 So if you're in Matthew chapter one, I'm going to share with you a Christmas Eve service obviously seeing it's not Christmas Day tomorrow, I'll be doing a service out of Luke's gospel But today I just want to share some things related to the birth of Christ that we find here in Matthew in chapter 1 verses 18 through 25 So allow me to read to you and we'll get into our evening study that we're having here on Christmas Eve 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 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 the son You shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins So all this was done that it might be fulfilled Which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet saying behold the virgin shall be with child and bear a son and They shall call his name Immanuel 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 Did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn son. He called his name Jesus So Matthew Begins his account of the birth of Jesus with a simple introduction These are the events surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ the savior of mankind So I want to begin by giving a very basic introduction I begin by noting that this account is written in a historical narrative fashion That's because it's written as an account of the acts of God. This is not written as a fable. It's not written as a myth This is to be understood as a historic account It's intended to come communicate to us actual events In 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 16 the Apostle said we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power And and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ We were eyewitnesses of his majesty and so there are those today who believe that the Christmas story is simply that it's a myth It's a fable it's only a story But you need to understand when you read your Bible that the Bible is not presenting the birth of Christ as a fable or story Or a myth it is written as a historic account of actual facts Things that actually happened and so the point that Peter was making in the point that I'm beginning with is it's not a myth It's a fact and and the Apostle Peter later on was to write and say we are eyewitnesses of the glory of God incarnate So the gospel is true. It's not a Greek myth. It's not a mystery religion It is a true account of things that took place When you begin to read your Bible and you begin in the Old Testament You're gonna find that the Old Testament is filled with many prophecies concerning Messiah You see in the very first book of the Bible in the book of Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 How now that particular verse tells us that he will be born of a woman That he will reconcile people to God and that he will crush evil at the cost of his own life When you look at 2nd Samuel chapter 7 verses 12 and 13 as well as verse 16 It says to us that he'll be a descendant of David. He'll establish a permanent kingdom in Micah chapter 5 verse 2 the the prophet said he will be born in Bethlehem Isaiah 714 tells us he will be born of a virgin Isaiah 9 verse 6 tells us his name is wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father prince of peace and so when you read your Bible, you'll see that it's a historic account You also see that the things of Christ were actually fulfilling over 300 specific prophecies that related to the Messiah and God had determined to rescue lost mankind and God determined to do that through a son by his by the name of Jesus And and that was something his plan that was revealed over the years It was revealed if you will piecemeal to his servants the prophets Now when you read your Bible once again the prophets of the Old Testament never understood the full implication of their own Messages their own writings were were mysteriously held from them in 1st Peter 1 12 again The Apostle said to them it was revealed that not to themselves, but to us They were ministering the things which now have been reported to you Through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven things which angels desired to look into So even the writers at that time didn't have the full knowledge of how this was going to take place They were simply inspired by God to write down certain things over the the history of the Old Testament that were given to us Images glimpses and words concerning a Messiah that Jesus was was going to be that that God was going to send for us You see the thought that God would take upon himself human flesh was beyond human comprehension We've been so callous by sin and by the world and the way the world is that that sometimes we may lose The wonder of such an event that God himself would take upon himself Human flesh and we've been so callous that we don't even realize what a wonder that really is but the angels are not callous The wonder of God taken upon human flesh is beyond their imagination These these were things which angels desired to look into they didn't understand it But God had made a promise God had made a promise a fallen man You see when Adam fell in the Garden of Eden God made his first promise to rescue us I read a moment ago mentioned Genesis 3 15. This is what it says God said I will put enmity between you and the woman between your seed and her seed He shall bruise your head you shall bruise his heel and this was a prophecy of the Messiah Who's to come who was going to be bruised when when he when Jesus was was crucified But he would crush the serpent in his death and resurrection and the Messiah. He said will come He will come by woman. He will come by woman alone without the involvement of a man Somebody said the address is not to Adam and Eve, but to 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 Rusing the head of the serpent and so Matthew here in this chapter is led by the Spirit of God to record the events Of his birth in a factual way and he does it by giving us details and we'll look at that and Take apart this passage a little bit at a time notice again in verse 18 It says after his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph before they came together And so we're introduced to this young virgin a woman named Mary This woman was engaged to a carpenter by the name of Joseph Bible commentators make the point of of letting us know that Mary was very young She was probably somewhere around 14 years of age 14 years of age maybe 15 she was a very godly young woman 14 year old and very godly Now having raised four Children through their teenage years. I had four teenagers at the same time I can tell you what a miracle it was for Mary to be so godly at 14 You know when they're small and they're young They have so many decisions that they're making There are so many insecurities that they have and very often they're their Insecurities their immaturities and indecisiveness concerning life and everything very often those kinds of things cloud their judgment But Mary at the age of around 14 had an opportunity to make a decision That wasn't simply going to affect her alone. It was a decision that a 14 year old was going to make That was going to affect every human being That would be born it would affect the entire human race forever When you look in Luke and I'm not saying you should turn there But if you take notes it's found in Luke 126 through 38 in Luke 126 through 38 Those verses tell us that an angel by the name of Gabriel had been sent to speak to her in the city of Nazareth And as he approached her he told her rejoice because she is highly favorite of the Lord He said the Lord is with you and you are blessed among women This angel went on to say fear not you have found favor with God You will conceive bring forth the son you shall name him Jesus He will be the son of the highest the throne of David will be his and when this Conversation has taken place this young woman is overwhelmed and she said how can these things be seen that I have not known a man seeing that I'm a virgin and Luke 135 the angel replied the Holy Spirit will come upon you the power of the highest will overshadow you Therefore also that holy one who was to be born will be called the son of God and Luke 138 her response Was simply behold the maid servant of the Lord let it be to me according to your word young woman 14 years old hearing this amazing Proclamation through this angel She listens carefully. How is it possible that I a virgin could have a child? I have not known a man No, the Holy Spirit is going to be get life in your womb This will be Jesus the Savior the Son of God and her response let it be to me according to your word Now as we know in Scripture, we just read about it. Mary was betrothed to a man. This man's name is Joseph Hebrew marriage customs involved two stages. They had what is called the betrothal and then they had the actual marriage ceremony When a person was betrothed espoused That was as good as being married But there was a time between the actual betrothal and the marriage ceremony But in between that time, which usually was up to a year. They were regarded as a married couple Somebody wrote a marriage contract was made and sealed by what was called a dowry It was 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 and served as a probationary period to test the faithfulness of the bride During this period the groom and bride had very little social contact They were legally married, but they didn't consummate the marriage until after the wedding itself And that's what's being said in verse 18 when it says before they came together She was found with child of the Holy Spirit So that emphasizes the fact that Joseph and Mary had no intimate relations Mary's virginity was an important evidence of her godliness and her purity and that's why Mary's pregnancy is carefully presented as miraculous Well as this is taking place. She's found with child verse 19 Joseph her husband being a just man not wanting to make her a Public example was minded to put her away secretly so Joseph Regarded as the husband of this young woman Mary Has become aware of the fact that Mary is pregnant and I can't imagine what he went through. I can't imagine the emotions that Joseph must have experienced For a woman to become pregnant prior to being Married was a great sin in the Jewish community. She would have been Ostracized not only that it was a sin that was condemned very strictly in scripture and the penalty for Mary Having relations with another man was capital punishment She stood to be able to be executed for it In Deuteronomy in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy chapter 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 and stone them to death the girl Because she was in a town and didn't scream for help and the man because he violated another man's wife You must purge the evil from among you Joseph quite obviously was certain that That Mary had been with another man Luke 156 tells us that Mary had left the city of Nazareth a small village Some say may have had as few as 50 inhabitants no more than 200 is a small village She had left Nazareth for three months and gone to visit her cousin Elizabeth and she had come back pregnant and So it's quite obvious Something had taken place and noticed with me again How verse 19 says Joseph her husband being a just man not wanting to make her a public example was minded to put away Secretly now he knew she could be put to death But he thought I want to take the more compassionate route He could put her away He could divorce her privately secretly and and this would save her from the shame and it would save her from The harm that could come to her So that gives us insight I want to speak about this for just a moment because often we we look at at all of this from from Mary's perspective But let's take a moment to think of Joseph's perspective It gives us insight it gives us man insight into how a righteous man responds to something like that The Bible makes it clear. He chose to exercise a gracious route. He was saving her life sparing her He was showing her compassion. He was giving her mercy and that gives to me insight as I was reading this and began to think about this It gives me insight into how a righteous man responds It gives me insight into why God would would choose Joseph to raise Jesus Because this compassion and this mercy would be how he raised Jesus the son of God He would be raised by a man of mercy and righteousness and compassion And that's how Jesus was was raised and that's how Joseph would raise him That's the environment that the Jesus would be raised in he'd be raised with a very holy and godly mom and a very righteous father a Compassionate and a merciful and a loving man So this compassion and mercy would have been the environment that Jesus was raised in it also revealed Joseph's willingness to share a life of shame with Mary Because in taking her as his wife She would not live down The the town gossip and belief that she had violated and had had a Relationship with another man and Joseph took her and married her out of pity Some would think it would be a marvel to most because that just doesn't happen But Joseph was willing to share in the shame that they would be trying to thrust upon her because he Knew that his wife was pure even when the world didn't and the idea that that that Jesus Was raised in such a way and all and and that his mother had a reputation Well, we think of what happened in in the Gospel of John when Jesus was speaking to some who were in Accusation against him and they said we have we have not been born these people said we haven't been born a fornication We have one father even God What they were saying is we're not like you you were born out of fornication Remember, this is a small town a small town girl probably had a great reputation amongst the people People would speak concerning Mary. What a wonderful young woman. What a pure young woman. What an innocent young woman What a godly young woman and Then you know how top town gossip is well, I thought she was something she obviously isn't I thought she was so good all this time she's a party girl and That's kind of how it would have been she leaves. She's out of her parents site for a while. She gets knocked up That's what they would have been saying about her. She comes back and look how she shamed Joseph They might have given Joseph some respect, but it would have been a wonder that this man would have married a woman like that But Joseph was a righteous man not a self-righteous man You know the Bible tells us very clearly that that that mercy and truth have met together in righteousness and peace have kissed He was compassionate. He was merciful and that is the visible evidence of true godliness You see true religion is always evidenced by genuine compassion True religion a real walk with God is always evidenced by a compassionate loving spirit and instead of reacting he took his hurt and he took his concern to the Lord and Psalm 40 verse 1 the psalmist said I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined to me and heard my cry And so this is what's taking place He's minded to put her away secretly verse 20 But while he thought about these things behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying boo. No saying Wake up Joseph. He said Joseph son of David Do not be afraid to take to you marry your wife For that which is conceived in her as of the Holy Spirit She will bring forth the son You shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins This reveals how confused and perplexed he was his mind was troubled. It was spinning But it also gives to us insight into where our comfort in hard times comes from it comes from heaven It took the intervention of the Lord to bring comfort into the broken heart of this man Joseph Notice how in verse 20 the angel calls him Joseph's son of David So that's intended to remind him that he is of David's lineage This is fulfilling a promise that God had made to King David in 2nd Samuel 7 verses 12 and 13 Where God said when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers I will set up your seed after you who will come from your body. I will establish his kingdom He shall build a house for my name. I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever in verse 16 He went on to say your house in your kingdom shall be established forever before you your throne shall be established forever That was a messianic prophecy that the that the Messiah would reign and rule forever off of the David from David's throne He says here do not be afraid in other words stop being afraid Joseph was troubled about what he should do if I take her as wife. She has another man and I'll be taken a woman who doesn't love me, but it's loved by someone else. I don't know what to do But if I divorce her she could come under severe penalty because she's really looked at under law as an adulteress And so this is what he's been puzzling over and this is what he's been concerned about But the angels words bring him comfort they encourage him and take her he says take her and cherish her She's done nothing wrong. You can entrust yourself to her completely Take her cherish honor her and see her for what she is see her as a pure vessel The pure vessel that she's always been Because God is in control The child has been conceived through the agency of the Holy Spirit Again remember Mary's question to Gabriel. How will this be since I'm a virgin the angel answered The Holy Spirit will come upon you the power the most high will overshadow you So the holy one to be born will be called the son of God Well verse 21 says she'll bring forth a son. You'll call his name Jesus Jesus in the Hebrew Jehoshua Jehovah is salvation and Jehovah is salvation. He will save his people From their sins again that fulfills Genesis 3 15 I mentioned a moment ago over 300 specific prophecies are fulfilled in the life and ministry of this one child You see a Virgin shall be with child and bear a son. His name is Jesus. He's God in the flesh He's God with us He is God who has come to save us from our sins There's so much Confusion in our world today There's a lot of evil but much of the evil that is really by scripture declared to be and actually identified as evil Is looked at his son simply common culture or just that the way that it is and the Bible doesn't Look at sin and make excuse for it The Bible is very clear about it and speaks concerning it as well as the penalty for it the wages of sin the scripture says is death and So there's none righteous. No not one There's not one person who ever lived who can say I am free from my sin Not a single person the only one who ever could was Jesus himself and so because we're sinners We're in the dilemma. We're in a bad place because we don't know exactly what to do How can we be made right with God seeing that I'm evil and he's pure and the scripture says that God is too Holy to look upon evil with any pleasure So how can I a guilty sinful person have a relationship with the pure and holy God who has something in common with evil and So that dilemma that problem that humanity have was solved by God and this is what Christmas is all about That God took upon himself human flesh and God has come to be with us in order that he might be able to save us It says in verse 23 the virgin shall be with child bear a son and they shall call his name Immanuel which has translated God with us So God took upon himself human flesh in the beginning was the word the word was with God The word was God and the word became flesh and dwelt amongst us. We beheld his glory Full of grace and truth God took upon himself human flesh. He came in order that he might rescue us that he might save us from our sin In Romans 5 18 and 19 as as through one man's offenses Offense judgment came to all men resulting in condemnation even so through one man one man's righteous act The free gift came to all men Resulting in justification of life for as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners So also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous so God loving the world gave his son and Christmas is celebrating the reality of the fact that God loved us and took upon himself flesh and dwelt amongst us and understands us Jesus Christ according to Isaiah 53 is that wounded healer. He's aware of the things that we go through There's nothing that that I go through that he's not familiar with he was tempted in every way such as I but he was without sin He understands loneliness. He understands a broken heart. He understands rejection He understands all of those things because he was a man who was rejected and lonely himself Even in the night that he was just before his death He was in that in that garden praying and he was saying, you know, my God my God why has thou forsaken me? When he died on that cross He didn't do it for his own sin. He did it for us and and when we read the Bible We need to understand that that Christmas and I think we believers do already know this but Christmas isn't a celebration for us It's not our birthday. It's a celebration of the reality of Christ who came to save us from our sin That's what it is and and that's why we need to hear that message. We need to understand that Jesus is God in human flesh Philippians 2 6 through 8 speaking of Jesus said who being in the form of God did not consider it Robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation Taken the form of a bond servant coming in the likeness of men being found in appearance as a man He humbled himself became obedient to the point of death even the death of the cross as we celebrate tomorrow and we celebrate the reality of the birth of our messiah Jesus was placed in a manger But he was also placed on a cross. He was placed in one place But ultimately placed in the other And he was placed on a cross So that he could die as The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world taking my place Because he paid a debt that I couldn't pay He took upon himself my sin And he laid his life down voluntarily for me That song Mary did you know when you when you kiss your baby baby boy, you're kissing the face of God I don't know if you know that The word that has translated most common in the New Testament for the word worship is a Greek word prosconeo And prosconeo speaks of something that goes forward. You're coming down forward, but it carries with it the image the intimation of a tenderness and a face to face It's almost a picture of kissing God's face when you're truly worshiping You're very vulnerable and it's an intimacy So that's why God says he has us to worship him in spirit and truth Because in order to truly worship him. I need to know who he truly is and so the gospel teaches us how to worship God and It's not by works of righteousness, which we do or efforts on our part It's in the submission of and the yielding of and the asking of forgiveness for what we've done in opposition to him It's the hostility that I have lived a lifetime in Because I am in hostile opposition to God But what God has done is he is he has conquered on that cross and Jesus was about to die and he said It is finished. He was speaking concerning the fact that what God had called him to do was about to be completed He was dying as a voluntary sacrifice on the cross, but it wasn't simply the death that justifies us It's the awareness of the resurrection that gives us life And so we're identified with Jesus Christ So Jesus took upon himself human flesh and we celebrate that in his birth But he took him he took our sins upon him when he died on the cross and we celebrate that at Easter And as this resurrected lord Whoever lives to make intercession for us This resurrected lord has called us to give our faith and our hearts to him To worship him why because god is with us Because we yielded ourselves to him because he yielded his life for us And he is the one who crushes the head of the serpent And that was what was taking place and joseph was there and he was pondering. What am I going to do? You know, I I don't want her to to be penalized, but I I I can't I can't take her as my wife And and that's why the angel says don't be afraid to do that No, this one that is to be born of this this woman is god's own son. It is god with you And then finally verse 24 joseph being aroused from sleep Did as the angel of the lord commanded him and and took to him his wife Didn't know her till she had brought forth her firstborn son And he called his name jesus This reveals his faith as his as it does his obedience God spoke joseph obeyed. He didn't completely understand But he did what he was told He married her Before witnesses, which is the custom of that day. He took her as his wife. He married her before witnesses He received the blessing of a priest He had a marriage feast and a celebration And he took her to the home. He had prepared for her. He married her The bible makes it clear He said he did as the angel of the lord commanded And he took to him his wife. He did all of those things He had his marriage celebration. He had his his feast. He had everything And he loved her The neighbors would have seen great grace on his part Because of what he did was unheard of and the scripture says he knew her not Until after jesus was born he didn't he didn't have personal intimate relations with her until after the birth of christ But this child This child that will celebrate his birth tomorrow and look at passage that relates to that This child jesus didn't stay a child Jesus grew to be a man Jesus grew to be the man who would lay down his life for us He is the savior of the world And we all need What he has to offer us Have you ever have you ever opened up your christmas presents like you'll do tomorrow and perhaps some of you have already been cheating and doing it tonight Have you ever opened up a present That made you eternally satisfied to the point where you never want to get another present again Have you ever had one of those? This is it don't buy me anything else. This is all i'll ever want I've discovered that's not true with my kids and it ends up been true with me My children would open up those presents and they always did the same thing was so cute They'd always open them up and they go oh just what I wanted then they grab another box They'd open that up Just what I wanted then they'd open up another box the many boxes they got then they say let's go to grandma's They always have more over there They never were satisfied Never the eyes of man never are satisfied There's never anything that we have on earth that satisfies us completely until The day comes when you are finally empty and you're finally saying i've i've tried it all i've done it all I have no purpose. I have no goals. I have no joy. I have no peace I have nothing and that's when the greatest present was given to you when you said god be merciful to me I'm a sinner and your heart was surprised by the joy that god gives to you because you're now right with god My sins are forgiven My name is in the lambs book of life, you know, i'm just passing through i'm gonna go to heaven I'm i'm this is not my home And every day is one day closer to being with the lord who loved you and laid his life down for you That's why christians celebrate christmas not because we're pagans But because we have joy in our heart for god has broken into this darkness And enlightened our darkened consciences by giving us the power of the holy spirit and forgiveness of sins And that comes from being a christian It wasn't a ritual of any sort that i went through it wasn't by going through certain classes It wasn't by having certain sacraments for me what it became was what scripture says god be merciful to me I'm a sinner god wash me and cleanse me and give me a new life I'm sick of being sick. I need you and when god came into my life 49 years ago this friday i gave my heart to jesus christ 49 years ago at the age of 20 I gave up and i said i can't do this anymore. I'm tired of the alcohol and tired of the drugs I'm tired of the relationship. I just need peace and he need hope and he need forgiveness I can't take it anymore and i said god be merciful to me I'm a sinner and he was and he forgave me of all my sins. He cleansed me of all my unrighteousness He wrote my name in his book of life and he has blessed me in ways that are immeasurable And I don't need christmas presents. I have jesus christ the reason for this season. He is my savior And that's what we all need And if you don't have that If christmas is just another holiday that you go through and you're bored in Thinking about where am I going to go and have some drinks later on or whatever Now jesus christ said I'll give you wine new wine Because you know what I had enough of the old But now he's given me the new and I've never had a holy ghost hangover in my life And I've never wondered what did I do was I crazy who's after me after walking with the lord and worshiping him No, I haven't because you know why because when god when god comes into your life He feels every empty portion of it and he overwhelms you with his goodness And that is one of the reasons why I love him and I worship him not just christmas I worship him every day because he is worthy of worship every single day He is the savior not just on christmas But every day because he's our savior isn't he he is our lord and he's the reason for us To be alive and if you don't know him you can