FEAR NOT – COMFORT MY PEOPLE

SERMON STARTER

Max Lucado supplies today’s introduction

          A legend from India tells about a mouse who was terrified of cats until a magician agreed to transform him into a cat. That resolved his fear ... until he met a dog, so the magician changed him into a dog. The mouse-turned-cat-turned-­dog was content until he met a tiger-so, once again, the magician changed him into what he feared. But when the tiger came complaining that he had met a hunter, the magician refused to help. "I will make you into a mouse again, for though you have the body of a tiger, you still have the heart of a mouse."  

          Sound familiar? How many people do you know who have built a formidable exterior, only to tremble inside with fear? We tackle our anxieties by taking on the appearance of a tiger. We face our fears with force. Military power, security systems, defense strategy-all reflect a conviction that muscle creates security.

          Or if we don't use force, we try other methods. We stockpile wealth. We seek security in things. We cultivate fame and seek status.

          But do these approaches work? Can power, possessions, or popularity really deliver us from our fears?

          If power could, then Joseph Stalin should have been fearless. Instead, this infamous Russian premier was afraid to go bed. He had seven different bedrooms. Each could be locked as tightly as a safe. In order to foil any would-be assassins, he slept in a different one each night. Five chauffeur-driven limousines transported him wherever he went, each with curtains closed so no one would know which contained Stalin. So deep-seated were his apprehensions that he employed a servant whose sole task was to monitor and protect his tea bags.'

          If possessions conquered fear, the late billionaire Howard Hughes would have been fearless. But you probably know his story. His distrust of people and his paranoia of germs led this billionaire to Mexico, where he died a lonely death as a cadaverous hermit with a belly-length beard and corkscrew fingernails.'

          What about popularity? Beatle John Lennon's fame as a singer, songwriter, and pop icon made him a household word, but his fears brought him misery. His biographers describe him as a frightened man, unwilling to sleep with the lights off and afraid to touch anything because of its filth.'

          Though Stalin, Hughes, and Lennon are extreme cases, they are indicative ones. "Though you have the body of a tiger, you still have the heart of a mouse."           

The Applause of Heaven, copyright [Word Publishing, 1996] Max Lucado, p. 73-74.

used by permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 11, 2010

Pastor Phil Roland, Sheepfold Ministries

 

FEAR NOT – COMFORT MY PEOPLE

Isaiah 43:1-7

“God’s people are in constant need of comfort. Sometimes comfort comes with a gentle pat on the back. Sometimes God’s comfort comes with a sigh. We receive comfort from both God and one another.”                    Pastor Phil

 

Isaiah Chapters 1-39 - The Condemnation of God.

Chapters 40-66 -  The Comfort of God

Chapters 1-39 - Gloom and Doom.

Now in Isa.40:1: “Comfort, comfort my people,says your God.”

The word, “Comfort” brings us Spiritual,Emotional and Mental Relief

 

Several aspects to God’s Comfort:

I. GOD’S COMFORT IS COMPREHENSIVE

            A. God’s Judgment - Isaiah’s First 39 chapters

                        1. OT Prophet is God’s Policeman: Whistle-Blower

                        2. Warning: Coming Wrath of God and Judgment

            B. Prophet Proclaims URGENCY to Comfort God’s People

                        1. Set people free from anxiety

                        2. Keep their eyes on Jesus

 

II. GOD’S COMFORT IS CONSTANT

            A. Note: The number of times scripture says, “I will be with you”

                        1. Eight times in Old Testament

                                    Genesis 26:3

                                    Genesis 31:1

                                    Deuteronomy 31:23

                                    Joshua 1:5

                                    Joshua 3:7

                                    Judges 6:16

                                    1 Kings 11:30

                        2. Isaiah 43:2,3a

                           “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And

                             through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk

                             through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame

                             scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel,

                             your Savior;”

            B. Jesus promises to be w/us in the New Testament – Matt. 28:19-20

            “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given

              to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the

  nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of

  the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have

  commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the

  age." Amen.

Fear Not – Comforting God’s People, p.2

 

                        1. Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us – Hebrews 13:5b

                            “He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

2. He promsed He would send “Another Comforter” – Jn. 14:16

 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter,

   that he may abide with you for ever;”

 

III. GOD’S COMFORT IS COMPASSIONATE              

            A. As a child is comforted by their mother – Isaiah 66:13

                 “As one whom his mother comforts, So I will comfort you; And you shall

                   be comforted in Jerusalem."  

            B. God has a mother-heart and a father-heart

                        1. He feels deeply our pain

                        2. He senses with deepest empathy our anxiety and distress

FEAR NOT

 “But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.” Isaiah.43:1

 

There are 7 reasons why we do not need to be afraid:

1. YOU ARE GOD’S PROPERTY – v. 1b

    "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name;

      You are Mine.”

            a. You have His DNA

            b. His Son is both With You and In You

 

2. YOU ARE PRESERVED BY GOD – v. 2

    “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers,

       they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be

       burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.”

 

3. YOU ARE PROTECTED BY GOD HIMSELF – v. 3a

   “For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;”

 

4. YOU ARE GOD’S PASSION – v. 4     (The Apple of His Eye)

    “Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have

      loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life.”

 

5. YOU ARE SURROUNDED BY THE PRESENCE OF GOD – v. 5a

   “Fear not, for I am with you;”

 

6. YOU HAVE THE PROMISE OF SPIRITUAL SONS AND DAUGHTERS – v. 6

   “I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not keep them

    back!' Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth;”

 

7. YOU HAVE THE PURPOSE OF GOD – v. 7

    “Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have

      formed him, yes, I have made him."

 

 

 

 

FEAR NOT – COMFORT MY PEOPLE, Text:

Isaiah 43:1-7

But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.

2  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.

3  For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.

4  Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life.

5  Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west;

6  I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth;

7  Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him."

 

 

FEAR NOT, FUNNY

Two gas company servicemen, a senior training supervisor and a young trainee were out checking meters in a suburban neighborhood. They parked their truck at the end of the alley and worked their way to the other end. At the last house a woman looking out her kitchen window watched the two men as they checked her gas meter.

Finishing the meter check, the senior supervisor challenged his younger co-worker to a footrace down the alley back to the truck to prove that an older guy could outrun a younger one.

As they came running up to the truck, they realized the lady from that last house was huffing and puffing right behind them. They stopped immediately and asked her what was wrong.

Gasping for breath, she replied, "When I see two gas men running as hard as you two were, I figured I'd better run too!"

 

 

FEAR NOT ILLUSTRATIONS

 

A man who hid for 32 years fearing punishment of pro-Nazi wartime activity says he used to cry when he heard happy voices outside, but dared not show himself even at his mother's funeral. Janez Rus was a young shoemaker when he went into hiding at his sister's farmhouse in June, 1945. He was found years later after she bought a large supply of bread in the nearby village of Zalna. "If I had not been discovered, I would have remained in hiding. So I am happy that this happened," Rus told a reporter. Throughout those years he did nothing. He never left the house, and could only look down at the village in the valley. 

 

Today in the Word, October 17, 1993.

In 1933 during the dark days of the depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt said in a radio speech. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” (George Sweeting, Who Said That? p.196).

 

FEAR NOT FUNNY

Two gas company servicemen, a senior training supervisor and a young trainee were out checking meters in a suburban neighborhood. They parked their truck at the end of the alley and worked their way to the other end. At the last house a woman looking out her kitchen window watched the two men as they checked her gas meter.

Finishing the meter check, the senior supervisor challenged his younger co-worker to a footrace down the alley back to the truck to prove that an older guy could outrun a younger one.

As they came running up to the truck, they realized the lady from that last house was huffing and puffing right behind them. They stopped immediately and asked her what was wrong.

Gasping for breath, she replied, "When I see two gas men running as hard as you two were, I figured I'd better run too!"