Turn with me tonight in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 46. Most of you know that on Sunday evenings for the last several weeks we've been looking at The chapter's beginning with chapter 40 here in the book of Isaiah. And this chapter, chapter 46, continues with the same theme as the previous ones that we've looked at. This prophecy, as well as the others, was given before the nation of Israel was taken into the 70 years captivity in Babylon. It was given, no doubt, to comfort, give hope to the nation while in Babylon, that the Lord had not forgotten them. Their sin, their sin, had brought this upon them, their captivity. It was a result of their sin, and especially, as we have seen, the sin of idolatry. Yet the Lord, Jehovah, would redeem them and deliver them again to their land. And again, in this chapter, idols are shown to be lifeless, useless inventions of fallen and depraved men. The chapter begins naming two of the primary gods of Babylon, that is, Bel and Nebo. Bell boweth down, Nebo stoopeth. Their idols were upon the beast and upon the cattle. Your carriages were heavy-loaden. They're a burden to the weary beast." These two idol gods that the Babylonians worshiped and revered, they were taken captive. They were being carried away by their conquerors. They could not deliver Babylon. They could not deliver Babylon from Cyrus. And remember, the Lord named him some 200 years before he came into this world and made him his servant. That is, Cyrus was named. Isaiah's prophesying some 200 years before this comes to pass. Cyrus, who God raised up, And we read this, I believe, last time, to perform all his pleasure. That is, God raised up this Persian ruler, Cyrus, to perform all of God's pleasure, all of his pleasure. And the Lord calls upon them in their captivity now. They would no doubt read this prophecy while they are in Babylon, in captivity, And it would serve to encourage them and to assure them that God had not forsaken them, that God had not forgotten them. If you look in verse number nine, God calls upon them to remember. Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there's none else. I am God and there is none. like me, to remember that this prophecy, as they, now picture this, here they are in Babylon, in captivity, and God calls upon them to remember that He had given this prophecy some 200 years before, to remember. There's no God like He is, who is omniscient, who knows everything. He alone is omniscient. He alone is the God of all power. And thus, he is able to declare the end from the beginning. Notice that in verse 10. There's no God like me. There is no other God. Remember this. Think about this. The idols of Babylon were not even able to save them, the Babylonians. was not able to deliver them, but the gods themselves, Baal and Nebo, they're taken captive. And they become a burden upon the beast that are carrying them away to Persia. No doubt they were loaded or made with gold and silver, and so they were valuable as far as the metal is concerned, but they had no value. Spiritually, they were useless, lifeless, dead inventions of man. Remember this. God calls upon his people to remember this. He called Cyrus, if you notice in verse 11, a ravenous bird, a ravenous bird rather. He was called this, a ravenous bird. The writers say, Not so much to reveal his greediness as to reveal how swift he was as a bird that is swift upon its prey as an eagle is flying in the air and views its prey on the ground and how quickly it comes down and snatches up its prey. So Cyrus moved quickly and actually conquered Babylon in one night. Now it took longer, of course, to divert the course of the river so that his armies could come into the city, yes, but basically the city fell in one night. And we have that recorded in Daniel, Daniel chapter five. And notice what God says in verse five. To whom will you liken me? Now just think about this. If you wanted to make yourself a God, you want to make yourself an idol, to be like God, what would you choose? Would you choose the sun? Would you choose the sun and the moon, the stars? Would you choose the wind? Would you choose whatever? What would you choose to make to fashion with your hands that could be like God? Because there is no other being like him. He alone is God. To whom will you liken me and make me equal and compare me that we may be like? There is no other being. God questions them. All to show, no doubt, the uselessness of idolatry, of idol worship. The Lord Jesus Christ is the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person. If we want to see God, we see Him in His Son. who has revealed Him, who has spoken Him out to us, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person, who upholds all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself, don't you love this, when He had by Himself, without the help of any other person, any other being, any church, or any group of men, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. Tonight, I want us to look and think especially of the Lord's words in verses three and four. 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. These words, the Lord assured the nation that the Lord who carried them from the belly, that is from the conception, from the very beginning of this nation, one man, Abraham, and the promised son that he gave him, Isaac, and then Jacob, and then the 12 sons of Jacob, how the Lord had carried them from the belly, from their mother's belly. He had carried them. And you study through the Old Testament and you see how the Lord had carried them through all kinds of difficulties. 400 years plus at captivity in Egypt, God carried them. Remember Pharaoh, he tried to exterminate the Israelites because they were captives in his land. But he said, listen, if we go to battle, they're likely to take the side of our enemies. And so he tried to have all the men, children, thrown into the Nile River, destroyed. The more he persecuted them, the more they exploded. The population exploded. God carried them. How many times do you read about Abraham? He went down into Egypt. Isaac went down into Egypt. Do you remember the problems they both had when the ruler took their wife? Sarah, Rebecca, both of them, both Abraham and who was carrying them, who was protecting them, who was watching over them through all the history of the nation of Israel to that point that they were now in captives in Babylon, who had taken care of them, who had carried them. He's not going to forget them. He's not going to leave them. He said, I would carry and deliver them. He would not fail. What an encouragement these words were to the captives in Babylon. But I want us tonight to leave the words as they pertain to the nation of Israel, that is to physical Israel, and consider them as they pertain to spiritual Israel, that is to every child of God. to you tonight, if you are one of his children, how these words pertain to you and to me. Some call this the security of the believer. You know that acronym TULIP. And of course, men who did not believe the truth about God, no doubt, are the ones who came up with this word tulip. But we're not ashamed of what those letters stand for, because they're truths from the word of God. And the name tulip is just an easy way for us to remember them. T, total depravity. Total depravity. That means that man has fallen so far that he is not able to recover himself. Total depravity. Total inability. People can talk about man's free will all they want to, but man is born a slave to sin. Total depravity. Unconditional. The U. Unconditional election. Yes, God chose a people. Chose a people from before the foundation of the world, and His choice was not conditioned upon anything in those whom He chose. Grace. Grace, right. L. Limited atonement. And some people they misapply or misunderstand that word limited, the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ accomplishes every single thing that God purposed for it to accomplish. Ah, irresistible grace. Thank God for irresistible grace. The psalmist said, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. I tell you, when the dogs of heaven, mercy, goodness and mercy, when they get on one of God's chosen people's trail, they're going to follow until they bring that person willingly, willingly to Christ. No one ever comes to Christ against his will. God so works in us, giving us a will, His people shall be willing in the day of His power. But then we come to that last letter, P, which means preservation or perseverance. Both of those words are true of every believer. We are preserved, and yes, we persevere in believing in Christ. Now just as God told the nation of Israel here in this text, I have borne thee from the belly, from the belly, from our new birth. Who begins this work in a sinner? God does. And who carries this work on? God does. And this work is not going to miscarry. It's going to accomplish what God has purposed to accomplish in saving His people. Now I want to mention five truths which should give every child of God assurance tonight. Assurance that our Lord, who begins a good work, is going to accomplish that work. The perseverance of the saints. And notice, he will never cast us off even to whore hairs, even to white hairs. Old age. He's not going to cast off one of his children. There are five truths that gives us this assurance. First of all, the love of God gives us this assurance. In John chapter 17, in our Lord's Prayer, one part of the Lord's Prayer, the Lord declares something here that is just so amazing. If it wasn't in the word of God, we could not possibly believe this. And yet it is part of the word of God. It is true. The Lord Jesus Christ speaking to his father, he said, as thou hast loved me, even so have you loved those whom you have given unto me. In these words, even so, You have loved those that you have given unto me. Now think about that. Is that amazing or not? Is it? It has to be that God loves you as he loves his son. You know, in one of the daily devotionals, if you read Charles Spurgeon's morning and evening recently, I think maybe this past week, one of the devotions, Charles Spurgeon pointed out just how it is that God loves his son, how he loves his son. And he said he loves him without beginning. That's one way He loves His Son. He loves His Son with no beginning to the Father's love to the Son. His love for His Son is everlasting. His love for the Son is without any change. His love for the Lord Jesus Christ, for His eternal Son, has never varied. The love the Father has for the Son, it's without beginning, it's without change, it's without end. Never going to end. And it's without measure. Now that's the way the Lord Jesus Christ said that He loves you and He loves me, He loves all of His people. God the Father loves you as He loved His Son, without beginning, without change, without end, and without measure. For any one of His children, for any one of His children whom He loves, for that child to be lost, then that would mean that the Father would have to change His love for His Son. That's not going to happen. That's not going to happen. So first of all, the love of God, the love of God gives us assurance that as he has begun this work, he's going to finish the work. Paul said that to the Philippians, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you shall perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Second, the power of God gives us this assurance. Look with me in 1 Peter, 1 Peter 1, verses 3 through 5. The power of God gives us this assurance, as well as the love of God gives us this assurance. In 1 Peter 1, beginning with verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you who, you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last day. Those begotten of God, born of God, are kept by the power of God. And notice it is through faith. Through faith. When you first come to Christ, you believe in Him. You will continue to believe in Him. You say, what if a person stops believing in Him? That's not going to happen. not for one of God's children, not one that he's given faith. He's never going to stop having faith. One of the promises in the new covenant is I will not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts. Now listen, God's not going to turn away from his chosen. He will put his fear in their hearts that In order that they shall not depart from me. The power of God gives us assurance. My father, the Lord Jesus Christ said, my father which gave them me is greater than all. And no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. Third, the promises of God give us this assurance. Peter refers to the promises of God as exceeding great and precious promises. Great promises, exceeding great and precious promises. I want us to look at two of these great promises, one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament. But this gives a believer's assurance that he that hath carried us from our from the womb of salvation, from the beginning of salvation, he's going to carry us all the way through. He's not going to lose one of his sheep, not one of those who were given unto him. But look with me in 1 Samuel, this promise from the Old Testament, and then we'll look at one in the New Testament. But in 1 Samuel chapter 12, In verse 22, 1 Samuel 12 and verse 22. For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great namesake, because, now notice this, because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people. It pleased the Lord to make us his people. In other words, He chose us, He redeemed us, and He called us. And do you see why, in this verse, why we are told He will not forsake His people? Do you see why? For the same reason that He forgives His people their sins. Why? For His name's sake. For His name's sake. Let's read that again. For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great namesake. God hath forgiven you, the scripture says in Ephesians, for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. That's the only reason anyone is ever forgiven. Every sin that God forgives, he forgives for Christ's sake. For his namesake. All right, now let's look at one in the New Testament. Hebrews chapter 13, and I know you're more familiar with this one, but let's read it again. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse five. Let your conversation be without covetousness. That is your lifestyle. your lifestyle. Be without covetousness. Did you know covetousness is idolatry? You know it's a sin that can be easily covered. And it can be covered by various names. Various names to cover the sin of covetousness, which is idolatry, the apostle says. And it's named right along there with with adultery and fornication and all of the sins of the flesh and sins of the spirit, covetousness, not being content. Paul said, I've learned in whatever state I am therewith to be content. I've just finished reading through the book of Deuteronomy, and I've noticed, I wish I had marked this, but I noticed several times that God through Moses warned the nation of Israel, now be careful, be careful when you come into the land and you prosper, when you prosper. Most people can deal with need, most Christians can deal with need better than they can with prosperity. When Christians are in need, it drives them to the Lord, to seek the Lord, to confess the need of His help. But in prosperity, many times, we forget the Lord. We've got other things to do, other things that occupy us. Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content. Paul said, I've learned to be content. It's a learning process, isn't it? And we're still learning. And as long as we are in this world, no doubt we will still be learning to be content with such things as you have. Who gave you what you have? God did. God gave you what you have. I know you worked, but God gave you the strength to work. I know you've got a mind that allows you to work and earn the money that you earn, but God gave you the intelligence. It all goes back to God. Be content with such things as you have. That doesn't take away industriousness or having goals. I'm not saying that. But be content and recognize that it is the Lord that giveth thee power to get wealth. Both wealth and poverty come from Him. Be content. God knows exactly what I need and what you need. I think of this. I read this past week also. And one of Spurgeon's devotionals, I believe he was commenting, remember the poor, remember the poor. And he pointed out that if God had wanted to, he could have laid bags of gold at the door of all of his children. But he hasn't done that. And many are poor in the things of this world, rich in the things of God. I spoke to a man yesterday. I've known a few men in my life, a few Christian men, but I tell you, I spoke to a man yesterday that, in my opinion, probably has as little of this world's goods as anyone I know, and one of the most happy men, and this is not just for a day or a week, but I've known him for almost 50 years, probably. And he's content, and he's happy, or he gives that appearance he always has. to me. And you know, I've seen him go through hard times, according to the world, bad times, and I've seen him go through good times, but I've always seen him continue to thank God and praise God day by day for whatever the Lord sends. Be content with such things as you have. For, now here's the reason, for he has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. That's all we really need. That's God's promise. I'm not going to leave you. I'm not going to leave you. I'm not going to forsake you. No matter what the circumstances, no matter how bad things may look, I will not forsake thee. I will not leave thee. All right, here's a fourth reason, fourth truth. The covenant of God gives us assurance. You know, this is what gave King David assurance at the end of his life. He had had his ups, he'd had his downs. He had tragedy and things of that nature, disappointments like all men. And yet when he came to the end of all, he said, this is all my salvation. What is it, David? He, that is God, hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure. That everlasting covenant gives us assurance. He's going to carry us, not part of the way. And like, again, I'll quote Charles Spurgeon, as saying, and you've heard this, I know, but he said, if God were to carry us right up to the very portals of heaven and put us down and say, now you make it the rest of the way, a foot out, you make it the rest of the way on your own, we'd all fail. No, he carries us. He's not going to forsake us. And number five, the blood of the son of God gives us assurance. And let me read you this quote. Why was he willing to be at such an amazing expense in their purchase, if after all, he permit their avowed enemy to make them his easy prey? That be far from him. The thought be far from us. No, while there is compassion in his heart, or power in his hand, while his name is Jesus and his work salvation, he must, he must see of the travail of his soul and be completely satisfied. It cannot be that one soul for whom he gave his life and spilled his blood, whose sins he bore and whose curse he sustained, should ever finally perish. The blood of the Son of God gives us assurance. The hymn writer, Fanny Crosby, wrote so many great hymns, but one of the hymns she wrote we used to sing. It's not in this book, so we don't sing it anymore. But it starts off like this. Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on his gentle breast, there by his love, or shaded sweetly, my soul shall rest. May God help us to rest tonight. in our Savior and in his finished work for his people on the cross. He's not going to forsake. He's not going to leave his people. Let us sing number 329, sitting at the feet of Jesus as our closing hymn, number 329.