Let us turn this afternoon to Isaiah chapter 46. Isaiah chapter 46. We'll read the entire chapter. Isaiah chapter 46. All the verses. Bell boweth down, Nebo stoopeth. Their idols were upon the beasts and upon the cattle. Your carriages were heavy Loden, they are a burden to the weary beast. They stoop, they bow down together. They could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity. Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are born by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb. And even to your old age I am he, and even to whore-hairs will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear, even I will carry and will deliver you. To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me that we may be like? They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith, and he maketh it a god. They fall down, yea, they worship. They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him and set him in his place, and he standeth. From his place shall he not remove. Yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer nor save him out of his trouble. Remember this and show yourselves men. Bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is none else. I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure, calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country. Yea, I have spoken it. I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also do it. Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted that are far from righteousness. I bring near my righteousness. It shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry, and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel, my glory. The text for this afternoon's sermon is taken from Isaiah 46, the verses 3 and 4. Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are born by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb. And even to your old age I am he. And even to hoar or gray hairs will I carry you. I have made and I will bear. Even I will carry and will deliver you." Thus far, the reading of Holy Scripture. Dear congregation, there are great difficulties and hardships that can be experienced in the Christian life. Paul reminds Christians on one of his missionary trips in Acts 14, verse 22, that we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of heaven. But trials and tribulations are not easy. The way may be hard. You can feel anxious, fearful. But the question is, are you willing to be carried by the Lord? For a while the way may not be easy, and you can be filled with fears and worries. The Lord meets us this afternoon through His Word, and He promises to carry His people through life. And that's why you can write over the sermon, Carried Through Life by the Lord. Carried Through Life by the Lord. We'll see three things. First of all, why it's needed. Secondly, what is promised. And thirdly, how it's experienced. Carried Through Life by the Lord. First of all, why it's needed. Secondly, what is promised. And thirdly, how it's experienced. We may be asked to go through great difficulties. We may be passing through those great difficulties now or we may be asked to go through great difficulties later. Israel too certainly faced great difficulties with the Babylonian army coming against them and defeating them and bringing them into captivity. And the people of Babylon might say that's because your God could not deliver you. Our Babylonian gods are stronger than your God. Bel, Nebo, the Lord has forgotten you. Your God can't deliver you. But that's not true. The reason why they are going into captivity is because the Lord is punishing His people. But he has made clear already in the previous chapter that he will bring them back again, and then it will be seen that the Babylonian gods are nothing. Look at verses 1 and 2. Bel and Nebo are slumped. They're bent over. And it seems that the idol worshipers can't even carry them, and that's why these Idols are loaded onto carts because these idols can't even move of themselves. And the animals carrying them or carrying the carts are exhausted and they can't even go on. These idols did not get the victory. In fact, the message of God is that the Babylonians will be carried into captivity. And it will prove that these idols whom the Babylonians were worshipping are nothing. But idolatry is a problem. And not only in the opening two verses, but then also in verses five to seven of this chapter, people are making these idols of gold and silver. They make them. They worship them. They have to carry them too. They put them maybe on their shoulder, but then set them down somewhere, and then those idols made of gold or silver don't move, because they can't move. And when someone prays to the idol, there's no answer. The idols can't deliver you. The idols can't carry you. They aren't real. And that's what people from heathen nations need to learn, but also the people of Israel, because they had recurring problems with idolatry. And it's what we need to learn too. For the Lord takes notice of the idols you serve. Of course, we don't have Bel. We don't have Nebo. that we serve for these homemade statutes that we bring into our homes as in those days, but that doesn't mean we don't have our idols. We just have different names for our idols. I mean, don't you know that it's the god of power and control that leads Putin to keep attacking Ukraine? And that repeatedly brings conflict in the Middle East. And there's the god of mammon. that influences people to covet and makes them think that money will make them happy. The Bible tells us of people who make their belly a god, craving certain foods and certain drinks. Or it may be that their body image is their god. They want to look a certain way, dress a certain way, and for others to be impressed by how they look and how they dress. Or maybe the latest technology or the desire to be entertained as much as possible. Friends, what is it in your life? What do you love more than God? It could even be religion. or anything else in which you love more than God? Should you not break with these idols? For what will all the money you have or the house of your dreams do for you when you get sick? Young people, what will all the entertainment or the Instagram reels do for you when you have to die and meet God and give an account? And what about the lusts you fantasized about and the desires for more appreciation and honor? The pursuit of that can leave you so tired and it only increases your guilt before God. Oh, but all the pursuits that you have in your business, that you put as number one in your life, and all that we chase after in this life never satisfies, and it leaves us empty, and it leaves us guilty. And should we not confess our idols to the Lord, whatever they be, Why would we serve these idols and trust in them when these idols only let us down? They can never satisfy the soul. But God won't let us down. And we don't need to rescue Him. He will rescue us. We don't need to carry him. He will carry us. And that's what he promises here. Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob and all the remnants of the house of Israel, which are born by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb. Even to your old age, I am he. And even to whore hairs will I carry you. I have made and I will bear. Even I will carry and will deliver you. But now why do we need to be carried? When are times when we need to be carried? Let me mention some times when we need to be carried. For one thing, we need to be carried if we're small and weak. We need to be carried if we're small and weak. It's the young who need to be carried. They're small. They're weak. Babies don't know how to walk yet. They need to grow. They need to learn how to walk. And so when they're small and young and weak, what do parents do? They lift up their children. They hold them. They carry them. And that's the same with the weak. If you've been on a hike or a walk, then those who are weak soon need to be carried. Our family loves to go for walks regularly. And then it's often the youngest, who's also the weakest, who during the walk will just lift up his... he'll stand in front of me and lift up his arms. And he's saying, I'm tired. Can you carry me? And that's how it is. Not just with the small. but also with the weak who have no strength or whose strength is gone and they have no energy to go on. Such need to be carried. Secondly, it's the sick and the injured who need to be carried. The sick and the injured who need to be carried. These are the ones who paramedics often will put on a stretcher. The sick are often weak. Maybe they're undergoing treatments for cancer. They're not strong or fit to walk. They need a stretcher underneath them. They need to be carried. And it's the same with the injured. Injured because of an accident or injured on the battlefield. The injured need to be carried. And thirdly, just to mention another group, that it's not just the young and the weak. It's not just the sick and the injured. It's the tired and the old who need to be carried. The tired and the old. Some of us can easily feel exhausted. We can't do much or go far on our own. Or maybe you've gone through a time when you've easily felt exhausted and you hardly had any energy and you were tired. I mean, who has to arrange for a wheelchair or a cart when they're at the airport? It's often people who are weak weary and old. And how easily some of us can feel exhausted sometimes. We can feel drained and worn out because of all the demands that we face. We can feel physically exhausted, emotionally drained, and times of stress too can leave us feeling tired. And the old too, they don't have the strength they once had and they appreciate the ride. because they can't walk on their own anymore. Three different categories of people who need to be carried. But I want to draw a spiritual line here because these are real things in the Christian life. We can be small and weak in the faith. John writes about that in his first letter about newborns in grace. Those who need to drink a lot of milk, the spiritually young who are still growing and maturing, who can easily trip and fall, and I know a young Christian can be someone full of zeal, but it's true, we easily fall because we're still learning to walk and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. But though we be weak and small in the faith, the Lord says, this afternoon I will carry you. And there are the sick and the injured in the Christian life. The sick and the injured. The trials can be many in the Christian life. Satan assaults. We can be struck by his fiery darts. We can get tripped up by his wicked tricks. We can struggle with spiritual doubts. Spiritual sickness. spiritual disease. We may be backsliding. We're not always spiritually healthy. And we need to be carried. And that's what the Lord says, I will carry you. Or that third category that I mentioned. Yeah, we can be tired and old in the Christian life. I know the time of old age is also a time for the Christian to thrive and to be a witness towards others for another upcoming generation. But becoming older can also make us spiritually colder, tired, and struggling with weaknesses, also because of the troubles that come with old age. And we can become weary in the way, struggle with depleted energy, also in the Christian life. But the Lord says, I will carry you. And I wonder if you've seen your need for those arms of the Lord ever in your life. If you've seen your great need. Not sure how you'll make it. Passing through a season in which you're suffering and sinking, maybe. Broken and troubled, maybe. Friends, he says, I will carry you. First of all, why it's needed. Secondly, what is promised. Let's look at the content of the promise. And the first thing actually that we're meant to notice in verses 3 and 4 is that the Lord speaks. That's how verse 3 begins. Hearken unto me. And that's quite different from the idols who can't say a thing. But the God of Israel speaks. And that's what the Bible is all about, revealing to us the true and living God who speaks. And that means He wants contact with you. And contact with me. As the speaking God. As the revealing God. And it tells us that we must listen because God has a lot to say. He even sent His Son into the world. And Jesus is the Word made flesh who dwelt among us and who reveals the Father. And the Father said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him. And if it's right, you know what it is to listen to His voice. Especially when you're burdened with sin, and you're discouraged, and you're sad, and you're troubled, and you don't know how to go on sometimes. Well, the Lord says, Harken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnants of the house of Israel. He knows very well that his people are a small minority, a remnant, but he doesn't forget them. Oh, they don't deserve His care and His grace? Because verse 8 says they are transgressors. And verse 12 says they're stout-hearted. That means hard-hearted and far from righteousness. There is no reason. in them why the Lord should be gracious to them, and there's no reason in us why He should be gracious to us, and show us His strength, and show us His arms this afternoon, and yet He says, I will carry you. Yeah, you see, He not only speaks, He also carries. There are not only His words, there are also His deeds. He's the speaking God and He's the carrying God. The Lord carries His people. And verse 3 points us to the time when the Lord formed Israel into a nation. He made them. And from the earliest stages, he carried them and throughout their youth, through the wilderness, he says, listen, that's what I've done for you. I've carried you in my arms. I've carried you on my back. And you've seen pictures, no doubt, of mothers in Africa, working somewhere or walking somewhere, carrying a child on their back the whole day. The Lord says, that's what I've done. And Moses summed up the Lord's care for Israel in Deuteronomy 1 verse 31. Deuteronomy 1 verse 31, And in the wilderness where thou hast seen, how that the Lord thy God bear thee, or carry thee, as a man doth bear his son in all the way that ye went until ye came into this place. The Lord leading his people of Israel through the wilderness. He carried them as a father carries his child, as a father carries him all the way. Deuteronomy 32 verse 11, there Moses uses another picture, but he uses the same Hebrew word. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings, so the Lord alone did lead them." The Lord was like the mother eagle, teaching her young to fly, but coming underneath the young to bear them up, to keep them from being dashed upon the rocks. And He carries His people even to their old age. And what He has done for His people in the past, He will still do today for His people now. He will carry them. What does that look like? And who will do it? Let me summarize it with four things. For one thing, He will carry them sovereignly. He will carry them sovereignly. Who does the carrying here? Do they have to do it themselves? Do they have to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps? Do we have to rely on ourselves? Do we have to muster up endless supplies of strength from ourselves? No, we don't have endless supplies of strength. Israel didn't in the wilderness. We don't either. The Lord carried them, and He will carry His people still today. God will support them. God will carry them. You, He says, are born by Me. I am He. I will carry you. I, I, I will carry you. Five times we hear Him pointing to Himself. I will do it. Yeah, we need help. You as a busy mother in your home, you as a busy father at work, In the midst of all the challenges that can be laid upon you, who can give us that support? Who will hold us up and carry us? It's the Lord. But Pastor, then He needs to be strong and mighty. Yes, I mean, I as a father have carried all of our children in our home, on walks. I've carried them to bed at the end of the day. Especially when we've gone on hikes as a family, and I've had to carry one of them. Boy, I felt tired. But that's different about the Lord. He never grows weary. Isaiah 40, verse 31 says. He doesn't faint. Or rather, Isaiah 40, 28. He is almighty. And that's why He can carry all His people At all time, through the hardest places, and at the hardest times, and that all at the same time, He's strong, but also wise. He knows exactly what we need even before we ask. After all, He has made us the middle of verse 4 says. And because He has made us, He knows us through and through. He knows how weak we are, how fragile we are, how we come to an end in ourselves, to an end of our limited resources. He knows perfectly how to support His people. He will carry His people sovereignly. Secondly, He will carry His people continually. He will carry His people continually. After all, He carries them from the womb. Now, some take that to mean that His care begins after we're born. The truth is that His care is there before we're born. After all, He formed us in the womb of our mother, Psalm 139, verse 14, and He came with tender and loving hands to hold us and to care for us when we were born. But while it begins already in the womb, And when we're born, it doesn't stop there. He carries continually. Also in that difficult part of your journey, when you thought, why is it so hard? Boy, this seems to go on for long. And you think it's only your footprints. And you think now that is that it is so hard, why do I have to go alone? And you may have heard of that poem called Footprints. And in all those hard places, and it seemed like the Lord had left you, and the Lord says it's true, there was only one set of footprints as you went through those hard times and those hard places, but those were my footprints. For when the way was too difficult for you, I picked you up and I carried you. He will carry His people continually. How long has He carried you already? It is 20 years maybe, or 52, or 64, or 83, or 90 plus. All the way to our old age, even to our whore or gray hairs, even to an advanced age, when you're old and gray and you can't stand up anymore, and you can hardly walk, and you're bent over, and when another brings us where we don't want to go in our old age, as Jesus said to Peter, even then I will carry you. The Lord promises to care for you and to carry you from the womb to the tomb. From the beginning of your life in weakness to the end of your life in weakness, through times of great weariness and times of great pain, He will carry His people continually. And if you wonder why is He so faithful, it's because He's so gracious. And that's the third thing you can say. He carries His people sovereignly. He carries His people continually. Thirdly, He carries His people graciously. After all, His care for them is not deserved. Even the remnant of the house of Jacob doesn't deserve it. Verse 8, I already pointed to that verse, says we're transgressors. Verse 12, we're hard-hearted, stout-hearted. far from righteousness in and of ourselves. If God's care depended on us being without sin, then who would care for us? But he says to his people who are prone to trip, prone to fall, prone to sin, prone to transgress, I will carry you. Not because you earned it, because that's not possible, but because Jesus earned it. by His life and His death on the cross. Isaiah 53 says, He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Isaiah 53 verse 11, He hath borne away their iniquities, and therefore He will carry you. It's because of what He has done, what He has accomplished. That's why He will carry you through sickness. Psalm 41 verse 3, The Lord will strengthen Him upon His sickbed. He will bring you through storms, and you thought you were going to drown in those troubles and storms and cares, 2 Samuel 22 verse 17. He sent from above. He took me. He drew me out of many waters. And when enemies came upon you, you could say, 2 Samuel 22 verse 19, the Lord was my stay and my support. And when you tripped and you fell, who helped you up again? The Lord did, Psalm 37, verse 24. Psalm 94, verse 18, His loving kindness held me up. What does that look like? I mean, what does that look like practically? How does the Lord actually lift you up? How does He carry you through such trials and through such hardships? Well, friends, does He not do that by His Word and His Spirit? He lifts us up through His Word and He carries us with His promises. Uphold Me according unto Thy Word, Psalm 119, verse 16 says. And by the Holy Spirit, Paul says in Ephesians 3, verse 16, we are strengthened with might in the inner man so that we're enabled to go on. That's why it's so important to gather under the means of grace, Psalm 20, verse 2. The Lord will send help from the sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion. And have you not experienced that too? You who know the grace of God in your heart and life. God's Word met you in your weakness. And He carried you forward by His grace. And He uses also people. He can carry you with the support given to you by others. Someone said to me the other day, we just have felt through this great hardship that we've been carried by the prayers of others. Just as the Lord uses the hands of a nurse in the birth of a baby, but that care of the nurse speaks of the Lord's care that the psalmist said, Psalm 71 verse 6, Thou art he that took me out of my mother's womb. His hands of the Lord through the hands of the nurse were there already. So yes, his people should bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ, Galatians 6 verse 2. And we should bear the infirmities of the weak, Romans 15 verse 1. And is that not why a cup of cold water is so refreshing to God's people in their trials? And the sharing of His goodness with others shows the care of the Lord to people in their trials. He carries His people sovereignly. He carries His people continually. He carries His people graciously. And fourthly, He carries His people savingly. He carries His people savingly. In the last words of our text, He says, and I will deliver you. It's a promise of deliverance, of rescue, that He will bring His people to safety and He'll bring His people to rest. Yes, we will pass through dangers and through trouble, but the Lord will deliver, as William Jay says, an 18th, 19th century pastor in England, He will deliver you from trouble, in trouble, and through trouble. Do you see what it says of our world? This world is not a safe world. We can't find full happiness and peace and rest here in this world. It's a world that brings us trouble. We need to be rescued out of danger time and again, but He will do it. He will bring His people to be saved to sin no more. Though they've come through many dangers, toils and snares, He'll bring them home at last to know that perfect rest in the haven of rest. where there will never be any more weakness, any more sorrow, any more pain. Don't you desire that? But now, how is the Lord carrying grace experienced? That's our third point. How it's experienced. Yeah, how do we enjoy this grace of His carrying arms? The comfort of it too. But do we have to meet some requirements Do we have to complete some conditions? Do we have to be more serious, more consistent in our prayer life, maybe, to know the care of the Lord? Oh, that's true. The Lord teaches His people a life of prayer. And Christians desire consistency in their lives. But the promise is enjoyed by faith. It's always how the promise of the Lord is enjoyed. It's by faith. That's what Paul will say in Romans 4 verse 16. And we're called to faith. We're called to trust in the arms and the care of the Lord who carries His people. And what would you say of a child who doesn't want to be held? A child who doesn't want to be carried? What would you say of a child Who's always trying to avoid the arms of mom or dad and swats those hands away? What about you? Do you trust the arms of the Lord and the hands of the Lord as they come to meet us in our lives? Does he have to say maybe? All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people. You kept pushing my hands out of the way? You kept slapping them away? Romans 10.21. You see, He welcomes every sinner who turns to Him and trusts in Him. And you may be sunken in sin, you may be sunken in sorrow, but Christ can bear you up out of that deep pit that you're in, and the guilt of sin that holds you in its bondage. He can carry you. He can meet you in the lowest pit, because He went into the lowest pit, and there was no one to carry Him. And He could say in the words of Psalm 69, the waters are come in unto my soul, I sink in deep mire where there is no standing. I come into deep waters where the floods overflow me." And as He suffered on the cross, He descended into the pit of God's forsakenness. And the Father did not hold on to Him. And the Father did not carry Him. And the Father showed Him no mercy. And He cried out, My God, My God, why? so that people like you and me can find the arms of the Lord in grace stretched out to us, carrying us, holding on to us, and lifting us up. And He won't let His people go in life and in death. Do you remember Pilgrim's Progress? A Christian and hopeful had to go through the river of death Remember when Christian came upon the river, at first he began, he felt himself sinking and he feared he would not be able to make it and Hopeful said to him, be of good cheer, I feel the bottom and it is good. How could Hopeful say that? Because of who the Lord is and what the Lord had said. The Lord knew how to carry Christian and Hopeful across the river. He had brought them out of the city of destruction. He had carried them through their daily pilgrimage along hill difficulty, in vanity fair, even in the castle of giant despair, and through the valley of the shadow of death. He carried them. Do you trust Him? Do you let Him carry you? Do you take refuge through those arms? You sink down into them. When you're sick or feeble, you're broken and troubled, He has strength to lift you up and carry you. In sore trials, in the hot furnace, like Daniel's three friends even, He can bring you through it. He preserves His people. Psalm 37 24, Though the believer falls, He shall not be utterly cast down. And when your strength fails, and you become more weak and frail, and you don't know how to go on because a loved one has been taken away from you, and you feel so alone, the Lord says, I will carry you, hold you, bear you, and not let you go. And if you trust by grace, Why then are you sometimes so anxious? If His arms are underneath you, His arms can carry you. And young people, are you ever afraid of the future? Do you ever feel anxious? Lonely? Maybe some of you, all you do is you look at your phone and all your games, and they can't take away the restlessness that's deep in your soul. And I would say, young people, seek a relationship with the Lord, and let the Lord carry you. Tell the Lord your need, that you don't deserve His grace, but that you need His grace. Young people, He's promised to you in your baptism. And when all the idols of your life fail you, the Lord has said, I will carry you. I will be your God in darkness and in pain, in sorrow and in shame. When you feel oppressed, when you feel overwhelmed, I can carry you. I will hold on to you. I will save you. But how terrible if you don't let His arms carry you. through this life. While there are plenty of things to give you gray hair, how terrible if you've never fallen into the arms of the Lord, as David says. If you've never sought those arms of the prodigal son to know the embrace and the love of the Father. How terrible if you're resisting His grace and His care. Still busy carrying your own idols, holding on to them and not willing to let them go. Also the idols of pride and unbelief. Whatever idol which you may be carrying, which can do nothing for you for time and eternity. How terrible, actually. If you're in unbelief this afternoon, because you know that means The devil is carrying you. The devil has you in his arms. And the devil is leading you. How terrible to be in the arms of Satan. To not know the care and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then, if you die like that, to sink into this bottomless pit, to be with the devil. and all those who don't love you. But the arms of the Lord are stretched out still in the gospel. Why not return with the prodigal son to the Father who has arms of grace and arms of love to embrace you? Though you oft have sinned against Him, though you're not worthy of the least of His mercies, arms of love to embrace you, arms of grace to carry you. And friends, every day we must sink down into those arms again, cast ourselves upon His mercy again, and go forward, leaning on the everlasting arms, those mighty arms that cannot fail. that will bring His people all the way home. Amen. Let us give thanks and pray. Most good doing, gracious Lord, who can fathom Thy great love to show us Thy arms this afternoon in mercy, stretched out, able to receive the returning prodigal son with love and arms that go underneath to carry thy people so that though through many dangerous toils and snares they have already come. It is those gracious arms that have brought them safe thus far and that will lead them all the way home. And that because of Christ whose arms were stretched out on the cross forsaken, so that sinners like us might be accepted and never be forsaken, and know of a shepherding care that cannot fail, that will not fail, even though we may be weak, our faith may be dim, and our fears many. Thou art faithful. and will not forsake the works of Thy own hands. Help Thy people here, Lord, to sink every day anew into those arms. And show those who don't know Thee in Thy grace how precious the arms of Christ are and dreadful to remain in the arms of Satan. Lord, work mightily. Remember us. Further, this afternoon, blot out our sins in preaching and in praying and in our praising and our giving of our gifts to receive our thanks and go with us into this week in our tasks, in maybe busy aspects of our lives, maybe struggles, difficult providences that we don't know what to do with. Show Thy arms, Lord, and carry us, for we ask it. In Jesus' name alone, Amen.