The 3rd Sunday in Advent

SERMON

INI

Text: Isaiah 40:1-8

“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” says your God. “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her; that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received double for all her sins.” The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” The voice said, “Cry out!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people is grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”

In Christ Jesus, whose glory shall be revealed when He comes again, dear fellow redeemed:

[Listen to the opening “Recitative” of Handel’s “Messiah.”] “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God!” (KJV) So begins “Messiah,” George Friedrich Handel’s greatest work. Handel chose to begin this work, so often heard during the Christmas Season, with the words of our text—an Advent “Call to Repentance!” In so doing Handel captured THE ESSENCE OF ADVENT! Let us this morning consider how THE ESSENCE OF ADVENT is indeed A CALL TO REPENTANCE! Let us do so in view of the facts, in view of the comfort, and, finally, in view of the glory!

I.

We will begin with the final three verses of our text: “The voice said, ‘Cry out!’ And he said, ‘What shall I cry?’ ‘All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people is grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever!” The power and evidence of Isaiah’s argument as presented earlier in the children’s sermon is before you [a vase of wilted roses]. The Psalmist warns us: “It is better to trust the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes” (118:8-9). The apostle Paul is even more direct. He told the Christians in Philippi: “Have no confidence in the flesh!” (3:3b) Why? King David provides the answer when he observes: “Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor” (Psalm 39:5b). We human beings tend to look at and put confidence in what we see before us—the beauty and intelligence of a woman, the strength and resourcefulness of a man, but beauty, intelligence, strength, and resourcefulness wither and die just like these flowers. They fade away like the vapor, for life on this earth is but temporal!

Are there any exceptions? Absolutely not! Recently I read a brief article mentioning the death of a World War I veteran. Of the several million American soldiers who fought in World War I, only ten remain living today—vigorous, idealistic men sent by President Wilson to “make the world safe for democracy”—now many years later all but ten are dead, and those ten are close to death!

In contrast consider our all-powerful and eternal God and His inspired Word, which does not change and will stand forever! Is there any question why the unbelieving world rages against God’s Word? It stands in such stark contrast to the thoughts, plans, and accomplishments of man, which are constantly changing and fading into irrelevance! God created this universe, including every human being. God is in control of this universe, and we are all subject to Him. God will one day judge this universe, and we will all stand before Him. Those are the facts! That is why THE ESSENCE OF ADVENT is A CALL TO REPENTANCE!

II.

We will want to heed that call, secondly, in view of the comfort! The thought and certainty of coming judgment strikes terror in the hearts of the unbeliever. For the child of God, on the other hand, Jesus’ coming can be and is intended by God to be anticipated with great relief. Isaiah writes in our text: “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” says your God. “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her; that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received double for all her sins.”

Isaiah here addresses the remnant of believers in Old Testament Israel. Judgment was coming in the form of national destruction, but in the midst of the outward chaos of war, the Old Testament believers could find inward comfort. Their God wanted them to know, even as He wants each of us to know, that when we turn to Him with repentant hearts we will experience His grace and receive His forgiveness.

Consider carefully these words recorded by Isaiah. First, God repeats His proclamation of “comfort”—“comfort, yes, comfort”—emphasizing His earnest intent. Think of Jesus’ later invitation, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). God then identifies Himself as His people’s God: “Comfort, yes, comfort My people! says Your God.” The LORD is not an impersonal force like Brahma of Hinduism, nor is He a demanding taskmaster like Allah within Islam. No, He is our heavenly Father, whose Spirit is identified by Jesus repeatedly as the “Comforter” (cf. John 14-16 KJV) God commands: “Speak comfort to Jerusalem.” Literally, that means “speak to the heart of Jerusalem,” and suggests that God wants His messenger to speak with great love, so as to inspire confidence and remove all fear. The three remaining verbs: “her warfare is ended…her iniquity is pardoned…she has received double for all her sins” are all in what is often called the “prophetic past” tense, which suggests that the actions in God’s mind are already completed, even though they still lie in the future. What is God saying? He is assuring the repentant sinner that all is well in Christ. There is no further need for us to fear, for our sins have been paid for and in Christ they have been removed. While it is so very true, as the apostle Paul wrote the Roman Christians: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…,” it is also absolutely true that we have been “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom (Paul then says) God set forth as a propitiation by His blood” (3:23-25a). Consequently, the apostle John can and does assure us: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Can we then play around with God in this matter? Can we dabble in sin…testing the waters to see how we like it? Can we deny sin and remain in the grace of God? Certainly not! John writes: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (But he writes:) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). Yes, THE ESSENCE OF ADVENT is A CALL TO REPENTANCE…a call we should heed in view of the comfort!

III.

It is a call we should heed, as well, in view of the glory! Whose glory? The glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Isaiah writes: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.’”

The Gospel of Mark begins with a reference to this prophecy and states that it found its fulfillment in the ministry of John the Baptizer. Mark summarizes John’s ministry in this way: “John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (1:4). We prepare the way of the Lord by repenting of our sins and by coming to rejoice in the certain forgiveness of our sins.

When Isaiah makes reference to making a “straight…highway in the desert”; when he speaks of exalting the valleys and bringing low the hills and mountains, he is referring to the custom of oriental despot kings of the day, who when they planned to visit a particular area would order thousands of poor people literally to prepare a straight and smooth road upon which he would then ride. The poor people would be left to clear away the rocks and brush, fill in the holes, and knock down the high spots all for the sake of the comfort of a powerful man. When we prepare a highway from Jesus, we are talking about the highway to our hearts. We need to rid ourselves of sin. We need to knock down our pride and self-righteousness, while finding assurance and help in the Lord Himself. When we approach our Lord with a heart so examined and cleansed we will see “the glory of the LORD revealed!”

How so? At times in this life that “glory” seems hidden. When the shepherds went to Bethlehem, they saw only a newborn baby lying in strips of cloth and lying in a feeding trough, but they still went away rejoicing for they had seen “the glory of the LORD” as the angelic hosts proclaimed Christ’s birth (cf. Lk. 2:9). When Jesus hung on the cross, His enemies mocked Him suggesting that His claims to be the Son of God were obviously false (cf. Lk. 23:35), yet upon His death the earth shook, the temple curtain was torn in two, and the graves of many saints were opened, demonstrating an unseen glory sufficient to cause the head centurion to declare: “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Mt. 27:51-54) In our day and in our lives as well there are times when our Savior seems so distant, and yet He can and does impress His presence and miraculous blessings upon us in a multitude of ways. But lest anyone question that glory, let us recognize that the Scriptures testify to the fact that Jesus will return at the end of time in full glory for all to see. At that time all people will bow in reverence—some in absolute fear, but others—His believing followers with joy in vindication of a faith well-placed! (cf. Phil. 2:9-11).

My dear friends—THE ESSENCE OF ADVENT is A CALL TO REPENTANCE! Given the facts and knowing the comfort, let us approach our Savior God with confidence fully assured that He will reveal to us His glory! Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting