Or if you take your Bibles and
turn with me to Isaiah chapter 35. The title of this message, A Message
for the Weak and Feeble. Isaiah 35 and verse 3 be our
text. God commands the prophets, strengthen
ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful
heart, be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with
vengeance, even God will with a recompense. He will come and
save you. A message for the weak and feeble.
The prophet here is commanded to strengthen and confirm the
weak and feeble. Now, it is the same as he said
to him in another place, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith
the Lord. Speak comfortably to Jerusalem. Cry unto her this, her warfare
is accomplished. For she hath received of the
LORD's hand double for all her sins." All of God's people. According to Scripture, all of
God's people are likened to sheep for a very specific reason. We
are likened to sheep because He said, My sheep hear My voice. I know them and they follow Me.
Isaiah said, We all like sheep. have gone astray and turned everyone
to his own way. Why are we likened to sheep?
Because sheep are weak and feeble creatures. It's a very good picture
of us. We are easily scattered. We are fearful and very stupid. That's who we are. I'm talking
about God's people. God's people confess this about
themselves. I saw a video one time, this sheep was in a ditch,
and the shepherd, he spent a great effort getting this sheep, it
was in a little trench, and he couldn't move, he just stuck. That shepherd got him out of
the ditch, and no sooner he got out of the ditch, the thing jumped
right back in. Anybody identify with that? God's people are like sheep.
And the only thing that gives the sheep any comfort is the
Shepherd's voice. The only thing that gives them
stability, that gives them strength, is to hear the voice of the Shepherd. Because we are His sheep, He
has called us to life and faith in Christ our Shepherd. Because
we have heard His voice, we follow Him, we believe on Him, And He has given us eternal life
and He's promised us this, no man is able to pluck you out
of my hand. This is the voice of the shepherd.
Isn't that comforting? To the sheep it is. No man is
able to pluck you out of my hand. Yet, this is true of us. Even
though He has promised us great things, yet we are often found
weak and feeble. We are often burdened down. with distresses. We are often
oppressed and tempted and weighed down and the singular cause of
this, the most often cause of this, yes, it is caused by outward
circumstances, yes, it is caused by the people of this world,
but the greatest cause of our being downcast is our own self. The old man of sin that still
remains in us. Because of Him we are so prone
to sin and unbelief. We are prone to wander from Christ. We are prone to set our affections
on the vanities of earth. We are prone to fix our eyes
on our own works rather than the work of Christ. This is what
we are prone to do. It is in us to do this. It is our sin that grieves us. Is there anything more grievous?
I'm grieved by the world, I am. I'm grieved by the state of this
nation, I am. I'm grieved by everything around
me. Yes, the circumstances I find myself in, I am grieved. But
the most grievous thing is my sin. That grieves me the most. Because if I had no sin, how
would these things around me affect me? They wouldn't. They wouldn't affect me had I
had no sin. Therefore, we cry when God exposes
this sin, and he does, he exposes this stuff. This stuff could
lie dormant for years, and then God reveal it to us. We didn't
even know we had this sin in us, and yet God reveals it to
us, so we like Paul said, oh wretched man that I am, who shall
deliver me from the body of this death? If you want to see the
progression of Paul's growth in grace, consider this. When
he was first converted, he said, I am the least of all the apostles. Years later, he said, I am the
least of all the saints. And at the last, he said, I am
the chief of sinners. You see the progression of his
sanctification? He got worse. In his own eyes,
he got worse. And so it is with us, we cry,
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the filthing,
rotting corpse that stinks about my neck? So we, like Israel in
our text, when they have sinned and exposed before God, we are
made very tender concerning the subject of justice. When sin
in us is exposed, we become very tender when this subject matter
of God's vengeance or God's wrath comes up. It's clearly set forth
in chapter 34. From chapter 34 from 1 to verse
15 is all about God's judgment. Not a very comforting text, but
it's concerning God's judgment. He says, Come near you nations,
look at verse 34. Come near nations to hear and
hearken you people. Let the earth hear and all that
is therein, the world and all the things that come forth from
it. For the indignation of the Lord
is upon all nations and the fury upon all their armies. He hath
utterly destroyed them. He hath delivered them to the
slaughter. Their slain shall be cast out
and their stink shall come up out of their carcasses. and the
mountains shall be melted with their blood. Sound pleasant? This is what God promises concerning
judgment. He says in the end, and all the
host of heaven shall be dissolved. This is what's going to happen
in the end. Judgment! And the heavens shall be rolled
together as a scroll. And all their hosts shall fall
down as the leaf falleth from the vine, as the falling fig
from the fig tree. So what made these saints weak
and feeble in their knees was a message of judgment. A message
of judgment. Chapter 34, God calls everybody
to hear this. I'm coming in judgment. There
is a day of judgment coming, friends. There is. In verse 4
when He says He's going to roll up the heavens like a scroll.
You know how easy it is to roll a piece of paper? That's how
easy it is for God to roll up the heavens with a scroll. Peter
says it is going to melt with fervent heat. God is coming in judgment, friends,
and all the ungodly will be eternally ruined, eternally ruined. You remember what our Lord Jesus
said about that day. He said in that day all men shall
be divided into two groups. He said I shall separate all
men, my sheep on my right hand and the goats on the left. And
he shall say to the sheep, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of
the world. But you know to those goats, he said, they shall be
cast out into outer darkness, where there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth. Oh, that men would hear the word
of judgment, the soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. In Psalm
24, God asks this question, Who shall ascend to the hill of the
Lord? That's a good question, isn't
it? Who shall ascend unto the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand
in His holy place? The answer is very clear. He
that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up
his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully, In other words,
only a holy man will be able to stand, no one else. But God's Word is equally clear,
there is none righteous. Romans 3, there is none righteous. What do you mean by that? No,
not one. That's what I mean by that. Well,
surely somebody will understand the gospel if I just preach it
right. No, there is none that understandeth. Well, surely somebody is seeking
after God. There is none that seeketh after
God. Well, surely somebody is going
to do something good. No, they are all together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good.
No, not one. Therefore, he concludes this,
By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in the
sight of God. This message of judgment and
justice to the dead sinner is pretty much meaningless. You know, nobody is saved by
a message of judgment. You can warn them, you can paint
a vivid picture. I remember when I was a kid,
somebody wrote a comic book about hell and I was pretty scared.
Well, they had flames and everything and people yelling and screaming
in the comic book and I, oh, man, I was scared to death. You
know what it did? Nothing. Scared me for about
a week and then I forgot about it, went right back to my sin.
Warning men about hell does not save anybody. It's true, it's
coming, we must do it, but it does not save. It may give men
a sense of fear for a moment, He may modify his deeds. He may even become religious
and zealous. A message of holiness to the
lost only inspires them to try harder. To us, a message of holiness
does not inspire me to try harder. You know what it does? It condemns
me. A message of holiness condemns me. It doesn't make me want to
strive harder. There's no hope in it. We have no ability in ourselves
to please God. But to the believer, to one who
knows the guilt of his sin and feels the depravity of his nature,
this only causes us to bow down. This message of sin and judgment
brings us to the dust. And we are made again to prostrate
ourselves before God like that publican. And we say, Lord, be
merciful to me. When do you ever stop crying
for mercy? When do you come to a point and say, well, you know
what? That's all right. I don't need to cry for mercy. Look at David's life, he cried
all the time for mercy. So do we. We cry for mercy constantly. Because why? I need mercy. I
constantly need mercy. Lord be merciful to me, the sinner. I'm not looking at anybody else.
I don't know about you. I'm talking about me. I'm the
sinner. And I need mercy. I need mercy. We may ever be strong in our
faith, bold in our witness, faithful in our service, but let the Holy
Spirit light upon the filth and stench of our sins. Let the Holy
Spirit open our eyes to see the corruptness that still remains
in us and we will fall on our knees. Our hands will become weak, our
boldness will melt, our works will turn to ashes. No matter
how good and useful to God or man, we see that there is no foundation
in ourselves to rest upon. You remember when Peter was asked
to walk upon the water? And the Lord said, Come. And
for a moment he did. Now, I'm going to tell you Peter,
we all know Peter failed in this, but consider that he actually
started out doing fairly well. He walked on the water and as
long as he looked to Christ, he could do it. But you remember when he took
his eyes off of Christ, what happened? begin to sink. We for a time may enjoy to walk
upon the waves of our troubles, but soon as we look away from
Christ, soon as we look to our strength to sustain us, as soon
as we look away from Christ, we begin to sink into troubles
and we cry, save me or I perish. Save me. Is this not true with you? I
know it is with me. Does not the word of God strike
deep into our hearts and expose our sins? And when it does, what
happens? We become weak and feeble. We fall on our feet as dead. This surely is how Christ causes
us to grow. This is how we grow. This is
how we grow. When God causes us to grow, we
see ourselves as we are and are abased. And at the same time, Christ
is magnified and exalted. And this happens over and over
and over again. What's happening? We're growing.
We're growing. Are you such a weak and wounded
sinner? I've been brought to the dust
of death and behold the grace of God commands His men to strengthen
you. His men are here to strengthen
you, to comfort you in this time. But how shall we do this? I have
no ability or power in myself to do it. I see how believers then are
made strong and sure is by this, by the sure and eternal word
of God that is made effectual by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is how we are strengthened. We see how we're made weak and
feeble by looking at ourselves, by seeing our inability. We are
brought low. But how then are we strengthened
in such a time? How are we to be encouraged and
comforted by the eternal word of God. Look at verse 16 of chapter
34. Look what God says. He gives
this list of judgment and then He says, this is how you're going
to, you need to do this. Listen. He said, seek ye out
the book of the Lord and read. And what are you going to find?
No one of these shall fail. None shall want for her mate.
In other words, everything I promised, everything I decreed is going
to come to pass. Prophecy is one of the mates. Fulfillment is the other. And
he said, look, you're never going to have a prophecy without a
fulfillment. When you read my book, And you
read the prophecies know this that everyone I'm going to have
a mate. If you're weak and feeble, if
you're empty of righteousness and your works are become vile.
Where do we turn for strength and righteousness that our hands
cannot provide? We turn to the word of God. Where can we find a foundation
to support our souls under trouble and trials and doubts and fears? We turn to the only thing that
is firm, the Word of God. Luther said, feelings come and
feelings go, feelings are deceiving. He said, the Word of God, there's
nothing else worth believing. The Word of God. David wrote in Psalm 119.28,
My soul melts for heaviness, strengthen me according to thy
word. It is the word of God that strengthens
the feeble hands and the weak knees. The whole God declares himself
in his word, which is the only strength and foundation for our
souls. Now how does the word of God
strengthen us? It strengthens us in this, it's sure. Everything, we're troubled because
we're mutable. I'm troubled because my sin.
I'm troubled because my faith is up and down. I'm troubled
because my love is up and down. You see, it's always fluctuating.
Everything about me fluctuates. Everything around me fluctuates.
What is stable? What doesn't change? God's Word
doesn't change. regardless of the culture and
what happens to you, God's word is sure. This is our foundation,
the sure word of God. Seek out the book of the Lord
and read it. Why? Not one of these shall fail. Not one of my promises, not one
of my decrees, not one of my purposes. Every one of them shall
have a fulfillment. Why? For my mouth hath commanded
it. That's why you can trust it.
God's word commanded it. And so to the weak and feeble,
to those who are unsure and uncertain, fretful and unbelieving, God's
word is strong and sure. It is a word that cannot fail. It cannot fail. Not one word,
not one jot or tittle shall fail, because God hath commanded it. What did the psalmist say about
our God? Our God is in the heavens, and
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Isn't this comforting? What's happening to me? Whatsoever
he pleased. What's happening around me? Whatsoever
he pleased. You can be sure of that. Everything
that happens is this. Whatsoever you please. In Isaiah 45 and verse 22, Isaiah
45 and verse 22, he says, look unto me. Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word
is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return. That unto
me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear, surely
shall one say in the Lord, I have righteousness and strength, even
to him shall men come. What is his word? It's concerning
Christ. Isn't this true about Christ that every knee shall
bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father? That's what Paul tells us plainly.
That scripture is fulfillment of Christ. He said there shall
be one who shall say, and that's something out of all the people
in the earth. God says there's one who's going
to say this. I have righteousness. There's only one man could say
that. Do you not see that the prophecy had a fulfillment? Each
one had their mate. Why? Because the word's gone
out of his mouth. The word of God, it shall not
return to him void. It shall, Isaiah 55, it shall
accomplish where into I send it. Whatever I send it to do.
To harden you or to save you. Whatever he determines to do
with it. That's what His Word is going to do. Friends, the Word of the Lord, God has decreed, the Lord has
from the beginning decreed all things, all things, all things
that happened, all things that are now happening, And all things
that shall happen are according to the purpose of God. Well,
Pastor, does that mean sinful man? Yes, that means sinful man. That's exactly what he says in
Amos. He tells us this, Amos 3, 6,
Shall there be evil in the city, and hath not the Lord done it?
Is there evil in the city? Who did it? God says, I did. And yet I'm
not guilty of sin. God is by no means guilty of
sin. You remember in the book of Acts,
Peter says this about the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, didn't
he? The worst thing that man could do was crucify the Lord
of glory. And what'd God say? He said,
By the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you by
wicked hands have crucified. They couldn't do anything else.
Remember they determined not to crucify him on the Passover.
God says, no, you'll crucify him on the Passover. Why? Because my word shall stand and
I'll do all my pleasure. And my pleasure is that my son
should die for the sins of his people. And so what is he doing right
now? What is the purpose and object of God in the providence
of time? We can't know this by our feelings.
Well, I think God is doing this. Who cares? You don't want to
hear what I think God is doing. Why? Because my thoughts are
just as good as your thoughts. My opinions, I was talking to
my pastor and he was recounting to me a man who went to his son,
it was his son, he went to a Bible study out there at the University
of Houston, having this Bible study, so he went out there,
And he sat in that Bible study, he said, Dad, he said, they all
just sat around giving their opinion, took a picture of scripture. And then they all went around
the room thinking, what did that mean to them? And they all went
around, gave their opinions, they all got up and left. What good is my opinion of things?
I don't care. You don't want to hear that.
Our feelings, our opinions. Let this be your strength. All that God is doing in time
and providence is for the salvation of his people. You got that?
All things he's doing is for the salvation of his people. That's what he's doing. He says this, all things work
together for good to a very specific group of people, to them that
love God. to them who are the called according
to his purpose. And so what is this message then
that comforts us? It is the gospel, specifically
the word of God concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is our strengthening and
stability as we journey through this world. This is the strength
and stability that before the world began, God chose you. Isn't that something? Now let me know when you've found
the bottom of that, when you've reached the pinnacle of that
understanding, when you've reached the full measure of this fact
that God in sovereign love chose you. Now I can understand why He chose
you. I have a very difficult understanding
as to why He chose me. And other than the fact that
He did, there's nothing in me. There is no reason in me. It
is sovereign love that God chose us according as Paul said, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He praised
God for it. According as He had chosen us
in Christ before the foundation of the world. For this purpose
that we should be holy. God chose you for a very specific
purpose. That you should be holy. Without blame before Him. That's
His purpose for you. Everybody wants to know, what's
God's will for my life? That you should be holy? But you know what? It's not going
to make you holy by you. The means of this holiness is
also very specific. It is not by your works that
you are made holy, but by Jesus Christ. Having in love, having
predestined us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ,
very specifically how you're going to be holy. and sovereign free love. He purposed to make us to be
without sin. Weak and feeble believer, you
whose hands, in whose hands there is no price to bring, no goodness
to claim, your Father has decreed to make you holy. He has decreed
it. that you should be without blame
before him. And he made it that you would be made acceptable
by your union with Jesus Christ. Our father did not purpose that
we should be made holy and blameless by our works, but only by the
works of our federal head and substitute, our mediator and
high priest. Yes, God is holy and he will
punish sin. I want you to understand that.
When you feel low about your sin and you feel the weight of
it, listen. When God purposed you to be holy,
he purposed that your sin should be punished. Just not in you. You see, my sin, God is holy
and all sin must be punished. He will not pass over our sins
without judgment, but rather to justly punish our sins in
Christ. In Christ. You remember, that's what the
whole Passover was about, wasn't it? He said, When I see the blood,
I will pass over you. When judgment came, it was on
all of Egypt. God says, I'm coming in judgment
on all of Egypt. Jew and Egyptian. What made the difference? God passed over the people with
the blood. Why? Because judgment had already
been rendered. Judgment looks at the blood.
Judgment sees payment is rendered. He passes over. That's what He
does for us. We are in Christ. The judgment
has already been rendered. Are you weak concerning your
sins? Listen, your sins have already been punished. Are you
scared about judgment? Why? Judgment has already been
passed. It's over. The sword of God's justice was
satisfied when his sword was bathed in
the blood of his son. It was bathed. Look back at your
text here. Go back to 35. Look at this. He says in verse 6, he says,
The sword of the Lord is filled with blood. It is made with fatness
with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of
rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozra, a great slaughter,
in the land of Adumia. You see, the Lord here swears
that there is going to be a sacrifice offered in Bozra. In Bozra. And he said this sword
is going to feel is going to satisfy this. This offering is
going to satisfy my sword. Because this is the offering
that God ordained as our substitute. This is the one whom is righteousness,
and men shall come to." As a matter of fact, this same one is mentioned
in Isaiah 63. Look at that. Tell me who this
is. Look at Isaiah 63. He said, There
is a sacrifice in Bozrah. What is he talking about? Well,
he explains it a little bit later. But Isaiah 63, look at this.
