Isaiah chapter 7 this evening.
Let's read verse 14 one more time. What a glorious, glorious
promise God gave His people. Therefore, the Lord Himself shall,
not maybe, shall give you a sign, a token, a pledge. Behold, a
virgin shall conceive. and bear a son. We know that
virgin's name was Mary, don't we? Mary. Mary shall conceive
of the Holy Ghost. A virgin shall conceive and bear
a son. And you shall call his name Immanuel. Immanuel. Call his name Jesus. He shall save his people from
their sin. Immanuel. What does that mean?
God with us. God with us. I'm entitling the
message from what is said there, call His name Emmanuel. He is
the Savior and He is God. No wonder He's called in Scripture,
God, our Savior. He is Emmanuel, God with us.
Call His name Jesus, for He is the Savior of His people. God,
our Savior. If He's not God, He cannot save.
If he's not God, he has no right to save. But thank God he is. God, our Savior, Emmanuel. Emmanuel has come. Now we have
before us in God's inspired word a prophecy concerning the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we know that he came for
a purpose. He came to accomplish our salvation as the God-man
mediator. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ?
He's God. God Almighty manifest in the
flesh. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. What a remarkable,
glorious truth we find here, God taking our humanity unto
himself, God who made woman was born of a woman. God who gave
the law was subject unto the law, made under the law to redeem
us. What grace and love! is displayed
before us. God so loved that He gave His
only begotten Son, well-beloved Son. He said, this is my beloved
Son in whom I am well, well pleased. In Galatians chapter 4, don't
turn, let me just read it to you. But when the fullness of
time was come, The fullness of the 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 we might receive the adoption
of sons. Galatians chapter 4 verse 6,
and because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His
Son into your heart, crying, Abba, Father. You were sons of
God before God sent His Spirit into your heart to make you know
that you were one of those covenant children. Isn't that amazing?
And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His
Son into your heart, Makes you cry, Abba, Father, dear Father. Wherefore, I want no more a servant,
but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through the Lord Jesus Christ. God sent forth his son, made
of a woman. Just as God said it would come
to pass, here in Isaiah chapter seven, verse 14, you know, this
was spoken, this promise was given 700 years before the Lord Jesus Christ
actually came. What is time with God? We talked
about time going quickly. 700 years passed. You see, with God, there is no
time. With God, there's just the eternal
present. But 700 years did pass, and when the time was come, when
that fullness of the time was come, the Virgin had a visitor. Joseph had a visitor. And the
angel of the Lord was sent to Joseph, and saying, Don't fear
to take Mary to be your wife, for that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Ghost. She shall bring forth a son. Thou shalt call his name Savior,
for he shall save his people from their sins. All this was
done that it might be fulfilled which is spoken of the Lord by
the prophet Isaiah, 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." Here's the Savior,
who is God. God, our Savior. That's good
news. Now, if you look at the contents
of chapter 7 of Isaiah, Judah and Jerusalem were about Judah
and Jerusalem were about to be attacked by the armies of Syria
and the northern tribes of Israel. Remember at this time that Judah
and Israel were divided kingdoms into two different warring kingdoms
and this happened after the death of Solomon. You remember Solomon
had those two sons and it split the kingdom. Ahaz was the king
over Judah in the south and Pekah was the king of Israel in the
north. Pekah, in order to assure the victory over Judah, became
an ally with a pagan nation of Syria, the king's name was Rezan,
and they did so that they might gang up and defeat Judah in the
south. Isaiah and his son were sent
to warn Ahaz and to tell him not to fear. Say unto him, take
heed, be quiet, fear not. Verse four, need it be fainthearted,
for these two tales of these smoking firebrands, with their
fierce anger, it will not come to pass. They have taken evil
counsel against thee. Verse 7, thus saith the Lord,
it shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. They confederated
with the enemy of Israel and tried to defeat Judah. God said,
it's not going to happen. It ain't going to happen. It's
not going to happen unless God brings it to pass. And that is
true in everything. It's not going to happen unless
God brings it to pass. through Isaiah tells Ahaz, do
not be afraid. But Ahaz, in his pride and arrogance
and self-righteousness, he was an unbelieving man, would not
believe the word of the prophet Isaiah, would not believe that
Isaiah was telling him the truth, but rather said, in verse 12,
when Isaiah said, well, ask the Lord. Ask the Lord, ask thee
a sign of the Lord, and it shall be given thee. But Ahaz, in his
pride and arrogance, said, well, I'll not ask. Well, God said
to ask, wouldn't it be a wise thing to ask the Lord? The Lord
said, I will show mercy upon whom I will show mercy. Well,
if mercy is found in the Lord, wouldn't it be a wise thing to
ask the Lord for mercy? But most people are so full of
pride and arrogance that they will not call upon the name of
the Lord. Ahaz said, well, I'm not going
to tempt the Lord when he was told by the prophet of God to
ask. Well, the Lord in great mercy says, here now, O house of David,
is it a small thing for you to weary men? But were you also
weary God? See how long-suffering the Lord
is toward these people. Therefore, the Lord himself shall
give you a sign. That's the content. The Lord
in great mercy said, I'm going to give you a sign anyway. The
Lord graciously takes this occasion at the rebellion of Ahab to declare
unto us the good news of the gospel. The good news of the
gospel, the Messiah is coming. The Messiah is coming to put
away our sin. Boy, that's good news, isn't
it? You know, it's not to a lot of people. They don't need a
Savior to put away their sin. I thought of this scripture where
it says in the book of Romans, where sin abounded, and it did
in that day, in the heart of this wicked king, yet grace does
much more abound. This is similar to the sin and
rebellion of Adam against God. In the face of Adam's fall, our
gracious God pronounces unto us the victory of the coming
Redeemer. God said, I'll put enmity between
thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed, and it shall
bruise thy head. The seed of woman, the same one
we're talking about here, the Messiah, Messiah, the seed of
woman, will crush Satan's head, his dominion, his power, and
humanity, his heel, shall be bruised. He was wounded for our
transgression, bruised for our iniquity. with his stripes we're healed.
We are healed in him. This is a glorious verse. It's
found here in Isaiah. The gospel, you remember I told
you the book of Isaiah, many of the old timers called it the
gospel according to Isaiah. But the whole Old Testament to
him give all the prophets witness. Every book in the Old Testament
tells us about the coming Messiah, who he is, where he came from,
what he's going to do, and how he's going to do it. Now, we see in this verse, 14
and verse 15 of Isaiah 7, three things about our great God and
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The first thing we see is this.
His virgin birth. He's the only begotten, well-beloved
Son of God, conceived of God the Holy Spirit in the womb of
a virgin without the aid of a man, a miraculous conception of God. The second thing we see, His
holy humanity. He was a real man. He ate butter
and honey. butter and honey. He needed nourishment
just like we do. He was a real man, body, soul,
and spirit. And the third thing we see is
his glorious name, Emmanuel. I love the sound of that, don't
you? Emmanuel. Emmanuel has come. God with us. So let's look at those three
things. First of all, his virgin birth.
The Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall
conceive a man-child without the aid of a man. We can be assured
all that God has spoken will come to pass. God is not a man
that he should lie. Now, if God speaks this 700 years
before it actually came to pass, how is all that going to arrange
and how is all that going to be done? You see, God had decreed
all things from the beginning. And everything that God has decreed
shall come to pass. Has to. God is not a man that
he should lie. Numbers 23. Balaam said that. We read in the book of Hebrews
that it is impossible for God to lie. He cannot lie. There's
something God cannot do. Did you know that? He cannot
change. He cannot lie. He cannot act
contrary to His own holy character. All that God has promised, and
He's promised a whole lot, all the promises of God in the Lord
Jesus Christ are yes, and in Him, amen, and to the glory of
God. 2 Corinthians 1 verse 20 and
21. You remember what Abraham said?
Abraham was fully persuaded that all that God has promised, he's
able to perform. What persuasion are you, preacher?
I'm persuaded that God is able to do all that He promised. I'm
persuaded that nothing can separate us from the love of God, which
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. God said, I've spoken it, I'll
bring it to pass. He said, I've purposed it, I'll
do it. I'll do it. It is impossible that a virgin
should give birth to a man-child without the aid of a man. It's
impossible, naturally speaking. But with God, all things are
possible. Now, let's turn to Luke chapter
1. Turn over there to Luke chapter
1, and let's read this. Luke chapter 1, verse 28. Luke
1, 28. Came into her. We've seen the
angel visiting Joseph. Joseph was at the house of David.
Joseph was at the house of David. And the virgin name was Mary.
He was a spouse to her. And the angel came and said,
hail, thou art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed
art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was
troubled. She was troubled, saying, And
cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto Mary,
fear not, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou
shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son. shall call
his name Jesus, he shall be great, he shall be called the son of
the highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne
of his father David. He shall reign over the house
of Jacob forever and ever, and of his kingdom there shall be
no end." Mary said, well, how can this be, seeing I don't know
a man? I'm gonna have a child. And the angel said to her, the
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest
shall overshadow thee, therefore also that holy thing which shall
be born of thee shall be called the Son of God, the only begotten
well-beloved Son of God, God Almighty. Oh, it's impossible
with men, but with God all things are possible. It is true the
body was prepared for the Son of God to dwell in, in a miraculous
provided way by God, he is the only well-beloved, the only begotten
son of God. And think about this, the Lord
Jesus Christ didn't have his beginning at Bethlehem because
he is the eternal son of God. As the eternal son of God, he
inhabits eternity. God who inhabits eternity inhabited
a body of a man, a man-child. A body, you remember reading
from Hebrews 10, a body, hath thou prepared me? A special body. Our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
had to be born without the aid of a man. Now, why is it so emphatic
and important that this man-child be born of God or conceived by
God the Holy Spirit? He couldn't be conceived by a
man because if that be so, he would have the sin of Adam charged
to his humanity. He had to be the sinless Son
of God God cannot, in that sense, be born of a man. He has to be
begotten of God. Our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
had to be born without the aid of a man. He has to be without
sin, without spot, and without blemish in order to be our perfect
Savior. He couldn't have a sin of Adam
on Him and be our spotless Lamb of God. He had to be without
sin, spot, or blemish in order to be the perfect sacrifice for
sin. Had he been begotten of a man, begotten of Joseph, he couldn't
be our Savior because he would have Adam's sin charged to him.
He could not be our Savior because he would have the sinful nature
of Adam. That's why he was conceived of
God in the womb of a virgin. the virgin-born son, if he's
not God Almighty, manifest in the flesh. If he's not the virgin-born
son, we have no gospel. Because it's who he is that gives
power to what he did. If he's not the virgin-born son
of God, the only begotten of the Father, we have no good news. If he's just a good man, a religious
man, a historical man, if he's just a mere man who died We have
no gospel. We have no good news. But since
He is God, manifest in the flesh, we indeed have good news. Call His name Savior. He shall
save His people from their sin. Remember, we're going to see
this in our study in 1 Timothy 3. Without controversy, Great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Now, figure that out. How do you explain that? You
can't explain it. All you do is declare it and
believe it to be so. God said it, and it's so. God
said it, and that settles it. They used to have that saying,
God said it, That settles it and I believe it. Well, God said
it and that settles it whether you believe it or not. It's still
so. It's still so. Also in this we
see God's sovereignty display. There were many versions in Israel
in the day of Mary and Joseph, weren't there? Well, you know,
there were hundreds of thousands of virgins in that day in Israel,
but the Lord sovereignly chose Mary. Remember, the angel came
and said, you're highly favored of God. That, what is that? That's
sovereign mercy. That's sovereign grace. For she
was of the house of David and the tribe of Judah. Even in this,
we see a picture of God electing grace and salvation. Both Joseph
and Mary were chosen of God. Both were the house of David,
tribe of Judah. Mary was freely chosen and elected
of God. So is every believer. We've been
blessed with all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly in
Christ, according as he had chosen us in him. When? before the foundation
of the world. I like what one old preacher
said years ago, thank God he chose me before I was born because
he wouldn't have chosen me afterward. Unconditional election. Mary
was freely chosen and elected of God, so was every believer.
Mary was highly favored of God, so was every believer. Who made
you to differ from another? What do you have that you didn't
receive? It's God who made you to differ. Why do you believe
the gospel and your neighbors don't? Why do you believe the
gospel and most people you know hate what you believe? I stood
at that funeral yesterday and preached at funeral yesterday
over in town, and I realized while I was preaching that message
that some of our folks came, two or three of our folks were
there, but the majority of the people that were there I was
preaching to people who hated the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Because some of the things I
said, I got some strange looks. But I'm not going to compromise.
I'm going to keep right on preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. But some of those people there
in that meeting, in that funeral, some of them believed the gospel.
Some of them believed what I was preaching. Who made the difference?
God made the difference. Mary was highly favored of God,
so was every believer. Mary was visited by God, well,
so was every believer. Every believer has been visited
by God Almighty. It's God who saved us and called
us. God who has begun a good work in you will finish it. Mary
had Christ formed in her, right? Begotten and conceived of God
the Holy Spirit. Christ was formed in her. So
is every believer. Christ is formed in them. Christ
in you is the hope of glory. Greater is he that is in you
than he is in the world. Mary was blessed of God for Christ's
sake, and so are we. We're to love and forgive one
another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us. Mary rejoiced
in Christ. It says over in Luke, 1, verse
46, Mary said, My soul doth rejoice in God my Savior. What was her
hope? The same hope we have. It's a
good hope through grace. Rejoicing in the Lord and having
no confidence in the flesh. You see, Mary is a picture in
time. of how God saves sinners by His grace. Now, here's the
second thing. Who then is the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, He's God Almighty. One
Son of God to save His people. He's a Redeemer. But He's also
a real man. Look at verse 15. Butter and
honey shall He eat. and he knoweth to refuse evil
and choose that which is good. The Lord Jesus Christ is very
God of every God, holy, almighty, And yet he has the very nature
of man without sin. A real man, a man of Saul, acquainted
with grief. Not a phantom man, not a phony
man, not a fictitious man, not a plastic man, but a real man. A real man who is also God. The God-man, mediator. That's what it says. We're going
to see in 1 Timothy chapter 2, one God, One mediator between
God and man, who is it? The God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Fully God, fully man, and one
blessed person. One blessed person. Listen to
this scripture in Romans 8. For what the law could not do
and is weak to the flesh, God tending his own Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh. He
thought it not robbery to be equal with God. And yet he took
upon himself the form of a servant and was made in the likeness
of men. And becoming fashioned as a man, he became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. He had to be a real
man or he could not die for our sin. He had to be the sinless
Lamb of God or he couldn't put away our sin. He's both man and
God and one blessed person. who is God our Savior, Emmanuel,
God with us, who is our advocate, our intercessor, our mediator,
our great high priest, to represent us before God. Oh, what a Savior
we have. What a representative we have.
In Adam all died, in Christ shall all be made alive. By one man's
disobedience, What happened? Many were made sinners. So by
the obedience of another, shall many be made righteous. That's
the two men. God's going to deal with this
whole human race and those two representative men, Adam, Christ. And Adam all died, and the Lord
Jesus Christ, all in him, have to be made alive. They have to
have salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. The
Scripture declares of him that he was sinless. Notice it says
there in verse 15, and he shall know to refuse evil. He couldn't
do evil. He's God. He was tempted and
tested in all points like as we are. Remember Hebrew chapter
4 verse 15? He tempted and tested in all
points like as we are, yet without sin. He refused evil. And He always did that which
was good. The Lord is good. He was manifested
to take away our sin, John said. He was manifested to take away
our sin. And in Him is no sin. I quote this scripture almost
every time I preach. And it's a good scripture. God
made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. Peter said, He bear our sin in
His own body on the tree. He is the one who did no sin. He knew no sin. He's yet without
sin. We read Sunday from Hebrews 7,
He's holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sin. Yet he's
a spotless lamb of God who bears our sin and his own body on the
tree. What a gospel we have in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's the last thing. His
name, one of his many names he has, is Emmanuel. Call his name Emmanuel, which
means God with us. who is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's a real man, and yet He's God. Turn to Isaiah 9. You remember
this scripture? Isaiah 9, verse 6. Isaiah 9,
6, unto us a child is born. The child was born, conceived
of God the Holy Spirit in the womb of that virgin, but a son
is given. That's saying two different things
there. The child was born, but the son was given. and the government
shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace, the King of Peace, and of the increase
of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne
of David, upon his kingdom to order it, to establish it with
judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The
zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. You remember that
scripture over night in Psalm 57, where it said, He performeth
all things for us. Aren't you glad it's that way?
Aren't you glad that salvation is not dependent upon what you
do, what you give, where you go, or what you don't go, what
you eat or not eat? Salvation is of the Lord, isn't
it? Joseph was instructed to call
his name Jesus, which means Savior. He shall save his people, and
he did. He justified them from all their
sin by his blood. What puts away our sin? The blood
of the sinless Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Justified
freely by his grace, We're redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.
He suffered once for our sin, the just for the unjust that
he might bring us unto God. The Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus,
is his name is humiliation, his name of his humanity, but it
also describes his office. The Savior who saves, the Redeemer
who really redeems, represents us before God with an acceptable
offering for sin. As the great high priest, he
didn't come with the blood of bulls and goats, but with his
own blood. What did he do? He obtained for
us eternal redemption with his own blood. The virgin was instructed
to call his name Emmanuel. Joseph was instructed to call
his name Savior. He's God, our Savior. God with us. By the light of
nature, we see God above us, don't we? The heavens declare
the glory of God. In the light of the law, we see
God against us. Cursed is everyone that continues
not at all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. Only in the light of the gospel do we see God with us. Isn't that good? God with us. God for us. If God be for us,
who can be against us? He that spared God his own Son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yet rather
is risen again. Who is even at the right hand
of God? What does he do? He also makes intercession for
us. God with us to redeem us from
all sin. God with us to redeem us from
the curse of the law. God with us to establish perfect
righteousness for us, honoring his own law. God with us to freely
impute righteousness unto us. God with us to call us out of
darkness into his marvelous light. God with us to regenerate us
and make us new creatures in Christ. God with us to keep us,
protect us, guide us, teach us in the way of truth. call his
name Emmanuel, God with us. Isn't that good news? God with
us now. All grace now He gives us now,
and God with us forever, throughout eternity, God with us. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. What do you
think about that verse? Isaiah 7 verse 14. Let's not
wait 12 years to preach it again. Let's wait maybe 12 months and
go at it again. Therefore, the Lord himself shall
give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son, and thou, O virgin, shall call his name Immanuel."
God with us.