they'd come together. 00:02:44.819 --> 00:02:47.180 But the pledge had been made, the commitment had been made, 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:50.719 and Mary was found to be pregnant, can you see it? 00:02:51.019 --> 00:02:52.319 Through the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:58.959 But Joseph didn't know about that part with the Holy Spirit. 00:03:00.359 --> 00:03:04.400 Because as the story reads, he finds that out in verse 20 and following. 00:03:04.780 --> 00:03:07.280 All he knows is that Mary is pregnant. 00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:13.060 And you can imagine what he must have gone through because of that. 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:19.159 We read, don't we, this Advent story again and again and again each year. 00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:24.219 And somehow, for those of us who church goes, it can become a ho-hum affair. 00:03:25.579 --> 00:03:27.759 And you never get disturbed by it. 00:03:29.219 --> 00:03:31.000 It never grabs you, never shocks you. 00:03:32.699 --> 00:03:35.120 And the reason for that is because you're not in Joseph's sandals. 00:03:37.579 --> 00:03:38.939 But think what he was going through. 00:03:39.139 --> 00:03:44.240 Surely, surely, he knew, didn't he, he hadn't been the one. 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:48.960 And he didn't think Mary could or would. 00:03:49.980 --> 00:03:51.120 She wouldn't have. 00:03:51.620 --> 00:03:52.760 But she must have. 00:03:54.600 --> 00:03:58.920 In his mind, he must be thinking Mary has given herself to another man. 00:03:59.200 --> 00:04:04.340 And the mere thought of it makes Joseph slam his fist into his workbench in anguish. 00:04:04.340 --> 00:04:13.420 You see, when God brought his Messiah in his way, it almost wrecked Joseph's life. 00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:17.860 He didn't know why Mary was pregnant. 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:24.180 He could only infer and everyone else must know. 00:04:24.180 --> 00:04:31.199 And you say, well, yes, later on he'll find out, verses 20 and following, what the real story is. 00:04:31.480 --> 00:04:34.680 And the angel of the Lord will give him that additional info. 00:04:34.900 --> 00:04:36.199 But he doesn't have it at this point. 00:04:38.060 --> 00:04:41.879 And all he can think of and all he can deal with is just what he knows. 00:04:44.199 --> 00:04:49.699 And the time when God was going to bring his supreme gift and the way that God brought it 00:04:49.699 --> 00:04:51.920 almost drove Joseph to utter despair. 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:56.020 The turmoil of God's ways. 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:02.140 That plunged Joseph into gut-wrenching turmoil. 00:05:05.200 --> 00:05:06.420 And so I want to ask a question. 00:05:06.620 --> 00:05:08.520 I don't think I'm declaring this. 00:05:08.980 --> 00:05:13.620 But I think you as God's people, as listeners of his word, you need to think and ponder about this. 00:05:13.740 --> 00:05:21.840 Could it be that this pattern is something that God may use at other times? 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:37.020 Could it be that when God does his finest work in our lives, that he may initiate that work by placing and driving us into intense confusion? 00:05:37.019 --> 00:05:44.599 Is it only Joseph that knows this pattern of God's work? 00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:45.379 I don't think it is. 00:05:47.139 --> 00:05:49.579 Could it be that some of you know this as well? 00:05:49.579 --> 00:06:01.759 And could it be that even though tonight you do not understand God's ways, you are confused at what God is doing? 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:07.159 It may yet be a prelude to some of God's best gifts. 00:06:07.160 --> 00:06:11.300 It's not only the turmoil of God's way. 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:13.160 Can you secondly see the model of God's servant? 00:06:13.420 --> 00:06:16.520 You see that in verse 19 and then verse 24 and verse 25. 00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:25.859 There's a danger, isn't there, when you read the gospels, particularly the infancy narratives, that you focus too much on the human characters of scripture. 00:06:29.159 --> 00:06:32.339 Because the Bible doesn't normally look to them for their own sake. 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:38.000 But Matthew, in his narrative, in chapters 1 and chapter 2, he draws attention to Joseph. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:45.699 Matthew mentions him four times and he never calls him Jesus' father. 00:06:47.139 --> 00:06:51.819 But he seems to set Joseph up as something of a model. 00:06:52.139 --> 00:06:55.560 You see him here as a model of God's servant. 00:06:56.959 --> 00:06:59.019 Look at his character in verse 19. 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:02.279 This is before he's got the additional info. 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:08.899 In verse 19, he's made up his mind and he's doing his best with what he's got to work with. 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:14.079 And Matthew describes him, can you see it, verse 19, as a righteous man. 00:07:15.919 --> 00:07:17.359 He's a just man. 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:21.059 And he's unwilling to put her to shame. 00:07:22.359 --> 00:07:24.799 And he resolved to divorce her quietly. 00:07:26.919 --> 00:07:28.819 He's an interesting character, isn't he? Righteous. 00:07:28.819 --> 00:07:32.000 He wants to do the right thing. 00:07:32.060 --> 00:07:32.839 He's a just man. 00:07:32.920 --> 00:07:35.420 And yet he doesn't want to put Mary to disgrace. 00:07:35.639 --> 00:07:36.339 He's compassionate. 00:07:36.500 --> 00:07:38.240 He decides to divorce her quietly. 00:07:38.659 --> 00:07:39.379 He's righteous. 00:07:40.099 --> 00:07:44.180 You see, he doesn't say, well, Mary slept with some other guy. 00:07:44.259 --> 00:07:45.159 What's the big deal? 00:07:45.300 --> 00:07:45.939 Live and let live. 00:07:47.019 --> 00:07:48.560 Sex is no big deal at all. 00:07:49.980 --> 00:07:51.399 But you see, he's a righteous man. 00:07:51.459 --> 00:07:53.199 And sexual purity matters to him. 00:07:55.339 --> 00:07:57.680 But he also doesn't want to put her to disgrace. 00:07:57.680 --> 00:07:59.000 It's beautiful. 00:08:00.459 --> 00:08:01.740 Joseph is righteous. 00:08:03.420 --> 00:08:05.319 But he's compassionately righteous. 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:09.800 And Joseph will do what is right, but he will do it kindly. 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:14.300 He's a righteous man, but he cares for Mary. 00:08:14.420 --> 00:08:15.780 It's a great combination, isn't it? 00:08:15.780 --> 00:08:18.460 Or that we would be a church like that in our character. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:23.240 But can you see there's a costliness to what Joseph does? 00:08:23.240 --> 00:08:27.620 He gets additional information. 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:30.639 The angel of the Lord appears to him and tells him basically three things. 00:08:31.100 --> 00:08:37.279 He says to Joseph, what is conceived in Mary is not because she's been unfaithful. 00:08:38.919 --> 00:08:42.360 What's conceived in Mary is due to the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:43.399 Notice the restraint. 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:46.519 There's no fantastic details there. 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:50.480 It just says, by the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:08:51.779 --> 00:08:54.079 And the Holy Spirit touched Mary. 00:08:54.179 --> 00:08:55.419 That's why she is pregnant. 00:08:56.759 --> 00:08:57.699 That's all we're told. 00:08:57.799 --> 00:08:58.740 It's God's power. 00:08:59.019 --> 00:09:00.519 The power of the Holy Spirit. 00:09:00.519 --> 00:09:05.460 And I wonder if you've ever thought about that. 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:10.220 I wonder if you've ever thought of the role of the Holy Spirit in the conception of the Lord Jesus. 00:09:12.179 --> 00:09:13.439 Think about it for a moment. 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:22.919 The Holy Spirit made the pre-existent second person of the Trinity into a human being. 00:09:22.919 --> 00:09:27.419 By the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:09:27.799 --> 00:09:32.620 Human life is created miraculously in Mary's womb. 00:09:35.019 --> 00:09:39.019 And at that point we are full of awe but not understanding. 00:09:40.860 --> 00:09:44.139 We are full of awe and worship but not understanding. 00:09:45.620 --> 00:09:46.860 And that's very important. 