I would like you to turn your Bibles this morning to the passage that we are going to study
! Matthew chapter 1. We're going to be looking at verses 18 through 25, which brings to us one of the
pieces of the Christmas story. I go back and forth on telling you this in advance, but I suppose I
will. I am a very, very poor secret keeper. My wife knows me well enough to know that if I buy her a
present, I just can't help it. I've got to tell her ahead. It's so much fun to buy her presents. It's
like, I can't wait. And so, Lord willing, should He allow, I, next year on Christmastime, am going to
preach through the genealogies of Christ. That's actually an accurate response because there is
not a single word in the Scripture that is not for our benefit. Is that not right? And what it says in
Romans, and I love the passage in Romans 15 verse 4, it says, these things are written for our
encouragement. So, by the way, we will not get bogged down, Lord willing. I have a whole year to
work on this, trust me. Prayer, prayer, prayer, prayer, prayer, prayer, lots of prayer. But when we
look at the genealogy of Christ together, it is going to be a rich, a rich overview of the plan of God
in bringing us redemption. That's what that is. By the way, no matter where you are in the Bible,
ultimately, the path leads back to Jesus. Do you know that? Do you realize that? Because He is the
center of the book that we love and are thankful for. And so, I want you to know in advance,
Lord willing. That's what I intend to preach on next year. And I almost kind of bumped over there
this year, but I thought, no, we've already got this far in the process, and I want you to be in
prayer this morning. Now, a second thing that I will say to you is that preaching is an active
and demanding responsibility, but also listening is an active and demanding responsibility. And I want to
plead with you to do that which I have probably done more repetitiously than any other thing that I
have asked you to do in the almost 27 years that I have served as your pastor, and that is that you
pray for me. Pastor Saul and I are humbled by your kindness in thinking about us around this Christmas
season. We are thankful for your generosity. You are a wonderful congregation to serve among.
And your gift is something that we are thankful for. But I know I can speak for my brother and
companion in the gospel when I say that while we are thankful for that, the thing that we appreciate
even more is that you are a persistently prayerful people for those who serve among you. We're thankful
for that. And so, it goes without saying that if I'm going to open the book, you're going to keep your
eyes open and you're also going to pray. And you can multitask, at least most people can. And so,
I ask that as I am preaching that you pray that the Spirit of God would enable me to bring the Word
with authority and with accuracy and with the affection of heaven and that you also would be
affected by it. And you can do that, can you not? Please understand this. Listen to me carefully.
Prayer makes average preaching better. I don't have an intention of being average in preaching,
but I recognize that as the Scripture says, we have this treasure in earthen vessels.
And so, please multitask that you might be enabled by the Spirit of God to be part of what He's doing.
Let's pray. Our Father, we ask the power of the Spirit that You have given to us as believers
to anoint my lips, that I may speak with unction, and that Your people may attend to the teaching of
the Word of God with the enabling of the Spirit. For as Jesus rightly taught us in John 15, apart from
Me, You can do nothing. And so, we ask that this morning we would hear carefully, we would allow the
Word of God to make a difference in our lives, and as we listen to the Word of God, that it would
have an effect that we would be different in the way we think and the way we act, that the unbelieving
world might be drawn to the cross, and we might be a joy and a delight to You. We ask this in Your
precious name. Amen. Let me have you look at Matthew chapter 1, verse 18. It says,
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place on this way. When His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband,
Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream,
saying, 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. She will bear a son, and you will call His name Jesus,
for He will save His people from their sins. I want you to understand that at the heart of
preaching is really the wonderful responsibility of communicating what God has to say. Preaching is
really not about being witty. It's not about having some sappy stories or poems that kind of resonate
off the heart, and they sound good in and of themselves. Really, preaching is about being
clear about what God has already revealed to you, and I trust that that is what you are looking for
this morning, is to hear the Word of God stated clearly and with conviction and with a desire that
you are formed by what you hear. I've got to admit that life is foggy. Do you understand what I mean by
that? It's not as easy to have it all focused and in line, and there are so many dissonant little
voices that are calling out to us and trying to have an effect on us, and life can be a little
confusing. I was shopping the other evening, and I just couldn't help but notice that the retail
culture really doesn't get Christmas. Do you understand that? I mean, you know, you can have a
little baby Jesus in a Cretion. You can have a great big old jolly Santa Claus right next to the
same setting, and you can have...so which is really Christmas? I took a walk around my neighborhood a
couple nights ago, and I counted up in my proximity. That's just one loop of a little area. There were 33
houses, I think, that were decorated with Christmas. At least, that's what I say. They had lights hung all
over the place, and I thought, AEP must love this season. You know, it's like cha-ching, and I mean,
there were some houses that I thought should have their own transformer. It was pretty serious.
