Today on the Verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Many of us are following Christ, but that peace and that strength have gone, and we're feeling weary. And still, I'm asking you afresh to reaffirm your faith in God. He is supreme. He's sovereign.
He's all loving. Trust God in the tough times of life. Welcome to the Verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. With all the negative news and divisive rhetoric in our world, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. But today on the Verdict, we're turning to the Book of Isaiah and a wonderful promise we have that will help us navigate tough times and difficult situations.
Now, continuing with our new series called "With Wings Like Eagles," here's Pastor John Monroe with today's lesson. Last time we began this new series with wings like eagles, soaring high in life's challenges. In the tough times of life, I'm encouraging you to trust God. A promise of the Scriptures is that you will mount up with wings like eagles. You will run and not be weary; you shall walk and not faint.
What a brilliant promise to those who are God-centered in their life. But what does it mean to be God-centered in tough times? It is easy to be overcome by our problems. But I'm asking you to look to God, and the more you know Him, the more you will trust Him, and in this way, you'll become stronger and stronger. Here's how to live a God-centered life.
Yes, even in the tough times. I'm to trust God because He's supreme. I'm to trust God because He's sovereign. I'm also to trust God because He's loving and He's a good God. Isaiah 43 verse 11: I, I am the Lord Yahweh, the Eternal One.
I am who I am. And besides me, there is no savior. Isn't that magnificent? That this great God, and Isaiah is writing to a people who had failed God, who are going to be taken into captivity, and yet he's saying, "This God, this God who's supreme, this God who's great." This God who is sovereign is also a God of great love, a God who is good. Because when He comes, He's going to come as the Savior.
Is that wonderful? He is the Savior, a God who sees you, God who loves you, and a God who comes to save you. You know what the name Isaiah, the prophecy that we're looking about. Do you know what it means? It means the Lord saves.
Yahweh saves. That's Isaiah's name. The parents give him the name Isaiah. The Lord saves. What's the outstanding theme of Isaiah?
What's Isaiah writing about over and over again? This: the Lord saves. The Lord saves His people. Even when they mess up, even when they're taken into captivity, even when they turn their back on you, remember this: I, I am the Lord. There is no one like me, and there is no one who is your savior.
What love? What grace? What compassion? Yes, it's wonderful to think of God as supreme, as the transcendent God who is the Creator, who is distinct from His creation. But Isaiah is also reminding us of a truth that we have throughout Scripture, supremely revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ.
That this God who is great is also a God who is described in Isaiah, quoted by Matthew in Matthew one regarding our Lord Jesus Christ. When he comes, he's given the name what, Emmanuel, God with us. Do you know where that comes from? When Matthew quotes it in Matthew one, where it comes? It comes from Isaiah, that the Lord is with us.
You mean this great sovereign God who's in control, who is the first and the last. Who encompasses all of existence from start to finish? That this God is with us. That this God loves me. Three weeks ago, I reminded you that God knows your name.
Yes, He is transcendent, but He's also a God who is imminent, a God who is with us. With us. Here's the amazing thing. Here's the mind blowing thing. That this God, who is supreme, who is sovereign, is a God.
Who seeks relationships with his people? God seeks a personal relationship with you. How is he described throughout the Old Testament? I am the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. Yes, he's described as the supreme God, as the Creator.
That's true, but he's a God who's with us. A God who seeks relationships with people. Listen, in all honesty, there are people sitting here that you really wouldn't want to go on vacation with, right? I mean, come on, be honest, right? I mean, it might take you all your time to have a cup of coffee with them because there's something about them that you don't particularly like, or they may not like you.
Think of this: the God who sees our hearts, our rebellion. Is a God who is seeking us, so that when our Lord Jesus Christ comes, who is God incarnate, He comes to seek and to save the lost. And if you're here wondering how can I have a God-centered life, John? How can I know this great God, this eternal God? I'd love to have that because my life is not grounded.
It's it's meaningless. It's it's floating around, and I've lost control of things. Of course, you've lost control of things. That's why you're to trust God. Hand over control to him.
It's called surrender. It's called trust. It's called believing. And God, in His grace, sees us in our need, in our rebellion, and sends the Lord Jesus to us, not to condemn us, but that through Him we might be saved. The Apostle John says it so beautifully in First John four, verse nine.
He says this in First John four verse nine. God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
Now think of this: Why did God send His Son into this world so that we, people who fail, who are self-centered, Who are so selfish? Who turn our back on God and think we can live life the way that we want, rather than to follow God? That He comes so that we can live through Him.
So no matter how far away you are from God, no matter how deep that hole of sin that you have dug for yourself, God's grace and His mercy come to you, and they embrace you. And you may just now feel overwhelmed by the life, by the struggles and challenges of life. You may feel that life is pointless, but our Lord Jesus Christ comes as the Savior. This is what Isaiah saying. Besides me, there is.
No savior.
So, if you have this great God and a God who loves you, why don't you trust Him? He's a good God. Oswald Chambers says, "The root of all sin is to doubt that God is good." You say, "Well, if God was good, He wouldn't give me this challenge. If God was good, I wouldn't be dealing with this family crisis. If God was good, my ministry would be so much easier." If God was good, I wouldn't have this illness.
No, God is good. His ways are unsearchable. That's true. He is good. In fact, didn't we learn in our study of Romans that all things work together for good to those who love God?
He is a good God. I can't explain all of the difficult circumstances of your life. I can't explain them in my own life, far less yours. But I do know this. That God loves me, and that God is good, and therefore, you are to trust Him.
What am I saying to you today? I'm saying to you, live a God-centered life. It begins with knowing God. Jesus, in His high priestly prayer in John chapter 17, says, "This is life eternal, that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent." Is that wonderful? How can I know God is through knowing Jesus Christ?
He is the way, the truth. No one comes to the Father apart from Him. This is the beginning of a God-centered life. When I receive the very life, the resurrected life of my Lord Jesus Christ, who died for my sins, was buried and rose again. As I receive Christ, the life of God.
Comes into my heart and my soul, and I am I am changed. This is the beginning, and I am to trust this God. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. You can never, ever, you can't work out your own life. You think you can work out your way to heaven?
Utterly foolish. No, the way is not for you to work it out. It is to accept God's way, humbly accept it. It's called grace. By grace that we are saved, and to receive Christ as your Savior, and then as we live life, to trust God for strength.
Turn to Isaiah forty, our main text for this series, Isaiah forty, verse thirty-one. Here is a magnificent promise: those who wait for the Lord—that's the trust in the Lord. To hope in the Lord, those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary.
They shall walk and not faint. Have you experienced that supernatural strength, that supernatural power? You're trying to get through life in your own power and your own strength. How foolish! Isaiah and all of the Old Testament reminds us of God's power.
He's the Creator. He also redeemed His people from Egyptian bondage. If He can do that, and He did, you think He can deal with your problem? You're tired. You're weary.
Wait on the Lord, and you shall be renewed in strength. You shall run and not be weary. You shall walk and not faint. I'm asking you to trust God for strength. You're weary.
Life's hard. Trust this great God for strength. Also, trust God for wisdom. James chapter one. Listen to James chapter one, because.
I find that in the difficulties of life and the struggles of life, I need strength, but I also need wisdom. I sometimes don't know what to do, and there's all kinds of people there with all kinds of ideas. What does James say? If any of you lacks wisdom, anyone here lacks wisdom? All of us.
Ask God. Ask God. You're doing that in this valley experience. You're in the dark. You're confused.
That family situation seems impossible for you. If anyone likes wisdom. Let them ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach. Of course, God would give it generously. He lavishes His grace on us, and it will be given to him.
But let them ask in faith, with no doubting. See the ones who know God. Have you worked this out in your life that your fellow Christians who are wise are God-centered? Do you know people who keep making one foolish mistake after another their life? They never seem to get it right.
Foolish decisions. They never ask God for help. They're not God-centered. What is wisdom? What spiritual wisdom?
It's skill in living. All of us are in this life. We face decisions about all kinds of things—some trivial, some huge. The wise person comes to God. Why?
Because he knows the end from the beginning. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, but God does.
So why don't I, instead of panicking, instead of whining, instead of complaining, instead of self-pitying, why don't I get on my knees and ask God for wisdom? Because He knows exactly the next chapter. He knows the next sentence, and so I can ask Him, God. I don't know what to do. Give me wisdom, and I believe You will give me wisdom.
Trusting God for wisdom, He knows the end. From the beginning, he declares the end. From the beginning, and then trusting God for peace, we sang about this. Turn to Isaiah twenty-six. I think I was eleven years old, and one of my uncles, my uncle Jim and his wife, were in Iraq.
He was working in Iraq, and he sent our family, to my parents, a tape. You remember these old reel-to-reel tapes. My father had bought this tape recorder. First time I'd ever really seen one. Shows how old I am, right?
And this tape arrived in our house, and this was my uncle Jim and his wife describing some of their adventures and some of their situations in Iraq. And we sat as a family and listened to this, and my uncle Jim was quite a storyteller, and it was quite fascinating. On this tape recorder, and in the middle of it, my uncle—here I am sitting, thirteen years old. My uncle said, "Tom and Ruth, my parents' name. I've got a couple of verses for you." Well, he wasn't a pastor; he wasn't really a preacher.
But like my dad, he'd been brought up to know his Bible, and he read these two verses that I'm going to read: Isaiah 26.
Now he did it from the Old King James. I'm going to read it from the ESV. Isaiah 26, verses three and four: "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. That sounds just like Isaiah, doesn't it? You will keep him in perfect peace.
Hebrew for peace, shalom. You go to Israel today and you meet someone, you don't say hello, you say shalom. The original text in Hebrew, it's shalom, shalom. Translated in the ESV, most translations. You will keep him in perfect peace.
This is a supernatural peace.
Now, that is what we all want, isn't it? Particularly in the struggles and challenges of life. How am I going to receive perfect peace in the middle of the storm? Answer: Whose mind is stayed, not in the circumstances. Not on the difficulty, not on the challenge, not on the disappointment, not on the betrayal, not on the injustice, but on God, because He does what trusts in you.
That's what I'm asking you to do. I'm asking you to put your trust in God, trust in the Lord forever, not just thirty minutes on a Sunday when it suits you. But every day to trust in the Lord forever. This is living a life of faith. This is what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
That day by day in all circumstances, the mountains and the valleys, I'm trusting in the Lord forever. Why would you do that? Isaiah says, "Remember this: He's the Lord. He's Yahweh. He's God.
He's a never-lasting rock." Last night, I looked at my old Bible I had as a boy. King James, of course, and in the margin, as a alternative reading, here it says "everlasting rock." It puts "rock of ages." He's the rock of ages, the everlasting rock. See, when you are God centered, you don't panic. You don't panic. God is a refuge and strength.
A very present help in trouble; therefore, we do not fear. Psalm forty-six. Be still and know that I am God. The person who is waiting on God, the person who is experiencing this supernatural peace, is a person who is God-centered. Turn over to chapter forty-eight to read more about this peace.
Isaiah forty eight, verse seventeen. Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. Of course, He does. He knows the way. He writes the script.
He knows the end from the beginning. And so, as you humble yourself and you ask Him for wisdom, He will guide you in that way. And then, notice verse eighteen. I love this verse. Oh, that you had paid attention to my commandments.
The Lord pleading with his people. Oh, that you had put God first. Oh, that you had gone God's way. Oh, that you had never rebelled against God. Oh, that you had paid attention to.
My commandments, then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. When we're on the beach, I love to stand and watch the waves. You know, they never stop. Even in a calm day, the waves still come. Even when you're not looking at them, when you're fast asleep, the waves of the sea continue.
That's God's righteousness. That's God's faithfulness. You're absolutely distraught with that situation, and you you go to bed. You put your head down on the pillow, and you ask God for His peace. And when you're sleeping, God's peace.
Continues the flow, and His righteousness and His faithfulness to you continue. But notice verse twenty-two: there is no peace as the Lord for the wicked. If you continue to rebel against God, you think, "Okay, I'm not going to live a God-centered life. I'm going to live my own life. Nobody's going to tell me what to do.
You're free to do that." But it is the way of disaster. It's the way of foolishness. It's the way, ultimately, of destruction. What am I saying? That spiritual life.
Spiritual strength, spiritual wisdom, spiritual peace—all come from trusting the Lord. Does that eliminate the struggles of life? No. But you will face them, and you will soar above the challenges of life. God has not promised sun without rain, joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
But God has promised strength for the day, rest for the labor, light for the way, grace for the trials, help from above, unfailing kindness, undying love. That's it. That's it. Can I ask you to make your response, your heart before God?
Some of you have never yet committed your life to Christ. You never received this. Spiritual life. Will you do that? Will you call out to the Lord Jesus to save you?
Many of us are following Christ, but that peace and that strength have gone, and we're feeling weary. And still, I'm asking you afresh to reaffirm your faith in God, to trust God, to love God. He is supreme. He's sovereign. He's all loving, and He's a good God.
Trust God in the tough times of life. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is a everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary.
His understanding is unsatiable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might, he increases strength. Even youths shall fall, and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles.
They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Trust God in tough times. You're listening to The Verdict with the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. John will be right back with more on today's message.
So don't go anywhere. If God exists, why is there such evil in the world? Isn't it bigoted to say that Jesus is the only way to heaven? And how could a loving God send anyone to hell? These are tough questions, but they're also real questions.
And John takes them on directly in his brand new two-volume set. Common questions in the Christian faith. Whether you're unsure, skeptical, or even hostile towards Christianity, or maybe you're a believer who wants to answer the honest questions of friends and families with more confidence, these booklets offer clear biblical answers in the frank, no-nonsense style you've come to expect from John. The complete set is yours with a donation of fifteen dollars, which covers the booklets and shipping. To see the full list of questions and requests you're set, go to theverdict.org.
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At the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road in South Charlotte, if you are looking for a spiritual home, a place to grow deeper in your walk with Christ, we'd love to see you this Sunday. Get full details on service times and ministry at theverdict.org. And now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? I certainly don't want to minimize the tough times you may be experiencing. And I certainly may not understand your particular challenges and problems, but I do know the promises of Scripture, and I do know that God not only is sovereign, but is loving and good.
So I encourage you to trust Him, and to experience the joy of being renewed in strength as you mount up with wings like eagles. And next time. We'll continue to think of this theme of trusting God in trials and temptations. Thanks for joining us today on the Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies.
Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
