of all of our experiences on earth. None transform us like that of being met by God in the midst of our pain, in the midst of our fear. in the midst of our need. Such was the case for 19th century missionary John G. Payton. Peyton was a Scottish Christian missionary for 49 years to the former cannibals in the South Sea Islands. His life was filled with many trials. His missionary service led him to see his first wife and their child die soon after arrival on the island.
He faced daily threats to his life. And among such one moment, he recorded this testimony of how his God met with him in the middle of his fear. This is what he writes. came to me in the middle of the night, warning me of an angry mob of tribesmen on their way to kill me. His advice was to climb up a large chestnut tree, so I did. I was left alone there in the bush.
I heard the frequent discharging of muskets and yells of the savages. Yet I sat there among the branches as safe as in the arms of Jesus. Did my Lord draw nearer to me and speak more soothingly in my soul than when the moonlight flickered among those chestnut leaves and the night air played on my throbbing brow? As I told all my heart to do. I was alone, yet not alone.
If it be to glorify my God, I will not grudge to spend many nights alone in such a tree. To fill again my Savior's spiritual presence, to enjoy his consoling fellowship. Peyton recorded this in his journal, and then in his journal, as he's writing, it's as if he turns to those who will be reading his journal one day. And he presents a question to the reader that I would like to pose to you. The question was this. If thus thrown back upon your own soul alone, alone in the midnight, in the bush,
alone in the very embrace of death itself. Have you a friend that will not fail you then? Friends, what situation are you facing with seemingly insurmountable odds? And do you see how the Lord is graciously asking you to trust Him? Our pains and our fears and our needs and our problems, they're meant to lead us closer to God. Is that what yours are doing?
Our passage this morning will both invite us to that type of opportunity to trust God, will also warn us against the deadly mistake of not trusting God. And so before we jump into the word, join with me. Our holy God, Father, Son, and Spirit, would you, over these next few moments, strip our confidence and our trust in everything else but you? Convince us that even if the days are difficult, you are good.
And would you use the difficult days to draw us nearer to you in all your goodness. Use this sermon in far greater ways than I could. for your glory and for our good. I would invite you to open your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 7. Isaiah chapter 7. We'll walk through Isaiah 7. We'll go into the first 10 chapters of Isaiah chapter 8. And I believe we can follow the narrative through three headings. Three headings would be a promise. A sign and a warning. A promise, a sign, and a warning.
I think one of the biggest burdens I feel for this sermon is that if we do not rightly understand the context, that's unfolding in Isaiah chapter 7 and the first 10 verses of chapter 8, then I believe the passage is going to seem a bit disconnected. Perhaps as you heard Diane read the first 16 verses, you felt the same way. This is how Isaiah chapter 7 begins. Now it came about in the days of Ahab.
the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that reason the king of Aram, And Pekah, the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it but could not conquer it. This first verse actually reminds us of the glorious calling that Isaiah received in chapter 6. Scholars and historians would say that's around 740 BC. The events happening in Isaiah chapter 7 are about five to eight years later.
And the emergency, the dire situation of the context in which Isaiah was speaking into begins to burst more and more on the scene. You'll remember God's people. They had had a civil war in which they had split into two. The ten tribes in the north were called Israel. Another word throughout. The Old Testament to describe that northern tribe is Ephraim. It was the largest tribe of Israel.
And so when we see Isaiah speak to Ephraim, that's who he's speaking of, this northern tribe of Israel. The capital city of this northern tribe was Samaria. And the second tribe was the tribe in the south, consisted of only two, called Judah. For purposes of our passage this morning, it's also referred to as the lineage of David's dynasty. The capital city of Judah was Jerusalem. And so there was this dominant world power, Assyria, not to be confused with Syria.
Assyria is the dominant world power. And the dominant world power Assyria is beginning to push west and further south into the land of Palestine. The kings right above Judah would be Israel and right above Israel would be Syria. And so the kings north of Judah, the kings of Syria and the kings of Israel began to see Assyria gaining steam. Assyria likened many scholars would liken them to the Nazis.
They were brutal. They were oppressive. And so if you were a king of a small nation in the line of sight for this super world power, you would do everything you can. Well, that's what Syria and Israel did. They joined alliances in order to prevent and stave off the destruction of Assyria. The text tells us that the king of Syria, his name is Rezan. He was the king of Aram. Another word describing the region of Syria.
