I invite you to turn to the book
of the Psalms to chapter 46. Chapter 46. I'd like to read
verse 1 and 2 and then skip over to verse 6 and read through verse
11. Verse 1 and 2, 6 through 11. Psalm 46. God is our refuge
and strength, God alone. Beloved is the true refuge. All other refuges are lies. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. Wonderful that God is near at
hand, always ready to help His people. I will never leave thee
nor forsake thee, so that you may boldly say, The Lord is my
helper, and we need not fear what man shall do unto us." A
very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though
the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea. You better read that twice. you
that are susceptible, and we all are, to many fears. Therefore
will not we fear though the earth be removed? Think of that. And though the
mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, what little
mole hills have you stumbled over this week and made you afraid?
What happens when the earth is removed? and the mountains be
carried out into the midst of the sea. What will you do then?
And then let's skip down to verse 6. The heathen raged, the kingdoms
were moved. He uttered his voice and the
earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us.
John Wesley died on a Tuesday and all day long he was trying
to say something. Nobody was able to hear what
he had to say. till finally he mustered up all the strength
that he had and said, best of all, is the Lord with us. The Lord with us. The Lord of
hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge,
sealant. Come, behold the works of the
Lord. What desolations he hath made
in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto
the end of the earth. He breaketh the bow and cutteth
the spear in sunder. He burneth the chariot in the
fire. Be still and know that I am God. I will
be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Let us pray. I want this morning
to use verse 10 as my text and first of all I would try to give
an overview of the text and then we will try to get into it and
try to talk a little bit about this verse. I do feel that the
Lord has led me to the verse. I feel that the Lord has given
me a word to say to you this morning about it and I hope that
it will speak to all of our hearts and that each need of our hearts
will be addressed, will be met today by the Holy Spirit. He begins by saying, be still,
be still, be still. Now this word still here means
to be dumb, it means to be silent. It means to be still. It means to rest. It means to
cease, to leave off, to wait with silent expectation, to relax. Just let everything alone. Be
still, he says. And then he says, and know that
I am God. Be still and know that I am God. Now, the sole consideration that
God is sufficient to still is enough, I think, to still all
objections to his absolute Godhead and his sovereignty. The sole
consideration that God is God, I say, is sufficient to still
all objections to his sovereignty. Be still and know that I am God. Know that I am God. Now, I read over in the ninth
chapter of the book of Romans. Hold your finger here in our
text. If you want to turn to the ninth chapter of the book
of Romans, I read these words. In verse 17, For the Scripture
saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised
thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name
might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth.
Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? for who
hath resisted his will? Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? hath not the
potter power over the clay of the same love to make one vessel
unto honour and another unto dishonour? What if God willing
to show his wrath and to make his long-suffering, or make his
power known, endured with much long-suffering, the vessels of
wrath fitted to destruction, and that he might make known
the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had
aforeprepared unto glory, even us, whom he hath called, not
of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles." Would you object
to God being absolutely sovereign? Would you be one of those that
would say, Why has he formed me thus? Why has God done what
he has? Why has he done it in the way
that he has? Why has he made us thus? What is the will of
God? What is the purpose of God? Why
should it be supreme? Why should God have His way in
the earth and among the inhabitants of the earth and in the heavens? Why should God always have His
way? Should God be sovereign? You
may be an objector to that doctrine, but the Lord, He is God. Be still and know that I am God. Be still. Most of us don't know
anything about the marvelous power of being still and being
quiet. But if you're ever going to know
that God is God, you must learn to be still before God. Now, Jonathan Edwards had this
to say in regards to God. He says, in that he is God, he
is absolutely and infinitely a perfect being. God is absolutely,
infinitely a perfect being. God is sovereign and He's perfect
and He's to be worshipped, adored, honored and known as a God who
is absolutely, infinitely perfect. As He is God, He is so great
that He is infinitely above all comprehension. God is above all
comprehension. He is so great that none are
able to comprehend Him. Should we not be still? If God
has chosen to reveal Himself, make Himself known to us, should
not we be still? Should we not respect the fact
that we're on God's earth and that God can do as He will and
do as He pleases and that He's a perfect being and He's so great
that we're not able to comprehend Him to the full? None can ever
comprehend Him entirely and completely. As He is God, He goes on to say,
all things are His own. Everything belongs to God. Seeing
that He is God, the earth and the fullness thereof belongs
to the Lord. It's all His. God is God in heaven
above and earth beneath, and it belongs to Him. So seeing
that He is God, all things are His own. And then in that that
He is God, He is worthy to be sovereign over all things. He's
worthy of it. in that that He is God. He's
worthy to be sovereign over all things. Do you know of anybody
else who's worthy to be sovereign in the universe? Absolutely not. There isn't anyone who is worthy
like our God is worthy. Now then, in that that He is
God, He will be sovereign and will act as such. You can always
count on it. God is sovereign and he's going
to act as such. He's going to act like he's a
sovereign God. In all of your dealings with
God, He will prove Himself to be a sovereign to you. He'll
prove Himself to be a reigning God. He'll prove Himself to be
in control. He'll prove Himself to be always
in control. God is God and He is sovereign
and will show Himself to be. And in that that He is God, He
is able to avenge Himself on those who oppose His sovereignty. Anyone who opposes his sovereignty,
God is very well able to take them into hand. If there's anybody
that would object to his sovereignty, be careful. Be careful. Be very
careful. I say to you, kiss the sun, lest
he be angry with thee, and you perish from the way. God is sovereign,
very well able. He's able to put all enemies
down. He's able to put all enemies under His feet. He's able to
reign over all. He is able. The Scripture says
He has power over all flesh. That He might give eternal life
to as many as the Father has given unto Him. He has power
over all flesh. He earned the right to be your
sovereign, earned the right to be your Lord. and you must bow
yourself to Him. He's Lord both, the Bible says,
of the dead and of the living. He earned the right and so He
can put down His enemies and He's sovereign and therefore
He will do so. Now we read in Exodus chapter
3 talking about this God that He is God. And if you could turn
there and hold your finger in our text this morning, I would
like to read here a few verses to you. Verse 13 and 14 primarily. I'm talking about God being God.
Be still and know that I am God. And Moses said unto God in verse
13 of Exodus 3, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel,
I shall say unto them, The God of your fathers has sent me unto
you, and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall
I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I am
that I am. And he said, Thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. I am that I am. Now I am the one who is, is what
he said. I am the one who is and is preferred
over all. I am that one who causes all
to be, causes everything to be. I am he. I am he. I am the first cause of all things. I am the absolute sovereign of
the universe. I am. And then he says, and means
by this, as I save, as I save, I am. Meaning, my salvation,
whether it be a deliverance of the people of Israel out of Egypt,
whether it be the deliverance of the Lord's people out of sin,
and into life everlasting, my deliverance is, or is that which
declares me. It is that which reveals me.
My hand, my strong arm is revealed in my salvation. And my salvation
is a declaration of who I am and what I am. Now, beloved,
if you want to know who God is, You just take a look at Calvary.
You can take a look at how he delivered the children of Israel
out of the Red Sea. You can do that, first of all,
if you wanted to. But if you really want to know
the God of the Bible, the character of the God of the Bible, the
attributes of the God of the Bible, my friend, take a look
at Calvary's Mount. Take a look where the Lord Jesus
Christ hung there on Calvary. There you see, there the mercy
of God. Is not the mercy of God? He said,
I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy. Do you not see the
mercy of God in the five bleeding wounds that the Lord Jesus Christ
received on Calvary? Do you not see God's wonderful,
amazing mercy and love toward His own? I stand amazed in the
presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how he could love
me, a sinner, condemned, unclean. When I look to Calvary, I see
the mercy of Almighty God, and I know that that declares who
God is. He's a God of compassion. He's
a God of mercy. And then as I look there, I see
that He's a God of strict justice. Who is it hanging on that tree?
Well, it's the Son of God. It's the Lord Jesus Christ who
by imputation became sin in my room and stayed in place. It's
the Lord Jesus Christ who was suffering in the stead of sinners. It's the Lord Jesus Christ whom
God had laid sin upon, who was now punishing in the place of
his people. It was Jesus answering to God. The strict justice of God demanded
that somebody pay for sin. And nobody could pay for sin
except the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the only
one that didn't have any sin. And so you see, God's deliverance
there of His people, and you see the mightiness of His arm,
and you see the power, you see the character of Almighty God,
that He's a God of strict justice. Not only a God of mercy and love
and grace, but a God of strict justice. And that shows you,
my friend, that if you're here this morning, and you've never
received mercy, and you never received mercy and life through
him that hung on that gory tree, then my friend, God will yet
bring you into judgment. God will bring you into judgment.
They that have rejected me and received not my words, Jesus
said, hath one that judgeth them. And so the Lord is going to judge.
He has raised up a judge. And that judge is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And God is going to dot the I's
of His holy law and cross the T's of His holy law. He's going
to do that in bringing men and women into judgment, just as
He brought Christ, who was the representative and the substitute
of His people, to Calvary. And there He suffered death in
our place. Do you not see the character
of God? Do you not see the I Am? Do you not see that His deliverance
spells out who He is? That He's a God of justice. There
we see righteousness and peace kiss each other at Calvary. There we see the Lord honoring
Himself and honoring His law at Calvary. We see His holy character
set forth. Now then, this morning, I want
to go back to this business of being still and knowing that
He is God. Be still and know that He is
God. We'll try to give a little overview
of our text, and then let's get specific about this admonition
to be still, that we might know that He is God. Now in the book
of Lamentations chapter 3 and verse 26 it says that it is good
for a man that he should both quietly hope and quietly wait
for the salvation of the Lord. Maybe I should turn there. I
want you to get that right. It is good that a man should
both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. It is good that a man should
hope and quietly wait, that he should be silent, that he should
leave off speaking, that he should leave off murmuring and complaining,
that he should leave off constantly trying to figure out what God
is doing and simply rest himself in the will of his God and wait
upon the Lord. Now I want you to turn back with
me to Exodus chapter 14. Exodus chapter 14 and I want
us to look there at verse 13 and verse 14 and Moses said unto
the people fear ye not You remember here in this portion of the Word
of God, they're fleeing from the Egyptians. And they had come
to the place, they had come to the Red Sea, and they had come
to that place where they had said it'd be better off for us
to serve the Egyptians, that we should come out of this wilderness
and die, that we should perish out here. And Moses said to the
people in verse 13, fear ye not. Fear ye not, stand still. stand
still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show
to you today. For the Egyptians whom you have
seen today, you shall see them again no more forever." And so
here we find that the Lord is saying to Moses, tell these people
to stand still and see my salvation. The Lord is going to fight for
you. Ye shall hold your peace. You
just hold your peace. The Lord is the God of war and
the God of battle. And He will fight for you. He
will fight in your place. So you stand still and see the
deliverance of the Lord. And I like this when he says
that he will show you today, the Lord's going to show it to
you today. You're going to see the deliverance of God today,
Moses says. And for these Egyptians whom
you have seen today, see them today too. And we often have
a great trial A great deal of difficulty, a great deal of turmoil,
frustration in our lives. We see all of that, but we hardly
ever see the salvation of God the same day. And to see that
frustration and adversity and trial and awe disappear and again
see it no more forever. But here Moses said to these
Israelites, you shall see them again no more forever. These
Egyptians which are a type of sin. And that's wonderful to
know that the Lord has taken care of the sin issue. He's taken
care of it and we're not going to see it anymore once we cross
over the river. Once we cross over we'll not
have to deal ever with sin anymore. Never will we be having to see
it, look upon it. We'll be delivered from the presence
of it as well as the power and the guilt of it. We'll be delivered
completely and entirely from it. Never to see it again. But
the point is, these children of Israel had to stand still
to see the salvation of the Lord. There's a marvelous power in
standing still in being still before the Lord. We're in such
a hurry today. We must be doing something. We've
got to be doing something. There's something that we just
must be about all the time. We must be lathered up. We must
be yackety-yackety and talking all the time and trying to figure
out and trying to offer God suggestions on what He could do to get us
out of the trouble that we're in and to solve our problems.
