Turn please to Isaiah 41. Isaiah
chapter 41. I read a story about a railroad
engineer. Stories always used to be about
mule skinners, now they're about railroaders, but this one I think
is a true story. The man was getting up in years. He was a believer. He had been
following Christ, walking the way of faith, love, and obedience
to Christ for a long time. He got very sick, and he had
to have very serious surgery. And as the time of his surgery
approached, he got quite apprehensive. He began to be fearful, and his
fear caused him a great trouble in his soul. And finally, the
day came when he was to have his operation, and the nurse
was in there cleaning him up, preparing him for surgery, and
she sensed that he was troubled, and she too was a believer. She
said to him, when you go into the operating room. You're laying
on that table. Look on the wall at the end of
your table, and you'll find a message from God for you." Of course,
he didn't know quite how to take that. But as he went into the
operating room just before they put him to sleep, he remembered
her words. He raised up and looked. That
nurse had put a plaque on the wall. with these words inscribed
on it. Isaiah 41, verse 13. I, the Lord thy God, will hold
thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not, I will help thee. The old man said later that was
just the word from God he needed, and he thanked her. for putting
the plaque on the wall. Well, I hope maybe that's just
the word from God you need today. Have you ever noticed how often
these two words, fear not, are used in the Word of God? They're
like stars in the sky, just everywhere you turn. Fear not is used either
fear not or fear them not or fear him not. God speaking to
his people says fear not. I took a concordance and just
looked up the words fear not as they're used together. Over
73 times in the word of God, God says to Merle Hart, fear
not, fear not. Now, if he uses that term so
many times, I'm convinced that two things are so. Number one,
as long as we are in this world, we're going to struggle with
fear. You do and I do fear of one kind or another. And secondly,
God doesn't want us to be afraid. Our God doesn't want us to be
afraid, especially he doesn't want us to be afraid of him.
Our Lord and our God speaks to us these words, fear not, and
he is telling us that it's most reasonable that we who are the
children of the living God should confidently trust him and not
be afraid. No two things are more contrary,
more inconsistent with one another than faith and fear. Fear is
opposed to faith and faith is opposed to fear. Dishonors God. Faith honors God. Fear questions
God. Faith trusts Him. Fear is covetousness. Faith is contentment. Fear is
anxiety. Faith is peace. Fear is despairing. Faith is hopeful. Faith and fear,
they're diametrically opposed to one another. You would think
that it would not be possible for both to exist in the same
heart, but they do. There may be some, indeed there
are many, who have fear but have no faith. But there are, I think
I can safely say, there are none who have faith without fear.
that is none, not this side of glory. In this world, you and
I, men and women of faith, still struggle with fear. I hope we
have grown to where that we can say with David, what time I am
afraid I will trust in thee. But I am quite certain that none
of us have grown so strong in faith that we are all together
without fear. And knowing the terrible tendency
of your heart and mind to fear and unbelief, I believe I have
a message. If God will give me your ear,
that'll be beneficial to your souls. Believing God, we have
nothing to fear. Believing God, we have nothing
to fear. Now that statement just takes
in everything. Everything. It doesn't matter
whether you're talking about your employment, in town or whether
you're talking about your relationship with people in the community
or whether you're talking about your day-by-day necessities being
supplied or whether you're talking about men who are enemies to
your souls or whether you're talking about the problems that
you have with your children or the trials and difficulties you
face. It doesn't matter. That statement
takes in the whole of our existence on this earth. Believing God
We have nothing to fear. Nothing to fear. Now, we can't
possibly look at all of the text where this passage or these words,
fear not, are found, but I want to call your attention to several.
And so the first thing I want to do is this. I want to answer
this question. To whom are these words spoken? Fear not. To whom are these words
spoken? Is God saying that to you? Is
God speaking that word to you? Is he saying it to me? To whom
are these words spoken? It is the word of God, the words
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our gracious teacher is God himself. But who is he teaching? What
is he telling us? To whom are the words addressed?
Let's open the scriptures and see. Turn over to the book of
Luke, Luke chapter five. I'll give you five or six of
these texts and you can jot them down if you want to as you go
along. These words, fear not, first of all, are spoken by Christ
to a man who knows his utter sinfulness before God. Is anybody
here who knows himself a sinner? A man unworthy of God's grace? A man unworthy of God's acceptance? A man unworthy of God's approval? A man deserving eternal damnation? Anybody here like that? These
words are spoken by Christ to a man who knows himself a sinner. Look here in Luke chapter 5,
in verse 1, Peter, James, and John were out on the lake of
Gennesaret. They were fishing. They'd been
there all night long. They had toiled long and hard
all the night, and they had caught nothing. And the Lord Jesus came
to them, and he said, Simon, Throw your nets in again. And
Simon said in verse 5, Master, we've toiled all the night and
we've taken nothing. Nevertheless, this is kind of
what he was saying. He was saying, Lord, I've been
doing this a long time. I've been at this business of
fishing quite a while. I do know what I'm doing. Now,
we've been toiling out here all night and we just finished repairing
our nets and we haven't taken a thing. But if you say so, we'll
drop the nets in again. And so they dropped the nets
down again. And they began to pull in fish.
And the nets broke. And they called fellas in the
other ships to come over and help them. And they pulled them
in and they took in so many fish that the two little ships began
to sink. Now, look at what the scripture
tells us here in verse five or in verse eight. When Simon Peter
saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me,
for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished. He was
astonished. He saw that Christ had done this
thing. Christ had somehow or another
caused those fish to go into that net. Christ had brought
the great increase of fish. Christ had loaded them down with
the fish. And what he recognized is that
Jesus Christ is himself God Almighty. He saw the glory of Christ displayed
in his power over the physical world. The Lord revealed his
sovereign power and his majesty as God. When Peter began to drag
those fish in, he realized who was standing before him. He was
astonished at the realization that Jesus Christ is indeed the
sovereign creator, the sustainer, and the ruler of all things.
Now, I know we all say we believe those things, but if you ever
come to see it, You'll be astonished by it. You'll be astonished by
it. And then when Peter saw Christ's
glory, he recognized and acknowledged his utter vileness and sinfulness
before him. He said, depart from me, O Lord,
for I'm a sinful man. I'm a sinful man. Now, Peter
was not here saying, Lord, I don't want to be in your presence.
He was saying, Lord, I'm not fit to be in your presence. And
there's a big difference. He's kind of like the the soldier
who came to the Lord and asked him to to speak the word and
heal his daughter. And and the Lord said, I'll go
and see her. And he said, oh, I'm not fit
for you to come into my house. And this is what Peter was saying.
He's saying, Lord, I'm not fit to be where you are. I'm not
fit to be in your presence. I'm not fit to be looked upon
by you. Anybody like that? Have you ever
seen your sin to where that you are made to recognize you're
not fit for God? You're not fit to be in God's
presence? You're not fit to be accepted
of God? You're not fit to be received
by God himself? That's what Peter said. He said,
I'm a sinful man. And then the Lord gave Peter
this tender word of peace and assurance, verse 10. So was James
and John, the sons of Zebedee, that's Peter's partners. And
Jesus said unto Simon, fear not, fear not. It was as though he had said,
Peter, I know your unworthiness. I know that you're no more stable
than shifting sand. Peter, I know that you're a fickle
ruffian. Peter, I know your corruption
and your vileness. I know all about you, Peter.
But there is nothing for you to fear, for I've not come to
condemn sinners. I've come that sinners like you
might have life and have it more abundantly. It's one of Satan's
devices to ruin the souls of men, to make you afraid of Christ. Oh, yes. Our Lord, our God, our Savior
is the great judge. He's righteous and true. His
ways are justice and truth. But there is no need why any
sinner should fear to approach God seeking mercy. There's no
reason for that, none whatsoever. Our Lord is great, but he's also
gracious. When Moses said, I beseech thee,
show me thy glory. The Lord said, I will make all
my goodness to pass before thee. I will be merciful to whom I
will be merciful and I will be compassionate to whom I will
be compassionate. And so he was saying, Moses,
I am sovereign indeed, the sovereign God. But I'm good. I'm gracious. Jesus Christ is gracious to sinners. He's gracious to sinners. He's
forgiving. He's kind. Our Lord Jesus delighteth
in mercy. The Son of God comes to reveal
Himself, not that He might damn you, but if He reveals Himself
to you, it's so that He might save you. And if He reveals Himself
to you, mark it down, He will save you. This blessed word,
fear not, falls from the lips of Jesus Christ to every man
who acknowledges, I'm a sinful man. Sinners are hard to find. They're
scarce as hen's teeth. Nobody's sinners. Nobody. But if you ever come to know
your sin, If you ever discover that you are a sinful man, now
you understand what I'm talking about when I say sinful man,
don't you? I mean, you're not fit for anything
but hell. I mean, you're lost, you're helpless,
you're undone. I mean, you got nothing to offer
God. I mean, you're bankrupt. I mean, your heart's corrupt,
your ways are corrupt, your life's corrupt. I mean, you're vile. Anybody who comes to know By
the grace of God, I'm a sinful man. This word is for you. Fear not. For if we confess our
sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You need never fear drawing near
to Christ while the little children ran into his arms. Our Lord promises
that he will never reject any who come to him. His wounds invite
sinners to approach him. Don't be afraid because of his
glory or because of your unfitness. Come to him and he will receive
you. He will save you. He will not
cast you out. Come directly to Christ. Come
directly to Christ. I know that God uses men to preach
to men. I know he does. But don't you
go to a man when you're seeking Christ. Don't you go to a Baptist
preacher or any other kind of preacher as though he was some
kind of a priest and mediator between you and Christ. You don't
get to Christ by coming to a man. If you get to Christ, you're
going to have to get alone with God. The place to seek Christ
is where you're sitting, in your heart, in your bedroom, in your
home, in your easy chair. The place to seek Christ is in
you. Get to Him without moving your
feet, without moving your feet. You've got to come to Christ
for yourself by a direct line. One of the Russian emperors once
called for his engineers to lay out a map to make a railroad
going from Moscow to St. Petersburg. And he gave him some
time to work on it. So he called the men and looked
over their maps and they had carefully gone around every little
hamlet in town. Just carefully had gone around
to keep from disturbing anything. And so the emperor, being the
wise man he was, took their maps and he said, bring me a pen and
a ruler. And he laid down the ruler and
he took that ruler and just drew a straight line from Moscow to
St. Petersburg. He said, now build
a railroad. That's the way to get to Christ. Draw a straight
line from your soul to the son of God and get to him. Get to
him. Seek him with your heart and
you'll find him. Seek him and you'll find him. Come needy and
guilty. Come loathsome and bare. You
can't come too filthy. Come just as you are. Come to
the Lord Jesus Christ. These words, fear not, are spoken
by our Lord secondly to those whose hearts are burdened for
others. Look over in Luke chapter 8.
Luke chapter 8, verse 49. Jarius had come to the Lord.
said his daughter was sick. The Lord was on the way to Jairus'
house and on his way, this woman with an issue of blood
came, touched the master and she was healed. And then Jairus'
servant sent word to him, said, no need to trouble the master,
your daughter's dead. In verse 49, while he yet spake,
there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's house saying,
thy daughter is dead, trouble not the master. But when Jesus
heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not, believe only, and she
shall be made whole." Here's a man with a daughter, and his heart's heavy. His heart's
heavy. When he left home, his daughter
was dying, but she wasn't dead yet. And now she's dead. Now she's dead. And Jarius about
loses all hope. He's ready to turn around. And
the master said, don't give up. Don't give up. Don't give up. No, don't give up. Believe and
she'll live. She'll live. Believe and she'll
live. I'm sure that for some of you, there's one in your home, one
in your neighborhood, one somewhere for whom you have
been burdened for a long time, who's dead. Who's dead. And you've been praying. Now,
please understand me. Please understand me. There is
a big, big difference between being burdened of God and having
a selfish desire. There's a big difference with
that in there, Lindsay. Big difference in wanting something because
you want it and want something because God wants it. There's a big difference. But if you have a burden from
God, if God gives the burden, God leaves the burden. If God
creates the prayer, God will answer the prayer. Don't give
up. Don't give up. Go on. Call upon God with earnestness. Call upon God with importunity. Call upon God with faith. Only
believe. And Jesus. You remember in chapter
11 of Luke, that story of the importunate friend in verse eight,
Well, this friend came and said, friend, lend me three loaves.
The fellow said, well, I'm in bed. He said, don't bother me. And the fellow said in verse
eight, or in verse seven, he said, from within shall he answer
and say, trouble me not. The door is now shut and my children
are with me in bed and I can't rise and give thee. I say unto
thee, though he will not rise and give him because he is his
friend, yet because of his importunity, because of his continual knocking
at his door, he will rise and give him as many as he needs. And I say unto you, ask, and
it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened to you. For everyone that asketh receiveth,
and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall
be opened. The words are all in the present
tense. You keep on asking, God will
answer. You keep on seeking, you'll find. You keep on knocking, it'll be
open to you in God's good time. If God creates the burden, if
God creates the prayer, God will relieve the burden. He'll answer
the prayer. Now, I'm positive of that. Don't
have any question about that. Our Lord said to Jarius, Jarius,
you've come here believing. Now continue believing. I'll take care of it. I'll take
care of it. This woman used to pray for her
husband. She had prayed for him for many,
many years. He had no interest in the gospel.
He never went to church with her. He never went to the house
of God, but she never quit calling on God. She never quit. She did have one companion that
always went with her to church. I would rather y'all not do this,
but her dog followed her to church. And he'd come in and sit down
right under a pew. You're like, you're sitting there, son. Let
the dog curl up under the pew. Those were different days and
different societies. But the dog would always follow
the lady to church. Well, the old woman died, and
her husband was still hardened unbelief. And he still wouldn't
go to church. But her dog kept on going, and
it come time to go to church. That old mutt come curl up under
the old lady's pew, and the old man got curious. He thought,
well, what was that dog doing going down there to that meeting
house? And he came in just to see what was going on. He found
where that dog was, and he sat down, and he heard the gospel,
and God saved him according to his grace. Only believe, you'll
live. Only believe, you'll live. Only
believe, your child will live. Only believe, your daughter will
live. Only believe, your son will live. Only believe, your neighbor will
live. Now then, let me warn you. Let me warn you. I'm not talking
about, as I said, a carnal fleshly, selfish desire. We all want God to save our children,
don't we? We all want that. That's not what I'm talking about.
I'm talking about if God creates a burden and God creates a prayer,
whether for your child or mine, whether for your son or your
neighbor's son, Whether for your wife or your husband, whether
for mom or dad, or whether for the man or woman that lives down
the street, if God creates the burden, if God creates the prayer,
better he'll remove the burden and he'll answer the prayer,
if you believe. If you believe. That Canaanite
woman came and she said, Lord, my daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. He didn't even look at her. He
didn't even look at her. In this society, this day and
age, preachers and deacons and everybody in the church bow and
scrape to folks and beg them to come to church and beg them
to let God do this and let God do that. This woman came and
our Lord did not even turn and look at her. Well, I'll never
go back there. Those folks aren't friendly.
But she needed something. She needed something. She said,
she said, Lord, my daughter is grievously vexed with the devil.
He turned and looked at her and he said, I'm not simply the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. But she needed something. She
needed. She knew that what she needed,
only he could provide. And she continued to call after
him. He turned around and looked at
her and he said, it's not fit for me to give the children's
bread to dogs. Oh, you talk about a tactless
preacher. He was a tactless preacher. He just must not, he must not
have been to seminary anywhere. You don't talk to folks that
way. But she needed something. She needed something. She said,
you're right, Lord. I'm not one of the house of Israel.
I am a dog. But I'm your dog. And dogs would
come and fall from the master's table. Give me a crumb, my daughter's
dying." He said, I've never seen faith like that. Be it unto you
as your soul desires. That's what I'm talking about.
Believe, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to believe God
and don't be afraid to ask Him that which He's burdened your
heart to seek. Let none turn you away. These
words, thirdly, fear not. are found in Luke chapter 12. They're spoken by our Savior
to all who seek the kingdom of God. Luke chapter 12, our Lord is here giving us the
same admonition and exhortation we read in chapter 6 of Matthew
earlier. He said in verse 15, a man's
life consists of not and the abundance of things which he
possesseth. Oh, what will it take for God
to teach us that? Your life is not what you own. You don't own a thing. You don't
own a thing. Your life is not in the abundance
of your possession. Neither the security, nor the
happiness, nor the welfare of your life is in the abundance
of your possession. And then he spoke a parable.
He said, this fellow said, we got a bumper cop this year. Matter
of fact, we got enough come in this year that we're going to
be able to we're going to be able to retire on it. Now, I
tell you what, fellas, tear down my barns and build greater ones.
I'm going to store everything up and I'll eat, drink and be
merry for many years to come. God said, you fool. You fool. Tonight, you're going to die. Who's going to own this? Who's
gonna own this? So, verse 21, is he that layeth
up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. He said
to his disciples, now you've heard the parable, take no thought
for your life, what you shall eat, neither for your body, what
you shall put on. Life is more than meat, the body
more than clothes. Look at the raven. They neither
toil nor they neither sow nor reap. They neither have a storehouse
nor barn. God feeds them every day. A raven,
a raven, just a filthy scavenger raven. God feeds them every day. Do you suppose that God's in
love with ravens? Do you suppose that God's in
love with scavengers? Do you suppose that God cares
for ravens? No, no. He loves you. Now, he who feeds
the ravens will feed you. Look at the flowers. Solomon
in all his glory was not ever arrayed like one of these. Now,
God's not in love with the flower, but he who clothes the flower
will clothe you. He'll clothe you. Pastor, what
do you say? Read on. Verse 26. If ye then be able to do that
thing which is least, why take thought for the rest? Or if you
can't do the least thing, why take thought for the rest? He
says, consider the lilies. Verse 29, seek not ye what you
shall eat or what you shall drink, neither be of a doubtful mind.
Now that's just as plain as nose on your face. Oh, what does that
mean? What do you think it means? What
do you think it means? Now, come on, read it. What do
you think it means? Oh, preacher, you couldn't mean
that. That's exactly what it means. That's exactly what it
means. Don't give the least thought
to what you're going to eat, what you're going to wear, or
where you're going to live today, tomorrow, or five years down
the road, or 50 years down the road. Don't give it the least. Well, now, preacher, you've got
to be practical. The most practical thing in this
world is to believe God. Do you believe that? The most
practical thing in this world is to believe God. To believe
God, that's all, to believe God. Well, God expects us to do this,
expects us, you're trying to get out of it. The most practical
thing there is, is to believe God. Believe God. If I felt like God had me to
do something, I'm telling you the truth. If I felt like God
had me to do something for the interest of his kingdom, for
the furtherance of the gospel, for the glory of Christ, I'd
do it no matter what the cost. No matter what the cost. Well,
you have to quit your job. move, you have to go here, you
have to do that, got to give up an awful lot, that's okay. That's okay. If God's in it,
you best follow his, best follow his direction. You best follow
his direction. Then somebody comes along and
they say, well, it's not near as rosy as I thought it was going
to be. It's going to cost you to follow Christ. It's going
to cost It's going to cost you to obey God. It's going to cost
you. You may not be able to have that padded bank account, and
you may not be able to see where the next meal is coming from,
but if you believe God, if you believe God, God will feed you,
He'll clothe you, and He'll give you shelter. He'll give you those
things. Your Father knows what you have
need of. He knows what you have need of. but rather seek you the kingdom
of God and his righteousness. All these things shall be added
unto you. Look at verse 32. Fear not, little flock. Fear
not, little flock. It's your father's pleasure to
give you the kingdom. I've got to hurry. Oh, when will we ever learn to
believe God? Is it not enough for a child
to know that his father knows his needs? Is that not enough? I'd be right upset with my daughter if she came to me with a need. I'm talking about a need now,
I'm not talking about luxury and happiness and pleasure. She doesn't
need that. She doesn't need that. But she came to me with a need. Oh, she said, I had this need. I've got a problem here or I'm not feeling well or I'm going
through this, I'm going through that. If I know the need, I'd be upset
with her if she went somewhere else seeking the fulfillment
of that need. It's enough for her to know that
I know. Because if I know, I'll take
care of the need. I'll prove that to you, haven't
I? I'll take care of your needs.
I'll take care of her needs. My father, my father has proved
he'll meet your needs. He's proved it. He proved it. Fear not. Fear not. Mortals,
cease your toil and sorrow. God provide us for tomorrow. I just believe that. I just believe
it. These words, fear not, are spoken
forthly by Christ to all who faithfully bear witness of him
in a hostile world. We won't turn there, but you
can find it in Matthew 10, verses 22 through 29. Our Lord said,
fear not them which can destroy your body. Fear God who can destroy
both body and soul in hell. He said, your hairs on your head
are all numbered. God takes care of you. No need
for you to be afraid. No need for you to be afraid.
Confess me before me. Confess me and I'll confess you
before my father. Deny me and I'll deny you before
my father. It's going to cost you to serve
Christ. It's going to cost you to confess Christ to men in a
hostile world. It's going to cost you to bear
witness of Him. It's going to cost you to declare
the truth to sinners. It's going to cost you. But don't
be afraid. Christ is our shield and He's
our defense. Fifthly, these words, fear not,
are spoken by God to all who suffer trials and temptations
and sorrows as His people in this world. Turn over to Isaiah
43. Let me show you this one. Isaiah
43. In verse 1, our Lord says, Thus
saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, he that formed thee,
O Israel, fear not, fear not. Look at verse 2. When you pass
through the waters, I'll be with you. Through the rivers, they
shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire,
you'll not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee."
Now, this is what he's saying. You're going to pass through
the waters and you're going to pass through the fire and you're
going to pass through the furnace. The people of God in this world
are men and women who suffer much pain and sorrow. Faith in
Christ gives us much ease and comfort in the midst of our trials,
but faith does not eliminate or even lessen our trials. Some
of the Lord's most favored saints, some of his most useful people
are those who have to suffer much. Did you know that? Mr. Spurgeon was a man mightily used of God in his generation. And that man, from the time that
he was a relatively young man, suffered with gout to such terrible
pain that he would have to leave his pulpit for three months every
winter and go to a more desirable climate in the south of France.
Finally died with it. and he was still a relatively
young man in his early fifties. He was useful, very useful, but
he suffered, very greatly suffered. And that's all right. You see,
there's a good cause for the suffering of God's saints. They glorify God most by the
things which they It's okay to suffer. It's okay to suffer. If my heavenly Father will graciously
use me for his glory, let him bring whatever pain he
will, whatever sorrow he will, whatever difficulty he will,
for the glory of his name, fear not. Fear not. I'll be with you. When Abraham returned from the
battle of the kings in Genesis 15 one and he was fearful, no
question about it. He came back and he had been
down to fight and deliver his nephew Lot from the hands of
those kings. And Abraham must have thought
to himself, well, I've I've taken up the sword now. I must live
by the sword and die by the sword. And God said to Abraham in Genesis
15 one, fear not, Abram, I'll be with you. I'll be your shield
and I'll be your reward. Isaac was down in Beersheba.
He had dug wells and the Philistines came along and filled them up.
He'd go somewhere else and dig a well and the Philistines come
along and fill it up. He wasn't like you and me. I'd get inside that well and
be waiting there with a gun and shoot that Philistine with a
hand. But Isaac was a peaceful man. He went on, dig another
well, Philistines come in, sneak in at night and fill up his well.
So finally he made his stand at Beersheba. He came and dug
another well up near Sheba. In Genesis 26, verse 24, God
said to Isaac, fear not. I'll be with you. I'll be with
you. Just stay right here. These things aren't going to
hurt you. You just stay right here. Fear not. When Jacob feared
for his life, he said, Joseph is gone and Benjamin is gone
and all these things are against me. God said, Fear not to go
down to Egypt, I'll be with you. And I'll bring you back up out
of Egypt, Genesis 4 to 6. When Israel stood at the Red
Sea in Exodus 15, they had come out of Egypt carrying the gold
and silver of the Egyptians, and they were going out to worship
God. And here they stand, the Red
Sea's in front of them. Pharaoh's armies are behind them.
The mountains are on both sides of them. Moses, you brought us
out here to kill us. God spoke by Moses and he said,
fear not, but stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.
And he delivered them across that red sea. God does things like that. Yeah,
he does things like that. For the glory of his name and
for the good of his people. He delivers his own. And they
didn't go through there dragging mud halfway up their wagon wheels
either. They went through dry shod. Dry shod. The sea stood
as a wall on both sides, and they walked through on a well-beaten
path. When I was in high school, I
hadn't been converted long. I was just going back to school,
and we had this fella, his being black has nothing to do with
it. He happened to be a black man who hated the gospel. And he said, well, he was our
English teacher. You see, you can teach what you
want to against the scriptures. You just can't teach the scriptures.
He said, well, that's really the Reed Sea. Children of Israel
went through the Reed Sea. It was just a marshy, reedy area. Oh, maybe a foot of water in
it, no more than that, maybe 18 inches. This little girl sitting
beside me, she's always on it. She said, man, are you serious? You mean that was just a foot
of water in there? He said, yeah. She said, well, that's a fantastic
miracle then. He looked at her kind of funny
like. And she said, it takes some powerful God to drown a
well-equipped Egyptian army in 12 inches of water. Well, it was the Red Sea. And
our great God marched Israel through Drashad and he drowned
the Egyptians to deliver them. That's what the book teaches.
Your trials come in a lot of ways. And they come in a lot
of directions. And I don't have any question
about what some of you right now have some heavy burden upon
your heart. Let me tell you something. I'll
tell you four things about your trials. You jot them down. I'm
not going to preach on them. Just give you these things quickly.
