← ArchiveIsaiahComfort Sweet ComfortDateNovember 3, 2019SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamTextIsaiahPassages in this sermonIsaiah 60:50Isaiah 400:54Isaiah 13:021 John 112:18John 121:43John 3:3022:08TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Music Music Music0:30Hey, I like that response. That's excellent. Again, my name is Josh, lead pastor here and we've been preaching through Isaiah and I say we because Brad jump-started us off. Brad always either begins or ends a sermon series of all things so that's been the natural trajectory. So Brad, you started us off months ago in Isaiah chapter 6 and so today we will look at Isaiah chapter 40. If you don't have a Bible with you, feel free to grab0:58the Pew Bible. I actually have a page number it is page 635. If you don't have a Bible at home that is our gift to you. Take that with you. We would love for you just to engage the Word of God. So for people who are new this is your first time welcome. For those watching online for various reasons and for our covenant members praise God that you are here. why are moments like this day1:26important? What if I told you that this morning has nothing to do about you? What if it has everything to do about the Lord Jesus Christ and maybe your neighbor right? Hebrew says do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as others have done but instead you are to assemble and gather and you provoke others not like you're thinking right? Provoked in the Bible says to love and good works. So what if me being1:54here and as I sing I'm singing because God wants my neighbor to sing louder because they hear the joy from my voice that's coming from my heart and what if they see me praying it's not about me but it's about someone else that's why we gather together that's the importance of why we do what we do. And as we gather around the word this morning in Isaiah chapter 40 I know that God is going to radically change our lives because as I've been2:22praying over this scripture the Lord has worked in my life this week. So our sermon series is called Yahweh saves for the very for this very reason because Isaiah's name in Hebrew means Yahweh saves. So what better sermon series to say this is who the Lord is and this is a desire for all of our lives. And what we read today is a drastic turn in Isaiah.2:50Isaiah. So, so drastic is this shift in the book of Isaiah that many scholars have posited that two different people wrote the book. So some would say well Isaiah chapter 1 through 39 is about God's judgment and his wrath and this wrath is imminent and so this is Isaiah 1. And then others would say well in chapter 40 this is a completely different God. He is loving and he is kind and he is3:18merciful. So obviously the same prophet could not preach that same message. So this is a different Isaiah. This is a Deutero Isaiah. As if we can't combine the two. Now there are a lot of historical and linguistic differences. I will spare you that this morning. But just know the majority of scholarship recognizes this rift in the book and they would say this is not the same person. But what if I told you that the Lord is so sovereign3:46and so holy that he is the only one that can marry judgment wrath and everlasting kindness in a way that we have never seen before. I think we look at this and we say how is it like how can you turn the page in chapter 39 to Hezekiah's folly judgment is coming and now Isaiah says comfort. Comfort God's people. That's the shift that we see4:14this morning. In Isaiah chapter 40. I don't know about you. Today's sermon is entitled comfort sweet comfort. But I believe we live in a world that needs comfort. Like many of your families that we were watching the TV glued to the story of this young girl in Birmingham that was missing. Many know her by cupcake. Camille. And we were with our kids in our living room4:42when the press conference came on at 8 o'clock. And immediately my wife and I knew a press conference on a Tuesday night at 8 o'clock. This just doesn't seem good. And I remember watching the details and the police chief of Birmingham just broken. How this little girl was kidnapped and abducted and eventually they took her life and she was found in a dumpster as if she was a piece of trash. And I remember thinking God5:12how do we comfort how do I comfort my family? Because God I need comfort. And during her memorial service Reverend Alvin Sanders said this one of the presiding pastors. He said we don't know oh Lord how we got here. But we know something happened in our lives. There was a baby named Camille who made us all stop5:40and check ourselves. I just remember thinking this week Lord we need comfort. I don't know about you. But how do you watch this and not cry out? God where are you? God we need I need Isaiah 40 verse 1. We need that comfort in our lives. And we live in a world that is crying out for this message. These comforts.6:10These comforts. Sweet comforts. Let's read the passage and then we will look at how it works out in our lives today. Isaiah chapter 40. Hopefully it is page 635 in your pew Bibles. I got a couple nods here in the front. So good. Isaiah 40 beginning in verse 1. Comforts. Comforts. Comfort my people says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem6:39and announce to her that her time of forced labor is over. Her iniquity has been pardoned and she has received from the Lord's hands double for her sins. A voice of one. Crying out. Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness. Make straight a highway for our God in the desert. Every valley should be lifted up. Every mountain and hill will be leveled.7:08The uneven ground will become smooth in the rough places. A plain. And the glory of the Lord will appear and all humanity together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. And a voice was saying, Cry out. And another said, What should I cry out? All humanity is grass and all its goodness is like the flower of the fields.7:36The grass withers. The flowers fade. When the breath of the Lord blows on them. Indeed, the people are grass. All of our Gideons should know this verse. The grass withers and the flowers fade. But the word of the Lord stands forever. Zion, herald of good news. Go up on a high mountain. Jerusalem, herald of good news. Raise your voice loudly.8:05Raise it. Do not be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, Here is your God. Let's pray. Father, We thank you for this message of hope and comfort. Lord, we need comfort in our lives. Father, we pray that we would never be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That we would not go into a cave and hide, but that we'd walk to the mountain. We would share it loudly and boldly to the world.8:33Here is your God. Father, give us that boldness. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. What a wonderful message from the prophet. No sooner in chapter 39 as the message of doom and gloom over, but the glorious comfort of chapter 40 verse 1 now is on the scenes. And Isaiah starts,9:02Comfort, comfort my people. It's almost as if you turn the page from darkness into light. That's what Jesus can do in our lives. A people who are in darkness and wrath and judgment. The moment they see this goodness of Jesus Christ, the light has come. Now the word comfort here is interesting in the Hebrew. The word in many senses can mean repentance.9:28It can mean grief. So it could sound like this. Grieve, my people. Repent. But in another tense in the Hebrew, and I'll spare you the details, but in this tense it means return. It means comfort. It means one who has restored the fortune to be consoled and to express empathy. Why would God use this word?9:57The word is Nahum or Nahum. It's the same name of the prophet by the biblical book Nahum. His name means comfort. Why would this word comfort and repentance be linked together? Because I believe for the people of God, you will never find comfort in your life until you have repented, until you have grieved over your sin. You see, God links for us his comfort and repentance.10:23So with that, the purpose of God's judgment for 39 chapters. And as Brad shared months ago, right? And many of you know Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah says, "Woe is me, for I am a man of dirty lips, unclean lips, and I come from dirty people." And the angel said, "I got you."10:51Right? Gave him a coal and cleansed his mouth. Represented cleansing of his life. And then he hears this voice, "Who shall go? Who shall we send?" And he declares, "Lord, here am I. Send me." So God gives him the message. And the message is, "You will speak to a people who will not hear." And so here begins this cycle over and over again, these oracles of judgment and wrath.11:16You have sinned. And so this is your consequence for 39 chapters. And now here is God saying, "Because my people have repented, I will relent." Because they have repented and they have been grieved over their sin. Verse 1, "I will bring comfort." You see, repentance is the indelible mark of God's people.11:42You show me a person who is unrepentant, I will show you a person that does not know Jesus Christ. That is who we are. We are quick to seek forgiveness. We are quick to repent of our sins. We run to the throne where the promise is when we go to his throne, we will find mercy in our time of need. A mark of God's people is repentance.12:10It is linked here in the scriptures. And it is through repentance that we find comfort. 1 John 1 says what about repentance? If, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to whip you and destroy you, you unforgiving sinful people. No, that would be the modern translation.12:38That's what we deserve, right? That's, that's the first reserved, deserved translation. But God says, "No, no, no, listen. If you will confess your sins, then I will be faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and purify you from unrighteous." Repentance is through repentance that we find his comfort.13:03See, this word here means to like remove off of, to take or lead away. So God says, "Comfort, comfort my people," says your God speak tenderly. We'll come back to them. Announce to her in verse one, "Her time of forced labor is over. Her iniquity has been pardoned." The word pardoned means to lift off something from someone.13:29It's a word we see throughout scripture, throughout the Old Testament. Now get this picture in your mind. So the judgment against Judah has come from whose hands? It's okay to say God in church. Yes. God's people, right? God's people, God's judgment from his hand. And now God is using a word to say, "I will remove your sins.13:56I will remove your grief. I will pardon your iniquity." By whose hands? By the same hand that brought us consequence is the same hand that removes our guilt and our shame. What a glorious picture of the comfort of God in our life. It's as if God is saying the same hand that brought judgment in your life, you don't have to worry about that anymore.14:17And your hands, the ones that clutched on to false idols, you know, the ones that really grabbed on to religion because you felt like if you were just a good religious person, then God would love you. But you made it an idol. You won't have to use those hands anymore. And you know that American dream you're holding so tightly to, you don't have to hold on anymore.14:43I love what Shane and Alicia promised to their daughter today. He says, "Zoe, we understand that God's plan is so much greater than our plan for your life." You know why that's important? You know what we do as parents often? We make our children's dreams our God. Really, they're not our children's dreams. They're our dreams that we've given to them. And then we idolize that. We make our kids our God. And I love to be able to say to the Lord, "God, your plan is infinitely greater for my kids than my plan.15:12And God, even if I don't know your plan, I will trust in you because your hand, oh, your hand is so much greater than my hand." That is the pardon of the Lord. That's the hand that removes our sin. You see, you don't have to fear the hand of the Lord anymore. Because the hands of his son took the nails for you.15:38Wow, what comfort. And we need to share this message. This is the comfort I want. But my heart breaks and I see things. I don't want a cute little religious antidote. I want eternal comfort for my soul. This is the comfort of the Lord. And he says to Isaiah, not only comfort them, comfort them.16:06He says, "Speak tenderly to Jerusalem." This God who has not spoken tenderly for 39 chapters is now saying literally in Hebrew, "Speak into their hearts." It's as if God sees our hearts, which in Hebrew was the seat of a man's emotions. And I think God is saying to us, "Josh, let my love that speaks into your heart cause you to love me back."16:29That God is speaking into our heart tenderly. Oh, we need that compassion. We need that mercy. So I don't know what your view of God is, but if this is not your view of God, highlight every single word in this chapter. This is the comfort and this is the heart of the Messiah that we need.16:56And it's not a one-time event. He doesn't say, "Speak at once and then move on, Isaiah." The Hebrew tense is continually speak. Keep speaking. He's saying, "Speak to them and continually speak." And the next day speak into their heart. Because what does God know about our hearts? We are prone to wonder. We are prone to forget. It's as if the Lord is saying to Josh, to me, "Lord, Josh, I know you're going to forget tomorrow, but I'm going to speak into your heart.17:23And I know you're going to forget on Tuesday. So I'm going to speak and I'm going to continually speak into your hard heart. That way you might have my heart." Let God's love who speaks into your heart cause you to love him more and love him back. And you say, "Well, this is too good to be true." How can this be so? God tells us, right, "Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, announce to her that her time of forced labor is over."17:50Forced labor. Who forced the labor? Ultimately the Syrians and the Babylonians. But it was by the hand of God that the labor is forced. God says it's over. Because I have done what to my people? I have done what to their iniquity? I have pardoned that. And I said it means to lift off, but it was the word used for the Levitical offering. And we receive pardon now because Jesus Christ is our perfect lamb that God has received on our behalf.18:19And because of that pardon, we can be free of guilt. We can be free of shame. We can be free of iniquity. The hand that forced labor upon us is now the hand that leads us into eternal life. This is the pardon that we have. I love what the old hymn says.18:48Pardon for sin and a peace that stops. No. A peace that endures. Thine own dear presence to cheer. That's a heart word, isn't it? My heart is joyful, that cheer and to guide. Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Blessings all mine with ten thousands beside. It's as if that hymn writer was reading Isaiah and said, man, let me, let me write this down.19:18My heart is singing. This is the comfort that we need. This is the comfort that the world needs. And if this is not good enough for you, I have nothing else to offer. This is the message of the church. This is the message of Jesus Christ. This is what you've been looking for. This is why we shout hallelujah. This is why we rejoice. Comfort my people. And we say, thank you, God, for that.19:48This is his comfort for his people. But it doesn't end there. There's also a cry. There's a comfort of God and there's a cry in the wilderness. Now remember, it's very crucial before deliverance comes pardon. God's going to pardon your life first and then he's going to deliver you. What do we often want in our life? God save me from this situation and then pardon me later. God says, no, Josh, I've already, I've already pardoned you if you believe.20:14And now watch me deliver you. So verse three, a voice crying out. Prepare the way of the Lord. In where, by the way? In the wilderness. Is that not interesting? I don't really want to go into the wilderness, but this voice is crying out in the wilderness, making straight the highways for God in the desert place.20:38This unique cry comes from the wilderness. So who's speaking? Okay, you don't have to answer that. We don't know. It's anonymous. Why are we not given the voice? To show us. The identity of the voice remains anonymous. To show us it's not the voice that matters. It's