open your Bibles with me if you
will to Isaiah the 7th chapter. Isaiah chapter 7. When I was in college I worked
at whatever I could work at doing various things. Worked Saturday
nights in certain funny papers and ads in the morning paper
for Sunday morning and I was through the week loading freight
and doing one thing and then another, janitor. And then I
got a job selling shoes. I was working at Stanley Shoe
Company and through a shopping center. And the store manager
during a period of break one day decided he wanted to talk
for some reason about religion. But it quickly became obvious
that his object was merely to poke fun and ridicule. And after
a brief exchange, he smiled sarcastically. And with a snicker, he said,
surely you don't believe in the virgin birth, do you? And of
course, the other men were listening and thought he was brilliant
with his arguments and laughed with great bravado when he asked
me that question. When the laughter subsided, I
responded like this. As a matter of fact, I do. I
not only believe that Jesus Christ is the virgin born son of God,
I hang all the weight of my mortal soul upon it. Either he was born
of the virgin or he's not God and I have no savior. Shortly
after that conversation, I was transferred to another store. That may have been the reason.
And then several months later, Shelby, Faith, and I moved to
West Virginia, and I never saw any of those men again except
the store manager. Twenty years later, after I came
to Danville, I went down to a little town called Germantown, just
north of Winston-Salem, my hometown. I had to hold a meeting for a
congregation there, a fellow I'd gone to school with, Brother
Lynn Ballantyne was pastor. The first man to meet me at the
door was my old store manager, Charlie Kiger. It had been 20
years since I'd seen him, but I immediately recognized him
and recognized the smile on his face. Only this time, it wasn't
a sarcastic smile, but the smile of one beaming with joy, anxious
to tell me that the virgin-born son of God had revealed himself
to him. I want to tell you about the
God-man, our Savior, our virgin-born Savior. That's my subject, our
virgin-born Savior. The more the world ridicules
the facts revealed in Scripture, let us all the more plainly state
those facts before men who deny our God. We believe that Jesus
Christ is the virgin-born Savior of his people. Born of a virgin,
exactly as the Word of God speaks of it here in Isaiah chapter
seven, verses 14 and 15. Therefore the Lord himself, Adonai,
the cause, the support, the strength of his people, the Lord himself
shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and
honey shall he eat that he may know to refuse the evil and choose
the good. You'll recall that the Lord God
had promised to send a deliverer to his people. And he said to
Ahaz, the king of Judah, ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God. Ask it either in the depth or
in the height above. But Ahaz didn't believe God.
And he refused to ask a sign and responded to God with a air
of self-righteous indignation. He said in verse 12, I will not
ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. I will not tempt Jehovah. To that Isaiah replied in the
words of our text, therefore the Lord himself shall give you
a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and
honey shall he eat. that he may know to refuse the
evil and choose the good. This prophecy of the incarnation
and birth of our Lord Jesus Christ was given by God the Holy Ghost
through his prophet Isaiah 700 years before Christ came into
the world. The deliverer spoken of here
and promised by God was not a mere temporal deliverer from temporal
evil and temporal bondage. This deliverer is the great God,
our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Now we know that because the
Holy Ghost tells us so. Hold your hands here and turn
to Matthew chapter one. Matthew chapter one. This is just one of the many,
many promises and prophecies given in scripture that is obviously
speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here in Matthew 1, 18, we read,
the birth of Jesus was on this wise. When his mother Mary was
espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found
with child of the Holy Ghost. 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 thought on 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 shall 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 the son and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which
being interpreted is God with us. Our text back here in Isaiah
7, 14 and 15 describes four things about our blessed Savior. The
first most important thing described here is his virgin birth. This
is a prophecy of the virgin birth of our Lord Jesus, our Redeemer,
our Savior. None of us knows the date of
our Savior's birth. God has wisely hidden that from
us completely. There is one day in the year
you can be sure it is not. December the 25th, Christmas
Day, has absolutely nothing to do with the birth of our Lord
Jesus Christ. That's the one day of the year
you can be sure he was not born. He was not born in the middle
of winter, but rather in the spring. Our text does, however,
describe a glorious birthday. It is true Mary's child was born
in a manger, born in humility and born in poverty, but no one
ever had a birthday like his. His birthday was anticipated
by all of God's saints throughout the Old Testament history from
Adam and Eve right to the time he came into this world. All
the Old Testament prophets and prophecies and types and pictures
of the law pointed to Emmanuel's advent. When our Lord Jesus Christ
came into this world, God hung a fresh lamp in the sky to announce
his birth. The angels of heaven came down
in great host to sing of his birth. Shepherds and wise men
came to bring presents to the prince of the kings of the earth
when he was born. And our text announces this man's
