Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. If you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from the book of
Isaiah, the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, who prophesied about
700 years before the coming of Christ into the world. And I'm
going to be preaching from chapter 40, Isaiah chapter 40, beginning
at verse one. And the title of the message
is The Comfort We Have in Christ. the comfort we have in Christ. And this is a prophecy of the
coming of the Messiah. And I'll show you that as we
go down through some of these verses. I won't cover the whole
chapter, but I'll cover the first part of it. But Isaiah, as I
said, he prophesied in Jerusalem about 700 years before Christ
came. And it was a time of prosperity
for the nation of Judah, the southern kingdom. Sometimes we
just, sometimes as we go back into the Old Testament, we'll
just call it all Israel. But at this time, the kingdom
was divided. You know, that happened after
Solomon's death. The kingdom became divided. The
northern kingdom consisted of 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel. Actually, there were 13 because
the tribe of Joseph got divided into Manasseh and Ephraim, his
two sons. But anyway, the northern kingdom
and the southern kingdom, which consisted mainly of the tribe
of Judah, the royal tribe, That's the tribe of the kings. That's
the tribe through which Christ came according to the flesh.
David's tribe. He was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh. And that's where Isaiah prophesied. Now, at this time, the northern
kingdom still existed, but it was about to be obliterated,
attacked and obliterated. by the Assyrian Empire, and that's
what happened. It was a judgment of God against
the Northern Kingdom because none of the kings of the Northern
Kingdom were godly kings who did that which is right in the
eyes of the Lord. You can read about all of that
in the book of 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles. All of that's
the history. And in the Southern Kingdom,
There were a few godly kings, but there were also many ungodly
kings. Isaiah prophesied under the reign
of a few of the godly kings. We talk about King Uzziah. King
Uzziah was a good king, but he failed. That's when he tried
to come in and burn incense in the temple, the tabernacle. which
he had no right to do, being from the tribe of Judah, not
being a priest and all of that. And we go on through. Well, here,
Isaiah began to tell the people that they were going to be under
the judgment of God, that God was going to punish them for
their sins. And of course, that is in light
of the holiness and the justice of God. God is a just God. And the Bible tells us that God
reveals himself in judgment. He must do that which is right. And that's why this issue of
sin is no light matter. You see, God cannot just look
over our sins and act as if they didn't happen. Salvation is not
God feeling sorry for a sinner and saying, well, you know, I
know you've had some problems and let's just forget about it. No, sir, God must be just when
he saves. And this is an issue that people
don't really grasp today in false Christianity. You know, they talk about a loving
God, and they talk about a merciful God, and a gracious God, and
all that's true about God, and I love to preach on His love,
His grace, His mercy, but not without His justice being satisfied. And the only way His justice
could be satisfied is either by the death of the offender,
which equals not just physical death now, but eternal death
and damnation, or the death of a suitable, willing, God-appointed
substitute?" And there's your key to God's salvation. Who is the only suitable, willing,
God-appointed substitute? And the answer is the Lord Jesus
Christ, who was made before the foundation of the world, the
surety of His people. Meaning that God chose a people
and placed all of the responsibility of their sin debt owing to God's
justice upon Christ. That's the doctrine of imputation
and substitution. Christ became the surety. He
agreed in the covenant of grace before the world began to come
and pay the redemption price by the price of his blood, his
death. And so this is the issue of this
prophecy here. So what's happening here is Isaiah
is preaching and telling the people that God's going to judge
them and the main judgment would come about 100 years later or
150 years later when God would take, would bring the Babylonian army under King Nebuchadnezzar
down to destroy Jerusalem, destroy the temple that Solomon was going
to build, or had built, and take him into captivity for 70 years. And that was the end of the state
of Israel at that time. because they never were, even
though they came back out of captivity and reoccupied their
land, the promised land, they were always from that time on
under the, they had been conquered and under the government of a
foreign nation. It was the Babylonians, it was
the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greek Empire under Alexander,
and then the Romans. And they stayed that way until
Jerusalem was totally destroyed, even what they'd built back in
AD 70. So what Isaiah's doing here in
the midst of all these prophecies of judgment, he shows them where
the hope of salvation is. And it's not
in the physical nation of Israel. It's not in a physical temple,
a human priesthood. It's not in the blood of bulls
and goats, the sacrifices. It's not in the works of the
people under the law. It's not in the law. It's in
the promise that God made way before Israel was established
as a nation. back in Genesis chapter three
of the promise of the Messiah. And that's what he's telling
people. Yes, we're sinners. Yes, we deserve condemnation.
We deserve what God's giving us. Is there any hope for a sinner
like me? And that hope is the same in
every generation. It's the hope of God's grace
in and by the Lord Jesus Christ as the surety, the substitute,
and the redeemer of God's chosen people who are the elect. And
that's not referring to the nation Israel. That's referring to God's
people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation who are known
when God brings them to hear the gospel and believe it. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation to everyone that believeth. And so look at what
he's saying. And this is it. If I were to
tell you, if I were a prophet of God in this day, and I were
to tell you that the United States of America is going to be conquered
and you're gonna go into captivity, that would be such a negative
message if you believed it. And of course, many of these
didn't believe it. There were always false prophets. All the way through
the Bible, when God's true prophets told people the truth, there
were always many more false prophets who told them the opposite. In
Jeremiah's day, just right before they went into captivity in Babylon,
Jeremiah told them that they were gonna be conquered, they
were gonna be put into captivity. There were always other prophets
who were false, who cried, peace, peace, when there is no peace.
And you can sort of liken that and compare that even in our
day, when a true preacher of the gospel tells you the truth
about how God saves sinners. And if you find in searching
the scriptures that you don't believe that truth, that you
believe another truth, which means you're lost. If that preacher
has told you the truth from the word of God, you can find other
preachers around this town and wherever who will speak peace
to you. Now say, oh, don't listen to
him. He's just a negative preacher, all that kind of junk. You're
all right, you got baptized when you were 14 or 12, and you've
tried to live a good life, all that stuff, and that means nothing. So understand that. So here's
what Isaiah says. Now look at verse one of Isaiah
40. He says, comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak some comfort here, Isaiah.
You've been telling these people that they're gonna be destroyed. The Northern Kingdom, they're
gonna be obliterated and scattered throughout the world. And then
it's coming upon Judah and Jerusalem too. Speak some comfort. Speak some positive. I've heard
preachers say, I don't wanna preach any negative, I wanna
just preach positive. Well, I've got news for you,
friend. I've gotta preach both. And so he says, comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith your God. Now, who are God's people? Well,
there's a sense, and somebody said, well, aren't we all God's
people? Well, by creation, there's a sense in which we are all God's
people because he created us. But spiritually speaking, as
far as having a right relationship with God and calling God our
Heavenly Father, it's only His elect who are brought, who are
redeemed by the blood of Christ and brought to faith in Christ
who are God's true people, spiritual Israel, the church. The rest
are enemies of God. Their father is the devil. As
Christ told the Pharisees in John 8, 44, you are of your father
the devil. You do the works of the devil.
They rejected the gospel. They rejected God's truth. So
speak comfort, Isaiah, and he says it twice. Well, look at
verse two. He says, speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished
that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. Now, how could that apply
to the physical nation of Judah or Israel when God's going to
bring judgment down upon them for their sins? Well, He's not
speaking in this prophecy of the physical nation of Israel. He's speaking of spiritual Israel. Now, my friend, I'm very emphatic
about this because people today, they put their hope in a physical
nation. And we talk about Israel today.
And I'm all for Israel as a nation. I think we ought to treat them
justly. They're an ally, but they are not God's chosen people
as far as salvation is concerned. That's over. They were God's
people under the old covenant, but that's been abolished. And
I've preached on this. I've shown you how in the New
Testament, especially the Apostle Paul, he says, in Christ Jesus,
there's neither Jew nor Greek or Gentile. He said in Romans
2 28 that he is not a Jew which is one outwardly and circumcision
is not that of the flesh but he is a Jew which is one inwardly
and circumcision is of the heart. What is circumcision of the heart?
