And though you know that our
Lord was probably not even born at this time of the year, certainly
not on a certain day that people observe, yet He was born. And that's amazing, and that's
what we're going to look at today, all day. Isaiah 7, verse 14 says,
The Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall
conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. which being interpreted is God
with us. This is an impossible subject.
I'm going to try to deal with all the counsel of God in 30
minutes. But I'll go right ahead and tell
you what all the counsel of God is. Oh, the counsel of God is
Christ. Christ is all. Oh, the height, depth, length,
and breadth of these verses, Isaiah 7, 14, Isaiah 9, verse
6. We're going to look at that in
a moment. But you notice it said there, Therefore the Lord Himself
shall give you a sign. We're going to look at it in
context, in the history of this prophecy, His story. It all relates
to Him. Verses 1 and 2, look at these. It came to pass in the days of
Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah. Does that ring
a bell? The year that king Uzziah. King
of Judah, that reason, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son
of Ramaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war
against it. Jerusalem is Judah. A little
tribe, one remnant that held to the truth. And Syria and Israel,
the other tribes were gathered against it. But, verse 1, could
not prevail against it. Could not defeat it, bring it
down. One little tribe. It was told the house of David,
saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim, that is, the heathen
world adjoined with Israel, professing believers. And the house of David,
Judah, the people of God were moved. Their heart, his heart
was moved, the heart of his people as the trees of the wood are
moved with the wind. Now it's always been, always
through Scripture, Syria has represented the world like Egypt. The world, heathen world, godless
world. And Israel, Israel has always
represented religion. professing worshipers of God,
believers in God, even Christ, but there's only a A remnant
that truly believes the Lord Jesus Christ. The chosen few. And that's Judah. That's where
the name Jew comes from. They're not all of Israel. They're all of Israel. Not all
believers who profess to be so. Not all who name the name of
God. Not all who name the name of Christ are believers, but
there's a remnant according to the election of grace. And he
is a Jew which is one inwardly. And here the king of Syria who
always has represented Satan. Are you with me? I've got to
build this up. This is in content. The king
of Syria always represents Satan. He was always the most powerful
nation, king of Assyria. And Israel represents religion,
the religion of the world. You know these psalms. Psalm
2, it says, Why do the heathen rage? The people imagined vain
things. The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
His anointed, saying, let's break their bands asunder. Let's cast
away their cords from us. Let's do away with this little
remnant that thinks they're the only people of God. He that sitteth
in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision."
And he went on to say, I'm going to vex them because I have set
my King on my holy hill of Zion. And hell can't do anything about
the world. So this king of Assyria and the
king of Israel that represents the God of this world, the people
of this world, Satan, the world, and religion is against the remnant
of God, the election of grace. The Lord Jesus Christ said so. He said, Marvel not, my brethren,
if the world hate you, they hated me. They gathered together. Pontius
Pilate, Herod, and all the people were against the Lord and against
His little band of disciples. The Jews hated Him. The Jews
hated Him. And so did the Gentiles. All
the people, for that matter. Why? Why? Why did they hate Jesus
Christ? Why do they hate the truth now?
Why? Because they said, You're just
a man. and you make yourself to be God.
And we will not have this man to reign over us. We won't have
a sovereign, a sovereign. We will not have a sovereign
Lord and a sovereign God. We will have a baby, cute and
sweet. We will have a man to feed us
and love us and care for us and heal us, but not someone to reign
over us. Reign over it. It has always
been the case. And they said of the disciples
then, and they say of His disciples now, these disciples say they're
His chosen. They say their way is the only
way. They say unless you believe like them, you don't have life,
you don't have the truth. Everything is a lie except what
they believe. That's exactly why they hated
him then and now. It hasn't changed. Our Lord said,
they hated me, they'll hate you. It was religion that killed Christ
and the people of the world. Look at verse 9 here in our text. Verse 4, he said unto them, Take
heed and be quiet. The Lord is talking to Judah,
his little remnant. Take heed now. Hear this. They're
against you, but they can't touch you. Take heed and be quiet. In returning and rest shall you
be saved. In quietness and confidence shall
be your strength. That's why we come here. sit
here of our sovereign Lord on the throne and we're in His hands
and we have nothing to fear. Fear not. And it goes on to call
these two kings two tails. And the Lord says, as it were,
I have them by the tail. Are you with me now? Come on.
