Isaiah 41:10 Fear you not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you… — To whom are these words spoken? We must not steal from God's Scripture any more than from man's treasury. They were spoken — 1. To God's chosen ones (ver. 8). 2. To those whom God has called (ver. 9). 3. They are God's servants, doing His will (ver. 8). 4. They are those whom He has not rejected from His service, in spite of the imperfections of which they are penitently conscious (ver. 9). To these every honey-dropping word of this text belongs. I. A VERY COMMON DISEASE OF GOOD MEN — FEAR. 1. This disease came into man's heart with sin (Genesis 3:8). 2. Fear continues in good men because sin continues in them. 3. Fear coming in by sin, and being sustained by sin, readily finds food upon which it may live. 4. If fear finds food within, it also readily finds food without. Poverty, sickness, etc. 5. In certain instances the habit of fearing has reached a monstrous growth. 6. Even the strongest of God's servants are sometimes the subjects of fear (1 Kings 19:4). II. GOD'S COMMAND AGAINST FEAR. "Fear thou not; be not dismayed." That precept is absolute and unqualified; we are not to fear at all Why? 1. Because it is sinful. It almost always results from unbelief, the sin of sins. 2. It feeds sin. 3. It injures yourself. 4. It weakens the believer's influence and so causes mischief to others. III. THE PROMISES WHICH GOD GIVES TO PREVENT PEAR AND DISMAY. 1. Many a man fears because he is afraid of loneliness. You are not alone, because God is with you. 2. Men fear they may lose all they have in the world, and they know very well that if they lose their property they usually lose their friends. Your goods may go, but your God will not. 3. Fear sometimes arises from a sense of personal weakness. "I will strengthen thee." God can, if He wills it, put Samson's strength into an infant's arm. 4. Some fear that friendly succour will fail. If the work on which we have set our hearts is God's work, He will send to our aid all the succour we need. 5. Many a child of God is afflicted with a fear that he shall one day, in some unguarded moment, bring dishonour upon the Cross of Christ. This is a very natural, and in some respects a very proper fear. "I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness." ( C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. |
    |