Stand Firm
Introduction
Stand firm upon the Word of God in spite of the way you feel or the “facts” that seem contrary. For example, when the Egyptians pursued the Israelites to the Red Sea they were to stand firm. We read in Exodus 14:13, “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.” Miraculously, God parted the waters and they walked across dry shod.
At another time, God exhorted the Israelites to stand firm when they felt overwhelmed by the looming threat of attack from the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir. From 2 Chronicles 20:14-17 we read, “Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation; / And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.”
Yet again, God tells His people to stand firm, as we read in Isaiah 7:9b, where we read, “If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.” Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) preached a message on Isaiah 7:9b titled “No Fixity without Faith”. There is a similar call to faith in 2 Chronicles 20:20, where we read, “And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.”
Earlier, Isaiah warns about what can happen to those who fail to stand firm in dependence upon God. From Isaiah 5:24 we read, “Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.”
We read in Isaiah 7:1-9, “And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field; / And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, / Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal: Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.”
Allow me to share three things we must overcome to stand firm.
I. Stand firm in spite of fear in your heart.
To use another metaphor the heart of King Ahaz and each one of his entourage melted like wax and became like water. We read Rahab’s comments to the spies in Joshua 2:9-11, “And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.” Later, we read in Joshua 7:5, “And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.”
Isaiah recounts, “Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field; / And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, / Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal: Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son” (Isaiah 7:3-9a).
Some scholars translate our text to read, “Have firm faith, or you will not stand firm” (Isaiah 7:9b, NEB). Paul the Apostle writes in Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Simply put, biblical faith is either trusting or obeying God. Faith pleases God as we read in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
When we have a real or a perceived threat do we shake in fear or stand in faith?
II. Stand firm in spite of facts in your hand.
Do you remember the character “Sergeant Joe Friday” played by John Alfred “Jack” Webb on the television show called Dragnet? He said, “Just the facts, ma’am.” Some are quick to remind us that facts are facts. They lament that you can’t change the facts.
Jan Carlberg, wife of Dr. Robert Judson Carlberg, the seventh president of Gordon College, explains in a devotional on Isaiah 7:9 in her book titled The Hungry Heart, “The real battle pitted faith against facts.”[1]
God gave Ahaz a second sign in Isaiah 7:14, where we read, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Dr. Luke, a medical doctor, records Mary’s understanding in Luke 1:26-38, “And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, / To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.”
We read further in Luke 2:1-20, “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David :) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, / Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.”
God suspended “the facts of life” for the birth of His Son, Jesus. Remember, in Adam all die because of the wages of sin. We read in Acts 20:28, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” Jesus’ had an earthly mother and a Heavenly Father.
Regardless of the “facts” to the contrary, will you shake in fear or stand in faith?
III. Stand firm in spite of fiction in your head.
Dan Brown begins his fictional book titled The Da Vinci Code with the word, “FACT”. Fiction has its place in the library and in life, but we must be careful not to treat truth like fiction and fiction like truth. Dr. Charles R. Swindoll wrote a book titled The Way of Truth in a World of Fiction. Note the word “fables” in the following passages.
We read in 2 Peter 1:16-21, “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
Paul the Apostle writes in 1 Timothy 4:1-9, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; / Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; / Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.”
The Apostle Paul writes Timothy, his son in the ministry, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; / And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:2-4).
Paul the Apostle helps believers to separate fiction from non-fiction related to the return of our Lord as we read in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, / That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; / Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, / And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
We may take comfort in the following citations from the psalms. The psalmist writes in Psalm 103:13-14, “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” Later, we find in Psalm 139:1-2 “O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.”
We find a description of faith in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The exercise of faith involves trusting that God will do what He says He will do and doing what God says to do.
The psalmist makes a great confession of faith in Psalm 16:8, where we read, “I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” Psalm 62:6 records another bold confession of belief, where we read, “He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.” Some translate the word “moved” as “shaken”.
There is a battle for the mind. We must categorize our thoughts as either fiction or non-fiction as we face imminent danger or impending doom. The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) / Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; / And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.”
In spite of proverbial worldly wisdom, we must choose to stand in faith upon the Word of God if we are to stand firm.
Conclusion
When we respond to life’s unpleasant circumstances and impossible situations with fear in our heart, based upon facts in our hand, mixed with fiction in our head, the result is disastrous. We discover the sad result of the lack of faith by Ahaz in 2 Kings 16 and 17. However, when we respond to life’s circumstances with biblical faith the outcome is glorious. Let me encourage you to stand firm!
[1]Jan Carlberg, The Hungry Heart: Daily Devotions from the Old Testament, August 18 reading, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1991, 1997), p. 144
By Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, pastor First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort 30775 Jay Drive Spanish Fort, Alabama 36527
Author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice Available on Amazon.com and WORDsearchbible.com
http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Biblical-Preaching-Giving-Bible/dp/1594577684
http://www.wordsearchbible.com/products/Sound_Biblical_Preaching_1476.html
http://www.webspawner.com/users/franklinlkirksey / fkirksey@bellsouth.net / (251) 626-6210
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