We're back to the book of Isaiah. We've been going chapter by chapter through the book of Isaiah.
And as you've been observing, as I've been preaching through this,
we've had a few chapters that were not that difficult to understand.
And guess what? We're there in chapter 41. It's a bit challenging. It's a little bit cryptic to
understand what this is about. Probably as it was being read, you'll probably have a look at it and
go, I kind of get some of it, but what is this really about? And so it's one of these chapters
again that you kind of have to read through multiple times, meditate upon it, compare
scripture with scripture. But it starts there in verse number one. Isaiah 41, verse number one,
keep silence before me. Title of the sermon tonight is keep silence. Keep silence. Well,
shut up. All right. As we would say today, keep silence. And the Lord God is saying,
keep silence before me, all islands. Who is he talking to? The reference there to islands is to
nations. If you drop down to verse number two very quickly, it says, who raises up the righteous man
from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him. So this is just a reference
of the nations being referenced there. And so God is essentially telling the nations of this earth,
you know, to be silent before him. Now, the reason this is important, again, if you remember from
two weeks ago, that Isaiah 40 was all about how mighty our God is. And in comparison to us,
we are insignificant. We are nothing. And yet, you know, he humbled himself and was obedient to the
cross and he died for our sins. And he still demonstrated his great love toward us, even
though in many ways, of course, compared to God, we are so insignificant. And so Isaiah 41 kind
of maintains that same, you may recall when it says, you know, the nations are like a drop in the
bucket. It's the same thing that's playing out here. And so there's no nation, there's no man,
there's no power on this earth, there's no king that can really speak against the Lord God.
He said, be quiet before me. All right, let's understand further what this is about. It says,
and let, verse number one, and let the people renew their strength. The people there to renew
their strength is a reference to believers. It says, let them come near, let them speak,
let us come knee together to judgment. All right, so let me just prove to you that those that are
there to renew their strength are God's people or believers. You may recall that's how Isaiah 40
ended. So look at the end of Isaiah 40, verse number 31. Isaiah 40, verse number 31, actually
a very famous verse in the Bible, Isaiah 40, 31 says, but they that wait upon the Lord shall
renew their strength. So who's trying to renew their strength? Those that wait upon the Lord.
They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk
and not faint. And so our Lord God is telling us that we, if we need to recharge our batteries,
you know, if you're getting a little tired in the service of the Lord, in serving His kingdom,
that we can renew our strength in the Lord. You know, there's nothing wrong with, you know,
living a faithful life that pleases the Lord and going out soloing and traveling to different
places like a Melbourne or like a Fiji. But sometimes it's tiring and, you know,
when it gets tiring, sometimes it's okay to have a rest. You know, have a rest in the Lord God and
He'll renew your strength and He may cause you to do even more than you've done in the past
once He's recharged your batteries. Now, as we've recharged our strength and renewing our strength
and all these things, you know, the nations of this earth are in many ways, of course in the
Bible, our enemy. You know, they, you know, we represent another kingdom. We are ambassadors
of Jesus Christ. You know, this earth is not our home. We are so generous we're just passing
through. And you need to remember this because, you know, I'm not against politics, but sometimes
Christians get so political they forget what nation they're really from. You know, we're from
heaven. We're representatives, citizens of heaven. And so that is our true nation. And of course,
when Christ comes to reign for a thousand years, yes, that is the government that we're going to
be under. That is definitely our government. That is our political party, the party of Jesus Christ.
I don't know what it's going to be called, but it's the party of Jesus Christ. And there's not
going to be any elections for a thousand years. You know, it's Jesus Christ ruling and reigning
100% undisputed champion of the world. But there in Isaiah, again, verse 41, verse 1. So he's
telling, you know, keep silence before me and let the people renew their strength. The Lord God
knows that this world wears and tears on us. Okay, this world, just the temptations, the sins,
the accusations, the persecutions. You know, it always surprises me when, you know, as a believer,
we're meant to be at peace and we ought to be striving for peace, to be at peace with all men.
And we ought to do good to our enemies. And, you know, when we preach the gospel of Jesus Christ,
we just want to see souls saved. It's just a love for souls. And like you can live this great life
as a believer, you know, trying to be as holy and as good to your neighbor as you can, loving your
neighbors and all that stuff. And yet the persecutions still come, the accusations still
come. You know, this world, I can't, you know, I understand because the Bible tells me,
but I almost don't understand why the world just hates someone trying to live a Christian holy
life. You know, it's just, it's the world. And so sometimes, you know, when the world tears you down,
wears and tears at you. And you're like, you know, what's the point of living this Christian life
when everyone is so ungodly? And, you know, even when I try to do what is well, people persecute
me and criticize me. You know, that's when we need to go to the Lord God to renew our strength.
And He says to the nations, keep silence before me. You know, the Lord God can stop the nations
from accusing you and wearing you down and tearing you down for a period of time. But we need to be
able to go to our Lord God and say, Lord, I'm tired of this world. Please recharge my batteries.
And, you know, please speak to the islands or please speak to the nations and tell them
to leave me alone so I can renew my strength. And then Christ ends, or God ends at verse number one,
let them come near and let them speak. So allow us, allow us as God's people to speak.
You know, allow us as God's people to come to church and be able to preach and hear God's word.
Allow us to go out there and preach the gospel. You know, don't allow, you know, God is essentially
telling the nations, don't stop at my people from being able to speak my word and then let us come
together to judgment. So one day the Lord God is going to judge, you know, this wicked world. He's
going to judge them. And then he continues in verse number two, who raised up the righteous man
from the east? Now, I think it is generally accepted that this righteous man who God raised
up from the east is most likely Abraham. Again, Abraham is not mentioned, but it seems to be
indicated, especially later on, because we look at the seed of Abraham, that this may very well
be a reference to Abraham. So who raised up a righteous man from the east, caught him to his
foot, gave the nations before him, remember Abraham must be a father of many nations,
and made him rule over kings. He gave them as the dust to his sword and driven stubble to his bow.
