Isaiah 40:3 “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: 5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”
John the Baptist was the voice crying in the wilderness. His work was foretold right here. He prepared the way for God’s glory. In John 1:14 it says “and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” We need to look for the glory to come down. If revival, like it was in the New Testament, came, many today would reject it. It’s been subnormal for so long that if it was normal, we’d think it was abnormal. Many just don’t know what revival is.
A highway is an elevated road. To have revival we must be elevated spiritually in our relationship with the Lord. Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up. We want to bring him down to our level; it doesn’t work that way. A highway gets us from Point A to Point B. Complacency is where we are now. We need to be over there, but we’re stuck over here. A highway needs to be constructed. To get to verse 5 from verse 3, we have to go through verse 4. The revival won’t come because it’s been scheduled. There must be a renewal for God to have his way with a return to the Word, his house, and living under the direction of God. It is entirely possible for everyone in this church to be revived but you. To get the highway built, we need some things, and we find them in verse 4.
Every valley needs to be exalted. There needs to be a filling process. Bring things up to standard. Get the trouble spots filled as you would fill a cavity. What’s your valley? Fill it up. Be hungry for revival. It may cost you some things. Are you willing to give them up for the sake of revival?
There needs to be a leveling process. The high places need to come down. They are our roadblocks. Bring the mountains down whether they are disbelief, laziness, greedy, or pride. We need some Holy Ghost dynamite to blast and bring them down like a mountain is brought down to make a highway. Let’s bust up the arrogance, lust, jealously, addictions, bad thoughts, the prayerlessness, anger and rage. Stop listening to the world and listen to God. The valley needs to come up and the mountains come down.
The crooked must be made straight. There must be a filling, a leveling and a straightening. The Bible says straight and narrow is the highway. This week “emergencies” will come up for the devil to keep us off track. Put God first and things will straighten out. Revival and the glory of God are more important than anything else.
The rough places must be made smooth. This is a process too. Revival will smooth out marriages, finances, temper, tongues, and dispositions. We need a spiritual bulldozer to smooth things out and reveal the glory of God strong and powerful.
Verses 10 and 11: “behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” The tender mercy of God works out the process. It takes commitment. The end of the chapter says “even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
The highway from Point A to Point B is for us. Do you want it? It starts with me, and it starts with you. The invitation: if you don’t know the Lord, come meet him. If you do, recommit. Don’t miss the highway.
The message was preached by Brother Donnie White.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 