Good morning. Open your Bibles with me to Psalm
46. While you're turning there, I
haven't heard from our pastor today, but the last couple of
days, I know that they're trying to manage his pain, but he has
managed to get a couple of nights of sound like pretty good sleep
compared to what he's been having. Encouraged by that, and he has
a appointment tomorrow in Lexington. So let's continue to keep him
in our prayers. And then next Sunday, Lord willing,
Luke Coffey from Kingsport will be here to preach for us. I'm scheduled to preach for Brother
Tom Harding down in Pikeville. So Tom's taking some vacation. I think he rarely does that.
So anything we can do to help him take a little time off. Psalm 46, God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though
the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be
troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. There is a river. The streams
whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the
tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. God shall help her, and that
right early. The heathen raged. The kingdoms
were moved. He uttered his voice, and the
earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.
Come behold the works of the Lord. What desolations he hath
made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease until
the end of the earth. He breaketh the bow and cutteth
the spear in thunder. He burneth the chariots in the
fire. Be still. Be still and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the heathen. I'll be exalted in the earth.
The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Let's go to our Lord in prayer. Our God and Father in heaven,
we thank you again for this day. We thank you for the opportunity
to gather here as a people. Lord, we pray you bless us with
your presence. Lord, that you would bless the
preaching and hearing of your word. Lord, who's sufficient
for these things to handle thy word. Lord, we beg of thee. Lord, bless us with your presence
here this morning. Lord, for those of our number
who are in a time of trouble and difficulty, we pray you'd
comfort and strengthen your people. Lord, encourage us through thy
word. Encourage us in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We pray for our pastor, Lord,
that you would be with those who attend to him tomorrow. Lord,
give them wisdom. Lord, we pray that you would
comfort him and strengthen him. Lord, cause him and cause us
all to rest in thee and thee alone. Lord, for our young people, Lord,
we thank you for these many young ones you've blessed us with.
Lord, we pray that you would protect them and keep them in
this world. Lord, above all, that you would
be merciful. Lord, that you would reveal yourself to them in mercy
and truth. Lord, that you'd be merciful
to our children. Now again, we thank you for your
many blessings. Above all, We thank You for the
Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, bless us to know Him. Lord,
how we thank You for the forgiveness of sin, Lord, for righteousness
that we have in our Savior. Now again, bless us this day.
Bless us in this hour of worship. Lord, be pleased to dwell among
Your people. Set aside the thoughts of this
world. Let us seek Christ. It's in his
name we pray and give thee thanks. Amen. A special one, sir. Teach me thy way, O Lord. Teach me thy way. Thy guiding grace afford, teach
me thy way. Help me to walk aright, more
by faith, less by sight. Lead me with heavenly light,
teach me thy way. When I am sad at heart, teach
me thy way. When earthly joys depart, teach
me thy way. In times of dire distress, In
failure or success, Teach me thy way. When doubts and fears
arise, Teach me thy way. When storms o'erspread the skies,
teach me thy way. Shine through the cloud and rain,
through sorrow, toil, and pain. Make thou my pathway plain, teach
me thy way. Long as my life shall last, teach
me thy way. Where'er my lot be cast, teach
me thy way. Until the race is won, until
the journey's done, until the crown is won, teach me thy way. Thank you, girl. Let's open our
Bibles to Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46. We'll look at the first four
verses here this morning. The title of the message is,
I Will Deliver You. Look beginning in verse one.
Bale bowed down, Nebo stooped. Their idols were upon the beast
and upon the cattle. Your carriages were heavy laden.
They're a burden to the weary beast. They stooped. They bowed down together. They
could not deliver the burden, but themselves are going into
captivity. Now, this is a reference to the
fall of Babylon by Cyrus. Back in chapter 21 and verse
9 of Isaiah, we read Babylon is falling and all these idols,
all these false gods cover the ground. broken in pieces. The victors are going around
gathering them up, not to save them for anything, but just for
the value of them, the gold that was in them. And here in our
text, they were loaded upon these beasts and cattle to carry them
off. They were loaded up and so much
was on those wagons, so much was put on those beasts, they
couldn't bear the load. They could not carry it. It says
they stooped down and these things were knocked down. They were
knocked over and broken. These idols, they could not deliver
the people. Imagine all these idols just
laying around on the ground. And people were counting on these
idols to deliver them, to save them, but they could not. They couldn't deliver themselves,
let alone the people. And they were a burden to the
animals that were trying to haul them off. to carry them off. And look at the description of
these idols in verses 5 through 9. Look there in Isaiah 46, beginning
with verse 5. To whom will you liken me and
make me equal? And compare me that may be likened. They lavish gold out of the bag. They take gold out of a bag and
weigh silver in the balance and they hire a goldsmith. And he
maketh it a god. They fall down, yea, they worship,
they bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, set him up in
his place, and he standeth, and 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. 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'm God and there is none like
me." Remember this. He says, you keep this in mind.
Bring it again to the mind of the transgressors. An idol. An idol is nothing more than
the works of a man's hands. He says he goes out there and
he takes his bag of gold and he finds someone to melt that
down and fashion it into an idol. that idol can do nothing. That
idol cannot save itself. I remember, I think this was,
I think Dan Carver was telling this, I can't remember this for
sure, but he talked about working at the car lot and they brought
in a man's car to work on it and there was some kind of object
laying up there on the dash and the service manager took it and
he put it in the glove box, he didn't want to tip off the dash,
fall off, and get broken. And when the fella come to pick
up his car, he was all tore up about it. He was very distressed
about it. What have you done with my guy?
What have you done with him? And they said, whatever it was,
we put it there in the glove box. He said, it suffocated me. You can't. Now you think about
that. And we laugh and we giggle about
that, but you think about that. What kind of God can you put
in a glove box? What kind of God do you have
to worry about suffocating? And that's the God that men worship. I'd be concerned about a God
I could stick in a glove box. But most of what's worshipped
in our world today could probably be stuffed in the glove box and
just left there and could do nothing, nothing about it. They
can't save themselves, they can't save those that worship them.
They're useless. They're a false refuge. A man makes him, that's what
he says here, a man makes that idol and he sets it on the shelf
and it sits there until he goes over and picks it up and moves
it somewhere else. It's like a decoration in our
house. It's like this vase up here.
That vase will just sit there until somebody picks it up and
moves it or changes the flowers in it. And that's what men worship. Their idols are silver and gold.
They're the works of man's hands. It's what man does. They have
mouths, but they speak not. Eyes have they, but they see
not. They have ears, but they hear not. Noses, but they smell
not. Hands, but they handle not. Feet
have they, but they walk not. Neither speak they through their
throat, and they that make them are just like them. That's from
Psalm 115 verse 4. Sometimes at home when I study,
I'll look things up on the computer. And I thought I was typing this
into my Bible app, but I typed it on
Google. I just put a few of those words
in there and tried to find out where that verse was found. And
I came across something very similar, very similar. And this
is what it said. This was a Catholic prayer. Now,
listen to this. And this is what it said, they
say Christ has no body but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but
yours. Your eyes are the eyes through
which the compassion of Christ must look. Yours are the feet
with which he's about doing good. Yours are the hands with which
he blesses his people. They call that a prayer. God's Word says that's idolatry. That's nothing more than pure
idolatry. That's an idol. Paul writing
to the Corinthians, he said, we know that an idol is nothing. Nothing. In this world, Listen,
there's no God but one. That's the God of the Bible.
And listen, an idol, Isaiah says, remember this, we have to be
reminded, warned about idolatry. And listen, our sinful nature
is drawn to it. Just like those flies are drawn
to the light out on the porch. By our sinful nature, we're drawn
to these things. That's why we have to continually
be warned. That's why he said, tell the people, remind them.
When we rest in anything but Christ, we're looking to an idol. When we rest in anything but
Him, we're looking to an idol. Your service, your church membership,
your giving, your doing whatever it might be. You're refraining
from doing something. Anything that takes our eyes
off of Christ. Our works. What we do for a living
could easily become an idol. Our children could become an
idol. Anything, anything, whatever
it might be, that takes our eyes off of Him. And listen, an idol
cannot deliver you. An idol cannot deliver us. And
these idols aren't always 90 feet tall and coated in gold. They're not always that obvious.
Remember Nebuchadnezzar the king, he made that idol of gold whose
height was three square cubits and the breadth was six cubits.
It was 90 feet. That would be pretty obvious. That's an idol. But everything
has become an idol in our day. You know, even Calvinism has
become like a trendy thing in our day. Spurgeon is commonly quoted by,
it seems like everybody, but you know if you listen close
enough, works always seem to filter their way in. It's often subtle, but it's there. It's usually this, Christ plus
something, however small it might be. Christ plus something. Taking
what God has said and adding to it. Even just the smallest
amount. Or many times, it's not what's
added, but it's what's conveniently left out. What men will conveniently
forget to say. Just to make things a little
more palatable. Things like this. Man's sin. What happened in the
garden? Did he stumble or did he fall? We know the answer to that, don't
we? He fell. He absolutely fell. Dead. We're dead in trespasses
and sin. What about God's holiness? He's either absolutely holy or
he's not God. God is absolutely holy. How about his sovereignty? God's
sovereignty. Men will acknowledge pretty easily
God's sovereignty in creation. Oh yeah, God created everything.
They'll acknowledge his sovereignty in providence, the things that
occur in this world. What about salvation? God's absolute
sovereignty in salvation. He's either absolutely sovereign
in salvation or he's not God. God rules and reigns over All
things. If we're saved, it's because
He saved us. How about Christ's sacrifice?
Did Christ's sacrifice completely put away our sin? Yes. Yes, it did. Christ plus nothing. God doesn't need anything from
us to make that sacrifice effectual. His sacrifice saves. what men
leave out. Satan did that in the garden.
He said, he said, you shall not surely die. Matthew 24, 24, our Lord speaking
to his disciples, he said, there shall arise false Christ and
false prophets, and they'll show great signs and wonders in so
much. If it were possible, if it were
possible, they would deceive the very elect of God. But they
cannot deceive God's elect. These false gods, these idols,
they cannot deliver. They're dependent upon man. That's why men like them so much. They're dependent upon me. Assemble yourselves and come.
Draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations. They
have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image.
And pray unto a God that cannot save. A false god cannot save. Now back to our text here in
Isaiah 46. Look at verse 3. He says, Harken unto me, O house of Jacob,
and all the remnant of the house of Israel. He says, Harken unto
me. Listen to what I'm saying here.
You know, there's a lot of folks talking in our world There's
a lot being said, but there's not much worth here in our time. He says, hearken unto me. You know, our generation is subjected
to so many things on TV and on the computer. And is this true
or is this not true? This is true. God's word is true. Let God be true in every man
alike. He says, hearken unto me. Listen
to what Listen to what I have to say. This is the Lord speaking.
This is this is almighty God speaking. In that, don't we want
to hear what he has to say? Don't we want to know what the
Lord has to say? In Psalm 85, I will hear what
God the Lord will speak. He'll speak peace unto his people. He'll speak peace unto his people
and to his saints. but let them not turn again to
folly. Hearken unto me." Over in the
book of Hebrews, God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners
spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath
in these last days spoken unto us by His Son. What does He have
to say? Huh? Hearken unto me, O house
of Jacob. all the remnant of the house
of Israel." You know who's going to hearken? You know who's going
to listen? It tells us right here, that
remnant. That remnant, according to the election of grace. His
church will hear. His people will hear. His elect. The remnant according to the
election of grace. His sheep will hearken. Now,
there are those who will not. We've got friends. We've got
family members who have no interest in what God's Word says. But
His sheep will hear. Our Lord speaking to the Jews
over in John 10. Turn over to John 10. The Jews gathered around him.
They said how long? How long you gonna make us to
to doubt? How long are you gonna keep us
in suspense over this thing if thou be the Christ? Tell us tell
us plainly and look at verse 25 Jesus answered them He said
I told you and you believe me not the works that I do in my
father's name. They bear witness of me But you
believe not because you're not my sheep.
As I said unto you, but listen, look at verse 27. He says, my
sheep, my sheep hear my voice. They hear me. They hearken unto
me. They listen. And he says, I know
them. I know them and they follow me.
Who does? His sheep do. My sheep do. Back to Isaiah, verse 3. Harken 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. Now sinners,
we know this, we're sinners by birth, born in sin. David wrote over in Psalm 58,
verse 3, he said, the wicked are estranged from the womb and
they go astray. as soon as they be born, speaking
lies. Alec and Lyndon, they're going
to have a little one here before too long. There's a lot of things
they'll have to teach that little one. But you know one thing they
will not have to teach him? They will not have to teach that
little baby how to lie. We know that. We know how to
do that as soon as we're born. But his sheep, he says they're
born from the belly. They're carried from the womb,
born and carried. The Lord Jesus Christ, He bore
our griefs. He carried our sorrows. And as
a child, as an infant, they can do nothing. They must be carried. He bears them up and He carries
them. He bears us up and He carries
us. Now, I was thinking about this, and I know this is hard
to imagine, but Isaac and Brady, and this has been, seems like
just a little while ago. I know it's been a few years
back, but Abby and I were at Dollywood, and we had got there
early, and we had stayed all day long. We had took in everything
we could take in that day. And when we come out, you line
up for that tram get a ride back to the cars. And that line was
long. And it was cold out. We were
tired. We couldn't wait to get to Pizza
Hut. We just wanted to get them in the car and just get home. And we looked at that line, and
then we looked out in the parking lot. I think we were in Tram
Stop C. It was a good ways out, but we
said, let's just take them. So Abby gathered up all the stuff,
and I gathered up both the boys. And we start walking and we look
over and we see those trams just keep going by and we think, well,
maybe that was the way to go. But carried those boys, pulled
them in tight and carried them all the way back to the car.
And we loaded them up and we went on our way. Now, wouldn't
it be absurd to think, now, they were little. I mean, they were
maybe four or five years old, maybe younger than that. Wouldn't
it be absurd to think they would have carried me? I mean, what
if we had just said that? Boys, we're in a hurry here. Why don't you carry me and Mom?
Wouldn't that be absurd? That's just foolish talk, isn't
it? Well, He carries His children. That's what we do. We carry our
children, don't we? They don't carry us. The Lord
carries His children. How foolish. How foolish to think
that He needs us for anything, that we would carry Him. God's
not carried by His children. He bears them up. He bears us
up and He carries us. One of the old writers said this,
we're poor, weak, helpless creatures like newborn babes and cannot
go alone. We must be carried. And listen, in His providence,
His people, His sheep, He's our God from our mother's belly.
He carries us as infants, through our years as youngsters, as men,
even to old age. He never leaves nor forsakes
His people. Isn't that a comforting thought?
Isn't that something we forget? We tend to forget. We have to
be reminded. We have to be told again. But
He carries us. And He said, I'll never leave
thee. nor forsake thee." Now back to our text. Hearken unto
God, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel,
which are born by him and carried from the womb. Look at verse
4. Even the old age, when the eyes grow dim, when the when the ear is heavy,
when our arms tremble in that day of decline and decay and
ultimately death. He said, even to old age, even
though I am he. David said, my flesh and my heart
faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Forever. Even to old age, I am
He. Even to your gray hairs will
I carry you." The old hymn writer said this, through many dangers,
toils and snares, I have already come. It is grace that brought
me safe thus far. Grace that will lead me home. He said, I've made thee. I'll
bear thee. I'll carry thee. Is it evident
whose work this is? He says, I am He. I have made thee. I will bear
thee. I will carry thee. What are we
doing in all this? Resting in Him. The work is His. I've made thee. We read that
it pleased the Lord to make you His people. I have made thee. The Lord Jesus Christ was made
sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. I have made thee, He said. And
know this, know this, the Lord, He is God. It is He that hath
made us and not we ourselves. We're His sheep, the sheep of
His pasture. He said, I'll bear thee. I'll
carry thee. That Samaritan over there in
Luke, He found a certain man, and he was stripped and wounded,
and he was left half dead. Now that's not the description. We're found completely dead,
aren't we? But he found him there, and the priest passed by, and
the Levite passed by. But that Samaritan came to where
he was. We read, he came to where he
was, he saw him, and he had compassion on him. and he bound up his wounds,
and he poured in oil and wine, and he put him up on his beast,
and he carried him. Carried him to that end. Turn
to Luke chapter 15. Luke chapter 15, beginning with
verse four. What man of you, what man of
you having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, does not
leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go after that
which is lost until he finds it? And when he finds it, he
lays it on his, he picks it up and he lays it on his shoulders,
rejoicing. He bears that lost sheep on his
shoulders and he carries it home. And when he comes home, he called
together his friends and neighbors saying, rejoice with me for I
have found my sheep which was lost. Now back to our text, let's
close with this final point. From the belly. He says from
the belly to old age. I am He. I'll carry you. He said,
I've made you. I'll bear you. And then he says
that I will deliver you. Those idols in verse one or two,
they couldn't deliver themselves. They could not deliver the people. Idolatry. False religion would
have man deliver himself. How foolish. But the God of the
Bible This sovereign God that we read of in His Word, He delivers
His people. He delivers them completely.
He said, I will deliver thee. Back in Daniel 6, I won't have
you turn there, but King Darius had set over his kingdom 120
princes. And over these princes, he had
three presidents. And Daniel was... Daniel was
the one the king loved. He was going to make him king
over all of it. He respected Daniel. We read
that there was an excellent spirit found in him. And those other
presidents, they became jealous. They heard of what was happening,
what the king's thoughts were, and they came up with a scheme
to get rid of Daniel. And they flattered the king.
They came up, they said, O king, live forever. They flattered
the king. And playing on his pride, they
convinced him to set in place a law that if any person in the
kingdom made a request, made a prayer to anyone but the king,
that he'd be cast into the den of lions. And they did this. They did this to trap Daniel.
They knew that Daniel went into his house three times a day to
pray unto God. And Daniel prayed, and after
this law was set in motion, Daniel prayed and he gave thanks to
God, just as he had done every day before that. And he didn't
try to hide it either. He said he left the curtains
of his house open. He wasn't hiding what he believed
or who he believed. And these men, of course, ran
and told on him. And Darius, the king, was displeased
with himself. He was in verse 14 of Daniel
6, we read that the king was, he was sore displeased. He was
very displeased with himself. And he set his heart on Daniel
to deliver him. He said, how can I deliver him?
And we read he labored to the going down of the sun and there
was no way. There was no way for the king
to deliver him. Now, this was a foolish law.
Everybody would agree with that. But nevertheless, it was still
a law. And I don't read where Daniel
said, oh, king, this is a foolish law. How can you punish me for
this? No. No. King, can you let this
slide just this once? I mean, after all, I'm your favorite
president. No. And though the king's efforts
were sincere, even the king himself desired to deliver Daniel. He could not deliver him. Man
cannot deliver Daniel. Listen, the law cannot deliver
Daniel. That law can only do one thing,
and that's condemn. The law of the Medes of Persians,
which altereth not, it does not change, it can only condemn.
Listen, there's only one who can deliver. O King Darius, when
they put Daniel in that den, he went to him and he said this,
he yelled in through that stone, he said, the God, thy God, Daniel,
thy God whom thou servest continually, He will deliver thee. What did our text say in Isaiah
46? He says this, I will carry and I will deliver
you. I will deliver you from affliction,
from temptation, from the hand of the enemy, from falling, from
this body of sin and death, from the grave and wrath to come out
in Christ, by Christ, through the Lord Jesus Christ. "'Tis
the grandest thing. "'Let the tidings roll to the
guilty heart, "'to the sinful soul. "'Look to God in faith. "'He'll make thee whole. "'Our God is able to deliver
thee. "'Hearken unto me, O house of
Jacob, "'and all the remnant of the house of Israel, "'which
are born from the belly, which are carried from the womb. And
even to your old age, I am He. Even to your hoar hairs, even
to your gray hairs, will I carry you." He said, I'll carry you. I've made you. I'll bear you. I'll carry you. And he says this,
I will deliver you. Oh, may God give us the grace
to believe The rest in this that he will, he will deliver. He
will deliver us. May he be pleased and blessed.
You're dismissed.