The Particulars of Christmas - Matthew 1:21

Amen.

It's a joy to hear you singing the birth of our Savior. I had this thought last night, as you turn in your Bibles to the book of Matthew, chapter 1. I had this thought last night, and we're all guilty of it.

I've been guilty of it before, and we say things like, well, we had Christmas with my grandma, and now we have to have Christmas with my parents, and then we'll have Christmas with my in-laws, and then we'll have Christmas over here, or we'll have Christmas over there.

A thought occurred to me last night. Christmas is not something that we have. You talk to people sometimes. I was talking to a brother last night. We make comments like this sometimes. You know, it doesn't feel like Christmas, right?

And we have that. Sometimes we feel as though we're in the holiday spirit, as it were, and other years, for whatever reason it may be, we don't feel like it's Christmas. Or there'll be times our children will say things, or we may even ask our children.

Maybe, well, no, we need to move away from asking our children things like this. Did you have a good Christmas? Or our children may say, well, I had a bad Christmas, you know, be ungrateful and selfish.

But, you know, Christmas is not something that we have. Christmas is not something, first and foremost, that we feel. Christmas is not something that we determine whether it's good or bad. Beloved, Christmas simply is.

It is a reality. God has come to dwell with us. And it doesn't matter who you are this morning. Doesn't matter where you're from. It doesn't matter your family situation, your financial situation. Doesn't matter who you voted for president last presidential election.

It doesn't matter how far away you feel that you are from God or how close that you feel that you are from God. Christmas is a reality. And the truth is, this morning, we must decide how we'll respond to such a reality.

God has come to dwell with us for a particular reason. And we find that this morning in our text in the Gospel of Matthew. I'm going to begin reading in verse 18 and I'll read down through verse 25. But the focus of our text this morning will be on Matthew 1, verse 21, as we talk about the particulars of Christmas.

I invite you to stand with me as we honor the reading of God's Word. Matthew chapter 1, beginning in verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been 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 shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us.

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. Fathers, we come before you this morning.

Help us to understand the particulars of Christmas. Help us to understand the reality that you sent your son, born of the Virgin, to save his people from their sins. Let us understand the scope of this redemption this morning.

Let us exalt in you from this text. We pray that we would be a people of the book. Lord, I pray for Christians here that they'd be encouraged and challenged, and Lord, motivated to be in awe and worship you, and to live our lives in light of this truth.

Lord, if there are those in our midst who are unbelievers, we pray even this morning that Christ would become precious to them, that the Holy Spirit would draw them to Jesus, and they'd repent of their sins and believe the Gospel.

We pray it in Jesus' name, Amen. You may be seated. The Son of God became Son of Man on a particular mission to provide our greatest need, namely the rescue from sins. Christmas is a difficult time for some.

It's a difficult time as we think about finances, or loneliness, or depression, or all these things. But I remind you this morning that the Son of God became Son of Man on a particular mission to provide our greatest need, and our greatest need is that we be delivered from the wrath of God because of our sins.

Matthew 121 discloses to us God's plan for Christmas, which involves, number one, a particular person. We're examining this morning the particulars of Christmas. Number one, we see a particular person.

Verse 21, She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. Who is this person? Well, it's none other than Jesus. Now, the name Jesus was not necessarily a unique name in first century Palestine.

It's the Greek word for the Hebrew Yahshua, or we would say it in English, Joshua. And it means Yahweh is salvation, or the Lord saves, Yahweh saves. Now, some parents would name their child Jesus in expectation of God bringing salvation from their Roman overlords.

So what is it that makes this particular Jesus then different? Three things to note from the text. Number one, this Jesus had an unparalleled birth. Verse 18 says, Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way, when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph.

Before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. There has been and only ever will be one pregnancy conceived by the Holy Spirit. Now, friends, let me just tell you this.

I don't care what the next book comes out and says, or the next movie comes out and says, or the next popular preacher comes out and says, Jesus is who He is in part because of His unparalleled birth.

In other words, to deny the virgin birth is to deny Christianity. This was a birth foretold for millennia, when God promised the seed of a woman would come to crush the serpent's head. The birth had now arrived, and the child's name was to be called Jesus.

Secondly, He was of unequaled background. He had an unparalleled birth. Secondly, an unequaled background. Look down in verse 22. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet.

Though the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which means God with us. Now, it's amazing enough to think this morning that this Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit, but now we're shown more depth into this particular Jesus' background.

And that is, the text says He is Immanuel. What is that? He's not just another man, but rather He is God with us. He is Yahweh, the second person of the Trinity, clothed in flesh. Veiled in flesh, the song says, the Godhead see.

