He Will Save His People

HOOK

We need as Savior!

When you’re dealing with something as valuable and as complex and as truly amazing as a human life, even small degrees matter.

All Satan needs to do is tap you a few degrees off course and you end up lost.

Trevor de Nett was the navigator on BOAC Flight 251, the night of May 25th, 1952— The flight from London to Tunis had passed relatively uneventful – except for a little whiffle in the air compass

The final leg of their journey was to take them from Tunis to Accra— It should have been a simple overnight journey, except for that compass.

Back in 1952, you didn’t have GPS – you had these special compasses that required a certain air pressure to let the needle flow freely

Because of the sensitivity of the instrument, it was common practice to put a little bit of electrical tape over the opening when you did maintenance, but you took it off before flight.

And every few hours, if you lost your bearings, you were supposed to take astronomical observations and plot your position

As I said, the trip started out uneventfully— A simple hop from one coast of Africa to the other— But, Trevor de Nett was unmindful that the tape hadn’t come off

His compass was just a few degrees off course— It wasn’t much – maybe 10 degrees or so – but that was all that was needed

They flew all night. By morning, they should have been there— But when the sun rose, chief steward Len Smee knew there was a problem

If you’re flying north-south, the sun should not rise behind the tail of the plane— When he went to speak with de Nett about this curious fact, the navigator had to admit – he had been fudging the astro-charts all night— After all, the results weren’t matching up with his compass

By 6 in the morning, they knew they were lost— But it was too early in the morning to raise anyone on the radio— When they finally heard a voice, they figured out they were nowhere near Ghana – but rather here – in Mauritania - the middle of the Sahara desert.

Their plan was simple enough. Try to make it to Dakar, or even Atar, and get their bearings— But the night was long and fuel was scarce.

By 8:00 am, still mostly lost and running low on fuel, Smee woke the passengers and gave them a crash course in, well, how to survive a crash— It was inevitable now. Those few degrees had them simply too far from any runway

Half an hour later, it happened. With no gas and no runway, the plan glided to a bumpy landing, skidding across the sand dunes, and finally coming to a rest in the middle of nowhere

Miraculously, no was killed – although the first officer Ted Haslam, had been banged up pretty bad

As the scorching sun rose that day, temperatures rose to nearly 50 degrees Centigrade— That’s 112 degrees Farenheit— And for miles around, the horizon was nothing but mountain of sand after mountain of sand.

Since they had made some radio contact, they knew they needed to stay with the plane. Hours upon excruciating hours later, they made finally made contact with the search and rescue plane— But there was nowhere for it to land.

Supplies were dropped, and the passengers – including a six month old baby – simply did the best they could

For two days, they waited with the plane— Eventually, a French medical team parachuted in— Finally, on May 30th, the decision was made— They’d have to trek nearly 15 hours to the nearest oasis— But their troubles weren’t done yet

Sandstorms come and go in the desert— They set out at night, in the hopes of avoiding the heat, but they didn’t count on the wind— Midway between their plane and their destination, it blew up— It was so blinding, they couldn’t move. Clearly, they were about to die, once again

Eleven men, one woman, and a six month old baby, in the middle of nowhere, no hope of salvation

So, Smee made an outrageous gamble. He told everyone else to stay put. He trudged on ahead – and by God’s own providence came across a band of nomadic Arabs— He led their caravan back to his ragtag crew, and they safely led them to the oasis

But every simple error has a price— The first officer – Ted Haslam, made to the oasis, but not to safety— He died for de Nett’s mistake on May 31st.

We too live with simple mistakes— We live our lives off the charts and by the seat of our pants— It’s easy, it’s natural

But when we get off course, as we so often do, we need a savior to lead us home— There’s a lot of sand, but only one way home— We all need a Savior!

When the angel appeared to Joseph and told him what he must do— one of the things that he made so clear to Joseph was to give Mary’s Son the name Jesus— from the Hebrew name “Yeshua”, which means “Yahweh saves.”

Matthew narrated it this way… please grab your Bible and open it to…

BOOK | MATTHEW 1:18-25

Matthew 1:18–25 NIV

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. 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. 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. 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.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

LOOK

MARY WAS PLEDGED TO BE MARRIED TO JOSEPH

Pledge, when kept can translate prophecy to reality— when we keep our pledges, God will keep His promises

We are saved by grace through faith— the faith of Joseph converted his fear to favor

Even before Yeshua was born, his mission was already made clear to us— though was it really clear enough?— let’s go back to it again and see if we might be missing something

BECAUSE HE WILL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS

Who are these people that He will save?

It started with a promise to Abraham—

Galatians 3:16 (NIV)

16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.

Let’s revisit the promise quickly

Genesis 12:1–3 (NIV)

1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Jesus is the seed of Abraham— He is the fulfillment of that promise

Jesus took the curse for us and whosoever believes in him are heir to the promise of God to Abraham

That promise was extended to all who believe leading to one people of faith descended from Abraham [including Jews & Gentiles]

Galatians 3:7–8 (NIV)

7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”

Romans 4:16 (NIV)

16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

That is the people referred to by the angel who appeared to Joseph in a dream— the people that the Lord will save— the people of faith are all children of the Abraham [the father of faith]

Noticeably, there was fear in Joseph in all these— he even thought of quietly divorcing her because…

HE DID NOT WANT TO EXPOSE HER TO PUBLIC DISGRACE

Though it’s true that a promise was given to Abraham [the father of faith]— the law was given to Moses [the guardian of the law]— why was the law given?

The purpose of the law is to expose our sin and the wickedness of mankind, to make us aware that we all need a savior— Joseph wasn’t outright convinced that the baby in Mary’s womb was indeed conceived by the Holy Spirit— he thought that the baby was a product of sin

Sin is a curse— and no one is justified before God through the law

Galatians 3:10 (NIV)

10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”

And that was taken from the law itself in…

Deuteronomy 27:26 (NIV)

26 “Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

James 2:10 (NIV)

10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

Galatians 3:11 (NIV)

11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.”

We all need a savior!— and that was the plan when God sent His Son

Jesus is our Savior

Titus 1:4 (NIV)

4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

His purpose is to seek and save the lost

Luke 19:9–10 (NIV)

9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

He redeemed us from the curse by taking the curse upon himself

Galatians 3:13 (NIV)

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”

That was taken from…

Deuteronomy 21:23 (NIV)

23 you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Ok Pastor— I heard everything you said before— the problem, the plan, the promise, the purpose

The problem is we could be off-course!— the plan was for the Father to send His Son— the promise was to save us— and His purpose was to seek those who are lost!— But!

From what, or from whom do we need saving from? What brings our compass off-track?

We need saving from this world

Romans 12:2 (NIV)

2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

We need saving from the Devil

Ephesians 6:10–12 (NIV)

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

We need saving from ourselves

James 1:13–16 (NIV)

13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.

This season of Advent is the best time for us to do an inventory of ourselves

How conformed are we to the patterns of this world?— How easily do we give in to the the temptations of the Devil?— How quickly we are dragged away by our own evil desires?

Jesus wants to save us from all these— by obeying these words inspired by God!

TOOK

MY PRAYER AND DEVOTION TO HIS WORD ARE MY WEAPONS NOT TO CONFORM TO THIS WORLD

Psalm 119:9–11 (NIV)

9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. 10 I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. 11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Question: How conformed are you to the patterns of this world? How much time do you set aside for prayer and devotion each week?

MY SUBMISSION TO GOD IS MY RESISTANCE TO THE DEVIL

James 4:7 (NIV)

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Question: How easily do you give in to the temptations of the devil? Are you fully submitted to God? What are some instances that you aren’t able to resist the devil?

I PURSUE RIGHTEOUSNESS BY NOT GIVING IN TO MY EVIL DESIRES

2 Timothy 2:22 (NIV)

22 Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Question: How quickly you are dragged away by your own evil desires? How strong is your self control?