Fear Not - Charles Spurgeon Sermon | Charles Spurgeon Sermons 2022 - 2023

foreign Spurgeon preached this message on October 4th 1857 at the Music Hall of the royal Surry Gardens it is entitled fear not the text is found in Isaiah chapter 41 and verse 14. fear not thou worm Jacob and ye men of Israel I will healthy saith the Lord and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel I shall speak this morning to those that are discouraged depressed in spirit and sore troubled in the Christian Life there are certain nights of exceeding great Darkness through which the spirit has to grope in much pain and misery and during which much of the comfort of the word is particularly needed those Seasons occur in this manner frequently they occur at the outset of a religious life a young man deeply impressed under the ministry has been led to feel the weight of sin he trusts also he has been led to look for salvation to the Christ who is preached in the gospel in the young order of his Spirit he devotes himself holy to Christ with the most solemn vows he dedicates bodies Soul Time talents all that he has to the great work of serving God he thinks it easy to fulfill his vow he does not count the cost he reckons it will be easy to forsake gay companions to renounce old established habits and to become a Christian I'll ask before many days he finds out his mistake if he did not reckon without his host he certainly reckoned without his heart for his evil heart of unbelief had deceived him he knew not how hard would be the struggle and how desperate the wrestling between his old evil nature and the newborn principle of Grace within him he finds it to be like the rending off of right arms to give up old and cherished habits he discovers it to be painful to renounce his former Pursuits as painful as it would be to pluck out his right eye he sits down then and he says if this be the trouble at the outset what may I expect as I proceed oh my soul thou was too fast in dedicating thyself to God thou Hast undertaken a Warfare which thy prowess can never accomplish thou has started on a journey for which thy strength is not adequate let me again return unto the world and if the spirit Seth nay thou canst not then the poor soul sits down in misery and cries I cannot go back and I cannot go forward what must I do I am exceedingly discouraged because of the way the same feeling often overcomes the most Valiant Christian veteran he who has been long experienced in the things of the Divine Life will sometimes be overtaken with a dark night and a stormy Tempest so dark will be the night that he will not know his right hand from his left and so horrible The Tempest that he that he cannot hear the sweet words of his master say fear not I am with thee periodical tornadoes and hurricanes will sweep over the Christian he will be subjected to as many trials in his Spirit as trials in his flesh this much I know if it be not so with all of you it is so with me I have to speak today to myself and whilst I shall be endeavoring to encourage those who are distressed and down-hearted I shall be preaching I trust to myself for I need something which shall cheer my heart why I cannot tell wherefore I do not know but I have a thorn in the flesh a messenger of Satan to Buffet me my soul is cast down within me I feel as if I had rather died and live all that God hath done by me seems to be forgotten and my spirit flags and my courage breaks down with the thought of that which is to come I need your prayers I need God's holy spirit and I felt that I could not Preach Today unless I should preach in such a way as to encourage you and to encourage myself in the good work and labor of the Lord Jesus Christ what a precious promise to the young Christian or to the old Christian attacked by lowness of spirits and distress of mind fear not thou worm Jacob and ye men of Israel I will help thee saith the Lord and by Redeemer the Holy One of Israel Christian Brethren there are some in this congregation I hope many who have solemnly devoted themselves to the cause and service of the Lord Jesus Christ let them hear them the preparation which is necessary for this service set forth in the words of our text first before we can do any great things for Christ there must be a sense of weakness worm Jacob secondly there must be trust in promised strength and thirdly there must be fear removed by that promise fear not for I will help thee in the first place the first qualification for serving God with any amount of success and for doing God's work well and triumphantly is a sense of our own weakness when God's Warrior marches forth to battle with plumed helmet and with mail about his loins strong in his own Majesty when he says I know that I shall conquer my own right arm and my mighty sword shall get unto me the victory defeat is not far distant God will not go forth with that man who goeth forth in his own strength He Who reckoneth on Victory having first calculated his own might has reckoned wrongly for it is not by might nor by power but by my spirit Seth the Lord of hosts they that go forth to fight boasting that they can do it shall return with their banners trailed in the dust and with their armor stained with defeat for God will not go forth with the man who goeth forth in his own strength God hath said it man must serve him they must serve him in his own way and they must serve him in his own strength too or he will never accept their service that which man doth unaided by Divine strength God can never accept the mere fruits of the earth he casteth away he will only have that the seed of which was sown from Heaven sprinkled in the heart and harvested by the son of Grace there must be a consciousness of weakness before there can be any victory