The Unfailing Word — Chuck Smith

Reading Isaiah 40: Comfort and the Unfailing Word

I'll read the first, the outnumbered verses, and Pastor Brian will lead the congregation in the even-numbered verses. And shall we stand as we read this 40th chapter of Isaiah? Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God, speaking comfortably to Jerusalem, replying.

To her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord.

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

The voice said, Cry, and he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely, people is grass.

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever.

O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up to the high mountain. O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength. Lift it up, and be not afraid. Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God.

Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, and he will gather the lambs in his arms. He will carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor, hath taught him.

With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding?

Behold, the nations are as a drop in the bucket, and counted as the small dust in the balance. Behold, he taketh up the aisles a very little thing.

And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beast thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

All nations before him as are nothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing in vanity.

To whom then will ye liken God, or to what likeness will ye compare unto him?

The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.

He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth the tree that will not rot. He seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved.

Have you not known? Have you not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understanding from the foundation of the earth?

It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.

That bringeth the princes to nothing, he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

Yea, they shall not be planted, yea, they shall not be sown, yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth, and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

To whom will you then liken me, or shall I be equal, saith the Holy One?

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number. He calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power, not one failure.

Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, my way is hid from the Lord,.

And my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding.

He gives power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increases strength.

Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall,.

But they that wait upon the Lord shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Let's pray. Lord, help us this day to have a greater consciousness of how great and marvelous you are.

How certain and steadfast your word, that we might honor you, that we might reverence you, and that we might wait upon you. And as we wait upon you, Lord, we ask that you would renew our strength, that we will be able to mount up with wings as eagles, that we will run and not be weary, walk and not faint.

In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. This week we are studying 2 Kings chapters 10 through 12. Trust that you've read them over. And I trust that you would read them over again this afternoon to prepare you for this evening as we will be going through and giving commentary on these three chapters as we move through the Bible.

Elijah's Prophecy and the Fall of Ahab's House

This morning I'd like to draw your attention to the 10th chapter of 2 Kings and verse 10. Here the writer says, nothing shall fail of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab.

For the Lord has done the things that he spoke through the servant Elijah. Elijah had made certain predictions against King Ahab. Ahab had done a very dastardly thing. He had a neighbor who had a beautiful vineyard.

He desired to buy it from him. But his neighbor did not want to sell because it was a family possession. And so Ahab's wife brought false charges against the neighbor. The people stoned him to death. And then Ahab took possession of that vineyard that he had coveted.

Elijah came to him and Elijah made predictions against him. And one of the most remarkable things about the Bible is with what complete accuracy God keeps his word. The Lord sent Elijah to Ahab and said, you have killed a man and taken his possessions.

Thus in the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall the dogs lick your blood. Three years later Ahab was killed in battle against the Assyrians. Assyrians had shot him through with an arrow and his blood actually went on down into the chariot.

They sort of propped him up until he got back to Samaria. But in the evening he died and they buried him in Samaria. The man who cleaned out his chariot, who cleaned the blood out in his chariot. We read that he cleaned out the blood there in the pool of Samaria and the dogs came and they licked the blood that was washed out of the chariot.

The prophecy of Elijah was fulfilled in the place where the blood of Naboth was shed. So the dogs licked the blood of Ahab. But the prophet Elijah went on to say, behold I will bring evil upon you and I will take away your posterity and I will cut off all of your sons.

And so now as Jehu is standing there, there are two piles of skulls or heads of Jehu's sons that have been cut off. And that is when Jehu said, nothing shall fail of the word of the Lord which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab for the Lord has done the things that he spoke through his servant Elijah.

This is some 16 years after Elijah had faced off with Ahab. So Jehu slew all that remained we read of the house of Ahab in Jezreel and all of his great men and all of his family and his priest until nothing of him remained.

Elijah had also prophesied and concerning Jezebel the wicked wife the Lord also speaks saying the dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. 16 years later here in the ninth chapter of second Kings we read when Jehu was come to Jezreel Jezebel heard of it and she painted her face and teared her head and she looked out a window and as Jehu entered into the gate she said had Zimri peace when he slew his master and Ahab lifted up his face to the window and said who is on my side who and there looked out to him two or three eunuchs and he said to them throw her down so they threw her down and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and the horses trampled her under foot and he went into the house and ate and drank and then he said go and bury this cursed woman who is a king's daughter and they went out to bury her but they found nothing left of her but her skull her feet and the palms of her hands for the dogs had eaten her.

The word of the Lord came to pass with absolute accuracy. Not one word of the Lord failed that he had prophesied to Ahab through the prophet Elijah God had literally fulfilled his word. This is true throughout the entire Bible.

God keeps his word. You can count on the word of God coming to pass. In first Kings chapter 8 verse 56 Solomon when he was dedicating the temple said blessed be Jehovah that has given rest unto his people Israel according to all that he promised.

There is not failed one word of all his good promise which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant Solomon is saying not one word of prophecy has failed. All that God said he would do he has done.

God's Foreknowledge and the Prophecy of Cyrus

The story of Ahab that we have in our text today is just one of many instances where God spoke in advance of things that would be happening and in the future they were completely fulfilled. God had actually challenged the other religions the gods of the other religions to prove that they were really gods by telling things that were going to happen before they happened.

In Isaiah 41 the Lord said let them bring forth proof by showing us what shall happen. Let them declare the things that are going to come hereafter that we may know that they are gods. You can prove that you are outside of the time continuum.

You can prove that you are a transcendent God. If you're a true God by just showing us things that are going to happen in the future tell us of them before they happen that when they do happen then we'll know that you are transcendent.

But God then said in order to show that he was the true God. Cyrus is my shepherd. He will perform all of my pleasure even saying to Jerusalem you shall be built and to the temple thy foundation shall be laid.

Thus saith the Lord to his anointed to Cyrus whose right hand I have held to subdue the nations before him. I will loose the loins of kings. I will open before him the two levied gates and the gates shall not be shut.

I will go before thee and I will make the crooked places straight. And I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut in cinder the bars of iron. I will give to you the treasures of darkness and the hidden riches of the secret places.

That you may know that I Jehovah which call you by your name I'm the God of Israel for Jacob my servant's sake for Israel mine elect. I have even called you by your name. I have surnamed you though you have not known me.

For I am Jehovah and there is none else. There is no God beside me. I girded you though you have not known me now. Isaiah wrote this in the year 712 BC. It is a prophecy that Cyrus would be the conqueror of the city of Babylon.

That he would conquer it by entering in through the levied gates that the bars of brass and iron would be broken and that he would sack Babylon and take the great treasures 712 AD calling him by his name.

Emphasizing I'm calling you by your name in the year 536 BC 176 years later we read in Ezra chapter 1. Now it was in the first year of Cyrus the king of Persia that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled.

Now Jeremiah had predicted that the Jews would be in captivity for 70 years. And now the 70 years have expired. And thus in the first year of Cyrus in 536 BC God declared through Jeremiah 70 years of captivity.

We read that the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus the king of Persia the very king that God called by name. Well over a hundred years before he was born that you might know I am God I have named you I've called you by your name.

And a hundred years before he was born God named him and God said or rather the spirit of Cyrus. God came upon the spirit of Cyrus the king of Persia. He made a proclamation throughout all of his kingdom.

He also put it in writing saying thus saith Cyrus the king of Persia Jehovah the God of heaven has given me all of the kingdoms of the earth and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah.

So 176 years after the prophecy of Isaiah that Cyrus would be the one that would sign the decree to allow the children of Israel to rebuild the temple. He signed that decree God's unfailing word through the prophet Daniel God gave the very day that the Messiah would appear.

Daniel's Messianic Timeline

Daniel 9 24. God said to Daniel there are 77 that are determined upon your people and upon your holy city to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal up the visions and the prophecies and to anoint the most holy.

Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to be rebuild Jerusalem unto the coming of the Messiah the prince shall be seven sevens and 62 sevens. The street shall be built again and the wall even in troubleless times.

And after this 67 62 sevens the Messiah will be cut off but not for himself and the people of the prince that shall come will destroy the city in the sanctuary and the end thereof will be with the dispersion.

And unto the end of the war desolations are determined. From the time the commandment will go forth to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah the prince will be 69 sevens or 483 years.

Now we read in Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 1. It came to pass in the month of Nisan in the 20th year of Artaxerxes the king that wine was brought before him and I took the wine and gave it unto the king.

Now I had never been sad in his presence before. Notice it was in the 20th year of Artaxerxes in the month of Nisan that Nehemiah had brought the cup to the king. Now Nehemiah was the one who brought the wine to the king.

It was a very important position in the kingdom. He was a very trustworthy man. For when he would bring the wine to the king he would first of all take a sip of the wine himself. In case the wine had been poisoned he would fall over dead and the king would know better than to drink it.

And so this was the position that Nehemiah had. He was the cup bearer. He bore the cup of wine to the king would take a sip stand there for a moment and as long as he was standing he would then hand the wine to the king that he might drink of it.

But note it was in the 20th year Artaxerxes according to the Encyclopedia Britannica was made the king over Persia in the year 465 BC. In the 20th year would be 445 BC. And the month of Nisan would be equivalent to our month of March from the time that this commandment would be made.

And this is in the month of March in the year 445 BC to the coming of the Messiah the Prince would be 483 years. We read now back with Nehemiah. He had taken the cup to the king and he had never been sad in the presence of the king before.

And so the king said to me why do you look so sad you're not sick. This must be sorrow of heart. And Nehemiah said I was afraid. And I said to the king let the king live forever. Why should not my countenance be sad when the city the place of my father's suffocators is laid waste the gates thereof have been consumed with fire.

The king said to me what is your request. And so I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king if it pleased the king and if your servant has found favor in your sight I asked that you would send me to Judah under the city of my father's suffocators that I might rebuild it.

And so the king said unto me the queen was sitting by him how long will your journey be. And when will you return. And so it pleased the king to send me. And I said him a time. Moreover I said unto the king if it pleased the king let letters be given to me to the governors beyond the river that they may convey me over until I come to Judah.

And so a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest that he may give me timber to make the beams for the gates of the palace which appertain to the house and for the wall of the city and for the house that I shall enter into.

And so the king granted me a decree in March 445 BC according to the promise of God to Daniel the Messiah should come 483 years after this decree was made the 483 years from the March of 445 BC taking into account the Babylonian calendar of a 360 day year and our 365 and a quarter day calendar taking into account the leap years and all it brings you out to April of 33 AD.

Christ's Triumphal Entry and Prophetic Fulfillment

On April the 6 33 AD Jesus sent his disciples into the village to bring to him a young donkey. He said you'll find him tied at a corner. And as you are untying him he said if the master says why are you untying my donkey just tell him the master needs him.

And so the disciples went into the village and they found this donkey tied at that corner. And as they were untying the master said why are you untying my donkey. And they said the master needs him. And so they brought the donkey to Jesus there on the Mount of Olives.

And he sat on the donkey. And the disciples took their cloaks and they began to lay them in the path and they began to wave palm branches and they began to sing Psalm 118 the Psalm of the Messiah Hosanna Hosanna blessed is the king blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

And as Jesus was riding on this donkey towards Jerusalem as the disciples were singing the Messianic Psalm the Pharisee said Lord you better rebuke your disciples. That's blasphemy. And Jesus said I tell you that if they would hold their peace these very stones would cry it out.

As Jesus paused there on the Mount of Olives and looked across the valley to the city of Jerusalem he began to weep and he said oh Jerusalem if you only knew the things that belong to your peace in this thy day but they are hid from your eyes.

And the Roman troops are going to come they're going to lay siege to the city and he began to weep over the desolation because of their failure to recognize the day. Going back to the prophecy of Daniel he told the day the Messiah would come.

But then Daniel said but the Messiah will be cut off with nothing for himself and the people of the prince that is reigning will come and destroy the city and the Jews will be dispersed. And so Jesus came right on schedule presented himself as the Messiah but he was despised and rejected.

As Isaiah said he would be a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. He was cut off and did not receive the kingdom just as Daniel had predicted. Also we find predicted in Psalm 89 35 God said once I have sworn by my holiness and I will not lie to David his seed that is the Messiah will endure forever and his throne as the sun before me it shall be established forever as the moon and as a faithful witness in heaven.

But you have cast off and abhorred. You have been wroth with your Messiah. You have made void the covenant of your servant and you have profaned his crown by casting it to the ground. David also had written the stones which the builders refused is become the headstone of the corner.

This is the Lord's doing. It's marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made and this is the the psalm that the disciples were singing. This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Hosanna Hosanna I beseech thee O Lord. O Lord I beseech thee. Send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. God is the Lord which hath shown us light.

Bind the sacrifice with cords even to the horns of the altar and Jesus became God's sacrificial lamb was nailed to the cross and thus the prophecies were accurately completely literally fulfilled. Isaiah in writing of the Messiah said he is despised and rejected by men.

He is a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. Again Isaiah wrote. Remember the former things of old for I am God. There is none else I am God and there is none beside me declaring the end from the beginning and from the ancient times the things that are not yet done my counsel shall stand.

I will do all my pleasures. God is saying my word is going to stand. The unfailing word of God. What God has said has happened and even to the present moment this is so and it even goes beyond the present moment as God said declaring the things that are not yet done.

Prophecy Concerning Israel's Restoration

The Bible does speak of things still in the future that are not yet done. In Ezekiel chapter 36 God prophesied the reforesting of the land of Israel and its agricultural development. That land that had been lying so desolate for so many centuries that land that was like a barren wilderness.

God promised in chapter 36 of Ezekiel that they would reforest the land that the mountains would be covered or the hills would be covered with trees and the valleys would be filled with crops of grain.

Back at 1900 if you would go to Israel you would have seen a land that was barren and desolate. On the coastal plains were malaria-filled marshes and on the other side of the mountains and the hills themselves was just a rocky wilderness desert.

But God had promised that the mountains would be covered with trees again and the valleys would be planted. And back in about 1900 some of the Jews began to return to the land and they purchased the marshy plains malaria-filled plains from the people that were living there at the time.

The people were talking about those crazy Jews buying that worthless property and they laughed all the way to the bank. But the Jews drained the marshes they opened up the rivers that they would flow again out to the Mediterranean.

And there in the Sharon Plains they began to plant citrus trees growing some of the finest citrus in the world. There in the valley of Jezreel they began to plant cotton and grain and they began then the reforesting projects planting hundreds of millions of trees upon the mountains.

And so today you go to Jerusalem and you see the beautiful tree-covered hills and you see the fertile valleys and the beautiful grain fields and the fruit orchards and all within the valleys. God said in Ezekiel he would do it he said I said it and I will do it.

And today you can go to Israel and you can see that God has done it in the last century. But then God said that he would start bringing the Jews back into the land. In chapter 37 of Ezekiel he said these people who have sort of been dead.

He would revive them bring them back again. He would make them a nation once again no longer divided into the northern and southern kingdom but one nation upon the earth. And in May 14 1948 God kept his promise in Ezekiel 37.

When you get into chapter 38 God said when they have come back and are dwelling in the land then he's going to put an evil thought into the minds of their neighbors. And the Muslim nations that surround them led by Iran and other Muslim nations will come with the nations from the north and invade the land of Israel.

And when this happens God says his fury will arise in his face and supernaturally he will destroy this invading army. We could very well be on the very verge of chapter 38 being fulfilled. This morning's paper tells of 19 Israelis who have been slain by the terrorist in the last 24 hours.

Israel has had its fill of the terrorism. They have been restrained by our government from taking action that they know they must take. If they're going to stop the terrorist activities they're going to have to destroy the Palestinian authority.

They're going to have to move in with their troops and take back the territory that they have already ceded to the Palestinians. But what do you suppose will happen when Israel begins to move with real force.

And that could happen this week. What is going to happen when Israel moves with full force against the Palestinian authority. The other Muslim nations will probably come with an attack upon Israel to defend Arafat and the Palestinian authority.

And when that happens you have the 38th chapter of Ezekiel being fulfilled. Chapter 36 was fulfilled. The redevelopment of the agricultural aspects of the nation. Chapter 37 was fulfilled. They became a nation again.

And we are right on the border of chapter 38 being fulfilled. The invasion of Israel simultaneous with the invasion of Israel will be God's defense of Israel and God again putting his spirit upon the nation of Israel which means that God's time of the Gentiles has been fulfilled.

When this takes place the door of salvation that has been open to the Gentiles for a couple of millennia will close and God will once more deal primarily with the nation of Israel. Amazing prophecies being fulfilled before our very eyes.

