for complicated words.
Isaiah 40, 1-11.
Would somebody like to come and read that for us?
Thank you, Louise.
Isaiah 40, 1-11.
Thanks very much.
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
double for all her sins.
A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
prepare the way for the Lord.
Make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low.
The rough ground shall become level.
The rugged place is a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed.
And all people will see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
A voice says, cry out.
And I said, what shall I cry?
All the people are like grass.
And all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall.
Because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall.
But the word of our God endures forever.
You who bring good news to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout.
Lift it up.
Do not be afraid.
Say to the towns of Judah,
here is your God.
See the sovereign Lord comes with power.
And he rules with a mighty arm.
See his reward is with him.
And his recompense accompanies him.
He tends his flock like a shepherd.
He gathers the lambs in his arms.
And he carries them close to his heart.
He gently leads those that have young.
Thanks so much, Louise.
Please keep your Bibles open there.
As we turn a corner from Christmas time
and think ahead,
we're going to be looking at Isaiah 40.
It's perhaps a well-known chapter to some of you.
And we're going to be looking at it over the next three Sundays
as we think about the new year and what's ahead.
So I'm going to be speaking on verses 1 to 11.
And then Sam next week is going to be speaking in the middle section.
And then I'm going to finish off at the end,
the week after that.
So that's where we're going.
Let's pray.
Father, thank you for your word.
Thank you that it speaks into our lives
and into our circumstances.
And thank you that we can trust
that your word is true
and that your word will do its work
as you have promised.
So we pray that as we look at Isaiah 40 together
over these next few weeks,
you would speak its truth
deep into our lives
so that we may be prepared and ready
for all that you may bring to us
in our life in this coming year.
And it's for our good and for your glory that we pray this.
Amen.
Well, in a few days' time,
it will be the start of a new year.
We're going to leave 2024 behind
and we're going to march out into 2025.
And of course, when it comes to a new year,
if you're anything like me,
we always set out with great hope
that the new year is going to bring better days.
We're going to turn a corner
and things are going to be different.
We think that, yes, a year of less struggles,
a year of better health,
a year of new opportunities.
Well, as we look at our text in Isaiah 40,
God's people were looking into the future
and their hopes, I'm sure,
were for better days.
But it seems they're in for a rude awakening.
Isaiah, God's prophet,
is looking ahead to an event
off in the future
and he's telling the people
that troubles lie ahead.
Look back in Isaiah 39 and verse 5.
This is what he speaks to the nation
through the king.
Isaiah 39 verse 5.
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah the king,
Hear the word of the Lord Almighty.
The time will surely come
when everything in your palace
and all that your predecessors
have stored up until this day
will be carried off to Babylon.
Nothing will be left,
says the Lord.
And some of your descendants,
your own flesh and blood,
who will be born to you
will also be taken away
and they will become eunuchs or servants
in the palace of the king of Babylon.
Babylon was the up-and-coming superpower
of the time.
And he's saying,
they're going to come
and they're going to destroy your city
and they're going to take you
from your homes
and you're going to live
in a foreign land.
Troubles lie ahead.
And it's with these troubles in mind
that God now speaks
through Isaiah chapter 40 verse 1.
Comfort, comfort,
comfort, my people,
says your God.
God will sustain you
and help you.
He will strengthen you
and he will keep you.
He will be your comfort
in all of your troubles.
You see, as we step out into 2025,
we're going to go through
all kinds of trials and struggles.
For you it'll be different.
For another it'll be something else.
Yes, there will be good times,
joyful times,
but mingled in between
the normal run of the day
will be days of trouble.
It's the world we live in.
We cannot escape it.
And yet God's message
remains the same.
I will comfort you.
How is this comfort going to come?
Well,
if I can get my notes sorted out,
I'll tell you.
God promises to bring his comfort
to his people
through his word.
God's word of comfort.
In verses 1 to 11,
we hear four voices,
each speaking a word of comfort.
So look at verse 2.
The word is,
speak tenderly to Jerusalem.
Verse 3, another voice,
a voice of one calling
in the wilderness.
And verse 6,
a voice says,
cry out.
And then down at verse 9,
you who bring good news.
So there's four words,
four voices of comfort
that will help us see
that as we face into troubles,
whatever they may be,
we will not do it alone
because God will be your comfort.
He will be your steadfast helper.
He will be your faithful father.
Listen to his word.
And I promise each and every one of you
that you will know the comfort of God.
So let's listen to each of these voices
and see the comfort
that God has in store for us.
