I want to consider verse 21 with us this morning. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. One commentator said that this verse is like honey in the mouth. The name of Jesus, what a sweet name that is. Is it not through your hearts to consider him this morning? The commentator also continued, it's like melody in the air. It's a sweet song, a sweet sound, the name of Jesus. He's sweet to the mouth, harmonious to the ear, and joy in the heart. The name Jesus. What does that name conjure up? for you this morning. Let's consider that name briefly this Christmas morning. Thou shalt call his name Jesus. What a wonderful name. What does it mean? In the Old Testament, it was Joshua. And this is the Greek version, Jesus the Savior. Jesus the Savior. And I hope this morning that the words I bring to you will be sweet. They may be a sweet sound in your ear, they may bring joy to your heart. It's interesting that Matthew, we didn't read the opening 17 verses there in Matthew, but it speaks of Jesus' earthly lineage, his genealogy, his family trees, family history. And we have 17 verses giving us name upon name upon name. Yet when it comes to the birth of the Son of God, we're told quite simply there in verse 18 that Mary, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. All that information, all that family background, and yet in God's providence and in his wisdom, just that very short sentence, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. No explanation given of how that happened, but we know that the Spirit of God came upon her, and she bore a son, and she called his name Jesus. A remarkable birth. Remarkable. Unique. And the Old Testament is full of remarkable births. We think of one there, Abraham. He begat Isaac. And we know that Sarah was barren. And they cried unto the Lord. And when the angels came and told them that they would have a child, they laughed. It seemed as if God was mocking them, but they bore Isaac. Manoah, he has a son called Samson, who was a deliverer for a time for the children of Israel. We think of Hannah as she prayed, as she was barren. And God granted her a son called Samuel, who was a prophet, anointed of kings. The one who was great. And we know of Zechariah and Elizabeth in the New Testament. They also were barren. And the angel of the Lord came to Zechariah in a temple, and he believed not the testimony of the angel. And yet she bore a son called John the Baptist. But this one, who we shall call Jesus, is unique. For he is the eternal son of God. And I can't explain that to you. I don't have the insight. In God's wisdom, he's withheld that from us. But he believes that we should accept that fact on faith, on pure faith. It's just like in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. We're not told exactly how he did that, but he did it. And we believe that by faith, for it's in the word of God. And the Word of God declares that she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. And modern commentators say, yes, that's what they believed back in the day. But now we're more enlightened, we know better. I mean, they probably took a tradition from one of the pagan gods around about Israel, and they adapted that story for the birth of Christ. That is rubbish. That is liberal thinking. That is not what the Word of God teaches. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was unique in his birth and his person. He was like us. He was like you and I. He suffered. He wept. He was cold. He was thirsty. He was tired. He had joy. He had friends. He was unique in the sense he was born as a son of God, of our nature, but yet without our corruption. He was pure, holy, and undefiled. And the angel comes to Joseph. He's perplexed at how this could be, that Mary should be expecting a child. And he's a just man. It means he's a godly man. He fears God. And he has great respect for Mary. And Mary's probably only a young girl, maybe 12, 13, 14 years of age. That was the custom in those days. Even in Asia, in Sri Lanka, I have a friend who's on a program to educate village people not to give their children at such a young age for marriage. Joseph, for me, maybe 15, 16. That was the custom of the day. And he's perplexed. He's a godly couple here, and he doesn't want to make an example of her. He has respect and love for Mary. And he thinks of a way to put her away privately, not to have her publicly humiliated and even put to death. He was minded to put her away privately. And as these things were rushing through his head, this disappointment probably, this hurt, an angel of the Lord comes to him. Isn't that sweet? He comes to him, not with a voice of thunder, but he comes to him at night in a dream. He comes to him gently and says to him, "'Take her for your wife, and she shall bring forth a son, and I shall call his name Jesus.'" And I like his obedience. In verse 24, we're told, "'Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife." I just love that simple obedience. He's not arguing with God. He's not questioning the Lord. He simply submits his will to the Lord God. And the Lord doesn't come with, like, a voice of thunder. He comes in that sweet, tender, well, that small, still voice. And that's how he comes to us today, isn't it? In many, many ways. I know many people who have been converted, who the Lord has gently worked upon their hearts and upon their minds and revealed Jesus to them. And they can't even give us a proper date when they were converted. That process has been slow and gentle. And God is gracious and kind. Sometimes, like for myself, he has to use a hammer and crush us. But in the main, it's that still, small voice. As Joseph slept, the angel of the Lord He used his spirit and his mind. And the angel says you were to call his name Jesus. As far as we know in the family history of Joseph here, there was no Jesus. You normally named your children after a relative or some close relation. There's no Jesus in their family history. And yet, when the child is born, we're told there, and he knew not his wife, Mary, until her firstborn was brought forth, and he called his name Jesus. Again, that simple humility and submission to the Word of God. So, who is this Jesus? This Jesus is the eternal Son of God. We're told further on in verse 23, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, this is the prophet Isaiah, and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. This Jesus is God with us. This Jesus is Immanuel. This Jesus is eternal God, God Almighty. As Colin prayed, we worship a triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we see here that we see the Son of God, the eternal God, taking on human form as a babe there in Bethlehem. And that name simply means savior. Joshua, we know in the Old Testament, was a savior to the children of Israel. He brought deliverance against the Philistines, conquered the land of Israel. By that, Joshua, that deliverer has died. This Jesus, this Savior, lives eternally, and it's a name which he deserves. His name is Savior. He deserves that name because he does save, and he will save. We sometimes name our children inappropriately, Spurgeon, comments on this portion of the scripture that there's a family back in his day, they named a son called Mephuselah. That's a big name, isn't it? And on the grave