TWO KINDS OF HELP
Isaiah 41:6. They helped every one his neighbour, &c.
Isaiah 41:10. Fear not; I will help thee, &c.
It is manifestly the intention of the prophet to exhibit the contrast between Israel and the heathen nations. In contemplating the promise of the 10th verse, we may be so absorbed by its boundless wealth, so amazed by its condescension, so cheered by its comfort, that we fail to notice the sombre background against which it is placed. There is help in both cases, but how different! In one case it is the help and encouragement which men give to one another in a vain, foolish, and desperate course; in the other it is the help that cometh from above. The rapid conquests of Cyrus throw the nations into alarm. What shall they do in this extremity?
I. Look at the expedients to which idol-worshippers have recourse (Isaiah 41:6). The carpenters and goldsmiths resolve to manufacture a strong set of gods, and to fix them securely. In the idol-factories the workmen stimulate one another. We may smile at such a gross delusion, as possible only among ignorant races in an age of superstition; but is there nothing corresponding to it among ourselves? We may regard image-worship with an air of scorn as too silly and infatuated ever to find place in Christianised communities; but there are many idols to which the unbelieving heart turns in the day of need and trial. The gods of our day have no outward embodiment, but not less loyal are their votaries to them. Idols are made of mammon and worldly ambitions, of services and ceremonies. Thus do the follies of a bygone age reproduce themselves in all their essential features. To see idolatry, you need not take a long journey to the South Sea Islands or Central Africa. In our scenes of commerce you may meet many a mammon-worshipper. In gay circles you may find crowds given up to the worship of fashion. In the very Church you may find the formalist who has made an idol of sacraments. These modern idolatries are godless and unbelieving; but while there is no faith in God, what an immense amount of faith of a different kind is exhibited! Believe! Why, they believe the most absurd things! e.g., they make gold their trust; they believe that they may lead Christless lives, and yet somehow get to heaven at last. We speak of them as unbelievers, yet what faith they have! They believe far more than the Christian can. To them Christianity is irrational, yet what irrationalities they entertain! “O the credulity of unbelief,” that accepts the most glaring absurdities to strengthen its position! And yet with all this rash credulity there is often an uneasy suspicion that all is not right and safe, and in a day of trouble they must help and encourage one another. Observe the power of association and example to blind men to the truth and strengthen them in bad principles. People think themselves all that is excellent if they do as others do, and are no worse than their neighbours; and so they keep each other in countenance, doing in company with each other what they would not do alone.
II. Turn now to the other side, and contemplate the Divine help. Here is Israel’s confidence. It rests on the Almighty Helper.
1. It is help guaranteed by past experience (Isaiah 41:8-9). How intimate the relation in which God stands to spiritual Israel! how gracious the acts He has done for them! how dear they were to Him! What a powerful argument for hope and trust! To cast them off would be the undoing of all that He had done. How securely, then, the promise stands on the foundation of past favours. To the tried, doubting believer there is encouragement here. Your God not only condescends to sustain you with a promise, but to encourage your faith He points to past acts of mercy. He has brought you near; He calls you by endearing names, and appeals to a long experience of His grace and love. The past may be full of unfaithfulness on your part, but amid all there shine out God’s acts of mercy. How can you reject the promise built on this experience? Help in the past guarantees help in the future.
2. Help against opposition (Isaiah 41:11-12), and the reason is assigned (Isaiah 41:13). Israel’s enemies will be frustrated. O Christian! what foes can harm you with God for your Almighty Helper? Plied with temptation, oppressed with fears, surrounded with dangers, you can yet say, “None of these things move me.” All the hosts of evil are passing on to confusion, and through them you are marching to victory. Outward losses cannot injure your real life. These onsets of the foe are for the trial of faith (1 Peter 1:7).
3. Help in weakness (Isaiah 41:14-16). The names “worm” and “me” (i.e., mortals) are expressive of weakness and contempt. But how strong does the feeblest and meanest creature become when armed with a Divine commission and supported by Divine help! “With what,” it has been asked, “may this new threshing instrument be armed but the Word of God?” (Hebrews 4:12). If God has a work to do, the unlikeliest instrument can be made sufficient for it. The worm is not the mean, feeble, and useless creature we think it. Darwin has shown us that earth-worms are the plowers of the soil and the producers of mould, thus by their combined labours fructifying the land. As in nature, so in grace (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). Jesus became “a worm and no man;” and His people, few and weak, yet armed with His powerful help, go forth to the conquest of the world. Why, then, should you shrink from any mission on which He sends you, and why should you doubt of success? (2 Chronicles 14:11).
4. Help in want (Isaiah 41:17-19). There is spiritual thirst quenched and spiritual refreshment provided. The desert becomes a lake, the wilderness a garden. God opens streams, not only in the valleys, but on the hills; “high places.” This points to something above Nature. The whole description is obviously figurative, representing “comfort and refreshment and the largest spiritual blessings. As before there was an allusion to the call of Abraham and the exodus, so here to the journey through the desert when the rock was smitten. The words may include mercies shown to the exiles on their return; but their chief reference must be to the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and also in times to come” (Birks).
Now, what is the intention of this promise of manifold help? “Fear not, be not dismayed,” or, as it has been rendered, “Look not anxiously around you for help.” Rather look up (Psalms 121:2). Vain is the inward look, for we have no help in ourselves; vain is the look around, for no man can redeem his brother; but look up (Psalms 60:11), and listen to the Divine promise.—William Guthrie, M.A.
GOD’S FRIEND
(A Sermon to the Young.)
Isaiah 41:8. Abraham, my friend.
God here puts a very great honour him His friend. What greater honour upon His servant Abraham. He calls could there be than this? Notice—
I. How ABRAHAM CAME TO BE THE FRIEND OF GOD
Suppose you met on the street a poor, ragged boy, you would very likely pity him, and might say, “That poor boy has got a bad home, and he will grow up a bad man, and will have no one to show him how to live an honest life.” If you wished that you and he might become friends, what would be the first thing to do? Would you not have to tell him that you wanted to become his friend? He would no more think of asking you to be his friend than you would think of asking the Queen to be your friend. God wanted Abraham to be His friend, but how was Abraham to know that unless God told him? Abraham was in the midst of men who were worshippers of idols. As the Psalmist says, “They have mouths,” &c. (Psalms 135:16-17). God knew that Abraham would never come to be His friend unless He spoke to him first. (Read Genesis 12:1-3.)
II. THE TIME WHEN ABRAHAM BECAME GOD’S FRIEND.
It was at a time when God had very few friends in this world. No doubt He had many friends in other worlds, but He had not made many in this. How many had He in the days of Noah? It is possible that He had not even so many in the days of Abraham.
There are some parts of the world where you have no friends,—in Patagonia, for instance, where all the people are savages. Some good missionaries went there once, and tried to teach the people about the Saviour; but they would not listen to Christ’s servants, and starved them to death. Suppose one of the wild savages had taken the missionaries’ part and become their friend, do you not think he would have been a brave man? But why do many people in this country dislike good people so much? It is just because they are good. Bad men do not want to be better; they “love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.” It is sad to think that even yet God has more enemies than friends in the world; but He has many more friends than in the day when He called Abraham, and told him to go and live amongst His enemies.
III. HOW ABRAHAM SHOWED THAT HE WAS A FRIEND OF GOD
1. “He builded an altar to the Lord” (Genesis 12:7-8). He was like a sailor or soldier who is not afraid to carry the Queen’s standard into the midst of her enemies.
2. He always believed what God told him. God promised him a son, and although he had to wait a very long time before he had the son, he never gave up believing in God; he said to himself, “God would never have made me a promise if He did not mean to keep it; I am quite sure He is able to perform His promise, and that He will do so some day.” True friends always believe each other.
3. Abraham always tried to do what God told him. He told him to offer up the beloved son, for whom he had waited so many years. And Abraham showed that he was willing to obey the voice of God. In the end he was taught a great lesson, viz., that God did not approve of human sacrifice—a thing commonly done—and so a ram was provided (Genesis 22.)
IV. LESSONS.
1. You can have Abraham’s name. You, too, may be God’s friend. Remember what Jesus said (John 15:14; Mark 3:35).
2. If you wish to have Abraham’s great name, you must often speak to God. The comfort of having friends is that we can talk to them, and tell them our troubles, and find that they share our joys.
3. If you choose God for your friend, you will have made the best possible choice. Whatever other friends you have, accept the loving invitation of your Heavenly Father—let Him be your dearest Friend; become, like Abraham, “the friend of God.”—Sermons for Boys and Girls, pp. 80–87.
(A Sermon for Adults.)
Much that is honourable is recorded of Abraham in the Holy Scriptures, but nothing equal to this. He was a man of extensive possessions, a venerable patriarch, the founder of two powerful nations, the ancestor of a double race of kings, the father of the faithful, but, as his highest distinction, “he was called the friend of God” (cf. 2 Chronicles 20:7; James 2:23).
1. THE DISPOSITION AND CONDUCT OF GOD TOWARDS ABRAHAM
He distinguished him as His friend—
1. By His large munificence. It is not perhaps too much to affirm that God gave to Abraham more than He ever gave to any beside. He gave him not only “exceeding great and precious promises,” but the actual fufilment of them in all their variety and extent, either to himself or his posterity. The grant of Jehovah to this patriarch included a son in his old age, and that his descendants should inherit the fertile land of Canaan; that he should become the father of many and mighty nations, and especially that in him all the families of the earth should be blessed. What does He give to others whom He designates His friends? “His own Son,” “all spiritual blessings,” “a heavenly country,” “a crown of glory.”
2. By His intimate communion with him. “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.” In the plains of Mamre, as Abraham sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day, the Lord appeared to him in all the condescension of His favour, attended by two celestial messengers in visible form: there He conversed with him, and the communion He maintained was intimate and friendly in an unusual degree (Psalms 25:14; Isaiah 57:15).
3. By His affectionate confidence in him. “Shall I hide from Abraham the thing which I do?” He meditated the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; but how can He conceal the intention from Abraham, His friend? He told him, therefore, of the judgment which He was about to execute on the guilty cities. The sentiment which Amos and our Lord express is remarkable (Amos 3:7; John 15:15).
4. By His sacred fidelity to him. At an early period Jehovah entered into covenant with His servant, as a man covenants with his friend; and He sware unto him because He loved him. He made the most solemn engagements to visit him with favour, and ratified these engagements in the most clear and condescending manner. Were they ever violated? No! As often, therefore, as the appellation “the God of Abraham” occurs, we have a recognition of covenant transactions and an appeal to testimony of inviolable faithfulness. The covenant of God is His solemn promise; and this He hath given not to Abraham only, but to every believer as His “friend” (Hebrews 6:17-18).
II. ABRAHAM’S DISPOSITION AND CONDUCT TOWARDS GOD.
Friendship ought to be mutual. Observe—
1. Abraham’s steady faith in God. “He believed in God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God” (James 2:23). Faith was the grace for which he was most remarkable, and in which he particularly excelled. He is denominated “faithful Abraham,” and the “father of the faithful.” “In hope he believed against hope, and was strong in faith, giving glory to God.” In such degree as we live in the exercise of faith we are entitled to this honourable distinction, “the friends of God.” Faith in God is cordial reliance on His testimony. It is “taking God at His word” (H. E. I. 1877–1881).
