Matthew chapter one, Matthew chapter one, for the preaching and teaching of God's word. While I'm thinking about it, if you have a cellular device, please put it on solid, vibrate, turn it off, whatever it is that you need to do. Please check it to make sure that it doesn't interrupt the worship service. So not only to be respectful to our fellow worshipers, part of just sanctifying the Lord God in our hearts and just giving him a few minutes relatively a few minutes of our time. Matthew chapter one. Matthew chapter one. When you have to say amen. Amen. You need more time, say wait for me. Matthew chapter one. I wanna pick up reading with verse number eighteen. Matthew chapter one. I wanna pick up reading with verse number eighteen. Matthew chapter one, beginning with verse number 18, I'm reading from the Christian standard Bible. You follow along in your copy of God's word. Matthew chapter one, verse 18, my Bible reads this way. The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way. After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, It was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife. because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. Now, all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet. See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son and they will name him Emmanuel, which is translated. God is with us. When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord's angel had commanded him. He married her, but did not have sensual relations with her until she gave birth to a son, and he named him Jesus. Let church say amen. Amen. You may be seated. Thank you so much for standing. I don't intend on keeping you too long, but There is a word from the Lord, and with the Lord's help this morning, I would like to briefly preach from the subject, the newborn king. The newborn king, let us pray. Gracious God and Father Lord, we thank you for everything that's taken place here thus far, Lord. And we've come to the preaching hour, and I pray that you'll give me preaching power cleanse me of sin, empty me of self, fill me with your spirit. Lord, help me to be a blessing, Lord, to these, thy people. But Lord, most importantly, Lord, help me to be a blessing to you. And Lord, collectively, Lord, we will be careful to give you all the glory because it all belongs to you. Lord, it's this we pray in the matchless name of the risen Lord and the only Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. Amen. Amen. There's an old saying that I very much believe in. And one of those old sayings is that less is more. Less is more. And you may not understand it all the time, but when you see it, you know. One place where I think and this is just my personal opinion, if you don't share my opinion, that is perfectly fine. I think when it comes to makeup, I believe that less is more. Rather than caking up your face with all types of makeup, which might not be healthy for your skin anyway, a little bit here, a little bit there, in the right places, less is more. And notice that I looked at my beautiful wife over there who doesn't wear much makeup at all. She just woke up like that. Little gloss. There she stands. So less is more. I try to preach that way. I'm not always successful at it, but I don't believe that It's not the time to prove that you read a lot of books or wrote a lot of papers. I'm the type of person that believes, I believe clear and concise preaching means that you are picking up what I'm putting down. I shouldn't be using fancy words if I can avoid it. I shouldn't try to make myself look smart. I should just try to communicate a clear and concise message. I try to do that all the time. I'm not claiming to be successful, but I try to do that all the time. But there are two particular subject matters where I think it's really important where I exercise the thought process of less being more. And I think when it comes to Resurrection Sunday, less is more. And when it comes to And so with this morning's message, I'm just going to try to be as straightforward as possible and prayerfully. It will be a blessing to you. And that brings us to our subject passage. Mark or excuse me, Matthew, I apologize, Matthew chapter one. verses 18 through 25. We've read them once, but we'll read them again. Matthew chapter one, verses 18 through 25. The Christian standard Bible reads this way. It says, the birth of Jesus Christ came about this way. After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. After he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Now, all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet. See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, they will name him Emmanuel, which is translated, God is with us. When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord's angel had commanded him. He married her, but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son and he named him Jesus. There used to be a time where people knew these stories, and you might not have to go through the details. But the fact of the matter is, if I were to say something, well, you know the story, well, that just might not be the case. You may not know the story. And even if you do know the story, shame on us if we think that we can't get some good truths out of an old story or new truths from the old story. So we're talking about the newborn king. In verse 18, we see the first words, as far as the Christian standard Bible says, the birth of Jesus came about this way. And so Matthew, the apostle Matthew, who's also called Levi, he is saying, this is how it went down. Before they were intimate with one another, Joseph learned, he discovered, likely to his chagrin, that Mary was pregnant. Joseph being a God-fearing man, a righteous man, and not wanting to publicly humiliate Mary and by the way put her life in peril because adultery was punishable by death according to Deuteronomy verses 22, verses 23 and 24. So Joseph, being the righteous man that he was, the God-fearing man that he was, he decided he did not want to publicly humiliate Mary, but he was going to, in fact, put her away secretly. You know, when I hear non-religious types or non-believers, when we talk about the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus, they act like it's just some some crazy story and I can understand that because we weren't the first ones to think it was a crazy story. Joseph wasn't having it. He wasn't putting away Mary because he didn't know how babies came about. He was putting away Mary because he knew exactly how babies came about. And so, after processing