Don’t Be Afraid | Isaiah 41-43 | Gary Hamrick

alright Isaiah chapter 41 let's first pause and pray lord thank you for this time together today that we have as we fellowship with each other as we worship you and now as we open up your word and study together we pray you would use this passage to minister to our hearts Lord we are needy people but we thank you that we can come to your well that never runs dry and drink and find contentment and fulfillment and satisfaction Lord so we're glad to be in your house today be glorified now as we study your word together it's in Jesus name we pray and everybody said amen you'll notice with me that in the Book of Isaiah the tone and the tenor changes between chapter 39 and 40 the first 39 chapters of the book of Isaiah emphasize more about God's judgment and wrath the last 27 chapters chapters 40 to 66 emphasize more about God's grace and kindness for this reason a lot of Bible scholars will tell you that the Book of Isaiah is like a mini Bible because the Book of Isaiah has 66 chapters your Bible has 66 books and it's very similar in its delineation first 39 chapters of Isaiah more emphasis on God's wrath and judgment the first 39 books of your Bible makes up the Old Testament more of an emphasis on God's wrath and judgment the last 27 chapters of Isaiah very similar to the last 27 books of your Bible which comprise your New Testament which emphasizes God's grace and kindness and we find ourselves now in this latter section of the Book of Isaiah here in chapter 41 which emphasizes a lot of God's grace and kindness and one of the things that God says here in chapter 41 and will also see the theme carries over into chapter 43 is this tender emphasis from our Lord telling his people do not be afraid do not be afraid everybody say that out loud do not be afraid this is God's theme to his people here this is this is really a theme throughout the whole Bible for all of us but I want to draw your attention to the many places here in this section of Isaiah where God just emphasizes this over and over again so here in chapter 41 notice verse 10 in your Bibles where God says through the prophet Isaiah verse 10 so do not fear underline that do not fear for I am with you do not be dismayed for I am your God I will strengthen you and help you I will uphold you with my righteous right hand jump a little further down verse 13 verse 13 for I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand isn't that very tender and says to you do not fear I will help you the next verse verse 14 do not be afraid o worm Jacob I love the way that he refer yea he refers to this whole territory of Jacob like a worm because in comparison to God's magnificence he's like listen you're just a worm I got this so he says there in verse 14 do not be afraid a worm Jacob a little Israel for I myself will help you declares the Lord your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel now jump over to chapter 43 in chapter 43 begins the same way in verse 1 but now this is what the Lord says he who created you O Jacob he who formed you O Israel fear not for I have redeemed you I have summoned you by name you are mine and a little further down verse 5 first part of verse 5 do not be afraid for I am with you so now I ask you why do you suppose so many times in so few chapters here God says to the Jewish people through Isaiah over and over again do not be afraid why do you why do you suppose that God says there's so many times in so few chapters - to the people do not be afraid why do you suppose he says that unless it's not a trick question james comey I'm asking you what why do you think that he's saying to them over and over again do not be afraid why because because they're afraid they must be afraid or you wouldn't be saying it over and over again that same kind of question for us why do you think that over 300 times throughout the whole Bible God tells us over and over again more than 300 times some form of do not be afraid do not worry or do not be anxious why do you suppose that God says that so many times through the Bible why because we're afraid I mean from time to time the reality is fear will grip your heart for some of you you're in the midst of it right now life can have its share of anxiety worry and we can be afraid and I don't care how tough you pretend to be on the outside everybody is scared of something all right I don't know if you would admit it but everybody is there's something that we're afraid of now interestingly there's been many surveys over the years surveying Americans what are the kind of things that you're afraid of identifying certain phobias and so I came across this study done by Chapman University in Orange California and it was republished by the Washington Post a few years ago and they identified some of the top the top 12 fears of American people just using a sampling of Americans and so I'm gonna share from this survey the top seven of these 12 starting with here's the first one the fear of flying the fear of flying 14.5 percent of people have a fear of flying and they talk about flying there's like a stinkbug in my head all right now we're gonna have this as like a little support group so how many of you would be honest enough to admit yeah I don't like flying I have a fear of flying all right don't be ashamed come on nobody's gonna shame you fear flying I mean that's a legitimate that you've just kind of hope this land safely fear of flying number six on the list was the claustrophobia 18% of people say they have claustrophobia which shocked me I didn't know so many people were afraid of Santa Claus I wasn't aware of that but how many of you would say yet small confined places I don't like all right so many of you have a little claustrophobia number five on the list was the fear of blood or needles now fear if your health there's a guy in the top god yeah that's me how many others fear of blood and needles okay if your healthcare professional your and you have this fear you're probably in the wrong profession number four on the list is the fear of drowning the fear of drowning now I suppose well there's some hair I didn't even ask yet but some of you are quick to yes that that is me I suppose if you don't know how to swim you even have a greater fear of drowning so that could be a legitimate fear number three on the list is the fear of bugs snakes and other animals yep how many all right several years ago before we built our building here on our property we use the property for our church picnics and there was one summer that I was out here with a bunch of people helping to get the grounds prepared for our for our church picnic and I came across two black snake we're together in the grass now you know black snakes are harmless they're not poisonous they're good in your barns because they kill mice and all this good stuff but there's something that rose up within me and I had a shovel in my hand and I just I went I mean if you ever watch Forensic Files it's what you call overkill all right and so I was just shopping that thing into and some other guys like what do you do it nothing nothing everything's fine fear of snakes number two on the list the fear of heights how many of you don't like getting up on ladders fear of heights okay I don't particularly like Heights either fear of heights and then the number one fear according to this survey the fear of public speaking yeah now you know why I'm a mess so now you look at different surveys and different surveys will say different things but but this one from Chapman University I thought was a pretty indicative of a lot of fears that Americans have in general by the way on the list I didn't show you you know all 12 but number 11 on the list fear of clowns that would have been like number two for me now in our story here in chapter 41 of Isaiah if you go back to chapter 41 where we started it seems that the reason for their fears has to do with an imminent threat of war from foreign nations because God says to them through the prophet Isaiah if you look here again chapter 41 verse 11 God kind of identifies why they're afraid in verse 11 he says all who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish though you search for your enemies you will not find them those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all for I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you do not fear I will help you so we see here that in the context of our story their fear is the threat of war from neighboring nations and God is basically saying to them I got this it's okay don't be afraid don't worry about their threat I'm God you're not I got this and one of the things that I love is that no matter what our fear this passage and really the whole Bible for that matter reminds us of something very important and that is that God loves to bring rest to his people God loves to bring emotional rest to his people God delights in replacing your fears with his peace how many of you could use a little bit more of God's peace and less of your own fears in your life amen and God delights as our Father in heaven to replace our fears with his peace now along this subject I want to first say that not all fears are bad not all fears are wrong there are some exceptions to the kind of fears that we're talking about today one of those exceptions is that frankly that some fears are good for example the Bible talks about how all of us should have a healthy fear of God that's a good fear that's not a bad fear it's not the kind of fear that makes us want to run from God it's a kind of fear that the Bible describes as something of a supreme reverence and awesome respect for the supreme judge of the universe and and this is a healthy thing this is the kind of thing that we should have in worship and reverence of a holy God we should be in fear of the Living God not scared of him but this awesome reverence of His Holiness Psalm 111 verse 10 says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom so that's that's a good thing that we come B we become wiser to the degree that we really fear the Lord and have an awesome reverence of who he is so that's a good kind of a fear another good kind of a fear is the kind of fear that God innately puts within us for our protection there are some things we should be afraid of in a good way you know you you should you should be afraid of running across a busy highway that's not a smart thing so you should be well I'm afraid I'm gonna get run over by a car yes so don't do that you know you should be afraid to swim with sharks it's not a wise thing to do for your protection you have this instinctive thing now I'm kind of afraid to play with rattlesnakes I'm kind of afraid to dance with grizzly bears good you should be those are the things that God puts in our hearts which by the way is the reason why we as parents have to look out for our children because they're not at an age yet with that good fear has matured and so they they are you know they have no inhibitions and and that's why we have to warn them hey and we don't we don't say be afraid uh but we you know don't get in cars with strangers you know but we're teaching them there's a good fear because for your own safety of protection you shouldn't get in cars with strangers you know none of us should be you know in the at 3:00 a.m. in the morning down some dark alley of some major city we should be afraid of that kind of thing because for our protection it's not a wise thing to do so not all fear is bad there's the fear of the Lord and then there's good fear that God gives us her own protection and then I need to also say this in passing because I don't want to lump everybody into one category it's important to also realize that some fears are chemical that that scientists the medical professionals have actually discovered a couple of almond sized bundle of nerve fibers in the center of your brain called the amygdala that if disrupted and sometimes it gets disrupted with for unknown reasons can create anxiety without any external contributing factors and so there are some people that the mcdonough part of their brain is just it's misfiring and they might need medication for that there are legitimate anxiety disorders it's it's a medical thing so that aside though the majority of us the majority of us the kind of fear that we're talking about today the kind that God wants to address in our lives are these impulsive reactions to life's circumstances that are often simply a reflection that we don't trust God that's the kind of fear that God wants to address in our lives fear is an emotional response to something that is often unknown or sometimes even unrealistic sometimes it's not even real but often it's imagined and can range this kind of fear in our lives can have an effect on our lives and it can range anywhere from something that's a distraction in our daily living to downright debilitating and and in fact people have come up with acronyms for fear to remind us that sometimes it's not even you know realistic sometimes it's just imagine it's the worst of what could happen so they've made an acronym out of fear that it's really false events appear real there are some false events that appear real and so therefore we start to become anxious and worried and and and afraid by the way I've got a new acronym for us by the end of our Bible study but this is a common acronym some change the e for evidence false evidence that appear real whatever you might however you want you might want to define the acronym that's often what fear is and news bulletins for Christians fear is sin fear is sin and the reason is because many times in the Bible and we've read one of them right here and Isaiah 41 verse 10 God gives us a command do not fear do not be afraid and whenever God gives a command and we don't do what God says it's in so when God says over and over the Bible do not be afraid and then he often accompanies it with a promise because I'm with you and I'll help you but nevertheless his command is do not be afraid and we are still afraid what it means is we're disobeying God and so we're sitting now God will never tell us to do something or to not do something without also giving us the strength the ability the grace or the power to comply God never says do something or don't do something and he knows that it's impossible for us okay that would be a contradiction of his character so every time God commands us something and here's one of the things he commands us do not be afraid implied with him the command means he's going to give us the grace of the strength the ability or power to comply so then that means it becomes my choice I had the ability with God's strength with God's power with God's grace to trust him but oftentimes when fearful things come along I just choose not to and thus it's disobedience so we have to be aware of this as Christiane's david had his share of fear on one occasion you know one of the things that tormented him for about ten years was when king saul of israel who was jealous of David because David was becoming a noticed warrior in Israel King Saul tried to kill David on many occasions and so for about ten years of David's life he ran and he hid from Saul because he was afraid I mean somebody has a hit on your life you're gonna naturally be afraid and one of the occasions where David was afraid he writes about it in Psalm chapter 56 now here's the background on chapter 56 it is believed that David wrote Psalm 56 and also Psalm 34 from the cave of Adya LOM because he's hiding in a cave he's afraid Saul's coming to kill him and in Psalm 56 verse 3 David pens this whenever I am afraid I will trust in you whenever I am afraid I will trust in you and he just writes that as a prayer over and over again and David had reason to be afraid but he was no wimp either I mean this was the guy who even before he became King remember David in his youth the Bible says killed a lion and a bear with his own hands and