2. Abraham’s holy fellowship with God. He was much devoted to God, and enjoyed special nearness to Him. At the time when he removed from place to place, it is remarked that wherever he rested, “there he built an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the Name of the Lord.” We need only to instance his intercession on behalf of Sodom. (Read Genesis 18) Thus let your life be a life of fellowship with Heaven; and the closer this communion is maintained, the higher your enjoyment will rise. Friends love to converse with each other, and do you converse with God.
3. Abraham’s cheerful obedience to God. We have many facts in proof of this assertion. When he “went out not knowing whither he went,” it was in obedience to the command of God. When he manifested such a temper of peace in the separation which occurred between him and Lot, it was in compliance with a heavenly ruling in his heart. But the most prominent act, the noblest proof of the patriarch’s obedience, relates to the sacrifice of his son (Genesis 22:2; Hebrews 11:17-19). Let it be remembered our obedience is the best proof of character, and the surest test of the disposition of the heart (John 15:14).
IMPROVEMENT.—
1. Learn the true dignity of man. It is to have fellowship with Heaven and friendship with God; being the “children of God,” &c.
2. Be thankful for the grace which you have found. Once you were “children of wrath,” &c., now friends.
3. Confide more implicitly and affectionately in Him who hath done so much for you. Friends have a mutual interest in what each other is.
4. Enjoy your comforts with grateful satisfaction. What a friend gives us he wishes us to enjoy (H. E. I. 307).
5. Learn to endure trials with calm submission. We can bear that from a friend which we cannot bear from an enemy.
6. Beware you offend not this Friend. “I was wounded in the house of my friends.” The question which Absalom put to Hushai is pointed and appropriate: “Is this thy kindness to thy friend?”—Thornhill Kidd: Village Sermons, pp. 310–318.
THE SWEET HARP OF CONSOLATION
Isaiah 41:10. Fear thou not; for I am with thee.
Saul was subject to fits of deep despondency, but when David played on his harp the evil spirit departed, overcome by the subduing melody. The text is such a harp. Its notes quiver to the height of ecstasy, or descend to the hollow bass of the deepest grief.
I. NOTE THE TIMES WHEN ITS SWEET STRAINS ARE MOST NEEDED.
1. When we are racked with much physical pain.
2. In our relative sorrows, borne personally by those dear to us.
3. When all the currents of providence run counter to us; when, after taking arms against a sea of troubles, we are being swept down the stream.
4. In the midst of unusual responsibilities, heavy labours, and great enterprises.
5. When one stands alone in the midst of opposition.
6. When we go down to death.
Thus all through life the saints march to the music of this harp, as the Israelites set forward to the notes of the silver trumpets.
II. HEAR ITS NOTES DISTINCTLY.
Their sweetness melts into each other, but each string may be touched severally and by itself. “Fear thou not; for I am with thee.” What does it mean?
1. I am with thee in deepest sympathy. As Baxter puts it—
“Christ leads me through no darker rooms
Then He went through before.”
2. The Lord is with us in community of interests. God Himself would be dishonoured if true believers should fail.
3. I am with thee in providential aid. We do not believe half enough in the providence of God. Providence is strikingly punctual.
4. God is with us in secret sustaining power. It is said of Christ, “There appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him.”
5. By sensible manifestations of His presence. These are made to the opening spiritual sense. This cannot be described. Who shall describe gleams of the sunlight of Paradise? But we can be as sure of them as we are sure that we are in the body, and see the rays of the sun. In such moments—
“Should earth against my soul engage,
And hellish darts be hurled,
Then I can smile at Satan’s rage,
And face a frowning world.”
III. MEDITATE MUCH UPON THE SWEETNESS OF THOSE NOTES.
1. The comfort of the text excels all other comfort under heaven. God’s “I am with thee” is better than the kindest assurance of the best of friends.
2. There is here all the comfort that heaven itself could afford. We have the chariots of God, which are twenty thousand; but better than that, we have God Himself.
3. Here is something sufficient for all emergencies. In the subsequent part of this chapter we find one engaged in a service, and it is written, “I will strengthen thee,” &c.; then he is engaged in warfare (Isaiah 41:15); then he becomes a traveller (Isaiah 41:17-18); then a husbandman (Isaiah 41:19); so, no matter where we may be, God is with us.
4. Divide the words, and view them separately. I am; here is self-existence, eternity, independence. I AM becomes the friend of His people. Note the tense of it—not I was, not I shall be; but I am. I am—what? I am with thee, who art poor and feeble.
IV. THE TEXT NEEDS THAT THE EAR BE TUNED BEFORE ITS MUSIC CAN BE APPRECIATED.
It is not every one that understands the delights of harmony in ordinary music. You must have faith,—the more faith, the sweeter music. You must believe in a real God—not in a myth; your faith must give you eyes to see God. Such trust is human omnipotence. May God bless us with this faith!—C. H. Spurgeon: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit (1867), pp. 385–396.
Men are liable to be afraid whenever they find themselves in the midst of perils. They need a prescription against fear, not against feeling. Peril surrounds us like an atmosphere. “Through much tribulation,” of some sort, “we must enter the kingdom” of heaven (John 16:33). The old Stoics believed that man became excellent in proportion as he became hardened. Christianity has no sympathy with this prescription—insensibility to pain or pleasure.
I. Some of the things of daily life that man is apt to fear. Take not a human catalogue, but a Divine one (Romans 8:35). We find there the whole list of what man has more or less to go through. (Explain and dwell upon the perils in detail.)
II. The basis of our triumphs over every fear is God present with us. To be alone is to aggravate our grief. In every condition God says, “I am with thee.” What is the nature of this presence? It is not God’s essential, but His special presence—cheering, protecting, preserving. Will inspire you with fearlessness. Mark the speciality of it, “I am with thee”—with the individual Christian.—J. Cumming, D.D.: The Daily Life, pp. 335–360.
