Needless Fears

Needless Fears

(No. 3098)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 1908.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING,
JUNE11,1874.

"Who are you that.. .have feared continually every day because of the
fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? And where is the
fury of the oppressor?" Isaiah 51:12,13.

OBJECTS often influence us out of proportion to their value because of
their nearness. For instance, the moon is a very small insignificant
body compared with the sun, yet it has far more influence over the
tides and many other matters in the world than the sun has simply
because it is so much nearer to the earth than the sun is. The life
that is to come is infinitely more important than the life that now is
and I hope that in our inmost hearts, we reckon that the things that
are seen and temporal are mere trifles compared with the things which
are not seen and eternal! Yet it often happens that the less important
matters have a greater influence over us than those which are far more
important, simply because the things of earth are so much nearer to us.
Heaven is infinitely more to be desired than any joy of earth, yet it
seems far off and, therefore, these fleeting joys may give us greater
present comfort. The wrath of God is far more to be dreaded than the
anger of man, yet sometimes a frown or a rebuke from a fellow creature
will have more effect upon our minds than the thought of the anger of
God. This is because the one appears to be remote, while, being in this
body, we are so near to the other.

Now, Beloved, it will sometimes happen that a matter which is scarcely
worthy of the thought of an immortal spirit will fret and worry us from
day to day. There is some oppressor, as the text puts it, whom we dread
and fear continually, yet we forget the Almighty God who is on our
side, who is stronger than all the oppressors who have ever lived and
who has all people and all things under His control! The reason why we
act thus is because we think of God as if He were far off, while we can
see the oppressor with our eyes and we can hear with our ears his
threatening words. I want, at this time, to be the means in the hands
of God of turning the thoughts of His people away from the distress of
the present to the joy and comfort which, though more remote, ought to
still be more powerful over the mind and heart because of the real
intrinsic greatness.

I. And first I want to speak upon this point–that MANY FEARS WHICH ARE
ENTERTAINED BY GOOD MEN AND WOMEN ARE REALLY GROUNDLESS.

"You have feared continually every day because of the fury of the
oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy…and where is the fury of
the oppressor?" The probable meaning of this verse is that the
oppressor never came, so that they never did feel the force of his fury
and, in like manner, many of God's people are constantly under
apprehensions of calamities which will never occur to them–they suffer
far more in merely dreading them than they would have to endure if they
actually came upon them! In their imagination, there are rivers in
their way and they are anxious to know how they shall wade through
them, or swim across them. There are no such rivers in existence, but
they are agitated and distressed about them. Our old proverb says,
"Don't cross the bridge till you come to it," but these timid people
are continually crossing bridges that only exist in their foolish
fancies! They stab themselves with imaginary daggers, they starve
themselves in imaginary famines and even bury themselves in imaginary
graves! Such strange creatures are we that we probably smart more under
blows which never fall upon us than we do under those which do actually
come! The rod of God does not smite us as sharply as the rod of our own
imagination does–our groundless fears are our chief tormentors and
when we are enabled to abolish our self-inflictions, all the
indications of the world become light enough. It is a pity, however,
that any who are taught of God and who have had faith in Christ given
to them, should fall into so

guilty and, at the same time, so painful a habit as this of fearing the
oppressor who does not come and who never will come!

Some are much troubled by the fear of man. That is exactly the case
mentioned in our text–"the fury of the oppressor." He was a very
oppressive man–hard, unfeeling, proud, strong, exacting–and they were
afraid of him. In addition to this, he must have been a person of
impetuous temper, one with whom you could not reason and so passionate
that they were not merely afraid of the oppressor, but of "the fury of
the oppressor." He is the kind of person whom you do not know how to
meet or how to escape from. If you flee from him, he will pursue you in
his fury. If you remain quiet, your patience will not make him
quiet–and if you resist him, his fury will be so much the greater.
That appears to have been the character of the oppressor feared by
those with whom the Lord was at that time reasoning. And we have known
Believers who have been afraid of what such-and-such a powerful man
might do if they acted as their conscience told them they ought to act.
He would turn them out of their farm, or they could lose his business
from their shop.

Perhaps the fearful one is some young person who has a relative who
hates religion and what this relative in power may do she cannot
imagine. Or the oppressor is an arbitrary employer and if his employees
do not exactly obey his orders, even though those orders happen to be
wrong, they will lose their employment. They may be for months without
work and they and their children may be reduced to starvation. They
picture a long vista of trials and troubles that will come upon them
because of "the fury of the oppressor." Now, sometimes there is a
foundation for this kind of fear, for men do act in very cruel manner
to their fellow men–and the very persons who talk most about being
liberal in their views are generally the greatest persecutors. If I
must have a religious enemy, let me have a professed and avowed bigot,
but not one of your "free thinkers" or "broad churchmen," as they are
called, for there is nobody who can hate as they do! And the lovers of
liberal-mindedness who have no creed at all think it to be their
special duty to be peculiarly contemptuous to those who have some
degree of principle and cannot twist and turn exactly as they can.
There is no doubt that there are still trials of cruel mockeries to be
borne by those who are true to Christ. "The cold shoulder" is given in
society. In other company, hard words are used and coarse jests are
made. Christians must expect to have to bear the opposition of man. It
always was so and it always will be so. If you turn from the way of the
world and practically accuse the world of being wrong, the world will
resent it. "If you were of the world, the world would love his own."

But after all is there not a great deal more thought of this matter
than there is any need to be, for, "where is the fury of the
oppressor?" I have known young Christians afraid of somebody or other
and not daring to avow their conscientious convictions–and when at
last they have plucked up courage enough to do so, they have been
surprised that the person they expected to oppose them has been quite
favorable to them. The wife has been afraid to mention to her husband
that she desires to unite with the Church, but when he hears of it, he
thinks that he, too, will go and hear the minister. I remember a man
and his wife who came to join the Church. They were each afraid to tell
the other of what they had experienced–and when they met each other on
the night that they were present with other candidates, they were
greatly surprised to find that, instead of having any reason to be
afraid of one another, they had the utmost cause to rejoice! They said
that it was like a new marriage to them when each found the other to be
in Christ Jesus, yet each of them had thought the other to be so strong
in opposition to religion that they had not dared to mention their
conversion till thus they made their mutual discovery! Perhaps, dear
Friend, you have no more need to be afraid than they had. Go on–the
giant that stands in your way may turn out to be only a shadow, or if
he really is a giant–God will help you to fight against him and make
you more than a conqueror!

Some have a fear of another kind–not of any opposition to themselves,
but they are afraid of the Church and the Truth of God being utterly
destroyed by the opposition of men. Have you not many times noticed a
kind of panic going through the churches through some supposed
discovery in science, or some new doctrinal error that has appeared?
One Christian has met another and begun tremblingly to talk about what
was going to happen. "The old times were so much better than
these"–they begin with that note–"and here is a new danger, how are
we to meet it?" It was anxiously asked a few years ago, "How are we to
meet these discoveries of geology?" Yet we hardly ever hear about them
now or, if we do, we do not trouble about them! Then Dr. Colenso had
made certain calculations which were very terrifying to timid folk! And
Huxley tried to prove that we had descended or ascended from
monkeys–but who cares about their theories now? Yet I have met with
nervous people who greatly feared the fury of this tyrant, Science,
which was utterly to destroy us! But what has it ever done against the
Truth of God?

At this time, as you are well aware, it is the belief of a great many
people that, owing to the spread of Ritualism, the candle that Latimer
lit will be blown out and we shall all be in the dark–or at least
shall have nothing better than candles made at Rome to light us! I
constantly receive magazines that prophesy the most terrible times.
According to them, some of us will no doubt be roasted alive at
Smithfield. Well, I know that the devil can blow very hard, but I do
not believe that he can blow out the candle that God lights–much less
can he blow out the sun of the Gospel which has burned on now for over
1,800 years! Blow away, Satan, as hard as you can, but you will never
be able to blow out this Light of God–it will still shine on to the
end of time! You may blow away a cloud or two which obscures the Light,
but the Light itself will be as bright as ever!

It may be that in the place where you live there has come up a new
doctrinal error. Somebody has discovered that men are nothing but a
species of large apes and that only those who believe in Christ are
immortal–all the rest will die out eventually–annihilation is to be
their doom! Many are dreadfully frightened by that doctrine, but I
believe it to be too contemptible to alarm anybody who studies the
Scriptures. It is a very pretty toy and many will play with it. And
after a certain time there will come another pretty toy, and they will
play with that! And so it will be till Christ, Himself, comes and
breaks up all the toys and brings His Church back to the grand old
Truth of God which will stand firm notwithstanding all the assaults of
men or devils! But you and I need not fear, Beloved, because of any of
these things! What is there, after all, to cause us to tremble for the
Ark of God? Just nothing at all! Never let any member of this Church
get to whining in this way and saying that the Gospel will die. The
heavens and the earth will pass away, but the Word of the Lord shall
endure forever! That which the Lord has declared in this blessed Book
of His shall stand fast throughout eternity!

Another fear which sometimes comes over truly godly people is that,
perhaps, after all, they shall fall from Grace and perish. There may
come a temptation which will find out their weak point and overthrow
them. The vessel has sailed well up to now, though not without much
tossing and perils, but, perhaps it will strike upon a rock and be
utterly broken in pieces. They know how weak and frail they are and how
many temptations surround them. They know how treacherous and cunning
the devil is. They know how potent is the world with its many
allurements. David feared that he would perish one day by the hand of
Saul–and these fearful souls, as they pass into some fresh phase of
life, or encounter some new trial, dread lest, after all, Grace should
not be sufficient for their needs and they should come to a miserable
end! I know this fear. Who among us has not felt it? Who among us can
honestly examine his own heart and not feel it? Yet, dear Friends,
there is really nothing in it to trouble the true child of God. If our
religion is a religion of our own getting or making, it will
perish–and the sooner it goes, the better! But if our religion is a
matter of God's giving, we know that He never takes back what He gives
and that if He has commenced to work in us by His Grace, He will never
leave it unfinished! Were the Covenant founded upon works, it would
fail! If it depended upon ourselves, it would surely break down! But if
it is the "Everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things, and sure," it
cannot fail! If the promise is the promise of God who cannot lie, He
will surely keep it unto the end. We ought not, therefore, to be
burdened with this anxiety, but simply go on in the path of daily
watchfulness and humble dependence upon the preserving power of the
Lord Jesus Christ–and so we shall find that we shall get safely to
Heaven after all!

We have known some, too, who have been afflicted with fear of need
coming upon them as to pecuniary matters. One says, "The giant of
poverty will surely seize me! I have not enough laid by to furnish me
with a sufficient maintenance." I have known some even dread because
they had not enough for their own funeral–as if that would not be sure
to be settled somehow. The living will surely take care to bury the
dead. I have known others say, "If I were to be out of work. If
such-and-such a thing were to happen. If so-and-so were to die, what
would I do?" Ah, and if we fret over all the "ifs" that we can imagine,
we shall certainly never be without fretfulness! But where is your
dependence, Christian, for this world? Have you placed it upon man?
Then I wonder not that you are full of fear! But why do you not trust
your body where you trusted your soul? If you have trusted Jesus to be
the Savior of your immortal spirit, can you not also trust Him to be
the Provider for this poor flesh of the things which perish? God feeds
the ravens–will He not feed you? Up till this moment the commissariat
of the universe has never failed! The myriads of living creatures have
received from His hand all they have required! Then is He likely to
forget you? He has never done so yet–your bread has been given you,
your water has been sure–why should He change His custom and leave His
own dear child to starve? "Oh, but," you say, "the brook Cherith is
dried up!" Yes, but when the brook dried up, God sent His servant
Elijah to Zarephath where there was a widow woman who would sustain
him. When one door shuts, another opens–and if one well goes dry, the
water bubbles up somewhere else! The means may change, but the God of
the means changes not! He will supply your needs. Stand in your proper
place, do your duty, obey His will and He will not fail you, but bring
you safely to the place where fears shall never come to you anymore.

Another fear (and I will mention but this one), is the fear of death
Some even among God's people hardly dare think of dying. It is a dreary
necessity with them that they must die–and they fret and trouble about
it quite needlessly. But, Beloved, if we have perfect peace with God,
we should not fear dying! I have known some who have thought that they
would rather be translated, but I would rather not. If I were walking
out tomorrow evening and I saw horses of fire and chariots of fire
standing ready to take me up, I would feel a great deal more troubled
about getting into a fiery chariot than about going home and lying down
to die! If my Lord and Master shall choose to let me live till He comes
and so prevent my death, His will be done, but the Spirit says,
"Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord," so let us be content with
that blessedness. But there is a fear of death in some good people's
minds and they cannot always shake it off. Yet, Beloved, there is
nothing in it. If you are in Christ, you will never know anything about
dying. I do not believe that Christians feel anything in death. If
there are pains, as there often are, they are not the pains of dying,
but of living. Death ends all their pains. They shut their eyes on
earth and open them in Heaven! They have shaken off the cumbrous clay
of this mortal body and found themselves disembodied, in a moment,
before the Throne of the Most High–there to wait till the trumpet of
the Resurrection shall sound and they shall once again put on their
bodies, transformed and glorified like to the body of their Lord! Get
rid of that fear of death, Beloved, for it is not becoming in a
Christian. The Believer's heart should be so stayed upon the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the Resurrection and the Life, that he should leave
himself in his Heavenly Father's hands to live or die, or to wait till
the Lord shall come–just as the Lord shall please.

II. My second observation is this. THERE ARE SOME FEARS WHICH WOULD DIE
AT ONCE IF WE DARED TO QUESTION THEM.

Did you notice that the text is a question? "Who are you that…has
feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as
if he were ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor?"
Did you ever question your fears, my dear Friends? I mean you, Miss
Despondency over there, and you, Mr. Much-Afraid. Did you ever question
your fear? If not, catechize it now–put it through the catechism.
Suppose it is the Church of God that is afraid of the oppressor? Let
the Church ask, Where is the oppressor of which she needs to be afraid?
Is it a Doctrinal error? Well, the Church was once over-run with
Arianism and it seemed as if the heretics had killed the Doctrine of
the Deity of Christ! But the Lord was pleased to raise up His valiant
servant, Athanasius, and very soon Arianism was put to the rout! The
Church of Christ scarcely perceives the scars of all the conflicts
through which she has passed. That which threatened to destroy her has
never really injured her, but she has come out of the furnace all the
purer! As for persecution, has it not commonly proved that the more the
saints have been persecuted, the more they have prospered and that the
blood of the martyrs has been the seed of the Church? Suppose there
should again come martyr days? Suppose there should again come days of
heresy? Well, the Church has had such days before, yet she has survived
them. The grand old vessel has been in many a tornado and storm before
now, yet she has not even lost a spar or split a stitch of her canvas!
Why, therefore, should she be afraid now?

Ask the question again, "Where is the fury of the oppressor?" And the
answer comes, It is under the control of God. Even Satan, your fiercest
foe–God created him, God governs him, God can do with him just as He
pleases. Then as to that poverty of which you are afraid, it will not
come unless God permits it! And if it does come, the Lord can alleviate
it. You are afraid you will lose a very dear child–but you will not
lose her unless the Lord takes her. You are fretting because you fear
that a special friend of yours will soon be taken away–but he cannot
be taken away till the Lord takes him. What are you afraid of? Is it
your own death? Learn to sing good old John Ryland's verse–

"Plagues and deaths around me fly! But till He bids I cannot die! Not a
single shaft can hit Till the God of Love sees fit." Then, again, the
Lord asks, "Where is the fury of the oppressor?" as if it was so soon
gone that one might look in vain for it. Some man oppresses you. Well,
he shall die, perhaps soon. The trouble that now frets you will be gone
in the twinkling of an eye. If not soon so far as this life is
concerned, yet, when you get to Heaven (and that will not be long),

how short a time will your trial seem to have lasted! "Our light
affliction, which is but for a moment," says the Apostle, "works for us
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory." You fret about your
trouble and worry yourself continually concerning it, but the text
seems to ask you, "Where is it?" It is a meteor that flashes across the
sky and is gone! Ask your troubles such questions as these and they
will soon vanish.

I will ask you a few more questions. You have fears with regard to a
great trouble that threatens you. Well, will it separate you from the
love of Christ?If you cannot answer that question, let Paul answer it
for you–"I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor
height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." You say that
your enemies slander you, but will Christ believe them? They are trying
to take away your character, but will your Lord think any the less of
you? Will HE be deceived by their lies? You say that friends are
forsaking you, but will they take Jesus away and make Hmforsake you?

You say that your enemies are doing all that they can to destroy you,
but can they destroy the Divine promises? The Lord has promised to give
unto His sheep eternal life–can they take that promise from you, or
make it of no value? They may frown at you, but can they keep you out
of Heaven? They may threaten you, but can they make the Covenant of
Grace to be of no effect? While eternal things are safe, we may well be
content to let other things come or go just as God wills!

Again, can anyone do anything to you which God does not permit? And if
God permits it, can any real harm come to you? "Who is he that will
harm you, if you are followers of that which is good?" "We know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who
are the called according to His purpose." Then how can anything work
for your hurt if you are really the Lord's? Can anyone curse those whom
God blesses? Are you like those foolish persons who are afraid of a
witch's curse, or of some spell that the wicked may cast over you? Even
Balaam said, "Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is
there any divination against Israel." Balak might summon Balaam to his
aid and the two together might stand and look on Israel and wish to
curse them–but they could not curse those whom God had blessed! If all
the devils in Hell could fill your house and seek to injure you, there
is no need for you to fear or tremble more than Martin Luther did when
his friends were afraid for him to go to Worms, but he said, "If there
were as many devils there as there are tiles on the roofs of the
houses, I would face them all in the name of God." And you may say the
same! If earth were all in arms abroad and Hell, in one vast
hurry-burly, had come up to join with the world against you, you might
still say, "The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our
refuge," and charge them in the name of the Most High, and put them all
to rout, for greater is He who is with you than all those that are
against you!

III. Now, lastly, dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, if these fears
are groundless, and if a few questions will scatter them, I appeal to
you who are cast down to CRY TO GOD TO DELIVER YOU FROM THIS STATE OF
BONDAGE.

If there is no ground for your fears, what is the use of tormenting
yourself for nothing at all? And if God is indeed with you, do you not
dishonor Him by your fretfulness and your fears? What would you think
of a little child, in its mother's arms, who was always afraid that it
was not safe there? Would it not look as if there were some defeat in
the child's loving confidence in its mother?–

"Safe in the arms of Jesus,"

you may well be–

"Safe from corroding care."

He is able to keep that which you have committed unto Him so, if you do
not trust Him, you really dishonor Him! The commander of an army who
saw his soldiers turning white with fear and trembling as they marched
to the conflict, would say within himself, "These soldiers of mine are
no credit to their leader." And will you, who have a Captain who is so
well able to protect you, show the white feather? Shall a cowardly
spirit be permitted in the service of God? Shall the Captain of our
salvation have to lead a coward host to the fight with the powers of
darkness? I have sometimes thought, when I have heard about the fears
of God's people concerning the times in which we live, and what is
going to become of us, that surely they did not know that the King is
in the midst of us, that the Lord is as a wall of fire round about us
and the Glory in our midst! For if they did but know that He is our
Protector and Defender, they could not be so cast down as they are.

Besides, you who are of a fretful spirit often grieve other Christians.
There are others who are like you and they get worse through coming
into contact with you! Your complaint is one that is catching! Every
now and then I meet with Christians who like to hear sermons that make
them miserable. I had a letter from one, some time ago, who said that
as soon as he came here and saw how cheerful the people looked, he felt
certain that he was not among the tried people of God, so he went away
and turned into a little place where there were only 15 or 16
people–and he heard a good deep-experience sermon about the corruption
of the heart–and there he felt at home! For my part, I like such texts
as these, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice." We
have plenty of troubles and trials and if we like to fret over them, we
may always be doing it. But then, we have far more joys than troubles,
so our songs should exceed our sighs! We have a good God who has
promised that as our days, so shall our strength be–

"Why should the children of a King Go mourning all their days?"

"Ah!" says one, "but this is a howling wilderness." Yes, if you howl in
it, it will howl in response–but if you sing, it will sing too!
Remember the ancient promise, "The wilderness and the solitary place
shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as
the rose."–

"Then let our songs abound,

And every tear be dry–

We're marching through Immanuel's ground

To fairer worlds on high."

And once again, do you not think that a dull, heavy murmuring spirit is
a great hindrance to the unconverted?If they find you in this state,
they will say, "This person's religion does not appear to do him much
good." Worldlings often say that Christians are the most miserable
people in the world. I think that is a great mistake on their part and
that they do not really know us, for if they knew some of us, they
would find that we have cheerful spirits notwithstanding a good deal
that might depress us. Do not any of you Christians let the worldling
say that Christ is a hard Master! I should not like to drive a horse
that was all skin and bone, for people would say that it was because
his master kept him short of corn. I should not like to have in my
house, a servant who was always wringing her hands and whose eyes were
usually full of tears. Visitors would say, "Her mistress is a vixen,
you may be sure of that." And if professing Christians are always seen
to be in a wretched, unhappy state, people are sure to say, "Ah, they
serve a hard Master! The ways of Christ are ways of unpleasantness and
all His paths are misery and wretchedness."

Sinner, that is not true! But it is true that "light is sown for the
righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart," and we earnestly
wish that you would come and prove the truth of it for yourself!
Believing in Jesus, you would have a perfect peace and a bliss that
nothing can destroy! You would have a little Heaven below and a great
Heaven above! You would be able to take your troubles to your God and
leave them there! And you would march along with songs of rejoicing
till you come to that blessed place where there are pleasures
forevermore!

May God bless you, for Christ's sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ISAIAH 43:1-19.

Verse 1. But now thus says the LORD that created you, O Jacob, and He
that formed you, O Israel The Lord reminds us that He first created us,
and that He afterwards molded us. We are like Jacob by nature, but He
has made us Israel by Grace.

1. Fear not: for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name;
you are Mine. Redemption is a deep well of comfort. If the Lord has
indeed bought us with His blood, He will not think lightly of us. And
if He has called us by name and declared that we belong to Him, we may
rest assured that He will not lose His own property, but that He will
preserve it to the end.

2. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through
the rivers, they shall not overpower you: when you walk through the
fire, you shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon you
[See Sermon #397, Volume 7–fire! FIRE! FIRE] The Lord does not promise
us immunity from trial

and trouble–we shall have to go through waters and rivers, and shall
have to pass through fires and flames–it is

through much tribulation that we must enter the Kingdom of God. But He
does promise that no harm shall come to us from it all. "We know that
all things work together for good to them that love God"–that waters,
rivers, fires and flames bring us benefits and blessings–and that they
shall none of them bring a curse upon us.

3, 4. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior I
gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for you. Since you were
precious in My sight, you have been honorable. [See Sermon #917, Volume
16–precious,

HONORABLE, BELOVED] God puts honor upon His beloved ones.

They were in themselves dishonorable, for they had nothing of goodness
about them until the Lord imparted it to them.

4. And I have loved you. God loved His ancient people Israel. He has
always loved His Church and He still loves Believers.

4, 5. Therefore will I give men for you, and people for your life. Fear
not: for I am with you. It is enough for a child that his mother is
near him, or that his father is with him–then is it not enough for
you, O child of God, that God is with you? Israel was scattered when
Isaiah wrote this prophecy, and would be afterwards scattered far and
wide over the face of the earth. So God gave this comforting assurance,
"fear not: for I am with you."

5, 6. I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the
west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not
back: bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the
earh. [See Sermon #2799, Volume 48–the

CHURCH ENCOURAGED AND EXHORTED] God's chosen ones have

wandered very far away from Him, but the Great Shepherd of the sheep,
who bought them with His blood, will gather them and there shall be one
flock and one Shepherd.

7. Even everyone thatis called by Myname: forlhave createdhim for My
Glory, Ihave formedhim; yes, Ihave made him. Three expressions are here
used concerning the man who is called by God's name. First, "I have
created him"– made him out of nothing. Then, "I have formed
him"–fashioned him, made him into his proper shape. The last sentence
may be read, "Yes, I have completed him." When God begins His work in
us, we are in the rough. As He goes on working in us, we gradually take
the form of His dear Son and, by-and-by, He will complete us. And then
we shall wake up in His likeness. Blessed be His name for this!

8. Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have
ears. Some think that the Lord refers here to those who were once
blind, but to whom He has given eyes. And to those who were deaf, to
whom He has given ears. Many of us are of that order. One thing I know
is that, whereas I was once spiritually blind, now I can see! And
another thing I know is that, whereas I was once spiritually deaf, now
I can hear the voice of God!

9. Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be
assembled. As though there was to be a great debate as to who God is
and what God is, He first summons all His people whose blind eyes and
deaf ears He had opened, and then He calls for all the nations to be
gathered together and gives them this challenge–

9. Who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them
bring forth the witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them
hear, and say, It is truth. Where else have we any true knowledge of
God except in His Word and among His people? The myths and mysteries of
the heathen, how dark, how indistinct and shallow they are! What true
prophecy did their oracles ever give? Ask Greece and Rome, the most
polished of the ancient nations, what did their so-called gods ever
foretell? Let them bring any holy book of theirs which reveals the
future and which is true.

10. You are My witness, says the LORD. The chosen people of God have
become witnesses for Jehovah that He, and He alone, is the true God.
That He, and He alone has truly foretold the future. Let the heathen
prove that their gods have done the same if they can–we know that they
cannot. "You are My witnesses, says the Lord."

10. And My servant whom Ihave chosen. [See Sermon #644, Volume
11–GOD'S WITNESSES] That great Servant of God, you know His name, even
Christ Jesus the faithful and true Witness, bears better witness for
God than the whole nation of the Jews, or the Lord's chosen people in
all ages can bear!

10, 11. That you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He:
before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me. I,
even I, am the LORD; and beside Me there is no Savior. Look the whole
world over and see where there is any Savior for sinners except Jesus
Christ. Does any other religion even profess to have a Savior?
Destroyers they have, but where is their Savior?

12. Ihave declared, and have saved. "I said that I would save, and I
have saved."

12. And 1 have showed, when there was no strange god among you:
therefore you are My witnesses, says the LORD, that I am God. When, in
Hezekiah's day, the idols had been destroyed, God told Hezekiah that He
would deliver him from Sennacherib, and He did so.

13. Yes, before the day was I am He. When there was no day, there was
the Ancient of Days.

13. And there is none that can deliver out of My hand: I will work, and
who shall let it? (who shall hinder it?)–

"When He makes bare His arm, Who shall His work withstand? When He His
people's cause defends, Who, who shall stay His hand?"

14. Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your
sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles,
and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. Up the broad river
Euphrates, and down to the Persian Gulf, Babylon and Chaldea gloried in
their greatness, but God sent the Medo-Persian power to break them in
pieces for the sake of His people, that Cyrus might let them go free!

15-17. I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.
Thus says the LORD, which makes a way in the sea, and a path in the
mighty waters; which brings forth the chariot and horse, the army and
the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are
extinct, they are quenched as tow. Like the wick of a lamp, soon put
out. Here is, probably, an illusion to the overthrowing of Egypt at the
Red Sea–they came out with their horses and chariots, but they were
made to lie down together in the sea. God overcame His people's enemies
then and He can and will do the same to the end of the chapter.

18. Remember you not the former things, neither consider the things of
old. Do not look merely upon what God has done; but look to the future
and remember that He is able to do the same again.

19. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall you
not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in
the desert. O dear child of God, have you got into the wilderness and
have you no comfort there? Are all your wells dried up? God will work a
new miracle for you–you shall have a new manifestation of His gracious
power!