Isaiah 41

Listen to me in silence, O coastlands; let the peoples renew their strength; let them approach, then let them speak; let us together draw near for judgment. 2 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. 3 He pursues them and passes on safely, by paths his feet have not trod. 4 Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he.

5 The coastlands have seen and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble; they have drawn near and come. 6 Everyone helps his neighbor and says to his brother, “Be strong!” 7 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.

8 But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; 9 you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; 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.

11 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. 12 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. 13 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.”

14 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. 15 Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge, new, sharp, and having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff; 16 you shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in the Lord; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.

17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. 18 I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. 19 I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together, 20 that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.

21 Set forth your case, says the Lord; bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob. 22 Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come. 23 Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; do good, or do harm, that we may be dismayed and terrified. 24 Behold, you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing; an abomination is he who chooses you.

25 I stirred up one from the north, and he has come, from the rising of the sun, and he shall call upon my name; he shall trample on rulers as on mortar, as the potter treads clay. 26 Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know, and beforehand, that we might say, “He is right”? There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed, none who heard your words. 27 I was the first to say to Zion, “Behold, here they are!” and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good news. 28 But when I look, there is no one; among these there is no counselor who, when I ask, gives an answer. 29 Behold, they are all a delusion; their works are nothing; their metal images are empty wind. - Isaiah 41:1–29

Sermon Text:

One of the most familiar passages in Isaiah is not in the chapter we are looking at today.

If you were here last week, you heard it at the end of the 40th chapter.

Perhaps you were surprised or even disturbed that I didn’t spend more time on the passage last week.

That’s ok – it bothered me too.

The passage, of course, is the one that adorns motivational t-shirts, coffee mugs, posters, and all manner of plaques that must be dusted from time to time:

And while verse 31 is the only one usually quoted, I would like to remind us all of the entire thought, beginning in the 29th verse of chapter 40:

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31 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. - Isaiah 40:29–31

I am re-reading this passage because our text today, chapter 41, is a description of HOW God will do this great work.

I probably don’t need to remind you that the chapter and verse divisions in the Bible are not inspired, but added to help us in using the Bible: in memorization, in helping others find texts, and many more ways.

Not that I think the chapter division here is wrong – I think it is in a great location, breaking this great sermon of Isaiah into smaller pieces for our benefit.

But we should be careful when we just begin with a chapter in the middle of a book without looking at what has come before.

We wouldn’t do that with a novel.

We shouldn’t even do that with a math text.

And it’s really annoying when someone sits down in the middle of a movie and asks to be caught up while it is playing.

So picking up with the theme of chapter 40 – the greatness and majesty of God, we come to the promises He makes to His people in chapter 41.

The great God, the Creator of everything, helps His people.

And don’t skip over that phrase “His people”.

Because even though God causes rain to fall on the evil and the saved, and brings them both sunshine and life as well, His greatest benefits, the only ones that will survive this present life, are reserved only for those who are His.

Those He has chosen and called to Himself through Jesus Christ.

Those who have been transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit, converted from hopeless children of Adam into the radiant people of God.

Converted from a sure destruction into an equally-sure glory.

they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength…

It is those who wait upon the Lord, the ones who look to His salvation and might, who will be the ones to persevere in faith in this life.

Those who do not know God, who do not come through Jesus Christ, have no knowledge or ability to wait upon the Lord.

This is not a general promise to all mankind,

Some weak universal appeal to obey His Law and be saved.

It is a promise to those whose hope is placed ONLY in Jesus Christ for salvation and goodness.

No one else.

And the Bible’s description of these people of God to call them this – the church.

And we find in our chapter today that it is by God’s divine and unchangeable plan that He will do this renewing, this supporting, and this saving.

First, let’s take a look at the response of those who are not in Christ:

Vv. 5-6 - The coastlands have seen and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble; they have drawn near and come. 6 Everyone helps his neighbor and says to his brother, “Be strong!”

The coastlands, in other words, the ends of the earth, quake in fear before the great Lord of Hosts.

Those who are not part of the church of Jesus Christ cling in this scene to each other, neighbors and brothers, for support against the fearful trials of this life.

And those trials, as we know, are all part of the divine will of our Sovereign Lord.

Let’s not make the dreadful error in believing these pagans are quaking in their boots over the Church itself.

The political power or cultural domination some would try to recruit believers into.

Why would the pagans of the world fear that?

Even here in this country, you can talk about a “Moral Majority”, but have you looked out there?

Faithful believers trusting in Jesus Christ have NEVER been the majority in this world.

Unbelievers don’t FEAR the power of the church.

What makes them quake in their boots is a church that reflects the holiness and righteousness of God.

That is who they come after.

That is who they gather support against.

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. - John 15:18–20

A righteous congregation is a terrifying weapon in the hand of God.

Not your votes;

Not your protests.

Not your strong arguments.

Not your philosophies.

The simple faith you display in our Risen Lord, though, will make the evil ones lose their minds with fear.

They will happily and civilly debate with you all day long on the merits of Christianity versus their brand of idolatry.

But bring one Christian in front of them who is living a life of faithful obedience before God, and they have no answer for that.

… you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” - Acts 1:8

And the witness we give is in the proclamation of the gospel, backed up by a life led by the Spirit.

Some might poo-poo the idea of the church JUST proclaiming the gospel.

Recently I heard one teacher mistakenly say that a church not interested in transforming the culture is not a biblical church.

How ludicrous?

Is it the great power of the church that causes the pagans here to put even more efforts into their idols?

V. 7 - 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.

Does anyone believe that people will build bigger, more elaborate idols because of their fear of the CHURCH?

No. They make a false god because they tremble in fear at the REAL God.

They throw themselves into their unbelief because GOD is rightly to be feared, not us.

He does call us in v.14 “worms of Jacob”.

But even God’s people may be dismayed at times.

We see His great works, and we, more than the unbelievers, recognize His sovereign hand in the events of life.

Hear the voice of God toward you:

Vv. 8-10 - But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; 9 you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; 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.

You who wait upon the Lord, you will see His salvation.

He has called you, church, from out of the nations of the earth into His kingdom.

You are His.

And you are not forgotten.

Verse 10 is used as the second stanza of that great hymn “How Firm a Foundation.”

"Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed, For I am thy God and will still give thee aid; I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

It is not just the trials and difficulties of life He is helping us through, although there are plenty of those:

He is also assuring us of His love for us when, as we come closer to Him, we discover more and more of His perfect holiness.

When we despair of doing the right thing.

When we know we will never be good enough.

When we FEEL like the worm.

It is at those times our heavenly Father reminds us of the love He lavished on us while we were still sinners, in rebellion to Him, Jesus Christ died for us.

He reminds us when we feel like we could rightly fall over dead that we have, instead, been raised up in Christ to everlasting life – that starts now.

And even in our death-struggle against sin, the very sin that would happily destroy us, we hear His promise:

I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Vv. 11-12 - 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. 12 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.

We might want to read that and declare the power that God gives us to win the fight.

There are many in churches today who would read these verses and thank God for how powerful He has made THEM.

It makes us feel good to think how powerful WE are.

no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.” - Isaiah 54:17

But if that is what we get out of this promise, we have missed the point entirely.

The point is not how powerful God makes US – it is how powerful and loving God is. Period.

We see it in the next verse:

13 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.”

I hold your right hand.

What does that sound like?

It sounds first like when I take my granddaughter walking.

Her hand always in mine.

Even in places that are quite familiar to her – the child is comforted by the presence of someone who loves her.

Parents, you have probably had this happen:

You are walking along holding your toddler’s hand, when all of a sudden, they trip.

And most often when that happens, what is the result?

A child held in midair by their hand.

Knees unskint.

No tears from a great fall.

Because as we walk, we KNOW the toddler is not proficient at walking yet, so we are ready as we feel the stumble to pull them up.

Your heavenly Father knows your frailty and weakness, and He lifts you up from great falls all the time.

For the child, another great benefit of walking hand-in-hand is that is something does seem to threaten them, they are only a small cry away from being completely engulfed into the arms of their loving guardian.

How many faithful men and women, condemned for their faith, have found that comfort when faced with severe persecution?

How many will one day give us their testimony of God’s faithfulness to hold them up all the way to the end of their life?

From Stephen, who gave his witness of the risen Christ standing at the right hand of the Father,

To Mr. Thomas Haukes, with six others, were condemned on the 9th of February, 1555. A little before death, several of his friends, terrified by the sharpness of the punishment he was going to suffer, privately desired that in the midst of the flames he would show them some token, whether the pains of burning were so great that a man might not collectedly endure it. This he promised to do; and it was agreed, that if the rage of the pain might he suffered, then he should lift up his hands above his head towards heaven, before he gave up the ghost.

Not long after, Mr. Haukes was led away to the place appointed for slaughter…, the fire was kindled.

When he had continued long in it, and his speech was taken away by violence of the flame, his skin drawn together, and his fingers consumed with the fire, so that it was thought that he was gone, suddenly and contrary to all expectation, this good man being mindful of his promise, reached up his hands burning in flames over his head to the living God, and with great rejoicings as it seemed, struck or clapped them three times together. A great shout followed this wonderful circumstance, and then this blessed martyr of Christ, sinking down in the fire, gave up his spirit, June 10, 1555.

I hold your right hand.

But, I think, we cannot ignore another reason for God to hold our right hand.

That is, for most of history, the right arm is the sword arm – the hand and arm that wages war.

How many times when we are dismayed or fearful do we lash out in battle?

Maybe we see the possibility of a threat, so we bend ourselves to stop the threat we imagine.

Or someone has wronged us, even hurt us, and we set out to take our revenge, to seek our own justice.

The words of the Father are just as relevant in that situation:

“Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”

And this is not foreign to the rest of Scripture:

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. - Romans 12:19–21

We wait upon the Lord: we trust in the Lord alone.

For salvation.

For deliverance.

For vengeance.

And for His Appearing.

Target Date: Sunday2 February 2025

Word Study/ Translation Notes:

Thoughts on the Passage:

If you think for a minute that the president or any of his team will make things better for the church, you are a fool.

The president, like any person, does what is right in his own eyes.

God gives us seasons of refreshing and seasons of trial by His sovereign design.

Even when his decisions match the feelings of most of those in the church, there is no more merit or goodness to his acts than the man who declares his own righteousness on the basis that he has never murdered anyone.

What is good and right is not always what is pleasant or easy.

God is not trying to convince us of His supremacy – He is warning us in love of it.

It is not a call to the world to abandon their idols, although that would be a good thing. It is a call to His people to come out from them.

Elijah – If Jehovah is God, worship Him!

2 – one from the east – I took this at first to be Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar) or Cyrus. Gill, citing many, identifies this as Abram.

Abram does make sense in context, being called out of idolatry to devotion to the living and true God.

The military might in 2-4 may seem a bit grand for Abram, though. If this is Abram, it would be the spiritual putting to flight of multitudes of idols in the path of him and his children.

If Abram, the power of the Most High is in view, with this ONE man kept and protected even in battle with kings.

It would also be the conquest of Canaan by his descendants, overthrowing many idolatrous nations.

Much of this prophecy also may speak of Christ, toward whom many took up stones and cast insults, yet He was not harmed until the full wrath of God was poured out on Him.

He came to His beating and crucifixion unblemished, both spiritually and physically, a spotless lamb.

2 – with the last – the last being the fulfillment of His promises to Adam and Abram – the man Christ Jesus.

5 – coastlands have seen and are afraid – suggested by Gill – It is not the military (or political) might of the church that strikes fear in the hearts of the godless;

It is the purity and righteousness of the God we serve that devastates their temples and evacuates their philosophies.

It is that holiness of our God that sets them at enmity with the faithful – they cannot stand before the truth no matter how much they deny it.

Their wisdom is revealed as nonsense;

Their cures are revealed as poisons.

Their best efforts are shown to be futile and havel (a breath).

6 – says to his brother “Be strong” – the strength of community and associations are nothing in the sight of God.

The godless call to each other to fight and prevail.

The faithful call to each other to endure and remain faithful.

9 – called from the farthest corners – this is a direct reference to the church, called from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

10 – I will strengthen you… - In contrast to the idols that must themselves be strengthened by nails and chains, made fast in their sitting, the true God strengthens His people against all opposition.

12 – you shall not find them – Whom shall we fear? Who can stand against our God?

What can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus?

You will find all opposition, even the most terrible and daunting, to be nothing in the sight of God.

Even if they can destroy the flesh, they do not have the power of the sovereign God to cast the body and soul into an everlasting hall.

13 – hold your right hand – this can picture 2 things:

The leadership of a child by the hand.

The control of the sword arm to stay or to prevail.

23 – do good or harm – idols can neither benefit nor judge people.

24 – your work is less than nothing – the creation of a creature. The derivation of a finite being. The muddy product of a mudball.

24 – an abomination is he who chooses you – those who seek their own through false gods and no gods are abominations before the true God.

Idolatry in any form is treason against the Creator of the universe.

RC Sproul – cosmic treason

26-27 – Who declared it from the beginning?

“For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. - Amos 3:7

What is the Good News of this passage – Where is Jesus Christ? (if you can’t answer this question, are you finished?)

Teachings:

God’s promises:

4 – I am the first and with the last.

10 – I will strengthen you, help you, uphold you.

13 – I will hold your hand.

15 – I will make you cut through the opposition with the sharpness of God’s word.

17 – I will sate your hunger and thirst.

26 – I will tell you of My ways.

What do we learn about God/ Jesus/ Holy Spirit?

Applications:

For the Christian:

For the Backslidden:

For the Unconverted:

Primary Preaching Point:

Building Points:

[on even numbered page]

MORNING PRAYER:

Adoration:

Almighty God and everlasting King.

Confession:

Forgive us our pride, and the loathsome lengths to which we will go to support our fleshly vanity.

Thanksgiving:

In You we find our only hope, both in this life and in eternity joined with Christ Jesus.

Petition:

We beg that You subdue the power of our sins by Your Holy Spirit.

Intercession: (also beyond our local)

We pray that Your peace would reign anew on the earth: