Now, faith, of course, isn't even named, is it, in that hymn? But we know the hymn is about faith, an anchor for the soul. So let's open our Bibles again to Isaiah chapter 7, verses 1 through 17. Again, for those using church Bibles, that's on pages 571 and 572. Just a few words concerning the historical context. This is before we actually look at the pages of our Bibles. The year is 735 B.C. or thereabouts. Ahaz is the king of Judah. That's the southern kingdom. Pekah is king of Israel, the northern kingdom. It's also called Ephraim in our passage. It has another name. I won't say what I was going to say about Britain and United Kingdoms, because I'm going to probably, what's the word, reveal my ignorance. But anyway, countries don't always have to be known by the same name. All right. Now there have been two rather than one kingdom. Two kingdoms rather than one kingdom for almost 200 years by now. The split was 199, 198 years before what we read in Isaiah 7. Relationships aren't good between these two kingdoms. They've never been good. But now, Judah is in trouble. Because Israel, the northern kingdom, has allied itself to Syria, sometimes called, I think, Aram. Syria, just to the northeast. Both Israel and Syria have wanted Judah to join them in a pan-Palestinian alliance. Now, I'm talking about geography, not people, all right? Something like a pan-Palestinian alliance against Assyria. Syria and Assyria are not the same nations or kingdoms. Against Assyria, a larger and threatening power to the further northeast. The regional superpower. And Judah has refused to join that alliance. So you want to think of that teenager in some parts of London, maybe closer to us than we would like to imagine, who has refused to join a gang. There's one more thing worth saying concerning this historical context, at least it comes a little later. All right? Judah will go on to seek an alliance with the superpower, Assyria, to protect itself against this Syrian-Israeli confederacy. And that proves in time to be something of a boomerang. It comes back to hit Judah somewhat nastily, that's what the very end of our passage is actually referring to, alright? The passage that we read. But turning to our passage, alright? We're going to do two things this evening. First we're going to take a quickish stroll, is that the best word? Stroll through verses 1 to 17. We need to get the entire passage under our skin. And then secondly, we're going to focus in on verses 7 to 9, verses 7 to 9, particularly verse 9. So it's that little section of poetry in the chapter that we're going to focus in on. First of all, A quickish, I hope it will be quick, a quickish stroll, I think you're hoping it will be quick. All right, a quickish stroll through verses one to 17. And yes, it has six parts. All right, six parts. Part one, crisis. It's not the first crisis in the history of the Southern Kingdom, Judah. but you can hear the knees knocking. A different image is used, but you can hear the knees knocking. Verses 1 and 2. In the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezan, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Ramaliah, 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, Judah, is the house of David, alright? At least the king of Judah. Alright? 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. What frightens you? What makes you shake as a tree of the forest shakes before the wind. There's part one. Part two. Command. Command. Verse three in the first words of verse four. And the Lord said to Isaiah, Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Sheer Jashub, your son. At the end of the conduit, of the upper pool in the highway to the washer's field, and say to him, I won't continue. Just look at those words. At least verse three. There are two things worth noting. First, concerning Isaiah being commanded to meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the washer's field. Now fears tend to consume our thoughts, don't they? It's like disco music, can't get away from it, all right? And sometimes fears make us shake like a tree before the wind. There are, however, and this is just introductory to what I want us to notice, all right, there are, however, people And we know some of them, don't we? People who know little or nothing about fear or even worry per se. Their insecurities, hear me out, they might not fear in the way most of us fear, but they still have insecurities. Their insecurities, They hardly look like insecurities, but they are betrayed by what they invest in, in life. There's a reason Isaiah was commanded to meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the washers And it's not just because the Lord is omniscient. He knew he was either there or he would be there. Right? Isaiah's rendezvous with Ahaz is not simply about paths crossing. Maria and I had a holiday in the Black Forest, 10 years or so ago, and we couldn't believe, our first visit to Germany, we couldn't believe how many health food and health supplements shops there were in at least that part of southwestern Germany. Are you following me? What we invest in in life reveals our insecurities. What do the Germans notice when they come here? Let me be fair, right? The issue is this. Ahaz wasn't just revealing what he was worried about by being at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the washer's field. He was revealing more. He was also revealing where his faith lay. And faith lies often in the area of our insecurities. It revealed what he was trusting in. Now there's a place for means. Getting the water supply sorted out before a potential siege, there is a place for means, practical measures. But there's also a misplaced dependence on means. Park that for later. The second thing worth noting is this. Isaiah is commanded to take his son with him. Shia jashup, which if you've got notes in your version of the Bible, it literally means a remnant shall return. Ahaz is worried, understatement. Judah is worried. Again, another understatement. But before Isaiah says a thing, the Lord has made sure there's a visual aid with him. I haven't a clue what age the boy was, the son was, but there's a visual aid present to supplement what the Lord will say to Ahaz through his prophet. The Son is a sermon to the eyes. It's a visual aid. Peculiarly suited to the situation. We are threatened. We are an endangered species, they might have been saying. Right? The Son is a visual aid that's going to underline everything that Isaiah will say. And that's because Everything Isaiah will say isn't just a matter of cold prediction. And then dispassionate warning. It's about a cause. It's about a people. And it's about a God who cares. Irrespective of this current threat and the way Judah and Ahaz were shaking in their boots, a remnant would return. God's project to save a people was not going to be derailed. All right, parts one and two. Now part three. Comfort. Comfort. verses 4 to 9, at least halfway through verse 9. And say to him, that's Ahaz, be careful, be quiet. Now literally, the Hebrew scholars will tell us that what's actually being said, it's somewhat of a Hebraism, it's literally saying be careful to do nothing. But there isn't 100% certainty that it is that, so they back off a little, take the foot off the accelerator, all right? But it's worth saying this. Be careful, be quiet. Apparently, it probably means be careful to do nothing. Do not fear. The Lord continues through his prophet and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands. Now just imagine that we're talking about burnt out or spent forces. There's not much left in the tank when it comes to Israel and Syria. Do not fear and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands at the fierce anger of Rezan and Suriah and the son of Ramaliah. Because, the Lord continues, Syria with Ephraim and the son of Ramaliah has devised evil against you, saying, let us go up against Judah and terrify us, terrify it rather, and let us conquer it for ourselves and set up the son of Tabeal, we have no idea who he is, all right, and that says something, all right, let us set up the son of Tabeal as king in the midst of it. Because of that, thus says the Lord God. It, and that's the evil they have devised, it shall not stand and it shall not come to pass. And it didn't. Verse 8, for the head of Syria is Damascus and the head of Damascus is resin. And within 65 years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people, that's obliterated as a people. All I'm going to say at this point, in fact all I'm going to say is this, that also happened exactly as promised. 65 years after 735 B.C. thereabouts, okay? Carrying on, verse 9, at least the first half. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. Now we're going to get back to these nice bits, the heads, all right, later. Part four, challenge. And it's just the second half of verse nine. If you, and that you is in the plural, in the Hebrew, the whole of Judah is in view, including Ahaz. All right, if you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all. Now, if there's anywhere I want to land at the end of the sermon, it's here. Right. It's on these words. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all. And I'm not going to say anything more at this point. Let's move on. Part five. Part five. I've called this corroboration. Corroboration. All right. The Lord has made a number of promises. promises that he intends to keep, and promises he did keep, every single one of them. We know that. History tells us. But here the Lord offers Ahaz more. Verses 10 through to 15. Again, the Lord spoke to Ahaz. Ask a sign of the Lord your God. Let it be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven. I mean that's like saying ask anything you want. Well it is saying ask anything you want. Why is the Lord doing this? The Lord is doing this because He knows that Ahaz and Judah, at least Judah in the round, not all Judeans, they were men and women of faith, real faith. He knows that Ahaz and Judah don't trust Him. They're not relying on Him. They're not depending on Him. And so what does He do? He goes an extra mile. And he does that with all sinners. We have images of God, don't we? And a lot of them are caricatures. This Lord goes the