Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
The Meaning of Christmas (Matthew 1:18-35)
67 Plays3 years ago
The Meaning of Christmas (Matthew 1:18-35)
--
Sunday Message recorded 19 December 2021
by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Growing in Grace and First Baptist Church
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message. If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, FBCColumbusTX.org. And now take your copy of God's timeless word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
Acknowledgment of Choir and Children, and Seasonal Message
00:00:45
Speaker
Good morning. It's so nice to see the choir up here. Thank you so much for leading us in praising the Lord today. I want to say to the children also what a blessing it was to see 20 of you gathered up here earlier adoring the Lord Jesus Christ. How beautiful. I want you to lean in. I want you to listen up.
00:01:10
Speaker
and let the Lord tell you the significance of this holy season. Oh, it's so relevant and it can connect with
Reading and Reflection on Matthew 1:18-25
00:01:19
Speaker
us. And so I want you to stand with me as I read this passage, Matthew chapter one, verses 18 down through verse 25. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together,
00:01:40
Speaker
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
00:02:07
Speaker
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
00:02:36
Speaker
and bear a son, and then 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.
00:02:53
Speaker
but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus." Let's go to the Father in prayer.
Prayer for Clarity on Christmas Meaning
00:03:03
Speaker
Lord, there's so much happening at this wonderful time of the year that we can sort of
00:03:10
Speaker
have some kind of a blur in our hearts about what it's really all about. So would you clarify it for us? Would you bring us back to the simplicity of what this season is really all about? It's about your son. It's about our Savior. And there really is a lot to absorb
00:03:28
Speaker
if we'll just take the time to see. So Lord, let your living word speak to us. Lord, I thank you so much for writing these words so we would know what happened. So speak to us on the significance and the meaning of Christmas. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thank you, you may be seated.
Four Biblical Clues to Christmas
00:03:49
Speaker
I believe this text is going to give us four biblical clues that will help solve any mystery, any uncertainty about the essence of Christmas. The first clue pertains to the pre-existence of Christ. You know, if you were to read verse 18 and 20,
00:04:09
Speaker
and you were to forget, let's say that you totally forgot all about Jesus pre-existing, he's always been, then you wouldn't understand, okay, so why is this child from the Holy Spirit like it says in verse 18? Why is this child from the Holy Spirit like it says again in verse 20?
00:04:32
Speaker
Two times Joseph was told that this baby's birth, this baby's conception, it was miraculous because the Lord, the Holy Spirit placed this little one inside of Mary's womb. There's two things I don't want you to miss about this that help you to understand the preexistence of Christ. He didn't just start his life in Bethlehem that day in the manger.
00:05:01
Speaker
The first thing I want you to notice is in verse 18, the miraculous chronology. Did you notice that it said, before they came together, she was found to be with child before they came together? That's rare. That's impossible. That took a miracle. That's why 700 years before,
00:05:25
Speaker
Isaiah, in Isaiah chapter 7 and verse 14, the Lord had prophesied way in advance someday, a virgin is going to give birth to a baby boy. It can't happen apart from a miracle.
00:05:43
Speaker
As a matter of fact, in another related passage, if you were to go over to Luke and listen in to a conversation between the angel and Mary, this would become really clear on this miraculous chronology. The sequencing was not normal. And so in Luke chapter one and verse 31, the angel says to Mary, behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son.
00:06:10
Speaker
and you shall call his name Jesus." And he just goes on to talk about it. But then in verse 34, Mary brings up a very significant question. Mary says to the angel, how, how will this be since I'm a virgin? This can't happen.
00:06:31
Speaker
You see, there was a miraculous chronology, something that was not normal and it was not normal on purpose. This was a part of God's holy plan. But there's also this miraculous chronology and miraculous conception. When you go back to Matthew chapter one and you look at verse 18 and 20 and twice, the Lord makes sure that you and I understand this baby, Jesus,
00:06:58
Speaker
was from the Holy Spirit, from the Holy Spirit. Now there's no doubt in my mind that every child, all of those 20 that sang to us earlier, they're all a gift from God. I know that. My children are a gift from God. Your children, your grandchildren, a gift from God. But there's something unique about Jesus because Jesus, the Holy Spirit placed that seed within Mary.
