with me in Matthew chapter 1. Matthew chapter 1. You may not even need your Bibles. You may remember this. Not that you don't need your Bibles in church, but you might not need your Bibles as you think about the content of this verse. Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21. Matthew 1 21. and she will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." We have considered in this series the truth about the prophecies of our Savior, that He is the Promised One. This morning we looked at Isaiah chapter nine and he is the promised child who is in turn the wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father and prince of peace. Tonight I want us to focus on this simple prophecy in the words of the angel where Jesus is our promised savior. He is the promised savior. Of course, this is not the only passage where we are told that Jesus is a Savior. Here, he is promised that he'll be a Savior, but that truth resonates throughout both Old and New Testaments. Particularly, as we look in the New Testament, the Christmas story. You remember the words of the angels to the shepherds, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. We think of the words of our Savior himself in Luke's gospel, chapter 19, where he said that he had come to seek and to save that which was lost. As we see this prophecy of our Savior, we notice that we are told that he will be called Jesus. Now that word Jesus was a fairly common name in its time. It's the same word as the word Joshua, Yeshua it's a word that did mean Jehovah saves it's a word that was used by many people particularly in light of Israel's history and their great leader of the past Joshua but in this case this name was given to Jesus with real meaning what though would Jesus save us from or what would Jesus save his people from You look at the world today and there are many things that people think that they need saving from. People want to be saved from poor finances. They want to be saved from bad relationships. They want to be saved from, and the list could go on and on and on, they want to be saved from aging. And there's a whole, you know, all kinds of industry that's selling products to, in theory, save you from aging, but of course they can't. They want to save you from the appearance of aging, but we still age. Many people today have their idea about what they really need to be saved from. Of course, God knows what humanity really needs to be saved from. He sent his son, Jesus, to save his people from their sins. If we are honest with ourselves and with the Word of God, we will recognize that we are sinners. Now, I say this, I understand, within a culture of people who really don't look to anything outside of themselves as a standard for what is right and wrong. We live in an age, in the words of one author, where we have the triumph of the modern self, where the standard of righteousness is found within a person, the standard of who you are, or who you want to be, or who you should be is found inside of you instead of outside of you. And there's been a change in our society. Our society now, if you look at people my age and younger, particularly trending as the younger generation grows up within this context, and the idea is truth is what I think is within me. Therefore, I make decisions about who I am, what I believe, what I do. That's a very big change from societies in the past. We're in a way living in the kind of mindset that was in the time of the judges. The time of the judges it was said repeatedly in those days there was no king in Israel and every man did what was right in his own eyes. As a society, we no longer look for standards outside of ourselves by which we order our lives, but we look within ourselves. But that does not change the fact that God's standards are real and God's standards are true. Rather than simply being what we think of as true to ourselves, we must be true to God and His Word. And when we evaluate ourselves by that standard, we find that we truly are a sinful people. Even if we were to evaluate ourselves by our own moral standards, we recognize that we fall short of those. The person that gets upset on social media about someone being judgmental in that very same post will judge them harshly and pronounce upon them certain judgment for the way that they have acted in their mind. No, friends, there is a standard that stands external to ourselves. It is God's own standard, God's own holiness. God is Himself the standard of righteousness. His law given to us is an expression of His own character. As we examine ourselves by that standard and its various expressions in God's Word, we find that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. If we look, for example, at the book of Exodus, chapter 20, the most famous, perhaps, expression of God's law, one that probably many of you had to memorize at some point in your life, we see the 10 commandments that are given. We see, you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself any graven image that is to worship. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. You must remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. The first four of these commandments, as we have often stated in this church, relate to us and God, our relationship with Him. The last six relate, of course, to our relationship with one another. Honor your father and your mother. thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet. And when we look at ourselves by this standard, not some contrived internal standard that we make up for ourselves, but we look at ourselves according to this standard, we do see that we truly fall short, particularly when we look at the full, deeper expression of the laws expressed by Christ, where he would say, Things like, you've heard it said, don't murder, but if you hate your brother, you've committed murder in your heart, hating your brother without cause. You've heard it said, don't commit adultery, but if you look upon someone with lust in your heart, you've committed adultery already at heart. Other expressions of God's commandments and laws are similar in the fact that they reveal to us just that we are exactly what God says. Look with me at Galatians. Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5, we're given a list that is called the works of the flesh. Galatians chapter 5 and verse 19. Adultery, fornication, or we might say sexual immorality, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. We line ourselves up according to these standards and we find that we fall short. That we are sinners. In fact, those acts of commission point to our condition. Commissions of sin point to our condition of sin, that we are truly sinners. And here is the important truth that we must be confronted with, and that is this, if you do not see yourself as a sinner, you cannot be saved. This indeed is what Jesus has come to save us from, our sins. But if you don't see yourself as a sinner, will never, indeed you cannot, be saved. Some of you know that in the summertime my eyesight started going weird and wearing my glasses just did not work to be able to see what I should have been seeing. Everything was blurry. I'd go to the eye doctor and that would change. My prescription was changing so often. And I didn't know what was going on. It was actually Erlinda, I think in a Facebook reply to just, I mentioned what was going on with my eyes and she said, you should get your blood sugar checked. So I was like, okay. I looked it up online. It's like, okay, yeah, I better probably should get my blood sugar checked. And of course I hate needles. Some of you know that I hate needles. particularly those needles that extract substance from me. I hate needles. Nonetheless, I figured this is important enough that it's not going away. I ought to get my blood sugar checked. I got my blood sugar checked, and the results came back, and they were so high that the doctor didn't even tell me what they were. He just said that your blood sugar is high. When he told me that, I immediately began to make changes in my diet. Right away. And now I don't eat a lot of those things that are the fun things of life. I don't eat sweets. My sweets come in the form of fruit now. I don't eat, so I don't eat any candy. Don't eat any of that sort of stuff. Don't eat potatoes. Don't eat white pasta. Don't eat white rice. But imagine if the doctor had said, you have really high blood sugar. I want you to take another blood test. And I, instead of saying, hmm, maybe this is a problem, I had gotten offended. I had said, no. I'm not diabetic. I'm 45 years old. How could I be diabetic? Of course, if I look at my diet over the last year, I could know exactly how I could be diabetic, but that's another story. If I had gotten offended and resisted what the doctor was trying to open my eyes to, I would have never made the changes that I made. And by God's grace, thankfully, with this diet change, I've gotten my blood sugar under control. My eyesight's back to where it was before. My point is that I needed to accept the reality if I was going to be able to deal with it going forward. I needed to accept the reality if I was going to ever find, if you will, the cure. And so it is with us and our sinfulness. That if you do not see yourself as a sinner, you cannot be saved. Because to be saved, you must seek Christ as your Savior from your sin. And I gotta press this in a little bit. Because I meet many professing Christians who act as though they never do wrong. They never admit when they are wrong. They never admit when they are even misguided, let alone sinful. And I have to press this home, brothers and sisters. Not only if you do not see yourself as a sinner, you cannot be saved. But I would say, biblically speaking, if you do not see yourself as a sinner, you probably have not been saved. You say, that's pretty harsh. Let me show you from scripture. First John chapter one. First John chapter one. Starting verse six, if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. I urge you to evaluate your own life. Are you someone who constantly excuses whatever you do wrong and it's never your fault? Are you someone who never brings your sin and confession to Christ? Do you never confess your sin to the Lord? I have to warn you that if that is the case, you may be revealing that though you profess Christ, you do not possess him. Jesus is a savior of sinners. We should never ever get to this point where we say, well, I once was a sinner, but now I'm not anymore. No friends, we have within us that old nature and it will be with us until the day that we die. Yes, our sin is such a great problem. It is a real problem and a great problem. It is a problem that is so great. It is a problem that only God himself could solve. In Isaiah chapter 45 verses 20 and 21, God says, look unto me and be saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else. God says, I am the only one who can save you because I am God. And this is so important when we think about Jesus, because the same one who is given the name Jesus is also called two verses later, Emmanuel. which is to say God with us. And so we, at this time of year, contemplate the mystery of the incarnation. Great is the mystery of the incarnation that God, the Son, the second person of the Trinity, would take upon himself human flesh. That is a great mystery. Great is the mystery of the incarnation that God the Son would come to pay the penalty that he himself demands. The one that we need to be saved from is the one who saves us. We don't often think in those terms. We think of needing to be saved from ourselves, needing to be saved from the devil. But ultimately, who is it that is the just judge? that will hand down that sentence on the final day. It is God. And yet it is that one, it is that judge who comes to pay the penalty that he demands. And we lean into that a little bit more. Great is this mystery of the incarnation because Jesus, our savior, is God who takes upon himself a human body so that he may die. Because that is how the penalty for our sins will be paid for. The Old Testament pointed to this, didn't it? With the old sacrifices, the sacrifices in which blood was shed, they pointed forward to a sacrifice that was coming. And when John the Baptist saw Jesus, if you remember in John chapter 1 verse 29, what did he say? He said, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. When he uses that term, Lamb of God, that is an intentional use of those terms, just as the Lamb will be brought as an offering to make atonement for people's sins, so Jesus himself will be the offering for sin. How could we be saved? We could be saved through sacrifice. Sacrifice of God become man. The perfect sacrifice. The infinite sacrifice for all who will believe. So God takes upon himself human flesh. God, the son, comes to pay the penalty that he demands. God takes upon himself a body so that he may die for sinners. All of this to say that it is God in Christ who accomplishes our salvation. It is through Jesus that we are saved from the penalty of sin. We are told that God the Father, God made Him, Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. that Jesus would take upon himself God's wrath so that we might receive his righteousness. Jesus lived that perfect life on behalf of sinners so that all who would place their faith and trust in him would be saved. Saved from the penalty of sin. Have the righteousness of Christ himself credited to their account. God looks at us as the righteous judge and he sees us clothed in the garments of salvation, clothed in the righteousness of Christ. We are saved from the penalty of sin. We are likewise by Christ saved from the power of sin. The power of sin. Yes, we are still sinners, but we no longer have to sin. Before we were saved, we were servants, slaves of sin. But now in Christ, we are freed from that. Scripture speaks of this freedom that we have in Christ when it says, having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. You have a whole new master. you no longer have to sin. So we are saved from the penalty of sin. We are being saved from the power of sin as Christ works in us, sanctifying us. We sing the song, he breaks the power of canceled sin. He sets the prisoner free. That's what Jesus does. And we are, we will be, saved from the very presence of sin. The scripture tells us in 1st John chapter 3, tells us what we can look forward to when we see Jesus. It says, Beloved, 1st John chapter 3 in verse 2, Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He, Jesus, is revealed, we shall be like Him, For we shall see him as he is to be like Christ. We will be saved from the presence of sin. And so all of this, let's think about all of this together. If Jesus is indeed the promised savior, Christmas should be a time of repentance. Christmas should be a time of repentance. I think, first of all, of the repentance of those who have never yet trusted in Christ. If you haven't trusted in Christ, Christmas should be a time of repentance, where you turn from your sins to place your hope and your faith in Jesus, who is the Savior of sinners. Don't think that your sin is too great to be forgiven. Don't think that your sin is so heinous that God would never receive you. No, Jesus is the Savior of sinners. Repent. Turn to Him. There's also a time of repentance for those who have professed faith in Christ. Remember that you are a sinner saved by Christ if you are his, but you're still a sinner. Don't forget that Jesus is a savior of sinners. Perhaps as we now approach Christmas, as you look back across your life, even of this last few months or this last year, you recognize here are patterns of sin or here are incidents of sin that I have not repented of. or I have excused myself or indulged myself, I have covered these things, would now not be the time to bring these things before our Savior. Knowing as we read earlier, that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Because Jesus is the promised Savior, Christmas should be a time of repentance. Because Jesus is the promised Savior, the one who truly is the savior of sinners, Christmas should be a time of thanksgiving. We'll be giving gifts, many of us, I think, on Saturday. Some of us have already given and received gifts. And it's only right that when we receive a gift that we express our thanks for that gift. That was something that I remember my father reinforcing in my own mind and heart when I was a boy to make sure that I was a grateful person, to make sure that I express gratitude when people have done things for me or when I see God at work in people, that I should be a grateful person. You might get some great gifts this Christmas. You might get something that you've been hoping for for a long time. Or you might not. But if you are Christ, you have received a gift greater than any other. A gift that should move you to gratitude at this time of year and every time of year. Salvation from sin. You remember, of course, that we are people apart from Christ. who would face an eternity of condemnation. John 3, verse 17, I think has been misunderstood by some people when it says that God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. That verse is not telling us that humanity is not under condemnation. It's telling us that Jesus didn't come to condemn us. If you read the rest of John chapter 3, you'll hear that he that believeth not is condemned already. Humanity exists under a condition of condemnation. And so would we, apart from Christ. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. There's no gift like Christ. Oh, that we would be thankful this Christmas season. And then finally, because Jesus is the promised Savior who has come to save us from our sins, Christmas should be a time of hope. Now that might seem strange to you because maybe you think of Christmas as a time where we look backward, but as we sang in the hymn earlier today, we are reminded that Christmas is not only a time, as we think about the incarnation of our Savior, it's not simply a time for us to look backward, but also a time to look forward. As we think of Jesus as our Savior, it's not simply about looking backward, but also about looking forward. After all, Jesus has saved us from the penalty of sin, is saving us from the power of sin, but will save us from the very presence of sin itself. Let me give you an encouraging passage that speaks of Jesus as our Savior. Hebrews chapter nine. Hebrews chapter nine. Hebrews 9, verse 27, you might remember this verse, and as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. That's the backward look, isn't it? To those who eagerly wait for him, he will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. This is not saying that We can lose our salvation and that it's not certain until Jesus returns or until we see him again. What it's saying is it's speaking of that full salvation that is yet to come. That full hope that is yet to come. That hope of the freedom from sin. Salvation from everything that's a part of this present evil age. Salvation from sin. And it's curse, salvation from all of that. Christmas can be a time of anticipation. And sometimes that anticipation, we anticipate, anticipate, anticipate, Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming, Christmas comes. And then for many people at that point, it's almost like anticlimactic. Okay, well, that's done now. Now I gotta, Go back to the real world. And that anticipation is lost until maybe another, you know, 11 months later. And the anticipation begins to build again. But for Christians, we can always live with anticipation. For Christians, our lives can be one of constant anticipation because Jesus has come to save us. And because the one who came to save us will yet again come. He will appear a second time without sin, apart from sin unto salvation. And what a day that will be. So friends, Jesus is the promised Savior. Repent, be grateful, and live in hope.