Isaiah chapter 40, the gospel
according to Isaiah, whose name means God is salvation. Isaiah 40 verse one and two.
You'll be encouraged that we just have two verses to look
at here. Verses one and two. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Who says so? God. God would have
us comfort. God's servants, the prophet of
God, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. Jerusalem there is
a picture of God's gospel church, believers. Jerusalem is city
of peace, and cry unto her that her war is over. The warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem.
Cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double, double. Double for all her sins. Now, when you get a bill in the
mail, and it says you owe a certain amount, you probably don't send
in double, do you? The Lord sends in double payment
for all our sins, a sufficient payment, an effectual payment,
an eternal payment, for He obtained for us with His own blood eternal
redemption. So, I'm entitling the message
There is comfort for sinners, poor sinners. There is comfort
for poor sinners in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is comfort
for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. In 2 Corinthians 1, we
find this verse, verse 3 and 4. 1 Corinthians 1, 3 and 4. Blessed be the God and Father
by Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all
comfort. who comforted us in all our tribulation,
that we may be able to comfort them which are troubled, by the
comfort wherewith we also ourselves are comforted of God. What is
this poor sinner's comfort, consolation? The Lord Jesus Christ is all
our comfort alone, alone. Where can a sinner find comfort?
In Christ, in Christ. You remember in John 16 over
there where we read, but on further down in that chapter, our Lord
said, these words have I spoken unto you that in me you might
have comfort, that in me you might have peace. Trouble is
coming. In this world, you shall have
tribulation. We all know about that. But be
of good cheer. Be of good comfort. I've overcome. I've overcome. That's our hope,
isn't it? Now, comfort you, comfort you,
my people. saith your God, saith your God. Those who are his people, those
who were chosen in that eternal covenant of grace, redeemed by
his precious blood, They're blessed of God to hear the gospel, blessed
of God to believe the gospel. Those who have heard the gospel
and believe the gospel, they have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Being justified by faith, Paul
writes in Romans 5.1. Being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now hold your
place there, and let's see if we can find something about this
peace and this comfort. If you'll turn over to the book
of Colossians, often we hear people say in religious circles,
well, I'm trying to make peace. My
friend, a vile sinner cannot make peace with God. Colossians
chapter 1. Look at verse 16. For by Him all things
were created that are in heaven, that are in the earth, visible
and invisible, whether it be thrones or dominions, principalities
or powers. All things were created by Him
and for Him. Colossians 1. And he's the head
of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.
For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell,
the fullness of a Godhead bodily. having made peace through the
blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself. By him I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometimes
alienated, enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath
he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present
you holy, unblameable, unreprovable in his sight. Who made peace?
He made peace for us with His blood. He reconciled us unto
God. Our sin separated us from God. How can we be reconciled? Only
in Christ. Only in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He made peace for us with His own blood. We have peace with
God in, by, and through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have peace,
we have comfort, we have consolation. We read in 1 Peter so many times,
chapter 5, God is not only called the God of all comfort, but he's
called the God of all grace. Let me just read it to you. 1
Peter 5, verse 10. The God of all grace, who has
called you unto His eternal glory by Jesus Christ, after you've
suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle
you. We're settled on the rock. On
the rock. The Lord Jesus Christ. We read
about that rock. Turn back to Isaiah 28. Isaiah
28. The Lord is that rock upon which
we find all of salvation, Isaiah 28, 16. Therefore, thus saith
the Lord, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a
tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth
on him shall not make haste. Never be forced out. Never be
ashamed, never be confounded, as that verse is quoted in the
New Testament. We have that rock of salvation
upon which we rest. And there is no other foundation,
is there? But that which is laid, which
is the Lord Jesus Christ. God said to his prophet Isaiah,
to all of God's preachers today, to comfort the sheep of Christ.
Remember, our Lord risen said to Peter, when Peter really quit
the ministry and walked away after the crucifixion of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord appeared to him
and said, Peter, do you love me? Hey, Lord, feed my sheep. In other words, comfort my sheep. Again, he said, Peter, do you
love me? Lord, yes. Well, feed my lambs. He asked
him again the third time, Peter, do you really love me? He said,
Lord, you know all things. You know I love you. Comfort
my sheep, comfort my sheep. So that's what we do in the preaching
of the gospel. The message of the gospel is
described as a word of comfort. A word of comfort to poor and
needy, helpless, bankrupt sinners. Comfort you, comfort you, my
people, my people. We read in the Psalms, several
times we read this statement. David said, I'm poor and needy.
