God’s Message for the Burnt Out
Context
We are continuing our series through the book of Isaiah, seeing the over arching message through key passages.
As I’ve been chatting to people over the last couple of weeks and them asking me what I’m up to I’ve said I’m prepping a sermon on Isaiah 40, and I’ve had two main responses. One was, ‘oh that’s cool, what is it about, where are you going to go with it?’ and the other was … more intense. They started quoting parts of it to me and were getting excited. And I thought to myself, it is so great seeing the excitement around this passage but also, oh I’m preaching on a passage that is a well-known passage to those that have been in and around church for a while. It is one of those passages people turn to and remember parts off by heart.
Now if that isn’t you fear not, because my plea to everyone is the same. Let us all come with humility, and a teachable spirit to be formed and transformed by the word of God.
Pray - Holy Spirit to accompany this message today. We need you.
Let me give you some context. Chapter 40 is the start of a new major section in the book of Isaiah. The whole book is addressed to Judah, that is God’s people in the southern kingdom. After king Solomon, the kingdom dived into the northern kingdom who retained the name Israel and the Southern kingdom who took on their tribal name of Judah as the name for their nation. The first 39 chapters God, through Isaiah the prophet, has been confronting Judah’s sin, that is their rebellion against God through idolatry, injustice and self-centredness.
The context is human failure. The first 39 chapters message are that judgment is coming for the way they have lived without God. God is Holy but the people fall short and the judgement that Ralph spoke to us about last week will come. In fact, the dire prediction of chapter 39:5-7 has come true.
The first 39 chapters were written as a warning, as confrontation. Chapter 40 onward is written as comfort.
This story of sin and judgement and comfort is not just one to the people of Judah but is one for all people, including us sitting here today. We all fail by God’s standard. I certainly do. And when we come to acknowledge and appreciate that more, we aren’t actually ready for the opening words of chapter 40, but they are sweetness to our souls.
God gives Comfort v1-2
Comfort, comfort my people says your God.
As ones so undeserving we open this passage today with God decreeing comfort for his people. (pause to let sink in)
The one who has been ultimately wronged is the one offering and decreeing comfort.
Imagine it, I’ve wronged someone for decades, ignoring them, belittling them, persecuting them, being flippant toward them, mocking them to exalt myself, that’s how we treat God, and then they see I get my well-deserved comeuppance but they don’t gloat, don’t revel, don’t rub it in they simply put their arm around me and comfort me, there with me in it. It is so undeserved.
It goes further, it’s the Jew who lost everything in a concentration camp comforting the SS officer who killed their sibling, the murder victim’s family coming alongside the murderer with kindness and comfort. It is so alien to the world around us. But this is what God does.
He meets us where we are at and comforts us. One of the commentators I came across called this passage the gospel according to Isaiah. Gospel, good news. And what good news this is that God loves us in this way.
It is such a gear shift in the book. Comfort, comfort my people says your God, the repeated word demonstrating and conveying the tenderness of God’s heart for his suffering, burnt out people.
Notice how it says, ‘your God’. Though they have sinned, they are still his people, and he is still their God.
Where do you need to hear this in your life? Where do you need to bring your sin, rebellion, self-righteousness, self-reliance, etc to God? Where do you need to bring those into the light and let your God speak tenderly to you, through his word and fellow believers, as we see in this passage? Where do you need the reassurance of v2? The tender voice, the assurance that God forgives.
Maybe you’re continuing to feel the shame of sin.
Maybe you’re not acknowledging your sin and you’re compartmentalising.
It can be easy to suppress and conceal and to think others won’t know but that does not absolve you of the responsibility and the opportunity to be comforted by God.
Jesus does not tell us in the New Testament to repent and believe and continue to be downtrodden by that sin. No, he says repent and believe and when we do, he will set you free, John 8:36. Free of the shame and the guilt, free to acknowledge your sin to confess it and to then be comforted by the one who deals with it on your behalf.
There is always an end to God’s disciplining of us, but there is never an end to God’s comforts of us.
This is good news. God’s ultimate purpose for his people is not destruction but redemption, not death but life with him in his embrace and comfort.
And we see this completely and certainly in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 'Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.'
What does God’s comfort look like? Firstly, God comforts us with his word. We need to be in it and saturated by it and when we are we develop instincts. John Newton puts it like this, eventually when your mind is saturated in scripture you develop the kind of instincts that a pianist has, to be able to play the piano without stopping and thinking where they are going to put their fingers. And this is because your whole way of thinking is through spectacle lenses that are prescribed by scripture. This is true as scripture itself comforts us and how we become comforters to others.
God also comforts us as we turn prayer in prayer to Jesus. Scripture tells us that the word because flesh and dwelt among us, John 1. Jesus comforts us as he stepped into our word and taking on flesh.Hebrews 4:15 tell us He can sympathise with us because he knows what life is like. So, when we turn to Jesus in prayer he gets us. He knows us. He sympathises with us. And well when we lack the words to pray, and we all have those times when we feel the weight of life that all we can muster is a groan. Well God comforts us there too.
Romans 8:26 says, ‘the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.’
And God chooses to use his people as we see him doing so here in v1. Before the birth of our first child, my wife Libby was getting very anxious, the doctors had got worried about our baby’s growth and therefore wanted to induce Libby on the a few days later, on the Monday evening. Libby needed comforting and I tried and we prayed together but the worry persisted. Until later the Sunday evening, the day before induction, my sister-in-law, Verity, rang Libby. They chatted and prayed together and after that call Libby felt peace. God had used Verity to comfort and encourage in that moment. Did he have to, no, did he choose to, I believe so. And a few hours later in the early hours of Monday morning Libby started having contractions naturally. No induction necessary
and Freya was born later that day.
Christian, this is what is so attractive about our faith. The God of the universe says come lay your burdens on me I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28), come as you are, burnt out, weary from life and I will meet you, I will comfort you, I know you, I love you.
If you don’t yet follow Jesus, if you haven’t yet repented of your sins and chosen to trust in him, I hope that as you see this God of comfort your heart might be stirred, that you might come to him and give yourself to him. The one who knows you and loves you who will fight for you and comfort you. That is the God of the Bible.
How can I comfort? I don’t know what to say or do. Rick Warren’s son, Matthew took his own life after long struggles with mental health. He has since shared that the most comforting thing anyone did was not the 5,000 letters of condolence from global celebrities but rather it was first his small group showing up and being present there in the tragic moment with them. The ones who came to bear their burden with them, Galatians 6:2. His small group didn’t say anything, but they were there to love and comfort them, they showed up. Later comfort came in the form of everyday people that their son had gone to church with and that he had led to Jesus, and the stories they were able to share.
We can often think I don’t know what say or what if I say the wrong thing? I get that. It is a worry I have had and continue to have when seeking to love, comfort and care for people. So let me encourage you with this, we all need to remember that, as God’s people, he is at work in us by his Spirit. He is the one moulding us and shaping our motivations to be more of his. When there is a need for comfort we must show up to be there, having words to say isn’t essential, but we see that when they are used by God, they are tender. Please remember that.
And if you are the one in need of comfort look to the motive of your Christian brother or sister. See how they are there following the decree of God to comfort and bear your burden with you.
We must not be beyond comfort. We need the right perspective. And that is what the first comforting voice in v3 offers.
God gives Perspective v3-5
The Lord is coming…His royal way will be across the desert, and it is imperative that appropriate preparations be made. The first comforting voice rejoices that the worldwide display of God’s glory is coming.But the world is not ready for it. That is why there is a need to prepare in v3.Just as when John the Baptist prepared for the first coming of Christ.
In fact, chapter 40:3 is quoted in all four gospels Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:2-3, Luke 3:4-6 and John 1:23. With our view of Jesus and having the New Testament these words from Isaiah springs again into life with a deeper and fuller meaning.
And now the church today needs to be preparing the way for the second coming of Christ. That is telling people it is coming. Telling them of Jesus. That’s what John did.
As we prepare, we need to notice something. The perspective has changed. Did you notice that? God levels the field. He allows the upheavals of history so that any barriers to the coming kingdom of Christ are gone. The valley raised up, the mountain made low, the rough ground level the rugged places a plain and what will all this do? What will it enable, this preparation and making straight paths? V5 the glory of the Lord will be revealed.
