Isaiah, Chapter 41

Good morning. We will certainly be venturing into our study in Isaiah here shortly. First, I want to bring your attention. Next Sunday, after church, we'll begin the Marriage, Family, and Finances series. Our intent is to have lunch first and then have our time together on these topics. And believe me, we intend to bend over backwards as we go through this series, we want to deal with all kinds of marital issues, whatever it might be, and most certainly address anything that you can imagine encountering. So anyway, we will dig into the depths of these things. All right, now into our Isaiah studies. By the way, I never knew ice cream was social.

Anyway, okay, Isaiah 41.4. So we look at this. What are we? Stepping into? We're stepping into Isaiah chapter 41, so please do so with me.

Isaiah chapters 40 through 48, we've reminded folks, are about God versus the pagan idols. And this is sort of a theme that Isaiah is carrying through these chapters. Starting next week, we get into chapter 42, and he actually begins a secondary and overlapping theme that we'll touch upon. Isaiah wrote about who God is and God's relationship to Israel, and he did so in order to show how far short the pagan idols fell.

And it's to show not just how far short they fell, but also what is God's character. We're beneficiaries of the message here because while we're not Israel, we are a part of the church, We still are going to be looking at these verses here and learning about God's character and learning about what that means in our lives. We're going to be learning about the God who is changeless and eternal.

Also, the Lord has saved us by faith as the Lord saved those in Israel by faith. This was immediately and initially introduced and addressed to Israel, but was not Israel saved by faith as well? Were they not saved by faith in God's provision in Jesus Christ, just as we are? The Lord made believing Gentiles and Jews into one new people, the church. We pointed this out in the past, starting with Adam. Gentiles were saved by faith in Christ.

Israel made a new people, branching off from the Gentiles through Abraham, finally through Jacob. created a new ethnic group, Israel, God's chosen people, and then, in Christ's death upon the cross, created a third people, not an ethnic group, but a third people composed of both believing Jews and Gentiles, as we saw in Ephesians 2.11 through 3.11. Okay. We should keep a few things in mind as we go through this chapter, and we're actually going to be zeroing in on a couple of verses. If you're like me, you may need some help keeping a few things in mind, but go ahead and do so.

Isaiah portrays the God of Scripture as taking the pagan gods to court. How about that? We've got a court case here, and he takes the pagan gods to court. He's going to challenge them, asking questions, and asking questions even of Witnesses. Calling witnesses to the stand. Even Israel. Asking them questions. And, he's going to answer some of the questions for them as well. It will be as if there were a spiritual interrogation.

That's the character of this chapter. Isaiah is also setting the stage for, and this is going on over several chapters, it's beginning here, for an amazing prophecy about a future ruler, a ruler who is to come on the horizon over a century after Isaiah's time, and this future ruler of an empire will be one who will serve God's purpose with God's chosen people, Israel. Now, reminder, these are the dates and they are BC. That means before Craig. You can decide which one. Okay, to start off with, Isaiah wrote chapters 41 through 45 here, addressing this issue of looking towards this future ruler who is going to send the Jews back from Babylon.

Now, first of all, we look at it is over a century later that the Jews are going to be carried off to Babylon, and that's one of the things that Isaiah looks ahead at. Here is Judah, carried to the east, to Babylon. As I mentioned, they carried off the riches of Judah, they carried off the wealth, they carried off the people, they destroyed Jerusalem. They tore down the walls, they tore down the temple, and carried off all the people and anything of value, and hauled it off to Babylon.

Here we have then Cyrus over a century later, about a century and a half later after Isaiah's time, will give an order allowing the Jews, initially about 50,000 of them, to return back to their homeland, 538 BC. This is a prophecy. Both of these things are prophesied by Isaiah. So this Persian ruler would come in Interestingly, this Persian ruler, we'll hear about Cyrus, this Persian ruler came in, he wasn't Jewish and he didn't believe in the God of Israel, but one of the main beliefs of his religion was you can't take people from their homeland. Isn't that interesting? So the Lord brought in this ruler who had this basic belief, you can't take people from the homeland, and that was the means through which the Lord had the Jews go back to the place where they came from. Sent them back.

So we have Isaiah 41.4 here.

God is speaking here as the interrogator in his court case, and he is also a witness. He interrogates and then sits down in the witness stand and answers. He will both ask the questions and then answer with personal testimony about himself. One of the things that this shows out in this verse here is God is sovereign in the details of history, including the people of Israel and every one of us in the church.

It's important that we not somehow get this idea that we're just some sort of a small item, inconsequential in what God's doing. What scripture repeatedly comes back to is that God is a God of the entire universe, down to the smallest detail, including you. He cares immensely about you. He has a purpose that spans from the grand movements of history, the big things that happen, the things that hit the front pages, the things that are recorded in the history books. He's also a God who cares about the smallest detail, the things that only you know about, the things that only He knows about you. He's a God of the big things and the little things. He is sovereign over them all. God knows it and He does it. God knows about the problem you have with your feet.

God knows about the difficulty that you may be having finding that special person. God knows about the difficulty you may be having with that special person. God knows about what's down the road for you. God knows about the medical problems you're dealing with. God knows about that burden that you've been carrying, that thing that's been a rather heavy load. God knows about the things that's blowing your circuits. God knows about the dreams you have for your kids and the nightmares. God knows about the dream for kids. God knows about the dreams for your grandkids. God knows where everything's headed, doesn't he? God's eternal purpose, what God is doing, is not cut short by various things.

Have you ever found yourself hearing some piece of news and going, oh, ah, that's bad, you know? Well, there are things that happen that are bad, aren't there? But none of those things, no matter what they are, frustrate the Lord's eternal purpose. None of those will frustrate what the Lord has lovingly and graciously determined to be in our lives. Are any of the things that are happening, the things that hit the headlines, the things that show up on the news, are any of those going to have some impact upon whether the Lord's going to come for us or not, or whether we're going to come with Him? Do any of those have an impact upon whether we will one day be like Him, face to face? Do any of those things keep the Lord from carrying out His plan for a new creation, a new heavens, a new earth, a new Jerusalem? Is the Lord frustrated in any way by those events, the things that make us wince, the things that make us whimper? He knows about all those things, every one of them. Now, let's look through this verse. Who has performed and accomplished it? He's asking the question.

God is asking the people of Judah, who will bring about your return from Babylon? Who's going to do it? You guys haven't even gone there yet, remember? It would be a hundred years before they would head off to Babylon, and He's asking about when you're coming back. How's that going to happen?

The Lord says, I know you're going to be headed off to Babylon. It'll be a century, but I know it. And, I know you're going to be sent off there in a century, but I also know how I'm going to send you back. I know how I'm going to get you back here. I've got it covered. I know about both those things and much more. I'm going to take care of it. I'm going to bring a man that you don't know about and he hasn't even been born yet. but he'll be the one that I'll use and I'll bring you back to the land you were from because I promised. Here is this ruler who will come and send you back home.

Who's going to be the one to pull that off, to make it happen? How's that going to happen? Think about the things in your own life And you're wondering about this detail and that. How's this going to take place? What's going to happen next? How am I going to get this to happen so that that happens? All the things we plan and consider and think about.

Is the Lord wringing His hands, pacing the floor of heaven, wondering how that's going to come about? What's He going to do? The Lord knows it all, doesn't He? And what He has determined, what He purposes, it will happen. God speaks about the final fulfillment of these things. Notice He says, who has performed and accomplished it, and it hasn't happened yet. Not the ultimate. He speaks about what's called the prophetic past. A future event so certain it is spoken of as if it has already come to pass. In Romans 8, 28-30, we have a similar kind of thing.

We know that God causes all things to work together for good. God is sovereign, isn't He? to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren. And these whom He predestined, He also called. These whom He called, He also justified. And these whom He justified, He also glorified." Now wait a minute, glorified part, what does he mean by that? This one, what does he mean by that?

