All right, if you take your Bibles
and turn with me to Isaiah chapter seven, Isaiah chapter seven. Our text will be found in verse
14, but I want to read this to us to give us a little background
of what's going on at this time. The title of the message is a
sign of comfort. A sign. of conflict. Scripture
says in verse 1, And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz,
the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezan,
the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Ramallah, king of
Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could
not prevail against And it was told the house of David, saying,
Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and
the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood, were moved
with the wind. Then the Lord said unto Isaiah,
Go forth and meet Ahaz, thou, and Shirjashib, thy son, at the
end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fooler's
field. and say unto him, Take heed and
be quiet. Fear not, neither be fainthearted
for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger
of raisin with Syria and the son of Ramallah, because Syria,
Ephraim, the son of Ramallah, have taken evil counsel against
thee, saying, Let us go up to Judah and vex it. And let us
make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of
it, even the son of Tobail. Thus saith the Lord God, it shall
not stand, neither shall it come to pass. For the head of Syria
is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Razan. And within
threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it shall
not be a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is Ramallah's son. If ye will not believe,
surely ye shall not be established. Moreover, the Lord spake again
unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God. Ask it either
in the depth or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will
not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. And he said, Hear ye
now, O house of David, it is a small thing for you to weary
men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself
shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son. and shall call his name Immanuel."
A sign of comfort. Now, this king of Israel, the
king of Israel and Syria made an agreement. They made a compact
together to go and fight against Judah. You remember that the
two kingdoms of Israel were separated into two distinct nations. Israel in the north, with the
ten tribes in the north, and Judah and Benjamin in the south. Now, the kings of Israel followed
after the sin of Jeroboam, their first king. Jeroboam had set
up those two calves in Israel so that the people would not
go down to Judah, Jerusalem, where God had commanded them
to go. He desired to keep the people
captive up there, so he made his own temple, his own worship. And these kings of Israel followed
after that. And now comes a time when the
king of Israel makes league with another nation and says, let's
go up and take Judah for ourselves and we'll set up a cave. Their plan was to kill Ahaz,
and set up the king of their own." Now, King Ahaz was not
a good man. He was not a good king. If you
go to 2 Kings chapter 16, I believe it is, you'll find out this man
Ahaz was a very wicked man. He even offered his own son to
be burned, to be killed, to pass through the fire, to the other
gods of Israel, the false gods. This man Ahaz was not a believer. He was a wicked man. He didn't
do that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and yet God
sends him a messenger still. Why would God do that? Why would
God send this man a message of comfort? Well, truly, he did
send this message to this man, not so much for him, but for
us, for God's people. This is a message for God's people
who are blown about like it says here. It says they're blown about as
like the trees in the wind. I'm on the wrong page. There
we go. It's verse two. It says, And his heart was moved
in the heart of his people as the trees of the wood are moved
by the wind. How easily is our heart moved?
How easily are we discomforted? And so were the people of Judah.
They had heard that this great army was coming out, that their
brethren from the north was teamed up with someone. And now then
they were coming to take Jerusalem. And this man Ahaz, he was a weak
man, did not believe God, and he was easily moved. Even though
God here gives him a promise that the plans of these people
would not come to pass. Look at that in verse 70. Thus
saith the Lord God, it shall not stand, neither shall it come
to pass. He said that in 65 years, the
people of Israel now don't be confused, Ephraim is Israel,
that's just The head tribe of Israel was Ephraim. So when you
read that, you're talking about the northern tribes. And Ephraim
will cease to be a people. God says that he's going to disband
those ten tribes of Israel, and they will be no more. He promises
this. They he would not be established
or settled unless he believed God. That's what God said. He
said, even though I sent you this word, even though I give
you this comfort, you're not going to be established. You're
not going to be settled. And sure, because if you don't
believe now, look at that in. Verse nine, it says, if you will
not believe, surely you shall not be established. This king
would not find any comfort, not find any assurance unless he
believed. And I tell you tonight, if you
do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you won't find any assurance
or any comfort anywhere else. It is only in Christ that we
find hope, that we find assurance. And we'll see that in just a
second. And now this man was not only given a word of God,
but God was willing to give him a sign. A sign. God said to this wicked man,
this wicked king, he said, you ask of me and I'll give you a
sign either in the depths of the sea or in the heights of
heaven, whatever you ask, I'll give it to you. Oh, but look what he says, I
will not ask. God didn't really invite him
to ask of a sign, he commanded him to ask of a sign. He commanded
him to ask. God was willing and God wanted
to give His people comfort. And this man says, I won't ask.
I won't ask. I will not ask. The lost, friends,
always are obstinate toward the Word of God. The wicked man of
every generation have been given such bountiful blessings of God,
such tender mercies as to be able to breathe, to live, as
though God could have cast us all into hell at our birth had
He so desired to. We were worthy of it, worthy
of nothing but hell and death, and yet God still sustains us
as He sustains every man. that lives. And yet, the wicked
still refuse to hear the Word of God. They are unwilling to
obey the Word of God. And what was God's Word to this
man? He said, be quiet, be still. Now, is that something hard?
Did he ask this man something very difficult? He said, no,
just believe me and sit still. Sit still. He did not believe God and he
desired to raise up his own army. He desired to make a pact with
the Assyrians instead of sitting still. He desired a compromise. He desired to work with someone
else other than God. He desired to just take his own
works. And he gave this excuse for his
lack of faith. Look at that again. He said,
I will not ask Neither will I tempt the Lord." Oh, he gives a religious
response here. This is a religious answer. I
will not! Oh, because it says you're not
supposed to tempt the Lord your God. Lost men always seem to have
an excuse, too, not to believe. I always have an excuse. And
usually it's a religious answer. Although it is true, it says
in Deuteronomy 16, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. But
God wasn't asking him to tempt. God was commanding him to say,
I want you to ask of me a sign. It was a commandment. He wasn't
tempting the Lord. The Lord was telling him to do
this. It was the sin of rebellion of
Ahaz that moved him to disobey the Lord's good, kind, and long-suffering
offer of a sign. But friends, God was not hindered
by this man's disobedience. I tell you, I preached the gospel
of Jesus Christ Wednesday evening, Sunday And then I preach it twice
on Sunday. Then I study during the week. And I go out into the world.
And people know that if I'm a pastor and they ask any questions, I'm
willing to give them an answer. I'm ready to give them an answer
concerning my faith in Christ. But I'll tell you what, just
because they refuse to believe doesn't mean that God is hindered
in any way. God's Word is not hindered. If you look around, you see few.
Know this, God's Word is not hindered. God's Word is not hindered
because man will not believe. But yet God, purposing in his
heart, in his will to give a sign, he says, therefore, the Lord
himself shall give you a sign. You won't ask for one, but I'm
going to give you one for the comfort of my people. And this
is the sign. This is the sign of comfort.
Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call
his name Immanuel. This sign was a promise concerning
the coming Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. This was a promise
700 years. Before the Lord Jesus Christ
actually was made flesh and dwelt among us, this was prophesied
of Him for the comfort of the people. Behold, something new,
something that has never been done before. I'm going to give
you a sign that has never been done before. A virgin shall conceive
and bear a son. This was the promise. that was in the beginning. If
you remember, it was told to Adam and Eve that
the seed of the woman, the seed of the woman was to bear the
curse. The seed of the woman was to
have his heel bruised and he was to crush the head of the
serpent. And you know, when Eve conceived
and she bare a man, she said, I've gotten a man of the Lord.
See, then they had thought the Savior had come. They thought
that was the seed of the woman. It wasn't the seed of the woman. That was the seed of Adam. And
then you go on in Scripture, more light is given concerning
the Messiah when He says that Abraham's seed, even Isaac. And then when we get to Isaac,
we know this. He had two sons, but yet we know Jacob was the
chosen seed. It was Jacob's son by which line,
by which he would come. And then you get down when Jacob
dies and he says, Judah, Judah is the one says a lawgiver shall
not depart. The scepter shall not depart
from Judah, nor a lawgiver from Judah until Shiloh come. Until
Christ come. So we have this and then we go
further and then you see that he's of the line of David. That
he's of the root and offspring of David. Jesus asked those Pharisees,
he said, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? And what was
their immediate answer? Oh, he's David's son. I know
that answer. They were quick to answer that.
But then he said, why then does David in the Spirit call him
Lord? The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, till
I make thine enemies thy footstool. He was not only to be David's
son, but he was to be David's Lord. David's Lord. And now then the picture here
becomes even clearer concerning the coming of the Messiah. More
light is given that he should not only be the seed of the woman,
the seed of Abraham, the seed of Isaac, and Jacob of Judah
and of David, but that the Christ should be born of a virgin without
the use of a man. This has never been and this
will never be again except for this one. That's it. This is
the only one who would be conceived by a virgin. The Lord Jesus Christ. Christ must come, not only by
a woman, by the line of Abraham and David, but she will conceive
by a miracle that could only be performed by the hand of God. And I'll tell you what, it is
of great necessity that we who are believers in Christ understand
and believe the virgin birth of Christ. It is necessary. It's very necessary, one, because
God says it. That's enough. That should be
the greatest of all reasons. God said, Behold, a virgin shall
conceive. You know what? When Mary came along, he said,
Thou art highly favored among women. He had chosen Mary, which
was the daughter of David, to be the mother of Christ, the
Messiah. In Jeremiah 31, verse 33, it
says, How long wilt thou go about, O thy backsliding daughter? For
the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass
a man. There is a new thing in the earth. This woman, chosen of God, born
of the seed of David, even as God has promised, yet his birth
was miraculous because the Holy Spirit overshadowed her. The Holy Spirit is the one that
created the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Go over to Hebrews
chapter 10. Go to Hebrews chapter 10. Look at verse seven. Actually, let's go up to verse
four, it says, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls
and goats should take away sin. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith," this is the Christ, "'sacrifice and offering
thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure.' Then said I, Lo, I come in the
volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O Above,
when he had said, Sacrifice an offering, and burn offering,
and offering for sin, thou wouldst not, neither had pleasure thou
in, which were offered by the law. Then said he, Lo, I come
to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, and
he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
Very important that we understand this virgin birth, because it
was the Holy Spirit that prepared this body. Do you understand
the deception of the wicked who come along and deny the virgin
birth of Christ? Because without the virgin birth,
there is no Savior. In other words, Christ would
be no different than you and me. We say there's a miracle in birth. And I'll tell you, it is a great
thing that God does to create us and to make us in the womb
of our parents and to bring us forth and give us life. But I'll
tell you what, my birth was just like yours. I came from a wicked
father just like you did. Because we all came from the
seed of Adam. It was by Adam that sin, Adam
sinned against God, and it was the seed of Adam that transported
sin. Scripture says, wherefore, as
by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death
passed upon all men. In other words, my children were
born into sin because their father was born into sin, and his father,
and his father, and passed down. But the Lord Jesus Christ was
not born in sin. He was not born of the seed of
Adam. No. He was born of God. He is the
only begotten Son of the Father. And I'll tell you, this prophecy,
this prophecy should give us comfort. Why? Because if Christ
was to come from Judah, think of this. God gave this promise,
this heathen king of Judah. Why? Because Christ should come
by Judah. by Jerusalem, by that tribe. That's the only reason he sustained
that tribe throughout history until the time of his birth.
And then after his death and resurrection, what happened to
the nation of Israel? It was no more. It was destroyed. The prophecy of this should comfort
us. Because we know this, that God
who has purposed salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, who has
brought Him forth by the virgin's womb, has given Him a body by
which He suffered and died for our sins. We know this, that
God will also sustain us and keep us who are Judah. We are His spiritual Israel. And He will keep us. God kept
His promise. concerning the Messiah, and he
will keep his promise to us who believe on him. This should encourage
the church, because now Shiloh has come. Are we not easily moved? Are we not easily troubled? I
am. It does not take much to trouble
me. I am easily troubled. Sin and
corruption spread like a cancer throughout all the earth. Wicked
men become more powerful. While the church seems to be
small and powerless. Just like these two nations coming
against Judah, they were afraid of their confederacy. How much
are we afraid of the confederacy of the world and false free will
works religion? I'll tell you what, you look
at those long enough and I'll tell you, you you'll become afraid. They're just so large. They seem
so to encompass the world and they seem to get bigger every
time you turn around. They seem to be growing. Well,
the church, those who believe on Christ, seem to be small.
And they threaten to conquer the church. But we are assured
of this by the sign, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.
