In the darkness of the winter's eve, baby Jesus came to earth. In the stillness, dear creation sing of the little How could this faith your love bestow? he came to earth for me. Not a palace for the little king, nor a pillow for his bed, not a scepter for his royal head, nor a crown adorns his head. in a manger long ago. How could the Savior love me so? He left His throne for Calvary. He came to earth for me. I have nothing fit to give a king. ♪ All I treasure I will gladly bring ♪ ♪ For I give Him all my heart ♪ ♪ Born in a manger long ago ♪ ♪ How could the Savior love me so ♪ He came to earth for me. He came to earth for me. Amen. Thank you, kids. I appreciate them coming up and staying with me. And we'll dismiss 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. I think there's still some in here that get to go with Mr. Shore to the creche. And the rest of us, Open up our Bibles again to Matthew chapter 1 and verses 17 I think through 25 is the text this morning. One of my favorite stories, and I think I have many favorite stories in the Bible, but one of my favorites is the story of the disciples on the sea. Remember, with Jesus asleep in the boat, and the storm has come up, and you can imagine what it was like to be in a storm like that on the sea. And they're terrified. They think they're surely going to die. And they awaken Jesus and, Master, Master, carest Thou not that we perish? And the Bible says that Jesus rebuked them for their little faith, but remember he stood up in that boat and perhaps raised his hands, perhaps didn't, but he just said, what? Peace be still. And the wind ceased, the waves ceased. I picture in my mind a perfect calm upon that sea. And you can't I guess you can understand what the disciples said when they said, what manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? Jesus is not ordinary, is he? He's extraordinary. And there was always a sense of wonder surrounding his birth, surrounding his person. I preached last week at the trust service on the passage of Isaiah that speaks about his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. But his name should be called Wonderful, and it's interesting how many stories about the Lord Jesus speak about him, and they said they were amazed, or they were full of wonder, because he's wonderful. At his birth, Joseph and his mother marveled in Luke 2.33, and it's interesting, it doesn't say, and his father and his mother. Interesting, isn't it? It says, and Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him. When they hear, as I'm gonna preach this Thursday night at our carol singing service on Simeon, his declaration and the other declaration that takes place there at the temple, and his mother and father hear that, they marveled at those things which were spoken of him. Wow, can you imagine, in our story today, we're gonna look at Joseph and the revelation that God gives, and certainly there's much in that that Joseph would marvel at. So he's marveled at his birth. He's marveled at, throughout his ministry, as I mentioned, Matthew 9, 8 says, but when the multitude saw it, they marveled and glorified God, which had given such power unto men. They saw the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and what he had done. and they marveled at his death. Matthew 27, 14, remember his silence? He didn't say a word, just like Isaiah said, he's brought as a sheep before the slaughter, or as a sheep before shears his dung, so he opened not his mouth, and even so, it's recorded in the New Testament that he didn't answer a word insomuch that the governor marveled greatly. Amazing. How could a man be so silent and not defend himself when he's accused of something that's going to bring him to the crucifixion and to death? It's much about Jesus that made men marveled. And it's no wonder that Henry Bramley and John Steiner wrote a hymn entitled, What Child is This? It has a question mark, but really could have an exclamation point. What child is this? Jesus, again, not ordinary, but extraordinary. It says in that carol, what child is this who laid to rest on Mary's lap is sleeping? Whom angels greet with anthem sweet. You know, I think that this song is very doctrinal. It's very accurate when it speaks about Jesus, whom What do you hear? Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill to men. What do you picture? You picture that, the shepherds out watching their flock and those angels appearing and giving that declaration as the hymn goes on to say, well, shepherds, watch your keeping. They were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And it goes on to say, this, this is Christ, Messiah, the King, whom shepherds guard and angels sing. Haste, haste, to bring him laud, the babe, the son of Mary. Again, it doesn't say the son of Joseph. Very accurate, the son of Mary. Why lies he in such mean estate? They brought forth their son, they laid him in a manger. where oxen and ass are feeding. Good Christians fear for sinners here. The silent word is pleading." The fact that Jesus came and was laying in that manger was evidence of the plea of the silent word, that silent babe crying out for the salvation of sinners and good Christian fear for them. They need Christ, right? If somebody doesn't have Christ, they die and they spend eternity in hell. Nails, spears shall pierce him through. The cross be born for me, for you. Hail, hail, the word made flesh, the babe, the son of Mary. So bring him incense, gold, and myrrh. Come peasant, king to own him. Interesting, somebody comes to Christ, they come as a peasant, it doesn't matter how wealthy they are. The Bible says, when the poor and needy seek water and there is none, their tongue fell for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. It says, ho, he that hath no money, come by, right? The gospel is to those that are spiritually poor, and the