Well I've decided to come back
to Isaiah and we're in Isaiah 46 this week. Now we've just sung How Firm
a Foundation, one of my favourite hymns, I love that hymn because
it states very clearly that the truth of God, the truth about
solid Truth of God, the foundation, is in the Word of God. It's laid
in the Word of God. That's where it is. You see,
we can know quite a lot about God in creation. We can see that
there is a God, because only a fool would say that this put
itself together, and you might say, well there are a lot of
fools, and I would agree with you. The world is full of fools professing
themselves to be wise, says the scripture, they became fools.
Oh, but they're professors of this, that and the other. Yes,
the scripture says fools, fools, because they don't see that which
is perfectly obvious. that God has created these things.
Things don't put themselves together. Yes, we can know a lot about
God in creation. We even have, you know each one
of us, do you know what we have within us? We have what is called
the image of God. It says in Genesis that God created
man in his own image. There's the image of God within
us. There's the law of God written in our hearts. It tells us in
Romans, in the early chapters, that the man that knows nothing
about the things of God, has never heard, knows right from
wrong in his heart, because the law of God is written there.
We have that image of God within us. But you see, The danger is
that everybody comes to their own opinion, as they said of
the people in the days of the judges, every man did that which
was right in his own eyes, and every man thinks that which he
wants to think in his own eyes, and everybody's entitled to their
own opinion, but you know the kingdom of God is not a democracy
of personal opinions. No, it's not. It's not, oh, well,
they think that, but that's nice for them, isn't it? They can
do that if they want. No, they can't, not in the kingdom of
God. The kingdom of God is not a democracy of personal opinions. It's a theocracy of the sovereignty
of God, of the absolute rule and sovereignty of God. For God
has spoken and He doesn't change. Fallen man, man in sin, man without
the righteousness of God within him, man as he is, fallen, descended
from Adam, having believed the lie of Satan, has God said, doubting
what God has said. Fallen man is naturally idolatrous. You say, where's your evidence
for that? Look around the world. Look at religion. Look at the
billions, I mean billions, around the world that follow all sorts
of different idolatrous ideas, but not the one true God. They
all have different ideas of God, but what a firm foundation we
have in the Word of God. You see, today's Gospel, as far
as religion is concerned, today's good news is this. Tolerance
of diversity in everything, everything, including thoughts of God. Tolerance
of diversity. Tolerant. If you want to think
of it that way, that's absolutely fine. No, it's not according
to the truth of God. We thank God that He has spoken
clearly He who is the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God,
in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. He has spoken. He's created all
things. By Him, nothing was made that
was made. The Word has spoken. Look in
Hebrews. Let me just remind you. Hebrews
chapter 1, and the first three verses. Hebrews
chapter 1. God, who at sundry times, various
times, and in different manner, in different ways, spoke in time
past to the fathers, to the patriarchs. How did he do it? By the prophets.
God raised up prophets that did the speaking, preachers in his
day. This God, the true God, has in
these last days, what are the last days? The days after Christ
came, all of them, has in these last days spoken unto us by His
Son, who is the Word of God. God has spoken to us by His Son. He has made His Son heir of all
things. He's appointed Him heir of all
things. He's the one by whom He made
the worlds. He is the one who is the brightness of His glory
and the express image of His person. If you want to know what
God is like, you want to see one who is the express image
of His person. Show us the Father and that will
suffice, said Philip. Philip, have I been so long with
you and you have not known me? He who has seen me has seen the
Father, the express image of his person, and upholding all
things by the word of his power. upholding all things by the word
of His... This One who is God, who is the Word of God, who has
spoken, God now upholds all things. The laws of physics, the laws
of science, the laws of nature, the laws of the universe are
actively upheld and spoken and determined by Him even now. The chair you're sitting on,
the atoms and the molecules in it that hold together and support
your weight. Why? because God in Christ upholds
all things by the word of his power. He is the one who has
purged the sins of his people, and having done that, having
accomplished redemption at the cross of Calvary, is now sat
down as it were, work completed at the right hand of the Majesty
on high. This is the One who is the Word
of God who has spoken. How firm a foundation, ye saints
of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent Word.
We have this Word in front of us, and in His Word we see the
truth of God. We see aspects in creation around
us, we have a notion by the image of God within us, we have the
law of God in our hearts, but it's by His Word that we know
truth. It's by His Word that we discern
the Gospel of God's grace. Jesus said, these scriptures
are they that speak of me. Wouldn't that have been the most
pompous, arrogant, selfish thing to say if it was a normal fallen
man that said it? But this is the Word, this is
the Son of God that said that. This is God, this is God. In
His Word, God declares His absolute sovereignty over everything.
If you learn nothing else this morning, learn this. God is absolutely
sovereign over everything. He does what He wills. It is
the Lord. He does what He wills. God is
sovereign in the affairs of man, in everything. Look at verse
10 of Isaiah 46. He's the one who declares the
end from the beginning. In other words, before it happened,
he says what's going to happen. He says how it's going to turn
out. Does he not? Read Revelation. There it is.
The whole of the unfolding of the history of this space-time
creation is the decree of Almighty God. He declares the end from
the beginning. From ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, Long before it happened, he's
the one that declared it, the things that are not yet done,
saying, my counsel, what I've determined, shall stand. Nobody's
going to knock it over. Nobody will knock it over. And
I will do all my pleasure. That's the word of God. Is this
the God you worship? Is this the God you desire to
know? because this is true God, the
God whose counsel cannot be knocked down, the one who will do all
his pleasure. This is the theme this morning,
the sovereignty of God. I want you to notice things from
this chapter. The text is in verse 10, because
it's the sovereignty of God, but I want us to get the lesson
from the whole of the chapter. And the first lesson is this.
The true God needs no help from man. You get that? Let me say it again. The true
God needs no help from man. Look in verses 1 and 2. Bell
boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts and
upon the cattle. Your carriages were heavy loaded,
they are a burden to the weary beast. They stoop, they bow down
together, they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are
gone into captivity. Israel, as the people of God,
constantly disobeyed God and fell into idolatry, the worship
of false gods. And God constantly promised them
that He would punish them with captivity, that He would come
and they would lose the land that He had given them. They
would be taken away into captivity. There were 70 years of captivity
promised in the prophets. And Isaiah prophesied about this,
and Jeremiah prophesied about this, and no end of others prophesied
about it. Babylonian captivity. And in
the fullness of time, after Isaiah had written the Babylonians,
the Chaldeans, same thing, they came, and they took them into
captivity. Nevertheless, God's purpose in
salvation of His elect stands. It cannot be thwarted, because
that's His purpose. He says He will save His people
from their sins. He says He will send a Redeemer.
He said that in Him shall Israel be saved, shall Judah be saved.
In Him shall Jacob be saved. He says He has a purpose of election
to save a people from their sins for eternal glory. And that purpose
stands. It cannot be thwarted. We saw
it looking at Isaiah 45 and all the previous chapters. where
in Isaiah 45 it finishes so gloriously. He's a just God and a saviour.
How does God save sinners? He's a just God and a saviour.
He's a just God because He doesn't change in His condemnation and
punishment of sin. Nevertheless, He is able to save
to the uttermost those who come to Him by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why? Why is he able to do that? Because Christ has borne the
sins of his people in his own body on the cursed tree, and
therefore the justice of God is satisfied. The justice of
God that screams out the soul that sins, it shall die looks,
and Christ for his people, the substitute, has answered the
law's demand. And the law is satisfied. And
the law says there's no more punishment to come. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Christ has died. He's died, he's paid the penalty.
And isn't that a terrible tragedy? No, for he's risen again from
the dead, and we're risen with him. His people are crucified
with Christ and risen with him to newness of life. We have this
absolute certainty of salvation, for he has accomplished it. Now
then, when Israel went into captivity, the remnant of true believers
that was there amongst them went into captivity with them. They
were not immune from it because they were true believers. So
Daniel, for example, and many others like him, no doubt, but
Daniel and his three friends, to give them their Chaldean names,
the ones that Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom gave to them, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, you remember them because of the burning fiery
furnace, I'm sure, they went into Babylonian captivity. And
while they were there, the true people of God, what did they
see? They saw the useless idols of Babylon, this great and mighty
empire. Bel and Nebo are idols of Babylon,
and look how useless they are. They bow down. They're falling
over. They're stooping. They need to
be carried by cattle, by beasts. The carriage is a heavy burden,
these great big heavy things. They're a burden to the weary
beast. They stoop. They bow down. They couldn't
deliver the burden. They couldn't do anything for
themselves. They needed animals to carry them. These gods of
this powerful nation, the Babylonians, the Chaldeans, these gods that
they worshipped in their futility of mind, were unable to carry
themselves, absolutely useless. And he says, but they themselves
had gone into captivity, for the end of the Babylonian Empire
was that they became captives. What they did was brought upon
them. For whilst they were God's instruments
of judgment on Israel, they themselves were not right. So the useless
idols are there. They need help from men, but
not the true God. You see, God is the one who raised
up the Babylonians. In Habakkuk chapter one and verse
six, God says this, for lo, I raise up the Chaldeans. Oh, didn't
the Chaldeans just come on the scene of history and having done
the right thing? No, God raised them up. I raise up the Chaldeans, that
bit, God. raised up a people who are bitter
and hasty, who shall march through the breadth of the land to possess
the dwelling places that are not theirs. He raised them up
for his purposes, but their gods were idle gods that were absolutely
useless. Idle gods who need the help of
man and beast. Let me remind you of that little
story that we heard from the missionary, I forget the details
now, a few weeks ago, but in an idolatrous culture, and there
are many of them today in this world, ours is idolatrous, but
I'm talking about ones where they have real idols. You would
look and the little alcoves in the house would be full of little
icons, and these are their gods that they worship. And they bowed
down and worshipped them. And a missionary came to the
village where this family was. And one of the children of the
family, a little boy, heard the missionary preach Christ. And
God gave him faith to see and believe. And he believed. And
he kept trying to tell his family about the futility of the idols
that they worshipped. And he kept trying to tell them
about the magnificence, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
they wouldn't believe him. So, when everybody was out of
the house, the little boy, the believer, smashed the idols all
apart from one. And the father was absolutely
furious. How did all these idols get broken? Which one of you
did this? One of you's done this, and you have gone and ruined
our idols, and this is terrible, you'll bring very bad luck upon
the family. And, did you do it? No, no, said the little boy.
I know, strictly speaking, untrue, but this was his purpose. Did
you do it? No, he said, the idol did it. His father said, don't be stupid. How could the idol do such a,
these idols can't do anything, and the little boy said, that's
exactly what I've been trying to tell you. The idols are useless. Useless idols. False gods need
help from others. The true God needs no help from
man. Look at verses 5 to 8 where this
is expanded. To whom will you liken me? To whom will you compare me,
says God, and make me equal, and compare me that we may be
like? What are you going to try and
make that looks like me? You know what the commandments
say, don't you? Exodus 20, the commandment of
God, Exodus 20 verses 4 and 5. Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image. or any likeness of anything that
is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that
is in the water under the earth, thou shalt not bow down thyself
to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord thy God, am a
jealous God." Meaning he's the only one, there's no other, there
can be no place for anybody else. visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation
of them that hate me." Oh yes, sinners hate the true God. Yes, they do. And sinners try
to make idols. They make images of things that
they can worship. God expressly, expressly forbids
the making of any images. This is why I don't like pictures
that seek to portray the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't know what
He looked like. We don't know. This is why I
don't like going around many of the art galleries in London,
which are absolutely full of pictures. I mean, no, the artists
were very well-meaning, but they're completely wrong. God says don't
try to do it, because you'll get it wrong. Don't make any
graven image. God is spirit, and those who
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. God is
not an icon. He is not a picture. It doesn't
help us. They say that, oh, the icons
and the pictures, they help our faith. No, they don't. They hinder
your faith. They're wrong. They're false.
They're idolatrous. Which God do you believe in?
One that you can pick up or put down at will? One that you can
heed or ignore as you please? You can't do that with the one
true God. You see, You say, well I believe some aspects of the
true God, but even part of the true God without the whole of
God is an idol. Aspects of God without all that
he's revealed of himself in his word is an idol. Let me give
you an example. Look at all the religion that
calls itself Christian. And it uses the terminology of
Christianity. And they worship a God that they
say is the God of the Bible. Oh, you say, well you do? Well,
that's very good so far. But they won't have this God
to be sovereign over salvation. They won't have this God be the
one who chooses a people in Christ before the foundation of the
world. No, they won't have that. They'll have a God that is subject
to their will. Will you believe? Oh, come on,
do God a favour and believe. This is their God. And do you
know something? However much they use the terminology of the
true God, they're worshipping an idol, for it is not the God
of Scripture. The God of Scripture is a God
of sovereign grace and particular redemption. The true God rightly
demands complete submission to His purpose and to His service. He needs no help from man, none
whatsoever. Get this message clear. Our God,
the true God, is sovereign in everything. So, compared with
idols, the true God needs no help whatsoever. Look at verses
3 and 4. hearken unto me, listen to God, O house of Jacob, and
all the remnant of the house of Israel, those whom I've chosen
to save, you who are born by me from the belly, which are
carried from the womb." Do you know what I think that is saying?
That is speaking of the fact that God in Christ has justified
his people from eternity, from before the beginning of time.
God chose a people. And in Christ, who is the Lamb,
Revelation 13 verse 8, the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. As far as eternity and the justice
of God is concerned, Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. But because the The plan of salvation is worked
out on the canvas of this creation in space and time. Christ had
to come when the fullness of time was come, into time, to
live as a man, as a substitute for his people, and to die on
the cross the death that they deserve, that they might be justified,
that they might be cleared of the guilt, for He has paid the
debt of that guilt. And God is saying there, He has
borne them from the belly. Right from the start, God has
put them in Christ and borne them. He's justified them from
all eternity. Hear what the Scriptures say.
Romans 11 verse 5 says, there is a remnant according to the
election of grace. Now, so-called Christian religion
all over, how many of you will stand up and put your hands up
and say, yes, I bow to what the Word of God says. There is a
remnant according to the election of grace. Ah, but what part do
I have in that election? I'll tell you, absolutely none,
because it is God's sovereign will. Ephesians 1 and verse 4,
just as He, God, has chosen us, who? The people of His choice.
Believers, because that's the only way we know that you're
a people, a person of His choice, is that you believe the Gospel.
He's chosen us in Christ, in Him, Christ, before the foundation
of the world. What do you mean before I'd done
anything? Yes. Before I'd made a decision? Yes.
before you did anything because you're incapable of doing anything
of yourself. This is all of the sovereign
grace of God. God needs no human help. God
doesn't need to sit there hoping and wishing that you're going
to choose him and do him a favor and give him your time. No he
doesn't, he's God. He owns the cattle on a thousand
hills, God doesn't need you. He's chosen his people in Christ
before the foundation of the world. I've borne you from the
belly, carried you from the womb, is what he's saying. 2 Timothy
1 verse 9, he saved us and called us, us, his people, his elect
people, with a holy calling. According, why did he do it?
Because they were good people? No, according to his own purpose
and grace. which, not according to our works,
but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus, when? Before the world began. Before God said, let there be
light, He put His people in Christ and justified them from all eternity. And what He has begun, what God
has begun, He will most certainly finish. Believe it, be in no
doubt about this. Philippians 1 verse 6, Paul says,
being confident of this very thing. You know, we were looking
last week at him being confident, being persuaded that God is able
to keep that which he's committed unto him against that day, his
immortal soul. Well, he's confident of this
too, being confident of this very thing, that he, God, which
has begun a good work in you. What's the good work? The work
of salvation. The work of taking you to eternal glory. He which
has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day
of Jesus Christ. He'll finish it. He'll carry
it through. He will not change. We fluctuate. He changes. He is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. It says that of God in the Old
Testament, and it says it of our Lord Jesus Christ in the
New, because they're one and the same. The same yesterday,
and today, and forever. In His Word, in His Gospel, in
His promise of salvation, He accomplishes all of His purposes. There is nothing that He cannot
do. Idols always need man's help. However much they sound in religion,
like aspects of the true God, if they need in any respect any
help from man, they're idols, and they're impotent, and they're
incapable. Think of the Philistines' idol god, Dagon. You remember
when they captured the Ark of the Covenant in battle with Israel
because of Israel's sin? And God had always warned them
that if you depart from following me, you will suffer at the hands
of your enemies. And the Philistines took the
Ark of the Covenant. And they thought triumphantly
that they could put it in their temple. And the god of their
temple, the statue, the idol in their temple was Dagon. And
they put it in there with great rejoicing. And the next morning
when they got up and went to the temple to rejoice and gloat
again at their victory over Israel, what did they find? Dagon was
flat on his face. But he couldn't stand up. The
people had to help him stand up. And having helped him to
stand up, they thought, right, that's it, good, and off they
went to bed. And the next morning they came in, and not only was
Dagon flat on his face, but his head had broken off as well.
You see, without the help of man, they're useless. God carries
his people into old age and eternity. Verse four, even to your old
age I am he. Even to hoar hares, you know
when we sang the Haferma foundation, ye saints of the Lord, where
does it say it? Verse six, and when hoary hares
shall their temples adorn like lambs, they shall still in my
bosom be born. This is that verse, this is what
it's talking about. The hoar hares, in old age. in grey hairs, and that's the
testimony of those who've believed through their lives for a long
time, that the older they get, it's still like being like little
lambs being born by the shepherd. I have made, says God, I will
bear, I will carry, I will deliver you. God is in control of all
things. In Romans 13 verse 11, Paul assures
his believers as they get older, our salvation is nearer today
than it was when we first believed all those years ago. We're heading
for glory. Is he not worthy of our complete
trust? When we just learned on Friday
of the departure of Henry Mahan, as all of us must one day, and
what a blessing he was, but how he longed, and the older he got,
the more he longed to depart and be with Christ, which is
far better. So will you believe God? Is he
not worthy of our complete trust, this sovereign God? Look at the
proofs that he gives in verses 9 to 11. Remember the former
things of old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am
God, and there is none like me. Have you noticed how many times
God says that through Isaiah? Especially these chapters of
40 to 45, now 46. There is none like me. There's no strange God among
you. I think there he's saying that when the Lord Jesus Christ
walked this earth, don't think that there's another God there.
No, there's no strange God among you. This is God manifest in
his Son, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 10, declaring the end from
the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not
yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand 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. Do you doubt God? I've given
you proofs from this. The true God is worthy of your
complete allegiance. Do you doubt God? In all flesh
is what's called an evil heart of unbelief that tends to heed
Satan's lie. Satan's lie? Questioning God. Has God really said, as he said
to Eve in the Garden of Eden, has God really said, surely you
shall not die? Don't believe him. God calls
us to consider. God's given us minds, he's given
us an intellect, he's given us the ability to reason. He says
to his people, Isaiah 1 verse 18, right at the very start of
this book, come now and let us reason together, says the Lord.
Come on, let's sit down, let's reason together. Idols, and we
know what idols are, they're not just wooden statues, they're
anything that you imagine, even if it's the terminology of the
true God, any aspect of it that is not in accordance with this
word, if they speak not according to this word, there is no light
or truth in them. Idols are impotent, but the true
God is omnipotent and sovereign over all. And in these verses,
9 to 11, he tells us that history proves it, Prophecy proves it,
and his sovereign purpose proves it. In history, he says, remember
the former things of old. Remember your history. You know,
the greatest lesson of history is that we never learn the lessons
of history. Remember, think back. He says to those that were his
ancient people, the Israelites in the days of Isaiah, he says,
remember how that God had spoken and it was done. God spoke in
the beginning, and it was done. God spoke in the Garden of Eden
after the fall, and it was done. It was done. His purposes were
unfolded. The world became more and more
wicked, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And
God said, build you an ark that life might be preserved, because
I am going to flood the earth, and I am going to destroy all
air-breathing life, man and beast, from off this earth. And Noah
believed God, having found grace in his sight. And Noah built
the ark according to the plans that God gave him. And the flood
came and took them all away in one day. God did what he said. And after the flood, Noah built
an altar and worshipped the true God, but very soon, Very soon,
the sons of Noah, they interbred and the population began to grow
again, and Nimrod, that mighty rebel, arose in Genesis 11. And
Babel, the town that became Babylon, Babel, and the name comes from
the confusion of the languages that happened because they wanted
to build a tower to heaven. They wanted to build a society
that would reach heaven without the justice of God being satisfied. That's what Babel's all about.
But God said that it wouldn't happen. And look what He did.
He confounded the languages. The reason for the diversity
of languages is because of what God did on that day. I can see
nobody giving us a better explanation of that. What God said, He did. And then you think about the
calling of Abraham. calling that one man out of his idolatrous
relatives on the other side of the river, and bringing him into
the land of Canaan, a land that he promised to his offspring,
and Isaac, and Jacob, and then how God showed himself to them,
and how God demonstrated His sovereign grace in them. And
the son of Jacob, Joseph, how his brethren intended him harm
for evil, but God intended it for good, and took them down
into Egypt to save them from the famine. that was being brought
upon the earth, that from that line might come the Messiah,
because the Messiah had been promised. God had said and so
he's going to do it. Think of your history. And then
after 430 years comes the exodus and Moses is raised up to take
them out with all the signs and wonders and the plagues on Egypt
and the things that happen, so that the Egyptians drove them
out. the Passover, that night when the firstborn were all killed,
and how they were preserved through the Red Sea, and how God spoke
and it was done. How when they were dying of thirst,
as it were, in the wilderness, and God said, smite the rock
to Moses, and he struck the rock with the rod and water came out,
and that rock was Christ, the New Testament tells us. God spoke
and it was done, the history unfolded, exactly as God had
said. He fed them with manna from heaven,
He raised up Joshua to lead them into the promised land. Joshua,
Jesus, Joshua, same word. Joshua is Jesus. You read in
the New Testament about Joshua, the name there is Jesus. This
is the one. Joshua, who was raised up as
the savior of his people to take them into the promised land.
In Revelation 17, look at Revelation 17. In Revelation 17, reading
about the woman who is Babylon, and all of that which I'm obviously
not going to go into now, but look at verse 10. Here is a summary. Verse 9, here is the mind which
hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains
on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings, five
have fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come, and
when he cometh he must continue a short space. And the beast
that was and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the
seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou
sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, but
receive power as kings one hour with the beast. You think, oh
gosh, what's that all about? Oh, that's confusing. It's world
history. It's the history of this world.
The seven is the empires of the world. Egypt, Assyria, you look
down archaeological history, this is it, Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia,
Chaldea, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greeks, the Romans, right? And five have been, and one is,
the Romans, and there's another one that's yet to come, which
is the kingdoms of this world that become, as it were, a confederacy
against God. It's the history of this world
that is delineated there. All of these things, history
is his story. Can anything compare to what
God is and what he has done? In prophecy, so much of scripture
has foretold things accurately before they happen. Do you know,
there is an incredible improbability of all of those things coming
true by chance? You know, that the prophets just
got lucky and happened to guess right. When I say incredible,
I mean that if you actually calculate the probability of it happening,
the number is so vanishingly small that it is, for all practical
purposes, absolutely impossible. So, in these chapters, 200 years
before he came, via Isaiah, God spoke of his servant, Cyrus.
Cyrus, who would come in chapter 44 at the end of it, 45 verse
1, Cyrus. He is, verse 11, the ravenous
bird from the east. He is that emperor that would
come and remove the Babylonian empire. and of Christ coming
exactly as foretold. Verse 13, I bring near my righteousness. What is his righteousness? Christ
is his righteousness, for in him the righteousness of God
is established. It shall not be far off, and
my salvation shall not tarry, for Christ is coming is effectively
what it's saying. I will place salvation in Zion
amongst his people, for Israel, because Israel, the people he
has saved, his kingdom, is his glory. This is the glory of God,
that he will be gracious to whom he will be gracious. He knows
the end from the beginning. Why does God know the end from
the beginning? Is it because he's got a really
good crystal ball to gaze into? No. He can foretell it because
he foreordains it. and in his sovereign will his
counsel shall stand, all his pleasure. Who's going to stop
him from doing it? The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. In these days of political turmoil,
child of God, don't worry about what you see in the world. The
king's heart is in the hands of God. As the rivers of water,
he turns it whithersoever he will. Use your mind, vote, but
don't be dismayed if it goes the opposite way to you think.
It's all God working out his purposes. How comforting for
those who trust God as we live in such turbulent days. He's
spoken. He's brought it to pass. He's
purposed to do it. He's done it. Do you stubbornly
persist? Listen, verse 12, hearken unto
me, you stout-hearted, you stubborn people that are far from righteousness.
Do you stubbornly persist in unbelief? Remember, partial belief
is no better than unbelief. God demands your heart, all of
it. Proverbs 23, verse 26, my son,
and he means my daughter as well, give me your heart. and let your
eyes observe my ways." Full commitment. A willing bondservant. Now then,
let me apply this. The one true God calls you, in
verse 5, to compare him with that which is false. Who are
you going to compare me with? Whom are you going to liken me
to? Have you done so? Do you think about it? Is he
true? Well, yes, you say, but there
are aspects of my life which are mine, and I need to keep
them as they are. Yes, I believe your God is right,
but, you know, there's aspects of my life that are mine. I need
to keep them as they are. Do you not see how impossible
that is? Jesus said you cannot serve two
masters. You cannot take comfort in the
truth of God. while running with the crowd
on the broadway that leads where? To destruction, not to heaven.
As Elijah said to the people gathered on Mount Carmel, when
he thought he alone was the only one left, I only am left, he
said, a prophet of the Lord. But look at the prophets of Baal,
450 prophets of falsehood, of false religion, the religion
that the people liked because it was the way they thought God
should be. And in 1 Kings 18 verse 21, Elijah says to them
all gathered there, how long halt ye between two opinions? How long are you going to sit
on the fence? How long are you going to not make up your mind?
If the Lord be God, if the Lord be God, what should you do? Answer,
follow him. Is it not obvious? If the Lord
be God, follow him. But if Baal is God, if you're
false gods, if your idols truly work for you, then follow them.
Just like Joshua said. Joshua 24, 15. He said to the
people, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods
which your fathers served that were on the other side of the
flood. By that, he might mean on the other side of the river
Euphrates where Abraham and his family were idolaters before
God called Abraham out. He might mean historically before
the flood of Noah's day when they all were idolaters except
Noah who found grace in the eyes of the Lord. whether the gods
that your fathers, your ancestors served, the idolatrous gods,
the worthless, useless idols that they served, choose whom you will serve. And
he says, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. You see, in the end, there is
a very stark difference. For those outside of Christ,
unbelieving, unredeemed, when death comes, There is nothing
but the loss of everything. We've had an odd few days because
a relative has died at a relatively young age, and we're going to
a funeral that takes place next Wednesday, and as far as we know,
there was absolutely no belief in the truth of God in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And what comfort can be obtained
from such a situation? Personally, I can find absolutely
none. I really can't. And then on Friday
we learned of the death, expected for some time, of Henry Mahan,
that dear man, that faithful preacher of the gospel of grace.
And what a glorious, you know, the difference is so stark. This is what it comes down to.
Those who are believers, hearing of the death of Henry Mahan,
are kind of, oh, we grieve for Doris, his wife, and his immediate
family, who are going to miss him so much. But, oh, do you
know? He's where he's wanted to be. He's where he's longed
to be. He longed to be in heaven, to
depart and be with Christ, which is far better. That's what he
longed for. I don't grieve for Henry, I rejoice
for Henry, and for all who die in the Lord, but to die outside
of Christ. Not in the true God. Oh dear,
my friends, there is no comfort, there is no hope in that. You
see, In him, we have the hope and the reality of God's salvation. Verse 13, I bring near my righteousness. It shall not be far off and my
salvation shall not tarry. And I will place salvation in
Zion for Israel, my glory. We listened to a sermon yesterday
that was sent out by somebody in America that Henry had preached
back in his 50s, in the early 1980s about death. And in 2 Timothy
4, verse 8, Paul there says this, that he was looking for. He knew
he was going to die. Paul knew that it was the end.
He was going before Nero. He would be condemned to a cruel
death. But he says, I know that there
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness in glory, which
the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. Because
the day of judgment's coming. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. Crown of righteousness. And he's
giving you that, Paul, isn't he? Because you've been such
a good, faithful apostle. He doesn't say that. He doesn't
say that. Do you know what he says? And
not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. Do you love the appearing of
the Lord Jesus Christ when he comes in glory for his people? There's a crown of righteousness
waiting for you. What a stark difference. Amen.