God Announces the Shepherd Pt 6

Turn once again to the book of
Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40. As you may recall, we took up
this chapter as kind of a focus on. The Christmas season, the
Christ of Christmas. Christmas is past. And yet Christ
is and should be still in focus. Many of us had occasion to take
in. The Messiah, as it came through
town, most commented that it was among the best that they’d
ever heard if they had heard it live, I think everybody was
encouraged that much of the Messiah is built on this particular chapter. It opens literally with the opening
verses. We have been considering God’s
announcement of a shepherd. The glorious truths of the Messiah’s
advent. And as that. Chapter opens by
way of reminder. Or even by way of introduction
for those of you who haven’t been here. What the prophet is
doing here is following up on a message really of doom and
difficulty for the nation of Israel, who is going to be taken
captive into Babylon. And how fitting the opening words
of Isaiah chapter 40 are words of comfort. That Isaiah opens
with the words, Comfort, O comfort my people. There is substance to his announcement
and his Harold is to prepare the way with essentially an announcement
of repentance. We saw that this is John the
Baptist ministry, and that’s what points the entirety of this
message towards the Lord Jesus Christ. The shepherd. Is ultimately introduced in verses
nine through 11, but the entire chapter points directly to him. As the first message, the first
of four messages, opens in verse 6, the prophet has an exhortation
to proclaim, first of all, the eternality of God’s Word, that
this is a perpetual, enduring message, an eternal message for
the ages. And then finally, it opens up
to the Messiah in verses 9 through 11. Where the Messiah is declared
to be God, he is declared to be mighty. He is declared to
be surprisingly a judge. And he is declared to be a shepherd. The second of four messages in
verses 12 through 17 articulates God is the God of peace. God
did not want them, the nation of Israel, held captive forever. God is a God. who pursues peace
and longs for peace and cultivates peace. And in this particular
case, ultimately would issue forth the ultimate peace treaty
wrought by Christ and his death on the cross. There’s a third
message that opens up in verses 18 through 26, and it’s a natural
flow, a contrast between God and idols. Israel had fallen
into many types of idolatry. syncretism with the other nations.
And here, Isaiah rebukes that idolatry. How on earth could
they compare anything with God Himself? And that brings us to the fourth
and final message. The concluding message, if you
will. Where the strength of the Lord
comes into focus. If you would, read along with
me, beginning in verse 27. Why do you say, oh, Jacob and
assert, oh, Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord. And the
justice do me escapes the notice of my God. Do you not know, have
you not heard the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of
the ends of the earth, does not become weary or tired. His understanding
is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary
and to him who lacks might. He increases power, though youths
grow weary and tired and vigorous young men stumble badly. Yet
those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. They will
mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired,
they will walk and not become weary. How sad that in our day and age
those last two verses are essentially reduced to a pep rally for a
football team. That is the most common context
in which I’ve heard those words. Essentially a pep rally some
inspiring words for a football team whether they’re Christians
or not. Well. There’s much more to these words. There was much more than even
was spoken to the nation of Israel. Certainly, the nation of Israel
saw these words and knew them to be true. There was a truth
for them. But as we’ve already talked about,
there was a greater fulfillment to these words. The greater fulfillment
had everything to do with Jesus Christ and the salvation offered
through him. The prophet wants to give us
perspective here, but he wants us to ponder the truth. He wants
us to ponder the truth and the nature about God and the nature
of the God who would issue forth comfort, comfort unto peace. Well, and for that, he gives
us three final considerations. First of all, consider the utterly
ridiculous perspective of God. And this isn’t just the nation
of Israel’s perspective of God. Wait till you see how much this
smarts. Consider the other utterly ridiculous
perspective of God, why do you say, oh, Jacob and assert, oh,
Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord and the justice do me
escapes the notice of my God. Now, I’ll tell you, the first
time I read those mess that those words, I had a completely different
perspective. And it was only through looking
at the totality of this chapter, backing away and pondering these
things anew that I saw that they’re not talking about what they’re
getting away with. They’re not talking about their
way being hidden from the Lord as if they can stand with impunity.
That’s not what they’re talking about at all. It’s not that they’re saying
that the justice that is due me Because of my sin escapes
the notice of my God, I’m getting away with murder. That’s not
at all what Israel is saying here. That’s not what the prophet
is pointing to. What he’s pointing to is the
whiny nature of this nation. That just like we, they had this
tendency to grumble. to grumble about the unfairness
of God, the lack of justice that they received from God. And it was as if they were wandering
alone, unseen by God, having to endure all the difficulties
that life dished out all by themselves without God ever seeing or caring
or rendering aid or justice. As one characterized it, my cause
is neglected by my God. He passes by my case in bondage
and distress without noticing it and without doing me justice. And Israel, from an earthly human
perspective, probably had good reason to entertain those sentiments
from time to time. Years they have been in captivity. And just like we, When we go
through difficulty, we can make it a week or more, put on a tough
face, present ourselves before the saints of God as enduring
by God’s grace, right? But when difficulty lingers and
when it increases, when it goes from bad to worse, then we slip
into the same kind of mentality, don’t we? Don’t you? My way is hidden from the Lord.
He doesn’t even have a clue what I’m going through. If he does,
he doesn’t care. Why doesn’t he step in in this
particular situation? Why doesn’t he render the aid
that I need? He doesn’t listen to my prayers.
He doesn’t see the tears. He doesn’t know what I’m going
through. He’s allowing those who hate me to trample all over
me. Why doesn’t God do something?
You know what? This is an echo of a very familiar
refrain throughout Scripture. Probably, at least to me, the
most famous of which is Psalm 73. In Psalm 73, the psalmist
starts in a good place. And he starts there because he’s
going to say some things that just shock people. He says, surely
God is good to Israel. To those who are pure in heart,
that’s where I landed, but that’s not always where I’ve been. But
as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, my steps had almost
slipped, for I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity
of the wicked. God, where are you? That’s what
he says. For there are no pains in their
death. Their body is fat. They are not
in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like mankind.
Therefore, pride is their necklace. The garment of violence covers
them. Their eye bulges from fatness. The imagination of their heart
runs riot. They’re getting away with murder.
Where are you, God? And then he comes to verse 16. When I pondered to understand
this, it was troublesome in my sight. The more I looked at it,
the more I saw their opulence, the more I saw that the more
they sinned, the more God seemed to bless them, the more absurd
it became. I could not understand it until I came into the sanctuary
of God. It’s as if He says, you know
what? I was racking my brain, absolutely frustrated, overwhelmed
by the sin that I see so prevalent, so rampant, so unchecked, so
unjudged until I went to church. And he says, and then I perceived
their end. Then God gave me perspective.
This wasn’t a new complaint. Not a new complaint at all. What
the prophet moves to address is those of little faith, they
desired salvation. But what they really wanted to
focus on is themselves. They were cast down, they were
not quite in utter despair, but they were beginning to gnash
their teeth at God. The prophet reminds them that
God is not only the creator, but he is the preserver of all
things. The nation that had been taken
into captivity, they weren’t. Hidden from God’s sight, God
knew their situation and God knows yours. It was a universal complaint
that was raised. But there was another thing that
the prophet would have them consider. Not only consider the utterly
ridiculous perspective of God, and that’s what that is. Is God
blind? Is God asleep? Does God not care? Those are ridiculous perspectives
of God. But secondly, consider the glorious
nature of God. Look at verse 28. Do you not
know? Have you not heard? The everlasting
God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, does not
become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. When he says, do you not know?
