Salvation: He will Save His People from Their Sin

Good morning. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends. Christians have often taken words or concepts found in culture and loaded them with theological meaning. For example, the word Philadelphia means brotherly love. In culture it could stand for love inside a nuclear family or between an “in group,” but the NT used Philadelphia in a more specialized way. It refers to treating brothers and sisters in Jesus as family … even closer than our biological family in some cases.

• - Thanksgiving, for us, is not just a day to celebrate the survival of the pilgrims and their relationship to the Native Americans. For us, we hijack the term and apply a specialized Christian meaning to it. It is a day to give thanks to the Lord for all he has done and to feast together to celebrate his provisions knowing that he will continue to provide.

• - Just before Thanksgiving we learned of additional reasons to give thanks at the stewardship celebration because we can build the school building, pay off all external debt, and put in a roadway to the athletic fields by 2025. That is incredible.

It is honestly hard to believe just how much God has blessed us. He has taken another portion of the world he owns and entrusted it to this church family. Wow! May the Lord give us grace to steward all we have.

Today begins our final series on the annual theme of Growing in Gospel Gratitude. It has been our hope that every person in our church would exercise more daily thanksgiving than they did in any other year. Our final series is also our Christmas series. This year we are going to consider 5 Fulfillments of Christ’s Birth that bring Joy. The series will lay out as follows:

1. Salvation: He will save his people from their sin – Matthew 1:21 says you will call his name Jesus (Yahweh saves) because he will save his people from their sins.
2. Presence: Immanuel, which means God with us - Matthew 1:23 tells us that Jesus was not his only name. The Bible also calls him Immanuel reminding us that he is with us.
3. Rule: The King of the Jews - Matthew 2:6 reminds us that a ruler would come from Bethlehem. There is only one king of kings and Lord of Lords.
4. Deliverance: Out of Egypt I have called my son - Matthew 2:15 describes a deliverance and it remind us of the amazing protection for Messiah so that he could provide the once-for-all deliverance we need.
5. Relationship: Humble birth in Bethlehem - Matthew 2:18 and 23 remind us of his humble birth. People would ask, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” These passages remind us that the suffering servant did not come with the expected fanfare but in humility to fulfill his role.

With that in mind, please turn in your Bible to Matthew 1:18 that is on page 1 of the back section of the Bible under the chair in front of you.

I want you to imagine a scene with me. From your earliest memory your parents and grandparents have told you to trust the Lord. They told you the truth from the Bible. They told you that you can only be saved by faith in the coming Messiah.

• - But life is hard. You heard about the Babylonian exile and how God brought his people home, but you also know that for many years your people were slaves to the Ptolemies in Egypt. Later they became slaves to the Seleucids. After a short time of independence, the Romans are here.

• - They promised peace, but brutality is what we received. We hoped for prosperity, but now we realize that they were talking about their own prosperity – we do not share in it. Despair, discouragement, and disillusionment seem like they chase you.

Bursting onto the scene is Jesus. Please follow along as I read Matthew 1:18-21. This is the Word of the Lord. Let’s consider three truths that help us rejoice in Jesus’ fulfillment of saving his people.

I. The name “Jesus” reminds us of God’s salvation ministry

Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Have you ever heard someone question a person’s name? “Hi, what is your name?” “My name is _______” and then there is an awkward moment of silence. Almost like that name is confusing or doesn’t fit.

• - Or conversely, maybe you have heard someone say about a little baby, “His name is Charlie; that makes sense because he looks a Charlie” as if there is some universal standard for what Charlie’s look like.

The text says, “you shall call his name Jesus.” The NIV says, “you are to give him the name Jesus.” Do you realize that God did not give Mary and Joseph the option to name their child? God already decided His name.

It is unusual to see this construction in the NT. It is not just a statement of fact; the angel is not saying “you will call him Jesus because I know that you think Jesus is a really awesome name.”

• - The angel commands them to name him Jesus because his name was important.

It is not, however, because he looks like a Jesus compared to a Samuel, David, Solomon, Josiah, or Daniel. He cannot be named any of those names. Even though they are names of significant people in the Bible.

• - Joseph and Mary were not even free to give him one of their family names.

• - It was a frequent practice in Bible times like it is today.

• o Remember John the Baptist? His mother names him John and people react. How can you name him John? No one else has that name in your family. What a silly name. Zacharias?

• o He was mute until he wrote down, “His name is John.”

As with John, so with Jesus. There was no choice. Jesus’ name was intricately connected to his mission – salvation. The angel commands them to name him Jesus because even his name screams his message. What did his name mean?

• - Yahweh saves … This is not because someone made something up in the first century name book. I cannot remember exactly what “Robert” (my given name) means, but I am fairly sure “Robert means something like dashingly handsome and incredibly intelligent.”

• o Where do people come up with this?

• o And if you google it and discover it means something else… I am going with my definition anyway!

• o There is a side of me that wonders what name means “will be a criminal” or “will annoy the fire out of everyone around him.” No one puts these names in the books.

When people said the name Jesus, in affection or in spite, they were pronouncing to everyone within earshot, “Yahweh saves.”

• - Yahweh saves, dinner. Yahweh saves please get the tools ready for the day. Yahweh saves, do you feel this, it is a softer portion of the rock. If you strike it too hard, you will break off too much.

• - All the way to the trial … would you like me to release to you Barabbas or Yahweh saves?

Every time we hear his name, we remember his mission. I think we need to dive into this concept of “Yahweh Saves” for a few minutes. What does it mean that Yahweh saves? What am I, as a reader, or now as a Christian, supposed to think?

I believe we should first think …

Jesus’ ministry is Yahweh’s ministry (Mark 1:1-3)

It is quite remarkable what the Bible teaches and the connections that exist between individual passages and bigger ideas.

Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way; 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight.’”

Mark says that he is talking about Jesus, but he quotes from both Malachi and Isaiah. As he does, he points out that “my messenger” refers to John the Baptist.

• - But who is the “You,” the “your,” “the LORD” and “his.” In the Isaiah passage, which we will consider more closely in a moment, it is Yahweh. The covenant keeping name for God. The name that God revealed to Moses on the mountain.

In Isaiah Yahweh is coming, the way is being prepared for him, and John is responsible to make his path straight which is like saying that he is responsible to clear the way. Carve the path because Yahweh is coming. But in Mark all these references are to Jesus.

Matthew teaches something similar in 3:3 where John the Baptist is again the voice, the one making ready and clearing the path. But who is coming? In Isaiah, it is Yahweh and in Matthew, it is Jesus.

Matthew 3:3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!’”

Matthew 1:21 points to the larger story line of the Bible. Yahweh is coming to save and deliver them. The gospels tell us that Jesus’ ministry is Yahweh’s ministry. As soon as we come to that conclusion, we realize that a sizable portion of …

Yahweh’s ministry is salvation (Isaiah 40:1-11)

Isaiah 40:1-2, 10-11 “Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God. 2 “Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed…10 Behold, the Lord God will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him And His recompense before Him. 11 Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

Isaiah speaks about a future time in this text. But it is not surprising. Yahweh has been saving his people from all sorts of things since Genesis.

• - God gave Adam and Eve coverings.

• - Noah and his family escape the flood.

• - Abraham and Sarah face threats of various kinds.

• - Yahweh delivers his people from starvation by sending Joseph to Egypt.

• - He delivers the nation from Egypt.

• - Yahweh sends judge after judge to save his people from destruction.

• - He sent prophets to call them to repentance that they experience his blessings.

• - The Lord provides protection against the enemies of his people.

• - He rescued them from Babylon.

• - Even in the opening story, he delivered them from the Ptolemies and the Seleucids.

Yahweh does many things in the Bible. One of the most dominant is save. In some ways, whenever you hear the name Jesus your mind should run to the entire story line of the Bible.

• - Yahweh saves!

• - Jesus is Yahweh doing Yahweh’s ministry.

That name communicates! His name related to his mission. You could not talk about one without the other. My name is Rob, but it could have been Daniel, Eric, Tom, or Joe and it would not have made much difference. Jesus on the other hand had to be named “Jesus.” Why? The apostle Peter answers that question in Acts 4:8-12. It says,

Acts 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people, 9 if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. 11 “He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. 12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

Friends, why can we rejoice that Jesus is his name? Because even his name reminds us of God’s salvation ministry. It is to the salvation part of Matthew 1:21 that we now turn.

II. Jesus saves people from their sins

Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

I mentioned that Yahweh has a long history of saving. But not every kind of salvation is the same.

• - God saved people from death by their enemies.

• - God saved people from living outside the land.

• - God saved people by providing food when they needed it.

• - God saved people from those who oppressed them.

These are part of the Bible’s storyline. They are part of the reason that God receives glory for all he has done.

