I read a few verses from Isaiah
40 for our Scripture reading, but our text is going to come
from Isaiah 41, if you would turn with me there to Isaiah
41. This message tonight is for every
person who needs it. If you need this, this is for
you. Let's read verse 10 together.
Isaiah 41, verse 10. It says, 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. Now, if you need that, that's
just what you need. If you need that, that right
there is just what you need. In Isaiah 40, our Lord said,
comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Tell them what I have to say
to them. That's what he said. Tell them
what I have to say to them. Now it's important for us to
know that our God always qualifies who He is speaking to. Always. In every promise, in every word
of comfort, every time, always, He qualifies who He's speaking
to. If you look back at Isaiah 40, verse 1, He said, Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people, saith your God, speak
ye comfortably, that means to the heart. I love that. It means to the heart and it
means comfortably. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned, For she hath received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins. We have the happiest message
on earth. We have the happiest message
on earth. He said, I am speaking to my
sinful people. I'm speaking to my spiritual
Jerusalem who've been suffering the warfare of their own sin.
just suffering in a warfare over their own sin. And he said, this
is what I want you to say to her. I want you to tell her that
her warfare is accomplished. All that warring, all that struggling,
you tell her her warfare is accomplished. Tell her that her iniquity is
pardoned. and tell her that she has received
of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. God does not say that to everybody.
He doesn't say that to everybody. He does not make that open announcement
to every soul on this earth. If you look at Isaiah 40 verse
15, it says, behold, the nations are as a drop of the bucket.
and are counted as the small dust of the balance. Behold,
He taketh up the isles as a very little thing, and Lebanon is
not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for
a burnt offering. All the nations before Him are
as nothing, and they are counted to Him less than nothing in vanity."
Down in verse 22 it says, It is He that sitteth upon the circle
of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers,
that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them
out as a tent to dwell in, that bringeth the princes to nothing. He maketh the judges of the earth
as vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted. Yea, they shall not be sown.
Yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth, and he shall
also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind
shall take them away as stubble. So he's not speaking to the world.
He's not openly saying these words of comfort to the world.
But in chapter 41, chapter 41 is a continuation of what he
was saying in chapter 40. And in chapter 41, verse 8, he
said, but thou, Israel, but to you, to everybody else, to the
isles, to the world, to the princes, to everybody else. But he said,
to thou, Israel, you're my servant. Thou art my servant. He's speaking
to his servants. Those who serve Him, I mean truly
serve Him, not themselves. They don't serve the glory and
the honor and the praise of themselves. They serve the glory and the
honor and the praise of Christ. They bow before Him. And the
reason they do that is because they've been made to bow before
Him. Had they not been made to bow,
they never would have bowed. But verse 8 says, Thou Israel
art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen. He's speaking to his
chosen ones. He went on to say, The seed of
Abraham, my friend. He's speaking to his friends.
That's such an amazing thought. that God would call any sinner
His friend. That's worth a Silah. Verse 9, He said, Thou whom I
have taken from the ends of the earth. He's speaking to those
whom He took. He said, I've called thee from
the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art My servant. He called, but they wouldn't
come. So He took them. He led captivity captive. That's
what He did. And He said in verse 9, I have
chosen thee and not cast thee away. That's who He's speaking
to. Those that He chose to not cast
away. That's who He's talking to. Those
that He chose to not cast away. Here's how we can know exactly
who those people are, okay? Here's how we can know exactly
who he's talking to. First, hold your place right
here and turn with me to John 15. John 15 verse 15 says, and this is our Lord speaking,
He said, Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant
knoweth not what his Lord doeth, but I have called you friends,
for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known
unto you. I have made it all known to you. I have revealed my word to you. I've revealed my power to you.
That's the difference. I've revealed my power to you.
I have revealed my sovereignty to you while others have not
seen it. He said, I've revealed it to
you. I've revealed my finished work to you. I have revealed
your need to you. I've revealed your own inability. I've caused you to look to me.
