I. Introduction

A. The world is very insecure, unstable, and unpredictable right now. Everything feels up in the air and uncertain.

• “What’s going to happen with my business, my finances, my retirement, my health, my career?”
• “Will the virus destroy the world as we know it?”
• “Is this the end of time?”

B. Christians have always had to be rescued from becoming insecure and uncertain.

• “Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come” (2 Thessalonian 2:1–2 ESV).
• God’s people are to be “established”: “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:3 ESV).
• Psalm 112: 6–8 ESV: “For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is established; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.”
  • Establish has as its root the word stable. Stable means to be “not easily moved.” Establish means to “make stable or firm.”


II. The story of Ahaz (Isaiah 7 ESV)

A. Ahaz was the king of Judah. He received a terrifying report that his two greatest enemies, Syria and Israel, had teamed up to attack his nation’s capital.

• HIS REACTION: “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” (v. 2).
• Have you ever had the feeling that your whole world is shaking? That the ground is moving under your feet? (WHEN I GOT THE CALL THAT BUILDING HAD TO BE MOVED.)

B. Isaiah was the current prophet in Israel. God told him to go out and meet the king on the highway outside Jerusalem and deliver three words to him:

• “Be careful, be quiet [calm down!], do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands” (v. 4).
• “It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass” (v. 7 KJV).
• “If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established” (v. 9 NKJV).
• What do these three words mean to us? How can they help us to be established in our hearts when we are feeling insecure, anxious, and unstable? THESE THREE PHRASES FORM THE STABILITY FOR A FAILING HEART.


III. THREE PILLARS OF AN ESTABLISHED HEART

A. CALM DOWN —“Be quiet.”

• Your emotions are in your soul, not in your heart. They try to take over your heart in order to overwhelm your mind and thoughts. You are going to have to tell your soul, “Be quiet.”
• WORDS HAVE EMOTIONAL POWER. If Satan can shake you with just the words you have dreaded, he can defeat you before the battle.

B. GET A WORD —“It shall not stand.”

• Isaiah first told Ahaz to calm down. Then he told Ahaz, “It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.” He gave him a word from God. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17 NASB).
• In other words, whatever the devil says to you, BELIEVE THE OPPOSITE. He is a liar and the father of lies. Whenever a bad report or bad news comes to you, immediately respond to him: “You’re a liar, devil.” Jesus to Jairus: “Do not fear. Only believe, and she will be well.”
• God’s Word is truth. You cannot believe the word of the “experts” right now. You have to believe God’s Word.

C.STAND FIRM—“If you do not STAND FIRM in your faith, you will not stand at all” (v. 9 NIV).

• The last pillar of establishing your heart is to stand firm. It means to become “fixed, unmovable.” It is like a statue in a storm.
• “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable” (1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV).
• “That you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to STAND FIRM. Stand therefore” (Ephesians 6:13–14 ESV).