poor in spirit, the Bible speaks about in Beatitudes, shall see God. And so, compeasant king to own him. The king of kings salvation brings. Let loving hearts enthrone him. Raise, raise a song on high. The virgin sings her lullaby. Joy, joy for Christ Messiah is born. The babe, the son of Mary. And in our passage today, we've already read it about Joseph and the revelation that he receives. But there is, within this passage, a truth about the birth of Jesus that sets it apart from every other birth, what makes it so significant and so extraordinary as a birth. And so we're gonna consider that this morning, the uniqueness of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Father, we're thankful this morning for the time that we have to focus on the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, as we do a Bible study this morning, may the Spirit of God speak to our hearts. I pray, Father, may our doctrinal strength, our understanding of truth grow and increase. Father, fortify our faith. In a day that denies the miraculous, in a day that denies the truth of the word of God, give us that which upon which we can stand. And Father, I pray that the Holy Spirit would help me as I speak. And Father, our hearts would be tender to you this morning. Thank you for the good work you've already done in our hearts today and for your grace to us. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. So what, again, makes it so miraculous or so unique? First of all, the purity of the birth of Jesus. There was a purity about his birth that was distinct from every other birth of every other individual that's ever been born. Jesus was miraculously protected from the sin of Adam, the sin that is inherited, the sin that is in his seed. Adam has passed on his sin nature to all his children, Romans 5.12. says wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all sin. Adam and Eve sinned and sin entered into the human race and that presence of sin, that sin nature has been present ever since then. Adam's passed that on to everybody and so And so death passed upon all men for they are all of sin. Romans 3.10 says, as it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. No, Adam and Eve were created as men, as women, right? They weren't created in infancy. Jesus is the only pure infant that's ever been born into this world that's completely separate from sin. Adam's race is Christian. says, for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Somebody that's born into Adam, what's that certainty? The certainty is death and the punishment of the curse. Remember God said to Eve, the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of the garden of Eden. And death, and I was thinking about death this morning, we're reminded of death with the passing of Elizabeth's mother. But death, that adversary of all mankind, that death that we all face, it's all there in front of us, that death is given to us because of sin. And it was passed to us through Adam. But Jesus is not a son of Adam, Jesus is the son of God. Romans 5, 17, for if by one man's offense, Adam's sin, death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ. Through Adam, it was the transgression, death reigned. But through Christ, there's a gift of righteousness. That's what we need, isn't it? Can you go to heaven with your sin? Nobody can. And so the wage of sin is death, punishment for sin is death. But the righteousness that we have is what? Through Christ, the gift of righteousness. Verse 18, therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, everybody. Even so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience, Adam's, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. If Jesus was just a man, his seed was just but the seed of Christ was pure. He was put into the womb of Mary, the womb of a virgin by God. Luke 1.35 speaks about it. It says, and the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore, that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. It's vital for our salvation that Jesus be pure. When he comes in this world, that there be nothing of corruption within him. God miraculously does that through the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the purity of the virgin birth. So what assurances are there in our past that we're gonna look at this morning? What assurances are there this morning that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin? The first confidence it gives us is that Jesus had a different entry in the genealogical record. As Matthew begins this book, if you listen to it, I listened to it on my audio Bible recently, and I listened to a man, and I've listened to the beginning of Luke as well, and he says, and so-and-so begat so-and-so, begat so-and-so, and I think in Luke it's the son of, the son of, the son of, the son of, the son of, right? It's this long list of the record of who was the father, of who was the father, of who was the father, of who was the father, right? And so, in our text, which we didn't read, it begins, and we're not gonna read the whole thing, but let's just go back a couple verses to verse 15. It says, It's interesting, isn't it? It's different. It didn't say, and Joseph begat Jesus. To begat means to father. Somebody fathers a child, that is begetting. And so that's what it means, and it doesn't say that, and it cannot say that, because Jesus is not begotten by Joseph. He is, John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his what? Only begotten son. God the Father begat Jesus Christ through the miracle of the virgin birth, and so the genealogical record encourages that. The Believer's Bible commentary says even more specifically, when it says of whom there was born Jesus, It says, of whom in English could be construed as referring to both Joseph and Mary, right? If we said, you know, we're speaking about Mary and Joseph, and