Isaiah 49 — Robert F. Adcock

God's Comforting Promise in Isaiah 49 and Romans 8

I'd like for us tonight to read two passages. The first is found in Isaiah 49, and verse 13. "'Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, and break forth into singing, O mountains. For the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.'.

But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

Behold, I have engraved thee upon the palms of my hands, thy walls are continually before me.". And now in Romans chapter 8 and verse 35. What or who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Holy Spirit's Ministry of Comfort

In the course of life, every one of us that knows the Lord, I find that from time to time we need our God to comfort us. And little wonder that the Lord Jesus said when he left this worldly thing, went back into the heavens, he says, I'm going to send you another Comforter, and he will be to you all that I have sought to be to you, and he's going to provide what you need in the way of comfort.

The Spirit of God that indwells each one of us as believers has a constant ministry of comforting the hearts of God's people. Indeed, that's a big job, isn't it? Because all of our hearts are sometimes filled with so much that robs us of our comfort, of our joy.

All of the things that go to make up joyous, pleasant living, sometimes these things are taken away. Last night I substituted the word, and in the King James Version it does say, who, which I think is a reference to Satan.

God's People Must Trust His Promise Never to Forsake Them

These references that we've made to what the Prophet Isaiah said concerning God's people and how they felt, I think we're tempted to think of our own situation in life the way they did. They said God had forsaken them.

They said God had forgotten them. And of course, divinely inspired, the Prophet reminded them that even the tenderest of earthly ties and situations, and certainly that of a mother and her child, you wouldn't hardly believe that a woman would forsake her infant child.

The Prophet reminds us she might, she just might. But those words of reassurance come forth just following that statement, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. No matter what the relationship between human beings here upon this earth might be, no matter how strong the time may be, there is always just that possibility that some strain will be brought to bear upon that relationship.

It will be strained to the point that one will forsake the other, one will forget the other. But it's so reassuring to turn to the word of God and read, and this is a wonderful divine promise, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.

Never! So emphatically the word comes to us that God will never forsake us. I think we tend sometimes in the course of life to feel a little like Jacob did. You know, Jacob throughout his earthly experience, he lived on a rollercoaster.

He had rollercoaster experiences. Many of God's people tend to have their ups and their downs, and life just happens to sometimes send unpleasant things into our lives. God entrusts us sometimes with the trials and testings of life for a purpose that we might be strengthened.

Paul learned to rejoice even in his afflictions, his trials. And so poor Jacob throughout all of his earthly life and experience, he wasn't one that learned lessons that God had prepared for him. He didn't learn them too quickly.

Sometimes they had to be repeated over and over again to ever get through to Jacob. And even in the experience of Simon coming to the land, Jacob felt in a sense that it might have been a personal feeling about it, but had to send his sons off down into Egypt.

And, of course, unbeknowing to them, Joseph was already there, and he provided what they needed to sustain life. But through all of these circumstances, finally he cries out, he says, all of these things are against me.

I think we tend to feel that way sometimes. Things that are happening to our little lives, pressure is brought to bear here, perhaps in a very personal way we may become a little bit sensitive, overly sensitive, to some of the things that are happening in life.

And we say, all of these things are against me. God must have forsaken me. God has forgotten me. Don't you remember I belong to you? I shouldn't be treated this way. These circumstances shouldn't be this way in my life.

You say, no one would say that. Don't you be too sure of that. Many, many of God's dear blood-bought children that lose contact with the Word of God and these divine promises can wander so far away from the Lord that they do feel within their souls that they have been forsaken.

And they certainly feel forgotten, and indeed that's a horrible state, and that's a victory for Satan. You know, Satan is not going to do one thing during the course of our lives to encourage us along the way.

Strength Through God's Word and the Armor of God

The strength to fortify us must come from the Lord himself, and God fortifies and strengthens his people through his Word. And indeed, we need to devote serious consideration to meditation and thought upon the Word of God, lessons that must be learned in the course of life.

Jacob lived all of his lifetime learning some lessons, and he could have spared himself perhaps a lot of unpleasantness had he learned that lesson a little quicker. And sometimes we may be guilty of the same thing.

We are entrusted with a circumstance in life, if we were to deal with it in a way that would glorify God, that lesson would be learned much quicker. If we were more responsive to his leading and direction, we could be spared perhaps a lot of trial and testing, a lot of things that distressed us and our souls.

We could be spared those things. It's not those frontal attacks that you have to watch out for, it's all of those endeavors of Satan, our enemy, as the interloper that comes in. He slips in the side door, he comes in the back door.

And all of the Christian's armor is for a frontal attack, so we dare not ever turn our back upon the enemy. We ever press forward courageously and with holy boldness, because God's power and God's strength is something that we claim moment by moment for every experience in this life.

You wouldn't think that a Christian would ever look up and say, Lord, I just do not feel your presence. I don't even know if you are there or not. And because of the circumstances of life, because of this activity of Satan working in the world, that he would deprive us of a consciousness of our God day by day, come what may, in the course of life.

Circumstances vary from day to day. Someone wrote a little line, a poem, behind the frowning providence he hides a smiling face. Well, certainly, each one of us, it may be our concept of God that he angrily looks down and perhaps he's chastening, perhaps he's doing something that we find very, very unpleasant, and we think he's angry with us.

Well, so often children interpret the things that their parents do to sometimes keep them on the straight and narrow, and hopefully it's not done in anger, because God never chastens us in an angry way.

We're his children, he loves us. True, he may chasten, it's always with a view of drawing us just a little closer to himself, but he does it in such a loving and kind and gracious way, we can have perfect confidence that no matter what the circumstances of life are, our God is so kind and gracious in dealing with us.

The Shepherd's Presence in Psalm 23

I can think of so many of the psalms, and certainly when you think of words of comfort, it would have to be the 23rd Psalm that would come to your mind. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Maketh me to lie down in green pastures, leadeth me beside the still waters, restores my soul, leads me in the pathway of righteousness for his own namesake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, thou art with me. That's a reason. A consciousness of the presence of God with us. This has, indeed, a strengthening effect upon the believer.

It can chase away the blues. It can restore the joy of God's wonderful salvation to one's soul when there is a consciousness of his presence with us. Obviously, down through the ages, men have been victims of this situation that we are describing to you tonight.

Isaiah, and those words were written a few years ago, a few hundred years ago, a few thousand years ago. And even then, men had impressions in their minds, Oh, my God has forsaken me! My God has forgotten me!

And you know it had to be because they had left the Lord, because he never leaves us. It was because of a condition of heart and mind, they fell victim to Satan's wiles. The one that is so clever, that deceiver, had come in and he had victimized them.

He caused them to forget all of the wonderful promises that were theirs, because they belonged to God. When he makes mention of the fact that, I have engraved you upon the palms of my hand, and that reference to his remembrance of the wall around the city, it bespoke of his tender loving care for them.

It is my understanding that in the culture of so many of those lands, and you do see people, they would make marks upon their hands and they would press that indigo dye. It was the equivalent of a tattoo, and it would be for a special remembrance of someone that they loved, perhaps the name of that person.

You see people even today, boys that get into problems and go into the prison system sometimes, they come out with these tattoos all over their hands. It's not done for that same purpose, of course it's just a fascination with that sort of thing.

But to be reminded that these people did it for a specific purpose, it was a mark engraved on their place there, to remind them of someone or some pleasant experience in life. The Lord says, I have you engraved upon the palms of my hand.

Those hands are pretty big. The 40th chapter of this book tells us he measured out the seas in those hands. So there we are, written upon the palms of God's hand. Even better than that, there's one with nail-scarred hands, and he remembers us.

And praise God, we remember him, because he first remembered us. And that protection, that care that he wants to provide for us, he said that he remembered the wall that had been preserved, it was still around the city, it was well fortified, it would keep out all of their enemies.

And to know that our God has hedged us about, and he provides protection for us, and he is our protector. He is our refuge in the time of need and storm. And we can't look to any higher, we can't look to any better, because there is none that can better protect and fortify and keep us safe in a world that is filled with so much distress.

God's Sovereign Purpose in Trials

Clouds along the way are full of purpose. They may be blessings in disguise. I think Jacob found that out later. He said, all these things are against me. Actually, all those things were working for his good.

He just didn't know it. And each one of us, sometimes in the experiences in life, we say, this is too much for me. And sometimes in just a short period of time, we look back and reflect and say, oh, my, how foolish I was.

This, in that wonderful, divine plan and purpose of God, something was working out for my good. So let us be encouraged as we read the word of God. Let us, as we turn and just look for a moment at these verses in Romans 8, be reminded, God saved you, God loves you, and God is going to look after you, he is going to take care of you.

Your every need, he has made himself responsible for you, all according to his riches in Christ Jesus, our Lord. That's how adequate the provisions are for taking care of you and me, according to his riches.

Not out of, but according to his riches. And those riches are immeasurable, and they are put at our disposal. We cry unto him for the help that we need. We turn to the word, and we find that there is that provision for just that situation in life, his love for us.

I believe he loves us, and I believe he cares for us. I believe he is interested in us. I'll never believe for a moment that he would ever forsake us. Satan would sell that bill of goods tonight to many in the world, that their lives may have been touched.

Nothing Can Separate Believers from Christ's Love

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? And I'm going to read this resume again and just make a few comments, but if you want to get your heart encouraged, you can find anything that's been left out, any experience in life that's yours at this moment, or ever has been or ever will be.

You'd be encouraged by this. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation. And when we speak of tribulation in the word of God, it is usually that that is directly traceable to our identification with Christ.

Didn't the Lord Jesus say, in this world you're going to find tribulation? Son, it's because of your identification with me, the reproach that fell upon me, you'll be one that will bear that reproach, too.

They hated me without a cause, they'll hate you. But not even that can separate us from the love of Christ. I don't care how bitter they become toward us, regardless of how great that tribulation might be, it cannot separate me from the love of Christ.

It can't do it. Why? God said so. But to know that this is directly traceable to the truth of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and to him as a person, and you know those that live godly in Christ Jesus, they shall suffer persecution.

Tribulation sometimes crosses a pathway of each one of us. It's not put there with a view that we would think that we've been separated from the love of Christ. Never! It could be just a reminder, this cannot separate me from the love of Christ.

I don't care how bitter it may be, how severe it may be, it can't do it. And I have the word of God to prove it. And so that's one of those sweet peas, one of those sweet pillows that I can just lay my head down upon and say, never, can't do it.

Christ's Love in Distress and Persecution

Distress! It carries with it the thought of being put into restricted circumstances. And certainly in the world in which we live today, and Paul, when he writes to Timothy, he said, in the last days, these will be perilous times or distressing times.

I know as a Christian in the world today, you look around and you feel like sometimes you're hemmed in on all sides. You say, my, the enemy is having a heyday. In fact, if you're not careful, you'll say, everything's out of control.

You've just got to look a little higher, brother. Everything is right on schedule, every plan and purpose of God, the wonderful, wonderful sovereign God of the universe. All of these things are under his control.

I belong to him. In fact, I'm one of his children. He is my Heavenly Father. I can call upon him in my time of distress. Lord, I feel the pressure being brought to bear upon me. Look up, my child. Here I am.

I look up, and I look up into that smiling face. And that face smiles upon me and reassures me, that can't separate you from my love. That can't separate you from my loving care. That can't separate you from my provision and strength to go through that experience in life.

So reassuring, so comforting to the heart of God's people. Persecution. We don't know too much about that, do we? But we know there are others that have felt the sting. They've even felt the sting of the sword.

They've felt the sting of the lash upon their backs. They've even had bullets pierce their bodies. They've been torn asunder by wild animals. They've been persecuted just because they claim to know the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Could any of those things separate them from the love of Christ? Never. Never for one moment. Not for one moment. No matter how hideous it may seem, no matter how horrible that experience, the constant abiding love of our Lord Jesus Christ, it was with them.

He promised it, and he keeps his promises. Or famine. You know, there are people in places in the world today, they're denied the necessities of life just because they claim to know the Lord Jesus Christ.

Food is withheld. Whole families starve to death because they dare to identify themselves with the person of the Lord Jesus. Can't separate them from the love of Christ. Not for a moment. There are some of these things we have a hard time even identifying with.

But it's happening. It's happened in the past, and it will happen again. And all of these things are given to us to provide what we need in the way of special enabling grace, to be forewarned, to be knowledgeable.

And, brother and sister, if one of these things touches your life, don't panic. And don't act as if you've never heard of it before. Someone sitting in this room tonight may be called upon in the course of your life's experience, you may be called upon to experience some of these things in your life.

Will you reflect upon these words and say, this can't separate me from the love of Christ, regardless of what it is, no matter how distressing, no matter how painful, nakedness or pearl or sword? You see, we have difficulty identifying with that.

We have lived in a place where, indeed, God has been very kind and gracious to us. We can say, with the psalmist, the lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places, and I say, thank God they have. I don't want any of these things to cross my pathway.

They might, but we can be comforted by this thought, just as surely as the ones that have experienced these things could claim, nothing can separate me from the love of my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

More Than Conquerors Through Christ

As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all day long. We are counted as sheep for the slough. But in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Isn't it a wonderful thought that God loves us, more than conquerors through him that loved us?

It's kind of hard to act like a conqueror sometimes when these experiences are yours in the course of this life. Most often, if someone is not thinking, as a Christian, about the provision that God has made, someone may look at him and say, that's the most defeated person I've ever seen in my life.

I've never seen anyone get so low and get so down. They've forgotten. They've forgotten. God doesn't want me in that state of mind, in that condition. More than conquerors. And it just makes you rise up.

It gives you renewed confidence. It's just like a shot in the arm, more than conquerors through him that loved us and gave himself for us. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. And you know that manner of love is something, it's a unique love.

It's a divine love, different from anything else that we've ever had any contact with in the course of our lives, until first God, in his wondrous grace, revealed the person of his Son, his lovely, only begotten Son, to our hearts.

And then, for the power of the Spirit of God, the love of God was spread abroad in our hearts. I know something about the love of God. The Spirit of God is spread abroad in my heart. Nothing can separate me from it.

And when these experiences come into my life, should I be sad? Should I, in a sense, say to Satan, I surrender, you've won? No. These added words are put there for a purpose. It tells us exactly what our attitude should be.

It tells us how we should react in these circumstances. We are more than conquerors, and conquerors that I've read about in the course of history. I won't say that all of them gloated in the victories that they had, but I'll tell you what, when they came marching down the road, and when they were put on display, you could tell that you were looking at someone that had won the battle.

God's people are winners, even if they don't know it. They're winners! They can't lose! It's a sad thing to go through the course of this life and be sad and depressed, and become a victim of all of the circumstances of life.

You know the story. How are you getting along? Well, pretty good under the circumstances. Well, brother, you're not supposed to be under your circumstances. You're supposed to be out on top of your circumstances!

You know, everything that Norman Vincent Peale wrote about positive living, it wasn't all bad. And a lot of it was according to the word of God. So let's don't throw the whole book away. No, we are to be on top of our circumstances.

We are more than conquerors, and more of God's people need to live and act that way. Not in some haughty manner, I'm not talking about that. That sense of humility that just becomes a part of our demeanor, our conduct.

But there's no question in anybody's mind that sees us in the course of our lives, in the circumstances that touch our lives, that we are defeated. That Satan has gained a victory over us and brought those fiery darts of his to bear upon our lives to the point that we are defeated, we are discouraged.

No, if we are fully armed with the whole armor of God. Satan hasn't got a chance against us, because God's provision is greater than any power that Satan has. So that reassures us, and that gives to us that comfort that we need, even in these circumstances.

Paul's Persuasion That Nothing Can Separate Us from God's Love

And finally, he says, I am persuaded. And this word persuaded, it carries with it the thought of perfect confidence. You know, I'm persuaded, I'm fully persuaded. There's an air of confidence that goes with that.

There's no question about this being true. This is absolutely settled. I know this is true. This is Paul. That neither death, and nobody puts death before life, that neither death nor life. I tell you what, sometimes there are more things that happen in life that are more distressing than that experience of facing death.

And ask someone that is going through some real trial and testing in this life, and they would tell you in a moment of time, it would be a lot easier to die, a lot easier to die than to go through this experience in life.

But not even these circumstances will separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. When he says angels, I assume he means not only those angelic beings that are constantly serving God, but those fallen angels and all of the angelic power that Satan controls, regardless of whether it's on God's side or on the side of Satan, can never separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Principalities, when you say that word, principalities, you think about the powers that be. You think about the greatest power upon the face of the earth, cannot separate us from that love, nor powers, things present, nor things to come.

You say, I've just about gotten everything under control. I think I've just about got it all figured out. Brother, don't be comforted too much by that, because lurking around the next corner is something that's going to upset your wheelbarrow.

It's that constant dependence upon God, regardless of the time or the circumstances, that absolutely nothing, nothing, nothing can separate me, can sever that bond of love that exists between me and my God.

Nothing, things present nor things to come, height nor depth, nor any other creation or creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Do you feel secure tonight as you believe in the Lord Jesus?

If you don't, it's your own fault. The provision is here. I think as I read over this resume of things that God has by the divine power of the Spirit of God entrusted with us for our enlightenment and for our learning, he certainly hasn't left anything out.

I don't think there's anything that touches our lives that hasn't been touched on. It's broad enough to cover everything. And you know, the child of God, with that sweet assurance in his soul, a confidence that comes from knowing God and his love, that consciousness of his presence with us.

And the Spirit of God so quietly whispers to our soul constantly, child of God, nothing can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing, absolutely nothing. And the next time that we tend to be discouraged or distressed and we're cast down within our souls, let us reflect upon these verses and upon this truth.

Let's find in it that source of help in the time of need. You know, if we don't, again, we have denied ourselves so much that God has provided for us during the course of this life. God didn't put these things in here just for us to read them, be entertained by them, for us to preach sermons about them, for us to discuss them.

He put it here for us to apply it to our lives. And sometimes there's such a great gap between what we read and what we know and what we do and what we experience in this life. Again, we let the old circumstances come in, and they just tear everything apart.

The circumstances in life sometimes become greater than the God that we claim to know in the experience of salvation. That's to our shame. He loves us, and he's going to provide for us. And absolutely nothing in the course of this life can ever separate us from that wonderful divine love.

Keeping Ourselves in the Love of God

Jude puts it this way, Keep yourselves in the love of God. Is your soul open and receptive to the love of God at this very moment? Are you consciously aware at this moment that God is loving you? So tenderly caring for you, far more interested in you and the affairs of your life than even you are, and I am.

Keep yourselves in the love of God. Keep your soul open, receptive to the loving divine rays of divine love that are being showered down from heaven tonight upon God's dear blood-bought children. Shall we pray?

Prayer for Comfort, Healing, and Renewed Faith

Our Father in Heaven, we are so grateful to Thee for telling us that You love us, and we are so thankful to Thee that You remind us, and in such a graphic way, of just how far the love of God extends, even in the circumstances of life that seem so difficult.

Lord, not one of them, as we are assured of as we read the Word of God, can ever separate us. It can never, never for a moment separate us from Your love. But, O God, deep within our souls where sometimes the enemy himself has us have doubts and unbelief, this unbelief and this doubting can separate us from Your love and all of its beneficent value.

O God, forgive us tonight if any one of us has been guilty of forgetting how much You love us. We pray in the name of the Lord Jesus that You will comfort the hearts of those that need comforting. And we are especially aware tonight of Jeff Stiles and his family, and O Lord, we just pray that we will get an encouraging report.

O Lord, in all of Your gracious love and mercy and kindness, grant, we pray, the restoration of health and strength and the fulness of life to Jeff. For this we ask in the precious name of the Lord Jesus, amen.