Our reading today is from the Gospel of Matthew chapter one, or lesson today, Matthew chapter one and verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. When Joseph woke from sleep, He did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus. Let us pray. Lord, I pray, Lord, now that you will help us to understand your word. We pray, Lord, that you'll help us to teach it faithfully. And we pray that our hearts be open, Lord, to the voice of the Holy Spirit. And we pray for any dear soul that's not a believer. We pray today that they will be saved. And Father, we pray that Jesus will be exalted in our place. In Jesus' name we ask. Amen. There's a very important word I want you to notice here in our text, and you see it right there in verse 23. It's quoted from the Old Testament book of Isaiah. It comes from Isaiah chapter 7 and verse 14. It's the word Emmanuel, and it means God with us. And that's what happened with the coming of Jesus in his incarnation. Jesus, the Son of God, the eternal Son of God, who came into the world fully God, and he took on flesh, he became a man. Fully God, fully God. John talks about it in John 1.1 when he says, In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through Him, and there's not anything made that was made. And without Him was not anything made. And the Word became flesh in John 1.14. Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. Glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John says, He dwelt among us. He tabernacled among us. God with us. That's the thing we have here. And so Jesus lived, and He suffered on the cross. He rose from the grave, ascended back to the Heavenly Father. He sent back the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to be with us. In the person of the Holy Spirit, God's with us. In the person of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is with us. God is with us. And very important truth here. So one of the things I want us to look at as we begin, talking about Joseph here in verse 18 and what he was considering here. God is with us and six particular reasons. The point here, number one, God is with us to help us. I don't know about you, I need help. God is with us to help us. And some of you might say, well, preacher, you ain't much. Well, I already knew that. That's why I need help. God help us. Well, let's look at it. Joseph was betrothed to Mary. And in the custom of Jewish life, that was that betrothal was as binding as marriage, as we think. They were even considered husbands and wives, but their marriage was not consummated. They hadn't been put together. Once the betrothal begins, within a year, the marriage would be consummated. So there was no sexual contact within that year. And so during that time, the Bible says there in verse 18, during that betrothal period, Mary is found to be with child. See that in verse 18? She is found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Now, Joseph is perplexed as to what to do. He's a just man. He wants to do the right thing, and he thinks that Mary's been unfaithful, and he's considering what to do here. He could have made a public announcement and had her divorced, but he didn't want to do that. He wanted to do something more private, And so he was considering these things. But here's what happened. In verse 20, the Lord sent an angel to help Joseph out. In verse 20, as he considered these things, as he considered divorce, as he considered this, the angel appeared to him in a dream. And he said, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She's going to bear a son and you're going to call his name Jesus for he'll save his people from their sins. So what we have here, God gave Joseph some help. Joseph was undecided. He was perplexed about this whole deal. God helped her. God sent an angel. God sent a message. God made it clear. that which is in her is from the Holy Spirit. And don't be afraid to take her as your wife. And so you can take Mary to be your wife. You can be assured that which is in her is from the Holy Spirit. So Joseph got some help in his particular dilemma. God helped him. And so Joseph goes on, he presses on, and the Bible says in verse 25, when he woke up from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and he did take Mary to be his wife, and knew her not until she had given birth to a son and called his name Jesus. I just want to say this morning, thank God for his help. God gives us help. God's with us to help us. And why is that? Well, God has all the answers. I don't have all the answers, but God has all the answers. Thank God for His help. Oftentimes, we're so perplexed as to what to do. Kind of like the old expression, up a creek. You ever heard of that? Up a creek without a paddle. You ever get in a situation, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. Well, the Bible says in Psalms 121 and verse 1, I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. That's a wonderful promise, isn't it? Our help comes from the Lord. And the Lord knows exactly when to come. He knows exactly how to come. He knows exactly what to do to help us. There are so many things that God does to help us. There are some things that God allows happen. I mean, He hasn't promised us a stress-free life. If it was, we'd be in heaven. But God allows certain problems to come, like He did to Paul. Paul had a thorn in the flesh, remember that? Paul prayed to the Lord, and, Lord, this thing is bothering me. I wish you'd just take it out of my life where I could serve you more fully. And the Lord says, He's not going to move the thorn in the flesh. He said, but my grace is going to be sufficient for you, Paul. My grace is sufficient to help you, Paul. And the Bible says in Philippians 4.19, this is what Paul said. My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now, here's the wonderful truth. As a child of God, God has not abandoned us. He's with us. He's not a million miles away. He's with us. And so we can draw with confidence and draw near to the throne of grace that we might receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So here in this text, we see that God was with Joseph to help him see what was really going on. By all appearances, it seems like Mary is unfaithful. She's been with another man. I need to divorce her. And I'm sure he probably got some advice from the world and said, listen, Mary, aren't you betrothed to Mary? I saw her the other day. She looks like she might be pregnant. Wait a minute, that don't sound right. You need to divorce her. This ain't good. Joseph got the rest of the story. Kind of like Paul Harvey says, now you've got the rest of the story because the angel let him know exactly what was going on. And that's what the Lord does for us. He helps us. He helps us to see the rest of the story. There's a second thing I want you to notice here in the verses here. God is with us, not only to help us, but he's there to teach us. Look at verse 22. All this took place to fulfill that what was spoken of by the Lord by the prophets. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. Well, it doesn't tell us here that Joseph got this information, but maybe the angel let him know about this Isaiah 7, verse 14 passage. And even if he didn't, Matthew inserts it here. God wanted it here for us to read. I can't help but believe that later on, that Joseph and Mary sat down and looked at that passage and pondered over it, and realized it was about them. So God is with us to teach us His Word. We need the Word of God, don't we? The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, all scripture is breathed out by God, and it's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be equipped, complete, equipped for every Good work. In God's word, we're taught many things. We're taught about the love of God. We're talking about the holiness of God. We're taught about God's ways and God's purposes. And we're taught about his attributes. I mean, there's so many things about the God. We learn that he's omnipotent. He's all powerful. He's omnipresent. He's all present. And God is transcendent. He's beyond us. but also He's eminent. He's with us. He's present with us. The Bible says in Psalms 46 and 1, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. One of the things we hear from the Word of God is that God teaches us in His Word that He sent Jesus Christ as His Son to be the Lamb of God, which takes away the sins of the world. And I'm so glad He took away my sins. Aren't you? He took away our sins. Praise God for that. Here's a third thing I want you to see here as we look at this title, Emmanuel, God with us. God is with us to do the impossible. To do the impossible. If we could do everything, especially things that are impossible, what need would we have of God? There are some things I can't do. That's why God put me with Patty. There's things I can't do. And maybe she said that to me. You can't do anything, can you? But you know what? God is with us to do the impossible. I got up out of bed this morning. Well, let me put it this way. By God's help, I got out of bed this morning. If it wasn't for God, I couldn't walk. I couldn't talk. And I'm still struggling with that. And I couldn't breathe. I can't do anything without the Lord's help. The Bible says in Him we live and move and have our being. God is with us to do the impossible, the incredible things. Now, how was the Lord Jesus brought into the world? It was by a miraculous work of God. Now, here in Matthew chapter 1, here we see Joseph's perspective here. But in Luke chapter 1, we get Mary's perspective, because the angel Gabriel comes to Mary. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to be a man named Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came close to Mary and said this, Greetings, old favored one. The Lord is with you. The Lord is with you. She was troubled at that. And the angel said, don't be afraid, Mary. You found favor with God and you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you'll call his name Jesus. Now, Mary had no idea how this is going to take place. Mary's question is this. Mary says, How will this be since I'm a virgin? The angel Gabriel puts it this way. Nothing will be impossible with God. All right, that case closed. Nothing is impossible with God. God is with us to do the impossible. Let me give you an example of that. There's a man that came up to Jesus one day and asked the Lord how he could have eternal life. And the Lord went through the Ten Commandments with him. Have you kept all the Ten Commandments? You know, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness and all that. He said, I've kept all the Ten Commandments. And Jesus said, there's one more thing that you need to do. Sell everything you have and give it to the poor and come follow me. This man turned around very sad, He couldn't do that. He had lots of possessions. He could not give up everything that he had and give it to the poor and follow Jesus. And Jesus made this statement. He said, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. And the disciples listening to that Ask this question to our Lord. In Matthew 19, verse 25, he says, who then can be saved? Jesus looked at him and he said, with man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. No one can be saved in their own power. No one can be saved by trying to keep all the commandments. No one can change their own heart. It takes a miraculous work of God to change people, to save people, and to give them eternal life. Now, God has given man lots of ability. I mean, I thought about walking on the moon. I happen to believe that the Apollo 11 spacecraft on July 20th, I think, 1969, landed on the moon. Now, there were some who said it was out there in the desert. I actually believe God gave man the ability and the knowledge to land on the moon. I actually believe that God gave man the ability to send a spacecraft to Mars, which is 140 million miles away from Earth. It took him almost a year to get there, but it landed. God gave man the ability to do that. That's impossible. God gave them the ability to do that, gave NASA the skills to do that. Now, to get to heaven, man has no ability. He can't get to heaven on his own. NASA has no clue how to get to heaven. No way. With man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. Now, when I say God's God can do things that are impossible. That doesn't mean God's going to do for you or for me. So whatever we say, he's going to do it. God is bound by his word. God is bound by his will. And