Whatever your trial is, whatever it is, child of God, whatever
your trial is, it comes from your heavenly father. His hand
brought it, whatever it is. Your trial will do you good.
It'll do you good, eternal spiritual good. More than that, it'll not
only do you good, it'll be best for the kingdom of God as a whole.
And number three, your trial's not gonna last very long. It's
just temporary. If it lasts the rest of your
life, it's just temporary. It's just temporary. And finally,
your trial, whatever it is, somehow, in the hand of God, will be down
for the glory of God our Savior. Knowing those four things, Bobby,
I can endure anything God brings upon me. Anything. If in my heart
I know Him, I can endure anything, peace to Him. Peace to Him. These words, fear not, were spoken
by our Lord Jesus to His beloved people as they near the grave.
You don't have to turn there, we'll look at it tonight. Revelation
1, the old man John was on the Isle of Patmos. His pilgrimage
was about over, Dave, and the Lord Jesus came to him, put his
hand on him, and he said, fear not, I am the first and the last. I'm he that liveth and was dead,
and behold, I'm alive forevermore, amen. And I have the keys of
hell and of death. What encouragement do we have to obey our Lord's tender admonition? He says, fear not, fear not. Is that reasonable? Is it reasonable
for me living in this world not to fear? You don't have to turn
there, but back in Isaiah 43, verses one through five, Our God gives us seven reasons
not to fear. I'll just close with this. First,
he said in verse one, I have redeemed you. I've redeemed. If he redeemed you, what have
you got to be afraid of? I have redeemed thee. I have
called thee by thy name. There's a second reason. Here's
the third reason. You belong to me. Thou art mine. Here's the fourth. I will be
with thee." A fifth reason, he said, when
you pass through the rivers, it'll not overflow you. And through
the fire, you'll not be burned. What he's saying is, I'll protect
you from all harm. And the flame will not kindle
upon thee. He said, it'll burn up the dross. It'll burn up the
tin. But your silver and gold, it'll
not touch you. You won't even smell like you've
been in a furnace. I'll protect you. Fear not, he says, for I
am the Lord Jehovah thy God. And lastly, he says, fear not,
for I have loved thee. I have loved thee. Mm. Almighty God loved me. He said, now, remember how I
drowned Pharaoh and his army? I killed that nation for you.
He said, I'll give men, people, and nations for your life. See,
there ain't nothing gonna happen to you. Ain't nothing gonna happen
to you. I love you. I love you. Now I'm not much. I'm just a puny little old 300
pound man. But I'll tell you what, you best
not mess with my wife and daughter. No. For that matter, best not
mess with Wes. Because I love him too. And I ain't going to tolerate
much of it. No. People I love, I'll protect.
God Almighty loves you. God Almighty loves you. God Almighty
loves you. Now what you got to be afraid
of? What you got to be afraid of? Somebody asked me, don't
you worry about your family when you go? Only when I don't believe
God. Only when I don't believe God. Only then. People all day. What you got to be afraid of?
We act like we're better defenders than God. We act like we got
more might than God. Same God who protects our household
when I'm sleeping in my bed, protects our household when my
bed's empty. He's our God. One of the atheists, I think
it was Voltaire, I'm not sure, His son was dying, and his daddy
was real concerned. He got by his bedside, took him
by the hand, and he said, hold on, son. Hold on. The son looked up at him, and
he said, Dad, there's nothing to hold to. Nothing to hold to. I've given you something to hold
on to. A nail in a shoe place. Deal. A little girl was laying in the
hospital. This is a true story. I just read it yesterday. It
touched me. She'd been in an accident, and when she woke up,
she was all bandaged, and she couldn't see a thing. And, of
course, she was delirious. She was screaming and waving
her hands, just making a fit. The doctor came by and put his
hand around her hand. She got hold with both hands.
and just as calm as she could be. With this fear not, the Son
of God speaks to his people, and says, take hold, and don't
be afraid. Don't be afraid. I've loved you. I've redeemed you. I've called
you. You're mine. You're mine. One more story. You'll like this. on the bow of a ship in the middle
of a storm. And all the adults around him
were a little concerned. They were panicking a bit. And
somebody asked him, said, son, aren't you afraid? And he said,
no. They said, well, why not? We're
in this terrible storm. He said, my daddy's at the helm. My daddy's at the helm. And this
world is tossed to and fro in all the storms of life, and I
with it. But my Father's at the helm.
Cut nothing to be afraid of. Fear not. Fear not. Amen.