Sermon
#106 Series: Isaiah</P>
Title: ”Hope Thou In God!” </P>
Text: Isaiah 40:27-31</P>
Subject: Comfort for Downcast Saints
Date: Sunday Evening-March 1, l992
Introduction:
Is
your heart heavy? Are you downcast, despondent, and depressed? Do you feel that God has both forsaken you
and forgotten you? That he has
forgotten to be gracious? That his mercy
is clear gone forever?
Most
of us would never use such language. We are too hypocritical to
speak honestly and too proud to admit weakness. But, I dare say, there is not a man or woman
in this building who has not felt in their heart the things I have
described. Either for fear of
dishonoring God, or for fear of being misunderstood, or for fear
of leading others into gloom, we do
not often speak of our bouts with despondency; but all believers do
experience these tedious and tasteless hours of darkness and gloom (Ps.
40:5, 11; 43:5).
Tonight,
my message is a word of comfort for down cast saints. The title of my message is “Hope Thou In God!”
Proposition:
The
only cure for despondency, the only comfort for downcast hearts is faith and
hope in the Lord our God.
Divisions:
My
text tonight is Isaiah 40:27-31. As
we look at this passage of Holy Scripture, I will call your attention to three
things in it:
I. The Judgment of Unbelief (v. 27).
Unbelief
always draws the wrong conclusions. Unbelief
judges God’s goodness by circumstances.
This was Israel’s great fault throughout its history. They had the Word of God’s promise, but they
believed not. Therefore they
perished. How sad! Yet, how common this sin is!
“Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind the frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own Interpreter,
And He will make it plain.”
A. Notice how Isaiah reproves his people (v.
27).
While
in Babylon, in captivity, in time of affliction, they became dejected and
despondent. Their unbelief and
distrust of God was inexcuxable.
Why do you draw such harsh conclusions, imagining that God is unfaithful
and has ceased to be gracious? Because
they were in trouble, they thought that the Lord God…
1.
The very titles by which Isaiah addressed them should have put them to
shame for their unbelief. “O Jacob! O Israel!
Jacob
was a man who
found God faithful to him and kind to him in all his straits. Israel was God’s professing people,
a people who stood before God in a covenant relationship, to whom God had
promised both his presence and his grace.
2.
Their experiences should have forbidden their distrust of God.
·
Did
God forget them in Egypt?
·
Did
the Lord forsake them in the wilderness?
·
Did
God ever fail, or cease to be gracious to them?
3.
Now apply this word of expostulation to your own soul.
·
O
sons of Jacob, has God ever failed to be faithful to you.
·
O
Israel, has “God ever once broken his covenant?
·
Believer,
read your own history and repent of your unbelief.
B. Yet, I know that it is a very common
thing for God’s people to think God has forsaken them, because it often appears
that he has.
There
are times when our dear Savior hides his face from us, withdraws from us the
comforting knowledge of his presence and withholds from us the sweet peace of
his Spirit’s manifest influence.
1.
The guilt of sin to an awakened soul, is such a heavy burden that it causes the believer
to fear he is altogether forsaken of God, until he finds the peace of pardon
through faith in the blood of Christ.
(Ps. 38:1-4; I John 1:9).
Sometimes, even godly men and women, in unbelief, use the
language of Cain, and say, “Mine iniquity is greater than can be
forgiven” (Gen. 4:13 margin).
2.
The assaults of indwelling corruption have caused many of God’s saints, at time, to imagine
that God had cast them off (Lam. 3:18; Jer. 2:25).
3.
The neglect of worship, communion, and fellowship with Christ causes truly regenerate men
and women to sense the loss of his favor and fellowship (Song. 5:2-7).
4.
Long-continued afflictions overwhelm the strangest of men, unless the Lord is pleased
to uphold and strengthen them.
Often,
true believers misjudge God through unbelief.
But
such unbelief is both dishonoring to God and an inexcusable evil
in us. We must never judge God’s
goodness, faithfulness, wisdom, and grace by our circumstances. Like Jeremiah and David, when we
foolishly imagine that God has forsaken us we must reason with our souls and
find hope in God (Ps. 40:5,11; 43:5; Lam. 3:24-26).
II.
In verses 28 and 29, Isaiah gives us The Encouragements of Hope.
When
your soul is despairing, stop looking at your circumstances, and “Behold your
God!” Call to mind what you have
known and heard. Believe God. In the
teeth of adversity, and hope in him. Here
are four things that ought to revive the hope of downcast saints.
A. Our God is Immutable.
He is
“the everlasting God!” “He is without
beginning of days or end of life, and therefore with him there is no
change” (Matthew Henry). (Mal. 3:6; James 1:17).
B. Our God is Almighty- “The Creator of the ends of the earth
fainteth not, neither is weary!”
1.
He who is the Creator of All is—
·
The
rightful owner and ruler of all.
·
The
One who possesses absolute power over all.
·
Able
to help, to depend, and to save his people out of all their troubles.
2.
Is God Almighty?—Then…
C. Not only is he immutable and almighty, Our
God is All-Wise-- “There is no
searching of his understanding.”
Our
way is not hidden from him! He has not
forgotten us! Troubled believer,
remember, Your heavenly Father has gracious designs to accomplish. He accomplishes them secretly in
ways totally unknown to you. And often his
means of blessing you appear to work against you. But he is doing you good.
(Rom. 8:28).
Illus: Joseph
Is
God all-wise? Then…
Charles
Simeon wrote,
“ Where there is unerring wisdom to direct, and almighty power to execute, no
difficulty can exist, which shall not be overruled for good.”
D. Our great God, immutable, almighty, and all
wise is a God who is always gracious to his people- (v. 29).
God
helps the helpless. He gives power to
the faint and strength to those who have no might. Those who know themselves to be weak will find Christ to be
their Strength- (John 15:5 and Phil. 4:13 – II Cor 12:9).
Here
is the difference between faith and unbelief- Unbelief forgets God. “Faith brings God into the scene. Therefore, it knows absolutely nothing of
difficulty; it laughs at impossibilities.
In the judgment of faith, God is the answer to every question; He is the
salvation to every difficulty…Unbelief says, how can such things be? Unbelief is full of flaws; but faith has one
great answer to ten thousand hows, and that answer is God Almighty”- (Scott
Richardson).
Here
are our encouragements for hope:
“Hope
Thou in God!” We have every reason to
do so. Now, thirdly, let me show you…
III. The Blessedness of Faith (vv. 30-31).
When
I talk about faith, I am not talking about “Peter Pan faith,” faith in faith. I am talking about real faith, faith in God as he reveals himself
in his word in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
A. Proud, self-confident sinners will never
trust Christ; and they shall utterly fall- (v. 30).
Those
who trust their own sufficiency shall soon be made to see their folley.
Someone said, “A self made man worship’s his own image.” And you who worship yourselves will utterly fall. You may take up the name and banner of Christ. But in time you will put it down.
B. “But they that wait upon the Lord” shall
not fail- (v. 31).
To
Wait upon the Lord is- to know your need of him!
“They
that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” The word “renew” means “change”- We find
our strength only in Christ! We have
none in ourselves! But the word
also means “renew.” They shall
constantly have renewed strength, as they trust Christ-
1.
“They
shall mount up with wings as eagles”- Like eagles on wings of faith, their
hearts soar up to heaven (Col. 3:1-3).
2.
“They
shall run, and not be weary.”
·
Run
with Zeal.
·
Run
with Purpose.
·
Run
with Cheer in the Way of God’s Commandments.
Illus: Caleb- (Josh. 14:6-12).
3.
“They
shall walk, and not faint.”
Application: “Hope Thou In God!”
1.
Sinners,
hopeless, helpless sinners, Trust Christ.
2.
Children
of God, Trust Christ and Hope in Him.
He alone is the Anchor of Our Souls- (Heb. 6:16-20).
·
This
Anchor will hold in the storms of life.
·
This
Anchor will never fail you.