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same as the one from this morning, as we consider again, Comfort for God’s People, Part 2. We’re
in Isaiah Chapter 40, verses 1 through 5. We focused this morning on the first two verses,
and this evening we focus on verses 3 through 5. But in order to fill out the context, I’m going
to read from Isaiah 40, verses 1 through 11. You’ll find this on page 712 in your Pew Bible.
Dear friends, let’s hear with reverence and awe the word of our God.
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 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 her sins. A voice cries, in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low. The uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
A voice says cry, and I said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like
the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows
on it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God
will stand forever. Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Lift up your voice
with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lift it up, fear not. Say to the cities of Judah,
behold your God. Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him. Behold,
his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd.
He will gather the lambs in his arms. He will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those
that are with young. May God add his blessing once again to this reading of his holy word.
Let’s pray for God’s blessing on the preaching of his word.
Our Lord and God, Heavenly Father, we thank you that you speak to us in the Scriptures,
for the Scriptures are your God-breathed, inerrant, infallible word. They are indeed
a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path, a guide to our way. We would ask, Lord, that once
again by your Spirit, that Spirit who breathed out, inspired the Scriptures, that by that same
Spirit you would illuminate us, help us to understand these truths from your word, and help
us to see their relevancy and importance to our lives as followers of Jesus, and also to the life
of your church. Be with us now, and be exalted in the preaching of your word. We ask these things
in Jesus’ name, and all of God’s people said, Amen. You may be seated.
Well, I encourage the children to listen this evening for three key words in my sermon,
the words, Way, Obstacles, and Glory. Well, friends, if you are a driver, then you’ve probably
found yourself in a situation where you’ve been driving down the road, everything’s going smoothly,
you’re just minding your own business, and then all of a sudden some large object ends up right
in front of you, smack dab in the middle of the road, and all of a sudden you need to react,
and you need to quickly swerve out of the way so as to avoid hitting that obstacle or hindrance
or impediment that is in the roadway. Maybe it was a mattress that had fallen off of another vehicle,
or maybe it was some litter that had fallen off of a garbage truck, maybe it was someone’s spare
tire that they lost from their vehicle, it was a dead skunk on the road, you definitely don’t want
to run over those or some other piece of roadkill and so forth. Of course, here in the Pittsburgh
area, one of the biggest obstacles that you might have to avoid are the many crater-like
sinkhole-sized potholes that dot the roadways of our fine city and its surroundings. But friends,
whatever obstacle it turns out to be, such obstacles create stress and danger to those
who are seeking to be safe on the roadways. Indeed, a smooth and safe journey requires
a smooth road in order to attain to your destination, and obstacles and impediments
that block the way are a cause of great stress. And what is true when it comes to modern roadways
is also true on the figurative highway that Yahweh our God would travel in returning to his people
and once again blessing them by causing his gracious presence to dwell once again in their
midst. You see, the sins of God’s people that had caused the Lord to send his people out of
the promised land and to thrust them out into Babylonian exile, those sins served as obstacles,
impediments, hindrances in the way of their return to God and in the way of the Lord’s return
to dwelling graciously among them. And therefore, the Lord promises in this comforting passage
here at the beginning of this second section of the prophet Isaiah, here the Lord promises
that he would raise up a voice, a prophetic voice, to call the people to prepare the way
of the Lord. As it says in verse three, a voice cries, in the wilderness prepare the way of the
Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Just as people in the ancient Near East
would prepare a royal highway for a visiting monarch by removing obstacles so that the monarch,
the king, would be welcomed with honor and the procession of the king would be without hindrance.
So let the soon to be liberated exiled people of God prepare the highway for the Lord’s return
to Jerusalem and let them prepare the way of the Lord through repentance and faith.
