Go with me back to Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46, in this chapter, there are five
divisions to it, five segments. If your Bible has the little
backward P paragraph symbol, you can see where the paragraph
divisions are. You know, when you write a letter,
you start a new paragraph. Each one of these is a paragraph. Verses 1 and 2, that's a paragraph.
Verses 3 and 4, that's a paragraph. Verses 5 to 11 is a paragraph.
And then verse 12 and 13, that's a paragraph. But in that long paragraph in
the middle, there's a division there too. And what that means
is our Lord begins this chapter by saying something about idols
and those who worship idols. And then he gives a word of comfort
to his people, those who are his people. And then he says
something again about idols and those who worship idols. And then he says something about
himself. And then he ends with a word
of comfort again to his people. For that reason, I've titled
this message, Comfort from God Almighty. Comfort from God Almighty. And this is, this is comfort
from God Almighty. Look at verses 1 and 2 with me.
Verse 1 says, Bell boweth down, Nebo stoopeth. Those were the two chief idols
of Babylon. Those idols, along with the rest
of Babylon's idols, were taken by Cyrus, king of Persia, when
he defeated Babylon and delivered Israel from Babylon's captivity. And a long time ago, we looked
at a little bit, and I'm not going to go into all that, but
Cyrus delivered Israel from Babylon. They were in captivity for 70
years. This is foretelling that. This is a prophecy of the fact
that that would happen. But God said all of Babylon's
idols. And I think about today, there
are so many idols out there today. Men and women make idols out
of everything. And God said all of Babylon's
idols that Babylon bows down to and worships. He said they're
all going to be rounded up. They're all going to be gathered
up and they're all going to be put on the horses and the camels
of Cyrus and taken back to Persia. And what he was declaring in
that was, they cannot save. That's what he was saying. They
cannot save. Verse one says, Bell boweth down. They were bowing down to Bell.
He said, Bell boweth down. Nebo stoopeth. Their idols were
upon the beasts. And upon the cattle, your carriages
were heavy loading. They are a burden to the weary
beast. He said, all they are is a burden
to the beasts that have to carry them. That's all they are. They're
just chunks of gold and silver and brass. That's all they are.
Bowing down and worshiping all these idols are nothing. They're
just a burden to the beasts that have to carry them. Verse two,
they stoop. They bow down together. They
could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into
captivity. He said they could not save themselves
from their own captivity. How could they save anybody else? All right, verse three, he said.
Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob. This provides great comfort to
me. Right now, I was talking about our loved ones who are
going through trials and they're in, you know, you're in need.
You're in need. And we have these moments where
we truly need God. We need God. We don't need the
idea of God. We don't need a good form of
religion. We need God Almighty. And he says in verse three, 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." Here's his word of
comfort to his people. His first words were, these idols
are nothing. These idols are nothing. Here's
his word of comfort to his people, his chosen people, Jacob. Jacob and the spiritual family
of Jacob. While I was studying this, I
really got to thinking about the fact that, and think about
this, of all the people in the scripture, of all the people
that were ever mentioned in the scripture that the Lord could
have chosen to use to represent his spiritual people. How amazing
is it that he chose Jacob of all the people he could have
selected. He chose Jacob to set his love on. He chose Jacob to
redeem from his sin and call to himself. Glorify with himself
the trickster, the supplanter, the sinner, the center of all
people. How amazing that is because God
loved Jacob. Therefore have I hope I'm speaking
on my own behalf. Because God chose to show mercy
to Jacob, that's why we all have hope. That's the very reason
we all have hope. That's why we, sons of Jacob,
are not consumed. Because the Lord loved Israel. That's Jacob. His name was changed
to Israel because the Lord loved Israel forever. He put Christ
on the throne. And we, sons of Jacob, are not
consumed. Verse three, he said, 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. This is an illustration of pregnancy. I couldn't help but think about
all of you ladies that have gone through pregnancy and you get
to the end of your pregnancy. And I see, you know, I don't think
I could bear that. I don't, I honestly don't think
I would be strong enough to, I don't think my back would hold
up to bearing that. I see you ladies bear this, I
would say burden, but it's, it's love on your part, isn't it?
And, um, Everything that you bear for
your children is a wonderful illustration of what our Lord
is talking about right here. Verse three, he said, 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 and I will bear, even I will carry
and will deliver you. That child is created in the
womb and you ladies bear that child. You physically carry that
child. You're the one who delivers that
child into this world. And after all that, after all
that happens. Do you love that child? After
when natural affection is there, when God given natural affection
is there, do you love that child? After you've had that special
bond and that oneness and and husbands can't enter into that
bond and oneness until they lay hold of that child. But it's
I mean, there was a oneness. When God given natural affection
is there, there's nothing like the love of a mother for her
child. And that's what our Lord Jesus
Christ is saying right here. He's saying, I love you. He said,
listen to me. I love you. Hearken unto me. He said, I made
you. I bore you. He bore our sins
in his own body on the tree. He bore our sins and our sorrows. He made them his very own. He
bore that burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. He bore that great burden for
us. Therefore, he said, I'll carry
you all the way to the end. And I'll deliver you. Verse three, he said, hearken
unto me, O house of Jacob. And all the remnant of the house
of Israel, which are born by me from the belly. He said, before
I formed you in the belly, I knew you, I loved you. 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, that
means gray hares, all the days of your life, every
step that you take until your last appointed step is taken. If we want some comfort in this
life, remember this. There's none good but God. And
every soul that the Father has placed in Him, as Christ is,
so are His people. Therefore we say, The steps of a righteous man,
a good man in Christ, as he is righteous, the steps of a righteous
man or a righteous woman are ordered by the Lord. Every step. Every step. It doesn't matter
whether the step is at home or the hospital or the every step. All of them from. Your last appointed
step on this earth. All the way up to the last breath
of air that you were ordained to breathe until that last breath
is given from your first moment on this earth till your first
moment in glory. All the way, he said, I'll carry
you all the way. I'll carry you. I can't help but think about
a young child being scared. You know what that young child
wants the moment he gets scared? Carry me. Carry me. He said, I'll carry you. I'll
carry you all the way. Verse four, and even to your
old age, I am he, and even to whore hairs will I carry you.
I have made, what he's saying is you are mine. I've loved you. I have made. And I will bear,
even I will carry and will deliver you." That's comfort, isn't it? Now, he said, the little G gods
of this world, they can't do anything for the people who worship
them. And this ought to be our comfort, our comfort. The little
G gods of this world, they cannot do anything for the people who
worship them. He said, but for my people who
worship me, that's what I can, that's what I have, that's what
I will do for them. So he says in verse 5, to whom
will you liken me and make me equal and compare me that we
may be like? They lavish gold out of the bag
and weigh silver in the balance. and hire a goldsmith, and he
maketh it a god. They fall down, yea, they worship. They bear him upon the shoulder,
they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth. From
his place shall he not remove, yea, one shall cry unto him,
yet can he not answer nor save him out of his trouble." Did
we notice how many times he said they? Meaning the people who worship
these false gods, verse six, they lavish gold out of the bag
and weigh silver in the balance. Hire a goldsmith. He maketh it
a God. They fall down. Yea, they worship. They bear him upon the shoulder.
They carry him and set him in his place. And that's where he
stands. He said, if that false, nothing
little G God is going to do anything, they are going to have to do
it for him. That little g nothing God has no hands, but their hands
and no feet, but their feet, they carry him around. And they
set him in his place and he stays right there until somebody moves
him again. He's saying their God is no God
at all. I wish this world could see that their God is no God
at all. I really do. The God of this world, the God
of man's imagination is no God at all. That story is so good of that
boy in Mexico whose family worshipped all the false idols. They had
all of these false idols on a shelf in their home. And somehow, someway,
this boy heard the truth. of the true and living God. The
true and living God. And he believed it. And he told
his family, he told his dad, and his dad wouldn't have anything
to do with it. So one day the boy got a hammer
and smashed all the idols but one. And laid the hammer in front
of the only one he didn't smash. And when his dad came home, he
was furious. He saw that and he was furious.
