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Please remain standing for the reading of God’s Word, and we finally return this Lord’s Day morning to our consideration of Isaiah. And my sermon text this morning is Isaiah 41, verses 1 through 10, which you’ll find on page 714 in your pew Bibles. I’m going to start reading at the end of chapter 40 and read through verse 14 of chapter 41. But again, our focus will be on Isaiah 41, verses one through 10. But I’m gonna start reading again at Isaiah 40, verse 28. Friends, this is God’s word, hear it with attentiveness, reverence, and awe. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might, he increases strength. Even youth shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted.

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Listen to me in silence, O coastlands. Let the peoples renew their strength. Let them approach, let them speak, then let them speak. Let us together draw near for judgment.

Who stirred up one from the east, whom victory meets at every step? He gives up nations before him so that he tramples kings underfoot. He makes them like dust with his sword, like driven stubble with his bow. He pursues them and passes on safely by paths his feet have not trod. who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning.

I, the Lord, the first, and with the last, I am he. The coastlands have seen and are afraid. The ends of the earth tremble. They have drawn near and come. Everyone helps his neighbor and says to his brother, be strong. The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith, and he who smooths with the hammer, him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, it is good.

And they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved. But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend. you whom I took from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners, saying to you, you are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off. Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded. Those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them. Those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand. It is I who say to you, fear not. I am the one who helps you. Fear not, you worm, Jacob, you men of Israel. I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord. Your Redeemer is. the Holy One of Israel.

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our God endures forever. Let’s pray. Our Lord and Father in heaven, by your Spirit, cause these words to impact us as they ought to. and help us, Lord, to take these truths to heart, that indeed we may fear not, but rather put our hope and confidence in you. We ask, O Lord, as we consider this portion of your inerrant, infallible, authoritative word, that you would grant me the grace to declare your word with clarity and power and faithfulness. And Lord, give us eyes to see and ears to hear that which the Spirit is speaking to us in this portion of your God-inspired word. We pray these things in Jesus’ name and all of God’s people said. Amen. Please be seated. Friends, as you’ll see, the title of my sermon today is Fear Not, Chosen Servant, and children, these three words I want you to listen for in my sermon today, the words challenge, assurance, and faith.

Well friends, have you ever wished that you could see into the future? That you could see how things in history and indeed how things in your own personal life will turn out in the future? When I was a boy, I would sometimes wish that I could get into a time machine and speak to a future version of myself who could give me advice on decisions that I was facing in my young life or offer me guidance on how to resolve dilemmas that I was then confronting as a youth. But dear ones, you know that’s not possible.

As you know, from our vantage point as time-bound creatures, the details of the future are uncertain to us unless God reveals those details to us. While we can certainly plan for the future and make some educated guesses about how those plans might impact our future, how things might fall out in the future, nevertheless, at the same time, we cannot know with any kind of infallible certainty whether or not those plans will actually come to pass, or if they come to pass, whether they will come to pass in the manner in which we hope they will come to pass. However, brothers and sisters in Christ, as you know, there is one who does know the future, who knows the future with an infallible knowledge and in absolute exhaustive detail.

In fact, we know that there is one who has sovereignly planned the end from the beginning in exhaustive, minute detail, and yet he has done so in a manner in which humans remain responsible creatures and our decisions and choices, indeed, are significant and important.

What an amazing God we serve. Indeed, that one, of course, is none other than the God described in Isaiah 40, verse 28, as the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. The God who reveals himself in the words of verse four of our passage, as he says of himself, I, the Lord, the first and with the last, I am he. Friends, in our passage for this Lord’s Day morning, God is revealed as the sovereign Lord over all of history and over all of the nations of mankind.

Within this section of Isaiah’s prophecy, where God is prophetically seeking to comfort His humbled, exiled people, the truth of His sovereignty over history and over the nations of humanity is a central lesson in this passage and in this overall broader section of Isaiah. while this truth of Yahweh’s sovereignty strikes fear into the hearts of the unbelieving, idol-worshiping nations that had neighbored Israel in the Promised Land. It is a truth that is presented here in this passage as a faith-building truth, a truth that is meant to drive out fear, and to strengthen our faith as God’s people. In effect, here my friends, God says to you and me, brothers and sisters in Christ, he says, fear not chosen servant for I am with you.

