Turn to Isaiah chapter 41. Isaiah 41. Fear not, I am with
thee. Fear not, I am with thee. Be
not dismayed, confused, upset or disoriented. I am thy God. I am thy God. There is no other God but Him,
so the only God there is is thy God. I'll strengthen thee, yea, I
will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness." Boy, that's good. That's good. And the older I get, the gooder
it gets. I don't know if there's such a word or not, but there
is now. In verse 1, this chapter starts
out with a summons to the enemies of Christ. to come and present
their cause of rebellion, their difference between themselves
and God. And God speaks, and he says,
keep silence before me, O islands, or isles, or islands. You know,
when a judge takes the seat, the first thing he commands in
the court is order. Not confusion, not order. Silence, quiet in the court. He said, let the people renew
their strength. Let them come near and let them
speak. Let us come near together to
judgment. Well, I don't want to come into
judgment with God. I want to come near to him in
Christ, in mercy. But he says, let us come near
together in judgment. Let the heathen bring forth their
strongest arguments for their cause. And the point of the argument
in this case here is found in verse 2. Who raised up the righteous
man from the east? Who raised him up? Who raised
up Abraham and made him righteous? Who raised him up? The same one who raises up all
men and makes them righteous. The ones he makes righteous is
God. Who raised up that righteous
man? Jesus Christ. Who raised him
up? Joseph? Mary? God raised him up. This is my
beloved son. This is my only begotten son.
God raised up this righteous man. Not Joseph, not Mary. He was
in their home, and he grew up in that home, but it was God
who raised him up. It was God who brought him forth.
Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. The child
was born. That man, that man-child was
created by the Holy Spirit and he was raised up. So he says
here, who raised up this righteous man? No one can take credit for
this righteous man. The Lord Jesus Christ and all
those in him, but God. We raise our children, you know,
you're bringing them up in fear and admonition of the Lord, but
only God can make them righteous. Only God Almighty can make them
righteous in His sight. As much as we discipline them,
as much as we teach them and instruct them and try to guide
them, only God can make them righteous,
perfect in His sight. the righteous man from the East.
If any man is raised up in righteousness, God did it. It's a work of God. Righteousness
is a work of God. It's a work of Christ. He's the
one who raises him up. No idol ever raised up a righteous
man. No dumb idol ever did that. Not
even possible. Who hath wrought and done it,
calling the generations from the beginning?" Who's able to
do that? What idol has ever been able
to do that? Who called the righteous man and who called the generations
from the beginning and guided their destinies? Who guided Abraham
through the wilderness? He didn't know where he was going
when God told him to leave his country, leave his family, He
did not know where he was going. Who guided him? God did. Who guides the righteous? God
guides the righteous. The steps of a good man are what?
Ordered by the Lord. There are some steps I look back
and I think, I wish I hadn't taken those steps. But I find
comfort in this. I find comfort in this. The steps
of a good man. Now you're saying you're calling
yourself a good man in Christ? If you are in Christ, you're
a good man, you're a good woman. And outside of Christ, there's
none good, no, not one. I know when that young man came
to the Lord and he said, good master. And he said, why callst
thou me good? There's none good but God. And
what he's saying to that man is, if all you see, is a man
doing some good. That doesn't mean I'm good. There is no good but God. I'm telling you what, if you're
in Christ, you're in God. Because he's God. And in him
we're righteous. We are, listen, we are as holy,
is this so? We are as holy and as perfect
as God's own Son. Now, in ourselves, we're not
good. You know, Paul said, there's nothing good in me. That is,
and he goes on, he clarifies it, that is, in my flesh, there's
no good thing. He clarified, he said, in my
flesh, in my flesh, in this old nature, there is no good. But
that new man born of God is good. There's no sin in him. No sin. Who called the righteous man?
Who called the generations from the beginning and guided their
destiny? Who is the one who called those
things which be not as though they were? God, Almighty God,
our God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He says in verse 4, I the Lord,
I the Lord, the first And with the last, I am he. I am the one who raised up the
righteous man. I am the one who guided and I'm
the one who guides the righteous. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
creator of all. That's what it tells us in Colossians
chapter one. He's the first. He's the alpha. He's the omega.
He is the eternal God. He existed before anything had
its beginning. He is the eternal, uncreated
God. That's who He is. And no idol
can make that claim. He will also be, listen, He will
also be with the last generation. When we leave this life, we can
leave this life with this with this comfort, with this thought,
they're in the Lord's hand. These children are in His hands.
It's time for us to go. We leave them behind. They are
in His hands. Are there any better hands to
be in than His? He's with the first generation.
He's with the last generation. It's His. But now note the obstinance
of these idolaters. Here in verses 5-7, he says,
"...the Isles saw it and feared. The ends of the earth were afraid.
They drew near and came. They helped every one his neighbor,
and every one said to his brother, Be of good cheer, be of good
courage." And here's what they're doing. They're encouraging one
another in their idolatry. They're encouraging one another
in their falsehoods. So the carpenter encouraged the
goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammers, him that smote
the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering, and he fastened
it with nails, that it should not be moved. Even, listen, even
when all is made clear who God is through the preaching of the
gospel, they still encouraged themselves in their falsehood.
And if God leaves us alone, we will be right with Him. We'd be right there with them. We'd have our programs instead
of our message. Entertainment instead of preaching.
We'd be right there with them. The natural mind cannot receive
the things of God. They are spiritually discerned.
Their foolishness unto them. But that does not mean they're
not religious. It does mean they're not religious. He's not talking
about atheists here. They just think what you believe,
the gospel you believe is foolishness. Righteousness to another without
you doing anything to get it. They say that's just foolishness. But now listen here. Out of all
these generations, there is a people, there is a people that are His. They belong to him. They understand,
listen, they understand who raises up and who brings down. They understand. He turns now
and he speaks to Israel. But thou, Israel, art my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen to see of Abraham, my friend. God had the people out of every
generation whom he had chosen in the Lord Jesus Christ. I do
not get tired of hearing that, nor saying that. Our hope is in Christ, but I
tell you this, God chose us in Christ. And if he didn't choose
us, we would never have a thing to do with him. We wouldn't have
anything to do with God. God is light. by nature we are
darkness, poles apart, absolutely nothing in common, nothing. But thou, Israel, you're my people. You are my people. Jacob, whom
I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, You are the true Israel of God.
I spoke about this, I believe it was last Sunday. You're the
true Israel of God. You believe God, that's because
you are the true Israel of God. You're a true son of Abraham. Look over in Galatians. Let me
see, I had that written down here somewhere. Look over in
Galatians chapter 3. Look in Galatians 3, 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female,
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ,
if you belong to Him, if you're His, listen, then are you Abraham's
seed and heirs according to the promise. I'm looking at the seed
of Abraham. Those who believe God. If you
are Christ, if you belong to him, then are you Abraham's children. See, Philippians 3, we are the
true circumcision which worship God in the spirit and have no
confidence in the flesh. In verse 9, 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, your mind, and not cast thee away." There will be many who will hear
the Lord say, Depart from me. I never knew you. And I can't
even begin to think of the The fear that has to grip a person
when they hear that. He says here, I've chosen thee,
and I'm not cast thee away. He's not going to tell his people
to depart. He's going to say, enter in. Enter in. To the kingdom prepared for you,
but for the foundation of the world. And listen to what he says to
them here. Fear thou not. Fear not. Fear is something we
know a lot about. We are well acquainted with fear.
That's why we have locks on the doors and the windows and the
cars. We are well acquainted with it. It came in with sin. Sin is the
very root of fear. Sin makes us afraid, but God says to his little ones,
fear not, you don't have anything to fear. They're in captivity. They've been in captivity to
the Babylonians. They were in captivity to Egypt. They were persecuted, you just
read their history. But God said to His children,
fear not. He says over in the Gospels,
I'll tell you who to fear. Fear Him who is able to cast body and
soul into hell. He says don't fear men. They can't do anything to you.
He might let them torment you a little while. hurt
your body. That can't touch your soul. It
can't touch your life. Our life is hid with Christ in
God. That cannot be touched. God allowed Satan to touch Job,
his family, his flocks, his servants, even his skin, his body. But you know what God told him?
You don't touch his life. You can't touch it. It's in Christ. It is in Christ. And when we
die, when we leave this world, we're going to leave all of it.
We're going to leave this body and all of it. But I'll tell
you one thing we'll have. Life. Life. Because your life is hid with
Christ and God. So fear not, fear not. And here's why he tells us to
fear not. For I am with thee. But we're in Egypt in bondage. We're captives of Babylon, to
the Babylonians. He said, I'm with you, I'm with
you. They thought God had forsaken
them to their enemies, the Babylonians, but God was with them even then. He was with them then. I have
to read Psalm 46 on this. This psalm, you are well acquainted
with it. Psalm 46. He says in Psalm 46, I'm just
going to read the whole psalm, God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. Therefore, for will not we fear,
though the earth be removed. You pray the earth being removed.
Though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. Though
the waters thereof roar and be troubled. That can be a very
frightful thing. I watched that. tsunami that
came over in Japan. I watched it on the internet.
Fearful thing. That would be a fearful thing
to have to go through. Though the waters thereof roar and be
troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof,
there is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city
of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. He's
in the midst of her. God shall help her in that right
early. The heathen raged, and they always
will. They always will. The kingdoms
were moved. He uttered his voice, and the
earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob
is our refuge. Come, behold the works of the
Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh
wars to cease unto the end of the earth. He breaketh a bow
and cutteth a spear and sundereth. He burneth a chariot in the fire.
Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen.
I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Now, fear not. Fear not. He's always with his
people. Never leave them alone. Never
leave them alone. And be not dismayed. Don't despair
or have And this one, I'm just writing this out. If I don't preach to myself,
I'm not preaching to anybody. Don't despair or have intense
disappointment because of your circumstance. I'd just like to
stamp that right there on my forehead. Be not dismayed. He's not. If the captain's not dismayed,
why should you be? He knows where we're going, so
I don't need to. It doesn't matter. As long as
he knows. As long as the leader knows.
And our leader not only knows, he's already determined the outcome. You know, I know this. Whatever
it is you're going through, whatever it is I'm going through, listen,
the outcome is already determined. It's already determined. So don't be dismayed. And I have
to read this again and again and again. For I am thy God. The God of
creation is our God. He created all the nations. Can
he not control them? He's the God of providence. Does
he not control everything that moves, exists? Everything that happens, He decreed
it. He brings it to pass. Our good in His glory. The problem is what our God calls
good and what we call good are usually two different meanings.
We need to get on the same page He's on. What He calls good and what we
call good, now really, You know, what we call good was a great
job, pays great money. But you know what really might
be good for you is poverty. Poverty. I know someone that sold something years ago and
he complains about it to this day. And I think every time I hear
him complain, you need to let, you need to lose that, you need
to let that go. But since everything, it had
a hold of you. It may be, it may be that the
good thing for me is not rich. Riches are even a good job, but
it might be poverty. He maketh the poor and he maketh
what? The rich. He lifts up and he brings down. And he does it in infinite wisdom. But this God is the God of our
salvation. He's the God of our salvation.
He devised it, Christ executed it, and the Holy Spirit applies
it. Now, he says to them in verse 10, Yea, I will help thee. Yea, I
will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." I
want you to listen. There's 11 promises in this chapter. Listen. I'm going to read them. Just read to you. I'm not going
to give you the verse. I'm just going to go down through
here. I am with thee. That's a promise. I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. I will help thee. I will uphold thee. I will confound
your enemies. I will hold thy right hand. Thou shalt rejoice. Thou shalt
glory in the Holy One of Israel. I, the Lord, will hear. I, the
God of Israel, will not forsake them." Well, how many promises do you
need? One. Really. One. I am thy God. I'll put strength in you. He
will strengthen the inner man. He will strengthen us in our
troubles, in our trials. He said, I'll strengthen you.
You know, He enables us to go through these things, and at
the time we're going through them, I don't think we realize
the strength we're being given. until we pass on down the road
and look back, and we realize what the Lord brought us through.
