Introduction

Friends, some days the volume of life drowns out the Voice that matters most. Bills stack up, calendars crowd in, regrets from yesterday rattle the nerves of today. Yet, over the noise, God still speaks. Isaiah 48 opens like a loving Father calling from the front porch: Come here, listen to Me. I have kept My word. I have carried you. I will teach you what profits your soul. That is good news for tired hearts and thin patience. Your Father is faithful, your Redeemer is near, and the Spirit is present and active.

Isaiah’s words carry the softness of mercy and the steel of holiness. The Lord tells His people, I have told you from the start so you would know I did this. I knew your stubbornness, and I still chose you. I refined you in the furnace of affliction, not to break you, but to bless you. He then calls us to come close: I am the First and the Last; My hand stretched out the heavens. He reminds us there is a path that leads to profit, a way that leads to peace like a river, righteousness like rolling waves. Who doesn’t want that? Who doesn’t need that?

Some of us know what it’s like to run, to rationalize, to resist. We hear the Lord and we hesitate. Isaiah 48 meets us right there. It celebrates one Lord who speaks and keeps His word. It reveals the sending of the Messiah and the Holy Spirit. And it invites us to walk in the teaching of the Triune God with fresh affection and steady obedience. This is not cold command; it is warm invitation. The Lord ties His name to your good. He ties His promises to your peace.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it plainly: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship) That sounds heavy, yet it leads to life and lasting joy. In Isaiah 48, God asks us to lay down stubborn self-rule and lift up listening hearts. He asks us to trust His voice again. He is not a distant deity with crossed arms. He is a covenant-keeping King with open hands, teaching us to profit, leading us in the way we should go.

So take a breath. Let the Word wash over your worries. Let the Spirit steady your steps. As we read Isaiah 48, ask the Lord to give you a soft ear and a willing walk. Hear His affection. Feel His authority. Receive His guidance. And imagine the river of peace He desires to send through your life, your family, your future.

Isaiah 48 (KJV) 1 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. 2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name. 3 I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. 4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; 5 I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. 6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. 7 They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. 8 Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb. 9 For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. 10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. 11 For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another. 12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. 13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. 14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. 15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. 16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me. 17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. 18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: 19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me. 20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob. 21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. 22 There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.

Opening Prayer Father, we come with open hands and hopeful hearts. Speak, Lord, for Your servants are listening. Lord Jesus, our Redeemer, thank You for Your steadfast love and Your strong salvation. Holy Spirit, open our ears, soften our hearts, steady our steps. Teach us to profit. Lead us in the way we should go. Let peace flow like a river through our minds and homes. Guard us from stubborn pride. Grant us willing obedience and worship that honors Your name. For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. In Jesus’ name, amen.

One Lord who speaks and keeps his word

God does not keep quiet. He speaks. He tells us what He plans. He tells us what He has done. He sets His words in the open, not tucked away. In Isaiah 48, He says He told His people from the start what would happen. Then it happened. That is how He guards their hearts. He knows they are tempted to give credit to anything else. So He keeps saying, I said it first. I brought it to pass. History becomes a witness. Promises become proof. His voice is steady. His record is clear.

He also tells them new things. Things they could not have guessed. Things hidden until the right time. He opens their ears to hear what they missed before. He reminds them that He has been speaking all along. He is not distant. He is not hiding. He draws near and says, Come close and listen. He stands by every word. He is faithful to speak. He is faithful to act. That is how trust grows.

This matters for us. We live in noise. We need a clear word that does not change. God gives that word. He sets it down before us. He ties it to real events. He ties it to real dates and real names. He leaves no doubt about who did it. He lets no idol steal the praise. When He speaks, He also shows.

The weight of His voice comes from who He is. He calls Himself the first and the last. There was no one before Him. There will be no one after Him. He formed the ground we stand on. He spread out the skies overhead. He calls to creation and it responds. Sun and stars stand at attention. Oceans and mountains take their place. When He speaks, all things hear.

This means His words do not wobble. They do not depend on trends or polls. They do not fade with time. They carry the strength of His name. They carry the reach of His hand. They rest on His unchanging life. When He says He will do something, His power can do it. When He says He has done something, His works show it.

So when He gathers His people and says, Listen, there is love in that call. There is also authority. He can summon. He can command. He can comfort. He can correct. Every sentence comes from the same holy mouth. Every promise rises on the same firm ground. That is why we bow our ears. That is why we quiet our hearts.

His speaking is not just about facts. It is about our good. He says He teaches us to gain what truly helps. He leads us in the way we should go. He gives a path, not a maze. He gives wisdom, not riddles. He shows how to walk when we are unsure. He gives light for the next step and the step after that.

He also shows what could have been when we shut our ears. He says their calm could have been deep and lasting. Their right living could have flowed on and on. Their family line could have been strong and wide. He does not say this to shame. He says it to wake up the heart. He wants them to see that His commands are a gift. His ways are good roads. His counsel brings life.

We need that same help. We do not always listen. We rush. We stall. We pick other guides. Then we feel thin and tired. God says, Come back to My voice. My words lift you. My steps hold you. My wisdom will not fail you in the long run. He aims not only to inform us but to form us. He speaks to heal, to guide, to steady.

He also shows that His words land in real history. He names a ruler who will press back Babylon. He says, I called him. I will make his way succeed. He does not guess. He declares. Then He brings it about. He tells His people to leave the land of chains with singing. Tell it to the ends of the earth, He says. Say that the Lord has set Jacob free. This is not a vague idea. This is rescue with dates, roads, and songs.

He reminds them of the desert days. They did not go thirsty when He led them. He split the rock and water rushed out. He turned hard ground into a stream. He knows how to care for His people in the dry place. He knows how to meet needs they cannot meet. He is the same God still. The promise-maker is the provider. The speaker is the sustainer.

There is also a sober line at the end of the chapter. Those who refuse Him do not find rest. That word is as true as the words of comfort. Both stand. Both come from the same Lord. He keeps warning so that we will hear. He keeps saving so that we will sing. He keeps leading so that we will walk.

The Lord sends his Messiah and the Holy Spirit

Isaiah says it plainly: “and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me” (v ... View this full PRO sermon free with PRO