Please keep that page open in Isaiah that we read earlier.
I'll turn to it now on page 599.
We're going to look at the first 11 verses of that chapter.
! Let me pray for us before we do that.
Heavenly Father, thank you for this time of year
where we can reflect on the person of Jesus
as we wait and hope for his coming.
We pray you would help us to fix our eyes on him,
the perfecter and the pioneer of our faith.
Amen.
We are in a time of Advent.
Whether it is through seeing the Christmas lights
or the decorations or the adverts
or through hearing Michael Buble tell you,
we all know it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
We're in the yearly December run-up to Christmas,
the time of Advent,
as we wait for and hope for the arrival of Christ
or we reflect on that period of history
where people waited for and hoped for the first coming of Christ.
So we're in a yearly December time of Advent,
but we're also in a larger time of Advent
as we wait and hope for the second coming,
the second Advent arrival of Christ.
Both of these times involve waiting and hoping
dwelling on who Jesus is.
And whether it's December or any other time of year,
it matters what we think of Jesus.
We're dwelling on him.
We're waiting for him.
We're hoping for him.
So it matters who he is and what we think of him.
How do we view Jesus Christ?
At this time of year,
as the cards are getting sent out,
as we see school nativity plays and we sing carols,
it's tempting and we do think of Jesus
as the rosy-cheeked baby in a manger
surrounded by his mother and father
and shepherds and wise men.
In fact, for some people,
this isn't just a December view of Jesus.
There's a certain generation I hear of French people
that always view Jesus like this.
They call him le petit Jesus,
meaning little Jesus.
I'm not making it up.
I have a friend who's French who told me this.
He tells me that as he was growing up
in a completely non-Christian family,
his grandparents would say things to him like,
would petit Jesus do that?
Would he be behaving like this?
Petit Jesus?
Little Jesus.
He is kind of a benchmark for behavior.
He is innocent.
He's a nice benchmark for French children
and other children to look up to.
But is that it?
Is that all Jesus was?
We believe, yes, Jesus told us himself.
He came.
He is gentle and lowly in heart.
He humbled himself in being born as a baby.
But was his death only a demonstration
of that love and humility?
Or did it have a purpose beyond that?
Perhaps as you think of Jesus,
you don't think of the term Advent.
Maybe the term absent is better for you.
You wonder, who is Jesus?
Was he really born?
Where is he now?
What's he doing now?
As we look around and see wickedness in the world,
maybe he does feel absent to you
or like he doesn't care or can't do anything.
Well, as we look at Isaiah chapter 40 this evening,
we will see that Jesus came not only humbling himself,
but Jesus came to bring restoration for his people.
Jesus came to reveal the glory of God.
And he is not absent by any understanding.
He is reigning right now.
This is a rich passage.
We'll only be able to scratch the surface of it tonight,
but I hope we'll see its fulfillment in Jesus,
particularly in three things,
in his comfort, his glory, and his reign.
So our first heading tonight is this,
the comfort of restoration.
The comfort of restoration.
Let's look at verse one again.
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
And verse two, speak tenderly to Jerusalem.
If anyone in history was in need of comfort,
it was God's people at around 700 BC
when the book of Isaiah was written.
We're in chapter 40 today,
but for a lot of the last 39 chapters,
God has been warning Judah and Israel
of the consequences of their sin.
And he has been telling them that exile
will happen as a result of their sin.
They have been unfaithful to God.
They have been covenant breakers to him.
And they were facing exile as a result.
Chapter 39 ends with God telling the king,
Hezekiah, through Isaiah.
He's telling the king that this exile will happen
during your children's lifetime.
While they are on the throne,
this exile will take place.
So when Isaiah was written,
and in the following years,
when it was being read,
God's people were either facing imminent exile
or experiencing that exile.
They were in need of comfort,
in need of restoration.
And that is exactly what God is doing for them.
In fact, he's commanding someone
to speak comfort to his people.
Comfort them.
Speak tenderly to them.
This passage was famously set to music
in Handel's Messiah
using the King James Version.
It captures this beautifully.
It says,
Comfort ye my people.
He's telling someone,
Go, comfort my people.
Speak tenderly to them.
It's a verb, a command, a commission.
God is commanding someone
to comfort his people.
And the comfort is spelled out
in the verses that come afterwards.
The verses show us
that this comfort is restoration.
It is a comfort of restoration.
The first line, even,
just verse one,
begins to show what that restoration is.
Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
My people, your God.
These words echo the covenant
that God has made with his people.
In Genesis 17,
God says to Abraham,
I will establish my covenant
between me and you
and your offspring
throughout their generations.
I will be God to you
and to your offspring after you.
God reiterates it to Moses
in Exodus 6.
I will take you to be my people
and I will be your God.
When God says,
comfort my people,
says your God,
he is showing them
that that covenant relationship
is being restored.
Despite Israel's unfaithfulness,
despite their breaking
of the covenant,
God is faithful to them.
They are his people.
He is their God.
The relationship between God
and his people is restored.
He promises them
the comfort of restoration.
We see more of what
that restoration means
in verse 2.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she is received
from the Lord's hand
double for all her sins.
Her warfare,
her exile is ended,
it's over.
Her iniquity is pardoned,
it's forgiven.
She is received
double for her sins.
That last phrase
is a curious one,
isn't it?
She's received double
for her sins.
It's not God saying
he's paid the price
on them twice over.
He's been heavy-handed
with them.
It's not saying that.
It's not saying
that Israel
have paid the price
for her sins,
I think.
I think we know this
for a couple of reasons.
If Israel had paid
the price of her own sins,
well,
what are the wages of sin?
The wages of sin
is death.
If you,
O Lord,
kept track of sins,
who could stand?
Israel can't have
finished paying the price
and still be standing.
It's impossible.
So we know this
for that reason.
I think we also know this
because we live
millennia after this
was written
and these events
took place.
We know that
while God's people
were geographically
restored back
to Jerusalem,
they were brought
from exile
from Babylon,
they were still
facing warfare
when the Roman
occupation took place.
So what is this pardon?
What is the end
of warfare?
What is this double
for her sins
she's received?
Well,
if we look to
the New Testament,
I think we get
a bit of a picture
of what this means.
Some 500 years later,
after the restoration,
the physical,
geographical restoration,
a man named Simeon
we meet in Luke chapter 2.
He is waiting
for the comfort of Israel,
for the consolation
of Israel.
It's the same word.
He is waiting
for this comfort
and he's been told
he will see it
in his lifetime
and he sees it come
in the person
of the Lord Jesus.
Simeon is waiting
for this consolation
and he sees it.
He calls Jesus
the Lord's Messiah,
Jesus Christ.
It is in Jesus
that we receive
this comfort.
It is in Jesus
that we receive
double from the Lord's hand.
And what is the double?
When we receive double
from the Lord's hand,
we receive pardon
in Jesus
and restoration
through him.
We said it in that confession.
He takes our rags
and clothes us
in his righteousness.
This double,
you could call it
a double imputation.
The imputation
of our sin to Jesus
and his righteousness
to us.
And so when Simeon
meets the infant
Lord Jesus,
he doesn't see him
as le petit Jesus,
but as God's chosen king.
He is the consolation
of Israel.
He is the means
of comfort,
of salvation,
of restoration.
We could alter
our first point
from the comfort
of restoration
to Jesus
brings
the comfort
of restoration.
Christians here,
hear these words
of comfort.
Christ has taken
your sins
and he has clothed you
with his righteousness.
You have received
double
from the Lord's hand.
Now verses
one and two
act,
they're a bit like
the headline
of a newspaper
article for us.
And then the following
verses help
unpack what this
comfort of restoration
is.
In these verses
we see three voices
that are crying out
in verses three
and six and nine.
God commands them,
he commissions them
to comfort his people
and these voices,
these heralds,
go and explain
what the comfort
of restoration
is.
So the first voice
cries out in verses
three to five,
declaring that
the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed.
That's our second
heading tonight,
the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed.
Verses three to five,
let's look down
and read them again.
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.
The rough places
are 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.
Verses three
and four there,
I think they're
a bit like
a musical crescendo.
It's getting louder
and louder.
They're building up
to a big event
in the wilderness.
Prepare a way
for the Lord.
Make straight
in the desert
a highway.
Valleys will be lifted up,
mountains shall be made low.
The uneven ground
and rough places
shall become a plain.
That's anticipation.
It's like a drum roll.
We're building up
to a big event.
It's a bit like
that scene
in Jurassic Park
where they've got
the glasses of water
on the car dashboard
and they hear
the footsteps
thudding
and they see
the water rippling.
They know something's coming.
Something big
is about to happen.
What is it?
What is it
that's about to happen?
Valleys shall be lifted up,
mountains shall be made low,
rough places
and uneven ground
shall become level
and the glory
of the Lord
shall be revealed.
That is the moment
of anticipation
they've been waiting for.
That's the big event.
The glory of the Lord
being revealed.
The desert highway
is for the Lord,
we saw in verse 3.
The glory of the Lord
is being revealed.
It is returning back
to the land.
In Ezekiel 10 and 11,
you could look it up later,
you can read about
the glory of the Lord
departing from the temple.
It departs from God's people.
It's a sign of God's judgment
on the people.
They were unfaithful.
They were covenant breakers
and so he's no longer
among them in the temple.
But here,
here they're given
the promise of the Lord
returning on a highway.
He will reveal his glory
to them again.
