Going back to Isaiah 46. It's good to see Brother Paul Mahan
with us tonight. Good to see you, Paul. I want
to look at this chapter tonight. I titled the message, I Am He. I Am He. That's a powerful statement,
isn't it? I Am He. You see it here in verse 1. Bel
boweth down. Nebo stoopeth. Their idols were
upon the beast and upon the cattle. Your carriages were heavy loaded. They are a burden to the weary
beast. Bel and Nebo were idols. They were idols of the Babylonians. They worshipped these idols.
They had a goldsmith to make them, and they bowed down and
worshipped them. They thought so highly of these two here,
Bel and Nebo, that it is said that they named their kings after
them. Belshazzar is said to be named after Bel, and Nebuchadnezzar
was said to be named after Nebo. That's one of the writers I was
reading today. But I know this, they worshipped them as gods.
They bowed down before them as gods, and they credited all their
successes in war and prosperity to these gods, these willed-out
gods. That's what men will do left
to themselves. We'll bow down to about anything,
unless God does something for us. God tells His people, Israel,
who will be taken into captivity, He says, don't you fear these
false gods. Don't you fear Baal and Nebo.
Don't you fear them. When he delivers them by Cyrus,
he will make their gods to be a burden even, he says, to the
weary beast. They'll be a burden to the beast.
They'll be taken down and disassembled and carried away as spoil to
the victor. That's what's going to happen
to Baal and Nebo. This is what God's going to do
to these false gods of Babylon. He said, don't you fear them.
They are nothing. They're nothing. They're going to be disassembled,
carried away to the spoil of the victor. Here's a lesson. All false gods and refuges will
fail their worshippers. They will fail their worshippers
in their greatest hour of need when they stand before God Almighty. They'll fail. There's only one
God that can save, and that's the God of Israel. That's the
God of Jacob. That's the God and Father of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only one can save. All
others are going to fail in their greatest hour of need. And he
says here, they stoop, they bow down together, the gods and the
people, they bow down together. They could not deliver the burden,
but themselves are gone into captivity. They have no power
to resist. My Cyrus, my Christ, my son. They have no power. They stoop
and bow down along with their followers under captivity. They
could not deliver their worshipers nor themselves. He's telling
Israel here the truth about these false gods. They don't exist.
They have no power. Don't you be afraid of them.
They can't deliver themselves, nor can they deliver those who
worship them. They all, he says, stoop and bow down together.
When the hour comes for Christ to judge the world in righteousness,
the false gods of religion will not be able to deliver their
followers. They'll not be able to deliver
their followers. But the God of Jacob, the God
of Israel, is able to deliver His people. He's able. Our God is able. He's able to
deliver His people through the blood and the righteousness of
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's able to deliver us. He's
able. Paul said this in Romans 1 verse
16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the
power, it's the dynamite of God unto salvation. To everyone that
believeth, do you first also to the critic." God has the power
in Christ to save sinners. But these idols, He says, they're
not going to save anybody. These false idols are not going
to do it. Now listen to what God says to His people. Listen.
Draw comfort from this. Draw comfort from it. I have
enjoyed this for two days. I hope I can give it to you like
I was enjoying it in the study. He says, 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.
Give me your attention, O house, he says, of Jacob, and all the
remnant of the house of Israel. God is going to tell them and
us that he will not fail. Our God will not fail us. no matter what the hour brings,
no matter what the day brings, our God will not fail. They're
going into captivity. And to them, to some of them
who were unbelievers, it looked like God failed. He said, I'm
not going to fail. Our God will not fail. First, He tells them that He
has borne them from the belly. God made them. God made us. He made us. They did not make
God as the Babylonians made Baal and Nebo. See, they made Baal
and Nebo. We did not make God. He made
us. He said, I made you from the belly. Our God, listen, our
God is uncreated. He is the eternal God. He is
self-existent. He has no beginning of days or
end of life. Listen, He is eternality. Our God is eternal. He is eternal. Eternity wouldn't even exist
apart from Him. He's uncreated. Babylon created their gods. Israel
did not create God. God created Israel. And here
is great comfort for God's people. I have taken care of you from
the womb. I've carried you. I've taken
you from the belly. I've carried you. God, being
a God of means, has used our parents to support us. But never forget, never forget
this, He is the One who has carried us since our birth. I'm 51 years old. God has carried
me for 51 years. And however much longer He allows
me to live here, He'll continue to carry me. He'll continue. He's the one who has carried
us from birth. But especially, listen, especially
since our new birth, especially since the new birth, He constantly
takes care and carries that new man. I don't support it. He supports it. He carries him. He created him. We are created
in Christ Jesus, it says, unto good works. From the time of
its conception in regeneration, to its final glory in His presence. He does all the carrying. He
does all the carrying. Listen to this. Look over in
Isaiah 40. Let's read it. Isaiah chapter 40. Look in verse
11. He, that is Christ, shall feed
His flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
His arms and carry them, and look where He carries them, in
His bosom. He carries us in Himself, in
His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with Yah. Oh,
I tell you, that's such comfort. He shall feed His flock like
a shepherd, gather the lambs with His arms and carry them
in His bosom. This is also in contrast to Baal
and Nebo, who had to be carried by their worshippers. You notice
that in reading? We'll see this. He had to be
carried. Baal and Nebo, the ones whom
they worshipped, the people had to carry them. They had to carry
them to their place, to the temple. They couldn't even get there
by themselves. How stupid. How stupid we are
by nature. But they had to be carried. We
never carry, ever, our God. We never carry our God. He always, always carries us. He always bears us. And listen,
He's not a burden to His people. Baal and Nebo became a burden
to the Babylonians. He is not a burden to His people.