Hail the incarnate deity. God became man. The Jesus spoken of in this text, friends, is the Majestic One. He is the One foretold. He is the focal point, as it were, of all of human history. He is the focal point of divine revelation.

He is the focal point of the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. He is the second person of the Triune God sent from heaven. He is the Alpha and Omega. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the All-Man.

He is sovereign.

He is the Holy, Holy, Holy One of God.

He is the Great High Priest. He is the final Adam. He is the greater Abraham, the greater Moses, the greater Jacob, the greater David, the greater Joshua. He is the way, the truth, and the life.

He is the light of the world.

He upholds the universe, the Bible says, by the word of His power. He speaks and galaxies are created. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. And He is worthy of all our adoration. And He is due all of our service and devotion.

The Bible says there is no other name given under heaven among men by which we must be saved than this particular Jesus. This particular Jesus has an unequaled background. None can compare. There are many other Jesuses during this time, and there are many other Jesuses in our own day existing in the imaginations of many.

But friends, there is only one Jesus. Only one Savior, who was God in the flesh, born of a virgin, sent to save us from our sins. Behold our Christ. Behold the One born. Behold the One foretold.

Come, let us adore Him.

One of unparalleled birth and unequaled background. Thirdly, Jesus had an unimaginable burden. Now look at verse 21 again. The text says, She will bear a son, and she will call his name Jesus, for He will save His people.

Now here's the burden. From their sins, from their sins, it would have been less of a burden for Jesus to deliver the Jews from Roman bondage. That's not why He came. This particular Jesus came to bear the sins of His people.

He was literally born to die. He came not for us to carry Him on our shoulders, as it were, but the Bible says that He came to carry our sins upon His shoulders and to die the death of sinners, bearing the wrath of God for our sins.

In fact, 1 Peter 2 .24 says that. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree. An unimaginable burden. Friends, this morning, as we think about the manger, we cannot think about the manger without thinking of the cross.

Jesus was born to die, to die as our substitute, as our sin-bearer, to be our propitiation, the wrath-satisfying sacrifice, to bear the wrath of God, justly do our sins. She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

God's plan for Christmas involves a particular person. Secondly, it involves a particular promise. Now listen to the promise. And when God makes a promise, it is unbreakable. She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He, and look in your Bibles.

I've got this boxed in my Bible. If you're one that writes in your Bible, then this is something to underline or circle. The text doesn't say He might. The text doesn't say He potentially. It is potential.

The text says He will save His people from their sins. This is a particular promise. A particular promise is made in this passage that reveals number one, Jesus' mission. Jesus' mission. The text says He will save.

Calvin says, When the Son of God came to us clothed in flesh, He received from the Father a name which plainly told for what purpose He came. In other words, the reason that He's named Jesus is to remind us that Yahweh saves, that God saves, that Yahweh is salvation.

He came to seek and save, Jesus says. He came to seek and save the lost. He came into the world to save sinners. His mission was not one of condemnation. The Bible says we already were condemned, but His mission is one of rescue and deliverance.

Now think of the text. First, it's He will save. Meaning, again, look at the text. He will save. Meaning, none but Jesus. I don't know what you brought in here this morning.

I don't know what you...

Maybe you brought your works. Maybe you think you're just a little better than somebody else. Maybe you brought your money. Some way, I'm going to get to God. Maybe you think it's through Mary.

Or one of the other saints.

Maybe you think it's through your pastor. But the text says that it's none but Jesus. He will save.

It's only Christ.

It's not works will save His people from their sins. It's not your money will save His people from their sins. It's not your pastor will save His people.

It's He. It's Jesus. It's none but Jesus.

Christ alone is our only suitable and all-sufficient Savior. This morning, you cannot find salvation in your works, in your ethnicity, in your generosity, in anything that you are or in anything that you have done.

It is Christ alone who saves. And the text says He will save. Aren't you glad that the Bible gives us a Savior that's not might or maybe but will? He will save. If God says He's going to do something, He will do it.

He has done it. He is doing it. He will save. This is a promise more reliable than next Christmas. You're like, well, I know a year from now, Christmas is going to come around again. But an even more reliable promise than that is that Jesus will save His people from their sins.

The promise reveals to us Jesus's mission. Next. Now listen very carefully here. Track with me. It reveals Jesus's mark. A particular promise is made in this passage that reveals Jesus's mission. Secondly, His mark.

Look what the text says.

Just follow the text with me. She will bear a son and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people. His people. Now think for just a moment. If we think that Jesus's mark, if we think that His goal was that no one ever would ever go to hell, well, this is what we'd have to say about the ministry of Jesus.

He has failed miserably. He's missed that mark. Countless pagans died before His coming and countless pagans have died since His coming without faith and still in their sins. So if this promise is that all humankind will be saved indiscriminately and regardless, we would have to say that God has failed in His promise because many die every single day and are not saved from their sins.

So who then is Jesus the Savior of? Well, you know from the Bible, it's only those who by grace alone come to Christ for salvation. She will bear a son and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

We sing the song. I think y 'all sang it last week while I was gone. One of my favorite Christmas songs. You sing it while I'm gone.

Blame it on Gunner. That's one of my life mottos.

O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. That is, Jesus came to rescue His people,.

True Israel,.

The fulfillment of which is the church. Galatians tells us those of faith. Who are the children of Abraham? Galatians 3 tells us those of faith are the children of Abraham. So Christ came on a rescue mission for His people, the church, chosen by grace in eternity past.

This marvelous and wonderful and awe-inspiring mystery of predestination. We think about it and people get mad about it and they argue about it and there's been fights about it, but the reality is this.

God had a plan from eternity past that involved Christmas and He came in fulfillment of that plan in Matthew 121 to save His people from their sins. Who are His people? Those who by grace repent of their sin and believe the gospel.

Those are the ones who can have hope from being saved from their sins and no one else. Those are His people. And the question this morning is, will you have Christ? You can't try to cling to this promise on one hand while holding on to the world with the other.

So many around here try to do that. I'm going to hold on to my drinking. I'm going to hold on to my running around. I'm going to hold on to my worldliness. I'm going to hold on to my idols in one hand and in the other hand, I'll try to hold on to this promise of Christ rescuing His people from their sins.

That's not who God saves. God saves the one who trusts the Son of God by faith, repenting of sin and believing the gospel. Salvation is by grace through faith. Christ saves those who truly trust Him. In fact, Jesus says things like this.

This is amazing. In fact, I'm just going to tell you, I hesitate to even say it because it only heaps up more condemnation for those who refuse it, but it is the eternal truth of God. And so I say it with boldness and a voice full of mercy.

Jesus says things like this. All that the Father gives me will come to me and He who comes to me, I will in no wise cast out. Whoever comes to me, I will in no wise cast out. King James there. John 6 37.

In other words,.

There has never been one person ever in the history of the world who has come to Christ by faith and he has said no. Friends, the offer of Christ.

Is before us this morning.

Christ who is full of mercy. Salvation is by grace through faith. John Owen says it this way. Christ is ready to receive the worst of sinners who come to Him for salvation.

And I can assure you.

With the full backing of Scripture that if you come to Christ this Christmas by faith, if you will surrender yourself in any hope of your own goodness and come to the Lord Jesus crying out to Him for salvation, then this promise Matthew 1 21.

Applies to you.

She will bear a son and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. You know, in the Bible, we're never told to accept Jesus as Savior. That's Christian lingo today. He doesn't need your acceptance.

Jesus is not on the ballot. He doesn't need your vote. You can't make Him Lord of your life. Right? You can't make Him Lord. You understand that, right? You cannot make Jesus any more Lord than He already is.

You know what Jesus needs from me? Jesus needs me to make Him Lord of my life. Jesus doesn't need anything from you. But here's the offer of salvation. Surrender to His kingship. Bow the knee to Christ and you'll find Him a most suitable and all-sufficient Savior.

A particular promise is made in this passage that reveals Jesus' mission. He will save Jesus' mark, His people, Jesus' ministry from their sins. Jesus' ministry. I cannot emphasize this enough because this is shady and too many pulpits today.

His ministry was to rescue us from our sins. He did not come to rescue us from rainy birthdays or financial hardships or health problems or economic recessions. The Bible doesn't promise that we won't have to deal with unregenerate leaders or incoherent presidents.

These are not the promises. The promises are that Jesus will deliver us from our sins. Yes, when Jesus comes again, aren't you glad when Jesus comes again?

There'll be no more CNN.

Or Fox News.

These things won't be there anymore.

We'll have to deal with the foolishness and wretchedness of this day. When Christ comes again,.

He'll do away with all these things.

That I've mentioned.

But His chief ministry is to address our greatest problem,.

Which is our sin.

God is holy, the Bible says, and God will and must judge our sins. But He's given us Christ to deal with this problem. This is the ministry of Jesus. There are people in the name of Christianity today.

We're doing this missions offering for Mexico right now. There are people in the name of Christianity today that would go to the poorest parts of the world and tell them, it's a sin to be poor. You need to just have more faith and trust God to make them rich.

