This evening we want to take
a look at a couple of verses here. In Isaiah 41, Isaiah 41,
we begin at verse 8. Isaiah 41, but thou Israel, thou
Israel art my servant. Jacob whom I have chosen, God
chose Jacob and made him in Israel. By nature we are sons of Jacob. By grace, we've been made sons
of Israel, the true Israel of God, whom I've chosen, the seed
of Abraham. God told Abraham that he would
have a special son and that his people would be blessed in Isaac.
And we know that's a picture of Christ. He's blessed us in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Abraham is my friend. The Lord
Jesus Christ is called a friend of sinners. That amazing statement,
Abraham is my friend. And you see the reference there
is James chapter 2 verse 23. We studied that in the book of
James. Remember that verse? Thou whom I've taken from the
ends of the earth and called thee from the chief men thereof,
and said unto thee, thou art my servant. I've chosen thee
and not cast thee away. Fear thou not. We have no reason to fear. For
I am with thee. I am with thee. God said He'd never leave us,
He'd never forsake us. Be not dismayed, for, and that
word there, for, can be rendered because. Fear not, because I
am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God, because I am thy God. And then He said, I will strengthen
thee. Yea, I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. Now that's pretty much the verses
we're going to look at. I'm entitling the message, Fear
Not, I Am With Thee. Fear Not, I Am With Thee. In James 2.23, Abraham believed
God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he
was called the friend of God. Now, I'm taking the title for
the message from the words found in verse 10, where it says there,
fear not, fear not. And again, in verse 13, he says, The Lord thy God will hold thy
right hand, saying unto thee, fear not, I will help thee. And
then the next verse, verse 14, he says again, fear not, thy
worm Jacob. Kind of got the idea of the Lord
speaking unto his people not to be full of fear. Not to be full of fear. Now this
is one of the many times that that statement is found in the
gospel according to Isaiah. unto those that trust the Lord
Jesus Christ for all salvation. He says unto us three times in
this chapter, fear not. Fear not. Remember we had that
once before. You remember, turn one page to
Isaiah 43 verse 1. Isaiah 43 verse 1. This statement,
fear not, is made eight times in the Gospel according to Isaiah.
Eight times. We've looked at four of them
here. Isaiah 43 verse one, but now thus sayeth the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear
not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name. You are mine. Fear, fear not. So that statement's made eight
times in the book of Isaiah. That statement is found 60 times. 60 times in the Word of God.
God keeps telling His people not to fear. Not to fear. Trust Him. Now the first time
the Lord says this to a sinner was to Abraham. Abraham. In Genesis 15 verse 6. Or Genesis
15 verse 1. Fear not. I am thy shield and thy exceeding
great reward. First time that's said, it was
said to Abraham. And it's said to all of those
who are like Abraham. You remember our Lord said, Abraham,
rejoice to see my day. He saw it and was glad. And then
in Genesis 26, verse 24, the Lord appeared to Isaac, Abraham's
son, and guess what his message was? Fear not. I'm the God of
Abraham. You kind of got the idea the
Lord keeps telling us and telling us not to be full of fear. Because the Lord knows our frame,
that we are weak, frail, sinful creatures. Needy, poor and needy,
that we are worms, that we are, thou worm, Jacob. He said, fear
not. The Lord knows our frame. He
knows that we're but dust. Encouragement from the throne
of grace, not to fear, but rather, you remember Psalm 62, trust
him at all times, ye people. Pour out your heart before him.
God is a refuge for us. Someone said, fear is opposite
of faith. Think about it. Fear is the opposite
of faith. The cure for needless fear is
what? Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The remedy for needless
doubts, anxiety, and worry is faith. Now, you don't have any
problem with doubt and anxiety and worry, do you? The cure for
that is faith, looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. faith in Christ
to provide all things for us. He's called in scripture, Jehovah-Jireh,
the Lord will provide. My God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory through Christ Jesus.
He knows our frame. He knows that we're but dust.
He knows how to provide for us in all things. We're told many
times in the word of God to fear the Lord, Psalm 111 tells us
about holy and reverent is his name. The beginning of wisdom
is to fear the Lord. And because we fear him, we need
not fear anything else. Fearing him with reverential
awe and trusting him, we need not fear anything else. Fear
is born of weak faith or lack of faith. Now, I looked this
up today, that statement. O ye of little faith. O ye of
little faith. The Lord said that to his disciples
on four different occasions. O ye of little faith. There's
Peter. There's John. There's those bold
fishermen in that boat and starting to sink. And the Lord is over
there sleeping. Went over there and shook him,
woke him up and said, Lord, don't you care that we're perishing? And he says, fear not, O ye of
little faith. Here's the Lord Jesus Christ
right with them. They needed not to fear, didn't
they? Why were they fearing? O ye of little faith. That's
found in Matthew 8, 23 through 27. And he said that to them
on four different occasions. Another occasion is found in
Matthew 14, 29. when the Lord came to those disciples
walking on the sea. And Peter said, Lord, if it's
You, bid me come. And Peter jumped out of that
boat and starts toward the Lord Jesus Christ. His eyes fixed
upon Him, and he's walking on the water, looking to the Lord,
and he sees the wind and the sea. And he starts to sink. And he cries out, Lord, save
me! And the Lord reached forth, and
He saved him. And then you remember what He
said? Why did you doubt, O ye of Mr. Little faith? You see,
so all of us have that issue. I believe in these verses that's
found in verse 8 and down through verse 10 of our text here in
Isaiah 41. I believe in these verses we
find the gracious promises of God in His Word and valid reasons
why we should not be fearful, why we should trust Him, why
we should believe Him. Now I've got several that I'm
going to give you. The first one is found in verse
8 and verse 9. Fear not because we belong to
Him. We're His property. But thou
Israel, art my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, we belong
to him, whom I have chosen, Israel, my servant, the seed of Abraham,
thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, verse nine,
and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee,
thou art my servant, I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away,
we belong to him, he chose us. He made us His servants. His willing, loving, bond servant. No greater honor in this life
than to be called the servant of the Lord. It's a high title.
It's a high title. You remember who else is called
the servant of the Lord? Turn one page. You remember Isaiah
42 verse 1? Behold my servant, my servant. Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my elect, and whom my soul delighteth. I put my spirit upon him, he
shall bring forth judgment or salvation to sinners, to the
Gentiles. Paul, the apostle, often used
this title to himself, didn't he? Paul, before he called himself
an apostle, he called himself a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it goes back to that bond
servant found in Exodus 21, when that bond servant served his
master for six years, on the seventh year he could go out.
If he wanted to, but if he said, I love my master, that master
would take him to the some kind of a post and take an awl and
put a hole in his ear and somehow tag him, you're mine, you're
my property. And he serves him not out of
servitude, but he serves his master because he loves him.
And that's what believers are, they're servants. And it's a
love of Christ that constrains us. We serve him motivated by
love, motivated by love. Paul often called himself, and
the other apostles too, the servant of the Lord. In Acts chapter
16, you remember that demon possessed girl who was healed? She said
of the apostles, these men are servants of the most high God,
which show us the way of salvation. That's what the servants of God
do. They declare the way of salvation. We just have one message. Christ
is the way. And then the second thing that
we see, He says here in verse 8 and verse 9, he says it twice,
you're my servant. And then he says, I've chosen
you. You see that? In verse 8, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I've chosen. We know Jacob and Israel is the
same person, right? God took that supplanter named
Jacob, And He made Him a Prince of God, Israel. He made us kings
and priests unto our God. We read that in Revelation chapter
1 a moment ago. Fear not, because I have chosen
thee, who are servants of the Lord by His choice. By His choice, not ours. By nature, we're children of
wrath, even as others. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. But it's God who's made us to
differ. We are by nature children of wrath, even as others, but
God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved
us, even when we were dead in sin, hath quickened us together
with the Lord Jesus Christ. He chose us. We can say with
Paul, I am what I am by the grace of God. Who makes you to differ
from another? It's the grace of God that's
made you to differ. He said, you're my servant because I've
chosen you. Think about that. God from eternity
chose us to be His children. Behold what manner of love the
Father has bestowed upon us. Didn't we study that recently?