Our Lord said this, My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
If you find this to be a burden, If you find to worship and sitting
on the gospel and worshiping Christ to be a burden, you have
not yet found Him. He said, My yoke is easy and
my burden is light. And even to your old age, I am
he. And even to horrid hairs will
I carry you. I have made, I will bear, even
I will carry, and will deliver you." How much more could He
say to us? I have made, I will bear, I will
carry, and I will deliver. I'll do it all. I will do it
all. Even, He says here, to your old
age, I am He. When parents are gone, and we
have buried most of our friends, God will still be there to carry
us on. God will still be there to carry
when all these are gone. He'll still be there to carry
us onward until we reach home. He's the one we depend on. He's
the one we look to. He is. He will not fail to carry
us even in our old age, he says. I'll carry you even then. Oh,
he's saying, don't worry. You know, people fret as they
get older. I'm getting older and I fret. We fret as we get
a little older, but God says, I'll carry you even till your
hair is turned gray. You know why? Because His don't.
There's not a wrinkle on His brow. I'm getting some. He has
none. He has none. We may weary others
with our old age. There may come a time that I'll
weary my wife with my old age. But He will never weary of carrying
us. Ever. That's love beyond comprehension. That's beyond comprehending.
Look in Isaiah 40 again. Look over here in Isaiah 40. What comfort God gives to His
people. In Isaiah 40, let me find the
verse. 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. There is no searching of his
understanding. He says, I never grow weary. Never. Never. Psalm 121 verse 4 says, Behold,
he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. He doesn't need it. He'll neither
slumber nor sleep. Then he says here, I am he. What
a statement. I am He. If we ever learn this,
oh my, we'll be able to sleep at night. We'll be able to go
through the day with some comfort and some peace. When all else
is in turmoil and everything seems like it's falling apart,
all we have to do is remember, I am He. I am He that created
the heavens and the earth. Remember that. It's His earth
and everything in it's His. I am He that is sovereign over
all. Everything right now that's going
on is under the dominion of our Lord. It's under His dominion. I am He that called you by grace,
and grace will lead you home. I am He that lived and died and
rose again to save you from your sins. I am He. I am He that is
thy righteousness. I am He that is the Messiah.
I am He that never changes. Turn over to John chapter 8,
the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John chapter 8. Let's see who this is talking
about. John chapter 8, look in verse 24. I said therefore unto you, that
ye shall die in your sins. For if ye believe not that I
am He, ye shall die in your sins. Now look in verse 28. Then said Jesus unto them, When
ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that
I am He. Then shall you know that I am
He, and that I do nothing of myself, but as my Father hath
taught me, I speak these things. Now I know who I am He is. It's
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's it. He's the One. I am He. Always, listen, always make Christ
your confidence and nothing else. Absolutely nothing else. Always
make Christ your confidence before God. Because he shall never fail. My servant, behold my servant,
he says over in Isaiah 42, he shall not fail. He shall not
fail. All other religious systems and
philosophies shall fail. They are going to fail. Look
down over history. Look at all these gods that have risen up
and all these things that have come and gone. But Christ has
not failed. God has never failed His people.
He shall never fail. I am He shall never fail. Never
fail. He shall never change towards
His elect. He will always carry them. He'll always carry them.
I find great comfort in the unchangeableness of God. I am He. Not I was. I am. It's always with God. I am. It's
always present. I am. Oh, the unchangeableness
of God. And even to a horror of hairs
will I carry you when the sun and moon are darkened. This is
over in Ecclesiastes 12. And when the clouds return after
the rain, and when the keepers of the house tremble, and when
the grinders are few, and when you are afraid of that which
is high, I'll carry you. I'll carry you. Oh, what precious
promises God's given to His people. You and I are never too heavy
for Him. Never. Never. The Lord Jesus
Christ. He carries us in His heart. He
carried us in His heart before the world was. He carried us
in His heart when He came into this world. He carried us in
His heart when He went to Calvary. He carried us in His heart when
He ascended on high and led captivity captive. And He carries us now
in His intercessory prayer. And He's not about to set us
down until He brings us home. He's not going to do it. He's
not going to do it. And He tells us why. I have made. I have made you. I made you a believer. I made
you mine. I created you for my glory. We
did not create ourselves the first time and we sure do not
create ourselves the second time. He did. He has carried us through
all of our physical life on this earth. And He will carry us through
all our spiritual life. all the way home. It says in
Psalm 103, Know ye that the Lord, He is God. It is He that hath
made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep
of His pasture. Israel did not make themselves.
God called Abraham, and God told Abraham, This is what I'm going
to do with you. This is what I'm going to make out of you.
The Babylonians, they went and whittled them out of God. They
went and whittled out Nebo, and they went and whittled out Bell
and carried him to their temple. But God says, no, I made you.
They made them. I made you. The Babylonians made Bell and
Nebo, but Israel did not make the God of Israel. He made us. We do not bear him. He bears
us. And this is why we are told to cast all our cares upon him,
for he careth for us and he carries us. And he says this, I have made
and I will bear. I will bear. I will bear you
through all your trials. God will not forsake the work
of His hand. He won't do that. I would forsake
a lot of things I've done. There's a lot of works of my
hands I'd like to forsake. But you know there's nothing
God makes that He'll forsake. He'll not forsake the work of
His hand. Through all your changes in life,
I will bear. I will bear. This is a promise.
A promise. The Scripture says, He bore our
sicknesses and carried our sorrows. So He's already bore and carried
that which I'm even yet to see. I haven't even experienced yet
what He's already taken care of. He's already taken care of
it. We shall never weep alone. Ever. For we have a great high
priest that can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.
Even I will carry and deliver you. I made you. I will bear you. I will carry
and listen, I'll deliver you. Listen to this. Although He gives
His angels charge over us, it is He Himself who carries us. He will not delegate the care
of His children to anyone less than Himself. Well, you can write
that one down. Let me repeat that. He will not
delegate the care of His children to anyone less than Himself.
Would you? He will deliver us from all troubles
and trials and finally into His presence with exceeding great
joy. Nobody be mad because they're
there. With exceeding joy. Now, he says to these people,
to whom will you liken me? Huh? To Balnevo? I don't think
so. Whom will you liken me? and make
me equal, and compare me that we may be like. Look, look upon
all the so-called gods of men and tell me, is there any like
me? Is there any like me who can
create a heaven and an earth, man, and especially a believer? Is there any that can create
a believer? Is there any that can carry? Is there any that
can deliver or tell the future like me? Look at what their gods are made
of. He says gold and silver. That's what their gods are made
of. You know what our God is? Uncreated Spirit. Uncreated,
pure Spirit. Holy. He says they lavish gold out
of the bag. And they weigh silver in the
balance. And they hire a goldsmith. They hire a mortal man to make
an immortal. Anybody with common sense would
know that's not going to happen. And He maketh it a God, little
G. They fall down. Yeah, they worship
Him. They bear Him up on the shoulders.
See here, I said, they bear Him up on the shoulders. They carry
Him. And they set Him in His place. And He standeth from His place,
shall He not remove? He has to wait for somebody else
to come along and help Him down. Or help take Him someplace else.
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. The rich make a god out of their
abundance. He says they lavish gold out
of the bag. And the covetous, they weigh it out. They weigh
it out. The covetous weigh out their
money to make a god of silver. You know, they don't want to
get too much invested in this. Their god is their money. But notice
here, they carry him on their shoulders. He is a burden to
them. And listen, religion without
Christ is nothing but a burden. That's all it is. It's nothing
but a burden. They carry Him to His place. Christ said, I go to prepare
a place for you. I go to prepare a place and I'm
going to come again and receive you to Myself. And where I am,
there you'll be also. I'm going to take you to that place. They took
their God to His place. He's going to take us to His
place. They carry Him to His place and
from there He cannot move. And when they cry unto Him, He
cannot hear nor answer them when they are in trouble. Israel and
us, we are the Israel of God, could look back on their history
and they could see the hand of God in delivering them when they
called upon Him in trouble. You can see that, too, in your
own history. Down in Egypt, he brings them out. The Red Sea,
he splits it. Jordan, he splits it. Every time
they called, he... Turn to Psalm 107. Psalm 107. I won't read all of that, but
just kind of touch some places. Psalm 107. Look here in verse 1. All give
thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth
forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath
redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and gathered them out
of the lands, from the east, from the west, from the north,
and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary
way. They found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their
soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses.
And he led them forth by the right way that they might go
to a city of habitation. Now on down here it says in verse
12, verse 11 it says, Because they rebelled against the words
of God and contended that counsel was the most high, therefore
he brought down their hearts with labor. They fell down and
there was none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke
their bands. That whole chapter goes like that. That whole chapter. Look over in verse 23. Verse
23. They that go down to the sea
in ships that do business in great waters, these see the works
of the Lord and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth and
raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
They mount up to the heaven. They go down again to the depths.