And so you have the king of Syria and the king of Israel, Pekah, who was the son of Remaliah. And so they form a tribe. And then they look down and they say, ah, what's better than two countries to prevent a superpower from overtaking us is having three. And so they look down to Judah. And they say, Judah, you are going to join us. And the king of Judah, King Ahaz, says, not going to do it. As you can imagine, that does not sit well with the kings of Israel and the king of Syria.
And their plan all along was to put a new king in place, to take Ahaz out of the picture and put a new king in place that would do their bidding. And so, hopefully, providing a level of clarity as to the situation, just put yourself in the shoes of King A. You have the threat of Assyria. A brutal, oppressive people that's just wiping out smaller nations. And he's headed toward... You also have the threat of this closer alliance.
These two countries, Syria and Israel, these two nations, Syria and Israel, are making war against you. I would just encourage you, maybe sometime today, read 2 Chronicles 28. 2 Chronicles 28 is going to give you the context of just how deliberate and how devastating this war from Syria and Israel was. Some 120,000 soldiers were killed. Some 200,000 men and women and boys and girls were carried off. It was devastating. And yet at the end of verse 1, what do we read?
These two kings, they could not conquer. Why? How? Well, that's why we began with number one, a promise. A promise. This promise is captured in the first nine verses of Isaiah chapter 7. What we find is that whenever it was reported, verse 2, to King Ahaz and to the people of Judah, that these Syrians had come down and they had camped. With the people of Israel, the king's heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind. A deep-seated...
Fear gripped their hearts. It's been so helpful this week for me to understand what's happening and trying to just put myself in the shoes of the people. To put myself in the shoes of King Ahab. I wonder if you are familiar with the kind of fear that's like a pit in your stomach that just overcomes you. I'll never forget the feeling when I heard the words, your baby isn't breathing.
By God's grace, she did soon after. But that moment of fear shook something within me that caused me to visibly shake long after. The moment that I was scared went away. And it's while fear is gripping this king and the people that the Lord says to Isaiah, now Isaiah, verse 3, you go and take your son. which means a remnant shall return. Don't lose the significance of the meaning as Isaiah goes to talk with King Ahaz. And so Isaiah goes with his son, Shirjashub, and they find Ahab.
inspecting the waterways of the land. And then if you read verse 4, what the Lord calls Isaiah to share with a... As I read this, just think about the character of God and the concern of God towards his people. This is what you were to say to them, Isaiah. Take care and be calm. Have no fear and do not be faint-hearted because of these two stubs of smoldering fire. account of the fierce anger of reason and Aram and the son of Rimelech.
And then it's evident that the Lord knows everything that's going to happen. Verse 5, because Aram with Ephraim and the son of Ramaliah has planned evil against you. saying, let us go up against Judah and terrorize it and make for ourselves a breach in its walls. and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it. And thus says the Lord God, it shall not stand, nor shall it come to pass.
The Lord not only graciously moves towards the fearful and the forgetful, but he goes above and beyond, not just with the word that they would hear, but even in taking Isaiah's son, whose name... is a reminder that there will be a remnant. The people will not be wiped out. God is going to be faithful. And it's as Ahaz is inspecting the water supply that the Lord speaks, take care and be calm. God says, Ahaz, trust me.
Friends, whatever it is that's proving to be distressing and difficult, painful and perplexing, hear the Lord say to you, trust me. And it's not that God says there's no threat. He acknowledges the threat. Yet God wants Ahaz to see that what seems to be a raging fire to him is actually just a smoldering stub from God's perspective. And it's in light of that human threat that God gives a divine promise. Thus says the Lord God, it shall not stand, nor shall it come.
And then he gives this poem of sorts in verses 8 and 9. He begins with the capitals and then he goes to the kings. And the point is that these capitals and these kings will dissolve. And that's what awaits Judah if he will trust God. The Lord says that within 65 years, the northern kingdom of Israel will not even be a people. Just to be clear, the Lord kept his word. Because within three years, Syria was crushed. And ten years after that, Israel fell.
Verse 9 comes into clear focus for the original audience as well as for us this morning. If you will not believe, you surely will not last. God is offering Ahaz the opportunity of a lifetime to experience what it means to be saved by God. Either Ahaz will live by faith or he will not live at all. The Lord says, if you want my support, then you must lean on me by faith. you just begin to understand the hope for ahaz is not found
In the specifics of his circumstances. It's found in the faithfulness of his God. Ray Ortlund reminds us that God is attracted to weakness. He's attracted to need. He's attracted to honesty. And so the central unavoidable question that Isaiah chapter 7 puts before us, and it's the central unavoidable question of your life this morning, it's will you have faith in God? When we depart from faith in God, life unravels. God is graciously inviting through this promise. Ahaz, lean on me and you will.
You treat me as irrelevant and you will soon become irrelevant. And that's what crisis moments, that's how they are a servant in the hands of God. Because they reveal to us what's lying inside. What's with us. Friends, when it counts most for you, trust fully in Him. And really, as we await Ahaz's response, we're left to our own answer to the question. of will we, will you, trust in God? Even if you will never know the specifics of what it's like to have countries barreling down towards you.
You may never know that circumstance, but we're all familiar with our own. When sickness takes up residence in your life, When death makes a surprise visit to a loved one. When the career path is derailed, when the pregnancy test reads negative, when the job offer is retracted, when the school application is rejected, will you trust God? When the friendship fails. When you are betrayed. When the marriage is limping along.
When the spouse never comes and the bank account is diminishing, when the relocation is required, will you trust God? This is what this passage is really confronting us with this morning. Regardless of your circumstances, can God be trusted? To be clear, God's promise doesn't offer to keep us from. His promise sustains us through. One pastor reminded me of just the embarrassment of riches and the abundant grace that I have seen over the last 15 years.
of a church family who has fought to trust in God during different times. that has helped encourage me to trust in God. As I have looked over and seen you sing with tear-filled eyes. rehearsing truths to yourself that I know in the moment were hard to believe. What a gift we have when we walk together with one another to help one another more faithfully trust. Regardless of the hardship that. If you're not a Christian, I'm thankful that you're here.
I would ask you again the question that John Payton asked in his journal. Who is your friend that will never fail you in your time of greatest need? I just want to be clear as we talk about trusting in God. If you're not a Christian, your issue is not a lack of faith. You have faith in God. It's rather the wrong object. I was reminded as I saw a clip that was being passed around on social media this week of D.A. Carson and a sermon that he preached.
of the truth that your faith is only as good as the object of it. Maybe you saw the clip, and if you did, then just indulge me. But if you didn't, let me share it with you. D.A. Carson tells the story. Picture two Jews by the name of Smith and Brown, remarkably Jewish names. The day before the first Passover, they're having a little discussion in the land of Goshen. And Smith says to Brown, boy, are you a little nervous about what's going to happen tonight?
Brown says, well, God told us what to do through his servant Moses. You don't have to be nervous. Haven't you slaughtered the lamb? And dobbed the two doorposts with blood and put blood on the lintel? Haven't you done that? You're all ready and packed to go. You're going to eat the whole Passover meal with your family. Oh, oh, of course I've done that. I'm not stupid. But it's still pretty scary. When you think of all the things that have happened around here recently.
You know, flies and river turning to blood. It's pretty awful. And now there's a threat of the firstborn being killed. And that's all right with you. You've got three sons, but I only have one. And I love my Charlie. The angel of, that's what he said. And the angel of death is passing through tonight. I know what God says. I put the blood there, but it's pretty scary. I'll be glad when the night's over. And the other one responds. Bring it on. I trust in the promise.
That night, the angel of death swept through the land. Which one lost his son? The answer, of course, is neither. Because death doesn't pass over them on the ground of the intensity or the clarity of the faith exercised, but on the ground of the blood of the Lamb. That's what silences the accuser.
The blood silences the accuser of the brothers as he accuses us before God. He silences our consciences when he accuses us directly. How many times do we writhe in agony asking if God can ever love us enough? If God can ever care for us enough after what we have done, such stupid, sinful, and rebellious things.
What are you going to say? Oh, God, I tried hard. You know, I did my best. It was a bad moment. No, no, no, Carson says. I have no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died. We overcome him by the blood of the Lamb. And there is the ground of all human assurance before God. There is the ground of our faith. Not the measure of the faith, but the object of the faith.
Friends, what matters most is not the size of your faith, but the strength of its object. And so again, if you're not a Christian this morning, I would just ask, what is the object of your faith? The sole object of the Christian faith, of every Christian's faith, is Jesus Christ. It's rooted in a historical reality of his sinless life. of his death on a cross as a substitute for sinners who would turn from their sin and trust in that work for them.
And on the historical reality of the resurrection from the dead. And friends, if Jesus Christ rose from the dead, then there's nothing that can separate us from the love of God that's in him. And so the question for you this morning is, will you trust in God specifically? in the person and the work of Jesus, the Christ. Friends, that's the invitation. If you are not following God, that's the invitation for you. Turn from your sin and trust.
I invite you to come to Jesus. And I invite you to rest fully. He is the worthy object of your faith. And his promises everywhere. leads us to the second movement, a sign. A sign. We see this in verses 10 through 17 that you heard Diane read. A sign. So we're waiting. How is Ahaz going to respond? Well, listen to what the Lord says in verse 10. Then the Lord spoke to Ahaz saying, ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God. Make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.
How gracious is God? Ahaz is gripped by fear. He's wavering. What is he going to do? Not sure. If he's going to even trust in God, and yet God doesn't say, Ahaz, you're such a loser. No. He gently. He lovingly. stoops to Ahaz's weakness. It captures the patience and the kindness and the tenderness of our God. Knowing his fear and knowing his lack of faith, the Lord says through Isaiah, here's a blank check. You ask for any sign that will...
And I'm so committed to my promise to my people that I will. So many times I have thought, if only God would just let me name a sign, then I would believe. Verse 12, I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord. He takes the check and he rips it. And he does it with a hypocrisy that is quite shocking. Again, I would just encourage you to read. through 2 Chronicles chapter 28. 2 Chronicles 28 is going to remind us that Ahaz is not a pious king, even though he quotes Deuteronomy 6, 16 here.
What he's doing is not expressing simple childlike faith in God. He is rebelling against God. He's using the word of God to avoid the reality of God. Because he knows that if he lets God in, then God will get control. And that's just too risky to give that. Just listen to who Ahaz was. 2 Chronicles 28. Verse 2, he walked in the ways of the king of Israel. He also made molten images for the Baals. Moreover, he burned incense. He burned even his sons in the fire.
Look at the end of 2 Chronicles 28. Verse 22 through 25. Yet in the time of distress, King Ahaz became yet even more unfaithful to the Lord. He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had defeated him. He then gathered, verse 24, all the utensils in the house of God. And he began to set up altars in every corner of Jerusalem, burning incense to other gods, provoking the Lord his name. Don't read Ahaz's response as some holy, righteous way to do well.
No, Ahaz thinks he knows better than God. And in this pivotal moment, he seals his fate and the fate of Judah. Friends, I just want you to know this morning, if you do not trust in the promises, I'm not asking if you trust in some of them. If you do not trust in all of the promises of God, your unbelief is the declaration that you think you know better. If you do not trust in all the promises of God, your unbelief is a declaration that you think you are more trustworthy than God.
That's not just a mistake, friends. That's a sin of treason. Of questioning and not trusting in the one true living God. It is deserving of an eternal punishment. And yet in stunning grace, God says, if you won't ask for the sign, I will give you one. I mean, at some point you're watching this God who stoops and he draws near and he's so tender with unbelief, knowing that there is a fierce judgment that is coming, he withholds it.
Friends, if you are a Christian, this is your story. You know above all else just the perplexity of why in the world would God love like this? And so as Ahaz refuses, the Lord sharply replies through Isaiah. The pronouns shift. Verse 11, ask a sign from the Lord your God. to verse 13. Are you really going to try the patience of my God? The opportunity had passed. This sign will be for a whole nation, not just for Ahaz. And the sign couldn't be.
A virgin will be with child and will bear a son, and she will call his name Emmanuel. He will eat curds and honey at the time. He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. And before that time, before he's able to know evil and choose good, the land of the kings of Syria and Israel, the land of those two kings that you're so afraid. They're going to be done. They're going to be destroyed. Sorry, I didn't...
So there's a debate surrounding this sign. The question of, is this sign only a near-term fulfillment? Is it a long-term fulfillment? Or is it both? I believe clearly the Bible speaks to say it most definitely is a long-term. So whatever your options are, you can't exclude that one. So really, we're two options. Is it a long-term fulfillment? And is there a near-term fulfillment? Well, I believe like many Old Testament prophecies, there is a pattern of a shadow and a fulfillment.
