A Sound Offense against the Sting of Sin

Our speaker, Mr. Albert Jones, is reflecting on the busyness of life and the influence of sin in the world. They then discuss John the Baptist's prophecy and his message of repentance. He emphasizes the importance of a repentant attitude and a relationship with God rather than relying on heritage. John also speaks about the coming of someone mightier than him who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Albert concludes by mentioning the expectation and hope of being gathered as wheat for a harvest. Well, bless Sabbath, everyone, and welcome to GoToMeeting 1. It has been quite a week, and it's always good to come into the Sabbath day after having given the extra effort with work and everything. And this time of year for me, it is always busy because both finishing out work and preparing for the feast. So it is really a busy time of year. So it's wonderful to come before you to give a message again here on GoToMeeting. And in preparing this message, I have pulled from, if you will, a number of experiences over the last few months, both with a Bible study and a sermon series that we're doing at Sabbath service as well. So a sound offense, if you will, against the theme of sin. We are fighting and battling against the flesh every single day of our life. We live in a world that is given to Satan in his way more than it is to God. Mankind has gravitated to a way of life that is ideal in Satan's world. So it's tailored to his sinfulness and the thought processes of mankind. You know, everything from the economic systems to the educational system, all of it is kind of centered and kind of rooted within the influence of Satan the devil. When John the Baptist came on the scene to fulfill the call that God had given him, he was sent, as the scripture says, in the spirit of Elijah. So let's take a quick turn for our first scripture. And we will go to the book of Malachi. And we will bring in, give me a moment to open my digital Bible here. So Malachi 4, start there. And let's hear what God inspired Malachi to prophesy regarding the coming of the Lord and how it would be announced, if you will. Malachi 4, and let's pick it up in verse 5. He says, for all people will walk, each one in the name of his God. And we will walk in the name of the Lord, our God, forever and ever. Now for us in the church, that makes sense. If someone is just kind of coming to God or God having started to call them and they're coming out of a struggle in life, or they're coming out of difficulty in life, that may have a different meaning. It may be a realization for them that they have been missing before. They have been struggling and fighting and striving, if you will, to know a veil. And they feel beat upon and beat down. But this verse means a lot to you and I. Now verse 6, in that day, says the Lord, I will gather the lame and I will gather the exiled ones and those that I have afflicted. And I will make the lame into a remnant and she who was cast off into a mighty nation. The Lord shall reign over them and Mount Zion from henceforth, even forever. So we recognize that this is alluding to a huge forthcoming, if you will, of the reign of Christ, a change in everything. Verse 8, and you, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto you it shall come. Even the dominion of your former kingdoms shall return to the daughter of Jerusalem. Now, why do you cry aloud? Is there no king among you? Has your counsellors perished? For pains have taken you like a woman giving birth. But in pain, the deliverer, daughter of Zion, like a woman giving birth, for now you shall go out from the city and you shall dwell in the field and you shall go to Babylon. There you shall be delivered. There the Lord shall redeem you from the hand of your enemies. Now also many nations are gathered against you, who say, let her be defiled and let our eyes look upon Zion. But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, nor do they understand his counsel, for he has gathered them like the sheaves to the threshing floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron and I will make your hooves bronze, and you shall crush in pieces many people, and I will concentrate their grain, gain, I'm sorry, to the Lord, and their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth. Yes, God is doing something unique here. Let's go back to the book of Luke, the gospel of Luke, and let's dig a little bit deeper here in terms of what this message was and why it's so important for us in our approach in life, in our walk in life, in our doings day by day, and what it has for us in the way of aid, support, assuredness, and so forth. Luke 3, Luke chapter 3, and we're going to pick it up here. Let's pick it up in verse 6. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. For this reason he said to the multitudes who were coming out to be baptized by him, you offspring of vipers, this is John the Baptist. Again, we are hailing the coming of the Messiah, if you will, the Holy One. So let's take a moment. Yeah, let's go on to verse 7. So for this reason he said to the multitudes who were coming out to be baptized by him, you offspring of vipers, who has forewarned you to flee from the coming wrath? So John is recognizing in time and sufficient enough to know that salvation is about to come into the world for mankind, that we need a Savior, that without Christ we're destined in doom. That we are going to encounter things that we cannot control, that we cannot change, that we cannot affect. And rightly so, because we are all guilty of the judgment, and worthy of the judgment of coming. But Jesus Christ has a specific message that he wants to bring, and John was introducing it, but when he saw these individuals coming, he had that to say, you offspring of vipers, who has forewarned you to flee from the coming wrath. He says then to them, or in his sermon, therefore bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. Fruits worthy of repentance. Here's the first key in terms of the proper offense against the sting of sin. Fruits worthy of repentance, a repentant attitude, change in one's life, a new direction, a new way of thinking. And he said to them, do not say to yourselves, don't think for a moment that you can hang on to this particular truth for salvation, because it won't. It won't matter. There is something above and beyond that connectivity, if you will, through your heritage. The relationship with God is not about who you're from, right? It's not about who you are. It is about your relationship with God. He says, do not say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. We have Abraham as our father. We are okay. We're going to be okay, right? Because John told them, because I tell you that God has the power to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Brethren, we need to recognize the most important thing here. The most important thing is the one who came in the flesh and is now making possible salvation through his presence, by him being in the flesh, by him living a perfect life, by him being willing to die in your stead, not for your sins, but instead of you, because you and I deserve death because of the sin that we have within us, because of our sins, which we have committed in our life, right? The wages of sin is death. So don't say that we have Abraham as our father, because that isn't going to get you any passage, if you will. Verse 9, because he says but the act is already being laid to the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that is not producing fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. This fruit that God is seeking, this fruit is developed through that relationship with him, with God the father and Jesus Christ. Verse 10, then a multitude asked them, saying, what then shall we do? It's a very good question. How do we orchestrate this thing? How do we achieve eternal life? And he answered and said to them, the one who has two coats, let him give the one to the one who has none. Change in thinking, right? The one who has food, let him do the same. Now the tax collectors also came to be baptized and they said to him, master, what shall we do? And he said to them, exact nothing beyond that which is appointed to you. Then those who were soldiers also asked him, saying, and we, what shall we do? And he said to them, do not oppress or falsely accuse anyone and be steadfast with your wages. Now these are all material kind of fleshly kind of things that Christ is really instructing them in. He isn't really bringing to bear here the really deep things, the deep spiritual things yet. But he goes on in verse 15, but as the people were filled with expectation and they were all reasoning in their hearts about John, whether or not he might be the Christ you see, John answered all of them saying, I indeed baptize you with water. But he is coming, he is coming who is mightier than I. Now those words really need to be lifted up a whole lot more than that, that verse really kind of expressed there. Mightier than John, you bet. Mightier than any human being upon the earth, you bet. Mightier than any army that can be pulled together upon the earth today, let alone back then, you bet. That this one is the one, the one that we need to rely upon and we should be relying upon. Mightier than I, John says, and of whom I'm not fit to loose the thong of his sandals, he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire, and with fire, whose span is in his hand. Now think on this, because he's dividing the sweet from the chaff, right? He's seeking godly fruit. He's not seeking chaff, nor is he seeking, you know, tares and that type of thing. He's seeking godly fruit. He's seeking the true grain. So his span is in his hand and he will thoroughly purge his floor and will gather the wheat into his granary. Brethren, we, we are that wheat that he is looking for and we should be allowing him to perfect us so that we can be acceptable. A part of his granary, not the chaff that's blown away, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. So that is our expectation and hope. Let's turn to Luke 1 now. Let's go back to Luke 1. Now that was John speaking in Luke 1 and verse 15. Luke 1, verse 15. Let's come back here and pick it up with the proper context if we could. If we could, in the, in verse 11. He shall be adjoined in exaltation to you and many shall rejoice at his birth. And we read out through the story, we saw that the family was overjoyed that they would have a son. Verse 15. For he shall be great before the Lord and he shall never drink wine and strong, or strong drink in any form, but he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit. And this is a power necessary to do all things, brethren, to do all the things that are spiritual in nature. You need God's spirit within you to be able to do that. John had it from birth, even from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall be he turned to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and the power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous to make ready