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Amen. Okay, we're in Isaiah 41. Last week we, if you remember, we moved into the sort of next section of Isaiah which started from chapter 40 onwards. Before this we've been building up to the Assyrian invasion. It was then described along with the events following it in chapters 36 to 39, with chapter 40 then going back to sort of prophecy again. But now Isaiah, he's looking forward towards the captivity in Babylon, following on from the rebuke that he gave Hezekiah, if you remember, at the end of chapter 39. So last week he was preaching a message of comfort to his people for those during the dark times to come in Babylon, but he was also prophesying of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ preempted by John the Baptist. We saw the importance of having our trust in the word of God that shall stand forever as opposed to man, with the word of God then prophesying of Jesus Christ first coming along with his biblical manly attributes, which included feeding his flock, gathering his lambs, carrying them and gently leading those that are with young. We were then reminded of the sheer power of might and understanding of the Lord in various ways, along with the foolishness of trying to represent Him with images, with the message being, if the true God says He will deliver you, then He will, right? Verse 28 said, Has thou not known, has thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary, there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might. He increaseth strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. And then Isaiah 1 starts like this in verse 1, Keep silence before me, O islands, and let the people renew their strength. Let them come near, then let them speak. Let us come near together to judgment. I'd like to pray before we get going with the message. Father, thank you, Lord, for chapter 41 of Isaiah and all the all the truths we can get out of it, Lord, the prophecy that the you know, the assurance we can get from it as well, Lord, and the warnings we get as well. Please help me to preach this this message just clearly, accurately, Lord, full of your spirit in a way that people will listen to your word, Lord, will be able to follow along and understand this chapter a bit more. These verses help me to preach accurately, Lord, and just just full of your spirit, please. I do this in Jesus' name. Pray. Amen. Okay, so we said, Keep silence before me, O islands, and let the people renew their strength. Let them come near, then let them speak. Let us come near together to judgment. So God, through Isaiah, he's saying to the islands or we might say the coast. I mentioned this last week, the shores, the nations, you could even say to keep silence and let the people renew their strength. So which people is he talking about? Who's he saying to renew their strength? Well, you know, obviously this follows on from chapter 40 and verse 31. It was they that wait upon the Lord. He said in verse 31 of the of the chapter before, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint. So he's telling the nations of the world to keep silence until his people, that's those that wait upon the Lord, obviously, until his people come near and speak, which included himself. He said, let us come near together to judgment. So the end result being judgment. Okay, so at face value, you know, he's pointing out that things weren't going to be over for his people, that the surrounding nations shouldn't talk too soon. You know, for the time this was applying to, obviously, you know, remember that we're looking forward at this point to the time of captivity, during which time those that wait upon the Lord were renewing their strength, weren't they? Okay. However, I believe that you could also apply this to the gospel, this first verse, quite a deep verse, I think, with God's people needing to renew their strength before coming near to speak. He said, he said, keep silence for formio islands and let the people renew their strength. Let them come near and let them speak. So we do need to renew our strength to be able to come near and speak, right? That's something we need to do regularly. The nations, the world, need God's people to come near with the word of God and with what? With the Holy Spirit, for them to be ultimately judged by the gospel. It goes together, doesn't it? It needs a man of God, woman of God, child of God, with the word of God, with the Holy Spirit. He said, let us come near together to judgment, which is what I think he's talking about here. For example, John 12 48 says, he that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. Ultimately, it's the gospel that judges people, really, isn't it? Because you've either put your trust in it or you haven't. That's what it comes down to at the end of it, right? You're saved or you're not. There's two types of people in this world, those that are saved, those that aren't saved. That's what it comes down to. Is your name written in the Book of Life? Have you accepted or rejected the gospel? And the people of the world would do well to keep silence, or maybe we could say to not hastily reject, to allow God's people to come near and speak. That's what people need to do, don't they? They need to allow us to come near with the gospel and speak to them, and so many don't, do they? So many. I was saying it earlier, I was saying if, you know, my view is kind of this, when you're standing there or you knock on a door, you're out in the high street or wherever and you've got an invite, if someone really doesn't even want to just glance and see what that is, is that kind of not got any interest in the things they've got at all? You kind of get the feeling they're lying, you're not going to hear the gospel, you know? That's why it's a good icebreaker, a church invite, because someone who's kind of at least got some interest, some sort of kind of, you know, wonder or something might be like, I wonder what this is, I wonder what these guys are talking about, which is why, you know, it's a good kind of tester to see if it's, you know, someone to talk to. But God's people need to regularly renew their strength. Isaiah 41 said in verse 1, keep silence before me, O islands, and let the people renew their strength. Let them come near, then let them speak, let us come near together to judgment. So how do we renew our strength? Well, verse 31, if chapter 40 said, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. So waiting upon the Lord, which we saw last week is trusting his words, remember, his teachings, his statutes, his commandments, it's doing things his way, it's trusting that his way of doing things will work out in the end. It can be tiring, can't it? The Christian life can be tiring. You can often feel weak. Look, there are times when you're feeling on fire, you're feeling like everything's going great. There's other times where you get fatigued with it. You start to feel weak, you start to feel like, and I've got decades of this ahead of me, you know, this can be hard work sometimes, right? But we can renew our strength if we stay close to God. He said in verse 1, keep silence before me, O islands, and let the people renew their strength. Let them come near, then let them speak, let us come near together to judgment. Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings. He gave them as a dust to his sword and as driven stubble to his bow. So this is Isaiah prophesying of Cyrus the Great, who was king of Persia from I think it was 559 BC, and he added media too from part conquest. He conquered Babylon in 538 BC with the Medo-Persian Empire continuing for more than 200 years, by the way, until Alexander the Great conquered them in 330 BC. It was a big empire and a long empire as well. Long before that, okay, under Cyrus, the Jews were released from their Babylonian captivity, with Cyrus ultimately the deliverer picturing the Lord Jesus Christ. He said in verse 2, who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings. He gave them as a dust to his sword and as driven stubble to his bow. So God is saying that he raised up Cyrus to conquer the Babylonian Empire and beyond. He then said he pursued them and passed safely even by the way that he had not gone with his feet. I think perhaps alluding to the fact that he took much of the Babylonian Empire when he conquered Babylon. So, even by the way which he had not gone with his feet. So he took places that they didn't even go to because they ultimately just took over this, at least at the time, localized world empire. And this is kind of what happened from the Assyrians being taken over by the Babylonians, Babylonians being taken over by the Medo-Persians, being taken over by the Greek, eventually being taken over by the Romans. It was just kind of, and each time it's just building more and more and they're becoming bigger empires each time. But they're conquering, when they're conquering that world empire, at least, you know, part of at the time, they're taking a lot of that empire they already had, those nations, those places that they'd already, that had been conquered by the previous one. So maybe that's what it's saying there in verse 3, even by the way that he had not gone with his feet. Verse 4, who has ruled and done it, calling the generations from the beginning. I, the Lord, the first, and with the last, I am he. Now, it's similar, you might recognize part of that, to what he said, for example, in Revelation 1.11, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and what thou seest right in the book, etc. So what does it mean, okay? What does it mean? The obvious point is that he is eternal. Jump forward to Isaiah 48, Isaiah chapter 48, obviously keep something in Isaiah 41. Isaiah 48 in verse 12 says this, Isaiah 48.12 says, Harken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, Isaiah 48.12, my called, I am he, I am the first, I also am the last. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens. When I call unto them, they stand up together. So basically he's the eternal creator, he made everything, he sustains everything. Without him there would be no world, there would be no life. Without the creator, without God, there's no life, it doesn't exist anymore. Okay, he is the first and the last, he's a creator. He said, I am the first, I am the last, mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth. So he was there at the beginning because he's the first, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens. When I call unto them, they stand up together, so he continues as well. He's the last as well, he sustains life. But there's another truth, I think, with that, I am the first and the last as well. Or we say, or it's said in verse 4 where we were and with the last. Go to Isaiah 44 this time, verse 44. Sorry, chapter 44, chapter 44 and verse 6, chapter 44. Isaiah 44, 6 says this, Thus saith the Lord the king of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts, I am the first and I am the last, and beside me there is no God. So if he's the first and the last, what does that make all of the other so-called gods? The other claims of being God. He's the first, he's the last. He said in verse 7, And who as I shall call and shall declare it, has set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, let them show unto them. Fear ye not, neither be afraid. Have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? Yea, even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? Yea, there is no God. I know not any. So what he's basically saying is that Allah isn't a true God. The millions of gods of Hinduism aren't real gods. Your higher power, or whatever they like to call it, isn't really a god. They're fakes, along with all of the statues and images and other creations of man. They're just fakes. They're creations of man. They're not really God. He said in verse 9, They that make a graven image are all of them vanity, and their delectable things shall not profit, and they are their own witnesses. They see not nor know that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? And that includes obviously the false Jews god. That's not the God of the Bible. If they don't have the Father, they don't have the Son. That includes the false Jesuses all over this world. All over this world. All over, just talking tonight to people, talking to a lady at length tonight. And she just had a false Jesus. She had a false Jesus that didn't pay for all her sins. He only paid for her past sins and the sins she remembered to ask for forgiveness for in the future. That's not the Jesus of the Bible. It's a false God. It's a false Jesus. What's happened is they've been formed by the imaginations, the reasoning of man. So they've taken parts of the Bible, parts of the truth. I mean, this woman I spoke to, it was like, well, you know, yeah, you've got to be born again. Yeah, well, it's belief. You know, you think, okay, sounds good, sounds good. Even though she claimed to be a Catholic, you're thinking this doesn't really add up. Let's see where we go with this. Oh, yeah, well, yeah, that's all you got to do. That's all it is. But, okay, so what about if you did a bad sin in the future? Well, as long as I ask for forgiveness. What if you didn't ask for forgiveness? Well, no, I go to hell. So Jesus didn't pay for all your sins then. Oh, he paid for some of your sins. He only paid for the sins that you asked for forgiveness for. Okay, so what if, and then what I was trying to explain to her, I said, okay, so you would therefore have to know every single sin straight after salvation to be able to ask for forgiveness for each one. I even showed her an example. I said, okay, let's use my daughter for example, because the Bible says that, you know, forbid not the children to come unto him. The Bible says that it's so easy, right? It's like taking a drink of water, opening a door, taking a bite of bread. So let me explain to this child here how to get saved. Okay, so you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you're saved. Right, now if you do any sin after that point and you forget to ask for forgiveness, that's it, you're going to hell. That's basically what they're saying. So now you have to, before you even leave your home again, before you even have a thought, because that could be sin, right, foolishness sin, you need to study that Bible. You better study every single sin in it and make sure that you don't commit one sin and you forget to ask for forgiveness otherwise you're done. According to that, and the thing is, I was obviously like mocking a little bit in a nice polite way, just showing her the, she agreed it was foolishness, but that is, that's the thinking around this world, that's the thinking around churches around this world. That somehow, and if it's not, or it's like, well, you just got to not sin now that you're saved. Good luck with that then. So anyone that gets saved, that's it, sinless time, nonsense. It's not the Bible, that's not the Gospel. Well, they've been formed, like I said, they've been formed by man's imaginations and what he's saying is that they are profitable for nothing. All these different versions of God which aren't the God of the Bible. When he says I'm the first and the last, okay, he's basically saying there is no other God. That's going to be a theme that we're going to see as we go through this chapter about false gods. Verse 4, back in where we were, said, who has wrought and done it? Calling the generations from the beginning. I the Lord, the first and with the last, I am he. So, and it's him that is called the generations, or maybe we'd say the families of tribes from the beginning. Why did he have Abel offer that more excellent sacrifice? Why did he have Noah be a preacher of righteousness? Why did he raise up other prophets? Why did he raise up a nation of Jacob? Why did he raise up Cyrus that we're seeing here? To basically to call the generations. Peter 3.9 says, the Lord is not slack concerning his promises, some men count slackness, but his longsuffering to us were not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. I mean, work that out, Calvinist, right? How does that work? He's been calling the generations from the beginning, hasn't he? He's been calling the generations. Who has wrought and done it? Calling the generations from the beginning. That's why there's preachers going out from the beginning, it's because God's calling them. He's calling the people, he's calling the families, basically of the world, the generations of the world. Says in verse 5, the isle saw it and feared, the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near and came. So the first fulfilment here being through Cyrus decree, ordering the return and rebuilding of Jerusalem, but a future fulfilment being through the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. He then says in verse 6, they helped everyone, his neighbour and everyone said to his brother, be of good courage. So the response to the Lord calling the generations started off good, right? Perhaps this is alluding to the Gospel, the courage coming from the hope of the Gospel. But what seems to always happen? What always happens through the generations, you know, those, you know, of God's people? What happens each time? What happens throughout the world? What happens to people? They hear the Gospel. Nations, when they've heard the Gospel, people have got saved. What happens further down the line, verse 7? So the carpenter encouraged a goldsmith and he that smoothed with the hammer him that smoked the anvil saying it is ready for the soldering and he fastened it with nails that it should not be moved. Graven images, gods of their own making. They fear judgment, but then it becomes a work of their own hands. And that's what you see all over the world. You still see it today. People, they get it, they start to get an understanding. They're like, yeah, I accept there's a God, I accept there's a judgment coming and then they try and make their own God. The Gospel's going out, the Word of God's there, there's people with the Gospel and it's like, yeah, but let's just make our own God. And that's what people have done throughout history, haven't they? He said, but, in verse 8, but thou, Israel, art my servant. Jacob, who might have chosen the seed of Abraham, my friend. Now turn to John 15, John chapter 15. Abraham was God's friend. He was God's friend. James 2 23 says, and the Scripture was fulfilled. Your turn to John 15. James 2 23 says, and the Scripture was fulfilled, which said, Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. Abraham's faith in the Lord was imputed unto him for righteousness. It wasn't his works, right? And he was called the friend of God. So he believed God, he put his faith in him, and not only did he receive Christ's righteousness, okay, that was imputed unto him, but he was called the friend of God. He was called the friend of God. Now what else did he do, though, that meant he particularly was called the friend of God? Because it hones in on Abraham being the friend. It's not like, oh, Abraham like everyone else that believed is a friend of God. No, there's something particular about Abraham, which meant he was called the friend of God. Well, in John 15, Jesus said this to his disciples. Verse 10, John 15 10 says, If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, and a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you. Now, did he say if you're sinless? He did it, did he? But are you doing his commandments? That's the question. And he's talking to the disciples. He's not saying, you know, right, you need to go and get saved. This isn't about salvation. This is about basically a relationship with Christ after salvation. Are you choosing to follow him or not? Do you choose to follow him? Abraham wasn't sinless. The Bible's clear about that. We see him sinning, don't we? His little sneaky lies about his wife and stuff, you know? Or at least his selectiveness with the truth, some might say. Well, whatever, right? He's being dishonest, yeah? He wasn't sinless, but when God told him to do something, he did it, didn't he? So when God said Abraham, do this, go there, do this, do that, he just did it. Yeah? He followed his commandments. And that's how you really know him, okay? How can you say that you're friends with someone that you don't know? Because, do you know, like, you could read the Bible all day long. You could read it, study it, you could swat up on it, but if you don't do any of it, you don't really know. It comes from doing it, doesn't it? That's how you get to know him. In fact, 1 John 2, 3 says, and hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. We know that we know God when we keep his commandments. So that's how we can be called a friend of God, and that's how Abraham was a friend of God. He was a friend of God because he kept his commandments, did his commandments. No, he wasn't sinless, but he just basically did what God wanted him to do, right? Made mistakes, we're all going to make mistakes, but where's your heart, right? Here's your heart, yeah, I want to, you know, God says to do this, I'm going to do it. God says to do that, I'm going to try and do it. Oh, okay, I messed up, I'm going to come to him, you know, come for forgiveness, I'm going to keep trying, do what he wants me to do, or is it, well, yeah, go for that bit, not that bit. This bit sounds fun, that bit sounds a little bit like a pain. And his commandments, is that grievous? The Bible says they're not grievous, are they? Keep a finger here, like I said. And back in verse 8 of Isaiah 41, it said, But thou Israel art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. So if you're saved, by the way, you're of the seed of Abraham too. Okay, you're Israel. You are Israel, if you're saved. Not if you're not saved, okay, if you're, you're not Israel because you've got an Israeli passport. You're not Israel because some forefathers converted to the false religion of Judaism. You're Israel if you're the seed of Abraham. How are you the seed of Abraham? Galatians 3.7 says, Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. Have you got your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? And if you have, the Bible says, you're the seed of Abraham. Well, it's the same person, Israel, Jacob, the seed of Abraham. If you're saved, that's you. Don't listen to all that Zionist nonsense out there, all that false teaching throughout churches. No, the seed of Abraham are those like, like Galatians 3.7 says, they which are of faith. Well, verse nine here said, Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief mender of, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away. Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God, I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. And that applies as much to us as it does to those physical descendants here two and a half thousand odd years ago. But just to point out again, okay, and I know I mentioned this a couple of times recently, but I think it needs it needs mentioning because there's a lot of false teaching this sort of thing as well. Did he say, fear not, be not dismayed, because you will never have hardship? Did he say that? He didn't say that, did he? Did he say, fear not, nor be dismayed, be not dismayed, because as long as you pray for an easy life, you're going to get it. Just make sure you pray early enough for any, just pray that this week's easy, this month's easy, this thing's easy, this is going to be no problem, and you'll just get that. Doesn't say that. He did say I'll strengthen you, so why do we need strengthening? Because life isn't necessarily easy, because you are still going to have to go through life, because you're still going to have to go through hardship, struggles, troubles and everything else. It's not just, oh well, yeah, but I prayed not to go through any struggles. No, no, he'll strengthen you through it, but you're still going to have to go through it. He said he will help you, which kind of insinuates that you need some help, because life isn't a breeze. Well, but I'm saved, why is life not just a breeze? Because no one promised that, but he did say I'll help you through it, but you've got to ask him to help you, I want him to help you and allow him to help you. He said I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness, so he'll uphold us, keep us upright, help us. He said fear thou not, I am with thee, be not dismayed, for I am my God, I will strengthen thee, yeah, I will help thee, yeah, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness, but it's his righteousness that upholds us. And I don't think that's written there for no reason. It's ultimately you're upheld by his righteousness, and that's you trying to be righteous like him. And again, try doing your best, yeah, you're not going to be perfect, you're not going to get it all right, but that's why it's called being upright. Uprightness is being upheld basically with his righteousness, isn't it? And you can be upright, you can be confident in what you do, confident decision stuff when you're not just sneaking around deceiving people, little deceit here, little lie there, little bit of gall there, little bit of manipulation there, and sadly this is just as common amongst God's people as it is amongst people of the world. And you know, one of the most frustrating things of this sort of thing is that people think that, just it's a bizarre thing when people do this stuff, they think you can't see it. They think that you don't notice it. The sneaky comment here, the little thing there, the little, just sow a little seed in the conversation here, just angle it this way. And some people, they're bad for this, aren't they? And it's frustrating because you're just like, just try, you know, we should try and just be straight down the line, shouldn't we? And there's a fleshly temptation to do that, but not just trying to deceive and work and manipulate and when you do that you can be called upright, can't you? And here you can see why they would have feared them, by the way, okay? So here, you know, he's saying, look, I'll strength you, I'll help you, I'll uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. And here, look, they've been taken away into captivity, into Babylon, this is what was going to happen, right? But why would we today, then, why would we fear? Why would we be dismayed? Because there are people that are incensed against us. Said in verse 11, behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded, there should be as nothing, and they that strive with thee shall perish. Why would they be incensed? Or maybe a word would be like violently angry, because incense is beyond anger, isn't it, right? Someone's incensed, it's like, this is extreme anger, yeah? Why would people hate the Christian today? Why would they strive with us? Well, if you kept a finger there, back in John 15, the Lord explains this. So back in John chapter 15, and look at verse 18. John 15, 18, it says it like this, if the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own, but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Basically, the less of the world you are, the more the world will hate you. If the world doesn't hate you, and again, I'm not, you know, people can go the other way with this and like, try and actually get hate from people, that's not what you should be doing, right? But if with time living for God and the world doesn't, it's probably because you're probably still part of the world, right? The world loves his own because you're not of the world, I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. So they will persecute us, they persecuted the Lord Jesus Christ, they're going to persecute us, they will try, I think he's saying, I think what he's saying here about keeping my saying, they'll keep yours also, I think he's saying that they'll try to use our words against us, keep what you say, you know, people do that a lot, they're just trying to catch you in your words, just desperate to get something, catch something out of your mouth that they can use against you. Verse 21, but all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. So if they're persecuting you, if they're trying to catch you in your words, it's a good sign, it seems here, that someone doesn't know God, isn't it? Wouldn't you say? He said, he said, if they have kept my, sorry, verse 21, he said, but all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. So these people that are claiming to be Christians, claiming to be believers, claiming to love the Lord, claiming to be of God, but they're trying to catch you in your words, they're trying to persecute you, they're hating you for his sake, ultimately, it doesn't sound like they know him, does