Isaiah chapter 40 tonight is our text that we're considering. It's on page 712 in those Bibles that are in front of you. 712, we'll read the chapter and consider this great chapter, Isaiah chapter 40. Page 712 in those Bibles that are in front of you. This is the word of the Lord. 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, and 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 and 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, says, 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. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the spirit of the Lord or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice and taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket and are accounted as the dust on the scales. Holy takes up the coastlands like fine dust. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him. They are accounted by him as less than nothing in emptiness. To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness compare with him? An idol? A craftsman casts it? And a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts it for silver chains. He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot. He seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move. Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth. Its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like a tent to dwell in, who brings princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely they are planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth when he blows on them and they wither and the tempest carries them off like stubble. To whom then will you compare me that I should be like him, says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see who created these. he brings out their host by number calling them all by name by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power not one is missing why do you say oh jacob and speak oh israel my way is hidden from the lord and my right is disregarded by my god have you not known have you not heard the lord is the everlasting god the creator of the ends of the earth he does not faint or grow weary his understanding is unsearchable he gives power to the faint and to him who has no might, he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. And there ends the reading of God's Word. It's quite an interesting time to live, mainly because we see in our time so much hopelessness in the world that's one of the things that I continue to see and continue to read about and talk to people it just seems like we are in hopeless times and that hopelessness has sort of overcome a spirit of hopelessness has overcome the people I read a another article again this past week do you know 51 percent of young Americans say they feel down depressed or hopeless not only do many feel people feel pessimistic about their personal future right now says the peace there's also an overwhelming collective sense of powerlessness and negativity well we all know that that's exactly what we're all feeling right now It says, there's very little novelty to break up our days. Few new faces, little movement, few new events to run to look forward to. All we can do is wait. New vaccines, elections, herd immunities. We're just waiting for something, anything, that might change our prospects. Now, if you connect with that, you know that there's going to be some kind of solution that the article is going to offer that's going to be radically different from Christianity. Do you know what the solution was in that article? Channel your inner layer. I have no idea what that means. Obviously, it's some form of positive thinking, isn't it? You've got to use positive thinking to get out of this. You've got to just stay positive to get out of this. But it's not working, is it? It's not working. and what i fear that what has happened among christians is just a sort of general apathy to things a general apathy has filled our time among christians sort of acting like and knowing that as we see everything sort of going to hell in a handbasket in society that we become just sort of indifferent to it all or we really think that god is not doing much about anything so i think that latter comment is probably the most what do we really think god's doing right now taking a nap we see it i think in the celebration of christmas really we love the the cultural celebration of it we love the christmas songs they sort of gives us a stirring of the spirit it's just cozy and fun and eggnog and all that stuff right but are we a people that have lost sight and have lost heart in the great news that God has announced to the ends of the earth. A news that gives people real hope. A news that gives people lasting hope. I have a Hindu friend who I talk with frequently and I saw him the other day and I asked him, I said, what do you do at this time? What do you think of Christmas? He says, oh, it's good. You know, the merry thing's good. I looked at him and said, what do you mean by that? He says, well, it's just about a new beginning. Hindus believe in a new beginning too. What is the new beginning? It was wonderful to talk with him about that for a while. Is God doing anything in this? Oppression seems everywhere. There's little expectation, it seems, tonight, that do we really believe that Jesus is going to come again? Do we live in expectation for that? Are we ready for that? Are we excited about that? Do we have energy for that? Do we really believe that's going to happen? could happen if there was ever a time that we become what they say deists practical deists if you will that god has just kind of disconnected from all of this and has left us to fend for ourselves that is that is the spirit of our times and that's the spirit that has invaded the church today christians they're just in sort of indifferent to the things that matter the most well that was exactly the situation of isaiah 40 that's why i raise it they found themselves in a situation the same sort of situation in this great moment in history and that's what i want to consider with you for a few minutes tonight because i know you want to get to the kids singing but the lord has a good message for you so you should listen to that but my goal tonight is to is to help you and to to help you treasure what this is really all about the good news that is given to us that God always in the darkest moments of history you know when we look at the the moments we think when everything's bright and going well we might struggle to understand and appreciate things then but but it's really unique that in the times where we would say darkness characterizes the days in which we live and hopelessness and that people are struggle for meaning and it seems that there is no light it's at those moments and it's those times throughout history that God seemed to break out his light the greatest get ready for that it's exciting time to live I say one of the most exciting times ever to live but you've got to understand why I would say such a thing and tonight i want to look at isaiah 40 with this purpose to see here in this particular passage that we had a people who had become rather apathetic and indifferent to the worship of the lord they had become rather apathetic and different to his great ways notice how much that chapter is about the mag that the greatness of god how wonderful he is and how they had lost sight of all of that his strength his power to deliver and his sovereignty over the nations and that these little leaders that get into position don't even take root in the earth and he blows and they're gone well this is the context that the light that the lord is announcing so i want to just briefly look with you at this confusion that this passage raises at the beginning and the complaint of the people against the lord i've always been struck that in the heart of this text there's a great complaint by israel against the lord and then his great comfort that he answers them with so there you have it confusion the complaint and the comfort i want you to notice that the people addressed in this passage were facing one of the most distressing times in the history of the nation of israel we see that here in this great chapter uh here where isaiah predicts to king hezekiah that something bad is about to happen. Something very sad is about to happen. Behold, you'll look at this right at the end of chapter 39 if your Bibles are open. The days are coming when all this is your house, all that you have accumulated to this day shall be carried off to Babylon. Nothing shall be left. They'll take away your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. It's really a devastating moment in the middle of Israel's history. All that they had built, all the glory of their great kingdom, the glory of Israel, the temple, you think, here we are in Judah, the prosperity, the blessing, that they would be the generation that would experience the loss of all these things. They would have to live through that. they would experience the heavy chastising hand of the Lord because of their rejection of him, because they did not listen to him, and because of idolatry. Did you notice in this chapter 2, he says, what does an idol do for you? You guys craft it, you look at it, you bow to it, and it does nothing. Nothing. So he carried them off to Babylon to purge them. Nothing prior to this was going well. So here's the time of this chastisement that had come. Isaiah prophesies this, that here the state of things is captured in Hezekiah's response. At the end of chapter 39, Hezekiah responds and says, Ah, well, the word that the Lord has spoken is good, for at least there'll be peace in my days. That's like saying, great, so bad for my children. Glad it's not happening to me. What a time in Israel's history. What a degenerated time. Everyone was living for themselves. What was happening to them in the future for their children? It wasn't good. And they weren't listening. Now it's in this context that God announces this great disaster that's coming. That their whole way of life would change. Can you imagine it? All of your stuff and your money would be gone. Your homes and you would be picked up. and you would be routed to another country. That's the context here. And everything prior to this great moment, nothing was going well in Israel. Everything that they were experiencing was political turmoil. They probably were watching Fox and CNN and talking about the Assyrians every night. This is what was going on. You believe those Assyrians are oppressing us. They're discouraged. They're despondent. Isaiah knows the time is coming to exile. So the ultimate problem comes out in verse 2. Do you notice Isaiah 40, verse 2? Before I get into this really good news tonight, tell Israel that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. It's a remarkable thing. What is the issue that's raised of all things that no one was talking about? Sin. Sin. The people could not see that everything was going poorly and the heavy hand of the Lord had fallen on them because no one was taking sin seriously. Isn't that something? Everyone was afraid to talk about sin. Nobody wanted to talk about sin. The beginning of this book, Isaiah had to face that. As he was going to go out and be a prophet, the first thing Isaiah had to be confronted with was something great. Remember? You're going to go out, send me, I want to go preach. And all of a sudden he sees the glory of the Lord and the angels in heaven, the glorious train of his robe, and the angels in heaven are flying around crying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the one thing that Isaiah does at that moment is drop and cover and cry out prophetic curses on himself. He was breaking up in the presence of the Lord. Woe is me, I'm undone. I'm falling apart. The heat is incinerating me. For I am a man of unclean lips. And I dwell with a people of unclean lips. We have no concept of sin anymore. It's gone in Israel. It's gone. And that's the context of this book. When we look at the Old Testament, we see God making this very clear with the people of the severity of sin and the dire predicament therein. And the craziest thing was, still, Israel was not taking this seriously. How could you face all this chastisement and nothing going well and no one can figure out why? I'm not sure the Christian church is much different today. Are we in a great different position? Or do we just want to be entertained to death? You can't be entertained and take seriously sin. It just doesn't work. To face real joy in the Christian life. First there's a bowing of the head in humility. Before this God. So God says she received double for her sins. You know how difficult it would be to stand up today and say that you're receiving double for your sins. You're not listening. It's got to be one of the worst scenarios in the Bible. To which we should ask the question, what happened in the hearts of the people to get there? and the attitude of the people was no more conviction, it was gone Isaiah had described it back in chapter 5 woe to those who call evil good and good evil who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness I don't know if there's a more apt verse that describes our times the people says Isaiah walk in darkness there's knowledge of the lord there's no knowledge there's no knowledge of themselves those are the two crucial things you have to have a good knowledge of in life a knowledge of the lord to be saved and a knowledge of yourself and israel suffering all the sad consequences of this judah but the question that i had as i was working through this tonight what was their attitude to god through all this i want you to understand what was the prevailing spirit of the people during this time with their God. The heart of this passage is addressing a complaint, I said, in the heart of this chapter, a complaint that stands out. You can't miss it. It's really what the Lord's answering here. A mindset had prevailed among God's people about the Lord himself. You know what it was? Verse 27. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel? My way is hidden from the Lord and my right is disregarded by my God. That's a really important complaint that is issued there. Listen, my way is hidden from God. How do you take that? God doesn't seem to care anymore. God doesn't care. He's too busy for us. He's too great to care about us anymore. There was a total loss of confidence in God's love and gospel that accompanied this careless attitude towards sin. He's not interested in helping me. You know what that produces is complete indifference to all religion. We're completely disregarded. He doesn't care. God's not listening to our prayers. God's walked away from us all. You know, in Jeremiah, that was the great complaint. The Lord said to them, Keep your feet from going unshod and your throat from thirst. Here's what you said against the Lord. This is all hopeless. Deep in their cry is this suggestion. Why would God ever do these things to us? And all this, it seemed to say, This God ultimately is against us. And that we never really know if we're forgiven. And so people didn't care anymore. It's a somewhat big moment. A people who had given up. A people who had given up hope that the Lord was going to care for them. And thought it didn't even matter what they did anymore because he doesn't care he doesn't see you keep saying verse 27 my way is hidden you keep speaking this way that's the way this translates you keep saying this this is your attitude this is the spirit of the people so what happened in the hearts of all the people weariness weariness weariness enveloped the hearts of the people they saw no hope and they saw no future can't you hear it in the in the in the way that the people are talking in the world right now they see no hope they see no power and they see no future what about us what about us weariness had fallen on everyone and to behold god to think about this whole thing you know the fatigue was everywhere and what was everyone looking for in the midst of all this weariness and fatigue a savior lo and behold a savior well isn't that what everyone's looking for right now I wonder how much more this sort of attitude will be common in the years to come if God lets things get worse or things do get worse, how much do you think hopelessness will turn into this spirit in the church? So they were looking for delivers. They were looking for, listen, this is a remarkable thing that ties directly to our time. They were looking for political heroes to save them. Verse 23 references it. You know what he does? You shouldn't do that because he brings princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. now this is where you think i have just a negative message for you tonight no it's a good message this is where isaiah 40 is wonderful um the lord is essentially saying here do you think you understand my ways this whole chapter is calling us to challenge us to how we think of god and what we think he is really accomplishing with all of this do we think god says do you think my ways are arbitrary notice verse 12 who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with the span and closed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains and scales and the hills in a balance who's measured the spirit of the lord or what man shows him his counsel whom did he consoled and who or who made him to understand who taught him the path of justice and taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding. You're misunderstanding your God and you're limiting him. And that's where Isaiah 40 opens with the greatest news ever. An announcement in the midst of this darkness. A great announcement in the midst of this darkness. It's essentially as if, as you open up Isaiah 40, the heavens are having a conversation and they're saying this. Think of all the trouble we face in life and the difficulties and sometimes you feel like it just keeps coming and it keeps coming and all the weariness and hopelessness. All of a sudden it's as if heaven said, that's enough. It's over. Here's the beauty of it. After all this idolatry, after all this darkness, it was time again for the people to hear something. and it was time again for the people to receive something. And he wants it made known. It's against this backdrop of the darkness that from the mouth of God, he commissions his pastors and prophets to go out and say something. Did you hear it? I want you to run throughout all the earth. And all of a sudden you notice verse 6. that one voice in the heaven, an angelic voice, asks the question, what are we supposed to cry out? What do you want us to communicate to these people? Think of all the darkness today. Think of all the pain. Think of all the death. Here's what I want you to say. Verse 6. All flesh is as grass, and its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are like grass. The grass withers and the flower fades. But the word of our God endures forever. Go tell them this. You're all dying. Do you know that? You're all dying. That's all a consequence of sin. I'm dying as I speak right now. All of us are dying. They know that from even birth. We are here today and we are gone tomorrow. If you don't believe it, just go study the lilies in the field. Go study your favorite flower, the tulip. That little bulb never lasts very long, does it? It's really a sad thing, isn't it? I'm always mad about that. Tell them they're dying. But I've got a word for them that'll last and endure forever. What's the word? What do you want us to say? What do you want us to tell people, Lord? What do you want announced to the ends of the earth? What are you like? What is the burden of your heart to tell them? Verse 1. Comfort. Comfort my people. Pastors, speak to them tenderly. Tell them, I'll pardon Jerusalem's sin. give them good news. Notice it. Comfort. Comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that what? Her warfare's over. Her iniquity's pardoned. She's received from the Lord's hand double for her sins. It's over. Announce this. Announce this. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places made smooth. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Here's what he just said. Here's what I want you to tell him. I'll get off my throne and come to him and I'll help him. I'm coming. I'm coming. And that glory will appear. The imagery that we have in Isaiah 40 is get ready. This is going to be awesome. A royal highway will be carved out in the wilderness. Everything must get out of the way when he comes. Cast up a highway for him to ride in the desert. He's coming. And every obstacle to his arrival must be put in place and out of place must be removed because the glory of the Lord is going to shine in this earth. Everything that is rough must be made smooth. Every mountain made low. The glory of the Lord will appear for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. I have a burden that they know that. Go tell them. O Jerusalem, you who bring the good tidings, I want you to start lifting up your voice in strength notice he now includes it breaks out everywhere lift up your voices don't be afraid start speaking again of hope hope in this in your nation hope in your people announce it on the hills go stand up on the mountains and announce the hope of the lord what is that hope give them glad tidings for me give them a gospel for me which means good news I want you to tell them that the warfare is over tell them ready I've pardoned their sins their iniquity I've forgiven your sins tell them I'm coming don't be afraid behold your god did you see that there behold the lord god verse 10 comes with might and how wonderful is verse 11 beloved tell them he will tend his flock like a shepherd he will gather the little lambs i think of these children tonight in his arms he will carry them in His bosom and gently lead those who are with young. Who? Who will do this? Your God. The answer is that God would come down and He would take on a human nature. Eternal Son of God. Give them glad tidings. Give them my gospel. Tell them that I'm coming. When? Isaiah 60, we started. The people in darkness have seen a what? A great light. Remember when the voice finally came? Boys and girls, you know the voices, right? Hopefully we've trained you well enough now to know who the voice is. Who is the voice crying in the wilderness? It's John the Baptist. When John the Baptist arrived on the scene of history, a great day had come. He was preaching a great message. He was announcing to Israel and to the ends of the earth, repent, turn away from your sins, for the Lord is coming. You realize that what Isaiah describes here was the preparing of the way of the Lord through John the Baptist, that when Zachariah gave that very song that we sung out, did you hear the very words of Isaiah in that very song of John the Baptist? For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of sins through what? The tender mercy of the Lord. What are we celebrating today? Why are we here? We're celebrating the greatest news that could ever be published in this sad world. Tell me what good news you hear today at all. The greatest news that could be announced. Shepherds one day were out in a field and all of a sudden the glory shone around them. And the angel spoke, fulfilling Isaiah 40. You know what he said? He said this, Don't be afraid. I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all the people for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Isaiah prophesied that every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low and the uneven ground shall become level and the rough places a plain. Ever thought about what that means? I think that has everything to do with the condition of your hearts. Look at the hardness of the human heart. Look at all the obstacles we have to people hearing this. Look at how people don't want to hear about their sin and their misery. But the people who hear are those who have had a heart change. They've been regenerated by the Spirit. And this is the best news that could ever be announced. Your warfare with God is over. you know this is a god who holy and just and pure decided in the good counsel of his will to give his only begotten son to die for you you sinned in every way and i've sinned in every way and we deserve his judgment and while we were yet sinners christ died for us that's what the gospel is all about the full measure of your sins double for your sins was poured out on him. That's what the cross is. That's what we're celebrating. Think about all the problems in the world right now, all the weariness. What has this announcement for you done today? What has it done for you today? Here's the close. He's coming again, isn't he, to judge the living and the dead. But you have no reason to be hopeless today. None. Did you notice how this psalm ends? This psalm, Isaiah. It's all psalm in Dr. Godfrey's eyes. What will he do for you in your distress? What will he do for you in your distress when you look to him? Well, he doesn't faint, does he? God's not taking a nap. He gives power, verse 29, to the faint. Are you faint tonight? You burdened? And to him who has no might, he increases strength. Even youths fail and faint and become weary. The young men shall fall exhausted under the stresses of this life. They will fail. The strongest in this life lack the strength to deal with what's coming upon them. But the one who put out his hands to you and said, Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you what? rest for your weary souls. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I'm gentle and lowly in heart. Isaiah 40 is telling us that a bright future is ahead for us. They who wait for the Lord and in that wait, they shall renew their strength for they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. That's the promise of the Lord to all who look to this wonderful Savior whom he's provided. This is what we celebrate. This is what it's all about. This is the good news tonight. God has come to us. The warfare's over. And you know what? In all of the sins that you've ever committed, great sins, bad sins, awful sins, Jesus is sufficient to forgive them all. Understand that. And the announcement is that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Tell me what's better than that. Nothing's better than that. That's what Christmas is all about. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, thank you for such a wonderful testimony tonight and your word of the truth of the gospel. Thank you for being so patient with us for we know we're a lot like Israel, not taking seriously sin and not taking you seriously and letting apathy fill our hearts and just general disregard for you when you have published to the ends of the earth so great a news of salvation. Thank you for your steadfast love and thank you for blessing your people. Bless us all tonight with this wonderful knowledge and send us out with great joy and hope in the truth of the salvation through the forgiveness of sins by Jesus Christ our Lord. In his name we pray. Amen.