It's always that we're busy Busy, busy, scheming and making a way,
trying to figure out some way so that we can get our situation
just like we want it to be. So that everything is smooth
and everything running just as we want it to. Well, beloved,
we're in such a hurry, but we need to learn that we need to
stand still. We need to be still and wait
for the salvation and the deliverance of the Lord. Now, I do not know
who it is that needs this message this morning, but I do know what
I went through this week for this message to come clear to
my heart. And I hope that there's someone here this morning that
it's for. I believe that there is. Well,
it is not Psalm 23, 2 says, He leadeth me beside the still water. He leadeth me beside the still
water. And in the doing of it, He restoreth
my soul. He restoreth my soul. If you
want your soul restored, be still and know that Jehovah, He is
God. Be still. Stop hurrying around. Stop bustling around. Leave it
off and wait and be silent with expectation, expecting God to
intervene on your behalf and to do something for you. Now
I want you to turn with me to 1 Kings chapter 19. 1 Kings chapter
19 and I want to begin here with
verse 10. I think we can learn a great lesson here. In verse 9, we see where Elijah
came into a cave and lodged there. And behold, the word of the Lord
came to him, and he said to him, What doest thou hear, Elijah?
What are you doing here? He's in this cave. This is a
man of God. This is a man who knows the Lord
and fears God. He's one of the very few prophets
left on the face of the earth. And he said, I've been very jealous
for the Lord God of hosts. For the children of Israel have
forsaken by covenant, thrown down by an altar, slain by prophets
with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life
to take it again. I'm the only one left, Lord,
and I've been running from Jezebel, and I've come here, I've been
to eat, I ate and lived in the strength of that meat 40 days
and 40 nights, and here I am here in this cave, because I'm
the only one left. They've slain your prophets with
the sword, and they seek my life to take it away, and I'm hiding
here in this cave. And God said, go forth and stand
upon the mount before the Lord, and behold, the Lord passed by.
and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and break in pieces
the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind.
Now I want you to get the picture here. Here's the servant of God
and he feels that the cause has fallen upon bad times. He feels
that the work of the Lord is about to cease in the earth.
He feels that God's purpose is about to end among men. He feels that the wicked have
won and that the day of the wicked has come and that they be sailed
over the God of the Bible and over the God of heaven and earth.
I only am left, I only am left and they seek my life. And so
the Lord causes a great wind to come great and strong wind,
it ripped the mountains and it broke the rocks right off the
side of the mountains, break them in pieces, the rocks before
the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. What's he doing
here? He's showing Elijah that he doesn't
need He doesn't need what many would think that he needed in
order for his purpose to continue in the earth, in order for his
day to be won, in order for God to triumph. He didn't need all
of that. And a great strong wind rent
this mountain, and after the wind it says, an earthquake! But the Lord was not in the earthquake. He didn't need all of this. No,
no, no. He didn't need all of that. Sometimes
you say it's going to take a radical situation to change things in
our time, in my day, in my situation, in my home life. It'll take something
radical. I mean, God has to blow this
place away. The Lord will have to just destroy
this situation entirely and completely and root it out by the roots. Everything is going to have to
come under a time of dismantling. for anything to ever be right
again. And here was the earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake,
just as he was not in that wind. Elijah, take heed. God's on the
throne. God can do as he will. God has
the power to do what he will. And after the earthquake, there
was a fire. Oh, there was a fire. But the
Lord was not in the fire. He wasn't in that. He wasn't
in it. He didn't need that. Elijah said,
I'm just the only one left. I'm weak. They're seeking my
life. I'll soon be gone and all of it will be all over. And God
said, nah, that's not true. I'm God. I'm God. I'm sovereign
in the universe. I know what's going on. I know
what's taking place. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth.
