Latest / Providence Baptist Church - Sermons / Isaiah 40:1-11
Transcript
- 0:00Isaiah chapter 40. There it is. You know me, I like to kind of move around. I don't like being kind of like stuck right here.
- 0:08! Got that mic. Isaiah chapter 40. So today, we're going to start in Isaiah 40 and the next week we're going to finish it.
- 0:23So we're going to break it up into two different Sundays. But unless you live under a rock,
- 0:30it's a great way to start a sermon. Unless you live under a rock, you're aware that we're living in very troubled times.
- 0:39And when efforts to comfort ourselves fall and fail, I find that there's no greater encouragement, no greater comfort,
- 0:50than to visit the reality and put our heart and souls and minds on the greatness, sovereignty, and power of our God.
- 1:03When you are overwhelmed, when you are anxious, when your soul is troubled, when you are depressed,
- 1:12there's no greater remedy, I believe, than to put yourself, your mind, your heart, your soul on the greatness and glory of God.
- 1:20And so in Isaiah 40, it's a rather long chapter.
- 1:27And I've read it out loud several times and it took me over five minutes.
- 1:32And so since our time is short, I don't want to, we're going to eat it piecemeal, if that makes sense.
- 1:38I'm going to maybe read through the whole thing next week.
- 1:41But just for sake of time, we're going to go just from verse 1 to verse 11 today.
- 1:49But before we do that, many people feel like they're visiting a foreign land when they go to the Old Testament.
- 1:57Things are unfamiliar. They don't quite know where they are.
- 2:00They feel a little lost. And so they're really quick to want to dive back into the New Testament.
- 2:06But I encourage you to fall in love with the Old Testament that points forward toward Christ.
- 2:14But a little bit of historical context. You have to know or none of this will make sense.
- 2:20But after the death of King David, after the death of Solomon, the nation split into two different kingdoms.
- 2:29There was Israel to the north in the capital of Israel, where is Samaria.
- 2:34And that's like where we get the term Samaritans from in the New Testament.
- 2:39Then there was Judah in the south, and that capital was Jerusalem.
- 2:43They split mainly due to a lot of economic issues, as well as just like inflammation from old tribal divisions within the nation itself.
- 2:54And each kingdom had its own king, its own army.
- 2:57But in late 700s BC, God's patience was growing thin with both nations, if you can imagine that.
- 3:15And each nation was guilty of some of the same sin.
- 3:18I would say it was characterized by four main sins.
- 3:26All right?
- 3:27And without getting much into it, you will see a lot of the same things going on in our nation, and in the church, and in individuals' lives as well.
- 3:37One was a lot of political corruption.
- 3:42Kings, courts, officials of the nation abused their power.
- 3:46Instead of serving their nation and the people, they did it for selfish gain.
- 3:52They twisted things, the government, in a way that served their own ends.
- 3:58So corrupt leaders and corrupt government officials from top to bottom, from the king and below.
- 4:04Number two, another sin that characterized these two nations was excessive, gluttonous living.
- 4:14As a whole, both Israel and Judah enjoyed a long time of wealth and prosperity.
- 4:20For a long time.
- 4:22And it got to a point, though, where they forgot who actually blessed them.
- 4:29They didn't remember those who were in need.
- 4:32And they were just concerned about their comfort, their luxury, and their safety.
- 4:37That's all that really mattered to them.
- 4:41Thirdly, and I'll have to clarify, social injustice.
- 4:46And I mean biblical social injustice.
- 4:49While many lived high on the hog, there was a lot of great poverty as well.
- 4:55And people had no problem neglecting the needy.
- 5:00And these are for legitimate reasons.
- 5:03The poor, this isn't entitlements or equity or handouts.
- 5:08They were at the bottom of the chain.
- 5:10And so the people's prosperity, they had little to no regard for those who were in need.
- 5:16And justice didn't prevail because it was common to pay judges in the courts bribes to have a certain outcome in a trial.
- 5:27And so the poor were abused by the rich.
- 5:31They had no problem abusing them and using them if it meant like they could get ahead and gain.
- 5:36And they would end up either in jail or dead a lot of the time, the poor would.
