Isaiah chapter 43. The title
of the message this morning is Fear Not. Fear Not. Look beginning with verse one
of Isaiah 43. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, And he that formed thee, O Israel, fear
not. Don't be afraid. For I have redeemed
thee. I have called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. Now all scripture is God breathed. In 2 Peter 1, 21, we read that
prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Paul writing to young Timothy,
he said this, all scripture, all of it, is given by inspiration
of God, right? And it's profitable. It's helpful
for doctrine, for our learning. It's good for reproof. It's good
for correction. And we need that from time to
time, don't we, for straightening up. It's good for instruction
in righteousness that the man of God might be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works. I know, again, you know this. We know this. Every word in this
Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, it's God's word. It's the inspired
word of Almighty God. But I want you to listen to these
first four words in this passage here. Thus saith the Lord. There's no question there, is
there? No question who's speaking here. Now let me ask you this. Is there any word that could
be more worthy of our attention? Thus saith the Lord. The Lord that created thee, O
Jacob, he's the God of all creation. What we read back there in Genesis,
in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. All
things, scripture declares all things were made by him. And
without him, there wasn't anything made that was made. David said this. He said this
of himself. He said, I am fearfully and wonderfully
made. Thus saith the Lord that created
thee, O Jacob. You know that word created, I
looked this up, it can also mean to choose. Did he choose Jacob? He did, didn't he? That's what
scripture says. He chose Jacob. He set his love
upon Jacob. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. I want you to think about this.
What was it about Jacob that would cause God to set his love
upon him? You know, I think about the people
I like, and they're typically people I get along with, right? I don't believe any of us would
have got along with Jacob. There was nothing There was nothing
desirable about Jacob. Consider his name. It means supplanter. It means thief. What redeeming qualities are
there in a liar, in a deceiver? You know, if Jacob was around
us here this morning, I truly believe the first thing we'd
probably do as a man, we'd reach and see if we had our billfold.
Make sure it's in our front pocket, right? And then when he walked
away, we'd double check to make sure that we still had it. Why Jacob? Why would God choose Jacob? Jacob. Can you say that about, can we
say that about ourselves? Why? Why would God choose me? Why would God be merciful to
me? Turn to Romans. Turn to the book
of Romans. Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9, beginning with verse 9. For this is the word of promise. At this time will I come and
Sarah shall have a son. Not only this, but when Rebecca
also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac. For the
children being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand, not of works." Isn't that a relief? Huh? Not of works,
but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? Oh, God forbid. God forbid. Is that fair? Is that fair? Let me ask you, why would God
be merciful to you? Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Jacob was an object of God's
mercy before he was even born. A choice made before he had done,
that goes against what man says in religion, doesn't it? A choice
made before he had done any good or any evil. chosen according
to the purpose of Almighty God, according to God's mercy, according
to His sovereign will. That's the word of God speaking,
isn't it? And we need not make any apologies
for it. Isn't that a description of every
believer? Doesn't that describe us? Paul,
writing in Ephesians, he said this, blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
he hath chosen us in him. When? When did he do that? When did he choose his people
according, y'all know the answer, don't you? According as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. That we should
be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will. Not man's will, his will. Thus saith the Lord that created
thee, that chose thee. He chose the people. He chose
Jacob. Oh, as he spoke to you. Oh, I pray if he hadn't, he will,
that he'd reveal this to us. Read on in our text, Isaiah 43,
verse 1. Thus saith the Lord that created
thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel. He that formed thee. I looked
that one up, too. It means to mold. Like a potter takes a piece of
clay and molds it. What's the potter doing with
what he will do with it? He makes it what he will. Romans
9.21 says this, hath not the potter power over the clay of
the same lump to make one vessel to honor and another unto dishonor? Who does that? Who gets the glory
for that? If I'm a piece of clay, I'm helpless
to do anything, aren't I? If we laid a piece of clay here
and just left it here until next Sunday, what would it be? It'd
be the same old lump of clay, wouldn't it? Until somebody takes
it and molds it. Almighty God, he has power, doesn't
he? Power over the clay to make one
Jacob and one Esau. And you know this man that was
called a supplanter? This one that was called a thief? His name was changed, wasn't
it? To Israel, prince with God. He was made something that he
wasn't. Isn't that what he's done for
every one of his sheep? He's made us something that we
weren't. He's made us something that we
could never be. Lalo, you said this in your prayer. He made the Lord Jesus Christ
to be sin for us. For what purpose? that He might
make us the righteousness of God in Him, in Christ. He's made us the very righteousness
of God. There's no way we could wrap
our heads around what that even means. made righteous. You know, it's one thing to look
good in the sight of each other, but to be righteous in the sight
of Almighty God, Him with whom we have to do, God who sees all
things, we're made righteous. Oh, thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, he that formed thee, O Israel, And again,
I'll ask you, who's talking here? The Lord. Thus saith the Lord.