Their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and
fro and stagger like a drunken man. and are at their wits end.
Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth
them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so
that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad, because they
be quiet. So He bringeth them into their desired haven." Israel
could look back. We can look back. We've cried
unto Him in trouble, and He's delivered. Remember this, he
says in verse 8. Remember this. What useless idols
are. Remember this. Remember all that
I've done for you. Remember the uselessness of these
idols. And show yourselves men. Man, if we could find a man today.
If we could find men. I would love to find a few good
men. I'm serious. A few good men. I work men. I have over the years. If I could
find a few good men, you could... It's amazing what you can do
with it, if you can find them. That's what it says here. And
show yourselves men. That's what God said to Job.
Job, stand up like a man. Be a man. Be a man among men. Be men and not thieves. Be men
and not cowards. Be men and not stupid. Be men. And bring it to mind. Bring it
again to mind. Listen, he says, oh, you transgressors.
God reminds them Who they are and why they're in trouble. You
know, most of my troubles, I can say, is not from some fierce
trial that come upon me. It's from my stupidity and sins. I am the cause of 99% of my troubles. I don't know what to do about
the other 1%. But I am. I am. Draw, he says, remember
now, he says here, remember, verse 9, remember the former
things of old, for I am God and there is none else. I am God
and there is none like me. Draw upon the past. Remember
all the past mercies, how I delivered you when you were in trouble.
As He has been in the past, so will He be in the present and
in the future. If God's been merciful to us
in the past, He'll be merciful to us now, and He'll be merciful
to us in the future. God never changes. He never changes. He never leaves off being God,
ever. Declaring, verse 9, He said,
Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there
is none else. I am God, and there is none like me. Declaring the
end from the beginning. And from ancient times the things
that are not yet done say, My counsel shall stand, and I will
do all my pleasure. God alone declares the end of
a thing from its beginning. No idol ever did that. No idol
ever did that. And God is telling Israel before
they go into captivity. He's telling them their end and
how He will deliver out of them before they ever go into it.
He even named Cyrus. He gave Cyrus his name before
he was born. Can you imagine what it was like
when Cyrus took over that place? I told you this last week. When he took that place over
and he went in and he saw this prophecy and his name was in
it. Can you imagine he read his own name? He thought all those
conquests is of God. And he thought it was himself
all along. Then he found out God made him for that purpose.
That's what he's saying. When Adam fell, God declared
the end from the beginning. He said the serpent is going
to bruise his heel, but he's going to bruise his head. He's
going to bruise his head. God tells us in His Word what
the end will be before it happens. Look over in Revelation 21, and
I'll try to wind this up. Revelation 21. He tells the end
from the beginning. Revelation 21, And I saw a new
heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And
I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven. prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there
be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And he
that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
And he said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto
him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. That's the end. And he's declared
that from the beginning. Just as all these other things
he has declared has happened, that's going to happen. That
will happen. He has done so. And he says this,
my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. God's eternal
purpose in saving sinners shall stand. His purpose in honoring
His Son shall stand. It'll stand. And no one can disannul
His counsel or His pleasure. No one. No one. Trials and afflictions
never alter the purpose of God. They're a part of it. They're
a part of the journey home. Listen, verse 11, calling the
ravenous bird from the east, the man that executed my counsel
from a far country. Well, we know who that is. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, heaven is compared
to a far country and he called him from there to execute his
counsel. And he did. Yea, I have spoken
it. I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it. I will also do it. He raised
Cyrus up to set his people free from Babylon. Just as he raised up Christ.
to set us free, to set all his people free, all his Israel free
from the law, from sin, and from Satan. The Son sets you free,
you're free indeed. He is all our assurance. Christ is. God says this, I have
spoken it, I will bring it to pass, I have purposed it, I will
also do it. God himself says I'll see to
it. I'll see to it. Hearken to Me,
you stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness. Give heed
to this, you who are stout-hearted against God, those that are far
from His righteousness. He says, I bring near My righteousness,
it shall not be far off. And My salvation shall not tear
you. And I'll place in Zion for Israel My glory. All that He
has promised, He will do. He'll do it. But listen, Christ,
who is the righteousness of God, shall be brought near. He's brought
near tonight. in preaching the gospel. Christ
is the salvation that shall not tarry. He's the salvation that
shall not tarry. Christ is placed in Zion, the
church, for the salvation of God's spiritual Israel. He's
in this church. He's the salvation of Israel.
Instead of looking to walls and boards for salvation, we look
to Christ and Christ alone. He is the deliverer. He's our
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Jesus Christ
is made to me all I need. He's all I need.