Go with me, if you would, back
to Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42, and let's read the
first four verses again. Behold my servant, this is God
the Father speaking concerning God the Son, Christ. He said,
behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He
shall bring forth judgment unto truth. shall not fail nor be
discouraged till he have set judgment in the earth and the
aisles shall wait for his law." The title of this message is
Courage for the Discouraged or Encouragement for for the discouraged. Tonight, I hope to bring some
encouragement to you. I sincerely hope to bring some
encouragement to you. The scripture tells God's people
to be encouraged. That's what it says. That's what
the Word of God says to His people. And I'm so glad. There are some
things in the Word of God that when I read them, I think, I
am so glad He wrote that because He knows my frame. He knows what's
going on in my mind. He knows what's going on in my
heart. Every time it says, and your children, I think, oh, thank
God for writing that. He gives hope. He gives hope.
And one of the things that he says to us in his word over and
over and over is be encouraged. Be encouraged over and over again. Go with me over to Psalm 31.
We'll read a couple of the places. Psalm 31. Psalm 31 verse 24 says, be of
good courage and he shall strengthen your
heart. All ye that hope in the Lord. Verse 23 says, oh, love the Lord,
all ye his saints, for the Lord preserveth the faithful and plentifully
rewarded the proud doer. Be of good courage and he shall
strengthen your heart. Be of good courage. That means
be encouraged. Be encouraged. He is going to
strengthen your heart. You know why we need to hear
that so badly? We are always discouraged. I am always discouraged. It kills me. It just kills me. And like David said in Psalm
42, why art thou cast down, O my soul? Just turn your eyes up. But I am. I am. I am constantly just cast down. And the word says, be of good
courage. He's going to strengthen your
heart. He's going to, if he is, if we
are his children, just like with our own children. He's going
to strengthen our heart. He's going to encourage us. He's
going to be there for us. He's going to pick us up when
we fall down. He's going to pick us up just
like we would do for our children. He said, if you're evil and you
know how to do good things and give good gifts to your children,
how much more the heavenly father? He's going to strengthen your
heart. He's going to strengthen your heart. Who's he talking
to right there? Every soul that hopes in the Lord. Every soul
that is hoping in the Lord. Look with me at Psalm 27. Psalm 27 verse 13 says, I had
fainted. That means I would have fainted.
Unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the
land of the living, if all of my encouragement was bound up
in the things of this world, I would have fainted. If I did not believe to see the
goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, if I did not have
that on the horizon, I would have fainted. So verse 14 says,
wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. Wait on the
Lord. Be of good courage. He shall
strengthen thine heart way. I say on the Lord, wait, I say
on the Lord, do you want to be encouraged? Honestly, do you
want to be encouraged? Wait on the Lord. Just wait on
the Lord. He'll encourage you. Turn with
me to Deuteronomy 31. Deuteronomy 31, verse 1. And Moses went and spake these
words unto all Israel. And he said unto them, I am an
hundred and twenty years old this day. I can no more go out
and come in. Also the Lord hath said unto
me, thou shalt not go over this Jordan. The Lord thy God, he
will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations
from before thee, and thou shalt possess them. And Joshua, he
shall go over before thee as the Lord hath said. And the Lord
shall do unto them as he did to Sion and to Og king of the
Amorites and unto the land of them whom he destroyed. And the
Lord shall give them up before your face that you may do unto
them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you."
Verse six, he said, be strong and of a good courage, fear not,
nor be afraid of them. For the Lord thy God, he it is
that doth go with thee, he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."
He said, be encouraged, be encouraged. God will not fail you. He will not fail you, nor forsake
you. You know, the future is so unknown
to us. We're just fickle flesh and it
just is so unknown. We don't know what tomorrow brings.
I didn't know if I was going to take that breath or not. But
he knows everything. He knows what he's doing in everything.