someone says, well, God can make dreams come true. You ever heard that? God can make dreams come true. Well, you have to make sure your dreams are in line with God's will. See, it may not be what God wants done, but you can do this. Paul put it this way, Philippians 4.13, he said this, I can do all things through Christ, through Him who strengthens me. That's the right perspective. We can't do a thing unless God gives us strength to do that. We need His help. God is with us to do the impossible. Thank God for that. Now, number four, going back to Matthew 1, look at verse 21. She will bear a son, you'll call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. God is with us to save us. Save us. He will save his people from their sins. And notice where it says there, his people, and that's very important. Because the question is, will Jesus save everybody? I'll just ask you that. What do you think? Will Jesus save everybody? If Jesus saves everybody, hell makes no sense. Because the Bible says in Revelation 20, 15, if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. There are people who are going to hell. Jesus made it real clear. He said that in Matthew 7 13. He says you need to enter by the narrow gate because the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction. And listen this and those who enter by it are many. But the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life and those who find it are few. Jesus will not save everyone, but we do know this, He will save His people. You see that in verse 21? He will save His people, save His people. Well, how can we be for certain and know that we are His people? Now, His people is not necessarily The Jewish people, in one sense it is. We read in John chapter one and verse 11 that he came to his own, his own Jewish people. He came unto his own and his own received him not. But to all who did receive him, who believed in him, he gave right to become, here it is, children of God who were born, not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but they were born of God. To be his people, you must be a child of God. And that is those who receive him, who believe him. He gives them their right to become the children of God. So to save us, God must come to us to save us. And to be a child of God, it requires the new birth. A person must be born again, born again. Now, Man today thinks that he can make it without God. I think I'm a pretty good person, the people say today. I think I can make it on my own. I don't need nobody's help. Well, here's the thing, man cannot save himself. And by the way, what I'm preaching this morning is very funny to the world. What is it about the gospel that people are so embarrassed about it? According to the University of Southern California's Center of Religion and Civic Culture, the dominant religious trend of 2025 can be summed up with this phrase. Here it is, get a load of it. We save us. Did you hear that? We save us. We don't need nobody's help. There's no savior coming. We save us. We've got the intellect. We've got the ability. I've took all the self-help programs. We can save ourselves. The sad thing is a lot of this ideology is trickling down into some Christian teaching today. And that goes with words like, you are enough. No, we're not enough. Believe in yourself. You heard that? You just gotta believe in yourself. Follow your heart. Yeah, there you go. You are worthy. I'm not worthy. God is worthy. But there's that ideal today. But no one can be saved unless they realize that they are hopelessly lost. And the truth is, man today does not know how desperately lost he is or she is. Depraved and wicked in need of a Savior. But here it is, all who come confessing their sins and humbly coming before the Lord Jesus Christ, find that He is the only way of salvation. And to them, God gives them the right to become children of God. Now you may misunderstand what I'm about to say right here, but I'm going to say it anyway. It's amazing, a revival takes place from lots of people. A time they die and they lay them in a casket. All of a sudden, at the funeral home, they're in a better place. But you look at their past history. About Jesus? No interest. God? No interest. Well, you're judging their heart. I'm not judging their heart. I'm doing what the Bible says. You shall know them by their fruits. It's almost like a little boy asked his Sunday school teacher one day, Do you think Adolf Hitler is in heaven? Well, son, we can only hope and trust and hope. that when Adolf Hitler was a little boy, he gave his heart to Jesus. How silly. You had to be born again. You had to be a child of God to be His people. He will save His people from their sins. Well, that goes to the next part, number five. God is with us to have a relationship with us. What's that? A lot of people treat religion like going down to the health clinic and getting their flu shot. Got my flu shot. You know, like someone said, preacher, hey, baptize little Susie. She just turned four. Well, will y'all be back here next Sunday? No, we ain't got no intentions of coming to church. We just want to get baptized. Come get your flu shot and be on your merry way. No relationship. A lot of people want a salvation without a relationship. But God is with us to have a relationship with Him. So, then He says He will save His people. We need to qualify the word us. It's not everybody. Some people read that text, He will save everybody. No, He will save His people. God is with us. Qualify the us. It's not everybody. Not everybody is interested in the Lord Jesus. In fact, most people are bored to death with Jesus. Not everybody sees their need for a Savior. But for all those who desire to know Him, God draws near. And God is with those who call upon Him in faith. Psalms 145 verse 18 says, the Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Jeremiah 29, 13, you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Sound like a relationship, right? Deuteronomy 4.29, but from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find Him if you search after Him with all your heart and with all your soul. Well, I thought we were saying about grace. We are. But grace gets you to seeking. Grace puts hunger in your heart for the Lord. Those who never call upon the