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:50.740 And the child to be born will save his people from their sins. 00:09:50.740 --> 00:09:54.940 And this is all a fulfilment of prophecy from Isaiah. 00:09:56.779 --> 00:09:59.560 To Joseph about this child that was to be born. 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:04.100 And that must have been a great relief to Joseph, isn't it? 00:10:04.139 --> 00:10:06.560 A burden lifted from his shoulders. 00:10:06.740 --> 00:10:09.279 But he still isn't without problems. 00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:13.159 The angel says, do not be afraid. 00:10:13.539 --> 00:10:16.279 Don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife. 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:17.180 Don't be afraid. 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:17.379 Why? 00:10:17.379 --> 00:10:18.399 Because it will cost you. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:21.299 It will cost you something. 00:10:21.620 --> 00:10:24.439 Don't think that Joseph didn't count the cost. 00:10:27.100 --> 00:10:29.679 Don't you suppose Joseph talked to himself and said, 00:10:30.259 --> 00:10:33.459 Look Joseph, you go ahead and do that. 00:10:33.579 --> 00:10:35.340 But you know what will happen, don't you? 00:10:35.500 --> 00:10:36.919 People will begin to talk. 00:10:36.919 --> 00:10:44.000 And they are going to say, Joseph must have been the one that slept with her after all. 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:46.120 Or he wouldn't go ahead with it. 00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:51.219 He wouldn't complete the marriage with Mary if it was really someone else. 00:10:53.399 --> 00:10:56.360 Joseph would surely divorce her if it was someone else. 00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:57.399 But he's not doing that. 00:10:57.479 --> 00:10:59.039 So Joseph had his choice. 00:10:59.179 --> 00:11:01.000 And it would be a costly obedience. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:03.580 What do you think? 00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:08.340 There are other answers to this. 00:11:09.659 --> 00:11:11.740 And this isn't the only one. 00:11:12.139 --> 00:11:16.399 But why do you think Jesus, Joseph, took Mary to Bethlehem? 00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:19.919 One reason would be for the census. 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:23.139 But why did Joseph take Mary to Bethlehem? 00:11:24.179 --> 00:11:27.939 When strictly speaking, actually, Mary wasn't required to go to Bethlehem. 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:31.059 Why did he take her with him? 00:11:31.199 --> 00:11:37.159 Could it be that in part he wants to save her from ridicule and abuse? 00:11:38.759 --> 00:11:40.539 There was being heaped on her in Nazareth. 00:11:40.539 --> 00:11:45.759 And what do you think those Jews meant in John 8, 41? 00:11:46.079 --> 00:11:49.000 When later they're debating with Jesus and they say to him, 00:11:49.299 --> 00:11:51.179 we were not born of sexual immorality. 00:11:54.419 --> 00:11:57.740 What they didn't say was as important as what they were saying. 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:01.799 And when they say with a sneer, isn't this the carpenter's son? 00:12:01.980 --> 00:12:02.919 What are they trying to imply? 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:07.519 They're saying to Jesus, we were not born of fornication. 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:14.740 But we hear there were some shady, unknown details around your birth cheaters. 00:12:15.259 --> 00:12:17.939 And Joseph realises he could do one of two things. 00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:21.439 He could divorce Mary and he could exonerate himself. 00:12:21.779 --> 00:12:23.679 And people say, well, Joseph did what was right. 00:12:23.779 --> 00:12:24.740 He's a just man. 00:12:24.819 --> 00:12:25.699 He's a righteous man. 00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:28.799 He could come out with his reputation intact. 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:39.000 Or he could take Mary as his wife and share in the suspicion and the shame and the innuendo and the town gossip. 00:12:40.259 --> 00:12:41.539 For the rest of his life. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:44.799 And so what does he do? 00:12:45.899 --> 00:12:47.419 We're told Joseph rose from his sleep. 