I think I hear many saying today well sir if that be a qualification for doing much I have it to a very large extent well do not Marvel do not Wonder depend on this God will empty out all that thou Hast before he will ever put his own into thee he will first empty all thy granaries before he will fill them with the finest of the wheat the river of God is full of water but there is not one drop of it that takes its rise in Earthly Springs God will have no strength used in his own battles but the strength which he himself imparts and I would not have you that are now distressed in the least discouraged by it your Emptiness is but the preparation for your being filled and you're casting down is but the making ready for your lifting up are there others of you that would almost desire to be cast down that they might be prepared to serve God let me tell you then how you can promote in yourself a sense of your own nothingness the text addresses us as worms now the mere rationalist the man who boasts of the Dignity of human nature will never subscribe his name to such a title as this worms as he I am no worm I am a man a man is the most glorious thing that God has made I am not going to be called a worm I am a man I can do anything I want not your Revelations they may be fit for children for men of childish Minds that only learn by believing I am a man I can think out truth I will make my own Bible fashion my own ladder and mount on it to Heaven if there be a heaven or make a heaven if that be all and dwell in it myself not so however he who is wise and understandeth he knows that he is a worm and he knows it in this way first he knows it by contemplation he that thinks will always think himself little men who have no brains are always great men but those who think must think their pride down if God is with them in their thinking lift up now your eyes behold Heavens the work of God's fingers behold the son guided in his daily March go ye forth at midnight and behold the heavens consider the stars and the Moon look ye upon these works of God's hands and if ye be men of sense and your souls are attuned to the high Music of the Spheres ye will say what is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him my God When I Survey the boundless fields at ether and see those ponderous orbs rolling therein when I consider how vast are thy dominions so why then an angel's Wing might flap to all eternity and never reach a boundary I Marvel that thou should look on insects so obscure as man I have taken to myself the microscope and seen the ephemera upon the leaf and I have called him small I will not call him so again compared with me he is great if I put myself into comparison with God I am so little that I shrink into nothingness when I behold the almightiness of Jehovah so little that the difference between the animalculi and the man dwindles into nothing when compared with the infinite Chasm between God and man let your mind Rove upon the great doctrines of the godhead consider the existence of God from before the foundations of the world Behold Him who is and was and is to come the almighty let your soul comprehend as much as it can of the infinite and grasp as much as possible of the Eternal and I am sure if you have Minds at all they will shrink with awe the tall Archangel bows himself before his master's throne and we shall cast ourselves into the lowest dust when we feel what base nothings what insignificant specs we are when compared with our all-adorable creator labor oh Soul To Know Thy nothingness and learn it by contemplating God's greatness again if you want to know your own nothingness consider what you are in suffering I was thinking the other evening how small a matter it must be with God to cast any man into the most unutterable agony we are well and in good spirits we know not why but it seems as if God's finger had touched one nerve but one poor nerve and we are so miserable that we could sit down and weep we do not know how to Bear ourselves but half an hour ago we could have smiled at Satan's rage and faced a frowning world and God does what put his hand on our hearts and just let one of the strings run loose and what a Discord there is in our Spirits we are annoyed at the slightest matter we wish to be continually alone the very promises yield us no Comfort our days are nights and our nights are black as gehenna we know not how to endure ourselves how easily then can God cast us into misery oh man what a little thing Thou Art if so little a thing can overthrow thee you've heard men talk big words when they have been prosperous did you ever hear them talk so when they were in deep distress and great anguish and sorrow oh no then they say am I a sea or a whale that thou set us to watch upon me what am I that thou should visit me every morning and chasing me every night let me alone until I swallow down my spittle why am I sore vexed what am I that thou shouldst make me a butt for thine arrows and a target for thy Wrath spare me o God for I am less than nothing I am but a shadow that passeth away and declineth oh deal not hardly with thy servant for thy mercy sake great sorrow will always make a man think little of himself if God blesses it to him again if you would know your own weakness try some great labor for Christ I can understand how some Minister who preaches to his 150 on a Sabbath day and regards himself as having a large congregation should be very precise about the color of his cravat and about the respect that is paid to his dignity in his little church I can well comprehend how he should be as big as my Lord Archbishop because he does nothing he has nothing at all to try him but I cannot imagine Martin Luther standing before the diet at warms being proud because he had to do such a deed as that I cannot conceive John Calvin in his incessant labors for Christ leading on the reformation and teaching the truth of God with power saying to himself Lo this great Babylon that I have builded I can suppose the man that has nothing to do and that is doing nothing sitting down in devout complacency with his own adorable self but I cannot conceive if you nerve yourselves to Great labors but what you will have to say Lord what a worm am I that thou shouldst call me to such a work as this turn if you please to the history of all men who have done great Deeds for God and you will find them saying I Marvel that God should use me thus this day my mind was exceedingly cast down says one of them for God had called me to do a great Labor and I never felt so much of my own insufficiency as I did today says another I have tomorrow to do such and such an eminent service for my master and I can say that when I was in my low estate I was often exalted above measure but this day my God has cast me into the lowest depths at the recollection of the work for which he has engaged me go and do something some of you and I will be bound to say it will be the means of pricking that fair bubble of your pride and letting some of it Blow Away if you would understand what is meant by being a worm go and do what the 15th verse says the worm should do go and thrash the mountains and beat them small make the hills as chaff fan by the wind scatter them and then rejoice in God and if you can do that the more God's glory strike your eyes the humbler you will lie devout contemplation sharp suffering hard labor all these will teach us what little creatures we are o may God by all means and every means keep us well understanding and knowing that we are nothing more and nothing better than worms how easy it is my brethren for you and I to fly up how hard to keep down that demon of Pride was born with us and it will not die one hour before us it is so woven into the very warp and woof of our nature the till we are wrapped in our winding sheets we shall never hear the last of it If any man telleth me that he is humble I know him to be profoundly proud and if any man will not acknowledge this truth that he is desperately inclined to self-exaltation let him know that his denial of this truth is the best proof of it do you know what is the sweetest flattery in all the world it is that flattery that Caesar's courtiers of old gave to him when they said Caesar hated flattery being then most highly flattered we do not hate flattery any one of us we all like it we do not like it if it's labeled flattery but we like it if it is given a little underhanded fashion we all love praise the proud to gain it toils on toils endure the modest shunnets but to make it sure we all love it every soul of us and it is right in meat that we should all bow before God and acknowledge that Pride which is woven into our nature and ask him to teach us what little things we are that we may claim this promise fear not thou worm Jacob now the next point before devoting ourselves to Christ or doing any great labor for the Savior it is necessary there should be trust in the promised strength I will help thee saith the Lord and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel it is a certain fact that though men bee worms they do what worms never could do although men be nothing they do accomplish Deeds which need even the power of the infinite to rival them how shall we account for this certainly it is not the worms it must be some secret energy which gives them might the mystery is unraveled in the text I will help thee saith the Lord in ancient history there is a story told of a valiant Captain whose Banner was always foremost in the fight whose sword was dreaded by his enemies for it was the herald of Slaughter and the victory his Monarch once demanded of him that he should send this potent sword to him to be examined the Monarch took the sword quietly criticized it and sent it back with this message I see nothing wonderful in the sword I cannot understand why any man should be afraid of it the captain sent back in the most respectful manner a message of this kind your majesty has been pleased to examine the sword but I did not send the arm that wielded it if you had examined that and the heart that guided the arm you would have understood the mystery and now we look at men and see what men have done and we say I cannot understand this how was it done why we are only seeing the sword if we could see the heart of infinite love that guided the man in his onward course we should not wonder that he as God's sword gained the victory now the Christian may remember that little though he be God is with him God will help him and that right early Brethren I like a man who when he begins to do anything is afraid of himself and says it is of no use I cannot do it let him alone he will do it he is all right the man who says oh there is nothing in it I can do it will break down to a dead certainty but let him Begin by saying I know what I am at and I feel confident I cannot do it unless I have something more given to me than I feel today that man will come back with flying banners the trumpets proclaiming that he has been Victorious but it must be because he puts Reliance upon help promised now Christian I see you this morning ready to run away from the battle you have been so dispirited this last week through diver's adverse circumstances that you are ready to give up your religion now man here is a brother comrade that is passing through just the same he comes here this morning half inclined to run off to tarshish like Jonah did of old only he could not find a boat or else he might have sailed away and he has come here to Pat you on the