a people for the Lord. So John kind of paved the way for that to begin. In verse 19, and the angel answered and said to him, I am Gabriel. And this is how magnificent this announcement is. The angel Gabriel brought the message who stands in the presence of God. And I was sent, he says, to speak to you who sent him, brethren, God the Father sent him to speak to you and to announce this good news to you. Good news, incredible news. Hope is being announced for mankind. A savior is being sent from God himself to save his creation. And as we learn more about this, we begin to understand the scope of it. He spoke, that is John the Baptist, about escaping wrath through confession of sins, confession of sins, and repentance toward God. Yes, Christ is the way to life. Life came into the world and the way to life was illuminated by him, by his very light and example. And we have all the scriptures to bear that out regarding the light that he brought. Let's turn to Matthew 3. Gospel of Matthew chapter 3. Here in, let's pick it up in verse 1. Now, in the days of John the Baptist, in those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. And saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths, make straight his paths. He is laying out the foundational teachings, the principles, the precepts, the way that we should walk the way that we should walk. John began in heralding that message ahead of Christ's coming. Repentance is a key part of that and we should always be in a repentant attitude. Verse 4. Now, John himself wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist and his food was locusts and wild honey. All that verse is saying to me is that he made no big reputation of not flashy. He was a man not spoiled by this world. He was a man who knew what his mission was, why he was born, and he came and fulfilled his charge. And it says, then went out to him, those from Jerusalem and all Judea and all the country around the Jordan, and were being baptized by him in the Jordan, concessing their sins. Now, these are all realizations that we come to through God's spirit working in us that we are incomplete, that we are incomplete, and that we need God's spirit. And that God's spirit then moves us and works with our mind and our understanding and our heart and our feelings. All of a sudden, we have a different reality within our existence. Our conscience is aware of things it wasn't aware of before. It is an amazing thing. And I have, here as of late, a couple of people and three people that I've met here over the last few months, last couple of months, one person I met, two are family members who are experiencing this now. And it is indeed an incredible thing to see and see God's spirit working in the mind, changing the heart, bringing forth a realization, helping them to recognize that a relationship with God is what's necessary to fight this good fight and to complete this journey from where you are as a sinner to forgiveness, baptism, and receiving of the Holy Spirit on into eternal life with God. And it begins with the pricking of the heart. And all of a sudden, you just, you're thinking different. In verse nine, again, he emphasized that point that I made earlier about them saying that they are descended from Abraham, that this is bigger than a fleshly connection to the patriarch, if you will. Each and every one of us are not going to ride into the kingdom of God on Abraham's coattail. Each and every one of us will have to stop and examine ourselves and recognize who we have aligned ourselves with in order to fight this fight through and complete this journey into the kingdom of God. We need to align ourselves with a proper ally. And that ally for eternal life is Christ. He came to be your savior. He came to be your salvation. And we have to hold on to him. We have to believe in him and hold on to him for that, you know, that end product. John the Baptist was sent by God the Father to make this good news known to Israel. And later, Peter and Paul was sent by Christ to the rest of the nations, to the rest of the nations to fulfill his promise, to fulfill his promise. Turn with me to Acts 10. 10. Book of Acts chapter 10. And we're going to pick it up in verse 34. Chapter 10. Book of Acts 10.34. Then Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is not a respecter of persons. But in every nation, the one who fears him, you see the relationship, here is the offense. You need to walk with God. You need to aspire to his truth, his way of life, his commandments, his statutes, his judgments. To fear him is to obey him. To fear him is to obey him. And the one who fears him and works righteousness, okay? Your work is the righteous works of God. His works is the perfection of righteousness within you. You see, you are always doing the things which God expects of you. How do you know he expects it of you? Because he has laid it out in his word. His word is speaking to you. When you read the scriptures, that's God speaking to you. Right? Fear him and works righteousness is acceptable to him. The word that he sent to the children of Israel, preaching the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. That statement is just loud and booming that God came to earth to save man. He says you have knowledge of, you have knowledge of, which declaration came through the whole of Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism that John proclaimed. This is Peter, you know, preaching this concerning Jesus, who was from Nazareth, who God anointed, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. And