# The couple of Christmas

Key Passage: Matthew 1:18-25
Date: June 7, 2024

Turn your Bibles to Matthew chapter number one. Matthew chapter number one in God’s word this morning. We’re going to focus on Christmas on Sunday mornings from here through Christmas. This morning will be the couple.

Mary and Joseph, the couple of Christmas. Next Sunday morning will be the guest of Christmas. Christmas Day that morning will be the reason of Christmas. And if you’re able, some of you be out of town, understand that if you’re able, I’d like you to be here that morning and really just focus on the true meaning of the reason for Christmas. And then that night we’ve mentioned already the gifts of Christmas. And so I hope you just involved in everything around the Christmas season.

Matthew chapter number one of God’s word. Matthew chapter one, we’re going to start in verse number 18 this morning.

I’m saying this, and I just got your mind elsewhere, but let’s try to bring our faults in it. Let’s focus on God’s work for just a little bit here this morning, and the couple of Christmas. Matthew 1, verse number 18. Would you please stand just try to show the Word of God respect this morning? Matthew 1, we’re going to start verse number 18. Matthew 1.

And verse number 18, the Bible there says, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother, Mary, was espoused to Joseph.”

Time out for just a moment. Let’s talk about a spouse or a spouse. We compare it. It’s really the fair comparison somewhat to being engaged, but it’s not on the other hand, because it’s much, much stronger than engagement. I’ve heard of couples the day of their wedding, one of the two saying, “Hey, this isn’t right. I’m walking away at the altar,” type thing. You’ve heard those things happen, and that’s legal. That’s all right. My wife prayed up to our wedding day, “Lord, if he’s not the one, show me.” And I said, “Quit praying that prayer,” you know. It wasn’t quite like that, but along that line. But we both wanted to make sure we’re doing God’s will. Pray, Lord. She quit praying that after we got married, and I think before she did. But that’s all right. You want to make sure you’re marrying the right one. And that’s all right in American culture, legally so on and so on, until you say, “I do.”

But it was different, espousal. When you’re espoused, the only way to get out of it is divorce or death. You’d kill the other one, amen, you know. That’s the only way out. Legally, you’re married. Now, it hadn’t been consummated. Typically, that was months later once the husband had the house prepared, if you will. But you’re married.

And so Mary and Joseph were, for all, just really sake of saying a term, they’re married, but it wasn’t consummated. Now, I’ll probably use this term engaged, but I want you to understand it’s much, much stronger than engaged in biblical times. If I use that term, please understand, it’s much stronger. They were married, but they physically had not been together yet. You understand? But they could not get out without getting a divorce or death. All right. I want you to understand that. That’s where Mary and Joseph were picking up the store. They were espoused. They were married legally, but they had not been together physically. I want you to understand what’s going on here. So back here, verse number 18.

“When as his mother, Mary, was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.”

Notice the wording of that. She was found with child of the Holy Ghost. That’s interesting. Then Joseph, her husband—notice the way the Bible works—her husband. It doesn’t say fiancé; the Bible just says her husband. They were espoused, much stronger. “Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately. But while he pondered 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 shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,’ which being interpreted is God with us.” By the way, that’s Isaiah 7:14. The Old Testament prophecy verse is speaking of there. By the way, these new virgins, they mess it up. So many of them, they call her a maiden. Well, there’s not much of a sign if it’s a maiden. A lot of maidens were having babies. It was a virgin. “Behold a virgin shall be with child and so on.”

Verse number 24: “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 forth her firstborn son. And he called his name Jesus.”

I want you to see just a brief timeline of Mary and Joseph, the couple of Christmas, just briefly up front here at the very beginning.

The announcement from the angel Gabriel to Mary, it’s over in Luke 1. We didn’t read it. That’s really the beginning of this couple being involved in Christmas. The angel just appears to Mary and says, “Mary, you’re highly favored, and you’re going to have a baby, and it’s going to be called the Son of God; it’s going to be the highest.” And Mary’s first thing, first thing she said is, “How can this be? I don’t—I’ve never known a man,” and understandable. And so Gabriel, he says, “Well, it’s going to be from God, and God’s going to overshadow. The Holy Ghost is going to plant that seed inside of you.” And Mary says, at the end of it, she says, “Okay, let it be according to thy word, unto thy handmaid.” Showing some humility there, which is great.

But I wonder at the end of that, once Gabriel leaves, you know, you’re startled by this angel, and you’ll have a baby, and she took it by faith, and she said, “All right.” But imagine once Gabriel leaves, imagine what starts going through her head. I would tend to think, ladies, you probably do a better judge of it than me, but I would tend to think the next thing going through mine: What about Joseph? I don’t want to hurt him. I love him. I’m married in many respects to him. That’s my husband. What is he going to say about this? Is he going to believe me? What’s he going to say? “Mary, you’re crazy. Have you ever heard of a virgin being expecting?”

Technically, legally by the Old Testament law, Deuteronomy is, I believe it is—we’re not going to look at it this morning—but technically if a young maiden like that was to commit adultery, to really marry, then she could be taken before the law and she could be killed. That was the law. I don’t know what I was going through Mary’s mind, but she thought, “Wow, what if Joseph is just so infuriated, so angry, technically he really could have me killed?” Besides all that, I just don’t want to hurt the man I love. But she continues on. She said, “All right, let it be according to that word.”

Let’s look at the next thing here, just a little timeline of this couple. Right after that, Mary takes off and she visits her cousin, Elizabeth. Remember that, Zacharias and Elizabeth. She’s six months along carrying John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus Christ. I don’t know—the Bible is not clear—but I tend to think, and I’ve tried to study it out the best I can tell, that at this point, Joseph really didn’t know about it. I don’t know.

But she takes off right after this, and she goes, you know, that finishes Luke 1:38, then verse number 39 of Luke 1. She takes off and goes, she travels over to her cousin Elizabeth’s house. I think Elizabeth was a great help to Mary. Her husband was a priest, and so she had access to the prophets, to the Bible, the Old Testament. And I don’t know that Mary understood it. You would think maybe Mary understood from Isaiah 7:14. It’s going to be a virgin, but she’s the first thing—I don’t know of them. I’m not sure about all that. She did quote Bible later on. But I think Elizabeth was just a great help, Zacharias and Elizabeth, to Mary. She went there for three months. She stayed there. Maybe because she got morning sickness, and your first trimester made it a little hard to hide that, you know. So she leaves town and she leaves her husband for a while. And she just goes over there and she’s over there with Elizabeth and Zacharias for three months. Elizabeth’s about—and I imagine she learned a lot about carrying a baby. I mean, you know, her cousin Elizabeth’s got six months along about to have the baby and all that. But anyway, it seems to lend right before Elizabeth had the baby.

Let’s get the next one on the timeline, if you would, please. Mary’s three months expecting, she goes back to her hometown of Nazareth, and that’s when we just read it. She is found with child. It wasn’t interesting—I mentioned it as I read it—she’s found with child. And it’s almost like, can’t hide it anymore. I mean, you know, whatever term you want to give it, the pooch or whatever, or have her. But somehow, she’s found out; you can’t hide it anymore. A lot of times young couples, they don’t like to tell everybody until after the trimester, first trimester, because that’s a lot of times there’s a danger point. Once you’re past that, all right, we’ll tell everybody because we’re past the trimester, and because we can’t hide it anymore, you know, I mean. And something along that line, she’s found with child. I wonder how the buzz around town started about, “Well, Mary and Joseph didn’t wait until the time, you know, the completed wedding feast wasn’t all, you know, what’s going on with them? Boy, they’re not as pure and clean as everybody thought they were.” I don’t know. I would imagine, you know, there’s people—you understand, people have mouths, you know, all of us do, you know. And I imagine that starts happening up, and of course, she’s found with child, so Joseph…

I don’t know everything about it. We read what goes through his mind. Let’s look at the next thing here on this timeline. Joseph, he contemplates what to do. I mean, the Bible says a couple things there. He’s thinking it through. I like it that Joseph wasn’t just, boom, a man of just sometimes, you know, dust things happen, thought it all through, and boy, he’d have messed up then for sure. He’s contemplated. He was a just man. He shows he’s probably a man of principle. And he’s an honest, hardworking man. He pays his bill. He does the right thing. He’s a just man. So he thinks, “Well, principle here is… I mean, she can say whatever, but she’s expecting a baby, and that doesn’t just happen.” You know, I imagine these things are going through his mind. He’s a just man, a man of principle. And we got some Old Testament scriptures that tell us what to do when this happens. But not only that, I think he’s a little bit of a man of mercy. So he said, “Well, I’m not going to just take her to the elders, if you will. I’m going to put her away privately.” Have a little mercy here. I’m going to put her away, but I’m going to do it in secret. I don’t want her to be killed. I do love the lady, but my heart’s just breaking. And I’m trying to do the right thing here, and I’m a just man, a man of principles, and, you know, do I want to be married to a lady I can’t trust? Imagine all this stuff going through his mind.

But he’s contemplating. While he’s contemplating all that, Gabriel, the angel, shows up. Praise your Lord for that. And Gabriel says, “Hey, Joseph, Mary’s not—she’s not making up a fib. She’s not dreamed up this thing. This is from God. God’s doing something, Joseph. And this baby that’s inside your wife’s womb, it’s from God, and God’s doing something here. And this baby, remember, it’s prophesied, it’s going to be the Messiah. He’s going to be called the Son of the Highest, and he’s the Savior of the world, and you’re going to call his name Jesus. You have a special part in this thing. There’s a sacrifice for sure, but you have a specialist part in this thing.”

It’s interesting, the Bible never tells us one time any words of Joseph. Now we have—we had some words from Mary that Mary says—but we never have any words. Joseph is just like the guy; we don’t know what he ever says. But if he comes out of this dream after Gabriel told him what to do, the Bible says he doesn’t tell us what he said or anything; he just got up and he did it. I like men like that. They don’t have to carry on show and all; they just get up and do it, you know. That’s kind of Joseph. He just got up and did what he’s supposed to do, as Joseph.

And then let’s see the last thing here on this timeline, I believe it is, with Mary being far along—it just says “great with child” over there, Luke 2. I don’t think if you read the scripture when she was there, she delivered. We know that while she was there. But I don’t think if you read it, that maybe it’s always good for a Christmas play. But, you know, while they’re coming there, you know, she’s having the baby right there when they get to the end. I don’t know that it happened like that. Scripture means to thank you there for just a bit. But she was great with child. I don’t know. And they travel down from Nazareth 70 miles as a crow flies. It could have been up to 90 if they went across the Jordan River. But can you imagine traveling now? The donkeys in the movies and the plays—we don’t know if it was a donkey or what—but they got to travel at least 70 miles. We know that. And probably took them up to a week’s time. She’s great with child. I mean, just traveling after the baby is born hard, but you know what she’s expecting and they’re traveling, you know, where they’re walking or a donkey or whatever. I mean, all these miles and days are traveling, and they get down to Bethlehem for the census, and Jesus is born.

Now, let me just—I want to give you a little timeline of this young couple. And let’s just—let’s just talk about this young couple. We’ll go ahead and turn it off if you would, Brother Josh, please. I wanted to kind of get the mindset what’s going on. Would you let me—would you let for me just a little bit this morning? Would you let me preach? Well, it doesn’t mind if you let me, but would you enjoy preaching for a little bit this morning? But let me just for a moment here to talk about it.

It was a young couple. When God wanted to leave heaven and be born and become flesh, become a man, God did not choose the government to be born into. God did not choose the school to be born into. God did not choose a daycare to be born into. God used a young little bitty family. Amen.

