If you'd like to follow along,
I'm gonna be in Isaiah chapter 41. Isaiah 41. And I wanna read
verses 13 and 14. Isaiah chapter 41. Isaiah 41 verse 13. 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,
and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Before I get started, I was thinking
of something this morning, and I wrote it down, so I'll use
this in the place of an introduction. Just a thought to come into my
head. Jesus Christ is acceptable to God, and accepted by God. Believers are not acceptable,
but we are accepted in the beloved. I like that. It just kind of
popped into my head. He is acceptable, perfect, righteous,
holy, and we're in him, and that's the only way we are accepted. Anyhow. Verse 13 of Isaiah 41 for I the
Lord God will hold thy right hand saying unto thee fear not
I will help thee The Lord thy God Yahweh thy Elohim Jehovah
and here it says He holds thy right hand He holds the hand
of his people, and he helps his people. The first thing that
struck me when I looked at this, as you understand, I want you
to understand this, I want everybody to understand this, you don't
hold his hand, he holds yours. Now we are told to cling to Christ,
but if he don't hold your right hand, you can't cling to Christ.
You can't cling to God. How is it meant here? Well, I'm
gonna look back for just a second at verse 10 of Isaiah 41. Here it is 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. That's what it
means. I will hold thy hand. I will
hold thy right hand. He's gonna uphold his people. Because we are the ones without
strength. You can't hold on to anything
long enough for anything. We are the ones who cannot stand
on our own. That's verse 10. He's got to
uphold us with the right hand of my righteousness or we won't
be upheld. But he promises, he says, the
Lord thy God will hold thy right hand. God's people are held by
him. What did Christ tell us about
this? Well, John 10 verse 29, you don't have to turn there.
He says, my father which gave them me is greater than all. And no man is able to pluck them
out of my father's hand. I will hold you by the right
hand. I like that, I do. I can't help
it, I like that. And he also says this. The Lord
say unto thee, fear not. Fear not, I will help thee. Fear
not. You understand why the Lord tells
us not to fear, right? Because we do. That's why. Matter of fact, he says it in
verse 10, he says it in verse 13, and he says it in verse 14.
Fear not. Matter of fact, somebody put
verse 10 into a song. Be not afraid, I am with thee,
be not dismayed. For I am thy God and will still
give thee aid. I love that song, I do, it's
a good song. And that's where it came from. Fear not, I will help thee. We
are naturally fearful. Now, some people to one degree
or another, more than others. Some about one thing and some
about another. But here's the thing, pretty
much we all fear death. And if you really want to look
at it the right way, we all fear life. We're fearful
of what can happen to us in this life. And we even are fearful
about what can happen to people we care about. It's a natural state for us to
fear. There's a reason for that. We have no control. And naturally,
after a fashion, all men know this. They may not admit it,
they certainly don't like it, but we do naturally fear. We fear death, we fear life,
we fear, We fear decisions in two different ways. I fear having
to make decisions and I also fear other people making decisions
that I got nothing to say about. This is our natural state of
affairs. But God says to you, fear not. And God can say to
you, fear not. Because he does have control. He is in control, whether we
know it or not. But if you do know it, fear not. Be not afraid. Why? I will help thee. I will help thee. We need help,
and specifically we need the Lord's help. Now if you look
at the next verse, he almost repeats the same thing with a
couple of additions. Fear not thou worm Jacob and
ye men of Israel. I will help thee saith the Lord
and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel Fear not he repeats
it You know why because we need it to be repeated We need to
be reminded not to fear We need to be reminded It needs to be
put in our heads, not to fear, to trust in God and be not afraid. That's not the natural state
of man. Lest we forget, everything, everything,
and by this I mean everything is in God's hands. Everything
is in his hands. What did Job say? The Lord giveth,
and the Lord taketh away. But he didn't stop there. He said, blessed be the name
of the Lord. Fear not, the Lord has purposed. Fear not, the Lord has planned. Fear not, the Lord has promised. I will help thee. Fear not, the
Lord Jesus Christ has provided. Fear not, the Lord shall bless
you and keep you. But then he says this, fear not,
thou worm Jacob and ye men of Israel. But what I wanna point out here
And this is my title, Paul. A worm redeemed by God. A worm redeemed by God. Thou
worm, Jacob. Now, we've talked about this
before. I've said it before. Walter said it before. I think
Paul said it before. That word worm, when you look at the Hebrew
word, the word is maggot, specifically According to what it says, a
crimson maggot, a red maggot, crawling. It's not exactly the most glowing
description of a man. But I don't know of anyone more
accurate if you actually know what we are. Because if you read
the scriptures, I can tell you this. Man is never described
in glowing terms. Never. Because this is what we
are naturally. Worms. Worms. God is up here
and we're in the dirt. And that's exactly what it means.
