ISAIAH 46-472008 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Isaiah 46-47

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2008. But this evening we're in Isaiah chapter 46. Let's look at verses 1 and 2 as we start off this evening. Isaiah 46 verses 1 and 2 says this, Bell bows down, Nebo stoops.

Here as we start out in Isaiah chapter 46, the prophet Isaiah is speaking to the nation of Judah and

And the historical context is that as he's writing these things, the threat to the nation of Judah is a kingdom, a nation known by the name of Assyria. And the nation of Assyria has been coming against the nation of Judah very strongly and threatened greatly, but God has promised that he will protect them through it all. However, there was a nation that was going to rise up after Assyria that God promised to use as

in judging Judah for their sin. Although Judah called out to the Lord when Assyria came against them, the nation as a whole and the people within the nation were continually walking away from God and rebelling against God in worshiping other gods.

And so they were coming to the point, but it was not quite yet as Isaiah is writing these things. It was about a hundred years later that these things would be fulfilled that he's writing, that their idolatry would lead them to the place where God would have to deal with them and bring judgment upon them. But right now, as Isaiah is writing these things, there's a time of patience, a time of opportunity for them to repent and get right with God.

So Babylon was going to come and conquer them and carry the nation of Judah away captive. Now, God will be also speaking about Babylon. We'll see in chapter 47, and we've already seen it before as we've studied through, that God, although God was going to use Babylon to conquer Judah, God also promised that he was going to judge Babylon for the way that they treated the nation of Judah. When...

Babylon came in to conquer Judah. They were not nice about it, but they were very cruel. And so they did not show mercy. And God says he will not show mercy to them. And Lord willing, we'll see that a little bit later this evening. But as we start out this evening in chapter 46, verse 1, Isaiah is writing to the nation of Judah. God is speaking through him.

about idolatry. And we've seen this for, well, several times in the past few weeks that God is coming strongly against those who worship false gods. Specifically, he mentions the god Bel and the god Nebo. Now,

These gods were Babylonian gods that the nation of Judah had begun to worship. These were gods that were prominent in the nation of Babylon. And so in an attempt to appease those gods, in an attempt to prevent Babylon from conquering them, they started worshiping the same gods

as the Babylonians, to try to help them from being conquered, to help them from being attacked by the kingdom of Babylon. So they started to worship these false gods. Now it's not exactly as Isaiah is writing these things, but it's things yet to come that they begin to worship these gods.

And idolatry was something that God spoke strongly against throughout his scriptures and to his people. It was something that he strictly forbid. In fact, part of the Ten Commandments is to love the Lord your God or worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve. You're not to serve other gods, God often said. Many of the nations surrounding Judah and Israel said,

They didn't just worship one other god besides the true living God. It's not that each one had, you know, their one god that they worshipped, but the majority of the nations around them had multiple gods that they would worship. And so Babylon didn't just have one god or even these two gods, but had a multitude of gods that they would worship. The nation of Egypt was the same way and many of the other nations around them as well. It's what is known as pantheism.

There was multiple deities that they believed in and they would worship these multiple gods. Today, idolatry still exists. There are still those who will bow down before images, before idols, and worship before those images. Today in our society, we wrestle with idolatry in a slightly different way. We wrestle in idolatry really in a more subtle way in that our hearts are given to things

our hearts and the place in our hearts that is rightfully belonging to God is given to other things. And so we don't necessarily bow down before our car and worship it, and yet our heart is there in that place. And if we were honest, we would recognize that materialism is the God of our hearts, or greed is the God of our hearts, or lust is the God of our hearts. Now,

As we look at these things, just as there was the subject of pantheism in those days, that the nations around them would worship many gods, that can be true of us as well. And perhaps it's not just one thing that really sticks out in your life that keeps you from a relationship with God, but perhaps it's a multitude of things that take the place of God, that keep you from giving God His rightful place in your heart.

God desires, God requires His rightful place. That is number one in priority, number one in passion, number one in love. That is the place that He is to hold in each of our hearts. If He is Lord, if He is the Almighty God, if He is the Creator of the universe, if He is the God who sent His Son to die upon the cross for us, to give us grace, to give us salvation, He deserves, He belongs the first and foremost in our lives.

He belongs, He deserves to be our Lord, that we would be completely submitted to Him and surrendered to Him. But oftentimes, we...

surrender our lives, we surrender ourselves to other things instead of God. And in doing so, we become idolaters. We become idolatrous by placing other things in the place of God or allowing those things to keep us from putting God in his rightful place. And as God is dealing with idolatry here at chapter 46, we

He's talking about these two gods that the Babylonians worshipped. And he talks about how their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle and that their carriages were heavily loaded and it was a burden to the weary beast. He's talking about it. It seems that he's making reference to when Judah is conquered by Babylon sometime later.

that not only were the people carried away captive, but they also packed up their gods, their idols that they were worshiping, and carried them along with the people back to the nation of Babylon. And so they had to load these gods, these idols and statues that they would worship, onto these carriages, onto these carts, and trek them the long journey all the way back to Babylon, where they were being held captive.

And so we see that these gods that the people were worshiping were great burdens to the people and to the beasts or the animals that carried them. In the same way for you and I, when we allow other things to take the place of God in our lives, they become a great burden to us. They become a great burden and they weigh us down. They slow us down. They become, well, an obstacle.

point of pressure upon our lives. And sometimes we wonder, why am I so burdened? Why am I so stressed out? Why am I so overwhelmed? Why is everything so hard? Now it doesn't mean that when you're right with God everything's easy, but it's a good thing to check in our hearts. Am I burdened because God has not possessed the rightful place in my heart? Am I burdened because God is not

The Lord of my life. Because I am not surrendered to him. Because I have taken from him his rightful place and I have given it to these other gods in my life. The irony of these idols that are being carried away captive is that although Judah was worshiping them,

They could not save Judah, nor could they save themselves. I mean, the gods themselves were carried away captive. It was a god that could not even save itself. But look at the contrast as we go into verse 3.

Here's what God says. Here's what God says.

Those gods that you are worshiping, now you can see they're a burden. They're hard to carry. They couldn't save you. They couldn't save themselves. Instead, they just are a big trouble in your life and a big burden in your life. But God says, hey, listen to me.

I'm the one who have upheld you from your birth. I'm the one who carried you from the womb. Even to old age, God says, length of days will not matter. I will carry you. I've made you. I will bear you. I will carry you. I will deliver you. So you take your pick. Which kind of God do you want? Do you want the God that is a burden to you?

Or do you want the God that is able to carry you? Are you burdened in your life? Are there burdens that are just so heavy, that are so hard to carry? Or are you carried in your life? That your burdens, well, they belong to God. And He takes care of them and He provides for them and He meets those needs. He's the one who does the work. Are you burdened or are you carried?

In Matthew chapter 11, verse 28, Jesus says, Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He goes on to say, My yoke is easy and my burden is light. Which do you have? A heavy burden or a light burden in your life? The choice is yours. And the choice, well, the choice is made by which God you will serve. If you will serve the true and living God,

If you will come to Jesus as he says, he will give you rest. And the burden will be lifted because his burden is light and his yoke is easy.

Or you can choose to not let God have the rightful place in your life. Maybe, like the nation of Judah, He has a place in your life. They would still come to the temple and seek to worship God. They would still offer sacrifices just as we can come to church and read our Bibles and be a part of the relationship with God. But there's a difference between practicing religion

and being sold out for Jesus Christ. There's a difference between coming to church and being fully surrendered to God and giving Him the rightful place in our hearts. And if we're burdened, if we're weighed down, we need to let those burdens go. Those are representative, those are indications that our hearts are not where they should be when it comes to the things of God. That there's areas we still need to surrender to Him. That there's other gods that have crept into our lives.

Don't you want a God that can help you? I mean, life is tough and we face difficult days. And yeah, there is trouble and tribulation around us. Don't you want a God who is able to deliver you and able to carry you and help you and give you strength? Don't you want a God who is able to do those things? And we all would say, of course, yes, we do. But are you willing to count the cost? Because what it means is you need to surrender to God.

You need to offer yourself to Him completely and wholly. You got to be sold out for Jesus Christ. Not holding back. Not holding on to your own will. Not holding on to those things that God has told you to let go of. You got to give your all to Him. Israel had the God that could carry them. They had the God that promised to deliver them.

But the issue was they had turned away. And God says, listen to me. Look, I'll carry you. He's calling out to them, won't you turn back to me? You don't have to be so burdened and weighed down. You don't have to be taken away captive. You don't have to be enslaved to those things. I'll set you free. Have you turned away from the God that can set you free like Judah had? Going on verse 5, he says...

Verse 7,

So God says, look, false gods cannot answer you, nor can they save you.

He starts out with the familiar question, who can you compare me to? Who am I like? Who can you compare with God? What other God is there that can be compared with God? Of course, there is no comparison, but here's what people try to do. He says in verse 6, they lavish gold, they weigh out silver, they get these fine metals, and they get these craftsmen to make these images, to make these idols.

Then they put them on their shoulder. They carry them to the place that they're going to set them. And they put them there. And they don't move because they can't. Because, well, they can only move if they're carried or moved by those who worship them. Now, just for the picture's sake, it's like if we took a Barbie doll, or maybe, guys, you took a Ken doll, and you take it out of the box and you carry it over to a place in your house and you set it up.

And then you pretend that it's real and you pray to it and you worship it and you ask it questions and you ask it what you need to do in your life and how you need to live. I mean, pretty ridiculous, right? Okay, let's say you build a god out of Legos and you put it all together in pieces and then you go set it up and you go, oh, show me what I need to do and how I need to live.

This is how ridiculous it is that these people would worship those gods. But carry that over to us. It's just as ridiculous when we don't give God that proper place in our lives. It's just as if we would take a Lego God and bow down to it and worship it and say, Ooh, let me fulfill my lust and let my flesh tell me what I need to do and how I need to live my life.

Oh, I have this need and this desire and this fulfillment. Oh, my emotions and my feelings tell me I need to do this. And so we follow our passions, we follow our desires, we follow the cravings of our flesh. And we think, these will save us. These will bring us fulfillment. These will help us. But instead, they just become great burdens to us. False gods cannot answer, nor can they save us.

But there is a God who can. There's only one. There's not an option. There's not a selection. There's one true and living God. One way to be saved. One way to be set free from the burdens. One way to enter into eternity. And that's through the creator of the heavens and the earth. Through Jesus Christ, the mediator between God and man. Verse 8. Verse 8.

He says,

Here God says, remember me.

Remember this. Remember what I've said. Think back for a second. You want to know why you should believe in God and why you should surrender to Him? You want to know why there is no other God? God proves it. He says, look, here's the proof that I am God and that there is no other. The things that I have said have come to pass. He uses prophecy over and over. We've seen it already many times in the book of Isaiah to prove to His people, to prove to you and I,

I am the only God, he says. There is no other God. There at the end of verse 11, he says, I have spoken it, I will bring it to pass. I have purposed it, I also will do it. Only the God of the Bible, only the creator of the universe has spoken this world into existence. Only the creator of the universe has spoken accurately 100% of the time

with details, the things that will come hundreds, sometimes thousands of years before they happen. Only the God of the universe can do that. He has proven himself over and over again. Even mentioning there in verse 11, calling the bird of prey from the east, the man who executes my counsel, again referring to this man Cyrus that we studied last week,

It hadn't taken place yet. It's 150 or 200 years before this man Cyrus is born. And yet it happened exactly the way that God said that it would. God proves himself to us that he is God. He is the one true and living God. There is no other God by his word. And how it always, every time without exception, comes to pass. He's the one who says it, but he's also the one who accomplishes it.

He is God. What more could you ask for? What more do we need to know that he is God? He's proven it to us beyond every doubt. Verse 12. He says, God says, listen.

Listen to you stubborn heart or listen to me. You stubborn hearted, stubborn hearted. Are you stubborn hearted? He says, you who are far from righteousness, as we've been studying on Sunday mornings through the book of Titus, the way that we live demonstrates what we truly believe. It demonstrates where we stand in our relationship with God. And if you are far from righteousness, God says, you're stubborn hearted. And he says, listen to me.

Listen, you don't have to be stubborn hearted. You don't have to be far from righteousness. He says in verse 13, I bring my righteousness near. It shall not be far off. You have the opportunity for the righteousness of God to be in you. You have the opportunity to be clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

It's not far off. It's not so far that you cannot attain it or reach it. It's not so far that you're not able to reach out for it. His salvation is near. His righteousness, His forgiveness, all that He has in store for you, it's near. You don't have to climb 10,000 steps in order to get to it. You don't have to raise yourself up high enough in order to grab hold of His righteousness. If you're far off from righteousness...

His righteousness is near. He's right here. He's right here with us and He's constantly calling to us. Will you hear me? Will you receive me? Will you surrender to me that I can take away your burdens, that I can clothe you in righteousness, that I can fill you and forgive you and strengthen you and carry you through this life? God offers Himself to us continually in this way. He is not far off and unreachable. Every one of us

has the opportunity for salvation, for forgiveness, for redemption. Every one of us has the opportunity to be used by God, to be equipped, to become more like Him. We all have this opportunity. Let's go on into chapter 47, verse 1. He says,

Verse 4. Verse 5.

Here as we go into chapter 47 now, God begins to deal with and talk about this nation of Babylon that was going to come and conquer the nation of Judah. Now it's important to understand that God...

said ahead of time. He spoke it before it took place, many years before it took place, that he would use Babylon to deal with the sin of the people of Judah. And he was going to use them to conquer Judah. But he also tells us in advance that Babylon is going to be judged as well. And he'll give us the reasons why in just a few minutes. But here in verses 1 through 4,

He starts out by saying, Babylon will be ashamed. Now remember, these are the people whose gods the nation of Judah was worshiping.

In an attempt to prevent that attack, in an attempt to appease the gods of the Babylonians, they are worshipping these other gods, kind of in desperation. Well, let me try to worship these gods. And it was in addition to the other gods of the nations around them that they worshipped. And they're trying to find fulfillment and security and peace and be able to make it through life. And so they're trying to worship all these different gods, thinking that they will save them.

but only the one true God was able to carry them. Well, now this nation, whose gods that they were worshiping, is coming against them. But God says, I'm going to judge this nation. Now, understand the foolishness of this, because this is all happening well in advance. Isaiah is sharing these things well in advance. God is saying, that nation is worshiping false gods. So what is it going to profit you if you worship their gods? I'm going to judge them.

for their worship of those gods. I'm going to judge these people whose gods you're worshiping. What is the point? We look around us and we see, well, we see those things that we really like. We see those people that, man, we really want to live our lives like them. But we need to be careful because we seek to worship the gods that those people around us that we admire, we seek to worship their gods. But we need to understand God's saying, look, I'm going to judge them.

Those who do not worship me, those who are not surrendered to me. You see that fame or that prosperity or you see that lifestyle and you worship that and you try to strive after their gods. But don't you understand they're going to be judged? Why would you try to worship their gods when they're going to be judged for worshiping their gods?

Don't worship the gods of this world. Don't fall into the trap of what the world says you have to do, you have to have, the way that you have to live your life. God says, look, I'm the one that can satisfy you. I'm the one that can meet your needs. They don't know what it is that can meet their needs. So why would you follow after them? Why would you follow after the blind and those who are destined to destruction?

He says that they're going to be put to shame. Their nakedness will be uncovered. It's all the picture here of great shame that is going to come upon Babylon. Hard to imagine as Babylon comes to its height and man, the city is great and the nation is strong and there's riches and it's hard to imagine this great nation being ashamed. And yet it comes to pass just as God has said.

Because in Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 13, it says that all who forsake God shall be ashamed. Everyone who forsakes the Lord will be ashamed. There's no escape. If you turn from God, if God is not your God, if the Lord Jesus Christ is not your God, you will be ashamed. You will be brought to shame just like the nation of Babylon. But there in verse 4, as for our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, Yahweh,

is his name, the Holy One of Israel. Here's the way. If you don't want to be put to shame, if you don't want to be ashamed, when you stand before God, your Redeemer needs to be Yahweh. Your God must be the creator of the heavens and the earth. Paul tells us in Romans 10, verse 11, whoever believes on him, that is the Lord God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, whoever believes on him will not be put to shame.

See, the choice is ours. We can have gods that burden us that will later on make us become ashamed. Or we can have God, the God that carries us and we will never be put to shame. Now in those descriptions, it's not very difficult to know which God we should choose. But it's when we're living life. It's when we're out there day by day that we have to make the tough decisions whether or not we're going to follow our flesh.

And just believe what it says. Believe what our flesh tells us that we need and that what we need to do. It's out there in the world that we have to make those decisions. Who are we going to surrender to? And very often, without even giving a second thought, we surrender to the flesh. We surrender to the gods of this life. But don't you understand? Those gods, the worship of those gods is bringing destruction upon those who worship them. This world is going to be judged.

Because of sin. Because they have forsaken God, they will be ashamed. Don't follow in their footsteps. Don't follow the norm of this world in our society. Or you'll follow right into the path of judgment. Let's go on in verses 5 through 7. He says, Sit in silence and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans. For you shall no longer be called the Lady of Kingdoms. I was angry with my people. I have profaned my inheritance and given them into your hand.

You showed them no mercy. On the elderly, you have laid your yoke very heavily. And you said, I shall be a lady forever, so that you did not take these things to heart, nor remember the latter end of them. Here's what God says in regards to Babylon. Hey, you sit there in silence. It's kind of like they're being put on timeout as God brings this judgment. He says, listen, here's what you did. I was angry with my people, God says. I was judging Judah because they had rebelled against me.

But you took it too far, Babylon. You did not show them mercy, and you laid a heavy yoke upon the elderly. They were cruel. They were not merciful as they came and conquered Judah. They had a choice. They had opportunity, although still being an instrument of judgment, to be merciful to the nation. But Babylon, well, they did not think that anybody could repay them.

They were the lady of kingdoms. They were the height, the glory of kingdoms. There was no kingdom like the nation of Babylon. In essence, they thought, there's no one who can hold us accountable. There's no one who can hold us in check for what we've done. So they did whatever they wanted to do. He says in verse 7, you did not take these things to heart, nor remember the latter end of them. He says, look, you didn't consider what the end result would be. You were looking to here and now. You were living for here and now.

but you didn't consider the consequences, the eternal perspective of your actions. And again, as we live in this world, as we're tempted to follow those false gods and worship the gods of the people around us, there's a great need for us to consider the latter end. To not think that we can just live however we want and there's no one who can hold us accountable. To not think that we can just do whatever it is that we desire and there will be no consequences for our actions.

God says, you didn't consider the latter end of your actions. Have you considered? Just consider for a moment the things that you did today. Have you considered the latter end of those things? The consequences of those things? Have you considered whether or not those are according to what God has said? The conversations that you had, the words that you used, the decisions you made, the actions you took. Have you considered what the end result of this lifestyle will be for you?

Have you considered what the end result of disregarding God will be? Of what it will mean to you when you stand before him and you've lived your life in rebellion against him? Have you considered the latter end? He says in verse 8, Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures, who dwell securely, who say in your hearts, I am and there is no one else besides me.

I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know the loss of children. Verse 9, But these two things shall come to you, God says, in a moment, in one day, the loss of children and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness because of the multitude of your sorceries for the great abundance of your enchantments. Verse 10, For you have trusted in your wickedness. You have said, No one sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you.

And you have said in your hearts, I am, and there is no one else besides me. Therefore, evil shall come upon you, and you shall not know from where it arises. And trouble shall fall upon you, you will not be able to put it off. And desolation shall come upon you suddenly, which you shall not know. Here's what God says. He says to the people of Babylon, you have this attitude. You, well, you're given to pleasures.

You live your life to please yourself. You live your life in self-gratification. And you say in your heart, Hey, there's no one else besides me. All I'm concerned about, the thing that I'm living for is me. And the most important thing in my life is to please me and make me happy and fulfill my desires and meet my needs. And that's what I am living for. Babylon says, I'm not going to sit as a widow or know the loss of children.

Because I'm looking out for myself. There's no one else like me. There's no one who can stand up to me, Babylon says, because they were the mighty nation of the time. So they would not experience the results of battle, the loss of children and widowhood. But God says, therefore, well, I'm sorry, not therefore, but verse 9, but these two things shall come upon you in a moment and one day. Cyrus...

We talked about him last week. He comes in and he conquers Babylon overnight. In a moment, in one day, the nation is overthrown. The thing that in their mind was impossible to happen, happened overnight. The things that we, well, we could think that it would be impossible for it to happen. It would be impossible for my savings to run out or my credit cards to be maxed out. It would be impossible for my car to break down. I've got...

all the maintenance plans and all the things that I need. It would be impossible for this relationship to end or to be destroyed. It would be impossible. And these things that we put great stock in, God says, you don't know what you're putting your faith in and trust in because those things can be overcome overnight. As we discussed last week, the city of Babylon had walls around them. I think it was like 80 feet wide,

several hundred feet high. I mean, this was an impressive city. This was a massive city. This was not, you know, a little wood fence around it that, you know, you could climb over, maybe some barbed wire on the top to try to discourage a few people. This was, it was thought to be impossible. In the same way, we think, what's going to happen? It can't be defeated. It can't be conquered. There's no way. But God says, look, if you're trusting in those things,

Understand, in a moment, in one day, all that could be gone. Who's your God? What do you trust in? If everything in your life was gone in a moment, in one day, you're the 2008 version of Job. Who's your God? Where do you stand? Would you be able to say, He gives and He taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Is He your God?

He says, you have trusted in your wickedness. You've said, no one sees me. They're thinking, I'm not going to be held accountable. It doesn't matter that I'm living this way. It doesn't matter that I'm doing these activities. He says, your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you.

Now this is what happens to people who say, well, there's grace. I can live however I want because there's grace. Listen, your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you. You've become skewed. You don't understand. Your mind has been bent and you are confused if you think that because you're a Christian, because you accepted Jesus Christ, because you went to church or grew up in church or go to church, that you can just live however you want and ask for forgiveness and just plead grace.

disregard what God has said, you've been warped. You've been confused. You think you have it all figured out and all understood, but you don't understand. We cannot, we cannot, if we are surrendered to God, if He is our God, we cannot live just however we please. And there is grace and there is forgiveness and praise God because we blow it very often. But when our heart is, our lifestyle is in rebellion against God.

And we think, ah, it's okay. Paul says, do not be deceived. Don't be deceived. Those who practice sin will not inherit the kingdom of God. Who is your God? It's demonstrated by the way that you live. Let's finish it off, verse 12 through 15. He says, stand now with your enchantments and the multitude of your sorceries in which you have labored from your youth. Perhaps you will be able to profit. Perhaps you will prevail. You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels.

Now let the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators stand up and save you from what shall come upon you. Behold, they shall be a stubble, and fire shall burn them. They shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame. It shall not be a coal to be warned by, nor a fire to sit before.

Thus shall they be to you whom you have labored, your merchants from your youth. They shall wander each one to his quarter. No one shall save you. Here's the thing we need to understand. You have the choice to make. The gods that bring burdens that cannot carry you, that you have to carry, that will not save you, that cannot hear you, that will ultimately bring you judgment from God because you worship them instead of the true and living God. Or,

The Creator of the heavens and the earth, who sent His Son to die upon the cross for us, who offers to us life and forgiveness, redemption. He offers to carry us, to uphold us with His righteous right hand. We have the choice to make who we're going to serve and who we're going to worship. But you need to understand that God honors your choice. He respects your choice. He's given you the power to choose and He respects your choice.

And so if you choose to worship those other gods, then, like with Babylon, he'll say, Stand now with the gods that you have chosen to serve. This calamity is here. This judgment is coming. Don't call to me. Call out to the gods that you've been serving. Call out to the gods that you've been worshiping. He says, Look, you've been looking to your enchantments and your sorceries. You've been having the councils and the stargazers and astrologers and the prognosticators.

Look to them. Let them save you since you've been worshiping them this whole time. Let them redeem you. Let them pull you out of the fire. But he goes on to say there in verse 14, those ones that you're looking to, they're going to be burned. They're going to be as stubble. They're going to not be able to overcome the power of the flame. And he goes on to make it very clear. This is not a fire that, you know, you'll come and just warm yourself to.

This is not a fire that, you know, is just going to be pleasant. But this is a fire that burns. And those gods that you are worshipping, they're going to burn. They won't be able to save you. Sometimes people say, well, hey, I don't care if I go to hell, you know, I'll just party with my friends there. No, it's not a fire that's just going to bring warmth. It's a fire that burns. You cannot escape God's judgment.

And those gods that you're worshiping, if you're not worshiping the true and living God, those things that this society and our nation and the world is chasing after, those are gods that are going to burn. Why would you follow them? Why would you chase them? Why would you run to experience the judgment of God? God honors your choice. And if you choose to worship other gods, he says, you're free to do so.

But understand, they're going to burn. And if you choose to align yourself with them, you're going to burn along with them. Judgment will be brought to you. He says at the end of verse 15, no one will save you. Those gods can't save. All the things that you were trusting in, they can't help you. You made your choice. God doesn't choose for anyone to go to hell. God does not choose for anyone to receive his judgment. We choose. It's our choice. It's in our hands. The

The responsibility, the power has been given to us. Who will you serve? Are you surrendered to God? Is He your Lord and Savior? Is He the master of your life? Or are you living as if you're the only one? Are you living chasing after your own pleasures? Are you living consumed by things that are not of God? Who is your God and who are you serving? Just as Judah's gods could not save them, Babylon's could not save Babylon,

And the gods that people worship today cannot save them from the judgment that is to come. The worship team is going to come up now and lead us in a few songs. And as they do, I want to take us back to the beginning of chapter 46, where God says, listen to me. Look, you've been upheld by me from birth. I've carried you from the womb. I'm able to carry you. I will carry you to the very end. I've made you. I'm able to bear you, to carry you, and to deliver you.

And as they lead us in this song, I want to encourage you to really seek the Lord on that. Are you burdened in this life or are you being carried? Are you carried or are you burdened? If you're burdened, Jesus says, come to me. I'll give you rest. I'll give you peace. Jesus offers to us what we need, the forgiveness that we need, the rest that we so desire.

In 1 Peter 5, verse 7, Peter tells us to cast our cares upon the Lord, for He cares for us. So this evening, I don't know where you stand, where you're at with the Lord, but we do have cares. We do have burdens. And it's a great temptation, it's a great struggle to keep those burdens from consuming us and to keep our hearts from trying to figure out our own salvation and rely upon our own methods and means.

And so this evening, I want to encourage you as they lead us in this song to cast your cares upon the Lord. Don't try to figure out how to solve all your problems. Don't try to figure out how to get rid of those burdens. Just come to God. Cast your cares upon Him. He cares for you. He wants to carry you and your burdens and take care of you. Come to the Lord this evening. Surrender your heart to Him. Submit to Him. Cast your cares upon Him because He cares for you. Let's worship the Lord together.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.