What a good song. Even me. I
pray the Lord will bless us. I pray He'll bless you. Turn with me back to Isaiah 41.
Isaiah 41. Let's read verse 10 again. 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. I was thinking about our brother
D and the great heartache that his family is in right now. Great, great heartache. And this
scripture came to my mind and I sent a note of love and prayer
From us. To them, to their family. And I included that verse. In the note and I want us to
look at it for our message tonight. This is one of the sweet words
of comfort from our Lord to us. One of the very, very sweet.
Words of comfort. Each one of us. Individually. As we take our turns, as we take
our turn going through the great sorrows
and troubles that this life brings to us, we will take our turn. Sin has brought so much trouble
to us, so much hurt, so much pain, so much loss, so much ruin. And it just makes me so sad to
think of what all we have to endure in this life. It makes
me so sad. We watch each other take our
turns going through moments of deep heaviness, deep suffering,
deep fear. We just watch each other as we
take our turns. And we hurt for each other and
we hurt with each other. We weep with those who weep because we either know the pain
that our loved one is going through. I've thought so many times that,
you know, the Lord allowed me to go through certain things
so that I could tell someone, I have been through what you're
going through and I am, I'm so sorry. You cannot be a comfort
to anybody unless you've been in the shoes they're in. But we know as we watch brethren
go through trials and suffering, we know that We either know the
pain they're going through or we will soon in some form or
another know the pain our loved ones are going through. Life is fine and life is happy
and life is great until the moment that it's not anymore. It is. It's just so great until all
of a sudden it's not anymore. Sin makes it so that our whole
world can change in the blink of an eye. It's just so fast,
comes so fast. Doesn't it comfort us to know
that our God never changes? Doesn't that comfort us? Don't
we find great strength and peace and stability in knowing that
He is the Lord He changes not and because of that we sons of
Jacob are not concerned. Christ is all of our stability
because sin has given us in our flesh nothing but instability. All we have to do is look around
this world and see what's going on and it'll strike fear into
us and we will think this world is going down and this world
is going to drag us down with it. But that's not so in Christ.
That's just not true in Christ. We know because of our sinful
flesh in this sinful life that we live here in this sinful world,
we know that at any given moment our whole world could be turned
upside down. At any given moment. Thank God
we know that if our world is turned upside down, we know who
turned it upside down. Thank God. Thank God we know that even what
appears to be instability to us, that is still the stability
of our sovereign Lord and Savior. Doing everything perfectly well.
He's doing it with good reason and good purpose. for our good,
for His glory. We don't understand the things
that happen. We don't. We do not understand
the things that happen, but thank God we understand that everything
that happens to a child of God is for that child's good and
for our God's glory. Every single thing that happens. But even though we know that, Even though we know that it is
our Lord's will for us to go through these things, if we go
through these things. It is our Lord's will for us
to go through these things. Our Lord is the one who sends
us through these things. Our Lord is the one who allows
all of this instability and chaos, you know, for those who can't
see me, I'm doing the quote signs. instability and chaos. There's
no instability and chaos with God. But even though we know that
it's his will for us to go through these things, it's still so fearful
to go through them. It's so fearful. But thankfully,
as we do, As we do go through these purposed troubles, that's
what this life is, purposed troubles, purposed trials. As we go through
them, we have the comfort of our Lord's word to us. And it really is a. A promise
of comfort. This is His promise to us and
this is a promise of absolute comfort. Isaiah 41 verse 10,
our Lord said, fear thou not. I wish I could do that. And I
pray that you will be able to do that. When it's our turn,
I pray the Lord will let us do that. 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. Fear thou not. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Don't be dismayed. That word dismayed means dumbfounded. It means overwhelmed to the point
of being at a loss for words, just stunned. He's telling every one of his
people right here, in the end, you will see, it'll all be okay. It'll all be okay. Fear thou
not, for I'm 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. Now he is saying this to his
chosen people. Let's find out first if we're
one of them. He clarified right here exactly who he's talking
to. He clarified who his people are. So before we go any further,
let's find out if we're one of them. I want to know if he's
saying this to me. He said, fear thou not. You fear not. I want to know
sincerely if he is saying this to me, who is he talking to? Who's he talking to? We'll look
at verse 14. He said, fear not thou worm Jacob. He's talking to a worm. That's
who he's talking to. He's talking to a worm. You know
what? That's what I am. And I mean
that. I'm being very sincere. I'm being
very sincere. That's what I am. I am a worm. I am a worm. Are you a worm? Are you just
dust like I am? low and wretched like I am for
every soul who can say, I am a worm. He's talking to you. He's talking to all of us, worms,
all of his worms. And this is what he has to say
to us. And to help us enter into it, let me tell you what I've
titled the message. I've titled this. I am. I will. I am. I will. He said, fear not. Don't
be dismayed. I am. I will. In verse 10, he says, I am two
times. And he says, I will three times. And it's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. Look at verse 10 again. He said,
fear thou not. or I am with thee. I am with thee. That's his first I am to us. That's the first word of comfort
to us. I am with thee. In that, I want to draw attention
to the word am, not was, not will be. not can be if you'll
come to me where I am. He said, I am right now with
you. I am right now with you. In the moment of trouble, in
the moment of sorrow and depression and pain, there's nothing else
that we want to hear. There is nothing else that we want to
hear. We want to hear him say, I am with you right now. I'm with you right now. I'm with
you in this. When we're going through the
middle of this deep moment. That's what we want to hear him
say to our heart. I'm with you in this. I will not leave you
or forsake you in this. In what you're going through. I'm not going anywhere. That's
what we want to hear him say. I'm not going anywhere. I'm with
you. Hold your place and turn over
to Joshua chapter one. Just after the books of Moses,
Joshua chapter one. While you're turning
there, I'll tell you that in Exodus 33, as Moses was leading
the children of Israel, It says, the Lord met with Moses
face to face as a man speaketh with his friend. And Moses begged the Lord, he
said, go with me. The Lord sent Moses to lead the
people. And Moses begged the Lord, he said, go with me, be
with me in this. Don't let me do this alone. Moses
said, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. If you don't go with us, then
don't let us go. And the Lord said to Moses, my
presence shall go with thee. I'm going to go with you. I'm
going to bless you. You're going to see my glory. That's the same thing he said
to Joshua when Joshua had to leave the people after Moses'
death. Look at Joshua 1 verse 1. It says, Now after the death
of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the
Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying,
Moses, my servant is dead, now therefore arise, go over this
Jordan, thou and all this people unto the land which I do give
to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the
sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto
you as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this
Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all
the land of the Hittites and unto the great sea toward the
going down of the sun shall be your coast. Verse five says,
there shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the
days of thy life. As I was with Moses, so will
I be with thee I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. What a promise that is. I will
not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Joshua was a picture of Christ.
His name means Jesus, the same name as Jesus. He's a picture
of Christ. But because of Christ, for Christ's sake, that's exactly
what God says to every one of his people. I will not fail thee. nor forsake thee. No matter what
it is you're going through, you won't go alone. You will not
go alone. I will not fail thee nor forsake
thee. Go back to Isaiah 41. Verse 10, he said, fear thou
not for I am with thee. Be not dismayed for I am thy
God. I am thy God. So many times throughout
the book of Isaiah, the Lord said, I am God. How many times did he say that?
I am God. I love how right here he said,
I am your God. I'm your God. I am with you. Why? Because I'm your God. I'm
the one who's able to do something for you. I'm the one who's able
to do all things. How amazing is it that the one
who is able to do all things said he is with us and will do
all things for us? How amazing is that? He said,
it's my desire to do all things for your sakes. Isn't that what
he said? All things are for your sake. If I'm for you, nobody can be
against you. And I'm for you. How amazing. I'm your God. He said, I am.
I am. I am with you. I'm your God. Now he says, I will, I will,
I will. Verse 10, he said, fear thou
not for I am with thee. Be not dismayed for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee. That
word strengthen means confirm, encourage, establish. I can't help but think about
it. I came here because I was thinking about our brother and
his family. You know, you know, the pain, you know, the fear,
you know, you think everything's crumbling out from under me.
The world as I knew it is crumbling out from under me. In those moments,
our God speaks to us. He speaks to his people. His
grace is so sufficient. His word is so sure. His promise
is so true. He says to his people, in this
moment, I will confirm you. When everything else falls out
from under you, you will still have me. You still be standing
on this rock. I'll confirm you. I will encourage
you. I will encourage you. I will
establish you. Verse 10, he said, I will strengthen
thee, yea, I will help thee. That word help means support,
surround, protect. Listen to this, hold your place
right here and look at Psalm 125. I remember the first time
I read this Psalm. And it was at a moment in my
life when I needed this and it touched my soul and it has ever
since. I just, I love this so much. Psalm 125 verse one says, they that trust
in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed,
but abideth forever. Now listen to verse two. As the
mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his
people from henceforth, even forever. Isn't that good news?