Almighty God. Who's he speaking to? He's speaking
to Jacob. He's speaking to Israel. He's
speaking to his church, his bride. And what does he say? What's
the message to his church? What's the message to his people?
Do you still have Isaiah 43.1? Thus saith the Lord that created
thee, O Jacob, he that formed thee, O Israel. Listen to these
two words, fear not. Isn't that comforting? I wish
I could remember that. Fear not. A message of comfort. That's what Moses told the children
of Israel there at the Red Sea. Remember that? Pharaoh's army
was approaching. There was nowhere to run, was
there? There was nowhere to hide. And they were slaves, they weren't
warriors, they weren't fighters. What was the message? Fear not. Stand still. Don't be afraid. Fear not. Here in our text here, he gives
us a few reasons to fear not, a few reasons to not be afraid. Now, I believe we've already
seen one, and that's salvation, deliverance. He's delivered his
people. It's not by the will of man,
is it? Oh, we'd be a mess if it was,
but by the will of Almighty God. It's not by what we do. It's
not by what we don't do. Rather, it's by what he has already
done. Can you see that in Jacob? Supplanter,
thief, now he's Israel. Salvation is of the Lord. Second, fear not. For I have
redeemed thee. He's redeemed us. Turn to Galatians
chapter three. Galatians chapter three. Look at verse 13. Did he redeem us? Look at verse
13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being
made a curse for us. He was made sin. Here we see
he was made a curse for us. It's written, cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. The Lord Jesus Christ, he's holy,
he's harmless, he's undefiled, he's separate from sinners, he's
made higher than the heavens. On the cross of Calvary, he was
made a curse for us to redeem us. to redeem his people. He redeemed us. To deliver us. That which we
deserve, that which we've earned, he delivered us from. He delivered
us from the curse of the law. He was made a curse. He himself
was made a curse. And as a result, the redemption
price It wasn't a down payment made. No, it was paid in full. Can we even begin to understand?
I know something about debt. I know something about owing
for something. Can we even begin to understand
the debt we owe? We owed a debt we could never,
ever pay. And he paid it. He fooled, didn't
he? The law has no demand on the
believer. Hawker wrote this, he said, the
prison doors of justice are thrown open and the Lord's redeemed
ones are set free. Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ,
hath once died, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. Back to our text. Back to Isaiah,
fear not. Fear not, salvation is of the
Lord. Fear not, I have redeemed thee. Fear not, I have called thee
by name. In Genesis 12, God called Abraham. He said, get thee out of thy
country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house unto
a land that I'll show thee. Now you think about it. He didn't
even know, he didn't know even where the Lord was gonna send
him. He believed God though, didn't
he? Leviticus three, he called Moses at the burning bush. He
said this, he said, I've seen the affliction of thy people.
I've heard their cries. I know their sorrow. Think how he knows us. We sit and feel sorry for ourselves
sometimes, don't we? Does anybody know what I'm going
through? Does anybody know my trouble? The Lord does. I'm confident
of this, no one else does, but the Lord does. He knows the very
hairs of our head. He said, I've heard their cries,
I know their sorrows, and I have come down to deliver them, to
bring them up out of that land to a good land, a land flowing
with milk and honey He said, I know them by name. Remember
that time he was passing by that sycamore tree? And scripture
says he came to the place. And what'd he do? He looked up
and he said, Zacchaeus. He didn't say, hey you, did he?