Whatever happened to the day when we said we want to have a godly home, a godly marriage, a godly family that honors God and God can bless and use our family? Can I just say the need of America today is families? We wouldn’t have all this transgender problem and this Sodomite problem if we didn’t, if we had more good godly families. Can I just be honest with you a little bit? Our society, we’re getting so self-centered. It’s all about me and my rights and what I want, and we’ve lost the “we” of wedding. Instead of the “I,” it’s all about “I” in wedding. “We” becomes before “I” in wedding. And it’s just shame we have men. It’s all about how much money they got and how many toys they got and how many tools they got and their gains and all the rest of that instead of their wife and their kids. And that’s shame on us in America. It’s high time America gets back to families. And God, when he wanted to come down to earth and become a man, he chose a young little family. It’s just shame we’re out in our society. I’m not trying to be mean, but I do want to be honest a little bit this morning and the society—I don’t want to creep into “I” thinking. But it’s the shame we’re dying because of the lack of need of families. Singles, if you’re here today, please forgive me. Sometimes we just need to focus on families for a bit. Men, let me talk to you for a second here. I already have. We can be about the most selfish thing in the world. And if all it is in my family and my marriage is what I can get out of that lady over there, shame on me. Somebody in a man, “Well, my wife is—my wife’s not, my wife’s not, my wife’s not”—how about you loving her like she is? My goodness.

You know, the Bible never mentions, even when it talks about his thinking, he’s contemplated. Not even what he says, but did you notice when Joseph is contemplating after he hears all right, Joseph never mentions himself? Joseph never says, “Well, what about me? You know, my wife is having a baby. I wasn’t even with her.” He never mentions himself. Not one time.

By the way, you know, financially, it’s not a good thing to move and move, and they married—at least married—they moved, hopefully only married one time, maybe. But they moved at least three times in the first couple of years of their marriage. They moved from Nazareth down to Bethlehem, Bethlehem over to Egypt, and then from Egypt back up to Nazareth. I mean, financially, you’re not going to have a whole lot of trucks and toys like that, friend. You’re not going to have all the latest gadgets and the latest cell phone, the latest tools. You’re not going to have all that, friend. But Joseph didn’t talk about all that. In fact, after it, I’ve already mentioned he doesn’t even say anything. The Bible didn’t record it. He just gets up, and he does what Gabriel said to do. He took her to his wife, took care of her, loved her. When we got such a mindset of me, me, me, me, me, and shame on us. By the way, husbands, if you wouldn’t treat your wife a certain way in public, why in the world do you think it’s right to treat her like that in private? Joseph got up and did what God said. Praise your Lord for godly young couples and godly couples, godly families. Won’t we get back to a nation that’s not so concerned about me and my rights and about my family? What ever happened to a dad that works hard and wants to provide for his wife and treats her like a queen and wants to provide for those? Whatever happened to a guy who says, “I’m going to work not so I can get all this; I go to work so I can provide for my family”? Boy, God said I need a family. You know, I have to be more apt to follow if she had a husband that knows that guy’s always put me first. It’s not about him, him, him. It’s about us, the family. He might be making a decision—I don’t think it’s the best decision—but I know he’s making it out of love and not out of selfishness. He’s trying to do the best for our family. I think I’ll just follow a guy like that.

Ladies, and I’m not trying to be mean, but ladies, can I be frank with you for a moment here? If everything your husband or your children says to you always goes back to you and how you feel and things about you, poor husband, that’s what I got to say about that. If everything in the world goes back to you and your thoughts and your feelings and how it applies to you, pity your husband and children. Friend, we’re getting so much about me and my… Can I just say this? And I’m not trying to be mean, ladies. I’m not trying… This is for men also. But talking to the ladies for a second here. But ladies, the universe does not center around you. It doesn’t revolve around you. There’s a husband there that you’re to love and support and let him lead, and there’s children there to love. Whatever happened to Mom kind of being, as the Bible calls it, the keeper of the house? And those kids, if they know they need some attention and some love, Mom’s available. I’m not trying to be mean. I’m not against some of these things. But if she’s always out with the friends and she’s always out at the gym and always here and there, and those kids never have a mom at home, something’s not right. Man, it’s time America gets back to family time, see to everything else time and all that stuff. Who cares how many friends you have on Facebook if your kids and your husband are not getting love like they should? Something’s not right at the house. I said, “Hey, I’m going to come into this world and I’m going to look for a good family.” A young couple, both of us, husband and wife both, don’t get wrapped up in your world. Get wrapped up in your family’s world. You understand the difference there, friends? You say, “Are you mad at everybody?” No, what I’m burdened about is because our country, friend, is going to hell in a handbasket, and families are a great problem in it. And it’s a sad thing. And it is getting to where it affects the Christian mind. It’s all about me, me, me, me, me, and what I want and what I feel and what I think and all that instead of, “Hey, the family.” It’s a basic unit of society that God uses it a great way.

I hope our young people over here, James and Ethan and Oscar and Daniel and this precious young lady—is that B, B, B, and I’m sorry, I didn’t know your name—and another scattered across the auditorium, some of these young folk, I hope, I hope you have a desire in your heart. God puts a desire in your heart to have a good family one day. It’s all right to dream about that. And some of the older adults, it’s all right to say, “You know, I like to have a good godly husband, a good godly wife, and I like to build a good strong family.” Boy, I hope you have that desire in your heart. That’s the typical—sometimes there are exceptions, I’m not saying that’s a sin—but the typical thing is it’s not good for a man to be alone. The typical thing is God made that man for a woman for a man. I can get that mixed up, aren’t I? Never fail, especially on the day when we really preach a little bit. I’ll leave here. My wife will say, “You know what you said today?” And I’ll usually say, “I have no idea what I said today.” And she’ll quote back something I accidentally said. Oh, boy. Let’s just move on. Let’s move on, you know. Oh, I’m burdened for America.

Can I be honest with you? We have some here that their ancestor goes back to Mexico. And they’ll know better than I, but I look at that nationality. And, you know, they used to—and this, I haven’t checked it in years—but they used to have a very, very low divorce rate. They really did. And you see them coming in, and, you know, our parks for years, you know, our parks were full of for years, Mexican families spending time together. You’re like, “Man, where’s American families? We’re too busy making money.” And I’ve noticed, and I’m saddened by it. I’m saddened by it. But I see more and more even in that, and the Mexican families, the wife is working now, and I don’t see them at parks so much. And I fear that our American culture is corrupting Mexican families. And I’m saddened by that. And I’m just being real frankly this morning because we’ve got to get back to families, families and marriage and raising kids for the Lord. And it’s not all about me and how many toys and tools and all the rest of I got. It’s about my marriage and my kids. We’ve got to get our mentality back to that. God, when he said, “I’m going to come down and become flesh,” he chose a young couple.

Can I say this to singles? Singles, can I just say this? I understand you’re not married and it’s different for you, and that’s the stage God had you in. Not trying to knock that at all, but be careful you don’t get real self-centered. If you’re not careful because you’re alone, everything becomes about you. Remember that song? Many of you used to sing it. We used to sing it in children’s church, whatever: J-O-I, J-O-I, this is what it means: Jesus first, ourselves last, and others in between. Be careful that you don’t kind of get sucked into this selfish, me, me, me, my rights, my rights, my rights, even though you’re single.

But just for a moment, would you focus with me on the fact that they stayed together, this couple? They had a lot of problems. They had a lot going against them. I mean, it’s not the norm for a virgin to have a child. And Joseph’s got to accept this, and then they have to travel down 70-plus miles. I mean, they just had a lot going against them. But they stayed together. I tried to study that a lot. I never found a definitive, just an exact thing. But I don’t know that Mary had to travel down with Joseph for the census. Some say they did in the Bible. I tend to think that. I don’t know. But some say, “No, the women weren’t counted in census.” Anyway, she’d have to travel down. I don’t know. I don’t know all the reasons, but I don’t know this: They stayed together. They stayed together for all the ups and downs and problems and hurts and tears and then excitement and wondering what’s going to happen, they stayed together through it all.

Can I just encourage you over the holiday season when there’s a lot of problems that arise? I think about last year I called—I was talking to another biblical counselor, and he’s a friend of mine—and we were talking. He said, “Man, it’s getting busy,” you know, the holiday season. That’s when so many problems arise in marriages and families, and I’m starting to get the calls. Can I encourage you as you approach the Christmas season? Families being together, whatnot, and problems a lot of times come from that. Can I encourage you to stay together? Don’t get divided. Don’t let a wedge come between you. Don’t do the silent treatment. She goes in her corner and you go in your corner. Hey, work at this thing. Staying together, staying together—I mean, work at it. Mary and Joseph stayed together. I guarantee you it didn’t happen just perchance. They worked at it. They made a conscious effort.

Can I say this? And I say it so often, but a good marriage—now listen to me. Listen to me. And young people, maybe this might help young people too—but a good marriage is not a marriage that does not have problems. That’s a facade, by the way. A good marriage is a marriage that learns to work through problems. You’re going to have them. Everybody has them because I’m flesh and she’s flesh, and we’ve got issues. Everybody’s got issues. Two sinners coming together, you go have some sin in there.

But listen, can I just say, don’t ever—don’t ever—and I’m going to, I’ll give you one exception, but besides this, don’t ever contemplate divorce. Take it out of your dictionary; tear the page out of the dictionary. Don’t let your mind start going to when you have problems—you will have problems—don’t stop. “Well, what if I wasn’t married to her? What if I wasn’t married to him? What if we got a divorce? What if they passed?” Don’t let your mind go there. You’re married until death do us part. Our society is really changing the thinking, and I’m afraid it’s getting into the churches in the minds of God’s people. “Well, if you’re just turned off and they’re doing this or the other, then you have grounds for divorce.” Can I say the Bible gives one ground for divorce, and it says, “Fornication”? And that’s a sexual sin, friend. You say, “Well, this or the other—I’ll just go by what God says instead of what you think.” God’s the one that created it. God’s Word knows a whole lot better than me and you. If he wanted it different, he could have put it different in his Word. Now, I’m not talking about someone staying in a physically abused relationship. They can leave and separate for that. But friends, what about us getting back to the old Bible, what the Bible says? My goodness, we’re divorcing over just so many things. God set the standard. Don’t let some society, somebody on Facebook, or some professor or doctor mess it up, give you the standard. God set the standard. It’s called fornication. And even then, he’d like to reconcile it first. But if the hardness of the heart, they keep going that way, God says, “All right, I’ll allow for it.”

Oh, they stayed together, this young couple. Praise the Lord for—for they had problems. I guarantee you, friend, you’re traveling 70 miles with the lady that’s eight and a half, nine months pregnant. There were problems. I’m not blaming Mary. I’m having to have a problem. I guarantee that if I was eight and a half months pregnant, amen, that would be a major problem, you know. I’m not blaming there, but I’m just saying there were problems. But they stayed together. They stayed together. For them, oh, it’s crucial.

Young people, young people, look right here. Look right here. All very young people, just a moment here. Look, look right here. I want to make them special for you the best I can. But if you’re not planning on sticking in that marriage through thick and thin, through the problems, don’t come to me to marry you. I’m not saying that mean. I’m just saying I love to marry you. I love to be a part of it. But if I marry you, you say, “I’m going to stick in this thing until death do its part.”

What if Mary and Joseph wouldn’t have stayed together? What would have happened to the Christmas story, you know? We don’t have time to get into it, but both of them were led by the Lord. Joseph, I believe, four different times; Mary, at the very beginning, they were walking with the Lord. Mom, Dad, are you walking with the Lord? Husband, wife. That’s so key. Boys are standing out in the yard. You know how boys can brag on their dad? And one boy said, “Well, my dad knows the mayor.” Another boy said, “Well, my dad knows the governor.” The other boy said, “My dad knows God.” I hope your kids can say that about you. Your neighbors, others. They’re led by the Lord.

Then let me say this, and we’re going to close it out. But Joseph, he’s a just man, thought, “Well, I’m going to have to do something. I’m a man of principle.” And he said, “I’m not going to do it publicly. She might be killed.” And he showed mercy. He’s going to put her away privately. Now, praise the Lord, the Lord led through Gabriel. But there’s mercy. If our homes—if our homes get so rigid, “Well, you do this, this, this, this, this, and I do this, this, this, this, this,” and there’s no mercy—if there’s no mercy in your home, you better be perfect because you’re going to have days too. It’s just something about in a marriage and home when there’s mercy, not performance-based. You know, “I love you for better, for worse.” Now I’m not waiting for you to do everything just right because, man, I don’t do everything just right. I love you like you are. Joseph’s showing mercy. I love it. Mary, she mentioned about the Lord being her Savior. She knew she needed all of us do. I’m so glad God’s a merciful God.

I was a boy—listen to me—I was a boy headed straight to hell. I was going to burn in hell because of the sins I had paid; I was lost and done. I was going to be gnashing and screaming and crying because I’d be in that pain. I just watched a little video movie about a pastor 41 years ago. It was in a crane—an airplane wrecking, burn up. I think it’s 30% of his body. His left hand, he just has nubs left because he was trying to reach down and get the seatbelt when the fire was coming, and it would just burn his hand. He just… some of the pictures, they did skin grafts all over his body. And he said years later, he went to witness to a man in the burn unit. And he said, “I’ll be honest with it, the man he had breathed in some flames. And so he was in an oxygen tent because it burned his lungs and everything.” And he said, “I went in there.” He said, “Me and him both knew what it was like to be burned severely, and we knew the pain.” And he said, “All the fluff was kind of gone. And I just went in there, said, ‘Hey, can I tell you how you don’t have to go to hell?’” And he said, the man said, “Please tell me.” And I told the man about the mercy of God. Jesus coming and being born Christmas and coming to down that old rugged cross so he could pay for your and my sins so we don’t have to burn. The mercy of God. And praise the Lord, as a boy, eight, nine years old, I accepted that mercy. I got saved. By the way, praise the Lord, if you’re a born-again Christian, the mercy of the Lord endureth forever. Amen.

Man, our homes, we got to show mercy. It’s not about being perfect because you’re not, and they’re not either. You’re going to have a miserable home if there’s no mercy. I like Joseph. He’s just being—but he showed mercy. Can I just say this? Men, there ought to be a strength of firmness to you, but there ought to be some gentleness to you. If you want a good relationship with your wife or with your kids, they ought to know the gentle side of you too. David said about the Lord, “Thy gentleness hath made me great.” Mercy. I’m so thankful for God’s mercy.

But as a whole, all the great need of our country is families. And I hope our mindset just gets all family-oriented. We’re in a society that is me-oriented. And I don’t want it to get into us. It’ll destroy our homes. By the way, the “me” society, they’re not happy. Got more than we’ve ever had, and we’re still not happy. Two are better than one.

And you say, “Preacher, I thought you were done preaching.” I am. We got to quit. We got to go home. I love you. Man, I love to see families in church. And families coming down together. And some of you—some of you, let me, one more thing—some of you, you’re married, but your spouse is not here. Just keep doing right. You can’t make your spouse do right. Don’t try to preach at them. Just go home and love them. Be example to them. And your life will speak much more than what your words do. And just go home and live it. And let God work on them. And make sure you stay right yourself. I love you. So glad you’re in church this morning.

Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - - The Couple of Christmas - Sunday AM 12112022