It's so perfect. He will never, never leave you. He will never forsake you. All
you who hope in the Lord, who are honestly, honestly hoping
in the Lord. Now, that right there is what
brings encouragement to a discouraged heart. Christ, your God, the
Lord Jesus Christ, your God, will not fail you. and He will not forsake you.
He will not leave you. He will not leave your side.
He won't leave your side. He will sit right beside you
and will hold your hand, saying unto you, fear not, I'll help
you." To me, that's about the sweetest thing you could ever
hear. That's about the sweetest thing you could ever hear. God
has never lied. Not one time. He cannot lie and he tells it
like it is. If He said that He will sit right
beside each one of His people and will hold their hand, if
He said that He will take the time to sit there and hold their
hand, then He is right now sitting beside you holding your hand. Right now. You don't know it. You can't see it. You can't feel
it. And the reason is because the
veil has not been lifted yet. There's a veil. But if he would
lift the veil, we would see that that very thing is so. And I'm
just not joking, and neither is the Lord. We would see that
very thing. If he would just lift the veil,
we would see he is sitting with each one of his people, right
beside them, holding their hand, whispering to their heart. When
they feel a moment of comfort, that's him saying, fear not,
I'm gonna help you. I'm not gonna leave you. I'm
gonna help you. Turn with me to 2 Kings chapter
six. I wanna prove that statement
of if he would just lift the veil, we would see it so. 2 Kings 6, the king of Syria was
trying to take and kill the prophet Elisha. That's what's happening
right here. Verse 13, and he said, the king of Syria said,
go and spy where Elisha is that I may send and fetch him. And
it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. Therefore sent
he thither horses and chariots and a great host. And they came
by night and compassed the city about. And when the servant of
the man of God was risen early," Elisha had a young man who was
his helper, his servant. Verse 15, when the servant of
the man of God was risen early and gone forth, behold, and host
compassed the city, both with horses and chariots. And his
servant said unto him, Elisha's servant ran back in the house
and said unto him, alas, my master, how shall we do? What are we
going to do? What are we going to do? And
Elisha answered, fear not. For they that be with us are
more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord,
I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. Would you lift the
veil for just a moment that he may see? And I'm gonna tell you
something, through the word of God, our Lord does that for us
by faith. What we're about to read by faith,
we can see it. When the spirit comes, you get
it for just a minute. He just lifts that veil for just
a minute. We can see it, we believe it. Verse 17, Elisha prayed and
said, Lord, I pray Thee, open his eyes that he may see. And
the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw, and behold,
the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about
Elisha. Do you think that young man got
a little bit of encouragement in that moment? I cannot imagine, I was just
picturing that young man when he had his eyes open and he saw
that. I would imagine immediately he
was of good courage. Why did Elisha have all those
angels, all those horses and chariots of fire around him?
Why did Elisha have that? Was he special? Was Elisha special? Meaning,
was it a special, a rare, a very unusual case, just a very unusual
case where God did that for one of His own? No way. He said He'll
give His angels charge over you. He'll give His angels charge
over you. How many will He give? Well,
how many do you need? He'll give all you need. He said,
they are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them
who shall be heirs of salvation. That's what he said. Take courage. He'll never leave you. He'll
never forsake you. He will supply you with everything
you need. Thank God, not everything we
want for our good. He just won't do that. But He'll
give us everything we need. We can count on it. He shall
not fail. He will not fail. Go with me
back to Isaiah 42. Now this has given me so much encouragement. So much, just seeing this truth
about Christ and everything that He's done for us. It's given
me so much encouragement. Isaiah 42 concerning everything
Christ came to do in the salvation of His people. Verse 4 says,
He shall not fail nor be discouraged. That was the announcement of
God the Father concerning Christ. He shall not one time, not one
time will He ever get discouraged. Not one time. There is no doubt
about it, He is not going to fail. He shall not fail, and
He did not. But to stress how matter-of-fact
that is, not one time did He ever even get discouraged. Not
one time. Not one time. Now, listen to
the definition of the word discouraged. All right? The word discouraged
means The loss of confidence or enthusiasm. It means disheartened. Another definition of the word
is persuaded against an action, persuaded to not do something.
