Do Not Fear (Isaiah 43:1-7) - Justin Erickson

good morning Desert Hills my name is Justin Erickson pastor Rob is not preaching this morning there's been some changes no I'm just kidding he's actually sitting right over there on professional vacation I'm told to prepare for what the Lord would do in this next season in your life as a church and all the ways that he would care for with this team of leaders and Shepherd you and I've been invited to come back and speak into open the Word of God with you and that's my joy so thank you for just the way you received me and received our family when we were here last it is a privilege to be here with you guys again you guys are here right you guys are here right this is a contact sport right you know we talk to the preacher sometimes yellow the preacher in this church so hey let me ask you a question where does your mind go when I ask you this question what would you do if you were not afraid like what comes to mind it if you weren't stopped by this thing called fear what is it that you would give yourself to I mean if you knew you wouldn't run out of money and you knew you wouldn't run out of time and you knew that really ultimately what you did would not fail what is it that you would set your heart to do what would you do if you weren't afraid that forces you to ask a second question what is it that you would say and you can maybe even write this down on the top of your paper what would you say is the thing in your life that you fear the most I'm talking about that thing that slows you down that thing that weighs you down that thing that gives you that that sense of choking feeling that sense of of suffocating feeling what does that thing in your life that every time you step forward to do the thing that you believe God has called you to do stands in the way and turns you around and and sends you back what do you fear well it seems if you were to ask people in survey the top fears and you might expect these are still holding strong anybody guess what the top fear of all is I'll give you a hint it's what I'm doing right now at public speaking that's right number one still on the list higher than death is public speaking people would rather die then then speak publicly a second fear fear of heights right third fear holding steady is a fear of bugs bugs and insects number four I don't know how this surpassed like death but the fear of drowning maybe it's just the way you die the fifth fear would be a fear of blood and needles anybody in the room that's true okay front row thank you for playing six on the list being enclosed in tight places we call that claustro phobia right and number seven fear fear flying the list goes on in fact death does make an appearance on this list you know what number it comes in death comes in at number 47 we're afraid of so many more things than we are of dying like bugs and then I did some more digging there are really some unusual fears out there there is a fear called xantho phobia which is a fear of the color yellow I don't know if you're afraid of yellow but that's a real thing that's a scientific fear and then there's a fear called Tura phobia which is a fear of cheese maybe that goes together with the fear of yellow I don't know then there's a fear the Pogan a phobia which is a fear of beards there is a legitimate fear I think my wife has it of beards which is why I have no facial hair I found this one odd there's the UM fella phobia fear of bellybuttons I don't know what it is are you afraid you're gonna get like sucked back into that thing I mean what's what is there fear and then and then all the students would I think probably in the room have a called Noma phobia which is a fear of having no cell phone coverage that's a legitimate fear it's down in the books ladies and gentlemen that's a real thing and we laugh at that and and for good reason and it's kind of silly but all of us if we're honest right will acknowledge that we do wrestle with fear there is something in us that we legitimately are afraid of and if push comes to shove we would realize that fear actually has a greater place in our life than many of us would even admit fear is devastating fear is debilitating and one of the reasons it's so debilitating is because it takes very very simple and easy things and makes them very complex and very difficult if I were to lay a 2x4 across the stage and then I were to walk across it and get to the end no problem but if I were to elevate that 2x4 25 feet in this auditorium and then walk across it it's the same 2x4 and I have the same style and technique but I've just introduced the concept of risk which means that now there's a whole new component the component of fear fear takes things that are simple fear takes things that are easy and actually makes them incredibly challenging and difficult because of what happens in our head and of course if we were to think more carefully about fear words like drowning do come to mine words like suffocating our realistic picture of what we fear maddening would be a word to sometimes describe what happens in our hearts when we can't push back that paralyzing choking weakening thing called fear when we talk about fear biblically defined we're talking about that deep painful distress of soul that happens when we face danger there is a distress it is deep it is profound it is a painful distress of soul when we face danger and all of us experience it all of us have it all of us know there's something like that that grabs us and really there's four kinds of fears out there and I've put this on the screen for you here there's there's four kinds there's the fear of failure there's the fear of rejection there's the fear of embarrassment and there's the fear of the unknown let me walk you through those four fears there's a fear of failure and the fear of failure is is I'm not going to be able to accomplish the thing that I set out to do or actually all the things in my life that I have set out to do have amounted to everything that doesn't matter I've succeeded all the wrong things that's a fear of failing then the fear of rejection is the fear of course of being alone that I don't know where I fit I don't know where I belong I don't know who's I am I don't know who my people are and I don't spend the rest of my life without those people who would share it with me a fear of embarrassment that I would look foolish and actually be foolish because I've made life choices that have produced a regret I can't undo and then there's the fear of course of the unknown I don't even know what's coming and I therefore don't know how to prepare for it I don't know how to prevent it I have no idea how to stop it or stop it from from happening again and there's lots of ideas in fact you can go online you can read as people try without the scriptures to understand how fear works how to overcome fear you can listen to TED talks you can download articles from journals you can go anywhere and everywhere to try to address fear and apparently that's so prolific because there's such a volume of material written on the subject of fear it basically boils down to this well if your fear of failing is stopping you well then just fail early fail quickly and fail cheaply everybody's gonna fail go ahead and do it don't let it stop you just fail forward well the fear of rejection is well there are a whole bunch of people who understand that kind of fear so why don't you find that group get their support and get the encouragement that you need to step forward to do the thing that they're all cheering you on for so find a tribe of people who fear what you fear and make a support group and then there's for the fear of embarrassment like hey listen just get the embarrassment out of the way go do really crazy stupid things you'll gain a following of people that'll show you your embarrassment is actually a pathway to fame or the fear of the unknown doon us enough research have enough conversation with the right kind of people and you will minimize the risk because you'll see that you really afraid of nothing well that's that's the world's answer to the things that we fear just just put yourself in the position where those fears you'll just make better friends with your fears but those things actually don't drive our fears away can I tell you something fear is ultimately about one thing write this down fear is about control that's what it's about fear is about control or to be more specific losing control there are certain things in my life I have a clear idea of what I want my life to look like and these things threaten that therefore I must do what I can to protect this vision I have for myself because that's what will make me happy and fear poses a danger to that and people react to fear in all kinds of ways maybe maybe you react to it differently than your spouse does one way to react to fear would be to raise the intensity let me just raise the level of intensity to stand against the thing that you fear if I just stand strong if I'm bold if I puff out my chest and I intimidate well then that fear will stand down and maybe I can muster enough oomph to push it back or maybe I can manipulate other people muliple eight the other people to not do the thing that I am afraid that they will do through relationship maybe it's to find a scapegoat maybe this is how you respond to fear to find a scapegoat to blame if the thing that you fear is coming true or maybe it's just locked down clam up shut down to turtle in to prevent anything else bad from ever happening again well enough of what the world does and says and responds to the subject of fear I want to talk about what God says because God speaks to this so many times in fact it's very common even cliche right now to remind each other that 365 times in the Bible God says do not fear do not be afraid in some former way that's one for every day how many have any of you heard that raise your hand if you've heard that that God tells us not to fear 365 times one for each day well that's cutest not just not true it's not true it's more like 500 so so God knows something that that we need to know that when it comes to fear we live in a broken world where everything is gone berserk out of control but that world is under the sovereign control of a God who is for us and a God who loves us this is a God who cares for us in our fears this is a God who speaks to our fears and he speaks in such a way that he is unmistakably understood but even just the phrase think about this for a second even just the phrase do not fear is a command which means and we need to think biblically now fear is a sin we understand that Jesus says do not fear that I will says do not fear - fear is a sin here's some biblical facts about fear and listen carefully look up here if fear is a sin then fear watch this is a choice we don't often think of it like that do we we think of fear is something that happens to me something that overruns me something that overwhelms me something that hits me and all of a sudden I'm slammed I'm going along in life all of a sudden something happens and upsets me and I'm afraid and it's like I'm tucked under and I'm barrel rolling and I can't get my feet underneath me again and all of a sudden I'm afraid and and God says that's a sin no that's emotion that's the emotional response in our life to the choice that we made to sin in that moment if if do not fear is a command than to fear is a sin and if to fear is a sin then fear is a choice it's a choice we're making it's a choice to turn around actually from some of the principles where I learn this morning but fear also you need to understand as a trigger fear doesn't function alone Psalm 37 eight write the reference down Psalm 37 eight says do not fret which is a whole frenzy of worked up fear do not fret listen it only leads to evil doing Psalm 37 eight if I'm afraid and I act the thing I do next is evil fear opens the way for me to pursue all kinds of sin and fear is a liar and we know this because of how many times we've given in to fear how many times we've acted on fear and how often it's disappointed us where we thought we could pull ourselves out and keep ourselves safe and and maintain control and yet fear if you remember biblically go all the way back to the very beginning of the Garden of Eden the serpent put in Eve's mind you're missing something let me help you see the unfulfilled potential you will have if you don't do what I say you're missing out you will lose out you better respond out of this fear presented as caution presented as wisdom actually presented as salvation from God the serpent convinced the woman and then the husband that followed to give in to fear and what happens they're afraid of each other God shows up they're afraid of God they have children one of the children is afraid that his sacrifice isn't as pleasing as the others is so he kills his brother and now he's afraid and he runs to God in his fear and then runs away from God into the world afraid and ever since then fear has dominated and crippled every single person on planet Earth because we live in a broken world where nothing is the way it supposed to be but fear loved ones is an opportunity fear is an opportunity to trust it's an opportunity to reach out to the only one who is in control God himself for the hope that he gives and that's what I want to do from the Word of God this morning from the book of Isaiah Isaiah chapter 43 so if you have your Bibles open them if you would to Isaiah chapter 43 I want you to hear the Lord Himself speak to our fears I want you to hear what he says in light of our fears and I want you to know I spent at a season in my life that was very difficult two years studying every single verse that the Bible says on the topic of fear I did a research project on every instance of fear in every example in the Bible and I want you to know the most encouraging the most helpful verse in all of scripture that I found is this one right here Isaiah chapter 43 so what I want you to do is I want you to take your fear your fears and mine and I want us to take our futile efforts to control our lives and place them this morning in the hands of the one who controls all things that's a great spot for an amen yeah he controls all things and rules the universe with his feet up our God does not break a sweat when it comes to his sovereign rule and control over all things in the universe including the very things that you face that you brought in here with you this morning now the people that God is speaking to and that Isaiah is writing to here in this chapter are a group of people who have a very strong need to fear they should be afraid because for the last 39 chapters God has been telling them this is what you've been doing I have offered you these blessings I've poured this into your life I've helped you I've cared for you I've saved you and delivered you and empowered you and used you and you're turning your back on me this is a group of people who are not nearly frightened enough they don't have a fear of God and so they've continued to harden themselves against God they've lived a life of disobedience and stubbornness again God their heart is hard against him and God is like turned back turned back turned back and they're like an ant standing on a train track shaking their fist in the face of a locomotive and that locomotive is bearing down and Isaiah is pulling the whistle so get off the tracks get off the track get off the tracks now I'm telling you it's coming and they're like what's God gonna do he hasn't done anything and Isaiah's like well for 39 chapters I'm gonna tell you what he's about to do but his patience is giving you the opportunity right now to repent embrace his kindness and so of all the things that he said he's very clear still I don't want you to forget however that I made some promises to you and those promises that I made to you I fully intend to keep and even and listen close even though you are a stubborn stick stiff neck hard hearted rebellious people listen I'm going to be faithful to the promises I made to you because I am God and those promises you're gonna need in that moment that you don't think is coming that's why he opens with verse 1 but now having said all of this all of these intense heavy things but now thus says the Lord he who created you O Jacob he who formed you O Israel fear not your Bible translation if you have the NASB probably says do not fear for I have redeemed you I have called you by name you are mine when you pass through the waters I will be with you and through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned and the flame shall not consume you for I am the Lord your God the Holy One of Israel your Saviour I give Egypt as your ransom cushion Seba in exchange for you because you are precious in my eyes and honored and I love you I give men in return for you peoples in exchange for your life fear not for I am with you I will bring your offspring from the east and from the West I will gather you I will say to the north give up and to the South do not withhold bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth everyone who is called by my name whom I created for my glory whom I formed and made twice in there he says fear not do not be afraid 10 times in the Book of Isaiah he'll repeat over and over and over and over and over again do not fear do not fear do not fear and in the text he says 4 and he gives us reasons why we shouldn't be afraid verse 1 for I have redeemed you don't be afraid verse 3 for I am the Lord your God verse 4 because you are precious in my eyes verse 5 for I am with you we need to hear not only the command do not fear but the motivation to not fear see God commands us to not be afraid but he does so much more it snot him standing there was arms crossed and an a a smirk on his face saying do not fear do not fear do not fear what's wrong with you do not fear it's a sin it's a sin it's a sin God stands there do not fear with arms open to say come there's a reason 5 and our text not to be afraid it gives us 5 reasons in the form of promises to protect our hearts from fear to protect us in those moments where we're vulnerable to protect us look at verse 2 in those moments not if but when we pass through the way the waters and when we go through the rivers when we walk through the what fire you're gonna walk me through fire you're gonna pass me through a river you mean like at the wolf lodge that lazy river you know that just goes around and around and I can get off anytime I want to know the torrent that sweeps you away kind of river it's not if it's when you will encounter the thing you fear you will encounter the you fear and when you do these promises are your anchors these promises are what holds you these promises are what protects you and so I want them to protect you this morning and perhaps even to protect you like the National Guard protects the White House did you know this that the White House and you could obviously imagine this is under a full protection at all times from every direction it's protected from within it's protected from around it's protected on the top it's protected in the air and it's even protected I learned from a buddy in the national guard he told me more secrets than these but if I told you I mean you know right so so buddy one of the things he shared with me the detail that he was on was he responsible to protect the White House from a different direction the skyscrapers all around in DC if you look for them you might be able to see them but they're dotted with snipers and my guy was on the sniper unit and so so what he was told though he says just be so careful be so careful this is the range and this is the angle that you have that you're responsible for right here and if there's any threat in this area right here that's you you're responsible for that but they've built in a foolproof fail proof system that if this guy who's now trusted with this level of ammunition should go rogue and turn his angle toward the White House there's another guy over here at all times who has crosshairs trained on his head and if he moves past this angle at all done that fast what I want to give you this morning is truths that have that kind of power that when your heart is starting to go but I know who he is and I know that he's faithful and I know that he's with me fear these things bring your fears down like that you with me can we do that first thing here's the first thing that Isaiah tells us that will protect our heart in those moments when people or circumstances chances are big and God feels really really small number one here it is if you're in Christ the one who created you is your Savior let's start there the one who created you is your Savior now look at the text here but now thus says the Lord the word their Lord all caps is the covenant keeping faithful God this is the sovereign over all thus says the one who's sovereign over all he who next word created you this is your Creator this is the one who made you who made the universe out of nothing who created everything that is everyone that is including those things that you now feel threatened by he maintains sovereign control over the world he made he created you this is your creator he knows you he's mindful of your frame he knows what you can handle he knows that you're put together and held by dust and this one who has created you look at what he says he who formed you O Israel fear not fear not the word formed there is a is a specific more purposeful word not just the general word that he created you and you belong to him and here under him and all the attributes that he put on display in that process but but he formed you with a specific design and purpose and intent you are who you are you are where you are by God's doing and your Creator invites you to not fear now think about the attributes of God that are on display as creator he has unlimited power this God without breaking a sweat makes the entire universe leap into existence from nothing his wisdom which is never blurry he's never confused he's never afraid holds together all things in your life so that what happens in your life is exactly what should happen plan a everytime d understand this god is not in heaven going okay shoot I was totally totally handling that thing and all of a sudden this thing I didn't see happened and now I've got to adjust but that's okay because I'm gone I got Plan B I got Plan C I got planned d EF I got a full-on alphabet and letters you don't even know about in my arsenal of resources to help you and plan a is perfect every time every time and while it doesn't make sense to us always what God is doing the wisdom of God as displayed in creation should convince us just open your eyes and look around to see evidences of the one whose wisdom has guided and held everything together think about His goodness for what he has made think about the aspects of who God is in your life as he looks over all of his creation he does whatever he pleases so we're talking about a God who even lets those things that were afraid of come against us because he knows what he wants to do in our life as a result of those things he's our Creator God never freaks out his palms never get sweaty he doesn't get dry mouth where he can't talk because he's nervous nobody ever makes God even a little bit anxious that God who made all things formed you and says fear not so so part of where we go is remember who it is that tells you not to fear let me let me give a contrast if if I can't pay my rent this month and I'm afraid and my son comes to me and says dad I was saving for the doctor strange Lego set and I got 83 bucks right here I got you dad we're covered I got rent this month and guess what I got us covered going forward I got you now I would love of course that gesture would you not thank you son that doesn't pay rent that gets a house that's about this big that we can't live in right remember who it is that tells you not to fear he's the creator and look at what he says having said all of that fear not for I have redeemed you so your Creator has saved you your Creator has not only brought you into the world to know him and to see his glory and for a purpose to live your life under him he has rescued you the word here redeemed is a Salvation word it's a word that relates specifically to the deliverance from our sin and from our judgment now think about this look up here if God rescued you from eternal hell if God satisfied the demands of his own justice by punishing his son in your place if God conquered sin at the cross conquered death at the open tomb and lives forever to come and reign over all things when he takes his rightful place and transforms you within and guarantees you an eternal inheritance where with an indestructible body and soul you will enjoy him forever and forever and forever I think he can handle your marriage I think he can handle your bank balance I think he can deal with your boss that God argues to us from the greater to the lesser if I could take care of your soul I can see you through to payday I'm at work in the heart of your husband I know what I'm doing in the life of your child that you have no idea where she is and you fear the worst if I can rescue sinners from hell I can handle what concerns you today why because the one who created you saved you and he's the one who says don't fear he's the one who offers these promises to you and to me and what attributes were on display the the attributes of love and grace and mercy and kindness and patience and forgiveness and wrath but not poured out on you and righteousness but fulfilled by another on your account God's glory on display in rescuing you and now God's glory on display in your fears but there's a second thing the one who created you is your Savior but the one who saved you is faithful the one who saved you is come on say it faithful look at verse 2 when you pass through the waters I will be with you and through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned in the flame shall not consume you now anyone who read that in Israel immediately when he said you'll pass through you'll walk through the waters can you think of any episode in the life of Old Testament Israel where they walk through waters I don't know like say it like when you go back to Sunday School like what is it like Red Sea right they saw a sea I've floated on this sea alright this is a big thing this is a deep thing this sea went whoom and stood up and walls of water pushed back and and Israel 1.2 million people pulling all their belongings and all their stuff walk through Hunter Isle and like I'm checking out that DVD when I get to heaven aren't you right I want to see that thing and and and God delivered them and God's us and I was faithful and you remember what Israel was they were afraid can God said oh don't be afraid like what don't be afraid I got these people who hate me want to kill me coming down and I'm stuck up against this body of water water doesn't just stand up god I wasn't expecting that play yeah don't be afraid stand still and see the salvation of our God miracle so he's been faithful in your past he'll be faithful again what about the rivers can you think of any rivers that they had to pass through I don't know Jordan you say well people pass through rivers all the time like there's rivers all over here I just passed it that's not a big deal except that the place where Israel passed is nicknamed Earth's deepest Valley so when even though it might not be a long gap across when Israel crossed and the Jordan stood up like the Red Sea stood up you know what they did they didn't just walk across they walked down down down down down down down down down up up up up and God was faithful then and the things that we fear where God has shown himself faithful we dare not forget because he uses those things to remind us that he's still there with us the same God when we face what's coming today you say what about the fires well that hasn't happened yet but can you think of I don't know any examples of anybody who actually went into the fire and they weren't burned I don't know Sunday school answer Shadrach Meshach and Abednego right God fulfilling his promise why were all those things written for us because the cool Bible stories that look great on flannelgraph and we make sure our kids know them all because God wants to take those truths off the flannelgraph and put them deep in our heart in the moments where we are most afraid and to do something then that reminds us that he's got this freely then friends acknowledge you have no control I'm out of control that's like right exactly and the faithful God is fully on display and so this is a great point too to write down and record and remember and rehearse to your heart all those instances where you've proved God we have a song that we sing in our house tis so sweet to trust in Jesus maybe you sing that song tis so sweet to trust in Jesus just to take him at his word right the chorus goes Jesus Jesus how I trust him how I've do you know proved him or and/or Jesus Jesus precious Jesus all for grace to trust him more do you see I take what you've done I don't forget what you've done I recall to mind in this moment what you did in that moment so that in the moment in front of me I have what I need to get through it's the faithfulness of God and the one who saved you and who rescued your eternal soul is that same God who in the day-to-day things invite you to trust him so look back and see all the ways he's been faithful in your life and press forward knowing that that same God is with you today here's a third thing the one who is faithful loves you the one who is faithful loves you look at this for I am your God the Lord your God the Holy One of Israel your Savior I give Egypt as your ransom cush and Seba in exchange for you because you are precious in my eyes and honored and I love you I give men and return for you peoples in exchange for your life you say well what what's what's going on here well first thing he says is we're precious to him this is a rare word in the Old Testament it means of high value means costly worthy do you understand loved one in in that moment of fear when you wonder what God is doing and where he is and what he thinks about you the one who says do not be afraid is the