This is an exposition of Isiah 40:12-31. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, February 25, 2018.
Intro:
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” That was Paul’s conclusion regarding those who were “outside of Christ.” It is equally appropriate today. If fact it is increasingly true among those “inside the church!”
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God has definitely been made “user friendly.” He has been made safe. We need not fear the Almighty. But is that true? Is that a safe position? I would argue it is an extremely dangerous position. In fact I am becoming convinced that until you learn to fear God – you cannot trust God. You can only trust Him to the extent you have learned to fear Him. I think there is biblical precedent for such a belief.
You remember the Exodus. That little excursion Moses took the children of Israel on. The children of Israel had gone down into Egypt during the time of Joseph due to the famine. Later a leader came to power who refused to recognize Joseph and his descendants. Israel then was taken captive and made slaves. They cried out to God and God delivered them. You remember the plagues and how God brought them to the point of letting Israel go. Finally Israel is leaving and the look back and the army of Egypt is in hot pursuit. They turn around and they are heading into the Red Sea. They are stuck. The army of Egypt on one side and the Red Sea on the other.
What’s going on? Why did God bring us out here to die? They had no idea how they would ever get out of their predicament. God did something they never imagined.
The Red Sea parted and they crossed on dry land. The army of Egypt drowned in the Sea.
Look at the result.
Exodus 14:31 - Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed or put their trust in the Lord and His servant Moses.
Did you catch it? They feared the Lord and put their trust in Him. The two are related. Once they experienced His power and glory. Once they were awed by Him, they put their trust in Him. God specifically led them into a dead-end so that He could build their trust. We can only trust Him to the extent that we stand in awe of Him.
Text: Isaiah 40:12-31
Here we find a classic passage dealing with the greatness of God and designed to inspire confidence in Him.
Throughout this passage Isaiah uses anthropomorphic language. He uses the language of man to describe God. We know that God is a spirit. He does not have a body. He does not have hands, feet, arms, legs etc. This is the use of picture language to help us grasp His greatness. A careful reading of this chapter will bring us to only one conclusion.
Thesis: As believers we can confidently trust in our awesome God.
Isaiah declares in chapter 40 that God is awesome and he means it in the classical sense of the word.
There are 4 things I want you to note as we travel through this passage.
- God is infinitely greater than the most majestic elements of the world around us. (40:12)
- God is infinitely greater than the nations of the earth. (40:15-17)
- God is in control of all earthly leaders. (40:23-24)
- God’s power, glory and wisdom is beyond all comprehension. (40:26)
Conclusion:
The fact is you compare things to God every day.
Whenever you run head on into trouble you stop and ask – can God handle this?
You don’t understand I could lose my job. God is bigger.
You don’t understand this operation can be tricky. God is bigger.
This could really harm me financially. God is bigger.
Stand back and take a good look at our God. Then stand in awe of Him and watch as He delivers you. You will find that He will do exceedingly, abundantly above and beyond what you ask or think.
Our God is an awesome God and worthy of your trust and confidence.
He is worthy of your fear.
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