I take your Bibles and turn me
back to Isaiah 46. How the message is the God that
carries us. The God that carries. Us. Bale boweth down, Nebo stupid. Their idols were upon the beast
and upon the cattle. Your carriages were heavy laden. They are a burden to the weary
beast. They stoop and bow down together. They could not deliver the burden,
but themselves are gone into captivity. Hearken unto me, O
house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which
are born by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb. And even to your old age I am
he, and even to whore hares will I carry you. I have made, I will
bear, even I will carry and will deliver you. A text is found in verse 3, hearken
unto me, O house of Jacob and remnant of the house of Israel. I want you to understand that
this message is specifically for a group of people, not for
everybody. He did not say hearken unto me,
O you Babylonians. Hearken unto me. You heathen. No, He said, Israel, the house
of Jacob. One group of people. Tonight,
this message from God is to Israel and only to Israel. Spiritual
Israel. You that are born again of the
Spirit of God, it is intended of God that you be comforted. That you be fed, instructed,
refreshed. Any believer need refreshment?
I do. And God here begins this passage
of Scripture. He's going to speak to Israel.
He's talking only to these. But listen to what He says at
the beginning. He talks about these two gods, Baal and Nebo. These were the gods of the Babylonian
gods. They made these gods. so big
and so tall and so, they were so heavy. And they set these
gods up so high. But these gods, they fell. They fell down from their high
places. They were torn down. They threw
some ropes up there and they pulled them down. You know how
they carried them away? They couldn't pick them up with
their hands. They had to get oxen and carts and they had to
put these gods on these big carts and haul them around. Why? Because these gods had no power
to deliver even from their own weight. These gods could not
support their own weight. But must have been carried around
by beasts. And even the beasts were burdened
by them. Too heavy. Too heavy. But God,
he wants to contrast himself with these gods. With the gods
of men, God here contrasts himself. He said these gods, you see this?
They can't help, they can't save, they can't even save themselves. But in contrast, God says, instead
of you carrying me, I carry you. I carry you. The gods of men
are powerless and only the true and living God can save. Now
if you desire to know, if you worship the true and living God,
then the answer to this question will be clear. Is salvation Is
salvation of God or of man? Does the burden of salvation
rest upon the shoulders of man or does it rest upon the shoulders
of God? Is salvation by the power of
God and the power of man? Or is salvation all? of God, all of God. Any God, now listen very carefully,
any God who needs man in any part to save him, that God is
not God, he's an idol. If your God needs you in any
part to help him save you, your God is not God, he's an idol. You're carrying Him. He's not
carrying you. Salvation is not a burden, friends,
that any man of Adam's race could carry. Not any part of it. Not any part of it. Righteousness
is the standard of the living God. Holiness is the standard. Anything less than holiness God
will not receive God requires holiness and anything
less is eternal damnation Listen to what God says the living God
cursed Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
you got that all things written in the book of the law to do
them not just acknowledge them not just to say well the law
is good well yes it's good there's no question there but the law
doesn't demand you just give it lip service the law demands
you obey it in every part what's the conclusion of this
therefore because all men are unrighteous because we have all
disobeyed the law of God therefore By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified in his sight. That's evident. That's
what Paul said, just evident. Can't you see that? Isn't that
just clear? There's no hope for man by works. There's no hope. The price of sin is eternal death. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. So listen, as Baal and Nebo were
bowed down, these false gods, even because the beasts that
carried them fainted. Can you imagine that? They put
these gods on these backs of these beasts and the beasts began
to, their knees began to shake and they fell down. They were
so heavy. They were so heavy, the beasts
couldn't carry them, even so it is. With everyone who trusts
in any God who needs them to save themselves. Works religion,
friend, is nothing but a burden that men cannot bear. It's a
burden that men cannot bear. Now we know this to be true. The God of all free will works
religion is nothing but an idol. How do we know that? because
that God wants to save you, but can't. That God needs you to carry him,
to fulfill his desire for you. And that man that carries such
a God has a powerless God, and he is no God at all. Look now at the contrast in that
God gives in verse three. These gods are a burden. These
gods cannot save themselves. These gods cannot help you. They're wearisome. But in contrast,
look at what God says about himself. I'm not a burden to you. He says, hearken unto me, you
house of Jacob and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which
are born by me. God says, I carry you. I carry you. What a contrast. What a contrast. And once you
see the first thing about the true and living God is this.
God, the God of of heaven. The true and living God is a
God of sovereign election. You can't help but see that in
his in his word here, he he demands that only this group of people
hear him. Hearken unto me. Who? O house of Jacob and all the
remnant of the house of Israel, hearken unto me. Listen, what
God says of himself. Go look at verse 10. Verse 9,
Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there
is none else. I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the
end from the beginning, from ancient times of things that
were not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will
do all my pleasure. You see, the God that we worship
is not a God that must be carried by men, but He is a sovereign
God. We worship a sovereign God. true and living God is a God
over all his creation God made all things by the word of his
power and so therefore all things and people and beasts and angels
and devils are subject to him and all will do his will Yet we know this, that not all
men bow to Him. Is that not right? Not all men
bow to God. They should. They should bow
down and serve Him, but because of the fall of Adam, because
of the race of Adam, we are born dead in sin and so depraved as
man. So wicked is man that he would
rather worship a God of his own making than the sovereign ruler
and creator of all things. He God tells us in this in this
text he said they take a bag of gold take a bag of silver
they give it to a man a goldsmith and he fashions a God. He fashions
a God of gold and silver and they fall down and worship it.
And they bear that God on their shoulders. Now, why do they have
to bear that God on their shoulders? Because you put him down here,
he can't go anywhere. Don't you see that they love
a God that's subject to them? They take a God, put him there.
If they don't want him to see something, they just throw a
sheet over it. They put him in a closet. And
when they want him, they'll take him out of the closet and they'll
worship him. How foolish is that? Bow down
to a tree stump. And yet they do. And refuse to
bow to the sovereign of the universe, the creator of all men. How depraved
is man to worship a God who cannot save. to worship a God that's dependent
upon them and their works. Yet God in a display of his sovereign
grace and power, in a display of his sovereign love and affection,
has from the beginning chosen a people that he would set his
love upon. He has chosen a people that he
would save. You see, he says, calling a ravenous
bird from the east, a man that executed my counsel from a far
country. I have spoken it. I will also
bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also
do it. What is he talking about? He's talking about he's going
to save Israel. Don't you see what this God does? This sovereign
God, He has a purpose. And His purpose, His decree,
His will is that Israel should be saved. And He's going to use
everyone He wants to fulfill it. He said, I'm even going to
call somebody who don't even know who I am. And I'm going
to use him to save Israel. Isn't that sovereign? Matter of fact, calls him by
name before his birth. Cyrus, that's who he was talking
about physically. In deliverance of physical Israel,
but this is this is a picture of something greater. When he
says, hearken to me, O house of Jacob and remnant of the house
of Israel, we know that that nation of Israel was only a type
and picture of a spiritual Israel. A spiritual Israel. Ephesians one, we read this often,
but it's just so clear. Ephesians one. He said, Blessed be the God and
father of our Lord Jesus Christ, bless us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. Well, how can he do that? How
can He bless us who are all sinners with spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ? This is how according as He had
chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Chosen us for what? To what end? That we should be holy. This is the sovereign will of
God that His people should be holy. and without blame before
him. Here's his motivating factor
in love. In love, having predestined is
under the adoption of children. How is he going to do that? By
Jesus Christ. By Jesus Christ. To himself. according to the
good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his
grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. These people, these Old Testament
people of Israel, were a picture of a spiritual Israel. You know
this clearly from Romans chapter nine, when Paul's talking about
this, he said, listen, is God's word of none effect? God promised
to save Israel, but Israel rejected Christ. Is God's word void? No,
because he's not talking about the nation of Israel. He's not
talking about the children of Abraham. He's talking about the
seed of promise, the elect. And you remember, he uses Jacob
and Esau as a picture of that election. These children not
yet being born, neither having done good or evil, that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand. Jacob have I loved
but Esau have I hated Jacob then is a picture of what a picture
of all the elect Harkening me. Oh you house of the elect the
house of Jacob my chosen Behold in the grace of our God who has
chose a people A remnant according to the election of grace. A remnant
of Adam's fallen race to save us. Purpose to save us. Oh how
different is that from a Baal and Nebo. They had no purpose. They were
fashioned by men. They had no will. They had no
desire. They had no love. They were stone. They were rocks. They were gold and silver fashioned
like to a man. They had none of that. But our
God is a God of sovereign choice. And He purposed to save Israel,
His people. And listen, the true and living
God who purposed to save them will save them. Will save them. He says of Israel in Jeremiah
31 verse three. Yay. I have loved. With an everlasting love. With
an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness,
have I drawn me. So any God. who has left salvation
to chance or to the will and work of man is not God at all,
but rather a burden, a burden to the souls of men. But consider this, the God of
Israel has left nothing to chance. The God of Israel has left nothing
to chance regarding the salvation of his people. He left nothing
to the work or the will of man. It was God who chose spiritual
Israel, and He has declared to His elect this, I have born thee. I have born thee. When did God
begin to bear His children? When did He begin to carry us?
He began to carry us in eternity. I'm just throwing out that word
eternity because that's the only way I can describe it. I can't
fathom that eternity past. Can you just only way you can
understand it? However far back that is, that's
when God began to carry his people. He has borne us from eternity. It was God who loved us and purpose
to save us from the beginning and he not only chose us to salvation
but ordained the means of how he would save us how he should
deliver us by Jesus Christ when he said that he chose us
in Christ this means that Christ bore us We were in Him. We were in Him. In union with
Him. God purposed that we should be
saved by Jesus Christ. And He even purposed the means
by which we should be called and receive it. You see, He left
nothing to us. In Second Thessalonians, Chapter
two, verse 13, he says, We are bound always to give thanks for
you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God had from the
beginning chosen you to salvation. See, God began by choosing to
bear the weight of our salvation. Chosen you to salvation. and even the means through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. By which the gospel by the gospel
that we preach under, you see the means everything is determined
by God. Nothing left to chance here.
You that are sanctified by the spirit and believe the truth.
What do you believe? Well, it's not what you believe,
is it? It's who you believe. He's the
truth, Christ. We believe on Christ. Let us
then rejoice for our God is not is not born of us. Our salvation
is not left for us to bear upon our shoulders. Our God is not
carried by us, our God is not moved by us, but it is our God
who carries and bears us on his shoulders. hearken unto me, you house of
Israel, you chosen for I bear the full weight of your salvation. Listen to me, I bear you. And
second thing, this notice is he bears the full weight of this
salvation. Listen, Israel, you chosen. Listen
to the living God, you. Are born of me. You are born me back over in Isaiah chapter 9
in Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6 it says for us unto
us a child is born we know this is speaking of the Messiah there
he is look at him he comes down from heaven he he's in it he's
in a major and they say behold a child is born all but much
more than that a son is given The sun is given the eternal
son of God becomes a man and what? The government shall be
upon his shoulders. Now, listen, this is not talking
about the responsibility of all the kingdoms of the world. He
had that before he came into the world. It's not what it's
meant. What is meant by this is that he's going to bear the
weight of his kingdom. So all of the salvation of his kingdom,
all the establishment of his kingdom, all the victory and
protection of his kingdom rests upon the shoulders of the king.
It is his responsibility to save Israel. And his name shall be called
wonderful. What is this going to say? This means he's going
to be successful. You don't call somebody wonderful.
That's failure. As a failure. No, he's wonderful
because he's going to be successful. Wonderful counselor, the mighty
God, the everlasting father, the prince of peace and the increase
of his government and peace, there shall be no way that sounds
like a failure to you. Oh, the government's going to
be on his shoulders. He said, I'm going to bear it. I'm going
to bear the full weight of the salvation of my people. So when
the father in sovereign election chose a people, he gave them
to Christ to be their surety. What a wonderful word that is
surety. Paul tells us in Hebrews that
he is the surety of a better covenant, a covenant of grace
and not of works. A covenant of successful salvation
without the assistance of those beings. You know, when you that word
surety, I'm sure it comes to mind when Judah said that of
Benjamin. They were starving to death.
He said. You just said, Pop, look, if
we don't take him, we're all going to sit here and starve
to death. And Judas said, listen, I'll be surety for the lad. If
I don't bring him again, let me bear the blame. He took full
responsibility for Benjamin. It's exactly what Christ said
to the father. Father, give them to me. I take
full responsibility for their salvage. And if I don't bring
them to you, let me bear the blame. That's a surety. Christ became surety. So when
God here in our Texas, I have borne you. Christ here is saying
this. I am surety for you. Listen to
me. I am surety for you. That is the same. Just bearing the chosen, he is
also our high priest. He is not only our surety, but
our high priest, our representative. When that high priest was chosen,
he was chosen to represent one people, Israel, in things pertaining
to God. You know that priest, he made
the offering and he went into the holy place with the blood.
If he messed up, who died? The priest died. What he was
responsible. For the people. Now, listen,
if Christ failed, there's no hope for any of us. Got that. He is a faithful high priest,
he did not fail. He did not go into the holiest
of holies with blood of bulls and goats, but with his own blood. He went in with his own blood. into the presence of God as our
high priest and represented us. Well, God said of Christ, Thou
art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Jesus Christ
in the eternal high priest of all the elect of God has offered
an acceptable sacrifice to God. And so is that high priest of
old bore upon his chest the names of the tribes of Israel remember
that he had that breastplate and those stones represented
all the people that he represented even so Jesus Christ from eternity
has bore the names of his people upon his own heart he carried us from eternity he's
had you Had you on his heart? And he bore you from eternity. And as our high priest. The high priest of all Israel,
we know this, that he came into the world. And bore our sin. He bore our sin. Scripture says he bore our sins
in his own body on the tree. 2000 years ago, the son of God,
the eternal high priest came down from heaven with the names
of his people upon their heart. He was made flesh in order to
fulfill the law of God for all Israel. And so when he honored
the law of Israel, listen, so did everyone he represented. I like this. Did he ask for your
permission to do this? Did he ask for your consent? Did he wait on you to merit such
a favor? No, he did it without our consent. I'm so glad, aren't you? He did it without our works or
our will. But he by himself has obtained
Even the righteousness of God by his obedience. Paul says in Romans three, he
did this. He did this by his own faithfulness. Romans. Chapter three. It says in verse
22, even the righteousness of God, which is by the faith of
Jesus Christ. Unto all and upon all, them that
believe, there's no difference. All that He represented, all
Israel, He obtained righteousness for us. And when His time had
come, when His hour had come, they nailed the sinless Son of
God to a cursed tree, where He was mocked and smote and spit
upon. And there God took all of the
sins of His elect from all time. Can you count your sins today? Just count them today. You can't
count them. You can't imagine the amount
of sin that He bore in His own body on the tree. This is why the scripture says,
for he hath made him to be sin for us. Who knew? No sin. I'll tell you what, sometimes
I feel the burden of my my sin, don't I just just feel it, it
just. Can you imagine if you had no
sin? and you had to feel the burden of it. He had no sin. And yet he was made sin for us. He said the reproaches of them
that reproach they have fallen upon me. And see how he bore
all the sins and sorrows and made them his very own. I believe it's in Psalm 69, He
said, My sin. And because He was made sin for
us, He also not only bore our sin, He bore the wrath of God. He bore the wrath of God. There
God in righteous fury and holy vengeance without mercy unleashed
the fires of hell upon His Son as we were being born by Christ. You know, I think the best picture
of that would be the Ark of Noah's Ark, right? Be a good picture
of bearing the justice of God. There Noah and his family were
in the Ark. They were under the wrath of
God. What saved them was the Ark. The ark bore the wrath of God,
the justice of God. Even so, Christ, being our refuge,
bearing us, bore the wrath of God in our stead. He bore the justice and judgment
of God so when justice could demand
no more when God's God was pleased with his offering Jesus having
borne us upon his shoulders having put away all our sin having merited
the righteousness of God by his faithfulness he cried this it
is finished it is finished We were made the righteousness
of God in him. And again, this was without our
consent. Where were you? Where were you
when all this was taking place? Where were you when God put you
in Christ? Where were you when Christ carried you and obtained
righteousness? Where were you when he offered
himself as a sacrifice for sin? Where were you when he satisfied
the justice of God? Listen, you were in him. You
were in him. carrying you. The true God of
Israel, having chose us in grace, having born us in power upon
the shoulders of Jesus Christ. Therefore, listen, the whole
work of your salvation is done. It's done. It's accomplished,
it's finished by Jesus Christ. Therefore, Jesus Christ is made
unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. All of it. You see, he's all
of it. Which one of those would you
take to yourself? Which one do you want to take any one of those
to yourself? You want to take your wisdom to yourself? Righteousness
to yourself, sanctification to yourself, redemption to yourself.
You want to take part in any of that? No, God made him to
be those things. He made him to bear it all. So
what's left for us to do? What's left for us to do, what
can we add to such a perfect work by a perfect surety and
high priest? This is why Jesus said, come
unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden. Is your burden too heavy to bear? Does your God require too much
of you? Well, Jesus said, put put him
down. Put it down and come to me. and I'm gonna give you something
he can't. I'm gonna give you rest. He said this, for I am meek,
he said, take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek
and lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls for
my yoke is easy and my burden is light. How easy is his yoke? How light is his burden? his
yoke is one of faith and love and hope in him and he provides
all of those things for you he requires of you faith guess what
he provides for you faith he requires love of you and he provides
love for you He requires you to trust and hope in him, and
he provides hope. How light is that? All that he
requires, he gives. All the Holy Spirit provides.
There is no burden of sin, no yoke of the law. Because you
can't bear it. Remember what he said in Acts
chapter 15? They tried to put this law back on the believing
Gentiles. These Jewish believers thought
that, well, man, we need these Gentiles come back on the law.
Listen to what Peter says in Acts 15 and verse 10. He says, Now, therefore, why
tempt ye God to put the yoke upon the neck of the disciples,
which neither our fathers nor we could bear? He said we couldn't
do it. Why are you trying to put it
on him? But we believe that through grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we shall be saved, even as they by the grace of God. How light
is that salvation by grace? Without works. Without works. Without the works
of the law. Therefore. Oh, Israel. Our sovereign God of election
of grace, our God in power has borne us. In Christ and accomplished our
salvation, yet he all he chose and bore, he will reveal this
salvation to them. Everyone he chose, everyone Christ
born in his own body, everyone he saved, he will reveal it.
Look back at your text here quickly. Because he is a God of sovereign
providence and sovereign regeneration. He said, I have borne the wind
from the belly and carried the from the womb. Our election. And representation was before
our natural birth. But consider that even at our
birth. that there was no difference
between us and the rest of Adam's race. We had no love for God. We had no love for Christ. We. We're content to worship of God
of our own making, but he who chose us and bore us from all
eternity, who bore us as our high priest. Now, having been
risen to the throne of glory, controls all the events and circumstances
of time from our natural birth to keep us until he brings us
to himself. Remember that time when you were
born from the time you were conceived until the time you came to Christ.
