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Plainly Speaking
with Karl J. Forehand
The
Greatness of God – Part 1
(There is comfort
in understanding)
(Isaiah 40:1-11)
by Karl J. Forehand
We seem to be constantly in quest for the
best of everything. We are comforted
when we have the best possible mentors – when our kids go to the best schools
– when we drive the best cars – when we have the best representatives in
government – when we have the best house.
I believe our desire to have the best comes from our need for THE BEST
(our need for God).
Even though we realize God is the best, we
often substitute other things for Him.
Israel had been substituting a number of things for God, including
idols. Isaiah spends the first 39
chapters telling them how displeased God is with them and their “idol”
worship. In Isaiah 40, he transitions
to a new thought – The Greatness of God.
God’s first word to Isaiah is to comfort
the people.
1. Comfort the
People (1-2)
Comfort, O
comfort My people," says your God. "Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And
call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been
removed, That she has received of the LORD's hand double for all her
sins." (Isaiah 40;1-2)
Through Isaiah, God not only prophesies
of Israel’s captivity in Babylon; but also of their deliverance. He tells Isaiah to tell them to take
comfort, meaning to “draw a deep breath.”
You know what that is like.
When things have been too much and you sit down and breathe deeply. It helps melt off the stress of the
situation. God means that we take
comfort in Him. He also tells Isaiah
to speak kindly, which means to speak “to their heart.” Help them understand, deep within
themselves, that God wants the to be deeply comforted. What should they take comfort in?
To answer that question, we simply have to
understand what chapter 40 is all about.
This chapter is about the Greatness of God. By this passage we come to understand that
true comfort and confidence come from understanding the greatness of
God. He didn’t tell Isaiah to
psyche them up or give them a lot challenging methods. He simply told them to take comfort in the
reality of the magnificence of Almighty God.
Comfort is not found in developing a
better mousetrap. It is not in better
programs. It is not in better
methods. It is not in appealing substitutes. It is in the reality of the greatness of
God.
God didn’t tell Isaiah that their
suffering was all a matter of perspective.
He didn’t tell that their captivity was unfair. He didn’t tell them that it was okay to
pacify themselves with subordinate gods.
For 39 chapters, God told them there is only one answer and that is:
“comfort and confidence come from ‘getting it’ about the greatness of God.”
Israel, like us, tried to find comfort in
their substitutes. Because they
didn’t like to wait, they substituted subordinate things for the things of
God. We often do that. We tranquilize our desire for the “the
best” with pacifying substitutes. How
does understanding the greatness of God help me in my current state?
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When I
understand the greatness of God, I can worship
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When I
believe God is greater than my circumstances, I can have peace
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When I
realize there is a Godly purpose bigger than my own, I can serve
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When I
learn the basics (that God is awesome), I can be discipled
When we understand the greatness of God,
we find comfort and confidence to do His work.
2. Clear the Way (3-5)
A voice is calling, "Clear the way for the LORD in
the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. "Let every valley be lifted up, And
every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley; then the glory of the LORD will be
revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has
spoken." (Isaiah 40:3-5)
This passage is known as a near/far prophecy. It would be physically fulfilled when the
Israelites were released from captivity.
It would also be fulfilled spiritually in Jesus Christ and John the
Baptist would give the same command to “clear the way” for the Savior. The way would be made clear by
repentance. We live this out,
perpetually, as we are admonished to “clear the way” in our lives.
Once, my dad gave me the old family
television. As he was carrying it to
my room, he shouted “Clear the way, I’m bringing it in.” Because I was a child, I had quite a mess
in my room – I had to scramble to clear out all the mess so he could make his
way in.
The question for us is, “Can God get into
your life?” Are you too busy with the
cares of this world? Are you even
looking for Him to intervene or is your mind on your tasks for the day? Are there too many distractions? Is He important enough? For some reason, God doesn’t barge into
your life – he waits to be invited.
In the South, we used to say “God is a gentleman.”
Clearing the way for the Lord involves
three things. First, we must have is readiness. Things like personal quiet times and
prayer are not just Christian jargon; they are necessities if we want to be
ready for the Lord to intervene in our lives. Second, we must be repentant. The constant message throughout Scripture is “Repent or perish
– turn or burn.” John the Baptist
said, “Repent, for the Kingdom is at Hand.”
Jesus said, “Repent or you will all likewise perish.” The last thing we have is recognition. John the Baptist exclaimed, “Behold the
Lamb of God.” Would we even recognize
Him if He showed up in our lives. We
must clear the way.
The promise, if we clear the way, is that
“The Glory of the Lord will be revealed.”
Matthew Henry said, “Let God have a fair hearing and it will not fail
of acceptance.” Clear the way – give
God a chance to work in your life.
3. Claim the
Eternal
A voice says,
"Call out." Then he answered, "What shall I call out?"
All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the
field. The grass withers, the flower
fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are
grass. The grass withers, the flower
fades, But the word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:6-8)
What is eternal? The Word of God.
Diodetian tried to destroy it.
Voltaire claimed it would be of no value in 100 years. Many died because people tried to
extinguish it. A lot of bloodshed
could have been avoided if people would have read and believed the truth
about the Word of God – it endures forever.
The more people try to destroy and disprove it – the stronger it’s
impact. I have noticed that most
anti-Biblical critics don’t want you to do one thing – read the Word of
God. They like to distort it and have
you read their opinion – but they at least know that there is something
powerful about God’s Word and they know how amazing it is that one book has
stood this long.
About 2750 years ago, Isaiah spoke these
prophecies. 170 years after he
prophesied, it was fulfilled in the events of captivity and release from
Babylon. About 780 years after he
spoke the words, Christ fulfilled the prophecy making it have eternal impact. This eternal impact touched me powerfully
this past week. Why? Because it is eternal truth – it is the
word of God – it last forever.
Some egghead will come up with a catch
ideology next week. He or she will
have some catch phrases or some though provoking questions. But the thought will last only until the
next person comes up with the new one.
Darwin even doubted his ideas on his deathbed. God’s Word says that even man himself is
like grass that quickly withers.
The great thing about preaching from God’s
Word is that I don’t have to come up with some new philosophy each weak. God’s Word is eternal. We have to learn to trust it. We have to learn to rely on
it. We have to learn to delight
in it. We don’t need a new
methodology – we have it already – it is eternal.
The Babylonian empire made a prophecy
too. They said, “The destruction of
Jerusalem will be perpetual.” Then
God blew on them (like He does the grass) and they withered without a fight. God even sent a man named Cyrus to let
them go.
4. Comprehend the
Almighty
This chapter stresses that very
injunction. You have to comprehend
how awesome God is to find comfort and confidence. I encourage you to spend some time this week thinking
(meditating) on the passages of this chapter. Then, next week, we will take a closer look.
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