AWAY WITH FEAR
Isaiah 41:10. Fear thou not, &c.
The later Chapter s of Isaiah are full of encouragement. Commotions may rend the nations, but God’s people shall abide in safety. Their safety in Him contrasts with the insecurity of those that trusted in idols, the work of their own hands. The Lord, moreover, had especially adopted and chosen Israel. He had called Abraham out of a distant land; had given him importance and influence; had settled the countrv on his posterity; had never cast them off, notwithstanding their frequent deviations from the line of fidelity to Him. In them the prophet sees the representatives of those whom at all times He will distinguish by His special regard. The truth contained in our text is applicable always. It is everlasting truth. It is the Christian antidote to fear. The Christian’s confidence is encouraged; his timidity is deprecated.
I. CONFIDENCE ENCOURAGED.
The encouragement is drawn—
1. From God’s relation to His people. “I am thy God.” Dark is the lot of the man who has no God, who has lost faith. But there are many to whom God is intellectually a truth, to whom, nevertheless, He is not a reality. They live without Him. No praise, no prayer ascends to Him. There is no regard to Him in their daily life. His authority is a dead letter to them. The moral influence of this is perceptible in their indifference to spiritual influences; in the earthliness of their principles; in their low standard of obligation; in their helplessness when overtaken by calamity. In all this the Chiristian possesses an unspeakable advantage. With his faith in God he lives in a higher atmosphere of thought, and feeling, and moral impulse. In the deepest trouble, the fact that he has a God is a stay. For the Christian idea of God is not that of a cold abstraction or an object of awful dread. It is warmed and glorified by the assurance of personal interest. Reconciled to Him by faith in the death of His Son, consecrated by a complete surrender, devoted by a love that takes Him into their inmost heart, they appropriate to themselves all that God is. All His power, and love, and faithfulness is theirs. “I am thy God.”
2. From God’s presence with His people. “I am with thee.” Is He not everywhere? Throughout the universe no place can be found where God is not. By this assurance He means something more than the universally diffused presence of His personality. He is with them in a sense different and peculiar; as a Friend for the purpose of influence, animation, protection. We are morally stronger, happier, better because He is there. We feel that a blessing comes with Him.
3. From God’s promises to His people. How numerous are the promises! God’s Word is like a garden gay with flowers of every beauteous hue, which His children are at liberty to gather freely. We need strength; life’s battle must be fought; life’s work must be done. Sometimes we feel like men who have no power. But, as when we have addressed ourselves to some daily task, our energy was found equal to it, so in the spiritual conflict and work we have found ourselves supplied with energy and power from invisible sources. Was it not God who, according to His promise, invigorated mind and will? Was it not Christ who strengthened us? “I will strengthen thee.” Or suppose the burden has been too great for our unaided strength. One cannot carry the burden, but two may. One cannot accomplish the work, but a number can. One soldier cannot fight the battle, but the army may fight and win. “I will help.” Invisible hands take hold of the labour. Invisible armies range themselves in serried ranks at our side. Angelic hosts come flying down with aid to such as cry to heaven. Or are you sinking down beneath the floods of trouble? All power over yourself has gone. Already you are encircled in the arms of death. Unexpectedly you feel another arm underneath and around you. It lifts you above the wave. It is the everlasting arm. It is the right hand of God’s righteousness. It upholds and sustains you until the peril is overpast. It places your feet on a rock. Such are some of the promises. They are all Yea and Amen in Christ Jesus unto them that believe. In combination with their interest in God and His perpetual presence they are the grounds of their encouragement and the antidote to their fears.
II. TIMIDITY DEPRECATED.
“Fear thou not; be not dismayed.” The future is before us; we cannot be indifferent to it. The state of mind deprecated is that which is disturbed and anxious because calamity is apprehended. Dismay looks on every side anxiously, like one who thinks himself pursued. It destroys comfort and energy. The timid soldier is a coward when he should be courageous and brave. Timid Christians, whose faith is feeble, who are the victims of fear must be encouraged by the antidotes to fear that are found in the Divine relation to His people, in the Divine presence, in the precious promises.
1. Do you fear the non-performance of your duties? Such as holy obedience, self-discipline, the consistent walk of a Christian, the Christian work which the Lord calls on you to do. Be clear that it is your duty; that He calls you. And then address yourself boldly to it; not in your own strength, but looking for His help. “I will strengthen. I will help.”
2. Do you fear the power of temptation? Some unknown and undefined temptation in the future, or some known, present, easily besetting sin. Is your face against it? Keep it against it and fight. But seek His strength.
3. Do you fear the approach of trouble? The mysterious future. Some trouble looming. Jesus is near, though you may not perceive Him. As when He walked on the sea. “It is I; be not afraid.”
4. Do you fear the hour of death? It is a dark valley. It is a cold river. You shudder. Jesus removes the fear (Hebrews 2:14-15). Your chariot waits.
This antidote to fear is addressed to faith. We are not to look at the seen, but at the unseen. Let fear be dismissed. Let Christian courage triumph.—J. Rawlinson.
There is here strikingly brought before us the superiority of the religious man over the worldling. But even he is subject to fear. Idolatry and superstition have easily gained a footing in man’s heart in all times. On account of these God’s people were about to be sent into captivity. The prophet is stirred up to cheer the faithful among them. Discrimination is the soul of instruction. There is an outward literal idolatry, and there is an inward spiritual idolatry. The text comes to cheer those amongst us who are determined to stand out against the latter, to which the temptation is as strong as ever. How are we to stand?