We're in the dirt. We are unworthy, here's the thing,
we are unworthy of God's noticing us. Other places it says what? We are less than the small dust
of the balance. There's a balance where you weigh
things and you say, oh, I want a pound of ham, who knows, whatever. Generally I don't suppose the
Jews ask for that. Maybe they ask for a pound of cheese. But it's okay. When that balance
is empty, it's supposed to be perfectly level. There may be
just a little crumbs on it or dust or something like that.
And you know what? That doesn't tip the balance one way or another. That's us. We are not worthy
of notice. We are worms. What did Christ
and his apostles tell us? What was it? Christ died for
those. without strength. When we were
without strength, Christ died, wait a minute, for the ungodly. The ungodly. Christ came to save sinners. What did he say himself? He came
to seek and to save that which was lost. So there we are, ungodly,
sinners, and lost. That's what we are. Without strength,
worms. Thou worm, Jacob. And understand, Jacob was just
as elect as we were. Jacob was chosen before the foundation
of the world. And yet here's he described,
thou worm, Jacob. His very name means usurper. Another thing, Christ came to
seek and to save that which was lost. That's what he said himself. Now, I understand a lot of people,
they want to put a little emphasis, and rightly so, on the fact that
he came to save. But they never really want to
talk about that first word. You understand? Christ came to seek
and to save. You wanna know why I wanna emphasize
this? Because I'll tell you this right now. If he doesn't seek
you, you will not be saved. What's the illustration he gave
us? The man having lost one sheep
goes out. Now that sheep already belonged
to that man. But that man went out and he
sought that sheep and he sought until he found it. Then he picked it up and put
it on his shoulders and carried it back home and there was much
rejoicing. If there's no seeking, there's no saving. And I'm not
seeking the lost, Christ is seeking the lost. I preach, that's all
I can do. And I preach the word and I try
to preach Christ. That's all I can do. He has to
seek out and save his lost sheep. And he's promised to do it. He
came to seek and to save. Thou worm Jacob and ye men of
Israel. Here's the thing. Christ died for those without
strength. Christ died for the ungodly. He came to seek and to save that
which lost, that which was lost. He came to seek and to save the
lost. He came to save sinners. Now the question is, do you fit
that description? Because here's the thing, you
cannot claim the promise without claiming the description. Are you a sinner? Are you ungodly? Do you have in you still unbelief? Unbelief. Can you take your place here
as a worm before God? Yes, I am a worm. Yes, I am an
ungodly sinner. Thou worm Jacob and ye men of
Israel. Here's the thing, I pointed this
out a while back and I'm gonna do it again. The message of the
Lord to the worm Jacob is the exact same message to ye men
of Israel. Isn't that something? The message
to the usurper is the same message to the prince with God. There's only one gospel. There's
only one message. Oh, I like that, I do. Fear not,
I will help thee. Fear not, this is the message
to the worm and to Israel. Jacob and Israel are both held
by God's right hand, by God's right hand of righteousness. Isaiah 43 and verse one, just
a page over there. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel. What's he say? Fear not. Fear not. Why? For I have redeemed
thee. I have called thee by thy name. And this is the good part, boys. Thou art mine. Thou art mine. Oh, I like that, I like that.
He created Jacob and he formed Israel. He created Jacob and
he called him a worm. And the word created means made,
just means to make, right? But the word formed means to
actually have formed Israel. And it actually has a reference,
like a potter molds the clay. What? He makes one vessel unto
honor and another vessel unto dishonor. And the power's in
the hands of the potter, not in the clay. The message of the Lord, the
word of the Lord to Jacob and Israel is exactly the same. Fear not, and I will help thee,
saith the Lord. I like that. They're both held
by the right hand. And he says, I will help you.
This is another repetition. Verse 10, I will strengthen thee,
yea, I will help thee. Fear not, fear thou not. Verse 13, I will hold thy right
hand, saying unto thee, fear not, I will help thee. And then
verse 14, fear not, thou worm Jacob and ye men of Israel, I
will help thee. I will help thee. It's another
repetition. You wanna know why? Because I'm
gonna tell you something. I'm gonna tell on myself, and
I'm gonna tell on you, because I assume, actually, I pretty
much believe you all the same way. Things are going pretty
good, you start to feel pretty good about yourself. And you
start thinking, I might have a handle on this. I don't have
a handle on anything. The only reason things are going
good is because God has it going good. I need his help every day. I need to remember that too.
I need to remember not to fear, but I need to remember I need
his help. And I want his help every day. Because we'll forget
this too. Without the Lord's help, I can't
stand. Without the Lord's help, we fear,
we fear. Without the Lord's help, we can't
walk. We stumble. And without the Lord's
help, we boast. We will. Christ said it. Without the Lord's help. Actually
what he said was, without me, ye can do nothing. Nothing. And by that he meant,
without him you can do nothing. That's exactly what he meant.
Fear not, I will help thee. Because here's the thing. The
Lord will help his worms, his worms. I will help thee, saith
the Lord, what? And thy redeemer. Now they're
the same person, but I like how he says this. And thy Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel. Who am I talking about? I'm talking
about the Redeemer. I'm talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the one that helps. He's
the one that tells us to fear not. He's the one that holds
us, upholds us by the right hand of his righteousness. I am thy
Redeemer, the Lord is thy Redeemer. You wanna hear some good news? There is redemption for worms. There's redemption for sinners. There is redemption for the ungodly. There's redemption for those
whom Christ came to seek and to save. There's redemption for those
without strength. And who is the redeemer? The
Lord. Capital L, capital O, capital
R, capital D. The Holy One of Israel. Redemption
is in Christ Jesus. The Lord Christ Jesus. What is
it? We believers, Worms are accepted
in the beloved. That's Ephesians one and six.
Ephesians one and seven says this. In whom we have redemption
through his blood. The forgiveness of sins. According
to the riches of his grace. I like that. Hebrews 9 and 12
says this, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his
own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, the real
holy place, not the tabernacle, the real one. Excuse me. Having obtained eternal redemption
for us, for us. The Old Testament tells of plenteous
redemption. And I like that word. The New
Testament tells us of eternal redemption. And you know what? I wanna tell you, it's the same
redemption. There's only one redemption.
And it's past. Jesus Christ has obtained eternal
redemption. Past tense. It's the same redemption
of Christ Jesus He has redeemed us to God with his blood. I like that. Jesus Christ has
redeemed us. Worms. Worms. Unclean, ungodly sinners have
been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ. And Here's the thing. He has made us what? Kings and
priests unto God. Unto God. Heirs of God and joint
heirs with Jesus Christ. I was told one day, this is my
dad that told me. He looked at me one day, we were
just coming out of the house, we had been talking about something,
and I don't even remember what I said, Walter. But he looked
at me and he said, well, that's where they got you. And I looked
at him and said, what do you say? He said, you believe that
stuff in the Bible. What can I do? I agreed. I said,
you're right. That's where they got me, Dad.
I do believe, I believe the scriptures. I believe Jesus Christ is Lord. I believe that Jesus Christ is
Lord and Savior. And I'll put it in that order
in particular. Because if he's not the Lord, you don't know
he's the Lord, he's not your Savior. Because only the Lord
can save. That's what Isaiah's saying here.
I will help thee. You know why? Because without
me, you're dead. Jacob's a stale worm. I do. I believe, here's the thing. I believe that his redemption
is actually eternal. And plenteous. There's more redemption
there than I need. There's more redemption there
than I ever really will know about. How can God take a worm and make it acceptable in his
sight? Now I do know this, it's only in Christ. But I still feel like I'm a worm
now. I still feel ungodly. I still
have within me an evil heart of unbelief. And yet, the scriptures
tell me that I am accepted in him. Ah, that's a miracle. That's grace. You understand, I don't need
a redeemer who only partially redeems, because I will be dead. And you would be too. If any
of our salvation, if anything having to do with redemption
depends upon me or depends upon you, we're lost. We're lost. I need plenteous redemption.
I need eternal redemption. I need everlasting life. I need to be kept by the power
of God through faith. the faith he has authored and
finished and given. I need the Lord to hold my right
hand. I need him to uphold me by the
right hand of his, and I like, of his righteousness, his righteousness. Just the fact, this is the thing
most people don't understand, just the fact that the right
hand of his righteousness can touch me, can touch you, That
takes the grace of God right there. Now Worm, Jacob, oh, I need and
want the Lord Jesus Christ to help me. The Lord and my Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel, uphold me with the right hand of his
righteousness. Isaac Watts wrote a song, I got
a couple of verses I scribbled down here. that I really liked. Awake my heart, arise my tongue,
prepare a tuneful voice. In God the life of all my joys,
aloud will I rejoice. Tis he adorned my naked soul. made salvation mine Upon a poor
polluted worm He makes his graces shine. I Like that. I like that Upon a poor polluted
worm. He makes his graces shine What's
he do? he raises the pour out of the
dust, the dirt. And he lifts the beggar off of
the dunghill. It's another description of man.
We're pouring in the dust and we're a beggar on a dunghill.
And if you don't know you're a beggar on a dunghill, why would
you wanna come off of it? You don't know you're there.
but he raises up the poor out of the dust. He lifts the beggar
from the dunghill, and here's the glorious thing, to, for the
express purpose of to, what? Set them among princes. He makes his graces shine. I like that too. You know why? Because that's good news. That's
good news. A worm redeemed by God. And he's going to set us among
princes. Isn't that glorious? Our Heavenly
Father, we're thankful. Thankful, Lord, for your son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. who is seeking and saving the
lost, who is calling his people by name and they follow him,
who is raising up beggars out of the dust, off of the dunghill
and raising the poor out of the dirt and the dust, digging us
out of a miry, clay-filled pit, and setting us among princes. We don't deserve it. We weren't
looking for it. We weren't seeking you. You sought
us. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. In Christ's name, we pray.