Let's turn together to Isaiah chapter nine, please, which is a very well-known portion. Isaiah chapter nine. And then I'm going to read to you two verses from another part of Isaiah. And I just want you to listen to those. We're going to read from Isaiah nine in a moment. But here's what Isaiah says in another place. Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder. The result of that goes like this. The poor among men shall rejoice. Now, doesn't that sound like the shepherds? Let's read from chapter nine, shall we? Verse six. We're reminding ourselves last Thursday night that the Christmas story is not just found at the beginning of Matthew and the beginning of Luke. It is found all the way through the Bible. And here in the Old Testament we read, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Now there is a difference there. The child was born, the son was given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful. Now let's go over to Luke chapter two. Luke chapter two. And we'll read just a little about the shepherds. I won't read it all. You're very familiar with the story. Verse eight says, And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. Now we were just hearing about this. And lo the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angels said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a saviour which is Christ the Lord, and this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts, Praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven. The shepherd said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord have made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child, and all they that heard it wondered. Now would you turn back very quickly to Matthew chapter one? Matthew chapter one. Verse eighteen, Now the birth of Jesus 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. Then Joseph or husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. 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, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the Prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin in the original, both in the Greek here and in the Hebrew in the Old Testament, it reads, Behold, the 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. Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife, and knew her not, till she had brought for her firstborn son, and he called, and he called, and he called his name Jesus. A marvelous thing and a wonder. Now that word wonderful is really wonderful. I remind the choir and I've reminded you from time to time that it's a word that you can sing very expressively Wonderful. And if you sing it in German, it's just the same. Wonderbar. It's a very wonderful word. And the reason is that the essence of it is wonder. I wonder whether you have seen that television ad, I think it's for a florist. of a Christmas scene with a little train running around a tree and then the sound of the train whistle and the camera swings to the top of the stairs and a little boy comes down the stairs looking into the living room, his eyes getting wider and wider until at last he's standing there with wide open eyes and a mouth wide open. And all he can say naturally is, wow. Now that's wonder. You can see it in the face of a little child. Very difficult in these days to find it in the faces of our teenagers. They live in such a wonderful age that they have lost, in many cases, the sense of wonder that God intended them to have. But we are old enough, still to no wonder, when we see that many tons of jet flying over our heads so smoothly, so fast, we still wonder at things much less than this, that I wonder, are you keeping up with the journey of the Voyager around the Earth? Now, isn't that wonderful? I think it's wonderful. I am breathlessly watching the last third of the journey because I think it is wonderful that two people should be willing to take all of that risk just to prove that it can be done. And in such a flimsy looking airplane, two feet of which, the wings, they lost on takeoff. Did you see the takeoff? When those wingtips were dragging on the ground, and it seemed as though the thing wouldn't take off, and then when it did, one foot was gone up, one wing, one foot from the other and the vertical thing was flapping so the pilot just did it like this and away that went and still they went on now that brings wonder to me and I'm glad I haven't lost my sense of wonder do you remember my old story about the two men standing by Niagara Falls and looking at the water pouring down there and listening to the crash of it hitting the rocks below and one said to the other, isn't that stupendous? Isn't that wonderful? The other one said, what is? He said, all that water going over there. The second fellow wanted to know, what's to stop it? No sense of wonder. The Christmas story is always a story that should conjure up wonder in our hearts. We find that this wonder is distilled by Isaiah into one very short verse. His name shall be called Wonderful. The same kind of wonder is evoked by Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, when the angel Gabriel has come to him and revealed to him that his wife, who is aged, is going to bring forth a son who shall be a forerunner for the Messiah, and he doesn't believe it. So the angel strikes him dumb. Temporarily he became very convinced. But we read of the people they marveled, and that's exactly the same word. They wondered, and twice they did it. If we have time, we'll just go back quickly and look at that story. The people wondered. Now let's think about this little sentence. His name shall be called Wonderful. God says that the wonder is going to make poor men rejoice. Last Sunday we were reminded about the fact that there was no room for the Lord Jesus in the house, no room in the inn, no room in the church. Do you remember that? No room in the inn? There are some who are unkind to the innkeeper because of this. They say he was a very rude man, that he did not find a place in his overcrowded inn for a woman who was just about to give birth to her firstborn. I think that the innkeeper did his very best in putting the stable at their disposal. And God intended it that way, so that poor men could rejoice, and the shepherds, without any difficulty at all, could reach the infant Christ. I don't think it would have been anywhere near as easy for them to do that, had he been in the inn. God has things worked out very wonderfully. And when the shepherds come, they are looking upon a child that has been born and a son that has been given. Now it would be erroneous if it read, unto us a son is born, unto us a child is given. The son never was born. He existed from an eternity past, back and back and back and back. and still further back. And he will exist into eternity future. On and on and on and on the Son was given. He took the form of a babe. It was the child that was born. Behold, the virgin shall conceive. Bring forth a child and his he shall be called Emmanuel God with us that's why his name is wonderful because God came down at Christmas beautiful how that that little sentence does something to our hearts his name shall be called wonderful Now let's go back to Luke and look at the story for a moment about Zacharias and Elizabeth. This is in Luke chapter one. And look at these words, the people marveled. Verse twenty one. The people waited for Zacharias and marveled that he carried so long in the temple. They knew that something wonderful was happening. They didn't know what. And when he came out he couldn't tell them, but they perceived that he had had a vision. And it goes on to tell us that when eventually the child was born, and his father, who could not speak, was approached by his neighbors, they made signs to his father how he would have him called, because they were already calling him by his father's name, Zacharias. And Zacharias said, his name shall be John. That was because the angel had given him instructions. and verse sixty three says and they marveled same word again they wondered all every one of them now what do we know about Zacharias and Elizabeth well let me just concentrate on Zacharias for a moment or two you will find that when the angel comes to him and that's how the story begins An angel came to Zachariah, and the very first thing that he said is this, Zachariah was troubled. Zachariah was troubled. Let's look at it. Luke chapter one and verse twelve. When Zachariah saw the angel, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. Now later on that angel says, I am Gabriel. Do you remember anybody else who was troubled when Gabriel came? Mary was troubled. Gabriel came to Mary to reveal to her that she was going to produce the baby Christ. But when she saw the angel, she was troubled. You know, the Lord Jesus troubles or thoughts about him trouble a lot of people. I don't know whether there's anybody here and thoughts of the Lord Jesus trouble you. Do you remember what happened to Herod when the wise men came and they came, of course, to the kingly city? Jerusalem and they said where is he that he's born King of the Jews for we have seen his star in the East do you know what it says of Herod of Herod and Herod was troubled and all Jerusalem with him The Lord Jesus has a way of being a very troubling issue for a lot of people who have not settled with God the matter of their sin. The Lord Jesus is a very troubling issue for those of us who have not surrendered to him everything that we are and have. and there are times in our lives I know when we are troubled because we come short of what he expects of us if you do not know the Lord Jesus as your Savior I cannot think of a better time of year to receive him into your heart than that which celebrates the time when there was no room for him in the inn. To be able to say, Lord Jesus, I have put this matter aside too long. I've parleyed with this too often. Lord Jesus, I know that you have a right to knock at my heart's door and that you could force yourself in, but I know that you won't. Lord Jesus, I am not going to leave it any longer. I want you to be my Savior. I want to be born again. I want to be saved. Because I realize my life as it is is empty. I need something. I need someone. And I realize what others may be have told me. What I've read in your word and sung in the hymns is true. What I need is Jesus. If you're troubled, Don't you go out from here that way, will you? Because the Lord Jesus is certainly seeking an entrance into your life. Zacharias was troubled. So was Mary. So was Herod. So was all of Jerusalem. Troubled. But if you go a little further down in this chapter, you'll read this. Zacharias asks, Where by shall I know this? for I am an old man and my wife well stricken in years he was incredulous he's not asking here something earnestly in order to know the answer he's saying I don't believe it now how do I know that look at the next verse and the angel answering and said unto him and I can hear him thundering I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God, and am sent to speak unto thee, and to show thee these glad tidings. And behold, thou shalt be done, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their seasons. There are some people too who are incredulous when it comes to the issue of the Lord Jesus. The choir is practicing a little hymn and I shouldn't tell you this in advance for the Christmas Eve party and one verse always speaks to me. How can a child like this be the saviour of the world. You know the shepherds, they accepted it and the shepherds said we've got to go and see for ourselves and they came and they went away glorifying God and as a result of that all that heard them wondered. That word keeps on cropping up. Of course it does because it has to do with the Lord Jesus. The end of the story, of course, is that Zacharias was convinced. When he opened his mouth and couldn't speak, that convinced him. He knew that that was true. He knew that it was going, it was a miracle, you know. The birth of John was a miracle. And when Mary, you recall, goes to visit Elizabeth after she has been visited by Gabriel... As soon as she enters the door, the babe in Elizabeth's womb leapt. And she expressed it to Mary, the mother of my Lord, she says. All these things are wonderful. All these things are wonderful. The people marveled. they marvelled all. But this story which is distilled by Isaiah into a short sentence and evoked by Zacharias, the father of the forerunner, is also detailed in Matthew and Luke. We don't have time to read again and you know the stories well enough so that I can quote from them. So many of the details of this story are wonderful. And they involve some wonderful people. Do you remember Simeon? Lord, let us now thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. He had the infant Christ in his arm. In his arms. Do you remember Anna the prophetess and the whole wonderful prophecy? Elizabeth wonderful person Mary of course the two especially wonderful people in the Christmas story here apart from the Christ Mary and Joseph Mary was troubled to begin with and then she was submissive you'll remember she said let it be to me according as thou wilt. She was submissive. And then she was effusive. She went to Elizabeth and she burst out with the Magnificat. My spirit doth rejoice in God, my Savior. She becomes enraptured. But I want to talk about Joseph, because poor Joseph somehow gets lust in the crowd. Tradition tells us that he was an older man, and I think that what we have in the Scriptures gives credence to this, because he very soon passes out of the picture and we read only of Mary and the brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus. so that this old man or older man is someone we should think about. I want you to go back again to Matthew one and let's read what he said about Joseph just as we bring the service to a close. Verse nineteen of chapter one says then Joseph her husband being a just man. The very first thing that the Bible says about Joseph is that he was upright. Would to God that that were true about every one of us. He was upright. God not only chose the right woman to be the mother of the Lord Jesus. He's awarded events. that the Lord Jesus got the right foster father in Joseph, an upright man. But he was also very, very compassionate. Listen to this. And remember, Mary has left in a hurry. She went with haste to see Elizabeth in a hurry. And she stayed three months. and she came back with child. Remember that. It says then Josie for a husband being a just man and not willing to make her a public example was minded to deal with the matter privately. A very compassionate man. Look at verse twenty. he was nevertheless a man who was puzzled he was a reluctant man it says but while he thought on these things now what kind of thoughts do you think were going through Joseph's mind at this time when he's trying to sort out the matters that seem to be bringing down all his castles in the air, spoiling all his dreams. While he thought on these things, the angel of the Lord came to him in a dream and says, Joseph, verse twenty, Thou son of David, notice that, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee marriage thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. Look at verse twenty-four. Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did, as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife. He was an obedient, a reachable kind of man, unquestioning, something else, and knew her not. He was a very, very patient man, till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and then he. called his name, Jesus. Joseph was a wonderful man. It's very interesting, if you will read the lineages in Matthew and in Luke, you will find that Luke only gives to us the names of men. He starts with a man and then mentions another one, the son of, the son of, the son of, the son of, the son of, until he goes all the way through the lineage that brought the Lord Jesus unto this seed. When you get back into Matthew chapter one, you will find that there are five men mentioned in that line. We read there of Tamar. of Rahab, of Ruth. This is a father, bearer son of Kema, of Rahab, of Ruth. And then this woman's not named. Of the wife of him, the wife of Uriah. Now that was Bathsheba, but her name is not mentioned. all of these, of this woman, of this woman, of this woman, of this woman, and then Mary is mentioned only to identify her husband. And do you realize that in that line of David, it was Joseph. It was the son of David. And so he's referred to by the angel. And humanly speaking... There is a flaw in the line of David because Joseph had nothing to do with the birth of the Lord Jesus. It's because the line of David is a spiritual thing. Didn't God speak of the people of God and say they're the true Israel? You're not just... You will, humanly speaking, his title, though he had nothing at all to do. with his birth so many wonderful things about all of this of course as we come to an end and that we must do because it's dinner time we have to remind our hearts again that as it says outside hope Baptist Church on Route is the reason for the season. For years now we've been being told to put Christ back into Christmas. Now most of us haven't let him go. Christmas is precious to us because it is His name that is wonderful. but do make sure that you have a personal relationship with him so that your sins are forgiven and you're a member of God's family and one who belongs to the Lord Jesus. Because if you don't, you'll go out from this Christmas Sunday morning service a very, very poverty-stricken and lost individual. Don't do that. Let's pray, shall we? Our Father, we thank thee for this lovely morning. We thank you for all of the blessings that surround us. We thank you for the blessing of the Word of God in our hands and the message in our hearing. We thank you that thy Holy Spirit stands beside us, very anxious to meet our need, whatever it may be, through the person whose name is wonderful. Make us wise. To take advantage of his nearness we pray thee. Dismiss us with thy blessing. Make this a good day for us. A happy day for us.