ADVENT
4
December
17-19, 2022
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Isaiah 7:10-14 (EHV)
“SAVOR THE SIGNS
OF CHRISTMAS!”
1.
For
what they reveal about God.
2.
For
what they reveal about you.
Isaiah 7:10-14 “The
Lord spoke to Ahaz again. He said, 11“Ask for a sign from the Lord
your God. Ask for it either in the depths below or in the heights above.”
12But Ahaz responded, “I will not ask. I will not test
the Lord.” 13So Isaiah said:
Listen
now, you house of David. Is it not enough for you to test the patience of men?
Will you test the patience of my God as well? 14Therefore the Lord
himself will give a sign for all of you. Look! The virgin will conceive and
give birth to a son and name him Immanuel.”
Signs! They are everywhere. Some are
helpful sings. Restrooms this way. Good to know. Some signs are there to grab
your attention and your money. Sale 50% off. “Think of how much money we’ll
save,” says Chris. “The only way it’s saved is if we don’t spend it!” says I.
Many signs, probably most signs that we see, are there to keep you and other
people safe. STOP. School Zone. Blind child lives nearby. And then there are
the signs that God gives. They are helpful, grab your attention and are designed
to save everyone. I’m talking about the signs of Christmas.
We run into one today that was given
700 years before the first Christmas, fulfilled at the first Christmas and
still stands fulfilling its purpose today. “The virgin will conceive and give
birth to to a son and name him Immanuel.” What’s mind boggling is when and
to whom this sign was first given. “The Lord spoke to Ahaz again.” Ahaz the
sixth king of Judah. At the time this word of God was written the nations of
Israel and Aram, modern day Syria, had made an agreement to attack Judah
together. Now God’s people led by their king were supposed to rely on God to
help them fight and win battles but instead of doing that Ahaz had asked
Assyria (modern day Iraq) to help him instead and this is why. “In the seventeenth
year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham, king of Judah, became
king. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became
king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years. He did not do what was right
in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done. 3 He
walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made his son pass through
the fire, according to the shameful practices of the nations which
the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel. 4 He
offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and
under every leafy tree.” Bad king. Idol worshipper.
And yet it is to him that God sends
the prophet Isaiah with these words, “Ask for a sign from the Lord your God.
Ask for it either in the depths below or in the heights above.” Wait. Are
you kidding me? Man gets to tell God what to do? Sure it is at God’s own
invitation but this is all mixed up. This is backwards. God tells man what to
do, not the other way around. And Ahaz. Idol worshipping Ahaz who had his son
burned in the arms of the idol Molech. Ahaz gets to do this. How does he
respond? “But Ahaz responded, “I will not ask. I will not test the Lord.”
While that might sound pious and proper it’s just another example of the evil
that men do. I’m going to make my sin look right. Remember, Ahaz had made other
plans. No way he was going to rely on God. The Assyrians were better.
That helps you understand Isaiah’s
next words. “So Isaiah said:
Listen
now, you house of David. Is it not enough for you to test the patience of men?
Will you test the patience of my God as well? 14Therefore the Lord
himself will give a sign for all of you. Look! The virgin will conceive and
give birth to a son and name him Immanuel.” Ahaz, it’s one thing for you to
make me mad. Now you’ve made God mad as well. So here is the sign that will
mean judgment for you and salvation to those who believe. Ahaz, your efforts
will save no one. But a virgin will do the impossible and conceive. The son she
bears will be Immanuel. God with us. That’s the background of the giving of one
of the Christmas signs we know so well
Now let’s savor it. Like a Werthers
caramel or black jelly bean let’s savor the taste of this sign, for what it
reveals about God. First He is merciful. Ahaz had led the people into idolatry.
Ahaz was practicing idolatry. He deserved no help from God and yet there was
God promising to fight for him anyway. Secondly God is patient. How long was
God willing to put up with the guy? Far longer than you and I put up with
people who are a pain to us. But there is a reason He’s that way. God loves
people. He’s always working on the greater plan to have people with Him for
eternity. He wants that so badly that He’s willing to do the impossible to make
that happen. That’s the fourth thing we learn about God. He offered to let man
tell him what to do. Ahaz could have asked for anything! Take me to the moon.
Make it bounce in the sky like a ball. God would have done it. And when Ahaz
refused God gave a more impossible sign. A virgin will conceive and give birth
to a son. Impossible! This son will be God with us. God actually living with His
people. Super impossible. God can’t stand sin. Sinner cannot be in the presence
of the holy God. Immanuel. Impossible. Done by God for you and me. Savor this
sign of Christmas for what it reveals about God. He’s merciful, patient, loves
people and is willing to do the impossible to have people with Him forever.
Savor the signs of Christmas for what
it reveals about you. First let’s drink a healthy dose of honesty medicine. If
you choose to read more about King Ahaz in the books of 2 Kings and 2
Chronicles, you will not find it difficult to dislike him and disrespect him.
As I mentioned, gross idolater and some of that idol worship involved murder,
human sacrifice of children. It’s easy to despise a man who is given carte
blanche to ask God for any sign and he refuses. It’s easy to look down on a man
who refuses the help of God and chooses the help of man instead. And so we must
learn to look down on, despise and disrespect ourselves, at least the sinful
nature that lives in us. We are no strangers to having idols, things we put
above God. Our earthly comforts mean a lot to us and I really wonder if any of
us would really be content if we just had food and clothing as God says. And
what must God think as he sees our desires for our children to be the best
dancer, cheerer, singer, ball player, making all kinds of sacrifices for that
to happen and every effort to get them to every practice, every game. And at
the same time the One who searches us and knows us looks into our hearts and
discovers we think so little about wanting our children to be the best
Christian and have the toughest of times getting them to hear the one thing
needful making such pitiful efforts to get them to weekly worship. That is
idolatry and while is not as outwardly evil as burning our children in the arms
of Molech may if left unrepented lead to their burning in Hell. And when it
comes to relying on others instead of God, sadly there is a lot of bit of
Laverne and Shirley in all of us. You know, “We’re going to do it our way, yes
our way, make all our dreams come true…” Funny comedy. An offensive attitude
before our Creator. We are no better than those we read of in Scripture.
Considering all we have been given perhaps we are worse.
And God loves us anyway! That’s what
the signs of Christmas show us. Immanuel. God sent to be with us. God breaking
the laws of nature He established, God doing the impossible. God giving us His
best. God sacrificing His Son. For you. Do you see what that says about you?
You are so valuable to God He is willing to be patient with you and merciful
towards you. He cares about you so much that He not only promised the
impossible, He did the impossible. Immanuel. God with us. You may be feeling a
little down this time of year. You may feel forgotten by people you hoped would
remember you. There may be some people in your life right now, kids at school,
family members, co workers, spouse that are doing a great job of making sure
you know you are not wanted, that they want you to go away. Your God does the
opposite. He wants you with Him always. Immanuel proves it.
Now it’s just one short week until
Christmas. We’ve looked at just one of the signs that God gives us. You’ll see
and hear about more. Savor them, brothers and sisters, savor them all. As they
inform and grab your attention they will proclaim again the Good News. A Savior
has been born for you! Amen.
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