God Acts; Man Reacts

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At Christmas, you can choose to believe God because there is hope that can override your circumstances; there is evidence that can overcome your doubt; and there is a God Who will achieve His plan

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Attn

Series: Christmas

Title: God Acts; Man Reacts

Text:

Pic - Gym

ATTN

Well, we’re not too far from the beginning of a new year, and many gyms across the country will be upping their ad budgets and trying to attract delinquent athletes back to the gym. One gym sent out the following advertisement:

[The New Year] is right around the corner and you're either going to own the year OR the year is going to own you. It's 100% your choice. It's in your hands. That's the first thing. Simply by taking all of the responsibility and putting it on your shoulders you become empowered.

Next, you take that feeling of empowerment. Of invincibility. The feeling you can run through a wall ... and you take action. You take action like you've never taken action before. You become prolific. You become consistent. And you let no obstacle stand in your way ... no matter what. No more pity parties. No more whining about anything.

YOU are in control. YOU.

You know, I guess that could be pretty motivational if you’re a certain type of person. It sounds great, but it has a major flaw: It is really unbiblical!! says A man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. You could say it like this: God acts, Man Reacts. But I will have to tell you that HOW man reacts is absolutely critical to how he ends up especially when it comes to how he reacts to what God did at Christmas

BACK

Spiritually speaking, you see we are coming to the time when we celebrate one of the most active times in Biblical History. In just three weeks we will celebrate the most amazing birth that ever took place—the birth of our Savior. You cannot look at what happened in Bethlehem and not be aware that God was acting in time. He stabbed the veil of our brokenness and inserted His Presence in our humanity. He was active.

Yes that’s what God did, but the story doesn’t end there. Each of us writes the ending to the story with our own reaction. From the beginning this truth is seen clearly and unequivocally: God acts; man reacts. I say “from the beginning” because the birth of Christ was talked about hundreds of years before it ever happened. Through the prophets, God called out to man, telling him that He was sending His own son. One of those prophets was Isaiah.

Now the amazing thing about biblical prophecy is that, on certain occasions, words that were written included what Bible students call a “double reference.” A double reference in prophecy happens when a prophet spoke a prophecy which both addressed his own current situation and a situation that would take place in the future. That’s the kind of prophecy we find in our text today. It’s :

Isaiah 7:1–17 NKJV

Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but could not prevail against it. And it was told to the house of David, saying, “Syria’s forces are deployed in Ephraim.” So his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind. Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, and say to him: ‘Take heed, and be quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah. Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel”—thus says the Lord God: “It shall not stand, Nor shall it come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, And the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken, So that it will not be a people. The head of Ephraim is Samaria, And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If you will not believe, Surely you shall not be established.” ’ ” Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!” Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Curds and honey He shall eat, 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, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings. The Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father’s house—days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah.”

1 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but could not prevail against it. 2 And it was told to the house of David, saying, “Syria’s forces are deployed in Ephraim.” So his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind. 3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, 4 and say to him: ‘Take heed, and be quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel”—7 thus says the Lord God: “It shall not stand, Nor shall it come to pass. 8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, And the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken, So that it will not be a people. 9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If you will not believe, Surely you shall not be established.” ’ ” 10 Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!” 13 Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. 15 Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings. 17 The Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father’s house—days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah.”

Now you’d probably heard the part about a virgin birth before. It’s kind of standard Christmas fare, but hearing in the context it was originally given helps you realize that this prophecy has a double reference. Originally it was given to a wicked king named Ahaz. It addresses a doom he was facing. But there was also another reference. You see, this verse is quoted by Matthew in his account of Christ. reads,

Matthew 1:23 NKJV

“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

NEED

And you may hear that and say, “That’s great, Rusty, but why do I need to hear it? I know the Christmas story and I’ve heard this verse a hundred times so what can you tell me that I don’t already know?” Well, that’s a good question, so let me give you a couple of reasons to listen this morning. First, this message can help you if your negative circumstances have robbed you of hope. Maybe you’re here this morning and you have lost all hope that things can be different. You may be married to someone who keeps promising to change, but it never happens and you feel hopelessly trapped in a meaningless marriage. Maybe you’ve lost someone very special to you and you are grieving and feel hopeless. You may be petrified this morning at the thoughts of having to live the next few months of your life. You’re facing a situation you never anticipated and you don’t know if you’re going to survive. I want you to listen because there is hope in this newborn King.

And then this message can help you if you have doubt this morning. Maybe you’re skeptical about this whole Christian thing. You’ve examined the “evidence” and don’t feel fully convinced. I want you to listen today because a step of faith can overcome your doubt. You can choose to believe.