I. LOOK AT SOME OF THE REASONS WHY GOD’S SERVANTS HAVE OCCASION TO FEAR.
1. Our own nature is our enemy. “The flesh lusteth against the spirit.” But is not the believer’s nature a changed one? The believer is regenerated; but to grow from childhood to the manhood of faith implies vast experience. That experience declares that whilst we are justified through the righteousness of Christ, sanctification is a gradual work. There is the Christ aspect and the man aspect of this question. He who knows well what this means does not wonder that the Apostle feared lest he should be “a castaway” (H. E. I. 1053–1062).
2. The world is our enemy. To make the world subserve our highest interests is a lesson beyond the alphabet of the Christian life. The young Christian is exposed to fear of the world’s ridicule and opposition.
3. There is also the great enemy. In seeking to fulfil life’s duties, you will find this enemy, as Jesus did in the wilderness (1 Peter 5:8; H. E. I. 1666–1674).
4. The thought of fear. The very thought of it; the possibility of it (Jeremiah 12:5).
II. REGARD THE ENCOURAGEMENTS OF THE TEXT.
1. The first encouragement is found in the Divine presence: “I am with thee.” The first disciples had confidence and courage in Christ’s presence (John 14.) The soldiers of Napoleon felt no fear in his presence; but cried, “Long live the Emperor! lead us, and we go to victory or death.” The believer should dismiss his fears when he hears the Eternal say, “I am with thee.”
2. Here is the most endearing relationship in the universe. “Be not dismayed; for I am thy God.” Supreme and blessed assurance is found in being able to say, “My Lord and my God!” One of the finest things after affliction is to find strength returning and weakness departing. The downcast may know gladness and gratitude as they hear God saying, “I will strengthen thee.”
3. Here is a recognition of our need. “I will help thee.” This implies that we are known to be carrying a burden too heavy for us. We are tired; but there is a Traveller by our side, who seeks to help us.
4. He offers effectual support: “Yea, I will uphold with the right hand of My righteousness.” The burden-bearer is ready to fall by not allowing the Lord to take his heavy load; but the Lord is saying to him, “I will uphold thee.” Of what sort is this upholding? There is no left-hand work with God; no sinister work; it is all right-hand work. All that it brings is “righteousness.” To appreciate this encouragement is to know that there is none like it.
Carry the lesson to your own blessed experience. Fear not; care not for the world’s scorn or the world’s smile. Remember there is one thing needful, and hold it fast.—A. Morton Brown, D.D.: Christian World Pulpit, vol. xv. pp. 353–355.
To whom are these words spoken? for we must not steal from God’s Scripture any more than from man’s treasury. We have no more right to take a promise to ourselves that does not belong to us than we have to take another man’s purse. They were spoken—
1. To God’s chosen ones (Isaiah 41:8).
2. To those whom God has called (Isaiah 41:9), effectually, personally called, as Mary was when Jesus said unto her, “Mary,” and that gracious voice thrilled through her soul, and she responded to Him and said to Him, “Master!”
3. They are God’s servants (Isaiah 41:8), doing not their will, but His will.
4. They are those whom He has not rejected from His service, in spite of the imperfections of which they are penitently conscious (Isaiah 41:9). To these every honey-dropping word of this text belongs.
I. A VERY COMMON DISEASE OF GOOD MEN—FEAR.
1. This disease came into man’s heart with sin. Adam never was afraid of God till he had broken His commands, but then (Genesis 3:8). It is consciousness of sin that “makes cowards of us all.” Sin is the mother of the fear which hath torment.
2. Fear continues in good men because sin continues in them. If they had attained to perfect love, it would cast out fear. But this is not their blessedness yet, and they are often cast down (H. E. I. 1051–1062).
3. Fear coming in by sin, and being sustained by sin, readily finds food upon which it may live. When the believer looks within, he sees abundant reasons for fear. Grace is there, but fear is blind to the better nature, and fixes its gaze upon that which is carnal (H. E. I. 2680, 4470–4474).
4. If fear finds food within, it also very readily finds food without. Sometimes it is poverty, or sickness, or the recollection of the past, or dread of the future. Desponding people can find reasons for fear where no fear is. They have a little trouble-factory in their hearts, and they sit down and use their imaginations to meditate terror.
5. In certain instances the habit of fearing has reached a monstrous growth. Some think it a right thing to be always fearing, and are half suspicious of a man who has strong faith. They even call assurance “presumption.” Shun the unbelief that apes humility, and seek after that unstaggering faith in the naked promise of a faithful God which is the truest meekness in His sight. I would not blame all who are much given to fear, for in some it is rather their disease than their sin, and more their misfortune than their fault. In God’s family there are some who are constitutionally weak, and will probably never outgrow that weakness until they have entered into rest. I would give them just enough of the tonic of censure to make them feel that it is not right to be unbelieving, but I would not censure their despondency so much as to make them think they are not God’s children.
6. Even the strongest of God’s servants are sometimes the subjects of fear. His mightiest heroes sometimes have their fainting-fits. Elijah (1 Kings 19:4).
II. GOD’S COMMAND AGAINST FEAR.
“Fear thou not; be not dismayed.” That precept is absolute and unqualified; we are not to fear at all. Why?
1. Because it is sinful. It almost always results from unbelief, the sin of sins. Unbelief takes away the very Godhead from God; for if He be not true, if He be not fit to be believed, He is not God.
2. It feeds sin. The man who believes in God will fight with any temptation, but the man who does not believe in Him is ready to fall into any snare (H. E. I. 1920–1922). He who cannot trust God in times of difficulty soon begins to trust in the devil, and to adopt some of his expedients for relief; and he who trusts the devil soon finds himself in the snare.
