Open your Bibles again, if you
would, to Isaiah chapter 41. The title of the message this
evening is Comfort for Maggots. I took the title from verse 41,
or verse 14, excuse me. 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 thou worm,
Jacob. That word worm should be translated
maggot. Maggot, that's what we are by
nature. That's what scripture is calling
us, maggots. Now that's disgusting, isn't
it? It's so disgusting, a maggot. One of the first jobs I had when
I got out of college, there was a bunch of us, we worked in a
warehouse. You know how men do, pull practical
jokes on one another. We had some returns from a customer. I can't imagine it was a box
of oats. I cannot imagine why they returned
this box of oats. It was crawling with maggots.
And the warehouse manager thought it'd be just real fun to put
that on my desk. And I get to work that morning.
There's this, oh, these maggots. I mean, you cross the line now. I mean, this is so disgusting. I've thought about that a lot
this week. That's what scripture calls us, maggots. Disgusting. Everybody hates maggots. A maggot
feeds on death. A maggot can thrive in trash. A maggot is easily killed. It's
very easy just to step on a maggot and squish it to death. And that
is a very good description of man by nature, of each one of
us. That's what we are by nature.
is maggots. Our sin has made us disgusting
like maggots. We feed on sin and death. We drink iniquity like water.
Man who is a maggot can thrive in the trash of man-made religion.
And we're easily killed. It's easy just to step on us
and squish us and extinguish us. Well, why shouldn't a maggot
be constantly full of fear? Everybody hates him, it's easy
to kill him. Why shouldn't a maggot constantly be full of fear? For
this reason, God's provided the Redeemer. He said, fear not. God has elected a people unto
salvation and they're all maggots. They're Jacob by nature. He says
here, fear not thou worm, Jacob. That's what we are by nature.
We're maggots and we're Jacob. or cheats and supplanters, lost
in sin. But God chose to save a people
anyway. God chose to have mercy on those
people anyway. And he changed their name from
Jacob to Israel. He changed their name to a prince
with God. God did more than just change
their name. I reckon I can go down to the courthouse and change
my name if I wanted to. When God changes the name of
his people, he changes their name because he gives them a
new nature in the new birth. You have to have a new name when
you've got a new nature. God's elect were born in sin.
And the law has a price on our head because we've broken God's
law. So God sent the Savior. He sent
his own son to redeem us. He sent his son to buy back his
people from the curse of the law. Now, pretty much everybody
knows Jesus died on a cross. People have their different ideas
as to what he did there and what he accomplished there, why he
was there. But it's important we understand the answer to these
two questions. First, who did Christ die for? Did he die for the whole world
of sinners? Did he die for everybody in Adam's fallen race to give
them a chance to be saved if they might decide to do that?
No, that's not why Christ died. It's not who he died for. Christ
died only for his elect. He died for those people that
God gave to him in the covenant of grace. The people, it's very
easy to know if Christ died for you or not. Are you a maggot?
If you're a maggot, Christ died for you. Here's a second question. How did Christ save God's elect?
He did it in justice. God doesn't save His people by
overlooking their sin or ignoring their sin because He loves them.
No, He's got to deal with their sin in justice because He's the
Holy God. He's the Holy One of Israel.
Well, if the Holy One of Israel is going to accept anybody now,
they're going to have to be made holy, aren't they? This business
of their sin is going to have to be paid for. The law must
be completely satisfied if the Holy One of Israel is going to
accept us. That's why Christ suffered and died. He suffered
and died for the sin of his people to take that sin away. Now he
didn't just pretend to do it. He actually literally put the
sin of his people away at Calvary. And those people, they're going
to hear the gospel. They've got to be born again
and God's got to give us a new holy nature if he can ever accept
us. That's the result of Christ's
death on the cross. Now how did Christ take the sin
of God's elect and put it away so that justice would be satisfied?
He did that by becoming the sinner substitute. He stood in the place
of his people. He was their substitute. The
sin of God's elect was charged to the Lord Jesus so that he
was actually made to be guilty of that sin. He was made guilty. And he took
that sin, he took that guilt, and he washed it away. He put
it away under his perfect, precious blood. Now I want you to turn
back to Psalm 22. I want you to see what I'm saying. This is not just some doctrine
I thought up. No, this is what God's word said.
I want you to see how closely Christ identifies with his people.
How literally he was the sinner's substitute. Psalm 22 is the words
of Christ from the cross. Verse 1, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me 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, now just deliver them. They cried unto thee and
were delivered. They trusted in thee and were
not confounded. What he's saying here is they
cried unto thee and you heard them. They cried unto thee and
you delivered them. But I cry unto you and you're
silent. In the night season when I cry, that's when Christ hung
on the cross, God turned the son out. In that night season
when he cried to God, his father would not hear him. because he
was made guilty of the sin of his people at that time. Now
look what he says at verse six. But I am a worm and no man, a
reproach of men and despised of the people. That word worm
in Psalm 22 verse six is the exact same word used in Isaiah
41, 14, fear not thou worm, Jacob. That word worm is maggot. This is what the Savior said
but I am a maggot and no man. But this word worm also it means
a specific kind of maggot, a crimson maggot. They would take these
maggots and crush them and that's what they would use to make red
dye in those days. The red dye that was used in
the tabernacle for the scarlet threads used all throughout the
tabernacle were made by crushing these red maggots and that's
what they used to dye the linen with. This is what Christ our
substitute said about himself. He became that crimson maggot
so that his body could be crushed and his blood would flow out
as payment for the sin of his people. The father put his son
to death because his son was made what his people are, guilty. Christ was not made a sinner.
He didn't have a sin nature, but he was actually made to be
guilty of the sin of his people. Now, you and I can't comprehend
that. When you think about a maggot, I mean, that's so gross. I mean,
it's just, what a gross thing to think about. And the Savior
said that's exactly what he became when he was made sin. How can a worm not fear? How
can a maggot like us not fear? Because the Son of God took our
place. And when he took the place of
his people, he lifted those maggots from the dung heap, and he took
them and put them at the table of his father among the princes
at the table of God. Christ, our substitute, became
what his people are so he could make us what he is. That's what
2 Corinthians 5.21 is all about. He hath made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made what we're not, the righteousness
of God in him. And the holy one of Israel tells
his people, now you're maggots by your first birth, but fear
not because I've removed your sin and I've given you a new
nature, a holy nature in your second birth. Now that's federal
headship. That's how God saves sinners.
All men are guilty in Adam. God sees all men as guilty because
of what Adam did in the garden. And all of God's elect, are seen
in Christ. God sees them as righteous because
he sees them in Christ. And they're righteous because
of what Christ did as a man during his earthly ministry as their
representative. What Christ did, we did. That's
how we're righteous. Same way we're made guilty. We're
made guilty by what Adam did, federal headship. So everything that Christ is,
his people are. because he's one with us. Whatever
he is, his people are, because he's the head and we're the body.
And everything Christ has, his people have, because we have
union with him. Just like everything I have belongs
to Janet, because we're one flesh. Everything that Christ has belongs
to his people, because we're part of his body. Now, what I
want us to look at in the rest of these verses in our text is
this. There are some promises. that
are made to Christ. They're actually made to Christ.
But if you're a maggot and Christ died for you, then these promises
are to you too through union with Christ. These are a few
reasons for a maggot to fear not. First, are you a maggot
who has enemies you cannot defeat? Well, fear not. Look back in
our text, Isaiah 41 verse 11. 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." Now we have many
enemies, don't we? We have many enemies who are
without. This world, the sin that's in the world, spiritual
wickedness in high places. These are our enemies, and we
can't handle any of them, can we? But you know in eternity,
you'll look for those enemies, and you won't be able to find
them. They're gone. And the reason for that is this.
