This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of “The Name of Jesus Christ” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, December 28, 1986.

Isaiah chapter 7, also in Matthew chapter 1, starts with Isaiah chapter 7. Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, the king of Judah, that Rezzan, king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Ramaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it.

When it was reported to the house of David, saying, Syria has camped in Ephraim, His heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind. Then the Lord said to Isaiah, Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son, Shir Jeshu, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the fuller’s field. And say to him, Take care, be calm, have no fear, and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezan and Syria and the son of Remeliah. Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remeliah, has planned evil against you, saying, Let us go up against Judah and terrorize it and make for ourselves a breach in its walls and set up the son of Tabeo, as king in the midst of it.

Thus says the Lord God, it shall not stand, nor shall it come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezan. Now within sixty-five years, Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people. and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remelion.

If you will not believe, you surely shall not last. Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your Make it as deep as Sheol, and as high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord. Then he said, Listen now, O house of David, is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a son. Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel. And he will eat curds and honey at the time he knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.”

The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah, the king of Assyria. And it will come about in that day that the Lord will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. And they will all come. and settle on the steep ravines, on the ledges of the cliffs, on all the thorn bushes, and on all the watering places.”

And then to Matthew 1, verse 18, “…Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph, her husband being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, desired to put her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, and she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. For it is he who will save his people from their sins.” Now, all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, The Virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which translated means God with us. And Joseph arose from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took her as his wife, and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus.

Our Father, you have demonstrated your love for us and you have bared your might, your mighty arm before the nations. It is therefore your power by which your glory is manifest, that power constraining men before that glory that they may honor you, that they might turn from their ways of sin and embrace the truth and the fullness of righteousness that is found with you alone. O Lord, may that power unto the glory be manifest in us. And Father, we ask that we servants of yours may ascribe all strength to our God. This we pray through Christ, amen.

I’ve backed up from Isaiah 51 for this evening, basically for one reason, and that is that I preached a half a sermon this past Wednesday night? Or was it that I preached half a text? You may recall, those of you who were present, that I did preach on the opening chapter of Matthew’s gospel the latter verses of that chapter, verses 18 and following. And in that message, we took up the matter of the revelation that had come to Joseph, and we spoke about the significance of that revelation.

We talked about it along the lines that this Joseph as unpretentious as he may appear, is of the royal line. He is the son of David, and the promises that have been made to David are coming to reside in him and upon him. So he becomes the focal point for those promises made of old. But not only do we see in Joseph, then, the culmination of all of that royal power, all of that glorious splendor, again, however unpretentiously.

Nevertheless, we see in him as well the fullness of all that has preceded prophetically. the significance of the dream, that vehicle for the revelation to Joseph. You know, in those Old Testament times, the Lord, at specific periods, revealed his word, to his own through the vehicle of the dream. Thus, in the patriarchal period, at the initiation of God’s dealings with the nation of Israel, and also at its conclusion, for in the latter prophets you hear repeatedly about a prophet being carried away in the night visions so as to see the unveiling of the purpose of God. So from beginning to end, in the dream revelation to Joseph, the fullness of the prophetic word has come to rest. To what end?

Of course, to give light in the present circumstance that Joseph might know what to do concerning his predicament, that he might understand however obliquely, that he might understand the nature of this event that is taking place, and that he might bestow upon the child the proper name, the name Jesus. And you recall that as we talked about the name Jesus, we pointed out that this name, as it appears in the New Testament, is merely a transferal of an Old Testament name, namely, Joshua. A name which means salvation is of the Lord. And from that point we went on to compare the Old Testament, Joshua, and his administration with the one who now appears. You know how it goes. The administration of Moses is an incomplete and defective administration. It gives way to another. Moses cannot lead the children of Israel into the land of promise. He can only view it from afar.

And as the administration of Moses gives way to that Old Testament Joshua, so Moses and Joshua reach out beyond themselves to something greater. For the ultimate deliverance and the final inheritance are not bequeathed through either Moses or Joshua. They wait another day. The imperfection of course of that older administration, be it Moses, be it Joshua, is brought before you in the continuing administration of the temple rites and those things that take place on the altar of Israel. A continual reminder of sin. Moses and the law does not deliver you from sin. neither does Joshua and his army. Rather, salvation from sin waits a latter-day Joshua. He shall save his people from their sins.

And that is the focus of that Well, that’s half a sermon, or half a text. Because, you see, after we are told these things by Matthew, he goes on to add his own commentary, invoking a passage out of Isaiah chapter seven. to speak even more pointedly about the significance of the child who has come. You know the passage well, but as you take stock of that passage and you run back to chapter 7 in Isaiah and read verse 14 in its context, you may end up a bit confused and bewildered, not quite understanding what Matthew is doing here as he makes use of Isaiah 7 verse 14. Well, you want to look at Isaiah 7 one more time? I know that you’ve looked at it many times before.

But let’s take stock of it once again, and from that point, think on what Matthew has in mind as he makes reference to this chapter and that fourteenth verse in light of what has happened to Mary and what is going on with regard to Joseph. It can be said that Isaiah 714 is one of the most hotly debated passages in all of Scripture. And what is the nature of the debate? Well, it seems that the nature of the debate is twofold.

First of all, Does Isaiah really mean to say a virgin? Or does he merely mean to say a young man? If you have the New American Standard, you can check in the marginal notes and you will see that the New American Standard at least has suggested that there is an alternate reading for the word virgin it could well as it could well be young men for me. Problem number one. Problem number two.

Does Isaiah really have in view the birth of the Messiah? Does he have in view a coming deliverer? of the proportions that we now have before us in the figure of Jesus from Nazareth. Is the figure, therefore, one who is coming yet later on? Or is this figure one who is to appear within Israel, within Jerusalem, immediately?

Those are the problems for the passage. But in order to answer these problems, to review them, to put them in perspective, it may be well for us to take stock of the chapter as a whole. For this prophecy, it is that we can grant that much This prophecy appears in the midst of an extremely dramatic setting.

We are now beyond the days of the great King Uzziah. We are past the days of Jotham. We are now in the period of the reign of Ahaz. Judah and Jerusalem, its capital, are under siege, and they are being besieged by the ten northern tribes, believe it or not, by their countrymen, who have been joined in alliance by the Syrians, the Syrians led by Reza. Ahaz, as we have said, and does he ever?

His name. His name means possessor. And we might well think of that name positively, as that one who is the possessor of the throne of David, the one in whom there can be seen yet that pattern of promise. That one in whom there can be seen the pattern of one yet to come, who shall be the possessor of all. But Ahaz has perverted everything, including the significance of his name, for he has become a possessor in a very profane sense. Everything, he says, everything is mine, is mine. And it is mine by right. He is therefore a particularly irreligious and vain man. He believes not in God, but himself.

Nevertheless, he does sit on David’s throne, and in him you can yet see the form of the bearer of promise, and God proved to his promises and recognizing even in this profane one that pattern sends to him the prophet. The prophet comes to preach. He preaches in a number of ways. He preaches through the message of the son who walks beside him. The child’s name is Shir Yishuv, and the name means a remnant shall return, and the child then becomes the embodiment of hope. He is a walking, living, breathing prophet before the face of Israel, before the face of a king. But there comes as well the message from the prophet. of grand and glorious encouragement. Gospel, if you will. Good news is preached to Ahab. Take care. Be calm. Have no fear. Don’t be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering fire.

On account of these who have come up against Their counsel shall not stand. Their plots and their devices shall not come to pass. Those who lead are but men, and their kingdoms shall be laid waste. If you will not believe, says Isaiah to Ahaz, Surely you cannot stand.” Ahaz, of course, doesn’t believe, and that is precisely what is explained in the verses that follow. For now, God sends his prophet again. And this time, the king is invited to ask a sign of God. Who has ever been invited to ask for a sign of God? The Ahaz is. He is invited to ask a sign of God that what God has promised will in fact come to pass.

But Ahaz objects, and in his objection there is the adamant rejection of this invitation extended by God extraordinarily to him. Don’t be deceived by Ahaz’s remarks. His remarks are no mark of piety. They are the testimony to unbelief. that he is an unbeliever through and through.

I am, after all, the possessor. If I ask the sign of this God and God grants it, then I am placed in his depth and the true nature of my being is made plain. I dare not have a sign from God. Besides, I am my own sign. But the Lord gives the sign anyway. Now hang with me through the sign.

The sign given here, in which a child is named, will match the significance of the child that accompanied Isaiah to begin with, that child that is mentioned back in verse 3, Shir Yishun. How are we to understand the significance of Isaiah’s son in the context here at the beginning of the chapter? Stay with me now.

You see, that child has multiple applications. There is the circumstance in which Judah now presently finds herself. It is a situation in which she is not facing exile, but rather the ten northern tribes are imminently facing that exile. And into the midst of that, there comes this child, the son of the prophet, named Shir Yishuv, as a promise of the return of a remnant, the faithfulness of God. God indeed shall accomplish His word. You can count on that. But in the current circumstance of Judah and Jerusalem, there is yet the future realization that this child signals God’s faithfulness to the end.

Beyond the experience of the deportation of the ten northern tribes, there shall be the deportation of the two southern tribes. And in that circumstance, no less than the former, there shall be a remnant that is preserved. A remnant shall return. Now, that multiple application is going to be the key that unlocks the door to the significance of the child named in verse fourteen.

