Turn with me, if you will, to
the 41st chapter of the Gospel of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 41. And I so much appreciate Rex
willing to lead the singing in Lindsay's absence. I would try,
but it wouldn't do much good. I don't have much wind. Unless
the doctors find out a way to keep the fluid off my chest better
than they have so far, I don't expect I'll be leading singing
much anymore. I was thinking about a visit with Larry Brown
and I were up in Pottstown, Illinois years ago. I was up there preaching
in a meeting and we were staying in an old, old hotel. I'd never
been in a place quite like it. Larry said, he said, this is
a nice place. We went downstairs and had supper
that evening, sat down having a glass of wine after dinner. There was some live entertainment.
There was a black fellow singing a little bit of jazz, some blues,
and it was just a quiet evening, so we just had to listen to him
a little bit. And after a while, this gal came up who used to
sing with him. It was a white lady, kind of chubby, about so
tall, and she was on oxygen, and they asked her to sing. Some
of the other folks did, and that's about the way I would be. She
had an oxygen mask here. And she had a Winston cigarette here,
and she'd take a drag of that, take a drag of that, and sing
two words. And she sang. But we enjoyed listening to her
anyway. So that's better than me trying it, Rex. Thank you.
Thank you. Isaiah chapter 41. Historically, this chapter is
God's promise of grace and restoration to Judah. In chapter 39, Isaiah
told King Hezekiah that Judah as a nation would be carried
into Babylon, made captive to the Babylonians after Hezekiah's
days. His sons would be made eunuchs
to the king of Babylon. This was in punishment for Israel's
and Judah's rejection of the word of God, the gospel of his
grace, and their turning to idolatry away from God. But lest their
hearts should be overcome with grief, with utter despair, God
speaks a word of grace to his people, to his elect remnant
among the fallen sons of Judah, assuring them of his grace and
of his promise of mercy, that it would be accomplished exactly
according to his will for the glory of his name. Here in Isaiah
40, we have a record of that which God told Isaiah to say
to his people. But the scope goes beyond Israel
and Judah and Babylon. It goes beyond Hezekiah and any
king who lived with him in his day in other nations. It goes
beyond Isaiah and any other prophets in his day. It reaches to God's
elect and to God's servants in every generation. It is God's
message regarding the salvation of his elect by Jesus Christ
throughout the ages. This is the work of God's glory. This is the work for which God
created the world. God made this world so that upon
this earth he might show forth his glory in the saving of sinners
such as we are by the doing and dying of Jesus Christ his son. Oh God, teach me ever to remember. This is your purpose in all things. This is why all things come to
pass in time. This is the reason for every
flea on a dog's back, the reason for every king sitting on a throne,
the reason for every nation God raises up, for every angel that
fell before the world was made, and for every angel sustained
by his hand. God's reason for everything he
does is the saving of his people for the glory of his name. That
makes life not just comfortable, but joyful and full of expectation. In these 31 verses, God the Holy
Ghost tells us exactly that which every man sent of God to preach
is sent to preach. In these 31 verses, God the Holy
Ghost tells us that every preacher of the gospel is sent of God
with a message from God. Sent of God with a message to
proclaim in his generation. And the message never varies,
not even an hair's breadth. The message never varies. Doesn't
matter whether we're going to Africa, or going to China, or
going to the United States, or going elsewhere. Doesn't matter
whether we're talking about the 20th century, or the 5th century,
or the 50th century. We're talking about the same
message, always preached by God's servants. Sometimes God's servants
come and they are scholars. Sometimes they're fishermen.
Sometimes they're educated and refined. Sometimes they're uneducated
and rough. Sometimes they're prophets in
the palace of the king like Isaiah. Sometimes they're like John the
Baptist, a lone voice in the wilderness. But God's messengers,
Always, God's messengers always are men among men. God's servants are men. Preachers
are men. I could spend a good while talking
about that in this day of absurdity when preachers and religious
organizations and the churches and denominations ordain women
and have women as preachers. A female preacher is a fool.