00:12:49.199 --> 00:12:51.740 And he did as the angel of the Lord directed him. 00:12:51.740 --> 00:12:55.779 It is just quiet obedience. 00:12:58.180 --> 00:13:00.159 Quiet, costly obedience. 00:13:04.039 --> 00:13:07.180 I don't know if you've noticed this, but Joseph never talks. 00:13:09.340 --> 00:13:11.759 Joseph never says a word in Matthew 1 and 2. 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:15.639 He never says anything. 00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:20.639 He just does whatever God tells him to do. 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:23.379 He never talks. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:26.639 It's like Noah in Genesis 6-8 in that flood story. 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:32.480 I know Noah talks after in chapter 9 about the curse on Canaan. 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:34.259 But that isn't in the flood story, isn't it? 00:13:34.259 --> 00:13:36.200 In Genesis 6-8 in that flood story. 00:13:38.060 --> 00:13:40.000 All the details of it. 00:13:40.659 --> 00:13:42.700 And it refers to Noah in so many ways. 00:13:42.820 --> 00:13:43.700 But Noah never speaks. 00:13:45.299 --> 00:13:47.100 He just does what God tells him to do. 00:13:47.100 --> 00:13:53.040 And so here you have quiet Joseph. 00:13:54.940 --> 00:14:00.340 Believe it or not, no one ever interviewed Joseph on Christian TV to ask him what it would have been like. 00:14:00.340 --> 00:14:07.399 No evangelical publisher ever put out a book describing Joseph's trauma. 00:14:09.399 --> 00:14:14.080 No one ever described Joseph as a dynamic Christian personality. 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:19.840 He actually disappears, doesn't he, after the infancy narratives. 00:14:20.220 --> 00:14:21.740 He just quietly obeyed. 00:14:21.780 --> 00:14:24.920 He did what was righteous according to God's command. 00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:29.299 And even though men wouldn't think it was righteous at all. 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:35.339 And that is because Joseph loved the praise of God more than the approval of men. 00:14:35.340 --> 00:14:40.160 And he just did quietly what God told him to do. 00:14:41.300 --> 00:14:42.960 No fanfare, no glamour. 00:14:44.580 --> 00:14:46.420 And maybe not even any recognition. 00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:50.519 There's a model of God's servants. 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:54.680 The turmoil of God's ways, the model of God's servants. 00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:57.920 And thirdly, the birth reveals the stress of the need of God's people. 00:14:58.139 --> 00:14:59.060 Look at verse 21. 00:14:59.060 --> 00:14:59.100 Verse 21. 00:15:05.340 --> 00:15:06.940 She will bear a son. 00:15:08.259 --> 00:15:10.320 And you shall call his name Jesus. 00:15:10.600 --> 00:15:12.820 For he will save his people from their sins. 00:15:13.580 --> 00:15:15.700 It's interesting, isn't it, how he describes that. 00:15:16.180 --> 00:15:18.000 Saved from their sins. 00:15:19.860 --> 00:15:28.160 The way that it's described there is their sins are a kind of power that holds them under its influence. 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:34.780 They are kind of under the control of their sins. 00:15:34.779 --> 00:15:36.839 And they need to be rescued out of them. 00:15:38.659 --> 00:15:41.799 And there is an element in which their sins have control. 00:15:42.220 --> 00:15:45.259 And these people, they need to be taken out of that control. 00:15:45.500 --> 00:15:46.120 Out of that realm. 00:15:46.220 --> 00:15:46.879 Out of that sphere. 00:15:47.100 --> 00:15:47.959 And that dominance. 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:52.159 And we don't always think about sin in that way. 00:15:54.579 --> 00:15:57.039 We don't always think of sin as a power. 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:02.120 We often think of it in things that we do and don't do. 00:16:02.120 --> 00:16:05.580 But sin is not like clothes that we put on and put off. 00:16:07.419 --> 00:16:09.539 It's not something that is there. 00:16:10.139 --> 00:16:11.720 That we can take or leave. 00:16:12.200 --> 00:16:14.659 But sin is a power that has a hold of us. 00:16:16.539 --> 00:16:20.019 Sin is a power that exercises power over us. 00:16:20.019 --> 00:16:25.100 You've probably done this, isn't it? 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:26.600 This has happened to me a few times, isn't it? 00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:28.559 You can be sleeping at night. 00:16:28.899 --> 00:16:30.500 And you're sleeping the wrong way. 00:16:30.939 --> 00:16:33.039 And you fall asleep on your arm. 00:16:33.159 --> 00:16:34.000 Or your hand. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:40.360 And then the magic moment goes when the alarm goes off. 00:16:40.419 --> 00:16:41.440 And it seems to be so loud. 00:16:41.639 --> 00:16:42.620 And you roll over. 00:16:42.679 --> 00:16:43.620 And you reach over. 00:16:43.820 --> 00:16:47.039 And you try to move your arm to turn off the alarm clock. 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:47.980 Or to flip your phone. 00:16:48.059 --> 00:16:48.940 But your arm is asleep. 00:16:50.360 --> 00:16:52.279 And your hand won't grip anything. 00:16:52.659 --> 00:16:55.980 And your arm is flopping around because you've slept on it. 00:16:55.980 --> 00:16:58.360 And you can't get hold of it. 00:16:58.500 --> 00:16:59.940 It's out of your control. 00:17:02.139 --> 00:17:04.099 It feels like it's under someone else's control. 00:17:04.220 --> 00:17:05.200 You don't have control of it. 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:07.480 It won't do what you want it to do because it's falling asleep. 00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:08.720 It's a terrible feeling. 00:17:12.519 --> 00:17:14.140 Do you know what it is to be like that? 00:17:14.220 --> 00:17:14.799 To be helpless. 00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:18.440 To be in bondage to something. 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:26.720 I was going through the park at the bottom of my road. 00:17:26.820 --> 00:17:29.940 And there was a mum pushing a child on a bike. 00:17:30.080 --> 00:17:31.759 Trying to get him to learn to the bike. 00:17:32.100 --> 00:17:33.160 And it's a great moment, isn't it? 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:33.759 When you see that. 00:17:33.840 --> 00:17:34.660 And the mum is running along. 00:17:34.740 --> 00:17:35.539 And she's running with the bike. 00:17:36.100 --> 00:17:37.559 And they're going faster. 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:39.320 And then the mum kind of launches him off. 00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:44.519 And then you hear the words, turn, turn, turn. 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:44.820 And. 00:17:48.440 --> 00:17:51.120 The child says, why didn't you turn? 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:53.039 Why didn't you turn? 00:17:54.680 --> 00:17:56.860 The child says, I can't. 00:17:56.920 --> 00:17:57.480 I couldn't do it. 00:17:57.539 --> 00:17:58.019 I can't do it. 00:17:58.220 --> 00:17:58.880 Of course he could do it. 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:00.000 He could move the handle. 00:18:00.140 --> 00:18:00.720 Why couldn't you do it? 00:18:00.740 --> 00:18:01.600 I just can't do it. 00:18:04.100 --> 00:18:05.120 Why can't you do it? 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:07.960 Just do it. 00:18:10.539 --> 00:18:11.900 Isn't sin so often like that? 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:13.120 Why do you do what you do? 00:18:14.940 --> 00:18:16.200 Why can't you stop doing it? 00:18:19.120 --> 00:18:20.059 Because I'm in bondage. 00:18:20.100 --> 00:18:20.600 It's irrational. 00:18:20.740 --> 00:18:22.279 It's the way that sin works. 00:18:23.640 --> 00:18:26.400 I really hope you don't think that sin is rational. 00:18:29.380 --> 00:18:30.779 Sin is irrational. 00:18:34.080 --> 00:18:35.820 And so we talk about the sin behind the sin. 00:18:35.860 --> 00:18:36.980 And that's really helpful, isn't it? 00:18:37.080 --> 00:18:38.860 Seeing the kind of idols behind the sin. 00:18:38.980 --> 00:18:40.920 But when you get back to it, why do we sin? 00:18:40.940 --> 00:18:41.720 It's utterly irrational. 00:18:41.840 --> 00:18:42.740 So you go to the Garden of Eden. 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:44.000 Why did Adam and Eve sin? 00:18:44.039 --> 00:18:44.519 You say pride. 00:18:44.860 --> 00:18:46.500 Why did they suffer pride? 00:18:46.539 --> 00:18:47.059 We don't know. 00:18:47.059 --> 00:18:52.220 And that's what it's like to be in bondage, isn't it? 00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:59.480 And you say, well, if Jesus came to save people who are in bondage to their sin, 00:18:59.539 --> 00:19:01.319 they must be very, very desperate people. 00:19:01.379 --> 00:19:01.859 And we are. 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:07.000 Notice that it says, doesn't it, really quite interestingly, 00:19:07.259 --> 00:19:09.240 he will save his people from their sin. 00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:16.539 It's got more meaning when you get to the end of Matthew's Gospel. 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:23.140 But when Joseph heard those words, save his people, he would be thinking of the people of Israel. 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:29.359 Jesus will save his people from their sins. 00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:38.919 These were the ones who had been given the promises of God, the covenants of God, the prophecies of God, the promises of God. 00:19:39.419 --> 00:19:42.500 These are the folks that went to synagogue, they went to church each week. 00:19:43.719 --> 00:19:47.579 And they were the ones who needed to be rescued from their sins. 00:19:47.579 --> 00:19:53.599 They are the people who are in such desperate need and bondage. 00:19:53.699 --> 00:19:55.960 They are the religious folks, people like you and I. 00:19:58.059 --> 00:20:00.980 People who claim to be part of the covenant people of God. 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:04.480 And today there are Presbyterians among them. 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:10.779 And it's saying that the Israelites needed to be saved from their bondage of sin. 00:20:13.500 --> 00:20:14.680 And so here's the truth. 00:20:14.759 --> 00:20:16.039 You can be an Israelite. 00:20:16.339 --> 00:20:19.920 You can be a fully paid up member of the people of God and be a slave of sin. 00:20:21.819 --> 00:20:29.299 And you can be a Presbyterian and be a lost soul unless Jesus saves you from your sin. 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:33.039 And that is my need and that is your need. 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:34.079 The need of God's people. 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:35.559 Let me read to you from J.C. Ryle. 00:20:37.199 --> 00:20:38.960 The name Jesus means Saviour. 00:20:39.919 --> 00:20:41.720 It's the same name as Joshua in the Old Testament. 00:20:42.159 --> 00:20:45.859 He saves from the guilt of sin by washing them in his own atoning blood. 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:51.059 He saves them from the dominion of sin by putting in their hearts the sanctifying spirit. 00:20:51.859 --> 00:20:56.759 He saves them from the presence of sin when he takes them out of this world to rest with him. 00:20:57.319 --> 00:21:03.240 He will save them from all the consequences of sin when he shall give them a glorious body at the last day. 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:08.019 From sorrow, cross and conflict they are not saved. 00:21:08.679 --> 00:21:11.000 But they are saved from sin forevermore. 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:16.539 Jesus is a very encouraging name to heavy laden sinners. 00:21:16.539 --> 00:21:24.259 He who is king of kings and lord of lords might have lawfully taken some more high sounding title. 00:21:24.680 --> 00:21:25.759 But he did not do so. 00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:31.639 The rulers of this world have called themselves great, conqueror, bold, magnificent and the like. 00:21:32.159 --> 00:21:35.980 The son of God was content to call himself Saviour. 00:21:35.980 --> 00:21:43.339 Fourthly and lastly, Jesus' birth reveals the arrival of God's presence. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:44.299 Look at verse 23. 00:21:46.700 --> 00:21:52.339 Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel. 00:21:52.519 --> 00:21:54.460 It's a quote from Isaiah 7.14. 00:21:54.460 --> 00:22:00.819 And the context of that passage is that Isaiah throws in the teeth of King Ahaz a promise from God. 00:22:02.579 --> 00:22:07.400 That the Assyrians, the great big enemy was going to come and they're going to decimate the nation of Judah. 00:22:07.840 --> 00:22:09.400 And they're going to bring it low. 00:22:10.420 --> 00:22:16.660 And out of this future time, when Judah is in a desperate condition, there would be born a child. 00:22:17.779 --> 00:22:19.240 A child who's going to be king. 