Isaiah: Prepare the Way of the Lord (Isaiah 40:1-31)
This is the seventh and final sermon in our seven week series on Isaiah. This sermon is “Prepare the Way of the Lord”. Preacher: The Rev’d Daniel Rouhead. Bible Readings: Isaiah 40:1-31
Sermons – St Bart's Anglican Church · The Rev'd Daniel Rouhead
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Show Notes
Sermon & Small Group Resources
This is the seventh and final sermon in our seven week series on Isaiah. This sermon is “Prepare the Way of the Lord”. Preacher: The Rev’d Daniel Rouhead. Bible Readings: Isaiah 40:1-31
DOWNLOAD the Small Group Questions, Going Deeper, and Sermon Transcript (PDF).
Next Steps this Week
BIBLE READING: Isaiah 40:1-31
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 for ever.’
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.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?
Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,
or instruct the Lord as his counsellor?
Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,
or showed him the path of understanding?
Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales;
he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
Before him all the nations are as nothing;
they are regarded by him as worthless
and less than nothing.
With whom, then, will you compare God?
To what image will you liken him?
As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and fashions silver chains for it.
A person too poor to present such an offering
selects wood that will not rot;
they look for a skilled worker
to set up an idol that will not topple.
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
‘To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?’ says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
‘My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God’?
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS
CONNECT: When you are facing challenge, what most helps you to stand firm and depend on the Lord?
WARM-UP
In times of distress or uncertainty, what brings you comfort?
Read Isaiah 40:3-8
Why would the words of Isaiah be words of “comfort” for the people of ancient Israel/Judah?
How are these words different from the message of Isaiah 1-39? What has changed? How do you seek the Lordʼs comfort in times of need?
What do these verses say about the barriers that exist between the Israelites and God (and between us and God)? How did they (and how do we) prepare a way for the Lord?
What habits help you to maintain a clear way for the Lord? What do verses 6-8 say about our ability to maintain a way for the Lord? What do we need?
Read Isaiah 45:1-2a and 13
In what way do these words speak about the return of the Lord to his people? How is it made clear that the Lord makes the way for the people to return?
When and how is the prophecy of verses 1-8 finally fulfilled. How has God prepared the way for you to trust and follow him?
Read Isaiah 40:9-11
What comfort is it for you now to know that Godʼs glory has been revealed in Jesus, and will be revealed completely when Jesus returns?
How are we to respond to this good news? Can you think of examples in the New Testament of people shouting the good news to others?
How can you share the good news on your frontlines? What are the barriers?
What does the rest of Chapter 40 say about God? How does this help us to trust in Godʼs promises?
APPLY: Who can you invite to Carols this week?
PRAYER
Almighty Father, thank you for your compassion and kindness. Thank you for sending Jesus to reconcile us to you, for clearing the way to you on the cross....