I have forced you to have to look to me, truly cry out to
me. I've made myself to be your only hope. I have made known to you my and
my father's will and purpose in salvation. And that will and
purpose is that My Name might be glorified. His Name might
be glorified. I've given you a heart to believe
it. I've given you a heart to love
it. I've made it all known to you. Now, is that us? Has He revealed the truth of
His Word to us? Has He revealed His power and
His sovereignty? And His finished work, aren't
you so glad? That finished work, you know,
Isaiah 40, it said, you tell her that her warfare's accomplished,
her iniquity's pardoned, it's done. Aren't you so glad He has
revealed His finished work? Aren't you so glad He has revealed
our need to us? Most people don't know their
need. They have no idea of their need. Our need is Christ. The person,
the work, the blood, He has revealed our inability to save ourselves. He's caused us to cast everything
on Him. Has Christ and His work and His
blood been made to be our only hope before the judgment throne
of God? If so, then this word is to us. If so, then this is a word directly
to us. Now go back to our text, Isaiah
41. With that, there is one way in particular
that we can know whether or not He's talking to us. And I mean
this. I truly mean this. This will honestly tell us. This
is cut and dry right here. This will very clearly tell us
and it'll cause us to know whether or not he's talking directly
to us. Isaiah 41 verse 14, he said, fear not thou worm. What do you think? Is he talking
to us? He says he's talking to a worm
right here. Does that cause us to say, don't
you call me a worm? I'm not a worm. Or does that
cause us to say, I think he's talking to me. I honestly think he's talking to
me. If you know beyond any shadow of a doubt that you are a worm, then this message is for you.
This is a message for worms. If God has revealed to us that
we are worms, He only reveals that to His servants. Those are
the only ones He reveals that to. His chosen, His taken, those He didn't cast away, those
are the only ones He reveals it to. So if God has revealed
To us, that we are worms. That we belong in the dirt. That's
where we belong, in the dirt. If God has revealed that to us,
then we are God's worms. And we belong to Him. And He
belongs to us. He chose us. He called us. He adopted us, He paid for us,
we are His friends. If He's revealed that to us,
we're His friends. And this is what He has to say
to us. He says in 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. He says, fear not because there
is nothing left to fear. There's nothing left to fear.
If he has satisfied your sin debt and satisfied the father
and satisfied himself and satisfied the law, there's nothing left
to fear. If that price has been paid and
if the penalty has been put away, there's nothing left to fear. Eternity is settled. Everything
is ordered and sure. There's nothing left to fear. So He says, Fear thou not, I
am with thee. I'm with you. It's a common thing
for a parent to tell a child who has just gotten hurt or just
gotten scared or something like that, as that parent is holding
that child and comforting that child, it's a common thing for
a parent to say, it's okay, I'm here. I'm here. It's all right. That's exactly
what he's saying to us. Fear thou not, I'm with thee. I'm here. That's the greatest
word that a sinner in need will ever hear. Fear not, I'm with
you. I'm with you. Look at Psalm 23. David says, 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. When my
body goes out and my mind goes out and everything goes out,
He restores my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness
for His namesake. 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." What's around the corner for us here
on this earth? What's ahead of us here on this
earth? Goodness and mercy. What are we going to endure the
rest of our days on this earth before He takes us home to be
with Him? Goodness and mercy. Goodness and mercy. In whatever
comes, it's two things. Goodness and mercy. Whatever
it is, goodness and mercy. Go back to Isaiah 41 verse 10. He says, fear thou not. For I am with thee, be not dismayed. That word dismayed means distressed,
anxious, confused. Don't be confused. Don't be perplexed. Don't be anxious. Don't be distressed. He said, for I am thy God. That means I am in control of
you. I love how he didn't just say,
I am God. He said, I'm your God. Don't
be perplexed. Don't be confused. I'm your God. I am God. I am the God. I'm your
God. And I'm here for you. Fear not.
I'm here. It's okay. Verse 10 says, fear
thou not for I am with thee, be not dismayed for I am thy
God. Don't be confused. Don't be out
of sorts. I am thy God. I will strengthen
thee. I'll strengthen you. He says,
I know you don't have any strength of your own. I know that. So
I'll strengthen you. I'll strengthen you by My Word,
I'll strengthen you by My Spirit. This is why we gather together.
We get strengthened in the congregation of the brethren. Through the
preaching of the Word, by the power of His Spirit, we get strengthened. I'll strengthen you I'll strengthen
you, he goes on to say, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold
thee with the right hand of my righteousness. That's Christ
himself. Christ says, I will uphold you,
myself. The right hand of God's righteousness. I love what Charles Spurgeon
said, commenting on this verse. Beloved believer, are you weak
tonight? Claim this precious promise. I will strengthen thee. He said,
have you something to do that is quite beyond your strength?
Take hold of this comforting word. I will help thee. He said, are you ready to slip?
Do you feel as if you must fall? Lean on this gracious message. I will uphold thee with the right
hand of my righteousness with Christ. What Spurgeon was saying
was take that for your own. Take it for your own. Take that
Word as God speaking directly to you, because if you are His
child, He is. He's speaking directly to you. Verse 11 says, Behold, all they
that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded. They shall be as nothing, and
they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them,
and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee.
They that war against thee shall be as nothing and as a thing
of naught. For I, the Lord thy God, will
hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee."
I will help you. I will help you. That's what
he keeps saying. I will help you. If you ever find yourself
in a place where you're saying, how am I going to get through
this? Listen to the words of your master.
Listen to the words of your savior, your redeemer, your friend. Verse 13, he says, 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 you men of Israel. I will help thee, saith the Lord,
and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." Spurgeon said, that
is the third time that we have had that promise. I will help
thee. He said, ring that silver bell
again, says the Holy Spirit to Isaiah. Let it comfort my tired ones. I will help they. I will help
they. I'll help you. You tell them
over and over and over again, I'll help you. Now, let me end this message
by showing you this. This is the cause and this is
the culmination of everything that He has to say to us. Verse
14, He said, Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help thee, saith the Lord,
and thy Redeemer. You know what that word, Redeemer,
translates to? You know what that word actually
means? It means next of kin. It means kinsmen. Verse 14 says, fear not thou
worm Jacob and you men of Israel. I will help thee saith the Lord
and thy kinsmen. What is he saying in that? What
does that mean? Hold your place and go to Psalm
22. Psalm 22, this is our Lord crying
out to His Father on our behalf from the cross. 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? O 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. Now watch verse six. This is
Christ speaking. He said, but I am a worm. And no man. A reproach of men. and despised
of the people. He said, Fear thou not, thou
worm, Jacob. I was made to be a worm in your
place. I'm your near kinsman. I was made to be a worm for you,
that you might be made to be a son. And what He's saying in Isaiah
41 is, if I did that for you then, if I protected you right
there on that cross, if I delivered you, if I upheld you by the right
hand of my own righteousness then, I'll do it for you right
now. If I did it then, I'll do it
now. Now go back to the text and let
me leave us with this. I sincerely pray that these two
words will sink in. I pray this will become embedded
in our hearts, burned into our minds. I pray that the Lord will
cause us to truly get a hold of this. When we walk out of
here, I pray we will get a hold of these two words. Because of everything that He
said to us, And because we need it so badly, I say this to you,
I say this to me. Trust Christ. Trust Christ. Trust Him. Trust Him. Let's not read these promises,
let them go in one ear, out the other. Trust Him. That's what He has
said to us. I'll be with you. You don't need
to fear anything. You don't need to be confused.
You don't need to be confounded. Don't be dismayed. I'm with you. I'm with you. I'll help you. Trust Him. This living man has spoken to
us. Trust Him. Trust His words to
us. Trust Him. In saying you, I'm
including myself in you. Here's the fact of the matter.
He made you. He owns you. He controls not
only you, but everything around you and everything concerning
you. He knows what things you have
need of. He knows what is best for you. He will only lead you down that
path. All the paths of the Lord are
goodness and mercy. All of them. He loves you. If He did all that for you, if
He became a worm for you, He loves you. And this is what he
has to say to you. Isaiah 41, verse 10. 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. Trust him. trust him. May God give us the ability to
do that. All right, let's all stand together. Turn with me to two