Yet the Lord thinketh upon thee, thou art my help, my deliverer.
Psalm 40 verse 17. We are poor and needy. God shall
supply all our need according to his riches in glory through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what are we to comfort God's
people with? Comfort ye, comfort ye, saith
the Lord. What are we to comfort with?
With Christ, who is our comfort, the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. There's nothing more soothing,
calming, reassuring than the blessed truths of the gospel
given to those who are looking to Christ for all of salvation. Let's find another verse on that.
Turn to Romans chapter five. Romans chapter five. and had
them all sinned and had them all died? Look at Romans 5 verse
19. Romans 5 verse 19. For as by
one man's disobedience many were made sinners, Now we know who
that is. And Adam all died by his disobedience. So by the obedience of one, shall
many be made righteous. So how are we made sinners? In
Adam, when he sinned, we sinned. How are we made righteous? In
Christ, who is the Lord our righteousness. Now read on, Romans 5 verse 20. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. Read on, verse 21, that as sin
hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. There's a preacher in the neighborhood.
Some of you know him. But I ran into him one time at
Walmart. And we've had conversation over
the years about the gospel of Christ. And he said to me in
that conversation, he said, Preacher, you can't show me in the Word
of God where it says sovereign grace. You know, the word sovereign
is not in the Bible. Did you know that? The truth is, but here's sovereign
grace right here. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign. Well, that's sovereign grace,
isn't it? Grace reigned through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord. There's sovereign grace. There's
sovereign grace. So if anybody ever asked you
that question, you can turn to that verse and read it. Read
it as well. Thank God. There is, in the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is grace for the guilty. When
we were yet without strength, the Lord Jesus Christ died for
us. There is mercy for the miserable. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. There
is salvation for, for who? Sinners. Sinners. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation, that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. And I have to elbow and shove
Paul aside, because he said he was the chief one, the chief
offender. No, Paul, you're not. I am. I'm
the chief sinner. There is comfort for those convicted
of their sins in Christ, our comfort. The same Holy Spirit
that convicts us of our sin is the same Holy Spirit that comforts
us with the good news of the gospel. We read, our Lord said,
when the Holy Spirit has come, he'll take the things of mine
and reveal them unto you. What does the Holy Spirit reveal?
Salvation is in Christ. in Him alone. Our Lord plainly
says to His disciples in that day, if I do not put away your
sin, if I do not make atonement for your sin, the Comforter will
not come. He wouldn't have anything to
comfort with without redemption through the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. If the Lord doesn't go to the
cross and pay our sin debt, there will be no salvation and consequently,
no comfort. No peace, no righteousness, no
forgiveness, no mercy. Thank God. for the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We say with Paul, God forbid
us your glory, except in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we mean by that the atonement that he made, the blood he shed,
that accomplished putting away our sin. We can always speak
comfort to those who are already comforted of God. There is no
peace and no comfort for those who refuse to believe the gospel. I can't comfort those who refuse
to believe God. Isaiah says that, let's see if
we can find it. Look at Isaiah 57. Isaiah 57, 19. Isaiah 57, 19. I create the fruit of the lips,
peace, peace, to him that is far off and to him that is near,
sayeth the Lord. I will heal him. I create peace. But to the wicked I like to trouble
sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God. To the wicked, that is the wicked
unbeliever. There's another verse over here
in Isaiah that talks about peace. Turn over here and comfort Isaiah
26. Let's go to verse 1. We're going
to be looking at some chapters in the book of Isaiah on our
Wednesday night meetings. I think we're going to look at
the rest of Isaiah 40 on Wednesday night. But look at Isaiah 26
verse 1. In that day shall this song be
sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. Salvation
will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. open ye the gate that
the righteous nation which keepeth truth, believeth truth, may enter
in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace, peace, peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he
trusteth in thee. Read on, verse 4. Trust ye in
the Lord forever, for the Lord Jehovah He is the everlasting
God. He is the everlasting Savior. There is peace for sinners who
look to Christ and rest in Him. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. Right? John 3.36. He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life. Uh-oh! The wrath of God abides,
abides on them. Back to Isaiah 40 verse 1. Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Now, speak comfortably. Speak to the heart, as the marginal
reference says on the word comfortably. Speak to the heart. Speak to
Jerusalem. And Jerusalem there is a picture
of the city of God, a picture of the gospel church of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's a picture of believers.
Speak to my people, my people, my chosen, my city, Jerusalem,
and cry unto her. What? What should we cry? What
should we declare? The war is over. You see that? The war is accomplished. The
warfare is accomplished. That her iniquity, her iniquity
is all gone. For she has received of the Lord's
hand, the Lord's hand. Generous hands. double for all
her sins." Now, speak to the heart of God's people. The gospel
of Christ is good news. The good news of the gospel from
the heart of God to the heart of God's people, to the heart
of His servants, to the heart of His people, from the heart
of the preacher. He said, speak ye to the heart of God's people. Paul, often when he talks about
preaching and speaking, we don't come with the fables of men or
the tales of men. We come preaching the Word of
Truth, the Word of God. Paul says on several occasions
about the gospel, he says, woe is unto me if I preach not the
gospel. And then he says, I'm determined to know nothing among
you, but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And then he says on
another occasion, we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ the
Lord, and ourselves your servant for Christ's sake. And then when
he's getting ready to have his head removed, He's on death row
waiting to depart and be with the Lord. He writes to Timothy
and he said, preach the word. Preach the word. Preach the word.
Preach Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. So preach
the word. Here's our message from the throne
of God. Salvation is accomplished by Him. The war is over. The war is over. Most of our parents were involved
in World War II. My dad was involved in World
War II. He was in the Army. And he was
in Okinawa in 1945 when they dropped that bomb. They recently
had a memory or some kind of ceremony about that bomb being
dropped. And what it did? Ended the war. Ended the war. My dad was in
the army stationed over in Okinawa. It wasn't too far from Japan.
And when they dropped that bomb and they declared, the war is
over, my dad said, them soldiers went crazy. They were jumping
up and down. They were hugging each other.
The war is over. Boys, we're going home. We're
not going to fight anymore. The war is over. That's what
he's saying right there. speaking comfortably to Jerusalem,
crying to her, her warfare is over. The captain of our salvation
has won the victory for us. The victory is won. We read this
morning in our study, thanks be to God who has given us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. All our enemies have
been defeated by the captain, the captain of our salvation. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin that was against us and contrary to
us, that cursed us. The Lord appeared once in the
end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
The Lord has defeated, he's the seed of the woman who crushed
Satan's dominion. The Lord Jesus Christ, that law
that was against us and contrary to us, He took it out of the
way and nailed it to His cross. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us. We have the victory,
believers do, because Christ has won the victory for us. The
war is over. Can you imagine? being a soldier over there in
the trenches, and hearing that declaration, the war is over. Oh, man. They were dancing in
the trenches. They were giving thanks to the
Lord. The Lord has defeated and conquered death. He said, I am
he that liveth and was dead. Behold, I am alive forevermore.
So the war is over. Salvation is accomplished. But
he says the second thing there, he says, their iniquity is pardoned. Pardon, pardon, our iniquity
has been pardoned. Now there are several scriptures
here, just real close here in Isaiah, I want us to look at,
if I can remember where they're at. Right across the page here
in Isaiah 38, our iniquity is pardoned. All of our iniquity
or some of it, Isaiah 38 verse 17, behold, behold, For peace I had great bitterness,
but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of
corruption. Thou hast cast all my sins behind
thy back." Now where is that? As far as the east is from the
west, God said, I've separated you from your sin. Turn to Isaiah
44, I believe it is. Turn there, Isaiah 44, verse
21. Iniquity is pardon. Blessed is
a man whom the Lord will not impute sin, and who He will not
charge their sin to them. Isaiah 44, 21. Remember these,
O Jacob and Israel, for thou art my servant. Jacob and Israel
there are God's covenant children. I have formed thee, thou art
my servant, O Israel. Thou shalt not be forgotten of
me. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgression, and
as a cloud thy sins return unto me, for I have redeemed thee.
Sing, verse 23, O heavens, for the Lord hath done it. Shout, ye lower parts of the
earth. Break forth in a singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every
tree therein, for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob. glorified himself in Israel."
