The Victorious Word

Introduction

Isaiah 55:10–11 ESV

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

A few years ago, I spent some time in India doing pastoral training.

India does not have seminaries or pastoral training schools, so a friend and I were teaching a New Testament course to a group of pastors.

We flew into New Delhi at the beginning of the trip and took a train from Delhi to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.

When we got back to New Delhi, we got in a taxi to head back to our hotel.

Soon afterwards, it started to rain. I turned around to my mission partner, and I casually made the joke, “We are in India. Wouldn’t it be crazy if we got into a monsoon.”

I will never make a joke like that again.

Within 30 minutes, my partner and I were standing on top of the seats, because the water had risen through the floorboard of the taxi and was nearly overlapping onto the seats.

Eventually, the waters subsided, the traffic began to move, and we slowly made our way back to the hotel.

The next morning, I remember still being a little shaken over the experience. I remember thinking, “That situation was totally outside of my control.”

RAIN and its effects are INEVITABLE.

Thousands of years removed from the Biblical text, we have such advanced technology, and the best we can do when it rains or snows is still take shelter.

While this passage talks about the benefits of rain and the word of God, the primary point of the text is Isaiah’s reminding the reader that just like rain or snow - God’s Word is absolutely inevitable.

God’s Word accomplishes His purposes as it works IN and THROUGH His people.

Explanation

Isaiah 55:10-11 ““For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

While my situation demonstrated the negative effect of rain, Isaiah is discussing the positive effect of rain AND how the word of God is similar.

Like rain, God’s Word comes from heaven. (as rain and snow come down from heaven, so God’s word goes forth from His mouth)

Rain is a gift.

God’s word is a gift. So we ought not think of God’s word in a negative way.

Inevitable, yes. But as God’s word and message of the gospel move forward in the world, God does something invariably good through it.

Like rain, God’s Word are always effective.

When it rains, you have to make a decision. The rains ability to effect your life is overwhelming.

In the same way, God’s word is overwhelmingly effective. When you hear it, you have to do something with it.

As you read the Bible, God is continually working on you.

How? Three ways.

Like rain, God’s Word bring transformation. (making the earth bring forth and sprout)

Rain can bring a dry place to life. Rain can completely change.

You might think you are too far gone to be changed. There is no one too far gone that they cannot respond to Jesus and be saved.

Like rain, God’s Word brings life.

The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is one of the driest place in the world.

Because of the mountains surrounding it, rainclouds cannot make it to the desert valleys.

In 2019, an abnormally strong storm pressed through the mountains and watered the valley. As a result, lush green grass and pink flowers popped up everywhere.

The result was BEAUTIFUL.

Some of you have been praying wistfully about someone for a long time. That they would come to know Jesus.

We aren’t praying that God would take someone bad and make them good.

We are praying that God would take someone who is dead and make them alive.

Aren’t we all in that same boat? We have been made alive because of the work of Jesus.

Like rain, God’s Word brings nourishment.

Without rain, we wouldn’t eat. Plants would not find sustenance, so we would not find sustenance.

In the same way, God’s word nourishes us. We must have a daily diet of the word, or we will begin to starve spiritually.

Isaiah 55:12 ““For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

God gives the Word for us to share.

While this passage is certainly what God accomplishes by his word IN you, it is also about what God accomplishes THROUGH you.

When you speak about the Bible, the words of God...

When you share the message of Jesus, the words of God...

God accomplishes his purposes through you.

V12 shares of a messenger - one who will go out sharing a message. To “go forth” or “go out” was to take a message somewhere.

The mountains and hills will break forth singing.

The trees of the field shall clap their hands.

With the Word of God, the miraculous happens.

What do we do in a world that is apathetic, scornful, or even hostile to the words of life?

We share anyway.

Ezekiel was called to prophecy over dead bones in a valley completely desolated by a battle many years ago.

Ezekiel 37:3–7 ESV

And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

What God will do through our words is no less miraculous than what God did to those bones. He has taken those who are spiritually dead and made them alive.

A person’s coming to know Jesus has much to do with us in some senses, and it has very little to do with us in another sense.

We have been called to take the message of the cross to the world.

We can no more save a man than we could resurrect a corpse.

Isaiah 55:13 “Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.””

One day, God’s word will completely eradicate all suffering.

During our Christmas series, I talked about Eve and Mary. And in that series, I spoke of Genesis 3:15-17 - the curses given to Adam, Eve, and the serpent.

Genesis 3:17-18 (the curse of Adam) “And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.”

Thorns and briers were a result of the fall of man and sin’s entry into the world.

The Word of God - the message of Jesus - pushes back the curse placed upon the world in the Garden of Eden.

How does God’s Word reverse the curse of sin in the world?

J. C. Ryle, “The Bible alone teaches us that God has made a full, perfect, and complete provision for the salvation of fallen man.”

The Bible teaches a lot of things. Human flourishing, the laws and decrees of God, I could go on and on forever. But what pushes back the darkness is the King of glory who came to redeem the sins of man.

Invitation

We give ourselves to the one the Scriptures testify - Jesus Christ.