remember when he was a youth he slew Goliath the over nine foot giant of the Philistines and then after he slew Goliath with a single stone of course the Lord gave him the ability to strength and the power to do it and and the giant falls down david goes gets Goliath's own sword and cuts off Goliath's head and holds Goliath's head like a trophy so that's this guy so no wimp but this guy is now hiding in a cave afraid because even the best of warriors can sometimes be afraid and David's was not some imaginary thing that he was afraid of which is often what happens to us we begin to imagine something that has isn't even necessarily real or Havanese even manifested itself but we're afraid about it David's fear was reality there was someone who was trying to kill him said so was marching with his army to try to find this guy he was in imminent danger he knew it he was afraid and yet he turned his fears over to God it was a real legitimate thing but he said I'm not gonna be afraid whenever I am afraid I will trust in you he goes on to write in the next verse Psalm 56 for in God whose word I praise and God I trust I will not be afraid what can mortal man do to me is that in the big scheme of things god I'm gonna trust you you're my protector you're my provider at the end of the day what can mortal man do to me I mean what's the worst thing that could happen I die and I go to be with you I mean in the big scheme of things what can mortal man really do to me and so David gives us fear to God this mighty valiant warrior who was a man's man even at times had fear himself and he says but whenever I'm afraid I'm going to trust in you Zach Williams who's a Christian artist recently wrote a song called fear as a liar and in the song he personified fear like like it's Satan because the reality is that Satan is the author of fear not God everybody knows that right I mean first John 4:18 tells us that God does not give us the spirit of fear but if I'm sorry that perfect love drives out fear and God is perfect love and so he is the antithesis of fear Satan is the author of it not God and then 2nd Timothy 1:7 I got ahead of myself a second Timothy 1:7 for God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power love and of a sound mind so God wants to deliver us from fear Satan wants to capitalize on it and whenever we give way to fear we give access to Satan in our lives and whenever we give way to faith we give God greater access in their lives and it becomes a choice for us are we going to operate in faith are we gonna operate in fear so Zach Williams wrote this song about fear is a liar about how Satan is really the personification of fear and so let me read some of the lyrics when he told you that his fear when fear told you Satan that you're not good enough when he told you you're not right when he told you you're not strong enough to put up a good fight when he told you you're not worthy when he told you you're not loved when he told you you're not beautiful that you'll never be enough fear he is a liar he will take your breath stop you in your steps fear he is a liar he will rob your rest steal your happiness and then he in the song he says so cast your fear in the fire cause fear he is a liar and when he told you you were troubled you'll forever be alone when he told you you should run away you'll never find a home when he told you you were dirty and you should be ashamed when he told you you could be the one that grace could never change fear he is a liar and then he turns the song into a prayer Lord let your fire fall and cast out all my fears let your fire fall your love is all I feel let your fire fall and cast out all my fears cast your fear in the fire costs fear he is a liar and so Isaiah gives us here three good reasons why we should not be afraid in these chapters 41 and 43 Isaiah reminds us do not be afraid and here's what he reminds us of in these chapters so the first one is number one that God is with me back here in chapter 41 the first part of verse 10 he says it so do not fear for I am with you just underline that in your Bibles I am with you we need to be reminded that God is always with us well we may not be able to see him but he's our ever-present help God is with us and just by remembering and dwelling on that fact that he's with us it'll help to calm our fears never remember being a little kid and there was a bad thunderstorm in the middle of the night woke you up out of your sleep and all you see is you know the the lightning bolts lighting up your window and that hear hearing the sound of thunder what was something the you comfort you you go into mom and dad's room and jump in bed with them just the idea that when you're with mom or dad when you're with them they're with you it just brings comfort and there's something important to remember about the fact that in our deepest fears and worries and anxieties God is with us God is always with us when when Moses when his ministry was coming to an end that he and he was told by God pass it off to Joshua your protege Joshua's gonna take the Hebrew people into the Promised Land when Moses was 120 years old he gave his final farewell speech to the Hebrew people in Deuteronomy chapter 31 and one of the things that he says to them he basically says I'm 120 now I'm not going to be taking you into the