The first one may catch us off our guard
and surprise us.
The first is the comfort
of sins forgiven.
Look at verse 2.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem
and proclaim to her
that her hard service
has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for.
Isaiah is looking into the future
and he knows that God's people
will sin,
that they will disobey God.
But he wants them to know
that when they sin,
there's going to be forgiveness.
Verse 2, end of verse 2.
Her sin has been paid for.
Now you and I need to know this.
Because as we enter into this new year,
we'll make all kinds of promises
of being better and doing better,
that this is the time
I'm going to turn over a leaf,
I'm going to be a better husband,
going to be a better father,
I'm just going to be a better person.
I'm not going to mess up
the way I normally do.
But yes,
we will fail
and we will fall.
We will sin in thought,
word and deed.
And because of our selfish actions,
we will get ourselves
into all kinds of trouble.
It's not that we set out to sin,
but we will sin.
And when we do,
we need to know
that we have a God
who will forgive you
and that
will comfort you.
Now for some of us,
we will find that we will sin
in ways that we never thought possible.
We will be horrified
at our own actions.
Things that we pointed the finger
at others of doing
and condemned others
and sat in our holier-than-thou look
and go,
I would never do that.
And guess what?
We find ourselves doing
those same things.
And it can leave us in despair,
overcome
with a burden of guilt and shame
and think,
God could never forgive me.
How could I fall so low?
But know this,
look at the end of verse 2,
that she has received
from the Lord's hand
double for all her sins.
I don't think that this means here
that they've received
a double punishment
for all their wrongs.
Rather, it speaks of double grace.
In other words,
God is saying,
for all your sin,
I have paid double.
I have covered it twice.
You see,
what has been promised then
has become a reality
even for us today.
Just have a look at Isaiah 53
because this is what he speaks of
a little later on.
Isaiah 53, verse 5.
Here he is looking ahead
and speaking of the Saviour to come,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 53, verse 5.
Hear this word of comfort.
He was pierced
from my transgressions.
He was crushed
from my iniquities.
The punishment that brought us peace
was on him
and by his wounds
we are healed.
Let's go back to chapter 40.
You see,
this is the word
we need to hear.
What peace
as we step into
2020,
2025,
that as we look out
into the future,
that whatever may happen,
God has provided
the means
for the forgiveness
of all
of our sin.
hear God's word,
the comfort
of sins forgiven.
But there's more comfort.
There's the comfort
of coming glory.
Look at verse 3.
A voice of one calling.
What does this voice say?
In the wilderness,
prepare the way
for the Lord.
Make straight in the desert
a highway
for our God.
He's reminding the people
that the Lord
is coming.
And of course,
that has been
partially fulfilled.
God has already
come in the person
of Jesus.
That's what we celebrated
on Wednesday
just gone.
Emmanuel
God with us.
But there's another
coming that I think
he's pointing to
and that we can
look forward to.
The coming of God
in all his glory.
All people
in all the nations
in all the world
will see
his coming.
Look at verse 5.
And the glory
of the Lord
will be revealed
and all people
all the nations
will see it together
for the mouth
of the Lord
has spoken.
You see,
when it speaks
of the Lord
coming in all
his glory,
it's speaking
about his coming
again to restore
and to renew
all things.
He will come
and bring about
the new heavens
and the new earth.
God
will come
again,
Isaiah
speaks of this.
Go to the very end
of the book,
Isaiah
chapter 65.
Isaiah 65.
65.
And here we get
a glimpse
of the new creation,
the glory
that will be revealed.
We'll pick it up
in verse 17,
Isaiah 65,
verse 17.
See,
I will create
new heavens
and a new earth.
The former things
will not be remembered.
All those troubles,
they will not
come to mind.
But be glad
and rejoice
forever
in what I will create.
For I will create
Jerusalem,
that is God's people,
to be a delight
and its people
a joy.
I will rejoice
over Jerusalem
and take delight
in my people.
And the sound
of weeping
and of crying
will be heard
in it
no more.
God's coming
will be a display
of his glory.
Every injustice
will be put right.
Every sickness
will be healed.
Every heartache
will be over.
Now,
when we go through
our hard
and difficult days
that are ahead,
when suffering
weighs us down,
when trials
cause us to doubt,
we need the comforting
word
that the glory
of God
is coming.
Life
is not always
going to be
like this.
Look at verse 4.
every valley
shall be
raised up.
Every mountain
and hill
made low.
The rough ground
shall become
level.
The rugged
places
a plain.
