Introduction

An organism that is less than a billionth of our size has disrupted our lives in a way not seen since World War II. We can't see it and yet it is very real. It has brought life to a screeching halt, and it has caused a lot of us to react in fear. This morning, I want us to consider something else, better yet, someone else who we can't see but is even more real than the coronavirus. I want us to behold our God in his majesty, and I think Isaiah 40 is an excellent place to do that.

Dr. Allan MacRea has called this portion of Isaiah, chapters 40:1-56:8, the gospel of Isaiah and he says that "chapter 40 may be considered a beautiful overture to the entire section." As it is proper, the gospel of Isaiah starts with God and who he is.

I. The Context of the Prophecy, 1-5

A. Isaiah jumps 150 years in his prophecy, from the days of Hezekiah to the end of the Babylonian captivity.

B. He announces their deliverance from Babylon as a type or example of the future deliverance that the Messiah will bring.

C. His message changes so dramatically that some scholars have decided that another person wrote this portion of the prophecy – contrast 6:9-13 with 40:1-2

Is. 6:9-13 – And He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed." Then I said, 'Lord, how long?" And He answered: "Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate, the LORD has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. But yet a tenth will be in it, and will return and be for consuming, as a terebinth tree or as an oak, whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump."

D. Yet, the change of the message is occasioned by a new set of circumstances in the context of the prophecy.

E. It must have brought Isaiah great joy to be able to bring to his people a message of comfort instead of one of judgment.

1. He is to comfort God's people because deliverance is near, 1-2.

a. Her warfare is ended – literally her hard work as captives has ended.

b. Her iniquity is pardoned – the sins for which she went into captivity have been forgiving.

c. She has received double from the Lord – hyperbole that means that the sins have completely been atoned for.

2. The Lord himself will prepare the way out of Babylon and into the Promised Land, 3-5.

a. The Israelites don't have to make their own way out.

b. They don't have to figure out on their own because God will provide.

3. God's promise of deliverance from the Babylonian captivity is a glorious type/picture of our deliverance from sin in Christ Jesus.

a. The deliverance from Babylon pointed to Christ, the final redeemer.

b. The verses that speak of God's preparing the way for the Israelites are applied to John the Baptist as he prepares the way for Jesus.

c. The glory of the Lord has finally been revealed in its fullness in Jesus Christ, 5.

d. In the same manner that the Israelites didn't have to and could not have made their own way out of Babylon, we cannot make our way out of our captivity to sin.

e. But Christ came to be the way so that all who believe in him would have eternal life and would be able to come to the Father.

II. Behold Your God, 9.

A. In the context of deliverance, the people of God are called to look upon their God.

B. It is more than a simple look.

1. It is to gaze upon God.

2. It is to stare at him.

3. It is not to look to the right or to the left.

C. In this context of deliverance, the job of the one proclaiming the Word of God is to show God to his people.

D. So, people of God, here is your God and he is a majestic, glorious God.

III. The Incomparable Majesty of God, 6-8, 12-26.

A. The majesty of God is displayed in the temporary nature of men and the eternality of his Word, 6-8.

1. All created things will pass way, even the most lovely thing, 6-7.

2. But the Word of God will stand true forever.

a. It will never change because it reveals God and his will.

b. God and his will never change, 28

"God is the one-enduring reality in a constantly changing world, and he has himself designed it so." Geoffrey Grogan

c. Because of the very nature of its Author, the Word will stay the same regardless of social context, age, technology, and family circumstances.

d. It will always be more powerful than a two-edged sword.

B. The majesty of God attested by his being the only Creator God, 12.

C. The majesty of God attested by his being the only wise God, 13-14

1. All the other creative deities of antiquity had to ask for the advice of the other gods before being able to create.

2. Yahweh doesn't have to ask for advice from any other gods because there isn't any other God to be asked.

1 Tim. 1:17 – Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

D. The majesty of God attested by his immensity, by his vastness, by his being infinitely big, 15-17.

1. What difference does a single drop in the bottom of a bucket or a speck of dust on a scale make? That's the difference that the power of all the nations of the world make when compared to God's might, 15.

a. This is the God we serve.

b. A mighty God beyond all power.

c. A God who being all powerful is able to deliver us from all enemies including death itself.

d. A God who, although all powerful, became man and was born in a manger, weak and lowly, and suffer humiliation for your and my redemption.

"Who us this, so weak and helpless, child of lowly Hebrew maid, rudely in a stable sheltered, coldly in a manger laid? 'Tis the Lord of all creation, who this wondrous path has trod; he is God from everlasting, and to everlasting God." Hymn 239:1 – William Walsham How

2. Even if we were to burn all the trees of the land from the most impressive forests and offer all the animals found in those forests upon that fire, we couldn't even come close to presenting a worthy sacrifice to our God, 16.

a. There is nothing man can offer as an exchange for God's favor.

b. There is nothing that we have that is valuable enough that we can take it to an infinity God and say, "Here God, take this in exchange for whatever blessings you are bestowing upon me," 17.

Is. 64:6 – But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.

c. We must do the exact opposite.

d. We come to God knowing that there isn't anything good in us we can offer to him.

e. We come before him knowing that our salvation is not in us, but in Christ Jesus who was good enough and has offered what is pleasing to the Lord in our behalf.

f. We come to the Lord like the tax collector did – "Be merciful to me, a sinner."

E. The majesty of God attested by the fact that he cannot be compared to anything man can make, 18-20.

1. Can people make an image of such a powerful God as described in verses 15-17? No!

2. Yet our sinful hearts try.

3. This passage shows that people know God exists and that it is part of the essence of humanity to worship.

4. This passage also shows that, in rebellion to their created design and to the true God, they make idols for them to worship – general characteristic implied by inclusive rich and poor.

5. This passage is not talking about some less enlightened, ancient culture.

a. It is speaking about us.

b. We were created to worship the majestic God that Isaiah has been describing for us.

c. Yet, we prefer turning from him and we try to fulfill our need for worship by worshiping created things instead of the glorious, majestic, creator, redeemer God of the Scriptures.

1) We worship the idols of our hearts.

2) We worship money, family, a good marriage, body shapes, moral children, status, etc.

3) All good things till they replace God as the chief end of our lives.

4) Every time that something else besides God becomes the driving purpose of our lives we have fallen into idolatry and need to repent.

6. The main goal of the craftsman who is making this idol is for it not to wobble, 20.

a. The God who created heaven earth is calling him to worship him, and all he can think about is whether the little statue will stand.

b. God has so much more to offer, yet we are satisfied to worship the idols of our heart when all they can do is not wobble at best.

c. We worship them when we could be worshiping and experiencing the grandeur, the majesty, the goodness of the good that holds the entire universe in the palm of his hand!

d. We need to repent and turn to him in Christ and he will forgive us and open up the storehouse of his mercy, grace, and goodness to be poured upon us.

F. The majesty of God is attested in comparison to the power of earthly rulers, 21-24

1. God sits enthroned upon the universe; he is the supreme king, 21-22

a. This is not something new that the people of God didn't know about, 21.

1) It has been true from the very beginning of time.

2) They just have been living according to this truth.

3) Are we living according to the truth that we have a majestic God who sits enthroned and rules over all the affairs of this world?

b. He sits in the universe throne room and rules over it, 22.

2. The rulers and world empires are at his disposal, 23-24

a. The rulers of the earth are placed and removed by him, 23.

b. They cannot be compared to our majestic God, 24.

c. Two things to learn from this.

1) Do not trust rulers or human powers to deliver you, instead trust God who in Jesus Christ has provided deliverance from sin and death through faith.

2) Do not trust the fact that you are a citizen of the most powerful country in the world for your deliverance; trust God who is in control of America and of all world powers.

G. The majesty of God is attested in comparison to the Babylonian deities, 25-26

1. The Babylonians worshiped the stars, moon, sun, etc.

2. God says, "They are not gods. I created them."

3. We, at times, find ourselves worshiping the created things instead of God; God says to us, "They are not gods. I created them. They have no power to deliver you. Worship me."

IV. The God Who Is Strong Gives Strength to His Frail People, 27-31.

A. This majestic God inclines his ear to us and hears us.

B. Why should we doubt God's ability to help us, to deliver us? 27.

C. Our God never stops watching over us, 28.

D. Why despair under any circumstance?

1. God will exchange our weakness for his strength, 29.

2. Even those who are considered strongest by human standards will fall, 30.

3. But those who trust in the Lord, as feeble as they may be, will soar to the highest heavens, 31.

4. God will give them grace to do all the walking (obeying) they need to do without tiring.

V. The Majestic, Glorious, Creator, Redeemer God Relates to Us as a Tender Shepherd, 10-11.

A. The God who created heaven and earth, who has control over all the nations, has chosen to relate to us a tender, gentle Shepherd.

B. He even speaks of us, who are nothing, as being his reward and recompense, 10.

C. He feed his flock like a shepherd – not one of his sheep will starve because God didn't give him/her the mill and meat of his Word.

D. He gathers his lambs in his arms – not one of them will be lost. They will all come to him and he will pick them up and hold them tight.

E. He carries them in his bosom

1. He carries his sheep (you and I) close to him, protecting them from the attacks of the enemy.

2. This is a picture of the Shepherd carrying the weakest of the flock.

F. He gently leads them that are with young – he is tender to those who are most vulnerable – the mothers who just gave birth and their young.

"God will be mild, kind, gentle, and compassionate, so that he will not drive the weak harder than they are able to bear." John Calvin.

Conclusion

This description of God as our majestic ruler and tender Shepherd is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ.

John 10:11-18 – I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.

Christ laid down his life for his sheep. He leads them beside the still waters. He does that for those who have repented of their sins and turned to God in faith, trusting that God in Christ to forgive all their sins.

This is our majestic God. He asks in verse 25, "To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal?" The answer is there is no one equal to our God. He is supreme. He is majestic beyond all our imaginations.

People of God, BEHOLD YOUR GOD!

http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2020/03/behold-you-god-isaiah-40.html