Keep Listening To The Lord No Matter What. Isaiah 35
A Sermon By Elise Beatrice 

“This morning, I was speaking to the Lord, thanking Him for all the great things He does, and saying, 'I thank You, Lord, that You fight for us every day, that You defeat our oppressors everyday. I will continue to listen to You no matter what. I will continue to serve You no matter what. When people genuinely want You, You are there. When they are willing to let go of their ways and listen to You, You are there.
I finished my prayer and was happy because I  understood that whatever the devil does to try and stop me, whatever obstacles he throws on my path to make things so difficult for me with the aim to make me quit serving the Lord, I will continue to listen to the Lord Jesus. 
I sat on my sofa and continued reflecting on my conversation with the Lord, and right then, my phone beeped, and there was a message.”

Keep walking with God. And the verse attached to it was Isaiah 35:8. Then I read it,
“And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there.”

And I am there praising the Lord and saying, “Wow, what a great way to comfort me.” This is the prophecy about the New Jerusalem; Most beautiful place of all. Those who suffer here, are oppressed continuously and do not quit and continue to serve the Lord, that is where they will be eventually. I say, “What a great way for the Lord to help me to understand that He has heard our conversation.”
Of course, it applies. I mean, I was saying to Him, 
“I will keep on listening to You no matter what.” And the message is, “Keep walking with the Lord.” And that is just so amazing. 
This is just one of the ways the Lord uses to speak to His people. He uses His own words to speak to His people. Of course, I am comforted by that, for I know, given that I will keep on listening to the Lord no matter what, no matter how hard things get, no matter how much demons try whatever they do to oppress me and throw all those trials and, whatever, I will keep on listening to the Lord. As long as I keep on doing that, I will be in this place someday in the future; The best place of all, and not only me.
This does not just apply to me. It applies to everyone who listens to the Lord, who lives for the Lord, who serves the Lord with all their strength, the ability that God has given them, according to the Scripture and not according to our own minds. This is for everyone who is out there serving the Lord so faithfully, remaining truthful to His teachings, but they have so many obstacles, oppressions and spiritual attacks, and they have so much persecution, whether physically, spiritually, or verbally. It can be very tough for a servant of the Lord, a disciple of Christ, a servant of the Lord, not just those who call themselves servants of the Lord, Yet they do not listen to Him. 
And this is a great comfort for the children of God, for not every believer is a child of God, but only those who truly listen to Him and live for Him. So, the hope for restoration in the beautiful New Jerusalem, when the Lord comes and reigns for a thousand years. Isn’t that beautiful? Do we want to trade that beautiful thing for what we can receive now? No, it’s not worth it.

So this is just an example of how God, who promised that He would never leave us, not forsake us, speaks to His people. And in some special cases, He speaks to them personally. And that is great because it’s all about the hope for restoration, those beautiful things that the Lord will do in the New Jerusalem when the Lord Comes Again. It will be beautiful. Yes.

Now let’s read Isaiah 35, 
“Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days. The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses. 2 Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! - Amen - 
The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon. There the Lord will display his glory, the splendor of our God. - Amen - 
3 With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees. 4 Say to those with fearful hearts, 
“Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. - Amen! - He is coming to save you.”
Amen! And this is true. 

No matter what we go through in this life, no matter what we go through for the Lord, He always shows up to deliver us, in this life when things get too much and when He Comes Again. For that will be the end, the day He will destroy the enemy. He will completely wipe him and his deeds out of this earth. 
Yes, we can go through some tough times, things can be hard for us, but we keep on. We keep on because the Lord who has spoken is not blind. The Lord who has spoken has not run out of His mighty powers. He lives forever. Our God lives forever. Things can be tough on this earth, especially if you’re one of those who have chosen to live for the truth, to live in the light and speak the truth, that you have lots of oppressors. 

So yes, the Lord comforts those who suffer for doing good with His words the same way He comforted me this morning. And I want everyone out there to be comforted, because in moments like these, you may think God is not hearing you, but He’s always hearing you. He sees what you’re going through. He knows what You’re going through, but don’t be tired of speaking to Him. And even if you don’t receive an answer, know that He has heard it and at just the right time, He will comfort you. He always does it with all His children. So yes, let’s continue reading verse 5. 

"5 And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. 6 The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!"

This part here is the First Coming. So, in this is Isaiah 35 from verse 1 to 10, it is speaking about the First Coming and the Second Coming. And as we can see here, verse five, "When He comes, He will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf...". He did that when He first came. When He will come again, it will be the Day of The Lord. He’s coming to take His people, to harvest His people, and whoever remains behind is because they had never welcomed Him when He first came. 
So, "The lame will leap like a deer?" Yes. When He first came, He gave sight to the blind. He gave feet to the lame. And those who were deaf, they have heard. Many have heard the Gospel of salvation. That was the First Coming. Yes. 

"The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy! Springs will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the wasteland. 7 The parched ground will become a pool, and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land. Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will flourish where desert jackals once lived."

So in the midst of this Isaiah 35, from verse one to verse ten, it begins, and in the middle of it, he speaks about the First Coming, then continues with the Second Coming. 

"8  And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. - Amen- Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there. 9 Lions will not lurk along its course, nor any other ferocious beasts. There will be no other dangers. Only the redeemed will walk on it. -Amen-  10 Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return. They will enter Jerusalem singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness."

Yes. This is beautiful. Wow. Who wants to miss this for instant gratification? Please don’t. This is going to be the greatest thing ever seen. So please, whatever you’re going through, put your mind on the Lord Jesus. Put your hope in Him, for He is so faithful and will never let you down. You take right decisions and truly serve Him and listen to Him no matter what, and you live for Him. For this is what it is written, and that is the truth. He himself said, not everyone who says, 'Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.'
And I know, for I have seen many, that some get serious with the Lord, But then, they get discouraged because of the constant oppression, of the many things not working for them. It is natural for believers to go through trials and tribulations, but no matter what, do not give up.
It is tough, no matter what, please do not give up.

Whether small amounts of trials or huge amounts of trials, we must listen to the Lord, for He is the One in the midst of it, delivering us all when things get harder. So we are not alone. Demons can be overbearing, they can be so cunning. Of course, that is them. They are ruthless. They continuously devise wicked plots to ambush the servants of the Lord, the children of God. 
Many are remaining that way because they have surrendered to those demons. But if you are a lukewarm Christian, know that it is not safe for you yet, know that you are not saved, because the Lord Himself said, 
"I will spit them out of my mouth."
And, the Lord Jesus Christ does not spit out of His mouth His real children. So if you are a believer, yet still a lukewarm Christian, please, I am telling you this, it is not worth it to remain a lukewarm Christian when you have already taken a step to believe in the Lord. Go all the way. Now you believe in the Lord. Good. But belief alone is not complete. Go all the way. Now you need to stop and listen to the Lord and live for Him. Then you'll know now that you’re on the right track. I’m instructed here to comfort those who have tired hands and those who have weak knees. How do we have tired hands? Your hands are tired; probably you work so hard, but you don’t see any result. Maybe you're older and you're weak. Weak knees, yes. You may be older and you no longer walk. You may be walking with crutches and things get tough and you’re scared and you think things will never get better. But it always gets better with the Lord Jesus. Just listen to Him. Listen to Him no matter what. 
Sometimes, when I say to the Lord, I will keep on listening to You. That is the truth. I will do that, and the Lord knows it. He knows that I will keep on listening to Him no matter what. And you should not stop listening to the Lord either, no matter what. And the devil will be defeated that way, because whatever he does, he sees that it's not stopping you, and he’s the one getting the frustration. His frustration returns upon himself. His discouragement returns upon himself, because Jesus Christ is the victory. And every evil thing, every wicked plot he devises always returns upon himself. He’s condemned and doomed to be destroyed.

So, this should give you comfort that the Lord has already gained victory on the cross. And no matter how tough things get, don’t stop listening to the Lord. For I will not stop listening to the Lord. And I don’t see why you should. And you will be rewarded in the beautiful New Jerusalem. Thank you for listening. 

Lord Jesus, You are so great, God. I love You and I love Your Father. I love Your Holy Spirit and I love Your people. I love Your holy angels. I love all Your people here on earth, Lord, and even those ones who don’t yet know You, who seek You, Lord. You are so great, Lord. Thank You so much, Lord God, thank You for Your greatness and Your faithfulness, Lord. 
Thank You for Your comfort. Thank You for speaking to me with Your words. Of course, that was a great way or a way of telling me, "I heard what you said. I heard your conversation with me. I heard your words to me." And, Lord, that comforts me so well. And You knew it would comfort me so good.
So, I thank You so much, God, for Your grace.  
Thank You that You take good care of Your children, of Your people and everyone who wants You as their Father, Everlasting Father, everyone who wants You as their only Savior, everyone who looks to You and puts their hope in You, knowing that You will come again, bringing Your reward with You. 
Lord, You’re always good, and whatever You do is good. I thank You for everyone who will listen to this. We love You here in Jesus name, we pray. Amen.