shoulder and say brother do not let you and I play deserters after all let us up to arms and still fight for our Master for the promise says I will help thee brother what an all-sufficient promise that is I will help thee why it matters not what God has given us to do if he helps us we can do it give me God to help me and I will split the world in haves and shiver it till it shall be smaller than the dust of the threshing floor I and if God be with me this breath could blow whole worlds about as the child bloweth a bubble there is no saying what man can do when God is with him give God to a man and he can do all things put God into a man's arm and he may have only the Jawbone of an ass to fight with but he will lay the Philistines in heaps put God in a man's hand and he may have a giant to deal with and nothing but a sling and a stone but he will Lodge the stone and the Giant's brow before long put God into a man's eye and he will flash Defiance on Kings and princes put God into a man's lip and he will speak right Honestly though his death should be the wages of his speech there is no fear of a man who has got god with him he is all sufficient there is nothing Beyond his power and my brethren what an opportune help Gods is God's help always comes in at the right time we are often making a fuss because God does not help us when we do not want to be helped o says one I do not think that I could die for Christ I feel I could not I wish I felt that I had the strength enough to die well you just won't feel that because you are not going to die and God will not give you strength to die with to lay up until dying time comes wait till you are dying and then he will give you strength to die o says another I wish I felt as strong in prayer as so and so but you do not want so much strength in prayer and you shall not have it you shall have what you want and you shall have it when you want it but you shall not have it before I have often cried to God and desired that I might feel happy before I began to preach that I might feel I could preach to the people I could never get it at all and yet sometimes God has been pleased to cheer me as I have gone along and given me strength that has been equal to my day so it must be with you God will come in when you want him not one minute before nor yet one minute later I will help Thee I will help thee when thou needest help and oh Brethren what an ennobling thing it is to be helped by God to be helped by a fellow man is no disgrace but it is no honor but to be helped by God what an honor that is when the Christian Prophet preacheth his master's word and feels that he has girded about his loins the belt of the almighty to strengthen him for his day's work that he may not fear the people what a noble being he is then when the Christian philanthropist goes into the prison in the midst of wreaking disease and death and feels that God has put the wing of the Angel over him to Shield him in the day of pestilence how it and Nobles and honors him to have God with him to have his strength girding his loins and nerving his arm is just the highest thing to which man can attain I thought but yesterday oh if I were a cherub I would stand with wings outstretched and I would bless God for opportunities for serving him but I thought Within Myself I have an opportunity of serving God but I am too weak for it oh my God I wish thou had not put the load upon me and then it struck me do the cherubim and seraphim ever say that do they ever for a moment say I have not strength enough to do it no if a cherub had a work to do which was beyond his might he would meekly bow his head and say bye Lord I fly I fly he that commanded the deed will enable me to perform it and so must the Christians say my God Dost thou command it is enough it is done thou never did send us to a Warfare at our own charges and thou Wilt never do so thou Wilt help us and be with us to the end before we can do much then we must know our own weakness and believe God's strength and now comes the last Point upon which I shall be brief we must then labor to get rid as much as possible of fear the prophet says fear not thou art a worm but do not fear God will help thee why should thou fear let us labor to get rid of fear when we are certain we are serving our master and let these be our reasons get rid of fear because fear is painful how it torments the spirit when the Christian trusts he is happy when he doubts he is miserable when the believer looks to his master and relies upon him he can sing when he doubts his master he can only groan what miserable wretches the most faithful Christians are when they once begin doubting and fearing it is a trade I never like to meddle with because it never pays the expenses and never brings in any profit trait of doubting why the soul is broken in pieces lanced pricked with knives dissolved racked and pained yet knoweth not how to exist when it gives way to fear up Christian Thou Art of a sorrowful countenance up and Chase thy fears why would thou be forever groaning in thy dungeon why should the giant despair forever beat thee with his Crabtree kajal up drive him away touch the key of the promises be of good cheer fear never healthy yet and it never will fear too is weakening make a man afraid he will run that his own shadow make a man Brave he will stand before an army and overcome them he will never do much good in the world who is afraid of men the fear of God bringeth blessings but the fear of men bringeth a snare and such a snare that many feet have been tripped by it no man shall be faithful to God that he is fearful of man no man shall find his arm sufficient for him and his might equal to his emergencies unless he can confidently believe quietly wait we must not fear for fear is weakening again we must not fear for fear dishonors God doubt the Eternal distrust the omnipotent oh Traders fear thinketh thou that the arm which pile the heavens and sustains The Pillars of the Earth shall ever be palsied shall the brow which the Eternal ages have rolled over without scathing it at last before my old age what shall the Eternal fail thee shall the faithful promise or break his oath thou dishonorest God o unbelief get a hands God is too wise to ER too good to be unkind leave off doubting him and begin to trust him for in so doing thou will put a crown on his head but endowing him thou just trampled his crown beneath thy feet and lastly doubt not the Lord O Christian for in so doing thou just lower thyself the more thou believest the greater Thou Art the more thou doubtest the less thou be comest it was said of the world's conqueror that when he was sick he whined like a child give me some drinks at one like a sick girl it was said to his dishonor and is it not to the dishonor of a Christian who lives in secret on his God and professes to trust alone in him that he cannot trust him that a little child will overcome his faith oh poor cockle shell boat that is upset by a raindrop oh poor puny Christian that is overcome by every straw that stumbles at every stone then Christian men behave like men it is childish to doubt it is manhood's Glory to trust plant your foot upon the immovable Rock of Ages lift your eye to heaven score in the world never play Craven bend your fist in the world's face and bid Defiance to it in hell and you are a man and Noble but Crouch and cringe and Dread in doubt and you have lost your Christian dignity and oh Lord are no longer what you should be you do not honor God fear not thou worm Jacob I will help thee saith the Lord then why should thou fear I feel that my voice failed me and with it my very powers of thought too and therefore I can only turn to my comrades and arms in the good war of Christ and I say to them Brethren you and I can do nothing of ourselves we are poor puny things but let us attempt great things for God is with us let us dare great things for God will not leave us remember what he has done a four time and remember what he has done of old he will do again remember David the shepherd boy think ye well of shamgar with his Ox goad forget ye not the Jawbone of the ass and the Stone from the sling if these worked wonders why should not we if little things have done great things let us try to do great things also you know naughty atoms but that your destiny is Sublime try and make it so by faith and the least of you may be Mighty through the strength of God oh for Grace to trust God and there is no telling what you can do worms ye are nothing but ye have eaten princes worms ye are nothing but ye have devoured the roots of Cedars and laid them level with the Earth worms ye are nothing but ye have piled rocks in the deep deep sea and wrecked mighty nadies worms ye have eaten through the Keel of the proudest ship that ever sailed the ocean if ye have done this yourselves what cannot we do your strength lies in your mouths our strength lies in ours too we will use our mouths in prayer and in constant adoration and we shall conquer yet for God is with us and victory is sure ye trembling Souls dismiss your fears be Mercy all your theme Mercy which like a river flows in one continued stream fear not the powers of Earth and Hell God will these Powers restrain his mighty arm their rage repel and make their efforts vain fear not the want of outward good he will for his provide grant them supplies of daily food and all they need beside fear not that he will Air forsake or leave his work undone he is faithful to his promises and faithful to his son fear not the Terrors of the Grave or death tremendous thing he will from endless wrath Preserve to endless Glory bring [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you foreign [Music] and remember what he has done of old he will do again remember David the shepherd boy think he well of shamgar with his Ox goad forget he knocked the Jawbone of the ass and the Stone from the sling if these worked wonders why should not we if little things have done great things let us try to do great things also you know naughty atoms but that your destiny is Sublime try and make it so by faith and the least of you may be Mighty through the strength of God oh for Grace to trust God and there is no telling what you can do worms ye are nothing but ye have eaten princes worms ye are nothing but ye have devoured the roots of Cedars and laid them level with the Earth worms ye are nothing but ye have piled rocks in the deep deep sea and wrecked mighty nadies worms ye have eaten through the Keel of the proudest ship that ever sailed the ocean if ye have done this yourselves what cannot we do your strength lies in your mouths our strength lies in ours too we will use our mouths in prayer and in constant adoration and we shall conquer yet for God is with us and victory is sure ye trembling Souls dismiss your fears be Mercy all your theme Mercy which like a river flows in one continued stream fear not the powers of Earth and Hell God will these Powers restrain his mighty arm their rage repel and make their efforts vain fear not the want of outward good he will for his provide grant them supplies of daily food and all they need beside fear not that he will Air forsake or leave his work undone he is faithful to his promises and faithful to his son fear not the Terrors of the Grave or death tremendous sting he will from endless wrath Preserve to endless Glory bring

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Id: cBKHf-Q7o3M

Length: 42min 18sec (2538 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 07 2023