The withering work of the Spirit

Isaiah 40:6–8 (ESV)

6 A voice says, “Cry!”

And I said, “What shall I cry?”

All flesh is grass,

and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.

7 The grass withers, the flower fades

when the breath of the Lord blows on it;

surely the people are grass.

8 The grass withers, the flower fades,

but the word of our God will stand forever.

Tonight we will seek to understand what exactly is the Spirit communicating in these words by the prophet Isaiah.

Before we look at these three verses we need to try and understand what the Spirit was saying in the previous verses leading up to these words.

Isaiah 40:3–5 (ESV)

3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.

5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

There are a few key words in these verses to help us understand why a voice cried out; “All flesh is grass and the goodness of the flesh like the flower of the field”

Prepare the way of the Lord - this is the hinge for all these verse to hang on. We then see metaphoric langue to give us some understanding to things that must be done before the glory of the Lord is revealed.

We see words like a highway in the desert.

This speaks of God coming to men and women to reveal Himself to them.

Valleys to be lifted up

These are to low to see the God of all glory and they need to be lifted higher to see the highway. This is really the poor in spirit. Men and woman down cast by their guilt and shame.

Mountain and hills to be made low

The highway which God is coming on cannot be seen when there is these high mountains and hills. This is speaking of those who are of a proud, self righteous nature having much confidence in the flesh. The highly religious in seeking to establish their own righteousness.

The uneven ground and rough places will be made plain.

These are all the obstacles keeping people away from seeing God coming on this highway.

Matthew 13:18–22 (ESV)

18 “Hear then the parable of the sower:

19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.

20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,

21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.

22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

So we can see clearly that the God of Glory is coming and He wants to reveal his glory. But, there are these obstacles in the way.

The obstacles are not in God’s way but rather in man’s way, that keeps men and women from seeing the glory of the Lord in a way that would change them forever.

Now look at verse 5 for a minute

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

I do believe that this do speak primarily of the second coming of the Lord as we have seen in other scriptures like....

Revelation 1:7 (ESV)

7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

But, the scriptures also do speak of God revealing his glory in Christ to sinners, through his word and Spirit in the hearts of men and women.

Also there is a fullness of people, that must be brought in by the Great Shepard.

For there are many sheep of the fold that must still come in, before that great day comes when the Lord will reveal Himself in his glory to the whole world.

Now, for all the lost sheep to come in, there will be obstacles that must be removed and ground that needs to be made level first.

The word of God is very plain and firm about all the people whom God chose and love, they must be born again. The need to be born from above by the Spirit of God.

Now there is one major problem with man that really in bodies all of these obstacles that are in the way for him to see the glory of God in Christ.

Look at verse 6

Isaiah 40:6 (ESV)

6 A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.

Now, this may come as a surprise to you, but there is two different translations of verse 6 in the bibles.

Some translations say; A VOICE SAYS CRY! AND I SAID, WHAT SHALL I CRY? ( Which makes you think Isaiah is answering God back) What shall I cry?

But, there is translations that reads; A voice says, “Cry out.” Then he answered, “What shall I cry out?”

When it says; Then he answered, “what shall I cry out?” it is Isaiah prophesying of what John the Baptist will say to God, when God says;

Cry out!

Matthew 3:1–3 (ESV)

1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,

2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ”

Now, Matthew quotes from verse 3 of Isaiah 40 but I want to argue that the same voice who cried; “PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD!” is the same voice who cried to John the Baptist; CRY OUT! ALL FLESH IS GRASS AND ALL ITS GOODNESS LIKE THE FLOWER OF THE FIELD!

The CSB bible says....

“All humanity is grass, and all its goodness is like the flower of the field”

No wonder John the Baptist was baptising the sinful flesh of people under the water, a voice cried out to him in the wilderness; All flesh is grass, and the glory of the flesh, is like the flower of the field.

You see the principle of God killing the flesh or circumcising the flesh and giving new spiritual life was already revealed with the ministry of John the Baptist.

Deuteronomy 32:39 (ESV)

39 “ ‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no God beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

God must kill our flesh, (that is our sinful nature) before he makes us alive, He wounds the works of the flesh before He heals the soul.

Isaiah 64:6 (ESV)

6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

Man is unclean, his most righteous deeds will never satisfy a Holy God.

Man is dead in trespassed and sins.

Man does not have spiritual life with God when he is born into this world.

We have fallen in Adam.

We have died in Adam.

Those who do not believe in the Son of God with true faith is condemned already John the Apostle writes.

On top of our sinful self and best efforts to please God by our flesh, we have another problem on our hands.

Listen to Second Corinthians

2 Corinthians 4:3–4 (ESV)

3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Now, beloved the god of this world has many ways in blinding the minds of unbelievers.

In fact he is the one that orchestrates the...

Mountains and Hills to be lifted high

The valleys to be very low

The ground to be uneven and rough

So that man cannot see the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

I remind you of one of the ways he makes the ground rough...

Jesus says....

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.

How does Satan make the Mountains and Hills High?

Luke 18:11–12 (ESV)

11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’

So, the flesh, the sinful nature of man (the part of man that is in unbelief, who’s faith is dead)

He is in bondage, kept by the power of sin and satan.

He cannot delight in the glory of God in Christ.

Romans 8:5–8 (ESV)

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.

8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Look at verse 7

Isaiah 40:7 (ESV)

7 The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass.

The Spirit of God, like the wind, must pass over the field of our souls and cause our beauty to be as a fading flower.

He must so convince us of sin and so reveal ourselves to ourselves that we will see that the flesh profits nothing.

You see we must be stripped first before we are clothed with the righteousness of God.

Wherever the Spirit of God blows on the souls of man, there is a withering of all that is of the flesh, the desires of the flesh, all the self righteous works of the flesh.

The withering work of the Spirit in the soul can be very painful, it is a mournful work, but it must be done.

When the Spirit of God blows on the soul, that which is sweet will be bitter, what is bright will be dim.

The soul cannot delight in sin and delight in the glory of of God in Christ at the same time.

So can the mind of the flesh improve itself?

No, the carnal mind is enmity against God.

It is not acceptable to God, to have something of the flesh in our salvation and something of the Spirit.

God wants all the glory when He gives dead sinners new life.

God wants no works of the flesh in the new birth.

Therefore we must be born again.

Please turn your bibles to...

1 Peter 1:23–25 (ESV)

23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,

25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

So, Peter inspired by the Spirit quotes from Isaiah 40 when he admonishes the church to love one another from a pure heart since you have been born again, through the living and abiding word of God.

Peter says the word of God the Spirit used to give you new life is not perishable but imperishable.

Isaiah 40:8 ESV

8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

This is exactly what Peter said in verse 25 and he adds to it, the word is the good news(the gospel) that was preached to you.

The works of the flesh, the glory of man in what he can achieve will perish.

Man always tries to please God through the works of the flesh, it looks all good to others, but it will fade like the flower of the field.

But.....

The works of Christ Jesus is imperishable on behalf of his people.

To be given this alien righteousness, the perfect righteousness of another, makes us legally inherit eternal life.

The righteousness Christ has worked out for us, is true glory, it glorified God, and it cannot fade like the flower.

It lives and abides forever.

This is the good news we hear preached from the apostles of God in the new testament.

Christ has provided for us a righteousness that makes the God of heaven rejoice over us with singing.

Look at verse 3 to 5 in 1st Peter

1 Peter 1:3–5 (ESV)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,

5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

The seed the Holy Spirit uses in our hearts that is imperishable is the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

God says in the beginning; “let there be light” and there was light.

2 Corinthians 4:6 (ESV)

6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

You see, when God speaks to our hearts through the gospel, by the power of his Spirit, about the glory of his Son, suddenly we have the light of the knowledge, that Jesus Christ is our resurrection and our life.

The glory of the new life we have in the resurrection of Christ is not perishable, it will not fade like the flower.

John 10:27–28 (ESV)

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

1 John 5:11 (ESV)

11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Now turn back to Isaiah 40 verse 8 please.

The grass withers, the flower fades,

but the word of our God will stand forever.

You see the glory of man will fade away, but God, God gave us eternal life in his Son, how wise of God to give us life in someone who cannot perish.

Someone who endures forever.

Who’s glory is the same yesterday, today and forever.

We are truly complete in Him.

Think about it tonight, this is all been made possible for us by the word of God that will stand forever.

Psalm 119:89 (ESV)

89 Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.

James 1:18 (ESV)

18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.