Jacob and Israel there are a type and picture of God's spiritual
Israel, as we studied on Wednesday night. That message is posted
online if you want to listen to it. Iniquity is pardon. Paul says, we are accepted in
the Beloved in whom we have redemption from our sin, in whom we have
forgiveness of our sin, in whom we have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of His
grace. We have redemption. We have forgiveness. That word
forgiveness is the same word we read other places called remission. Now I told you some time ago,
about when I had the follow-up, when I had my cancer treatment
back in February. I went back to the doctor's office
there in Southern Ohio at that medical center. And one of the
things I wanted to ask the doctor after he treated me for cancer,
I wanted to know if I could tell my family and friends that I
have remission of my cancer, that my cancer is in remission.
And he looked at me like I cussed him. He said, no. He said, you can't use that word
remission. He said, your cancer may be reduced,
but it's not gone. I thought about this. I didn't
think about it right at the time. I got to thinking about that
remission. Remission. I may not have all
my cancer in remission, but I have all my sins remitted completely
to the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, which
is better? That's a no-brainer, isn't it? I'd much rather have
my sin remitted than my cancer remitted. His whole body is going
to die one way or the other. It may be cancer or something
else. He's a pointer unto me and wants to die after that judgment. No condemnation to those who
are in Christ though. We have complete eternal redemption
with His blood. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ. We read that prayer in Nehemiah,
Nehemiah 9, 17. Thou art a God ready to pardon.
Ready to pardon. He's always been that way toward
his people. Let's see if we can read that.
Turn over here to Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55, look at
verse 6. Isaiah 55, 6. Hmm. Seek ye the Lord while he
may be found. Call upon him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.
Let him return unto the Lord, for he will have mercy upon him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Abundance. Seek mercy
where it's found. Seek pardon where it's found.
In Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, He will abundantly pardon. That
He is plenteous in redemption, we read in Psalm 130. Now, the
second part of that verse, Her warfare is over. Her iniquity
is pardoned. Her sin is gone. For she hath
received. This is something we receive.
This is not something we earn. This is not something we work
toward. We receive this of the Lord's hand. Double, double for
all our sins. Double payment. He paid double
payment for all our sins. Double payment. All sins. All the sins of God the elect
are gone. They're no more. The payment's been made. Deliver
them from going down to the pit. I found the ransom. The ransom's
been paid. When the ransom is paid, the
prisoner's set free. All sin. Past, present, future.
All sins. The old timers talked about original
sin and Adam. actual sin in our flesh, all
sins of omission, commission, all transgression against God,
the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son cleanses us from all our
sins. Matter of fact, we read in the
book of Hebrews about our great high priest, who by the one offering
hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. God says of them
their sin and their iniquity will I remember no more. They don't exist. Double for
all her sin. Where did you, why work so hard
to get, I worked, I mean, I did this and I, no, I received this
at the Lord's hand. We're called sheep of His hand,
people of His pasture and sheep. He said, my sheep, hear my voice.
I know them, they follow me and I give unto them eternal life
and no one can pluck them out of my hand. He has generous hands. Payment. The Lord Jesus Christ
took all the sins of His covenant people and made complete, satisfying,
eternal satisfaction for them. He put them away by the sacrifice
of Himself. We have in the Lord Jesus Christ
complete salvation. Neither is there salvation in
any other. There is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Turn to Isaiah
53. Everybody knows this scripture.
Isaiah 53, double. Isaiah 53, look at verse 4. Surely he had borne our griefs,
carried our sorrows. We did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquity.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes
we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray,
turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord laid on him the
iniquity of us all. Look at verse 10, Isaiah 53,
verse 10. It had pleased the Lord to bruise
him, He hath put him to grief, when thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin. He shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied
by his knowledge. Shall my righteous servant justify
many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Blessed is that man,
blessed is that man, Let's turn to one more Scripture and I'll
let you go. I'll send you home with this. Think about this.
Turn to Romans 4. Romans 4. And this is the same
message to all the Scripture. In Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. So what sayeth
the Scripture, verse 3? Abraham believed God, and it
was counted to him for righteousness. We have complete redemption of
sin, and we have righteousness imputed. Now to him that worketh
is reward, not record of grace, but of debt. But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness, even as David. also describe
it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without work, saying," and this is Psalm 32, "'Blessed are they
whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.'" You can't impute
sin because our sin's been put away. You know what that is? You know how you spell comfort?
Christ. Christ is all and in all. He's all our salvation. In Him
dwells all the fullness of a Godhead bodily, and we're complete, complete
in Him.