00:07:27
Speaker
And so I think it's amazing whenever the angel explains it to Mary back in Luke chapter 1 and verse 35. And the way the Holy Spirit says it is, you know, this is really hard to explain. He didn't say that, but he said, it's like you will be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. And so what is placed in your womb will be from God.
00:07:51
Speaker
because John tells us in John chapter one, verses one through three, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. And later he says, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And it's interesting how John the Baptist, he says, you know, even though I was born first, he was before me. Now figure that out.
00:08:18
Speaker
It's all referring to something that Paul talked about in Philippians chapter two, verses five through 11, when the apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said something very interesting. He said, you know what?
00:08:35
Speaker
Jesus, when it came time for him to come to this earth, he did not hold on to his equality with God the Father. See, he was always there with the Father, with the Spirit, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, always been eternity past. But when it came time, it says he willingly
00:08:55
Speaker
gave that up, left the royal throne room of heaven right there at the throne of God. And he came into this world and was born in the likeness of man. I'm telling you, that is what Christmas is all about. God came to this earth in the form of a man so that you and I could relate to him, so that he could speak to us.
00:09:21
Speaker
But that's not the only thing.
Connecting Jesus' Birth to Modern Times
00:09:23
Speaker
Joseph leaves another clue in this whole account of what happens. Look at it with me as we look at verse 21. Verse 21 says, she will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins. And he will save his people from their sins.
00:09:49
Speaker
You know, maybe you've sometimes thought, wait a minute, what is a baby born 2,000 years ago? What has that got to do with me? I'm living in 2021. I'm about to go into 2022. And you're talking about someone that was born a long time ago. Wait a minute. How does that connect with me?
00:10:11
Speaker
Oh, it connects big time with you, with me. The Bible says all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. See, the scriptures reveal to us a truth. You ever wonder why people do bad things? Why do they even have people that will steal Christmas presents off your porch called porch pirates? Why do they do that? You know, why do people do all these bad things at Christmas time?
00:10:39
Speaker
Well, I'll tell you why. It's because of sin. It's sin and it's really all of us. Maybe you would say, hey, I would never steal anybody's Christmas presents off their porch. I thank the Lord for that. But that doesn't mean that you're perfect. It doesn't mean I'm perfect. What it means is we don't do that sin, but I guarantee you.
00:11:02
Speaker
The Lord, holy, completely like the choir sang earlier about the perfect Savior, that's why we needed a Savior, because we have this problem called sin. Isaiah says in Isaiah 53, verse 6, all of us, each of us, have gone astray. We've turned aside to our own way. We've said, I don't want the Lord's way, I want my way. And that's the problem of sin, but isn't it great
00:11:30
Speaker
that at Christmas, the message began, the message that God provided salvation for all of us who are broken, all of us who sin. If you were to read through,
00:11:44
Speaker
the chronology that's right above the text that I read. If you started with Matthew one, verse one, and read through verse 17, you would find that there are people in there who were not perfect. They were all broken. Only Christ, only Christ. And so I'm so grateful that the Lord provided a savior. And why did he come? It says to save us.
00:12:09
Speaker
You may be thinking, save me from what? Well, save us from the penalty of our sin. Don't you know that God's holy? That God is just? And that whenever we disobey Him, it should be punished. It should be punished because we are unholy. We are sinful. He's holy. But you know what Jesus came to do? He came to die in our place. He said, you know what? I don't want those people down there on this earth that I love, that you love, Father.
00:12:39
Speaker
I will go and I will take the punishment, the penalty that they deserve. I will die in their place. And so that's what it means to be saved from the penalty of sin. And have you ever had a sin that it's like it's this besetting sin and it gets you often during your life?