it? And what is it that they hate so much? What is it that these types of people that do this unto you for Christ's sake, so not for your sake, it's not like, oh well they hate me, but I'm an obnoxious idiot, they must be unsaved, you know, so well maybe, you know, maybe that's not the reason they hate you, but when it's for, for Christ's sake, when it's for really for the Gospel's sake, when it's really for, for, for the things of God, saying here they know not him that sent me. And what is it that they hate? Well, verse 22, if I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not, they had not had sin, but now they have no cloak for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin, but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. Yeah, you hate the Son, you hate the Lord Jesus Christ, you hate the Father, okay, but this is why so many so-called Christians get so angry at you trying to show them the Gospel. They do, don't they? Sometimes it's like amazing, yeah I'm a Christian, oh well would you like me to show you, you know, sometimes you might not even like do it too bluntly, and they're just so angry at the thought, you know, why would I need to hear that off you, I've already told you I go to church, and you're like, oh what on earth, just trying to show you the Gospel, why would you be offended? Can you imagine, I've said this before, imagine someone actually knocked on your door, or you were just getting home from work, and like a Christian tried to stop you, and just like went to give you an invite, thought let's see what this person's giving out, and then they got onto that topic, where do you think you're going one day, and then you you found out they were actually preaching the true Gospel. It'd be like high fives, where are you at, where did you come from, what you actually believe the Gospel, it'd be amazing, right, you'd be wanting to pray, and we've all probably, a lot of people have probably had that before, I've had people say I'm going to pray for you, like genuine people, who are just like, you ask them a few questions, like yeah they're saved, they're like yeah, amen, you know, let's pray for you before you go, when you're on a soul winning marathon or something, and they're just like, amen, you know, chat, you know, it's like high fives and stuff like that, and then there's those people that claim to believe, but they absolutely hate you for daring to even try and broach the subject of the Gospel, it's not very normal is it, but really what is it, they have no cloak for their sin, because really they're rejecting the Gospel, they're trusting their works, and the second you start asking them and showing them, they know, you know, they, well either they can't answer, they don't even know what's, how to get saved, or as you start asking them, they're realising that they're telling you about a work salvation or something else, and you won't even get onto the point, they just, the anger's already there isn't it, because already often we're trying to say to them, well I can show you how easy it is, so already they're going easy, oh wait a second, or you're going to them, you know, can I show you how you can know for sure, how dare someone say you can know for sure, you know, and already these sort of cogs are probably turning in their work salvationist heads, verse 11 said, behold all they that were incensed against he shall be ashamed and confounded, they should be as nothing, and they that strive with thee shall perish, so he said that those that strive with God's people shall perish, those that strive with them, strive with with his people, verse 12 said thou shalt seek them and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee they that war against he shall be as nothing and as a thing of naught, and they war against us now don't they, just it's just in a spiritual sense, but it could take a while, I mean the Jews here were in captivity for 70 years weren't they, and that's ultimately here who he's talking about, those that had carried them away, you know, to Babylon and, you know, it took them a while for this to come and for the Persians, you know, to invade them and conquer them, but if you're striving with God's people preaching the gospel you're warring, right, you're going to end up a thing of naught, but you're going to end up a thing of naught in hell, you know, if you're striving and warring with God's people, I mean Paul is like an exception who was Saul, the apostle Paul that is was a real exception, I think to them all, right, you don't really see many others who are striving, rounding up God's people, trying to get them in trouble and all that stuff, I mean that was an exception and he kind of went on to, you know, do amazing things and suffer for the Lord, right, but let's be honest if you're doing that sort of thing, well the reality of it is you're likely to go to hell, and I'm saying because you're not going to get saved, and one of the reasons I just think it's like a natural thing when you really, really put so much like vested time and interest into attacking, for example, once saved always saved, right, that's a hard thing just aside from the spiritual side of it, just to accept that all that time and effort was into something false, like people don't, they don't want to admit that, do they, if you've like spent, I don't know, if you spent your life attacking the King James Bible, it probably wouldn't matter what evidence you were shown, just because you've spent your life, your time, all this effort, you just don't want to accept it, it's like work salvation, they spent their life thinking that they're working their way to heaven, and that's why the ones who have been doing it longer and longer, it's so hard to convince them of the Gospel, because they've put so much time and effort, they believe into this, well say you spend your time striving and warring and fighting with God's people, the chance of you then accept the Gospel whether you're a reprobate or not, it's obviously if you're not a reprobate, I think it's very slim regardless, right, he said thou shalt, thou shalt seek them and shall not find them, even them that contended with thee, they that war against you should be nothing and there's a thing of naught, so here those Babylonians ended up being conquered by Cyrus and obviously the Medo-Persians, okay, that's what happened to them, verse 13 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 and ye men of Israel, I will help thee serve the Lord and I redeemer the Holy One of Israel. Why is he calling Jacob a worm here? Well in Psalm 22, David described himself as the same, okay, in Psalm 22 it's a messianic Psalm, you don't have to turn around, I'm only going to quote the one verse, but David, he is also prophesying of Christ, particularly his crucifixion, and he said in verse 6, but I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised of the people, was David really a worm? No, was Jesus Christ a worm? Which is who he's prophesying of, no, but in God's enemy's eyes, yes, so that's what he's talking about here, in the eyes of God's enemies, yeah, David was a worm, Jesus Christ was a worm, and that's what he's saying here, Jacob or Israel as a whole