Who is he that cometh from Edom with dyed garments from Bozrah? This that is glorious in his
apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength, I that speak
in righteousness mighty to save. Who's that? Who's the one that comes in righteousness
mighty to save? Jesus. That's who this is. Jesus Christ. He said, Wherefore art thou red
in thy apparel and thy garments, like him that treadeth the wine
fat? Listen, I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people
there was none with me. for I will tread out in mine
anger and trample them in my fury and their blood shall be
sprinkled upon my garments and I will stain my raiment. The
day of vengeance is in my heart and the year of my redeemed. What happened at the cross? The
day of vengeance and the day of redemption. When he tread
that winepress by himself, the justice of God against your sin
was forever satisfied. So when we are brought low because
of our sin, this strengthens us, that God chose us to be accepted
and then offered Christ as our offering for sin. Thy God, whose word cannot fail,
has chosen And by His one offering, He has forever perfected those
that are sanctified. Did this prophecy not come true?
Did this prophecy not have a mate? Of course it did. When Christ
bore our sins and satisfied the justice of God. And listen, He
did it in strength. He said, Who is this coming from?
Bozrah in His strength. When Christ died, was He weak
or strong? I like this idea that to know the crucifixion was a
was a death of suffocation. It was when your hands are hung
up here and you go down, it was it put pressure on this and you
were to suffocate to death. But you know, when the Lord died,
it said this. He cried. With a loud voice. He had full strength. And what was his cry in his strength? He told us this. This is his
word that cannot fail. It is finished. It's finished. Salvation is accomplished. All of it accomplished. Redemption
accomplished. Sanctification accomplished.
Righteousness accomplished. Wisdom accomplished. Why? He
did it all. And the proof of this is God
raised Him from the dead. God said to Christ, Sit thou
on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Did that prophecy find a mate? You bet it did. When He raised
Him from the dead, He seated Him on the throne of God, where He is now working all things
after the counsel of His own will. And what is the counsel of His
own will? This should comfort you. The counsel of His own will
is to gather His people. Look back at your text. Look
at verse 17. This is what the Word of God,
He said, He said, My Spirit and His Spirit hath gathered them,
and He hath cast the lot for them and his hand hath divided
it unto them by line, and they shall possess it forever from
generation to generation, and they shall dwell therein. This
is true concerning judgment. Is that not true concerning those
outside of Christ? That He will gather them, and
He has cast a lot for them, and they shall inherit exactly what
they deserve. Hail! That's what they will get,
because that's their line. That's their line. But what is
true about them is also true about the believer. Why? Because God has purpose to give
you and I an inheritance. An inheritance. He will divide to us an inheritance. Peter said this to those that
were chosen of God. He said, 1 Peter, look over there,
1 Peter chapter 1, it says, elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father. Listen, ìThrough sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Christ.î The word ìuntoî could be very much translated ìbyî
or ìforî. Surely the elect are unto, they
obey in this idea of believing in Christ. When God commands
us to believe, what do we do? We believe. But look at this,
ìThe obedience and the blood belong toî who? Not to us, to
Christ. He said, by the obedience and
the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace and peace
be multiplied, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, has begotten
us again to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. What to this is the purpose to an inheritance. Listen about this inheritance.
Incorruptible. Incorruptible. Isn't that amazing? It's outstanding that salvation
is so much the work of God that there is nothing that we can
do or have ever done that can corrupt it. It's incorruptible. It was purposed by God. It was
bought by Christ. It is applied and kept by the
Holy Spirit. It is incorruptible. Nothing
happens in time that's going to corrupt it. Undefiled. Undefiled. And doesn't fade away. What inheritance have you ever
seen that doesn't fade away? There's some rich people in this
world, but eventually, I think they had the Vanderbilt's or
something, no, it was Rockefeller's. They had calculated how many
generations that inheritance would go. But I'm going to tell
you, it's going to run out. It's eventually going to run
out. Listen, this one doesn't fade away. And listen, it is
reserved. It does not yet appear what we
shall be. Go look in the mirror. It does
not yet appear. Look at your works, your obedience,
your life, It doth not yet appear what we
shall be. But this is my hope. Scripture
says, as he is, so are we in this present world. That's something
you got to grab by faith. You're not gonna be able to see
that. That's just something we lay hold of. Why? Because this
inheritance he has chosen, this line he has laid out for us,
this lot He has cast for us. Yeshua. Jesus said this, all
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. That's a good, that's
a good word, isn't it? Isn't that wonderful to know?
Isn't that comforting to know, seeing there are so few in our
eyes that come to Christ, so few that believe the gospel?
And yet God said this, all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me. When they do, I'm not going to cast them out when they
come. Come to Christ. Believe on Christ. And if you
come to Christ, listen, He's not going to cast you out. Why?
Because you were given to Him of the Father. He said, All that the Father
giveth me, I should lose nothing, but raise them up again at the
last day. Go back to your text. I'm going to show you this and
we'll close. Look at this. He lays out this idea of judgment
and barrenness and deserts and look what's going to happen.
This is a promise of God to read the word. Listen to this. My
prophecies are not going to fail. I'm going to give everyone their
inheritance. And look what he says about his
people. He said the wilderness is a solitary place. The wilderness
and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert
shall rejoice in the blossom as the rose. And it shall blossom
abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing. The glory
of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel
and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the
Lord and the excellency of our God. See what's going to happen? In other places he says this,
the desert is going to blossom. Isn't that what happened in the
hearts of every believer? Your heart was a desert. And God promised
you this before it happened. That desert is going to blossom.
It's going to live. Desert, death. God promises to
his people what? Life. And he says to those, listen,
strengthen the weak hands and feeble knees. You say to those
fearful, be strong. Don't be afraid. Now why would
God say don't be afraid? because we are often afraid. I think sometimes if I'm not
fearful, it's probably because I'm just stupid. I'm looking.
You ever see somebody don't even know that I see some of those
movies, the bad guys behind him, they didn't stand there. That's
how I'm often like an idiot. Don't know the trouble. I don't
even know to be afraid. We are often fearful. You know what
God said, don't be afraid. When you are, don't be afraid.
Behold, your God will come with vengeance. Even God with recompense,
he shall come and save you. You see what he's going to do?
He's going to save you. He's going to save you out of every
trial you ever face. Isn't that great? Doesn't that strengthen you to
know that? I'm in trouble. God says, I'm going to save you
out of that. I don't know when he's going
to do it, but I know he's going to do it. I'm going to save you. How is he going to do it? He
said, the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf
shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap
as the heart and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. For in the
wilderness shall waters break forth and streams in the desert
and the parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty
land springs of water and the habitation of dragons where each
lay shall be grass, and reeds, and rushes, and a highway shall
be in the way, and it shall be called the way of holiness. The
unclean shall not pass on it, but it shall be for those. The
wayfaring man, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion
shall be there, no ravenous beast shall go up thereon. It shall
not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. and the ransomed
of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting
joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness
and sorrow and sighing shall, what, flee away. God says, I'm
going to open their eyes, I'm going to unstop their ears, I'm
going to give them life, and they're going to travel on this
way. What is this way of holiness? Is it a tightrope into heaven?
I heard a man try to describe that. He said, well, the way
of holiness is a tightrope, and we've got to walk on this tightrope. The way of holiness is Christ.
That's not... The way of holiness is Christ. And listen, a man walking on
this, though he's a fool, he's not going to err from this. Fool. You know what? I'm not going
to get off of this. This is the way to God, Christ. We walk by faith. And what does
he promise? He said the ransom, they're going
to return, and they're going to have everlasting joy. Now
you listen. You that fear, take the word
of God and read it. What do you find in there? You
find that God, whatever God says he's going to do, he's going
to do. This is what God said I'm going to do. I chose a people. That's what I did. I purposed
that they should be holy. And they're going to be holy.
They're going to be holy by my son. That's how they're going
to be holy. Through his righteousness and his death, they're going
to be holy. And you know what? It found a
mate when Christ came, that prophecy found a mate and Christ did it.
And then he says, I'm going to come to each one of them and
I am going to give them their lot, their inheritance. I'm going
to save them. And those that He saves, He says,
I am going to give you an inheritance that doesn't fade away. How can
you be sure of this? God said it. So what is there
to fear? What is there? Since all things
are being controlled by Him, all things are ordained by Him,
what is there to fear? Does this not strengthen you? If God applies it, it will strengthen
you. God applies it. And I do pray he will apply it. And I know this is very needful,
especially, and listen, if you're not weak in people now, just
wait a minute. Because that's what happens.
Sometimes we're allowed to walk on the water, but it won't be
long, we're sinking. Hide this away then. Put this
in your heart. And when that time comes, pull
it out. I pray God will strengthen every one of His people with
this, encourage you with it. Let's stand and be dismissed.