second mile with an ahaz. How does the Bible describe that? It says he is long suffering with sinners. And that's all of us. Verse 12 now, but Ahaz said, and look at this, and Ahaz said, I will not ask and I will not put the Lord to the test. Sometimes people don't want to believe. And they offer spiritual-sounding excuses, pious-sounding excuses for not wanting to hear more. Is that perhaps you? Verse 13, and he, and again I said this in the reading, we're talking about Isaiah here, and initially he's speaking for himself, and that under the inspiration of the Spirit, but then he gets to speak about things that he could only have spoken of by the inspiration, or under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, all right. And then he said, hear then, O house of David, and can you, it's very, very dangerous imputing tone to scripture because we can often get it wrong, but how did Isaiah say it? I mean these words are not as, they're not like melting butter, right? Here then, O house of David, is it too little for you We have the plural again, all Israel is being addressed. Ahaz isn't the only one who needs to hear what follows, right? Will you continue to weary men, or is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Now, how is Ahaz, how is Judah wearying God? Well, it's by refusing to believe not only the plausible, God could do this, but what would definitely happen. The Lord can be implicitly trusted, every single word. Verse 14, therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. He shall eat curds and honey, that's the poor man's diet, when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. And I think and the commentators seem to say this, all right, that's reaching the age of conscious moral discernment, right? We should all know what this is about, all right? It's a Christmas passage, isn't it? It's a promise. It's another promise amongst many of the incarnation of the eternal son of God. All right? I won't say any more at this point. Finally now, now part six. We got there. Part six, calamity, calamity, calamity. Verse 16. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, Now, we don't have time to go into this, but what's in view, I think, is this. In the time that it takes this child, born to a virgin, to know right and wrong and choose correctly, what's that, a year or two or less, right? In that period of time, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted, that's overrun, right? And then just as a preface to verse 17, because Judah won't escape, Judah won't escape, at least not over the long haul, Judah won't escape because the Lord will bring upon you, that's Judah again, Your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah. That's when the kingdom split into two. And then there's this hyphen and it suddenly says, the king of Assyria. The irony of it all is that Judah survived Israel and Syria, but Judah went on to fall to a much nastier enemy, Assyria. And that's an Assyria that Judah turned to for help against the Syrian-Israeli alliance. And the issue is this, and again, just another arrow, just another arrow out, all right? The issue is this, sinners focus on, by nature, sinners, we're very, sinners by nature are short term. We don't think long term, all right? Long-term is something about eternity. We can't face that, right? Sinners, by nature, focus on or are distracted far too often by present issues alone. And how is that seen? Well, how often do we protect ourselves from one thing only to find ourselves unexpectedly facing another and a worse thing? Or other and worse things, plural. But let me be blunt. Think of all the things we do to improve and prolong life at great expense and tremendous effort only to find ourselves completely unprepared for death. Anyway, there's verses 1 to 17. The scene is now set for us taking a dive. into verses seven to nine, verses seven to nine. We've gotten to the business end, right, of this evening's message. Thus says the Lord. It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass, for the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezan. 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. If you, and remember this is plural, if you are not firm in faith, Ahaz, Judah, you will not be firm at all. Now look at that. Can you see any pattern? Can you see any structure? Of course you can, can't you? Right? The structure, the pattern is obvious. What we have are two sets. They jump out, don't they? We have two sets of two lines dealing with heads. Three heads in each instance. That's the first halves of verse 8 and verse 9. And both of those two sets of two lines, they are preceded by predictions. The first prediction, verse seven, is a prediction of failure, and that's the failure of the plan detailed in verses four to six. We don't need to go back to that, all right? We've dealt with it. The second prediction, which is the second half of verse eight, is a prediction of obliteration. That's the obliteration of Ephraim as a distinct people. And as I said, both predictions came true. They're fact. Can't be disputed. But then thirdly, and finally, there are the