Midweek Advent #3

SERMON

In Nomine Jesu!

Text: Isaiah 61:1-3

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

In Christ Jesus, whose work uplifts and encourages us in the midst of the seeming uncertainties of this life, dear fellow redeemed:

We have been considering ADVENT MESSAGES FROM ISAIAH in our midweek devotions this year. We have considered two of Isaiah’s prophecies within their historical contexts—one concerning our Savior’s birth as our God comforted His people in the days of King Ahaz, and a second concerning our Savior’s name as our God’s strengthened His people when opposed by the Assyrian King Sennacherib.

Isaiah served as God’s prophet to Judah for over fifty years. During that time, as we have noted, both wicked and godly kings ruled. Isaiah announced God’s anger and righteous wrath over against His people’s sins, and he proclaimed to those people the saving gospel—pointing their eyes ahead to the promised Savior. At some point, the Lord God revealed to Isaiah that He would eventually bring about a terrible judgment upon His people’s unbelief. He informed Isaiah that His people would be taken into captivity and that by believers as well as unbelievers would endure this chastisement. God also revealed to Isaiah, however, that He would remain faithful to His children. He would deliver them through “His anointed”—a king by the name of Cyrus (cf. Isaiah 45). The captivity of which the Lord spoke was the Babylonian Captivity under Nebuchadnezzar, and King Cyrus was a Persian king, who permitted God’s people to return to and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple.

The future often seems uncertain to us, for we do not know what will happen in our lives tomorrow or the next day. Our knowledge is limited. That was true in Isaiah’s day, and it remains true today. However, as God revealed His plans for Judah to Isaiah, so He knows what He has planned for our futures. God’s knowledge is limitless. Consequently, while Isaiah knew that he and his people would suffer in the future, he also knew that they would be delivered. Even so, while the Scriptures testify to us that we will suffer in this world, they also testify that we too will be delivered. Knowing this how did Isaiah chose to comfort the people of His day as they looked forward to a seemingly uncertain future? How ought we to comfort ourselves as we peer into a seemingly uncertain future today? In the midst of seeming uncertainty, Isaiah chose to speak of our Savior’s work! We would do well to heed his message!

Isaiah reminds us that Jesus’ work was and remains to preach the gospel of forgiveness. Isaiah writes, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” Sin separates us from God. Sin is responsible for bringing uncertainty into our lives. Judah’s impenitence was the cause of its captivity in Babylon. While God ultimately freed His people and allowed them to return to their land, Isaiah wanted God’s people to know that true freedom from uncertainty and suffering begins when people hear and accept the “good tidings” of God’s gospel of forgiveness.

Isaiah addresses this precious gospel of God’s love for sinners in Christ Jesus to those who are “brokenhearted.” Does not sin break our hearts? We cannot believe what loveless words we have spoken or what loveless acts we have done to those we claim to love. We must endure the loveless words and actions of others. We find ourselves “captives…bound” by our own sins and weaknesses or those of others. We cannot control our anger, our jealousy, and own petty selfishness—it seems to hold us down, bound by cycles that seem to repeat themselves leading to bitterness, resentment, and ultimately seeming helplessness. It is into just these situations that Jesus enters with His message of forgiveness. He does not come as do modern psychologists, who preach a false gospel of victimization, blaming everyone else for sin. No, He comes and tells us plainly, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Jesus wants us to lay bear our souls and recognize our sins, but then He proclaims those wonderful and healing words, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Is there hope for us as we suffer amidst the consequences of our sins? Yes, Jesus can and will heal us. He will liberate us and open our often self-imposed prisons with the assurance of His love and acceptance. Only listen to Him!

Isaiah reminds us that our Savior’s work was and remains as well to proclaim both the grace and wrath of God over sin! In the midst of our seeming uncertainties regarding the future, Jesus comes to proclaim a truth, which will stand throughout eternity. Isaiah says Jesus has come

“to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God.” People like to think of the various religions of the world much like a mall filled with stores—there is a wide variety of choice from which we can take or leave what we wish, when we wish. This is not true. There is one, true God—the Triune God of the Bible. There is one way of salvation—by grace through faith in Jesus. There is one Judge who will appear at the end of time—Jesus, and His decisions will be final. There is one time set for that judgment—a day when all chance of repentance and coming to faith will end, and when the fate of lost souls in hell will begin.

My dear friends, let us not take the attitude of the skeptic, who just does not know; or of the false apostles of tolerance, who suggest all will be well if only we will agree that no one can be certain of spiritual truth and therefore we should all just accept the claim that all roads lead to heaven. No, let us rejoice in the grace of God and take every opportunity we have during our time of grace to hear the blessed news of our salvation. I have heard people say repeatedly, "I don’t have to go to church to believe in God." That is true, however, I might add that the devil also believes in God and the Scriptures say he trembles (cf. James 2:19). Don’t play "chicken" with God, assuming that there will always be time to come back, to say you’re sorry, to receive His forgiveness. No, the time is now for us to gather before His throne and rejoice in His love, for the alternative to grace is God’s wrath, and it is coming and will fall upon all who do not believe.

Isaiah, finally idenifies that our Savior’s work was and remains to plant our roots in righteousness! Isaiah says that Jesus came “to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” There are times when we may well look at ourselves and wonder, how God could ever forgive, or love, or rejoice in me after all that I have done. The answer is "grace"—God’s undeserved love revealed in Jesus. Jesus was not born because we were so good and deserving, but rather in spite of our rebellion and in order to overcome Satan and the sin, which bound us. Jesus comes to us as He came to the woman caught in adultery. He assures us that our sins have been forgiven by His own merit. He then urges us to go ahead into our lives striving to sin no more, confidence of His presence and rejoicing in His righteousness.

When the Spirit of God comes to us and plants faith in our hearts, He is creating out of us a whole new creature. He takes us and with His gospel He plants our roots in the good soil of His precious word and as we hear, learn, and grow in that word He causes us to mature. The word used here for “trees” most often means the oak tree—strong and sturdy, but we are not so in and of ourselves. Rather we have obtained by faith the righteousness of Christ, together with the assurances of His presence and power in our lives. Consequently, our desires are changed from those of simply serving ourselves or the narrow needs of those around us, to that of glorifying God by our every word and action.

My dear friends, Isaiah and the people of his day stared into a future, which while seemingly so uncertain was not uncertain at all. They would suffer captivity in Babylon, but then would be delivered. They could take comfort in the work of the promised Savior, who would delivered them from a much greater captivity and bestow upon them a much greater city than the Jerusalem to which they one day would return. Even so, as we look into a seemingly uncertain future, may we recognize that is not uncertain at all. Our Savior came as a Child to Bethlehem to secure for us a brilliant future in heaven. Let us rejoice in God’s gospel of grace. May we with confidence join the heavenly host is singing "glory to God" both now and forever. Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting