Behold Your God

Q: What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

The Bible affirms God’s sovereignty by teaching that He rules over all creation and His will is always accomplished. Scripture consistently emphasizes God's sovereignty, asserting that He reigns as King and that His decrees are executed in perfect power. Isaiah 40:10 states, 'Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arms shall rule for Him.' This assures believers that God has dominion over all things, and His purposes will not be thwarted. In sovereign grace theology, this doctrine is foundational; God's sovereignty extends to all aspects of salvation, reminding us that He is actively involved in the lives of His people.

Q: How do we know God is loving?

We know God is loving because He is portrayed as a Good Shepherd who cares for His flock, demonstrating His compassion and commitment to save. In Isaiah 40:11, God is described as a shepherd who 'shall feed His flock.' This metaphor highlights His nurturing character and the intimate care He provides to His people. The love of God is ultimately demonstrated in Christ, where He lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11). In sovereign grace, we see a love that is powerful enough to save, and secure in its promise; God's love leads Him to redeem His people fully and completely. This sacrificial love reassures us of His intention to preserve and protect those He loves.

Q: Why is understanding God's greatness important for Christians?

Understanding God’s greatness is vital because it affirms His ability to save and sustain us amidst life's challenges. In Isaiah 40:12-15, God's greatness is illustrated through His mastery over creation, showing that He measures the waters in the hollow of His hand and weighs mountains. Recognizing His greatness fosters a profound trust in Him; if God is capable of creating and sustaining the universe, He is certainly able to manage the details of our lives. This assurance empowers Christians to rely on Him, especially during difficult times, knowing that His omnipotence is marked by omniscience and love toward His people. In feeling small and weak, we are reminded to lean on His strength.

Q: What does the Bible teach about the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice?

The Bible teaches that Christ's sacrifice is wholly sufficient to atone for our sins, fulfilling all divine requirements. Hebrews 10:12 affirms that after Christ offered one sacrifice for sins, He 'sat down at the right hand of God.' This indicates the completeness of His work on the cross. Unlike the insufficient animal sacrifices of the Old Testament, which could not take away sins (Hebrews 10:4), Christ's sacrifice addresses sin profoundly and permanently. In sovereign grace theology, this sufficiency is essential for understanding how salvation is entirely based upon Christ’s merit, not our efforts. We are accepted, justified, and sanctified purely through Christ’s sacrifice, which secures our eternal redemption.

Q: Why is faith in God emphasized in Reformed theology?

Faith in God is emphasized in Reformed theology as it is the means through which we receive God's grace, securing our salvation. Reformed theology accentuates the necessity of faith due to its biblical foundation and the role it plays in salvation. Ephesians 2:8 states, 'For by grace you have been saved through faith.' This faith is not mere intellectual assent but a trustful reliance upon God's promises and His character. In Isaiah 40:31, the promise of renewal for those who wait upon the Lord illustrates that faith in Him leads to strength and endurance. Thus, faith allows believers to behold their God and experience the fullness of His grace, fulfilling the call to live by faith as a response to His sovereign grace.

If you would, open your Bibles
back to Isaiah 40, the passage that Brother Dan read to us. I think it was nine or ten years
ago, I preached from this passage of Scripture, and it is my earnest
desire that any recordings that were made of that message and
any remembrance that someone may have in their mind if that
message has been completely destroyed. It was an utter disaster. Bob and I were talking yesterday
about times that the Lord just humbles you in the pulpit and
I'm telling you this was one of them. I bit off more than
I could chew and hence did not make any of the points that are
so clearly evident here. I've just got the courage to
tread back upon this ground. Hope the Lord will bless it.
The title of the message is taken from verse 9. Behold your God. The scripture tells us how should
they believe on him in whom they've not heard. It is my desire this
morning to give you a description of God Almighty from his words
so that you'd believe on him. It has been my prayer this week
and this morning as I sat down to go over my notes that maybe
the Lord would be pleased to move in power and someone who
as of yet has not trusted on him and believed on him would
this morning because God would give them eyes to behold your
God. And for those who've been believing
in him for many years, that he'd give us another glimpse of our
Savior and enable us to believe him again. to believe Him more
fully and rest in Him more completely. Now, you know, the command to
God's preachers in this chapter is to comfort ye my people. And
there's a great comfort to us if we can behold our God, to
behold His character, to behold Him for as He is, who He is. Behold your God. Now, He's been
promised. He's been pictured throughout
the whole Old Testament. Now here he is, Emmanuel, God
with us. Here is God manifest in the flesh. Now behold your God. Look to
him and be saved. Look to him and be comforted.
And here the prophet gives us a description of this one who's
come, the one to whom we are to look for salvation. And first
he tells us, behold your God. He's King who reigns. Look at
verse 10. Behold, the Lord God will come
with strong hand, and his arms shall rule for him. Behold, his
reward is with him, and his work is before him. Behold your God,
he's king, and he rules in absolute sovereignty. His will is always
done. Well, then that tells me the
king is going to get the job done. He's come for the job of
salvation. he will get the job done. His
strong hand will subdue his people to himself, and his mighty hand
will destroy and conquer every enemy. The king in his power
has the ability to satisfy God's holy law in every jot and every
tittle. The king in his power has the
power to put away his sin, not make his people like they don't
have any sin, but make them without sin. The king and his power can
overcome Satan. Just like we read earlier this
morning, Satan is a strong man armed, but our Lord came and
passed him out, crushed his head, put him out of business. The
king and his power has the power to make his people holy and righteous. He alone has the power to save. He alone as king has the power
to grant pardon and forgive sin. Then look to Him. Run to Him. Cling to Him. Beg Him for mercy. He alone has the power to show
mercy. And He came bringing salvation. He didn't come to make salvation
possible. He came bringing salvation to His people. This is the work,
the great work of salvation the Father gave Him to do. And He
did it. Look over a few pages of chapter
46 of Isaiah. Isaiah 46, verse 13. I bring near my righteousness. It's not something far off. It's
not some mythical, doctrinal thing that's out there in the
haze. I bring near my righteousness. It should not be far off. Am
I salvation? shall not tarry. I will place
salvation in Zion for Israel, my glory." He's come to place
salvation in the hearts of his people. That's God's will. Well, the will of the king should
be done. Behold your God, he's king. Second, behold your God. He has the love to save his people
from their sins. Look at verse 11 in our text.
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. Our Savior has the ability and
the compassion of the Good Shepherd." And that's a good thing. Isn't
a sheep, that's a good description of us, isn't it? Sheep. We're
defenseless. We're dumb. We wander off and
get hopelessly lost. The GPS is going to do us no
good. We're hopelessly lost. We can't
provide anything for ourselves. Somebody's got to feed us. Somebody's
got to lead us to the water. And we can't get to the water
because we're lost. We so easily get too tired to
go on. Just so feeble and frail. And
the mighty hand of God. That same mighty hand that destroys
every enemy. It's the same hand that gently
feeds His sheep. The mighty hand of God, we'll
see this in a second, His hand is so mighty it holds all the
seeds of the earth in the palm of His hand. That same mighty,
infinite hand is the hand that graciously and tenderly picks
up God's sheep and hugs them to His bosom in love. The arm
of the Lord that's mighty enough to crush all opposition is the
same mighty arm that carries His sheep. all the way to glory. He's the Good Shepherd. And not
one of those sheep will be lost. The Good Shepherd will seek and
will save every one of His lost sheep. None of them will be lost.
He knows His sheep. Now, how does the Lord, the Lord
of glory, how does He know so much about sheep? He knoweth
our frame because He became one of us. because he became a sheep. He's the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. Christ our Passover. Christ our
Passover lamb is sacrificed for us. He knows our sheep, or our
frame, because he became one of us to be our substitute. Now that sweet rest and comfort
in Christ our Good Shepherd. Behold your God. He's the Good
Shepherd. Third, behold your God. He's
great enough to save. Now the work of salvation is
a great work, a monumental work, to put away the sin of God's
people. But our God is great. He's equal to the task. Look
at verse 12. Who hath measured the waters
in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with a span,
and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed
the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Our God
is so great, He holds all the oceans, all the seas, all the
rivers of the earth in His fist. Now, when you go home, just run
some water and see how much water you can hold in your fist. It
all runs out. You might be able to hold a drop
or two. By comparison, that's how great our God is. The ocean. I mean, I've just been on one
ocean. It looks infinite to me. You can't see across it. You
can't see the depths of it. Our God holds all of them. It's
just there is a drop in His hand. That's how great He is in comparison
to us. We measure space in light years. You know, we measure the ocean
in fathoms. You know, that sounds like a
lot, you know, fathom. We measure space in light years. God measures
the span of His hand. It's about that big. That's all
it is to Him. He's so great. And the dust of
the earth, that's all the dirt and the rock and the soil, all
the solid substance that makes up this planet. He holds it in
a pinch. That word measure is a pinch,
just what you can hold between your two forefingers and your
thumb, just a pinch. You know, you ladies, you have
a recipe, you put a pinch of salt in it, a dash of this or
whatever. Next time you do that, you think that's just the whole
earth to God, what he can hold right there. Right, and he can control what
goes on right there? I think he can. He's great enough to
save. And all that dust of the earth,
he's put it right where it belongs. I don't know if it was John Gill
or one of the old writers, he talked about the way in the hills
and mountains and scales and in the hills and the balance.
He said that those mountains are just exactly where they are
on this globe to balance this little spin in space. And if
they are moved just a little bit, the whole thing would be
out of circuit. It's just the dust of the earth.
He's great enough to save. Look at verse 15. Behold, the
nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as a small dust
of the balance. Behold, he taketh up the isles
as a very little thing. All the people of every nation
on this earth are just a drop in a bucket to God. Now, the
drop of a bucket is what remains in the bucket After it's empty,
you've got a water bucket full of water, and you dump it out.
It's empty, right? That glass is empty. If anybody's thirsty, you can't
come to this glass to satisfy your thirst. It's empty. Anybody
worry about that drop that just fell on them? It's full, I tell
you, you'd be worried. Anybody worry about the carpet
for that drop that came out of there? No. It's insignificant. Totally insignificant. That's
what we are. All of us put together, not just
one of us, all of us put together are that drop in the carpet.
Insignificant to God. Yet He is so great. He thinks
on us. My soul, He's great enough to
save every son of Adam if you put them all together as ever
lived. They're nothing more than the
small dust of the balance. Well, what's the small dust of
the balance? You know, they used to weigh things, you know, and
balance, that's how they tell how much, you know, you owe for
something. Well, a little bit of dust, you know, from floating
around in the air, laying it on that balance. You don't bother
wiping it off because it's not going to affect the balance.
It's not going to change the weight. It's worthless. That's what we are. Worthless
by nature. Look at verse 17. All nations
before Him are as nothing. They're counted to Him less than
nothing in vanity. All of us put together. We're
not just nothing. We're not just zero. We're less
than nothing. We're negative numbers. We're on the lost side of the
ledger. You know, there's the plus side
of the ledger and the lost side. We're the lost side of the ledger. We're worth less than nothing.
We're altogether lost. to God. No prophet in us whatsoever. Man in his best state is altogether
vanity. Altogether loss. That's how insignificant
we are. All of us put together. Yet the
Lord not only thinks upon us. He not only has knowledge that
we're here in this dust, you know, the earth. He sent his
Son to die. for the likes of you and me.
He's great enough to save. He'll save his people from their
sins. Behold your God. He's great enough to save. Lord,
behold your God. He's wise enough to save. Look
at verse 13. Who hath directed the Spirit
of the Lord? For being his counselor hath taught him. With whom took
he counsel? And who instructed him, and taught
him in the path of judgment? Who taught him knowledge and
showed him the way of understanding? Now, God is all wisdom. Who taught him anything? Who
was here when he created the earth and gave him suggestions
about how to do it? No one. He is all wisdom. And the Lord Jesus Christ, God's
Son, is the wisdom of God that enables God to be just and justifier. Now, that took wisdom. Salvation
that does not ignore sin, but lets God be both just and justifier
at the same time, took wisdom. Man could never devise a salvation
like this. Only God is wise enough to put
away sin and save His people in a way that's consistent with
His holiness. God can show mercy to a sinner,