So at one point Abraham had authority over kings, and again it speaks of the sword and
this idea of the bow, so this deals with warfare. And you may recall in Genesis 14 it speaks of the
wars of the kings, and that during this battle between, you know, two groups of kings, Abraham's
nephew Lot was taken away, like kind of kidnapped and carried away into captivity, and then
Abraham gets his armies, gets his servants together, and they go make battle. They deliver
Lot, and they essentially end that war. And then the kings are kind of subjects unto Abraham at
that point. So again, that's what I think it's referring to here. It says in verse number three,
he pursued them and passed safely, and by the way that he had not gone with his feet. So what
God is showing here is that you can have all the kings of the earth, you know, war in one with
another, like a world war that's taken place, and God can raise up just one righteous man
and end the war, and have victory over all the kings. So you know, like, you know, again comparing
the power of nations, and when you think about the power of nations we often think about the
military might. And God says, man, I can just take one man, and that's Abraham, the example there,
and he can just destroy you guys with his help. Again, just showing how much more powerful our
Lord God is versus the kings of the earth. Verse number four, who have wrought and done it? So who
made Abraham be victorious this way? Calling the generations from the beginning. So of course we
know it's God that done it. Then he says, I the Lord, the first, and with the last, I am he. He
says, I'm the one that raised Abraham. I'm the one that had victory over these kings. I'm the
one that can subdue kings under a man. He says, I the Lord, the first, and with the last, I am he.
I find this phrase really interesting, but I'll explain it to you in a moment. Come with me to
Isaiah 44. Come with me to Isaiah 44. I just want to compare something here. In Isaiah 44, verse
number six, Isaiah 44 and verse number six. Isaiah 44 verse six says, Thus saith the Lord,
the king of Israel, and his redeemer, the Lord of hosts. So once you notice there, it says,
I am the, sorry, thus saith the Lord, the king of Israel, and then it says, and his redeemer,
the Lord of hosts. Then it says this, I am the first and the last, and beside me there is no God.
So how many gods are there? One. Besides God, there is no other God. But when you read about
God here, it refers to him as the first and the last. And we know when it comes to the book of
Revelation, Christ multiple times is referred to as the first and the last. Just a quick example,
I'll read it to you. Don't need to turn there. Revelation 22, 13, Christ says, I am alpha and
omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. And so God, sorry, Jesus Christ is God,
but Jesus Christ there is affirming his deity as the first and the last. And the one God that
exists is why we believe in the Trinity, one God in three persons. And what we see in this passage,
again, there in Isaiah 44, verse number six, thus saith the Lord, the king of Israel, and his
redeemer, the Lord of hosts. So even within this one God, immediately we see there's a plurality
taking place there, at least two being mentioned, right? And so when we understand this, it's like,
well, hold on, it's kind of teaching us about the nature of God. And, you know, it's really the New
Testament where Christ revealed with clarity the nature of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy
Ghost. This is a doctrine that Jesus Christ emphasizes in the New Testament. But you can find
glimpses of it even in the Old Testament. And this is one example there in Isaiah 44. Now, when we
come back to Isaiah 41, Isaiah 41, verse number four, again, the second part of it says, I the Lord,
look at this, the first, and then it says, and with the last. Now, God is the first and the last,
but I find it interesting. He says, I am he, the first and with the last. Again, the plurality that
exists within the nature of God. Again, we're seeing these glimpses of the Old Testament,
how, you know, there is one God yet three persons ultimately, the Father, the Son, and of course,
the Holy Ghost. Well, let's continue then, verse number five. The isles saw it and feared. So,
they're reflecting themselves against the Lord God. The ends of the earth were afraid.
The ends of the earth were afraid, drew near and came. They helped everyone his neighbor,
and everyone said to his brother, be of good courage. Now, verses five and six kind of sounds
positive, be of good courage, but this is something negative, okay. So, the isles or the nations,
when they understand the God of the Bible, and by the way, remember I said, it's hard for me to wrap
my head around why people hate you just for being a believer. Like, you know, I'm not just going to,
you know, going to work and just not preaching the Bible, not like debating doctrine, not even
trying to get souls saved because I'm at work hours, I'm trying to do work, and you're just
trying to be a good employee for the name of Christ. You're representing Christ no matter
where you go, you get criticized. Like, even if you're not picking fights, you know, you're just
a hard worker, and again, you know you're doing it for the Lord Jesus Christ, again, I always wonder
why does the world just hate holy living? Why does the world hate righteous living? Well, what we
learn here, as the nations, as the isles understand the God of the Bible, who he is, right, the first
and with the last, they start to encourage one another, be of good courage. So, instead of saying,
hey, let's have a fear of God, instead of saying, hey, let's humble ourselves before the mighty hand
of the God of Abraham, they're like, hey, let's encourage ourselves against the God of Abraham,
let's encourage us against the first and the last. This is why in a nation like Australia,
I always speak about it, we just don't have the fear of the Lord in this nation.
You know, I'll be completely honest with you guys, you know, when I started to hear about soul
winning in the Philippines, and the numbers that are getting saved, and sometimes I'd hear, we
didn't have a great week this week, but we had 100 salvations. Like, what? What in the world? You
didn't have a good week, but you had 100 salvations. And I'm like, is that because I'm
only relating things to Australia, like where I've gone soul winning, right? And then when you get to
a place like the Philippines, and you realize, man, look how they receptive they are to the
gospel. And then you go to a place like Fiji, go, wow, these people have a fear of the Lord.
And you know, you open the Bible, and there's like a respect. And, you know, they don't even know,
need to know who you are, as long as you have the Bible, they respect the Word of God. And there's
a fear and an honor. But you know, most people in this world, especially in Australia, there is no
fear of the Lord. And the Bible tells us that they encourage one another. Don't worry about the Lord.
You know, you wouldn't have to worry about the God of Abraham. And then what happens? Verse seven,
once mankind encourages, be of good courage against the Lord God, it says, so the carpenter
encouraged the goldsmith, that he smoothed with the hammer, him that smote the anvil, saying,
it is ready for the soldiering, and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved. So,
you guys probably know this language, what is it speaking about? They fasten it with nails,
that it should not be moved. Idols, of course. So instead of the nations going, all right,
let's accept the God of Abraham. They're like, let's create our own gods. Let's encourage each
other. Let's set up false religion and false idols that we can bow down and worship to. And,
you know, every false religion in this nation, every false religion in this world is the same.
You know, they don't want the God of Abraham. They don't want the God of the Bible as their God.
They'll create some image that they think this must be Jesus. And they'll create an image of
Mary, some idol and some angels and some saints, whatever it is, they want anything else than the
God of the Bible. You know, and again, it's just, it seems like within humanity, again,
maybe some of you guys can relate to this, because maybe some of you got saved later in life.
One of the reasons I can't relate to it is just because I grew up in a Christian home,
was saved at a young age. And I've always loved the Lord. I've always loved the Bible. I've never
been the best believer, but I've always loved God's Word. And so for me, it's so foreign to
think about hating the God of the Bible, or seeking a God that's more comfortable to my
thinking, so I'll just alter God's Word to satisfy what I want God to be. And so that's a foreign
concept to me, so that's why I can't really relate to it. You know, one of the blessings,
I suppose, of growing up in a Christian home, but this is the world, largely when you show them the
God of the Bible, and you show them that, hey, he has great love, and you know, that's wonderful,
and he sent his son to die for you. You know, I've had people say like, you know, Christ died
in our place. That's the love of God, like the extreme love of God that he would sacrifice
his only begotten son. And then people turn around and say,
I'm sure you've all heard it, well, I don't want a God that would kill his own son.
It's like he did it for you. He loves you so much, and people just want to reject the Lord
and worship whatever it is else they think it is. Well, if God truly existed, there wouldn't
be suffering in Africa or whatever it is, right? There wouldn't be human trafficking. There wouldn't
be whatever, whatever, whatever. And the reason they say that, they just don't want to believe
the God of the Bible. Who's a holy God? And the reason why there's so much corruption and
weakness on this earth is because man is sinful. We're sinners, we're wicked, okay? And it's almost
like they don't want to face that reality that there is a holy righteous God, but he loves you
so much, he wants to see you saved. Anyway, as you can see here, they'd rather worship some idols,
some false gods, instead of the God of the Bible. It says in verse number eight,
But thou, Israel, art my servant. So the verse compared to the other nations, Israel,
you are my servants. Now, obviously, in the historical context of this book,
when Isaiah is writing these words, God is speaking about his covenanted people.
We can understand that, okay? When he's speaking about Israel in that same sense. But then it says
Jacob, whom I have chosen. So another way to describe the same Israel is Jacob, whom I have
chosen. And then another way to describe the same Israel is the seed of Abraham, my friend.
The seed of Abraham, my friend. Verse number nine says,
And not cast thee away.
So there's a few things that we can understand. And again, this is kind of the cryptic reading
of this chapter. Of course, we understand that Israel here is in the time frame of this being
written by Isaiah, the covenanted physical nation of Israel, okay? But as soon as you see the seed
of Abraham referenced there, who do you think of? Any answers? Christ, of course. In Galatians 3
16, it says that the seed of Abraham is Christ. And so another application is a verse, of course,
and a good application, of course, is that this is speaking of Christ. And so we can read it this
way. It says, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend. If we apply this verse
to Christ, then of course, we understand when Christ came to this earth, he came to be a
servant. He came to be a servant. Now, very quickly, we're going through Isaiah 41. What is
the 41st book of the Bible? We've been comparing chapters of Isaiah with the number of books in
the Bible. What's the next one? Mark. All right, so just very quickly, I don't have a lot of
references to Mark because it's quite a chunky chapter to get through. But if you go to Mark,
Mark chapter 10, please, Mark chapter 10, Mark chapter 10 and verse number 44, Mark chapter 10
verse number 44, we're kind of confronted with this paradox of Scripture, or this paradox of
the nature of Christ. Of course, God who is above all things and the islands and the nations should
be silent before him, Christ who is the first and the last and the creator of all things,
and even then, in Mark chapter 10 verse number 44, he says these words. And whosoever of you
will be the chiefest shall be servant of all. One of the themes of the book of Mark is servitude,
being lowly, being a minister unto others. Then he says about himself in verse number 45,
for even the Son of Man, speaking of himself, came not to be ministered unto, but to minister,
and to give his life a ransom for many. So Christ, who is the seed of Abraham,
you know, according to Galatians 3 16, when he came to this earth, he was chosen by his father
to be the servant, to be a minister, to lay down his life as a ransom for many. So there's a bit
of a connective tissue there with the book of Mark and Isaiah 41. Come back with me to Isaiah,
actually come with me to Galatians 3, come with me to Galatians 3, Galatians 3 very quickly,
Galatians 3 29, Galatians 3, because there's a third application to this verse. As soon as we
see Abraham's seed, we can understand there is actually quite a few applications here, okay?
And we know the seed of Abraham is Christ, but don't forget the reality. And let me encourage
you just as a church, meditate, read the book of Galatians, make that one of your principal
books that you read through, especially Galatians chapter 3. Please in your life, read it,
meditate on it. It's got such great doctrine, okay? Galatians chapter 3. And I'll be honest,
and I don't mean to criticize, but it is almost known as the forbidden chapter in the Baptist
world. You know, I'm being honest, like it's almost the forbidden chapter of the Baptist world,
okay? Because in like the conclusion to this chapter, in Galatians 3 29, Galatians 3 29 says,
And if ye be Christ's, so are you Christ, you belong to Christ? Okay, this is about you then.
If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. So Christ is the
seed of Abraham. But if we're in Christ, if we belong to Christ, we too are Abraham's seed,
and heirs to the promises that were made to Abraham and to the seed. And again, why is that
a forbidden chapter? And again, I use that kind of loosely. It's simply because there is a desire
within the Baptist world to maintain a physical nation separate from a New Testament church. And
I understand there is a big difference between the old covenant and the new covenant. We all
understand that. We're not here offering animal sacrifices. But the seed of Abraham has always
been a spiritual seed, one that belongs in Christ Jesus. And so the physical covenanted people
of Israel were supposed to be believers, right? They're supposed to be believers. Now many of
them were not believers, and obviously they're part of a covenant nation, but if they're not
going to mix their faith with the gospel, they're not saved and they're broken off
from the roots. And of course, this is speaking of Christ Jesus, who ultimately is the fulfillment
of Israel. And we, being in Christ, make up that same Israel. I'll show that later on to you.
But if you can come back with me to Isaiah 41, please. And the reason I want to emphasize that
is because Christ is speaking of this Israel as his servant. And so if you are the seed of
Abraham because you're in Christ Jesus, then what are we to Christ on this earth? Servants. We're
here to minister. We're here to serve the Lord Christ and his kingdom. We're here to see souls
saved. We're here to do a work for our Lord God. And so let me encourage you to get serving Christ,
do something with the life that God has given you and the salvation that he's given you.
You know, look at Blessed Up Baptist Church and think to yourself, how can I serve the church?
It doesn't have to be behind the pulpit. It doesn't have to be public. It can be behind the
scenes. At the end of the day, we don't do our service to please man or for the praise of man.
We do it to serve our Lord Jesus Christ. And so if you are the seed of Abraham, guess what?
You're servants. Get busy, get working. Don't think of yourself highly and mighty and prideful.
Ask yourself the question, how can I serve my local church, which is the body of Christ?
Isaiah 41, we're up to verse number 10. Isaiah 41, verse number 10.
Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God.
So this is what God's speaking to the seed of Abraham right here, okay? So he's speaking to
you. These are words to you. God's saying, don't be afraid of the nations. Don't be afraid of the
isles. Don't be afraid of the false prophets, of the false religion. God is with us. He says,
I will strengthen thee, verse number 10. Yea, I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with the
right hand of my righteousness. So even though you have the whole world encouraging each other
to in their false religions and their false idols, well who's encouraging us? The real God. He's with
us. He'll support us. He'll strengthen us. And I don't know what is, I don't know if you guys
are like me sometimes in this area, but I know there are times when I need help and I just forget
to go to God. And God's telling us, look, just come to him, right? When we need strengthening,
when we need help, when we need direction, when we need wisdom, our Lord God is always there.
And I'm so thankful that he's there, but for some reason, again, just our human nature,
I don't know if it's pride, I don't know if it's just we think things will just work out anyway,
but the Lord God wants us to go to him, you know, in prayer, humbly, and saying, God, I need your
help. I need your strength. I'm getting weary. I'm getting tired. You know, can you please
give me rest? Can you please renew my strength?
But what, you know, what is it telling us? A reason why God is with us. Like you say in
verse 110, fear they are not. In other words, it's essentially telling us, and then look,
notice that fear they are not, find them with thee, be not dismayed. What does that mean?
Like don't be surprised. What this is teaching us is don't, and remember how I told you,
I can't really understand why we need to try to live a righteous life, people just hate you for
it. Well, God told us, don't be surprised. Don't be dismayed. And so, you know, when you're being
criticized simply for just for being a believer, simply for just going to church, simply for just
trying to reach the loss of the gospel of Jesus Christ, simply for just trying to be a good worker,
working for Jesus Christ, even in your place of employment, and people criticize you, God says,
don't be dismayed. Like this is what it is. This is the reality of the Christian life.
You know, the more holy, the more righteous, the more you stand out as a light in this world,
the more you're going to be hated by this world. So don't be afraid. Don't fear. Don't be dismayed.
Don't be confused. Don't be wondering. Like again, I'm like, I don't get it. But anyway,
I guess God knows that that's, that's probably like people like me think, I don't get it.
So it's like, like, don't be dismayed. Like just, just accept this is the reality of living a
Christian life, the world will simply hate you for it. Okay. Verse number 11. Behold, all they
that were incensed against thee, so all those that are angry towards you, right, shall be ashamed and
confounded. They shall be as nothing. And they that strive with thee shall perish. They that
strive with thee shall perish. Now we know that, you know, the Lord God can do anything in our
life. And we understand that vengeance belongs to the Lord, we should do good to our enemies.
I've covered that recently in other sermons. But this is also a reality in the ultimate end,
right? Like we know, at the end of the Bible, that Jesus wins, and we win, right? If you read
the book of Revelation, there's going to be great persecution coming in the end times,
but at the end of the day, Jesus wins and we win. In fact, Jesus has already won. Okay.
This is prophesied by God, Jesus Christ has already won. All enemies will be put under his
feet. And so, like we've just been, you know, encouraged by God in regards to this. But,
you know, there's going to be an end to the people that hate you. People that hate the Lord,
people that hate you, you know, instead of getting, instead of allowing it to bother you,
and I know it's hard, it's easier said than done, right? When people mock you, criticize you,
instead of just getting bothered by it, you know, instead of wanting to get revenge, instead of
trying to, I don't know, expose maybe, you know, it's good to just say, you know what,
I'm going to leave that alone, and I'm just going to rest in my God. I think it's a lot healthier
for you mentally to just ignore and forget these people that hate you. Instead of getting caught
up and bitter and emotional, and can you believe this person said this about me, or just forget
about it, the Lord's on your side. Go to Him when you need strength. And I think this is so
important because if I had to be bothered with every criticism coming my way, I wouldn't get
anything else done. Like when I think about this year, New Life Baptist Church together with
Blessed Up Baptist Church, we've had so far the busiest year as a church, and again, we're not
big churches. But again, we've done the Philippines, we've gone to Fiji, we've just
come back from Melbourne. What else have we done? I've done a documentary coming out next week,
by the way, when I went down to New Zealand, that's going to come out sometime next week.