That's the new birth. It's the cutting away the filth
of the flesh in this sense. It's when God brings a sinner
gives that sinner spiritual life, eyes to see and ears to hear,
and brings that sinner to see the glory of Christ and to believe
in Him and to repent of all their fleshly works, all of that, dead
works. In other words, I'm not saved
by my works. My works are filthy rags in the
sight of God. I'm saved by the work of Christ. And that's what that spiritual
circumcision involves. Paul wrote in Philippians chapter
three and verse three, for we are the circumcision, talking
to both Jew and Gentile who believed. And what kind of circumcision
was he talking about? Not physical, because the Gentiles
were not physically circumcised, spiritual. We are the circumcision
which worship God in spirit and rejoice or have confidence in
Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. You see that. Now, he says, speak ye comfortably. One translation says, speak ye
to the heart. Well, that's okay, because if
God has given you a new heart, then God's preachers and God's
teachers and God's witnesses can speak to that heart, speak
to your mind, your affections and your will, and you'll receive
it. If God doesn't give you a new heart, I can speak to you, a
preacher, a true preacher or a prophet can speak to you, and
you won't receive it. Why? Because the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he
know them. They're spiritually discerned, 1 Corinthians 2 14.
And what are you gonna tell them? Well, in the realm of eternal
salvation, and how God saves sinner, Her warfare is accomplished. What warfare? Well, God's people,
the elect of God, the church, the redeemed of the Lord, those
who are justified, which means their sins are forgiven. Why? Based upon the blood of Christ.
They are declared righteous in God's sight. Their warfare against
Satan is over. Now that doesn't mean they're
not struggling and Satan is not trying to upset them and attack
them, but the battle, the warfare is over. Christ died on the cross. and he defeated Satan, their
warfare against sin is over. Now, let me say this about that. While on this earth, even as
believers, we still struggle with sin, and it's called the
warfare of the flesh and the spirit, but the victory's already
been won. It's already been accomplished.
by Christ on the cross. He went to war against my sins
and He put them away. The Bible says in Hebrews 10
and verse 14, it says, for by one offering He, Christ, hath
perfected, finished, completed, He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. The blood of Jesus Christ brings
forgiveness and covers all sin. You see? So that as I'm still
a sinner while in this life, struggling and warring against
the flesh, my sins cannot condemn me. Why? Because of the accomplishment
of Christ who went to war in my place. And He put away my
sins by His death on the cross. How do you know He accomplished
it? He arose from the dead. So even though I'm a sinner,
I can't get away from it in this life, in my thoughts and my attitudes. I try, I struggle. I'm to fight
sin with every fiber of my being while I wanna glorify God, I
wanna obey God. But it's a warfare and it'll
be a continual warfare until I die and leave this body of
death and go to be with Christ. But here's the point, even during
this struggle, God's preachers and God's Word can speak comfortably
to me because my sins cannot condemn me. Why? Because they
cannot be charged to my account. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
He's risen again and seated at the right hand of the Father,
ever living to make intercession for us. So that when we sin,
we have an advocate with the Father, John wrote, Jesus Christ
the righteous. And he's not just the advocate
for the Jewish, God's people among the Jews alone, but also
for the whole world, not everybody without exception now, but all
of God's people in Jew and Gentile throughout the world. He says
in verse two, the Lord, for she hath received of the Lord's hand,
This is the Lord's work. Double for all her sins. What
is that double? Well, not only has he brought
about a pardon and a forgiveness and a cleansing from all my sins
by his blood, he's also declared me righteous in God's sight. Based upon the righteousness
of Christ, charged to me, imputed to me. Paul quoted David in Romans
4 and verse 6 when he described the blessedness of the man to
whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works. Now how did all
this come about? It's of the Lord's hand. And
how did God bring it about? Look at verse 3. He says, 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. Now, who does that point to?