No, he said, Zacchaeus. He called him, he called him
by name. In Matthew 9, verse 9, it says
this, that Jesus passed forth from thence and he saw a man
named Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom, sitting there
what he did every day, sitting there doing what he always did.
And what did he say to him? Follow me, follow me. And what happened? He didn't
say, let me think about this, did he? He didn't say, get your
life straightened up and follow me. He said, follow me. And he
arose and he followed him. Oh, he knows his sheep. He calls
them by name. Their name written in the Lamb's
Book of Life. He's always known their name.
I've called them by name. And then what you say here, thou
art mine. Thou art mine. Turn over to Luke. Hold your place there. Turn to
the book of Luke, Luke 15. Look beginning with verse four
of Luke 15. He said, what man of you, again,
this is the Lord's speech. What man of you having a hundred
sheep, if he lose one of them, does not leave the ninety and
nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost till
he finds it? And when he hath found it, lays
it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth
together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, rejoice with me. For I have found
not just any sheep, is it, my sheep, my sheep, which was lost. Thou art mine. That's what he says. Thou art
mine. I was thinking about this song. His forever, only his, who the
Lord and me shall part. Ah, with what a rest of bliss
Christ can fill the loving heart. Heaven and earth may fade away,
firstborn light and glory flee, but while God and I shall ever
be. What's he say? I am his and he
is mine. We're his. Hear not Texas, thus
saith the Lord, fear not, thou art mine. And his sheep have always been
his, given him by the father. Almighty God gave him to his
son, gave us to his son. And this is what he says. You
know, if I belonged to anybody else in this room, I might be
concerned at some point, right? You could say the same of me. But our Lord says this. He said,
of all which the Father hath given me, I won't lose one. I'll lose none." Well, he knows his sheep, doesn't
he? He said, they're mine, they're
mine. Well, fifth point, fifth and
final point here, fear not. He says, I'll be with thee. I will be with thee. his people. Look at verse 2 of
Isaiah 43. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. The children of Israel, they
passed through the Red Sea. Imagine what a sight that was.
Nobody had ever seen anything like that. They walked through.
They didn't have mud on their feet. They walked through on
dry ground. God delivered his people. He
completely destroyed the enemy. That sounds pretty simple, doesn't
it? I often think about that, just what that must have looked
like, what that must have been like. But Exodus 14.10. says
this, when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children
of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold, the Egyptians marched
after them and they were sore afraid. God had just, think about
how he had delivered them with a mighty hand. He told Pharaoh,
he said, that's the reason I raised you up. I'm going to deliver
these people. And yet here, what happened? Not much time had passed and
they're sore afraid. Isn't that us? We've seen God's
mercy. But how quickly, how quickly
do we grow afraid? How quickly do we doubt and fear? They were sore afraid. And the
children of Israel cried out unto the Lord. They were exceeding,
exceedingly afraid. I'm so thankful that they were,
and that that was written down. That gives me some comfort when
I grow afraid, when I have doubts and fears. And I know, I know back home, every congregation where God's
people meet, in deep, in deep waters, in heavy, in heavy times. This is what children of Israel
said. They said, were there not enough
graves in Egypt? Is that why you brought us out
here? There just wasn't enough graves in Egypt, so you brought
us out here to die in the wilderness? They said this, they said, we'd
been better off, think about it, we'd been better off if you
would have just left us to serve the Egyptians. What'd Moses say to them? He
could have probably been pretty rough with them, couldn't he?
He could have probably said some things that remind them of, but
this is what he said, fear ye not. Stand still, don't do a
thing, and see the salvation of the Lord. The Lord will fight
for you and you'll hold your peace when you pass through the waters. It doesn't say if. When, when
you pass through the waters, what's the promise? I will be
with thee. And the rivers, they shall not
overflow thee. When you walk through the fire,
thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the fire kindle upon thee. This thing of fire. In 1 Peter
4.12, Peter writes this, he said, Beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as if it's some
strange thing that happened to you, but rejoice. Rejoice insomuch
that you're partakers of Christ's suffering, that when his glory
shall be revealed, you may be glad with exceeding joy. Back there in the book of Daniel,
remember that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? And remember King
Nebuchadnezzar, he cast them into that fiery furnace for not
worshiping the idol. Nebuchadnezzar, he had them bound.
He had them cast into that fiery furnace. And we read that at
some point, Nebuchadnezzar looked into that big furnace, whatever
it was, and he was astonished at what he saw. He said, didn't
we put three men in there? I'm thinking we just put three
men in there. He said, I see four. And those
ones that were bound, they're not bound anymore, they're loose
and they're walking. No harm, no hurt has come upon
them. And he said this, he said, the
fourth one looks like the son of God. They went inbound. They came
out free, didn't they? And we read that there wasn't
a hair singed on them. Their coats weren't changed.
There wasn't even the smell of smoke on them. How is that? Because God delivered
them. The water, the fire, whatever
it might be, Christ is with his people. And though they may endure trouble
for a while, what's the promise? God's gonna deliver his people. David wrote this in Psalm 54
verse seven. And you know, David no doubt
knew a whole lot about trouble, didn't he? He said, he hath delivered me
out of all trouble. Well, let's read on. I need to
finish here. Isaiah 43, look at verses three
through seven. He said, for I am the Lord thy
God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for
thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou was precious
in my sight, thou hast been honorable. I have loved thee, therefore
I give men for thee, people for thy life. Fear not, for I am
with thee. I'll bring thy seed from the
east and gather thee from the west. I'll say to the north,
give up. To the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from far
and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even everyone that
is called by my name. For I have created him for my
glory. I have formed him. Yay, I have
made him. Verse five, look back at verse
five. One more time, we read, fear
not, fear not. You ever have to be reminded
of something? We do, don't we? Fear, fear not. That's one of
those things I thought, I can remember as a kid, I had to be
reminded of things often. I thought I'd grow out of that.
Well, we don't, do we? Huh? Fear not. Why? For I am with thee. I remember when I was just a
young kid, I don't know, maybe Maybe two
or three hundred yards from our house there was a church that
we went to, a little small church. And there were times I'd walk
alone. I'd walk out. And it wasn't,
again, it wasn't far. But on both sides of the road
there were trees. It was wooded. I don't care to admit this. I
mean, in the daytime, I'd ride my bicycle out there and ride
around on that parking lot and not have a care in the world.
But boy, when it got dark outside, I'd get to the corner of that
parking lot where the light hit, and I thought I was an Olympic
sprinter getting from that parking lot to our driveway. I was scared. It was scary, especially
on a Sunday night or a Wednesday night. I would. I'd run just
as fast as my feet would carry me. But you know, there were
times when my dad was walking with me. I was walking with him,
I guess. I don't ever, ever recall being
scared. when I was walking beside him. Didn't matter how dark it was.
It didn't matter if I heard limbs breaking in the woods. Long as
he was with me, I had no reason, I had no reason to fear. Wasn't
the least bit scared. What was the difference? Him. Wasn't him. David wrote this, when I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil. Why? Because thou art with me. God spoke to Israel back there
in Genesis 26. He said this, he said, fear not.
Why? Because I'm with thee. Isaiah
41 10, fear not, I am with thee. In Acts 18 verse nine, the Lord
spoke to Paul. He said, be not afraid. Paul, be not afraid, but speak
and don't hold thy peace. How's that? For I am with thee. Look at verse five here one more
time in our text, Isaiah 43. Fear not. I want you to think
about this. Fear not. I want to ask you,
who's speaking? Who's speaking? Almighty God's
speaking. The Lord, our Heavenly Father.
Who's He speaking to? He's speaking to the whole world?
No, he's speaking to his church. He's speaking to Jacob. He's
speaking to Israel. And what's the message? Fear not. Fear not. Fear not, for I am
with thee. He saved us. He redeemed us. He called us. We're his. And he's with us. That's what
he says. Fear not, for I, I am with thee. Oh, I pray he'd enable us to
remember that. All right. May God bless his
word.