If you would, please turn to
the book of Isaiah in chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40, and I wanna
begin reading in verse six. Isaiah chapter 40, beginning
in verse six. The voice said, cry, and he said,
What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the
goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass
withereth, the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord
bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. O Zion, that bringeth good tidings,
get thee up into the high mountain. O Jerusalem, that bringeth good
tidings, lift up thy voice with strength. Lift it up, be not
afraid. Say unto the cities of Judah,
behold your God. Behold, the Lord God will come
with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him, and behold,
His reward is with him and his work before him. 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. I'm gonna stop right there. I've entitled this Behold Your
God. because here we are again, gathered
together to hear a message from God, to hear a message of God,
to hear a message about God. Now, I thought about it this
morning when I watched Walter come on television, 6.30 on the CW in Sunday mornings. We have the little introduction
at the beginning of our broadcasts, and it just goes right to the
preacher preaching. And whether it was me or him
or Paul Mahan or whoever, that's the way we do it. And I don't
know if that bothers some people or not or if they even notice.
Because right after us comes a Bible study program. Right
after them comes another one they call a Bible study program.
Now, I've got nothing against Bible study. I'm very much in
favor of Bible study. But it's the gospel, the preaching
of the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation. To everyone
that believeth, it's not Bible study. It's not the Bible. It is the gospel preached. Now,
yes, you can learn a great deal, and yes, The Bible, reading the
Bible, studying the Bible, can help your conversion. But it
does say the gospel is it. And that's what we do. Because
I don't know what y'all see on TV. It's just me or it's just
Walter most of the time. This is all we do. We preach
the gospel. I'm not being boastful of myself.
We were gathering here before I started preaching. gather here after I'm gone. We
gather to hear the word of the Lord. This that I just read in
Isaiah chapter 40, that's the word of the Lord. Now you can either deal with
it or as per your choice, you can ignore it. Millions do. Other millions are totally ignorant
of it and willingly ignorant of it. I don't want to be ignorant
of him or his word. And to be perfectly clear, Jesus
Christ cannot be separated from his word. There is no way to
know the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord God, without this book. Because he is his word. And his
word is him. Because he is the word of God. Now verse six starts, the voice
said cry, and he said, what shall I cry? That is an interesting question.
Because the preacher is not supposed to have his own message. Unfortunately, Most preachers
are preaching their own message, and not God's message. Even more
unfortunately, that is all that they have. Social preaching,
current event preaching, and I'll grant you, there's a lot
of current events you could talk about. But that's not what this
place is for. That's not what this gathering
is for. Even psychological preaching. And that seems to be the vast
majority today, those three categories. Not so Isaiah. Not so God's preacher. And actually here, in this case,
a bit of this has to do with John the Baptist. If you look
back to the first three verses, and I'll get back to that in
just a minute, after a bit. But we are to ask the Lord, what
shall I cry? And if he doesn't give you a
message, you might as well sit down. I'm sorry. That's just the way it works.
And I'm not really that sorry about it. This is the way it
works. What shall I cry? I believe there
are hundreds of thousands of preachers around that aren't
asking that question, not pertaining to this book. Why? Because I've heard what lots
and lots and lots of them say. We're asked, what shall I cry? Here's the answer. All flesh
is grass. What? And the goodliness of the flesh
is as a flower. Now that sort of sounds pretty.
But what's it mean? Well, You don't really have to
wait for inspiration here, and you don't really have to interpret,
because you read the next couple of verses, he's gonna tell you
exactly what he meant. All you have to do is read. But I can tell you this. Preachers
are not supposed to build up man. All flesh is grass. And all goodliness is just like
a flower. In my eyes, a flower's pretty to look at. But also,
in my eyes, I can see a flower doesn't last. What does he say next? The grass
withereth, the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord,
what? Bloweth on it. Bloweth upon it. Surely, what? The people is grass. Okay, so all flesh is grass.
All goodliness is the flower of the field. and the people
is grass. So who are we talking about?
We're talking about man. Then verse eight, the grass withereth,
the flower fadeth, but the word, oh, the word of our God shall
stand, what? Forever, forever. All flesh is grass. The flower
fades, the grass withers, The goodliness, the goodliness of
the flesh is as a flower. And the grass withers and the
flower fades, what? Because, because, what? The Lord bloweth upon it. All flesh is grass, the people
is grass. Guess what, folks? Our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. What happens? It dries up and
it gets blowed away. What? But it gets blowed away
by God. You understand? And when we see grass, we see
flowers, and you know, hey, you might think you have a nice yard,
but your sight doesn't matter. God's sight is the only sight
that matters. And he says it ain't nothing but grass and a
flower and the grass withers. What? The grass dies. The flower
fades because the Lord blows on it. It may look like a nice
yard to you, but wait till God blows it away. Flesh cannot stand before God. And that's the only part that
matters. That's the only place that matters. You might think
my yard looks nice. I might think my yard looks nice.
My wife might think it needs a little work. But in God's sight,
it's nothing. Flesh cannot stand before the
Lord God and guess what? People, the people is grass. People cannot stand before God
in their own goodliness. It's not possible. Guess what?
That's the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord. Verse nine says, O Zion that
bringeth good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain. O
Jerusalem that bringeth good tidings, lift up thy voice with
strength. Lift it up, be not afraid. Say
unto the cities of Judah, behold your God. We say it here and we mean it.
You can't preach man low enough and you can't preach God high
enough. And that's what Isaiah just did here, what God did here. All the flesh is grass, all the
flesh is grass. And I'm gonna tell you something,
if you don't have some sense of you being grass and a faded
flower blown away by the Lord, you're not gonna behold the Lord. There's a work to be done. But also the grass withers, the flower
fades because the Lord blew it away. But there is what? Good tidings. There is good tidings. Good tidings from Zion to Zion. Good tidings from Jerusalem and
good tidings to Jerusalem. And good tidings under the cities
of Judah. What's it say? Behold your God. What's that good tidings? Those
three words. Behold your God. Because if you
see God, you have been blessed because the world does not see
him. The world cannot see him. The world doesn't understand
him. The world doesn't want to understand him. The world doesn't
want to see him. The world doesn't want to know
him, not as he is. They don't want to know him as
he was, but they certainly don't want to know him as he is. This
is the way the world looks at religion. I want what I want. God says, I am that I am. And here it says, behold your
God. Your God is coming. Behold your God. What? Don't
look to the flesh. Don't look to the flesh. Don't
look to your thoughts. Don't look to my thoughts. Don't
look to the thoughts of any man. Look to the Lord your God. Behold
Him. See Him. Marvel at Him. You don't look to the world.
You don't look to the flesh. You don't look to idols or groves
or high places. We don't look to wood, copper,
or brass, silver, or gold. And that goes whether it's an
idol over in Africa or a statue in a Catholic church. I'll say
stuff like that. I used to be there. It doesn't matter. You don't
look to an altar. as they call it in a Baptist
church. Behold your God. That is the message of thus saith
the Lord. Behold your God. The message is given and Isaiah
here preached the message because he's not finished there. He says
behold your God. The next verse says what? Behold
what? The Lord God. The Lord God. Adonai Yahweh. The Lord God,
that's the way it is in the Greek, will come with strong hand. Guess what? This is the good
tidings right here. This is the good tidings to Zion,
to Jerusalem, to the cities of Judah, and I'm gonna tell ya,
this is good tidings to the Gentiles who believe. Behold, the Lord
God will come with strong hand. Now, before I get into this verse
any, I do wanna comment here just
a little bit because there are some who think just because of
the second phrase of this verse that this is talking about the
second coming of Christ. It's not. It's not. Because see, they hate that second
part. They don't really like it. It's not that they hate it,
but they don't understand it. And his arm shall rule for them.
For him, excuse me. But this, in verse 10, is just
a continuation on from verse three, where it says what? 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. Those are the words of John the Baptist talking about when
he saw Christ. This was a prophecy when Isaiah wrote it. We're looking
at it back in the past, but this was a prophecy when he wrote
it, and this is just a continuation on. The voice said cry, and he
said, what do I cry? All flesh is grass. This is just a continuation on.
I do not think, and it'll come clear here in a little bit, because
basically all you have to do is read verse 11. But here it says, behold Adonai,
behold Yahweh, behold the Lord God. What? Behold the Lamb of
God. These are the words that John
the Baptist spoke. And this is the one he was proclaiming,
I am the forerunner. He's the bride, I'm the friend
of the bridegroom. He's the bridegroom. The Son of God is coming. That's
what Isaiah was writing here. because to him it was in the
future. This was a prophecy, but this prophecy has come to
pass. And it does say, and his arm shall rule for him. That's
the statement, that's the part of the verse why they think this
is the second coming, not the first coming. Or they wanna pull
that little piece of that verse out. No one has ever ruled but him,
ever. He's the ruler. He's the king. He was here incarnate upon the
earth. Now I understand people have
problems with you saying that Jesus Christ ruled when he came
in his first advent. But they're right, but it's their
problem. It's not the problem of the scriptures. The scriptures
are quite clear. When his birth was announced
to those shepherds by the angel, they said what? Savior, which
is Christ the Lord. And his arm shall, what, rule
for who? For him, for him. Jesus Christ is not ruling for
us. He's ruling for his own namesake.
He came to do the will of the Father and the Father, what,
has given him all power Over what? All flesh that is grass. No other rules but him. And the scriptures say he was
born king. So what's it say? And his arms shall rule for him.
What happened on this earth while our Lord Jesus Christ was here?
Was exactly everything our Lord Jesus Christ meant to happen.
I know some people don't like that. I know some people don't
believe that. But it's true. He told them,
and you'll read in the scriptures quite clearly when it says they
would stone him, or throw him off a hill, and he walked out
in their midst. Why? It says, because his hour
had not yet come. His hour was coming, but it was
not then. His arms shall rule for him,
that's when he was here. It'll be the same when he comes
back. It's the same now when he's sitting at the right hand
of the majesty on high. He was king, he is king, he ever
shall be king. And guess what? Kings rule for
himself. It says behold, his reward is
with him. Behold, the Lord God will come
with a strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him. Behold, his
reward is with him, because without him is absolutely nothing. Without him, there is no reward,
because he is the reward. His reward's with him. His reward's
with him. What is eternal life? To know
Christ. What? And the father. But you
only know the father because you know Christ. And you only
know Christ because he's revealed himself to you. This is eternal life that they
may know thee. Behold, his reward is with him.
He is the reward. The father sent him to earth
and he came, what? Willingly. God, the holy God,
the true God, the Lord of hosts, the Redeemer, God manifest in
the flesh is the reward. The Lamb of God. What? Behold
the Lord God. You understand what I'm saying?
Jesus Christ is Adonai Yahweh. He is the Lord God. He is the Holy One of Israel. He is the Redeemer. That's what Isaiah is saying
here. And Isaiah was prophesying his coming. The fourth part of the verse
is this. and his work before him. Because all of this is,
like I said, all of this is future to Isaiah. It's a prophecy. We
say now, he came. Isaiah's saying here, he's coming.
And his work is before him. Because now, when he came, he
came with purpose and with work to perform while he was here. At this time when Isaiah wrote
this, this work that he's gonna talk about was yet to be done.
Not on the earth, physically. He wasn't gonna be here until
he came. Not in this manner. This is the
work of the Son of God that was before him and no one else. What is the work of the Lord
God? How do you behold your God? What
is the work of the Lord God? 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 is the work. This is the
work of the Lord God. He shall feed his flock, what?
Like a shepherd. Who are we talking about here?
We're talking about the good shepherd, Jesus Christ. No one
else. If there was any doubt, there's
only one shepherd. What is it? That great shepherd
of the sheep. There's only one shepherd. And
he feeds his flock. He feeds them with his word. And it says, he shall gather
the lambs with his arm. What? Behold, the Lord God will
come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him. He shall
gather the lambs with his arm. Our Lord Jesus Christ was never
described in the scriptures as weak, ever. Now when he was young, he was
dependent upon his parents. according to the law. He honored
his father and his mother. He obeyed. But that's not weakness. That's not weakness. Our Lord
is strong. He's strong to feed his flock
like a shepherd. He's strong to gather the lamb
with his arm. I have a question, well, I have
a problem. with other preachers, y'all may
have noticed that. Because other preachers are preaching messages
telling the lambs to go to the shepherd. Isaiah's preaching
a message here saying the lambs are gonna be gathered by the
shepherd. You understand, he's the good shepherd. He's gonna
gather them, what, with his arm. All ye like sheep have gone astray.
That's all we ever could do. but all of his sheep he gathers
with his arm. He does the gathering. We preach
it every Sunday. The Lord God, the Lord God. This is the work of behold the
Lord your God. He gathers his lambs with his
arm and with no help from the lamb. But that's not all, it says,
and carry them in his bosom. As far as I'm concerned, that's
the best illustration of the perseverance of the saints that
there is. He gathers them, but not only that, he carries them
in his bosom. When that Old Testament high
priest put on the regalia, the uniform, the clothing, He not
only had the names of the tribe of Israel
across his chest, he had them on his shoulders too. He had them on his shoulders for the
strength to carry. But he had them on the breastplate
to hold him close to his heart. That's a picture of our Lord
Jesus Christ. He gathers us. And he carries us and he keeps
us close to his heart. Why do we keep coming here? Because
he carries us. Why do you keep showing up to
hear this same old gospel? Why do I do it? He carries me. Why do you keep driving? Why
do you keep driving all those miles to get here? Because he
carries you. And he carries you close to his
heart. Understand, this is not a cold
thing. He gathers his lambs in love. He carries us in love. Why? He chose us from before
the foundation of the world in love. Therefore, I've loved thee
with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness,
have I what? Drawn thee. What? He shall gather
the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom. Why? because he loves us. And it says, and shall gently
lead those that are with young. He leads. And you know what? When he leads, his sheep follow. I just said it, but he said it.
My sheep hear my voice and a stranger, what? They won't follow. They'll
follow me. He leads. Oh, I know, I hear
preachers saying, well, they should follow. Well, no, that's
not right. They'll say, well, they're supposed
to follow. Nope, that ain't right either. Here's the point. If, if it is the Lord God that
leads you, You will follow. Why? Because he's carrying you.
He's carrying you in his bosom. It doesn't say that he's going
to attempt to lead. There's a lot of preachers preaching
that. Jesus Christ never attempted
anything. His work was before him, and guess what? He did his
work, he does his work, and he always shall do his work. And he's still doing it. The good shepherd is about his
business. This whole verse is about his
work that he came to do. What do you know about your God? Is your God the Lord God that
I just spoke of? As I can tell you this, the natural
man gets the Lord God exactly wrong. I read something yesterday,
I got it down here. And believe it or not, this was
in a piece of fiction. It was written as a quote, but it was
written as a quote by a fictitious person. But here it is. People seem to be hardwired to
get things wrong. They confuse opinion with fact. They tend to believe what everyone
around them believes, and they are ready to die for the truth
or whichever version of it they have clasped to their breasts.
That's the way we are naturally. There's an old German philosopher
wrote in 1839, and I'll do it like this. He wrote this, man
can do what he wills, but he cannot will what he wills. I thought, man, that guy's losing
something. This is the thing, this is the strangest thing about
our world sometimes. People, secular people, can get
a hold of the condition of man, but they never look for the cure. Because the only cure is behold
the Lord God. And the religious have the problem,
the fact they think they've seen the Lord God or they know the
Lord God. But when you tell them about this God who gathers his
sheep, who chose them from before the foundation of the world,
who gathers them, who brings them in, who carries them in
his bosom, they won't have it. They won't have it. Because knowing the Lord God
is not natural and it never has been. That's the difference between
what we preach here and other people do too. And they preach
outside. Walter read it last week. I wrote
it down here, copied and pasted it. We preach the God that revealed
himself to Nebuchadnezzar. And at the end of days, I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned
unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored
him, what, that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting
dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation,
and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. You know what that means? All
flesh is grass. And all goodliness is the flower
of the field. And the grass withereth and the
flower fadeth away because the Lord blew on them. The Lord blew
on Nebuchadnezzar. I believe that. Wholeheartedly. And he doeth what according to
his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. What's that mean? His work is before him. His work is before him. And he
does his work. Understand, I put off things.
There's jobs around the house that I put off, and I'm not gonna
tell you for how long, because it'd embarrass me. But you understand,
God does his work in his time, every time, all the time. When? In the fullness of time. And none can stay his hand or
say unto him, what doest thou? Guess what? Isaiah was prophesying
here, the Lord God cometh, what? In strength. Not in weakness,
in strength. And the work, his work, he is
performing. He feeds, He gathers, He carries,
and He leads. And what is He doing today? He
feeds, He gathers, He carries, and He leads. What's He gonna
do in the future? He'll feed, He'll gather, He'll
carry, and He'll lead. Because you understand, the work
of the Lord God never changes. If it's His work, it's His work.
And guess what? He is going to see his work through
to completion. Ready to be revealed at the last
time. He is a God of judgment. He is a
God of righteousness. He's a God of holiness. Actually, no, not but, and, and,
because that never changes. He's holy, righteous, and he's
the judge. He is gracious, and he is merciful,
what? To whom he will have grace, and
he will have mercy. And guess what? He's chose those
ones. He's chose those ones. This is
why he came. This was the work that was before
him in his first advent, when Christ first came. To perform
his work and to bring his reward, what? For his people, his sheep. And we preach, as best we can,
the Lord God, Jesus Christ. Behold your God. Now, Is he the
Lord God you know? That's the question. Because
I believe the Lord God that Isaiah preached here. Why? Because that's the only
Lord God that can save me. You understand, anything else that's
dependent upon me, I don't have a prayer. This is the God, what? Who saves. And that's what it says in the
Old Testament. I am the God, the Lord that saves. My arm's
not short. No. He gathers with his arms
and he carries us in his bosom and he will carry us all the
way home. Our Heavenly Father, thank you
again for this time, this place. Most of all, Thank you for allowing
us to behold your son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And in so doing, see you, the
one who sent him for us, to us, for yourself, for himself, that
he might be exalted and glorified as he deserved. In Christ's name
we pray, amen.