Satan, the god of this world, This whole world, and this is
so relevant today, that everybody in the world is fearing this
and that and the other, and God says, don't fear these two tales. Fierce anger of them. Yes, they
have fierce anger. Verse 9 says, the head of Ephraim
is Samaria, the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will
not believe, You shall not be established if you do not believe
that I am reigning and ruling and everything and everyone is
in My hand. You'll be troubled and full of
fear and worry and doubt and depressed and you'll take matters
into your own hands and you'll flee to Egypt and you'll trust
in Pharaoh. If you don't believe that I am
reigning and ruling, you'll be unsettled, unstable, A double-minded
person, but if you believe, you'll be established, strengthened,
and settled, and you'll rest, and you'll go to bed at night,
and you'll sleep. No fear of anybody or anything. If you believe,
if you really believe that I reign, and I rule, and that King's heart
is in the hands of the Lord, like the rivers of water, He
turneth it with us wherever He will. That nothing moves and
nothing harms us. except what God allows or directs. Do you believe that? If you don't,
you won't be established in sin. You'll be full of fear, full
of doubts. Do you believe that? All right. Now, verse 11, he
said to this King Ahaz, king of Judah, I know he wasn't a
saved man really, but he told him this, ask a sign. Verse 11,
ask it in the depth or in the height. Ask something deep. Ask
some deep mystery of me that I may show you a sign. God said
that. Ask something high and lofty
above you. Ask something deep. Ask something
high that I may prove myself to you that I am God, and beside
these there is none other. Have you ever asked God for a
sign? Everybody in here has. Everyone in here at one point
or another has said this, Lord, if you'll just show me something
special. If you'll just speak to me out
loud. Lord, if you'll just give me
a vision, a special revelation. Even Philip, the disciple, said
this to him. Lord, if you'll just show us
the Father, we'll believe. And what did our Lord say? If you've seen me, if you know who
I am, If you see my glory, if you know who I am, where I came
from, why I came, who I came for, and where I am now, and
what I'm doing, if you know that, you have all that you need to
know now. Now, God has indeed shown God
has indeed shown innumerable signs, deep signs and high signs
and lofty signs. Romans 11 says, Oh, the depth
of the riches of both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.
Oh, the depth. Psalm 139 says, Such knowledge,
David said, when he's speaking of God who is omnipresent, that
no matter where he went, God was there. the uttermost parts
of the sea, of the highest mountain, of the lowest hell. He said,
thou art there. He said, such knowledge is too wonderful for
me. It's high. I can't attain unto
it. God has indeed shown innumerable
signs, deep signs and high signs. Oh, the depth. The whole earth
is full of His glory. From the depths of the earth,
to the heights of the earth is full of His glory. The things
that are made clearly show His eternal power in Godhead, don't
they? So that we're without excuse. And the heavens declare His glory,
Scripture says. The sun, the moon, the stars,
and the planet, day unto day uttereth speech. Night unto night
showeth knowledge, what? That God is. And all of these
things don't Will all of these things show us that Christ is
God? We're going to see that in the
next message, that sun that arises every day. Actually, the sun
doesn't move. The sun doesn't move. It's always been there. And the
Lord says it will always be there. We're the ones that turn away.