I'll let you guys know about that. But I can't even remember, there's been so many activities,
there's been so much work that has been done this past year, and if I just wasted my time about
who's upset with who, and what pastor said this about this pastor, and what problems occurred
over here, and this brother said this about that over there, you wouldn't get anything else done.
You'd be bothered, and you'd be bitter, and you know, at some point you got to say, you know,
well who cares? I win with Christ Jesus, at the end of it I win, and my enemies, they're not going
to be found. And at the end of it, they're going to be, especially if they aren't saved, obviously,
they're going to be cast into the lake of fire forever and ever, tormented, and why am I going
to waste my time, this precious time that God has given me on this earth, focused on our enemies,
when I should just be renewing my strength in the Lord. So, I want to, you know,
if there's anything that I as a pastor leave as a mark on my church members, is to focus
on your own race. You know, each of us have been given a race set before us, and the finish line,
our eyes constantly, you know, Hebrews 11 tells us that our eyes must be on Jesus Christ.
Forget everything else. Forget the political world, and forget the conspiracy theories, and
just focus on the kingdom of Christ. Put your eyes on him, and I tell you, you're going to be so much
more productive for his kingdom. You're going to accomplish so many more great works for Christ.
You're going to be laying up more treasures in heaven. You know, you're going to be more,
you know, rejoice, have a greater rejoicing when we go home to be in heaven with Christ,
because what you achieved with him, instead of getting bothered with every little issue that
pops up in this world, it's all a distraction. And so, you know, the Lord is reminding us at
the end of verse 11, they shall be as nothing, and they that strive with thee shall perish.
So if they're going to be nothing, why are you wasting your time?
Why waste 30 seconds of your time on something that is nothing, that ends up as nothing?
You know, and if that's, if I leave anything, you know, as a mark on you guys, you know,
I want that to be the case. I want you to be focused on the race that Christ has set before you,
and as husbands leading your wife, and as fathers leading your families,
loving and guiding your children, raising them in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord, focusing on souls that need to get saved,
rather than the souls that are persecuting and accusing us as God's people.
You know, something else that I want to encourage you in, if you come with me to Romans 12,
come with me to Romans 12, please. Romans 12. I don't want to get too sidetracked.
But there is something in man, and again, I'm not saying that I'm this perfect, amazing,
wonderful person, because I've got ego too, I've got pride, if I allow it to creep into my life,
I've got all those things too. But you know, when a brother does well in life,
it doesn't matter who it is, brother Ash, brother Tim, brother Rams, whatever,
when someone does well in life, whatever that well looks like, okay, it doesn't matter what
it looks like. Let's say one of those brothers are just getting all the
salvations, they're just constantly just save, save, save. You know, I'm just so happy for that
person. Like honestly, you know, someone, I don't know, you work hard and then you become a
billionaire or something, right? Not that obviously the love of money is a problem, but you do well
financially or something. To me it's like, I'm just rejoicing for you, praise God.
Like honestly, like when someone does well in life, I'm just happy for you. You know,
when someone gets pregnant, mum gets pregnant and the baby's born, I'm happy for you guys.
You know, when things go well for you, I'm happy and I think it's so important that we
remember this verse here. I know it's a little bit off topic, but it's just important to me.
In Romans 12, look at Romans 12, 15. Romans 12, 15. Rejoice with them that do rejoice
and weep with them that weep. Now, weeping with them that weep is quite common. I think that's
good, right? When someone's suffering, when they're going through loss, you come alongside.
Sometimes people say to me, pastor, I don't know what to say. You know, this person's going through
loss. This person's lost a loved one or whatever it is. What do I say to them, pastor? I don't know
what to say. Just weep with them. Weep with them that weep. Show your, you know, that your love and
your concern for that individual person, but also rejoice with them that do rejoice. You know,
this tells me, stop comparing yourselves. Please, you know, forget the ungodly world. That's a
distraction. But one of the biggest distractions within church is when believers are comparing
themselves one with another. If I'm sitting here comparing myself to some other pastor,
it's a waste of my time. I am not that other pastor, regardless of who it is. You know,
if you're wasting your time comparing your family to another family in church, it's a waste of time.
You know, if another family in church is doing better than you, you know what? Rejoice with them.
Praise the Lord that the Lord has blessed you faithfully. You know, and these things take away
that competitive nature, the ego that gets so easily bruised when you see someone
doing so well. And I feel like we waste so much time in our lives comparing ourselves,
focusing on the enemies, focusing on the distractions. When the Lord God is there the
whole time, just come to me. I'll give you strength. You know, I'll give you blessings.
I'll help you in life. Oh, you know, the Lord will guide us, direct us. Quite often we're so
distracted by everything else. And I'm telling you, brethren, it's a waste of time. It amounts to nothing.
And I think for me, when I was able to learn this, you know, as I grew and matured in the Lord,
I realized that my joy just increased.
Like, if everyone does well, someone does well, I'm happy for them. And so my joy is increasing.
When a family is doing well, I get happy, right? When a marriage that might not be doing so well
gets stronger and there seems to be signs of improvement, I rejoice in that.
You know, it just makes you a much happier person in life.
Anyway, let's continue. Come back with me to Isaiah 41. And let's continue verse number,
what are we up to, verse number 12. Isaiah 41, verse number 12.
Again, this is about people that are our enemies, our accusers.
Thou shall seek them and shall not find them, even them that contended with thee. They that war
against thee shall be as nothing, as a thing of naught, naught nothing, zero, as a thing of
nothing. Again, why waste our time on these things? He says, for I the Lord thy God will
hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not, I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob.
The worm there is referenced into lowly Jacob, okay? Again, speaking about the, let's say,
the physical nation of Israel in these times would be insignificant compared to the recent
attempted takeover of Assyria, for example. Again, in the time of Isaiah, we've been looking into
that, right? And then eventually the coming empire of Babylon. And so compared to other nations,
they are a worm like lowly, but it doesn't matter if you're lowly or small or insignificant. Again,
we have our God at our side, right? So verse number 14, fear not, thou worm Jacob and ye men of
Israel. I will help thee save the Lord and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. So again,
there's the plurality of our Lord God. I will help thee save the Lord and thy Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel. And so, again, the one that recently in this time frame, as we've been
going through the Book of Isaiah, the one that has given them victory has been the Lord God,
who sent that angel to destroy the armies or the soldiers of the Assyrian army. And if you can come
with me very quickly, come into Galatians 6, come with me to the Book of Galatians. And remember,
I told you, I really want you to, you know, if you haven't read the Book of Galatians,
please give it attention because there are some great truths that connect our position in Christ
Jesus with the Old Testament teachings. So when you're going through and you're reading your Bible
and you're going through Isaiah 41, and you're like, this is really cryptic, I don't know what
it's about, and you kind of read it over and you're like, I'll just get to the next chapter,
you know, understanding some of these truths will highlight to you where these verses are
speaking about you as a person within Christ Jesus. And in Galatians 6, verse 15, notice this,
Galatians 6, 15, it says, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything. Now,
again, who are the circumcised in the context here of Galatians? It'd be the Jews, right?
So if you're physically circumcised, it doesn't avail you of anything, nor aren't circumcision,
neither is uncircumcision an value or anything, but a new creature. Now, what is that new
creature? The moment you believe in Christ, the moment you trust him for salvation,
the Bible says you're born again, your spirit is revived, and now you have a dual nature within
you, the flesh and the spirit, or the old man and the new man, and the new man is that new creature,
okay? So what avails? What profits us? Circumcision or not being circumcised? No.
Physical does not profit us anything. It's the new creature, the spiritual man that we have within us
that avails us, that gives us profit in the eyes of our Lord God. And then it continues in verse
16, And as many as walk according to this rule, what rule? The rule of the new creature, you know,
because we're commanded to walk in the spirit. So if we're walking in the spirit, we're walking
in the steps of the new creature, it says here, peace be on them and mercy and upon the Israel
of God. Who is the Israel of God according to the book of Galatians? Those that have the new
creature. Not the physical circumcision or uncircumcision, that avails you nothing,
but the Israel of God, of course, is those that are saved that have the new creature indwelling
them. So when you understand these truths about who you are, you are the seed of Abraham,
Galatians 3, you're the Israel of God, Galatians 6, and then we understand that from a spiritual
context, then when we come and read a chapter like Isaiah 41, and again we read, say, verse
on 14, for example, fear not all thou worm Jacob and ye men of Israel. Go, who's the Israel there?
Well, I am of Israel. I'm the Israel of God, right? I am the circumcision of the heart,
the Jew which is one inwardly, not outwardly. And so when it says there, fear not thou worm
Jacob, you can apply that to yourself. Like, don't be afraid, you worm, you lowly kind of
insignificant. You know, who are we compared to the nations and the powers of this earth?
It doesn't matter. We don't have to fear because God's on our side. That's the whole
teaching of this chapter. You know, even though we may be few, we may be little,
we're able to accomplish some great things with the help of our Lord. Verse 15 says, behold,
I will make thee a new sharp, freshen instrument having teeth. Thou shalt fresh the mountains and
beat them small and shall make the hills as chaff. So again, you're a worm, but you're going to be
able to change the mountains. You're going to be able to alter the topography of the earth. Now,
again, this has to do with the coming millennial reign of Jesus Christ. We've seen this in previous
chapters in the book of Isaiah, that when Christ comes to this earth, you know, there's going to
be, you know, the wrath of God's been poured out. There's going to be the battle of Armageddon.
The earth is going to be vastly, very much destroyed when Christ comes.
But when Christ comes, he's going to rejuvenate the earth, okay? And he's going to change the
topography, even the topography of current-day Jerusalem. It's all going to change. There's
going to be these great mountains, the high mountain, the house of the Lord is going to be
high on a mount, and there are going to be rivers flowing from the mountain. We've seen this in
previous chapters in the book of Isaiah. And so what we're reading here is essentially what's
going to happen. It says in verse number 16. Thou shall fan them, and the wind shall carry them
away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them, and thou shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall glory
in the Holy One of Israel. These verses confirm, like what we're about to read just confirms that
this is about the millennium. In verse number 17, when the poor and needy seek water, and there is
none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them. I the Lord, I the God of
Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places. Again, we've seen this when Christ
comes and changes the earth, changes the topography. New mountains, new rivers. I will
open rivers in high places and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness
a pool of water and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the
shita tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree. I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine,
and the box tree together. They may see and know and consider and understand together that the
hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it. So those verses obviously
are not literally about, let's say, the Jews returning from Babylon from captivity,
but this is obviously something where God's going to just change the world, you know. Where there
are desert currently, there's going to be the flourishing forests, there are going to be pools
of water, and this is going to of course take care of the needs of the poor. Verse number 21.
Produce your cause, saith the Lord. Now the Lord God here is speaking once again of the nations.