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:24.319 And the name of this child would be Emmanuel, which means God with us. 00:22:28.220 --> 00:22:35.380 We can't go into it further tonight, except to say that this is all that ever sustains God's people. 00:22:36.980 --> 00:22:41.339 And it sustained Isaiah and his fellow believers. 00:22:42.200 --> 00:22:46.319 Just the fact that God is with us, that he holds us up. 00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:51.500 And now Matthew is saying, Emmanuel has come. 00:22:53.339 --> 00:22:55.200 It's not just a statement of faith. 00:22:56.700 --> 00:22:59.039 God is with us. 00:23:01.559 --> 00:23:06.059 A personal, Emmanuel God with us. 00:23:07.059 --> 00:23:10.339 Has come in warm flesh, living colour. 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:13.720 And Jesus is Emmanuel. 00:23:13.720 --> 00:23:16.380 He is God with us. 00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:18.220 He is both human and divine. 00:23:18.660 --> 00:23:21.620 Jesus has a human mother, but a divine father. 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:25.700 He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. 00:23:26.120 --> 00:23:27.339 He is God with us. 00:23:28.700 --> 00:23:29.660 God with us. 00:23:29.779 --> 00:23:31.440 And that makes all the difference. 00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:41.799 And so children, when you're walking in the dark, on the street, on the pavement, with your mum or your dad, 00:23:42.059 --> 00:23:47.840 and you're walking in the dark, and you feel slightly scared, it makes all the difference in the world, isn't it? 00:23:47.840 --> 00:23:51.320 When the parent grabs your hand, because you know that they are with you. 00:23:51.319 --> 00:24:00.619 What a difference it makes that God is with us. 00:24:00.619 --> 00:24:10.799 I'm eight years younger than my next oldest brother or sister, and then another older brother who's older than I am. 00:24:10.959 --> 00:24:13.439 I was kind of, in many ways, a bit of an only child in a way. 00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:17.039 And I had an imaginary friend called Sam. 00:24:18.100 --> 00:24:20.480 Sam had lived a terribly sad life. 00:24:21.539 --> 00:24:22.559 His wife had died. 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:23.680 All his children had died. 00:24:24.279 --> 00:24:25.539 He was forever getting into trouble. 00:24:25.660 --> 00:24:28.680 And I would tell my family about Sam, much to my father's annoyance. 00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:31.279 He was an imaginary friend. 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:35.759 One day, we're driving through Gosinan, and I said, that's where Sam lives. 00:24:36.500 --> 00:24:42.500 My father stopped the car, turned the car around, pulled the car over. 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:44.319 Let's go and see Sam, he said. 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:47.819 Sam never made an appearance again. 00:24:48.180 --> 00:24:48.940 He killed him off. 00:24:51.740 --> 00:24:57.079 Many people think, don't they, when we think God with us, they think we're talking about some imaginary friend. 00:24:57.079 --> 00:25:05.699 But Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us in history. 00:25:08.919 --> 00:25:11.859 He is with us tonight by his spirit. 00:25:14.639 --> 00:25:19.139 He supports us in the midst of afflictions, in the midst of suffering. 00:25:19.140 --> 00:25:29.960 The only thing that steadies us in the midst of our fears is that we have this strange conviction from the testimony of God's word. 00:25:30.800 --> 00:25:33.500 That God is with us by his spirit. 00:25:35.700 --> 00:25:36.860 Jesus is Emmanuel. 00:25:38.660 --> 00:25:45.060 And that's why we confess, don't we, and with God's people throughout the ages, with the rest of God's people, believing people. 00:25:45.059 --> 00:25:48.759 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. 00:25:48.879 --> 00:25:49.179 Why? 00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:51.000 For you are with me. 00:25:52.859 --> 00:25:55.859 And if I ascend to the heavens, you are there. 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:00.599 And if I make my bed in the depths and the grave, you are there. 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:03.619 For you are Jesus. 00:26:04.619 --> 00:26:05.059 Emmanuel. 00:26:07.079 --> 00:26:07.899 God with us. 00:26:09.700 --> 00:26:10.299 Let's pray.