And we're the ones that the Lord causes us to turn to see His
glory. He's the same. The sun's the
same. The sun, the moon, and the stars, and the planets all
show high sun. Trees, water, bread, rock, everything
proves Christ is. God is. Everything. And people,
we should always be conscious of Him in whatever. Spurgeon
said the whole earth is a sermon. When you walk outside and the
wind is blowing and the leaves are rustling, they're clapping
their hands at the Lord Jesus Christ, Scripture says. When
you see the clouds, you need to acknowledge that's the dust
of His feet. He's getting up. The door of
mercy is about to close and He's getting up. He's coming to this
earth again. Everything, the bread, the water,
the rocks, everything, deep things, high things, but man, is dead, man is blind, he can't
see, though clear as the nose on his face, though as clear
as the noonday sun, because God has hidden these things from
the wise and the prudent, and because man is willingly ignorant. Not only he cannot see, but he
will not see the clearest signs. Romans 1. All the way through
it says how that man, though these things are clearly seen,
will not give thanks, will not glorify Him as God, but worships
and serves the creature, man, and the planets, and the sun,
and all of this, rather than the Creator who is God-blessed
forever. So God has hidden these things
from the wise and the prudent, but revealed them unto man. But the greatest sign ever given. The Lord said to Ahaz, ask me
a sign. High, deep, ask me a sign. And God has shown innumerable
signs. But the greatest sign ever given, the clearest proof
that God is, Verse 14, the Lord himself shall
give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive. Embarrassing. A virgin. And you'll call his
name. God said you call his name Immanuel,
which being interpreted is God with us. The greatest sign ever. clearest proof ever that God
is, that God is creator, that God is a person, a living person. All through Scriptures he calls
himself the living and true God, not some concept, not some impersonal, what's the word, the fancy word
you'd use, some spirit that has no real personality, characteristics,
or like the idols who can't move and can't do anything unless
man let them. clearest sign that God is creator,
that God is a person, that God is the one in whose hands we
are. Reigning and ruling, controlling
all things is that one who came 2,000 years ago. That man named Jesus is God Almighty. How do we know? Paul wrote it,
he said, he's declared to be the Son of God with power by
the Spirit of holiness. The only truly holy man to ever
live without sin, sinlessly perfect in thought, in word, and in deed,
he stood before men and devils, and before God, and said, Who
convinces me of sin? Can anyone find any fault whatsoever
in me?" That's impossible. With man,
that's impossible, but not with God. He's a virgin born. Is this important? A virgin born. Well, God said this is the sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a child." I've read you this before, but there was
a poll made by a man of 10,000 clergymen. I think it was in the United
States alone, but in 1998 a poll was made of 10,000 clergymen, 7,500 of
which responded to them. They asked many questions such
as, do you believe the Bible is literally, actually the Word
of God? Now, these are preachers. These
are religious leaders. These are the ones, the masters
who are teaching people in the name of God. Eighty-five percent of Methodists
said no. Ninety-five percent of Episcopalians
said, no. Eighty-two percent of Presbyterians
said, no, we don't believe it's God's Word. Sixty-nine percent
of Baptists said, no, we don't believe it's God's Word. They
asked them, do you believe that Jesus Christ was literally born
of a virgin? Sixty percent of Methodist preachers
said, no. Forty-four percent of Episcopalian
preachers, mind you, said no. Forty-nine percent of Presbyterians
said no. Thirty-four percent of Baptist
preachers said, no, we don't believe he was actually born
of a virgin. He's the son of some German soldier
passing through, or Joseph. But it's really not important.
I heard one man say, it's just really not important. What is
important is his example that he set. God said, I'm going to show you
a sign. This is the greatest sign. This is proof of who He
is. Why Cain? What he did. A virgin
is born. He was born of a virgin, not
man. There was not the seed of man
in him because man is born dead in trespass and sin. Man is born
a sinner. In sin did my mother conceive
me, David said. I was brought forth from the
womb speaking lies. In him is no lie. In him is no
sin. He had no seed of man. He didn't
even have the seed of Mary. Mary's egg had no part in his
birth. She had the seed of Adam in her.
