1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,280 or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,760 us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,080 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:28,200 And if you would turn in your Bible for the Sunday school hour 8 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:32,680 to Isaiah chapter #7 this morning, Isaiah chapter #7 I'll 9 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:35,320 let you know what we're doing here in just a moment. 10 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:36,880 But do just want to say a few words. 11 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:39,040 Thank you, gentlemen, for pivoting this morning, for not 12 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,720 having men's prayer like we normally would have and kind of 13 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:46,200 did that late last night. A lot of people dealing with 14 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,520 sickness here in the church over the last few days. 15 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:50,920 Of course, that seems to be the case all over the place right 16 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:52,760 now. And I've been under the weather 17 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,280 the last couple days. But thank the Lord, no fever, 18 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:58,520 nothing like that. And so I'm not contagious. 19 00:00:58,520 --> 00:00:59,520 You don't need to be afraid of me. 20 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:01,680 We might need to be afraid of me, but not because of that. 21 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:05,440 If there's nothing else, but I am thankful and still feeling a 22 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:07,400 little bit under the weather today, but glad to be able to be 23 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:09,200 with you. But pray for those who are not 24 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:10,920 able to be here. I know Brother Anthony is one of 25 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:12,880 those. And then others who are having 26 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:15,160 some longer term issues like Brother Vince and I know I'm 27 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:17,800 forgetting people, but just keep one another in prayer. 28 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:22,600 But then also we were so glad to have the four young men from 29 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:24,080 Heartland preach for us on Wednesday. 30 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:25,640 That was a joy. Wasn't I mean, that was just a 31 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:27,760 real joy. I, I enjoyed the passion, but I 32 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:29,680 also enjoyed the content. And so you can have a lot of 33 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,560 passion, not necessarily have content, you have content, not a 34 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:34,240 lot of passion. But it's nice when those two 35 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:36,040 come together. And I really felt like that was 36 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,520 the case on Wednesday night. And all four of them left very 37 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:41,880 early on Thursday to be able to go back to Heartland. 38 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,240 And so obviously, Chuck, he's not with us this morning. 39 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:47,520 So continue to pray for him as he continues his training. 40 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:50,040 But then also, Batova was getting a lot of different 41 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:54,080 things settled to get back to Heartland, hadn't had all of his 42 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:56,120 flight details and all those things worked out. 43 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:58,840 And it ended up that Wednesday night was his last service. 44 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,360 And I didn't realize that none of us realized that, including 45 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:03,680 him. And so he was on a plane this 46 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:06,880 morning at 6:00 AM for David to take him to the airport and 47 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:08,960 back. And so pray for him as he is 48 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:10,520 heading there. I'll be able to check on both of 49 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:12,680 them on Tuesday. Obviously, I'll be heading out 50 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:14,920 on Monday to be able to go to the Church Players Conference. 51 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:17,080 And we're looking forward to being able to disperse those 52 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:19,360 funds that we've collected over the last few weeks and to give 53 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:22,040 those the worthy church plants. And so I'm looking forward to 54 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:23,720 giving you a report on that when I get back. 55 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,400 But also looking forward to seeing Chucky, Charles and 56 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:28,920 Batova. Those are only two people, not 57 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:31,400 3. But you noticed his friends know 58 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:32,960 him as Charles, but we know him as Chucky. 59 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:35,600 Either way, that's all right. And so looking forward to being 60 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,400 able to see them on Tuesday. And then probably the thing that 61 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:40,280 makes me most nervous, if I could maybe use that word 62 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:43,360 nervous for Sunday school is the fact if I take the wrong step 63 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:45,800 backward, I'm going to get baptized this morning because we 64 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,000 got this baptistry. You can't see it online, but 65 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,280 this baptistry is really about 1 foot away from my right leg. 66 00:02:51,640 --> 00:02:54,600 And so we're looking forward to being baptizing 3 this morning 67 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:56,360 in the morning service after the morning service. 68 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,040 Praise the Lord, all three have gotten saved here at church over 69 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:01,160 the last few months. And so thank the Lord for that. 70 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:04,440 And so looking forward to a great morning service as well as 71 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:08,520 being the day for the theme reveal for 2026. 72 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:10,280 So if you didn't grab a bulletin in the back, there's a reason 73 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:11,640 for that. It's because if I put them out 74 00:03:11,640 --> 00:03:13,800 there, you know what the theme is for 2026. 75 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:16,480 And so as soon as we reveal that the ushers will pass out the 76 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:18,400 bulletins today. So you'll still have those on 77 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:20,480 the way home. Well, we are not going to be in 78 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:22,800 our series this morning. We will resume our series on 79 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,240 world religions and cults and we'll look at how to win the 80 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,200 Jews to Christ next week in our Sunday school hour. 81 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:30,600 But this week actually want to go back and talk about the 82 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:32,840 virgin birth. You say, well, pastor, it's not 83 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:34,040 Christmas. Why are we talking about the 84 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:38,160 virgin birth one, because the issue, the virgin birth is a 12 85 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,480 month out of the year issue, not just a one month out of the year 86 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:43,040 issue. And doctor, I think it's 87 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,360 important that we understand why the virgin birth is so 88 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:47,160 important. And secondly, because I was 89 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:49,160 prepared to teach on it a few weeks ago and then we had no 90 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:50,280 heat. All right, so I want to get 91 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:52,760 another chance at being able to give you this lesson that I was 92 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:55,600 supposed to give you on December 21st, but was not able to. 93 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,200 But again, no apologies for the thought process that when it 94 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:02,840 comes the issues of Christmas, if you will, that Christmas and 95 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:05,520 the Bible texts and the Bible doctrines that deal with that 96 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:08,920 are not just confined to the end of November after Thanksgiving 97 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,200 is done until Christmas time. They really can be talked about 98 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,120 all 12 months out of the year. But, you know, when it comes to 99 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:17,959 the issue of the virgin birth, there's really these two camps, 100 00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:20,399 these two extremes. Maybe if you would that you'll 101 00:04:20,399 --> 00:04:24,720 find there are those who dismiss it out of hand as unscientific 102 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,360 storytelling that they say that there's no such thing as a 103 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:29,560 virgin birth. There could be no such thing as 104 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,360 a virgin birth. So what the Bible says isn't 105 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:35,600 really what the Bible means. There are those who would go to 106 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:38,080 that extreme. And I would also say that there 107 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:40,600 were others who would maybe be in this other camp, and maybe we 108 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:43,400 would call it an extreme, but we would say in this other camp, if 109 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:46,320 you will, there are Christians who would affirm the virgin 110 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,920 birth, but they really have no idea why they do. 111 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:51,520 They just know that the virgin birth is spoken of. 112 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:54,000 They know that it's probably mentioned somewhere in the 113 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:57,480 Gospels, in one of those texts that talk about the Christmas 114 00:04:57,480 --> 00:04:59,680 story, if you will, but they really couldn't argue, 115 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:03,640 articulate why the Bible teaches it and why it's important. 