Seeking once again the help of
God, I would like us to turn together to the chapter that
we read together in the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 40 and the
text you'll find in verse 1. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Verse 2, 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 iniquities. This morning we looked
at the Lord Jesus Christ being the resurrection and the life
and during that time when Lazarus had died and his sisters Mary
and Martha, they believed that the Lord Jesus Christ, if he
was there at that time, he could have stopped Lazarus from passing
away. The Lord Jesus, as we saw, he
raised Lazarus from the dead. But during that time obviously
there was much sadness. As we all know and have experienced
in this life when people pass away it causes us great sadness. This world is described as the
veil of tears. It is the cause of sin in this
world that is always to a time of sadness. We may have joy for
a moment but often then sadness comes in and it is one of the
great delights of the believer to look forward to heaven where
there will be no more tears and no more sorrow and no more sadness
and when people are sad there is that time for comfort. There is that work to do in the
church or naturally speaking we desire to comfort those who
are sad. With children, when they cry,
they seek someone to comfort them. And even adults, when they
are sad, although in our culture we are quite individualistic,
we tend to shy away, yet we do need comforting at times. A comforting
word, a visit, a portion of scripture, a cuddle, a holding of the hand. And it was in the time of Mary
and Martha, that the Jews, their friends, had come to comfort
them. When Martha, when they were in
the house, in John chapter 11 and verse 31, it says, the Jews,
then which were with her in the house and comforted her, when
they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily, went out and followed
her, saying, she goeth on to the grave to weep there. And
so it is a natural thing for people to comfort one another,
especially if we see that somebody is sad, we have that natural
tendency to want to help and to uphold them. And I mentioned
just at the last part of the service that Christians as they
meet together we're all passing through this valley of the shadow
of death, it is through much tribulation that we must enter
the kingdom of God and yet we have that hope of the resurrection
and yet constantly we need to be reminded because our vision
is often clouded, we could say clouded by tears of sorrow clouded
by anxieties and difficulties and we lose sight of the face
of the Lord Jesus, we lose sight of the beautiful promises of
the Word of God and so we become in need of comforting and reminding. in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4
and the last verse it says, wherefore comfort one another with these
words and he is reminding them of all that is going to take
place at the end of time, that the Lord is going to descend
from heaven with a shout and the voice of the archangel and
the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first and
we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall
we be forever with the Lord and so he says now comfort one another
with these words when you see that there is one who is downcast
when you see that there is one despairing when you see that
there is one losing hope or faith is dwindling He says comfort
them with the assurance of that final resurrection and that guarantee
that has been given to the Lord's people that they will be forever
with the Lord and that they will be in that place where there
is no more sorrow, no more sadness, no need for anxiety, no need
for worry and no need for faith because we will see him as he
is. And so when we struggle in this
world with lack of assurance and we struggle in this world
with lack of faith then we are to comfort one another or even
comfort ourselves with these words that we will be forever
with the Lord. And the Lord knew that the people
of Israel needed comforting words. Comforting words. Remember that they had been in
Babylon. They were there because of their
sin. They had turned aside to idols. They'd been rebellious. They had not listened to the
prophet, the two prophets of God. They listened to the false
prophets who cried, peace, peace, when there was no peace. And
then when everything happened, which Jeremiah and the others
had prophesied would happen, and the false prophets, they
were saying it wasn't going to happen. And yet it did happen,
and they were taken away to Babylon. they were there because of their
sin. They'd rebelled against God.