one who says you are precious to me he so doesn't feel like I'm precious to him if I was precious to him this would stop all these things that make my life unhappy would go away because that's what you do for people who are precious to you not true not true God does something in us through those things that's even more precious than had he left us alone and sufficient without him the word here honored is a word that actually means it's the same word that's used oftentimes to describe God and his heaviness his weightiness his significance is glory you don't find this word elsewhere in Scripture attached to people God says I honor you I've called you by name you're mine you belong to me you have a weightiness about you and a significance to me who you are matters I care deeply about you you're precious in my eyes you're valuable to me and then he says this and I love you listen carefully to me this is the only place in the entire Bible where God says directly I love you right here go ahead Circle it in your neighbors Bible right now I love you now does that mean that there's only one place in the Bible that God actually says he loves us no no God's love is declared everywhere it's described over and over and over and over again this is the one place in all the scripture where God actually so personally so gently so assuring Lee says I love you how much do you love me well look back at the text here look at verse 3 I give Egypt as your ransom cush and Seba that's modern-day Ethiopia I give them in your place what does that mean listen listen to the historian chronology in this in this part Israel is about to go into captivity they're about to experience judgment and for 70 years they will experience the chastening hand of God for what they have done in their stiff necked hard-hearted stubborn rebellion against God and that seventy years will produce a purity in them after which God will bring them back and restore them and when that day comes when God's purposes of refining are through and complete God says you know what I'm gonna do to the Persians you know what I'm going to do the captors you know what I'm gonna do to the people who hu I'm going to turn their eyes away from you and I'm gonna set their eyes on what they will view to be a bigger prize think of like look at this dumpy Israel look at their homeland look at this broken-down city they're not a threat anymore they're not a problem anymore small potatoes what we need is Egypt well we need a conker's cush what we need to overthrow is see but forget about Israel let Israel go back home and chase a chicken who cares about Israel anymore I want them and God says I'm going to work through a disobedient sinful leader to grant you return back to the place will you experience all the promises that I gave to you but in order to do that I have to pay your freedom by sacrificing somebody else that's not familiar to anybody our freedom through the sacrifice of somebody else I don't know Jesus the number one Sunday school answer you don't have to say just say Jesus that's right 95% of the time I love you more than the world I love you more than you know I'm willing to allow others to experience the bondage so that you can experience the freedom and all of this is a great picture of ultimately the freedom that will be purchased for you as you are ransomed by my son who sets you free forever amen because I love you like are you hearing me this morning he says I what come on can you say it enough I wa love you God says I love you that faithful God your Creator who saved you the faithful one who has proven himself over and over again loves you and then this the one who loves you will be with you and we've seen this but he makes a point of this again in verse five look at it fear not and he says it again I am with you I am with you you're not gonna be alone you're not gonna be without help even though you might not see me all the things that I have and all the things that I am come with me do you understand when when God shows up even though he's the invisible God all that God is comes with him when he shows up our faithful sovereign omnipotent all-knowing perfect holy wise majestic God every aspect of who he is is with him when he comes to your aid that's why when he says back to chapters earlier verse 10 of chapter 41 fear not for I am with you be not dismayed for I am your God I will strengthen you I will help you I will uphold you with my righteous right hand I mean do you understand when I show up that's a game-changer and guess what I'm always there even when you can't see me I'm there I remember several years ago in Los Angeles and maybe you heard about this in the news there was a construction accident where a man who after the day was done went back up onto the scaffolding because he had thought he'd left something on and as he gets up to the top now the Sun has dipped it behind the horizon and he can't see and he doesn't have his flashlight with him and so he's kind of groping around but he's he's walking on scaffolding and this is a this is a building so if he drops he he drops for a while until he splats and so he's looking around groping around to try to find the thing and he can't find it and actually he in turning around to go back trips over a thing and false and as he falls he grabs the scaffolding that he was holding on to the problem is everybody is gone for the day construction is over he is hanging by his fingertips over the edge and as he pulls and he kicks and he tries to yank himself up he cannot he screams but nobody can here the traffic below la traffic at at like rush hour are you kidding me not a voice can be heard and as he holds and as he holds he embraces himself for the realization that he will drop and he with no strength left in his fingers drops any falls about six inches because what he couldn't see in the dark while he screamed and kicked and fretted and panic was below him a large platform of scaffolding that wasn't visible to him but that was under girding him the whole time it's just like this isn't it we're holding on were panicking were fretting were screaming we're kicking were fearing the worst and all of a sudden the moment we let go we realize we've landed on the one who's held us all along and even though you can't see him doesn't mean he's not there that's why we live by faith and not by sight but the one in whom we place our trust is the one that loves us well last thing the one who loves you is with you but how about this the one who is with you will fulfill his purpose for you the one who is with you will fulfill his purpose for you fear not for I am with you he says in verse five I will bring your offspring from the east from the West I will gather you I will say to the north give them up into the south do not withhold bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth who are they everyone who is called by my name whom I created for my say for my glory for my glory do you see what's happening Israel is about to go through the buzzsaw of God's chastening and and dust is about to scatter everywhere and God is saying you know what's gonna happen to you you know it's gonna happen as you go through this thing that you fear these things that I warned you are coming as you go through these things you're gonna be scattered you're not gonna know where you are you don't know who you are you're not even gonna speak the same language you're not gonna look the same I could address the same you're gonna eat the same everything about your whole life is about to get turned flat-out upside down and you can't stop it but listen did I make you did I shape you for my purposes do I have promises that I've made to you that I intend to perfectly fulfill yes well how in the world God are you gonna bring dust particles back from a wood saw that's because I'm God and I will north south east and west bring every single one of you that I formed and made for my glory you who are called by my name you who are redeemed who trust in me by faith I'm going to bring you back and I will fulfill the purpose I have for you now of course this has eternal and eschatological implications but it has very present-day implications in their fears God has not forgotten about you when your husband has when your boss has thrown down ultimatums God has not forgotten his promises to you when you're not sure where you should take what job when you're not sure what direction you should move to when the thing that you were counting on all of a sudden evaporates like the morning fog well God hasn't forgotten his promise to you and God intends to fulfill his purpose for you don't you forget his purpose for you hold on to him with both hands does he understand this God who has made you for a purpose he tells us what that purpose is verse 7 you were made for my glory okay this is great insight is it not fear is the thing that stops us from living for his glory fear is not something we're supposed to overcome so we can have the happy life we've always dreamed of fear is the obstacle we overcome because it's the thing that stands in the way of his kingdom and his righteousness that's why Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these other things that were anxious about will be what added to you you seek first the kingdom not what you're gonna eat not what you're gonna drink now what you gonna put on now who's gonna love you you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things God will take care of those things the way we oftentimes do it as believers is we're like well I'll seek the kingdom and his righteousness as long as this and this and this and this is in place and once this and this and this is in place and not threatened and I got plenty of this and this and this in case I have to plan against contingencies then I'll do the thing sort of that God wants no such comfortable churchianity he sets us free from our fear so that we do the things that glorify Him we do the things that magnify his son we do the things that advance the gospel we trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey he understand like he doesn't deliver us from our fear so there we go whoo I feel better so hard I'm glad that's resolved and I'm glad those people aren't bothering me anymore I'm glad my circumstances are favorable again can we just push pause and keep it like this for ever and then I die and go to heaven he doesn't relieve our fears so that we feel comfortable and return to the life that we've always wanted he relieves us from our fears so that we leave that life behind and have it all spent for his cost so I'll return to my original question what thing would you do what Christ exalting thing what God magnifying thing what gospel advancing thing that letting go of this world thing would you do if you couldn't fail if you knew that God was who he said he was as he's told us this morning and you went forward without fear what thing would you do look at me our God is able our God comes through our God keeps his promises in our God loves you amen amen father thank you for just this word I pray is a source of encouragement for our hearts we acknowledge that we are fearful people we acknowledge that we need something of what Abraham had he didn't have information but you said go and he went Moses said it was too hard but you said go and he went Elisha felt so outnumbered but you said go and he went Esther said they'll kill me and she said if I perish I perish and she went Father help us choose help us choose we know that you're the one that made us we know that you're the one who wants to put yourself on display in our lives we know that you're faithful help us to cling to your promises and to trust you you alone who are able in Jesus name say

Channel: Desert Hills Bible Church

Views: 727

Rating: 4.7142859 out of 5

Keywords: Christ, Jesus, God, Gospel, Bible, Scripture, pastor, preacher, preach, sermon, faith, love, hope, fear, Christian, Christianity, reformed, theology, Church, Phoenix, Arizona, powerful, inspiring, encouraging, uplifting

Id: 6bPjNIvJQA4

Length: 52min 34sec (3154 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 14 2019