Eternal God and our Father what in heaven we give you thanks this day for bringing us together in your house where we have this privilege of worshiping you the great God the creator of the universe, him who reigns and is in control of all that is made, and everything runs according to his plan and purpose. We thank you for the gift of salvation you've given to us, even through your dear son, the Lord Jesus. As we are in this season where we take time to reflect on this special gift, For the salvation of man, we pray that our God, to not just be a season we observe year in and year out around this time, but oh Lord our God, that we may take time to appreciate the act of grace that you've extended to man, that we may be appreciative and also consider what our relationship is with him that you gave to us even for the salvation of man. We pray that as we spend this time together reflecting on the gift you've given to us that Lord you'll be pleased to encourage us through your word to consider seriously our relationship with our Savior, even the Lord Jesus Christ. We want to continue to thank you for your work here at Providence and for your people. You know, Lord our God, how we've come and how the week has been and the different challenges and issues of life that we've been through. At times, such things can easily obstruct us, even in our time of worship. We pray by your spirit that you help us, Lord, to forget all those issues that we've been through and allow ourselves to focus on you as we gather to worship. And so be pleased to abide with us. Be pleased to speak to us. Be pleased, our Father, to reveal yourself to us, even through your word. We would pray also that you may protect us from the wars of the enemy, even as we spend this time, that our minds will be focused only on Christ and Christ alone. And so help both preacher and listeners to grasp those truths you'd want us to know, even for our own good, even for your glory. These things we pray and ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Good morning. It's good to be back here and at least this time of the year when the weather is friendly. And I didn't expect that it can be that cold here in Arizona. It has both extremes. And but it's good to be here. And again, I would love to express my appreciation to the leadership for this opportunity, according to me, to share God's word with you on the Lord's Day. And also it's our joy with Prisca to be in the company of the saints. And we want to assure you that you've become part of us in a sense that we do pray for you and we know we have a family here in Arizona where at any time we can visit we know we'll have people to embrace us and encourage us even as we seek to serve the Lord. This morning I would love us to consider Matthew chapter 1 verse 18 to 25. And what I'll be doing is something that in my preaching on the message about Christ's birth, the focus usually has been to look at the events that occurred leading to the birth of Christ and focusing more on the Christ. But for some reason this morning, I would want us to look at God's sovereignty in Jesus' birth. God's sovereignty in Jesus' birth. And so, the term sovereignty actually is so common among us Baptists, especially in our circles, the Reformed Baptists, we don't struggle with this concept of God's sovereignty And so we seek to say God, when we talk about God being sovereign or God's sovereignty in this language, we recognize the fact that God is on the throne. We speak of God's kingship. We speak about God being in charge. He rules and reigns over the entire universe. And we also agree to the fact that nothing can oppose God. He is Lord of heaven and earth. He is enthroned, and this throne is a symbol of sovereignty. God's will is supreme. I like the way W. Pink makes his case on talking about the sovereignty of God. It says there, we mean the supremacy of God, the kingship of God, the good, the Godhood of God. To say that God is sovereign is to declare that God is God. To say that God is sovereign is to declare, like Nabgedneza, confessed or declared that he is the most high doing according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth so that none can stay his hand or say to him what have you done. To say that God is sovereign is to declare that he is the almighty the possessor of all power in heaven and earth, so that none can defeat his counsels, thwart his purposes, or resist his will. To say that God is sovereign is to declare that he is the governor among the nations. setting up kingdoms, overthrowing empires, and determining the course of dynasties as pleases Him best. To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is the only King, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Such is the God of the Bible. As we talk about the birth of Christ, There is no doubt that God was in charge of the whole process leading to the birth of Christ. There is nothing like coincidence or out of luck that these events came to pass. Even the idea of how Jesus finally marrying Joseph Mexet to Bethlehem In fulfillment to prophecy that you would be born in that town, it was God at work dictating as it were or leading all those events in fulfillment to his plan. God is and will always be involved in the affairs of his creation. That includes man and all creatures. Before the foundation of this world, God in his infinite wisdom had designed and decreed the plan of salvation for mankind. It is worth noting, as we celebrate the birth of the Savior, that the birth of Jesus did not just happen, but it was designed by God as it unfolds. The events and ultimately the birth of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is clearly demonstrated that indeed the Lord was involved and God's sovereignty very much at work. God sovereignly worked out all the means by which the Savior would be born into the world. And Paul declares in Galatians 4 and verse 4, he says, but when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under law. And as we consider this passage, I would want us quickly to read together in Matthew 1, verse 18 to 25. We find the words there. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been bethroned to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man, unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. you bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. When Joseph woke up from his sleep, he took Indeed, as the angel of the Lord commanded him, he took his wife, but he knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus. And as we consider God's sovereignty in the birth of the Lord Jesus, I want us to look at God's dealings with the culture of the day. We need to appreciate the arrangement in which we find Mary and Joseph. We are told Mary was engaged to Joseph. And as the Lord appeared through an angel to Mary and told her the good news that she had found favor in the eyes of God and that she was going to conceive, that had a great impact to distort or destroy the relationship that Mary had with Joseph. And God in his sovereignty works out things, they appear normal within the culture, within the marriage arrangement. It looks normal between Mary and Joseph. He speaks to both Mary and Joseph of what he had intended to do. And we need to appreciate the fact that in the Jewish culture, Engagement was a serious commitment that one would put herself or himself. And in most cases, it would happen when the young people are still kids, maybe in the ages of 8, 9, 10, quite young, they would be engaged. And others would be maybe the age of teenagers, And these practices are very common in some cultures, even in Africa. But the point is, it was a commitment. They might have been in their teenage age. And this commitment would be when you are engaged for one year, you'd go through that process and you'd keep yourselves pure. And for Mary, it was a tricky kind of situation when she found herself to have a baby. Imagine the disgrace and this was a communal kind of culture where families were together living as a community. To learn of Mary having a child without knowing who the man would be responsible for that would bring shame to the family, would bring shame to the friends and many others. And it was a shame and honor kind of culture. And there was a lot at stake. But God, in his sovereignty, he steps in within the confines of that culture and marriage arrangements. He deals with it so that nothing between them goes, as it were, sour in their relationship. And their reputation is preserved. How does he do it? He goes to Mary, breaks this news through an angel. He does the same with Joseph. And quietly, it appears as if it was all arranged. And Joseph, as we read, takes Mary to be his wife. In the eyes of the people around, they thought, wow, these guys got married, and now they're expecting a child. It's a normal marriage kind of relationship. But we are told that there was no intimacy between the two of them until the baby Jesus was born. But look at God's sovereignty, that's my point. Where God comes within that culture, he works out things to fulfill his plan and purpose for the savior he had declared or he had promised or who was prophesied even to be given to the world for their redemption. God sovereignly deals with a marriage tradition by speaking to the couple. and it looks normal in that relationship. And just imagine, put yourself in that situation, especially for us men, the time for us who are married, the time you are dating your wife, you just learned that your wife is expecting, what would be your reaction? What would be your reaction? Put yourself in a situation of Joseph, It was a serious, serious situation he had to deal with. But God, in his wisdom, in his sovereignty, he works within without creating any tension or confusion. Everything unfolds according to his plan and purpose. And it's interesting to observe how Joseph responds to this event. And Matthew speaks about the angel appearing to Joseph. It is in Luke we see that even Mary had this encounter with the angel of the Lord. And we see that in chapter 1 of Luke, verse 26 to 38. Verse 19 suggests to us that Joseph was aware of Mary's pregnancy. Because we are told there, he wanted to divorce her quietly. He didn't want to disgrace her, neither did he want to experience disgrace because the girl he had engaged was now expecting. Joseph, a husband being a righteous man and not willing to make her a public example intended to put her away secretly. We can learn something from Joseph's attitude. what it means to be godly. He does not want to to embarrass this girl, though he feels disappointed. That is before he learned about what had happened in the life of Mary. And we see when you read in Deuteronomy 22, verse 23 to 24, we can see the weight of the matter, the situation that Mary and Joseph found themselves in. We read there, if there is a young lady who is a virgin pledged to be married to a husband and a man found her in the city and lay with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death with stones. The lady because she didn't cry being in that city and the man because he has humbled his neighbor's wife, so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you." In Deuteronomy 22, verse 25 to 27, we see clearly that Mary, under this law, was subject to death, was subject to be stoned. However, at the time of Jesus' birth, the Roman Empire had put a new law that was governing the people, the Romans would not allow Jews to impose death penalty, as we see in John 18, verse 31. In this case, the man is expected to divorce his woman, and the man also would claim the bride price he might have paid to the family. This is a very common practice in some cultures, even in our own culture in Africa. But the point is Mary and Joseph found themselves in a very very difficult kind of situation that would have been a matter of life and death. But the Lord works within the confines of the culture of the of the people within the arrangement of marriage to fulfill this purpose and sovereignly it does so. God sovereignly works through that seemingly traditional hurdle to fulfill the purpose of bringing the Savior to be born as it was prophesied. In verse 24, We see when Joseph woke up from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but he knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus. I would want to encourage us, dear brethren, as we talk about God's sovereignty, nothing can stop or stand in God's way to carry out his purposes. He is king. He is in control of his creatures and all his creation. He does as he pleases to perform his purposes. There are times in life when our situation and circumstances can make us doubt whether God can work out his will for us. Remember God's sovereignty in the birth of Christ. God is able. Like Mary declared, or the