This is not the ministry of Christ. She will bear a son and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

What a wretched and miserable and hopeless verse of it said,.

For He will fill His people's bank accounts. How terrible and hopeless it would be to have a bank account that's full and a soul that's empty.

And wretched and perish eternally in hell.

Jesus didn't come to fill our bank accounts, but to rescue us from our sins, to fulfill all righteousness and to be our sin bearer.

Praise God.

The word in our text for sin is missing the mark. And to describe it that way seems woefully inadequate, doesn't it? Romans 3 .23, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Jesus came to rescue us from our rebellion against Him.

Trials and temptations still come, tornadoes and earthquakes still come. You've got that one person in your family that keeps sending you that weird Christmas gift, you know?

Whether it's the fruitcake.

Or the sweater or the socks or whatever. You still got to deal with that. But here's what you don't have to deal with. Christ has come to deal with our chief problem. That is that we're rebels against God Most High and deserve His wrath.

We've broken God's law.

And since He is holy,.

He will not sweep our sin under the rug. Justice must be satisfied and this is only in Christ's atoning work. And what we have in Christ for those who are in Christ.

Is this record.

Romans 8 .1.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Tornadoes still come. Ice storms still come. Aunt Sally's fruitcake still comes. But you know what doesn't come for the believer? Condemnation.

She will bear a son and you will call His name Jesus for He will save His people from their sins. This leads me to my last point. A particular person, a particular promise. Thirdly, a particular purpose.

Now I want you to think about this for just a moment. Jesus didn't just come to save us from our sin like in the abstract, but also the text says our sins. Hebrews 7 says, He's able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to Him by faith.

I think we can put the full scope of our rescue on this text. Have you ever considered what it means to be saved from our sins? What does it mean that you're,.

If you're a Christian,.

That you're saved from your sins or suppose you're here this morning and you want to be a Christian, what does it mean for you to be saved from your sins? What does that actually entail?

Well, I'm glad you asked.

To be saved from our sins is to be first released from guilt. Number one, to be saved from our sins is to be released from guilt. That is the penalty of sin. To be saved from sin is to be released from guilt.

The penalty of sin. God's wrath righteously stands against all mankind because of our rebellion against Him. There's a book in the Bible known as the letter to the Ephesians. If you heard of the book, in Ephesians chapter two, it says that we're children of wrath.

Before our conversion.

We're guilty before God and Adam and for every way that we have not honored Him as God. We've done what God has said not to do. We've not done all that God has told us to do. We've treated God as though He doesn't exist.

You know one of the biggest problems in Perry County today is what I'll steal from Stephen Sharnock. The term known as practical atheism. Now 99 of our county are not atheists. You say you believe there's a God?

I'm sure 99%, 99 .9%.

Yes, I believe there's a God.

But they live as though He doesn't exist. They live as though Christ is not king. They live as though the Bible is not true. They live as though the local church is optional. Practical atheists. But the Christian is released from his guilt.

We've not honored God. We lived as though God doesn't exist. And in Christ, we're forgiven. Our life is owed to this God. And for every second that we have used our life in wrong ways for ourself, or truly dishonored His only name, all of it deserves justice.

But this is, and if there's been times in your life that you lived as a practical atheist, this is the good news of the gospel. Through the blood of Jesus, those who trust Him are released from their guilt.

We're declared just in the sight of God based on the merit of Jesus. Not faith plus works. Not faith plus what you do. But by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. For those who trust Christ, there is therefore now no more condemnation.

You actually can be set free from your guilt. Some of you are in here this morning, and even as I say this, you understand that burden of guilt. You feel that burden of guilt. And I say to you, come to this fountain so rich and sweet.

Cast thy poor soul at the Savior's feet. Plunge in today and be made complete. Glory to His name. You can be forgiven in Christ alone. Secondly, to be saved from our sins is to be reconciled to God. Released from guilt.

Secondly, reconciled to God. So not only forgiven from the penalty of sin, but also we have the removal of the partition of sin. Why do you exist? Answer, the glory of God. You were made by God for God.

We were made to worship Him and glorify Him forever. Yet our sin has made a separation between us and God. We have broken God's holy law in every way imaginable. In our lost estate, we are separated from Him.

And to die in such a state means that we will righteously suffer His wrath.

In a place called hell,.

A conscious, literal, unending torment forever. But this text promises that Jesus will save His people from their sins. Do you know what this means? It means believers have peace with God. Peace on earth and mercy mild.

