084 Here Is Your God – part 2

Isaiah 40:1-31 (3-10)

January 28, 2024

This morning we began this marvelous 40th chapter of Isaiah

In which the chief aim of God is to give comfort to His people.

· His people who are in exile and feel abandoned by God.

· God is reaching out to comfort them.

· He addresses their despair by reminding them of what they have forgotten.

#1 GOD’S PROMISES

Isaiah 40:1-11

And in getting more specific we talked about:

1) THE COMFORT OF HIS PROMISES (1-2)

· Most specifically found in the fact that God forgives His children.

· He doesn’t hold anger forever, He is merciful to His own.

His children need not think that they have sinned beyond reconciliation.

GOD FORGIVES.

That is comforting.

And as we were wrapping it up this morning we started looking at the second aspect of the promises of God.

2) THE CONTENT OF HIS PROMISES (3-5)

We pointed out that

The content of God’s promises is none other than Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 1:20 “For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.”

· We know that He is the sole subject of the gospel or good news of God.

· It is all about the person and the work of Jesus.

Namely that not only has God promised forgiveness of our sin,

But He has promised to do it through the Savior He will send.

Isaiah says in verse 5, “then the glory of the LORD will be revealed.”

So let’s talk a little more about this:

WHAT IS THIS GLORY?

At Sinai, it was terrifying:

Exodus 24:17 “And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountain top.”

So was the war chariot Ezekiel saw.

· The angels who saw the glory of the Lord on the night Jesus was born were terribly afraid.

· Certainly that was true for Isaiah who cried out “Woe is me! For I am ruined!”

But what did this glory ultimately prove to be for Isaiah?

· Terrifying? Yes

· Convicting? Yes

· But destructive? No

The glory of God to Isaiah was certainly holy and brought trembling…

But the glory which Isaiah encountered was ultimately a glory

That forgave him and cleansed him and commissioned him into service.

Isaiah 6:5-8 “Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

God was most glorious before Isaiah in His forgiveness of Isaiah’s sin.

Then we think about the One whom God has promised to send.

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

· His glory is described first as glory “of the only begotten from the Father”

· And secondly as “full of grace and truth”

Jesus came to reveal the Father’s glory

And it is nothing less than the glory of salvation.

In fact, we find that even as Jesus departed from the upper room to make His way to hang on a cross, He was demonstrating the glory of God.

John 13:31 “Therefore when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him;”

And as believers in Jesus

· We are being constantly awakened to the glory of Christ in the gospel

· As we also await the full revelation of His glory at His second coming.

THE POINT IS: The glory of Christ is for the believer a wonderful thing!

Raymond Ortlund wrote:

“The glory of the Lord, therefore, is God himself becoming visible, God bringing his presence down to us, God displaying his beauty before us, the true answer to our deepest longings. And he promises to do this for us. It is the central promise of the gospel. God kept his promise in the hidden glory of Christ’s first coming. He continues to keep his promise as the Holy Spirit awakens us to the glory of Christ in the gospel (2 Corinthians 3:18-4:6). He will consummate his promise at the second coming of Christ. All this is contained in seed form in Isaiah 40:5.”

(Ortlund, Raymond [Preaching The Word Commentary Series: “Isaiah, God saves sinners” Crossway, Wheaton, IL; 2005] pg. 237)

In short, we find victory over despair when we remember

That God has promised for us a glorious savior.

· One who will reveal the Father to us.

· One who will save us from our sins.

· One who will transform us into the likeness of His glory.

· One who will return to reign in glory over the earth.

DON’T LOSE SIGHT OF THAT PROMISE.

That everything God has promised you is ultimately bound up

In His promise to give you the glorious Christ.

Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

The hope we have is that Christ came and Christ is coming.

Don’t forget that Christian!

God has sent you the Lord of glory

And He is coming again that “all flesh will see it together;”

· The whole world will see it next time.

· All of those promises that Isaiah has already given about Him coming to reign

in justice and perfection, that is coming!

· And we can all agree that that is a wonderful thing!

NOW, BACK UP TO VERSE 3.

(3-4) “A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley;”

Do you recognize that?

Luke 3:3-6 “And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight. ‘Every ravine will be filled, And every mountain and hill will be brought low; The crooked will become straight, And the rough roads smooth; And all flesh will see the salvation of God.’”

And certainly we learned from John that this is a text of repentance.

John spoke of a glorious Holy One who was coming and this place was not fit for a King!

· The trash needed to be cleaned up.

· The potholes filled in.

· The speed bumps removed.

Of course John was not referencing literal roads here, nor was Isaiah.

John spoke of hearts being prepared for the coming Savior.

· Potholes of doubt

· Speedbumps of pride

· Idols that lined the way

· Anything that would cause you to not welcome this coming King.

When John’s crowd questioned him further

· As to what they should do to prepare themselves for this coming glorious one,

· John immediately went after the idols of their hearts.

Luke 3:10-14 “And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?” And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”

· John spoke of money and worldliness.

· He spoke of greed and hoarding.

· He spoke of the idols of this world and our love for them.

Those are the types of things that we learn in the parable of the soils

That choke out the word and make it unfruitful.

If you want the Lord of glory to enter, then you need to

Burn the idols, and remove the pride, and get rid of the doubt.

You need to break your self-righteousness and clean up your lusts.

For this King is not going to share occupation in your heart.

And this is EXACTLY what Isaiah has preached.

BUT I think sometimes, because we know it’s about repentance,

WE ARE PRONE TO READ THIS AS A NEGATIVE TYPE PASSAGE.

We read it and all we see is the cost involved in welcoming the King.

But nothing Isaiah says here is meant to be negative.

In fact, the tone of the message is “comfort” remember?

He is NOT saying, “Clean this place up or else the tyrant king that is coming is going to burn this house to the ground.”

He speaks rather of the anticipation and excitement

Of one who is about to have the honor of hosting the Lord of glory.

· If I told Carrie that Tommy was coming over after church,

· She would instinctively go home as quick as she could to make sure and pick up anything in the house.

· And that’s just for Tommy!

Imagine if I told her that Jesus was coming over?

But if you caught Carrie in their scrubbing the house to prepare it for the coming of Jesus, do you think she’d be doing it out of fear?

No, it would be out of anticipation and honor.

THE KING IS COMING!

This passage isn’t about the cost of hosting the Lord of glory,

It’s about the honor of hosting Him.

I’ve told you before that I like WWII documentaries

One of the commentaries I watched spoke quite a bit about a family that was caught in the Philippines when Japan invaded and their family was put in sort of a makeshift camp right in the middle of Manilla.

They were starving, many starved to death.

They ate anything that was remotely edible.

But the woman that told the story (who was a little girl at the time of the war) shared how her mother preserved a half-eaten tube of lipstick under her mattress.

She was saving it for the day when the US troops came busting through the gate.

And sure enough on the day they entered, the first thing her mother did was run back and get that lipstick and put it on.

WHY?

· It was about honor!

· It was about gratitude!

· Cleaning herself up in such limited fashion was the best she could do to show

her gratitude to the boys that had rescued them.

Now picture the exiles to whom Isaiah is initially writing.

· They are stuck in Babylon, in a foreign land.

· They are a laughingstock and a byword.

· They are at many times considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

· And Isaiah says, “Fear not, your king is coming to rescue you!”

Do you suppose they would have then sneered if Isaiah had said,

“Now, prepare yourself for His coming! Put away those dirty rags and put on the best clothes you can muster. Get rid of those Babylonian idols and prepare yourself for His coming.”

Do you remember when God initiated the Passover in Egypt?

· The people were to eat that meal with their loins girded, staff in hand, and were to eat it in haste.

· No one said, “Man I hate eating with my loins girded!” “Man I hate eating fast!”

That would not have been a cost, that would have been a privilege!

Certainly our cleaning up before the Lord is no more impressive than that, but it is certainly not a sacrifice, it is an honor.

When John is preaching repentance the focus is not on the cost of having Jesus entering your town, it’s about the privilege.

We think of that parable of the treasure in the field and the pear of great value.

Matthew 13:44-46 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

· It is true in both of those parables that the treasure and the pearl did in fact cost

them everything.

· But if you think the point of the parable is the cost of the kingdom, you are

greatly mistaken.

The point is the value of the kingdom!

Both of those guys sold all that they had

And neither one of them regretted it for a second.

Why?

Because what they were obtaining was infinitely more valuable!

Do you see God’s promise here now?

There is a King who is coming.

· Will you unlock the door?

· Will you clean a place for Him?

· Will you get rid of that which offends Him?

· Will you make your heart look welcoming to Him?

Listen to John the apostle:

1 John 3:2-3 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

It’s not a purification out of fear,

It’s a purification out of anticipation and excitement.

And this is what Isaiah is saying.

Child of God you must hold to the promise.

· Not only has God forgiven you,

· But God is sending to you His glorious King!

· The Savior is coming!

Isaiah’s announcement to “Clear the way” is NOT a threat,

IT IS A CONFIRMATION.

Go ahead and clean the house, He’s really coming!

And this remains the message of the gospel EVEN TODAY.

For the Lord of glory DID COME.

John says, we saw it!

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

But Israel didn’t.

John 1:10-11 “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.”

· The world did not see Him as worth the clean up.

· The world did not want to clean out the weeds of their heart.

· They wanted their sin and the rejected the Savior.

Isaiah will even later lament the fact that Israel

Had no excitement over the glory that Christ brought.

Isaiah 53:1-3 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

This saving glory that He came to reveal

Was of no interest to the Jews He came to save.

· They did not see Him as one who was worthy of the cleanup.

· They did not see Him as one who was worthy of idol removal.

· And they rejected Him.

BUT THAT DOES NOT CHANGE THE PROMISE!

Remember God is a God who has promised to forgive the sin of His people.

The promise of Isaiah still remains, that if God’s people will prepare their hearts through repentance then the Lord of glory will still come to them!

Listen to Peter preach

· To the Jews in Jerusalem

· After Christ had ascended.

· It is basically the same message that Isaiah is preaching here.

Acts 3:17-26 “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. “Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you. ‘And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ “And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. “It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ “For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

Peter says that if they would just repent like John and Isaiah had said…

Then God would forgive them and send Jesus just like Isaiah promised.

He would come restore all things.

· Peter says that He is the One Moses and Samuel and the prophets spoke of.

· He is the seed of Abraham through whom you will be blessed.

· He is God’s servant and He has been sent to save you from your sins.

THAT IS A GOSPEL PROMISE.

God will forgive you and God will send you the Savior.

AND FOR US WHO HAVE RECEIVED HIM.

THE PROMISE IS: God has forgiven you and the Savior is coming.

Let that be your encouragement!

Let that be your comfort!

· For all the wickedness and evil we face in this world.

· For all the trials and hardships.

· For all the longing we have to exit this sin infested world.

Know that God will not leave us here forever.

He is coming.

Those in exile were in despair because they had forgotten that promise.

· Don’t make the same mistake.

· Focusing on the coming Lord of glory is comfort to the afflicted soul.

The Comfort of His promise, The Content of His promise

3) THE CERTAINTY OF HIS PROMISES (6-8)

“A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the Lord blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

Here we face the possibility that perhaps the promises of God were not forgotten, perhaps the exiles just believed they had failed.

· Oh we know that God promises to forgive, but clearly He has changed His mind.

· Oh we know that God promised to send a savior, but clearly it’s not going to happen.

Have you ever ran across such a skeptic?

Perhaps you have at times been in such despair that you felt that very same skepticism.

Well here Isaiah has a staunch reminder for you.

GOD IS NOT LIKE A MAN

Men are fickle, transient, temporary, and unreliable.

BUT WHEN GOD SPEAKS IT CANNOT FAIL.

The voice of God came with a command, “Call out.”

And the one hearing it says, “What do you want me to tell them?”

· You tell them that “All flesh is like grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the filed.”

· You remind them that “The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it;”

· You tell them that “the people are grass.”

We know why you are cynical.

You’ve heard broken promise after broken promise after broken promise.

Tell me, which politician are you waiting on to come and save the world?

· Oh, they’ve all got plans.

· Some of them even have pretty big followings.

And which one of them is going to follow through and do what they say.

None of them!

Because men, for all their good intentions, are weak, frail and transient.

· They don’t last long enough to accomplish anything good.

· They aren’t strong enough to make any real change.

And the danger we face is when

We start putting God in the same camp with weak rulers.

GOD IS NOT LIKE THEM.

· God doesn’t make promises He doesn’t keep.

· God doesn’t say things He doesn’t mean.

· God doesn’t speak unauthoritatively.

“The grass withers, the flower fades (man), But the word of our God stands forever.”

HIS PROMISES ARE CERTAIN.

So can we now read those promises of God Isaiah just reiterated in a different light?

He promised that we are FORGIVEN.

· Can we trust that?

Let’s look at one of God’s promises of forgiveness.

It’s a pretty big one, we call it “The New Covenant”

Jeremiah 31:33-34 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Well that’s a pretty big promise.

· Do we believe that God will honor His word?

Well, look what He says next.

Jeremiah 31:35-37 “Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The Lord of hosts is His name: “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the Lord, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the Lord, “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the Lord.”

It's as though someone asked, “At what point can we give up on this promise?”

And God says, “When the fixed order of creation stops, then you can doubt that promise.”

His word isn’t like the word of man, it never fails.

What about this promise that His KING IS COMING?

· Well we already saw the first coming…

· But what about the promise we maintain of His coming in glory a second time?

John 14:1-3 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

DON’T DOUBT IT!

2 Peter 3:3-10 “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

Don’t let doubters and mockers and scoffers discourage you.

The Lord of glory is coming.

Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

If God has promised it, it is certain.

So why in your distress would you feel as though God has abandoned you?

IS IT BECAUSE?

· You have forgotten His promises of forgiveness and a coming King.

· Or you have forgotten that God cannot lie and thus have begun to doubt those promises.

DON’T DO EITHER.

God will do for you exactly what He says.

“How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!

What more can He say than to you He hath said,

To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled”

God’s word does not fail, trust it and believe His promises.

The Comfort of His promise, The Content of His promise, The Certainty of His promise

4) THE CIRCULATION OF HIS PROMISES (9-11)

“Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; Lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” Behold, the Lord God will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him And His recompense before Him. Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.”

Now the messenger is told to

Take this message

· Of God’s forgiveness,

· Of His coming glorious king,

· Of His unchanging character

And stand on the highest mountain he can climb and cry out to everyone.

“Here is your God!”

See ultimately the people are in despair

Because they have forgotten who their God is.

· They have forgotten that He is a merciful God who forgives sinners.

· They have forgotten that He is a glorious God who saves sinners.

· They have forgotten that He is a trustworthy God who never fails.

The message of God is very simply, “Hold Me up before the people and remind them who I am!”

Stand on the highest mountain and proclaim it from shore to shore!

Tell them you have good news!

Your God is not vindictive.

Your God is not weak.

Your God is not fickle.

He is the merciful, glorious, faithful God!

AND TELL THEM TO TELL EVERYONE!

(10-11) “Behold, the Lord God will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him And His recompense before Him. Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.”

And my goodness what a reminder!

· Those are two verses that could be commented on for a long long time.

And I should remind you that while we are tempted to see an evangelistic message here, this message is really for His people.

Certainly we proclaim to the lost who our God is,

But Isaiah is here preaching this message to the people of God.

God’s people need to remember this about their God.

HE IS COMING!

TO RULE: (10a) “Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him.”

Don’t fall for the trap here.

· Some would say, well this is only speaking of His second coming.

· The first time He came to save, the second time He comes to rule.

Look, He came to rule the first time!

He came to rule in your hearts!

Did we not hear Him?

Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Are we not commanded to confess Him as Lord?

This glorious forgiving King who is coming

· He is coming to rule in your hearts.

· He is coming to transfer you from Satan’s kingdom to His kingdom.

· He is coming to rescue you as you submit your life and future to Him.

TO REWARD: (10b) “Behold, His reward is with Him”

When Christ came, did He not reward the faithful?

Of course He did.

· They received His glorious salvation.

· They received His glorious presence.

· They received the kingdom.

Jesus actually told those who believed Him:

Matthew 13:16-17 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

· Have we not now already been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Him?

· Is love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control along with hope not already ours?

Certainly.

But we also await the day of He return

When He will further reward those who have trusted in Him and waited on Him.

Matthew 19:28-19 “And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”

Our glorious King is one who forgives and saves

And one who rewards those who trust in Him.

· You may be in peril now.

· You may be the dregs of all things now.

· You may be hated and maligned and ill-treated now.

But your King is coming and He will reward your faithfulness to Him!

TO RECOMPENSE (10c) “And His recompense before Him.”

You say, “Christ did not bring recompense to anyone in this world when He came the first time.”

I say, “The Pharisees and Chief Priests might dare to disagree.”

· He pronounced judgment and condemnation on them at every turn.

· The only place He ever declared war was the temple which they ran.

He certainly brought a picture of His recompense

Toward the wolves who had afflicted His flock.

And when He returns,

It will be more of the same, only to a much greater level!

Matthew 3:12 “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Matthew 16:27 “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.”

· He is coming for you O refugee!

· He is coming for you O exile!

· He is coming for you O stranger and alien on earth!

He has forgiven you

He is coming to save you.

He will reward you for your faithfulness

He will give recompense to those who have afflicted you.

Is that not a great promise to remember!

If you forget that, it’s no wonder you are prone to despair.

If you forget that promise, or refuse to believe it,

It’s no wonder that you feel abandoned.

Your God has not forgotten you.

He has forgiven you and He is coming to save you.

Now, prepare your hearts for His coming!

Live today as though He will return to tonight!

Purify yourself just as He is pure!

Romans 13:11-14 “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

I had hoped to get finished, but there’s too much in verse 11.

We’ll pick back up with this next Sunday morning.