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Amen. Right, Isaiah 40 now, and it's another gear change in the book of Isaiah. In case you're wondering, I think probably most of you, if you listen to that chapter, you know, yeah, we've changed a bit again. We just saw the historical record, which is basically what it was of chapters 36 to 39. We read Isaiah's account for the Assyrian invasion. It was followed by Hezekiah's sickness and recovery. And then last week it was Hezekiah giving those ambassadors of Babylon the grand tour, seemingly showing off a little too, it looked like, right? He got rebuked by the Lord through Isaiah. However, when comparing with the 2 Chronicles 32 account, just to remind you, 2 Chronicles 32, 26 said, Notwithstanding, Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah. So the result was that he was told it would happen to his sons to come, but that was a result of him humbling himself. So with that in mind, his seemingly strange response being more about himself and Jerusalem getting right with God rather than being spared himself. The main message of the short chapter, you know, kind of that kind of for me was the ice on the cake with it. The message being Hezekiah's positive response to rebuke from the Lord. It was a positive response and he's just been a great example throughout this Hezekiah. He said, well Isaiah said this in verse 6, And then Isaiah 40 starts with verse 1, which is, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. I'd like to pray. Father, thank you for the book of Isaiah, thank you for this chapter now. This chapter with some real great truths in there, Lord, some great verses here. Help me to preach them clearly, accurately, boldly, help everyone to just have a tent of ears, Lord. To listen to what your word's saying and to dwell on what your word's saying, Lord, not really, you know, not so much what I'm saying. What your word's saying and want to apply it to their lives. Want to, you know, just improve and make changes and just let your word, you know, make differences in their lives, Lord. And not be stubborn to the word of God, just improve this. Amen. So he said in Isaiah 40, comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. So like I said, a gear changer and we've had a lot of prophecy relating at least to, you know, initial fulfilment to the coming of the Assyrians. We've been looking at that for, well, most of the, most of Isaiah, a lot of Isaiah at least. And we're long past that now. This is post sickness. So post, obviously this besieging by the Assyrians, post sickness, post recovery, post the incident with the Babylonian messengers, the rebuke from the Lord after that. And the prophecy now seems to start focusing on the return from that aforementioned chastisement of the Babylonians, like we just saw when I just reminded you of the end of the chapter before. We're going to send jumping forward in prophecy to the results of that carrying away into Babylon, which is why many seem to claim that this, if you've ever heard this before, the second part of Isaiah at least was written by someone else, some try and claim it was his disciples in the future during captivity. Basically anyone but Isaiah. It's like, can we just kind of give it to anyone but Isaiah? But I believe that a lot of that is, part of that is going to, is to explain the remarkable prophetic nature of these following chapters. So even name Cyrus by name. Okay, so there's just remarkable prophecy in here for what it is, which is the truth, which is it was written by Isaiah, right? But also for the Jews as well and others to question the validity of passages that are clear prophecies of the Lord Jesus Christ as well. So they just as usual want to just find any which way out of kind of it being written by Isaiah, in Isaiah's lifetime obviously, which was long before some of the stuff that he's going to talk about in a bit more detail over the next, what, 26 chapters, 27 chapters. So the truth is that its authorship was never, it seemed, really questioned until some Lutheran named Johann Benjamin Copp in the late 18th century. That seems to be when this started. It wasn't questioned before that. Many verses from these chapters were referred to, by the way, by the Lord and New Testament writers as well, as we're going to see shortly. So yes, Isaiah wrote it with no change since chapter one's claim in Isaiah 1-1, which is the vision of Isaiah, the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. So for me, nothing's been corrected. This must have been written in the latter years of Hezekiah's reign. However, he's prophesying of a future time, okay? And which really follows on nicely, if you think about it, from the end of the last chapter. Chapter 39 said in verse 6, I'll remind you again, it said, Behold, the days come that all that is in thine house and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, saith the Lord, and of thy sons that shall issue from thee which thou shalt beget shall they take away, and there shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, for there shall be peace and truth in my days. Then it goes into, Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished and her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received with the Lord's hand double for all her sins. So like I said, this is now to the people in captivity being told to be comforted, and obviously written now, but something that they'll be able to look at in time to come. And perhaps, you know, the double for her sins pointing toward that second empire coming into Judah, this time defeating Jerusalem too. And you're going, well, what do you mean double? Because didn't they win against the Assyrians? It's easy to skim over the fact that Sennacherib, like I mentioned a few times, came up against all the fenced cities of Judah and took them. I mean, this is a big deal. It was only those that were, that stayed in Jerusalem which were saved, basically. So that was a massive chastisement of the whole land. And then, you know, within not much time later, then we've got the Babylonians coming, and this time carry them away from Jerusalem and destroy Jerusalem and burn it and everything else. So here, having finished chapter 39 with a prophecy of what was to happen, at the hand of the Babylonians there's this message of comfort. And perhaps during the captivity, during those 70 years in Babylon, his people would have sought comfort from the relaying of this part onwards from Isaiah, with their return from captivity being a big theme of what we're going to see over, you know, following chapters. However, as always, okay, with Isaiah there are prophecies with future fulfilment too, aren't there? So verse 3 said this. It then said on the back of that, it said, The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord have spoken it. So verse 3 especially is very familiar for anyone that's read the gospels, with all four, all four gospels stating that John the Baptist was fulfilling this prophecy. Okay, the prophecy from verse 3. However, there was an initial fulfilment of these verses through Isaiah, I believe, who was the one to preach comfort for those generations to come. So there is this, he's not just writing this only, always, you know, with these prophecies, there's often, sorry, dual or if not more fulfilment. Well, first I think it's going to apply to him, he's the one doing that. Verse 2 said to cry unto her with Isaiah, also I think probably crying in the wilderness, maybe that's the spiritual wilderness of captivity and a destroyed Jerusalem. In the future that is, for at least when this will apply to, for them to prepare the way of the Lord, to make straight in the desert a highway for God, yeah, which I believe was first fulfilled by those that rose up, as we see documented in the book of Ezra, to rebuild the temple and lay to the city, as we see in the book of Nehemiah. So the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God, I think would first apply to that, but then as we see it's then also going to apply to John the Baptist. He said every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill should be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough place is plain, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. With his glory I suppose revealed by that return from captivity, first sort of fulfilment, prophesied fulfilment, the hand of God upon it all. However, like I said, so this is ultimately fulfilled by John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus Christ. So turn to Luke chapter 3, Luke 3. I'm going to read John chapter 1 and verse 23, the Gospel of John chapter 123, where John the Baptist, your turn to Luke 3, but John 123, John the Baptist was asked who he was. He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. So John the Baptist clearly stated that he was fulfilling this verse from Isaiah, didn't he? He said, I am that one, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And Luke 3, it says this in verse 1, Luke 3 and verse 1. So that was John the Baptist himself saying, yeah. But Luke 3, we see obviously the writer Luke, the Holy Spirit obviously writing through Luke saying this from verse 1. Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, Caesar Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee and his brother Philip, tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Traconitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness, and he came into all the country about Jordan preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. So no, he wasn't preaching the baptism of repentance from sins, although some would love it to say that and just kind of see that when they read it, something happens to their eyes and the page I think. He was preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. The repentance was for the remission of sins. A change of mind, a turning to God from their dead works, their false ways. You don't have to turn to Acts 19, 4 says this, then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him which shall come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. That was a repentance, right? It was from unbelief to belief in the Christ. That's what he was preaching. That's what that repentance for the remission of sins was. The result of that repentance being the remission or the forgiveness or pardoning of sins. Says in verse 3, and he came into all the country about Jordan preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. So the baptism being a public declaration, an outward showing, but also the answer of a good conscience toward God, showing a willingness to serve the Lord, doesn't it? You know, like we say, it's hard to get people to come and get baptized, because ultimately people just don't want to come and serve God, do they? They don't want to do what God wants them to do. Yeah, they're happy to take the free gift. Well, the baptism is showing that willingness to be a disciple. Basically what he's doing is preparing disciples for the Lord, isn't he? That's what John the Baptist was doing. Obviously he's preaching the gospel, he's preparing people. And if you think about it, some of the time when the Lord Jesus Christ is preaching, like the Sermon on the Mount and other places, you know, there's like thousands of people, right, that he's preaching to. Well, here it said in verse 4, So John was preaching the gospel. Remember, I just quoted to you Acts 19, 4, said he was saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. He was preaching the gospel, yeah, and he was baptizing people. He was preparing them for service. It wasn't that no one was saved until the Lord started his ministry. I think some people maybe think that when they read the Bible, you know, it's just Jesus, Jesus Christ is, you know, preaching the gospel to people. I mean, people were saved before that. People were being saved, you know, you know, up until that point. It's always been a remnant, hasn't it? And John was preparing the way. He was actually preparing even some of the 12, by the way. Andrew for sure was one of his disciples. Likely Peter and probably the apostle John too, being fishermen together. It's not stated clearly, we know Andrew, it is stated clearly. Luke's account, by the way, continues to reference verses 4 to 5 of Isaiah 42, where it says in verse 5, though, here of Luke's account, the mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough way shall be made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. And if you think about it, John's preaching made it pretty clear for the hard of hearing, didn't it? Flick over to John chapter 1, John chapter 1. So John chapter 1 you're turning to. So we saw that it said, And he came into all the country about Jordan, preached a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. So he was preparing the way, he was showing the clear gospel, he's making his paths straight. He was stating the gospel, really if you think about it, clearer than most places in the Old Testament. I mean, it's pretty clear. Look at John chapter 1. It says in verse 6, John 1 to 6 says, There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might believe. Verse 15 says, John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake. He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. So he's saying who he is, God in the flesh. He then says in verse 16, Of his fullness of all we received, and grace for grace. It's that grace that we get, it's by grace through faith, we get through the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said in verse 17, For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. He then says in verse 29, it says, The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, this is John speaking, John the Baptist, Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Pretty clear, isn't it? Verse 33 says this, He said, And I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptise with water, this is John the Baptist speaking, The same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him the same as he which baptiseth with the Holy Ghost. So he explained about the Holy Ghost as well. Verse 34, And I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God. So John made his past pretty straight, didn't he? Preaching the truth, he's showing the truth, you know, before his ministry, and up to his ministry being about to start. So back in Isaiah, in chapter 40, chapter 40 where it says in verse 3, The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. And by the way, just one of many places where it's showing that Jesus Christ is God, God in the flesh, yeah, desert, a highway for our God. Verse 4, Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. So John's preaching the Gospel, it exalted those of low degree, it brought low those that were haughty and self-righteous. That's what the Gospel does, doesn't it? Suddenly there are people of low degree who are humble enough to get saved, going, yeah, I've been exalted to a child of God, right? And then there are those that just think they're so great, the self-righteous, haughty