The Authorized Message

Amen.

The Comfort of Isaiah 40 and the Coming Restoration

Please turn your Bible to Isaiah chapter 40. We're continuing in Isaiah 40. Isaiah 40's been about the comfort given to the people of Israel and the anticipation of them being carried away to Babylon and then eventually restored from the land of Babylon.

Our preaching text is verses six through eight. I'll read verses one through 11 in anticipation of that, but please stand when you have that for the reading of God's word. Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice cries, in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.

Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low. The uneven ground shall become plain and the rough places a plain. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

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. The grass withers and the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it. Surely the people are grass.

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Go up on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news.

Lift it up, fear not. Say to the cities of Judah, behold your God. Behold the Lord God comes with might and his arm rules for him. Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd.

He will gather the lambs in his arms. He will carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with young.

Amen.

You may be seated. Dear Heavenly Father, we ask that you would open our eyes and ears to hear your word today that by your spirit, working in our hearts with the word, we would be transformed by your word and we would have a greater confidence in your message of hope and salvation.

In Jesus' name, amen. So we've seen in this passage, this is about a message of comfort that has been given to God's people. And you have a message of comfort today. You have the gospel. Now you probably have, if you have been in the faith for long, hopefully that you have tried to share this message with others, but maybe you have found it difficult.

Maybe you do not know what exactly the message is that you are supposed to give. You understand that Jesus came to die. You understand that he died as a substitutionary sacrifice for man. You understand that he was raised again.

But when you experience these situations, it's not always clear what it is that is supposed to be said. What really is the core of the message? Well, this passage tells us, this passage tells us what is supposed to be cried.

There's two things. It is the mortality of man and the immortality of the word of God. Mortality of man and the immortality of the word of God. Starts off in verse six and says, a voice says, cry. And I said, what shall I cry?

A voice says, cry. So what is that voice? Well, we've heard about the voice that was crying and now we have a voice speaking, saying to cry. The one who is commanding to cry is the Lord. And Isaiah responds, what shall I cry?

And so we see that this voice is responding to the other voice, telling it to cry. That it is supposed to cry this message of salvation. Now, why is it supposed to cry? Because this is supposed to be a comfort to God's people.

God's people are to be restored. They are to be comforted. Now, the other voice responds and says, what shall I cry? Okay, so we have the who and we have the why.

Now, the what.

What shall I cry? Okay, there is a message, but what are the specifics of that message that are to be given? You might be familiar with what is known as the regulative principle of worship. The regulative principle of worship says that there are particular elements that are supposed to be in worship that should not be added to or subtracted from.

There's a proclamation of the word of God. There's singing, there's prayer. These are not to be removed from. And once we add them all up, including the Lord's Supper and other things, there's nothing that is supposed to be taken away from those.

Now, the forms, okay, those are the elements. The forms, whether or not you're sitting, whether or not you're standing, whether or not you have pews or chairs, those kinds of things, these forms may change, but the elements are not to be tampered with, okay?

Same is true with evangelism, with the message that is to be given. There are elements. There are forms also. Those may be modified as needed, as wisdom dictates, but there are elements that are not to be changed.

Those elements are, very straightforwardly, the mortality of man and the immortality of the word of God. Now, there are all different kinds of ways, you've probably heard the gospel proclaimed, that do not have these elements.

They're either adding additional things that are not to be added, or they are removing some element of that that is not to be removed. Consider one of the more common ones that is given. When I was in college, I was part of Campus Crusade.

Now, it's just called CRU, and the common method of evangelism in Campus Crusade is using what's known as the four spiritual laws. Now, the first of the four spiritual laws is, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Okay, this is assuming a lot. The Bible has spoken a lot about God's love and the nature of God's love. It also speaks of his hate and his wrath. And so, to assume, for any individual, that God's plan, God's wonderful plan, is one of salvation, is to assume too much.

Now, God has called everyone, it is there as a well-meant offer of the gospel, but to assume that this salvific love is something that will be applied to each and every single person, is to assume too much, it is to add something to these two elements.

You may have also heard, when people have been asked, what is the gospel, they'll say, love God and love your neighbor. Right, well, that is just the law, that is not gospel. And so, love God, love your neighbor, does not include these things, does not include the element of the mortality of man, does not include the element of the immortality of the word of God, it is deficient.

You may have heard the prosperity gospel, the idea that if we follow God's law, he will bless us with all kinds of prosperity in this life, the more you follow him, the more you will be blessed. Now, this is true, the more you follow him, the more that you will be blessed.

A lot of times, that is in this life, but it is not, there's no guarantee that you will experience all those blessings in this life, and those are not the primary blessings that are to be enjoyed. So, does that message include the immortality of the word of God, the eternal consequences, right?

Is that what that message is focused on? You might have heard people reduce the evangelistic message down to, come visit my church. This is deficient, it does not include these elements. Now, hopefully, they hear those elements when they attend church, but that is not, that does not include the elements.

And there's another kind of gospel that says, come, belong, be part of the people, and then, eventually, believe the message, right? Belong in order to believe. That is also deficient, because it tampers with these elements, the mortality of man, the immortality, the word of God.

So, he begins by explaining what shall be cried. It is not for us to determine the message. Okay, if God is the one who has given this message, it's not for us to determine what that message is going to be.

Just like God has given us worship, it's not for us to determine what worship's gonna be. We can't decide one day. Well, today, in addition to singing prayer and preaching, we're also going to have dancing, okay?

This is not our freedom to decide how to do these things. It is for him to decide how we are gonna worship. It's for him to decide what the message is going to be. And this is what he says shall be cried.

The Mortality of Man

All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, and the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it. Surely, the people are grass. This is the mortality of man.

Man dies. His life is short. Now, it has this image of the grass, okay? Think about grass. How long does it last for? You know, if you live in a region that has seasons, you'll see grass lasts about a year, and then it fades out, and it grows again the next year, and it fades out, and it grows again the next year, right?

It's something that is very short-lived. Flowers, also very short-lived. You know, there's one flower, a hibiscus, that its bloom only lasts for a few hours. This is not like other plants, okay? Other plants, like trees, they can last for a very long time.

There's a famous kind of tree called a bristlecone pine, which is, you know, just a little further east of Yosemite in the White Mountains of California. It has, they found one that has over 5 ,000 rings on the tree, 5 ,067 rings.

Now, there's good reason to believe that because drought and other things, there are more rings being formed, and more than just one per year, but still, let's say it's just 1 ,000 years old. You know, a tree lasts 1 ,000 years, but grass, flowers, these are something that are just for a season, and that's it, and this is the picture of man.

His life is short. Psalm 90, Psalm 90, verse 10 says, the years of our life are 70, or even by reason of strength, 80, yet their span is but toil and trouble, and they are soon gone, and we fly away. Man's life is very short.

70, maybe, if you're very blessed, maybe if you're a very strong person, you get to live 80 years, maybe even beyond that for a little bit, but that's it. That is the limit of man's life, and then beyond that physical death, there's a spiritual death.

We are now dead in our, we are, apart from Christ, mankind is dead in its sins, and then there is the eternal death that one experiences being tormented forever and ever if they are apart from the Lord, if they are not found in Jesus Christ.

This is the death that man experiences, that man awaits, both this life, life to come. There is a, there is much death. Now it is, I think it's likely that when it points to both grass and flower, when it says all flesh is grass and all its beauty is like the flower of the field, it may even be using a merism here.

Merism is like the heavens and the earth, right, or wolf and war, I always say that wrong, but you know, the different sides of the fabric. Those two things coming together to show that the grand total, the whole grass and flower, I believe it's talking about strength and beauty, right, male and female, if you think of these things being pulled together, all of humanity, all flesh is grass, all its beauty is like the flower of the field, and then it says at the end, surely the people are grass.

Who is the people? It's the same people that was spoken of in verse one. Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. It is the people. It's the people of Judah, most initially, they are like grass. They've seen this with Assyria.

They came close to being wiped out by Assyria. Assyria did wipe out the northern kingdom of Israel, and then they will see this as they go off into Babylon, that they can be quickly removed, that though they might be strong and stable for a season, they'll be quickly removed, and so this has been demonstrated to them that they are like grass, but this is not true just of the people.