That sounds like it's past tense. Now, this is glorious, that's pretty cool, but I don't think that's quite what he had in mind. No, not quite that. No, this glorified is a future time, yet to be, but he speaks of it in the past tense. As far as the Lord's concerned, it's already done. It's a done deal. There will be a time, 1 John 3, 1 and 2 puts it this way. See how great a love, and by the way, that's how great a quality of love is the meaning there in the original language. The Father has bestowed, and that word bestowed is in the perfect tense. What does that mean? It implies permanence.

He doesn't say, here's some love, let me take it back. No, it's a permanent giving, a love that He has given us permanently, that we would be called children of God, and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is."

That's glorified. That's what Paul's talking about. But he puts it like this is, in the tense that it's already happened. It's a done deal. Now, the next line there in verse 4, calling forth the generations from the beginning. Can you imagine? Adam, Eve, come on! Calling forth the generations from the beginning, from the start.

Now think about it. I've been giving some thought to this. Something my grandpa said kind of brought this to my attention. Think about this. Here's grandpa and grandma and grandpa and grandma and then they gave birth to your dad and your mom. and then it's down to you. My grandpa pointed this out to me.

You know, there's a real problem in this. The farther you go back, there's more people, so you come down to us, there's only one. It gets smaller and smaller. Do you see that? Two generations back, there's four. Last generation back, there's one. Now, there's only you. Pretty soon, there'll be nobody at all. Anyway, there's a real danger there.

Think about that. Okay. Now, I don't think that's what he's talking about. calling forth the generations from the beginning. God was looking to bring this ruler Cyrus into existence and into a place of power, looking ahead to that time to send the Jews back to Judah from Babylon. That's what he was looking at. He is going to make that come to pass. How does he do that? God is dealing with things well, well in advance. God is thinking about things even before it's crossed our mind.

As far as the Jews are concerned, they haven't even gone to Babylon yet. It'll be a century out before that's even a problem. God says, don't worry, the problem that you haven't even thought about, I already have and I've already taken care of the answer. That's something to keep in mind and we pointed out with Hezekiah.

The Lord is answering prayer before we ask about it. Does He still want us to ask about it? Yeah. It's because of relationship and fellowship that He wants us to talk to Him about things. But does God answer a prayer? Yeah, He already started on it before you asked. This is an answer to a prayer they haven't even asked about for a century yet to come.

When in history was God acting to make that come about? An event that was still a century and a half ahead of the time that Isaiah is writing this letter. When is God acting? He acted from the very beginning when he created Adam and Eve, calling forth the generations from one to the next. The Lord is dealing with this problem long before anybody knew it was even sort of a problem. Long before Isaiah even wrote that it was going to be a problem.

And he says, I am the Lord, I am the first, and with the last, I am he. Now here's where God answers his own question. How about that? He asks the question, then he turns around and sits in the witness box and says, I'm the one. I'm the one. Who has performed and accomplished it? Calling forth the generations from the beginning, the Lord answers the question. asking and then sitting down in the witness box answering. Who has performed? Only God can answer this question in the affirmative. Only God can say, I'm the one. He's the one who created. He's the one who made everything that was. Who put the life into Adam and then created Eve. He's the one who is sovereign from one generation to the next.

Anybody here interested in studying their own genealogy? Is that of interest to you? I kind of find it interesting and look through it from time to time and encounter some real fascinating things, some of them I don't want to talk about. But anyway, genealogy can be real interesting and it can also appear very random when you look at it, as fascinating as it is.

But what the Lord is saying here is just the apparent randomness from our standpoint, does not characterize what He's doing. The Lord is planning things out. The Lord is making things happen. What appears random and statistical from our standpoint is not from His standpoint. He is sovereign over all. He knows what He's doing, even with those that are born. Can the people do that? Can the people call forth the generations and be sovereign over time? Nah. Can the pagan idols do that? Nah, doesn't happen. Only God can say that he was there and he accomplished it.

