I once read the account of a minister who described the most disconcerting experience of his ministry. He told how, that as he began his sermon an elderly woman, seated near the front, opened a little box, took out an elaborate hearing aid, arranged its parts, screwed them together, and adjusted the receiver to her ear. But after listening only a few minutes, she removed the receiver, took the device apart, repacked it in its box, and sat quietly in the pew during the remainder of the sermon. She had decided she didn’t want to hear anymore! Now I hope those of you who need no hearing aids will not shut out the message as effectively as did that elderly woman. I hope to bring the Text into vital contact with your minds and life experiences. I don’t want it said that the Word might have been PROCLAIMED but it wasn’t COMMUNICATED!
So, WE NEED TO TALK! I invite you to turn your Bible to ISAIAH 43:1-5, the Text I have tagged and targeted for Teaching. I want to use this Preaching Moment to highlite this headline: “FACING A FORMIDABLE FUTURE.”
The writer of this Text of Scripture has been called Deutero-Isaiah (i.e., Second Isaiah by the scholars). Being in exile with the captives in Babylon or modern day Iraq, he receives news from the Lord that as bad as their past and present has been that the Future would be Formidable yet Favorable; because, in a little while, the captives would be going home to Israel. And so, moved by the Spirit of God, commencing at Verse 1 he writes (read).
Being released from a world of bondage makes the Prospect of Facing A Formidable Future More Palatable, for one is on one’s way home!
I contend that Men and Women of God Are About to Face A Most Formidable Future. We stand in the doorway of a New Century, even a New Millennium. Perhaps, it just might be the most turbulent and troublous era in the long history of the world! Based on the testimony of Scripture, I believe you and I are about to confront challenges that shall test the very core of our character, yes even try the stuff of our souls.
Race Wars are about to erupt on a scale never before witnessed all over the world; for according to Jesus in Matthew 24:7, “Nation shall rise against nation,” and the word translated there for “nation” is the Greek word “ethnos” which means “ethnicity, a race of people.”
The Family Unit, as we know it, shall be fractured to the point of dissolution; for according to Jesus in Luke 21:16, “you shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.”
Mainline churches and denominations shall be found to be false and irrelevant because “Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.”
There shall be major ecological and political upheavals; because there shall be “signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring.”
And don’t forget, the Antichrist is already in the wings just waiting to be revealed when the economic, judicial, political and religious systems of this world are all linked up as one unit. Then shall the Men and Women of God Suffer Greatly at the Hands of the Antichrist; for according to Revelation 13:15-17, the Antichrist shall have the power to cause as many as will not worship the image of Satan to be killed. And he shall cause all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, except he that shall have the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of Satan’s name.
And with all of that and more just right around the corner, it is understandable if one’s heart should begin to Fear. In these days of catastrophic change and calamitous uncertainty, is there any person who does not experience the depression and bewilderment of crippling fear, which, like a nagging hound of hell, pursues our every footstep? Fear is an Understandable and Natural Reaction to such a Future.
We might as well be real and confess that we still have Fears! Yes, it is true that God has not given us the spirit of fear; but it is equally true that Fear is the natural heritage of all those who live in a body of flesh; for the flesh is made subject to fear. In Romans 8:20 Paul states it thusly: “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who has subjected the same in hope.” Like Paul we can all say: “not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect” (Philippians 3:12). The truth of the matter is, none of us have arrived at perfection; and so, WE STILL HAVE FEARS!
Perhaps someone’s heart has palpitated today because of some fear. Perhaps tears have welled up in someone’s eyes already as a result of some phobia. Perhaps someone’s blood pressure has risen, causing their body to shake, because of some apprehension. Perhaps someone has already experienced a panic-attack because of some anxiety. WE ALL HAVE FEARS!
And let me add here parenthetically that NOT ALL FEAR IS SATANIC, NOT ALL PHOBIA IS EVIL. For fear is the elemental alarm system, said Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., of the human organism which warns of approaching dangers, and without which, man could not have survived in either the primitive or modern world. Not all fear is evil; for fear is a powerful creative force. For every good invention and intellectual advance represents a desire to escape from some dreaded circumstance or condition, Dr. King once said. He said that the fear of darkness led to the discovery of the secret of electricity. The fear of pain led to the advances of pain killers and drugs. The fear of ignorance was one reason that man has built great institutions of learning. Angelo Patri has rightly said: “Education consists in being afraid at the right time.” If we were to lose our capacity to fear, we would be deprived of our capacity to grow, invent and create. So, in a sense, fear is normal, necessary and creative.