Have you not heard? Of course they knew. Of course
they had heard, just like God’s people here this morning. You
know God’s nature. You know what he’s like, you
know, from having read of him, you know, from having experienced
him. And yet we too slip into the
same mentality with these utterly ridiculous ideas about God. From our reading of Scripture. As one characterized it, many
of our foolish threats and fears would vanish before a strict
inquiry into the causes of them. Remember, when we are in Romans
eight, that’s what I see. Romans eight is basically a refresher
course in who God is and in what he’s capable of doing. Many of
our foolish threats and fears would vanish before a strict
inquiry into the causes of them. Here, an ill-natured, ill-favored
word they spoke of God as if he had cast them off. It was
a word of despair concerning their present calamitous condition. These questions, these questions
are essentially designed to call this wayward nation’s attention
to the folly of their ridiculous attitude. It wasn’t true. They should know because of their
life experience with God and all that they have seen him do,
not just from the testimony of the pages of Scripture, although
that’s enough. Even if you had never seen him
move, even if you only had one verse, Psalm 147, five grades
is our Lord and abundant in strength. His understanding is infinite. That’s enough to solve their
problem right there. That’s enough. He goes on. Do you not know, have you not
heard the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends
of the earth does not become weary or tired, these images
are almost absurd, right? God in a hammock taking a nap,
right? It’s an absurd image. He created the ends of the earth,
the totality, every last infinite detail. God created it all. He’s spoken into existence by
the word of his mouth. And it was so. Is this God going
to run out of energy? Is this God? going to become
so overwhelmed with all the difficulties that his people face that one
more he simply can’t take. He’s too stressed out. He needs
to go have some rest. Is that our God? God said one who made all even
the most desolate and barbarous parts of the earth He consequently
takes care of them. He will not neglect His own land
and people. He is not by age or hard labor
become weak and unable to help His people. It’s an absurd thought. It’s an absurd thought. One of
the titles so often given to God is Almighty God. He is Almighty. There is nothing that stands
in His way. Nothing is too difficult for Him. The Prophet says that his understanding
is inscrutable. We don’t understand God. We don’t understand why God does
things, but we can know God. We can know how he functions. Generally speaking, we won’t
know why to every question. But when the difficulties and
trials come. It cannot help but be seen that
God is there. And he sees what we go through. And it’s by his eternal counsels
that he governs the world according to his sovereign will, not ours. This idea of the language. One pastor characterized it excellently
when he said the language can only be understood as referring
to the incomprehensibility of God. We can know God, we can
love God, we can understand some of his attributes, we can’t understand
the depth of them, and we can’t understand or figure out God,
not completely. He goes on, the people might,
to a certain extent, understand the ways of God. But never fully
understand him when God’s redeemed people behold his ways, they
may to a degree understand that the wondrous, the wondrous insight
of God, the understanding of man is the understanding of a
creature. We can understand each other
better than we can figure out God. The creators. The understanding of God is that
of the creator, he is infinite. And finite man can know God and
apprehend him as he has only as he has revealed himself. Nevertheless,
it cannot fully comprehend him. His understanding is inscrutable.
We can’t we can’t even criticize because we can’t fully know why
God does what God does. There’s a third consideration. And we close. And we prepare
for the Lord’s table with this third. Not only are we to consider
the utterly ridiculous perspective of God that so often we entertain. We are to consider the glorious
nature of God. And thirdly, we are to consider
the overwhelming generosity of God. Not only is God all powerful,
but the amazing thing is here in verses 29 through 31, The
whole message is that God shares this power. God generously gives
this power, this strength. Look at verse 29, he gives strength
to the weary and to him who lacks might, he increases power. Though
youths grow weary and tired and vigorous young men stumble badly,
yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. They will mount up with wings
like eagles. They will run and not get tired.
They will walk and not become weary. But he points to here giving
strength. To the weary. Points to the fact
that not only does God not get tired himself, he’s the one that
keeps us from thinking he’s the one that keeps us from falling
off. He’s the one that keeps us going, pressing forward, enduring. It is he who gives strength to
those who are struggling. We don’t have any strength in
ourselves. We must constantly as Christians,
as those who have placed their faith in God, we must constantly
draw upon that supply. The supply of God himself. This
was the testimony from the earliest pages of the Gospels. This was
the testimony of Christ. Blessed are you who hunger now. You shall be satisfied. Blessed
are you who weep now. You shall laugh. There is a promise
of grace. There is a promise of strength. There is a promise of hope to
the weakest of God’s children. Then he brings up this passage
that is so often abused and maligned for no other purpose than inspiration
for a sporting event, though youths grow weary and tired and
vigorous young men stumble badly. What it points to is the purity
of youth, the strength of youth, the vigor of youth. That even
these are susceptible. Even these. Get set aside by
the difficulties of life, They seem to have so much energy.
They seem to have so much. Will to survive. But even young men. Even youths,
young soldiers, young men, young athletes. Young Christians. Even those people through just
the natural process of fighting the battle were going to succumb
They’re going to get tired. They’re going to struggle. They’re
going to get worn down. As one pastor said, not merely
do men become tired, but even the strongest and most choice
become weary. Those most fit for athletic contests,
most fit for military service, despite their strength and training,
they nevertheless become weary and due to exhaustion, they stumble. Isn’t that your weakest moment
when you’re tired? Right? You’re just tired, worn
down, and the comments just come, don’t they? Yet, and here’s the hope. Yet
those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. It’s a walk
of faith. This is a matter of faith. And
placing our faith in the Creator, In the One that made the earth.
In the One that never tires. Placing our faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, who has already accomplished all things. That’s
where our strength comes. That’s where our vigor is returned
to us. We are to rely on Him. And He
will give us the strength to bear these burdens. He will give
us the strength to endure And he finishes with those last
three phrases, they will mount up like like with wings like
eagles. He uses one of the most powerful
images in nature. Proverbs 30 echoes that the use
of that same imagery, there are three things which are too wonderful
for me for which I do not understand the way of an eagle in the sky. He just says it’s a magnificent,
magnificent image. It’s a powerful image. And he
says that young people who struggle, even those who are weary. Will mount up with wings like
eagles, they will run and not yet tired. They will walk and
not become weary. And you say, how does this apply
to us? This is a really good message.
For those who were held captive in a foreign land by a foreign
dictator, a godless nation, idolatrous nation, the nation of Babylon,
taking God’s people captive. We know how this applies to them.
What an encouragement this must have been to them. How does it
apply to us? You receive the power of God
every day if you are a Christian. And it started at the moment
of regeneration. It started at the moment that
you placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it started
even before that. Because God awakened you. The
doctrine of regeneration, if you consider it completely, has
to be looked at in light of the fall because of the fall. Because of the fall, you are
dead spiritually. You’re lifeless and hopeless
and helpless, and if it weren’t for God and his power. You would
have no hope and no life. One pastor. Said it this way. There is a need of a superior
power To subdue our stubborn hearts and sweetly constrain
us to subjection. To inspire us with the love of
God and a hatred of sin. And for this very purpose, the
Holy Spirit of God was sent into the world. It’s by the power
of God’s Holy Spirit that we were first strengthened. We were
first brought back to life by Him. It was exactly Spurgeon
was so all over this point. That he said, we are helpless. And we are helpless to cooperate
on our regeneration because we’re dead. It is the cross alone. that meets
the guilt of sin and its regeneration alone, which meets its power. The Spirit of God must make you
new. You must be born again. The same
power which raised Christ Jesus from the dead must be exerted
in raising us from the dead. It’s exactly what He had in mind.
Do you know what? God, from the moment that He
infused power into you and gave strength and vigor back into
your heart by way of regeneration and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, he didn’t stop there.
That every day then becomes a new feasting on God’s grace. Do you
want to hear, and I mean to move here from the lesser to the greater,
that God is even able to infuse, and I’m not meaning to sound
here like the health and wealth, but God is even able to give
you the means, and by means I mean money. In 2 Corinthians, Paul
is essentially encouraging and shining them at the same time.
They had said that they were all about their magnanimous giving. And yet they had fallen short.
They hadn’t seen it through. And Paul reminds them that God
is able to make all grace abound to you. God is able to give you
the means. Now, what I’m arguing here, if
God is able to give you the means, that is money, in order to support
the work of the ministry, Won’t God also give you the strength?
He absolutely will. God gives us grace every day,
grace for endurance, grace for perseverance, grace for overcoming
sin and difficulty. We take you to a passage, Jesus
parting words. Luke, Chapter 24. In Luke chapter 24, as I said,
these are Jesus parting words, he’s just about to leave the
earth. He has been crucified, he has
revealed himself to his disciples, if you would pick it up in verse
36, Luke 24, verse 36, while they were telling these things,
he himself stood in their midst and said to them, peace be to
you. But they were startled and frightened. and thought they
were seeing a spirit. And he said to them, why are
you troubled and why do you why do doubts arise in your hearts?
See my hands and my feet that it is I myself touch me and see
for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.
And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his
feet, and while they could not believe it because of their joy
and amazement, he said to them, have you anything to eat? They
gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate it before
them. Now, he said to them, these are my words, which I spoke to
you while I was still with you, that all things which are written
about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms
must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to
understand the scriptures and he said to them, thus it is written
that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead
on the third day and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would
be proclaimed in his name to all the nations beginning in
Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things
and behold, I am sending forth the promise of my father upon
you. But you are to stay in the city.
until you are clothed with power from on high. Turn to Luke volume
two. Gotcha, didn’t I? Acts, the book
of Acts, Luke volume two. And pick it up in verse nine
of chapter one. Check that verse six of chapter
one. So when they had come together, they were asking him, saying,
Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to
Israel? He said to him, it is not for
you to know times or epochs, which the father has fixed by
his own authority. But you will receive power. When the Holy Spirit has come
upon you and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and
in all Judea and Samaria, even to the remotest part of the earth.
There was the promise of power, a promise of strengthening. And
as that strength began to pour forth, they had to explain themselves
repeatedly that it wasn’t them. It wasn’t self-oriented. It wasn’t
oriented inside of them. It was coming from a completely
different source. It was coming from God. As Paul began to go and to minister
to the churches, Paul went about, it says in Acts 14, 22, strengthening
the souls of the disciples. Now, how did what did Paul use
for that? Paul used the word of God and
the word of God infused with the spirit of God touched their
lives in such a powerful way that when he left. They were
stronger. For having had him there. because
of the Word of God, because of God’s strengthening grace. Acts
16.5, so the churches were being strengthened in the faith and
were increasing in number daily. It was faith in God. It was the
Word of God by the Spirit of God that was making these churches
strong. Acts 18. He found a Jew named
Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy, his
wife, Priscilla, because of Claudius had commanded. I’ve lost my verse, forgive me,
skip forward, I got plenty more. Ephesians, chapter three, Paul
begins to pray for the Ephesian believers. And in the Ephesian
church, they too were in need of God’s strengthening grace. And so Paul prayed for exactly
that. For this reason, I bow my knees
before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and earth
derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches
of His glory, the vast resources of God, to be strengthened with
power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may
dwell in your hearts through faith. Physically we’re weak. Spiritually we’re weak. We’re
weak in our prayer lives. We’re weak morally. We’re tempted.
Paul prays for what they needed most. Strengthening. And God
was only too willing to provide it. He prays a similar prayer
in Colossians chapter 1. At the end of Ephesians, having
already prayed for them, he says, finally, be strong. Be strong
in the Lord and in the strength of His might. If there’s one fault of the church,
it’s that there are so many weak Christians. Weak in their lifestyle. Weak in their Bible knowledge.