And he looked at that boy and said, who did this? And that
boy said, I didn't do it, he did it, pointed at the idol,
the only one that was left. And his dad said, boy, you know
he couldn't have done that. And he said, that's what I've
been trying to tell you, dad. He can't do anything. He cannot
do anything. He is no God at all. And any God other than the true
and living God is no God at all. Our Lord said, I'm the only one. There is none beside me who said
that, who is the only God, the fullness of the Godhead and the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ said that he is the true and
living God. And he's our God. He's our God. If we need a, if we need just
a moment of comfort, grab that. He's our God. He's the only God that there
is. Don't turn over there, but 1 John 5 verse 20 says, We know
that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding
that we may know him that is true and we are in him that is
true, even in his son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God
and eternal life. He, the fullness of the Godhead
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, is the true God in eternal
life. Verse 8 says, Remember this, and show yourselves, men,
bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. 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
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying
my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. He said,
I know everything that's going to happen because I ordained
everything that's going to happen. Does that bring any comfort to
us? I know everything that's going
to happen because I ordained everything that's going to happen.
Everything that's going to happen, everything concerning you. I fear things just as much as
the next person. I'm not strong in faith. You know, I can we can be strong
in faith right here and then go right back out into this world.
And it's like when the Lord kept asking the disciples, are you
still without faith? Has all that faith slipped right
through your fingers again? But if we ever really got a hold
of the fact that every single thing that's going to happen
to us. The Lord ordained for it to be so. If we really understood
that, if we really knew that all of these things were for
the purpose of bringing good to His people. And knowing and
trusting Him. That's it, just trusting Him. You know how we say to each other,
trust me, I know, I know, just trust me. I know you don't think
it's going to work, but just trust me. If we could just trust
Him. He's doing right. If we really
did trust him and knew he did it, we wouldn't want to change
it. Knowing that he says everything
concerning you, I did that, I'm doing that, I ordered that, I
ordained that for your good, for my glory. My word is the final word. My
authority is the only authority there is. He says right here, if I'm pleased
to do something, I will do it and it shall stand. Verse 10,
declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done. He said, I declare the last thing
from before the foundation of the world. And from ancient times,
the things that have not even happened yet, not yet done, saying
my counsel shall stand And I will do all my pleasure, calling a
ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel
from a far country. Yea, I have spoken it. I will
also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also
do it. Everything on this earth, whether
it's great things or minute things, the Lord said, I speak it. I bring it to pass, I purpose
it, I do it, I the Lord do all these things. What he's saying is, men don't
move me, I move men. Men don't set me in my place,
I set men in their place. Men and women don't do for me,
I do for men and women. I am the Lord God and there's
none else. And whatever I determine to do, that's what I'm going
to do. And he said in verse 12, and I love this, he said, listen
to me. Listen to me, my people, my chosen
people, you stout hearted. You sinful people who I've chosen
to redeem. You that are naturally far from
righteousness hearken unto me. Ye stout hearted that are far
from righteousness. Verse 13, he said, I bring near
my righteousness. Isn't that great? I bring near my, I'm going to
bring my righteousness. It shall not be far off. You're
far off from righteousness, but I'm going to bring it to you.
You're far off from righteousness, but my righteousness is not far
off from you. It shall not be far off. And
my salvation, I'm bringing that to you. That's not going to be
far off either. And it shall not tarry. And I will place salvation
in Zion for Israel, my glory. He said, I'm God almighty and
I can do anything I want to do. And he said, listen to me. This
is what I want to do. This is what I have purpose to
do. I'm going to bring my righteousness to you. I'm going to bring my blood to
you. And I'm going to cover you in
both of them, they're going to be so near to you, you're going to
be in them. And I'm going to place you because
I can place whoever I want to place wherever I want to place
them. So I'm going to place you in my salvation and I'm going
to do that for my own glory sake. I'm going to place salvation
in Zion and I'm going to place Zion in salvation because I love
them. Israel is my glory. That's what
he said. Israel is my delight. Israel
is my desire. My desire is with them. It's
with them. I'll tell you what that is. Seriously,
when we need it the most, that is comfort from God Almighty. God Almighty. If we had any other
God, there would be no comfort here. But because he's God Almighty,
there is absolute comfort for God's people. Thank God that's
who he is. Thank God our God is God Almighty. And thank God that's what he
purposed to do for us. And that's what he did. That's
what he purposed to do, and that's what he did. Thank God. All right,
let's all stand together.