I will be exalted. I will be exalted. And look at it. And after the
fire there was a what? A still, small voice. Just a still, small voice. And
it was so when Elijah heard it. And he heard it. His mouth was
shut. He heard it. He wrapped his face
in his mantle and went out and stood at the entering end of
the cave. And behold, there came a voice unto him and said, What
doest thou hear, Elijah? What are you doing here? Elijah,
you have not stood still, and you have not saw me as God, you've
not looked upon me as you should. You do not understand yet, Elijah,
that I am God. I am God. Be still and know that
I am God. And so the Lord would say to
us today if we're looking for something big, Say, well, we
just got to have something big. We got to have a big time preacher.
We got to have this. We got to have a big building.
We got to have all kinds of stuff. We got to have, we got to have,
we got to have, we got to have, we got to have. My friend, do
you know the Lord? Be still and know that I am God. God says I'm going to be exalted
and I know how to bring it to pass. And I can do it with one,
or I can do it with many. The Lord, the Spirit of the Lord
is not straightened. The Spirit of the Lord is not
under the control of men. God is not under man's thumb.
God can do as He will. God can do as He pleases. And
our God is in the heavens, and He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. Our God is on the throne. All
right? Now I would like for you to turn
with me, if you will, to the book of Isaiah, chapter 30. The
book of Isaiah chapter 30. I thought this morning the best
I could do was just read scripture after scripture to you to help
you with this. We're talking about being still
and knowing that He is God. Isaiah chapter 30, and I want
to start here, verse 1 and 2, and then skip to verse 7. Whoa!
He says to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel,
but not of me, and that cover with a covering, but not of my
spirit, that they may add sin to sin, that walk to go down
into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth to strengthen themselves
in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. Therefore shall the strength
of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt
your confusion. Now look at verse 7. For the
Egyptians shall help in vain, I want you to see this. The world
shall help you in vain. You that are saying, well, the
Lord is not going to do anything. The Lord can't do anything. He's
had all of His time. I've been waiting and waiting
and waiting. God hasn't done anything. He's not going to do
anything. I'm going to look somewhere else for some help. And that's
what these people were going to do. They were rebellious children.
And they said, we're going to go down to Egypt. We're going
to go down there and we're going to get some help from the Egyptians.
Why, their strength is great. And we're going to go down there
and we're going to butter up to Pharaoh. And we're going to trust in the
shadow of Egypt. And the Lord said, well, Pharaoh's
strength is going to be your shame. It's going to be your
shame. The world, why a child of God? The world is no help to a child
of God. You must wait on the Lord. He
is your God. Be still and know that I am God. For the Egyptians shall help
in vain and to no purpose. What are they going to do? Well,
whatever they do is going to be in vain. It won't help you. And to no purpose. It will not
accomplish anything. You're spinning your wheels.
You're wasting your time. And therefore have our pride
concerning this, their strength is to sit still. That's what
their strength is. You that say, well, we gotta
do something and we gotta go somewhere, we gotta get some
help. Well, your strength, God said, is to sit still. That's
your strength. Just be still. Be still. Why don't you give up trying
to figure this out for God and become passive? Submit yourself
to the Lord. You know when we have a picture
taken, we set still for it normally. At least we're admonished to
set still for it. And you know the scripture says
that we're to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm going to tell you this,
that we're going to have to become passive before that comes to
pass. We're going to have to become
passive. We're going to have to be submissive unto the Lord.