yet still be holy. God can reach down and pull a
sinner from the dunghill and not be defiled, remain holy,
because He's wise. God saves His people in a righteous
way, doesn't He? A way that reveals to us God's
righteousness. But God saves His people in a
wise way, a way that reveals His wisdom. Who is the Lord Jesus
Christ? In whom are hid all the treasures
of knowledge and wisdom. God saves in a wise way. And
He governs His creation in a wise way, in the same wisdom. I don't
know if you're guilty of this like I am. Have you ever prayed
and offered to the Lord, here's how we can fix this problem? He doesn't need suggestions from
me. He's got all wisdom. Our God is so wise. He knows
what we have need of before we ask. He knows what I have need
of a whole lot better than I do. He's got all wisdom. Our God
is too wise to do wrong. Behold your God. He's wise enough
to save. Fifth, behold your God. He's
sufficient to save. Look at verse 16. Lebanon is
not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for
a burnt offering. If you took every human being
that ever lived and added us all together, we're not sufficient. to add to God's glory. We can't
put away one sin, much less save anybody. We can't even put away
one sin. God does not need us to add to His glory. He is all
glory. All of us added together are
not sufficient to satisfy God or to add to His glory. And if
you took all the trees of the earth and you took all the animals
of the earth and put them all together, boy, you could start
a big fire. You'd have a big sacrifice, wouldn't
you? I mean, boy, you'd be burning a lot of animals. All of those
put together would, I mean, that would be a huge sacrifice. This would be a gigantic show
of worship. All that put together is not
sufficient to His glory. And it's certainly not sufficient
to put away sin. Look over in Hebrews chapter
10. You know that full well. All those animals, there were
bullocks and lambs and goats that were sacrificed for thousands
of years. never put away a single sin.
In Hebrews 10 verse 1, For the law, having a shadow of good
things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never
with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually
make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have
ceased to be offered? Because if the worshipers once
purged should have no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices
There's a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it's
not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take
away sins. It's not possible. Those things
were just pictures, weren't they? They were just types of the land
that was to come. So God sent a sacrifice that
is sufficient, that is sufficient to satisfy him, that's sufficient
to put away sin. In verse 5, he says, wherefore,
because it's not possible that the blood of goats and bulls
should take away sins, When he cometh into the world, he saith,
Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared
me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. There has been no satisfaction
in those things. They are not sufficient. Then said I, Lo,
I come, and the volume of the book it is written of me to do
thy will, O God. Above, when he said, Sacrifice
and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not, neither has pleasure therein. which are offered by the law?
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once." He's the sufficient sacrifice once all it took. And
he put away the sin of his people forever. Behold your God. He's sufficient. And the Lord
Jesus Christ is sufficient in every way. If you look over in
2 Corinthians 3, in Him, in the Lord Jesus Christ, nothings,
those who are less than nothing, like you and me, are made sufficient. 2 Corinthians 3, verse 5. Not that we're sufficient of
ourselves to think anything. We know this. We're not sufficient
of ourselves. to think anything as of ourselves.
But our sufficiency is of God. In Him we're sufficient. We're
accepted in the Beloved because in Him we're sufficient. Behold
your God. He's sufficient to save. Sixth,
behold your God. He's nothing like the idols of
man's imagination. Don't ever confuse this foolishness
that goes on out in this world as religion. Don't ever confuse
the little g God they're preaching. Don't confuse that in any way
with the God of glory, the God that saves his people, saves
whom he will, when he will. He's nothing like the God of
a man's imagination. Look at verse 18 in our text. To whom, then, will you liken
God? What likeness will you compare unto him? The workman melteth
a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold,
and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that
he hath no oblation chooses a tree that will not rot, and seeks
unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image that shall
not be moved." There it's going to sit. It doesn't have any life
in it. It can't move. Have you not known? Have you
not heard? Has it not been told you from
the beginning? Have ye not understood from the
foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the
circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers,
that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, that spreads them
out as a tent to dwell in, that bringeth the princes to nothing.
He maketh the judges of the earth as banty. Yea, they shall not
be planted. Yea, they shall not be sown.
Yea, their stalks shall not take root in the earth, and he shall
also blow upon them, and they shall wither. and the whirlwinds
will take them away as stubble. To whom then will you liken me,
