A woman in Arkansas was sitting in her car in a parking several years ago when she heard a loud bang and then felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. She was holding her hands behind her head when someone walked by and asked, “Are you OK?”
The woman answered, “I've been shot in the head, and I'm holding my brains in.”
Well, it wasn't her brains.
It was dough. A Pillsbury biscuit canister had exploded in the back seat, apparently from the heat, making a loud explosion and shooting the dough onto the back of the woman's head. (“Strange World,” Campus Life, Vol. 56, no. 2; www.PreachingToday.com)
Like that woman, a lot of people are running scared these days. They hear about explosions all over the world and worry that they too are going to be hit. Since the Paris attacks, the number one concern among American voters is national security. It trumps the economy and every other issue voters usually worry about. It’s the reason why Donald Trump has risen in the polls recently. His perceived ability to deal with the bullies of the world has made him a very likeable candidate right now.
So what does God have to say to a world running scared today? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Isaiah 7, Isaiah 7, where God speaks to a group of people shaking with fear like leaves on a tree.
Isaiah 7:1-2 In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. (ESV)
Two nations have come from the north to conquer Jerusalem, and they have surrounded the city. 2 Chronicles 28 describes the horrors of that siege: 120,000 men of Judah were slain in one day, including King Ahaz’ own son and other important leaders; 200,000 men, women and children were taken away captive, and the land was stripped of its wealth. The people of Judah were terrorized 700 years before Christ when Israel and Syria formed an alliance and attacked them.
And that’s the state of many people today in the early part of the 21st Century. Vladimir Putin is flexing his muscles, trying to revive the old Soviet Empire. ISIS strikes with impunity, not only in the Middle East, but now in the West, which is uncomfortably close. And an American president seems clueless and impotent to do anything about it. Add to that the concern many people have about their own finances, their own health, and their own families in such a world, and no wonder people are terrorized today.
Charlie Brown expressed it well when he said, “I have a new philosophy. I’m only going to dread one day at a time.” (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, p.107).
I don’t know about you, but I’m tempted to feel like that at times. So what do we do about it? How do we overcome the fear and terror of our day? Well, listen to what God has to say.
Isaiah 7:3-4 And the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. (ESV)
God says don’t be afraid of your enemies, because they are but “smoldering stumps of firebrands.” In other words, they are like a couple of short sticks left over after a campfire. Oh, there might be a little smoke yet, but the fire is gone and soon they’ll be forgotten. The fact is, the two men leading the attack against Jerusalem died just a couple of years after this.
So what does God say to those of us feeling terrorized today? He says, don’t be afraid of your enemies, because they’re nothing. They’re here today and gone tomorrow.
Do you remember when the whole world was terrorized by the Krushchev, Brezhnev, and the Old Soviet Union? Do you remember when the whole world was terrorized by Saddam Hussein? Do you remember when the whole world was terrorized by Osama Ben Laden? What happened to all these men? They’re dead and gone! So don’t be afraid of your enemies, because they’re nothing; and their plans are nothing.
Isaiah 7:5-7 Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” thus says the Lord GOD: “ ‘It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass. (ESV)
God will thwart their plans.
Isaiah 7:8-9a For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin [a mere man]. And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah [a mere man].
God looks at the powerful tyrants of this world, and they are nothing to him; they are mere men who cannot stand before the God of the Universe. So don’t be afraid of any man. Instead, put your faith in God.
TRUST IN THE LORD.
Depend on YHWH God Himself, who is bigger than any man and any problem you may encounter.
Look at the second part of verse 9. There, God says, “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”
In other words, if you are weak in faith, you will be weak in life; but if you are strong in your faith, you will be stand strong against any enemy. You don’t have to be intimidated when you depend on the Lord.
Pastor John Ortberg tells the story about the time many years ago when he was walking in Newport Beach, a beach in Southern California, with two friends. Two of them were on staff together at a church, and one was an elder at the same church. They walked past a bar where a fight had been going on inside. The fight had spilled out into the street, just like in an old western. Several guys were beating up on another guy, and he was bleeding from the forehead. Ortberg and his friends knew they had to do something, so they went over to break up the fight… Ortberg says, “I don't think we were very intimidating. [All we did was walk over and say,] ‘Hey, you guys, cut that out!’ It didn't do much good.”
But then, all of a sudden, the attackers looked at Ortberg and his friends with fear in their eyes. The guys who had been beating up on the one guy stopped and started to slink away. Ortberg didn't know why until he and his friends turned and looked behind them. Out of the bar had come the biggest man they had ever seen. He was something like six feet, seven inches, maybe 300 pounds, maybe 2 percent body fat. Just huge. They called him "Bubba" (not to his face, but afterwards, when they talked about him).
Bubba didn't say a word. He just stood there and flexed, hoping the trouble-makers would try and have a go at him. All of a sudden, Ortberg says, “My attitude was transformed, and I said to those guys, ‘You better not let us catch you coming around here again!’
He was a different person because he had great, big Bubba right behind him. Ortberg says, “I was ready to confront with resolve and firmness. I was released from anxiety and fear. I was filled with boldness and confidence. I was ready to help somebody that needed helping. I was ready to serve where serving was required. Why? Because I had a great, big Bubba. I was convinced that I was not alone. I was safe.” (John Ortberg, in his sermon Big God/Little God, www.PreachingToday.com)
So it is with those of us who depend on the Lord. We have something better than a great, big, 300-pound Bubba. We have the Almighty God of the Universe, who cannot be contained even in the highest heaven (2 Chronicles 7:18).
So don’t let fear stop you any longer. Don’t be intimidated by anyone or anything these days. Instead, get on with your life, and do what God has called you to do. Serve the Lord with a strong faith in Him. Trust in the Lord, first of all. And then 2nd…
HOPE IN HIS PROMISE.
In a time when everybody else is afraid, find assurance in God’s promise of a virgin-born Son; discover your confidence in the Messiah, our Deliverer. That’s what God wants King Ahaz to do.
Isaiah 7:10-11 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” (ESV)
In other words, ask for any sign that you want. Ask that the graves be opened. Ask that the constellations be changed. Ask for anything you need to prove to you that God will keep His Word.
Isaiah 7:12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” (ESV)
Ahaz WILL NOT ask for a sign even though God tells him to. This is deliberate defiance, a slap in the face to a Gracious God who wants to reassure this wicked king.
You see, most people do not believe not because they CAN not believe. They do not believe, because they WILL not believe.
It think of the 18th Century French Atheist, Voltaire, who said, “If a miracle occurred in the market place of Paris and in the presence of 2,000 men, I would rather disbelieve my own eyes and the 2,000.” Even if he had clear evidence for faith in God, he would still refuse to believe.
And that’s the way it is for many, who in the face of clear evidence, still choose not to believe in God. There is the unmistakable evidence of the irreducibly complex design in the universe, from the microscopic to the telescopic level. There is the unmistakable evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, from the empty tomb, stipulated even by Jesus’ enemies, to the testimonies, sealed in death, of the eyewitnesses to His resurrection. And there is the unmistakable evidence of the thoroughly transformed lives among those who trust Christ as their Savior.
There are plenty of signs to confirm a strong faith in God. We don’t trust Him blindly. It’s just that many refuse to trust Him at all. Like Ahaz, they WILL NOT believe.
Isaiah 7:13-14 And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! [King Ahaz was a descendant of King David.] Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. [Despite your obstinacy, despite your refusal to believe, God is going to show you anyway.] Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (ESV)
God’s sign to King Ahaz and to anyone, whether they choose to believe it or not, is the virgin birth of Messiah. Messiah would be born to a virgin! A woman who never had sex with a man will get pregnant and give birth to the coming King and Deliverer of the world. Wow! What a sign!
First of all, it’s a sign which condemns those who refuse to believe. It condemned King Ahaz. A couple a hundred years before this, God promised Ahaz’ predecessor, King David, that he would have a descendant on the throne who would reign forever! It was the promise of the Messiah, Israel’s deliverer. Here, that promise is repeated with one important exception: Ahaz would be excluded from the promise. It will not be Ahaz’ descendant who reigns. It will be the son of a virgin.
According to Matthew 1, Joseph is a descendant of Ahaz; but it was Mary, a virgin, who gave birth to Messiah without any of Joseph’s seed. Ahaz has no part in the promise. He is condemned, because he chooses not to believe.
And that’s the state of those who refuse to believe today. John 3:18 says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
It’s not that you WILL be condemned someday. It’s that you are ALREADY condemned if you refuse to trust Christ as your Savior. The sentence of death has already been pronounced. All appeals have already been exhausted, and you are now on death row, awaiting execution of your sentence.
Just a few years ago (2008), CarMD sponsored a Harris Interactive survey, which found that 10 percent of the 2,041 U.S. adults polled were driving a car whose “Check Engine” light was on. An alarming 50 percent of those whose cars were showing signs of an impending breakdown indicated the light had been on for over 3 months. Another 10 percent said the light had been on between 1–2 months.
Kristin Brocoff, marketing manager for CarMD.com, says it's a particularly sobering statistic, because “the U.S. government put the on-board diagnostic system in place to… alert drivers when their vehicle was emitting too many emissions or had a problem. This light can signify something potentially costly and possibly dangerous to the passengers or others on the road. It's important that drivers treat it seriously.”
The survey found drivers had a whole litany of excuses for ignoring the light. Some ignored it, because the car seemed to be “running fine.” Others pointed to a lack of sufficient funds. Still others said they just didn't have time to worry about getting their car fixed. (“Snapshots: How long the light's been on,” USA Today, 6-22-08; www.PreachingToday.com)
My dear friends, if you haven’t yet put your trust in Christ as your Savior, the “check engine” light of your life is on right now! Don’t ignore it any longer. Quit refusing to believe like King Ahaz did, because it can only lead to trouble. The virgin birth is a sign which condemns those who refuse to believe.
On the other hand, it is a sign which confirms those who choose to believe. The virgin birth of Messiah is a sign of deliverance for all who trust Him. In Ahaz’ day, it was a sign of deliverance from the menacing armies that had surrounded Jerusalem.
Isaiah 7:15-16 He [i.e., the virgin-born Son, Immanuel] shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. (ESV)
In other words, suppose a virgin were to conceive that day and give birth to a son. If that should happen, then before the boy is old enough to know the difference between right and wrong, Judah’s enemies will be laid waste. That is, within about 3-5 years, both the land of Syria and the land of Israel will be deserted.
That’s the prediction, and that’s exactly what happened. Within three years, God raised up Tiglath-Pileser III, king of Assyria, who destroyed both Syria and Israel in 732 B.C. The two nations that had threatened Judah and Jerusalem were gone, and God’s people were saved.
Now, there was no virgin-birth in Ahaz’ day. So this prophecy awaited a much greater fulfillment, which didn’t come until over 700 years later, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. At that time, when Joseph found that his fiancé was pregnant and wanted to call off the engagement, an angel said to him, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit (not another man). She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21). Then the Gospel writer comments, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means God with us)” (Matthew 1:22-23).
Matthew, the Gospel writer, makes it very clear. The virgin birth of Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy right here in Isaiah 7:14. Jesus, the virgin-born son of Mary, is God with us, who came to save us from our sins!
You see, we face an even bigger threat than Judah did in Isaiah’s day. We face an even bigger threat than ISIS itself today. In fact, we face an even bigger threat than any political enemy in any day. The threat we face is sin. All ISIS can do is cut off our heads. Sin will condemn us to hell for eternity.
So more than anything else, we need a Savior from sin, and that’s why Jesus came. That’s why God put on human flesh and dwelt among us. He did it so He could pay the price for our sins on the cross and rise again. And now He offers the assurance of His presence and eternal life to anyone who will put their trust in Him.
A little boy was scared, because he had to walk past a dark, spooky house each evening on his way home from school. However, there were some adults in his life who tried to help.
One gave him a good-luck charm to ward off the ghosts.
Another put up a street light in front of the house. &
Still another scolded him: “It’s sinful to be afraid; trust God and be brave.” But none of these things helped the boy.
Then finally, an adult came along who said, “I know what it’s like to be afraid. I will walk with you past the house.”
That’s what God did for us in Jesus Christ. He did not send us good luck charms. He did not give us lights or words of condemnation. Instead, He sent Himself, and He tells us, “I will walk with you even past the scary parts of your life.”
My dear friends, why don’t you let Jesus walk with you today? Put your trust in this virgin-born son of Mary, Jesus, the one who came to save his people from their sins. Call upon Him right now, and ask Him to save you from your sins.
Stop resisting like Ahaz did, and start relying on the Lord today. Trust in the Lord, and hope in His promise.
In his book, The Manger Is Empty, Walter Wangerin Jr. recalls Christmas, 1944. That year, in the days leading up to Christmas Eve, Walter's father did the same thing he always did at Christmastime: he went into a room in the house, removed the outside door knob so the kids couldn't get in, and he decorated a Christmas tree and stacked presents all around it.
As their father carried on the great tradition, the Wangerin kids did the same thing they always did at Christmastime: they stood outside the door, dreaming about what awaited them come Christmas morning.
That is, every child except Walter.
Having turned ten in 1944, Walter writes: “I had that very year become an adult: silent, solemn, watchful, and infinitely cautious.” While his brothers and sisters could barely contain their excitement, Walter held himself in “severe restraint.”
Why? Well, the year before, his brother, Paul, had burst into tears. Walter writes, “I was horrified that pain could invade the holy ceremony. And I was angry that my father had not protected my brother from tears. Besides,” he said, “what if you hope and it doesn't happen? It's treacherous to hope. The harder you hope, the more vulnerable you become.”
So with all of that in mind, Walter decided he was not going to make himself vulnerable like before. He was not going to hope. He was not going to be caught off guard by whatever might happen when his father opened the door on Christmas Eve.
Well, when the time finally came, Walter stood beside his anxious brothers and sisters—the only one with a frown. Walter's father opened the door to the room, and all the Wangerin kids ran in, gasping and giggling over what they saw.
That is, every child except Walter.
Walter stood in the doorway, gazing at the tree and the piles of presents. Then he turned to look at his father who stood there waiting. What he saw caused Walter to have an emotional outburst of his own that Christmas Eve. He writes:
“There… was my father, standing center in the room and gazing straight at me… And this is the wonder fixed in my memory: that the man himself was filled with a yearning, painful expectation—on account of me.
“This was new. This thing I had never seen before: that my father, too, had to trust the promises against their disappointments. But among the promises to which my father had committed his soul, his hope, and his faith, the most important one was this: that his eldest son should soften and be glad…
“He gazed at me,” Walter writes, “waiting, waiting, for me, waiting for his Christmas to be received by his son and returned to him again. And I began to cry. O my father!
“I cried,” Walter writes, “glad and unashamed. Because, what was this room, for so long locked, which I was entering? Why, it was my own heart. And why had I been afraid? Because I thought I'd find it empty, a hard unfeeling thing. But there, in the room, was my father. And there, in my father, was the love that had furnished this room… trusting and yearning, desiring our joy.”
Walter writes, “I leaned my cheek against the doorjamb and grinned like a grown-up ten-year-old, and sobbed as if I were two. And my father moved from the middle of the room and walked toward me, still empty-handed; but he spread his hands and gathered me to himself. And I put my arms around his harder body. And so we, both of us, were full. (Walter Wangerin Jr. The Manger Is Empty, Harper San Francisco, 1989, pp. 57-66; www.Preaching Today.com)
This Christmas, despite all the turmoil going on in our world, God yearns for and desires your joy. Please, don’t just stand there, trying to steal yourself against any disappointment. Instead, embrace the love He has for you. Put your trust in the Lord and dare to hope in His promise.