We're going to have to begin to be still and to wait for the
outworking of God's purpose in and through our lives. We've
got to learn to be still and to know that He is God and that
He's about the business of exalting Himself among the heathen. The
way He leads us, the way He directs us. Oh, you say, well, I'm not
sure I want God to fool around in my life and to exalt Himself
with my life. Greatest honor you ever had,
my friend, is for God to take your life and lead you in a certain
way so that those around you would see His hand in the way
that He leads you and the way that He directs you and the way
He provides for you. You say, that's awful humbling,
preacher. Well, it may be humbling. And
I'll tell you the way up with God is down. It always has been. And if God's going to use you,
if God's going to do something through your life that's going
to make people sit up and take notice, He will do it. He will do it Himself. And we
must be still and know that this is God at work. So there's strength. Ha! Somebody said, I've not got
any strength at all. Your strength. Your strength
is not to be paddling your canoe. The strength is not to be rowing
the boat. The strength is not to be running
the streets. The strength is not going to
be found in the doing, doing, doing that you're up to. But
the strength is to be still. That's your strength. Wait on
the Lord. Wait on the Lord. We may wait
till He explains Somebody said, because we know that Jesus reigns. We can wait. Somebody said, I've
got people in my life that will not wait. Tell them to go on
without you. Just tell them to go on. They
say, well, we've got to do this. We've got to do that. We've got
something else we've got to do. Well, just tell them to go on
and do it. That you're going to wait on
the Lord. Now you recognize the fact that
many, many times we get into a bad state of mind. We really
do. I do, you do. And we get discouraged,
we get frustrated, we get down. And I want to admonish you that
you ought to quit thinking about yourself. Quit thinking about
yourself. Stop it. Don't think all the
time about yourself. Start looking to God. Start thinking
about the God you worship. Start believing what God said
in His Word. And don't you ever make a decision
to do something while you're down, while you're discouraged,
while you're being tested, while you're being tried. Don't you
ever say, yes, I will do this, yes, I will do that, when you're
in that state of mind. You wait until God gives you
peace. till God gives you a victory
in your heart until you know that everything is right. And
then you make the decision that you feel that the Spirit of the
Lord is leading you to make. Be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am God. Okay. So their strength is to
sit still. You say that's a paradox. Well, it may be. But nevertheless,
God said, that's your strength. Sit still and wait on me. All
right, now I want us to look at verse 15 and 16. For thus saith the Lord God,
the Holy One of Israel, in returning, in returning, just turn around
and come right back to where you were. You ran off as rebellious
children. You took off on your own. You didn't wait on me. Just get
back where you were. Get on back where you were and
rest. shall you be saved, and returning
in rest shall you be saved, shall you be delivered. That's the
word. Now listen to this, and in quietness
and in confidence shall be your strength. And ye would not. He said your strength would be
your confidence in me and your quietness of heart and mind.
Peter talked about women, wives, adorning themselves with the
ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. Well, I'm here to tell
you today that all the people of God ought to have a meek and
quiet spirit. And all of us ought to trust
the Lord, confidence in God. Confidence in God. Can you trust
God with your life? Well, you say you've trusted
Him with your soul. Can you trust Him with your life?
that little life of yours, that little situation that you got,
can you trust Him with that? You trust Him with your soul
for all eternity. Can't you trust Him for a crust
of bread? You say, I believe He's my Savior.
Well, God help us. We can't trust Him for a place
to live, for clothes to wear, for food to eat. What's the matter
with us? We better get to trusting the
Lord in confidence. Quietness and confidence would
be their strength. And he said you would not. You
would not listen to this in verse 16, but you said no! No, we don't
like that arrangement. We want to be busy. We don't
want to listen to them hard-shelled preachers. We don't want to listen
to them Calvinists. We don't want to listen to them
that says God's in control, that God's running the show, that
you can afford to wait on the Lord, that you can afford to
be quiet and be still. We don't want to listen to any
of that kind of preaching. No! We won't do it. We're going
to get us a horse, and the faster he is, the better off we're going
to be. We're going to flee. We're going
to get us something that runs, and we'll get away from all of
this mess. Well, therefore shall you flee. You're right upon the swift beast.
Therefore shall they that pursue you be swift also. You're not
going to get away from this. You're a child of God. Be still.
Be still, and know that He's God, and rest, trust, be quiet,
and wait on the Lord. Depend upon Him. You said no. Oh, how many times have you said
no? But you live to regret it. You
live to regret it. I tell you what old Jonah, old
Jonah, he got up one morning, God said, you go to Nineveh.