Now in terms of reminding us of the context and historical setting of our passage
for this evening, as we learned this Lord’s Day morning in part one, Isaiah chapter 40 represents
a significant new section here in the book of Isaiah. This is a section of the book that in
many ways stands in sharp contrast to the first 39 chapters. With some bright exceptions, the first
half of Isaiah focused largely on the Lord’s judgment against his faithless people and also
the Lord’s judgment against the idol worshiping Gentile nations that surrounded the people of
Israel. This first half, Isaiah 1 to 39, this first half is made up largely of judgment oracles,
occasionally interspersed and interrupted with some oracles of hope, pointing God’s people to
the grace that would come with the coming of the promised Messiah and with the messianic age.
But now starting here in chapter 40, the overall tone changes from a tone of judgment and rebuke
to a tone of comfort, hope, and salvation. In this latter part of Isaiah from chapter 40 through
the end of the book of the prophet Isaiah, in this latter part of the prophet Isaiah,
the overall theme is a theme of hope. The theme shifts from a stern oracles of judgment to
hope-filled oracles of overflowing grace. Because in these latter chapters, the coming of the
promised Messiah and the eschatological messianic age that his kingdom would bring about come into
clearer view. How appropriate then for Yahweh, the God of Israel, our God, to raise up a prophetic
voice to call his people to prepare the way for the gracious return of their divine King, Yahweh,
their God. And so as we turn our attention to our passage for this evening and focus on verse 3,
the first thing we notice here in our passage is the call to prepare the way, a call to prepare
the way. It says, a voice cries. Again, notice the language. The voice doesn’t whisper. The voice
doesn’t hint. The voice cries out, cries out with clarity, cries out in a manner in which all will
hear. A voice cries out, or as it could be translated, a voice of one crying. And what does
this voice cry out? In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert
a highway for our God. We have this Hebrew parallelism here where the highway, or rather,
the wilderness and the desert are speaking of the same thing. Regarding this section of chapter 40,
as one commentator explains, the language of verses 3 and 4 has in view the ancient Near Eastern
custom of sending representatives ahead to prepare the way for the visit of a monarch.
The picture is that of preparing a processional highway for the Lord’s coming to Jerusalem.
In Matthew 3, 1-8, John declares that repentance is necessary to prepare the way for Christ.
And this call to repentance is from this voice. Again, a voice cries, or a voice of one crying,
as it could be translated. Now, when we compare Scripture with Scripture, as we ought to do,
when we compare Scripture with Scripture, we see that the New Testament makes it clear that this
prophecy was fulfilled in the ministry of that very significant figure in redemptive history,
namely John the Baptist. And for example, let’s look at Luke’s interpretation of this passage,
and the character mentioned here and predicted here in this passage. If we turn to Luke chapter
3, let me just read the first 18 verses. Luke 3, verses 1-18, we read the following words,
says this. Let me just get there. In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,
Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee,
and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iteria and Trichonetus, and Lysanias tetrarch
of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son
of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into the region around Jordan proclaiming a baptism of
what? A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the
words of Isaiah the prophet, and these should be familiar words, the voice of one crying in
the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord make his path straight. Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be made low and the crooked shall become straight and the rough
places shall become a level ways and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. He said therefore
to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from
the wrath to come bear fruits in keeping with repentance and do not begin to say to yourselves
we have Abraham as our father for I tell you God is able from these stones to raise up children
for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees every tree therefore that does not
bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire and this provokes a response from the crowds.
The crowd asked him what then shall we do and he answered them whoever has two tunics is to share
with him who has none and whoever has food is to do likewise. Tax collectors also came to be baptized
and said to him teacher what shall we do and he said stop collecting taxes no. He said to them
collect no more than you are authorized to do. Soldiers also asked him and we what shall we do
and he said to them do not extort money from anyone by threats by false accusation and be
content with your wages and so forth. So we see this is how the way for the coming of Jesus the
Messiah was to be prepared. It was to be prepared by means of God’s professed people repenting
and receiving baptism and this is what the Jews in Jesus’s day did when it came to gentile
converts to Judaism. If you were a Gentile living in the first century and you wanted to fully
convert and become a Jew not only would you be asked to be circumcised but you would also be
baptized as a sign that now you will finally be identified as part of God’s people and so the
people were to humble themselves and recognize that apart from God’s grace they were not worthy
to be his people. It’s all by grace and grace alone and they were to confess their sins and
trust in the coming promised Messiah and they were to bear fruits of repentance.
So getting back to our passage for today. Notice the language that Isaiah uses here
in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord make straight in the desert a highway for our
God. Think about those terms wilderness and desert. How would that language resonate with a first
century Jew or an ancient Jew who would read this language? Well this language in imagery would have
reminded the ancient Jewish reader of the Exodus event because God in the Exodus brought his people
out of slavery in Egypt and he brought them through the desert. He brought them through
the wilderness and into the promised land and what this implies beloved is that with the coming of
the Lord in the person of the promised Messiah this promised Messiah that the voice crying out
in the wilderness would pave the way for and proclaim with the coming of the Lord in the
person of the promised Messiah a new and greater Exodus would be accomplished.
In Old Testament times under the ministry of Moses a great Exodus a great deliverance indeed took
God rescued his people from slavery in Egypt under the Yoke of Pharaoh and freed them and
liberated them and brought them to Mount Sinai gave them his holy law and planted them in the
promised land bringing them through the wilderness through the desert and that was a type a picture
of salvation but Christ the greater Moses Christ he rescues us he provides us with a greater
Exodus a greater rescue a greater deliverance for he came to save his people from their sins
and therefore the command is to do what make straight in the desert a highway for the
the look for our God prepare the way of Yahweh the Lord and again how do we do that well again
as we compare scripture with scripture as we saw in that account recorded in Luke we
learn that this is done through turning to the Lord in repentance and faith now a couple
takeaways I want to make here a couple points of application first of all let’s consider this
figure this austere figure of John the Baptist this great preacher of repentance this great
prophet of God to whom the word of God came and he declared the word of God to his generation
you know a lot could be said about John the Baptist this voice crying out in the wilderness
but the thing to realize about John the Baptist beloved is that he was a tremendously important
figure in redemptive history why well because he was the last of the old covenant prophets
but he was unique in that he served to bridge the gap if you will
between the old covenant and the new covenant administrations of the one covenant of grace
and he fit he bridged that gap by calling the people to repentance and by heralding the coming
of the promised Messiah Jesus of Nazareth our Lord our Savior our King as a bridge figure
his ministry helps to illustrate the basic continuity between the old and new testaments
many Christians today sadly under the influence of a of a wrong-headed approach to Bible
interpretation known as dispensationalism many Bible-believing Christians today misinterpret
the Old Testament they say well yeah the Old Testament it’s inspired it’s the word of God but
that’s for the Jews the New Testament’s for us Christians are we to be New Testament Christians
the ministry of John the Baptist reminds us that we are not merely to be New Testament Christians
no beloved we are to be whole Bible covenantal Christians and yes there are important
discontinuities between the Old Testament and the New Testament the Old Covenant was a covenant of
shadows and types a covenant that was meant to prepare God’s people and ultimately to prepare
the world for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ the Old Covenant prepares for Christ points to
Christ predicts Christ symbolizes and typifies Christ in its ordinances and worship and so forth
the New Testament reveals Christ the New Covenant reveals Christ in his fullness
so there are important discontinuities yet there is an underlying covenantal
unity ultimately there is one covenant of grace and one way of salvation I’ve even heard some
professing Christians say that that the old in the Old Testament God’s people were saved by
keeping the law in the New Testament they’re saved by grace through faith no there’s always
been one and only way one way of salvation ever since the fall of Adam and Eve there’s been one
way and one way alone of salvation and that is the way of God’s grace alone through faith alone
in the promised Messiah alone teaches that too it teaches salvation through faith in the coming
Messiah now that Christ has come we are saved by trusting in the one whom the father has sent
his son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so there is this basic continuity and this voice crying in
the wilderness helps to bridge that gap between the testaments and bears testimony to the basic
undergirding unity of God’s one covenant of grace at the same time we also learn here that Christ
accomplished a deliverance and exodus far greater than that of Moses though in the wilderness prepare
the way of the Lord the Lord this is speaking of preparing the way of Jesus and yet here in the Hebrew
the word being used is Yahweh Jesus is Yahweh he is God he is divine and he is coming to save his
people from their sins Christ accomplished a deliverance and exodus far greater than that
accomplished by Moses the mediator of the Old Covenant for Christ has delivered us not just
from a typological slavery and and not just from physical slavery and earthly oppression
a type of spiritual salvation but Christ has actually saved us believers from our
sins by his obedient life his atoning death and his glorious resurrection from the dead
so how are we to prepare the way again I’ve already stated it but I’ll state it one more time
the way is prepared through personal repentance from sin and faith trust in the Lord Jesus Christ
as he is offered in the gospel and that leads me to my next we’ve learned that we are to prepare
the way for the Lord to return to dwell with his people next in verse four we learn of obstacles
removed obstacles removed it says every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain and hill
be made low the uneven ground shall become level and the rough place is a plain what is this a
picture of this is a picture of of your walking along this roadway and there are valleys and there
are mountains and there are hills and all kinds of obstacles the Lord is promising here that the way
is going to be smoothed out he’s going to prepare for his coming to us we are to prepare by repentance
but he is going to make certain that his return to Jerusalem to his people is assured well verse
three emphasizes our responsibility to prepare the way of the Lord this verse verse four is a promise
given in figurative language which seems to point at least primarily to the Lord’s work in removing
obstacles and hindrances to his return to dwell with his people you see friends from the standpoint
of God’s sovereignty from the standpoint of his sovereign grace this verse assures us that God
will let nothing get in the way of his return to his exiled people that God will bring us
from a far country that he will gather his elect from the east from the west from the north and
from the south and bring his children home and he will come and dwell with them and he will be
their God and they shall be his people but again from the standpoint of human responsibility
by the grace of God we are to remove such obstacles in our lives through repentance and
faith this reminds me of a passage in Hebrews again I’m thinking of our our interns excellent
sermon series through the book of Hebrews and if you go back to Hebrews or go ahead rather
move ahead to Hebrews 12 verses one and two notice what the author of Hebrews writes here
therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us let us lay aside
every weight and sin which clings so closely oh what an accurate description that is of sin
you give in to sin it starts to cling to you let us lay it aside the sin which clings so closely
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us looking to Jesus the founder
and perfecter of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising
the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God may we brothers and sisters lay aside
every weight and turn away from all the sin which clings so closely and let us again cling
instead to Christ looking unto Jesus for Jesus our Lord he is the author and the finisher of our faith
so we are to prepare the way of the Lord obstacles this is a promise as well as
by implication and obligation but what is the ultimate goal what is the ultimate end to all
of this if we go to verse five of our passage for this evening it says this
and the glory of Yahweh the glory of the Lord shall be what revealed right now the glory of
the Lord in this present age in its full consummate manifestation is hidden it’s veiled
but there will be a time when the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and it goes on to say
and all flesh shall see it together
and then to give assurance that this is a certainty it says for the mouth of the Lord has spoken this
is God’s word this is God’s promise it is certain to happen what is this referring to now some would
say well this is you know figurative language describing the return of the exiles to the
promised land the post-exilic community and and in a sense that’s that’s an initial that can be
viewed as an initial redemptive historical fulfillment of this passage the nations surrounding
israel did did see God’s wonder the wondrous work of God in in bringing his people back
to the promised land others would say well this this has its primary fulfillment in the
coming of Christ and the spread of the gospel throughout the nations and certainly the glory
of the Lord as is revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ is being declared through the
great commission to all the nations and there are folks our brothers and sisters in
tongue and people in nation who have heard the glad tidings of great joy and who have
seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ as they have embraced Christ as he’s offered in
the gospel but again I point to the phrase all flesh shall see it together the ultimate fulfillment
of this promise is the return of Christ this is an eschatological promise that will ultimately be
fulfilled in Christ’s return for it says all flesh shall see it together when Jesus returns
you know the first time our Lord came to this earth in his first advent he came in great secrecy
only a few people knew about the coming of the Messiah the promised Messiah and the person of
Jesus of Nazareth but when he returns at his second advent every eye shall see every eye shall see he
will return on the clouds of glory for all flesh to see and all flesh shall see the glory of Yahweh
the Lord Jesus our incarnate God as he returns in his glory the New Testament speaks often of the
glory of Christ at his return again just to give you a couple samples from the New Testament as we
close up our time in the word this evening let me have you turn to Matthew 25 and let me read verses
31 and 32 Matthew chapter 25 verses 31 and 32 where Jesus gives this picture of the final judgment
he says when the Son of Man that’s Jesus that’s the Messiah when the Son of Man comes in his glory
he’s speaking about his future glorious second advent when the Son of Man comes in his glory
and all the angels with him then he will sit on his glorious throne before him will be gathered
all the nations no one will be missing and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats and so forth we read of our Lord’s glorious return the majesty
and glory of the Lord returning in first that in passages like first Thessalonians 4 13 to 18 again
let me read from this passage first Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 13 to 18 says this but we do not
want you to be uninformed brothers about those who are asleep in other words those brothers and
sisters in Christ who have died that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope for since we
believe that Jesus died and rose again even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep
for this we declare to you by a word from the Lord that we who are alive who are left until the
coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep for the Lord himself will descend
from heaven with a cry of command this is a public glorious event he will return with a cry of command
with the voice of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God doesn’t sound like a secret
rapture to me does it sound like that to you it sounds like this is a very noisy event that’s
going to occur and the dead in Christ will rise first then we who are alive who are left will be
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with
the Lord therefore encourage one another with these words oh what comfort there is in knowing
that Jesus our Lord is coming back for us soon at the end of this age and every day that goes
by is a day closer to the when our Lord will return or finally one more passage and then we’ll
close our time 1st Corinthians 15 verses 50 through 58 in this marvelous chapter of
1st Corinthians where the apostle Paul is defending the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead
pointing especially to our Lord Jesus’s physical bodily resurrection from the dead
he goes on to say this toward the end of the chapter beginning in verse 50
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable
behold I tell you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment
in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be
raised imperishable and we shall be changed for this perishable body must put on the imperishable
and this mortal body must put on immortality when the perishable puts on the imperishable
and the mortal puts on immortality then shall come to pass the saying that is written death
is swallowed up in victory oh death where is your victory oh death where is your sting the sting of
death is sin and the power of sin is the law but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ so what is our ultimate hope what is our ultimate comfort it’s found here in
verse 5 of our passage and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it
together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken are you ready for the glory of the Lord Jesus
to be revealed should he return in our lifetime the only way we can be ready for that glory to
return is to be in union with him to trust him to know him as our Savior from sin do you know Jesus
as your Savior from sin Jesus the God man was crucified to pay the penalty for sin and raised
from the dead on the third day so that whoever believes in him might not perish but have life
eternal repent and trust in Christ today call upon the name of the Lord Jesus and the Bible says you
shall be saved and be comforted in knowing that the glory of the Lord shall be revealed amen let’s
pray our Lord and God Heavenly Father give us the grace to prepare your way
prepare the way of the Lord we thank you Lord that you promise that your glory will be revealed
and that you our God will come and dwell amongst us and you will be our God forever and we shall
be your people forever be with us now help us to take these truths to heart and to live out their
implications in our lives in Jesus name we pray and all of God’s people said amen