Promised Land Joshua was going to be taking them in taking you in instead and he says to them in Deuteronomy 31 verse 6 be strong and courageous do not be afraid or terrified for the Lord your God goes with you and he will never leave you nor forsake you boy we need that reminder sometimes when you feel all alone in the midst of your worry and fear and anxiety God is with you God is with you number 2 Isaiah also reminds us that God will help me in chapter 41 the latter part of verse 10 he says to us do not be dismayed for I am your God I will strengthen you and help you I will uphold you with my righteous right hand God will help us and how he chooses and what various forms and what means and methods to help us that's up to God but God is always faithful to help us God will help us it reminds me when I was preparing my notes it reminds me of this story I've told this this story once before many years ago because it happened many years ago but when our family was on vacation at the beach several years ago the kids were still living at home there were teenagers at the time and we stopped at Dairy Queen and we were getting some ice cream and some other food that they had served there and the service was horrible I mean we're just waiting and waiting and waiting we just wanted a couple of like chili dogs and some ice cream you know how long can this take and it's a long long long time so I'm still standing up at the counter waiting for the order I've already paid for I'm just waiting for it my family gone to sit outside and one by one they're coming in like dad what's the holdup I don't know I don't know just terrible service here and so one time Austin our middle child came in and was asking me dad what's the holdup now let me preface the remarks by saying and I've said this to him he's you know he's he was the pastor announcement guide today okay and and I've said this he knows it's a joke in her family he's sitting on the front row over here sometimes sometimes Austin can be a little blonde all right now that no offense to the blonds in the house all right most of you aren't really anyway come on and those of you who are won't get the story anyway but anyhow so just it's alright it's okay but anyway did he just insult me no anyway so I'm standing I'm waiting for our food service and so Austin comes and he says what's the holdup dad and the guy wait who had been waiting on us was a teenage guy and he had his nametag on Sam Sam and so I just kind of turned my back to Sam and I said to Austin I said yeah I don't know what's taking so long but I'm sure and it was I was just being sarcastic I'm sure Sam will help us and Austin looked at me and he said how do you know that guy's last name I don't know I don't know that guy's last name well you just told me his last name when did I tell you his last name you just said his name is Sam wildest do you know anybody with the last name will Elvis I said let me say this really really slowly Sam will help us oh so for the sake of all of us and particularly for my son God will help us right amen God will help us son 46 verse 1 & 2 my god is my strength and my refuge and ever-present help in times of need therefore I will not be afraid and we need to remember that God is not only with me God also will help me and number 3 God loves me you go to chapter 43 of Isaiah Isaiah chapter 43 first verse but now this is what the Lord says he who created you O Jacob he who formed you O Israel fear not fear not for I have redeemed you I have summoned you by name you are mine when you pass through the waters I will be with you and when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you when you walk through the fire you will not be burned the flames will not set you ablaze now pause for a moment notice he's using this analogy of water which overwhelms and fire which consumes and God is saying whatever is overwhelming you or you think is consuming you it won't I'll be there for you verse 3 for I am the Lord your God the Holy One of Israel your Savior I give Egypt for your ransom cushion see but in your stead since you are precious and honored in my sight that's how God sees you and because I love you underline that there in verse 4 I will give men in exchange for you and people in exchange for your life do not be afraid for I am with you now verse 4 sounds a little confusing there doesn't it when it says that God's love is expressed by giving man in exchange for you and people in exchange for your life please note with me these are ancient words of redemption and the ultimate way that God expressed his love for us was through the redemption of the Cross whereby God said I will give my son Jesus in exchange for you that's the ultimate redemption where God offers his son Jesus Christ on a cross to die for you and me his righteousness for our sinfulness it was the great exchange and God demonstrated his love for us Paul writes in Romans by this in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us that's how much God loves us that he exchanged his son for us and that our sin was placed on his son on a cross and that by His stripes by his wounds by his crucifixion we are made whole were able to be forgiven that is the ultimate expression of God's love and his plan of redemption for mankind and you have to believe that and receive it in order for it to be appropriated in your life and the reason that I mention this is because you will not know the deliverance from fear in your life until you first have Jesus in your life you need a relationship with the Living Savior so that you now have the holy one God Almighty as your ultimate resource to lean on without Jesus you are without hope and there are a lot of people in this world who do not know Jesus and how do they deal with their fears therapy and over medication often and again some of it is legitimately helped by those things but many people are suffering under the weight and burden of fear worry and anxiety often times simply because they don't know the Prince of Peace who will give them the ultimate peace you need Jesus if you don't know I'm already you need Jesus you need him for your life and I don't need to forgive you of your sins but that you might have his peace and I'm gonna give you the opportunity in just a moment to accept him but first I want to leave you with a new acronym for fear because this is going to be now what you and I will pray whenever you know the old acronym is future events appear real your new acronym is my father eternal almighty reigns and every time you lean on him you can remind yourself my father eternal Almighty reigns my father eternal Almighty reigns and you give your fear and you were and your anxiety to the one who says to us do not fear for I am with you and I will uphold you with my righteous right hand let's pray together father in heaven we thank you that you are the one who gives us peace you were the one who gives rest to our anxious hearts you tell us do not fear because you've given us the Grace and the strength to be able to trust you but oftentimes we don't we worry we're afraid today Lord we turn our fears over to you and we trust you I'm gonna pause in my prayer your heads still bowed and eyes closed I want to first address those of you who don't know Jesus as your Savior and I want to invite you to trust him today he's the ultimate answer to your fears because he is the Prince of Peace and he wants to usher in his peace to your life along with the forgiveness of your sins if you would simply receive him as your Lord and Savior some of you sitting here right now know exactly that I'm speaking of you God loves you and he wants a relationship with you but today is your day to receive a measure Savior and if that would be you if I would be speaking of you you would say yeah that's me Pastor Gary I need to start with knowing Jesus as my Lord and Savior and no one else looking around just me for the moment just go ahead and slip up your hand say yeah that's me I need Jesus as my Lord and Savior just slip up your hand so I can see it god bless you sir god bless you ma'am just keep your hand up so I can look around just see god bless you sir others of you say I just need to trust Christ I'm gonna lead you in a word of Prayer in just a minute but I just want to know who I'm praying with anyone else up in the rake god bless you you raised your hand to trust Christ I want you to pray this prayer with me right where you're seated I want you to just pray this just say Lord Jesus I need you now more than ever I surrender my life to you I invite you in as my Lord and Savior forgive me of my sins come into my life right now save me I surrender to your lordship I receive you by faith in Jesus name and now with your head still battle and address others of you that have come here today and there's a real fear that's gripping your heart and you'd rather leave here with more of God's peace and less of your fear and you want to acknowledge and you want to pray with me that God would just deliver you from this fear if that's you I want you to raise your hand go ahead just raise it up say that to me I just want to pray a prayer asking God to deliver me of this fear god bless all of you raised your hands pray this prayer with me Lord you see my hand and you know my heart you know the times I struggle with fear and you know the situation I need your peace I need your peace that passes all understanding to guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus so reach down from heaven right now I pray and take this fear from me deliver me from my anxious heart I trust you lord I trust that you are with me I trust that you will help me and I trust that you love me that's why I shall not be afraid I shall not be afraid my father eternal Almighty reigns and I trust you Lord you've overheard our prayers today I thank you for those who have received you as Lord and Savior I thank you for all those who have released their fears to you and I pray in the mighty name of Jesus that you would use these verses from Isaiah to minister to our souls even after we leave here today that we would be people who walk in the peace of the Lord because we trust the Lord who was always greater than our darkest fears we praise you together in Jesus name and all God's people said amen amen come on let's give God praise today we praise your Lord [Applause]

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

Views: 9,655

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Keywords: fear, Calvary Chapel, Gary Hamrick, Cornerstone Chapel

Id: AWQzNNWoAIw

Length: 38min 29sec (2309 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 16 2019