• - If all we had in the text is that Jesus will save his people, then we might still make the connection to Yahweh.

• - However, we might wonder what type of salvation he is bringing.

• o Isn’t that part of Jesus’ story? Everyone was on board if Jesus healed the lame, gave sight to the blind, cast our demons, and raised the dead. Who wouldn’t be on board with that?

The average person struggling with despair and discouragement would be looking for a Messiah who would save them from the Romans. They would be excited that Jesus would bring back self-rule and prosperity to the nation.

• - If Jesus can do miracles, then maybe we can follow him into battle and get rid of these foreign rulers once for all.

• - Their struggle makes sense. It even has connections of its own the promises in the OT.

However, that is not the salvation that Jesus came to give this time. He did not come to rescue the nation from outsiders. He came to save people from their sins. He came to save all peoples and tongues and nations from their sins.

This is also part of Yahweh’s ministry.

Psalm 130:1-8 Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord. 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications. 3 If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. 5 I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope. 6 My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption. 8 And He will redeem Israel From all his iniquities.

When we read those words, we move our scope from restoring the nation of Israel to the saving of souls. That thought should remind us of three other truths.

Everyone is or was a sinner

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Thankfully those who know Christ as their Lord and savior do not fit in the category of a positional sinner anymore. We all, of course, still sin. But committing sin and being a positional sinner are different.

But all of us either were or are in that state. It is hard to comprehend just how bad that is. Sin owned us and directed our paths. Jesus came to rescue us from that condition. Hearing the name of Jesus reminds us that …

Sin’s consequence is eternity in hell away from Jesus, but salvation is freedom to serve and live

Those words are very sobering. Eternity is hard to picture and understand. Hell is not a place where people celebrate, party, or enjoy together. It is one of the reasons that I despise every song that celebrates hell or acts like it is a wonderful place to be. Unlike other types of suffering on this earth that end in physical death, there is no end to suffering in hell.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The contrasts are striking. Eternal life is a gift based on the finish work of Jesus. Eternal death is earned through the wages of our behavior.

Recently, while doing a quick scroll of Facebook I saw a post with two pictures. One picture was a person standing at a grave saying, “I know he is in a better place.”

• - Underneath that picture showed spirit like beings tormented and tortured. It was a shocking picture and a reminder that only Christians rest in peace.

• - The others suffer in torment. Only Christians are in a better place, the rest would beg for the living to warn their loved ones.

If you know Jesus Christ as your personal savior. That is if you know that you know that you know you are on your way to heaven, then you have one enormous reason to give thanks.

• - You not only escape the eternal death awaiting all who do not know Christ, but your gift is eternal life in heaven with Jesus.

• - Hearing the name “Jesus” reminds us that he must have that name because of his mission and his mission includes saving people from their sins.

That is an amazing trade. We should never get over it. I don’t have time to chase this other thread, but there are a few passages in the Bible that warn us not to forget the wonderful salvation of the Lord. The Bible calls those who forget spiritually blind and unproductive.

• - I think it is sad when we talk about a person who made a profession of faith but never lived a fruitful life.

• - While we may not be able to affect change in others, we can ensure no one says that of us.

Let’s instead see our salvation – our free gift – as a stewardship opportunity. Jesus saves from sin … from its penalty and its power so that I can boldly live for him because I am dead to sin and alive to God. Let us live thankful and sacrificial lives.

Friends, we realize that during Christmas we do not slow down. In fact, at Faith Church we ramp up. Our church does more … in both our church and our community centers.

• - We provide for those with financial needs in our community through Christmas for everyone because we want to communicate the love of Jesus in the hopes of future actual presentations of the gospel.

• - We serve in Living Nativity (set up was the coldest set up that I can remember) and the weekends we serve are long, but it is part of proclaiming Jesus saves to everyone in our community. What a great crew we had to serve!

• - We do Christmas eve services because some families in America still have the tradition of going to church that evening. We want to reach them with the gospel.

• - We have Winter Break ministries, and we share Jesus with the children and invite their parents to be part of our church.

• - We have a New Year’s Eve event designed to give people a place to go for good clean fun if that is what they desire.

• o We realize that you cannot do everything. At the same time, people who are thankful that Jesus rescued them, want to find ways to ensure that others experience that same rescue.

Why? Because Jesus (Yahweh saves) came to save me from my sins. I now live for the one who gave himself up for me. My life belongs to him.

