Amen. OK, so just again, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas again and thank you for being
here on Christmas Day. I know for some it's a bit of a travel and there are obviously
lots of engagements and other invites and things like that. And it's great. It's great
though to be in God's house on Christmas morning. I'd like to look down just again at that last
part of Matthew 2. I'm not going to read the whole thing again. John did a great job there
didn't he, with that genealogy there. But we're going to just look again for verse 16.
So Matthew 2, after that genealogy, just at the end of it from verse 16 says this, And
Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David unto
the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the carrying away into
Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this
wise, when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together she was
found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, not willing
to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought
on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph,
now son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived
in her is of the Holy Ghost. As she shall bring forth the Son, and thou shalt call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a
virgin shall be with child, shall bring forth the Son, and they shall call his name Immanuel,
which being interpreted is God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep, did as the
angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife, and knew her not, till
she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name. Jesus, verse 21, said
this, that she shall bring forth the Son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he
shall save his people from their sins. And the title of my sermon this morning is from
that verse, and it is this, Thou shalt call his name Jesus. The title is this morning,
Thou shalt call his name Jesus. I'd like to pray and then we're going to get going with
the message. Father, thank you, Lord, for the blessing of that first Christmas, Lord,
over 2,000 years ago now. Thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for what that
means, what that birth of Christ meant, what he was to go on to do. We thank you for everything
that means for us, Lord. We thank you for salvation. We thank you for this church. Thank
you for the many blessings that you give us, you continue to give us. We thank you for
everything that you do for us, Lord. Please just bless this service, bless this day, Lord.
Bless everyone's Christmas, Lord. Bless everyone that's able to at least listen online, Lord.
Please just help me to preach this message that I've thought about coming up to this
Christmas just in a clear and an accurate and a bold way, Lord, and full of your Spirit.
In Jesus' name I pray all of this. Amen. Okay, so it is going to be a little bit of a page
turner today, a little bit of study, but that's why you're in a church like this, guys. Yeah,
we want to hear the word of God. We're going to continue in Matthew 2, surely, so I would
like you to keep something, obviously a finger or something. This is going to be our main
text, but we are going to be going around the Bible a little bit today. This first chapter
of Matthew's Gospel, it really focuses on names, doesn't it? Yeah, it really focuses
on names. That's the first chapter of the New Testament just really focuses on names.
So it started with this genealogy that went from Abraham through King David and all of
the kingly line all the way to Joseph, the husband of Mary, who was the perceived father
of Christ, thus satisfying those looking for the royal claim. However, the names don't
stop there. They didn't stop at the genealogy. Verse 16 said, And Jacob begat Joseph the
husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. So the first chapter, first
book, New Testament, we come across these two new names that can then continue to be
emphasized as well in this chapter and obviously onwards. What does it mean to be Christ? What
does it mean to be Christ? So keep a finger here and turn to John chapter one. John chapter
one, a lot of people know the name. We know the name Jesus Christ. What does it actually
mean to be the Christ? Who is the Christ? Turn to John chapter one. The word literally
means anointed, anointed, and it's synonymous with the Hebrew word Messiah. So in John chapter
one, where you're turning two of John the Baptist's disciples start following Jesus.
One of them is Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. And verse 40 says this in John one, John one
40 says, one of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's
brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon and saith unto him, we have found the
Messiahs, which is being interpreted the Christ. So clearly it's defined for us right at the
beginning of John's gospel that the title is used twice in the book of Daniel. But aside
from that, the word is just translated as anointed with kings, priests and prophets
all being anointed and the Messiah, okay, the king, the priest, the prophet, all at
the same time being the Lord Jesus Christ. He is all three. He is the anointed. He's
the Messiah. He's the Christ. Okay. Keep something in John chapter one. He is the king, priest
and prophet. Keep something in John one. But back in verse 16, Christ was only one of those
names. We're not really going to focus on that. So I'll focus on that last year. But
Christ was one of those names. Verse 16 said, Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of
whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. And we're going to look at that other name
shortly but we're going to continue first. Verse 17 said, so all the generations from
Abraham to David are fourteen generations and from David unto the carrying away into
Babylon are fourteen generations, for the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are
fourteen generations. So the genealogy is a whole other sermon. There's four generations
of Ahab, sorry, cut off as promised. Josiah, son Jehoiakim, not there as he was ordained
by the king of Egypt. There's some really interesting stuff in the genealogy. But that's
not what we're going to look at today. We're going to keep going today. We're looking at
this name Jesus. Verse 18 said, now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, when as
his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child
of the Holy Ghost. Now just to make this clear, okay, espoused isn't engaged. Okay. It means
betrothed or married. Okay. They were married. However, they hadn't come together as a physical
couple yet. And there could be various reasons for this, living situations etc. She was probably
still living with her parents at the point they got married, they hadn't come together
yet physically. The virgin Mary though, before they came together physically she conceived
of the Holy Ghost. It was a miraculous conception. Verse 19 says, then Joseph her husband, being
a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away
privately. So Joseph was a good guy. Okay. He didn't choose to shame her for being already
pregnant. And a lot of men probably wouldn't be able to say the same thing. And a lot of
men would probably be very bitter, very angry and want to shame her for that, publicly shame
her. But he was a just man. He wasn't going to do that. He was going to put her away though,
which is to divorce her for the cause of fornication, which was something that the law of Moses
allowed. This was the only reason, this was the only thing that was allowed, the only
time divorce was allowed by the law of Moses. You don't have to turn there but Deuteronomy
24 one says, when a man hath taken a wife and married her and it come to pass that she
find no favour in his eyes because he had found some uncleanness in her, then let him
write her a bill of divorcement and give it in her hand and send her out of his house.
So he was going to do that. He was choosing to basically do what was what was provided
in the law for this situation. But verse 20 said this, or at least this is what he thought
was going on. Verse 20 said, but while he thought on these things, and again, this is
just a great credit to Joseph, isn't it? He wasn't rash. He wasn't impulsive. He didn't
just fly off the handle and make like long term, big, massive decisions. No, he thought
on these things. While he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary
thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring
forth the son, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
So there's that name Jesus again in capitals. No missing it. It's clearly important, isn't
it? The name is very important, right? Jesus is the Greek, the New Testament being written
in Greek, OK, for the Hebrew name that we pronounce as Joshua. We pronounce that as
Joshua. How it's meant to be pronounced? Well, there might be a bit of debate there. Back
back in the Old Testament, we have a whole book named after Joshua, the son of Nun, don't
we? OK, whose name was changed from from Oshia to Jehoshua by Moses in number 13, 16. Yeah,
I've turned there, but it says these are the names of the men which Moses sent out to spy
at the land, and Moses called Oshia the son of Nun, Jehoshua. OK, so Moses then changed
it to Jehoshua. Its contracted form is Joshua, or some might say Jeshua, which is why those
New Testament rejecting Hebrew obsessive types like trying to sound extra holy, calling him
Yeshua or Yehoshua, because they're trying to sound like they know Hebrew and they've
got this extra special name and everything else. I wonder if they call the book of Joshua
I don't know. Anyone ever heard? Do they talk about the book of Joshua or maybe the book
of Yehoshua or something? I don't know. But but unsurprisingly, the special going back
to the Hebrew types never seemed to be right on salvation either, do they? I don't know.
I've spoken to these guys many times over the years. They never seem to be right on
salvation. But let's continue. We know where it comes from. But what does the name Jesus
mean? It literally means saviour. That's its literal meaning, saviour. Now, keep a finger
here and turn over to Luke 2, Luke chapter 2, where the shepherds that we looked at on
Sunday are spoken to by the angel of the Lord. So Luke chapter 2, Luke 2, verse 10 says,
And the angel said unto them, Luke 2 and verse 10, this is a shepherd's here, they're spoken
to by the angel of the Lord, the angel said unto them, Fear not, behold, I bring you good
tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the
city of David, a saviour, which is Christ the Lord, which is what his name literally
means. Okay. And if you go back to Matthew one, then with that in mind, okay, we're told
it means saviour. We see he's called a saviour. And then back in Matthew one, verse 21 confirms
it nicely where it says in verse 21, And she shall bring forth the Son, and thou shalt
call his name Jesus, for, this is the reason, he shall save his people from their sins.
So the angel of the Lord commanded Joseph to call his name Jesus in capitals clear.
This is important. You're going to call his name Jesus, or we could say that he was commanded
call his name Saviour, call his name Saviour for or because he shall save his people from
their sins. So he's called Saviour. Why? Because he saves. And there's a lot in that name,
isn't there? I mean, how much is there in that name alone? When we're talking about
baby Jesus, we're talking about baby Saviour. The Saviour as a baby, the baby Saviour. When
we're celebrating the birth of Jesus, we're celebrating the birth of the Saviour. When
Joseph was commanded to name the baby Jesus, he was being commanded to name him Saviour,
Saviour. The title this morning is Thou Shalt Call His Name Jesus. And I've got two points
that we're going to look at some application at the end. Point number one, thou shalt call
his name Jesus number one for he shall save his people from their sins, for he shall save
his people from their sins. That's what it said in verse 21 there. And she shall bring
forth the son and thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their
sins. Who are his people? Now this verse applies in two ways. Okay, first off, the Lord Jesus
Christ came first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, those remaining of God's
physical nation before it was to cease to exist. Okay, which eventually happened at
70 AD. Go back to John chapter one in Matthew 15 24. He said to the Canaanitish woman, you're
going back to John one, Matthew 15 24, he said to the Canaanitish woman, but he answered
and said, I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So his three
year ministry was spent in and around the region. It was formerly the land of Israel,
wasn't it? Okay, there's no, there's no debating there. However, although many believed and
by the way, no, he didn't go off into India and all these other weird stories you hear,
okay. However, although many believed, many rejected too, but he still came to them first.
John chapter one says this in verse 10, John one verse 10 says, he was in the world and
the world was made by him and the world knew him not. He came unto his own and his own
received him not. Yet many of his own received him not. Okay, keep a finger here and look
again at Matthew 1 21. Matthew 1 21, keep a finger though in John one, said, she shall
bring forth the son and now shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from
their sins. Did he save some of those remaining of that previous physical nation? Yes. Yes,
there's no denying that. We see it throughout the scriptures. Many believed on him, many
believed on him, many believed on him. We see throughout the Gospel of John, for example.
However, he does save all his people from their sins though. John 1 12, back in John
one said in verse 12, but as many as received him, to them gave you power to become the
sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. As many as receive him are his sons.
Them that believe on his name are his people and that's all it takes to be saved from their
sins, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. It said in verse 13, which were born not
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. So it's not
the bloodline that makes you a son of God. That's not the bloodline. We're told to avoid
endless genealogies. Okay, we're told to avoid these fables. Okay, who can prove what their
I mean, what percentage? How does that even work anymore? Yet people still cling to this
stuff. It's so carnal. Okay, that stuff is long gone. There is no physical nation. We're
not born, we're not part of, we're not one of God's people due to our blood. They're
born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh. It's not your, it's not the will of
the flesh. It's not your goodness. It's not your repenting of your sins. You're giving
up certain sins. You're avoiding certain sins. The will of your flesh that makes you
a son of God. No, that's not how you're saved. It said, nor of the will of man. It's not
because of some man-made religious construct. It's not because of some religiosity or something
else. It's none of that. It's of God. It's of God and it's dependent on one thing, believing
on the Saviour. It's believing on the Lord Jesus Christ that thou shalt be saved. And
if you do that, you are His people. You don't have to turn it, but 1 John 4.14 says, and
we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world,
of the world. Now have a look at chapter 4 in John, in the Gospel of John. Have a look
at chapter 4, where the Samaritans come to see the Lord, having heard of Him from the
woman at the well. So John chapter 4, we're going to look from verse 39. Excuse me. John
chapter 4 and verse 39 says this, and many of the Samaritans of that city believed on
Him for the saying of the woman which testified, He told me all that ever I did. What did they
do? They believed on Him. They put their faith in Him. They put their trust in Him. We see
these different terms used. They all mean the same thing. They believed on Him for the
saying of the woman which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans
will come unto Him, they besought Him that He would tarry with them, and He abode their
two days. And many more believed because of His own word, and said unto the woman, Now
we believe, not because of thy saying, for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that
this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. He's the Saviour of the world.
He saves His people from their sins, and those people are all over the world, and they become
His people how? By believing on His name. By believing on the Saviour. So back in Matthew
1 21, where the Holy Spirit inspired Matthew writes, And she shall bring forth the Son,
and thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. Yes,
He came to His own first. Romans 1 16 says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Not that repents
of all their sins. Not that tries to be really good. Not that it's more holy than everyone
else. Not to everyone that believeth. To the Jew first, and also to the Greek. But His
people are those that believe on Him. Galatians 3 28 says, There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are one in Christ
Jesus. So yeah, He came to the Jew first. Yeah, He came to what was His physical own
first, but we're all one by faith in Christ. That's how you become a child of God. For
you're the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3 26. He saves all His people.
And guess how many sins He saves them from? How many sins do you think? Do you think He's
got a limit? He saves you from a hundred sins. You go in with a hundred mark, you're out
of there. No? No, He saves you from maybe some of those commands. He saves you only
from the lesser sins. When it said, For He shall save His people from their sins, did
that mean He'll only save you from only the sins that we think are kind of not so bad?
All their sins. All their sins, for He shall save His people from their sins. No, no, actually
only the repented ones. Only the repented sins. Oh, really? Have you repented of all
you? Oh, okay. So someone here has repented of every single sin, have they? You know what,
you'd have to keep, you know what, not just study the Bible once, you'd have to keep,
you'd have to note down every single thing and have this master list and even recognize
those sins in yourself. And then you've already failed the next time you don't love your neighbors
yourself. You've already failed the next time you haven't loved God as yourself. It's
such a nonsense. It's religiosity. It's all these people all over the world trying
to somehow take credit for salvation. No, He saved us from all our sins. Oh no, only
the past sins. He only saved you from the past sins, did He? Oh, that's funny because
that means everyone's going to hell. Because if you say you have no sin, you deceive yourselves
and the truth is not in you. No, He saved us from all our sins. We're here today celebrating
the birth of the Saviour whose saving power is not limited by our so-called standards.
The saving power of Christ is not limited by what man wants to think He will and won't
save us from. No, He saved His people from their sins. It's a simple verse but it's
so much in there, isn't it? Turn to Romans 5. He should save His people from their sins
and that's the promise that you can count on, amen? You can count on that promise. But
it's a promise that you have to count on to be able to count on the promise. You ain't
trusting that promise? Well, that promise isn't for you. And that is the ultimate gift
of Christmas. You can take the best gifts that the world has to offer, can't you? The
flashiest homes, the fastest cars, the biggest yachts, shove them in one giant stocking and
they're nothing compared to this gift. They're nothing compared to the gift of eternal life,
everlasting life, given as a gift. I mean, how amazing is that, right? Romans 5.15 says,
but not as the offence, so also as the free gift. Yeah, it's a free gift. For if through
the offence of one, many be dead, talking about the first man Adam, much more the grace
of God and the gift by grace, yeah, grace is free, undeserved, unmerited, which is by
one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. How do you receive that free gift? Well,
verse one of Romans 5 tells us, therefore being justified by faith. It's by faith. We
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It's faith alone in Christ alone.
They say, oh, but you can give the gift back. That always tickles me. Oh, well, what if
you give the gift back? What? How does that work again? No one's ever explained that
to me, how that works, how you give the gift back. But you know what? I thought about this
when I was writing these notes. I thought, it seems you would have to travel pretty far
to do that exchange. You don't know if you want to take a gift back. Most people just
don't, do they? And a lot of online stuff works in that because most people can't be
bothered with all that, right? Oh, man, I've got to go to the post office, print off this,
do that, especially the cheaper stuff. People just can't really be bothered. Well, it's
a lot further than going to the post office. You want to take the gift back. OK, this is
an impossibility anyway. Well, Psalm 103 says, as far as the east is from the west, so far
they removed our transgression from us. You want to swap it all back. Yeah, you've got
to go as far as the east is from the west. It ain't happening. It's impossible. You can't
take this giving the gift back. You're sealed by the Holy Spirit. You have everlasting life.
You're held by the Lord. Salvation is a one time deal. You've passed from death unto life.
No, he shall save his people from their sins. Go back to Matthew chapter one. Matthew one
twenty one says, and she shall bring forth the son and thou shalt call his name Jesus
for he shall save his people from their sins. That's the promise. Now, all this was done
that it might be fulfilled, which is spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold,
a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth the son. They shall call his name Immanuel,
which being interpreted is God with us. The title this morning is thou shalt call his
name Jesus. And point number one, for he shall save his people from their sins. And point
number two is that the prophecy might be fulfilled, that the prophecy might be fulfilled. Verse
twenty two said, Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which is spoken of
the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring
forth the son that shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. Now,
keep a finger here and go back to Isaiah seven, Isaiah seven, where the prophet Isaiah, who
we've been studying through on Wednesday evenings, it seems it doesn't seem that long ago for
me, but we were in Isaiah seven several months ago now. But in Isaiah seven, he's preaching
in the days of King Ahaz, who was Hezekiah's father. But he prophesies this of the coming
Saviour. So Isaiah seven verse fourteen says this, Isaiah seven fourteen. Therefore, the
Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and
shall call his name Immanuel. So the virgin birth was a sign along with his being called
Immanuel, which, according to Matthew one twenty three, means God with us, as we've
already seen. And considering Mary's Holy Spirit filled song in Luke one, let alone
her involvement in that first miracle at the wedding in Cana, if you remember, she's like,
whatever he says, do it, right? Yeah, she was, she was basically trying to instigate
it and he's going, well, my hour's not yet come. Well, I'm sure that she did call him
Immanuel or God with us. But what did the virgin birth that is being called that have
to do with Joseph calling his name Jesus? Well, keep something there in Isaiah seven
and go back to Matthew one, go back to Matthew one, but keep something in Isaiah seven. Verse
eighteen said, Now the birth of Jesus Christ is honest wise, when as his mother Mary was
espoused to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not willing to make her a public example,
was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel
of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, now son of David, fear not
to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
She shall bring forth the Son and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins. Now all this was done, so all of this, that it might be fulfilled
which is spoken of the Lord by the prophets, saying, behold, a virgin shall be with child
and shall bring forth the Son and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted
is God with us. So one of the things that was done was Joseph being commanded to call
his name Jesus, or we've just seen earlier that that means saviour. Let me tell you why
this went hand in hand with the prophecy of Isaiah, because it had to be a virgin birth.
It had to be God with us for him to be that saviour. It all goes together. They're inseparable.
The only way that he could be the saviour was because he was God in the flesh. And the
way that it was God in the flesh was the virgin birth. So it's not just a cool miracle. It
was the way that God was to come to dwell among us as both 100% God and 100% man at
the same time. That was the way at least God ordained it for it to happen. The only way
that Joseph was then able to name him as the saviour of the world was because he was
God with us. Only the Son of God was able to make the once and full sacrifice for the
sins of all mankind. Only the Son of God could do that, because only God himself was able
to live a sinless life, to then take on the sins of the world. You have to turn up at
2 Corinthians 5.21 says, for he has made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He swapped with us. He became sin
so that we could become righteous in God's eyes. Go to Hebrews 4. However, he didn't.
Hebrews 4. He didn't just come to the world as a fully grown man and die for us. He came
to truly humble beginnings. He lived a normal life. He even went through the same temptations
that you and I do, but there was a difference. He didn't sin. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't
sin. He knew no sin. Hebrews 4 says in verse 14, Hebrews 4.14 says, seeing then that we
have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us
hold fast our profession, for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without
sin, yet without sin, which means that we could confidently ask him for help when we
are tempted, can't we, knowing that he sympathizes with how we feel, knowing that he understands
how we feel. We don't have a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities. Verse 16 then says this, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of
grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need, which this point
about him being tempted like as we are, yet without sin is what Isaiah prophesied about
back in Isaiah 7. So if you go back there, hopefully you get something there. Isaiah
chapter 7, it said this in verse 14, Isaiah 7.14 said, therefore the Lord himself shall
give you a sign, behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel.
Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good.
And we looked at this several months ago in our Isaiah series that butter and honey are
meant to be contrasting. You've got like the sour butter is contrasted with the sweet honey,
the sour curdled milk is more what butter really was as opposed to sweet pure honey,
picturing the evil and the good. He's experiencing life, he's being in all points tempted like
as we are, yet without sin. That was prophesied about back then and that was essential for
it to be the atoning sacrifice. That's why he's able to save because he was yet without
sin. Go back to Matthew 1. You're going back to Matthew 1. Peter said in 1 Peter 1.19 that
we're not redeemed with corruptible things but with the precious blood of Christ as of
a lamb without blemish and without spot. He did the hard work, not us. It was him that
was without blemish, it was him that was without spot, it's not us. And all of this was only
possible because he was Immanuel, God with us. That's why it was possible. When the
virgin conceived to bear a son and called his name Immanuel, it was because he was the
saviour. Verse 21 said that she shall bring forth the son and thou shalt call his name
Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done and it might be
fulfilled which is spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying behold a virgin shall be with
child and shall bring forth the son and they shall call his name Immanuel which being interpreted
is God with us. So the title this morning is thou shalt call his name Jesus and point
number one for he shall save his people from their sins and point number two that the prophecy
might be fulfilled. And bearing in mind that wasn't the only prophecy fulfilled, he fulfilled
tons of prophecies, right? But that prophecy was being fulfilled, the virgin conceiving
that it was God with us and that ultimately goes hand in hand with him being the saviour.
So what was the response of Joseph? Let's continue going then. Verse 24, excuse me,
says then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord have bidden him and
took unto him his wife and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son and
he called his name Jesus. No, she wasn't a perpetual virgin by the way, he knew her
not till she had brought forth her firstborn son and no, he wasn't her only son, okay?
It was her firstborn son, okay? Mary went on to have other children, that's just Catholic
nonsense. But Joseph did exactly what he was told to do, okay? The main point, the climax
almost of this Christmas passage being the name, isn't it? We've gone through all these
names, this whole genealogy, we get to this point where he's like thou shalt call his
name Jesus in capitals and then we have this passage about it, about why he's being called
it and then we get to the end and it says that he knew her not till she had brought
forth her firstborn son and he called his name capitals Jesus. That's what it's about.
So that's what we're celebrating, isn't it? This Christmas passage in Matthew 1 is about
really the fact that he is a saviour. It's not that there's just this, you know, and
don't get me wrong, yeah, it had to be God with us, yeah? It was God in the flesh, it
was the Son of God, that was amazing itself. For him to walk amongst us must, I mean, amazing,
imagine living in that time period. But that wasn't really the whole point of it ultimately
was that he was the saviour, the saviour of the world. And there's a Christmas challenge
for everyone here today, okay? Turn to 1 Thessalonians 1, 1 Thessalonians 1. God is saying to you
if you're unsaved, if you haven't called him your saviour, if you haven't called the Lord
Jesus Christ your saviour. Now, there's many people that give lip service. Look, there
are people across this nation today and across this world singing songs about the saviour,
singing songs about him saving, about being the saviour, even sending Christmas cards
sometimes with verses about the saviour. But they don't believe, they don't really believe
that he saves them. They believe that they save themselves. And sadly these people are
all over this nation and all over this world and they might be in this room today because,
you know, it's one thing to claim that you believe but are you really calling him your
saviour? Are you calling him your saviour? Are you saying, yeah, he's kind of half saves
and I do the rest of it. Well, I did a bit of the saving because I'm a little bit holier
than other people and then he added to my saving. Or he did some saving and then I continue
the saving as I go through life. Then he ain't your saviour and he's not your saviour because
he doesn't share the saving with anyone else. He is the saviour. And I'm saying to you that
if you haven't called him your saviour, thou shalt call his name Jesus. How about you call
his name Saviour? How about you put your faith in him? He's commanding you to call his name
Jesus. I think that this applies to everyone. Yeah, he said it to Joseph but I think you
can apply this to everyone because there's a point when it is too late. There's a point
where, you know, whether it's death that could come at any moment, whether it's your heart
becoming hardened or maybe it's a point when the Lord returns. 1 Thessalonians 1 says this
in verse 6, 1 Thessalonians 1 says, seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense
tribulation to them that trouble you and to you who are troubled rest with us when the
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, inflaming fire taking vengeance
on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said
he'll take vengeance, inflaming fire on those that know not God and that obey not the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And let me tell you something, as soon as you're changing
who the Jesus of the Bible is, as soon as you're adding works to salvation, as soon
as you're taking something away from his work in our salvation, you don't know the
God of the Bible. The God of the Bible gave himself for us. He didn't tell you to give
yourself for him for salvation. Now, after salvation, he wants you to give your life
to him. He wants you to, but that's not how you get to heaven. You got to heaven because
Jesus Christ gave his life for you. After that, he calls you. He calls you to get baptised.
He calls you to come to church. He calls you to serve him. Sadly, most saved people don't
do most of that, let alone go on to give their whole life to him. And you know what? Every
single saved person fails at that on many days of their life. But he said, it says inflaming
fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ. That's the unsaved who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from
the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. We celebrate the joy, the peace,
okay? And you're going, this is a bit tough for Christmas. Destruction, flaming fire,
vengeance. We celebrate the joy and the peace made possible because of that first Christmas.
But the reason we celebrate is because of the alternative. We celebrate it because we
know what the alternative is. And we know that we deserve the alternative. And because
no one here surely thinks that they don't deserve hell. Because all sin takes to hell
the wages of sin is death. And that's why we celebrate what happened that 2000 years
ago in that first Christmas was because it was the saviour. Because Jesus Christ is the
saviour because he came to save us from our sins. And because the alternative is everlasting
destruction in hell. How do you obey the gospel? Well verse 10 says when he shall come to be
glorified in his saints and to be admired in all them that believe. It's so clear in
the Bible. All them that believe because our testimony among you was believed in that day.
It's faith alone. Faith alone in Christ alone. But without that standpoint, without that
foundation you just cannot understand it. You put your trust in him as your saviour.
He said thou shalt call his name Jesus. He's commanding you to get saved. If you're unsaved
you need to get saved. Put your faith in him. Call his name Jesus. Call his name saviour
and mean it. But for those of us here that have done that. The challenge is to call his
name Jesus to the unsaved this Christmas. To show how he is that saviour. Yeah. Thou
shalt call his name saviour. Show people that he is that saviour. Show the unsaved at this
Christmas time especially. Turn to Philippians 2 to show what that name is all about. Turn
to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. We want to give people the opportunity
at Christmas now. Just while you turn now. Just to remind you as well. It can be hard
with family and friends. Often they'll have some sort of belief or something else and
they find it hard sometimes coming from you, don't they? Because even though you're showing
them black and white in the Bible, they're just looking at you going, you're my whatever.
Cousin, old friend, brother, sister, son, mother, father, whatever it is, right? Maybe
mother, father, if you're a bit older here and it's maybe adult, whoever it is, often
the relationship makes it hard, doesn't it? They don't want to hear, they don't want to
believe you, they don't want to trust you, even though you're showing them it's clear
as day from the Bible. Clear verses. Not ambiguous verses. Not verses that are kind of, you know,
about something else. Verses that say, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved.
For my grace is saved through faith and a knot of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not
one of works, lest any man should boast. You've shown him clear salvation verses and they
find that hard. And I think when we approach this at Christmas and when you approach this
in general with people that you know, you've got to give them the option, yeah? Like, you
start forcing it, you start pushing it and you might lose that opportunity in the future.
And I don't say that, I'm not saying that lightly because I know we want to get them
saved and often, like, you're just desperate, aren't you? Especially when you've got, like,
aging relatives, things like that, you're just like, pleasing, you're thinking, how
many charts do I get? But you force someone to hear the Gospel, you ain't going to get
them saved. You might get a full, full salvation. You might get someone claiming to believe
because it's now got really awkward because they've just forced me to listen for 20 minutes.
I better disagree with what they say or they're going to be a bit offended. But don't force
them. Just give them the option. And it doesn't have to be weird, does it? You know, like,
easy conversations, you know, just like, for example, do you know what the name Jesus means?
We just talked about that in our church service on Wednesday morning. It means saviour. Do
you want me to show you how that works? Do you want me to show you how the Bible says
that he saves us from our sins? And if someone says, no, not really, well, OK, well, yeah,
let me know if you want to next time. No pressure. And then at least they're not going to think
I don't want to be around that family member anymore. And you don't get that chance maybe
in the future when they are when they're humble, when the pride is lower, when maybe things
aren't going so well in their life and they're more likely to accept maybe I don't have it
right. Maybe I'm not correct. Maybe my religion was wrong. Maybe my belief system was wrong.
Maybe something else. Maybe I do want to hear what this person is telling me because they
have a real short, they know what that Bible says and they're quoting Bible. They're ready
to show me from the Bible, not to just give me some summary of their religious beliefs.
We'll show you from the word of God, clear as day, how to get saved and give them the
option. But don't force it, right? Be careful not to force it. Sure, you can leave with
a verse. You can go, OK, I'll just give you a summary or something. Give them some seed.
Just be careful with it. But Philip, just because, like I say, you get people and I've
been around, I've been there as well. I used to coach and I used to force people to listen
to the gospel. OK, and I've told you this before, but I just like just to give you an
example of how you can get this wrong. Yeah, I used to train them and I'd wait till they're
out of breath. Yeah, really exhausted. Yeah, I'd be stern, but I'd be like 20 kicks each
side, 21, 2, 3, 4. Right, so where you go when you die? Right, you want to hear the
gospel? Oh, OK. And then it's like, what, you know, what was, what did I tell you what
I achieved out of that? Hardly a salvation. In fact, we've got one guy here. I preached
to him while we were jogging up Box Hill. And if anyone knows that, that was a steep
hill, wasn't it? And he used to get preached at going up the hill. And he'd be like out
of breath so he couldn't really talk back. But he actually wanted to hear, he was asking
me questions. And then as we got higher up the hill, he wasn't talking so much. I was
carrying a bit less muscle than John. But, you know, for most people, I just, I was,
I was forcing them to hear. I used to preach to almost every one of my clients and I'd
hardly ever got them saved. And then what happened is I started to grow and learn and
understand more and think. And it was unfairly because it was their time as well. And they
were paying me for, and I was thinking, well, you know, I mean, what's wrong? I'm giving
them like a spiritual lesson. I'm showing them the gospel here. I'm giving them a chance
of salvation. What's the problem if I'm kind of eating into their training? They're paying
me to learn Thai boxing and I'm teaching them the, you know, the things of God. I mean,
what's the problem? But then when I realised and I thought, actually, I'm going to wait,
I'm going to book off some time after the session with this person because I think they
seem like they're probably quite receptive. And then I'd sit down with them after the
session and then I started to get results of getting people saved. And I was giving
them the option. I said, would you like me to show you? And the people that said, yeah,
we'd much more like to get saved. Right. And but same with family, because then some of
those people that are forced, maybe I didn't have the best, you know, retaining client.
I didn't retain all my clients, you know, because they'd be like, man, that guy's just
going to force the gospel on you when you're trying to Thai book. So look, we can all get
it wrong. OK, but with family, we want to be careful with that, don't we, as well, because
you don't want to get to the point where they don't want to be around you.
Well, Philippians two says this in verse five. Let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made
in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted
him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee
should bow of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So
look, that's what we want. That's what eventually will happen in the future. Sadly, though there's
going to be a time when many of those people, though it's going to be too late for them,
isn't it? But we want to give people the option. We want to show people that they should call
his name Jesus. They should call him their saviour. And that they should, they should
therefore with that, therefore be put in their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for that salvation.
Back in Matthew, it said this in Matthew 1.21, she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. So the title this
morning was thou shalt call his name Jesus, point number one, for he shall save his people
from their sins. Point number two, that the prophecy might be fulfilled. The response
is if you haven't called his name Jesus, and that's calling him your saviour, then I, you
know, I implore you, I plead with you, we beseech you to please just put your faith
in Christ and Christ alone. And if you have done that, then I encourage you to just offer
to show other people how easy that is. It's actually a lot easier than you think when
you just start offering people and do it in a nice and a normal way. That was thou shalt
call his name Jesus. And on that, we're going to finish in a word of prayer.
Father, thank you, Lord, for the word of God. Thank you that the word of God, you know,
makes it so clear what the Lord Jesus Christ came here for, what the what the point of,
you know, Christmas is and what we're celebrating. We're celebrating the birth of the Lord Jesus
Christ and, you know, him coming to live amongst us to then die for us to be that atoning sacrifice
for the whole world. Lord, we thank you that we can be strong, stand firm in our faith,
Lord, knowing that, you know, he shall save his people from their sins. But also, Lord,
we pray that we'll just be, you know, strong without faith with others, that we'll find
that balance, you know, get that level right this Christmas time when we're around the
unsaved, maybe more than usual, around people we care about, that we love, Lord, and that
we want to get saved, Lord, to just approach it in the right way, to know that we can't
force it, Lord, we can't force people to get saved. We can't demand people to get saved,
but we can offer people to show them how to get saved. Help us to do that this Christmas
in the right way, Lord. I pray for just everyone here. I pray for all our church family, Lord,
who probably, you know, have, you know, heartache with this, have, you know, a lot of pain with
this, with family and friends who have rejected the Gospel, who don't want to hear the Gospel,
who maybe have their own version of the Gospel and just don't want to hear what your word says,
Lord. I just pray for everyone right now. I just pray that you just help us all, Lord,
to find that way, to find that key for those that are able to be saved, that, Lord, you know,
to get that time in right, to be able to, and for those that we can't maybe, for those that
maybe this year is not the year for that, Lord, to find a peace with that, Lord, to comfort us
with that and to help us to just know that while they're alive, there's still a chance for us to
just keep pressing on, Lord, help us to get to have a great day, a great, great day and to keep
you at the centre of it, help us to keep thinking about you, helping the kids here not to get too
present mad and to still remember what it is that we're exchanging gifts for, Lord, and it's
then ultimately to remember what that, what that one true gift was really about, Lord, and
help us to get home safe and sound, to have a great Christmas time and to return on Sunday for
the Sunday services that you've just thrown with us. Amen.