Do you not see that he carried you all through that? It's what
we call pervenient grace, grace that goes before grace. Why is
it that you didn't die before the time you were converted? He was carrying you. And all
the circumstances of your life, even your sin, he was using for
this purpose. So that you should be called
to life and faith by him. He carried you from the belly
until you were born again of the spirit of God kept us, he
moved all things for our spirit till we receive spiritual life. As a child being found in the
womb, God formed it. So God formed us, God shaped
us for the time of our new birth. So when we were brought to hear
the gospel and by the power and grace of God, we were brought
forth from the womb and carried by the word of God. Is this not true of us that God
carried us even before we knew him? And in an act of grace and power,
God brought you to hear his word. An act of power, God applied
that word to your heart. and gave you life. Gave you faith. I think good illustration that
was Gomer, remember, remember Gomer. Hosea married her, he
loved her. And she went after her lover,
she went back to being a whore. And every day he laid those groceries
at her door. All her provision. And what did
she say? Oh, look what my lovers have
done. Look what they brought me. She gave him no praise. She gave him no love. And yet
daily he made provisions for her. But when he, the time he
chose to bring her, he stopped. He stopped bringing her all those
things. And he said, You know what? I'm
going to I'm going to bring her to the end of herself. And this
is what he said. He said, he said, I will allure
her into the wilderness. And that's what God did. Before
he saved us, he provided everything for us. And then when he desired
to to bring us to himself, he took all of those joys away.
All that sin he brought in heartache and pain and grief and guilt.
He said this in Hosea chapter to listen what he said in verse He said, therefore, behold, I
will lure her and bring her to the wilderness to do what? Speak
comfortably to her. Isn't that what he did to you?
He brought you into a wilderness and he didn't speak judgment.
He spoke comfort. And he said this, I will give
her her vineyards from thence. And a valley of a car for a door
of hope. Remember that valley of a car,
you know, that was aching. That man who died so that Israel
should live. Israel should get the victory.
That's the picture of Christ, isn't it? And listen, she shall sing as
she did in the days of her youth, as in the days when she came
out of the land of Egypt. See, God comes to us in a time
of grace and speak comfortably us testifies to us of Christ. He carries us. into a new birth,
it gives us life, faith. Now, you that have life and faith,
I want you to get this. God is still carrying you, listen
what he say, go back to your text, look at this last thing.
He says this. He said, I have borne thee from
the belly. I carried thee until the time
of your new birth. But after that, listen, he says
this, I'm going to carry you even to old age. He said even
in your old age I am he even to whore hairs will I carry you
I made and I will bear even I will carry and will deliver you. Consider this the God that carries
us doesn't change. He said the one I carried you
from the belly and because I don't change I'm going to carry you
until the end. God says this of himself. Behold,
I am God, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. How many have we met in our lifetimes
who have professed to believe Christ and are no longer here? You know why? Because they were
carrying their God. And he became too heavy. Why are you still here? Because
I'm not carrying my God. My God is still carrying me. And the only hope I have of heaven
is this. That he doesn't change. That Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday. Today. and forever he said I will carry you why
I made you who made you I made you therefore I will bear you I know often we we feel as though God has abandoned
us Sometimes our sin, sometimes our circumstance brings us to
such a dark place where we cannot tell if God is with us. Hearken unto me, O house of Israel. You remnant, you chosen. I bore
you from eternity. I bore your sins in my own body
on the tree. I saved you. I called you and I will keep you. Can you not see the difference
between a God that needs to be carried and the God that carries
you? Jesus said that picture, didn't
he, that he said, which of you and having 100 sheep will not
leave the 99 and go find the one that's lost. And when he
had found him, he binds him and puts him on his own shoulders
and carries him. And when he comes in, everyone
rejoices, he said, Rejoice with me. I found my sheep. I will carry you even to the
old age. He will preserve us. He will
keep us. Why? Because he's God. And there's none like him. There's none like him. If I had to carry myself, I couldn't bear it. I am so thankful he carries me. Nobody else would. Nobody else
could. But he says, I carry you. I hope that God would make this
a comfort to you. Just give you rest. Know it's done. The work's done. And he's gonna bring us to himself.
I pray God bless us to stand. Our gracious father in heaven,
thank you for this. This word of grace, I do pray
that you'd be with us, that you'd pour it into our hearts. Oh, that you'd help us just to
fall down upon Christ. Cast all your care upon him,
for he cares for you. Confess our sins, and you are
faithful and just to forgive us our sins. How light is his
yoke and easy is his burden. I pray you continue to give us
those things that we need, such things as faith, love, joy, peace,
meekness, temperance. Oh, Father, give us these things.
help us to give you the glory and praise for it. In Jesus'
name.