He did not come from her. She's a borrowed womb, just like
that tomb our Lord was buried in, borrowed of a rich man. The
Lord chose this woman from whom to be born. He's not the seed
of man. And our Lord said in announcing
His birth through the angel, that holy thing that is born
of that woman is the Son of God. And that's what you refer to
Him. And we're very careful not to call Him the Son of Mary.
Why is that? Because the Scriptures does it.
Nowhere in the Bible will you find Him referred to as the Son
of Mary. One or two times it says Mary's
son. But no, God says you'll call
His name the Son of God. The Son of God. The Son of the
Highest. Is that important? Our salvation hangs on it. If
He wasn't born of a virgin, He's just a man. He's not God. He's not the Son of God. He's
not God. He's not holy. He's not eternal. He's not the
Savior. He's the biggest liar to ever
live, the biggest fraud, the greatest hoax that's ever been
perpetrated on humankind. And his bones, if we go over
there, we'll find them somewhere. But Paul said, he's declared
to be the Son of God by the Spirit of holiness and by the resurrection
from the dead. He will not allow His Holy One
to suffer corruption. He didn't die a natural death
because of sin. He laid down His life, and His body did not suffer corruption
because in Him is no sin. He's the virgin-born Son of the
Most High God. Chapter 8 goes with this. Chapter 8 goes with this, leading
into chapter 9. Chapter 7, 8, and 9 go together.
The Lord told Judah that the whole world is against them and
coming after them. And in chapter 8, He goes on
to say they're going to destroy. This is why I began with the
history of this. He said, I'm going to show you
a sign that you need not worry. This is the sign that will allay
all your fears. This is the sign that will give
you peace and comfort and hope in the midst of all the trouble
you're going to see. It's coming. God said, I'm not
going to stop this trouble. I'm not going to stop this destruction,
God said. It's coming down hard on the
people, idolaters all around you. It's coming down. You're
going to be in the middle of it, but you don't need to fear. And this is relevant, isn't it,
because we've been looking at this more and more of late, and
we should so much more as we see the day approaching. The
Lord said in chapter 8, He told Judah, and He tells us that He's
coming to destroy. The God of this world, the people
of this world. Just like our Lord told us in
Matthew 24, let me just read this to you. Our Lord who came
Himself not to bring peace with a sword, didn't He? Didn't He? But He came to bring peace for
some. Not all. He came out of love and mercy
and grace and for salvation of some. Who? A remnant. And they need not worry, no matter
what happens. The Lord told them in Matthew
24 in us, you'll hear wars and rumors of war. And they'll say,
I'm the Christ, but they'll deceive many. Nation will rise against
nation. See, these are the beginning of sorrows. And all these things
are going to come upon this world because they believe not on me. They said, be of good cheer to
His disciples, to His small little band. God showed you a sign. What's that? Me. And He revealed that to them
for three and a half years that they walked with Him and followed
Him. Everybody wanted Him dead and them dead. You remember in
the garden when they came to take Christ? And Peter, bless
his heart, Simon Peter, took his sword out and started swinging
it at everybody and cut the ear of the high priest's servant
off. The right hand man of the high priest who came to take
Christ to kill him. And yet nobody laid a hand on
Simon Peter. Nobody laid a hand on Thomas,
on Philip. Nobody laid a hand on them. Why? Because Christ said they couldn't.
Because Christ said, you come for me, take me. You can't have
them. It's the same with us. This is
the greatest sign of all. If you're in Him, you're safe. You're saved. Safe,
secure from all alarm. Learn that, people, for your
comfort, for your peace. If you don't, you won't be established. Don't fear their fear. Isaiah 8, look at it, verse
6 and 7. These people now, talking about
Israel, refused the waters of Shiloh, verse 7. The Lord's going
to bring upon them the waters of the river strong, the king
of Assyria and all his glory. It's coming. It's going to overflow
the banks. The Lord's coming down on this
world and this nation because of idolatry. It's going to happen.
And that right soon. Verse 9, he says, if you associate
yourselves with them, you'll be broken in pieces. You see
that? Verse 11 and 12, the Lord spake
with a strong hand to me saying, verse 12, like laying, my dad
used to put his hand on my shoulder and said, now see now, listen
to me son, and this is what the Lord is saying to his people.
