 In chapter one beginning at verse 18, Matthew writes, now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. Saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet. Saying, behold, a virgin shall be with child and bear a son and they should call his name Emmanuel, which is translated God with us. Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn son. He called his name Jesus. Now as we look at this, I'm gonna give to you some things that are very basic. I'm gonna lay a foundation in and hopefully gonna move into some application of this particular portion of scripture that we're looking at. And I'll begin by simply saying that very few scholars believe that Jesus was born in the month of December. And the reason that few scholars believe that is because in Luke chapter two, verse eight, Luke tells us that the shepherds were living out in the fields, keeping watch. And so normally that kind of thing would be done during warmer months. December 25th was not officially recognized as the birth of Christ until the reign of Constantine, which was in the fourth century. And when you look into history, you discover that the date of birth coincided with the Roman festival of Saturnalia as well as a festival called Sol Invictus, which celebrated the return of the sun after days of increasing darkness. So believers appreciated that during this time gifts would be given to the poor. And as for celebrating the victory of the sun, believers saw that really as a symbol of their faith. Because when you look in the Old Testament in Malachi, for example, chapter four, verse two, it reads, for you who revere my name, the son of righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. When you read Luke chapter one, verses 78 and 79, those verses speak of the tender mercy of our God by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the path of peace. And so gifts were given. They saw this particular event, the Sol Invictus, which was representing the sun conquering the darkness and all. They saw that as symbolic. And thus they had no problem because those festivals had the giving of gifts and a victory. They just took those symbols and said we can use those symbols because what we have is we have the giving of gifts, God giving his son to us as well as the victory that we have because Jesus overcomes darkness. So for us here in the 21st century, the fact that Jesus was born is more important than the date of his birth. Somebody once said while December 25th is only traditional, at least it is traditional. And so we have traditions here in the United States that we've been celebrating for some time. And for us here in the United States, Christmas is regarded as a holiday that is joyful. And for many, and I've been hearing this on the news, there have been people interviewed and all, what is Christmas to you and all? For many, Christmas is about family, it's about friends, it's about gifts, it's about food, it's about Christmas parties, it's about food. It symbolizes a lot. You know, as I stand up here, I have very warm memories when I allow myself to and I travel back in my mind fond memories of Christmas and the season of Christmas. Like so many of you, for me I went with my father, I can remember going with my dad to buy a Christmas tree and I still remember going with him and walking through that lot and all. We always went to the same place and the smell of the pine trees and everything, that to me, still brings up some fond memories. I remember the things like the decoration of the tree and my mom would make a special chocolate for us on Christmas Eve. I do remember, of course, opening the presents, going to church. Those all have warm memories for me. And I appreciate that we live in a nation that continues to celebrate those values and continues to remember that this is a holiday. But I want to consider its scriptural meaning this evening as for celebrating Christmas Eve. And I want to spend time with you developing the heart of the Christmas message. We need to remember that a manger led to a cross and the cross led to a tomb. And so as we celebrate Christmas Eve, we really do so with an eye on the purpose of the birth of Jesus Christ. And obviously the message of His birth is found here in Scripture. And there is something that made His birth necessary which made Christmas, if you will, necessary and that is our need to be rescued. The Bible says to us in the book of Genesis in chapter three that Adam sinned in the garden and God made a promise there in that garden to rescue sinful man. In Genesis three, verse 15, the Lord God speaking to Satan said this. He said, I will put enmity between you and the woman between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel. He shall bruise your head. This is a reference to the seed of the woman and the seed of the woman all the way back in Genesis three 15 is a reference to the Messiah. This is really a prophecy of the virgin birth. You see Messiah will come by the woman and her alone without the involvement of man. Someone once said, this was said of Eve. It was in consequence of this purpose of God that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin. This and this alone is what is implied in the promise of the seed of the woman bruising the head of the serpent. This is what Matthew was writing about. And this is what you see in his account here in chapter one of his gospel. You see, Matthew was led by the spirit of God to record the events of the birth of Christ factually. And he does that by giving to us certain details. Here in this passage from the beginning, he makes it clear that his birth was not an ordinary birth. He points out that Jesus' conception was miraculous, that Mary, his mother was a virgin. Verse 18 says, before they came together. He makes clear that her child is conceived by the intervention of the Holy Spirit. She was found or discovered to be with child of the Holy Spirit according to verse 18. It gives to us insight into the child's name. His name is Emmanuel, which literally means with us God. And his name is Jesus. The word Jesus, so the name Jesus is Jehovah's salvation. And he said, his name is Jehovah's salvation because he will save his people from their sins. And these things alone make the Christian faith unique among other religious faiths. Because as Christians, we celebrate the birth of the Son of God. We celebrate a savior who gave up what he had that we might receive what we need. Christmas is a story of salvation in that Jesus is born savior, especially of those who believe. From the beginning, the child was presented as savior in the Luke, in the Lukean account in Luke chapter two, verses 10 and 11. It said, the angel said to the shepherds, do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people, for there is born to you this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. When he speaks concerning these good tidings, this good tidings is another way of speaking of the gospel because it's the same root word for where we get the word gospel. I bring to you gospel tidings is what he's saying. He's saying for those who have trusted in Jesus, his birth will produce great joy. Great joy will always be the fruit of receiving the gift of salvation. You see, the fact is Christmas is a commemoration of God giving to us his son, Jesus Christ. It's a celebration of God drawing near to man in order to offer the gift of salvation. It's remembering that God himself took human flesh and lived amongst men. You see, in the scripture, the Bible teaches us that salvation is never presented as automatic. It's never given because we sincerely try. The Bible clearly states that salvation requires repentance, a confession of sins and a receiving of the gift that is offered. It's offered to all, but it's received by few. In 1st Timothy 4.10, Paul said it like this. He said, to this end, we both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God, who is the savior of all men, especially those who believe. He is the potential savior of all mankind, the actual savior of those who receive Christ as Lord and savior. See, Matthew was led by the Spirit of God to record the events of his birth and he gives us certain details. Now, we note here in verse 18 that Mary was betrothed to Joseph and notice again before they came together. So a young virgin by the name of Mary is engaged to a carpenter by the name of Joseph. Mary at this time was more than likely somewhere around 14 years of age. Think about that for a moment. Those of you who are raising teenagers. I'll let you think for that. She was 14. There are those commentators who state because during the time of Christ, a woman could be, or a girl could be married as young as 12. But most commentators would say she was at least 14 years of age. But that's a 14 year old young woman who is being presented an opportunity to do something that is beyond understanding. Now, my wife and I had the privilege of raising four children through their teen years and those years, man, they can be difficult. Decisions for their future and insecurities for their present often clouded their judgment. We heard the words, I'm gonna run away from home many times and I'd say to Marie, you can't, you gotta help me. You gotta stay here. But their judgment was clouded very often. They were making decisions sometimes they ought not to have made. But Mary was given an opportunity and she said, let it be done unto me. According to your word, I will, she was saying, receive this as an opportunity that I will, she was saying, give birth to God's son. Now, she was betrothed to a young man, his name, Joseph. When you look at the Hebrew marriage customs of the day, the Hebrew marriage customs involved two stages. You had what is called the betrothal and then later usually at least a year or so after the marriage ceremony. So it was broken into two stages, betrothal and then the marriage. And Hebrew marriages were normally arranged. A marriage contract would be made, it would be sealed by a dowry paid by the groom's father. The price was based on the value of the bride. The engagement was an indefinite period of time, normally around a year. It served as a probationary period to test the faithfulness of the bride. During this time, the groom and the bride had very little social contact. Now, what's important about this, so we can get a picture of what's taking place, is they were legally married, yet they didn't dwell together until the wedding ceremony. And that's what it says in verse 18. It says, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. This is emphasizing the fact that Joseph and Mary had no intimate relationship. Mary's virginity was an important evidence of her godliness and purity of her life. And that's why her pregnancy is carefully presented as a miracle. Now, as this is taking place, it says, before they came together, she was found with child, discovered with child of the Holy Spirit. So how did Joseph respond, verse 19? Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. He was shattered. This woman whom he undoubtedly loved has been unfaithful. And under Jewish law, her unfaithfulness was penalized severely. When you read the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 22, verses 23 and 24, it reads, if a man happens to meet in a town of Virgin, pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, you shall take both of them to the gate of that town, stone them to death. The girl, because she was in town and did not scream for help, the man, because he violated another man's wife, you must purge the evil from among you. You see, even in the betrothal period, they were regarded as married though they hadn't consummated it. And so Mary became pregnant. There's only one way to become pregnant. And Joseph believes that this woman whom he was in love with has become pregnant by another man. He was certain that she'd been with another man. Luke tells us that Mary had left the city of Nazareth for three months to visit her cousin Elizabeth. So in that period of time that she's gone, undoubtedly she'd been unfaithful, at least that's what he was thinking. Righteousness very often is revealed in mercy. And Joseph is revealing the fact that he is a just or a righteous man and he made a decision. And what he did is he decided to put her away. The term put her away is another word for divorce. He decided to divorce her, but he wanted to do so privately and he was doing it discreetly so he didn't bring shame on her. You see, Joseph was a righteous man but he wasn't a self-righteous man. He was a compassionate man and compassion evidences true godliness. In Psalm 85.10 it says mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed. So the kind of reaction that he has shows mercy. And this kind of compassionate response has saved many relationships because it provides for reconciliation. And so instead of angrily attacking her, he took his hurt and he took his concern to the Lord. It says in Psalm 40 verse one, I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined to me and he heard my cry and Joseph took his hurt to the Lord. It says in verse 20, while he thought about these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you marry your wife for that which is conceived in hers of the Holy Spirit. She will bring forth a son. And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. This emphasizes a supernatural conception of Christ. And it also gives to us insight into where our comfort in hard times comes from. Our comfort in hard times originates in heaven. It takes the intervention of the Lord to bring comfort into the broken heart of this young man by the name of Joseph. The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians chapter one verses three and four, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. Notice with me the angel speaks to him and says, Joseph, son of David, that was intended to remind him that is of David's lineage. And that would help him to remember a promise that was made to his forefather, David. All the way back in 2 Samuel chapter seven, where it said in verses 12 and 13, when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seat after you who will come from your body and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. In verse 16 of the same chapter, he said, your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever. And so son of David is a title for the Messiah who will rule and reign forever. Now I want you to notice something here also. Notice what he says when he says, do not be afraid. In the Greek language, that's in a tense that literally means stop being afraid. Now as I was reading this and preparing this message for us tonight, I began to ask myself a question. I began to ask myself, what would he have been afraid of? What is it that he's afraid of? Do not be afraid to take to you, marry your wife. For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. What would you be afraid of, Joseph? Well, one, Joseph, don't be afraid of taking a woman as wife, whom you think loved another man. Don't be afraid to take a woman that you think has been unfaithful to you. Don't be afraid of taking her. Second, perhaps he was afraid that she was a woman who was not honorable. Because she had quite obviously at least it would seem so. She had obviously been untrue, unfaithful, and he's a faithful man. It could be that he was afraid to take a woman to himself who was not compatible with him because he is faithful and she's not. So the angel would be saying, no, that's not the case, don't fear that. And the third thing that he could be afraid of is that marrying her in the way that she is pregnant is gonna result in people speaking about them. So don't be afraid to marry her, even though it could reflect poorly on your family. Don't be afraid to marry her, even though people will talk of this. But you need to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the things that they're saying, those things are wrong. You know, when you read your Bibles, you read the Gospel of John, and it's interesting how that in a conversation with the Lord on one occasion, his enemies said to him, we have not been born out of fornication, we have a father. And that would have been spoken over 30 years, 33 years later. Do you know that Mary, this young virgin who had had this conception from the Spirit of God himself, suffered with a reputation for all those years as a woman who had had intercourse with another man and married Joseph? Do you know the thing that actually justified her testimony was the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Because up to the point of Jesus' dying on that cross and being buried, as far as anybody could tell, this was a woman who had been unfaithful to the man she had been betrothed to, had become pregnant, and Joseph had raised somebody else's son. But when Jesus was put in that tomb, and on the third day he arose from the dead, Paul in the book of Romans chapter one verse four tells us that he was demonstrated to be the Son of God by the resurrection. All of those years Mary bore the stigma of being a woman who became pregnant out of wedlock. And though that is sadly more common today than in the past, and some don't understand it, at that time that was something that had brought stigma on her for her entire 33 years since giving birth to Jesus Christ. And so Joseph don't be afraid. Don't be afraid thinking that this is a woman who loved another man because she's not. Don't be afraid to think that you are more honorable than she because you're not. And don't be afraid of the gossip and the things that people will say because they're wrong. Don't be afraid of these things because the child has been conceived through the agency of the Holy Spirit. When Gabriel told Mary that Mary was to become pregnant, Mary asked the question, it's found in Luke 134 and 35. She said, how will this be since I'm a virgin? The angel answered, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Verse 21 says she will bring forth a son. You shall call his name Jesus. Jehovah is salvation. And he will save his people, notice from their sins. Again, that fulfills a prophecy in Genesis 315. Now all of this, verse 22 was done that it might be fulfilled, was spoken by the Lord. When you read your Bible, over 300 specific prophecies are fulfilled in the life and ministry of this one child. And he quotes Isaiah 714. He says, God will be with us. God will take upon himself human flesh. God will dwell with us. Even as John said in John chapter one, verse one, in the beginning was a word, the word was with God and the word was God. And he went on in verse 14 and said, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. So he's speaking concerning the incarnation that God will be with us. And that's why we celebrate Christmas. Now obviously the question that could be asked is why would God do that? Why would God take upon himself human flesh? What makes that so significant? Well, somebody said humanity is lost, fallen. We're separated from God because of our sin. Our only hope of forgiveness was for someone completely innocent of any wrongdoing to take all the punishment for our crimes. Such a perfect life and a perfect love were impossible for any human to achieve. So God himself did it for us. He sent his son from eternity into mortality, from glory into flesh, from a throne to a manger. Ultimate hope was born in ultimate humility. It's this immense love that God has for us that is revealed to us in such an incredible way. God's son, given up the splendor of heaven that he might reveal to us his great love for us and his hatred for sin. His love for us in that he redeemed us, his hatred for sin because he couldn't have a relationship with man as long as man was walking in sin and had a sin that needed to be dealt with. You can't have a relationship with God when you're in sin. My sin makes a separation between God and myself. And something has to be done to reconcile these two. To reconcile me, the sinner, with God who was holy and what God did for us as he sent his son, Christ, to take upon himself human flesh and to pay the penalty that I couldn't pay for myself in order that he might redeem me. Paul said, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he is rich yet, for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. God came into the world that he created to rescue those who had rejected him. Christmas is a time of the year to remember the love of God. I thank God again for the family times that many will enjoy for the meals that are so often so delicious and all of that, I love it. But without Christ it would just be meaningless. With Christ it has purpose. With Jesus it gives to me an understanding of the depth of love that God has for me, for us. That God loves us. He hates our sin, but he loves the sinner. In 1 John 4, 9 and 10 it says, God showed how much he loved us by sending his only son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. See, God has his presence with us. God shows his love to us and God reveals his forgiveness of sin. You see, when Jesus is absent from Christmas, Christmas is absent of meaning. That's why a lot of people think that Christmas is just an excuse to get a gift or have a party to do something. But that's not the meaning of Christmas. The meaning of Christmas is God is dwelling amongst men, saving sinners. He will save his people from their sins, is what the scripture says. And the word sin, there's various ways that it's defined, but the most simple and basic way speaks of just coming short or falling short of the mark, coming short of perfection. All have sin and fall short of the glory of God. It's simply another way of saying every human being fails to be perfect. And yet the Bible teaches us that God does not have pleasure in sin. He cannot look at it with any pleasure. And that sin separates man from God. And so God's dilemma, if you will, the situation is that man is falling in sin, cannot have a relationship with a righteous God. And so what God has done is God has said, I want a relationship with man. I created you because I desire that fellowship with you. And because of your sin making separation between us, what I've done is I've taken it upon myself as an offering so that you can receive from me that which you don't have, which is my righteousness and I can take from you that which is keeping you from me, which is your sin. And that's Christmas. That God sent his son in order that we might have the gift of life through him. Paul said, here's a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners and they knew went on to say of whom I am chief. Isaiah 59, 1 and 2 says the hand of the Lord is not shortened that it cannot save nor his ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God. Your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear. And because man is sinful, man is separated and man deserves judgment. But God demonstrated his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And those who hear the word of God and believe in the one whom God sent, those who trust in him can have everlasting life. Remember that Jesus said once in Luke 19 verse 10, the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. You see, Christmas is a time of giving and it's a time of receiving gifts but God gave to us a gift of life and that gift of life comes through trusting in his Son. He saves not because we work hard or try hard, he saves because we believe and trust in him. It's not by our works of righteousness, it's through his mercy that he saves us. It's by his grace through faith that we're saved. And when that happens, when I hear that message and I say, God, Jesus came to save sinners and I am a sinner, I'm not perfect. I have failed in thought word indeed. I've tried to be good but I always fail at that because I'm not good from the inside. There's something inside of me that needs to change. When you become aware of that and you say to the Lord, God, would you please be merciful to me? Forgive me, I'm a sinner. God says, done instantly, washed and cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Again, this baby born in place in a manger was placed on a cross. Then he was placed in a tomb. He was taken out of that manger, he was taken off that cross and he came out of that tomb. And this is the savior, Jesus Christ. So I don't leave Jesus in a manger. Though we celebrate Christmas, my mind is also on Easter because Jesus was born as the Lamb of God to die for the sin of the world. The baby grew to be a man and that man laid his life down for us. That man came to save. That man sought us out. That man gave us the best gift we could ever have. That's eternal life. I have never received a single gift on Christmas that made me never want another gift again. I don't know about you but I never have, have you? I've never received a gift on Christmas where I said, you know, that's enough. You don't need to think of me next year except for one. And that's eternal life. That's a fact. When I came to faith in Christ, I didn't next, the next thing, you know, I didn't say, now what does Buddha have to offer? I didn't, I didn't say, what does Muhammad got to say? I didn't. Jesus said, when you drink of the water that I give to you, you will never thirst again. And isn't it wonderful to have a Savior, Jesus Christ, who has quenched your deepest inner longings, who has made you so filled with His joy. You know, Christmas is a season of joy. His birth will bring great joy to all people for He has come to save sinners from hell and to give them life. I still remember after coming to faith in Christ, this upcoming Tuesday, I will celebrate my spiritual birthday. I gave my heart to Jesus Christ, December 27th, 1970. I've been following Christ for 46 years, 46 years. It's hard to believe that I was one year old when I got saved. Isn't that amazing? But all of these years, I have not regretted a single day of following Jesus Christ. All that misery, all that sorrow, all that hopelessness, all that pain, all that lack of love, all that lack of purpose, all that depression, all of that, when I gave my heart to Christ, Jesus Christ changed my life. That's the gift of Christmas. It isn't under a tree, it was on a cross. And I bless God for that. And His blood washes us and cleanses us from all sin. And He puts His Holy Spirit within us and He gives to us a hope, a hope that is beyond this earth. And we're just passing through. He said, I give to you abundant life. I'm gonna give you life, not later. I'll give you life now, but later on as you're with me, you'll never look back and say, oh, I wish I would have done this or I wish I would have done that. I wish I would have had this or wish I would have done that. Now you're gonna just simply say, oh, how grateful I am to be here with you. Man, the day's gonna come when you're gonna look into the eyes of that one who wept in the garden for you. You're gonna look into the eyes of Jesus Christ who said, Father, forgive not only those people who were there when He was being crucified. Forgive them also, they know not what they're doing. And I was part of that where He's praying and yet when I finally heard the gospel, I was able to receive that forgiveness that He prayed for. And so when your sins are completely forgiven, you become a brand new creation and Lord Jesus Christ, you have hope beyond hope. You have a joy beyond joy. You have a future beyond a future and that is Christmas. Thank you Jesus for the gift of eternal life that you have given to us. How we bless and we thank you Lord.