May it please Almighty God to bless our souls this evening as we meditate in His holy word. Let's turn to the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 45 and we'll read verses 2 and 3.

The prophecy of Isaiah chapter 45 and reading verses 2 and 3. I will go before thee. and make the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of iron. And I will give thee the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places. Thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

The first verse in this chapter says, Thus saith the Lord to his anointed to Cyrus. Cyrus was a very wealthy and very prosperous king. But it was all, of course, because of God's goodness and mercy to him that he arrived at that condition and that situation.

Although we read these words about him, there's no real sign in the Word of God that Cyrus was a believer, that he was indeed a child of God, and from history It's quite clear that when he came down to his end, he didn't pray to God. He prayed to other gods. So it's a very sad person, really, that we read of. And yet you see how God used Cyrus.

He called Cyrus to do some amazing things and especially you may remember that we read in the book of Ezra and in the first chapter and the first verse we read this now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem.

Then, of course, was the temple, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord, God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem.

So when we put these words together, it's very solemn to realize that here was a man used of God, and yet no sign that he actually possessed the grace of God. And that's a lesson to us still today. And to think really with regard to our own lives, our own situation, to think that God could use us and yet not be a believer, not really have the life of God within. It's a very solemn position and yet you see God is a sovereign God. and God does what he deems. And no one can argue against the work of almighty God.

And so the Lord said to Cyrus, he said, saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings To open before him the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut. I will go before thee, and make the crooked things straight. I will break in pieces the gates of brass. and cut in sunder the bars of iron.

Well, what a wonderful blessing it is for us today if we realise that we do know this true God, this God who ordained that Cyrus should carry out his will and yet was not a true believer. Well, we can be thankful we read this second verse although it of course applied in a physical way to Cyrus in his day we can pray that it may apply to us in our day with regard to our lives and that our spiritual life you see in Cyrus's case it was just to his natural life God raised him up, God blessed him to have many nations under him and yet there was no evidence of the grace of God.

And so how important it is for us today to have the evidence that we are possessors of the grace of God. And then to understand that as the Lord spoke to Cyrus and said, I will go before thee, that you and I may know that, not only in a natural way, and we do need it in a natural way, but also in a spiritual way. I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of iron.

Now, God's people are born into this world and we're not promised an easy life. We're not promised an easy life but we are promised a good end if we are amongst those who are blessed with the life of God in our soul. And the Lord confirms this when he spoke to the disciples in that upper room and there was a very blessed time when he preached the Gospel to them. And then when he came down to the very end of that sermon, he says this, Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.'

So such a statement as the culmination of the Lord's sermon to his disciples in the upper room It is very clear, and he says, these things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. That means that outside of Christ, there is no true peace. But what a wonderful blessing if you and I are in Christ. And if we're in Christ, we know something of this great and wonderful blessing of the peace of God which passeth all understanding. You may wonder why that is. It's because our hope is based not on what we've done, not how good we've been, but on the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. How important it is for all of us to look to that finished work And be blessed with that faith to believe that our hope is based on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. To believe that he, the great God, died on our behalf at Calvary to take away our sins.

Oh my friends, it's so relevant, it's so important. And yet so few people recognise the relevance of it and the importance of it. And it's so important because no unforgiven sinner will ever enter into glory. We should be cast out. And we'll hear those terrible words, depart from me, I never knew you. We don't want to be under a false impression, do we? that we are a child of God when truly we're not. We want to have the evidence the blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, did die for us, you and me, personally. We all have to have a personal religion, a personal evidence that we are indeed born again of the Spirit of God

Well in that pathway we can recognise that as the Prophet says here, I will go before thee. And what a blessing that is to realise God is leading us. He led them forth by the right way that they might go to a city of habitation. how true that was in Israel's case, how true it is today, and how you and I need to know that the Spirit of God is leading us. Not to just sit and think, well, I hope everything will be all right in the end, because it may not be. We want to have the wonderful evidence that our souls are right with God, and therefore to think that our gracious God tells us here he will go before us he will go before us and as there are those difficult things that you and I will enter into as we've just spoken in that verse of in the 16th of John to realize that he says I will go before thee and what will he do? He'll make the crooked places straight.

You see, in our spiritual life, we won't always perhaps understand God's dealings with us. And yet what a blessing it is to know that it's Him and Him alone that is going before us. He's directing us. He's leading us. And that's a wonderful privilege, therefore, to be a true follower. of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? And again, it's a question that we all need to answer, don't we? Are we, are we following the Lord Jesus Christ? Have we taken up our cross and followed Him? Does religion mean something to us? And true religion is costly. True religion means that you and I will endure, one way or another, persecution and opposition. But the good news is, by the grace of God, we shall have a good end.

So although we may find, as we travel on through life, there are many difficulties, difficulties naturally and difficulties perhaps in our spiritual life, things don't always seem to be going as smoothly as we wanted we thought perhaps everything would be nice and plain sailing and we're finding it's not so and I'll tell you the reason for that the reason is this so it takes our dependence away from ourselves and brings us to come and to commit all our way unto our God, and pray that He will go before us. And as He goes before us, we may see the way He goes, the way He's gone, His footsteps, and take up our cross and follow Him. Now, all of us have to answer before God whether that is true in our life. whether we have taken up our cross and are following Him and although perhaps the way doesn't seem very easy at the moment it seems crooked like this is spoken here I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight well that's a lovely promise isn't it it was spoken here naturally to Cyrus not spiritually But what a blessing if it's spoken to you and me in our spiritual life.

So although perhaps things haven't worked out as we had expected, perhaps we'd look for some great revelation, some great blessing, and we haven't received it. Well, the Word of God tells us, a little that a righteous man hath is better than the treasures of many wicked. so don't despise the day of small things don't despise small tokens don't despise God's goodness in going before you and perhaps appearing before you again perhaps not with the same perhaps force that you had hoped it might be but nonetheless to realise that Lord is with us and not against us, and to think that He, the great and blessed God, is making the crooked places straight. Yes, you see, when we come to the end of our life, to realise, as I already quoted, that great and glorious Word, He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city habitation and we don't want to come to the end of our life and not know whether we've been led the right way. We want to know that it's well with our soul that Jesus has gone before us and indeed he waits to receive us. What a mercy that is as we read the glorious words of the Savior. I will see you again and your heart may rejoice. What a blessing that would be to think that the Lord indeed has gone to glory and he is there and he said he will come again.

And it's a great blessing to realise that as he spoke in the 14th chapter of John, he told the disciples, let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God. Believe also in me. Well, that's a great statement, isn't it? But it's important for us to be amongst those who do believe in God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

And then he goes on, in my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Isn't that wonderful? To think that God, the Lord Jesus Christ has gone to prepare a place for us in glory.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again. He hasn't forgotten us. I will come again. and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also.' It's really beyond our comprehension to understand that Almighty God will receive us into glory. Such unworthy sinners. But these are the words of the Saviour. I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there, ye may be also.

Well, what a blessing then to anticipate that time. You see, that makes death much easier, because we won't be alone, because the Savior will be there to receive us.

And so the prophet tells us, I will go before thee, I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight. And then he says, I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of iron. Yes, well sometimes there are those gates, those bars which seem to stop any progress. We're not able to make a way. It's impassable. to our understanding but here we have the word of God I will break in pieces the gates of brass nothing can withstand the power of God nothing and so may you and I be encouraged as perhaps we seem almost as though we've come down a blind alley we can't seem to make any progress we seem to perhaps be stopped in our tracks.

You may ask the question, well why is this? I believe it's this. It's to test the reality of our faith. Because the word tells us, we walk by faith. We walk, not by sight. We love to see things nice and clear and open before us. But sometimes, We have to move forward. We have to go forward in faith. Faith. Because what does that do? It brings honour and glory to God. We must always realise that our life is for that divine purpose. for the honour and glory of God.

So, sometimes it may seem this is a hard route and the door seems to be shut before me. Well, we are not to give up. We are encouraged to knock and it shall be opened to us. The Word of God speaks to us very clearly on that. We can't just stand there and just hope something will happen. We are to knock. We are to inquire. We are to ask. The door might be opened. We might indeed enter in.

And the Lord has said, I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of iron. What does that mean? It really means that nothing will be able to stop us. No, man may try, the devil may try, without any doubt. It endeavoured to stop us, but it's good to realise that here we have words applicable to all true believers. This is what God will do. He'll make the crooked things straight, and He'll break in pieces the gates of brass, and it will cut in sunder the bars of iron.

Well, such a statement should be a great encouragement to us to realise if God is on our side, who can be against us? And God is on our side if we have those intimations of his love and mercy toward us. He demonstrates his goodness and favour toward us. It's a sure sign that his word applies to us and that you and I by faith can receive it unto ourself.

You know the devil will try and stop us believing and receiving his word. Well, we can tell him he's a liar, he always has been and he always will be. but our belief is in the Word of God. We have the Word of God as a sure and certain statement and may we therefore rely upon it and trust our God for it and bless our God for it and commit all our way unto him.

Well, I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight. It's good to have positive words, isn't it? I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of iron.

Now, God never leads us in a wrong way. God never tells lies. His word is truth. Indeed, the blessed Saviour himself said to his Father in that glorious high priestly prayer in the 17th of John, Thy word is truth. Thy word is truth. And again, you and I can tell the devil that. when he gets on our back and tries to turn us away from the truth of God his promises perhaps he tries to take away the promises that God has given us the promises perhaps that we're relying upon well we can tell the devil he's a liar and we are relying upon what God has said. Our confidence is in Him. What a wonderful favour and what a wonderful blessing it is to have such a great and glorious Saviour. And again, we should not forget, you and I, if we are of the true Church of God, we are following a despised and crucified man. And we should therefore not think that our life is going to be nice and easy. The Saviour's life was not easy. And yet, what was He doing? He was doing His Father's will. Willingly, not reluctantly. And it would be good for you and me today if we follow the blessed example of the Saviour and do His will. not grudgingly, not reluctantly, but very willingly.

And of course we have the very wonderful example of the Saviour in the Garden of Gethsemane. It's always worth going to the Garden of Gethsemane to realise that there the Saviour, the Lord God Himself, was in agony being in agony was as it were great drops of blood fell to the ground his sweat was as great drops of blood and the agony was this he knew what was before him he knew crucifixion was before him and therefore he prayed to his father if it be possible let this cup this path passed from me. But he then said, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. It's a great example for you and me to be able to follow when things appear very hard and difficult. We may pray that such a situation we may be delivered from, but to have that willingness like the Savior did, nevertheless not my will but thine be done.

And of course we know that the Lord God Almighty, the Father was with his Son. Although there were those three hours on the cross when he was in darkness, when his Father hid his face. And again, these things are not recorded by chance. They're recorded for our instruction. to realise that sometimes we find ourselves in darkness. And we wonder why it is perhaps. It may be very simply to bring us into that blessed position that the apostle Paul desired. when he prayed that he might enjoy fellowship with the sufferings of Christ. What that really means is union with Christ. Union with Christ is a very wonderful, situation to know and it's reserved for those who are loved of God and it's of sure evidence that you and I are amongst those who are indeed called indeed to follow despised and crucified man and be brought at last into glory.

So there'll be a good end and we should not therefore think well I'm very surprised I thought the Christian path was one of ease and comfort and glorious blessing. Well you haven't read the Bible very carefully if that's your conclusion because the opposite is true but there will be a good end and that's really the great and essential thing, isn't it? And so says the prophet, I will go before thee, I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of iron. And he goes on. And I will give thee the treasures of darkness and hidden riches in secret places. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant. That's the secret of the Lord. It's not everybody knows God's secret, that secret of salvation, that secret of glory, that secret of being a son and daughter of the Most High God, but how humbling it is the Holy Spirit leads us in that right way, that right way, that way that is ordained for us from before the foundation of the world.

I sometimes think that's just too amazing really for us to comprehend that before the world was created, The church of God was elected and the pathway for each one was mapped out. So there are no surprises with our God. You and I may have surprises. There's no surprises with our God. And we're told here, and I will give thee the treasures of darkness. That sounds strange, doesn't it? The treasures of darkness. What it means is when you and I walking in darkness. And we are told in Isaiah's prophecy, walking in darkness and have no light. Let them wait upon the Lord. That's a wonderful... Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant? that walketh in darkness and hath no light. Doesn't mean to say you and I stop. We press on. Not where he is, is it? Walking in darkness and hath no light. Let him, this is the secret, let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God. We are commanded to trust in the Lord at all times. When it's darkness, to trust in the Lord, because He's leading us in that right way. So the question was, who is among you that feareth the Lord? It's not someone who doesn't know the Lord, it's someone who fears the Lord. then obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light. The word is, let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God.

So therefore, if perhaps there appears to be darkness, Remember, for Jacob my servant's sake and I will give the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places because in those places the Lord deigns to come and leads us. He takes us by hand and he leads us on safely. We're not left just to wander on in a vain way. The Lord is mindful of us. He's gracious to us. And so we have a wonderful statement here.

And I will give thee the treasures of darkness. Yes, the treasure is this. Communion with Christ. Union with Christ. And it is so because the Saviour entered into those times of darkness, as I already alluded to. On the cross, those three hours, he was in darkness. Oh, my friends, union with the Lamb, union with Christ. And he says, therefore, and I will give the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name am the God of Israel.

What is that to prove? It's to prove this, that you and I are following the Lamb of God. John the Baptist spoke those beautiful words, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. And if you and I, by God's favour and grace, are able to behold the Lamb of God, the Lamb of God is a wonderful picture for us and it comes of course from the institution of the Passover which I've often referred to and there we see there that lamb which was taken and roast in the fire and shed blood and taken and put on the doorposts and lintels and in the Saviour we have the fulfilment of that the blessed Lord Jesus Christ giving his life shedding his blood roast in the fire of God's wrath for you and me.

" Well, it's a very humbling consideration, isn't it, to think that this great and mighty and holy God deals with us love to our souls and in that situation you know we find that our sins are blotted out it's very wonderful to know that we have such a kind and gracious God and in the epistle of Paul to the Colossians, he tells us a detail of this and it's good just to, it's in the second chapter of the Colossians, in the 14th verse, this is what we read.

Now let me read the previous verse. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him. made spiritually alive, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.

Oh, you and I have sinned. You and I have disobeyed God. There's handwriting against us. And yet to realize that through Christ's sin atoning death, it was nailed to the cross and it was taken out of the way. It's very humbling, isn't it? To think that we have such a God and to realize this God is so great, so mighty, so powerful. And yet condescends to look upon us

We read together, I am the Lord and there is none else. There is no God beside me. No God beside me. He is the God. He said, I girded thee, though thou hast not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun, from the West, there is none beside me. I am the Lord and there is none else.

I wonder if you and I really understand that. There's only one God. Only one God that can hear and answer our prayer. Only one God that can receive us safely into glory. What a mercy. He tells us, I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things. This is the great almighty God that you and I are privileged to know.

Oh, how wonderful it is to realise that this is the God that has condescended to come into this sinful world and to pay that great price of his death in order to atone for all our sins. Well, how wonderful it is. We read some beautiful words in this 45th chapter. We won't go through it all now, but it's well worth reading again carefully, because he tells us, and it's often hidden in the Word of God, are great truths. In the twelfth verse he says, I have made the earth and created man upon it. My hands have stretched out the heavens and all their hosts have I commanded.

Just a few words there. It just confirms. the greatness of God, the greatness of our Creator. And therefore to come and to rejoice in that God and to recognize that you and I as unworthy sinners can approach to this great, wonderful Creator through the merits of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a great plan of salvation, isn't it? It's a wonderful work. It's a wonderful God. It's a wonderful Bible that you and I have, which describes to us in detail everything that you and I need for our journey through life. Nothing lacking.

Yes, my friends, often we suffer, often we walk in darkness because we don't know the Word of God and we don't study the Word of God. But you know, as you and I are blessed with that ability to search the Scriptures, it's a good operation, it's a good exercise to search the Scriptures, because in them we find all that we need to encourage us and to strengthen us as you and I journey on through life. It's not an easy life. The journey's fraught with difficulty, but there's a good end.

May we therefore receive that grace, to recognise that grace, truth which says, they that endure unto the end shall be saved. May each one of us know the truth of that and come down to our dying day and know that by the grace of God it is well with our souls. Well may God bless his word to us and encourage us in the great truth of scripture. Amen.