God and sinners reconciled. For all those in the sound of my voice, you can have peace with God if you don't know peace is Christmas. Cast yourself upon the mercies of Christ. You understand that the goal of the gospel is God?

Some people think the goal of the gospel is to get us to heaven. Heaven is a wonderful place.

Amen.

Heaven is a place that we're bound for, the celestial city, if you've read Pilgrim's Progress. Praise God. But you understand that only serves a greater end. The goal of the gospel is God. You know what's great about heaven?

So I can't wait to get to heaven and see this thing or see that thing or see this family member or I want to talk to Charles Haddon Spurgeon or I want to know about this or know about that. But really, when I get to heaven, I want to see Christ.

Because the goal of the gospel is to bring us to God, reconcile to God and to be fulfilled in what we're called to do. And that is to worship God and to glorify him, enjoy him forever. This is the chief end of Christianity.

Not that we would just get to heaven,.

But that we would get God.

What a glorious promise.

Some of the Christmas songs have some great verses. That last verse of O Little Town of Bethlehem.

It's a prayer, really.

O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in. Be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell. O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel.

Friends, is this the desire of your heart this Christmas?

Look to Christ.

To be saved from our sins is to be released from guilt, reconciled to God. Thirdly, I may get you arguing with me on this one,.

But it's true.

Thirdly, reoriented to godliness. To be saved from our sins is to be released from guilt, to be reconciled to God and to be reoriented to godliness. Now, surely you won't argue with me on this, but this is the gospel of Perry County, Arkansas, isn't it?

You just say a prayer, you raise your hand, you sign a card, you dabble in church every now and then, but you live your life just like the world. But this is not the salvation Jesus brings. He doesn't merely save us from the penalty of sin and the partition of sin, but even now the power of sin.

He will save, not might, not maybe, not potentially. He will save his people from their sins. And we were once oriented to all manner of unrighteousness, but now through Jesus, we've been rescued not just from the penalty of sin, but also the power of it.

Are you born again?

The reality is in our day, we have so many who claim that Jesus has saved them from their sins and yet they're still living in those sins as though Christ has not liberated them. We talk about freedom in Christ and what a lot of people mean by freedom in Christ is I can go live however I want.

I can go engage in the sins of this world just like it was before I was a believer, but I know I'm forgiven because I have freedom in Christ when really the Bible talks about freedom in Christ is I have a freedom not to sin.

I have a freedom toward godliness now. Many in our culture have not been saved from their sins. Are you being judgmental? Well, I hope I'm not being judgmental, but I am hopefully judging as the Bible tells me to with righteous judgment.

That is a life not reoriented to one of godliness is not the life of a regenerate person. An unregenerate person's heart is full of love of the world. Love for the prestige and popularity of men. Sure, they may dabble.

We're in the Bible, Bill. They may dabble in religion. They learn from their grandparents or maybe pass down from their great-grandparents that, you know, they should dabble in church and they should have a Bible at home and those sorts of things,.

But they don't love Christ.

It's particularly dangerous during Christmas time. So many look at this time of year as a way to feel warm and rosy. So like they give, you know, they're like, well, I want to do the angel tree or what I'm going to give to this charity.

I'll give, hey, y 'all doing Mexico missions. I'll give to that. And the reason they give to these things is out of a selfish motivation. They want to feel better about themselves because they love themselves.

Their heart is not set on the things above. Their heart is not hungering and thirsting after righteous. There's no plucking out the eye, cutting off the arm of the flesh. There's no consideration whether their actions or traditions please Christ.

They're idolaters. They literally live day to day in the same routine and they have no thought of truly aligning their life with the scriptures. They love the traditions that they set up and equated with Christianity.

They don't seek deeper communion with Christ in their life at all. And yet they'll say things like this. I know I was saved when I was 12. Not if you weren't reoriented to godliness. Did you know that Christianity is not just about preparing to die?

That's what we've turned Christianity into, right? I come to Christ so that I'll be ready when I die. Okay, there's some truth to that, but that's not all of Christianity. Christianity is not merely about preparing to die.

It's also about preparing to live. She will bear a son.

You'll call his name Jesus.

For he will save his people from their sins.

You know, so many people,.

And I hope this isn't you,.

But you need to hear me in case it is. So many people think that they have Jesus in their lives, but I can tell you from this text, it's not this particular Jesus in their lives. How do I know? Because this particular Jesus came to save his people from their sins.

It's all over the New Testament. Titus 2 .14, Jesus gave himself for us to redeem us.

From all lawlessness.

And to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Hebrews 12 .14, strive for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Ephesians 2 .10, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

1 Peter 1 .14 -16, as obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.