glorious birthday, this man who is God. It is an announcement
of the birth of a man who is himself God, the eternal son,
the savior of the world. Turn over to chapter nine of
Isaiah. Isaiah chapter nine, verse six. For unto us a child is born. Speaking of our Lord's earthly
human body. Unto us a son is given. Speaking of his eternal deity. He could not be born as God the
Son. He's the eternal God. God the
eternal Son. But he is born as a child, a
man of Mary's womb. He's given in that birth the
Son of God. And the government shall be upon
his shoulder. that is the government of all the universe, and his
name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of
his government and peace, there shall be no end. Upon the throne
of David. Now that gives you a clear indication
that all the prophecies referring to David and his throne and his
house refer to David in a spiritual sense and to his house in a spiritual
sense. The throne of David upon which
our Savior sits is the throne of the mighty God, God our Savior. upon the throne of David and
upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment
and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the
Lord of hosts will perform this. The prophet's language speaks
of a miraculous conception. Behold, the prophet says. Behold,
stop now and look at this. A virgin shall conceive. Our
Savior was born the seed of the woman, conceived in the womb
of the Virgin Mary by the miraculous intervention of God the Holy
Spirit, forming his humanity in her flesh. When the fullness
of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that
you and I who are chosen of God might receive the adoption of
sons. His holy body was prepared by God the Holy Ghost in the
womb of the Virgin that he might perform the work he came into
this world to perform. He said, a body hast thou prepared
me. God the Holy Spirit formed in
the Virgin's womb a human body, a human nature, a human soul
for God the Son in which he would forever reside, by which he would
accomplish our everlasting redemption and salvation. Isaiah's prophecy
also speaks of our Lord's humble parentage. Mary's highest honor
as a woman was her virginity, a thing that could be talked
about for a long time and should be. It was something prized. Now it is true she was of the
royal seed of David's house, but that gave her no distinction
in the day in which she lived. It gave her no special privileges,
no special power, no special position. Our Savior was born
in poverty and lived in poverty all the days of his life and
that by his own will and choice. He taught us by his constant
example to despise the froth of this world. Our Lord chose
to be born in poverty. He chose to live in poverty. He chose all his life long to
have nothing to call his own, not even a place to lay his head
at night and say, this is my bed. He chose deliberately to
live in poverty, despising the froth of worldly treasure, power,
and position. Oh, God, will I ever learn to
follow his example? and live by faith as he did. There is much encouragement in
this fact. He who was born in poverty came to minister to and
to visit the poor in spirit. He who was laid in a rock manger
will visit our hard stony hearts. He who humbled himself is the
friend of humbled brokenhearted sinners. Isaiah's words also
imply something about God's sovereign election. A virgin shall conceive. Again, hold your hands here in
Isaiah and turn to the first chapter of Luke's Gospel, Luke
chapter 1. There were no doubt many virgins
in the world in those days, but God chose one. only one to be
the agent through whom he would bring his son into the world.
And this was considered a great, great honor and privilege. Look
in Luke chapter 1, verse 26. In the sixth month, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth. to a virgin, a spouse to a man
whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's
name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her
and said, Hail, thou art highly favored of the Lord. Highly favored,
the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women
that word highly favored is exactly the same word that is translated
Accepted in Ephesians chapter 1 where we're told to be that
we are accepted in the beloved from everlasting verse 29 and
When she saw the angel She was troubled at his saying, and cast
in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel
said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with
God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth
a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and
he shall be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God
shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall
reign over the house of Jacob forever. and of his kingdom there
shall be no end. In all of this, Mary shows us
the marvelous greatness of God's electing love. Mary was freely
chosen of God. Multitudes, multitudes might
have been chosen, but God chose Mary. Isn't that amazing? So
it is with us. So it is with us. Every woman
in Israel who believed God all through the Old Testament hoped
that she might be the one so favored of God that she would
be the one through whose womb the Savior would come into the
world that God promised back in Genesis 315. And the angel
comes and says to Mary, you're the lady. God chose you. God chose you. Oh, my soul, let
me never get over the wonder and marvelous grace of God's
electing love. Mary was highly favored by God,
accepted in the beloved, so are we. Mary was visited by God because
he chose her, so are we. Mary had Christ formed in her
womb. And you and I who are born of
God have Christ formed in our hearts. Mary was blessed of God
because Christ was in her. And you and I are blessed of
God because Christ is in us. And Mary rejoiced in God, her
Savior. She rejoiced in, worshiped and
praised God who was in her womb, the God-man, our Redeemer, the
very one we adore and worship and praise. Look in verse 46.
