SPEAKER_00: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_01: Morning again.
SPEAKER_01: If you have a Bible, go ahead and grab it and turn in there to Isaiah chapter forty.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to be in verses one through eight.
SPEAKER_01: This is the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Comfort.
SPEAKER_01: Comfort my people, says your God.
SPEAKER_01: Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, and that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
SPEAKER_01: A voice cries, In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
SPEAKER_01: Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain shall be made low.
SPEAKER_01: The uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places shall become a plain, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
SPEAKER_01: For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
SPEAKER_01: A voice says, Cry.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, What shall I cry?
SPEAKER_01: All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
SPEAKER_01: The grass withers, the flower fades, and the breath of the Lord blows on it.
SPEAKER_01: Surely the people are grass.
SPEAKER_01: The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
SPEAKER_01: Will you pray with me?
SPEAKER_01: God, there is no greater summary of who we are in light of who you are than this.
SPEAKER_01: We are but grass.
SPEAKER_01: All of our glory is like a flower.
SPEAKER_01: We are here one minute and gone the next.
SPEAKER_01: Everything here is temporal, everything here is fading.
SPEAKER_01: But your word endures forever.
SPEAKER_01: What you have decreed will stand and it shall not be moved.
SPEAKER_01: And here in this text this morning, Lord, it is my belief that your word that you declared thousands of years ago to your people in exile will stand to bring comfort to your people today.
SPEAKER_01: We pray this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Oftentimes we are alerted to a need based off of a cry.
SPEAKER_01: Right, moms?
SPEAKER_01: You hear your baby crying, and that alerts you that your child needs to be fed, changed, or put to a nap.
SPEAKER_01: I remember when my firstborn was born.
SPEAKER_01: We were so like I'm I'm just, it was a I was in a daze.
SPEAKER_01: I wasn't quite sure what to expect.
SPEAKER_01: When he came out and he was crying, I'm like, is he supposed to do that?
SPEAKER_01: Well, of course he's supposed to do that, you dummy.
SPEAKER_01: Babies cry.
SPEAKER_01: And the doctor just patiently, like, hey, if he's crying, that means he's breathing.
SPEAKER_01: It's okay, it's okay.
SPEAKER_01: So there was a comfort to me that he was crying, but that cry alerted us that he he needed something.
SPEAKER_01: He needed to be comforted.
SPEAKER_01: And of course, as children grow and get older, they their cries differ.
SPEAKER_01: They, again, uh might need a diaper change, they might need something to eat.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they cry, needing comfort because they fell off their bike, learning to ride without their training wheels.
SPEAKER_01: And it's not exclusive to children.
SPEAKER_01: If you're just out in public and you hear someone cry for help, that alerts you that there is a need and you want to respond accordingly.
SPEAKER_01: The cry is coming from the person who needs assistance.
SPEAKER_01: They are crying out for comfort.
SPEAKER_01: Well, this morning I want to talk to you about a different cry for help.
SPEAKER_01: A cry for help that gives hope.
SPEAKER_01: September 11th, 2001.
SPEAKER_01: A lot of us remember it very vividly.
SPEAKER_01: It started out like a normal day for everybody, including Port Authority Officer William Jimeno.
SPEAKER_01: When the rookie cop woke up that morning, beautiful Tuesday, he kissed his wife, who was pregnant, kissed his daughter, Bianca, and he had no idea how much his life was going to change that day.
SPEAKER_01: Within minutes of clocking in at his midtown precinct, the first plane crashed into the North Tower.
SPEAKER_01: Himino and his fellow officers quickly boarded a bus and they drove into the chaos that was unfolding.
SPEAKER_01: And as Himino and the rest of the team of officers made their way through an underground mall, the second plane hit, and the South Tower suddenly began to collapse above them.
SPEAKER_01: He recalls that he just held on for dear life, and at that point it seemed like for a long time thousands of pounds of concrete were raining down on him, and then suddenly just silence.
SPEAKER_01: And then he and several other officers found themselves in a very dark place.
SPEAKER_01: Himeno and two other officers were buried alive in a concrete cocoon thirty feet beneath the pile of debris.
SPEAKER_01: After hours of being trapped, fire began to pour down on them.
SPEAKER_01: Fireballs began to infiltrate their little concrete cocoon, and one of the officers soon died.
SPEAKER_01: Not just from the burns incurred, but as fire is coming into this concrete cocoon, their oxygen, their precious oxygen that they have left, is being consumed.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the officers soon died.
SPEAKER_01: Himino assumed he was next.
SPEAKER_01: Quote, all I knew was, I think we're not going to make it.
SPEAKER_01: So what I did was, I always tell my daughters I love them using sign language.
SPEAKER_01: So I took both hands, I put them over my shoulder in the sign of I love you, so that if they ever found me, my wife would know I was thinking of her.
SPEAKER_01: But after 13 hours of being buried alive in a hopeless situation, there was a cry.
SPEAKER_01: There was a cry of comfort, but it was not coming from him inno.
SPEAKER_01: He was not the one calling out for help.
SPEAKER_01: Rather, he heard a voice crying out, Can anybody hear us?
SPEAKER_01: This changed everything.
SPEAKER_01: He wasn't giving up anymore.
SPEAKER_01: He was not assuming his death was imminent.
SPEAKER_01: He believed that this voice was a source of hope for his life.
SPEAKER_01: And that voice belonged to a group of U.S.
SPEAKER_01: Marines, rah, who were on site and looking for survivors of the attack.
SPEAKER_01: And after three hours of digging, Jimeno and another officer were finally pulled out alive.
SPEAKER_01: Hope is a powerful thing, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01: It's well documented that those who have hope, regardless of how dire the circumstances, hope gives people the ability to endure.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't want to speculate too much, but I wonder.
SPEAKER_01: I wonder what those three hours would have looked like if Himeno had no hope, if there was not that cry issued forth that gave him hope, would he have made it as long as he did?
SPEAKER_01: Hope is a powerful thing.
SPEAKER_01: Especially when we are in the most dire circumstances.
SPEAKER_01: As I consider what's happening more and more on the news, across our nation, even in our own city, in the world, I'm sometimes deceived into thinking that we are in an incredibly hopeless situation.
SPEAKER_01: The only thing to do is to despair at all the chaos unfolding in our culture and in our world.
SPEAKER_01: It's becoming more and more difficult to remain faithful to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: The culture is becoming increasingly hostile towards those who profess faith in him.
SPEAKER_01: It's difficult to discern what is true.
SPEAKER_01: It's difficult to discern what is right.
SPEAKER_01: And we may not be under the rubble right now, if you're catching what I'm saying, but we can certainly see the tower starting to fall.
SPEAKER_01: And we feel like we are going to be buried under it all with no hope.
SPEAKER_01: I think this morning's message is particularly relevant, given what Pastor Jason has been and will be preaching with regards to Matthew 24.
SPEAKER_01: In Matthew 24, the assurance of the Lord Jesus Christ is not that things are going to be gradually getting worse.
SPEAKER_01: My apologies to you, post-millennials.
SPEAKER_01: Things are not going to gradually get better.
SPEAKER_01: They are going to get worse.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus tells his disciples as if they are going to be present through it all.
SPEAKER_01: There are going to be wars and rumors of wars.
SPEAKER_01: There are going to be catastrophic natural disasters.
SPEAKER_01: Persecutions will break out.
SPEAKER_01: False teachers will abound, leading people astray.
SPEAKER_01: And that's just the beginning.
SPEAKER_01: Things are not going to get better.
SPEAKER_01: They're going to gradually get worse.
SPEAKER_01: But God does not leave us without hope.
SPEAKER_01: And my intent this morning is not to draw you into despair, but rather to give you courage, brothers and sisters.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to lull you into despair.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to hear the hope of God, whatever pressure you are feeling, whatever discouragement you're experiencing.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to hear this morning the hope that God is calling out to you.
SPEAKER_01: The message of my sermon this morning is cries of comfort.
SPEAKER_01: In Isaiah chapter 40, verses 1 through 8, God speaks to the prophet through the prophet Isaiah regarding a future time of deportation and exile for God's people.
SPEAKER_01: They will be conquered, they will be humiliated, they will be deported into foreign lands.
SPEAKER_01: And in light of this, God wants to comfort his people in exile.
SPEAKER_01: And in the same way, he wants to uncomfort us.
SPEAKER_01: In 1 Peter 2.11, the Apostle Peter refers to the church as exiles and strangers, connecting us to how the Israelites found themselves in a foreign land.
SPEAKER_01: This world is not our home.
SPEAKER_01: We don't belong here.
SPEAKER_01: And so when we feel ourselves being pressed down and discouraged, when we feel ourselves going through hardship, that's just because of the reality that we don't belong here.
SPEAKER_01: We are living, if you will, in exile in this world.
SPEAKER_01: But God wants to comfort us just as he wanted to comfort his people in exile, because the reality is he has assured us of our forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: A few chapters back in Isaiah 38, we have this narrative of the king of Israel, king of Judah, rather.
SPEAKER_01: The king of Judah, King Hezekiah.
SPEAKER_01: King Hezekiah gets stricken with a terminal illness.
SPEAKER_01: He's sick, he's on his deathbed.
SPEAKER_01: And God sends the prophet Isaiah to encourage Hezekiah by saying, Hey, yeah, this is the end for you, brother.
SPEAKER_01: Get your household in order.
