"Thou shalt call his name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins." He had been worried be cause Mary was expecting this child and they had not yet been togeth er as husband and wife. We have peace and pardon because of this promise. Satan had his head bruised. The captives were now liberated. Above all the tinsel and trappings of the season may we see our sin bearer. He came and He died that He might bring us to God. There are many things I need in this world of trial and burdens but they all pale in significance as compared to the basic need of my soul and spirit. I need a Saviour! This is what Christmas means. God has provided all the world with a Saviour. There was awoman in India who had learned of the fact that she was a sinner before God. Being abso lutely holy He cannot just lightly pass over sin. To Him it is no trivial matter. She knew that she needed some great mediator to stand between her soul and God. Later she learned that the Bible contained an account of a Saviour who had died for sinners. She asked a learned man to read the Scripture to her. He began at the first chapter of the New Testa ment. As he read the list of names in the geneology of the Messiah the woman thought, "What a won derful prince to have such a long line of ancestors." When she heard him read in the 21st verse, "Thou shalt call his name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins," she cried out of the very depths of her heart. Her joy knew no bounds. "Oh, this is the Prince I want. He is Prince who is also a Saviour!" She was absolutely right.
also the promise of Shiloh in Gen esis 49:10. Other familiar truths given to Israel are recorded for us in Numbers 24:17; Deuteronomy 18:15, 18; II Samuel 7:12, 13, 16; Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 7; Micah 5:2. All these glorious promises were ful filled and realized in Jesus of Naz areth, born of the virgin Mary. The Angel Gabriel testified, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:32, 33). The birth of the Messiah into the world means to me, as a son of Abraham, the assurance of a covenant-keeping God. The Lord always keeps His word. He delights to make these promises as well as to fulfill them. He will never dis appoint us in any sense (Isaiah 14:24, 27; 46:10, 11). A celebrated minister in his own biography told of an old Scottish member of his church who was a strange mixture of goodwill and foolishness. The lawyer drew up his will. After writ ing down several legacies of $2,500 to one person, $5,000 to another, he turned to the man to suggest, "Sir, I do not believe you have all that money to leave." Came the happy response, "Oh, I know that as well as you do. You see, I just wanted to show them my good will." Keep in mind that God's goodwill is not some mere pre tense. He can absolutely fulfill all that He has told us. He keeps ev ery single covenant. Then Christmas means the pro vision of the Saviour whom I need. I must have One who can save me from my sins. Joseph was told,
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