As the Lord may be pleased to
help us this evening, I'd like to direct your prayerful attention
to the chapter we read, the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 41, and we
take as our text verse 10. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 41 and verse 10. We have in this verse five reasons
to fear not. And I think we do well to look
at the setting of this verse. The previous chapter 40 in Isaiah is God's
message of comfort and forgiveness and infinite power. We see so
much of the character of our almighty Lord God in the prophecy
of Isaiah. been rightly called the Gospel
of Isaiah because it points us in such a clear direction to
the Lord Jesus Christ. You young people, you know what
a compass is, you hold it in your hand, it's got a dial, and
because God has made this world in such a remarkable way that
we have a magnetic north, the needle, whichever, wherever you
hold that, naturally points north, magnetic north. He can do no
other. And so it is when we open the
scriptures. Whichever way we turn in God's
word, we are pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so you'll find
as you go on in life's pathway, as you read God's word time and
time again, you see something And you think, yes, that was
prophesied of the Lord Jesus. Well, in the New Testament, this
is the Lord Jesus. And he's speaking to us. What
a blessing it is that God speaks to us. And he was speaking to these
people in the prophecy of Isaiah because they had not obeyed God's
word. They had gone into idolatry.
And God was punishing them. And God's punishment was to restore
them and bring them back to where they should be. If you get that
same compass and turn the dial round the other way, it doesn't
turn the needle with it. No, the needle still points north.
It's still being pointed the way it should go. And chapter
42, prophesies so much of the coming
of the Lord Jesus, the creator of all things, and tells of the
coming of salvation, the saving of souls, to Jews and Gentiles
as well. The chapter that we're looking
at this evening, With God's Help, we read there that God is our
helper, which is a wonderful reason to fear not. And we have these fear nots in
the Holy Scriptures. And for every fear that we might
have as we journey on in this life, we do have fears, don't
we? Some of them are real. So often we fear because we don't
fear God enough. And He is almighty and there
are no secrets with God. He can see right into our hearts.
He knows what we think. He knows all about us. And because
of this, He is able to save. Able to save us by trusting in
the Lord Jesus and bringing us to a knowledge of our need and
a knowledge of our Lord Jesus who alone can meet our need.
And therefore, we fear him because he is so great and almighty. And for every fear that we might
have, if we look in God's holy word, we will find a fear not. And we have a fear not at the
beginning of this verse. Fear not. for I am with thee. It doesn't seem long ago that
we were thinking about Christmas and those words are read at Christmas
time when those God-fearing shepherds were watching over their sheep
by night in the dark and their job was to care for the sheep.
And all of a sudden, a bright light shone. An angel appeared
and spoke to them. That would be frightening, wouldn't
it? That would cause fear. But the angel's message began
with a fear not. Fear not, for behold, I bring
you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.
That means Jews and Gentiles. And he spoke of the coming of
the Lord Jesus, that which was prophesied right through the
Old Testament, right from when Adam and Eve fell in the Garden
of Eden and is spoken of right through the Old Testament and
the New Testament begins with the birth of the Lord Jesus.
And these shepherds went straight
away and saw the Lord Jesus And then did they go back to their
sheep? And what we read is that they were so warmed in their
heart because the angels had spoken to them that they went,
we read, they made known abroad the saying concerning this child,
that he is the Lord Jesus Christ, he on whom the hopes of people
who look to him are found. He is the way, the truth, and
the life, and no man comes to the Father but by the Lord Jesus. And so we have here, fear not,
for I am with thee. The main message of this part
of God's word is to silence our fear and strengthen our faith
in the Lord Jesus. It was written as we've already
mentioned, to the nation of Israel who were in Babylon because of
their idolatry. Seventy years they were taken
away, God permitted them to be taken away by the Babylonian
Empire and I think it was a vast area, 27 provinces I think it
was, that they occupied and the people of Israel were scattered
about and there they existed in captivity because of their
disobedience to God. And it's interesting to notice
that the very things where they failed and were taken away into
captivity were the two commandments that we read of. You've heard
of the Ten Commandments. We could remember the Sabbath day
to keep it holy. That was one. The other one,
you shall have no other God before me. You mustn't have any idols,
no idolatry. And I think if we read the Ten
Commandments in Exodus 20, they are the two longest commandments. Keep the Sabbath day holy, and
he goes on to explain to us all about that, and then you shall
have no other God before me. And God goes on to say, for I
the Lord thy God am a jealous God, and visit in the iniquity
of the fathers and the children. He makes it very clear. But these people were taken away
into captivity whereby they might have their hearts changed. And
I think I'm correct in saying that when they went back and
they were restored to their own land again, they still failed
in many ways, but they didn't go back to idolatry again. Because
the whole point of of God correcting his people is to restore them
and bring them back. Rather like I well remember when
I was a little boy, I was looking back on it, I think
I must have been quite hard work to my parents and I needed a
lot of steering and guiding and to my shame, I remember my poor
mother being in tears. trying to think what to do with
me. And this was because they loved me. They wanted me to behave
myself and be obedient to them. And so it is with God. He causes