Like whenever the servant of, was it Elijah or Elisha, one
of the two, whenever the enemy came and he said, what are we
going to do? And he said, Lord, open his eyes that he may see.
He was surrounded. surrounded by
the protection of God. Fear not, I'll surround you. I'll protect you. Go back to
the text, Isaiah 41, verse 10, He said, 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. That word uphold means grasp,
lay hold of, hold fast, keep. He said, I'll lay hold of you
and I will not let you go. I will not let you go. That's some of the best news
a sinner could ever hear. Because if he let me go, I'd
go. If he let me go, I would go. But he said, I will not let
you go. That's just so, that's such good
news. I'm so thankful this is not up
to my will. I'm so glad this is his will. He said, I will not let you go.
I'll uphold you. How? How will he do that? He
said, I will do that with the right hand of my righteousness. Who is that? That's Christ. He said, as you
endure the trials and the suffering of life, I'll take hold of you
and I won't let go. You will be placed in Christ
and you won't get out. You will not get out. Look at
verse 13. He said, for I, the Lord thy
God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not, I
will help thee. Fear not thou worm, Jacob, and
ye men of Israel. I will help thee, saith the Lord,
in thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. That's one of the
sweetest portions of scripture. I will sit right beside you.
I'll hold your right hand, and I will whisper into your soul,
fear not. I'll help you. I'll help you. He said, fear not your Redeemer,
your Redeemer. Your Redeemer will help you.
I helped you then in redemption. I will help you now. I helped you eternally. I upheld
you. I supported you. I protected
you. I saved you. I kept you on the
cross of my sacrifice for you. That's where I upheld you. And because I upheld you then,
I'll uphold you now. I helped you then, I'll help
you now. I strengthened you then, I'll
strengthen you now. Listen to this. I believe this
will be a real blessing to you. Our Lord said right here that
he is with and is the God of and will strengthen and help
and uphold his worms. That's what he said. He said,
I'll do that for my worms. And that's what he did on the
cross of Calvary. And I looked up the definition of the word
worm. I looked up the definition of strengthen, help, uphold,
worm. And the word worm means two things. Generally, it means maggot. And that's what we are. Maggots feed on death. Maggots
are vile, wretched things. Generally the word means maggot,
but specifically the word means crimson grub or also called scarlet
worm. Now with that definition in the
Bible dictionary, when you look these things up, along with that
definition, it had this explanation to go with it. Okay, it had a
definition of the word and then an explanation to go with it.
It said, when the female of the scarlet worm species was ready
to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to
the trunk of a tree fixing herself so firmly and permanently that
she would never leave again. Literally never leave again.
When this scarlet worm was ready to give birth to her young, she
would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself
so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again. The eggs deposited beneath her
body were thus protected until the larvae were hatched and able
to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her
body and the surrounding wood. From the dead bodies of such
female scarlet worms, the commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were
extracted. Red dye. What a picture this
gives of Christ dying on the tree, shedding his precious blood
that he might bring many sons unto glory. He died for us that
we might live through him. Psalm 22.6 describes such a worm
and gives us this picture of Christ. That's beautiful, isn't
it? Let's close this message with
Psalm 22. Turn over to Psalm 22. Psalm 22, this is our Lord Jesus
Christ as our substitute, dying in our stead for us, as us, dying
as us. Verse one, he said, my God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me and from the words of my roaring? Oh my God, I cry in the daytime,
but thou hearest not. and in the night season, and
am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that
inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee,
they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto
thee and were delivered. They trusted in thee and were
not confounded. Verse six, he said, but I am
a worm. Same word, scarlet worm. We're the maggot, he's the scarlet
worm. He said that for us. I am a worm
and no man. a reproach of men and despised
of the people. Our Savior made himself to be
us, that he might redeem us from what we were. He made himself
to be what we were, that he might redeem us from what we were. He did that to bear our judgment
from God. He cried, I am a worm. Judge
me for their sake. Judge me for my people's sake.
And because Christ cried that, what do his people cry in return?
Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth
me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil.
My cup runneth over. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. We can take this promise with
us now to the end of time. Fear thou not. I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee. I will
help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. I pray the Lord will make that