Narratives and Names of Christmas

In this part of the sermon: Martin addresses the diversity of Christian practice regarding Christmas, emphasizing unity in essential faith while guarding liberty in non-essential matters. He explains why…

Martin explains the church's decision not to decorate for Christmas to avoid imposing on diverse consciences, contrasting it with the varied decorations found in members' homes, showing comfort with diversity.

And if some of you wonder why you've come into a building and there are no poinsettias and no little Christmas trees and no trappings of the season in terms of ornaments, it's because we do not want to impose on people's eyeballs. It's because we do not want to impose on people's eyeballs in this place something that would be grievous to them, something that they believe perhaps has no place in their own individual lives, and they would feel that something was being forced upon them. However, if you were to go into many of our homes or even drive up to the outside of our homes, you'd see lots ...

2:19 - 3:22 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not view the birth of Jesus as merely a sentimental, feel-good experience for a couple of weeks, but as history oozing with profound theological issues.

He contrasts the common sentimental view of Christmas with God's purpose for the birth narrative, which is to reveal profound theological truths, not just to create a 'feel-good' experience.

Here I am. Here I came to get a nice little Christmas devotional thing and this dumb preacher tells me I'm going to get a big shovel full of theology. My friend, hear me. God never gave us the account of the birth of Jesus that we might have one time in the year when we feel a little more sentimental and sympathetic and generous.

9:40 - 10:03 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin begins the first main point, asserting that Matthew presents a simple, straightforward, and unembellished account of Jesus' birth, rooted in real space-time history.

Martin humorously offers his own '20th century Americanese' paraphrase of Matthew 1:18, saying 'I'm going to tell it like it is,' to emphasize the straightforward nature of the narrative.

New international version. English standard version. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place this way. The Albert N. Martin paraphrase in 20th century Americanese.

11:23 - 11:37 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He details the historical facts: Mary's betrothal to Joseph, her miraculous pregnancy by the Holy Spirit, Joseph's righteous decision to put her away privately, and the angel's…

He uses the modern concept of a 'shotgun wedding' to illustrate what Joseph refused to do by covering up Mary's pregnancy, highlighting Joseph's righteousness in upholding the sanctity of marriage.

It's hard to get inside and know exactly what was going on in the mind of Joseph. But this much we are told. Being a righteous man wanting to love God and uphold the moral standards of God, he feels he cannot let this issue go and simply go on with the marriage and do a cover-up job like what we would call in our day a shotgun wedding. A guy gets a gal pregnant and so they have a quickly arranged marriage and hope nobody can count the months since he has the child.

17:31 - 17:58 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He details the historical facts: Mary's betrothal to Joseph, her miraculous pregnancy by the Holy Spirit, Joseph's righteous decision to put her away privately, and the angel's…

Martin describes Joseph's internal struggle as a 'mental wrestling match' while thinking on these things, illustrating the careful deliberation of a righteous man before making a decision.

jump the gun. He didn't jump the gun. He didn't jump the gun. He didn't jump the gun. He didn't jump the gun. He said, no, let me just let this percolate a little bit. So he's off to sleep. And as he's drifting in and out of sleep, the text says, look at verse twenty, but when he thought on these things, and the verb there is a compound verb, has the sense, while he's going, having a mental wrestling match. You know what that is? You're lying a bit. Lord, should I do this? No, no. And you play advocate against yourself and back and forth and wrestling and chewing the thing over. That's what ri...

19:08 - 19:38 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He details the historical facts: Mary's betrothal to Joseph, her miraculous pregnancy by the Holy Spirit, Joseph's righteous decision to put her away privately, and the angel's…

He distinguishes Joseph's dream from a 'wild dream you get when you eat too much sauerkraut,' emphasizing that it was a direct, revelatory act of God.

Name later. Righteous men seek to weigh all of the biblical principles. Which one has the most weight here? Which one here? Which involves? They think comprehensively, holistically. They pray. They reflect. That's what Joseph is doing. You get the picture? And in this turbulent state of mind about fully decided what to do, but not yet fully decided, he drifts off into sleep. And while he's sleeping, an angel of the Lord appears to him in a dream. Now this is not some kind of a wild dream you get when you eat too much sauerkraut mixed with pickles or whatever else. This was a revelatory act of ...