It's like
the new
motorway
being built
to ring a skiddy.
Every hindrance
and obstacle
is being removed
to make a
straight road.
Where there's a dip,
it's filled in.
where there's an
obstacle in the way,
it's taken out.
Well,
the first coming
of God
in Jesus Christ,
if you like,
with all that
preparation work,
all the obstacles
and all the
hindrances
are removed
as Jesus comes.
For sin
is paid for
through the cross.
Death
is defeated
by the resurrection.
A highway
has now
been cut
through
for the coming
of God
in all
his
glory.
and when
he comes,
he will
restore
this
disordered
world
and renew
our broken
lives.
What joy
as we
step into
2025
that a day
is
coming
when
suffering
and sorrows
will be
no more.
It'll all
be over.
Hear
God's
word.
The comfort
of coming
glory.
So the
promise
of sins
forgiven,
the promise
of God
coming in
his glory,
and then
third,
the comfort
in enduring
promises.
Look at
verse 6.
Here's the
third voice.
verse 6.
A voice
says,
cry out.
And I
said,
what shall
I cry?
All people
are like
grass.
All their
faithfulness
is like
the flowers
of the
field.
The grass
withers,
the flowers
fall,
because the
breath of
the Lord
blows in
them.
Surely
the people
are grass.
grass.
The grass
withers,
the flowers
fall,
but the
word of
God
endures
forever.
Do you see
the contrast?
our life
is like
a withering,
dying
flower,
but the
word of
God
endures
forever.
You see,
our lifetime
is short.
2025
will bring
us all
closer
to our
demise.
We don't
live
forever,
but the
promises
of God's
word
remain.
You see,
the one
thing that
we can
count on
in a
world that
is full
of decay
and trouble
and death
is God's
word.
His promises
will not
fade or
fall.
God's
word will
never
wither or
die.
God's
promises
will be
our
enduring
comfort.
The
promises
of sins
forgiven.
The
promises
of God's
coming.
But there's
more promises
than that.
Maybe
there's one
of these
that you
will
link
to.
The
promise
of God's
presence
when our
loved one
is taken
from us.
The
promise
of God's
grace
when we
are confronted
with our
own
weakness.
The
promise
of God's
peace
when we're
overwhelmed
with worry.
The
promise
of God's
provision
when we
feel we
can take
no more.
The
promise
of God's
steadfast
love
and
faithful
commitment.
What
comfort
for his
people.
You see
this is
what we
need
as we
receive
news of
a cancer
diagnosis.
This is
what we
need when
we discover
our child
is struggling
in school.
This is
what we
need as
we care
for an
aging
parent.
This is
what we
need as
our own
physical
bodies
fade
and fall.
That
God's
word
endures.
His
promises
remain.
He will
sustain
you and
he will
keep you.
Here is
encouragement
for us
as we
step into
a new
year.
Hear
God's
word.
The
comfort
in
enduring
promises.
The
fourth
voice
that
brings
comfort
is the
comfort
we
receive
from
gentle
strength.
Verse
nine.
You
who
bring
good
news
to
Zion
go
up on
a high
mountain.
You
who
bring
good
news
to
Jerusalem
lift
up
your
voice
and
shout
lift
it
up
don't
be
afraid
say
to
the
towns
of
Judah
tell
the
people
of
God
here
is
your
God
but what
is
your
God
like?
What
is the
God
that we
trust
in?
Well
God
is
both
strong
and
gentle.
Do you
see in
verse
10?
See
the
sovereign
Lord
comes
with
power.
He
rules
with
a
mighty
arm.
And
then look
at verse
11.
He
tends
his
flock
like a
shepherd
and
gathers
the
lambs
in
his
arms.
Now
we
don't
usually
put
tenderness
with
power
do we?
Or
gentleness
with
might.
But yet
God
declares
that I
am
both.
He
is
strong
and
caring.
He
is
sovereign
and
loving.
This
is
our
comfort.
You
see
God
has
no
weakness
or
frailty.
Let's
read
verse
10
again.
See
the
sovereign
Lord
comes
with
power.
And
he
rules
with
a
mighty
arm.
See
his
reward
is
with
him
and
his
recompense
accompanies
him.
He
never
sleeps.
God
never
tires.
He's
never
taken
by
surprise
or
he's
not
surprised
at
anything.
He
rules
over
all.
He
has
authority
over
all.
He
is
sovereign.
So
no
matter
what
happens
in
your
life,
no
matter
how
big
or
great
the
trouble
might
be,
no
matter
how
hard
or
difficult
or
overwhelming
the
year
may
be,
God
is
mighty
and
he
is
in
control
and
he
rules
over
everything.
God
is
tender
and
gentle.
Verse
11
He
tends
his
flock
like
a
shepherd.
He
gathers
the
lambs
in
his
arms.
He
carries
them
close
to
his
heart.
He
gently
leads
those
that
have
young.
You
see,
God
is
filled
with
compassion.
He's
not
going
to
break
you
or
crush
you.
As
Isaiah
says
in
chapter
42,
a
bruised
reed
he
will
not
break
and
a
smouldering
wick
he
will
not
snuff
out.
He
is
a
shepherd
who
holds
his
lambs.
People
like
you
and
I
who
are
vulnerable
and
fearful
in
this
world
and
he
holds
us
close.
This
is
the
God
who
will
comfort
us.
Do
you
see
what
it
says
in
verse
10?
God
rules
with
a
mighty
arm.
And
then
in
verse
11,
God
gathers
his
lambs
in
his
arms.
Arms
of
strength
and
arms
of
gentleness.
I'm
always
amazed
at
watching
rugby
players
after
the
match.
I
think
of
Bundy
Aki,
that
international
rugby
player.
You
ever
look at
his
arms?
They're
huge.
He's
got
biceps
the
size
of
watermelons.
And
with all
his
power
and
with
all
his
might
he
bashes
and
tackles
the
opposition.
But
then
after
the
match
you
see
him
walking
around
holding
his
young
daughter
in
his
arms.
Tender,
caring,
gentle
strength.
You
see,
when
we're
overwhelmed
by the
terrors
of this
world
and the
troubles
that
come,
when we
are
struggling
with our
fears
and our
worries,
we
have a
God
who is
both
powerful
and
mighty,
but
tender
and
caring.
What a
blessing
as we
step out
into
2025.
Hear
God's
word,
the
comfort
that
comes
from
gentle
strength.
You
see,
this
year
I
trust
will
bring
good
times
and
joyful
times.
We
will
laugh
together,
but
mingled
through
the
months
and
the
weeks
will
be
days
of
trouble.
Some
of us
will
go
through
hard
times,
some
of us
it
won't
be
so
bad,
but
yet
whatever
we
go
through,
we
are
all
going
to
need
the
comfort
of
our
God.
He
is
for
you
and
not
against
you.
Do you
see the
second
part of
verse
10?
see
his
reward
is
with
him
and
his
recompense
accompanies
him.
The
picture
there
is
of
a
king
who's
conquered
his
enemy
and
as
he
returns
in
victory
he
shares
the
riches
and
the
spoils
with
his
people.
He
blesses
them
in
abundance.
Well
our
God
is
victorious
in
our
troubles.
He
is
never
overcome
and
he
will
share
of
the
rich
resources
that
is
his
and
he
will
pour
out
his
comfort
upon
you
every
moment
of
every
day.
How
will
we
experience
this
comfort?
Well
have
you
got
your
little
card?
that
puts
together
the
theme
of
what
we've
looked
at
this
morning.
Just
pick it
up
there
and
have
a
look.
You
can
take
it
home
and
pin
it
up
somewhere
or
keep
it
somewhere
and
remind
yourself
throughout
the
year
just
that
little
phrase
at
the
bottom
the
comfort
of
God
will
sustain
the
people
of
God
as
we
listen
to
the
word
of
God.
This
new
year
be
comforted
that
all
your
sins
have
been
paid
for.
Be
comforted
by the
fact
that
God
is
coming
in
glory.
Be
comforted
by
His
enduring
promises
and
be
comforted
by
His
gentle
strength.
Comfort
comfort
my
people
says
your
God
and
my
God
Let's
pray
our Father God
we do not pretend to know the future
we dare not
say what is going to happen
or what's not going to happen
other than the fact that we know
that you have promised that as we walk this life
there will be hardship
but you have also promised
that your comfort will be sufficient
so Father help us to step out in faith
to trust you
that you will be our comfort
in everything
you will not forget us
and you will not fail us
help us to be those who listen to your word
that we may experience your comfort daily
Lord for those who are needing your comfort this day
please pour that into their life
be that gentle
mighty shepherd
hold them close
and do not forget
as you have promised
in Jesus name we pray
Amen
so a helpful song to bring together our thoughts
as we've looked at the beginning of Isaiah 40
when I fear my faith will fail
Christ
will hold me fast
he is our comfort
he is our strength
let's stand together as we sing
through the전
Thank you.