Somebody comes and discourage. Persuaded to not do something.
God, the father said concerning Christ in everything that he
would endure on this earth. The father said he will not lose
his confidence or enthusiasm. He will not become disheartened
and he will never be persuaded against the work that he's been
given to do. He shall not be discouraged. He shall not fail and he shall
not be discouraged. Turn with me over to John 12. John 12 verse 12, it says, on
the next day, much people that were come to the feast when they
heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm
trees and went forth to meet him and cried, Hosanna, blessed
is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And
Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon, as it is written,
Fear not, daughter of Zion, behold, thy king cometh, sitting on an
ass's colt. These things understood not his
disciples at the first, but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered
they that these things were written of him and that he had done the,
they had done these things unto him. Verse 23 says, and Jesus
answered them saying, the hour is come. that the Son of Man
should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit." Verse 27, he said, now is my soul troubled. And
what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto
this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from
heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.
The people therefore that stood by and heard it said that it
thundered. Others said an angel spake to
him. Jesus answered and said, this
voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the
judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying
what death he should die. He was headed to die. Headed
boldly in to die. And he said, my soul is troubled. Was he disheartened? As he was going into this, did
it sound like he was losing enthusiasm? No way. He said his face like
a flint and he said, for this cause came I into the world. Father glorify thy name. Look with me at Matthew 26. Matthew 26 verse 36, Then cometh
Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith
unto the disciples, Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder. And
he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began
to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul
is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Tarry ye here and
watch with me. And he went a little further
and fell on his face and prayed, saying, O my father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will,
but as thou will. He said, my soul is exceeding
sorrowful, even unto death. He fell on his face crying, oh
my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. The cup of suffering, the cup
of being touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He said,
if it's possible, if it's possible. Was that him losing confidence? losing confidence in that moment?
Absolutely not. He was proving it's not possible. Not possible. No other way. He
said, ought not Christ to have suffered these things? He said,
didn't Moses and the prophets and the Psalms all say that there
was no other way? Turn with me to Psalm 22. Psalm 22, these are the words
of Christ Himself from the cross just before He bowed His head
and gave up the ghost. Verse 1, 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. He said, why have you forsaken
me? He said, I'm crying to you, but
you won't hear me. Was that him being disheartened
over how he was being treated in that moment? Was that him
being persuaded against the work he was given to do? He said, I know why you've forsaken
me. I know why you won't hear my
cry. Verse three, he said, it's because thou art holy. And I've been made to be the
substitute of my people. And while I hang here in their
sin, Before your judgment, you can't hear my cry. You must forsake
me. You must do what's right. Why
have you forsaken me? It's so you can receive them.
Father, forgive them, he said. Father, forgive them, accept
them by not forgiving me and rejecting me. That was not Him
turning from His work, that was Him crying, Amen. Amen, so be
it. The only reason that anyone would
ever be discouraged is because they feel that things are not
going the way they're supposed to go. And that's just so. The only
reason anyone would ever be discouraged is because they feel that things
are not going the way they're supposed to go. Not going according
to the plan. You feel that it's not going
to bring the outcome that you intended. Christ never felt that. Never. Never. Every single thing that happened
was according to His perfect will and purpose. Every single
thing. That's how it was with His life
on this earth. That's how it is with the life
of His people on this earth. I want to be honest with you.
If you belong to Him, your life is going perfectly. If you belong
to Him, it could not be any more perfect. It could not be any
better. It could not, there's not a chance, there's no possibility
that it could go away that would produce more good. If we turned
from the way the Lord has brought us, all it could bring is bad. Everything concerning our Lord's
life was according to purpose. It was right on track. We don't
use the word plan, but it was all going according to plan.
And He knew it. He knew it. As they smote Him
on the cheek and ripped out His beard, He was just... He didn't lose one ounce of steam.
This is how it's supposed to go. And He saw the end. And it's the same way for all
of God's people, for all of His people, whatever is happening
right now. It is going according to His
perfect will and purpose. He never got discouraged because
He knew His perfect will and purpose. And if we did, we wouldn't
get discouraged either. If we just knew His perfect will
and purpose, we would not be discouraged. But suffice it to
be so, even though you don't know God's perfect will and purpose,
you're in it. And there's no reason to be discouraged.
None whatsoever. Everything is going exactly according
to God's perfect purpose. I'm going to, I'm going to stop,
but I'm just not going to stop yet. I love, I just don't want
to scare you. I'm not going to keep going and
keep going, but I love how the apostle Paul, when they threw
him in prison, threw him in prison for preaching
the gospel. If they came and threw me in prison for preaching
the gospel, I gotta be honest with you, I'd be a little discouraged.
I just got, and you would too. But the apostle Paul, they threw
him in prison. And do you know what he said?
He wrote a letter to the Philippians and he said, this has happened
to me for the furtherance of the gospel. I would imagine,
I don't hope the Lord throws me in prison, not at all, but
if he did, I would imagine there's a child of God in there. And
Paul said, this has happened for the furtherance of the gospel.
And what he was saying is God is gonna use this to save mightily,
whatever it is. And he did, he used that little
letter to the Philippians mightily. He's still using it mightily.
Whatever it is that comes, because of Christ, be encouraged. Be encouraged. Look to Him. He
is our confidence. He's our enthusiasm. He's our
steam. He's our heart in the matter.
Look to Him. Look to the work that He was
not persuaded against. And we won't be persuaded against
it. Let's look to the fact that He was not discouraged, and that
will keep us from being discouraged. I want to leave you with this
scripture, okay? We'll close with this. Go to 1 Samuel 30.
1 Samuel 30. Just after the books of Moses.
After Ruth, 1 Samuel 30. David lived in a city called
Ziklag, alright? And verse 1, 1 Samuel 30 verse
1, it came to pass when David and his men were come to Ziklag
on the third day, they'd been out. And they came back home
and it came to pass when David and his men were come to Ziklag
on the third day that the Amalekites had invaded the south and Ziklag
and had smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire and had taken the
women captives that were therein and slew not any, either great
or small, but carried them away and went on their way. So David
and his men came to the city and behold, it was burned with
fire and their wives and their sons and their daughters were
taken captives. Then David and the people that
were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had
no more power to weep. Those, these soldiers, they'd
been out in battle and they'd come home and they're crying
and crying till there's nothing in them left to cry. They just
cried it out. Verse five, and David's two wives
were taken captives, Ahinoam, the Jezreelites, and Abigail,
the wife of Nabal, the Carmelite. And David was greatly distressed
for the people spake of stoning him. Because the soul of all
the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his
daughters. But David encouraged himself
in the Lord, his God. And as I was reading this for
this scripture reference, I read the whole story and it makes
me want to preach the whole story. I may. I may Sunday, but the
point is, is God helped that man. God helped that man. David, he had nothing left. He'd been stripped of everything.
He came home and his city was burned. His house was burned.
His family was gone. His men turned on him because
they were so sad over the fact that their families were gone.
He had nothing left, but he encouraged himself in the purpose, the sovereignty,
the will of the Lord his God. That's all he had left. And you
and I can do the exact same thing. He will never leave us. David
knew that he'll never leave me. He'll never forsake us. He'll
never fail us. David knew in that moment, this
is not him failing me. And he was not discouraged away
from the work of redeeming us. And anytime we need some encouragement,
we can always turn to him. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head. You'll see. You'll see, just
be encouraged in the Lord. He'll strengthen your heart.
All right, let's all stand together.