It's true of all people. It's not just true of Judah. It is true of every single person. It's true of all flesh. All flesh is like grass. All man is mortal, and then he speaks afterward of the word of God.

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. So what is supposed to be cried? First, the mortality of man.

All flesh is grass. Second, the immortality of the word of God. The word of God stands forever, and you might be wondering, what is the word of God? Well, thankfully, 1 Peter interprets this directly for us.

Quoting this whole verse, he says, "'All flesh is like grass, "'and all its glory like the flower of grass. "'The grass withers and the flower falls, "'but the word of the Lord remains forever,' "'and this word is the good news that was preached to you.'".

The good news that was preached to you. What is the word that stands forever? It is the gospel. It is the good news of Jesus Christ. So that word is forever. That word is living. All other things, death, flesh, death, but that word is living, and it lasts.

Now, this is, there are several things to observe here. Notice in verse seven when it said that the breath of the Lord blows on the grass and it fades away, right? So this might be talking about the physical reality that hot, scorching winds will cause grass to turn brown, but the breath of the Lord, if you think of the breath and his word as being similar things coming from his mouth, the breath of the Lord causes death to flesh, but the word of the Lord, this breath from the Lord's mouth brings life.

And so that same thing, which is bringing death to man, that breath of God can be life in the word of God, in the gospel. Consider in John three. In John three it says, "'That which is born of flesh is flesh.'".

Okay, so here's the focus on flesh. Flesh dies. All flesh is grass. "'That which is born of the flesh is flesh, "'and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. "'Do not marvel that I said to you, "'you must be born again.

"'The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, "'but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. "'So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.'". When it says the wind blows, the word wind is the same word for spirit.

The word blow is the same word for breathe, okay? This could, you know, if you're just reading this in Greek, you could just read it. The Spirit breathes where it wishes, right? So this word of God, this breath of God, the breath of God that kills by which he destroys, you know, the word of God being judgment on many, the word of God stands forever.

And because it stands forever, it has a principle of life by which one may be born again. And this is the message frequently throughout scripture, and even in Isaiah. Consider how this verse speaks of the grass withering, it being killed by the breath of the Lord.

Later in Isaiah 55, "'For as the rain and 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.'".

Okay, so, you know, grass coming up, that sort of thing, from the rain and snow. "'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.'".

In other words, salvation of God's people. These, God is accomplishing salvation through his word, through the word of the gospel. Those two elements are the mortality of man and the immortality of the word of God.

It brings life. How does it bring life? Okay, well, first of all, in believing, one is born again, just as we saw in John 3, right? They were born of the flesh before, but through the word of God, they are born of the spirit, and then they have life.

And now they no longer walk in death and their sins, now they have new life, they have eternal life. So even in this world, you can have that eternal life. And then beyond that, consider what it means for the ongoing nature of the Christian life.

Consider how 1 Peter applies this. You would expect, you know, if you are thinking just of that initial aspect of salvation, the spirit being breathed, us hearing the word of God, coming to life, you'd be surprised by what 1 Peter says and how he applies this passage.

He says in 1 Peter 1 .22, having purified yourselves, having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth, for sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of the imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God, for all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever, and this word is the good news that was preached to you. Okay, so I know that was all kind of fast, but let me repeat that first part.

The part that he's saying is true because all flesh is grass, but the word of the Lord remains forever. Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth, for a sincere brotherly love, in other words, they have obeyed the truth in order to have a sincere brotherly love, love one another from a pure heart, earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable.

So what happens when someone comes to the truth? Remember, we were just talking about John 3, John 3, real concerned with people, leaving the darkness, coming into the light, coming into the truth. What happens when someone obeys the truth?

They are born again by the breath of the Spirit, by the word of God.

Why?

So that for a sincere brotherly love, so that from their hearts can come a sincere brotherly love. Before that, if you're just concerned, if you have the threat of death over yourself and you have to defend yourself from that, you cannot have a sincere brotherly love.

You always have to be concerned with yourself ultimately, but if you have life, if that cannot be taken away from you, if you have a guarantee from God, you can have a sincere brotherly love that does not have to worry about self-preservation because that is covered.

So those who have obeyed the truth for a sincere brotherly love can love one another earnestly from a pure heart because they have been born again, not of perishable seed, right? Seed being a metaphor there for the male product that creates a child, right?

Not being born of perishable seed, but having the seed of God, having his word dwelling in us so that we have his DNA, we have his life. So this is not just the word that brings people to life at the beginning of their journey, okay?

This is the word that brings people life continuing through their journey. This is the gospel that is not just for the lost. This is the message that is not just for the lost. This is the message for the saved as well.

What is the gospel that you're supposed to help that bring to a hurting brother? The message that you are to bring is all flesh is grass, all its beauty like the flower of the field, but the word of the Lord remains forever.

This is the message that you are to bring to them, those two things, the mortality of man, the immortality of the word of God. And then on that final day, what is the life that is received from the Spirit?

The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead will also raise us from the dead. All these things happen through the Spirit. So this is not just about that initial moment of salvation. This is about all salvation.

This is the message for every stage of the Christian walk. This is the message that one needs to hear at the beginning. This is the message that one needs to hear at the end. This is the message that all of us are to be crying out to the world, the mortality of man, the immortality of the word of God.

The Gospel as the Only Authorized Message

Now consider how this has flown so far, okay? How this has flowed. Verses one through two, people are to be comforted, right? Verses three through five, they are to be comforted because the Lord is coming.

And then six through eight, what is the message that they are to be comforted with? It's not just assume the message is, hey, the Lord's coming, right? I have, I didn't prepare any thoughts on this, but I will note that it is a somewhat of a controversy right now.

There are certain theologians who are advocating for the gospel message primarily just being the advancement of the kingdom and the coming of the kingdom and that itself just is the message to the belittling of the mortality of man and the immortality of the word of God.

So this is something where a lot of people would look at this and they would say, we already have the message in verses three through five. That is the message. That it's not, there is still the question, what shall be cried?

What shall be cried is the mortality of man and the immortality of the word of God. We should not assume that we can craft whatever message we want based on the truth, right? But we should give the message particularly that God has given us to give.

Now this is, now if this feels like a kind of novel take on this passage, if you're not used to thinking of this this way, I would like to give you a kind of a real quick tour of how scripture speaks this way frequently.

This is the gospel throughout all scripture. This is, sorry, this is how the gospel is to be packaged. Right, the gospel is that second half, the immortality of the word of God or it's even like part of that half because the immortality of the word of God also implies in judgment.

It doesn't just apply in salvation but also in judgment. So the gospel is to be packaged up in the immortality of the word of God and the mortality of man and this is frequently stated. Not only is it frequently stated, it is frequently stated with the analogy of grass.

Okay, Job, this is the gospel in Job. Job 14, one through two. Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble. He comes out like a flower and withers. He flees like a shadow and continues not and what happens at the end of Job?

He learns about the eternity of God. He was not there when God created the world and so he shuts his mouth. He realizes his complaint means nothing. His recognition of his short life leads him to look to God's strength.

Okay, that is what drove God even though he was already a good man. What drives Job to a greater holiness, to a greater understanding of who God is is learning even farther than he had before all flesh is grass.

He felt his own flesh being grass and that drove him to understand the immortality of the word of God better. Moses in Psalm 90, this is of Moses. Psalm 90, five through six. You sweep them away as with a flood.

They are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning. In the morning, it flourishes and is renewed. In the evening, it fades and withers. Later on in verses 11 and 12. Who consider the power of your anger and your wrath according to the fear of you?

Who considers the power of your anger and your wrath according to the fear of you? So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Okay, so one who numbers their days gets a heart of wisdom.

Once they number their days, they latch on to the eternity of God and his word, that is where they grow. But before, what is man like? Man is like grass that fades away. It's just like a dream, how fast it fades away.

There is the psalm of the one afflicted in Psalm 102, verses 11 through 12. My days are like an evening shadow. I wither away like grass. But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever. You are remembered throughout all generations.

