Christmas, The Biblical Message of (1983)

Navigating Diverse Convictions on Christmas Day

0:00 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, December 25th, 1983, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Looking out over the face of the congregation and noticing that we have not a few visitors amongst us, I'm going to say something that may be of somewhat a shocking nature to you who are visiting with us, and it's this, that sitting in this place this morning are many earnest Christians who, though profoundly one in the great issues that really matter,

0:44 have vast and deep differences, both of conviction and practice, with respect to the day called Christmas. We are a congregation who, to a great degree, are profoundly, and deeply, and pervasively one in the things that really matter. But with respect to this holiday, we are a congregation representing a vast spectrum of diversity of conviction and practice with reference to the day called Christmas.

1:25 Now, we're all agreed that the social madness called the Christmas, this season, has been with us for several weeks. This is an inescapable fact that impinges upon us on our highways, in our shopping centers, in our places of business, on the radio and TV, and in a special way this year, with cabbage patch madness. And your snicker indicates that you know whereof I speak. But now, what are we to do with this social madness, called the Christmas season?

2:05 And here is where our differences are vast, and with some, quite deep, both with reference, as I've indicated, to conviction and to practice. Now, I would be very surprised if there were not some of you who came to this hour of worship today secretly hoping that I would just ignore the fact that this happens to be December 25th, and nothing would...

2:32 have pleased you more than to have seen some telltale signs other than in the ordinary selection of the psalm and the opening hymn and your disappointment registered with the second hymn on the other hand there are others of you who came at least secretly hoping that the entire worship service would reflect a very keen sensitivity to the fact that this is december 25th and then still others you could care less you're rather neutral on the whole issue now with this vast spectrum of expectation how am i as the servant of god to honor god

3:16 in fulfilling my office as a teacher of his word while at the same time remaining true to my own individual christian convictions while at the same time seeking the good good good good and the good of all of God's people without offending any and violating their consciences and without unnecessarily disappointing others whose consciences ought to have an equal consideration and added to all of this, seize the opportunity to do the maximum amount of good to those who have no convictions whatsoever. Would you like to trade places with me?

3:57 Well, all of those considerations have entered my thought and preparation for this morning's ministry and if I've not hit my mark, at least I've aimed at it and with some degree of good conscience I come before you this morning having chosen a course that I trust will in the right sense please all of you. For if you truly love Christ, then any display of the glory of his person and the sufficiency of his work can only delight your heart. A true Christian can never be offended in any circumstances in which his Savior is set before him.

4:43 Furthermore, if you truly love the word of God, then any responsible exposition of any part of that word causes great delight to your soul. Furthermore, if you truly love the people of God, anything which promotes their unity and harmony and edification will please you. And finally, if you love the souls of men, any judicious attempt to seize a timely opportunity to bring the gospel to their consciences simply and plainly and urgently can only fill you with a sense of gratitude and delight and even a prayerful sharing in that concern that the gospel will conquer the hearts of men. Thank you.

Rejecting Sentimental Platitudes for Biblical Exposition

5:28 Now, there's only one segment of those of you possibly sitting here this morning whom I will not please. And I'm sorry that I can't please you. If you've come this morning expecting nothing more than a few sentimental seasonal platitudes in some way or another remotely related to a few phrases here or there in the gospels, I can't please you this morning. I do not know you.

6:00 I don't know how to indulge in sentimental religious seasonal platitudes with a good conscience. I would violate my conscience if I were to do that. Now, to expound a passage in which we see our Lord Jesus on this particular day, I can do that with a good conscience. To set forth the glory of my Savior, I can do that with a good conscience.

6:26 To attempt to present him to those who know him. To love him not and love him not. From a passage that is considered a seasonal portion of the word of God. I can do that with a good conscience.

6:38 But merely to mouth sentimental seasonal platitudes. This I know not how to do. And if I ever learn that unholy art, I pray God will shut my mouth and put me in my grave. Now, the passage that I want to direct your attention to is the passage read in your hearing earlier in the sermon.

Two Fundamental Questions: Who is Jesus and Why Did He Come?

7:00 In the service, Matthew's Gospel, chapter 1.

7:05 And I've selected this passage because perhaps as no other passage generally associated with the Christmas season, are the two most fundamental questions concerning Jesus so clearly addressed as they are in this passage. Now, the two fundamental questions that you and I must ask and seek to answer biblically whenever possible. As we contemplate the Christ of Scripture is, first of all, who is Jesus? What is the precise identity of the Jesus of Bethlehem?

7:46 Who is Jesus? And then the second question is, what did he come to do? Why did he appear? The first question has to do with the identity of his person.

8:03 Who is he? The second, with the identity of his mission, why did he come? And I think every fair-minded person in this building, regardless of where you stand spiritually, will concede that those two questions must be asked if we're going to traffic it all in the Scriptures which set before us the life history of Jesus of Nazareth. The passage read in your hearing, I've asserted already, perhaps more than any other, sets before us in beautiful simplicity God's answer to those two questions.

8:48 First of all, then, consider with me the precise identity of his person, or the question, who is he, as that question is answered in Matthew 1, 18 through 25. Matthew 1, 18-25. Now this passage we have, first of all, a record of some simple facts. And then in verses 22 and 23 we have a God inspired interpretation of these facts.

9:19 So as we seek to grapple with the question of the precise identity of his person, who is the Jesus of Bethlehem's manger? . . .

The Simple Facts of Jesus' Conception and Birth

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9:33 The simple facts beginning with verse 18 and then the God-inspired interpretation of those facts in verses 22 and 23. Now, I'm just going to give a running commentary of the facts as they come to us in the text. Verse 18. Now, the birth or the generation of Jesus was on this wise.

9:54 This is how it happened. Matthew is giving us straightforward history. Now, he's not answering all the questions that we may raise. He's not giving us all the information we perhaps would like to have, but he's going to give us the facts as God knows we need them.

10:14 And here they are. The birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Mary and Joseph, according to an ancient Jewish custom, had entered into a contractual arrangement called betrothal.

10:43 Now, often we're told this is sort of like engagement. Well, as Pastor Clark said earlier this morning, this betrothal was more binding than most people regard marriage in our day. Now, there's nothing in Scripture to indicate that the practice of betrothal was a marriage. It was a God-ordained arrangement.

11:05 We simply find it in Scripture as part of Hebrew culture. And part of the Levitical and Mosaic law addresses itself to this very practice. You'll find it in Leviticus and then again in Deuteronomy, particularly chapter 22 of Deuteronomy. Now, in this arrangement, there was a binding commitment made between a man and a woman, and they were constituted a betrothed couple.

11:34 Now, in that culture, that betrothal, of course, was often made by the parents. But in this passage, we're not told who made the betrothal. We're not told how long it was in existence. All we are told is that the birth of Jesus was on this wise.

11:53 His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph. Now, sometime after the betrothal, there would then usually follow the marriage feast, and then the young man would actually take the young woman to his own home, taking her from her parents, and would begin to dwell with her in an ordinary husband-wife relationship, and all that that involves, including the sexual intimacy. But now, according to this passage, their betrothal had not gone to the next stage of the wedding feast, but to the next stage of the marriage feast. And of Mary actually dwelling with Joseph.

12:35 And this word used in the original, in verse 18, before they came together, is not necessarily a euphemism, before they had sexual relations, but could mean very literally, before they came together, in the arrangement of living under one roof, as husband and wife, including the sexual intimacy. So at this point, in the history of Joseph and Mary, she was discovered to be with child, but then the record is very careful to underscore, not because she and Joseph had had sexual intimacy prior to the time that would have been appropriate,

13:20 nor because she had been raped or had been an immoral woman, but the text is very clear, she was found with child, with child of the Holy Spirit. In other words, the conception in her womb bypassed the normal God-ordained arrangement of the mother and father having sexual intimacy. Now the details of this, precisely how this came about, are given to us in Luke's Gospel, chapter 1, 26 to 37. I'll not read it.

13:57 Most of you are familiar with it. But there we have an expanded commentary on some of the details of how Mary was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Now, verse 19 tells us that Joseph, her husband, you notice he's referred as her husband, though they had not yet begun to live together as husband and wife, so binding was this commitment of betrothal that Joseph is called her husband, and Mary is called his wife, in verse 20. Fear not to take Mary your wife.

14:37 And then, of course, down in the latter part of verse 24, he took unto him his wife, and that will help you to understand Luke, chapter 2, when it says that he went up out of his own city to go to Bethlehem with Mary, his betrothed wife. Well, was he husband, husband or not husband? Was she wife or not wife? Well, both.

15:03 And that's why the Scripture uses that terminology. Now, we do not know if Mary tried to tell Joseph how it was that she was with child. The text is absolutely silent. Now, some conjecture that after Mary's visit to Elizabeth, recorded in Luke's Gospel, that she came back and was evidently beginning to show openly the signs of her pregnancy, and that she may have conveyed to Joseph the details of how the angel visited her, but he found it impossible to believe it.

15:39 Well, that's only conjecture. All we know is that Joseph at this point is aware that the woman upon whom he has set his heart, whom he anticipates taking to himself as his wife in the fullest sense, is pregnant. And according to Jewish law, he had several options open to him. And he's wrestling with these options.

16:07 Notice the text. And Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, that is, a true believer, one who was righteous in the righteousness that God provides for believing sinners, and one who was righteous by the implanted principle of holiness, who desired to walk in obedience to God's revealed will, he was wrestling with his options. On the one hand, if Mary had been everything that he could not conceive her to be, namely an immoral woman, one option was open to him from Scripture that would have resulted in public shame to Mary. On the other hand,

16:52 there was a provision in Jewish law that he could put her away with a bill of divorcement, and all he would need would be a couple of witnesses, and he could, as it were, place this quietly in her hands and send her away privately and break that bond of commitment to her. And so Joseph is wrestling. As a righteous man, I cannot let sin simply be overlooked. But on the other hand, as a righteous man, I can't assume the worst.

17:24 I must assume the best, for love thinks no evil. I'm to judge righteous judgment. And in this tremendous upheaval of soul, apparently, Joseph drifts off to sleep. For we read later on in the passage that when he was awakened from his sleep, verse 24, Joseph arose from his sleep.

17:47 So in the midst of this tremendous agitation of his mind and soul, what shall I do? And he was inclined to take the path that would bring Mary to the least amount of public exposure and shame, to put her away privately. And in that situation, the text tells us that God intervenes. But when he thought on these things, his mind occupied with them day and night, notice the little word, behold.

18:21 God is going to introduce an amazing thing. Behold. Stop. Pay attention.

18:27 Something wonderful is about to be announced. Behold. An angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream. So while he sleeps, God, through the angel, visits Joseph.

18:43 And as he visits him, he gives him, first of all, a word of directive, what he's to do, and then, a word of explanation. Now what is the word of directive? Look at it. He appeared to him, Joseph, you son of David, do not be afraid to take unto you Mary, your wife.

19:07 There's the word of directive. Stop being afraid. You will not be an unrighteous man if you take this woman to be your wife. It would be unrighteous for you to do so had she been untrue to you.

19:21 It would be unrighteous for you to overlook the sin of another if she had been raped and were pregnant in virtue of that other person's sin. But Joseph, you need not be afraid that you can maintain the integrity of your conscience if you go ahead and take Mary as though nothing had happened. Do not be afraid to take unto you Mary, your wife. Take her to your side so that as far as those who behold your relationship is concerned, Mary is now not just your betrothed wife but your legitimate wife dwelling with you.

20:01 There's the word of directive. Now the word of explanation. For that which is begotten or conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. The angel tells him, either affirming the testimony that Mary had already given, but which perhaps he found it too difficult to believe, or which he was hearing for the first time.

20:27 Mary perhaps finding her mouth shut sovereignly by God? We don't know. We have 101 questions. But the text simply tells us at this point, Joseph is made aware by the explanation of the angel that that which is conceived in Mary is by the agency of the Holy Spirit.

20:48 Then verse 21 goes on further to explain that she has conceived a male child. She shall bring forth a son. And then a word of directive is given about the name by which he shall be called. And now skip to verses 24 and 25.

21:10 Here we read of Joseph's obedience. Verse 24, Joseph arose from his sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded, and took unto him his wife. He began to dwell with her in terms of all external appearances as a husband with his wife. But now there's this further detail, and knew her not.

21:37 That is, he did not enter into sexual intimacy with her till she brought forth a son, and he called his name. Jesus. And that's a fact to which we are made, of which we are made aware on the basis most likely of the testimony of Joseph and Mary themselves. Now why?

22:02 Since marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled, would there have been anything sinful for Mary and Joseph to have entered into normal, conjugal intimacy even though she were pregnant? Not in the general order of things, but most likely so that there would be absolutely no question that that which was begotten of her was of the Holy Spirit. There was this voluntary abstinence from all sexual intimacy until the birth of Jesus. Now those are the simple facts.

The God-Inspired Interpretation: Jesus as Emmanuel

22:41 And you say to me, Pastor Martin, do you expect me, living in this enlightened twentieth century, to believe that fairy story? My friend, listen. When you're prepared to take upon yourself the awesome task of resurrecting all of the witnesses to these realities, including Joseph and Mary, and prove them liars in a court of law, then you better get down off your high horse of skepticism and believe the simple, artless, unembellished testimony

23:25 of the eyewitnesses to these events and the inspired record of them in the Word of God. Here are the simple facts that constitute the framework for the precise identity of the person. Now then, what is the God-inspired interpretation of these facts? Verses 22 and 23.

23:46 Now all this is come to pass, and I believe the angel is still speaking, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which is being interpreted God with us. This whole set of circumstances came to pass in order that an ancient prophecy might find a literal fulfillment. Now the prophecy, most of you are aware,

24:28 is that of Isaiah 7 and verse 14, and it would be a fascinating study to go back into the original context and the significance of that prophecy, but time will not permit it. Suffice it to say that whatever God said, and notice the emphasis, it was the Lord who spoke through the prophet, giving this promise, the virgin, something entirely unheard of, the virgin shall be with child, and this unusual conception will result in this unique identity. Notice, the virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel,

25:11 which being interpreted means, literally, with us, the God, God with us. Now in these words, the identity of Jesus of Nazareth is clearly set before us. He is indeed a conceived child, a born son, but he is not conceived as any other was ever conceived, and he is not as any other son who was ever born. Of no other son, of no other son could it be said, this one is Immanuel, that is,

25:54 God with us, God enfleshed in true humanity, God with us in full identification with our humanity by way of the virgin's womb. Hence, according to this passage, the identity of Jesus is to be understood as nothing less than that of the uniquely conceived, the divinely constituted God-man. This great and precious but foundational mystery of the Christian faith that Jesus is man

26:38 and Jesus is God. And in that one person are the two distinct, unmixed natures forever joined in the One who is the Savior of sinners. We sang this morning, Who is this so weak and helpless, child of lowly Hebrew maid? Tis our God.

27:06 And that's the proper confession. Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see. Hail the incarnate deity, pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel. Wesley captured the heart of this passage as it sets forth the precise identity of Jesus.

27:32 Let me say by way of application to all of my listeners this morning, make no mistake on this point, the cornerstone of the redemption of sinners is in the precise identity of the Redeemer's person. The cornerstone of the redemption of sinners is in the precise identity of the person of the Redeemer. Jesus asked Peter, Who do men say that I am? And certain answers were given.

28:08 Then he said, But who do you say that I am? And when the confession was made, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus said, On this rock I'll build my church. According to 1 John chapter 4, to deny that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is to speak the language of anti-Christ.

28:32 And so before we ever begin to consider the unique life that he lived, the unique death that he died, the significance of his resurrection, we must ask the question, Who lived that life? Who died that death? Who underwent that glorious resurrection? And it is in this question of the precise identity of his person that our salvation is intimately bound up.

The Necessity of Emmanuel for Salvation

29:04 Now some may say, Well, why in the world do you have to inject matters of heavy theology into the simple Christmas story? I've not injected anything into it. I'm simply trying to underscore what God put there. All of this has come to pass in order that what?

29:28 That we might have an Emmanuel. That we might have a Redeemer who is God with us. Apart from which there is no hope, there is no light, there is no salvation. Matthew Henry in his beautiful and quaint way expressed it this way, By the light of nature we can see him as God above us.

29:57 Look out! The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork. By the light of nature we can see God above us. Then Matthew Henry went on to say, By the light of the law we see God against us.

30:12 Listen to the thunders of your own conscience. Listen to the thunders of Mount Sinai. Thou shalt, thou shalt, thou shalt not. From nature we see God above us.

30:27 From the law we see God against us. But Matthew Henry went on to say that it's only in the Gospel in which we see him as Emmanuel, God with us. You see, we're not saved by a God who is simply above us as Creator and against us as lawgiver and judge, but we are saved by the God who is with us in the person of Emmanuel. That's the precise identity of the Christ of Bethlehem's manger.

31:06 He whose cry pierces the stillness of that night is the one whose voice spoke worlds into being. He who subsequently sucks nourishment from the breast of a Hebrew maid is the one who himself upholds all things by the word of his power. But you say, Pastor Martin, how can we understand that? We can't.

31:37 You see, the Christian faith oozes with mystery. The first great mystery is the mystery of the being of God. One true and living God, yet, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one being in three persons. Who can fathom that great mystery?

31:59 And then that's followed by the second great mystery. True man, true God, two natures in one person. Who can understand that? You see, if you stumble at mystery, my friend, you'll have to just stumble into hell because there's no salvation apart from the great mystery.

The Precise Nature of His Mission: Jesus Saves from Sins

32:24 Of the incarnate God. But then we must hurry on. For the passage not only sets before us the precise identity of his person, but also the precise nature of his mission. Why did he come?

32:40 Why did he come? For the answer is given in the name which the angel tells Joseph is to be given to this unique person. Verse 21. And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

32:59 Not because that was a totally unique name. It was a relatively common name. But that name, because of its significance, for it is he that shall save his people from their sins. As surely as the name Emmanuel answers the question, who is he?

33:23 The name Jesus answers the question, why did he come? Who is he? Emmanuel, God, with us, sharing truly and really in our humanity that as the God-man he might redeem. Why has he come?

33:41 He is Jesus. The name Jesus simply means Jehovah is salvation or Jehovah will save. And then the angel, as it were, gives an exposition of that name by speaking of the essence of his mission. Thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save from sin.

34:09 He shall save from sin. You see, the great reality that brings about the incarnation is the reality of sin in all of its ugliness, in all of its horror, in all of its frightening reality. God takes the presence of sin in humanity seriously. So seriously that he is prepared to send his only begotten Son to sinful humanity by way of a virgin's womb.

34:47 To God, sin is not some kind of a theological concept concocted by God by people who are doubters, who have no delight in life and who want to make life miserable for themselves and others. Sin is not a man-made concept. Sin is a man-made, a horribly man-made intrusion upon the created order. By one man, sin entered into the world, we are told.

35:24 But it is not a notion created by man. And Almighty God, speaking through the angels, says, I take human sin seriously. You shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save from sins. He takes sin as a concept seriously.

35:46 He takes sins in all of their specific and aggravated manifestations seriously. Now notice, he did not say, he shall save the Jewish nation from Roman oppression. That's what they would love to have heard. Many of them had a distorted expectation of Messiah, that he would come riding upon a white horse and gathering his armies with him, put under foot this usurping power of Rome.

36:16 No, it is announced from the outset that he's going to come and deal with man's greatest enemy. And it's not sociological, it's not psychological, it's not ethereal, it is the problem of sin. Sin that has alienated us from God, sin that has placed us under the wrath of God, sin that has exposed us to the frightening specter of separation from God for eternity. Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save, he shall rescue, he shall deliver from sin.

36:55 That's the essence of his mission. And then the specific objects of his mission, notice the text, he shall save his people. He shall save his people. And who are his people?

37:10 His people are not just those found within the pale of the Jewish nation. When the angel spoke to Joseph, he reminded him he was a son of David. He stood in David's lineage and God had made promises that he would raise up one of the line of David who would sit upon a throne and would have universal dominion. Part of that universal dominion is found in these words, his people.

37:42 Those who were in him from eternity by God's secret and sovereign decree, those who were in him by his own voluntary engagement to be their surety and their substitute, their representative before the law of God, to live the life they should have lived but did not, to die the death they should die. The objects of his mission are his people. And you see this is the key to everything that follows in the life history of Christ. From that obscure childhood to his public ministry, to his open rejection, to his death as a common criminal,

38:26 to his glorious resurrection and triumphant ascension. Listen, listen carefully. All of the life history of Jesus is like a lock with no key. It's like an arch with no keystone.

38:42 It's like a building with no cornerstone apart from Matthew 1.21. You cannot solve the enigma of the life and death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus. You cannot sort it out apart from this great truth.

39:04 He shall save his people from their sins. Thank God that is the key that unlocks the life history of Jesus. For you remember he said, I came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give my life a ransom for many. The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Theological Depth of Jesus' Mission and Its Rationale

39:36 I am the good shepherd. I lay down my life for the sheep. And then that great apostolic statement. This is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptance.

39:49 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Now again, someone may object. Please, preacher, don't burden the simple, beautiful Christmas story with the trappings of heavy theology again. You talk about incarnation and God with us, and now you talk about sin and redemption.

40:11 My answer to you, my friend, is I have not put anything there that's not already there. The text says, Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save. That's the precise identity of his mission. And in a sense, you have in that one statement the seminal form of all true biblical theology, the doctrine of the fall, of human depravity, of man's utter inability to rescue himself, the necessity of dealing with sin by way of an adequate substitute, by way of a mighty redeemer who can break the chains and snap the bonds

40:54 that hold men to their sins. Strip away that, and you're left with nothing but sentiment, a puzzling life, a tragic death. The life history of Jesus is an enigma. But when we have this key in our hands, he shall save.

