God’s Promises Fulfilled

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This morning, as we move into the Christmas season, we’re going to start a new series of messages that are focused on Jesus’ journey to earth. And I’ve called this series, God With Us. And throughout the month of December, we’re going to look at how Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem and His life on earth affect our relationship with God still today.

So would you take your Bibles and turn with me first of all to Matthew chapter 1 and maybe put your bulletin there to mark your spot in Matthew chapter 1 so we can come back to it in a few minutes. Matthew chapter 1. We’ll eventually come back to Matthew chapter 1.

But for right now, I’d actually like you to turn with me to Isaiah chapter 7. Matthew chapter 1, mark your spot to turn back, And Isaiah chapter 7 is where we’re going to start out this morning. And as we begin in Isaiah chapter 7, we’re going to read about a time 2,700 years ago when God’s people in the kingdom of Judah were ruled by an ungodly king named Ahaz.

Ahaz was struggling to protect his people and really to protect his own throne from an invading army. And Judah in this battle faced a formidable adversary because their rivals in the northern kingdom of Israel had teamed up with an exceptionally brutal group of people called the Aramaeans. And by the time we arrive in chapter 7 here of the book of Isaiah, these combined armies had set up a siege around the city of Jerusalem.

Now, when a city was under siege, they would be totally encircled by their enemies. An invading army would come and they would camp all the way around the outside of the city to make sure that no one and nothing got in or out. They would totally cut off the city or the castle, whatever it was, from the outside world.

And what this did was it deprived the city of food and water and supplies and fresh troops. They couldn’t get any of what they needed. And so both the city’s military defenders and the civilian population of the city would grow increasingly weak as the city was gradually strangled to death from the outside.

And while the city was being weakened inwardly, The invading armies would try to weaken the city outwardly by attacking the walls and the gates of the city, trying to break through. And these sieges could last for many years, either on and off or continuously, for years of a stretch. And unless the city could get outside help, it was really only a matter of time before the invaders were able to break through the walls or the defenders surrendered.

one of the two was going to happen. And usually, usually a besieged city’s only hope to survive the siege was some kind of delivering force to come from the outside and to break through the enemy lines and to resupply the city. That was their only hope, was an outside rescue.

And so in this case, Jerusalem needed to be rescued, needed to be delivered by an outside force. But they weren’t going to be able to be delivered. They weren’t going to be able to be saved by any human armies.

Now, Jerusalem’s only hope in this case to prevent certain annihilation was to trust in the promises that God had made to them long before. You see, even though the people of Judah didn’t always deserve it, and even though King Ahaz certainly didn’t deserve it, God was still watching over Aren’t you glad God watches over you when you don’t deserve it? God was still watching over them.

And through all of their wandering, through all of their missteps and their misdeeds, God remained faithful to his promises. And he remained faithful to his people and the promises that he had made to them. Now, unfortunately, King Ahaz and some of the people in Judah doubted God’s ability.

They didn’t trust God to keep this promise. some of those who were in leadership in Judah. King Ahaz especially, in particular, doubted that God would be able to deliver them.

Not only that he would, not only that he could, but he doubted that he would. He just doubted that God was going to deliver them. He assumed it wasn’t going to happen.

And that’s where we’re going to begin this morning in Isaiah chapter 7, starting in verses 10 and 11 when God informed King Ahaz that he always keeps his promises. Look with me at Isaiah 7. 10.

Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, ask for a sign from the Lord your God. It can be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven. Now, because Ahaz didn’t really trust God to deliver him, God told Ahaz, ask for a sign.

He told him, ask for a sign. Any sign he wanted, he could ask for. wouldn’t you love that in those moments where you’re saying God is this really what you want for God to say ask for any sign and I’ll prove it that’s what God did here he told Ahaz he could ask for any sign he wanted to demonstrate God’s power God said the sign folks the sign could involve anything from the highest heights to the deepest depths God wanted Ahaz to see his faithfulness.

God wanted to show his faithfulness to prove that he could and that he would keep his promises. But then we see Ahaz’s reply in verse 12. He said, I will not ask.

I will not test the Lord. Isn’t that nice? On the surface of it, on the surface, it sounds like a godly answer, maybe.

See how it could be taken that way. It sounds like it could have come from someone who trusted God. I don’t need to put God to the test. He said it and I believe it.

That’s not what he’s saying here. In reality, this response came from a man who not only lacked faith in God’s deliverance, but he also lacked any kind of confidence in God’s offer. God said, ask for a sign.

He didn’t believe that God could deliver him from the trouble, and he didn’t believe that God would actually prove his faithfulness to him with a sign. And so he refused to ask. How foolish is that?

God says, trust me, let me prove my faithfulness. And we say, no, I’m not even going to try. See, Ahaz, in his mind, he didn’t have time to bother with God.

He didn’t have time to mess with God. He needed to find a real solution to his problems, or so he thought. Don’t we do that sometimes?

Say, preacher, oh, I never do that. Really? How many times have we talked about we get into a problem and our last hope is to pray about it?

You know why? Because we’re too busy looking for a real solution to fool with God. When we see somebody else doing it, we realize how foolish it is, don’t we?

That’s what Ahaz was doing. He was too busy trying to find his own solution, to fool with God and his promises. But in verse 13, the prophet Isaiah responded to Ahaz on God’s behalf.

And here’s what he had to say to Ahaz and to the other elites around Ahaz who weren’t necessarily sure that they should believe God. He said, Listen, house of David, is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God?

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. I’m going to stop there partway through verse 14. God had made promises to the nation of Judah that they would be his people and that he would be their God.

He’d made He had also made promises to the house of David that he was going to preserve them on the throne, that he was going to preserve that power of the throne of Judah for them. Ahaz and the leaders of Judah around him had turned their backs on God and his promises. They didn’t deserve God’s kindness.

They didn’t deserve God’s help. But in their moment of great distress here, we see that God was here to help them. Why would He do that if it’s not because they deserved it?

Only because He is faithful. Only because He is a God who will always keep His promises. That was the only reason they could trust. Not because they’d been good, not because they deserved His help or His kindness or His deliverance, but because God is faithful.

Even though they were out of step with him and his will and they didn’t deserve his mercy, he didn’t forget his promises. Because by his very nature, he’s faithful. And he wanted to show Judah that he hadn’t forgotten them, that he hadn’t forgotten the promises.

But Ahaz was just too stinking stubborn to ask. And so Isaiah told Ahaz, he said it was bad enough that Ahaz had gone around and made enemies out of everybody around him, but now it was bad enough that he would make enemies of his neighbors without going and slamming the door on God as well. But now God wanted to show his faithfulness to Judah, and if Ahaz wasn’t going to ask for the sign, then God was going to show his faithfulness anyway.

that’s something else God can show His faithfulness with or without us on board but He’d rather us be on board so let’s go back to the middle of verse 14 and see what this sign was that God said okay you don’t want to ask for a sign I’m going to give you a sign anyway Isaiah said in the middle of verse 14 see the virgin will conceive and have a son and name Him Immanuel By the time he learns to reject what is bad and choose what is good, he will be eating curds and honey. For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned. And we’re going to stop there in Isaiah 7.

God’s promise here to Isaiah deals with two different problems that were facing Judah at that moment. Now first, there was an immediate problem, but there was also an ultimate problem that they were facing. The immediate problem facing Judah was the threat of the whole country falling into the hands of these bitter enemies.

That was their immediate problem. They needed deliverance that could only come from outside. They needed deliverance that could only come from outside, and God promised to provide it.

He promised here again to provide it in His own time. And God was telling them in this passage that we’ve read, He was telling them not to despair because He was going to deliver them. And what’s even better, He gave them the time frame in which to expect it.

You know, sometimes God will tell you something, or we’ll find a promise in God’s Word, and we don’t know how many years it’ll be before He fulfills it. God here gave them the timeline. In this immediate sense of dealing with this immediate problem, God wasn’t describing a virgin.

Hold on. Stay with me for a minute. If you’re thinking, he’s denying the virgin birth.

Absolutely not. Never, never, never. Stay with me.

All right. In this immediate sense, God was not describing a virgin giving birth to a child. It’s more likely he was explaining in this Old Testament time frame that a Jewish virgin would soon get married and conceive a child with her husband and give birth to the child.

And all of that could happen within the space of a year, right? Forty weeks, less than a year. This child would be raised as any good Jewish boy would be to know God’s law.

He’d be raised on God’s law to know the difference between right and wrong. He’d know that from an early age. And by the time he was old enough to choose right from wrong, God would have already completely delivered the kingdom of Judah from the threat of the Arameans.

Verse 16 says that the kings of Israel and Aram would have given up and gone home before this boy was old enough to be morally responsible for his actions. So what’s the point of this? God told Ahaz, in this passage, God told Ahaz that this great deliverance wouldn’t take place in 20 years or 50 years or 100 years.

It would come unexpectedly in a relatively short period of time. And the whole nation would understand what it means that God is with us. It’s going to happen in a short time.

It reminds me of the story of when Lazarus died. and Jesus talks to Mary and Martha and he’s telling Martha that there’s no need to weep because Lazarus is going to be raised up and she says, well, I know at the last day that we’ll all be raised and she thinks the deliverance is coming years and years down the road not realizing Jesus has shown up that day and in just a few moments her brother will live again. If you told them God will deliver Judah they were probably looking for some far off day But God’s making here the point that it’s not going to be 20 years, 50 years, 100 years.

It’s coming soon. Even though the situation at that point looked desperate, hopeless even, God was with them. And He wanted them to know that.

He had not forgotten His people. He intended to keep every promise He had ever made to them. Why?

Why? Because he’s faithful. And God did eventually deliver the nation of Judah, as He promised King Ahaz.

That deliverance did come. Not only that time, but the next time as well, and each time after that. God still watches over them today.

I firmly believe that. But there’s another problem that’s addressed here in the text in this promise that God gave to Ahaz through Isaiah. See, Judah faced the immediate problem of this invasion, and God met that physical need by delivering them.

But there was also the ultimate problem they faced, which was the problem of sin. And God would meet that spiritual need by delivering His people again. See, in Ahaz’s day, Judah dealt with a fierce adversary, this combined army of the Arameans and the Israelites.

But we face an even tougher adversary. Mankind faces a tougher adversary that threatens greater devastation than the Arameans and longer everlasting consequences than they could have ever dreamed of. Our greatest adversary, our ultimate problem that God was addressing here is sin.

This adversary can’t be defeated with physical weapons. No human army can rescue us from the siege that it’s placed around our hearts. is rebellion against God.

It’s any disobedient thought, word, action, or attitude. Any of those that fall short of God’s absolute holiness. And we’re all afflicted by sin.

Every one of us is afflicted by sin. I am, you are, the Bible. The Bible says we all are.

We’re all afflicted by sin and it’s unbelievably destructive. The Bible says in Romans chapter 6 that the wages of sin is death. And it says that in John 10, Jesus said this adversary came only to steal and kill and destroy.

Our whole world is sick with sin. And it corrupts and it corrodes absolutely everything it touches. Everything.

Just last week, I was discussing with some folks in this room the devastating reality of sin. We talked about the pain that sin has caused so many people, even in our own community, even in Bible Belt, Oklahoma. Absolutely.

Sin is rampant and it’s destructive. You see, when we peel back the mask, when we peel back the mask of appearances and we see the ravages of sin, it can make you feel hopeless. We talked about one situation in particular.

I said, sometimes I don’t want to live on this planet anymore. It can make you feel hopeless. Because we know that behind closed doors, lives are being, even in our own community, lives are being devastated by substance abuse.

We know that families are routinely being ripped apart by selfishness. Our communities, they see violence in the streets and they see abuse in their homes. And here’s the bottom line, And sin promises fun and freedom.

But it always turns out to be a cruel master. Well, it promises you’ll be free. It promises you’ll have the time of your life.

But it’ll enslave you and take everything you’ve got. And ensnared in this sin, many of our friends and neighbors live lives that would be unimaginable to some of us. for some of them because of the choices they’ve made and the circumstances they find themselves in they many of them feel like god has long since abandoned them like god no longer cares about them and because of that they see no hope I think this is just the way it is to struggle through and give in to sin and let it destroy everything they see no hope of any other way.

Make no mistake this morning, sin is a strong adversary and it’s got mankind under siege. But God has been promising for thousands of years. Since the earliest days of human history, as a matter of fact, God has been promising that He was going to deliver us from that siege.

Deliverance would come from outside. And if you’ll turn with me now to Matthew 1, we’ll see how he kept that promise. Matthew 1.

Matthew 1, starting in verse 18, says, The birth of Jesus Christ came about in this way. After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, It was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.

But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. Now you may wonder at this point what that story has to do with the one I told you about Ahaz and Isaiah.

How does that connect with the siege of Jerusalem that we’ve been talking about? Look with me at verses 22 and 23. Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet.

See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated, God is with us. Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah spoke to King Ahaz and gave him a word from God that applied to two different situations. In one sense, God was telling Ahaz that he was powerful enough to deal with this immediate physical problem, that siege that was laid around Jerusalem.

But in another sense, it was God’s message to address the hopelessness of a world that was ravaged, that was under siege by sin. And just as God was powerful enough to tackle Judah’s immediate physical problem, he could also deal with mankind’s ultimate spiritual problem. Isaiah said this would be the sign of God’s deliverance, that at just the right time, a virgin would give birth to a child who would be called Emmanuel, which means God is with us, God with us.

Matthew said that God did that, that God fulfilled that second part of the promise when Jesus Christ came to earth. Now, some people have tried to explain away this miraculous work of God because they’re too intellectual and sophisticated, because they’re uncomfortable with it, because the virgin birth is hard to explain. That’s what makes it a miracle, by the way.

They’ll question how a virgin could ever give birth. But when you believe, when you believe as I believe, as the Bible teaches that God literally spoke the universe into existence, that God literally with the words of His mouth commanded nothing to become everything, when you believe that God is capable of that, then creating a body in a virgin’s womb is nothing. That’s a light day for God.

They’ll say that al-mach, the Hebrew word in Isaiah 7. 14 that’s translated as virgin just means young woman. Well, it can mean young woman.

It can also mean virgin. And here’s the thing. When the Jews translated the Old Testament into Greek, two or three hundred years before Jesus’ birth even, they used the Greek word parthenos, which means virgin.

Hundreds of years before Jesus came, the Jews were looking for a virgin to give birth. And most clearly of all, the apostle Matthew, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said that the virgin birth of Jesus was a miraculous work of God. You read Matthew’s account of it, given to him by the Holy Spirit, there’s no mistaking what he intended that Jesus was born of a virgin through the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit.

And that His birth was evidence that with the coming of Christ, God is with us. In a very literal sense of the word. So 700 years earlier, God was not only preparing to fulfill His promises to Judah, but He was also setting the stage to fulfill His promises to the world.

When it came time for God to keep this promise, verse 21 says that Mary would give birth to a son and name him Jesus because he would save his people from their sins. And Jesus would be called Emmanuel. There’d be a title applied to him because he would be the presence of God with us.

We’re going to talk over the next few weeks about what that means. But the fact that God the Father sent God the Son to become a man, to live with us, to live among us, to live like us, except without sin. That’s an important distinction.

The fact that God the Father sent God the Son to do all of that is important proof that God is with us and not against us. is proof that just like He came through for Israel when Israel didn’t deserve it, God came through for us even in the midst of our sin because He is faithful. Even though we didn’t deserve God’s help, God was with us because He keeps His promises.

And when it was time to fulfill the promise to deliver us from sin and from its effects, there was only one way to do it, Jesus Christ came to save His people from their sins. God the Father sent God the Son to come to earth to be born of a virgin and to become a human being without ceasing to be God so that He could live a perfect, sinless life, so that He could take responsibility for our sins, so that He could die in our place on the cross so that He could rise again from the dead, so that through Him, and only through Him, we could find this deliverance from our greatest adversary, our sin. And as we turn to think about the birth of Christ this month, we need to pause and reflect about what it means that by Jesus coming, God is with us.

He’s in our midst. He’s fulfilling the promises of the Father. And one of those promises is salvation to all those who come to the Father through Him.