00:12:59
Speaker
You know, Jesus also came to deliver you, to give you power over that sin. You see, He can strengthen us with strength that we don't have in our own personality, in our own willpower and so forth. But the Lord, His power can deliver us, rescue us, strengthen us so that we don't give in.
God's Providence in Jesus' Life
00:13:21
Speaker
And if you ever thought, if there's a God in heaven, then why doesn't He just make all the evil go away?
00:13:29
Speaker
You know what? If you and I, if we, if we'll give him enough time, we'll see. He is making that place. It's called heaven. And heaven is going to be the final place where all of those who turn to him for salvation and only those who turn to him for salvation will go. And you know what he says about it?
00:13:52
Speaker
There's no sin there. And because there's no sin there, there's no death there. And so because there's no death there, there's no separation there. Let me tell you, it's gonna be wonderful to finally go to a place where the presence of sin is no more. If that doesn't connect with you, if that doesn't somehow resonate in your spirit,
00:14:19
Speaker
then I pray that God will open your eyes because Christ is so relevant to 2021, and He will be relevant to 2022. Let me tell you, the Lord is so pertinent to our lives, and that's what Christmas is all about. Yes, He existed beforehand, but that by itself might not connect with you.
00:14:42
Speaker
But whenever he says, I came down here to do something about the sin problem, you should say, finally, I'm so excited that he came. But there's a third clue, believe it or not. This one ought to reassure somebody in this room and give you rest. How about the providence, the providence of God over the whole birth of Christ and over everything about his life. You see, in order to understand the context
00:15:11
Speaker
The prophet spoke in Isaiah 7.14 of the virgin birth of Christ 700 years before it happened. Can you imagine predicting something that far in advance? As a matter of fact, have you ever thought about, did Jesus cry when he was a baby? Did he ever just cry? There's a theologian named Linsky, and I think he thought Jesus did cry just like other babies. But here's what he said.
00:15:40
Speaker
The last book of the Old Testament is what? Malachi. Malachi. Do you know that Malachi was written, Bible scholars say, maybe somewhere around 432 BC. So think about it. 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament. For over 400 years, God had been silent. God had not spoken through a prophet. God had not spoken anymore.
00:16:10
Speaker
And when Jesus cried, when Jesus cried out, God spoke. And he said, I will not be silent anymore. I will speak through my son. And that's why Isaiah, Hebrews chapter one and verse three says that, oh, listen, God spoke a long time ago through all of the prophets and through all of this. But he said, now he's spoken to us through his son.
00:16:36
Speaker
Jesus Christ is a message, a message from God. There's a lot there. A message of salvation. Yes, we just saw that. A message from eternity. Yeah, we saw that, right?
00:16:48
Speaker
But there's another message that I think, anybody that can hit a bullseye that far away, how far away can you stand from a target with a bow and arrow and hit the bullseye? How far away can you have a rifle and still hit exactly the target you wanted to hit? God was standing 700 years away from the target and he got it. As a matter of fact, if you really push it back,
00:17:14
Speaker
Wouldn't you say that He also said during the days of Adam and Eve? Someday. He made a promise, you know. God made a promise not to you and to me, but He made a promise to the serpent. Whenever the serpent deceived Eve and Adam, God said to that serpent, someday.
00:17:38
Speaker
The seed of this woman is gonna crush your head. You'll bruise his heel, but he's gonna crush your head. You know what he was saying? He's gonna send the Messiah. He's gonna send the Savior. He's gonna send Jesus. And he's gonna come as a man. And when he becomes a man, you know what? He's not gonna give in to those temptations that all the other men were going to be giving in to just like Adam did.
00:18:04
Speaker
So I thought to myself, isn't it amazing how God is faithful? In verse 23, it's a quote from Isaiah 7.14. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son. Did that happen? Yes, it did. You know what? God always keeps his promises.
00:18:27
Speaker
You know another thing that I see about this though, look at verse 22. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. You know what I think another message here is? He is not only faithful to his promises, God always fulfills his plan. He always fulfills his plan.