41:19 Then we see in that life that he lived, in that deliberate giving up of himself to the Roman soldiers and to his accusers that he might die, we now see the rationale for all of it. So committed was he to this very purpose enunciated at his conception. He shall save from sin. So committed was he that this becomes the driving, motivating force in his life.

Pastoral Application: Embrace Emmanuel and Jesus

41:50 And we see then in that history of the Lord Jesus the answer to our deepest needs. Well, in conclusion, let me ask you this morning with this passage before us, do you see in those two names of Jesus or the two names of the incarnate God the answer to the question who is he and why did he come? Who is he? He is Emmanuel, God with us.

42:20 Why did he come? To save his people from their sins. My unconverted, unsafe friend, boy or girl, man or woman, young or old, have you taken sin seriously as God took it on this occasion? You see, if you don't take sin as seriously as God did when he sent his only begotten Son in order to satisfy all the demands of his law against those who put their trust in him, you will be forced to take sin seriously when God deals with you in the day of judgment.

43:03 You'll have no choice then. But the gospel is this glorious message that God has taken sin seriously, so seriously that he has sent his Son and his Son has come. And in the life and death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, there is an adequate recompense made to all the demands of God's law that every sinner who will flee to Christ and say, Lord Jesus, I do take my sin seriously. My conscience forces me to do so.

43:39 Your word impels me to do so. I dare not die and face judgment laden with my sins. Oh God, where can I flee? And he points us to Jesus who saves his people from their sins.

43:57 And on this Christmas day, I would plead with you. Cut through all of the tinsel. Cut through all of the innocent cultural trappings. And surely cut through all of the positively sinful trappings that would dull your conscience and even drive you further from the realities of God and sin and heaven and hell.

44:23 And take seriously the biblical message, if I may call it that, the biblical message of Christmas. There is an Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus to save us. And dear people of God, though our hearts, God willing, will be directed in a more focused way to praise and gratitude through the evening ministry of the word, how we should be found blessing God for the reality of Emmanuel and of Jesus. No Emmanuel, no incarnation.

44:58 We could not have a substitute. No substitute. No sacrifice. No sacrifice.

45:09 No forgiveness. No forgiveness. No hope. No hope.

45:15 Who wants to complete the sentence? As my own mind and heart were sobered with the announcement of the two deaths that have occurred, brought to the fresh awareness that our time is so brief. Child of God, how could we face the brevity of life, the certainty of death, the awful reality of judgment, if we didn't have Emmanuel, God with us. God with us.

45:50 God with us. God with us to save. God with us to deliver. And how our hearts should be filled with gratitude to God for his unspeakable gift.

46:03 He shall save his people from their sins. Two simple questions. Who is Jesus? Why did he come?

46:14 Matthew answers in these two wonderful names given to him by divine direction, recorded by divine inspiration. He is Emmanuel. Can you from the heart fall at his feet with Thomas and say, my Lord and my God? Do you acknowledge him to be God with us?

46:39 Do you confess him to be what he is, true God and only savior of sinners? Do you see that his mission is to be understood in terms of saving from sin, a salvation that could only be wrought through that perfect life and that awful death in which he bore the full brunt of divine wrath against the sins of his people until those billows of wrath run from his holy heart to cry, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Whatever we may think

47:22 of the institution of Christmas, surely if we have any sense of felt need as sinners, we bless God for Emmanuel and for Jesus. Oh, that you may know him, love him, trust him, serve him, and one day by his grace be with him, and that forever. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for your holy word.

Prayer for God's Word to Transform Hearts

48:00 We thank you for this ancient but true record of the birth of our Lord Jesus. We thank you, many of us, that though at one time our minds were full of creature pride and arrogance, we dared to come to your word, bringing you to the bar of our own self-made standards of what is possible and what is credible. We thank you that you have subdued our minds and hearts, and many of us can confess that we believe your word to be truth.

48:45 And we do believe in the record that has been read and expounded in our hearing, and we have found your Son to be our Savior from our sins, and for this we praise you. Now, Lord, we ask that you would take your own holy word, that word which you've said is a sword, a hammer, that breaks the rock in pieces, the light that dispels darkness. Oh, take your word and dispel darkness. Take your word as a hammer and break hard, proud hearts.

49:25 And, oh, God, may this be the day when some will look back and remember it as the day when the Holy Spirit, through the word, brought them to embrace Emmanuel as their Redeemer and only Savior from sin. Oh, God, hear our cry and seal your word to our hearts and help us through the remainder of this day to glorify you in all that we do and say in our reflection upon your word and in our sanctifying of this day to our prophet and to your praise, we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.

50:09 Amen.