Sermon Manuscript Matthew 1:18-25 Christ in Prophesy: The Virgin ...

And so that is what we are doing this Advent season. We are, at the advice of Peter,
paying attention to the prophetic word as emphasized by Matthew in the first two
chapters of his gospel.
Matthew tells us in verse 21 and 22 of Matthew chapter 1 that,
“All this [that is, the events surrounding the birth of Christ and the virgin birth itself]
took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
And then he quotes from Isaiah 7:14 saying,
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name
Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Matthew 1:22–23, ESV)
I find this fascinating. The virgin birth of Christ was not just a random event or a fairytale
made up after the life of Christ, but rather it was in fulfillment to a prophesy that was
given hundreds of years earlier.
I think it would be a good idea to go and take a quick look at the prophesy in Isaiah 7
so that we know what we are d3ealing with here. By the way, this is always a good idea
whenever you see an Old Testament passage being referenced in support of a New
Testament teaching - you should always go and take a look around.
Let me tell you something about the context here surrounding this incredible statement
made by Isaiah that, “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name
Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14, ESV)
This all took place in about 735 b.c. King Ahaz was King of Judah. He was a wicked King
who ignored warnings of the prophets Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah. One of his downfalls
was that he did not trust in the Lord, but rather he put his confidence in foreign
alliances.
It came to pass that Rezin, the King of Syria and Pekah the King of Israel came up to
Jerusalem to wage war against it. The scriptures tell us that Ahaz, the King of Judah was
so troubled by this threat that he and his people, “shook as the trees f the forest shake
before the wind.” from a human perspective, Judah would be overrun. The could not
stand against this threat, against this alliance of powers.
This is where the ministry of Isaiah comes in. He and his son Shear-jashube (which, by the
way, means a remnant shall remain) go out to meet Ahaz to bring the word of the Lord
to the King. Isaiah says,
‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of
these two smoldering stumps of firebrands... [they have said] “Let us go up
against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son
of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” thus says the Lord God: “ ‘It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass. (Isaiah 7:4–7, ESV)
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