Verse 12, don't say a confederacy, don't join with them. A confederacy. Don't fear ye their fear. Verse
13, Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself, that is, set Him apart
in your faith, in your belief, in your words, in your conduct,
in your actions before this godless world, for this world it fears
everyone but God. You tell them who you fear and
live like you don't fear them, but Him. Sanctify the Lord of
God. Himself, the Lord of hosts, that
is, the Lord over everyone. If you're not listening to this,
you're not going to get any peace. And if you are, in the midst
of a world full of terrorism and people full of fear and fright,
bullets flying and bombs exploding, if you don't believe, you won't
be established. Verse 14 says, Now he'll be for
a sanctuary, a rock, Who? Immanuel. Not just Jesus. God is with us. Whom shall we be afraid? God
is in the midst of her, Psalm 46. What shall we fear? He shall be a sign to his people. In verse 14 of our text, it says,
Call his name Immanuel. Look down at chapter 8, look
at verse 20, "...to the law and to the testimony. If they speak
not according to this word, it is because there is no light
in them." The Old Testament all the way through is the story
of Jesus Christ from Genesis to Malachi. It says God is through
pictures and types and shadows showing everyone, someone's coming. Who? God, Savior, King. The next hour we're going to
look at the King who came. God is coming to the law and
the testimony. So it's a sign, verse 21. But they'll pass through it,
verse 21 of chapter 8, They'll pass through it hardly bested
and hungry. Some of you have said that you
had no clue what the Ark of Noah was about until you came here,
until you came and heard the Gospel, and then you just marveled.
You had no clue what the rock was, smitten rock was. You had
no clue what these things were all about. And they pass through
the Scriptures. They read them, and then they
think they have life. They are they which what? Testify
of Christ. And people are hardly bested
and hungry. Threaten themselves, verse 21,
curse their king and their God. We don't curse our God and our
king. We praise Him, don't we? Whatever happens, like Job, in
all this Job did not sin with his lips or charge God foolishly. God's the one that did it. Job
knew that. It wasn't the Assyrians. The
Assyrians came and killed all his cattle. Job didn't say that,
did he? He didn't fear the Assyrians.
He feared God. Job said, God did this. That
was his peace. Oh, he sorrowed greatly, but
not as those who have no hope. Hope in what? God. This is all
our hope. God. Christ, Jesus, came to do
what? Try to save? No. Call His name
Jesus. Why? He shall save. Who? Not trying to save everybody,
but whoever His people are, He saved them. And buddy, if you
believe that, you'll be established, strengthened, settled. Christ
said, if you believe on Me, you'll never perish. You believe this?
You won't die? Do you believe that? How do we
know? Greatest sign ever. God. They
tried to kill Him. Totally couldn't because born
of a virgin, Son of God. Tried to kill Him. They couldn't.
Wasn't His time. Can't touch you either. Satan,
that desire to sift thee like wheat. The King of Assyria is
after you. Here's a sign. God's with you. God's with you. Verse 22 says
they'll look to the earth. Verse 22 of chapter 8, they'll
look to the earth. And all they'll see is trouble,
and darkness, and dimness, and be full of anguish, and anxiety,
and got to take drugs, and got to drink everything in sight,
and got to try to find some help from somebody somewhere. But
they won't find it because they're in darkness. Their understanding's
darkened. Though God's shown sign after
sign after sign in the heavens and the earth, deep signs, high
signs, and the greatest sign of all, God came to this earth.