TRANS

Which may leave you asking the question, “Why? Why should I choose to believe? Why should I react in faith and not in doubt? Well, let me try to answer that question. First, you can choose to believe because:

There is hope that can override your circumstances.

EXP

Now the thing about double prophetic references is that understanding the first reference can shed light on the second. In other words, understanding what this all meant to Ahaz can help us understand how it is used by Matthew and what it can mean to us.

The original message of Isaiah came to a king who had been given a relatively good heritage. Both his grandfather and his father were known for being godly leaders. By the time Ahaz comes on the scene, however, Judah is facing some real trouble. Three enemies have arisen.

Pic - Empire

The first is Assyria, who was the “big kahuna” in the neighborhood. The king of Assyria was taking territory in the middle East hand over fist. No one could stop him. No one could stop him, that is, alone. But Syria and Israel (that is the ten tribes of Israel that had split away from Judah) decided to combine their forces to ward off his invasion. To make themselves stronger, they decided to attack Judah, capture it and its forces, and install their own puppet king. Their plan kind of worked and it kind of didn’t work. They attacked and weakened Judah by killing 120,000 of her fighters in one day.

To say that Ahaz was afraid was an understatement. He was petrified. In fact, v2 says that his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved in the wind. So, it is at this time that God sends Isaiah to him to give him an opportunity to drastically improve his situation. V3 says

Isaiah 7:3 NKJV

Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field,

Ahaz was probably out there looking at the aqueduct at that point because he wanted to make sure that, whenever the siege came, he’d have enough water to survive.

Now God was sending him this specific message at this specific time because Ahaz was getting ready to make a huge, life-changing blunder. He was about to turn to Assyria, the big kahuna, and sell himself out in order to keep fighting his other two enemies. In the middle of this terrible time God’s message of hope comes.

God’s message of hope was a message of encouragement.

It is a message of ENCOURAGEMENT. God tells Isaiah to use four different verbal commands to calm Ahaz. In verse 4 God tells Isaiah to say to Ahaz: Take heed and be quiet; to not fear or be fainthearted. I liken it to a parent telling a distraught child. “There, there, it’s going to be alright.” What grace! This king was wicked, but God was reaching out to him to encourage him.

God’s message of hope was a message of deliverance.

It was a message of encouragement and it was a message of DELIVERANCE. V5 continues:

Isaiah 7:5–7 NKJV

Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel”—thus says the Lord God: “It shall not stand, Nor shall it come to pass.

Did you catch what God just said? He says, in essence, “I know you’re worried Ahaz, but all the other nations you’re afraid of are not going to lay a hand on you. This may have been hard for Ahaz to believe because he had just been beaten badly. Based on past experience, he knew that, alone, he could not take on Syria and Israel. That’s why God has to show him that his deliverance would not be based on who Ahaz was but on Who He Himself was. That message gets reinforced in v8. It says

Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel”—7 thus says the Lord God: “It shall not stand, Nor shall it come to pass. Did you catch what God just said? He says, in essence, “I know you’re worried Ahaz, but all the other nations you’re afraid of are not going to lay a hand on you. This may have been hard for Ahaz to believe because he had just been beaten badly. Based on past experience, he knew that, alone, he could not take on Syria and Israel. That’s why God has to show him that his deliverance would not be based on who Ahaz was but on Who He Himself was.

his deliverance would not be based on who Ahaz was but on Who He Himself was.

Isaiah 7:8–9 NKJV

For the head of Syria is Damascus, And the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken, So that it will not be a people. The head of Ephraim is Samaria, And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If you will not believe, Surely you shall not be established.” ’ ”

Isa 7:8

Now when you read those verses, it may be a little confusing. What in the world is being said here?

For the head of Syria is Damascus, And the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken, So that it will not be a people. 9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. . . . Now when you read those verses, it may be a little confusing. What in the world is being said here?

God’s message of hope was a message of identity.

Well, the message of encouragement and deliverance is reinforced by a message of IDENTITY. It’s like God is identifying Ahaz’s worst fears and saying “I know who you are afraid of and I’m telling you that I have sovereignly decided to give you favor, not because of who you are, but because of who I am.

ILL

Pic - Art

Hanging in an art gallery you find a picture that summarizes this message so well. Framed there you see a mountain scene of great peace and tranquility, but the stillness of nature is abruptly contrasted to a terrible tragedy, for in the clearing is what used to be a log cabin. Only now all that remains is a brick chimney. Blackened ruins still smolder revealing the fire that occurred the night before. Two figures are pictured viewing this tragic scene. An older man obviously a grandfather stands there in his night clothes with his arm around a boy. The boy stands there clutching a patched pair of overalls, obviously the only of his possessions spared by the heartless flames. Big tears are rolling down his cheeks and devastation is written all over his face. The caption of the painting captures the comfort the grandfather is bringing to that devastated little boy. It reads: “Hush child! God ain’t dead!”

APP

And the same God who offers to deliver this wicked king is the same God who offers to deliver you. He is here to encourage you. Maybe you need to hear him say to you today.

I know that you are afraid of the diagnosis you just received, but take heed to me and listen.

I know that you are all torn up by the crashing thoughts in your head that are predicting disaster, but be still.

Hey, I know you are petrified when you think of the future, but do not fear.

I know you think that things will never be right again, but take heart: I will deliver you. This thing you are so afraid of is under my control.”

Maybe you’re like Ahaz was. Maybe you’d answer, “But God, where were you when my people were taken captive and 120,000 soldiers died?” I think he might quietly answer you: “You know, I am in control whether you can believe it or not and I am ready to help, but you have to trust me. See me for who I am and then you’ll see your circumstances and even those who seem to be your enemies as they are. They are all under my sovereign control. CHOOSE to believe me.

TRANS

And there are really four good reasons you can make that choice. You can choose to believe first because there is hope that can override your circumstances and then you can choose to believe because . . .

There is evidence that can overcome your doubt.

EXP

Again I say that God was incredibly gracious to this wicked king. Look at what he offers to him in v 10:

Isaiah 7:10–11 NKJV

Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.”

What a generous offer! God tells Ahaz, “I know you may doubt Me because of all you have been through, so put Me to the test. Ask for anything as a sign that what I am telling you is true. It can’t be too big or too small. I’ll do it to prove Myself to you.”

Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.” What a generous offer! God tells Ahaz, “I know you may doubt Me because of all you have been through, so put Me to the test. Ask for anything as a sign that what I am telling you is true. It can’t be too big or too small. I’ll do it to prove Myself to you.”

But God is not the only one “on trial” in these verses. No, In this paragraph God puts Ahaz to he test. Though God invites his challenge, it is really the king himself who is being tested. You see that in the last part of v 9. It is stated in the negative:

Isaiah 7:9 NKJV

The head of Ephraim is Samaria, And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If you will not believe, Surely you shall not be established.” ’ ”

In other words, Will he, in fact, respond by believing God and becoming established, or will he instead reject such belief? Surely as the leader of Judah, he must have given lipservice to the idea of trusting God, but now he must act upon it or deny it. Isaiah tells him that God stands ready to prove himself; he just needs to ask.

If you will not believe,

Surely you shall not be established. In other words, Will he, in fact, respond by believing God and becoming established, or will he instead reject such belief? Surely as the leader of Judah, he must have given lipservice to the idea of trusting God, but now he must act upon it or deny it. Isaiah tells him that God stands ready to prove himself; he just needs to ask.

But this generous offer by God is rejected. V12 says,

Isaiah 7:12 NKJV

But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”

But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!” Bad choice, wicked king! False piety will not fake out an all-knowing God. The truth is that Ahaz does not want evidence! Why not? Apparently it is because his mind is already made up. He is going to trust his and his nation’s fate to Assyria, and he does not want some (trumped-up?) evidence that such a drastic decision is unwarranted. Any sign provided by Isaiah could only be an embarrassment to him, so he attempts to avoid the dilemma by an appeal to piety. So it always is.

Bad choice, wicked king! False piety will not fake out an all-knowing God. The truth is that Ahaz does not want evidence! Why not? Apparently it is because his mind is already made up. He is going to trust his and his nation’s fate to Assyria, and he does not want some (trumped-up?) evidence that such a drastic decision is unwarranted. Any sign provided by Isaiah could only be an embarrassment to him, so he attempts to avoid the dilemma by an appeal to piety. So it always is.

Which just brings me to an undeniable truth: Evidence can never create faith; it can only confirm it. Where there is no faith, evidence is merely an unwelcome detail that must be explained away. You see, ultimately the reason someone chooses not to believe the evidence that stares them in the face about God is that their mind is already made up on the issue and no sign God could offer would ever change that.

APP

And the truth is we need to learn a lesson from Ahaz because THE EVIDENCE WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH. If you do not choose to trust, there will never be enough evidence to convince you because this relationship with Christ doesn’t begin with your mind it begins in your heart and specifically with your will.

Can I just hasten to add that if you are waiting for every single one of your questions to be answered before you turn your life over to Christ, there will never be enough answers for you! Your relationship must begin with your willingness to trust Christ. Faith will seek understanding, but there will never be enough understanding to produce faith!

ILL

The screams he heard were unbearable! Why didn’t someone help or do something to stop those blood curdling screams?? But then, to his horror he realized: Those screams were coming from his own lips. The agony he was in was beyond description. He was literally on fire and in absolute despair. He kept thinking that maybe he would just die and it would all be over, but the waves of pain just kept coming. It hadn’t always been this way. Once things had been good. He was a wealthy, well-respected member of the town in which he lived. He took great pride in his accomplishments and enjoyed the rich food he ate, the wonderful homes he lived in, and the admiring glances he received when he sat in his seat on the town council. No, life wasn’t perfect. There was the beggars he kept trying to get off the streets. What an annoyance! When you moved one, another one just took his place. And then there was the one who found a way to sit at his fence gate every day. “Alms, sir, Alms? Can you give me just a dollar so I can buy some food?” What a tiresome nuisance! But then came the heart attack. He had no warning—no time to prepare. One minute he was drinking his wine with kosher dinner and the next minute these unbearable screams.

So was the fate of the rich man who died and found himself in hell in . Why do I bring up his story? It’s because of something God says to him when he is in hell. The rich man is in such agony that he asks God to send someone back from the dead to warn his family not to die in the state he died in. God answers:

Luke 16:31 NKJV

But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”

31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”

In other words, God says, “I have given them all the evidence they need. if they choose to reject it, more evidence will not work!”

TRANS

And you see, Ahaz really made the only choice his unbelief would allow him to make. Even though God would have given him a great sign to show that He was working, Ahaz refused because his mind was already made up. He chose wrongly, but you don’ t have to! You can choose to believe and there are some very good reasons to make that choice. You can choose to believe because there is hope that can override your circumstances and there is evidence that can overcome your doubt and then, you can choose to believe because:

There are consequences that will follow your choice.

EXP

Man’s choice is both a privilege and a problem. On the one hand, we have the opportunity to cooperate with God in His sovereign plan for this universe. On the other hand, we have the danger of refusing His plan and striking out on our own. That’s what Ahaz does. O, he tries to couch it in spirituality. He says that he will not ask for a sign from God because he doesn’t want to test God. Far from applauding his fake piety, Isaiah says in v 13:

Isaiah 7:13 NKJV

Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?

Why would Ahaz reject God’s offer? Well it was because he’d already made up his mind that he was going to trust in his enemy more than he was going to trust in His God. He would turn to Assyria, the very enemy that would ultimately destroy Judah. In just a few short years, Ahaz would go to visit Assyria and, instead of trusting Jehovah, he would bring back an idolatrous altar and put it right into Jehovah’s temple, sealing the doom of Jerusalem. Make no mistake! Ahaz’s choice was already made and his idolatrous heart offended—wearied—God.

“Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?

But even though God was wearied, He would not be stopped by this foolish, wicked king. V14 goes on to say:

Isaiah 7:14–16 NKJV

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Curds and honey He shall eat, 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, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings.

Now I said earlier that this prophecy has a double reference. It referred to something that would happen in Ahaz’s day and it also referred to the birth of Christ. To Ahaz God was saying, “Before a young woman can have a baby and that child reach the age where he can obey when you tell him “no” (around 2-3 years old), the two threats that Ahaz feared, Syria and Israel, would no longer be any threat to him.

Well, that sounds like good news! This king made a bad choice, but God still blessed him, right? Well, no! You have to read on. V17 says:

Isaiah 7:17 NKJV

The Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father’s house—days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah.”

Wow! God was telling Ahaz that the country he would turn to instead of Jehovah would be the very country that would turn and devour him!

APP

And what can you and I learn from this? Simply this: The thing we worship will be the thing that will determine your destiny. If you worship God, you place yourself under His protection and He will care for you; if you worship yourself or any other idol, you place yourself under the protection of someone who will ultimately destroy you. So . . . CHOOSE CAREFULLY! Your choice has great consequences.

Which just leads me to this question: Who are you trusting? Who do you turn to for joy? Is it your spouse? What, then, will happen to you when they die, or when they leave you?

Who are you trusting? Who do you turn to for joy? Is it your kids? What happens, then, when they leave home?

Who are you trusting? What do you turn to for joy? Is it your career? Is it your bank account? Is it your youth—the fact that you are young? Listen! All of these will eventually turn and devour you. The only One Who will not let you down is God!

TRANS

Why should you choose to trust God? It’s because he offers hope that can override your circumstances; it’s because He offers evidence that can overcome your doubt; It’s because there are very real consequences which will follow your choice and then you can trust God because:

There is a God Who will achieve His plan.

EXP

Let me just summarize this whole passage in three clear principles:

Principles: The failure of man is the proof of sin.

First, THE FAILURE OF MAN IS THE PROOF OF SIN. Yes, Ahaz blew just like you and I blow it. God tells him to ask for a sign and he refuses because either his fear has sabotaged his faith or his pride has destroyed his surrender. O, he COULD have chosen differently, but he didn’t. Just like you and me, right? There are many times when the path of faith is absolutely clear before us. All we have to do is take it, but we don’t. Why not?

It’s because you and I are sinners. If things ever go right in this life, it is not because you and I get it right, it’s because God intervenes.

Principles: The success of God is the proof of sovereignty.

Which brings me to the second principle. Yes, the failure of man is the proof of sin, but THE SUCCESS OF GOD IS THE PROOF OF SOVEREIGNTY. This is where the other side of this prophecy comes into focus. Yes, Ahaz blew it, but his failure led to the prophecy that would be quoted in in reference to Jesus. You see, no earthly king no matter how good would ever measure up. No man could ever do what needed to be done. No, God’s plan required a GOD MAN! Someone who would be both 100 percent human and 100 percent divine. You see, a VIRGIN had to conceived through the Holy Spirit so that God’s sovereign plan could be performed. That’s why He would be called “Immanuel.” Matthew tells us that this name means “God with us.”

You ever stopped to think about that name? It perfectly describes the dual nature of Jesus. He is God: As much God as if He were not man at all; and He is “with us”: He is man as if He were not God at all. He is the only one who could carry out God’s sovereign plan to save man.

Which just leads us to you and me. Just like Ahaz had to make a choice, you and I also have to choose. Unlike Ahaz, however, we already know what the second reference to the virgin means. We know that Jesus came and lived and died and rose again, yet so many of us don’t have our lives wrapped around Him. Like Ahaz, we have imported an idol altar into our own lives. How can this be?

Principles: Our choice by faith is the proof of grace.

I’ll tell you how. Its because even though the failure of man is the proof of sin and the success of God is the proof of sovereignty, OUR CHOICE BY FAITH IS THE PROOF OF GRACE. What I mean is this: Left to ourselves, even with all the evidence for the resurrection of Christ, you and I would still never choose to follow Him. God has to give us the grace to trust Him. If you trust God today, it is not because, on your own, you just made a better decision than others before you have made. It’s not because, if you’d have been alive then, you’d have made a better choice than Ahaz made. No your choice by faith is the proof of grace! God has to give you grace to believe Him.

VIS

Last month Kathy and I stopped by a car lot. We were entertaining the idea of buying a car, but talked ourselves out of it. Still we had a conversation with a salesman who looked to be about my age. As he was talking, I recognized his accent, so I asked him where he was from. He said “Florida.”

Since I graduated from High School in Florida, I asked him where he was from and when he graduated. He graduated the year before me in Orlando. So I asked him: “Do you remember January 1977? Do you remember the snowstorm that came through that year?”

He said, “Yes I do. I remember it being so cold and my dad turned on our sprinkler system (to keep it from freezing I suppose).” He said that they had ice cycles everywhere and kids were coming from all over to see all the ice.

So then I said, “Well, I can tell you why it snowed in Florida.” He said, “You can? Well, why did it snow in Florida?”

Those of you that know my testimony know the answer. I said, “It snowed in Florida because I told the Lord that if he’d make it snow in Florida where I lived, I’d be a preacher.”

He asked me, “Well, what are you?” I said, “I’m a preacher.”

When I was studying for this message I was reminded of the grace that God showed to me. I was a rebellious teen with so many questions, but God GAVE ME THE GRACE to trust in Him.

APPL

Which just brings me to you and me: Why are you here today? Did you ever stop to think that it wasn’t just because you decided to stop by? Did you ever stop to think that, even though you may come every Sunday, God has you here this morning for a specific reason? Maybe your presence here is His gift to you. Maybe He wants you to be here because He wants to give you a gift of grace. He wants to open up your heart to believe in Him to trust Him.

And you might ask, “Well, how do I know, Rusty? How do I know that God is dealing with me?” Well it’s simple really. Check your heart. Is there within you any desire to have a relationship with Christ? Is there something tugging at your heart? If there is, I can tell you that desire isn’t coming from you, but from the Holy Spirit. ACT ON IT! Don’t dismiss it.

Maybe you’re here and you’re a Christian. God is calling you out to take, what seems like to you, an outrageous step of faith. You’re afraid, but you know God is moving in you. Listen. Maybe you need to come and just pray for courage. Maybe you need to come and ask God for the grace that will allow you to follow in faith.

You see, like Ahaz it is time for you to choose. God will give you the grace to believe. Will you trust Him?

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