This promise is made to Christ. And the believer's enemies are
the enemies of Christ. And Christ has defeated all those
enemies. He defeated every one of them.
They're all put under his feet. We got a glimpse of that before
our Savior went to the cross. Remember, he was out in the garden.
Judas led that mob out there to take the Lord. He came up
and kissed him on the cheek. He asked them, he said, who seek
ye? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. And he said his name, I am. And they all fell over backwards.
Now, they were allowed to get up and to take him at that time
because Christ must be crucified. He must be crucified for the
salvation of his people. But one day, those enemies are
gonna be knocked down and they'll never get back up again and you
won't be able to find them. But I want you to look over at
Psalm 37. There are times that even happens on earth. Sometimes you may not have to
wait till eternity. I would imagine most times that's
the case, but not always. Look at Psalm 37, verse 35. David says, I've seen the wicked
in great power and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
Yet he passed away and lo, he was not. Yea, I sought him, but
he could not be found. Now mark the perfect man and
behold the upright for the end of that man is peace, but the
transgressors shall be destroyed together. The end of the wicked
shall be cut off so that you seek them and you can't find
them." And ultimately that happened for Israel. You remember all
this message here of comfort to God's people began with God's
promise after the death of Hezekiah, the people are going to be carried
off into captivity in Babylon. Where's the Babylonian Empire
now? Seek it. Look for it. You can't find it.
It is no more. That was like David said, that
green bay tree spread itself and spread itself. It's gone
now. God destroyed it. But most importantly, this promise
of our enemy, you'll seek him and won't find him. Your enemy
would become a thing of nothing. This promise applies to our internal
enemies. the sin that's in us, the sin
nature that we're born with. And the good news of the gospel
is the Lord Jesus Christ has by himself defeated that enemy. He's taken the sin of his people
and put it away. We do still have a sin nature,
but now that nature doesn't reign. Not once Christ is on a throne
it don't. He has removed our sin from us as far as the east
is from the west. Now it's impossible for you ever
to meet your sin again if Christ died for you. And I don't know
why you'd want to go looking for that enemy, but if you do,
I can promise you, you won't be able to find it. If God doesn't
see it, you'll never find it. It's gone under the blood. That
makes a maggot. Even fear not, doesn't it? Are you weak? Are you a helpless
maggot who can not make it on your own? Fear not. Look at verse 13. For
I, the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee,
fear not, I will help thee. Our heavenly father says, don't
be afraid, fear not. I'll hold your hand. I'll guide
you. I'll take you where you need
to go. Don't fear falling away from grace. I got you. I've got a hold of your right
hand. Christ will hold our hand so that we do not fall away.
Everybody can identify with this. You can remember being a small
child and parents, you remember having small children. Really,
both parents and children feel better when you're holding their
hand. We took our girls to New York City. They were teenagers.
I had graduated high school already. And Jan just wouldn't let us
walk through those streets, you know, without us holding her
hand. I mean, you know, it wasn't so much to make the girls feel
better, you know, make her feel better. We just feel better when
we're holding their hand. They're not going to get off
into danger. And I know this. If my Heavenly Father is holding
my hand, He's close by. He's got to be close by if He's
holding me by my right hand. If He's got a hold of me and
He's close by, I'm protected. I've got nothing to fear. When my Father is holding me
by my right hand, I'm not going to wander off the right path.
I'm not going to find myself wandering off into a dangerous
place because my Father is by my side, holding my hand, keeping
me from going where I ought not be going, keeping me from falling
where I would fall. That gives comfort to even a
maggot like me. Fear not, I've got you. And our father says, fear not,
I will help thee. Now help, you know when we say
we'll help somebody, what that means is I'll do the part that
you can't do. Well, we pretty much established
a maggot can't do anything, can he? A maggot can't do anything
to help himself. Can't do anything on his own. If I'm gonna be saved,
someone has got to do it all for me. That's the Lord Jesus
Christ, my helper. He did what I couldn't do. He
did it all. He performed all of salvation
for me, because I couldn't do any of it. Now fear not. I know you're a helpless maggot
that can't do anything for yourself, But fear not, the Lord Jesus
Christ, our Redeemer, has done all the work of salvation for
helpless maggots. Now fear not. Third, we've already
touched on this. Are you a maggot lost in sin?
Are you a maggot who's guilty and defiled and gross? Well,
fear not. Verse 14, 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. Now maggots who are lost in sin don't have any reason
to fear because Christ is our substitute. He took our place
and died so that we would live. Now by nature, this is what we
all are. We're maggots. We're made gross
by our sin and we are completely insignificant. A lot of man's
doctrinal problems will be straightened up if we learn this fact first.
We're completely insignificant. We're not going to add anything
to God. I mean, you know, somebody says,
well, I decided to accept Jesus. Well, you know, really, who cares?
You're insignificant. The question is not whether you're
going to decide to accept him or not. Here's the question.
Will God Almighty decide in infinite mercy and grace to accept a maggot
like you? That's the question. And it seems too good to be true.
We couldn't believe it if God Himself didn't say it in His
Word. That God in grace chose to save some maggots. And He
sent His Son to take on the likeness of human flesh. He sent His Son
to be the substitute for those lost, sinful maggots. He sent
His Son to suffer and die for those insignificant, worthless
maggots He sent his son to become one of them so that we could
become one with God. Now, I challenge you to find
a more wonderful, gracious truth than that right there. God sent
his son to become one with us so that we could become one with
him. And those maggots, they're born again as sons and daughters
of God. They're made holy by the Holy
One of Israel. Then you have no reason to fear.
If the Holy One of Israel did it, He did it in perfection.
Fear not. Despite your sin, fear not. The Holy One of Israel has put
it away. Fourth, are you a maggot who's not able to fight your
enemies? Well, of course you are. Then fear not. Verse 15. Behold, I will make thee a new
sharp threshing instrument, having teeth. And thou shalt thresh
the mountains, and beat them small, and shall make the hills
as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the
wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them.
And thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the
Holy One of Israel. Now you've got to remember this
promise is made to Christ. God says, I'll put all of your
enemies under your feet. I'm gonna put all your enemies
as make them your footstool. Christ is the one who came, he
became a man and he took on all of our enemies and defeated them
all. He's the one who did that. When he came, he defeated every
enemy that ever came against him. And his people are more
than conquerors in him because we have union with him. Now,
here's the comfort. Every enemy's too big for a maggot,
but not for our God. He is the mighty conqueror, and
we're more than conquerors in Him. You see, Christ is the one
who defeats every enemy, but God does use means to accomplish
His will. We looked at this Sunday morning
in the Bible lesson. Israel was delivered from the
Midianites. Gideon didn't do that. God did that, didn't He?
But God did use Gideon as means, didn't he? God used Gideon to
be the deliverer of his people. When those men with those pitchers,
they broke those pitchers and they held up that lamp, what
did they yell? They yelled the sword of the
Lord and of Gideon. It was the sword of the Lord
that delivered Israel. But Gideon was there as a tool
in the hand of the Lord to deliver his people. And after the enemy
was defeated, Gideon didn't start taking any glory on himself,
did he? No, they all got together and they glorified the Lord because
the Lord's the one did this. Now, the Lord does the same thing
today. You read these verses and you think, God's gonna make
me a new sharp threshing instrument with teeth. He's gonna have to
do it now because I don't see anything like that about me now.
I'm not this mighty warrior like Gideon or these men that we read
of in the past. Well, the Lord does the same
thing with us today that he did with Gideon then. God's gonna
save his people. Now, I know that. I have just
complete confidence in preaching the gospel. God's gonna save
his people. And he's gonna do it through
the preaching of the gospel. Because God uses means. Faith cometh
by hearing, hearing the word, hearing the gospel preached.
And we who preach, we're nothing, we're nothing. Really, all you need to do is
stand right here for just a very short time and you realize you're
nothing. Ain't that right Dale, boy? We
who preach are nothing, nothing. But when God blesses the word
that we preach, when he blesses his word, God's people are fed. Sinners are saved. Those enemies
are defeated. The strongholds of unbelief are
pulled down by the preaching of the word. And we glory in
the Lord, not in the means. We glory in the Lord because
it's all His doing. Our job is to just keep preaching
Christ. That's our job. Don't worry about
the rest of all this sorting out people. Who believes and
who doesn't? Who's a true child of God and
who's not? Who's going to be in heaven and who's not? Forget
it. That's above our pay grade. We're
never going to figure that out. We don't separate the wheat and
the chaff. We don't have to worry about that. We just preach Christ.
Let God do the sorting out. He'll sort them out. See, this
promises to Christ. Christ is the one. He's the one
who threshed the wheat. He's the one who divided the
wheat and the chaff, and he's the one that's gonna blow the
chaff away. That's God's doing. Let God take care of that. Christ
will do that. Let's just keep preaching Christ.
Let's just keep sure we're always looking to him, worshiping Christ,
Let God take care of the chaff. Just don't even worry about the
chaff. Just look to Christ. That's our job. If you'll do
that, if you look to Christ, you fear not. If you look to
the enemy and look to the chaff, you'll be getting full of fear.
But if you look to Christ, you fear not. Fifth, are you a thirsty
maggot who cannot get to the water of life? Then fear not. Verse 17. When the poor and needy
seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for
thirst, I, the Lord, will hear them. I, the God of Israel, will
not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the
wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water."
Now maggots are poor and needy. That's a good description of
all God's elect by nature. We are poor and needy. And I
don't know much about maggots, but it looks to me like maggots
need water. They like to feed on, looks to
me like mushy stuff, you know, they need water. Well, if you
put maggots out in the middle of the desert, they're gonna
die very quickly. They need water. And that's us,
us maggots. If God leaves us in our natural
state, in the wilderness of our sin, we will die quickly. But
God's promised that he will not forsake his people, even though
they're poor and needy maggots. Even though they've forsaken
Him, He's promised, I'll not forsake them. They're born in
the wilderness of sin, but I won't leave them there. I want to come
get them. And the Father sends His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the water of life to His people. And when
Christ comes in the heart, that dry, dead wilderness of sin becomes
a richly watered land of mercy and grace and righteousness and
life. So fear not. God's gonna give
Christ the water of life. Sixth, are you a weary maggot? You're
a weary maggot who needs a shady spot on your way home. Well,
fear not. Verse 19, God says, I will plant
in the wilderness the cedar and the shita tree and the myrtle
and the oil tree. I will set in the desert the
fir tree and the pine and the box tree together. Now this world
is a wilderness. Oh, nothing will make a child
of God more hot and tired and weary than this world. It just
saps your energy so quickly. And when you need a shady spot
to rest in, God will provide it. Now look back in Isaiah chapter
32. We studied this just a few weeks
ago. That shady spot, the spot to rest from the blast, is the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's the great rock in the weary
land. Isaiah 32, verse two. And a man shall be as a hiding
place from the wind and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of
water and a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary
land. When you get weary and you need
a shady spot to rest in, you run to Christ. He's that great
rock that gives us the shade to rest in. But now, in our text
here, Isaiah 41, the shade isn't coming from a great rock, is
it? This wilderness has got trees that are planted and the trees
are the ones. The Lord plants these trees and they give shade. Now I'll show you who these trees
are. Look over to Isaiah 61. These
trees are believers, the trees of righteousness who are planted
by the Lord. Isaiah 61 and verse three. To appoint unto them that mourn
in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,
that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting
of the Lord, that he might be glorified. The church is God's
orchard where he's planted all these different trees of righteousness.
And all these trees serve useful purposes. Our purpose is trees
of righteousness. Our purpose is to worship the
Lord. Our business, our purpose is
to glorify him. And our business, our purpose
here on earth is to help one another. Look for ways to help one another
out with you. Give somebody a shady spot to rest in. You just don't
know what they've gone through today. Just give, don't, don't be grievous to them. Don't
be harsh with them. Just give them a shady spot to
rest in. If you're a fruit tree, give
them some fruit. If you're an oil tree, give them some oil.
If you're whatever kind of tree you are, whatever kind of gifts
that God's given you, use it to help your brothers and sisters.
I promise you they need it. Just a shady spot would be so
nice, so nice. Just help each other out. Give somebody a helping hand.
That's the trees of righteousness. And then last, are you a maggot? who for the life of you cannot
figure out why Almighty God would do something so wonderful for
a maggot like you. I spend time thinking about that.
Bob, I've never found an answer. Not in me, I haven't. Well, if
you wonder that, you fear not. I don't care how long you look
inside yourself, you'll never find a reason for God's mercy
in yourself. Never. You'll never find a reason
for grace in us. If we had to find a reason for
God's grace and his salvation in us, we'd always fear because
there's no reason in us. If we had to find a reason why
God would love us in us, we'd always be full of fear because
there's no reason for God to love us. We're despicable maggots.
But now if God did something so wonderful for a bunch of maggots
so that his son would get all the glory, now there's a good
reason for mercy. Now there's a good reason for
grace. Now there's a good reason for us not to fear because if
the father did this so his son's gonna get all the glory, he'll
do it. Look here at verse 20. This is
why God's done all this. This is why he tells you don't
fear. that they may see and know and consider and understand together
that the hand of the Lord hath done this, the Holy One of Israel
hath created it." See, salvation is something that God has done
for His people. Salvation is not due. Salvation
is done. Christ has already done this.
He's put away the sin of His people, this sacrifice. But salvation
is also something that God has created in His people. The Holy
One of Israel hath created it, Isaiah says. Well, that's the
birth of a new man. He's created in every believer
in the new birth. Now, when Isaiah talks about
these trees in verse 19, you know where all those trees got
their life from? They're just the branches. Christ is the vine. He's the tree of life. They got
all their life from him. So fear not thou worm, Jacob.
Christ has redeemed you. He put away your sins, bought
you back, and he's given you life. I want to close with reading
these verses, a famous song Isaac Watts wrote at the cross. He
says, alas, and did my savior bleed? And did my sovereign die? Would he devote that sacred head
for such a worm as I? For if he did, I've got no reason
to fear. He went on, was it for crimes
that I have done? He groaned upon the tree. Amazing
pity, grace unknown and love beyond degree. Here's comfort
for maggots. You fear not because Christ is
your substitute. He died in your place and you
fear not because of God's amazing love for those maggots that he
chose. He chose those maggots, not because
there's any good in them, but so that his son would get all
the glory in redeeming somebody so disgusting as maggots like
us. Then fear not, he'll do it. He's not gonna cause his son
to lose any of his glory, fear not. All right, let's bow in
prayer. Our Father, we thank you for
this word of comfort. How we thank you for a word of
comfort to maggots like we are, helpless, defiled, disgusting
in our sin. No reason can be found in us
for your mercy, but it's all found in your character, not
in our character, but in your character. It's found in your
mercy and your grace, your unspeakable love to your people. that you
send your son to identify with us, to be our substitute, to
put away our sin so that we could be made the righteousness of
God in him. We could be made what we're not
by nature. Father, we're thankful. And I
pray that you bless this word as it's been preached. Cause
it to bring glory to your name. Cause it to comfort the hearts
of your people here. to encourage us and strengthen
us to go back out into the world, this dry, hot, barren wilderness
of a world that we live in. Cause your people to go out and
fear not, because our God is the Holy One of Israel, holding
us by our right hand, having accomplished all salvation for
us. Father, strengthen us and bless our hearts, we pray with
your word. It's for the glory of Christ that we pray, give
thanks, amen.