WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:02.000 Morning, Merry Christmas. 00:00:02.080 --> 00:00:04.080 We're just a few days away. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:06.400 We're in Advent Sunday 4. 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:10.960 These four weeks, four Sundays of Advent leading up to Christmas. 00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:18.079 And Advent Sunday 4, we take time to ponder the love and the incarnation of Jesus. 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:20.079 Let's read again our passage, Matthew 1. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:22.000 Let's read verses 18 through 21. 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:25.440 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:38.719 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. 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:52.159 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. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:53.840 She will bear a son. 00:00:54.079 --> 00:01:00.399 And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:07.439 Point number one is that in Jesus you are fully saved from your sins. 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:10.000 You do not have to save yourself. 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:21.680 Author David Zall explains it this way: some people avoid the gospel and try to save themselves by keeping the rules, doing what they're told, maintaining the standards, and so on. 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:24.000 I call this front door legalism. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:32.879 Other people avoid the gospel and try to save themselves by breaking the rules, doing whatever they want, developing their own autonomous standards, and so on. 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:34.560 Backdoor legalism. 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:38.959 Either way, you're trying to save yourself. 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:45.120 Which means both are legalistic because both are self-salvation projects. 00:01:45.359 --> 00:02:00.799 And that's the good news of Jesus that we are saved from all of our self-salvation projects, which we can see in all of our religious and moralistic endeavors that we think we're going to be good enough to be loved by God. 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:14.560 Or you can see it in all of your rebellious and my rebellious worldly endeavors that I think if I build enough, achieve enough, perform enough, maybe get enough pleasure, then I will be whole. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:23.039 Verse 21 uses this word saved, which is the word sozo, meaning rescuing one from great peril. 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:30.479 It includes the idea of to protect, keep alive, preserve life, deliver, heal, be made whole. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:41.680 That Jesus gives that to us, what we have in God's grace to us is forgiveness from God outside of us, just given. 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:44.879 Righteousness from outside of us, just given. 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:59.039 Theologian John Calvin, hundreds of years ago, said, as long as Christ remains outside of us and we're separated from him, all that he has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value for us. 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:04.639 Therefore, he had to become ours and dwell within us. 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:13.680 Calvin's saying that the finished work of Christ is historic, it's there, it's real, it's reality, but we have to make it ours. 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:17.919 It has to come into us, into our inner core being. 00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:20.400 The Bible would say, our hearts. 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:31.280 And as we move from being performers for saving to receivers of salvation, we come alive to God's love for us in this Jesus. 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:46.800 The forgiveness of Jesus for our sins, all of our mistakes, motive behaviors, thoughts, all of it, is sort of like a massive wave of tide stain remover, just washing over us. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:59.919 The other morning we're all getting ready for school in our house, and the girls are all getting ready and we're getting out the door, and one of the girls spots a little spot on her sweatshirt just as you're about to go out the door. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:02.159 This can ruin a day, ruin a morning. 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:04.240 Especially if it's a park sweatshirt. 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:06.479 If it's a park sweatshirt, I mean that's even worse. 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:09.520 So we're walking out and then the stain. 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:13.919 But we have tide pins in our house. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:17.519 A tide pin will save the day. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:19.600 Hand the tide pin over. 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:23.680 She applies the power of the tide pin. 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:25.600 She blots over the stain. 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:28.240 She washes it back and forth a few times. 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:30.160 Magic, the stain is gone. 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:31.759 The day is saved. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:32.319 Right? 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:33.759 The shirt had done nothing. 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:35.360 The shirt did nothing. 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:37.759 All the shirt had was a stain. 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:41.360 It had no ability to get the stain out by its own. 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:44.639 It didn't have the life to do that, didn't have the power. 00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:48.079 The stain remover does the powerful work. 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:53.680 And that's the good news that our stain is the very qualification we have to come before Jesus. 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:57.680 Our burden is the thing that God says, bring that to me. 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:01.120 And Jesus is sufficient for that. 00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:07.040 In Jesus, we're absolved, we're pure, we're free, we're made whole again. 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:08.720 We're saved. 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:11.360 Let me just hammer the point home. 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:16.079 Verse 21, she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:18.399 For he will save his people from their sins. 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:19.519 Call his name Jesus. 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:28.160 That name, Jesus is the Jewish name for the Hebrew name Joshua, Yeshua, which means to save. 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:33.120 So kind of twice in the same verse, the same point being made. 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:36.240 In Jesus, we're fully saved. 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:38.000 Or fully forgiven. 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:42.399 The tide stain remover just washes over us as a gift. 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:45.600 You don't have to work your way out of your sin or your mistake. 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:53.759 You don't have to go and find a self-salvation project in religion or a self-salvation project in the world to feel justified or worthy. 00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:59.759 In this Jesus, we have a secure identity as God's sons and daughters. 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:02.160 Jesus has this power. 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:04.240 Because he wasn't just a teacher. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:07.120 He wasn't just an example for us to live up to. 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:11.360 He was actually what we would say: He is our advocate. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:16.639 That word is in 1 John 2, 1 and 2, my little children, that's you and I. 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:20.639 I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:26.639 But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:29.839 He is the propitiation for our sins. 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:33.680 And not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:36.560 That word advocate's the word paraclete. 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:40.800 It means to represent in a legal manner. 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:49.199 It's an official binding relationship where whatever the advocate achieves, you achieve. 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:08.800 So the billionaire dies in Monaco in his penthouse compound in Monaco. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:09.920 He's murdered. 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:11.600 Maybe the wife did it. 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:12.160 We don't know. 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:13.600 I'm a little suspicious of the wife. 00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:15.519 Maybe the Russians did it. 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:17.759 Maybe Ted the nurse did it. 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:20.480 Well, Ted the nurse ends up getting arrested. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:24.240 Ted from America, he gets hired, he goes up, Ted the nurse is arrested. 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:25.439 So he gets arrested. 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:27.439 Ted is there being tried. 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:35.120 An American loyal lawyer, Michael Griffith, he goes over, flies over there to be Ted's lawyer. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:37.839 Griffith comes to Ted in his need. 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:42.319 Griffith is the advocate in court for him. 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:44.480 Ted says nothing. 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:47.680 Griffith works on behalf of Ted. 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:52.639 No matter how guilty, Griffith will work for Ted. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:54.639 Because he's the advocate. 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:57.279 And whatever he achieves, Ted achieves. 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:00.560 It's not a great example because Ted goes to jail. 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:04.560 Alright, so it's not a good, it's not really all that great of a sermon. 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:06.079 But I got right. 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:07.680 I was like, I want to use it. 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:09.120 So work with me here. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:10.319 Alright, so work with me. 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:11.120 Work with me. 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:20.160 Imagine Griffith was such a good advocate, such a good lawyer that Ted became a free man. 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:27.759 Imagine that the work of the advocate is so good, so sufficient, that you are set free. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:37.600 Theologian Charles Hodge wrote this the relationship of Christ to his people, that's the relationship of Jesus to you. 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:41.200 Is that of a legal advocate to a client. 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:43.200 The former personates the latter. 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:45.279 The lawyer stands in the client's place. 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:50.480 It is, while at last the most intimate of relationships, you may not even have to appear in court. 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:51.519 You are not heard. 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:53.120 You are not regarded. 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:57.360 You are lost in your advocate, who for the time being is your representative. 00:08:57.519 --> 00:08:59.440 The advocate, not you, is seen. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:01.279 The advocate not you is heard. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:04.159 The advocate not you is regarded. 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:14.240 And that's good news because what it means is it means your record, resume, and scorecard is not what God uses to determine whether He loves you, forgives you, cherishes you. 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:27.679 And if you're wondering what God thinks of you, how he feels about you this morning, or like on a lousy Tuesday morning, or just after that huge mistake that you make again, what does God actually think of me? 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:33.600 Well, we know what he thinks about you because that's already been secured in Jesus. 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:40.320 And he loves you and he cherishes you just like he loves and cherishes Jesus. 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:44.799 That's the power of this advocate that we have. 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:50.240 Verse 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:56.639 Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. 00:09:57.279 --> 00:10:00.639 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:05.120 He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:07.519 And he called his name Jesus. 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:10.240 Emmanuel, that name it means God with us. 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:11.039 That's point number two. 00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:14.559 And Jesus, you have forever belonging with God. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:17.360 So you're never alone. 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:22.320 A few months ago I went down to Emory to have an MRI of my heart, nothing major. 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:23.919 They were checking on a few things. 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:27.840 And so they put me in that little gown, a real manly moment. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:29.440 They put me on a table. 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:41.360 The nurse gets me on the table, and the table, if you ever had an MRI, it slides into this tube, huge machine, and it slides in, and you're just in this kind of tube, a very tight space. 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:43.759 Once I'm in, she says, I'm gonna leave the room. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:45.840 There'll be nobody in this room with you. 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:50.639 And then the machine begins to make loud noises while you're in this enclosed space. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:54.399 It kind of feels like it's getting smaller and smaller and smaller. 00:10:54.639 --> 00:11:00.159 And then some medicine rushed through the IV and rushed through my heart to allow them to see certain things. 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:03.759 And when that happened, I got incredibly lightheaded. 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:06.399 I felt like I was gonna throw up. 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:14.159 And my heart started racing, and I was this far from passing out, and just where I think I'm not gonna be able to hold on to this. 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:17.279 I hear a voice say, Are you okay? 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:20.399 I say, Yeah, uh yeah. 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:22.399 And she says, You'll be fine. 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:23.600 This will pass. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:26.639 She was always with me, this nurse. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:28.080 I could have called out at any moment. 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:29.039 I just forgot. 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:32.720 I forgot that she could hear me at any moment. 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:33.840 I forgot that. 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:36.240 And it felt like I was alone. 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:38.799 And I really didn't understand what was going on. 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:40.879 I didn't understand how the medicine was affecting. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:43.840 I didn't understand everything about the situation. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:44.960 All right, you get my point. 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:48.159 God's promise to us in Christ is I'm always with you. 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:52.639 You may not feel like it and you may not understand everything, but the promise is still there. 00:11:54.159 --> 00:12:03.679 The word Emmanuel occurs three times in the Bible, here in Matthew, twice in the book of Isaiah, that Old Testament book, 800 years before this event. 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:08.879 Isaiah 7.14, the prophet prophesies that Emmanuel will come to a virgin. 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:11.120 It's prophesied 800 years before. 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:17.759 Isaiah 8.8, the prophet prophesies that the people of God belonged to this Emmanuel. 00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:36.080 Two Christmas contemplative questions for us, thinking about this name Jesus, that we don't have to save ourselves to be forgiven or whole. 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:47.039 We could ponder what peace might you know as you draw near to Jesus, for limitless forgiveness, righteous standing with God, and a wholeness of heart. 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:49.840 What if you didn't have to go anywhere else for that? 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:53.360 That you could just rest all the more in Jesus. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:59.360 The name Emmanuel, God promises to be with us always, even if you don't feel it or understand. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:06.080 What peace might you know as you trust in Emmanuel that you are never alone and God will never leave you? 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:11.519 The last word for us to ponder this morning is the word behold. 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:18.720 Verse 23, behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:20.799 I love that word, behold. 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:28.799 It means to pause, to gaze, to not just move on, not just to get to work for God, but to cherish him and treasure him. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:40.080 Point number three is this we behold and glorify Jesus as we linger longer and treasure more God's grace to us, the grace of God. 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:47.519 Almost 20 years ago, I can still remember the audition of Paul Potts on Britain's Got Talent. 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:50.080 Some of you probably remember it if you're my age. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:52.480 His audition went viral. 00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:58.559 It's become one of the most watched YouTube videos in history, all time. 00:13:59.919 --> 00:14:03.759 Paul was a cell phone salesman in Britain. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:06.159 He doesn't have much confidence. 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:14.399 He's really a nobody compared to these celebrities that he's in front of, in front of this crowd. 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:17.039 And then we hear him sing. 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:18.320 We're gonna watch about two. 00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:23.600 Paul, what are you here for today, Paul? 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:24.639 To sing opera. 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:28.879 I've always wanted to sing as a career. 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:33.440 Confidence, it's it's always been difficult to think for me. 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:36.720 I've always tried to be completely confident in myself. 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:37.440 Okay. 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:28.639 It's pretty amazing. 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:32.320 You don't expect it when you just see him walking on the stage. 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:41.440 But think about the fact that that that's become one of the most all time in history of the world videos watched by the entire world. 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:42.720 I mean, that's incredible. 00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:44.879 Part of it is Paul singing. 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:50.399 For me, part of it is watching the people watching. 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:52.320 Watching them be amazed. 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:54.480 At one point, Simon's jaws just open. 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:58.960 I mean, at one point, Amanda, uh, the lady with the brown hair, she's just in tears, right? 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:03.759 The only reaction by them is to listen to this goodness. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:08.160 We could say they're beholding Paul. 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:11.680 They're caught up in the goodness. 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:16.799 It got me thinking about what the prodigal son might have been thinking about at the party. 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:17.599 Right? 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:32.720 After he was welcomed back, freely welcomed back by the father, lavishly loved, held, so a party for you, and he's at the party, and he's looking at all the goodness. 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:35.119 The welcome, the love. 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:45.039 My guess is the prodigal felt something like these people in the crowd where you're just seeing something so good that you're beholding it. 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:47.519 You're overwhelmed by the goodness. 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:53.759 My point is, is as we come alive to God's love for us, we'll love and live for Him more. 00:17:54.319 --> 00:18:04.480 And that's why the calling is to behold, to be astonished by how good Jesus is, to linger longer, to treasure more. 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:15.680 In the coming days, you might have some family gatherings, probably have some presents, might have a few other things to go to, and in the midst of that, behold. 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:22.240 Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel. 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:23.359 That's pretty good. 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:28.000 Heavenly Father, we're so grateful you don't just put us to work for you. 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:30.960 You pursue us in our mass. 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:36.799 You know all about our sains and sins, and in the blood of Jesus you have forgiven it all. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:39.039 Jesus is enough for us. 00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:43.039 You call us your sons and you call us your daughters. 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:46.640 You cherish us like you cherish Jesus. 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:51.839 You lavishly welcome us home like the prodigal and throw a party. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:55.519 May we be astonished more of how good you are for us. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:19:00.000 May we understand more the secure identity we have as your children. 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:09.279 May we learn to behold you amidst all the demands of life, amidst the good and the bad. 00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:13.759 May we trust all the more in the goodness of Jesus for us. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:15.359 In Christ's name we pray. 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:16.319 Amen.