A man named John the Baptist. The voice crying in the wilderness,
prepare ye the way. John the Baptist was the last
of the Old Testament prophets. And when he came, he ushered
in the coming of Christ into the world. Make straight in the
desert a highway for our God. Christ is coming, John said.
John said when he had the crowds out there and he was baptizing
them, he said, I can baptize you with water, but there's one
coming after me who baptizes with fire, with the spirit. That's
the new birth. In other words, the one coming
after me, he can establish righteousness and put away our sins and give
life to the dead. And that's Christ. And that's
who is the comfort of God's people. That word comfort means assurance.
It means peace. It means a clear conscience.
Sometimes my conscience will bother me. How am I gonna cleanse
it? How am I gonna find peace and comfort? Looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith. Look at verse four. Every
valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill shall be made
low, the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places
plain. Christ, in his coming, turned
the world upside down. Everything that men held in high
esteem was brought down. That which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination to God. And everything that men
looked low upon as being nothing was raised in Christ. Verse five says, the glory of
the Lord shall be revealed. And who is the glory of the Lord?
The glorious person and the finished work of Christ. We've all sinned
and come short of the glory of God. But in Christ, we see the
glory of God in his face, in his person, in his work. And
he said, and all flesh shall see it together. Now, the Pharisees
didn't see it, the Sadducees didn't see it, the Romans didn't
see it, but there were some who did. And it says, for the mouth
of the Lord hath spoken it. In other words, it cannot fail,
because God said it. And so he says in verse six,
the voice said, cry. And he said, what shall I cry?
All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is of the
flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely
the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. Now you
might recognize that as Peter quoted it in his first letter
in 1 Peter chapter 1 around verse 24. And you can look over there
in 1 Peter In chapter 1, he talks about God bringing sinners to
faith in Christ. Verse 22 of 1 Peter 1, he says,
seeing you have purified your souls and obeying the truth through
the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that you
love one another with a pure heart fervently. The pure heart
is the heart cleansed by the blood of Christ. And verse 23,
being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by
the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever, for all
flesh as grass, and all the glory of man as a flower of grass,
the grass withereth, the flower thereof falleth away, but the
word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word which by
the gospel is preached to you. What is the gospel? It's the
preaching of the glory of Christ, the grace of God, that reigns
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. And that's the comfort of God's
people. And outside of Him, as far as
salvation is concerned, as far as a right relationship with
God is concerned, as far as true blessedness and the assurance
of eternal life is concerned, there is no comfort outside of
Christ. You can look to yourself. You
can look to your baptism. You can say, well, I was baptized.
Well, okay. What did you believe when you
were baptized? Somebody told me one time, said,
well, I don't know what I believe. Well, you were just dunked in
water then. Because baptism, water baptism,
is the believer's confession of his or her comfort in Christ
by his blood and righteousness through the gospel message. It's
a confession of what you know as God has revealed it to you
and taught it to you. And everything that men and women
by nature, as we are naturally born, want to hold on to, to
get comfort, to get peace, it's like the grass that withers,
the flower that faded, the glory of man, it's gone. Whatever it
is you glory in, I know people who have a lot of money, and
they say, well, God has blessed them in the way of them thinking,
well, they must have done something right or something like that.
My friend, that's all gonna fade away. If that's your comfort,
oh, it's sad. It's a deceptive comfort. It's
only temporary. You see, the only thing that's
gonna last forever is the Word of God. And the Word of God is
found in Christ Jesus. And in the gospel of God's grace
and how he saves sinners by his grace, that means you don't earn
it and you don't deserve. The comfort that God's people
have in Christ is a comfort that we don't earn and we don't deserve. but it's of the Lord's hand.
It's the Lord's work. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
a righteousness established for me, outside of me, but given
to me, imputed to me, and which I receive in my mind and heart
by the power of the Spirit through the preaching of the gospel of
God's grace in Christ. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, Write us
at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia 3-1-7-0-7. Contact us
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today and may the Lord be with you.