we said of whom, that doesn't show gender. It doesn't show gender, does it? Have you ever thought about the fact, and this is off the topic, but cousin is a gender neutral word. I mean, we've got aunt, uncle, father, mother, and we know gender. And so, of whom is like that in English, it could just be of whom, it could mean male or female. But it says, in this case, whom is in the singular and in the feminine gender, thus indicating that Jesus was born of Mary, but not of Joseph. And so Joseph is the adopted father of the Lord Jesus Christ, but not the biological father. And that's the first proof God's given to us is the genealogical record. But also, Jesus was conceived before Mary and Joseph were married. It says in verse 18, Now, the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise. This is how it happened. When he asked his mother, Mary was his spouse, that means engaged, to Joseph. Before they came together, she was found with child. And praise God, the word of God doesn't leave anything to be ill thought of. Mary with child, and then it says, of the Holy Ghost. And so it tells us how she was pregnant, but she's pregnant when they're engaged. And so this is the time where a young man is indicated he's going to marry this young lady. And there is a date perhaps set for their wedding to take place. And before that date comes, she's found pregnant. But in the day, back in the New Testament times, their engagement was stronger than our engagement. Many of us probably have heard of somebody that was engaged and then suddenly it's broken off and it's no longer, they're not going to get married and it's kind of, in our society, it's not a big deal. I mean, it just happens, doesn't it? But back in this day, Betrothal was a form of engagement, but more binding than engagement today. And it could only be broken by divorce. Although an engaged couple did not live together until the marriage ceremony, unfaithfulness on the part of betrothed was treated as adultery and punishable by death. To prevent the questioning of anybody as to whether Jesus was conceived naturally or as a virgin birth or virgin conception of Christ, the Word of God makes it very clear this took place during the engagement period. Mary and Joseph were not living together. And so again, another proof of the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. But then as well, Joseph assumed that Mary's pregnancy was due to unfaithfulness. That's another proof that what had taken place, we know from Scripture, as I said, in verse 18, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost, but in Joseph's mind, and to everybody else, she was just found with child. The baby bump has appeared and there's an awareness that Mary's pregnant and Joseph, her husband, not knowing what we know about the virgin birth, assumes, and you'd say rightly so, that the only way somebody becomes pregnant is through sin. And so, I think what a concerning thing this was to her, as it were, her husband, even though they're not married yet, but the engagement was more binding than today. And Joseph, thinking about the sweet Mary and her purity, he can't believe it. How has this happened? And so, this is some of the only scripture where we're given insight into the heart of Joseph. Joseph appears again when Jesus is 12, when his father and his mother sought him, but other than that passage, in this, the Bible's really very silent about Joseph. But here it says, he was Joseph, her husband, verse 19, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately. Joseph didn't want to take her before the judges and have her, you know, guilt exposed. He didn't want to give her a scarlet letter, you know, adultery, to walk around so that everybody knows that she was unfaithful. You see the tenderness of Joseph and the love of Joseph, as he says, you know, he's minded to put her away privily. You know, and you think again about how this impacted Joseph. Not only did it make him question Mary, but think about this as well. Most everybody else would assume that he was complicit in her sin if she had sinned. And a very difficult burden to carry in that day of somebody engaged and pregnant, far more so than in our day. Our day is very promiscuous. And so you understand Joseph is going through a tough, tough test. But praise God, this test doesn't continue too long. We're not told how long it takes place, but Joseph has found out that Mary is pregnant, and God in his wisdom and his purposes waits until this time to reveal to Joseph regarding the virgin birth. And so Joseph now receives revelation of the virgin birth from God in verse 20, and it says, but while he thought on these things, Behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David. And you can picture Joseph. I mean, Joseph, we know from scripture, is a carpenter. and perhaps he's sitting at his workbench, and he's thinking about, oh no, Mary's pregnant, what am I gonna do? Maybe he's sat down in a chair by the fireplace, and he's sitting there, and he's thinking about it, and he falls asleep, or as he fell asleep at his bench, or he falls asleep in his bed, but right before he falls asleep, he's thinking, what am I gonna do, what am I gonna do? And it seems like a divine sleep, and it definitely is a divine sleep that he falls into, because while he begins to dream, It says, 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. Can you imagine the relief to the heart of Joseph? He's carrying that heavy burden and saying, Mary's been unfaithful. Then the angel comes and says, Joseph, don't be afraid. Who is in the womb of Mary is there because of the Holy Ghost. That which is conceived in her is of God. And now not only are you relieved thinking, praise God, Mary's been faithful and their marriage plans get a go ahead, everything about that. But now think about the privilege. Joseph gets to be the adopted father of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's amazing. Imagine that your son, and this is really hard to imagine, but imagine your son becomes a prime minister someday. Think about it. I mean, it's happened because everybody that's been prime minister is the son of somebody. But think about the privilege of being the parent of the prime minister. Who he is has been partly your involvement in his life and bringing him up. Think about the honor and privilege that Joseph has to help raise God in flesh. What a privilege. And so Jesus was unique in the purity of his birth. God protected Jesus from the seed of Adam, that was the seed of God, put into the womb of Mary. What a child. What child is this? Then we find the purpose of the birth of Jesus was also unique. He was unique in his purpose, why he came. Verse 21 says, and she shall bring forth a son and thou shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now again, Joseph, remember he's having a dream that's revealing to him about who this he shall save his people from their sins. You know, if somebody's gonna be saved from their sins, then don't we have to ask, what do they need to be saved from regarding their sins? What's the danger of sin, or what is there about sin that demands a savior? Well, Jesus saves from the power of sin. John 8, 32, says, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. This book that I hold in my hand sets people free. He shall save his people from their sins. It sets free from the power of sin. Jesus answered them in continuing that passage, verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. Somebody that's in a life of sin, who are they enslaved to? They're enslaved to their sin. They're in bondage to their sin. And the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the son abideth ever. If the son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. He's saying the son sets free from that bondage of sin. There's a program in the States, it's called Unshackled. It's a Christian program. And they take the life of story of somebody that was in sin and show how God sets them free. I love the story, and I've shared it before, of George Mensick. George Mensick was in Al Capone's gang in Chicago, and he was way up in the gang, and he was a very bad man, but he had a wife and daughter that got saved. And when they got saved, it grieved the heart of George Mensick. In fact, George Mensick came home one day, and his daughter was praying for him, took a gun out, put it up to her head. She didn't know that. But it scared him so much, he ran down to the church, broke into the church, as I understand, got to the pastor, said, Pastor, I need to get saved. And he got saved. George Minsik went from a leader in the gang to a street sweeper on the streets of Chicago. The gang would come by and say, hey, George, God's been real good to you, hasn't he? They'd mock him in what he's doing. But George Minsik became a preacher in the prisons in the Chicago area. and had such a powerful impact in the lives of those prisoners, their lives being changed, that they took the court record against George Minsik, which was thick, and they had a public ceremony and they burned it. God set George Minsik free. You know, that's what that program's about, Unshackled. It means set free. Set free from what? Set free from the bondage of sin. I witnessed a man in Dundee in front of the pub, and he says, he's talking about how he loves the pub and he loves his cigarettes and things. And I said, you don't drink and smoke because you want to, you drink and smoke because you have to. But God sets free. And if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Free Baptist Church, we ought to think about this. That verse, I've thought about putting that on our literature and making a second application of the word free. Yeah, it means independent, but it means God can set you free. He sets free from the power of sin. He saves also from the punishment of sin. Yeah, sin is bad and sin is awful and sin wrecks physical life, but sin also wrecks eternal life. So our Savior not only had to set us free from the bondage of sin, he has to set us free from the punishment of sin. Romans 6.3 says, for the wages of sin is death. The punishment for sin is death. What we earn because of our sin is death. Did you see this past week at the end of, is it called deep pit mining? Is that what it's called? The end of deep pit mining in Britain took place this past week. They shut down the last deep pit. But imagine those miners, as they end, they go to get paid and they say, you're not getting paid. What would those miners say? Those miners would say, look, we earned our wages. Give us what we've earned. They'd demand it, wouldn't they? The word of God says what we've earned because of our sin is death. The wages of sin is death. But praise God, it goes on to say, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. It's amazing that Jesus can reach down and say, look, what you've earned is death, but I take that away and I give you everlasting life. In other words, what you deserve, I don't give you, and what you don't deserve, I do give you. He saves from the punishment of sin. I was witnessing to a man recently in Bonnyrig, I was speaking to him about sin and it's punishment of hell. And this is what he said. He said, well, then there's a lot of people on their way to hell. And I said, it's worse than that. I said, everybody's on their way to hell. Everybody. That's why Jesus Christ came to a sin-cursed earth. He was sinless. He came to a sin-cursed earth, lived among sinners, died for our sins. Why? Because he wanted to save us from the punishment of hell. You know, if today we had somebody in our church present that had rescued hundreds of people from death at great personal sacrifice, perhaps a person being maimed