Christ's Return and the Certainty of Future Judgment

Our morning paper brings us right up to the moment of what is happening. Jesus made interesting predictions. He predicted to his disciples that he would be turned over to the Gentiles. He would be rejected turned over to the Gentiles who would crucify him.

But he said the third day I will rise again. Jesus was turned over to the Gentiles to the Roman court. He was there condemned to death. He was by them crucified. But the third day he rose again. Jesus said to his disciples in another prophecy.

Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so I would have told you. And I'm going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also Jesus is coming again.

He promised it and not one word has failed of all that God has promised. Jesus is coming again. And so as we see the whole prophetic scene as we see the things that God spoke of some of them not yet inaugurated but spoken of by God.

And as we see them coming to pass we realize we're at the end of the road. We have good cause to believe that Jesus is coming back very soon. You might ask but why has he waited so long. And the scripture tells us that he is waiting for the complete fruit of harvest.

Peter said in the last days there would be scoffers that would come and say where is the promise of his coming. Since our fathers have fallen asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning.

Actually that is the teaching of uniformitarianism which is the foundation of the evolutionary theory. Things are always the same and are going on as they have from the beginning. But Peter went on to say beloved don't be ignorant of this one thing.

One day is as a thousand years to the Lord and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness but he is long suffering to us because he's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

James said be patient brother to the coming of the Lord. Behold the husbandman is waiting for the precious fruit of the earth and he has long patience for it until he receives the early and the latter rain.

Be also patient. Establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord. Draweth nigh. There's another prediction in the scripture. God has spoken of something yet future not yet come to pass but you can be sure that it will.

In Psalm 19 or Psalm 9 verse 17 God said the wicked shall be turned into hell. And all nations that forget God God's word is unfailing. Jesus said heaven and earth will pass away but my word will never pass away.

And you're a fool if you're gambling your eternal destiny on the thought that God's word is not true or God's word will fail. In Hebrews 2 3 the question is asked how shall we escape if we neglect the great salvation which has been delivered to us.

How shall we escape. What the judgment of God that will come upon the unrighteous and the ungodly. There is no escape except the one that God has provided for you through Jesus Christ the Messiah who came right as was predicted.

The Messiah who died just as he predicted and rose again as he predicted in order that he might bring salvation for all mankind. And to put your trust in him is to be saved. Jesus said God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him would not perish be judged but would have everlasting life.

God is not willing that you should perish. He's waiting for you. He's been patiently waiting for you. But even as God waited for the people in the days of Noah the time ultimately came when God had to move.

And the time is coming very soon when God is going to move again and when they were all safely in the ark God shut the door and God is gathering today his people into the ark and soon he will shut the door.

And you come to the end of God's patience and the beginning of his wrath that shall be poured out upon this ungodly world. Scriptures are fascinating. Scriptures are interesting. And the scriptures are true.

They are unfailing. You can count on God's word coming to pass up. Until this point in history up until this moment not one good word of God's promises have failed. He's batting a thousand percent and you're a fool.

If you think he's going to strike out his word shall be fulfilled. Count on it. Father we thank you for the certainty of your promises the certainty of your word. You're not a man that you should boast nor the son of man that you should lie.

You have said it you will do it. And lord we thank you for the wonderful prophecies concerning the future of those who have put their trust in you. The future glories that await the child of God when he is brought home to the father lord our hearts are warmed and blessed by the hope that we have through the promises that you have given.

We pray for those today lord who have not yet made their commitment to Jesus Christ. May this be the day before it is everlastingly too late lord may they make the choice to follow you to trust your word your word that doesn't fail in Jesus name amen.

The Call to Trust in Christ

You may stand. Our pastors are standing down here at the front. They're here to pray for you. This is your day the day of decision. The bible says call upon the lord. While he is near he's near to you today.

He's dealing with your heart. It's time for you to make that commitment. They're here to pray for you and to help you to discover the joy and the blessing of knowing Jesus Christ as your lord and as your savior.

So as soon as we're dismissed I encourage you come on forward and let them pray with you and may you come into that rich full wonderful life that God has promised for those that would put their trust and their hope in him.

The lord bless thee the lord.