And Mary said, my soul doth magnify the Lord. My spirit hath rejoiced
in God my Savior, for he hath regarded the lowest state of
his handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth,
all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty
hath done to me great things. Holy is his name. And his mercy
is on them that fear him from generation to generation. But
God's favor upon her caused Mary much trouble in this world. I
don't know that I'd ever given this much thought until preparing
this message. You remember in John chapter
eight, when our Lord Jesus reproved the Pharisees, they bragged that
they were Abraham's children. They said to him, we be not born
of fornication. The obvious implication was everybody
around here knows you're just a bastard boy. Everybody around
here knows that your mama was pregnant before she and Joseph
ever got married. We be not sons of fornication. So it is God's elect in this
world because they are God's people suffer trouble by their
identification with him who is our Redeemer. Now before we move
on, let me call your attention to the astonishing wonder of
this prophecy. God's promise here is introduced
with that word, behold. Behold, I told you at the outset,
I not only believe that Jesus Christ is the virgin born son
of God, I hang all the weight of my immortal soul upon it.
Either he was born of the virgin, or I have no Savior, and He is
not God. But hanging all the weight of
my immortal soul upon this is nothing. Listen to me. God Almighty, the triune Jehovah,
hangs all the weight of the glory of His being upon it. No man
could be so ignorant and so foolish as to prophesy that a virgin
would bring forth a child. Find me any place in history
where anybody inventing any kind of religion ever came up with
such a preposterous notion. None but God himself would make
such a prophecy, for none but God himself could bring it to
pass. The Lord God not only declares
a virgin shall conceive, He asserts that she shall still be a virgin
when she gives birth to her child. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son. She who is a virgin shall give
birth to a child. Who but God could have made such
a promise? Who but God could have pulled
it off? We commonly lay great stress
upon the fact that Mary was a virgin when the holy humanity of our
Redeemer was conceived in her womb. But the wonder and the
mystery of the promise is this. Our Lord Jesus Christ was not
only conceived in the womb of a virgin, he came forth from
the womb of the virgin, opening the virgin's womb in his birth.
You'll remember back in Exodus 13 too, God gave a special command
concerning the firstborn, a man and beast. He said, sanctify
unto me all the firstborn. Now listen to how he describes
the firstborn. Whatsoever openeth the womb among
the children of Israel, both of man and the beast it is mine. Everyone knows The womb is not
opened in birth, not normally. The womb is opened in conception. But our Savior, God's firstborn,
opened the womb of the virgin in his birth. This is God's work. It has the stamp of God upon
it. He who formed the first atom out of the dust of the earth
formed the last atom in the womb of the virgin. The headstone
of the corner was cut out of the mountain without hands. What
a miracle of mercy. The incomprehensible God The
circle whose center is everywhere, whose circumference is nowhere,
was encircled and cooped up for nine months in the womb of a
virgin. The prophet Jeremiah said, the
Lord hath created a new thing in the earth. A woman shall compass
a man. And thus it came to pass. Behold,
Jehovah's firstborn. He opened the womb of the morning. when he stood forth as our surety
in the covenant of grace with the Father. He opened the womb
of the virgin when he came forth into this world to perform his
work as our surety. And he opened the womb of the
earth in his resurrection when he had finished that work. Second,
our text in verse 15 speaks in suggestive language to show forth
our Lord's holy humanity. and honey shall he eat, that
he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. The word
that in the middle of verse 15 should be translated almost anything
except that. It would be better translated
when or but or and. If you can show me how eating
butter and honey will cause a man to know to refuse evil and choose
good, then you can soon make yourself very rich. The text
should read, butter and honey shall he eat and he shall know
to refuse the evil and choose the good. Our Lord's eating butter
and honey suggested that he would be born during a time of peace
in Israel as he was. Butter and honey are things that
people rarely take time to make and gather when war ravages the
land. Eating butter and honey is a
declaration of our Lord's real humanity. We rejoice in his deity. We delight in his deity. We glory
in his everlasting Godhood. Were he not God, he could not
save, he could not redeem. But our Savior is a real man. He ate just like any other man
eats. He drank just like any other
man drinks. Let us rejoice and give thanks. There's nothing unusually distinctive
about our Lord's humanity except His sinlessness. Our Savior is
our God and He is a man just like us. with all the passions
and feelings and needs of a man, with all the experiences, trials
and troubles of a man, everything except sin. And then he who knew
no sin was made sin and he bore the greatest sorrowful sin any
man has ever borne. Spiritually, the butter and honey
may refer to the grace poured into our Savior's lips. You remember
Psalm 45, turn back there, Psalm 45 and verse 1, Psalm 45 verse
1. My heart is indicting a good
matter. I speak of the things which I
have made touching the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready
writer. Now listen. Thou art fairer than
the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips. Therefore God hath blessed thee
forever. All grace, like butter and honey,
is poured into his mouth and flows to us from him who is our
mediator. His interceding grace, his saving
grace, his redeeming grace, his preserving grace, his cleansing
grace, all this comes to us from God through this man who is God,
our Savior. The next sentence describes the
perfect holiness of our Savior. Butter and honey shall he eats.
That tells us of his humanity. And he shall know to refuse the
evil and choose the good. That's his holiness. life on
this earth, our Savior said no to ungodliness. He refused the
evil and He chose the good in the wilderness of temptation. He pushed the evil aside. He
said no to the ungodliness and chose the honor of God and the
will of God. In the garden of Gethsemane,
he cried with great heaviness of heart, but he refused the
evil and chose the good. What shall I say? Father, save
me from this hour? Oh, no. For this cause came I
unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Now, here's the third thing.
Isaiah was inspired to give us a special glorious name for our
Savior. We're told that his mother would
call his name Immanuel. Now I challenge you, go through
the book of God and find me any place in this book where anyone
ever called our Savior Immanuel. There's no such place. Something
highly instructive here. What does this mean? Turn back
to the passage we read this morning in Genesis chapter four. Genesis
chapter four. verse 26, And to Seth, to him also there
was born a son, and he called his name Enos. Then began men
to call upon the name of the Lord. The word means worship,
publish, mention with reverence, pronounce renown upon the name
of the Lord. That's exactly what Mary did
in Luke chapter 1. She called on Him who is God
in her belly in human flesh to worship, to publish, to mention
with reverence, to pronounce renown upon Him who is our Savior. And thus His name is called Emmanuel. We, who like Mary, have Christ
formed in us by the power of God the Spirit, worship Him. We publish his name with reverence. We extol our savior as God with
us. Oh, what a glorious name for
our mediator, our redeemer, our advocate, our savior, Emmanuel,
God with us. God with us by incarnation to
redeem us. God with us by his spirit to
protect, guide, and comfort us. God with us when we gather in
his name. God with us is hell's terror. God with us is the strength of
his servant. God with us is the suffering
saint's consolation. God with us is the dying thief's
hope. God with us is our song and joy
in heavenly glory. Now one last thing, back here
in Isaiah 7. The Lord God tells us that our Savior's incarnation
is a sign. The Lord himself shall give you
a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. The Lord himself
shall give you a sign, a token for good, a token for good. The sign, the token of good,
good things that the Lord has given us is Christ himself, the
God-man, our Savior. What are we to infer from this?
God has come in our flesh. His name is Emmanuel, God with
us. What a sign. Surely God in our
nature is God come to save. Surely, if the Lord God has given
us His Son, His love for us must be indescribable and immeasurable. The love of God shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given us tells us that
when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. God commendeth his love toward
us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Surely he who gave his own dear son will withhold no good thing
from us. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? 700 years before he came into
this world through the virgin's womb, the prophet Isaiah declared,
therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin
shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.
Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the
evil and to choose the good. Beginning back in Genesis chapter
three and verse 15, and going through all the Old Testament
like a light shining more brightly with every day from the dawn
of revelation until the moment of our Savior burst into the
world in our nature. God gave such clear declarations
of his coming that the only way it can be missed The only way
the prophecies can be misunderstood is because man is utterly blind
to all things spiritual. The prophecies were crystal clear. The prophecies were clearly fulfilled. The prophecies marked the time
of our Savior's incarnation, marked His person, His household,
the very place where He would be born. And when He came, Emmanuel
came in our flesh, fulfilling the Word of God to redeem and
save the people, given Him in covenant mercy to redeem and
save before the world began. Call his name Jesus, Jehovah
who saves, for he shall save his people from their sins. Emmanuel, we bless your name. Our savior, God and king. Our
God, a man like us became, that he might mercy bring. Emmanuel,
God come to save the people of his choice. Emmanuel by him were
saved. Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice. Amen. All right, let's take our
hymn books. We'll sing a hymn before we have
the Lord's table. Let's turn to number 42. All
hail the power of Jesus name. I'll ask you to stand together. you