God chastened them and they were there for a specific amount of
time. Jeremiah prophesied 70 years
will they be carried away into captivity and when that time
came that time of the fulfilment of their judgement, the fulfilment
of their chastening, the fulfilment of their trial, then God changes. Remember if you read through
Jeremiah and the way in which he speaks about the children
of Israel, that they'd gone astray after idols, they'd committed
adultery, they had run off from him. And there were hard words
that he spoke to them. But now the allotted time has
come they had received of the Lord's hand double for all of
their sins. The allotted time had come to
fulfilment because of their sin, that judgment. Allotted time had come and now
he speaks to them. Comfort ye. The message changes. The prophets no longer testify
of judgment and justice and discipline. But now the message is changing. You've received enough. You've received the allotted
amount of time that I've allocated for your chastisement. Now it
is going to change. And so my prophets are going
to speak comfort to the people. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people
saith the Lord. Remember the children of Israel
as they walked through the wilderness to the promised land and they
disobeyed God, they disbelieved God and God made them wander
in the wilderness for the 40 years until all those over the
age of 20 had died in the wilderness. There was an allotted time for
that to take place. And when that had taken place,
then there was that opportunity for deliverance. The judgment
must come. The punishment must take place. The chastisement must be administered. And those that rebelled against
God must die in the wilderness and they would not see the promised
land. And so it is with the case of
Babylon. There was a 70 year period of
separation from the land of Israel. But then the time came for that
return. And so the prophets now change. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. The discipline had worked. The people been humbled under
the hand of Almighty God. That is why God brings things
into our life. We talk of sanctification when
we sin against God. We're always sinning. He brings
things into our lives to humble us to test us to see what is
really in our heart or not to stop us from being exalted above
measure. We saw it with Jonah. how that he brought trouble upon
his own head and of those with him also because of his willful
disobedience. And the children of Israel also
brought judgment upon their own head because they failed to listen
to the warnings of the prophets. They would rather listen to a
ministry that itched their ears. They would rather listen to a
ministry that didn't cause them any offence, that allowed them
to continue on in their sinful behaviour. And so they rejected
the truth of God's word and chose to follow lies. After they knew everything that
the Lord had done for them as a people. no other gods before
me yet they began to bring in those idols from the surrounding
area and so God must punish them as his son, as his people. He chastened them. But we know
that God is a God of mercy. He didn't cut them off forever. He did not cause them to be wiped
off the face of the earth. It was for a season, for an allotted
time that they would be chastened until they learned their lesson. And when they had learned their
lesson and the 70 years had been accomplished, now there was the
time for that return. And he makes a way for them. in Isaiah 45. He prophesies regarding Cyrus
the king that was going to assist Ezra, thus saith the Lord to
his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to
subdue the nations before him. I will loose the loins of kings
to open before him the two leavened gates, and the gates shall not
be shut. So in the time of the prophet
Ezra, We see that this Cyrus, although we go back in the Bible,
yet it is forward in time. We see that this king was raised
up by God to assist the people of Israel to go back out of Babylon
to the land of Israel to begin to build the temple. And as we
saw even with Nehemiah, used of God to build the walls of
Jerusalem. because the time had come. There was that allotted space
for discipline. There was that allotted space
for trial and when the Lord had worked his work amongst the people
then he brought them back. And sometimes in our lives We
can think that a certain trial is going to go on and on forever
and ever and ever. But you know the Lord has set
an allotted time for the trials of his people. When he has accomplished
his will, his work in that trial then that trial will be over.
When it has had the right effect upon us, when it has brought
us to that specific place that the Lord wants us to be in, then
he will step in and restore us. Then he will speak words of comfort
to us. When we have been humbled sufficiently,
when we have been reformed correctly, when we have learned as it were
our lesson, then he comes. and assists with Jonah had to
be thrown out of the ship. Then the calm came. He had to
go back to where the Lord wanted him to go. The people of Israel
had to be dealt with. Then they were brought back.
Then the prophets began to speak comfortable words, comforting
words to the people of Israel. No more was it hard words, but
it was comforting words. He tells them of the future comforts. He speaks of the voice crying in the wilderness,
prepare ye the way of the Lord, make strength in the desert,
a highway for our God. The Lord was going to remove
all obstacles for the children of Israel. He was going to make
a way where there seems to be no way. Where there were great
mountains, he was going to make them a plain. Where the way seemed
to be crooked and uncertain and difficult, he was going to make
it straight. He was going to raise up people
to help and to assist. Even an ungodly king was going
to open his finances to the people of Israel to cause them to build
the temple again. even with Nehemiah he was provided
everything that he needed by an ungodly king to assist him
in the work that he had to do for the Lord and so the hills
were going to be made low and the crooked things were going
to be made straight and the rough places are going to be made plain
and it can be in our lives as we look at things we see total
impossibilities, massive mountains like the Himalayas before us
and we might wonder well how on earth are we going to deal
with this? How am I going to get through this? This is totally
impossible. Then we look to the God of the
impossible who is able to make those mountains go away. He's able to navigate us through
these obstacles that we were once thinking were impossibilities.
