Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. The Virgin Conception reminds us that life Involves mysteries, it involves eternal realities. This messenger from God comes to Mary with this life-changing and miraculous message and is going to say to her regarding the birth of Jesus that nothing will be impossible with God. This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. The virgin birth of Jesus Christ stands as one of the cornerstone truths of Christianity.
It's not merely a beautiful Christmas story, it's a theological necessity. Today, we'll see why this miracle is absolutely essential to understanding who Jesus is and what he came to accomplish.
So continuing our new Christmas study in Luke's Gospel, here's Pastor John Monroe with his message called, A Virgin Conceives. Today, as we continue our Christmas series in the Gospel according to Luke, we come to the very important announcement. Gabriel explains that Mary is going to conceive and bear a son. We will be called Jesus. Mary is a young woman.
And so we come to a very important truth of the Christian faith, namely that Jesus is born of a virgin. This is humanly impossible. But as we will read, nothing will be impossible with God. The truth of the virgin birth has been denied by many. But it is essential.
The virgin birth protects the sinlessness of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, listen to this very important message as we consider how the infinite, eternal God. comes into time and space to be our Savior. How can the eternal infinite God? Who created the immense heavens and the earth, and who is beyond time and space. How can he enter our tiny little planet?
How can the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God enter our world in such a way that we can understand God. and that we can relate to God. The brief answer is, we believe in Miracles. And you cannot be an authentic follower of Jesus Christ. If you do not believe in miracles.
I read that a popular pastor recently made this astonishing statement. You only have to believe in two miracles to be a Christian. I thought that sounds very smart, but it's really smarter than the Bible. According to this pastor, the only two miracles you have to believe in are creation and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I thought, is that it?
We certainly believe that God in the beginning created the heavens and the earth. That's clearly taught in scripture. And we certainly believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. These are foundational truths, but Is that all that I have to believe? The miracle of the incarnation that we celebrate particularly over Christmas, something we celebrate surely every day.
The incarnation, that is the becoming flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ, is an essential truth of the Christian faith. According to the opening verses of 1 John 4, the great apostle. How can anyone claim that Jesus is Lord and deny that Jesus is God incarnate? Also, what await the miracle of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins as a perfect lamb. of God.
To dabble then with the foundational truths of the Christian faith is to try to change the gospel in a way that it no longer is the gospel. A very dangerous thing to do. Incidentally, I trust your beliefs and theology comes not from what you hear on the Internet or what you read from some pastor, however popular, or whether he writes a bestseller or not. Can I remind you that our only authority to which we go back time and time again, is this book, the word of god well today we're considering another miracle an essential truth of the Christian faith, and that is The truth that a virgin Conceives. Uh to the unbeliever that sounds laughable, it sounds ludicrous.
That Jesus is born of a human mother without the agency. of a human father. Last time as we began our study in Luke, We learned that Luke first mentions the birth of John. The man we call John. the matters.
Now he is introducing the birth. of Jesus. Both of these Births are announced from heaven to earth by the same messenger, Gabriel, who stands in the very presence of God. who is sent from heaven to earth. to say to Mary that she's going to have a baby and that baby is to be called.
Jesus. The eternal Son of God without ceasing to be what he is, that is, God. took into union with himself human Nature. God was manifested In the flesh. The incarnation.
Of our Lord Jesus Christ as one of the essential truths of the Christian faith.
Now, as we're going to read, Luke introduces this young woman, Mary, as a virgin. That is emphasized in the text of scripture. And the Virgin Conception reminds us that life Involves mysteries, it involves eternal realities. This messenger from God comes to Mary with this life-changing and miraculous message and is going to say to her regarding the birth of John the Baptist and the birth of Jesus that nothing will be impossible with God. Aren't you glad you have that kind of God?
On your side. Paul writing to believers in Romans says, if God is for us, Who can be against us? That we have a God who is miraculous, a God who can do all things, he can't do anything. He's not restricted by anything other than his own character and his will. He's a God.
You can do everything. Nothing. Nothing. will be impossible. with God.
A barren woman, an old woman, Elizabeth. He's gonna have a child. Another woman, a young woman, a virgin, is going to have a child. Utterly impossible. Nothing.
is impossible With God. And so we believe in miracles. And I would ask you. Today. Are you so limited?
Are you so without faith that unless you see, unless you fully understand, you won't believe anything? Our subject. is a profound one, a virgin. Conceives. Let's read, as it's recorded, this wonderful passage in Luke chapter 1, and I'm going to read from verse 26.
Through thirty-eight. In the six months, the angel Gabriel was sent from God. to a city of Galilee named Nazareth. to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph. of the house of David.
And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one. The Lord is with you. And she was greatly troubled at the saying, and try to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary.