And anybody who listens to is a fool. God doesn't have female
preachers. God's servants are men. Men among
men. That man who is God's servant,
wherever he's found in his generation, he is God's man among men. He is God's man among men. I've been watching a little bit
of the proceedings against Mr. Trump. I said to a friend of
mine down in Australia this past week who'd written to me, I said,
I wouldn't want Mr. Trump for a son-in-law and I
wouldn't want him for a Sunday school teacher. I thank God he's
President of the United States, but I wouldn't want him for a
son-in-law or a Sunday school teacher. But watching these folks in Congress
and in the Senate the last few weeks. Kind of reminded me of
fourth and fifth grade civics classes when we were little boys
and little girls pretending to play games of politics. I mean,
it's silly. Beyond absurd, silly. God has
in his judgment given this nation and the whole Western world over
to the rule of women, sodomites, African supremacist, racist of
every kind, Folks who are determined to do every form of evil in the
world. Papists, Zionists, and others. And the sanest among the bunch
in the nuthouse seem to be the Papists. But God rules. And the reason why men act like
they do is because they are men who belong to other men. The
reason politicians act like they do, doesn't matter whether they're
conservative or liberal, is because somebody's got them in their
hip pocket. Somebody controls them. Controls them with money,
with power, with fame. Not God's servants. Preachers,
yes. Preachers in the denomination,
yes. Preachers making their way up the hierarchy, yes. They're
controlled. Controlled by the church. Controlled
by the denomination. Controlled by power. Controlled
by money. Controlled by fame. God's servants
are God's men among men. And folks who know them know
that so. And God's servants. God's servants
are men with God's message to men. They are men with God's
message to men. A message as it were burning
in their belly. A message from the heart of God
to their heart and from their heart to the hearts of those
to whom they preach. God's servants are men among
men. God's men among men. God's men
with God's message for men in their generation. I have been
trying for 52 years, 53 years, to preach the gospel of God's
free grace, to preach the message of God's free grace. And the
message has not varied so much as a hair's breadth in those
53 years. And God helping me, it will not
vary tomorrow. This 40th chapter of Isaiah really
is divided easily into two parts. In verses 1 through 5, we see
what the work of the gospel preacher is. In verses 6 through 31, we
see the message God sends his preachers to declare. All right,
first in verses 1 through 5, Isaiah shows us the work of the
gospel preacher. What is it the preacher is supposed
to do? What's his work supposed to be? What's involved in the
work of the ministry? Most people think that preachers
are supposed to build up the church congregation and build
up the church membership. They're supposed to visit the
sick and counsel the needy and go to marry the young and bury
the dead and attend civic affairs and serve at the whims of people. I have a cousin. I have not spoken
to him since he started pastoring, and I think he's retired now.
He's older than I am. He may be dead. I don't know.
But he was pastoring for a number of years down in Hickory, North
Carolina. And bless his heart, women who couldn't afford to
get a babysitter would bring babies by his office for him
to take care of them during the day. Don't try it with me. It won't
work. What stupidity. They just, preachers are social
workers. The men who are hired to do what
other men tell them to do. According to modern standards,
any good social worker, any good ball coach, any good businessman,
any good band leader, any good motivator would make an outstanding
preacher. But as with all other things
in regard to spiritual things, the opinions of men are diametrically
opposed to the word of God. What are God's servants supposed
to do? Look at verse one. The preacher's job is to comfort
God's elect. Comfort ye. Comfort ye, my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. Cry unto her that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received
of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Now the word is
addressed to my people. This book in its entirety addressed
to God's people in its entirety. It is not addressed to the reprobate. It is not addressed to the lost. It's not addressed to the unbelieving.
It is addressed to those who God describes as my people, the
people of his choice, the people redeemed by the blood of his
Son. the people called and born again by the power of his spirit,
the people to whom he gives faith, the people in whom he maintains
faith, and those people to whom he shall yet give faith. My people
are those sinners loved and chosen of God from everlasting. In order
to comfort God's people, the servant of God must speak to
their hearts. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem.
More literally, that might be read, speak ye to the heart of
Jerusalem. True preaching. It's got something
to do with speaking to your heart. I watch you come in, and I beg
God for grace to speak to your hearts. Because I can't speak to your
heart. I can study and address your minds, I can study and work
hard and address your thoughts about things, but I can't speak
to your heart. Only God can do that. Only God
can do that. Take the message he's given me
from his heart, and burned into my heart, and through these lips
of clay, by his word, speak that message to your heart. speaking
to the heart of Jerusalem. Well, what do you tell her? Tell
her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned,
for she hath received the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Nothing so comforts the hearts
of needy sinners as the good news of redemption accomplished,
salvation finished. Oh, what a joy. For the joy to
hear God declare to my soul, when I'm struggling with sin
and guilt and depravity and corruption, struggling with my inability
to believe God, struggling with believing the word of God, and
I hear a man preach the gospel, he says, quit trying, the work's
done. You receive with the Lord's hand
double for all your sin. The warfare's over, I took care
of that. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world of his elect to himself, not imputing our trespasses to
us, but to him who was made sin for us and punishing him in our
stead. The Lord God Almighty has accomplished
our warfare. He has pardoned our sins. And
we have received with the Lord's hand double for all our sins. What on earth is he talking about?
Many years ago, back here in the office. It's been a long
time ago, Brother Hubert Montgomery. Some of you will remember him
well. He read these first two verses of Isaiah 40 back in the
office. And he was an old man at the
time. He looked at me with tears running down his cheeks. He said,
I sure would like to know something about that. Received double for
all her sins. What's he talking about? He not
only forgave us our sins, He has made us the righteousness
of God in His Son. He's not only forgiven our iniquity,
transgression, and sin, He's made us holy, righteous, perfect
in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The day's man has won the day.
He's finished the work. And God's servant come, men,
and say to Zion, salvation is accomplished. Now, verses three
and four. Here's the work God's servants
are sent to do. The voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted. Every mountain and hill shall
be made low and the crooked shall be made plain, shall be made
straight and the rough places plain. These two verses are a clear prophecy of the work
of John the Baptist. John the Baptist came preparing
the way of the Lord. But as their prophecy of John
the Baptist, they speak of every preacher of the gospel. Our business
is to lay a highway across the desert
of apostate religion, to lay an interstate highway smooth
with no rough places, no hills to climb, no valleys to go through,
a smooth place. That's our business, to lay a
plain way before sinners by which to approach the Lord God Almighty
and find acceptance with Him. Religion, churches, preachers
like to make things complicated. They like for you to depend on
them. to show what things are in reality,
how things have to be, and to tell you what you must do. But
God's servants are sent of God to set the valley level, the
hills level, the rough places level, the crooked places straight,
so that things are just as plain as the nose on your face. The
preaching of the gospel requires some excavation. Every valley
of hopeless despair has to be filled. Every mountain and hill
of self-righteousness must be pushed down. Every crooked bend
of works religion must be made straight. Every rough place of
legality must be made plain. God sends his servants and he
says, fill in that ditch. Smooth out that rough place.
Straighten out that bend. Lay that heel down so there's
nothing, nothing, nothing between the sinner and the Savior. Nothing. Did you hear me? Did you hear
me? There is nothing between your
soul and God. Nothing, nothing. Come to Christ
and life is yours. You have received of the Lord's
hand double for all your sins. As we faithfully perform our
work, we have this word of assurance from our God. The glory of the
Lord, you see it, verse five, shall be revealed. And all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Our Lord Jesus came
to Cana of Galilee and he turned water into wine at the marriage
feast of Cana. And we're told at the end of that, this beginning
of miracles, Jesus did at Cana, and he began to show forth his
glory. How does that show his glory?
Well, that was supernatural. Yeah, but creation world was
too, that didn't show his glory. How does turning water into wine
show forth his glory? He took that, which was one thing,
and made it into something altogether different, turned the water into
wine. By the power of his will, he
turned the water into wine. So it is that God in his grace
turned in wrath upon his son when he made his son who knew
no sin to be sin and turns in mercy toward sinners. when it
takes sinners who are nothing but sin. It makes us the very
righteousness of God in His Son. The glory of the Lord is seen
in the gospel we preach, so that in declaring Jesus Christ crucified,
declaring salvation, redemption, and life eternal for sinners
in Christ Jesus, without them doing anything, without any works
on your part, without any effort on your part, without anything
being required of you, we declare to men and women the glory of
God. You see, salvation by the crucified
Christ manifests every attribute of God's glorious being. Jimmy,
the cross of Christ shows his wisdom, his love, his goodness,
his mercy, his justice, his truth, his holiness, his immutability.
God doesn't change. It's all the same, only in the
preaching of Jesus Christ and him crucified. The Lord Jesus,
as we preach the gospel, comes to his people all over the world
by the preaching of the word and reveals the glory of God
in redemption and grace. and God's elect are saved by
it. The mouth of the Lord has spoken
it. That's the work of a gospel preacher. That's my responsibility. It is my duty before God, my
duty to you, my duty to this generation, my duty to myself
to comfort God's elect by the proclamation of redemption accomplished. Everywhere I go to preach, and
I've been a good many places for the first time. First time
I go anywhere, first time I came here to preach to you, first
time I go anywhere to preach, I preach to folks about substitution.
I always do. I've been doing it since I was
just a boy. Why? Because that's where the issue
of the gospel is. And preaching that message, I
preach that only message, by which sinners find comfort. God the Holy Spirit comes. Our
Savior said it's expedient for you that I go away. If I go not
away, the comforter will not come. But if I go away, he'll
come to you, and he'll begin to comfort you. And how does
he do that? He convinces you of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment. The comfort of the gospel is
the gospel. The comfort of the gospel is
Christ is my savior. The comfort of the gospel is
the fact that he who loved me and gave himself for me is the
God of glory. And everything's well in his
hands. He rules the universe. It's my business in preaching
the gospel to prepare the way of the Lord. I try, oh I try. I try with everything I
preach. with everything I write. I try
in the preparation of every message. I try in the words I use to speak
to you to knock out every possible problem from under you. I want
to destroy every refuge you build for yourself. I want to knock
down every crutch on which you might lean. I want to break everything
up that you might be trusting in that you may learn to trust
in the Son of God. Religion follows us. We keep
hanging on to stuff, nonsense. Nonsense. Even folks who were
not raised in religious households are raised in religion. The influence
of ungodly will worship religion. The influence of religion that
causes men to think salvation has got something to do with
the works of their hands and their own goodness. And it needs
to be destroyed. And it's my business, my responsibility,
as I seek to proclaim the word and prepare the way of the Lord,
confidently to wait on God to save his people. And Brother Rex, I expect the
hardest thing on this earth I know to do is the easiest thing on
this earth to do. And that's to wait on God. to wait on God. You mothers and
fathers, you have that little baby, and after the baby starts
to crawl, first thing you want to do is twist his arm, get him
to make a profession of faith, get a preacher to duck him in
some water, call it baptism, so you can say, I've raised a
Christian now. Preachers, churches, mamas and
daddies, wait on God. Wait on God. Wait on God. Do what you can. Do what you
can to make known the gospel of God's grace and God's glory
in this generation and wait on God. Do what you can to raise
your children under the influence of the word and wait on God.
Do what you can to see to it that they hear the word and wait
on God. I say to you, Grace Church in
Danville, Kentucky, as long as God sustains you in your being,
proclaim the gospel of God's grace everywhere And wait on
God. Don't try to make things happen.
If you do, you'll make them happen. Did you hear me? Don't try to
make things happen. If you do, you'll make them happen,
and you'll regret it. Wait on God. All right, look
at verses 6 through 31, briefly. Here Isaiah shows us the word
that we're sent to preach. This message we're sent to preach
The object of it is twofold. First, the glory of God, and
second, the salvation of his people. The glory of God and
the salvation of his elect. That's our object. That's the
reason for our existence. That's the reason for our work.
Mr. Spurgeon back years ago, back
in the 1800s, was so popular, so famous in England, and some
folks in America, American baddest I decided to raise some funds
and get Mr. Spurgeon to come to America.
And he was just about to do it. And the folks who were heading
the thing up said, we're anxious for you to come to make more
Baptists in the United States of America. And Mr. Spurgeon
wrote back to him and said, I wouldn't walk across the street to make
another Baptist. That's not my business. That's not my business. We're here preaching the word
of God for the glory of God. and for the salvation of his
elect. Not to build a denomination, not to build a church, not to
build a name, not to build a reputation, but the glory of God and the
saving of his people. How do we accomplish that? What
message shall we preach? Well, he gives us a threefold
message here. He says, first, all flesh is
grass. And then he says, the word of
our God abides forever. And then he says, behold your
God. Now the world tells us the way
to appeal to men is to appeal to man's dignity. Appeal to man's
dignity. Did you ever observe what fine
people make up the American population? Did you ever notice that? We
have elections now all the time going on. And the politicians
are all convinced Americans are good people. Good people. Conservatives are good people
at heart. Liberals are good people at heart. Folks who murder babies
are good people. Folks who don't murder babies
are good people. Everybody's good people. And the way you
get to men is to exalt the dignity of man. Make him feel good about
himself. The scriptures declare otherwise.
God tells us to declare man's depravity. I'm here to convince you you've
got to have a savior. You've got to have a go-between.
Randall, you've got to have somebody between you and God. You've got
to have somebody represent you to God. Somebody to present you
for God. Somebody to make you accept you
as God. You can't do it yourself because you're nothing but a
corrupt, vile, sinful wretch. Just like the one talking to
you. The possibility of salvation by something you do? That's absurd. The world tells us to preach
the power of positive thinking. God tells us to proclaim the
immutability of his purpose. The world tells us to talk about
the love of God. Oh, the love of God. Everybody
loves everybody. Everybody loves everybody. That's, I suppose,
just about the most meaningless word in the English language
is the word love. Is that stretching you, Gary?
That's just about the most meaningless word in the English language.
You go to buy a pair of shoes from a fella, and you write out
your check, and the fella says, I love you, or she says, I love
you. Have a blessed day. I love everybody. Mrs. Pelosi
loves Mr. Trump, Mr. Trump loves Mrs. Reagan.
Just listen to them talk, they'll tell you so. Love, love, love,
love, love. God doesn't love everybody. And
we're never sent to tell anybody that God loves them. This book
doesn't tell anybody God loves them. The book of God is sent
to declare God's righteousness, God's truth, God's justice, God's
uprightness. God tells us to proclaim his
greatness, his greatness as God. All right, what it says, verse
six. What shall I cry, the preacher
said. The voice said, cry. He said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass. All flesh is grass. Not hay to
feed cattle with, just grass. Not even the kind of grass you
plant in your yard. Weeds. The kind of stuff you plow up
and spray round up on and try to get rid of. Grass. Just worthless,
worthless, worthless grass. Good for nothing but burning.
Just grass. The goodliness thereof. All that
which men look at and they think that distinguishes themselves. You know, your young man and
young boys go by, I remember, I won't mention, well, he won't
mind too much, he's grown, he doesn't do it anymore. When Will
was just a little shave for four or five years old, and he was,
you might remember, he was a little skinnier than me. He'd, I'd catch
him walking in front of the mirror, giving it this. Try his best to get those muscles
to pop out. I remember doing the same thing, don't you? Those things that make you look
good, make you look good, that thick head of hair, that good-looking
chiseled jaw, that, oh, you look so good, that brilliance of academics,
that brilliance of a career, that brilliance of life, oh,
the goodliness of it. Look what he's accomplished for
himself. That's like the flower on the grass. I had some friends
years ago, I was raised in the streets of Winston-Salem, so
I didn't know anything about country life. Some ladies in the church
would look out, said to me, said, everything living blooms eventually. Every plant blooms eventually.
In the right circumstances, they all bloom. But the flower on
a weed, nobody cares much about. It's just gone. Back years ago,
my older sister was out here visiting with us. We had just
finished building the parsonage, and we had thistles everywhere. Some of you aren't from around
here, and you don't remember what thistles look like. Some
of you remember. The fields would be covered with
those beautiful, beautiful purple flowers, which meant there were
thorns everywhere. And my sister asked me, now,
you got to understand, they live in a nice subdivision in Winston-Salem.
She said, where can I get some of those flowers to take back
to put in our yard? I said, Gene, hang on. I'll give
you a bucket full of them. Jimmy will be tickled to death. Just worthless. Just worthless. That's you. And that's me. Worthless. The grass withereth. The flower
fadeth. but not until the spirit of the
Lord bloweth upon it. Oh, when God comes and begins
to speak to you, all those things about which you were so proud
wither to nothing. Surely the people is grass, the
grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall
stand forever. The word of our God shall stand
forever. Now I've been studying that for
years and I can't make a distinction. Is this talking about the scriptures?
Yes. Is it talking about the purpose,
the decrees of God? Yes. Is it talking about Christ,
the son of God, the word of God? Yes. The scriptures, the book
of God. inspired of God stands forever. I hope in your word because in
your word you've caused me to hope. When you find yourself
in trouble and your heart heavy, go here and bury yourself in the book
of God. It stands forever. This word that calls David to
hope, calls Isaiah to hope, calls Abraham to hope, this is the
place where we find our hope. The written word of God. The
word of God abides forever. What word? His decrees. In the volume of the book it's
written of me. I delight to do thy will, O my God. There's a
book written. It's held in the hand of the
angel of the covenant. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God,
the book of God's decrees, God's purpose. It stands forever. God doesn't
change. His will doesn't change. His purpose doesn't change. Nothing alters God. God alters everything. Nobody
changes God. God changes everybody. The word
of our God stands forever. His word, God the Son. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
and today, and forever. Oh, what a blessed knowledge.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the same yesterday, and today,
and forever. He was my forgiver yesterday. He's my forgiver today. He will
be my forgiver forever. He is my beloved yesterday, my
beloved today. He will be my beloved forever.
I am the object of his love yesterday and today and forever. Nothing changes, nothing changes. And then the prophet says, declare
this, all flesh is grass. The word of our God shall stand
forever. Now, behold your God. Verse nine, O Zion that bring
us good tidings, or O thou that tell us good tidings to Zion,
get thee up into the high mountain. O Jerusalem that bring us good
tidings, lift up thy voice with strength. Lift it up. Be not
afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, behold
your God. The Lord God we tell men to behold,
to look to with the eye of faith is the incarnate God, the embodiment
of God, Jesus Christ, the son of God, our savior. He's described
for us here as the mighty savior. Look at verse 10. Behold, the
Lord will come with a strong hand and his arm shall rule for
him. Behold, his reward is with him.
His work is before him. He comes with a mighty hand.
With his arm he rules. His work's before him and he
will accomplish it. He is the good shepherd. He shall
feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
his arm and carry them in his bosom. and shall gently lead
those that are with young. This great God, our savior, he
is the omnipotent, omniscient creator. I'm calling on you to
believe him who really is God. Him who really is God, who hath
measured, verse 12, he measured the waters in the hollow of his
hand. and made it out to heaven with
a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure,
and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance. Who hath directed the Spirit
of the Lord, or being his counselor hath taught him? With whom took
he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path
of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of
understanding? Compared to him, All the nations
and all the peoples of the earth are nothing, less than nothing
in vanity. That's verse 15, 16, 17. In other
words, they cause him no concern. They cause him no concern. They're just dust. The small
dust of the balance. Back years ago, you used to go
get things at the feed store and they'd weigh them out in
balances. You could still get some of the seeds and things
that way. And you'd get half a pound or a quarter pound or
a pound or 10 pounds and they'd weigh it out in the balances
and pour it out in a bag. And I never once, never once
did I say to the fellow, hold on a minute, would you take this
and wipe the dust out of there? The dust, that's insignificant.