They become as it were easy. The calming of the storm. The
mountains are made low and as we look to the future and we
wonder how this is going to happen, that is going to happen and everything
looks crooked and twisted. Yet as we walk the pathway it
seems to be made straight before us. We just need that faith to
trust in God, to take one step at a time looking unto him and
he promised them. that there is going to be a voice
in the wilderness crying, prepare ye the way of the Lord that was
going to go before them and I and everything count and to make
it all straight. As we said this morning in the
Bible study with John the Baptist and how there were in those days
those four runners who went before those of the king. And even in
English history, there is that you can read of those who went
before into the villages and they told the people, you know,
fix the road, make sure your cows aren't on the streets, tie
them up, keep them in the store. The king is going to pass this
way tomorrow. Make sure everything is straight
and clean and looking smart. So when the king comes by, he
doesn't see anything untoward. cause them any distress. And
so the Lord says there's going to be one who would go before
and he's going to make sure everything is straight and he's going to
make everything is smooth. All the potholes in the road
are going to be dealt with. Those rough places are going
to be made plain. Those hills are going to be tunneled
through and there won't be any problems whatsoever. The Lord
is going to bring you out because he has dealt with you. The time
is fulfilled, the allotted time for that trial is done. And now
you are going to go back. Ultimately that was also fulfilled
in the life of John the Baptist. With Israel coming out of Babylon,
that was the word of the Lord for them. but it spoke a prophetic
word of John the Baptist, how he came as the forerunner of
the Lord Jesus Christ, as he went before the Lord Jesus. In Matthew chapter three, he
says in verse three, or go from verse one. In those days came
John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying,
repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is
he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah saying, the voice
of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make his path straight. And the same John had his remnant
of camel's hair and a leathern girl about his loins and his
meat was locusts and wild honey. And so it spoke in a prophetic
way regarding John the Baptist who came before the Lord Jesus
Christ to prepare the way for him to preach. The kingdom of
heaven is at hand to point people to the Lord Jesus Christ as the
comforter of Israel. says he must increase and I must
decrease but also he goes on the prophet
not with just this comforting words that everything is going
to be made a plane But he comes and he speaks about the greatness
of God and how the people of God will experience a walking
with a shepherd who would be a tender shepherd. You know God
as we have looked at is the shepherd of Israel. But here he speaks
of the tenderness of the shepherd. We have that children's hymn
that says, Jesus, tender shepherd, hear me. Bless a little lamb
tonight. And I think it probably comes
from here in verse 11. It says he shall feed his flock
like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs in
his arms. He shall carry them in his bosom
and shall gently lead those that are with young. And so it speaks
of the way in which the Lord is going to lead them out as
they were dealt with with judgment. As the Babylonian army came with
judgment to destroy them and take them off in captivity and
to lay waste to Jerusalem, they were going to be led back in
a gentler way. As a caring shepherd leads his
flock to the still waters and to the green fields, so they
were going to be led back safely to Jerusalem. was going to carry
them and take care of them and gently lead them. You remember
Jacob when he came back to meet his brother he took care of those
that were with young he didn't drive them with haste but he
drove them carefully as to not to wear them out and so this
shepherd of Israel was going to drive them back carefully
to Jerusalem. He was going to provide everything
that they needed. He was going to iron out the
rough places and to make the mountains to flow down before
them. ultimately again that speaks
of the Lord Jesus Christ and so we have John the Baptist being
prophesied, we have the Lord Jesus Christ the good shepherd
of Israel, the good shepherd of his sheep being prophesied
also. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. in John chapter 2, the Lord Jesus
is spoken of by Simeon 25. As the Lord Jesus is born, as
he is taken to the temple Simeon had been promised by the
Holy Spirit or had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that
he would see the Lord's Christ. In verse 25, And behold, there
was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same
man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Ghost was upon him. and it was revealed unto him
by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. What was he waiting for? The
consolation of Israel or the comfort of Israel. The comforter
is the Holy Spirit but the Lord Jesus Christ is referred to here
as the one who comforts Israel. the tender shepherd who is the
King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. And Simeon was waiting for that
time that he saw the Lord's Christ with his own eyes and the Lord
Jesus is referred to as the comforter of Israel, the consolation of
Israel. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people
Seth your God. Think of the words that the Lord
Jesus Christ leaves with his apostles. He tells them it is
essential expedient that I go away from you for if I go not
away the comforter which is the Holy Ghost he shall not come. And so as the prophets were moved
to speak words of comfort to the people of Israel as they
were in captivity that the time that is coming now, the allotted
time is being fulfilled and we're going to begin to speak comfortably
to you that you are going to be restored, you're going to
be led out, you're going to be delivered from this enemy land. And so the Lord Jesus, as the
time approaches for him to leave this earth and to ascend up to
his father, as he completes the work on earth that the Lord had
given him to do, he begins to speak comfortably, reassuringly,
tenderly to his people that they're not going to be abandoned. Yes
he physically is going to go away yet he speaks of a comforter
of the Holy Spirit. In verse 26 of John 14 he says
