Bible Text: Isaiah 7-9 | Preacher: Pastor Steve | Series: New Beginnings
We are not exempt from the trials and tribulations of life but we can learn that:
God is always with us – Immanuel – God with us!
God is greater – greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).
The Word of God teaches us about the trials:
Trials come to everyone
Jesus knows all about the trial(s)
God doesn’t always deal w/ trials the way we think He should
Jesus always offers a word of comfort in the midst of the trial
Jesus always issues a command in the midst of the trial
We learn about God, ourselves & others through a trial
We come face-to-face with truth as the result of a trial
The fact is how we respond to trial(s) is more important than determining what caused a trial
Isaiah 7:1-4 …the LORD said to Isaiah, go out to meet King Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub. You will find the king at the end of the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is bleached. Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn’t need to fear the fierce anger of those two burned-out embers, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah.
Shear-Jashub which means “a remnant will return”
The Word of God to Ahaz through the prophet:
You are a fool for not seeking God…repent & seek Him
Because for your rebellion Israel will be conquered
Judah will not be lost by Ahaz foolishness…
Isaiah responded – God is with us!
Isaiah 7:13-15 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.
1 John 4:4-5 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
Romans 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
1 John 5:4-5 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God…
Isaiah gives us a picture of hope and victory!
For the people of God there will be born the Son, a sign that the people of God would not perish at the
hands of their enemy
God is ALWAYS with us
When we need help we turn to God, HIS WORD, HOLY SPIRIT, and HIS PEOPLE!
Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder and His name will be called wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this
OUR HOPE: Wonderful Counselor 
OUR WARRIOR: Mighty God
OUR RULER: Everlasting Father
OUR SHALOM: Prince of Peace
God is with us and the zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform THIS!
What is “this” – it is Christmas!
God’s zeal guarantees He is going to perform this and
His guarantee is His zealousness or jealousness
2 Corinthians 11:1-2 I hope you will be patient with me as I keep on talking like a fool. Please bear with me. I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. For I promised you as a pure bride to one husband, Christ. But I fear that somehow you will be led away from your pure and simple devotion to Christ, just as Eve was deceived by the serpent.
Exodus 34:14 You must worship no other gods, but only the LORD, for he is a God who is passionate about his relationship with you.
Psalm 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy.
Many people who face trials and respond by:
Ignoring God
Blaming God
Rebelling against God
Trusting God
Isaiah 8:9‑17 Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us. (Immanuel)… The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare…I will put my trust in him.
God is either a sanctuary (refuge) or a stone
Isaiah essentially tells Ahaz that there are only two choices:
FOR God or AGAINST God!
1 Peter 2:6‑10 For in Scripture it says: See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, the stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, and, a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. They stumble because they disobey the message…
…but you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.