Jack read to you there in Isaiah
chapter 7, looking at the 9th verse, he
said, the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria
is Ramallah's son. If you will not believe, surely
you shall not be established. So Ahab, this wicked king, the
Lord had spoke to Isaiah and told Isaiah to meet with Ahaz. And Isaiah met with him and talked
to him and he gave him these instructions. And he said to
say unto him, take heed and be quiet, fear not, neither be fainthearted
for the two tales of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger
of Rezan was Syrian of the son of Ramallah. So he was going
to try to be stripped here of his kingdom, Ahaz was. He was
king of Syria. And this Ephraim and the son
of Ramallah 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
Tbil. 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 Rezan.
And within threescore and five years, Ephraim be broken, that
it be not a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is Ramallah's son. If you will not believe,
surely it shall not be established." And then on down in verse 10
and 11, it says, "'Moreover, the Lord spake again unto Ahaz,
saying, Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God. Ask it in the depth
or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask,
neither will I tempt the Lord. So up in verse 9, he said, if
you will not believe, surely you shall not be established,
even though Ahaz here was king of Syria. And this refers to,
if we can refer it to ourselves, if we believe not by God's grace
on the Son of God and bow to and rest in Him, look to Him
in faith and love, and follow after Him, seek Him, exalt Him,
extol Him. If we cannot do this, surely
we're not established. If we don't do this in our heart,
Ahaz had been spoken to here, but he didn't receive the Word
of God. He refused the Word of God. He
didn't have a heart to receive it. We know that. But he didn't
receive. He would not take heed. But this
is a responsibility to all mankind. God's Word warns us all to take
heed. To take heed. to look to the
Son of God, to come to the Son of God, to rest in the Son of
God. So this Word which was given by Isaiah to this wicked king
Ahaz was recorded for our learning, wasn't it? And our admonition
also. Unbelief is what caused Ahaz
to disregard God's Word, wasn't it? It was because of his unbelief. He said, I will not ask, neither
will I tempt the Lord. I'll not even ask the Lord to
help me or to show me. I'll not ask of Him to support
me in this kingdom and so on and so forth. I will not ask
Him. And He said, if you will not believe, you shall not be
established. So we see that God's Word goes
out everywhere and warns all men. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved. If you don't believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, you shall not be established. But the result of
his unbelief was destruction, wasn't it? Because he would not
believe He could not be established. You see, that was the result
of His unbelief. His destruction. He could not
be established in the Kingdom of God because He would not believe. The Word of God says, Believe
on the Lord thy God and thou shalt be saved. If thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord thy God and believe in thine
heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. We know we can't believe on the
Lord God God without the grace of God. But we know also that
men by nature do not and will not have Christ, even though
they're responsible, right? They will not have this man to
reign over them. They don't have no desire and
no love and no faith to bow to Christ and to rest in the Lord
Jesus Christ. They will not. So this is a word
as a warning also to every believer. You know that it's a warning
to all of us. If I'm not speaking to you, I'm
speaking to myself. You understand what I'm saying?
It's a warning to all of us. If you will not believe, you
shall not be established in the kingdom of God. If you will not
believe. If you believe, you'll lean upon
the Word of God. You'll lean upon God. You'll
rest in Christ, won't you? And if you rest in Christ, you'll
not only rest in Christ, you'll look to Christ. And you'll come
to Christ. And you'll keep coming back and
back and back again, won't you? You don't stop, do you? By God's
grace, you don't. We know that we sin and come
short of God's glory daily. And we go back different ways
a lot of times and forget about God. But His people, if they
believe, they are established in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
if they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in their heart, they will
be led back to the things that they should be doing out of love
and faith in Christ for the glory of Christ, the glory of God. If you lean upon your own works,
Roland talked about that, you can't be established that way.
We know that. The only way we can be established
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And by God's grace, we lean upon
and look to Him and follow and rest and trust and love Him by
God's grace. So, we trust and we worship the
Lord Jesus Christ. If you don't believe that though,
if you don't look, if you don't rest, if you don't follow, if
you don't exalt, if you don't love, you might as well trust
in Satan himself. It's to say, I believe and not
to believe. You might as well be trusting
in Satan. You see that? So, that's one
thing I don't want to do is lie to myself. Do I believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ or do I not? is my faith and my works are
evidence of what I believe. Works will not justify me before
God. Only I am justified in the Lord
Jesus Christ. But when grace is worked in the
heart, We won't work because we have to, as Roland said, and
we're not forced to work against our wills by the grace of God,
are we? No, we serve Him because we have
faith in Him. Because we want to. If you're
in the right spirit, you want to serve Christ. I want to serve
Christ. See? I want to be led by Him. I want to follow Him. I want
to exalt Him. I want to extol Him. I want to
know more about Him. I want to be able to trust Him
more and to have the further heart knowledge of Him. I want
these things. If we will not trust the Lord
Jesus Christ, we will forever be lost, right? That's right.
We will forever. And Mark 8, verse 34 says, When
He called the people unto Him with His disciples, He said unto
them, Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself. Whosoever will come after Christ,
let him deny himself. We are nothing to nobody. We
know that. But let us not only deny ourselves in that, let us
deny the things that lead us away from Him also. Let us deny
that. Let us not turn towards that. Let us keep our hearts and our
minds set on the Lord Jesus Christ for His glory and our benefit. Lord, help me to trust in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Help me to be settled in Christ. Don't let me do this. Don't let
me do that. Don't turn me away. Don't allow
me to turn away. But keep my heart set on Christ. Keep me set in such a way that
I will strive out of faith and love to know more about Him. through the knowledge of the
Word, through the hearing of the lessons that have been taught,
through the hearing of the Gospel, through the study of the Word,
through all of these things, Lord, cause me to keep my heart
and my mind set upon the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. Don't
leave me to myself. Don't leave me to myself. Let me deny myself. cause me
to deny myself, that I may look to Christ and cause me to do
it at all times as much as possible till I look to Him all times,
till I look to Him. For whosoever will save his life
shall lose it. Do you see that? For whosoever
shall lose his life for my sake, I don't mean you're going to
kill yourself, does it? No. Whosoever forsakes these things
in their heart is set on Christ. See, them things ain't going
to be nothing to him. His mind, his heart's going to
be set on Christ. He will take up the cross. He'll
follow Christ. Whosoever will lose his life
for the gospel's sake. Not the things that I get exalted
in, not the things that I get wanting to do in this life, out
of fleshly efforts and fleshly desires. Don't let me do that. The same shall save it, whosoever
shall lose his life. Let me lose it in that regard.
It won't be nothing lost, really, if you lose it in that regard. Revelation 22, 17 says the Spirit
say, Come, and the bride say, Come. Well, I'm a child of God. I'm
saved. That's it. That's not it. Those who have come to Christ
continue to come to Christ. If they ever come, they'll continue
to come. I'm not saying they won't be
led towards different things at times, but we are at a war
against those things that we might not be led by the grace
of God. See what I'm saying? Those who
ever come to Christ will continue and keep coming to Christ. So
let me come to Christ in a true and right attitude, in a right
desire, in a right heart. Give me a heart to come to Christ
and to continue to come to Christ. He that believeth on Christ is
not condemned, but he that believeth not on Him is condemned already
because he don't believe on Him. Lord, do I believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ? Is my heart set on Christ? Do I want to know about Christ? Do I love Christ? Do I want to
hear about Christ? Do I want to be with Christ's
people, with God's people? Do not want to unite together
with Him in Christ, in honor and praise Christ. See? Is that
my discern? He that believeth on the Son
is not condemned. Well, Christ is being condemned
for us, ain't we? He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. But you don't believe on the
Son without giving acknowledgement and glory and honor and praise
and faith in and love for the Son. You don't believe on Him
without doing this. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. What is believing? Is it just
coming to Christ and saying, I'm saved and there's nothing
for me to do? In honor to Christ? Or in love
to Christ? Or in faith to Christ? No, that's
not believing. Believing is coming to Christ
and keep coming to Christ. Not quitting and doing this or
that and saying, I'm a child of God. God saved me. What God
does is forever and it don't make no difference. I'm saved.
It does make a difference. We might not be saved. I might
not be saved. It does make a difference. He
that believeth on Him shall not be damned. But there's more to
believing than just coming to Christ and forgetting about Him. Believing is keep coming to Christ. Keep following Christ. Keep loving
Christ. That's believing. He is the bread
of life to His people, ain't He? What is the bread of life? Well, what's the results of the
natural bread to this natural life? It's the sustainer of that
life. If He's the bread of life, He's
the nourishment by Holy Spirit within me. He's given me. See
that? And He's the sustainer of that.
He's the leader and the guide. You see that? He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. Never thirst. He that believeth
on me hath everlasting life. But as I said, believing is not
just saying I believe and that's it. He that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live. He that believeth on
me shall not be confounded. or confused in that regard as
to not know Him. You know, he that believeth on
Him shall know Him to the point that he'll rest in Him. He'll
trust Him. Malachi 2.2 says, If you will
not hear, and if you will not lay it to heart to give glory
unto that My Name, says the Lord of hosts, I will even send a
curse upon you. Man, that's scary in a way, ain't
it? If you won't lay it to your heart
to give glory to Me, I'm talking about true glory. I'm not talking
about just speaking with my lips. I'm talking about from the heart.
If you won't lay it to your heart to give glory to Me, He said,
you see, I'll send a curse upon you. And I will curse your blessings.
Yea, I have cursed them already because you do not lay it to
heart. If you didn't lay it to heart, you're not laying it to
heart, you see? It's one thing to say, I believe.
It's another thing to believe it in my heart. God, give me
a heart to believe with, to love with, to strive for Christ, to
look to Christ, to rest in Christ, to follow Christ. If He gives us a heart, we will
want Him to rule and to reign in our lives. What was it that one said, we
will not have this man to rule over us? That's the heart of
unbelief. That's not the heart of faith.
That's not the heart of truth. That's not the heart that God
gives. I want this man to rule over me. That's the difference.
Don't you? Sure. I want to honor him. I
want to give him praise. I want to know more about him.
I've got a problem learning. I can't remember names or nothing,
but I still want to know. You see what I mean? Revelation 3, 5 says, He that
overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment. See
what he's saying? He that overcometh. He that overcometh
shall be clothed in white raiment. And I will not blot His name
out of the book of life, but I will confess His name before
my Father, He that overcometh, and before His angels." So if
we overcome, it's by the grace and power of God. We know that.
But He's not ashamed of them that overcomes. When He works
grace in your heart, to you overcome these obstacles. The more we
overcome, the more we are blessed. The more we look off is the more
we forget. Do you see what I'm saying? The
more we forget and the more we pay attention to this. The old
natural man. I'm not saying it's for you.
This is for me. It's for you if you want it,
yes. But this is for me. I've got something out of it. Not by works of righteousness,
which we do, but according to His mercy. Man, if we could get
a handle on mercy. You know what I mean? Mercy. To hell deserving creatures.
That's what we are. Mercy. Mercy and truth are met together
in Christ. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. For His children, yeah. His people. To make them righteous before
God till they not be counted with one spot or one blemish
before God? Yes. There is none righteous in nature,
no. But in the Lord Jesus Christ?
Lord, help me to look to Christ and to rest in Christ and to
follow after Christ and to know more about Christ. Of God are
you in Christ, who of God is made unto us wisdom? Is Christ my wisdom? The wisdom
of God and the salvation of His people? Have I seen myself in the light
of God and see Christ as my substitute? Is He my all before God? Do I
have true wisdom? Have I been made wise unto salvation? If I've been made wise to it,
I know where it's at. I know who it is, don't I? Wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. Made holy by the blood and righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Am I made holy? Before God I
am. If I'm in Christ, do I love Christ? Do I look to Christ? Do I follow
Christ? That's a good result of it, ain't
it? Lord, if I don't know Christ,
make me to know Him. If I don't have a love for Christ,
make me to love Him. Make me to love Him. This Word can be applied to all
of God's children, can't it? His children. Everything in God's
house is given by faith. Everything. When we receive Christ, everything
is by faith, right? Everything is given by faith. Lord, give me faith. Give me true faith. If I have
true faith, I'll have true love. I'll have true works. Don't work to be saved. No. But
there should be a joy in honoring and serving the Lord Jesus Christ. There shouldn't be a force laying
upon me. Lord, make me want to. Make me want to go to the house
of prayer. Make me want to hear God's Word.
Make me want to study God's Word. Make me desire that. See what
I'm saying? Don't let me say, oh, I'm a child
of God, I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and not have no
background for it by God's grace. Give me love and faith in Christ. If you will not believe, surely
you shall not be established. He that believeth hath faith.
He that has true faith has a true desire for and a love to the
Lord Jesus Christ. We have many, many obstacles. We have many things that causes
us not to do what we should. But in all things spiritual,
in all things spiritual, our instability has to be traced
back to our what? Unbelief, right? Our unstableness. We might know Christ. You know
what I'm talking about? But our unstableness has to be traced
back to our own unbelief. If you will not believe, you'll
not be established or comfort, you'll not have comfort in your
heart. If you're not being or doing
the things you're supposed to be doing, out of faith and love
to Christ, you're not going to be established this well. See
what I mean? And the farther you go out that
way, the easier it's going to be to keep going out that way.
You see what I mean? You might know Christ in your
heart, but we might not be established in the way that we should be
established. You see what I'm saying? We have the things by God's grace. to establish us more, don't we? We have His Word. We have His
teachers. We have His Gospel. And if we're not established
the way we ought to be, it has to be traced back to us, our
unbelief. established in the faith. If we believe not yet here by
the faithful, if we believe not to that point, it's our problem
right here, ain't it? Ain't it? If you don't believe
in the way that you should, whose problem is that? I'm saying if
you know Christ and don't believe, It's because you're not taking
advantage of the means which He has given you for His own
glory and your benefit. That's exactly what it is. We're established in comfort.
We're comforted in the Lord Jesus Christ. The more we hear, the
more we know, the more we're comforted at heart, ain't it?
Yeah. We're established in doctrine,
ain't we? The doctrines of Christ. Ephesians
4 13 through 16 says till we all come in the unity of the
faith Who's he talking about? He's talking about his people
What's he talking about in unity of the faith that's what he's
talking about see what I'm saying If till we all come in the unity
of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect
man He don't mean this man right here is perfect Imperfect Sinful. Wretched. But he's talking about
in Christ. Established in Christ. Being
established. Our faith being established. Unto the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ. See that? How are we established? By knowing more and more and
more about Christ. that we've been a war of children
tossed to and fro? You say, well, I'm not children
tossed to and fro. You might not be by other people and by
other doctrines, but you might be tossed to and fro because
you're not taking heed of the advantages that He gives you
by His grace for your own good and His glory. See what I'm saying? Carried with every wind of doctrines
with the slight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie
in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up
into Him in all things." See that? Truth and love may grow
up into Him in all things. Which is the head, Christ, may
grow up into Christ. Wait, do you grow in Christ?
Not before God. You grow in the grace and in
the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. from whom the whole body
fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplied,
according to the effectual working in the measure of every part,
making increase of the body unto the edifying itself in love."
Making increase to the whole body of Christ, the whole church.
You see that? In hope, in hope. Titus 2, 11-14. Let us be established in the
hope, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared
unto all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness... How are
you established? In the hope? He said, teaching
you to deny ungodliness. Don't adhere to it, but deny
it. Turn away from it. In worldly lust. We should live
soberly. We should have the right mind,
the right attitude, the right knowledge, shouldn't we? We should
live honestly and soberly, righteously, he said. We can't do that in
the flesh, can we? So what he means, we are to strive
to honor Christ and to learn about Christ, to exalt Christ. in this present world. He said
to do this in this world. You see? He said, we should live
soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope. We should be looking for Him
as though He's coming in the next minute or so. We really
should. Do you know that? Looking for
that blessed hope. Looking for the glorious appearing
of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself
for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify
unto Himself of peculiar people, zealous of good works, purify unto Himself of particular
people, which is zealous of good works, zealous of good works,
and in usefulness, We should be useful for the glory of God.
The Lord hath taken away thy judgments. He hath cast out thine
enemy, the King of Israel. Even the Lord is in the midst
of thee. He said where two or three are gathered in His name,
there He is also in the midst of them. Thou shalt not see evil
any more, and that day it shall be said in Jerusalem, Pharaoh,
and Zion, let not thy hands be slain.