THE VIRGIN BIRTH

Pastor James J. Barker

Text: MATTHEW 1:18-25



INTRODUCTION:


  1. I love to preach the Christmas story and today we will look at the virgin birth of our Lord.
  2. The virgin birth of our Lord is an important doctrine, in fact it is considered one of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith, along with the deity of Christ, His resurrection, etc.
  3. People are confused over the origin of the word "fundamentalist."
  4. We will look at the birth of Christ from a doctrinal perspective, under these three headings:
    1. THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF CHRIST IS NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE RC DOCTRINE OF "IMMACULATE CONCEPTION"
    2. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE VIRGIN BIRTH FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST
    3. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE VIRGIN BIRTH FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION
  1. All three of these headings are vitally important and are interrelated. For example, if one does not understand the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ then he cannot be saved.
  2. The head of the Mormon cult recently came out and admitted that their "Jesus" is not the same Jesus that Christians worship. This just verified what true Christians have been saying all along, that the Mormons are lost because they worship another Jesus. Think about this the next time you see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on TV or listen to one of their records.
  1. THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF CHRIST IS NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE RC DOCTRINE OF "IMMACULATE CONCEPTION"
    1. When the RCC speaks of the immaculate conception of Mary, they are referring to Mary’s birth, not our Lord’s!
    2. Their teaching that Mary was without sin clearly goes against the plain teachings of the Bible (cf. Rom.3:9-12,23; Luke 1:47; 2:22-24; Lev.12:6-8).
    3. Furthermore, not only was Mary not sinless, but she was not a "perpetual virgin" (cf. Matt.1:18-25; 12:46-50; Mark 6:3; Luke 8:19-21; 11:27,28; John 7:1-5; Acts 1:14; Gal.1:19).
    4. This unscriptural emphasis on Mary is nothing short of blasphemous. A few years ago there was an article in the paper about a reporter who went around to the various schools checking out their Christmas plays (this was before the ACLU and other liberal fanatics declared war against Christmas). He noted that the RC parochial schools lavished more praise on Mary than on Jesus. One play even had two "Mary"s on the stage at the same time (sounds like Mexico with all the various "Marys"). He said they ought to entitle their plays, "Mary Christmas."
  1. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE VIRGIN BIRTH FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST
    1. Someone asked Dr. Henry Morris the following question, "Must a Christian accept the doctrine of the virgin birth?" He replied: "For some reason both ancient and modern skeptics have based much of their attack on Christianity on the Biblical teaching that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. The virgin birth, of course, in addition to requiring a biological miracle, would also imply that Jesus Christ was absolutely unique among men and would be consistent with His claims that He was the only begotten Son of God. These claims are repugnant to the natural man, and therefore men have sought to destroy them by first attacking their foundation, namely, the doctrine of the virgin birth. It is not surprising that materialists would reject this teaching, but it is sad in our modern era to see so many liberal religious leaders doing the same thing."
    2. Listen to this from a religious liberal named Nels F. S. Ferre: "Mary was found pregnant before her engagement to Joseph. Nazareth was close by a Roman garrison where the soldiers were German mercenaries. Hence, Jesus must have been the child of a German soldier! After all, such is the experience of many girls near military camps." -- what wicked blasphemy!
    3. I will not quote any more liberals. They can attack the Bible all they want but the Bible stands. We see an allusion to the virgin birth in Matt.1:16, where instead of saying, "Joseph begat Jesus," it says, "And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ" (cf. Luke 3:23).
    4. The Bible also says, "before they came together" (Matt.1:18), in other words, Mary conceived before they consummated their marriage.
    5. The angel told Joseph, "that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost" (1:20).
    6. Furthermore, this was a fulfillment of prophecy (Matt.1:21-23; cf. Isa.7:14). I will say more about that in a few minutes.
    7. "And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son" (1:25) means that he did know her after our Lord was born, again reinforcing the doctrine of the virgin birth.
    8. It also means that since Jesus was "her firstborn son," then she must have had more children later on. The RCC teaches that our Lord’s brothers and sisters were Joseph’s from a previous marriage. This is nonsense. First of all, this is not taught in the Bible. And secondly, the Bible says, "her firstborn son," meaning that she had more children with Joseph, her husband.
    9. You will notice that the word "virgin" appears twice in Luke 1:27 and yet liberals have the audacity to claim that the Bible does not teach the virgin birth.
    10. They say it is biologically impossible but Luke was a medical doctor and he certainly knew what he was talking about.
    11. Mary herself declared that she was a virgin (Luke 2:34).
    12. And the angel Gabriel beautifully and delicately describes the virgin birth (Luke 1:35).
    13. Some liberal scholars claim that the virgin birth is questionable because only Matthew and Luke mention it, not Mark and John. Even if only one writer mentions it, that should be enough for a true Christian.
    14. It is no coincidence that worldly newspaper journalists and editors seek out these religious apostates around Christmas time and then run horrible articles with headlines like, "Scholars All Agree – Virgin Birth a Myth" or something along those lines. These unbelievers are doing all they can to attack the virgin birth; they are being used by Satan.
    15. Another way liberals and modernists attack the virgin birth and other fundamental doctrines is through their perverted Bible translations – the RSV, for example, where "virgin" is changed to "young maid."
    16. The RSV has changed "virgin" to "young woman." But how in the world could a young woman conceiving and bearing a son be a "sign"? (Isa.7:14) It happens every day.
    17. The Hebrew word almah appears seven times in the Old Testament, and according to the context always means a young, virtuous, unmarried woman – i.e., a virgin (cf. Gen.24:43; Song of Solomon 1:3; 6:8).
    18. When Matthew cited Isaiah he used the Greek word parthenos, virgin."
    19. Some unbelievers scoff and say, "Can you imagine? A child born without a father!" But the Bible teaches it and so we accept it. Besides, the Bible tells of another man who had no father, nor mother – Adam.
    20. Another prophecy that is corrupted by the new Bible translations is Micah 5:2, which teaches that Christ is eternal.
    21. The virgin birth is closely related to all of the other fundamental doctrines – His deity, His incarnation, His sinlessness, etc.
  1. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE VIRGIN BIRTH FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION
    1. I spent a lot of time on the doctrinal importance of the virgin birth as it relates to the person of Christ. Closely related to this is the doctrine of salvation.
    2. Without a perfect, sinless Saviour, we would not have a perfect, sinless salvation (cf. Heb.9:26-28).
    3. The great preacher, G. Campbell Morgan, asked this question, "If this child is to be born of a woman, how is it to be free from, and escape the continuous, persistent contamination which characterizes all human history?"
    4. The answer is simple: the virgin birth (Matt.1:20b; Luke 1:35).
    5. A man born by natural generation would inherit our sin nature. And if Jesus were born with a sin nature He could not have died for our sins on the cross. This is why the devil attacks the doctrine of the virgin birth. If he can successfully undermine peoples’ belief in the virgin birth, he can also undermine their belief in the doctrine of the substitutionary death of Christ, because only a sinless, virgin-born Son of God could die for our sins on the cross.

CONCLUSION:

  1. In Rembrandt’s famous painting of the nativity all the light is made to fall upon the baby Jesus in the manger. The other figures are shrouded in shadows.
  2. Apparently Rembrandt had the spiritual discernment to realize that to concentrate on Mary or Joseph or the wise men or the gifts or the shining star is to miss the real import of the birth of Christ.
  3. This Christmas, let us be careful not to allow anything to crowd out the Lord Jesus.

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