That doesn't mean a thing. Listen to me. The nations of
the world are nothing to God. Nothing. They're worth nothing
to God. He's willing to sacrifice them
for you. They're just a small dust of the balance. They cause
him no concern. They should cause me no concern. He rules them with absolute ease. And the whole world has nothing
to offer Him. Not trees sufficient to burn
for Him, not beasts sufficient to sacrifice for Him. All creation
before our great, mighty Lord God is vanity. So great is our
God that nothing can be compared to Him. Verses 18 through 20,
look at this. To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare to Him? Next time you start to
think to yourself, God's like, stop right there. Just stop right
there. He's not like anything. He's
not like anything. Nothing's like him. Verse 19,
the workman melteth out a graven image and the goldsmith spreadeth
it over with gold and casteth silver chains. He that is so
impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that
will not rot. he seeketh unto him a cunning
workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved. Look
at verse 21. Our God, he who really is God,
let me tell you who he is. Are you listening now? Listen
now, I'll tell you who he is. He who is Jehovah, the triune
Jehovah, he who is God, the absolute universal monarch of the universe. The absolute universal monarch
of the universe. That means everything bows to
him. Everything obeys his will. Everything that breathes or wiggles,
breathes and wiggles at his decree. Verse 18. Or verse 21 rather. Have ye not known? Have ye not
heard? Hath it not been told you from
the beginning? Have ye not understood from the
foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the
circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers,
that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them
out as a tit to dwell in, that bringeth the princes to nothing.
He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity, Yea, they shall not
be planted. Yea, they shall not be sown.
Yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth, and he shall
also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind
shall take them away as stubble. To whom then will you liken me,
or shall I be equal, saith the Holy One? Lift up your eyes on
high. Behold, who hath created these
things that bringeth out their host by number? He calleth them
all by names, by the greatness of his might, for that he is
strong in power, not one faileth. Behold your God, the prophet
says. He's able to save all who come
to him. Able to save all who come to
God by faith in him. Able to save all who wait for
him, who trust in him. He's able to meet your every
need. Oh, my soul, hear God speak. God is greater than your need. Oh, my troubled brother, God
is greater than your need. Oh, my heavy-hearted sister,
God greater than your need. O guilty sinner, God is greater
than your need. Why sayest thou, verse 27, O
Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, my way is hid from the Lord,
my judgment is passed over from my God. Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard? that the
everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth,
he fainteth not, neither is weary. There is no searching of his
understanding. He gives power to the faint and
strength to the weak. To them that have no might, he
increases strength. He said, my strength is made
perfect in your weakness. And being that, that be the case,
when I'm weak, then I'm strong. This great God preserves and
keeps his own. When others who appear stronger
and greater faint, grow weary, and fall, God keeps his own. Even the youths shall faint and
be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. but they that wait
upon the Lord. There that word is again, Rex,
wait. Wait. They that trust in the Lord.
That's what it's saying. They that trust in the Lord.
They that wait on the Lord. They shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
as eagles. They shall run and not be weary.
They shall walk. and not think. They wait on the
Lord. They begin their course in their
youth and run, and run with delight and are not weary. And they soar
like eagles in the skies. And they just get stronger and
stronger. They walk. They walk. With steady, confident
pace, they walk. With ease, they walk. They walk
in the midst of darkness. They walk through the valley
of the shadow of death. They walk as Satan roars by their
side, they walk. As all hell rages against them,
they walk. Knowing who and what they are,
they walk, trusting Christ the Lord. They're only God, they're
only savior, they're only wisdom, they're only righteousness, they're
only strength, they're only salvation. Oh, may God teach you to trust
his son and walk with him. Walk. Walk and not things. Walk, be at ease. Walk and be
comfortable waiting on God. waiting on God. Oh, God give
us grace so to trust you. Amen. All right, Reggie.