Well, it's wonderful to be here
tonight. Again, it's an honor to be here to preach
the gospel to all of you. Tonight we'll be in Isaiah 41,
Isaiah chapter 41. The name of the message is Words
of Comfort, Fear Thou Not. Words of comfort,
fear thou not. Could also be named five reasons
to not fear. Isaiah 41, keep silence before
me, oh islands, and let the people renew their strength. Let them
come near, then let them speak. Let us come near together to
judgment. Who raised up the righteous man from the east? called him
to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule
over kings. He gave them as the dust to his
sword and his driven stubble to his bow. He pursued them and
passed safely, even by the way that he had not gone with his
feet. Who hath wrought it? Who hath
wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, the first. And with the last, I am he. The
isles saw it and feared. The ends of the earth were afraid,
drew near, and came. They helped every one his neighbor,
and every one said to his brother, be of good courage. So the carpenter
encouraged the goldsmith. And he that smootheth with the
hammer, him that smote the anvil, saying, it is ready for the soldering. And he fastened it with nails,
that it should not be moved. But thou, Israel, art my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend. Thou whom I have taken from the
ends of the earth, 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. And here's our text. 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, which
is Christ. And in verse 13, for I, the Lord
thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear
not, I will help thee. Words of comfort for believers. In this world of trials and tribulations,
it's not hard for us to start to fear. We look around at what
is happening or sudden things may come up that make us anxious or trouble our hearts or make
us distressed. And I pray that in those times
that we would fasten our eyes upon Christ Fasten our eyes upon His sovereignty
and just look to Him. And our text is found in verse
10 where we are commanded to not fear or be dismayed. I'd like to make a few comments
about the text in context. Our God, He rules and reigns
in heaven. He's an absolute sovereign God. We looked at this on Sunday morning,
and this gives us great comfort and great peace to know that
He is in absolute control. This chapter continues where
chapter 40 left off. Hawker says that it's the continuation
of the sermon that Isaiah was preaching in chapter 40. And our text here before us magnifies
God's sovereignty. The prophet Isaiah continues
his sermon through this chapter, and some chief points spoken
on here are God's power and His grace. Beloved, He has all power. Not just some, He has all power,
both in creation and in grace. He's an almighty
God. And He has all power in both
creation and redemption, which is in opposition to the idols
which man set up. In verses 6 and 7, and we'll
look at those later on, but let's look again at verse 1. Keep silence
before me, O islands, and let the people renew their strength.
Let them come near, then let them speak. Let us come near
together to judgment." The chief points here dwelt upon
are the proofs of God's power and His grace. And that is in contrast to idols
which men have made with their hands. Jehovah here is summoning the
earth to determine whether He or some idol of the heathen is
the true God. And if you continue reading Isaiah,
the next few chapters, it's a constant vein all the way right through
where he's magnifying his sovereignty. We have a testimony of the Godhead
both in creation and redemption. And again, this is in opposition
to all the idols that men make with their hands. all the idols
that man's fallen nature and corruption set up. We manufacture
in our unsaved state a god of our imagination. But all nations, all nations
are called upon to acknowledge the Lord's sovereignty in this
first era and to discern his hand in history. Verses 2 to
4, who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him
to his foot, and gave the nations before him, and made him rule
over kings? He gave them as the dust to his
sword and as driven stubble to his bow. He pursued them and
passed safely, even by the way that he had not gone with his
feet. who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from
the beginning, I the Lord, the first, and with the last, I am
He. In verses 2 to 4, the challenge
is answered by God stating His sovereignty. He asks questions which point
to His being a sovereign King. A lot of commentators say this
is referring to Cyrus later on in Isaiah prophesying about him. Then in verse 4 he asks, who
hath wrought and done it? Calling the generations from
the beginning. Have these idols? No. They're dumb idols, right? They can't do anything. The idols
which men set up. even the idols of God's imagination
of a false god that they set up, who says, he wants to save you,
but he can't. But scripture declares here,
the Lord, the first, and with the last, I am He. So who calls
the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first and with
the last, I am He. Contrast that with John 14, six
and seven. Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. And then he says, if ye had known
me, ye should have known my Father also. And from henceforth ye
know him, and have seen him. God incarnate in the flesh, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And God's chosen people are taught,
were taught, And we acknowledge God's absolute sovereignty. There's
no question. When the Lord saves us, we bow
our knee to God's sovereignty. We bow our knee that He is an
absolute sovereign. Verses 5 to 7. The isle saw it
and feared. The ends of the earth were afraid
and drew near and came. And here we see the idol makers
in verses 6 and 7. They helped everyone his neighbor.
And everyone said to his brother, Be of good courage. So the carpenter
encouraged the goldsmith. And he that smootheth with the
hammer, him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering.
And he fastened it with nails that it should not be moved.
Here we have an account which the Lord here gives of idolatry. And behold, the folly of it to
its full. One sinner encouraging another.
is among the devices of Satan to blind the eyes of all. Turn
with me, if you would, to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Oh, the gospels hid. The gospels
hid to those who are lost. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses
3 and 4. But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost. See, the gospel is a revelation.
