Downtown Church of Christ
August 10, 2025
Welcome to the Downtown Church! Join us as we become the WORD made flesh!
Locations & Times
Downtown Church of Christ
900 N Main St, Searcy, AR 72143, USA
Sunday 8:00 AM
Sunday 10:45 AM
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https://dcoc.churchcenter.com/givingThose Who Wait For The Lord - Isaiah 40
Every culture has these nuggets of wisdom because humanity tends to be impatient.
Waiting is not easy.
Historical Context: Isaiah is prophesying to the Jews exiled in Babylon. By this time, they’ve been in captivity for some decades and are teetering on the edge of despair
Outline:
A1 Our Despair (40:27)
B God’s Greatness (40:28,29)
A2 Our Renewal (40:30,31)
A1 Our Despair (40:27)
B God’s Greatness (40:28,29)
A2 Our Renewal (40:30,31)
Our Despair
-The Jewish exiles living under a kind of mass house arrest in Babylon felt abandoned by God.
-In essence, they feel the justice due to them has been overlooked by God.
Isaiah challenges his hearers to remind us of the goodness of God.
-No one lives with an unwavering faith. But Isaiah in our text today reasons with us, challenging the irrationality of our belief, to help us get back on track.
-The Jewish exiles living under a kind of mass house arrest in Babylon felt abandoned by God.
-In essence, they feel the justice due to them has been overlooked by God.
Isaiah challenges his hearers to remind us of the goodness of God.
-No one lives with an unwavering faith. But Isaiah in our text today reasons with us, challenging the irrationality of our belief, to help us get back on track.
2 Kinds of Doubt (Ortlund)
-Struggles to believe
-Resist belief
-Struggles to believe
-Resist belief
Jacob/Israel
-God sees them under His covenant of grace. They still very much have a place in His heart.
-Jacob- During the crisis in his life, he is desperate to for God’s blessing. And God blesses those who are desperate enough to wrestle with Him.
-Now Isaiah is reminding this generation of Israel’s descendants, during the crisis of their lives, that successful striving with God is their heritage.
-As Jacob prevailed with Go- so can they- and so can we.
We tend to find ourselves in despair when we forget who we are in Christ.
-“When we forget who we are in Christ, it can darken our view of Christ Himself.” –Ortlund
-God sees them under His covenant of grace. They still very much have a place in His heart.
-Jacob- During the crisis in his life, he is desperate to for God’s blessing. And God blesses those who are desperate enough to wrestle with Him.
-Now Isaiah is reminding this generation of Israel’s descendants, during the crisis of their lives, that successful striving with God is their heritage.
-As Jacob prevailed with Go- so can they- and so can we.
We tend to find ourselves in despair when we forget who we are in Christ.
-“When we forget who we are in Christ, it can darken our view of Christ Himself.” –Ortlund
God’s Greatness
4 Things (vv. 28-29):
-Eternal, Everlasting
-God is the Creator of everything
-God is always at work
-God is wise and “His understanding is unsearchable”
4 Things (vv. 28-29):
-Eternal, Everlasting
-God is the Creator of everything
-God is always at work
-God is wise and “His understanding is unsearchable”
Everything that meters in life hangs on who God is.
God is always right now, always right here, always at work and always wise. And that changes everything. As such, He shares His strength in our weakness. And more importantly, He WANTS to (I Peter 5:7).
“Faint” or “exhausted” or “weary” appears 8 times in the ESV in this passage. This passage is written to exhausted people who find themselves in despair and need to be reminded of a Great God and the Renewal that comes through Him.
People who find their reasons for living in God have an uncanny resilience about them.
Our Renewal
-The reality is- human strength at its best, will fail. But we are not doomed to our potential. There is a power beyond ourselves and we can experience it.
-It moves us from human willpower to spiritual expectancy.
-...But we have to wait.
-The reality is- human strength at its best, will fail. But we are not doomed to our potential. There is a power beyond ourselves and we can experience it.
-It moves us from human willpower to spiritual expectancy.
-...But we have to wait.
Wait
-“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” David (Psalm 27:14
-It is waiting with eager longing.
-Waiting is an important part of faith. “Waiting is what faith does before God’s answer shows up.” (Ortlund)
-“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” David (Psalm 27:14
-It is waiting with eager longing.
-Waiting is an important part of faith. “Waiting is what faith does before God’s answer shows up.” (Ortlund)
Point To Ponder As We Prepare To Part: God sees our struggles and renews the strength of those who trust in Him, promising that they will soar like eagles, run without weariness, and walk without fainting.
Raymond Ortlund- This Hebrew word for “zeal” is cognate with an Arabic verb meaning “to become intensely red,” suggesting the idea of color flooding a person’s face with the flush of deep emotion within.