3. It injures yourself. Nothing can weaken you so much or make you so unhappy as to be distrusting (H. E. I. 2050–2054).
4. Fear weakens the believer’s influence, and so causes mischief to others. Converts are not brought to Christ through unbelieving Christians. It is faith that wins souls (H. E. I. 1090). For your own sake, for your neighbour’s sake, fear not, neither be dismayed!
III. THE PROMISES WHICH GOD GIVES TO PREVENT FEAR AND DISMAY.
1. Many a man fears because he is afraid of loneliness. More or less we must be alone in the service of God—in suffering—in old age—or in a strange land. But, believer, you are not alone, because God is with you. Omnipotence will be with you to be your strength, omniscience to be your wisdom, immutability to be your succour, all the attributes of God to be your treasury. “Fear thou not, for I am with thee” (P. D. 3145).
2. Men fear they may lose all they have in the world, and they know very well that if they lose their property they usually lose their friends (H. E. I. 23, 24, 2151–2159). But here the second promise comes in, “Be not dismayed, for I am thy God.” Jonah’s gourd was withered, but Jonah’s God was not. Your goods may go, but your God will not; and having Him, you may laugh at penury and distress, for you shall lack no good thing (Psalms 84:11-12).
3. Fear sometimes arises from a sense of personal weakness. “I have a battle to fight, and I am very weak; I have a work to do for God before I die, and I have not sufficient power to perform it.” But here comes in the next word of the text: “I will strengthen thee.” God can, if He wills it, put Samson’s strength into an infant’s arm. Transfer the figure to spiritual strength. The strength we need for our work does not lie in us, or it would be all over with us. It comes from God, and He will give it. Preacher, Sunday-school teacher, look up to Him and take courage. There was a bush in the wilderness, and it was nothing to look at—nothing but a bush; but oh! how it glowed with splendour when God came into it; it burned with fire, and yet “was not consumed.” God can come into you, and can make you blaze with glory like the bush in Horeb.
4. Some fear that friendly succour will fail. A fear apt to trouble those who have large purposes of benevolence towards their fellow-men. The cooperation of others seems necessary to their accomplishment, and in the critical moment they may fall away. But let them note this word: “I will help thee.” [1348] If the work on which we have set our heart is God’s work, He will send to our aid all the succour we need.
[1348] You know what a grand matter is God’s help. A minister was one day bringing his books upstairs into another room, for he was going to have his study on the first floor instead of downstairs, and his little boy wanted to help father carry some of the books. “Now,” said the father, “I knew he could not do it, but as he wanted to be doing something, to please him and to do him good by encouraging his industry, I told him he might take a book and carry it up.” So away he went, and picked out one of the biggest volumes—Caryl on Job or Poli Synopsis, I should think—and when he had climbed a step or two up the stairs, down he sat and began to cry. He could not manage to carry his big book any further; he was disappointed and unhappy. How did the matter end? Why, the father had to go to the rescue, and carry both the great book and the little man. So, when the Lord gives us a work to do, we are glad to do it, but our strength is not equal to the work, and then we sit down and cry, and it comes to this, that our blessed Father carries the work and carries the little man too, and then it is all done, and done gloriously. It is a simple illustration, but may it comfort some desponding heart. “Yea, I will help thee.”—Spurgeon.
5. Many a child of God is afflicted with a fear that he shall one day, in some unguarded moment, bring dishonour upon the cross of Christ. This is a very natural fear, and in some respects a very proper fear. But grasp this precious word: “I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” The self-same hand that spans both sea and shore bears up the unpillared arch of heaven and holds the stars in their place. Can it not bear you up? Oh, rest upon it, and you shall not be cast down! (H. E. I. 2363–2373, 2791).
Here you have angels’ food; nay, the very bread of life itself lies in these choice words. The only fear I have is lest you should miss them through unbelief. Go home, and take this text with you in the hand of faith. It shall prove to you like the widow’s barrel of meal and cruse of oil.—C. H. Spurgeon: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 930.
I. There are fears which rise in the heart at the thought of God. Let a man confront himself even in imagination with Jehovah, and the first and strongest emotion within him is terror. We have all trembled when in darkness and solitude we have thought of God (Job 4:13-17). An horror of great darkness creeps over us when first the truth takes possession of us that we shall stand naked and open before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. The root of all this is our guilt. We have broken God’s law, and however we may forget that at other times, it is the first thing we remember when we feel that God is near, so that if we could, we would flee from His presence. How many illustrations of this we have in the Scriptures! (Genesis 3:8; Exodus 20:19; Judges 13:20; Isaiah 6:5; Luke 2:9; Luke 5:8). Whenever in our own case anything occurs which seems to us to belong to that mystic borderland between the visible and the unseen, we have the same spirit-shudder, which must be traced to the same cause. The mercury becomes peculiarly sensitive when the thunder-cloud is overhead; the needle is most restless when some magnetic substance is near; and so when conscience, by reason of any occurrence in providence, feels God to be close at hand, it becomes most active and fills the soul with alarm. There are few who would not quake with fear if they could be compelled to think for but one short hour on God, judgment, and eternity.
Now see how the Gospel meets this dread with its benignant “fear not.” In all the cases in the Bible in which God is represented as coming to talk with men, He begins with these words, “Fear not.” He thereby says, in effect, that we have a wrong idea concerning Him when we think of Him with terror. We regard Him as an enemy, whereas He is our best friend. We run away from Him, when, if we really knew Him, we should betake ourselves to Him in the sure confidence that He will receive us. You ask me how I know all this. I point in answer to the cross of Christ, whereon our innocent Substitute gave Himself up to death for us, that we might be righteously forgiven. That cross, with all its mysterious accompaniments, was God’s great “Fear not!” spoken to the trembling heart of humanity. It is the declaration of His love to thee. Take hold of that, and thy fear will give place to gratitude, as His forgiveness comes into thy soul (H. E. I. 2233–2236, 2319–2321).
II. There are fears which arise in the heart as we think of our fellowmen. We have been often hampered in our discharge of duty by our regard to those who are around us (Proverbs 29:25). There is a course of conduct which we clearly see that it is our duty to take, but if we follow it we shall forfeit the friendship of many whose esteem we have been accustomed to value, and so we pause and try to compromise with conscience. Or we are afraid of the opposition of our fellows, and so we are brought to a halt. We have many such cases described in Scripture. Abraham lying to preserve his life; Aaron making the golden calf to save himself from being stoned; Saul sinning because he feared the people and obeyed their voice; Herod beheading John the Baptist for his oath’s sake and the sake of them that were with him; Peter vacillating at Antioch when he saw those who had come from Jerusalem. And we have been ourselves too often in the same condemnation.
Now see how the Gospel comes to us with its “Fear not” for this ensnaring trepidation. It assures us that God is on our side. It declares that He will never leave us nor forsake us. It does not declare, indeed, that we shall have exemption from suffering, but that we shall be upheld under it, and supported through it, and be at length more than conquerors. To die is oftentimes to conquer. Who was the real victor on Calvary? Was it not He who bowed His head and said, “It is finished”? Who was the conqueror when the proto-martyr
“Heeded not reviling tones,
Nor sold his heart to idle moans,
Though cursed and scorned and bruised with stones?”
This “Fear not “does not guarantee immunity from trouble, but it is God’s word of reassurance whispered into the ears of His tempted, tried, and sometimes weak and irresolute people; and when it is heard in faith, the timid one becomes courageous, and takes his place among the heroes of humanity. See the efficacy of this sovereign antidote to the fear of men on those valiant youths who stood before the monarch of Babylon (Daniel 3:16-18). Behold its power in the conduct of the Apostles when they stood before the Council (Acts 5:29). Behold its success in the aged Palissy, when the French monarch said to him in his cell in the Bastile, “Palissy, if you do not recant, I shall be forced to give you up.” And he replied, “Forced, sire; this is not to speak like a king; but they who force you cannot force me. I can die.” And what met the need of these great sufferers is surely sufficient to meet ours. Oh, ye timid ones, who are terrified by the men around you, hear a few reassuring words from God (Deuteronomy 20:3-4; Nehemiah 1:8; Isaiah 41:14-15, and also Isaiah 41:10). There are multitudes of promises of this same character, and if we would but keep hold of them, no mortal influence would ever be able to move us from our purpose, and no storm of temptation would ever drive us from our anchorage. The Lord is on thy side, therefore go forward undauntedly, for He will make rough places smooth, and crooked things straight before thee (Revelation 2:10).
III. There are fears which spring up in the heart at the thought of the future. We know not what a day may bring forth, and whenever we permit ourselves to think of what may come upon us, except when we do so in the light of the Gospel, we become despondent and afraid. In all there is some anxiety. In some it may have regard to temporal concerns. In others it may respect their spiritual safety. In others it may centre in their children. In others, still, it may relate to the time and manner of their death. In many more it may be the future of the spirit-world that puts fear into their souls, and the thought of judgment and eternity may ride like a nightmare over their troubled breasts.
Each has his own dread, but see how, with its consoling “Fear not,” the Gospel hushes the heart of each to peace, even as a mother calms her troubled infant into quietness (Matthew 6:25-34). In so far as the future of this world is concerned Jesus says, “Take no anxious thought for it.” Learn a lesson here from the great German reformer, who, in a time of terrible perplexity and with a troubled heart, looked out into the twilight, and saw a bird hop into the shade of a thick tree. It stayed a few minutes on its first perch to sing its even-song, and then leaping upon a higher branch, it placed its head below its wing and went to sleep. “Happy little bird,” said Luther; “he sings his song and goes to sleep, and lets God think for him; and I will do the same.” Or is it your spiritual safety that disturbs you? Then hear what Jesus says (John 10:27-29). Or are you anxious for your children? Then the promise is unto you and to your children; and if you will only do your present duty by them, and commit them in earnest prayer to God, all will yet be well with them. Or is it death you fear? Then for that there is a special assurance in these words addressed to the Patmos seer (Revelation 1:18): “Fear not; I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold I am alive for evermore, and have the keys of Hades and of death.” Yes! at the girdle of the Son of man hang the keys of Hades and of death. The door for your departure will not open until He unlock it; and when He opens it, He will be there Himself to greet you. Why then be afraid? (H. E. I. 1634, 1642, 1643). Then as to judgment and eternity, why should we fear for them except for sin? and has not Jesus appeared already to take away sin by the sacrifice of Himself? So we come back to the great centre of the Gospel, the atoning death of Christ, through faith in which alone we shall have boldness in the day of judgment, and happiness throughout eternity. What has the Christian to fear from a Judge who is at the same time his Redeemer? And if Christ be with us through eternity, that is all we need.—W. M. Taylor, D.D.
Fear is very prevalent among Christian people, and is productive of very disastrous results. It seems to be the natural temperament of some and the easy habit of others. In the pious soul a more improper mental attitude could scarce be indulged; for of all men the Christian has the least to fear, as no ultimate injury can come to him, even though apparent dangers threaten him.
I. THE OCCASIONS OF FEAR.
Sometimes occasioned by—
1. The circumstances of the Christian life (Matthew 14:30). Fear is often awakened by life’s physical necessities, by its secular conditions, by its intellectual anxieties, and by its moral inability to achieve duty in its highest method.