God must reveal himself in Christ to us or we never know him. We
have no idea who he is unless he reveals himself to us. In
whom the God of this world has blinded the minds of them which
believe not. Bless the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ. Oh, we were in utter darkness,
weren't we? And the light of the gospel came
to us. And who was it in? It was only in Christ. Who is
the image of God should shine unto them. Back to our text in
Isaiah, verses 8 and 9. But thou, Israel, art my servant. Oh, these are sweet words here
to God's church, to his elect. Brother Chet and I were talking
yesterday about how there was a time when we did not know Christ,
and we were just living in the world like everyone else, and
this is why I never looked down on other people who aren't saved, because I was
there. I came out of that. But look at this beautiful words
to the church. But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob, whom I
have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend. To whom I have taken
from the ends of the earth and called thee from the cheap man
thereof and said unto thee, thou art my servants. I have chosen
thee and not cast thee away. Comforting words for spiritual
Israel. God's chosen people, his elect. As the gospel spread, and it
still does today, the resentment comes from idolatrous heathens. They hate the gospel. But don't
forget, we did it one time too. We were there too, but for the
mercy of God. But here we have comforting words
for God's people then and us now. The chosen of God. When did he choose us? In eternity. Based upon absolutely nothing
we've done. But by the pleasure of his goodwill. Because if it was based upon
us, there'd no one be chosen. Because we're just a bunch of
sinners. But all the mercy of God in Christ,
he chooses sinners. Called out of idolatry, and we
were all in idolatry, one way or another. Either worshiping
ourselves or worshiping idols. Called out by the sovereign,
mighty power of Jehovah. And beloved, those he calls here
never cast away. Never. Great comfort for the
Israel of God. Comforting words for sinners
like us. Sinners who are made willing. Sinners who are called and assured that the Lord and
their Savior would protect them and defend them. Comforting words for us. He will
deliver us, and He has. He's delivered us from our sins. And here's our text, verse 10. So he tells us of his sovereignty. He tells us that we're chosen
in Christ, that he calls us. And then he says, fear thou not. Why? 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. It's not hard. In this world,
we can get fearful. But here's some comforting words.
Beloved, in our blessed Savior, the wrath and justice of God against those who believe his
elect, his called, is extinguished. Someone says, oh, you don't know
what I've done. Well, I was reading about Paul
today, going house to house and pulling women and men from their
houses. I was reading where they laid
coats before Paul. While Stephen was stoned to death,
he was there consenting. The Lord saved him. And I also read where the Lord
said, he's a chosen vessel of mine. Oh. The wrath and justice of God
has been satisfied. God's people are bought and paid
for, ransomed by the precious blood of Christ. Fear thou not. And we fear different things,
don't we? Different people fear different things. As I said,
something may come up that strikes fear in our hearts. But oh, may this verse bring
us great comfort. Fear thou not. And remember who's saying this. This is the God of the universe.
One who holds all things by the word of his power. And he says
to believers, fear thou not. Well, what are some reasons we should fear, we should not
fear? Let's look at our text. And I
pray that God, the Holy Spirit, will illuminate the text for
us and teach us the things of Christ. Comfort our hearts. Comfort our hearts. The first
point is in our text, fear thou not, it says, for I am with thee. I am with you. And remember,
this is this is to God's chosen people. Sinners. Fear thou not, for I am with
you. We should not fear because God
is with us. Isaiah 7.14 says this, Therefore
the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall
conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. God with us. God with us. The almighty sovereign
God became a man and he died on the cross, the sinner's substitute,
and he rose from the grave. And he's now in heaven above,
and he rules and reigns right now, and he's with each one of
us who believe. Fear thou not. The almighty sovereign God who
rules the universe is with you. He's not far off. As I said, the God who created
the universe and the world and holds it all together by the
Word of His power is with you, believer, is with you, beloved
God. And He says this in Hebrews 13,
5, one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible. Let your
conversation be without covenants, and be content with such things
as you have, for He has said, I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. God's with us. And this wonderful promise belongs
to all in Christ. He will never leave us nor forsake
us. So fear not, beloved God. God is with you. Point number two from our text,
fear that not for I am with thee. Be not dismayed. For I am thy God. We should not fear, as God is
our God. He's our God. Isaiah 43 verse 1 says this,
But now, thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and
he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not, for I have redeemed
thee. God has redeemed his people.
I have called thee by thy name. Thou art mine, he says. Oh, what comfort to God's people.
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. And Isaiah 43, 3 says, For I,
the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior, I give
Egypt for thy ransom, and the Ethiopian Saba for thee. This
is the God who is with us. We need not fear as our God is
the one true God. And notice in the wonderful text
that we just read, he says, God has redeemed. He said, I have
redeemed thee. Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed
his people from their sins. As I said, the wrath and justice
of God has been extinguished. What mercy? We don't get what
we deserve. The God, man, mediator, the Lord
Jesus Christ has redeemed us from our sins, how? By the sacrifice
of himself. And he's done it. And then it says in Isaiah 42
or 43 verse verse one, I have called thee by thine name. Beloved, that's a factual calling.
He calls each one of his sheep by their name. Because every one of them is
engraved in the palm of his hand. Oh, what a wonderful, merciful
God. What mercy. And it continues in verse 2 to
tell us, I'll be with you. What great comfort for the people
of God. Our God is God. And God in Christ is vast in
love beyond measure. God in Christ is rich in mercy
and grace towards us. God in Christ is a secure place. A resting place for His people.
A sure foundation. A hiding place from the wrath
and justice of God. God in Christ is forgiving. He's forgiven all our sins in
Christ Jesus alone. Not some. Fear not, beloved God. God is
your God. The third point, the third reason
we should not fear is God will strengthen us. Fear thou not,
for I am with thee. In our text again, Isaiah 41.10. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. We are weak creatures. We're weak. Oh, but he's strong. When we are falling and failing,
he upholds us. When we're weighed down by burdens
and temptations, he gives us strength. If you would, turn to 2 Corinthians
12, verses 9 and 10. Oh, I love it. His grace is sufficient for us. He's sufficient for us. 2 Corinthians 12, verses 9 and
10. And he said unto me, My grace
is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness."
Weakness. Oh, we're weak. Most gladly,
therefore, will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasures in
infirmities, in reproaches and necessities, in persecutions
and distresses, for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then
I'm strong." He will strengthen us. He'll strengthen us. Fear not, beloved of God, when
we are weak. God will strengthen us. Back to our text in Isaiah 41,
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. Oh, we were locked up in the
prison house of sin. We had no way out. Oh, we've been set free. All our sins are paid for. And remember in your trials and
tribulations in this life that the Lord is our shepherd. He'll help us. And He always
does. He always does. Hebrews says this, for ye are
not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings
of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like we are,
yet without sin. Sinless. Let us therefore come
boldly unto the throne of grace. Why do we come before the throne
of grace in prayer? In prayer, you can pray anywhere. Religious folks make a big thing,
some of the best prayers is driving down the road behind your steering
wheel. Just talk to the Lord whenever you feel like talking
to him. That's true prayer. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace. Why? That we may obtain mercy. In Hebrews 4.16 says, and find
grace to help in time of need. Grace. Oh, I need grace. All the time. That we might find
grace to help in time of need. Oh, He helps us. Fear not, beloved God. God will
help you through all this life. And then He'll take us home to
glory. Isaiah 41.10 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. And the last point is, I will
uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Oh, Christ
is our righteousness. We have none of our own. Our
own are like filthy rags. Oh, God will uphold us. He'll keep us. An old preacher said, if our
salvation was dependent upon our doing, we'd all be doomed. We'd lose it a thousand times
a day if we could. But praise be to God. He keeps
us. Turn me if you would to Jude. He keeps us. And not only does He keep us,
He preserves us. And this ought to bring us great
comfort. Fear thou not. Jude verse 24 and 25. Oh, this is balm to the believer's
soul. Now unto Him, Christ. Now unto
Him. Oh, may we just burn this into
our heart. That is Abel. He's Abel. The God of religion says, well,
He wants to. The God of free grace, he's able. He's able, he's God. He's able what? To keep you from
falling. Keep you from falling. He upholds
you. In Christ. To keep you from falling and
to present you Sinners to present you what a marvelous word faultless Faultless Before the presence of his glory
with and look at this with exceeding joy He presents sinners faultless
With exceeding joy The only wise God, our Savior. Be glory and majesty, He has
all power. Dominion and power, He has it
all. Remember, when we fear, remember this, He is a majestic
God. And He says, I'm with you. I'll
strengthen you. And I'm going to uphold you. I'll keep you. You can't keep
yourself, but I'm going to keep you. Oh, what joy this brings us. Dominion and power, both now
and ever. He rules and reigns right now.
He's not waiting to reign. Oh, beloved, he rules and reigns
right now, and he is with us. May we meditate on this wonderful
good news. Fear thou not. Fear thou not. Turn with me, if you would, over
to Romans, chapter 8. Isaiah 10 shows us the all-sufficiency
of our great God and Savior. In these verses, that verse in
Isaiah reminds me of these wonderful verses in Romans chapter eight. Verse 28 to 30. Now remember
what we looked at. Remember what we looked at. He
says, he 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." And
then Romans 8, 28. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God. Them who are the called,
According to his purpose, we saw in Isaiah, God's people are
called people. They're called. He calls them
by name. For whom he did foreknow, and
this is all past tense, for whom he did foreknow, he also did
predestinate, to be conformed to the image of his Son. He might
be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
then he also called, Calling irresistible grace and whom he
called me also justified He paid the price that God demanded for
their sins. They're justified And him he justified Remember
we just looked about keeping I'll uphold you With the right
hand of my righteousness the Lord Jesus Christ And whom he
justified in me also Lord Five reasons, not the fear. Five
reasons, not the fear. Oh, may we rest and repose in
the Lord Jesus Christ.