Bringing Many Sons to Glory

Hi everyone, so the reading today is from Matthew chapter 1 verses 18 to 25.

Matthew 1:18–25

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us.

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus.

God to know. My name is Bo, and I am one of the elders of the church.

Today's message, the title is Bringing Many Sons to Glory.

This title, while we are doing Matthew 1, verses 18 to 25, this title is taken from Hebrews 2, chapter 2, verse 10.

Matthew 1:18–25

In this verse, only sons are mentioned.

What happens to daughters?

Because in the New Testament, sons represent those who are to inherit, or having the right for inheritance.

And that's why everyone who is in Christ are sons.

Similarly, we are all daughters in Christ as well.

Daughters are used in the Bible as people who, like daughters of Jerusalem,

just people who depend on God for their life or for their significance.

So, it's not so much gender-based.

Okay.

And I've been thinking, like, last, when I first started this, preparing the sermon,

I was thinking the title, like, A Better Life or Bitter Life.

But then, towards the last weekend, it came to me that this could be the title I should use,

but I wasn't sure whether I could cover it.

It's quite a big title.

But then, last Sunday, for the household song, both morning and afternoon service,

the household song was the same.

It was chosen by two different people independently,

and it was, how deep the Father's love for us.

So, the first verse says,

How deep the Father's love for us,

how vast beyond all measure,

that he should give his only son to make a wretch his treasure.

How great is the pain of sharing loss,

the Father turns his face away,

as wounds which mar the chosen one,

bring many sons to glory.

So, I thought, well, since those two people chose the song,

that would confirm for me to speak on this title for today's sermon.

Shall we pray before we begin?

Oh, Father God, we thank you for the grace that is awaiting us,

even as we read your word and listen to you.

And we also thank you for reminding us that we are made in your image.

Even though we see everywhere in the world the shadow remains,

we know that you are doing something to restore us and restore your creation.

And we await that day to come.

And as we do so, help us to live a life worthy of calling.

Thank you, Father.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

On 17th April 1975,

the inhabitants of Nong Peng,

that is the capital of Cambodia,

they were very excited.

They were celebrating on the street

because they've been fighting

with their own government for a long time.

the government that was under King Suhano,

that is very corrupted.

And so,

people, they are not happy.

They were looking for a better government,

a better life.

And so,

for years before that day,

Pol Pot was leading the rebellion

with the communist army

under the help of Chinese communists.

So,

eventually,

and finally,

they won the war

and toppled the king.

And people were very happy on that day.

So,

Pol Pot and his army marched into the city.

And on the same day,

Pol Pot executed 800 people,

all those top officials of the whole government.

And the same day,

he ordered 2.5 million of the inhabitants of Nong Peng

to march out to the rural area

because he didn't trust any of those people.

And so,

many people died

as they went out under the hot sun

and with very little provision.

And over the next four and a half,

four years and four months,

one in four of the population

died because of Pol Pot's regime.

And there was no education

over those four years and four months.

No industry,

no development.

And it took 20 years

after Pol Pot was toppled

for the nation

to start developing again.

So,

it's quite a big blow

to the whole nation.

What happened to Pol Pot's vision?

You see that at the beginning,

Pol Pot,

I think he did want to give people of Cambodia

a better life.

But he ended up giving them death.

The Cambodians' dream of a better life

became a nightmare.

The problem was that

Pol Pot tasted power.

We all like to have power.

Power means that we can achieve

the desire of our hearts.

Pol Pot also had the backing

of the communist ideology.

Pol Pot was convinced

that communism was a way

to achieve utopia for his people.

He therefore needed to kill

all the potential threats

to protect himself

and the ideology.

Human hearts are both

short-sighted

and self-centered.

We do anything

to protect our own interests,

often not considering

the things we do

may eventually destroy us.

When we all do that,

even the food that we eat right now

could be destroying us

slowly.

We don't even know

because we enjoy doing it.

Or anything that we do,

the movie that we watch,

the work that we do,

they all can be

damaging to our bodies

or our souls.

We just didn't know

or didn't think about it.

The king of Cambodia

allowed his officials

to oppress his people

because he gained much wealth

from that corrupt behavior.

He did not think that

this would eventually

lead to his own demise.

The people of Cambodia

supported Paul Port

and his ideology

because they wanted to escape

from their corrupt government.

And Paul Port

oppressed the people

more than the government

he toppled

so as to maintain his power.

He thought that

by killing all the educated people

and leaders,

no one would challenge him.

He did not expect

his own official

were the ones

to finally rebel

against him.

Humans have been trying

to build a better society

to live since history began.

We all think

that we could do better

than our forefathers.

We think that we can

have better marriages,

better families,

better governments,

or even better churches,

but we fail.

If you remember

1 Kings chapter 19

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention

when

when

who is that

I just have a

mental blank

when the prophet

Elijah

asked God

to take his life

he said

I'm no better

than my forefathers

even though

Elijah was such a

great man

a great prophet

but he

he was

still trying to

do something

better than his forefathers

and he felt so disappointed

that he couldn't achieve it.

And that

so the best

even the best of us

would feel that

we could not

make a better society

make a better church

or make a better family

even.

I suppose

you can see

that the disappointing

outcomes

should be expected

if you understand

that the problem

is with the raw material.

The humans

who make up

the marriages

and societies

are rotten.

So when you mix

rotten eggs

together

you should not

expect to get

something good

out of it.

We see this

even clearer

in the

story of Exodus.

So God provided

the Israelites

the best

human leader possible

to rescue them

from the Egyptians.

And on their way

to the promised land

the Israelites

complained

bitterly

and repeatedly

about being

mistreated

by Moses

or misguided

by Moses.

Every time

the Israelites

complained

Moses prayed

to God

for them

and God

provided their

needs

but they

kept complaining.

Why did they

keep complaining?

Because they were

short-sighted

and self-centered.

Their slogan was

what do we want?

We want a better life.

When do we want it?

We want it now.

And this slogan

has been repeated

ever since then

until now.

The Israelites

wanted to get

into the promised land

straight away

because God

had promised

to bring them

to the land

flowing with

milk and honey.

Do you know

what would happen

if you put

rotten people

into a land

flowing with

milk and honey?

You can imagine

they would start

fighting for more

milk and honey.

they would start

fighting to

be the most

prominent person

and basically

they would spoil

the place

as they are

and they did.

I mean,

eventually they went in

and they did spoil

the place.

But the fact that

we are always looking

for something better,

a better life,

a better marriage,

better government

tells us

that we

have been created

for something better.

We fail again

and again

to build a better

society

with education

and civilization

because our minds

are crooked

and our hearts

are rotten.

It takes someone

with a right mind

and a pure heart

to start the process.

We cannot produce

someone from

within ourselves.

We needed to

come from

it

it needed to come

from outside

of us.

Just like the

computer

programming terms

garbage in,

garbage out.

So we cannot use

garbage

to produce

good things.

And so

that's how

this story

comes in

today.

So

going back

to

last week

from

Matthew 1

Matthew 1:1–17

verses 1

to 17

it tells us

about God's plan

and the

genealogy.

So despite

the Israelites

short-sightedness

and self-centeredness,

God did not

leave the Israelites

alone

because he promised

their ancestor

Abraham

that his

descendants

would become

a big nation

and become

all the nations

of the earth

will be blessed

through them.

God does not

leave the world

alone either.

He promised

Adam and Eve

that an offspring

of woman

would abolish

the curse

of their fall.

God has

an eternal

plan for his

kingdom

and this plan

will be fulfilled.

The fulfillment

of God's promise

to Abraham

is part of

the fulfillment

of his promise

to Adam and Eve.

Today we have

come to the beginning

of the fulfillment

of both promises,

the coming of the Christ.

The Christ

or the Messiah

means someone

who is anointed

or chosen by God

to establish

his kingdom.

The existence

of Israel

was to prepare

for the coming

of Christ.

We read in Galatians

Galatians 4:4

chapter 4 verse 4

but when the fullness

of time had come

God sent forth

his son

born of woman

born under the law

to redeem those

who were under the law

so that we might

receive adoption

as sons.

The birth of Christ

had to be unique

if it was that

someone who came

from outside of us.

This someone

needed to be holy

like God

to redeem us.

He also needed

to be one of us

to represent us.

He needed to be

both God

and man

both holy

and common.

The virgin birth

was therefore

necessary

to make this

combination possible.

You may think

that virgin birth

is scientifically

impossible.

You can think

deeper again.

If scientists

can make

test tube babies

why could not

God make

a baby

from a woman?

Eve was made

from a man

without a woman?

Adam was made

without a man

or a woman.

Even for all

of us who are

made because of

one man and one woman

it's still

miraculous.

If you know

how many things

can go wrong

for pregnancy

to happen

for a child

to be born

you will know

that each

birth is a miracle

in itself.

So even though

we said that

the virgin birth

is a miracle

actually any birth

is a miracle

if you know

how many things

could go wrong

in any

consciousness of birth.

So the virgin birth

though we call it

virgin birth

actually is virgin

conception

so it's the

more appropriate

term

and the

virgin conception

is necessary

because

Jesus needed

to come

from outside

of human beings

but he also

needed to be

part of human beings.

But like most

people

Joseph could not

believe this

and how could

Mary explain

to Joseph

about her pregnancy?

The Holy Spirit

made me pregnant

or

Mary could

also

tell

Joseph

if you do not

believe me

you can ask

my cousin

Elizabeth.

Actually God

did not leave

Mary on her own

there was

someone

who can

confirm

Mary's

story.

But

Joseph

did not

bother

to go

and

see

Elizabeth

is some

distance away

I suppose

so he decided

to cancel

the marriage.

So Mary's

pregnancy

presented

a huge

problem

to Joseph.

I think

he loved

Mary

but he was

an Israelite

a person

who was

born under

the law.

To him

marriage

was sacred

and audient

by God.

To have

to be seen

to have

premarital sex

would mean

disrespect

to God's

will

for marriage

and dishonor

to both

families.

So if

he accepted

the responsibility

for the pregnancy

and married

Mary

he would

bear the

shame

of having

premarital

sex

with Mary.

If he

denounced

Mary as

an adulteress

and cancelled

the marriage

Mary

would be

stoned to

death.

Joseph was

a just

man.

He could

not

believe

or tolerate

Mary's

behavior.

In

Joseph's mind

Mary was

not only

an adulteress

but also

a liar.

Though

Joseph

tried to

be kind

in planning

to cancel

the marriage

quietly

he was

still

short-sighted

because he

could not

see

miracles.

Joseph

was still

self-centered

he needed

to protect

his own

reputation.

The

cancellation

of the

marriage

would only

save

Mary

for a

short

time.

How

would

Mary

explain

the

baby

to

other

people

in

the

jungle.

If

Joseph

did not

believe

Mary's

story

what is

the

chance

of

other

people

believing

in

Mary's

story?

You

might

think

that

it

was

fair

for

Joseph

not

to

believe

in

Mary's

story.

If

I

was

Joseph

I

wouldn't

believe

in

that

story

either.

But

considering

if

Joseph

faced

God

in

God's

judgment

throne

before

God's

judgment

throne

God

asked

him

why

didn't

you

believe

Mary's

story?

Joseph

can

defend

himself

and

say

that

well

this

story

is

simply

not

possible

it's

not

believable

then

God

will

ask

Joseph

did

you

believe

in

Mary?

Joseph

will

have

a

bit

of

answer

this

question

because

I

think

he

loved

Mary

and

he

did

believe

in

Mary

and

he

knew

that

Mary

was

a

good

person

so

God

would

ask

him

that

he

told

him

that

you

should

have

considered

Mary's

story

seriously

take

her

work

seriously

you

see

whether

a

story

is

believable

is

not

so

much

about

whether

it's

scientific

or

whether

it

happened

before

but

it

depends

a lot

who

is

the

one

who

tells

you

the

story

if

someone

who

is

trustworthy

and

someone

who

has

no

history

of

lying

and

telling

your

story

I

think

we

all

need

to

take

it

seriously

and

find

out

if

he

went

to

see

Elizabeth

but

he

didn't

so

but

God

was

gracious

God

did

not

leave

Joseph

out

of

the

loop

in

this

matter

because

Joseph

was a

descendant

of

King

David

and

Joseph

played

an

important

role

as we

have

read

from

last

week's

genealogy

for

the

promise

of

God

to

take

place

God

gave

Joseph

a

dream

so

this

dream

is

a

better

dream

than

the

one

that

Joseph

had

before

we

can

imagine

Joseph

had

a

dream

about

his

marriage

how

he's

going

to be

happy

ever

after

with

Mary

all

those

things

as

all

we

do

and

then

Mary

told

him

that

he's

pregnant

so

his

dream

was

shattered

and

now

today

we

are

reading

another

dream

a

better

dream

for

Joseph

this

dream

confirmed

to

Joseph

that

miracle

was

possible

and

it

was

happening

right

before

his

eyes

and

also

this

was

a

sign

that

God

was

fulfilling

his

promise

to

Abraham

and

King

David

that

the

virgin

shall

conceive

and bear

a son

and

shall

call

his

name

Emmanuel

this

had

been

recorded

by

Isaiah

600

years

before

even

though

Joseph

was

not

the

biological

father

of

Jesus

he

would

be

the

adopted

father

of

Jesus

so

that

Jesus

would

become

the

greatest

son

of

David

so

the

dream

restored

Joseph's

trust

towards

Mary

Mary

was

not

being

unfaithful

to

Joseph

Mary

was

being

obedient

to

God

like

Joseph

Mary

would

have

her

own

dreams

about

her

marriage

God

had

given

her

greater

dream

to

conceive

Jesus

Mary

was

prepared

to

sacrifice

her

own

dreams

her

idea

of

marriage

and

even

her

dignity

because

she

would

know

what

Joseph

would

do

to

her

God

would

Joseph

prepare

to

stand

with

Mary

to

go

ahead

with

the

marriage

would

mean

a

loss

of

status

in

the

society

Joseph's

life

would

become

harder

Joseph

like

Mary

was

changed

by

God

and

you

see

this

again

and

again

in

the

Bible

there's

God's

grace

in

the

change

in

people's

life

after

the

dream

Joseph's

idea

of a

better

life

was no

longer

the

same

he

had

something

much

greater

or

bigger

to

live

for

he

stood

by

Mary

and

married

her

in

adopting

the

son

of

God

as

his

own

son

Joseph

played

an

important

role

in

God's

plan

of

adopting

rebels

as

his

sons

the

angel

of

the

Lord

said

you

shall

call

his

name

Jesus

for

he

will

save

his

people

from

their

sins

the

name

of

Jesus

was

not

randomly

given

name

it

represents

his

nature

and his

purpose

in life

as we

shall see

in the

book of

Matthew

his name

tells us

not only

what he

was going

to do

it

tells us

what kind

of person

he was

to the

world

Jesus

was not

an

impressive

person

he grew

up in a

little

and unknown

town

his father

was a

carpenter

he did

not have

any

qualification

or degree

to his

name

he did

not

write

a

book

to tell

people

how to

have

a

better

life

he

simply

lived

a

life

of

joyful

obedience

to

God

the

main

difference

between

him

and

other

people

was

that

he

did

not

come

to

fulfill

himself

none

of

this

Jesus

said

I

can

do

nothing

on

my

own

that

is

from

the

book

of

John

John 5:19

chapter 5

verse 19

in particular

Jesus

repeatedly

saying

that

I

can

do

nothing

on

my

own

except

what

my

father

told

me

to

do

Jesus

was

farsighted

and

God

centered

he

said

he

could

do

nothing

of

eternal

value

if

he

did

them

for

his

own

glory

Jesus

did

not

come

to

fulfill

his

own

and

that

is

how

the

image

that

Jesus

is

restoring

or

an

image

of

us

as

being

created

by

God

how

we

should

live

Jesus

started

by

giving

up

his

equal

status

with

God

and

became

a

man

Emmanuel

means

God

with

us

or

God

mixing

with

us

living

together

in

armies

despite

this

being

foretold

by

Isaiah

the

Israelites

could

not

believe

this

was

possible

the

Israelites

were

the

people

who

knew

they

were

rotten

because

God's

law

told

them

so

they

therefore

could

not

believe

that

the

holy

God

would

come

near

them

though

they

believed

that

if

they

worked

hard

enough

to

obey

the

law

they

could

become

good

enough

to

be

accepted

by

God

when

Jesus

came

they

were

not

prepared

to

receive

him

as

the

son

of

God

some

call

him

good

teacher

some

call

him

a

lunatic

some

call

him

a

liar

what

do you

think

will

happen

when

someone

with

a

right

mind

and

a

pure

heart

live

among

people

of

crooked

minds

and

rotten

hearts

people

would

find

him

both

attractive

and

repulsive

attractive

because

he

was

never

anxious

he

was

never

resentful

he

was

never

bitter

he

was

never

in a

hurry

so

when

people

look at

Jesus

they

would

find

that

he's

quite

a

fascinating

person

he

Jesus

didn't

seem

to

have

worries

that we

do

all

have

so

for

today

as soon

as we

wake up

we will

have

things

that

will

worry

us

things

that

we

want

to

be

in a

hurry

to

finish

or

accomplish

and

things

that

will

upset

us

and

those

who

live

near

Jesus

will

find

that

Jesus

didn't

have

such

things

Jesus

never

complained

like

the

Israelites

complained

bitterly

about

all the

discomforts

they

gone

through

and

Jesus

did

not

live

a

comfortable

life

and

Jesus

was

kind

to

the

needy

he

had

time

with

the

poor

with

the

sick

with

those

rejected

by

the

society

and

Jesus

was

unlike

the

leaders

of

the

time

we

can

see

the

leaders

it's

more

about

performance

as

like

performance

like

mobistar

rather

than

serving

the

people

so

we

can

see

people

who

want

to

be

president

would

criticize

the

presidency

people

who

want

to

be

in

government

would

criticize

the

government

so

a lot

of

talks

but

not

many

people

really

live

among

the

people

and

serve

them

and

people

who

are

near

Jesus

will

see

that

Jesus

was

not

like

this

Jesus

did

talk

and

teach

he

did

teach

but

more

than

teaching

Jesus

lived

with

people

he

had

compassion

with

those

who

are

lost

and

that's

the

part

of

the

difference

that people

would

notice

and be

attracted

to

Jesus

but

then

there

are

also

people

who

find

Jesus

repulsive

because

Jesus

was not

bound

by

traditions

he

was

not

bound

by

the

reputations

or

sensations

he

just

did

not

try

to

appease

anyone

and

he

was

not

intimidated

by

those

who

were

in

power

so

eventually

he

would

become

such

a

threat

to

those

who

were

in

power

that

they

plotted

to

discredit

him

by

killing

him

on

the

cross

the

Israelites

were

correct

in

thinking

that

they

were

rotten

they

were

mistaken

in

thinking

that

rotten