November 30, 2003
Title: 3 Voices of Isaiah 40
Text: Isaiah 40:1-9
Introduction
1. There are many voices clamoring for our attention this holiday season!
I have already been receiving many donation requests in the mail
Many that I’m sure are important and legitimate.
different ministries and groups...
My family has already decided where we are going to donate some of our money...
I’ll tell you more about that next week.
2. I have been seeing the ad flyers in the newspapers...
Each one has its own voice...
"shop here"
"buy me"
3. I have already heard the voices of my children...
"I want a Barbi Doll
I want a Play Station
I want a motor bike
I want a bb gun...
I want...I want...I want...
4. I’ve heard the voice of my wife...
"when are you going to get out the Christmas tree...
When you are going to do this...
when are you going to do that...
5. All these voices....
all clamoring for my attention...
all wanting me to prepare for Christmas in ways that are important to them...
Have you heard any of these voices?
6. There are other voices too...
these voices are just as important...
and even more important than these other voices...
But, sometimes, the voices get so loud...
and they are all crying out at the same time...
that these other important voices get lost in the noise...
7. I have a mild hearing problem...
I have trouble hearing people speak when I am in a noisy room...
for example, when we are having a fellowship time in the fellowship hall...
and there is a lot of visiting and laughing going on...
if someone across the table is speaking to me...
I have a hard time hearing what they are saying to me...
I went to several doctors...
and they finally diagnosed my problem...
and came up with a solution...
a hearing aid in my left ear...
(yes, it sure does make me feel old!!)
This hearing aid is programmed to amplify sounds that are at a certain frequency...
thus enabling me to hear better.
8. This morning, I would like to amplify 3 voices that are getting lost in the hubbub of holiday noise...
These voices are so important....
and yet, if we don’t focus on them...
we are in danger of not hearing the important message that they are trying to communicate to us.
And all 3 voices can be heard in our text this morning.
Read Text: Isaiah 40:1-9
9. This is a fascinating passage of Scripture...
A. First of all, it was a prophetic message for Isaiah and the Israelites in his day...
The message for them: God wanted Isaiah and other prophets to share the Good News that the captivity was coming to an end.
God’s deliverance was at hand.
Babylonian Exile took the chosen people away from the Promise Land
They were taken away from their homes...
away from their Temple...
where they worshipped God...
The story of Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego happened during the Babylonian Exile.
And God sends a message through Isaiah, that the time is near...
He tells Isaiah to "comfort, comfort My people"
B. It also prophesy concerning the birth and ministry of Christ...
This message to Isaiah prophesies about the coming of John...
who is the voice of one crying in the wilderness...
and he is preparing the way for the coming of Christ
C. And, it is also a message for us today in 2003.
Let’s open our ears to the voice of the Lord this morning...
so that we can hear the message He has for us.
Body
1. Voice #1: Repent and Prepare vs. 3
A. This first voice is found in verse 3
"In the desert prepare the way for the Lord...
This voice is frequently associated with John the Baptist.
John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus...
was the be the voice of preparation for the people of Jesus’ day...
they were to prepare for the coming ministry of Jesus Christ...
B. And how were they to prepare?
In Matthew 3:2, John the Baptist says, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near"
The first step of preparation for the Israelites for release of captivity...
was repentance...
repentance for allowing idol worship to enter in...
repentance for not keeping the covenant with God...
to worship Him and Him alone...
And so here, around 700 BC, the message is to "repent"...
C. The first step of preparation for the Jewish people in Jesus day...
they were to repent...
repent for their sins...
repent for attitudes...
D. And the first step of preparation today, in 2003...
we need to repent...
If we truly want to enjoy the Christmas season...
we need to prepare our hearts...
and the first step of preparation is repentance.
We cannot truly enjoy the celebration of Christmas...
if we have allowed sin to have a foothold in our hearts...
so today, in our preparation for Christmas...
we need to examine our hearts...
and if sin has come in...
if bad attitudes have come in...
if wrong actions have come in...
we need to repent.
E. Many people will prepare for the holidays in different ways...
Christmas decorations...
planning family get togethers...
but the most important preparation you can make...
is to make sure that your heart with right with God...
and if it isn’t...
you need to repent.
F. The world today thinks that we can live with sin in our life...
and still be a Christian...
we can still have a good relationship with Christ...
without any kind of change of direction...
or change of heart....
but there is a voice sounding off that says, "you must REPENT"
you must prepare the road of your heart...
you must do some construction work on the rough places in your soul
most people won’t hear that voice...
or if they do, they will tune it out...
If you desire to truly be prepared for the Christmas season...
you must listen to that voice...
and repent.
G. I find it interesting in Isaiah 40:3, that the voice is quoted as saying,
"IN THE DESERT, prepare the way for the Lord"...
Most people put the quotations at, the voice of one crying in the desert,
But I find special meaning in the quotations "In the desert"...(NIV)
to me that says that when we are in the desert...
when we are spiritually dry...
when our soul seems to have turned to dust...
that is where we need to begin the preparations for the Lord...
preparations that begin by REPENTANCE...
and other spiritual preparations.
Do you feel spiritually dry?
Do you feel spiritually unready for the Christmas season?
Do you feel spiritually parched in your soul?
Then that is the exact time and place to begin your preparations!!!
2. Voice #2: Cry Out Is 40:6
A. There is another voice calling out for our attention...
It is found in verse 6.
This voice is saying, "Cry out"
Then Isaiah asks, "what shall I cry?"
And the voice basically says, "the things of mankind are just temporary...
They don’t really last...
But the things of the Lord...
they last forever"
B. Commentators indicate that the voice telling Isaiah to "cry out"...
is likely the voice of an angel (more about angels tonight)...
C. If there is ever a time when we need to hear this voice...
it is now!!!
Our world has become so materialistic...
our Christian holidays have become so commercialized...
and, now that that economy is starting to come back...
I’m sure that many people are just going to SPEND SPEND SPEND...
this holiday season...
D. But there is a voice crying out...
most people can’t hear it over the crashing pandemonium that has become our Christmas holiday...
It is buried under the sounds of cash registers ringing up tons of gifts....
it is buried under the sounds of shoppers fighting over the super sale items...
It is the voice saying...
"what do you think you are accomplishing?
These things won’t buy you happiness!!
In fact, most of these things will break and end up in the return aisle at Wal-Mart...
they won’t last...
the only thing in this world that lasts...
Is God...
Our text says, "the Word of our God stands forever"
E. This Christmas season, most people will ignore that voice...
but deep inside they will realize that they are missing something...
they just aren’t fulfilled...
they seem to be lacking something...
and they will probably go back out to the department store...
trying to buy one last item to fill that hole in their soul...
Ignoring the 1 voice that would lead them to the truth.
3. Voice #3: "Here is Your God" Isaiah 40:9
A. There is a 3rd voice...
This 3rd voice in Isaiah’s time was Isaiah’s own voice...
it was his voice telling the people "Here is your God"...
It is also the voice of John the Baptist, who proclaimed in John 1:29...
"Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world"
B. But here in 2003, whose voice is it that says, "Here is your God"...
whose voice is it that says, "Look, the Lamb of God is here"...
Let me read that verse again in our text...it is so beautifully written...
You who bring good tidings to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good tidings 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!"
Isaiah 40:9 (NIV)
Whose voice is that?
It is SUPPOSED to be OUR voice!!!
Just like the Choir sang this morning...
"Go tell it on the mountain...
over the hills and everywhere...
go tell it on the mountain...
that Jesus Christ is born!"
C. We need to lift up our voices...
we need to be shouting it from the top of our lungs...
"Look, Jesus is here...
This is what He did for me...
and this is what He can do for you...
if you will let Him"
Conclusion
This morning...I’m sure you will acknowledge that you can hear many voices...
voices of vendors...
stores...
newspapers...
televisions ads...
we are surrounding by such a racket of competing voices...
that we will not likely hear the voices that we need to hear...
1. The voice of God...calling us to preparation...
the voice of God calling us to repentance...
If you want to enjoy the Christmas season better than ever...
you need to tune in to that voice...
and make sure you are right with the Lord, first thing!
2. Most people probably won’t hear the voice of the angel telling us that all this STUFF is temporary...
it won’t last...
the only thing of lasting value...
is what God can do for you...
3. And that last voice...
that last voice is yours...
and mine...
the voices that we lift in bringing glory to God...
can you hear that last voice?
4. If you can’t hear the 1st 2 voices...
that is a problem with your hearing...
perhaps this morning, this sermon has served as a hearing aid...
amplifying those voices...
so that you can hear them through the noise...
5. But if you can’t hear the 3rd voice...
that is a problem...
not of your hearing....
but of your speaking...
you aren’t speaking out about Christ...
you aren’t speaking out about THE answer for the world’s problems...