Not all fear is Satanic because Godly Fear, Godly Sorrow works Repentance. Sometimes God causes us to Fear. Ah yeah! Do we not sing, “’Twas Grace that taught my heart to Fear and Grace my fears relieved the hour I first believed”? Then all fear is not of the Devil. Some fear is useful in that it protects us and motivates us to Improve our welfare.
For sometimes, OUR FEARS FORCE US TO FACE UNSETTLED ISSUES! Fears grab us, phobias grip us, anxieties attack us, apprehension seize us simply because we failed to deal with an issue right from the get-go. Whenever we don’t want to deal with something, we push it to the back waters, put in on the back-burner, relegate it to our subconscious. It upsets our calm, disturbs our psyches, tilts our equilibrium. That’s what happened to the fellows in the boat. They thought all was well with their souls until the storm arose. So they woke up Jesus asking, “Master, don’t you care that we are about to perish?” Sometimes, OUR FEARS FORCE US TO FACE UNSETTLED ISSUES; because too many of us attempt to face the tensions of life with inadequate spiritual resources. We give little thought to our inadequacies until the clouds of doubt lower and the howling winds of despair blow. Then we become paralyzed with fear, for we know our boats are deficient. Heavy winds and weak boats explain our fear, because we failed to deal with the matter right from the get-go!
Have you dealt with Your Crucial Unsettled Issues? Have all your Doubts been settled? Do you know that God Is Real? Perhaps that explains why Peter in 2 Peter 1:10 wrote: “Brethren, do all you can to make your calling and election sure.” So, that’s what we need to do just now. We need to make sure God Has Called Us! Called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Called us from death to life. Called us with an Effectual Call. Called us with a High, Heavenly and Holy Calling. We need to make sure God Has Elected Us! Picked us out of the crowd. Separated us from the herd of humanity. Selected us to be His People. Chosen us in Christ before He made this world to eternal salvation. We need to be Sure we are Saved, Sealed and Satisfied right now, if we are to Face A Formidable Future! So, in verse 1, that is exactly what the Lord is causing us to do – to make our Calling and Election Sure.
But just before we explore verse 1, I want to call your attention to the MOTIF or the THEME that runs through these verses. The Lord deals with OUR FEARS by offering us HIS FAVORS for A FORMIDABLE FUTURE! Every verse highlights OUR FEARS and stresses HIS FAVORS as it relates to the FUTURE.
And that is significant because in the Economy of God, FOR EVERY FEAR OF THE LITTLE FLOCK, GOD HAS A CORRESPONDING FAVOR. HIS FAVOR FITS OUR FEAR. In 1 Peter 4:10 Peter describes it as “the Manifold Grace of God.” Meaning, the Many Colors of God’s Grace, the Many Facets of God’s Favor. Which is to suggest that whatever the Color of your Condition or the Mood of your Misery or the Facet of your Fear, God Has A Matching Favor! He Matches Our Moods With Mercy, Our Condition With Care. God has Mercy to Match your Mood of Misery! Jesus put it this way when addressing Paul’s Thorn-Problem: said He, “My Grace is Sufficient for thee.” My Favor is Enough for you. You don’t need anything else but My Grace! For Every Fear We Have, God Has A Corresponding Favor! And so it seems sensible to suppose that if we are to Face A Formidable Future, then –
I. FIRST OF ALL, THE LORD HAS TO DEAL WITH OUR FEARS.
And to face our fears, we must be willing to ask ourselves, WHY ARE WE AFRAID? This confrontation, to some degree, will grant us Power. Because we shall never be cured of fear by escapism or repression; for the more we attempt to ignore and repress our fears, the more we multiply our inner conflict. But by looking squarely and honestly at our fears, by bringing them to the forefront of consciousness, we shall be enabled to overcome them.
THE FIRST FEAR OUR LORD BRINGS TO THE FOREFRONT OF CONSCIOUSNESS IS OUR FEAR OF REJECTION.
The desire to be Wanted is aboriginal to the nature of man. For certainly all of us want to be loved. We all want to feel accepted. We all want to be appreciated and affirmed. You see, you appreciate what someone does; you affirm who a person is. And that is significant because most of the time we fail to do things which bring appreciation, but we all need to be affirmed as a person of worth in spite of our failures, and just because we are here! I can affirm who you are whether or not you ever do appreciative things. We need to be affirmed as creatures of God, as children of God, as saints of the Sovereign who have received Grace for our Guilt, Mercy for our Misery and Righteousness for our Wrongness. We all need to feel Wanted, Needed, Loved, Accepted, Appreciated and Affirmed.
But since God has changed our make-up, our position, our relationship and our name, we have learned that We Are Rejected by those who were once Our Close Friends. Those with whom we shared secret thoughts and dreams, with whom we were joined at the hip, with whom we use to chew the fat, have turned back and walk no more with us. For two cannot walk together unless they are agreed. But since Jesus and His Anointing made the difference in our life, we are cognizant of the fact that “if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation: old thing are passed away (and that includes friends too).” But when old friends go, God brings new ones into our life, for “all things become new.” We are Rejected By Friends.
WE ARE SOMETIMES REJECTED BY FAMILY. It sometimes happens that following Christ results in One’s Family becoming One’s Foe. When on becomes saved, one becomes a manifest problem for those unsaved members of one’s family. To them, you have lost your mind and you have become a public embarrassment, into whom they cannot talk any sense. So where they could support, protect and help you, they instead oppose bitterly what they neither understand nor care to understand. They fail to allow for the possibility that what they are opposing might, in fact, be a bona-fide work of God for the good of others. And so, they have Rejected you. We are sometimes Rejected by Our Family.
WE ALSO FACE THE REJECTION OF SOCIETY. For we are now subjects of a New Kingdom, citizens of another Country. And since our minds have been changed and our priorities rearranged, we are at odds with the forms, fashions, styles, customs, ethics, laws and traditions of the society in which we live. No longer do we conform to the world around us, and so a Clash of Creeds, a Battle of Beliefs ensues. The world pushes it plusses, but we magnify our minuses. The world says ‘push yourself and you shall be great,’ but Jesus says ‘take a towel and become a servant and you shall be great.’ The world says ‘lay up treasures for yourself upon earth,’ but Jesus says ‘lay treasures for yourselves in heaven.’ The world says ‘love your own and hate your enemies,’ but Jesus says ‘love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you and pray for them which despitefully use you.’ Therefore, Society Has Rejected Us as being Crazy, Lazy and Weak.
And so, weary, wounded and sad we came to the House of God with the expectation of being received lovingly with open arms. We figured if there was any place we would be accepted unconditionally, it would be in here! But it didn’t take long for reality to set in. Some hypercritical church member soon dashed cold water on our hopes. For we soon found out that we get rejected more in here than we do out there. We felt like speckled birds among white birds; we just didn’t fit; we felt out of place!
But you are cognizant of the fact that Tares still love to hang around Wheat; wolves love to eat sheep; darkness still tries to hang around light; and hypocrites still pose as the righteous, don’t you?
So being Rejected by Friends, Family, Society and Church Members might cause one to wonder whether God Wants You. My friends, daddy, momma, sisters and brothers might not want you; Friends might not want you; Society might not want you, and Church Members might not want you. BUT THERE IS ONE WHO WANTS YOU; THERE IS ONE WHO LOVES YOU!
When we were courting a girl, we used to say “Baby, I Want You; I don’t know how but I got to find a way to make you mine.” Well, GOD FOUND A WAY! He passed by us when we were undesirable lying in our blood, and He said “Live!” And faster than right now and quicker than hurry up, we were raised to new life in Christ. Then He drew us with cords of love to His banqueting house, where His banner over us was love. Then with His left hand under our head and His right hand wrapped around us, He embraced us and began to talk Love-Talk to us; saying, ‘I loved you with an everlasting love. Yes, I want you because I created you, I formed you. So, stop being Afraid of being Rejected, ‘cause I have redeemed you.’
‘I am your nearest of Kin; I am your Elder Brother. The responsibility of redemption is Mine and I have used that option. I am your Closest Friend. I am your Kinsman Redeemer. I am your Society; I am your Church. I have Redeemed you. YES, I WANT YOU, BECAUSE I HAVE ELECTED YOU TO SALVATION BY CALLING YOU BY YOUR NAME. YOU ARE MINE!’
“I created you, and that makes you Mine! I formed you, and that makes you Mine! I redeemed you, and that makes you Mine! I called you by your name, and that makes you Mine! So stop being Afraid of being Rejected, for those who come to Me I will in no wise cast out. I give unto My sheep eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. Stop being Afraid of being rejected “for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” Be confident, then, of this fact “that He which has begun a good work in you will finish until the day of Jesus Christ.”’
So to MATCH OUR FEAR OF REJECTION, GOD GIVES THE FAVOR OF ETERNAL REDEMPTION; for we have redemption through His Blood, even the forgiveness of our sins.
Now there is ONE FINAL FEAR couched in verse 2 that the Lord brings to the forefront of consciousness; and that is THE FEAR OF CONFRONTING THE INEVITABLE!
Some things in this life are Inevitable. No matter what you do to try to Prevent their occurrence is futile, for they shall happen regardless of what you may or may not do. And so in verse 2 the Lord says, “WHEN,” and then repeats it again in verse 2 “WHEN.” Not “If,” not “It Might Happen,” not “It’s a Possibility,” not “There’s a Likelihood,” but “WHEN.”
Some Things in this life Are Inevitable, and there’s nothing you can do about it. There’s no use in saying, “Well Lord, I don’t feel like it today.” He says whether you feel like it or not doesn’t matter – “WHEN!”
The Lord knows What Shall Be because He has Decreed What Will Be. He says, “I am God, and I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.” He says, “I am God. I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass. I’m God. I have purposed it, I will also do it.” So He says with divine certainty to all of us “WHEN!”
“When you Pass Through.” Yes, You Are Going Thru! There’s no avoiding it. You cannot go around it. You can’t go over it. You can’t walk along beside it. YOU SHALL GO THRU, and there’s nothing you can do about it; IT’S JUST INEVITABLE!!!
In this verse, the Lord deals with the FEAR OF EXTREMES: that is, GOING FROM THE WATER INTO THE FIRE!
Now “Waters and Rivers” are emblematic of
I. A process in which Circumstances or Conditions are Completely Over One’s Head, thus, Beyond One’s Power to Conquer, Impossible to Master. (Examples of which are Overwhelming Sickness, Uncontrollable Disaster in which all one can do is go thru the process.)
II. Of Circumstances that come upon you Suddenly with such a force as to Sweep you Away, Threatening to Dislodge Your Footing.
THE FAVOR for the Fear of Being Overwhelmed is YOU SHALL MAINTAIN YOUR BALANCE AND POSITION BECAUSE THE LORD SHALL BE WITH YOU; He will be in company with you! You shall Not be Drowned, Overwhelmed, Washed Away or Destroyed!
THE FIRES is emblematic of Intense Trail to Test the Quality of Your Character. To go Within the Fire is a Process and thus, Takes Time. You must Stay Within the Fire Until the Process is Completed!
THE FAVOR for the Fear of the Fire is A FIRE-RETARDANT SOUL. Shall not be Scorched nor shall the Flame even Light or Settle On You. The Reason for being Fire-Retardant is expressed in verse 3.
So in conclusion, the Lord Forbids Fear because of His Sensed, Realized and Manifested Presence; “FOR I AM WITH YOU.”
This “I AM WITH YOU” does not offer an illusion that we shall be exempt from pain and suffering; nor does it imbue us with the idea that life is a drama of unalloyed comfort and untroubled ease. Rather, it instills within us the Inner Equilibrium we need to face strains, burdens and fears that inevitable come, and assures us that the universe is trustworthy and that God is concerned. We are not orphans cast into the terrifying immensities of space in a universe that is without purpose or intelligence. Such a view drains courage and exhausts the energies of men.
This “I AM WITH YOU” endows us with the conviction that we shall not be alone in that Vast, Uncertain Future. Beneath and above the shifting sands of time, the Uncertainties that darken our days and the vicissitudes that cloud our nights, is a Wise and Loving God. The Future is not a tragic expression of Meaningless Chaos, but a marvelous display of orderly providence.
This “I AM WITH YOU” informs us that we are not a wisp of smoke from a limitless smoldering, but a child of God created a little lower than angels. Above the manyness of time stands the One Eternal God, with wisdom to guide us, strength to protect us and love to keep us.
This “I AM WITH YOU” reminds us that His boundless love supports and contains us as a mighty ocean contains and supports the tiny drops of every wave. With a surging fullness He is forever moving towards us, seeking to fill the little creeks and bays of our lives with limitless resources. Any person who finds this sustaining and ever-present God can walk thru the waters, rivers and fires of life without the fatigue of pessimism and the weight of morbid fears.
The God who brought our whirling planet from primal vapor and had led the human pilgrimage for lo these many centuries can most assuredly lead us thru overwhelming waters, sweeping currents and trying fires into the Favors of a Formidable Future!!!
