H.B. Charles Jr. - "God Will Give You Strength”

grace and peace be multiplied to each of you today and the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord there's always the joy when I am privileged to visit the Southern Seminary campus I'm grateful and thankful for friendship of President Moeller I am grateful for the opportunity to come this go-round as one of the trustees of this great and blessed work of the Lord and it is an additional blessing to have my wife crystal here with me I would want to stand so that you can see her you were a man if you would take your copy of God's Word and make your way to the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 40 let me breathe a prayer and then I would point your attention to the final section of Isaiah chapter 40 father we do give you praise for the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ who is our all sufficient prophet priest and King thank you for that his finished redemptive work thank you for the forgiveness of sins and new life and eternal hope that is ours in him so much so that we can even rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance character and character hope and hope will never disappoint us because your love is poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit father I pray that you would help me to speak your word faithfully and clearly and help us to receive with gentleness the implanted word that is able to save our souls and as the seed of the word is planted and watered we look to you alone for the increase and praise you for the fruit that shall come from this time in Jesus name Amen Isaiah chapter 40 permit me to begin at verse 27 why do you say Oh Jacob and speak o Israel my way is hidden from the Lord and my right is disregarded by my God have you not known have you not heard the Lord is the everlasting God the creator of the ends of the earth he does not faint or grow weary his understanding is unsearchable he gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength even youths shall faint and be weary and young men shall fall exhausted but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings like eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint the word of the Lord I want to label the message God will give you strength the famous story Winston Churchill who led Britain to a great victory in World War two was defeated in 1945 and the aftermath of his defeat his wife Clementine hoping to console her husband suggested that the affair was just a blessing in disguise to which Churchill replied if it be sold then the blessing is very well disguised have you ever felt like that in your life or ministry if not keep going to bed at night keep waking up in the morning life and ministry inevitably confronts us with dangers toils and snares that really do bring us to moments where we are prone to look up and wonder Lord what good can come out of this these closing verses of Isaiah chapter 40 offer great comfort for those inevitable difficult times Isaiah chapter 40 is a turning point in Isaiah's prophecy the prophecy of Isaiah neatly divides into two sections chapters 1 through 39 warned of the impending judgment that is to come on God's stubbornly rebellious people by the time however we get to chapter 40 there is a new section where it assumes at this point Israel has been defeated his armies have been overtaken the city of Jerusalem has been captured but now Isaiah is sent to the people of God with a new message verses 1 and 2 of Isaiah 40 read comfort comfort my people says the Lord speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that our warfare is ended that her iniquity is pardoned that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins here in Isaiah 40 the prophet begins to extend comfort to the weary and troubled people of God promising future deliverance by the mighty hand of God as you read there are even allusions to the ultimate deliverance that is to come through the arrival of the Messiah King the Lord Jesus Christ whom God has promised when you get to the end of Isaiah chapter 40 it says if there is still a dilemma what are these weak and troubled and wearied people to do in the meantime deliverance is coming but what are they to do in the meantime the Messiah King is on the way but it's a long ways from Isaiah to Matthew Mark Luke and John what are these weak weary worn-out people to do in the meantime well predominantly the chapter is a promise of future deliverance these closing verses offer hope for the meantime the message of the passage that I've read to you this morning is simply that God will give you strength if you trust him in your time of weakness these words were originally offered to comfort the people of God as they waited on Messiah to come we who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ benefit from these words as we wait for him to come again in the days and times we live in the troubled times around us calls us to seek good in the troubled in difficult times that we are called to live and minister in and personally as we follow Jesus as we do his will as we labor for the gospel we will inevitably face the dangers and toils and snares of life and ministry motivational speakers masquerading as gospel preachers will have some to think that following Jesus will bring an unbroken experience of health wealth and success not so but the good news is if you trust the Lord Jesus Christ you can live with the surance that God's strength is real and available and sufficient the one who follows Jesus truly has ambidextrous faith they could take trouble on one hand and blessings in the other hand and hold the two in tension trusting that all things really do work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose God will give you strength if you trust him in your time of weakness the passage I've read to you offer several conditions gracious conditions for divine enablement consider them with me if you will first we see the God will give you strength if you remember to worship Him verse 27 begins to register the complaints of the people of God against him why do you say Oh Jacob and speak o Israel my way is hidden from the Lord and my right is disregarded by my god notice the graphic language with which they their complaint is registered here they feel God is hiding from them they feel God has disregarded them they don't just feel this Jacob Israel is saying this it is their complaint against God have you ever felt that way the guard was playing hide-and-go-seek just when you needed him the most have you ever felt that God disregarded your desperate pleas for help this is how the people of God feels here in the text interestingly Isaiah acknowledges how they feel without affirming how they feel he recognizes and rebukes their complaints at the same time by saying why do you talk like this Jacob Israel why are you saying that God is hiding why are you talking as if God have disregarded you prophetic interrogation bleeds into verse 28 have you not known have you not heard the Lord is the everlasting God the creator of the ends of the earth that verse 28 now it is clear that the prophet stone is argumentative you see it in the word not note that he does not say do you know or have you heard he says do you not know have you not heard going forward here in verse 28 he is going to point them to the divine perfections in which they should trust but before he does so it says if I say it's saying to the people of God before I tell you what I'm about to tell you let me first tell you that what I'm about to tell you is not new news these are things you should have already known about God by both instruction and experience in a real sense Isaiah is saying I'm not trying here to impart revelation as much as I'm trying to invoke recollection these are things about God you should already know he says God is not hiding from you God has not deserted you the problem Isaiah suggests here seems is that not that God has moved but that you are looking in the wrong direction and you need to look up and be reminded who your God is he reminds them in the remainder of the verse he declares first of all that the Lord is eternal the Lord is he says the ever lasting God God is not bound by a world of clocks and calendars and day timers and schedules God lives in one eternal now Psalm 90 verse 2 Moses says from everlasting to everlasting you are God in eternity past God was God all by himself and when this hiccup of eternity called time has been completed God will still be God alone in eternity future he is from everlasting to everlasting this theological truth is meant to make a practical point it is to remind us friends that God's timing is perfect because he is the everlasting God too early and too late those kinds of a statements are not in God's vocabulary whenever God moves it's always the right time God's timing is is perfect how long was it before the rain and the flood that God showed up for Noah but it was still the right time he showed up for Shadrach Meshach and Abednego while they were in the fiery furnace but it was still the right time he didn't show up from Mary and Martha until after Lazarus had been dead for four days and they declared he is stinking by now but it was still the right time in the church I grew up in deaconate Lewis used to saying you can't hurry god no you just have to wait you have to trust him and give him time no matter how long it takes he's a god you can't hurry but he'll be there don't worry for he may not come when you want him but he's always right on time he is eternal but not only is the God eternal he also declares here in verse 28 that the Lord is sovereign he is the creator of the ends of the earth in your studies you'll you'll pick up volumes about hard passages and difficult texts in the Bible but ultimately for him there's only really one hard passage in the Bible this Genesis one in 1 in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth if you truly believe the first verse of the Bible you all have a problem believing the rest of the Bible that first verse is vital because it is not it is a true statement of history and it is a statement about the creation in the origin of the world but it is a statement about our God when scripture declares God as creator there is a theological assumption namely that the one who creates the thing is greater than the thing he creates and reigns over it and when scripture declares God is the creator of the ends of the earth he is saying God reigns over the ends of the earth in fact note the poetry he doesn't just say God created the earth he says God created the ends of the earth chart the universe in every place you measure is the handiwork of a sovereign God to say the God is eternal means you can trust God at all times to say that he is the creator of the ends of the earth is to say that you can trust him in all places wherever you find yourself he is in charge there he is the creator of the ends of the earth but then going in verse 29 28 that is still further he says that not only is this God eternal and sovereign he is omnipotent he has all power over the created world and he affirms God's omnipotence by saying what God cannot do he does not faint he does not grow weary praise God for what God does not do you may have people in your life that you believe you can count on in moments of great weakness that's good but be careful about putting your trust in man as we will see in a moment you you think you could trust on trust in people for your times of weakness but whatever the problem is let me just warned you it better not be too big it better not last too long and definitely it better not cost too much human resources inevitably run out but when all of the human resources have run out consider this about our God he never faints he is never weary then not only is this God eternal and sovereign and I've niblets him but Isaiah declares he is all wise his understanding is unsearchable not only is God able he is saying but God always knows what he is doing psalm 145 verse 3 the clearest great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable our God is all-wise there is no searching of his understanding dr. Mohler mentioned that I succeeded my father in Los Angeles at the church Mount Sinai at the age of 17 my father died suddenly when I was 16 years old I was flying home from preaching a youth meeting in Detroit to arrive at LAX and receive the news of my father's passing amazingly that afternoon leaders of the church showed up at the house and asked me to preach that next morning and preached I did i sat in my father's study that night trying to determine what to preach I was only 16 years old and preaching youth services I didn't have a whole lot of messages I had just preached however that week a message on John 6 and the last lunch that he gave over to Jesus and that every youth preacher preaches on the last lunch but as I looked over those notes I saw something that I had not paid attention to before Jesus acts Philip where will we find bread that these may eat John 6 verse 6 parenthetically tells us this he acts to test Philip for he himself knew what he would do what a great comfort God's Word was to my heart that night as I faced an uncertain future in my father's sudden passing that was hoped from the Word of God and the person of Jesus Christ that even when life is chaotic to us God knows what he's doing God works in mysterious ways his wonders to perform he plants his footsteps on the sea and rides on every storm the verse I like it says judge not the Lord by feeble sense but trust him for His grace for behind his frowning Providence he hides his smiling face here in this 28th first Isaiah says God will give you strength but you got to stop looking around and being consumed with what's happening around you you must look up and remember who your God is God gives strength to those who remember to worship Him secondly God gives strength to those who acknowledge their weakness to him verse 28 declares God's inherent strength verse 29 declares God's imparted strength he gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength God is not stingy with his strength he's willing to share it but there's a condition do you see it he gets power to the faint and to them who has no might he increases strength there there Christians will go around quoting the axiom god helps those who help themselves as if it's in the Bible it's not it's from Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack not scripture scripture teaches the direct opposite of God helped those who help themselves listen to Isaiah say he gives power to the faint and to the one who has no mite whatsoever God increases strength friends any attitude of self sufficiency automatically disqualifies you from divine enablement you can't get divine help if you think you're strong enough on your own to receive its strength you must acknowledge you a weak to receive and salvation you must admit your loss to receive His forgiveness you must confess his sins to experience how great God is you must be willing to acknowledge how weak you are one occasion the champ Muhammad Ali boarded a plane and he's putting on his routine for the passengers as they are getting settled in until finally the flight attendant l's him we're about to take off champ you need to sit down and buckle up he refused he and the flight attendants started going back and forth and trusting he's gonna have the last word he says to the lady Do You Know Who I am I'm Superman Superman doesn't need a seat belt the flight attendants a champ you're right but Superman doesn't need an airplane neither so sit down and buckle up I hate to be the one to break the news to your friend but you are not as strong as you think you are all it takes is one phone call all it takes is one letter in the mail all it takes is one meeting all it takes is one trip to the doctor's office all it takes is a car sliding out of its Lane into your lane unexpectedly it takes so little for life to confront us with the fact that that we are not as strong as we think we are CS Lewis said it well that the one who asks God and other things really has nothing more than the one who has God alone we have other things money and education and skill and experience and ability but you will inevitably face times in life where money can't buy you out of it and your your education can't think you through it and your connections cannot pull you out of it over friend no matter what you don't have if you know the Lord Jesus Christ who reigns over heaven and earth he is everything you need in your time of weakness be warned by the life of Isaiah we read a passing reference to him earlier by dr. Mohler the foolish story is in second chronicles 26 he took the throne of Judah at the age of 16 and reigned for 52 years but his initial success turned into great failure 2nd chronicles 26 says that as iowa's marvelously helped by God until he became strong and when he became strong he was lifted up in Pride to his own destruction thought his authority as king gave him the right to usurp the Ministry of the priests and as he tried to intrude at the altar God struck him with leprosy and the most powerful man on the earth dies a lonely leper in an isolated house his story reminds us affirms for us the power of weakness as long as this great man recognized his weakness God helped him in fact the chronicler says God marvelously helped him but when he began to trust in himself God put him in his place don't fall in love with yourself and be like us I'll humble yourself and be like Paul who recognized the power of weakness and declared now I prefer infirmity and weakness because when I am weak then I'm I am strong God gives strength to those who remember to worship Him God gives strength to those who acknowledge their weakness to him and finally God gives strength to those who determined to wait on him Philip Brooks shocked a friend as he paced back and forth like a caged lion filled with anxiety the frame acts what the matter was and it is said to Brooks reply simply that the matter is as simple as this I'm in a hurry and God is not could that be why your life is filled with worry doubt and fear could it be as simple as that you are in a hurry and God is not God will give you strength friend but you must determine to wait on him some 27 verse 14 wait on the Lord and be of good courage and he will strengthen your heart wait I say on the Lord Galatians chapter 6 verse 9 says let us not grow weary in well-doing for in due season we shall reap the harvest if we do not lose heart God will give you strength if you wait on him he will give you renewed strength verse 31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength that is if you trust God in your time of weakness whatever it may be if you bring it to God you can trade in your weakness for his strength the alternative is in verse 30 even you shall faint and be weary and young men shall fall exhausted youth represents those who are full of life and vitality and strength but they will inevitably faint and be weary young men chosen for military combat or athletic competition will inevitably fall down exhausted as they are saying you can put your trust in man but you will be inevitably disappointed every time or you can wait on the Lord and if you wait on the Lord in your time of weakness he will let you exchange your weakness for his strength it is sufficient strength notice the last portion of verse 31 they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint these three snapshots make one point God will give you strength as strength is needed the promise is not that you will feel strong in fact it is better that you do not feel strong the stronger you feel the more self-sufficient you become but the weaker you feel the more you'll lean on him and so if it's a certain crisis if you trust the Lord he'll renew your strength so that you'll mount over it like an eagle mounts over a sudden storm or maybe it's an extended trial or sickness or problem if you wait on the Lord he will renew your strength so that as a marathon athlete you can run and not be weary or maybe it is the daily affairs of life the daily walk of life and his challenges he will renew your strength so that you may walk and not faint as I was studying this text I was in my old treasury of scripture knowledge looking up the cross references and found a little exegetical note on this passage called the passage of cata basis a literary device that describes progress through dissent I thought about that for a moment you know it might read a little better with all due respect for preaching purposes if the order was different where you walk and then you run and then you mount up that'll preach but Isiah presents it the opposite you mount up and then run and then slow down to a walk that's an intentional thing there it describes progress through descent and the key of the literary device is that the goal is at the end not the beginning when you begin to walk with the Lord I believe he is more willing to intervene to teach you how to trust in Him but God does not want your faith journey your ministry life being him mounting you out of one problem after another the goal is actually learn how to walk and keep trusting him even in your time of weakness thank God I'm learning how to walk dad would take a walk with his daughter regularly one day they walked longer different houses unfamiliar faces longer streets he's concerned about how his daughter is taking all of this in he leans over to her and asked does she know where she is she said no do you know how to get home from here she said no are you afraid she smiled and said no he said were you a brave little girl not to know where you are not to know how to get home and yet you're not afraid she said I don't have to be brave daddy I'm with you truly friend that will make all the difference in the world in your life and your walk of faith in the work of ministry if you know that God is with you you are with God he will renew your strength thank you for your word father thank you for your greatness your power your wisdom your faithfulness your goodness thank you that all of these are available to us in the Lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead to give us new life and is seated at your right hand where he always lives to make intercession for us I pray father your blessings oh those under the sound of my voice that in every season of life and ministry we will look to you and you alone for strength that we will humble ourselves and remember that we are nothing without you and that we would walk by faith and not by sight in Jesus name Amen you

Channel: Southern Seminary

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Keywords: sbts, southern seminary, southernseminary, southern baptist seminary, southern baptist theological seminary, sbts chapel, sbts chapel sermons, sermons, H.B. Charles Jr., H.B. Charles, hb charles jr, hb charles, Isaiah 40, God is eternal, God is sovereign, God is omnipotent, God is all-wise, God is wise, character of God, God will give you strength, sovereignty of god, god's nature and character, god's sovereignty, Omnipotence of God, God will help you, weakness, anxiety, fear

Id: CeABJ9Nw3jo

Length: 32min 35sec (1955 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 10 2017