He can say, I'm the one who began this, I'm the one who is sovereign over it all. Genesis gives lists of genealogies. It starts all the way from Adam and then tells the genealogies of a number of different people. Matthew and Luke give the genealogy of Jesus Christ, one through Mary and one through Joseph. And it's apparent even on these things God is sovereign.

The Lord had promised David a thousand years before the angel Gabriel spoke to Mary. The Lord had promised to David that he would bring a descendant. And then a thousand years later, the angel Gabriel comes to Mary and says, this descendant of David, you will be the one. This was something that was phenomenal. Here's Mary in an obscure village, a peasant woman, a young lady, and the Lord comes to her and says, you are going to be the one to bear the one I promised to David a thousand years earlier.

The Lord is sovereign over these things. I am the Lord, I am the first, and with the last, I am He. God was there at the very start, and will be there when it's all said and done. Was He there at the beginning? Yes. In the beginning, God said, let there be light. He was there at the very start. He will be there when this universe is all over with, and when the new heavens and the new earth have begun. He'll be there.

He doesn't come and go like we do. It's neat to be able to sit down. I remember sitting down with my grandpa one time. He was born 1890. Sitting down with him at one point in time and going over the things that had happened during his lifetime. And I said, Grandpa, you remember when the Spanish-American War started? Yeah, I remember that. And you remember when the Wright brothers first flew there on Kitty Hawk. Yeah, I remember that. And I said, you remember World War I? He says, yeah, I drafted one of the howitzers. That was his contribution to the war.

And we went and clocked through all the different things that he had done and seen. But as neat as that was to do, you know, 1987, he went home to be with the Lord. And, you know, he was here and lived a long time. Nearly a century, and then he's gone. And that's the way we human beings are. We're here for a time. The Lord isn't like that. The Lord doesn't come and go.

He is always, always there. Starting the beginning, there to the end, before the beginning, and after the end. He isn't subject to all the limitations of things on this planet. When it comes to the course of things that happen here on Earth, the big sweep of things, down to the details, He's the first and the last. He's the beginning and the end. He's the Alpha and the Omega, and the A to Z, into eternity. He is at all times. We've seen the verse, He is from everlasting to everlasting. He's not just part of our lives. not just a segment, not just a piece of it.

Revelation speaks repeatedly using phrases like, I am the beginning and the end, I am the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega, which is the Greek equivalent of the I am the Aleph and the Tov from the Hebrew that the Rabbis used to say. In Revelation, we find this claim of God to be the beginning and the end, the first and the last. It comes from Isaiah. And this is the first one of those passages where we see that. The Lord will repeatedly lay this truth down because He wants them to understand. He says, I am the full definition of everything.

I'm not just a part of your life. I'm not just something that you turn to just occasionally. Okay, I've got this part of my life, and that part of my life, and that part of my life, and God's just sort of a part of my life? No. The Lord says, I'm from the beginning to the end.

I am the full definition of everything that happens here on planet Earth. I'm the one who made it. And I'm the one who will continue what goes on into the new heavens and the new earth for eternity. I am the first and I am the last. I'm the A to Z, to put it in our lingo.

I am in several of these verses in the Greek Old Testament, I'll add that note, is a claim to deity in the Greek Old Testament of Isaiah and in Revelation in the New Testament. Now, what you see here that looks like some crazy chart that's scheduling something that's behind or a wiring diagram for the space shuttle It's a little bit complicated, but if you're interested in looking at the relationships between all these different terms, between Isaiah and Revelation, these color charts are available in the back of the cabinet as you exit this room.

Feel free to grab one of those if it tickles your fancy. I suggest, however, that you not tickle my Nancy, okay? And I'm not threatening you, okay? I'm just giving you a warning. I've tried it myself. It doesn't work, okay? Anyway, take hold of those if that tickles your fancy. Alright.

The Gospel of John, seven times, Christ states, just like the same ego, a me, that we just brought up, I am. It is Christ's repeated statement. He is living in the eternal present. He is the one who is not limited by time, okay? This ego me shows up in the Greek Old Testament.

This is Exodus 3.14. Moses says, who should I say has sent me? And God's answer, I am. Tell them that I am the one who is ever living, the one who lives in the eternal present. That's the one that you should tell them sent you.

Think of it this way. We live inside of time. Think of this as time. It may be a little tough, but this is time. Here's Adam, and the creation, and the garden. Here's the end of time here on planet Earth. You and I are somewhere here. God is looking at that, and to Him, it's all at once. He's looking at it all at the same time. Isn't that something? He's not puzzled by what's going to happen next. I wonder.

He looks at it, and what is going to happen in your life tomorrow, and what is going to happen a thousand years from now, and Christ on the cross all at once. All at once. Is it any challenge for Him to identify you with Christ two thousand years ago when Christ died on the cross? No. To Him it's all at once. No big deal. He can certainly do that for those whom he loves. Isn't that a neat thing?

The Lord is not subject to time like we are. God's character defines our history, and that's a key thing to look at. As God sees it, and as eternity will show to be true, our own history is not the life story we tell others. That's kind of interesting.

I've noticed. I'll bring up Nancy again. She just somehow comes to mind. Nancy is one of these people that people in the grocery store will tell her their life story before they get to the checkout point. They just do that all the time. I don't know why that is.

Our life story actually has been replaced by God, because our history is now Christ's history. We have been identified with Him in His crucifixion, in His burial, in His resurrection, His ascension, and in His seeding. As God sees it, and as the future will bear out, that will be the history. That will be the history that counts. with Christ, identified with him in his crucifixion, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seeding. That's your history. That's my history, because we believed.

Our present is part of this ultimate conforming process. God is sovereign over that history. We will do all kinds of things, each one of us, but nothing that we do or don't do will thwart the ultimate conforming process. If you're a believer here this morning, or even if you're not one and will be, you will be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. That's a comforting aspect of our predestination. We've been predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.

God is sovereign and that will not be thwarted. Our future is an eternity defined by who He is. What's your future going to be like? It's defined by God from A to Z. He's the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. He is the one who defines it.

Let's jump ahead to verse 10 in this interrogation. The Lord is turning around to give some direction in the courtroom. and it comes across this way, do not fear and do not anxiously look about you. Have you heard those messages before? Have you heard those words in other parts of scripture? Have you thought about that? Notice that the fear perspective has to do with where we're looking and I know that this eyeball moving around bothers Ben. He's told me so. Anyway, I just thought I'd put that up here. Anxiously looking about you, and this green italics here is not on your handout.

Anxiously looking about you indicates looking to circumstances around us to find peace. We look for the circumstances to get better. Even if we pray, what we're doing is we're saying, Lord, I'm praying to you because I want the circumstances better. I'm going to be anxious until you make the circumstances better. Isn't that the attitude? Do not fear. Do not anxiously look about you.

It is a looking to circumstances. I'm looking to circumstances for peace that's conveyed here. That's the message. It was a problem 2,700 years ago when Isaiah wrote this. It's a problem now, isn't it? Looking to the circumstances to find peace. Is it going to happen? Not going to happen.

Notice God's answer to the fear and the anxiety. What does God say in response to the do not fear? Don't be anxiously looking around you. I am with you. I am your God. That's His response. Now, we're going to see here what looks in the immediate like a diversion.

Chariot racing was really popular in the Roman Empire. One of the authors during the Roman times said there are two things that are almost equally popular in the Roman Empire. One of them is eating, the other is chariot racing. This is a relief showing that very activity, chariot racing. In Philippians 3, 12-14, Paul writes using this analogy, probably of chariot racing. It doesn't say chariots, but the description seems to fit with that. It may be running, but likely chariot racing.

It says, not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect. Let me translate that. Obtained, to obtain it or lay hold of it. means to grab first prize. And already become perfect means I have not already become mature. Paul has said, I have not been completely conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. And he says, I have not grabbed hold of that first prize. But I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of. The laid hold of, remember, is the idea of getting first prize And look at what the second part there, which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. When Christ took us, He grabbed first prize. Isn't that amazing? The Lord considers taking hold of us as a prize gain. Now that is amazing. That's phenomenal. The Lord's taking hold of us is something that He pursued, not just accidentally. but intently.