he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil because God was with him. God sent him, right? He is God's messenger. He is God's, at God's right hand. He is right now, even today, still fulfilling God's expectations, God's purpose, God's plan. Verse 39, and we are witnesses, Peter says, of all the things that he did. First eyewitnesses, both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him. They killed the Lord who became flesh for us. They killed him by hanging him on a tree. But that wasn't the end of the story, rather. But God raised him up the third day and showed him openly, openly, as I said so many times in messages. Our Lord and Savior is not dead in the tomb. He's not a baby in a manger. Our Lord is God. He is alive. He is in heaven. He's at the right hand of the Father, fulfilling his office that he has today. His offices, if you will, that he has today. God raised him on the third day and showed him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses who had been chosen before by God. And to those of us, you and I, you and I here listening to this message tonight, those of us who did eat and drink with him, we do that every year at Passover. We eat and drink with him. We do it every Sabbath. We eat and drink with him. We take Passover with us every day. We eat and drink Christ every day of our life. The disciples had firsthand experience with God in the flesh. He is alive now because of the Spirit that's in you and I. We interface with God every single day of our life. He is with us at work. He is with us at school. He is with our children as they go to and fro. He is with you if you're on the farm taking care of your animals. He is with you if you're taking that quiet walk. Wherever you are and God's Spirit is in you, he is there with you. His angels are about you, caring for you. Let's go on here in verse 41 again. Not to all the people, but to witnesses who had been chosen before by God and to those of us who did eat and drink with him after he had risen from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to fully testify that it is he who has been appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. Him. Christ. Not you and I. Him. Christ. Verse 43. To him all the prophets bore or bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives remission of sins through his name. That's a huge start, a huge advantage that we are given because we have been called and we have the opportunity to know him, to understand what it means to have this relationship with God. All of a sudden, all of a sudden, that is indeed a miracle. Verse 44. While Peter was still speaking, these words, the Holy Spirit came upon all those who were listening to the message. Again, great miracle. In verse 45. And the believers from the circumcision were astonished as many as had come with Peter that upon the Gentiles, as it was being manifested there, also the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out. Yes. Yes. When you fully comprehend God's plan, what God is doing, the power of God's work on the earth. Yes. This is an amazing thing. Amazing thing. We have, we really have to give praise and honor to God for his wonderful work in the lives of human beings. We have to give praise and honor to God for his wonderful work in his church, in our local fellowships, within our homes where we are blessed to have husband and wife both converted. Right. And you are able to study his word and to meditate on his truth and to walk in his ways. Brethren, I tell you, it is an incredible and wonderful thing. I am thankful to God in so many ways, words cannot, words really truly cannot express. This was the good news that was brought. So, um, this message has been heralded in so many different ways. It has been heralded by God himself, the prophets. It was heralded by John the Baptist, Christ himself, Peter, Paul, John, and all James and all the apostles. Turn with me to Hebrews 1. Here's the message again, being proclaiming his full importance, that this is the way to overcome, to defeat Satan, to destroy sin in all its forms, that we have Christ at our side. So, here's Paul's take on the matter here in chapter 1 of Hebrews. God, again, beginning with the central power of it all, God who spoke to the fathers at different times in the past, and in many ways by the prophets, has spoken to us in these last days, and we're in the last days, and God is still speaking to us by his son. These last days by his son. Yes, we have, you know, the blood of Abel, from the blood of Abel all the way through to Noah, and from Noah down to Abraham, and Abraham, to the giving of the law, and children of Israel coming out of Egypt, the word of God then being expressed to them, and them having this relationship with God as was prophesied to occur, and all that time having that personal linkage to the source of life, the only one. And then you come on down through the prophets, the kings, all the way down to Christ, and then Christ magnifying it, leaving the apostles to preach it, and then given the Holy Spirit to solidify it, and to really fuel it, if you will. The Holy Spirit fuels it. That is indeed, yes. Verse two, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom he also made the ages, who being the brightness, if you will, of his glory, and the exact image of his person, the exact sameness, if you will, and upholding all things by the word of his own power, when he had by himself purged our sins. Can I, I want to emphasize that one more time. He by himself purged our sins. The name of Christ is the only name on the heaven by which man can be saved, right? He then did something else. Step two in the plan of God, sit down, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. He wasn't tired, brethren. He wasn't tired. He was preparing for the next stage. The father had conveyed upon him the office of high priesthood, right? He had qualified as the ever atoning sacrifice for our sins, sitting at the right hand of the majesty on high. What is that right hand? He is the one who will fulfill the father's purpose. He will carry out his instructions. He sent him, and he gives us to him for perfecting. Verse four, having been made so much greater than any of the angels, and as much as he has inherited a name exceedingly superior to them, but to which of the angels did he ever say, you are my son this day, I have begotten you. And again, I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me. And again, verse six, when he brought the firstborn into the world, the firstborn, he said that all the angels of God worship him. Now, on the one hand, the angels, he says to the angels, he says, who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire. But on the other hand of the son, he says, your throne, oh God, is unto the ages of eternity. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom, your kingdom, not just a rulership of a place, but an existence in the godly realm, your kingdom, right? Verse nine, you love righteousness, hated lawlessness, still does, still does. Because of this, God, even your God has anointed you. This is referencing the father who anointed him, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above all your contendance. And you Lord, and you Lord, in the beginning did lay the foundation of the earth. We know who we're talking about now, right? And the heavens are the works of your hands. All of them, everything you see in the Hubble telescope, that's his doing. That's his creation. He sustains it in perfect order as he needs it to be. They will perish though. You look at the beauty of the cosmos. It is a physical existence. They will perish, but you remain forever. They will all grow old like a garment. Eternity is a long time, brother. They will grow old like a garment and you will roll them up like a covering, like a covering, and they shall be changed. But you are the same. You are the same. Now this is the God resurrected back to his glory. He came in the flesh and he did what he did for us so that we could be successful and have life. You are the same and your years will not end. But unto which of the angels did he ever say, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet? Are they not all ministering spirits being sent for to minister to those who are about to inherit eternal life? Once again, everything that I just described to you regarding the magnificence, the majesty of God, his office, his life, his death, his resurrection, his office at the right hand of the Father, executing the will of the Father, and all the ministering spirits at his disposal sent to you, sent to you, so that you can inherit eternal life with him. Okay. This is our sure footing. This is our defense. This is our armor. This is our wall. This is our high tower. This is what we hold on to. If we're going to walk in this crazy world, it is crazy brethren. If we're going to walk in this crazy world and see all the sin all around us and the things that are happening and the things that are about to happen, we want to align ourselves with the greatest strength possible to get through it. And there is only one possible way to get through it. And that is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is up to the task. He is capable. He has the wherewithal to get the job done for the Father. And he will see it through. This is the good news that was proclaimed in the gospel messages of Christ himself. Turn to John 14. Gospel of John, verse 14. Chapter 14. I'm sorry. And verse, let's see, we're going to pick it up here. Let's just pick it up in verse six. Jesus said to Thomas here, he says, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. To get to the Father except through me. To get to the Father is the ultimate in Christianity, if you will. It is the ultimate in a relationship for eternal life. It is a sure salvation because you have audience with the sovereign God, the most high God in the universe. Jesus Christ has made that possible. Right? Your offense begins and ends with God, Christ and the Father. You see, in order for the Father to work with you and I, in order for you and I to access him, this relationship was not possible before Christ came. Not in that way that it is now. Right? Oh, yes, we had the temple sacrifices and you could come to the door and so on and so forth. But mankind as a whole, the whole world now, as God calls into his service, will have access to Christ. That wouldn't have been possible in that way for all mankind before Christ's death. Except for the unique relationships that God had with the Fathers, you know, and the prophets and various ones to make this message clear and known. But what God is doing is an incredible thing and this is the thing that I want to emphasize. Verse, let's pick it up here, let's fire it here, verse 7. If you had known me, well here, verse 6, and Jesus said to him, I'm the truth, I'm the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. But from this time forward, you know him and have seen him. Because we've experienced the Father through Christ. Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father and that will be sufficient for us. Jesus said to him, and this is an important point, have I been with you so long a time and you have not known me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. Why then do you say, show us the Father? Christ didn't just reveal the Father to us in an understanding that he exists. He revealed the Father to us in his very own self, in the way he interacts with, interacted with them. And for you and me, it's how he interacts with us. Jesus Christ told us that the Father himself loves us. Let's go on to verse 10. Don't you believe that I'm in the Father and the Father is in me. The words that I speak to you, I do not speak for my own self, but the Father himself who dwells in me does the works. Believe me that I'm in the Father and the Father is in me, but if not believe, believe me because of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who has, who believes in me, shall also do the works that I do, should also do the works that I do. And greater works than these shall he do because I'm going to the Father. Now that for me has a couple of applications, both in the ministry of the apostles and what the work that they did, the work of the church and what we are doing. But rather, the big application of that is in the kingdom of God. The big application of that is in the at the Great White Throne Judgment. The work that Christ did, we will do. The work that Christ is doing in us, we will do. We will do with him. Let's go to Isaiah 40. I want to get this in the record here. Isaiah 40. And let's read this. Bear with me here. Isaiah 40, let's pick it up in verse one. Isaiah 40, verse one. This is God's, one of the most beautiful chapters in scripture, and it gives hope and it gives warning. Anyway, let's get here at verse one. We'll just pick it up here in verse one. The prophet Isaiah writes, comfort ye, comfort ye my people, says your God. And brethren, God wants us not to be fearful, not to be intimidated or, you know, not sound in our faith. He wants us to be comforted by the truth that we are being given through the spirit and understanding of his truth here. He says, speak comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she has received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. O voice, a voice is calling out in the wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. This is the prophetic message that was referenced there earlier by Peter. He says, every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. Yes, we're talking about what Christ brought and is being fulfilled through the glorious plan of God. Christ brought it. So the rough places are made plain and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh, all flesh, all mean all, as Fred likes to say, all means all. All flesh shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. A voice says cry. And he said, what shall I cry? Again, all flesh is grass and all the beauty of it is as the flower of the field. Again, don't say that I am Abraham's, you know, children, because that's still mainly flesh. What we need to align with here for eternal life to overcome and to be successful in this journey to eternal life. He is emphasizing here with verse six and seven, verse seven. Now the grass withers, the flower fades because the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people of grass, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever. Go up for yourself on the high mountains. Oh, you that bring good tidings to Zion, lift up your voice with strength. Oh, you who tell good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up, do not be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, behold your God. Behold, the Lord God will come with a strong hand and his arms shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him and his works or his work is before him. And he shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the land with his arm and carry them in his bosom. And he shall greatly lead those with young who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand. And that is all the oceans of the earth, right? And melt it out or meet it, meet it out the heavens with the span and who has comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains and scales and the hills in a balance. The Lord God created all of them. I think he understands his measurements, his quantities, his amounts, if you will. Verse 13, who has directed the spirit of the Lord and who was his counselor that he might instruct him? With whom did he take counsel and who instructed him and taught him and the path of judgment and taught him knowledge and made known the way of understanding to him? Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket and are counted as the small dust of the scales compared to God. Behold, he takes up the aisles as a very little thing and Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, to burn, nor the beast of it sufficient for a burn offering. All nations before him are as nothing and they are counted by him as less than nothing in vanity. To whom then will you compare God? Of what likeness will you compare to him? The workman melts a graven image. Today is a whole different scenario with fame and popularity and all of the glitter of this world. It's not all graven images, although they still have their place in idol worship. The workman melts a graven image and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold and casts silver chains. He who is too poor for that offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks for a skillful workman for himself to repair a graven image that will not tire. Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundation of the world? Now we have come to this understanding as members of God's church. We recognize the awesomeness of God. Verse 22, it is he who sits above the circle of the earth and its people are like grasshoppers. God is above, looking down upon this created planet. It is this globe, this place where people live. It is he who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like the tent to dwell in. Who brings the rulers to nothing. Name one brethren upon this earth today who can stand against God. Not one. He makes the judges of the earth of vanity. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root to the ground, in the ground, then he shall blow upon them and they shall wither and the whirlwind shall take them away like stubble. To whom then will you compare me or who is my equal says the Holy One. Now I'm telling you about the same one who came in the flesh and died for our sins. I'm telling you about the same one that we go and renew our covenant with at Passover. I'm telling you about the same one who sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. I'm telling you about the same one that has promised the kingdom. It is he, the Holy One. So he says to us, lift up your eyes on high and behold who has created these things. Who brings out their hosts by number. He calls them all by name by the greatness of his might for he is strong and power. Not one fails. Why do you say, O Jacob? Why do you say, O Jacob? In O Israel you speak. My way is hidden from the Lord or my cause is disregarded by my God. God sees you, brother. Everything that goes on in your life, when you cry out to him in the name of Jesus Christ, his ears attended them to your prayer. That's what the scripture says to those who obey him, who put their trust in him and have faith in him. Have you not known, verse 28, have you not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth does not grow weak, no weary and his understanding, no one can fathom. He gives power to the weary and to him with no might, he increases strength. So those of you whose head are hanging down, lift them up, lift them up because the mighty one is in your corner. He is the one fighting with you. He is your sure strength. He is your armor. He is your guard. Verse 30, even the young, even the young shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall. But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. This isn't just for the future, when difficult times come. This is today. This is available to you today. Again, read Isaiah 40 and claim it. Claim it. Every verse. So do we not know? You know, have we not heard? Have we not believed? So if not, hear now the word of God. Hear and understand what God says to you and I at any time. Repent. Repentance isn't just a first time and a last time. It is all the time. Repent daily for the day of his wrath is indeed at hand. We, all of us must turn to God and make our way right with him. In the act, in the act that Christ did, he shows himself. He shows himself the superior one. He is the superior hope. The father himself testified and confirmed it in 1st Peter 1. Yes, brethren, the word has gone out. A savior was given to us. God's greatest gift was given so that we might have life. Yes, the victory, the victory is ours through faith and obedience and a walk with God. I want to read one final verse in 1st Corinthians. So let's turn to 1st Corinthians. 1st Corinthians 15. We'll conclude here. We'll conclude here. In 1st Corinthians 15. And let's come all the way down. This is verse 50. Let's just take it there. Let's go back to verse 48. Let's pick it up in verse 48. 1st Corinthians 15, verse 48, last set of verses here. As is the one made of dust, so also are all those who are made of dust. And as to the heavenly one, so also are all those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the one made of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed in an instant, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, incorruptible. And we shall be changed. For this corruptible flesh that we are, brethren, this corruptible must put on incorruptibility, this eternity existence, this existence and the spirit incorruptibility. And this mortal must put on immortality. Now then, when this corruptible shall put on incorruptibility and this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall come to pass the thing that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. The victory is ours to be had, brethren. Christ has made it possible. He is executing daily all that is needed for you to achieve victory. If you're plugged into him, if you're standing with him, behind him, if you are holding onto him, you see. And now verse 55. O death, where is your sting? Right? O grave, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law. That is, to define what it is, to show you how much of it you have, what you need to get rid of, so you can take it to Christ and say, Christ, take this and change this and mold this and shape this into what you need to be. And yes, the power of sin is the law. Verse 57. But thanks be to God. Thanks be to God for the law, not just the law. Thanks be to God for the power. Thanks be to God for the plan. Thanks be to God for his son. Thanks be to God for grace and all of those things. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, be immovable, right? Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.