19:38 - 20:48 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He details the historical facts: Mary's betrothal to Joseph, her miraculous pregnancy by the Holy Spirit, Joseph's righteous decision to put her away privately, and the angel's…

He contrasts Pastor Jay knowing he would have a son via ultrasound with Joseph's knowledge coming from an angel, highlighting the supernatural nature of the revelation in Joseph's time.

No. The angel then says, The angel then, with no objections from Joseph, goes on to say, she shall bring forth a son. Now, Pastor Jay knew he was going to have a son. Not because an angel told him, but an ultrasound told him.

24:10 - 24:26 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin highlights Joseph's immediate and complete obedience to the angel's command, taking Mary as his wife but refraining from sexual intimacy until after Jesus' birth, thereby…

Martin contrasts Joseph's truthful and unassailable testimony regarding Mary's virgin conception with 'Slick Willie and his double talk,' emphasizing Joseph's integrity.

That's nonsense. But you don't need to have a lawyer's mind to figure out that if the testimony to the virgin conception of Jesus. Was to be unassailable by the people. who knew most next to God, Joseph would be able to look anyone in the eye and say, I had no intercourse with that woman. Not like Slick Willie and his double talk, but a righteous man who speaks the truth and could say, Mary was impregnated by God the Holy Spirit and not by me. Think of the self-control. Think of the grace of loving patience. How about you men? Had you been Joseph? Think. Put your heads where his was. But the s...

26:31 - 27:31 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin highlights Joseph's immediate and complete obedience to the angel's command, taking Mary as his wife but refraining from sexual intimacy until after Jesus' birth, thereby…

He challenges the men in the congregation to consider Joseph's self-control and grace in refraining from sexual intimacy with Mary until after Jesus' birth, to preserve the testimony of the virgin conception.

That's nonsense. But you don't need to have a lawyer's mind to figure out that if the testimony to the virgin conception of Jesus. Was to be unassailable by the people. who knew most next to God, Joseph would be able to look anyone in the eye and say, I had no intercourse with that woman. Not like Slick Willie and his double talk, but a righteous man who speaks the truth and could say, Mary was impregnated by God the Holy Spirit and not by me. Think of the self-control. Think of the grace of loving patience. How about you men? Had you been Joseph? Think. Put your heads where his was. But the s...

26:31 - 27:31 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin highlights Joseph's immediate and complete obedience to the angel's command, taking Mary as his wife but refraining from sexual intimacy until after Jesus' birth, thereby…

Martin contrasts the biblical narrative with 'religious myth' or 'Lord of the Rings,' stressing that the Bible traffics in 'real stuff history' with spiritual implications, not mere saga.

Big deal about it. This is the way the birth of Jesus was. So we've considered, under my first heading, the simple, straightforward, unadorned narrative of the facts concerning the birth of Jesus. And I underscore again, and some of you may wonder, Pastor, you're beating it thin at the edges. I've got a reason for beating it thin at the edges. When I do it, you'll know I have a reason for it. This is not religious myth. This is not some kind of a Lord of the Rings that you're supposed to find. This is a meaning that has spiritual implications. No, no. This is real stuff history. All right?

28:16 - 28:55 Read in full sermon

The point: Guard yourselves from idols; any Jesus you pay homage to in the manger who is less than God is an idol.

He uses the scientific term 'divided zygote' to describe the earliest stage of Jesus' development in Mary's womb, emphasizing that even then, it was 'God with us' in humiliation.

And that. with God, yet God Himself, we read in verse 14, the Word became flesh. The Word did not cease to be all He ever had been, Himself God, but He becomes flesh. He begins to be what He never had been. He takes to Himself true humanity, a true human soul, a rational soul, and a true human body, so that when the Spirit of God impregnates Mary in the wonder of it, to say it with words, borders on the one hand between, one thinks, something short of almost blasphemous, and yet on the other hand sacrilegious that one can't begin to express the wonder of it. There in Mary's womb, when the Son ...

38:12 - 39:21 Read in full sermon

The point: Guard yourselves from idols; any Jesus you pay homage to in the manger who is less than God is an idol.

Martin contrasts Adam's creation from dust with the God-man's coming, not by direct creation, but by taking humanity from Mary's substance, highlighting the unique nature of the Incarnation.

opening weeks, as the cells multiply so quickly, and in a matter of a few weeks, little fingers and little flippers and a little heart begins to beat, that's God with us, with us in the humiliation of the womb. Think about it, my friends. Get your mind off the tinsel and the trappings of the sea. And let your mind do what it was given by God to do. Think His thoughts after Him. Let your mind feel the pressure, the explosive pressure of this Emmanuel, God, with us. So much with us that God comes to a womb, something Adam never experienced. Adam came to us from the dust of the earth created by t...