And this is just a narrow portion of that psalm. You know, if you were to look at the verses before and the verses after, you would see more about man being mortal. You would see more about God's eternity.

Okay, so this is how the gospel is packaged in Psalm 102. Of the one afflicted, it is that man is grass. God's word is forever. David, in Psalm 103, 15 through 17. As for man, his days are like grass.

He flourishes like a flower of the field, for the wind passes over it and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him and his righteousness to children's children.

So the gospel of David, it is packaged this way. Flesh is grass, but the word of the Lord is forever. The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him. You do not have any hope in yourself if you are flesh.

Your flesh is grass. You must be born of the Spirit. You must trust in the Lord for his everlasting, steadfast love. Paul, in Romans 8, 13. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Okay, so here he contrasts flesh and spirit, right? Living according to flesh, you die. The Spirit, you live. James, in James 1, 9 through 11. Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass, he will pass away, for the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass.

Its flower falls and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. So James talks about man being like grass, and he says that man should boast in this. Why should man boast in this?

Because it is through recognizing that weakness that he is pointed to the strength of God. Now, these things are implicit, right, in this verse in James, but if you have enough of the theology at this point, you understand why he's saying that the one whose days are short should boast in them, because it is not in his own days that he trusts, but in an eternality that is much greater than his.

It is that of the Word of God. And then, of course, Peter, in 1 Peter, which I've already cited. Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and abiding Word of God.

All flesh is grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, the flower falls, but the Word of the Lord remains forever. And this Word is the good news that was preached to you. This is the gospel throughout all scripture.

Flesh, all flesh is grass, but the Word of the Lord remains forever. And consider why this is. Why is this how the gospel should be packaged? Consider that this follows, this section in scripture follows immediately after verse five, which said, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Why is this voice supposed to cry about all flesh? Or why is the one spoken to supposed to cry about all flesh? It is because all flesh shall see the glory of God. All flesh shall see it. It's because flesh is grass, that those who fall under God's judgment will see the glory of God when they see His justice rain down on their lives, and they are not spared on that last day, because they have not trusted in Jesus Christ.

They will see the glory of God on that day because they are weak and worthless. How is it that those who have trusted in Jesus Christ.

Will see it?

It is not because of their own strength. It is because their flesh is grass, that they turn to the Lord Jesus, and they know Him in His fullness, knowing not only His justice, but also knowing His mercy, having experienced it in their own lives.

It is because their flesh is grass that they can experience this. If you think that you can give a sufficient gospel that does not include the fact that all flesh is grass, or if you think you can package the gospel without that detail, there is not the recognition of the weakness of man that would drive someone to the eternal Word of God.

There's no reason that someone would feel a need to be born again apart from recognizing that all flesh is grass. And then if you give them some kind of good news that doesn't include the eternality of the Word of God, then it's something fading.

It's something that cannot last, or it's something that is just here for this life and not for more. But God's Word is eternal. It is an imperishable principle of life that dwells in one that can drive pure, sincere obedience and brings us life on that last day.

This is how the gospel is to be packaged because it is only in this way that all flesh sees the glory of God. Flesh only sees the glory of God once it learns that it is grass. It is only through man learning that he is weak and worthless that he can learn about the goodness of God.

This is true for the unrighteous and it is true for the righteous as well. All of them will learn on that last day. If you learn in this life, as the righteous do, and they trust in the Lord, then it will be well with you and you will enjoy the salvation of God, not only glorifying Him in His justice, but also in His mercy.

And we have a great hope because, as it says in Peter, we are made partakers of the divine nature that is not us and our principle of life that keeps us going. Rather, it is God, His imperishable seed, His eternal word in us that is our hope.

Amen.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the instruction that you have given us on how to even package and proclaim the good news that you have given. We pray that you would give us boldness as we declare this to others, that we would not shrink back from giving the whole truth, including the uncomfortable truth of the mortality of man.

We pray that we would not shrink away either from giving the whole truth about the eternality of your word and that it will last forever. In Jesus' name, amen.