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Matthew 1:18-25 (KJV) Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. 20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And SHE SHALL BRING FORTH A SON, AND YOU SHALL CALL HIS NAME JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins. 22 Now all this was done, that it MIGHT BE FULFILLED which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME EMMANUEL, which being interpreted is, God with us. 24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and HE CALLED HIS NAME JESUS.

The Devil Is Killing America With “Feelings”

We live in a “feelings” day. Over half of our nation is driven by not FACTS, but FEELINGS. You see it on the news. It doesn’t matter if it’s FOX or CNN, it’s all about FEELINGS. FOX was talking about a fellow that was imprisoned in England for a social media post, bemoaning the loss of “Second Amendment” privileges. Did you read what the man posted? It was horrible. He was advocating MURDER and ARSON against a people group! The man ought to be in jail – or a psychiatric hospital!

You see it on social media. People attacking one another, rather than focusing on FACTS. People mocking other people rather than sharing ideas.

Confused and emotional people attack people, because they rely not on facts but on feelings. The wise, the Christ follower is supposed to attack devilish ideologies or thoughts, not people. We are to be a factual people.

Think about the protests going on around our country. People marching at a “No Kings” rally. Our First Amendment protects your right to march. There are “No Kings” in America. If there were a king, you could expect execution, imprisonment, torture, and loss of property. Have you EVER SEEN BRAVEHEART?

You can march against fascism. Most people don’t know what fascism is. If our country were fascist, the marchers would be arrested and imprisoned, tortured and interrogated, executed or just “disappeared”, placed in forced labor or concentration camps, and whole families were brutally disciplined. The First Amendment protects us from what the citizens of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Francoist Spain (under Francisco Franco), or Imperial Japan went through. It protects us from what Communist China’s and Northern Korea’s citizens suffer daily.

The First Amendment protects us from state run religions like the Muslim nations and the Catholic nations of years past. Czechoslovakian Christian Martyrs like Jan Hus (pronounced yahn hoose) was burned at the stake in by order of the Council of Constance (a Catholic church council) on July 6, 1415, after refusing to recant his views. Brother Hus preached:

👉 The Bible is the final authority (not popes or councils)

👉 Salvation is by grace through faith alone (not indulgences or works), and

👉 All believers are priests (no need for a special clerical class to mediate)

Before dying in flames, Jan said: “You are now burning a goose [“Hus” means goose in Czech], but in 100 years God will raise up a swan you will not be able to burn or silence.”

Mormons under Joseph Smith murdered those who departed from their faith. Buddhists, Muslims, and Hindus kill those who will not convert. They feel that they are doing the right thing. Beloved, Jesus said:

Matthew 12:25 (NKJV) Every KINGDON DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF IS BROUGHT TO DESOLATION, and every city or house divided against itself WILL NOT STAND.

Be it nation, community, or church, we cannot stand. We cannot stand based on FEELINGS, because FEELINGS come from a broken heart.

Jeremiah 17:9 (NKJV) The HEART [is] DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS, And desperately wicked …

Mark 7:21-23 (NKJV) For from within, OUT OF THE HEART OF {PEOPLE}, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”

Our hearts are not naturally pure. People are not innately good. God tells us to take our broken hearts to HIM, and let HIM fix them.

Proverbs 3:5 TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART and lean not on your own understanding.

Give your HEARTS, your FEELINGS to Jesus. Put that on the back burner, and do as Jesus did. Ask yourself, “What does the FACTS teach? What is the reality? What does God say in His Word?”. King David was a broken man like we are – but he cast himself on the Lord. He said:

Psalm 51:8-12 (NKJV) Make me hear joy and gladness, [That] the bones You have broken may rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. 10 CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART, O God, And RENEW A STEADFAST SPIRIT WITHIN ME. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 RESTORE TO ME THE JOY OF MY SALVATION, And uphold me [by Your] generous Spirit.

The devil wants you living your life by feelings. God says, no, come to Me. God’s Word says you must “confess with your MOUTH that JESUS IS LORD, and believe IN YOUR HEART that God raised Him from the dead … then you SHALL BE SAVED” (Romans 10:9). You are not saved by feelings, but by facts, Bible truths.

What If Joseph Has Went On “Feelings”?

Matthew 1:18-19 (KJV) Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, BEFORE THEY CAME TOGETHER, SHE WAS FOUND WITH CHILD of the Holy Ghost. 19 Then Joseph her husband, BEING A JUST MAN, and not willing to make her a public example, WAS MINDED TO PUT HER AWAY PRIVILY.

Every year we come to the Christmas story. We think about Mary, we think about Jesus. That’s fine. But I want you to take a minute and wonder about this: HOW IMPORTANT WAS JOSEPH TO THIS EVENT? The Bible says of Joseph that he was:

BEING A JUST MAN

The phrase “JUST MAN” tells us that Joseph was a man who walked with God. God uses the “JUST MAN”. When God sought to rid the world of out of control evil, He chose “Noah, a JUST MAN” (Genesis 6:9). Those who are “JUST MEN” trust in God’s Word, not in their feelings. “The just man walketh in his integrity” (Proverbs 20:7). A “JUST MAN” is not perfect, but he looks to the Lord and is blessed:

Proverbs 24:16 (KJV) For a JUST MAN falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

Mary is with Child, but Joseph has not consummated the marriage yet. They had not yet “COME TOGETHER” as husband and wife should. Imagine this! You’re a man, and your intended Bride is with child. What will control you? Your feelings? If Joseph had been controlled by his feelings, Mary might not have been killed, but she would have been shamed and shunned by her world. Among ancient Judaism people were executed for adultery – but were called to accountability for fornication. Mary would have been a cast out.

Joseph loved Mary, but walking in his integrity as a just man he could not marry her. Joseph thought Mary was involved in egregious sin (Deuteronomy 22:23-24). If led by feelings, he would have made her estate public. Instead he was “MINDED” to “PUT HER AWAY” or divorce her quietly.

Had Joseph went on feelings, Jesus Christ would never have been born into this world. Jesus is the “Only Begotten” of the Father. As Eternal God, Jesus has always been with the Father. As long as there is God, which is forever, Jesus has been with God. It was planned by the Father that humanity be redeemed from the slave market of sin by the Incarnation of Christ.

Matthew 1:20 (KJV) But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for THAT WHICH IS CONCEIVED IN HER IS OF THE HOLY GHOST.

Joseph was a “JUST” man, but he wasn’t perfect. When the Messiah came, He had to be born a perfect Man, completely without sin. The Bible says that after Adam sinned, Yahweh told the Serpent (Satan):

Genesis 3:15 (NKJV) And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.

This is what theologians call the Protoevangelium or the first preaching of the Good News of the Messiah. When Adam sinned, he brought sin into the world. The Scripture says:

Romans 5:12 (KJV) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

By following his feelings instead of the fact of God’s Word, Adam brought sin into the world. God cannot look the other way on sin. God detests sin! So Yahweh promised Satan that Serpent that “the SEED OF THE WOMAN” would come and crush his head – though He Himself would be injured (but not forever). The Messiah would come – not through the seed of the man but the seed of the woman. By man sin entered into the world. Man cannot fix sin. But if sin were to be forgiven, and the wrong righted, then a Perfect Man would have to do so.

This is why there was a virgin birth.

Joseph, though a “Just Man”, was not a perfect Man. Being imperfect, he could not sire the Messiah. But God could. God the Holy Spirit worked within Mary to create a Perfect and Sinless Man. This was the same thing that the Angel Gabriel told Mary:

Luke 1:35 (KJV) … The HOLY GHOST SHALL COME UPON THEE, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also THAT HOLY THING which shall be born of thee SHALL BE CALLED THE SON OF GOD.

I was reading Elmer Towns book “Learning From God’s Imperfect People”, and came across this quote:

“How can you be more perfect? By getting a vision of what God can do through you, or more importantly, what God can do with you.”

Joseph could not create the Messiah. But he could get out of the way, and support Yeshua as He took upon Himself human flesh. Joseph loved Mary, and loved the Lord. Love is the laying down of your life – and your rights – in order to bless another. Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends”.

Joseph laid down his life for Mary and the Messiah, so that the Messiah could one day lay down His life for us. “God loved us, and sent His Son to be the satisfactory payment for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

Matthew 1:21 (KJV) And SHE SHALL BRING FORTH A SON, AND YOU SHALL CALL HIS NAME JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.

In the ancient world, the father usually named the child. Joseph was not the father, so he could not name the child. God was the Father of the Messiah.

It was prophesied of the Messiah:

Isaiah 53:9-10 (NKJV) And THEY MADE HIS GRAVE WITH THE WICKED–But WITH THE RICH AT HIS DEATH, Because He had DONE NO VIOLENCE, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT IN HIS MOUTH. 10 Yet it PLEASED THE LORD TO BRUISE HIM; He has put [Him] to grief. When YOU MAKE HIS SOUL AN OFFERING FOR SIN, He shall see [His] seed, He shall prolong [His] days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

Jesus would grow up to die on Calvary for our sins. He would die between two thieves, a man found innocent by Pilate the Governor, yet nonetheless executed. He would be buried in a rich man’s tomb. Jesus would die on Calvary for us.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) For He made Him who KNEW NO SIN [to be] sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Because Jesus, pure and sinless, bore our sins, we can believe on Him and receive His righteousness.

Christmas Is A Commemoration Of God’s Love

Matthew 1:21-22 (KJV) And SHE SHALL BRING FORTH A SON, AND YOU SHALL CALL HIS NAME JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins. 22 Now all this was done, that it MIGHT BE FULFILLED which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME EMMANUEL, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Christmas commemorates a time when God kept His promise. God always keeps His promises. God promised that He would step into creation. Why? We see it in the text:

YOU SHALL CALL HIS NAME JESUS: for He shall SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS

Word Study: The Bible says in 1 John 3:5, “He was MANIFESTED or REVEALED {through incarnation} TO TAKE AWAY OUR SINS; and IN HIM IS NO SIN”. Why did the Father name the Messiah “Jesus”? The name “JESUS” is the Greek iēsous, which is equivalent to the Hebrew Yehoshua (or Joshua), which means “The Lord saves”. One of the heroes of Judaism was Joshua, the man who led Israel into the Promised Land. Joshua led God’s people into a Promised Land that was physical. Jesus leads His people into the Kingdom of God, a much greater blessing. Joshua saved God’s people from the enemies who occupied the Promised Land. Jesus saves God’s people from slavery to sin and Satan.

Jesus came to save us from our sins. Sin separates us from God, and robs us of the joy of living. Sin brings death and disease, slavery and suffering. Jesus saved us from more than hell. He saved us from a life without God both now, and into eternity!

Joseph was to name the Messiah “Jesus” or “The Lord saves”. The Bible goes on to tell us that this was a fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14, “THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME EMMANUEL, which being interpreted is, God with us”. One reference I found noted:

“‘Emmanuel’ is a title, not necessarily a personal name. In Hebrew culture, to be ‘called’ something often meant to be known as or to embody that reality—not that it would be the name on a birth certificate. So ‘Emmanuel’ describes who the Child is, not what people would shout when calling Him for dinner.”

Christmas commemorates the great love that God had for us imperfect humans. He sent His Eternal Son from glory to this broken world. Jesus came not to be “Superglue” or “Duct Tape”. He didn’t come to put a patch on us. The Messiah came to “save His people from their sins”. God did this supernaturally by taking Eternal God and containing Him in Finite but Perfect Man. Only God could do that.

About this time every year the Liberals and the Progressives begin telling us how they feel when we speak of Christmas. I’ve heard it called “A War On Christmas”. The war on Christmas, on Christ Himself, has always been here. It was there in the Garden of Eden, it was there when Noah built an Ark, it was there when God called Abraham. Beloved, our war is “not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). Several years ago the Washington Post ran an article by a Jewish woman named Julia Ioffe. It was titled “Please don’t wish me ‘Merry Christmas’”. She wrote:

“Christmas is a lovely holiday, but it is definitely not a secular one. It is a celebration of Christ, as its very name implies. … Whenever I hear the name, I hear the “Christ” in it. To me, it’s strange that many of its celebrants do not. … “This is always the time of year I feel most excluded from society,” one Jewish friend told me. Another told me it made him feel “un-American.”” …. There’s something a little deranged about taunting someone of another faith with “Merry Christmas” after they’ve politely asked for a recusal. It feels out of step with what Christians say this holiday — and Christianity — is all about: peace, love and mercy. It feels, instead, to be of a piece with the warring tribalism that has consumed our politics.”

When someone – especially a Jew – tells you “Don’t wish me Merry Christmas”, understand you are talking the color red to a blind person. They do not see it. To them, Jesus is just a Rabbi or a Teacher of just another world religion. Jesus is much more than this. Jesus is THE Christ. The reason there are Jews is because God chose to send the Messiah through Israel. He came “to the Jew first, but also to the Gentile” (Romans 1:6; 2:9-10). God sent the Messiah through Mary and Joseph to save whosoever will.

Israel exists because of Jesus. It continues to exist because of Jesus. Jesus will return, and rule Israel. No Jew is saved apart from Jesus.

God made a promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3) that through his progeny “all peoples on earth will be blessed”. Israel was chosen to be the CONTAINER through Whom the Messiah, the Christ would come. Having come, He came to save Israel – and us – from our sins.

Beloved, only a fool would want to cancel Christmas. Only a fool would reject the wonderful message that God gives us at Christmas. Oh, how I hope in the midst of this holiday buying and wrapping of presents, setting of trees, that you forget the great Gift of the Messiah that God gave us.

Merry Christmas!