39:21 - 40:33 Read in full sermon

The point: Guard yourselves from idols; any Jesus you pay homage to in the manger who is less than God is an idol.

He quotes 'one man of God' describing Christ's emptying of Himself as 'subtraction by addition,' explaining that Christ did not cease to be God but added humanity to His deity.

This is what Paul was attempting to describe in Philippians 2. Let this mind be in you. It was also in Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, thought it not a thing to be grasped, to be equal with God, but emptied himself, taking. What one man of God called subtraction, subtraction by addition. He emptied himself, taking. He could not empty himself of deity. He would not be God of the very essence of what it is to be God, is to be the changeless one. He would not be God of the very essence of what it is to be God, is to be the changeless one. Nothing can be added to Him to make Him mo...

40:44 - 42:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Guard yourselves from idols; any Jesus you pay homage to in the manger who is less than God is an idol.

Martin critiques the 'crass idolatry' of pop singers and entertainers who mention Jesus' name at Christmas without acknowledging Him as God, calling any Jesus less than God an idol.

has said that in Jesus Christ there is life, he goes on to say, this is the true God and eternal life. My little children, guard yourselves from idols. You know who is an idol? Any Jesus you pay homage to in the manger who is less than God, that's an idol. Think of the crass idolatry across the world at this season.

42:09 - 42:35 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not 'docetize' Jesus by denying His full humanity, including His infant cries, burps, and smells.

He challenges the sentimental hymn line, insisting that Jesus cried lustily like any baby, burped, and puked, to emphasize His true, undiminished humanity and identification with us.

he cried as lustily as any baby. Strike that out from one of your hymns. The cattle are lowing. The poor babe awaits. But little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes. Now you all ought to be accomplished. Corporate scrooge and say bah humbug. The cattle are lowing. The baby awaits. And little Lord Jesus, he cries his head off. It's God with us, burpers. And when he had a full snort full at Mary's breast and she put him on the shoulder to burp him or handed him over to Joseph and he puked, it smelled like your kid smelled mine. Don't you dosatize my Jesus.

44:21 - 45:08 Read in full sermon

The point: Be concerned about sin and understand what the manger scene says about sin, rather than using the Christmas season as an excuse for indulgence.

Martin shares his internal thought about being labeled 'Scrooge Incarnate' for preaching on sin during Christmas, highlighting the cultural aversion to the topic.

from class distinctions, from racial prejudices, and from mutual exploitation of the poor. No, He is to save from the ugly, vile, wrath-deserving moral pollution called sin. And I sat at my desk yesterday and I said, I said, man, oh man, Albert, if you want to get labeled as Scrooge Incarnate, stand up on Christmas Sunday and use the three-letter word sin and say Christmas ain't nothing unless you understand how it relates to sin. Sin.

50:11 - 50:51 Read in full sermon

The point: Be concerned about sin and understand what the manger scene says about sin, rather than using the Christmas season as an excuse for indulgence.

He illustrates how people often use the 'Christmas spirit' as an excuse for increased indulgence in sin (drinking, kissing under mistletoe), contrasting it with the true meaning of Christmas as salvation from sin.

He shall save from their sins. Want to cause disruption? The next social setting you're in where people want to have the Christmas spirit, raise your hand and say, folks, I'd like to ask a question. Anybody around here concerned about this?

50:51 - 51:06 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin concludes with a quote from Matthew Henry, illustrating how nature reveals God 'above us,' the law reveals God 'against us,' but the gospel reveals God 'with us' in…

Martin quotes Matthew Henry on how nature, law, and gospel reveal God, using it as a concluding summary of the sermon's theological points.

I close with the quaint little comments of Matthew Henry.

63:07 - 63:10 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin concludes with a quote from Matthew Henry, illustrating how nature reveals God 'above us,' the law reveals God 'against us,' but the gospel reveals God 'with us' in…

Martin shares a personal, humorous reflection on wondering how he will recognize Matthew Henry and his own father as disembodied spirits in heaven, illustrating his deep appreciation for Henry's insights.

You got any answers? You help me, alright? I have fewer headaches. I lie in my bed at night and sometimes I think, how am I going to recognize Matthew Henry?

63:30 - 63:38 Read in full sermon