Is Revival Coming? Comfort for God's People, Isaiah 40:1-5

¹ Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

² 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.

³ A voice cries:

“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;    

make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up, 

and every mountain and hill be made low;

the uneven ground shall become level,    

and the rough places a plain.

⁵ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,    

and all flesh shall see it together,    

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

When the Continental Congress gathered in Philadelphia many of our founding fathers worshipped at Christ Church, arguably the first Episcopal Church in the USA. Today it is an empty, historic church with few people in worship. When I worshiped there in the 80’s, there was no one attending younger than I, unless you count Stephanie. The church was a museum more than a living, breathing part of the body of Christ. The largest section on their website is information on tours of the burial grounds. That church was and is in dire need of revival.

I want to focus on a question: Is revival something we can bring about or is revival something only God initiates?

Previously I quoted the following men who defined of revival:

• Jonathan Edwards: revival is a surprising work of the Lord.

• J. I. Packer: revival is a work of God restoring   . . . those standards of Christian life and experience, which the New Testament sets forth as being entirely ordinary.

• William De Arteaga: revival is an occasion when the Holy Spirit descends upon and invigorates a Christian community.

These definitions point to God as the initiator.

In Isaiah 40, according to Nicky Gumbel in The Heart of Revival, we hear four voices inviting us to look and see what God is doing and what he is about to do.

In verses 1-2, Voice One says: Look, it is over.

How many people do you know in difficult situations who would love to have a fresh start in life? The first voice declares, “Look, the depressing past is over. Comfort is on the way.”

God was not powerless to prevent the Israelite’s exile. The exile was caused by sin, by not trusting God. Likewise, lack of trust and sin have caused exile from the presence of God in our society. God he allows us to make bad choices for which there are consequences.

One cold weekend at my parents’ lake house, I struggled to keep my one-year-old daughter away from the fireplace. On day two, tired of running over and pulling her away, I stood alertly behind her and let her barely touch the fire screen. She cried out in pain, so I rushed her into the kitchen, put ice on her hand, and comforted her. The burn was relatively insignificant, healing in days. The result: she never touched that screen again and her trust grew in her father’s word.

Like a father who wants to protect his daughter from fire, God works through events so that we may learn, grow, and develop more trust in him. Jesus says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much” (Luke 16:10a). We know revival is coming when we trust God and experience his comfort.

In verses 3-5 Voice Two says: Look, God is coming. Isaiah announces an impending visit. This second voice says, “God is not distant; he can also comes near.”

When an important person comes to visit people prepare. When President Benjamin Harrison visited San Antonio in 1891 the city planned a special parade for its first ever visit by a president and to celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of San Jancinto. Unfortunately, because of poor weather, the President did not make it. The parade, however, went on and still exists today. To prepare for the Olympics in Athens in 2004, a new airport was constructed, roads were improved and widened, and new subway lines extended.

To plan for Awaken ’25, we have had 40 days of prayer—both written in a booklet and said out loud for an hour each day in the Chapel. When we plan for something remarkable, we want masses of people to be there. The second voice calls for all humanity to see the revelation of God’s glory. Unlike President Harrison, nothing will keep God away. We know revival is coming because God has spoken.

In verses 6-8 Voice Three says: Look at God’s Word.

The reading of the names of the victims of 9/11 at the site of the twin towers on every September 11^th since 2002, is a reminder that while we crave for permanence, we humans are as frail as grass on a hot summer day. Eventually we all wither and die.  There is only one thing that is permanent, and that is God’s word.

The Israelites in exile wanted security, meaning, and purpose in their lives. People today in our rapidly changing cultural want the same thing. To overcome the insecurity of life, many people end up clinging to their wealth, health, and image. But these are inadequate. Jesus says, “You cannot serve both God and Money” (Luke 16:13c).  Money runs out, health deteriorates, and images age. But the word of God, says the third voice, stands forever.

Voltaire, an 18^th century critic of Christianity, forecast that within 100 years the Bible would be obsolete and forgotten. Within a hundred years of his death in 1778, his home in Paris became a Bible publishing house. The most widely published book in the world is the Bible. Voltaire’s prophecy completely failed. God’s prophecies stand firm.

In 1741 Jonathan Edwards wrote, regarding the work of the Holy Spirit in revival, “The Spirit that operates in such a manner as to cause in men a greater regard to the Holy Scriptures, and establishes them more in their truth and divinity, is certainly the Spirit of God.” We know revival is coming when people hunger for and are fed by God’s eternal Word. How hungry are you for God’s Word?

We will look at Voice 4 tomorrow.