Good morning, church. I would like to say happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, mothers to be, and motherly figures. May God continue to guide, keep, and bless you. Now, today I will be reading from Isaiah 40, verses 1 to 17. And I will be reading from the King James Version. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her welfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord. make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crypt shall be made straight, and the rough places plain, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The voice said, cry, and he said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely, surely, The people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. O Zion, that bringest good things, good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain. O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength. Lift it up, be not afraid. Say unto the cities of Judah, behold your God. Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand and his arm shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd and he shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountain in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord, or, being his counselor, hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and whom instructed him? and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding. Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as a small dust of the balance. Behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing, and Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering, All nations before him are as nothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing and vanity. This is the reading of the Lord's Word. Thanks be to God. Thank you, Shemari. Behold your God. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we have been given a glimpse of your majesty from your word, read to us this morning. We pray, Lord, that you would comfort our hearts as you intended from these words, that our hearts would not be carried away with the fears and anxieties of this world, but that we would behold our God. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Happy Mother's Day. It is so wonderful to see my mom here, I can't even tell you. And my mother-in-law as well, and my wife Meredith. It's gonna be a full day for us today. As it will be for you, I'm sure. As I considered what to preach on for Mother's Day, there were a few passages that crossed my mind. But then I remembered this one. Isaiah 40, verse 11. He will tend his flock like a shepherd. He will gather his lambs in his arms, and he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those who are with young." I remember when Meredith and I were first, we had first become parents, and Jill Kutz shared this verse with us, and it's one of those verses that sticks with you. the trials and tribulations of parenting are very difficult, especially as young mothers know. So I wanted to focus on this verse a bit today. We are gonna consider the entire chapter or that entire section in context. I'm not gonna preach on every single word. I'd be here for a week. But we are gonna focus on that verse today. As I consider the context in which these words of Isaiah were written, and to whom they were written, I thought it would be a timely word of encouragement for us today. Like in the days of the prophets, it's dangerous to say out loud what it says in this book. You know what I'm talking about? Try to go online and say what the Lord has written in this word. Say it boldly and see what happens. A large portion of our nation has turned away from God. a congressman recently made the statement, God's will is of no concern to this Congress. For a little bit of perspective, listen to the opening prayer which began the First Continental Congress in 1774. Our Lord, our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who does from thy throne behold all dwellers on the earth and reigns with power supreme. That's the opening of the prayer. And uncontrolled power over all kingdoms, empires, and governments. Look down on mercy, we beseech thee, on these, our American states, who have fled to thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on thy gracious protection. Note, they're not trusting in their own arm to save them, but on God's sovereign hand, desiring to be henceforth dependent only on thee. May the Lord restore the fear of the Lord to this nation. The song we just sang, Because He Lives, has a special place in my mom's heart. So I requested that this morning. She was telling me, as we were sharing some time the last couple weeks, that in 1973, she was holding me in her arms, a newborn baby, and that song came on the radio. And it brought such tremendous comfort to her, that because he lives, we can face tomorrow. Because he lives, there is a future for my little child. The song was written by the Gaithers, and I did a little bit of research, and I discovered that they also had had a child in 1970, and that was the purpose for writing the song. And the very same anxiety that was filling my mother's mind was also filling their mind. But they had a sure comfort, a sure hope, and that is that there is an eternal destiny for those who are in Christ. I remember feeling that way in 2001 when those towers fell. Meredith was pregnant with Maddie, and I just remember being overwhelmed with anxieties. I'd be at work and I would run into the bathroom and go in the bathroom stall and just cry. What is the future going to be for my child, bringing her into this world? It was obvious that it was a planned, premeditated attack. What's going to happen next? Well, the book of Isaiah was written for people living in times like these. Except for a chosen few, the people of Israel had turned away from God and were searching after the worship of idols of their neighbors. Sorry. So for the first 39 chapters of Isaiah, God warns them of the impending doom. It kind of reminds me of like when a storm is rolling in, you feel the breeze and you can see the black clouds coming. That's the first 39 chapters of Isaiah. And then when you get to chapter 39, you get King Hezekiah, who was actually a good king, but toward the end of his life, his heart turned toward the things of this world. And he got sick and the Lord restored him to health. And these guys came from Babylon to pay tribute to him, to congratulate him for getting better. And what does he do? He shows them all of his stuff. This is all of our stuff. He's so proud of it. He showed them everything in his kingdom. And then Isaiah comes. And he says to them these chilling words. In Isaiah 39 verse five, Isaiah said to Hezekiah, hear the word of the Lord of hosts. Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house and that which your fathers have stored up till this day shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. And some of your own sons, We can kind of deal with our stuff being carried away, but some of your own sons who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. Now you would think, you would think that Hezekiah would fall on his face, that he would be like Moses and cry out to God for mercy for his people. But what does he do? Hezekiah said to Isaiah, the word of the Lord you have spoken is good. For he thought, there shall be peace and security in my days. Let us not fritter away our time as parents and grandparents, not caring about our children's future. This is a wicked thing that Hezekiah did. And the word of the Lord does not return void. It will accomplish what it sets out to do. It wasn't long before God's word was accomplished. 40 years later, roughly, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon fulfilled the words of the Lord in Daniel chapter one. But it doesn't say that Nebuchadnezzar, because of his great power, came and destroyed Israel. It says that the Lord gave Jehoiakim into his hand. And he took some of the vessels of the house of the Lord, Nebuchadnezzar wanted to make a point that he was king. That's something that they would do in those days. When they would conquer a nation, they would take all the stuff from their God's temple and put it in their God's temple to show that their God was bigger than their God. You know the story, don't you? What eventually happens to Babylon. He took the best of their youth, and Daniel 1, 6, It says that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were taken to Babylon along with the others of their youth. Now Babylonian culture was similar to the Assyrians. Remember we talked about that? They didn't think twice about taking their prisoner and peeling the skin off their bodies. These are not nice people. their young boys whom they had trained from their youth, even godly parents. Daniel and his friends were godly young men, but even they were carried off to Babylon. Their identity was erased. Each of their names meant something about God, and we're gonna talk about that a little bit because it pertains to Isaiah 40. and as chilling and as hopeless as chapter 39 feels, chapter 40 appears like an oasis in a desert, doesn't it? It's kind of like chapter eight of Romans, or chapter six rather. Those first words of verse one, comfort my people, says your God. Some of you might recognize that line from Handel's Messiah. It's the opening line. But some of you might be thinking, comfort? Didn't you just say that our sons would be carried off to Babylon? Didn't you just say that our sons would be turned into eunuchs? I'm sure you know what a eunuch was. People in those days believed that if they would crush the boy parts of a man, he would be a faithful servant for the rest of his life. That was common culture in those days, okay? And what is the tribe of Judah to Israel? This is the tribe that the Messiah is coming from. And if you crush the man parts of a boy, he cannot procreate. This is a terrifying thing to the Israelites. Before we dig any deeper into this, how would the world seek comfort in this situation? A lot of us go to social media and we complain about things, don't we? I can't believe what so and so did. Or we seek to deaden the pain with secret knowledge. Why did God allow this? Why did God allow my child to die? Or what is gonna happen to my future? Some resort to divination to find out what's gonna happen. Or necromancy, you know what necromancy is? It's when you're speaking to the dead. During World War I and the epidemic of 1918, during that pandemic, there was an explosion of the popularity of the occult. as grief-stricken people sought out seances and Ouija boards so that they could know what happened to my loved one. What is gonna happen to us next? In our day, witchcraft is skyrocketing. Did you know this? We are made in the image of God. We know instinctively that we are not just merely flesh and bone. We are body and soul. We know this instinctively, and we know that there is a real spiritual realm out there, and lots of people experience real things. Some of what gets talked about as witchcraft is real, but it's demonic. Satan is trapping people into thinking you can get hope and assurance and comfort by knowing what's gonna happen in the future. just talk to these witches, they'll tell you. Or talk to the spirit. We can bring up your dead relative from the grave and he'll tell you what's gonna happen or where he is. Brothers and sisters, these are demons. And this is becoming extremely common in our day. But for a lot of us, we become satisfied with these things, haven't we? Scrolling up, reading our social media constantly. It has replaced prayer in our lives. It has replaced communion with God. I say that to my own shame. I'm not up here to shame you guys, but the Lord is knocking at our door, waiting to have fellowship with us. We need to put our phones down and commune with him. I think that these things have replaced, you remember in the 80s, the couch potato with the remote control at three in the morning? With a thumb that just wouldn't stop moving? That's what these have become for us. We need to stop being couch potatoes. How does God comfort us? He doesn't comfort us with those things. I think that his way is kind of unexpected. It's not what we would normally think of. He draws our attention to four things. First, instead of removing our problems, which we really want him to do, he first starts out in this chapter by reminding us that our sins are forgiven. He's speaking to his sheep. He says, your sins are forgiven. Next, he promises eternal rewards. We want to put our hope like Hezekiah in this stuff, in this world, but there are rewards that are eternal for us to lay hold of that are far better and that we won't lose when we die. He promises, next, his gentle leadership, his comfort. And next, this is kind of like the end of Job. Remember what God says? He doesn't explain to Job why he did those things. We know why, but Job didn't know. He pointed to his greatness. In this chapter, I can't remember what verse it starts, but he directs our attention to his eternal divine power. We're going to get into that today. Incidentally, Well, I already said that, actually. That's what happens when you follow notes. Okay, so the first thing in verses one through eight, he promises that our sins are forgiven. Hananiah's name, one of the friends of Daniel, means Yahweh is gracious. And you know, the king of Babylon changed all their names, trying to remove their comfort. All of their names spoke the gospel to them. Hananiah's name is Yahweh is gracious. Verse one, comfort, comfort my people says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Who is Jerusalem here? Keep that in mind. And cry to her, your warfare is ended. What warfare? Isn't Nebuchadnezzar coming to wipe us out? How can you say our warfare is ended? The next verse tells us what it means. Her iniquity is pardoned. Our warfare that God is concerned with is the warfare that we have with him. By nature, we are children of wrath, but God declares to his sheep, your warfare is ended. Isn't that awesome? We sang about it this morning. I was marveling at that, at how amazingly some of these songs tied in, and I didn't ask for all those songs. And then it says, and she has received from the Lord's hand double for all of her sins. If earthly Jerusalem already paid double for all of her sins, why is the King of Babylon coming? Why are the Greeks coming later? Why are the Romans coming? You see, this is a prophecy about the Lord Jesus. When he suffered on that cross, he suffered and he paid double the Lord's hand for all of your sins. How do we know this is about Jesus? Well, first, it's talking about sin, being pardoned. Secondly, what does it say in verse three? A voice cries in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up. Every mountain shall be made low. And the uneven ground shall become level. And the rough place is plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. And all flesh shall see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. I don't see Jesus' name in there anywhere. How do we know this is about Jesus? Turn to Matthew chapter 3. You could also turn to Mark chapter 1 if you want, but we're going to turn to Matthew 3, verse 1. In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he who was spoken by the prophet Isaiah when he said, the voice of the one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. That's not Jesus, but it's John the Baptist. But what is John the Baptist doing? He's preparing the way of the Lord. This is the hope that Isaiah is pointing them to. It says there in verse three, in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. The Christian life is not a bed of roses. It's a very difficult journey. We sang this morning about crossing the mountain in front of us. You guys, probably a lot of you have read Pilgrim's Progress, and it comes to the hill difficulty. There was two paths around it. One was called danger, and one was called destruction. But he had to go right up that hill difficulty, climbing that cliff. That's a metaphor of the Christian life. The way of blessing is through difficulty. It's not around it. And he does that for a very, very good reason. And then he says in verse eight, I'm gonna skip down a little bit, because I don't have a lot of time. Verse seven, the grass withers and the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows upon it. I'm just waiting for July when my grass completely dies. It happens every year. That's just the way grass is, it's weak. Grass is one of the weakest things, weakest plants that God has made. And the Lord says, surely the people are grass. When the breath of the Lord blows upon it, surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flower fades. But, now think of who he's talking to. They're scared of the Babylonians. But the word of God will stand forever. Are you worried about Politics right now? Are you worried about communist China? Are you worried about pandemics? The word of the Lord will stand forever. He doesn't remove our problems. He tells us good news. Things that we can sink our teeth into and put our hope in. Second, verses nine through 10. He reminds us that his reward is with him. Go up high on a mountain of Zion, herald of good news. Now Zion, that's the people of God. That's what we're called to do is to preach the word. Declare the good news. Oh Zion, oh Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lift it up and fear not. Don't fear what's gonna happen to you in this world. Put your hope in the world to come. Say to the cities of Judah, behold your God. Behold, the Lord God comes with might and his arm rules for him. Behold, his reward is with him. and his recompense before him. I remember when my dad used to come home from trips, and he would open up his suitcase, and I would be standing there eagerly waiting, and he would bring out his little gifts that he would bring for me when he would come home. When the Lord comes, he brings gifts with him, and his reward is with him. He is also our reward, our very great reward. And then it says, oh, let me say one more thing about this. Sometimes we think to ourselves, but doesn't he care for our physical needs? Does he only give spiritual and eternal rewards? I need stuff right now. I need it right this minute. Jesus tells us in John 6, therefore do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after these things. I'm sorry, I'm in verse 31 through 34, in case you're looking. But seek, oh, for the Gentiles seek after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. He knows this. But seek first. the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." I ran across a really good quote from Spurgeon. And he says about this, anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows. It only empties today of its strength. Do not be anxious about tomorrow. God's gonna give you what you need, whether it's food or clothing or strength. He's going to be with you. Thirdly, he will gently lead you. Azariah's name means Yahweh is helper. The king of Babylon wanted to strip him of this comfort, but we see later he was not stripped of his comfort. He remembered what his real name was. He will tend his flock like a shepherd. Verse 11. Does that remind you of a psalm? The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. What does he feed you? He feeds you himself. He's knocking at your door, waiting to come in and commune with you. And he gives you his word. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And I wanted to just take a brief pause here and just say how grateful that we have been for all those who are working so hard at quizzing. to get the word of God into our children's hearts, that they might remember it. I've heard so many stories of people who learned the scripture in their youth, and these people, especially in Muslim countries, they'll be persecuted and thrown in jail, and all they can do is sit and remember the scriptures that they learned as a child, and it brings such comfort to them, even if they don't understand it now. God's gonna bring it to mind later. So we just want to honor and thank those who are working diligently with quizzing. We shall not be in want because he feeds you what your soul craves, which is him. He feeds you with himself and with his word. I want to say that if your soul is not satisfied, then you are not truly feeding on Christ. Twinkies, Mountain Dew, and Taco Bell all taste good going down. But we all know what they're going to do to you. You cannot live on that stuff. And the same is true with the stuff that we cram into our heads every day. The children of Israel thought manna was boring. Manna was a picture of Christ. And to say we're sick of this is like us saying we're sick of the word of God. Let's sit down and spend 20 hours a day entertaining ourselves. God gave them what they wanted later with the quail and it made them sick. Maybe that's why some of us are spiritually sick. Maybe God has given us what we want. We need to return. to the thing that will truly nourish our souls, the word of God. You might think it's boring, but it is not. If you think it's boring, then you don't know it yet. I was listening to this one guy talk about this cult that he was a part of, what's it called, the Hebrew Israelites. It's a cult. I'm not gonna get into it, but one thing he said that when he became a Christian was that Every time he gets into God's word, it's deeper and deeper and deeper. There's no end to the depth of the scriptures. But when he was in this cult, they kept saying the same things over and over, and he was in it for years. And it wasn't satisfying what he needed. The word of God is what we need. He will gather the lambs in his arms, and he will carry them in his bosom. Who are these lambs he's talking about? Okay, he's talking to his sheep, his flock, but who are the lambs in a flock of sheep? They're the little ones. They are your little ones. They are your children and they are your grandchildren. They are also his lambs. Sometimes parenting can feel extremely isolating. It can be overwhelming. But just know that the Lord is with you. He is carrying your children in his own bosom. You think the wolf is gonna attack the lamb that's being held in the bosom of the shepherd? There's no closer place to the heart of the Lord than his bosom. Jesus told his disciples this frightening thing. Temptations to sin are sure to come. but woe to the one through whom they come. It will be better for him if a millstone is hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. God is protecting your children. And he doesn't merely care for the lambs. He cares for those who are raising the lambs. He gently leads those who are with young. He's not merely leading them. Sometimes I think of strong leadership. I think of my junior varsity baseball coach would scream profanity at us to get us to do what he wanted. That's not how the Lord does things. And he charges those who are his under shepherds that you better not lord over the sheep. You better not or I'm gonna come for you. He gently leads you. He knows your frame and that you are made of dust. He made you and he made your children. We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are and yet without sin. If the law of God is like a mirror exposing our flaws, Parenting is like a black light. Have you ever looked at yourself with a black light? It exposes every single little flaw in your skin, and you can see every grain of dust on your face. That is what parenting does to us. But God is greater than our sin, isn't he? He has sprinkled you with his own blood. Your sins are pardoned. your warfare is ended. Your sin was imputed to him and his righteousness imputed to you. It's not merely that we're declared not guilty. We also have all the righteousness imputed to us that Christ did. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. at the day of Jesus Christ. God cannot lie. When he says he will do something, he will do it. Notice that his gentle leading is through trials, and we've talked about that. Back to Psalm 23, it says, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. He doesn't take us around the valley of the shadow of death. He goes right through it, and He stays with us. Why is He comforted? For you are with me, and your rod and your staff, they comfort me. What's a rod and a staff for from the shepherd? Get back in here. Get back in there. Sometimes the Lord needs to discipline us, doesn't he? But he also uses it to whack the wolves that are coming after the sheep. That general correction of God hurts, but it's absolutely necessary for your good. And he does that even while we're going through the valley of the shadow of death. They are a comfort to us. Where are his enemies during this life? You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. I'm sure you've all heard stories of people who are in a prison and being beaten with rods or whatever they're doing to torture them. I'm thinking of, shoot, I can't remember his name. I didn't have it written down. He was in a communist country and this guy would come in and beat him day after day after day. And after a while, the guy was frustrated. Why are you still joyful? How can you still forgive me and be joyful in the midst of all this? It's because the Lord prepared a table for him in the presence of his enemies. Do not fear where your children are gonna end up. Raise them for God. Teach them the good news. Trust him that he will walk with them I'll get to this and I will get to the fiery furnace in just a second. Where is his hope? In Psalm 23, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. He's looking forward to a city that was not made with hands. Revelation 21 describes the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. That is where his hope is. Even Abraham, that was quoted by Abraham in Hebrews 10 or Hebrews 11. He looked forward to a city that was not made with hands. The new Jerusalem coming out of heaven as a bride adorned for her husband. What do you think that's talking about? It's the people of God, the bride of Christ having been refined as through fire, purified and made ready for her husband. Lastly, he directs his attention to his infinite greatness. And let's look at verse 12. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span? Do you know how deep the deepest part of the ocean is? If you were to turn Mount Everest upside down, there'd be another mile down to the bottom of the sea. If you've looked up and you see a plane going overhead at cruising altitude, 32,000 feet, that is how deep the deepest part of the ocean is. The Lord measured the waters in the hollow of his hand. Consider that. Behold your God. And who is he talking to? People that are scared of the Babylonians. Who has marked off the heavens with a span? We have, to this day, we have the most powerful telescopes we've ever created. We have things traveling out in space Exploring our solar system and seeing as far as they can possibly go, we have not seen the end of this universe that we live in. But God has marked off the heavens with a span. He knows exactly how big it is. He spoke it into being. He enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure. I was thinking about that this morning. I was thinking about how much dust is just like on the top of it, of like the refrigerator. You know what I'm talking about? Like, but each, but God knows how many particles of dust there are in the entire world and the entire universe. and he's weighed the mountains and the scales and the hills in a balance. Who has measured the spirit of the Lord? Have you? Did King Nebuchadnezzar? It wouldn't be long before King Nebuchadnezzar had his mind taken away from him and he was turned into an animal, groveling in the sand to teach him that God rules over even him. Whom did he consult and make him understand? Who taught him the path of justice and taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket. And they are accounted as the dust on the scales. Think about that dust on the top of your refrigerator and think about what God thinks of the power of the nations. They're as dust before him. They're nothing. Behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel. Lebanon is where they got their huge trees from. So for us, we might think of the great redwoods of California. They would not suffice for the fuel, and nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him, and they are counted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. Compare that to what we think of the nations. We're scared of them, but God says, fear not. Only fear him who can throw you both body and soul into the lake of fire for all of eternity. The Lord takes no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked. And he calls you today, he calls you to bow your knee to him. He is the good shepherd. He will not disappoint you. He will make sure that he finishes the work that he started. What is Babylon compared to God? What are the kings of this world today compared to God? There is nothing before him. Where is Nebuchadnezzar today? Where is Genghis Khan? Where is Napoleon, who once ruled over Europe? Where is Hitler? Where are all the haughty popes of the Middle Ages who murdered hundreds of thousands of believers? Where are they? Can they now kill the souls of those people that they murdered? No. They themselves must now answer to God. They are awaiting the judgment day, as we all will. And the message for us is clear from this text. Do not fear man. Do not fear man. Put your hope in God alone. No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. In this life, we will have trouble. In the life to come, he will wipe every tear from your eye. God will have his fine gold passed through the fire to refine it. to make it ready, a bride adorned for her husband. If the day comes that we must choose whether to bow the knee to the state or to Christ, may we be like Daniel's friends who stood in front of that fiery pit. The men who got even close to it were consumed. And they said, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from this fiery furnace. And he will deliver us out of your hand, O King. But if not, if not, be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image you have set up. May we too have that boldness and that confidence in the Lord on that day if he calls us to it. You too can say these words with confidence that the Lord reminds us of us today. Your warfare has ended. Your reward is with him and he is surely bringing it. He will gently lead you and your young. He has them in his bosom. He is infinitely greater than the greatest power that this world could ever muster. Behold your God and be comforted. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, you are our great and mighty king. Before you, the powers of this world are as dust, and it is almost hilarious that Satan would tempt you by saying that I will give you all these kingdoms if you just bow down to me. You are the great and mighty king. And one day, we will stand with you in glory because you have covered us with the righteousness of your son. We praise you, we magnify you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.