angel of the Lord declared to Mary, for nothing will be impossible with God. As we celebrate and think about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, consider how all this plan worked out. God was at work from beginning to end. And we can be consoled and be encouraged as people of God to know that God is sovereign. He will fulfill his purposes even in our lives. As a child of God, may your response be that of obedience, no matter what your situation or circumstance might be, as demonstrated by Mary and Joseph. Trust and obey God's word. Trust and obey what God says to his people. And Mary said in response to the words of the angel, Behold, I'm the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your words. That should be our response, because we know God is perfect in his ways. God does as He pleases, and what He allows us to go through, what He has purposed to do in our lives, will surely be for our own good and for our own benefit. And all that God has declared in His word will surely come to pass. Let's move on quickly to look at God's sovereignty in the conception of Jesus. How Christ was conceived God works outside the norm. Luke's narrative presents to us a real situation that Mary faced with when the angel brought that news to her that she was going to be with a child. She raises a question to the angel, how will this be since I'm a virgin? She presents, she says it's not normal. the natural way of conceiving there should be a man, there should be somebody, and that was a natural response to her. And again, God affirms and assures Mary of His sovereignty in the birth of the Lord Jesus, in the conception of the Lord. How does He respond to her question? And the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God. The Holy Spirit was at work in the conception of the Savior, the Lord Jesus. God became man. The good man would be conceived like an ordinary child, yet without man's involvement. God himself was at work in the conception of the Savior. And we should not speculate how this happened. Using our minds, using the science understanding and the natural understanding, we can but marvel at what God did in the life of Mary, how the Savior was born in her womb. God chose that path to bring the Savior to his people. And we can worship the Lord and give him all the glory for choosing that way, because there is this one, the Savior who can identify with us, who was born and lived amongst us and experienced the life that we go through, yet fully man and fully God. And we need to avoid the concept that is found among the Greeks and the Romans, as they think of mythology, where they think Jesus is a demigod. No, Jesus is fully God and fully man. And we need to appreciate this, that God was at work in his sovereignty going against the natural way of conception. And it's God who declared in Genesis, when he was blessing Adam and Eve, he told them, increase and multiply. And the natural way of conception is between a man and a woman. But God being sovereign being, the one who is in control, who does as he pleases, and who has no limit, he allow the conception of Christ to be a miracle that we marvel at even today. God is able. What he has purpose to do, it will certainly come to pass. And let's move on as we appreciate God's sovereignty. Look at verse 21. God declares Jesus' mission. We see there in verse 21, And she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." Long before the child is born, even prophecy was given that the Savior would be born. God declared clearly his mission. And that mission fully would be carried out by God to its fulfillment. And we are told there, both Mary and Joseph are told the name of the child. She shall bring forth a son, you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Mary's role is to bear a son, and Joseph's role is to provide a name. By naming him, Joseph will make Jesus his son and bring him into the household of David, to be in the line of David. And the name in the Greek from the Hebrew Yoshua, which means Yahweh is salvation, it is related to the name Joshua that we know of in the Old Testament. And already the name itself speaks of God is our salvation, because He will save His people from their sins. For it is He who will save His people from their sins, we are told. Dear brethren, dear friends, this is the reason for the season. This is why the Savior came. This is why the Yoshua came, to bring salvation to the people of God. That one was born in the manger, He came for the purpose of redeeming man from sin. We are told in John 3 16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. This is the reason Christ came. And as we gather and celebrate Christmas, the focus should be on the mission of the Savior, why He came here on earth. He came for our salvation. He came that we may know Him and know our God, that we may be reconciled back to God. The birth of the Savior was the salvation of His people. The Lord Jesus came here on earth. He died. He was buried. He rose again to save his people from their sins. And he ascended to heaven. He seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for his people. And again, we need to be consoled and be encouraged that the same Lord who went to heaven, we seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for his people. He will return as God has declared. this time to take his people to be with him and at the same time to judge those that have not believed in him. Jesus Christ is the savior of sinners. You can put your trust in him for your salvation. You can believe in him. He's the reason for Christmas. He's the reason for the season. He's the reason for why we gather and celebrate Christmas. And if you do not know Christ, how wonderful it would be for you to celebrate the true Christmas of knowing Christ as your Lord and Savior. And dear brethren, this should be a great motivation for us for evangelism. It should be a great motivation for evangelism. Because we are told the mission for Christ is clearly explained. He will come to do what? To save his people from their sins. And there are many out there who do not know Christ yet. And it's Christ himself, it's the Lord himself who saves. You and I, how beautiful it would be if we can use this season as we meet as families to testify, to speak about this Christ. And that's why we celebrate Christmas. It's not just to enjoy good gifts and good food. No, it's to reflect on the gift for the salvation of man. And that's the best gift man can ever have in life, to know the Lord as his Lord and Savior. That should be a motivation, dear brethren. And he says he came to serve his people. He has many of his people. They elect out there. Here in Kasaglanda, they are there. There are many. We should be motivated to reach out. We should be motivated to speak, to testify about the Savior. It's for this reason he went to the cross. It's for this reason we gather. It's for this reason we celebrate Christmas. Because he died for his people. And his death is effectual. He caused those that he died for. And that should motivate us. We should not be concerned whether people will respond to our message or not. It's not our Our duty to see to it that man responds. Ours is to faithfully proclaim the gospel. It's the Lord who draws man to himself. It's the Lord who saves. Ours is to be faithful to the call to proclaim and declare Christ and him crucified. This change will grow if each one of us can take it upon ourselves to say, I am a bearer of this good news. Wherever I will be, I will declare the good news of Christ. It's not just for the people in office. It's not just for the people, the few that are called. Every Christian is a witness. We have a story to tell of what Christ has done in our lives. How beautiful it will be to use this season with families. Just a short story of what Christ has done for you. That the Lord can redeem and use it for his glory to draw some to himself. Let me quickly move on. As we appreciate God's sovereignty, in the work of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. We see Jesus' birth was prophesied. God sovereignly announced Jesus' birth long before it came to pass. During our Bible study I was even saying, oh it's good our brother has already set us on as he was sharing about the prophecies in the Old Testament. And I said he's done the job for me. It didn't just happen, dear brother. In His sovereign act, the Lord, thousands of years before it came to pass, it was already declared. It's like watching a movie. We are blessed as people of God, compared to those that lived during that time. They didn't have the complete scriptures like we do and Christ had not yet come and died like we can testify looking at scripture we are blessed it's like watching a movie which you know its end you know where the movie will end for us we can tell the story because it's all there in scripture he was born he died he rose He ascended. What we are waiting for is His return. And already God has declared in His way, He will certainly come. He will certainly come. It was prophesied in verse 22, Now all this has happened that we might be, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet saying, Behold the virgin. shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, which shall call his name Immanuel, which is interpreted God with us. Now all this has happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet. The fulfillment of prophecy is important to Matthew. Matthew mentions it 11 times in verse 22, in chapter 2 verse 11, verse 17, verse 23, chapter 4 verse 13, chapter 8 verse 17, chapter 12 verse 17, chapter 13 verse 35, chapter 21 verse 4, chapter 26 verse 56, chapter 27 verse 9. He repeats this line, this was in the fulfillment of prophets. It was important, especially that his audience, first and foremost were, most of them were Jewish. And he's emphasizing that it has a link from that which was spoken by the prophets. And God in his sovereignty was working out all these things to ensure that the promise that he had declared about the birth of his son, the Lord Jesus, would surely come to pass. The mystery of Christ's incarnation is to be adored by God's people. God with us, the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. It is interesting to note that Matthew begins with his gospel with the promise that Jesus is God with us. And he ends his gospel that he will be with us due to the close of the age. The God-man has promised never to leave us nor forsake us. As he becomes Lord, as he is our Lord, he will certainly walk with us to the close of the age. And we can appreciate Joseph gets up and he obeys the command by taking his wife, Mary. And we are told the emphasis is put He didn't know her until she had brought forth her firstborn son. It is clear there was no involvement of man. Christ was born out of God's miracle, God himself working through Mary. God's sovereignty in Jesus' birth is clearly demonstrated from beginning to end. I want to emphasize, dear brethren, God is faithful. He keeps his word. Nothing can stand in the way of the Lord in fulfilling his purposes. Trust and obey, and you will see God fulfilling that which is promised in his word, even in your lives. Dear friends, like he declared about the coming of the Savior into the world, he has also promised that Jesus will return, not to save, but to judge the world at the same time to take those that are his to be with him forever. As I mentioned already, may this Christmas be truly the coming of the Savior in a life of someone who does not know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Do you know Christ? We are celebrating personally as your Lord and Savior. If he was to come today, would you be with him? Are you so certain and sure that He will call you to be His, and we should never be deceived, the Lord knows those who are His. If you do not know the Savior, Scripture tells us that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. He came to die for His people, and He reaches out saying, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Call on Him while it's day, and the Lord will not cast you away. Put your trust in Jesus. Believe in Him as your Lord and Savior. Shall we pray? We give you thanks, Lord, for this reminder that has come to us that from beginning to end, you were involved in the whole plan of the Savior being born. We thank you that he came, he died for our salvation. And we thank you that you do desire that we declare this good news to many that do not know you. That by your grace, by your spirit, you draw them to yourself. We pray that, oh Lord, as we celebrate your birth here on earth, your death, burial and resurrection that will be motivated to speak to others about this good news. Be with us, our Father, this we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.