Weak in their witness to the world. Weak to sin and temptation. Weak in their personal disciplines. Almost to the point of being
useless. This verb is a passive verb, be strengthened. It isn’t
something that we do. It’s not that we pull ourselves
up by the bootstraps. We appeal to the grace of God,
and as it fills us and infuses us, then we are strengthened
and made usable by God. Philippians 4.13, there’s another
football verse, would be football verse. I can do all things through
him who strengthens me. Is that just for football teams? Shouldn’t be. Essentially, Paul
says anything to which he was called any challenge that God
lovingly allowed him to face. Anything that was placed in his
path. By God’s grace. He could endure. He could work
through that. There was nothing so difficult
that Paul couldn’t face. You see, the tendency is if you
ask a powerful man how he achieved that power, he’s going to point
to himself. I did it. I’m a self-made man. You ask
a rich man how he became so wealthy. He did it through his artful
investments and business deals, he made himself rich. You ask a successful man how
he became so successful, he’ll point first and foremost to his
diligence in his studies and then in carefully crafting the
opportunities that came his way and in just exercising excellent
decision making. You ask a cured man, How he became
cured, he’ll point to garlic and herbs and green juice and
magnets and whatever, anything else. But you ask a Christian. You ask a Christian how he gets
through his difficulty. How he endures with such dignity
and grace, how he overcomes, and he will tell you it is the
grace of God. It is because of Christ in him
alone. When financial ruin comes, Christ
will strengthen you. When you stand on principle and
friends depart, Christ will strengthen you. When life’s frustrations
come and mount, Christ will strengthen you. When sickness comes, Christ
will strengthen you. No wonder Paul, writing to the
Colossians, said, I labor striving according to his power, which
mightily works in me. Paul was just a conduit. Paul
just positioned himself to be used by God, and it was God’s
power flowing through him to the glory of God. Think of this,
when he wrote to the Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians 2, in verse 16,
he said, in by way of almost a benediction. Now, may our Lord Jesus Christ
himself and God the Father. You got both members of the team
here at your ready disposal. Now, may the Lord Jesus Christ
himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal
comfort and good hope by grace. He’s already done all this. May
he comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and
word.” Dozens and dozens of such verses in the New Testament.
1 Peter 4.11, whoever serves is to do so by the strength which
God supplies. That’s how every saint. Otherwise,
how would you appeal to the saints to serve according to the proper
working of each individual part? How do we serve? How do we function? How do we face the difficulties
of life? How do we face the devil? Peter says easy. Be of sober
spirit. First Peter 5 10 5 8 through
10. Be of sober spirit, be on the
alert your adversary, the devil prowls about like a roaring lion
seeking someone to devour. But resist him firm in your faith,
knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished
by your brethren who are in the world. And after a little while, after
you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who
called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself perfect,
confirm, strengthen, and establish you. We know the truth of this
verse, Isaiah 40, 29-31. We know the truth of this verse
every day, don’t you, child of God? We know the truth of the
strengthening grace of God for whatever difficulty we face.
But one of the great opportunities that we have as believers in
the Lord Jesus is to come to the Lord’s table. to examine
our hearts carefully, to confess thoroughly, and to appeal unreservedly
for new measures of the grace of God to do and to be all that
God has called us to be. Let’s examine our heart one more
time as we prepare for the Lord’s table. O merciful God, In our flesh, we are weak. We are even dead and dying and
hopeless. And if there are any in our midst
who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. He is there and available. He has already paid the full
penalty for sinners. There is no reason. To continue
on. Without yielding in faith to
the Savior. But Lord, many of us, because
of life circumstances and difficulties, questions that we have, mounting
difficulties, we find ourselves weakened and in need of your
grace. Some, because of sin, have seriously
jeopardized their vigor. And Lord God, we pray that as
each of us come before the Lord’s table, that You would be there
ready to infuse us with new measures of grace to grow in Christlikeness for the
sake of Your kingdom, for Your glory. It’s in Jesus’ name that
we pray, Amen.