Psalm 145:17-21, Isaiah 40:1-9, Philippians 4:4-7, John 1:19-28
A). THE NEARNESS OF THE LORD.
Psalm 145:17-21.
Our trust in the LORD is not based in our ability to believe, but in His perfections. He is righteous in all His ways: He is just. He is kind in all He does: He is holy (Psalm 145:17).
It is good that we can view the LORD as a God who is not only transcendent, but also immanent. He is present within His Creation. He is “near” to all who call upon Him (Psalm 145:18). We should, therefore, ‘Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near’ (Isaiah 55:6).
The one true God, the God of all integrity (Deuteronomy 32:4; John 14:6; 1 John 5:20; Revelation 19:11) draws “nigh” unto all who call upon Him “in truth” with a matching integrity of heart (Psalm 145:18).
It is of the LORD’s mercy that He also hears our petitions (Psalm 145:19). This is particularly addressed to “those who fear Him” - those who revere His Name. We may not presumptuously or blasphemously call out His Name at every approach of trouble: but when we nurture a relationship with Him, He is there for us, always.
He grants our desires because our desires are consistent with His. He hears our cry because we are His people. He ‘saves to the uttermost’ all that come to God via Jesus Christ, who forever lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25).
The LORD preserves all who love Him (Psalm 145:20). This is the other side of our own perseverance: ‘he who endures to the end shall be saved’ (Matthew 24:13). Yet we may not presume upon His grace: the God who is slow to anger (Psalm 145:8), is also the God who will punish the unrepentant (2 Peter 2:9).
The “each” and “every” of God’s comprehensive care find their final expression as the Psalmist speaks the praise of the LORD, and “all flesh” replies by “blessing” (speaking well of) His holy Name (Psalm 145:21). The groaning Creation (Romans 8:22) at last finds relief in the “for ever and ever.” Amen.
B). COMFORT YE.
Isaiah 40:1-9.
We have before us a passage which may well be remarkably familiar to us: yet please do not allow its very familiarity to breed contempt. This is a little Gospel, a sort of proto-Gospel written by the prophet many years before the event. Our task is to ask Isaiah concerning the what, when, why and who of his message, and the what of ours.
1. What is his message?
It is a message of comfort (ISAIAH 40:1), of good tidings of great joy to all people (cf. Luke 2:10). It has been hinted at already (cf. Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6-7) as Isaiah prepares us for Immanuel’s land (cf. Isaiah 8:8). It is a message of preparation, of levelling the land and clearing the highway to make way for the coming of the LORD (ISAIAH 40:3-4).
It is a message of revelation (ISAIAH 40:5), when the presence of the LORD draws near in the Person of His own Word (cf. John 1:14). It is a message of certainty (ISAIAH 40:8). It is good news concerning the coming of the Lord (ISAIAH 40:9), which brings renewal of strength (cf. Isaiah 40:31).
2. When, what time, does this message speak of?
After 39 chapters of comparative doom and gloom, judgement and warning, Isaiah leads us out on to a new plain. It is a word of comfort for the children of Israel under the Assyrian threat. It is a message of encouragement for the exiles in Babylon 150 years later (ISAIAH 40:2). It is a word for the generation who would hear the preaching of John the Baptist (cf. John 1:23), who proclaimed the coming of Jesus. It is for the church in all generations, and for the church to proclaim to all generations.
3. Why?
By now Israel has suffered enough for her sins (ISAIAH 40:2). “Double” may mean tit for tat, an exact mirror image of what she deserves - or it may even mean she has paid more than enough. Whichever it may be, her warfare is accomplished, her iniquity is pardoned.
For the Christian this means we no longer have to suffer the full penalty of our sin. This is not a license to sin, but a severing of our former relationship with sin (cf. Romans 5:21-6:2). Sin does reap consequences, but the penalty of our sin has been paid by our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 1 John 1:9-2:2).
4. Who shall proclaim this message?
The prophets from Isaiah himself through to John the Baptist; Jesus (cf. Isaiah 2:2-3), and His Apostles (cf. Acts 1:8); the Church and ourselves.
5. Who is this message for?
It is for Isaiah’s contemporaries in times of upheaval. It is for those in the Babylonian captivity, and those returning from exile. It for those who await Messiah in John the Baptist’s days. It is for us, as we await Jesus’ return.
Yet let us not stand gazing into heaven (cf. Acts 1:11): we need to be proactive as a living witness to those around us. There is no end of people who need a word of comfort, good news, and encouragement in the midst of the doom and gloom of World news.
6. What shall we cry (ISAIAH 40:6)?
We remind the church of her forgiveness (ISAIAH 40:2), her need for preparedness for the return of Jesus (ISAIAH 40:3), and her mission (ISAIAH 40:9). We remind the people around us of the brevity of life (ISAIAH 40:6-8), but also of the certainty of God’s word (ISAIAH 40:8).
C). REJOICE IN THE LORD - ALWAYS!
Philippians 4:4-7.
It was midnight, and in a certain prison in Philippi, the Apostle Paul and his missionary companion Silas had been left to languish in chains in a dark dungeon. However, if we were to listen in at the door we would not hear the moans and groans and complaints of those who have been unjustly accused and unlawfully beaten - and certainly not the cursing and blasphemy one might otherwise expect - but rather two men lifting their voices in praise to the true and living God. So loud were they there in the inner prison, that the other prisoners could hear them (Acts 16:22-25).
Paul knew what it was like to be “cast down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). So when he exhorted the Philippians to “Rejoice in the Lord, always” (Philippians 4:4), he was not just blowing hot air. The Apostle practiced what he preached.
“Joy” is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). It is ours from the very first day that we put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is part of our very being as God’s children.
Joy is not something that we need to pursue in outward things. The “poor in spirit” are already in possession of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3). The graces of the Holy Spirit are gift-wrapped, with our name written upon them, waiting to be unpacked and put into use.
So Paul insists, “Rejoice in the Lord - always -and again I say, Rejoice!”
The Apostle does not say, ‘anyway’ - as if we might stoically shrug our shoulders and yield blindly to our circumstances. What Paul does say is, “Always” - which rises above our present situation, whatever it may be, and is a constant through all the changes and challenges of life. For emphasis, he repeats the exhortation.
Joy is not the same as happiness. We can enshrine ‘the pursuit of happiness’ in national constitutions, but happiness is not keen to be found. Happiness depends on circumstances - it is illusive: it soon flutters away.
It will surprise many, but true Joy is not found in the ‘the pursuit of happiness’ - but in the pursuit of holiness! If we seem to lack joy, this lack is an affliction of the flesh. We need to recognise who we are - and Whose we are - and lift ourselves, as Paul did, out of the doldrums.
Mary used an equivalent word in her magnificent song of praise: she “exulted” - or “rejoiced” - in God her Saviour (Luke 1:47). And using both words, Jesus tells us that Abraham “exulted” to see Jesus’ day from afar, and “rejoiced” (John 8:56).
It is because “the Lord is at hand” that Paul goes on to exhort the Philippians - and ourselves - to let our “patient self-control” be manifested to all men (Philippians 4:5).
Our “patient self-control” is akin to Paul’s own, when he was able to sing praises in the midst of adversity, as previously discussed. It arises from the joy that is within. The outward look towards all men is part of letting the mind of Christ Jesus be in us (Philippians 2:5).
The Lord is at hand in two senses. First, Jesus has promised that where two or three are gathered together in His name, He is right there in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20). Secondly, He is on the sidelines, waiting for the Day that the Father has set for His return to the earth (Mark 13:32).
In saying, “Be careful for nothing” (Philippians 4:6), the Apostle echoes Jesus’ teaching about anxiety (Matthew 6:25-33). Prayerfulness is the cure to carefulness. Our supplications should be seasoned with “thanksgiving” - knowing that our heavenly Father hears and answers prayer.
The result of all this is “peace” (Philippians 4:7). It is not the peace that the world can give (John 14:27), but it is “the peace of God, which is beyond mortal comprehension.” It is peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).
It is a holistic peace which garrisons our hearts and minds against all that assails us. It speaks of wholeness, wellness, and completeness. It is another fruit of the Spirit to be unwrapped at this season as the angels sing, “peace on earth and goodwill toward men everywhere” (Luke 2:14).
D). THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS.
John 1:19-28.
The witness of John is put on record (John 1:19) because the Council in Jerusalem sent a delegation to him, asking who he thought he was, preaching without licence (from them) out there in the wilderness. They surely knew he was a priest’s son, but they wondered whether he was perhaps setting himself up to be the long-awaited (and soon expected) Messiah? Anticipating their question, John emphatically denied that he was the Messiah (John 1:20).
Or was he “Elijah”? Or “the Prophet” spoken of by Moses? (John 1:21).
(i). John here denies that he is the Elijah of their common expectation because he was the forerunner NOT of a triumphant King who would deliver them from the Romans, BUT of the humble Servant who would die for the sins of His people. Nevertheless, Jesus speaks of John the Baptist as having come in the spirit of Elijah (cf. Matthew 17:10-13).
(ii). Moses spoke of a Prophet like himself, who was to come of the nation of Israel, and to whom they should hearken. This Prophet is not John, but Jesus (cf. John 12:49).
“Who are you?” (John 1:22a).
It would appear that the authorities were more concerned with the man - and what the man was doing, and how he was stepping on their collective ecclesiastical toes - than with the message that he preached. This interview appears to be more of an interrogation than an honest inquiry, and seemed to take on the sneering scorn of an Inquisition before it was over: “What do you say about yourself?” (John 1:22b).
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias” (John 1:23).
John the Baptist thinks nothing of himself: just “the voice” of the crier who announces the approach of the King. When old-time sovereigns of England would make a ‘progress’ throughout their realm, messengers would be sent ahead to make sure the way was clear, potholes filled in, and accommodation made for a vast entourage. This also involved announcing the approach, so that nobody would be caught off guard.
The trouble with John’s questioners was that they had no interest in the One to come. Typical Pharisees (John 1:24), they were too busy trying to figure John out.
Never mind the preacher, we might reply. Look to the One preached.
Familiar with baptism as a means of bringing non-Jews into the commonwealth of Israel, they next questioned John’s authority to baptise those who were already of the Jewish faith (John 1:25).
“I baptise with water,” answered John the Baptist (John 1:26a). This comment anticipates something more: Jesus’ baptising ‘with the Holy Ghost, and with fire’ (cf. Matthew 3:11).
The Baptist was aware that the Messiah was about to be manifested to his hearers (John 1:26b). They did not “know” Him, and neither would they know Him, for they had no desire to know Him.
John the Baptist spoke of the One coming after him, who was preferred before him (John 1:27a; cf. John 1:15). John saw himself as not even fit for the lowliest task of a slave: loosening the sandals of his Master (John 1:27b).
John 1:28. The geographical note takes us far from Jerusalem. What folly on the part of the deputation from Jerusalem, to travel so far into the wilderness to try to discredit the man who was announcing the approach of their long expected Messiah. What lengths people will go to oppose the Word of God!