And old Jonah was feeling real strong that day. I mean, he felt
Boy, he felt in control. And he went down and he bought
him a ticket and said, I'm going to Joppa. He was in control. And he said, I'm going to take
off. I'm going to do what I want. He mapped out his plan. and said,
I'm going to Joppa. I'm not going to go down there
to Nineveh. I don't want to preach to them people. I don't want
God saving them people. I don't like them. And I'm not
going down there. I'm in control of this situation. And boy, he was. He paid the
fare thereof. And remember this. When you're
running from God and trying to do what you want to do, you're
going to pay the bill. You're going to pay the bill.
He paid the fare thereof when he got on that ship. Well, he
got out there in the ocean and a storm came up. They didn't
know what to do. Them fellows were skilled, skilled
people when it comes to handling a ship, but they couldn't handle
that ship. And finally old Jonah had to confess up saying, I'm
the problem here. You just got to throw me overboard.
I'm not in control now. You got to throw me out of here.
And they threw him out. And boy, there's that big fish.
And it swallowed him up. And old Jonah's in the belly
of that fish and he's surprised that he's even alive. And he
recognizes his surroundings. He knows where he's at. He's
at the bottom of the sea and he's out of control. You see,
he doesn't control the situation now. It's completely out of his
hands. Oh, it's out of his hands. He
ain't got anything to say about it now. Nothing to say about
it. What can he do? And after a while, When he learned
his lesson, the Lord took that big fish right to the bank and
spewed him out. After he learned that salvation
is of the Lord, salvation is of God, deliverance is of God.
And I want to tell you what, you can run all you want to,
make all the fuss about it you want to make, and just really
take it into your hands. Somebody said, I've got control
now, preacher. Yeah, you just go right ahead.
But I want to tell you what, if God had control of him when
he got in that boat, if God had control of him when he was in
that fish, and God controlled that fish, or he would have never
ended up on dry land. It would have belched him out
in the middle of the ocean. That would have been the end of old Jonah. That
fish took him under God's guidance right to the bank and belched
him out on dry ground. I want to tell you this, God
is in control. Be still. Be still. Stop that saying NO! Know, be
still, and know that He is God. He will be exalted. He will be
exalted among the heathen. He will be exalted in the earth. And it's through His people that
He means to exalt Himself. It's through their circumstances,
through their trials, through their relationships, through
their tests that He means to exalt Himself. And He will do
it. Now then, I want you to look,
if you will, at the 35th chapter of Isaiah. The 35th chapter of
Isaiah. Chapter 35 and look at verse 3 and 4. Strengthen ye the weak hands.
and confirm the feeble knees. That's the job of the preacher.
Strengthen the weak hands. Well, the preacher's hands are
weak and the knees of the preacher is weak and he's inclined to
believe that the hands of the people are weak and that the
knees of the people are weak. So how are we going to strengthen
our hands and confirm the people needs? Verse 4, say to them that
are of a fearful heart. And that word fearful there is
hasty. Say to them that is of a hasty heart. Say to them, Isaiah 52.12 says,
for ye shall not go out with haste. You shall not run, go
out with haste. Say to them that are of a hasty
heart, I want to tell you this, that those that are hasty, those that are hasty, they jump
to conclusions based upon their present circumstances. Fear,
my friend, is never wise. Fear is never patient. Fear is
never reasonable. The fearful heart says with Jacob,
all these things are against me. They're all against me. This
whole world and everything in it is against me. All against
me. What kind of a complex would
you call that? Now if God's for you, who can be against you?
What good would it do anybody to be against you? Come on! You
believe, don't you? Aren't you believers? God be
for you, who can be against you? Tried people. forget the promises
of the Word of God, they forget the providence and the power
of God, they forget it. Well, he said, you be strong,
don't be of a hasty heart, be strong and fear not. He said,
behold, your God will come. Behold, your God will come. Behold,
your God. Be still and know that He's God. Acting on impulse always get
into trouble. The Lord's people forget that
God is faithful. They forget His wisdom. They
forget that He can devise a way, that He can make a way. They
judge the Lord by feeble sense and fail to see His grace. They
see the cloud of providence but not God's smiling face, somebody
said. Fear and unbelief fill their
hearts, and it's not something that just wanes by and by. It
increases hour by hour. You're in that state. They taste
the bitter, bitter bud, but never the sweetness of the flower.
Unbelief and fear rob us of the blessing. Rob us of the blessing. To you, God says, be strong,
fear not. Behold, your God will come. He
will come. He will come. Do you believe
he'll come on time? You believe you will? You believe you'll
get there on time? My friend, he'll be there on
time. And if he don't get there on
time, he's got a good reason for not getting there. If he
don't get there on your schedule, forget about your schedule, he's
got one. And he will be on time. He will
be on time. Your God will come. Now I do
not mean to imply in any way, shape or form that fear and faith
cannot live together in the same heart. I know they do. Psalm 56 and 3 said, David said,
what time I'm afraid, I will trust in thee. And so you may
have some fear there. But David said, when I'm afraid,
I trust. I just trust in the Lord. Fear,
my friend, is terribly inconsistent with faith and robs a child of
God, of his comfort, robs him of his joy. Behold, your God
is the cure for fear. Behold your God. Look to your
God. Look to Him. Look to His hand. Look to Him. If you trust the Lord, He rules
the universe in total sovereignty, and He's your God. And if you
believe that, you can say, Hallelujah. You can say, Praise the Lord.
I mean, if you've had any experience in the ways of God, if you've
traveled any with the Lord, you can say, Hallelujah. There's
never any cause really for fear. Our salvation is finished. He's
put away our sins, brought in everlasting righteousness. Such
a righteousness with which God Himself can find no fault. What
are you afraid of? You're going to die. We all are
going to die. Steam's been taken out of death.
Have nothing to fear in dying. Nothing to fear if we know the
Lord, if we're in Christ. And our Savior, the Lord Jesus,
is in complete control of the universe. Do you believe that? Do you believe it? Well, believe
it, it's true. It is true. He's too wise to
err, too good to do wrong, too strong to fail. And the Scripture
says He's working everything out for your good and for His
glory. He's doing it. He's working it out. He's busy
working it out. And then the glory of God, which
you and I desire above all else, is certain. It's certain. Now that would be enough, I think,
to stimulate our hearts to be still and know that He's God.
The glory that we all desire, that the Lord receives, that
glory He's going to have. He will be exalted. And don't
you live for that day. I live for that day when God
will be exalted in the earth. Let Him do what He has to do
with this world. Let Him do what He has to do. However poor, however
sickly, however distraught, whatever be the situation, however I'm
drugged through the mire and the briars, however, it doesn't
matter if God be exalted. Let God be true. I want to read
just a few verses out of Psalm 95 and I'm finished. Turn with
me to Psalm chapter 95 and listen to these words. Come, verse 1,
let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to
the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence
with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God and
a great King above all gods. In His hands are the deep places
of the earth. The strength of the hills is
His also. The sea is His, and He made it.
And His hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship
and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker. For He is
our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep
of His hand. And today, if you will hear His
voice, if you have heard His voice, If you're hearing His
voice in the Word, harden not your heart. Harden not your heart. Listen to the Word of God. Don't
go on in rebellion. Listen to what this great God,
this great King that is above all gods has to say to you today. I trust that the Lord has spoken
and that the Lord has been honored and exalted here today. And I
trust that maybe some answers have been given to your heart. I know this has answered some
things in my own heart and it's brought me to face again the
great truths of God's absolute sovereignty and to rejoice in
them and to be glad because of it. So be still and know that
I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. Father, in the name of Jesus,
bless this text and bless those things that were said Our Father,
in the truths of Scripture that was set forth this morning before
these people, and may it be that there shall be fruit that will
come from the hearing of these verses and the hearing of this
message this morning. We ask it in Jesus' name, for
His sake alone, Amen.