- 5:43So they were neglecting God's law of love.
- 5:48And God's law was not being obeyed.
- 5:52Justice did not prevail.
- 5:54But there was little or no compassion shown towards those in need.
- 5:58And then lastly, this is a major one.
- 6:00If this one was in place, all the other ones would be okay.
- 6:03But there was extreme religious hypocrisy.
- 6:08The nation's worship of God had been greatly distorted or lost completely.
- 6:15Kind of sound familiar to some degree?
- 6:18Those who still follow the tradition of Yahweh, a lot of them worshipped outwardly in ritual and in ceremony.
- 6:26But their hearts were still far from God.
- 6:29They would go through the outward signs and then go home and then send it up for the rest of the week.
- 6:36And so others had turned completely away from God and worshipped the pagan Canaanite gods and idolatry.
- 6:44So this was all rampant.
- 6:46So those four types of political corruption, gluttonous living, social injustice, and religious hypocrisy.
- 6:53And so there's impending judgment.
- 6:56When you start reading the book of Isaiah, it starts with this idea of God's impending judgment.
- 7:04God sends prophets, many of them, to speak to the nations, both Israel and Judah,
- 7:10calling them to repent of their sins, destroy their pagan idols and their wickedness,
- 7:16and turn back in faith to Yahweh.
- 7:18But most rejected them.
- 7:20Most continued the corruption, the gluttonous living, the real social injustice.
- 7:26They only got worse.
- 7:28And they actually would say to themselves, you can read it in Hosea, Amos, other places,
- 7:34they would say things like, God is for us.
- 7:37He's on our team.
- 7:39Look at the wealth and prosperity He's given us.
- 7:43If you say there's judgment, like where's the proof?
- 7:45Like look around us.
- 7:46It's so nice.
- 7:48And man, our military can seriously clean house.
- 7:51So no one's going to mess with us.
- 7:53And so they would make those kind of claims.
- 7:57And even if we're wrong, they would say, even if we're wrong, God will allow us to repent.
- 8:04God will forgive us.
- 8:05So it was like a cheapening grace throughout the nation itself.
- 8:10And so prophets came, by and large, with messages from God.
- 8:17They were rejected.
- 8:18So finally, God says, all right, enough.
- 8:23Enough.
- 8:24If you can imagine God saying that.
- 8:26And He warns that judgment not just might be coming, but is coming.
- 8:31To the nation that God will use, that He will allow, He will unleash on the northern kingdom,
- 8:40is Assyria, which is the ancient superpower in the 8th century.
- 8:45And so they were called to turn to God and repent, but they didn't.
- 8:53They continued to look for other alliances with other kings, other nations to withstand Assyria.
- 9:00But they failed.
- 9:02God was saying, don't look to these pagan nations.
- 9:04Look to me.
- 9:05Look to me.
- 9:06And they failed.
- 9:06So around 722 B.C., this resulted in Israel's tragic destruction and exile of the northern kingdom.
- 9:18Completely destroyed.
- 9:19It's kind of known as the ten lost tribes of Israel.
- 9:23So a brutal time.
- 9:26And Judah survived a little bit longer, about 135 years, roughly.
- 9:32There was three more kings, mostly not great kings, but Hezekiah, kind of a toss-up.
- 9:39And Hezekiah was a king during the time of Isaiah.
- 9:44But then eventually, God's patience worked in with Judah.
- 9:49And then Babylon, the new superpower, destroyed Judah and Jerusalem.
- 9:55So Isaiah, what a beautiful name it means, Yahweh saves.
- 10:00His ministry seemed to take place in Judah, predominantly around Jerusalem.
- 10:07If you read, it says from the time King Uzziah died.
- 10:10That's about 739 B.C.
- 10:14And so Isaiah uses the title of Yahweh nearly 60 times in the book.
- 10:22And the New Testament cites this book more than any other except Psalms.
- 10:27One Old Testament scholar said,
- 10:31For sheer grandeur and majesty, probably no book in the Hebrew Bible can be compared with Isaiah.
- 10:38So the prophet served as God's mouthpiece.
- 10:41He spoke through them.
- 10:43And it was not a fun role to be in.
- 10:46You were often called to disrupt the status quo.
- 10:49And you were called to, in a way, God told them, like,
- 10:54See what I see and feel what I feel.
- 10:58To the prophets, at least in a finite human way.
- 11:01It was really, really difficult.
- 11:04They carried out their ministries with heavy hearts.
- 11:07Not always excited, like I said, about the assignments they were given.
- 11:10And though they knew God's truth and they proclaimed it,
- 11:15Though they loved God even more, their hearts still broke for their nation and their communities
- 11:21That were about to be destroyed by judgment.
- 11:24It ripped their hearts out to see God judge their beloved nation for sin.
- 11:30It killed them to see them carried off into captivity amidst blood, carnage, and ruin.
- 11:38Brutal time to live in.
- 11:42So, from chapter 1 all the way up to chapter 39,
- 11:46It's mostly pronouncements of judgment against the kingdom of Israel and Judah.
- 11:54So when we get to Isaiah, there's a huge shift.
- 11:59Where it goes from divine judgment to divine comfort.
- 12:05And almost in the blink of an eye,
- 12:07Isaiah moves from the present day that he's living in to the future.
- 12:12God starts addressing his people in the present day,
- 12:17Speaking to them in the future.
- 12:20He has a strong message of comfort and consolation.
- 12:24He knows that they will be in exile in Babylon.
- 12:27So he basically sends this message to them in the future.
- 12:32Sort of kind of like how the apostle John did so in Revelation.
- 12:38He spoke to the future.
- 12:41And so, God is aware that his people that are going to be in exile in Babylon
- 12:50are going to be thinking a lot of things.
- 12:52They're going to be wondering a lot of things.
- 12:54They'll have concerns and fears.
- 12:57And so, against the background of that dire prediction of judgment,
- 13:02he speaks this strong message of comfort to his future people in exile.
- 13:08And this is basically some of the questions they might be asking,
- 13:12because they're answered in this chapter.
- 13:14God made promises to Israel.
- 13:17He promised to make all the nations of the world blessed through Abraham's descendants.
- 13:24Has God failed?
- 13:25Has his promise failed?
- 13:28Does God even want to deliver us?
- 13:30Because, of course, we don't deserve it.
- 13:32Does he even care about us at all anymore?
- 13:37Furthermore, even if God wants to deliver us, can he do it?
- 13:41Does he actually have the power to deliver us?
- 13:43Is our sin too great or is Babylon's armies too strong?
- 13:49Suppose he wants to, and he can, but will he actually do it?
- 13:56Those are the sort of questions that they would be thinking about further into the future
- 13:59while they are captives in Babylon.
- 14:02So, at the darkest moment, the call goes out into the future to speak a word of comfort.
- 14:10So, we're going to outline this entire chapter with three areas.
- 14:14We're going to do one today and two next week.
- 14:17But, number one, this is today, the glory of God is the comfort of his people.
- 14:24The glory of God is the comfort of his people.
- 14:27Next week, it will be the uniqueness of God is the assurance of his people.
- 14:34Then, also, the greatness of God is the renewal of his people.
- 14:39That's what we'll get into next week.
- 14:41But, as we get into our chapter today, let's begin to read in the beginning of chapter 40.
- 14:481 Corinthians 1, verse 1-4
- 14:51Comfort
- 14:52Comfort my people, says your God.
- 14:56Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
- 14:58and cry to her that her warfare is ended,
- 15:02that her iniquity is pardoned,
- 15:04and that she has received from the Lord's hand
- 15:06double for all her sins.
- 15:10A voice cries in the wilderness,
- 15:12Prepare the way of the Lord.
- 15:14Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
- 15:18Every valley shall be lifted up, every mountain and hill be made low.
- 15:23And the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
- 15:29And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
- 15:36For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
- 15:39A voice says, cry, and I said, what shall I cry?
- 15:45All flesh is like grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
- 15:49The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows on it.
- 15:54Surely the people are like grass.
- 15:57The grass withers, and the flower fades.
- 16:00But the word of our God will stand forever.
- 16:04Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news.
- 16:09Lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news.
