Hell or High Water

The Promise of Protection in Isaiah 43

Amen.

Please turn in your Bible to Isaiah 43. That can be found on page 603. When you have that, please stand. Isaiah 43. But now thus says the Lord who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel, fear not for I have redeemed you.

I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned.

And the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, be honored and I love you.

I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not for I am with you. I will bring your offspring from the east and from the west, I will gather you. I will say to the north, give up.

And to the south, do not withhold. Bring my sons from afar, my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

Amen.

You may be seated. Dear Heavenly Father, pray that you would give us a great confidence in the love that you have given us in Jesus Christ. Pray that you would give us a great confidence in the protection that we have through him as he is a great King, defends us and protects us, guiding us all the way.

In Jesus' name, amen. Well, as a follower of Jesus Christ, if you are indeed a follower of Jesus Christ, you will face many trials in this life and you will need the equipment in order to face those trials.

Knowing God's love and his purposes for you through trials is of the utmost importance in order that you would succeed in those trials. And this passage speaks very directly about his intentions for us.

I'll read verse two again. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned and the flame shall not consume you.

This message is entitled Hell or High Water. I do not know, and I did not look up the origin of that phrase, but it would not surprise me if it came from this verse because it is so directly talking about God's protection of people despite fire and flood.

He will protect his people through all things. This verse contains an incredible truth. That is that both the test comes from him and the success of the test comes from him. That is because the test is not to demonstrate your capacities, but to demonstrate his capacities.

When it speaks of water and it speaks of fire, does it have something in particular in mind? For the fire, I think it is very plain that it cannot have anything in mind. There's really nothing that fits here that it would be recalling.

So what I'm asking is, is it making some allusion to some previous event? The three Hebrews that are thrown into the furnace won't happen until much later. There's nothing that this really fits. Now, it's possible that the water is an allusion to the Red Sea, possibly the Jordan, but more likely the Red Sea.

And verse three, when it talks about giving Egypt as their ransom, basically Egypt suffering for the sake of the people of Israel, it may be alluding to the Exodus. And we do see later on that in verse 16, it makes a more direct allusion to the Exodus.

It says, thus says the Lord who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior, they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick.

Now that is speaking very clearly of the Exodus. So this passage may be speaking of the Exodus. So it very well may be telling us to recall previous trials in order to prepare for future trials. But the point regardless is that both the test and the trial come from the Lord.

Speaks of His love for His people. He says, when you pass through the waters, I will be with you. The waters will not overwhelm you. You shall not be burned. Flames shall not consume you. All of these promises, each time the trial is mentioned, the promise is mentioned.

The trial, the promise, the trial, the promise, four times over. There's another passage that's very similar to this one. In Psalm 66, verses eight through 12, the choir master writes, bless our God, O peoples.

Let the sound of His praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. Okay, so he starts off by saying, bless you, God, because you have kept us through everything.

Then he says, for you, O God, have tested us. You have tried us as silver has tried. You brought us into the net. You laid a crushing burden on our backs. You let men ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water.

Yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance. So he says, bless God, because you have kept us and you have kept us from slipping. And then he describes more what God did. God crushed them. God brought them through fire.

He brought them through flood. He has done all these things to them, and yet He has brought them out to a place of abundance. But the test is from Him and the success of the test is from Him. And they are all for the good of His people, since they will be refined by it.

They will receive abundance at the end. And furthermore, His glory is demonstrated as He is demonstrated to be glorious, keeping His people through such great things. Even this passage here in Isaiah 43 ends that way, where it speaks of all these people being gathered through their trial, their conditions of trial, for His glory.

Everyone who is called by my name, in verse seven, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. All these things take place for the glory of the Lord. He gives the test and He gives the success.

Trials, Persecution, Heresy, and Moral Drift in the Church

This is the case for the church at large. The church faces all kinds of different trials, faces persecutions. We live in a very blessed era. I would not say that we are free from persecutions. Matthew says, blessed are the persecuted.

When you look at the same section in Luke, what it's describing is not only the blessings, but also the curses for whom those things are not spoken. So not only blessed are the persecuted, but cursed are those who are not persecuted.

I know that you face all kinds of persecutions. As a Christian, you are mocked by the media constantly. Chances are you have personal interactions and people who do not treat you as they would treat other people.

There are all kinds of ways that we, as a people, are persecuted. Throughout the pandemic, there were many different ordinances that were made specifically with the church in mind as treated as a greater threat than any kind of other organization.

Churches were really targeted. These cases, even the one from Santa Clara County, went up to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court of the United States agreed that they were targeted specifically at churches.

But despite the various persecutions that we face, we live in a very privileged era that does not face persecutions in the measure that many Christians have had to face these things. Yet, at the same time, they do exist.

Also, there are heresies. Now, this is one thing that because we live in an era without so much persecution is allowed to arise much more. When you have persecution, the church is purified. Only those who truly are of the Lord would even want to be of his people.

You're going to have very few false professors in cases where there are a lot of persecutions, in cases where persecutions are fairly limited, you have all kinds of false professors. This will include heretics.

There are all kinds of heresies that are permitted to advance in the church. And part of the reason why they're able to is because there is so much affluence, even among God's people, that institutions are propped up without a lot of oversight, and various seminaries promote all kinds of false doctrine that's been rejected by churches, or by Christians at large for centuries.

Now, this happens even with the doctrine of God. There are all kinds of seminaries that promote things that have been rejected by ecumenical councils. There are, by ecumenical councils, ecumenical refers to very early on in the church, when both East and West agreed, you know, the whole church more or less agreeing.

Not every council that's labeled an ecumenical council, as it goes later on, is necessarily a good one, but the early ones are. Then, you also have just all kinds of things that comport with the modern notion of God's love, all kinds of heretical views of gender, sexuality, of hell, people rejecting hell.

There's all kinds of heresy that distresses the church. There's a song that we sing that speaks of heresy distressing the church, and think about that. Often, we don't think of that as something that really does distress the church, but it does.

And there's the moral drift of the whole culture that affects the church, and people struggle to be aware of how much they are affected by the world around them. They really lack the ability to think at a meta-level, where they kind of step back and think about what things are affecting them, so that they might war against those things as much as possible.

Now, none of us are tabula rasis. None of us are blank slates that we can think about things absolutely neutrally, but, and because of that, the culture has a significant impact on us. So there's moral drift that affects the church, and then there's just various division over all kinds of personal disagreements or other matters.

Even as we read in our scripture reading in 1 Corinthians 6 this morning about lawsuits among Christians. Even when lawsuits are involved, there are frequently divisions because people care about themselves more than they care about the greater thing that they belong to, the church.

But yet, despite all those trials, which exist for God's glory, God keeps the church for his glory. As we looked at fairly recently in Ephesians 3, 20 through 21 that God is able to do far more than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in Christ Jesus and in the church for all generations forever and ever.

Amen.

He has promised that the church will continue forever and ever. So despite all those different things that distress the church, despite the great power that is at work, the church will never fail. In fact, it will continue to grow and mature despite all these things.

Why?

Because he has not only brought the trial, but he has brought the success. It is not the strength of the church by which these things happen. It's the strength of the groom that keeps her afloat. Then on top of that, there are trials that the individual Christian will face that come at God's hand for his glory.

There are all kinds of various trials, but he has guaranteed that his people will persevere.

Why?

Because he loves his people. He is holding their hand throughout it all. Romans chapter 8, 38 to 39 says, for I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Why is it that we can be sure that he will be holding our hands throughout the whole thing? Because he has given us his love. How do we know that we have his love? He has given us Christ. If he has given his own son, how much more will he give all things?

If you have the son of God, if you have trusted in him, you have the love of God in abounding measure. If he has given you his son, how much more will he give you all things? He will take you through every last trial.

