Peace
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On this day 6 years ago, Becky and I weren’t sure what Christmas was going to look like for us. December 2015, Jude began having intermittent stomach pain. He was 3 years old at the time, and he’d be running around playing like a normal kid… but then he’d just stop, double over in the floor and start screaming and crying. We called his pediatrician… He suspected it could be his appendix, and so he encouraged us to take him to the ER at St. Louis Children’s hospital. So we did.
While there, the ER walked in… we explained what was happening and that his pediatrician suspected appendicitis. She immediately said… nope, that’s not it… and then she politely shared with us that our little small town poe dunk doctors don’t really know what they’re talking about. She said, I’ll run a couple of tests, but I’m not going to check his appendix. After about an hour, she said… he’s fine, take him home.
Over the next couple of days, the intermittent pain kept happening… and it got more frequent. Finally, after about 3 days, his doctor circled back to the thought of the appendix… but this time, he sent Jude to Parkland in Farmington to have an ultrasound done. Farmington discovered that, in fact, Jude’s appendix had ruptured… and they immediately took him back to Children’s Hospital.
When he got to Children’s, they ran the tests to confirm the ruptured appendix… and it had ruptured, and Jude’s body was headed towards sepsis. Without immediate surgery, Jude would not survive the night.
After surgery, They informed us that because the appendix had ruptured, and because of sepsis, he would have to remain in the hospital for quite some time to ensure that his blood was clean. Beck and I began to imagine what Christmas inside of Children’s Hospital would look like… without getting to take the kids to see Santa… without the comfort of our home… without our families.
Jude recovered well though. He was released from the hospital days before Christmas. How sweet that Christmas was for us. Being able to spend Christmas WITH our families… Being able to spend Christmas WITH both of our children alive and healthy.
WITH is a good word… isn’t it? This idea of WITH is much bigger than we realize… it’s more powerful than we typically acknowledge. We’ve all been on the receiving end of WITH. Maybe you’ve found yourself all alone… and a friend comes to sit down with you. Or, perhaps you’ve going through a very difficult time… the death of a loved one perhaps… and family, church family, or friends come over to be with you and show support. WITH is a good word.
If you have your Bible this morning, and I hope that you do, turn with me to Matthew chapter 1. Matthew chapter 1 kind of revolves around this idea of WITH. And so, we’re going to unpack a few things this morning about WITH.
Matthew’s writing was very succinct. Matthew wanted to get his theological cards on the table right up front. In fact, Matthew uses half of the words Luke used to tell the same story… so Matthew really gets right to the point. And one of the ways Matthew gets right to the point are with fulfillment formulas. Make sure and tell all your friends that you heard the the theological term, fulfillment formulas, first, right here at the 1st Free Will Baptist Church. I’m going to show you 5 fulfillment formulas that really helps us see that Matthew is on the move in this passage.
Look at chapter 1, verse 22…
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
And there’s more fulfillment formulas throughout the book of Matthew. Matthew is showing us the continuity between the Old Testament and these events. So let’s go back to Matthew chapter 1, and begin reading in verse number 18.
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
This idea of pledged is so much different than our idea of engagement. Engagements can be loose… but this kind of pledge was a promise that could only be broken through death or divorce. It’s not casual. It’s like marriage without all the benefits of intimacy and arguments. They still lived in separate homes, they hadn’t yet come together in a physical way… and so, it would’ve been shocking for her to come up pregnant. Verse 19…
Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
Joseph’s a good guy. He’s faithful to the law, but he’s not going to make a big deal about this and bring shame upon Mary… so he’s going to divorce her quietly and move on with his life. He doesn’t really know what’s going on yet. But let’s keep reading… Verse 20…
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
And so, the narrative unfolds and Joseph gets clued into that what’s happening is something supernatural. The Holy Spirit is working in Mary’s life in such a way that she has conceived a baby supernaturally. And here, Matthew gives us the first fulfillment formula. Matthew stops the narrative to give us some commentary to show the continuity between this and the Old Testament. Verse 22…
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
And so, we see that God is with us. That in a very supernatural and amazing way, God’s name is now Immanuel… God with us. And Matthew points to Isaiah chapter 7 to share this with us.
You don’t have to turn there, but Isaiah chapter 7 tells us a story about King Ahaz and Judah. And King Ahaz and the people of Judah are shaking in their boots… they’re literally afraid for their lives. Isaiah says they’re like trees trembling in the wind. They’re afraid because word on the street was that two other kings had gotten together, and they were going to come and wipe out Ahaz and Judah.
With this threat on the horizon, Isaiah meets with Ahaz and tells them… these two kings are like smoldering ends of a stump… they’re no threat to you at all. You don’t have to worry about this… There’s no need to be afraid. And this is what Isaiah says… Ask God for a sign… ask Him to show you that He’s going to take care of this for you… that He’s going to be WITH you. And Ahaz, who is kind of a stubborn, grumpy king, says… I’m not going to ask God for a sign. And Isaiah says… well… you’re going to get one anyways.
And it’s here that Isaiah says… A virgin girl will conceive and have a baby… and His name will be Emmanuel, which means God with us. And before Emmanuel grows up to know right from wrong, those two kings will be wiped out. So every time the name Emmanuel is called out… Emmanuel… it’s dinner time!... it would be a reminder to the people that those two kings would not attack, and God will be with us.
Matthew says here… that in a more incredible way than originally thought, Isaiah’s prophecy was about Mary conceiving by the Holy Spirit… and that Child would in fact be… God WITH us! A promise from hundreds of years before hand, this promise of God being WITH us. A promise made by God… a promise kept by God. His name is Emmanuel… God with us.
Let’s keep reading. Go back to verse 21…
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Now skip down to verse 24…
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
Matthew points out that His name is also Jesus… which we talked about earlier in the year… Jesus is the translation of the name Yeshua… Yeshua is a form of the name Joshua… which means Yahweh saves… God saves. This isn’t just a name like Joe, or Peter, or Fred… This is a name that is rich with meaning. God saves.
So… We have Emmanuel… A promise from God… kept by God… God WITH us… and WHY is God WITH us? To save us. Verse 21… because He will save people from their sin.
In our world right now, many will say… I’m spiritual, but I’m not religious… there are hundreds… if not thousands of different spiritual paths… yet we at the 1stFree Will Baptist Church stand firm on the truth that it is God who saves through Jesus Christ, and there is no other way to be saved. In all of the watering down of the gospel… in all of the multiple paths to God that the world is trying to create… we will stand firm on God saves through Jesus Christ… fully, completely, and without exception. We cannot budge on the gospel.
Jesus says… I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life… and no one comes to God except through me… John 14:6. John chapter 3 tells us that Jesus was the only one to have come from heaven to earth… 1 Peter chapter 2 tells us that Jesus was the only one chosen by God to be the Savior… Hebrews chapter 4, He is the only one that has lived a perfect life… Matthew chapter 5, He is the only one who was able to fulfill the law of God… 1 Timothy chapter 2… He is the only mediator between God and man… and 1 John chapter 2, He was the only sacrifice for our sin.
Jesus is the only one who could go to His death on a cruel cross… taking upon himself the punishment for every sin that you have ever committed… Jesus is the only one that could come to life after His death in His own power… No other religion… no other spiritual path could ever accomplish salvation for you…
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
When you put your faith in Jesus Christ… You are justified before God. Justification is an act of God whereby He pronounces a sinner to be righteous because of that sinner’s faith in Christ.
So what does all of this mean? God WITH us… God WITH us in order to save us? For the believer… it means peace. Peace with God.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Emmanuel… God WITH US… Jesus… God WITH us in order to save us… means we have peace with God when we put our faith in Jesus Christ.
As I close… I want to share one last thing with you. Turn with me to the end of Matthew’s account of the gospel. Matthew chapter 28. A couple of years ago, I introduced you to a literary device called an inclusio. Anyone remember what an inclusio is? An inclusio is simply this... it’s when an author begins and ends by saying the same thing. When you see those bookends in literature, that’s the overall message the author is trying to communicate.
Look at Matthew chapter 28, verse 18…
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew begins his account of the gospel by saying… His name is GOD WITH US in order to SAVE US… and Matthew ends his account of the gospel by sharing these words of Jesus… I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS… to the very end.
This peace that comes from God with us… it never fades… it never goes away… No matter what you’re going through… No matter what life throws your way… Matthew wrote his account of the gospel to make sure you know… Jesus… God is with you. Jesus says…
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Is your heart… Is your soul at peace with God today through Jesus Christ? It can be. Put your faith in Him today. Will you pray with me?