This restoration
that we're reading about,
this isn't just restoration
of people to land.
It is restoration
of God's presence
among the people
or of the people
to God's presence.
Every obstacle
that stands in the way,
mountain or valley,
shall be removed.
The way is being prepared
for the Lord
to return to the land.
We see in verse 11,
as he returns to the land,
he will be leading
his people.
He will be their God.
They will be his people.
He will be dwelling
among them.
And in restoring them
to his presence,
his glory shall be revealed.
These verses
are famously quoted
in all four Gospels
in the early pages
of Mark 3,
Luke 1,
Matthew 3,
John 1.
Each of them
tell these words,
but we hear them
through the voice
of John the Baptist.
John the Baptist
goes into the wilderness
and he proclaims,
prepare the way
for the Lord.
And he reveals
that the one
who will lead
his people
down this desert highway,
the one who will reveal
the glory of the Lord
is none other
than the Lord Jesus.
This is the true ending
of the Jewish exile.
Not the return
to Jerusalem,
but the arrival
on the scene
of Jesus.
He's announced
by John the Baptist,
Jesus, Emmanuel,
God dwelling with us.
John says
he came to testify
about the one
who is to come,
the Lamb of God
who takes away
the sin of the world
to bring restoration
to the people
and to reveal
the glory of the Lord.
this is not
petit Jesus.
This is the
climactic revelation
of the glory
of the Lord
in the person
of Jesus Christ.
He is the word
that became flesh.
He made his dwelling
among us.
John says
we have seen
his glory,
glory as of
the only son
of the Father,
full of grace
and truth.
again,
we could alter
the heading,
sorry if you're
taking notes,
from the glory
of the Lord
revealed
to Jesus
reveals
the glory
of the Lord.
Jesus
reveals
the glory
of the Lord.
As he leads
his people,
as he pardons
them for their sin,
he clothes them
with his righteousness,
he restores them.
And this event,
this isn't just
for the Israelites.
Look again
at verse 5,
did you see that?
Verse 5,
the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed
and all flesh
shall see it together.
All flesh
shall see this glory.
This is a huge theme
in these chapters
of Isaiah.
In Isaiah 49
and 57
we get the same idea
of this,
this mountain
becoming a road,
these desert highways.
Build up,
build up,
prepare the way,
remove every obstruction
from my people's way,
the Lord says.
They shall come
from afar,
from the north
and the west.
God says,
peace,
to the far
and the near.
This highway
for the Lord
to walk down
will not just be
for him
to lead the Israelites
but people
of all nations.
Isaiah 49,
it is too small
a thing
that God
would only restore
the tribes of Jacob.
It's too small
a thing.
Jesus will be
a light
for all nations
that God's salvation
may reach
to the end
of the earth.
Jesus reveals
the glory
internationally.
All flesh
shall see
that glory.
And it isn't
an empty promise
either.
It would be all
well and good
to say that
but it's not
an empty promise.
Verse 5 says,
this is spoken
by the mouth
of the Lord.
And as the second
voice cries out
in verses 6 to 8
we see that
whatever comes
from the mouth
of the Lord
will stand forever.
We say this line
after we hear
the Bible read here
because it summarizes
what we know
to be true.
Grass withers,
flowers fade,
mankind just the same.
But the word
of our God
stands forever.
We can see
the certainty
of Isaiah's words
now because we live
this side of the cross.
We've seen
Jesus' glory
revealed.
We've seen
the God's glory
revealed in Jesus.
Isaiah was written
700 years
before Jesus' birth.
It shows us
the certainty
of God's words.
Men are like grass.
They and their glory
fade.
The kingdoms
of the Babylonians
and the Assyrians
fell.
But God's word
did not fall.
God's word stood
as not only
did the Israelites
return to Jerusalem
but Jesus was born
fulfilling prophecies
written centuries
and millennia
before his birth.
The word of our God
stands forever.
So we that
read it,
we can have
full confidence
that there will
come a day
when Jesus
restores his people,
when he leads them home,
people of all nations.
He is not absent,
not in the least.
He has said
he will lead
his people
revealing his glory
and he will.
His word
accomplishes
its purposes.
It will not return
to him empty.
So this revelation
of the glory
of the Lord
is certain.
Jesus brings
comfort of restoration
and he will lead
his people home.
And he will do so
ruling
as shepherd
and as king.
That's our final
heading tonight.
I won't change this one.
Jesus rules
as shepherd
and king.
Jesus rules
as shepherd
and king.
He reveals
the comfort
of restoration
or he brings
the comfort
of restoration
and reveals
the glory
of the Lord.
He rules
as shepherd
and king.
Look at
verses 9 and 11
with me.
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 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.
Here,
the third voice,
the third herald
is told,
go and cry out
good news
saying,
behold your God.
