Please turn back in your Bibles to Isaiah 45. Page 517 in the Pew Bible, we read again the last verse of our reading, chapter 45 and verse 7. It is the Lord who is speaking and he says, I form the light and create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things. amongst the very first things that the Bible teaches us is the truth with which our text this evening begins. The Lord is the one from whom both light and darkness come. The darkness, for example, when God at the beginning created the heavens and the earth. We are told Genesis 1 that the earth was formless and empty and darkness was over the surface of the earth. The world as it came at first from its creator's hand was a dark place. That was the form in which God chose to bring it forth. And then following on from that the work of the first day. And God said, let there be light. And there was light, and he separated the light from the darkness. These alternating realities of the day and the night, darkness and light, those realities with which we have been familiar from childhood, they come equally from the Creator's hand. And as it was God who ordained them at the first, so it is God who has been securing their continuance ever since. Genesis 8 verse 22, the words of God after the flood, as long as the earth endures, day and night will never cease. the fact of their existence in the first place, the ordering of things in the heavens so that they continue, the duration of each and the intensity of each, all is of God. He is the God from whom both light and darkness come. It is very likely, however, in view of what Isaiah goes on to say here, that the light and the darkness with which our texts begin are not just physical realities, but symbols, metaphors, pictures, if you like. They represent what is pleasant and unpleasant, circumstances of joy and of sorrow, prosperity and disaster, peace and calamity, And the teaching of our text is that they too are equally of God. I form the light and create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things. The fact of their existence, the ordering that brings them to pass in the course of world history, the duration of each, intensity of each, all is of God. There is, in other words, no dualism. Just as it is one God who has created all that is, the whole physical creation, so it is one God who is in charge of what happens in the course of history. We can't say that the good thing The nice things, the pleasant things, they are the things that come from God, whilst the bad things, the unpleasant things, the things that cause us sorrow, well, they must come from the devil or from some other gods. I the Lord do all these things. He is the God from whom both prosperity and disaster come. And that's our theme this evening. That is the aspect of Isaiah's doctrine of God on which I want to focus your attention. And here is how we're going to proceed. We're going to begin with the affirmation of the text that both are from God. And then later on, toward the end, we're going to work out some of the implications of our text. Because both are from God, the following things are true. And we will see a number of things that are true that follow on from the fact that both prosperity and disaster are from God. But let's begin with the affirmation of our text, and most of our time will be taken up with this first point. Both are from God. I form the light and create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things. He is the God from whom both prosperity and disaster come. Let's try and open it up a little bit. I want to begin by reflecting with you on the different means that God employs. And by means, I simply mean the things that He uses. Things that are already in existence. Animate things or inanimate things. Intelligent things or non-intelligent things. Now it has to be said, and said emphatically, that God is not dependent upon means. In the creating of prosperity or calamity, he is not bound to use means. He can do without them. He can act directly upon things in order to bring them to pass. I think, for example, of that storm on the Sea of Galilee which threatened to swamp the boat in which the Lord and His disciples were and drown them. They were in danger. And that danger came by means. The wind that blew down and whipped up the sea into a frenzy. But you remember how the storm was calmed. Christ simply stood up in the boat and commanded it. And by a direct acting of his power, the elements were amazingly subdued. You see the same in those raisings from the dead. Lazarus and the son of the widow of Nain and the daughter of Jairus. Christ used no means in these resurrections. He simply commanded it, willed it, and life returned. And they lived. And you can think of other examples. The turning of the waters of Egypt into blood, there is calamity. Or the turning of water into wine at the wedding on Cana, there is blessing, judgment, and blessing, and both are the fruits of immediate divine action. Ordinarily, however, God uses things, things that are already in existence, living things and things that are non-living. intelligent agents such as men and spirits and non-intelligent agents like the creatures. And the Scriptures are simply full of examples of that kind of thing. There are the people of God at the Red Sea. How do they move forward? The wind that God uses to divide the waters. And then their enemies pursue them. And their enemies perish. How do they perish? How does the calamity fall? God brings those waters again upon them. And they are all drowned. There is God using non-living things. I mentioned the creatures. Go back a little bit. Just a few days. And the plagues that shattered Egypt, amongst them were plagues of flies, and locusts, and frogs, and gnats. There is God using living things, in these instances things that are non-intelligent or non-rational. And of course, not just as instruments of judgment that he uses such creatures, as instruments of blessing as well. I think of the ravens that brought food to Elijah, or I think of the fish that swallowed Jonah. Or to take a more general example, you just think how the creatures of land and sea are used by God to feed us and clothe us and to provide work for ever so many people. And then there are his intelligent agents, men, angels, demons, our adversary, the devil, his own beloved son. in the days of His flesh. By means of their conscious, free, intelligent, unconstrained actions, God creates both prosperity and disaster. He blesses and He judges. And I will give you just one example. And it's the example of this very passage that is open before us this evening. Here is this man Cyrus. God's anointed, he is described as God's shepherd and he is a means in God's hand of bringing both disaster upon the Babylonians and blessing upon the people of Israel. So God uses different means to bring these two things to pass. And then in the second place, a word or two about the different procedures that he adopts. If you have a King James Version in front of you, you will see that this word disaster is translated as evil. I create evil. And there are certainly many places in the Old Testament Scriptures where that is the proper translation of the same Hebrew word that is used here. But in Isaiah 45 verse 7, the NIV's disaster and the English Standard Version's calamity are to be preferred. And I say that because of what the passage is about. It is about what Cyrus would do as an instrument in God's hand both for blessing and for judgment. It wouldn't just be Cyrus who would bring disaster upon the Babylonians. God, by means of Cyrus, would bring this calamity that would lay Babylon waste. So we're going to stick with disaster, with calamity, rather than with the translation evil. Nevertheless, there is no escaping, by means of translation, the problem of moral evil. And that is because the agents that God employs in bringing dark things into the lives of individuals, families and nations often act wickedly in the process. So too, by the way, in those things that bring peace and prosperity. There is many a good thing that we enjoy as a people And we recognise the hand of a good God in providing these things. And yet when we think about it, in the agents whom God employed to bring those good things to pass, there was sin. Whether it be the defeat of an enemy in war, which often involves sin, or perhaps some revolutionary new drug. that does wonders for our health. If you investigate how some of the experimentation came to be that produced this drug, you see that there has been a transgression of the law of God. So even when it comes to good things, man's hand is often stained, and how much more when it comes to the doing of what is harmful, whilst when it comes to the demonic agency while their hands are always stained. So especially when it comes to calamity, but even when it comes to prosperity, there is no escape from moral evil. And our text emphatically states it. I, the Lord, bring prosperity and create disaster. He is the God from whom both these things come. He employs the agent. various means by which things pleasant and unpleasant, sorrowful and joyful befall us, are his. which brings us to touch on the different procedures that he adopts, and I can only touch on them. And I begin with what orthodox theology has always insisted on, and that is that God is not the author of sin. And historic theology has insisted on that on the basis of all that scripture plainly teaches about God's perfections. His righteousness, His holiness, His love of righteousness, His hatred of sin, His perfect goodness. God is light, said the Apostle John, and in Him is no darkness at all. Now we may not be able to explain the mechanism, and indeed we can't, how it actually works. But here is our starting point. The God who employs evil agents, or agents who do evil, nevertheless, throughout, from beginning to end, remains the righteous, holy, sin-hating, righteousness-loving God of Holy Scripture. So what can we say then about the procedures that he adopts? Well, let me venture at least to say this, and I will state it and then try and explain it. The manner in which God works by an agent who is doing evil is necessarily different from the manner in which he works by an agent who is doing good. In regard to the first of these points, those agents who do evil It is proper, as we think about how God uses them, it is proper for us to use the language of permitting, withdrawing, withholding, giving up to certain courses of action. You see it, for example, in the case of Satan, in his afflicting of Job, he is given permission to afflict Job. Or you think about the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. You read through the early chapters of Exodus and how often it is boldly affirmed that it was God who hardened Pharaoh's heart. How are we to understand it? Well, we are best to understand it in terms of a withdrawing of restraints. In terms of a withholding of grace to obey. in terms of a giving up of that man to the wickedness of his own heart so that he did what he really wanted in his heart to do. And you can apply that to all of the agents who do evil in doing the works of God. And the importance of it is that the wickedness is always from them, not from God himself. But then in regard to the second class of God's agents, those who do good, it's a different vocabulary that we employ. And I think, for example, of what Paul says to the Philippians about God working in them, both to will and to do according to his good That's the pattern. When the agents of God, by whom he brings either prosperity or disaster, act in a way that is pleasing to him, When in these works they are consciously doing good, it is because of His grace and kindness at work in their heart. It is He Himself who is working in them to will and to do according to His good pleasure. So that whereas with the wickedness of the wicked, that wickedness is always in them, when it comes to the goodness, Of those who do good, that goodness is always from Him. So that it is to Him that we give the glory. Men receive the blame when they act wickedly. God receives the glory when they do that which is pleasing to Him. So we've glanced at the different means that He employs, at the different procedures that He adopts. And now in the third place, I want us to reflect for a little on the different emotions that are kindled. I bring prosperity and create disasters, says the Lord, but not with the same feelings. These events that he brings to pass kindle a whole range of emotions. Anger is certainly one of them. And I think to begin with about Babylon and Assyria. And Babylon and Assyria were instruments in God's hand for the judging of his own people. Assyria for the judging of the northern kingdom of Israel and then later Babylon the judging of the southern kingdom of Judah. Now these rulers and these armies, these people were expressing the divine anger, because they were the rod in God's hand with which he chastised his people for their sin. But at one and the same time, as they expressed his anger, they also kindled his anger, because of the cruel and wicked and godless manner in which they conducted themselves towards his people. And that's why there is so much space in prophetic announcement to the downfall of these kingdoms and why at last they did come out. Because as they expressed God's anger, they kindled God's anger. And God's anger was expressed in their destruction. And the same thing has happened over and over again, I'm sure. God has raised up tyrants with their mighty armies to scourge the nations for their sins. And they have been expressing his anger. But at the one and the same time they have been kindling his anger. And ultimately, and justly, it has brought about their downfall. Anger. And then there is sorrow. If this series continues long enough, we will eventually get to that beautiful text that I love in Isaiah 63, verse 9. In all their affliction, he too was afflicted. It's a marvellous statement. tells us that God is never unmoved by the calamities that befall His people. It is He who ordains them. That is the teaching of our text. He's never sitting by helpless whilst bad things happen to His people. They come in fulfilment of His will, but not unfeelingly. Not because he has any pleasure in our pain. Not without sorrow. Not without his own tender, father, loving heart being afflicted as well. Sharing in our pain and looking forward to the time when he can relieve it. And I want you to think about that. in relation to the hard things that have befallen you. It is a tender, caring heart that has ordained these hard things. A heart that is grieved, that is afflicted in your affliction. And then to take one last example, joy. What pleasure it gives the God to do his people good The scriptures speak of a God rejoicing over his people with singing. God loves to bless us. God's great and happy heart is always stirred when he's doing things that make us happy. Whether it be bringing a sinner to repentance, or reviving his cause, or healing a sickness, or bringing a child safely into the world, or the beginning of a God-honouring marriage. These are things that make us happy. and they are blessings from his hand. And you can be sure that in those things that bless us and which make our hearts glad, the divine heart is gladdened as well. So we've glanced at the different means that he employs, the different procedures that he adopts, the different emotions that are kindled. And one last point. the different ends he is pursuing. What are God's goals in his bringing of prosperity, in his creating of calamity? Well, one is certainly judgment. That's the emphasis of this passage of Scripture. The disaster that God is going to bring upon Babylon by the hand of Cyrus is going to be an act of judgment. And as you read through the pages of both Old and New Testament, you can see numerous examples of the very same thing. Disasters befalling individuals, families, nations, armies, because God, in righteous anger, is judging sin. There is something, however, very important that we need to note. And that is that when hard things befall us, there is not always in response to sin. And the classic instance here, of course, is Job. man we've mentioned already this evening. He was the holiest man living and yet what terrible disasters befell him and he recognized that they came from the hand of God. Was it because of his sin? It was because of his righteousness. It was because He was so holy and so good that these things ultimately came into his life. God had far other ends to serve by these calamities than dealing with Job's sin, the testing of his faith, the demonstrating before all the world and all of history that a man can still love God, though God takes just about everything away from him. The glory of God in the invisible realm of spirits, the defeat of Satan, the good of the whole Church of Christ at the end of time through the Holy Scripture and beyond. And it's such an important point because it's easy for us to discern the kindness of God and the love of God when good things happen to us, when peace and prosperity are created. It's easy, isn't it, to discern purposes of mercy when good things happen. We see that it is God's desire to encourage us, to make us glad, to heal our heart wounds, to strengthen our faith, to entail us to praise and to warning service. But what about when hard things come? Well, sometimes, sometimes it may be in response to our sin. Or it may be in part in response to our sin. We may find ourselves part of a nation that God judges for its sins, and although we ourselves have had no complicity in those sins, we suffer because we're part of the nation that is being judged. Oh yes, we may fall into sin, as King David did, and you know the chastisement that befell him. But it's not necessarily our chastisement that God designs in the ordaining of hard things for us. for other things, for other purposes may be in mind. And even when there is an element of chastisement in it, this is something of which we may be sure if we are God's beloved people. It's sent in love. The design is not our destruction but our salvation, our blessing and not our curse. These things are sent in mercy rather than in punitive justice and God is committed to bringing good out of them. So we have looked at the affirmation of our text. How boldly it is said here that both are from God, prosperity and disaster. And in trying to open up this affirmation we have looked at the different means that God employs, the different procedures that he adopts, the different emotions that are kindled and the different ends that he has pursued. And what a wide field that is when you put it all together. These six words, I bring prosperity and create disaster. What a vast range of events they cover. And what a huge diversity of agents and operations. But you see their point of unity? It is the Lord who is behind them all. They are all an expression of His will. They are all the outworking of what He has decreed, both for this world and for its people. But now secondly, and we'll go through this much more quickly. Having looked at the affirmation of our text, we move on to the implications, or some of the implications of our text. Because both are from God, the following things are true. Number one, it is God whom we need to see. And by we, I mean especially we who are the Lord's people. It is God whom we need to see. And that's not such a difficult matter, is it, when it comes to peace and prosperity. to those things that are pleasant and which occasion us joy. Now it's true that we can be strangely and sinfully blind and we can forget that it is God from whom all blessings flow and can fail him seriously in the area of thanksgiving. But as a general rule, it's not that difficult for the Lord's people to trace their blessings to God. But it's not always so easy, is it? When it comes to the hard things, how often, how often there is people who loom largest in our thinking. People who fill our horizon. People in government, people in education, people of other faiths, people in other countries, members of the medical profession, members of the legal profession, neighbours, co-workers, family members, what grief they can give, what difficulties and trials they bring into our lives and how easy it is to forget that behind them is the God who declares, I form the light and create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things. It is ultimately with Him, brethren, that we are having to do always. And if we are to respond in situations of darkness and light in the manner in which he would have us to do with faith, with submission, with thanksgiving where that is called for. We need to see it. We need to train ourselves by means of prayer and the scriptures to look beyond second causes to the first cause, always to the first cause, to God himself, to the Lord who does all these things. Secondly, it is God whom we need to trust. Think about it. How can we have peace when our futures are not in our own hands? When we are conscious that there is only so much that we can do. When so many things befall us or befall our loved ones that are outwith our control. When the good things that we enjoy can be so easily taken away. When disasters come and continue, wish it otherwise as we will. How can we have peace when we're so helpless? Joy when things are so much out of our hands. But there's only one answer. Trust in God who has declared that all these things are from Him. Now if he were not a good God, and a wise God, and an almighty God, and an unchanging God, and a righteous God, and a God most loving, I would be mocking you, mocking you bitterly, if I said to you, you must trust him. To trust him that is to do good, and to act wisely. to come to your aid and to act righteously and to always be pursuing an end that is most loving. But knowing God as He is, knowing God in Jesus Christ, born for us, dying for us on the cross, what solid grounds we have for such trust. If you would have peace, you need to trust Him. and to trust Him. Look at Him as He is. Look at Him in Christ and see what solid grounds there are. Thirdly, it is to God we need to submit. For it is He who is dealing with us. It is He who is ordaining these things for our lives. The very same God who has ordained the blessings that we enjoy has also ordained what is difficult. And here is what he would have us to do. He would have us submit to him. Humbly, trustfully, quietly, patiently. Shall we come back to Job? He was the great example. Shall we accept good from God and not trouble? The very same word. translated disaster or calamity or evil. Such a submission is most honouring to God. And the harder the trial and the more humble and trustful and quiet and patient and submissive we are, the greater the honour that is his. Because it's not how others react. They scream. and they quarrel and they blaspheme and they hate this God who has done these things. You've seen it, you've heard it. And therefore for his honour and glory, as well as for our own hearts' comfort, our calling as his people is to be different. Recognising who it is who is ordering our lives in the way that he is. we submit to Him humbly, trustfully, quietly, patiently. And then one last thing, one last conclusion. It is God whom we need to thank, to thank for the good things that come out of the calamities The blessings that come out of the buffetings, but especially for the peace and prosperity that we enjoy as individuals, as families, as a church, as a nation. There's so many people who enjoy the good things of God, the blessings of God, and they don't see God's hand in it at all. They're quick enough to see it. if it's something hard, and they're quick enough to pin the blame on God if something painful comes, and to curse in His face. But when it comes to the good things, oh, how blind they are, and how silent, and you never hear thanksgiving upon their lips. And we who are the people of God, we are to make conscience of being different and discerning that He is the God from whom all blessings flow. Seeing them, we give Him thanks. May God give us grace to do so. Let us pray. Almighty Sovereign God, we bow before you. We affirm our faith in this revelation that you have given of yourself, in this text and throughout Holy Scripture. We bow before you as the God from whom both prosperity and calamity come. Help us, O God. when that impinges upon our lives in a way that is hard, when it tests our faith, when it pains our hearts, when it brings tears to our eyes, but also when it makes us to laugh and to sing and to dance. Help us, Lord, we pray, to see your hand and to respond appropriately that in this world where you are hated, where no one loves you as they ought, for so many do not know you. We, your people, would glorify you by our faith and by the whole manner in which we respond to all of your providences. Help us, we pray, for the glory of Christ. Amen.