Rev. David Holwick ZI Christmas in Isaiah
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 11, 2005
Isaiah 7:10-16
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I. A miracle birth.
A. Modern equivalent?
There are a lot of unknown variables that go into making a
baby.
To remove some of those variables, many are turning to
technology.
California has what is called "The Repository of Germinal
Choice."
Women can choose a Nobel Prize winner as the father of their
child.
His contribution is frozen, hers is cash.
Little Victoria was the first baby born from this venture.
Her "father" was a young mathematician with an IQ over 200.
But her mother proved to be an ex-con who lost custody of her
first two children after allegations of child abuse.
Only time will tell whether nature or nurture will win out in
this little girl's life.
#20326
B. Jesus was not born this way.
1) The exact mechanics are unknown.
2) However, Matthew and Luke record that the power of God
caused a virgin named Mary to become pregnant.
3) This is called the Virgin Birth.
II. Do you believe the Virgin Birth?
A. Many do not.
Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick was probably America's most
famous minister half a century ago.
He preached in Trenton, and in the Riverside Church in
New York.
Fosdick was an aggressive liberal.
In 1945 a person asked him what he thought of the Virgin
Birth.
He responded:
"Of course I do not believe in the virgin birth...
and I know of no intelligent person who does." #29606
B. Large numbers of ministers agree with Fosdick.
In 1998 a poll was done of 7,441 Protestant clergy in U.S.
19% of American Lutheran pastors did not believe it.
44% of Episcopalian priests.
49% of Presbyterian pastors.
60% of Methodist ministers.
American Baptists, our denomination? 34%.
I guess that makes us middle-of-the-road.
#30245
C. People in American pews tend to believe in it.
Nicholas Kristof, a columnist for the New York Times, said
in a recent column that this proves we as a country are
way too mystical and anti-intellectual.
#25420
D. Why the skepticism?
1) There are pagan parallels of great men born supernaturally.
2) There are various ways to understand the Bible passages.
3) It just isn't scientific. Virgins don't have babies!
If either of my daughters came to me and said, "Daddy!
An angel appeared to me and you're going to be a
grandfather!" no way would I believe it was a
virgin birth.
III. The Old Testament prophecy. Isaiah 7:14
A. Familiar words heard in Christmas pageants:
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:
The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son,
and will call him Immanuel."
1) King Ahaz was trying to evade God and trust human allies.
2) The prophet Isaiah challenged him to ask a sign of God.
a) Ahaz put on a false spirituality: It would be wrong of
me to test God.
b) Reality: he had more confidence in his own schemes
for victory.
c) Since he would not seek a sign, Isaiah gave him one
anyway.
B. Who is the virgin?
1) The Hebrew word (alma) can mean a young woman, or a real
virgin.
2) In the immediate context, it refers to Isaiah's own wife.
She was not a virgin.
3) Within the early years of this child's life, Ahaz's enemies
would be destroyed.
IV. New Testament fulfillment.
A. Various treatments in the gospels.
1) Mark jumps straight to Jesus as a man.
2) John gives a spiritual interpretation.
a) The Word became flesh and lived among us. John 1:14
3) Matthew and Luke have several differences.
a) They had different sources, and were not copying
one another.
1> Therefore they provide independent testimonies.
b) There is agreement on key points:
1> Mary was a virgin until after Jesus' birth.
2> The Holy Spirit made it happen.
B. Confirmation from a non-Christian source?
1) There may be corroboration for the virgin birth from
a hostile source.
The Jewish Talmud charges that Christ was born out of
wedlock.
It charges Mary was seduced by a man named "Pandera."
2) Dr. Bruce Metzger of Princeton Theological Seminary
contends:
"The defamatory account of his birth seems to reflect
a knowledge of the Christian tradition that Jesus
was the son of the virgin Mary.
The Greek word for virgin, parthenos, is distorted
into the name Pandera" (page 76).
Even the Jewish scholar Joseph Klausner has conceded
this point as well (pp. 23-24).
#7675
C. The girl is definitely a virgin.
1) The Greek word that is used (parthenos) is very specific.
a) Also, they had no sex until after the birth. Matt 1:25
2) An example of double-fulfillment in prophecy.
a) Partial fulfillment in Isaiah's day, total in Jesus'.
D. Much remains unexplained.
1) How does the divine combine with the human?
2) What would Jesus' genome [genetic code] be?
3) We are not told, and we will probably never know.
V. Does the Virgin Birth matter?
A. It has become a litmus test.
1) Eighty years ago a famous series of pamphlets called
"The Fundamentals" defended belief in the virgin birth.
2) The doctrine is a dividing line between Evangelicalism
and Liberalism.
a) Other teachings, like the incarnation and the cross,
are more important.
b) What we are really defending is supernaturalism rather
than a specific event.
3) Ironically, Osama Bin Laden believes in the Virgin Birth!
a) It is taught in the Koran and accepted by Muslims.
b) As a matter of fact, Mary is the only woman mentioned
in the Koran.
B. God can do anything.
Rev. Loren Seibold sat down in the airplane and started
a conversation with his seatmate.
"Business or pleasure?"
The salt-and-pepper-haired traveler to his right lowered his
WALL STREET JOURNAL and smiled at him over half-spectacles.
"Business," he said. "A conference on advertising. And you?"
"A church meeting," I said.
"Church?"
"Yes," Seibold said. "I'm a minister."
The man folded his newspaper on his lap and turned toward
the pastor.
"I'm not religious myself," he said.
"I do believe in God.
But there's so much in the Bible that is just unrealistic."
"Like what?" Seibold asked.
"Like Jesus Christ," he said.
"Undoubtedly he was a very nice guy and a wise teacher.
We'd all be better off if we did unto others as we'd like
them to do to us.
But the whole 'Son of God' thing - a virgin having a baby,
miracles, rising from the dead.
That's way too much for me."
The pastor responded, "So, the God you believe in really isn't
a very capable God, is He?"
"I'm not sure what you mean," the businessman said.
"I mean that your God doesn't seem to have power to do what he
claimed to do."
He looked intently at the pastor while the stewardess set
ginger ales in front of them.
"I'll have to think about that," he said, turning toward the
plane window.
If God is really God, then He has the power to do anything.
#25620
The virgin birth is not the most outlandish miracle in the
Bible.
The Resurrection of Jesus is.
And without that, our salvation is meaningless.
If the Bible is true, our responsibility is clear.
Accept Christ and all that the Bible says about him.
Relate to him as a human and worship him as your God.
C. The virgin birth confirms greatness of Jesus.
Dr. James Kennedy summarizes how central the Virgin birth is
to the Christian faith:
If Jesus was not born of a virgin then the New Testament
narratives are false and unreliable.
If Jesus was not born of a virgin then he was mistaken about
who his father was.
He constantly declared himself to be the Son of God, and he
declared that God was his father.
If Jesus were not born of a virgin, then he was not the Son
of God, but merely the illegitimate child of a sinful
liaison between a Jewish peasant girl and an unknown man.
If Jesus were not born of a virgin, then he cannot be the
divine Redeemer, because the sacrifice for sin must be
perfect.
If Jesus were not born of a virgin, we are still in our sins
and without forgiveness.
If Jesus were not born of a virgin, we have no hope after
death.
#30255
1) But Jesus WAS born of a virgin, and we have a perfect
Savior, the forgiveness of sins, and the hope of eternal
life.
2) Is it true for you?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 7675 "A Hostile Source For The Virgin Birth," by Wayne Jackson;
http://www.christiancourier.com/archives/jesusseminar1.htm,
July 5, 2000.
#20326 "Nature Or Nurture?" by Ellen Goodman, Seven World's Publishing,
Dynamic Preaching newsletter, October 11, 2001.
#25420 "Dumb And Dumber," by Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr., Baptist Press,
http://www.baptistpress.org/, August 19, 2003.
#25620 "Myth Or Miracle? Why the Virgin Birth Matters," by Rev. Loren
Seibold, http://www.signstimes.com, December 2002. Illustration
is changed from first person from original's third person.
#29606 "I Do Not Believe in the Virgin Birth," Http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/~
sbcreaffirms.htm.
#30245 "Belief And Unbelief In The Virgin Birth,"
http://www.religioustolerance.org/virgin_b2.htm.
#30255 "The Centrality of the Virgin Birth," from Kerux Sermon #10218 by
Rev. Bruce Goettsche. Modified from original.
These and 25,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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