00:18:49
Speaker
You ever get discouraged? You ever feel like there's so much darkness out there? So much evil and wickedness out there? And you're thinking, I don't think God's working anymore. I don't think God's plan is going to happen anymore.
00:19:03
Speaker
The Bible is written so that we can track it. And if you were to track Matthew alone, just Matthew, do you know that Matthew, 11 times in Matthew's gospel, beginning with chapter one, verse 22, all this took place
00:19:20
Speaker
Let me say it one more time. All this took place. Why? To fulfill what the Lord has spoken by the prophet. You see what God's saying? I'm going to fulfill the plan that I have. If you were to go into chapter two, you would see Matthew is inspired by the Holy Spirit to say it three more times.
00:19:40
Speaker
In chapter two, you would see chapter two, verse 15, verse 17, verse 23. You could keep on going 11 times. Matthew keeps reaching back to the Old Testament and saying, what's happening over here in the New Testament? It's fulfilling what he promised, what he said was going to happen in the Old Testament. And so if there's anything that I wanted to say to you today, it's this, just trust him.
00:20:08
Speaker
Just trust him. He's in charge. He's gonna fulfill his plan. Don't panic. Don't throw in the towel. Listen, that same Bible scholar I mentioned earlier, Linsky, Linsky said that the promises and the prophecies of God, you know what they were like? They were like an empty vessel.
00:20:33
Speaker
that God says, here is the empty vessel. Now you watch me fill it. And that's exactly what he's been doing all through the centuries. He's been fulfilling, filling full everything he's ever said. So don't think for a moment it's not going to happen. Let me go to a fourth and final clue explaining the meaning of Christmas.
Meaning of Emmanuel and Personal Faith
00:20:54
Speaker
The presence of Christ
00:20:56
Speaker
because it says they shall call his name Emmanuel in verse 23. But then it's like he wants to make sure that those of us who don't know what Emmanuel, do you know what the name Victor means? Hehehe, he means a winner. I don't know.
00:21:13
Speaker
My mom gave me that when I was just like newborn, so I didn't really want anything. So don't think, oh yeah, he deserved that name. No, I hadn't done anything. I'm so glad it's all grace. But here's the thing, Emmanuel means God's with us. God's with you. What are you going through this Christmas?
00:21:33
Speaker
Don't you know the message? Don't miss the message. Maybe say, I wish I had more money. I wish I had better health. I wish we could all be together. I wish this wasn't happening. I know. But here's the thing. God's going to be with you through it, through it. I want to bring some guys up to give a testimony about this because I hope that you enjoy every present that you give. I hope you like all your presents.
00:22:03
Speaker
But the greatest present you'll ever have in your life is the presence of the Lord God. If we were to interview Isaac back in the Old Testament in Genesis 26 verse 3,
00:22:18
Speaker
Isaac was told by God, I will be with you and I'll bless you. You see, it means God will bless you. If he's with you, he's going to bless you. But then Joshua was told, and Joshua 1.5, at the loss of someone he respected, someone he loved, someone he was going to miss, Moses. Moses had passed away.
00:22:40
Speaker
But in Joshua 1.5, he says, I will be with you. And here's one other thing God said about it. I'll be with you, Joshua.
00:22:51
Speaker
and I will never leave you nor forsake you." That's awesome. Joshua 1.5. So we bring up a third witness and he represents a whole cluster of other witnesses. We bring up Gideon and Gideon was during that period of the judges, he was a judge. And so whenever God called him to be a judge, he was like,
00:23:14
Speaker
If God is with us, then why is all this stuff happening? I don't understand why all this is happening if God's with me. And so God had to clarify, I'm with you, even though all that stuff's happening, because I'm about to change some of that stuff that's happening. Isaiah 43, verse two, Isaiah the prophet was told, I'll be with you. And God spelled it out and he said, you know what, when you go through the water, I'll be with you. When you go through the fire,
00:23:44
Speaker
I'll be with you. You see, David said a long time ago, his testimony in Psalm 23 verse four, even though I walked through the valley of the shadow of death, I'm not going to be afraid of evil. Why not, David? He said, because you're with me. You're rod and you're staff. They comfort me. You're with me. That's the message of Christmas. Don't miss it.
Invitation to Embrace Christ
00:24:10
Speaker
That's why Christmas is so important.
00:24:13
Speaker
An anonymous poet wrote these words, though all around me is darkness and earthly joys have flown, my savior whispers his promise.
00:24:25
Speaker
never to leave me alone. Oh yeah, he'll always be with us. You see, our texts began this morning with Joseph confused over the meaning of Mary's pregnancy. But by the end of the passage, Joseph has clarity. Joseph has certainty. How did he get that? He listened to what God had to say to him. Are you listening to what God's word is saying to us this day?
00:24:54
Speaker
You know, these four clues left can lead us in the same direction they led Joseph. Like Joseph, may we experience a spiritual awakening to Christ's preexistence.
Call to Listen and Follow Jesus
00:25:08
Speaker
Are you aware of His pre-existence? As Joseph, may we arise with personal application of Christ's pertinence. Have you gone to Jesus in repentance and faith and said, Lord, I'm sorry for my sins. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for me. He rose again. I want to follow Him for the rest of my life.
00:25:32
Speaker
Thirdly, let's follow him in moral abstinence, trusting the Lord's providence. You see, even though he was told, okay, the child within Mary is from the Holy Spirit. He says that from that time on, he did not know her until she had given birth to the Son. And like Joseph, may we draw emotional affirmation from Christ's presence.
00:25:59
Speaker
It says that he called his name Jesus. Jesus means the Lord is salvation. The Lord is salvation. Have you gone to Christ for salvation? You see, we all know in the Christmas traditions that we share in this country, we give gifts and we receive gifts. We exchange gifts.
00:26:22
Speaker
But we all know one thing, that even though a gift may be planned out, and even though a gift may be purchased, and even though a gift may be presented, there's one more step. A gift's got to be received. And that's where Marcia and the choir, they reminded us, many people have received the gift of salvation through Christ.
00:26:45
Speaker
But there are also many people who have said, I'm not going to receive Christ. I'm not going to follow Him. I believe I'm OK by myself. I don't need a Savior. I don't need anything that God has to offer. John tells us this in John chapter 1, verses 10 through 13. He says, as the pre-existent Son of God, Jesus was used to make this whole world everything that's out there in our universe.
00:27:13
Speaker
He came to this world as a baby, as a man, and some did not receive Him. Some chose to reject the gift of salvation. But you know, those who did receive Him by faith, it says they became the children of God.
00:27:30
Speaker
Which one will you be? Will you say yes to Christ? Or will you continue to say, no, I believe I'll resist. I'm not going to receive Christ today. We always have an invitation at the end where we offer to you this opportunity
00:27:48
Speaker
It's just an opportunity to say, you know what? I'm going to start walking toward Jesus rather than away from Him. I would like for you to stand. I'm going to be standing down the front. Would you stand with me? I'll be waiting here as the musicians come to lead us in our closing song of invitation. But I've already decided a long time ago when I was in my first year of university,
00:28:12
Speaker
I needed Jesus. And I need him more, to be honest right now, more today than ever before. I've not outgrown Jesus. We never outgrow Jesus. But I love this song because it says, I need you more. Do you need him more today? Do you need him more this year than you did last year? Of course we all do. And so if you need him,
00:28:35
Speaker
You can come, you can come and pray, you can come talk to me. But the main thing is go to Him, go to Jesus for salvation. Let's pray together. Lord, thank you so much for this passage that reminds us the meaning of Christmas. Because I think sometimes we can get confused and we miss it. And so help us not miss.
00:28:55
Speaker
what really Christmas is all about. So you be Lord over this invitation for those who need to make a decision for Christ. I pray this would be the day that they trust Christ as Lord and Savior. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.