OUR EVER-PRESENT SAVIOR
ISAIAH 41:10
What is in store for you in 2018? Great victories or crushing defeats?
Overwhelming joy or heart-breaking tragedies?
Great health or a broken body? Great wealth or financial setbacks?
None of us really knows the answer to these questions. Truly, for some 2018 will be an awesome year. For others it will be a difficult time.
In this passage, Isaiah is preaching a Word of faith and encouragement to Judah.
Isaiah gave this message before Judah was destroyed and taken into captivity in Babylon, but it was given to encourage and strengthen them while in captivity. Think about it. God gave a message of encouragement to a group of people that had no present problems. But God knew what lay ahead for them. He knew the problems that they would face. He knew how easy it would be for them to become so afraid when their world was seemingly crashing all around them, that they would just give up and quit. God was giving them a solution to their problems before their problems even existed so that they would have hope when their problems came.
Is 41:10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
1. TWO COMMANDMENTS FROM GOD.
* What was this crisis they faced?
Judah is in exile in Babylon. They are citizens and subjects there.
Cyrus of Persia was coming with a mighty army to destroy Babylon.
Every person of all the nations were in great fear of Cyrus.
But God is telling Judah “Do Not Fear, I’ve got things under control.”
A. Do Not Fear!
God has called His people to great faith. Fear is the opposite of faith. Faith and fear cannot exist in the same heart at the same time. What is not of faith, is sin. Most people have never come to realize that their lack of faith in God is a sin against God.
Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
B. Do Not be Dismayed!
Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem called “IF”. It begins with “If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs....” The poem goes on to list a lot of other “ifs”. Closing line is, “then Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!”
** There is a great spiritual truth here.
When you live in fear and anxiety, you usually make really bad choices.
God is telling Judah, “Don’t be anxious. Don’t let what you see with your eyes keep you from trusting Me with your heart. Don’t live in fear of Cyrus of Persia. I can handle Cyrus.”
2. TWO REASONS TO TRUST GOD.
Coupled with the 2 commandments to trust Him are 2 reasons we can!
A. God is With You!
Don’t live in fear! Live life with Boldness! Because I am with you!
As Joshua prepared to take the land God had promised them
Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
As David struggled through difficult situations, he said this...
Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
As Jesus was preparing to ascend back to heaven....
Matthew 28:20 “behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
B. He is Your God!
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God!
When you are a child of God, all the resources of heaven are at God’s disposal to meet your needs.
Are you sick? He is Jehovah Rapha your Healer.
Are you under attack? He is your shield and fortress.
Are you in a dark place in life? He is the light of the world.
Are you powerless in life’s struggles? He gives greater grace.
3. THREE PROMISES FROM GOD.
Do you know that God has many ways to meet our needs in a crisis?
Is 41:10b I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
A. I Will Strengthen You!
God can strengthen you to be able to withstand anything that Satan throws at you.
God strengthened David to defeat Goliath.
God strengthened Samson every time he met the Philistines in battle.
God strengthened Gideon to defeat the great army of Midian.
* And no matter where you find yourself, If the Lord is your God, He will strengthen you to overcome anything that Satan throws at you!
B. I Will Help You!
* Sometimes, God chooses to fight the battle for you.
In 2 Kings 19, an Assyrian army is preparing to destroy Jerusalem. King Hezekiah earnestly prayed to the Lord. God sent His Destroying Angel that night and killed 185,000 soldiers as they slept.
I wonder how many times God has taken care of problems you didn’t even know about...... while you were sleeping.
C. I Will Uphold You!
When God’s prophet Elijah was being hunted by the armies of Ahab and Jezebel, God led Elijah into the desert. There God provided for him with water from a brook and ravens to bring him food.
When the brook dried up, God sent him to Zarephath where a widow was instructed to care for him. Then, on to Mt Carmel where the mighty hand of God brought him victory over the enemies of God.
As you yield your life to serve God, he will strengthen you, He will help you, and He will uphold you and meet your needs!
My life and my ministry have been a testimony to God always meeting my needs!
Conclusion
Look again at our verse...
Is 41:10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
As all the people trembled as to what Cyrus might do, the Jewish people were pleasantly surprised.
Cyrus set all the captive peoples free and allowed them to return to their homelands.
What people were so afraid of turned out to be the vehicle of their deliverance!
In the end, God had the situation (and Cyrus) under His complete control.
Just how “Ever-present” is our Savior? Look at what God says!
• I am your God – I am over you.
• I am with you – I am right by your side.
• I will strengthen you – I am working inside of you.
• I will help you – I am all around you.
• I will uphold you– I underneath you.
God is over you, by you, inside you, around you, and underneath you.
How should you respond to God’s Word this morning?
I will not live in fear because He is here!
I will not be dismayed because He is my God.
I will lean on God to strengthen me.
I will trust God to help me.
I will believe that God will uphold me.