stone, Mephuselah Connie, six months old. Inappropriate name. But our savior's name is appropriate because he is a savior and an eternal savior. He deserves that name. He deserves the name of saviour. For he undertook to save. He came from heaven's glory with the express mission to seek and to save that which was lost. He came into the world to save sinners. He fulfilled the law and the demands of the law. He was made a curse and atoned for sin because he is a saviour. and a savior who's accepted by Almighty God. And he lives and pleads in heaven for sinners, to save sinners. And he can save any sinner. Look at yourselves. You know yourself more than I know you. You know yourselves through and through. You know how desperately wicked You are. You know the sins you have committed. Those of you who are Christians, look back to the days before you were a Christian, and the things you used to do and say, the places you would go to, the things you would do. And yet this Savior can save you. He did save you. Because he has the love and the power to save. He can save any character. He saved the thief on the cross. He can save the prostitute. He can save the thief. the robbers and the murderers. He can save the self-righteous. He's a saviour of any character. You say he can't save me, but he can. He saves the good people. He saves the self-righteous people, those who think they're good in their own eyes. I dress up well, I go to chapel, I go to church, I wear the right clothing, I say the right things, come at the right time, I'm never late. Those who think they're good, those who think they deserve to be in church. But God shows us our true heart and our true need. And we all need a savior, and this savior is able to save any character. Notice this, he says, and he will save his people, his people. And dear beloved ones, We can say here at Gordon Road that, in the main, we are the people of God, and he has saved us. Just think where you'd be now if God hadn't intervened in your life. As I look back on my own life, I think of my friends. Many of them are dead due to circumstances. But I could be with them. I could be no more. Yet God and his providence and his love saved me. And it's true of all of us. God has looked upon us and saved us because we are his people. He has a heart and a love for his people. Notice this, it doesn't say God's people. It's interesting, because then the Jews could say, this saviour is only for us. But this is a saviour for the whole world. Whether you're black, brown, white, doesn't matter if you're creed or colour or tongue. This is a saviour for His people. His people. Can you, this morning, sit here and say, blessed my soul, I am one of God's people. What a privilege to know the true living God. That's why this babe comes into Bethlehem's manger to save his people, and he does save all who come to God by him. I don't know why he's cast out any. I know of no one who says, I came to him and he cast me out. That's not his heart, that's not his nature. His nature is to save, and he does save all who come to him. He has saved myriads already. And he saves freely. We don't have to pay a penny. We don't have to do anything apart from call upon the name of the Lord. And this salvation, it's a free, it's an act of grace, it's an act of God's mercy, pure grace. What a saviour. The Hindus, they say you've got to work. You've got a scheme to be saved. The Buddhists say you gotta meditate, you gotta do this, that, and all the other. But this savior comes to us with a free offer. This is a free gift, a free gift, an act of God's grace. And he saves fully, and from all evil to all good. And he saves, friends, eternally. This is an eternal salvation. No other religion. offers such a salvation, eternity in the presence of God the Father. And by so doing, he places us beyond all possibility of perishing. All possibility, it's eradicated from my thinking. People are concerned about global warming. And the bushfires in Australia and the floods in Sri Lanka and our own country. And people are worried, they're concerned about the planet and the environment. But we can say, we have no fear to be responsible for these things, yes. But we know that God has an eternal plan and that we will be with him. He saves eternally. He saves us from the possibility of perishing. And he's a consistent savior. He saves without infringing of any of the principles of divine government. He saves millions without injury to one. This savior, call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. And he saves for his own glory, for his own glory, and for the character and name of his God. He seeks to do. all in obedience to the will of his father, out of pure love to his degraded people. I still marvel at this fact that God in his mercy chose me. Chose me, a rebel and a sinner. I marvel at such grace, pure love. and can you not with me declare my soul? Call him Jesus for he has saved me. What a privilege. This is what Christmas is all about. This Saviour coming into the world to save you and to save me and the likes of you and me. Do you call him Jesus? Do you delight in his name? And if you do, tell all around that this is Jesus, that this Jesus can save them from their sins. What a privilege to be able to stand in the pulpit and to share these truths with the people here at Gordon Road. What a privilege to be at the market and to tell others of the love of Christ. To tell our friends and family that this Jesus is a savior. What a joy to see one another coming to salvation. Tell them, it's our privilege, it's our duty, it's our joy to tell others of this savior. Tell them of his work to save, tell them of his office to save, tell them of the delight he has to save. Tell them that he is the only all sufficient savior. He is almighty God. He saves, though all hell opposes it. He saves those sinners who are ungrateful. He saves those who, he saves doubts and distrust him. Is that you? It's me. Do you really trust in God? In the good times, yes, but what about in the hard times, the difficult days? We're so ungrateful, aren't we, for this Saviour. May God rebuke us for our sin. He saves those who doubt and distrust him. And this savior is now exalted at God's right hand as a sovereign to give repentance unto Israel and the forgiveness of sin. So God calls us this morning to worship before the child of Bethlehem. But then we look to him as the crucified savior. And we look to Him sitting in the right hand of God on high. Our Saviour is a living Saviour. Our Saviour is active. And this Saviour, if you don't know this Saviour, can be your Saviour this morning. This is the one of the Gospel. Whosoever, whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. saved from your sin, for that was his express purpose and his will to do. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall, I love the certainty of that, he shall save his people, his elect, from the four corners of the earth, from their sins. That is our greatest need this morning, friends, to know forgiveness of sin, to know that God has forgiven us, to be justified through the sacrifice of his eternal son, Jesus Christ. And the work he has started, he will perfect, and he will bring his people to glory. his blessing to those stumbling forks this morning and bring glory to his name.