The Voice Speaks

“The Voice Speaks” Isaiah 40:1-11

1. Today is the second Sunday of Advent (Second Coming) today there is a Voice that Cries out

• The Voice we hear is God. God voice says, “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem “Tell her I forgive her of her wrongs, her sins, her forgiveness has freed her she can return to her home land).

• The Voice tells Israel she is forgiven of her sins, injustices, and unfaithfulness.

2. The Voice say’s “prepare the way of The lord” Fix the road for your return Israel Restore the road

• Then a voice cried out in the heavenly council: “prepare the way of the Lord; make straight a highway for our Go. Valleys will be lifted up, mountains and hills made low; the uneven ground will be level, the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people shall see it together, the Lord has spoken” (vv. 3-5).

• This voice called for the creation of a highway for God, one in which the people could travel home. “This way is the way of restoration.” The people needed a voice of restoration

• The voice they once heard of Defeat was being replaced by the voice of victory,

• The voice they once heard is they are sinful (Corrupt, evil, bad)

• We now hear the voice of God who claims forgiveness ( mercy, compassion, pardon) ,

• They once heard the voice that of loss (Harm, damage, injury)

• Now Israel and us hear the voice of restoration. (Repair renewal rebuild)

3. The voice tells the Prophet, Man is frail But God is Might and His Arm Rules or great strength All people are grass, our beauty just fades away kind of like I was young now I am old

• The voice says basically despite the frailty of man God’s word endures forever

• God’s word has survived centuries, survived transliterations, persecutions, doubt and disbelief critics

• In A.D. 303, the Roman Emperor Diocletian (Dial Cleat en) demanded that every copy of the Scriptures in the Roman Empire be burned. He failed, and 25 years later, the Roman Emperor Constantine commissioned a scholar named Eusebius (U Sip E Us) to prepare 50 copies of the Bible at government expense

• Voltaire, the French skeptic and infidel who died in 1778, said that 100 years from his time, Christianity would be swept from existence and passed into history, and that the Bible would be a forgotten book. Many years after Voltaire’s death, the Geneva Bible Society used his press and his house to produce stacks of Bibles.

4. The Voice tells Israel Jesus is Isaiah’s dream come true, the one who fulfills the prophecy:

• “See, the Lord God comes with might, He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep” (Isaiah 40:10-11).

• Jesus feeds his flock like a shepherd. He is the One who has the power to straighten us out, but also the grace and love to restore us.

• When we celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas, we remember the words of Isaiah: “Here is you’re God!” Jesus does the work of restoration, forgiving us and giving us new life. He makes the rough places smooth and the crooked ways straight.

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5. The Voice spoke tenderly to his disciples and to us here today and those watching by livestream

• The glory of the lord is revealed in birth of messiah, revealed in Jesus Christ, and is revealed to the disciples and is revealed to us today.

• The Voice brought Comfort remember the beginning words of the text 40Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Every valley will be lifted up, every mountain smoothed out, uneven ground leveled, rough places will be made smooth , man fades but God’s word endures,

• The voice speaks from the mountain as a herald of good tidings;*do not fear;‘ Here is your God!’

10 See, the Lord GOD comes with might, his reward is with him, It is the birth of HOPE Peace Love, Joy

• The voice speaks to all11 He (Jesus born in the city of Bethlehem) will feed his flock like a shepherd;

he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead.