I please God to bless us together
this evening as we consider his word. Let us turn to the prophecy
of Isaiah chapter 41 and verse 10. The prophecy of Isaiah chapter
41 and verse 10. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. This is a wonderful promise from
Almighty God. It's a promise from Almighty
God to his people, to his church. And the glory is that this word
is true and we know that the Saviour has conquered and the
Saviour is risen again and the Saviour is seated in glory on
the Father's right hand. And we know therefore that he
was a conqueror, and that by his grace we shall be more than
conquerors through him that loved us. So this evening, if we have
the evidence that we are a possessor of God's grace, if that is so,
we know that the Lord has loved us, the Lord has shown us his
mercy, And if that is so, then we can really enter into such
a word as this. Because we walk in a difficult
world, a world with many temptations, and we may look at ourselves
and realize how foolish we've been, and how sinful we've been,
and sad to think that we've listened to the temptations of the old
devil, and fear perhaps of what we've done and the consequences
of our sin. Well you know that's right to
be in that position really, to not just sin glibly and lightly. People today think sin is very
little consequence and they really go about pleasing themselves,
doing just what they want to do and then hope that God will
look upon them for good. We're told the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom. And it will be a great blessing
for you and me if we are a possessor of the fear of the Lord. And
the fear of the Lord will produce the effect that we will desire
not to offend Almighty God. and to realise that our sins
caused the Saviour to suffer so greatly that we might be freed
from that sin. Now it's a wonderful favour therefore
if the Spirit of God has directed us to such an important truth
so that we realise who we are and what we are and how deserving
we are of eternal damnation, and yet to believe that through
the grace of God, the Lord Jesus came to save and to deliver our
souls from the wrath to come. Now, all of us here tonight,
without any exception, needs to know in our hearts that we
are amongst those for whom Christ died. And so if that is true,
we can understand these words, fear thou not, for I am with
thee. And the Lord has promised he
will never, no never forsake his people. He will never forsake
us. We may feel, and rightly so sometimes,
we deserve to be forsaken. you look back and all of us look
back in the last week in our life and can we say well of course
i was a good person i didn't sin last week i'm sure if you
and i are rightly taught by the spirit of god we'll look into
our hearts and we'll find so many sins there we'd be utterly
ashamed we'll hang down our head we'll
understand what the publican was like in that parable when
he was ascribed He hung down his head, smote upon his breast
and cried out, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. That prayer
never becomes old fashioned. That prayer never goes out of
date. That prayer is always a suitable
prayer to the true church of God, because we do sin. And my friends, this side of
the grave, we won't be free from the sinful body. Our all nature
is sinful. The Apostle Paul said, didn't
he? In me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. Well, that's a great lesson to
learn. Not something that you and I
like perhaps learning, but it's good truth. And if we understand
the truth of that word, what it means is the Spirit of God
is convicting us of our sin. We're not able to just sin and
walk away from it. But we sin and our conscience
taps us on the shoulder. And we know that we've done that
which was wrong. That's when That prayer is good
for us. God be merciful to a mere sinner. Now, you won't again just pray
that glibly. Well, first of all, probably,
if you're not taught of God, you won't even think of a prayer
like that. But it's a wonderful mercy if the Spirit of God directs
us to that, to realise our utter ruin and lost condition and wretchedness. Again in that same 7th of Romans,
the Apostle, he explained the situation like this, O wretched
man that I am. He didn't think he was a wonderful
guy. He didn't think he was a perfect Christian. He cried out in that
way, O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? He recognised that he couldn't
do it. No, he couldn't do it. Beyond his capabilities. But
he knew who could. Bless God tonight, if you and
I know who can. This is what the Apostle said,
I thank God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. That's who can deliver
us from this body of sin and death. So Then with a mind I
myself serve the law of God, but with a flesh the law of sin."
And he goes on, and of course there weren't any chapters in
the original. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. You may
say, well I fell there of course so it can't be true of me. Well
it's like this, do you desire? Do you pray? You may be able
to walk after the spirit and not after the flesh. Well if
so you see we have the indication that we are indeed amongst the
true family of God and so we can therefore take courage from
words like this, fear thou not. Fear thou not, because there
is the evidence of the life of God in our souls. That's the
important thing, isn't it? To know that you and I have the
life of God in our soul. That's what matters. It's between
your soul and God. It's not what people think of
you. Some people give a wonderful outside expression of godliness,
but inside they're absolutely the opposite. are absolute hypocrites. They pretend to be what they're
not. But it's a wonderful mercy when God comes and touches our
heart and shows us what we are and then causes us to flee to
Him. And such a word of this then
is true to such people, fear thou not. Why? The answer's given. For I am with thee. Now, we do need to fear if God's
not with us. My friends, if God's not with
us, we have to greatly fear because hell is before us. There's no
hope. Unless God is with us, I am with
thee. Well, tonight, as we look into
our hearts, Can we discern the blessed favour that God is with
us? God is with us. Sometimes it needs some discernment.
Sometimes it needs some searching. But it's good to search. It's
good to examine ourselves. to see whether we are in the
faith or not. We don't want to make a big mistake,
do we? And think we're all right and then find we're all wrong. Scripture encourages us to examine
ourselves to see whether we are in the faith or not. To look
carefully into your heart, to find there God's work, God's
work, God's work of conviction, God's work of directing you to
the Lord Jesus Christ, God's work of causing you to pray,
not just a form of words, but to pray from your heart, the
evidence of God's work, and therefore, fear thou not, for I am with
thee. In this short verse, We have
God stating, I, five times, just to really encourage us and to
instruct us. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. If it wasn't God speaking, surely
we would be fearful. If I was to come and say to you,
well, fear not, well, it would just be the word of a man, wouldn't
it? I might say it, I might say it earnestly, I might really
be concerned that it was true, but I have no authority. My friends,
God's word has authority. And when God speaks, you can
believe it, and you can rest in it. And so, you know your position
tonight, There may be great mountains before you. There may perhaps
be small hills. But whatever it is, you may be
fearful. You may be fearful what tomorrow
holds. You may be fearful what the week holds. You may be fearful
what the year holds. But then to be encouraged by
such a word as this, for I am with thee. You know, the Apostle Paul, who
was a man of God, but a man of God who had to face many trials
and difficulty in his life, and don't think you'll be accepted
from that. The life we live on this earth
is not an easy life, it never has been, and it never will be
to the people of God. And one of the reasons is this,
so that we don't settle down and make it our home. We are
a pilgrim. were a stranger. Now, coming
back, what did the Apostle say? The Apostle had many difficulties,
many trials. He said these wonderful words,
I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me. There
was his hope. There was his confidence. It
wasn't in his own ability. And Paul was a very able man
academically and a wonderful knowledge of the truth of God.
But he didn't say, well I can stand up and I can speak and
I can do those things and I'll confuse you and I'll win the
debate. No, he didn't at all. His confidence was in his God. All things through Christ. My
friends tonight, where is our confidence? Where is our hope? Is it in this great and blessed
Saviour? the Lord Jesus Christ. And if our hope is in the Lord
Jesus Christ, that he is with us, there will be that measure
of confidence in our God. We won't be approaching unto
the unknown God like those Athenians worshipped. But you'll come. You'll come in prayer. You'll
come humbly. You won't come boldly as it were
in your own strength. You may come boldly by God's
grace, but you won't be relying on your strength. You're relying
on the Lord to help you to come in prayer, to pour out your heart. It's a great blessing to be able
to come and to pour out our heart God knows all about us anyway.
But it's wonderful relief to come to God and to tell God everything. You don't have to have any secrets
to God. God knows everything anyway.
But it's a wonderful relief to be able to come and pour out
your heart to God. Fear not, fear thou not. It may
have been what you are, fearing. But come then and pour out your
heart before your God. The Lord knows the end from the
beginning. He knoweth the way that I take. And when he has
tried me, I shall come forth as God. That means when your
path has been tested, when you've been tested. Yes. He knows the way. We don't. All we do know, by God's grace,
is there will be a good end. But we don't know the details
of the journey. But God does. And so it is an
encouraging word. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Well, may we therefore tonight
As the Spirit of God may apply the Word to our hearts, to go
in His strength, by His grace, believing His Word. Don't listen
to anybody else. You listen to the Word of God. Men and women make wrong judgments.
They may perhaps think they're speaking good words of counsel.
Rely on the Word of God. come to him, casting all your
care upon him. That's how you'll walk out this
way. Fear thou not, for I am with thee. He goes on and says,
be not dismayed. And again, why? For I am thy God. I am thy God. Now when things
appear, to be going contrary. When things appear to be going
in an opposite direction, you only have to look, don't you,
through the Word of God to find so many occasions when things
appear to be going wrong. I know you young people at Sunday
school have been thinking upon Gideon. Now Gideon was hiding
behind the wine press to thresh corn because he was afraid of
the Midianites. They had all been oppressing
his people and he was very fearful. The Lord came and told him, I
am with thee. The Lord was with him. Thou mighty
man of valor. Well, he was still fearful. He
still had to pray to God and he needed confirmation You may
remember that account with the fleece. He put the fleece out
and prayed that it might be wet on the fleece and dry on the
ground everywhere. And so it was. And then that it might be
dry on the fleece and wet on the ground everywhere. And so
it was. God heard his prayer and God encouraged him. He was
a fearful man. But what he proved was he then
need not to be dismayed and he was encouraged even further.
You remember when his great army was reduced to just a mere 300
men and he was told that if he was fearful he would hear that
dream, go down and hear at the camp and hear what the Midianites
were saying. He went down and God encouraged
him to hear what they were saying, that they would be beaten by
the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. What an encouragement
that was. God is so kind. God is so gracious. He knew that
Gideon needed wonderful encouragement. He brought his army down to 300.
How possibly could Gideon destroy that great host of the Midianites
with just 300 men? God is able. Yes, don't forget we have a great
God. We sometimes tend to limit, don't
we, the greatness of God. We need to be reminded we have
a God who created all things and it's the same God that we
are before today. And so when Gideon came and he
They blew the trumpets and they break the pitchers and there
was the light shone forth and they cried out the sword of the
Lord and of Gideon. The Midianites fled. They thought
there was a great army. They fled. Israelites didn't
have to fight. They didn't have to fight. You
may be fearful. You may think there's a great fight ahead of
you. Oh my friends, there may not be. The enemy may disperse. and then it'll be a great cause,
won't it? For praising and glorifying your God. Here then, be not dismayed. Be not dismayed, however big
the situation may appear, desperate, no hope, be not dismayed, for
I am thy God. Now, this of course has a natural
content, it also has of spiritual content and we don't want to
pass over that, you may be utterly dismayed because of your spiritual
situation. You may perhaps have almost concluded,
or you may have thought in your mind, you have concluded, that
there's no hope for you, that you are beyond the mercy of God. Well, first of all, no one, while
life is in them, is beyond the mercy of God. And there are so many encouragements
in the Word of God to not be dismayed. We are told by the Lord, seek
and ye shall find. My friend, God doesn't tell lies. God speaks the truth. And if
God puts it into your heart to seek him, to seek his face, you
will find. You will find him. And therefore,
be not dismayed, for I am thy God. You may have thought there
wasn't a God. You may have thought you didn't
have a God. Here is a gracious word of encouragement.
Be not dismayed. You may be dismayed. Well, remember,
for I am thy God. The God who has made you. The
God who has brought you thus far. You haven't been cast off,
have you? You're not in hell, are you? You're still on the earth, where
there's life, there's hope. Yes, and may you have that good
hope. May you be blessed with that
providing prayer. God brings his people down, so
you won't be able to claim any virtue yourself. God brings you
down very low, so you give up all hope in yourself. Perhaps
you may have been proud of your wonderful prayers. The Lord may
show your wonderful prayers were prayers perhaps without any prayer.
Perhaps they were just empty words. Many prayers, my friends, are
empty words. But when God brings us into a
position where we are dismayed, with our condition, our situation,
then the Spirit's work which has done that causes us then
to pray from our heart. Then it's not a fancy pretty
prayer, but it's a real prayer. And remember those glorious words,
the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man You may say,
well, I'm not righteous. Well, you are, if God has blessed
you with true prayer, because he intercedes for you and he
presents your prayer unto our father and the prayer is heard. Oh, be not dismayed for I am
thy God. And let's not lose sight of the
fact that we have such a kind and gracious God, almighty God,
Sometimes it's overwhelming to think that the great God looks
upon us as little individuals and hears our prayer. Doesn't
turn his back on us. Doesn't say no, there's no hope
for you. The gospel speaks to sinners. The gospel's gracious
invitations are to sinners. Sinners can say and none but
they How gracious is the Saviour? Oh, it's only the sinners because
they realise what it's cost for their salvation. It's cost the
death of the Saviour to carry their sins, to pay the price
for their sins. So they're all washed away in
the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, for I am thy God."
Oh, my friends, how humbling to believe that you and I possess
an interest in the blood of the dear Redeemer, because he says,
for I am thy God. And then the third I tells us, I will strengthen thee. Again,
the word of God tells us this. He weakened their strength in
the way. Weakened their strength, not
God's strength. He weakened their strength in
the way. And God may weaken us in our own abilities, I'm talking
now more really of a spiritual significance. He weakens our
strength. You may have thought we were
very strong. We might have said, I'll never
be moved. Just like the Apostle Peter. He was relying on his
own strength, wasn't he? Didn't last very long, did it?
Just a few hours. From saying in one moment that
he would die for the Lord, just a little while later, denying
the Lord with oaths and curses. We don't have strength ourselves.
But here is this word, I will strengthen thee. That means to
be dependent upon God. Dependency upon God does two
things. It brings us down in our own
estimation and our own ability and it raises up Christ as we
see how great and glorious a saviour he is. I will strengthen me. Well, I
wonder tonight if we know what it is. have God, as it were,
come alongside us and put strength into us. Yes, when he's brought us down,
when he's weakened us of our strength, and then he gives us
his strength. Oh, you see, it's a great blessing.
It's a wonderful favour to know that God has come and given us
his strength. It's all sufficient. Our strength
In any event, we'll weaken and fade. But the Lord God is the
same yesterday and today and forever. His strength never fails. Oh, what a great God we have,
my friends. What a glorious word of encouragement we have to speak
to our hearts like this. I will strengthen thee, and then
I will help thee. I will help thee. We need help,
don't we? Many things, naturally, people
need help, don't they, in things. We're not able, perhaps, to do
things. We need someone to come and help us. Well, here's the
blessed word of the Saviour, who says, yea, I will help thee. My help cometh from the Lord. That's what you read in Psalm
121. My help cometh from the Lord. You know, when your help
comes from God, who gets the glory? God. You thank Him for
the help He's given you. You may have found it at school,
you may have found it at university, you may have found it at work,
you may have found it at home. You're able to come and say,
yes, I received help from Almighty God. Almighty God has helped
you. And we might think of those words,
having obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, and
so you will. I will help thee. Yea, I will
uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. God's right hand. to uphold us. It's a very wonderful blessing,
is it not, to be upheld by Almighty God. Isn't it humbling to think
that Almighty God condescends, bows down to help us in our great
time of need. Asaph knew the truth of these
words. when he wrote 73rd Psalm and
he tells us, So foolish was I and ignorant. You say, well, that's
me. That's me. So foolish was I and
ignorant. I was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless, I am continually
with thee. Thou hast holden me by my right
hand. think that we're going with God,
He holds our hand. You know how children hold their
parents' hands, don't they? It's comforting for them. My
friends, how comforting really for the Church of God to know
that God holds us by His right hand. He tells us, He goes on
to say, Thou shalt guide me. You see, this is in in infallible
guide. It's not man, it's God guiding
us, helping us. Thou shalt guide me with thy
counsel and afterward receive me to glory. Well it's just like
the 14th of John isn't it? We read the Lord has said he
goes to repair a place for us. If he goes to a prayer place
for us he will come again and receive us unto himself that
where he is there we may be also. Here is the Old Testament speaking
exactly the same truths. Where who of I am in heaven but
thee. You know people have funny ideas
don't they of heaven. The worldly man would never be
happy in heaven. He would want all his football and everything
else there wouldn't he. But there's nothing like that. Heaven is
a holy place. And so here we have this view.
Whom have I in heaven but Thee? What's the attraction in glory?
Christ. Whom have I in heaven but Thee?
And there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. Now
a great blessing my friends tonight, if our great desire is for Christ. Great desire is for Christ, and
we can bless God for a word like this. Yea, I will uphold thee
with the right hand of my righteousness. Well, we read some of these fear
not's, you know, in this same chapter. You may have realised
in the 13th and 14th verses we read, for I the Lord thy God
will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not, I will help
thee. Think of that tonight, God coming
alongside us and saying, fear not, I will help thee. And then he tells us in the 14th
verse, fear not, thou worm Jacob. Well, Jacob wasn't very big then,
was he? Fear not, thou worm Jacob. And ye men of Israel, I will
help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the holy one of
Israel, Then there's quickly Isaiah 43 in the first verse.
But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he
that formed thee. You see, God's putting himself
in that great perspective here. O Israel, fear not, for I have
redeemed thee. This is the great truth. If God
has called us, if God has saved us, if God has redeemed us, we
have nothing to fear. Fear not. For I have redeemed
thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. In the fifth verse in this same
chapter, fear not, for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from
the east and gather thee from the west. Wonderful words of
encouragement. So tonight, my friends, may we
bless God that there is such a word to encourage us and to
help us as we journey on through life. And as we may have times
of dismay, times of difficulty, times of trial, remember, we're
just on a little journey, travelling home to God. If we are among
those who are called by His grace and can rejoice in this great
and glorious truth, fear thou not, For I am with thee, be not
dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee, with the right hand
of my righteousness. Amen.