Conspiracy or Assurance
Isaiah 8:11-22
Introduction
- On Wed night, we discussed the importance of relying on God; trusting 100%
- If God is for us, who can be against us (Isa 8:10 is frontrunner to Romans 8:31)
- Even though our enemies devise plans against us, we will be victorious
- With God in our corner, the provision and supply is limitless and endless
- Today, let’s continue Isaiah’s challenge to the church and our own faithfulness
- Read Isaiah 8:11-22 / Pray
Point 1 – Rely on God! (V11-17)
- Conspiracy theories amuck (refer to the bulletin note for this week)
-- “From the Kennedy assassination to the moon landing to even the Gulf War and to the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico … conspiracy theories continue to crop up and bring us confusion and arguments across our nation and even in the faith.”
- Do not fear what you hear today; do not place stock in the news as fact
- God calls us to obey Him; to live for Him; to serve Him in everything (expound)
- God is to be called Holy (v13) – He is the one we should look to and worship
- The idols of this world have been trying to take over since the beginning
- Who do you worship? Who is your hope in? Where is your fear of the Lord?
-- Fear of the Lord = Respect; but note the additional word used: “dread”
-- Hebrew word is “yirah” means awe, reverence, respect, devotion
-- Closely related is “yare” means to stand in awe, reverence or honor
- God will get His glory; He will bring judgment upon disobedience (v14)
- Even if Jerusalem won’t obey He will still get their attention; because He’s God
- God’s calling us to pay attention today! He wants us to be in relationship …
-- 2 Cor 6:2 says, “For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.” (Expound)
- (v15) We must stop stumbling because of disobedience; we must pay attention
- Our testimony is how we overcome; it gives us purpose and strength (v16)
- God calls us to have a testimony in order to witness and tell our story
- Even in the end the testimony is vital to spread the Gospel: Rev 12:11, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”
- Your testimony cannot be argued with; it is what happened to you
-- Analogy of testifying in court; if you saw it as a witness – then you saw it!!
- Each of us troubles, each of us has hard times, and each of us has suffering
- But, the question today is who will you listen too?
Point 2 – Who will you listen too? (V18-20)
- Isaiah is a sign to the people that they need (emphasis) to hear and obey the Word
-- Much like pastors are today: required to pray, to study, and to preach
- Isaiah is declaring that He is sent from God to preach the Word, to be a witness
-Challenges:
-- How does this translate to us? How are we witnessing to others around us?
-- What is the impact that we are having today in reaching out for Jesus Christ?
-- Are our lives surrounded by the glory that God demands us to shine for Him?
- Isaiah has to declare to the people not to deal with spirits and mediums
- To seek your faith and your strength in Christ alone: 19b says, “Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?”
- Think for a moment of where we have heard something like that before …
- Remember the tomb? Luke 24:5, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”
- Who are we putting as our #1 advisor? Who do we place as chief counselor?
-- Or, what are we turning too for our strength and to provide us with all we need?
-- Alcohol? Drugs? Illicit relationships? Addictions? Self-prophecies?
-- Perhaps its self-reliance (we’ve always done it this way and it works for me)
- God calls us to lay those things down, stop carrying around the pain & seek Him
- TRANS: If we won’t follow Him, there is an effect to this decision we make
Point 3 - The Effects of Following Ourselves (v21-22)
- Look at the effects of not allowing God to be our sole provider (v21)
- Revelation talks of this also but more than that; how many curse God now?
- How many curse God because of the bad things, or the troubles, or the trials?
- Look around at the attempts to remove God from the world happening now
- This week, New Haven, CT removed “year of our Lord” from diplomas
“It’s a religious thing,” Superintendent Reginald Mayo told the New Haven Register. “I’m surprised it took this long for someone to notice it. We certainly don’t want to offend anyone.”
The phrase, “in the year of our Lord,” comes from the Latin “Anno Domini,” which was abbreviated A.D. and traditionally placed at the beginning of a year to indicate the number of years since the birth of Jesus, as in A.D. 2010.
While it is rarely used today, the phrase was commonly used many years ago. One notable instance is in Article VII of the U.S. Constitution, which is dated to “Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven,” or Sept. 17, 1787. It also appears in White House proclamations.
Source: New Haven Register, June 23, 2010
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/06/23/news/new_haven/aa1_nediploma062310.txt
Reported from FoxNews.com (Todd Starnes) as well as the New Haven Register (Abbe Smith)
- The effects are all around us and if we will not turn to Him, who will?
- APP: Last week we detoured to see what Jeremiah said to us about God caring
- We discussed not only does God know, but He cares about even YOUR issues
- Because God desires to be close to you, we have assurance that He has our back
- Will we become like these people here that curse the ground and hate the Earth?
- Will we focus so much on ourselves and not see the God that provides it all?
- God is crying out right now, for you and I to turn to Him and place our trust in Him
Call to action:
- What kind of a God would WANT us to come to Him?
- What kind of God would chase after us so that we could be comforted?
- APP: I’ll tell you who – the God who created this Earth and gave you life
-- Don’t say often: come back tonight for the remainder/application of this analogy
- Today is not the time to harden your hearts and turn away, but turn towards Him
- Even in the face of tragedy and insurmountable odds, He calls for you
- Even in our own disobedience He still gives His Son to die FOR you
- So, what will your response be to Him? To whom shall we fear?
- Wed night we saw Isaiah 8:10 saying, “Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, FOR GOD IS WITH US.”
- Will we stand on this word, or will we follow our own desires and guidance?
Invitation
- Invite our musicians to come forward
- Every head bowed and every eye closed – will you declare God as sovereign?
- Will you declare that you need Him in your life and He needs to guide you?
- If not then what is keeping you? What is limiting you from turning to Him?
- He is our great provider, able to remove all hurt, doubt, pain, and confusion – and in its place He puts things like life, peace, and comfort into you
- If you’ve never given your life to Christ I’d love to introduce you to Him
- If you are seeking a church family to partner with we’d love to have you
- But there’s more than that – are you taking the time to turn to God fully?
- Are you trusting in Him?
- Do you need Him?
- Pray