He's told to go
and cry out
good news.
Good news,
the word is used
in the Old Testament
to say
kind of the good news
of a king's victory.
Herald would come
back from battle
and proclaim
the good news
of the king's victory.
We get that
in the Old Testament.
In the New Testament,
we read the word
good news
in the opening lines
of Mark's gospel.
the beginning
of the good news
of Jesus Christ,
the Messiah,
the Son of God.
Simeon waited
for this good news,
this proclamation
of victory.
John the Baptist
testified about
this good news.
Good news,
it literally means
gospel.
The good news
is Jesus Christ
himself.
He is the one
that brings restoration,
we saw.
He is the one
who reveals
the glory of the Lord.
Jesus is the
victorious one,
the one whom
the heralds say,
he reigns,
behold your God.
And verses 10
and 11
spell out
exactly
what sort of
ruler he is.
He rules
as shepherd
and king.
Let's look
first at how
he reigns as king.
He reigns as king
with might,
with a strong
arm,
with might
and a strong
arm.
It's the same
sort of language
as you see
in the Old Testament
about how God
rescued his people
from Egypt
with a mighty
hand and an
outstretched arm.
The same Lord
with a mighty
hand and
outstretched arm
who rescued
Israel from
the Egyptians.
This is the same
Lord Jesus
who comes with
might,
whose arm
rules,
who will bring
restoration for
his people.
as we look
back to the
wonders God
performed in
Exodus.
With that same
mighty arm,
Jesus is ruling
and reigning
right now.
We see his
might in his
life as he
calms the storm,
as he casts
out demons,
as he heals
the sick and
raises the dead.
Nothing is
outside of his
authority.
Nothing is
beyond his
might.
Jesus reigns
as king.
And he
brings his
reward with
him, his
recompense
before him.
We know
that Jesus
will return
to judge the
living and
the dead.
And Revelation
22 says it
just like that,
bringing his
recompense with
him to repay
each one for
what they have
done.
And that is
true.
But I don't
think that is
what this
verse is
primarily talking
about.
When it says
his reward,
his recompense,
it's not
talking about
him rewarding
others at
this point.
It's talking
about the
reward he
receives,
his reward.
His reward
is his
people,
his flock,
those that
he leads.
And look
how he leads
them.
In verse
11, he
leads them
as a shepherd.
He reigns
as a king
and he leads
as a shepherd.
He will
tend to
them.
He will
see to
their every
need.
They shall
not want.
He will
restore their
souls.
Just like
David said,
they will
fear no
evil.
He is
with them.
God
dwelling
with them.
His rod
and his
staff
comfort
them.
Verse
11 ends,
he will
gently lead
those that
are with
young.
He will
gather the
lambs in
his arms.
Isn't that
an astonishing
thought?
the same
mighty arm
which he
rules with,
which he
rescued Israel
with,
which he
parted the
Red Sea
with,
he holds
his lambs
with,
holding them
close to
his chest
as those
he loves
dearly.
The arm
which leads
also are
the arms
which rule
the universe.
The strong
one who
rules,
who levels
mountains and
raises valleys
is also
the good
shepherd who
lays down
his life
for his
sheep.
Say to
the cities
of Judah,
behold your
God,
Jesus the
shepherd king.
Here we
get the
full colour
picture of
what it
means to
receive double
from the
Lord's
hand.
He doesn't
just pardon
our sin,
and that's
no small
thing,
but he
doesn't only
pardon our
sin and
then leave
us to our
own devices.
He
pardons sin
and he
carries his
flock home.
He has
rescued us
from the
dominion of
darkness,
Colossians
says,
and brought
us into
the kingdom
of light,
his kingdom.
And so,
in this
time of
advent,
what do
you make
of Jesus?
Is he
le petit
Jesus,
the child
in the
manger,
innocent,
lowly,
but nothing
more?
Or is
he the
mighty
one,
who humbled
himself beyond
belief in
being born as
a baby,
but yet is
the one who
brings restoration
for God's
people,
God in the
flesh among
us,
the consolation
of Israel?
Is he
absent?
Isaiah
would tell
us he is
not absent.
He is
reigning,
and while in
his sovereign
wisdom he is
permitting and
limiting evil
now,
there will
come a
time when
he comes
with recompense,
ending sin
and death,
bringing his
reward,
his flock
with him.
And at
that point we
will know once
and for all
that in all
things he has
indeed been
ruling and
reigning with
a mighty arm.
He has been
working all
things for the
good of his
people.
Cities of
Judah,
behold your
God,
Jesus Christ,
he brings the
comfort of
restoration,
he reveals the
glory of the
Lord,
he rules as
shepherd and
as king.
Let me
pray.
Let me
pray.
Let me
pray.
Let me
pray.
Let me
pray.
Let me
pray.
Let me