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that
we should be called sons of God. Sons of God by His choice. Like
Abraham, He calls us His friends. You remember in the gospel of
John, he said, you are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command
you, he commands us to believe the gospel. So we are his servants,
we are his chosen ones. Every believer can identify with
Jacob. Every believer can identify with
Jacob. He said, I'm the Lord, I change
not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Like Jacob,
a worm, helpless to save ourselves, all flesh is grass. Look at verse
14 again. Fear not, thou worm, Jacob, and
ye men of Israel. I will help thee, saith the Lord.
I'm your Redeemer. He's a Redeemer that really redeems.
He redeems with His precious blood. The Holy One, the Holy
One of Israel. The Holy One of Israel. I like
this verse too. Look at verse 21. Isaiah 41,
verse 21. Now, I don't know that I've ever
noticed this statement before. Produce your cause, saith the
Lord. Bring forth your strong reason. saith the King of Jacob."
Now often in Scripture, He's called the God of Jacob, isn't
He? The God of Jacob. But here, He's called the King.
The King! Well, I want to be His servant,
His Son, and I claim Him and own Him as my Lord, my God, King
of Kings, and Lord of Lords. Remember? Every believer can
identify with Jacob. Like Jacob sovereignly loved
of God. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Every believer can identify with
Jacob. Like Jacob sovereignly chosen
in that eternal covenant of grace. Like Jacob sovereignly bought
with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why did God redeem Jacob? Because it pleased Him to do
so. How did God redeem Jacob? Not by the deeds of the law,
but through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like Jacob
sovereignly called out of darkness into God's marvelous light. Like
Jacob was given a new name. From Jacob, God said, your name. Remember that conversation between
the Lord and Jacob? And the Lord said, what's your
name? He said, Jacob. I'm Jacob. Supplanter, cheat. He said, you're no more gonna
be called Jacob, but Israel, a prince with God, a prince with
God. Now look at verse nine. He repeats
what he says in verse nine. Thou whom I have taken from the
ends of the earth and called thee and said, you're my servant
whom I've chosen and not cast thee away. Now, a couple of things
here. because He's made us His servants,
willing and loving bond slaves of Christ. He's made us His friends. We are the true spiritual sons
of Abraham in the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't turn. Let me just
read this to you. In Galatians chapter 3, we're
going to see more of Abraham in our message Sunday morning.
The scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen
through faith preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying,
in thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be
of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Galatians 3, verse 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He said, and to seeds, he said,
not unto seeds of many, but as of one unto thy seed, which is
Christ. And then listen to this. And
if ye be Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according
to the promise of God. According to the promise of God.
But also, look what he says in verse 9. Reasons not to fear.
He said, I've taken thee from the ends of the earth. You see
that? Taken. that is taken hold of, laid hold
of. God laid hold of Jacob. God has
laid hold of his people and he calls them in a darkness in his
marvelous light. Taken hold of, seized, arrested,
once going astray, blind and hopelessly lost, ignorant of
God, headed for hell, now arrested by almighty grace, once a captive
to the holy law, now a captive of Christ and his love. Taken
of the Lord. Hear my, Lord, take me. That's
what Isaiah said in Isaiah 6. Hear my, Lord, send me. Take
me. Take me. I'm yours. Take me. Remember
that song that we often hear, Hail Sovereign Love. Almighty
love arrests that man. He's taken us. He's arrested
us. He's called us his own. And then
he uses this phrase, I've taken thee, and then he said, I've
called thee. I've called thee. Called with an irresistible,
effectual call of the gospel. We are the called of God. He
called us out of darkness into his marvelous light, made us
willing in the day of his power. Paul puts it this way to young
Timothy. He said, don't be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's
God who saved us and called us. He saved us. When did He save
us? In eternity. When did He save us? On the cross.
When did He save us? In His eternal purpose. He saved
us and then one day He called us. He called us with the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Made willing. He said, you didn't
choose me, I've chosen you. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord chooses and causes to approach unto Him. Isaiah, or rather,
Psalm 65, verse 4. And notice what it says here,
not cast thee away. Not cast thee away. It's true, one time we were cast
out. We were cast out of the garden,
weren't we? Our sin had separated us from God. We were cast out
of the garden. But we were never cast away.
He said here, I will not cast thee away. We were cast out of
the garden, and Adam all died, and Adam all sinned. But we were
never cast away from the Lord. Verse 17 and verse 18. He said,
When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and
their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I,
the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high
places and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the
wilderness a pool, a pool of water in the dry land, springs
of water. The Lord said, I'll never leave
thee, I'll never forsake thee. Remember that scripture in Hebrews
chapter 13? When the Lord said, I'll never, no never, no never
leave thee, nor forsake thee. The Lord has said, so we may
boldly say, the Lord is our helper. The Lord is our helper. Now,
that gets us down to verse 10. And there's a whole lot in verse
10. Fear thou not. Again, he's given us valid reasons
and gospel promises that His children, because He has chosen
us, He's made us His servants, He's taken us to Himself, He's
called us out of darkness, He's chosen us, He's not cast us away. Now verse 10, fear not. Fear
not. Boy, that's a lot of reasons
He gives unto us, isn't it? That we should not fear. Fear
thou not, because I'm with thee. I'm with thee. Be not dismayed
or be not distressed. Why? Because I'm thy God. Nothing
happens to us outside of the will of God. He said, I will
strengthen thee. I will. God will. Yea, he said,
I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. Fear not. You're not, I'm with
thee. What He's already given us should
stop our needless fears and endless worries, but our gracious Lord
gives us more. He said, I am with thee. Remember our study in the book
of Matthew, how that book ended when the Lord said, all powers
given unto me in heaven and earth, Therefore, go and preach the
gospel unto all nations. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. And then remember what he said,
and lo, behold, I'm with you always. I'm with you always,
even, even to the end. Even to the end of the earth,
I'm with you always. His name is Emmanuel, God with
us. Emmanuel, God with us. Someone
said, In creation, the heaven declared God above us. The law declares God against
us. Only in the gospel do we see
God with us and for us. If God be for us, who can be
against us? I am by God. We are his people. He is our God, our almighty Savior. Therefore, notice carefully,
he said, I will. Fear not, because I'm with you. Don't be distressed, because
I'm thy God. And then he says, I will. I will
strengthen thee. I will. Notice, it's what he
will do, not what we must do for him. The gospel is what he
has done for us. He's performed all things for
us. In Psalm 66, it said, come and hear, verse 16, all ye that
fear God, and I will declare what he has done for my soul.
Turn a couple pages. Remember our message last week
from Isaiah 44. Isaiah 44, 22. I have
brought it out as a thick cloud, thy transgression, and as a cloud,
thy sins. Now return to me, I have redeemed
thee. Sing, O heavens, sing, O you heavens. For the Lord hath
done it. Shout, ye lower parts of the
earth. Break forth in a singing, you mountains, O forests, and
every tree. Therein for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob and glorified
himself in Israel. So, I am with thee. Be not dismayed. And then he says, I will strengthen
thee. I will strengthen thee. I looked
that word up, strengthened. Strengthened, it means to confirm. It means to fortify. It means
to establish. It means to increase. That's pretty good news, isn't
it? I will strengthen thee. I will strengthen thee. I will
confirm thee, your mind. I'll fortify you with His mercy,
love, and grace. I'll establish you. How does
He establish us? On that foundation. I will increase
you. He causes us to grow in grace.
and then the knowledge of Christ. Fear not, he said, I will strengthen
thee. And then look what else he says
next. Yea, he said, I will help thee. I will help thee. Now look
that word up, help thee, and it means to be surrounded. It
means to be protected. It means to, that word, succor. It means to help, aid, assist,
comfort. You remember that verse that
I often quote in Hebrews 4. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, find grace
to help in our time of need. He said, I will help thee. You
see these valid reasons. Fear not, because I'm with you. Don't be distressed. Don't be dismayed. Don't be bewildered. Don't be distracted. Don't look
away from me. I will strengthen thee. Yea,
he said, I will help thee. And then he says, I will. This is what he's going to do
for us. I will uphold thee. I will uphold thee. Now look
that word up. Uphold, it means to keep fast. It means to take up. It means
to stay. We're kept by the power of God.
You remember we said in John 10, no man can pluck them out
of my Father's hand. The Father which gave them to
me is greater than all, and no one can pluck them out of my
hand. I will help thee. I will uphold thee. We're kept
by the power of God. I will uphold thee with none
less than this, with the right hand of my righteousness. With the right hand of my righteousness. Now wherever I see the word righteousness,
We're called the sheep of His pasture and the sheep of His
hand. None can pluck them out of His
hand. But whenever I see that word,
my righteousness, what do we think of? Christ, our righteousness. He's the Lord, our righteousness. He upholds us with Christ, our
righteousness. Now, let's look down to verse
13. Verse 13. I will uphold thee,
I will sustain thee, hand in hand with the Lord Jesus Christ. We march together toward the
holy hill of Zion, being kept by his power and his justifying
righteousness. Verse 13, for I, the Lord thy
God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee again, fear
not, fear not. This is not needless repetition.
This is what we need. Fear not, I'll help thee. Oh, what a helper we have. What
a Savior we have. Again, verse 14, fear not, thou
worm, Jacob. You men of Israel, I will help
thee, saith the Lord. I'm your righteousness, I'm your
Redeemer. Who says so? Oh, I'm the Holy
One, the only One, the Holy One, the Holy One of Israel. The Holy
One of Israel. Not only is He all-sufficient
Sovereign, but He's also our mighty Redeemer, thy Redeemer. We are helpless worms in the
dust. But we have a great Redeemer
who came to redeem. You know who He came to redeem?
Worms. How did He do that? He became
a worm. It says that in Psalm 22. The
Lord Jesus Christ became flesh and dwelt among us. He became
that worm with our sin being made His, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. Jacob. I own that, don't you? God said, we're maggots. We're
scarlet worms. But you know what He does for
scarlet worms? That word there also means scarlet worm. It reminded
me of this. Turn to Isaiah 1. You remember
this verse? A scarlet worm, a maggot, crawling
around, and the Lord takes our sin to Himself. And because of
His atonement for us. Isaiah chapter 1 verse 18. Come now, let us reason together,
saith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet. There's that worm. Scarlet worm. They shall be white
as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. He takes scarlet, maggots, and
worms And He makes us kings and priests unto our God. And we
shall be with Him forever and ever. He's the mighty Savior
who is able to save. Who can do that? Who can take
a worm from the dust and make Him a prince and a Son of God?
Who can do that? Turn to Isaiah 63 and I'll let
you go. Isaiah 63. Look at verse 1. Isaiah 63 verse
1. Who is this that cometh from
Edom, with dyed garments from Basra, this that is glorious
in its apparel, traveling in the greatness of its strength?
I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. He's mighty to
save. Able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by him, saying that he ever liveth to
make intercession for us. What a mighty Savior we have. Isaiah 41, verse 10, one more
time. Repetition's good, especially
when it's the Word of God. If you don't have this marked
in your Bible, you need to mark it or highlight it or something. I'm with thee. The great I am
that I am, I'm with thee. Don't be discouraged. Don't be
distressed. Don't be bewildered. I'm your
God. I'm thy God, thy Savior. I will
save thee. I will strengthen thee. I will
help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. That's Christ, the Lord Jesus
Christ.