2. The phenomena of the material universe (Mark 4:40). Man feels his weakness when brought into contact with the unyielding powers of nature; they heed not his cries, they care not for his rebuke. They are destructive. Man trembles before them. He fears lest they should lead him to the grave, or do him bodily harm. Such phenomena ought not to render timid the Christian heart, as the elements of nature are ruled by the Father’s hand.
3. The phenomena of the spirit-world. Sometimes men imagine that they see visitants from the other world of being; and these, coming in strange garb, with mysterious tidings and ghastly appearance, inspire the human heart with fear. Such timidity is a folly. Heaven has better missions for the immortal good than to send them to frighten the inhabitants of the earth; and hell takes better care of its unhappy crowd than to allow them a momentary release. Such visitations are imaginary. Only the superstitious are troubled with them.
4. Manifestations of the Divine presence (Luke 5:8; Revelation 1:17). The soul of man is too weak and sinful to bear without fear the near and the immediate approach of God.
II. THE CONSEQUENCES OF FEAR.
It often causes men—
1. To sink into the troubles of life (Matthew 14:31). Fear always makes men sink in their own estimation as valorous; in the estimation of others as cowards; and often into sore perplexities of circumstances.
2. To be anxious without true occasion. God’s ancient people—the disciples. Fear always makes men over-anxious, and makes them imagine danger when there is none. It makes them timorous in every enterprise, even though they have a refuge in the event of peril.
3. To be unfit for the duties intrusted to them (Revelation 1:19). It is not probable that a timid Christian will be very efficient in the public duties of life.
III. THE CURE OF FEAR.
Fear not? Fear will be cured by—
1. A thorough reliance on the providence of God.
2. A complete knowledge of Christ (Revelation 1:17-18). The more we know of Christ in His offices and attributes, His holy sympathy with men, the less will be our fear.
3. A holy mastery over self, obtained by a consciousness of moral purity. A strong soul, well ruled by the will, will not often be timid, especially if it can fall back upon a pure inner life. Sin is the largest cause of fear.
LESSONS.—
1. To trust God.
2. To know Christ.
3. To rule self.—J. S. Exell: The Study, Third Series, p. 576.
THE BEST HELPER
(Sermon for the Young.)
Isaiah 41:10. I will help thee.
Two persons are spoken of here: I and thee. “I,” the person speaking, is Jesus, our God and Saviour; and “thee,” the person spoken to, means everybody who needs His help and seeks it. In this passage, then, Jesus is presented to our notice as a Helper. We may have many helpers, but Jesus is the best. There are four reasons why Jesus is the best Helper. He is so—
I. Because He is always near to help. If we were hungry, it would not help us to know that a hundred miles off there was a nice loaf of bread. If we were travelling in the desert of Arabia, would it help us any to remember that in England there were many cool and sparkling springs of water? God is always near when people are in trouble. He always could help them if He saw it best. But sometimes He sees good reasons for not helping those who are in need. E.g., there are the wicked men nailing Jesus to the cross. He is God’s own dear Son. God loves Him as no other father ever loved a son. God is near. He sees all His sufferings. The angels of heaven see them. Multitudes of them would fly in an instant to His relief, if God would let them. But no! And why was this? Ah! there was reason enough for it. If Jesus had not died, none of us would have been saved. And just so in every case; there is always a good reason for it, although we cannot always tell what the reason is.
II. Because He is always able to help. Sometimes there are many helpers, and they are near at hand, but they are not able to help. We read a great deal in the Bible about those whom Jesus has helped. There we find how He helped Abel when he offered an acceptable sacrifice to God. He helped Noah to build the ark which saved himself and his family. He helped Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. He helped David to slay the great giant with nothing in his hand but a sling and a stone. He helped Daniel when he was cast into the lions’ den. He helped Daniel’s three friends when they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. He helped Paul to preach the Gospel; and, in the days of cruel persecution, He helped the “noble army of martyrs” to bear with patience the chain and the dungeon; yea, and even to sing for joy when the flames were kindling around them and the fire consuming their bodies. Rich men can help us with their money, wise men with their counsels, and Christians with their prayers; but Jesus can help us in everything. He can help you in studying your lessons and in all your daily duties. He can help kings and governors to rule and subjects to obey. He can help ministers to preach and people to hear. He can help parents and children, teachers and scholars. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ strengthening (or helping) me:” and we may say and do the same, if we look to Him for His help.
III. Because He is always willing to help. We read in the Bible about the rich man and Lazarus: the rich man was able to help, but he was not willing. Jesus is always willing; He may not send the help just in the way we wish, but, in one way or other, He is sure to send it. He tells us that He is more willing to help those who come to Him than parents are to give bread to their children.
IV. Because He is always kind in helping. There are some people who are willing and able to help others, and who do help them too, but it is done in a rough manner. On one occasion, while Jesus was on earth, the Pharisees brought to Him a woman who had been guilty of a great sin. They wanted Him to say that she ought to be stoned to death. Jesus said, “Let him that is without sin among you cast the first stone at her.” Their consciences smote them, and they went out one by one. And He said unto her, “Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. Go, and sin no more.” In that dark hour, near the Crucifixion, He took His disciples into the garden of Gethsemane, and asked them to watch while He went on to pray. When He returned, He found them sleeping, and all He said was, “What! could ye not watch with me one hour?” He tells us that He “will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax.” He compares Himself to a good shepherd, “who carries the lambs in his bosom.” If any came to Him for instruction, He taught them kindly; if any with troubles and afflictions, He sympathised with them and helped them. He gave health to the sick—sight to the blind—strength to the feeble—comfort to the sorrowing—life to the dead. And what He gave was always given with kind, gentle, loving words. And even when reproof and rebuke were necessary, “the law of kindness still dwelt upon His tongue.” And He is the same now; always near to help, always able, always willing, and always kind in helping.—Richard Newton, D.D.: Best Things, pp. 147–160.