So he really told them to be quiet. We saw earlier in verse number one actually,
let us come near together to judgment. Now he's saying, look, it's time to judge
the nations, okay. So he's telling the nations, or telling these isles,
produce your cause. Like, come and bring your defense. Now it's time for you to talk. Bring
your defense against him. Because when Christ comes to set up his kingdom, Christ is going to
rule over the entire earth. All nations are going to be put under Christ, and he's going to rule
and judge over these nations. So verse number 21 says, produce your cause, saith the Lord,
bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Like, bring your strongest arguments
while you persecuted my people. It's like, what arguments are they going to bring? Like,
bring your strongest arguments to the table, and God's going to judge them on this day.
Verse number 22, let them bring forth and show us what shall happen. Let them show the form
of things, what they be. So God is kind of mocking them. So let them bring forth and show
us what shall happen. He's telling the nations and the kings of the earth, tell me about the future.
Like, they can't, right. Like, let them show the form of things, what they be, that we may consider
them and know the latter end of them to declare us things for to come. Show the things that are
to come hereafter. Again, the same thing. It says to the nations, can you tell the future?
Can you tell us what's going to take place down the track? That we may know that ye are gods.
Like, the way the nations act and, you know, uplift themselves against the Lord God. Are you
gods? Can you tell the future? Again, God is comparing the difference between the limited
wisdom of man, we're stuck in time, yet God is outside of time. He knows the future. He knows the
events that's going to play out. It says, yea, do good or do evil, that we be dismayed and behold
it together. So again, he's trying to tell the nations, look, show us your power, show us your
mind, show us your wisdom, show us your knowledge, show us if you know what's going to take place in
the future. Show us that you are gods. Again, God's mocking them. Okay, that's what God is
essentially doing, right? And then God says this in verse 24. Behold, ye are of nothing.
All right? So, I mean, I don't know exactly how this judgment's going to play out, but
it's going to be scary for the people, the kings of the earth in this time,
who during the great tribulation leading up to the millennium of Christ were persecuting the
people of God. You know, following after the ways of the antichrist and, you know, persecuting God's
people and God's asking them, hey, show us your knowledge, show us your wisdom. And then when
they can't answer, you're nothing. You're nothing. And your work of naught, again, zero, what you
produce is nothing. And abomination is he that chooseth you. I believe that abomination refers
to the idols. We know also in the end times the abomination of desolation, the idol that gets
set up by the antichrist to be worshipped. God says these things are abominations. You've chosen
the idols. You've chosen false religion instead of choosing him. It's because you're nothing.
Look, at least we're worms. We're something. And we're more with the power of God and the
help of the Lord God. But those that reject the Lord, they are nothing. Their work comes to nothing.
So, again, you know, I don't know if you can look at these passages and say this is about
some other time period during the history of Israel. I believe it's, again, primarily because
of the rejuvenation of the land. I believe this is referring to the millennial reign of Christ.
And, of course, where Christ is going to come is going to rule and reign and judge
over the kings of the earth. Then we have maybe in verse 25, maybe the most cryptic passage of all.
So, I'm going to read it, and I'm going to let you guys think about it, okay? So, you kind of
feel sorry for me when I prepare sermons and like I'm struggling. I'm going to read it, and then you
tell me what you think this is. Verse 25. I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come.
From the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name, and he shall come upon princes as upon
mortar and as the potter tread of clay. What do you think? I've had every sort of thought in my
mind about who is this one that he raises from the north, and he shall come. Now, I'll be honest.
I'll be completely transparent with you. I can't, I'm going to give you an answer, but I'm not sure
if I can be a hundred percent sure that I've got the right answer. Like even the other one about,
you know, he raised a man from the east, and I said that's Abraham. I can sort of see a lot
of parallels, other verses that help contextualize that, but this one kind of almost seems to just
stand alone. So, does anyone think who this man might be? Yeah, I've thought of Jesus as well,
but I don't believe that that's what it is. I think when it says there from the rising of the
sun shall he call upon my name, you know, whose story shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. So, I think this is a reference to just a regular human being, but someone coming from the
north, someone who's got power and authority as the pot of tread of clay, like he's going to come
with might and power. Who could it be? Yeah, I think it's Nebuchadnezzar. I think it's Nebuchadnezzar.
All right, so let's read it with Nebuchadnezzar in mind, because again we understand that the
Assyrian empire have taken the northern kingdom of Israel into captivity, and the southern kingdom
will be taken into captivity later on in the future by Babylon, and the king of Babylon during
that time was Nebuchadnezzar. All right, so and look I'm sorry, you know, it's a midweek Bible study,
it's the book of Isaiah, I know it's a Thursday night, I know you're tired mentally,
but try your best, right, to absorb this because it's a lot of work, like it takes time to think
and meditate on these things, but if you can keep your finger there and come with me to the book of
Daniel, Daniel chapter 4 please, Daniel chapter 4. So the nation that rises from the north,
quite often in the book of Jeremiah, it speaks of the Babylonians coming from the north.
You know, they're the ones that God will use to judge the southern kingdom of Judah, but also to
judge the surrounding nations, including the former Assyrian empire during that time,
and they're going to be powerful. They're going to be a powerful kingdom for a period of time,
as it says there, he shall come upon princes, so he's going to rule over other kings or other
people authority as the potter tread of clay, and Daniel chapter 4 verse number 1 says,
Nebuchadnezzar the king unto all people, nations and languages that dwell in all the earth,
peace be multiplied unto you. So who wrote Daniel chapter 4?
Nebuchadnezzar. He's introducing himself, Nebuchadnezzar the king.
He's writing this epistle or writing this chapter the book of Daniel to all the peoples of the earth.