was derided by the Babylonians, Jerusalem was desecrated, I mean, you know, by the end, just before they eventually get conquered, they're just like getting out like holy, you know, sort of holy cups and things to get boozed up on, you know, stuff that had been taken out of the temple, but the Babylonians that is, but God's people, God's people today are looked down upon as well, aren't they? Laughed, to scorn, mocked, insulted, aren't we right? And, you know, just, just, it's not, it's not this, you know, not getting a violin out, it's not that it's that bad, but, like, just, just to see me on a high street, you would have noticed when you're preaching to people, the old person shouting something as they go past, trying to mock you, you know, all those people that you just try and offer them an invite, and they just like stare ahead, or pass, or something, it's just so weird, isn't it, you know, rude, anything so rude, why don't you just say no? It's so bizarre, isn't it? Look at how dare they try and offer me, and there are people that get angry with it, don't they, as well. It's like, no! You know, it just sounds wrong with you, right, but it's hardly persecution, right, but, but it gets worse, isn't it? They'll mock you, they'll, they'll try and laugh at you, and stuff, but, you know, he, he tells us not to fear, he helps you through it. He said in verse 15, he said, Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth. Thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them, and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shout glory in the Holy One of Israel. So what's he talking about here? Turn to Matthew 3, Matthew 3, to see what the chaff represents here. So threshing was when they beat out the grain, you know, when it was harvested. A threshing instrument was something often that they would roll over it, slide over it, roll over it. The, the fanning was to separate the grain, and to then discard the chaff, which was like the waste product, which would be burned. So in Matthew 3, John the Baptist preached this of Jesus. Matthew 3 11, he said, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. Okay, talking to the people there, not, not Jesus, but he then talks of Jesus, where he says, But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. Now this wasn't some Holy Fire baptism, okay, like, I think some people see when they read this, right? Obviously the Pentecostals are now going to be baptized, baptize the Holy Ghost, and with fire. Sadly, they probably are going to be baptized with fire, right, unless they actually get saved. But it's the two choices, you either get the Holy Ghost from salvation, or you get Hellfire, right? He said, in verse 12, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner, but it will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. So the chaff are obviously unsaved, and particularly here they're the curse rejecters amongst the Jews here, okay? The, you know, here's people he's come to, they're rejecting, the scribes of Pharisees are there, and he's talking about this. For example, Psalm 1-4 says, Ye ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. So with that in mind, back in verse 15 of Isaiah 41, where he said, Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth. Thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them, and thou shalt rejoice, and the Lord has shout glory, and the Holy One of Israel. He's saying that they'll be able to separate the wheat from the chaff, basically, which perhaps was partly done by that returning and rebuilding, though some probably were just not interested at all, or tried to attack it, tried to cause trouble with it, as we see, you know, where in the book of Ezra, for example, and Nehemiah, but it was to be done in the future by the Lord Jesus Christ as well, okay? That's separating the wheat from the chaff, so there's that future fulfillment, but it continues to be done through his word, with the wheat separated from the chaff by that threshing instrument, the word of God, the completed word of God, is a threshing instrument, isn't it? It separates the wheat from the chaff, it shows the ungodly from the godly, it shows them that those that truly believe from those that don't, and with that, okay, with the word going out, it obviously exposes the false prophets, but it then also results in salvation for the thirsty. So the word of God exposes, it shows the truth, you know, out of the abundance of the heart and the mouth speaketh, eventually, you know, you'll start to hear it coming out of the mouth, but it also results in salvation, and, you know, obviously specifically for those that are thirsty for the word. Verse 17 says, 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 God of Israel will not forsake them, 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 a dry land, springs of water. So firstly, there was that deliverance from captivity via Cyrus, with also the poor that had been left in Judah getting involved as well, but also through Daniel and later Esther, you know, Mordecai, the gospel went out en masse throughout the Medo-Persian Empire. So this empire, and obviously, you know, Cyrus being, you know, the, you know, the first here, and it does obviously there are further kings down the line, this empire ends up, you know, being kind of used or being a way for the gospel to go out. For example, in Daniel, Darius the Mede, his viceroy under Cyrus, said this in Daniel 6 26, I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is a living God and steadfast forever in his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed in his dominion shall be even until the end. You can read over that and go, oh what a lovely end to, you know, the hardship of Daniel 6, but that was the truth that happened, like, across this huge empire, he made this decree. I think it's amazing really, isn't it? Perhaps that's what's meant by high places here, we said I will open rivers in high places, you know, it wasn't just, oh well, you know, the gospel went out, you know, in private in a few places, it went out from the top pretty much, right? Then a hundred odd years later in Esther 8 17, King Ahasuerus made a decree where he said, and in every province and in every city whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day, and many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. And ultimately what did that mean at this point in time still before it became this false religion? It was putting their faith in Christ, wasn't it, the coming Christ. So, and then obviously perhaps ultimately fulfilled by Jesus Christ, those verses, okay, with when he comes and onwards from there with the gospel going everywhere. But verse 19 then said, I will plant in the wilderness a cedar, the shitter 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, that they may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord had done this and the Holy One of Israel hath created it. So, which in the context of the gospel makes you think of soul winners, trees bringing forth fruit is what I think of here, right? You know, for example, the planted blessed man from Psalm 1 who brings forth his fruit in this season, people preaching the