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“Behold Your God!” (Part 4 of 4)

Isaiah 40:12–31
Program

Sometimes circumstances can overwhelm us and tempt us to question if God really loves us. Learn why we can find solace in God’s sovereign care in troubled times as well as in pleasant seasons. Listen to Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.

From the Sermon

“Behold Your God!” — Part Two

Isaiah 40:12–31 Sermon Includes Transcript 50:59 ID: 3474

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A Call to Remember

When your children ask in time to come, “What do those stones mean to you?” then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.

The Christian life is, in a sense, one big call to remember. Our Lord Jesus, speaking of the new-covenant meal of Communion, told us, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19, emphasis added). Every Lord’s Supper, then, offers us the opportunity to remember together all that is pictured in the bread and wine.

Deuteronomy similarly envisions a scenario in which a son asks his father, “What is the meaning of the testimonies and statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?” (Deuteronomy 6:20). The father responds by telling Israel’s story of redemption, highlighting that what God instructs is “for our good always” (v 24). The book of Joshua, too, commends the same kind of commemoration when the Lord instructs the people to set up twelve memorial stones at the Jordan River, so that the stones would be “to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” God wanted His people then—and wants His people today—to ever remember His faithfulness and to tell others what He has done.

Such remembrances and memorials have always been significant. But in a day with endless competing claims on our attention and affections, we perhaps need more reminders of God’s faithfulness than ever before. It’s notable that the examples above are concrete and interpersonal. We participate in the Lord’s Supper together, and it offers us a multisensory experience to help us remember. The twelve stones at the Jordan River constituted a physical memorial. The instruction of Deuteronomy encourages us to have conversations about God’s faithfulness and goodness in our homes.

For today’s Christians, every Sunday presents us with the opportunity to gather and remember with God’s people. But we are going to need more than a weekly touchpoint to sustain ourselves. Ask yourself: What habits can I cultivate to remember God’s goodness? How can I catalog His faithfulness to me and share that with others? What “memorials” can I set up so that I can remember how God delivered me?

Opportunities to see and recall God’s faithfulness abound. All we need to do is look and remember.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Institution of the Lord's Supper

14fAnd when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16For I tell you I will not eat it2 guntil it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17And he took a cup, and hwhen he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18iFor I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine guntil the kingdom of God comes.” 19jAnd he took bread, and hwhen he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, k“This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, k“This cup that is poured out for you is lthe new mcovenant in my blood.3

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Footnotes
2 22:16 Some manuscripts never eat it again
3 22:20 Some manuscripts omit, in whole or in part, verses 19b-20 (which is given…; in my blood)

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg, published by The Good Book Company, thegoodbook.com. Used by Truth For Life with permission. Copyright © 2021, 2022, The Good Book Company.

The College of Contentment

The College of Contentment

For I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

These words show us that contentment is not a natural propensity of man. Weeds grow easily. Covetousness, discontent, and murmuring are as natural to man as thorns are to the soil. We do not need to sow thistles and brambles; they come up naturally enough, because they are indigenous to earth. And so we do not need to teach men to complain; they complain fast enough without any education.

But the precious things of the earth must be cultivated. In order to have wheat, we must plow and sow; if we want flowers, there must be the garden, and all the gardener's care.

Now, contentment is one of the flowers of heaven, and if we would have it, it must be cultivated; it will not grow in us by nature. It is the new nature alone that can produce it, and even then we must be specially careful and watchful that we maintain and cultivate the grace that God has sown in us. Paul says, "I have learned . . . to be content," as much as to say he did not know how at one time. It cost him some pains to discover that great truth. No doubt he sometimes thought he had learned, and then broke down. And when at last he had attained to it and could say, "I have learned in whatsoever situation I am to be content," he was an old, gray-headed man, upon the borders of the grave--a poor prisoner shut up in Nero's dungeon at Rome.

We might well be willing to endure Paul's infirmities and share the cold dungeon with him, if we also might by some means attain to his good stature. Do not indulge the notion that you can be contented with learning or learn without discipline. It is not a power that may be exercised naturally but a science to be acquired gradually. We know this from experience. Christian, hush that murmur, even though it is natural, and continue as a diligent pupil in the College of Contentment.

 

Devotional material is taken from Morning and Evening, written by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. Copyright © 2003, Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org. Used by Truth For Life with written permission.

Daily Bible Reading for February 16

Genesis 49, Luke 2, Job 15, 1 Corinthians 3

Jacob Blesses His Sons

1wThen Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you xin days to come.

2“Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,

listen to Israel your father.

3“Reuben, you are ymy firstborn,

my might, and the zfirstfruits of my strength,

preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.

4Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence,

because you awent up to your father's bed;

then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!

5b“Simeon and Levi are brothers;

weapons cof violence are their swords.

6Let my soul come not into their council;

dO my glory, ebe not joined to their company.

For in their anger they killed men,

and in their willfulness they fhamstrung oxen.

7Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,

and their wrath, for it is cruel!

I will gdivide them in Jacob

and scatter them in Israel.

8“Judah, hyour brothers shall praise you;

iyour hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;

jyour father's sons shall bow down before you.

9Judah is ka lion's cub;

from the prey, my son, you have gone up.

lHe stooped down; he crouched as a lion

and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?

10The mscepter shall not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler's staff nfrom between his feet,

until tribute comes to him;1

and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

11Binding his foal to the vine

and his donkey's colt to the choice vine,

he has washed his garments in wine

and his vesture in the blood of grapes.

12His oeyes are darker than wine,

and his teeth whiter than milk.

13p“Zebulun shall dwell at the qshore of the sea;

he shall become a haven for ships,

and his border shall be at Sidon.

14r“Issachar is a strong donkey,

crouching between the sheepfolds.2

15He saw that a resting place was good,

and that the land was pleasant,

so he bowed his shoulder to bear,

and sbecame a servant at forced labor.

16t“Dan shall ujudge his people

as one of the tribes of Israel.

17Dan vshall be a serpent in the way,

a viper by the path,

that bites the horse's heels

so that his rider falls backward.

18I wwait for your salvation, O Lord.

19x“Raiders shall raid yGad,3

but he shall raid at their heels.

20z“Asher's food shall be rich,

and he shall yield royal delicacies.

21a“Naphtali is a doe let loose

that bears beautiful fawns.4

22“Joseph is ba fruitful bough,

a fruitful bough by a spring;

his branches run over the wall.5

23The archers cbitterly attacked him,

shot at him, and harassed him severely,

24yet dhis bow remained unmoved;

his arms6 were made agile

by the hands of the eMighty One of Jacob

(from there is fthe Shepherd,7 gthe Stone of Israel),

25hby the God of your father who will help you,

by ithe Almighty8 jwho will bless you

with blessings of heaven above,

blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,

blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

26The blessings of your father

are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,

up to the bounties kof the everlasting hills.9

May they be lon the head of Joseph,

and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.

27m“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,

in the morning devouring the prey

and at evening ndividing the spoil.”

Jacob's Death and Burial

28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. 29Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be ogathered to my people; pbury me with my fathers qin the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, rwhich Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31sThere they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There tthey buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— 32the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” 33When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and uwas gathered to his people.

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Footnotes
1 49:10 By a slight revocalization; a slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Targum) until he comes to whom it belongs; Hebrew until Shiloh comes, or until he comes to Shiloh
2 49:14 Or between its saddlebags
3 49:19 Gad sounds like the Hebrew for raiders and raid
4 49:21 Or he gives beautiful words, or that bears fawns of the fold
5 49:22 Or Joseph is a wild donkey, a wild donkey beside a spring, his wild colts beside the wall
6 49:24 Hebrew the arms of his hands
7 49:24 Or by the name of the Shepherd
8 49:25 Hebrew Shaddai
9 49:26 A slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint) the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills

The Birth of Jesus Christ

1In those days la decree went out from mCaesar Augustus that all the world should be nregistered. 2This was the first nregistration when1 Quirinius owas governor of Syria. 3And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4And Joseph also went up pfrom Galilee, from the town of qNazareth, to Judea, to rthe city of David, which is called sBethlehem, tbecause he was of the house and lineage of David, 5to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,2 who was with child. 6And twhile they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and uwrapped him in swaddling cloths and vlaid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in wthe inn.3

The Shepherds and the Angels

8And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And an angel of the Lord xappeared to them, and ythe glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all zthe people. 11For aunto you is born this day in bthe city of David ca Savior, who is dChrist ethe Lord. 12And fthis will be a sign for you: you will find a baby gwrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there was with the angel ha multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14i“Glory to God jin the highest,

jand on earth kpeace lamong those with whom he is pleased!”4

15When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby mlying in a manger. 17And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19But nMary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20And the shepherds returned, oglorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

21And pat the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, qhe was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Jesus Presented at the Temple

22And rwhen the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem sto present him to the Lord 23(as it is written in tthe Law of the Lord, u“Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in tthe Law of the Lord, v“a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was wrighteous and xdevout, ywaiting for zthe consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not asee death before he had seen bthe Lord's Christ. 27And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when cthe parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28he took him up in his arms and dblessed God and said,

29“Lord, now you are letting your servant5 depart ein peace,

faccording to your word;

30for gmy eyes have seen your hsalvation

31ithat you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

32ja light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and kfor glory to lyour people Israel.”

33And mhis father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed nfor the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign othat is opposed 35(and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

36And there was pa prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.6 She did not depart from the temple, qworshiping with rfasting and prayer night and day. 38And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were swaiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

The Return to Nazareth

39And when they had performed everything according to tthe Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of uNazareth. 40vAnd the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.

The Boy Jesus in the Temple

41Now whis parents went xto Jerusalem every year at ythe Feast of the Passover. 42And when he was twelve years old, zthey went up according to custom. 43And when the feast awas ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. wHis parents did not know it, 44but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46After three days they found him in the temple, bsitting among cthe teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48And when his parents7 saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, dyour father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that eI must be in fmy Father's house?”8 50And gthey did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And hhis mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

52And Jesus iincreased in wisdom and in stature9 and in ifavor with God and man.

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Footnotes
1 2:2 Or This was the registration before
2 2:5 That is, one legally pledged to be married
3 2:7 Or guest room
4 2:14 Some manuscripts peace, good will among men
5 2:29 Or bondservant
6 2:37 Or as a widow for eighty-four years
7 2:48 Greek they
8 2:49 Or about my Father's business
9 2:52 Or years

Eliphaz Accuses: Job Does Not Fear God

1Then qEliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

2“Should ra wise man answer with swindy knowledge,

and fill his tbelly with uthe east wind?

3Should he argue in unprofitable talk,

or in words with which he can do no good?

4But you are doing away with the fear of God1

and hindering meditation before God.

5For your iniquity teaches your mouth,

and you choose the tongue of the crafty.

6Your vown mouth condemns you, and not I;

wyour own lips testify against you.

7x“Are you the first man who was born?

Or ywere you brought forth zbefore the hills?

8Have you listened in athe council of God?

And do you limit wisdom to yourself?

9bWhat do you know that we do not know?

What do you understand that is not clear to us?

10cBoth the gray-haired and the aged are among us,

older than your father.

11Are the comforts of God too small for you,

or the word that deals gently with you?

12Why does your heart carry you away,

and why do your eyes flash,

13that you turn your dspirit against God

and bring such words out of your mouth?

14eWhat is man, fthat he can be pure?

Or he who is gborn of a woman, that he can be righteous?

15Behold, God2 hputs no trust in his iholy ones,

and the heavens are not pure in his sight;

16jhow much less one who is abominable and kcorrupt,

a man who ldrinks injustice like water!

17“I will show you; hear me,

and what I have seen I will declare

18(what wise men have told,

without hiding it mfrom their fathers,

19to whom alone the land was given,

and no nstranger passed among them).

20The wicked man writhes in pain all his days,

through all the oyears that are laid up for pthe ruthless.

21qDreadful sounds are in his ears;

in rprosperity the destroyer will come upon him.

22He does not believe that he will return out of darkness,

and he is marked for the sword.

23He swanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’

He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;

24distress and anguish terrify him;

they tprevail against him, like a king ready for battle.

25Because he has stretched out his hand against God

and defies the Almighty,

26urunning vstubbornly against him

with a thickly bossed shield;

27because he has wcovered his face with his fat

and gathered fat upon his waist

28and has lived in desolate cities,

in houses that none should inhabit,

which were ready to become heaps of ruins;

29he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure,

nor will his possessions spread over the earth;3

30he will not depart from darkness;

the flame will dry up his shoots,

and by xthe breath of his mouth he will depart.

31Let him not ytrust in emptiness, deceiving himself,

for emptiness will be his payment.

32It will be paid in full zbefore his time,

and his branch will not be green.

33He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine,

and cast off his blossom like the olive tree.

34For athe company of the godless is barren,

and bfire consumes the tents of bribery.

35They cconceive trouble and give birth to evil,

and their dwomb prepares deceit.”

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Footnotes
1 15:4 Hebrew lacks of God
2 15:15 Hebrew he
3 15:29 Or nor will his produce bend down to the earth

Divisions in the Church

1But I, brothers,1 could not address you as aspiritual people, but as bpeople of the flesh, as cinfants in Christ. 2dI fed you with milk, not solid food, for eyou were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3for you are still of the flesh. For while there is fjealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4For gwhen one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” hare you not being merely human?

5What then is Apollos? What is Paul? iServants through whom you believed, jas the Lord assigned to each. 6kI planted, lApollos watered, mbut God gave the growth. 7So nneither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8He who plants and he who waters are one, and each owill receive his wages according to his labor. 9For we are pGod's fellow workers. You are God's field, qGod's building.

10rAccording to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled2 master builder I laid a sfoundation, and tsomeone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11For no one can lay a ufoundation other vthan that which is laid, wwhich is Jesus Christ. 12Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13xeach one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed yby fire, and zthe fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, ahe will receive a reward. 15If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, bbut only as through fire.

16cDo you not know that you3 are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For dGod's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

18eLet no one deceive himself. fIf anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19For gthe wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, h“He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20and again, i“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21So jlet no one boast in men. For kall things are yours, 22whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23and lyou are Christ's, and mChrist is God's.

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Footnotes
1 3:1 Or brothers and sisters
2 3:10 Or wise
3 3:16 The Greek for you is plural in verses 16 and 17
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.

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