He says in verse number 2, I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God
have wrought toward me. So he says, I want to tell you what God did to me. Verse number 3,
how great are his signs and how mighty are his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom
and his dominion is from generation to generation. You know those first few verses? I feel like you
can just rip them out of the book of Psalms or something. They're just so majestic and
glorifying the Lord God and we're not going to read through the whole thing. You guys know the
story. He tells a story about how prideful he was. He had a great victory over all the nations
and God's telling him, look, I gave you that power Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadnezzar is like,
no, it was me. And so for seven years, God allows him to go insane, go crazy and he becomes like a
wild animal for seven years and then God restores his sanity. It took seven years to learn his
lesson of humility toward the Lord God. So anyway, if you have time, read the chapter 2 for yourself
but then look at the last verse in Daniel 4, verse number 37. Daniel 4, verse number 37, it says,
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the king of heaven, all whose works are truth
and his ways judgment and those that walk in pride he is able to abaze.
That's Nebuchadnezzar. We think of him as a wicked man. He was a wicked man. You know, he
worshipped false gods. He's like the kings of this earth that had false religion and were full of
pride. And sometimes in our minds we might think, oh man, there's no chance for these politicians to
get right with God because they're so wicked but then we read a wonderful story like Nebuchadnezzar.
Man, if the Lord God would just humble our leaders, will humble the kings, you know, for them to
understand who they are inside of a holy God, they may come to know God as their Savior as well.
So I believe, verse number 25, I mean I can see how it might be about Christ. I did consider that
but it seems like it's someone who's called upon in the name of, you know, whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And I believe Nebuchadnezzar called upon the name God,
the God of Daniel, you know, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego once he learned all his lessons and he
saw the mighty powers of God that he got saved. And I think that's a great testimony. Like here's
the king that took the seven kings into captivity. They wiped out Jerusalem. They burnt down the
temple, the house of the Lord and this same guy gets saved later on and he's been used as a prophet
and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God to write an entire chapter of the Bible.
That's crazy. That's amazing that God was able to use a man like him.
And so I think, again, God's showing that, hey, these kings and these nations, they can get things
right. Like you don't have to be nothing. At least Nebuchadnezzar got things right with God. I think
that's the encouragement that God is trying to show the nations and the kings of this earth,
you know, stop persecuting the people of God and get right with God.
Verse number 26, please. Isaiah 41, verse number 26.
So remember he said before, God said, like, can you guys tell the future? Well, now he speaks of
himself in verse number 26. Who have declared from the beginning that ye may know. So from the very
beginning of time, who's declared, like, history, truth? Obviously, it's God himself, right? It
says, and before time, that we may say he's righteous. Yea, there is none that showeth. Yea,
there is none that declareth. Yea, there is none that hear of your words.
So again, verse number 28, who have declared from the beginning that we may know.
And they can't. They can't, besides the current history they live in, they can't tell us about
history and the past at the very beginning of the creation of God. That comes from the
book of Genesis. And they can't, the kings of this earth don't know what the future holds,
but our Lord God knows. And we know, you know, as readers of God's word, we know to some extent
what's going to take place in the future. And then verse number 27, the first shafts,
wait, before I read that, just one last comparison with the book of Mark, I'll just read it to you.
Mark 13, 23, Christ says, but take ye heed, behold, I have foretold you all things. I have
foretold you. When Christ is speaking about future time events, he says, I'm the one that
can tell you about these future events to come. And so again, it's just, you know, bringing Christ
into his deity, that it's only God that can foretell these times and man and nations and kings
cannot. Now verse number 27 is also interesting. The first shall say to Zion, behold, behold them,
and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. So the first shall say to Zion,
keep it in context of this chapter, who's the first?
And verse number four, the second part of verse number four, I the Lord, the first,
and with the last, I am he. The Lord God is the first. So the first here, I believe the first is
God once again, within context, will say to Zion, will say to Jerusalem, behold, behold them,
and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. And of course, good tidings is the
word gospel, good news, good tidings. Verse number 28, and I behold, and there was no man,
even among them, and there was no counselor that when I asked of them could answer a word.
Behold, they are all vanity, their works are nothing, their molten images are wind and
confusion. So, you know, we are the ones that bring good tidings. We are the ones that go out
there and thank God for this church, not in places like Canley Vale, keep going to Canley Vale,
please. That's where I grew up, right? That's, I feel like that's home. I go to Canley Vale
and I see these Vietnamese restaurants and Thai restaurants. I'm like, this is home.
Keep knocking those doors, keep bringing the good tidings. And you know what? It might seem like,
like is it worth it? Like, I mean, we know it's worth it seeing souls saved,
but I want you to notice how God compares bringing good tidings versus the power,
the knowledge, the prestige of the kingdoms. The works of the kingdoms, they're zero, they're
nothing. You know, like Sydney is a beautiful city. Think of all the big buildings and the
Opera House and the Harbour Bridge and Bondi Beach and all this stuff. And, you know,
comparing that to bringing good tidings, the gospel news, it's insignificant. Like,
you guys are the ones that are doing the great works of God. And I want you to remember,
like we are worms as it were, we're lowly in the sight of the Lord. But when you're able to open
your mouth boldly and show someone the gospel message of Christ, you are doing a work that
matters for eternity with the strength and power of God, like greater than anything,
greater than any education you can get on this earth, greater than any bridge you can build on
this earth, greater than any bank account that you can amass on this earth, greater than any
mansion you can build on this earth, is going out there and doing the works of God and preaching
the gospel of Jesus Christ. So God ends with the encouragement, you know, to continue,
don't be weary, don't be tired, serve the Lord. He's with us. He's our help. He's our strength.
Don't be distracted by the world. Don't be distracted by the powers. Don't be distracted
by our enemies. They are nothing in comparison to the work that God has planned for us.
Brethren, the title for the sermon tonight was Keep Silence. That's not us. We don't keep silent.
We open our mouths boldly and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. But you know what, God, you know,
I think sometimes like, you know what, if this world's giving you a hard time, you're getting,
you know, cast down and say, Lord, can you please tell the nations to keep silence? Can you please
tell my enemies to shut up and leave me alone for a while? Because I need to recharge my batteries.
If that's something you need, obviously go to the Lord God and request that from him. Okay,
let's pray.