I think that's what's happening here. The shadow seems to be speaking of a child in Isaiah's own death. That's what we read in verse 15 and 16. That there's going to be one who's going to grow up and before he can reach a certain age, the enemy. that Ahaz is so concerned about, the enemies are going to be done. Their land is going to be taken away.
And so, seems to be, if you look down in chapter 8, verse 3, so I approached the prophetess, that would be his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. So there seems to be this near-term fulfillment. Well, that sounds good, but that then brings a lot of question about this word, virgin. If there's a near-term fulfillment, was there someone else who was born of a virgin? Life? The long-term, ultimate fulfillment was in Matthew 1, speaking of Jesus.
Well, the word for virgin all throughout the Old Testament is a word that's used. It's the word Alma. It's used to speak both of the sexual purity of a lady as well as the status of being unmarried and young. And so most scholars will say that the word that's used here is fluid enough to have both a near-term fulfillment, And to fit the ultimate long-term fulfillment. When you get to Matthew chapter 1, and you're reading how Matthew reads the book of Isaiah.
You begin to see, ah, Matthew understands, inspired by the Holy Spirit, that the ultimate fulfillment of what was prophesied here in Isaiah chapter 7 was the coming of Christ. The word that's used there in Matthew's gospel is not the word that can also mean young and unmarried. It's the word that exclusively means of sexual. The promise and the sign of the promise that was given in Isaiah chapter 7 to have both a near fulfillment in Isaiah's own son, but also an ultimate fulfillment.
Matthew chapter 1. Behold, the virgin shall be with child and child. shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which translated means God with us. Matthew 1, 21. She, this virgin, will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sin.
Friends, that's the good news of this sign. It's not just good news for a sign of... of Ahaz and Isaiah and the people of God then, it's also a good news for us because not of the just near short-term fulfillment of this promise, but the ultimate, the grand. The glorious fulfillment that's seen in Jesus. Friends, Jesus wasn't merely interested to share our nature with himself. He took our flesh upon himself.
He wasn't just made man in the womb of Mary. He was also made sin on the cross of Calvary. He left heaven. He came to earth. He lived. He died. He rose to save us. That's the good news. That's the ultimate fulfillment. So if you're here today and you are kind of bogged down, you feel that you're chained in unbelief, the good news for you is that you can believe. Because there is one who has come to do for you what you could never do for you.
Friends, we have far more serious enemies than Syria and Israel. We face the much more dangerous coalition of sin. And we cannot fix that problem and defeat those powers. Which is why... Which is why there was a promise in Isaiah 7, looking forward to... In whom we could trust fully. And rest securely. Because his work was sufficient. This is radically different from any other religious message. You want to know how to become a Christian? Don't reject God's promise and his sign the way Ahaz did.
Don't miss the significance of the sign. The sign that God would be true to his promise was in this coming child. So too for you, if you want to know, is God true to his word? Look to the child, look to Christ. You want to know, does God love me? Look to Christ. You want to know, does God hear me? Look to Christ. You want to know, does God care? Look to Christ. You want to know if God is good?
Look to Christ. You want to know if God can save you? Look to Christ. Do you want to know, is God with me? Look to Christ, whose name is Emmanuel. In contrast to these armies and kings that are barreling down on him, Ahaz is told, look to the baby. Don't rely on your baby. Friends, look unto Jesus. So as to not trust. Brings us to the last movement. A warning. A warning. It's really the rest of our passage. This is what we read.
that Ephraim separated from Judah, the king of Assyria. In that day, the Lord will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest parts of the rivers of Egypt, for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. They will all come and settle.
on the steep ravines, on the ledges of the cliffs, on all the thorn bushes, and on all the watering places. In that day, the Lord will shave with a razor, hired from regions beyond the Euphrates, That is, with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the legs, and it will also remove the beard.
Now in that day a man may keep alive a heifer and a pair of sheep, and because of the abundance of the milk produced, he will eat curds. For everyone that is left within the land will eat curds and honey. And it will come about in that day that every place where there used to be a thousand vines valued at a thousand shekels of silver will become briars and thorns. People will come there with bows and arrows because all the land will be briars and thorns.
All the hills which used to be cultivated with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns, for they will become a place for pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample. I hope you see what's happening. We're given a picture of what happens when you do not trust in God and you put your trust in others. The Lord continues. Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it in the ordinary letters.
Swift is the booty. Speedy is its prey. This idea of speeding to the plunder, hurrying to the spoil. And I will take to myself faithful witnesses for testimony. Uriah the priest and Zechariah. the son of Jebrekiah. So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to me a son. And the Lord said to me, Name him. For before the boy knows how to cry out, my father or my mother, the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.
Again, the Lord spoke to me further, saying, Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloh, and rejoice in reason. the son of Remaliah. Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates, even the king of Assyria, in all his glory. And it will rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks. Then it will sweep.
on into Judah, and it will overflow and pass through. It will reach even to the neck, and the spread of the wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Emmanuel. Be broken, O peoples, and be shattered. and give ear all remote places of the earth. Gird yourselves, yet be shattered. Gird yourselves, yet be shattered. Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted. State a proposal. But it will not stand. Why? For God is with us. The terror of trusting in man ends in death.
Again, I would just encourage you. You can read 2 Kings 16. How Ahaz, fearful for his life, runs not to the two-nation coalition, but he runs to the superpower, Assyria. And he says, I'm trusting. If we enter into an alliance with anyone other than God, we should expect to be... So God says, if you want Assyria, then you will get Assyria. But you will get Assyria in a way that you did not.
He uses the image of a razor. The Assyrian king is like a razor that would now, the Lord would allow his people and the king to just be shaved with it. They would be embarrassed by it. their alliance and then we're told that they would be eating curds and And honey. And we shouldn't be thinking, oh man, yeah, this is what the Lord promised. The land flowing with milk and honey. No, this is a sign of devastation in the land. They would survive on whatever little that they had.
A little bit that the animals could produce. The people will eat the food of nomads. They will be a people without a home. The land that's been so cared for, that's been so rich. and productive will now be overrun with briars and thorns. Decreation is what is happening. When you align yourself with others and rebel and reject God, you're going against His good design.
And since the people rejected the Lord's care and refused the water source near Judah, Assyria then would flood the land. It would take them up to their nest. Poor Judah is going to have to stand on her tiptoes just to keep her head above the judgment waters. The people will survive. But there will be devastation and they will barely survive.
Assyria will fade from history, and yet Judah will remain in the land. God will be with them through it all. Ray Ortlund said this whole scene is like a mouse, Judah, being attacked by two rats. Syria, and Israel squeaking for the cat to come save it. If God is for them, then who can be a king? And the whole passage ends with this word of hope. The last word, literally the last word in verse 10 is Emmanuel.
After promising judgment, God reassures us of his presence and points us forward to the coming of King Jesus. And so what does that say? What does all of this say to you wherever you find yourself this morning? Are you really that different than Ahaz? Do you feel weak and discouraged? Are you facing circumstances with seemingly insurmountable odds? What is it that your heart is shaking at? Matthew's gospel begins with the stunning announcement. That God will be with us, Emmanuel.
And Matthew's gospel ends with the stunning reality, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. That can only happen in and through the person and the work of Jesus Christ. Friends, in whom are you trusting? Listen, every single promise. Every single one is a yes in Christ. Not a maybe, not a hopefully. It is a yes. The promises of God do not fail. Not one word has ever fallen to the ground and returned void. He speaks and galaxies spin into existence.
He promises and the Red Sea parts. Walls fall. Lions go quiet. Graves lose their grip. And in Jesus, the great and final yes of God, every ancient hope, every whisper of redemption erupts. in glorious fulfillment. Jesus says, I will never leave you nor forsake you, and he never has. He says all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. And He's working even in the dark threads for your glory-soaked good.
He says, I will give you a new heart and I will put a new spirit within you. And he does that by raising dead hearts to life. He says, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. And he will because he's not a halfway guy. Friends, these promises, they're not cliches. They're not cross-stitched sentiments. They are the bedrock of eternity. They are blood-bought, spirit-sealed, indestructibly searched.
they come to pass for the display of his glory. And that is never at odds with what is good for you. Friends, will you trust him? That is the most pressing question today. And as we turn our attention to this table, we're reminded. that God did not stay far off.