but the comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will
send in my name he shall teach you all things. will bring all
things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said to you. So I jumped
a bit ahead in verse 16 it says now I'll pray the father and
he shall give you another comforter. So Christ is the comforter and
the Holy Spirit is the other comforter that is going to come
when he ascends up into glory and we see how he descends upon
the day of Pentecost and blesses the apostles with those gifts
that they may minister comfort to the people. The gospel is
the gospel of comfort. It shows those who are dead in
trespasses and sins a way of hope. Those who are broken-hearted
because of their transgression it shows them comfort and salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ and it's the Holy Spirit, the Comforter
that teaches people regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. He takes
the things of Christ and he reveals it unto them and it offers them
great comfort. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. verse 26 of chapter 15, But when
the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father,
even the Spirit of truth which proceeds from the Father, he
shall testify of me. And so the Holy Spirit the comforter
that has been sent by the Lord Jesus Christ to bring comfort
to his people, he is to testify of the Lord Jesus Christ and
that testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ is to be a means of comfort
to the Lord's people. As we see that he is the resurrection
of the dead, that testimony, that declaration is a comfort
to the Lord's people. the Holy Spirit can apply that
to us that we may receive it by faith to know that there is
that hope, there is that time in which we will be raised up
from the dead and that is a comfort. The times in life the Holy Spirit
applies the Word of God to our lives, to our situations. Just as the people of Israel
needed those words of comfort at their time of trouble when
the allotted time was coming to a close, the prophets changed
their message and they brought a comforting message. And so
through the Word of God, the Holy Spirit brings a comforting
message to the people of God to help them in their times of
trouble when they are coming to their wit's end. He encourages
them. He speaks a word of comfort and
help to them. He administers a fear not. He reminds us that I am with
you. I will never leave you nor forsake
you. I am a friend who sticks closer
than a brother. I will make the crooked things
straight and I will make the rough places plain. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people
Seth your God. By our nature We are all in Babylon. Babylon really is a type of the
world full of luxury and wealth, power. By our sinful nature we are happy
there. The children of Israel were told
when you go into captivity make yourselves at home there. Build
houses, farm, get married. that wasn't their true home they
longed for Jerusalem. But by our nature we are happy
in Babylon and it's not until the Lord shows us our sin and
shows us the vanity Babylon shows us that these things are passing
away unable to satisfy and to sustain us. That we realize that this is
not our home. There was a time in our lives
that we heard the word of the Lord that comforting word come
out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord. In the
Gospel of Mark I was reminded of the blind man and the Lord
Jesus in fact if you look up this word comfort I think it's
spoken of about 23 or 24 times through the New Testament. and Jesus speaks it to the lady
with the issue of blood. I've forgotten what he says to
her but something he speaks to her about comfort but in Mark
chapter 10 in verse 49 There was Bartimaeus who was
begging at the highway and he heard that Jesus was passing
by and he began to cry out saying, Jesus our son of David have mercy
on me. Many charged him that he should
hold his peace but he cried the more a great deal. Thou son of
David have mercy on me. Jesus stood still and commanded
him to be called and they called the blind man saying unto him
be of good comfort rise he calleth for thee And he cast away his
garments and rose and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and
said unto him, what wilt thou that I do unto thee? The blind
man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And
Jesus said unto him, go thy way. Thy faith has made thee whole.
And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus in the
way. And so what was his cry? His
cry was, have mercy on me. And surely that was our crime
when we were lost in Babylon, the spiritual of Babylon, of
darkness. And then we came to see our need
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We cried out, Thou Son of David,
Jesus, have mercy on me. And we received comfort. Yes
there may have been a time of struggling, yes there may have
been a time of battling when there was no comfort, when we
experienced the torment of soul but it may have been a moment,
that may have been a day, that may have been a week, it may
have been a year but he never leaves those who are in need
of comfort destitute. He will always He will always restore the broken reed in Isaiah
42. It says, Behold my servant whom
I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I've put
my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry. nor lift up
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street a bruised reed
shall he not break a smoking flax shall he not quench he shall
bring forth judgment unto truth he shall not fail and he goes
on and so there in our weakness we cry just like blind Bartimaeus,
thou son of David, Jesus Christ have mercy upon me, I am blind,
I'm spiritually blind, I'm in my sin, I need salvation, I need
the restoration. Those people will always be comforted. He always comforts the broken-hearted. He never leaves the broken reed. He never puts out the smoking
coal but he raises it. Why? Because he is the tender
shepherd. He cares much for his sheep,
especially the young ones. He says he bears them up. He carries them. in his arms
and those that are with young he carries in his bosom. So we were in that Babylon and
yet we received comfort by the word. The word the Lord Jesus
Christ and the literal word the word of God. Thy sin is forgiven. Thou art made whole. It's as
it were the Lord Jesus Christ scooping us up in his arms and
putting us onto his shoulders, giving us the comfort that we
need. And the Christian as he continues
walking, we have to continue walking through the Babylon of
this world. And we need to be comforted.
That's why Jesus says, yes, I'm going away, but I'm going to
give you another comforter, the Holy Spirit, who will not be
just with you. He will be in you. And he will
grant you that all sufficient ability to walk the Christian
pathway. He would take the things of Christ
and use them to comfort you and to sustain you. will take the
word of God and apply it to your case. It will not just be mere
words to you but it will be food to your never-dying soul that
will satisfy you. And there's no greater blessing
is there as one of the Lord's people to receive the word applied You can be in all manner of trouble,
all manner of difficulty, and the Holy Spirit takes the Word
of God and applies it to your case, and it's as though all
of the trouble disappears. You're still in it, but you're
upheld in it. It can take providential situations
and make them disappear, He can move even ungodly people as he
did in years gone by to assist us and to work on behalf of God
in the lives of his people. He irons out those crooked places. He straightens out those crooked
places. He brings down those high mountains. As we walk through the Babylon
of this world, As the children of Israel, we're not at home
in Babylon, so we are not at home in this Babylon. The hymn
says we are, this world is not my home, I'm just a passing through. Abraham, Isaac, strangers and
pilgrims in this world, we are heading to the heavenly kingdom. We're on the narrow road that
leads to life, passing through. Yes, we build houses, we live
here. But it's not our home. We go and see Ted, he often says,
home, home. There's no place like home. Where
he is at the moment, he doesn't feel like it's his home. And
so he recites the song that he heard in his youth and he says,
there's no place like home. And for the believer, that's
really their song. Home, home, there's no place
like home. Our home is not of this world. We have to move out of this Babylon. and we go to the heavenly Jerusalem
to be with the Lord. And so as Paul writes to the
Thessalonians he says comfort one another with these words. Help one another. Remind one
another of these things. Yes we are passing through much
tribulation. Yes there is persecution and
difficulty heartache and sadness and tears. but comfort one another
with these truths that God is able to make the mountains flow
down. God is able to make the crooked
things straight. God is able to assist us in our
life and to bring us ultimately to our heavenly destination because he has walked this way before
us. Just as John the Baptist walked
before the Lord Jesus Christ, so Christ himself, the good shepherd
of his people, walked before his people. He is the great high
priest that has been tried and tempted in all points as we are
yet without sin. He knows, he's experienced the
things of this life. He's experienced lies and deceit
raised up against him. He's experienced tiredness, sadness
and hunger. Jesus wept, we read this morning.
He knows about the emotional frailty of this body of ours
and so he's able to send the comfort of his Holy Spirit to
comfort the broken-hearted, to bind up the broken-hearted and
to comfort to bring comfort to his people and because he is your God. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. And so through the Lord Jesus
Christ, through the Holy Spirit, the Lord's people, are comforted. He is their God. He is our God. He is our Father that is in heaven. We are able to approach him as
such and he knows all about his people. He says, I know my sheep
and they know me. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen. Closing hymn for this Lord's
Day is hymn number 274, The Afflicted Secure in Christ. The Lord in
Zion reigns, and will his people keep, tis he the universe sustains,
and well secures his sheep. Hymn number 274 to the tune number
73. God bless America. God bless America. With affliction so, He made them
exercise, Yet still His hand they shall adore, And still His
love shall prize. Through poverty and loss, of
every kind of good, conspired to make the waiting cross, the
helper still they sought. Jesus the faithful, true and
just, forever is the same. Almighty God, and yet loving
Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the Comforter, the Lord Jesus
Christ, and we thank Thee for the Comforter, the Holy Spirit,
and we thank Thee for the Comfort of Thy Holy Word, and we thank
Thee, Lord, for this day that has been given to us, and we
pray that the word may be made a blessing unto our never-dying
souls that thou help us Lord to remember that the Lord Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever and he still
today thinks much of his sheep. We pray Lord that thou dismiss
us with thy blessing and do hear our prayer regarding Wednesday. Lord we ask that thou meet with
us as we sing thy praises and hear from thy word. Do then dismiss
us with thy blessing and now may the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ and the love of God the Father with the fellowship and
the communion of the Holy Spirit Do be with us each now and for
evermore. Amen.