the message. And the message is, you know, those mountains in your life, they're going to be smoothed out.21:05You know, those valleys, they're going to be raised up. That this is, like, you thought I-2059 construction was bad? Why don't you try just to flatten the Appalachian Mountains? Why don't you just work on the valley that separates Pelsati and Moody? Right? Just work on that valley. See how long. Work on 411. This valley, fill that in. That's what God's going to do.21:35And John the Baptist picks up on this language 700 years later. In John 1, he says this. John takes this language upon himself and he says, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, making straight the way of the Lord, just as Isaiah the prophet said." Where does that come from? Right here. Isaiah 40. And we talk about the anonymous voice not wanting to take pleasure in itself, but emphasizing the message.22:02In John 3:30, this messenger of the voice crying out in the wilderness looks at Jesus Christ and says this, very simply. He says, "He must increase and I must decrease." John's saying, "Look, I don't matter, but Jesus does." This is the voice. This should be our message and the way will be made straight.22:27Isaiah is picturing a king coming into town. And when the ancient procession would come, they would try to make straight the path. If they had to go over or through a hill, they would do so. So it's this image of the rightful king is coming in and everything will be prepared for this king. It's the image that we see in Jesus when he is riding in to Jerusalem. And they saddle up a colt for him and they put cloaks on that and some spread their cloaks on the ground, some put palm fronds.22:57What are they doing? They are making straight the path for the king. And this voice is simply saying to us today, "The king is coming to your aid." Judah, I know it's been difficult. I know you've had 39 chapters of endurance. I know it's been dark and you don't even see behind the scenes.23:26You don't see the destruction that has happened. But I want you to know one thing, Judah, people of God, listen to this. There's a voice crying out in the wilderness and the king is coming for you. Like this, this Messiah, he is coming. And you know what the valleys and the mountains and everything else represents? There is nothing in your life that prevents God coming to you. You can't look back and say, "Because I did this yesterday, God has given up."23:56Man, this addiction, God would never love me. God is saying, "Josh, you think you can dig a valley low enough that I can't fill in? I know you're on your high horse on the high mountain, but Josh, you don't think I can get there?" There's nothing in any of our lives that the grace of Jesus can't penetrate. So I don't know who you think you are, and maybe you think way too much of yourself,24:23and maybe you think way too less of yourself, but I want you to know that we are all equal. We are all equal at the cross of Jesus Christ. So if you think God would never love me, read this passage over. If you think I don't need God, read this passage over. Actually, go read chapters one through 39 first, and then come back and read this chapter. Because God loves us and he will not stop. He sent his only son to pursue us. Hear the voice.24:53The Lord is coming for you. This voice crying out in the waters. And one day, one day, the glory of the Lord will appear in verse 5. The glory of the God will appear. And who will hear it? Me? You? People in St. Clair County? All. All humanity will hear and see the glory of God.25:23Now this is interesting. Because in Isaiah chapter 6, God has already told Isaiah, "Preach to people." And as you preach, they're going to hear less and less and less. And as you speak, they're going to see less and less and less. But now God is saying, "My glory will be seen by all nations, by all people, by all tribes." That is the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. That God is saying, "I died for you, and I died for you, and I want you to see my glory."25:53God is coming for us. This is how Jesus can boldly declare. He says that if you have seen me, Jesus, you have seen the Father. If you've seen the glory, if you've seen Jesus Christ, you have seen the glory of God. Maybe you're thinking right now, "I don't see it. What's wrong with me?" The Bible says that sin in our lives blind us to seeing the glory of God.26:20You know what sin does? Some of you have played hide-and-seek with a little kid before, right? And when they're really small, when they get older, they're sneaky. Don't play hide-and-seek with those kids. Like, pick someone even younger. And if they're really young, they'll go hide out in the open, and they'll close their eyes. As if to say, "You can't see me."26:48Isn't that what sin does? Sin closes our eyes to God, and we say, "God, I can't see you at all." And God says, "Because your eyes are closed." Because sin has blinded you to my word and to my son. But if you have faith in Jesus Christ, the shackles will fall off, and you will behold the glory of Christ. And if that's you, if you say, "I just don't see God's glory," I pray that you would tune me out right now, and that you would do business with the Lord.27:16Would you have the boldness to say, "God, I want to see." I want what Isaiah says is true. Because one day, church, one day what in verse 5? "The glory of the Lord will appear, and all humanity together will see it, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." And the cry continues.27:45So great is the glory of God that our glory, humanity compares in relationship to who God is. So I have a very low view of man and a very high view of God. So people say, "Well, I'm disappointed in that person." Well, I'm not. Well, I'm disappointed in their behavior, but, man, we are rotten to the core. You should know that. So we are here. God is here. You say, "Well, prove it to me.28:14I'm glad you asked that." Verse 6. "Why should I cry out? What should I cry out? All humanity is grass." And all, and you might think, "Well, okay, that's not good." Right? That's an insult. Isaiah is throwing shade. Isaiah just subtweeted us. But then he says, in case you didn't get it, church, right? All its goodness is like, "Oh, anything you do is good."28:40If you think might be good, it's like what? It's like the flowers of the field. You're like, "That's cute. Flowers are nice. The grass withers. The flowers fade when the breath of the Lord blows on them." And even today there's strong winds, harsh winds that blow up from Egypt up into Palestine and they scorch the earth. And in an instant, all of the vegetation is destroyed.29:08So whatever you say, "Well, look what I've done good today. I fed the dog and I helped this little old lady across the street and I went outside and I wore my wife's car up." Whatever you might say is good, God says, "Your greatest achievement in life is like what?" It's like grass, it's a flower, and it will fade. It will fade in compared to the glory of God. And in case we still didn't get it, look at verse 8.29:37Isaiah's like, "Okay, Josh, okay, here we go then." In case you didn't get it, let me say it one more time. "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the Lord stands forever." Here is the reality that Isaiah shares with us. Some of you are going through hot, scorching battles in your life because you are not standing upon the word of the Lord.30:03And you're thinking, "Why is this happening?" Well, because you have taken yourself out of the protection of God. Why are my flowers failing? Why is my grass withering? Because you are not standing upon the truth of God in your life. There are broad ways that lead to destruction, but there's a narrow way, a difficult way that leads to eternal life, that leads in righteousness.30:28And don't think this is just because I'm talking to these sinners who aren't like you. How often even as Christ followers do we want to say, "Hey man, that highway looks really good and this narrow path difficult." So let me jump back on the interstate. HOV lane for a couple of hours. And anytime we remove ourselves from the protection of God's word, the scorching wind comes.30:54The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord come back to his truth, come back to his word because it lasts forever. Parents, if you give them nothing else in your life, because one day we are not going to be here. Give them the word of the Lord. Let them stand upon the word of the Lord.31:23Youth, if you don't have anything else in your life, live your life with the word of God, central, and you will do much. Grass withers. High school fades. Praise God, middle school does too. But the word of the Lord stands and lasts forever. Praise be to God for his cry in the wilderness.31:49Lastly, we see this in this message of comfort. We see this comfort. We see a cry and then we see a community in verse nine. He says this, we're about to get personal. Zion, herald of good news, go up on the high mountain. Jerusalem, herald of good news, raise your voice. Okay. Let's try it again.32:19I think Isaiah has given us this message because he knows we want to be reverent and respectful and quiet. But this, if this message is true, if what we have read is true today, if anything deserves to be shouted on the mountain loudly and boldly, this is it. We have some babies, don't wake up the babies, right? So I'll try to maintain my enthusiasm. Zion, herald of good news, go up on the, not a mountain, the highest mountain.32:47Jerusalem, herald of good news, raise your voice loudly. Bethel, wake up. Do not be afraid. Say to every surrounding city, here is your God. So church, what is our, what is our message? The message is that this community of faith, fully deserving wrath, fully deserving eternal judgment has found mercy.33:16And the community is saying, what do we do with this? Like God, who, who we deserve judgment and we deserve his wrath. We have found grace and mercy in our time of need. So what do we do? And God says, okay, now I want you to bring it to others. And this word heralds, bringer of good news, pictures a, an ancient messenger who knows the king is coming.33:45And they are commanded to share this good news, literally the joy news to surrounding villages. And they are going around knocking on doors saying, hey, good news, the king is coming. Hey, good news, the king is coming. Get ready. Get your house in order. And by the way, I'm going to go up on the high mountain. We should share this. This is not quiet news. This is not halfway good news.34:14This is glorious news. This is great news. This is loud news. This is bold news. The church is not looking at the world saying, you know what, we might have an answer for you. No, the church is looking at the world saying, we have the answer, but we must be firm. We must be clear and we must have a positive voice that shouts, Jesus saves.34:38Look, it's not our job to give people haircuts. We need to talk to their heart. We have greater difficulties in these superficial religious antidotes. I don't need your Facebook post if I'm dying and going to hell. I need your Messiah. I need this Jesus Christ. This is the good news.35:08And you say, well, okay, who should hear this message? I agree. I will be more loud. I will be more bold. Will you tell me who should hear? Good. I'm glad you asked. Verse 9. Zion, herald of good news, go up on this zip code. No, go up on the highest mountain. And the implication is for the community of faith, go up on the highest mountain you can find. And whoever hears you, that's who needs to hear you.35:37Everyone needs this message. Everyone needs this message. Get out. Tell your neighbors. Tell those you love. Tell those you don't love. Tell everyone that this is who Jesus Christ is. So what is our message then? What is this communal message that God has for our lives, for my life, for your life? It's very simple.36:07In verse 9. Say to the cities of Judah, here is your God. John Calvin says it this way. That in these words is found the heart of the gospel. The sum of our happiness, which consists solely in the presence of God. Church, this is our message. Right here. If you say, I don't know what the gospel is.36:37Just go to people and say, this is your God. He loves you. He is going to bring comfort, but you have to turn to him. Don't close your eyes to what he's doing in your life. Open your eyes. And so how do we respond to this message? I was reading a short story. It was written in Russian, but I was reading it in English this week by Anton Chekhov. And it's really a story to lament. Difficult story.37:06Difficult story. But here's how the story goes very quickly. There's an old man, Iona, who has lost his son recently. And his job, his profession is he has a horse and carriage and he's going around the city. He's an ancient cabbie. And so he picks up this wealthy man. And the wealthy man says, we need to go here to cross town. And the wealthy man is busy and he's focused on his job at hand. And Iona says, my son, my son, let me tell you about my son.37:34And the man is too busy to hear. And so he, he gets to his destination and he leaves. The next group of customers that call for the cab are people who have been partying that night. And they are not in any right mind to walk. And they get in and they're carousing and they're loud. And Iona thinks, well, maybe they would listen to me. And so he tells them, he says, my son, my son, let me tell you about my son.38:01And of course they are not in a state of mind or heart to hear. And they get to their destination. They exit the coach. But still yet another person and another person and every single person he says, my son, my son, let me tell you about my son. And the story ends this way. And Iona is, is called lament because he is searching for comfort. And he wants someone to so desperately hear him so he would be comforted by another individual.38:28And the story closes with Iona brushing his horse at night. With the simple words, my son, my son, let me tell you about my son. I think this is the message of Isaiah. And God is saying to us today, my son, my son, let me tell you about my son.38:53Because when you have Jesus, your sins are pardoned. The comfort that you have been longing for is yours. And you might think, well, why me? How could, how could I have this?39:21The Bible is very clear that it says, if you believe with your heart, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved. So would you have enough boldness today if you are not a Christ follower? And if you want what the Bible says you can have in Jesus. Would you have the boldness just to pray, God, I believe in your son. I want this eternal life. That is the prayer of faith. But know that pardon and comfort are always linked to repentance.39:49So would you be bold enough to say, God, I will turn from myself and turn to your son. Because I need that comfort. Eternal comfort. Long lasting comfort. And hope that is found for any sinner who comes to the throne. That is you today. We would, we would love to celebrate God working in your life. We would love to talk to you about putting your faith in Christ. Maybe you have put your faith in Christ.40:18And we want to celebrate that. We want to say, God, thank you for saving someone else. Thank you for someone who is dead today, finding life. God, maybe you're here today and you, you know, you need that comfort. You're a Christian, but you have forgotten what God has promised you. Maybe you need to spend some time in prayer and say, God, I restore to me this comfort. Thank you for what you've done. And Lord, I'm going to raise my hands.40:47I'm going to go pray at the altar. But God, I'm going to spend time celebrating and letting your spirit wash into my life afresh and anew. Maybe you're here today because you are the voice crying out for someone else. Maybe someone here that's not here today needs to hear the gospel and they're going to hear it because you're here. And God is saying, Josh, you're the one to go up on the mountain. You're the one to go next door.41:16You're the voice crying out, but don't worry. The voice is anonymous. They're not going to see you. They're going to see my son. This is the message we proclaim. And we should proclaim this message with boldness, with confidence and to the top of our lungs. My son, my son, let us tell the world about his son. Let's pray, Father.41:46Let's pray, Father.← Previous in IsaiahGet Your House in OrderNext in Isaiah →The Gospel in HDMore sermons on Isaiah →