116 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,760 And so I feel like it's a good thing for us to go over maybe 117 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,000 every couple of years, and that's what we've done for the 118 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,520 last several years, to just remind ourselves to resharpen 119 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:15,920 ourselves on why the virgin birth matters. 120 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,600 Why is it so important? Now, back in the 1940s, there 121 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:22,760 were two very famous evangelists that were coming up through the 122 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:25,840 ranks, if you will. One was Billy Graham and the 123 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:29,240 other was Charles Templeton. Now interestingly enough, there 124 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:32,640 are paths forked into two different directions in the 125 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:37,520 1940s with with Billy Graham going the direction that he did 126 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:41,800 and then Charles Templeton actually denying Jesus Christ 127 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:45,240 and denying the faith of which he said that he was preaching 128 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:47,040 about. And Charles Templeton, this 129 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:50,320 former evangelist who became a skeptic of the gospel, then a 130 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:53,560 full blown atheist, said this of the virgin birth. 131 00:05:53,840 --> 00:05:56,360 If one approaches the New Testament account with an open 132 00:05:56,360 --> 00:06:00,760 mind and unflinching realism, the evidence clearly indicates 133 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,080 that Jesus was an illegitimate child who, when he came to 134 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:07,960 maturity, resented it and was alienated from his parents and 135 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:10,600 siblings. That's blasphemous to be able to 136 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:13,880 teach or to say such a thing. By the way, I'm doing some study 137 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:16,200 on Charles Templeton. It's interesting enough that all 138 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:19,320 of his doubts about the Bible, all of his doubts about the Word 139 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:22,360 of God, who Jesus was, all started with the creation 140 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:24,600 account. When he started to deny the 141 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,480 creation account, we started to deny there were six literal days 142 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:30,080 of creation. When he started to believe in 143 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:33,520 the scientists and the so-called scholars more than the word of 144 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,280 God, he started to question everything and really everything 145 00:06:36,280 --> 00:06:37,840 unraveled. It's why it's important that we 146 00:06:37,840 --> 00:06:40,640 believe what the Bible says about creation. 147 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:44,160 By the way, Jesus believed what the Bible says about creation, 148 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:48,080 the reason why he was there, he was part of it, and so to deny 149 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,200 creation is to deny Jesus Christ and his own testimony. 150 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:54,680 But I will say that it seems like for him and many others I 151 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:58,320 have met, that is a starting point for the unraveling of what 152 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:02,040 someone might believe about God. Now, on the other side of that, 153 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,520 Pew Research had a poll that according to their findings, 8 154 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,880 out of 10 professing Christians believed in the virgin birth. 155 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:13,560 So it says that 80% of Christians believe that Jesus 156 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:15,680 Christ was born of a virgin. But let me ask you this. 157 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:19,760 Do you believe 80% of Christians could articulate why that's 158 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:21,880 important? Do you believe that 80% of 159 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:25,000 believers here at liberty would be able to articulate why that 160 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:26,360 is? And I'm not saying that this 161 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:30,280 morning to try to to cast any shade upon anyone this morning. 162 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:32,920 No, no, I'm just saying that it's important for us to be able 163 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:37,000 to look at and to understand and it's worthy of us being able to 164 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:40,680 discuss it more than just saying Jesus was born of a virgin, but 165 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:44,480 not knowing where it says that and why it is so important. 166 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,240 First Peter 315 you've heard us say this many times before, 167 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:51,840 says, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready 168 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:54,800 always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a 169 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:58,080 reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. 170 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,160 We need to as best as we can be able to be apologists. 171 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:04,040 Not that we apologize for the Word of God, but to be able to 172 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:07,520 articulate our faith and say why doctrines are important and 173 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:09,840 where we find those doctrines in the Word of God. 174 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:12,760 Now what we do want to avoid is the other extreme, and this is 175 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:15,600 where I was getting to before this other extreme that where 176 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,840 there were some that would deny the that's so close, there's 177 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,480 some that would deny. Yeah, I think I need a life 178 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:27,760 preserver for certain. But on one side, those who would 179 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:31,000 say it's it's impossible, it's it's bogus. 180 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:33,320 There's others who worship Mary and that's not what we're 181 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,240 suggesting this morning either. There was only one to be 182 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:39,440 worshipped and that is the Lord that there we don't worship 183 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:41,240 Mary. We do not take on the Catholic 184 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:44,159 doctrine of Mary Ology. We don't pray to Mary. 185 00:08:44,159 --> 00:08:47,360 We don't believe that our prayers are heard through Mary 186 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,000 to Jesus. We don't believe any of those 187 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,880 things, nor we try to suggest those things here this morning, 188 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:56,080 but we do believe what the word of God said, that Mary was a 189 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,720 great woman, that she was chosen for a specific task and a 190 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:03,320 specific purpose because of her obedience of the Lord and love 191 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:05,360 for the Lord. But listen, Mary need to be 192 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:07,600 saved just as much as you need to be saved. 193 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:11,160 And Mary was saved just the same way as you were saved, and I was 194 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:13,840 saved, and that was through the blood of Jesus Christ. 195 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:17,080 And so we want to avoid those extremes, but we also want to be 196 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:20,360 able to articulate why we stand in the middle of those. 197 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:26,360 So we are in Isaiah Chapter 7. Let's begin in verse #10 Likely 198 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,680 you're familiar with this. We read this as a text for 199 00:09:29,680 --> 00:09:34,800 worship just a month ago or so. And it says, Moreover, the Lord 200 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:38,720 spake again unto A has saying, Ask the sign of the Lord thy 201 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,680 God. Ask it either in depth or in the 202 00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:44,760 height above. But A has said, I will not ask, 203 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:47,160 neither will I tempt the Lord. And we'll stop right here for a 204 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:49,920 moment. Now A has is told by the Lord 205 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:53,280 that he is one of the kings of the divided Kingdom, a king of 206 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:56,680 Judah, and he is told that he can ask of the Lord and the Lord 207 00:09:56,680 --> 00:09:59,960 will give him some sort of sign because of the turmoil that's 208 00:09:59,960 --> 00:10:03,680 taking place in his nation. Now Ahaz says in verse #12 I 209 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:05,440 will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. 210 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:07,640 Now I'll say, that sounds very spiritual, doesn't it? 211 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:10,880 I mean that sounds like really, really spiritual and such a good 212 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:12,680 thing to say. There's only one problem. 213 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:16,320 God said do it and he said no. Now I don't care how spiritual, 214 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:19,000 this is my message this morning, but I don't care how spiritual 215 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:22,560 your no sounds to the Lord. No is still no to the Lord. 216 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:27,760 No matter how spiritual your no is, or not obeying, and whatever 217 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:30,720 the Lord tells you to do, no is still no to the Lord. 218 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:35,960 And so here we find in verse #13 it says, And he said, Now this 219 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:38,920 is the Lord. Hear ye now, O House of David. 220 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:41,120 Is it a small thing for you to weary men? 221 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:45,400 But will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself shall 222 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:49,000 give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive 223 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:52,480 and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel. 224 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,480 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the 225 00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:59,720 evil and choose the good. For before the child. 226 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:02,200 No, to refuse at the evil and choose the good. 227 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:06,000 The land that thou abhorst shall be forsaken by both her kings. 228 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:08,720 Now, I'm not going to go too deeply into another direction 229 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:11,080 here this morning, but this is one of those prophecies that has 230 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:13,760 both a near fulfillment and a further fulfillment. 231 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:17,080 One would have been in a has his time, and certainly there would 232 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:19,040 have been some sort of understand. 233 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:21,200 There's a lot of different thoughts about exactly what that 234 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:24,640 could have been nearer, but there's also no doubt that there 235 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:28,880 was a further prophecy that was also with this as well, and that 236 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:32,120 would have been Jesus Christ, that nearer prophecy being 237 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,040 something different, the further prophecy being of Jesus Christ. 238 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:40,120 Why verse #14 Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. 239 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:44,160 Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call 240 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:47,120 His name Emmanuel. And of course, we know that when 241 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:49,960 you go to the New Testament, this is the verse that is spoken 242 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:52,960 of, that is referred to linking those things together. 243 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:54,960 Now, why does the virgin birth matter? 244 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:58,400 Well, here we are right here in the Old Testament, and #1 it 245 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:01,600 matters because it was prophesied in the Old Testament. 246 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:05,240 The virgin birth matters because it was prophesied in the Old 247 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:07,520 Testament. It is clearly found for us right 248 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:09,680 here. Now, if you were holding a newer 249 00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:12,960 version of the Word of God, and again, I would counsel you not 250 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:15,560 to do so, But if you were holding a newer version of the 251 00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:19,000 Word of God, very likely that word virgin, there is not the 252 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:22,880 word virgin in your copy of that Bible. 253 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:26,000 Why? Because in most newer versions, 254 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:29,440 virgin is taken out and young woman is put in this place. 255 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:31,520 Does that bother you? It should bother you. 256 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:34,320 That's very problematic for that to be the case. 257 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:39,400 Now, the Hebrew word alma that is found in Isaiah 714 never 258 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:43,560 refers to a married woman and always implies sexual purity. 259 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,440 When the Old Testament was translated into the Greek, 260 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:50,040 that's the Septuagint around the 2nd century BC, Jewish 261 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:53,800 translator rendered alma as the word parthenos, which 262 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:58,080 unambiguously means virgin. So even before Jesus was born, 263 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:02,640 there was an understanding that this word meant virgin, that the 264 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:06,280 word young woman would be a mistranslation of what was 265 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:09,080 trying to be coming across here. And there's a lot of studies 266 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:10,920 that you can look at. You can look at them online. 267 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:13,720 Certainly I would welcome you to do so. 268 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:17,040 But I think we always come back to the same thought here that 269 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:21,480 this, that for this to be a sign a young woman having a child 270 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:24,720 isn't really much of a sign of something miraculous. 271 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:28,120 Listen, we understand any time a baby is born, it's a miracle of 272 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:29,960 life. Life only comes from the Lord. 273 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:31,520 We know that. But we're talking about 274 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,440 something that would be a earth changing sign. 275 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:36,160 Well, what would that be? Something that only happened 276 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:37,960 once and never has happened again. 277 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:41,280 That is a virgin that conceived and shall bear a son. 278 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:45,160 There are explanations why the translator chose translators 279 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:48,760 chose to change the word in newer translations, but none of 280 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:51,880 them bear scrutiny. How could that be a sign of 281 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:55,760 anything if you took the word young woman and in the place of 282 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:57,280 virgin? It just cannot be. 283 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:00,480 Now, we've also looked at this next text before, but I feel 284 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:03,320 like we need to again if we're going to look at this whole 285 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:06,760 element of the virgin birth. And that is in Genesis 315. 286 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:08,160 So you don't need to save your space there. 287 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:11,560 But go to Genesis chapter 3 and we'll look at verse #15 the 288 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:17,280 darkest day of human history, certainly in the short period of 289 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:19,960 human history to that point. And we look back and look at all 290 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:23,320 the troubles that we have today. And we can all trace them back 291 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:26,360 to Genesis chapter 3, can't we? There's so much that we deal 292 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:28,520 with there. We understand what happened with 293 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:30,640 Eve. We understand what happened with 294 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:32,400 Adam. We understand they took of the 295 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:34,120 fruit. By the way, that this again, not 296 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:36,920 my message, but just a reminder, the Bible never says it was an 297 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:38,680 apple. All right, I know this people, 298 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:41,440 people say all the time that they, they just kind of add that 299 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:43,800 in there. There's nowhere where it says it 300 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:45,120 was an apple. It could have been a 301 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,480 pomegranate, I've heard people say, but there's as much 302 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:49,360 foundation of it being a pomegranate as there is an 303 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:51,440 apple. We don't know what it is and it 304 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:52,880 was a fruit. If you want to draw an apple, 305 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:55,480 that's great, but just know it may not have been that. 306 00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:57,640 If you're, if you're drawing that scene or you're showing it 307 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:00,080 to young people in the children's church and we know 308 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:02,360 that once they sin. Verse 7, it says the eyes of 309 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:05,200 them were open and they knew that they were naked and they 310 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:08,280 sewed fig leaves together and made themselves apron. 311 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:11,800 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden 312 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:14,400 in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid 313 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:17,600 themselves from the presence of the Lord amongst the trees of 314 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:18,920 the garden. Of course, this has been the 315 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:22,920 first time they had ever had broken fellowship with God. 316 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:25,880 They had always communed together and now the presence of 317 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:28,080 the Lord is upon them and they are hiding. 318 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:30,840 They're trying to cover their sin and their shame. 319 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:33,800 And of course, the apron of fig leaves would certainly not have 320 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:35,960 been a way to fully cover themselves. 321 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:39,480 And we understand that mankind tries to cover its own sin and 322 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:42,440 his own sin, her own sin. And it's always inadequate. 323 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,000 Every single time it says verse #9. 324 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,280 And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, where 325 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:50,600 art thou? Now I've mentioned this before, 326 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:53,000 but anytime God asks the questions, not because he 327 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,080 doesn't know what's going on all right, Anytime God asks the 328 00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:58,520 questions because you don't know what's going on all right, And 329 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:01,480 he's trying to get you to answer and get you to think about what 330 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:02,800 it is. So anytime you see the Lord ask 331 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:04,480 a question, it's not a fact finding mission. 332 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:07,320 He's trying to get the person he's questioning to be able to 333 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:09,640 think about the answer that's about to come out of their lips. 334 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:12,800 Well, where art thou? And he said, Adam, I heard the 335 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:16,160 thy voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked 336 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:19,160 and I hid myself. And he said, who told thee that 337 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:21,800 thou was naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree? 338 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:24,880 Where of I commanded thee that thou should not eat? 339 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:27,280 And what did Adam say? Did he fess up? 340 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,400 Did he say that he was the one that allowed this to happen? 341 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:34,080 Well, no, He said this. The woman whom thou gave us to 342 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:37,600 be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 343 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:41,440 And marital harmony from there on you could see in verse #12 344 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:43,480 right? And verse 13. 345 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:46,680 And the Lord God said unto the woman, But what is this that 346 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:49,000 thou hast done? And the woman said, the serpent 347 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,280 beguiled me, and I did eat. So the finger is pointed from 348 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:54,880 Adam to Eve, from Eve to the serpent. 349 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,160 And the serpent has no problem admitting that he was the 350 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:00,320 culprit. And it says in verse 14. 351 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:03,760 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou has done 352 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:06,720 this, thou are cursed above all cattle and above every beast of 353 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:08,960 the field. Upon thy belly shalt thou go, 354 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:11,520 and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. 355 00:17:11,520 --> 00:17:13,599 That's why anytime I kill a snake, I feel like I'm doing the 356 00:17:13,599 --> 00:17:14,880 Lord's work. You know what I'm saying? 357 00:17:15,079 --> 00:17:17,599 I said, this is exactly what the Lord wants from us, right? 358 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:22,040 Verse #15 Sorry, Marsha, All right, and then verse #15 And I 359 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:25,200 will put enmity between thee and the woman, in between thy seed 360 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:27,520 and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and 361 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:31,760 thou shalt bruise it's his heel. Now, what's talking about here 362 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:35,160 when it says her seed? Now listen, this is couched in 363 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:37,080 mystery. Certainly Adam and Eve would not 364 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:38,720 have understood when he said this. 365 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:41,920 Oh, Jesus Christ, they wouldn't have understood this. 366 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:46,360 But as time goes on and the mystery of Christ is unraveled 367 00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:49,560 and revealed, we look back now and see what it says. 368 00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:52,520 There'll be enmity between thee and the woman and between thy 369 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,680 seed and her seed. We understand what's talking 370 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,400 about her seed, that it would be talking about Jesus Christ. 371 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:01,240 You say Well Pastor, that seems like quite a stretch to be able 372 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:03,000 to say Jesus Christ from her her seed. 373 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:07,480 Now understand the term her seed is very unusual in Scripture 374 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:11,760 over 40 times the term his seed is found because typically as 375 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:15,480 the nature of life is that seed comes from the man. 376 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:19,200 But yet here only once in the Old Testament and the second 377 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:22,280 time found in the Book of Revelation prophetic, talking 378 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:25,840 about Jesus Christ and Israel and all those things, we find 379 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:28,480 her seed only twice. Why is that important? 380 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:32,200 Because the birth of Jesus Christ was not going to be like 381 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:35,760 any other natural birth. That's why her seed was 382 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:39,280 important, because it's talking about the seed of the woman of 383 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:43,400 Mary, that he would be 100% God and 100% man. 384 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:48,160 Ancient Jewish and Christian commentators recognize her seed 385 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:50,720 as abnormal language. Again, you don't find it 386 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:53,080 anywhere else. And Hebrew lineage and covenant 387 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:55,960 language seed is always traced through the Father. 388 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:59,640 This points to a deliverer not descended through a human 389 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:01,040 father. You say a deliverer? 390 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:04,760 Yeah, well it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his 391 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:06,080 heel. Meaning what? 392 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:11,400 That a blow would be placed upon Jesus Christ, yet the blow that 393 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:13,400 we know He would live through. Why do we know that? 394 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:15,840 Because He lives today. But we know that there will be, 395 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:18,320 if you will, a death blow based upon Satan. 396 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:22,120 And we know that he will be tormented and tortured for all 397 00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:23,800 eternity. But we also know this. 398 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:28,080 We know who wins, and this tells us that the one who is of her 399 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:31,000 seed will be the victor. Who is that Jesus Christ? 400 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:32,120 Again? Would Adam and Eve have 401 00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:35,000 understood what he was saying? No, they trusted it by faith. 402 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:38,760 But we're able to look back as the mystery has been unfurled. 403 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:41,360 And we look at that and say, oh, sure, there's something that's 404 00:19:41,360 --> 00:19:45,040 different here than what we have seen before and what we will see 405 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:47,920 throughout the Word of God. And so it seems very clear in 406 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:51,200 the Old Testament that there was a prophecy that Jesus Christ 407 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:53,880 would be born of a virgin. So why does the virgin birth 408 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:57,000 matter #1 because it, it was prophesied in the Old Testament. 409 00:19:57,160 --> 00:19:59,960 But number two, it was proclaimed in the New Testament. 410 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:03,360 It was prophesied in the Old Testament, and it was proclaimed 411 00:20:03,360 --> 00:20:05,960 in the New Testament. Modern skeptics tell us that 412 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:09,360 because only two of the four gospels record the virgin birth, 413 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:12,280 it's on shaky ground. Well, we need to look at those 414 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:14,000 scriptures for ourselves to understand. 415 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,480 So go to the New Testament. Let's go to Matthew chapter 1. 416 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:19,720 And I know we looked at these a couple weeks ago, but it's good 417 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:23,160 for us to look at them again, particularly through the lens of 418 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:25,360 what we're trying to search out right now. 419 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:28,400 Which is the virgin birth of Christ Matthew chapter 1 420 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:41,390 beginning in verse #18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on 421 00:20:41,390 --> 00:20:45,230 this wise when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph 422 00:20:45,510 --> 00:20:48,790 before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy 423 00:20:48,790 --> 00:20:51,600 Ghost. Well, hold on a second, you'd 424 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:53,040 probably just stop right there, couldn't we? 425 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:55,760 That would help us tremendously. Right there she was found with 426 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:57,720 child of the Holy Ghost, something that's never been 427 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:00,360 spoken of before and will never be spoken of again. 428 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:03,480 Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not willing to 429 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:07,080 make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. 430 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:10,280 But while he thought on these things, behold, the Angel of the 431 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,720 Lord appeared unto him in a dream saying, Joseph, thou son 432 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:17,800 of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that 433 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:21,400 which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, and she shall be 434 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:24,240 bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for 435 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:26,600 he shall save his people from their sins. 436 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:29,480 Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was 437 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:33,760 spoken of by the of the Lord by the prophet saying, Behold, a 438 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:37,280 virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and 439 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:39,320 they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being 440 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:42,520 interpreted is God with us. That's Isaiah Chapter 7 verse 441 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:44,520 14. So it's spoken of in the Old 442 00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:46,360 Testament, confirmed to the New Testament. 443 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:51,000 So there's no way that we can go back and try to retroactively 444 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:53,960 change Isaiah 714 into young woman. 445 00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:55,560 Why? Because it's confirmed in the 446 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:59,040 New Testament that this is Speaking of a virgin birth, of 447 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:01,600 her being overcome by the Holy Ghost. 448 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:06,160 Now go to Luke chapter 1. Again, the other account of the 449 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:08,080 birth of Christ is found in Luke. 450 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:11,760 It's not found in Mark. It is not found in John. 451 00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:16,760 Both with different focuses. Luke, chapter one verse #26. 452 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:27,240 And in the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God 453 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:30,880 unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused 454 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:34,080 to a man whose name was Joseph of the House of David, and the 455 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:36,440 virgin's name was Mary. It seems very clear that there's 456 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:37,920 an emphasis in this verse, isn't there? 457 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,480 This is just a young woman, but rather this is a virgin verse 458 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:45,960 #27 or verse #28 rather. And the Angel came in unto her 459 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,640 and said, Hail thou that are highly favored, the Lord is with 460 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:51,560 thee. Blessed art thou among women. 461 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:54,560 And when she saw him, she was troubled at this saying, and 462 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,280 cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 463 00:22:57,680 --> 00:22:59,960 And the Angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou has 464 00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:03,200 found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive 465 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:06,160 in thy womb, and shalt bring forth the Son, and shalt call 466 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:08,760 his name Jesus. He shall be great, shall be 467 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:11,760 called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto 468 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:15,320 him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over 469 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:19,280 the House of Jacob Forever, and of his Kingdom there shall be no 470 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:21,520 end. And Mary said unto the Angel, 471 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:24,720 How shall this be, seeing? I know not a man? 472 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:28,240 And the Angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall 473 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,120 come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall over shadow 474 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:33,520 thee. Therefore also that holy thing 475 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,560 which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 476 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:41,040 And excuse me, and behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she had also 477 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:44,160 conceived a son in her old age, and this is the 6th month with 478 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:48,680 her who was called barren. For with God, listen, nothing 479 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:51,760 shall be impossible. This is really what it comes 480 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:54,280 down to. Verse #37 You say, Well, this is 481 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:58,160 not the way it should be. This is not the way that nature 482 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:01,320 takes place. Well, with God nothing shall be 483 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,080 impossible. Who put those laws of nature 484 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:06,320 into place? Who was the one that instituted 485 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,040 those very laws of nature? And who is the one who is 486 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:12,800 allowed to overcome those laws of which he placed at any given 487 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:14,440 time? Which by the way, is what every 488 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:18,520 miracle is, Jesus or whoever's performing the miracle through 489 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:22,600 the power of God, overcoming the very laws that God put in place 490 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:26,640 in the 1st place. How can God overcome the laws of 491 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:28,480 nature? Well, who's the God of nature? 492 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:32,840 It really shouldn't be that confounding for us to be able to 493 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:35,360 come to that place. But you see that what was spoken 494 00:24:35,360 --> 00:24:40,240 of in the Old Testament in Genesis, veiled in Isaiah 495 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:45,120 openly, is confirmed now in Mark, or rather in Matthew, and 496 00:24:45,120 --> 00:24:47,480 also in the book of Luke as well. 497 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:50,160 It seems quite clear. These verses report with all 498 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:53,520 clarity that the child to be born would be conceived of the 499 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:55,800 Holy Ghost. Why is that important? 500 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:59,080 Well, Philippians 2, verses 6 through 8, who being in the form 501 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:02,400 of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made 502 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,560 Himself of no reputation, took upon in the form of a servant, 503 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:07,160 and was made in the likeness of men. 504 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:11,000 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and 505 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,280 became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 506 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:19,880 May I remind you that Jesus was 100% God and 100% man at the 507 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:23,720 same time that He. It says here that He became of 508 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:26,960 no reputation. He literally allowed himself to 509 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:31,120 become a man, to be able to do the things that we do, to sleep, 510 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:36,280 to eat, to have all of the physicality of which that we 511 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:40,000 deal with, both good and bad. Here is the Lord who has allowed 512 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:43,360 himself to be able to take that, but yet at the same time, he did 513 00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:47,360 not put off his deity. He was not man and no longer 514 00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:50,160 God. He also wasn't 50% man and 50% 515 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:52,320 God. As I've often said, 100% God, 516 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:54,640 100% man. That makes bad math, but it's 517 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:57,120 good theology that he was completely God and completely 518 00:25:57,120 --> 00:25:58,720 man. You know who makes half God, 519 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:00,360 half man? The Romans. 520 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:02,200 You know who makes half God and half man? 521 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:04,200 The Greeks. They were the ones and their 522 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:08,720 mythology who would take these men and take these figures and 523 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:12,200 these women as well, and to make them into these half man, half 524 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,200 God creations. No, that's not what we're 525 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:17,520 talking about when we talk about Jesus Christ. 526 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:21,680 John 1 verses 910 and 14. We looked at these on Christmas 527 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:23,440 Eve. That was the true light which 528 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:25,440 lighteth every man and cometh into the world. 529 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:28,800 He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the 530 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:31,760 world knew Him not. And the Word was made flesh and 531 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:34,240 dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. 532 00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:38,520 The glory is the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and 533 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:41,600 truth. The virgin birth of Jesus isn't 534 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:45,840 just a nice story, it's a necessary part of salvation of 535 00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:47,800 mankind. In the same way as His 536 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:52,520 sacrificial death was necessary, as the same way as the as His 537 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:55,520 resurrection was necessary, we find the virgin birth is 538 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:58,240 necessary as well. Without the Manger there is no 539 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:00,760 cross. Without the cross, the Manger is 540 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:02,800 of none effect. We have to make sure our 541 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:07,840 theology is strong on all of these issues, not just on His 542 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:11,840 death or on His direction. We must be strong on all of 543 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:14,280 these because the Bible is quite clear about them. 544 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,880 Those who would take it out of the word, the virgin birth out 545 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:21,960 of the word, are no more than than gapping dogs that are 546 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:24,800 trying to nip at the heels of those who are going on the 547 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,360 narrow way. And we must not listen to those 548 00:27:27,360 --> 00:27:31,120 who try to tell us that the virgin birth is unimportant or 549 00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:33,000 there's more weightier matters for Christians. 550 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:35,120 Listen, don't worry about these divisive issues. 551 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:37,320 There's more important things for Christians to worry about. 552 00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:39,840 No, no, I'm concerned about whatever the Bible says and I 553 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:41,760 want to stand wherever the Bible says it. 554 00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:45,000 And I don't want to just take something that is a very clear 555 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:47,520 doctrine of the word of God. And for the sake of quote UN 556 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:51,080 quote unity or for the sake of quote UN quote ecumenicalism or 557 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:53,480 for the sake of quote UN quote, whatever you want to put in 558 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:56,480 place there to be able to put a key doctrine of the word of God 559 00:27:56,480 --> 00:28:00,320 aside just to be able to say something that sounds more 560 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:02,520 palatable to society. Be honest with you. 561 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:05,200 If you take the if we're to take the virgin birth away, let's 562 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:06,640 just say we don't believe it anymore. 563 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:08,680 Of course, this is for the sake sake of argument. 564 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:11,800 I'm not saying that in anyone's way, shape or form. 565 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:14,840 Do you think this world would be satisfied if we said, well, I 566 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:17,160 mean, listen, we don't believe in the virgin birth anymore. 567 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:19,200 The war's going to be satisfied. They're going to go through. 568 00:28:19,360 --> 00:28:22,280 Well, you believe in creation, there would be, it's not 569 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:23,960 satisfied. You believe that there's an 570 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:25,240 afterlife. They wouldn't be. 571 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:27,080 They wouldn't be happy with that. 572 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:29,320 You go right through. So maybe it would just be better 573 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:32,400 we just believe what the Bible says and just take it for what 574 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,080 it is and not try to make it more palatable for the world or 575 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:38,200 not try to make it so that the world might come on our side. 576 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,640 Well, listen, if we believe in theistic evolution, wouldn't it 577 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:41,760 be better? Because I mean, we're talking 578 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:43,760 about God, but we're also talking about the clear 579 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:45,480 scientific evidence at the same time. 580 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:47,760 You know, I don't think that they would be pleased if we 581 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:50,360 believe in theistic evolution. They would only be pleased if we 582 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:52,600 believe their narrative. And by the way, their narrative 583 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:55,400 changes all the time. What took millions of years then 584 00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:57,680 turned to billions of years, and then even more billions of 585 00:28:57,680 --> 00:28:59,240 years. And by the way, it doesn't 586 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:02,080 matter how many billions of years you put in something had 587 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:06,720 to come first and someone had to be there to put that which came 588 00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:09,440 first. And I would say that evolution 589 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:13,280 is much as a faith as Bible believe in Christianity. 590 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:16,160 And I'll say this, evolution is a faith is found wanting in 591 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:18,320 every single way. Stay away from it. 592 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:21,520 But in the same way, if we were to lose ground, if we were to 593 00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:24,040 cede the high ground of the virgin, of the virgin birth, 594 00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:26,680 what would we accomplish? Would it be better that we just 595 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:30,080 stand on the Word of God for what it is and what it says and 596 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:31,840 say, well, the world doesn't understand, but they don't 597 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:33,760 understand Jesus Christ at all. And they're not going to 598 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:36,320 understand and him until the Holy Spirit stirs within him and 599 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:38,600 they trust Him as their Savior. And then all of a sudden they'll 600 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:40,240 get it and then they'll understand. 601 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:42,880 So we see that it was prophesied, the Old Testament, 602 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:44,560 the virgin birth. It was proclaimed in the New 603 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:45,960 Testament. And this is what it really comes 604 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:48,680 down to #3 it's possible with an Almighty God. 605 00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:50,960 It is possible with an almighty God. 606 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:53,120 I've already alluded to this a few moments ago. 607 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:56,400 But we take the word of God by faith and understand that we 608 00:29:56,400 --> 00:30:00,160 cannot make our own construct of who we believe Jesus Christ is. 609 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:03,320 We don't change the Word of God to fit our own sensibilities. 610 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:06,360 We take the Word of God and allow it to change who we are. 611 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:08,880 We are the ones who change, not the word of God. 612 00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:10,640 This is one of the many problems, the multitude of 613 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:13,040 problems of new versions. Every time they come through and 614 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:16,400 they strip out another doctrine, they take out another thought. 615 00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:20,000 They take out more and more or change more and change more. 616 00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:22,680 Well, listen, I just happen to believe the word of God. 617 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:25,040 We have it here. We have what we need. 618 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:27,600 And I don't need some theologian to swoop in and say, you know 619 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:29,640 that verse you memorize that verse you learned about, you 620 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:31,040 know, it's really not as great as you think it is. 621 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:34,240 Or even as they say, sometimes that verse actually isn't even 622 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:36,320 in the Bible. It really was never meant to be 623 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:38,520 in the Bible in the 1st place. And there's places where there 624 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,320 are just verses that are skipped over completely dozens of places 625 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:44,040 where that's the case. You know, listen, I just, you 626 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:45,960 say, well, why would God preserve his word? 627 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:48,520 Because He can that he promised he would. 628 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:52,400 And just in the same way that a virgin can give birth to the 629 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:55,160 Messiah, well, God can do anything he says he's going to 630 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:56,800 do. And we, we know what that's 631 00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,480 called faith. Faith is a substance of things 632 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:02,120 hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. 633 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:04,000 But yet we believe it because it's faith. 634 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:07,480 Now the idea of the virgin birth has been attacked for 635 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:09,320 generations. One of the most recent that has 636 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:11,240 attacked it would be Andy Stanley. 637 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:15,440 He is the son of the famous Baptist pastor Charles Stanley. 638 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:19,280 Andy Stanley went his own way many years ago, but he said this 639 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:23,440 and it sounds at first blush, I would imagine if you're not a 640 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:25,600 believer or first blush, maybe you're a new believer. 641 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,160 What he says sounds very reasonable, kind of like a has 642 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:29,520 saying I will not tempt the Lord. 643 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:31,760 Well, that sounds really spiritual, except you're doing 644 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:33,200 exactly opposite of what God said. 645 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:36,360 And what he says here sounds reasonable at first, but then 646 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:39,280 once you start to put a little pressure on it, like a House of 647 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:41,560 Cards, that falls apart. He said this. 648 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:44,040 If somebody could predict their own death and their own 649 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:47,320 resurrection, I'm not all that concerned with how they got into 650 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:49,800 the world because the whole resurrection thing is so 651 00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:52,000 amazing. And Christianity doesn't hinge 652 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:54,840 on the truth or even the stories around the birth of Jesus. 653 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:57,720 It really hinges on the resurrection of Jesus. 654 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:00,520 Now, my question would be to Andy Stanley. 655 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:05,040 Where do you get that idea from? It all hinges on the 656 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:08,120 resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, perhaps you could go to 1st 657 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:11,280 Corinthians 15 where it talks about if there was no 658 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:14,040 resurrection that, you know, where would we be with 659 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:16,080 salvation? But at the same time, that is 660 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:18,360 not minimizing the rest of the gospel. 661 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:20,840 That's not minimizing the rest of who Jesus Christ is. 662 00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:24,000 It's just saying that the resurrection is the capstone of 663 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:28,200 all that Jesus's life was. And so it never even suggests 664 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:32,120 Paul's not suggesting in First Corinthians chapter 15 that 665 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:35,080 really the only important doctrine about Jesus is the 666 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:37,320 resurrection. He's not suggesting that at all. 667 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:40,240 But but here's where I this is where I just don't understand. 668 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:41,840 It goes back to what I said a few moments ago. 669 00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:49,120 You believe a man died, was gone for three days, rose from the 670 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:52,280 dead and is alive today and have no problem with that. 671 00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:57,120 But you have a problem with another unnatural idea, the 672 00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:01,280 virgin birth, which just seems like if he's God either 673 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:04,680 impossible. What's so hard to wrap your head 674 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:07,080 around with that? But again, there's something so 675 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:10,840 palatable to those who don't understand to say listen, geez, 676 00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:13,680 all about the resurrection and listen the resurrection's 677 00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:15,920 amazing. That's why what we do what we do 678 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:19,240 around Easter time every year, we call it Resurrection Sunday 679 00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:22,320 here for the most part to remind people that it's really about 680 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:23,960 the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 681 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:26,400 We do that because it's important that the world loses 682 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:28,520 their focus on what that is and they think it's some kind of 683 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:32,520 spring celebration or they think it's some kind of time when when 684 00:33:32,520 --> 00:33:35,400 you do all these different things but never thought about 685 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:38,120 the resurrection of Christ. But why would you have a problem 686 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:41,000 with one but then not a problem with the other? 687 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:45,120 Again, we just saw just a few moments ago, Luke chapter 1 688 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:48,720 covers that for with God, all things are possible. 689 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:51,840 If it's not possible, He's not much of a God. 690 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:54,560 If he's not much of a God, then we don't need to believe in him, 691 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:57,120 don't need to serve Him, He won't save us. 692 00:33:57,320 --> 00:34:00,040 So certainly there's a line in the sand drone there. 693 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:03,280 Others will deny it outright, as well as attacking other areas of 694 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:05,280 his life and deity. These are names that you might 695 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:07,120 not be familiar with. I can't say I'm familiar with 696 00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:09,920 all of them either, but quotes that I've sourced through time. 697 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:13,920 Adolf von Hornack and the book History of Dogma said the virgin 698 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:15,960 birth is not part of the original gospel. 699 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:21,600 James DG Dunn in Christology in the Making said belief in Jesus 700 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:25,440 divine sonship did not initially require belief in the virgin 701 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:28,199 conception. Walter Brueggemann theology of 702 00:34:28,199 --> 00:34:30,040 the Old Testament. The virgin birth is a 703 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:33,679 theological affirmation, not a biological explanation. 704 00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:35,400 I had to read that one a few times. 705 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:40,920 The idea is this is it's really more of a spiritual idea than a 706 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:42,840 physical idea. And again, there's something 707 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,520 that sounds very spiritual about that except for the fact that 708 00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:48,880 you're denying what God said. Raymond Brown the birth of the 709 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:51,320 Messiah. The infancy narratives are not 710 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:53,679 meant to be read as strict historical accounts. 