all this information, he's taking it in, he's processing the information, he's analyzing things, and after he's thought it through, it seems as if he's going to move forward with this. And we know he's going to move forward with this because an angel appears to him in a dream. Now, we're not told what angel. appear to Joseph. But if you read Luke, you'll see that an angel during the birth of Jesus or before the birth of Jesus, an angel was making appearances to certain people, a woman named Elizabeth, a man named Zachariah, and also to Mary. And we see there that that angel was named Gabriel. So I can't tell you for sure that it was Gabriel that appeared to Joseph in a dream. If I had one guess, I would bet Gabriel. But we don't know for sure. But we know that Joseph was serious about this matter about putting Mary away because like I said earlier, he knows where babies come from, he knows he hasn't touched her, so he knows, at least in his mind, one plus one equals two, you've been with somebody else, because you ain't been with me. So Joseph decides he's going to put her away. And so an angel appears to him in a dream and says, Joseph, don't be afraid. to take Mary as your wife. And I don't know how this conversation went, but it probably went something like this. Joseph, I know she told you that she's been conceived by the Holy Spirit, and you would be right. You was well within your rights to feel like she's pulling your chain. But she's not lying. She really is pregnant. by the Holy Spirit. She will indeed give birth to a son and you are to name him Jesus. The Bible makes it clear, verse 22, that just like it says there in verse 18, the birth of Jesus came about this way. Verse 22 makes it clear that it happened this way. So that the prophecy may be fulfilled, the prophecy referencing Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14. If you don't know what the prophecy in Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14 says, well just stay in your Bible. You don't even have to go to Isaiah, you can stay right here. Because Matthew tells us the prophecy that was fulfilled. In verse 23, it says, see the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, they will name him Emmanuel. Now, this is what, I'm not gonna get too much into this, but when Isaiah, some 750 years prior to this, gave this prophecy, he was talking about things that were going on in his day. But some prophecies in the Bible have what's called dual fulfillment. Meaning it comes true during this time and it comes true during another time. This would be true concerning Isaiah 7, 14. Dual fulfillment. Verses 24 and 25 make it clear that when Joseph woke up, the Bible already said that he was a righteous man. He demonstrates his righteousness by being obedient and carrying out the angel's commands. And being the righteous man that he is, I don't see anywhere where he was necessarily commanded to not have relations with Mary. But the Bible makes it clear that he refrained from sexual relations with her until she gave birth. That is the sum total of the verses this morning. That's the sum total of the verses this morning. I have four points that I need to get across. I'm going to try to make these very quickly. So four points that I need to get across. We're talking about the newborn king, the newborn king. Four points that I need to get across. Point number one. The newborn king was born of a virgin. The newborn king was born of a virgin. I try to always make it clear that the Lord Jesus' birth came about by a miraculous The virgin birth is important because you and I have a sin nature because we were born of a woman. We were born of a woman. And Jesus, like us, was also born of a woman. But unlike us, we were conceived by human fathers. The Lord Jesus, rather, was not conceived by a human father, but rather was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And that's why Mary is impregnated. That's why she's a virgin. So he doesn't get the sin nature that we get. The miraculous virgin birth is crucial to the doctrine that the Bible teaches as far as Jesus even being able to take away our sins. The only way he can be the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world is if he's not like us. He's like us, but he's not like us. He's human, but he's 100% human, but 100% God. And so it's necessary, and I try to emphasize, that the Lord Jesus was born of a version because it matters. I could go on and on about the first point, but the first point is made, and that is, the newborn king was born of a version. Second point, the newborn king had an adoptive father. the newborn king had an adoptive father. We read here that Joseph and Mary are engaged, betrothed. And it's not like our days. Most of the time, and I ain't talking about nobody, but most of the time these days, When one becomes engaged, they already been doing things that married folks do. It really ain't no difference, you're just putting a ring on it. Already living together. You already got the cow, got the milk and eggs, all that, all that's taken care of. You already did all that. But in biblical days, that was not the case. likely was not living with Joseph, at least not until later on, until he took her in marriage. And usually, if I remember my biblical theology classes correctly, usually this betrothal, or what we might call engagement, would last a year. with their parents. The Lord Jesus hadn't adopted the father because if Mary was a virgin, then obviously Joseph's not the biological father of the Lord Jesus. And I don't want to spend too much time on this, but We know God knows what he was doing because it takes a special kind of man to deal with the scrutiny that he must have endured or would have endured. Y'all been, people gonna assume either A, she been doing things with somebody else or B, she been doing things with you because she pregnant and we know how babies come about. And God could have chosen anyone to be the adoptive father of the Lord Jesus, but he needed to choose the right man. And obviously he did. Joseph obviously was a God-fearing man, a righteous man. And it takes a real man And we know that people do this all the time, men and women. But it's not easy. I imagine, especially under the circumstances that Joseph must have been in, but we can even look at it from our day. It's not easy raising children. It's not easy raising your own children, let alone somebody else's children. I wish somebody would help me preach. It's not easy raising your own children, let alone someone else's children. And everyone, almost understandably so, would