Now chapter 41 of the book of the prophet Isaiah presents us with basically two debates separated by an interlude. If you read through the whole chapter, you’ll notice that verses one through seven include a debate between Yahweh and the idol-worshiping Gentile nations. And then if you were to read on to the end of this chapter in verses 21 through 29, we have a debate and a challenge between Yahweh and the idols that were worshiped by the Gentile nations. The Lord basically saying to those so-called gods, show that you can do something, that you can do good or evil, show that you’re real, that you’re alive.

And then, of course, there is this central interlude section in chapter 41, which stretches from verse eight through verse 20. And in this interlude section, God addresses his people on how they should view the great crisis of history that is here predicted to come about. As we will see, the theme of renewing their strength is a theme that shows how chapter 41 flows out of and is connected to chapter 40, both thematically and conceptually. So let’s dive into our passage for today. And the first thing we consider, brothers and sisters, is God’s challenge to the nations and their idols. We have here God presenting a challenge to the nations and to their idols. Chapter 41 begins in verse 1 with the following words.

God says, listen to me in silence. Notice, God speaks with authority. He basically says, it’s not for you to speak. I’m the authority here. Listen to me in silence. Oh, coastlands, let the peoples renew their strength. He’s not speaking specifically here of God’s people, he’s speaking of the peoples, which would include the Gentile nations, those encompassed by the term coastlands. Let them approach, let them speak, then let them speak.

Let us draw near for what? For judgment. Many commentators suggest that this passage paints for us a courtroom scene. If this is the case, then God as the sovereign judge is presented here as speaking with absolute authority in summoning the coastlands to judgment. Now, what are these coastlands? What is the Lord through Isaiah referring to here? Well, the coastlands here represent the Gentile people who were dwelling in the region of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

And at the time when this prophecy would be fulfilled, they would be, at that time, the furthest geographically from the military threat that was looming in the east. And yet they are fearful. They are still fearful. And so God says to them, renew your strength. Listen to me in silence, O coastlands. Let the peoples renew their strength.

He had just said to God’s people, to the Israelites in the previous chapter, to renew their strength by waiting upon the Lord. If you go back to Verse 29 of chapter 40, he gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might, he increases strength. Even youth shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait on the Lord shall do what?

Shall renew their strength. But then God addresses the coastlands and say, well, my people are to renew their strength in me, but you renew your strength. This is perhaps irony being used here. One commentator says, the repetition of the phrase, renew their strength, may well be ironic. Perhaps as the exiles renewed their strength in the true God, so the nations are ironically exhorted to do the same, but in their man-made deities. In essence, the Lord is saying, okay, you trust in your idols? You think they can give you strength against this threat that is coming from the East? Well, renew your strength in your so-called gods.

And then it goes on to say this in verse 2, who stirred up one from the East whom victory meets at every step? What is in view here? In view here is a conqueror that Yahweh the Lord raises up from the East who is victorious at every step. The Lord is the one who raises up this conqueror. But who is the identity? What is the identity of the one who is said to be from the East? And of course, there are different views among the various commentators.

But most view this as a reference to King Cyrus, who is explicitly mentioned by name for the first time in just a few chapters. If you go to chapter 44 and look at verse 28, the Lord says this about Cyrus. who says of Cyrus, he is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill my purpose, saying of Jerusalem, she shall be built, and of the temple, your foundation shall be laid. I believe that this is the correct view. I believe that Isaiah here in chapter 41 is kind of gearing up for the Cyrus prophecy that is coming in a few chapters and he’s introducing us to this mighty conqueror, this figure that will later be revealed, prophetically revealed by name.

Revealed by name many, many years before he even came onto the scene. of history. But that raises the question, who is this King Cyrus? Well Cyrus was born as a prince in a small province called Anshan. He is known for his mighty conquests. For example, in 549 B.C., Cyrus conquered Media, and in 540 B.C., he destroyed the Lydian Empire, which was ruled by the famous king Croesus.

Most significant of all, however, for the people of God, is that in 538 B.C., he conquered the mighty empire of Babylon. And he was used as an instrument of God, not only to bring judgment upon Babylon, but also to deliver the exiled people of God from their exile, that they might return to the promised land and might rebuild their temple. And even though Cyrus was a Gentile and a pagan, the Lord in his sovereign providence would use King Cyrus as his instrument, his shepherd, if you will, to bring judgment against the nations like Babylon and to deliver his people from their exile in Babylon. And all of this, my friends, serves to underscore, once again, the absolute sovereignty of God over history and over the nations of mankind.