Powerful. Hallelujah. Somebody must work for AEP. But I remember walking around, and I had to...I kind
of...at the end of the circle, I noticed aside from fat little blow-up Santa Claus, I really didn't get any
idea that Christmas had anything to do with any kind of religious focus. Aside from the festive mood
and the lights and things like that, no indication. And it's not just in the stores.
My computer inbox is just filled, filled with help of messages of things that I really didn't know I
needed to be warmer, to be happier, to be more productive, to be more satisfied. I mean, just
an incessant delete, delete, delete, delete, because they just clog up the system.
And I'll admit, I get caught up in the flow a little bit, too. I was sitting there in the family
room, Judith and I together, and I was sitting there on my laptop, and she looked over, and she said,
hey, what are you doing? I was actually reading the news at the moment, and I admitted that, and I said,
well, I just happened to be kind of flying through some of the news articles, and she says, oh, really?
I said, why? She said, well, you never want to buy anything until right around Christmas,
and then you buy things that other people were thinking about buying for you.
And she said, stop, don't do it. And so I thought to myself, well, what prompts me around Christmas
time to begin thinking about things that I desperately need? And it has to be the advertisements.
So I admit, the tractor beam of retail draws me in just like the rest of you, and it's pretty easy
to get caught up in what's going on with the season. And so I want to take the Word of God and
lay it out like a compass and say, where's true north and what really is this time all about?
So I want you to turn in our passage here just to verse 21 in particular as we focus on this text,
and let me make three points that rise out of the passage itself. First of all,
it's undeniable that Christmas is about Jesus, isn't it? That's what Christmas is really about.
And so I trust that as you celebrate Christmas as a family, and that's a good thing to do,
now listen to me, don't kind of read the Christmas story kind of out of obligation like,
okay, when I get back to church, I'll be able to say, pastor, we read this Christmas story.
We're good. Hey, listen, weave the Lord Jesus into the life of your family in more than just that
particular thing. Make Him center, not just of that day, but of every day. And we look here at
this passage, and as you look, you recognize verse 21, it says, listen, you'll call His name Jesus.
Now question, how many of you know what the name Jesus actually means? Just, you can have three
options. Nod your head, that's one. Smile at me real big like you're kind of doing a dental thing,
or just raise your hand. A, B, C. Some of you are going like this, and you need to stop, okay?
Hey, listen, up here, up here. Here's what Jesus means. It means Jehoshua is salvation. Joshua,
Jesus, the Lord is Savior. When Joseph was given instructions on what to name his son,
he said, listen, you're going to call Him God is Savior, Lord is Savior, because that's what He's all
about. No matter where you are in this wonderful book, Jesus is the recurring theme, and all things
come back to Him. Now, in the Old Testament, the hints are a little harder to see on occasion.
Wouldn't you agree with that? You recognize in particular, let me give you a couple of illustrations.
You remember when Abraham was called to sacrifice his only son, and up the hill he went, and remember,
his son Isaac says, hey, listen, where's the sacrificial lamb? Where's the sacrifice? And what did
Abraham say? God will provide. God will provide. And the New Testament becomes profoundly more clear when,
as Jesus was coming, John the Baptist says, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
The New Testament makes the issue of the centrality of Christ and the story of redemption much clearer,
and both Matthew and Luke lay out some of the details of the first Christmas,
and though each of the accounts give us a different set of facts, nevertheless, at the center of all of these
facts is the Lord Jesus. Our text today explains the miracle birth. It explains how Joseph intended to respond
and how the Spirit of God came to him, where actually an angel of the Lord came to him and pointed out that he was
not to handle things appropriately. And the Old Testament, as we have just alluded to, really
points towards Jesus with prophecies and symbolic imagery. I'm reminded of the fact that when in the
Old Testament a believer sinned, the way in which to deal with that sin was through sacrifice, and as he
sacrificed, he was not thinking that the blood of that bull or that goat or that lamb, whatever it was,
was actually an adequate atonement for sin. But he was thinking forward to the day that God had
promised would come when someone he would send would be the substitute and the sacrifice for sin.
The theme of God's provision is the lone bright star against the incredibly dark background and backdrop
of what took place in Genesis chapter 1. I want you to think just for a moment back to Genesis chapter 1,
chapter 3. Actually, I said chapter 1, I meant 3. 315, where remember after Adam and Eve had sinned and God
comes to them, he makes this statement. He says, I will put enmity between you and the woman, talking about
Satan, the serpent, and he says, between you and your offspring, and he will bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel. It's called the proto-evangelism or evangelism, but it's the first reference
to the fact that God would provide a sacrifice for our sin.
We see throughout the Old Testament sacrificial system the reference to the fact that God would provide,
and when in the temple people would come and offer their sacrifice,
they were thinking of the day that God would provide His Son to be the sacrifice.
I want you to look at two more texts in which we see things a little more clearly,
particularly in the New Testament. If you will, turn to John chapter 5.
John chapter 5, verse 39.
Very interesting statement that Jesus makes to His detractors,
who were specialists in the Old Testament.
They prided themselves in knowing what the Bible had to say, the Old Testament.
And by the way, Jesus had a lot of fun with them. One of the things that He would say
was, have you never read? What was their attitude towards that?
It was like, duh.
I mean, the supreme insult to say to a Pharisee,
now listen to me, the Pharisees were so well versed in the Bible,
the Old Testament, that you could have them,
you could give them a reference and they could recite the whole thing,
or you could start a sentence and they could finish it.
We can do that with a couple things.
Here's an illustration.
For God so loved the world.
See, you can do that, but how many of you can go much beyond that one?
The Pharisees had it down cold.
And Jesus loved to point out to them that while they heard the Scriptures,
the Scriptures didn't make any difference to the way they lived.
In John chapter 5, verse 39, He says,
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life,
and it is they that bear witness to Me.
If you were to walk into my office,
and you were to sit in the chairs that are in there,
behind you would be the verses that I see when I study.
One of them is John chapter 5, verse 39,
and it is written out, and then it says this,
How does this sermon testify to Christ?
You see, the Scriptures bear witness to Jesus.
Let me have you look at another one in particular,
and this is over in the book of Luke,
just a brief comment on this.
And I, for one, am inclined to think that probably Hebrews,
a wonderful book,
is the more complete unpacking of what Jesus taught on that road
and the little sermon that He gave to those two grieving disciples.
Look at Luke chapter 24, verse 25.
And He said to them,
O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken,
was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into His glory?
And beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
So when Jesus came that first Christmas,
He who was God's gift to a broken and wicked world
was and is also the central figure of it.
And I cannot help but wonder this morning,
as we gather and we sit under the teaching of the Word of God,
whether or not Jesus is really central in your life.
Do you understand that?
Is He at the very center?
Or have other things crowded Him out?
I'm reminded of what it says over in the book of Revelation
where Jesus, as He writes to the church,
He says there at Laodicea,
you have lost your, what?
Your first love.
Can I tell you something about love?
It doesn't do well unnurtured and uncared for.
Do you realize that?
It can fade and lose its power.
And so this morning, as you sit and listen to the preaching of the Word of God,
ask yourself that practical question,
how connected is my heart
to the beauty and the glory of the Lord Jesus who came to be my Savior.
Second thing that I want you to see going back to that passage in Matthew
is that Christmas is about salvation.
Christmas is about salvation.
And I've got to tell you,
I can understand why the world gets so bent out of shape
when we, with any level of clarity,
declare what Christmas is really all about.
You look at the passage there in Matthew chapter 1
and mark what it says.
It says that Jesus came to be our Savior.
And so we recognize, as you look at the passage
and think about it here just for a moment,
it says He came to save.
The Bible is crystal clear
that men cannot save themselves.
That's really actually pretty offensive.
Do you understand that?
I mean, for one,
we'd like to believe that God grades on the curve,
at least the curve that works for us.
And we don't mind the way He treats other people.
I mean, they're scoundrels
and they deserve what they've got coming.
But us?
Hey, cut me slack.
I'm doing my best.
The truth of the matter is
is that all mankind is in a predicament
that He's eternally dangerous.
In the face of that,
we have a tendency to be a little bit like the rich fool
over there in Luke chapter 12, verse 16 through 21.
Remember the rich fool?
He had it all happening.
It was good.
He was gathering just beaucoup.
It was coming in.
In fact, he had so much
that, you know,
he decides, he reaches the point and says,
hey, I am kicking back
because I've got enough
to kind of coast on towards the sunset.
You know, I'll buy myself a third vacation home.
I'm going to have an RV and a yacht
and I'm in.
I'm on.
It's a good, good thing.
Remember what Jesus said to him,
thou fool,
tonight your soul will be required of you.
When we read the remainder of that lesson,
we realize this self-focused man
really was not thinking about eternity at all
and in consequences, he was doomed.
Others are amazingly pleased with themselves
and their relative goodness.
I had a wonderful chance earlier,
well, it's actually last week.
I keep forgetting.
Sunday is the beginning of a new week, right?
Gotcha.
Okay, yeah, it is.
But last week,
I had the chance to share the gospel with a guy.
We had a little extra time.
We're sitting in a hospital
and so how we drifted left of center,
I don't know how it happened.
But anyway,
he got to talking about spiritual things
and he shared with me
that he was a very generous and kind man
and he didn't judge other people.
And so I followed up
and asked him the logical question.
I said,
so Hitler's in heaven?
Do you follow the logic there?
I mean,
he doesn't judge
and God doesn't judge
and everybody's okay.
And I said,
well,
is Hitler in heaven?
Well,
he got a little flustered
but he says,
no,
I don't think so.
I said,
well,
if Hitler's not in heaven,
how far down the line
do you have to come
with being nasty and naughty
to get to the point
that God cares about it?
You know what the answer is?
The Bible tells us
all have sinned
and come short
of the glory of God.
There is none that are righteous,
no,
not one.
And I didn't give him the reference.
You know,
sometimes,
how many of you figured out
that sometimes the reference
is like sticking a finger
in a guy's eye
is like dingbat,
boom,
Bible verse,
boom,
you know,
not to be done.
Okay.
I said,
you know,
truth of the matter is
is if God's holy
and perfect
and his mother
was in surgery,
I said,
you know what,
I bet you you're hoping
that the doctor
is exercising
all due caution
and you want
a bug-free environment
for your mother's surgery
right now,
right?
Well,
yeah.
I mean,
I remember when my father
would scrub for surgery
and I thought,
you know,
hit it a lick
with water
and leave it go.
You know,
go on in.
You know,
timer running,
ding,
you know,
and there was
this protocol
of putting on gloves
and gown
and it's like,
oh,
but you know what?
If what you want to do
is come out of surgery
without an infection,
do those kind of things
make a difference?
And the answer is yes.
Well,
heaven has zero infection.
I'm reminded
of what it says
over in Hebrews chapter 9
where it says,
it's appointed unto man
once to die
and after that,
the judgment.
It's really surprising
to tell people
that there will be
no do-overs.
Do I get a second chance?
No.
And if you have not
trusted in Christ
and you are planning
to face the judgment
on the basis
of your own self-righteousness,
the answer from Scripture
is you are doomed.
The truth of the matter
is is that the Bible
makes it clear
that all mankind
is utterly unable
to save themselves.
It's one thing
to be told
that we need
to be saved.
It's another thing
to be told
that you can't
do it yourself.
And when we read here
in this passage,
He will save
His people
from their sins.
The supposition
of the text
is that we can't do it.
We need someone else
to do it.
Think with me
just for a moment
to another passage.
And so if you want
to follow along,
I want you to turn
in your Bible
over to Ephesians chapter 2
where the apostle
in the second chapter
of Ephesians
does just a phenomenal job
of explaining
some of the details
of salvation.
and look what He says
there in Ephesians chapter 2.
It says,
for by grace...
Now what does grace mean?
It means I get something
that I didn't earn.
I am amazed...
Everybody look up
and smile at me
so I know you're with me.
Like this.
I'm amazed
at how many people
go to church
and at the end
of the day
really believe
that the reason
they're getting
into heaven
is because
they're pretty good people.
Now I admit
there are some churches
where the gospel
doesn't have
a floating chance.
But don't deceive yourself.
It's only by the grace
of God
that a person
comes to faith.
There it is
in verse 8.
It says,
for by grace
you have been saved
through faith
and this is not
of your own...
What?
Doing.
Knock, knock, knock.
Hi Tim.
How are you getting in?
Well, I've been
a pretty good person.
Ha!
You know,
anybody that knows me
knows that
is a lie.
And it's the same thing
for you.
Now aren't you glad
everybody doesn't know
all the things about you
that God does?
But the truth of the matter
is you're not getting there
because of who you are.
You're getting there
because God sent His Son
to die for your sins.
I want you to go back
with me now
to Matthew
as we recognize
the third point.
Christmas is about
saving us
from our sins.
Looking at
Matthew chapter 1
verse 21
and picking up again
on that theme
there in the text
it says,
for He will save
His people
from their sins.
God has ordained agents
such as our families
to help us with that.
Our conscience
that bears witness.
And the government.
I was driving
in a particular area
the other day
and I happened to notice
that people were being
exceptionally prudent
in their driving skills.
And I thought,
hmm,
what is all this about?
And then when I rounded
the corner
I discovered
what was prompting
their conscience.
It was an officer
of the law
sitting over in the berm
and kind of sitting there
happily waiting
for someone
who was brain dead
to go by.
So, you know,
and I,
everybody and I
kind of rolled
the traffic
and you know
what happened
after we were
out of sight?
Guess what happened?
Does anybody know
what happened?
Does anybody know
what happened?
Everybody just burned
the petrol
like they had
no thought
in their mind
of what was dangerous.
And off they went
and I'm sitting there
going,
ooh,
okay.
Here's the truth.
all men
are sinners.
Even with the restraints
in place
the heart of man
is a dark place
and a factory
for every imaginable sin.
I want you to understand
that sin harms man
in this present life
and it condemns
in the life to come.
Turn back in your Bible.
I've referenced Genesis
a number of different times
and so we're going to take
a couple minutes.
You can keep your finger
in Matthew
if you wish
or not
but go to Genesis
chapter 3
as we look at
what God has to say
about sin
in Genesis chapter 3.
And by the way
let me tell you
a little secret
about Bible study.
It's always good
to get it right
from the beginning.
Would you understand that?
How many of you
have done math problems
that rely upon you
getting the starting facts
right?
And if you get
the starting facts wrong
what happens as you
go down the line?
Do you understand
that it only gets worse?
Okay.
Well Genesis 3
I've been talking
so let me get there.
I want you to recognize
as you look at
Genesis chapter 3
that first of all
sin leads man
to be self-deceived.
Look at Genesis chapter 3
verse 7.
It says
then the eyes of both
were opened
after they had sinned
and they knew
that they were naked.
Okay.
Now
the reasonable thing
to do when you
recognize you're naked
is say
hey God
I have sinned
and I desperately
need your help.
Right?
What'd they do?
Oh look at the passage.
It says
what they did
was they grabbed
fig leaves
and sewed them together
and made themselves
loincloths.
Hey what do you think?
Looks good right?
Did I fool you
with my fig leaves?
Listen to me carefully
so you don't miss this.
Sin leads mankind
to be self-deceived.
Instead of recognizing
and admitting
the broken
and helpless state
that sin produces
we try to cover ourselves
one way or another
with fig leaves.
Second
sin leads mankind
to have broken
relationships with God.
Verse 8
they heard the sound
of the Lord God
walking in the garden
in the cool of the day
and the man
and his wife
hid themselves
from the presence
of the Lord God.
prior to sin
Adam and Eve
welcomed
their communion
with God.
They enjoyed it.
They found pleasure
in the presence
of the Almighty.
And do you know
something?
Listen to me carefully.
in the heart
of every believer
is a longing
for the day
when we will have
complete
whole
unfettered
unrestricted
communion
with the Lord
of hosts.
I love
Psalm 16
11
where it says
in thy presence
is the what?
The fullness
of joy
and that your right hand
are pleasures
evermore.
And here in Genesis
we find that
man and woman
incredibly deceived
by sin
thought that they
could actually
hide from God
and he didn't
see them.
Third thing
is that sin
leads mankind
to have broken
relationships
with one another.
It was really
interesting in this
conversation
that I referenced
earlier
the man let me
know that he was
fully persuaded
that all wars
were the consequences
of religion.
How many of you
figured out
that sometimes
arguing is not
a good idea?
You know?
In the presence
of a man
who's fully
persuaded
you know
it's just
you just have
to kind of
wait for the
opening
such as
since God
doesn't judge
is Hitler
going to heaven?
You know
you just give
him enough rope
and then what
happens is
there's kind of
a tripping process
that takes place
and I remember
this person
going on
about the subject
of all wars
being the consequences
of religion
and I said
hmm
I let him talk
and I said
I'm wondering
what religion
led Mao Zedong
to slaughter
50 million Chinese
you know that
right?
I said
or
while we're
talking about it
I'm thinking
about Pol Pot
how many of you
know Pol Pot?
or I said
what about the
Hutus and the
Tutsis?
you know
no that's
about religion
that's because
of the heart
of darkness
the heart
of darkness
and when we
read what the
scriptures have
to say
we understand
that when
Adam and Eve
fell into sin
it affected
their relationships
in a millisecond
now here was
the man who
just moments
earlier was
doing cartwheels
because God
had given him
a wife
and now he
turns like a
brute and he's
willing to
sacrifice her
on the altar
if it'll get
him off the
hook
you know
what he says
you know
this sin
problem I
wouldn't be
having if it
wasn't for
that girl
you gave
me
I mean
what a
boor
that's a
polite word
are there any
boors here
I don't think
so
you see
here was
Adam by
the way
listen
Adam was
the one who
had been
given the
operating
instructions
for the
garden
do you
understand
that
and he
had stood
by
as he
watched
Eve
trundle
over
and listen
to the
snake
and he
listened
and heard
what was
happening
and he
let her
go right
ahead
and do
it
by the
way
all of
you who
are out
here
are men
God
is not
in favor
of you
being a
passive
low
life
he's
not
asking
you
to be
an
ayatollah
but buddy
he expects
you to
protect
your wife
by providing
a little
bit of
Bible
help
on
issues
let's
come to
one more
thing
Christmas
is about
great
news
that's
what
Christmas
is
now
let's
be
honest
great
news
is always
prefaced
by
terrible
news
do you
follow
that
and let
me tell
you
something
you can't
get to
good
news
without
dealing
with
the
bad
news
first
everybody
smile
at me
so you
understand
where
I'm
going
you
can't
get
to
good
news
without
accepting
bad
news
how do
I want
to say
this
last
week
has
been
quite
a
little
dust
up
over
ill
advised
comments
made
in
questionable
environments
I thought
about the
passage
that says
don't
throw
your
pearls
to
swine
lest
they
turn
again
and
rend
you
that's
one
thought
that I
had
but
another
one
is
this
is
hey
listen
I
could
regardless
of the
environment
recite
Romans
chapter
one
and I
tell
you
what
if
people
understood
what
Romans
chapter
one
said
they'd
want
to
crucify
me
in this
contemporary
culture
do you
understand
that
so
here's
what
Christians
get to
do
kind
of
shut
up
and
act
like
you
don't
care
and
by
the
way
does
that
make
Jesus
happy
what's
the
answer
smile
at
me
because
you're
going
to
hate
me
for
this
no
I
mean
at
the
end
of
the
day
you
have
to
choose
which
side
you're
on
can
you
be
a
little
more
discreet
and
a
little
more
gentle
and
the
answer
is
yes
but
let
me
tell
you
something
about
truth
it
makes
those
who
don't
want
to
hear
it
upset
now
here's
the
truth
bad
news
comes
before
good
news
here's
what
Jesus
said
remember
the
Pharisees
they
were
all
lit
up
all
the
time
I
mean
they
walked
around
with
a
perpetual
grunt
a
groan
grumble
forget
they
were
unhappy
people
they
were
looking
like
some
of
you
this
morning
you
know
it's
like
why
come
to
church
you
can
frown
at
home
okay
and
Jesus
really
was
merciless
on
them
and
Jesus
made
it
clear
they
are
all
stewed
and
steamed
and
he
says
hey
let me
tell
you
something
the
only
people
who
need
a
physician
are
those
who
are
sick
and
so
the
truth
of
matter
is
that
beloved
we
cannot
save
ourselves
we
stand
justly
condemned
before
a
holy
God
and
there
are
every
one
of
us
in
here
that
do
not
know
Christ
are
just
a
heartbeat
from
hell
but
the
good
news
is
this
Jesus
came
into
the
world
to
save
sinners
that's
why
and
those
who
cry
out
to
him
for
salvation
will
be
saved
does
it
get
any
better
than
that
well
what
do
I
have
to
do
just
accept
the
reality
the
undeniable
clear
evidence
that you
are a
scoundrel
and hopelessly
unable to
save yourself
and God
seeing your
condition
sent Jesus
to be
your
savior
doesn't
it count
that I
went to
a good
church
grew up
and knew
all the
Sunday
school
lessons
even
was
baptized
let me
tell you
something
there
will be
lots
of
baptists
in
hell
how
can
I
say
that
well
there
will
be
Presbyterians
there
too
and
there
will
be
Methodists
and
there
will
be
other
people
here's
the deal
you don't
get to
heaven
by being
a member
of a
church
or
wearing
a
particular
label
you get
to
heaven
by having
faith
in the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
and
in
him
alone
and
faith
in
Christ
means
coming
to
the
point
where
you
with
all
humility
say
I
am
a
miserable
wretch
justly
condemned
before
God
who
is
holy
and
I
cry
out
to
Jesus
and
ask
that
he
save
me
do
you know
what it says
in the
Bible
I love
this
I like
saying it
to
everybody
whosoever
calls
upon
the
name
of
the
Lord
shall
be
saved
how
should
I
end
a
Christmas
message
I
should
end
it
this
way
by
saying
that
the
gospel
is
something
that
to
every
believer
is
profoundly
sweet
because
when
you
hear
what
Jesus
has
done
for
you
that
makes
you
say
that's
my
Jesus
and
for
you
who
do
not
know
Christ
that
sit
this
morning
under
the
preaching
of
the
word
of
God
have
an
opportunity
to
cry
out
and
say
I
am
a
sinner
and
I
need
Christ
to
save
me
and
the
Bible
says
whosoever
calls
upon
the
name
of
the
Lord
shall
be
saved
let's
pray
a
Thank you.