chapter 41 of Isaiah, but you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of the Abraham, my friend, 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. 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 hand. Amen. Let's come together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can be around your Word on this last Sunday of this year. And as we look into your Word, we pray that you would be with us this afternoon, that you'd be with us right now, that you would bless us with your presence May each and every one of us know your tangible presence with us, the help and the enabling of the Holy Spirit. May your Word connect with our hearts and our lives. May you help me to be able to bring the message that you have for us from your Word. Keep me from anything that would distract or be wrong. Help me to just proclaim what you would have said this morning. And may you, O Lord God, through the power of your Holy Spirit, speak into each of our lives, meet us at our point of need, help us and draw us close to you. And may your name be glorified here this morning, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen. Well, 2024 has been an eventful year. And apparently the top news stories of this year, according to the amount of traction, the amount of social media, the amount of news coverage, have been like this. The global elections. It's been a year where there's been lots of elections and there's been a shift in the world politics. President Donald Trump is like Marmite, you either love him or hate him. And the situation in the US is going to be changing and it will have repercussions and ripples along the world. We had our own election in the UK and Labour's victory is redefining British politics there and we probably won't have the same ripple effect around the world that we would like to think we have. But it's change. In Mexico, they had their first female president there. And so there's been change politically around the world. And then there's been two conflicts, two wars going on, that the war and the conflict in Israel and in Gaza and in Lebanon, and we're so thankful as we prayed that there is a ceasefire there in Lebanon, but we are aware of these wars, and then just the mess and the carnage and the heartache of that prolonged conflict in Russia and Ukraine, so political unrest, wars around us. And when we can't forget this last year for the Olympics, what a spectacle it was. They sort of deemed it as the spectacle of the ages, but it didn't come without its controversy. And I'm sure that you saw that there was a strong agenda to push God out and for sports and the spectacle to be held on high as the idol for the world to worship. And it's been a year of natural disasters and climate change. There's been floods, and right now floods, and earthquakes, and climate-induced disasters, and they're wreaking havoc around the world. And just as we look back over 2024, we can say, can't we, there is much to fear as we look into this new year. There is much to fear. But what's 2024 been like for the global church? What's it been like for God's church in general? And according to Open Doors, a charitable concern who advocate and look out for people and churches, they said that across the world, one in seven Christians have been persecuted. One in seven Christians across the world have been persecuted. Over this last year, nearly 5,000 Christians lost their lives, were martyred, were murdered. And friends, 90% of those fatalities were in Nigeria. 14,766 churches and Christian properties were attacked. Many churches destroyed and razed to the ground. 4,125 Christians were detained and in prison. There's much to fear. But these things are remote. These things are out there. These things are happening around about us. What about your own personal 2024? What's 2024 been like for you? And for some of you, it probably seemed like a total nightmare. And even the best of the outcomes have come with tribulations and difficulties. It's been a year of residency challenges, Mujiret papers, The cost of living crisis that is here. We all wait and think longingly, and that day when ECMEC was one lira. Can you remember ECMEC being a lira? Some of you might not have been here that long, but five liras, I mean, the prices are just flying. You used to be able to rent a house for a year, nearly for the cost of what they're charging for two months. Academic issues. So often in our prayer times together, when we're sharing our issues, there's this one supervisor, or there's this one university, or there's this one course, and there's been academic issues, employment issues, people wanting work and not able to get work, people who are in work and not being paid, people who are in work and being abused. There are challenges, and there have been health and mental health concerns for folk over this year. family and relationship breakdowns, there's been bereavements, and then there's spiritual challenges, and spiritual difficulties, and temptations, and all these things there, and so this last year has been difficult for many, and there is much to fear. And this is the backdrop, this is me looking back and thinking over this last year and thinking we're going into the new year and I want to bring you something like we did last year. We had a verse last year that we took into the new year with us and we had that verse last year from Corinthians 13 and we're talking about love. And we've talked about faith, love, and hope, and the greatest of these is love. And that was a verse that we went into the new year with. And this is a verse that I've been led to. I've been led to it because of this backdrop of much to fear. We're picking it up in Isaiah 41 in the end of verse nine. 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. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. I want to start by highlighting the command, fear not. The introduction was looking at all those things that happened last year that we could fear going into this new year. But the command of this verse is clear. Fear not. And this is not an isolated command. If you look at all the derivative ways of saying fear and fear not, it's said that there are 365, or someone said there's 366 in case it's a leap year. But the 365 derivatives of the command do not fear in the Bible. One for every day, yeah. And then why does God do that? Because He knows how fearful we can be. And He knows how challenging and how difficult life can be. And in the backdrop of all this, the challenges and the problems of the past, and the fears and the concerns of looking forward, God is saying to His people, fear not! Fear not! And because we are slow to remember, He's challenged us, He's encouraged us, He's exhorted us 365 times in His Word to fear not. The people that Isaiah were writing to were told to fear not. And we can say, well that was for them then. Okay. It was particularly for them then. But God's Word is alive and God's Word is living and God's Word doesn't change and God's Word is for us now. And so just as they were being told then in their situation to fear not, this passage, this verse is for us now, and we can apply it to our situation right now as we look forward into this coming year. And we should be saying to ourselves, and it should be echoing from all those other passages, fear not. It's a command for us as well. And maybe you're thinking, well, it's easy for those people not to fear. They had a prophet coming to tell them that word from God, and you're just Pastor James, and you're just opening up God's word, and their problems were not like ours. They didn't have a year like my 2024. We need to get the context. Let's get the context of what's going on here. To get a right understanding of God's word, we need the context. We don't just take a verse out and make a theory from that, make a doctrine from that. We need the whole of God's word. And so, this second section of Isaiah, which is from chapter 40 to 55, is often referred to as the Book of Comfort. Comfort has been brought to God's people. Why do God's people need comfort? Well, the first section, chapters 1 to 39, are chapters of prophecy mainly about God's judgment. and God's judgment upon his people and proclaiming the exile to Babylon. God's people hadn't been living as God told them to. They were in covenant with God. They had an agreement with God and they broke their side of the covenant. They messed up their side of the covenant. And the prophets kept coming to them and warning them of what was going to happen. And there's 39 chapters effectively give or take a few verses, a few bits here and there, of warnings, of warnings, of warnings of what God is going to do. And after these warnings, and after this big warning about the exile of Judah to Babylon, then he brings these words of comfort. You see, this second section was for those people who are going to live through the difficult times. And God was wanting them to have these words to prepare for them in exile and in the time before exile when they were battling and when they were under siege and when there was horrendous things happening in Jerusalem. And in this second section of Isaiah, this chapter 40 to 45 is addressing the needs of God's people. It was written for comfort in time of crisis, comfort in time of despair, comfort in time of displacement, comfort in exile. Over the years Jerusalem would be ruled by increasingly more and more wicked kings. Every now and again there's a good one, but more and more wicked kings, more and more wickedness going on. And Jerusalem itself would come under attack from the Assyrians and under attack from the Babylonians. And ultimately it would fall to Babylon. That the temple, which was the picture in their minds of God's presence with them, was going to be destroyed. and they would be forcibly relocated to Babylon. They had much to fear, and if you just go back to chapter 39, there's a warning that's there given to the good King Hezekiah, and the warning that is there to him is clear. In verse six it says, behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house And all that your fathers have stored up till this day should be carried to Babylon. Nothing should be left, says the Lord. Now that's heavy, that's big. And then it becomes even more humiliating and humbling. And it says, and some of your own sons who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away. They're going to exile. And then it says, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. I'm not gonna go into that, but those of you that understand those words can get the magnitude of the humbling and the horror of what's going on there. They had much to fear, and so do we. And just as they had much to fear and face, they were told to fear not. And just as we thought of 2024 and seen the challenges and seen the difficulties and relived some of those moments, we could look forward to 2024 and there may be massive anxiety and concerns and fears upon us, but we, brothers and sisters in Christ, are told exactly the same. Fear not. A friend of mine told me of a flight he took in the Caribbean. He got onto this small plane, about 16 seats, and there was a chap sat at the front just reading the newspaper, and the time for the flight to leave came and nothing seems to be happening. and people sort of looking around at each other and nothing seemed to be happening. And then suddenly the guy at the front who was reading the paper said, oh, dearie me, I'm going to have to fly this thing myself. Put his paper down and went into the cockpit and started flying the plane. Now you can imagine the fear of everyone that was there. Who would trust themselves to some chap who was just reading the newspaper at the front of the plane? Well, this was the captain's big party piece in his trick. In actual fact, it was the captain of the plane that was flying, yes? Now, if that man had come on the intercom and said, I'm Bill Smith, I'm a chartered accountant, and I'll be flying your plane today, people would have been petrified, people might have undone their seats, they might have tried to jump out before it took off, I don't know, yes? But because he said to them, Sorry, bit of a joke. I'm your captain. I've done this for so many years. We'll be flying from so and so to such and such. Everyone sort of breathed a sigh of relief. They didn't need to fear. Just telling someone not to fear is not good enough. You need to know why you shouldn't fear. And in that situation, the credentials of the pilot and knowing that he'd flown those things a lot meant that those people who were momentarily in great fear of the man that's just reading the newspaper to, oh, he's the captain, he's done it before, there wasn't fear. And this is what God does for his people back then. This is what God does for us. And he has three steps that he takes us through, a guide for why we do not need to fear despite our circumstances. The circumstances aren't being taken away, the circumstances are real. The challenges that you'll face in 2025 are real. There will be pain, there will be difficulties, there will be joys, there will be sadnesses, there will be happinesses ahead of you. But you do not have to fear, despite the circumstances. Our first point, fear not. I have. There's one I have. Verse 9, the end of it, you are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off. Now the context of this is particularly God's chosen people, Israel, and the Jewish people and that Jewish nation. And they were told not to fear because of what God has done. They could look back and see what God has done. What had God done for them as a nation? God had chosen them. God hadn't cast them off. There was many situations that that nation had been through that looked like God had cast them off. They were floundering around in Egypt for 400 years. God hadn't forgotten them. He had a plan and a purpose, and He brought them into His promised land. There were times when the enemies looked like they were going to overcome them, and God didn't let that happen, because God had chosen them, and He'd not cast them off. And there, as this prophecy came true, despite the judgment of God they found themselves under, despite the trauma of war and siege, despite the carnage and the horrendous things that they witnessed, despite the death and the degradation, despite the humility of captivity and being owned by another nation, despite the fear of the unknown and the uncertainty They were told that God had chosen them. Now, it might not feel like the case, but it was the fact. And this is the important thing, friends. As we go into 2025, let's not pedal the feeling. Let's not get excited about the feeling. Let's remember what's important. The important thing is the fact. And the feelings that come up from the fear and all that's happened and the concern of what could happen are real. But what we should focus on is the fact. And the fact for them then was they were chosen of God and God was not casting them off. He hadn't cast them off. He wasn't, he isn't gonna cast them off. He won't cast them off. And the pains and the problems of your own 2004 may have been great. I don't know all your situations, but I know some of you, and I know some of you have been through real trauma this last year. And that they've been difficult and they've been challenging. And if only they'd just been like a few exams that frightened the children earlier. If only they'd been a cockroach. If only that's all that you had. But they've been bigger than that. For some of you it's felt like this last year has been a tsunami of pain overcoming you. And you've had more downs than ups. And you may look forward into 2025 and you may think it's worse. It cannot get better. What's ahead of us? What's to look forward to? It's just all gonna melt down and get worse. And your own fears for this next year might be overwhelming you. You may have had to drag yourself here to church and put a smile on your face just to sort of be with us. And you may feel that God has let go of you. And you may feel that he doesn't care. But friends, if you are a child of God, Jesus is your savior. And this is for you. This is for you. You are my servant. I have chosen you and not cast you off. It's not about you hanging on to a decision. It's the fact that God, before time began, chose you. He chose you, and 2,000 years ago, His Son, Jesus Christ, came to this world to die on the cross for you, to pay the price, to purchase you, to redeem you. You were made by God, your father. You were saved by God, your father. And he did this because before time began, before eternity, in a time that we don't understand or comprehend, God had chosen you. In fact, we could say it like this. You'd always been chosen. You've always been the apple of God's eye. You've always been held in God's grip. God's love for you has been a love that didn't have a beginning and will not have an ending. And because you are chosen, he is not going to cast you off. Every Christmas time in England, there's a campaign that says a puppy is for life, not just Christmas. Because lots of children want a nice little cute puppy for Christmas. And then that nice little puppy starts messing its bed and eating and throwing up and becoming expensive. And the parents think, let's just send it to the pound and get rid of it. We can't be doing with looking after this expensive little monster of mess. A puppy's not just for Christmas, it's for life. And this is the thing with God, God doesn't look at us and when we mess up and when we get things wrong, think, oh, I'm gonna get rid of that project. Before time began, you were chosen. Before time begun, God had mapped out his plan for you. And before time began, he knew what your 2024 was gonna be like, and he knew what your 2025 was gonna be like, and God is saying to you today, this morning, you are my servant, I have chosen you, and not cast you off. He's not cast you off. Paul in his letter to 2 Timothy in chapter 1-9 puts it like this, God who saved us and called us, or God who chose us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose in grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. Some of us are married here. And there was a moment that we kind of like made that choice of our partner, our loved one, our husband, our wife. And we could only make that choice when we saw them and knew them. And we thank God for that. But God's relationship with us was before we even were. before the world was, before the ages began. And Jesus Christ, as our brother Joshua was telling us on Christmas Day, this wasn't a plan B, he came with a purpose, and his purpose to save us was mapped out before time began. And if you, my friend, have responded to the gospel, if you are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, if you know that your sins, no matter how dark or dastardly they are, that deserve God's wrath, have been taken by Christ, then you're chosen. And no matter the situation that you are in now, No matter the fear of what may come or may not come, it doesn't change the fact that you're chosen and God is not gonna cast you off. He chose you before time and he will hold you till the end of time. In fact, you'll be with him for eternity. And then we're not just left with that, we've not just got one thing, we have fear not I am, and the I am's are two. Two, fear not I am, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. You see the first part is past tense, this one now is a present tense. And then he went on to encourage these Jews in their dark days with these two I am's and they really underline the first point. They put it into this present tense. They were not to fear because God was with them. Fear not for I am with you. Sometimes a child fears the dark and some of the children we had earlier saying that was their fear. And maybe they don't like going to bed by themselves. And the parent will take them to their bed and tuck them up. And the parent will tell them, don't fear. And they walk out the room. No, they don't. They say, don't fear. And they'll say, I'll just be next door. Don't fear, I'll stay with you for a little while. When you fall asleep, I'll just be downstairs. The child is being comforted and told that their parents will be there. And maybe through the night, the parent just pops into the room to reassure them to make sure that they're still asleep. And if they're not, the parent will just put their hand on their head and just say, we're here, it's okay. You're fine. We love you. We haven't gone anywhere. And then this verse is like Jesus popping in to reassure the Jews that he's with them. And it's like that for us now. We're in that dark situation that we are fearful of. And God is popping into our lives through the prophecy, through his word, which is alive and is living. And he's saying, don't fear. I am with you. I am with you. God is reminding the Jews that he's not only with them, but he is their God. And this is important, because a child never doubts their parents and their parents, yes? But it seems to me there's times when we forget who our God is. And that's when we get things messy, that's when we get things around the wrong way, that's when fear comes in because we forget God is our God and God is coming to us and saying, I'm with you and I am your God. It's a personal thing. that's been translated here as dismayed. It's much deeper in the original. It is to be in fear, to be in the state of great alarm. And then there can be a focus of discouragement about the future. And so he's saying to these Jewish folk then, look, your future may look bleak. You've got things that you can fear about in your future, but don't fear. Don't be dismayed. I am your God. And let's get the context. Let's get the context of this. Let's not miss the wonder and the magnitude of God saying who He is as God. That's why we read chapter 40. Chapter 40 reminds us of who God is. We haven't got time to go there, but I'm just going to pick some highlights out here from chapter 40. This is the God who is your God. This is the God who is with you. This is the God who's coming into your moment now and saying, don't fear about 2025. I am with you and I am your God. It's Him who sits above the circle of the earth. Where is God? He's everywhere. Who is God? He knows all things. He is there. And he's the God who brings princes to nothing. Your core supervisor can be brought to nothing like that and humbled and the signature you need done now. The landlord who's been oppressing you can be changed like that. The difficult situation that you're in, God is greater than it. We don't know what his will is, but he is telling us now he is with us, and he is beside us, and he is not going to leave us. And this is a God who does not faint or grow weary. We grow weary. We grow faint. We find life difficult. The pressures come upon us. We need to get our sleep. And this God doesn't sleep. He doesn't slumber. He's never off-duty. He's always almighty. He's always all-powerful. He gives power to the faint. This is the God, your God, who's saying, I'm with you. He gives power to the faint. You may be feeling totally faint and totally overwhelmed by what you've got ahead. And this God, our God, the God, gives power to those who faint. Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. It's massive, isn't it? They shall renew their strength. It's not like they get given a can of Red Bull that gives them wings and they have a little energy drink and it's all better for a moment. He takes them and they soar on wings of eagles and they shall run and not be weary. and they shall walk and they shall not faint. This is not any old God. This is not a flawed superhero who can't handle kryptonite or a failed superhero who can only operate in a certain dimension. This is the Lord God Almighty, the creator of the heavens of the earth, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And just as these Jews were going into exile, just as these Jews were in exile, God was reminding them that he was their personal God and he would be with them. And friends, as you fearfully step into 2025, with the backdrop of the mess and the problems of this past year, And if you are fearful of it, we can go in the same knowledge. The same knowledge that God says to us, fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, don't be afraid, for I am your God. Friends, if you are fearful of 2025, if there's anxiety around it, I want to give you a prescription. I want to give you a task. I want to encourage you to read Isaiah 40. If you want the shortcut, the cheat code, just read 40, 21 to 31. Yeah, it's the last little bit. And then remind yourself, fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. And when those fears come upon you, go back to Isaiah 41 to 31 and read what it says there. That's the facts. The feelings are real, but the facts are what's important. The fact is this God has said, I am with you. I am your God. Stop looking and thinking about the problem and look to God. delight in who he is and what he's done and what he's promised to do. And then the text goes on to encourage the Jews in what God will do. The grammar moves from The present tense to the future tense, and in the original Hebrew, the verb form is the imperfect tense, and this is a really strong tense to underline the certainty and the continuity of God's support. So three, fear not, I will, and there are three I wills. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous hands. God doesn't want these Jews who are in difficult days to miss the point. He's being so kind to them in the style of Hebrew poetry using both parallelism and repetition. He uses these to make the point. I will strengthen you. Second, I will help you. Third, I will uphold you. The parallel, I will, I will, I will. Has God ever not done what he said he will? Everything's come true. We're waiting on his return, but he will return. And he said here, and he said here to those Jewish people, I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you. God wasn't going to take away the problem. He wasn't just going to be there with them. He promises he's going to strengthen them. In the middle of their darkness, He will provide them the strength to carry on. I don't know how 2025 is going to turn out for you, but God will strengthen you. He will carry you through. God knows what He is doing. God knew the nature of the Babylonians. He knew their wickedness. He knew their cruelty. He knew what they would inflict on his people. He knew why those people were going to suffer in the way they were going to do. But he knew they were going to endure it because he was going to make them strong. God knows why, and God has promised to help them. And God's actions may not seem fair, and they could have been in a situation tempted to suggest or complain that God was acting in an unrighteous way, but God tells them that he will uphold them, and what he is doing is both righteous and powerful in that picture language. He will uphold them with His righteous right hand. Righteous being right and good and proper and right hand being powerful. God was speaking into their lives, into their situation and so that the few hundred years later when this actually happened to them they could go to these verses and they could be comforted by them despite the darkness and despite the oppression and despite the awful nature of all that was going on. You see, I don't know all that you've been through and suffered this last year. I don't know fully how painful the circumstance in the Providence has been for you. I don't know how close to despair you've been, or how dark those inner thoughts have been for you. I don't know your inner fears for this coming year. I don't know if those fears will be realized. I don't know how good or bad your 2025 will be. But I tell you this, friends, I am not going to shout at you here and tell you it's going to be wonderful and tell you it's going to be a success and tell you it's going to be your best year ever and tell you that you're going to be prosperous. I am not going to do that, I can't do that, I don't know that and anyone who suggests they do are lying and cheating you of the real truth and the real wonder of this. You see this is the thing that I do know is those Jews came out of captivity and those Jews were strengthened, they were upheld and they were helped. And the temple of Jerusalem was rebuilt, and they were strengthened, and they were helped, and they were upheld. And God used his people to bring Jesus, his son, into this world, so that you and I, in 2025, can be strengthened, and helped, and upheld. It doesn't matter about the circumstance or the difficulties. It doesn't matter if you get the icing on the cake and win the Bitcoin lottery. None of that is important. But what I can say to you with a full confidence of God's Word, as you go into this new year, if you are someone who's trusting as Jesus is your Savior, if you know Jesus is your Savior, if you know God is your Heavenly Father, God will strengthen you. He will help you. He will uphold you. I know that He is with you and He is your God. I know that before time began, He chose you and He's not gonna let go of you and you are in the grip of His grace. And so brothers and sisters, Those of you that know the Lord Jesus Christ, as I say to you, I say to myself, fear not. Fear not. We don't have to go into 2025 fearing. We can go into 2025 confident because 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. Amen. Amen. What I'm going to do is just to give you a moment to think and pray over that, and then we will sing our final song in response. Oh, the pain and the troubles, the joys and the pleasures, the ups and the downs of this last year. You know our fears and concerns and upsets as we look into the abyss and the darkness or optimistically into the future. No matter where we are, may each of us have ringing in our ears. And knowing you as our savior, may we be reminded now, and may we keep this close to our hearts in the days ahead, that you are my servant. I've 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. May that comfort us, motivate us, and encourage us as we press on into the new year. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.