Standing Firm in Faith Part 4

Pastor Mike will be speaking on Standing Firm in Faith Part 4. He will be reading out of Isaiah 7:10-25.

There is a peace that passes all understanding, and as we are walking through the floods of our lives, we know that God is with us, and we are not shaken, we are not troubled, we are not melting down, we are not coming apart. Why? Because God is with His people. Hello, this is Pastor Mike Sanders, all the way from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, the Open Door Church, Hope Worth Having Ministry, and we’re glad to be with you today.

We’re continuing our study in Isaiah chapter 7. We’re coming to the end, where we’re learning about standing firm in faith, and what all that means, and how that applies to our life, and how do we do that. So I want you to grab your Bible this morning, and let’s get into the Word. And the reason that God delays our prayers is because He is still reaching out, He is still calling people to true salvation, and He is patiently waiting for you today to come back home, and to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord, and to love Him with all your heart, and to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ.

And I know that you and I are anxious, and I know that we are so ready, and we want to see the Lord’s return, but I remind you, we also want to see our loved ones come to Christ. So when we struggle with patience, when we struggle with waiting, anybody here like to wait? I’d like to meet you, never met anybody, but I’d like to meet you. Nobody likes to wait, do we? But we ask the Lord to help us be patient.

One time a lady said to me, Pastor, should I pray for patience? Well, that’s a great question, isn’t it? Because you know if you ask for patience, you know what’s going to happen. You’re going to find yourself in a pickle, and you’re going to be struggling, and then all of a sudden you’re going to be like, wow, I should have never prayed for patience, right? But I don’t really think you have to pray much to find yourself in a situation where you’re going to have to be patient. But we are patient, and we are called to be patient, and it is the fruit of the Spirit that we would be patient people, that we want to see people come to Jesus Christ.

And I think about in God’s dealing with Ahaz, and dealing with Judah, and dealing with the nation, how patient he has been. And here Isaiah the prophet says, you weary men, you weary people, verse 13, but will you weary my God also? How long will you continue to refuse to believe? How long will you refuse to trust? How long will you continue to take matters in your own hands and just handle the situation yourself and forget about relying upon the Lord Jesus Christ? Will you weary my God also? That’s a great sermon. I’m going to have to come up with one right there.

Verse 14, the theme of this text, the theme of this chapter, therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. I just want you to stop there. Ahaz said, I don’t want a sign.

I told you he didn’t want a sign because he didn’t want to believe, and he didn’t want to have to trust, and he didn’t want to have to step out because his heart was already driven towards doing it his way and trusting himself. He wasn’t interested in spiritual matters. And so again, despite all that, God patiently works with Ahaz and says, therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. Wow. So the sign is Emmanuel.

Let’s talk a little bit about that because there are some complex issues here that I think you and I should consider this morning as we think about this situation. And I want to propose three questions to help us wrestle through this unique sign that has been given to us. The first question is, was there an immediate sign in Ahaz’s time in that God gave Ahaz this sign? Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel.

I want you to understand something about prophecy. That prophecy often has a type and then a fulfillment. It has a shadow and then a reality.

Many times the fulfillment of a prophecy can also not only be imminent, but it can be future. And so when we look at this prophecy, this sign that has been given, I would say to you to that very question, was there an immediate sign in Ahaz’s time? Yes. And the reason that I say that is, again, you’ll look at it, behold.

It’s almost as if Isaiah is saying, look, and that’s what the word behold means, look. Scholars believe that most likely that Isaiah was pointing out the young woman at the scene where the prophet was, where Ahaz was, and he is saying that God is going to give you a sign that this young woman is going to eventually give birth to a son and she will call him Emmanuel. We’ll talk more about that in just a second.

But I also want you to know that this has its ultimate fulfillment in the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, how do you know that? Well, see, the wonderful thing that we have is that we have the completion of the word of God. We have not only the Old Testament, but the New Testament.

And when you are studying the Old Testament, it’s important that you connect the dots and that you make the understanding of the Old and the New Testament. And you see how the New Testament interprets the Old Testament. So don’t lose Isaiah.

Go to Matthew chapter one. Would you do that for me? Say, Pastor, we just wanted to sit back and scroll on our phone. We didn’t want you to have to give us all this work to do.

Well, friends, you came to the wrong church. We’re here to study the Bible, amen? Now let’s go to verse 21. Remember that the angel has spoken to Joseph.

He is told, the angel has already told Joseph, do not be afraid. He didn’t know how Mary had become pregnant because he had not been with her intimately. And how is it that she could have a child? Verse 20 says, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take you, Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, a supernatural conception.

Verse 21 says, she will bring forth a son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins. We jump to verse 22. So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, the prophet Isaiah saying, behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son and they shall call his name, what church? Which is translated, God with us.

So I want you to know there was the immediate fulfillment. There is the eventual future fulfillment in the Messiah through Jesus Christ coming into this world. Without a doubt, our church embraces and believes in the virgin birth of Christ which leads me to my second question.

Does this verse teach the virgin birth of the Messiah? Meaning that Jesus was born of a virgin. We talked about the ultimate fulfillment of the sign pointing to the future restoration of God’s relationship with his people through the miraculous birth of God in human form. When we read Isaiah, we understand in the Hebrew language that the word virgin can be used in different ways as a young woman or it could be referred to a virgin.

There are other words that are more specific to the fact that she would be a virgin. But I want you to understand that the reason that I embrace that this is teaching the virgin birth of the Messiah is because of its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter one and verse 23 that Matthew through the power of the spirit gives us the clarification and connection of the dots of the Old Testament to the New Testament and I believe without a doubt that the ultimate fulfillment of this passage is found in Jesus Christ and that it does teach the virgin birth and yes I know you will hear critics that will say that the Hebrew word could also be translated young woman. I think in its immediate context yes in its future context it is the virgin birth of Jesus Christ Matthew one teaches us that this prophecy is ultimately about Jesus and so we understand and receive it that way that 700 years earlier the prophet Isaiah would make a prophecy about the virgin birth of Christ and that we see this being perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ who is called Emmanuel God with us that the power of the Holy Spirit brought forth Jesus into the womb of Mary and she became pregnant with a son having never been with a man but the Holy Spirit overshadowed her and the power of God came upon her and she conceived a son his name is Jesus his name is Emmanuel and he was fully human and he was fully divine 100% man and 100% God who can comprehend who can fully grasp but my friends though you and I cannot always fully explain everything in the Bible doesn’t mean that it’s not true I mean look some of you you can’t even open up a chemistry book and explain everything in it but you still believe it and so it is I want you to know that just because Mike Sanders can’t explain everything and you can’t explain everything doesn’t mean that it’s not true but let’s keep that in mind that the secret things do belong to the Lord and I’m called to live by faith not explanations but I still want to know what I’m learning and what I’m reading is true and it comes from God and that yes there is this immediate part of this sign but there is the futuristic part of this sign in which Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of it now what is the significance of this word Emmanuel we told you that it means God with us and the significance in Ahazdeh was that Judah’s safety would be rooted in the presence and the power of God that he would be the one who would protect them that he would be the one who would protect them from the enemies who wanted to overthrow the nation and the point was coming to Ahaz in that not only as he heard the prophet speak that this sign was going to come about that the prophet reminds him how this will unfold and one of the reasons that we believe that the prophecy the sign is not only imminent future but it’s certainly we see in verse 15 that he describes the child’s diet verse 15 curds and honey he shall eat which was nothing unusual for that day that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good for before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good that is that before the child comes to that point what we might refer to the understanding that there is right and wrong that even before that child comes to that comprehension that the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings meaning the nations that are threatening you to take over you they will be devastated and they will become a barren land before you verse 17 the lord will bring the king of assyria upon you and your people and your fathers house days that have not come since the day of ephraim departed from judah so what is going on here is this promise this sign and what is the kicker for the application of the sign and the promise to be applied to ahaz and the people of judah is the same thing that is the kicker for us in our crisis that as we see the sign the sign of the coming of the lord jesus christ i know it’s not christmas and i get frustrated when i go into stores and they’re already promoting christmas and we haven’t even made it to thanksgiving yet amen i just had to throw that out there okay and here pastor mike is in october preaching about christmas what’s wrong with him i know i hear you but i had to deal with the text and here we are in chapter seven i couldn’t just bypass it and say we’ll wait till christmas but i want you to understand this that the coming of jesus christ and the fulfillment of the sign in our messiah jesus is a reminder to us that even in our crises god is with us that even in our challenges and our tragedies that god has not forsaken us but what is the application in the sense of how is it applied to our hearts that we could be calm that we could be like those disciples who would be so amazed by the fact that jesus christ would stand and calm the waves and the seas that even they would obey him that we could have that kind of trust it is that we must believe we go back to verse 9 if you will not believe surely you shall not be established if you refuse to believe in the crisis you will not stand firm in the crisis if you refuse to trust god in the crises of your life you will not stand firm in the crisis your house will fall down you will be devastated what is the promise of the birth of our savior jesus christ emmanuel god with us what does it mean to us it is that god is with his people god is with you church the lord of host is with us the god of jacob is our refuge the psalmist said god not only is with his people but he dwells with them