For you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son. And you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great. and will be called the Son of the Most High.
And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom. There will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, How will this be since I'm a virgin? And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you. and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born shall be called holy. the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son. And this is the six months with her. who was called Baron.
For nothing. will be impossible. with God. And Mary said, Behold, I'm the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according.
to your word. And the angel departed. from her. That a brilliant, brilliant passage of scripture. The grace of God in action.
Jesus is conceived of a virgin. Elizabeth? It's going to give birth. To John. A young woman and an old woman.
And here the angel Gabriel announces to Mary, That although she is a virgin engaged to a man called Joseph, verse 31, you're going to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name. Jesus. And so we're introduced To this young woman, Mary. Probably in her early Yeah. living in the obscure, rather inconsequential town of Nazareth.
If you've been to Israel, you've been to Galilee, some of you have been to Nazareth. Not a particularly significant town, but Mary is from Nazareth and The angel Gabriel, think of it. comes from the very presence of God right To her. And there doesn't seem anything particularly significant about Mary. Other than this, God's grace.
is on her. And she's given this high honor of being the mother of Jesus. She has found, verse 30, she has found favor, she has found grace with God. Of all of the women in Israel at this time, The angel comes to this unknown young woman. He doesn't live in Jerusalem.
Doesn't even live in Judea. Doesn't seem anything special about her. But do you notice in verse 28? The Lord is With you. She's a favored one.
Receiving grace, not giving grace, but receiving grace. Clearly, a godly young woman, and she is the object of the grace of God. Here we see God's grace in action. The Lord is with her. No, she's not without sin.
She's going to refer, as we'll see next week, Lord willing, in a wonderful magnificent, she refers to God, verse 47, as my. Saviour. But here God is doing his speciality. He's showing grace. To the weak.
to the insignificant. to the humble. And although she is a virgin at this time, She's going to bear a son who's going to be called, not become. who's going to be called Verse 32, the Son of the Most High. Verse 35, he's going to be called the Son of God.
And she's going to have the privilege. Are we giving birth? to this person. From eternity, Jesus is the Son of God.
Now at his birth, he becomes additionally the son of Mary. That is Our Lord Jesus Christ is truly man and truly. God. And this virgin conception clearly is miraculous. Mary herself asked the question, verse 34, how will this be?
It's not a question of unbelief like Zacharias. It's rather, well, how is this going to be done? You're telling me that I'm a virgin and I'm going to. Uh have a son How is it going to be? And our Lord Jesus, think of this.
enters our world. The eternal God coming into time. The God who is so large that He is immeasurable, He is omnipresent. He comes into time and Space. And he enters our world.
in a seemingly Impossible way. Think of the wisdom of God in planning the way of salvation. Nothing will be impossible with God. John the Apostle in John 3, the great chapter. uh as the lord dialogues with Nagadimus Uh there We record that Jesus says, He descended from heaven.
Think of it. Our Lord Jesus descends from heaven. How does then the eternal God The God who always was, is, and shall be, how did He extend from heaven and enter into our world? We're at the answer. Through a door marked no entrance.
He enters our world in a way no one else has ever entered it. How is he going to leave our world? He's going to leave our world through a door marked no exit. He's going to leave our world as no one else has ever left it by rising from the dead and ascending to his Father and His God. There's none like him.
Nor will there ever be anyone like him. Time and time again, we who are followers of Jesus Christ. uh said, well, what what's so special about the Christian faith? You're telling me That in order to get to heaven, I must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is the way, the truth, and the life, that no one comes to the Father apart from Him. What about all of the other religious leaders?
You seem very bigoted, you seem very narrow-minded. Why can't you say, as many say, that there are many ways? To heaven. The answer is the uniqueness. of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christian faith centers on Jesus Christ. He descends from heaven. conceived In a virgin. He leaves our world. Risen from the dead by his own power.
and ascends back Into Heaven. Paul, as he writes about the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, says, The first man was from the earth. A man of dust. The second man It's from heaven. The second man is the Lord from heaven.
Who's the first man? Adam. How was Adam made out of dust? God takes dirt. The dust of the earth.
and miraculously creates Adam from that dirt. First man is from the earth. A man of dust. The second man, our Lord Jesus Christ, is created By God. in the womb.
of a virgin. The Holy Spirit Achieves By a fresh creative act, a unique act, an unparalleled act, the beginning of the human life. of our Lord Jesus Christ. The beginning of the human life of the eternal word. Unique.
A magnificent Christ Adam had a beginning, but he had no birth. Adam wasn't born. He was created. Our Lord Jesus Christ was born, but he had no beginning. No beginning.
He had a birth, but no beginning. Why? He is the eternal Son of the Eternal Father.
So Mary is told in this messenger from heaven Did you notice it verse 35? how this is going to come about. The Holy Spirit will come upon you. and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy.
The sun Yeah. Isn't that magnificent? And so here is this young woman. Living in Nazareth. probably in her early to mid-teens.
finds favor with God. The Lord is with her. And in this miraculous way, the Holy Spirit comes upon her. The power of the Almighty overshadows her.
so that the holy thing to be born of her is called The sun of God. Here now is Emmanuel. God has entered into our world. He's looked in our world. His Holy Spirit, from time to time in the Old Testament, has indwelled people, but now, for the first time, he enters into our world.
He is called. Emmanuel. God With Yeah. Think of the grace of God. You say, well, this is wonderful, yes, but think how dark our world is.
Think how evil our world is. And our magnificent Savior comes to us.
So John records that the word became. Flesh. Just like your flesh and mine. The word became flesh and dwelt Among us. He comes to us because we could never ever go to him.
How is he going to come to us? A virgin is going to conceive. And the sign of this miracle. Mary is told in verse thirty-six Your relative Elizabeth. In her old age.
Notice how Luke is emphasizing this. He's a doctor, he knows about these things. He says, Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son. And this is a six-month with her, who was called Baron. Not only is she old, she was Baron.
She couldn't have a child. Albert Gabriel has come. To Elizabeth. and said, You're gonna have a child. through her husband Zachariah.
The angel now comes to Mary, a virgin. and said you're going to be with child, you're going to conceive a child, and you're going to call his name. Jesus. It said of John the Baptist in verse 15, Uh Gabriel comes to Zechariah. He says, verse 15, he will be great.
Before the Lord. But notice what Gabriel says regarding our Lord, verse 15, he will be. Great. Grey without qualification. He's a son of David.
He fulfills the Davidic covenant in 2 Samuel 7. He's going to have the throne of his father David. He's the son of David. He's in a kingly tribe. And he's going to reign over the house of Jacob, that is, over Israel, forever.
And he's going to have a kingdom. Which will never end. And you're all taught. Testament that were the three officers in the nation. Prophet, priest, and king.
And uh these were kept separate. Perhaps our own government is in some way modeled over that with the three branches of government. And in Israel, there is the prophet. There's the priest and there's the king, separate. Our Lord Jesus Christ.
fulfills all three offices. He is the prophet, he's a great prophet because he always speaks truth. Priest. Hebrews tells us he is the great high priest who always intercedes for his people. King, yes.
Here's King Jesus. He's a great king. And he's going to have a throne which will never end. He's going to have a kingdom which never will come to an end. The kingdom of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, this one who is.
going to be conceived in the womb of Mary is A great king, a great prophet. And the great. Priest. He will be. Great.
Greatest figure, isn't there, of all human history. the greatest figure of all eternity, our Lord, Jesus Christ, the grace of God in Action. He said, Well, we deserve this. We are human beings. We deserve such a Savior.
No, we didn't. This is God's grace. Coming to us. Paul says, You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though you were rich, Yet for our sakes he became poor. that we through his poverty might become Rich.
And our salvation, yes, your salvation and mine. is a miraculous and gracious gift. of God. This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe and a message exploring the miraculous virgin birth of Christ. Remember, you can find today's lesson along with more teachings from John by going online to theverdict.org.
John will return in just a moment with final thoughts. But first, can a true believer lose their salvation? It's a question that troubles many Christians, especially during uncertain times. if you've wrestled with doubt about your standing before God, John has written an insightful booklet that addresses this crucial topic head on. It's titled Eternal Security.
Finding certainty in a chaotic world. In it John unpacks what Scripture teaches about the permanence of salvation and provides solid biblical assurance for those struggling with questions about their salvation. This resource is yours at no charge. Simply go to the verdict.org and request your copy of the Eternal Security booklet. Before we close today's program, we invite you to join in what God is doing through these daily biblical messages.
by supporting us with a financial gift of any amount. Your generous contributions help bring these gospel messages to your local community and all around the world.
So partner with us today by going online to theverdict.org. And remember that you can always find these messages by subscribing to the Verdict Podcast, available on all major podcast platforms. In addition to these lessons, John has a weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam, where he offers an insightful and biblical take on relevant topics, giving them the careful consideration Scottish law calls Avizandam. Subscribe to the Verdict podcast today.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe with closing remarks for today's program.
Well, what's your verdict? Do you believe in the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus? Is it so difficult for you to believe in miracles? As we learned, the miracle of the birth of Jesus is the grace of God in action. It demands a response from each one of us.
Personally it causes in me great praise. To think that the Son of God at his birth becomes additionally the Son of Mary. Yet at the same time he He is truly God as well as truly man. We'll continue this important subject next time. Don't mess it.
Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