- 16:14Lift it up, fear not, says to the cities of Judah.
- 16:18Behold your God.
- 16:21Behold the Lord comes with might, and His arm rules for Him.
- 16:26Behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense is before Him.
- 16:31He will tend His flock like a shepherd.
- 16:35He will gather the lambs in His arms.
- 16:38He will carry them in His bosom.
- 16:41And gently lead them.
- 16:43Lead those who are with young.
- 16:46So we're going to stop there.
- 16:50So we're going to break this up into four different points.
- 16:54Number one, the occasion of God's consolation, or comfort.
- 17:00The occasion of God's consolation.
- 17:04And we see this in verses 1 and 2.
- 17:09So when Babylonia took Israel into exile, their grief was great.
- 17:15God had like severely disciplined, severely disciplined them.
- 17:19Like seeing their families and friends slaughtered before their eyes.
- 17:24And the siege of the Babylonians was so gruesome and so cruel.
- 17:31You can read about it in other historical sources.
- 17:36And then whatever was left of them, they were carried into captivity away from their homeland.
- 17:41And so Jeremiah, who was alive during that time, and probably saw this,
- 17:47he wrote in Lamentations, you know, full of sorrow, mourning, and loss.
- 17:51He says, Jerusalem has no one to comfort her.
- 17:55No one.
- 17:56But now, we see the prophetic voice coming to them in the future.
- 18:03And he charges, if you notice, the voices of verse 3, verse 6, and the heralds of verse 9.
- 18:12He tells them to repeat, to echo his deep, true affection for those, his people.
- 18:20And the phrase, my people, your God, my people, your God, is sort of repeated throughout this chapter.
- 18:28So he begins with speaking comfort, and not like warm, fuzzy comfort, but consolation to encourage,
- 18:36strengthen someone who is weak and fearful.
- 18:39That's what that means, to come alongside someone, to strengthen them, encourage them.
- 18:44He says it twice for emphasis.
- 18:46Comfort, comfort my people.
- 18:49He mentions, they have received from the Lord's hand double all their sins.
- 18:57And that word actually implies exact payment.
- 19:02Which I think, when I was studying this, it just really struck me.
- 19:06Because it means that God was not unjust or overly harsh.
- 19:13But that would be hard to imagine, like how much worse could it get?
- 19:17Right?
- 19:17But it's hard to imagine that.
- 19:20It could have been far worse.
- 19:22God didn't utterly destroy the nation.
- 19:25He didn't judge them and send them to eternal damnation.
- 19:30The Babylonian exile would be the final payment for Judah's sins and transgression.
- 19:36And that exile would not last forever.
- 19:38So therefore, though God had greatly disciplined them, there was still so much mercy, so much grace that he showed them.
- 19:48And that's why he can say her iniquity is pardoned.
- 19:52Her perversion, her twisting of things has been pardoned.
- 19:57And though Judah's sin and unbelief had brought them very low, very low, God still lovingly identifies with his people.
- 20:08So, if you remember, if you're a parent particularly, when you severely discipline your kids for a real wrongdoing, it might cause them to recoil a little bit when you come back.
- 20:23Right?
- 20:24They're like, hmm?
- 20:25What's about to happen?
- 20:28But how do we, as parents, after we've lovingly disciplined our children for a wrongdoing, how do we bring them back?
- 20:36How do you give them reassurance that though they have done something bad, and you've punished them for their own good, that you still love them and that they are yours?
- 20:48And that's not changing regardless.
- 20:51You do so by kindness and gentleness.
- 20:54You tell them, you're mine.
- 20:57You belong to me.
- 20:58And that's what it says in verse 2.
- 21:00It says, speak tenderly.
- 21:03In Hebrew, speak to the heart.
- 21:06The way an ardent lover woos their beloved.
- 21:09So, God aims to win their hearts back.
- 21:12Speaking tenderly to them after this severe discipline.
- 21:17He wants them to know that he is with them, that he cares for them, and that he will one day restore them to their homeland.
- 21:24So, while in exile in Babylon, they are far from Jerusalem, God dignifies them by proclaiming their true identity.
- 21:31You are my people.
- 21:33And that's not changing.
- 21:34Regardless of your sin.
- 21:36Regardless of Babylon, you are mine.
- 21:40And he comes to them in overwhelming comfort.
- 21:43So, we see in our text, the comfort to Jerusalem, if you're writing your notes down,
- 21:49the comfort of Jerusalem prefigures the comfort that true believers will find in Christ.
- 21:56Think about verses in the New Testament.
- 21:59How are we comforted by the presence of Christ?
- 22:04Maybe 2 Corinthians?
- 22:072 Corinthians?
- 22:08Chapter 1 comes to mind.
- 22:10Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort,
- 22:17who comforts us in our afflictions so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort we ourselves have been comforted by God.
- 22:27So, that comfort looks forward in Christ to the comfort that broken sinners can experience through knowing Jesus Christ.
- 22:38And just as we came to know God originally as believers, as sinners, remember Romans 2.4?
- 22:48Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and the forbearance of His patience,
- 22:53not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
- 22:59So, there's that speaking tenderly part like, come.
- 23:04Come and be close.
- 23:07John Calvin said,
- 23:09No one will ever reverence God, but he who is confident that God is favorable towards him.
- 23:17If you think that God is against you and your enemy, we're speaking as the people of God here,
- 23:22you won't come close to Him if you don't think He's favorable towards you.
- 23:27And the blessing is that in Christ, we have been made favorable toward God so that we can approach Him.
- 23:36So, just like Judah, the people of God, we fail to live and act like the people of God all the time.
- 23:43We fail to represent Him as we ought to.
- 23:46But still, He patiently bears with us, identifies with us, and speaks tenderly to us.
- 23:54He doesn't disown us or reject us and say,
- 23:57No more.
- 23:58You're not mine anymore.
- 24:00He never does that to those He set His affection on that His Son died for.
- 24:05So, what about you?
- 24:08Do you have glad expectations of your God?
- 24:13Does it comfort your soul to know that the price of your sin has been paid for?
- 24:19And that now you can be brought close to the heart of God.
- 24:24Close to His heart.
- 24:26Not just His arms, but His heart.
- 24:30Pretty different.
- 24:31So, let's get back to the point number two.
- 24:35That is going to be seen in verses three through five.
- 24:40This is the content of God's consolation.
- 24:44The content of God's consolation.
- 24:47Number two.
- 24:48And this is in verses three through five.
- 24:51So, Yahweh, in verses three through five, commands another voice, saying,
- 24:57In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.
- 25:00Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
- 25:04So, a king or a monarch traveling through a barren wilderness land would have workers go ahead of them,
- 25:10way ahead of them, and clear out every single obstacle that was in the way.
- 25:15And like even set soldiers to kind of guard the way.
- 25:19Everything would be moved.
- 25:21Debris, hazards, obstacles.
- 25:24And it says here that valleys will be raised and mountains will be made flat.
- 25:29So, if you can imagine the Andes, the Himalayas, the Rockies, just going,
- 25:32This is the power of God.
- 25:36But, Isaiah is not speaking in the literal here.
- 25:40He's not speaking of topography.
- 25:43He's speaking and referring to the clearing away of sin.
- 25:48The upheaval that His presence will bring to a corrupt, fallen world.
- 25:53There's going to be a lot of upheaval.
- 25:55The fallen world is not going to be moved willingly.
- 25:58But, God is going to clear the way.
- 26:01He's paving the way to bring sinners to repentance.
- 26:04Paving the way of salvation and bringing about a new kingdom on the earth.
- 26:09And so, in verse 5, God promises to replace His people's misery with His own glory.
- 26:20Bringing them supreme comfort to their souls.
- 26:24So, they will see that Yahweh's glorious salvation.
- 26:28But, listen to this.
- 26:29Not only Jerusalem, but all flesh, it says.
- 26:33All flesh will see this together.
- 26:36So, later in chapter 52, verse 9, it says,
- 26:40The Lord has comforted His people.
- 26:43He has redeemed Jerusalem.
- 26:45The Lord has barred His holy arm before all the nations.
- 26:50All the nations.
- 26:52And all the ends of the earth.
- 26:54Shall see the salvation of our God.
- 26:58So, God is coming.
- 27:00His message of hope will be spread to all nations.
- 27:05And so, Isaiah is saying, in summary,
- 27:08The King is coming.
- 27:10He will accomplish His purpose.
- 27:12And the glory of Yahweh will be spread throughout the earth.
- 27:16It will be there for all flesh to see.
- 27:20Ringing any New Testament bells?
- 27:21All fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
- 27:27We sin, we suffer, but God does not leave us there.
- 27:31He brings us overwhelming comfort by His grace.
- 27:34And we know that all these things were fulfilled in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
- 27:40Isaiah foretells of John the Baptist.
- 27:44The New Testament prophet who came to clear the way, prepare the way for the true Messiah.
- 27:50The Son of God.
- 27:51And He quotes Isaiah to tell them, this is who I am.
- 27:57Who Isaiah spoke about.
- 28:00This is me.
- 28:00And He does that in Luke 3, verses 3-6.
- 28:06And He preached in the wilderness, if you recall that.
- 28:10And He cleared a path for the Lord to come.
- 28:13John the Baptist said this,
- 28:14I baptize you with water.
- 28:44You're either going to be for Him or against Him.
- 28:46Saved by Him or destroyed by Him.
- 28:49There's no middle ground.
- 28:51And John says, I am here.
- 28:52I'm that voice in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord.
- 28:57So Isaiah foresaw a time where all flesh would see God's glory.
- 29:02Which would have been a crazy thing for many people to hear.
- 29:06God's glory, in short, if you can, I'll try, okay?
- 29:11Is the fiery radiance of His own nature.
- 29:16It's Godness.
- 29:18It's probably the best way we could say it.
- 29:20But because of sin, no man, including Moses, including Elijah, or Isaiah,
- 29:28could fully come face to face with God and His glory.
- 29:32Our sin would destroy us.
- 29:35Until God's King, the true Messiah, showed up in Jesus Christ,
- 29:40that glory had to be shielded from us.
- 29:43But when Christ came, it says,
- 29:45And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
- 29:48And we have seen His glory.
- 29:52Glory is of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
- 29:57John 1.14
- 29:59So the glory of the Lord, therefore, is God Himself coming visible,
- 30:05bringing His presence down to us,
- 30:08displaying His beauty and His grandeur
- 30:11to satisfy our soul's deepest longings.
- 30:14And all of that fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
- 30:19Number three.
- 30:21The certainty of God's consolation.
- 30:25So it all sounds good.
- 30:26Is it going to happen?
- 30:27What's the certainty?
- 30:30This is seen in verses 6 through 8.
- 30:33So, in short, to save some time,
- 30:37He's saying man is temporal, God is eternal.
- 30:41The message of all humanity is like we are like grass.
- 30:45We are here and we are gone.
- 30:48Death, all of us will die.
- 30:52Some soon, some not so soon.
- 30:55But we are transient.
- 30:58Death is God's way of saying to sinful human beings,
- 31:01you are not me.
- 31:02You are not immortal and invincible as I am.
- 31:08You will die.
- 31:09If you open up any page in Scripture, there is not a reference too far.
- 31:14A page may be a reference to death in some way.
- 31:18And that is a reminder that we are here and we are gone.
- 31:21That's it.
- 31:24Vivid imagery all throughout Scripture.
- 31:27Real quick.
- 31:28Job 14.
- 31:29Man who is born of woman is few of days and full of trouble.
- 31:34Isn't that right?
- 31:36He comes out like a flower and withers.
- 31:39He flees like a shadow and continues not.
- 31:42Job 14.
- 31:44Job 14.
- 31:441 and 2.
- 31:46So in contrast, Yahweh and His Word endure forever.
- 31:52Forever.
- 31:53It says in Psalm 102, verse 27,
- 31:57But you, O God, are the same, and your years have no end.
- 32:02And since God is eternal, His Word is eternal.
- 32:07His Word doesn't fade away.
- 32:08It's lasting, stable, trustworthy.
- 32:12Right?
- 32:13Just because it's in His nature to be that way.
- 32:16So all these things, in verses 6-8, also fulfilled in Christ.
- 32:23The New Testament writers cite this passage to contrast the fading of human life with God's eternality.
- 32:30An eternal salvation in Christ.
- 32:32And that's why the greatest Word that God has ever spoken is the message of the Gospel.
- 32:40It's actually called in Revelation the everlasting Gospel.
- 32:45Or the everlasting good news.
- 32:48Our salvation is secure and imperishable because it was spoken by the Almighty, omnipotent God.
- 32:57Peter wrote, 1 Peter 1, verse 23,
- 33:00He's talking to Christians,
- 33:02Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,
- 33:08through the living and abiding Word of God.
- 33:12For all flesh is like grass, Peter says,
- 33:15and all is glory like the flower of grass.
- 33:19The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord remains forever.
- 33:23So Peter cites this passage as a reminder of the eternality,
- 33:28the certainty of God's consolation that we find in Jesus Christ.
- 33:34Number four, and lastly,
- 33:37this is seen in verse 9-11,
- 33:42is the spreading of God's consolation.
- 33:45So meaning this good news isn't just meant to sit,
- 33:48it's meant to spread,
- 33:50it's meant to take over,
- 33:52it's meant to go all over the world.
- 33:55So, in verse 9,
- 33:57he says,
- 33:58Herald,
- 33:59he calls a herald to scale a high mountain,
- 34:03and to shout from the top of his lungs with all his strength
- 34:06the good news to Jerusalem.
- 34:09And the message is simple,
- 34:12but yet deeply profound and unending glory.
- 34:16He says,
- 34:17Behold your God.
- 34:20Behold your God.
- 34:23In short,
- 34:24look.
- 34:24Look at your God.
- 34:27How many of us need to hear that today and tomorrow?
- 34:30Like,
- 34:30quit.
- 34:31Look in here.
- 34:32Like,
- 34:32look at your God.
- 34:36What deep words.
- 34:37Protestants in 1560 who fled persecution,
- 34:42who wrote the Geneva Bible,
- 34:43wrote about this verse.
- 34:45He shows us in one word,
- 34:48the perfection of all man's happiness,
- 34:50which is to have God's presence.
- 34:55In verse 10,
- 34:57we see that Yahweh's power is unmatched,
- 34:59absolutely sovereign.
- 35:01His mighty arm will accomplish whatever he aims to do.
- 35:05No one's going to stop it.
- 35:08Nothing.
- 35:10Assyria didn't stop it.
- 35:11Babylon didn't stop it.
- 35:13Corrupt government in America won't stop it.
- 35:17No nation around the world will stop it.
- 35:19It's going to be achieved.
- 35:22Job 42.
- 35:23Job says,
- 35:24I know that you can do all things,
- 35:27that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
- 35:31And so with his mighty,
- 35:33omnipotent hand,
- 35:34he gathers his flock.
- 35:36You see that in the last part?
- 35:37Like a shepherd,
- 35:38a tender shepherd,
- 35:40holding helpless people in his arms.
- 35:43Doesn't that blow your mind?
- 35:44Like the omnipotent,
- 35:45holy God can actually,
- 35:47not just kick sheep around,
- 35:50which is easy to do,
- 35:51but actually gather them up in his arms.
- 35:55And actually says that he would hold them close to his bosom,
- 35:59meaning near to his heart.
- 36:03Isn't that crazy?
- 36:04So he gathers them up and holds them near to his heart,
- 36:08his affection set on them.
- 36:11So he is an unstoppable conquering king,
- 36:15a wealthy benefactor,
- 36:18and a tender shepherd.
- 36:20Again, any New Testament thoughts?
- 36:24I haven't asked you to turn anywhere else other than here,
- 36:27but flip over to John chapter 10 as we're closing here.
- 36:32John chapter 10.
- 36:34We see all this perfectly fulfilled in Christ.
- 36:39Christ is the good shepherd
- 36:41who lays down his life for his sheep.
- 36:45And that his sheep are brought into the fold
- 36:47and they hear his voice and they follow him.
- 36:51John 10.
- 36:52We'll start in maybe verse 11.
- 36:56We'll skip around because there's a lot.
- 36:58But check out all the promises.
- 37:00If you are in Christ Jesus,
- 37:02these promises are yours.
- 37:04If you are not, they're not yours.
- 37:07But we are desirous for you to come into the fold of God.
- 37:11So come and speak with us later if needs be.
- 37:14But John 10 verse 11.
- 37:17Jesus said,
- 37:18I am the good shepherd.
- 37:20The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.
- 37:26Jump down to verse 14.
- 37:28He repeats it.
- 37:29I am the good shepherd.
- 37:30I know my own and my own know me.
- 37:33Even as the Father knows me,
- 37:35I know the Father.
- 37:37And I lay down my life for the sheep.
- 37:41And then last little part of this.
- 37:43Look at verse 27.
- 37:44Just go down.
- 37:45Jesus says,
- 37:46My sheep hear my voice.
- 37:49I know them and they follow me.
- 37:52I give them eternal life and they will never perish.
- 37:59No one will snatch them out of my hand.
- 38:02My Father who has given them to me is greater than all.
- 38:05And no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand.
- 38:10Beautiful.
- 38:11Spoken by Isaiah.
- 38:13Foretold way before Christ came on the scene.
- 38:16But Christ is the good shepherd.
- 38:18And so this good news must spread.
- 38:21The gospel is referred to in many different ways.
- 38:25And I love the richness of it.
- 38:28Romans 1.9 is called the good news of his son.
- 38:32Romans 15.16, the good news of God.
- 38:361 Corinthians 9.12, the good news of Christ.
- 38:402 Corinthians 4.4, the glorious good news.
- 38:432 Corinthians 5.15, the good news of peace.
- 38:49So we are to shout this message from the mountaintop.
- 38:53Good news is to spread.
- 38:56If you were with us in the Lord's Supper time earlier,
- 38:59Cody mentioned that we talk about what we love.
- 39:03Plain and simple.
- 39:04So what comes out of your mouth during the week?
- 39:07What's in, comes out.
- 39:09And that's straight from the mouth of Jesus.
- 39:11But think about it.
- 39:14It's very easy for this good news to spread.
- 39:17If you truly believe it and you love it,
- 39:20you'll talk about it.
- 39:22With others who believe it and with those who don't.
- 39:26C.S. Lewis kind of summed this up well.
- 39:28Now, so much to say here.
- 39:30I'll kind of cut the quote down a little bit.
- 39:33But he said,
- 39:34The world rings with praise.
- 39:37Just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value,
- 39:43so they spontaneously urge others to join them in the praising of it.
- 39:48Isn't she lovely?
- 39:50Wasn't that glorious?
- 39:53Do you not think that magnificent?
- 39:56I think, he says,
- 39:57we delight to praise what we enjoy
- 39:59because the praise not merely expresses,
- 40:03but completes the enjoyment.
- 40:07Beautiful.
- 40:08So we will praise what we love.
- 40:10We will talk about what we love.
- 40:11And if we love Christ,
- 40:12we love the good news,
- 40:14it will spread.
- 40:15So just as Judah, though,
- 40:16failed to trust God,
- 40:18they paid a price for it,
- 40:20but God did not forsake his people.
- 40:22But remember in this passage
- 40:25that the grace and glory that we have
- 40:27in Jesus Christ
- 40:28is our comfort when we fail.
- 40:31God is undefeated by our most grievous sin.
- 40:35It's not going to stop him.
- 40:38He is undefeated by even our most grievous sin.
- 40:41And he calls us back
- 40:43to the word he has spoken.
- 40:46His purpose will be fulfilled.
- 40:49So you can trust him.
- 40:50You can trust God.
- 40:53You can trust him more than yourself.
- 40:56You can trust him absolutely.
- 40:58So the glory of God
- 40:59is the comfort of his people.
- 41:02So next week,
- 41:02we will get into
- 41:03the other two parts of this.
- 41:06A lot.
- 41:08But beautiful stuff
- 41:10for us to gain great comfort from
- 41:13no matter what we're walking through.
- 41:16So let's pray together.