We know this, that Jesus Christ, that his church will not fail. We know this, that the gates
of hell shall not prevail against his church, because he is the
rock on which the church is built. Now, the cause of this sign,
the virgin, why must a virgin conceive? Well, I told you that
Adam's race is ruined. Adam's race is sinful, and death
and sin come by Adam's race. David said this, Behold, I was
shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Who then among us is able then
to be accepted with God? Who among us is righteous to
be accepted of God? Which one of us could offer a
sacrifice acceptable to please the justice of God against our
sin? Which one of us? None of us,
because we were all born of Adam's seed. This is the reason why
the Lord Jesus Christ must be born of the virgin womb of Mary,
so that He should escape the pollution of sin. Get this right, Mary was a sinner. How do I know that? Because her
father was of the seed of David. She was not miraculously conceived,
as the church of hell would tell you. She was a sinner in need
of a Savior. But the only reason Christ was
the sinless one, born of the Virgin Mary, was not because
of her. It's because sin didn't pass
by the woman, it passed by the man. And so the Lord prepared a body
in her womb so that the Son of God would unite himself with
that body so that he might suffer and die. This is the purpose
of him becoming a man so that he might obtain the righteousness
of God for us as a man. He was appointed to be Christ,
who was God Himself. That's why His name is called
Emmanuel. If you go over to Matthew chapter
1, you can see that in Matthew it gives us the explanation of
this word Emmanuel and this prophecy. It says in verse 21, 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 that was done, that it
might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophets,
saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring
forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being
interpreted is God with us." God with us. That one who was
born in the womb, formed in the womb of that virgin Mary, He
was God, manifest in the flesh. And it was necessary for Him
to be born thus. Now then, the cause of His coming
and humility was that He might obtain eternal redemption. That He might give us everlasting
righteousness. I was thinking about this, and
Daniel Daniel chapter 9, verse 24, it says, 70 weeks are
determined upon the people and upon thy holy city to finish
the transgression, to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation
for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, to
seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. That's who this One was, the
Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin. He was the Holy One. He was the One who was to come
and remove our guilt, our sins. This should be a blessing to
God's people, that God who promised has also delivered His Son. Delivered
His Son in love and by grace. God was not forced to give us
His Son. We could demand nothing of God,
and yet God had purpose to give us His Son. Willingly give us
His Son. And the Son willingly came. He
willingly died for our sins. And God, accepting His one offering
for sin, raised him from the dead to make sure that everybody
knows that he accomplished his work. This Jesus, who was to
come, must have been lifted up as a serpent in the wilderness.
Jesus said that in John 3. He said, even as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted
up. And everyone who believes on
him should not perish, but have eternal life. Jesus, the Son of God, came to
be our representative, our substitute. And He laid down His life so
that we might have an everlasting righteousness. And this is to everyone who believes. I know God's purpose to save
a certain number of people, but I don't know how many. Do you?
I don't know who they are. I know this. Whosoever believeth
on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. He that believeth on
the Son of God hath life, and he that believeth not on the
Son of God hath not life. Very simple. To believe on Christ is to simply
rest. that God was manifest in the
flesh, obtained righteousness, and died for the sins of his
people, rose again the third day, and now sits in glory, ever
living to make intercession for us. Jesus was the only sinless Son
of God. And God made him to bear the
iniquity of us all, made him to be sin for us, and by the
fury of God was crushed for our sins. Though there was no sin
in him. No sin. And I'll tell you, even though
he was guilty for our sins, made guilty for our sins, yet You
won't find any sin coming from his mouth on the cross, because
there was none. Now, you want to explain that,
don't ask me. That's far above my pay grade. I know this, that it's true.
I know that he is the only offering God has accepted. Who is this
that cometh in glorious apparel? Isaiah 63, this is Jesus, the
Messiah. And why does He come with His
garments stained? Because He tread the winepress
of the wrath of God all by Himself. And all His raiment was stained
with our sins, and the anger of God tread out our sins upon
this body, the body of the sinless Son of God. This is the reason
why We believe in the virgin birth because God said so. Because
it actually happened. Because Jesus Christ actually
came as the seed of the woman, was given a body so that he might
suffer and die for our sins. That he might be our faithful
high priest. And I tell you, this should give
us comfort because knowing that he was a man, We know this. Is he not touched with the feelings
of our infirmities? You bet he is. He knows your trouble better
than you do. He knows what it's like to be
rejected of men. He knows what it's like to sorrow
and suffer. And I'll tell you, our sufferings
are not bad. Our sufferings are in no way
to be compared to his. And I'll tell you, when we suffer,
it seems as though our sufferings are the worst, doesn't it? It
seems to us our sufferings are the worst. But he's very patient
and he's very kind. He's tender. Affectionate. I'm so glad that we have a savior
who was born of a virgin. I'm so glad we have a sinless
savior who died in our stead and was accepted of God on our
behalf. And now he sits interceding for
us, ever living to make intercession. Ever living, standing between
us and God, is that not great every day? God sees me when he
sees his Son. I tell you, that's not what I
see a lot. I see my sin. But I believe and trust God that
I am redeemed by the blood of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ,
my brother, my King, my Savior, and yours, your Savior. May God comfort us with this.
May God touch us and let us understand that God, who purposed our salvation,
will also accomplish it. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer.