Isaiah 46, look again with me
at verse 1. Bell boweth down, Nebo stoopeth. Their idols were upon the beast
and upon the cattle. Carriages were heavy laden, a
burden to the weary beast. They stooped, they bowed down,
They could not deliver the burden, but themselves are going into
captivity. And this is in reference to the
fall of Babylon by Cyrus. And if we read back earlier in
Isaiah, we read this, Babylon has fallen. And these idols,
if you could just picture them, And the two most popular ones
that we read of here are Bale and Nebo, but all these false
idols are broken in pieces and scattered, cover the ground,
they cover the battlefield. And the victors, I imagine, they
say to the victor goes the spoils, right? They're going around collecting
these idols, trying to gather them up And what they could gather
up they would place on wagons and carts and on their animals
to bear them. For one reason, the value of
them. These things were made with gold
and silver and precious metals. And here in our text we see that
they were loaded on the beast and the cattle and the wagons
so much that these animals couldn't carry them. They couldn't bear
them. They struggled to carry the load. They stooped down. They were
knocked over. And the people, all these people,
they trusted these idols to deliver them. And they couldn't. An idol can't deliver a man. An idol can't do anything. They couldn't deliver themselves,
let alone the people. They couldn't save them. Couldn't
save themselves. They were nothing but a burden. And I think about that, and isn't
that what false religion is? It's just a burden. And it lays
a burden upon men just like these animals that they can't bear.
They can't carry. And yet that idol is worthless. Maybe a value with regard to
gold and silver, but with regards to deliverance, it's of no value
to itself or anyone else. Look at verse 5 through 9 still
of Isaiah 46. Oh, whom will you liken me and
make me equal and compare me that we may be alike? They lavish
gold out of the bag and weigh silver in the balance and they
hire a goldsmith. They go out and buy some of these
precious metals and they hire a goldsmith and he maketh it
a god, little G. You see that? They fall down. Yeah, they worship. They bear
Him upon the shoulder and they carry Him. That's what men do
with false idols. They carry Him around and do
with Him what they will. They set Him in His place and
He standeth in that place and from hence He's not going to
move, just like that songbook sitting there. It's not going
anywhere unless somebody goes over and picks it up and moves
it. That's what these idols are.
One shall cry unto them, he says. They can't answer. They can't
save out of trouble. An idol is nothing more than
the work of a man's hands. That's all it is. That idol,
it's a false god that cannot save. It cannot deliver. It can't save those that worship
them. They are useless. They're just
a false refuge. In Psalm 115.4, let me just read
this to you. It says, Their idols are silver
and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak
not. Eyes have they, but they see
not. Ears have they, but they hear
not. Noses, but they smell not. Hands, but they handle not. Feet
have they, but they walk not. Neither speak they through their
throat. And they that make them, they
that make them are just like them. And so is everyone that
trusteth in them." False religion. It's an idol. Works religion.
It's an idol. This is what false religion says.
They say Christ has no body but yours. Wouldn't that be a terrible
place? for God to, if that's what He
was dependent upon, this corruptible body? They say He has no hands
but yours. That God's helpless without man. I ask you, what kind of God is
that? It's merely an idol, a useless
idol. They say that He has no feet
but yours. that your eyes are the eyes through
which he must look with compassion. Your feet are the way in which
he goes about doing good. That's what false religion says. Where's the rest in that? Where's
the hope? Where's the peace? Where's their
comfort in that? It's idol worship. Praying to
a God that cannot save. And listen, if it's your service,
if it's your denomination, if it's your church membership,
if it's your giving, if it's, listen, if it's anything, anything
that would take our eyes off of Christ, We all need to be
warned of this. It's nothing but an idol. And
these idols, unfortunately, I don't know whether to say fortunately
or unfortunately, back in Nebuchadnezzar's day, he made one that was 90
feet tall and covered in gold. That would have been pretty obvious,
wouldn't it, that that was an idol? In our time, it's not that
obvious. I fear sometimes that Grace. The word grace has become an
idol. It's trendy, right? I mean, ask
your friends. Everybody out there believes
in grace in some form or other. They take some Spurgeon quotes
and post them and all of a sudden it's a grace church. Anything,
anything to draw in a crowd. But you know, if you listen closely,
if you listen closely, man's works always seems to just kind
of creep in. It's subtle, but it's there. Add something to it, pretty subtle. Or many times, it's not even
what is said. It's what's not said. It's what's
left out. They don't want to take a chance
on offending anyone. I remember years ago, I remember
there was a fella came up to Henry at a basketball game and
he told him, he said, I just absolutely love the message you
preach. I rejoiced. This man said he
was a pastor. He said, I love the message you
preach. I believe every word you say. But if I tried to preach
that to my congregation, I wouldn't have a job. They would
run me. They would run me out of town. Taking away the offense of the
cross. Taking away the blood. Taking
away salvation by Christ and Christ alone. Removing man's
sin or making it seem less sinful. That's foolishness, isn't it?
Listen, sin is sin. Great sin, small sin, sin is
sin. In the eyes of a holy God, listen,
and we're dead. in trespasses and sin. They take away from God's holiness. They take away from His sovereignty. They're alright with God being
sovereign in creation. They're alright saying God's
sovereign in providence. When it comes to salvation, they
want to have a little hand in that. want to have some skin
in the game. Well, the scriptures declare
this, that God is where the man realizes it, where the man knows
it, where the man's willing to accept that God is absolutely
sovereign in all things. They try to take away from Christ
sacrifice. They diminish it. Scripture says the blood of Jesus
Christ, His Son, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. But man takes that and he throws
a little bit of works in it. He'll say, God's done this, but
stop right there, right? He needs a little more. Listen,
that's idolatry. That's all that is. Listen to
Isaiah 45 verse 20, "...assemble yourselves and come and draw
near together ye that are escaped of the nations. They have no
knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image and they
pray unto a God that cannot save." We need to be warned about that. Listen, turn back with me to
Isaiah 46. Look at verse 3 of Isaiah 46. Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant
of the house of Israel, which are born by me from the belly,
which are carried from the womb. O house of Jacob. Jacob was a supplanter. Jacob
was a thief. Jacob was a sinner. But you know
what scripture also says about Jacob? Jacob have I loved. Oh house of Jacob. chosen of
God, Jacob, called of God. And then he says, all the remnant. Who's he talking to here? Jacob? The remnant of the house of Israel? The remnant. You like that word
remnant? The remnant according to the
election of grace. There's a remnant. What a glorious thought. There's
a remnant. Some. There's some. There always has been. There
is now. There always will be a remnant. What's that mean? God has a people. He has a remnant. And he says,
they're born from the belly and carried from the womb. His people, born from the belly
and carried from the womb. You know an idol, we read about
that, an idol is made and then it must be carried. The Lord Jesus Christ, He's born
and He's carried by none. He bears and carries his people
all the days of their life. Listen, from the womb, verse
4, even to old age, I am he. And even to whore hairs will
I carry you. Even to old age. poor hairs, gray hairs. Might feel a little better about
having some gray hair knowing that, that the Lord carries His
people. When my mother and father forsake
me, when they're gone, the Lord will take me up. Listen, we're
described in Scripture as poor, as weak, as helpless, even as
an infant. Like a newborn. Anybody ever seen a newborn walk
through the door? They have to be carried, right? They have to be picked up and
carried. That's what He does for His people.
He carries them. And He's never going to leave
them. He's never going to forsake them.
His people, His remnant, His elect, Even in old age, listen
to the rest of this first. Listen to these four promises. I have made, and I will bear, even I will carry and deliver
you. Let me read that again. I have made, and I will bear,
even I will carry, and will deliver you." With what time we have
left here this evening, I want to look at just these promises. And I pray these are words of
comfort. The title of this message is
Comfort for the Believer. Young and old. A word of comfort to God's sheep,
young and old. First one is this, I have made
you. He says, I have made you. I have, listen, I've produced
you. This is a reference to creation,
His creation. Ephesians 2 verse 10 says, We
are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
What we are is a result of His work. What we've been made. We're made righteous. That's
the result of his work in us, a work for us and a work in us. He said, I have made you. This world, I think about this,
it teaches evolution. Evolution would say, look how
far we've come, right? From a little, I don't know,
salamander or whatever, and look just how far we've come. Creation, it starts with nothing. Darkness, huh? And it ends with
light. It ends with life. God formed
man from the dust of the ground. And He didn't just leave him
there. He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became
a living soul. God made man. Do we need to debate over that?
You don't need to debate that, is there? It's what God's Word
says. Listen to Genesis 1 verse 27. God created man in His own
image. In the image of God, created
He him. Male and female, created He them. I have made You. Listen, denouncing the works
of men's hands. It's not the works of men's hands.
It's the works of his hands. It's what he's done. I've made
you second. He says, I will, I'll bear you. I will bear you. I will support
you. I will sustain you. And listen, not only does He
bear us, think about what He bore for us. He bore our iniquity. There's a remnant whose sins
the Lord Jesus Christ bore. Did He bear mine? Did He bear
yours? Turn with me to Isaiah 53, just
a few pages over. Isaiah 53, verse 6. Follow along with me here. Isaiah
53, verse 6. It says, all we, like sheep,
have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Can you enter into that? All
we, like sheep, have gone astray. Does that describe you? We've
turned everyone to our own way, and yet the Lord laid on The Lord laid on the Lord Jesus
Christ the iniquity of us all. Have you erred? Have you strayed
like a lost sheep? Have you turned to your own way? Would you trust the Lord Jesus
Christ? Would you look to Him? Would
you believe His Word? He says, the Lord hath laid on
Him the iniquity of us all. Oh, I pray He'd cause us to look
to Christ, rest in Him, look to Christ and Christ alone. He
who bore our sins in His body on the tree. He said, I made
you. I created you. I bore you. I bore your sin." Third, he says,
I'll carry. I'll carry you. I'll bear the
load. I'll bear the burden. I read that and I can't help
but think of that one lost sheep for which the great shepherd,
he left those 99 to go find. What's he looking
for? One lost sheep. Does that describe
us? One lost sheep. That one that
had gone astray. What did we just read there from
Isaiah? All we like sheep have gone astray. And when he found
it, when he hath found it." That's
not even in question whether he's going to find it. He's not
going to lose one. When he finds it, he lays it
on his shoulder. He bears the load. He doesn't
put a leash on it and drag it home, does he? No, he said when
he found it, laid it on his shoulders. He picked it up and he laid it
on his shoulders. He bears the load. He bears the
burden. And he rejoices. He rejoices
about that. Why? Because I have found my
sheep, which was lost. He bore it. He bore it. He did. That lost sheep had no
part of that work other than going astray. The shepherd goes
and finds it, puts it on his shoulders, and he brings it home. He did it. He bore the punishment
of my sin. He bore the penalty of my sin. All my iniquities on him were
laid. He nailed them all to the tree.
Jesus, the debt of my sin fully paid, He paid the ransom for
me. Again, not only did He bear my
sin, He took them upon Himself. He bore that load of sin, that
burden of sin, that punishment of sin, the penalty of sin, that
which would have crushed us, that which we could never bear. He bore it. A debt that we could
never pay. A debt that he didn't know but
he paid it for his people. In Hebrews 9.26, God's Word declares
that once in the end of the world, He hath appeared to put away
sin, how? By the sacrifice of himself. He laid down his life for the
sheep. He bore it. He put it away by
the sacrifice of himself. I've made you. I'll bear you. I'll carry you and forth. Listen to this last promise.
I will deliver you. And there's two meanings here.
That word deliver, it means to rescue. It means to save. And there's many scriptures in
God's Word that deal with deliverance. That's throughout the Word of
God. The children there at the Red Sea. Remember that? No place to run, no place to
hide. What was the command? Stand still.
See the salvation of the Lord. And that seat parted and they
walked through on dry ground. They were delivered and every
enemy was destroyed. Jonah, Rahab the harlot, Daniel. I mean, we could just go on and
on through scripture. Deliverance. But look with me
just quickly here at Acts chapter 12. Acts chapter 12. Here in Acts 12, King Herod,
he'd stretched forth his hand to vex certain of the church
and one of those was Peter. And when he'd apprehended him,
he went and tracked him down. He put him in prison and he delivered
him to four Quaternions of soldiers to keep him. One man, Peter,
and here it has 16 men, 16 soldiers guarding him. Look at verse 5. Peter therefore was kept in prison,
but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him,
And when Herod would have brought him forth, Herod would have killed
him the next day, the same night Peter was sleeping between two
soldiers. Now, Herod is serious about keeping
him here. Herod's serious about him being
in his hands. and sleeping between two soldiers
and bound with two chains. I suppose his legs were shackled
and his hands were shackled. And then there was also the keepers
before the door that kept the prison. I tell you, they're serious
about keeping him bound, sleeping between these two guards. And
then there's two more guards on the outside of the cell door
waiting for anything to happen. That's a terrible place, isn't
it? I ask you, can Peter be delivered from that? You can rest assured of this,
Peter will never deliver himself in that situation. Can he be
rescued? Can he be saved? What's it going to take? What
will it take to deliver Peter? Look at verse 7. Verse 7, And
behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and light shined
in the prison, and smote Peter on the side, and raised him up,
saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from
his hands. And the angel said unto him,
Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he
said unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. And
he went out, and he followed him, and wist not that it was
true which was done by the angel, but thought it was a vision."
This is too good to be true. He thought he was having a dream. Can I be delivered from this
prison? And when they were past the first
and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate, the big iron
gate that led unto the city. And look what happened to that
gate. It opened to them of his own
accord. And they went out and they passed
on through the street, and forthwith the angel departed from him.
And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety. that the Lord hath sent his angel
and hath delivered me." Delivered me out of the hand of Herod and
from all the expectation of the people of the Jews. The Lord sent his angel and delivered
Peter. Listen, he's a man in great peril,
isn't he? Yet he's delivered. I'm telling
you, the plan was to kill Peter the next day. Yet, God was pleased to deliver
him. Turn with me to one more passage
of Scripture. Look at Job chapter 33. Job 33 verse 24. Here we read of another
man in great peril. A man in peril going down into
the pit. That's us. That's a sinner. Do you have Job 33? Look at verse
24. He is gracious. unto him. The Lord is gracious
unto him, and saith, Deliver him. Deliver him from
going down to the pit. I have found a ransom." The redemption
price has been paid in full. Now listen, if you heard that
statement from me, or if you heard that statement from any
other man, you might question the truth of it. But when God declares it, there's
only one thing to do. Believe. Believe. When he speaks deliverance concerning
him that's going down to the pit, he said, I found a ransom. That deliverance is certain. Scripture says, if the Son therefore
shall make you free, you're free indeed. I've made you. bear you, I will carry you, I
will deliver you from the womb, even to old age, even to gray
hairs. I pray the Lord would enable
us to see that. To not look to idols, to not
look to the things of this world, but to just look to Christ. Look to Him and rest in Him and
Him alone. And what He has promised, what
He's promised to do.