think either, hey, y'all doing stuff y'all ain't supposed to be doing here. Or she didn't deal with somebody else because she got a baby. We got the proof. It takes a special man to endure the things that Joseph endured. And praise God that God made the right choice. But I think it would be wise for us to not we should not be glib about the fact that the Lord Jesus was in fact born to an adoptive father. I'm gonna go ahead and move on from this point because I got a couple more to get to. I could go on and on, but the second point is made, and that is the newborn king had an adoptive father. Third point. Third point. The newborn king so that we could be adopted into his family. The newborn king came so that we could be adopted into his family. I just mentioned that the Lord Jesus had an adoptive father. He's in an adoptive family in a sentence. And the Bible makes it clear that those of us who have trusted in the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, we are adopted into his family. If you don't believe me, let me put some Bible with this. Galatians chapter four. Galatians chapter four, if you could turn there, get there, if not, I'm gonna read it anyway when I get there. Galatians chapter four, and I'm gonna read verse four when I get there. Galatians chapter four, verse four. The Christian standard Bible says, when the time came to completion, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. And we know that this, of course, includes daughters as well. But those of us who have trusted in Christ, we have been adopted into God's family. And the only way that that adoption could take place was if mankind was redeemed. That we were purchased by God, redeemed, made new by God so that we could come into his family. And so praise God, hallelujah, the newborn king came so that we could in fact be adopted into his family. Let me put some more Bible with this. Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter two, verse 19. Ephesians chapter two, verse 19 says, so then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints and member of God's household. When we put our trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sins, we are adopted into God's family and we become members of God's household because family live in the same household with one another. I could go on and on about the third point, but the third point is made. That is, the newborn King came so that we could be adopted. Fourth point and last point. We are speaking from the subject, the newborn king, the newborn king. The first point was the newborn king was born of a virgin. The second point was the newborn king had an adoptive father. The third point was the newborn king came so that we could be adopted into his family. Fourth point and last point. The newborn king was born to die. The newborn king was born to die. The fact of the matter is, if the Lord Jesus is never born, Obviously, he could never die. And if the Lord Jesus never dies, then he doesn't shed his innocent blood that washes our sins away. In other words, if the Lord Jesus does not die on the cross, then we still are in our sins. Let me put some Bible with this. Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10 verses 33 and 34. Mark chapter 10 verses 33 and 34. The Christian standard Bible says, see, we are going up to Jerusalem. The son of man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death. Then they will hand him over to the Gentiles, and they will mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him, and he will rise after three days. There is no resurrection if he never dies. There is no resurrection if the Lord Jesus never dies. And remember early on when You may be familiar with it, but if you're not, I'll make you familiar with it. A little bit earlier in Jesus' ministry, when the Lord Jesus tells the apostles or the disciples at that time, he tells the disciples about his impending death. He predicts his death and the things that will happen to him. And Peter rebukes him just after calling him the Christ or the Messiah. Peter rebukes him. And the Lord Jesus turns right around and gives Peter a strong rebuke and says, get behind me, Satan, because you're thinking about the things of man, and we must be concerned about the things of God. I'm paraphrasing, but that's exactly what he's getting at. And so praise God, hallelujah, while Peter was thinking about the things of man, and we often think about the things of man, somebody's got to be focused on the things of God. And Jesus was laser focused on his mission. The newborn king was born to die, and he lived a sinless life, walked the earth knowing and living with the fact that every single day, He was getting closer and closer to people flogging him, mocking him, spitting on him, killing him. But he also knew he would rise from the grave three days later. But there is no resurrection if there is no death. And so as crazy as it might sound, praise God, hallelujah, that Jesus died on the cross for you and for me. Ordinarily, I would say you should never celebrate someone's death per se. But this is a death I absolutely celebrate. Praise God, hallelujah, that this baby that was born in Matthew chapter one, he was born to die. And he was born to die for you and for me. I could go on and on about the fourth point, but the fourth point is made, and that is the newborn king was born to die. The newborn king, as I hasten to a close, Every now and then it is appropriate that we just give God praise. And so I'll give God praise and say, now unto Him, now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that I ask or think according to the power that works in me, now unto Him be glory in the church forever and ever, world without end. Now unto Him who is able to keep us from stumbling and from falling, now unto Him be glory, be honor, be wisdom, be power, be majesty. Forever and ever, amen, amen, and amen. Praise God for the newborn King. God's word for God's people. I'm getting ready to extend the invitation. If there is someone here who does not know the Lord, Jesus Christ asked there. Personal Lord and Savior, I want to encourage you not to leave the same way that you came. Yes, we're talking about a baby this morning. We're talking about a baby who was born. And yes, babies are born every single day. But the baby that we was talking about this morning is not an ordinary baby. This baby was the newborn king. This baby is reigning on the throne right now. And we praise God for the newborn king. Trust in the devil. Well, it can still be called today. The doors of the church are open.