us to come into situations whereby he can correct us. And there's a lot in that wonderful
text in the Bible, he restoreth my soul. This he does. And this is the main message in this
part of God's word. Is to silence our fear and strengthen
our faith in the Lord Jesus. Israel promised that rule of
Cyrus and bring them back to the province in the prophecy
and 70 years they were about to go back we don't read that
his arms and satins no what you find in Daniel's book and read
it Daniel prayed to God and confessed the sins that have brought them
into captivity and prayed to God to bring about that wonderful
restoration whereby his people should fear him and trust in
him and rejoice in a saving knowledge of him. And we have some quite sad reading in the
book of Kings. We read in Kings chapter 17,
the second book of Kings chapter 17, some words that should make us sit up and take
notice. This is how low the nation of
Israel became. We read these words. And there they burnt incense
in all high places as did the heathen from whom the Lord carried
them away before them. and wrought wicked things to
provoke the Lord to anger. And they served idols, whereof
the Lord had said unto them, You shall not do this thing. Yet the Lord testified against
Israel and against Judah by all the prophets and by all the seers,
saying, Turn ye from your evil ways and keep my commandments
and my statutes according to all the law which I commanded
your fathers and which I sent to you by my servants, the prophets. Notwithstanding, they would not
hear, but hardened their necks like the neck of their fathers,
and did not believe in the Lord their God. And we go on to read in that
same chapter these words. And this is concerning those
who were pretending to serve the Lord and at the same time
worshipping idle false gods at the same time. We read they feared
the Lord and served their own gods after the manner of the
nations whom they carried away from thence. And to this day
they do after the former manners. They fear not the Lord, neither
do they after their statutes, or after ordinances, or after
the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children
of Jacob, whom he named Israel, with whom the Lord had made a
covenant and charged them, saying, you shall not fear other gods,
nor bow yourself to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to
them, but the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt
with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall you fear,
and him shall you worship, and to him shall you do sacrifice."
These were the words that were given, but these people still
disobeyed God. These fear nots are, of course,
because God was sending a message that he was about to restore
them. They would not be left in captivity, but God sends words
of caution, of counsel, and of comfort. And we have these words
today. The theme of fear not continues
in this chapter 41 that we're looking at this evening and it
is profitable. God speaks to the nation and
he says, fear thou not. He's speaking to them as a people,
captive Israelites. Why should they not be fearful?
Well, because God says, I am with thee. I am with thee. In the book of Ezra, we read
some remarkable words, because God is with his people. And we read these words. Now in the first year of Cyrus,
king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah
might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus,
king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all
his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, thus saith
Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven hath given me all
the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to build him
a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among
you of all his people, his God be with him. And let him go up
to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord
God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. We don't read that Cyrus ever
came to trust in the true and living God. And yet he was an
instrument in God's all-powerful hand because he had overcome
Babylon. He had become ruler of a vast
amount of the land of the East. And therefore, he was in God's
hand as the restorer of the people of Israel. They thought they
were in a hopeless condition. but God is here at work. And who can say unto God, what
doest thou? God's hand is able to withhold,
God's hand is able to give. And so the theme of fear not
continues in this part of God's word. Fear not, he says, be not dismayed. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I'm the same Lord God who spoke
to Moses and said, I am that I am. When Moses went to God
and said, when I say to the children of Israel that I'm going to deliver
you out of Egyptian captivity, who shall I say has sent me?
God gave to Moses that remarkable message, thou shalt say, I am
that I am, has sent you. And the people believed him.
They followed Moses. And I am is a wonderful title
for God. It shows us that he is immutable. God cannot change. We can change,
can't we? Sometimes we are persuaded to
change our mind over doing something, but God has an eternal mind,
and he sees the end from the beginning. He is completely other
than we are, and he it is who can say, I am. He is Jehovah, God in relation
to his people. He is able to bring peace and
prosperity in our times of need. He's in love with his people
in time of correction. And as we've already mentioned,
I think we can say that this time of correction in Babylonia's
captivity was that which they can all look back on in years
to come and say, We must fear the Lord our God, because remember,
our father, our grandfather, and they would all been told
how that although they kept their identity as Israelites, God did
not let them fall or fail, but he
upheld them and brought them back into his care again in their
own land. And of course, when they went
into captivity, God went with them. It's well worth remembering that
people like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they feared
God. And when they were put to the
test, what did they do? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
refused to bow down to the image that the king had made. And he
said that whoever would not bow down to his image, which he had
made, then they will be cast into the fiery furnace. And there were spies around them.
They were jealous because these young men were gaining favor
with the king. And they thought, now we can
get them, we can trip them up, because we'll go to the king
and tell them that when this band strikes up, they still stand
up, they don't bow down to the king. No, because they feared
the Lord God. It was because of idolatry that
they were taken away. God was at work in their hearts. God gave them the courage to
stand up. When the king heard of it, he
said, is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don't
bow down to my image, which I have made? He said, no, you've got
another opportunity. When you hear the sound of the,
you know, the list of instruments, the harp, the dulcimer, and all
kinds of music, then you will bow down and worship. And they
said their answer was quite forthright. We don't read that they had to
talk among themselves, no. We're not careful to answer thee,
O King, but we will not bow down to the
image which thou hast made. And if it be that we are cast
into the burning fiery furnace, our God, whom we serve, is able
to deliver us. At that the King got very cross
and he said, who is this God who will deliver you out of my
hand? You know what happened? When
they had this opportunity once again and they did not bow down, they were cast into the burning
fiery furnace and it was warmed up seven times hotter than usual. And we read that those mighty
men that were employed to cast people into that fiery furnace,
they were thrown back with the heat and killed. And the king might have thought,
now what have I done? But those men I won't have trouble
with again. But God is not mocked. God was
with those men. When through the Fari trials
he calls me to pass, yes, he was with them. God was with these
people in captivity in a remarkable way. And what a vision was shown to
the king. He said, did not we cast three men into the Fari
furnace? Behold, I see four, and the form
of the fourth is like unto the Son of God. What a vision that was. And when they got them out, there
was not even the smell of fire on them. No, God had corrected
fire whereby it would not burn them, just as he was able to
shut the lions' mouths and prevent them from being hungry when Daniel
was cast into that den of lions. Yes, God was at work through
that captivity. Fear thou not, I am with thee.
Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. I will strengthen thee. Thou
not dismayed, no, I am the God. All power of those against you
will be overcome because I am thy God. To be dismayed is to
be deprived of courage. So often we need to be encouraged,
don't we? And we need to encourage ourselves,
not in ourselves, but in the true and living God. Only a short
time ago, I was looking at the great event in King David's life
when he got back to his home in Ziklag. And what had happened? Well, the place was burnt down.
And all the wives and the families of David and his men weren't
there. They'd all been taken away. And
David inquired of the Lord, shall he pursue and see if he can find
them? And the word came back that he
was to go and pursue them. And the great blessing was that
David's courage and David's faith in God was rewarded. And what a wonderful picture
this is of God's redeeming love. All those whom they had lost
were brought back. They were all redeemed. They
were all brought back into their own families. All the women and
children that might have been taken slaves, David's army overcame
them. And all the blessing of restoration
was given. It's a remarkable story. If you
children would like to read it when you get home, you find it
in the first book of Samuel, chapter 30. It's an interesting
account. 1 Samuel, chapter 30. Be not dismayed, I am thy God. I well remember out there old
Pastor Dawson where I grew up at Bethesda. And he quite often
said, dear friends, remember, when the outlook is not good,
make sure and use the outlook. And this is what we should do.
When things surround us that would tear us down, look up. What a blessing it is that God
is ever waiting to hear our prayers. He hears us, He answers us, according
to His will and purpose, and we see His wisdom in that. Fear not, I am with thee, be
not dismayed, for I am thy God, I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee. What a blessing it is that this
help is available. And why? Because He is our God. I will strengthen thee. He knows
every need better than we do. And all these favours and blessings
that come into our pathway teach us our dependence on God. God who cannot change. And the
blessings he is able to put into our pathway to strengthen and
help us are those which he has eternally designed. God's will and purposes cannot
fail, they cannot change, because they are the I-wills of God. God who says, I am, is God who
says, I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, I will
uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. We should never lose sight of
the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is perfect righteousness. He gave his life at ransom for
many, and he rose again in power. You think of those two disciples
on that resurrection day, where were they going? They were going
on the road to Emmaus. They weren't going towards Jerusalem,
they were going away from Jerusalem. What we read is that as they
walked, Jesus himself drew near and went
with them. We read that their eyes were
holden, that they would not know him. But Jesus accompanied them. And he spoke to them and said,
why is it that you walk and are so sad? And they said, aren't there only
a stranger in Jerusalem? Remember that a vast number of
Jews would have been in Jerusalem at that time, Passover time,
when the Lord Jesus was crucified. aren't they a stranger, does
not know the things that have come to pass. And what we read is that Jesus
instructed them. We read that beginning at Moses
and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures
the things concerning himself. We may be sure that he would
have spoken words from the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 53, where it speaks
so clearly of the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
Remember that was 700 years before he was, before Jesus was born,
that these things were said. And they're perfect and accurate. And they're written in the present
tense, or even the past tense. Because in the eyes of God, The
Lord Jesus is the Lamb of God slain from before the foundation
of the world, and his people are secure in him. But when those
disciples reached the end of their journey, what did they
say? When they recognized who the
Lord Jesus was, they said one to another, did not our heart
burn within us while he taught with us by the way, and while
he spoke to us of the Scriptures, break back to meet their brothers
and sisters in Christ and declare to them, we have seen the Lord. He's spoken to us. Their heart
did burn. And we must always admire the
translators of the Scripture. There were two of those men,
but they were one in heart. The Gospel united them. Did not
our heart burn within us? And may our heart burn within
us as we think of the wondrous love and restoring power of our
Lord God in heaven above. For he will hold thee with the
right hand of his righteousness. He will hold who make contact
with us, not leave us to wander. And may the Lord be pleased to
bless us together and bless us indeed while we think of these
wonderful truths in the scriptures. For I, the Lord, thy God, will
hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not, I will help thee. May the Lord add his blessing
to these few remarks. Amen.