SPEAKER_01: This is it.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not quite sure why Hezekiah is so discouraged at that, right?
SPEAKER_01: Saying that this is the end, but Hezekiah weeps before God and he begs God, God, remember my faithfulness, remember my obedience.
SPEAKER_01: I have trusted in you, God.
SPEAKER_01: I have followed you.
SPEAKER_01: I have lived my life for you, God.
SPEAKER_01: Please remember my life and do not take it from me at this moment.
SPEAKER_01: God hears Hezekiah's prayer and he grants them 15 more years of life.
SPEAKER_01: Word of Hezekiah's miraculous recovery makes its way, apparently, to the nations, the kings of the peoples around them.
SPEAKER_01: It makes its way to the king of Babylon, a guy named Moraduk Baladun.
SPEAKER_01: Babylon at that time is in a rivalry for dominance of the area with the Assyrian Empire, and they are plotting to overthrow the Assyrian Empire as a dominant power in the region.
SPEAKER_01: And so, in order to pull this off, the king of Babylon wants to recruit the king of Judah so that together they can attack Syria and overthrow them.
SPEAKER_01: And Judah at this time is a smaller nation.
SPEAKER_01: They're not quite as powerful as Babylon, but the treaty would be: hey, come help us with this, and we'll just let you kind of live peaceably where you're at.
SPEAKER_01: We won't mess with you.
SPEAKER_01: And so Babylon sends envoys, messengers to Hezekiah regarding his illness.
SPEAKER_01: We don't know what these letters and gifts sent to him in chapter 39 are, but they're obviously letters intending to say, Hey, I'm so glad you're feeling better.
SPEAKER_01: There are gifts given, and Hezekiah feels flattered that the king of Babylon would seek his alliance.
SPEAKER_01: And it would seem that King Hezekiah felt proud in his heart because what does Hezekiah do?
SPEAKER_01: One of the most powerful nations in the world is seeking his help.
SPEAKER_01: Well, Hezekiah is thinking, hey, yeah, yeah, you should be seeking my help.
SPEAKER_01: Let me go show you around the place.
SPEAKER_01: Let me show off my crib.
SPEAKER_01: He shows them his house, his mansion, his palace.
SPEAKER_01: He shows them the treasury.
SPEAKER_01: He opens up the vault like Scrooge McDuck and dives in and starts swimming around and says, hey, boys, come jump on in.
SPEAKER_01: Check out all my gold.
SPEAKER_01: He takes them to the armory and says, Yep, those bows over there, that's the latest addition.
SPEAKER_01: Those swords, those are sharper than anything you're gonna find.
SPEAKER_01: Pretty sweet, huh?
SPEAKER_01: Wish you had them.
SPEAKER_01: You can't.
SPEAKER_01: They're mine.
SPEAKER_01: Hezekiah is showing himself off to these Babylonian envoys who are seeking his help.
SPEAKER_01: And it is complete, total, and utter foolishness.
SPEAKER_01: Because the people of God are not to be partners with the nations around them.
SPEAKER_01: They're not supposed to make treaties and alliances.
SPEAKER_01: They're not supposed to seek the favor of the other nations around them.
SPEAKER_01: The people of God are to depend exclusively on the power of God for their protection.
SPEAKER_01: They depend exclusively on God for their flourishing.
SPEAKER_01: They don't need the other nations around them.
SPEAKER_01: Hezekiah didn't need the king of Babylon.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't need to seek his favor.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't need to accept any gifts or letters.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't need to impress them.
SPEAKER_01: Because Hezekiah had everything he needed, which was God himself.
SPEAKER_01: It was a foolish thing to do.
SPEAKER_01: And so Hezekiah, or rather, Isaiah goes to Hezekiah and declares that everything Hezekiah showed off to the Babylonians will be one day carried away by the very nation he's trying to impress.
SPEAKER_01: And his own sons will one day be deported by these same people.
SPEAKER_01: One day you're going into exile, and everything that you're proud of, everything you, all of your glory, it's all going to be carried off to a foreign nation.
SPEAKER_01: And just as a side note, Hezekiah's foolishness is not the sole reason for Judah's impending situation, their impending judgment.
SPEAKER_01: For hundreds of years, Judah has been entrapped by idolatry.
SPEAKER_01: Rather than worshiping God, they have chosen to worship the gods of the nations around them.
SPEAKER_01: They forsake God, and that led them into all sorts of evil, wicked practices.
SPEAKER_01: And earlier on in Isaiah, we have a declaration of that coming judgment.
SPEAKER_01: They will be judged and punished for their sins, and it will be done through an exile to Babylon.
SPEAKER_01: The pronouncement upon Hezekiah is a promise that's unique to him when that judgment comes to pass.
SPEAKER_01: And now we get to chapter 40, as if the judgment of chapter 39 has already been carried out.
SPEAKER_01: We have kind of a fast-forward situation where Isaiah is thrust into a period of time where he is declaring comfort for exiles, even though they're not there yet.
SPEAKER_01: One commentator puts it this way: the sovereign creator can announce how the future of Israel will ultimately turn out because he decrees what will transpire and works in history to assure that his decree becomes reality.
SPEAKER_01: God transcends history.
SPEAKER_01: And he controls the rise and fall of nations.
SPEAKER_01: What better way to drive home that point than to speak to a future generation as if they're already present?
SPEAKER_01: And it is in this context of exile that God is wanting to comfort his people.
SPEAKER_01: And he wants to comfort them with three cries to them.
SPEAKER_01: And he begins with a cry for mercy, a cry of mercy, rather.
SPEAKER_01: God crying out to his people in verses one through two.
SPEAKER_01: It says, Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
SPEAKER_01: Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all of her sins.
SPEAKER_01: The text begins with an exhortation to comfort God's people.
SPEAKER_01: And it's an interesting note that this verb to comfort his people is a plural verb.
SPEAKER_01: It's in the plural.
SPEAKER_01: It's not intended just for one prophet, but for any and every person who reads this prophecy and is willing to go and offer comfort to God's people.
SPEAKER_01: And the people to be comforted are God's people, and the command to comfort is from their God.
SPEAKER_01: Notice that there is a connection there.
SPEAKER_01: God doesn't say, go comfort this people.
SPEAKER_01: He says, comfort my people.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't say, declares the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: He says, declares your God.
SPEAKER_01: Even though God's people will find themselves in a situation where they have been deported in exile because they've been faithless, God assures them, just in that simple sentence, that the relationship has not been severed.
SPEAKER_01: He has not abandoned them.
SPEAKER_01: They are not out of his plans.
SPEAKER_01: He identifies himself with his people.
SPEAKER_01: And he wants them to be comforted.
SPEAKER_01: He wants them to be comforted by speaking tenderly to them.
SPEAKER_01: That's why he says, speak tenderly to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: Jerusalem is a euphemism for his people.
SPEAKER_01: He says, speak tenderly, and this word could literally be translated as speak above, over, or toward the heart.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes when we think of speaking tenderly, we're thinking of just saying flattering words, words that might make you feel nice or good about yourself.
SPEAKER_01: But that's not what God is talking about when he says, speak tenderly to my people.
SPEAKER_01: He is saying speak directly to their hearts.
SPEAKER_01: Speak to their hearts.
SPEAKER_01: Not just what they want to hear, but what they need to hear.
SPEAKER_01: Speak tenderly to them.
SPEAKER_01: Speak tenderly to them these three things, these three realities.
SPEAKER_01: The first reality that he wants his people to be comforted with is that his people's warfare is ended.
SPEAKER_01: Some translations will have this as hard labor or service.
SPEAKER_01: The idea of warfare or hard labor is a reference to the exile.
SPEAKER_01: It is through warfare that they are conquered and deported to Babylon.
SPEAKER_01: And it is in Babylon that God's people experience the hard labor labor of forcible assimilation with the culture that hates them.
SPEAKER_01: It's a difficult thing to be conquered and deported, force marched into a culture that hates you, wants to remove your national, ethnic, and religious identity and put you into places of work that serves the conquering nation.
SPEAKER_01: God here promises tenderly, speaking to the heart of his people, your warfare is over.
SPEAKER_01: The promise of comfort here is that the warfare and hard labor imposed over them as a judgment is over, or rather, complete.
SPEAKER_01: Though they might not see it presently, God has brought it to a complete and total end.
SPEAKER_01: The judgment for their sin, the judgment for their faithlessness is over.
SPEAKER_01: The second reality he wants to comfort them with is that their iniquity is pardoned.
SPEAKER_01: There's comfort here that their iniquities are no longer being held against them.
SPEAKER_01: The question is, how are their iniquities pardoned?
SPEAKER_01: Is it because they paid for them themselves?
SPEAKER_01: Well, no.
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah 43, verse 25, God says, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah 53, speaking of the suffering servant.
SPEAKER_01: Again, this is directed to God's people living in exile.
SPEAKER_01: There's going to be a suffering servant in Isaiah 53, 5, who is pierced for their transgressions, crushed for their iniquities, and upon him was the chastisement that brought them peace, and with his wounds they are healed.
SPEAKER_01: God has pardoned their iniquities.
SPEAKER_01: It's been taken care of.
SPEAKER_01: And then finally, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sin.
SPEAKER_01: Now you might look at that and think, well, that's a bit excessive.
SPEAKER_01: Did God just double up on the judgment and punishment?
SPEAKER_01: Did he, you know, kind of like an angry parent uh spank them, put them in time out, and then remove all their privileges?
SPEAKER_01: Or is it just one?
SPEAKER_01: Well, this uh phrase here, receiving double for all their sins, is not referring to receiving double the amount, but rather receiving the exact amount needed.
SPEAKER_01: The people of God received in proportion to their sins.
SPEAKER_01: God did not lose his temper and get out of control and punish his people as an angry father.
SPEAKER_01: They received, in just measure, the measure of their faithlessness.
SPEAKER_01: And these three promises that God has ended his people's warfare, he has pardoned their iniquity, and that they have received all that they deserve from the Lord's hand, these three promises together give us a picture of a God who both punishes and forgives sin.
SPEAKER_01: And though they receive punishment for their sins, and though they experience difficulties because of their sins, it is God who has pardoned them.
SPEAKER_01: They have received in full the judgment that they are owed, and not a single ounce more.
SPEAKER_01: God has entered their warfare and hardship because he has pardoned their sin.
SPEAKER_01: Now God's people living in exile probably are wondering some things about their relationship with God.
SPEAKER_01: They're probably wondering if God's anger will perpetually burn.
SPEAKER_01: When they're being marched into Babylon, they know why that's happening.
SPEAKER_01: When they're being subjected into a pagan God's service and their names are removed and they're given new names to reflect the pagan religion of the day, they know why.
SPEAKER_01: They probably have some questions in their mind.
SPEAKER_01: Is God going to be angry at us forever?
SPEAKER_01: Will his anger perpetually burn towards them in their sin?
SPEAKER_01: Will our sins remain forever?
SPEAKER_01: Will we be constantly in this cycle over and over and over?
SPEAKER_01: God wants to comfort them by saying no.
SPEAKER_01: Many of us approach our relationship with God as that of a father.
SPEAKER_01: Some of us know he is a good father, but not all of us are convinced that he even likes us.
SPEAKER_01: We think that God as a father tolerates us at best.
SPEAKER_01: But when we experience hardship and difficulty, we automatically sometimes assume, yep, it's because I messed up.
SPEAKER_01: I need to fix it, and then God will be happy for me.
SPEAKER_01: But you're in this constant cycle of failure and difficulty, and you think that God doesn't love you.
SPEAKER_01: It seems like the hardship is never ending, your sins are never fully forgiven, and that you never receive enough for your failures.
SPEAKER_01: I want to comfort you with this, if that is your perception of God.
SPEAKER_01: Our warfare has ended.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Corinthians 15, 56 through 57 says, the sting of sin is death, and the power of sin is the law.
SPEAKER_01: But thanks be to God who gives us the victory.
SPEAKER_01: Not in anything we've done, but through our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Christ conquered the grave, we share in his victory, he defeated sin, he defeated death, and those who come to him in faith share in that victory.
SPEAKER_01: And if you're not convinced, I've read the back of the book.
SPEAKER_01: Revelation 20.
SPEAKER_01: Following the thousand-year period where Jesus Christ reigns in righteousness here on earth, Revelation 20, verse 7.
SPEAKER_01: When those thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison, and he will come out to deceive the nations.
SPEAKER_01: They're at the four corners of the earth, and their number is like the sand of the sea.
SPEAKER_01: They march up over the broad plain of the earth and surround the camp of the saints of the beloved city.
SPEAKER_01: God's people in this picture are completely surrounded by Satan and all of those that he has deceived.
SPEAKER_01: Surrounded by people who hate them.
SPEAKER_01: And they don't march out in battle and engage in this warfare.
SPEAKER_01: What happens next is that fire just comes down from heaven and consumes them.
SPEAKER_01: Fire comes down, consumes them, and the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
SPEAKER_01: Brothers and sisters, the war is over.
SPEAKER_01: The battle is still going.
SPEAKER_01: The war has been ended.
SPEAKER_01: Our iniquity has been pardoned.
SPEAKER_01: You do not carry the burden of your sin any longer if you have faith in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: 2 Corinthians 5, 18 through 19 says that through Christ we are reconciled to God.
SPEAKER_01: That is, in Christ, God's reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.
SPEAKER_01: How did that happen?
SPEAKER_01: Because our trespasses were passed on to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Christ bore our iniquity for us.
SPEAKER_01: You and I have a pardon for our sin because Christ was condemned in our place.
SPEAKER_01: And you have not received the full measure for your sin.
SPEAKER_01: You have not been judged even close the full measure of what your sin deserves, because Christ was judged in your place.
SPEAKER_01: Again, in 2 Corinthians 5, the Apostle Paul would go on to say, For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Peter 2 24 says, He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: By his wounds you have been healed.
SPEAKER_01: Brothers and sisters, in this text, the point of application is to believe it.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing that you can extract from here for you to do.