gospel, you know, for me in the spiritual wilderness, and when you do that, when you boldly declare the word of God, people know it's of God, don't they? You know, when, you know, they're planted, when men of God, women of God, children of God, preaching the word of God, have planted in these spiritual wildernesses and they're giving, you know, they're bringing forth their fruit in its season, they're getting people saved, they're preaching the gospel, they know, don't they? They know. And I think they know when you, you know, they know, no, one of the truths I think which just makes it so apparent is that you're preaching basically the opposite to all religions, really, aren't you? Because people try the old world witch religion, they just all work salvation, and then you preach the opposite, you're preaching the truth that salvation is a gift, it's free, it's the other religion, it's a true religion, it's a straight and narrow way, because the broad way is all the different versions of work salvation, whether it's before so-called salvation, during it, after it, whatever version of God they want to choose, and when you show them that, and you start to show them that, they know. And they know, they know because faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God, they know when they hear the word of God. So do they all get saved? Because you, I mean, maybe like, you know, you like to think that, the optimist, you might think, well, if I could just show them the word of God, I'll just show them that it's the opposite, once I show them that, they're surely just going to put their faith in Christ. Well, did they all end up here responding to it? Well, he said in verse 20, that they may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord had done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it. Then he said, produce your cause, saith the Lord, bring forth your strong reason, saith the King of Jacob, let them bring forth, let them bring them forth and show us what shall happen, let them show the form of things, what they be, that we may consider them and know the latter end of them, or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods, yea, do good or do evil that we may be dismayed about, hold it together. No, they end up with all sorts of reasons to reject, they produce their cause, they bring forth their strong reasons, from verse 21. All their different reasons to choose a false god, whatever false god, even the false god of atheism, whatever, you know, virgin, you know, whether it's Darwin or some other like false god that they want to put their trust in instead of the Lord, they bring forth their reasons, they bring forth their cause, and he's then saying this, he's saying, okay, basically show us the prophecy in your false religion then, show us it, show us your prophecy in Islam, show us the form of things, show us the things that have already happened, show us your creation account, show us the things that have happened, show us the prophecies that have been fulfilled, like we're just reading through as we go through the book of Isaiah, he's prophesying of something that was to come in a hundred years time, prophesying names, prophesying people, we've seen him prophesy of the Lord Jesus Christ, prophesy of John the Baptist, no book has anything like that, verifiable like that, no book, saying show us it, show us it with your false gods, your false religions, show us, show us that they are gods, show us that, show the things that come here of that we know that you're gods, they do good or do evil, like do something in these gods, right, that we may be just dismayed and behold it together, he's saying do us, just do something for us to behold, will you, like the stuff that we're just seeing recorded and recorded, recorded in the word of God, like the evidence of a worldwide flood for example, it's like show us that false god, show us what you got, because that's the thing, it's not really an excuse, it's not, you go what, you know, people like to do that one, what about the poor person who's been raised in this religion over there, is that fair, is that, it's a false god with a stupid false religion, that tells them they can work their way to heaven and their books are jokes, they're complete rubbish, they're junk, and then we have the word of God, you've got prophecy, prophecy, just hearing it, you know, it's the word of God, the truth of the gospel is so clearly of God, but they reject, produce your cause, serve the Lord, bring forth your strong reasons, because they do, right, they just bring forth some nonsense, but really it's not strong reasons, Psalm 135 16 says of these idols, these graven images, they have mouths but they speak not, eyes have they but they see not, and it continues because they hear not, they're nothing, they're false gods, they're idols, that's why he said then in verse 24, behold you of nothing and your work of naught, an abomination is he that chooseth you, now I was thinking about this, is he just saying that anyone unsaved is an abomination, I don't think so, I think to choose some dumb idol or false god gives the impression of a more conscious choice, doesn't it, so I'm not saying it's an excuse like I just said, it's not an excuse to worship a false god, but when you choose that as opposed to the truth, so that kind of indicates you've been presented with the truth, doesn't it, so rather than just kind of knowing no better and not seeking the truth which is foolish, this is someone that's choosing right, and remember the context was verse 20, that they may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord had done this and the Holy One of Israel has created it, so they've been given the evidence, they've been shown the truth right, they know, they know, and when I say the evidence of the word of God, of God's power, of his eternal power and God heads, they're without excuse, they reject, they choose the false way, the false god, the work of men's hands, does it make you think of Romans 1 19? Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them, but they've chosen the false way, and there's a lot of people that do that, aren't there, hence they're an abomination, you're nothing in your work of naught, an abomination is he that chooseth, you talked about that false god, they've chosen that as opposed to the truth, they've changed the truth of God into a lie, basically, and Washington served the creature among the Creator, who is blessed forever, amen. They're an abomination, people, these people, and obviously, you know, you could throw sodomites in there, you could throw all the different types of false prophets in there, they're abominations, they've rejected the truth and chosen that false god, it's not they've just been like, well I'm going to put it off for now, I'm not sure, that doesn't mean that person of reprobate, but this is someone that knows the truth and chooses a false god, an abomination, that's something hated, detested by God, I mean, or what's he talking about here, an abomination is he that chooseth you, oh no, God would never say, look, God's love for everyone, you know, he just, he wants us to put a, I went into Leon's Sea the other day, one of the church had a massive stonking great rainbow flag outside, oh bring him in, bring him on, he said they're an abomination, he said that he hates these people, they've been rejected, they've been given over to a reprobate mind, an abomination is he that chooses you, that's the word of God, right? He then said in verse 25, I've 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 upon to treadeth clay. So I think he's still talking to Cyrus, but Persia being northeast, you know, we've seen from the east, we've seen from the north, but then he actually says, after saying from the north, he says from the rising of the sun, shall he call upon my name, which is the east, isn't it, right? So I think it's still talking about Cyrus here, basically he's going to be trampling other other kings, he's going to be come upon princes, upon mortar, and as a potter treadeth clay, so he's trampling over these kings, these nations. Verse 26, who declared from the beginning that we may know, and before time that we may say he is righteous, yea there is none that showeth, yea there is none that declareth, yea there is none that heareth your word. So verse 25, it seems was to emphasize this point. Who else, what false god is prophesying of events hundreds of years before? Who has declared from the beginning that we may know, and before time that we may say he is righteous? Yea there is none that showeth, yea there is none that declareth, yea there is none that heareth your words. Who is hearing these prophecies? Who in these false religions is hearing people, anything, in these false religions with these false gods declaring it from the beginning? It ain't happening. They're a joke. They're not, it's not like, oh well I just couldn't choose, you know, it's like Bible or Quran. It's like Bible or Bhagavad Gita. I just, you know, it's kind of like, no it's not. They're a joke. They're not prophesying of things that have come to pass and things that will come to pass in the future. They're a joke. They just try and sound clever. I mean, the Quran doesn't even try and sound clever. It tries to sound just ridiculous, disjointed, a bad copy of the Bible and a bad one at that. It's horrendous. So then they've got to go, oh well it's, you've got to just, because it's got to be in Arabic. They just can't even get to together a semi-coherent translation. No, it's just, and then you read the King James Bible. Hmm, which ones of God? Just can't work it out. He then said in verse 27, the first, and remember the first is the Alpha, the only true God. We saw that earlier. Say to Zion, behold, behold them, and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. So he's saying, behold these false gods, saying see what they really are, yeah, and he will give a messenger with good tidings, which is what we bring, isn't it? Yeah, behold them, and I'll give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. What's the message of the false gods? Is it good tidings? Any of those false god messages, good tidings? I don't know why, like Islam's on my mind a bit right now, okay. But it's, okay, I've got these great tidings for you, okay. So Alar the Merciful, because it's kind of like a kind of copy, isn't it? He's so merciful that if you manage to keep to some version of the five pillars, depending on who you speak to, and kind of, you know, and you do good enough, he might forgive you, he might let you off, but you just have to wait and see. But if you blow yourself up, you're all right. Good tidings. I mean, what on earth, right? Oh no, I've got some other, we've got some glad, and you can add all the versions of Christianity, can't you? Oh, the glad tidings of, you know, you fill in the blank, work, salvation, Christianity. The glad tidings of Pentecostalism, like I mentioned earlier, which a lot of them is, if you, now you've got saved, don't worry, you've forgave all your past sins, just not your future sins. Now you've got to be sinless for the rest of your life. Okay, now you've got to remember which ones to ask forgiveness for. You better not miss one sin, or you're done. Glad tidings. Sounds like a death sentence, doesn't it? It's all a death sentence, and it's, none of it's glad. There's no glad tidings there, but we bring good tidings, don't we? And that's why, that's why when you go out and preach your Gospel, be confident, be bold, be happy. I mean, it's not like we're giving a bad, a bad news, is it? I mean, we kind of are, because they reject it, right? But it's, you go, come into people and go, look, I can show you how easy it is to go to heaven, like, be confident about that, it's a good thing, don't have to worry about that. You're not going to them, I've got a thousand hopes for you to jump through, and I don't really even know how to explain them. I don't really, oh, I don't know, I mean, some sins, don't sin, you've got to be completely sinless, well, if you do sin, you've got to ask for forgiveness, you've got to repent of it, try not to, I don't really know, but it's good news, because if you somehow work it out yourself, and do some of it, you never know. It's not, it's not glad tidings. The glad tidings, the Gospel, the good tidings, is, it's free, paid for by Christ. He said, for I beheld, and there was no man even among them, and there was no counsellor that when I asked her then could answer a word. So what are these false religions producing? They can't even answer, answer half this stuff. Ask him like, okay, so how did the world come about? Oh, well, probably a mixture of like evolution and, because they just don't even, they can't answer any of it. They don't really know what to say, they're just like, yeah, or they start trying to be like, sound all intellectual with their sort of, well, what is truth type answer, like Pilate. Behold, they're all vanity, their works are nothing, their molten images are wind and confusion. That is false religion, isn't it? Down to a T. Wind and confusion, vanity, especially when you compare their religions to the true God of the Bible. And that was the theme for Isaiah chapter 41, false gods, false religions, you know, when compared to, you know, the true God. And on that, we're going to finish it all in prayer. Father, thank you for the truth. Thank you for the gospel. Thank you for the good tidings. Thank you that salvation is free, Lord. Thank you that, you know, that we can, you know, we can just have full faithful trust in the word of God, knowing that it's the word of God, Lord. The more we study it, the more we read through it, just to have our faith strengthened by just all the prophecy, all the truth, all the just amazing sort of, you know, ways it connects together, Lord. The word of God is unlike anything else. We thank you for your word. We thank you that we're able to study it, Lord, with the Holy Spirit helping us, you know, helping us to come to truth, Lord. Help us to, you know, just apply what we've heard into our lives, Lord, just to have more faith in you, to be more confident in, you know, in the truth and also in the gospel, Lord, knowing that it's good tidings. Lord, help us to get home safe this evening. Help us to return on Sunday and have a great Easter Sunday. Jesus, improve this. Amen.