Then verse three. The Lord through Isaiah speaks of Cyrus. He pursues them and passes on safely by paths his feet have not trod. He meets with great military success and ultimately he does so not because of his own military prowess and might, although he certainly was a very effective military leader, But ultimately his success is due to God sovereignly blessing him with military success in the conquest of these nations.

And so it goes on to say in verse four, who has performed and done this? Who ultimately raises up kings and nations and brings them down? Who ultimately, who has performed and done this? Calling the generations from the beginning. Who is the one who has raised up nations and brought down nations from the very beginning of human history? Who has done this? Who has done this? The Lord says this, I, the Lord, the first and with the last, I am he. The Lord is the one who raises up and brings down the nations of mankind.

And the coastlands, the Gentile peoples of the coastlands would perceive that it is the God of Israel who raised up Cyrus to deliver the Israelites from their exile and to conquer all of these nations. And how do the coastlands, the people living on the coast of the Eastern Mediterranean, these pagan peoples who worshiped idols, how are they to respond to this? How will the Gentile peoples of the coastland respond to the threat posed by King Cyrus and ultimately the threat of judgment from Yahweh, the God of Israel, whom they perceive to have raised up Cyrus as his instrument of judgment against the nations and of deliverance for the exiled Israelites?

Will they get wise? Will they come to their senses? Will they turn in repentance from the foolishness and futility of their idolatry and turn in faith to the true and living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel? Well, tragically, the answer to that question is no, no. And that is the way it is in the case of all who are untouched by the regenerating sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. The unregenerate will never come to their senses unless the sovereign spirit of God intervenes and regenerates them and opens their minds and their hearts to see the folly of their idolatry. Tragically, instead, They will not only dig in their heels and continue to worship false gods, but they will manufacture even more idols.

Look at verses five through seven. The coastlands have seen and are afraid. The ends of the earth tremble. They have drawn near and come. They realize, wow, the God of Israel is on the move. He’s raised up Cyrus, and this is a military threat that is ultimately going to be coming in our direction.

What do we do? Well, they encourage each other in their idolatry. Verse six, everyone helps his neighbor and says to his brother, be strong. Are they saying be strong in the Lord? No, be strong and produce some more idols. Verse seven, the craftsman strengthens the goldsmith, and he who smooths with the hammer, him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, it is good, and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved.

These actions are describing the actions of producing new gold. And so instead of turning in repentance to the true and living God for deliverance and strength in the face of the looming military threat that is represented by King Cyrus, instead they will produce new idol gods and look to them for strength. In the words of one commentator, in their view, in the view of the coastland peoples, the more gods, the more security. Well, The God of Israel is a threat to us. He’s raised up Cyrus. What are we gonna do? Let’s make some more gods. How foolish, friends.

What do we learn from this passage? Well, first of all, I think it’s very clear. we learn of the utter foolishness of idolatry in these verses. And this theme of the folly of idolatry is a very common theme in the scriptures, especially in the Old Testament. But let me take you to just a couple other passages which underscore how foolish idolatry is, how foolish it is for fallen man to invent his own gods, his own false religions as pathways to the divine.

One passage is Psalm 135, verses 15 through 18. Psalm 135, verses 15 through 18. We also saw this, by the way, in the passage that opened up our worship today from Psalm 115. This anti-idolatry polemic is very common in the scriptures. It’s common in the book of Isaiah. It’s common in the Psalms. The psalmist here says in Psalm 135, beginning at verse 15, the idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands.

They’re not real. They’re the products of human hands, in other words. They have mouths, but do not speak. They have eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them. They are lifeless, worthless, and those who trust in them become spiritually lifeless, spiritually dead.

We see this also reflected in the language of the New Testament in that what should be a very familiar passage in Romans 1, verses 21 through 23. The Apostle Paul, as he speaks there in that passage about the Gentile nations, that have not heard the gospel but have been exposed, as all nations have been, to divine revelation through nature, through the creation. It says this in verse 21, through his general revelation.

Though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. But not only is idolatry in its many forms, whether we’re talking about the kind of crude idolatry where you bow down before a block of wood or a statue of gold, or whether we’re talking about the more sophisticated and secular forms of idolatry that we’re more familiar with today. Such idolatry is not only foolish, but it’s also futile.

Now, getting back to our passage, did you notice in verse seven of our passage for today, Isaiah mentions that these gods that the coastlands would produce, that such gods need to be strengthened with nails, why? So that it cannot be moved. Do you see the biting irony here in this passage? Think about it.

If these gods cannot stand on their own without the aid of man-made nails, how do their worshipers expect them to protect the people from King Cyrus? Dear ones, let us flee from both the foolishness and the futility of idolatry in all of its many forms, whether crude or sophisticated.

And you say, well, I don’t worship idols, pastor. I don’t have any shrine in my house where I bow down before a statue. Okay, that’s good. But if you are not trusting in Christ, if you’re not a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are an idolater. Say, I don’t worship any gods, I don’t believe in God, you might say.

You set yourself up in the place of God. The most common form of idolatry today in our postmodern secular culture is the worship of the autonomous self. That is a form of idolatry, putting yourself and your own mere human reason up as the final standard. That is bowing before an idol. because you are refusing the true and living God and his clear revelation given in the Holy Scriptures. Let us flee from idolatry and flee to the God of Israel, the true and living God, the blessed Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And that brings me to my next point. We see here God’s assurance to Israel, his chosen servant. God’s assurance to Israel, his chosen servant. God has taken the nations, the unbelieving nations, to task for their idolatry. But here, once again, the Lord returns to his people to comfort them.

In verse eight, it says, but you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend. Notice how he lists the patriarchs. This brings to mind God’s gracious covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Jacob, of course, Israel is another name for Jacob. Jacob recalls for us the deceptive character of the patriarch Jacob and how the Lord was merciful to Jacob in spite of his sin. This underscores God’s amazing grace. But notice he addresses Israel as my servant.

We get here into this section of Isaiah where we will soon have the servant songs, the servant sections, and sometimes that figure, the servant of the Lord, refers to the people of God corporately considered, and at other times the servant refers to a messianic figure, a messianic individual.

But here he is referring to his people. And that term, my servant, that’s not a denigrating term. That’s not a term of humiliation. That’s actually an honorable term in the scriptures. In fact, the Lord Jesus himself, he is the ultimate servant of the Lord. And it is a privilege to be a servant of the Lord. For a servant is one who is called by God to fulfill a special task. So God is not putting his people down here. He is reminding them of what an honor it is for them to be. servants of the Lord.

And then he describes them as my chosen. This points us back to his electing grace. This reminds us of passages, for example, like Deuteronomy 7, verses 6 through 8, if I could read that passage very quickly. Deuteronomy 7, Verses six through eight, where God reminds his people through Moses, he says, for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. Ah.

The Lord chose us, we must be pretty good, pretty special, right? No, it goes on to remind them that they were chosen by grace. It says, it was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord has set his love on you and chose you. For you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping his oath that he swore to your fathers that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Beloved, we are the chosen of the Lord, not because we deserve to be, not because we’ve merited that, but because God has chosen to be merciful to us in spite of the fact that we deserve his wrath and condemnation.

But then Isaiah goes on to remind the people, or the Lord through Isaiah, I should say, goes on to remind the people, you are Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen. There’s election and there’s privilege there. But then he describes them as the offspring of Abraham, my friend. We love to sing that hymn, what a friend we have in Jesus. The Lord is our sovereign, the Lord is our king, we are his servants, he is our creator and king and sovereign, but he’s also in Christ, he is our friend, he is our friend.

Abraham is described as the friend of God in a number of places in scripture, and one place is in James, James 2, 22 to 23. as James reflects upon the faith of Abraham, a faith that demonstrated itself by his works. In James 2, verses 22 to 23, we read these words.

You see that faith was active along with his works and faith was completed by his works. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. And he was called a friend of God. Dear listener, if you share Abraham’s faith in God, you too are a friend of God in Christ. And friends, in this language, we are pointed back again to God’s electing love for his people and his covenant faithfulness in fulfilling his covenant promises to Abraham and the patriarchs. And we receive the benefits of those promises. Reminded of what the Lord said to Abraham back in Genesis 12, one to three, It says this, now the Lord said to Abram, go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

And I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. All the families of the earth shall be blessed in Abraham because this ultimate seed of Abraham is the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. And in union with him, we are blessed.

So we are reminded of these blessings. And then it goes on to say in verse nine, you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from the furthest corners saying to you, you are my servant, I’ve chosen you and not cast you off. Again, this is addressing Abraham, the friend of God, and this is hyperbolic language describing the great distance that Abraham traveled when he sojourned from Ur of the Chaldeans into the promised land. And why does God call Abraham out of the Chaldeans to the promised land? Why does God rescue the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt and bring them into the promised land? The answer is to be with them. Verse 10, fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. I am with you.

You ever wondered, if you’ve read the book of Exodus, you know the structure of that book? We read of God rescuing his people, Israel, from their slavery in Egypt, pouring out the plagues upon the Egyptians, bringing the people through the Red Sea on dry land, bringing them to Mount Sinai, giving them the Ten Commandments, giving them his other laws that are to govern them as a theocratic nation. But then the latter section of the Book of Exodus includes, in great detail, details for how to construct the tabernacle. Why? Why does God redeem his people, give them his word, and then tell them to build a tent? Because God is coming to dwell among his people.

When the angel predicted the birth of Jesus back in Matthew chapter one, the angel of the Lord told Joseph the following. Well, we are told this. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name what?

Emmanuel, which means what? God with us. This is the pattern. God redeems his people. He gives them his word so that he might dwell in their midst. The tabernacle was a portable temple. God dwelt among his people in the tabernacle, later on in the temple, but ultimately God dwells with us as our Emmanuel in the person of Jesus Christ. In Christ, the God-man, God dwells with us. As we’re told in John’s gospel, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, made his tabernacle in our midst. You say, well, does Jesus still dwell with us today? Yes. Post-Pentecost, Jesus dwells with his church by the Holy Spirit. And so we as the church, brothers and sisters, we are made a dwelling place of God in the Spirit, as we are told in the scriptures.

So God is with us. And not only that, it says, be not dismayed for I am your God. Now, generically speaking, he’s God over all things, but he is our God in the sense of a special covenant relationship of love and grace. This refers to the central promise of God’s covenant of grace. Indeed, the climax and culmination of the covenant of grace is that God will dwell with us. And our passage for today, like many other passages in scripture, anticipates that great eschatological time as we are And that time is revealed to us, for example, in Revelation 21, verse three, where it says, and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God.

And so what do we have in this passage? Well, friends, in this passage, We have a summons to faith, not fear. As we’re told in verse 10, this is the final point. We have here a summons to faith, not fear. The Lord says very clearly and he says it over and over again to drive it home. He says, fear not for I am with you. He is our Emmanuel. He is with us.

Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you. You don’t have to look to the gods manufactured by the coastlands for strength and deliverance. No, I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. God’s right hand symbolizing his power and authority. unlike the unbelieving nations that manufacture idols and idolatrous false religions. Through divine sovereign grace, the Lord is with us, brothers and sisters. He is with us in union with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. What that means is that the Lord is on our side.

What then do we have to fear when God himself says, fear not? Think about it. The creator of the universe, the one who holds your very life in the palm of his hand, tells you, brother or sister, fear not. So if the creator of the universe who has your future in his hand tells you you don’t need to fear, what basis do you have for fearing? You say, well, wait a minute, pastor. Doesn’t the Bible say that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom? Yes, the Bible does say that.

But that’s a different kind of fear. There is such a thing as a godly fear. Godly fear is a holy reverence that is grounded in faith in the true and living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But there is also a sinful fear, a fear that Adam and Eve displayed when they had eaten a forbidden fruit and they heard the Lord coming in the cool of the day and they went and they hid themselves. That kind of sinful fear is a fear rooted in pride and rebellion against the Lord. It is that kind of fear that unbelieving fear that we are called upon in this passage to avoid. So instead of such fear, the Lord calls us to faith.

That is, he calls us to trust in him for the future that he has planned for us in Christ. And oh, what a glorious future is it. You say, well, what’s our future in Christ? Your future, my future, brother and sister, in Christ is to be conformed into the image of the Son of God. And God is at work in us and in our midst, forming us for that glorious eschatological future.

So let us flee from fear by fleeing in faith once again to the Lord Jesus Christ. May you flee to him today and rest in him. And may you again hear his words as he says to you, dear listener, brother, sister in Christ, fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Amen.

Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, sovereign and eternal God, we thank you and praise you. that you not only redeem us and save us from the guilt and penalty of our sin, but you also come to make your home in our midst. You come to dwell with us, to be our God, and you call us to be your people. We ask, Heavenly Father, that you would, in view of that glorious truth, help us not to be a people of fear, a people who tremble at the macinations of the nations, but instead be a people who firmly trust in you, our God, you who have the future, our future in your hands. We pray these things in Jesus’ name and all of God’s people said, amen. Let’s close our time of worship by rising and we’ll sing together hymn number 456, Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners, 456.