SPEAKER_01: God wants to comfort you with these words this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Your warfare is ended, your iniquity is pardoned.
SPEAKER_01: And Christ has received the full measure for your sins.
SPEAKER_01: I want to exhort you this morning, receive that comfort.
SPEAKER_01: If you're on the fence about Christianity or about this, Jesus fell out, I want to show you this comfort that Christ has won the war, he has borne your sins, you don't have to do it yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Stop trying to win a war that you can't, and stop trying to earn forgiveness that you can't.
SPEAKER_01: It's all been done for you.
SPEAKER_01: God wants his people to be comforted with God's mercy toward their sin, but he also wants them to be comforted with the coming of his glory.
SPEAKER_01: Verse three, a cry of God's coming glory.
SPEAKER_01: Verse three, he says, A voice cries in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
SPEAKER_01: Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places shall become a plain.
SPEAKER_01: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
SPEAKER_01: We have, presumably, a voice speaking in verse three that is to be identified as the voice of God.
SPEAKER_01: And this voice gives a command to prepare for the Lord's coming.
SPEAKER_01: I think it's interesting that this command is given, prepare the way of the Lord, but look who's doing all the work.
SPEAKER_01: God is.
SPEAKER_01: He is the one raising up valleys, he's the one dropping the mountains.
SPEAKER_01: The setting of this preparation is in the wilderness.
SPEAKER_01: The wilderness can be translated as a desolate place or a wasteland, which is why he repeats it, makes straight in the desert, a place where things don't grow, a place that is empty, void of life, in the wilderness.
SPEAKER_01: Make a desert highway for our God.
SPEAKER_01: The wilderness is a place that is often associated with sin, temptation, and rebellion.
SPEAKER_01: And it's all throughout Scripture, but I'm just give you three.
SPEAKER_01: Israel wandered the wilderness for 40 years, and during those 40 years, they rebelled against God.
SPEAKER_01: Rebellious shepherds are indicted by God as making his people a desolate wasteland in Jeremiah 12.
SPEAKER_01: And it is in the wilderness that Satan approaches Jesus to tempt him.
SPEAKER_01: The preparation of God's highway occurs where there's no life and no hope.
SPEAKER_01: It occurs in the uninhabitable spaces.
SPEAKER_01: The assumption to be made is that there is nowhere that is appropriately suited for the Lord's glory to be revealed, which is the purpose in verse 5.
SPEAKER_01: Even among God's people, even in Jerusalem, there's not a fitting avenue for God's glory to condescend, and therefore a way must be made.
SPEAKER_01: So the setting of this preparation is in the wilderness.
SPEAKER_01: The means of preparation is transforming an unfit landscape.
SPEAKER_01: In verse 4, the preparation of this word this road, Isaiah is given a vision of valleys being lifted up and mountains being made low, with the assumption being that the location of this highway is unfit in its current original state.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, where God wants to build this road, there's nowhere presently suitable for it to be.
SPEAKER_01: In order for the way of the Lord to be prepared, there must be a radical transformation of the uninhabitable.
SPEAKER_01: That's the means of preparation.
SPEAKER_01: And then purpose, the purpose of the preparation.
SPEAKER_01: Why is God doing all this?
SPEAKER_01: Why does he say prepare a way in the wilderness?
SPEAKER_01: Why is he sinking these mountains, raising up these valleys, making everything smooth and making this highway, what's the point and purpose?
SPEAKER_01: It's for the revealed glory of God.
SPEAKER_01: In verse 5, the glory of God is closely associated and linked to his manifest presence.
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah tells us that once this path is prepared, once the wilderness is radically transformed, God's manifest presence will be revealed to all people.
SPEAKER_01: And what's the basis for all this?
SPEAKER_01: I love this at the end of verse 5.
SPEAKER_01: For the mouth of the Lord has spoken, it will be done.
SPEAKER_01: God has decreed it.
SPEAKER_01: God's people are in exile.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, they're in hard straits.
SPEAKER_01: They're in a difficult situation.
SPEAKER_01: They're questioning God's love for them.
SPEAKER_01: They might be wondering if there is any purpose in their exile.
SPEAKER_01: Is there any purpose in our hardship and suffering?
SPEAKER_01: Is there any purpose in us being forcibly marched to Babylon?
SPEAKER_01: Is there any purpose to all the death and destruction that we've had to go through?
SPEAKER_01: God offers a word of comfort here that He is preparing a way, even in their exile, for His glory to be revealed.
SPEAKER_01: A road is constructed through a process that involves several steps.
SPEAKER_01: First, the land is surveyed to determine the best route for the road, and then the area is cleared of any obstacles such as trees and rocks, and it's at that point where the landscape really radically begins to change and transform.
SPEAKER_01: The ground is leveled and prepared for the foundation, which includes layers of gravel and crushed rocks, and then finally the pavement of con uh pavement or concrete is laid on top of the foundation.
SPEAKER_01: Did you know that not all roads have destinations?
SPEAKER_01: I'm not talking about cul-de-sacs.
SPEAKER_01: Not all roads have destinations.
SPEAKER_01: I'll give you three examples.
SPEAKER_01: One of the most famous roads to nowhere is the Dalton Highway in Alaska.
SPEAKER_01: It was built in the 1970s so that they could go and get the oil fields established.
SPEAKER_01: But once the oil fields were up and running, there was no more use for the highway.
SPEAKER_01: It goes to an oil field where there's nobody and nothing.
SPEAKER_01: It's a road to literally nowhere and remains largely unused.
SPEAKER_01: There's a road to nowhere in Bryson City, North Carolina, which is an almost six and a half mile road that was built in the 1940s to connect Bryson City to Fontana Dam.
SPEAKER_01: However, the road was never completed and the intended destination was never reached.
SPEAKER_01: The construction stopped due to environmental concerns.
SPEAKER_01: If you drive on this road, you'll literally come to a barrier which just says this road ends here.
SPEAKER_01: I don't even think it's big enough to do a U-turn.
SPEAKER_01: You gotta drive backwards, that whole thing.
SPEAKER_01: Finally, in the mid-20th century, the Japanese government began constructing a highway intended to connect the remote island of Shikoku with the mainland.
SPEAKER_01: This project was plagued with difficulties, including challenging terrain, harsh weather conditions, and budget overruns.
SPEAKER_01: Despite these setbacks, they finally got the highway built in 1988, but the long-delayed project failed to deliver on its promises, and the highway quickly earned a reputation as a road to nowhere.
SPEAKER_01: The road that God is preparing, even in the bleakest of circumstances, even while his people sit in exile.
SPEAKER_01: The road that God is preparing is not a road to nowhere.
SPEAKER_01: It's not a project that is going over budget or experiences difficulties of weather or hardships or anything like that.
SPEAKER_01: God is using his power through difficult situations to prepare a way for his glory to be revealed.
SPEAKER_01: It's the ultimate destination, it's the greatest destination.
SPEAKER_01: It's the destination to eternity.
SPEAKER_01: And we know that this text was fulfilled by the coming of John the Baptist.
SPEAKER_01: All four Gospels attest that John the Baptist is the one in the wilderness spoken of the prophet to prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight.
SPEAKER_01: John the Baptist himself said, I'm that guy in John 1.
SPEAKER_01: John the Baptist prepared the way for the coming of God's glory in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: He prepared the way for Jesus Christ by preaching a message of repentance to the uninhabitable hearts of men.
SPEAKER_01: And through his preaching there was a supernatural transformation that occurred in the hearts and minds of those who would behold the glory of God in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: John 1.14 tells us that the word Jesus Christ became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
SPEAKER_01: Hebrews 1.3 says that Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is the glory of God.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is the destination, that God was preparing everything, including his people's time in captivity.
SPEAKER_01: The hope offered to God's people is that although you are in exile and although you are experiencing discouragement and hardship, know that God is preparing the way for his glory to be revealed because it is in the glory of God that salvation has been made available.
SPEAKER_01: He's doing the same thing even now.
SPEAKER_01: God came through in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: The glory of God was revealed in Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is coming again.
SPEAKER_01: And God right now is preparing a way for his glory to be revealed to all mankind.
SPEAKER_01: Every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess.
SPEAKER_01: And whatever difficulty and hardship you feel here in exile on this planet, God is using that to prepare for his glory to be revealed.
SPEAKER_01: So what preparations are you making for God's glory to be revealed in Christ?
SPEAKER_01: It might be building relationships with neighbors or as parents.
SPEAKER_01: It might be teaching your children the truth of Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Perhaps it's handing out gospel tracts at U and D.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: Fill in the blank.
SPEAKER_01: God is using your situation, whatever it is, while we live here on this planet in exile to prepare a way for his glory to be revealed.
SPEAKER_01: And he wants you to be comforted by that thought.
SPEAKER_01: God wants his people to be comforted by his mercy, by his coming glory, and finally by his unshakable word.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to conclose with this.
SPEAKER_01: A cry of God's unshakable word.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse six.
SPEAKER_01: A voice says, Cry, and I said, What shall I cry?
SPEAKER_01: All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
SPEAKER_01: The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows on it.
SPEAKER_01: Surely the people are grass.
SPEAKER_01: The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
SPEAKER_01: We have this voice again show up, and this voice is given the command to make a proclamation, and the respondent, presumably Isaiah, doesn't know what it is that God wants him to proclaim.
SPEAKER_01: So God fills in those details with a comparison between the glory of man and the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: All flesh is grass.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't say it's like grass, all flesh is grass.
SPEAKER_01: And just as grass comes and goes with the season, so also do people.
SPEAKER_01: Our lives are vapors and mists, and we are here one minute and we are gone the next.
SPEAKER_01: And all the beauty, all of the beauty of mankind.
SPEAKER_01: Is like the flower of the field.
SPEAKER_01: And as just as soon as that beautiful blossom appears, it fades and it is gone.
SPEAKER_01: These comparisons are meant to make God's people feel small because we are.
SPEAKER_01: We are frail, we are feeble, we are mortal people, we are here one minute and gone the next.
SPEAKER_01: And everything that we hope to accomplish just the same.
SPEAKER_01: The grass withers, mankind will wither.
SPEAKER_01: The flower fades, the beauty and glory of mankind will also fade.
SPEAKER_01: But there is one thing that will never fade, and that is the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: God's people might feel defeated by the glory and power of the most powerful nation on earth at the time.
SPEAKER_01: But God assures them that the glory and power of that nation, that conquering nation, is going to fade away.
SPEAKER_01: But his word will be left standing.
SPEAKER_01: The Babylonian Empire lasted from 626 BC to 539 BC, then it was conquered by the Persian Empire.
SPEAKER_01: The Persian Empire lasted from 550 BC to 330 when it was conquered by Alexander the Great.
SPEAKER_01: The Greek Empire lasted from 800 BC to 146 BC when it was conquered by the Roman Empire.
SPEAKER_01: And the Roman Empire lasted from 27 BC to 476 AD, and I know that's a little contended, but 476 AD, which is a period of approximately 503 years.
SPEAKER_01: The Mongol Empire lasted from 1206 to 1368.
SPEAKER_01: So 162 years.
SPEAKER_01: The Ottoman Empire lasted 623 years from 1299 to 1922.
SPEAKER_01: The Soviet Union lasted from 1922 to 1991, 69 years.
SPEAKER_01: All of the glory of these empires, all of their beauty, gone, faded.
SPEAKER_01: But God's word remains.
SPEAKER_01: The United States of America, which I am very thankful for and I am blessed to live in, we should not be deceived into thinking that this is a permanent bastion and empire of Christianity.
SPEAKER_01: This nation will fall like every other nation.
SPEAKER_01: Every nation will fall.
SPEAKER_01: All of our beauty, all of our glory will eventually fade away.
SPEAKER_01: The only thing that matters ultimately is what God's word has said and what God has decreed.
SPEAKER_01: And just like King Hezekiah was proud about everything and desired to show off his glory to, it soon faded.
SPEAKER_01: All of us have a season, and all of us will eventually fade away.
SPEAKER_01: All of our glory will be gone one day.
SPEAKER_01: But the word of God remains forever.
SPEAKER_01: So then where is your trust?
SPEAKER_01: Where is your trust?
SPEAKER_01: Is it in the beauty and glory and power of man?
SPEAKER_01: Is it in what the culture tells you?
SPEAKER_01: Or is it in the everlasting, truthful word of God?
SPEAKER_01: Where is your hope?
SPEAKER_01: Where do you put your trust?
SPEAKER_01: If we took these cries of comfort from God rather than despairing because of our situation in exile, what if we believed in these words and rather lived joyfully in light of them?
SPEAKER_01: Believing that God has been merciful to us should relieve us of the burden of condemnation, believing that God has revealed his glory in the person of Jesus Christ ought to fill you with hopeful anticipation for his second coming, and believing that God's word endures forever gives us a sure foundation for life, knowing that God in his word has given us everything needed for life and godliness.
SPEAKER_01: God has cried out to you this morning that he has been merciful.
SPEAKER_01: He has cried out to you this morning that he has revealed his glory in Christ and will reveal it again one day.
SPEAKER_01: And God has cried out to you that his word endures forever.
SPEAKER_01: My question to you, brothers and sisters, as we close is will you receive the comfort of God or will you harden your heart towards him?
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: God, we thank you for these words of comfort, and it is another reminder that your word is far more than just a regulation handbook.
SPEAKER_01: You're not just trying to teach us how to live and not just trying to teach us what sin is.
SPEAKER_01: You offer us words of hope, words of comfort.
SPEAKER_01: And oftentimes they are directed straight at our frailty.
SPEAKER_01: We are sinful people.
SPEAKER_01: You know that.
SPEAKER_01: And you have pardoned us through Christ.
SPEAKER_01: We are frail people.
SPEAKER_01: We will pass away, but your word endures forever.
SPEAKER_01: What a thing to trust in.
SPEAKER_01: Oh Lord, that we would be ready in anticipation for Jesus Christ and take comfort that you right now are preparing a way for his return.
SPEAKER_01: We pray this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.