Waiting for His return... (2)

Peace Promised...

Last week we looked at the hope that we have that Jesus will return. Even though we don’t know when, we have been promised that He will come a second time. We need to be ready. The Bible says that Jesus wil come when we least expect it.

This morning, I want to look at

Peace

Jesus is called

The Prince of Peace

Isaiah 9:6–7 NIV

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

When you think of peace, “What thoughts cross your mind?”

No war

Serenity

Calm

Peace accords can be written up, peace talks can be organized, but true peace is much deeper than this. Even today, we can have peace with God.

Romans 5:1 NIV

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Our world will not experience lasting peace until Jesus, the Prince of Peace, is ruling as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Let’s read our Scripture from

Isaiah 40:1–11 NIV

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!” See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

When we look at the prophets in the Old Testament: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, they look to a future day. They speak to the present. At times they speak to events that will happen shortly, events that will happen hundreds of years in the future, and they also speak to events that we are too are longing to see.

This morning, we’ll break it up into sections accordingly.

Comfort, comfort my people...

Isaiah 40:1–2 NIV

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

Often Old Testament prophets spoke harshly to God’s people because they had forsaken Him. They had wondered away from His plan for their lives.

In Deuteronomy 28, blessings and curses were announced by the children of Israel: Blessings for following God and curses for disobedience.

In Deuteronomy 30, this is what is said

Deuteronomy 30:1–6 NIV

When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

God’s heart is always for His people. At times, God allowed harsh things to happen to His people because of their wayward hearts. God would discipline His children, as soon as they would turn their hearts back to Him, His promise was that He would bring them back to the land He had promised them.

I want you to remember this, God’s heart is always towards you… Sometimes God disciplines us. He does this because He loves us but His anger only lasts for a moment.

Psalm 30:5 NIV

For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Psalm 103:7–12 NIV

He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

God wanted Isaiah to encourage His children and let them know that even though they would go into exile, they would return. He wouldn’t punish them forever, but this, too, would pass, and that He would pardon them for their sins.

Our adversary, the devil, wants you to believe that God could never forgive you, but our God is compassionate and abounds in mercy.

Sometimes I wonder how much the prophets knew of what they prophesied.

According to Peter, they knew that what they prophesied was for a future time.

This is what Isaiah says in verses 3-5

Isaiah 40:3–5 NIV

A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Who is this person?

John the Baptist

John 1:6–8 NLT

God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light.

John came to prepare the way for Jesus, to make the mountains and hills flat and to raise up the valleys.

In other words, he was sent to roll our the red carpet for Jesus.

He came to point the people of his day to Jesus.

If you know the story of John the Baptist, it’s not hard to know that he was a miracle. His parents were old and well past the age of having children. Elizabeth, John’s mom, and Mary, Jesus’ mom, were relatives.

John was probably six months older than Jesus. He started his ministry before Jesus, as Isaiah prophesied.

John 1:19–28 NIV

Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ” Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

So John made it very clear that he wasn’t the one that they were looking for, but there was One who was among them.

John 1:29–34 NIV

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

The NKJV states this for verse 34.

John 1:34 NKJV

And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

John knew exactly what he was called to do, and he knew that Jesus was God who came in human flesh. John proclaimed that the Messiah had come.

Will you tell others that Jesus has come? Will you declare to this generation that Jesus is Lord and that He came to bring life to this world?

John the Baptist was like one calling out in the wilderness, will you be that voice? Will you bring light into darkness?

As we continue in verses 6-8, Isaiah was called to speak to

The brevity of life

Isaiah 40:6–8 NIV

A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

We have no reason to fear death, because we have been promised that there is life after death. When we are young, time seems to take so long, but as we age, time seems to speed up, and we understand how brief life really is.

When I think of my Dad’s side of the family, my parents, my uncles and aunts, there are two left out of seventeen.

My generation is next. How quickly time changes. We have hope and we can find peace in the reality that even though the grass withers, and the flowers fall,

The word of our God endures forever...

He who has given us this promise is faithful and He will complete the work He has started in you.

Many don’t even want to think about the future, but life is worth living because Jesus lives.

Isaiah closes our verses today with the picture of a shepherd caring for his sheep. Let’s read,

Isaiah 40:9–11 NIV

You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!” See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

We have

Good news

to declare.

Romans 10:13–17 NIV

for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Church family, we have good news to bring to the nations, but we also have good news to bring to Lanigan, LeRoy, Watrous, Guernsey, Jansen, Humboldt, Nokomis, and all the surrounding area.

Will you go and tell it on the mountain that Jesus is born, that Jesus has died, that Jesus is alive, that Jesus is making intercession for us, and that Jesus is coming again.

He will come in power and great glory, and yet

He is our gentle shepherd

John 10:14–15 NIV

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Jesus laid down His life for you and He cares for you. He has the ability to carry you through any storm. Nobody can snatch you out of His hands.

John 10:27–30 NIV

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

Can we be sure that we are saved? Can we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have eternal life?

Yes we can! If you walk with the Lord, if you hear His voice and follow Him, nobody, no one, can snatch you out of His hands.

Romans 8:35–39 NIV

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is the peace that we have in Christ!

Let’s pray!