or shall I be equal, saith the Holy One?" Now behold your God. He's nothing like these idols
that men preach. An idol looks like what a man
makes it to look like. What that idol can look like
and the things that it can do is limited to a man's imagination.
God is who He is. He's spirit. You can't make a
representation of him because he's spirit. He is who he is. He's beyond a man's comprehension. We can't comprehend him, but
we can believe him. We can bow to him, but we can't
comprehend him. An idol sits where you put it. And there it sits. It can't move.
It's not going to move. It's not going to do anything
unless an earthquake comes and knocks it over. It's not going
to move. God sits on the circle of the earth. He sits on his
throne and he rules and reigns there. And an idol is just as
rich as a man wants to make it. It just depends how much money
the prince wants to donate, you know, how much taxes he's collected
so he can donate something to make this idol. He's as rich
as a prince wants to make it. God's the one who makes princes.
Puts them on the throne and he removes them from the throne.
Where are all the great empires of history? I was watching the
History Channel the other day and Janet walked in as I was
watching it and I think it was Genghis Khan that showed the
vast majority of the earth he conquered and how he went through
raping and pillaging and how many, the percentage of people
who are alive today that descended from him. It's shocking. He conquered
the whole world. Where's his empire now? God breathed,
he's gone. Blew him away like a hurricane
blows away stubble. God rules in heaven above and
earth beneath. Nothing like his idols. No idol
can be compared to God. No idol can be compared to God
because there's none like him. He's the only one. There's none
like him in holiness. To whom then will you liken me,
or shall I be equal, sayeth the Holy One." His name is the Holy
One. There's none to be compared to
Him in holiness. There's none to be compared to Him in power.
There's none to be compared to Him in mercy and truth. There's
none to be compared to Him in salvation. There's none other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And we cry to men, behold your
God. We get on the rooftops and the
mountaintops and cry to men, Behold your God. Why do we have
to cry that? Why do we have to preach to these
dead bones? You cry to the dead bones. Why
do you cry? Because men by nature prefer
an idol to God. Isn't that awful? This is our
nature. Robert Hawker said, Man prefers
a dunghill God to the true and living God. That's true. And
the light of nature tells you better than that. The light of
nature tells you better than that. That's what he says in
verse 21. Have you not known? And what he means is by the light
of nature, by the light of creation, have you not known? Look over
Romans chapter 1. Paul says the exact same thing. In Romans 1 verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
hold the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them, it is manifest to them, for God
has shown it unto them." God put this knowledge in them. For
the invisible things of him, or the invisible things of God. His existence, his spirit, his
existence, his power, his Godhead, the fact that God is, the fact
that he has the power to create everything that we see, those
are the invisible things of God. Well, the invisible things of
him from the creation of the world are clearly seen. You see
that God is very clearly. All you've got to do is look
at creation. Look at nature. It's evident that God is. It's
clearly seen. Being understood by the things
that are made. Even his eternal power and Godhead. so that they
are without excuse. Creation tells you that God is
more than a hunk of wood or a hunk of stone. He's more than that.
Creation tells you that. Behold your God with awe and
wonder. He's nothing like those idols.
He's God. Seventh, behold your God. He's
the God of election. Look at verse 26 in our text. Lift up your eyes on high, and
behold, who hath created these things, that bringeth out their
host by number? He calleth them all by name,
by the greatness of his might. For he is strong in power, and
not one faileth." Now it sounds like Isaiah is talking about
the God of creation again, the God who created all those stars.
It sounds like he's talking about the God of creation, but he's
not. He's talking about the God of election. And I'll show you
that. Look over at first at Genesis 15. Genesis 15 verse 2, And Abram said, Lord God, what
wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless? And the steward of
my house is this Eleazar of Damascus. And Abram said, Behold, to me
thou hast given no seed, and, lo, one born in my house is mine
heir. And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth
out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought
him forth abroad. He said, look now toward heaven,
tell the stars if thou be able to number them. And he said unto
him, so shall thy seed be as those stars of heaven. Now look
over at Galatians chapter 3. Galatians 3 verse 26. For ye are all the children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew
nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free.
There is neither male nor female. For ye are all one in Christ
Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are
ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. If ye be Christ's,
then ye are the stars of the heaven. Now the stars, well,
God's elect is those stars, just like those stars. He brings his
people out and puts them in their place. And there they are secure. They'll never fail, ever. Now,
the stars, the hanging space, there they hang on the word of
God. You know, you go to these children's
science fairs, you know, and they have the stars and the plants
all hanging from a string. There's no string in those stars.
They hang there on the word of God. And there they stay. The ancients who looked at those
stars and looked at the patterns of the stars, who navigated their
ships through the ocean by those stars, are the exact same stars
we look at today. Isn't that amazing? But a star occasionally falls
from the sky, doesn't it? You see a shooting star. Gods
of left will never be a shooting star. They'll never fail. There
they stay. Because God put him there. Behold
your God. He's the God of election. God
called you. He chose you. He put you in His
Son. You'll never fall away from Him. Behold your God. He's the God
of all power. The God of all love. The God
of all wisdom. He's the God of election. He's
God. And why do we spend so much time
worrying? Why do we do that? Look at verse 27 back in our
text. Why sayest thou, Jacob, and speakest
thou Israel? My ways hid from the Lord, and
my judgments passed over from my God. Why do we spend so much
time worrying and think, can't God see what's going on here? This is awful. Can't he see this? Why didn't he put a stop to this?
You know, has God got too much on his plate to help me in my
trials? Is he too tired? He's helping
so many people. He's providing for so many people.
Is he just too tired to help me? No, he fainteth not, neither
is weary. Well, then has he forgot me? No, there's no searching his
understanding. He's the God of all wisdom. He's
not forgot his people. God chose his people. He called
you, He sent His Son to die for you. You'll not be forsaken. You'll not be forsaken. Behold
your God. He'll never tire of keeping you
and saving you. You cannot wear Him out or make
Him cast you out. Look at verse 28. Has thou not
known? Has thou not heard that the everlasting
God the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth. Fainteth
not, neither is weary, for there is no searching of his understanding."
Now, he says here again, have you not known? Have you not heard?
Really similar to what he said in verse 21. Well, in verse 21,
when he says, have you not known? Have you not heard? He seems
to be speaking to the unregenerate man who can only see the light
of nature. In verse 28, he's speaking to
believers. Have you not known? Have you
not heard? The unregenerate man can see
God from the light of nature. You've seen him from the light
of the gospel, from the light of the gospel that's been preached
to you over and over and over again. God makes himself known. You can see that God is from
the light of nature. He makes himself known to his
people through the preaching of the gospel, through the preaching
of his word. And every believer, we have some
understanding of who I am. We understand that. It's just
the tip of the iceberg. God keeps us from knowing too
much about ourselves or we'd be in a loony bin. But we know
a little bit about ourselves. I know enough about myself to
be scared of myself. And I have some understanding
of who God is. I can't comprehend Him, but I
have some understanding of who He is from His Word, from what
He's revealed to us. I have some understanding of
what God's done for me and what He's done in me. I grant you,
it's just a little bit, but I know something. And everything I know
about who God is causes me to trust Him more fully. Everything
I learn and know about who the Lord Jesus Christ is makes me
rest in Him alone. Completely in Him alone. Have you not known? Have you
not heard? Yes, you have. Just commit your way to Him. In verse 29, He goes on, He says,
He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might
He increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and
be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait
upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up
with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall
walk and not faint. Look how our Savior deals with
the weak. and the faint. You know, we tend
to look down on those who are weaker than us, don't we? We
just saw how great God is. How does He deal with those who
are weak and faint? Those who don't have any ability.
Those who don't have any strength to do anything good. Those who
don't have the ability to contribute anything to Him. How does He
treat them? Well, He doesn't just kick them to the curb, does
He? He gives them strength. He gives it to them. He gives
them spiritual strength. Strength to believe on His name.
He gave them power to become the sons of God. He gives them
strength to continue in the faith, to continue all the way to the
end. He gives them strength in trials. This is the power of
God working in us. It's the power that He gave.
That's why Paul said, I can do all things through Christ which
strengthens me. He didn't say I can just do all
things. No, it's through Christ which strengthens me. Though
our outward man perish and gets weaker and weaker and weaker,
yet the inward man is renewed day by day because his mercies
and graces are new every day. We have strength only when we
trust fully in the Lord. That's why Paul said, I can glory
in my infirmities. I can glory in distresses because
when I'm weak, then am I strong. When I'm weak in my flesh and
cannot depend upon my flesh, then and only then will I lean
fully upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Then I'm strong, because he has
all strength. When we're made to trust in him,
then we know who we are and who he is, and we have strength.