He enabled us to endure it, and you didn't think you would. I
will put strength in you. I'll put it in you. I'll help
you. Who better to help us than God? And I will uphold thee with the
right hand of my righteousness. God is our refuge and strength
in times of trouble. I read Psalm 46 to you. Look
over in Deuteronomy 33. Deuteronomy 33, listen, 27, starting
verse 27 through 29. The eternal God is thy refuge. Underline this. The eternal God
is thy refuge. And underneath are the everlasting
arms. You afraid of falling? It ain't
going to happen. Underneath are the everlasting
arms. Thrust out the enemy from before thee, and shall say, Destroy
them. Israel then shall dwell in safety
alone. The fountain of Jacob shall be
upon a land of corn and wine. Also his heaven shall drop down
due. Happy art thou, O Israel! Who
is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy
help? And who is the sword of thy excellence? Thy enemies shall be found liars
unto thee, and thou shalt tread upon their high places. I tell you what, that's so. The eternal God, the eternal
God is thy refuge. I will destroy all that hate
you. There'll be as nothing as if,
listen, one day it will be as if it never existed. All the things you go through,
the trials and the heartaches and the enemies One day when
this is over, it'll be as if they never existed. He said they're
going to be gone. They will be gone. There'll be a day in which
everyone will love you perfectly and enjoy seeing you coming,
having your company. And you shall seek them and not
find them. Scripture tells us that he has
cast all our sins behind his back. Even the ones we don't even know
about. Which are a lot more than the ones we do know about. A
lot more. Prayer of the Lord. Prayer of
the Lord, thy God shall hold thy right hand. Have you ever
seen a big old burly man holding a kid, holding a child walking
across the street? God, He says, I hold you by the
right hand. If you're not, I'll help thee. Calm down. That's what He's saying. Calm down. Paul would say, chill out. Chill out. It's going to be alright. He
says, I've got you. I've got you. Fear not. Now listen. Notice what he calls
me. God often reminds us who we are
because we need to be reminded. Fear not. The Almighty Jacob. Is that what it says? He calls him by that old deceitful
name. That old name that means deceit. Cracky guy? Thou worm, Jacob. Fear not, thou worm, Jacob. Don't
fear, though you are a weak creature. Is there anything weaker than
a worm? Yeah, you and me. You better try to live in the
dirt. See how long you last. I was watching the nature program
the other day, and there's just these little bear cubs. Well,
no, these are little ducks. Little ducks running around.
They weren't that big. I think to Jeremy, I said, do
you think you could live out there like that? I said, look at those
little ducks. I said, to live out there in that wild, out there
in the cold. We couldn't live like that. I said,
it's amazing what the power of God can do. He called Jacob a worm. A worm. Not a serpent. Not a bear. A worm is about as
low as you get. Really, it's as low as you get.
It's in the dirt. It's in the dust. You can't get any lower
than that. But listen, we are his worms. Thy worm, Jacob." Boy, did he
love Jacob. He used that name more than any
other name in the Scriptures when he spoke of Jacob. Jacob
have I loved, Esau have I hated. What power does a worm have?
None. None. What power Do God's worms have all they
need? We have in Him all the power
and all the strength we need. Where do worms live? In dirt. Where do His worms live? In Him
we live and move and have our being. I might be a worm, but I thank
God I'm His worm. Thou worm, Jacob." And we have to be often
reminded of that. Thou worm, Jacob, I will help
thee. You wiggly maggot, I'll help
you. No worm ever had such help. Their
Redeemer, our Redeemer, is our help. The Holy One of Israel.
You know, the whole trinity The Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit are set for your salvation. My soul, if God be for us, who
can be against us? He says, Behold, I'll make thee
a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth. I'm going to close
here. Thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt
make the hills as chaff." I'm going to turn the tables.
As they say in here, the tables are going to be turned. These children right now are
counted as nothing in this world. They are tormented. I tell you what, when this is
over, when this is over, we're talking
about a powerful people. We're talking about a glorified
people. I saw it. He's going to turn the tables
instead of being on the losing end, which it looks like the
losing end. Really, it's not. But they're going to be on the
winning end. He's going to take the base things of the world
and he's going to confound the wise. And the weak things of the world,
he's going to confound the strong. So fear not. Fear not, thou worm, Jacob. You
men of Israel, I'll help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel. You and I have nothing to fear.
The eternal God is our God. He's the God of salvation. So
fear not, I am with thee.