Lord should never expect God to be with them. The Holy Spirit does not reside where he's not wanted. And it's not welcomed. But God is with those who desire to have a personal relationship. There are many who profess to be a Christian. All they want is just a passport into heaven. Just give me a passport into heaven. But knowing the One who created the heavens, wanting to know this great God, the King of heaven, does not seem to interest many at all. Just on that day when I pass away, just let me in. Just let me in. They're not going to hear that. You can read the parables of Jesus. I think of one in Luke 13. A question was asked, Lord, will those who are being saved be few? And here's what He said. Strive to enter through the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. when once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside in the knock at the door saying, Lord, open to us. Then he'll answer, I do not know where you are coming from. I never knew you. But the Lord comes to those, the Holy Spirit comes upon those who are searching for the Lord. And you will seek and find me, you'll find me and search for me for all your heart. Now, the last one I want to look at is this. God is with us. Number six. God is with us till he comes again. Oh, I love this. Go back to the story of Joseph here in Matthew 1. He learns that the name of this baby is going to be Emmanuel, God with us. We don't have time to get all the details about Joseph, and we don't really know a whole lot about his life. We do know that there was an attempt made on the baby's life, and God warned Joseph to take the baby when King Herod tried to kill the baby, and the Lord warned Joseph. had the baby and the Mary sent to Egypt. They went to Egypt and they stayed there till King Herod died. Then the Lord made that known to Joseph. And then from Egypt went back to the land of Israel. It was going to stay in the land of Israel for a while, but then Joseph was disturbed because there was another attempt on the life of the baby. And the Lord said, go to Nazareth. And so Nazareth is where they went. Fulfilled in Scripture, he'll be called a Nazarene. I believe Joseph learned this great truth from Isaiah 41. It says, So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. And I believe Joseph may even read about Joshua, Joshua 1 and 9, where it says, Be strong and courageous for the Lord your God. God will be with you wherever you go. You know, it's a comforting thing to know that God's going to be with us all the way until He comes. All the way. Now, from time to time, we may stray away from the Lord, but the Lord stays faithful to us. He's still faithful to us. He'll discipline us for our good. But His love for us will never stop. So the Lord's commitment to be with us, to guide us, to teach us, to watch over us all our days. So, what are we to do? Well, like Joseph, we have some responsibilities. There's something about Joseph He was a carpenter. You know, they said something about Jesus being the carpenter's son. I believe he taught the trade to his sons. Joseph was faithful in his responsibility. And he protected the family, took them to Egypt, took them to Israel, took them to Nazareth. He was faithful. And I think this is what Joseph can say as a testimony. God was with us. God was with us every step of the way. And then, you don't see Joseph anymore. No doubt, he passed away. He's in the presence of the Lord. Let me say this. God's given us a responsibility as a church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's given us some instructions. And the Bible tells us in Matthew 28, verse 19, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. And notice this, don't miss this. Behold. And a bunch of sermons can be preached on behold. Behold. I'm with you for just a little bit. Is that what the Bible says? I'm with you what? Always. Even to the end of the age. Maybe to the rapture. Or if we pass away before the rapture, the Lord's going to be with us. Jesus is coming. And here's the beautiful thing about it. When Jesus comes, He's with us, but we'll be with Him forever. Jesus said to His disciples in John 14, He said, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. In heaven, we'll be with Him forever and ever. Revelation 21, verse 3, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. I tell you what, if you don't know the Lord, you can know the Lord. Just call upon Him in faith, believing in Jesus, turning from your sins. As we observe the Lord's Supper, we remember that God is with us. God is with us. We remember the bread. The bread is the body that went to the cross. The bread is the body of the Lord that went to the cross and took our sins. The cup is the blood that was shed to purchase our redemption. And God is with us. In the Lord's Supper, we remember that God is with us. It's a time of drawing near. Drawing near in our relationship with the Lord and our relationship with one another. So before we participate in the Lord's Supper, Let's pause for a moment and ask the Lord to help us to search our hearts. And let's do that right now. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, we thank you, Lord, for the gift of your Son, our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ. And we pray, Lord, that you would just search our hearts now before we Proceed in this memorial of our Lord. We pray, O God, that You would point out anything that would be displeasing in Your sight. And as we wait a few moments, Lord, help us now to confess our sins to You. We ask for Your forgiveness. Forgive us of our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us. Make us clean and holy, and of course, we know it's all by the work of Christ. that we're made holy. And we just want to thank you. Thank you, Jesus, for the body that was prepared for that great mission of redeeming lost souls. And we thank you, Lord, for giving your life, shedding your blood to purchase our salvation. So, Father, we pray that this will be a time of remembering remembering our great God, our Savior, in a holy time, a Christ-honoring time, and a blessing to all of us together. We pray now, Lord, that we may humbly obey your command, in which you said to us, do this in remembrance of me. And we pray this in our Savior's name. Amen.