last two lines of the poem. And they aren't part of a pair. They're missing another half. They seem incomplete. They're sort of complete, and yet they're not complete. And here's a question. Can't be dogmatic about this. This is speculation. Is the Lord, through Isaiah, prompting Ahaz and Judah to work out the unsaid? You know, complete the poem. Fill in the blanks. What is the unsaid? Is it perhaps this? And the head of Judah is Jerusalem, and the head of Jerusalem is the son of Jotham. Irrespective of that. We'll come back to it, but irrespective of that. All right? The poem in its entirety has two obvious purposes. The first is dismissive. Dismissive of man. All right? Twice we get this. The head of, the head of, the head of. Three times. starting with the name of a nation, and then the capital, and then the king. With it, each ending by identifying a man. In the first instance, the name of the man is actually named, and in the second, and quite unflatteringly, that man is just called the son of another man. Remember, this is, the nation, the kingdom, the part of the kingdom that rebelled. Pekka doesn't even deserve to be named. But what is the Lord saying? What is the Lord saying? Isn't he saying this? What are these nations after all? They are nothing more than the men who lead them. which as history teaches us doesn't promise or in this case doesn't threaten much. What is Russia? The head of Russia is Moscow and the head of Moscow is Putin. See the logic, all right? The two men acknowledged in the poem and the nations that they led might have been frightening to Judah, but they were nothing to God. before we progress to the second purpose of the poem, all right? And this is going back to what if there is an unsaid conclusion, all right? What if the poem is deliberately missing a conclusion that A has and Judah must, oh, what is being suggested? And the head of Judah is Jerusalem and the head of Jerusalem is the son of Jotham? Is, if that's the case, is the Lord in getting Ahaz and Judah to fill in the blanks saying, you, yes you Ahaz, and you, yes you Judah, you are nothing in yourselves. You can't save yourselves. Nothing you can do can save yourselves. Your water supply plans cannot save you. Political alliances, which you will try in the future, they won't save you. Something else is necessary. And that leads nicely to the second purpose of the poem. We're hitting the crescendo. The second purpose, the second overt, obvious purpose of the poem is challenge. And the challenge is in the last two lines of the poem. And they're the words we're going to end with. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all. And just for an alternative rendering, and a man we can really trust, he said this, you could translate it this way, if you do not stand by faith, you will not stand at all. Same Hebrew word appears just in a different case in the first and the second line of that conclusion to the poem. Now let's start with what these words don't mean. Let's focus on them just as they stand. Sadly, as too often scripture is dealt with just as it stands, all right? These words, as they stand, they could be simply interpreted as, you'll agree with me, believe in something. Just believe, you know, believe in something, you know, be firm in faith, whatever that faith might be. And one could imagine a psychologist saying that. I can see you're into Mr. Eastern religions. Well, just pursue it with all your heart. You be firm in the faith that you have and then you will be firm. The 1980s, this is when I was a young, angry Calvinist, all right, those days, all right, in the 80s, 1980s, it was said, and this is the type of thing that angry young men remember, it was said that you could have a conversation with the then Pope, who was John Paul II, I think, all right, even if you hotly disagreed with him, because he actually believed in something. But you couldn't have a conversation with the then Archbishop of Canterbury, who was it, Robert Runcie, because he was just all feathers. He was all feathers. You didn't know really what he believed. You with me? Does our text mean believe in something, you know? Like John Paul II or John Lennon or Richard Dawkins believe in something. Or does it assume more? Well, it does assume more. So secondly, what the words of the second half of verse 9 do mean. What they do mean. They have a context. And that's why we dealt with it. In the context, the message between the lines is this. There is no security outside of faith. We can go one stronger. There is no security outside of a firm faith. And we can go one step further. There is no security outside of a firm faith in God. Got it? Moving from then, 735 BC to now, 2025. Then, military strength or a military capability at the very least, political alliances, practical preparations, you know, securing a clean and a continual water supply. They are all very good, but not to be trusted in alone. What about now? Living healthily. I'm thinking about those health shops and supplements and all the rest. Living healthily. Securing technical and professional certifications. What about making sure there are pension savings? Property. They are all very good, but not to be trusted alone. In fact, without God, they are pretty flimsy insurance against life, and they are absolutely worthless when it comes to eternity. Faith, a firm faith, a firm faith in God alone saves, nothing else. The reformers invented it, faith alone. And of course they didn't. And they didn't claim. Faith alone is in our text. All right? Now it's worth smashing a few caricatures here. What is a firm faith? Three things. First of all, a firm faith isn't necessarily a big faith. All right? A firm faith isn't necessarily a big faith, you know, immovable because of just sheer size. Size has nothing to do with firmness of faith. Why? Well, faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains, says our Lord. Now, of course, dynamite comes in small packages, you might say. All right? Well, secondly then, a firm faith isn't necessarily a strong faith either. A firm faith isn't necessarily a strong faith either. It's simply a way of holding, a way of clinging onto something stronger. Think of a small child hanging on to mom or dad as a little dog yaps at that child's heels, but is held up by dad. You with me? Wow, there, hang on. Strongly? No, just firmly. You see, the strength and the power enjoyed by a firm faith lies not so much in the firm faith, but what it hangs on to. What is your anchor connected to, friend? Biblical faith is all about trusting, and that's really trusting the Lord to keep us safe for some other threat, right? When we've messed up, when? I didn't say if. When we mess up, biblical faith is trusting that same Lord to rescue us from what we've done, indeed to save us from ourselves. Hear that unsaved friend. Firmness of faith simply involves doing that resolutely. All right? Forsaking all other helps. This is not rocket science. We complicate. Faith is hard. It's hard because we're sinners. But faith at heart is unbelievably simple. And then thirdly, thirdly, thirdly, the faith encouraged, the faith strongly encouraged in the second half of verse nine isn't a leap in the dark kind of faith. You know, closing our eyes and jumping, hoping there's someone there to catch us. Biblical faith is not a leap in the dark. It is a step, it is a step forward in the light of God's own testimony. The testimony and the word of a God who has repeatedly proven himself in history as the God who at the very least, and this is sufficient for our purposes, we could go on and on and on. A God who at the very least has a, infallibly revealed the future through his prophets. B, who faithfully delivers on all his promises, C, who rescues all who depend on him for rescue, and then inseparably tied up with all of that, D, will destroy everything and everyone who opposes his purposes to save a remnant for himself. I will not go over that. Right? The fact is, that was true of the past, it's true of the present, and it will be true of the future. And what is the single most important proof that the future will roll out exactly as promised in scripture? Verse 14. Therefore, and Ahaz didn't get this sign. He didn't live to see it. The Judah of his day didn't get to see it. All right? The Lord is no butler to just answer to our requests. He gave a sign for the ages. Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. As surely as that Emmanuel, Jesus of Nazareth was born, as surely as He was born, as surely as He, Jesus the righteous one, lived a perfect life, as surely as He, the Lamb of God, died an awful but sin-atoning death, and as surely as He, the promised King, rose from the dead and sits now in heaven at the right hand of God, and as surely As all of those things are true about Him, He will also return as a conquering and a world-restoring King. We need to make sure we're on the right side of history. I'm coming to a close to quote Psalm 2. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in the way. for his wrath is quickly kindled. But then listen to this next line in Psalm 2, but blessed are all who take refuge in him. What is it to be firm in faith? Let's just use the imagery of Psalm 2. What is it to be firm in faith? Well, it's to kiss the sun in submission. a Near Eastern custom. We're not used to doing that, are we? Right? But it's to kiss the sun in submission. What is a firm faith? It's also to take refuge, to shelter in Him alone. It's not to put some of your faith in Him, but the rest in other things. You know, Elvis Presley, apparently he wore both a cross and a Star of David. a cross and a star of David. Insurance, he jokingly replied when asked why. Perhaps, friend, you do believe in the Savior after a fashion. But actually you've also got a foot, if not all of your weight in politics or education or achieving something significant in this life or having a good time, those are the things you're trusting in for fulfillment. Escape. Or perhaps it's there's no heaven, there's no hell below us, above us only sky. Be careful what you trust in. The safe rock that Jesus is, is no good to those looking from the decks of sinking ships. It's too late. You need to find that rock now and secure yourself to Him.