They say, we don't believe He's God at all. So, God said, leave
Him alone. You just leave them alone, full
of trouble, full of anxiety. But now, the people that sat
in darkness. Verse 2 of chapter 9, the people
that walked in darkness, that was me, that was you, such were
some of you, have seen a great light upon them at the lightshine,
like our wise men in the next door. Verse 6, unto us a child
is born. Yes, there was a baby born. But
you and I know, he didn't begin there. You know how few people
believe that? I've already told you a few people
believe that. Even among the preachers, they
don't believe that, born of a virgin. A child is born. Yes, he had
to become flesh, didn't he? Made of a woman, made under the
law, didn't he? Why? To redeem us that were under
the law. He came to be made in the likeness of sinful flesh,
but without sin. Why? You know why, don't you? If you ask the average person
that, they couldn't tell you why. But unto us a son is given. And
this is what John meant when he said, that he that believeth
that Jesus Christ is come into flesh is born of God. Meaning,
that he existed before he came here. That he was the eternal
son with the Father, equal with the Father. The only reason he's
called a son, the only reason he's called a son, Not because
he's less than, not because he's inferior to, not because he's
just a man and he became a son. No! but because he's the only
bodily offspring, that is, the only bodily manifestation of
God who's a spirit. God is a spirit, but in Christ
dwelleth all the fullness, all of the omnipotence, all of the
power, all of the essence, all of the character, all of the
glory, all of the judgment, everything, in him was life and everything
that God is in a body. in a body. He became a man. Why? So that we could see God. So that we could hear God, His
voice. God became a man. People don't
believe that. I do. I'm like Peter though. I don't just believe it, I know
it. Our Lord said, whom do men say that I am? The Son of Man.
I am. I'm born a man. I was born, they all know, I
was born in Bethlehem. They don't believe I was born
of a virgin, but they believe I was born in Bethlehem. And
they know, they see me as a man now, and they all say, you're
just a man. You're not God. You made yourself
to be God. You're just a man. But whom do you say that I am? And Peter said, we believe. No, we're sure. that thou art
the Christ, the Son of God. And they'll look to the earth,
he said, in nothing but dimness and darkness language, but if
you look to me, Christ said, the light. You'll see, he said in verse
6, that I am the Son that was given the governments upon his
shoulders. Government of what? Judea? The universe. And you'll call
his name wonderful. Full of wonder. Counselor. Wonderful counselor is what that
means. He's the counselor. We don't need another prophet,
people. Christ came and revealed all things to us. We don't need
counselors. His Word is our counsel. He's
the mighty God. Look at that. He's the mighty
God, isn't He? He's the everlasting Father.
How? How can that be? I don't know,
but it is. He's the Prince of Peace. In the increase of his government,
he came to do something for his people, to live, to establish
a righteousness. He came to impute that to them,
charge that to them, so that God would accept them by his
righteousness, fulfilling the law for them. He came to die
to satisfy God's justice against our sins. He was made to sin
for us, He who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. You've got to be as holy as God
to be in heaven. We're not. Christ was, and God accepted
us in what He did. And Christ paid for our sins.
A soul that sins must surely die. His soul was made an offering
for sin, and God accepted that, and all of the sins of all of
God's people were paid in full by Jesus Christ. Paid in full. And God is angry with the wicked
every day, God who hateth all workers of iniquity, but he's
not angry with, and he doesn't hate, but rather he loves his
people in Christ. Why? Because of Christ, by Christ,
through Christ, to the praise of the glory of his grace. And
he's right now seated on his throne. You see, the zeal of
the Lord of the hosts will perform him. He's right now seated on
his throne. Reigning and ruling over everything,
Barnard said, that writhes or wriggles from the particle of
dust in the sunbeam coming through the windows, it lands exactly
where this Lord says to land. How much more is he concerned
with and controlling everything about his people? Peace. When the angels announce peace
on earth, goodwill, it doesn't say toward man. No, no. Christ said, I didn't
come to bring peace on earth, but a sword, but for my people,
my remnant. Judah, the whole world is coming after
you. The unbelieving world and Israel, the professing, believing
world is coming after you. But you're mine. And here's the
sign. I'm with you. And oh, I'm with you always,
Christ said, even unto the ends of the earth. Because I'm God
and beside me there's none else. Who? Jesus Christ. Okay.