Now, our text speaks of a person who's able to run. and not get
weary. Just keep going. We like to train
somebody like that, Sean, to run cross-country. They'd never
get tired. Just keep running, running, running, running. Well,
a person who runs. You know, we were walking around
the park a couple weeks ago looking at the lights, you know. We were
walking and a young woman was running the opposite way. And
she was just running like she was on air, you know. And I looked
at her and I'm like, oh, I'm so jealous. She just, I mean,
effortless. Well, it looked to me like This
person has strength, she has energy, and she has health to
be able to keep running, running, running, running like that. Well,
that's what we're made in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have strength,
we have energy, we have health, we have life in Him. And running
also indicates a sense of urgency. If somebody's running, they're
wanting to get somewhere in a hurry. Well, there is a real urgency.
In the believer's walk through this world, there's an urgency
to it. A few weeks ago, Joe Terrell
was here, and after service, he made this statement. He said,
the business of the church is to preach the gospel. And if
we don't, who will? We got home and Janice said,
well, you liked that statement, Joe, didn't you? I said, yes,
I did. Because there's an urgency to
preach the gospel. People are going into eternity
every day, every minute. People are going into eternity
lost. There's an urgency to preach
the gospel so that people will come to know the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's an urgency to hear the gospel. There's an urgency to
believe the gospel. Today's the day of salvation.
There's an urgency to believe in today, right now. There's
an urgency to follow Christ. There's an urgency to love our
brethren. There's an urgency in these things
because they're important. Then we run. We run. And we run the best when we're
not carrying excess baggage. Just lay down every sin and every
care that just easily beset us. And wait on the Lord. Now, Frank,
how can you be telling me to run and wait in the same breath? That's the paradox of a believer.
We run and we wait on the Lord. We wait on Him. Those that wait
upon the Lord, they're the ones that are going to renew their
strength. They're the ones that will mount up with the wings
as eagles. They're the ones who will run and not be weary when
they wait upon the Lord. We wait and we run. We run in the direction that
He points our path. We run the race that He sets
before us with patience. Now, I'll freely admit to you,
I don't know what I'm supposed to do with the rest of my life.
I have absolutely no idea. The day I know what I'm supposed
to be doing this morning is to preach the gospel of God's sovereign
grace of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then I do it with
urgency. Urgency. I prepared this week
with urgency because it's It's life and death. There's an urgency
to run for God's glory and for the good of His people. But now
running takes a whole lot more energy and a whole lot more endurance
than I have anymore. In years past, I've been a runner. I've liked to run and run races. I've loved it. But since my back
surgery, I cannot do it. Can't. I have been walking, and
when Jan's not looking, I try to jog a little bit, you know?
And it's comical. I mean, it's completely comical.
It's an insult to those who do actually jog, because it's very,
very slow. And this leg is like a half beat behind the rest of
everything. I mean, it's just utterly comical. I can't run
around the block. But in Christ, we can run like
a young man, a man full of health and vim and vigor because our
strength comes from Christ, not ourselves. So behold your God. Salvation is in Him. Behold Him. Look to Him. Cling
to Him. Cry to Him for mercy. Salvation is found in Him. Behold
Him. Fall at His feet and beg for
mercy and stay right there. Behold your God. We are secure. Our salvation is secure under
His rule as King. Our salvation is secure in the
eternal love of the Great Shepherd. It's not my love for Him that
keeps me safe. It's His love for me. We're secure
in His love. We're secure in His infinite
might. It's true. I won't let go. But
my security is in that no man can put me out of his hand. We're
secure in his wisdom. He knows. We're secure in his
all sufficient sacrifice. It's his sacrifice that put away
our sin. And we don't contribute to that.
We don't contribute to it by our church attendance. We don't
contribute to it by our love. We don't contribute. We're secure
in his all sufficient sacrifice. We're secure in His person, in
His character, who He is. We're secure in His electing
love, and we are secure in His immutability. I'm the Lord. I change not. Therefore, ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed. Behold your God. All right. The
Lord bless you.

Behold Your God

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

How do we know God is loving?

Why is understanding God's greatness important for Christians?

What does the Bible teach about the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice?

Why is faith in God emphasized in Reformed theology?

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Behold Your God

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

How do we know God is loving?

Why is understanding God's greatness important for Christians?

What does the Bible teach about the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice?

Why is faith in God emphasized in Reformed theology?

Sermon Transcript

About Frank Tate

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