he dwells with us church you’re not alone in your crisis but i want you to know that the entire godhead is working together in manifesting his presence we know that god is omnipresent we know that he is everywhere at the same time it’s incredible but this is what the scriptures teach us but it’s more than just the presence of god it’s what i call the manifested presence of god in that we can sense it we can feel it that there is a peace that passes all understanding in our life and that as we walk through the fire and as we are walking through the floods of our lives that we know that god is with us and we are not shaken we are not troubled we are not melting down we are not coming apart why because god is with his people he dwells with his people the scripture says in 2nd corinthians 6 16 what agreement has the temple of god with idols in the old testament they had a temple and they worshiped god they brought their offerings to god and they worshiped and it would have been certainly horrible for them to bring an idol and worship but the bible tells us in the new testament that our bodies are the temple of god that is church wherever you go god is with you and he is dwelling in you and so he says what agreement has the temple of god with idols for we are the temple of the living god as god said i will make my dwelling among them and walk among them and i will be their god and they shall be my people i keep telling you this and i know you’re tired of me saying this to you but don’t believe everything that you feel and think you keep reminding yourself god is with me in the tragedy god is with me in the crisis that he is dwelling among me that i am the temple of god and as i believe in faith in jesus christ that god is dwelling within me jesus having revealed to his disciples in the gospel of john chapter 14 that he would be ascending to heaven that he would die on a cross and he would resurrect and eventually ascend into heaven they were troubled they were distraught but he reminds them in chapter 14 verse 18 of the gospel of john i will not leave you comfortless i will come to you the greek word has the idea of an orphan some translations put it that way i’m not going to abandon you i’m not going to leave you to be orphans in this world you’re not going to operate alone trying to figure out and navigate through this life by yourself as you go through your problems in your life and your struggles he is saying i will come to you how does he come to us the holy spirit the holy spirit is always with believers church again go to romans chapter 8 verse 9 and 11 it says this but you are not in the flesh but in the spirit if indeed the spirit of god dwells in you now if anyone does not have the spirit of christ he is not his and if christ is in you the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness verse 11 but if the spirit of him who raised jesus from the dead dwells in you he who raised christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you you see friends you have the father the son and the spirit the trinity co-equal working together in unity to bring about the promises of god to be true in your life you’re not alone god is with you and so just as ahaz was promised that god is with him i reaffirm to you this morning that god is with you if you are a true believer in jesus christ we talked about a crisis request for a sign but it also releases god’s judgment as we come to verse 18 what happens is that ahaz says no i’m not gonna believe i’m not gonna listen you and i should not be stunned by this because remember that in isaiah chapter 6 that god said to isaiah you know he said here am i send me and that’s why you might want to be careful when you say here am i and send me but god sent isaiah to a people who would not listen who would not hear or obey everywhere god sends you is doesn’t mean it’s going to be a positive response isaiah was sent to these people and he was sent to ahaz and he refused to listen so second king’s chapter 16 verse 7 you don’t have to go there hopefully it’s up there for you but it gives us a little context of what’s going on here so ahaz sent messengers to tilglath polisir king of assyria you say pastor how do you know how to pronounce these words i don’t i just make it up like you do okay but here’s what he said i am your servant this is what ahaz is saying to assyria which is threatening he says i am your servant and your son come up and save me from the hand of the king of syria and from the hand of the king of israel who rise up against me instead of trusting in god he trusts in assyria which was the dominant world power of that day he trusted in their might in their power in their politics he trusted in all that instead of trusting in god almighty and putting his faith in the lord he has wanted the king of assyria to come and save him but i am trying to tell you the only one that can save us is the lord jesus christ and the things that you’re seeing manifested that grieve our souls and i’m there with you that burden our hearts is not because we need a new political leader it’s not because we need to somehow figure out how to do government better or politics better is because we have rejected the lord jesus christ and this nation needs to fall on its knees and repent of its sins and humble their hearts before god almighty and receive jesus christ amen about half of you clapped and half of you didn’t it’s okay okay it doesn’t shake me i’m a firm believer that jesus is the only one who can save and i back that up with the bible and if you believe a political figure will save you you are messed up in the head and i just said it and that’s what ahaz felt assyria will save me assyria will help me assyria will solve all my problems but friends i’m telling you only jesus christ and i’m encouraging you as a church family to put your trust and your faith in the lord jesus christ and him alone who is assyria we go back to chapter 5 in verse 29 as isaiah the prophet eloquently uses metaphors he uses assyria saying that their roaring will be like a lion then we jump over to chapter 7 in verse 18 and we learn again at the end of verse 18 and for the bee that is in the land of assyria meaning that they are like a swarm of bees that will sting you look at verse 20 in that same day the lord will shave with a hired razor with those from beyond the river with the king of assyria the head and the hair of the legs and will also remove the beard here’s what he’s saying is that assyria is like a razor it will cut you it will cut you go ahead and put your faith and trust in a political figure and you will find it’s like a swarm of bees a roaring lion and a razor that cuts you i’m encouraging you my friends don’t have regrets because ahaz chose to not trust in the lord and isaiah gives him all the judgment of god upon him and upon the nation and here what is interesting is ahaz was using assyria to save him and god used assyria to judge judah god works in mysterious ways but we leave you with this note and a reminder to all of us that he is god and he is god with us and he is god for us and when jesus christ came he not only died for our sins but he suffers with us you are not alone church he should be the focus of our faith in him alone are fulfilled all the words of isaiah 7 14.

he is our companion and comfort through trials he promised that he would never leave us nor forsake us by far jesus is the greatest deliverer and he will do his greatest deliverance when one day you and i stand before god and give an account of our life and jesus’s grace will have already touched our hearts and by faith we will have applied that grace to us and he will remind the father that he has already taken the punishment for our sins and that we are washed in the blood and that we have been delivered from sin and we now are a child of the king and we are allowed to enter in to the kingdom of god hearing the words well done thou faithful and good servant enjoy the rewards and the blessings of my king that’s what waits for you for all who believe the true deliverance is your spiritual deliverance and there’s no better deliverance than to be delivered from hell sin and death and may it be true in our hearts that we would see christ first and trust in him alone let’s pray remember that as we’re studying this chapter the nation of israel is under the leadership of ahaz and ahaz is floundering and he is not firm in his faith the prophet is warning him and he is asking for a sign god provides him a sign but yet he still does not stand strong and we need to remember that god’s signs are all around us and that god is working effectively in each of our lives and as we see the majesty of god’s heavens before us and we see the beauty of his blessings in our lives it is our responsibility to keep standing firm for christ and not be discouraged by the problems of this world we hope that you will continue to grow in your faith and one of the ways that you can do that is go to our hope worth having website hopeworthhaving.com and remember that we have a newsletter we put out and you can sign up for that newsletter and this gives you information and encouragement and strength and resources to help you to stay strong for jesus this is pastor mike sanders reminding you that in christ there is hope worth having.