ones that, well, they end up getting made low by the Gospel, don't they? He exposed the false ways, he made it plain, which is what the Gospel ultimately is. The Gospel's just plain and simple, isn't it? The Gospel is just so simple. Yeah, like, we have a way of trying to break through, chip away at that hard exterior, those hardened hearts, by going through, you know, show them they're a sinner, show them the punishment for sin is hell. But the Gospel is as simple as John 3.16, isn't it? For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, He's the Son of God, that whosoever believeth in Him, puts their faith and trust in Him, should not perish, and won't go to hell, but have everlasting life. That's basically saying, yeah, you deserve to go to hell, but if you put your trust in Christ, you go to heaven. You have everlasting life, it's everlasting, that's once saved, always saved. It's kind of all encapsulated in a verse like that, isn't it? The Gospel is simple, but it just takes a while sometimes, a bit of knocking away a different verse of the Bible to actually get through to people, especially those that have been taught false ways for a long time. But He made it straight, He made the rough places plain. Verse 5 says, And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord have spoken it. And His glory sure was revealed, wasn't it? You don't have to turn back there, but John 1.18 says, No man have seen God at any time. The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. So this, like other prophecies, were sure to be fulfilled, okay? Not because it was Isaiah, though. It said in verse 5, And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord have spoken it. So it's not because it was Isaiah, not because he was anything special, it was because the mouth of the Lord have spoken it. And this is something to remember for all of us, okay? It doesn't matter whether it's me, whether it's one of the men here, another preacher, or it's in your own Bible reading, if the Lord have spoken it, if it's clear scripture, of course, different people might interpret different things differently, but when it's just clear scripture, if the Lord have spoken it, it's truth. It's truth. Verse 6 said, The voice said, Cry, and He said, What shall I cry? It's not talking about boohoo, this is shouting out, yeah? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the law bloweth upon it, surely the people is grass. So he's saying that people are like grass, which is temporary, that they may even be arrayed in beauty like flowers, but people wither and fade, often as a direct result of the Holy Spirit blowing upon them. In fact, it's said here, right? Because the spirit of the law bloweth upon it. So perhaps he means in the context of words, because that's what we're seeing here, that there are people out there saying some nice sounding stuff. I mean, there are people that say some stuff which sounds nice. It sounds nice on the ears, right? There are some pretty smooth preachers out there, aren't there? Smooth preachers of seemingly God's word, you think of some of these like mega preachers and stuff, and you know, they sound good. You know, it's enjoyable for many to listen to these people. They usually give very positive messages. But those people wither and fade, especially when the Holy Spirit exposes them through God's word. Hebrews 4, 12 and after 10, it says, For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharp than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the divided son of soul and spirit, that the joint Samaritan is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Think of the various false prophets and how ultimately they do wither and fade in the end, don't they? And the word of God will expose them in the end. The various gurus of the media. You know, there are lots of different gurus out there who teach you this, teach you that. Some claim to be religious, some claim to believe the Bible, some claim to even believe the word of God, but eventually the Holy Spirit blows upon them, I believe, the word of God ultimately, and they're eventually exposed. The grass withereth, he said in verse 8. The flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. So it's all about the word of God. Now turn over to 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 1, where Peter references this verse, because it's especially important when it comes to the Gospel. So our salvation rests upon the word preached. It has to be the word of God. We're not saved by someone else's words. We're not saved, obviously, by false versions of the word. Our salvation rests upon the word of God and not the messenger of the word. Because there are those out there that once, and this is something I've seen, okay, but once they deem that messenger to have fallen from grace, so does their faith. Suddenly they don't believe anymore. Suddenly they believe something else. Suddenly they've gone into some other type of so-called Christianity or something else because they were never trusting the word of God. They had their faith in the messenger. And there are people out there like that. Okay, and I've come across them regularly, people that you're like, oh, they seem to believe everything we do. No, they believed everything someone said. And then when they decided, I don't like that person anymore, maybe they've decided they're not the person they thought they were. Whatever it is, they've fallen from grace in their mind. Now it's like, I'm going to go with someone else. I'm going to go to someone else. I'm going to go to another religion. I'm going to go to another version of Christianity or something else. They weren't saved. They had their faith in the man, not in the word of God. And there's a lot of these people around. They're unsaved idolaters, basically. And look, that's why the Bible's constantly warning us about idolatry, because this is a common thing. Because it used to confuse me a lot, okay, but I feel like I'm starting to understand it more. 1 Peter 1, and really for context, you need to look for verse 17 in 1 Peter 1. So 1 Peter 1, look for verse 17, where it says, And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, okay, so he's talking about these things are what's corruptible and where does it come from from the vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory that your faith and hope might be in God, seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love at the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently. So basically considering the great love that the Gospel shows towards all believers, we should also show that love to one another, is what that verse is saying, okay. It's not saying that because you've obeyed to the unfeigned love, it's the unfeigned love of the brethren is what that great love is, that for God so loved the world, right, and ultimately that love is to anyone that believes that it manifests through the Gospel, we should also show love one to another. Verse 23 says, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. So as opposed to those corruptible things that we saw in the verses above, the seed coming from the tradition of the fathers, so as opposed to from men, which obviously includes, so it does include the Bible translations that are based on the theology of men, that's what they ultimately are, you know, the false manuscripts that try to add man's own reasoning into it subtly in places, and obviously with a lot of Bible versions it's pretty bad some of it, right. Some of it they just suddenly made it into a pen of your sins or things like that, right. They just change it as to what they want, but that's not what we're born again by. And obviously that includes various Bible translations, you know, just anything that's not the pure word of God. But we're born again by the word of God which is both. The Lord Jesus Christ, in verse 19, makes it clear what that uncorruptible thing was, and his words as inspired and preserved in English in our King James Bible. So it's kind of like they go hand in hand. The Lord Jesus Christ is the word of God, right. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is a flower of grass, a grass withereth, and a flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. So as much as we use these verses to warn of the corruptible seed of false perversions of the Bible, and fair enough, right, as much as we do that, and these verses are good kind of proof verses for that because we're born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever, as much as we use these verses to show that the word of God lives and abides forever, because again they're just great verses to show that the word of God is preserved as well, wasn't buried for 1700 years or whatever they claim or so, you know, how does that work? How's it living and abiding while it's underground somewhere and no one's got it, right? So as much as we use that to show, yeah, we've always had the word of God handed down manuscript, you know, being copied to the next manuscript, and as much as we use these verses to show that it endures forever, so it's not just that we have always had it, we'll continue to always have it, the word of God is preserved by him, not by us, the primary application is that it's not of man. Man withers as grass and fades or falls away as a flower, so that you're not redeemed from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers. It's not, for example, the traditions of today's Judaism, that's not what we're redeemed by, it's not the traditions of, you know, of the so-called Jews, it's not for many Christians, it's the church fathers, they almost want to put their faith in, don't they? So it's like, well, what did the church fathers say? Well, the church fathers said this, so that's why I believe the Gospel. Well, their version of the Gospel, right? Oh, well, the church fathers said this, that's not what we're redeemed by. It's not the Baptists of old, it's not, well, the Baptists of, you know, the old-school Baptists, that's why I believe, because it seems like, you know, there might have been a line from the Anabaptists and everything else, so that's all interesting stuff, but that's not what our faith is in, that's not what your faith should be in. It's not the man that you heard the Gospel from. And of course, look, just to make it clear, the non-soul winner goes overboard with this, so the non-soul winner wants to say, you don't do anything, no-one does anything, it's all just of God, so basically, you know, let's just take any part you play out of it, because they want to basically stop, you know, or at least make up for the fact they don't do any soul-winning, or whatever else, sometimes it's just heretics trying to, damnable heretics trying to put you off soul-winning, right? And on that note, Paul said of his own countrymen in Romans 11.14, if by any means I may provoke to emulation that which are my flesh, I might save some of them. So Paul said that he was saving some of them, and obviously, Jesus Christ does the hard work. Jesus Christ did the hard bit, right? But someone still needs to preach them the Gospel. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God, and how should I hear without a preacher, right? So it is because that person is preaching the living Word of God. But my point is that you need to make sure that your faith is in the Word of God. There are, like I said earlier, there are plenty that I've met or heard over the years that didn't trust the Word, just the man. And obviously, you know, the very popular preacher of the past, at least preaching the true Gospel, has been Pastor Stephen Anderson, for example. But so many people I've come across over the last decade who really their faith was in him, he was like their idol, who everything he said, it's just like hanging off every single word, and as soon as they've now decided they don't like him anymore, it's like they no longer believe the Gospel. They don't want anything to do with Christ. Like, that's weird. It's not just weird. It's just they were never saved. They had their faith in the man and not in the Word of God. And John the Baptist, who we're really, who we're talking about here, or we've just been talking about, said that he must increase and I must decrease. And you've got to get to that point, and I'm not saying I've got anyone that's preaching, you know, I've got another list of them, but you've got to get to the point where you're like, I know what the Word of God says. What does the Word of God say? I study the Word of God. Because a lot of people, they just, they're idolaters. And not just him, like many people in life, right? I'm sure Jack Hiles had a load of idolaters who were just like, well, you know, whatever he says, you know, and was he right about everything? No. And you know what? This, you know, that's just life because people like to make idols in life. But this is what this is basically saying. Don't put your trust in the man. Put your trust in the Word of God. You've got to have your faith in the Word of God. He said, for all flesh is as grass, and the glory of man is a flower of grass, the grass withereth, and the flower thereof fulleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever. It's not the man, it's not the preacher, it's not the pastor, it's not any of us. We don't endure forever, it's the Word of God which endures forever. Have your faith in that. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. And in Isaiah 40, he said, the grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. So it didn't stand hidden underground. It didn't stand in various ever-changing so-called translations. It wasn't the manuscript of the Lord that shall stand forever. It was the meticulously copied out words of God that stood forever just being copied and copied and copied. And if we don't have them here, where are they then? Where are they? 1 Peter 1 23 said, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. And we have it in our King James Bibles. Everyone pretty much here heard the gospel by someone quoting the King James Bible. And what do we go out and do? What are all those people putting their trust in the Lord? Those 4,000-odd salvations, they've heard the King James Bible quoted to them, preached to them. It's the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. So with all of that in mind, he then said this then in verse 9 back in Isaiah 40, O Zion that bringeth good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain. O Jerusalem that bringeth good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength. Lift it up, be not afraid, say unto the cities of Judah, behold your God. So knowing that we have the incorruptible word of God that we're born again with, we're told to bring those good tidings of gospel to others. You should be bringing the gospel to others. O Zion that bringeth good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain. O Jerusalem that bringeth good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength. Lift it up, be not afraid, say unto the cities of Judah, behold your God. So saying to lift up thy voice, and that's a good thing to remember, don't whisper when you're trying to preach some of the gospel, trying to show some of the truth. You know, you're not going to whisper. Be bold with it. You've got good news here. Go ahead, tidings. Lift up thy voice. He said with strength. He said, lift it up, be not afraid. We shouldn't be afraid, afraid to preach the gospel, afraid to preach the truth, because it's good tidings. It's a gospel of your salvation. Why would we be embarrassed about it? Why would we be scared? Why would we be like whispering, not really wanting to get in a conversation? Show them the truth, right? He said, behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arms shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lands with his arm and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. So this is firstly applying to the return from captivity, okay, with Cyrus picturing a sort of Christ redeemer, freeing his people from exile. And although some might apply this to the millennial reign, I believe this is really talking about his first coming. The strong hand destroying death, the rule of his spiritual kingdom, his reward being with him. Salvation, you know, being that reward, but his work being before him. He still had stuff to do, didn't he, when he came? It was still to do. All of that was to do. He fed his people with the word of God. It said he shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He holds his people. So he should gather the lands with his arm. John 10, 28 says, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. And he gently leads those that are with young. And look, perhaps he's, you know, you think, well, how does he do that? I was thinking, like, perhaps he's softer. Maybe he's more long suffering, more merciful to mums with young. Do you ever wonder that? How does he gently lead those that are with young? Because, you know, so that could be a hard job, kind of. That's a hard time for, you know, for, well, for everyone, right? But especially for mums, it can be hard, can't it? When they've got young children, and the Lord, it says here, he shall gently lead those that are with young. Something we can maybe learn from there, can't we, as those that are leading our families and stuff like that. Maybe he's got more long suffering, more merciful. Maybe he lets them, you know, lets more stuff go because there could be a lot of stress, a lot of, you know, maybe hormone changes, things like that. There's a great truth here, though. I believe in these two verses, which many just don't understand. It's said in verse 10. Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arms shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him and his work before him. So strong hand, he's ruling. He's rewarding as a benefactor, basically. He's grafting, too. So strong, ruling, rewarding, grafting. I mean, this is the epitome of biblical manliness, isn't it? Is it not? He's come with a strong hand, he's ruling, he's coming with reward, his work is before him. That's a biblical man, yeah? Verse 11. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young. So he just, on the back of this strength, this biblical man, we've seen that he's providing, he's personally hands-on caring for the young, he shall gather the lambs with his arm, he's carrying and even comforting them, he's carrying them in his bosom, and he's gently leading, basically, the mums, isn't he? So this epitome of manliness is feeding the flock, gathering the lambs, I mean, it's almost, it's funny how the two verses go together in a way, doesn't it? So basically, if you want to be more Christ-like, you want to be more manly, and not by the world's weird inside-out standards, so don't get conned by that, don't let, you know, and that appeals sometimes to the ego, some of that weird stuff, but by God's standards, you need to provide. You want to be a man by God's standards, you need to provide. You need to be able to provide, right? You need to put some graft in, put some work in, and be able to provide. You need to help the young. Yeah, that's what we've seen here as well, we're trying to be more Christ-like, Christ is the epitome of biblical manliness, you need to help the young. You need to not just be, because there are dads out there that are like kind of the whole, well, you know, I just go to work, and she could do everything with the family. I don't think that's biblical at all. So many commands in the Bible about fathers, bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, all these different things, and then you get guys out there who are just like, that ain't my job. It's like, I think it is part of your job as well. Yeah, it's not your primary job, you need to provide as well, right? But we need to get involved a bit, right? Help out. You know, sometimes, you know, you're trying to work together as a team, yeah, your wife is a help meet for you, but, you know, one of the things she's doing by helping you is by raising your children. But we need to carry and sometimes comfort them. You know, as a father sometimes we can be a comfort, can't we? It's not like, well, I'm the dad, I only do like, I do the fun stuff and the punishment, she can do all the comfort. Sometimes maybe you need to comfort them, carry those, carry them in your bosom. And then it said, and gently lead those with young. So, again, clearly, there's a gentle leading there, isn't there? The example of Christ, something we're trying to follow, gently leading the mums with young, because that could be when a lot of rows happen, can't it? A lot of rows in a family and stuff, because it's hard, it's stressful, it could be hard, young babies just don't often do what you want them to do, do they? They just don't really get the message. You think, we were laughing earlier, we were like, you think you've had a good night? You're like, yeah, they slept in a bit, they didn't get up quite so early and then the next day it's just all out the window again. What on earth, right? It's frustrating and that can raise stress levels. But that's where we need to, like, they're with young, you need to gently lead, yeah? Be gentle with it, because it's hard for them. We get this wrong, don't we, guys? Sometimes it starts getting you angry and everything else, because it's not always easy. But don't miss both words there, though. So then you can go too far the other way and go, oh, well, it's all just gentle, gentle, basically she just does what she wants because I'm gently leading. We're still to lead, we're still going to lead, but you're going to lead gently, but you're still going to lead, you're still the leader. So there are times when you're going to have to say no, there are times when you're going to have to say no, this is what we're going to do, there are times where you have to put your foot down, you're still leading, but you're doing it gently. And if anyone knows how to do that perfectly, give them a shout. I'm kidding. And that's why we're dwelling with them according to knowledge, that's why we're trying to get that right as dads, aren't we, as husbands, and it's not like a quick fix to it, but it's gently leading. That's pretty clear, isn't it? We were to give honour unto them like we saw the other week. This is Bible folks, right? And, yeah, you might get, because we could go too far, we could go, well, you know, all these feminists and everything else, let's jump over this side, and it's like, just tell them what to do, I'm going to shout, I'm going to like, whatever else, right? And it's like, ain't biblical. So we don't want to go too far, wait, look, there's always a balance, right? Yeah, we're to lead, yeah, don't get pulled into all that feminist nonsense, but we're still to gently lead those with young, right? He said, behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, his arms shall rule for him, behold, his reward is with him and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those with young. He's the example, isn't he? He then said in verse 12, who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? So he's showing the sheer futility, I believe, of comparing anyone with God, who made all things. So who are we to question what God says? For example, who are we to look at those verses and just go, yeah, I don't know, nonsense. Yeah, that just sounds like some sort of, you know, wimp or something else, you know, no, no, nothing gentle. You know, that's not what a woman wants or anything. Well, that's how God, that's the example of the Lord Jesus Christ and that's what we're meant to follow, right? So who are we to question him? I think that's what it's saying. He's measured the waters in the hollow of his hand. Who's done any of that? And I suppose also it's perhaps pointing to the perfection of creation too. So how the conditions are just right, the water, the amount of water, the sky, the size of it, he's meted it out with the span, the ground, the amount of ground, the mountains and hills and the weight of them maybe he's talking about, you know, weighed them in scales in a balance. I don't know, you can imagine if that was all wrong, maybe things would be kind of giving way, ground, I don't know what would be going on. Basically, we've got no idea how to do any of this. God did it all. Who are we to question him? Who has directed the spirit of the Lord or being his counsellor has taught him? Which is probably what Paul was referring to in both 1 Corinthians 2 and Romans 11 to 34 where it says, who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counsellor? He said that in Romans, he said something similar in 1 Corinthians 2 and here it's saying, who has directed the spirit of the Lord or being the counsellor has taught him? No one has. With whom took he counsellor and who instructed him and taught him in the path of judgment? Can you imagine if you were told, right, you need to design a world for everyone to live in. I mean, you'd be, I'd better fight some people to counsel me. I need some help. I need some advice. Where do I even start? Well, with whom took he counsellor? Who instructed him? He taught him in the path of judgment, taught him knowledge and showed to him the way of understanding. So another reminder, he's a Lord God Almighty. Who are we to question him? And you could add, who are we to complain about him? Who are we to complain about the Lord? Who's instructed him, who teaches him in the path of, oh, you should have done this in my life, God. Who are we to teach him in the path of judgment? Who are we to show him the way of understanding, well, he shouldn't have done this in my life. He should have dealt with this. He should have solved this. He should have done that. Who are we to criticise him? It's the Lord God Almighty. Who are we to do that? What do we know? He knows the beginning from the end. Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket and account as a small dust of the balance. Behold, he takes up the isles as a very little thing. So they're insignificant in comparison to him. All of us, doesn't matter who you, you know, the cleverest person you know, the greatest person you know, whatever it is, right? Nothing compared with him. Even the isles or maybe we'd say coasts or nations, he could lift them up if he wanted. Do anything. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts are sufficient for a burnt offering. Lebanon is a very like high mountain range on the north border of Israel. So I think he's saying that even those huge mountains, all the animals around there, all burnt to him just wouldn't be enough for the Lord. He said all nations before him are as nothing and they're counted to him less than nothing and vanity. To whom then will you liken God and what likeness will you compare unto him? So with all that in mind, how on earth are you going to make some image that represents him? I mean, how are you going to do that? How are you going to make something like God? How are you going to make someone in your life like God? How are you going to make an idol in your life? How are you going to do any, how are you going to make some graven image? Like, what on earth? Those ridiculous crucifixes are not the God that we worship. They're just ridiculous. Like, why even, why do you need some stupid image which is of no likeness, which isn't, that's not, you just, how do you even do that? Look at who God really is. The images of old, like the various sculptures, images, all the different stuff people have made over years, they don't represent God, which is why he said in Exodus 20 and verse 4, thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, that's him, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. But the problem is that God's commands don't seem to stop people en masse doing just that. So God says don't do it and they find a way to do it. God says don't do it, the Catholics that claim to believe at least parts of the Bible find a way of doing it, but so do so many others, right? Make images, make graven images, make idols. He said in verse, it says in verse 19, the workman melteth the graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth the tree that will not rot. He seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved. So the rich make it with gold and silver, the poor with timber. Basically, idolatry, graven images, transcend the rich and the poor. They'll still find a way. You're so poor you still find some bit of wood that you can worship. If you've got money you might coat it with gold and silver, right? It's still just idolatry. It doesn't matter, and it goes across, and it does, doesn't it? I mean, you see, you know, you see the poorest people in some poor parts of the world, maybe in like parts of India and stuff with their little images and their little graven images that they're worshiping. And then you've got like some pretty wealthy like Roman Catholic types, for example, and others who have still got their images and the things that they worship. It makes no difference. He said in verse 21, Have ye not known, have ye not heard, hath it not been told you from the beginning, have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers, that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in, that bringeth the princes to nothing. He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. So he's saying that God made everything, including us. We don't get to make our own God, okay? Don't make your own God. Don't just try and make your own version of God. Don't like kind of take some of the Bible and go, yeah, but I just want, I like God, I like to think that God is more like this. I'd like a God, so I'm going to make him like this, that kind of, you know, maybe he's a bit softer on some of my unsaved family, or maybe he's, you know, he does this or that in life, he's more likely to do this. He doesn't really mind when I do this or that, even though the Word of God says clearly he does, right? But that's what people do, don't they? They just make their own God. Whether it's a God of some false religion, which is ultimately just a God that people have made themselves, or their own unique hybrid model. You know, a lot of people have like a hybrid God, don't they, where they kind of take in a bit of the Bible God, a bit of the God from this. And they go, well, I think, you know, you get these people, you're not going to do it. Are you a Christian? Yeah. Oh, okay. So where do you think you're going to go one day when you die? Well, you know, what I think is, you know, this is hell on earth and heaven is actually, you know, something that we probably go to if we don't get reincarnated as my dog or something else. You just say, I thought you said you're a Christian, but they've just made their own God, right? Well, that's what people do. Now, obviously, this passage that we've just read here from verse 21 or 22, especially. Okay, this is poetic language, okay. He's not literally sitting on the top of the world. We're not grasshoppers. The sky isn't a curtain or a tent to live in. Because some people like, they take these verses and then they go like overly literal on it, yeah. But the heavens and sky does surround us like a tent. It's as if the heavens are curtains, with him behind them maybe. He's so high up that it's like when we look down on the world of insects, yeah. He's sitting up there looking down on the whole earth because he's omnipresent, isn't he? His eyes are everywhere, beholding evil and the good. And of course, the conspiracy candy addicts want to see a flat earth here, okay. So sometimes they use this verse for that. Obviously, that's like conspiracy candy. It's like no one knows this one, or at least some do now. But this is in a two-dimensional world. Anyone think they live in a two-dimensional world? What is a three-dimensional circle? It's a sphere. It's a sphere, there's no such thing. So the flat earth model isn't a circle, it's a disc anyway. And how that works and where the heart of it is, and we're not going to go into that tonight, all right. It's ridiculous, but it's conspiracy candy. It makes people feel good, okay. However, candy's bad for you, right. So verse 22. It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants are as grasshoppers, that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. That bringeth the princes to nothing, he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. So all of those rulers, okay, these puffed up presidents, these men of wealth and prestige will come to nothing. They'll come to vanity, emptiness. Yea, they shall not be planted, yea, they shall not be sown, yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth, and he also shall blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. So they're going to perish like everything else, okay. People in the world are just going to perish. To whom then were ye like in me, or shall I be equal saith the Holy One? Lift up your eyes on high, and behold, who hath created these things? That bringeth out their host by number, he calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power, not one faileth. So I believe he's referring to the stars, okay, which are an amazing part of his creation. Psalm 147, 4 says, He telleth the number of the stars, he calleth them all by their names. And here it says, He calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might. Talk about the host referring to the stars here. So basically, again, just an amazing thing. Stars are amazing, aren't they really? And to think that he's named them all as well. I mean, how many are there? I don't know. Can you even count them? So all of that, okay. I was always reminding those captives, I think, to come of all of these truths to say this. So remember, don't lose where we are here. He's basically saying, look, things are going to be all right. And he's reminding them who he is to then say this in verse 27. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, my way is hid from the Lord and my judgment is passed over from my God. So basically saying he wasn't going to forget about them. He's God. He wasn't distracted. It wasn't that he couldn't see them anymore. Now remember, this is on the back of just saying, look, whatever these people say, forget what these people are saying. Trust what the word of God says. Because I'd imagine at some point, probably most of the captivity, they're just thinking it's done. How on earth? How are we ever going to return? Jerusalem's burned. It's razed to the ground. It's destroyed. We're in captivity in Babylon. Everyone else has just been spread there. I mean, it's done. But he's saying, no, that was the whole point. Look, all the flesh is at God. Don't listen to man. Don't put your trust in what these people are saying. Trust what the word of God says. So he then said, has thou not known? Sorry. Yeah, we are. 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. So he's not going to faint on them. He's not going to get tired of working. His understanding is way beyond us. And he did. There was a way in the end, right? In fact, it's he that gives us power, that increases our strength. So that's what he's saying here, okay? Now we're going to kind of go into then that kind of, that point, that topic now. So like I said, all of that was to say, look, it's going to be all right. And in the end, it does happen because suddenly there's just, like out of nowhere, there's decree of Cyrus to go back with money, with an order to rebuild and everything else that we looked at when we went through the book of Ezra. Just amazing. Amazing. But because the word of God said it would happen. So he said this in verse 29. He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no mighty increase of 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. So like I said, applying firstly to those in captivity in Babylon, that must have been a pretty trying time. Can you imagine that? In captivity there, a lot of them are like slaves or some that are turning into, become like eunuchs. Like it's a rough time, right? And did he say that they that wait upon the Lord shall never go through hard times? He didn't say that, did he? It'd be good to remind yourself of that. He never said they that wait upon the Lord shall never have a hard time, shall never go through any tribulation or trials or problems. He never said that they shall have everything made easy for them. If you wait upon the Lord, your whole life will be a breeze. He didn't say that. Verse 29 suggests that there are those that are faint. There are those that have no might. There are those that obviously are having some hard times. He giveth power to the faint. Yeah, just because you're saved, you haven't stopped being faint. And to them that have no might, you haven't suddenly become this strongest guy around, probably spiritually or maybe mentally here, or maybe physically. He said, and to them that have no might, he increases strength. Even a youth shall faint and be weary, and a young man shall utterly fall. So whether they're young and full of beans or not, you can't do it without God. You'll give up. You'll fall if you don't rely on him. He 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 run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. So to wait upon the Lord is used synonymously with trusting him. So just for example, Isaiah 51.5 says, my righteousness is near. My salvation has gone forth. Mine arms shall judge the people. The aisles shall wait upon me, and on mine arms shall they trust. And we see it a few places in scripture. So basically waiting upon the Lord. It's not, oh, well, I'm just... And obviously you need salvation first, right? This isn't just talking about, well, I'm just waiting for the Lord to come. I'm not sitting with my feet up going, I'm waiting upon the Lord. Something's going to work out. It's trusting him. It's trusting his words, his teachings, his statutes, his commandments. It's doing the things his way. It's trusting that his way of doing things will work out in the end. It's having faith that when he says to do it this way, it doesn't seem like that's sensible, that's going to work. That's not what the world tells you to do. That's not what your flesh is telling you to do. It's having trust that that's going to work out. So part of that therefore is trying to be righteous upright according to his ways, isn't it? He said that those that do that will renew their strength. Proverbs 10 29 says, the way of the Lord is strength to the upright. And how are you upright? By trying to follow God's ways, his commandments. He says, the way of the Lord is strength to the upright, but destruction shall be to the works of iniquity. So what does he mean that they shall mount up with wings as eagles? So with all of that in mind. So trusting in God in all those ways. How do they mount up with wings as eagles? Well, it's to be safe from predators. For example, Psalm 91 14 says, because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him, I will set him on high because he has known my name. So it's being made safe from predators, mounting up with wings as eagles. They'll be made safe basically above danger. When eagles are up in the air, they're safe from danger, right? He said they shall run and not be weary. And what are we running in? Is he talking about the local park run? If you wait on the Lord, you put your trust in God, you're going to get a good 5K time. Or our exercise routine, you know, you'll be able to keep going. You see, you know, Hebrews 12 1, I think for me explains it. Wherefore, seeing we also are encompassed by us, our great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. So it's a race, it's the harder things for the Lord. It's the soul winning, the battles, the struggles. It's that race that's set before us, the things God wants us to do. When you put your trust in the Lord, you can do it. Then he said, and they shall walk and not faint. Which is, I believe, probably just a lifelong Christian walk, isn't it? And sometimes that walk can be tough, can't it? You know, even just putting one foot in front of the other can be tough. Sometimes, you know, just doing the simple things, reading the Bible each morning and each evening can get tough for some. Like having that, you know, just a consistent prayer life can be tough. Just being in church when the doors are open can be tough, right? But he said that those that wait upon the Lord, they shall walk and not faint. They won't give up. Christian walk can be scary. It can make you faint. It can make you want to give up. It can make you tired. And Psalm 23, 4 says, If someone trusts in the Lord as a shepherd, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. So when the Lord is your shepherd, when you put your faith, your trust in the Lord, you can walk and not be weary, you can walk and not faint, right? You can run and not be weary, sorry, and you can walk and not faint. So you can go through hard times. You can go through the valley of the shadow of death. But you don't have to fear. He 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 basically those waiting, or like we said, trusting on him, his words, and that would include these words, would have got through those dark years. Those in captivity, waiting upon the Lord, trusting in him, knowing that his word says it is going to be solved, they are going to be able to return, that Jerusalem was, you know, ultimately it was going to get rebuilt in the end, wasn't it? And he's saying that those trusting him, who would have got through it, and how do we apply that to ourselves? Well, we can get through hard times like that. You're going to get hard times in life. Every single person here, you're not, you know, if you thought that, you know, serving God meant you were going to have an easy life, well, you got sold a dummy. Because it's not always like that. It's fulfilling life. It's a blessed life. It's a life where you can feel close to God, and you're doing something actually worthwhile in life. It's a life where you can earn a ton of rewards, and if you doubt that, you might as well doubt the rest of the Bible, because he does promise that, but he didn't say it was going to be an easy life, did he? And we will suffer persecution, and we will go through tribulation, and we will go through affliction, and you will have hard times in life, but if you wait upon the Lord, you shall renew your strength. You shall be made safe from danger. You shall run and you won't be weary, and you shall walk and you won't faint. And ultimately, it just comes down to trusting God, doesn't it? You go, well, this all sounds like a bit tiring. I want the easy life. Well, no such thing. It's not really out there, is it? He's got the easy life. Especially, look, you're saved. God's got a job for you to do, and if you're going to do it, you might as well do it with your full faith. You might as well put full faith in trust. No point doing a half measure, is there? What are you going to do? I'll trust him for a bit. I'll trust someone. No, no, no, I'll trust that bit, just not that bit. Oh, good luck, because you're just going to end up having problems. You need to wait upon the Lord. You need to trust him. Just trust him with everything. Trust his ways of doing things. Trust his ways of living. Trust his ways of serving him. Trust all of that, and he will then help you through those times. No, it's not, oh, but I just can't believe I went through this because I didn't think, why has God let me go through that? Yeah, but it'll help you go through it, or you can turn and you can complain and you can basically stop trusting him, stop waiting on him, and it's just going to be harder for you. He'll help you through the times. He's not telling you they won't happen, but he'll help you through them, but you've got to stick close to him for that. You've got to wait upon the Lord. That was Isaiah chapter 40 and some great verses in there, some good truths in there, and hopefully that's been a blessing, and on that we're going to finish your order. Father, thank you, Lord, for the book of Isaiah. Thank you for Isaiah chapter 40 there and the many great verses there, the many truths that are there. Lord, help us all to get that strength, Lord, from waiting upon you, to mount up with wings as eagles, to not be weary while we run this race set before us and to not faint when we walk it. Lord, help us to just trust you more and more, to just keep putting our trust in you, keep putting our faith in you, for it to be just an ongoing thing for us to just stop trying to do things our own way, stop trying to work things out our own way, to stop trusting in various people and various different gurus in the world and different traditions of men and different old teachings of the traditions of the fathers, all this different stuff, and just to have our trust in the word of God, to have our trust in you, Lord. To be able to do that is by then we need to read it, we need to learn it, we need to study it, we need to dwell upon it. Help us to all do that more and more, Lord. Help us to get home safe this evening and to return on Sunday for not only the morning service but also the Lord's Supper. In Jesus' name we pray all this. Amen.