For that child as well will have multiple applications. Is there then a maid in Jerusalem during the days of Ahaz who conceives, gives birth, Is there a little boy named Emmanuel running through the streets of the city? Yes. Yes. There is such a name. And there is such a boy. And that maid and that boy become the testimony to Ahaz and to Jerusalem. of God’s mighty faithfulness, and that they can trust in Him. You see what is said, and why this interpretation is correct?

If you follow on from verses 14 into verses 15 and following, We note there what is said about Emmanuel. He will eat curds and honey, that is, he will eat the food of prosperity, even though this is a time of distress, remember. He will eat the food of prosperity at the time he knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, before he even comes to what has been called the age of discretion, he shall be eating fine food, and the present distress and trauma will have passed. Current events in the day of Ahab?

You can bet on it. But go on. For before the boy, verse will know enough to refuse evil and choose good the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken current event in the time of Ahaz you can bet on it the promise here therefore made pertains to the current situation in Jerusalem It pertains to the circumstances of the Kingdom at that time. But is that all? Is that all?

By no means, for just as was the case with Shir Yashur, so it is with Immanuel. The significance of this child as well shall reach out beyond the events of the days of to events and times yet future, when they shall receive for themselves a fulfillment that wasn’t even contemplated at the time they were given. So full will be the fulfillment that it will overflow the expectations of the people, no No little child named Emmanuel running through the streets, but literally God with us Himself comes to save us from our sins. And that’s what grips Matthew. That’s what he sees. He goes rushing back to Isaiah. His contemporaries never saw it. And those who lived in the days of Ahaz never saw it either. But now he sees it clearly.

And how appropriate. How appropriate. For you see, Ahaz was the epitome of arrogance and pride, power, flame for himself. But the shame of this vain man the Lord chooses a maiden and a child utterly powerless no strength at all and they become the sign of the kingdom of glory where will you look for God with us. Will you look for him in the corridors of power, where men grapple with one another in order to gain the advantage, where each is a possessor of his own right and for his own sake, a grasper a grabber. Lord, you perceive God with us after the pattern of that which God has made plain. A mere maid, no more. A virgin, one without power at all. How will she conceive? It is impossible! A child, what can he do?

Yet they rule. They rule. In them, though weak, the power of God is perfected. Now what about you? Surely you understand the distinctiveness of the child who has come, the uniqueness of this Emmanuel announced by Matthew. No simple latter-day Joshua, this one truly God with us. deliberately appearing to remove sin. For us, his people. But you take stock of his people, and I’m here talking about his people truly. I’m not talking about those who pretend to be his people. I’m not talking about the church that is after the order of Ahaz, the possessor. the graspers and the grabbers those who like to strut before the world and enjoy being noticed even in their good deeds forever telling their rights what their left hand is doing and making sure that CBS knows about it too I am talking about the little flock.

When it takes stock of itself, it says, what power have we? When it looks upon the condition of its life and circumstance, how can any good come from us, is its confession. We are without strength. Our weakest in our midst is our strongest. We are no stronger than the littlest child. We have no more power than… I am almost embarrassed to say this. We have no more power than the women among us.

But you see that precisely in the pattern of the child and the pattern of the woman that the power is perceived, and the glory of God is revealed. Your weak mission efforts, how can this be the testimony to Emmanuel, God with us? Our feeble efforts at church discipline, how can this be the manifestation of God within, yet we are told.”

And that pointedly, in Matthew’s Gospel, precisely in those circumstances, Emmanuel makes his presence known himself. “…where two or three are gathered together in my name.” There I am in the midst. Matthew 18, 20. Did you know that that’s a passage about church discipline, not about little two- and three-membered prayer groups? Don’t be afraid, little flock. But go. Disciple the nation. baptize them, teach them, everything that I’ve commanded, love. Emmanuel, I am with you, even to the end of the age. Well, that’s the other half of the sermon.

Or, the other half of the text. with his Emmanuel prophecy speaking of circumstances in his own day but that word reaching out beyond its own time to signify those things yet to be accomplished and accomplished in full amazingly in full in the birth of Christ and in what he now has made his people to be praise his name let’s pray Our Father, let us never find ourselves in the household of unbelief. Let us not find ourselves in the edifice of arrogance over which Ahaz and his like preside. Rather, may we be of the company that is found under the instruction of the Prophet in the company of his child, Shir Y’shuv, and also in the presence of that sign given to Jerusalem, Little Emmanuel. But more than Isaiah, more than his son, more than a little child in Jerusalem in the 8th century BC, we, our God, are those who’ve been made new, refreshed, restored, recreated, by the power of our God who in this latter day has come to us in the child Jesus by whom our sins have been removed for a greater inheritance above with you forever our father though we may be shaken may we still remember the lessons of Emmanuel. And Lord, though we be small and weak, may we remember the Virgin and the Child. We pray these things in His name, Jesus, our Emmanuel. Amen.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.