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of that grabbing the first prize yet, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead. See the stance of the charioteer? Reaching forward. I press on toward the goal, now something to take a look at in this word goal, for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

These posts, which are goal posts, different idea from our football idea, these posts were called skopos. Why? Like our word scope, the idea is that you keep looking at them, keep looking at them, keep looking at them. You would continue to look at this goal line post, keep your eyes riveted on that post, that's where you're headed. You would reach forward and lean into that place towards which you're headed, and you'd keep your eyes fixed on that finish line post.

The runner or chariot racer would look, scopane related to this word skapos, fixing his eye on it, like in Hebrews 12.2.

Hebrews 12.2, therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes, same idea, fixing our eyes on Jesus.

He's the finish line. A finish line is not a time, but a person. See that? The finish line is not a time, not a place on planet earth, but a person. It's Jesus Christ. the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him, and this is amazing, same idea as in Philippians 2, He looked upon us as when given, alright, you're going to have to pay the price for these people's sins. Are you going to do it? He says yes.

For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. Jesus took us as a prize, laid hold of us, for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. So we can either anxiously look about us, or we can fix our eyes on Jesus. We've got one of those to pick.

Hebrew 410, excuse me, Isaiah 4110, is a Hebrew poetry pattern. And it looks like this when we try to lay it out so that the pattern becomes evident. The do not's in the first part, doubled up there, do not fear and do not anxiously look. And the I am right after in each of those. And then the latter part of that, I will, I will, I will, the Lord's statements of I will. And then it repeated surely, surely after the first couple of them. Now, of course, we've got to make note of that.

The moose is free. Here's the first part of this Hebrew poetry pattern. I can tell Courtney's looking with disgust. The first part says, Do not fear, for I am with you. God is present. Don't fear why? God is present. That's why. You ever get in an anxious situation? What's the comfort? God's present.

Sometimes you'll hear people talk about, they'll use a phrase, I'll pray to the man upstairs. Well, first of all, that's not just a man, but it's also not just upstairs. The Lord is with us in the midst of these things, the things that cause us to fear. The Lord is right there. Right there. He gives us that assurance. I am with you.

There is in Hebrews also an assurance that the Lord gives there. It is the maximum that you can do in the Greek language to emphasize. I will not, I will not, I will not leave you or forsake you. Do you think He's going to leave you or forsake you? Uh-uh. The Lord is with you. Do not anxiously look about you. I am your God. God is not only present, but He's personal. I am your God. Here is the God of the universe.

He's got, so far as we can tell, up to 500 billion known galaxies to keep track of, and a whole bunch of fish in the ocean and in the lakes. You've got birds flying around. You've got all sorts of things to keep track of. Imagine trying to count the molecules.

With all that to keep track of, He says, I'm your God, personal, not only present, with each of us here that's a believer here this morning, but personal. So what's God's answer to this fear and anxiety problem? It starts off with who He is. It's who He is. He's infinite. He's eternal. He's a God who doesn't say oops. He has a continual presence. and he has an irreversible personal connection to us. He doesn't back off. Do you need certainty? How about that? I will. And then, surely, I will strengthen you. Surely, I will help you. Surely, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. It's God's promises. Now notice, it's whose promises?

God's promises and His determination that makes the difference. It's not our promises, it's His. From this one into the new one to come makes all the difference in the world. It's His promises and His certainty that God who is not stuck in time, that God who is not subject to time, that God who is not subject to all the uncertainties of this world, but created it and is sovereign over it. That one, that God, is the one that we can depend upon.

Surely, I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand, he says. Notice the words that jump out here in this next slide. Have no fear for I am with you, I am, he says twice. What will he do? He will strengthen, he will help, he will uphold. And then how? With his righteous right hand.

God presents who he is as the answer. Got anything fearful going on in your life? Are you afraid of the next thing you're going to be afraid of? It's who he is that's the answer. It's who he is that's the answer. It's also what he does that's the answer. Notice that he didn't say, If you guys will just believe in me, I will make it so that nothing bad is ever going to happen in your life. But what he did say is it's who I am in the midst of those things that you're afraid of. That's what will make the difference. It's who I am and it's what I will do. It's that I am always present. It's that I am always personal. I am your God. I will strengthen and uphold you and help you. I will be there, and I will not only be, but do.

His righteous right hand declares God's character. He's infinitely righteous, and His right hand, which is a Jewish figure of speech, I'm lefty by the way, is the hand of great power. The righteous right hand is the hand of great power. Here's what the Lord says to the disciples. Here's the disciples, and I know something's getting shaken up pretty quick, pretty badly, pretty fast.

Do not let your heart be troubled. Now, does that help you? If you were to just say to somebody, don't let your heart be troubled, does that help? No. It doesn't stop there. Believe in God, believe also in me. It is belief, it is trust, it is confidence. In English, we have these nuances to have faith or to believe or to trust. In Greek, they're all the same words. Jesus used that one singular word that the translators chose to bring over as belief, but all of those senses come across. Our trust and confidence is in Him.

That's the answer to do not let your heart be troubled. It isn't just a matter of you saying to yourself, don't let your heart be troubled. but it's believing in Him. That's the answer. It is He who is the answer, not just telling ourselves, don't be afraid.

Paul wrote, and he wrote this from a jail in Philippi, excuse me, he wrote this from a jail to the believers of Philippi, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Get that?

Incomprehensible peace. Peace that people will be baffled by. Peace that people just won't understand. I'll say, where does he get that peace? Why isn't she wringing her hands, pacing the floor? peace that is unbelievable, but it's because the believer believed. That kind of peace.

Be anxious for nothing, not just because you're supposed to be anxious for nothing, but be anxious for nothing because of the character of the God on whom you depend. Be anxious for nothing because of what God will do in you and through you in the midst of that circumstance. So here's Hebrews 12, 1 and 2 with the urging, fixing our eyes on Jesus, putting our focus upon Him, not looking about us for the answer. Are there circumstances good around me?

Oh, then I'll be peaceful. If not, then I'll be anxious. No, fixing our eyes on Jesus. Will trials come? Yep, count on it. Can we look to the Lord? Yep, count on Him. Will I always be there? Yep, count on Him. Will he be personal for us? Yes. Count on it. Will he do what he says in the midst of whatever the trial is? Yes, he will. Count on it.

A relationship with Christ is not like a pill or a tool. Hopefully you don't have to take this pill, especially since there isn't any water in the glass. The tool also is a little bit obscure. I'm not quite sure what it does. But the point is this, I'm not saying you shouldn't use pills or tools, the point is this, the Lord is not just somebody we call upon at some time when we're anxious.

Should we call upon Him when we're anxious? Yes. But the Lord is not someone to be set on the shelf until we run into trouble. The Lord has put things in place for a far bigger relationship than that. It's possible we might just look at the Lord as, He is a resource I call upon when I need Him. Is God just a useful option or accessory there in case of emergency? In case of emergency, break glass.

Since He is the first and the last, and the A to the Z, Colossians 3 verse 4, He is our life. He's the definition of it all. We're not just to call upon Him when we have a problem. as if our lives were our own and we just call upon Him when we need that resource, that extra help. We need Him in a far, far larger way. He is the A to Z. He is the definition of all that our life is. He is our history and our future. Why not our present? Why not even right now? He is A to Z. He is the beginning and the end, the first and the last. He is the definition of everything that we are, were and will be.

Let's pray. Lord, as we look upon your word and the depth of it, how marvelous, how wonderful, what a tremendous thing you've laid out. We give you thanks for that. And thank you, Lord, that While you are the God of the universe, creating galaxies, we're still trying to get a grasp for count. At the same time, you love each one of us personally and you are with us. You indwell us. We're seated with you personally. Thank you Lord for that awesome intimacy. Thank you Lord for your marvelous grace, that infinite grace given for us. In Jesus' name, Amen.