Now, this is something, of course, that is conditioned on a true faith. This is not something that is true for a false professor. Many people ask, well, what about those who later do seem to fall away.

From the church?

First John 2 explains, they went out from us because they were never of us. If they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

This is something that is true for those who are truly his. Why is it that Peter and Judas both betrayed Jesus Christ, and yet Peter was preserved and Judas was not? Because Christ interceded for Peter and not for Judas.

Judas was the son of perdition. He was not truly in Christ's hand because he is not truly trusting in Christ as Peter was. If you have trusted in Christ, you have the love of God. Your trust, it's not because of your trust that you have his love, but rather it is because he has loved you that you love.

We love because he first loved us. Because he has loved you, he has given you that trust in him in order that you would be preserved through all of it. Like Peter, looking to Jesus Christ as he walks on the water, how is it that he is able to stay afloat on the water and not be flooded over and drown?

He's looking to Christ, and then as he looks away, he falls, but Christ pulls him up again. You have such an incredible love of God on your life for the trials that he has placed you in, which have come from his hand.

They're not accidents that he then looks at and says, I wasn't expecting that. Let me see what I'll do to make this better. That's what a lot of people think Romans 8 .28 means. All things work together for good.

A lot of people think that means God fixes up every disaster into something good. No, he intends everything. Everything is intended for good. And he protects you for this reason. For the demonstration of his own mercies in his life, he protects you.

George Whitefield famously said, and this is a really wonderful quote, you are immortal until your work on earth is done. Have you ever thought about that? God has a purpose for you. He has prepared your steps beforehand for all the good works that you will walk in, according to Ephesians 2 .10.

You are immortal until you have taken that last step. How can you die before his purposes for you are ended? Because those are his purposes for you. You will continue all the way to the end because he is holding your hand.

And this happens until the end. When it speaks of the fire, is it not speaking of that final judgment? We have in 2 Peter 3, says for they deliberately overlooked this fact that the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God.

And that by means of water, excuse me, by means of these, the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word, the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and the destruction of the ungodly.

God destroyed the world through water once by a flood and he will destroy it again through fire. He preserves his people through water. He likewise will preserve people through fire. All of this, all the way until the end, even until that final judgment.

He will keep his people through that final judgment. How will man stand on that day when he stands before a holy and righteous God who has a perfect standard that no sin can come before. We who are sinful come before him.

How is that possible? How could you tread in the ocean for a couple of days, let alone a year or eternity? How could you go through a fire and not be consumed? The answer is the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He has borne the wrath of God so that everyone who has trusted him is perfectly protected. He is holding their hand so that they are carried through all the way, even through the final judgment. And the one who knows that and has his eyes fixed on that and understand that the trial is coming from the Lord and also the success is coming from the Lord will be able to go through these trials with a great peace knowing that they have the love of God.

Applications: Repentance, Recounting God’s Works, and Readiness for Fiery Trial

Several applications from this. First, you must, if you have not, turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, turn to him. You must repent of your sins. If you confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

God is most merciful. If you have not turned to him, if you have something hidden that you are keeping, walk in the light, walk in the light. Do not keep that hidden. Turn to him, he will carry you through every fire.

A lot of people think they may be able to avoid the fire just by hiding their sin. It will all be brought to light on the final day. There will be no darkness in the courtroom of God. It will all be made known.

And the only hope you have is the mercy of Jesus Christ. Secondly, you should recount the things that the Lord has done. Remembering the water prepares us for the fire. Remembering the flood prepares us for that final judgment.

God has brought his people through and he can do it again. You should be recounting the things that the Lord has done. You should be, when the Lord answers your prayers, part of the point of prayer is to commit yourself to thanking him for that.

Recount those things. Recount them not only to yourself, but even recount them to others about how the Lord has blessed you. This is a way of committing yourself to appreciating this truth that the trial and the success both come from the Lord.

Don't only recount these things, but also anticipate them. The whole point of this is to prepare the people for the trial that they will face. The trial that they will face in Babylon, he will take them through that.

That's the historical context of this passage, of course. In 1 Peter 4, verse 12, it says, "'Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial "'when it comes upon you to test you, "'as though something strange were happening to you.'".

This is what many people think. They think that there's not going to be a trial. Maybe what God is doing is keeping them from trials. Maybe if they play their cards right, they won't have to face trials.

What this passage is saying is God is going to send you trials. He is going to send you trials, and he will take you through the trials, just like we saw in Psalm 66. Why is it that the Lord should be blessed having kept them through?

Because he was the one crushing them. He was the one putting them under the chariot wheel, and yet keeping them through it all. This is why he should be blessed. Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes to test you.

Tell yourself right now, there are going to be fiery trials. Right now, as you sit there, prepare yourself. Steal your soul, be ready for it, to not be surprised, as so many people are. And be on the watch.

Be on the watch for yourself, be on the watch for others, that there not be divisions in the various things that distress the church. Be on guard for those things, because they will happen, there will be fiery trials.

Be on guard for them. And then for your own trials, as you face them, first of all, interpret them correctly. If you do not see them as, if you see them as random things that are coming, where the Lord's not in control and they just kind of happened, you're going to see them very differently than seeing them if they came from God's hand.

Now, if you see them as coming from God's hand in anger or apathy, you will see them very differently than if you see them coming from his hand in love. If you see those things as coming from his hand in love, and you interpret your reality that way, you will understand that he is holding your hand.

You will see God's love in it. But if you do not have the skills to interpret, if you have not learned the language of providence in order to read the pages of the book as it's unraveling before you, then you will be more likely to succumb to the trials, rather than to be kept through, understanding that he is holding your hand.

Now, he will keep you through, but it is going to be a much more distressing process if you are not able to read the book of Providence. Now, beyond just interpreting, of course, you should trust the Lord.

You should turn to him. Just like Peter is kept from drowning as he looked to the Lord, and then was not kept from drowning as he did not look to the Lord, this is how you be kept from the fiery trial as well, is that you look to the Lord, and he will keep you through the trial.

As you look away from him, as you forget the truths of the gospel and the promises that he has given, you will feel the flames much harder because that will be, because the balm that he has given in his word, in his promises, are there to get you through less painfully.

Trust in the Lord, pray. Even trust him in the way you speak. So many people speak about being overwhelmed by their trials. Now, I have no objection against hyperbole. Hyperbole is a completely valid method of speech.

But a lot of times, people will use the language of overwhelmed to mean it more than just as hyperbole, to mean I truly am too saddled with things that I can act the way that God has called me to act.

Speak in a way that exudes trust in the Lord. If the Lord is upholding you, do not with your speech deny that he is upholding you. If he is holding your hand, do not in your speech deny that he is holding your hand.

So trust him not just in your appeals to him, but even in your speech to others that he is one who holds your hand. And then perhaps most importantly, the one that guarantees all these together is rejoice.

Just like you saw in Psalm 66, bless the Lord because he takes us through fire and water. Bless the Lord. And in 1 Peter 4 .12, right after it said, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes, what does it say next?

But instead, what instead of being surprised? Anyone wanna guess? Rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. These things are all for the sake of the glory of God.

And they are for the sake of the glory of God in his church. And they are for the sake of the glory of God in the individual Christian as well. These things are for his good and they are for your good.

He brings through water. He brings through fire. He holds your hand. Trust in the Lord and he will lead you through hell and high water.

Amen.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this promise that we have here of your love for your people. We ask that you would help us to trust in you. That you would help us to know the love that we have been given in Jesus Christ.

Us being forgiven of our sins by his shed blood. But likewise, upheld continually by our great King. We thank you that he is not only our prophet and priest, but he is our King. Not only has he made an atoning sacrifice to save us from our sins, but he likewise defends us and leads us into victory.

In Jesus' name, amen.