Jesus saving me also changed my relationship to sin itself. When Jesus saved me, I went from being a slave to sin to being dead to sin. That change means that sin no longer has control over me. When I sin, I do so willingly.

Think of all the ways that people excuse their sin.

• - They cannot help it.

• - Someone else made me do it.

• - That is just the way I am.

Dear friends, when Jesus came to save you from your sins, he saved you from its penalty, but also its power. You have the freedom to choose. May the Lord help us to choose righteousness, to pursue what he loves and values, and to steward these wonderful opportunities.

• - Maybe one of the ways you can show your thankfulness is to put to death a sin habit you know dishonors the Lord.

Jesus saving us from our sin evokes another idea…

No one can save themselves from sin

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

On Monday night I had the opportunity to dismiss a portion of the tables at the Taste of Christmas to get their food. While I know many people at Faith, there were many people there that night that I did not know.

I could not help but wonder, how many more opportunities will they have to hear the gospel? How many more opportunities will they have to hear that they cannot earn salvation?

• - God saves by grace, so he receives the glory.

Our final stewardship principle, God can call me into account at any time, and it might be today, reminds us to take advantage of the opportunities while we have them.

Friends, if you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal savior, then I am encouraging you to accept that free gift today.

• - I am asking you to acknowledge your sin, that is it worthy of an eternity in hell … not where people party and have a good time … but where people suffer alone and for all eternity.

• - In the quietness and soberness of this moment I am asking you to confess your sin to God and trust with all your heart that God raised him from the dead and that you need him to pay for your sins.

The name of Jesus is a fulfillment worthy of rejoicing because Jesus’ name reminds us of the story line of the Bible and Yahweh’s salvation ministry. It also reminds us that Jesus’ salvation ministry is salvation from sin which allows us to serve Christ and live for him. The final truth I want us to consider is …

III. Jesus creates a people in the saving process

Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Each of our truths this morning come from a specific part of Matthew 1:21. At first, “his people” sounds like a phrase without much meaning. However, that is not the case this time.

• - Calling his name Jesus was a big deal because it reminded us of Yahweh’s salvation ministry through the story line of the Bible.

• - Saving from our sins was a big deal in part because it narrowed the discussion of the salvation itself, but also because it focused on the eternal nature of heaven and hell. There truly is a heaven to be gained and hell to be shunned.

• o That also is part of the story line of the Bible.

This third truth is no different. There is more to the story. “His people” reminds us

His people means that they belong to Messiah

Loyalty, togetherness, and security are powerful words. In marriage, they often make the different between a lifetime together and a breaking apart. Among extended family, it determines whether there will be any relationship at all.

When Jesus saves, he makes you his. You are one of his children.

John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name

The identity of God’s people or Messiah’s people was a matter of enormous debate. In the gospels being God’s meant being from Moses or Abraham. In the epistles, it is almost exclusively Abraham. All too often, the focus was on genealogy and not on spiritual reality.

When Christ saves us, we become his children – one of his people. A true child of Abraham. This does not eliminate the role of national Israel. In fact, salvation comes …

Salvation belonged first to the Jews

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

God has held and still holds a special place for national Israel. Some of the long-awaited promises to national Israel have yet to be completed. But God’s plan also involved a time of the gentile. At Jesus’ second coming we will see the remaining promises completed. At his first coming …

Salvation extended to the Gentiles (that is us)

John the Baptist makes this point in …

Matthew 3:9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.

Jesus illustrates it in …

Matthew 8:11 “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven

Paul reiterates it near the end of his ministry in …

Titus 2:13-14 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of ^bour great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

When Jesus came to save, it was not to restore national Israel. It was to save people from their sins. Jews and gentiles alike shared that need.

To borrow one of Pastor Viars’ common phrases likes, “if you cannot rejoice over Yahweh saves, being saved from your sin, and being made a part of Messiah’s people, then your wood is wet.”

Matthew 1:21 seems like such a simple verse. “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” But we see that this fulfillment brings great joy.

• - God’s plan continues to unfold, and we have the privilege to have a role in it. We see that the name Jesus evokes the phrase “Yahweh saves” and as soon as you think about that, you also consider Yahweh’s salvation through the story line of the Bible.

• - While they wanted freedom from Rome, they really needed saved from their sins. What a great salvation that is.

• - While Jesus does that, he creates a people for his own possession – an inheritance if you will.

Being his prepares us perfectly for the next message in our series – Immanuel: God with us.