711 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:59,040 John Shelby Spong Jesus for the non religious sign right there 712 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:02,360 as we get into it. There was no biological miracle 713 00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:06,400 at the beginning of Jesus life. John Hick the metaphor for God 714 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:08,080 Incarnate. The virgin birth is not a 715 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:10,480 necessary belief for a meaningful Christian faith. 716 00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:13,560 Karen Armstrong, A History of God The virgin birth was never 717 00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:16,600 meant to be taken literally. Harvey Cox The Future of faith. 718 00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:19,960 Whether the virgin birth happened biologically is beside 719 00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:22,120 the point. You know, what is the point? 720 00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:26,200 Is the word of God true? Is when the word of God speaks 721 00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:29,400 of something, whatever that is, did it really happen? 722 00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:31,840 Because again, when you get to the place, when you say, well, 723 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:34,560 is this exactly what the word of God is saying? 724 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:37,640 You get yourself to the place where who is the final arbiter 725 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:42,120 you are and not the Lord. Oftentimes when I talk about 726 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:45,080 Bible stories, I, I don't always use the word story. 727 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:47,360 I like to use the word account. To be honest with you. 728 00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:50,120 I don't have a problem saying story because, you know, you 729 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:52,160 read a news story and you know it's true whatever. 730 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:54,000 Mind. OK, accounts probably better, 731 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:54,480 right? Yeah. 732 00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:58,120 So the idea is we're not looking at Bible stories in the sense 733 00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:02,760 that they're Disney stories or Universal Studios stories or 734 00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:06,640 Dreamwork stories or Aesop stories or whatever you want to 735 00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:09,440 call them. You know, they are true accounts 736 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:11,600 of things that happen. And I want those young people in 737 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:13,640 the back. And by the way, they get this in 738 00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:16,400 Sunday school and they get this in junior church, that they 739 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:18,760 understand that they're not reading Aesop's Fables, that 740 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:21,040 they're not getting just good moral stories. 741 00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:24,440 They are finding out the very truth of the Word of God, of 742 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:27,680 real events with real people that had real thoughts, because 743 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:30,360 that's what the Word of God is. And we get to the place where we 744 00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:32,880 start to question, well, is this really necessary or is that 745 00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:35,200 really necessary? Well, you get yourself in a very 746 00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:39,440 dangerous position where you are the one deciding what is truth 747 00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:41,280 and what is not truth. You know what's truth? 748 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:43,920 This is truth. And if I don't get it, then the 749 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:47,040 problem's with me and not with this book, because there's a lot 750 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:49,360 of people that came before. And if Jesus tarries, there'll 751 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:51,280 be a lot of people to come after and listen. 752 00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:53,720 Let God's word be true. The Bible says in every man a 753 00:36:53,720 --> 00:36:58,560 liar meaning this God is true. The texts that or the rather the 754 00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:01,720 quotes I just gave you very clearly show what a low opinion 755 00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:05,760 someone has of God when they have a low opinion of the virgin 756 00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:07,440 birth. They're not just saying they 757 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:09,520 don't believe in the virgin birth, they're really saying 758 00:37:09,720 --> 00:37:12,640 they have a very low opinion of who God is. 759 00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:18,080 To believe the virgin birth is vital, to take it out of our 760 00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:21,000 doctrine is a grave, grave issue. 761 00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:26,840 Now, I've used this illustration before for different things, but 762 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:31,400 I think it fits here very well of putting together a puzzle. 763 00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:35,000 And I remember when my mom had surgery, we put together a 764 00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:38,440 puzzle, one of her surgeries before she passed and just tried 765 00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:40,240 to pass the time. And we looked around the waiting 766 00:37:40,240 --> 00:37:41,520 room. There was a puzzle there. 767 00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:43,240 And so we did it. And everybody kind of gathered 768 00:37:43,240 --> 00:37:44,880 around the table and you're doing the puzzle. 769 00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:47,080 And we like puzzle. We go through like, phases where 770 00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:48,600 we really enjoy them. And then I don't want to look at 771 00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:50,920 them for another two years. And then then we say, hey, man, 772 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:52,720 our puzzle's fun. And then we, you know, three 773 00:37:52,720 --> 00:37:54,280 months later, like, let's not do any more puzzles. 774 00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:56,480 You know that it's kind of how we are with puzzles. 775 00:37:56,480 --> 00:37:58,880 But I remember doing it because it was just that kind of idea 776 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:00,320 that you want to do something together. 777 00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:01,640 You didn't want to be on your phones. 778 00:38:01,640 --> 00:38:03,760 You just want to pass the time. We were doing it and we got to 779 00:38:03,760 --> 00:38:06,800 the end and there was about four or five pieces out of this 500 780 00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:08,040 or whatever it was that we're gone. 781 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:11,000 I don't know about you. That kind of bugs me. 782 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:14,200 I'm a completionist, you know, if I wasted who knows how much 783 00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:16,280 time of my life to be able to put this puzzle together, I want 784 00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:18,640 to see the whole picture right there, not just on the box. 785 00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:21,440 And we looked at the box and they and to try to see if we 786 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:23,600 missed something and then turned it over. 787 00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:26,000 And on the back there was a piece of masking tape and 788 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:27,840 someone had written missing pieces. 789 00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:31,880 Like if you put that right in the front, maybe that would have 790 00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:33,440 helped. Maybe we'd have done something 791 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:34,800 else instead. Maybe we stayed on our phones. 792 00:38:34,800 --> 00:38:35,800 Who knows what we would have done. 793 00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:39,840 But here's the idea. You take out the virgin birth, 794 00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:42,640 there's missing pieces. You can't just say you have the 795 00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:45,440 full picture and take out the virgin birth and there'll be no 796 00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:48,640 consequences. You know, it is a very great 797 00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:53,360 missing pieces when you take out a key doctrine of the word of 798 00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:55,600 God. And this is a very brief of 799 00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:58,280 course we can go very deep into all that is here. 800 00:38:58,440 --> 00:39:02,000 But I would say this, this gives you pretty much a good basic 801 00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:04,760 understanding and way to be able to explain to someone else 802 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:08,720 through 2 Old Testament passages confirmed by 222 New Testament 803 00:39:08,720 --> 00:39:12,320 passages to help you to be able to explain why the virgin birth 804 00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:15,160 was so important. And if God is who he says he is, 805 00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:16,960 that we're just going to trust his word. 806 00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:19,200 And that's where we stand as a church, not just on this 807 00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:21,280 doctrine, but on whatever the word of God says. 808 00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:25,000 Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of 809 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:27,920 Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing 810 00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:31,400 to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us 811 00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:36,000 know by contacting us at info@mylibertybaptist.org. 812 00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:40,840 Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton, 813 00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:43,640 MA. May the Lord bless you as you 814 00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:44,840 grow in His Word.