or missing a limb, We'd honor that person and say, wow, you're our hero, that you risked what you had and what you didn't have to give up to save somebody else. You know, think about what Jesus did. Jesus didn't have to come and die on a cruel cross. That was our, that was what we earned. But Jesus came to pay that for us. He saves from the punishment of sin. Then he saves from the presence of sin. That's precious. You and I, we can get saved and we're saved from the bondage of sin, we're set free. And we're saved from the punishment of sin, we're set free. So that I'm not bound to sin anymore. And when I die, I'm going to heaven. But there's still a problem, isn't there? The problem is this, is that we still sin. But you know, there's coming a day where that's gonna cease. There's coming a day in heaven where sin is going to seize. And by the way, sin is awful, isn't it? If you don't think it's awful, ask the spouse of somebody that is an adulterer. Ask the spouse of somebody that's an addict. Ask the spouse of somebody that has embezzled or done something else. Ask them. how they feel about that sin. Sin's an awful thing. Sin destroys. Sin hurts. But there's coming a day where that day of sin is going to be, or that principle of sin is going to be set aside. 1 Corinthians 15.44 says, So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. There's coming a day where sin is going to be no more. I was listening to a message preached by my wife's pastor, the last message he preached before he died. He died, by the way, at the age of, I think, 54. He wasn't that old, but he had a heart condition. Interestingly, he preached on the resurrection of the body before he died. But in speaking about death, he said, you know, what's it going to be like in heaven? You know, And he said, it's gonna be better. He said, on earth you still have, and he's talking about relationships in heaven. He said, yeah, I'm gonna miss my unsaved family that aren't saved and aren't there, he said. He said, but here you say things and you think, oh, I wish I hadn't said that. You do things and you think, I wish I hadn't done that. And he said, in heaven it's gonna be absolutely perfect. You know, we can rejoice this morning in the coming of Jesus because He shall save his people from our sins. He saved them from the power of sin. He saved them from the punishment of sin and by God's grace and to his glory, they'll save us someday from the presence of sin. There'll be sin no more. There'll never be that struggle again. But you know, until that day comes, what do we have to do by the grace of God? We have to fight and stand, having done all to stand. We have to do what we can to put on the armor of God, to be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Why? Because there is somebody that wants to destroy us with sin, the devil. The Bible says, be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Now, I'm thankful that in Scotland, there aren't any animals that can devour me. In the States, not that far from my house, about two miles from my house, a 650-pound black bear was shot. That could devour you. You heard about, sadly, the story of a young man that was killed by the polar bear in the last couple years on an expedition. And it seems like nothing was put out as far as precautions. They didn't have their fencing up. They didn't have their pistol ready. When the attack happened, they had to look for their gun. They had to find it. They were acting as if there was something out there that could devour them. It's possible for us as Christians to say, well, I'm saved. God set me free from the bondage of sin. He set me free from the punishment of sin. But you know what? He still has not set us free yet from the presence of sin. And Satan is a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour. So we have to be very much on our guard against sin. So he's unique, how so, in his birth. He's unique in his purity. He's unique in his purpose. He came to set us free from sin and save us from sin. Then he's, lastly, unique in his prophecies. The prophecies surrounding the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ are completely unique. Nobody else has had so much said about them before they ever came. You know, the Bible does speak about John the Baptist coming in the power of Elijah. So there is prophecy regarding others in scripture, but nothing like the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 22. Says, now all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying. Okay. All this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord. When was it spoken by the prophet? 650 years before. Isaiah 650 years earlier had spoken about Jesus's birth, Isaiah 714. You know, if I could tell you today, if I could say to you, very factually and very concretely. Next year, on December, what day is today? The 20th? On the 20th of December, this is what you're going to do. This is what you're going to see. This is what's going to be in the news. Would you have to consider and say, how did you possibly know that? How are you, how are you aware of that? And consider that perhaps that There had to be an element of deity in that that gave such a revelation. Now I can't do that. But you know what? God can do that, and God did that. God in his grace has given us a word from him. This book is divine. This book, the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3, 16, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. Every bit of this book, beginning to end, is not from men, but is from God. And so what we possess is something that makes a difference. You know, if this book was just for men, it would matter nothing. It would just be opinion. But because this book is from God, it has authority. How do we know it's from God? One of the precious proof is the fact that it contains prophecy. Isaiah said that a virgin would give birth to a son. Verse 23 says, Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son. 650 years earlier, God is very much aware of what's gonna take place, and he lets mankind know about it. The virgin birth was in a last minute plan where God thought, oh, what are we gonna do, and so let's do this. It was something that God knew from eternity past. Our sin did not surprise God, but God's love for us despite our sin should surprise us, shouldn't it? God didn't create mankind and all of a sudden think, well, I made a big mistake. What do I do now? I gave man a free will. I gave him that choice, that opportunity to disobey me, and they took it. God wasn't surprised by it. Aren't you glad this morning that God didn't create robots? All of you this morning got up, at least most of you, maybe your parents helped you, but decided what you're gonna wear. And you weren't forced to put it on. You put it on because you wanted to put it on. And you chose to put it on. And most of you chose to come to church today. And we value our will. If somebody tried to, this morning, say to you, you can't do that, you'd say, wait a second, I can do what I want to do. And you exercise your will. Praise God, he didn't make robots. So we had a choice. Sadly, our choice was to reject God, but Jesus was planned before man ever rejected him. and rejected God's truth. And the Bible says in Revelation 13, eight, all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life. Now listen to what it says, of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The foundation of the world is creation. It's thousands of years later that Christ died on the cross slain. But he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. It wasn't last minute. God knew all along what he would do. He loved us despite our rebellion. You know, when the flood came, you ever read the story of the flood and think, wow, God destroyed his whole creation. But you know, if they would have repented, God would have been merciful. Remember the story of Nineveh? Jonah goes to that city and he says, many days and God's going to destroy this place judgments coming what they do they repented and God spared that city for a thousand years but the world in Noah's day didn't repent but if they would have repented God would have restored them just like he desires to do with us today why did Jesus come he came to save us from our sin What does God desire today? He desires us to get right with him. You know, God loves us so much that even though he knew we'd reject him, even though he knew we'd sin against him, he still sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us. And so Isaiah said that this virgin would give birth to a son. Isaiah said about this baby that he would be God with us. And they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. Jehovah's Witnesses are false witnesses of who Jehovah is, because Jehovah is Jesus. Jesus is God. His name shall be called Immanuel, which is God with us. He is God. John 5.2 is a precious proof, and I know the scientist from Wilbur does that on occasion. But John 5.2 speaks about the judge. And it says about the judge, the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. Okay, God, the Father judgeth no man. Follow this if you can. So when judgment comes, who's gonna judge? Jesus. He hath committed all judgment unto the Son. I want you to get this. It's important. Because listen to what the Bible says in Hebrews 12, 23. To God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. Who's the judge? God of all. Who's the judge? Jesus. Jesus is God. That's just one proof that Jesus is God. He's proven to be God in his creative power. All things were made by him. Without him was not anything made that was made. He's proven in the fact that he's worshiped. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to any other God, the Bible says. But when Jesus healed, he was worshiped. We've spoken about it before. When he rose from the dead, he was worshiped. When he ascended up in high, he was worshiped. In the book of Hebrews, the angels are commanded to worship him. In a revelation in heaven, he is worshiped. He's God, God with us. Now put yourself in Joseph's shoes as it were, sandals. He's concerned because he's found out Mary's pregnant. But he receives angelic revelation and it reveals to him that this conception is miraculous. She's a virgin, she's pure. And it's protected Jesus Christ and he's unique in his purity. He's got a unique purpose. He shall save his people from their sins. You know what, if you're here tonight, this morning, and you're not saved, you can be saved. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost is his desire. The whole reason he came was to set men free from the power of sin, from the punishment of sin, and then the future from the presence of sin. He came to save us from our sins, and He's unique in His prophecy. The Bible spoke about this years before Jesus ever came, that it might be fulfilled. Every time in Scripture you read those words, that it might be fulfilled, you ought to just remember God wants you to be encouraged. This book is from Him. It's just not of men. What child is this? You know, we ought to marvel. this morning as Joseph did. I'm sure he got up from that dream and there was an amazement in his heart who this child was in the womb of Mary. Let's pray. Father, may the Spirit of God take the truth of the Word of God and drive it deep into our hearts this morning. We praise you for the preciousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for protecting his purity. Thank you for giving him such a wonderful purpose. And thank you for telling us all about it in prophecy. And Father, may the Spirit of God just encourage us in you this morning. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. 201, oh come all you faithful. M201.