This evening we're going to turn in the word of God to Matthew chapter one. Matthew chapter one, we'll read a few verses here. And we're going to consider the verse that we will be memorizing this month. Just a few thoughts as to why it is a very appropriate but also beneficial portion of scripture to put in our mind. Matthew chapter 1 and we'll start our reading at verse 18 and read down through verse 25. Matthew chapter 1 and verse 18. 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 bound 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 privately. But 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 a son, and thou shall 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, and shall bring forth a 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. I want us to think then on what I am entitling tonight, the sweetest name, the name given of heaven, the name of Jesus. Before we go further, though, let's just ask the Lord to bless the Word. Father, in heaven now, we would pray that Thou will bless our time in the Word. We would pray again that the Spirit of God would be the one to take the Word and to bring it to us so that we both understand, so that we understand that it is for us and that it is, indeed, A blessed, blessed message indeed to our hearts to think about the Lord Jesus. Lord, I pray that you will then undertake for me as I servant guide indirect thought and word or we ask it all in Jesus name. Amen. There is a song that's similar to the song that we began our service with. It's not in our hymn books. I wish that it were. And the first stanza of that hymn says this, Jesus is the sweetest name I know. And he's just the same as his lovely name. And that's the reason why I love him so. Oh, Jesus is the sweetest name I know. The name of Jesus is, for the saint, an object of preciousness, a name, a label, a title of great worth. And it is true, though sometimes we hear songwriters speak in superlative tones, that make us wonder, well, what they're experiencing, I wonder if I will ever be able to experience. It is true, though, that for every child of God, it is possible for Jesus to be the sweetest name that we know. But the way in which that comes to us, the way that that actually comes to pass is that we find ourselves knowing him. For knowing Him and growing in the grace and knowledge of Him is that pathway for us to hold Him indeed, as Peter says, as precious indeed. In the reading that we have here this evening, we have the revelation of the Lord to Joseph of the coming and the birth of the Lord Jesus. This is announced to him in a dream, of course, we read, by the angel. And apart from the miraculous nature of the Lord's birth is the name and the reason for his name. So again, I would say there are three things that are revealed to Joseph, that there will be coming this one who is born of the Holy Ghost in a miraculous nature, and then it is revealed not only what his name is to be, but why his name is as it is. And I would suggest to you that there is for us, as the people of God, great comfort in this short two-sentence message by the angel. And I want us to think this evening on the reason why we are memorizing this verse, verse 21, which is our text tonight. And she shall bring forth a son and thou shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. I've got two things I'm gonna point out. I'm not going to deal with, as I mentioned, the miraculous nature. of the Savior's birth, but rather the last two things that I mentioned, and that is what His name is to be and the reason why He is so named. So, straight to it. We're going to think first on the name. The name. And thou shalt call His name Jesus. Now, the name that we have mentioned to us in verse 23 is the name Immanuel. I would suggest to you that Immanuel, rather than necessarily being the proper name, is rather a title that is given to the Lord Jesus, given in Isaiah chapter 7 and verse 14. Literally then, of course, Immanuel means God with us. This is speaking of the presence of God amongst his people, that there is now not God in a understood, theological sense among men but he was actually physically now to be among men and as such he has the title then Immanuel, God amongst or God with us. But I want us to see that there's more than the presence of the Lord that is being presented to us here in Matthew chapter one. We have here the name Jesus being announced by the angel. the name that Joseph was to name the child at the time that the child was to be named. So I will think about a couple of things here as we consider the name. First, think with me for a moment on the name Jesus. The name Jesus. The name is derived from the Hebrew word that means to save. And so you might even have it in your margin that this name means Savior. Jesus, Savior. You wonder whether any would ever make a note upon hearing that name as he was addressed through the years of his walk on earth. Would it ever strike anybody? that this one who they were talking with, looking at, watching, was named Savior? Well, I would say, sadly, the answer on that is, by and large, no. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. Perhaps even though he was named Savior, there was no connection in the minds of those that saw him. of that. But I want you to understand this as well, that this name is a name not only given to him as a note of identification. We have names that identify, but rather this name was given as an expectation forever. The expectation of the people of God, those to whom the Lord Jesus came, was that He would be a Savior and that He would be a Savior forever. Or can I put it in this way? You and I, because of the work of the Lord Jesus, are saved as long as He has that name. How long will Christ be called Jesus? You might say, well, he'll never lay that name aside. Amen. Therefore, you and I have a salvation that is accomplished through his name that also shall never be laid aside. We might think a little bit more on that. Perhaps we could make some notes about that name. We are told in scripture that Jesus is to the people of God a very peculiar treasure, a precious, precious name, a name to be called upon when salvation is needed. We might also say that it is a name to be called out when salvation is preached. We could also say that it is a name to be called to when salvation is pled as the hope and prayer. We have been given the name Jesus by divine appointment to call upon, to call out, and to call to. We might also say this, that this name Jesus is the dread of devils. But the same name Jesus is also the death of doubt. We could possibly even say this and add to the list. The name Jesus is our deliverance from depravity. Oh, how much is in the name of Jesus. Jesus, a name that is highly prized. I would suggest also that Jesus is the jewel of the Father. Jesus is the justification of the sinner. And Jesus is the joy of the saint. How precious this name. And I would just simply ask us to step back and say, but is it just precious to us? And I would say, oh, no. It is only precious to us because it is first and foremost precious in heaven. The name Jesus we have told to us is a name in which there is power. There is power in that name with the Father. And if you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. Further, you might say that that name not only is a name that has power with the Father, but there is also comfort in that name through the Holy Ghost. How pleased is our God in the person of the Holy Spirit to comfort our hearts by using that name within us, by preaching that name to our hearts, by explaining that name to our minds, Jesus. The name is a precious name. So I would suggest to you that the first thing we needed to know was just the name itself. What does it mean? And what is held in that name? But I also want you to see that the Lord Jesus was so called because of the type that that name suggests. There was a message in that name from the pages of the Old Testament. And I would suggest to you that the type of which I speak would not be lost on the Jews. The fact that Jesus was named Jesus would not be lost on the Jews. You say, what are you saying? This, that the name Jesus and the name Joshua come from the same Hebrew verb. both of which mean to save. And the fact that Jesus would be, as it were, the New Testament version of the Old Testament named Joshua would certainly click in the minds of the Hebrews that heard it. Well, what did Joshua do? Joshua was that one who, after the days of Moses, led the people of God. into the land of promise. You'd have to say that in the mind of the Jews there would certainly be the association that here is one given that would lead the people into the new land of promise, indeed, the land of God's salvation. Clear association there. So the angel comes and says to Joseph, you are going to name this one who comes, Jesus. This is the name that is to be presented. But then, second, and very simply, I want us to see the reason. We see the name, now what's the reason for the name? God's why, is given. Why call him Jesus? Well, the Lord explains it to us in our text. It says, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. Here's point one, for he shall save, for he shall save. I simply want you to understand that when God names our Savior Jesus, this is a statement from heaven. There is no doubt. There is no possibility of failure. He will save. He will not in any way fail in that duty or leave out any part of that work that was to be done. He will save. And again, I say, here is God's word that in the eternal knowledge and purpose of God, Christ is seen as successful. And so by divine appointment, by the very word of God, the choice of a name by heaven itself is given to our savior and told to Joseph, do not fail as it were, make sure you understand his name shall be called Jesus for he shall save. Heaven has appointed it. He will not fail nor be discouraged, Isaiah says. But then he says, more particularly, those that he will save. He says, and he shall save his people. He shall save his people. There is a people that are given to the Lord Jesus, given of God. There is a people to save. by divine appointment Christ has been set up as that one through whom all that are the Lord's will be brought home safe and sound. Not one will be left out, or as the Old Testament said of the Jews when they left Egypt, not a hoof left behind. There was not any that were left out of the saving work of Christ. He will come He will save his people. That's why you're calling him Savior. That's why you call him Jesus. But there's another part to this. Not only will he save and save his people, but it says he will save them from their sins. Save them from their sins. I remember hearing, well, I can't tell you how many times. I heard Dr. Alan Cairns emphasize this verse when speaking about the separation of the saint from his sin, the need of repentance. He would emphasize over and again, Christ never came to save his people in their sins, meaning allowing them to continue on allowing sin to remain attached to them, as it were. Christ Jesus came to save us from our sin. Indeed, we'd have to say along with that, that there is then no such thing as salvation without turning from sin. Cannot be done, will not be done. But also you'd have to say this too, that this would indicate to us that sin loses its power. Sin has a hold of us. Sin has a dominion over us before the Lord Jesus saves us. But now that Christ has saved us, it is true what Paul says. Sin shall have no more dominion over you. It can't rule over you. It can't have any power over you ultimately. Its power is gone because the Lord Jesus has freed you. He's brought you out of the prison house. No longer are you a slave to sin and its power. And I want you to understand that this message, that we are saved from our sin, is not focused just on the benefit to the believer of being saved from your sin. I want you to understand that that truth, that we are saved from our sin is, although surely for our good, it is tied to the name Jesus. Your deliverance from sin. You're being freed from sin. You're being made ready for heaven. You're being made ready for Christ. You're being prepared as the bride for the bridegroom. This is for Christ. and you will call his name Jesus because he will come and he will do the work that allows you, though you are a guilty sinner, to be made new, to be made whole, to be made righteous, to be made white as snow. The whole of the message that you have here delivered by the angel to Joseph was a message from start to finish that was fixed on that name. I want us to understand that you and I are not just in this picture. It's not just something that tells us of something that's coming to help us. The picture, the message is all fixed on this name. And thou shall call his name Jesus. In other words, we could put it this way. We are to understand then that salvation is of him. also that salvation is by Him. Further, that salvation is for Him. We could go on to include that salvation is through Him. And we might even say, then it would stand to reason that salvation is only Him. There is none other name given among men under heaven whereby we must be saved. The name Jesus, there's so much to that. There's so much that is promised in that name. There is so much that is declared as the power of our hope in that name. So, what's the application? How does this sit with us? How should we respond to this point? Well, I will say it this way. Number one, set your mind on this name. Set your mind on this name. What does it hold for you? I just say, read John chapter 14. to help you in that answer. Set your mind, child of God, on the name Jesus. But then second, set this name apart in your heart. Set this name apart in your heart. There is not any that should hold the place that Jesus, the name Jesus, and all that that name suggests of the altogether lovely one. He's the fairest of 10,000 to my soul. Yes, that should be our lot. Nothing should be so precious as the name of Jesus. Set this name apart in your heart. Also set this name before the throne. Again, I mentioned John chapter 14. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name. This should be a ready name that we bring before the throne of God. The Lord does not answer prayer because you and I are worthy. The Lord does not answer prayer because you and I are faithful. The reason why prayers are answered is because of Jesus. He has gained answer to prayer for those that he came to save. And then you would have to say that there is implied in this then also that we are to set this name before others. And I'm not talking just about witnessing to the lost, although that would certainly be in the case of what we're saying here. But I would also say this, let it be the habit of ourselves to put this name before each other. Encourage each other. Not with, well, things will work out, or things will be better, or things... Our hope, the hope of every one of us, and what we ought to be encouraging each other with is the Lord himself. Do not forget my brother, do not forget my sisters. We have Jesus. We have Jesus. And that changes everything, that means everything. And it ought to be our habit to consistently and constantly seek to put the name of our Savior before each other's ears and in each other's minds. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. May the Lord allow us to think on this. and perhaps to learn more of this as we seek to memorize this verse in this month of December for the Lord's glory. Father in heaven, now we would pray that you will allow the word of God to do in us and for us what you have sent it forth to do. And Lord, we would pray that you will help us to see how precious is the name of Jesus. Lord, may we see, even in the days ahead, how precious and how powerful that name is, both before heaven and in our own hearts. And these things we ask in Jesus' name, for his sake. Amen.