And not just that but it is revealed in such a way that all people will see it together. No barriers, no excuses. Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father, Philippians 2:10-11.
Nothing will stand in the way of God’s glory being revealed for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. We saw this phrase twice last week in 24 and 25 with Ralph. God will keep his promises. It is what he does.
Often life is hard and our attention gets taken by all sorts and we can find ourselves being consumed by the hardships that we face. I don’t want to demean them, but I do want to challenge them in the light of who the God of all comfort is and how that comfort changes our perspective in all circumstances.
Scott Hubbard, an editor at Desiring God, is helpful here. He says this, ‘The promises of God often lose their power in our lives because God himself has become small in our eyes.
We may be able to recite God’s promises by the dozens. But in our hearts, God is no longer the King who conquers armies and cuts a valley in the sea. He is no longer the Shepherd who seeks his sheep and keeps them safe behind his staff. He is no longer the Lord who walks on waves and calls the dead back from the grave. Slowly, subtly, we have forgotten God’s power, God’s wisdom, God’s tenderness.
When the promises of God seem powerless to quiet our fears, soothe our grief, lift our worries, or motivate our obedience, we need to do more than simply hear his promises again. We need to behold the God who gives them.’
We can be very good to see how hard our lives are. At comparing that we have a rawer deal than our neighbour. But can I ask how often do you think about how much harder it might be without God’s intervention, his common grace to all mankind and his comfort and rest for his people? We need the right perspective of God.
He is the one who has made himself known ultimately in Jesus, he is the one who will level the mountain and raise the valley so that v5 can be true. So, we can see his revealed glory.
It is unfruitful for us to start to compete and think my life is harder than yours. It will get us nowhere. But no matter what our struggles are the balm is the same. The God of comfort who has revealed his glory. Allow him to comfort you. Raise your gaze from your circumstances and see his purposes for you.
God gives a Purpose v6-8
The second comforting voice declares the certainty of God’s purposes for his people.
Look at v6, ‘Cry out’ there is an urgency to this verse and there is also a tension in the air. You can imagine the squirm and the shifting in the chairs looking around who is he talking to. There’s and uncomfortable air between the first speaker and second in v6. But then ‘What shall I cry?’ rings out from the prophet. He steps up to take his responsibility once again.
His message, to proclaim a simile that gives colour and clarity to who we are and who God is. We are like grass and all our faithfulness like the flowers of the field. That word faithfulness can be translated as promises. The things that humans commit to on their own strength.
Now v7 tells a very unsettling and uneasy message to hear, we wither and our promises, the things we set out to do fall why ‘because the breath of the LORD blows on them.’ Our “constancy” is fragile, like the flower of the field. When compared with God and his purposes and his holiness, well we don’t compare. A mere blow from his breath and we wither and our promises fall, the purpose of our lives brought into contrast. God’s breath strips away all our bravado, our pride, our strength our very lives.
We mean well, but we often fail and can’t rely dependably on all we say and set out to do. God means well, and he never fails the promises of our God will stand firm forever v8. The word of God endures for ever and in 1 Peter 1:23-25 we find the full implications of these words first uttered in v6-8.
'For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For,
“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
And this is the word that was preached to you.
We were perishable seed but now having been born again with Jesus we are born imperishable. We can take up the purpose that God created us for. To know him, glorify him and enjoy him forever and the place to see this is the enduring word of the Lord, the scriptures.
Friends we can’t know peace or comfort or purpose in this life if you don’t rest your full weight on God. Delight in his word, meditate on it day and night, store it in your heart. He is the one who endures forever.Our lives will never have meaningful, satisfaction if we do not behold him. His kingdom is the only final inevitability in all human history.
What might this look like day-to-day? Well, our calling is to follow him. Whatever you do wherever you go rely on the scriptures and have the mind of Christ there. Be salt and light because you know Jesus and he has first transformed your life. Let the way you work, rest, hobby reflect his way, his love for others, his truth, his justice, his comfort even when it is hard for you. Rely on the Word of God.
As Barry Webb puts it, ‘Reliance on the word of God is not fatalistic or superstitious. It is not trust in something impersonal like the stars or a good-luck charm. It is trust in a person who is committed to us, (in dying and taking our sin for us), and has all the resources necessary to care for us.’
God calls for Action v9-11
So, then what do we do with such comfort, with such perspective, with such purpose, with such good news, with this gospel?
Well, cannot be contained v9. We must go to the mountain tops we must lift it up, shout it out, proclaim it, live as if it’s true! That phrase in v9 that says, ‘you who bring good news…’ is a single Hebrew word, of which ‘evangelist' is the Greek equivalent, bringer of good news. The word we now use to mean one who shares the gospel of Jesus with this world that so desperately needs him before he comes again. The word here in v9 is not a specialised term. It is not referring to set people to carry out that role but is a general term, speaking to the whole. That is a call to action. This is our call to action, to prepare, to be ready for when Jesus comes again. This is the work of the universal church, the people of God.
A note struck here, which will recur more and more clearly as the book moves to its climax, is the LORD is a missionary God; what he does for his own, he does not for their sake alone, but that all may come to know him.
Stepping out and speaking up for Jesus can be a daunting prospect. It is a nerve-wracking thing to do. So, what does the God of comfort say in these verses? ‘… do not be afraid’ and the reason to not be afraid is the same as the message to declare to the peoples, end of v9, ‘Here is your God!’ or as other translations put it, ‘Behold your God.’
The third comforting voice urges God’s people to rejoice together, openly and boldly, in this sacred reality: “Behold your God!” He is present among his people, and he is coming to change the world.
You may think that you’re not a very good evangelist. You don’t need to be. You just need to be excited about Jesus. C.S. Lewis said:
The world rings with praise—lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game—praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians and scholars.… Just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?” … I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.
So, get excited about the Lord who comes, and let other people know about it.
A keyway we do this is how we live out our everyday. How do we engage in office politics, or house gossip, or parental competitiveness, or simply how we listen and engage with others?
Wes Huff gives this example, ‘You know, there are five gospels. You may be already aware of the first four. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. What's the fifth? It's you. You're the fifth gospel. And there are people in your lives who may not be reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but I bet they're reading you. And by reading you how you're living your life, how you're impacting those around you, that can be a profound encouragement for them to go back and read the first four.’
The perspective has been brought. As we behold him it transforms our everything, our waking and sleeping, coming and going, working and resting, our priorities, our speech our whole person and our eternityand we pray the eternity of those around us.
John MacArthur is helpful here he says, ‘It can be far too easy to see the world around us as the enemy they are not, they are the mission field. In Christ we are to love them. Titus 3 says if it weren’t for the fact that God saved you, you’d be right in there with them.’ This should alter our attitude when it comes to loving those that don’t know Jesus yet.
It can be very easy/appealing to shut ourselves off in Christian bubbles and want to grow as a Christian and disciple each other because the world out there is so messed up. But listen, you can’t grow and effectively disciple unless you are reaching out to the world. Jesus said The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. You want to grow in him; well, he made his mission, ours.
To finish, let’s look at v10-11 because I think there is lots here to get us excited about Jesus, if we are not already.
The Lord is coming to his people with powerful grace he is the strong one who we have seen endures forever, he is the victorious warrior over death, ruling with a mighty arm that cannot be defeated or overcome. Behold him! He is worthy.
But that isn’t then only reason look at the end of v10 and v11 he also comes with a nurturing gentleness that means we are more than just saved sinners, we are his recompense, his reward, the lambs he gathers and carries close to his heart, the ones he gently leads to be with him forever. Remember the highway we saw in v3? Well, these last verses show us that God will take his people with him. Christian, you get to participate in this revealed glory because of Christ’s finished work, He is your comfort He is your perspective He is your purpose and He calls you to action.
He, and not this world, will define our future forever.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news of Isaiah 40:1-11 transposed into a clearer, more beautiful key. How much more with the clarity Jesus brings and living this side of his first coming should we
behold our comforter, have our perspective transformed by his comfort, know the purposes he has for us and be excited to shout from the mountain tops and proclaim him!
Prayer.
